FPI Overnight Brief

FPI Overnight Brief
March 19, 2010

Russia

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russia’s foreign minister clashed publicly Thursday over an announcement that Russia would complete a nuclear power plant in Iran this summer. Mrs. Clinton said the announcement, made during her visit, sends the wrong signal at a time when the West is trying to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. The foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, countered that construction on the plant would go ahead. The very public disagreement, at a news conference here, comes at a delicate moment for the administration, as it struggles to win support for tough new sanctions against Iran and to improve still tentative relations with Russia…Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin made the announcement on the much delayed power plant, near the Iranian city of Bushehr, earlier Thursday, just as Mrs. Clinton arrived for talks about Iran, the Middle East and a new arms control agreement. When Mrs. Clinton was asked about the announcement at the news conference, she said, “We think it would be premature to go forward with any project at this time, because we want to send an unequivocal message to the Iranians.” Mr. Lavrov responded unequivocally, saying, “The project will be completed.” A senior American official sought to play down this latest dispute, saying he did not believe that Mr. Putin intended to embarrass Mrs. Clinton. – New York Times

On January 26, two bulky men walked into the offices of the New Times, a Moscow opposition weekly, with a story to tell. It was sensational. They were soldiers of Russia’s elite Omon police, entrusted with the most difficult police work in the country – guarding officials, storming hideouts of organised crime gangs, and riot control. But something had gone terribly wrong in their once proud force. They spoke openly, for two hours, about corruption and criminality in their ranks. They had become a gang for hire. Their battalion organised and guarded prostitution rings, they said. They acted as private bodyguards for a Georgian “thief in law”, or organised crime boss. For 50,000 roubles, a detachment from their unit would take over business premises on a trumped up pretext, a practice called reiderstvo – raiding, in Russian. A lieutenant had been dismissed from the force after he refused an illegal order to disperse a legal demonstration protesting at the construction of a Moscow open air market. They were “slaves”, the officers said; their bosses took pay-offs for using the unit on private functions, often illegal ones. “The battalion had become a structure for making money,” said one. The story has electrified Russia’s political circles. Police corruption is well known to most Russians used to paying bribes to get out of traffic tickets or worse. Police can be hired to do everything from guard sausage kiosks to carry out assassinations. – Financial Times

U.S. and Russian negotiators are "at the finish line" in negotiating a major agreement to cut the number of nuclear warheads each side has deployed against the other, with just one or two issues left to resolve, officials said Thursday. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Russian foreign minister said after talks [in Moscow] that they awaited word soon from negotiators in Geneva who have been working 18-hour days to wrap up the agreement. The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) is a top priority of President Obama, who initially had pledged to finish it by last year. Obama spoke by phone with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last weekend to iron out remaining obstacles, giving new momentum to the talks, officials said. – Washington Post

Senator John McCain says: “A Russian government that better protects the human dignity of its people would be more inclined to deal with its neighbors in peace and mutual respect. And that is why we should all say a silent prayer and a public word of support for Russia’s courageous human rights activists, as they make their voices heard this Saturday. These brave men and women want the best for their country. They want a government that is not only strong but just, peaceful, inclusive, and democratic. I urge Russia’s leaders to recognize that peaceful champions of universal values are not a threat to Russia, and that groups like this should not face the kinds of violence, repression, and intimidation that Russian authorities have used against similar demonstrators in the past. The eyes of the world will be watching.” - McCain’s Senate Office

Iran

A former Iranian vice president and prominent reform activist convicted of spreading propaganda against the ruling clerical establishment has begun a one-year prison sentence, a close relative said Friday. An appeals court upheld Hossein Marashi's conviction and sentence on Wednesday, one of many court rulings against activists and opposition figures rounded up in the turmoil triggered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in June. The prosecutions have dealt a major blow to a protest movement that was already hard to sustain with security forces delivering a punishing response at each attempt to rally support on the streets…Marashi was one of 10 vice presidents under Mohammad Khatami, whose agenda of greater political and social freedoms was largely blocked by hard-liners during his two terms as president, from 1997 to 2005. Security forces took Marashi into custody on Thursday evening while he was walking in a park near his home, said the relative, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was afraid of government retribution for talking to a journalist about the case. – Washington Post

At a time when the Obama administration is pressing for harsher sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program, democracy advocates in Iran have been celebrating the recent decision by the United States to lift sanctions on various online services, which they say only helped Tehran to suppress the opposition. But it is still a long way from the activists’ goal of lifting all restrictions on trade in Internet services, which opposition leaders say is vital to maintaining the open communications that have underpinned the protests that erupted last summer after the disputed presidential election. In recent months the government has carried out cyberwarfare against the opposition, eliminating virtually all sources of independent news and information and shutting down social networking services. The sanctions against online services — provided through free software like Google Chat or Yahoo Messenger — were intended to restrict Iran’s ability to develop nuclear technology, but democracy advocates say they ended up helping the government repress its people. “The policies were contradictory,” said Ali Akbar Moussavi Khoini, a former member of Parliament who now lives in Washington, where he pressed for the change. The new measure will enable users in Iran to download the latest circumvention software to help defeat the government’s efforts to block Web sites, and to stop relying on pirated copies that can be far more easily hacked by the government. But the government’s opponents say they need still more help in getting around the government’s information roadblocks. “The Islamic Republic is very efficient in limiting people’s access to these sources, and Iranian people need major help,” said Mehdi Yahyanejad, the founder of one of the largest Persian-language social networking Web sites, the United States-based Balatarin. “We need some 50 percent of people to be able to access independent news sources other than the state-controlled media.” – New York Times

Satellite images of a missile launch site discovered in Semnan, a province in northern Iran, suggest North Korea is aiding Iran’s missile program, according to London defense intelligence group IHS Jane’s. The defense group’s assessment of recent satellite images revealed that the Semnan site “appears midway towards completion” and demonstrates “the likelihood of collaboration with North Korea in Iran’s missile programme.” The report continued: “The platforms seen on the new gantry tower resemble those seen on the gantry tower at North Korea’s new launch pad at Tongchang. A drainage pit 170m directly in front of the pad also mirrors one at Pyongyang’s new west-coast launch site.”…IHS Jane’s report concluded “that given these investments in its missile infrastructure, and despite the United States attempting to garner support for further sanctions against Iran for its nuclear programme, Tehran appears determined to continue developing its missile and rocket capabilities in the foreseeable future.” – Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance

Goli Ameri writes: Last year on March 19, U.S. President Barack Obama extended a hand to the Iranian leadership on the occasion of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year. That outreach failed to unclench Tehran's fists. This year the President should speak directly to the people of Iran, America's most potent allies. – Wall Street Journal (Subscription Required)

Israel

In an effort to defuse a bitter spat with the United States, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday night to propose confidence-building measures to get Middle East peace talks back on track, U.S. and Israeli officials said. Netanyahu's proposals, while not immediately disclosed, were sufficient for the Obama administration to say that it would send special envoy George J. Mitchell back to the region on Sunday in a bid to start indirect talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Mitchell's planned trip this week was scrubbed as the Obama administration awaited Netanyahu's response to Clinton's blistering 45-minute call to the Israeli prime minister last Friday. But the administration pointedly did not embrace Netanyahu's ideas either. "We are going to review the Prime Minister's response and continue our discussions with both sides to keep proximity talks moving forward," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in a statement issued from Moscow, where Clinton is meeting with Russian officials. – Washington Post

A poll shows an overwhelming majority of Israelis think President Barack Obama is fair and friendly toward Israel, despite a grave diplomatic feud with the U.S. over east Jerusalem construction. Israelis are sending mixed signals about their own leader, however. The poll shows 36 percent of those questioned think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is best suited to lead Israel, versus 26 percent for his closest challenger, opposition leader Tzipi Livni. Another survey shows Livni would overtake Netanyahu if elections were held today. The polls show between 41 and 46 percent of Israelis would freeze construction in Jerusalem's disputed eastern sector, the issue at the heart of the U.S.-Israeli row. But about half object to a freeze. – Associated Press

The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Thursday against two firms in Gaza -- Islamic National Bank and Al-Aqsa Television -- for their ties to the ruling Hamas movement. The Treasury said the sanctions prohibit Americans from transactions with the entities and seek to freeze any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction. The Treasury lists Hamas, which rules Gaza, as a "specially designated global terrorist" organization. It said the sanctions were imposed against Islamic National Bank, opened by Hamas in April 2009, for providing financial services to Hamas members and employees, including members of its military wing. The Treasury said the bank lacks a legal license from the Palestinian Monetary Authority and operates outside the legitimate financial system. In May 2009, the Treasury said Hamas' finance office in Gaza moved 1.1 million euros into the Islamic National Bank and used the funds to pay salaries of Hamas military wing members who held accounts at the bank. The Treasury said Al-Aqsa Television station is financed and controlled by Hamas and serves as a primary Hamas media outlet that airs programs "designed to recruit children to become Hamas armed fighters and suicide bombers upon reaching adulthood." - Reuters

Jake Tapper reports: Vice President Biden said the United States and Israel need to “get over” the latest flare-up in tensions and insisted that the essential elements of the relationship between the two nations remain the same. “Israel's security is undeniably in our interest to make sure it is absolutely secure,” the vice president said in our exclusive interview in Durham, NC. Biden called the Israeli’s announcement of new settlements last week “provocative” and said it was “obviously designed by some in Israel to undermine a peace process George Mitchell finally got -- our negotiator – finally got back on track.” “And so the message is we've got to get over this. Granted, I condemn the announcement made by that planning council,” he said. “And by -- the irony is, even that planning council acknowledging not a single new unit can be built at least for a year and maybe never will be built. It was provocative.” - Political Punch

Charles Krauthammer writes: In these long and bloody 63 years, the Palestinians have not once accepted an Israeli offer of permanent peace, or ever countered with anything short of terms that would destroy Israel. They insist instead on a "peace process" -- now in its 17th post-Oslo year and still offering no credible Palestinian pledge of ultimate coexistence with a Jewish state -- the point of which is to extract preemptive Israeli concessions, such as a ban on Jewish construction in parts of Jerusalem conquered by Jordan in 1948, before negotiations for a real peace have even begun. Under Obama, Netanyahu agreed to commit his center-right coalition to acceptance of a Palestinian state; took down dozens of anti-terror roadblocks and checkpoints to ease life for the Palestinians; assisted West Bank economic development to the point where its gross domestic product is growing at an astounding 7 percent a year; and agreed to the West Bank construction moratorium, a concession that Secretary Clinton herself called "unprecedented." What reciprocal gesture, let alone concession, has Abbas made during the Obama presidency? Not one. – Washington Post

Max Boot writes: Suicide bombers are not going to be converted into McDonald's franchisees by an Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Even if a deal were reached with the Palestinian Authority, it would be denounced as illegitimate by radical Muslims. They can only be defeated by changing the poisonous dynamic of the societies that breed them. That is what President Bush began to do, however clumsily, in Afghanistan and Iraq. If Obama is serious about reducing the threat against the U.S., he should do more to support peaceful opposition groups in Syria and Iran -- states that actually help to kill American troops. Instead, he's picking on the only state in the region that's consistently on our side. – Los Angeles Times

Elliot Abrams writes: Among the errors by the administration is the assertion that unless all construction freezes, there can be no negotiations. There were face-to-face peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians year after year while construction took place in settlements and in Jerusalem, so this is a new demand and a new obstacle to peace. Negotiations are not a favor the Palestinians bestow on us or on Israel; they are the path to the statehood the Palestinian Authority claims is its right and its goal. It appears the United States and Israel are divided over all this now because the Obama administration is imposing new demands on Israel, and building tensions in the bilateral relationship, in an effort to destabilize the governing coalition in Israel. It is a shameful way to treat an ally.

FPI Director Dan Senor adds: The unauthorized announcement by an Israeli minister to build new housing units in the Jerusalem area was a diplomatic bumble. But the Obama administration's decision to "condemn" this mistake was a much larger blunder. The problem is not this particular flap, which will pass, but the underlying misunderstanding that our government's outburst reflects…It should be no surprise that when the United States distances itself from Israel it does not win influence with the Arab world. What happens is the opposite: The Arab world follows suit and backs away from the peace process and Israel – Council on Foreign Relations

Afghanistan

The arrests of top Taliban figures in Pakistan abruptly halted secret U.N. contacts with the insurgency at a time when the efforts were gathering momentum, the U.N.'s former envoy to Afghanistan said Friday. Kai Eide, a Norwegian diplomat who just stepped down from the U.N. post here in the Afghan capital, said the discussions that he and others from the U.N. had with senior Taliban members began in the spring of 2009 and included face-to-face conversations in Dubai and elsewhere. He criticized Pakistan for arresting the Taliban's No. 2 and other members of the insurgency, saying the Pakistanis surely knew the roles these figures had in efforts to find a political resolution to the 8-year-old war. Pakistan denies the arrests were linked to reconciliation talks. "There was an increase in intensity of contacts, but this process came to a halt following the arrests that took place in Pakistan," Eide told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his home outside Oslo. – Associated Press

Michael D. Furlong, the senior Defense Department employee under investigation for allegedly running an unauthorized intelligence-gathering operation in Afghanistan, says his now-suspended program was fully authorized by top U.S. military commanders. According to Furlong, the program, which began in late 2008, was requested by Army Gen. David D. McKiernan, the former top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and approved by the U.S. Central Command. In an interview with the San Antonio Express News published Thursday, he said McKiernan asked him to provide information "that would enhance our . . . understanding of the environment" in the Afghanistan and Pakistan war zones. He denied misusing any U.S. contract funds...Most of the contractors hired by Furlong for the $24.8 million program -- one of the military's many "information operations" programs in the region -- were, like Furlong, Special Operations retirees. Revelations about the program have exposed what the official called a months-long "food fight" between the contractors and some segments of the military on one side and the CIA and military intelligence and Special Operations forces on the other, over the dividing line between intelligence and "information." – Washington Post

The War

The terrorist organization al-Qaeda has not ceased its efforts to acquire a nuclear bomb or other unconventional weapons to use in a strike against the United States, FBI Director Robert Mueller told lawmakers yesterday. "Al-Qaeda remains committed to its goal of conducting attacks inside the United States," Mueller warned a House Appropriations subcommittee, according to Newsmax. "Further, al-Qaeda’s continued efforts to access chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear material pose a serious threat to the United States." Mueller noted that a 2008 National Intelligence Estimate "concluded that it remains the intent of terrorist adversaries to seek the means and capability to use WMD against the United States at home and abroad." He also pointed to the conclusions of the December 2008 report by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism that "the risks are growing faster than our multilayered defenses". – Global Security Newswire

By early 2008, top U.S. military officials had become convinced that extremists planning attacks on American forces in Iraq were making use of a Web site set up by the Saudi government and the CIA to uncover terrorist plots in the kingdom…Elite U.S. military computer specialists, over the objections of the CIA, mounted a cyberattack that dismantled the online forum. Although some Saudi officials had been informed in advance about the Pentagon's plan, several key princes were "absolutely furious" at the loss of an intelligence-gathering tool, according to another former U.S. official. Four former senior U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss classified operations, said the creation and shutting down of the site illustrate the need for clearer policies governing cyberwar. The use of computers to gather intelligence or to disrupt the enemy presents complex questions: When is a cyberattack outside the theater of war allowed? Is taking out an extremist Web site a covert operation or a traditional military activity? Should Congress be informed? – Washington Post

The Pentagon allowed five captured al Qaeda members currently held at the Guantanamo Bay prison to use laptop computers in detention, raising concerns among security officials that the terrorism suspects could pass sensitive data to terrorists in the future, according to U.S. officials. The computers, without Internet access, were provided to Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other suspected 9/11 conspirators at the prison at the U.S. naval base in Cuba after approval by senior Pentagon officials in September 2008. The battery-powered laptops were kept in the detainees' cell areas, and limitations on their use were imposed, defense officials said. The practice continued until January, when charges against the five were temporarily dropped after Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced the men would be tried in civilian court, not by military commission. Mr. Holder then backed off plans to hold trials in federal court in New York City and said this week that a decision on where to conduct the trials is expected in the coming weeks. In addition to Mohammed, the other al Qaeda members who were given computers were Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi. The computer access was granted by Guantanamo authorities before an Oct. 6, 2008, ruling by Marine Corps Col. Ralph H. Kohlmann, a military judge, that formally granted the five terrorism suspect the right to use computers, said Col. Les Melnyk, a Pentagon spokesman. – Washington Times

Iraq

Stephen Glain writes: Iraq's revival as a prominent oil exporter is bound to reshuffle a careful power balance in the energy-rich Arab world, particularly between bitter rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran. Saddam Hussein's 2003 toppling created a vacuum that both sides rushed to fill, for example deploying proxy forces at the height of Iraq's sectarian civil war. OPEC is another battlefield for the Saudi-Iran rivalry, and the Saudi kingdom is in no hurry to lose its uncontested status as No. 1. Now, as Iraq stabilizes politically and slowly rebuilds its oil-production capacity, both sides will have to accommodate a more assertive Baghdad. Even if oil production doesn't reach the Iraqis' goal, it will likely be higher than the approximately 1.7 million barrels per day that Iraq was producing just prior to the U.S. invasion. – Foreign Policy

Turkey

Turkish police on Thursday rounded up at least 20 people suspected of being part of an underground network that allegedly conspired to topple the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The sweep that targeted the Ergenekon network spanned eight provinces and included the detention of at least one active-duty military officer and one retired officer, Turkish news media reported. The detentions came a month after 50 senior retired and active military officers were detained on suspicion of participating in a 2003 coup plot…More than 200 people have been arrested in connection with Ergenekon, prompting the European Union to warn Turkey last month "not to allow legal proceedings to be used as a pretext to exert undue pressure on critical journalists, academics, or opposition politicians." – Washington Post

North Korea

South Korea is phasing out sand imports from North Korea, delivering a heavy blow to the impoverished regime which is already reeling economically because of confiscated arms shipments and bungled currency reforms. Sand was the biggest export to South Korea from the north in 2008, earning Pyongyang $73m. This represents about twice as much as it gains annually from wages at factories in Kaesong, a cross-border industrial zone for South Korean companies…Although it could have a profound political impact, South Korean officials insist that the move has been taken because Seoul is increasingly dredging its own sand domestically…Officials admit that South Korea has long worried that money paid for sand goes to the military, but its own increased dredging and the impending conclusion of numerous outstanding contracts have now given it the opportunity to end the trade. Still, economic instability and lack of funds in North Korea pose risks for Seoul, which is keenly aware of the potential dangers of economic implosion in the north. Losing the sand trade would compound economic woes for Pyongyang, which in addition to reeling from arms seizures is also suffering the fall-out from a bungled currency revaluation that sparked food shortages and inflation. – Financial Times

A North Korean colonel who spent two decades going on European shopping sprees for his country's rulers said Thursday the late dictator Kim Il-sung lived in luxury while many people struggled to survive in his impoverished communist nation. Kim Jong Ryul, who spent 16 years under cover in Austria, also described how the "great leader" and his son and successor Kim Jong-il spent millions pampering and protecting themselves with Western goods - everything from luxury cars, carpets and exotic foods, to gold-plated handguns and monitors that can detect heartbeats of people hiding behind walls. The colonel's account - told in a new book by Austrian journalists Ingrid Steiner-Gashi and Dardan Gashi - shows the deep divide between the lifestyles of the North Korean leadership and their citizens, who sometimes must subsist eating tree bark, knowing they will be sent to labor camps if they criticize the government. Kim Jong Ryul said this injustice was what motivated him in October 1994 to fake his death at the end of one of his trips and start a new, secret life in Austria in the hope that the oppressive regime would crumble within years. – Washington Times

China

A secret experiment allowing families in a rural Chinese county to have two children could herald the beginning of a social revolution after years of the notorious one-child-only rule. It has emerged that, 25 years ago, Beijing secretly authorised a pilot project in Yicheng county, 560 miles (900km) southwest of the capital, in which families would be allowed to have a maximum of two children if they adhered to certain conditions. Details of the experiment were reported for the first time in the Southern Weekend newspaper in Guangzhou — and the results are sure to call into question the viability of the official family planning policy. According to the paper, the population of the county has grown over the 25-year period of the scheme by 20.7 per cent, which is nearly five percentage points lower than the national average, despite families being allowed two children. The experiment also appears to have redressed the imbalance between male and female births in China: the national average is 118 males to every 100 females, but in Yicheng the ratio was in line with the natural norm at 106 to 100. Given China’s growing population imbalance as a result of its low fertility rate — which is expected to cause the working age population to peak in 2015 and plunge by 2050 — and the unexpected results of the experiment, it is no surprise that influential voices have welcomed the findings. Liang Zhongtang, who designed the programme, believes that the draconian one-child policy has served its purpose. “Under natural conditions, with no family planning policy, the birthrate would drop faster than with strict restrictions,” he said. Zou Xuejin, of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, has also called for a relaxation of the official family planning policy. – Times of London

China has told Australian diplomats they will not be given access to part of the trial of an Australian employee of Rio Tinto charged with commercial spying, Canberra said on Friday. Australia has registered its "disappointment" with Beijing over the ruling but will not make further attempts to allow officials access, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. The case threatens to re-ignite tensions, but Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said earlier it would not damage trade relations. "If there were links, you would have expected the trade had fallen, yet last year China became our largest trading partner The two matters are separate," Crean told Australian radio. "We've never sought to make any link and neither have the Chinese in their discussions with us," Crean said. - Reuters

Jerome Cohen and Beth Schwanke write: Regardless of where Mr. Gao is or of any new alleged conviction, the Chinese government must follow its own law and release him because his detention violates its own criminal procedures. Beyond violations of procedural law, however, the government’s misconduct violates his rights guaranteed both by the Chinese Constitution and international law. To punish Mr. Gao for joining a religious minority would itself be a violation of his fundamental rights; to punish him for “subversion” for merely representing religious minorities as a lawyer amounts to jailing a criminal defense lawyer for the crimes his clients allegedly committed. Perhaps, given the Chinese government’s flagrant disregard of its own law, a call for his release seems pointless. So, we instead also ask the government to do something much easier — produce Mr. Gao to an impartial observer, such as an official from the United Nations or the International Committee of the Red Cross, to verify his well-being, provide details of Mr. Gao’s alleged conviction for “subversion,” and provide family access. – International Herald Tribune

NPR

The Obama administration has further pushed back the planned release of a forthcoming U.S. nuclear weapons policy review to permit further consideration of the document's content, a U.S. Defense Department official told lawmakers Tuesday. The pending Nuclear Posture Review would be unveiled within one month, Principal Deputy Defense Undersecretary James Miller said. The report was originally slated for publication last December, then pushed back to March 1 and then delayed again. “The Nuclear Posture Review will be a foundational document for this administration,” Miller told a House Armed Services Committee panel. Some goals established in the document are already reflected in the Obama administration's fiscal 2011 budget request, which would continue to fund a "triad" of nuclear-capable bombers, missiles and submarines while boosting spending on certain nuclear-weapon laboratory projects in California and Tennessee, he noted. The National Nuclear Security Administration would receive a 13-percent boost in funding, with some of the extra money intended for operations to maintain the nation's nuclear arsenal. – Global Security Newswire

Americas

A group of 200 U.S. federal, state and local law-enforcement agents on Thursday questioned members of a dangerous El Paso, Texas, gang authorities say they believe may have been involved in the killings of three people linked to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. The investigation, aimed at a gang called Barrio Azteca, was meant to "generate any leads and intelligence that we can gather on the [consular] murders and on vicious activity on both sides of the border," said Rusty Payne, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington. Mr. Payne said the El Paso gang had been targeted because of their "significant knowledge and possible involvement" in the killings. Authorities questioned around 100 members of the gang in the field, said Andrea Simmons, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, at the El Paso office. Some arrests were made, but only in relation to outstanding warrants and no gang members were brought in for direct involvement in the killings, she said. – Wall Street Journal

International donors are aiming to provide $3.8 billion over 18 months to help Haiti rebuild after its January 12 earthquake, according to officials and experts preparing a high-level donors conference. The initial short-term target figure came in a statement released late on Wednesday after a two-day meeting in the Dominican Republic of representatives of Haiti's government, donor nations, multilateral lenders, U.N. agencies and aid groups. The preparatory meeting, ahead of a scheduled March 31 donors conference in New York, set out the broad outlines of a reconstruction strategy for the Caribbean nation whose economy and infrastructure were decimated by the quake. - Reuters

Now that the need for urgent care has subsided and this island nation has faded from headlines, fewer foreign health professionals are flocking here. Groups that dispatch medical teams are attracting fewer donations from Europeans and Americans. "This is a concern we had: The minute Haiti went off the news, people would forget about it," Dr. Kang says. Haiti officials now are tasked with rebuilding a health-care system of their own. An assessment prepared by foreign experts for the U.N., World Bank and Haiti government, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, calls for a system that guarantees universal access to primary care, quality services and essential medication. It recommends "massive investment" in training for Haitian medical professionals and decentralization of care, which has been concentrated in the capital while neglecting the rest of the country. – Wall Street Journal

Burma/Myanmar

Myanmar's ruling military junta decided to release a naturalized American citizen from prison because of its friendship with the U.S. government, state media said Friday. Nyi Nyi Aung, a pro-democracy activist originally from Myanmar, was freed Thursday, a month after a court sentenced him to three years in prison with hard labor. The New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a mouthpiece for the junta, said the government pardoned and deported Nyi Nyi Aung after giving "special consideration to bilateral friendship in accordance with the request made by the U.S. State Department" to free him… The United States recently modified its strict policy of isolating the junta in the hope that increased engagement would encourage change. However, the Obama administration has said it will not lift sanctions on Myanmar unless its sees concrete progress toward democratic reform. – Associated Press

Ethnic rebels killed 20 Myanmar troops in an ambush aimed at deterring the military government from launching an offensive against them ahead of elections this year, a rebel spokesman said on Friday. The incident took place on March 13 in Nam Zam township of Shan State, a remote region bordering Thailand and China under control of armed ethnic Chinese groups for decades. Troops were ambushed by rebels from the southern wing of the Shan State Army (SSA), spokesman Sao Lao Seng said by telephone. The firefight lasted about three hours and no rebel troops were killed, he said, adding it was the third such clash this year. "The ambush was planned after the regime has been threatening to launch offensives against us," he said. Eight soldiers were wounded. The report could not be immediately verified. Myanmar's state newspapers, mouthpieces for the media-shy junta, have made no mention of the incident. - Reuters

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