Air India plane lands in Bangalore airport after bomb scare

Air India plane lands in Bangalore airport after bomb scare
US court reinstates Abu Ghraib torture lawsuit against contractor
ISIL jihadists declare ‘caliphate’
Pistorius trial: Experts fi nd no sign of mental illness
Thai military begins to overhaul electoral system
N. Korea proposes suspension of military hostilities

Posted: 30 Jun 2014 07:27 PM PDT

Posted on July 1, 2014, Tuesday

NEW DELHI: An Air India passenger plane landed in emergency conditions at the airport of southern Indian city of Bangalore after receiving a bomb threat on Monday night.

Xinhua news agency reports local media as saying Tuesday that the Delhi-bound plane from Kochi had 156 passengers and eight crew members on board.

All passengers were evacuated from the plane and are in safe condition.

A bomb defusing squad was dispatched to investigate the incident. –BERNAMA

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US court reinstates Abu Ghraib torture lawsuit against contractor

Posted: 30 Jun 2014 07:05 PM PDT

A decade after the Abu Ghraib scandal, a US federal appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit against a defense contractor accusing its employees of torturing detainees at the Iraqi prison.

CACI International, based just outside the US capital in Arlington, Virginia, was accused of abusing and torturing Iraqi prisoners at the jail while it was managed by the American military.

The plaintiffs in this case are four Iraqi detainees, and the US-based Center for Constitutional Rights filed the suit on their behalf.

The prison west of Baghdad became a potent negative symbol of the US occupation to many Iraqis after evidence emerged of detainee abuse by American soldiers at the facility.

Most of the abuse took place at the end of 2003, when CACI employees were working in the prison, according to the civil suit filed in 2008.

The company's civilian employees were accused of having encouraged US soldiers to abuse the prisoners to prepare them for interrogation.

A former co-defendant in the case, L-3 Services Inc. (now a subsidiary of Engility Holdings), agreed last year to pay $5 million to 72 Iraqis abused at the site.

Criminal charges were brought against 11 low-ranking guards, including former army reserve specialist Lynndie England, who was shown smiling in photographs while posing next to naked prisoners being submitted to sexual abuse. She was paroled in 2007.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a lower court erred in concluding it lacked jurisdiction to rule on the case because the alleged abuse took place and broad, and in tossing out the case against CACI in 2013.

The plaintiffs claims "touch and concern the territory of the United States with sufficient force to displace the presumption against extraterritorial application," the court ruling read.

The decision found that CACI could be held liable in US court under a section of the US Code called the Alien Tort Statute, which allows non-US citizens to file suit in US courts for human rights violations for incidents that took place outside the United States.

"Today's court ruling affirms that US corporations are not entitled to impunity for torture and war crimes and that holding US entities accountable for human rights violations strengthens this country's relationship to the international community and basic human rights principles," said the plaintiffs' attorney Baher Azmy.

CACI claims that most of the alleged abuse was approved by the then-US defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and incorporated into rules of engagement by military commanders at the prison, court documents showed.

In June 2011, the Supreme Court refused to hear a complaint by 250 Iraqi prisoners against CACI and Titan Corporation, another private contractor that once provided services to the US military at Abu Ghraib.

In an irony of history, Abu Ghraib also served as a torture center under executed dictator Saddam Hussein's ousted regime, with an estimated 4,000 detainees dying there. -AFP

ISIL jihadists declare ‘caliphate’

Posted: 30 Jun 2014 06:42 PM PDT

Ruthless militants demand allegiance from world's Muslims to its leader, renames itself Islamic State

BAGHDAD: Ruthless jihadists spearheading a Sunni militant offensive in Iraq have declared an 'Islamic caliphate' and ordered Muslims worldwide to pledge allegiance to their chief, in a spectacular bid to extend their authority.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant renamed itself simply the Islamic State (IS) and declared its shadowy frontman the leader of the world's Muslims, in a clear challenge to al-Qaeda for control of the global jihadist movement.

Iraqi forces meanwhile pressed a counter-offensive yesterday against executed dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, one of a string of towns and cities overrun by IS-led fighters in a swift advance that left more than 1,000 people dead, displaced hundreds of thousands and piled pressure on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Maliki's bid for a third term in office has been battered by the offensive and he is no longer seen as the clear frontrunner when parliament reopens on Tuesday following elections in April.

IS announced Sunday it was establishing a 'caliphate' – an Islamic form of government last seen under the Ottoman Empire – extending now from Aleppo in northern Syria to Diyala province in eastern Iraq, the regions where it has fought against the regimes in power.

In an audio recording distributed online, the group declared its chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi 'the caliph' and 'leader for Muslims everywhere.'

Henceforth, the group said, he is to be known as 'Caliph Ibrahim' – a reference to his real name.

Though the move may not have immediate significant impact on the ground, it is an indicator of the group's confidence and marks a move against al-Qaeda – from which it broke away – in particular, analysts say.

The caliphate is "the biggest development in international jihad since Sept 11", said Charles Lister of the Brookings Institution in Doha, referring to the al-Qaeda attacks on the United States in 2001.

"It could mark the birth of a new era of transnational jihadism … and that poses a real danger to al-Qaeda and its leadership," he said, adding that IS, with members in many countries, is the richest jihadist group.

Baghdadi, thought to have been born in the Iraqi city of Samarra in 1971, is touted by the group as a battle-hardened tactician who fought American forces following the 2003 US-led invasion, and is now widely seen as rivalling al- Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri as the world's most inf luential jihadist.

His group has drawn thousands of foreign fi ghters, attracted by a combination of Baghdadi's own appeal, IS's efforts to establish what it believes is an ideal Islamic state, and the group's sophisticated propaganda apparatus which publishes magazines and videos in English and a host of European languages.

The group is known for its brutality, summarily executing its opponents and this week crucifying rival Islamic rebels in Syria. Since the Prophet Mohammed's death, a caliph was designated 'the prince' or emir 'of the believers'.

After the first four caliphs who succeeded Mohammed, the caliphate lived its golden age in the Omayyad empire from the year 661 to 750, and then under the Abbasids, from 750 to 1517.

It was abolished when the Ottoman empire collapsed in 1924.

In Syria, IS fi ghters control large swathes of territory in Deir Ezzor near the Iraq border, Raqa in the north, as well as parts of neighbouring Aleppo province.

In Iraq, it has spearheaded a lightning offensive since June 9, capturing sizeable territories in the north and west of the confl icttorn country.

Iraqi forces initially wilted in the face of the onslaught but have mounted an ambitious counteroffensive to take back Tikrit, a battle which could be crucial tactically and for the morale of the security forces.

Officials said thousands of troops were advancing on Tikrit from a number of directions, while warplanes pounded the city with air strikes and clashes broke out in several areas around the city. Maliki's national reconciliation adviser, Amr Khuzaie, said the crisis was even more dangerous than the brutal Sunni-Shiite violence that left tens of thousands dead.

"Now, the danger is defi nitely more … than 2006, 2007," he told AFP. Before, militant groups sparked a "sectarian war, but now (the) war is more organised" and the militants' abilities were greater. — AFP

Pistorius trial: Experts fi nd no sign of mental illness

Posted: 30 Jun 2014 06:39 PM PDT

PRETORIA: The murder trial of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius resumed yesterday with experts saying they had found no sign of mental illness after a month of psychiatric tests.

"Mr Pistorius did not suffer from a mental illness or defect that would have rendered him criminally not responsible for the offence charged," said state prosecutor Gerrie Nel.

He was reading from one of two psychologist reports prepared during four weeks of examination by a psychiatric panel and a psychologist. Both said Pistorius could be held criminally responsible.

The star runner is accused of murdering his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year.

He admits shooting Steenkamp with a 9mm pistol through a locked toilet door, but says it was a mistake as he thought she was an intruder coming to attack him in the dead of night. "Mr Pistorius was capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of his act," said Nel.

Sitting in the dock, Pistorius stared straight ahead as Nel read the reports.

The month-long mental assessment was ordered by Judge Thokozile Masipa after his defence called a witness who testifi ed that the Paralympic gold medallist has 'generalised anxiety disorder.'

The defence team claimed the condition could have resulted in a heightened fear of crime that affected his judgement on the night he shot his girlfriend.

Nel who has been described as a pit bull terrier for his ruthless cross-examination style in the trial, asked the court to closely interrogate the psychiatrist's diagnosis, fearing Pistorius may exploit concerns about his mental health to reset the case. — AFP

Thai military begins to overhaul electoral system

Posted: 30 Jun 2014 06:34 PM PDT

BANGKOK: Thailand's military government said yesterday it had begun an overhaul of the electoral system following an announcement by junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha that polls could take place by late 2015. The military took power on May 22 in a bloodless coup following six months of street demonstrations that contributed to the ousting of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

A court had already ordered her to step down after finding her guilty of abuse of power on May 7.

Permanent secretary for defence Surasak Kanchanarat said political party reform, decentralisation of power and "investigations and penalties for those groups that commit electoral fraud" were top on the military's agenda.

"We will talk about obstacles to an election and corruption," Surasak told reporters ahead of a meeting later yesterday with the Election Commision.

The junta, formally known as the National Council for Peace and Order, has scrapped the constitution and its leader, General Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Friday that a new, temporary charter would be ready in July.

The army chief said this would allow an interim cabinet to be installed by September and a reform council would then start work on a longer-term constitution. He also said in his weekly televised speech that a general election could be held around October 2015, the firmest date he has given until now. The United States and European Union downgraded diplomatic ties with Thailand after the coup.

Washington has called for a quick return to civilian government and a move toward "free and fair elections".

The junta's plans for sweeping electoral reforms echo demands made by the anti-government demonstrators who hounded Yingluck. They wanted reforms before a new election and disrupted a Feb. 2 vote that was later annulled by a court.

Yingluck's government and the Election Commission, which was accused of bias by Yingluck's supporters, failed to agree on a new election date prior to the military seizing power.

The toppling by the army of her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, in 2006 ignited a long-running struggle between the conservative middle-class and Thaksin's largely rural supporters.

The military has said it wants to put an end to Thailand's often violent political cycle. The protesters accused Thaksin, who lives in self-imposed exile abroad to avoid a corruption sentence handed down in 2008, of rampant vote-buying and said they wanted to eliminate his 'toxic' political influence.

The junta has widened a purge of Thaksin-linked government officials. On Friday, it announced a reshuffle of senior civil servants, transferring 10 Thaksin allies to inactive posts, including Tarit Pengdith, chief of the Department of Special Investigation, the equivalent of the US FBI.

Anti-coup protests have largely dwindled in recent weeks and the few that dare show dissent in public have been promptly detained by police and soldiers.

In its latest public-relations effort, the junta displayed more than 1,000 weapons on Sunday it said were seized from political activists, including Jakrapob Penkair, a former government minister with Thaksin links who has established a movement in exile to oppose the coup.

In a Facebook post, Jakrapob denied any link to the weapons, saying his campaign was one of non-violent civil disobedience. — Reuters

N. Korea proposes suspension of military hostilities

Posted: 30 Jun 2014 06:31 PM PDT

SEOUL: North Korea yesterday proposed that the two Koreas halt hostile military activities starting later this week — an apparent show of its desire for peace before a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The surprise suggestion from the North's top military body, the National Defence Commission, was reported by the official KCNA news agency.

It was made hours after the nation confirmed its second missile test in recent days.

The commission said the North was ready to suspend all acts of verbal provocation and slander from Friday, and urged the South to reciprocate. Pyongyang also called for an end to live-fire drills and other hostile military activities near the disputed sea border in the Yellow Sea from Friday.

The maritime border is a frequent flashpoint. There have been no direct military clashes there since 2010 but the two sides intermittently fire warning shots or engage in live-fire drills. The North also urged the South to scrap its annual joint military exercises with the United States slated for August, to create a favourable mood for this year's Asian Games in the South Korean city of Incheon.

Pyongyang has promised to send athletes to the games, to be held from September 19 to October 4.

Xi is visiting Seoul on Thursday and Friday for talks with President Park Geun-Hye before going on to Pyongyang. China is North Korea's sole major ally and key economic benefactor, and the fact that Xi is visiting Seoul first has been seen by some as a deliberate snub.

Despite its leverage an increasingly frustrated China has failed to persuade the North to curb its nuclear weapons programme and to stop raising regional tensions through missile and atomic tests.

The North's latest olive branch followed a series of missile launches, including Sunday's test-launch of two short-range Scud missiles. Pyongyang also announced separately yesterday it would put two detained American tourists on trial on charges including "perpetrating hostile acts". — AFP