Reuters
27 February 2009
A rebel group in Central African Republic has rejected the government's peace deal and said a new allied force will now challenge the president, days after gunmen overran a police post in the northwest of the country.
The declaration by rebel leader Abdoulaye Miskine is the latest threat to international efforts to pacify the landlocked nation, which is rich in gold, diamonds and uranium but suffers from chronic instability.
Miskine's Democratic Forces for the Central African People (FDPC) had been one of the first of several rebel groups to sign a peace deal with President Francois Bozize late last year.
"We are no longer bound by the agreements ... we are taking back our freedom and desire to challenge Bozize in all suitable ways," Miskine said in a statement sent to the president on Feb. 25 and seen by Reuters on Friday.
The statement, which accuses the president of breaking deals struck with the rebels, was issued in the town of Batangafo, 385 km (240 miles) north of Bangui, where gunmen destroyed a police post and seized weapons and ammunition over the weekend.
Miskine also announced a new rebel alliance, known as the National Resistance, which he said brought together a number of movements, without giving any further details.
Several other rebel groups took part in last year's peace process but tensions have mounted since the talks. More than a dozen government soldiers were killed in November.
Rebels and the opposition criticised a government reshuffle last month, saying it failed to give them a greater role in politics.
There was no immediate reaction from the government.
CAR's internal conflicts have been aggravated by wars in neighbouring Chad and Sudan, whose rebels have previously taken advantage of the country's remote and uncontrolled territory.
Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced by the conflict in the former French colony but aid workers complain the country is overlooked by larger crises in neighbouring countries, which also include the two Congos.
(Reporting by Paul-Marin Ngoupana; Writing by David Lewis; editing by Alistair Thomson and Matthew Jones)
28 February, 2009
Anthrax spores don't match dead researcher's samples.
The Raw Story
26 February 2009
By John Byrne
Poisonous anthrax that killed five Americans in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks doesn't match bacteria from a flask linked to Bruce Ivins, the researcher who committed suicide after being implicated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a scientist said.
Spores used in the deadly mailings "share a chemical 'fingerprint' that is not found in the flask linked to Bruce Ivins," Roberta Kwok wrote in Nature News, citing Joseph Michael, a scientist at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Michael analyzed letters sent to the New York Post and offices of Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy, and found a distinct "chemical signature" not present in the flask known as RMR-1029, which Ivins could access in his laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
``Spores from two of those show a distinct chemical signature that includes silicon, oxygen, iron, and tin; the third letter had silicon, oxygen, iron and possibly also tin,'' Kwok wrote. ``Bacteria from Ivins' RMR-1029 flask did not contain any of those four elements.''
The results don't necessarily exonerate Ivins.
The mailed spores could have been removed from the flask and grown under different conditions, resulting in varying chemical contents, Jason Bannan, a microbiologist and forensic examiner at the FBI's Chemical Biological Sciences Unit in Quantico, Virginia, told Kwok.
"It doesn't surprise me that it would be different," said Bannan.
The FBI has asked the National Academy of Science to perform an independent review of the anthrax investigation data. The two sides are working on a contract for the study.
Ivins, 62, a biodefense researcher who spent years searching for a better anthrax vaccine, overdosed on Tylenol and Codiene last year after learning that the FBI was preparing to indict him on murder charges.
26 February 2009
By John Byrne
Poisonous anthrax that killed five Americans in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks doesn't match bacteria from a flask linked to Bruce Ivins, the researcher who committed suicide after being implicated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a scientist said.
Spores used in the deadly mailings "share a chemical 'fingerprint' that is not found in the flask linked to Bruce Ivins," Roberta Kwok wrote in Nature News, citing Joseph Michael, a scientist at the Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Michael analyzed letters sent to the New York Post and offices of Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy, and found a distinct "chemical signature" not present in the flask known as RMR-1029, which Ivins could access in his laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
``Spores from two of those show a distinct chemical signature that includes silicon, oxygen, iron, and tin; the third letter had silicon, oxygen, iron and possibly also tin,'' Kwok wrote. ``Bacteria from Ivins' RMR-1029 flask did not contain any of those four elements.''
The results don't necessarily exonerate Ivins.
The mailed spores could have been removed from the flask and grown under different conditions, resulting in varying chemical contents, Jason Bannan, a microbiologist and forensic examiner at the FBI's Chemical Biological Sciences Unit in Quantico, Virginia, told Kwok.
"It doesn't surprise me that it would be different," said Bannan.
The FBI has asked the National Academy of Science to perform an independent review of the anthrax investigation data. The two sides are working on a contract for the study.
Ivins, 62, a biodefense researcher who spent years searching for a better anthrax vaccine, overdosed on Tylenol and Codiene last year after learning that the FBI was preparing to indict him on murder charges.
27 February, 2009
NSA Should Oversee Cybersecurity, Intel Chief Says.
Wired Blog Network
26 February 2009
By Kim Zetter
Despite the fact that many Americans distrust the National Security Agency for its role in the Bush Administration's warrantless wiretapping program, the agency should be entrusted with securing the nation's telecommunications networks and other cyber infrastructures, President Obama's director of national intelligence told Congress on Wednesday.
Director of National Intelligence Admiral Dennis Blair told the House intelligence committee (.pdf) that the NSA, rather than the Department of Homeland Security which currently oversees cybersecurity, has the smarts and the skills to secure cyberspace.
"The National Security Agency has the greatest repository of cyber talent," Blair said. "[T]here are some wizards out there at Fort Meade who can do stuff."
Blair added that "because of the offensive mission that they have, they’re the ones who know best about what’s coming back at us and it’s defenses against those sorts of things that we need to be able to build into wider and wider circles."
He acknowledged that the agency had a trust handicap to overcome due to its role in the Bush Administration's secret domestic spying program, and therefore asked Congress to help convince the public that it's the right agency for the task.
"I think there is a great deal of distrust of the National Security Agency and the intelligence community in general playing a role outside of the very narrowly circumscribed role because of some of the history of the FISA issue in years past. . . . So I would like the help of people like you who have studied this closely and served on commissions, the leadership of the committee and finding a way that the American people will have confidence in the supervision, in the oversight of the role of NSA so that it can help protect these wider bodies. So, to me, that’s one of the keys things that we have to work on here in the next few months."
Blair is not without support for his view. Paul Kurtz, who led the cybersecurity group on Obama's transition team and was part of Bush's White House National Security Council, recently told Forbes that he supports the NSA taking a prominent role in cybersecurity.
The "NSA has the vast majority of expertise in information assurance inside the U.S. government," Kurtz said. "We have to tap that expertise while respecting privacy and civil liberties. I believe NSA can play a key role with proper oversight."
Obama recently tasked Melissa Hathaway, cybercoordination executive for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to conduct a 60-day review of Bush's Comprehensive National Cyber Security Initiative, a secretive, $30 billion, multi-year plan to address cybersecurity issues.
Hathaway, a former management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, helped develop the classified plan, which many people have criticized for being too secretive, and has since been overseeing its implementation. She is also being touted as the likely candidate to assume the permanent role of cybersecurity czar when Obama fills the position -- a job that will likely be elevated to a presidential advisory position.
26 February 2009
By Kim Zetter
Despite the fact that many Americans distrust the National Security Agency for its role in the Bush Administration's warrantless wiretapping program, the agency should be entrusted with securing the nation's telecommunications networks and other cyber infrastructures, President Obama's director of national intelligence told Congress on Wednesday.
Director of National Intelligence Admiral Dennis Blair told the House intelligence committee (.pdf) that the NSA, rather than the Department of Homeland Security which currently oversees cybersecurity, has the smarts and the skills to secure cyberspace.
"The National Security Agency has the greatest repository of cyber talent," Blair said. "[T]here are some wizards out there at Fort Meade who can do stuff."
Blair added that "because of the offensive mission that they have, they’re the ones who know best about what’s coming back at us and it’s defenses against those sorts of things that we need to be able to build into wider and wider circles."
He acknowledged that the agency had a trust handicap to overcome due to its role in the Bush Administration's secret domestic spying program, and therefore asked Congress to help convince the public that it's the right agency for the task.
"I think there is a great deal of distrust of the National Security Agency and the intelligence community in general playing a role outside of the very narrowly circumscribed role because of some of the history of the FISA issue in years past. . . . So I would like the help of people like you who have studied this closely and served on commissions, the leadership of the committee and finding a way that the American people will have confidence in the supervision, in the oversight of the role of NSA so that it can help protect these wider bodies. So, to me, that’s one of the keys things that we have to work on here in the next few months."
Blair is not without support for his view. Paul Kurtz, who led the cybersecurity group on Obama's transition team and was part of Bush's White House National Security Council, recently told Forbes that he supports the NSA taking a prominent role in cybersecurity.
The "NSA has the vast majority of expertise in information assurance inside the U.S. government," Kurtz said. "We have to tap that expertise while respecting privacy and civil liberties. I believe NSA can play a key role with proper oversight."
Obama recently tasked Melissa Hathaway, cybercoordination executive for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to conduct a 60-day review of Bush's Comprehensive National Cyber Security Initiative, a secretive, $30 billion, multi-year plan to address cybersecurity issues.
Hathaway, a former management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, helped develop the classified plan, which many people have criticized for being too secretive, and has since been overseeing its implementation. She is also being touted as the likely candidate to assume the permanent role of cybersecurity czar when Obama fills the position -- a job that will likely be elevated to a presidential advisory position.
‘Pak-Iran gas pipeline deal in final stages.'
Daily Times
27 February 2009
Talks on Pak-Iran gas pipeline are in their final stages, Iranian Consul General Muhammad Iqbal Asghari said on Thursday. Talking to reporters at his residence, Asghari said the Iranian government was aware that Pakistan needed gas and had chosen to supply it to Pakistan, rejecting Swiss and Bulgarian proposals. Answering a question about an Iranian diplomat kidnapped from Peshawar four months ago, he said those behind the kidnapping wanted to damage Pak-Iran ties. Asghari said the Pakistani government should ensure safe recovery of the diplomat, adding no group had yet contacted the Iranian embassy regarding the kidnapping.
27 February 2009
Talks on Pak-Iran gas pipeline are in their final stages, Iranian Consul General Muhammad Iqbal Asghari said on Thursday. Talking to reporters at his residence, Asghari said the Iranian government was aware that Pakistan needed gas and had chosen to supply it to Pakistan, rejecting Swiss and Bulgarian proposals. Answering a question about an Iranian diplomat kidnapped from Peshawar four months ago, he said those behind the kidnapping wanted to damage Pak-Iran ties. Asghari said the Pakistani government should ensure safe recovery of the diplomat, adding no group had yet contacted the Iranian embassy regarding the kidnapping.
26 February, 2009
UK's Mesopotamia Forms First Drilling JV in Iraq Since 2003.
Rigzone
Midmar Energy Ltd. 2/26/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=73419
Midmar Energy has announced its international expansion with the signature of a joint venture agreement between its associate company, Mesopotamia Petroleum Company ("MPC") and the Iraqi Drilling Company ("IDC") (the Iraqi state-owned drilling company) in Baghdad. The new joint venture, known as the Iraqi Oil Services Company LLC ("IOSCO"), has been created with the objective of drilling a large number of new wells in the Republic of Iraq, thus significantly increasing oil and gas production. This historic agreement is the first joint venture of its kind between the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and a foreign oil company since the fall of the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
In 2005, Midmar formed MPC, alongside its partners, as an oil and gas company established for the specific purpose of undertaking operations in Iraq. Midmar has a 31.70% interest in MPC. The new joint venture, Iraqi Oil Services Company LLC ("IOSCO"), is owned 51% by IDC and 49% by MPC. IOSCO's primary objective is to facilitate the Ministry of Oil's stated targets for boosting hydrocarbon production by approximately 50%, from approximately 2.0 million barrels per day ("bpd") in 2008 to 3.0 million bpd as soon as possible, and to 4.4 million bpd within the next four years.
IOSCO will purchase and operate 12 new drilling rigs in Iraq and secure contracts for drilling programs in the oil fields controlled by the state owned South Oil Company (SOC), Missan Oil Company (MOC), Oil Exploration Company (OEC) and the North Oil Company (NOC). The parties to the joint venture intend to invest a total of $400 million in the Joint Venture. As part of its commitment, MPC intends to supply IOSCO with the necessary integrated drilling and completion methods and technologies to dramatically boost hydrocarbon production volumes.
MPC's role in the venture is focused upon project and business management using the latest techniques developed within the industry, drilling rig procurement and management, and training and resource development programs to further develop the expertise of IOSCO personnel. Midmar’s associate company, Firstdrill Limited, a global project management company, has extensive international experience in all aspects of project management, including well design and engineering, and will work closely with IOSCO.
MPC personnel bring to IOSCO a wide breadth of experience in the international petroleum industry and MPC's management has collectively been involved in oil and gas exploration, development, drilling, completion and workover throughout a wide range of geologic conditions. They have taken part in operations in a variety of areas including the North Sea, the Central Asian Republics and South East Asia both off and on shore. This combination of this technical expertise and operational experience has been the key reasons behind Iraqi Drilling Company bringing in MPC to act as its joint venture partner in the formation of IOSCO.
MPC has appointed London-based investment bank, JPMorgan Cazenove, as its financial adviser and placement agent in connection with a potential major equity fundraising to support MPC's contribution to the joint venture's drilling operations.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Thomas Redman, Managing Director of Midmar, said, "The signature of the agreement between MPC and its Iraqi partners, IOSCO, successfully demonstrates our stated objective of expanding our interests internationally. Our strategy in forming MPC was to focus on oil and gas opportunities, allowing us to apply our expertise to this area, an objective that will be fulfilled through this historic agreement. Our associate company, Firstdrill Limited, will also play an important role alongside MPC and IDC. We are honoured to be working with IOSCO and the Iraqi Ministry of Oil in supporting the future development of the Country's expertise and its oil and gas resources."
Foreign Secretary David Miliband said, "I welcome the signing of the Joint Venture between Mesopotamia Petroleum Company and the Iraqi Drilling Company which was agreed today, the first such joint venture between a UK company and the Ministry of oil. This is an important signal of the long-term commitment the UK has to Iraq in terms of trade, commerce and economic co-operation. It is also an important message to British business that Iraq is open for business."
His Excellency Dr. Hussein Al Shahristani, Iraq's Minister of Oil, said, "I am very pleased to see a new company established in Iraq between the Iraqi Drilling Company and Mesopotamia Petroleum Company, and look forward to seeing it actively working on the ground in the very near future.This new Company can play a significant role in increasing Iraq's oil production by drilling wells that are needed to develop Iraq's oil fields."
Idriss Al-Yassiri, Director General of IDC, said, "IDC and its management and administration are happy to have this joint venture signed, and our work starts from today. Our business plan is to follow as a roadmap. This Company (IOSCO) has great potential inside and outside of the country of Iraq. Both sides are committed to making it successful, and all the circumstances for success are in place."
Midmar Energy Ltd. 2/26/2009
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=73419
Midmar Energy has announced its international expansion with the signature of a joint venture agreement between its associate company, Mesopotamia Petroleum Company ("MPC") and the Iraqi Drilling Company ("IDC") (the Iraqi state-owned drilling company) in Baghdad. The new joint venture, known as the Iraqi Oil Services Company LLC ("IOSCO"), has been created with the objective of drilling a large number of new wells in the Republic of Iraq, thus significantly increasing oil and gas production. This historic agreement is the first joint venture of its kind between the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and a foreign oil company since the fall of the regime of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
In 2005, Midmar formed MPC, alongside its partners, as an oil and gas company established for the specific purpose of undertaking operations in Iraq. Midmar has a 31.70% interest in MPC. The new joint venture, Iraqi Oil Services Company LLC ("IOSCO"), is owned 51% by IDC and 49% by MPC. IOSCO's primary objective is to facilitate the Ministry of Oil's stated targets for boosting hydrocarbon production by approximately 50%, from approximately 2.0 million barrels per day ("bpd") in 2008 to 3.0 million bpd as soon as possible, and to 4.4 million bpd within the next four years.
IOSCO will purchase and operate 12 new drilling rigs in Iraq and secure contracts for drilling programs in the oil fields controlled by the state owned South Oil Company (SOC), Missan Oil Company (MOC), Oil Exploration Company (OEC) and the North Oil Company (NOC). The parties to the joint venture intend to invest a total of $400 million in the Joint Venture. As part of its commitment, MPC intends to supply IOSCO with the necessary integrated drilling and completion methods and technologies to dramatically boost hydrocarbon production volumes.
MPC's role in the venture is focused upon project and business management using the latest techniques developed within the industry, drilling rig procurement and management, and training and resource development programs to further develop the expertise of IOSCO personnel. Midmar’s associate company, Firstdrill Limited, a global project management company, has extensive international experience in all aspects of project management, including well design and engineering, and will work closely with IOSCO.
MPC personnel bring to IOSCO a wide breadth of experience in the international petroleum industry and MPC's management has collectively been involved in oil and gas exploration, development, drilling, completion and workover throughout a wide range of geologic conditions. They have taken part in operations in a variety of areas including the North Sea, the Central Asian Republics and South East Asia both off and on shore. This combination of this technical expertise and operational experience has been the key reasons behind Iraqi Drilling Company bringing in MPC to act as its joint venture partner in the formation of IOSCO.
MPC has appointed London-based investment bank, JPMorgan Cazenove, as its financial adviser and placement agent in connection with a potential major equity fundraising to support MPC's contribution to the joint venture's drilling operations.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Thomas Redman, Managing Director of Midmar, said, "The signature of the agreement between MPC and its Iraqi partners, IOSCO, successfully demonstrates our stated objective of expanding our interests internationally. Our strategy in forming MPC was to focus on oil and gas opportunities, allowing us to apply our expertise to this area, an objective that will be fulfilled through this historic agreement. Our associate company, Firstdrill Limited, will also play an important role alongside MPC and IDC. We are honoured to be working with IOSCO and the Iraqi Ministry of Oil in supporting the future development of the Country's expertise and its oil and gas resources."
Foreign Secretary David Miliband said, "I welcome the signing of the Joint Venture between Mesopotamia Petroleum Company and the Iraqi Drilling Company which was agreed today, the first such joint venture between a UK company and the Ministry of oil. This is an important signal of the long-term commitment the UK has to Iraq in terms of trade, commerce and economic co-operation. It is also an important message to British business that Iraq is open for business."
His Excellency Dr. Hussein Al Shahristani, Iraq's Minister of Oil, said, "I am very pleased to see a new company established in Iraq between the Iraqi Drilling Company and Mesopotamia Petroleum Company, and look forward to seeing it actively working on the ground in the very near future.This new Company can play a significant role in increasing Iraq's oil production by drilling wells that are needed to develop Iraq's oil fields."
Idriss Al-Yassiri, Director General of IDC, said, "IDC and its management and administration are happy to have this joint venture signed, and our work starts from today. Our business plan is to follow as a roadmap. This Company (IOSCO) has great potential inside and outside of the country of Iraq. Both sides are committed to making it successful, and all the circumstances for success are in place."
Latvian Investigative Journalist Reveals Taylor, Ghadafi, Ex-CIA Agent Organized Arms, Diamonds Smuggling Company.
New Liberian
19 February 2009
by Mambu James Kpargoi, Jr. in Monrovia
A retired Italian agent of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) joined then NPFL rebel leader Charles Taylor, and others, to organize an enterprise to smuggle weapons into the West African sub region. Roger D’ONOFRIO Ruggiero collaborated with Mr. Taylor, a representative of Libyan leader Muammar Ghadafi, eastern European arms smugglers and RUF’s Ibrahim Bah to organize the International Business Consultant Ltd. (IBC) to serve as a support for large weapons deal.
According to the transcribed testimony of Mr. D’ONOFRIO Ruggiero in 1995 before an Italian prosecutor presented Thursday to Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) by Mr. Immants Liepins, an investigative journalist of the Latvian Public Investigation Bureau, D’ONOFRIO, Taylor and others had shares in the company and the entity was also used to smuggle Liberian and Sierra Leonean diamonds in exchange for weapons.
The document revealed that the company entered into deals with a Bulgarian Company, Kintex, which supplied weapons and bullets to IBC and sold diamonds in return, camouflaged as oranges and olives with the aid of some Bulgarian companies in Zurich, Switzerland represented by a Swiss lawyer, Rudolf Meroni.
According to Mr. D’ONOFRIO’s transcript, in 1993 alone the company earned more the US$3 million dollars.“The company IBC is a Liberian Company de iure that was founded by me, Mr. Charles Taylor and Michele Papa, who was my representative in all deals with Libya, as he and Massimo PUGLIESE had trade relations with President Ghadafi,” the transcript said.
Mr. D’ONOFRIO told the prosecutor that he was introduced to Mr. Ibrahim John Bah, who posed as Liberia’s minister for mineral resources, saying, “these resources were diamonds, which Liberia sold widely and about which Libya has always shown a great interest.”
He said Bah collaborated with Libyan leader Ghadafi and Taylor to form a rebel group which was then operating in the Sierra Leonean jungle after fighting in Liberia.
Mr. D’ONOFRIO said Bah and an Italian national only identified as PORCARI also operating in Liberia had big business ventures in Liberia’s tropical timber and operated another bigger enterprise to conceal the criminal profits.
He said during a visit to Liberia he was taken to the town of Foya, Lofa County where he met Mr. Taylor and a representative of the US Government, Nill Taylor, not a relative of Taylor. “Nill Taylor, in fact was an ambassador, but in truth he was Nicolas OMAN’s friend.”
D’ONOFRIO said OMAN was a Slovenian weapons smuggler who was named Liberia’s honorary consul in Slovenia, while his son occupied similar portfolio in Australia.
He disclosed that he and Mr. Taylor offered equal amounts of diamonds to serve as guarantees for the arms deals.
Mr. Liepins made the presentation while testifying Thursday at the ongoing Economic Crimes Hearing of the TRC at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion in Monrovia. Liepins is an investigative journalist who previously worked for the largest media institutions in Latvia: Daily Business, Evening News, Independent Morning News amongst others before he founded the Public Investigation Bureau.
Imants is the author of two books, one on financial crime and corruption (2008). In 2006, he was voted for Best New Latvian Writer and this year was nominated to UNESCO as one of the candidates for the World Press Freedom Prize.
Under the theme: “Economic Crimes, Corruption and the Conflict in Liberia: Policy Options for an Emerging Democracy and sustainable peace,” the hearing is addressing the contribution of economic crimes to the conflict including corruption and the illicit exploitation of natural resources.
The hearing is also discussing the correlation between the extractive industry and the fueling of the conflict and appropriate policies aimed at reversing the unauthorized exploitation of the natural resources by individuals, groups and the government for purposes external to the national good.
Pursuant to the TRC Act of 2005, the commission is mandated to investigate gross human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law as well as abuses that occurred, including massacres, sexual violations, murder, extra-judicial killings and economic crimes, such as the exploitation of natural or public resources to perpetuate armed conflicts during the period January 1979 to October 14, 2003.
The commission is mandated to determine whether these were isolated incidents or part of a systematic pattern; establishing the antecedents, circumstances, factors and context of such violations and abuses; and determining those responsible for the commission of the violations and abuses and their motives as well as their impact on victims.
19 February 2009
by Mambu James Kpargoi, Jr. in Monrovia
A retired Italian agent of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) joined then NPFL rebel leader Charles Taylor, and others, to organize an enterprise to smuggle weapons into the West African sub region. Roger D’ONOFRIO Ruggiero collaborated with Mr. Taylor, a representative of Libyan leader Muammar Ghadafi, eastern European arms smugglers and RUF’s Ibrahim Bah to organize the International Business Consultant Ltd. (IBC) to serve as a support for large weapons deal.
According to the transcribed testimony of Mr. D’ONOFRIO Ruggiero in 1995 before an Italian prosecutor presented Thursday to Liberia’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) by Mr. Immants Liepins, an investigative journalist of the Latvian Public Investigation Bureau, D’ONOFRIO, Taylor and others had shares in the company and the entity was also used to smuggle Liberian and Sierra Leonean diamonds in exchange for weapons.
The document revealed that the company entered into deals with a Bulgarian Company, Kintex, which supplied weapons and bullets to IBC and sold diamonds in return, camouflaged as oranges and olives with the aid of some Bulgarian companies in Zurich, Switzerland represented by a Swiss lawyer, Rudolf Meroni.
According to Mr. D’ONOFRIO’s transcript, in 1993 alone the company earned more the US$3 million dollars.“The company IBC is a Liberian Company de iure that was founded by me, Mr. Charles Taylor and Michele Papa, who was my representative in all deals with Libya, as he and Massimo PUGLIESE had trade relations with President Ghadafi,” the transcript said.
Mr. D’ONOFRIO told the prosecutor that he was introduced to Mr. Ibrahim John Bah, who posed as Liberia’s minister for mineral resources, saying, “these resources were diamonds, which Liberia sold widely and about which Libya has always shown a great interest.”
He said Bah collaborated with Libyan leader Ghadafi and Taylor to form a rebel group which was then operating in the Sierra Leonean jungle after fighting in Liberia.
Mr. D’ONOFRIO said Bah and an Italian national only identified as PORCARI also operating in Liberia had big business ventures in Liberia’s tropical timber and operated another bigger enterprise to conceal the criminal profits.
He said during a visit to Liberia he was taken to the town of Foya, Lofa County where he met Mr. Taylor and a representative of the US Government, Nill Taylor, not a relative of Taylor. “Nill Taylor, in fact was an ambassador, but in truth he was Nicolas OMAN’s friend.”
D’ONOFRIO said OMAN was a Slovenian weapons smuggler who was named Liberia’s honorary consul in Slovenia, while his son occupied similar portfolio in Australia.
He disclosed that he and Mr. Taylor offered equal amounts of diamonds to serve as guarantees for the arms deals.
Mr. Liepins made the presentation while testifying Thursday at the ongoing Economic Crimes Hearing of the TRC at the Centennial Memorial Pavilion in Monrovia. Liepins is an investigative journalist who previously worked for the largest media institutions in Latvia: Daily Business, Evening News, Independent Morning News amongst others before he founded the Public Investigation Bureau.
Imants is the author of two books, one on financial crime and corruption (2008). In 2006, he was voted for Best New Latvian Writer and this year was nominated to UNESCO as one of the candidates for the World Press Freedom Prize.
Under the theme: “Economic Crimes, Corruption and the Conflict in Liberia: Policy Options for an Emerging Democracy and sustainable peace,” the hearing is addressing the contribution of economic crimes to the conflict including corruption and the illicit exploitation of natural resources.
The hearing is also discussing the correlation between the extractive industry and the fueling of the conflict and appropriate policies aimed at reversing the unauthorized exploitation of the natural resources by individuals, groups and the government for purposes external to the national good.
Pursuant to the TRC Act of 2005, the commission is mandated to investigate gross human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law as well as abuses that occurred, including massacres, sexual violations, murder, extra-judicial killings and economic crimes, such as the exploitation of natural or public resources to perpetuate armed conflicts during the period January 1979 to October 14, 2003.
The commission is mandated to determine whether these were isolated incidents or part of a systematic pattern; establishing the antecedents, circumstances, factors and context of such violations and abuses; and determining those responsible for the commission of the violations and abuses and their motives as well as their impact on victims.
Kosovo trial clears Serbia leader.
BBC News
26 February 2009
Serbian ex-President Milan Milutinovic has been acquitted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Kosovo by a UN war crimes tribunal.
Five former top Serbian officials were found guilty on some or all the charges relating to the 1990s conflict. Their sentences range from 15 to 22 years.
It was the court's first ruling on alleged crimes by Serbian forces in the Kosovo conflict.
Mr Milutinovic was seen largely as a figurehead president during that time.
The court found that the 66-year-old, who led Serbia from December 1997 to December 2002, had no direct control over the Yugoslav army.
His release from custody was ordered.
Mr Milutinovic and his fellow defendants - all of whom had been close allies of Slobodan Milosevic, the then-president of Yugoslavia - had denied all the charges against them.
Ex-Yugoslav deputy prime minister Nikola Sainovic, ex-Yugoslav army generals Nebojsa Pavkovic and Vladimir Lazarevic, and former Serbian police public security service chief Sreten Lukic were found guilty on all counts and were each sentenced to 22 years in jail.
The charges included deportation, forcible transfer of civilians, murder and persecution.
Former Yugoslav army chief of staff and defence minister Dragoljub Ojdanic and ex-Yugoslav army general Vladimir Lazarevic were found guilty of deportation and forcible transfer and sentenced to 15 years in jail.
All five will be given credit for their time already served in the tribunal's custody.
26 February 2009
Serbian ex-President Milan Milutinovic has been acquitted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Kosovo by a UN war crimes tribunal.
Five former top Serbian officials were found guilty on some or all the charges relating to the 1990s conflict. Their sentences range from 15 to 22 years.
It was the court's first ruling on alleged crimes by Serbian forces in the Kosovo conflict.
Mr Milutinovic was seen largely as a figurehead president during that time.
The court found that the 66-year-old, who led Serbia from December 1997 to December 2002, had no direct control over the Yugoslav army.
His release from custody was ordered.
Mr Milutinovic and his fellow defendants - all of whom had been close allies of Slobodan Milosevic, the then-president of Yugoslavia - had denied all the charges against them.
Ex-Yugoslav deputy prime minister Nikola Sainovic, ex-Yugoslav army generals Nebojsa Pavkovic and Vladimir Lazarevic, and former Serbian police public security service chief Sreten Lukic were found guilty on all counts and were each sentenced to 22 years in jail.
The charges included deportation, forcible transfer of civilians, murder and persecution.
Former Yugoslav army chief of staff and defence minister Dragoljub Ojdanic and ex-Yugoslav army general Vladimir Lazarevic were found guilty of deportation and forcible transfer and sentenced to 15 years in jail.
All five will be given credit for their time already served in the tribunal's custody.
Kenyan troops trained by British are condemned for 'death' campaign.
Times Online
26 February 2009
Tristan McConnell in Nairobi
The Kenyan Army, which receives training and support from Britain, was accused yesterday of torture and murder by a United Nations investigator.
Speaking at the end of a ten-day visit to the country Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, said that Kenyan soldiers were responsible for the deaths or disappearances of 200 people in the Mount Elgon area during a police and army operation that began in March last year. Mr Alston called the figure a conservative estimate.
Human Rights Watch in New York alleges that the 20 Para regiment of the Kenyan Army, trained in counter-terrorism by Britain, was responsible for the disappearances as well as the torture of perhaps thousands more.
Human rights activists first made the charges last year but this is the first time that a UN investigator has backed the claims. The Ministry of Defence briefly suspended the training of Kenyan troops.
Ben Rawlence, a Kenya researcher at Human Rights Watch, called on Britain to suspend all training of Kenyan military units. “The UK Government has a responsibility to conduct proper investigations into allegations of torture and extrajudicial killing by troops it may have trained,” he said. “All it has done so far is to take Kenyan assurance at face value and turn a blind eye.”
In his statement in Nairobi yesterday Mr Alston said: “The denial on the part of the military that they played no part in torture or killings is not supported by the sheer weight of evidence.”
Mr Alston told The Times that Britain had a responsibility and should use its leverage as a country with close ties to Kenya to encourage the military to “clean up its act”.
A spokesman at the British High Commission in Nairobi said: “We are deeply concerned by these allegations surrounding the Mount Elgon operation and we have raised those concerns with the Kenyan Government.”
The criticism of Mr Alston was not limited to the military. “Kenyan police are a law unto themselves,” he said. “They kill often, with impunity. I have received overwhelming testimony that there exists in Kenya a systematic, widespread and carefully planned strategy to execute individuals carried out on a regular basis by the Kenyan police.”
He said that Amos Wako, the Attorney-General, should resign for his failure to prosecute police and army officers accused of murder. Mr Alston also called for Hussein Ali, the Kenyan chief of police, who has denied that his police force was responsible for any illegal killings, to be sacked.
The UN report came as a whistleblower within the police said that there were dedicated death squads responsible for the murder of dozens of so-called criminals. Mr Alston said that labelling victims criminals “enables the police to pretty much kill at will”.
One such case was the son of a former MP who was shot three times by an off-duty police officer in January. According to the police report, he was an armed robber and a member of the Mungiki sect, a feared criminal gang. Local newspapers reported that James Mururi, 28, had a row with the officer about a woman in a bar earlier in the evening.
Mr Alston said that despite being invited into Kenya by the Government, some of those he interviewed were threatened by security officers and had been forced to flee. “This has never happened to me before,” he said, referring to investigations into state-sponsored murder that he has led in the Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Brazil.
Mr Alston said that a tribunal should be established to try those responsible for the violence after the disputed Kenyan election in 2007.
About 1,500 people died in weeks of politically motivated ethnic attacks. He said that the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague should begin an investigation.
It has been a year since a coalition Government was established, bringing an end to the bloodshed. “The ethnic warfare that nearly destroyed Kenya is not far below the surface. The next explosion is not far off,” Mr Alston said.
26 February 2009
Tristan McConnell in Nairobi
The Kenyan Army, which receives training and support from Britain, was accused yesterday of torture and murder by a United Nations investigator.
Speaking at the end of a ten-day visit to the country Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, said that Kenyan soldiers were responsible for the deaths or disappearances of 200 people in the Mount Elgon area during a police and army operation that began in March last year. Mr Alston called the figure a conservative estimate.
Human Rights Watch in New York alleges that the 20 Para regiment of the Kenyan Army, trained in counter-terrorism by Britain, was responsible for the disappearances as well as the torture of perhaps thousands more.
Human rights activists first made the charges last year but this is the first time that a UN investigator has backed the claims. The Ministry of Defence briefly suspended the training of Kenyan troops.
Ben Rawlence, a Kenya researcher at Human Rights Watch, called on Britain to suspend all training of Kenyan military units. “The UK Government has a responsibility to conduct proper investigations into allegations of torture and extrajudicial killing by troops it may have trained,” he said. “All it has done so far is to take Kenyan assurance at face value and turn a blind eye.”
In his statement in Nairobi yesterday Mr Alston said: “The denial on the part of the military that they played no part in torture or killings is not supported by the sheer weight of evidence.”
Mr Alston told The Times that Britain had a responsibility and should use its leverage as a country with close ties to Kenya to encourage the military to “clean up its act”.
A spokesman at the British High Commission in Nairobi said: “We are deeply concerned by these allegations surrounding the Mount Elgon operation and we have raised those concerns with the Kenyan Government.”
The criticism of Mr Alston was not limited to the military. “Kenyan police are a law unto themselves,” he said. “They kill often, with impunity. I have received overwhelming testimony that there exists in Kenya a systematic, widespread and carefully planned strategy to execute individuals carried out on a regular basis by the Kenyan police.”
He said that Amos Wako, the Attorney-General, should resign for his failure to prosecute police and army officers accused of murder. Mr Alston also called for Hussein Ali, the Kenyan chief of police, who has denied that his police force was responsible for any illegal killings, to be sacked.
The UN report came as a whistleblower within the police said that there were dedicated death squads responsible for the murder of dozens of so-called criminals. Mr Alston said that labelling victims criminals “enables the police to pretty much kill at will”.
One such case was the son of a former MP who was shot three times by an off-duty police officer in January. According to the police report, he was an armed robber and a member of the Mungiki sect, a feared criminal gang. Local newspapers reported that James Mururi, 28, had a row with the officer about a woman in a bar earlier in the evening.
Mr Alston said that despite being invited into Kenya by the Government, some of those he interviewed were threatened by security officers and had been forced to flee. “This has never happened to me before,” he said, referring to investigations into state-sponsored murder that he has led in the Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Brazil.
Mr Alston said that a tribunal should be established to try those responsible for the violence after the disputed Kenyan election in 2007.
About 1,500 people died in weeks of politically motivated ethnic attacks. He said that the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague should begin an investigation.
It has been a year since a coalition Government was established, bringing an end to the bloodshed. “The ethnic warfare that nearly destroyed Kenya is not far below the surface. The next explosion is not far off,” Mr Alston said.
De Menezes 'still in charge.'
AFP
25 February 2009
The president of São Tomé and Príncipe, Fradique de Menezes, spoke out on Tuesday for the first time since a foiled coup attempt nearly two weeks ago and declared that he remains in charge.
"I continue. What has touched me the most has been the reaction of the armed forces and paramilitary. They came to my house to tell me, 'We are with you'," De Menezes told a press conference.
Members of De Menezes's Democratic Movement of Forces for Change (MDFM) said on February 17 he intended to give up the presidency after accusations that he was adding to the instability of the two-island nation off the west African coast.
The São Tomé leader on Tuesday did not totally dismiss that idea.
"If I am the reason that things are not working in this country, if there is instability, I will go because I do not want the people to be faced with fighting over power," he said.
Unsuccessful attack
De Menezes plans to meet this week with his fellow government leaders.
Regarding the foiled coup announced by the government on February 12, he cited help from the US embassy in Cameroon "which detected a ship with several men, well armed, and disguised as fishermen, heading for Sao Tomé".
He added that perhaps it was the same ship that went and launched an unsuccessful attack on Equatorial Guinea on February 17.
More than 30 people have been arrested for allegedly plotting a coup on the Atlantic archipelago, including Arlecio Costa, head of the opposition Christian Democratic Front (FDC).
25 February 2009
The president of São Tomé and Príncipe, Fradique de Menezes, spoke out on Tuesday for the first time since a foiled coup attempt nearly two weeks ago and declared that he remains in charge.
"I continue. What has touched me the most has been the reaction of the armed forces and paramilitary. They came to my house to tell me, 'We are with you'," De Menezes told a press conference.
Members of De Menezes's Democratic Movement of Forces for Change (MDFM) said on February 17 he intended to give up the presidency after accusations that he was adding to the instability of the two-island nation off the west African coast.
The São Tomé leader on Tuesday did not totally dismiss that idea.
"If I am the reason that things are not working in this country, if there is instability, I will go because I do not want the people to be faced with fighting over power," he said.
Unsuccessful attack
De Menezes plans to meet this week with his fellow government leaders.
Regarding the foiled coup announced by the government on February 12, he cited help from the US embassy in Cameroon "which detected a ship with several men, well armed, and disguised as fishermen, heading for Sao Tomé".
He added that perhaps it was the same ship that went and launched an unsuccessful attack on Equatorial Guinea on February 17.
More than 30 people have been arrested for allegedly plotting a coup on the Atlantic archipelago, including Arlecio Costa, head of the opposition Christian Democratic Front (FDC).
OFFICERS ACCUSED OF KILLING 13 PRIESTS ACQUITTED.
MISNA
25 February 2009
A court in Kigali has confirmed that it has acquitted some former officers of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) movement who were accused of killing 13 priests during the 1994 genocide. The judges of the High Military Court said that both General Wilson Gumisiriza and Major Wilson Ukishaka were not in possession of information that would have enabled them to prevent the murders. However, they state that even if the sentences have been reduced from eight to five years imprisonment, Captains John Butera and Dieudonné Rukeba have been found guilty of involvement in the murder of the Archbishop of Kigali, Monsignor Vincent Nsengiyuma, the bishop of Byumba, Monsignor Joseph Ruzindana, and the Bishop of Kabgayi and President of the Rwandan Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Thaddée Nsengiyuma, on June 5th, 1994 in the city of Kabgayi. The two men had already declared their guilt last June after having been arrested under a warrant issued by the International Court for Rwanda (TIPR/ICTR).
25 February 2009
A court in Kigali has confirmed that it has acquitted some former officers of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (FPR) movement who were accused of killing 13 priests during the 1994 genocide. The judges of the High Military Court said that both General Wilson Gumisiriza and Major Wilson Ukishaka were not in possession of information that would have enabled them to prevent the murders. However, they state that even if the sentences have been reduced from eight to five years imprisonment, Captains John Butera and Dieudonné Rukeba have been found guilty of involvement in the murder of the Archbishop of Kigali, Monsignor Vincent Nsengiyuma, the bishop of Byumba, Monsignor Joseph Ruzindana, and the Bishop of Kabgayi and President of the Rwandan Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Thaddée Nsengiyuma, on June 5th, 1994 in the city of Kabgayi. The two men had already declared their guilt last June after having been arrested under a warrant issued by the International Court for Rwanda (TIPR/ICTR).
25 February, 2009
Parnership With Algeria to Commit Swelves to $12 Billion Trans Sahara Gas Pipeline Project.
The Vanguard
by Leon Usigbe
25 February 2009
Nigeria and Algeria have begun talks in Abuja towards finalising the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the implementation of the Trans Sahara Gas Pipeline project expected to deliver gas from Nigeria to Mediterranean and European gas market passing through Niger and Algeria.
The Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Mohammed Barkindo and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Algerian SONATRACH oil company, Mr. Mohammed Meziane met at the NNPC corporate headquarters to determine how to advance the project which Mr. Meziane disclosed had been estimated to cost $12 billion.
The NNPC GMD stated that the project was important because of the multiplier effects it would have on the Nigerian domestic gas market and for the countries and communities that would provide its right of way.
According to him, "the project as reported in the feasibility study is a commercially viable project that has a number of multiplier effects in our various economies and our local communities that will provide the right of way of this pipeline.
"It is a competitive project viewed against other avenues of developing and marketing gas and therefore, it offers us a unique opportunity to diversify not only sources of energy but also market for our gas in order to strengthen global inter dependence of oil producers and consumers of this very valuable resource that is gradually becoming the fuel of choice because of the environmental credential of gas and the sensitivity of climate change that now is not only felt in the consumer countries but also in our country, the developing countries of the South," he said.
Mr. Barkindo said that NNPC intended to participate fully in the entire chain of the project and expressed delight in the disposition of the Algerian oil company to the project noting however that finalising the MOU remained a major challenge.
"The immediate challenge before us today is to clean up the draft MOU between our countries including Niger.
And in order to clean up this draft document for the signatures of our three governments, it is the advice of our officials that all the commercial issues as well as the technical issues relating to this project should be assigned to the negotiation of the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) that will govern this project as a commercial venture.
"In other words, the MOU will be the umbrella document setting in broad terms the objectives of going into this project and possibly other areas of operating between our two countries and therefore should not be burdened with technical and commercial issues.
"The importance of achieving the milestone of cleaning up the document and getting the MOU signed cannot be over emphasised because this would demonstrate to the international community the commitment of our governments at the highest level to pursue this project and strengthen the bilateral economic relations not only between Algeria and Nigeria but also with Niger that our two governments admitted into this project in February of last year," he stated.
In his contribution, the CEO of Algerian SONATRACH stressed the importance of the gas pipeline project saying since it would add value to the benefitting countries, it was necessary to quickly implement it.
Mr. Meziane was hopeful that the meeting would produce positive results that would advance the project which he said was viable in view of the increasing demand of the European market for gas.
by Leon Usigbe
25 February 2009
Nigeria and Algeria have begun talks in Abuja towards finalising the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the implementation of the Trans Sahara Gas Pipeline project expected to deliver gas from Nigeria to Mediterranean and European gas market passing through Niger and Algeria.
The Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Mohammed Barkindo and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Algerian SONATRACH oil company, Mr. Mohammed Meziane met at the NNPC corporate headquarters to determine how to advance the project which Mr. Meziane disclosed had been estimated to cost $12 billion.
The NNPC GMD stated that the project was important because of the multiplier effects it would have on the Nigerian domestic gas market and for the countries and communities that would provide its right of way.
According to him, "the project as reported in the feasibility study is a commercially viable project that has a number of multiplier effects in our various economies and our local communities that will provide the right of way of this pipeline.
"It is a competitive project viewed against other avenues of developing and marketing gas and therefore, it offers us a unique opportunity to diversify not only sources of energy but also market for our gas in order to strengthen global inter dependence of oil producers and consumers of this very valuable resource that is gradually becoming the fuel of choice because of the environmental credential of gas and the sensitivity of climate change that now is not only felt in the consumer countries but also in our country, the developing countries of the South," he said.
Mr. Barkindo said that NNPC intended to participate fully in the entire chain of the project and expressed delight in the disposition of the Algerian oil company to the project noting however that finalising the MOU remained a major challenge.
"The immediate challenge before us today is to clean up the draft MOU between our countries including Niger.
And in order to clean up this draft document for the signatures of our three governments, it is the advice of our officials that all the commercial issues as well as the technical issues relating to this project should be assigned to the negotiation of the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) that will govern this project as a commercial venture.
"In other words, the MOU will be the umbrella document setting in broad terms the objectives of going into this project and possibly other areas of operating between our two countries and therefore should not be burdened with technical and commercial issues.
"The importance of achieving the milestone of cleaning up the document and getting the MOU signed cannot be over emphasised because this would demonstrate to the international community the commitment of our governments at the highest level to pursue this project and strengthen the bilateral economic relations not only between Algeria and Nigeria but also with Niger that our two governments admitted into this project in February of last year," he stated.
In his contribution, the CEO of Algerian SONATRACH stressed the importance of the gas pipeline project saying since it would add value to the benefitting countries, it was necessary to quickly implement it.
Mr. Meziane was hopeful that the meeting would produce positive results that would advance the project which he said was viable in view of the increasing demand of the European market for gas.
24 February, 2009
AIG May Restructure Rescue Package for Second Time (Update4).
Bloomberg News
24 February 2009
By Hugh Son
American International Group Inc., the insurer bailed out by the U.S., may restructure its $150 billion rescue package for a second time in four months as the recession and slumping stock market cut the value of its assets.
AIG may convert the government’s preferred shares into common stock to reduce pressure on the company’s cash flow, a person familiar with the situation said yesterday. New York- based AIG pays a 10 percent dividend on preferred stock, and none on common shares. AIG fell in New York trading.
“Paying a huge dividend on the preferred only makes you bleed slowly over time, so this would help,” said Robert Haines, an analyst at CreditSights Inc. in New York. AIG is facing a “huge potential loss on its investment portfolio,” which could lead to credit-rating downgrades, he said.
AIG, once the largest insurer by assets, probably will report a fifth straight quarterly loss, casting further doubt on the company’s ability to repay the U.S. Executives at New York- based Citigroup Inc., previously the largest bank, also have discussed a share conversion as a way to quell capital-adequacy concerns, according to another person familiar with the matter.
Downgrades by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s may force AIG to post more than $7 billion in collateral to counterparties, the insurer said in a November filing. AIG’s units could also lose access to the federal commercial paper program if they are downgraded, the company said. Unprofitable insurers including Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Genworth Financial Inc. have already lost access to the program.
Absorbing Losses
An exchange to common shares may improve AIG’s standing with lenders and other counterparties based on prior agreements, Haines said.
“Common equity is a stronger former of capital as it absorbs losses first,” Haines said.
Details of a new rescue package probably will be disclosed next week when AIG posts fourth-quarter results, said the person, who declined to be identified because talks with the government are private. The company may report a record fourth- quarter loss of $60 billion on the decline of investment holdings, according to another person familiar with the situation.
AIG fell to 14 cents, or 26 percent, to 39 cents at 10:06 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The company’s market value has plunged 99 percent in the past 12 months to about $5.2 billion.
AIG also is exploring the possibility of filing for bankruptcy protection, which is an unlikely outcome, the CNBC television network reported yesterday.
Bids for Alico
AIG, led by Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy, may try to repay as much as $60 billion of U.S. loans with a combination of cash, debt and equity, and by selling stakes in subsidiaries such as life-insurance units in Asia, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the plans.
“We continue to work with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to evaluate potential new alternatives for addressing AIG’s financial challenges,” said AIG spokeswoman Christina Pretto, declining to be more specific.
A spokesman for the New York Fed wasn’t available for comment after regular business hours yesterday. Isaac Baker of the Treasury didn’t immediately return a call or respond to an e-mail after hours.
The company received bids from MetLife Inc. and Axa SA for its American Life Insurance Co. unit, which does business in more than 50 countries, said three people with knowledge of the situation. New York-based MetLife made a preliminary offer of as much as $11.2 billion, the people said. A rival approach from Axa in Paris excludes operations in Japan, Alico’s biggest market, they said.
Changing the Rules
AIG has so far secured agreements to raise more than $2.3 billion by selling assets.
The government, aware that market losses are deterring would-be buyers of AIG units, may change rules to make it easier for the company to sell assets, said the person, who declined to be identified. The insurer’s restructuring chief, Paula Rosput Reynolds, has said AIG may attract more bids in the current market environment if the company were allowed to accept a larger proportion of payment in stock, rather than cash.
North American insurers have posted more than $140 billion of credit-market losses and writedowns since the beginning of 2007, with AIG representing about 40 percent of the total, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Taxpayer Dollars
AIG had to seek an $85 billion federal loan in September after credit-rating downgrades left the company facing the possibility of more than $10 billion in collateral calls from debt investors who bought credit-default swaps from the insurer. The bailout, which includes handing the government an 80 percent stake in AIG, expanded to about $150 billion in November, partly to fund an entity designed to retire the swap contracts by purchasing the underlying assets from banks.
“While I anticipated that AIG would come back to the government begging for additional taxpayer dollars, I am disturbed that it has happened so soon,” said U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings, the Maryland Democrat who has criticized the insurer’s retention pay program, in a statement.
The government saved AIG from collapse to prevent losses at banks that did business with the insurer. “Counterparties around the world continue to have significant exposure to AIG, and market conditions continue to be fragile and sensitive to the potential disorderly failure of AIG,” the Fed said in a report published in November.
AIG, once the world’s largest insurer, operates in more than 100 countries and sells life, health and accident protection to individuals and businesses. It insures against some of the biggest risks, covering planes and commercial shipping and providing protection against terrorist attacks.
24 February 2009
By Hugh Son
American International Group Inc., the insurer bailed out by the U.S., may restructure its $150 billion rescue package for a second time in four months as the recession and slumping stock market cut the value of its assets.
AIG may convert the government’s preferred shares into common stock to reduce pressure on the company’s cash flow, a person familiar with the situation said yesterday. New York- based AIG pays a 10 percent dividend on preferred stock, and none on common shares. AIG fell in New York trading.
“Paying a huge dividend on the preferred only makes you bleed slowly over time, so this would help,” said Robert Haines, an analyst at CreditSights Inc. in New York. AIG is facing a “huge potential loss on its investment portfolio,” which could lead to credit-rating downgrades, he said.
AIG, once the largest insurer by assets, probably will report a fifth straight quarterly loss, casting further doubt on the company’s ability to repay the U.S. Executives at New York- based Citigroup Inc., previously the largest bank, also have discussed a share conversion as a way to quell capital-adequacy concerns, according to another person familiar with the matter.
Downgrades by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s may force AIG to post more than $7 billion in collateral to counterparties, the insurer said in a November filing. AIG’s units could also lose access to the federal commercial paper program if they are downgraded, the company said. Unprofitable insurers including Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Genworth Financial Inc. have already lost access to the program.
Absorbing Losses
An exchange to common shares may improve AIG’s standing with lenders and other counterparties based on prior agreements, Haines said.
“Common equity is a stronger former of capital as it absorbs losses first,” Haines said.
Details of a new rescue package probably will be disclosed next week when AIG posts fourth-quarter results, said the person, who declined to be identified because talks with the government are private. The company may report a record fourth- quarter loss of $60 billion on the decline of investment holdings, according to another person familiar with the situation.
AIG fell to 14 cents, or 26 percent, to 39 cents at 10:06 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The company’s market value has plunged 99 percent in the past 12 months to about $5.2 billion.
AIG also is exploring the possibility of filing for bankruptcy protection, which is an unlikely outcome, the CNBC television network reported yesterday.
Bids for Alico
AIG, led by Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy, may try to repay as much as $60 billion of U.S. loans with a combination of cash, debt and equity, and by selling stakes in subsidiaries such as life-insurance units in Asia, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the plans.
“We continue to work with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to evaluate potential new alternatives for addressing AIG’s financial challenges,” said AIG spokeswoman Christina Pretto, declining to be more specific.
A spokesman for the New York Fed wasn’t available for comment after regular business hours yesterday. Isaac Baker of the Treasury didn’t immediately return a call or respond to an e-mail after hours.
The company received bids from MetLife Inc. and Axa SA for its American Life Insurance Co. unit, which does business in more than 50 countries, said three people with knowledge of the situation. New York-based MetLife made a preliminary offer of as much as $11.2 billion, the people said. A rival approach from Axa in Paris excludes operations in Japan, Alico’s biggest market, they said.
Changing the Rules
AIG has so far secured agreements to raise more than $2.3 billion by selling assets.
The government, aware that market losses are deterring would-be buyers of AIG units, may change rules to make it easier for the company to sell assets, said the person, who declined to be identified. The insurer’s restructuring chief, Paula Rosput Reynolds, has said AIG may attract more bids in the current market environment if the company were allowed to accept a larger proportion of payment in stock, rather than cash.
North American insurers have posted more than $140 billion of credit-market losses and writedowns since the beginning of 2007, with AIG representing about 40 percent of the total, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Taxpayer Dollars
AIG had to seek an $85 billion federal loan in September after credit-rating downgrades left the company facing the possibility of more than $10 billion in collateral calls from debt investors who bought credit-default swaps from the insurer. The bailout, which includes handing the government an 80 percent stake in AIG, expanded to about $150 billion in November, partly to fund an entity designed to retire the swap contracts by purchasing the underlying assets from banks.
“While I anticipated that AIG would come back to the government begging for additional taxpayer dollars, I am disturbed that it has happened so soon,” said U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings, the Maryland Democrat who has criticized the insurer’s retention pay program, in a statement.
The government saved AIG from collapse to prevent losses at banks that did business with the insurer. “Counterparties around the world continue to have significant exposure to AIG, and market conditions continue to be fragile and sensitive to the potential disorderly failure of AIG,” the Fed said in a report published in November.
AIG, once the world’s largest insurer, operates in more than 100 countries and sells life, health and accident protection to individuals and businesses. It insures against some of the biggest risks, covering planes and commercial shipping and providing protection against terrorist attacks.
23 February, 2009
GUNFIRE IN MALABO: AU CONCERNED.
MISNA
22 February 2009
The African Union (AU) has expressed “concern” over the recent attack by a commando of armed men that was repelled by government near the presidential palace in Malabo, an as yet unclear episode, which president Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has blamed on “external and internal” opponents. The president of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, said that the attackers have yet to be identified and that they came from the sea aboard fast boats. Obiang Nguema’s first televised declarations about last Tuesday’s episode leave many questions. The president said that it is not yet possible to attribute precise responsibilities but the commando was able to rely on “internal and external financing”. According to the government, during the fighting, several members of the commando were killed, while 15 others were arrested. In the past days, the executive had attributed the blame for the raid on armed groups from the nearby Nigerian region of the Niger Delta; however, one of the principal rebel groups in the area, MEND, has denied any involvement. Rejecting the government’s accusations was also a group of exiled opposition members living in Spain, whom the government had blamed for a coup attempt in 2004.
Meanwhile, as the shooting continued around the presidential palace and other areas of the capital, Obiang Nguema was on an official visit outside the country. Equatorial Guinea has become the third most prolific oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa after Angola and Nigeria.
22 February 2009
The African Union (AU) has expressed “concern” over the recent attack by a commando of armed men that was repelled by government near the presidential palace in Malabo, an as yet unclear episode, which president Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has blamed on “external and internal” opponents. The president of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, said that the attackers have yet to be identified and that they came from the sea aboard fast boats. Obiang Nguema’s first televised declarations about last Tuesday’s episode leave many questions. The president said that it is not yet possible to attribute precise responsibilities but the commando was able to rely on “internal and external financing”. According to the government, during the fighting, several members of the commando were killed, while 15 others were arrested. In the past days, the executive had attributed the blame for the raid on armed groups from the nearby Nigerian region of the Niger Delta; however, one of the principal rebel groups in the area, MEND, has denied any involvement. Rejecting the government’s accusations was also a group of exiled opposition members living in Spain, whom the government had blamed for a coup attempt in 2004.
Meanwhile, as the shooting continued around the presidential palace and other areas of the capital, Obiang Nguema was on an official visit outside the country. Equatorial Guinea has become the third most prolific oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa after Angola and Nigeria.
TRC witness tells how ex-Liberian President Taylor had links with al Qaeda.
African Press Agency
23 February 2009
An international whistle blower has told the ongoing Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) economic crimes hearings that former Liberian president and war crimes indictee Charles Taylor and al Qaeda engaged in diamonds for weapons business.
The Executive Director of Global Witness, Patrick Alley told the commission at the weekend that its research and investigations have discovered that al Qaeda was buying diamonds from Taylor since 1993 to "commodify its assets", shifting them from traditional bank accounts that are subjected to surveillance by financing authorities and under threat of being frozen, to less traceable commodities such as diamonds.
According to media reports here on Monday, Alley told the TRC that international law enforcement agencies and his organization have discovered that Mr. Taylor received US$1 million payment for harboring two al Qaeda operatives who were in Liberia soon after the September 11 terrorist attack in the United States in 2001.
The witness identified the two men as Ahmed Khalifan Ghaila and Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, both of whom are on the FBI’s ’most wanted list’ of terrorists, were hidden at the defunct Anti-Terrorist Unit training base in Gbartala in northern Bong County.
In his testimony, Alley explained that al Qaeda’s interest in Liberia and Sierra Leone goes back to the late 1990s, when Taylor backed the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels that were in control of diamond fields of Sierra Leone.
The Global Witness official said soon after the attacks on the US missions in Africa, a senior al Qaeda officer, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah arrived in Monrovia, and was introduced to RUF leaders, including Sam "Maskita" Bockarie by Ibrahim Bah.
He said the two al Qaeda operatives travelled to Liberia in 1999 in order to establish a diamonds for arms deal and spent a few days scouting the RUF diamond fields in Sierra Leone, as well as meeting with Bockarie and gave him US$100,000 cash for a parcel of diamonds.
23 February 2009
An international whistle blower has told the ongoing Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) economic crimes hearings that former Liberian president and war crimes indictee Charles Taylor and al Qaeda engaged in diamonds for weapons business.
The Executive Director of Global Witness, Patrick Alley told the commission at the weekend that its research and investigations have discovered that al Qaeda was buying diamonds from Taylor since 1993 to "commodify its assets", shifting them from traditional bank accounts that are subjected to surveillance by financing authorities and under threat of being frozen, to less traceable commodities such as diamonds.
According to media reports here on Monday, Alley told the TRC that international law enforcement agencies and his organization have discovered that Mr. Taylor received US$1 million payment for harboring two al Qaeda operatives who were in Liberia soon after the September 11 terrorist attack in the United States in 2001.
The witness identified the two men as Ahmed Khalifan Ghaila and Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, both of whom are on the FBI’s ’most wanted list’ of terrorists, were hidden at the defunct Anti-Terrorist Unit training base in Gbartala in northern Bong County.
In his testimony, Alley explained that al Qaeda’s interest in Liberia and Sierra Leone goes back to the late 1990s, when Taylor backed the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels that were in control of diamond fields of Sierra Leone.
The Global Witness official said soon after the attacks on the US missions in Africa, a senior al Qaeda officer, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah arrived in Monrovia, and was introduced to RUF leaders, including Sam "Maskita" Bockarie by Ibrahim Bah.
He said the two al Qaeda operatives travelled to Liberia in 1999 in order to establish a diamonds for arms deal and spent a few days scouting the RUF diamond fields in Sierra Leone, as well as meeting with Bockarie and gave him US$100,000 cash for a parcel of diamonds.
Military II Trial - Defence Re-Opens Trial With Additional Witnesses On Monday.
Hirondelle News Agency
13 February 2009
Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will on Monday start hearing about 10 additional and recalled witnesses in the genocide case of the former head of the gendarmerie, General Augustin Ndindiliyimana, who is jointly tried alongside three other former Rwandan military officers.
The Chamber last September reprimanded the ICTR prosecutor for the failure to disclose to the accused's defence exculpatory materials relevant to the trial. Thus, the Chamber granted application of Ndindiliyimana defence to recall about five additional witnesses and recall four prosecution witnesses.
On October 6, 2008 the defence team of General Ndindiliyimana filed a motion aiming at recalling 20 prosecution witnesses as well as calling 12 new defense witnesses. The accused is defended by Canadian Christopher Black and Belgian Vincent Lurquin.
The witnesses are expected to testify from February 16 to 27, 2009.
Others accused in the trial are former Chief of staff of the Army, General Augustin Bizimungu, Major Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, former Reconnaissance Battalion Commander and his Deputy Captain Innocent Sagahutu. These defendants have already concluded their defense cases.
13 February 2009
Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) will on Monday start hearing about 10 additional and recalled witnesses in the genocide case of the former head of the gendarmerie, General Augustin Ndindiliyimana, who is jointly tried alongside three other former Rwandan military officers.
The Chamber last September reprimanded the ICTR prosecutor for the failure to disclose to the accused's defence exculpatory materials relevant to the trial. Thus, the Chamber granted application of Ndindiliyimana defence to recall about five additional witnesses and recall four prosecution witnesses.
On October 6, 2008 the defence team of General Ndindiliyimana filed a motion aiming at recalling 20 prosecution witnesses as well as calling 12 new defense witnesses. The accused is defended by Canadian Christopher Black and Belgian Vincent Lurquin.
The witnesses are expected to testify from February 16 to 27, 2009.
Others accused in the trial are former Chief of staff of the Army, General Augustin Bizimungu, Major Francois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye, former Reconnaissance Battalion Commander and his Deputy Captain Innocent Sagahutu. These defendants have already concluded their defense cases.
22 February, 2009
Obama's NSC Will Get New Power.
By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 8, 2009; A01
President Obama plans to order a sweeping overhaul of the National Security Council, expanding its membership and increasing its authority to set strategy across a wide spectrum of international and domestic issues.
The result will be a "dramatically different" NSC from that of the Bush administration or any of its predecessors since the forum was established after World War II to advise the president on diplomatic and military matters, according to national security adviser Gen. James L. Jones, who described the changes in an interview. "The world that we live in has changed so dramatically in this decade that organizations that were created to meet a certain set of criteria no longer are terribly useful," he said.
Jones, a retired Marine general, made it clear that he will run the process and be the primary conduit of national security advice to Obama, eliminating the "back channels" that at times in the Bush administration allowed Cabinet secretaries and the vice president's office to unilaterally influence and make policy out of view of the others.
"We're not always going to agree on everything," Jones said, and "so it's my job to make sure that minority opinion is represented" to the president. "But if at the end of the day he turns to me and says, 'Well, what do you think, Jones?,' I'm going to tell him what I think."
The new structure, to be outlined in a presidential directive and a detailed implementation document by Jones, will expand the NSC's reach far beyond the range of traditional foreign policy issues and turn it into a much more elastic body, with Cabinet and departmental seats at the table -- historically occupied only by the secretaries of defense and state -- determined on an issue-by-issue basis. Jones said the directive will probably be completed this week.
"The whole concept of what constitutes the membership of the national security community -- which, historically has been, let's face it, the Defense Department, the NSC itself and a little bit of the State Department, to the exclusion perhaps of the Energy Department, Commerce Department and Treasury, all the law enforcement agencies, the Drug Enforcement Administration, all of those things -- especially in the moment we're currently in, has got to embrace a broader membership," he said.
New NSC directorates will deal with such department-spanning 21st-century issues as cybersecurity, energy, climate change, nation-building and infrastructure. Many of the functions of the Homeland Security Council, established as a separate White House entity by President Bush after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, may be subsumed into the expanded NSC, although it is still undetermined whether elements of the HSC will remain as a separate body within the White House.
Over the next 50 days, John O. Brennan, a CIA veteran who serves as presidential adviser for counterterrorism and homeland security and is Jones's deputy, will review options for the homeland council, including its responsibility for preparing for and responding to natural and terrorism-related domestic disasters. In a separate interview, Brennan described his task as a "systems engineering challenge" to avoid overlap with the new NSC while ensuring that "homeland security matters, broadly defined, are going to get the attention they need from the White House."
Organizational maps within the government will be redrawn to ensure that all departments and agencies take the same regional approach to the world, Jones said. The State Department, for example, considers Afghanistan, Pakistan and India together as South Asia, while the Pentagon draws a line at the Pakistan-India border, with the former under the Central Command and the latter part of the Pacific Command. Israel is part of the military's European Command, but the rest of the Middle East falls under Central Command; the State Department combines Israel and the Arab countries surrounding it in its Near East Bureau.
"We are going to reflect in the NSC all the regions of the world along some map line we can all agree on," Jones said.
The national security process, he said, will also be "transparent to its clients" inside the administration, with meeting agendas and outcomes made available to "the whole community" in real time. Each department will appoint someone to monitor the NSC process, enabling senior officials across the government to be ready to jump into issues without steep learning curves.
Directorates inside Jones's NSC staff will oversee implementation of decisions. "It doesn't mean that we micromanage or supervise," he said. "But you have to make sure, . . . particularly if it's a presidential decision, that the president is kept abreast of how things are going. That it doesn't just fall off the end of the table and disappear into outer space."
Most modern chief executives have issued an early directive outlining a structure for making national security decisions. Although the 1947 National Security Act created the NSC and listed its membership -- including the president, the vice president, and the secretaries of state and defense -- each president has redefined it to fit his own needs and style. In recent administrations, the CIA director, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and at times the Treasury secretary have regularly attended principals meetings. At the same time, the role and power of the president's national security adviser, and the size of his staff, have grown larger or smaller depending on the president's wishes.
But initial presidential intentions have often been waylaid by personalities and events. George W. Bush criticized Bill Clinton's NSC style as rambling and indecisive. Over the next eight years, however -- as first-term Bush adviser Condoleezza Rice was outmaneuvered by Vice President Richard B. Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and as Bush's second term became mired in an unpopular war and a failing economy -- decision-making quickly became more reactive than strategic, and deliberations were opaque to all but a small inner circle.
The Obama administration -- with powerful figures such as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates -- appears crowded at the top of the national security pyramid and heavy with military officials, including Jones himself and retired Navy Adm. Dennis C. Blair as director of national intelligence. Special envoys to trouble spots -- former diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and former senator George J. Mitchell to the Middle East -- have been given broad presidential authority.
Although Jones said he strongly supports increased resources for the State Department, which is increasingly dwarfed by the size and expanding missions of the Defense Department, he has long been an outspoken proponent of a "pro-active military" in noncombat regions. He has advocated military collaboration with the oil and gas industry and with nongovernmental organizations abroad.
But Jones said he sees an administration filled with colleagues rather than competitors. Since Jan. 20, "I've had more meetings with the secretary of state and the secretary of defense than I've had in my entire lifetime," said Jones, who served as Marine Corps commandant, NATO military chief and, under Bush, a special Middle East envoy.
During a midafternoon interview last Thursday, Jones said he had already spoken face to face with Gates and had four telephone conversations with him that day. He has set up a standing Wednesday morning meeting with Gates and Clinton together in his office.
"I believe in collegiality . . . in sounding out people and getting them to participate," Jones said. "I notice the president is very good at that." But he made clear he plans to apply military-like discipline to the NSC. "The most important thing is that you are in fact the coordinator and you're the guy around which the meetings occur. When we chair a principals meeting, I'm the chairman." One of the first of many internal Bush administration clashes occurred when Cheney proposed that he, rather than Rice, chair NSC meetings.
In his initial conversations with Obama before taking the job, Jones confirmed, he insisted on being "in charge" and having open and final access to the president on all national security matters. "We engaged in about an hour-long discussion about what I was already thinking about the NSC; it happened, I think, to mesh pretty well with what his instincts were. He was clear about the role of the national security adviser," Jones said of Obama.
The NSC will take on all national security matters that are strategic in nature and "of such importance that the president of the United States would care" about them, he said. Action groups from various departments and agencies will be formed around specific issues for as long as it takes to resolve them. "Some of these things will be very short-term. When the problem goes away, the group goes away." Others will be ongoing. "An Afghan strategic review, that's going to take a while," Jones said. "The policy that is generated from that review, and the implementation, is going to take a while."
Some principals will be regulars at the NSC "just by force of issues," he said, and "you can't just designate the whole government as being there." But everyone should be kept aware of "what's going on" and given an opportunity to say, 'Wait a minute, I've got something to say here.' "
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 8, 2009; A01
President Obama plans to order a sweeping overhaul of the National Security Council, expanding its membership and increasing its authority to set strategy across a wide spectrum of international and domestic issues.
The result will be a "dramatically different" NSC from that of the Bush administration or any of its predecessors since the forum was established after World War II to advise the president on diplomatic and military matters, according to national security adviser Gen. James L. Jones, who described the changes in an interview. "The world that we live in has changed so dramatically in this decade that organizations that were created to meet a certain set of criteria no longer are terribly useful," he said.
Jones, a retired Marine general, made it clear that he will run the process and be the primary conduit of national security advice to Obama, eliminating the "back channels" that at times in the Bush administration allowed Cabinet secretaries and the vice president's office to unilaterally influence and make policy out of view of the others.
"We're not always going to agree on everything," Jones said, and "so it's my job to make sure that minority opinion is represented" to the president. "But if at the end of the day he turns to me and says, 'Well, what do you think, Jones?,' I'm going to tell him what I think."
The new structure, to be outlined in a presidential directive and a detailed implementation document by Jones, will expand the NSC's reach far beyond the range of traditional foreign policy issues and turn it into a much more elastic body, with Cabinet and departmental seats at the table -- historically occupied only by the secretaries of defense and state -- determined on an issue-by-issue basis. Jones said the directive will probably be completed this week.
"The whole concept of what constitutes the membership of the national security community -- which, historically has been, let's face it, the Defense Department, the NSC itself and a little bit of the State Department, to the exclusion perhaps of the Energy Department, Commerce Department and Treasury, all the law enforcement agencies, the Drug Enforcement Administration, all of those things -- especially in the moment we're currently in, has got to embrace a broader membership," he said.
New NSC directorates will deal with such department-spanning 21st-century issues as cybersecurity, energy, climate change, nation-building and infrastructure. Many of the functions of the Homeland Security Council, established as a separate White House entity by President Bush after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, may be subsumed into the expanded NSC, although it is still undetermined whether elements of the HSC will remain as a separate body within the White House.
Over the next 50 days, John O. Brennan, a CIA veteran who serves as presidential adviser for counterterrorism and homeland security and is Jones's deputy, will review options for the homeland council, including its responsibility for preparing for and responding to natural and terrorism-related domestic disasters. In a separate interview, Brennan described his task as a "systems engineering challenge" to avoid overlap with the new NSC while ensuring that "homeland security matters, broadly defined, are going to get the attention they need from the White House."
Organizational maps within the government will be redrawn to ensure that all departments and agencies take the same regional approach to the world, Jones said. The State Department, for example, considers Afghanistan, Pakistan and India together as South Asia, while the Pentagon draws a line at the Pakistan-India border, with the former under the Central Command and the latter part of the Pacific Command. Israel is part of the military's European Command, but the rest of the Middle East falls under Central Command; the State Department combines Israel and the Arab countries surrounding it in its Near East Bureau.
"We are going to reflect in the NSC all the regions of the world along some map line we can all agree on," Jones said.
The national security process, he said, will also be "transparent to its clients" inside the administration, with meeting agendas and outcomes made available to "the whole community" in real time. Each department will appoint someone to monitor the NSC process, enabling senior officials across the government to be ready to jump into issues without steep learning curves.
Directorates inside Jones's NSC staff will oversee implementation of decisions. "It doesn't mean that we micromanage or supervise," he said. "But you have to make sure, . . . particularly if it's a presidential decision, that the president is kept abreast of how things are going. That it doesn't just fall off the end of the table and disappear into outer space."
Most modern chief executives have issued an early directive outlining a structure for making national security decisions. Although the 1947 National Security Act created the NSC and listed its membership -- including the president, the vice president, and the secretaries of state and defense -- each president has redefined it to fit his own needs and style. In recent administrations, the CIA director, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and at times the Treasury secretary have regularly attended principals meetings. At the same time, the role and power of the president's national security adviser, and the size of his staff, have grown larger or smaller depending on the president's wishes.
But initial presidential intentions have often been waylaid by personalities and events. George W. Bush criticized Bill Clinton's NSC style as rambling and indecisive. Over the next eight years, however -- as first-term Bush adviser Condoleezza Rice was outmaneuvered by Vice President Richard B. Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and as Bush's second term became mired in an unpopular war and a failing economy -- decision-making quickly became more reactive than strategic, and deliberations were opaque to all but a small inner circle.
The Obama administration -- with powerful figures such as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates -- appears crowded at the top of the national security pyramid and heavy with military officials, including Jones himself and retired Navy Adm. Dennis C. Blair as director of national intelligence. Special envoys to trouble spots -- former diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and former senator George J. Mitchell to the Middle East -- have been given broad presidential authority.
Although Jones said he strongly supports increased resources for the State Department, which is increasingly dwarfed by the size and expanding missions of the Defense Department, he has long been an outspoken proponent of a "pro-active military" in noncombat regions. He has advocated military collaboration with the oil and gas industry and with nongovernmental organizations abroad.
But Jones said he sees an administration filled with colleagues rather than competitors. Since Jan. 20, "I've had more meetings with the secretary of state and the secretary of defense than I've had in my entire lifetime," said Jones, who served as Marine Corps commandant, NATO military chief and, under Bush, a special Middle East envoy.
During a midafternoon interview last Thursday, Jones said he had already spoken face to face with Gates and had four telephone conversations with him that day. He has set up a standing Wednesday morning meeting with Gates and Clinton together in his office.
"I believe in collegiality . . . in sounding out people and getting them to participate," Jones said. "I notice the president is very good at that." But he made clear he plans to apply military-like discipline to the NSC. "The most important thing is that you are in fact the coordinator and you're the guy around which the meetings occur. When we chair a principals meeting, I'm the chairman." One of the first of many internal Bush administration clashes occurred when Cheney proposed that he, rather than Rice, chair NSC meetings.
In his initial conversations with Obama before taking the job, Jones confirmed, he insisted on being "in charge" and having open and final access to the president on all national security matters. "We engaged in about an hour-long discussion about what I was already thinking about the NSC; it happened, I think, to mesh pretty well with what his instincts were. He was clear about the role of the national security adviser," Jones said of Obama.
The NSC will take on all national security matters that are strategic in nature and "of such importance that the president of the United States would care" about them, he said. Action groups from various departments and agencies will be formed around specific issues for as long as it takes to resolve them. "Some of these things will be very short-term. When the problem goes away, the group goes away." Others will be ongoing. "An Afghan strategic review, that's going to take a while," Jones said. "The policy that is generated from that review, and the implementation, is going to take a while."
Some principals will be regulars at the NSC "just by force of issues," he said, and "you can't just designate the whole government as being there." But everyone should be kept aware of "what's going on" and given an opportunity to say, 'Wait a minute, I've got something to say here.' "
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