Thursday, November 06, 2008
British General's Interpreter Spied for Iran
The unmasking of an Iranian spy who was working as a British general’s personal interpreter has become an embarrassing espionage fiasco raising questions about the screening for sensitive military posts.
Corporal Daniel James, 45, who had been security-vetted to work alongside General Sir David Richards when he was commander of Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan in 2006, was yesterday remanded in custody after being convicted of spying for Iran.
The jury was discharged after failing to reach a verdict on two other charges.
Security sources said the actions of James, who was born in Tehran, had been a serious embarrassment for the British Army and undermined relations with allies, who might feel constrained from sharing future intelligence.
The Economist reports on a sensational spy scandal in Estionia. Click here.
Ukrainian Jewish Leader Promotes EU-Israel Ties
Foreign Confidential....
A Ukrainian Jewish lawmaker is promoting a strong partnership between Israel and the European Union at a policy conference.
Aleksandr Feldman, a Jewish leader in Ukraine, and other activists attending the first Policy Conference of European Friends of Israel in Paris Thursday want to show solidarity with Israel as well as strengthen political and cultural ties with the European Union.
Feldman, the leader of the Ukrainian parliament committee on interparliamentary cooperation with Israel and the head of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, is leading the Ukrainian delegation.
Members of the Ukrainian delegation are expected to discuss ways to promote a closer Ukrainian partnership with Israel and the European Union.
“We shall discuss and support a closer and stronger partnership between Israel and the European Union, as well as between Ukraine and Israel," Eduard Dolinsky, the director general of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, said. "It is necessary to speak of a new era in bilateral relations and also promote Ukraine’s integration into the European Union.”
Some 300 lawmakers from 38 countries across Europe and several government ministers are scheduled to attend the conference.
-JTAUS Increases Financial Pressure on Iran
Dateline USA....
The U.S. Treasury has moved to further restrict Iran's access to the U.S. financial system, by banning certain money transfers.
The Treasury Department announced on Thursday that it will revoke Iran's so-called "U-Turn" license, which currently allows transfers to briefly enter the United States before being sent to offshore banks.
Until Thursday, U.S. banks were allowed to process certain money transfers for Iranian banks and other Iranian customers as long as the payments were initiated by and ended up in offshore non-U.S. and non-Iranian banks.
U.S. officials say the ban is aimed at increasing financial pressure on Iran to end alleged support of terrorist groups and nuclear proliferation.
Iran is under three sets of international sanctions. It has been accused by several Western countries of seeking nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.
Separately on Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said any U.S. talks with Iran may be seen as a sign of weakness.
The statement was Israel first official note of caution over Barack Obama's election as U.S. president. Obama said during the campaign he would be willing to hold talks with Iranian leaders.
The Israeli government fears it could be the target of an attack by strongly anti-Israeli Iran.
In a highly unusual move, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - one of Washington's harshest critics - congratulated Obama on his victory. He said he hopes the U.S. president-elect will change American policy, which he described as arrogant.Obama Talks with Nine World Leaders
Dateline USA....
Nedra Pickler reports on Barack Obama's initial contacts with world leaders following the national election.President-elect Obama accepted congratulations from nine presidents and prime ministers Thursday, returning calls from world leaders who reached out after his presidential victory.
The global financial crisis was among the topics Obama discussed with key U.S. allies he'll deal with during his administration.
Obama spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said the president-elect spoke to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Click here to continue.Kuwait May Speed Up Financial Market Regulation
Foreign Confidential....
Local fallout from the global credit crisis may spur Kuwait, already lagging behind other Gulf Cooperation Council economies, to speed up long-delayed regulation of its financial markets, analysts said.
Kuwait's lack of transparency stands out even in a region where disclosure falls well short of global and emerging markets standards, according to a report from Hawkamah, a Dubai-based corporate governance group.
A regional leader in developing financial markets in the 1970s and 1980s, Kuwait has watched as neighbours such as Saudi Arabia or the UAE surpass it in regulation.
Some have blamed dependence on oil exports, which have helped the stock exchange to soar despite the lack of a regulator, and the country's political system, which has stalled legislation in rows between parliament and cabinet.
But the global financial crisis leading to the only bank rescue so far by a Gulf government is providing new impetus for reform.
Kuwait's government was initially caught unawares when the crisis spread to the Gulf state, hitting Gulf Bank, the country's fifth-largest lender by market value, with surprise derivative losses, Naser Al Nafisi, general manager of the Aljoman Centre for Economic Consultancy, said.
"What has happened will push more regulation and more disclosure," said Talal Tawari, head of Gulf equities at Gulf Investment in Kuwait.
No Regulator
Unlike nearby Saudi Arabia, Qatar, or the UAE, Kuwait still has no stock market regulator and proposals to establish one have made little progress.
"The checks and balances are not are not as we should have," said Amani Bouresli, a professor of finance at Kuwait University.
"The Kuwait stock exchange is practising a double role - the regulations and the execution."
The UAE launched an anti-corruption drive, investigating top executives, and Saudi Arabia has moved toward greater disclosure on its bourse, but few changes have been made in Kuwait so far.
Kuwait ranked last in a September corporate governance survey of Gulf states by Hawkamah and Abu Dhabi investment bank The National Investor.
Conflict between Kuwait's powerful parliament, which has a history of challenging the government, and ministers has meant reforms in Kuwait have lagged behind, Bouresli said.
"There are always questions between the two parties. There is mistrust on some occasions," she said. "This is keeping the growth process very slow."
-GDNOn Dear Leader and the North Korean Black Hole
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's apparently serious illness has breathed new life into long-dormant plans from regional powers to prepare for when he loses his iron grip on power in the communist state.
The reclusive North has been sending reports this week that all is well by showing the self-styled Dear Leader, rumored to have been felled by a stroke in August, as active and in charge.
His suspected illness has jolted Washington, Seoul and others to revisit the risk of a mass exodus from the North after the demise of Kim, 66, whose late father is eternal president and developed the cult leadership that has dominated life in the isolated state for some 60 years.
The South is terrified its powerful economy will be dragged under by absorbing the impoverished and heavily armed North, with estimates saying the price tag could easily exceed $1 trillion -- about the size of the South's economy.
"Contingency planning rose to the surface and became something we openly discussed," said one South Korean government official who asked not to be identified.
It is tricky to speculate on the reaction of the North's elite and its million-strong army that has a mass of artillery trained on Seoul, which North Korean state media regularly promises to turn to rubble.
Click here to continue.
Sky News, meanwhile, says Kim could be sending US President-elect Barack Obama a signal of sorts. Click here for the story.
And click below for a related AP report.Syria Blames Lebanese Group for Suicide Bombing
Foreign Confidential....
Reuters reports Syria said on Thursday that an Islamist militant group active in neighboring Lebanon was behind a suicide car bomb attack that killed 17 people in Damascus in September.
The news service said Syrian state television showed what it said were 12 members of Fatah al-Islam, an al Qaeda-inspired group that first emerged in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, confessing that they had helped plan the September 27 attack on an intelligence complex in the Syrian capital.
Click here to read the Reuters report from Damascus.Ahmadinejad Congratulates Obama as Livni Warns Against Dangerous Dialogue with Nuclearizing Iran
Friday, 7 November 2008
The Times:
Jon Herskovitz describes North Korea a "black hole" for Western analysts. He writes:
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