BBC news 2009-11-05 加文本

BBC 2009-11-05


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BBC News with Marian Marshall.

A court in Italy has convicted 23 Americans, almost all of them identified as CIA operatives for abducting a Muslim cleric, Abu Omar from the streets of Milan in 2003. United States said it was disappointed at the court’s decision. Paul Adams reports.

A spokesman Ian Kelly said the Americans had not yet seen the judge’s written verdict, but he predicted that an appeal would follow. The 23 Americans, all but one of them identified as CIA officers, were convicted of kidnapping an Egyptian terrorism suspect Abu Omar on the streets of Milan in 2003 and flying him to Germany and on to Egypt where he says he was tortured. The judge’s verdict is largely symbolic as the Americans have made it clear all along they have no intention of extraditing any of those now convicted even if the Italian government were to ask for it which has never shown the least interest in doing.

Egypt has distanced itself from the Palestinian president’s demand that Israel stop settlement building in the West Bank before a resumption of talks. After meeting with the American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Egyptian Foreign Minister said those involved shouldn’t waste time on preconditions. Bob Trevelyan reports.

Two days ago, Egypt offered explicit support for the Palestinian stance, but now apparently under US pressure, it shifted its position. The Palestinian leadership in the West Bank continues to insist that Israel must stop settlement building before talks can resume. The chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat has issued a veiled threat to Israel, saying that continued settlement building is making a Palestinian state unviable, and that the Palestinians could instead seek equal rights with Jews within a single state.

United Nations General Assembly is debating a report which accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes in Gaza. The report was compiled by the former judge and war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone. Israel has tried to stop the adoption of an Arab-sponsored resolution of the UN which calls for an independent inquiry into the allegations. The Goldstone report has been condemned by the American House of Representatives, which called it irredeemably biased against Israel.

Israel says its commanders have seized a ship in the Mediterranean carrying hundreds of tons of weapons destined for Hezbollah guerrillas in Southern Lebanon. Paul Wood has the details.

The Israeli military says the weapons were heading for Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon, sent by Iran by way of Syria it’s claimed. It was enough, said the head of the Israeli navy, to supply the guerrillas for a month or more of ground fighting. At some point in the future, the Israeli military fully expects to have to fight again against their old enemy, Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. That, intelligence and military planners believe, would probably be part of a wider conflict with Iran which is regularly accused by Israel of supporting Hezbollah with money and arms.

World News from the BBC.

The state of New York has brought a lawsuit against the world’s largest manufacturer of computer microprocessors Intel, following a two-year investigation into its competitive practices. Mark Gregory has more.

The allegations center on payments given to computer manufacturers for installing only Intel processors in their products, which the lawsuit says shut out rival chipmakers. Six months ago, Intel was fined1.5 billion dollars by regulators in Europe after similar allegations. The company says its payments were within the rules and did not harm consumers.

The leader of Britain’s opposition Conservative Party David Cameron has said that if he wins the next election, he’ll ensure that no further British powers are ceded to the EU without a referendum. He was outlining his new policy on Europe following the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by all member states, which he said, made the conservative promise of a referendum on it pointless. Mr. Cameron said he would also seek the revision of certain major EU provisions including a British Opt-out from the EU’s Charter of fundamental rights.

A former British mercenary jailed and then pardoned for an attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea is now back in Britain. Simon Mann said his return was the most wonderful homecoming. However, he didn’t repeat earlier comments calling for his alleged co-conspirators to face justice. At his trial, Mr. Mann implicated Sr. Mark Thatcher, the son of the former British prime minister and a Lebanese businessman, Eli Calil, both of whom denied any wrongdoing.

A court in London has jailed a British businessman for breaking an official arms embargo against Sudan. The court heard how the businessman, Andrew Jackson, had ignored repeated warnings not to ship 15 amphibious vehicles to Sudan. He was given a 2.5-year sentence. Britain implemented the United Nations-backed embargo five years ago in response to the conflict in the Sudanese region of Darfur.

BBC News.