CIA discloses names of 15 killed in line of duty
CIA discloses names of 15 killed in line of duty
WASHINGTON — The CIA on Tuesday disclosed the names of 15 of its operatives killed in the line of duty over the last 30 years, the result of a new effort to honor fallen officers whose sacrifices had long gone unrecognized by all but a few.
Fourteen of the dead already had a star inscribed in their memory on the CIA’s wall of honor in the lobby of the old headquarters building on the agency’s Langley, Va., campus. But their names had been withheld. In a closed agency ceremony Monday their names were added to the Book of Honor, which accompanies the stars.
In addition, a new star was added this year for Jeffrey R. Patneau, who died at age 26 in Yemen in 2008 from injuries sustained in a car accident. He was the 103rd CIA officer recognized as having died in the line of duty.
Tuesday’s statement from the CIA marked the first official acknowledgment any of them had been undercover operatives for the spy agency.
Iran, U.N. reach tentative deal on nuclear program
WASHINGTON — Iran has agreed in principle to pull back the curtain on some of its most secretive nuclear research, U.N. officials said Tuesday, a concession that came hours before negotiators from the Islamic republic were due to begin crucial talks with six world powers on curbing its nuclear program.
The tentative agreement, announced in Vienna by U.N. nuclear officials, could give inspectors access to Iranian scientists and facilities long shielded from international scrutiny.
Officials from the United States and five other powers — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — are expected to press Iran to accept strict curbs on its nuclear activities during the negotiations, which many diplomats and security experts see as a last chance to stave off a military confrontation.
Pakistanis fear becoming isolated
ISLAMABAD — As U.S. frustration with Pakistan’s six-month blockade of Afghanistan-bound supplies became painfully apparent at the NATO summit in Chicago, Pakistanis are growing worried their government’s negotiating strategy could cost their country millions of dollars in American aid and jeopardize its prospects for a voice in Afghanistan’s post-war future.
For weeks, U.S. and Pakistani officials have been negotiating a new set of transit fees that would pave the way for the reopening of routes NATO convoys used to ferry fuel and nonlethal supplies from the southern port of Karachi to the Afghan border. Pakistan shut down the routes after U.S. airstrikes mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the Afghan border in November.
NATO invited President Asif Ali Zardari to the weekend summit, believing a breakthrough in those talks was at hand. Instead, Pakistan has insisted on an increase in transit charges from $250 to as much as $5,000 per vehicle, a demand that has infuriated U.S. officials. Both sides say they are continuing to negotiate, but the Americans have made it clear their patience with Pakistan is wearing thin.
By wire sources