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Posted on 01/20/2003 10:12:46 PM PST by Axion
SITUATION REPORTS - January 20 2003 20:17 GMT - Venezuela's Infrastructure Ministry (MINFRA), which oversees government-issued concessions to private media owners, has launched "administrative procedures" against privately owned television networks Globovision and Radio Caracas Television, according to Globovision. 20:14 GMT - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened Jan. 19 to order additional raids on the private food producers taking part in a national strike. The strike, intended to force Chavez from office, has caused severe shortages of gasoline and food, bringing the economy to a near standstill. 18:36 GMT - Union Radio Network reports at least one death and approximately 25 injuries from gunfire and projectiles at a march protesting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in the industrial and low-income area of Valles del Tuy outside Caracas. The injured included both supporters and opponents of Chavez. 17:10 GMT - Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov overhauled the government on Jan. 18, naming two new ministers of Health and Communications. He also replaced the head of the state justice council and dismissed several regional leaders. The reshuffling might signal the start of a governmental crackdown on corruption, or simply might be a presidential attempt to reinforce his political position at the expense of members of the former Islamic opposition with whom he shares power. 16:50 GMT - Records from an Indian trading company are providing evidence that Iraq obtained materials necessary for producing weapons of mass destruction over the last four years, GulfNews reports. Exports from NEC Engineering Private Ltd. between September 1998 and February 2001 included items like atomized aluminum powder and titanium centrifugal pumps. The exports were valued at nearly $800,000. The company is the first to be traced specifically to illicit Iraqi procurement since 1998, and it might provide the sort of evidence the pro-war faction of the international community needs to bolster its case for military action against Iraq. 16:39 GMT - Recent opinion polls show Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud party likely will win the Jan. 28 general election. The right-wing Likud party is projected to win at least 12 seats more than the center-left Labor Party, falling short of a parliamentary majority -- though Likud might form another coalition government. The election outcome is expected to be a major factor in determining the Israeli approach to the nearly 28-month-old Palestinian uprising for an independent state. 16:35 GMT - Delegates from five Middle Eastern countries -- Syria, Iran, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- are expected to gather in Ankara on Jan. 23 at Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul's invitation, to discuss a peaceful solution to the Iraq issue. The Syrian government also has called a meeting of regional foreign ministers in Damascus, with ministers from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Jordan, and Kuwait attending. 16:00 GMT - Argentina's government has reinforced security at airports, border crossings and Jewish facilities after the National Intelligence Service warned that the country is at risk of new terrorist attacks due to rising tensions between the United States and Iraq, according to Buenos Aires daily La Nacion. 15:59 GMT - A U.S. Justice Department commission is due to arrive in Nicaragua's capital city of Managua this week to explore the possibility of prosecuting former Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman on money-laundering charges in the United States. Aleman, who was president from 1997 to 2002, has been under house arrest in Managua since Dec. 12, and is being investigated with the assistance of the U.S. Justice Department for the alleged theft of more than $100 million. 15:57 GMT - Libyan ambassador Najat Al-Hajjaji has been elected president of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, despite U.S. criticism of Libya's poor civil liberties record and its alleged role as a sponsor of terrorism. Though European nations were similarly dismayed at the nomination, many chose to abstain from the vote rather than risk alienating Africa and other developing nations. 15:54 GMT - After six hours of talks on Jan. 20 with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, a visiting Russian envoy said he was optimistic that a peaceful solution could be found to the current crisis between Washington and Pyongyang. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov's visit is part of a round of diplomatic activity focused on defusing the potentially explosive North Korean situation, which began in October after North Korea admitted to continuing its nuclear weapons program, in violation of the 1994 Agreed Framework. 15:54 GMT - The International Monetary Fund will resume financial aid to Kenya in July as a result of the government's self-strengthening program and fight against corruption, the East African Standard reports. Negotiations over the new aid program are expected to begin in April. Lending was originally suspended in December 2000 because of the government's failure to stem corruption. 15:52 GMT - Speaking in Turkey, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers characterized recent meetings with Turkish Chief of General Staff Hilmi Ozkok and National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul as very positive, Anatolia News Agency reported Jan. 20. Myers emphasized that U.S. President George W. Bush has not yet made a definite decision to attack Iraq, and he denied that there was any lack of cooperation between Turkey and the United States. Myers also denied issuing any specific demands to Turkish officials regarding further deployments of U.S. forces to that country, saying that talks and studies on the issue continue. 15:50 GMT - Argentina's national intelligence service will issue an official report this week concluding that Iran and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group masterminded the 1994 bombing of a Jewish charity office that killed 85 people, according to Buenos Aires dailies Clarin and Pagina12. However, Clarin cautioned that it "remains to be seen whether the federal judge investigating the bomb attack will accept the intelligence service's final report." 15:48 GMT - Around 150 police raided a mosque in north London in the early morning hours of Jan. 20, arresting six men of North African origin and one East European, the BBC reports. Scotland Yard said the raid was based on intelligence which suggested that the mosque had been involved in recruiting terrorists and in supporting terrorism in Britain and elsewhere. The raid also was reportedly linked to the discovery of the poison ricin in a nearby neighborhood earlier this month. The cleric of the North London Central Mosque called the raid a provocative act and part of a "war" against Muslims. 15:46 GMT - Jordanian King Abullah II traveled to Dubai on Jan. 20 to meet with United Arab Emirates Vice President Sheikh Maktum bin Rashed al Maktum. The talks are part of an investment forum devoted to discussing investment prospects in Jordan, according to state news agency Petra. Jordan is the only Arab state that has a free trade agreement with the United States. 15:44 GMT - A week-old standoff between Bolivian peasant organizations -- including coca growers -- and the government likely will escalate on Jan. 20, with plans for a farmer-led blockade of the nation's highways, according to Spanish news agency EFE. Peasant coca growers led by indigenous leader Evo Morales are pressuring the government to suspend all U.S.-backed coca crop eradication programs. Peasant coca growers in the central Bolivian Chapare region have managed to shut down the Cochabamba-Santa Cruz highway completely. Seven peasant farmers have been killed in clashes with security forces. 15:42 GMT - Venezuela's National Investment Promotions Council (Conapri), an entity that promotes foreign direct investment, reports that the economy contracted 9.6 percent in 2002, while foreign direct investment levels plunged from $3 billion in third quarter 2001 to only $293 million in third quarter 2002, according to Caracas daily El Universal. 15:35 GMT - Amid ongoing protests, the Indonesian government has retreated further from its Jan. 1 energy price hikes. The government announced Jan. 20 that it would reduce prices on diesel oil as well as kerosene for industrial use. Jakarta said price hikes on premium oil and kerosene for household consumption would remain. The decision brings the average 22 percent price hikes down to an average of 8 percent. In an effort to allay concerns among international lenders and donors, Economic Affairs Minister Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti said the budgetary shortfall caused by repealing the price hikes would be paid for from a special reserve fund and would not lead to an increased budget deficit. 15:31 GMT - Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic flew to The Hague early Jan. 20 to surrender himself to the international war crimes tribunal. Milutinovic is accused of involvement in crimes against humanity during the 1998-1999 Kosovo conflict. He has denied the charges. Milutinovic was the last associate of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to leave office; his term expired in December 2002. 15:29 GMT - India conducted a successful test of its Akash surface-to-air missile on Jan. 20, following an earlier test Jan. 18. The Akash, which can carry a 110-pound payload 15 miles, was launched from India's missile-test range in Chandipur and flew over the Bay of Bengal. 15:27 GMT - Liberian officials claim that gunmen from neighboring Cote d'Ivoire have seized the border town of Beam. President Charles Taylor's private radio station warned that taking Beam was a violation of Liberia's territorial integrity and said the government would expel the "terrorists." Mutinous soldiers in western and northern Cote d'Ivoire rebelled against the government four months ago. Liberian mercenaries reportedly are involved in the fighting. 15:17 GMT - British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told BBC Radio 4's Today program that he supports U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's suggestion that if it would prevent a war, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and other top Iraqi officials could be offered asylum in a third country. Rumsfeld made his comments Jan. 19 and was backed by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. 15:12 GMT - A hijacking attempt aboard an Air Algerie Boeing 737 failed Jan. 20. Three men demanding to speak to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika reportedly tried to hijack the aircraft as it was en route from Constantine to Algiers. The three were taken into custody when the plane landed in Algiers. 15:10 GMT - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has appointed retired army Gen. Lucas Rincon Romero as interior and justice minister, Union Radio network reports. Rincon formerly was the inspector-general of the Venezuelan armed forces before he retired in July 2002. Chavez also appointed Gen. Jorge Luis Garcia Carneiro as the new commander of the army.
20:49 GMT - British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon announced Jan. 20 that Britain will deploy 26,000 troops to the Persian Gulf region in preparation for possible military action against Iraq. The deployment, which will include 120 Challenger tanks and 150 Warrior armored personnel carriers, will take place in the coming weeks.
MINFRA officials visited both television stations at mid-day Jan. 20 to notify them of the administrative procedures -- which could lead to sanctions -- including permanent revocation of the broadcast concessions. As the MINFRA officials left Globovision, buses carrying hundreds of pro-regime civilian groups arrived and surrounded Globovision's facilities in Caracas. President Hugo Chavez has threatened several times recently to shut down the country's private television stations, which he accuses of conspiring to topple his regime.
Police officials told Union Radio that pro-Chavez civilian groups there had outnumbered the police, and that the Chavez supporters attacked the anti-Chavez protesters with handguns and rocks. National guard troops were brought in to restore order.
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