BBC 2009-04-06
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BBC News with Ian Perdon
The United Nation Security Council is holding an emergency session to discuss the launch by North Korea of a powerful rocket. There are sharp differences between some of the Security Council’s permanent members over how best to respond to the development. Laura Trevelyan reports from New York.
Japan called for this emergency session, saying even if North Korea only launched a satellite, it’s still in violation of a UN Security Council resolution stopping the country from carrying out ballistic missile tests. That’s the view of the US and key European powers, too. But China, North Korea’s long-time ally and a permanent member of the council, with the power to block decisions has reacted more cautiously, calling for calm and restraint. Russia has warned against actions which could escalate tensions.
After years of blaming Britain and the United States for its problems, President Robert Mugabe’s party in Zimbabwe has agreed to work towards restoring ties with the western countries. The Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who is from President Mugabe’s party, said the government wanted to turn a new page.
“We have committed ourselves to normalizing relations between Zimbabwe and those countries which disengaged the relationship. So we have now said that we are going to re-engage them. A core team of ministers has been set up to spearhead the re-engagement.”
The move is part of a program adopted during a three-day meeting between the ministers of the new coalition government who had until recently been bitter rivals. The program also aims to rebuild the economy, end restrictions on the international media, and restore human rights.
President Barack Obama has called for a world free from the fear of nuclear weapons and said the United States would lead by cutting its own nuclear arsenal. Mr. Obama also gave his support to Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union during an address to EU leaders in Prague. Sarah Rainsford reports from the Turkish capital Ankara where Mr. Obama has now arrived.
Turkey is already feeling somewhat better about America. The fact Barack Obama has chosen to visit so early in his presidency has been welcomed as a sign the US wants to re-engage Turkey, a reflection perhaps of Ankara's increasingly active role in this region on issues that are the heart of American foreign policy, too. Most Turks also approved that President Obama is going out of his way to underline their country’s European identity.
Switzerland’s biggest bank UBS has banned company managers who deal with foreign clients from traveling abroad. UBS has been investigated by the authorities in the United States over alleged fraud and tax evasion involving American citizens. But UBS has denied that the travel ban was put in place specifically to protect its senior staff from the American authorities. US officials have accused UBS staff of helping American clients hide money in offshore accounts.
World News from the BBC
Police in Dubai have accused a senior politician from Chechnya of masterminding the murder of an exiled former Chechen military commander in the Gulf state. The police said that they will issue an international arrest warrant for Adam Delimkhanov, a close ally of the Kremlin-backed Chechen president. In Moscow, Mr. Delimkhanov denied any involvement. The announcement in Dubai came as police said they’d arrested two men in connection with the killing of Sulim Yamadayev, the 5th senior Chechen to be killed abroad in the past 6 months. Nicholas Walton reports.
During the first Chechen war of the mid-1990s, Sulim Yamadayev fought against Russians for the independence of Chechnya. But during the second Chechen War, he switched sides, commanding a unit connected to Russian military intelligence. As peace was established in Chechnya, Mr. Yamadayev became a rival to the Kremlin-backed Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov. By 2008, the rivalry had turned violent. The Russian media reports that Sulim Yamadayev fled Moscow following the killing of his brother and had taken refuge in Dubai.
Now back to our main story, and within the last few minutes, the United Nations Security Council has ended its emergency meeting without deciding on any action in response to North Korea’s launch of a powerful rocket. Discussions are to continue.(www.hXen.com)
Two foreign aid workers have been kidnapped by gunmen in Darfur. Sudanese state media said the kidnappers were demanding a ransom for their release. The aid workers have been identified as a Canadian and a French national. The French Foreign Ministry said its embassy in Khartoum was in contact with their agency Aide Medicale Intemationale and the local authorities. The aid group has been operating in Darfur since 2004. Sudan expelled 13 international agencies after an international arrest warrant against President al-Bashir last month for alleged war crimes.
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