8 theSun | FRIDAY AUGUST 28 2009

news without borders

Annual US drug traffic generates RM220b

CIUDAD JUAREZ (Mexico): Drug trafficking in
the United States generates an annual income of
US$63 billion (RM220 billion), Mexico’s Secretary
of Public Safety said on Wednesday.
Genaro Garcia Luna told a security forum in
the border city of Ciudad Juarez – the epicenter
of Mexico’s drug violence – that a kilo of cocaine
in Europe or the United States can sell for almost
50 times as much as it sells for in some Latin
American countries.
“The cost of cocaine per kilogram in a
country like Colombia or Mexico is US$2,198
(RM7,693), but in cities inside the United States
or Europe people buy it for up to US$97,400
(RM340,900)” per kilogram, Garcia Luna said.
Mexico has deployed more than 36,000 troops
countrywide to take on the country’s power-
ful cartels as drug violence has spiralled, with
almost 10,000 killed in suspected drug attacks
since the start of last year.
“Without a market, there would be no drug
trafficking or violence,” Garcia Luna said, admit-
ting that there had been a rise in drug use in
Mexico in recent years.
“In 1998, drug use was 0.3% of the total
population of 107 million, in 2002 it grew to
0.4% and in 10 years it reached 0.8%,” Garcia
Luna said. – AFP

US mourns as Teddy
makes final journey
HYANNIS PORT (Massachusetts): The United reform the US health care system.
States mourned and paid tribute on Wednesday Although long hated by the right, he came to
as the family of Edward Kennedy prepared to be respected on both sides of the political divide
accompany the liberal lion’s body on its final as a larger-than-life figure whose tragedy-filled
journey. All government buildings lowered the career was the stuff of American history. Many
Stars and Stripes to half-mast, as did private thought Kennedy was destined for the highest
homes in the Massachusetts seaside resort of office after the murders of his brothers .
Hyannis Port, where the veteran senator, aged But personal scandal got in the way of White
77, died on Tuesday at his family compound. House ambitions, particularly the 1969 death of
President Barack Obama led tributes, say- a female passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, when
ing “the outpouring of love, gratitude and fond he drove off a bridge at Chappaquiddick, near
memories which we have all witnessed is a Cape Cod, and fled the scene.
testimony to the way this singular figure in Yet by the end, the man dubbed the lib-
American history touched so many lives.” eral lion for his championing of progressive
Yesterday, family members accompanied causes earned the respect even of former foes.
the coffin of Kennedy, whose elder brothers Praise poured in from across the world, while
president John F. Kennedy and Robert F. US television outlets and newspapers were
Kennedy were both assassinated, in a cortege flooded with retrospectives on his eventful, if
to his home city of Boston. controversial life. – AFP
There, the senator’s body was to lie in state
at the John F. Kennedy presidential
library ahead of a Catholic

AFPPIX
funeral Mass tomorrow
where Obama was sched-
uled to deliver a eulogy.
Later that day the Demo-
cratic Party giant’s remains
were to be buried at Arling-
ton National Cemetery near
Washington, alongside his
slain brothers. Obama is not
expected to attend the burial.
Kennedy, who served 47
years in the Senate, died after
a long battle with brain can-
cer. His death ends his family’s
half-century-long dominance ory of
of the Democratic Party and vigil in mem
icipate in a candlelight to n.
robs Obama of a crucial ally in People part le in Washing
Dupont Circ
an increasingly uphill battle to Kennedy at

Rape of some detainees

proven, says Iran MP
TEHERAN: Some Iranian reformers jailed after
the disputed presidential election were raped in
prison, a member of a parliamentary investigation
said yesterday.
“Raping of some detainees with a baton and
soda bottle has been proven to us,” the Parleman-
news website quoted the unidentified lawmaker
from the investigative committee as saying.
Iran’s defeated presidential candidate, Mehdi
Karoubi, had said some imprisoned protesters
were raped and abused in jail, a charge govern-
ment officials rejected as “baseless”.
But parliament speaker Ali Larijani said last
week he would be ready to consider any docu-
ments or other evidence submitted by Karoubi to
back up his claims.
Larijani had ordered the formation of the par-
liamentary committee to investigate the plight
of detainees, most of whom were held during
mass protests following the results of the June
12 election.
Karoubi, a moderate, had said four people were
ready to testify to parliament that they were sexu-
ally abused in jail if their security was guaranteed.
The pro-reform cleric has angered some hard-
liners in power for raising the allegations and they
suggested Karoubi should be jailed or lashed if he
failed to prove his claims.
Another moderate, losing candidate Mirhossein
Mousavi, backed Karoubi and accused “establish-
ment agents” of raping and abusing detainees.
Iranian moderates say the June vote was rigged
to secure President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s
re-election, a charge the authorities deny.
Rights groups say hundreds of people, includ-
ing senior pro-reform politicians, journalists and
activists, have been detained since the election.
Many remain in jail.
Leading moderates say at least 69 people
were killed after the vote, contradicting the official
figure of 26 deaths.
A reformist website, the Mosharekat, said
members of the investigative committee had
been threatened.
“Some members of the committee have been
repeatedly threatened ... They had submitted
their resignations, but Larijani has asked them to
continue with their work,” said the website.
The reformist Norooz website said last week
that at least 40 people were buried in unnamed
graves in a southern Teheran cemetery. A former
head of the cemetery denied the report. – Reuters