W O R L D

Special to the tribune
UK royal family too not spared
US ambassador calls British Prince Andrew ‘rude and cocky’
New Delhi may be stung by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s dismissive comments about India as a “self-appointed frontrunner” for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council, but the hurt feelings of Indian officials pale by comparison with the upset caused to other countries and their leaders.

North boasts of advances in nuke programme
Seoul, November 30
Secretive Korea today boasted advances in its nuclear programme, making sure it held the world’s attention, saying it had thousands of working centrifuges, as pressure built on China to rein in its ally.

Retired South Korean soldiers hold defaced North Korean flags before burning them during an anti-North Korea rally in Seoul on Tuesday. — Reuters

Special to the tribune
UK royal family too not spared
US ambassador calls British Prince Andrew ‘rude and cocky’
Shyam Bhatia in London

New Delhi may be stung by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s dismissive comments about India as a “self-appointed frontrunner” for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council, but the hurt feelings of Indian officials pale by comparison with the upset caused to other countries and their leaders.

Founder may face espionage charge Washington: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could be charged under the Espionage Act for making public classified US government documents that he obtained illegally, a media report said here on Tuesday. The US authorities are investigating whether Assange, also the Editor-in-Chief of the whistle-blower website, violated criminal laws by disclosing the classified information, “The Washington Post” reported. — PTI Defector plans new ‘whistleblower’ Reykjavik: A former WikiLeaks associate on Tuesday said he and some ex-members are preparing to launch an alternative to WikiLeaks, just days after its latest document dump rocked the world. “We want to set up a system that is different from WikiLeaks,” explained 25-year-old historian and student Herbert Snorrason, adding that the project was “built on similar ideas” to those behind. — AFP

Others affected by WikiLeaks disclosures include Britain's Prince Andrew, the Duke of York and fourth in line to the throne, whose performance during an official visit to Kyrgyzstan was monitored by the resident US ambassador, Tatiana Gfoeller.

Describing him as “rude and cocky”, Gfoeller, in a secret cable to Washington, says: “Rude language a la British... [Andrew] turned to the general issue of promoting UK economic interests abroad. He railed at British anti-corruption investigators, who had had the ‘idiocy’ of almost scuttling the Al-Yamama deal with Saudi Arabia. His mother's subjects seated around the table roared their approval.”

During the lunch that she attended where Andrew was present, Gfoeller recalls how the conversation turned to the issues of local corruption. “At this point, the Duke of York laughed uproariously, saying that 'All of this sounds exactly like France'."

The UK's record on race relations also comes in for criticism from another US ambassador, Ray Seitz, who headed the US embassy in London in 1985. ”Dickens described the squalor, overcrowding and poverty in Britain's cities over a century ago,” Seitz commented in his cable. “What has changed is that the people affected are increasingly likely to be members of minority groups.” He added that Britain appears unprepared to deal with the profound change in the complexion of its society.

“There are only 1 million blacks and browns in Britain, out of a population of 54 million, and by now half of these are British born. But their outsider status persists… Reporting of the recent race riots has reflected the rabble-rousing racism, which is still easy discourse in modern Britain… Tabloids describe the 'Zulu-style war cries' of the rioters and recycle the comments of whites calling them 'barbarians' and 'animals'.”

The cable mentions, "We are likely to see more rioting ahead. While the onset of winter may inhibit street violence, spring cannot be far behind."

Not all is gloom and doom, however, where the WikiLeaks disclosures are concerned. There are also some extremely funny asides that have come to light following publication of the US diplomatic cables. One of these asides is invoked by a former British ambassador to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer, who was asked to evaluate the significance of what has emerged from the WikiLeaks dossier.

Commenting about the 'gossipy bits' in WikiLeaks, Sir Christopher says, "They may not be the most important in a set of revelations which I have so far found fairly underwhelming. But that may change after a week of further disclosures.”

In an article commissioned by one of the London daily newspapers, he goes on to reveal his own bit of gossip concerning the behaviour of a former Labour minister, Peter Mandelson who visited Washington during his tenure.

Sir Christopher concludes, “I am sure the 'analysts' in the State Department will kick themselves not to have known that, when in Washington as Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Mandelson liked nothing more than to talk to his dog from the phone in the ambassador's Rolls-Royce.” 

North boasts of advances in nuke programme
Says operating thousands of centrifuges

Seoul, November 30
Secretive Korea today boasted advances in its nuclear programme, making sure it held the world’s attention, saying it had thousands of working centrifuges, as pressure built on China to rein in its ally.

THREE-WAY MEETING South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday the North’s nuclear programme, last week’s attack on Yeonpyeong island and a Chinese proposal for emergency talks would be raised at meeting of foreign ministers in Washington in early December. South Korea, Japan and the United States, three of the six countries involved in the on-off disarmament talks, will attend talks.

Nuclear-armed Pyongyang’s revelations about its uranium enrichment, which gives it a second route to make a nuclear bomb, came a week after it fired an artillery barrage at a South Korean island, killing four persons, including two civilians.

Experts have voiced surprise at the sophistication of a uranium enrichment plant and light-water reactor at the North’s main nuclear complex, which were shown to a US scientist earlier this month. There has been no way to verify the North’s claims.

The North is also seen as a proliferation risk, accused by the West of supplying Syria, and possibly Iran, with nuclear know-how.

“Currently, construction of a light-water reactor is in progress actively and a modern uranium enrichment plant equipped with several thousands of centrifuges, to secure the supply of fuels, is operating,” Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported.

“Nuclear energy development projects will become more active for peaceful purpose in the future,” added the paper, according the state news agency KCNA. New revelations by whistleblower WikiLeaks, meanwhile, suggested that some Chinese officials did not view North Korea as a useful ally and would take no action if it collapsed.

By staging provocations and flexing its nuclear muscle, analysts say the isolated North is seeking to increase its leverage as it pushes for a resumption of talks with regional powers, which it walked out of two years ago, in return for aid. — Reuters

Five killed in Pak suicide blast