Rumsfeld: Planting Stories Under Review

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer2 hours, 1 minute ago

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday that the Pentagon is reviewing its practice of paying to plant stories in the Iraqi news media, withdrawing his earlier claim that it had been stopped.

Rumsfeld told reporters he was mistaken in the earlier assertion.

"I don't have knowledge as to whether it's been stopped. I do have knowledge it was put under review. I was correctly informed. And I just misstated the facts," Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon news briefing.

Rumsfeld had said in a speech in New York last Friday and in a television interview the same day that the controversial practice had been stopped.

He said that Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, was reviewing the practice. Previously, Casey has said he saw no reason to stop it.

Rumsfeld saluted members of the U.S. military participating in relief efforts in devastating mudslides in the Philippines.

"These efforts are an indication of the organizational talents of the United States military," Rumsfeld said.

Some 5,000 U.S. military members were in the Philippines at the time, most of them on training exercises, said Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Rumsfeld also addressed mixed signals coming from Iraqi leaders over the type of government they'd like to eventually see take shape in Iraq.

"Iraqis are going through a political process," Rumsfeld said. "Until they agree on who their new leadership should be, you're going to see a lot of public statements by a lot of people ... reflecting a lot of different views."

Iraqi political parties have run into major obstacles in talks on a new national unity government. Any major delay would be a setback to U.S. hopes for a significant reduction in troop levels this year.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said earlier Tuesday in Baghdad that the results of the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections showed the Iraqi people want a "broad government of national unity" to bring together "all the different elements" of Iraqi society.

He spoke after meeting with Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and other Iraqi leaders.

Al-Jaafari has said formation of the government was more complicated "because this time the Arab Sunnis are participating in the political process."

Rumsfeld also said he had no problems with a deal permitting a United Arab Emirates company to take over operations at six major U.S. seaports, a plan that has encountered stiff political opposition in Congress.

He called the UAE a good military partner in the war on terror.

"Nothing changes with respect to security under the contract. The Coast Guard is in charge of security, not the corporation," Rumsfeld said.

Earlier Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Rumsfeld had been incorrect in saying on Friday that the practice of paying for positive stories in the Iraqi media had been halted in the wake of negative publicity in the United States.

An official inquiry into the program by Navy Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk has been completed but its results have not been publicly released.

In his speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, a foreign-policy think tank, Rumsfeld raised the issue as an example of the U.S. military command in Baghdad seeking "nontraditional means" to get its message to the Iraqi people in the face of a disinformation campaign by the insurgents.

"Yet this has been portrayed as inappropriate — for example, the allegations of someone in the military hiring a contractor and the contractor allegedly paying someone to print a story — a true story — but paying to print a story," he said during his speech.

"The resulting explosion of critical press stories then causes everything — all activity, all initiative — to stop, just frozen," he added.

In an appearance Friday on PBS' "The Charlie Rose Show," Rumsfeld said he had not known about the practice of paying for news stories before it became a subject of critical publicity in the United States.

"When we heard about it we said, 'Gee, that's not what we ought to be doing,' and told the people down there," he said.

Although "it wasn't anything terrible that happened," Pentagon officials ordered a halt to the practice and "they stopped doing it," he added, according to a transcript provided by the show.

Source: AP via Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060221/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/rumsfeld

Popularity of Indian cricketers up in Pakistan

MUMBAI: A top Pakistani security official, who travelled with the Indian team for 45 days, says the enthusiasm for the cricket series was not the same as last time but the popularity of the Indian team had certainly gone up among ordinary Pakistanis.

"The popularity of the Indian cricketers surely went up compared to the Indian team's tour of Pakistan in 2004, the first full-fledged one after almost 15 years," Sohail Khan, a senior superintendent of police with Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency, said in Karachi before the team's departure for Mumbai.

Khan, who had come to see off the Indian team at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on Monday, travelled to the seven cities visited by the team - Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, Multan, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar.

Khan is a competent authority to comment as he had also travelled with the team during their 38-day tour of Pakistan in March-April 2004, and closely co-ordinated the security arrangements for both series.

"It was evident that their popularity has risen. People sought more autographs and they had become household names and they were talked about by many more people," said the Lahore-based Khan, a cousin of the legendary Imran Khan.


"However, the enthusiasm of the people for an India-Pakistan series has gone down a bit compared to the 2004 series."

This could be due to the fact that India and Pakistan have now played three series within two years, two in Pakistan and one in India. Some experts said that it was an overdose of the premium series and it should be spaced out more.

Khan was satisfied that the series passed off peacefully without any major incident, especially considering the nationwide protests over the publications of cartoons related to the Prophet Mohammed.

"Yes, the series passed of without a major incident, and the protests had no effect on the security of the team as such," he said, looking a bit tired after the hectic travelling and liasing with the local and other security agencies at all seven cities.


There was one small incident when someone from the crowd threw a small nut that hit Irfan Pathan's temple during the first one-day international at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshwar.

But Khan laughed the incident off, saying that the player did not get hurt.

It was also during this match that a spectator broke the security cordon and ran to the pitch to shake hands with Sachin Tendulkar after he scored a century.

Earlier, during the team's stay in the Pearl Continental Hotel in Lahore, a Lahore police personnel tried to get an autograph from Tendulkar for one of his friends and was suspended for "dereliction of duty".

Apart from this incident, the players were happy with the tight security arrangements made for the high profile series.

Source: Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1422389,curpg.cms

'Bush visit to change India's political landscape'

WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush's visit to India on March 1-3 can be compared to the historic visit of President Richard Nixon to China in 1973 and could "alter the strategic landscape" to make India a major global player, according to Newsweek magazine.

In an article entitled "Nixon to China, Bush to India," Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria said Washington has had "remarkably little discussion" regarding this visit, which, if successful, "could well alter the strategic landscape, bringing India firmly and irrevocably on to the world stage as a major player, normalising its furtive nuclear status and anchoring its partnership with the United States."

Writing in the February 27 issue of Newsweek , Zakaria - who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi last week - compares Bush's visit to India with the historic visit president Nixon made to China in 1973. He also quotes Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns as telling him that just the loose ends of the civilian nuclear agreement with India needed tying up.

Zakaria argues for far-sightedness on both sides, saying the benefits to the US and to the world "are real".


More lecturing was not going to stop India's nuclear programme and that is something recognised even by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed El Baradei, Zakaria points out. He accuses the Indian bureaucracy of being stuck in worn-out ideas of non-alignment and the Left parties in reflexive anti-Americanism.

Calling the separation of civilian and military nuclear facilities a largely technical issue that could be sorted out, Zakaria quotes Burns as saying, "We've got just 10 per cent to go", and while it was a complicated negotiation between "two equal parties", both are committed to it.

The Bush administration has also seen India's vote in Vienna to send Iran to the Security Council as having already crossed what the US Congress saw as a hurdle to bringing the July 18, 2005, Bush-Manmohan Singh deal to fruition.

His views are echoed by South Asian expert Stephen Cohen who feels Bush has been ahead of his administration so far as his India initiative is concerned.


Cohen, of the leading Washington think tank, the Brookings Institution, said about the president's upcoming India visit in early March: "Bush wanted to make this trip long ago.

"He saw India as a rising power and has been a leading advocate of India in the US. He's the first president after John F. Kennedy who was ahead of his government."

Cohen said the July 18 agreement last year between President Bush and visiting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was such a surprise that there might be another surprise in store during this visit.

"Maybe there could be some major purchases of military equipment or my guess is Bush will want to have the nuclear agreement to take to Congress and might have some waiver capability such as fuel for Tarapur."

Source: Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1422462.cms
--
Related: Fareed Zakaria: Nixon to China, Bush to India

GOP Governors Threaten to Block Port Deal

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 25 minutes ago

Two Republican governors are threatening legal action to block an Arab company from taking over operations in major U.S. ports and some GOP lawmakers say the deal should be closely examined.

In the uneasy climate after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration decision to allow the transaction is threatening to develop a major political headache for the White House.

New York Gov. George Pataki and Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich on Monday voiced doubts about the acquisition of a British company that has been running six U.S. ports by Dubai Ports World, a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates.

The British company, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., runs major commercial operations at ports in Baltimore, Miami, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York and Philadelphia.

Both governors indicated they may try to cancel lease arrangements at ports in their states because of the DP World takeover.

"Ensuring the security of New York's port operations is paramount and I am very concerned with the purchase of Peninsular & Oriental Steam by Dubai Ports World," Pataki said in a news release. "I have directed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to explore all legal options that may be available to them."

Ehrlich, concerned about security at the Port of Baltimore, said Monday he was "very troubled" that Maryland officials got no advance notice before the Bush administration approved the Arab company's takeover of the operations at the six ports.

"We needed to know before this was a done deal, given the state of where we are concerning security," Ehrlich told reporters in the State House rotunda in Annapolis.

The arrangement brought protests from both political parties in Congress and a lawsuit in Florida from a company affected by the takeover.

Public fears that the nation's ports are not properly protected, combined with the news of an Arab country's takeover of six major ports, proved a combustible mix.

Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina said on Fox News Sunday that the administration approval was "unbelievably tone deaf politically." GOP Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia said on ABC's "This Week," "It's a tough one to explain, but we're in a global economy. ... I think we need to take a very close look at it."

Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey said Monday that he and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., will introduce legislation prohibiting the sale of port operations to foreign governments.

At least one Senate oversight hearing was planned for later this month.

Critics have noted that some of the 9/11 hijackers used the UAE as an operational and financial base. In addition, they contend the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist.

The Bush administration got support Monday from former President Carter, a Democrat and frequent critic of the administration.

"My presumption is, and my belief is, that the president and his secretary of state and the Defense Department and others have adequately cleared the Dubai government organization to manage these ports," Carter told CNN. "I don't think there's any particular threat to our security."

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff made the rounds on the talk shows Sunday, asserting that the administration made certain the company agreed to certain conditions to ensure national security. H said details of those agreements were secret.

During a stop Monday in Birmingham, Ala., Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the administration had a "very extensive process" for reviewing such transactions that "takes into account matters of national security, takes into account concerns about port security."

___

Associated Press writers Devlin Barrett in Washington, Matthew Verrinder in Newark, N.J., and Tom Stuckey in Annapolis, Md., contributed to this story.

Source: AP via Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060221/ap_on_go_co/port_security

Pharmaceutical Adoption Of RFID Slower Than Expected: Report

By Rick Whiting
InformationWeekTue Feb 7, 5:21 PM ET

Adoption of radio frequency identification technology by the pharmaceutical industry may not be happening as quickly as once forecast, according to a report released this week.

Given the high cost of drugs and the growing problems of drug counterfeiting and theft, expectations were high in 2004 and 2005 that the number of drugs tagged with RFID transponders to ensure their pedigree (the ability to trace a drug shipment's custody through a supply chain) would grow rapidly. Those expectations were fueled by a number of high-visibility RFID trials in the last 18 months involving drugs such as OxyContin and Viagra.

In December Pfizer began putting RFID tags on all Viagra shipments in the U.S. The drug maker is spending about $5 million on the project, using technology from Alien Technology to tag cases and pallets, and from Tagsys to tag individual bottles of drugs.

But a study of RFID tracking in the pharmaceutical industry by ABI Research concludes that no more than about 10 medications will be tagged on a large scale this year. ABI attributes the slower adoption rate to the cost of RFID, a retreat from earlier hype about the technology, and the desire by many pharmaceutical companies to develop small-scale pilot projects before committing to large-scale deployments.

Another issue, according to ABI, is uncertainty concerning the current state of federal and state drug-pedigree legislation. There has been a moratorium on enforcing the Prescription Drug Marketing Act of 1988 because drug makers were not ready to meet its requirements. That moratorium doesn't expire until January 2007. Several states, including California and Florida, have enacted their own pedigree laws, but ABI says many pharmaceutical companies plan to use barcode technology to meet those requirements.

Source: TechWeb via Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20060208/tc_cmp/179101539&printer=1;_ylt=Aj1gfjQKGII6I66ZU_vhRbg4k4gC;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

ADL: Stop building over Muslim graves

The Anti-Defamation League's Israel office has called on the Wiesenthal Center to "pause" in its construction of a Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem over land that contains a recently discovered Muslim burial site.

"The ADL believes that a Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem can be an important institution for educating against bias and for respect and understanding. We trust that the same tenets that undergird [sic] the museum's mission will be applied to finding a resolution to address the concerns of the Muslim community and the families of those whose graves have been discovered," the ADL said in a statement released to the press.

The High Court of Justice is slated to hand down its decision in the coming days on whether the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) may continue building its planned Center for Human Dignity, Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem complex following public protests and two petitions by Israeli Arabs.

The $150 million complex off Jerusalem's Rehov Hillel, designed by prominent American architect Frank Gehry, would include a museum, conference and education centers, a library and a theater, all dedicated to promoting tolerance in Israel and abroad, the SWC says. If work continues as planned the museum is expected to open by 2008.

The SWC said it had been told by the government and the Jerusalem Municipality five years ago that the three-dunam plot was not defined as a cemetery, but as "public open space" and gave it the necessary permits to build on the site. It said the government based its decision on a 1964 Shari'a Court (the highest Muslim court in Israel) ruling that allegedly nullified the sanctity of the graveyard and permitted use of the land.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean and founder of SWC, quoted the ruling as declaring "The cemetery's sanctity has ceased to exist and it is permitted to do whatever is permitted in any other land which was never a cemetery." The 1964 document was included in the SWC response to the petition.

"We encourage a temporary cessation of construction until the issue is resolved in a respectful way acceptable to all parties. To do less would weaken the foundation upon which a museum of tolerance stands," the ADL said Sunday.

SWC head Rabbi Marvin Hier told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that the center would not stop its plans to build the museum at the site, unless ordered to by the High Court.

A spokesman for the museum, Charley Levine, blasted the ADL's statement.

"It is most unfortunate that the ADL Israel Office did not have the patience to allow allow justice to take its course, feeling the need to weigh in on a sensitive situation about which it lacked detailed understanding. In doing so, it joins with extreme elements whose sole objective is to permanently stop the construction of the MOT in the heart of Jerusalem," Levine told the Post.

"The Wiesenthal Center has made its case to Israel's Supreme Court and awaits the decision from that institution. We are fully committed to finding an acceptable solution that will assure that all remains will be reinterred according to the highest norms of Judaism and Islam. The SWC has offered three specific compromise measures to the Court to achieve this goal," Levine said.

Source: Jerusalem Post
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1139395445518&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Copyright 1995-2006 The Jerusalem Post

Carter: Don't punish Palestinians

Former US President Jimmy Carter has urged Israel and the US not to punish the Palestinians for giving Hamas a victory in parliamentary elections.

The two allies have already taken steps to withhold funds from a government led by the militant Islamist group, which they brand a terror organisation.

"The likely results will be to alienate oppressed and innocent Palestinians," Mr Carter wrote in a US newspaper.

Hamas took 74 out of 132 seats in polls for parliament in January.

Hamas leaders are set to begin talks on the composition and programme of the new Palestinian government later on Monday.

Israeli-US collusion to punish the Palestinian people could be counterproductive and have devastating consequences Jimmy Carter

Officials from the group will meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and representatives from other parties.

Mr Carter's human rights organisation was one of a number of groups that monitored the poll. As president in the 1970s he worked on the breakthrough Camp David accords - the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country, Egypt.

'Tacit collusion'

Mr Carter's article in the Washington Post argues that despite the Hamas success, Mr Abbas retains considerable constitutional control in the political and security spheres.

He is also optimistic that Hamas will appoint moderates or technocrats to the cabinet and prime ministership and focus its influence on the legislature.

Turning to Israel and the United States, Mr Carter demands that they play positive roles during this fluid period in Palestinian politics.

"Any tacit or formal collusion between the two powers to disrupt the process by punishing the Palestinian people could be counterproductive and have devastating consequences," he says.

"Unfortunately, these steps are already underway."

Israel has moved to withhold about $50m per month paid to the PA in customs and tax revenues.

It is also determined to hinder movement of elected Hamas MPs through the 100-plus military checkpoints it maintains in the occupied West Bank.

US officials meanwhile have announced that all its funding for the new government will be withheld, including money that would go to pay schoolteachers, police and hospital staff.

Mr Carter criticises Washington for not agreeing to bypass the government and allow funds be channelled through NGOs.

Punishing ordinary Palestinians will increase alienation, incite violence and - far from inducing Hamas to moderate its anti-Israel stance - will actually increase its influence and reputation, Mr Carter argues.

He also indirectly criticises Israel for avoiding peace talks not just with Hamas, but with past leaders who did recognise Israel's right to exist.

"The election of Hamas candidates cannot adversely affect genuine peace talks, since such talks have been non-existent for over five years," he writes.

But if Israel is willing to include the Palestinians, he argues, Mr Abbas could still play the negotiating role - as Yasser Arafat did before him - in his role of leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

Source: BBC NEWS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/4732308.stm

Published: 2006/02/20 13:07:23 GMT
© BBC MMVI

Row over Israeli "tolerance museum" on a Muslim cemetery

By Martin Patience BBC News website, Jerusalem

For the last 40 years Mohammed Hamdi Bader has left his tailor's shop in the Old City once a month and taken a short walk to the heart of west Jerusalem where he prayed close to his grandfather's grave.

But the 49-year-old Palestinian father-of-five can no longer reach the grave and he's furious about it.

The Maamam Allah cemetery, which is at least 1,000 years old, has become a building site.

The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre is constructing a Museum of Tolerance on the cemetery. The centre says the museum will seek to promote "unity and respect among Jews and between people of all faiths".

The project has raised the ire of the Muslim community in the city. There have been accusations that exhumed remains have been damaged.

Despite a temporary injunction on work at the site issued by the Islamic Court - a division of the Israeli justice system - Israeli archaeologists and developers have continued excavating remains at the cemetery, says Durgham Saif, a Palestinian lawyer.

'Absurd'

On Wednesday Mr Saif took the case to the Israeli Supreme Court in the hope of strengthening the Islamic Court's injunction. The supreme court's verdict is still pending.

Standing in his tailor's shop beside an old hoarding advertising "London styles", with drawings of men in suits, raincoats and bowler hats from the 1930s, Mr Bader says he thinks a museum of tolerance is a good idea.

"But you can't build this museum on any graveyard, regardless of religion," he adds.

The discovery of human remains on building sites in this part of the world is highly sensitive, for both Jews and Muslims.

The Mufti of Jerusalem, Ekrema Sabri, says that Muslim religious authorities were not consulted about digging at the site.

Sitting in his office in the al-Aqsa Mosque, the mufti also says that the museum's claim to promote tolerance is absurd.

"How can a museum carrying the name of tolerance be built on a graveyard?"

Smashed skull

Durgham Saif, the lawyer who brought the Islamic petition to the Israeli Supreme Court, says that bones have already been removed to boxes and that one skull has been smashed.

But Charles Levine, spokesman for the new museum, accused Palestinian and Muslim groups of exploiting the issue for political gain.

"Why didn't they protest when the car park was built?" asks Mr Levine, referring to the part of the cemetery converted into a car park 20 years ago and now part of the site for the museum.

"Wherever you dig in Jerusalem you are going to find graves and archaeological sites. We are fully committed to resolving this issue in a respectful manner."

Heavily guarded

Californian governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ehud Olmert, now acting Israeli Prime Minister, attended a ceremony in 2004 to lay the Museum of Tolerance's foundation stone.

Plans for the $150m museum, designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, include a theatre complex, a conference hall, an education centre and a library.

It is expected to be completed in 2009.

For now, the cemetery is patrolled by security guards and is surrounded by a four-metre-high metal fence and razor wire.

Through the cracks of the padlocked gates, you can see diggers and bulldozers. White tents, housing skeletal remains, are also visible.

Inside one of these white tents, Mr Bader says, lie the mortal remains of his grandfather.

Source: BBC NEWS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/4721336.stm