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WASHINGTON: The United States declassified documents Monday
detailing how Washington propped up ex-Indonesian leader Suharto,
who died at the weekend, at the expense of democracy and human
rights. The documents, declassified following requests under a
freedom of information law, showed the US administration did not use
its leverage to bring Suharto to account during his 32-year reign
until his last months in office. “One thing that is clear from the
tens of thousands of pages of which we had declassified concerning
US ties with Suharto from 1966 to 1998, at no moment did US
presidents ever exercise their maximum leverage over his regime to
press for human rights or democratization,” Brad Simpson of the
National Security Archive said.
-- AFP
GUANGZHOU: Bad weather has led authorities in
south China’s Guangdong province to advise millions of migrants to
stay in the cities where they work during the upcoming Spring
Festival because they may not be able to complete their journey
home. “Authorities shall persuade migrant workers to postpone
homebound journeys and strive to keep more than 65 percent of them
in Guangdong during the festival,” said a circular issued by the
Department of Labor and Social Security in Guangdong, a southern
province with 30 million migrant workers.
-- Xinhua
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani soldier was killed in the
latest clashes between security forces and Islamic militants; in a
restive tribal area bordering Afghanistan, the military said
Tuesday. The fighting erupted at Shishamwan village in South
Waziristan, where pro-Taliban militants are active, a statement
said. “One security forces personnel embraced shahadat
[martyrdom]. Casualties of miscreants could not be ascertained,”
the statement said. Pakistani officials use the word
“miscreants” to describe militants.
-- AFP
BALI, INDONESIA: Delegates from over 100
countries are sharing experiences and strategies on Stolen Asset
Recovery (StAR) Initiative at a ministerial roundtable in UN
Convention Against Corruption held here Tuesday. As one of technical
assistance, StAR helps nations knock down barriers that make asset
recovery complex, said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of
the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). He emphasized
the importance of efficiency for asset recovery, because corrupt
leaders will splurged the stolen assets quickly. The StAR
Initiative, which was launched by World Bank and UNODC last
September, aims to help poorer nations retrieve assets spirited away
to richer nations.
-- Xinhua
NAIROBI: Kenya’s opposition movement on
Tuesday appealed for calm and restraint following the murder in
Nairobi of one of its lawmakers. “This is a new kind of violence
but let’s call again on people to be peaceful and to only respond
to this kind of violence by shunning violence,” Orange Democratic
Movement (ODM) spokesman Salim Lone said. ODM MP Mugabe Were was
shot dead outside his house early Tuesday in a murder the police
believe is linked to the dispute that erupted over last month’s
presidential election.
-- AFP
BANGKOK: Thailand’s Army Chief Gen. Anupong
Paochinda on Tuesday voiced readiness to work under the Samak
Sundaravej government and declined to comment if the prime minister
would hold the concurrent position of defense minister. Anupong, the
close aide of former army chief Sonthi Boonyaratkalin who launched a
military coup ousting then premier Thaksin Shinawatra, said on
Tuesday that the armed forces were ready to serve under political
office holders elected by the people.
-- Xinhua
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