Earning their stripes

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VIEWPOINTDebbie Banks
Next week in Geneva, a prime issue for a UN endangered species committee called Cites will be illegal trade in wild tigers. In this week's Green Room, Debbie Banks argues that a handful of businessmen want to reduce the tigers to nothing more than a luxury commodity.

Business interests have continued to breed tigers speculating that the ban would one day be lifted and that they would be sitting on a valuable stockpile of body parts
"Bagh Bachao, Jungle Bachao, Bharat Bachao" is the rallying cry of NGOs and activists across India, and they're right: Save the Tiger, Save the Forest, Save India.
The future of the tiger and its jungle home are inextricably linked to the survival of all of us, not just the people who live in tiger country.
The forests that are protected in the name of the tiger are vital to mitigate climate change and to secure water resources.
The tiger is an indicator of the health of the ecosystem and thus a symbol of good governance and political commitment to an equitable and sustainable future.
It is also a cultural and religious icon, venerated, feared and revered by communities across Asia and the world.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has been investigating and exposing the illegal trade in tigers and other Asian big cats for over 10 years. We have documented the changes in the markets and the increasing role of organised criminal networks.
We have campaigned for more effective enforcement initiatives to disrupt their operations, and know there is so much more that governments could do if they wanted to.
Hijacked conservation
Looking to the future, it is essential to plug some of the gaps in conservation strategies.
Many people living alongside tigers have yet to benefit from the millions of tourist dollars that the "world's favourite animal" generates; but in India, home to the largest remaining population of wild tigers, investment, policy and practice are at least moving in the right direction.
The same cannot be said for other countries, where business interests are hijacking the tiger conservation agenda, calling for the relaxation of trade bans so they can flood the market with farmed tiger parts.
The logic behind such a move is that since tigers breed well in captivity, farming them is an economical solution to satisfying demand whilst alleviating pressure on wild populations.
It's a simplistic logic that rests on critical assumptions about the complex nature and dynamics of the illegal trade in tigers and other Asian big cats.

Can farming tigers reduce pressure on their cousins in the wild?
Assumptions about the motivations of those involved in the trade, the costs of the trade, the scale and type of consumer demand: all plugged in to economic models and squirted out the other side as gospel.
What the followers of this faith have failed to acknowledge is that their version of events does not hold true in the real world. The risk of proceeding with this as an experiment is enormous, and the stake is no less than the extinction of the wild tiger.
So who are these disciples and what is their motivation? There are tiger farms in Thailand but by far the biggest ones are in China, where there are reportedly around 5,000 animals in captivity.
Despite a 1993 ban prohibiting the sale and use of tigers in China, business interests have continued to breed them, speculating that the ban would one day be lifted and that they would be sitting on a valuable stockpile of body parts.
'Conflict of interest'
Some argue that they want to sell tiger bone to save lives. Yet the Chinese medicinal community has long since promoted alternatives to tiger bone, which was never considered a life-saving ingredient in the first place.
Others just want to sell tiger bone wine. In fact, some businessmen are so keen they have already been found in breach of Chinese law, illegally selling the wine in tiger-shaped bottles and in one case, selling tiger meat.
EIA and others have found tiger bone wine being marketed as a general tonic and packaged as the gift that wins promotions and seals deals. Call it a conflict of interest, but there has been no meaningful enforcement action by the relevant authorities to stop this trade.
The very existence of these farms, and the persistent lobbying of the business community, is a distraction which deflates and undermines real tiger conservation efforts.
We're being asked to believe that those who have already dabbled in illegal trade have a real interest in limiting their market, and that the enforcement authorities who have failed to stop them so far will be able to regulate a legal trade to prevent the laundering of poached tiger parts.

A tiger- and bear-themed park in China is used for farming the animals
In June 2007, the international community spoke with one voice; it declared that tigers should not be bred for any trade in their parts and derivatives.
Delegates at the 14th meeting of the Conference of Parties to Cites voted by consensus on a decision to phase out commercial tiger farms.
The move was championed by the governments of tiger range states such as India, Nepal, Russia and Bhutan, all desperately appealing to the international community to remove the farm threat once and for all.
Two years on however, those countries with tiger farms have failed to provide any evidence of progress.
In fact, China's response to a notification from Cites seeking information on what steps they have taken to fulfil the agreed decision was met with a curt and derisive response that told us nothing. All eyes will be on China once again during the Cites meeting in Geneva next week.
EIA firmly believes that if China is truly committed to saving the wild tiger, it should close down the tiger farms and invest in more effective and meaningful enforcement co-operation with range states.
Changes in attitudes and markets show that consumers are responsive to targeted education and outreach, and indeed several markets in China have declined dramatically in the last few years.
Now is not the time to abandon efforts but to reinvest, financially and politically, in their continued success.
In so doing, we bring far greater benefits - not just to the survival of the wild tiger, but also to other endangered species, to the fight against corruption and organised crime and to a better world for all of us. Who doesn't want that?
Debbie Banks is a senior tiger investigator with the EIA.
The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on environmental topics running weekly on the BBC News website.

Mayawati statues spree challenged

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A crane being used to install a new statue of Ms Mayawati in Lucknow
Mayawati unveiled two more statues of herself last week (Pic: Kumar Prithvi)

The politician Mayawati has been accused of wrongly using public cash to make statues of herself and her allies, in a case at India's Supreme Court.

The court gave Mayawati, who is chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state, four weeks to respond to the petition.

She has dismissed the case as a political conspiracy against her.

The case was brought by a lawyer who accuses her of wasting public money and space to build vast statues in the interests of self-glorification.

In the last week alone she has unveiled 15 new memorials, including two of herself.

'Shameful'

The BBC's Rahul Tandon in Delhi says that since coming to power Mayawati, as she is usually known, has constructed 50 huge figures of herself, her political mentors and of elephants - the symbol of her party.

Mayawati Kumari
Mayawati is chief minister of one of India's most deprived states

Often called the Dalit Queen, she is an icon for India's 160m low-caste Hindus, formerly the "untouchables".

She leads the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has its power base in Uttar Pradesh.

But Mayawati's spending on statues and memorials has come in for sharp criticism.

Uttar Pradesh is one of India's most deprived states, with a high crime rate and poor health services.

One Indian lawyer has filed a case accusing her of wasting millions of dollars in public funds in the construction of these statues.

India's Home Minister P Chidambaram has described the statue-building as "shameful".

Statues of political leaders are generally put up posthumously, but Mayawati has said that belief is outdated.

Singer Michael Jackson 'dies'

Jackson was found unconscious at his home in Los Angeles by paramedics, reports said [AFP] Pop singer Michael Jackson has died after being found unconscious at his home in Los Angeles, US media reports say. Paramedics were sent to Jackson's home in the Bel-Air area of the city on Thursday at 12.21pm (2021 GMT), but they were unable to revive him, the Los Angeles Times reported. "Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Times," the newspaper reported on its website. The UCLA medical centre has not confirmed that Jackson has died, but the Associated Press reported that a person with "knowledge of the situation" had told them that the singer had died in hospital. Hundreds of people massed outside the hospital after news of Jackson's hospitalisation and death emerged. 'King of pop' The news comes four months after Jackson, 50, announced that he was to perform a series of 50 shows in London in July. Jackson was one of the biggest solo artists during the 1980s and 1990s [Reuters] The shows were seen as the beginning of a public comeback by Jackson, who had spent recent years countering a series of damaging allegations about his private life. The singer was acquitted in 2005 of charges alleging that he had committed abuses abuses against children and that he had plotted to kidnap the youth who had filed a complaint against him. Jackson reached the peak of his fame in the 1980s as a solo artist, after leaving his brothers in the already hugely-successful Jacksons. His 1982 album 'Thriller' went on to become the world’s then top-selling album of all time, with sales exceeding 41 million copies, cementing his image as the self-styled "King of Pop". But while Jackson's 1987 album 'Bad' was also a strong seller and helped him maintain his position as the biggest solo musical artist in the world, critics and fans alike began to pay increasing attention to dramatic changes in Jackson's physical appearance. Jackson repeatedly denied that he had had a series of plastic surgery sessions to alter his appearance, claiming that a rare skin condition was responsible. Jackson leaves three children from two marriages, the first to Lisa Marie Presley, who was divorced in 1996, and two to Debbie Rowe, who he divorced in 1999.

US sends weapons to Somalia

Fighters have taken control of parts of the capital Mogadishu [EPA] The US has sent weapons to the Somali government, which is battling opposition fighters in clashes that have left hundreds dead. The US state department said on Thursday it was "concerned" about whether the government of Sharif Sheikh Ahmed could be overwhelmed by fighters from the al Shabaab group. Washington was hoping to help "repel the onslaught of extremist forces which are intent on ... spoiling efforts to bring peace and stability to Somalia", Ian Kelly, a state department spokesman, said. Fighters cut the hands and feet off alleged thieves in Mogadishu and paraded the body parts through the streets of the capital on Thursday. In depth Profile: Sharif Ahmed Timeline: Somalia Inside Story: What next for Somalia Video: Foreign fighters 'invade' Somalia Riz Khan: Somalia - From bad to worse Restoring Somalia A long road to stability Al-Shabab: Somali fighters undeterred Somalia at a crossroads Somaliland: Africa's isolated state In a bid to contain the violence, President Ahmed declared a state of emergency on Monday. Asked if the US was afraid the government might collapse or be overwhelmed by attacks by fighters, Kelly replied: "We are concerned. "We think that this government ... represents Somalia's best chance for peace, stability and reconciliation," he said. "In addition to this threat to the government ... this kind of violence is causing real suffering for the Somalian people and it's just prolonging the chaos and preventing the country from getting on stable footing." Kelly confirmed that the US organised an arms shipment made to the Somali government earlier this month, but did not confirm plans to train Somali forces in Djibouti. The state department said it was providing the arms in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions. 'Horrific acts' The rebels used long knives to cut off a hand and a foot each from four young men in Mogadishu as punishment for theft, witnesses said. "The horrific nature of such acts that were carried out in front of a crowd adds further injustice and dehumanizes these teenagers," said rights group Amnesty International. Al Shabaab has carried out executions, floggings and amputations before, mainly in the southern port of Kismayu. Movies and football matches are reportedly banned in areas it controls, and men and women cannot travel together on public transport. The government has launched a series of attacks this month to drive the fighters out of Mogadishu but it has failed to make headway and is relying on African Union troops to protect the presidential palace, airport and seaport.

Media attacked in 'north and south'

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Media campaigners in Sri Lanka expressed deep concern after three attacks on media personal and institutions in the north and south in one day.

A woman journalist in Sri Lanka says she was kidnapped, blindfolded and held for a day by people claiming to be the police.

Another journalist who usually writes on astrology is currently being questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department. In another incident in the North, copies of major Tamil newspapers were burned by members of an unidentified group.

In a separate incident in the North, copies of three major Tamil newspapers from the North of the country were destroyed by an unknown group while they were transported to be distributed early morning on Thursday.

Sunil Jayasekera, General Secretary of the Free Media Movement [FMM] condemned the attacks and the arrest of the journalist.

"As no one had been arrested and proper investigations were carried out for many such attacks on journalists, we got no choice but to blame the government." Says the FMM.

The incidents come three weeks after a male journalist was abducted and badly beaten up.

The female journalist, Krishni Ifam, has been speaking about her ordeal on a private television station and, separately, to the BBC.

"Give up journalism!"

She said men who said they were policemen forced her to get into their vehicle outside her Colombo home early on Wednesday and drove for several hours while keeping her blindfolded.

She said they'd taken her belongings, asked if she was writing articles for foreign media outlets and warned her to give up journalism altogether before releasing her in the central city of Kandy late in the day with a tiny sum of cash.

Krishni Ifam, who belongs to Sri Lanka's Tamil minority, works for a media development NGO, Internews, and used to write for a prominent Tamil-language newspaper.

Astrologer arrested

Separately a columnist who usually covers astrology was picked up late on Wednesday by men with identity cards from the Criminal Investigation Department. His wife said he was still being held 24 hours later.

In both these cases the vehicles used were said to be unmarked white vans, which have become notorious in Sri Lanka as a means of abduction and sometimes disappearance.

"The time is crucial as the election process in the north has been accelerated and intimidations of this nature may occur frequently," said E. Saravanapavan, Managing Director of Uthayan whose newspapers were burnt on Thursday

The Sri Lankan government insists that the media here are free. But many journalists say they do not feel free to write or broadcast what they want; many have been physically attacked and others have fled into exile.

'US drone' hits Pakistan funeral

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The Pentagon has denied it has any military operations under way in Pakistan [AP] Up to 80 people have been killed after missiles were fired from a US "drone" at the funeral of a suspected Taliban commander of the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan, Pakistan officials have said. The attack by the unmanned aircraft was carried out in the village of Najmarai in the Makeen district on Tuesday, Pakistani intelligence officials and witnesses said. "Three missiles were fired by drones as people were dispersing after offering funeral prayers for [Taliban commander] Niaz Wali," an intelligence official told the Reuters news agency. "I saw three drones, they dropped bombs," Sohail Mehsud, a resident of Makeen, said. The funeral was being held for the commander and six other fighters killed earlier in the day in a suspected US drone attack on what Pakistan officials said was a "Taliban training centre". Tuesday's attacks came as the Pakistani army was preparing to launch an offensive against Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistan Taliban. US denial Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from Islamabad, said: "There are reports that Mehsud himself was at the congregational prayer and escaped the attack. In depth Profile: Baitullah Mehsud Profile: The Pakistan Taliban Timeline: Pakistan under attack Witness: Pakistan in crisis Inside Story: Pakistan's military Riz Khan: The battle for the soul of Pakistan Video: US denies carrying out drone raid in Pakistan "However, we are told that a number of people present at that particular moment were [also] killed. "There were unconfirmed reports that the death toll is much higher because a number of the bodies are badly mutilated." However, Qari Hussain, a close associate of Mehsud, denied reports that Mehsud had a close call and said many of the dead were civilians. "Baitullah Mehsud was at a secret place at the time of the American missile attack, and the attack killed only five of our colleagues, and the remaining 45 slain men were villagers," he told The Associated Press news agency. Pakistan officially objects to strikes on its territory by the pilotless US aircraft. Questioned about the reported attacks, a US defence department official said: "There are no US military strike operations being conducted in Pakistan." Pakistan's military mounted an operation earlier this month against Mehsud in South Waziristan, launching air raids and artillery barrages against suspected Taliban bases in the region. The missile raids came on the same day that Qari Zainuddin, a key rival of Mehsud, was assassinated in the northwestern town of Dera, police said. Zainuddin, a Taliban commander, had spoken out strongly against Mehsud and may have been about to mount a challenge against him. Potential backlash Al Jazeera's Hyder said Tuesday's attack was likely to cause considerable anger in the country. "It may play into the hands of elements like Mehsud because the attack took place on a funeral - there are cultural sensitivities," he said. "Such attacks are likely to complicate the situation for the Pakistani military because they have to be equally sensitive to public opinion in that area - something that is not going to be helped by the drones." Mehsud, an al-Qaeda ally, was accused of plotting the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, a former Pakistani prime minister, in 2007. The US government had offered a reward of $5m for information leading to his location or arrest. There have reportedly been more than 20 US drone attacks against targets in Pakistan so far this year, although Tuesday's strikes are the deadliest to date. Frequent attacks by pilotless US drone aircraft have been heavily criticised by Pakistani leaders for killing innocent civilians and infringing upon national sovereignty. The US considers Pakistan's tribal region, of which South Waziristan is a part, a hideout from where al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters launch attacks on US forces in Afghanistan.

Al-Qaeda commander threatens US

Al-Qaeda is believed to have close links to Pakistan's Taliban and other anti-government groups [AFP] Al-Qaeda's third-in-command has told Al Jazeera that the group would use Pakistan's nuclear weapons against the US if it gained access to them. Pakistan has been battling the Taliban and its al-Qaeda allies in the Swat valley and tribal areas in the northwest since April when fighters took hold of a region just 100km away from the capital, Islamabad. "By God's will, the Americans will not seize the Muslims' nuclear weapons and we pray that the Muslims will have these weapons and they will be used against the Americans," Mustafa Abul-Yazeed, al-Qaeda's leader in Afghanistan, said in an exclusive interview that aired on Sunday. He said al-Qaeda assists the mujahidin fighters in Afghanistan, maintains strong relations with the leaders of Taliban and expects that Pakistan's government will be defeated in the Swat conflict. Asked about the whereabouts of al-Qaeda's two main leaders, Abul-Yazeed said: "Praise God, Sheikh Osama (bin Laden) and Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri are safe from the reach of the enemies, but I don't know where they are and I can't say where they are, but they are aware of everything and all the fighting in the field." Taliban 'welcomed' Before arriving in Afghanistan, Abul-Yazeed was al-Qaeda's chief financial officer and reportedly also provided funds for the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US. In the early 1980s, he served time in jail along with al-Zawahiri for his involvement in the assassination of Anwar Sadat, the Egyptian president. In video Exclusive interview with al-Qaeda third in charge More Videos... In his interview, Abul-Yazeed praised the conditions in Pakistan, saying that the "Taliban and all the tribal areas welcomed and always defended us when we left Afghanistan. "They were attacked by the Pakistani army when they protected us. We always defend each other. "We believe in the same principles about jihad, faith and loyalty. After that, when the conditions improved and we were allowed to go to Afghanistan, we entered and some of us stayed in the tribes' areas. They are still protected there." Commenting on Abul-Yazeed's remarks, Michael Griffin, an al-Qaeda expert, told Al-Jazeera that they reveal a "curious mix of bravado and defiance" but also a "certain sense of weakness about al-Qaeda". "If they had safe havens in Swat, they have pretty much vanished along with the entire three million population of Swat as a result of recent government military activities up there," Griffin said. "I don't think this is as powerful an organisation as it was last year." 'Not weakened' For his part, Abul-Yazeed insisted that al-Qaeda had not been weakened, and instead suggested that its presence was spreading widely, with new fronts opening up across the region. In depth Videos: Hotel blast shakes Peshawar Conflict reaches Islamabad Refugees return to Buner devastation Frontier police battle Pakistani Taliban Exclusive: Swat exodus continues Pictures: Refuge for Swat's Sikhs Lahore bombing Diary: Imran Khan Riz Khan: Obama's 'AfPak' strategy Riz Khan: The battle for the soul of Pakistan Interview: Asif Ali Zardari Q&A: The struggle for Swat Your views: Crisis in Swat Focus: The fight for northwest Pakistan Talking to the Taliban Pakistan's war Witness: Pakistan in crisis "Through these fronts, we replaced the big operation implemented against our enemies with small ones as we achieved our great goals from launching massive operations," he said. "We will never abandon the big operations...We already planned for some but they were postponed due to certain circumstances." While it is known that the Taliban and al-Qaeda have collaborated in Pakistan on significant and destructive attacks, Griffin said that to a large extent the Taliban in Afghanistan is operating independently of al-Qaeda. "Except for certain very prestigious operations like attacks on the Serena hotel or attempts to assassinate [Afghan President] Hamid Karzai, I think the attacks are organised by local Taliban commanders working in loose co-operation with al-Qaeda," Griffin said. "When the military in Pakistan was making peace agreements with the Taliban, they were effectively making peace agreements with al-Qaeda," he said. "Now that they are on the backfoot, you will see al-Qaeda pulling themselves out of Waziristan and moving its men to Somalia and Yemen." 'Taliban's defence' In other remarks, Abul-Yazeed criticised Pakistan for adopting English laws to rule a Muslim country instead of using the Islamic sharia law. He also blamed the Pakistani army for attacking Taliban fighters in the Waziristan region and other tribal areas. "[The fighters] were defending themselves only. They didn't start fighting the Pakistani army. We didn't have the intentions to attack the Pakistani army or the government. We did so when they repeatedly attacked us and committed different crimes against the Pakistani people and the mujahidin," he said. As for Abul-Yazeed's comments about gaining control of Pakistan's nuclear weapons and using them against the US, Griffin said that the threat was once pressing, especially when al-Qaeda launched an effective suicide attack on Wah, west of Islamabad - one of the main nuclear assembly storage areas. But the threat has since become diffused. "That attack indicated the vulnerability of the areas within Pakistan which are called the settled areas as opposed to the tribal areas," Griffin said. "But Pakistan is looking much, much less like a failed state than it did last year."