Headlines for Monday, November 2, 2009

Clinton asks Palestinians to drop settlement freeze precondition to peace talks
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Morocco today where she urged Palestinians to return to peace talks without demanding that settlement activity stop first - Palestinian leadership turned her down. FSRN's Rami Almeghari is in Gaza.

After meeting Saturday with Israeli officials, U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on the Palestinians to restart stalled peace talks in return for a six-month pause of settlement building, except in major settlement blocs in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says this new American position is illogic and that Palestinians are committed to peace talks, once Israel halts all construction on occupied Palestinian territories. Egypt’s foreign minister -- who has brokered earlier peace talks -- supported president Abbas. The League of Arab States is set to call for a meeting of the Arab Follow Up committee of 13 Arab states, to formulate a position towards the recent U.S stance. Talal Aukal is a Gaza-based political analyst.

"Regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it is obvious that Israel is the part that decides the American policy towards such a conflict. If the United States increases pressure on President Mahmoud Abbas, this would threaten the existence of the Palestinian Authority.”

President Barak Obama has repeatedly supported a two-state solution, a solution that his predecessor George W. Bush failed to realize.  Rami Almeghari. Free Speech Radio News. Gaza.

Victim of extraordinary rendition can’t sue US
A federal court of appeals upheld a lower court ruling today that prevents an engineer from Canada from suing the United States for his extraordinary rendition.  Maher Arar was detained in 2002 in a New York airport and sent to Syria. Arar says the US sent him there so he could be – and was – tortured. Syria denies the torture claim. Canada already agreed to pay Arar nearly $10 million and admits passing inaccurate information about him to U.S. authorities. A Supreme Court challenge is expected.

Catholic Diocese must make public sex abuse case records
And at the High Court today, justices refused to block the release of materials from sexual abuse cases against six Roman Catholic priests in Connecticut. The Diocese of Bridgeport has been fighting media requests to see the documents – saying the First Amendment protects them from state review of internal church policies and priest assignment records.

Former Argentine dictator on trial for crimes against humanity
In Argentina today, an historic human rights trial is underway. FSRN’s Marie Trigona reports from Buenos Aires.

Argentina’s last dictator Reynaldo Bignone is on trial for crimes against humanity committed during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship. The former dictator and five former military chiefs face accusations of killing and forcefully disappearing hundreds in the nation’s largest clandestine detention center -- Campo Mayo. One hundred and thirty witnesses will testify against the former dictator, who was detained in 1984, but was released after an amnesty law for former military officers was passed in the 1990’s. This trial is one of the biggest human rights trials since the Supreme Court overturned the amnesty laws protecting the military in 2003. In 1983, shortly before the end of the dictatorship, Bignone ordered the military to destroy records documenting the detention, torture and murder of disappeared detainees.  Human Rights groups are still seeking information as to the whereabouts of 30,000 people forcefully disappeared during the nation’s bloody military junta. Marie Trigona FSRN Buenos Aires.

Afghan war veterans lobby Congress opposing military action there
Some veterans of the war in Afghanistan who oppose their commanders’ plans for
Afghanistan went to Capitol Hill today -- along with a former Afghan Member of Parliament -- to ask lawmakers to end the war. Tanya Snyder has more.

Brock McIntosh is an Army specialist, stationed in Afghanistan until last August. He says the large military presence there is counterproductive.

“Most of the military tactics we’re facing in Afghanistan are guerrilla unconventional war tactics that you can’t really fight with a large conventional army.”

He agrees with NATO Commander Stanley McChrystal that U-S policy should focus on building security and fostering economic development in the country – rather than just killing suspected terrorists.

“Humanitarian and development is not something the military is trained for. It doesn’t make any sense the only way to help other countries is by using the military. It doesn’t make sense that civilians can’t be used."

McIntosh and four other members of a group called Veterans for Rethinking Afghanistan met with Progressive Caucus co-chair Raúl Grijalva Monday morning. They were joined by Afghan human rights activist Malalai Joya, a former member of the Afghan parliament. President Obama is still analyzing the situation. Tanya Snyder, FSRN.

Violence continues in Pakistan – UN scales back
There were two separate suicide bombings in Pakistan today. First in Rawalpindi, at least 35 died while waiting outside a bank to collect their pay. Just hours later, at a checkpoint near Lahore, police were just about to search a car when the driver detonated a bomb -- no deaths were reported but seven officers were injured. As the violence spreads, the UN says it’s beginning to reduce it’s staff in the region and has suspended long-term development projects along the nations’ border with Afghanistan.

Ebay closes Tiller killer auctions
And eBay says it is blocking the sale of items by sellers trying to raise money for Scott Roeder’s defense – Roeder is accused of assassinating Dr. George Tiller. Ten items have been removed thus far, including a bible that once belonged to the woman who attempted to kill Dr. Tiller in 1993.