Thirty-five suspected pirates and four ships were captured off Somalia in an operation involving the French Navy and European Union forces, officials said. It was the largest number of arrests since EU ships began monitoring the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean two years ago, The Times of London reported Tuesday. "The pirates are learning that we are not a soft touch," an unidentified French naval commander in Paris told The Times. The 35 suspects captured during the weekend were to be flown to Kenya, which already has prosecuted about 100 pirates on behalf of countries with forces in the region. Friday, pirates seized a Norwegian-owned oil tanker off Madagascar and sailed it toward Somalia. The UBT Ocean, owned by Brovigtank, was carrying oil from the United Arab Emirates to Tanzania. The captain managed to place an emergency call saying pirates had boarded the ship. "Very quickly afterwards we lost all contact with the boat," a Brovigtank spokesman told The Times.
II. ANA - Papandreou to meet with Obama
Prime Minister George Papandreou will meet on Tuesday with US President Barack Obama in Washington. Earlier, Papandreou will hold talks with with the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi at the Capitol. On Monday US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the efforts being made by the Greek government to handle the economic crisis and accepted the suggestion by the Greek Prime Minister and Foreign Minister George Papandreou for the US and the other major economies of the planet to discuss the need to improve auditing apparatuses in markets during the next G20 summit. During their 45-minute meeting at the State Department, the Greek prime minister and the head of American diplomacy also discussed developments on the issue of Cyprus, the Balkans and NATO operations in Afghanistan.
III. REUTERS - Greek PM says to meet Turkish leader 'very soon'
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said on Monday he would meet Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan within the next few months to discuss a "just solution" for Cyprus. "I will be meeting with (Turkish) Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in the next few months. We haven't yet set the date but it will be very soon," he told a news conference after talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Papandreou said Cyprus had long divided Turkey and Greece and required a solution "sooner the better." Turkey has about 30,000 troops in northern Cyprus and Erdogan has said Ankara would consider a withdrawal if there was a deal. "We do need to liberate this island from that kind of activity and that kind of situation," Papandreou added. The Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities have been divided since a Turkish invasion in 1974. "I have given my full support to (Greek Cypriot leader) Demetris Christofias and his work to move ahead mad continue the peace process, the process and negotiation for finding a just solution, one which will be a federated solution," Papandreou said. "I very much support the sooner the better, but of course a just solution, which will also be within the framework of European legislation," he added. The Greek leader said he would like to see the issue resolved in a way that made Greek-Turkish relations on Cyprus a model for peace to show "the world that former foes can be the best of good partners in this globalizing world."
Turkey will not send its U.S. ambassador back to Washington until it receives "clarity" on a measure that recommends the United States recognize the 1915 killings of ethnic Armenians as genocide, Turkey's prime minister said Tuesday. "As long as we don't see clarity in the situation about the Armenian bill, we won't send our ambassador (back)," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a lunch with journalists in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The ambassador was recalled last week to protest the House Foreign Affairs Committee's passage of the measure on a 23-22 vote Thursday. The nearly century-old issue has placed both Congress and the White House in the middle of a political minefield. The Obama administration had urged the committee not to pass the resolution, warning it could damage U.S.-Turkish relations and jeopardize efforts to normalize relations between Turkey and its neighbor, Armenia. The two do not share formal diplomatic relations. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters Friday that "the Obama administration strongly opposes the resolution that was passed by only one vote in the House committee, and we'll work very hard to make sure it does not go to the House floor."
Albania's Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ilir Meta says the country is willing to cooperate with international institutions. This came in response to the claims made by some UN officials that Albania is preventing an international investigation into the allegations of human organ trafficking during the 1999 conflict in Kosovo. Meta described the allegations as lacking evidence, adding that the Albanian government is determined to complete the process and put an end to all claims about such crimes in Albania "once and for all". United Nations official Philip Alston accused Albania last month of preventing an international investigation into the allegations of torture, murder and organ trafficking during the 1999 conflict in Kosovo. Serbian judicial officials state that ethnic Albanian terrorists kidnapped Serbs in Kosovo during the conflict and took them to Albania where they were killed and their organs extracted to be sold on the black market.
VI. RIANOVOSTI - Russia to sign deal with South Ossetia on military base
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday instructed the Defense Ministry to hold talks with South Ossetia on signing an agreement on a Russian military base in the former Georgian republic. A similar agreement was signed in Moscow on February 17 with Abkhazia, another former Georgian republic. The agreement was concluded during Kremlin talks between President Medvedev and his Abkhazian counterpart, Sergei Bagapsh, who arrived in Moscow on his first visit since his reelection as president of the tiny region on the Black Sea. According to the agreement, the base will "protect Abkhazia's sovereignty and security, including against international terrorist groups." The agreement with Abkhazia was signed for a period of 49 years with the option of its extension by 15-year periods, despite fierce criticism from Tbilisi and Western nations. Moscow recognized the independence of the two former Georgian republics in August 2008 after a five-day war to repel an assault by U.S. ally Georgia on South Ossetia. Georgia has fiercely criticized the plans for the bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which it considers part of its territory. Russia's military buildup in the region since the armed conflict has also been condemned by the West as running counter to international law and contravening the internationally brokered ceasefire agreement signed by Russia and Georgia in the wake of their August 2008 conflict. However, Medvedev said after signing an agreement on the military base with Abkhazia that the deal and a host of other agreements signed in the Kremlin were in line with Russia's international commitments.
The administration and faculty of Saint Tikhon's Seminary here were pleased to learn recently that the Ministry of Education of the Hellenic Republic has decided to recognize the seminary as an accredited higher education institution, equal in standing to the schools of theology at Greek universities. According to Bishop-elect Michael [Dahulich] of New York and New Jersey, seminary Dean, the Ministry of Education affirmed that the Master of Divinity degree conferred by Saint Tikhon's Seminary is equivalent to the first degree in Theology conferred by the Theological Schools at the Universities of Athens and Thessalonica. As such, it makes it possible for degree holders to pursue the universities' graduate studies and doctoral [Th.D.] programs. By virtue of Greece's membership in the European Union, this distinction extends to all schools and religious faculties at EU member state universities. "This is truly a great event in the history of Saint Tikhon's Seminary and the culmination of tremendous work and effort by everyone associated with it, especially our dearly beloved and deeply respected Dean, Bishop-Elect Michael," said Dr. Christopher Veniamin, Professor of Patristics. "The Saint Tikhon community is grateful to God for bestowing this great and unsolicited blessing upon our humble efforts to spiritually form and academically prepare pastors and leaders for His Holy Orthodox Church." For more information about this announcement visit the seminary web site at www.stots.edu.