Police foil plot against Mohammad cartoon newspaper

Danish and Swedish police said Wednesday that five people had been arrested on suspicion of planning an attack on a Copenhagen building housing a newspaper that angered some Muslims in 2005 by printing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad.

By Oliver FARRY (video)
News Wires (text)

REUTERS - Danish police arrested five people suspected of planning a Mumbai-style attack to kill as many people as possible in a building housing a Danish newspaper that outraged Muslims in 2005 with cartoons of Prophet Mohammad.

"It is our assessment that this is a militant Islamist group and they have links to international terrorist networks," Jakob Scharf, head of Denmark's PET security police, told a news conference on Wednesday.

Police found a machine gun with a silencer, ammunition and plastic strips that could be used as handcuffs in the attack that Scharf said was planned for Jan. 1.

The suspects had planned to enter a Copenhagen office block housing several newspapers including offices of the daily Jyllands-Posten to "kill as many as possible of those around".

"It is our assessment, based on our investigation, that the plans were to try to get access to the location where the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten is situated in Copenhagen and try to carry out a Mumbai-style attack on that location," Scharf said.

Many foreigners, some of India's wealthy business elite as well as poor commuters, were among the 166 people killed by 10 Pakistani gunmen in a three-day coordinated attack through some of Mumbai's landmarks, including two hotels and a Jewish centre.

Scharf said authorities could not rule out the possibility that the plotters may be linked to David Headley, a Chicago man who was arrested in October 2009 and pleaded guilty in March this year to scouting targets for the Mumbai attack.

Four of the five suspects were detained at flats in two Copenhagen suburbs, and one in Stockholm.

In Washington, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said: "We commend the work done by the Danish and Swedish authorities to disrupt this plot, and will continue to coordinate closely with them and our other European partners on all counterterrorism matters of common concern."

Stockholm attack

Jyllands-Posten was the newspaper that first published the Mohammad cartoons, provoking protests against Danish and European interests in the Middle East, Africa and Asia in which at least 50 people died.

Danish Justice Minister Lars Barfoed said those detained had a "militant Islamic background" and called the plan the most serious such attempt in Denmark so far.

Danish police detained a 44-year-old Tunisian national, a 29-year-old Swedish citizen born in Lebanon, a 30-year-old Swedish national, whose country of origin was unknown and a 26-year-old Iraqi asylum applicant, the PET said.

Simultaneously, Swedish authorities in Stockholm detained a 37-year-old Swedish citizen of Tunisian origin. All but the Iraqi were Swedish residents, it said. The suspects will be charged with attempted terrorism, PET said.

Swedish police began surveilling three of the suspects in Sweden before they entered Denmark on the night of Dec. 28, Denmark's PET and Sweden's security police SAPO said.

"Through extensive intelligence work we got information that there were individuals, persons in Sweden, planning terror actions in Denmark," SAPO chief Anders told the news conference. "We contacted our Danish colleagues and we decided to make a joint investigation."

Danielsson said that the Denmark plot did not have any known links to Dec. 11 bomb blasts in Stockholm.

"We have known for ... years that Sweden and the Scandinavian countries have not been safe havens, but countries where we know people have stayed and planned to commit terrorist crimes in other countries," Danielsson told Reuters.

The Nordic region, especially Denmark, attracted the rage of militant Islamists around the world after the 2005 cartoons.

Denmark has vociferously defended its civil liberties, and Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said that Wednesday's news must not lead Danes to "alter our open society and our values, especially democracy and freedom of expression."

Sketches of the Prophet by Swedish artist Lars Vilks in 2007 sparked similar outrage, but did not prompt immediate violence. Vilks has faced numerous death threats as well as an attempted arson attack on his home.

In Stockholm two weeks ago, a man blew himself up as he was preparing to set off bombs, possibly at a train station or a department store, according to police.

In that case an email -- thought to have come from the bomber -- was sent just before the attack, protesting against Vilks's sketches and Sweden's military presence in Afghanistan.

Both Denmark and Sweden have committed troops to U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, while Danish soldiers were also stationed in Iraq after the U.S. invasion.

Police uncovered a plot last year to attack Jyllands-Posten, and in January the creator of the most controversial cartoon escaped an axe attack by a man with al Qaeda links.

Last September, a man who was later found to have a map with the address of Jyllands-Posten's headquarters in the city of Aarhus set off a small explosion in a Copenhagen hotel.

Gbagbo lieutenant calls for siege on rival headquarters

Incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo's most notorious lieutenant called Wednesday for Ivorian youths loyal to Gbagbo to lay siege to presidential challenger Alassane Ouattara's hotel headquarters on Saturday to "liberate" the country.

By AFP in Abidjan (video)
News Wires (text)

AFP - Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo's most notorious street lieutenant has vowed that the country's youth will rise up from Saturday and seize his rival Alassane Ouattara's headquarters.

"From January 1, I, Charles Ble Goude and the youth of Ivory Coast are going to liberate the Golf Hotel with our bare hands," the leader of Gbagbo's radical Young Patriots told a cheering crowd in Abidjan on Wednesday.

"It's the moment to liberate Ivory Coast," he declared.

Ouattara has been recognised as Ivory Coast's elected president by world powers but his shadow government is besieged in Abidjan's Golf Hotel, protected by an 800-strong force of UN peacekeepers and by former rebel fighters.

Political showman and faction leader Ble Goude is now Gbagbo's minister for youth and employment, but he is best known for stoking bloody anti-French riots in 2004, a role which saw him placed under United Nations sanctions.

He had cancelled a large-scale street rally planned for Wednesday, saying he wanted Ivory Coast's political stand-off to be resolved by regional diplomacy, but held a smaller meeting for several thousand die-hard supporters.

"We are ready to die for this Ivory Coast," he declared, while insisting that his supporters were unarmed and hoped to triumph through strength of numbers and will against Ouattara's men.

Both the incumbent and Ouattara claim to have won Ivory Coast's November 28 election run-off but the international community has recognised the latter as president, based on vote results endorsed by United Nations monitors.

The West African regional bloc ECOWAS has threatened military intervention, but its mediators are engaged in shuttle diplomacy between various capitals and neither side in Abidjan appears ready to back down.

Tension is mounting in and around the Golf Hotel, a waterfront resort on the outskirts of the port city which Ouattara and his supporters had turned into an election headquarters and has become an armed camp.

The shadow government in the hotel is guarded by a small contingent of former northern rebel fighters dubbed the New Forces, and the grounds are shielded by armed UN peacekeepers backed by armoured cars.

Access to the area is blocked by Gbagbo's regulars, the Security and Defence Forces (FDS), working alongside what UN observers say are mysterious masked militia fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades.

Ble Goude reserved particular venom for the leader of the New Forces, Ouattara's choice for prime minister Guillaume Soro, who is also in the Golf.

"We must launch the assault on the Golf to capture Guillaume Soro," he said. "The people of Ivory Coast are tired of our annoying neighbours in the Golf Hotel Republic. Every day Guillaume Soro and his army threaten and mock us."

UN supply convoys are regularly blocked as they try to cross Abidjan -- one patrol was attacked on Tuesday by a mob of pro-Gbagbo youths and a Bangladeshi soldier was hurt -- and the hotel is supplied by UN helicopter.

The United Nations' top peacekeeping official accused the Ivory Coast state television controlled by Gbagbo of inciting hate against peacekeepers.

"These declarations I hear on RTI concern us. They incite the population to turn against us, even incite hatred," Alain Le Roy, head of the United Nations worldwide peacekeeping department, told reporters here.

US revokes Venezuela envoy's visa amid diplomatic row

The United States says it has revoked the visa of Venezuela's ambassador to Washington (pictured) in response to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's decision to reject the proposed US envoy to Caracas.

By News Wires (text)

AP - The Obama administration revoked the visa of the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States on Wednesday in a tit-for-tat diplomatic response to Venezuela’s rejection of the U.S. choice to be the next envoy to the South American country.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday dared the U.S. government to expel his ambassador, saying he will not allow the U.S. diplomat, Larry Palmer, to be ambassador because he made what Chavez described as blatantly disrespectful remarks about Venezuela.

“If the government is going to expel our ambassador there, let them do it!,” Chavez said, adding: “If they’re going to cut diplomatic relations, let them do it!”

U.S. diplomats familiar with the situation said the decision to revoke Bernardo Alvarez Herrera’s visa came after Chavez’s decision to withdraw his approval of Palmer. The diplomats said Alvarez is currently not in the U.S.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said late Wednesday that the U.S. has taken “appropriate, proportional and reciprocal action.”

Palmer, who is awaiting Senate confirmation, angered Chavez by suggesting earlier this year that morale is low in Venezuela’s military and that he is concerned Colombian rebels are finding refuge in Venezuela.

Chavez, whose economy relies heavily on oil sales to the United States, has accused Palmer of dishonoring the Venezuelan government by expressing concerns on several sensitive subjects - including 2008 accusations by the U.S. Treasury Department that three members of Chavez’s inner circle helped Colombian rebels by supplying arms and aiding drug-trafficking operations.

“For an ambassador to come, he has to respect this homeland,” Chavez said.

State Department officials addressed the diplomatic standoff in the agency’s daily briefing Wednesday.

“We believe it’s in our national interest to have an ambassador in Caracas so that we can candidly express our views and engage with the government of Venezuela,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. “There are tensions in the relationship, and it’s precisely because of that that we feel that it’s important to have appropriate diplomatic relations.”

Toner said the U.S. regrets the Venezuelan government’s decision to block Palmer’s appointment, saying, “It affects our ability to carry out normal diplomatic relations.”

Venezuelan-American lawyer and activist Eva Golinger, who is editor of the English edition of the Venezuelan government newspaper Correo del Orinoco, said on Twitter on Wednesday night that the U.S. had revoked Alvarez’s visa in an “act of vengeance, provoking a diplomatic rupture.”

Golinger said the U.S. government brought about the situation “through dirty maneuvering.”

The State Department has been strongly critical of decree powers granted to Chavez by his congressional allies this month, a maneuver Crowley described as one more way for the leftist president to “justify autocratic powers.”

“Now the U.S. government is threatening us that they’re going to take reprisals. Well, let them do whatever they want, but that man will not come,” Chavez said Tuesday.

The U.S. Embassy in Caracas, meanwhile, has been without an ambassador since Patrick Duddy finished his assignment and left in July.

Chavez’s latest actions in pushing through controversial laws are contributing to the diplomatic tensions.

The National Assembly on Dec. 17 granted Chavez broad powers to enact laws by decree for a year and a half. Opponents have condemned that and a package of other laws approved by Chavez’s congressional allies, saying the legislative offensive amounts to an authoritarian power grab and will give Chavez new abilities to crack down on dissent.

The measures have been hurriedly passed before a new legislature takes office Jan. 5 with enough opposition lawmakers to prevent passage of some types of major laws.

Chavez said Tuesday that he used his decree powers to establish 10 military districts - many of them in three western states bordering Colombia, two of which are led by opposition governors. Chavez did not elaborate on how the districts will be administered, but they could be under the equivalent of martial law.

Chavez had discussed the idea previously, calling the special military zones an effort to boost security. He said Tuesday that he had established the first 10 such districts by decree and that he expects to create more, including in urban areas such as Caracas and Maracaibo.

Marcel Granier, a media executive whose channel RCTV was pushed off the airwaves by the government in 2007, condemned the latest decree, saying Chavez “is trying to put a military authority above the civil one.”

Chavez has defended his decree powers, saying he is trying to quickly provide funding for housing construction after floods and landslides that drove thousands from their homes, and also plans measures to accelerate his government’s socialist-oriented efforts.

Other laws passed by Chavez’s congressional allies this month increase state control of universities and block foreign funding to any nongovernment organizations that defend “political rights” - a change critics say will hobble some human rights groups.

The National Assembly also passed laws that make it easier for the government to revoke TV or radio licenses, speed up the process if Chavez decides to nationalize more banks, and allow for the suspension of any lawmakers who defect from a party during their term.

One of the most controversial laws extends broadcast-type regulations to the Internet - barring messages that “disrespect public authorities,” “incite or promote hatred” or crimes, or that could create “anxiety in the citizenry or alter public order.”

Revived Roddick ready to defend title

December 30, 2010 -- Updated 1032 GMT (1832 HKT)

Andy Roddick is looking forward to a more rewarding 2011 season after fully recovering from illness and injury.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Andy Roddick is fit and ready to defend his Brisbane International title
• The world number eight felt his 2010 season was affected by injury and illness
• American is seeded second for the tournament behind world number five Robin Soderling

(CNN) -- American tennis star Andy Roddick has declared he is finally fit and raring to go as he prepares to defend his Brisbane International title next week.

The world number eight feels he was never in top shape throughout 2010, but he now believes he is over the illness and injury problems that prevented him from performing to the best of his ability.

"For me, it's just a matter of getting healthy. I battled mononucleosis for a big part of 2010 and from there I just felt like I was playing catch-up," the 28-year-old told the official ATP Tour website on Wednesday.

"I think it's the first time I've felt right since last May, so when you are fit it takes a lot of the mental pressure off. You feel like you can play anyway you want, so I feel fresh, enthused and ready to go."

I think it's the first time I've felt right since last May
--Andy Roddick

Roddick, who beat Czech Radek Stepanek in last year's final, added: "I came in last year and hadn't been playing much, so this was a really good springboard into the year for me.

"I like playing in this event and my wife enjoys coming here too, so let us not pretend I make any decisions!"

Roddick's words were echoed by his physical trainer Lance Hooten.

"I haven't seen him this motivated for some time," Hooten told the ATP Tour website.

"Andy's always been a grinder, a hard worker, but you have to put reins on him all the time because he's always going to work too hard, too long and too much."

The Brisbane International tournament begins on Sunday, with Roddick seeded second behind world number five Robin Soderling.

Henin - Count me out for Australian Open

December 30, 2010 -- Updated 1007 GMT (1807 HKT)

Justine Henin will make her return to competitive action in the mixed team Hopman Cup tournament.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Justine Henin rules herself out of contention to win the Australian Open
• The former world number one is still not fully fit following a serious elbow injury
• The 28-year-old Belgian will return to action at next week's Hopman Cup event

(CNN) -- Former world number one Justine Henin has ruled herself out of contention to win January's Australian Open, the first grand slam event of the 2011 tennis season.

The 28-year-old returned from two years out of the sport to remarkably reach the 2010 final in Melbourne, narrowly losing to Serena Williams in three sets.

However, a serious elbow injury curtailed her progress for most of the year and, speaking to journalists ahead of next week's Hopman Cup in Perth, Henin admitted she is a long way short of the fitness required to win a major tournament.

"I hope I can build my condition up this year by playing tournaments and hope to be really ready around June or July, which would be great for me," said the Belgian -- a winner of seven grand slam titles during her career, including the 2004 Australian Open.

"My elbow is getting better. It is six months since the injury and I can't say I am 100% yet, but I am working very hard on it and I spend two hours every day on my rehabilitation," added Henin.

"Now step by step I can improve, but it will probably take a few more weeks and maybe months before I can be 100%. I am not feeling free of all the pain, but I am going in the right direction."

It is six months since the injury and I can't say I am 100 per cent yet
--Justine Henin

RELATED TOPICS

• Justine Henin
• Australian Open (Tennis)
• Melbourne
• WTA Tour Inc.

Henin is currently ranked 12th in the world, despite not playing since losing to compatriot Kim Clijsters at Wimbledon in June, and her appearance in the mixed-team Hopman Cup event will mark her return to competitive action.

And, despite being nowhere near her optimum fitness, Henin also admitted that holder Williams' absence throws the tournament wide open.

"Nobody is dominating women's tennis, Serena is not going to be there so the event is going to be wide open -- but I don't consider myself one of the favorites to win," she added.

"The first round is going to be important for me and then we'll see, step by step. Kim Clijsters proved it at the U.S. Open, and I proved it at Melbourne, that a comeback can be a realistic aim."

Chelsea clinch vital Premier League win; Ten-man Wigan deny Arsenal

December 30, 2010 -- Updated 1107 GMT (1907 HKT)

Florent Malouda celebrates his winning goal at Stamford Bridge to end Chelsea's poor run.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Chelsea go fourth after first EPL win in seven games, beating Bolton 1-0
• Florent Malouda's goal on the hour mark secures three points for the champions
• Arsenal miss the chance to go level on points at the top after 2-2 draw at 10-man Wigan
• Liverpool's woes continue with 1-0 home defeat to Wolves, who move off the bottom

(CNN) -- Defending champions Chelsea secured their first win in seven league games to beat Bolton 1-0 at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night, but title rivals Arsenal dropped vital points.

A goal on the hour mark by Florent Malouda ended Chelsea's dire run and lifted the London club back into fourth in the English Premier League, four points behind leaders Manchester United and having played a game more.

Arsenal, who beat Chelsea 3-1 on Monday night, missed the chance to go level on points with United after being held 2-2 at lowly Wigan, who came from behind despite having a man sent off.

Ben Watson put the home side ahead from the penalty spot after 18 minutes, but two goals in six minutes near the end of the first half from Arsenal's Andrey Arshavin and Nicklas Bendtner saw the Gunners 2-1 up at the DW Stadium.

Will Wenger's genius finally bring success back to Arsenal?

Wigan looked headed for defeat when Charles N'Zogbia was sent off in the 78th minute for leaning his head into Arsenal substitute Jack Wilshere.

I think it was the most important thing to change the atmosphere, to change the trend, to come back to win
--Carlo Ancelotti

But three minutes later Wigan leveled when Arsenal's French defender Sebastien Squillaci diverted a header across goal from Colombia striker Hugo Rodallega into his own net.

The draw left Arsenal third, two points behind United and second-placed Manchester City, but Wigan moved out of the relegation zone.

Chelsea's fans voiced their disapproval as sixth-placed Bolton comfortably held Carlo Ancelotti's team scoreless for the first hour.

But with the visitors appealing for offside, striker Didier Drogba crossed for France international Malouda to turn in the only goal of the match in the 61st minute.

Manager Ancelotti said the win was vitally important as his players look to reignite their title challenge.

"I think it was the most important thing to change the atmosphere, to change the trend, to come back to win," he told the UK Press Association.

"This was the most important thing."

In Wednesday night's other game, Liverpool's poor league form under Roy Hodgson continued with a 1-0 home defeat at Anfield to relegation battlers Wolverhampton.

Stephen Ward sealed a precious three points for Wolves, who had not won away all season, with a 56th-minute goal.

The Irishman was played onside by Liverpool fullback Glen Johnson and easily beat goalkeeper Pepe Reina for his first in the Premier League.

It was the Black Country club's first win over Liverpool for 26 years, and it moved Mick McCarthy's team off the bottom at the expense of West Ham.

Vatican to tackle money laundering

By Giulia Segret, Financial Times

December 30, 2010 -- Updated 1010 GMT (1810 HKT)

Vatican Bank chief Ettore Gotti-Tedeschi is under investigation by Rome court officials.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Vatican will promise to adhere to European rules on money laundering
• State wants to be included on list of states compliant with international norms
• Vatican bank's top officials under investigation by Rome court officials
• Pair suspected of breaching anti-money laundering norms; they deny wrongdoing

Rome, Italy (FT.com) -- The Vatican will establish a new authority to combat money laundering as the tiny state seeks the blessing of international regulators who have refused to include it on lists of countries compliant with international norms.

In a papal document to be published on Thursday, the Vatican will promise to adhere to European rules targeting money laundering. The decree, or motu proprio, will apply to all government bodies at the Holy See including the Vatican Bank, also known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR).

The Vatican's new Financial Information Authority will enforce rules "concerning the prevention of illegal financial activity" and join "the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing", the Holy See said in a statement on Wednesday.

Cardinal Attilio Nicora, head of the body responsible for Church properties and funding, will oversee the new anti-money laundering regime.

The Vatican covets inclusion on lists -- compiled by bodies including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Financial Action Task Force -- of jurisdictions deemed to be compliant with international money laundering norms.

The announcement comes three months after court officials in Rome launched an investigation into the Vatican bank's top two officials -- Ettore Gotti-Tedeschi, chairman, and Paolo Cipriani, director-general -- for suspected breach of anti-money laundering norms.

Both men have denied any wrongdoing. Mr Gotti-Tedeschi has said the case arose from a "misunderstanding" between the Vatican bank and Credito Artigiano, an Italian bank, over a money transfer.

Following concerns from Italy's central bank over two transfers of Vatican funds to unnamed beneficiaries, magistrates seized a total of €23m ($30m) from an IOR account at Credito Artigiano.

In October, an Italian court ruled against an appeal by the Vatican, which had sought the release of the frozen funds.

"The motu proprio is a clear confirmation of what we have been saying until now -- the Catholic Church wants to be included in the list of states dedicated to combating terrorism and money laundering and has no intention to get involved in any money laundering," Vincenzo Scordamaglia, a lawyer representing the IOR, told the Financial Times.

"Italy will not be able to say any more that the Holy See does not want to follow the rules. We have had so many obstacles in the past . . . If this motu proprio had arrived earlier, [the probe] never would have been launched."

Bankers estimate that the IOR, which does not publish its accounts, holds assets worth about $5bn. It is administered by five cardinals, has no shareholders and disburses its profits to charities.

The motu proprio will be Pope Benedict XVI's seventh since he succeeded Pope John Paul II in April 2005.

© The Financial Times Limited 2010