Top stories from DAWNS Digest.
Can the USA Convince India to End its Iranian Oil Exports?
The US Secretary of State is in India this week with the principal purpose of convincing India to turn off the Iranian oil spigot. A fascinating and sensitive diplomatic negotiation is underway between the global superpower and the rapidly developing country, “India currently imports almost 80 percent of its oil, and some 11 percent of the total comes from Iran, in order to help fuel its solidly booming economy. That growth itself is welcomed by Washington, but a recently passed US law would impose sanctions on countries, like India, who purchase their oil from Iran, starting June 28. The US fears that Iran may be moving toward developing nuclear weapons, a charge that Iran denies. ‘We believe, at this moment in time, the principal threat is a nuclear-armed Iran,’ said Ms. Clinton, during an interaction with reporters in the eastern city of Kolkata. ‘We need India to be part of the international effort…. We hope they will do even more and we think there is an adequate supply in the market place as Saudi Arabia, Iraq. We think this is part of India’s role in the international community.’” (CSM http://bit.ly/Khkigx)
South African Judge Orders Human Rights Investigation in Zimbabwe
A court ruling in Pretoria could potentially change the dynamic of relations between South Africa and Zimbabwe. “A South African judge on Tuesday ordered prosecutors to investigate whether Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s government committed human rights abuses against his rivals ahead of 2008 elections, a ruling that has grave political and practical implications. An investigation would likely be lengthy and costly. It could also complicate South Africa’s role as the main mediator in Zimbabwe’s political crisis. The ruling handed down in a Pretoria court Tuesday by Judge Hans Fabricius was the first under 2002 South African statutes spelling out its international law obligations. Human rights lawyer Nicole Fritz, whose South African Litigation Centre joined the Zimbabwean Exiles forum to bring the suit, said human rights groups have documented cases of torture and other crimes in Zimbabwe. Under Tuesday’s order, she said, investigators from a country with a strong legal framework now will be able to hold Zimbabwean officials responsible for crimes allegedly committed during that country’s political meltdown.” (WaPo http://wapo.st/IM8JhW)
CIA: Al Qaeda Airline Bomb Plot Foiled
The attack was to have occurred around the one year anniversary of Bin Laden’s death. “U.S. officials confirmed Monday that the CIA last month intervened in a plot to bomb a U.S.-bound airliner using an improved version of the “underwear bomb” that failed to detonate on a Northwest Airlines flight over Detroit in late 2009. Officials stress that the new plot — organized by al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, known as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP – never posed a threat to aircraft or passengers because it was disrupted so early. CIA thwarts new al Qaeda underwear bomb plot The revelation of the new airliner plot comes one-day after a CIA drone strike in Yemen killed Fahd Mohammad Ahmed Al-Quso, an al Qaeda figure indicted in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole and one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Terrorists.” (CBS http://cbsn.ws/Khap2z)