United Nations Climate ChangeConference, - Gazeta.pl

United Nations Climate Change Conference,
SPECIAL
EDITION
THURSDAY
December 4, 2008
ISSUE 4
CIRCULATION 8 THOUSAND
ENGLISH EDITION EDITORS
AGNIESZKA MITRASZEWSKA
BARTOSZ WĘGLARCZYK
PUBLISHER: AGORA SA
www.wyborcza.pl
JOHN ACHER, REUTERS IN OSLO
11
Around 100 governments started
signing the Convention on Cluster
Munitions on Wednesday and Thursday
in the Norwegian capital, though
the big military powers and arms-producers
— the United States, China,
Russia — and others would be absent.
Cluster bombs contain hundreds
of submunitions, also called ”bomblets”,
that blanket wide areas, which
campaigners say make them indiscriminate
killers. Since not all the submunitions
explode upon impact,
duds on the ground pose lethal dangers
to civilians for decades after they
are used in combat.
”We’re celebrating today but
countries must not take their eyes
off the ball,” said Thomas Nash, coordinator
of the London-based Cluster
NNAAMM NNIIEE JEESSTT WWSZZYYSSTTKKOO JEEDDNNOO
NATIONS SIGN BOMB BAN
States must ratify a new treaty banning cluster munitions swiftly to avoid delay in clearing and
destroying stockpiles of the weapons blamed for heavy civilian casualties, campaigners warn
Georgians look at a Russian cluster bomb in the village of Ruisi, near the Georgian breakaway province of South Ossetia, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008
US Stocks Finish
Higher Despite
Dismal Econ. Data
11 Wall Street has withstood another
stream of bad readings, closing sharply
higher after an erratic session.
The major indexes fluctuated
throughout the day as investors shuttled
between pessimism about a protracted
recession and hopes that the
nation might start to soon see relief.
Analysts largely believe that much
of the bad news is already priced into
the market.
The DJ industrial average bolted
up 172 points to 8,591. All the major indexes
rose more than 2 percent. 1 AP
Munition Coalition, an umbrella group
for non-governmental organisations
that have fought for the ban.
The treaty, which was adopted by
107 countries in Dublin in May, will enter
into force six months after 30 states
have ratified it and deposited the
instruments with the United Nations
in New York.
”We need 30 ratifications as soon
as possible so that the obligations in
this treaty will begin to bite,” said Nash
whose CMC wants it to take effect before
the end of 2009. ”So we are going
to be pushing hard for ratification,” he
told Reuters. Norway, Ireland, and the
Holy See have completed ratification
before even signing, he added.
The convention bans the use, stockpiling
and trading of the weapons. It
also requires signatories to clear contaminated
areas within 10 years and
to destroy stockpiles within eight years.
”The sooner we get entry into force,
the sooner those deadlines kick in,”
Nash said.
Altogether 115 states have registered
to attend the Oslo conference, 10 or
more may not sign as not all have completed
the formalities in their own
countries for doing so, a Norwegian
official said. ”So we won’t have an exact
number until the signing is over,” foreign
ministry spokesman Bjoern Svennungsen
said.
Once the treaty is signed at Oslo’s
City Hall in a ceremony stretching over
two days, it will go to the United
Nations headquarters in New York
where more states will be able to sign.
The effort to ban cluster munitions
began less than two years ago at an Oslo
conference in February 2007. The
drive to push it through patterned it-
Nearly 500 Die of Cholera in Zimbabwe
11 The health crisis in Zimbabwe is
rapidly deepening, the World Health
Organization warns. The spread of
cholera, normally a preventable and
treatable disease, highlights the collapse
in the once relatively prosperous
African nation, where President
Robert Mugabe and the opposition
are squabbling over how to implement
a power-sharing agreement.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s
party said talks on the unity
government would resume in two
weeks. Mugabe’s chief negotiator,
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa,
made no comment.
The WHO said most regions of
Zimbabwe were reporting infections,
with the fatality rate reaching up to 50
percent in some areas. It reported 484
deaths and 11,735 total infections.
”Cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe
have occurred annually since 1998,
but previous epidemics never reached
today’s proportions. The last large
outbreak was in 1992 with 3,000 cases
recorded,” the WHO said in a report.
The water delivery system has broken
down in Harare, forcing residents
to drink from contaminated wells and
streams. Hundreds of Zimbabweans
are crossing the South African border
each day to seek treatment 1
NELSON BANYA
REUTERS IN HARARE
World News – P. 9-10
self after the campaign that led to a 1997
treaty in Ottawa to ban landmines.
Jody Williams, the American who
won the Nobel Peace Prize with her
landmine campaign in 1997, said that
like the landmine ban, the cluster bomb
treaty would effectively stigmatise the
weapon even though some big powers
do not adopt it.
She told Reuters outside parliament
in Oslo that she hoped future US
president Barack Obama would sign
the ban. ”Mr Obama tells us to look for
hope and change,” she said. ”I like hope
and change, but I want to see him sign
it. Eventually the stigmatisation will
make a big difference, like it did with
landmines,” she said. ”Even though
the United States hasn’t signed the
treaty, it has essentially obeyed all its
elements... and even renounced future
production of landmines.” 1
US Greenhouse
Gas Emissions Rose
1.4 pct in ’07
11 US greenhouse gas emissions rose
1.4 percent last year on unfavorable
weather that boosted demand for
heating and cooling, and as generation
from hydropower sources declined,
the Energy Information Administration
said on Tuesday.
Emissions of gases blamed for
warming the planet rose to 7.282 billion
tonnes, of carbon dioxide equivalent,
mostly on a rise in emissions
from the burning of fossil fuels, the
agency said. 1 REUTERS
News From the Conference – P. 2-4
AP
COP
14
POZNAŃ 2008
IN SHORT
THURSDAY
04.12.08
Bionic Tower
At 1pm a presentation of the new
environment-friendly sky scraper
Bionic Tower will commence.
Keynote speaker will be architect
Mr. Tomasz Piwiński. 1
FRIDAY
05.12.08
Growing Together
1-3 pm: A meeting of the United
Nations Climate Change Conference
on sustained growth in a
changing climate. 1
TUESDAY
09.12.08
No More Waste
12 pm: A presentation on nonwaste
biotechnology using
heat. 1

2
Thursday, December 4, 2008 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 www.wyborcza.pl
The Conference
United Nations Climate Change Conference, Cop 14
Obama climate goals not enough – China, India
US President-elect Barack Obama’s goals for curbing greenhouse gases by 2020 are inadequate to fight global
warming, Chinese and Indian delegates told Reuters at UN climate talks on Wednesday
GERARD WYNN AND ALISTER DOYLE
REUTERS IN POZNAŃ
11
Developing nations welcomed
Obama’s plan for tougher goals than
President George W. Bush but said
Obama’s target of cutting US greenhouse
gas emissions back to 1990
levels by 2020 was not enough to
avoid dangerous global warming.
”It’s more ambitious than President
Bush but it is not enough to
achieve the urgent, long-term goal of
greenhouse gas reductions,” Tsinghua
University’s He Jiankun, of the
Chinese delegation, said on the
sidelines of the Dec. 1-12 talks.
US emissions, mainly from
burning fossil fuels, are running
about 14 percent above 1990 levels
and Bush’s plans had foreseen
emissions rising and only peaking
in 2025. Obama also plans to cut
emissions to 80 percent below 1990
levels by 2050.
”It’s not ambitious enough considering
the Kyoto Protocol targets,
but given the eight-year Bush administration,
it’s progress,” said Dinesh
Patnaik, a director at the Indian
Foreign Ministry.
The United States is isolated
among industrialised nations in not
ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, which
obliges 37 developed nations to cut
emissions by 2012 as a first step to
avert more heatwaves, floods,
droughts, and rising sea levels.
Developing nations at the 187-nation
meeting said rich nations should set
even more ambitious targets, of cuts
of 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels
by 2020 to shift from fossil fuels despite
the financial crisis.
China and the United States are
top emitters ahead of India and
Russia. But US emissions per capita
are almost five times those of China
and developing nations say the rich
have spewed out most of the heattrapping
carbon since the Industrial
Revolution.
The talks in Poznań, Poland, are
reviewing progress at the half-way
stage of a two-year push for a new UN
treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.
The new treaty is meant to be agreed on
by the end of next year in Copenhagen.
Earlier on Wednesday, a group of
43 small island states called for even
tougher goals for cuts, saying that rising
seas could wipe them off the map.
”We are not prepared to sign
a suicide agreement,” said Selwin Hart
of Barbados, a coordinator of the
alliance of small island states, told
Reuters at the 187-nation meeting.
They said that rich nations should
cut emissions by 40 percent by 2020
below 1990 levels.
Paula Dobriansky, US undersecretary
of state who will head the US delegation
in Poznań next week, said she
would work for a smooth transition to
Obama. ”We will not be...closing any
doors or foreclosing options for the
Wednesday’s disscusions in Poznań
new administration,” she told a phone
briefing from Washington. She said
the world needed ”nothing less than
a clean technology revolution” to cut
emissions.
European Union leaders last year
agreed a target to cut greenhouse gases
by a fifth by 2020 compared to 1990
levels.
Bangladesh delegate Mohammad
Reazuddin described Barack Obama’s
2020 ambition as ”not acceptable.”
”We’re not even agreeing with the EU
goal to cut by 20 percent (below 1990
levels by 2020), it should be 30 percent.”
The head of the UN Climate Change
Secretariat, Yvo de Boer, has praised
Obama’s goal as ”ambitious” given the
rise since 1990.
Brice Lalonde, the head of the
French delegation which represents
the EU in Poznań, said it was too early
to assess Obama’s goal. ”We have not
yet had the opportunity to discuss with
his team,” he said.
Eileen Claussen, head of the Pew
Center on Global Climate Change and
Strategies for the Global Environment,
said Obama was unlikely to be ready
to sign up to specific numbers for 2020
cuts in Copenhagen.
”I think this administration will
not be willing to negotiate specific
targets until it has numbers out of
Congress,” she said. Tackling the
financial crisis means that is unlikely
before 2010. 1
A D V E R T I S M E N T
TOMASZ KAMIŃSKI
27349491
1

1
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Island States Seek in Poznań
Tougher UN Climate Deal
A group of 43 small island states calls for tougher goals for
fighting global warming than those being considered in Poznań
MONIKA BLICHARZ
AND JUSTYNA SUCHECKA
11
”We are not prepared to sign a suicide
agreement that causes small island
states to disappear,” Selwin Hart of
Barbados, a coordinator of the alliance
of small island states, told Reuters at
the 187-nation meeting.
The Dec. 1-12 talks in Poznań are
reviewing progress at the half-way stage
of a two-year push for a new UN treaty
to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. The
new treaty is meant to be agreed on by
the end of 2009 in Copenhagen.
The 43 nations, including low-
-lying coral atolls from the Pacific to
the Indian Ocean, said global warming
should be limited to a maximum of
1.5 Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above preindustrial
times, below the 2 degree
goal by the European Union.
Average temperatures rose by
about 0.7 Celsius last century and
many scientists say that even the EU
goal, the toughest under wide consideration,
may already be out of reach
because of surging emissions of greenhouse
gases from burning fossil fuels.
Hart said it was the first time that
the alliance had set a common temperature
goal. Rising temperatures
and seas would damage corals, erode
coasts, disrupt rainfall, and spur more
disease, they said.
Low-lying states such as Tuvalu and
Kiribati say they risk being submerged
by sea level rises, spurred by rising temperatures
that could melt ice in Greenland
and Antarctica. Warmer water also
takes up more space than cold, raising
sea levels.
”A 2 degree increase compared to
pre-industrial levels would have deva-
If the Antarctic ice
sheet melts down
completely, global sea
levels would rise
by 57 metres
stating consequences on developing
small island states,” the nations said in
a joint statement.
”My country is really suffering,”
said Amjad Abdulla of the Maldives.
He said some people in the Maldives
were already living in partly inundated
homes.
Bernaditas Muller of the Philippines
said a 2 degree rise would wipe out
a third of the territory of the country.
Rising seas would also swamp low-lying
coasts from Bangladesh to Florida.
The small islands said their goal
would mean that industrialised nations
The Conference 3
www.wyborcza.pl 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 Thursday, December 4, 2008
United Nations Climate Change Conference, Cop 14
would have to cut greenhouse gas emissions
by more than 40 percent below
1990 levels by 2020, and by more than
95 percent by 2050.
Such cuts are far deeper than those
under consideration by industrialised
countries, facing additional problems
in making new reductions because of
the financial crisis.
The EU, for instance, is struggling
to get approval for a plan to cuts of 20
percent below 1990 by 2020. US President-elect
Barack Obama aims to return
US emissions to 1990 levels by 2020
after a rise of 14 percent since 1990.
The UN Climate Panel said seas may
rise by between 18 and 59 centimeters
this century and that sea levels are likely
to keep on rising for centuries.
But some scientists say that that may
be an under-estimate. ”It’s still likely
that the average sea level will rise less
than 1 metre by 2100 but a higher figure
cannot be excluded,” said Stefan
Rahmstorf, of the Potsdam Institute for
Climate Impact Research.
He said that some studies indicated
that seas could rise by up to about 1.55
metres by 2100 and 1.5-3.5 metres by
2300. ”If the Antarctic ice sheet melts
down completely, global sea levels
would rise by 57 metres (187 ft). For
Greenland it’s 7 metres,” he said. 1
ALISTER DOYLE AND GABRIELA BACZYNSKA
REUTERS IN POZNAŃ
Kenyan Officer is Freezing
11 ”It’s really cold over here!,” says
UN officer Edith Imbuli. She is a member
of the international group of UN
security staff, who have been guarding
the conference centre on the
Poznań International Fair grounds.
Sporting a big smile and blue uniform
she is walking down the corridor at
the Poznań International Trade Fair.
VIOLETTA SZOSTAK (VS): Are you in
a real hurry? Can we talk for a minute?
EDITH IMBULI (EI): OK.
VS: Where are you from?
EI: Kenya. I live in Kenya.
VS: Did you get to look around Poznań
a bit?
EI: I haven’t seen much. It’s too cold.
VS: You don’t go outside because of
the cold?
EI: That’s right. It’s really cold.
She points to a thermometer on top
of the conference building, displaying
0 degrees Celsius.
VS: Let me cheer you up a bit then.
It’s supposed to go above zero in the
coming days.’
EI: Oh, then maybe we will have some
more free time over the next weekend
and I get to see more of Poznań.
VS: Which hotel are you staying at?
EI: Jo…vitcha?’
VS: Jowita?’
EI: Yes, Jowita. It’s good because it’s
close.
VS: Is this your first time in Poland?
EI: First time.
VS: Have you heard of Poznań before?
EI: No, I haven’t. I don’t know much
about Poland. In fact I know nothing…
But I have a friend! Her name is Edyta.
E-dy-ta. She lives in Warsaw.
VS: Where did you meet each other?’
EI: In Kenya. She came on vacation.
VS: Do you think working at the climate
summit will be a difficult task?’
EI: It shouldn’t be hard. But we’ll see.
You know, I really have to go now, they
are calling me. OK?
VS: OK. Thank you. 1
INTERVIEW BYVIOLETTA SZOSTAK
GAZETAWYBORCZA
IN POZNAŃ
A D V E R T I S M E N T
VIOLETTA SZOSTAK
UN Officer Edith Imbuli
27352318

4 The Conference
Thursday, December 4, 2008 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 www.wyborcza.pl
United Nations Climate Change Conference, Cop 14
Want a Smoke? Emigrate!
L.ANANNIKOVA,N.MAZUR
AND M.WYBIERALSKI IN POZNAŃ
11
THE LANDSCAPE: Flatlands. ‘You
can see some nice views in the ‘fourpack.’
By the ‘Stork’ hangs a nice big
photo with a panorama of the Tatra
Mountains,’ recommends a young
delivery boy in charge of distributing
parcels to the session rooms. The
‘Stork’ is the largest of these, with
1,500 seats, then goes the ‘Eagle Owl.’
You will also find a ‘Swan,’ an ‘Elk,’
and a ‘Fox.’
The ‘four-pack’ – four conference
halls connected by a glass roof – have
been praised by UN delegates from
Bonn for its abundance of natural
light. There is also a small lawn there,
a couple of bald trees, and tables with
chairs. That is rare – outside the ‘fourpack’
the citizens of the UN State
often perch themselves on floors and
stairs.
Pro-environment NGOs have set
up their information stands under
the glass roof. ”Many people take
pendrives with our presentation,
perhaps two out of one hundred will
view it. But that’s still something,”
says a staff member behind one of
the counters.
There are no dangerous recesses
in the territory of the UN State. Only
the corridor leading from Hall no. 15
to the ‘four-pack’ proved treacherous.
Its floor collapsed under the weight
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”At the Fair management, they tell me it’s the UN that rules here. So I go to the UN and they send me to the
Polish security. And the security would okay anything, only they say the Fair management have to okay it first”
of a cart with two tonnes of wall
calendars.
GOVERNMENT. ”Basically it’s ‘pass the
buck.’ If I want anything, like extra
entry passes to the Fair area, I go to the
Fair management, and they tell me it’s
the UN that rules here. So I go to the
UN and they send me to the Polish
security services. And the Polish
security services would okay anything,
only they say the Fair management
have to okay it first,” says Marcin
Spendowski at Taspol, which runs the
restaurants in the UN State.
The rules that the citizens have to
follow are defined by the ‘blues.’
SECURITY SERVICES. The ‘blues’ is
the colloquial name assigned to the
blue-uniformed UN officers.
”You can shout, run, listen to music,
provided you don’t bother others,” they
say. And who decides whether we do?
”Me or my colleague,” replies Elkana
Serem, a UN officer from Kenya.
”Fortunately, the guests are well-behaved,
we haven’t had to intervene yet.”
PROHIBITIONS. Smoking is not allowed
in the UN State, so if you want to puff
on a ciggie, you have to ‘emigrate’
outside. One of the delegates, unwilling
to smoke out in the cold, went with her
cigarette as far as to the café on Fredry
Street, four stops from the UN State.
No eating or drinking during the
sessions. If you violate the rule – you
lose your sandwich. The ‘blues’ will
take it away from you.
CUISINE. Sandwiches are the most
popular dish in the state. ”Customers
buy them even during lunch time,
which, with an exclusively Polish clientele,
would have been unthinkable,”
says Piotr Dąbek, chef at the Smaki
i Aromaty (Flavours and Aromas)
restaurant. This one alone prepares
about a thousand sandwiches daily,
and there are at least three such
‘sandwich factories’ in the State.
The citizens’ taste for sandwiches
is also confirmed by the fact that they
are prepared to pay as much as PLN
12 for, say, a salmon sandwich. The
prices have been imposed by the Fair.
Besides sandwiches, the UN citizens
eat a lot of fruit and vegetables. Meat
is less popular. ”Many are on a diet or
vegetarian,” says Mr Dąbek.
The most popular beverage is
coffee. The restaurants brew one every
thirty seconds on average.
Laws. Every citizen of the UN State
has the right to a single receipt of an
ecological bag containing two nonchlorine
paper notebooks, a pendrive
with a presentation about Poland,
a folder advertising an exhibition of
environment-friendly technologies
neighbouring the State, a can of
buckwheat honey, plus a shawl, and a
pair of gloves made of blue fleece. ”They
keep asking about green ones, but we
don’t have them,” says a staff member
dispensing the bags, which have been
prepared by the event’s organisers.
HEALTHCARE. The most common
affliction in the State are various kinds
of pain, which is best mitigated by pills.
But the doctors are prepared for more
serious problems too. ”We have three
beds here. We can do an ECG, or even
carry out a resuscitation,” says Anna
Zejma-Olender, doctor at the medical
station. ”The only thing we can’t do are
lab tests.”
RELIGION. There are no religious symbols
to be found anywhere in the UN State.
There is no Roman Catholic church
here, nor a mosque, nor a synagogue.
But there is an ecumenical prayer room.
”Many people ask about it. Chiefly Muslims,”
says Piotr, a voluntary. ”They don’t
ask which way Mecca is. They know it
perfectly well, instinctively,” he adds.
There is a male bathroom before you
enter the prayer room. Delegates wash
their feet in sinks, and barefoot, with
rugs under their arms, line up in a queue.
Those who feel tired can relax in a special
room next door equipped with a bed
and some armchairs.
BUREAUCRACY. ”Things are terribly
boring here, as usual when you have to
do with paperwork,” say the voluntaries
manning the stand where the conference
materials are distributed. ”The-
se delegates are like students. If it’s for
free, they take it. Without reading,” they
add, and disappear between racks filled
with all kinds of documents. An
average of 3 million pages are printed
during a climate conference.
HELPFUL HAND. There is always someone
to give you a helping hand in the UN
state. ”We had a delegate from Peru who
knew only that he lived at the Franciscans.
And we found his lodge,” says Tomasz
Matujewicz at the luggage transport
station. ”We also had a gentleman
from Africa who had lost his luggage at
the airport. We took him to the Ławica
[the Poznań airport], and there they were,
just being evacuation. So at least he had
time to drop in to King Cross [a major
shopping mall] and buy some decent
shoes, because he came here only in his
sandals. And he did recover his luggage
too,” adds Mr Matujewicz.
NIGHT LIFE. The UN State is open
around the clock – the cloakroom works,
the restaurant waits for guests. Security
guards with the inevitable earphone in
their ears and an inscrutable expression
on their faces are omnipresent.
”The delegates and journalists left
here before 10 pm. There’s no one here
at night,” whispers a Polish security
service officer. By 11 pm the UN State
looks deserted. Despite that, all the
corridors and rooms remain brightly
lit. 1
A D V E R T I S M E N T
27357720
1

1
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6
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Economy
Thursday, December 4, 2008 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 www.wyborcza.pl
Oil Plunges to 3-Year Low
Oil prices rose slightly Wednesday but remained near three-year lows as investors tried to gauge how much
the slowdown in US and Chinese economies will hurt demand for crude
PABLO GORONDI, AP
11
By midday in Europe, light,
sweet crude for January delivery
was up 12 cents to
$47.08 a barrel in electronic
trading on the New York Mercantile
Exchange. The contract fell $2.32
overnight to settle at $46.96 after
touching $46.82, the lowest level since
May 20, 2005, when it traded at $46.20.
In London, January Brent crude
rose 9 cents to $45.53 on the ICE Futures
exchange. ’’The rallies we’ve
seen have been false rallies, relief rallies,’’
said Mark Pervan, senior commodity
strategist with ANZ Bank in
Melbourne. ’’The mood is overwhelmingly
bearish at the moment.’’
Investors have been discouraged
by growing evidence that China’s economy,
the world’s fourth largest, may
slow more than previously expected.
Property prices in China have
plunged, leading analysts to expect
a drop in construction, an important
driver of Chinese growth.
’’The gloomy economic outlook
and the resulting sluggish demand
remain one of the major reasons for
the slump in oil prices,’’ said a report
by JBC Energy in Vienna, Austria.
The World Bank last week cut its
2009 Chinese growth forecast to 7.5
percent, the slowest in almost two
decades.
’’There are much clearer signs that
China is slowing, and this has caused
11 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
has acknowledged publicly
for the first time that tumbling
oil prices are gouging the country’s
fragile economy and will force his
government to make painful spending
cuts, state media reported
Wednesday.
It was a sensitive admission for the
increasingly unpopular president,
who is seeking re-election in June.
For months, Ahmadinejad’s remarks
on the economy sidestepped his own
country’s troubling unemployment
and inflation figures. Instead, he took
shots at the United States, which he
accused of exporting financial problems
to the rest of the world.
Just last month he was boasting
that even if the price of oil sank to $5
a barrel, Iran’s economy would be
fine. Now, the president says Iran’s
government has no choice but to trim
spending and generous subsidies,
and raise taxes.
Ahmadinejad is already under
sharp criticism for his unpopular
economic policies. In November, 60
economists wrote their third letter
to Ahmadinejad since 2006, blaming
him for skyrocketing inflation caused
by the huge sums of oil money
that his government injected into the
country’s economy.
Ahmadinejad promoted the cash
injections as a way to stimulate job
creation. However, unemployment
has increased to around 10 percent.
But it’s the diving oil prices and
their impact that pose the biggest
threat to the president’s eroding
support.
Oil prices have plunged from $147
a barrel in July to under $50, adding
to the pain of Iran’s rising inflation
and unemployment. Iran, the second
the recent leg down in prices,’’ Pervan
said. ’’The US remains the major market,
but the downturn in China is accelerating.’’
Oil prices have fallen 68 percent
since peaking at $147.27 in July.
Wednesday’s weekly report by the
US Energy Department’s Energy Information
Administration is expected
to show a rise of 2 million barrels in
crude oil reserves, according to a sur-
$46.82
per barrel
Yesterday oil reached
the lowest level since
May 2005,when it
traded at $46.20
vey by Platts, the energy information
arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.
Platts also expects gasoline stockpiles
to rise by 1.1 million barrels, distillate
stocks to rise by 900,000 barrels,
and refineries to decrease capacity to
86 percent. Sucden Research also predicted
that the EIA report, to be released
at 14:35 GMT (10:35 a.m. EST), would
be ’bearish,’ was ’’expected to show
further signs of weakening demand,’’
and would limit gains in oil prices.
A production cut by the Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries
Iran’s President Acknowledges his
Country’s Economy is in Danger
largest OPEC producer, is deeply dependent
on oil exports. About 80 percent
of its foreign revenue comes from
those sales.
International financial institutions
estimate Iran needs oil at $90 a barrel
to keep its budget balanced.
Wednesday’s report by the official
IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad
as saying the government budget
for the next year would have to be
readjusted to base it on an oil price of
around $30 a barrel. Only a month ago,
officials in the president’s office said
they planned to base the budget on
$50-$60 a barrel.
Ahmadinejad was
quoted as saying:
Because of the world
recession, oil prices
will be declining
for some time
The president sought to prepare
his people for more tough times.
”Suppose we plan to base next year’s
budget on $30 per barrel of oil; we have
to leave a major part of our projects
behind. But we are obliged to set it on
$30-$35 since we do not decide the price
of oil on the global market,” IRNA quoted
the president as saying.
The IRNA report was based on
a transcript of an interview Ahmadinejad
gave to state television late Tuesday.
”Because of the world recession,
oil prices will be declining for some
time,” he was quoted as saying.
Ahmadinejad asserted, however,
that his administration had the power
A motorist pumps fuel at a petrol station outside Kuala Lumpur Dec 2, 2008
to control the damage and that it would
continue direct payments to the poor
– a populist pledge that helped the
former Tehran mayor win the presidency
in 2005.
Ahmadinejad did not elaborate on
which public sector projects would
have to be shelved.
Independent economic analyst Saeed
Leilaz said most of them would likely
be public utility projects, and that
oil and gas exploration projects would
be delayed.
”You have already witnessed a lack
of water, electricity, and heating gas.
No new project will be launched,” she
said.
Among the subsidies that could be
squeezed are the high payments to keep
automobile fuel low but which drain
the country of hard currency. Because
it has few domestic refineries, Iran
must import some $350 million worth
of fuel per month.
The government’s imposition of limited
fuel rationing in 2007, however,
proved wildly unpopular.
”To manage the country in a better
way, applying taxes to low-priced
energy is the best solution and would
prevent the waste of resources,” Ahmadinejad
said.
Many economists believe cutting
fuel subsidies will take Iran’s inflation
over 50 percent from the current
30 percent.
If Iran does see a budget deficit next
year, it would need to either trim spending,
print more bank notes – at the risk
of exacerbating inflation – or borrow
money. The country is thought to have
$28.6 billion in foreign debt already.
However, Ahmadinejad said Iran’s
foreign currency reserves are healthy
and currently topped $23 billion. 1
NASSER KARIMI, AP IN TEHRAN
11 Ireland’s unemployment rate
surged to a decade high of 7.8
percent in November, surprising
economists and deepening the
government’s struggle to contain
its budget deficit.
The Central Statistics Office reported
an unexpectedly sharp jump
from October’s rate of 7.4 percent,
hours after the government conceded
that its budget planning for 2009
was in disarray because of grossly
overestimated tax forecasts.
Unemployment has not been this
bad in Ireland since April 1998. And
the swelling numbers of people
signing on for jobless benefits is even
worse, reaching a 12-year high above
268,000. The different milestones
reflect the fact that Ireland’s population
and job market have grown
strongly during the so-called ”Celtic
Tiger” economic boom.
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan
told the nation that, after more than
a decade of unprecedented wealth
gains, citizens must accept a declining
standard of living. Lenihan said he
had already raised taxes as high as he
could in an emergency October
budget, so a new wave of spending
cuts in government services must
follow. He also warned that civil
servants might not get pay raises
agreed for 2009.
”I am saying to people that we
are living beyond our means and we
have to face up to that,” Lenihan told
state broadcasters RTE. He added
that defending Ireland’s competitiveness
”means you do sometimes
have to take a reduction in your current
standard of living.”
In October, Lenihan proposed
about ¤ 2 billion ($2.6 billion) in spending
cuts and ¤1 billion in tax hikes
REUTERS
in October failed to halt the slide in prices,
and now the group is asking non-
OPEC producers for help.
OPEC President Chakib Khelil said
Tuesday, oil producers such as Russia,
Norway, and Mexico should ’’express
their solidarity’’ with OPEC, either
by joining the cartel or by following
its reductions of output quotas.
Russian officials have said they are
preparing a cooperation agreement
with OPEC that could be examined at
the cartel’s meeting this month in Algeria.
’’If Russia cuts production, it gives
a bearish signal because it shows Russia
is clearly concerned about shortterm
weak demand,’’ Pervan said.
’’Russia only reacts under major duress.’’
Markets will also be following this
week’s release of US unemployment
figures, as well as Thursday’s expected
interest rate cuts by the European
Central Bank and the Bank of England
for more clues about the direction of
those economies.
’’The rest of the week will remain
volatile in global markets’’ as they react
to the fresh economic data and the
rate decisions, said Olivier Jakob of
Petromatrix in Switzerland.
In other Nymex trading, gasoline
futures fell 1.33 cents to $1.0450 a gallon.
Heating oil was down 0.80 cent to
$1.5752 a gallon while natural gas for
January delivery slid 5.3 cents to 6.371
per 1,000 cubic feet. 1
Ireland Battles Deficit
as Jobless Rate Surges
– including new levies on individual
incomes that range from 1 percent to
3 percent – that he hoped would control
the plunge in state finances.
But on Tuesday, the Finance
Department announced that tax
collections for this year were coming
in nearly ¤ 2 billion lower than
expected even two months ago,
reflecting a collapse in the property
market and depressed consumer
spending.
It means Ireland faces a 2008 deficit
exceeding ¤8 billion, rather than
the ¤6.5 billion envisioned in October.
Lenihan said Ireland had already
reached ”a limit to the amount of any
taxation an economy can take when
it is in the kind of crisis our economy
is in.”
He declined to rule out a range of
possible measures, including a reduction
in Ireland’s minimum wage or
the sale of its 25 percent stake in the
Aer Lingus airline. Ryanair on Monday
launched a new takeover bid for
its Irish rival in hopes of exploiting
the government’s cash needs.
Two years ago the government
helped reject Ryanair’s initial attempt
to acquire Aer Lingus. But Lenihan
said Wednesday that government
ministers ”will have to be very, very
careful in how they dispose of this
very valuable national asset.” Ryanair
”has made an offer which we will have
to carefully consider,” he said.
Unemployment is now growing
much faster than the government’s
forecasts. This is expected to swell
the deficit because there are fewer
wage-earners to pay a bigger-than-expected
welfare bill. 1
SHAWN POGATCHNIK
AP IN DUBLIN
1

1
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Late Challenge to $4.7bln Bid
for Constellation Energy
France’s state-controlled power company challenged
a proposed takeover by Warren Buffett
GREG KELLER,AP IN PARIS
11
Constellation shareholders have already
filed at least half a dozen lawsuits,
saying the $4.7 billion bid from
Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings
Co. was too low. MidAmerican
swept in to acquire the company three
months ago as Constellation wrestled
with frozen credit markets and tried
to stay afloat.
Constellation shares jumped 19
percent, or $4.74, to $29.89 at the
opening of trade with Buffett’s offer
now threatened.
Electricite de France SA, Constellation’s
biggest shareholder, offered
$4.5 billion for just half of the US
wholesale power generator’s nuclear
business early Wednesday. EDF
withdrew its own bid of $35 per share
in October for all of Constellation, and
called MidAmerican’s offer inadequate.
EDF, which owns 9.5 percent of
Constellation, said the offer values
the company at around $52 per share
and that the price represents a 96
percent premium to the rival offer for
all of Constellation. MidAmerican’s
offer values the company at around
$26.50 per share.
’’EDF expects it can receive the necessary
regulatory approvals for the
acquisition of its interest in the nuclear
generation and operation business,
and close the transaction within
six to nine months, upon Constellation’s
termination of its proposed
transaction with MidAmerican Energy,’’
the company said Wednesday.
Constellation said it was reviewing
the offer.
If Constellation ditches Buffett’s offer,
there is a $175 million break-up fee
plus interest.
Early calls to MidAmerican were
not immediately returned Wednesday.
If it succeeds, EDF may avoid the
hurdles over foreign ownership of US
nuclear facilities, and would further the
companies goal of expanding outside
of France.
In September, EDF said it would
buy British Energy Group for $18.5 billion.
The bid for Constellation is EDF’s
’’last chance to change the minds of, not
Constellation’s management, but of its
investors,’’ said industry analyst Peter
Wirtz of WestLB Research based in Dusseldorf.
He said EDF stands little chance
of succeeding despite the ’’clearly
very attractive offer’’ because at a time
of global economic and financial
upheaval, investors are more likely
to be lured by MidAmerican’s
complete takeover bid than by the
more complex offer by EDF.
Yet shares in EDF sank following the
announcement, falling 5.6 percent to
42.07 euros ($53.42) in early afternoon
with Paris trading amid investor fears
that a bruising takeover battle may be
brewing.
EDF’s offer includes a $1 billion
’upfront’ cash infusion in Constellation,
which would counter one of the strongest
motivations for shareholders who
were mulling the MidAmerican bid.
MidAmerican had also offered $1
billion in cash up front and on Tuesday,
Constellation said it likely would have
filed for bankruptcy protection without
it.
Constellation’s nuclear business includes
three nuclear power stations
with five reactors located in Maryland
and New York. Nuclear power accounts
for 61 percent of Constellation’s total
electricity generating capacity of 8,700
megawatts.
Constellation’s non-nuclear assets
include coal- and natural gas-fired electric
plants, as well as oil and renewable
energies such as solar, geothermal, and
hydro power.
Constellation Energy Group Inc.
warned in a US regulatory filing Tuesday
that unstable market conditions
make the deal with MidAmerican critical.
The EDF offer includes an option to
sell up to $2 billion of ’non-nuclear generation
assets’ to the French company
in a deal that could close in six to nine
months.
’’Constellation Energy’s Board of Directors
has not withdrawn, modified or
qualified its recommendation that shareholders
of Constellation Energy vote in
favor of the merger with MidAmerican,’’
the company said Wednesday.
Constellation shareholders are
scheduled to vote on the proposed
MidAmerican deal on Dec. 23. 1
Economy 7
www.wyborcza.pl 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 Thursday, December 4, 2008
Inside new saab 93 aero
Sweden Ready to Support
but Not Buy Volvo, Saab
11 The Swedish government on
Wednesday said it’s ready to support
US-owned automakers Volvo and
Saab but doesn’t want to take over
the troubled brands.
Industry Minister Maud Olofsson said
the center-right government would
not be the best-suited buyer if Ford
decides to sell Volvo, and General
Motors puts Saab up for sale.
”I don’t see it as the government’s
task to own automakers,” Olofsson
told reporters. ”I think the taxpayers
have to understand that it is a risky
project to invest their money and buy
either Volvo or Saab at a time when
there are such great losses.”
The government was looking at
other solutions to boost car industry,
for example by boosting funds for
R&D, she said. Her comments came
as the government faces mounting
pressure to prepare a rescue plan for
Volvo and Saab, whose future has been
thrown into uncertainty by the crisis
in the US auto industry.
Earlier this week, Ford reiterated its
intention to offload Volvo, by either selling
the Swedish automaker or spinning
it off into a separate company, while
GM said it was conducting an ”expedited
and strategic review” of Saab.
Olofsson said Sweden was in contact
with the German government about
how it plans to deal with GM-owned
Opel, noting that Saab and Opel have
been closely linked within the GM
system.
GM and Opel officials have met with
German Chancellor Angela Merkel to
ask the German government for ¤ 1 billion
($1.3 billion) in loan guarantees.
Merkel said last week the government
would monitor the situation at
GM in the US She said the government
should come to a decision on the matter
by Christmas.
For Saab, Olofsson outlined two
options: either GM develops new models
with broader appeal to the market,
or a new owner comes in to boost the
brand. 1 AP
A D V E R T I S M E N T
SŁAWOMIR KAMIŃSKI
27349374

8 Economy
Thursday, December 4, 2008 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 www.wyborcza.pl
WILLIAM J.KOLE,
AP IN ZILINA IN SLOVAKIA
11
Ex-communist Slovakia is fast becoming
Europe’s Detroit: a humming
automotive haven where – for now, at
least – there’s no sign of the crisis gripping
America’s Big Three.
”We’re talking about adding jobs,
not eliminating them,” says Jun-Bum
Park, general manager of Kia Motors
Slovakia, which opened the sprawling
¤1 billion ($1.36 billion) complex in Zilina
in December 2006.
Maria Novakova, secretary-general
of the Automotive Industry Association
of Slovakia, forecasts the
creation of up to 30,000 new jobs between
now and 2010 as the country’s
fledgling automotive sector prepares
to shift into higher gear.
”We’re in a good position to grow,”
she says. ”Frankly, we don’t want to
be compared to Detroit because we
don’t want to end up like Detroit.”
To be sure, the US, Canada, China,
Japan, and Russia all dwarf Slovakia
in the sheer number of cars produced.
Japan turned out nearly 11.6 million
vehicles last year, and the Big Three
churned out just under 10.8 million.
But the tiny nation, which also
hosts PSA Peugeot Citroen in the western
town of Trnava and Volkswagen
AG in the capital, Bratislava, leads the
world in per-capita production.
Slovakia made a record 571,071 cars
in 2007 – 105.7 units for every 1,000 Slovaks.
Industry officials say the Eastern
European nation of 5.4 million will top
that this year with 610,000 cars, and it
hasn’t even hit full capacity yet.
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Poland’s Neighbor Becomes Europe’s Motown
Every 60 seconds, to a robotic burst of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, a new Kia sedan or SUV emerges from
beneath a cascade of sparks at the South Korean carmaker’s gleaming assembly plant in this northwestern town
Contrast that with the gloom
settling over General Motors Corp.,
Chrysler LLC, and Ford Motor Co., all
desperate for Congress to approve $25
billion in loans – a lifeline they contend
is needed to stave off even deeper
layoffs or bankruptcy.
Analysts say carmakers are drawn
to Slovakia because it has a cheap but
skilled work force, low taxes, weak labor
unions, good highways and logistics, and
a strategic location in the geographic
heart of Europe that’s close to emerging
markets in Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere
in the former Soviet Union.
”It makes sense to be there,” says
Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of
the Center of Automotive Research at
Germany’s University of Gelsenkirchen,
who calls Eastern Europe ”the
new El Dorado of production.”
Can the country sustain its success
in the face of recession? Dudenhoeffer
is skeptical. ”There is no country or carmaker
anywhere in the world that is immune
from this crisis,” he warns.
Slovakia made painful economic reforms
before and after it joined the European
Union in 2004. The payoff: Its
economy is one of Europe’s most vibrant,
with 7.4 percent growth in 2008
despite the global meltdown and a solid
4 percent projected for next year.
And on Jan. 1, 2009, Slovakia joins the
common euro currency.
The average monthly wage is just
¤650 ($840), with auto workers earning
about ¤800 ($1,033) a month. That’s at
least four times less than what their
counterparts in Germany earn, and
pension and health care costs are also
a fraction of what the Big Three pay out.
Kia car factory near the northern Slovakian city of Zilina, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008
Although Slovak auto workers are
unionized, they’ve struck a deal with
foreign carmakers to ensure their wages
keep pace with inflation and raises
don’t exceed a company’s productivity
in percentage terms.
”American unions are more drastic
and demanding,” says Kia’s Park. ”We
are listening to our employees, trying
not to have confrontations.”
All that helps, explain why a thriving
network of suppliers and parts manufacturers
have sprung up around the Kia,
Peugeot Citroen, and Volkswagen plants
– a ¤20.8 billion ($26.8 billion) a year
industry that employs 76,000 Slovaks.
Never mind that workers like Katarina
Turanova, a senior trim line operator
at the Kia factory in Zilina, can’t
afford to buy the car she makes.
Turanova, 33, acknowledges that
without Kia, the town nestled in the
foothills of the Mala Fatra mountains –
where craggy peaks are topped with
the ruins of medieval castles – easily
could languish in a recession.
Instead, highway billboards cheerfully
offer cars ‘Made in SlovaKIA.’
”Unemployment is down, and there are
new job opportunities,” she says. ”Zilina
and all of Slovakia are finally on the
map.” For Kia, the Zilina complex also
gives it a foothold in the EU, without
which it would be subject to 10 percent
tariffs on its imports.
Myung-Chul Chung, a vice president,
says that that alone justifies its investment
in Slovakia – a cavernous and
virtually self-contained complex that
includes an engine factory and body,
pressing and painting facilities. But
Chung says the country’s expertise in
manufacturing tanks, and other military
vehicles during the communist era
also give it an edge over other possible
locations in Hungary and Poland.
In Zilina, Kia produces small, inexpensive
models such as the CEE’D sedan
and Sportage SUV, marketed to
low- and middle-class buyers, and
Chung says this will help it weather the
economic storm.
Despite the generally rosy forecast
for Slovakia, clouds are gathering
elsewhere in the region. Volkswagen’s
Skoda Auto AS unit in the neighboring
Czech Republic is cutting production
to deal with slackening demand, and
analysts say 10,000 automotive jobs
could be eliminated in that country in
the next few months.
French-Romanian carmaker Dacia
has halted production altogether until
Dec. 7, and a key supplier has announced
layoffs. Peugeot Citroen says it will
lay off at least 2,700 workers, though it
insists its assembly plant in Trnava won’t
be affected. And the Hungarian subsidiary
of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp. is
planning to cut around 1,200 jobs.
Yet the economic slump hasn’t
stopped Hyundai Motor Co. from opening
its first European production facility
last month – an ¤1 billion ($1.36 billion)
plant near the Czech town of Nosovice.
And Peugeot Citroen says it intends
to produce the new C3 Picasso
exclusively in Slovakia starting in 2009.
Chung says he’s watching closely as
the drama unfolds in Detroit. But he
won’t presume to offer any advice to
the original Motown as America’s automakers
spin their wheels. ”The Big
Three are the history of this industry,”
he says. ”We’re very young – and we’re
still learning.” 1
A D V E R T I S M E N T
AP
27349534
1

1
World www.wyborcza.pl wychodzi 24 godziny na dobę
Germany May Prosecute
Soviet Army Crimes
In what seems like the first ever investigation of this kind,60 years after the war,German
prosecutors are looking into acrime committed by the Red Army on German civilians
BARTOSZ T.WIELIŃSKI
GAZETA WYBORCZA IN BERLIN
11
Twenty-second of April 1945.
Soviet troops are storming
Berlin. A furious battle continues
over Treuenbrietzen,
a town of 8,000 near Potsdam.
The Russians get hold of the city,
then they are pushed back by
Wehrmacht troops. The following day,
Russian soldiers drag out the
townspeople, lead them to the woods,
and slaughter them with machine
guns. Some 1,000 people are killed.
November 2008. The public
prosecutor’s office in Potsdam asks
the Russian State Prosecutor’s Office
for legal assistance in shedding more
light on the massacre. ”We want to
find out, who was responsible for it
and possibly bring them to justice,”
says prosecutor Christoph Lang.
This investigation is unprecedented.
Germany had never before
looked into Allied crimes. It used to
be emphasised in West Germany that
the country takes on full responsibility
for the war and its victims. Seeking
perpetrators on the other side
could be considered as an attempt to
relativise history. It was the people
of Treubrietzen who got the prosecutor
involved. They filed a law suit.
”It’s not revenge we are after,” says
Wolfgang Ucksche, head of the local
historical society. ”We want to know
who killed our parents.” Upon receiving
the suit, the prosecutor had to launch
an investigation, as in Germany there
is no expiration on murder cases.
In Treubrietzen, it is widely
believed that the Russians murdered
civilians to revenge for the killing of
a Soviet officer by the SS. The slaughter
was taboo topic in East Germany, with
the authorities claiming its victims
were killed by American bombs.
”A few people tried to dig deeper
into this, but they were ordered to leave
it alone,” says Ucksche. ”We found
hardly anything in German archives,”
says prosecutor Lang. ”There are no
witnesses. Perhaps in Russian archives
there are some reports?”
Can the Germans use the prosecution
to search for culprits? ”No. This
is a job for historians. Our prosecutors
were unable to resolve crimes committed
by the Nazis,” says Marcus Meckel,
former East German opposition
activist who currently represents the
region in the parliament as a deputy
for the SPD party.
But according to Wolfgang Templin,
also a former opposition activist,
the case has to be resolved. ”It is expected
of the Germans to look into
Soviet soldiers hoist the red flag over the Reichstag in Berlin, May 2, 1945
9
www.wyborcza.pl 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 Thursday, December 4, 2008
crimes they themselves had committed
and justly so. But let them also explore
atrocities committed against the
Germans.”
In recent years there have been
many flims portraying German tragedies:
the bombing of Dresden, the exodus
from East Prussia, the sinking of
the ‘Wilhelm Gustloff’ by a Soviet submarine.
The most recent release has
been Anonyma. A Woman in Berlin
focusing on the tragedy of thousands
of German women who had been raped
by Russian troops.
”I can’t really see any change of air
as far as the German attitude towards
the war is concerned. It was our nation
that started it and we are the ones
facing the consequences. The fact that
one talks about German victims does
not change anything,” says Gunter
Hofmann, commentator for Die Zeit.
He understands the people of Treuenbrietzen.
After all, it was forbidden during
the times of East Germany, to tell
the truth about their parents’ deaths.
Are the Germans going to sue British
pilots for the bombing of Dresden?
”There is no agreement to such actions.
Legally, it also seems impossible,” says
Hofmann.
According to conducted German
interviews an influx of lawsuits against
Ally commanders from German
prosecutors is not likely. However, Professor
Włodzimierz Borodziej, a historian
and expert on Germany, says
anything is possible. ”A couple of years
ago a group of descendants of US prisoners
of war tried to get compensation
from Japan for the suffering of their
ancestors. But in Germany, the climate
for such actions is particularly unfavourable.
Apart from Neo-Nazis, who
exist on the margin of political life,
there is no force that would support
lawsuits against British pilots or Russian
soldiers,” he says.
The Russians have so far failed to respond
to the query from Potsdam prosecutors.
Should they refuse to reply,
the investigation will be dropped. 1
A D V E R T I S M E N T
AP
27350731

10 World
Thursday, December 4, 2008 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 www.wyborcza.pl
Rice: Pakistan Must Assist
Mumbai Attacks Probe
US Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice urged Pakistan on Wednesday to
cooperate ”fully and transparently” in investigations
Condoleezza Rice (L) shakes hands with Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi, India, Wed, Dec. 3, 2008
SUE PLEMING
REUTERS IN NEW DELHI
11
India has said the 10 militants who
rampaged through its financial capital
killing 171 people were from Pakistan,
including the one survivor.
If Pakistan fails to act swiftly against
those responsible, India has threatened
to pull out of a nearly five-yearold
peace process between the nuclear
rivals. ”This is the time for everybody
to cooperate and do so transparently,
and this is especially a time for
Pakistan to do so,” Rice told a press
conference in New Delhi.
In Mumbai, thousands of protesters
waving Indian flags marched to
express anger mostly at what they see
as a huge government security failure,
as well as at Pakistani involvement.
Others marched carrying candles in
many Indian cities.
Rice cut short a visit to Europe and
flew to India as tensions soared in
South Asia. She is expected to visit
Pakistan as well, officials in Islamabad
said. ”We have to act with urgency, we
have to act with resolve, and I have
said that Pakistan needs to act with
resolve and urgency, and cooperate
fully and transparently. That message
has been delivered and will be
delivered to Pakistan,” Rice said.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari
said he doubted the Indian claims
that the surviving gunman was Paki-
stani. ”We have not been given any tangible
proof to say that he is definitely
a Pakistani. I very much doubt... that
he’s a Pakistani,” Zardari told CNN’s
”Larry King Live”, adding that if given
evidence his government would take
action.
Zardari also signalled he would not
accept an Indian demand to hand over
20 of its most wanted men that New Delhi
says are living in Pakistan, saying if
there was any evidence, they would be
tried by his country’s judiciary.
”I don’t want to get into the specifics
of what Pakistan may or may not do,
but I am going to take firmly Pakistan’s
stated commitment to get to the bottom
of this and to know these are enemies
of Pakistan as well,” Rice said.
Rice said the attacks in Mumbai bore
hallmarks of al Qaeda. ”Whether there
is a direct al Qaeda hand or not, this is
clearly a kind of terrorism in which al
Qaeda participates,” she said. ”We are
not going to jump to any conclusions
about who is responsible for this.”
In other efforts to ease tensions between
India and Pakistan, the top US
military commander flew into Islamabad.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will hold talks
with the country’s civilian government
and its powerful military, officials said.
India has long said Pakistan is unable
or unwilling to act against anti-India
militant groups there. The latest attacks
risk unravelling improved ties between
the adversaries, who have fought three
wars since independence from Britain
in 1947.
With an election due by May, Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is
under pressure to craft a muscular response
to opposition criticism, which
has intensified since the attacks, that
his ruling Congress party coalition is
weak on security.
Indian Foreign Minister Pranab
Mukherjee said military action was not
being considered but later warned that
a peace process begun in 2004 was at
risk if Pakistan did not act decisively.
Congress party head Sonia Gandhi
on Wednesday travelled to the ceasefire
line in Kashmir, a mountainous region
over which India and Pakistan have
fought for over half a century. ”India
wants peaceful relations with all its
neighbours, but this should not be taken
as a weakness,” she told an election
rally.
A deterioration of ties could also put
US counter-terrorism efforts in the region
at risk — Islamabad has said the tensions
may force it to shift troops from
operations against al Qaeda militants
on the Afghanistan border to the frontier
with India.
India and Pakistan were on the
brink of a fourth war in 2002, just a few
years after both demonstrated nuclear
weapons capabilities, following an
attack on India’s parliament by Islamist
militants.1
Africa growth may suffer if AIDS funds fall -W. Bank
11 Africa’s economic growth could
suffer from the knock-on effect of
more people dying from HIV/AIDS if
donors cut funding for prevention because
of the global financial crisis,
the World Bank said on Wednesday.
Elizabeth Lule, manager of the bank’s
AIDS team for Africa, told Reuters
that with the US and Europe sliding
into recession, both donor and
recipient countries would be juggling
competing priorities. Three quarters
of the estimated 33 million people
worldwide living with HIV/AIDS were
in sub-Saharan Africa and the disease
was the largest single cause of
premature death in Africa.
Lule said that with recession expected
to bite deeply into the GDP of major
donors like the US, it was difficult to see
how targets to ramp up AIDS prevention
and care could be maintained. These
included the United Nations-backed
Millennium Development Goal of halting
and beginning to reverse the spread of
HIV/AIDS by 2015, and making access to
treatment for HIV/AIDS universal for all
who need it by 2010. Only 30 percent of
people who required treatment were
currently receiving it.
”I would say that it is very difficult
to see how we would scale up treatment
if there are no more resources coming
from the donors, because the African
countries themselves cannot come up
with that,” Lule said in an interview.
”I sincerely hope that this will not
happen with HIV/AIDS, because this
will mean a very high adult mortality
which would then have a ripple effect
on economic growth,” she said, speaking
on the sidelines of an AIDS conference
in Senegal.
Lule said that although commodity
price swings, oil or minerals exports,
and food and fuel imports, did have the
biggest macroeconomic effect on
African economies, HIV/AIDS had an
impact ”at the microeconomic and
household level”. 1
PASCAL FLETCHER, REUTERS IN DAKAR
AP
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NATO Backs US
Missile Shield Plan
11 NATO foreign ministers on Wednesday
affirmed their support for US
plans to install anti-missile defenses
in Europe despite Russia’s strong
opposition.
The ministers said the planned US
defenses in Poland and the Czech
Republic will make a ’’substantial
contribution’’ to protecting allies
from the threat of long-range ballistic
missiles.
Russia has vehemently opposed
the deployment, threatening to
respond by placing short-range
missiles in its westernmost region,
Kaliningrad, which borders Poland.
The US insists the defenses are
aimed at potential attack from Iran
and pose no threat to Russia’s
ballistic arsenal.
All 26 NATO allies signed the
statement backing the deployment
of interceptor missiles in Poland and
an advanced radar station in the
Czech Republic.
Doubts about allied support for
the plan were raised last month when
French President Nicolas Sarkozy
said the missile defenses would
’’bring nothing to security... it would
complicate things, and would make
them move backward.’’
11 Republican US Sen. Saxby Chambliss
easily won a run-off election in
Georgia Tuesday, denying Democrats
the chance for a 60-seat ’super
majority’ in the Senate that would
have enabled them to pass legislation
virtually at will.
Chambliss, an incumbent who first
won his US Senate seat in 2002, defeated
Democrat Jim Martin for the
seat in a race that gained national significance
because Democrats and
their independent allies held 58 of
the 100 seats in the US Senate after
the Nov. 4 election.
One seat in Minnesota, subject to
a recount because the vote count was
so close, remains undecided.
A 60-seat majority would have
enabled Democrats to overcome
procedural hurdles set up by
Republicans, who are the minority
in the Senate. Such a majority would
have been particularly potent with
a Democratic president, Barack
Obama, moving into the White
House Jan. 20.
’’You have delivered tonight
a strong message to the world that
conservative Georgia values matter,’’
Chambliss, 65, told cheering supporters
in his victory speech. Martin,
a 63-year-old former state legislator,
thanked his supporters and said the
defeat was ’’a sad moment.’’
With 96 percent of precincts reporting,
Chambliss had won 57.5 percent
of the vote and Martin 42.5 percent,
according to data from the
Georgia secretary of state’s website.
Chambliss gained more votes
than Martin on Nov. 4, but fell short
of the 50 percent-plus majority required
by Georgia law. His victory
surprised few in Georgia, a southern
state in the most conservative part
of the country that has a Republican
governor and backed Republican
Arizona Sen. John McCain over Obama
in the presidential election.
Chambliss thanked his supporters,
including volunteers from 43
states who came to Georgia to help
his campaign. He made it clear during
his campaign that he would not
hesitate to oppose Democratic proposals.
’’When President Obama is
right, when he proposes initiatives
Sarkozy’s statement at a meeting
in France with Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev appeared to
contradict his early support for the
missile plans at a NATO summit in
April. But in Washington a few days
later, the French leader changed tack
again, saying that the anti-missile shield
could ’’complement’’ Western defenses
against a threat from Iran.
The NATO ministers agreed Tuesday
to gradually resume contacts with
Moscow, which were frozen after Russian
troops poured into Georgia in August.
However, they were critical of
Moscow’s actions and insisted the
resumption of low-level talks would
not mean a return to business as usual
for the NATO-Russia Council.
Faced with opposition from Russia,
the NATO ministers backed away
from establishing a plan for Ukraine
and Georgia to move toward entry into
the Western military alliance for the
former-Soviet nations.
However, the ministers offered to
step up military and political cooperation
to help them achieve their goal
of eventual membership. 1
PAUL AMES
AP IN BRUSSELS
US Republicans Win
Crucial Georgia Senate Seat
that are good for Georgia, I look forward
to working with him,’’ Chambliss
told WAGA-TV, the Atlanta Fox News
affiliate, as the returns came in. ’’But
when he proposes things that are not
in the best interest of Georgians, then
I’m not going to be with him.’’
Both candidates attracted national
political figures in campaigning for the
run-off. Former President Bill Clinton
campaigned for Martin, and Alaska
Gov. Sarah Palin, who was McCain’s
vice presidential candidate, held rallies
for Chambliss.
Democrats in November benefited
from the heavy black support of Obama,
who will be the first black president.
But blacks made up only 22 percent
of those casting early ballots in the runoff,
according to figures released by
the secretary of state’s office, far short
of the 35 percent they comprised in
the November election. 1
KAREN JACOBS, REUTERS IN ATLANTA
Sen. Saxby Chambliss
REUTERS
1

1
11
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www.wyborcza.pl 1 Gazeta Wyborcza 1 Thursday, December 4, 2008
Super Bowl Hero No More
The fallout from Plaxico Burress’ self-inflicted gunshot wound may still cause problems for New York Giants
middle linebacker Antonio Pierce and affect the team’s bid for asecond straight Super Bowl title
TOM CANAVAN
AP IN EAST RUTHERFORD,NJ
11
Just days after Burress accidentally
shot himself in the right thigh at
a Manhattan nightclub, the Giants
fined and suspended the star receiver
on Tuesday for four games
– the rest of the regular season. The
team also placed him on the reserve
non-football injury list, which means
he won’t be back for the playoffs, either.
”When you lose a player of
Plaxico’s ability, it is incumbent that
everybody step up and fill the void,”
coach Tom Coughlin said. ”In the last
two seasons, this team has done an
outstanding job of that. We made it
clear to Plax today that we are here to
support him in any way possible.”
The Giants handed down the decision
after Dr. Scott Rodeo, a team
physician, examined Burress and
told them the gunshot wound would
sideline the 31-year-old player for 4to-6
weeks.
The Giants (11-1) are deep at wide
receiver, however, with players such
as Domenik Hixon and Sinorice Moss
who can replace the man who caught
the game-winning pass in the 17-14 Super
Bowl win over the New England
Patriots.
It will be much harder to replace
Pierce, the middle linebacker who
quarterbacks the defense. He still faces
a possible suspension.
Pierce smiled but declined to speak
to The Associated Press on Wednesday
morning when he reported to Giants
Stadium about 8 a.m.
Pierce was with Burress at the
Latin Quarter when the receiver shot
himself. Running back Ahmad
Bradshaw was also in the club, but
not near the other two players, his
attorney said.
The incident has frustrated police
from the start. Officers said NFL
officials promised on Monday that
Pierce would appear for questioning.
He has not.
The New York Post reported in
Wednesday’s edition that police impounded
Pierce’s SUV on Tuesday to
look for any blood or gunpowder residue
that might be inside. Following
the shooting, police say Pierce drove
Burress to the hospital and returned
to New Jersey with Burress’ gun in the
glove compartment of his black Cadillac
Escalade.
Pierce’s lawyer said Tuesday he contacted
prosecutors as soon as he was
hired by the linebacker on Monday.
Scotland and Wales in Talks
to Host Euro 2016
SOCCER
11
Scotland and Wales football federations
have held ”tentative
talks” about the possibility of hosting
the European soccer championship
in 2016, the Scottish FA said
on Wednesday.
Officials from Northern Ireland are
also expected to be included in
further discussions at the end of
February as the three British
associations explore the possibility
of hosting the tournament in eight
years time.
”To suggest that we are planning
to launch a bid is wide of the mark,
but we have had tentative talks with
the Welsh federation and further
talks are planned with Northern
Ireland when the International
Board meets in Belfast at the end
of February,” a Scottish FA spokesman
said.
”We all know none of us can
stage a 24-team football tournament
as it will be in 2016 but we are
exploring the possibility of cohosting.”
The Union of European Football
Associations (UEFA), European
football’s governing body, decided
last September to increase the number
of finalists from 16 to 24 teams,
Burress’ touchdown reception during the Super Bowl XLII, and arrival at Manhattan court for arraignment on Dec. 1, 2008
starting with the 2016 European
Championship.
UEFA’s general secretary David
Taylor, himself a Scot who was part
of a committee organizing an unsuccessful
bid to bring European
tournament in 2008 to Scotland and
Ireland, said Scotland would be
a ”great place” to hold the tournament.
”It would be terrific,” he told The
Herald newspaper in Glasgow.
”But I must be careful here. My
enthusiasm for and advice to any
country could be perceived in the
wrong way. Many countries in UEFA
are capable of hosting the tournament.”
Three of the last four European
football championships have been
co-hosted with Belgium and the
Netherlands staging the Euro in 2000,
Austria and Switzerl host this year’s
championship and Ukraine and Poland
due to co-host the event in 2012.
Portugal were sole hosts in 2004
although UEFA have admitted that
increasing the number of finalists to
24 teams will definitely limit the
number of countries who could host
the tournament on their own in the
future. 1
MIKE COLLETT
REUTERS IN LONDON
”After the events in question, Mr.
Pierce did what any other reasonable
person would do under the circumstances,
he hired counsel,” attorney Michael
Bachner said. He said he hasn’t been
notified that Pierce will be charged.
”Mr. Pierce, given the extraordinary
circumstances of that evening, acted
responsibly in trying to save what could
have been the life of a friend,” Bachner
said.
Pierce declined to answer questions
about the shooting on his regular Tuesday
afternoon spot on Sirius NFL Radio.
”It’s not appropriate with the police
being involved... I’ve got to be strong,”
he said.
Bradshaw’s attorney, Charles Stacy,
said his client wasn’t suspected of
any wrongdoing.
Both players said they were planning
to speak with the district attorney’s
office soon.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke
out again about the case Tuesday, saying
he talked to Giants president John
Mara and NFL commissioner Roger
Goodell. He told them the law says ”you
see something, you have to call the cops.
That’s the thing you should do.”
England Check Security
in India for Test Series
CRICKET
11
A security expert began inspecting
venues in India on Wednesday to
decide whether it was safe for England
to return for a two-test series
following last week’s militant attacks
in Mumbai.
Reg Dickason, the England and Wales
Cricket Board (ECB) security manager,
met police and cricket authorities
in Chennai, where it has been
proposed the first test will take place
from Dec. 11-15.
”Based on the discussions held
and the clarifications given, BCCI
expects no problems with the first
test being held in Chennai,” Board
of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
secretary N. Srinivasan said in
a statement.
The two boards have agreed to
play the tests depending on security
clearance and Dickason will travel
to Mohali, the proposed second
test venue, before submitting his report
to the ECB.
Chennai police commissioner K.
Radhakrishnan held a meeting with
Dickason and promised tight security
for the team which he expected
to arrive on Dec. 8.
”The security (at their hotel) will
be taken over by the police,” he told
Sky Sports News in London. ”They
will be given an exclusive floor for
their stay and wherever they go, we
will provide them with absolute
security with escorts comprising
commando teams.”
The BCCI switched the tests out
of Ahmedabad and Mumbai to ease
the safety fears of England players,
who returned home after calling off
the last two games of a one-day series
following the attacks, which killed 171
people.
At least five England players, however,
could pull out even if the tour
went ahead, former test bowler Dominic
Cork told the BBC. ”Those I’ve spoken
to are traumatised. What they saw
on television was 10 times worse than
what was shown here.”
He added: ”If one doesn’t go, they
all shouldn’t go. They make a stand
and say ’It’s not safe for us to be there’.
I am not sure about the captain (Kevin
Pietersen),” Cork said. ”I know of certain
players who are going to put their
families first.”
England has cancelled a three-day
warm-up game scheduled to start on
Friday while unconfirmed reports
suggested the squad could train in Abu
Dhabi before reaching India. 1
N.ANANTHANARAYANAN
REUTERS IN NEW DELHI
AP (2)
Police also plan to interview the
people at New York-Presbyterian
Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center,
who treated Burress and did not report
the shooting, as required by law.
Hospital spokeswoman Kathy Robinson
said Tuesday an individual has
been suspended in connection with the
case but would not say if the person was
a doctor or hospital staff member.
A person familiar with the case said
a doctor who was not a staff member
came to the hospital shortly after
Burress arrived around 2 a.m. and
treated him. The doctor’s privileges to
work out of the hospital have been
suspended, according to the person
who was not authorized to speak
publicly and spoke to The Associated
Press on the condition of anonymity.
Even as the Giants suspended him
for conduct detrimental to the team,
team officials expressed concern for
Burress.
”As we have said since Saturday
morning, our concern is for Plaxico’s
health and well-being,” Mara said.
”This is an important time for him to
take care of his body and heal up and
also deal with the very serious legal
consequences and other issues in his
life. When I spoke with Plaxico he
expressed great remorse for letting
down his teammates.”
Neither Burress nor his agent, Drew
Rosenhaus, was immediately available
for comment.
Teammates seemed at a loss what
to say Wednesday as they reported to
Giants Stadium.
”The only thing I hope that we gain
from this is that people will stop asking
us about Plaxico, that’s probably the
best thing about it, that it bring some
closure at least as far as this season with
football,” defensive tackle Barry Cofield
said.
Receiver Amani Toomer, whose 13
years with the team makes him the current
longest serving player, called the
situation unfortunate. 1
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