28 February 2013

SHARES News Items Overview: 16-28 February 2013

The SHARES Project is closely following and collecting news items that are linked to the issue of shared responsibility (see: www.sharesproject.nl/news). Here is our ‘SHARES News Items Overview: 16-28 February 2013’ consisting of a summary of recent news relating to shared responsibility.

• The New York Times reported that after the French troops will be replaced by a United Nations peacekeeping force in Mali, it is likely that a role remains for French counterterrorism forces in tracking down militants in Mali.
• In the wake of a recent joint Afghan-NATO attack in the Kunar Province that killed ten civilians, Afghan President Karzai has announced he would forbid his military forces from requesting American or NATO forces to conduct airstrikes in Afghanistan.
• The White House threatened China and other states with diplomatic and trade action in response to corporate espionage. The strategy of the Obama administration was outlined in a report at a conference, after cataloging more than a dozen cases of commercial thefts and cyberattacks at some of the biggest companies in the United States.
• The United Nations (UN) has invoked its immunity to deny claims for compensation from 5.000 victims of the Haiti cholera epidemic. The epidemic is believed to have been caused by UN peacekeepers from Nepal, who imported the cholera into the country.
• The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has signed defence contracts worth $1.4 billion Dollar, which included buying unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) from the United States (US) firm General Atomics. The US has however blocked attempts by the UAE to buy armed drones.
• President Obama announced that about 100 American troops were sent to Niger to help set up a new base from which drones would conduct surveillance in the region. Niger has signed a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States (US), clearing the way for greater American military involvement in the country and to provide legal protection to American troops who are stationed there. The US troops would support the French-led operation in Mali.
• Al Jazeera published a report detailing involvement of the United Kingdom (UK) in drone attacks by the United States (US). The report revealed that the UK has been providing locational intelligence to assist US drone operators carrying out strikes in Pakistan.
• The New York Times reported that according to United States (US) and Western officials familiar with the purchases, Saudi Arabia financed a large purchase of infantry weapons from Croatia, which were secretly moved through Jordan to antigovernment fighters in Syria. It has been suggested by a Croatian newspaper that the US acted as an intermediary.