Kim Jong Il oversaw abduction agency

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Cambodia refuses to extradite Thailand’s Thaksin 

 Wed, Nov 11, 2009

AFP 

Cambodia on Wednesday rejected Thailand’s request to extradite Thaksin Shinawatra, inflaming tensions over Phnom Penh’s appointment of the fugitive former Thai premier as an economic adviser.

Billionaire Thaksin, who was toppled in a bloodless coup in 2006 and lives abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption, arrived in Cambodia on Tuesday and received a warm welcome from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Thai diplomats gave extradition papers to officials at Cambodia’s foreign affairs ministry early Wednesday but were then handed back a note from Phnom Penh denying their request, an AFP reporter saw.

“Our diplomatic note answering them is nothing beyond rejecting the extradition request,” Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told AFP shortly before the exchange of letters.

Cambodia had repeatedly vowed to refuse any request from its larger neighbour for the extradition of Thaksin, saying that the charges levelled against him in Thailand were politically motivated.

“Thaksin’s conviction is caused by the coup in September 2006, when he was the prime minister of Thailand whom Thai people voted in with an overwhelming majority in accordance with democracy,” Hor Namhong said.

Tensions are already running high between the two countries following a series of clashes over a temple on their border and the row threatens to mar a weekend summit of Southeast Asian leaders with US President Barack Obama.

In Bangkok, Thailand’s foreign ministry said it was waiting for official confirmation from the embassy in Phnom Penh that Cambodia had denied its request and “will consider the next measures to take”.

Thailand and Cambodia recalled their ambassadors from each other’s countries last week after Thaksin’s appointment, and this week the Thai cabinet agreed to cancel an oil and gas exploration deal with Cambodia signed under Thaksin.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has threatened to tear up the extradition treaty with Cambodia if it refuses to send Thaksin home to face justice.

Thaksin is due to give a speech to 300 Cambodian economics experts on Thursday. Cambodian officials have said he will stay in the country for two or three days but is not intending to live there.

In a posting on micro-messaging website Twitter, Thaksin said that on Wednesday he would “discuss with Hun Sen about Cambodia’s problems and its relations with Thailand, to improve understanding and find mutual ways to benefit our two countries.”

Twice-elected Thaksin fled Thailand in August 2008, a month before a court sentenced him to two years in jail in a conflict of interest case. He had returned to Thailand just months earlier for the first time since the coup.

But he has retained huge influence in Thai politics by stirring up protests against the current Thai government, and analysts say that in his close friend Hun Sen he had found a new way of pushing his campaign for a return to power.

Thailand’s government upped the pressure on Thaksin this week by accusing him of offending the revered monarchy after he was quoted by the website of British newspaper The Times as calling for reform of royal institutions.

Defaming the monarchy, led by 81-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, is a crime punishable by up to 15 years in jail in Thailand. The king has been in hospital since September with a lung and chest infection.

Cambodian state television late Tuesday showed Thaksin and Hun Sen embracing, reporting that the Cambodian leader pronounced him an “eternal friend.”

Thaksin also planned to visit Cambodia’s famed Angkor Wat temple during his trip, television said.

Cambodia and Thailand have fought several deadly skirmishes over another ancient monument, the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple, since it was granted UNESCO World Heritage Status in July 2008.

<Call me a newbie and follow my thought processes. I was reading a link to an interview with former Director of National Intelligence, John Negropointe dated back in 2005. The interview elucidated priorites concerning terrorist, Iraq, Afghanistan and North Korea. I never realized that what goes on at home can influence policy abroad (i.e. private interest dictating and directing foreign affairs. Might be a case for the alternative history files, but still. I wonder.>

February 1, 2009

I write here at The Underground Librarian as a fascination and a hobby. This definnitely is not a job.

Yet, a former boss once told me, “private knowledge is worthless”. So, please enjoy and benefit from my sharing experience and constantly reforming knowledge bases.

I’ve come up with a few main stays for the site:

1) Black Market News and Updates

2) Primers: fractured and otherwise on odd topics

3) Cat-on-the-fly: Research containing summaries and bits on groups and individuals.

There are books that do what I do better, but with Internet access at your fignertips, maybe a human interest angle gets brought to the front.

Thanks for reading,

~The Underground Librarian

Saudi denies Yemen rebels’ phosphorus bombs claim

AFP/Sanaa Yemeni refugees walk to a refugee camp in the southern Saudi province of Jizan after crossing the border from Yemen into Saudi Arabia on Sunday Shia rebels in northern Yemen caught between a deadly government onslaught and air raids from across the border yesterday alleged Saudi warplanes were using phosphorus bombs against them. A Saudi government adviser who asked not to be named rejected the claim, saying what the rebels saw was merely flares. “The Saudi air raids resumed this morning. Saudi combat fighter jets launched intense raids against border areas inside Yemeni territory on Sunday night,” rebel spokesman Mohamed Abdessalam told AFP by telephone. “The Saudi military used phosphorus bombs during those night raids, burning mountainous regions.” Abdessalam said the raids targeted Malaheez, 7km inside Yemen, as well as the border villages of Hassameh and Shida and several villages around Jabal Dukhan mountain which straddles the border. But Saudi aircraft could not defeat the group’s fighters who “do not have fixed positions,” the rebel spokesman said. “We are still present in Jabal Dukhan,” he said, denying claims Riyadh has taken control of the inhospitable mountainous area. “We expect a ground attack.” Saudi authorities insist attacks by their forces are limited to targeting rebel locations inside Saudi territory. The rebels yesterday posted a video on the Internet of a man it said was a Saudi prisoner, together with his ID which they said was issued by Saudi security forces. The man, named as Corporal Ahmed Abdullah Mohamed al-Amri, 27, is a member of special forces based in Tabouk, northern Saudi Arabia, according to the video on a website used by the rebels. The man, looking weary and speaking in a faint voice, is shown receiving treatment for facial injuries in the video, whose authenticity could not be independently confirmed. The rebels have said they are holding several Saudis, while Riyadh’s deputy defence minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan said four soldiers were missing but had not been captured. The Saudi government adviser denied the charges that the Saudi military used phosphorus munitions against the rebels. “We used flares, not phosphorus,” he said. He also said the kingdom is scaling back its assaults on the rebels, of whom it says it has captured 200 or more. “The actual heavy shelling of the area is all finished,” he added. “There are now tactical units deployed there. We want to make sure they (the rebels) are neutralised.” The Saudi cabinet yesterday stressed the kingdom would not “tolerate any violation of the sovereignty of its territory,” in a statement issued at the end of its weekly meeting. According to a provisional Saudi toll, three soldiers and four other Saudis have now been killed in the fighting. Prince Khaled said the kingdom’s army had “purged the mountains on the Saudi side” of the border, and that it “did not cross and will not cross the Yemeni frontier.” The Saudi adviser said Saudi authorities are holding “large numbers” of Houthi fighters. “We are counting in the hundreds the fighters who have given themselves up,” he said.

White phosphorus bomb

White phosphorus (WP) is a flare- and smoke-producing agent and an incendiary agent that is made from a common allotrope of the chemical element phosphorus. The main utility of white phosphorus munitions is to create smokescreens to mask movement from the enemy, or to mask his fire.

In contrast to other smoke-causing munitions, WP burns quickly causing an instant bank of smoke. As a result of this, WP munitions are very common—particularly as smoke grenades for infantry; loaded in defensive grenade dischargers on tanks and other armored vehicles; or as part of the ammunition allotment for artillery or mortars.

More

 Posted by Palestine Defence at 5:54 PM

White Phosphorus – Non-Military Applications

The amazing thing is that White Phosphorus is used in almost every product imaginable – from soft drinks to toothpaste. White phosphorus is used by industry to produce phosphoric acid and other chemicals for use in fertilizers, food additives, and cleaning compounds. Small amounts of white phosphorus were used in the past in pesticides and fireworks.

In recent years, concentrated phosphoric acids, which may contain as much as 70% to 75% P2O5 content, have become of great importance to agriculture and farm production. World-wide demand for fertilizers has caused record phosphate production. Phosphates are used in the production of special glasses, such as those used for sodium lamps.

Bone-ash, calcium phosphate, is used to create fine chinaware and to produce mono-calcium phosphate, used in baking powder. Phosphorus is also important in the production of steels, phosphor bronze, and many other products. Trisodium phosphate is important as a cleaning agent, as a water softener, and for preventing boiler scale and corrosion of pipes and boiler tubes.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and numerous state/local law enforcement authorities throughout the United States, have noted an alarming trend involving illicit methamphetamine production. Methamphetamine (AKA speed, crank or meth) is a major drug problem in the United States. All businesses engaged in the sale of red phosphorus, white phosphorus and hypophosphorous acid products should be aware of the use of these products by clandestine methamphetamine laboratory operators.

White Phosphorus – Background

Phosphorus is an element, the name derived from the Greek “phosphoros” or light bearing, the ancient name for the planet Venus when appearing before sunrise. Brand discovered phosphorus in 1669 by preparing it from urine. Phosphorus exists in four or more allotropic forms: white (or yellow), red, and black (or violet). Ordinary phosphorus is a waxy white solid; when pure it is colorless and transparent. White phosphorus has two modifications: alpha and beta with a transition temperature at -3.8oC. It is insoluble in water, but soluble in carbon disulfide.

Never found free in nature, Phosphorus is widely distributed in combination with minerals. Phosphate rock, which contains the mineral apatite, an impure tri-calcium phosphate, is an important source of the element. Large deposits are found in Russia, in Morocco, and in Florida, Tennessee, Utah, Idaho, and elsewhere.

White phosphorus may be made by several methods. By one process, tri-calcium phosphate, the essential ingredient of phosphate rock, is heated in the presence of carbon and silica in an electric furnace or fuelfired furnace. Elementary phosphorus is liberated as vapor and may be collected under phosphoric acid, an important compound in making super-phosphate fertilizers.

White Phosphorus (WP) – Other Health Effects

Systemic toxicity may occur if therapy is not administered. Therapy consists of topical use of a bicarbonate solution to neutralize phosphoric acids and mechanical removal and debridement of particles. A Wood’s lamp in a darkened room may help to identify remaining luminescent particles. The early signs of systemic intoxication by phosphorus are abdominal pain, jaundice, and a garlic odor of the breath; prolonged intake may cause anemia, as well as cachexia and necrosis of bone, involving typically the maxilla and mandible (phossy jaw). Prolonged absorption of phosphorus causes necrosis of bones. It is a hepatotoxin.

The presenting complaints of overexposed workers may be toothache and excessive salivation. There may be a dull red appearance of the oral mucosa. One or more teeth may loosen, with subsequent pain and swelling of the jaw; healing may be delayed following dental procedures such as extractions; with necrosis of bone, a sequestrum may develop with sinus tract formation. In a series of 10 cases, the shortest period of exposure to phosphorus fume (concentrations not measured) that led to bone necrosis was 10 months (two cases), and the longest period of exposure was 18 years.

Signs and symptoms include irritation of the eyes and the respiratory tract; abdominal pain, nausea, and jaundice; anemia, cachexia, pain, and loosening of teeth, excessive salivation, and pain and swelling of the jaw; skin and eye burns. Phossy jaw must be differentiated from other forms of osteomyelitis. With phossy jaw, a sequestrum forms in the bone and is released from weeks to months later; the sequestra are light in weight, yellow to brown, osteoporotic, and decalcified, whereas sequestra from acute staphylococcal osteomyelitis are sharp, white spicules of bone, dense and well calcified. In acute staphylococcal osteomyelitis, the radiographic picture changes rapidly and closely follows the clinical course, but with phossy jaw the diagnosis sometimes is clinically obvious before radiological changes are discernible. It is good dental practice to take routine X-ray films of jaws, but experience indicates that necrosis can occur in the absence of any pathology that is visible on the roentgenogram.

Policeman’s Video Sparks 3 Inquiries

Military Law Signed

<I realize this may not be an important post to the looks, but the war is in Afghanistan. Rain brought bumper wheat crops which mean all other agriculture swelled as well, including poppies. Casualites during harvest time may make for sticky situations with locals. No one to bring home the food. Leveraging possible to buy wheat in excahnge for other goods or service to stress. Economic wars happen just like artillery fire.>              

Bumper Wheat Crop Brings Cheer to Northern Afghanistan

By Abdul Latif Sahak

BALKH, Afghanistan, November 9, 2009 (ENS) – Majid can hardly believe his good fortune. He harvested so much wheat this year that he can feed his family and even sell a few kilos in Mazar-e-Sharif, the economic capital of northern Afghanistan.

Last year, things were different in his home province of Samangan. The wheat harvest failed due to a lack of rain – a catastrophe, since flour is needed to make the staple of Afghan food, nan, or flat bread.

This year things are much different. Farmers in Samangan harvested 140,000 metric tonnes of wheat, a seven-fold increase over the 20,000 tonnes they got last year, says Noor Mohammad, the chief of the agriculture department in Samangan.

“We even have a surplus of 50,000 tonnes,” he said. “We have asked the ministry of agriculture and the World Food Programme to purchase the surplus so people will be able to make a profit.”

Abundant wheat is harvested in rain-fed areas of northern Afghanistan. June 2009. (Photo by Michal Przedlacki)

The harvest has been plentiful all over northern Afghanistan, which is the main supplier of wheat for the rest of the country. After years of drought brought failed harvests and food crises, in which dozens of people died, this year there was finally good news. It is called rain.

Around 90 percent of the farmland in the north is located in mountainous areas, irrigated by rain in the spring and snow in the winter. Agricultural experts say that with better seeds and a better system of irrigation, Afghanistan should be able to feed itself. However, the agricultural sector has been devastated by years of civil war, and was neglected in the reconstruction phase after the fall of the Taliban.

The long spells of drought in the last few years had a huge impact on the north, with many farmers leaving rural areas for the cities. The ones who stayed behind barely survived, or starved. There are accounts of people trying to sell their children to buy food. The bad wheat harvest in the north also affected the rest of the country.

The resulting high wheat price was a major incentive for farmers to grow more wheat this year, together with the distribution of seeds by aid organisations. And then came the rain, a lot of it. Not all of the effects were positive: there were floods and some people lost their houses, or even their lives.

But the rains brought in the harvest. People now have enough food, and far fewer are leaving for the city.

“Last year I had to keep going back to aid organizations for food,” said Mohammad Rasool, the representative of the Kohistan District Development Council in Sar-e-Pul province. “But this year people don’t ask me for wheat, they ask me for schools, clinics and roads.”

He remembers very well the disastrous situation last year, when there wasn’t enough food in the province. He cited one case where a 16-year-old girl who had a food coupon from the ministry of refugee affairs was forced to have sex with powerful men in return for a 49-kilo sack of wheat.

Wheat farmer in Afghanistan (Photo by Reiko)

This year, the wheat harvest in the province has increased by 80 percent compared to last year, says Amanullah Amin, director of the department of agriculture, irrigation and livestock. This has resulted in a sharp decrease in the price: last year a ser (seven kilos) cost 250 afghani (US$5). This year the same amount fetches between 100-120 afghani.

“But at least the farmers have wheat left over to sell,”Amin said.

The overall situation is so favorable that Afghanistan this year will only import 200,000 tonnes of wheat from other countries, says Gholam Mostafa Jawad, deputy minister of commerce. “Last year, we had to buy 1.2 million tonnes of wheat. Now we are purchasing wheat from our own farmers,” he said.

In Balkh province, farmers are optimistic. Apart from the abundance of rain, the campaign against locusts has also helped, says Kateb Shams, the director of the department of agriculture in Balkh. He praises the advantages of growing wheat over other crops, and says it is cheaper to grow it in rain-fed areas, because then the field only needs to be ploughed and seeded once, and there is no need for fertilizer.

The good harvest has had a great impact on people’s lives, say people in Balkh.

Niaz Mir says he doesn’t have any farmland, but that the jobs in harvesting are much better paid than before, because there is more wheat to get from the land. “We can take home seven kilos of wheat for every 21 kilos that we harvested,” he said. “I don’t have to buy any wheat for the coming winter.”

{This article originally appeared in Afghan Recovery Report produced by the Institute for War and Peace Reporting.}