Kosovo recognition a tricky question

It’s not only “tricky” it is a Pandora’s box, now that it has been opened it may prove impossible to close.

By PAUL HAVEN
22 February, 2008, (AP)
MADRID, Spain — Afghanistan was among the first to recognize Kosovo’s independence, leaping at the chance to acknowledge a majority Muslim nation in Europe.

Taiwan did too, hoping Kosovo would reciprocate and poke a thumb in the eye of archrival China.

But Spain, with a worried eye on its own breakaway movements, said it would never affirm Kosovo’s sovereignty.

The response to Kosovo’s declaration of independence has as much to do with history and local politics as it does with heartfelt feelings for Kosovo and its people.

Rising violence and Russia’s fierce opposition could push fence-sitters to shy away. The question is: Will the turbulence compel supporters to roll back timetables for naming ambassadors and opening consulates in the new state?

“It’s understandable that some nations will want to wait and see how things develop before appointing an ambassador, or opening an embassy,” said Alan Boyle, an international lawyer and academic at the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland.

“Recognizing a state is a policy decision, but establishing diplomatic ties is a separate – and often political – decision,” Boyle said. “One doesn’t always follow the other: the U.S. recognizes Cuba, but doesn’t have diplomatic links.”

Some were adamant that a rollback on recognition was impossible, regardless of pressure from Serbia or Russia.
In Germany, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said rescinding recognition of Kosovo was “unimaginable.”
Five days after unilaterally declaring independence from Serbia, nearly two dozen countries have recognized Kosovo – including major powers like the United States, Britain and France – and many more say they are planning to do so in the future.

On Friday, Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci brushed aside concerns that his nation’s statehood might not stand the test of time.

“Everything is clear. We have massive recognition,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Kosovo is an independent state – sovereign and democratic.”

But with Moscow firmly opposed to what it sees as a slap from the West, and violence erupting in Serbia and in Kosovo’s ethnic Serb enclave, it is too early to say who will ultimately win the recognition game.

On Thursday, rioters set the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade ablaze, and Moscow has said it would block U.N. recognition of the breakaway region. Russia’s envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said Friday that Western nations made “a strategic mistake, similar to the invasion of Iraq,” by backing Kosovo’s independence.

Some nations have already mentioned the violence to support their position.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico – an opponent of independence – said the unrest was evidence that the West’s support for Kosovo’s move was a mistake.

“We can already see that the unilateral declaration of independence didn’t help anybody,” he said earlier this week.

But the main reason for opposition – both in Slovakia and elsewhere – still appears to be homegrown. Slovakia, which until 1993 was a part of Czechoslovakia, has a sizable Hungarian minority, and it fears Kosovo’s move could encourage ethnic tensions at home.

Deep Tensions Arise Over Prayer Space at Salt Lake City International Airport

Let me just throw in my two cents here and say, “An airport terminal is neither a Church, nor a Mosque.  This is AMERICA!!!   So, get over it, butt-munch…”  

Fallout over airport prayer space exposes deep tensions
By Jessica Ravitz
The Salt Lake Tribune
02/22/2008

In the aftermath of 9/11, Pete Dixon’s job changed. The then-new airport express shuttle driver said he found himself, with other Christians, standing as a human wall between praying Muslim cabbies and the traffic that sped by them.

Between the racial slurs and thrown bottles, it was the least Dixon, now 63, could do for his new friends, who as Muslims pray five times a day.

“They need to get back inside,” he recently called out from his van, where take-out Somali food sat beside him. “This [building] has been a model of good relations, and that’s been spoiled.”

The building Dixon spoke of is the modest brick one beside the lot where, until earlier this week, taxi and shuttle drivers queued up before making airport pick-ups. The doors to the then-vacant building opened in 2001, offering refuge for drivers who, on slow days, might wait several hours before being dispatched. Inside were a restroom and a break room, vending machines, a television and a microwave. There also was the small area deemed a “quiet room,” where drivers, presumably of all faiths and backgrounds, could offer prayers, meditate, take naps or simply sit in silence, away from public taunts.

But fallout over this room, in fact the whole building, has been anything but quiet. One man filed a complaint in October with a federal agency, and last month he was charged with assaulting a Muslim taxi driver. On Jan. 18, amid the growing tensions, the Salt Lake City International Airport closed the small building permanently to drivers.

Bush Administration Cautions Israel on Using Force in Gaza

Hey! Since Bush is a lame duck and the the citizens of the United States are suppose to be the ones in control of their government, Israel has my vote to defend herself and kick their asses…

US warns Israel not to invade Gaza
As Palestinian rockets continue to rain down on Israeli communities in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip, the Bush Administration is growing increasingly concerned that Israel will launch the kind of full-scale invasion its military experts say is necessary to curb the terrorist artillery fire.
Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem on Thursday, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch said that Washington expects Israel to respond to the Gaza threat with “caution and proportionality,” rather than the kind of overwhelming force America’s own military doctrine states is the only way to decisively end a conflict.

Welch reiterated the standard US line that Israel has the right to defend itself, but added that the Bush Administration has a vested interest in how Israel chooses to exercise that right.

Welch is in the region to prepare the ground for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit in the coming weeks.

[Ack! Not again!!! Nooooooo!!!! ]

Threat of Terrorist Attacks In Gulf States In Protest Against Mughniya Assassination

 

Bahrain sources reported that three Gulf state embassies in Bahrain, including the Kuwaiti Embassy, had received anonymous phone threats of attacks in these countries in the next few days.

The attacks are supposed to be in protest against the assassination of senior Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniya and the Gulf states’ refusal to recognize him as a martyr.

[Thus, in effect, denying him his 32 virgins…]

The caller, who was a woman, also warned that the Gulf state leaders’ participation in the Arab summit in Damascus would lead to terror attacks.

Source: www.elaph.com, February 22, 2008 – via the MEMRI blog

Iraqi’s Nabbed in Mexico Heading to the U.S. with Fake Passports

It makes you wonder how many have actually made it into the U.S. through our lax borders and, what their intentions are…

Iraqi pair nabbed in Mexico,
headed to U.S. with fake IDs
Posted: February 21, 2008
WorldNetDaily

WASHINGTON – Two more Iraqis with false Bulgarian passports were detained by Mexican officials in Monterrey – bringing the total to four this month.

Wisam Gorgies, a 34-year-old man, and Rana Nazar Peyoz, a 26-year-old woman, reportedly flew from Madrid and landed in Monterrey, according to reports in two Mexican newspapers today.

Following questioning, the pair admitted they intended to reach the United States. They were taken to Saltillo in the state of Coahuila, for final determination of their status.

Mexican officials said the are investigating “a network that could be made up of Mexicans operating in Greece who are selling false Bulgarian passports for $10,000 to European and Middle Eastern citizens.”

Earlier this month, El Universal, a daily in Mexico City, reported two other Iraqis, Markos Ramy, a 25-year-old man, and Sollem Pate, a 20-year-old woman, presented Bulgarian passports upon arrival at the Monterrey airport after a flight from Spain.

They told customs officials they came as tourists for a couple days. But because they spoke no Bulgarian, their passports were determined to be fraudulent. The Bulgarian consulate did not acknowledge them as citizens and their hotel reservations proved to be phony.

Only after their cover story was blown did the couple admit to being Iraqis. They claimed to be fleeing the war.

Last year, dozens of Iraqis were discovered attempting to enter Monterrey with phony ID – 17 of them in a single event.