BBC news 2009-10-17 加文本

BBC 2009-10-17


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BBC News with Marian Marshall.

The High Court in Britain has ordered the publication of US intelligence documents, allegedly proving that a former detainee in Guantanamo Bay was tortured. The British man, Binyam Mohamed, says the documents show that he was subjected to torture at the request of the CIA before he was moved to the detention camp, and that the British security service MI5 knew about it. The British Foreign Secretary David Miliband says he will appeal against the ruling.

“We have no objection to this material being published by the appropriate authorities, in this case, the United States. I’ve absolutely no objection to this material being published. I’ve made that clear again and again. What I do have a very deep objection to is the idea that a British court should publish American secrets in the same way that I would have the deep objection if an American court started publishing British secrets.”

Mr. Miliband suggested that in future the US might no longer share intelligence.

United Nations Human Rights Council has endorsed a report into this year’s Israeli offensive in Gaza which accuses both Israel and Hamas of war crimes. The report urges both sides to conduct credible investigations and suggests referring them to the International Criminal Court if they don’t. Our State Department correspondent Kim Ghattas says the council’s vote may further complicate US attempts to re-launch Middle East peace talks.

The Obama administration’s push for peace in the Middle East appears to be on the brink of collapse. The Israelis are now saying they won’t take risks for peace if they can’t defend themselves. The State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly said the administration still remained focused on trying to get the Israelis and the Palestinians to the negotiating table. But a few days ago, leaders from President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party said that they had lost hope in the American administration. So prospects are as bleak as ever.

A senior official with the Zimbabwean and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party has been released from detention on bail. Roy Bennett has spent two days in jail after being arrested for alleged arms and terrorism offenses. Despite the release, a spokesperson for Mr. Tsvangirai said the party would continue to boycott the coalition government.

The United Nations top official for the Democratic Republic of Congo Allen Darse has blamed a local unit of former rebels for a massacre in April in the east of the country. But Mr. Darse urged the Security Council to continue supporting UN-backed Congolese army operations in the region despite criticism that the troops were responsible for human rights abuses. The UN special rapporteur Phillip Alston had denounced the joint operations as catastrophic. He said that made the UN peace-keeping force known as MONUC a party to the conflict.

Some football news just in. Ghana has become the first African team to win the Under-20 World Cup. It won the title after beating Brazil on penalties by 4 goals to 3.

World News from the BBC.

A suicide bomber in northern Iraq has killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 90 others in an attack on a Sunni mosque during Friday prayers. Police say the bomber shot the Imam of the mosque and other worshippers and then set off an explosive  belt. Officials said the Sunni Imam may have been targeted because he had previously spoken out against al-Qaeda. The attack was in Tal Afar in Nineveh province which is seen as one of the last major strongholds of insurgence.

The first plane chartered by the British government since the Iraq conflict to deport failed Iraqi asylum seekers came back to Britain with most of those who were to have been returned still on board. Those flown back are now being held at immigration centers. Sarah Rainsford has more.

44 Iraqis were the on board the plane to Baghdad that left London early on Thursday morning. By the early hours of Friday, 34 were back in Britain, having been refused entry to Iraq. The British Interior Ministry says it’s working closely with the governments in Baghdad to iron out the issues behind this. But its spokesman wouldn’t comment on exactly why all but 10 of the Iraqis have been returned.

Pakistan’s political and military leaders have warned that militants pose a serious threat to the sovereignty and integrity of the country. They’d held a four-hour emergency meeting on the security situation following coordinated attacks over the past two weeks which have killed more than 150 people. The leader said there was an across-the-board consensus on rooting out extremism and militancy. The talks came hours after a suicide car bomber attack in Peshawar where at least 12 people died.

The Belgian government has approved a plan to rent prison cells from the Netherlands. Under the scheme, 500 Belgian prisoners would be sent to a prison in the Dutch city of Tilburg. Dutch wardens will guard the Belgian prisoners. Belgium’s justice minister said it was a temporary measure until more prisons could be opened.

BBC World Service News.