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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (39538)	12/14/2009 11:57:10 AM
From: lorne	2 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 71588

Blagojevich's lawyers seek FBI interview with Obama COURT FILING \| Defense wants early look at 'notes, transcripts' December 13, 2009 BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter suntimes.com Rod Blagojevich's lawyers want the FBI to give up details of interviews conducted last year of President Obama, his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, White House adviser Valerie Jarrett and others as part of the investigation into the former governor. In a Friday filing, Blagojevich attorneys also asked for information regarding first lady Michelle Obama. However, a source said late Friday that the FBI never interviewed the first lady. Then-President-elect Obama, Emanuel and Jarrett sat down with the FBI about a year ago -- just after Blagojevich was arrested on charges of trying to sell Obama's recently vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. Obama revealed he was interviewed in a report he made public last December. The defense request, filed in federal court, asks for "notes, transcripts and reports" of interviews with the Obamas, Emanuel, Jarrett and union chiefs Thomas Balanoff and Andy Stern. The request was part of a larger bid by defense lawyers to have prosecutors turn over additional materials, including witness statements, six months before the June trial date. Typically, prosecutors give the defense such information 30 days before the trial. Shelly Sorosky, an attorney for Blagojevich, said the defense needs additional time with the material "because there's so much of it. This is massive stuff."

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (39538)	12/14/2009 12:31:11 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Days after U.S. envoy's trip to North Korea, U.N.-banned weapons are seized Thai authorities intercept a plane loaded with North Korean arms. The transgression, so soon after a supposedly 'positive' visit, could try the 'strategic patience' Clinton has called for. By John M. Glionna December 14, 2009 \| 5:40 a.m latimes.com Reporting from Seoul - The weekend seizure of a 35-ton cache of reported North Korean-made weapons being transported through Thailand could complicate ongoing U.S. talks with the Stalinist state to abandon its nuclear ambitions, South Korean analysts warned today. Thai authorities, reportedly acting on a tip from U.S. intelligence, stopped a plane loaded with explosives, rocket-launched grenades and parts for surface-to-air missiles as it made a refueling stop Saturday at Bangkok's Don Muang airport. Four men from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus were taken into custody. Today they were ordered to remain in a Thai prison for 12 days for further investigation, the Associated Press reported. They were charged with illegal arms possession. U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth left Pyongyang just last week after a three-day visit in which, he said, both sides reached an understanding on the need for North Korea to return to the stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks. The weapons seizure demonstrates Washington's determination to keep up pressure on North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as he ponders his nation's nuclear future, Pyongyang watchers say. After a North Korea nuclear test this summer, the United States and its allies successfully lobbied the United Nations to pass a resolution banning the transport of war weaponry to and from North Korea. Thai officials were acting on that resolution when they confiscated the cargo of the Ilyushin-76 transport plane. "This incident may act as a yellow card for North Korea, reminding it that the six-party talks are its only choice," said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor at Dongguk University in Seoul. "The U.S. is reminding North Korea that the U.N. sanctions are still in effect." Analysts say the involvement of U.S. intelligence suggests that Washington has a two-pronged approach to North Korea: negotiations and stiff sanctions. "If the weapons were uncovered because of information from the United States, it would mean that Washington is showing a strong will to hold on to talks and sanctions in parallel," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. "We need to take a breath and see how both North Korea and the United States react to this. They are unexpectedly quiet." U.S. officials have reiterated since the incident that all U.N. member nations are expected to join in the sanctions to prevent the proliferation of North Korean conventional weapons as well as weapons of mass destruction. In recent years, North Korea has been widely suspected of violating U.N. sanctions by selling weapons to nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America -- using the profits to help sustain the impoverished regime. In recent months, the U.S. and its allies have harassed North Korean ships suspected of illegally transporting arms. The U.S. Navy in June shadowed a North Korean cargo ship possibly en route to Myanmar, forcing the vessel to return home. In July, the United Arab Emirates seized a Bahamian-flagged ship carrying North Korean rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons labeled as machine parts. And in August, India seized a North Korean ship off its coast. It found no weapons aboard. On Monday, newspapers in Seoul surmised that the weapons confiscated in Bangkok may have been bound for Sri Lanka, the Middle East or perhaps Russian underground-crime elements. Thai officials said that the plane was bound for Sri Lanka and then another location. They refused to comment on the cargo's final destination. Before the weekend incident, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had described Bosworth's Pyongyang trip as "quite positive." It was the first official U.S. visit of the Obama administration. She stressed the need for "strategic patience" in dealing with Kim's reclusive state. Some say the plane's capture days after Bosworth's trip could try that patience. "For the short term, it might have a slight impact on the recent U.S-North Korea conversations," said Kim, the Dongguk professor. He added that the incident, so close to the high-profile nuclear negotiations, could also signal North Korea's desperate reliance on its arms sales. "Arms shipment accounts for the biggest proportion of North Korea's income," he said. "Therefore, North Korea is implying that it cannot help but do this [unless it receives] international aid." john.glionna@latimes.com Ju-min Park of The Times' Seoul Bureau contributed to this report. Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times