Stiletto by Max Kolbe – July, 2007

Published on Jul 15, 2007 by Luke Hunt

War Crime Call as Tim Page Notches-Up a Birthday Thirty-two years after the killing of five journalists in East Timor, an inquest into their deaths has been finalised with a call for war crimes charges to be laid. Lawyer Mark Tedeschi argued against the official line that British, Australian and New Zealand journalists working for Australian television stations died in crossfire in a skirmish in the border town of Balibo on October 16, 1975. Also at point is whether governments covered up the fact the alleged murders of “Balibo Five” by Indonesian troops ahead of the 1975 invasion of the then-Portuguese territory. Tedeschi in summing up said the journalists had been killed in cold blood by Indonesian troops as they....

Stiletto by Max Kolbe – January, 2007

Published on Jan 15, 2007 by Luke Hunt

A Gong for Beijing & Pyongyang as a Friend Passes Away Stiletto by Max Kolbe – January, 2007 First up a hearty congratulations to dear leader Kim Jong Il who has been awarded the titles of honorary professor and “Master of Journalists” and the education merit medal from Guayaquil University of Ecuador on the occasion of his birthday. The Korean Central Newsagency reports carved in the medal are words reading “To the great leader Kim Jong Il” and “In high praise of feats performed for university education. January 15, 2007.” An awarding ceremony took place on the spot on January 15. Present were Salomon Quintero, vice-president of the university, Hector Chavez, dean of the Social Communication Faculty, Alba Chavez, secretary....

Stiletto by Max Kolbe – September, 2006

Published on Sep 15, 2006 by Luke Hunt

Amid the Blackmail, Mayhem and Death, Spare a Thought for Wa Wa In Vietnam police arrested a journalist after he apparently blackmailed a company for 10,000 dollars in return for not to exposing alleged corruption. Nguyen Hung Son, 37, a reporter at Dien Dan Doanh Nghiep was detained after being caught receiving 10,000 dollars in cash from the company’s director in a Hanoi cafe. The journalist had previously visited the headquarters of the private-owned Hai Van transport company, based in northern Hai Duong province, and claimed he had evidence that proved corruption involving the sales of vehicles. He then asked for money to keep silent. State-controlled daily An Ninh Thu Do said Son, who was denounced by the company, admitted....

Stiletto by Max Kolbe – July 2006

Published on Jul 15, 2006 by Luke Hunt

It’s Official, Iraq Really is that Dangerous The International Press Institute (IPI) has again called for the killers of the so-called “Balibo Five” — Australian-based journalists murdered in East Timor in 1975, to be brought to justice. This issue will not go away and has dogged the Indonesian authorities as perhaps the last outstanding blot to be cleaned out of their annexation and occupation of the former Portuguese colony. Press chiefs pushed Australia, East Timor, Indonesia, Britain and the United Nations “to undertake all necessary measures” to find who killers Gary Cunningham, Greg Shackleton, Tony Stewart of Melbourne’s Channel Seven network, and Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie of Sydney-based Channel Nine network. “Despite numerous attempts by relatives and concerned organisations....

Furtive Franks Misses Out on Kebabs in Palestine Hotel

Published on Apr 21, 2003 by Luke Hunt

Editor’s note: The Posts’s energetic and slightly wary senior Iraq correspondent, Sheikh Ya’erbuti writes in his final missive from Iraq about the post-war preparations, Palestine Airways and Waqil, who has resurfaced after several weeks in the desert. He filed this piece on April 21. BAGHDAD: In one corner, combatants of the self-styled milita known as the Free Iraqi Forces are holding court. A muslim cleric and his entourage sweep past soldiers in full battledress while a middle-aged man hustles whisky out of a plastic bag. A marine yells: “Clear a path” as General James Mattis tries to leave. But the order is ignored by the hundreds who fill the hotel lobby. His bodyguards deploy the butts of their M-16 assault....