UN urges permanent cease-fire over Thai-Cambodian border dispute+ - RealClearPolitics

February 14, 2011 The Associated Press

(Kyodo) _ The U.N. Security Council expressed "grave concern" Monday over recent armed clashes between Cambodian and Thai forces at the border between the countries and called on both sides to establish a "permanent" cease-fire.

The council members "called on the two sides to display maximum restraint and avoid any action that may aggravate the situation" and "further urged the parties to establish a permanent cease-fire," said a statement issued after the day's closed-door meeting convened at the request of Cambodia.

The members also urged the two countries to "resolve the situation peacefully and through effective dialogue," according to the statement.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and their Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa, who was invited in his capacity as chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, met with the 15-member council.

"The Security Council meeting aimed at supporting bilateral efforts and regional efforts, mediation and facilitation efforts," Brazilian Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, who is serving as the council president of the month, told reporters.

She also gave the council's backing to an upcoming meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers slated for Feb. 22 in Jakarta to discuss the border conflict.

"The idea is to work in synergy with regional efforts and right now regional efforts are in full force," the president added.

Natalegawa emphasized the common goal of the council in seeking ways to ensure the resolution of the contentious issue "peacefully through dialogue and negotiations."

The ASEAN chairman said the situation must ultimately be solved by the two countries, but noted there was room for regional groups to help resolve the issue.

"Obviously this is a matter that will have to be resolved in the final analysis bilaterally between the two sides, but it does not mean that there is not a space and role for regional countries to play," he said.

After the meeting, Natalegawa said he felt "far more optimistic than I was before about where we were."

Thailand has accused Cambodia of trying to internationalize the bilateral dispute as Phnom Penh had sent a letter to the Security Council asking for it to convene an urgent meeting and to consider sending peacekeepers to the Thai-Cambodian border.

Bangkok had also sent to the council a letter regarding its position on the conflict over land surrounding the 11th-century Preah Vihear Temple, a World Heritage site that the international court in 1962 ruled belongs to Cambodia. Since it was registered as a World Heritage Site in 2008, several rounds of border clashes have occurred.

In remarks to the council, Hor Namhong called the attacks carried out Feb. 4 to 7 a "war of aggression against Cambodia committed by Thailand" and stressed the need to have U.N. observers, peacekeepers or at least a fact-finding mission to ensure no fresh hostilities begin.

He also claimed that the Thai side used cluster bombs despite a worldwide ban on the weapons.

"Of course we regret that the United Nations Security Council cannot send observers on the ground in order to guarantee a cease-fire, however, we agree with the press statement of the Security Council that the ASEAN chair, Indonesia, will play a very active role to help both parties to respect the cease-fire," the Cambodian foreign minister told reporters.

Denying that his country had used the cluster bombs and blaming the Cambodian side for provoking the attacks, Kasit also relayed the message that the issue was a bilateral one, which could be solved through time and political will.

Describing the issue as "a political problem" in his remarks to the council meeting, the Thai foreign minister said, "It will ultimately require political will on both sides to resolve it."

He also urged the council to back the continued bilateral process, which he said "can be strengthened by the support and encouragement from the ASEAN family."

At least eight people have so far been killed, nearly 100 others wounded and thousands of civilians displaced in the recent border row.

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Government contractors targeted Chamber of Commerce's critics - Los Angeles Times

Hoping to win a lucrative agreement with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, three data security contractors for federal defense and intelligence agencies developed a proposal to monitor and manipulate the chamber's left-leaning critics, according to recently released e-mail correspondence.

Employees of the firms compiled short dossiers on a few activists that included photographs, references to their families and charts of their relationships with other liberal and labor leaders.

A review of the correspondence, dating from late October through last week, suggested that the surveillance and intelligence gathering had begun only on a superficial basis in anticipation of a coming meeting with chamber officials.

The proposals were received by Hunton & Williams, a law firm that represents the chamber.

The firm, which also represents Bank of America, solicited a separate proposal from the security firms to help the bank deal with a threat by WikiLeaks, the international hacker organization, to release some of the bank's internal data.

Chamber officials as well as a spokesman for Bank of America said they knew nothing of the surveillance proposals until the e-mails were released Friday by Anonymous, a group that is sympathetic to WikiLeaks.

"No money, for any purpose, was paid to any of those three private security firms by the chamber, or by anyone on behalf of the chamber, including Hunton & Williams," the chamber said in a statement.

Hunton & Williams did not respond to requests for comment.

But in some of the e-mails, employees of the security firms and lawyers at Hunton & Williams refer to contacts they had made with the chamber about the proposed intelligence gathering.

The revelations in the e-mails triggered anxiety among some of those who were targeted.

"We are appalled at the allegations that have come to light in these e-mails," said Inga Skippings, communications director of the Service Employees International Union, some of whose allies were the subject of the intelligence gathering project. "The chamber should immediately come clean about its involvement with Hunton & Williams and the private security firms that allegedly planned these underhanded tactics."

ThinkProgress, an arm of the liberal Center for American Progress and a consistent critic of the chamber, first reported on the e-mails on its blog last week.

In a statement, the chamber accused its critics of "perpetrating a smear campaign by trying to create the illusion of a connection" between it and the security firms.

Officials for two of the security firms, Palantir Technologies and Berico Technologies, confirmed the authenticity of the e-mails sent by their employees but said top executives had no previous knowledge of them.

A spokeswoman for the third company, HBGary Federal, said executives could not address the details of the proposed work for Hunton & Williams, citing a nondisclosure agreement covering all parties.

Copies of the e-mails were provided to the Los Angeles Times by the labor and activist groups.

The correspondence shows that starting last fall, Hutton & Williams lawyers discussed with the security companies a project to be pitched to the chamber.

The three security firms, all of which are government contractors with secret clearances, proposed coming together as "Team Themis," apparently named after a Greek goddess of law and order, to monitor and possibly disrupt chamber opponents.

"Who better to develop a corporate information reconnaissance capability than companies that have been market leaders within the [Defense Department] and Intelligence Community," the companies wrote in a pitch to Hunton & Williams.

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Pittsburgh weather forces NHL to move Winter Classic to night - USA Today

PITTSBURGH — When it comes to NHL games, you win some, lose some and now some get postponed by rain.With weather forecasts calling for rain all day on New Year's Day, the NHL has moved the fourth annual Winter Classic outdoor game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET at Heinz Field. It will still be televised by NBC

"I don't care if they play at midnight," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Let's get going."

The AccuWeather.com forecast calls for a cloudy New Year's evening, with a gametime temperature of 41 degrees. There is no rain in the evening forecast.

That's a sharp contrast from the daytime forecast, which calls for rain from 4 a.m. until 6 p.m. There's a 24% chance of a thunderstorm.

A light rain will freeze quickly on the 22-degree ice, but a steady rain is dangerous because it creates pools of water and because it limits player visibility.

"It's the same risk for both teams," Boudreau said. "So if it was a gravel (surface) it wouldn't matter."

The decision on when to play is an important one for the NHL because the Winter Classic has become its best marketing day. The first three Winter Classics have drawn an average of 4 million television viewers. The game between Detroit and Chicago on Jan. 1, 2009, drew 4.4 million viewers, which made it the most watched NHL regular-season game in 35 years.

This will be the first primetime airing for the Winter Classic

"It would be a shame not to have a game this weekend," said Pittsburgh Penguins owner Mario Lemieux.

The NHL wanted the Washington vs. Pittsburgh matchup because the teams have a rivalry and Pittsburgh's captain Sidney Crosby and Washington's Alex Ovechkin are considered the NHL's top two players. The HBO reality series "24/7" has added more hype to the game.

"When you walked in here today. You saw thousands of people in the stands," Boudreau said. "You look at the enormity of the building and you go, 'Wow, this is going to be a real cool event.' "

Added Boudreau: "We're thinking in the room, when they have the Super Bowl and they've got a week of this before the buildup, I can't imagine."

Should the NHL not be able to hold an official game (at least two full periods) Saturday, the Winter Classic will be held Sunday (noon, NBC). The stadium is available because the Pittsburgh Steelers are playing in Cleveland.

But the Sunday scenario is far less appealing because the NHL would have to compete against NFL games instead of bowl games for viewers.

"Whatever the scenario is, we have all been pretty open minded to whatever happens," Crosby said. "We should be all enjoying ourselves not matter what scenario."

The teams will switch ends in the middle of the third period to assure fairness in dealing with the weather conditions.

Said Crosby: "I think everyone is ready for whatever comes."

An alumni game, plus Capitals and Penguins practices, were all held on the ice Friday with temperatures around 50 degrees.

"The ice was great," said Lemieux, who played in the alumni game. "A couple times in the neutral zone there was a little puddle, but they came out and fixed it."

The ice actually received mixed reviews. "Not too bad, what you would expect on a sheet on a football field," said Pittsburgh defenseman Alex Goligoski.

Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said the ice was soft, but the puck moved surprisingly well on it.

"The guys commented that, given the conditions, it was better than we thought it would be," Bylsma said. "… they were passing it fine."

Bylsma did note that goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said his slide across the crease was different because of the weather conditions.

But Bylsma said he felt like the conditions were good enough to play.

"It was an exciting day," he said. "I put it up there with a lot of my best experiences in hockey."

The Caps practiced last and found the conditions less than ideal. "The ice was not that good, but we have 24 hours," said Washington's Alex Ovechkin.

In the only competition news of the day, Bylsma said Jordan Staal's status will be a gametime decision. Staal has been practicing, but hasn't played this season because of injuries.

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