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Obama authorizes secret help for Libya rebels
An ammunition belt hangs over a car door painted in the colours of the rebel Kingdom of Libya flag near Brega in eastern Libya March 30, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Finbarr O’Reilly
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
Obama signed the order, known as a presidential “finding”, within the last two or three weeks, according to government sources familiar with the matter.
Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorize secret operations by the Central Intelligence Agency. This is a necessary legal step before such action can take place but does not mean that it will.
As is common practice for this and all administrations, I am not going to comment on intelligence matters,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. “I will reiterate what the president said yesterday — no decision has been made about providing arms to the opposition or to any group in Libya.”
The CIA declined comment. Read more…
WikiLeaks cables reveal a disturbing picture of India-U.S. relationship: Prakash Karat
“They are a sad commentary of where Manmohan Singh and Congress leadership have landed the country”
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said on Thursday that the WikiLeaks exposé laid bare the nature of India-U.S. relationship during the UPA and NDA regimes and revealed a disturbing picture.
“The publication and analysis of the U.S. embassy cables accessed by The Hindu through WikiLeaks is ongoing; but what has been made available so far reveals a disturbing picture… the cables are a sad and revealing commentary of where Manmohan Singh and the Congress leadership have landed the country,” general secretary Prakash Karat said an article in the latest edition of the party organ, People’s Democracy.
Washington’s reach
Commenting on the influential reach of Washington in India’s strategic affairs and foreign and economic policies, he said the U.S. had access to the bureaucracy, military, security and the intelligence system and successfully penetrated them at various levels.
Mr. Karat marks out specific areas — foreign policy, defence cooperation, security and intelligence cooperation, penetration and espionage, political influence and political corruption — where American Read more…
Hundreds shot in Bahrain as emergency declared
AFP
MANAMA – At least 200 people were shot and wounded on Tuesday in a Shiite village south of the Bahraini capital, a medic said, and two people killed elsewhere, as the king imposed a state of emergency after bringing in foreign troops to help quell anti-regime protests.
As violence escalated, close ally the United States warned that there was “no military solution” to political upheaval in Bahrain and that any violence against peacefully expressed political demands “should be stopped.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Bahrainis must “take steps now” toward a political resolution of the crisis.
And top Bahraini Shiite clerics sought Muslim and international help as they warned that anti-regime protesters will be targeted with Read more…
US Internet censorship fight falling short: report
WASHINGTON — State Department efforts to combat Internet censorship in China and other countries have fallen short and funding for the drive should be shifted to another US agency, a Senate committee report says.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee report sharply criticizes the State Department for being slow in spending money allocated by Congress for Internet Censorship Circumvention Technology (ICCT).
The report, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, recommends that the funding be given instead to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees the Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and other US radio and TV networks.
The report is to be released on Tuesday, the same day Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to Read more…
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