US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates paid a surprise visit to Iraq yesterday to push Baghdad toward faster reconciliation amid widespread claims of falling violence in the country.
But as Gates began his visit, eight people were killed by three car bombs, one in the main northern city of Mosul where he landed from Afghanistan before heading on to Baghdad. A car bomb also exploded in Kabul on Tuesday and killed 12 people.
His Iraq visit came 10 days after US President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki agreed on a long-term US military presence in Iraq that would go beyond next year.
"Secretary Gates is here [in Iraq] to see for himself the considerable progress that has made since his last visit nearly three months ago," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
He will be meeting Iraqi leaders including both Maliki and President Jalal Talabani "to get a take on the situation and see what more can they can do to capitalize on the gains made since the surge of US forces in Iraq," Morrell said.
A US defense official traveling with Gates said the secretary was expected to urge the Iraqi leaders to quickly pass key legislation aimed at boosting reconciliation.
"They'll talk about the large negotiations that are going to take place next year to negotiate a bilateral strategic framework between our two countries ... going from Chapter 7 UN mission to a more normalized security relationship between our countries," the official said.
"He will continue to discuss with Prime Minister Maliki taking advantage of the circumstances afforded by a diminished security threat to move forward on reconciliation, pass laws on hydrocarbon agreement, de-Baathification," the official said.
Washington sees the passing of the two bills -- stalled in parliament -- as key to woo the disenchanted Sunni Arab former elite away from the anti-US insurgency.
The oil and gas bill would guarantee that receipts are shared equally between Iraq's 18 provinces -- a key concern for Sunnis worried that they could be monopolized by Kurds and Shiites in a looser federation.
The de-Baathification law would rehabilitate mid-level officials of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's Baath party not implicated in the crimes of his regime.
Gates is also expected to discuss the issue of detainees held in US-run prisons in Iraq. As many as 26,000 Iraqis are in these prisons, most of them Sunni Arabs.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique