LA Times News

LA Times News

U.S. scrambles to contain WikiLeaks damage

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 07:15 PM PST

Clinton and other officials shrug off the undiplomatic assessments revealed in the diplomatic cables, saying they won't affect long-term ties, even as they promise to tighten security and punish the culprits.

The massive leak of secret diplomatic cables sent a tremor from Washington through world capitals Monday, exposing deception and scheming that world leaders take great pains to keep private and complicating some of America's most sensitive strategic relations.

Cables reveal doubts about Pakistani nuclear security

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

The papers leaked by WikiLeaks reveal U.S. concerns about Pakistan's nuclear program, and its attempt to get Islamabad to give it its enriched uranium for safekeeping.

Leaked classified U.S. diplomatic documents reveal strong doubts that Pakistan can keep nuclear fuel and expertise out of the hands of terrorists, alarmingly illustrated by a report that Pakistani nuclear workers have been kidnapped by Islamic extremists and not heard from again.

In Haiti, tentative calm follows chaotic elections

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Two popular presidential candidates are said to be leading in the ballot count. Foreign diplomats hope the vote will produce a legitimate winner, preventing more violence.

A quiet tension settled over Haiti on Monday as people waited to learn how electoral officials proceed in handling Sunday's chaos-marred national balloting and the international community hoped the earthquake-ravaged country did not descend yet again into violence.

Germany watches with concern as euro falls despite Ireland bailout

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

'If we keep bailing out the rest of Europe, we'll end up going down with the sinking ship,' a dressmaker in Potsdam says.

Germans braced for even more turmoil in the Eurozone after a multibillion-dollar rescue package for Ireland failed Monday to satisfy financial markets alarmed at the cost of having to bail out heavily indebted partners that share the common currency.

WikiLeaks: Diplomatic cables show Egyptian leader's acrimony with Iran

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 04:45 PM PST

The memos also indicate President Hosni Mubarak's resentment over U.S. complaints about his human rights record and his delight in telling visiting Congress members 'I told you so' regarding his warning about invading Iraq.

Often startling in their candid prose, confidential diplomatic cables from meetings between U.S. diplomats and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reveal the longtime leader's deep animosity toward Iran, a cynical approach to democracy in Iraq and lingering resentment over complaints about his human rights record.

'Souring' Israel-Turkey relationship seen in WikiLeaks trove

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 04:37 PM PST

Confidential documents show how Americans grew frustrated and even angry over a Turkish foreign policy out of sync with the U.S. vision.

U.S. officials had scrambled to keep two allies from airing their growing differences in public — again.

WikiLeaks disclosures reveal U.S. praise and criticism for Mugabe's rivals

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 03:09 PM PST

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was brave but 'not readily open to advice, indecisive,' wrote then-Ambassador Christopher Dell, who was dismissive of other figures.

Sometimes in the world of diplomacy, your friends are as big of a problem as your enemies.

Nuclear scientist killed in bomb attack in Tehran

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Four others are injured, two of them in a second, similar attack. The slaying is the second this year in which an Iranian physicist linked to a project known as SESAME has been killed in a bombing.

For the second time in less than a year, an Iranian physicist connected to an international project that includes Israel and the Islamic Republic as member states died in a bomb blast in Tehran, adding to the mystery of what appear to be attacks against Iran's nuclear brain trust.

Afghan policeman kills 6 American troops

Posted: 30 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

The shooter also is killed. It is the deadliest such incident in a year and points up the dangers U.S. troops face as they try to train local police and soldiers to take over security.

An Afghan border policeman on Monday turned his weapon on Western troops, fatally shooting six of them. NATO did not disclose the nationalities of the slain soldiers, but a Pentagon official said they were American.

Wikileaks' release of secret U.S. cables sends tremor through diplomatic community

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 05:10 PM PST

WASHINGTON – The massive leak of secret U.S. diplomatic cables sent a tremor through world capitals on Monday, embarrassing numerous world leaders and threatening to complicate some of the United States' most sensitive relationships.

Afghanistan reacts mildly to scathing criticisms revealed by WikiLeaks

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 10:57 AM PST

In diplomatic cables, President Hamid Karzai is called weak and paranoid, and his half-brother, a key government figure, is referred to as a corrupt drug dealer. But a spokesman for the president says 'there is not much in the documents that surprises us.'

The Afghan government said Monday that the publication of secret diplomatic cables that disparaged President Hamid Karzai and his half-brother Ahmed Wali Karzai was "unfortunate" but that it did not expect relations with Washington to be affected.

Blasts target Iranian nuclear scientists

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 11:00 AM PST

One professor dies, another is injured on their morning commutes. The attacks prompt a stern warning by the head of Iran's atomic energy agency.

Two separate explosions killed a nuclear scientist and injured another in the Iranian capital Monday morning, official news outlets reported.

In Haiti, election day chaos casts shadow over hopeful voters

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Voters like 23-year-old Etianne Petit Frere, who fell on hard times, saw in the elections a glimmer of hope for a better day. But voter roll difficulties leave many disillusioned.

She drifted amid throngs of screaming men, looking for her name on list after list. In a land of faint hopes, she clung to one of the faintest: that an election might release the grip of this terrible year.

Army private accused of murder in Afghan prisoner's death

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Pfc. David Lawrence faces a military hearing in Ft. Carson, Colo. His parents and attorney say he showed signs of mental instability before last month's slaying in Kandahar.

The military equivalent of a preliminary hearing is set for Monday at Ft. Carson, Colo., for an Army private accused of premeditated murder in the shooting death of a senior Taliban commander being held prisoner in Afghanistan.

Gang leader blamed in Ciudad Juarez violence arrested

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 12:00 AM PST

Arturo Gallegos Castrellon is described as the main leader of the Aztecas street gang. Mexican authorities say he confessed to numerous killings, including that of a U.S. consular employee that was previously blamed on a different Aztecas leader.

Mexican authorities said Sunday that they had arrested the main leader of the Aztecas, a Ciudad Juarez street gang blamed for much of the violence in the troubled border city.