CINA

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WHAT A SURPRISE (^^):

North Korea nuclear talks fail (al-Jazeera)  
  
Talks on North Korea's nuclear programme have ended, without an agreement reached on disarmament or further negotiations.

The negotiations broke up "without concrete result", the Interfax news agency reported on Friday, quoting a source close to the Russian delegation.

Wu Dawei, Chinese envoy, said delegates reaffirmed a September 2005 agreement in which Pyongyang agreed to disarm in exchange for security guarantees and aid.

Wu said there had been "useful discussions" about how to implement the agreement in "candid and in-depth exchanges of views".

China, Japan, Russia, the US and the two Koreas agreed to "reconvene at the earliest opportunity," Wu said.

The talks in Beijing are the first since North Korea tested a nuclear device in October.

Refusal

During five days of meetings in Beijing, negotiators said Pyongyang refused to discuss its nuclear weapons programme and demanded that the US remove financial restrictions it has imposed on the government.

In more than three years of meetings, the North has committed in principle to disarm, but has not taken any decisive steps to curb its nuclear weapons programme. It conducted its first nuclear test on October 9.
 
"There will be opinions questioning the credibility of the six-party talks," Kenichiro Sasae, Japanese envoy, said. He did not say what alternatives existed to multinational dialogue.

Speaking before the fifth day of talks commenced, Christopher Hill, the US assistant secretary of state and envoy to the talks, said North Korea had not addressed the issue of its atomic programme.

"When the [North] raises problems, one day it's financial issues, another day it's something they want but they know they can't have, another day it's something we said about them that hurt their feelings," Hill said.

"What they need to do is to get serious about the issue that made them such a problem ... their nuclear activities...Our goal is denuclearisation. Period," he said.

Isolation

Pyongyang says the US is trying to isolate North Korea from the international financial system and has insisted that such a campaign ends.

The US accuses North Korea of involvement in the counterfeiting and laundering of money. It has blacklisted Banco Delta Asia, a Macau bank that it alleges the North used to launder money to fund its weapons programme.

Negotiators say North Koreans have refused to talk about their nuclear weapons programme until financial restrictions are dropped.

Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, echoed the US administration's view that financial issues and nuclear talks should be dicussed separately. She said the North Koreans had themselves asked for a separate working group on the matter...

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5E9A987F-22DC-4058-878A-48A65699355E.htm

Nuclear talks end with no deal (Guardian)

The S.K. ("left"-liberal) daily Hankyoreh is writing following:

6-party talks end quickly; frugal progress made

A related article, published today in Asia Times (China/HK) you can read here:

The ever-threatening nuclear shadow 

NK propaganda praises its own (nuclear) "power".

BTW: "The most important event of this year: The socialist Korea's break of the nuclear monopol. This is one very important contribution for the peace, not only in Asia, but in the entire world." (so the German fascist organization "Struggle Federation of German Socialists") 

But actually I still don't understand why the DPRK's leadership is feeling forced to join such ("empty and worthless") meetings, when everything is going sooo well, like you can read here:

Dear Leader Keeps The People Warm

It's getting colder in Korea, but that's only for those who go outside. Inside, the apartments are nice and warm, thanks to a large increase in fuel imports, facilitated by dear leader Kim Jong-Il.

Although the imperialists have attempted to block off all access to fuels in order to freeze the country inside and out, the dear leader has made many close friends with leaders of oil rich countries such as Venezuela and Turkmenistan. As such, the blackouts that have plagued many Korean nights will now cease to exist for good thanks to these new worldwide friendships.
 

In contrast, it is predicted that over 30% of the American people will have to spend a few cold nights a week without heat or power. In South Korea, thousands have already frozen to death, as the imperialists have stolen all of the oil out of that country and left the common citizens with nothing. (!!!)

http://www.pyang.su/11122006-01.htm

Or it's just a stupid lie(^^) and following report presents more the "truth"??

Electricity Resumption in Border Area, Temporarily
 
Inside source from North Korea said each house in Musan, Onsung, Hoeryong in North Hamkyong Province, would receive electricity from the December 19th to 24th, commemorating Kim Jong Il’s mother, Kim Jong Suk’s birthday (Dec. 24).

In a telephone interview with the Daily NK, thirty-eight years old resident of Musan, North Hamkyong K said electricity supply was resumed on Tuesday. “Public service workers visited each house and asked them to use only one light bulb per household.”

K said with delightful voice “I’m so happy that I could eat in a bright house, and I could watch TV and VCR, too.”

In this year, North Korea’s electricity production has been worsened than ever that only army barracks, strategic facilities and rice mills were provided electricity.

Lack of electricity has been common since the mid-1990s economic collapse. And it becomes worse in winter, because hydro-electric power plants, which comprise most of North Korea’s electricity-production, cannot produce energy in arid season.

Therefore, North Korea in winter is once described as a “wilderness” by a Korean-Chinese visitor.

Some wealthy North Koreans are equipped with own electric generators, including Chinese solar-light collectors

.

In North Korea, electricity is supplied on holidays such as Kim Il Sung’s birthday April 15, Kim Jong Il’s birthday February 16, or Party Foundation Day. Since 1997, Kim Jong Il’s mother, Kim Jong Suk’s birthday has become an official holiday.

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=1468 
 

The Korean peninsula at night (satellite photo)

^^

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Following just a selection of some of the latest news and related articles about the current (5th) round of the 6-Party Talks on DPRK's nukes in Beijing:

Six-party nuclear talks resume amid cautious expectations (Xinhua)

First-day talks "candid", "pragmatic"

U.S., N. Korea open crucial talks on sanctions row (Yonhap)

Nuclear envoys struggle to move talks forward  (Korea Herald)

Sanctions row in N Korea talks (al-Jazeera)

Six-Nation Talks Resume On N. Korea Disarmament: Return to '05 Nuclear Pact Called Unlikely (Washington Post)

North Korea Might Drag the Talks (DailyNK)

How to turn the tables on Pyongyang (A-Times)

N Korea talks: Not a meeting of minds
 
 

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The HOLY LAND, a.k.a. Palestine, is preparing for the HOLYday season..

(freedom fighters fighting freedom fighters)

Right now, it's afternoon in the Holy Land, heavy gun battles are taking place in (at least) Gaza and Ramallah, following a week of attacks and assassinations inside the PA territories.

Just a short while ago Ynet (IL) reported following about the current situation there:

Ramallah has become a battlefield

Escalating tensions in Palestinian Authority deteriorate into gunbattles in streets – 20 people reported wounded. PA officials say gov't training special security force in West Bank

Civil war?

Twenty Palestinians were wounded, two critically, in exchanges of fire between warring factions in the Palestinian Authority Friday.

Sixteen people were wounded in Ramallah, four in Gaza. Fatah officials reported that several Hamas gunmen have barricaded themselves in the Nazer mosque in the city of Ramallah and are firing at Fatah and Palestinian security forces inside the mosque compound.
 

Witnesses added that PA security forces have begun covering their faces with masks as they try to overpower protestors and gunmen from both factions, mostly against Hamas.

The atmosphere in the city is reminiscent of a battlefield say residents, against the soundtrack of massive gunfire.

In Ramallah reports say that the Palestinian government has begun training a special security force in the West Bank which will answer directly to the government, similar to the one formed in Gaza which operates under the direct command of the minister of the interior.
 

Power struggle

According to a Fatah source it would appear that Hamas is seeking to emphasize that the movement also has power and presence in Ramallah – the largest West Bank city and home to President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Fatah official expressed concern that further deterioration of the situation will cost many lives.

Witnesses told Ynet that some of the wounded are bystanders and protestors who were beaten by Palestinian security forces seeking to clear the streets, primarily from the center of town which was declared a closed military zone.

Meanwhile in Gaza four Palestinians were wounded in exchanges of fire between Fatah gunmen and Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas.

The Fatah gunmen opened fire at a Hamas security forces outpost in central Gaza, the gunbattle continues.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3340493,00.html (now updated)

31 hurt in Fatah-Hamas clashes in Gaza, Ramallah (Haaretz, IL)

Hamas, Fatah Gunmen Exchange Fire in Gaza (AP)

32 wounded during Hamas-Fatah clashes in Ramallah (Jerusalem Post)

Hamas rally comes under Fatah fire (al Jazeera)

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C0D7201A-3736-4C50-A6CE-EDDC1F65CFA8.htm

More about the background of the current "crisis" please read here:

Fatah blamed for attack on PM (Guardian, UK)

High noon (Haaretz)

Latest news (12.16):

Hamas: Abbas declaration meaningless (Ynet)

Organization's officials say Palestinian president has no legal authority to dismantle government, although express willingness to return to negotiations

Senior Hamas officials were quick to reject the Saturday declaration by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announcing his intention to move up presidential and general elections in the Palestinian authority, calling the decision "meaningless".

According to Hamas leaders, Abbas has no legal authority to dismantle the government and, thus, his decision is illegal.

As such, Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar said that Hamas rejected Abbas' decision regarding elections, but said the organization is ready to return to the negotiating table.

Nonetheless, al-Zahar emphasized that a return to negotiations "would not be based on recognizing Israel or the demands of the Quartet."..

Please read the entire article here:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3340727,00.html 

Abbas moves up elections  

Abbas calls for elections in PA as soon as possible (Haaretz)

Gaza: Hundreds of Fatah members fire into air (12.16, 15:24 CET)

Hundreds of armed Fatah members and Palestinian defense personnel fired shots into the air throughout the streets of Gaza Saturday as a sign of solidarity with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ call for advancing elections.

Hamas, Fatah gunmen clash in Gaza (12.16, 17:22 CET)

Gunmen from the governing Hamas movement and the Fatah faction of President Mahmoud Abbas exchanged fire in southern Gaza on Saturday, hours after the president called for early Palestinian elections.

One person had been wounded during the clash in Khan Younis, witnesses said. They said the combatants were mainly firing rocket-propelled grenades.

 

 

Gaza: 8 injured in exchanges of fire; officer kidnapped (12.16, 17:54 CET)

Eight people were injured in exchanges of fire taking place between Fatah and Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip. According to the report, five were injured in clashes in Rafah, two were injured in Khan Younis, and another person was injured in Gaza.

In addition, a Palestinian police officer was kidnapped by Hamas members in Gaza City, where thousands of people took to the streets, most of them Hamas activists.

 

 

Islamic Jihad, PFLP mediate between Hamas, Fatah (12.16, 18:18 CET)

 

The Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) began mediation Saturday between Hamas and Fatah in an attempt to try and end the exchange of fire between the two.

Witnesses in the Gaza Strip said a withdrawal of gunmen from sides in the Strip was observed in recent minutes. Nevertheless, there were still reports of tension in the streets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Since yesterday Augusto Pinochet, THE symbol for dictatorship and "modern" fascism, is (re)united with his creator!!

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Following article The Observer (UK) published last weekend:

Old women step forward as 'martyrs' (*)

A 70-year-old blew herself up in a Hamas attack. She may be just the first of many elderly recruits

In the centre of Beit Hanoun, there is nothing left of the 800-year-old mosque but the minaret. It looks like a lighthouse stranded in a sea of rubble. People whose homes were demolished during the latest Israeli army incursion sit on plastic chairs around bonfires. At night they bunk down with the neighbours. One of them is Watfa Kafarna.
'I saw the Israeli soldiers eye-to-eye,' she said. 'They took my four-year-old grandson, Mahadi, who has Down's syndrome. They shook him and yelled: "Where are the guns?" Now he is traumatised and wets the bed every night.'

Not his own bed - the Kafarna family is homeless, living off the charity of friends. Tears run from Watfa's eyes as she looks at her son, daughter-in-law and grandchild huddled around a brazier. Her husband, Diab, shuffles across the ruins towards his wife. 'Bossa!' he says, 'A kiss!' In a highly unconventional move, Diab kisses his wife on the mouth. 'She is my heart, my eyes, my light. We have lost our house but not each other.'
During the incursion, Israeli soldiers detained all men aged 16-40, including Watfa and Diab's sons and grandsons. The army targeted the mosque, attempting to arrest militants hiding there.

The women put up their own resistance, gathering as human shields around the mosque to help the militants escape. 'I am 72, says Watfa, 'but by doing this I felt 20, young and useful and ready to act.' She pulls off her long veil and holds it high in her right hand. 'I waved my hijab as a white flag and prayed with the other women in front of the holy mosque. But the Israelis continued to destroy it.'

Two women were killed by the Israeli Defence Force that day. Watfa was bruised, as was 70-year-old Fatma Najar, hit by a bulldozer. Three weeks later, Najar blew herself up near Israeli soldiers, wounding two. In Gaza she is seen as a heroine. 'If the Israelis came to my house to gun down my children and I had a belt, I would do the same,' says Watfa. 'The woman is the biggest loser here,' says Khola, a neighbour, standing on the remains of a kitchen where flour is mixed with pulverised masonry. Two hundred homes were destroyed in Beit Hanoun. 'Fatma Najar, an old woman, did what many people don't have the guts to do. If you go back and research Fatma,' says Khola, 'you will see her home was destroyed on top of her head, her sons jailed, her grandson killed.'

'We want to believe in peace, but how can we when the warplanes still fly over our heads every night,' asks Watfa, 'making our grandchildren cry and wet themselves? When there are still tank movements on the border? I can't believe there will be peace.'

Najar's family heard of her attack on the radio. 'We thought it must be another Fatma Najar,' said her son, Jihad, 35. 'It never occurred to us it could have been my mother. Then the crowds started to arrive and we knew it was true. We had mixed feelings, sadness at her irreplaceable loss. But pride too.'

There is a huge shaheed - 'martyr' - poster of Najar on her house. It is shocking to see an old woman carrying an M16. Some of her 70 grandchildren and great-grandchildren play beneath the picture. Israa, six, wears a pink top with 'Happy Childhood' embroidered on it. 'My grandmother's gone to heaven. Because she shot the Israelis,' she says.

The funeral tent is empty now, the three days of official mourning over. On the first evening, men from the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, arrived. Her son Inam said: 'They told us: "Your mother has been asking to do this for two years. We said no. Finally she said, if you don't give me a belt I will go anyway and get killed and my blood will be on your hands. We gave in".'

Other old women now want to become suicide bombers. The family talks of why she did it. Perhaps it was her grandson's death. 'My son, Adil, was 18 when he was killed,' says Fathiya, 52, Najar's eldest daughter. 'He was throwing stones at the Israelis.' Then there was Fathiya's other son, Sha'aban. He attacked an Israeli soldier with a knife. He was shot 72 times, lost a leg and is paralysed. The family show a photo of Fatma, a sweet-faced woman in a white cotton scarf. Neighbours crowd in with stories of her generosity, how she gave sweets to local children, told stories, played.

Najar was a religious woman, involved with mosque committees and close to memorising the Koran. It was only after her death, her family discovered she had been working for Hamas: 'They told us she had carried food, water, ammunition to the resistance at the front line. We had no idea.'

The night before her suicide operation, Najar went to visit all of her children and grandchildren. She brought clothes and sweets. 'But she was always so good to us,' says Inam. 'As she left me for the last time, she looked back in a way that made me wonder, but then she was gone.'

'On the day she acted like it was a normal day. She baked the bread in the clay oven. She took a shower, put on a new dress and went out,' said Jihad.

'I think the final straw was the Beit Hanoun massacre [a family of 17 killed at dawn when Israeli shells hit their house]. Mother went to the family's home and asked the women: "Why leave it to your sons to die? If Allah allows, I will become a martyr." They said: "You think they will take an old lady like you?"'

A fortnight later she was a suicide bomber, injuring two Israelis, decapitating herself. This weekend Hamas held a ceremony in Beit Hanoun, in memory of the 140 Palestinians killed in November. Thousands attended, waving Hamas flags. The mayor, Dr Nazek el-Kafarna, made a speech in honour of Najar: 'This old lady looked at the houses destroyed and the trees uprooted. She looked at how our people had been humiliated. She took her soul in her hand and rushed to her martyrdom.'

Huda Haim, a Hamas PLC member, believes Najar's act begins a new culture. 'We know behind the Israeli leaders there are decision-makers studying the behaviour of the Palestinians. Fatma told them they can't end the Palestinian issue with violence.'

The audience was thronged with women, many elderly, many clinging to photographs of their dead. 'We all want to be like Fatma,' they shouted.

'I am happy about the ceasefire,' says Zaifa. 'But if the Israelis come back, they will see what we will do, we will be like Fatma Najar.'

'I know at least 20 of us who want to put on the belt,' said Fatma Naouk, 65. 'Now is the time of the women. Now the old women have found a use for themselves.'

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1962704,00.html

And this very interesting - for to learn more about the Israeli/Palestinian(Arab) conflict - article the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth published today (please check out the "talkbacks", i.e. the comments!!):

Israel's Arabs shoot themselves in foot  

* 팔레스타인 할머니 이 공습에 손자 잃자 자폭테러 (경향신문)

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Following article The Guardian(UK) published today:

Violence and persecution follow Europe's downtrodden minority across the continent

Eight million Roma find political voice in face of evictions and mob attack

Miha Strojan was tending to his sick mother when the mob arrived. Wielding clubs, guns and chainsaws, several hundred villagers converged on the cottage in a clearing in the beech forest with a simple demand. "Zig raus [Gyppos out]," they called in German, deliberately echoing Nazi racist chants. "Bomb the Gypsies."
It was the last Saturday of last month, when the mob terrorised the extended family of more than 30 Roma, half of them children, into fleeing their clearing a mile over the hill from the farming village of Ambrus in eastern Slovenia.

After the pogrom in Ambrus: Roma families are hiding in the forest

"They were building bonfires on our land and shouting that if we don't move out, they will bomb us and crucify our children," recalls Mr Strojan, 30.
A Slovene filmmaker, Fillip Robar Dorin, present at the scene, said it reminded him of the Kristallnacht pogroms of 1938 when the Nazis rampaged against the Jews of Germany and Austria. "We would have torched the place, but we were too late. The police got there before us," bragged one Ambrus villager.

If the expulsion of the Strojans, living in Ambrus for decades and owners of the place they were living in for 12 years, was a trauma for the family, it was also an increasingly routine example of the epidemic of forced evictions of Roma settlements across the European Union, particularly in central and eastern Europe where the Roma are concentrated.

Last week in the Czech town of Vsetin police descended on a crumbling block of flats, put more than 100 Roma on lorries and dumped them in Portacabins up to 50 miles away. The mayor, Jiri Cunek, then sent in the bulldozers. "Cleaning an ulcer," he announced to local applause.

Last month in the eastern Romanian town of Tulcea, police evicted 110 Roma from where they had lived for seven years, their previous accommodation having burned down.

The European Roma Rights Centre in Budapest, Hungary, says the forced evictions are not restricted to eastern Europe. It is also dealing with incidents in Britain, France, Spain and Italy.

The scandal in Ambrus occurred not in the poorest parts of Europe where such persecution is more common, but in Slovenia, the wealthiest, westernmost, and most successful of the eight new central European members. In January, Slovenia will adopt the euro.

Slovenia: terrible situation in a camp..

..for Roma refugees

"The case of the Strojans in Slovenia is part of a pan-European pattern at the moment," said Claude Cahn, the centre's programmes director. "It's really a crisis this year. This raw destruction of neighbourhoods is quite new."

As well as frequent forced evictions across the towns and villages of eastern Europe, Mr Cahn points to major slum clearance and urban regeneration schemes currently planned in the capital cities of southern Europe. Istanbul, Sofia in Bulgaria, and Bucharest in Romania all have ambitious reconstruction projects under way. "These can have dreadful effects, entailing the large-scale destruction of Roma housing."

In a recent study the Dzeno Association, a Prague-based Roma lobby group, noted: "The growing trend of forced evictions of Roma in Europe is becoming a human rights crisis."

The evictions underline the plight of Europe's 8 million Roma as the continent's most downtrodden minority. Subject to entrenched harassment, discrimination, and ghettoisation, the Roma are liberty's losers in the transformation wrought by recent free elections and free markets.

Last month Bulgaria's minister of health proposed compulsory abortions and criminalisation for pregnant under-18s from "minority groups", a categorisation that would affect most Roma girls. In Hungary, a mob beat a 44-year-old Roma man to death after he ran over an 11-year-old girl. A Budapest newspaper told its readers to drive off if they run over a Roma child.

Confronted with this torrent of abuse and prejudice, Europe's Roma are beginning to fight back. Getting organised politically for the first time, they are engaging in grassroots, national and regional campaigns, in some ways recalling the black civil rights movement in the US, ranging from contesting segregation in schools, tenancy rights, legalisation of settlements to demanding political representation in local councils, national parliaments, and governments.

One trigger for the rise in Roma consciousness and activism is the EU itself. When Romania and Bulgaria expand the union to 27 countries in January, up to 8 million Roma will be EU citizens, the bloc's biggest ethnic minority and a community that outnumbers the populations of at least eight EU states.

There are now two Roma MPs in the European parliament. Last month a town in Romania got its first Roma mayor and a Roma administration. In Hungary or the Czech Republic there are Roma MPs, occasional government members, scores of local councillors.

The courts are also being used to seek redress. Showing that Roma children are 27 times more likely to be dumped in remedial education classes than ethnic Czechs, Roma activists have taken the government to the European court of human rights in Strasbourg accusing Prague of deliberate segregation in schools. A similar case against Croatia has also gone to the court.

In Slovakia there is a Roma news agency. In Slovenia the Roma are to get airtime on national television. A few years ago there was one Roma councillor in Slovenia, now there are 20.

"Now in Slovenia in almost every municipality, the Roma voice can be heard," said Zoran Grm, Roma councillor for the town of Novo Mesto.

Jernej Zupancic, a geographer and Roma researcher in the Slovene captal, Ljubljana, said: "The Roma are getting organised ... They're taking more responsibility and becoming much better negotiators."

Still, it is a long-term process of small steps. "There is growing international Roma activism. A lot of progress. But is it enough to counter the pernicious determination in most places to see the Roma excluded?" asked Mr Cahn.

Outside Ambrus, the geese, chickens, and turkeys are scratching around the Strojans' hurriedly abandoned homestead. In the forest opposite, sodden mattresses, children's clothing, and old car batteries still lie under a "tent" of plastic sheeting and tree branches where the family sought refuge from the mob attack, which was apparently triggered following a violent brawl between a local man and a non-Roma man living within the Strojan compound.

In Postojna, at the other end of Slovenia, the Strojans are condemned to the squalour of a disused barracks once used as a refugee centre until it was closed last year as unfit for human habitation. There is neither heating nor hot water. They have been there for a month.

When the mob marched on the Strojans' house, the government sent in riot police and cabinet ministers. The interior minister announced an "agreement". The family had volunteered to leave.

"We left because of the pressure from the police and the people. We were afraid," says Mr Strojan.

Matjaz Hanzek, the parliament-appointed human rights ombudsman, asks: "How can an agreement be voluntary when 500 people are threatening to kill you? The state and the government did what the angry crowd wanted. They moved the people from their home. Such events are inconceivable in a state governed by the rule of law."

The Strojans tried to go home at the weekend, but did not get far. Another mob, 1,000-strong, set up roadblocks and fought with riot police. The Strojans turned back. At least two other attempts to house them elsewhere in the Ambrus district and in Ljubljana have also foundered because of local protests.

Backstory

The Roma, who can be sub-divided into at least five different groupings, migrated to Europe from the Indian sub-continent 1,000 years ago. Although commonly seen as nomadic, more than 90% of Roma in Europe are settled and sedentary. Of some 10 million worldwide, around 7-8 million live in Europe, concentrated in central and eastern Europe and the Balkans. Around half a million Roma perished in the Holocaust. Accurate figures on the spread of Roma are unavailable. Figures are estimates: Romania 2 million; Bulgaria 800,000; Slovakia 600,000; Hungary 600,000; Greece 300,000; Czech Republic 250,000; former Yugoslavia 250,000; and Poland 50,000.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1958405,00.html

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11.21 Nepal Peace Agreement

To end the civil war that raged for more than 10 years the Communist Party of Nepal [Maoist/CPN(M)] signed a peace deal with the government on Tuesday night, with a pledge to lock up their guns, at least for now, and let voters decide the future of the country.

11.22, Kids in Kathmandu celebrating the Peace Accord

Everywhere in the world the political "leaders", even the S.K. government (*), praised the agreement as a "new beginning for a bright future" for the South-Asian country.

But actually it's not really clear if the "People's War" now is on its very end.

At least after I read an Interview in the German "socialist" daily Junge Welt (11.23) with Dinanath Sharma, a member of the CPN(M) central committee (I met him nearly 4 weeks ago in Berlin on a meeting and I was a kind disappointed because except some empty political statements he had nothing new to say, especially about the current situation in Nepal).

Asked if a in the future Nepal will have a multiple-party-system (mps) he answered: "Yes, after we smashed all fuedal and capitalist structures, there will be a mps, formed by all anti-feudal and anti-imperialist forces." (**)

But please remember the interview by Daily Telegraph with CPN(M) chairman Prachanda (http://blog.jinbo.net/CINA/?pid=979).. And there was nothing written about "smashing all .. capitalist structures".

But actually it might mean that either comrade Sharma don't know what's going on in his party, or that there are already (at least) two complete different political lines in the party and perhaps also in the PLA. And this, perhaps, is not a good base for a "bright furure", not really..

Anyway, here you can read a NYT/IHT article about the agreement:

Maoist rebels sign peace deal in Nepal 

Here a statement by Gefont (General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions):

http://www.gefont.org/summary.asp?flag=3&cid=195

And finally here you can read the entire text of the "Comprehensive Peace Accord":

http://www.kantipuronline.com/englishagree.php

* S. Korea welcomes Nepali peace accord (Yonhap)

** The entire interview (in German^^) you can read here:

http://www.jungewelt.de/2006/11-23/028.php

Just let's see what will bring the future!!

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After I was deported last year to Germany I had to find out that many (of the remaining) "leftists" - mainly Trotskyists - were/are making massive propaganda for the "Socialism of the 21st century", aka the "Bolivarian Revolution" in Venezuela. Actually I had no real idea about what was/is going on in this country..

Of course I knew about the "liberation struggle"  in Latin America, for example in Columbia (CPC/ML, EPL, ELN, FARC..), the history about the anti-fascist resistance in Chile, the "Shining Path"(C.P.Peru).. But about Venezuela - I had no real idea, not really. But I remember that in the middle of the 90's we, our "communist party" in Germany had once visitors from Venezuela (Partido Bandera Roja, Red Flag Party/RFP). And they "promised" us that "in the next year" they will make in their country "the revolution". But actually it wasn't happen. Instead in 1998 Chavez, a former miltary officer won the election. Later I'd to learn that the RFP was/is in strongest opposition to the Chavez gov't, and even supported the failed coup against the gov't..(harrharr, f.. "communists"!)

Just a few days ago I saw on a friend's blog something about Chavez' "revolution" and on jinbonet.blog there is also something about it since yesterday or so..

Anyway(perhaps in the coming days I'll write some of my thoughts about this issue here).. just three days ago I found in The Guardian following article:

Welcome to the Chávez revolution - where the rich keep getting richer

Venezuela's surging economy means its world of country clubs, fine wines and luxury cars still flourishes 
   
Another agreeable lunch ended at the Caracas Country Club with a bottle of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, the chef's famous flan and a round of espressos.
From their table in the sun-kissed courtyard the three businessmen could hear only the fountain's gurgle, the murmur of other diners, the clink of glasses and the swish of waiters.

A socialist revolution is supposed to be clanging through Venezuela but from this oasis of wealth in the heart of the capital it is inaudible, just like the traffic. "The revolution is blah blah blah. We don't feel threatened," said one of the trio, a shoe factory owner.

Much of the country's elite, it seems, feel the same way. President Hugo Chávez has warned that "capitalism will lead to the destruction of humanity" but seldom has there been a better time to make, spend and enjoy money.
The economy is surging at 9.4% and banks and credit card companies are reporting exponential increases in deposits and loans. Car sales are expected to more than double this year to 300,000, many of them luxury models, and property prices rival Manhattan.

The reason is oil. As the world's fifth biggest exporter Venezuela has thrived as the barrel price hovers around $60.

Unlike previous petro-booms, however, this one is supposed to be different as there is a powerful president who wears a red beret, quotes Che Guevara and praises Cuban communism. Mr Chávez has garnered global attention with promises to "transform the structures of capitalism".

Billions of dollars have been spent on improving health care and education for the country's poor and in the countryside a small minority of sugar plantations and ranches have been turned into socialist cooperatives.

But property rights and the structure of the economy remain intact, largely because the government does not want to impede its revenue, prompting relief from the elite and grumbles from the radical left who want greater redistribution of resources. "If you look at what it has accomplished, it is a neoliberal government," Douglas Bravo, a former Marxist guerrilla who was once close to Mr Chávez, lamented to the daily El Nacional.

Mr Chávez has described his eight years in power as a transition and promised a more radical phase, inspired partly by Fidel Castro's Cuba, if he wins another term in an election next month. Polls predict a landslide.

Alberto Garrido, a historian and leading pundit, said there was revolutionary intent but that an Americanised consumer culture in love with baseball, McDonald's and designer labels obliged the government to tread cautiously.

A notable example is golf. In August the mayor of Caracas and presidential ally, Juan Barreto, threatened to expropriate swaths of Caracas Country Club and Valle Arriba golf club to build houses for the poor.

Three months later Chávismo has not conquered the fairways. The vice-president, Vincente Rangel, scorned the idea and Mr Chávez, not wanting to pick this fight in the run-up to an election, said not a word, leaving the mayor to fight a lonely battle against the clubs' lawyers.

Caracas Country Club, founded in 1918 and with 8,000 well-heeled members, went on the offensive last week by claiming the expropriation threat was based on fraudulent documents. "We feel it will be resolved rationally, we are confident in the rule of law," said the club president, Fernando Zozaya. Asked about the revolution Mr Zozaya was wary, not wanting to provoke the government. "Let's say it's a very special type of socialism."

The three businessmen lunching in the courtyard were more explicit in mocking it as empty bluster. "It hasn't touched my work, I'm left alone," said one.

That did not stop them loathing Mr Chávez, whom they blamed for inflation, crime, corruption and a climate of intolerance which blocks government critics from state jobs.

Tellingly, none of the trio wanted to give his name. "You don't know the way it's going to end up so you don't want to jeopardise yourself," said one.

Stories abound of money being spirited abroad and of lobbying for US and European visas, lest hasty emigration becomes necessary.

Bubbling beneath the economic bonanza is a widespread sense of unease that the country has been here before. During two huge oil booms in the 1970s there was giddy talk of "La Gran Venezuela" in which petrodollars would permanently transform the economy and in which everything was possible.

Instead the economy was slowly strangled by overdependence on one exploitable resource which created production bottlenecks, inefficiency, corruption and mismanagement, paving the way for a crash when oil prices fell.

A US opinion pollster, Alex Evans, said the boom was insufficient reason for the elite, comprising 5% of the population, to support the incumbent. "They just don't like the guy."

There is a paradox that the more Mr Chávez denounces the United States, which he calls an empire run by a devil, the closer the countries' two economies become.

Bilateral trade soared by over a third to $40bn last year. Most was oil but it also included car production and financial services from the likes of Halliburton, a company linked to the US vice-president, Dick Cheney.

The fruits were on display at a Caracas expo of luxury vehicles and speedboats. Staff at six stands interviewed by the Guardian all said business had never been so good.

"It's ironic, this revolution. The rich are even richer now," said Rene Diaz, who was selling Humvee-type 4x4s which cost up to $150,000.

The most popular drink at the bar was the most expensive - an 18-year-old whisky.

"They don't want the cheaper stuff," shrugged a barman.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,1947026,00.html

21세기 사회주의(^^)

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About two weeks ago I was invited to a meeting with leading CPN(M) activists, organized by a German-Turkish maoist group. The activists from Nepal wanted to inform about the current situation in their country and the organizers wanted to publicise the "next steps on the way of the revolution in Nepal". But finally the entire meeting was only disappointing, extreme unsatisfactorily. The activists from CPN(M) in their "lecture" had nothing to say, except some complete empty political statements, what you can read in every old-school maoist propaganda paper. In direct discussions, for example asked about the recent trouble (partly violent clashes) between CPN(M) and the Nepalese trade union GEFONT(for more about it please check out Major Trade Unions Condemn Maoist Attack), the activists from Nepal had nothing to say, even they didn't know about the fact (that's what they said..).

The entire meeting reminded me on similar meetings 20 years ago with activists from Latin American or Palestinian "communist" organizations, or representatives of countries of the former so-called "Real Existing Socialism"... or like my experiences with cadres of the North Korean KWP.

Ha, and just few days after this meeting with the CPN(M) activists I had to find out the interview with Prachanda, the chairman of CPN(M), in Daily Telegraph(I already uploaded the article here: http://blog.jinbo.net/CINA/?pid=979)

Now, only few days ago (11.11) the Chinese/HK magazine Asia Times published following analyzing(?) article:

Nepal's experiment with Maoism

The deal reached on Wednesday in Nepal is being described as historic. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who has been leading a coalition government since May, told the Nepali people that the latest set of political decisions was an achievement for all.
 

"It is not a defeat of anyone. Neither is it a victory of a particular political party," was how Koirala offered his first explanation on the deal that was struck between the Seven Party Alliance he heads and the Maoists, who have agreed to end a decade-old armed insurgency that claimed more than 13,000 lives.
 

Both Koirala and Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal (aka Prachanda) said Nepal was about to enter a new era. Men and women closely working with them during the weeks and months of arduous negotiations, too, consider that the outcome did constitute a step, if not a leap, forward.
 

The international community closely watching developments in Nepal also appeared convinced that the peace process was gaining momentum and that it should be maintained.
 

While Koirala's explanation that the agreement was not a victory of a particular political party tried to allay fears of his partner parties and some others outside the coalition, it could not dissuade the Maoist leadership from organizing victory rallies across the country.
 

Maoists chose a five-star hotel to call a press conference where Prachanda claimed that what was happening in Nepal would be "the first great world experiment of 21st century". His expressions there reflected the Maoists' perception that it was their party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), that harvested most of the gains to be made from the deal.
 

Prachanda and his comrades-in-arms had reasons to be exhilarated. The foremost among them is the fact that their party carried weight that is equivalent to that of the seven parties combined. They accomplished this unparalleled position primarily because of the insurgency they think they successfully conducted in the period beginning in 1996. But some of their rivals claimed that the deal proved that the Maoists were rapidly becoming a spent force.
 

Prachanda's success in Nepal must be a bittersweet piece of news to Peru's revolutionary leader, Abimael Guzman, who is languishing in a Lima jail for his role in the Shining Path movement that cost nearly 70,000 lives. The Nepali Maoist leadership has admitted in the past that it drew inspiration from "Comrade Gonzalo's" movement. In 1993, dozens of Nepali legislators responded to a signature campaign for Gonzalo's release launched by some left-wing politicians who later rose to be senior Maoist leaders.
 

The other notable achievements Maoists have made include a provision for their sizable presence in a 330-strong interim parliament, to be set up by November 26. Maoists are to get 73 seats, which is equal to the number being allocated to the second-largest party in the present ruling alliance.
 

The other gain Maoists have made is in the form of a government undertaking to reciprocate the rebel offer to separate combatants from weapons and place them under United Nations supervision. According to agreement, the Nepalese army has to demobilize an equal number of its soldiers until elections to a constitutional assembly are held by next June.
 

In normal circumstances, the state army would have objected to such an arrangement, but this is not likely to happen now in the context of a new military law that has removed traditional linkages with, and loyalty to, King Gyanendra. Besides, the November 8 deal specifically stipulates that the army has to follow strictly the orders issued by the cabinet. This cabinet, expected to be formed by December 1, will include representatives from the Maoist party as well.
 

In exchange of these gains, Maoists have agreed to renounce violence. Their combatants, members of the "People's Liberation Army", are to be kept in seven cantonments in different parts of the country. The PLA claims it has about 35,000 combatants. UN representative Ian Martin said these camps need to be set up in "accessible areas" to make monitoring effective.
 

Maoists have pledged to engage themselves in competitive politics and seek state power through elections. Prachanda has publicly promised to take his "democratic" agenda to the voters during the campaign for elections to the constitutional assembly.
 

Prachanda's deputy, Baburam Bhattarai, conceded in a seminar a few weeks ago that Maoists have realized that contemporary trends and events in and around Nepal would not permit them to grab power through the insurgency they were leading. In other words, the latest Maoist commitments are real. They don't want to return to their hideouts in the jungles.
 

Nevertheless, the level of trust among the parties involved is less than adequate to implement decisions, which could have far-reaching consequences. While the Maoist leadership fears sabotage from conservative and reactionary elements, the alliance leaders are skeptical about the sincerity and honesty on the part of Maoists.
 

When Prime Minister Koirala stood before the incumbent parliament on Thursday to explain the importance of landmark deal, he made an appeal to the Maoists to abide by the agreement "in letters and spirit". He said he wanted them to change their conduct and behavior. Koirala, who faced considerable international pressure during negotiations with the rebels, was addressing the concerns of Nepal's friends and well-wishers abroad.
 

It was reflected, for instance, in the statement the British government issued through Foreign and Commonwealth Minister Kim Howells with respect to the rule of law, "without which any peace agreement will be inherently fragile". In other words, the Maoist leadership must work to ensure the end of the phase of anarchy through extortion, abductions, and beating and killing innocent people.
 

Prachanda canceled a public meeting scheduled for Friday in the wake of widespread complaints from the residents of Kathmandu Valley that they were forced to agree to feed and provide accommodation to thousands of people who were brought into the valley to attend the meeting to be addressed by the top Maoist leader.
 

"The main responsibility now is on the rebel leadership, to rope in the cadres and convert the rebellion into a political party," said Kanak Dixit, editor of Himal publications.
 

But will the Maoist leadership take such a suggestion seriously? Doubts and suspicions persist. Some of the doubts emanate from the style in which the Maoists continue to conduct their activities, and others are associated with the substantive issues at hand. Those who care to read messages from the Maoist work style allude to the press conference that Prachanda addressed after signing the agreement.
 

The wall behind the stage set the for the show was cluttered with banners that either depicted hammer-and-sickle signs or eulogized Marxism, Leninism, Maoism and Prachandaism. In addition to this, all top Maoist leaders had red tikka (a mark of vermilion powder ) on their forehead. Had they been practicing Hindus it would not have seemed unusual. But that was not the case.
 

Prachanda and his colleagues did not celebrate Dashain, the country's largest festival, last month, saying it did not have "a scientific basis". Why did they then put on tikka marks if they did not want to convey a message that they were not abandoning the revolutionary path despite agreements to end the insurgency? Or were they just trying to take undue advantage of the widespread illiteracy that keeps a large number of people credulous? A deceptive, contradictory look can create considerable confusion.
 

Apprehensions that Maoists might use the latest peace deal to advance their agenda in a subtle manner are based on the failed deals of the past. Each of the agreements reached since August 2001 has been made redundant by Maoists. There is, therefore, no guarantee that the rebel leadership will not use this latest opportunity only as tactical move.
 

Knowledgeable sources on security matters claim that top Maoist leaders have told members of their "core group" that what they were doing was in essence a change of strategy alone. It is in this context that three top Maoist leaders have publicly said they would not join the interim government being formed shortly. Instead, they will look for an alternative to be able to form their "own" government that will allow them to implement their progressive and revolutionary agenda.
 

"Indeed the agenda for social-economic transformation has been pushed aside, giving priority only to the political transition," said Devraj Dahal, a political analyst closely watching the recent developments. Issues and positions relating to economic principles and foreign-policy matters remain unclear. The sole aim appears to get to power.
 

Concerns and speculation are not confined to political and economic issues. Analysts studying security aspects of the November 8 agreement are concerned about decisions made on the existing national army, the proposition to absorb Maoist recruits and its possible implications.
 

The pledge to grant citizenship to several million people by making mid-April 1990 the cutoff date is equally worrying. Nepal's porous border with India, where movement of people remains unregulated, make it vulnerable. And the citizenship pledge runs counter to the provisions made even in the controversial 1950 treaty of peace and friendship with India. Provisions of the treaty permit nationals of either country to reside in each other's territories and engage in trade and commerce. It implies that there are Nepali nationals in India and Indian nationals in Nepal. So without an offer of reciprocity, how can Nepal be asked to grant citizenship to Indian nationals who may number in millions?
 

These inconsistent positions and provisions tend to give credence to a perception that Johan Galtung, a Norwegian professor known worldwide, shared with the Kathmandu Post newspaper on November 6: "Your prime minister is not accountable to parliament and the government. He is accountable to Delhi and the United States. It is very unfortunate." Galtung, a frequent visitor, would not have used these stinging words if he had not understood the unfolding scenario here in Nepal.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HK11Df01.html

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Following article, based on a (in my opinion very significant) interview with "Prachanda", the chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal(Maoist), was published in Daily Telegraph(UK) 11.01.

Nepal's 'fierce one' spurns Chairman Mao and claims centre ground in peace talks

The commander of the most successful modern-day Communist insurgency, in Nepal, has turned his back on the legacy of Mao Tse-tung, claiming that he will embrace multi-party democracy to bring peace to the country after a decade of bloodshed.

Prachanda, the rebel leader who took inspiration from revolutionary China to prosecute his "people's war", indicated that he was even prepared to accept a transitional period in which Nepal's monarchy would be preserved.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Prachanda, whose nom de guerre means "the fierce one", said his Maoist rebels had learnt the lessons of past revolutionary movements and recognised that the way to achieve a "vibrant and dynamic society" was by permitting healthy competition among political parties.

Speaking as a new round of negotiations with the government opened, he explained how he hoped ultimately to trade lasting peace for an end to the country's 238-year-old monarchy.

Prachanda, 52, whose real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal, said: "We have taken so many lessons from the revolutions and counter revolutions of the 20th century.

"Even under the dictatorship of the proletariat, multi-party competition is necessary to have a vibrant and dynamic society."

He blamed the monarchy for Nepal's status as one of Asia's poorest countries, with a per capita annual income of around £140.

"We are not fighting for socialism,"(*) he said, claiming that his party had drifted to the centre.

"We are just fighting against feudalism. We are fighting for a capitalistic mode of production. We are trying to give more profit to the capitalists and industrialists."

The Daily Telegraph met Prachanda after a taxi ride to a discreet Kathmandu hotel, accompanied by Maoists.

Along the route, the guide signalled our progress to plain-clothed spotters standing amid the crowds on the bustling pavements.

Prachanda, a former school teacher and erstwhile employee of the American development agency USAID, believes that he is just a step away from joining mainstream politics, and was at pains to present a moderate image.

"If [the prime minister Girija Koirala] can go for a republican state then we can easily lock up 100 per cent of our arms right now," he said.

"But if you want to compromise with the feudal monarchy then it will not be beneficial for the democratic expression of the people to lock up all our arms right now."

Prachanda's rebel campaign has cost more than 13,000 lives and transformed Nepal from a sleepy backwater into what many analysts fear could become a failed state.

But in April, the Maoists and democratic opposition parties jointly organised protests against the autocratic government led by King Gyanendra. Hundreds of thousands of people joined the movement which forced the king from power. He appointed a prime minister and took on merely ceremonial duties.

Democrats then formed a coalition government committed to making peace with the Maoists.

They pledged to hold elections for an assembly that would rewrite the constitution, a long standing rebel demand.

Since then, the prime minister has consistently supported a ceremonial role for the king, but Prachanda spoke optimistically of a "breakthrough" within the next week.

He believes that a compromise is possible, with the rebels submitting to phased "arms management" under United Nations supervision. In return, he insists, all the king's property must be nationalised.

Under the proposed deal, the fate of the monarchy would then be decided by the first meeting of the constitutional assembly to be elected next year.

Despite the modernising rhetoric, Prachanda was unrepentant about the deaths that his unfinished revolution has caused. He described meeting with the relatives of young policemen and soldiers his party had killed.

He said he had told them: "We are sorry, but this is a political process."

Prachanda added: "We are not happy that so many people have died but historical necessity is a very strong thing, you know."

Critics claim that human rights abuses by the Maoists continue, especially in connection with their "people's courts" justice system, but he dismissed the allegations as "minor mistakes" and "propaganda". Two weeks ago, industrialists called a general strike in protest at Maoist "extortion". Prachanda describes the payments as "voluntary donations".

But, despite the high stakes and continuing acrimony, Prachanda appears relaxed. Even during the hectic peace negotiations process, he said, he liked to watch films in the evenings.

Some European "comrades" recently sent him DVDs of the slavery movies Sparticus and Amistad.

"There are still some European communists," he said.(**)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/31/wnepal31.xml

* ??? What the f.. hell is that? A "communist" party not fighting for socialism anymore, but for capitalism ("We are trying to give more profit to the capitalists..")?? Harrharr..

** If the article/interview is true - and actually I believe it - likely he really means "There are still some idiots in Europe".