September 20, 2005
'Dealing with America: The UN, the US and Australia'
John Langmore, "President of the United Nations Association of Australia, and a senior UN official in the New York Headquarters from 1997 to 2003," has a 100 page book out today titled "Dealing with America: The UN, the US and Australia."
He was interviewed September 20, 2005 by Eleanor Hall, host of "The World Today's lunch hour of current affairs, with background and debate from Australia and the world" on "ABC Local Radio and Radio National."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:41 AM | Comments (0)
September 06, 2005
Australia's U.S. Envoy Rejects Criticism Surrounding Katrina
"Australia's Ambassador to the United States, Dennis Richardson, has rejected criticism of efforts to help Australians in the US hurricane disaster," reports the Herald Sun of Australia.
"The publication said, "Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has accused the Government of turning its back on Australians in need by not insisting its officials in the US rescue them from the disaster zone."
"Some Australians have been rescued by media crews reporting on the disaster," the paper added. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)
August 08, 2005
Will Australia Ban Hizb ut-Tahrir?
The Australian Government is in the process of considering whether to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir, "a radical Islamic group operating in Australia that supports the insurgency movement in Iraq," News.com.au of Australia reported August 8, 2005, noting that, "The Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) is investigating Hizb ut-Tahrir, which has been banned in Britain."
On August 8, 2005, Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock told Tanya Hall of The World Today's "lunch hour of current affairs, with background and debate from Australia and the world":
I've asked that the banning of this organization by the United Kingdom, which is a new factor, be taken into account in the consideration that we give to these questions in relation to whether or not organizations should be proscribed under the criminal code. We obtained advice from competent agencies when those decisions are made.Mr. Ruddock said, "The organization, from what I've seen publicly, is an organization that suggests it has some overriding allegiance to a pan-Islamic cause and they are matters in the context of our commitment to Australia first and foremost that would give any Australian concern.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:02 AM | Comments (0)
August 01, 2005
Rudd: Howard Should Come Clean on Iraq War
"I think people are getting a bit grumpy about the fact that the prime minister is not levelling with them about the consequences of the war in Iraq in this particular area," Kevin Rudd, the Australian Labor Party foreign spokesman, said August 1, 2005, according to News.com.au.
The particular area is the bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, in September 2004. News.com.au noted that, "The Australian newspaper said a man called Rois, also known as Iwan Dharmawan, told police the Australian embassy in Jakarta had been deliberately chosen as a bomb target because of Australia's support for the United States in Iraq.
Mr. Rudd told ABC radio, according to News.com.au: "I think it is time for the PM (Prime Minister John Howard) just to level with the Australian people on that. It is a commonsense question."
"The PM, I think, wants to persuade everyone that Iraq, and our involvement in Iraq has had no impact whatsoever on Australia as a terrorist target." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:48 AM | Comments (0)
Ruddock Questions Rois' Claims About Jakarta Embassy Bombings
Australian "Attorney-General Philip Ruddock has questioned claims from a key conspirator [Rois, also known as Iwan Dharmawan] that the bombing of Australia's embassy in Jakarta [in September 2004] was launched because of Australia's involvement in Iraq," reports ABCNews Online of Australia.
Surely Mr. Ruddock isn't expected to admit that the actions of the government he represents sparked the bombing of the embassy because of its war policies. That would be admitting that Australia was wrong to help the U.S. occupy a Muslim nation.Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:22 AM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2005
Why Australia 'Will Sign' Non-aggression Pact With ASEAN
"Australia will commit to signing a non-aggression pact with the member nations of ASEAN on Thursday [July 28, 2005] to overcome opposition to it being invited to a summit of Asia's biggest economies in December" 2005, according to a July 25, 2005 article online at News.com.Au of Australia. See "Australia 'will sign' non-aggression pact."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 09, 2005
Will Australia Sign ASEAN's Amity and Cooperation Treaty?
ABC News Online of Australia quotes Indonesia's ambassador to Australia, Imron Cotan, as saying acceptance of the Association of South East Asian Nations' Treaty of Amity and Cooperation will make it easier to invite Australia to the East Asia summit in December 2005. Will Prime Minister John Howard accept the treaty? It remains to be seen.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:39 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
New Zealand Decides to Sign Friendship Treaty With ASEAN
"New Zealand has decided in principle to sign a friendship treaty with South-east Asian nations, Prime Minister Helen Clark says," according to Stuff, a New Zealand publication. Stuff noted that, "signing the agreement - or announcing an intent to do so - is a criteria set by Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) governments to participate in an East Asian Summit" in December 2005. Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 17, 2005
Howard Says Australia Will Stay Out of Japan, China Dispute
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC Online) reported April 18, 2005 that Australian Prime Minister John Howard will not side with China or Japan in the current dispute between the two Asian economic giants. Mr. Howard, who left April 18 to visit both Beijing and Tokyo, reportedly told reporters: I would like to see the current tension abate, of course - it's not something that directly involves Australia. It's a difference of opinion between Japan and China and I hope it's something that will be addressed. The Japanese Foreign Minister has gone to Beijing and he obviously is trying to calm down the situation. There are a variety of reasons for it - I don't intend to give a commentary and I certainly don't intend to take sides.
As Jonathan Watts, The Guardian's (London) correspondent in Beijing, noted in an April 18 dispatch:The Japanese foreign minister, Nobutaka Machimura, had flown to Beijing hoping to improve mutual relations, which have fallen to their lowest point for 33 years because of a territorial dispute, Chinese boycotts of Japanese products and Tokyo's approval of a new history textbook which ignores Japan's wartime atrocities in China.
But, according to The Guardian and other publications, China refused to apologize. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told Mr. Machimura: "The Chinese government has never done anything for which it has to apologize to the Japanese people."
I predict that the two sides will reach detente by the time the East Asian summit convenes in Malaysia in December 2005.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
