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Friends of Bilderberg via Business Wire
June 5, 2008

CHANTILLY, Va. – The 56th Bilderberg Meeting will be held in Chantilly, Virginia, USA 5 – 8 June 2008. The Conference will deal mainly with a nuclear free world, cyber terrorism, Africa, Russia, finance, protectionism, US-EU relations, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Islam and Iran. Approximately 140 participants will attend, of whom about two-thirds come from Europe and the balance from North America. About one-third is from government and politics, and two-thirds are from finance, industry, labor, education and communications. The meeting is private in order to encourage frank and open discussion.

Bilderberg takes its name from the hotel in Holland, where the first meeting took place in May 1954. That pioneering meeting grew out of the concern expressed by leading citizens on both sides of the Atlantic that Western Europe and North America were not working together as closely as they should on common problems of critical importance. It was felt that regular, off-the-record discussions would help create a better understanding of the complex forces and major trends affecting Western nations in the difficult post-war period. The Cold War has now ended. But in practically all respects, there are more, not fewer, common problems – from trade to jobs, from monetary policy to investment, from ecological challenges to the task of promoting international security. It is hard to think of any major issue in either Europe or North America whose unilateral solution would not have repercussions for the other. Thus the concept of a European-American forum has not been overtaken by time. The dialogue between these two regions is still – even increasingly – critical.

What is unique about Bilderberg as a forum, is the broad cross-section of leading citizens that are assembled for nearly three days of informal and off-the-record discussion about topics of current concern especially in the fields of foreign affairs and the international economy; the strong feeling among participants that in view of the differing attitudes and experiences of the Western nations, there remains a clear need to further develop an understanding in which these concerns can be accommodated; the privacy of the meetings, which has no purpose other than to allow participants to speak their minds openly and freely. In short, Bilderberg is a small, flexible, informal and off-the-record international forum in which different viewpoints can be expressed and mutual understanding enhanced.

Bilderberg’s only activity is its annual Conference. At the meetings, no resolutions are proposed, no votes taken, and no policy statements issued. Since 1954, fifty-five conferences have been held. The names of the participants are made available to the press. Participants are chosen for their experience, their knowledge, and their standing; all participants attend Bilderberg in a private and not an official capacity.

There will be no press conference. A list of participants is available by phone request at 703-818-3647 between 9am-5pm EDT June 6-7, 2008.

Source | See Also: Spooks Infest Marriott Hotel As Bilderberg Begins | They Rule the World | Dutch Embassy Deep-Sixes Bilderberg Information | Complete Media Lockdown On Athens Bilderberg Meeting? | Bilderberg: The ultimate conspiracy theory | Shadowy group meets amid secrecy in Ottawa | Steven Harper and the Bilderbergers Secret Meeting

Canadian Participants

CAN “Adams, John” Associate Deputy Minister of National Defence and Chief of the Communications Security Establishment Canada
CAN “Brodie, Ian ” Chief of Staff, Prime Minister’s Office
CAN “Clark, Edmund” President and CEO, TD Bank Financial Group
CAN “Desmarais, Jr., Paul ” Chairman and co-CEO, Power Corporation of Canada
CAN “Edwards, N. Murray ” Vice Chairman, Candian Natural Resources Limited
CAN “Martin, Roger” Dean, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
CAN “McKenna, Frank” Deputy Chair, TD Bank Financial Group
CAN “Prichard, J. Robert S.” President and CEO, Torstar Corporation
CAN “Reisman, Heather M.” “Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc

Full List of Participants

DEU “Ackermann, Josef” “Chairman of the Management Board and the Group Executive Committee, Deutsche Bank AG”
CAN “Adams, John” Associate Deputy Minister of National Defence and Chief of the Communications Security Establishment Canada
USA “Ajami, Fouad” “Director, Middle East Studies Program, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University”
USA “Alexander, Keith B.” “Director, National Security Agency”
INT “Almunia, Joaquín ” “Commissioner, European Commission”
GRC “Alogoskoufis, George” Minister of Economy and Finance
USA “Altman, Roger C.” “Chairman, Evercore Partners Inc.”
TUR “Babacan, Ali ” Minister of Foreign Affairs
NLD “Balkenende, Jan Peter” Prime Minister
PRT “Balsemão, Francisco Pinto” “Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA, S.G.P.S.; Former Prime Minister”
FRA “Baverez, Nicolas” “Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP”
ITA “Bernabè, Franco” “CEO, Telecom Italia Spa”
USA “Bernanke, Ben S.” “Chairman, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System”
SWE “Bildt, Carl” Minister of Foreign Affairs
FIN “Blåfield, Antti ” “Senior Editorial Writer, Helsingin Sanomat”
DNK “Bosse, Stine” “CEO, TrygVesta”
CAN “Brodie, Ian ” “Chief of Staff, Prime Minister’s Office”
AUT “Bronner, Oscar” “Publisher and Editor, Der Standard”
FRA “Castries, Henri de ” “Chairman of the Management Board and CEO, AXA”
ESP “Cebrián, Juan Luis” “CEO, PRISA”
CAN “Clark, Edmund” “President and CEO, TD Bank Financial Group”
GBR “Clarke, Kenneth” Member of Parliament
NOR “Clemet, Kristin” “Managing Director, Civita”
USA “Collins, Timothy C.” “Senior Managing Director and CEO, Ripplewood Holdings, LLC”
FRA “Collomb, Bertrand” “Honorary Chairman, Lafarge”
PRT “Costa, António” Mayor of Lisbon
USA “Crocker, Chester A.” James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies
USA “Daschle, Thomas A.” Former US Senator and Senate Majority Leader
CAN “Desmarais, Jr., Paul ” “Chairman and co-CEO, Power Corporation of Canada”
GRC “Diamantopoulou, Anna” Member of Parliament
USA “Donilon, Thomas E.” “Partner, O’Melveny & Myers”
ITA “Draghi, Mario” “Governor, Banca d’Italia”
AUT “Ederer, Brigitte” “CEO, Siemens AG Österreich”
CAN “Edwards, N. Murray ” “Vice Chairman, Candian Natural Resources Limited”
DNK “Eldrup, Anders ” “President, DONG A/S”
ITA “Elkann, John” “Vice Chairman, Fiat S.p.A.”
USA “Farah, Martha J.” “Director, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience; Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the Natural Sciences, University of Pennsylvania”
USA “Feldstein, Martin S.” “President and CEO, National Bureau of Economic Research”
DEU “Fischer, Joschka” Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
USA “Ford, Jr., Harold E.” “Vice Chairman, Merill Lynch & Co., Inc.”
CHE “Forstmoser, Peter” “Professor for Civil, Corporation and Capital Markets Law, University of Zürich”
IRL “Gallagher, Paul ” Attorney General
USA “Geithner, Timothy F. ” “President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of New York”
USA “Gigot, Paul ” “Editorial Page Editor, The Wall Street Journal”
IRL “Gleeson, Dermot ” “Chairman, AIB Group”
NLD “Goddijn, Harold” “CEO, TomTom”
TUR “Gögüs, Zeynep ” “Journalist; Founder, EurActiv.com.tr”
USA “Graham, Donald E.” “Chairman and CEO, The Washington Post Company”
NLD “Halberstadt, Victor” “Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former Honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings”
USA “Holbrooke, Richard C. ” “Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC”
FIN “Honkapohja, Seppo” “Member of the Board, Bank of Finland”
INT “Hoop Scheffer, Jaap G. de” “Secretary General, NATO”
USA “Hubbard, Allan B.” “Chairman, E & A Industries, Inc.”
BEL “Huyghebaert, Jan” “Chairman of the Board of Directors, KBC Group”
DEU “Ischinger, Wolfgang” Former Ambassador to the UK and US
USA “Jacobs, Kenneth” “Deputy Chairman, Head of Lazard U.S., Lazard Frères & Co. LLC”
USA “Johnson, James A.” “Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC” (Obama’s man tasked with selecting his running mate)
SWE “Johnstone, Tom ” “President and CEO, AB SKF”
USA “Jordan, Jr., Vernon E.” “Senior Managing Director, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC”
FRA “Jouyet, Jean-Pierre ” Minister of European Affairs
GBR “Kerr, John ” “Member, House of Lords; Deputy Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc.”
USA “Kissinger, Henry A.” “Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.”
DEU “Klaeden, Eckart von” “Foreign Policy Spokesman, CDU/CSU”
USA “Kleinfeld, Klaus” “President and COO, Alcoa”
TUR “Koç, Mustafa ” “Chairman, Koç Holding A.S.”
FRA “Kodmani, Bassma” “Director, Arab Reform Initiative”
USA “Kravis, Henry R.” “Founding Partner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.”
USA “Kravis, Marie-Josée” “Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Inc.”
INT “Kroes, Neelie ” “Commissioner, European Commission”
POL “Kwasniewski, Aleksander ” Former President
AUT “Leitner, Wolfgang” “CEO, Andritz AG”
ESP “León Gross, Bernardino” “Secretary General, Office of the Prime Minister”
INT “Mandelson, Peter” “Commissioner, European Commission”
FRA “Margerie, Christophe de” “CEO, Total”
CAN “Martin, Roger” “Dean, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto”
HUN “Martonyi, János” “Professor of International Trade Law; Partner, Baker & McKenzie; Former Minister of Foreign Affairs”
USA “Mathews, Jessica T. ” “President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace”
INT “McCreevy, Charlie ” “Commissioner, European Commission”
USA “McDonough, William J.” “Vice Chairman and Special Advisor to the Chairman, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.”
CAN “McKenna, Frank” “Deputy Chair, TD Bank Financial Group”
GBR “McKillop, Tom ” “Chairman, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group”
FRA “Montbrial, Thierry de” “President, French Institute for International Relations”
ITA “Monti, Mario” “President, Universita Commerciale Luigi Bocconi”
USA “Mundie, Craig J. ” “Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation”
NOR “Myklebust, Egil” “Former Chairman of the Board of Directors SAS, Norsk Hydro ASA”
DEU “Nass, Matthias” “Deputy Editor, Die Zeit”
NLD “Netherlands, H.M. the Queen of the”
FRA “Ockrent, Christine” “CEO, French television and radio world service”
FIN “Ollila, Jorma” “Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell plc”
SWE “Olofsson, Maud ” Minister of Enterprise and Energy; Deputy Prime Minister
NLD “Orange, H.R.H. the Prince of”
GBR “Osborne, George” Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
TUR “Öztrak, Faik” Member of Parliament
ITA “Padoa-Schioppa, Tommaso ” Former Minister of Finance; President of Notre Europe
GRC “Papahelas, Alexis” “Journar., Henry M.” Secretary of the Treasury
USA “Pearl, Frank H.” “Chairman and CEO, Perseus, LLC”
USA “Perle, Richard N.” “Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research”
FRA “Pérol, François” Deputy General Secretary in charge of Economic Affairs
DEU “Perthes, Volker” “Director, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik”
BEL “Philippe, H.R.H. Prince”
CAN “Prichard, J. Robert S.” “President and CEO, Torstar Corporation”
CAN “Reisman, Heather M.” “Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc.”
USA “Rice, Condoleezza” Secretary of State
PRT “Rio, Rui ” Mayor of Porto
USA “Rockefeller, David ” “Former Chairman, Chase Manhattan Bank”
ESP “Rodriguez Inciarte, Matias” “Executive Vice Chairman, Grupo Santander”
USA “Rose, Charlie” “Producer, Rose Communications”
DNK “Rose, Flemming” “Editor, Jyllands Posten”
USA “Ross, Dennis B.” “Counselor and Ziegler Distinguished Fellow, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy”
USA “Rubin, Barnett R.” “Director of Studies and Senior Fellow, Center for International Cooperation, New York University”
TUR “Sahenk, Ferit ” “Chairman, Dogus Holding A.S.”
USA “Sanford, Mark” Governor of South Carolina
USA “Schmidt, Eric” “Chairman of the Executive Committee and CEO, Google”
AUT “Scholten, Rudolf ” “Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG”
DNK “Schur, Fritz H. ” Fritz Schur Gruppen
CZE “Schwarzenberg, Karel ” Minister of Fsan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University”
ESP “Spain, H.M. the Queen of”
CHE “Spillmann, Markus” “Editor-in-Chief and Head Managing Board, Neue Zürcher Zeitung AG”
USA “Summers, Lawrence H.” “Charles W. Eliot Professor, Harvard University”
GBR “Taylor, J. Martin” “Chairman, Syngenta International AG”
USA “Thiel, Peter A.” “President, Clarium Capital Management, LLC”
NLD “Timmermans, Frans ” Minister of European Affairs
RUS “Trenin, Dmitri V.” “Deputy Director and Senior Associate, Carnegie Moscow Center”
INT “Trichet, Jean-Claude” “President, European Central Bank”
USA “Vakil, Sanam” “Assistant Professor of Middle East Studies, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University”
FRA “Valls, Manuel ” Member of Parliament
GRC “Varvitsiotis, Thomas” “Co-Founder and President, V + O Communication”
CHE “Vasella, Daniel L.” “Chairman and CEO, Novartis AG”
FIN “Väyrynen, Raimo” “Director, The Finnish Institute of International Affairs”
FRA “Védrine, Hubert” Hubert Védrine Conseil
NOR “Vollebaek, Knut” “High Commissioner on National Minorities, OSCE”
SWE “Wallenberg, Jacob” “Chairman, Investor AB”
USA “Weber, J. Vin” “CEO, Clark & Weinstock”
USA “Wolfensohn, James D. ” “Chairman, Wolfensohn & Company, LLC”
USA “Wolfowitz, Paul ” “Visiting Scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research”
INT “Zoellick, Robert B. ” “President, The World Bank Group”

Rapporteurs
GBR “Bredow, Vendeline von” “Business Correspondent, The Economist”
GBR “Wooldridge, Adrian D.” “Foreign Correspondent, The Economist”

AUT Austria HUN Hungary
BEL Belgium INT International
CHE Switzerland IRL Ireland
CAN Canada ITA Italy
CZE Czech Republic NOR Norway
DEU Germany NLD Netherlands
DNK Denmark PRT Portugal
ESP Spain POL Poland
FRA France RUS Russia
FIN Finland SWE Sweden
GBR Great Britain TUR Turkey
GRC Greece USA United States of America

Source

Matthew Franklin, The Australian
June 05, 2008

KEVIN Rudd wants to spearhead the creation of an Asia-Pacific Union similar to the European Union by 2020 and has appointed veteran diplomat Richard Woolcott – one of his mentors – as a special envoy to lobby regional leaders over the body.

The Prime Minister said last night that the union, adding India to the 21-member APEC grouping, would encompass a regional free-trade agreement and provide a crucial venue for co-operation on issues such as terrorism and long-term energy and resource security.

And he outlined his plans for his visits to Japan and Indonesia next week, saying he would explore greater defence co-operation between Australia, Japan and the US – an approach that had been championed by John Howard.

Speaking in Sydney last night to the Asia Society Australasia Centre, the Mandarin-speaking Mr Rudd said global power and influence was shifting towards the Asia-Pacific region and that Australia must drive the creation of a new global architecture for the Asia-Pacific century.

“We need to have a vision for an Asia-Pacific community, a vision that embraces a regional institution, which spans the entire Asia-Pacific region – including the United States, Japan, China, India, Indonesia and the other states of the region,” said the Prime Minister.

…

Government sources said last night that Mr Rudd was attempting to revive the reformist spirit of former Labor prime minister Bob Hawke, who successfully pressed for the creation of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation group 20 years ago.

Mr Woolcott, 80, was Mr Hawke’s right-hand man in establishing APEC and was a frequent critic of the Howard government’s foreign policy.

Mr Woolcott told The Australian last night that Mr Rudd had made it clear there was great scope to co-ordinate existing regional organisations.

“This fits neatly into the concept of greater middle-power diplomacy,” Mr Woolcott said.

“If the US or China or Japan or some other big power were to suggest it, other nations might be apprehensive and back away. It’s better for a middle power like Australia to take the initiative.

“I’ve always thought that this was the part of the world where Australia lives, and if an Asia-Pacific community does develop, it’s essential that Australia be part of it.”

The proposed new pan-Asian body would come in addition to a range of existing forums through the region, including ASEAN, ASEAN Plus Three and the East Asian Summit.

…

Mr Rudd said the existing forums were not configured to promote co-operation across the entire region.

And he said his proposal was consistent with US President George W.Bush’s call for the development of an Asia-Pacific free trade area.

While the EU should not provide “an identikit model”, the Asia-Pacific region could learn much from the union, which in the 1950s had been seen by sceptics as unrealistic.

Full Story | See Also: “North American Parliament” Meets At Integration Forum | South American union is created | CBC-TV’s mini-series Trojan Horse is a very clever warning to Canadians about the North American Union agenda | New Documents Reveal North American Union PR Campaign | Vicente Fox Admits Plan For Single NAFTA Currency | Military To Crackdown On North American Union Protesters | North American Union plan headed to Congress in fall | Fraser Institute: The Case for the Amero

By Patrick Cockburn, The Independent
Thursday, 5 June 2008

Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors

A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November.

The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to The Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq. Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilise Iraq’s position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country.

But the accord also threatens to provoke a political crisis in the US. President Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been vindicated. But by perpetuating the US presence in Iraq, the long-term settlement would undercut pledges by the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, to withdraw US troops if he is elected president in November.

The timing of the agreement would also boost the Republican candidate, John McCain, who has claimed the United States is on the verge of victory in Iraq – a victory that he says Mr Obama would throw away by a premature military withdrawal.

Full Story

Paul Joseph Watson, prisonplanet.com
Thursday June 5, 2008

Independent journalists followed, questioned by FBI as global luminaries arrive for geopolitical conference

Spooks, FBI agents and cops have descended on the Westfields Marriott hotel in Chantilly Virginia to scrutinize Jim Tucker and Alex Jones as the 2008 Bilderberg meeting gets underway today without even being mentioned in the American corporate media.

Immediately before appearing on the nationally syndicated Coast to Coast AM broadcast last night, a show that boasts around 16 million listeners, Alex Jones was interrupted by a fire alarm which forced him to leave the hotel.

“I know this is a set-up, they timed this exactly….the moment the phone rang the alarm goes off….they want to use this to flush us out of here,” Jones told host George Noory.

Jones added that he was also confronted by a security guard 30 minutes before the interview who told him to stop filming and made a bizarre out of context reference to a fire alarm.

Listen to Alex’s short appearance on the show below.

“This is some kind of stunt, these bastards walked up to us and made a comment about fire alarms, we come in here the phone rings and right as the phone rings and they pick it up this alarm goes off,” said Jones.

Jones also said that FBI agents had grilled him and Tucker on whether he “was planning anything violent” during a confrontation in the hotel restaurant.

“There’s agents and spies everywhere….everywhere we go we are followed….they are questioning us, getting in our faces,” said Jones, who was also detained and interrogated before the 2006 Bilderberg meeting in Ottawa Canada.

“All we’re trying to do is get the First Amendment out, we’re reporters, it’s our right when 120 world leaders show up, we have a right and a duty to find out what’s going on,” he added.

Since the U.S. corporate media has steadfastly refused to utter one word on 125 powerbrokers meeting in secret to discuss the future of the planet, it is not only the duty, but the neccessity of the alternative media to fill the hole and keep Americans informed about what is taking place this week in Chantilly.

If 125 film stars booked out a hotel, arrived in dark-tinted limosuines and met in secret do you think the corporate media would be interested in finding out what they were there to discuss?

Yet 125 top CEO’s, hugely influential philanthropists, heads of state, NATO officials, academic leaders, banking kingpins, and European royalty – the very people that shape the destiny of the world – can get together for three days without a single U.S. corporate media outlet reporting on it.

You certainly won’t read about it in the Washington Post, the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, since the editors of those three newspapers are all Bilderberg members.

This is why Tucker and Jones are forced to undergo harassment and scrutiny almost every year merely for covering the event – because not one mainstream media outlet dare break ranks with its elite owners and undertake real investigative journalism.

 Full Story | See Also: They Rule the World | Dutch Embassy Deep-Sixes Bilderberg Information | Complete Media Lockdown On Athens Bilderberg Meeting? | Bilderberg: The ultimate conspiracy theory | Shadowy group meets amid secrecy in Ottawa | Steven Harper and the Bilderbergers Secret Meeting

CBC News
Thursday, June 5, 2008

A youth charged in connection with an alleged 2006 plot to blow up buildings in Ontario was the group’s preferred candidate to behead the prime minister because of his wood chopping skills, Crown prosecutors alleged Wednesday.

The latest allegation was made in a Brampton, Ont., court, based on a wiretap recording that was played in the courtroom for the first of the trials in the alleged plot, the central feature of which was talk of a plan to storm Parliament Hill.

…

On the tapes, one of the alleged ringleaders discusses plans for a group to go to Ottawa and “cut off some heads.” When another alleged conspirator asks what’s planned for Parliament Hill, the same man replies: “We go and kill everybody.”

“And then what?” asks one.

“We get victory,” comes the reply.

Court then heard an alleged reference to the youth on trial.

“I know he’d cut off their heads,” says the man, to which the other man agrees and says, “Did you see him? How he was cutting the wood?”

The men are heard laughing, then they struggle to open a can of tuna to spread on a bagel because no one can find a can opener.

Full Story | See Story: Many Question if Toronto “Terrorists” Were Led by Informants as Case Weakens | Crown presents evidence in Toronto terror suspect trial | Terror case begins to emit ripe aroma | Tanks, Face-Scanning Cameras Part of ‘Discreet’ 2010 Games Security | Anti-terror cops probed Ottawa punk band for Cartoon, Political Speech | Rumsfeld to Pentagon Media Analysts: America Needs another Attack | Canada’s anti-terror law unconstitutional, defence says | Toronto’s Terrorism Case: For the Families, Fear and Bewilderment | Terror trial proceedings troubling | CSIS informant admits cocaine, marijuana use during investigation | Alleged Toronto terror plot included two police agents | Toronto Terrorist Ringleader Has Military Connections | Canadian ‘Terror Plot’ Begins To Unravel | Police arrest terrorist suspects in Toronto

BBC News
Thursday, 5 June 2008

The alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the US is appearing at a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay.

It is the first time Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has appeared in public since he was captured in Pakistan in 2003.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against him and four others accused of plotting the attacks – who also appeared before the tribunal.

A BBC correspondent at the trial says the hearings raise questions about the legitimacy of US military commissions.

The five men did not have to be forced out of their cells, as some defendants in earlier hearings have been, Reuters news agency reports.

The US describes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, believed to have been al-Qaeda’s third in command, as “one of history’s most infamous terrorists”.

Waterboarding

Following his arrest he was held at a CIA secret prison, where he was subjected to harsh interrogation techniques and a practice known as waterboarding, that simulates drowning, until he was moved to Guantanamo Bay two years ago.

The US military says that as well as admitting involvement in the 11 September 2001 attacks on Washington and New York, he has confessed to being involved in more than 30 terrorist plots around the world, including plans to attack London’s Big Ben and Canary Wharf.

…

Human Rights Watch, a New York-based organisation, has said that the system lacks credibility.

“Possibly putting someone to death based on evidence obtained through water-boarding, or after prolonged periods of sleep deprivation while being forced into painful stress positions, is not the answer,” said Jennifer Daskal, a lawyer for the group.

Full Story

| See Also: CIA chief claims big gains against al-Qaeda | Is global terror threat falling? | Afghan attacks rise as al-Qaeda gains strength: U.S. report | Demise Of Al-Qaeda Leader Championed For Second Time | U.S. Government Caught Red-Handed Releasing Staged Al-Qaeda Videos

CBC News
Thursday, June 5, 2008

About 32,000 Canadian farmers are on the alert after learning a laptop containing their financial information has been stolen.

The laptop was stolen when a programmer working for the Canadian Canola Growers Association took the machine off-site for routine maintenance. CCGA general manager Rick White described the theft as a classic “smash and grab.”

The laptop has the bank account numbers and social insurance numbers of farmers who applied for Agriculture Canada’s advance payments program, which is administered by the CCGA on behalf of the federal government.

The federal department has sent letters out to all farmers affected by the theft.

“We treat this very seriously,” White said. “This is an unfortunate incident, a very low-risk one.”

While farmers should report any suspicious financial transactions, the strict security measures being used on the laptop reduce the chances of information being misused, White said.

“There was a very strong password protection on it, [and] there was a biometric fingerprint reader on it,” he said. “That would prohibit anyone other than the user or the person with the password to access the data on the laptop.”

The Canadian Canola Growers Association represents six provincial grower organizations in Canada, from Ontario across the Prairies to B.C.

Full Story | See Also: Privacy breaches ‘epidemic,’ commissioner says