Clinton expresses support to Correa
|
|
Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton telephoned Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to offer support for his government, the US State Department said Friday.
Correa's government came under seize Thursday from unruly police officers forces angry about a law changing their compensation benefits. The Ecuadorian government characterized their act as a coup.
State Department spokesman PJ Crowley described it as a "challenge" to the government. He said Clinton spoke with Correa for about 10 minutes to offer support.
"She expressed her support for the president and the Ecuadorian government and encouraged an ongoing, rapid and peaceful restoration of order," Correa said.
Correa was holed up at a police hospital in Quito by officers who refused to let him leave. The mutiny also took control of the main police barracks and the runway at the main airport until it was later thwarted.
Thousands join in left-leaning rally in Washington
Washington - Thousands of civil rights, environmental and peace activists and union members gathered in Washington in what was seen as a show of force from the political left one month before congressional elections.
The protest under the title "One Nation Working Together" was aimed at encouraging enthusiasm for civil rights issues, organizers said.
The demonstration on the Mall in central Washington advocated for "job creation, quality education and justice" and many attendees called on the government to do more to jump-start the weak economic recovery.
"We are here to let the government know that they need to care more for us," Joyce Foster, a member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, told the German Press Agency dpa. "We are as a whole, a country, needs more being done for the people."
Although organizers claimed that the protest was non-partisan, US media portrayed it as a demonstration supporting the Democrats and many of the crowd said they hoped it would rally Democratic supporters to come out in force in November elections.
Most of the groups which participated - including gay rights, environmental, faith, and student groups as well as the black rights group the NAACP - are associated with President Barack Obama's left- leaning party.
"We are the people that put him in office and we are happy with a lot of things that have happened but there are still some things that we are still unhappy with and we wanna be heard," said Lenny Bass, who drove from New York with his two sons to attend the rally and carried a homemade sign reading "More jobs, less wars."
"We wanna remind you that we put you in office, that we are your base, this is the message that you delivered and we want you to follow through," he said, directing his comments to Obama.
November 2 elections to chose members of Congress and many local officials are widely seen as a referendum on Obama's first two years in office, and much of the attention has focussed on anger on the political right.
The Mall, a large grassy park extending from the US Capitol and lined with museums and memorials, was the site just weeks ago of a rally called by conservative TV commentator Glenn Beck. That rally along with the rise of the conservative Tea Party movement, which has called for less government and taxes, and the toppling of some moderate Republicans in intra-party primary elections has emphasized growing conservative dissatisfaction with the country's leadership.
Many political commentators have noted the Republican Party's base has been more active than Democrats ahead of the vote. Saturday's rally was seen as a chance for the political left to reinvigorate itself and energize potential voters.
Demonstrators said the country should not return to Republican control and instead must focus on more progressive change.
"We haven't had enough change, but we know that the Republicans are not gonna deliver change, they are gonna get us back," said Frank Sharry, director of pro-immigrant group America's Voice, calling the Republican agenda "a tsunami of retrogressive harsh racially charged policies that nobody wants to get back to."
US, Britain warn of terrorist threat in Europe
Washington/London/Paris - Authorities in the United States on Sunday warned its citizens of the potential threat of terrorist attacks in Europe, while Britain advised travellers of "a high threat of terrorism" in France and Germany.
The alerts follow media reports over the past week that US and European intelligence agencies have uncovered and disrupted an alleged al-Qaeda plot to carry out simultaneous attacks on major cities in Britain, France and Germany.
There was information to suggest that al-Qaeda and affiliated organizations were planning such attacks, the US State Department said in the travel alert. Travellers should be especially careful on flights, in stations and on the underground.
"Terrorists may elect to use a variety of means and weapons to target both official and private interests," the alert said.
The State Department also noted "the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure."
The Washington Post had earlier reported that the government would issue the alert rather than a stronger warning, because there were no specific locations US travellers should avoid.
Britain's Foreign Office, meanwhile, warned in the travel section of its website that attacks "could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers."
Home Secretary Theresa May said Britain was facing "a real and serious threat from terrorism," reflected in the country's threat level being set at "severe," according to the Press Association.
The French Foreign Ministry said it was unsurpised by the US alert. "We have taken note of it," the ministry said. "It is consistent with general recommendations for French citizens."
Defence Minister Herve Morin was also quoted on Sunday by the daily Le Parisien as saying: "The terrorist threat exists, and could hit us at any moment."
"Networks organizing themselves to prepare attacks are constantly being dismantled around the world. It is good for the French to know this," he told the paper.
But the German Interior Ministry on Sunday said there was currently "no cause to alter current threat evaluations." It was however, re-checking all security measures with "high intensity" after the US and British terror alerts.
The US alert should be seen "against the background of recent warnings already published in the media over the past weeks," a spokesman said.
US, British and German media in particular have focused recently on statements reportedly made under interrogation by Ahmed Siddiqui, a German detainee at a US military prison in Bagram, Afghanistan.
German diplomats had been allowed access to Siddiqui for the first time on Sunday, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung is to report in its Monday edition.
Siddiqui is alleged to have belonged to a group of extremists who travelled from Germany to Afghanistan in 2009 and was in contact with the Taiba Mosque in Hamburg, where the masterminds of the September 11, 2001 attacks worshipped.
The planned attacks were to be carried out by Germans, Chechens and nationals from Arabic states, coordinated by a terrorist group based in Afghanistan and Pakistan in cooperation with al-Qaeda, the German public broadcaster ZDF reported.
Plans for the attacks were believed to have reached advanced stages but were not imminent, according to reports by the US-based Wall Street Journal and British media.
|
