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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2012
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NEWS OF THE WORLD
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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EURASIA
Turmoil a possibility in Georgia
Associated Press
Georgia's billionaire and opposition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili reacts with supporters at his office in Tbilisi, Georgia.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
TBILISI, Georgia — Defying expectations, President Mikhail Saakashvili conceded Tuesday that his party had lost Georgia's parliamentary election and his opponent had the right to become prime minister, setting the stage for political turmoil in the final year of his presidency.
By conceding defeat even before the results of Monday's election were released, the 44-year-old Saakashvili defied the opposition's expectations that he would cling to power at all costs and preserved his legacy as a pro-Western leader who brought democracy to the former Soviet republic.
In one notable accomplishment, it was the first time in Georgia's post-Soviet history that the government changed by the ballot box rather than through revolution. Saakashvili came to power through the peaceful Rose Revolution after a rigged parliamentary vote in 2003.
The new Georgian government will be led by billionaire businessman and philanthropist Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia and until recently was little known to the 4.5 million people in his homeland on the Black Sea.
He also prevented potential violence on the emotionally charged streets of the capital, Tbilisi, where
support for the opposition Georgian Dream coalition is strongest. Opposition supporters began celebrating as soon as the polls closed, and the mood could have turned ugly very quickly if they thought they were being deprived of a victory.
The 56-year-old Ivanishvili, meanwhile, went immediately on the attack. Speaking at a televised news conference, he declared that most of the president's widely praised reforms were a joke and said Saakashvili had deceived the Americans into believing he was a democrat. He then called on Saakashvili to resign.
"I don't think our political battle was caused by any personal antagonism on my part toward Saakashvili," he said. "But I have always blamed Saakashvili for what has gone wrong in Georgia, and I can repeat that today: This man's ideology has established a climate of violence, and torture."
In Washington, the White House welcomed the vote as "the achievement of another milestone in Georgia's democratic development" and urged Saakashvili and Ivanishvili to "work together in the spirit of national unity."
in neighboring Russia, the government welcomed Saakashvili's defeat, for he and President Vladimir Putin have had a deep emensity since a brief 2008 war
between their nations.
During his nearly nine years in power, Saakashvili has pushed through economic and political reforms and attracted international investment that has led to dramatic economic growth. Poverty and unemployment, however, remain painfully high.
Still, many Georgians have turned against Saakashvili in recent years. Many accuse his United National Movement party — which has controlled not only the government and Parliament but also the courts and prosecutor's office — of exercising authoritarian powers.
Saakashvili's campaign was also hit hard by the release two weeks ago of shocking videos showing prisoners in a 'Tbilisi jail being beaten and sodomized. The government moved quickly to stem the anger, replacing Cabinet ministers blamed for the abuse and arresting prison staff, but many saw the videos as illustrating the excesses of his government.
In his televised concession speech, the president said there were deep differences between his party and the diverse opposition coalition.
ASIA
Clip of Pakistani army still suspicious
ASSOCIATED PRESS
As the clips circulated online and the U.S. threatened to cut aid, Pakistan's army chief promised a full investigation and punishment for any wrongdoers.
Two years later: Silence.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The footage was startling: A group of what appeared to be Pakistani soldiers gunning down several blinded men in a forested area.
What has the inquiry found?
The army won't say. Was anyone punished? Not a word. Some rights activists question whether an investigation even took place.
Pakistan has spent nearly five years under civilian rule, an unusually long stretch for a 65-year-old country prone to military coups. But as the firing squad footage and several other prominent scandals suggest, the army remains largely unwilling to hold itself accountable to the public.
This despite some pressure from more active media and judiciary and despite hopes that the military would rethink its ways after the humiliation it suffered following the unilateral U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
The army's lack of transparency and resistance to civilian oversight could cripple Pakistan's transition to a healthy democracy, something the United States says the country needs. But the Americans can't protest too much: Washington needs the Pakistani army's cooperation as the war in Afghanistan winds down and it already struggles to balance a strained relationship as it presses the army to root out anti-U.S. insurgents in Pakistan.
that generally the Pakistani military is very careful about not hurting its own people," especially as they fight Islamists trying to overthrow the state, said Ayesha Siddiqa, a prominent Pakistani defense analyst. Most ordinary Pakistanis feel powerless to take on the army, and when it comes to reining in the men in uniform, the still-weak civilian government "can't do anything" she said.
It's important to understand
The two video clips that spawned the supposed inquiry fueled allegations that the military carried out numerous extradictual killings in the Swat Valley during a major offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in 2009. Bloodied corpses of suspect militants were found dumped on the streets for months after the army retook the valley from the Taliban. The army denied those killings.
The grayy footage, which came to light in September 2010, is believed to have been recorded in Swat. A nearly six-minute clip shows men in Pakistani military uniforms lining up six blindfolded men in civilian clothes, then shooting them. After a voice says "finish them one by one," one apparent soldier walks over to the
men and shoots them again. The other, 53-second clip shows only the executions.
On Oct. 8, 2010, army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani announced an inquiry into the matter. He noted the probe would consider if the footage was even real, but also said, "It is not expected of a professional army to engage in excesses against the people whom it is trying to guard against the scourge of terrorism."
In the two years since, The Associated Press has repeatedly asked the army about the status of the probe. At most, the answer has been that it's under way. Attempts to get army comment for this story led nowhere.
Other cases further illustrate the difficulty in holding the army accountable.
A year before the execution videos surfaced, a clip on YouTube and Facebook appeared to show Pakistani soldiers beating and whipping four militant suspects. The army promised to investigate but has never released any findings.
In mid-September, Kayani announced that the military would take over the investigation and prosecution of three retired
generals accused in a financial scam that was being probed by a parliamentary committee.
Santos scheduled for prostate surgery
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOGOTA, Colombia — Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced Monday that he has prostate cancer. He said the tumor was caught early and would be removed this week.
"It's a small tumor located in the prostate gland and the prognosis is good, that is to say it's not aggressive," Santos added.
The 61-year-old Santos told reporters in announcing the cancer at the presidential palace, his wife Maria Clemencia at his side, that he has a 97 percent chance of a full recovery.
He said he planned to fly to Lima, Peru later Monday for a summit of South American and Arab leaders and then undergo surgery on his return to Bogota on Wednesday.
Santos said he has a family history of prostate cancer and that his older brother, Luis Fernando, had exactly the same operation 14 years ago "and today is in perfect health."
Santos said the surgery would be performed under local anesthetic so he would not need to relinquish temporarily his presidential responsibilities.
"This could happen to anyone. Prostate cancer is much more common than people imagine," said Santos. "I am calm because this cancer was detected very early thanks to my discipline in repeating medical exams year after year."
Santos said that because of the family history he had a Protein-Specific Antigen test. When it indicated an abnormal increase, he said, his doctor decided to do a biopsy. And that's when the cancer was discovered.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SOUTH AMERICA
Santos did not say exactly when the cancer was detected but he said it was found by his doctor in Colombia after a routine annual physical and confirmed by specialists at Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital in New York during his visit last week for the U.N. General Assembly.
Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos delivers a speech during a televised address to the nation at the presidential park in Bogota, Colombia.
The news comes two years into Santos' four-year term and with his
government about to begin formal peace talks this month with Colombia's main leftist rebel group.