DER SPIEGEL 36/2003 - 01. September 2003
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/english/0,1518,263823,00.html
Cover Story

"End the Occupation"

Interview with Shiite leader Muktada al-Sadr, on the conflict with the Americans.
SPIEGEL: You have demanded the speedy withdrawal of the "American occupiers." Won't this only worsen the already chaotic situation in Iraq?
Sadr: Any occupation is abominable. The longer occupiers remain in a country, the more severe are the consequences. The Americans must leave. Otherwise, the wave of violence will become overwhelming. Out with the Americans, and better today than tomorrow!
SPIEGEL: Isn't precisely the reverse the case? If the Americans were not in the country, a war would break out among rival gangs that would overshadow everything that has happened to date.
Sadr: The Americans are the ones who are driving things to a head. They appear to be neither capable nor willing to reestablish general security, as the attack on the UN headquarters building in Baghdad has shown. The assassinations of Shiite clerics here in Najaf also demonstrate what we can expect from George Bush' soldiers.
SPIEGEL: You cannot hold the Americans responsible for the attack on UN headquarters or the terrorist assassinations.
Sadr: If the occupiers had pursued a credible security policy, something like this would not have been possible. Both friends and enemies say this.
SPIEGEL: There are no Americans patrolling Najaf. The city is responsible for security. The assassination of the Ayatollah was obviously planned by rivals or by supporters of Saddam.
Sadr: I condemn this crime in the strongest possible terms!
SPIEGEL: There are many indications that Bin Laden's Al Qaeda has gained a foothold in Iraq.
Sadr: That would serve as additional evidence of the incapacity of the Americans and of the need to act quickly and not to waste any more time. However, we must not allow anything to deter us from our main objective, which is to end the occupation.
SPIEGEL: With force? After all, you have a highly well-armed militia at your disposal ...
Sadr: ... No, no. I don't issue any orders to shoot. The Americans should be driven from the country with peaceful means.
SPIEGEL: How will that work?
Sadr: Peaceful appeals, mass protests, political pressure - oh, there are many methods and means.
SPIEGEL: Many of your religious brethren believe it is more advisable to allow the Americans to remain in the country until a democratic political platform materializes.
Sadr: A "democratic platform" as a gift from the Americans? That's ridiculous. The soldiers of Mr. Bush have not set up camp here in order to honor us with their American democracy.
SPIEGEL: Why are they here?
Sadr: Washington planned the invasion of Iraq long ago. The Americans are interested in highly self-serving objectives, which is why they will not leave our country until the day they have achieved their goals.
SPIEGEL: Do you accuse the Americans of pursuing a colonial policy in Iraq?
Sadr: I do. And I am not the only one who believes this.
SPIEGEL: You fear a lengthy occupation period, and yet you are not in favor of violent resistance. Based on this reasoning, do you also condemn the attacks on the US army, which are increasing from one day to the next?
Sadr: The supporters of the deposed regime of terror are criminals, and every Iraqi should stand up to them. Anyone who takes up arms to allow the Saddam era to return is an enemy of the people.
SPIEGEL: The newly convened "Governing Council" is attempting to lay the groundwork for a democratic future ...
Sadr: ... What a sorry bunch! Those 25 people, who were arbitrarily appointed by US governor Paul Bremer, are by no means representative of Iraq.
SPIEGEL: Several well-known Muslims, including some of your fellow Shiites, are members of this new council.
Sadr: Which does not change the fact that they do not have the mandate of the people. In addition, they do not answer to the people. Instead, they report to Bremer and must obey him.
SPIEGEL: What would be the political alternative?
Sadr: The occupation force must hold elections within the immediate future. Allowing the people to decide on the political structure desired by the Iraqis could represent a start. But this must happen now and not at some point in the future. I think it is telling that the Americans express themselves vaguely in this regard and do not mention a specific date, so as not to allow themselves to be pinned down.
SPIEGEL: The governing council you so despise is preparing for elections.
Sadr: Yes, yes, yes. All empty talk. Don't you realize that the composition of the "Council" is already unacceptable to any reasonable Iraqi?
SPIEGEL: The Shiites are well-represented with 13 of the council's 25 members.
Sadr: That's not the point. I object to the appointment of the council's members by the chief of the occupying power and the lack of qualification of many members. Not a single cleric from Najaf is represented, which makes a mockery of human reason. No, the council is worthless. We will boycott it. In our minds, it does not exist.
SPIEGEL: In that case, who should hold the elections you demand?
Sadr: Politicians elected by the people.
SPIEGEL: What if the Americans were to have the council members ratified by the people?
Sadr: The people should not bestow its blessing on US dictates. It should nominate its own candidates and then vote. It would all be a farce and an abuse of the concept of democracy.
SPIEGEL: Even if things were to progress the way you would like, the new Iraq would run the risk of a conflict with the Kurds. This could destroy all the political negotiations in Baghdad.
Sadr: Blood has already been shed, unfortunately. I am aware of that. But if we have a true democracy, rather than a falsely democratic occupation regime, we and our Kurdish fellow citizens will arrive at a solution acceptable to both sides. After all, the Kurds are also Muslims.

INTERVIEW: VOLKHARD WINDFUHR
Translated by Christopher Sultan


? DER SPIEGEL 36/2003
Alle Rechte vorbehalten

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>> CLARK SKELETONS 2...

RWANDA--CLARKE OBSTRUCTED ACTION [Rich Lowry]
The Clinton administration's conduct during the Rwandan genocide was one of the more shameful episodes in recent American history, and Dick Clarke was in the middle of it--playing politics, at least according to this passage from Samantha Power's excellent book A Problem from Hell:
"At the NSC the person who managed Rwanda policy was not [Tony] Lake but Richard Clarke, who oversaw peacekeeping policy and for whom the news from Rwanda only confirmed a deep skepticism about the viability of UN deployments. Clarke believed that another UN failure could doom relations between Congress and the United Nations. He also sought to shield the president from congressional and public criticism. Donald Steinberg managed the Africa portfolio at the NSC and tried to look out for the dying Rwandans, but he was not an experienced in-fighter, and, colleagues say, he `never won a single argument' with Clarke."
Posted at 04:51 PM

CLINTON KNEW... [Rich Lowry]
... about the Rwandan genocide, at least according to this story in the Guardian:

Papers prove US knew of genocide in Rwanda
By Rory Carroll
April 1, 2004
US president Bill Clinton's administration knew Rwanda was being engulfed by genocide in April 1994 but buried the information to justify its inaction, classified documents made available for the first time reveal.
Senior officials privately used the word genocide within 16 days of the start of the killings, but chose not to do so publicly because the president had already decided not to intervene.
Intelligence reports obtained using the US Freedom of Information Act show the cabinet and almost certainly the president knew of a planned "final solution to eliminate all Tutsis" before the slaughter reached its peak.
It took Hutu death squads three months from April 6 to murder about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus and at each stage accurate, detailed reports were reaching Washington policymakers.
The documents undermine claims by Mr Clinton and his officials that they did not fully appreciate the scale and speed of the killings.
"It's powerful proof that they knew," said Alison des Forges, a Human Rights Watch researcher and authority on the genocide.
Posted at 04:22 PM

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Papers prove US knew of genocide in Rwanda
By Rory Carroll
April 1, 2004
US president Bill Clinton's administration knew Rwanda was being engulfed by genocide in April 1994 but buried the information to justify its inaction, classified documents made available for the first time reveal.
Senior officials privately used the word genocide within 16 days of the start of the killings, but chose not to do so publicly because the president had already decided not to intervene.
Intelligence reports obtained using the US Freedom of Information Act show the cabinet and almost certainly the president knew of a planned "final solution to eliminate all Tutsis" before the slaughter reached its peak.
It took Hutu death squads three months from April 6 to murder about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus and at each stage accurate, detailed reports were reaching Washington policymakers.
The documents undermine claims by Mr Clinton and his officials that they did not fully appreciate the scale and speed of the killings.
"It's powerful proof that they knew," said Alison des Forges, a Human Rights Watch researcher and authority on the genocide.
The National Security Archive, an independent non-governmental research institute based in Washington, went to court to obtain the material.
It discovered that a secret CIA briefing circulated to Mr Clinton, his vice-president, Al Gore, and hundreds of officials included almost daily reports on Rwanda. One, dated April 23, 1994, said rebels would continue fighting to "stop the genocide, which . . . is spreading south".
Three days later the secretary of state, Warren Christopher, and other officials were told of "genocide and partition" and of declarations of a "final solution to eliminate all Tutsis".
However, the administration did not publicly use the word genocide until May 25 and even then diluted its impact by saying "acts of genocide".
Ms des Forges said: "They feared this word would generate public opinion which would demand some sort of action and they didn't want to act."
The administration did not want to repeat the fiasco of intervention in Somalia, where US troops became sucked into fighting. It also felt the US had no interests in Rwanda, a small central African country with no minerals or strategic value.
Many analysts and historians fault Washington and other Western countries not just for failing to support the token force of overwhelmed United Nations peacekeepers but also for failing to speak out more forcefully during the slaughter.
Mr Clinton has apologised for those failures but the declassified documents undermine his defence of ignorance.
On a visit to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, in 1998 Mr Clinton apologised for not acting quickly enough or immediately calling the crimes genocide.
The Guardian
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/31/1080544556703.html
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Texas scandal throws doubt on anti-drug task forces
Wed Mar 31, 6:53 AM ET
By Laura Parker, USA TODAY
A 16-year-old federal program that has poured about $500 million a year into more than 750 regional anti-drug task forces is under fire from critics who say that a lack of oversight has led to wrongful convictions of citizens and theft, perjury and misuse of public funds by law enforcement officers.
The focus of many of the complaints from groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) has been the scandal in Tulia, Texas, where more than 40 residents - most of them black - were sent to jail after an officer allegedly lied in court about selling them drugs during a sting operation in 1999.
No drugs were ever recovered during raids in the Tulia case, and the investigator, Tom Coleman, produced no physical evidence to back up his testimony. Doubts surrounding the convictions eventually led Texas Gov. Rick Perry to pardon nearly all of the defendants last year. This month, the defendants reached a $5 million settlement with officials in nearby Amarillo, the hub for the task force operations.
Under the agreement, the Panhandle Regional Narcotics Trafficking Task Force, a multiagency unit that covered 26 counties, was disbanded. The task force's downfall - along with local officials' acknowledgement that it lacked leadership - cast a spotlight on problems in other federally funded task forces.
Investigations into possible misconduct by members of such task forces are underway in nine states. In some cases, criminal charges against people arrested in drug stings have been dismissed; in other cases, convictions have been overturned.
The situation has led the ACLU and other groups to call on Congress to either overhaul the federal grant program that provides most of the funding for the anti-drug task forces, or to eliminate the program. The critics say multicounty task forces are too easily corrupted and have become ineffective.
The chief complaint against the anti-drug units - which often involve more than two dozen law enforcement agencies - is that no one is in charge of supervising them.
"These are nameless, faceless, roaming operations that are not subject to the ballot box or city council scrutiny," says Will Harrell, executive director of the ACLU of Texas, which has urged the Texas Legislature to disband all 45 of the task forces that state. "The states assume no responsibility over their actions. All they are required to do is report their numbers of arrests. It's all about quantity, not quality."
In a statement about the settlement, officials in Amarillo acknowledged that "there was a void of leadership in the task force."
Anti-drug task forces operate throughout the country. They get 75% of their funding from the federal Byrne grant program and 25% from local counties. The federal program, named for Edward Byrne, a New York City police officer who was killed on duty in 1988, was created under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 to provide money to help states reduce violent crime and fight drugs.
Federal funding for the grant program has averaged $500 million a year, the Justice Department (news - web sites) says. The grants are distributed to every congressional district in the country.
Supporters credit the grants with helping local law enforcement target illegal drug distribution, which has become increasingly more sophisticated and mobile. A recent study by the National Institute of Justice found that anti-drug task forces play a key role in law enforcement efforts.
The 2002 annual report of the grant program cited success in Utah, which received $4.5 million that year to support 16 task forces that have battled trafficking of methamphetamine. The task forces arrested more than 3,000 people that year and seized $2.1 million in drugs, the report said.
In Washington, the Justice Department has proposed streamlining its grant procedure by folding the Byrne program into two other grant programs. Richard Nedelkoff, director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, said in a report that the change would help correct a lack of coordination between states and local communities.
But critics say the changes would not fix what they see as the fundamental flaw in the program: a lack of oversight of law enforcement officers.
Vanita Gupta, a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which exposed the abuses in Tulia, says the changes address accounting oversights, not supervision of personnel.
"You can tweak a program, but it takes some serious reform to address the problems of Tulia," she says.
She says the way grants are awarded contributes to the potential for corruption. "A system that encourages higher numbers of arrests in order to obtain greater funds the next time around creates perverse incentives for abuse."
Rep. John Conyers (news, bio, voting record) of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee (news - web sites), says the panel will hold oversight hearings into the Tulia scandal in May.
The Tulia case drew national attention because almost all of the 46 people arrested in the drug sting are black. In a town of 5,000 people, those arrested made up nearly 10% of the black population.
The sting in Tulia was run by Coleman, who worked alone and unsupervised. He did not wear a recording device during any of his alleged drug purchases and conducted no video surveillance.
Coleman faces trial on perjury charges in May. He has pleaded not guilty and has declined to comment on his case.
The scandal led the Texas Legislature to pass a law that testimony from confidential informants must be corroborated with other evidence.
Jeff Blackburn, one of the lawyers who represented the defendants, calls the settlement of the lawsuit "historic" because it is one of the first times an anti-drug task force has been sued successfully.
Previous claims against task forces ran into legal roadblocks because of questions over whether the task forces, which technically are not government entities, could be sued.
"We're putting out the message that doing business as an essentially ungovernable rogue task force is a very expensive proposition for all cities and counties involved," Blackburn says.

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World Court to Decide for 52 Mexicans
Wed Mar 31, 4:18 AM ET
By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Fifty-two Mexican citizens sit on death row in American prisons awaiting a court's ruling. It's not the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites), but the highest court of the United Nations (news - web sites) that is considering whether the convicted murderers received a fair trial.
The International Court of Justice hands down its decision Wednesday on a petition by Mexico that the executions are unjust since the prisoners were never informed when they were arrested of their right to consular assistance from Mexico.
At the heart of the Mexico-U.S. case is the 1963 Vienna Convention, which guarantees people accused of a serious crime while in a foreign country the right to contact their own government for help.
At the opening of the hearing, presiding Chinese judge Shi Jiuyong said the court had dismissed four U.S. objections of its jurisdiction. The reading of the entire judgment could take several hours.
The International Court of Justice, also known as the world court, is charged with resolving disputes between nations and has jurisdiction over the treaty.
The United States is portraying the case as a sovereignty issue, and says the 15-judge tribunal should be wary of allowing itself to be used as a criminal appeals court, which is not its mandate.
In hearings in December, lawyers for Mexico argued that any U.S. citizen accused of a serious crime abroad would want the same right, and the only fair solution for the 52 men allegedly denied diplomatic help was to start their legal processes all over again.
Juan Manuel Gomez said that Mexico "doesn't contest the United States' right as a sovereign country to impose the death penalty for the most grave crimes," but wants to make sure its citizens aren't abused by a foreign legal system they don't always understand.
U.S. lawyer William Taft argued that the prisoners had received fair trials. He said even if the prisoners didn't get consular help, the way to remedy the wrong "must be left to the United States."
In its written arguments, the United States said that Mexico's request would be a "radical intrusion" into the U.S. justice system, contradicting laws and customs in every city and state in the nation.
"The court has never ordered any form of restitution nearly as far reaching as that sought by Mexico," the arguments said.
In 2001, a similar case came before the court filed by Germany to stop the execution of two German brothers who also had not been informed of their right to consular assistance. One brother was executed before the court could act. The judges ordered a stay of execution for the second brother, Walter LaGrand, until it could deliberate, but he was executed anyway by the state authorities of Arizona.
Under the court's statute, its judgments are "binding, final and without appeal." Its rulings have only rarely been ignored, and if one side claims the other has failed to carry out the court's decision, it may take the issue to the U.N. Security Council.
When the court finally handed down the belated ruling in 2001, it chastised the U.S. government for not halting the LaGrand execution, and rejected arguments that Washington was powerless to intervene in criminal cases under the authority of the individual states.
The U.S. written argument urged the court to follow the remedy it suggested in the LaGrand case, and quoted from the court's decision in that case:
"The United States, by means of its own choosing, shall allow the review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence."
In the current case, the court ordered the United States to halt the execution process of three Mexicans, two in Texas and one in Oklahoma, until the ruling.
The prisoners are still alive. The first of the men, Osbaldo Torres, is scheduled to be executed in Oklahoma in May.
The death penalty is opposed by most developed countries, but the issue has been a special source of irritation to Mexico. The Death Penalty Information Center says 55 of the 121 foreigners on U.S. death row are Mexican.
Mexican President Vicente Fox (news - web sites) canceled a visit to President Bush (news - web sites)'s ranch in 2002 to protest the execution of a Mexican citizen not mentioned in the world court suit. The visit finally took place earlier this month.

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>> KCNA - radioactive dust?

Researches into Sandy Dust Brisk in Korea
Pyongyang, March 30 (KCNA) -- Researches into sandy dust are proceeding in high gear with it hitting Korea quite often these days. A study group has been formed with scientists and technicians of the Central Hydrology Institute of the Hydro-Meteorological Service and the Environment Preservation and Study Centre of the Ministry of Land and Environment Preservation. They have registered successes in quickly forecasting sandy dust by correctly judging the climatic change in the areas where it develops. In close contact with all the provincial hydro-meteorological stations, they observe the sandy dust phenomenon in time and grasp the regional distribution of sandy dust and its course of movement on a scientific basis and immediately report them to all parts of the country.
Scientists of the Geography Institute of the Academy of Sciences are doing their share in finding out the areas where sandy dust develops to hit Korea and the size of dust particles and their influence on the climate and weather of the country in time.
Scientists of the Hygienic Institute and the Radioactive Medical Institute of the Academy of Medical Science are engaged in researches into the possible radioactive content in sandy dust and its effect on the human body.
Scientists and technicians of the Crop Cultivation Institute and the Central Vegetable Institute of the Academy of Agricultural Science are making more concrete and comprehensive researches into the effect of sandy dust on crops.
The energetic researches of the scientists in various fields are effectively preventing damages done to the health of man and natural environment by sandy dust.


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U.S. Termed World's Biggest Human Rights Abuser
Pyongyang, March 30 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun Tuesday in a signed article brands the U.S. as the world's biggest human rights abuser. The United States is pulling up the DPRK over the human rights issue whenever an opportunity presents itself, the article says, and goes on:
It has become customary for the U.S. to work out and release a report on human rights performance in other countries every year. It is behaving as if it were an inspector and judge of the world human rights situation. This is aimed to raise its position by wielding "the human rights club" and use it as leverage for launching aggression against other countries in a bid to put the world under its domination.
The U.S. is the most ferocious violator of sovereignty and abuser of human rights. It does not hesitate to threaten and blackmail those countries which incur its displeasure and destroy them by mobilizing armed forces under absurd pretexts. In recent years it waged several wars of aggression against those countries.
The U.S. bellicose forces are stepping up preparations for a nuclear war against humankind. The U.S. nuclear blackmail and its moves to provoke a nuclear war are vicious criminal acts as they create a terror-ridden atmosphere in the international community and hinder the creative activities of people and the progress of history. Its moves to provoke a nuclear war are the most hideous human rights abuse. Such being a stark fact, the U.S. is admonishing other countries for what it called human rights issues, while keeping mum about its wanton violation of sovereignty and abuses of human rights. This reminds one of a thief crying "Stop the thief!" as this can be committed only by those who are bereft of elementary socio-political and legal awareness.
The world progressive people are resolutely rebuffing the U.S. doctrine of "human rights" as a doctrine of aggression and a means for domination.
The U.S. hue and cry over human rights issues will only precipitate its isolation and self-destruction.

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U.S. Warhawks' Projected Deployment of Aegis in East Sea of Korea Flayed
Pyongyang, March 30 (KCNA) -- The Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland in its information bulletin No. 864 on Tuesday bitterly denounced the U.S. warhawks's adventurous moves to deploy uptodate Aegis as a vicious challenge to the unanimous aspiration and desire of all the Koreans for peace of the country and its peaceful reunification and an open military provocation to the DPRK. The information bulletin said:
Recently the U.S. announced that it would keep latest type destroyer Aegis equipped with uptodate missile interceptor system in the East Sea of Korea on a permanent basis from September under the pretext of coping with the "ballistic missile attack" from someone.
This clearly indicates that the U.S. war scenario against the DPRK is being put into practice in real earnest at a final phase as it is a dangerous military provocation leading the situation on the Korean peninsula and in the region to the worst phase.
As this move has brought the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK aimed to stifle it by force of arms into bolder relief, the DPRK is left with no other option but to take a self-defensive step to cope with it.
Strength is not a monopoly of the United States. It should act with discretion, clearly seeing who its opponent is, withdraw its aggression forces from the Korean peninsula at an early date and stop at once its moves to unleash a war against the DPRK.
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Truth behind False Report about "Experiment of Chem. Weapons on Human Bodies" in DPRK Disclosed
Pyongyang, March 30 (KCNA) -- Kang Pyong Sop and his family who are makers of false documents about the "experiment of chemical weapons on human bodies" in the DPRK called a press conference at the People's Palace of Culture here Tuesday to clarify the truth behind the false report about this experiment in the DPRK released by media of south Korea and the West. He said:
There are five members in my family including myself, my wife, two sons and a daughter who is married.
The documents on "experiment of chemical weapons on human bodies" widely misused by enemies were false documents fabricated by my first son Kang Song Guk, who defected to the south seven years ago, and my family, he said, disclosing the truth of the case before Korean and foreign journalists as the maker, observer and witness of those false documents.
He continued:
We received messages from our first son on several occasions, saying that he had caused many troubles to his parents and requesting us to meet him in China so that he could give us some money. So I crossed the border illegally with my wife on the 29th of August last year and met him in Yanji. And in early November I met my second son Song Hak there, too.
Song Guk said to his parents that if they would say that they had brought important information about "the experiment of chemical weapons on human bodies" at a workshop in the February 8 Vinalon Complex where his father works, they would be given a huge sum of money by human rights organizations in the south.
When I said the production of chemical weapons was unthinkable at my complex, my son told me that he would prepare documents, insisting that those human rights organizations in the south would simply believe that the complex is a chemical factory and may produce such things.
Then Song Guk took several papers out of a cardboard box on which such letters as "Certificate of Transfer", "name, sex, date of birth", "place of birth" and "place of residence" are printed.
Then he asked me to recall the names of those who died in one or two years back.
We wrote the name of Rim Chun Hwa, elder maternal cousin, on one paper. He worked as a farmer in Sinhung County, South Hamgyong Province and died of an illness. Names of four more people were written on separate papers though we knew nothing of them.
I told my son Song Guk that "songmyong" and "saengnyonwolil" (which means 'name' and 'date of birth' in the Korean translation of old Chinese characters) are not used in documents in the DPRK but 'irum' and 'nannal' (which means the same, but is a pure Korean language) are used. When I told him what was the use of making such false documents, he reproached me instead, saying that he would take care of everything.
He said that his handwriting would not do because they would easily recognize it. Then he asked me to write a few letters. As my handwriting looked bad, he asked his brother Song Hak, a university graduate, to copy it from a draft paper. He then took out a seal and an ink-pad from a box and stamped the false documents with a seal.
When seeing that seal, I knew that the seal was a fake because the national emblem on the seal was not real. The mountain above the hydro-power station was not Mt. Paektu, but an ordinary mountain and there was only a dam without any generating house beside it.
This is the real story about how false documents about the "experiment of chemical weapons on human bodies" which we have never witnessed or heard of and which has never taken place came into being and were delivered to the south by Song Guk.
The fabrication of false documents was, in the long run, a criminal act that tarnished the image of the dignified DPRK.
Kang Song Hak, who had been enticed into writing out the false documents, said:
My brother said that we were doing it to make a large sum of money. But I think that it was a political farce orchestrated before we went to China.
My brother was idle from his early years and did not like to study at all. It is hard to believe that such false documents were invented by my brother's head.
I think that my brother was allured by some agents who sought to isolate and stifle the DPRK and tempted us to fabricate the false documents about the non-existent "experiment of chemical weapons on human bodies".
Speaking of how the false documents were written, Song Hak said in the "certificate of transfer" in the name of Rim Chun Hwa, he put Rim's place of birth as "Huinsil-dong, Sapho District, Hungnam City, South Hamgyong Province." But Sapho District is in Hamhung City, not Hungnam City. As I filled in what my elder brother dictated, I wrote down a wrong name which hardly be found among the administrative districts of the DPRK.
My elder brother waited for the sealed space of the papers to get completely dry before crumpling them and putting them in water.
Then he took out and spread all the papers before drying them again. When I asked him why he was doing like that, he answered it was necessary to make any examiner to take them for real, not for false ones.
This was how I wrote the horrifying false documents on the DPRK's alleged "experiment of chemical weapons on human bodies" the kind of which the Nazi Germany committed against POWs during World War II and which I had only seen in movies.
Kang Song Hak then showed his handwriting to the journalists.
Daughter Kang Hye Yong said:
My motherland showed leniency to my family for our frank confession of crimes, and allowed us to live together as before after we returned home. I've been hearing about and experiencing the benevolent and all-embracing politics of the Workers' Party of Korea and the Government of the DPRK time and again but I've never felt it so keenly and deeply as now.
I curse my eldest brother Kang Song Guk who betrayed not only his own family but his own motherland. I also hate those who instigated him to drive our family into such an abyss of sin.
Kang Pyong Sop's family asked journalists to disclose the truth of the mean trick of those trying to slander our dignified DPRK to the whole world.

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>> MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA AND AGITATION GOT TO HIM?

N. Korean News Agency Says Witness Lied
Tue Mar 30,10:46 PM ET
By SANG-HUN CHOE, Associated Press Writer
SEOUL, South Korea - A North Korean engineer credited with smuggling out documents on alleged gas chamber experiments in the isolated communist state said Tuesday that the papers were fake.
Kang Pyong Sop, 59, said he was tricked into handing fabricated documents over to South Korean human rights activists, according to the North's state-run KCNA news agency.
Rights activists in February released papers they said were from Kang that verified North Korea (news - web sites) was conducting gas chamber experiments on political prisoners.
However, there was no way to confirm the documents' authenticity.
It was unclear under what circumstances Kang held the news conference.
"The documents on 'experiment of chemical weapons on human bodies' widely misused by enemies were false documents fabricated by my first son Kang Song Guk -- who defected to the South 7 years ago -- and my family," Kang said on Tuesday, according to KCNA.
Rights activists had said that Kang, an engineer at the North Korean chemicals complex, was arrested with his wife and a son by Chinese authorities while trying to cross from China to Laos on Jan. 3 in an attempt to defect to South Korea (news - web sites), where Kang's son Song Guk had already gone.
Kang said he met Song Guk in China in November, and the son gave him fake, blank official documents and asked him to write in the accounts of gas chamber experiments. The son claimed such documents could fetch "a huge sum of money" from South Korean human rights activists, Kang said.


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>> IRAN WATCH CONTINUED...

Diplomats: New Data Suggests Secret Iran Atomic Plan
Wed Mar 31,11:05 AM ET Reuters
By Louis Charbonneau
VIENNA (Reuters) - New intelligence on Iran has fueled suspicions the Islamic Republic has a secret uranium- enrichment program, possibly aimed at producing fuel for an atom bomb program, Western diplomats say.
The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has been investigating Iran's atomic program ever since an exiled opposition group reported in August 2002 that Tehran was hiding a massive enrichment plant at Natanz.
Under fire over U.S. suspicions that its nuclear power program is a front for building atomic weapons -- a charge Iran denies -- Tehran agreed last year to submit to tougher IAEA inspections and suspend all enrichment-related activities.
But a group of Western diplomats who follow the IAEA said recent intelligence has provoked suspicion that Tehran moved enrichment activities away from Natanz to smaller sites that are part of a parallel program U.N. inspectors have not uncovered.
"We've got lot of intelligence about small enrichment plants (in Iran) for some months, going back to the November (IAEA) board meeting," one Western diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The diplomat gave no details about the form of this intelligence.
Iran's ambassador to the United Nations (news - web sites) in Vienna, Pirooz Hosseini, told Reuters in a telephone interview that the latest charges were "baseless" and "an attempt to destroy the fruitful cooperation between the IAEA and Iran."
An IAEA spokeswoman declined to comment.
"HIDE-AND-SEEK"
Allegations that Tehran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, may be hiding facilities from the IAEA are nothing new. However, the specific allegation that Tehran had shifted enrichment activities away from Natanz to smaller sites was first made publicly by an Iranian exile last month.
Alireza Jafarzadeh, formerly a spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and now president of the Washington-based Strategic Policy Consulting, Inc., told Reuters on March 9 about a "recent meeting" of top Iranian officials who decided to shift enrichment activities to small, secret plants.
He said the group, which included Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had also decided to "speed up the nuclear weapons program" to get a bomb by the end of 2005 and that Tehran "would pursue a deliberate game of hide and seek with the IAEA."
Washington lists the NCRI as a terrorist organization and shut down its offices last year.
However, the NCRI has a good track record on Iran's atomic program. Jafarzadeh said his latest information came from the same "well-informed sources inside Iran" that told him about Natanz and a heavy-water production facility at Arak in 2002.
Jafarzadeh's allegations appeared to receive support from a recent intelligence report, an analysis of which was obtained last week by the Los Angeles Times. This analysis, seen by Reuters, said Iran had set up a committee last year whose task was to hide activities from the IAEA's nuclear sleuths.
Among the allegedly hidden sites are some 300 plants making parts for centrifuges, which spin at supersonic speeds to purify uranium for use as fuel for power plants or in bombs.
Iran had suspended IAEA inspections on March 12, ostensibly in retaliation against an IAEA resolution that "deplores" Iran's failure to inform the U.N. of sensitive research on items like "P2" centrifuges capable of producing bomb-grade material.
Two weeks later Tehran let the inspectors return, though several Western diplomats said the retaliation may have been an excuse to buy more time to hide activities from the IAEA.
One Western diplomat said that the intelligence could not be considered the "silver bullet" that proved these allegations about a parallel enrichment program beyond any doubt.
"Intelligence gives you well-founded suspicions," said the diplomat, who is convinced the suspicions about Iran's secret enrichment sites "are well-founded."
All the diplomats said that if Tehran had decided to hide enrichment facilities from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the IAEA would have great difficulty finding them without specific leads.
"An enrichment facility can be the least visible part of the fuel cycle. It looks like any other industrial site," one said.

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Iranian Youth Organization to Supreme Leader Khamenei: 'What A Huge Lie You Are Telling!'

On the occasion of the Iranian holiday of Nourouz, or New Year, the Iranian Organization of Combatant Youth criticized a declaration by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in which he thanked "enthusiastic" Iranian citizens for turning out in such large numbers for February's elections for the Majlis (parliament). Khamenei praised the citizens for thus "nullifying the plots of the enemies against Iran." The following is the organization's reaction: [1]
"We must say to him [i.e. Khamenei], 'What a huge lie you are telling!' The majority of the people of Iran know that, despite all the games and actions taken by the agents of the Velayat Faqih ['rule of the jurisprudent,' that is, Khamenei's] regime, and despite all their intervention in the 'forced elections,' it was declared that 51.5% of qualified [voters] participated in the elections. In dictatorial regimes, this cannot be called 'enthusiastic participation,' because in such regimes 98% of the people vote.
"As far as is known, in the recent forced election, only 14% of the eligible voters came to the polls. The highest estimate of [voter] numbers, which was in greater Tehran, was 400,000, [and] many of them were regime employees or their relatives, and many came to the polling places out of coercion or fear. And even so, some of them voted a blank ballot.
"Given the above facts, how can someone calling himself the 'Leader of Muslims' and 'the legitimate representative of the Hidden Imam' invent such a huge lie in the beginning of the New Year, about the voting by enthusiastic people - instead of just being quiet. Aren't you ashamed before God?
"My dear countrymen: The actions, deeds, and words of those who call themselves religious have made people question religious principles, and [also caused] many to turn away from Islam.
"The akhounds [clerics [2] ] who rule Iran have no respect for the national rights of the Iranian people; rather, they use Islam to further their own satanic goals - even if this results in the ruin of the nation and the uprooting of religious principles. [But] the most important thing is that their own demonic games are protected at any price.
"My dear countrymen, we must wake up. Our homeland is going to wreck and ruin. In our current circumstances, we must unite. Our disunity is what the enemy of this godly land desires. We must unite in order to save our beloved Iran from the rule of these thieves and criminals. We must rebuild our land. We cannot remain silent, and we must have a united front with good plans.
"We must advance towards our sacred goal - liberty, justice, and equality."

[1] http://khabarnameh.gooya.com/politics/archives/008021.php
[2] In Persian, this word has a negative connotation.

http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD68904

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>> OUR FRIENDS THE SAUDIS...

Human Rights Organizations: The Saudi Model
By: Aluma Dankowitz*
On March 9, 2004, Saudi Arabia's King Fahd Bin Abd Al-Aziz officially approved the establishment of the country's first non-governmental human rights organization. The new National Organization for Human Rights (NOHR) has 41 members, nine of them women, and is chaired by Dr. Abdallah Bin Saleh Al-'Ubeid, a member of the Saudi Shoura Council and former secretary-general of the Muslim World League. The new organization's members and executive committee, who are also members of the Saudi Shoura Council , participate in NOHR activities "in an individual and not an official capacity." NOHR has four committees: tracking and oversight, research and recommendations, family matters and culture, and publication.
NOHR Chairman Dr. Abdallah Bin Saleh Al-'Ubeid explained that the organization would strive to protect human rights in accordance with the principles of the Saudi regime, based on the Qur'an and the Sunna, [1] as well as international human rights conventions, in a manner that does not conflict with Shari'a, [2] and in cooperation with international organizations. Saudi Crown Prince Abdallah supported the organization's mission and promised to provide it with all necessary government assistance. [3]
NOHR Chairman: Amputations and Floggings are not Violations of Human Rights
In an interview with the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat, Dr. Al-'Ubeid explained that NOHR is not aimed at pressuring the Saudi regime and that it has no power to impose its will on the state. He added, "The organization will cooperate with all internationally acknowledged human rights organizations and institutions, but will not ally itself with them for the purpose of pressuring elements inside Saudi Arabia that do not cooperate with it. The only means of pressure that the organization has is to [expose] non-cooperative elements in its annual report, which will be given to the head of state. The organization cannot force its positions on the state. However, it will cooperate with the state to make public human rights mistakes committed by individuals and government entities."
Commenting on human rights violations by the Saudi government, Al-'Ubeid said: "Theoretically, the kingdom sets the laws, and the regime makes sure that these laws do not contradict Islamic Shari'a. It is safe to assume that those who are appointed by the state to uphold the laws are committed to doing so. But there are some infringements due to unfamiliarity [with the laws] or due to excessive zeal in upholding them. The state does not endorse those infringements and has the means, both financially and administratively, to handle them..."
Discussing the manner in which complaints will be handled, Al-'Ubeid said: "When someone turns to the organization and claims he was imprisoned for political reasons, we look into his claim and the evidence that he presents. In principle, the organization has no problem examining any issue. But that does not mean that every problem will be accepted just because someone brought it up. Someone may say that he is a political prisoner, but in fact he had harmed others, and there are criminals who were sentenced to jail or other punishments. Not everyone who was punished was indeed mistreated. Perhaps it was he who violated the freedoms of others. We hope that the organization, along with other institutions, will help anyone who complains - and was [indeed] deprived of his rights - to restore his rights... [However] what one person considers a violation of his rights may not [actually] be so. There are rules and religious laws that govern man and society. One of the drawbacks of the international proclamations of human rights, and some [human rights] organizations, is that [they focus on the] rights of the individual as the one and only thing [to be considered]. It is surprising that international [human rights] protocols do not speak of [human] obligations, just [of human] rights..."
"There are those who consider certain issues a violation of human rights, while we consider them a safeguard to human rights - for example, executions, amputating the hand of a thief, or flogging an adulterer. There are those who think that all Qur'anic punishments violate human rights. Therefore, the position of the Saudi foreign ministry, and the position of many Islamic countries and even some of the Western countries, is that international proclamations of human rights and their related protocols are [considered only] general principles, and that their implementation is subject to the laws [of each country]... We, in the kingdom, are part of the world insofar as [general principles of] human rights [are concerned]. But domestically we are governed according to Allah's Shari'a, so that what [to someone else] seems like a violation of human rights is [in fact] our duty and our right concerning someone who committed a crime or a sin."
Referring to the organization's independent status, Al-'Ubeid explained: "The organization is a national popular non-governmental entity that has no affiliation with government institutions. None of its members holds a government position. Members of the organization are consultants ... members of faculty in universities ... or retirees. None has ties to the state's executive branch, and that is why the state can establish [human rights] organizations of its own..."
Al-'Ubeid also talked about the Saudis detained by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay: "We will add our efforts in this area to those of international organizations seeking to ensure that they are treated in accordance with human rights conventions. We shall do our utmost, in cooperation with government and civilian institutions, to achieve this demand at the outset of our activities." [4]
Criticism of the NHRO
A heated discussion regarding the independence of the NHRO immediately followed the announcement of its establishment. Former judge Sheikh Abd Al-Aziz Al-Qassem maintained that the organization was in fact governmental, not civilian. As evidence, he stated, "None of its members could have announced its establishment prior to obtaining official approval." However, he praised the organization as "the first step towards creating a culture of human rights and their implementation in the Saudi society." [5]
Other critics referred to the priorities of the organization. In his column in the London-based Arabic language daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Tariq Al-Hameed commented on Al-'Ubeid's statement that the issue of the Guantanamo Bay detainees is the NHRO's top priority. Al-Hameed maintained that this issue was being handled by the government, and should not be handled by a civilian organization. "We hope that the civilian organization will deal with domestic problems of interest to the citizen who is not immersed in political details, the citizen who is seeking solutions to problems in his day-to-day life... The greatest fear is that tomorrow we will see the Palestinian, Iraqi and Afghani problems on the agenda of the NHRO... This will contradict the core of the organization's mission and what is expected of it..." [6]
A Saudi Governmental Human Rights Organization
Subsequent to the announcement of the establishment of the NOHR, Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Prince Turki Bin Muhammad announced the imminent establishment of a governmental human rights organization. In an interview with the London Arabic-language daily Al-Hayat, he explained that what seemed to be the deliberate founding of the government organization after the founding of the civilian organization, was indeed planned so as to "ensure the accomplishment of its goals as expected." The organization, he said, would be a high-level entity headed by a qualified individual with a direct connection to the king.
On ties between the civilian and governmental human rights organizations, Prince Turki Bin Muhammad said: "We expect the two organizations to cooperate in securing and enhancing human rights in Saudi Arabia. There are no ties between the two: One is national and was established on the basis of the wishes of the Saudi society. The national human rights organization has its own mission and it is fully independent. The other is governmental, and coordinates the activities of government institutions for the purpose of serving human rights in the kingdom. The governmental organization has no guardianship over the national organization. Each one of them is independent."
When asked about the scope of human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, Turki Bin Muhammad answered: "Based on my work, and my involvement in this issue for over eight years, I can say that there are no significant human rights violations, as alleged falsely by suspicious parties. There may be some transgressions by individuals [or institutions], but they do not rise to the level that could be described as human rights violations. I think these cases can be managed when they arise."
Explaining why Saudi Arabia refused to allow an Amnesty International delegation to investigate human rights violations in the kingdom, Turki Bin Muhammad said that Amnesty International had taken "a hostile position towards the kingdom, which tainted its objectivity." He added that "Saudi Arabia invited non-governmental organizations to visit the country, including one of the most important non-governmental international organizations - Human Rights Research [sic]. They visited Saudi Arabia and met with officials, intellectuals and civilians. They visited prisons and gathered information with which they were not familiar. Finally, they prepared a positive report about what they heard and observed. As for Amnesty International, it has unfortunately taken hostile positions in the past, especially in regard to our faith and values... We do not oppose cooperation with any organization dealing with human rights, as long as its points of departure are impartial and credible." [7]
At the March 17, 2004 U.N. human rights conference in Geneva, Turki Bin Muhammad rejected demands by the U.S. and other Western countries to speed up the reform process in Saudi Arabia. He said Riyadh would pursue reform based on the needs of Saudi society, not on ideas and theories from without. Prince Turki also dismissed allegations of discrimination against women in Saudi society, pointing out that some 49% of the country's 4.3 million students are women and that women also held about a third of all public positions. [8]

* Aluma Dankowitz is the Director of MEMRI's Reform Project.

[1] The sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad, set out as a mandatory example for Muslims.
[2] Islamic law.
[3] Al-Hayat (London), March 10, 2004.
[4] Al-Hayat (London), March 12, 2004.
[5] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), March 11, 2004.
[6] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), March 13, 2004.
[7] Al-Hayat (London), March 12, 2004.
[8] Arab News (Saudi Arabia), March 18, 2004.

http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=IA16704
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>> OUR FRIENDS IN PAKISTAN...

Police search emails for trail to Pakistan
Canadian accused of aiding UK suspects
Rosie Cowan, Richard Norton-Taylor and Audrey Gillan
Thursday April 1, 2004
The Guardian
Police computer experts were last night trawling through email records from a West Sussex internet cafe as the intelligence agencies tried to establish links between eight UK terror suspects and senior militants in Pakistan.
As detectives continued to question the young men suspected of plotting a major bomb attack in Britain, MI5 and MI6 continued their investigations into influential foreign figures who might have been advising them.
The eight suspects were arrested in anti-terrorist raids on Tuesday. Police were last night granted another three days to question the men under the Terrorism Act and can now hold them until Saturday afternoon. Under the act, police can apply for extensions to detain suspects up to a maximum of 14 days once arrested.
The extension came as a man was charged in Canada with helping terrorist activity in London after being arrested on Monday. Mohammed Momin Khawaja, 29, a software developer, appeared in an Ottawa court in shackles and a bullet-proof vest.
Mr Khawaja, a Canadian of Pakistani descent, is alleged to have knowingly participated in or contributed to the activities of a terrorist group, and knowingly facilitated a terrorist activity.
The offences allegedly took place "on or between November 10 2003 and March 29 2004 at or near the city of Ottawa and at or near the city of London".
Mr Khawaja said he had recently travelled to London to meet a prospective bride. His brother, Qasim, insisted he was innocent, adding: "They are looking for something that does not exist. They want to fabricate or create it somehow."
The British detainees being questioned in London were born and brought up in England, but seven are of Pak istani descent, and counter-terrorist sources are confident that they will unearth international connections.
"More will surface on the external aspects [of the alleged bomb plot]," a source familiar with the operation said. Officials made it clear that Pakistan was in their sights.
Half a tonne of ammonium nitrate fertiliser, frequently used in explosive compounds, was also recovered, and police impounded five desktop computers and eight laptops from the PC UK internet cafe in Langley Green, Crawley, where three of the suspects live.
Anti-terrorist officers think that some of the suspects may have sent and received emails from associates and mentors, who advised them on waging "holy war" on Britain. There is no suggestion that the proprietor of the internet cafe was aware of this.
Several of the suspects had visited Pakistan and at least one is thought to have undergone paramilitary training in a terrorist camp there.
One is 32 years old, but the others are all under 22 - three of them teenagers. This could indicate a worrying trend of extreme militancy among young British Muslims attracted to ideology-driven violence. They are not particularly religious, intelligence sources say, and are not directly linked to known al-Qaida figures.
They are, however, inspired by al-Qaida anti-western ideology, and perhaps motivated by the invasion of Iraq and the American-backed campaign against al-Qaida's leaders and their sympathisers in north-western Pakistan.
One source familiar with the operation summed up the fears, albeit in crude terms.
"It is one thing having foreigners doing things against us", he said "but to have people born and bred and raised in the UK allegedly engaged in preparing a terrorist act is pretty shocking."
Police and MI5 agents had been secretly monitoring the suspects for weeks, and intercepted communications form a crucial part of the inquiry. There are fears that other, older suspects might have evaded arrest.
"This is an intelligence-led investigation, not a fishing expedition," a senior police source said. "There is a degree of concern over the ages of those arrested. But there has been a long covert operation and officers are confident that now is the time to 'go live'."
Relatives of the Crawley three, brothers Omar, 22, and Shujah Khyam, 17, and their cousin, Ahmad Khan, 18, maintained that the youths were innocent.
Ansar Khan, Ahmad's father, a taxi driver based at Gatwick airport, admitted that his nephew Omar had visited the Pakistan border, but denied that he had any involvement with al-Qaida. He said the family had flown out and brought him home after about six weeks. "My cousins are intelligence officers in the Pakistan army and they helped us find him," he said.
He also claimed that MI5 agents had approached Omar and Shujah on two occasions and told them they should go to Pakistan. But police and security sources denied this.
Omar Bakri Mohammed, leader of al-Muhajiroun, a radical Muslim organisation, said he recognised "three or four" of the names of those arrested as former members, including Omar Khyam. In 2000 the 40-strong Crawley group dissociated itself from al-Muhajiroun, saying it was not radical enough, he claimed.
Mr Bakri Mohammed said he did not believe the young men had been involved in terrorist activity, but admitted that they had disagreed with his view that Muslims were under a "covenant of security" in the UK, and that any act of terror carried out on British soil would be against the Koran.
Massoud Shadjareh, page 21 Leader comment, page 23 guardian.co.uk/terrorism


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>> CHIRAC DEBACLE WATCH...

Chirac swaps top ministers after debacle
Jon Henley in Paris
Thursday April 1, 2004
The Guardian
France's hugely popular interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, was handed the job yesterday of spearheading an immensely unpopular programme of reforms as President Jacques Chirac made sweeping changes to his cabinet after the centre-right's humiliating defeat in regional elections.
Mr Sarkozy was appointed finance minister in a major reshuffle which also saw Mr Chirac's close ally, the smooth and aristocratic foreign minister, Dominique de Villepin, take over at the interior ministry, and a European commissioner, Michel Barnier, step into Mr de Villepin's shoes at the Quai d'Orsay.
Mr Chirac has come under mounting pressure to show that he had heard the electorate's message of widespread discontent with government spending cuts in Sunday's second-round vote, which saw the Socialist opposition win a landslide victory with 21 of mainland France's 22 regional councils and a 50% share of the national vote, compared with 37% for the ruling conservatives.

The president's decision on Tuesday to give his embattled prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, a 10-week stay of execution until at least the European elections in June was met with incredulity in the Socialist camp yesterday.
Mr Chirac was accused of ignoring the wishes of the people, even of insulting them.
The affable Mr Raffarin is seen as unpopular, burned out and so severely weakened by the regional election pounding that he will be unable to push through the government's moderate but on the whole necessary cost-cutting reforms, particularly to France's prized but heavily indebted health service, without provoking a potentially crippling series of strikes and demonstrations.
"On the one hand we have a society which has shown its anger in dramatic fashion. On the other, we have political leaders who are displaying a certain deafness," said Jerome Sainte-Marie of the polling organisation BVA. "It is quite an explosive cocktail."
Mr Sarkozy, on the other hand, who constantly tops opinion polls as France's most popular politician, may have the charisma, stature and gift of the gab for the job. The appointment has the added benefit for Mr Chirac that if he fails to convince France's fickle voters of the need for reform, Mr Sarkozy will see his bid to become president in 2007 badly undermined. He faces a huge task overcoming anger over high unemployment, pension reform and budget cuts.
The new job will make or break Mr Sarkozy's ambitions. The minister, who has so far made a name for himself by cracking down successfully on street crime, illegal immigrants and prostitution, is by no means certain to make such a success of his new and considerably less high-profile role as head of government finances.
The same could, however, be said of Mr Villepin, the part-time poet and arch Chirac loyalist who won over the French public by eloquently voicing France's opposition to the US-led war on Iraq.
"To be honest, I just can't see De Villepin visiting some rundown housing estate to talk about rising levels of street crime with youth gang leaders," said one government official who asked not to be named.
But other observers discerned a longer-term strategy in Mr Chirac's choice.
"This is an interim appointment," said one commentator, Marie Eve Malouine. "It's setting up De Villepin to take over from Raffarin as prime minister, probably after the June elections, and establishing his credentials as Chirac's preferred successor. This is all about keeping out Sarkozy."
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SPIEGEL ONLINE - 31. M?rz 2004, 20:08
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,293450,00.html
Kabinettsumbildung in Frankreich
Sarkozy Superstar
Nach anderthalb Tagen Klausur steht die Liste f?r das neue franz?sische Kabinett. Pr?sident Chirac und Premier Raffarin haben damit auf das j?ngste Wahldebakel reagiert. Vor allem der bisher schon m?chtige und beliebte Innenminister Sarkozy wurde aufgewertet.
REUTERS
Chirac und Raffarin: Beratungen im Elys?e-Palast
Paris - Sarkozy wird Finanzminister und damit verantwortlich f?r die geplanten Wirtschaftsreformen. Als k?nftiger Herr des Geldes im Kabinett hat er nun eine Schl?sselposition inne, was die Reformpolitik von Premier Jean-Pierre Raffarin angeht. Protokollarisch wird Nicolas Sarkozy zu einer Art Vizepremier aufgewertet und steht damit ?ber den anderen Ministern. Der 49-J?hrige ist Umfragen zufolge der popul?rste Politiker in Frankreich. Er gilt als ehrgeizig und energisch. Allerdings hat sein offenkundiger Wunsch, Jacques Chirac 2007 vom Pr?sidentenposten zu verdr?ngen, das Verh?ltnis der beiden belastet.
Mit der Regierungsumbildung zogen der franz?sische Staatspr?sident Chirac und Raffarin die Konsequenzen aus dem Debakel des Regierungslagers bei der Regionalwahl.
Der Generalsekret?r des Elys?e-Palasts, Philippe Bas, gab die neue Kabinettsliste nach anderthalbt?gigen Konsultationen am fr?hen Mittwochabend bekannt. Die politischen Schwergewichte bleiben im Kabinett Raffarin, die meisten wechseln jedoch das Ressort.
AFP
Sarkozy (hier mit Ex-Premier Jupp?): Der neue starke Mann
So ?bernimmt etwa der bisherige Chefdiplomat Dominique de Villepin das Innenministerium von Sarkozy. Den frei gewordenen Posten im Au?enministerium ?bernimmt EU-Kommissar Michel Barnier, der zugleich prominentester Neuzugang ist.
Der 53-j?hrige Barnier galt in Br?ssel stets als Mann Chiracs. Trotz des Auftrags an die EU-Kommissare, nur Gemeinschaftsinteressen zu vertreten, folgte er meist der Order aus Paris. Der Gaullist war in den neunziger Jahren bereits franz?sischer Umwelt- und Europaminister. Sein Nachfolger als EU-Regionalkommissar d?rfte der Fraktionschef von Chiracs Regierungspartei UMP werden: Jacques Barrot.
Sozialminister Francois Fillon wechselt ins Erziehungsministerium, der bisherige Ressortchef Luc Ferry tritt ab. Michele Alliot-Marie bleibt Verteidigungsministerin, der Generalsekret?r der Regierungspartei UMP, Philippe Douste-Blazy, wird neuer Gesundheitsminister. Das Ressort Justiz bleibt in den H?nden von Dominique Perben, die Landwirtschaft bei Herve Gaymard.
Der von Chirac gef?rderte St?dteminister Jean-Louis Borloo r?ckt an die Spitze eines gro?en "Ministeriums f?r den sozialen Zusammenhalt", das auch f?r die Arbeitsmarktpolitik zust?ndig ist und f?r den neuen sozialen Schwerpunkt der Regierungspolitik steht.
Trotz der Schlappe des konservativ-b?rgerlichen Lagers bei der Regionalwahl hatte Chirac am Dienstag erneut Raffarin mit der Regierungsbildung beauftragt.

? SPIEGEL ONLINE 2004
Alle Rechte vorbehalten
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SPIEGEL ONLINE - 31. M?rz 2004, 17:29
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,293384,00.html
Powells Uno-Auftritt
BND und CIA streiten ?ber Irak-Informanten "Curveball"
Ein umstrittener Zeuge sorgt f?r ?rger zwischen dem Bundesnachrichtendienst und der CIA. Der US-Geheimdienst wirft den Deutschen vor, erst nach dem Uno-Auftritt von Au?enminister Powell ?ber Beweise f?r Massenvernichtungswaffen im Irak Zweifel an der Glaubw?rdigkeit des Informanten mitgeteilt zu haben. Der BND wehrt sich.
REUTERS
Powell vor der Uno (5. Februar 2003): "Curveball" sorgt f?r ?rger
Hamburg - CIA-Mitarbeiter h?tten den BND mehrfach gebeten, den Informanten mit dem Decknamen "Curveball" selbst vernehmen zu d?rfen, zitiert die "Zeit" den ehemaligen CIA-Vizechef Richard Kerr. Dies habe der Bundesnachrichtendienst aber aus Quellenschutzgr?nden abgelehnt.
Deutsche Sicherheitskreise argumentierten dagegen, die Berichte von "Curveball" seien der CIA schon lange vor dem 5. Februar 2003 ?bermittelt worden, und zwar inklusive einer "deutlichen Glaubw?rdigkeitseinsch?tzung". "Man fragt sich schon, was das soll. Von unserer Seite hat es vor der Powell-Pr?sentation jedenfalls kein Getrickse gegeben", zitiert die "Zeit" aus den Kreisen.
Powell hatte bei seinem Uno-Auftritt in gro?em Stil angebliche Beweise ?ber rollende Biowaffenlabore von Saddam Hussein pr?sentiert. Die von Powell als "solide" titulierten Informationen stammten haupts?chlich aus einer Quelle des BND, die bei den Deutschen aber keineswegs als glaubhaft galt.
Beim Informanten "Curveball" soll es sich um einen Iraker handeln, der als Ingenieur im Chemiewesen bei der Armee von Saddam Hussein t?tig gewesen sein wollte. Dann sei er wegen Unterschlagung ins Gef?ngnis gekommen, habe aber Ende der neunziger Jahre aus dem Irak fliehen k?nnen.
Die Version des Bundesnachrichtendienstes in dem Streit ?ber den zweifelhaften Zeugen scheint zuzutreffen. Denn die "Zeit" hatte schon im vergangenen August berichtet, der BND habe Washington ohne Erfolg vor Powells Uno-Auftritt vor der dubiosen Quelle im Irak gewarnt, die er "nicht rundherum positiv" bewerte.
Bei "Curveball" soll es sich nach Informationen der "Los Angeles Times" um den Bruder eines Vertrauten des irakischen Exilpolitikers Ahmed Tschalabi handeln. Tschalabi, Chef des "Iraqi National Congress" (INC) und Feind Saddams, br?stet sich damit, wie die irref?hrenden Informationen seiner Organisation zum Sturz des Diktators f?hrten.
David Kay, der fr?here Chef-Waffeninspektor der USA im Irak, nannte Powells Auftritt vor der Uno "unehrlich". "Wenn Powell der Uno gesagt h?tte: 'Es gibt nur eine Quelle, niemand von uns hat aber mit ihm gesprochen und wir kennen seinen Namen nicht', h?tten uns die Leute ausgelacht." Kay hatte schon im vergangenen Jahr das Vorhandensein von Massenvernichtungswaffen im Irak bezweifelt.
Falsche Einsch?tzungen auch in Israel
Am Wochenende war in Jerusalem bereits eine Untersuchungskommission des israelischen Parlaments hart mit der Geheimdienstarbeit ?ber das irakische Massenvernichtungswaffenprogramm ins Gericht gegangen. Die zentrale Frage sei, warum es keine harten Fakten, sondern nur Vermutungen und Spekulationen ?ber die Bedrohung durch den Irak gegeben habe, sagte der Kommissionsvorsitzende Juval Steinitz. Fehleinsch?tzungen h?tten schlie?lich zu unn?tigen Schritten zum Schutz der Bev?lkerung gef?hrt, die neben Panik einen wirtschaftlichen Millionenschaden verursacht h?tten.
Die Kommission hatte in nicht ?ffentlichen Sitzungen 70 Zeugen befragt. Der Abgeordnete Haim Ramon von der oppositionellen Arbeitspartei sagte, er habe immer wieder auf die Beantwortung der Frage gedrungen, auf was die Geheimdienste ihre Einsch?tzung gegr?ndet h?tten, es habe eine gro?e Bedrohung durch irakische Massenvernichtungswaffen gegeben. "Ich habe keine Antwort bekommen", sagte er.
Andere Ausschussmitglieder, die nicht ihren Namen genannt wissen wollten, berichteten, von israelischen Agenten aufgegriffenes H?rensagen sei an die USA zur ?berpr?fung weitergeleitet worden. Einiges habe man auch in die Medien durchsickern lassen. Danach seien die Informationen offenbar wieder in Umlauf gekommen und von der israelischen Regierung als Tatsachen akzeptiert worden.

? SPIEGEL ONLINE 2004
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