Pimco's El-Erian Sues U.S. Government Over Citizenship Delay
Bloomberg, 25-Apr-08 By Miles Weiss
Mohamed El-Erian, the global bond manager who helps run Pacific Investment Management Co., is taking an increasingly common path to U.S. citizenship -- suing the federal government.
El-Erian, co-chief executive officer of Newport, California-based Pimco, sued last month to get his request to become a citizen approved after a two-year delay, according to a complaint filed in a California federal court on March 5. His application has been hung up while the government runs standard security checks.
The complaint shows how the federal government's effort to prevent terrorists from entering the U.S. is slowing down the naturalization process, immigration lawyers said. El-Erian previously ran Harvard University's $34.9 billion endowment, worked as a deputy director at the International Monetary Fund and now serves on the U.S. Treasury Department's borrowing advisory committee.
``It can rise to the level of absurdity,'' David Leopold, an attorney at Cleveland-based Leopold & Associates Co. who specializes in immigration law. ``I have seen people who are distinguished professors, physicians and those who have been working in quasi-public roles get bogged down.''
El-Erian declined to comment. He is also co-chief investment officer of Pimco, a unit of Munich-based Allianz SE that has $746 billion of assets under management.
FBI, Homeland Security
According to the complaint, El-Erian, 49, was born to an Egyptian diplomat and his French wife in the U.S. and is currently a citizen of France; an IMF publication said in 2004 that he is a citizen of Egypt as well. The complaint, filed against five government officials, including FBI director Robert Mueller and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, alleges that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and other agencies have ``improperly delayed'' El-Erian's application, which was filed in September 2005.
Under federal law, if the immigration service fails to decide on citizenship within 120 days of interviewing the applicant, that person can ask a court to either rule on the naturalization request or to compel the government to take action. Since October 2005, about 6,550 of these ``mandamus'' cases have been filed, according to William Wright, a spokesman for the citizenship and immigration services in Washington.
El-Erian interviewed for his naturalization application on Jan. 31, 2006, according to his complaint, and successfully passed his English language, U.S. history and civics tests. El- Erian's attorney was told that the bond manager had yet to clear the FBI's ``name check,'' one of three mechanisms used by the government for investigating an applicant's background, the complaint said.
`Positive Proof' Required
The FBI asks government agencies such as the U.S. State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency to check an applicant's name against lists they maintain of suspected terrorists, said Elise Healy, an attorney who has practiced immigration law since 1991. The government several years ago began requiring ``positive proof'' than a naturalization applicant is not a security or terrorism risk, Healy said.
``This led to enormous backlogs of approvable cases who are waiting for the government databases that have to be checked,'' said Healy, a partner at the newly formed Dallas law firm Spencer Crain Cubbage Healy & McNamara PLLC.
About 72,000 name checks were outstanding for more than six months as of March 2008, said Wright, the citizenship and immigration services spokesman. His agency and the FBI have drawn up a plan to ensure that, by June 2009, 98 percent of all name checks are processed within 30 days; as an interim step, they are aiming to complete all checks that have been outstanding for more than three years by the end of May.
Neither Thomas Vanasse of Wildes & Weinberg PC in New York nor attorney Douglas Kuber in Los Angeles, who are both representing El-Erian, returned telephone calls seeking comment.
The case is Mohamed Aly El-Erian v. Jane Arellano, 08cv247, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (Santa Ana).
Nepal triggers Himalayan avalanche
Asia Times Online, 14-Apr-08By M K Bhadrakumar
M K Bhadrakumar served as a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service for over 29 years, with postings including India's ambassador to Uzbekistan (1995-1998) and to Turkey (1998-2001).
The South Asian political landscape will never be the same again following the Maoist victory march in Nepal's elections to a new 601-seat constituent Assembly last Thursday. It may take several days before the election results are fully known, but available trends indicate that the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) is surging ahead. By Monday, the Maoists had secured 89 of the total declared 162 seats for which results were declared.
The established mainstream parties, such as the Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) are trailing far behind. The royalists, who rooted for the perpetuation of the 240-year-old Hindu monarchy, have been routed. A distinct possibility arises that the Maoists will secure a simple majority and lead the next government - an extraordinary feat for the former rebels who gave up a decade-long armed struggle and took to the democratic path hardly two years ago.
The impact is bound to be far-reaching on Nepal's political economy, South Asia's political landscape and the geopolitics of the region. Thursday's elections are primarily aimed at forming a constituent assembly to determine the contours of Nepal's political system. The results signify that the country is irrevocably set on the path of republicanism. Even the limited role of a constitutional monarchy seems out of the question.
The results signify pervasive popular disenchantment with the established political parties. Most expert commentators have to explain their lapse in not foreseeing such an outburst of popular opinion. Clearly, the people have voted for change. The groundswell of support for Maoists is fairly widespread, cutting across regions. Claiming victory, Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal (popularly called Prachanda) said his party's victory was a mandate for lasting peace, implementation of the democratic republic and rapid economic development. He frontally addressed the intriguing question: "People are asking, 'What is this Maoist party?' And the international community is asking, 'What will happen after the Maoists win?' All these fears are unnecessary."
Prachanda held out the assurance that his party's agenda would be to work with other political parties during the transition period. "We will establish greater national unity with all political parties after the election," he added. The Maoists received commendation from an unexpected quarter when former US president Jimmy Carter, who led a team of foreign observers, stated at a press conference in Kathmandu on Saturday his conviction that the former rebels were every bit wedded to the democratic path.
The poorest country in South Asia has suddenly catapulted itself to the vanguard of democratic reform and political transformation in the region. India, which basks in the glory of its democratic way of life, at once looks a little bit archaic and tired in comparison. After 60 years of uninterrupted democratic pluralism, vast sections of Indian society are yet to realize the potentials of political empowerment. The Nepalese people have come from behind and overtaken the Indians in expanding the frontiers of "bourgeois" politics.
Politics in India still meander through alleys of caste and parochialism and eddies of religious obscurantism and Hindu nationalism. The upper-caste Hindu elites in Nepal used to share social kinships with the Indian political elites. The Maoists have upturned Nepal's entrenched caste politics. The Indian electorate is yet to explore in full measure ideology-based secular political empowerment, which is the bedrock of democratic self-rule. Unsurprisingly, India's main opposition party, the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, which thrives on Hindu fundamentalism, has been stunned into silence. It feels let down that a country that it dearly cherished as the world's only "Hindu kingdom" has taken to secular democracy with such panache.
The Maoist government will proceed to dismantle the pillars of Nepal's feudal structure and will take recourse to radical economic and political reforms based on distributive justice and egalitarian principles. That is bound to catch the attention of impoverished Indians in the sub-Himalayan belt sooner or later. The Indian states (provinces) bordering Nepal are notorious for their misgovernance.
The Maoist victory in Nepal poses a challenge to the Indian establishment as well. Delhi is distinctly lukewarm about the prospect of an outright Maoist victory. The Indian establishment traditionally works with the Nepali Congress. Some elements within the establishment view with disquiet the prospect of the Maoists galvanizing revolutionary movements within India. Conceivably, Delhi didn't anticipate a tidal wave of popular will favoring the Maoists in Nepal.
All the same, Delhi allowed the democratic process in Nepal to take its course. It could not but take a keen interest in Nepalese politics and a completely "hands-off" approach was unrealistic to expect, but the real question was of not being intrusive to the point of interfering in Nepal's internal affairs. In the event, Delhi kept cool and maintained a delicate balance - watching developments closely while keeping a decent distance and reserving options to adapt to circumstances. However, a period of adjustment to the new political realities in Kathmandu becomes necessary and a thorough revamping of policy directions is inevitable. Nepal is far too important a neighbor for India. Its rapidly growing relations with China add to Delhi's policy calculus.
China's policy towards Nepal is not ideology driven insofar as Beijing kept in view the imperatives of inter-state relations almost until the end of King Gyanendra's direct rule. But Beijing swiftly adapted to the emergent democratic forces in Nepal with great pragmatism and forged working relations with all political parties, including the Maoists. China's interest in Nepal has increased almost exponentially. The overarching geopolitical reality is that the United States has become hyperactive in Nepalese politics. The developments in Tibet have added a further dimension. Tibetan activists in Nepal have been particularly strident.
Much depends on Prachanda's priorities. The Maoist leader has time and again shown he is not a dogmatist wedded to textbook Marxism and will give primacy to the implementation of his reform agenda. He has proved to be a brilliant tactician. He will tap into all available goodwill in Delhi and Beijing to the extent that his agenda of Nepal's rapid economic development benefits.
In his first post-election comments, Prachanda said Nepal will develop "new relations" with the Indian leadership. He stressed the close cultural and historical links between the two countries and pointed out it is "quite important" to have good neighborly relations with India. "A good understanding with Delhi can create a new basis of unity with India," he said.
But he clarified that Nepal will maintain equidistance between India and China in political terms. Beijing is certain to respond to him, given the criticality of Nepal to Tibet's security and stability. If China's Central Asia policy is anything to go by, it will put big money on the table in Nepal in the coming period so as to keep at bay the three "evils" - terrorism, religious extremism and separatism.
Besides, Nepal is resource-rich. There are any number of areas such as development of infrastructure, hydroelectric power or the manufacturing industry, where Nepal offers attractive business opportunities for enterprising Chinese firms. Nepal can also be a gateway to the Indian market.
The advent of the Maoists to power in Kathmandu, therefore, confronts Delhi with a creative challenge. The old days are gone when Delhi could take a complacent view that come what may, Kathmandu would remain wedded to cultivating Indian goodwill. The need arises now for Delhi to be proactive, efficient and competitive. China's "soft power" in Nepal is already very considerable, while Nepal is no exception to the latent "anti-Indianism" common to India's neighboring countries.
Any Indian assumption that Nepal is its security backyard or that it should be within India's "sphere of influence" will be untenable. If Delhi resorts to pressure tactics, sensing that the Maoists have a long way to go to consolidate their grip on political power, it might prove counterproductive.
On the other hand, the lengthening shadow of Chinese influence in Nepal should act as a spur goading India into creative diplomacy. Having said that, India is still left with vast leverage over Nepal spread over several inter-locking planes - geography, culture and common ethos, shared history, economic and social linkages, etc - and there is no real need to panic.
Almost certainly, the Maoists will want to jettison the 1950 treaty of peace and friendship with India, which they consistently viewed as an unequal framework. Equally, Delhi is conscious of the treaty's growing irrelevance, even though the treaty provides significant trade and transit advantages to landlocked Nepal and the Maoists, once in power, may come to better appreciate that. No doubt, the renegotiation of the treaty will bring to the fore the new impulses of the three-way equations involving India, Nepal and China.
Nepal has proved to be an unhappy experience for the United States and India in their newfound interest to coordinate and harmonize their regional policies. While India managed to keep its options open in a developing situation, the US policy finds itself in a cul-de-sac. It was predicated on the naive belief that Nepal could be made a geopolitical pressure point on China's soft underbelly. Nepal becomes the latest link in the chain of the George W Bush administration's foreign policy misadventures. The Maoists of Nepal still figure in the US State Department's list of terrorist organizations.
But Prachanda may offer Washington an exit strategy without loss of face. Responding to the media on Sunday, he said, "Yesterday, I had a very serious discussion with former US president Jimmy Carter, and I raised this question [of Washington regarding the Maoists as terrorists] ... It seems ridiculous to me."
Maoist's 40 Point Demands
(as translated by Barbara Adams - published in People's Reveiw, sajha.org)
These demands were submitted by the political front of CPN (Maoist) United People's Front with the coalition gpvernment headed by Nepali Congress party. These are the same demands which were raised during the 1990's people movement including the end of band of political parties. The UPF raised these demands for 5 years after the so-called democratic negotiation with the monarchy. But the successive government and Nepali Congress government acted just opposit of the demands. Thousands of supporters and workers of communist party and UPF were imprisoned or trapped in false charges and more than 100 sons and daughters of Nepalese were killed when peacefully they demanded. Now the government asking what were the demands of their. It means they through away the demend request in dustwin. Here the demands are reproduced. (INSOF-JP)
I. DEMANDS RELATED TO NATIONALISM:
1) Regarding the 1950 Treaty between India and Nepal, all unequal stipulations and agreements should be removed.
2) HMG should admit that the anti-nationalist Tanakpur agreement was wrong, and the Mahakali Treaty, incorporating same, should be nullified.
3) The entire Nepal-Indian border should be controlled and systematized. Cars with Indian number plates, which are plying the roads of Nepal, should not be allowed.
4) Gorkha recruiting centers should be closed and decent jobs should be arranged for the recruits.
5) In several areas of Nepal, where foreign technicians are given precedence over Nepali technicians for certain local jobs, a system of work permits should be instituted for the foreigners.
6) The monopoly of foreign capital in Nepal's industry, trade and economic sector should be stopped.
7) Sufficient income should be generated from customs duties for the country's; economic development.
8) The cultural pollution of imperialists and expansionists should be stopped. Hindi video, cinema, and all kinds of such news papers and magazines should be completely stopped. Inside Nepal, import and distribution of vulgar Hindi films, video cassettes and magazines should be stopped.
9) Regarding NGOs and INGOs: Bribing by imperialists and expansionists in the name of NGOs and INGOs should be stopped.
II. DEMANDS RELATED TO THE PUBLIC AND ITS WELL-BEING
10) A new Constitution has to be drafted by the people's elected representatives.
11) All the special rights and privileges of the King and his family should be ended.
12) Army, police and administration should be under the people's control.
13) The Security Act and all other repressive acts should be abolished.
14) All the false charges against the people of Rukum, Rolpa, Jajarkot, Gorkha, Kavre, Sindhuphalchowk, Sindhuli, Dhanusha and Ramechap should be withdrawn and all the people falsely charged should be released.
15) Armed police operations in the different districts should immediately be stopped.
16) Regarding Dilip Chaudhary, Bhuvan Thapa Magar, Prabhakar Subedi and other people who disappeared from police custody at different times, the government should constitute a special investigating committee to look into these crimes and the culprits should be punished and appropriate compensation given to their families.
17) People who died during the time of the movement, should be declared as martyrs and their families, and those who have been wounded and disabled should be given proper compensation. Strong action should be taken against the killers.
18) Nepal should be declared a secular state.
19) Girls should be given equal property rights to those of their brothers.
20) All kinds of exploitation and prejudice based on caste should be ended. In areas having a majority of one ethnic group, that group should have autonomy over that area.
21) The status of dalits as untouchables should be ended and the system of untouchability should be ended once and for all.
22) All languages should be given equal status. Up until middle-high school level (uccha-madyamic) arrangements should be made for education to be given in the children's mother tongue.
23) There should be guarantee of free speech and free press. The communications media should be completely autonomous.
24) Intellectuals, historians, artists and academicians engaged in other cultural activities should be guaranteed intellectual freedom.
25) In both the terai and hilly regions there is prejudice and misunderstanding in backward areas. This should be ended and the backward areas should be assisted. Good relations should be established between the villages and the city.
26) Decentralization in real terms should be applied to local areas which should have local rights, autonomy and control over their own resources.
III DEMANDS RELATED TO THE PEOPLE'S LIVING
27) Those who cultivates the land should own it. (The tiller should have right to the soil he/she tills.) The land of rich landlords should be confiscated and distributed to the homeless and others who have no land.
28) Brokers and commission agents should have their property confiscated and that money should be invested in industry.
29) All should be guaranteed work and should be given a stipend until jobs are found for them.
30) HMG should pass strong laws ensuring that people involved in industry and agriculture should receive minimum wages.
31) The homeless should be given suitable accommodation. Until HMG can provide such accommodation they should not be removed from where they are squatting.
32) Poor farmers should be completely freed from debt. Loans from the Agricultural Development Bank by poor farmers should be completely written off. Small industries should be given loans.
33) Fertilizer and seeds should be easily and cheaply available, and the farmers should be given a proper market price for their production.
34) Flood and draught victims should be given all necessary help
35) All should be given free and scientific medical service and education and education for profit (private schools?) should be completely stopped.
36) Inflation should be controlled and laborers salaries should be raised in direct ratio with the rise in prices. Daily essential goods should be made cheap and easily available.
37) Arrangements should be made for drinking water, good roads, and electricity in the villages.
38) Cottage and other small industries should be granted special facilities and protection.
39) Corruption, black marketing, smuggling, bribing, the taking of commissions, etc. should all be stopped.
40) Orphans, the disabled, the elderly and children should be given help and protection.
We offer a heartfelt request to the present coalition government that they should, fulfill the above demands which are essential for Nepal's existence and for the people's daily lives as soon as possible. If the government doesn't show any interest by Falgun 5, 2052, (February 17, 1996,) we will be compelled to launch a movement against the government. *** The above demands put forth by the Samukta Jana Morcha, led by Dr. Bhattarai, were handed over to the then prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.
A soup for all seasons
AM News, 10-Apr-08By Lauren Shockey
Metromix.com
Hands down, the best part of winter is being able to dig into a hearty bowl of savory stew. Yet now that spring has (sorta) sprung, stews can be overly heavy options come dinnertime. Enter the perfect midseason dish: bouillabaisse, a Provençal seafood soup that’s comforting, but still light enough for warmer weather. Here’s where to get your fix o’ fish.
Provence
38 MacDougal St., 212-475-7500
$25
Vicki Freeman and Marc Meyer’s charming SoHo eatery showcases food from, well, Provence. Their version of the dish, listed on the menu as Provençal fish stew, is loaded with mussels, shrimp, clams, squid and bass in a saffronchile broth and topped off with an aioli-laden crouton. Knock back a few glasses of rose in the inviting garden room at the back of the restaurant, and you’ll almost think you’re dining along the Côte d’Azur.
Django
480 Lexington Ave., 212-871-6600
$30
Shellfish stars in a bouillabaisse version served at this midtown “Riviera cuisine” favorite. In your bowl, you’ll find mussels, clams, rock shrimp and bass in a saffron nage topped off with spicy rouille croutons, making this one of the more upscale bouillabaisses you’ll ever encounter.
Shun Lee
43 W. 65th St., 212-595-8895
$12.95
Just because bouillabaisse originated in France doesn’t mean that other cuisines can’t adopt it as their own. China may be thousands of miles away from coastal France, but that doesn’t stop Shun Lee from serving a Szechwan-inspired bouillabaisse. The appetizer-size soup showcases sliced sea bass in a tangy, piquant fish broth.
Indochine
430 Lafayette St., 212-505-5111
$22
An Asian-inspired bouillabaisse can also be found at this fusion hot spot, which makes sense, since Vietnam is a former French colony. Here, however, the restaurant swaps out traditional tomato and saffron flavors in its bouillabaisse for lime leaf and galangal, and adds sea scallops, shrimp, baby squid, mussels and cabbage.
Brooklyn Fish Camp
162 Fifth Ave., 718 783-3264
$24
This seafood favorite also offers up a shellfish bouillabaisse, showcasing shrimp, mussels, clams, a scallop, lobster and whatever whitefish is freshest (though the restaurant notes that this is generally cod) in a warming saffron-tomato broth. And if you’re dining out Tuesdays through Fridays, be sure to partake in the restaurant’s two-for-one happy hour special (on beer and wine, that is) from 5 to 8 p.m.
Balthazar
80 Spring St., 212-965-1414
$28
Balthazar is a mecca for any Francophile foodie. While their raw seafood platters may be a more dramatic dinner option, don’t overlook the bouillabaisse, which is served as a special every Friday night. The price may seem a bit steep, but the bowl is packed with red snapper, black sea bass, half a lobster tail, cod, a clam and a mussel. Leeks, potatoes and red pepper (and the saffronaioli-topped slice of baguette on the side) round out the dish, making this a complete meal that you’ll wish was served every day.
