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INTERVIEW WITH PRACHANDA (by Kishor Nepal, 6.20)
Excerpts of a recent interview with Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Prachanda alias Pushpa Kamal Dahal:
Well, in my opinion this interview is a very important statement and we should "study" it very well and check out what comes as next.. More about it, I'll write in the next days(btw, I have some problems with it..).
Latest news, comments and analysis
about the missile "madness"
First of all: the f.. missile is still in its hole!
But of course - no wonder - KJ Kim's trip to P.Y. is cancelled as one of the first(foreseeable) results of the latest developments.
Meanwhile - of course it was also pedictable - the S.K. govt is threatening the DPRK with the stop of("additional") economic and humanitarian help(Yonhap, Korea Times).
And the US administration's position: "All options are still on the table", a.k.a. everything can be happen, incl. a military option(just watch CNN's stuff쟯n the end of my contribution..).
And finally, of course also foreseeable: the DPRK is offering the US administration bilateral negotiations to solve the "missile problem"(on the other side the DPRK said that it has all rights to launch a satellite..).
IHT published in the last two days following articles:
North Korea's very bad idea (NYT)
South Korea's ex-leader won't visit North
U.S. Readies System For Missile Detection? (Washington Post)
Use Against N. Korean Launch Discounted
The U.S. military yesterday moved ships into position off the coast of North Korea to detect the launch of any long-range ballistic missiles and prepared its new, unproven missile-interception system to attempt a response if necessary.
Please read the full article here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/20/AR2006062001446.html
The latest comment published y'day in Asia Times(HK/China) you can read here:
Pyongyang will shoot itself in the foot(harrharr, finally a kind of surprising..)
Before y'day the same magazine published following analysis:
There's method in the missile madness
..and some backgrounds about the DPRK's missile development program and export:
And finally here you can watch the latest contribution in CNN Intl. TV program(6.21):
North Korea's plan to launch a long-range missile prompts U.S. concern
And last but not least the S.K. "left-liberal" daily Hangyeore wrote this y'day:
Expert says N.K. missile could carry nuclear payload 12,000 km
(..oops, what a great idea!!)
Yesterday evening IAF aircraft attacks car carrying al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades members in Gaza's Jabalya refugee camp. But once again three Palestinian children killed, two of them brother and sister; another 15 people wounded..
And so the escalation between the Palestinan "resistance" groups and the Israeli military is reaching a new stage..
Today's Ynet/Yedioth Ahronot reported in its morning edition following dangerously developments:
Fatah declares war on Sderot
Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades vows to avenge botched IAF air strike which killed three Palestinian children while targeting top al-Aqsa member Imad Hamad, who planned to infiltrate suicide bombers from Sinai. ‘Zioinsts won’t have peace on our land,’ group says
The al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, Fatah’s military wing, called on all its active cells to declare a retaliatory alert following the Israel Air Force strike on northern Gaza Tuesday, which targeted al-Aqsa operatives but killed three Palestinian children.
"We call on all our fighters to act and hit the enemy so that it hurts, in every place, so that it knows that the blood of our martyrs is dear. We declare war on Sderot and on all the Zionist settlements. The Zionists won’t have peace on our land,” an announcement stated.
Please read the full article here(it includes also two links to background information about the killing of three children by IAF yesterday..):
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3265401,00.html
The Isreali so-called "left-liberal" daily Haaretz reported today following:
Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades urges renewed attacks on Israel
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades threatened Wednesday to strike at targets throughout in Israel, and urged all other militant groups to renew their terror attacks.
The group's statement came in response to a failed assassination attempt by the Israel Air Force in Gaza City on Tuesday evening, which killed three Palestinian children. Two of the children, aged five and six, were brother and sister; the third was a 16-year-old boy..
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/729271.html
Just a half hour ago Ynet reported this:
'Peretz must resign'
Arab MKs slam defense minister over killing of children in IAF strike in Gaza. 'Peretz wants to build his political career on bodies of Palestinian children,' MK Zahalka charges. MK Tibi calls on Peretz to halt targeted killings..
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3265579,00.html
PS:
It's now about eight hours later and the intl. public got this(actually not really) surprising news:
Gaza: 1 killed, 9 wounded in IDF strike
One Palestinian woman killed, nine people wounded during Israel Air Force attack on Khan Younis house; among wounded three members of same family; extent of injuries unknown at this time. Palestinians say missile was meant to strike vehicle...
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3265784,00.html
..oops(again, just one hour later, 9 pm CET, 4 am KST) this f.. sh.. must be updated:
Gaza: 2 killed in IDF strike
Tragic mistake: Palestinian brother and sister killed, several others injured during Israel Air Force attack on Khan Younis house. Army officials say missile targeted vehicle carrying terror cell members
Two people killed and eight wounded, including 3 children, when Israel Air Force strike in Khan Younis misses targeted Popular Resistance Committee terrorists, hits family eating dinner in their home..
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3265784,00.html
Haaretz reported following:
Two civilians killed in IAF missile strike on Gaza
Two Palestinian civilians were killed and 14 others - all members of the same family - were wounded in an Israel Air Force strike in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday evening.
The attack comes a day after three children were killed in an IAF strike in Gaza City that targeted members of Fatah's military wing. It is the third time in one month that IAF strikes in Gaza have resulted in civilian fatalities, and brings the total of Palestinian civilian deaths to 14.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/729271.html
Wow.. it seems that since a while the IAF is using only blind or at least eye-handicapped personal in its combat helicopters..(mi-anh hae-yo.. I know this is not funny!)
In my opinion someone in the Israeli military is going crazy and want the finally confrontation, or whatever.. Actually I can't find no words anymore for this latest developments..
And the latest news, reported nearly at the same time when Ynet updated the last Israeli war crime in Khan Younis, was/is this:
Hamas performs about-turn on Israeli state
(The Guardian)
· Document recognises Israel's right to exist
· Shift away from founding goal of an Islamic state
In a bitter struggle for power, Hamas is bowing to an ultimatum from the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to endorse the document drawn up by Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails, or face a national referendum on the issue that could see the Islamist group stripped of power if it loses.
But final agreement on the paper, designed to end international sanctions against the Hamas government that have crippled the Palestinian economy, has been slowed by wrangling over a national unity administration and the question of who speaks for the Palestinians.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive committee and a lead negotiator on the prisoners' document, said Hamas had agreed to sections which call for a negotiated and final agreement with Israel to establish a Palestinian state on the territories occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem.
"Hamas is prepared to accept those parts of the document because they think it is a way to get rid of a lot of its problems with the international community. That's why it will accept all the document eventually," he said.
Hamas, facing a deep internal split over recognition of the Jewish state, declined to discuss the negotiations in detail. If it formally approves the entire document, it will represent a significant shift from its founding goal of replacing Israel with an Islamic state and its more recent position of agreeing a long-term ceasefire, over a generation or more, if a Palestinian state is formed on the occupied territories but without formally recognising the Jewish state.
Mr Abed Rabbo said he expected an agreement in the coming days, but that important differences still had to be settled, particularly over the document's call for the formation of a national unity government.
He described that as "the major issue that will determine the fate of two nations for decades" because a unity administration, built around a common policy of negotiations with Israel, would be the only way to combat its plans to unilaterally impose its final borders and annex parts of the occupied territories.
More immediately this was also the only way to restore foreign aid. But Mr Abed Rabbo added it would be a mistake to see the approval of the prisoners' document as sufficient, in itself, to end international sanctions against the Palestinian Authority. "The document calls for the foundation of a national unity government as the basis of a new programme that will approach the world," he said.
"But the document is part of a package. It should be accompanied by an agreement on policies for a new government. The document won't change conditions and relations on its own."
Mr Abed Rabbo said the July 26 referendum would be called off if there was agreement on the document, but that a ballot could be held later if Hamas blocked the formation of a new government or failed to agree on a negotiations policy.
Abdullah Abdullah, a Fatah MP and chairman of the parliamentary political committee, said other differences remained over the document, including Fatah's insistence that the PLO continues to be recognised as the sole representative of the Palestinian people in negotiations with Israel, and that all existing agreements between the PLO and Israel be recognised.
Israel has dismissed the prisoners' document as changing little because, among other things, it advocates continued resistance. But a complete renunciation of violence is unlikely to come while Israeli attacks continue to claim the lives of innocent Palestinians.
Earlier today, a women was killed and six children injured in an Israeli missile attack in Gaza. On Tuesday, an Israeli air force rocket killed three children, two boys aged five and 16, and a seven-year-old girl. In both cases, Israel said it was targeting militants who escaped injury.
Israel has killed 13 civilians, most of them children, in four air strikes this month. It is also probably responsible for the killing of a family of seven during a shell barrage against a Gaza beach two weeks ago.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1802862,00.html
Forget it!! I can't believe it.. (aeh~ at least not today anymore..)
While the international media was/is putting the DPRK's missile issue on its headlines - for example on CNN Intl. it was/is the top story ..
North Korea Moves Closer to Missile Test
North Korea has finished loading fuel into a long-range ballistic missile, a Bush administration official said Monday as signs continued that the reclusive communist state(*) will soon test a weapon that could reach the United States.. (Guardian, AP)
More nations warn North Korea against launching missile (IHT)
...the S.K. media is, once again, trying to play down the issue:
Korea Times Tuesday's edition will publish following:
Seoul Calm Over NK Missile Issue
North Korea does not appear to be at the stage of test-firing its long-range missile in a day or two, despite recent news reports, as few concrete signs indicating an imminent launch have been detected, sources in Seoul said Monday.
Some foreign news services reported over the weekend that North Korea seems to have finished fueling a long-range ballistic missile increasing the possibility it will go ahead with its first important test-launch in eight years...
South Korea has not yet concluded whether the projectile North Korea plans to launch is a military-purpose missile or a civilian-purpose satellite...
(the entire article you can read here:
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200606/kt2006061917113210440.htm)
Opps, perhaps following will be a kind of un-sensitively(harrharr, I'm un-sensitively!! everyone knows..)...
Just my(possibly stupid) idea, but it might be a likely scenario in the coming days:
Soon the DPRK will launch the Daepodong No. 2. Of course the Daepodong is just a "missile to launch a satellite to bring the latest song, praising the peaceful unification between the South and the North",..blabla.. "to the space"..
The US Navy will shoot it down and KIm Jeong-il will blame the USA for attacking the DPRK's efforts for their(of course peaceful) space program.. blabla.. (well, once again, this is just my idea..).
..................................
^^what a SURPRISE:
‘N. Korea Visit May Be Postponed’
Former President Kim Dae-jung's scheduled trip to Pyongyang later this month may be delayed due to tensions over North Korea's alleged move to test-fire a long-range missile and Pyongyang's lukewarm attitude toward the trip...
..................................
`Launch may be a satellite'
There is not enough evidence to conclude that a test launch allegedly prepared by North Korea was for military purposes, it was reported in Seoul yesterday.
The Seoul government is said to be keeping in check the possibility that the projectile could be a satellite instead of a ballistic missile, based on the location of the launch pad and type of fuel.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/06/20/200606200005.asp
* Of course N.K. has nothing to do with communism..
BTW: There was no communist state in the past.. and there will be no communist state in the future! Because communism means a classless society, without state, nation, borders, (ruling)political parties, police, military..
IN CONCERT
2006.3.11
REVOLUTIONARY PROPAGANDA
BY USING THE TOOLS OF THE CLASS ENEMY^^
연영석同志 홈페이지:
Following - in my point of few - interesting article about the latest developments in Nepal, especially after last Friday's summit between the representatives of the SPA and CPN(M), was published in today's Asia Times(HK/China):
Nepal makes way for the comrades
Fridays are fateful, if not eventful, days in Nepal. Five years ago, on June 1, 2001, a mysterious shootout took place in the palace claiming the lives of 10 royal victims, including King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and Crown Prince Dipendra. The person who was the country's prime minister at that time (coincidentally, he holds the same position now), Girija Prasad Koirala, later said that he gets jittery on the eve of every Friday.
As if to prove him prophetic, the current king, Gyanendra, has taken a series of adventurous steps on Fridays. In 2002, it was on Friday, October 4, when he announced the dismissal of an elected government, sparking a major constitutional crisis leading to political instability and upheaval in Nepal. And almost all
subsequent measures he took to consolidate the powers unconstitutionally seized failed, compelling him to bow to people power this April.
His first public proclamation to this effect also came on a Friday - April 21. Four days later, Gyanendra made another proclamation leaving himself at the mercy of a parliament he himself had revived after a gap of four years. Very swiftly it stripped him of all powers, perks and privileges and converted him into a person whose property and income are taxable. Observers had to wait until last Friday to find out whether or not Gyanendra even retained the status of Nepal's head of state when he was allowed to receive credentials from newly arrived ambassadors from Thailand and South Korea.
But last Friday's extraordinary spectacle was witnessed elsewhere in Kathmandu - at Baluwatar, the official residence of the prime minister, 2 kilometers from the royal palace. And the host of the show, considered providential by mainstream leaders, was none other than the octogenarian Koirala. Despite frail health, he received the top Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, and held "summit-level" talks with him for more than an hour.
The news that the man who has commanded the bloody insurgency in the country for 10 years had entered Baluwatar spread like a wildfire. Some of the local radio stations interrupted regular programs to churn out whatever they could gather from reporters who had braved summer heat standing outside the main entrance to the prime minister's residence. They were part of a 300-strong crowd of fellow reporters and photographers, both Nepalis and foreigners, who remained more interested in "Comrade Prachanda" than in the possible outcome of parleys being held inside the residence compound.
The reason was obvious - he was somebody who had led a "People's War" that claimed more than 13,000 lives and made tens of thousands invalids, several hundred thousand displaced and a large number of children orphaned. Destruction of public and private property worth billions of rupees is something that needs to be calculated separately.
A formal meeting between Koirala and Prachanda was not unexpected, but few had any idea that such an event could be organized suddenly, and without public knowledge. As it became clear within hours, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, the interior minister, had picked up Prachanda in the early morning hours from the outskirts of Pokhara, a tourist town in the west, and brought him to the capital using a chartered helicopter. Sitaula then escorted him from the airport to the place where Koirala greeted him, his wife and his comrade-in-arms, Baburam Bhattarai. It indeed was a sensational development. (Sitaula once again extended the same courtesy to Prachanda the following morning by accompanying him to an undisclosed location in the far-western hill district of Doti.)
At the end of day, the elusive Maoist leader finally appeared before the media. His appearance displayed an aura of confidence and his expressions conveyed a message that this could be a person who believes in action.
"He appeared like a leader with vision, and a person who is highly unlikely to deceive the peace-seeking people of Nepal," Sundarmani Dixit, a medical doctor and civil-society activist, told a radio interviewer after a short, separate meeting with Prachanda.
What came out at the press conference, attended by all important personalities except Prime Minister Koirala (for health reasons), has now become a matter of intense political debate. While there is unanimity of view that a joint statement would send a strong message to the public that the country is heading toward a democratic process that is irreversible, murmurs of discontent and disgruntlement over the eight-point agreement signed by the leaders of the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) and the top rebel leader is getting louder day by day.
A perception is developing in the Nepalese political landscape that SPA leaders yielded too much to the Maoists without obtaining even an assurance that they would renounce violence or hand in weapons before they could be invited to join a new interim government. The Friday agreement stipulates that the present interim government would be replaced by another interim setup; the parliament that was restored at the end of April would be dissolved, and the present constitution (promulgated in 1990 and substantially altered through parliamentary declaration of May 18, 2006, on provisions relating to the monarchy) be scrapped to make room for an interim constitution to be announced in a month.
These arrangements, argue some dissenting leaders, make all the changes announced after the April 24 proclamation meaningless. Their contention is that while the Maoists' support during the pro-democracy movement this year was crucial, they should not have been allowed to dictate the terms. Does one Maoist party carry weight equal to the weight of seven other parties combined?
In reciprocation, the Maoists have consented to dismantle what they have been calling "people's governments" at all levels - central, district and village. The other Maoist concession is for placing their weapons and fighters under United Nations supervision. But these are not substantial gestures. Local Maoist governments are very much similar to local units of other political parties. And the issue of UN supervision of weapons and fighters is irrelevant, if not outright objectionable.
"How convincing is the contention of assigning the legal status the state army enjoys to a band of fighters who were terrorists until cases against them were withdrawn recently?" asked Govinda Raj Joshi, a central committee member of the Nepali Congress, the political party headed by Prime Minister Koirala, when approached for his reaction. Joshi was once minister of home affairs.
Joshi is one of those politicians who tend to think that the entry of Prachanda and his comrades into state power through the upcoming interim government amounts in essence to a Maoist takeover of Nepal. Western diplomats also see these prospects as worrying. Neighbors and Nepal's influential friends abroad do not see any sense in dissolving the existing parliament without a ready-made substitute for it. That Maoists openly espouse a republican agenda has also become a matter of concern to those who are in favor of retaining monarchy in a "ceremonial form". Then there is the Nepali intelligentsia, which refuses to accept a Maoist dictatorship in the place of an autocratic monarchy.
To the Maoist leadership, this is an alarmist view. And Prachanda used his maiden press conference to assure the public that he and members of the party he heads, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), have come out in the open for good. They do not intend to return to the jungle. They have begun opening offices in different districts and areas across the country, with women's and students' wings providing an additional support base to the party, which plans to run a campaign aggressively ahead of the polls for a Constituent Assembly (CA). That the CA is needed to draw a new constitution for Nepal has already been agreed upon. Once the new constitution, to be written and issued by the people's representatives, is ready the country is to hold new parliamentary elections.
In an interview with Asia Times Online, Dev Gurung, a senior central committee member of the CPN (Maoist), contended that the Maoists' decision to join competitive politics in a peaceful manner is genuine and irrevocable. When asked about the basis to believe that the current round of negotiations with the government would not fail like two previous rounds (in 2001 and 2003), Gurung, who is one of three members of the Maoist team holding talks with the government team led by Sitaula, offered this explanation: "There were royal governments in the past, and their representatives always rejected our proposition for a Constituent Assembly. The atmosphere has undergone a sea change now, with the SPA agreeing to elections for a Constituent Assembly. In fact, there is no competition between us and SPA now, as both sides are working to make the current transition phase as smooth as possible. Competition and rivalry may come once the country gets a new constitution and a new parliament.
"We are committed to retain and respect full democratic rights," Gurung said.
According to Gurung, his party would tolerate public criticism, including those made against the party supremo, Prachanda. In reply to a question about an incident in which the head of an association of Maoist victims was shot dead in cold blood when he led a demonstration that burned an effigy of Prachanda, Gurung expressed regrets over such incidents and also for the death of innocent civilians, and said incidents that happened during the insurgency would not be repeated.
What do the Maoists want in the new political configuration? According to Gurung, his party's objective is to make Nepal a democratic country with a civilized society. It should have room for all of Nepal's ethnic and regional groups, developing a federal structure if necessary.
All the things that make Nepal a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country should be done away with. The institution of monarchy and the unequal treaty of 1950 between India and Nepal are examples of such a legacy. In addition to this, the 1,800km border between Nepal and India should not be left "open" (unregulated) forever.
Maoists are critical of those democracies, particularly the United States and India, that did not extend their support to Nepal's pro-democratic movement. Gurung expressed surprise about the pro-king policy followed by them in the initial phase. And he singled out US Ambassador James Moriarty for his meddlesome role. India's policy remained ambivalent up to a point, as some of the politicians in New Delhi found the status quo expedient compared with a setup formed and owned by the people of Nepal. China, he said, at least remained neutral. The Chinese media refrain from using the word "Maoist"; they usually allude to "anti-government guerrillas".
If elected to power, according to Gurung, his party would adopt an economic policy that could transform the present subsistence-level agricultural economy into an industrial one. Nepal must not be allowed to remain a captive market for Indian products. Gurung said there was absolutely no truth to the rumor that his party's policy is to end private ownership of land and other properties. What the party seeks, he clarified, is to remove grounds for the exploitation of poor and marginalized communities by affluent and influential groups.
Outwardly, despite differences in their approach to some of the issues at hand, Maoists and SPA partners are committed to work for democracy and the democratic process. But elements of mutual suspicion lurk just beneath the surface. At the press conference on Friday, the Maoist supremo said he was not out of woods yet, as far as conspiracies are concerned. He criticized the Nepalese army, which remained loyal to the king with a "royal" tag attached to its name until recently; he also cited a road accident resulting in the death of a charismatic communist leader, Madan Bhandari, 13 years ago.
Bhandari, a firebrand nationalist, was general secretary of a mainline but moderate communist party, and he and his traveling colleague died when their jeep skidded down a mountainous highway and plunged into the Narayani River in the central hills. At first, it was accepted as a road accident, but the incident later attracted a conspiratorial dimension. The jeep driver, who survived the accident, was shot dead in broad daylight in a Kathmandu suburb by unidentified gunmen. The case remains unsolved.
Political parties associated with the SPA too have their doubts about Maoists and their maneuvers. From the SPA's standpoint, the Maoists still are not a trustworthy, responsible political party. Their whole exercise could be a window-dressing, in essence a move to buy time to regroup so that they could launch another phase of guerrilla warfare to accomplish their goal of one-party rule in Nepal.
Their cadres, particularly in the countryside, have not stopped killings, abductions and extortions. Nobody knows for sure whether they have indeed closed their training camps and shelters in far-flung, isolated districts. They have not made any pledge to respond to public complaints about hundreds of people who have disappeared in Maoist camps. What about the state of relationship Prachanda conceded Maoists had with the palace? The press conference was told that all channels of contacts and communications were severed after Gyanendra imposed direct rule on Nepal on February 1, 2005. But can his words be taken at their face value? Doubts persist, at least among political analysts.
Kathmandu is in a state of flux, and New Delhi and Washington are watchful. A Maoist takeover of Nepal, a buffer zone between two Asian giants, could be destabilizing for the whole of South Asia. In spite of their growing contacts and the resultant thaw with China and Pakistan, Indians are quite unlikely to see Nepali Maoists in power as anyone other than China's friendly forces at their doorstep. Conversely, China would be highly sensitive to prospects of an Indian military presence in Nepal, which shares borders with Tibet. Chinese reactions to activities associated with "Free Tibet" campaigns, inspired and often funded by Western powers, have always been strong. A Chinese response to extreme situations remains unpredictable.
What is the way out, then? A viable course is to let Nepal grow as a democratic country with a vibrant civil society. No country with a competitive political process and with a government adopting policies and programs that are transparent can be a security threat to its neighbors or world peace.
If left-wing parties in India can take part in competitive politics, take power in some states and be an influential factor in the national parliament in New Delhi, why can't their Nepalese counterparts be encouraged to synchronize their activities to emerging trends and aspirations?
Nepal's chances of coming out of present phase uncertainty largely depend on the help it receives from its immediate neighbors and friends. And this help has to be in the form of helping Nepalis to help themselves.
"Keeping in view ... experiences with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, it is better that we keep away from the internal affairs of that country," said S Sudhakar Reddy, a member of the Indian parliament, after a visit to Nepal last month.
Hindu nationalists in secular India, too, need to realize that while Nepalis might remain keen to retain the character of a religion followed by the majority, they definitely are not in favor of giving Nepal the look of a theocratic state. The king of Nepal, even if he survives the ongoing whirlwind, cannot be a pope for Hindus.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/HF20Df01.html
PS:
Please keep in mind that Asia Times is "just" a bourgeois magazine, nothing more and nothing less..
..국제 뉴스, 反戰, DPRK news.. or whatever..
Actually yesterday in the afternoon the people of the DPRK should celebrate huge fireworks:
Pyongyang may fire missile on Sunday: reports
(Yonhap, 6.18)
The North Korean government has ordered its people to hoist the country's national flag and watch a state message on television at 2 p.m. on Sunday, a move possibly linked with Pyongyang's missile activities, a Japanese newspaper said.
Citing unnamed Japanese government sources, the Sankei Shimbun reported Sunday that the reclusive communist state's leadership gave the instructions amid a series of reports of its readiness to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile.
http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20060618/410100000020060618092211E0.html
| 北, 오후2시 국기게양...대국민 메시지 청취 지시 |
| 외신들 대포동 2호 발사 관련 가능성 제기 |
민중의 소리
But oops.. - how boring - nothing was happen until now!
But better to be a little more seriously..
Just short time ago, the intl.(of course bourgeois) media - especially from Europe and the US - was warning that a possible N.K. long-range missle test will take place soon.
The S.K. media was writing that THEY have no evidence about this kind of plans by the DPRK, not at all.
Just a few days later, during 6.15 celebrations in Gwangju S.K. officials wanted to warn, according to S.K. media, the North to test a Daepodong missile(^^since when the DPRK is impressed by warnings from outside, especially from the South??).
And now since about at least two days the S.K. govt. is "very concerned" about a planned missle test..
But on the other side, at the same time the S.K. govt. is telling the natl. and intl. audience
that only supporting the N.K. economy and securing the stability there is bringing forward peace, reconciliation and(hopefully soon) unification on the peninsula(so Roh to a group of S. K. military leaders).
Hey, its very funny/interesting that both articles - about the "warning" during 6.15 celebration and yesterday’s speech by Roh to a audience of S.K. military leaders – are disappeared since a short while on the home page of K. Times...^^
Meanwhile the intl. media is a kind of alarmed about the latest developments on the missile test areal in the DPRK:
N. Korea Gets Reminder on Missile Freeze (AP, 6.18)
Japan warns N. Korea against missile test (IHT, AFP, 6.18)
Japan warns N Korea on missile test (Al Jazeera, 6.18)
In the so-called S.K. "left" daily Hangyeore you can read this stuff:
NEPAL - A NEW STEP FORWARD
TO PEOPLES DEMOCRACY
Now it seems to be official: the first time since long, long time, a non-reactionary peoples movement won its important success:
As I wrote y'day the first round of negotiations between the SPA and the CPN-M were successful! It's just a great(better said a first, perhaps just fragile) victory toward to a movement for another world, a world without exploiation and oppression!!
But don't forget that we(for example communists) can win everything, but if we are "stupid" enough(it means we will repead all the 'mistakes' from the past), we also can lose everything - and then forever. Our enemies are just waiting for our next 'mistakes'..
Now the international progessive movements are in the obligation to support the current and following developments in solidarity - even in critically solidarity! It means that we have the duty to shout out if we are thinking that something goes wrong there, if our comrades are beginning with the same('gentle' said) 'mistakes' what we did since - let's say - 1917.
OK, here the facts..
The Eight-point SPA-CPN(M) agreement(eKantipur)
The Eight-point agreement reached between the seven-party alliance and CPN-Maoist following summit talks between the two sides at the Prime Minister’s residence at Baluwatar on Friday (June 16, 2006) is as follows (Unofficial Translation)
1. Effectively and honestly implement the 12-point understanding reached between the SPA and Maoists in November last year and the 25-point Ceasefire Code of Conduct signed between the SPA government and CPN-Maoist on May 26 this year
2. Commitment to democratic norms and values including competitive multi-party system, civic liberties, fundamental rights, human rights, press freedom, and the concept of rule of law and Carry out each other’s activities in a peaceful manner
3. Request the United Nations to help in the monitoring and management of the armies and arms of both government and Maoist sides for a free and fair election to the Constituent Assembly
4.Guarantee the democratic rights achieved through the 1990 Popular Movement and the recent historic People’s Movement; draft an interim constitution based on the 12-point understanding and the ceasefire Code of Conduct; form an interim government accordingly; announce the dates for constituent assembly elections; dissolve the House of Representatives through consensus after making alternative arrangement; dissolve the People’s Governments of CPN-Maoist
5. Decide issues of national interests having long-term effects through consensus
6. Guarantee the fundamental right of the Nepali people to participate in the constituent assembly elections without any fear, influence, threat and violence. Invite international observation and monitoring during the elections as per the need
7. Bring about a forward-looking restructuring of the state so as to resolve the class-based, racial, regional and gender-based problems through constituent assembly elections. Transform the ceasefire between the Nepal Government and CPN-Maoist into permanent peace by focusing on democracy, peace, prosperity, forward-looking change and the country’s independence, sovereignty and pride, and express commitment to resolve the problem through talks
8. The government and Maoist talks teams have been directed to accomplish all tasks related to above-mentioned points without any delay
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=76803
The Guardian wrote this yesterday:
After a decade of fighting, Nepal's Maoist rebels embrace government
· Coalition signals end of conflict that killed 13,000
· Secret negotiations lead to agreement on elections
The announcement, which appears to herald the end of a bloody internal war, came at a joint news conference in Kathmandu. "A new interim constitution will be prepared within three weeks and then the new interim government will be formed," the Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known by his nom de guerre Prachanda, told reporters.
Please read the full article here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1799696,00.html
Maoists to Join Nepal's Government: Rebel Leader's Decision Hailed as 'Breakthrough' for Peace
(Washington Post)
Maoists agree to join Nepalese government
(IHT/NYT)
Nepal power sharing deal hailed
BBC NEWS
ISRAEL IS ARMING ITS ENEMIES..^^
Two days ago WorldNetDaily published following unbelievably story:
"Israel's weapons
used against Jews
Terrorist tells WND rifles given to Abbas
for 'security' employed in shooting attacks
Weapons transferred last week by Israel to Force 17, the presidential guard units of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, will be utilized for attacks against Jews, a senior member of Force 17 told WorldNetDaily in an exclusive interview today.
The militant, Abu Yousuf, hinted the weapons already were used in two shooting attacks the past few days that killed one Israeli civilian and wounded another.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced earlier this week he had approved a shipment of weapons and ammunition, which reportedly include over 370 assault rifles and were destined for Force 17. The shipment reportedly originated in Jordan and needed Israel's approval for transport.
Olmert said the shipment was meant to bolster security forces loyal to Abbas amid an increasingly violent power struggle between the PA chairman's Fatah party and Hamas, which won recent Palestinian parliamentary elections.
"I did this because we are running out of time and we need to help Abu Mazen," Olmert told reporters Tuesday.
The weapons reportedly were escorted by Israel to Ramallah and to the Gaza border where they were received by Force 17 members.
Abu Yousuf said the weapons will be fired at Israelis.
"These weapons will not be used in an internal war but against Israelis," he said. "Force 17 is proud that we were the first to lead the Palestinian people during tough times such as resistance operations [against the Israeli army during large-scale operations in northern Samaria in 2002]. We will also be the first to lead the Palestinians in the current struggle against Israeli occupation."
Several Force 17 members, including Yousuf, also are members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a terror group linked to Abbas' Fatah party responsible for scores of suicide bombings and shooting attacks.
Yousuf himself previously participated in anti-Israel terrorism, including recent shootings, attacks last month against Israeli forces operating in Ramallah and a shooting attack in northern Samaria in December 2000 that killed Benyamin Kahane, leader of the ultranationalist Kahane Chai organization.
After the Kahane murder, Yousuf was extended refuge by Yasser Arafat to live in the late PLO leader's Ramallah compound, widely known as the Muqata. Yousuf still lives in the compound.
Abbas earlier this week appointed Mahmoud Damra to head Force 17. Damra, who is on Israel's most wanted list of terrorists, was offered shelter in Arafat's compound in Ramallah in 2002 after Israel accused him of masterminding a string of terrorist attacks.
Israeli security officials say that since September 2000, Damra has led a terror cell based in Ramallah that has carried out deadly attacks, including shootings at Israeli vehicles, attacks against Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and the planting of roadside bombs.
Yousuf told WorldNetDaily Israel transferred the weapons to his Force 17 unit "for its own political purposes. We are not concerned with the reasons. The weapons will not be used against our brothers, only [against] Israelis."
Sources close to the Al Aqsa Brigades told WND assault rifles transferred by Israel to Force 17 already were used in two separate anti-Israel shooting attacks in recent days. One attack killed a 35-year-old Israeli Arab on a major West Bank highway on the outskirts of Jerusalem this past Sunday. Israeli security officials say the shooters likely mistook the victim for a Jew. The second attack, which occurred Tuesday on the same highway, lightly wounded an Israeli.
Yousuf refused to confirm whether Israeli weapons were used in the recent spate of highway shootings, but he hinted the information was accurate. He told WND members of Al Aqsa Brigades live with him in the Muqata and that "resistance tools" are shared regularly."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50664
Well, I know, it's sounding really unbelievably, but it's nothing new for Isreal to support its enemies.
Already in the end of the 80's, especially in the first months of the Intifada(some are calling this the 1st Intifada..), Israel was supporting - at least tolerated - Hamas and its activities. Despide Hamas', for Shin Beth wellknown(extreme anti-Israeli/Jewish) charta, Isreal's 'security' and military forces wanted to build up an "alternative institution" to undermine the influence/position of the secular - and here mainly the(allegedly) left wing - Palestinian resistance organisations, such as PFLP, DFLP.. and the increasingly growing Peoples Committees. Of course also against the influence of the PLO.
But finally, at least after the collapse of the block of the so-called "real socialist" states, especially the Palestinian left organisations and parties became strong allies with Hamas. And their now combined forces were directed soon only against the "Zionist enemy"!
Actually its a little similar with the 'tactic' of the USA: supporting the Taliban, Al Qaeda.. against the USSR(the "Reich of the Evil"/the 'communism') ...the final result is wellknown!!^^
And now it seems that the Isreali "security"(^^) and military forces are making the same mistake.
30 YEARS AGO: THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF APHARTEID
The long march to freedom
On the morning of June 16 1976, a crowd of 10,000 black students gathered in the South African township of Soweto. They were demonstrating against a decree from the apartheid government that all pupils must learn Afrikaans in school. The protest was peaceful, but police opened fire, and at least 566 people were killed in the events that followed. The massacre brought the brutality of the racist regime to the attention of the world - and, some say, marked the beginning of the end for apartheid. Thirty years on, award-winning photographer Gideon Mendel travelled to Soweto to find out how life is now
Antoinette Sithole, 46
Sister of the murdered Hector Peterson, now a guide at the museum dedicated to her brother
We were told there was going to be change at our school, that we would do maths and geography in Afrikaans. We were surprised, and the teachers weren't pleased about it. That winter in 1976 we thought, let's see what the first term is like. We did the first term tests, and they were disastrous.
The African National Congress and Pan- Africanist Congress were banned at the time but sometimes we would discuss the issue together and eventually they told us there would be a demonstration on June 16. Obviously everyone was thrilled.
The night before, we were so anxious, trying to come up with some banners that would have a big impact. We didn't have many, though "to hell with Afrikaans" was one example. We didn't want to tell our parents.
The day itself started normally, there was no sign of anything. Every day there would be an assembly, and we would be there singing and praying. While we were praying I saw students from Morris Isaacson high school.
I was excited but because we were praying I had to restrain myself. They were singing and chanting, they put us in the mood. Soon we threw our books down and got out our placards. Everyone was waving and singing in the streets of Soweto.
Our leader told us that the police were around the school and emphasised that we weren't to provoke them, otherwise the mission would not be fulfilled. As I was having a discussion with my friends, "bang", there was a shot. We had never thought there would be violence and we ran amok in confusion, hiding ourselves in nearby houses. Later on, when it was calm, we sneaked out again. It was like hide and seek - as soon as we heard shots, we'd hide and then when it calmed down, we came out.
I told my brother to stay next to me while I figured out how we could get home. While I was talking to him there was another shot. We ran back into hiding. When I emerged, Hector wasn't there. I said to myself maybe, because he is young, he is still hiding. The best thing to do, I thought, was to wait there, where I was talking to him, so that when he emerges, he will find me. Meanwhile, students were gathering at a scene. I wanted to go and see but couldn't because I was still waiting for Hector. But when I looked closer, I saw him there with the crowd, as if he was fetching something from them, because he was very tall. I was anxious. I could see the body frame and then I saw blood coming from his mouth. I tried to let them know that this was my brother: I have been waiting for him, can't you see he is hurt? We ran to the clinic, but we could see he was finished.
There and then I understood he was dead.
I tell myself now that I have forgiven but I won't forget. It's a part of me I cannot run away from, but I want to move forward in life. I always say those who died did not die in vain. Obviously there are going to be a few hiccups before we get there, but we are now in a process and I am hoping for the best. If we come together as we did in 1976, singing one song, South Africa will be the best country.
Trevor Ngwane, 47
Organiser of the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee
On June 16 1976, I was still in school in KwaZulu Natal and the protest was a big thing. There was no television at that time, but we heard about it from newspapers. It was frontpage news, and it influenced our own school because a few months later we had some strikes. We had certain grievances as students; we got expelled, went home, had to reapply, so it touched us, it touched me.
Some of the things that the children of 1976 died for and made sacrifices for have not been fulfilled. For example, our education system still leaves a lot to be desired. We have a two-tier education system - private schools and public schools - which is in a bad state.
So you find parents spending money, bussing children into town to get a better education. Universities and colleges are also expensive. Those issues that inspired the students to fight have not been addressed.
In my opinion, anything is better than apartheid. But in socio-economic terms, the situation for the majority of people has worsened. Unemployment, for example, has risen above 40%, which is very high. At the height of apartheid there was almost full employment! Also, when we got our independence in 1994, we had a housing backlog of about a million houses. We had to build a million units. Today our backlog is 3.5 million, which means more people are short of a place to sleep. Ordinary people say, although perhaps to offend the government, that it was better under apartheid. Of course it couldn't have been, but if you compare what we are fighting for, our ideals, and what we are receiving, then certainly we are getting a very raw deal.
In socio-economic terms to compare the black population now and in 1976 - are they worse off? What proportion is better/worse off? I think that is the real issue, as there is a lot of inequality now. Ten per cent are professionals who are OK, maybe another 20% have jobs perhaps in the retail sector, but according to government statistics, 30% of families don't have any kind of income. Research about five years ago showed that the average family income in Soweto is about 1,250 rand (£100), which is pathetic. What's happening is what's occurring in broader South African society; a few are getting the benefits and a few are optimistic, a few see opportunities and can make use of the new openings, but the majority are stuck, even paralysed - they don't know how to find a way out. That's the real problem.
I believe this is a period we have to go through in South Africa. I am certainly optimistic. People don't only learn from books or political speeches and church sermons, they also learn from their own experiences. Slowly but surely people are realising they have to stand up and organise themselves for things to get better. But this isn't an automatic response. People can become xenophobic, blaming Mozambicans, but from what I've seen and from the campaigns that we've fought, I am optimistic
.
Andrew Lekalakala, 51
Teacher at Morris Isaacson school, where pupils gathered on June 16
On June 16, I was in the fifth form. We had meetings at night with other schools talking about how to protest. We met here at this school. Since the arrests of the ANC leaders, the atmosphere wasn't quite normal and we were afraid of being arrested. I wasn't one of the leaders, I was just told what to do.
We decided to march to the police station, to complain about Afrikaans. Then we would march to Pretoria. Morris Isaacson was the meeting place. Many schools met there; our aim was to march to Orlando Stadium.
We were going to show these white people that we could also fight. We went to meet our leaders at Morris Isaacson - they were advising us on what moves to make. They used the term "black power" very strongly, and we sang the slogan. We sang songs insulting the then prime minister (John Vorster): "Vorster's wife doesn't bear children, when she bears children, she bears mice. When Mandela's wife bears children, she bears comrades."
Unfortunately, when we arrived at Orlando, the police stopped us. I think someone told the police we were marching to Orlando Stadium, and when we arrived they were already there. They blocked us there, and that was where Hector Peterson was shot. We saw many bodies.
We ran from Orlando back to Mufulo with police behind us. There was tear gas everywhere. From that day, there was no peace in Soweto. The next day, we burnt everything that belonged to the apartheid government and we didn't attend school all year. This spread from Soweto up to Cape Town, all over South Africa.
We wanted to leave the country but some of our parents refused. We all wanted to join MK (Umkhonto we Sizwe - the armed wing of the ANC) and fight back. Most of our friends crossed, but some - like me - remained here. We struggled, we never stopped until 1994. We even stopped women going to clinics to get contraceptives because we wanted them to bear more children, we wanted more soldiers, no more abortions. We wanted to replace those that were being killed.
In 1979 when Morris Isaacson re-opened, I started to teach there. We had a different calendar from the whites, but we were told when the whites opened, we would open and when they closed we would close. Usually we'd close before June 16, and when we were supposed to open we were told to wait for the whites, so their holidays were longer.
Many pupils now don't take the anniversary seriously, they can't believe something like this happened. Only a few ask questions about it. Most don't care about it, they just go to the festival. Because our students now get everything free, they don't really utilise the opportunities they are given by the government. Under apartheid we were given two opportunities, either become a teacher or a policeman - no other professions.
If you look at our library, it is empty. The government is slow to provide funds but there has been a little bit of change. We are still not up to the standards of the whites. There are children who live in Soweto yet go to white schools and they do so because of resources. It's not because they teach better than us - they have computers, televisions, everything. We want the government to see that our schools are the same as the whites'. I give it five years for everything. (The Guardian, 6.16)
Please read more here:
Inequality still burdens South Africa 30 years after landmark revolt
About the background of the uprising(Wikipedia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soweto_Riots
The following pics were made by the S. African photographer Peter Magubane at the day of the uprising:
In my opinion the Soweto Uprising have(perhaps) a similar value like Gwangju in
S. Korea..(??)
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