OYO: PEACE AT LAST

| 1 June 2012 Last updated at 13:31 CET
OYO: PEACE AT LAST

The difficulties of the new administration in Oyo State were well articulated by the one woman who should know at the end of the first 100 days. The governor's wife, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, speaking at a thanksgiving service to mark the first 100 days of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN administration said: 'Ordinarily, the beginning of everything is always challenging. But the first hundred days of this administration have been very challenging.'

Mrs. Ajimobi said she noted the challenges from natural disasters among other issues that encumbered the first days in office of the new administration. Though it was never expected to be easy given the milieu of violence and political antagonism that preceded the advent of the new administration.

The opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has predictably scored the Ajimobi administration low saying through one of its new groups, the PDP Synergy Group, that the ACN government is in slumber. It cited the administration's difficulties in managing the Ibadan flood disaster as its yardstick.

The group in a statement issued by Prince Dotun Oyelade and Morounkola Thomas pointed at what they described as the the 'callous neglect of flood disaster victims numbering over a hundred thousand across the state and in Ibadan' as a basis of their claim that the Ajimobi administration is without vision.

Senator Abiola Ajimobi
However, their claim remarkably is not wholly adopted within the PDP family given the other measure of performance by some PDP chieftains. Dr. Dejo Raimi, a staunch loyalist of the immediate past PDP governor, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala has cited the restoration of peace to the state as a notable achievement even going as far as disagreeing with the PDP Synergy Group as he maintained that Ajimobi was prompt in his response to the Ibadan flood disaster of last year. Indeed, the assertions of the PDP Synergy Group were countered by the Oyo Patriotic Front through its Chairman, Chief Lare Adepoju.

He noted: 'It is unthinkable that these major actors of a profligate administration that ran Oyo State aground and left nothing but ruins could now constitute themselves into opposition and advocates of good governance,'just as he reminded the former governor and his cohorts that if they had performed wonders while in office they would not have been shoved out of office.

Adepoju said: 'It is regrettable that Oyo, which had been ruled by the likes of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola, Chief Bola Ige and Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, was relegated to a state where violence, brigandage and unprecedented corruption reigned supreme.

Indeed, peace which was almost totally elusive in the last four years of the PDP regime has been restored to the state. Not even critics and political opponents of the governor would disagree with the total peace that the state now enjoys.

'It is a big surprise that the violent activities of members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the state have been effectively tackled. For several years, the violent tendencies of NURTW members became an albatross for successive governments in the state.

'Besides the dividend of peace, the governor after some initial lethargy has moved on to the development of physical infrastructure and development of job creation schemes. About six months after he was inaugurated, the governor launched the Oyo Youth Employment Scheme popularly known as O-YES through which 20,000 persons were immediately recruited into various sectors of the state's public service.

'A free health scheme has also been launched for all citizens of the state in the state's health facilities, construction of a N2.13billion overhead bridge at Mokola Roundabout has been inaugurated, construction of a new five-star hotel to boost tourism was flagged off last week and with these the initial scepticism that almost clouded the initial euphoria of the coming of the Ajimobi administration has started to clear.

'It gives hope that beyond the remarkable peace that is the hallmark of the governor's first year, that much more could come from the Ajimobi administration in its second year.'

Syria: Kofi Annan warns that peace plan will not be available 'forever'

Kofi Annan gave warning that his peace plan for Syria would not be available "forever" after the massacre of another 12 people was disclosed. 

By Ruth Sherlock, Beirut and David Blair

4:56PM BST 01 Jun 2012

Mr Annan, a former United Nations secretary general, has devised a six-point plan that commands overwhelming international support and the verbal commitment of both President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian rebels.

Yet Mr Annan candidly admitted that the UN Security Council might choose to call off his efforts, adding that he was "more frustrated" than anyone by the failure to implement his plan.

A pro-regime militia killed 12 factory workers on Thursday after forcing them off a bus in the western village of Qusair, according to opposition activists. Video footage released by Mr Assad's opponents showed the disfigured bodies of 12 people who appear to have been shot in the head or stomach at close range.

This bloodshed followed the deaths of at least 108 people, 49 of them children, in the massacre in Houla last Friday. The opposition blamed both incidents on the "al-Shabiha", a pro-regime militia recruited exclusively from Mr Assad's minority Alawite sect.

However, the regime accused Syrian rebels of carrying out the Houla killings, allegedly with the aim of triggering foreign military intervention.

The latest report of a massacre has not yet been independently verified. But the United Nations has deployed 290 observers in the country to monitor compliance with a ceasefire required under Mr Annan's plan. These outside observers have verified previous claims of mass killings, notably the deaths in Houla.
The UN Human Rights Council met in emergency session in Geneva to discuss the situation in Syria. Navi Pillay, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the Houla massacre "may amount to crimes against humanity". She added that all sides in the conflict should support the Annan plan "otherwise, the situation in Syria might descend into a full-fledged conflict and the future of the country, as well as the region as a whole could be in grave danger".
Speaking in Beirut, Mr Annan called for "bold action" by "President Assad and the Syrian government to put real energy into the implementation of the six-point plan." He added: "This is not something that can go on forever. It is essential that he [Mr Assad] shows determination and sends a signal for his people and international community that he is determined to implement the plan and move ahead in terms of peace."
Mr Annan, who met the Syrian president in Damascus on Monday, said: "I know we are all impatient; we are all frustrated by the violence, by the killings. So am I. I think I am probably more frustrated than any of you because I am in the thick of things and would really want to see things move much faster than it has done."
Mr Annan declined to say what might lead him formally to declare the failure of his plan. But he made clear that the Security Council could decide to abandon his effort.
"When we are dealing with these sorts of issues, it is not a simple issue of drawing red lines, and the Council and the countries involved will have to keep working together to find a solution," he said.
"If it is not this proposal on the table, there could be something else. I am not one of those that believe there is only one way; there could be other ways. And if other proposals are on the table, I am sure the Councils will look at them and I will be the first to say 'bravo, let's move with it'."
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, yesterday insisted that a political solution in Syria was still possible and rejected assertions Moscow was supporting President Assad. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, retorted that "the continued supply of arms from Russia... has raised serious concerns."

 

Behind the U.S. cyber attacks on Iran

Published: Friday, June 01, 2012, 1:00 PM     Updated: Friday, June 01, 2012, 1:25 PM

 

 

Iranian President's Office / AP PhotoIn this April 8, 2008 file photo, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, visits the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility some 200 miles south of the capital Tehran.

By Megha Rajagopalan, ProPublica
This morning, The New York Times published a report detailing how the Bush and Obama administrations created the cyberweapon known as Stuxnet and used it to disrupt Iran's uranium enrichment program.
Much has been written about Stuxnet, which, as ProPublica recently reported, remains a threat beyond Iran. But the Times account, based on interviews with unnamed U.S. and Israeli officials, is the most extensive account to date of U.S. cyberwarfare cababilities. Here's our cheat sheet on what's new and the fallout:

• Because of Stuxnet's complexity, cybersecurity analysts have long suspected it was a U.S.-Israeli effort. The Times story confirms this for the first time, disclosing that the project was code-named "Olympic Games."
• Olympic Games began under the Bush administration, and during development, it was known as "the bug."
• President Obama has repeatedly expressed concern that if the U.S. acknowledges it is behind Stuxnet, it would give terrorists and enemy states a justification for their own attacks.
• Stuxnet was introduced into Iran's enrichment facility at Natanz by an unwitting Iranian. "It turns out there is always an idiot around who doesn't think much about the thumb drive in their hand," a source told the Times.
• To test the bug in secret Department of Energy labs, the U.S. used aging centrifuges handed over in 2003 by Libyan dictator Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, making them into replicas of the nuclear enrichment facilities Iran used.
• The attack on Iran became the first known instance of the U.S. using computer code to physically damage another country's infrastructure. Obama, the Times writes, "was acutely aware that with every attack he was pushing the United States into new territory, much as his predecessors had with the first use of atomic weapons in the 1940s, of intercontinental missiles in the 1950s and of drones in the past decade."
• The Israeli role in the attack came from a military unit called Unit 8200 that had "technical expertise that rivaled" the U.S. National Security Agency's as well as significant intelligence about Iran's nuclear facilities.
• When a programming error made Stuxnet's code public in 2010, Obama considered halting Olympic Games altogether. But in the end, the administration decided to accelerate the attacks.
• It's unclear who was responsible for the programming error, but some in the Obama administration blamed the Israelis. The Times names Vice President Joe Biden:  "Mr. Biden fumed. ‘It's got to be the Israelis,' he said. ‘They went too far.' "
• American officials claim that Flame, an even more complex piece of computer malware that has also attacked Iranian infrastructure, is not part of Olympic Games — but they didn't explicitly deny it was an American project.
• Opinion is divided as to whether Olympic Games was successful in slowing uranium enrichment in Iran. Administration officials said they had set the Iranians back 18 months to two years, but other experts say enrichment levels quickly recovered and that Iran today has enough fuel for five or more weapons.

The Obama administration has long emphasized the importance of domestic cybersecurity, but recent statements show an increasing openness about offensive capabilities. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged last month that government hackers had attacked Al Qaeda propaganda sites in Yemen, changing information in ads that talked about killing Americans to show how many Yemenis had died in Al Qaeda attacks. 
For years, the Iranians had no idea they were being attacked, blaming their own workers or faults in their facilities, The Times said. But because Stuxnet was inadvertently released, any government— not to mention any hacker with spare time and a malicious streak — can create their own mutation of the weapon.
As the Times points out, "No country's infrastructure is more dependent on computer systems, and thus more vulnerable to attack, than that of the United States." Siemens makes specialized industrial controllers that were targeted by the Olympic Games attacks. As Siemens confirmed to ProPublica, the same hardware and software holes Stuxnet took advantage of in Iran exist in thousands of locations in the U.S. and worldwide. The vulnerable equipment controls everything from natural gas pipelines to refineries and power transmission lines.
American cybersecurity experts have long warned that it's only a matter of time before someone turns an equally destructive cyberweapon on our own systems. Now that Stuxnet's origins are clear, the odds of that happening might be even higher.

US says Iran must show action by Moscow talks

The Associated Press

Friday, June 1, 2012 | 9:04 a.m.

The United States appeared to set a deadline Friday for Iran to ease world concern over its disputed nuclear program, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the Islamic republic must act by this month's talks with world powers in Moscow.
Speaking in Norway's capital, Clinton told reporters the U.S. would continue down the path of negotiations alongside Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Nations. They all are trying to force Tehran to halt enrichment of uranium that could be used in nuclear weapons.
The standoff has stretched for almost a decade, though two recent rounds of talks in Istanbul and Baghdad left negotiators more optimistic that some sort of breakthrough could be reached. The diplomatic activity is occurring against a backdrop of deepening U.S. and Israeli concerns, with neither party willing to take the threat of military action against Iran off the table.
"Our negotiations with Iran have never been about intentions or sincerity, but about actions and results," Clinton said after meeting top Norwegian officials.
She said the U.S. needed to see "concrete actions" at the talks in Russia's capital, which are set to begin June 17.
"We will know by the next meeting in Moscow in a few weeks whether Iran is prepared to take those actions," she said. "There are lots of concerns that we continue to have about their intentions, but we will judge them by their actions. And we will determine whether those actions are sufficient to meet their obligations."
Also in Oslo Friday, Clinton announced a $75 million contribution to a maternal health program run with the Norwegian government and health groups. The money comes primarily from already appropriated funds for the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). It aims to improve protection for mothers in developing countries, beginning with Uganda and Zambia.

Budget 2012-13: Rs2.96trn election budget presented amid ruckus

Budget 2012-13: Rs2.96trn election budget presented amid ruckus Updated 5 hours ago

Total outlay Rs2.96 trillion; fiscal deficit 4.7% (Rs1.105 trn); GDP targeted at 4.2%; inflation 11-12%; revenue target set at Rs2.504trn; Rs926 bn allocated for debt servicing; defence allocation Rs545 bn; National Development budget allocation Rs873 bn; 20% ad hoc increase in pay and pension for government servants; Rs183 billion allocated for overcoming energy crisis; Rs70 bn allocated for Benazir Income Support Programme. ISLAMABAD: The cash-strapped Pakistan People's Party-led government presented its 5th Annual budget for the Fiscal Year 2012-13 amid trade of heated words and blows between the members of opposition and government. Federal Minister for Finance, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh delivered the speech to present the budget with a total outlay of Rs2.96 trillion with a fiscal deficit of 4.7 (Rs1.105 trillion) percent during a special National Assembly session convened for the purpose. The Minister had to cut short his speech due to the noisy ruckus raised by the members of the opposition who also exchanged blows with members of treasury benches. The rate of inflation is expected to remain in the range of 11-12 percent in FY 2012-13 while the GDP rate has been fixed at 4.2 percent. Total revenue collection has been projected at Rs2.504 trillion. The target for tax revenue collection has been set at Rs2.381 trillion and non-tax revenue at Rs730 billion. The provinces will get Rs1.459 trillion from the revenue pool under NFC award. The tax collection witnessed a 25 percent increase during 2011-12 compared to the previous year. Defence allocation for the next fiscal year has been fixed at Rs545 billion while Rs70 billion will be spent on Benazir Income Support Programme. Debt servicing will eat away Rs926 billion. The Minister announced an austerity measure under which the Prime Minister will move to a modest-sized residence while the existing PM house will be converted into an Institute for Advanced Studies. The government will spend an amount of Rs183 billion with an aim to overcome the worst energy crisis being faced by the country in the presence of 325 billion circular debt while a technical training and internship programme will be initiated for the youth. He said Rs134-billion subsidy has been allocated for WAPDA and PEPCO for the next fiscal year. Dr. Hafeez Shaikh claimed that no new additional tax was being imposed for the next fiscal. The number of income tax slabs are being brought down to 5 from 17 and the income tax exemption ceiling raised from Rs350,000 to Rs400,000. Income Tax Honour Cards will be issued to the law abiding tax payers. The Czar said that the maximum rate of custom duty will be brought down to 30 and Federal Excise Duty (FED) on 10 more items will be abolished. There will be no more withholding tax from July 1 on withdrawal of Rs25,000 from banks. Now the withholding tax will be charged on Rs50,000 withdrawal. Dr. Shaikh said the country received a record 13-billion dollar remittances in the current fiscal and 1.2 billion dollars were paid off to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He also claimed that the government cut down its expenditures by 10 percent in the outgoing financial year, adding the present regime inherited a weak government. The charged MPs from opposition benches made the task of presenting the budget with ease a challenging one for Dr. Hafeez Shaikh who had to keep his ears plugged with earphones to focus on his speech. The Czar's voice was hardly audible for those present inside the NA or the viewers who witnessed the proceedings on TV screens.