-
India sets up team to probe Jaipur blasts
Published: May 16, 2008 at 11:01 AM
NEW DELHI, May 16 (UPI) -- India has set up a special investigative team to probe Tuesday's bomb explosions in the city of Jaipur in which 64 people were killed. -
Sadr fighters lay down their weapons
Published: May 15, 2008 at 10:44 PM
BAGHDAD, May 15 (UPI) -- Forces loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr laid down their weapons Thursday as reports emerged from Iraq of relative calm in the Baghdad district of Sadr City. -
U.S. claims Iranian weapons are in Iraq
Published: May 15, 2008 at 10:42 PM
BAGHDAD, May 15 (UPI) -- A spokesman for the U.S. military in Baghdad said emerging evidence suggests Iran is backing the so-called special groups targeting coalition and Iraqi forces.
-
Dogs of War: Blackwater, Najaf -- Take Two
Published: May 16, 2008 at 10:28 AM
By DAVID ISENBERG
WASHINGTON, May 16 (UPI) -- One aspect of private military and security contractors that is relatively ignored is their relationship with regular military forces. Such discussion, as there is, is generally limited to sound bites about the reported envy that soldiers have for allegedly better paid security contractors. -
Analysis: Indian agencies start blame game
Published: May 15, 2008 at 8:36 PM
By KUSHAL JEENA
UPI Correspondent
NEW DELHI, May 15 (UPI) -- India's intelligence and security agencies are indulging in a blame game over a recent foiled infiltration bid by militants on the Pakistani border, with one agency accusing the paramilitary forces guarding the border of lacking alertness. -
Iraq press roundup
Published: May 15, 2008 at 7:20 PM
By HIBA DAWOOD
UPI Correspondent
The daily Al Mashriq newspaper had an editorial Thursday titled "Last lines for the chaotic months" that said although Iraq has been in a war for five years, the government in the last few weeks has been chaotically carrying out quick military operations and offensives in many cities and areas around the country. -
Features: More graves found
Published: May 15, 2008 at 2:31 PM
By RICHARD TOMKINS
ZAHAMM, Iraq, May 13 (UPI) -- The number of human remains unearthed in an al-Qaida killing field northeast of Baghdad in Diyala province is nearing 70 with the discovery of more graves by villagers who had volunteered to search an abandoned pomegranate orchard. -
Analysis: USAF's cyber offense capability
Published: May 15, 2008 at 2:23 PM
By SHAUN WATERMAN
UPI Homeland and National Security Editor
WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- Procurement documents from the U.S. Air Force give a rare glimpse into the Pentagon's plans for developing an offensive cyberwar capacity that can infiltrate, steal data from and if necessary take down enemy information technology networks. -
Iraq Press Roundup
Published: May 14, 2008 at 3:49 PM
By HIBA DAWOOD
UPI Correspondent
The Association of Muslim Scholars' Al Basaer newspaper said in its editorial Wednesday that President Bush has divided the people of Iraq into five groups according to the five political groups in Iraq.
Latest Headlines
- EUFOR accused of security lapses in Chad
- Cell cancer-fighting trigger is found
- Tooth loss linked to three cancers
- Arson suspected at Chicago mayor's house
- Armyworms destroying Kenyan crops
- Behindatthebar scratched from Preakness
- Swiss town takes golf to the streets
- Cause of Mercury's magnetic field proposed
Most Popular
- Death toll from Chinese quake at 22,069
- Arson suspected at Chicago mayor's house
- Harding accuses ex-husband, others of rape
- Arabs consider de-pegging from dollar
- Minnesota man accused in airplane fire
- Bush's wealth may have fallen by millions
- Study shows bird sight isn't human sight
- FDA closes contract drug manufacturer
Analysis: Nigeria wants militant back
Published: Oct. 4, 2007 at 4:43 PM
By CARMEN GENTILE
UPI Energy Correspondent
The Nigerian government has called for Angola to return a militant leader captured last month and detained on weapons-trafficking charges so he can face trial, Nigerian news sources reported Wednesday.
The militant, Henry Okah, is believed to be a key member of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, a leading militant movement responsible for numerous attacks on foreign oil installations over the last two years.
Okah was picked up in Angola Sept. 3 on weapons-trafficking charges, which MEND said were trumped up by Nigeria and Angola. Both nations’ leaders have denied the accusations.
While most MEND members and its leadership received guarded praise from Nigeria’s new leadership for initiating a cease-fire, Okah reportedly continued to wage violent attacks and denounced the end of hostilities while continuing a weeks-long battle with rival groups in the streets of the oil-rich Niger Delta's largest city, Port Harcourt.
Last month, before Okah’s arrest, MEND threatened to end its cease-fire and said it would resume attacking petroleum installations in the delta. But since then there have been no reported attacks of violence attributed to MEND, though the militant group said its decision to end the cease-fire was prompted by Okah’s arrest.
“Understandably, there is anxiety in the country over what the next line of action by the dreaded members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta would be” following Okah’s arrest, wrote Emma Amaize in Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper Wednesday.
MEND and other militant groups have been blamed for hundreds of kidnappings since violence in the delta began in 2005.
Increased violence against oil operations in the delta has caused significant drops in the country’s oil output, according to the Nigerian government and independent accounts. Before stepped-up hostilities by militant and other armed groups in the Niger Delta beginning in late 2005, Nigeria claimed to be producing about 2.5 million barrels per day. Since then, production has reportedly decreased by at least 20 percent, perhaps even by one-third, warn some analysts.
Since the 1970s, Nigeria, Africa's No. 1 oil producer, has pumped more than $300 billion worth of crude from the southern delta states, according to estimates. High unemployment in the delta, environmental degradation due to oil and gas extraction, and a lack of basic resources such as fresh water and electricity have angered the region's youth, who have taken up arms, many times supplied by political leaders, and formed militant groups and local gangs.
The militants have called for a more equitable distribution of the country’s oil wealth.
Hoping to quell the violence, Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua reached out the gunmen following his April election asking for them to give his administration time to tackle the problems of the delta. Those proposed reforms include changes to the Nigerian economy, particularly its petroleum sector, which generates up to 95 percent of the country’s revenue.
“We have a very clear vision. It is not going to be easy to achieve, but we will try very hard,” said Yar’Adua in September at the U.N. General Assembly.
Although Yar’Adua’s conviction to take on corruption appears genuine, his ability to succeed remains in question.
“The situation in Port Harcourt (and the Niger Delta) will remain unstable in the short term until Nigerian authorities can regain some level of control,” said a recent report by Stratfor consulting group.
Others, however, have praised the Nigerian leader for his efforts.
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, representing one of Nigeria’s most dominant tribes, said Yar’Adua’s “crusade for transparency, accountability and good governance” recognizes the need to address economic injustices in the delta as a means of curtailing the violence there.
--
(e-mail: energy@upi.com)
UPI Energy Correspondent
The Nigerian government has called for Angola to return a militant leader captured last month and detained on weapons-trafficking charges so he can face trial, Nigerian news sources reported Wednesday.
The militant, Henry Okah, is believed to be a key member of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, a leading militant movement responsible for numerous attacks on foreign oil installations over the last two years.
Okah was picked up in Angola Sept. 3 on weapons-trafficking charges, which MEND said were trumped up by Nigeria and Angola. Both nations’ leaders have denied the accusations.
While most MEND members and its leadership received guarded praise from Nigeria’s new leadership for initiating a cease-fire, Okah reportedly continued to wage violent attacks and denounced the end of hostilities while continuing a weeks-long battle with rival groups in the streets of the oil-rich Niger Delta's largest city, Port Harcourt.
Last month, before Okah’s arrest, MEND threatened to end its cease-fire and said it would resume attacking petroleum installations in the delta. But since then there have been no reported attacks of violence attributed to MEND, though the militant group said its decision to end the cease-fire was prompted by Okah’s arrest.
“Understandably, there is anxiety in the country over what the next line of action by the dreaded members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta would be” following Okah’s arrest, wrote Emma Amaize in Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper Wednesday.
MEND and other militant groups have been blamed for hundreds of kidnappings since violence in the delta began in 2005.
Increased violence against oil operations in the delta has caused significant drops in the country’s oil output, according to the Nigerian government and independent accounts. Before stepped-up hostilities by militant and other armed groups in the Niger Delta beginning in late 2005, Nigeria claimed to be producing about 2.5 million barrels per day. Since then, production has reportedly decreased by at least 20 percent, perhaps even by one-third, warn some analysts.
Since the 1970s, Nigeria, Africa's No. 1 oil producer, has pumped more than $300 billion worth of crude from the southern delta states, according to estimates. High unemployment in the delta, environmental degradation due to oil and gas extraction, and a lack of basic resources such as fresh water and electricity have angered the region's youth, who have taken up arms, many times supplied by political leaders, and formed militant groups and local gangs.
The militants have called for a more equitable distribution of the country’s oil wealth.
Hoping to quell the violence, Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua reached out the gunmen following his April election asking for them to give his administration time to tackle the problems of the delta. Those proposed reforms include changes to the Nigerian economy, particularly its petroleum sector, which generates up to 95 percent of the country’s revenue.
“We have a very clear vision. It is not going to be easy to achieve, but we will try very hard,” said Yar’Adua in September at the U.N. General Assembly.
Although Yar’Adua’s conviction to take on corruption appears genuine, his ability to succeed remains in question.
“The situation in Port Harcourt (and the Niger Delta) will remain unstable in the short term until Nigerian authorities can regain some level of control,” said a recent report by Stratfor consulting group.
Others, however, have praised the Nigerian leader for his efforts.
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, representing one of Nigeria’s most dominant tribes, said Yar’Adua’s “crusade for transparency, accountability and good governance” recognizes the need to address economic injustices in the delta as a means of curtailing the violence there.
--
(e-mail: energy@upi.com)
© 2007 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
