Inmates at American prison in Afghanistan were ‘beaten and threatened with dogs and guns’ 24 Jun 2009 Former inmates at an American prison in Afghanistan have accused their captors of subjecting them to torture and death threats. In a series of BBC interviews, prisoners who were held at the Bagram Airbase, near Kabul, said they were beaten, deprived of sleep and hung from the ceiling or threatened with dogs. Four claimed officials had put a gun to their head and threatened to kill them.
Ex-detainees allege Bagram abuse 24 Jun 2009 Allegations of abuse and neglect at a US detention facility in Afghanistan have been uncovered by the BBC. Former prisoners have alleged they were beaten, deprived of sleep and threatened with dogs at the Bagram military base. The BBC interviewed 27 former inmates of Bagram around the country over a period of two months.
UK rules out ‘arms embargo’ on Israel 24 Jun 2009 The UK has dismissed a petition asking the key EU power to put an arms embargo on Israel and press other countries to stop supplying arms to Tel Aviv, over its conduct in the Gaza War. The petition on the prime minister’s office was signed by over 38,000 people — far more than the quorum 500 signatures it needed to receive a response from the office.
DOJ: AIPAC case witness was asked to fake suicide 22 Jun 2009 Two people asked a Pentagon official cooperating with prosecutors in an investigation into the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to fake his own death to avoid testifying against two pro-Israel lobbyists charged in the case, according to the Justice Department. Pentagon analyst Lawrence Franklin pled guilty in October 2005 to participating in a conspiracy with AIPAC officials Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman to obtain and distribute classified information. The Justice Department dropped the case against Rosen and Weissman last month as a trial approached. “Just prior to the entry of his guilty plea, Franklin was approached by two individuals who made a pitch to Franklin about faking his death by suicide and disappearing [think Ken Lay], thus thwarting any cooperation in the case against Rosen and Weissman,” prosecutors wrote in a brief filed in connection with a motion to reduce the 12-year prison term Franklin was originally sentenced to.
Iran’s opposition vows to go on challenging poll 25 Jun 2009 Iran’s reformist opposition leaders vowed to press on with legal challenges to an election they say was rigged, even as the hardline leadership appeared on Thursday to have largely crushed mass street protests.
Iran minister says CIA funding rioters: report 24 Jun 2009 Iran’s interior minister on Wednesday accused U.S. spy agency the CIA of helping to fund rioters, stepping up accusations of Western involvement in street unrest following the country’s disputed election. “Britain, America and the Zionist regime (Israel) were behind the recent unrest in Tehran,” Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars News Agency.
Obama Won’t Apologize For CIA Role In Chile 23 Jun 2009 President Obama today met with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, who told Mr. Obama he is “an idol” in her country. In a bit of evidence supporting that assertion, members of the Chilean press asked the president for a group photo, a request the president granted… Asked by a reporter if he wanted to apologize for CIA involvement in Chilean elections, Mr. Obama did not do so.
