Around the world in 60 seconds - 30 July 2010

This week’s events include:

• Afghanistan intelligence documents leaked on Wikileaks
• BP’s CEO steps down as the company confirms huge quarterly loss
• Billions unaccounted for from Iraq oil fund and Blix calls war illegal
• Pakistan plane crash kills 152

Afghanistan intelligence documents leaked on Wikileaks

In the largest military leak ever, over 92,000 military intelligence documents about the war in Afghanistan have been leaked by the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks – the largest military leak ever.

The documents include information about the corruption of the Afghan government, innocent civilians being killed, some local preference for the Taliban, and the Pakistani intelligence service ISI supporting the Taliban.

Such intelligence revelations are nothing new, and are believed to be more than six months old meaning they were written before President Obama’s troop surge.

Reactions to the leak have been mixed, with some politicians condemning it as irresponsible, while others say it only strengthens the case that Afghanistan is an unwinnable war.

Wikileak’s founder Julian Assange said that some of the documents indicate evidence of war crimes, although that would be something for a court to decide.

The source of the leak is still unconfirmed, but it is believed to be 22-year old Bradley Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst operating in Baghdad.

BP’s CEO steps down as the company confirms huge quarterly loss

On Tuesday, BP officially confirmed that CEO Tony Hayward had resigned and would be finishing the job in October. From there he is expected to take up a role with BP’s joint venture operation in Siberia, Russia.

Taking his place is American Bob Dudley – currently BP’s managing director and head of the cleanup operation.

On the same day, BP also reported a $17 billion loss for the second quarter of the year – the largest quarterly loss for a British company ever after it set aside $32 billion for the spill’s cost (allowing them a $10 billion US tax credit).

Meanwhile, the US Senate hearing on BP’s involvement in the Lockerbie bomber’s release that was supposed to take place yesterday was postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date as part of a wider investigation.

This is because “no witnesses of consequence had the courage” to front up (after Tony Hayward and Jack Straw both declined).

Billions unaccounted for from Iraq oil fund and Blix calls war illegal

An US government audit has revealed that 95% of a US$9.1 billion ‘Development Fund for Iraq’ was spent by the Department of Defence (Pentagon) between 2004 and 2007 but remains unaccounted for.

The report cited a number of factors for the laxness including no clear oversight and the required accounts not being set up (fraud was neither alleged nor ruled out).

The Fund came from Iraq’s oil and gas revenues and frozen Iraqi assets, and was meant to be spent on rebuilding Iraq.

Meanwhile, Hans Blix, UN Chief Weapons Inspector at the time of the 2003 invasion, has testified in front of Britain’s Iraq Inquiry – the panel reviewing the country’s decisions leading up to the war.

Blix said “I am of the firm view that it was an illegal war” and also that it “was very hard for [Iraq] to declare any weapons when they did not have any.”

He also criticised the US government for being “high on” military action, and said they did not want him to continue his inspections because it would have “undermined” their case for war.

Pakistan plane crash kills 152

A passenger jet flying from Pakistan’s largest city Karachi to the capital Islamabad crashed into the surrounding hills just prior to landing on Wednesday morning.

All 152 people on board were killed, despite early rumours of a handful of survivors.

The reason for the crash is not known, however the weather at the time was wet and foggy and the plane lost contact with the control tower only moments prior, leading many to suspect pilot error.

The plane was an Airbus A321 and was only 8 years old with no known technical issues.

Photo – Hans Blix