Six In The Morning

Libya rebels ‘in secret talks’ with Tripoli underground



By Bridget Kendall BBC News, Benghazi

A member of the rebels’ National Transitional Council (NTC) in Benghazi revealed they were holding secret talks to prepare for the regime’s fall.

The member said the talks were being held via Skype and satellite phones.

The rebels want to gauge the impact of pressure from Nato air strikes and shortages on morale in Tripoli.

Secondly, they want to involve the Tripoli underground opposition in their general strategy for ousting Col Gaddafi, so that if anyone is emboldened to take to the streets again in the capital it is woven into a bigger plan.

End of the Afghan war is in sight. Now the political fighting begins

France and Germany follow US in calling troops home but Obama is hit by barrage of criticism from top military chief and Republicans

By John Lichfield, Rupert Cornwell and Nigel Morris   Friday, 24 June 2011

President Obama’s decision to pull more than 30,000 US troops out of Afghanistan before the 2012 presidential election ran into criticism from all sides yesterday: from fellow Democrats who said it was too slow, some Republicans who accused him of acting overhastily, and a thinly veiled warning from the Pentagon that it could endanger the hard-won gains of nearly 10 years of war.

Testifying to a Congressional committee, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, took care not to challenge his commander-in-chief directly. But, he declared, the decision was “more aggressive” and incurred “more risk than I was originally prepared to accept”.

European Union leaders pledge to help Greece

irishtimes.com – Last Updated: Friday, June 24, 2011

ARTHUR BEESLEY and HARRY McGEE in Brussels

European Union leaders promised more money to help Greece stave off looming bankruptcy, provided its parliament enacts an austerity plan finalised in fraught last-minute talks with international lenders.

At an EU summit last night, in private conversation with French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Taoiseach Enda Kenny raised the Government’s campaign for a reduction in the cost of the Irish EU/IMF bailout.

There was no settlement of the dispute over Ireland’s corporate tax rate but Mr Kenny’s spokesman said “both leaders agreed to continue a process of talks” which was already under way.

More mass rapes in DRC as army runs amok

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – Jun 24 2011  

The United Nations is to give the first official details on Friday of an investigation into the attacks in the Minembwe area of Sud Kivu province between June 10 and June 12.

But the attacks came just after about 200 former rebels quit a training centre for forces being incorporated into the national army, according to a UN official speaking on condition of anonymity.

Islamists break Pakistan’s military ranks



By Amir Mir  

ISLAMABAD – The arrest of Brigadier Ali Khan, a senior officer of the Pakistan army, for his alleged ties to Hizbul Tehrir (HuT), a banned Islamic militant group believed to be working in tandem with al-Qaeda under the garb of pan-Islamism, has brought into the open conflicting Islamists and reformists ideologies that have split the military’s rank and file for a decade.

Pakistani armed forces spokesman Major General Athar Abbas confirmed Khan has been arrested due to his links to the HuT and was being interrogated by the Special Investigation Branch of the Military Intelligence. The brigadier, who had been posted at the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the army in the garrison town of Rawalpindi, was taken into custody on May 6, hardly three days after the May 2 killing of al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in a US military raid in Abbottabad.

Peru set to surpass Colombia as world’s top coca producer

A UN report released Thursday shows Peru is just shy of overtaking Colombia in coca cultivation, demonstrating the ‘balloon effect’ that drug war watchers always warn about: when pressure is applied in one area, production ‘balloons’ in another.

By Sibylla Brodzinsky, Correspondent  

Bogotá, Colombia

In its darkest years, Colombia held some unfortunate titles: the kidnapping capital of the world, home to the most murderous city, the most deadly place to be a union member and, of course, the main world producer of coca, the raw material used in making cocaine.

In the past several years, the country has managed to shed some of those ignoble claims to fame. And, according to a new United Nations report, it may soon ditch another.

A UN report released Thursday says that Peru is just shy of overtaking Colombia as the world’s top coca producer.