The United Nations' special envoy to Congo chided Congo's main rebel leader during a second round of peace talks Saturday for breaking a cease-fire, according to video footage taken inside the closed-door meeting. The footage, taken by the U.N. and made available to journalists, shows an angry mediator, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, berating rebel leader Laurent Nkunda for starting an offensive along the border with Uganda last week, thus breaking a cease-fire in the middle of peace talks.
Since the first round of peace talks on Nov. 16, Nkunda's forces have clashed with the army several times, and rebels captured two border posts and a town last week.
"You are making me a laughingstock," Obasanjo told a seated Nkunda as the Nigerian paced angrily. "What has happened in the last 14 days has not made me happy," Obasanjo said, adding, "If there is anything that will make you make a move against a self-imposed cease-fire by you, you should let me know. When I finished my first round of talks, I reported to you. You haven't built the same confidence in me and I feel disappointed.'
But Nkunda claims the cease-fire was only meant to apply to the Congolese army. He declared a unilateral cease-fire in late October, when his forces reached the edge of the eastern Congolese provincial capital of Goma. "We agreed for a cease-fire with government forces, not with negative and foreign forces," he said. He said he will continue on his primary mission of protecting ethnic Tutsis from Hutu fighters who fled to Congo from Rwanda after that country's 1994 genocide.
"They are not allowed to be here. No," he said. "And I have to fight them wherever I can."
The insurgents began an offensive Nov. 22 in the town of Ishasha in an effort to push some 1,500 Hutu militiamen, many of whom are believed to be Rwandan exiles, out of Congo. More than 10,000 people have fled to neighboring Uganda because of the violence.
Obasanjo and Nkunda met for more than an hour Saturday in the rebel-held town of Jomba near the Ugandan border. Nkunda said the former president told him the government "accepted the principle" of a face-to-face meeting with Congolese officials but did not agree on where to hold the talks. Obasanjo met with President Joseph Kabila earlier this week.
Nkunda added that if the government refuses to negotiate, "they will be choosing the way of fighting. And I know they do not have any capacity to fight."
The rebels and government soldiers all are accused of grave atrocities against civilians.
Nkunda, a former general, quit Congo's army in 2004 to launch a rebellion. Critics, however, say Nkunda is more interested in power and the country's mineral wealth.
No, reeeeeeally?
Obasanjo last met Nkunda earlier this month, when the rebel leader promised to support a cease-fire.
Some refugees already have fled three or four times since years of low-level fighting in eastern Congo intensified with a rebel offensive launched Aug. 28. More than 250,000 people have abandoned their homes since then.
On Friday, the U.N.'s top human rights official called for urgent action to stop the killing, rape and looting in eastern Congo. The U.N. Security Council also has agreed to reinforce its mission in Congo with 3,000 more soldiers and police because the current mission of 17,000 is spread too thin.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#4
MMBtu = 1 Million BTUs
Oil = 5.8 MMBtu
So your $6 Nat gas is oil equiv is $34.80.
Looking at 11/28 NYMEX Nat gas futures price at $6.51/MMBtu, the oil equiv is $37.76 and WTI crude is $54.43.
One other note, oil is easy to transport and export for the highest price. Nat gas only goes where there are pipelines, except for a small portion exported as LNG.
There is a lot of new nat gas wells coming on line in the US, so the price differential will increase. A few years ago in my state, even though we are a major nat gas producer, prices got so high that it was cheaper to run industrial processes with coal fired electricity. A startling revelation if you consider all the capital required to generate electricity.
Posted by: ed ||
11/30/2008 7:15 Comments ||
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$75/barrel is high enough to encourage 2nd generation biofuels, shale, deep drilling and oil sand development but low enough to badly hurt the Persian economy (which needs about $90/barrel to balance the national budget)
#8
From what little I know about "supply and demand" of oil, the average price of oil should be between $50 and $60 a barrel. That would result in gasoline selling for about $1.75/gallon. That's high enough to encourage domestic drilling, and still low enough that the nation doesn't suffer from high transportation costs.
There's an area in southern Colorado that used to produce tons and tons of coal, but mining coal there is no longer feasible. The coal has a high sulfur content that requires tons of special equipment when burned. The area has now been opened for natural gas development, and production is high. Most of the natural gas comes from the coal-bearing strata, but is much easier to scrub than the coal. I'm sure there are other regions in the US where this is true.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/30/2008 13:50 Comments ||
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#9
Almost all the growth in oil demand was in China, India, etc. If oil demand is now declining then the economic growth numbers coming out of China and India, 5%+ are BS.
President Felipe Calderon and his government defended their fight against public corruption and drug trafficking Friday, asking for greater powers to go after organized crime. They conceded that most Mexicans feel unsafe and that many police are unqualified to do their jobs.
That's why we call it Messico.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2008 00:00 ||
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Hope the low oil price hurts those bastards plenty! Oops, wrong cartel ...
The first wave of baby boomer retirees will soon turn 66 and get their first Social Security check. But they won't get Medicare without signing up, soon. That's one Medicare requirement worth knowing. Here's another: Opting out of Medicare is possible -- if you don't mind losing your Social Security, too.
Three seniors have sued to change that. They want to pay their own medical costs, and they would abandon the Medicare taxes they've long paid. They don't want, however, to abandon Social Security. Their suit would sunder the two programs, allowing seniors to cover their own medical care without losing Social Security.
That, say the three plaintiffs, would ensure the privacy of their medical records and spare them bureaucrats' second-guessing whether every lab test and office visit are "medically necessary." If not, Medicare doesn't pay and the physician, by law, can't bill the patient. Don't wonder why many elderly have difficulty finding a doctor.
No law mandates participation in both programs or none. The Clinton administration instituted that regulation, buttressed by Congress' ban on seniors venturing outside Medicare for any service it provides. I didn't know this. It seems there are elements in our Government who really do want to control every aspect of our lives. I would think the 3 Seniors who are suing would win, but ya never know.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/30/2008 13:18 ||
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#1
Odds strongly favor that both SS and Medicare are going to have to be severely means tested within just a year or two. No real choice in the matter. Medicaid will be turned over to the States. Figure that all three will join Defense with about 25% cutbacks, in the first one or two years.
#2
Moose is absolutely correct. I've got another decade and some change before I'd be eligible and I'm already assuming there will be no SS payments in my future.
I can already see the argument: "Sorry, sir, you're not eligible for Social Security. You have too much money and too many assets."
"What about the promise you made me when I was paying this money in for all these years?"
"Again, we're sorry but there isn't enough money to meet those obligations so we have to restrict payments to those who REALLY need them. That's NOT you, as our records show."
"That's not what you promise or what I agreed."
"I know. You'll just have to accept that you received your benefits in the form of lower taxes in your earlier years."
In reality, that is the only way it can go. The money simply isn't there and there's no way to put it there without hyperinflation totally destroying the value of the currency.
It comes from having a stupid electorate. Look at the number of idiots who voted for Bama, a lying pol who promised them both huge amounts of new benefits AND a tax cut. How in the Hell people could believe such a thing was possible is beyond me. Barnum was right, except conservative in his estimate. There's MORE than one born every minute, at least in America.
#3
No promise was made, nor contract given. It's a tax. Just another damn tax, that's all it's ever been. There is a chance that the Feds might at some point in your lifespan give you some monies, but it is from the good of their cold, cold heart only.
#4
Moose, is right. The current crisis means all forms of welfare will have to be slashed in all developed countries in as little as a year. The money won't be there to pay for them even as demand for things like unemployment benefits increases. I reckon government revenues will fall by 15% to 20% next year. Revenue from taxes on business profits will collapse by at least 50%.
It will get ugly, especially where immigrants form a high proportion of welfare recipients, Ie most of Europe.
#5
Social Security will continue to be paid, in full, to everyone eligible under current requirements. To make this possible, private pension plans and IRAs and 401(k)s etc. will be 'merged' into Social Security. And the payouts will be far 'fairer' than those private plans for the evil rich would have been. From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs - er, voting numbers.
#6
taxation without representation got us our first revolution. This might be our second
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/30/2008 19:06 Comments ||
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#7
Swiping 401k's would certainly justify it. Apart from there being no mechanism to do it, there would be some fairly stiff resistance from a lot of people in the form of lawsuits, riots, etc.
Attackers set off explosions at anti-government protest sites Sunday, wounding 51 people and raising fears of widening confrontations in Thailand's worst political crisis that has strangled its economy and shut down its main airports.
The first blast occurred inside Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's office compound, which protesters seized in August and have held ever since. Suriyasai Katasiya, a spokesman for the protest group, said a grenade landed on the roof of a tent where protesters were resting, rolled down to the ground and exploded.
At least 49 people were injured, said Surachet Sathitniramai at the Narenthorn Medical Center. He said nine were hospitalized, including four in serious condition. Twenty-minutes after that attack, two more blasts rocked an anti-government television station but there were no injuries, Suriyasai said.
In another pre-dawn strike, an explosive device detonated on the road near the main entrance to Bangkok's Don Muang domestic airport. Surachet and an Associated Press television cameraman said two people were wounded. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts but Suriyasai blamed the government.
Tensions were rising as a pro-government group prepared to hold a rally in the heart of Bangkok later Sunday to express its support for Somchai, who is operating out of the northern city of Chiang Mai.
Government spokesman Nattawut Sai-Kua denied rumors that Somchai had left the country, saying he was definitely in Chiang Mai and had no plans to go abroad in the near future.
The prime minister has been reluctant to use force to evict the demonstrators from the People's Alliance for Democracy, who on Tuesday night overran Suvarnabhumi airport, the country's main international gateway.
The alliance seized Bangkok's domestic airport a day later, severing the capital from all commercial air traffic and virtually paralyzing the government.
National police deputy chief Lt. Gen. Pongpat Pongjaroen said police have begun negotiations with the protesters to end the standoff, but alliance leader Chamlong Srimuang denied it.
The alliance says it will not give up until Somchai resigns, accusing him of being a puppet of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the alliance's original target. Thaksin, who is Somchai's brother-in-law, was deposed in a 2006 military coup and has fled the country to escape corruption charges. ...
Posted by: ed ||
11/30/2008 07:42 ||
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Anti-government protesters tightened their grip on Bangkok's international airport on Saturday, attacking police checkpoints aimed at stopping more people from joining the blockade.
In the latest clash, about 150 riot police fled their checkpoint near Suvarnabhumi airport after they were assaulted by protesters hurling iron rods and firecrackers from speeding cars.
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) movement, which invaded the airport four days ago, then stationed guards on the expressway exit to prevent the police returning.
The protests, aimed at forcing out Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, have paralyzed flights, stranded thousands of passengers and sparked rumors of a military coup, even though the army chief has said he will not seize control.
Earlier, about 2,000 PAD members forced riot police to abandon another checkpoint near the airport. There was no violence, but one police officer was detained by PAD "security guards", the Nation newspaper reported on its website.
The PAD's occupation of Suvarnabhumi, and a second older airport in Bangkok, is a dramatic escalation of their six-month street campaign against Somchai.
The airport closures have crippled the tourism industry during the peak end-of-year season. Somchai, who has refused to quit, imposed emergency rule at the airports two days ago but police have made no moves to evict the thousands of protesters.
Somchai, who is running the government from its political stronghold in the northern city of Chiang Mai, demoted his national police chief on Friday. While no official reason was given, Thai newspapers said he had been sacked for refusing to send riot police in to end the protest.
"Shoot them back"
The PAD, a coalition of royalist businessmen, activists and academics who accuse Somchai of being a puppet of his brother-in-law, ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, seized the airports in a "final battle" to unseat the government.
At Suvarnabhumi, PAD youths armed with iron stakes and wearing police riot helmets manned barricades, scanning with binoculars for signs of police or pro-government gangs. "If they come, we'll not open the door. If they shoot us, we'll shoot them back. We'll die if that makes the country better," PAD leader Sondhi Limthongul told supporters, the most explicit admission yet by the movement that they are armed.
His co-leader, retired general Chamlong Srimuang, said the PAD had not held talks with authorities, but was open to meet "with people directly involved in the situation such as Somchai".
The crisis has reached an apparent stalemate, with the government seeking a peaceful solution but also under pressure to tackle opponents who have already cost Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy billions of dollars.
Pressure is building on the army to oust the prime minister, as they did Thaksin in 2006, after Somchai rejected military calls to quit this week.
But army chief Anupong Paochinda has said he would not take over, arguing the military cannot heal fundamental political rifts between the Bangkok elite and middle classes, who despise Thaksin, and the poor rural and urban majority who love him.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2008 00:00 ||
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...arguing the military cannot heal fundamental political rifts between the Bangkok elite and middle classes, who despise Thaksin, and the poor rural and urban majority who love him.
Sounds like a bunch of bible thumping, gun totting red necks to me. So, them citified folk are blues, and them rural folks are reds? /sarcasm off
Somali pirates have agreed on a ransom for a Ukrainian freighter carrying tanks and other heavy weapons and it could be released within days, a spokesman said Sunday.
Mikhail Voitenko said the MV Faina could be freed with its crew if agreement is reached on how to get the ransom money to the pirates, who seized the ship off the coast of Somalia in late September. He said there were negotiations on Friday.
"The owner has confirmed there is every reason to hope that it will be released in the coming week," said Voitenko, editor of Maritime Bulletin-Sovfrakht, a shipping news Web site.
He said he is acting as spokesman for the Faina's owner, Vadim Alperin. A man who answered the phone at Ukraine-based Tomex Team, the ship's technical manager, confirmed that Voitenko was the owner's spokesman. The man refused to give his name.
Voitenko would not give the amount of the agreed ransom, but suggested it was far lower than the pirates' initial $20 million demand. He said the average ransom for ships hijacked in the region in recent months was $1.5 million to $1.8 million and that the latest public demand he was aware of for the Faina was $3 million.
A successful release of the ship and its cargo and crew would signal to pirates that they cannot expect to sell or receive higher ransoms for valuable cargoes, Voitenko said. Somali pirates seized the Sirius Star, a Saudi tanker carrying $100 million worth of crude oil, on Nov. 15.
Voitenko said the Faina's hijackers may be seeking a guarantee that they will not be attacked at sea or on shore after releasing the ship. He said a British-based company is conducting the negotiations, but would not reveal its name.
#5
"Faina's hijackers may be seeking a guarantee that they will not be attacked at sea or on shore after releasing the ship. He said a British-based company is conducting the negotiations"
I am hoping that certain special operators are not bound by said negotiations. Pirates must be killed, to a man. Family too if they were involved.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) froze its oil output quota on Saturday after emergency talks in Cairo but vowed to take any action necessary to balance the market next month. According OPEC president Chakib Khelil, Ministers chose not to change oil production quotas. My guess, having neither any money nor any detailed knowledge of the commodities market, is that the guys who were bidding oil out of sight are now in fairly dire financial straits themselves, which is allowing prices to fall back to where they would have been under normal circumstances. I'd also guess, both caveats remaining in place, that the prices we're at now are still higher than they should be.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/30/2008 00:00 ||
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(Rubbing hands and gigling madly)
NOW YOU HURT A FEW YEARS, BASTARDS.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/30/2008 12:51 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Anti-government protesters tightened their grip on Bangkok's international airport on Saturday, attacking police checkpoints aimed at stopping more people from joining the blockade.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) froze its oil output quota on Saturday after emergency talks in Cairo but vowed to take any action necessary to balance the market next month. According OPEC president Chakib Khelil, Ministers chose not to change oil production quotas.
