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FILMSHOWCASE
MOVIE FEVER
SEIZES BERLIN
PAGE 12
|
CULTURE
SUZYMENKES
WHEN FASHION IS
ENTERTAINMENT
PAGE 7
|
FASHIONNEWYORK
SQUALOR AT SEA
NIGHTMARE
ON A CRUISE SHIP
PAGE 14
|
BUSINESS ASIAWITH
THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013
GLOBAL.NYTIMES.COM
Broad base
pushes U.S.
visa change
Obama calls
for balanced
approach to
government
WASHINGTON
SAN FRANCISCO
Need for skilled workers
has Silicon Valley aligned
with immigration groups
Spending cuts alone
won’t restore economic
growth, president says
BY SOMINI SENGUPTA
What do computer programmers and il-
legal immigrants have to do with each
other?
In the sweeping overhaul of immigra-
tion laws that theU.S. Congress is consid-
ering this year, the answer is everything.
Silicon Valley executives, who have
long pressed the government to provide
more visas for foreign-born math and
science brains, are joining forces with
an array of immigration groups in seek-
ing comprehensive changes in the law.
And as momentum builds in Washing-
ton for a broad revamping, the technol-
ogy industry has more hope than ever
that it will finally achieve its goal: the
expanded access to visas that it says is
critical to its own continued growth and
that of the economy as a whole.
Signs of the industry’s stepped-up en-
gagement on the issue are visible every-
where. Prominent executives met with
President Barack Obama last week.
Start-up founders who rarely abandon
their computers have flown across the
country to meet with lawmakers.
On Tuesday, the Technology CEO
Council, an advocacy organization rep-
resenting companies like Dell, Intel and
Motorola, had meetings on Capitol Hill.
OnWednesday, Steve Case, a founder of
AOL, was scheduled to testify at the
first Senate hearing this year on immi-
gration legislation, alongside the head
of the deportation agents’ union and the
leader of a Latino civil rights group.
‘‘The odds of high-skilled passing
without comprehensive is close to zero,
and the odds of comprehensive passing
without high-skilled passing is close to
zero,’’ said Robert D. Atkinson, presi-
dent of The Information Technology &
Innovation Foundation, a nonpartisan
research group based inWashington.
A group of powerful Senate Republi-
cans and Democrats have reached a
long-elusive agreement on some basic
BY RICHARDW. STEVENSON
Thirty-two years after President Ron-
ald Reagan proclaimed that ‘‘govern-
ment is the problem,’’ and 17 years after
President Bill Clinton offered a sur-
render of sorts on that issue by stating
that the ‘‘era of big government is over,’’
NEWS ANALYSIS
Barack Obama has made a case for clos-
ing out the politics of austerity.
In a State of theUnion address largely
focused on economic themes, the presi-
dent asserted Tuesday night that ‘‘we
can’t just cut our way to prosperity’’
and suggested that it was time for a
more balanced approach, including ac-
cepting that government has a vital role
to play in ensuring economic growth
and a secure U.S. middle class. ‘‘Most of
us agree that a plan to reduce the deficit
must be part of our agenda,’’ Mr. Obama
said. ‘‘But let’s be clear: Deficit reduc-
tion alone is not an economic plan.’’
He called on Congress to raise the na-
tional minimum wage to $9 an hour
from $7.50 now, saying that would lift
millions out of poverty and energize the
economy. That was the most tangible of
a raft of initiatives the president laid out
for areas including education, energy
and public works projects. Mr. Obama
declared it was ‘‘our generation’s task’’
to ‘‘reignite the true engine of Amer-
ica’s economic growth—arising, thriv-
ing middle class.’’
The president also urged lawmakers
to act on immigration, climate change,
budget negotiations and gun violence,
delivering an emotional appeal for
stricter gun controls that drew on re-
FILIPPOMONTEFORTE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Wednesday, his first public appearance since announcing he plans to quit. He said he made the decision ‘‘in full liberty for the good of the church.’’
‘Constant
drumbeat’ l
eft pope n
o choice
VATICAN CITY
BY RACHEL DONADIO
Just days after Pope Benedict XVI re-
turned from a trip in 2010 to Britain,
where he met the queen and mended
fences with the Anglicans, prosecutors
in Rome impounded ¤23 million from
the Vatican Bank in an investigation
linked to money laundering.
In May, soon after the pope made an
address on the priesthood, chastising
thosewho sought to stretch the church’s
rules and calling for ‘‘radical obedi-
ence,’’ the Vatican police arrested Bene-
dict’s butler on charges of theft after a
tell-all book appeared, based on stolen
confidential documents detailing pro-
found mismanagement and corruption
inside the Vatican.
After a series of scandals, Benedict,
85, who so ably enforced doctrine for his
predecessor, Pope John Paul II, seem-
ingly came to understand that only a
newpope, one with far greater energies,
could lead a global church and clean
house inside the hierarchy at its helm.
‘‘It wasn’t one thing, but a whole com-
bination of them’’ causing him to resign,
than one of strength that sent a clear
challenge to the Vatican prelates whose
misdeeds he had struggled to rein in:
No one is irreplaceable.
Even the Vatican acknowledged this.
‘‘The pope is someone of great realism,’’
the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Fed-
erico Lombardi, said Tuesday. ‘‘And he
knows very well what the problems and
the difficulties are.’’
On Wednesday, in his first public ap-
pearance since the announcement, Be-
nedict said he hadmade his decision ‘‘in
full liberty for the good of the church’’
A weak manager weakened
by age, Benedict apparently
no longer felt up to the task.
said Paolo Rodari, a Vatican specialist at
Il Foglio, an Italian daily newspaper.
Clerical sex abuse scandals battered the
papacy relentlessly. But themost recent,
the scandal involving the butler, ‘‘was a
constant drumbeat on the pope,’’ he said,
hitting right where the pope lived.
Some Vatican specialists saw Bene-
dict’s decision less as a sign of frailty
SPEECH, PAGE 4
VATICAN, PAGE 6
VISAS, PAGE 15
Big or small? Nuclear or not?
After latest test,
few answers
BY WILLIAM J. BROAD
As scientists andworld leaders scramble
to judge the importance of NorthKorea’s
claim that it has detonated a third nucle-
ar bomb, the main thing that has quickly
become evident is how little is known
about the country’s increasingly ad-
vanced atomic and missile programs.
Even the best news about the test
Tuesday — that it was small by world
standards — could have a dangerous
downside if theNorth’s statement that it
i
s learning to miniaturize bombs is true
.
That technology, which is extremely dif-
ficult to master, is crucial to being able
to load a weapon atop a long-range mis-
sile that might one day reach as far as
the U.S. mainland.
‘‘We don’t know enough to nail it, but
we can’t rule out that they’ve done
something dangerous,’’ Ray E. Kidder, a
scientist who pioneered early nuclear
warhead designs at the Livermore
weapons lab in California, said of the un-
derground test.
As is usual with tests by the secretive
North, it was not even clear whether the
underground test was nuclear, rather
than conventional bomb blasts meant to
mimic an underground nuclear test. Ex-
perts assume it was nuclear partly from
JEWEL SAMAD/AFP
Mr. Obama said his proposals would not
increase the deficit ‘‘by a single dime.’’
34,000 U.S. TROOPS TO LEAVE AFGHANISTAN
The president’s decision appears to be
a careful balancing of political and
military interests.
PAGE 4
OBAMA PLEDGES TRADE TALKSWITH E.U.
With one sentence, Mr. Obama set the
stage for talks on a comprehensive
trade deal with Europe.
PAGE 15
WARNING FROMSEOUL
The incoming South Korean leader said
the North’s pursuit of nuclear weapons
would be the regime’s downfall.
PAGE 4
REUTERS BREAKINGVIEWS
Mr. Obama’s economic wish list for
his new term is marked by numbers
that do not add up.
PAGE 18
LEE JIN-MAN/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
South Korean soldiers near the border with North Korea. It is feared that the North may have switched to uranium-fueled nuclear bombs.
KOREA, PAGE 4
BUSINESS ASIA
Cutting a line to the Continent
Britain, already having enough trouble
competing in the regional and global
economy, nowmust weigh the risks of
jeopardizing its open access to the
European Union.
PAGE 14
China pursues green cities
With its cities expected to swell by
another 350 million residents in the next
25 years, Beijing is scurrying to build
sustainable urban centers and hopes to
have 10,000 model towns by 2015.
PAGE 15
Tackling Apple’s pile of cash
Amajor shareholder has proposed
some financial wizardry that would
allow Apple to retain its market value
while sharing some of its hoard of cash
with shareholders.
PAGE 16
A deficit the U.S. has ignored
Perhaps Washington can now focus on
the other $1 trillion deficit, one that is
much more threatening to American
families: sluggish economic growth,
Eduardo Porter writes.
PAGE 18
WORLDNEWS
Thailand thwarts rebel attack
After being warned of an early morning
strike, Thai forces killed at least 16
gunmen in the southWednesday,
including a top leader, a big blow to the
MuslimMalay insurgency.
PAGE 3
Self-immolation in Katmandu
A Tibetan man was in critical condition
after setting himself on fire in Nepal to
protest China’s rule in Tibet, while the
Chinese government stepped up its
crackdown on such protests.
PAGE 3
Ruling protested in Bangladesh
Thousands have been demonstrating in
the capital, Dhaka, fueled by anger over
a recent verdict by the country’s
special war crimes tribunal that they
say was too lenient.
PAGE 3
Prisoner’s not-so-secret tale
An Australian television network has
identified a mysterious prisoner who
died in an Israeli jail in 2010 as aMossad
agent. Restrictions in Israel prevented
local reporting of the case.
PAGE 5
VIEWS
A proudly liberal message
President Barack Obama’s State of the
Union address was the most
Democratic in years, not just because of
the range of initiatives he proposed, but
because he set a new tone.
PAGE 8
Thomas L. Friedman
Anyone who believes that the age of
innovation is over isn’t paying attention.
It is certainly alive and well in India —
j
ust look at some of its start-ups.
PAGE 9
ONLINE
Hemp: The people’s plant
In 1996, the actor Woody Harrelson
was arrested in Kentucky for planting
four hemp seeds. NowKentucky may
be on the verge of joining eight other
U.S. states that have adopted laws to
allow the commercial production of the
plant. Hemp has evolved from a
countercultural cause to an issue
championed by farmers in the
American heartland and conservative
lawmakers.
global.nytimes.com/us
Manhunt for fugitive ends
Christopher J. Dorner, the fugitive and
former Los Angeles police officer, is
believed to be dead following a six-day
manhunt that ended with a shootout
and a fire at a cabin in California.
PAGE 5
A RACING MACHINE ON THE WRIST
IRVINE POLICE DEPARTMENT, VIA GETTY-AFP
PAGE TWO
Leap of faith in Mexico City
Officials have invited residents to drop
off their weapons —no names, no
questions —at Mexico’s holiest shrine as
a buyback program draws new attention
in a nation with already strict gun laws.
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IN THIS ISSUE
No. 40,412
Business 14
Crossword 11
Culture 12
Sports 10
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2
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
page two
Executions
as a matter
of opinion
car drove into the outer fringes of the
Parliament compound and openedfire,
killing eight securitypersonnel and a
civilian.All five attackers, about whom
no substantial information has been
made public,were soon killed.
According to the police, a trail led
from the dead militants to Mr.Afzal
and three others — two of whom were
also sentenced to deathbylower
courts, beforethe Supreme Court, in-
sufficiently impressedbytheevidence,
overturned one conviction and com-
muted theother man’ssentenceto10
years.
But the Supreme Courtupheld Mr.
Afzal’sdeathsentence, making an ob-
servation thatwould beextraordinary
in any mature democracy: ‘‘The inci-
dent, which resultedinheavycasual-
ties, had shaken theentire nation, and
the collective conscienceof the society
will only be satisfiedifcapital punish-
ment is awarded to theoffender.’ ’
The questionisnot whether thees-
teemedcourt is competenttogaugethe
‘‘collective conscienceof the society’’
but whether that conscience, whatever
it might be, should influencethe court’s
judgment in the first place. And if it
should,thenit is hard to overlooka
huge body of educated, patriotic and
law-abiding Indians who have been
saying through all available channels
thattheir ‘‘conscience’’ will be satisfied
only if their nation ends the practiceof
executing people.
Also, there is the matter of inconsist-
ency. There are peoplewho have been
sentenced to deathfor assassinations
orfor waging war againstthe state
who have yet to be hanged,even
though they were sentencedlong be-
foreMr.Afzal was. There is no logic
thatexplains why one man in India
must hang before another man. The
state can,through the sheerforceof
technicalities, prolong the lifeofaper-
son ondeathrow, while in a less fortu-
nate person’scaseusing its discretion
to rush through the formalities. In this
way, political calculations have beenal-
lowed to seepinto what should be a
purely judicial process.
Indian courtsare supposed to im-
posethe deathpenalty only in the
‘‘rarestofrare’’ cases. But this qualifi-
er has proved to be highly subjective.
Recently,the Supreme Court spared
the lifeof a man who had killed his wife
and daughter while out on parole; he
had been in prisonfor raping that
daughter whenshewas a minor. The
court believedhe could be reformed.A
few days later, anotherSupreme Court
bench sentenced a man to deathfor the
murder ofa7-year-old boy, having
takeninto accountthe factthatthe boy
was his parents’ ‘‘only male child.’ ’
There is outrage, ofcourse, over the
implication thatthose parents’ anguish
would have beenless, and thereforethe
crime less heinous, if the child had
been a girl.
But there aretimes, it appears,when
the Indian justice systemdoesnot wish
to satisfy ‘‘the collective conscienceof
the society.’ ’
Manu Joseph is editor of the Indian
newsweekly Open and author of the nov-
el ‘‘The Illicit Happiness of Other
People.’’
E-MAIL:
pagetwo@iht.com
Manu
Joseph
LETTER FROM INDIA
NEW DELHI
When Indian cops take de-
fendants to court, they walk holding
hands, as if they were grim lovers. In
photographs and video footageof
Muhammad Afzal, also knownasAfzal
Guru, he can be seenbeing ledinthis
manner by a man in uniform. But the
state had no affectionfor Mr.Afzal.
Hewas found guilty ofhelping ter-
rorists who attacked the Indian Parlia-
ment in 2001, and thus of‘‘waging war
against India,’ ’ among otherserious
charges. His wasalong and complicat-
edcase, with gaping holesinthe police
investigation;even the Supreme Court,
the highest in India, found that hewas
implicatednot by directevidence, but
byaclutch of circumstances that poin-
ted to his involvement.
Though the
courtsfound Mr.Afzal to
be complicit in the
attack on Parlia-
ment, it remains un-
clear just how signifi-
cant his role in the
plot was.
Last Saturday
morning, hewas
hangedinsecrecy in
the Tihar jail in New
Delhi.According to
the newspaperThe
Hindu, the43-year-
old was informed of his fate on the
morning of the hanging, and afterre-
gaining his composure hewrote alet-
ter to his wife and son,which he
handed to a jail official as heemerged
from his cell for the shortwalk to the
gallows.
The hanging of Mr.Afzal,which sur-
prised the nation and shocked his fam-
ily, led to expressions ofjoyfrompoliti-
cians of various parties, as well as
ordinary citizens. Theworld thatMr.
Afzal was found unfittolive in was also
a world that had the capacity to cele-
brate ahuman death. But therewere
also many whowere disgusted, and
who protested — and not merely in the
Kashmir Valley,Mr.Afzal’s birthplace,
where acurfew was imposed — be-
causetheexecution has raisedanum-
ber ofdeepconcerns. Taken together,
theypointtoa disturbing question: Is
the Indian justice systemcompetent,
consistent and fair enough to grantthe
state the moral authority to terminate
ahuman life?
OnDec. 13, 2001, five armedmenina
Is the Indian
justice system
competent
enough to
grant the
state the mor-
al authority
to terminate a
human life?
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADRIANA ZEHBRAUSKAS FOR THE NEWYORK TIMES
Clockwise from top left: Juan Sebastián Damián, Juan López, Virginia Sánchez and Victor Hugo with their weapons as they waited in line at a gun buyback program at a church in
Mexico City. Many of the guns that have been handed over, however, are old and have been out of use for some time, and Ms. Sánchez’s weapon turned out to be a toy.
Leap o
f faith in Mexico City
MEXICO CITY
here, leading to calls foraction.
City officials responded by shifting
the desultory and poorly publicized ef-
forts of the past into overdrive.
Theyare sending social workers door
to door to remind residents that it is il-
legal to have agun without apermit and
that agunat home doesnot guarantee
protection. Theworkers have been
spreading theword about theexchange
and compiling an informal census onat-
titudesabout guns. The buyback pro-
gram,which began in December, has so
far collected almost 3,500 guns, as well
as ammunition and grenades.
UnliketheUnitedStates,where pro-
posals forstrictergunlawsare driving a
heatedpolitical debate, Mexico has
strict gunlaws and little formal opposi-
tion to them. TheMexican Constitution
guarantees the righttobear arms, but
that right has beenseverely restricted.
It is virtually impossibletobuyagun
l
egally;there is only one gunshopinthe
about 50,000 livesinthe past six years.
Long beforethe drug wars,Mexicans
had an ambivalent relationship with
guns. The history of insurrection and
revolutioncreatedapopular mythology
studded with armedfolk heroes like
EmilianoZapata,the revolutionary de-
picted in a famousphotograph witha
rifle and bandoleers across his chest.
Village festivals to celebrate the pat-
ron saintoften end withdrunkenmen
lumbering downstarlit country roads
shooting their weapons into the air.
Mexico’s fast-forward urbanization has
simply moved the festivals and their
shooting into densely populated,work-
ing-class streets.
Ms. Rodríguez, who personally lob-
bied the archbishop of Mexico City, Car-
dinal Norberto Rivera,toget the church
involved,would like priests to discour
-
agethis holiday traditionpublicly. She is
organizing puppet shows and school
talks to get themessagetochildren. The
buyback program,which she plans to
continue all year, has since movedfrom
the basilica to churchesinotherneigh-
borhoods.
Expertssaythere is littleevidence
thatvoluntary gunbuyback schemes,
which have beenpopular in theUnited
States, reduce gun violence. ‘‘High-risk
people don’t tend to participate,’’ said
Jon Vernick,the co-director of the Johns
Hopkins CenterforGun Policy and Re-
search. ‘‘You don’t tend to get the high-
risk guns. They tend to beolder, lower
caliber and not functional. Even the
most successfulbuybacks aren’t likely
to take asubstantial portion of the guns
off the street.’’
Mr.Vernick says, however,that such
programs can helpmobilize acommuni-
ty, and that is a goal of theMexico City
program.
Ms. Rodríguez acknowledged thatthe
programwas not reaching the criminals
most likely to use guns.
‘‘What’s important is communica-
tion,’ ’ she said, ‘‘thatwomen makethe
menaware, thatthey tell them, ‘Why do
you have theseweapons whenyou can
get acomputerforyour children?’’’
Tucking ancient pistols into purses,
and taping multiple plastic shopping
bags around rifles,the city’sresidents
have been climbing aboard buses and
the subway in the hopeofcollecting as
little as 250 pesos,or$20, for an airgun to
as much as $500 for theoccasional gren-
ade launcher.
‘‘Mysons are grown, and it is a
temptation to have it in the house,’’ said
GabrielGarduñoAceves,48, an account-
ant, who got theequivalentofabout $120
for a Smith&Wessonrevolver.
Ana Vázquez camewithher8-year-
old son, Héctor,toturn in a .38 Special
revolver that belonged to herfather.
‘‘He likes weapons,’ ’ she said, motion-
ing to herson.As partof the scheme,
children can alsoturn in toyguns in ex-
change for other toys, but Héctor had
refused.
One 38-year-oldwoman,who declined
to give her name, handed over ammuni-
tion. Herfather had left acollection of
guns and ammunition whenhe died,
and it had takenheryears to get rid ofit.
‘‘Living with this is absurd and danger-
ous,’ ’ she said.
Karina Camargo, 35, tookher three
children out of school or the day,
wrapped upherhusband’snever-used
hunting rifle and boarded the bus to
bring it in. ‘‘I needmoney,’ ’ she said.
‘‘I’ll takewhatever theygive.’’
New focus for drug policy
The new administrationinMexico has
offered the first details ofalong-prom-
ised shift in the country’s war ondrugs,
TheAssociated Press reportedfrom
Mexico City.
President Enrique PeñaN eto and
Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong,the interior
secretary,told an audience in the cen-
tral state of Aguascalientes onTuesday
thatthe governmentwould spend 118.8
billionpesos,or$9.4 billion,this year on
social programs meanttokeepyoung
people fromjoining criminal organiza-
tions in the 251 mostviolenttowns and
neighborhoods across the country. The
programs will range fromroad-building
to increasing schoolhours,they said.
The rhetoric of the announcement
wasaforcefulrejection of Mr.PeñaNi-
eto’spredecessor, Felipe Calderón,who
deployed thousands of troops to battle
cartelgunmen and frequently boasted
of the number ofdrug-gang leaders ar-
rested and killed on his watch. But the
speechesbyMr.PeñaNieto and Mr.
Osorio Chong containedfew specifics.
Trying to curb violence,
capital enlists basilica
in gun buyback program
BY ELISABETHMALKIN
A young woman cradling a large cruci-
fix leftMexico’sholiest shrine, the Ba-
silica ofSt. Mary ofGuadalupe, onare-
cent afternoon and stoppedat a tent
outside, where soldiers were piling up
pistols and rifles onatable, partofa
citywide cash-for-guns program.
Thewoman had broughtthe crucifix
to be blessed, but the sightof thetent re-
mindedherfather,whowas withher,
that he could finally get rid of the.22-
caliber pistol and the 38-caliberre-
volverhe kept at home.
‘‘I have had themfor 40 years, and I
have never used themor will usethem,’ ’
said the 67-year-old man,who declined
to give his name, citing the gun plan’s
anonymity. ‘‘So I might as well ex-
changethem.’ ’
Mexico City officials have invitedresi-
dents to drop off their antique pistols,
rusted rifles, Saturday night specials, air
guns,even their grenades — no names,
noquestions—hoping to put adent in the
number of weapons theybelieve are hid-
deninpeople’shomes, avoid accidents
and maybeevenreduceviolent crime.
Theychosethe basilica in the belief
that peoplewould feelmore confident
turning over their weapons onholy
ground.
‘‘It’sneutral territory,’ ’ said Rosa
Icela Rodríguez, the city’ssecretary of
social development. People may not
trustthe policeor the government, she
said, but ‘‘who doesn’t know the ba-
silica?’’
The capital has largely been spared
the gun violencethat has ravagedmuch
of the country. The city ofnearly nine
million had an averageof slightly more
than two killings a day last year, arate
lower than thatof many large citiesin
theUnitedStates.
But in November, a10-year-old boyat
the movies was killed whenastray bul-
let firedinto the air outside pierced the
cinema’sroof. The killing struck a nerve
ONLINE:
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Chinese online reaction to North Korea’s test
‘‘Today, there seems only one thing left to do in order to neutralize all
Chinese meddlings on the Korean Peninsula and to pursue and protect
American interests in the Pacific unimpeded by China: Turn South Korea
into a nuclear nation and do it fast.’’
ADRIAN, SAN FRANCISCO
ihtrendezvous.com
‘‘Even the most successful
buybacks aren’t likely to take
a substantial portion of the
guns off the street.’’
country, and it is runbythe army. The
kinds ofguns people can buyare
sharply limited and require apermit
first. Private gun sales also require a
permit, and carrying a gun outsideone’s
home requiresaseparate document.
The Small Arms Survey, aresearch
project atthe Graduate Institute ofIn-
ternational and Development Studiesin
Geneva,estimates thatMexico has 15.5
millioncivilian-ownedguns, about 15
guns for every 100 residents, compared
with99per100 in theUnitedStates.
But the number oflegal guns in Mex-
ico is evenlower:only 2.8 millionare
registered, according to theOrganiza-
tion of American States.
Thevast majority ofguns here come
from theUnitedStates,eithersmuggled
in by criminal gangs ordivertedfromle-
gal purchasesbycorruptofficials, ac-
cording toMagda Coss,who has written
about Mexico’sgun trade. Mexican
leaders have blamed lax gunlawsnorth
of the borderfor the gun violence here,
which the government says has taken
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100, 75, 50 YEARS AGO
1913 Polar Disaster Due to Delay by Illness
LONDON
‘‘There has beenashortageoffuelfor
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when facetofacewithdeathisstill the dominat-
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asterintheAntarctic. New light is thrown on the
mystery to-daybyCommanderEvans,the suc-
cessor to the command of theexpedition. Inalong
cablegram fromNew Zealand,the ‘‘Daily Ex-
press’’ says, heexplains thatthe shortageoffuel
was due to the failureof the party to keep up to the
average speed expected on the return journey.
1938 Congress Favors Limiting World Arms
WASHINGTON
Congressional sentiment in favor
ofanewworld arms limitationconference, star-
ted off by the announcementofSenator William
H. King (D., Utah) yesterday [Feb. 12]that he
would introduce aresolution tomorrow authoriz-
ing President Roosevelttocall such a parley,
grew by leaps and bounds today.Anumber of
otherCongressmengreeted the idea with enthu-
siasm in the hopethat ameans might be found of
forestalling the big new naval building program
of theUnitedStates, as well as a general arma-
mentsrace.
1963 De Gaulle’s Son-in-Law Tells of Shots
PARIS
The special military courttrying 15 men
accused ofattempting to kill President Charles
de Gaulle lastAugusttoday [Feb. 13] heard testi-
mony from his son-in-law describing the Chief of
State’s dash to safety through a hail of machine-
gunbullets. Col.Alain de Boissieu, whooccasion-
ally acts as his father-in-law’s aide-de-camp,
said: ‘‘I heard gunfire and saw bullets ricochet-
ing. ‘Step onit,’ I told the chauffeur. I asked the
general andMrs. de Gaulletoduck. They didn’t
obey immediately. ThenIsawthatthewindow
nearest Gen. de Gaullewas broken.’ ’
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013
|
3
THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
asia-pacific
BRIEFLY
Asia-Pacific
Thai soldiers
repel attack
in big blow
to insurgents
BANGKOK
KABUL
9 civilians and 4 insurgents
die in NATO border strike
A NATO airstrike struck two houses
late Tuesday and killedasmanyas
nineAfghan civilians and fourinsur-
gentsinaneastern province near the
Pakistani border,officials said Wednes-
day.
The attack happenedabout 10 p.m.
Tuesday during a joint NATO-Afghan
operationinthe Shigal districtofKunar
Province, alawmakerfrom the area
said. TheU.S.-led military alliance in Ka-
bul said itwas looking into the reports.
Wagma Sapay, amember of Parlia-
ment fromKunar, said the civilians
killed had beeninone housewhile four
senior Taliban leaders had been killed
as they were gathering next doorinthe
villageof Sharpoolinthe Chawkam
area. She said the civilians killed were
five children and four women. The po-
lice confirmed the death toll as nine.
(AP)
Suspect charged in rampage
that killed 2 Japanese in Guam
Aman accused of killing two Japanese
tourists and wounding a dozen others
after crashing his car and stabbing
people in a major tourist district in
Guam has been arrested and faces
multiple charges,the police saidWed-
nesday.
The suspect, Chad Ryan DeSoto, 21,of
Tamuning, is accused of driving a
Toyota Yaris onto a sidewalk and strik-
ing seven tourists onTuesday night at a
shopping areafronting the Outrigger
GuamResort in TumonBay, said a
Guam police spokesman,A.J. Balajadia.
Mr. DeSoto continued driving on the
sidewalk, crashing into thewall ofacon-
venience store, the police said, and then
left his car and startedstabbing people.
Mr. DeSoto is charged with2counts
ofmurder, 13 counts ofattempted
murder and 13 counts of aggravatedas-
sault, Mr. Balajadia said. No motive or
otherdetails on the investigation were
released.
(AP)
Spokesman says army
was prepared after being
tipped off by villagers
BY THOMASFULLER
Thai soldiers repelledanattack on amil-
itary outpostearly Wednesday, killing
at least 16 gunmeninwhat appeared to
be a significant setback for ethnic insur-
gent groups leading a bloody uprising
now in its ninthyear.
Col.Pramote Promin,the spokesman
of the army’ssouthern command, said
the army had been expecting the attack
afterbeing tipped off by villagers and
‘‘former insurgentsfed up with thevio-
lence.’’
‘‘This helped us to be fully prepared,’ ’
Colonel Pramote said.
The Thai authorities said thatoneof
the men killedinthe attack,Maroso
Jantarawadee, had been an important
leader of the insurgency.
SrisompobJitpiromsri,the associate
dean atPrinceofSongkla Universityin
the southern city of Pattani and oneof
the foremost specialists on the insur-
gency, described the failed insurgent at-
tack on Wednesday as a ‘‘tactical de-
feat’’ for them.
‘‘This operation failed, but that
doesn’t mean they will fail in the long
term,’ ’ Mr. Srisompob said. ‘‘They will
try again and again.’ ’
About 50 insurgents,whowore bal-
listic vests and military-styleuniforms
and had military assaultweapons, at-
tacked the outpost soonafter midnight
Wednesday, Colonel Pramote said. The
attack lasted20 minutes, and those not
killedfledinto the jungles, some leaving
trails ofblood. The Thai authoritiesde-
claredacurfew in the area and said they
were checking hospitals and clinics for
thewoundedattackers.
Colonel Promote said no Thai soldiers
had been wounded or killedinthe at-
tack. ‘‘All the soldiers are safe,’’ he said.
Thailand’ssouthern insurgency,one
of the most deadly and intractableeth-
nic conflictsinAsia, has left morethan
5,000 people dead sincetheupswing of
violence in 2004.
The precise motives of the insurgents
remain unclear but center onlongstand-
ing resentment by Malay Muslims to-
ward the majority Thai Buddhistsinthe
country. Insurgents often target sym-
bols of the Thai state, including the po-
lice, soldiers, governmentofficials and
teachers.
Morethan 150teachers have been
killed since 2004, and many schools
have beenburned.Aschoolnear the site
of theWednesday attack was set afire
just before dawn.
The Thai authorities saidMr.Maroso,
the insurgent leader killedinthe attack,
wasasuspect in the killing ofateacher
onJan. 23.
Mr. Srisompob of PrinceofSongkla
University said therewere two compet-
ing trends in the hree violence-
wrackedprovinces.
The insurgentsare picking higher-
profiletargets, including an attack ona
shoppingmall last year in the city ofHat
Yai that killed5people and wounded
354, including many Malaysian tourists.
The number of overall attacks increased
last year, according to datacompiledby
Mr. Srisompob.
At the sametime, Mr. Srisompob said
he saw impatienceescalating with the
insurgency amongMalay Muslims.
‘‘An increasing number of Malay
Muslims are fed up with theviolence,’’
he said. ‘‘Thevoices of the community
are getting stronger.’ ’
The number of militantsinvolvedin
the insurgency is not clear. The military
has a listofabout 9,000 people it con-
siders likely insurgents.
Thailand has flooded the area with
soldiers in recent years. There are
about 150,000 securitypersonnelinthe
three provinces, including military, po-
lice and village protection volunteer
forces.
Poypiti Amatatham contributed report-
ing.
NARENDRA SHRESTHA/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
Nepalese officers patrolling an area of Katmandu where a Tibetan man set himself on fire to protest China’s rule. There have been nearly 100 self-immolations in China since 2009.
Self-immo
lation returns to Nepal streets
and outside China. Desperate to focus
global attention onpolitical and reli-
gious epression inside Tibet, yet
barredbythe Chinese authoritiesfrom
holding any political protests there, a
growing number ofyoung Tibetan men
and womenhave set themselves onfire
during the pastthree years.
The protest campaign is now ap-
proaching the grim milestoneof100 self-
immolations in Tibetan areas of China:
Exiled Tibetan political leaders in India,
aswell as the advocacy groupSave Tibet,
have documented99such incidentsin-
side China since February 2009.Ahand-
ful of Tibetans outside Tibet have also
self-immolated, including a man who set
himself afire in March 2012 during a pro-
Tibet demonstrationinNew Delhi. His
image, capturedbynewsphotographers,
ricochetedaround theworld.
The protesterinNepal,who had not
beenidentifiedbyWednesday evening,
timed his self-immolation to coincide
with the important Tibetan festival of
Losar,the Tibetan New Year, during
which the government in exile has
asked Tibetans not to ce
lebrate in soli-
darity with Tibetans still in Tibet.
The protesterset himself onfire near
a majorBuddhist stupa,orreligious
structure, that is locatedinthe Boud-
hanathsection ofKatmandu, where
many Tibetan exileslive.
Awaiteratthe GoldenEye Cafetold
TheAssociated Press thatthe Tibetan
man used the bathroominthe restau-
rant before stepping outsideonto the
street. Later,thewaiterfound clothing
andabottleofgasoline in the bath-
room.
‘‘He looked like he hundreds of
Tibetans who cametoBoudhanath
today, and I did not suspect hewas go-
ing to set himself onfire,’’ said the
waiter,Prasant Tamang.
The Chinese government has con-
demned the self-immolations as criminal
acts and has been waging a police crack-
down to stop them. Lastweek, Chinese
state newsmedia reported that at least
70 people had been arrested ordetained
in a Tibetan region of the provinceof
Qinghai and accused of inciting others to
self-immolate. Last Friday, a Chinese
court sentenced a Tibetan man to 13
years in prison on similar charges.
Lobsang Sangay,the prime minister
of the Tibetan government in exile, ex-
pressed sadness about the self-immola-
tioninNepal and said his administra-
tion had asked Tibetans not to take
drastic actions, including self-immola-
tion. But he also placed the blame for
such acts on the Chinese government.
‘‘Theoccupation of Tibet and repres-
sion of Tibetans arethe primary reason
for the self-immolations inside Tibet,’’
Mr. Sangay said by e-mail Wednesday,
while hewas visiting theUnitedStates.
‘‘The solution to thetragedy inTibet lies
withBeijing, and my administrationis
fully committed to dialogue and to ad-
dress the issue peacefully.’ ’
Fordecades, leaders inChina have vil-
ified the Dalai Lama,theexiled Tibetan
spiritual leader, and the country’sstate-
runnewsmedia have recently been
blaming him for orchestrating the self-
immolations. Tibetans have dismissed
such claims as blatant propaganda and
argued thatthe self-immolations arethe
resultofrepressive Chinese policies that
have sharply restructuredpolitical and
religious rightsinTibetan areas.
‘‘Why dothe Tibetans burn them-
selves?’’ Penpa Tsering, speaker of the
exiled Tibetan Parliament, which is
based in Dharamsala, India, said in a
speech thismonth. ‘‘Political freedomin
Tibet is nonexistent.’’
Nepal is pinchedbetween China and
India and fordecades has servedasway
station or Tibetans escaping from
Chinese rule. In recent years, Chinese
leaders have pressured the Nepal gov-
ernmenttochokeoff this flow of
refugees and alsotolimit political
protests by Tibetans living in Nepal.
NEW DELHI
Fiery protests are rising
as Tibetans try to focus
attention on repression
BY JIMYARDLEY
A Tibetan man walked onto astreet
Wednesday morning in Katmandu, the
capital ofNepal, pouredgasoline over
his body and set himself onfire. En-
gulfed in flames and writhing in pain,
the monk becamethe latest Tibetan to
self-immolate as partofaprotest cam-
paign against Chinese rule in Tibet.
In Nepal, hometo housands of
Tibetan exiles,the authorities said the
monk was hospitalized in critical condi-
tion.Witnesses told TheAssociated
Press thatthe man,whowas dressedin
the robes ofaBuddhist monk, shouted
slogans against China before falling to
the ground, as others quickly put out the
flames and calledforhelp.
Photographs showedNepalese secu-
rity officers arriving as the protester
stoodinthe street, his body consumed
by flames and black smoke.
This latest self-immolationcomesat a
wrenching moment for Tibetans inside
RICK CRUZ/AP
The vehicle of the man accused of driving into a
crowd on Guam before stabbing people.
GUWAHATI, INDIA
State official takes blame
for deadly election violence
The chief minister of the northeastern
Indian state of Assam saidWednesday
that hewas taking responsibilityfor vi-
olencethat killed19people during local
elections.
Theviolenceerupted onTuesday
whenalocal tribe protested village
council elections, fearing thatthey
were partofagovernment plan to in-
fringeon thetribe’sautonomy.
Thirteenpeoplewere killed when the
police firedatviolent protesters, and six
morewere killed in clashesbetween
protesters and counterprotesters, said
the chief minister, TarunGogoi. ‘‘I take
full responsibilityfornot being ableto
provide securityinthe area,’ ’ he said.
(AP)
COLOMBO
Former president of Maldives
seeks Indian Embassy’s help
A formerpresidentof theMaldives
says he has takenrefuge atthe Indian
Embassy in the country afteracourt
ordered his arrest.
The formerpresident, Mohamed
Nasheed,wrote onTwitter onWednes-
day that he had taken the step ‘‘mindful
of his ownsecurity and the stability of
the Indian Ocean.’ ’ He did not explain.
The Indian government said it had not
decided whether to grantMr. Nasheed
refuge attheembassy.
A court had ordered the policetoar-
restMr. Nasheedafterhe failed to ap-
pear forahearing onSunday on
charges that he illegally ordered the de-
tention ofaseniorjudge, amove that led
to his removal frompower last year.
(AP)
SRINAGAR, KASHMIR
Curfew is relaxed after days
of protests over execution
The authoritieshave relaxedacurfew
in someof the Indian-controlled partof
Kashmir to let people buyrations after
protests over the secret execution ofa
Kashmiri man convictedinadeadly
2001attack on the Indian Parliament.
Residents were allowed out of their
homesfor two hours onWednesday to
buysuppliesastroops patrolled the
streets.Mostof the region’snearly 60
newspapers published onWednesday
aftershutting downfor three days.
Manoj Panditha, apolice spokesman,
said the restrictions had beenrelaxed
after tensions had easedinseveral dis-
tricts across Kashmir and in some
neighborhoods in Srinagar,the region’s
main city.
(AP)
Rallies dem
and harsher justice in Bangladesh
NEW DELHI
theend of the day here, justice is about
capital punishment.’’
The protests, he said, areentwined
with a rising patriotism among many
young Bangladeshis,who are proud of
their country’sprogress evenasthey of-
ten distrusttheestablishedpolitical
parties.
‘‘This is something different and
something new,’’ Mr. Bhattacharya said
of the protests. ‘‘This is the riseofanew
social forcethat can changethe political
calculusinthe country.’ ’
TheAwami League, the political
partyleading the national government,
now facespolitical pressure fromoppos-
ing directions. The Shahbagh protesters
are complaining thatthe recentverdict
is too lenient, whileopposition parties,
including the Jamaat party, have ac-
cused the governmentof manipulating
thetribunal to ensure convictions of
their leaders.
One justice has resignedfrom the
tribunal over irregularitiesinits work.
Before its verdictonFeb. 5, Jamaat and
other opposition partiesstagedhuge
demonstrations againstthetribunal’s
proceedings; heysoughttorenew
those protests onTuesday, but the gov-
ernment denied their request. Tensions
areexpected to remain high as the
tribunal issuesmoreverdictsincoming
weeks.
The scattered violenceonTuesday oc-
curredabout 20 minutes’walk from the
Shahbagh protest site. Followers of
Jamaat and members ofitsyouth wing
were photographed smashing vehicles
and clashing withsecurity officers.Offi-
cials said the Jamaat followers opened
firewith machine guns and thatthe po-
lice responded withrubberbullets.
The Bangladeshi newsmedia report-
ed that at least 10 peoplewere injuredby
the rubberbullets and that members of
the Jamaat youth wing were seen firing
weapons and throwing fire bombs.
Julfikar Ali Manik contributed reporting
fromDhaka.
Demonstrators say ruling
by war tribunal is too
lenient on Islamist leader
BY JIMYARDLEY
Huge daily demonstrations in the heart
of Dhaka,the capital of Bangladesh, are
upending the nation’spolitics and illus-
trating how heavily the country’s
bloody past still weighs onitspresent.
Thousands ofprotesters, mostof
themcollege students and otheryoung
people, demonstrated again onTues-
day, fueledbybroad public anger overa
recent ruling by the country’sspecial
war crimes tribunal thattheysaywas
too lenient.
Though the protestshave beenpeace-
ful, agunfighteruptedinanother partof
Dhaka onTuesday whenfollowers of
Jamaat-e-Islami,the country’s largest
Islamic political party,vandalized vehi-
cles and clashed with the police. Earlier
in the day,the Bangladeshi government
had rejectedarequest by Jamaat lead-
ers to stage acounterprotest againstthe
youthdemonstrations.
Formore han two years, he
Bangladeshi government has been
prosecuting defendantsa cused of
atrocitiesduring the country’s1971 war
of independence fromPakistan.OnFeb.
5,the special tribunal hearing the cases
convictedAbdul QuaderMollah, 65, now
aleader of the Jamaat party,on charges
ofrape andmass murder and sentenced
him to life in prison.
Within hours of theverdict, protest-
ers gatheredat Shahbagh, a majorin-
tersectioninthe center of the capital
near Dhaka University. Their message
was loud and clear: They thoughtthe
life sentencewas too lenient, possibly
the resultofapolitical deal, and theyde-
manded thatMr.Mollah be sentenced to
death.Protesters waved torches and
PAVEL RAHMAN/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Protests in Dhaka, Bangladesh, have drawn thousands. Activists say Abdul Quader Mol-
lah should be executed for atrocities he committed during the 1971 war of independence.
banners and chantedslogans like ‘‘Joy
Bangla.’ ’
‘‘We were really surprised’’ atthe
largeturnout the first day, said ImranH.
Sarkar,oneof theorganizers. ‘‘But
young peoplewerevery concerned.’ ’
Lastweekend,the crowds swelled to
200,000 ormore by someestimates.
Protests and strikes, commonin
Dhaka, areoftencoordinated and or-
ganizedbypolitical parties. But the
Shahbagh protests, as the demonstra-
tions over theverdict have cometobe
known,wereorganizedbybloggers and
have attractedpoets, artists, social ac-
tivists and untold numbers of othercit-
izens. Relatedprotestsare being held in
othercities.
The protesters have directed their ire
at Jamaat-e-Islami,which has beenac-
cused of opposing independence and
collaborating with Pakistani forcesdur-
ing the 1971 war, charges the party has
denied.Atthe Shahbagh protests,thou-
sands ofpeople pledged to boycott the
Jamaat party and itsrelatedbusinesses,
and a delegation ofprotest leaders
presented the Bangladeshi Parliament
with a listofdemands, including that
lawsbe changedsothatMr.Mollah’s life
sentence can be appealed.
Political analysts in Bangladesh say
the youthdemonstrations reflect broad
public disenchantmentwith theusual
styleof Bangladeshi politics. Debapriya
Bhattacharya, a Bangladeshi economist
and former U.N. diplomat, said the de-
mands for tough sentencing reflecteda
broaderpublic desire forclosureon the
1971 war, in which rapes and assaults of
women were common and an estimated
three millionpeoplewere killed.
‘‘There is a general understanding
among the peoplethatthey want justice
in the case,’’ said Mr. Bhattacharya,
who is now aseniorfellow atthe Center
for Policy Dialogue, aleading research
institute in Dhaka. ‘‘And somehow, at
SURAPAN BOONTHANOM/REUTERS
Thai forces investigating the attack site
Wednesday. At least 16 gunmen, including
a top insurgency leader, were killed.
 ..
4
|
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
world news
asia united states
Obama makes case
for government role
SPEECH, FROMPAGE 1
ing point in dealing withapotentially
existential problem.Winning passage
of an immigration bill and evenmodest
new guncontrolmeasures would
amounttobreakthroughs, largely on
Democratic terms, in a polarized capit-
al; his call to ‘‘makewhat differencewe
can’’ onguncontrol was oneof the most
impassioned of his address.
But Mr.Obama has always lookedad-
miringly at Reagan’ssuccess in shifting
theU.S. ideological center ofgravityin
an enduring way thattranscended the
issues of the moment. While no fan of
Reagan’spolicies, he credited him dur-
ing the 2008 campaign with changing
‘‘thetrajectory of America in away that,
you know, Richard Nixon did not and in
a way Bill Clinton did not.’’
To achieve that level of influence be-
fore he leaves theWhite Housewill re-
quire not only that heenact an ambi-
tiouslegislative agenda in the next year
or two but alsothat he provide—and
sell to voters beyond his base—acom-
pelling alternative to the conservative
mantra that nearly all problems can be
traced back to excess government.
‘‘TheAmerican people don’t expect
governmenttosolve every problem,’ ’
Mr.Obama said, but they also know that
‘‘America movesforward only when we
do sotogether, and thatthe responsibil-
ity of improving this unionremains the
task of usall.’ ’
Unlike Reagan,Mr.Obama is no hero
to his own party’smore ideological war-
riors,who still see him as timid and dis-
turbingly centrist. And in fact, if his lib-
eralismcan be characterizedbyanyone
element, it is his willingness to acknowl-
edge and absorb into his ownworldview
someof thevery underpinnings of the
modern conservative movement.
His moreextreme conservative crit-
ics notwithstanding,Mr.Obama has a
healthy respect and admirationfor mar-
kets and economic growthasoften the
most powerfulforcesforgood. He has
long put personal responsibilityatthe
coreof efforts to address socioeconomic
issues. He has adoptedideas, likethe in-
dividual mandate atthe heartof his
health insurance overhaul,thatorigin-
atedamong conservative thinkers. He
has soughttoimpose greateraccount-
ability on teachers and schools for the
quality of education;onTuesday night
he announced thattheU.S. government
would begin issuing scorecards forcol-
legesassessing educational value rela-
tive to cost.
‘‘In his somewhat incremental way, I
dothink Obama is redefining liberalism
and relocating the center of American
politics well to the leftof where it’sbeen
since Ronald Reagan’s time,’’ said Mi-
chaelTomasky,theeditor ofDemocracy
and a leading liberal thinker.
‘‘It’s his instinct not to be an ideolog-
ical warriorbut to be an ideological me-
diator,’ ’ Mr. Tomasky said. ‘‘And yet, in
performing those acts ofideological me-
diationIthink he’srenewed liberalism
and made it more acceptabletopeople
who might have rejectedit.’’
Mark Landler contributed reporting
fromArden, North Carolina.
cent ragedies like he schoolhouse
massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.
And he announced that 34,000 troops
would return home fromAfghanistan by
this time next year, slightly morethan
half the currentU.S. force.
In setting out how government could
reach what he considers an acceptable
level of fiscal stability through tax in-
creases and cuts toMedicare, the health
insurance program forpeople 65 or
older,Mr.Obama was doing morethan
trying to set theterms for the next, fast-
approaching rounds in his fiscal cage
match withcongressional Republicans.
Hewas also building a broaderargu-
mentthattheUnitedStatesneeds to
shift away from the focus on shrinking
the governmentthat has dominatedna-
tional politics for the past several years
and towardamodestly more activist
agenda aimedattackling persistent in-
equality and the dislocating forces ofa
globalized,technology-driven economy.
Mr.Obama traveled Wednesday to
thetown of Arden, North Carolina,to
visit a Canadian-owned engine-parts
factory. Itwas the firstof three stops he
planned to build supportthis weekfor
his proposals to invest in education,en-
ergy and public-works projects, and to
provide new incentives to build facto-
riesinthe country, not abroad.
But in his speech Tuesday,Mr.Obama
explicitly recognized the political and
policy limitations of his stance afterfour
years ofbudget deficitsinexcess of$1
trillion and broad public unease about
saddling future generations with a crip-
pling debt burden. Therewas no new
stimulus plan, no mission to Mars, no
ambitious plan to address the hangover
from the housing market crash.
‘‘Let me repeat: Nothing I’mpropos-
ing tonight should increaseourdeficit
by a single dime,’’ he said. ‘‘It’snot a
biggergovernmentweneed, but a
smartergovernmentthat sets priorities
and investsinbroad-basedgrowth.’ ’
The president’snod toward bipartis-
anship and his willingness to put entitle-
ment programs on thetablewereun-
likely to head off harsh Republican
criticism. Evenbeforethe speech, Re-
publicans were mocking his ‘‘single
dime’’ line and said hewas failing to do
enough to bring downanational debt
that hreatens to reach dangerous
levels in coming decades. In the Repub-
lican response, Senator Marco Rubioof
Florida referred to ‘‘the president’s
plan to grow ourgovernment.’’
But by filling in thedetails of the frame-
work he set out last monthinhissecond
Inaugural Address,Mr.Obama made it
clear that after his re-election, he does
not intend to allow the Republican drive
forspending cuts to define his second
term.And in laying out his agenda, he
continued trying to define a21st-century
version of liberalism that could outlast
his time in office and do forDemocrats
what Reagan did forRepublicans.
Mr.Obama has already shownamore
emboldened approach to his second
term. Theuseof executive authority to
begin addressing global warming in a
more aggressive way would be a turn-
ANDREWBURTON/REUTERS
U.S. Army soldiers surveying the horizon in Kandahar Province. Withdrawing 34,000 troops in the next year allows the military to keep most troops through the so-called fighting season.
Military b
alancing act in Afghanistan
said, it rebuffs argumentsbyVicePres-
ident Joseph R. BidenJr.topull out
troops more quickly.
Administration officials said last year
thatthey would determinethe size and
composition of theU.S. presence after
2014 before determining thewithdrawal
schedule for the next two years. But on
Tuesday,officials said Mr.Obama had
not yet made adecision on the post-2014
force, which is likely to numberno more
than 9,000 orsotroops and thenget pro-
gressively smaller. ‘‘Beyond 2014,
America’scommitmenttoa unified and
sovereign Afghanistan will endure, but
the natureof ourcommitmentwill
change,’’ he said. ‘‘We are negotiating
an agreementwith theAfghan govern-
mentthat focuses on two missions:
training and equipping Afghan forces,
sothatthe country doesnot again slip
into chaos, and counterterrorismefforts
that allow us to pursue the remnants of
Al Qaeda and their affiliates.’ ’
There still appears to be adebate
within the administrationabout the
plans forafter2014. Officials said there
was also areluctancetogo public witha
final number of troops and a description
of their missions while still in theearly
stages ofnegotiating a security agree-
mentwith theAfghans overretaining a
military presence after2014.
From the start, theAfghan issue has
beenadouble-edgedsword for theWhite
House. Mr.Obama campaignedfor his
firsttermon the premisethatthe conflict
wasa‘‘war ofnecessity’’ to deprive Al
Qaeda ofapotential sanctuary in Af-
ghanistan, and in 2009heorderedasurge
ofmorethan 30,000 troops.As thewar
dragged on, and the 2012 presidential
election approached,Mr.Obama began
to taketroops out of Afghanistan ona
moreexpedited schedulethan his com-
manderatthetime, Gen. David H.Pet-
raeus, had advised.Mr.Obama’s talk ofa
war ofnecessity was supplantedbyhis
refrain thatthe ‘‘tideof war is receding.’ ’
But since his re-election,Mr.Obama
has confronted the question ofhow to
stay true to his pledgetowind down the
war without undermining the still-fra-
gile military gains.Presidentsintheir
second terms often tend to think about
their foreign policy legacy, and the con-
flict in Afghanistan,unlike in Iraq, has
cometobe knownasMr.Obama’s war.
Thetroopwithdrawal questioncameto
the fore last monthafter Mr.Obama met
with President Hamid Karzai in Wash-
ington,whereMr.Obama said hewould
accelerate thetransfer ofresponsibility
forsecurity to theAfghans this year.
Mr.Obama’s announcementwas ap-
plaudedinKabul on Wednesday. ‘‘This
is something Afghanistan has wanted
forso long now,’’ theofficeof Mr. Karzai
said in a statement, TheAssociated
Press reported.AnAfghanDefenseMin-
istry spokesman,Mohammad Zahir Azi-
mi,toldTheA.P.that ‘‘we are ready to fill
thevacuumand we are ready to take full
responsibilityforsecurityin2013.’ ’
Ashe had done before, Mr.Obama set
the parameters of the deliberations on
thetrooplevelbyissuing planning guid-
ancetothePentagon.Operating on the
basis of those instructions,which the
White House has not made public, Gen-
eral Allenprepared three options.Ad-
ministration officials said theWhite
House had essentially endorsed his pre-
ferred option:what Defense Secretary
LeonE.Panetta said in a statementwas
General Allen’s ‘‘phased approach.’ ’
According to the new withdrawal
schedule, the number of troops is to fall
to 60,500 by theend of May. By theend
ofNovember,the number will be down
to 52,000. By theend ofFebruary 2014,
thetrooplevelisto be around 32,000.
TheFebruary 2014 numberisless than
some military officers had hoped would
beon hand during theAfghan presiden-
tial election thatApril. But it seems to be
morethan offset by the decision to allow
the military to keep the bulk ofitsforce
through the 2013 fighting season.
Alissa J. Rubin contributed reporting
fromKabul.
WASHINGTON
Obama planning to slash
troop levels while trying
to preserve flexibility
BYMICHAEL R. GORDON
ANDMARK LANDLER
President Barack Obama’sdecision to
withdraw 34,000 U.S.troops from Af-
ghanistan by this time next year repre-
sentsacareful balancing ofpolitical in-
terests and military requirements.
The decision,which Mr.Obama high-
lightedTuesday night in his State of the
Union address,enables theWhite
Housetosay that slightly morethan
half of theU.S. force, which comprises
66,000 troops,will be out of Afghanistan
by theend ofFebruary 2014.
But Mr.Obama will also give the mil-
itary commanders in Afghanistan flex-
ibilityindetermining the paceof the re-
ductions andwill enablethemto retain a
substantial forceuntil after the next
fighting season,which ends in October.
That, according to administration offi-
cials, satisfies oneof themajorconcerns
ofGen. John R.Allen,who recently left
his post as thetop U.S. commanderin
Afghanistan.Atthe sametime, officials
Park warns
of ‘self-destruction’
North’s latest t
est highlights unknowns
KOREA, FROMPAGE 1
Unionfromcollapsing.’ ’
Hercomment followed — and echoed
thetoneof — a warning to NorthKorea
by President Barack Obama during his
State of theUnion address onTuesday.
NorthKorea’sprovocations ‘‘will
only isolate themfurther,’ ’ Mr.Obama
said. ‘‘We stand by our llies,
strengthen our own missile defense and
lead theworld in taking firm actionin
responsetothesethreats.’ ’
Afteraphone conversationbetween
Mr.Obama and the departing South
Korean president, Lee Myung-bak,on
Tuesday,theWhite House made arare
public gestureofreaffirming theUnited
States’ ‘‘nuclear umbrella’’ overSouth
Korea.
Ms.Park,whowill replaceMr. Lee on
Feb. 25, had beencarefulnot to criticize
NorthKorea. During her campaign for
theelectioninDecember, sheopposed
unconditional aid and economic invest-
ments of the sort championedbyher lib-
eral rivals, insisting that NorthKorea
must firstwin the South’s‘‘trust’’ by
easing itshostilities. But she also criti-
cized Mr. Lee’s hard-line policy for fail-
ing to change NorthKorea’sprovocat-
ive behavior.
Ms.Park shifted to a firmerstance fol-
lowing the nuclear test.
She said that akey principleofher
NorthKoreapolicy had been to ‘‘make
surethat NorthKoreapaysforitspro-
vocations while assuring opportunities
and assistance if it chooses to become a
responsible member of the internation-
al community.’ ’
‘‘But if the Northpours cold water, it
will affectour approach,’ ’ she added.
‘‘Evenifit conductsfourth and fifthnu-
clear tests,they will do nothing to boost
its bargaining position.’ ’
AlsoWednesday,the SouthKorean
DefenseMinistry said thatPyong-
yang’sgrowing missile and nuclear
threatscompelledittoaccelerate the
building ofnew ballistic missiles capa-
bleofreaching all ofNorthKorea.
Last autumn, heUnitedStates
agreed to allow SouthKorea to extend
the rangeofits ballistic missiles up to
800 kilometers,or500 miles,enough to
reach any target in NorthKorea.
SEOUL
the shapeofitsseismic signal and be-
causethe blastwas atthe same moun-
tainoussite as two earliernuclear tests.
It also remains unclear whether the
North usedp utonium or enriched
uranium to fuel the bomb.U.S.officials
believe thatthe country’s last two nucle-
ar tests, in 2006 and 2009,usedplutoni-
um, and theyfearaswitch to uranium
will give the country a faster and harder-
to-detect path to a biggerarsenal.While
scientistsare actively hunting for the
airborne markers ofauranium test, it is
not certain that gasesneeded to make
that judgmentescaped thetest site.
Scientistssaidthe relatively small
size of the blast Tuesday had calmed, at
leasttemporarily,their worst fears:that
the North’srecent references to more
powerfulhydrogenbombs indicated the
possibility that it might have at least
enough technology to try to testone.
Those bombs, nicknamedcity-busters,
are roughly 1,000 timesstronger than
atombombs, and if theNorthweretoget
them, itwould represent an enormous
leap in itsknown abilities. The firstU.S.
hydrogenbomb to betestedcaused the
Pacific island ofElugelab to vanish.
Whatemergedmost clearly Tuesday
fromsensitive global networks thatmea-
sure faint rumblesintheearth was that
theunderground blastwas most likely
larger than NorthKorea’s pastexplo-
sions. In Vienna,the preparatory com-
missionfor the Comprehensive Nuclear-
Test-Ban Treaty Organization,which
runsaglobal seismic network, said the
blast had measureda5inseismic mag-
nitude. TheU.S. Geological Surveyput
its own estimate at 5.1 inmagnitude.
Nuclear experts said the magnitude
of the blast had equaledanatomic blast
ofabout 6,000 tons of high explosive, or
six kilotons. The first test by Pyongyang
is thoughttohave packedless than a
kiloton ofpower and was considereda
partial failure by theWest. The state’s
2009 blastwas judgedbyU.S. intelli-
genceofficials to have apower of two
kilotons,though some specialists out-
sidethe government say it might have
been as large as thetestthis week.
Still,even the largestestimatesare
Nuclear tests and detonations
Nuclear pursuit will end
regime in Pyongyang,
South’s new leader says
One kiloton is the equivalent of 1,000 tons of TNT.
FIRST TEST
SECOND
THIRD
Less than
1 kiloton
2 kilotons
6 to 7
kilotons
North Korea
BY CHOESANG-HUN
In her harshest criticismofNorthKorea
so far,the incoming presidentofSouth
Korea,Park Geun-hye, warned Wed-
nesday thattheNorth’spursuitofnucle-
ar weapons would bring itsgovernment
‘‘self-destruction.’ ’
Ms.Park’scomment came adayafter
NorthKoreadefied worldwidewarn-
ings Tuesday by detonating what it
called a miniaturizedatomic bomb in its
third nuclear test.
It remains unclear how close North
Korea has cometobuilding a nuclear
warhead small enough to fitonto inter-
continental ballistic missiles,which is
believed to betheultimate goal of the
North’snuclear and missile programs.
But the latest detonation was morethan
anuclear test; it alsotested the abilities
of the new governmentsinthe region to
tamePyongyang’snuclear and missile
ambitions.
Thetest led toanewchorus ofinterna-
tional outrage and threats ofmore sanc-
tions,even though such responseshave
had littletonoeffectonNorthKorea’s
behaviorfollowing itsprevious tests.
But as the Northsteps closer to the
weaponization of tsnuclear devices
and missiletests, some hard-line mem-
bers of Ms.Park’sgoverning Saenuri
PartycalledforSouthKorea to secure
its own ‘‘nuclear deterrent,’’ whilethe
main opposition party urged Ms.Park
to help defusethetensionbysending a
special envoy to Pyongyang.
‘‘No matterhow many nuclear tests
NorthKoreaconducts to boost itsnucle-
ar capabilities, itwill eventually bring
itself self-destructionbywasting itsre-
sources,’ ’ Ms.Park was quotedassay-
ing by her office during a meeting Wed-
nesday withhernational security and
foreign affairs advisers. ‘‘Nuclear
weapons did not preventtheold Soviet
2006
2009
2013
YONHAP, VIA EPA
Park Geun-hye had been careful not to
criticize North Korea during the campaign.
China
22
35
250
1964
1965
1966
The North’snuclear detonation also
added urgency to the Korea Air and
Missile Defense system,which South
Korea plans to build to guard itself from
NorthKorea’sshort-range ballistic mis-
siles, Kim Min-seok, a ministry spokes-
man, said during a news briefing Wed-
nesday.
Mr. Kim said SouthKorea had
‘‘doubts’’ about the North’s claim to
have successfully tested a ‘‘miniatur-
ized and lighter’’ atomic bomb that
could theoretically beusedatop mis-
siles. NorthKoreastill needs moretime
to reach that goal, he said.
Ships, airborne sensors and ground-
basedmonitors fromNorthKorea’s
neighbors tried Wednesday to collect air
samples thatmight give themanswers to
questions surrounding theNorthKorean
blast. A keyquestioniswhether the
devicethatwas detonated usedsomeof
the North’s limitedstockpileofplutoni-
umorwas a uraniumbomb,whichwould
be proof thatthe country has acquireda
second, and more accessible, sourceof
nuclear bomb-making materials.
Mr. Kim,the ministry spokesman,
said notell-tale air samples had been
collectedasof Wednesday.
Experts said itwould take two to four
days for radioactive gases to leak out
fromanunderground nuclear test. By
then,theyare harder to detect. Unfavor-
ablewind directions could also hamper
theeffortsbyWashington and itsallies
to collect air samples. In its2009 test,
NorthKoreapluggedits underground
testing tunnelsotightly that no radioac-
tive gas escaped.
HIROSHIMA
NAGASAKI
United States
21
15
21
1945
1945
1945
Sources: U.S. government, South Korean Defense Ministry,
Nuclear Weapons Databook, National Nuclear Security Administration
small by world standards. The first
three nuclear tests of China, forin-
stance, were measuredat 22 kilotons, 35
kilotons and 250 kilotons.
NorthKorea’s tests ‘‘are limitedinex-
plosive powercompared withmost pre-
vious ones,’ ’ said Robert S. Norris, ase-
nior ellow at he Federation of
American ScientistsinWashington, and
the author of ‘‘Racing for the Bomb,’ ’ a
biography ofGen. Leslie R. Groves,the
military leader of theManhattan Proj-
ect, thetopsecret U.S. projecttodevelop
an atomic bomb during World War II.
Determining whether thetestwas
fueledbyplutonium or uraniumiscriti-
cal because NorthKoreain2007 shut
downitsreactor that made plutonium,
prompting analysts to concludethat its
supplies of the rareelement are now run-
ning low. Intelligenceofficials estimated
it had enough fuelfor six to 10 bombs.
But in 2010, the state revealed what
appears to be a fairly advancedpro-
gram to enrich uranium.
SiegfriedS. Hecker, aformer director
of the Los Alamos weapons lab in New
Mexicowho has repeatedly visited
NorthKorea and learneddetails of
Pyongyang’snuclear program, has sug-
gested that NorthKoreamaybe ready
to switch to apureuraniumapproach, in
part because it might have ablueprint
for a miniaturized uraniumwarhead.
Analystssaytheuranium approach
may alsoofferNorthKorea the allureof
anew secrecy. Centrifuge plantsare
much easier to hidethan reactors.
Finding out whether the bomb was
fueledbyplutonium,uranium or a mix
of the two materials could take some
timeor might never happen, analysts
say.
Not all underground testsleak their
explosive residuesinto the atmosphere
orsurrounding waters, and some say
tests of the size of the blast Tuesday are
probably strong enough to seal any
cracks in the rocks.
‘‘If we get samples, I’msurewe’ll
learn a lot about it,’’ Jay C. Davis, anu-
clear scientistwho helpedfound a U.S.
governmentefforttoimprove such ana-
lyses, said in an interview.
But if no bomb residue leaks, he
added,the natureof the fuel that North
Korea usedforits third blast may re-
main a mystery.
 ..
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2013
|
5
THE GLOBAL EDITION OF THE NEW YORK TIMES
americas middle east
world news
BRIEFLY
Americas
Cabin bla
ze and shootout mark end to manhunt
BIG BEAR LAKE, CALIFORNIA
Fugitive believed dead
after spending 6 days
evading police capture
WASHINGTON
Divided U.S. panel backs
nominee for Pentagon chief
After a combative two-hour debate that
tested the bounds of Senate collegiality,
the Armed Services Committee has ap-
proved the nomination of former Sena-
tor Chuck Hagel as U.S. defense secre-
tary on a sharply partisan vote.
The 14-to-11 vote Tuesday to send the
nomination to the Senate floor with a
favorable recommendation was the
latest step in a process that has
deepened festering hostilities between
congressional Republicans and the
White House and has exposed stark
disagreements over wartime foreign
policy.
After the vote, Republicans
threatened to try to filibuster the nomi-
nation of Mr. Hagel, a decorated Viet-
namWar veteran whom some had
worked with as a member of their own
party, while Democrats were promising
to force a vote of the full Senate as early
as Wednesday night.
WASHINGTON
Senate votes to expand
domestic violence act
The Senate, with broad bipartisan sup-
port, has voted overwhelmingly to ex-
pand the reach of the landmark Vio-
lence Against Women Act of 1994 by
fortifying the power of American Indi-
an tribal courts and explicitly protect-
ing gay victims of domestic abuse.
The 78-to-22 vote raised the pressure
on the House of Representatives to act
and expanded by 10 votes the margin of
approval that a nearly identical bill
garnered in the Senate last April.
Twenty-three Republicans backed the
measure Tuesday, up from 15 last year.
SAN JOSE, COSTARICA
Plate of fried rice breaks record
Costa Rica’s small ethnic Chinese com-
munity has broken the record for the
largest plate of fried rice. Fifty-two chefs
and 20 assistants cooked the 1.3-ton
plate Tuesday as part of Chinese New
Year celebrations. It was immediately
certified by Guinness World Records as
the record-holder. Guinness says it cer-
tifies records free but charges to send a
representative to a record attempt.
(AP)
BY IAN LOVETT, JENNIFER MEDINA,
MICHAEL WILSON
AND FERNANDA SANTOS
After a shootout and a forest standoff,
Christopher J. Dorner, the former Los
Angeles police officer sought in the re-
gion’s largest manhunt, was apparently
killed in a cabin as it burned down
around him, but officials said they
needed time to sort through the rubble.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s
Office released a statement Tuesday
night saying that ‘‘charred human re-
mains’’ had been located inside the
burned-out cabin. Though the remains
were not identified as those of Mr.
Dorner — ‘‘identification will be at-
tempted through forensic means,’’ the
statement said — there was little doubt
they were his.
Mr. Dorner, a self-described survivalist
believed to be heavily armed, had holed
up in the rental cabin hours earlier and
engaged deputies in a shootout, killing
one deputy and wounding a second.
It was unclear how the fire at the cab-
in began, but the authorities said that no
one had escaped and that Mr. Dorner
was believed to have been alone inside.
Officers, shouting orders through
loudspeakers for Mr. Dorner to sur-
render, heard what they believed to
have been a single gunshot fromwithin.
Officers had been searching the Big
Bear area since last week, when Mr.
Dorner’s burning truck was found on a
forest road. Mr. Dorner, a former reserv-
ist in the U.S. Navy, had boasted about
his sharpshooting and survival abilities.
Days earlier, Mr. Dorner apparently
broke into a couple’s home on Club View
Drive in Moonridge, California. Mr.
Dorner reportedly tied them up as his
hostages and stayed out of sight until
Tuesday afternoon.
Shortly after 12 p.m. Tuesday, the au-
thorities received a report of a stolen
white pickup truck and a description
that fit Mr. Dorner’s. Soon after, he was
spotted driving a white 2005 Dodge
pickup by an officer with the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife. The
suspect was driving toward the officer
in the opposite lane, said Andrew
Hughan, a spokesman for the depart-
ALEX GALLARDO/REUTERS
Armed police officers searching vehicles during the manhunt for Christopher Dorner, a former Los Angeles police officer. He is a suspect in the murders of three people this month.
ment. The officer recognized Mr.
Dorner, stepped out of his vehicle and
fired at the suspect, who returned fire.
Neither was hit, Mr. Hughan said.
The officer and a colleague chased the
man, who crashed the pickup, fired at
them and ran into the cabin.
The standoff capped a week of sight-
ings, shootings and false leads in the
hunt for Mr. Dorner, who was dismissed
from the Los Angeles Police Department
in 2008 after investigators concluded that
he had lied in his claim that a training of-
ficer had assaulted a homeless person.
In a 6,000-word manifesto that Mr.
Dorner published on his Facebook page,
he complained that he had been dis-
missed wrongfully. He cited racism and
corruption in the department and
threatened several police officials and
their families.
Los Angeles officers guarded 50 fam-
ilies around the clock, taking up a signif-
icant amount of police resources.
On Feb. 3, the police in Irvine, Califor-
nia, discovered the bodies of Monica
Quan, 28, and her boyfriend, Keith
Lawrence, 27, in their car in a parking
garage near where they lived. Ms. Quan
was the daughter of a retired Los
Angeles police captain who played a
role in the disciplinary process that led
to Mr. Dorner’s dismissal.
On Wednesday, Feb. 6, the police be-
lieve, Mr. Dorner tried to hijack a boat at
amarina in Point Loma, a community in
San Diego. But the boat became dis-
abled as he was trying to steal it, so he
fled instead.
On Thursday at 1:45 a.m., two officers
in a protection detail for one of the
people threatened by name in the mani-
festo confronted a man they believed
was Mr. Dorner near the person’s home
in Corona. Shots were exchanged, and
one of the officers had a graze wound to
his head. The gunman fled.
A short while later, two police officers
in Riverside, California, were sitting in
their patrol car at a stoplight when they
were attacked by a man they believed
was Mr. Dorner.
One of the officers was killed, the oth-
er wounded. Again, the gunman fled.
Jennifer Medina reported fromLos
Angeles, Michael Wilson fromNew York,
and Fernanda Santos fromAngelus Oaks,
California. Rebecca Fairley Raney con-
tributed reporting fromBig Bear Lake.
The not-so-s
ecret case of ‘Prisoner X’
JERUSALEM
the floor of Parliament.
Aluf Benn, the editor of the Israeli
daily Haaretz, said the government
forced him and another news organiza-
tion to delete items about the Australian
reports from their Web sites on Tues-
day. Later, Haaretz posted an article on
the unusual editors’ meeting and the
parliamentary discussion.
‘‘They live in a previous century, un-
fortunately,’’ Mr. Benn said of the Israeli
administration. ‘‘Today, whatever is
blocked in news sites is up in the air on
Facebook walls and Twitter feeds. You
can’t just make a story disappear.’’
On Wednesday morning, Israel Radio
reported that the government had
partly lifted the gag order, allowing the
local news media to publish articles
quoting foreign reports, but not ones
based on original material.
The Australian report, a half-hour
segment based on a 10-month investiga-
tion that was broadcast Tuesday on the
ABCNewsmagazine program ‘‘Foreign
Correspondent,’’ identified Prisoner X
as Ben Zygier and said he had used the
name Ben Alon in Israel. Mr. Zygier im-
migrated to Israel about a decade be-
fore his death, at the age of 34, married
an Israeli woman and had two small
children, according to the report.
‘‘ABC understands he was recruited
by spy agency Mossad,’’ read a post on
the Australian network’s Web site. ‘‘His
incarceration was so secret that it is
claimed not even guards knew his iden-
tity.’’ Mr. Zygier ‘‘was found hanged in a
cell with state-of-the-art surveillance
systems that are installed to prevent
suicide,’’ it said, adding that guards
tried unsuccessfully to revive him and
that he was buried aweek later in a Jew-
ish cemetery in a suburb of Melbourne.
On Wednesday, Australia’s foreign
minister ordered an investigation into
his government’s handling of the mat-
ter. The Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade originally said in a statement
earlyWednesday that its embassy in Tel
Aviv was unaware of Mr. Zygier’s situ-
ation until his family requested the re-
patriation of his remains.
A few hours later, another statement
acknowledged that ‘‘some officers of the
department were made aware’’ of his
imprisonment beforehand ‘‘by another
Australian agency.’’ The inquiry is into
‘‘the consular handling of this case,’’ ac-
cording to the statement, with a prelim-
inary report expected on Thursday.
In Israel, members of Parliament and
other people called for inquiries into the
mysterious case and the secrecy sur-
rounding it, including a court order that
had forced the removal of news items
from Israeli Web sites in 2010 and again
on Tuesday.
With the gag order at least partly lif-
ted, Israeli Web sites quickly filled with
photographs of Mr. Zygier and his
grave. In addition to articles quoting ex-
tensively from the original Australian
television report, there were many
columns challenging the censorship
policy and questioning the effectiveness
of the Mossad.
The primeminister’s office declined to
discuss the case or the censorship of it.
The Australian report builds on news
items from 2010 that described the
death of Prisoner X in solitary-confine-
ment cell 15, in a part of Ayalon Prison
said to have been created especially for
Yigal Amir, who killed Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. Prisoner X was
not allowed visitors or a lawyer, accord-
ing to those reports.
Richard Silverstein, anAmerican blog-
ger, reported in 2010 that Prisoner X was
Ali-Reza Asgari, an Iranian former gen-
eral in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps and a government minister, who
had previously been reported to have de-
fected to Israel and cooperated with
Western intelligence agencies. On Tues-
day, Mr. Silverstein acknowledged his
error, saying his information apparently
came from ‘‘a ruse designed to throw the
media off the scent of the real story.’’
On Tuesday, Dov Hanin, a member of
Parliament from the left-leaning Hadash
Party, questioned Israel’s justice minis-
ter, Yaakov Ne’eman, about Prisoner X,
asking: ‘‘Are there people whose arrest
is kept a secret?What are the legal mon-
itoring mechanisms in charge of such a
situation? What are the parliamentary
monitoring systems in charge of such a
situation? And how can public criticism
exist in cases of such a situation?’’
Israel has long employed a military
censor and refused to acknowledge cer-
tain operations, most recently its air-
strike last month in Syria. Most politi-
cians offer only winks and nods about
Israel’s well-known nuclear program,
and Israeli journalists are left to quote
foreign news media reports. Two weeks
ago, Reporters Without Borders ranked
Israel 112th of 179 countries on its annu-
al press freedom index.
Israeli censorship proves
powerless after foreign
media name dead inmate
BY JODI RUDOREN
The story had all the trappings of a spy
thriller: an anonymous prisoner linked
to Israel’s secret service, the Mossad,
isolated in a top-security wing original-
ly built for the assassin of a primeminis-
ter. A suicide — or was it a murder? —
never officially reported. A gag order
that barred journalists from even ac-
knowledging the gag order. And a code
name to rival 007: Prisoner X.
The first reports about the death of
Prisoner X leaked out in 2010, in Israel
and the United States, where a blogger
said the mystery man was a former Ira-
nian general. Government censors im-
mediately forced an Israeli news site to
remove two items related to Prisoner X
— and journalists were interrogated
about it by the police.
On Tuesday, after an extensive Aus-
tralian television report identifying
Prisoner Xas anAustralian father of two
who became an Israeli spy, the prime
minister’s office summoned Israeli edit-
ors to a rare meeting to remind them of
the court order blocking publication of
anything connected to the matter.
It remains unclear what Prisoner X
might have done to warrant such ex-
treme treatment — and such extreme
secrecy, which human rights groups
have denounced as violating interna-
tional law. What is clear is that the mod-
ern media landscape makes the Israeli
censorship system established in the
1950s hopelessly porous: The Australi-
an report quickly made the rounds on
social media, prompting outraged in-
quiries from opposition lawmakers on
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JULIAN SMITH/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
The tombstone in Melbourne of Ben Zygier, reported by an Australian television pro-
gram to have been ‘‘Prisoner X,’’ who was found hanged in an Israeli prison cell in 2010.
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