house spokesman robert gibbs told reporters
we would not move additional people into yemen gibbs said
it was not clear how long the suspension of transfers mentioned by gibbs would
last
but he said the decision will increase the number of prisoners from the camp
that could be moved to the thomson correctional center in illinois that has been
selected by the administration to hold guantanamo bay inmates
as recently as sunday obama top anti terrorism official john brennan said
that the united states would continue to repatriate guantanamo bay detainees to
yemen at the right time and the right pace and in the right way
the decision to suspend such transfers will throw obama plans to close the
camp into further uncertainty officials already admit he will miss one year
deadline to shutter the facility which expires this month
close to half of the detainees left at guantanamo bay are from yemen
seven yemeni detainees have already been sent home by the obama administration
including six in december several others were repatriated during george
bush administration
high level obama administration task force is working through remaining
prisoners at guantanamo including some of the most wanted terror suspects to
determine their fate
some inmates will face trial before military or civilian courts and others will
be detained indefinitely because they are considered too dangerous to release
but cannot be tried because evidence against them is scant or tainted
the botched christmas day jetliner attack by year old nigerian man
suspected of receiving al qaeda training in yemen has deepened the political
headache obama has suffered over his drive to close guantanamo bay
on saturday obama for the first time accused al qaeda in the arabian peninsula
aqap yemen based cell of osama bin laden group of targeting the
northwest plane carrying people as it neared detroit
three us senators warned last week of possible security disaster if washington
transferred detainees back to yemen without guarantees from sanaa that they will
not return to the battlefield
the senators including republican john mccain defeated by obama in the
presidential election said said ali al shihri whom they described as aqap
longstanding deputy was held in guantanamo but released in
urgent us revoking additional visas after plane plot
washington jan afp
the united states said tuesday it has revoked additional visas since the
christmas day plane plot amid continuing fears of terror attacks
football espn to bring world cup in
new york jan afp
us sports broadcaster espn announced tuesday it will bring new dimension to
world cup soccer matches from south africa
the new espn service plans at least live sporting events during its first
year starting with the opening fifa world cup match between south africa and
mexico on june espn and abc sports president george bodenheimer announced
some world cup matches will be shown in the format as well as domestic us
sports
espn commitment to is win for fans and our business partners
bodenheimer said in statement
espn marries great content with new technology to enhance the fan viewing
experience and puts espn at the forefront of the next big advance for tv
viewing
espn said it had tested the technology for more than two years including events
where it showed us college football game in limited number of theaters
this is turning point for consumer electronics association ceo gary
shapiro told usa today newspaper
iraq frees leader of group behind britons kidnap
baghdad jan afp
iraqi authorities have released the leader of the shiite militant group behind
the kidnap of five britons in may source from the group and an interior
ministry official said on tuesday
according to source from the league of the righteous who did not want to be
identified qais al khazaali was released from custody earlier on tuesday
an interior ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed
khazaali had been freed but did not provide any details
the league of the righteous kidnapped british it consultant and his four
bodyguards all britons in baghdad two and half years ago
while peter moore the it consultant arrived in britain over the weekend after
months in captivity three of his bodyguards were killed and their bodies
have been handed over to britain
the fourth is believed to be dead and iraqi government spokesman ali al dabbagh
said on sunday that his body will be handed over in the coming days
the league of the righteous is also suspected of being behind an attack in
january that killed one us soldier and led to the abduction of four others
who were later found dead
some commentators have said deal might have been done to free moore after
khazaali was initially transferred from us to iraqi custody last month
britain foreign office has denied any deal was done saying the united states
transferred khazaali into iraqi custody under the terms of bilateral agreement
between baghdad and washington
khazaali brother laith was released in june around the same time two of the
bodyguards bodies were handed over to britain in september around
detainees were freed when third body was transferred
alert
us has revoked additional visas since christmas plane plot
gm sales down percent in
chicago jan afp
general motors posted six percent drop in december us sales tuesday bringing
total sales down percent amid broad economic downturn and painful
restructuring under bankruptcy protection
the year was watershed year for us in many ways said susan docherty
gm vice president of us sales
from our dealer restructuring to our focus on chevrolet cadillac buick and
gmc we have made the difficult but necessary decisions to position our new
company for success docherty added
we re looking forward to as year when the economy continues modest
recovery industry sales begin to improve and our outstanding new products build
additional sales momentum
significant portion of the sales decline came from the wind down of the
pontiac saturn saab and hummer brands the automaker said
sales of gm core brands were up percent to in december and were
down percent at million vehicles
sales of non core brands pontiac saturn hummer and saab were down
percent in december at and percent in at vehicles
gm estimated that its retail market share would rise to percent in the
fourth quarter of from percent in the third quarter the automaker
market share was percent in
docherty noted that the orderly sell down of pontiac and saturn inventory is
months ahead of schedule and the automaker only has about pontiacs and
saturns left
this shows real progress in our action plans she said in statement
the automaker also has dramatically reduced its overall dealer inventory levels
to vehicles the lowest year end level on record and percent drop
from year earlier
gm estimated that total vehicle sales would fall to million in the
lowest since and down from million in and in
increasingly we are seeing signs of global economic recovery said mike
digiovanni executive director global market and industry analysis
in the us with firm used car prices low interest rates and an improving
economic outlook we expect industry sales to improve after dismal
performance
gm estimated that sales would rise to between to million
vehicles
the automaker also announced plans to increase production to vehicles in
the first quarter of from in the fourth quarter of and
in the first quarter of
afp americas news agenda for january
washington jan afp
duty editor kerry sheridan
tel
what happening in the americas on wednesday
washington secretary of state hillary clinton gives speech on the role of
economic development in us foreign policy expect coverage us diplomacy
las vegas international consumer electronics show debuts runs until sunday
expect coverage us it internet electronics consumer ces
united nations un security council hears on the security situation in
afghanistan from the world body special representative to the country kai
eide gmt expect coverage afghanistan unrest un
tennis qatar open tennis results
doha jan afp
results from the nd day of the qatar open here on tuesday denotes seeding
st round
roger federer sui bt christophe rochus bel
andreas seppi ita bt oscar hernandez esp
lukasz kubot pol bt karim maamoun egy
steve darcis bel bt guillermo garcia lopez esp
younes el aynaoui mar bt ryler deheart usa
rafael nadal esp bt simone bolelli ita
nikolay davydenko rus bt mikhail kukushkin kaz
opposition candidate lead shrinking ahead of croatia poll
zagreb jan afp
ivo josipovic of croatia main opposition social democrats holds the lead in
run off for the presidency at the weekend but his independent rival milan
bandic has narrowed gap poll showed tuesday
the survey done by the media metar agency on some people showed that
some percent of those polled would cast their ballots on sunday run off
twenty seven percent would abstain from vote and the remaining percent are
still undecided
josipovic law professor and classical music composer was backed by
percent of those who planned to vote
bandic populist zagreb mayor and former member of social democrats won
support of percent potential voters showed the poll published on the
national television internet site
in the december first round josipovic got percent of the vote more
than double the support for bandic who took percent the turnout was only
percent
another opionion poll published week after the first round gave josipovic
percent lead over bandic
some million eligible voters will choose the successor to incumbent centrist
stipe mesic to lead the country for the next five years
the main task of croatia next president will be integrating the former
yugoslav republic into the european union which zagreb hopes will occur by
january
cycling aussie davis signs for astana
paris jan afp
australian allan davis champion in last year tour down under has signed
two year deal with the astana team led by spanish star alberto contador the
team said tuesday
davis had spent the past two seasons with belgian team quick step
davis brother scott year older at has also signed for the kazakh outfit
for the season
nigerian fm protests to us envoy over tighter air security
abuja jan afp
nigerian foreign minister ojo maduekwe on tuesday protested to the us ambassador
to the west african country over washington introduction of tighter screening
for passengers from nigeria
made it clear through the us ambassador to the us government that this is
unacceptable to nigeria maduekwe told journalists after meeting in his abuja
office with ambassador robin sanders
told the us ambassador that listing nigeria on the second tier of countries
that are indicated on the radar of security measures from the us is an
unacceptable new year gift to friendly country like nigeria he said
he stated that nigeria had since independence in always maintained very
excellent relations with the united states
told her clearly that we want the us authorities to look at it again we
conveyed the message that putting nigeria on that list is not helpful it is
counterproductive stated maduekwe
they didn need to put us on that list and we want to be off that list that
is the message conveyed to her through her to the us government he said
washington on sunday introduced new security measures for passengers flying to
the united states from countries including nigeria after year old
nigerian was accused of trying to blow up us jetliner over detroit on
christmas day
umar farouk abdulmutallab trained mechanical engineer who had explosives
sewn into his underwear had boarded northwest airlines flight from amsterdam
to detroit he had flown to amsterdam on klm flight from lagos
the minister lawyer underlined that nigeria has been traditionally friendly
with america and it is country whose million muslims are among the most
peaceful mulims anywhere in the world
he accused washington of double standards by imposing sanctions on nigeria
following the incident
made it clear that we sensed some double standard because as regrettable and
as unfortunate what this young man tried to do or attempted to do was not
different from what the suicide shoe bomber attempted to do
he was referring to british national richard reid the so called shoe bomber
convicted of trying to blow up paris miami flight in
and yet the country of origin of the suicide bomber was not put in category
of countries of security concerns he stated
earlier on tuesday justice minister michael aondoaaka said that nigeria will
appeal to the united states to remove it from the terrorism flight watchlist
aondoaaka told reporters he believed the united states will rescind that
decision because nigeria is not terrorist country and single incident that
involves nigerian cannot criminalise all nigerians
nigeria police chief ogbonnaya onovo also backed the call insisting there was
no security issue in the country
we may be deeply religious but certainly we are no suicide bombers or
terrorists he said
nigeria main opposition party action congress said tuesday that rather than
sanctions nigeria needed the understanding and support of its international
partners to stamp out religious extremism in the country
the party said that threat to peace anywhere is threat to peace everywhere
therefore nigeria international partners will also be assisting themselves
by assisting nigeria it said
us embassy in yemen reopens as clinton warns of instability
sanaa jan afp
the us embassy in yemen reopened tuesday after two day closure prompted by al
qaeda threats as us secretary of state hillary clinton warned unrest in the arab
country is threat to global stability
the us embassy said on its website that yemeni security forces had addressed
specific area of concern in the north of the capital sanaa on monday paving
the way for tuesday reopening
warnings of possible al qaeda attack had led washington to close its embassy
in sanaa the day before the british and french authorities followed suit while
japan suspended consular services at its embassy
successful counter terrorism operations conducted by the government of yemen
security forces january north of the capital have addressed specific area of
concern and have contributed to the embassy decision to resume operations
the embassy said in statement
it was apparently referring to security operation yemeni police conducted
monday in the area of arhab kilometres miles north of sanaa where two
suspected members of al qaeda were killed and three others wounded
long standing concerns that yemen country on the southern tip of the arabian
peninsula has become haven for islamic terror groups were thrown into sharp
focus when nigerian man allegedly trained in yemen was charged with trying to
blow up us bound jet
the botched christmas day attack was claimed by al qaeda in the arabian
peninsula aqap which also urged attacks on western interests in yemen
yemen interior ministry said tuesday all foreign missions and interests were
safe pointing out it has reinforced security measures around embassies and
the residences of foreigners
the ministry also said it arrested five terrorist elements during the past two
days near sanaa but gave no details
the would be bomber umar farouk abdulmutallab reportedly confessed to
being trained by an al qaeda bombmaker in yemen for the suicide mission on the
northwest flight from amsterdam to detroit
explosives allegedly sewn into the man underwear failed to detonate and
passengers jumped on him
us president barack obama was to hold talks tuesday with his intelligence and
national security chiefs on the bombing attempt with an administration official
telling afp obama would unveil an initial series of reforms after the meeting
clinton on monday warned of the potential threat to world stability posed by the
situation in yemen where the government is fighting al qaeda militants and at
the same time trying to quash shiite rebellion in the north and face down
separatists in the south
the instability in yemen is threat to regional stability and even global
stability she told reporters
and certainly we know that this is difficult set of challenges but they
have to be addressed
the bombing attempt triggered an overhaul of us terrorist watchlists and added
dozens more suspects to no fly lists
further boosting security measures all travellers coming from or via terror
linked countries will have to undergo compulsory enhanced screening
jihadists meanwhile on tuesday boasted suicide bomber who killed eight
people at cia base in afghanistan was an al qaeda triple agent who duped
western intelligence services for months
western sources cited by us media said jordanian intelligence services had
brought the bomber to eastern afghanistan with the mission of finding al qaeda
number two ayman al zawahiri believing he was their double agent
but instead he blew himself up at forward operating base chapman near the
pakistani border killing seven cia agents and his jordanian handler
both jihadist websites and western intelligence agents cited by nbc news
identified the bomber as humam khalil abu mulal al balawi who was arrested in
and then recruited by jordan but in reality continued to work for al qaeda
in blunt report obama military spy chief in afghanistan major general
michael flynn said us intelligence gathering there was starved of information
which could help wage successful war against insurgents
separately on tuesday the white house said it decided against transferring to
yemen any more prisoners from the us detention facility in guantanamo bay cuba
around half of the prisoners still there are of yemeni origin
british prime minister gordon brown called yemeni president ali abdullah saleh
about preparations for an international conference on the strife torn arab
country the official saba news agency reported
with pizza cash kraft sweetens bid for cadbury
washington jan afp
us food giant kraft on tuesday sweetened its hostile bid for cadbury with
bigger cash component but faced fresh rejection from the british firm and
objections from its largest shareholder
kraft made its latest maneuver with the sale of its north american pizza
division to swiss rival nestle for billion dollars enabling the us firm to
put more cash behind its struggling bid for the british based confectioner
the sale which is subject to regulatory clearances includes the digiorno
tombstone and jack brands in the united states the delissio brand in canada
and the california pizza kitchen trademark license
some employees will transfer with the business to nestle
kraft said it would use the proceeds from the deal to improve its bid for
cadbury the british confectionery business which consistently has fended off
its suitor
kraft statement said the change reflected the desire expressed by some
cadbury security holders to have greater proportion of the offer in cash and
because kraft foods shareholders have expressed desire for kraft foods to be
more sparing in its use of undervalued kraft foods shares as currency for the
offer
cadbury famous for its chocolate bars said it saw no improvement in kraft
bid which values the company at around billion dollars
kraft has once again missed the point despite this tinkering the kraft offer
remains unchanged and derisory with less than half the consideration in cash
cadbury spokesman said
in twist to events billionaire investor warren buffett holding company
berkshire hathaway said that it opposed plan by kraft to raise cash needed to
buy cadbury via new share issue
berkshire hathaway which said it is likely the largest shareholder in kraft
with stake of percent said it had voted no on kraft proposal to
authorize the issuance of up to million shares to fund the acquisition
the share issuance proposal will give kraft blank check allowing it to change
its offer to cadbury in any way it wishes
to state the matter simply shareholder voting yes today is authorizing
huge transaction without knowing its cost or the means of payment the
berkshire statement said
what we know with certainty however is that kraft stock at its current price
of dollars is very expensive currency to be used in an acquisition
the statement pointed out that in kraft spent billion dollars to
repurchase shares at about dollars per share presumably because the
directors and management thought the shares to be worth more
the statement did not rule out support for cadbury bid but said berkshire
would decide after final offer is announced by deadline of january
if we conclude at that point that the offer does not destroy value for kraft
shareholders we will change our vote to yes the statement said
kraft spokesman michael mitchell said of the action by buffett firm we take
his opinion seriously and added that we agree that kraft food shares are
deeply undervalued
the spokesman added that we would certainly not do anything that hurts
shareholder value
kraft statement said it would extend the deadline for cadbury shareholders to
accept its offer until february
cash rich nestle meanwhile said it was not in the running for cadbury quashing
rumors after monday massive billion dollar deal to sell its alcon eye care
operation to swiss based pharmaceutical giant novartis
icelandic president angers britain dutch over bank bill
reykjavik jan afp
iceland president on tuesday refused to sign an unpopular bill to compensate
britain and the netherlands over the failure of icesave bank triggering anger
in london and the hague
president olafur ragnar grimsson said in televised speech that he would put
the bill to referendum instead
have decided according to article of the constitution to refer this new
act to the people he said the involvement of the whole nation in the final
decision is therefore the prerequisite for successful solution reconciliation
and recovery
in swift response britain insisted that the compensation deal must go through
while the netherlands said it was unacceptable
fitch ratings immediately downgraded iceland long term debt rating from bbb
to bb citing renewed wave of domestic political economic and financial
uncertainty
the agency said the president decision represents significant setback to
iceland efforts to restore normal financial relations with the rest of the
world
icelandic prime minister johanna sigurdardottir has staked her political future
on passage of the bill saying in the past that her government could step down
if it were blocked
she told press conference the government would start preparing the referendum
and that she would be meeting with members of her governing coalition on tuesday
to decide what steps to take to ensure the survival of the government
we express disappointment with our president decision she told reporters
adding the president decision could have great consequences for the economic
plan with the imf
sigurdardottir social democrat elected in an april election triggered by
the meltdown of iceland banks added in statement iceland government was
committed to ensuring that iceland honours its international obligations
the dispute over the icesave compensation scheme had delayed the disbursement of
funds under of billion dollar imf standby loan arranged in november
following the collapse of icelandic banks
the imf announced on december it had reached an agreement with iceland on the
release of third instalment of the loan
the icesave bill narrowly approved by the icelandic parliament on december
calls for the payout of billion euros billion dollars to the british
and dutch governments for having compensated more than british and dutch
savers who lost money in the collapse of the icelandic bank
the payout has stirred up resentment among many ordinary icelanders hard hit by
their country financial meltdown in october
about people about quarter of the country electorate have
signed petition protesting against the bill and calling for the issue to be
put to referendum
public opinion polls indicate that the overwhelming majority of the nation is
of the same opinion the president said in his speech
poll taken in august suggested that nearly percent of icelanders were
against the icesave deal the compensation amounting to about euros for
each citizen on the small island nation
however spokesman for britain treasury said the uk government expects
iceland to live up to its obligations
the treasury will consult with colleagues in iceland to understand why this
bill has not been passed and will work with them the netherlands and within the
eu to resolve this issue as soon as possible
in the netherlands finance ministry spokesman ruud slotboom told afp we are
extremely disappointed
the netherlands maintains that iceland is compelled to pay back the money we
expect of the government of iceland to give us an explanation in the short term
of the situation now created and the steps to be taken said slotboom
an earlier hold up in implementing the icesave compensation scheme had
threatened to complicate iceland bid to join the european union
jordan says no proof balawi was cia suicide bomber
amman jan afp
senior jordanian official said on tuesday there was no proof that jordanian
humam khalil abu mulal al balawi was as has been claimed the suicide bomber
who killed eight people at cia base in afghanistan
there is no proof that humam was actually the author of the attack especially
given that taliban websites claim that it was an afghan said the official who
declined to be identified
he added that balawi had provided jordanian intelligence with valuable
information but did not say whether he was still alive
when the media mentioned the name hummam khalil al balawi we inquired about
his identity and we can confirm that he is indeed jordanian but we cannot
confirm that he was the author of the attack said the official
earlier jihadist websites said balawi was triple agent who duped western
intelligence services for months before turning on his handlers
the jordanian intelligence services believing the bomber to be their double
agent took him to eastern afghanistan with the mission of finding al qaeda
number two ayman al zawahiri the websites and western intelligence agents
cited by us media said
but instead he blew himself up at forward operating base chapman in khost
province near the pakistani border killing seven cia agents and his jordanian
handler top intelligence officer and member of the royal family
the jordanian official said balawi had been interrogated by intelligence
officers around year ago because of suspicions about his activities but the
probe found nothing and he was freed
humam left jordan and traveled to pakistan to continue medical studies that he
had begun in turkey from pakistan he contacted the jordanian authorities by
mail and provided security information of extreme value that allowed us to
abort terrorist operations that would have threatened the security of jordan
he added that contact had been maintained with balawi in the interest of the
security of jordan
friends close to the family said balawi was born in kuwait to palestinian
family which moved to jordan following the iraqi invasion of the gulf emirate
in
they said he married turkish woman in the town of tonya where he was studying
medicine and that the couple has two children
afp spoke to sister hanan but she declined to answer any questions
no more guantanamo transfers to yemen for now white house
washington jan afp
the white house said on tuesday it had decided not to transfer any more
guantanamo bay prisoners to yemen for now following plot to bomb us
airliner apparently planned in the arab country
the obama administration has been under intense pressure from domestic critics
and some friendly lawmakers not to send any more inmates back to yemen because
of fears they will slip back into extremism
while we remain committed to closing the facility the determination has been
made that right now any additional transfers to yemen is not good idea white
house spokesman robert gibbs told reporters
we would not move additional people into yemen
algerian engineer kidnapped by armed group media
algiers jan afp
an armed group kidnapped an algerian engineer in south east algeria who was
working for the canadian firm snc lavalin daily newspaper reported tuesday
the kidnap not yet claimed by any group took place sunday morning in djebahia
near bouira kilometres miles from the capital algiers el watan said
on its web site
the daily newspaper echorouk reports that the armed group kidnapped the
engineer whose identity has not been revealed into vehicle and drove off to
an unknown destination
the canadian firm snc lavalin is building water distribution and recycling
plant project in the bouira region south east algeria
greenpeace spain director treated like dog in danish prison
madrid jan afp
the director of greenpeace spain has complained of being treated like dog at
danish prison where he has been held since his arrest at the un climate summit
last month spanish media reported tuesday
the online editions of daily newspapers el pais and el mundo said juan lopez de
uralde told family members who visited him on tuesday at the vestre faengsel
jail for the first time since his arrest that he was being treated poorly
they are trying to humiliate us to break us they treat us like dogs the
papers quoted him as telling his wife and brother during the visit
in statement greenpeace spain said lopez de uralde had lost weight while in
prison and he spent his first hours in the jail in cell with other
inmates that had only few mattresses on the floor
his visit with his wife and brother was monitored by policeman and
translator and since monday lopez de uralde and the three other activists who
were detained along with him have been mixed with common criminals it added
the measures being taken with them seem to us to be disproportionate and we
believe they are form of punishment against civil society which fights for
better world the campaign director of greenpeace spain mario rodriguez
