Sajin Vaas Gunawardena is preventing legal action against him by way of promising the government secret information with regard to financial dealings of the Rajapaksa family, reports say. Previously, Lanka News Web published an article titled ‘Sajin dares govt. to send him to prison’.
Concluding its investigation into charges against Sajin that he had misused vehicles belonging to the presidential secretariat, the CID sent its files to the attorney general in May 2015. Other than being briefly remanded, there are no signs that Sajin will be punished by the law.
His files are in the custody of deputy solicitor general Thusitha Mudalige. He is said to be an excellent official. But, he is facing a situation similar to a person, whose hands are bound together, is thrown into the sea and ordered to swim. He cannot act due to strong pressure from the government side.
Identifying him as the secret financial advisor of Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sajin is a real ‘game player.’ The two first met in Dubai when the former was the opposition leader. Leading businessman Ravi Wijeratne sent Sajin to show Mahinda how to enjoy nightclub life in Dubai. That ended by Mahinda getting Sajin to Sri Lanka to obtain his services.
Arriving home, he threw a super party, complete with alcohol and women, for all top officials at the time in the office of the leader of the opposition. He secretly videoed the party and used it to expel all of them by Mahinda. Then, he started using Mahinda as a puppet and was a key figure during the Rajapaksa regime. Shiranthi could not stand him and along with other Rajapaksas, used to call him the ‘baggage boy.’ But, that ‘baggage boy’ became very rich and still remains that way due to his sly plans.
There have been reports of black money owned by the Rajapaksas. Sajin has promised the government to provide secret information in that regard and is taking it for a ride. The AG’s department is prevented from acting against him, but he gives no information either.
The government is waiting for Sajin to expose the Rajapaksas. What he does is lie to the government, bide his time and talk big everywhere.
The planet is heating up and fossil fuels are to blame!
Friday, 22 September 2017
The past three years have been the hottest in recorded history and 2017 is already projected to be hotter than 2016! The cause for this heating up of the planet is clearly due to the excessive burning of fossil fuels.
Exiting fossil fuels as per UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 which is to change to renewable energy is clearly the “most significant” goal and the one goal that every nation, business and individual must focus on and be held accountable for achieving.
If, there was only one UNSDG to be achieved this is the one goal that will secure the planet and halt global warming and keep it below 2°C. One could even say the balance 16 goals are a distraction from the most urgent need of the hour.
If the above is true, then the silver lining of exiting fossil fuels in the automobile industry is the emergence of hybrid automobiles and at present the irreversible trajectory of the unprecedented growth of electric vehicles – Toyota Prius Hybrid sets the pace after GM drops the ball!
In 1997, the pace was set with the launch of the Toyota Prius Hybrid led by its mercurial engineer and leader of the project Akihiro Wada. Toyota with its Hybrid did not ‘exit fossil fuels’ but dramatically gave consumers an option to reduce fossil fuels and enlightened consumers to embrace the change. Major competitors seeing the writing, followed suite and launched their own hybrid brands.
However, the tipping point should have come during 1996-1999 when General Motors mothballed an excellent innovative idea of having the first Electric vehicle prototype GM EV1. Sadly, a few ‘backward members of the board of directors who had vested interest in the fossil fuel industry rejected the idea’ and the project was mothballed.
The key lesson is to ensure every board has enlightened leaders who have no vested interest but understand future trends and adapt to them.
Tesla and Elon Musk lead the way!
In July 2003, almost five years after General Motors dropped the ball in 1999 and seven years after Toyota Prius launched its Hybrid in 1997, it took one maverick visionary physicist, Elon Musk to see the value of electric vehicles and the role electric vehicles could play in exiting fossil fuels in the automobile industry.
Not only did he create a new sustainable market space for electric vehicles, his company Space X is already the world’s leading company to use sustainable reusable rockets to deploy satellites in space; Solar City is the leading home solar company with its ground-breaking ‘Powerwall’ solar storage option; and the new TESLA Gigafactories will be the largest factory complexes on the planet with 100% solar energy-driven manufacturing.
In July 2017, the launch of the TESLA model 3 at $ 35,000 also signalled the scaling up of its manufacturing capability to 500,000 cars per annum.
The company JV joined hands with National Panasonic to manufacture EV batteries in the same facility. How many automobile manufacturers have the benefit of space technology to augment its commitment to a fossil free world? Tesla is set up to win big and is already referred to as the next Apple Inc.
The launch of Tesla Electric vehicles led to a boom of electric vehicles like never before and by 2015 was the bestselling EV on the planet! Every vehicle brand manufacturer realised the irreversible trajectory of electric vehicles and launched their own EV brand. BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche, Audi, Ford, Nissan, Renault, Honda, Volvo and BYD of China are all driving forward to ‘win’ shares in the new sustainable blue ocean market space created by Tesla.
The nation which probably is the world leader in terms of fossil fuel driven vehicle manufacturing has already installed more electric charging points than traditional petrol stations. It’s not surprising that USA is far behind when its leader Trump denied the existence of climate change and is set to support coal power.
This backward thinking is now an embarrassment for USA as at the recent G20 meeting 19 nations made commitments to endorse the 2014 Paris agreement to keep global warming under 2°C. Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Netherlands have already announced that fossil fuel led vehicles will be banned by 2040. China, South Korea and even India have announced their commitment to drive forward with the new electric vehicle agenda.
The unprecedented growth of electric vehicles in Europe and China clearly indicates that this new sustainable blue ocean market space is here to stay as demonstrated by the figures below. Global forecasts state, that by 2033 we will have a tipping point for EVs and by 2040 over 35% of the automobile market will have electric vehicles. My forecast is that this will be superseded and that by 2030 we will see over 50% off the vehicle market being met by EVs. We need this to happen to ensure that the planet’s temperature doesn’t make it uninhabitable.
The leading electric vehicle brands in 2016 were BYD (China) and Nissan Leaf (Japan), Renault (France) came in second while TESLA (USA) emerged third. The tipping point for electric vehicles will come with the launch of TESLA model 3 in August 2017.
A global irreversible trend is in motion, electric vehicles will overwhelm the planet. Every nation will do well to align to this new trend and get in place its national policies to align to the new sustainable automobiles business that is both healthy for the planet and will reduce fossil fuels dramatically.
Should you go for an
electric vehicle?
Many have doubts about changing to an electric vehicle. Nations with antiquated and backward policies which do not support and encourage this global trend end up with duty structures which are prohibitive. Sri Lanka would fall into this category and we hope the new leadership in the Finance Ministry will take a more educated stance.
Some of the questions people have are:
1) EVs are too expensive – Just add up you monthly fuel bill and maintenance cost
2) Range anxiety – EV models from 2017 will cross 200km-400km with a charge
3) EVs aren’t fun to drive – Tesla Ludicrous mode will make you a convert
4) EV batteries are dirty – Untrue; this is Koch brothers-led coal lobby story
5) EVs catch fire – Petrol and diesel vehicles are much more at risk
6) EVs take forever to charge – The rapid chargers are changing this.
7) EVs charging network is poor – This is changing. E.g.: Japan.
The world needs to exit fossil fuels and you can make a contribution by going EV.
(The writer is the Executive in Residence, INSEAD Business School and Chairman/CEO of Global Strategic Corporate Sustainability Ltd.)
What North Korea attempting dangerously is to test long range ballistic missiles with nuclear war heads that can threaten America, Australia and other countries. It has that capability already to attack South Korea, Japan and China.
by Laksiri Fernando-
“Donald Trump warns United State will ‘Totally Destroy’ North Korea if thretened.” – ABC
( September 21, 2017, Seydney, Sri Lanka Guardian) American President Donald Trump’s first address to the UN General Assembly is quite appalling for a leader of a democratic country. It is completely one sided to say the least. In his fifteenth sentence of the address, he has attacked the “Rogue regimes represented in this body [UNGA] not only support terrorists, but threaten other nations and their own people with the most destructive weapons known to humanity.” He was perhaps pointing his finger to himself, when he was saying that.
American Culpability
Although not the main supporter, America has a reputation of supporting different types of terrorist groups in the Middle East and elsewhere. Therefore, the first part of the accusation is not at all a balanced statement, but showing his disrespect, anger and contempt to other nations, and members of the UN. Of course, in extreme cases, the UN can suspend or expel countries from the member status. However, the purpose of keeping them all together, whatever the differences, is to continue a dialogue and building some understanding in resolving contentious issues peacefully, avoiding armed confrontations or war. The war that threatens the world today is a nuclear one.
If there is a failure in this dialogue, of course there is, the UN undoubtedly is responsible, but the blame should go squarely to all countries, and particularly to the big five of the Security Council, where America is a key member. Criticizing the past Presidents or administrations, as he usually does, is not an excuse for America from responsibility. The Security Council is unfortunately dominated by the West (America, Britain and France), and China is the only Asian country in it. India and Indonesia, with large populations, are not permanent members.
The second part of the statement is particularly aimed at North Korea, rightly so, when he says, these regimes “threaten other nations and their own people with the most destructive weapons known to humanity.” However, what he must keep in mind is that it is the United States that first invented the atomic bomb and then dropped two of them in Hiroshima and Nagasaki without any justification when Japan was about to surrender. That is where all nuclear proliferation started.
There is no question that what North Korea doing at present is dangerous gambling. However, it might be too late now to prevent that ‘rogue regime’ becoming a nuclear power. Through sanctions, it is too late to close the stable as the horse has bolted already. America or even Australia could blame China. However, what could China do to prevent North Korea becoming a nuclear power? It is a different country, although a close ally in the past. It is not clear how much influence she could exert on the present regime. China may have a different opinion on the matter, although she has agreed with the Security Council sanctions to prevail upon North Korea to stop continuous missile tests.
Rocket Man!
It is not exactly nuclear tests that North Korea has launched this year. It has launched six nuclear weapon tests so far since 2006, but only one this year, recently on 3 September. Two tests were conducted last year, even without much world notice or opposition. North Korea’s nuclear ambition precedes well before Kim Jong-un period, who came to power only in 2011, after his father’s death. However, he has tested 5 missile launches last year and 15 so far, this year, some consisting more than one weapon. That is why he has earned the name ‘Rocket Man’ from Donald Trump! Name calling is typical of Trump’s leadership, often through his tweets. What North Korea attempting dangerously is to test long range ballistic missiles with nuclear war heads that can threaten America, Australia and other countries. It has that capability already to attack South Korea, Japan and China.
There is no question about Kim Jong-un’s brutal character. He goes as the Supreme Leader following his father and grandfather. Three incidents are testimony to his nature, without referring to many others. After his ascendancy, he ordered the execution of his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, in 2013 on the pretext of treachery. He is also allegedly behind the killing of his half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, in Malaysia early this year. Again, it was this year that a visiting American student, Otto Warmbier, was arrested for a minor mischief and his prison treatment led finally to his death. Without his knowledge and approval, the whole tragedy could not have happened.
Relating these incidents and brutality of the regime is necessary for a Sri Lankan audience, because still there are some political leaders in Sri Lanka who follow the legacy of Kim Il-sung, if not Kim Jong-un. They come particularly from the generation of 1960s, reading the Selected Works of Kim Il Sung in Sinhala. The Workers Party of North Korea or Marxism in its ideology is a complete misnomer.
However, the ‘Western’ world and particularly America, are also responsible for North Korea’s deformed situation. The division of Korea into North and South, arming South Korea against the North, and perpetuating North Korea’s closed and isolated position are largely responsible for the present situation. What is unravelling today is a dangerous challenge of the American might by this ‘rogue regime.’ Japan is also embroiled in this situation, because of its dependence on America for defence and its unfortunate legacy as a colonial master over Korea. If North Korea is open and democratic, it might forgive Japan for its colonial past. However, it is not the case under the present circumstances.
Historical past should not always be a guide for present policies or relations of any country. Unless the present generations forgive and forget the past, countries and people might be in perpetual conflict and war.
Reports and news about the internal economic conditions in North Korea are also not completely correct. Most of the journalists in the ‘Western’ media are unfortunately prisoners of their own beliefs and values. This is the case mong many human rights activists. There is no question that Kim Jon-un and the ruling bureaucracy lives a luxurious life. However, the country cannot completely be an impoverished nation. Most of the pictures shown to depict poverty are the same, and most are allegedly of the ‘convicted’ people in ‘open labour camps’ and not the ordinary peasants.
The conditions in these camps are of course despicable. They are however about the polity and not the economy. More reliable information say that North Korea has gained much economic momentum during the last decade, and unless this is the situation, the technological and scientific development capable of nuclear armament cannot proceed. However, if such resources for nuclear testing and armaments are diverted to the economy, the conditions of the people might be far better. This is the case in many countries.
Korea, as a whole, is a rich country. Before the division, North was prominent for agriculture and natural resources, while South being famous for industries and businesses. Therefore, the division was/is an international crime. This is the situation which was perpetuated by the UN and super powers including America, the Soviet Union (now Russia) and even China. That is the situation that has given rise to the ‘Rocket Man.’
Tweeter Man!
The “authority and authoritarian powers” that Trump talked about at the UN address equally apply to America and to him. As a ritual he has also referred to the noble goals on which the UN was founded 72 years ago; they being peace, sovereignty, security and prosperity. What he has forgotten or opted not to mention were cooperation and diplomacy. He has put forward a sectarian and a dangerous approach emphasizing “a coalition of strong and independent nations.”
There is no question about him talking about the ‘greatness of America, its constitution, people or values,’ as this was his maiden speech, and it was in the American soil. However, it was not polite for him to threaten other nations and countries on that basis. It was at this world forum that he bluntly said, “As long as I hold this office, I will defend America’s interests above all else.”
His speech was belligerent, as if speaking at a ‘war council.’ Of course, he mentioned about the allies, whoever they are. He said, “America’s devotion is measured on the battlefields where our young men and women have fought and sacrificed alongside our allies, from the beaches of Europe, to the deserts of the Middle East, to the jungles of Asia.” It was a war speech and not a peace one. There was some reason for his anger, because of similarly belligerent announcements by Kim Jong-un, the other ‘Mad Man,’ in the opposite continent. Trump directly and indirectly attacked Russia and China when he said, “We must reject threats to sovereignty, from the Ukraine to the South China Sea.” These are matters that America should sort out in the Security Council and not at the General Assembly.
He was seeking allies when he said, “We must work together and confront together those who threaten us with chaos, turmoil and terror.” He was not only referring to North Korea, however, when he said, “The scourge of our planet today is a small group of rogue regimes.” He was looking for ‘Axis Powers,’ when he was talking about ‘group of rogue regimes.’
His main target soon was on North Korea, saying the following.
“No one has shown more contempt for other nations and for the well-being of their own people than the depraved regime in North Korea. It is responsible for the starvation deaths of millions of North Koreans, and for the imprisonment, torture, killing and oppression of countless more.”
‘Contempt for other nations’ also applies to America, if not equally, judging from its behaviour in the Korean war, Vietnam war and in the Middle East. Unless it is as a justification for pre-emptive action, there is no verifiable evidence about ‘starvation and deaths of millions’ in North Korea, as of now. Otherwise, at least thousands should have fled to China or South Korea. Exaggeration of any situation is dangerous, particularly when two countries or more are poised to attack each other, in this case with nuclear weapons.
Apart from alleged American encirclement of China and East Asia, it is this type of war rhetoric that might give justification for North Korea to arm itself with nuclear weapons. ‘The Coming War on China’ is not Chinese or North Korean propaganda, but by an independent and reputed Australian born journalist John Pilger. (See trailer http://johnpilger.com/videos/trailer-the-coming-war-on-china).
Nuclear War Threat
Of course, the initial war threat came from Kim Jong-un when he declared that he could ‘sink Japan’ and ‘turn America to ashes,’ a few weeks back. That is from a ‘Rogue Leader.’ However, the President of the United States should have more finesse and sophistication, when he was addressing the United Nations. He not only attacked North Korea but opted also to attack Russia and China, in the following words,
“It is an outrage that some nations would not only trade with such a regime, but would arm, supply and financially support a country that imperils the world with nuclear conflict.”
It is not only North Korea that pursues nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles at present. There are at least 9 states which hold nuclear weapons (16,300!) which can completely destroy life in planets of three times of our size. Trump himself declared spending of $ 700 billion for American rearmament and military in the same speech.
It is immediately after attacking, indirectly of course, Russia and China, that he said the following in plural sense first, and then on North Korea singularly.
“No nation on Earth has an interest in seeing this band of criminals arm itself with nuclear weapons and missiles. The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”
He was not talking about destroying the ‘Rogue Regime’ or Kim Jong-un. He was talking about ‘totally destroying North Korea’!
It is not only the pursuit of nuclear arms and ballistic missiles by North Korea that threatens the world today. But the holding of nuclear arms and ballistic missiles by all countries and threatening each other without any constraint. With Donald Trump at the helm, America constitutes unfortunately the greatest threat at present. Unless, people, civil society organizations, and truly democratic countries agitate for complete nuclear disarmament, the present threat might not disappear. Total ban of nuclear weapons is necessary.
As French government stays silent, activists are stepping up efforts to demand Israel release Palestinian-French human rights defender Salah Hamouri (via Facebook)
Israeli occupation authorities have confirmed the detention without charge or trial for six months of Palestinian-French human rights defender Salah Hamouri.
His case has attracted widespread concern in France, where lawmakers have called on President Emmanuel Macron to demand Israel free him.
Earlier this month, an Israeli judge reduced the time Hamouri was to be held to three months, but on Monday Amnesty International said that occupation authorities had restored the six-month term.
Suppressing peaceful dissent
Administrative detention without charge or trial is a relic of British colonial rule that the Israeli military can renew indefinitely.
“The arbitrary detention of Salah Hamouri is yet another shameful example of the Israeli authorities’ abusive use of administrative detention to detain suspects indefinitely without charge or trial,” Amnesty’s regional director Magdalena Mughrabi said. “Rather than locking him up without presenting a shred of evidence against him, the Israeli authorities must either charge him with a genuine criminal offense or order his immediate release.”
“For 50 years, Israel has relied upon administrative detention to suppress peaceful dissent and as a substitute for proper criminal prosecution,” Mughrabi added. “Now they appear to be using it to target human rights activists. They must take urgent steps to end this cruel practice once and for all.”
This month, three Palestinian prisoners are reported to have begun hunger strikes against their administrative detention.
Hamouri, himself a former prisoner released in 2011, is the second Addameer staff member held in administrative detention.
The group’s media coordinator Hassan Safadi has been detained since June 2016. The Palestinian lawmaker Khalida Jarrar, an Addameer board member, has been detained since July, and several other staff are barred by Israel from traveling abroad.
“Comrades, I find myself today in this prison with 1,600 other Palestinian political prisoners, some locked up for too many years,” Hamouri said in a letter provided to his lawyers and read out by his wife Elsa Lefort.
“We, Palestinian prisoners, cry out with all our force: Israeli prisons will never break our convictions or our will,” Hamouri added. “On the contrary, every new arrest provides us with comforting evidence that our freedom and independence will never be achieved except through struggle.”
“Receiving letters from all over the world is one of the things that gives political prisoners hope and shows them that they are not alone in their struggle,” Hamouri said in 2012, according to a Facebook posting by Lefort on Tuesday.
Lefort linked to a Facebook page that provides a postal address at the Israeli prison and encourages people to write to Hamouri and the other Palestinians held there. He may receive letters but won’t be able to respond, the page states. And, those writing should not put their return address on the envelope, as prison authorities may send it back unopened.
Meanwhile, other human rights defenders targeted by Israel are taking their message to a global audience.
Issa Amro, recently detained and charged by the Palestinian Authority over critical Facebook posts, is also facing trumped-up charges in an Israeli military kangaroo court aimed at stopping his nonviolent resistance to Israeli settlement in his home city of Hebron.
He will be joined by Farid al-Atrash, another Palestinian human rights defender facing Israeli military charges.
Amnesty said the event is part of its campaign to highlight Israel’s human rights violations during decades of military occupation.
In June, the group urged all governments to ban the import of goods from Israel’s colonial settlements in the West Bank, whose construction on occupied Palestinian land is a war crime.
Iraqi Kurd troops say old frontlines against IS will be new battleground if any attempt is made to deny bid for freedom
Peshmerga fighters walk near the citadel in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq (AFP)
Alex MacDonald-Thursday 21 September 2017
NAWARAN, Iraq - Peshmerga fighters have said they are "100 percent certain" forces aligned with Baghdad will attempt to retake Kurdish-held territory after a 25 September referendum on independence.
Talking to Middle East Eye in Nawaran camp, north of Mosul in Nineveh province, Kurdish fighters say they are prepared to defend territory under their control against anyone who opposed them.
Nawaran overlooks a number of Arab villages and was originally the frontline against the Islamic State group. Peshmerga say the area could once again descend into violence - but this time the Hashd al-Shaabi, Shia fighting groups under the purview of Baghdad, would be on the other side.
"Islamic State made it to just down there," said Nawaf, a 30-year Peshmerga, gesturing at houses at the bottom of the hill on which the camp sits.
"Behind that village far away, that's a barricade of Peshmerga. Other side is Arabs - Hashd al-Shaabi and others," he said. "That's the barricade that separates Iraq and Kurdistan now."
Inside of the Peshmerga camp at Nawaran (MEE/Alex MacDonald)
Nawaran was liberated by Kurd forces from Islamic State control but lies outside the original 2003 borders of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
Political leaders in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Baghdad have already warned that disputed territory such as this could be the flashpoint for violence after the 25 September referendum.
Nawaf said that it was "100 percent" the case, and the Peshmerga were dug in and ready. "We are ready now here in case of any violence or any offensive attack," he said.
"Our duty is to protect Kurdistan and to protect our line - the president ordered us to protect our line and stay in this line. Until he orders us to leave, we will stay here and fight with any enemy that attacks us."
Until what time are we going to stay as slaves under the hand of the Arabs?
- Nawaf, Peshmerga
On Wednesday, the Kurdish prime minister, Nechirvan Barzani, said he was confident that no military would attack the KRG even if the referendum went ahead.
"I do not see any military attack at all on the Kurdistan region. It is impossible to happen," he said.
"Even if they take other measures, as allegedly they are going to do, military option is impossible."
That stands in contrast to comments made by his Iraqi counterpart, Haider al-Abadi, who said that Baghdad would "intervene militarily" if Iraqis were "threatened by the use of force outside the law".
The Peshmerga in Nawaran, who control security around a number of surrounding Arab villages, said that come what may, they were ready to fight for their state.
A memorial to killed Peshmerga in Nineveh province (MEE/Alex MacDonald)
"Anyone who announces their intention of fighting with Kurdistan, we are ready to fight them," said Wahid Abdullah Qadir, an older Peshmerga fighter in the camp.
He showed a wound he endured in 1986, a gaping hole in his arm, which he suffered in fighting with the forces of Saddam Hussein.
"I am 52 years old and I remember 45 years of my life, all the governments came to stand opposing Kurdistan, trying to defeat Kurdistan, whether Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Saddam Hussein, Nouri al-Maliki or Abadi - all of them, they stand against Kurdistan," he said, angrily.
He also slammed Iran for trying to undermine Kurdish independence.
"They created Hashd al-Shaabi to destroy Kurdistan," he said.
Another Peshmerga fighter, Farah Salim Karim, agreed that after all the Kurds had endured at the hands of successive Baghdad governments, it was only fair for Kurdistan to become independent.
"They beat us, they put us in prison, they did so many other things to us," he explained.
Anger at western nations
The Peshmerga fighters also said they were angry at Western governments for failing to support independence, despite having been partners in fighting against IS.
The US, UK and European Union all released statements calling on Barzani to cancel or postpone the referendum over fears it would generate instability.
"We wanted them to help us do the referendum. Why don't they help?
- Abdullah Qadir, Peshmerga
Abdullah Qadir said it was "unfair" that the US, UK and Europe had come out against Kurdish independence after they helped defeat IS.
"We wanted them to help us do the referendum - every power is under their hand," he said.
"Why don't they help us?"
Salim Karim also said he was angry at the foreign powers for failing to support the independence bid.
"Why they always do injustices with poor Kurdish people? We have separate language, separate religion, separate ideas - why don't they support us to build a country for Kurdistan like the others they have?"
The entrance to the Peshmerga camp at Nawaran, near a road checkpoint (MEE/Alex MacDonald)
A number of nations this week began working with Erbil and the UN to attempt to find an alternative to the vote, fearing the fallout could undermine the fight against IS, who still have a presence in Tal Afar, Hawija and other hotspots across Iraq.
But a move by the Iraqi supreme court to declare the referendum unconstitutional, threats from neighbouring Turkey to impose sanctions, and moves by the Hashd to unseat local Kurdish politicians, Iraqi Kurds may begin to feel increasingly isolated.
Nawaf, who described himself as having been a Peshmerga since his "early childhood, when I was able to hold a weapon" said that after all the years of fighting and struggling for autonomy, he was disappointed at the lack of support the Iraqi Kurds were being shown.
"This is one of our rights, asking for independence," he said. "We hope they will change their thinking and help us."
"Until what time are we going to stay as slaves under the hand of the Arabs?"
Less than two weeks before Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination, his campaign chairman offered to provide briefings on the race to a Russian billionaire closely aligned with the Kremlin, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Paul Manafort made the offer in an email to an overseas intermediary, asking that a message be sent to Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate with whom Manafort had done business in the past, these people said.
“If he needs private briefings we can accommodate,” Manafort wrote in the July 7, 2016, email, portions of which were read to The Washington Post along with other Manafort correspondence from that time.
The emails are among tens of thousands of documents that have been turned over to congressional investigators and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s team as they probe whether Trump associates coordinated with Russia as part of Moscow’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election.
There is no evidence in the documents showing that Deripaska received Manafort’s offer or that any briefings took place. And a spokeswoman for Deripaska dismissed the email exchanges as scheming by “consultants in the notorious ‘beltway bandit’ industry.”
FBI agents with a search warrant raided the home of Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, without warning July 26 and seized documents and other records, say people familiar with the special counsel investigation. (Photo: Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)
Nonetheless, investigators believe that the exchanges, which reflect Manafort’s willingness to profit from his prominent role alongside Trump, created a potential opening for Russian interests at the highest level of a U.S. presidential campaign, according to people familiar with the probe. Those people, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters under investigation.
Several of the exchanges, which took place between Manafort and a Kiev-based employee of his international political consulting practice, focused on money that Manafort believed he was owed by Eastern European clients.
The notes appear to be written in deliberately vague terms, with Manafort and his longtime employee, Konstantin Kilimnik, never explicitly mentioning Deripaska by name. But investigators believe that key passages refer to Deripaska, who is referenced in some places by his initials, “OVD,” according to people familiar with the emails. One email uses “black caviar,” a Russian delicacy, in what investigators believe is a veiled reference to payments Manafort hoped to receive from former clients.
In one April exchange days after Trump named Manafort as a campaign strategist, Manafort referred to his positive press and growing reputation and asked, “How do we use to get whole?”
Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni said Wednesday that the email exchanges reflected an “innocuous” effort to collect past debts.
“It’s no secret Mr. Manafort was owed money by past clients,” Maloni said.
Maloni said that no briefings with Deripaska ever took place but that, in his email, Manafort was offering what would have been a “routine” briefing on the state of the campaign.
As a lobbyist and political consultant in the 1980s, Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort worked with international clients that included two dictators who were then allied with the United States. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)
Vera Kurochkina, a spokeswoman for Rusal, the company led by Deripaska, on Wednesday derided inquiries from The Post that she said “veer into manufactured questions so grossly false and insinuating that I am concerned even responding to these fake connotations provides them the patina of reality.”
Collectively, the thousands of emails present a complex picture. For example, an email exchange from May shows Manafort rejecting a proposal from an unpaid campaign adviser that Trump travel abroad to meet with top Russian leaders. “We need someone to communicate that DT is not doing these trips,” Manafort wrote, according to an email read to The Post.
The email exchanges with Kilimnik add to an already perilous legal situation for Manafort, whose real estate dealings and overseas bank accounts are of intense interest for Mueller and congressional investigators as part of their examination of Russia’s 2016 efforts. People close to Manafort believe Mueller’s goal is to force the former campaign chairman to flip on his former Trump associates and provide information.
In August, Mueller’s office executed a search warrant during an early-morning raid of Manafort’s Alexandria, Va., condominium, an unusually aggressive step in a white-collar criminal matter.
Mueller has also summoned Maloni, the Manafort spokesman, and Manafort’s former lawyer to answer questions in front of a grand jury. Last month, Mueller’s team told Manafort and his attorneys that they believed they could pursue criminal charges against him and urged him to cooperate in the probe by providing information about other members of the campaign. The New York Times reported this week that prosecutors had threatened Manafort with indictment.
The emails now under review by investigators and described to The Post could provide prosecutors with additional leverage.
Kilimnik did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Mueller declined to comment.
Deripaska, one of Russia’s richest men, is widely seen as an important ally of President Vladimir Putin. A U.S. diplomatic cable from 2006, published by WikiLeaks, referred to Deripaska as “among the 2-3 oligarchs Putin turns to on a regular basis.”
The billionaire has struggled to get visas to travel to the United States because of concerns he might have ties to organized crime in Russia, according to the Wall Street Journal. He has vigorously denied any criminal ties.
Russian officials have frequently raised the visa matter over the years with U.S. diplomats, according to former U.S. officials familiar with the appeals.
In 2008, one of Manafort’s business partners, Rick Davis, arranged for Deripaska to meet then-presidential candidate John McCain at an international economic conference in Switzerland.
At the time, Davis was on leave from Manafort’s firm and was serving as McCain’s campaign manager. The meeting caused a stir, given McCain’s longtime criticism of Putin’s leadership.
The Post reported in 2008 that Deripaska jointly emailed Davis and Manafort after the meeting to thank them for setting it up. Davis did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
At the time of the McCain meeting, Manafort was working in Ukraine, advising a Russia-friendly political party. He ultimately helped to elect Viktor Yanukovych as president in 2010. In 2014, Yanukovych was ousted from office during street protests and fled to Moscow.
Manafort and Deripaska have both confirmed that they had a business relationship in which Manafort was paid as an investment consultant. In 2014, Deripaska accused Manafort in a Cayman Islands court of taking nearly $19 million intended for investments and then failing to account for the funds, return them or respond to numerous inquiries about exactly how the money was used. There are no signs in court documents that the case has been closed.
The emails under review by investigators also show that Manafort waved off questions within the campaign about his international dealings, according to people familiar with the correspondence.
Manafort wrote in an April 2016 email to Trump press aide Hope Hicks that she should disregard a list of questions from The Post about his relationships with Deripaska and a Ukrainian businessman, according to people familiar with the email.
When another news organization asked questions in June, Manafort wrote Hicks that he never had any ties to the Russian government, according to people familiar with the email.
Hicks, now the White House communications director, declined to comment.
Former campaign officials said that Manafort frequently told his campaign colleagues that assertions made about him by the press were specious. They also privately shared concerns about whether Manafort was always putting the candidate’s interests first.
The emails turned over to investigators show that Manafort remained in regular contact with Kilimnik, his longtime employee in Kiev, throughout his five-month tenure at the Trump campaign.
Kilimnik, a Soviet army veteran, had worked for Manafort in his Kiev political consulting operation since 2005. Kilimnik began as an office manager and translator and attained a larger role with Manafort, working as a liaison to Deripaska and others, people familiar with his work have said.
People close to Manafort told The Post that he and Kilimnik used coded language as a precaution because they were transmitting sensitive information internationally.
In late July, eight days after Trump delivered his GOP nomination acceptance speech in Cleveland, Kilimnik wrote Manafort with an update, according to people familiar with the email exchange.
Kilimnik wrote in the July 29 email that he had met that day with the person “who gave you the biggest black caviar jar several years ago,” according to the people familiar with the exchange. Kilimnik said it would take some time to discuss the “long caviar story,” and the two agreed to meet in New York.
Investigators believe that the reference to the pricey Russian luxury item may have been a reference to Manafort’s past lucrative relationship with Deripaska, according to people familiar with the probe. Others familiar with the exchange say it may be a reference to Ukrainian business titans with whom Manafort had done business.
Kilimnik and Manafort have previously confirmed that they were in contact during the campaign, including meeting twice in person — once in May 2016, as Manafort’s role in Trump’s campaign was expanding, and again in August, about two weeks before Manafort resigned amid questions about his work in Ukraine.
The August meeting is the one the two men arranged during the emails now under examination by investigators.
That encounter took place at the Grand Havana Club, an upscale cigar bar in Manhattan. Kilimnik has said the two discussed “unpaid bills” and “current news.” But he said the sessions were “private visits” that were “in no way related to politics or the presidential campaign in the U.S.”
Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia’s regional president. Photograph: Toni Albir/EPA Protesters in Barcelona waved Catalan independence flags. Photograph: Marta Perez/EPA Sam Jones in Barcelona-Thursday 21 September 2017
The regional president of Catalonia has accused the Spanish government of acting “beyond the limits of a respectable democracy” and violating fundamental rights as it strives to prevent an independence referendum from being held in 10 days’ time.
Writing in the Guardian a day after Spanish Guardia Civil officers raided regional government buildings and arrested 14 senior officials, Carles Puigdemont insisted the vote would go ahead as “ballot boxes and a peaceful attitude” are the only weapons left to those who want independence.
“Catalan home rule has effectively been suspended due to this anti-democratic attitude from the Spanish government,” he wrote.
“It’s a situation that harks back to the dark past of this country, when democracy was not a part of the Spanish dictionary. What is happening here in Cataloniawould not happen anywhere else in the European Union.”
Puigdemont said requests for negotiations with the Madrid government had been ignored dozens of times, and the Spanish executive was refusing to entertain any dialogue on the issue.
“Instead of engaging in discourse, the Spanish government has opted for police and judges, taking us beyond the limits of a respectable democracy,” he wrote. “With the arrests of high-ranking officials and threats to detain democratically elected politicians, I believe the Spanish government has violated the European charter of fundamental rights.”
However, despite his assertion that the Spanish government was deliberately targeting officials, Wednesday’s arrests were ordered by a judge in Barcelona and not by anyone in Madrid.
Puigdemont’s accusations came as Catalonia’s regional vice-president, Oriol Junqueras, admitted the arrests – and the seizure of almost 10m ballot papers – had changed “the state of play”.
“The circumstances today are different because a significant part of our team, half of the economics team, has been arrested,” he said.
“That [the referendum] cannot be held in the circumstances that we wanted is obvious.”
The arrests led to about 40,000 people taking to the streets of Barcelona on Wednesday night. On Thursday, thousands of people gathered outside the Catalan high court to demand the release of the arrested officials. Some waved Catalan independence flags and chanted: “We will vote!”
Jordi SÃ nchez, president of the leading independence organisation the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), told the crowds: “We will be here, peacefully but present, until all of the arrested walk out free.”
Malena Palau, a 21-year-old student, said she and her fellow protesters were not afraid and wanted to exercise their democratic freedoms in the referendum.
“We want to vote because we have the right to decide, regardless of what we vote,” she told the Associated Press.
In a TV address on Wednesday night, the Spanish prime minister warned Puigdemont and others to stop chasing the “chimera” of a referendum. “Don’t go ahead,” Mariano Rajoy said. “Go back to the law and democracy.”
The Spanish finance minister, Luis de Guindos, said fresh negotiations on securing Catalonia a better deal could be held if the independence movement agreed to cancel the referendum.
“Once independence plans are dropped, we can talk,” he told the Financial Times.
Rajoy’s government has repeatedly vowed to prevent the vote from taking place, arguing that any referendum on Catalan independence would be illegal because Spain’s 1978 constitution makes no provision for a vote on self-determination.
The constitutional court has suspended a referendum law that was pushed through the Catalan parliament a fortnight ago and is investigating whether the law breaches the constitution. It has also warned Catalan officials that they could be fined up to €12,000 (£10,500) a day if they carry on organising the vote.
Puigdemont and his fellow independence campaigners maintain that Catalonia has a right to self-determination and argue their unilateral referendum is justified and will be legally binding.
But the Venice Commission – a panel of experts who advise the Council of Europe on constitutional law – has told Puigdemont that the referendum would have to be carried out “in agreement with the Spanish authorities … and in full compliance with the constitution and the applicable legislation”.
The Spanish government has recently stepped up its efforts to head off the vote by launching a crackdown on the regional government’s finances, limiting new credit and requiring central supervision for payment of non-essential services.
On Tuesday the Guardia Civil confiscated referendum documents from the offices of a private delivery firm in the Catalan city of Terrassa. More than 1.5m referendum leaflets and posters have also been seized.
The interior ministry has cancelled leave for all the Guardia Civil and national police officers tasked with stopping the vote.
Sturgeon called for dialogue between the two sides, saying it was preferable to the sight of police officers confiscating ballot papers.
“It is of course entirely legitimate for Spain to oppose independence for Catalonia, but what I think is of concern anywhere is for a state to seek to deny the right of a people to democratically express their will,” she said.
“The right of self-determination is an important international principle, and I hope very much that it will be respected in Catalonia and everywhere else.”
Although more than 70% of Catalonia’s 7.5 million people are in favour of holding a referendum, surveys suggest they are fairly evenly split on the issue of independence. A survey two months ago showed 49.4% of Catalans were against independence while 41.1% were in favour.
More than 80% of participants opted for independence in a symbolic vote three years ago, although only 2.3 million of Catalonia’s 5.4 million eligible voters took part.
Sep 21, 2017
The planet is heating up and fossil fuels are to blame!
Inside of the Peshmerga camp at Nawaran (MEE/Alex MacDonald)
A memorial to killed Peshmerga in Nineveh province (MEE/Alex MacDonald)
The entrance to the Peshmerga camp at Nawaran, near a road checkpoint (MEE/Alex MacDonald)
