GCHQ arrest over Observer spying report
An employee at the top secret UK Government Communications Headquarters (GCQH), the electronic surveillance arm of the British intelligence service, has been arrested following revelations last weekend about an American “dirty tricks” surveillance operation to win votes at the United Nations in favor of a tough new resolution on Iraq. More arrests are expected. A top secret memo from the British National Security Agency, which monitors communications around the world, was released by British security forces who objected to being asked to aid the American operation by providing information from phone taps and email interception. The leak marks a serious breach between the Blair government and elements of the intelligence community opposed to using British security resources to help the US drive for war. (Observer UK)

Zimbabwe police use batons on women
Baton-wielding Zimbabwe riot police in the city of Bulawayo have beaten dozens of women to break up an International Women’s Day gathering and briefly detained at least 15 organizers for questioning, witnesses say. Journalists covering the ceremony said police charged into a peaceful groups of women who blocked the path of a police truck, taking away the organizers. Those arrested included three members of Parliament who represent the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the wife of the MDC vice-president. Police denied they used excessive force. Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe signed tough security legislation into law just before he was reelected in a controversial poll last March that forbids the holding of public meetings without police clearance. Critics say the act is aimed at suppressing opposition to Mugabe’s government. (Reuters)

Industrial-scale mortuaries being sought by UK
UK Ministers are secretly scouring the country for mortuaries to take thousands of civilian bodies from a terrorist attack after war breaks out with Iraq. The Home Secretary has appointed one of Britain’s leading coroners to spearhead the search for huge temporary mortuaries, such as aircraft hangers. Another coroner is touring the country meeting with planning chiefs to asses how they could cope with “mass fatalities.” Emergency planners are criticizing the search as too small and too slow to meet the urgency of the threat. (Independent UK)

Bush: Clap for me or no EU speech
George Bush pulled out of a speech to the European Parliament when its Ministers wouldn’t guarantee a standing ovation, like that at the State of the Union address, bereft of protests and heckling. Every appearance by Bush in the US is stage-managed, with audiences full of supporters. It was hoped he would speak after he welcomed Warsaw Pact nations to Nato in Prague last November, but his refusal to speak to EU leaders face-to-face is seen as a key factor in the split between the US-UK coalition and Europe. A source close to negotiations said “Relations between the EU and US are worsening fast. This won’t help.” (Mirror UK)

Minister attacks “reckless” Blair
British Prime Minster Tony Blair is facing a potential rebellion in his own ranks, as Clare Short, the International Development Secretary, warned that she would quit the cabinet if there was no second United Nations resolution supporting war in Iraq. She said she feared Blair was being “extraordinarily reckless” with the future of the government. Her dramatically timed intervention raises the stakes for Blair as he battles to persuade wavering states on the UN security council to support a resolution. Parliamentary aids are also threatening to quit, with one already having done so. “If there is not UN authority for military action [or] for the reconstruction of the country, I will not uphold a breach of international law or this undermining of the UN, and I will resign from the government,” Short said. The US and UK are considering war on Iraq with or without the UN. (Guardian UK)

Mass peace rally in Indonesia
On Mar. 9, hundreds of thousands of Indonesians took part in a huge prayer rally against a possible war in Iraq. Approximately 300,000 people gathered in Surabaya to hear religious leaders speak out against military action. Many people said they were there to express their opposition to war, not to support the Iraqi regime.
The peaceful demonstration was organized by the country’s largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). The 40-million-strong NU, which is backed by the government, said it wanted to gather as many people as possible to try to prevent war and to focus minds on morality rather than violence.
Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, has repeatedly stated its opposition to any unilateral attack on Iraq, although it is close to the US on other issues.
A smaller rally was held in Jakarta, where thousands of people attended prayers at the grand mosque. (BBC)

Customs accused of seizing tapes critical of US
A US peace activist says Canada Customs has seized copies of a video that criticizes American foreign policy. About 30 copies of the video What I’ve Learned About US Foreign Policy—a compilation of documentaries by journalists and speeches by peace activists—were on their way to an Ontario magazine. 1500 copies have been shipped to Canada without incident. Customs officials won’t confirm the seizure but say they are doing all they can to enforce the laws of Canada, including anti-hatred laws. If customs officials determine the tapes contain hatred towards Americans, criminal charges could follow. (CBC News)

US sets up camp in ‘New Europe’
Last November, Washington invited Bulgaria and Romania to join Nato. With war looming, the impoverished Balkan states’ proximity to the Middle East have boosted their value to Pentagon planners. The talk of Eastern Europe is of the US snubbing pacifist Germany and redeploying its vast military presence to the convenient, cheaper, more welcoming, and more passive “new European” countries of Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, as US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld terms them. The new alliances are reconfiguring decades of US military presence in Europe and redrawing Europe’s military map. (Guardian UK)

Annan: End farm subsidiesto help feed Africa
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the world’s wealthiest nations last Wed. to stop subsidizing their farmers—with over $300 billion a year—as a first step toward dealing with famine in Africa. “Only then,” he said, “will Africa be able to achieve truly sustainable agricultural production.” Annan told the newly formed Group of Eight Contact Group on Food Security in Africa that world governments had to deal with the structural causes of a looming famine as well as the lack of food itself. Annan called on increased aid from wealthy countries to held develop agriculture, improve a global market for farm goods, and bolster the fight against AIDS which is killing off farmers and creating orphans in Africa. (Reuters)

Argentina citizens denounce state plan for bank reparations
The Argentine government is planning to compensate banks for losses suffered as a result of the economic and financial crisis that erupted in Dec. 2001. But savers’ representatives and some experts argue that the banks have no more right to reparations than the rest who have lost money as a result of the crisis. Government and financial executives assert that indemnifying the banking system is the only way to achieve a lasting economic reactivation. Yet in a country where 54 percent of the population lives in poverty — 20 million people — the state must realize that it is politically inappropriate to transfer money to the banks, sociologist Eric Calcagno said. “If the banks suffered losses, let them go bankrupt.” (IPS)

Red Cross: Use of CS gas in Gulf is illegal
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has led protests by medical and human rights groups at plans by the US to deploy tear gas and pepper spray to the Gulf. Senior officials in the ICRC, which champions legal rights for soldiers and civilians in wartime, warn that using these “riot control agents” would violate the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. They claim that using even CS gas would undermine the prohibition on using chemical and biological weapons in war, and would be exploited by rogue states to justify their use of more dangerous weapons. (Independent UK)

Nigeria opposition chief killed in run-up to polls
A high-ranking Nigerian opposition politician was shot dead last Wednesday in what could be the most serious political killing in the run-up to the country’s elections in April, police and officials say. President Obasanjo deplored the murder which has added fears to the mounting political violence around the series of regional and national elections that could tear apart Africa’s most populace country of more than 120 million people. The most important vote is on a presidential ballot in which Obasanjo is seeking reelection. He came to power in presidential elections in 1999 which ended military rule. (Reuters)

US consideringlifting ban on ‘mini-nukes’
The Bush administration has formally proposed lifting a decade-long ban on the development of “mini-nukes”—small, low-yield nuclear weapons—a move that arms control advocates predicted could touch off a new global arms race. The proposal is contained in a draft of the 2004 Defense Authorization bill the Pentagon sent to Congress this week. Some policy makers and military planners have suggested that such weapons could be used to eliminate nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons that may be produced by “rogue nations” such as Iraq, North Korea, or Iran. Bush administration officials have said there is no current need for the mini-nukes but weapons scientists at the nation’s nuclear laboratories should not be prevented from exploring the options in case they are needed in the future. (The Age)

Brazil peasants end land truce
Leaders of the landless movement in Brazil have ended a truce with the government by organizing a new wave of land invasions. Peasant officials said unproductive farms and government property had been occupied over the last few days because President Lula da Silva had failed to take any concrete action to carry out land reform since taking office in Jan. They also said this was only the beginning of a bigger campaign of invasions starting next month. The Brazilian Agrarian Development Minister criticized the protesters, saying the government was working toward a peaceful process of land distribution. President Lula Da Silva’s Workers Party has been a traditional ally of the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement. (BBC News)

Women stripped of property in Kenya
Women throughout Kenya lose their homes, lands, and other property due to discriminatory laws and custom, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a new report last week. HRW said property rights abuses in sub-Saharan Africa perpetuate women’s inequality. These violations and their impact are magnified by Kenya’s high HIV/AIDS prevalence. HIV-positive women, already harmed by stigma and discrimination, are gravely threatened by property rights violations. Women’s insecure property rights also hinder development by contributing to low agricultural production, food shortages, underemployment, and rural poverty. HRW called on the new Kenyan government to institute legal reforms, implement programs to prevent and redress abuses, and punish those who violate women’s rights. They also said the World Bank and other donors should use aid to eliminate these violations. (Human Rights Watch)

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