Leak in BP oil cap not major concern : Afghan forces aim to take lead by 2014: Cameron begins talks with Obama
Leak in BP oil cap not major concern
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CBC NEWS: July 20, 2010: Oil is again slowly trickling out of BP's blown-out well and into the Gulf of Mexico but scientists aren't convinced the cap that stopped the flow last week is making things worse.
The government said Monday that oil was seeping into the Gulf after days of warning that the experimental cap on the oil well could cause more leaks.
However despite what at first seemed a setback, the federal government declared the development insignificant and forged ahead with BP's plan for finally sealing the hole in the ocean floor.
Ever since the cap was used to bottle up the oil last week, engineers have been watching underwater cameras and monitoring pressure and seismic readings to see whether the well would hold or spring a new leak, perhaps one that could rupture the sea floor and make the disaster even worse.
Small amounts of oil and gas started coming from the cap late Sunday, but "we do not believe it is consequential at this time," retired U.S Coast Guard admiral Thad Allen said.
Seepage from the sea floor detected over the weekend was roughly 3.2 kilometres away, but Allen said it probably has nothing to do with the well. Oil and gas are known to ooze naturally from fissures in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
At a Monday afternoon briefing in Washington, Allen said BP could keep the cap closed at least another 24 hours, as long as the company remained alert for leaks.
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Less oil on shore
Since the cap was closed Thursday, beachgoers have reported less oil fouling the shore.
A concrete pumper that has been converted into a water skimmer removes oil from the shores of St. Bernard, La., on Thursday. (BP/Reuters)
Bob Broadway, 41, of Huntsville, Ala., said his vacation spot in Orange Beach, Ala., has improved from a month ago.
Then, he said, the oil was thick "like chocolate" and the beach smelled like "an old mechanic's garage."
"The beach looks better now than before," he said Monday.
BP and the government had been at odds over the company's desire to simply leave the cap in place and use it like a giant cork in a bottle until a relief well being drilled deep underground can be used to plug the well permanently.
Allen initially said his preference was to pipe oil through the cap to tankers on the surface to reduce the slight chance that the buildup of pressure inside the well would cause a new blowout. That plan would require releasing millions more litres of oil into the ocean for a few days during the transition — a spectacle BP apparently wants to avoid.
On Monday, Allen budged a bit, saying unless larger problems develop, he's not inclined to open the cap.
Also on the table is a plan to pump drilling mud through the top of the cap and into the well bore to stop the oil flow. The idea is similar to the failed top kill plan that couldn't overcome the pressure of the geyser pushing up.
BP said it could work now because there's less oil to fight against, but it wasn't clear how such a method would affect the cap's stability. Allen said the relief well was still the plan for a permanent fix.
BP and the government are still trying to understand why pressure readings from the well are lower than expected. Allen offered two possible explanations: The reservoir the oil is gushing from is dwindling, or there is an undiscovered leak somewhere down in the well.
Work on a permanent plug is moving steadily, with crews drilling into the side of the ruptured well from deep underground. By next week, they could start blasting in mud and cement to block off the well for good. Killing the well deep underground works more reliably than bottling it up with a cap.
The spill began after an oil rig exploded off the Louisiana coast on April 20, killing 11 workers.
Gulf Oil Spill Stopping The Leak
On April 20, a fiery explosion crippled and later sank the Deepwater Horizon exploratory drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The blast was caused by the blowout of an undersea oil well that the rig had drilled, which began leaking thousands of barrels of oil a day into the ocean. In the weeks and months that followed, BP, the oil company responsible for the well, installed equipment to slow the leak and collect some of the leaking oil. Using a system of ships, rigs, robots, machinery and other equipment working on the surface, on the ocean floor and in waters between, the company is transporting as much oil as it can to the surface so it can be burned off or transported to a refinery. BP is also drilling two relief wells that will be used to seal the well permanently. Read More: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/07/20/bp-gulf-three-months.html
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepare for a group photo at the end of an international conference on Afghanistan in Kabul on Tuesday. (Ahmad Masood/Reuters)
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CBC NEWS: July 20, 2010: Afghan police and soldiers should be responsible for security in the country by 2014, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said during an international meeting of military and political leaders in Kabul.
Speaking at the first international conference on Afghanistan held in the war-torn nation, Karzai said he is "determined that our Afghan security forces will be responsible for all military and law enforcement operations" throughout the country by 2014.
The president did not outline exactly when the transition would begin or how it would be managed.
NATO representatives and other officials endorsed the plan for a transition to Afghan leadership of security matters by 2014.
'We will not leave Afghanistan until we know for sure that the Afghans can take care of their own security.'- Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO secretary general
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"This provides us with a timetable," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement Tuesday. "But of course, the whole process must be conditions-based.
"We will not leave Afghanistan until we know for sure that the Afghans can take care of their own security."
Canada plans on ending its combat mission in Afghanistan in 2011, and U.S. President Barack Obama has said he would like to start pulling military forces out of the country in July 2011.
Canada's foreign affairs minister, Lawrence Cannon, told reporters he is "quite confident" that Karzai and NATO forces "will be able to meet these targets as they are coming forward."
Though Canada's combat mission is slated to end, Cannon said, the country will continue to support Afghanistan by working in the areas of human rights and development. Canada has also been involved in training members of Afghan security forces.
Cannon said Canada would support a reconciliation between the current Afghan rulers and the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other insurgents fighting against them in the interest of peace - but only under certain conditions.
"We encourage a reconciliation process that is inclusive of all Afghans, no matter their ethnicity, tribe or gender," Cannon said. "Those who are reconciling must renounce violence, accept the Afghan constitution and cut all ties to terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda."
Cannon also called on Afghanistan to address corruption in its justice system and embrace electoral reform to avoid the problems encountered in last year's controversial presidential election.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged growing opposition to international involvement in the conflict amid the rising death toll of foreign troops in the country. But she told the audience that the planned scaling back of U.S. forces was not a sign of a waning commitment to Afghanistan.
In this image from TV footage, Karzai delivers his speech at the conference on Afghanistan's future. (APTV/Associated Press)
Afghan control needed: Karzai
Karzai also expressed his government's desire to take charge of more of its own affairs, asking his international partners to channel 50 per cent of their foreign assistance through the government within two years.
He also urged them to align 80 per cent of their projects with priorities that have been identified by Afghans.
"It is time to concentrate our efforts on a limited number of national programs and projects to transform the lives of our people, reinforce the social compact between the state and the citizens," Karzai said.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is co-hosting the Kabul conference, which is looking at how to transfer control of the country to the Afghan people. The UN leader promised a future where the wishes of the Afghan people are respected.
"At times, we have shown insufficient consideration for Afghan culture and history," he said. "The Kabul process, upon which we embark today, is intended to do better."
Security tight
Security was tight for the international conference, with thousands of Afghan soldiers and police patrolling the streets of Kabul.
In northern Afghanistan, two American civilians and two Afghan soldiers were killed Tuesday in a shooting at an army base.
The shooting in Mazar-e-Sharif was apparently started by an Afghan soldier who was training at the base, officials said.
NATO said the soldiers were going through routine weapons proficiency training when the gunfire started, The Associated Press reported. One of those killed was the alleged shooter.
Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said an investigation had been launched into the incident.
CBC NEWS: JUly 20, 2010: British Prime Minister David Cameron has begun talks with U.S. President Barack Obama amid growing pressure for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the release of a Libyan convicted in the Lockerbie bombing.
Cameron is on his first visit to the U.S. as prime minister, and the two leaders are expected to focus their talks Tuesday on Afghanistan, where Britain has 10,000 troops. Cameron has said he wants British soldiers out by 2014.
The Middle East and the global economy will also likely come up.
Cameron wants to start dramatically cutting Britain's deficit - a stance that puts him at odds with Obama's position that countries should refrain from abruptly withdrawing stimulus spending.
But it's the growing controversy over the release of Abdel al-Megrahi that some U.S. politicians are hoping Cameron will address.
Cameron has agreed to meet Tuesday evening with four U.S. senators who have publicly questioned whether BP's oil interests in Libya somehow played a role in British authorities allowing al-Megrahi to leave a Scottish jail and return to his native Libya last summer, where he was given a hero's welcome.
Release 'utterly wrong,' Cameron says
For his part, Cameron has said he didn't agree with the decision to free al-Megrahi. He told the BBC on the weekend that the decision was "completely and utterly wrong."
A spokesperson at the British Embassy in Washington said Cameron would rearrange his schedule to discuss the issue with the senators.
"The prime minister recognizes the huge strength of feeling on this issue and he has immense sympathy for the families, American, British and others affected by the Lockerbie atrocity," British Embassy press secretary Martin Longden said.
"The PM has personally asked to rearrange his program in Washington to enable him to meet with the four senators and discuss their concerns directly."
But Cameron's office in London appears to be resisting American calls for the Scottish and British governments to formally review the decision to release the Libyan, saying it was "not currently under consideration."
The anger over al-Megrahi's release has been stoked by revelations that he may not be as sick as first believed. Last summer, the cancer victim had been given three months to live.
Now there are reports that a doctor has said he could live another 10 years.
Al-Megrahi had served eight years of a life sentence for his role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. It crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people. Most of the dead were American.
Ottawa International Poets and Writers for human Rights (OIPWHR)
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