Mongolians protest over Canadian firm
by Ganbat Namjil

The Associated Press    Translate This Article
12 April 2006

ULAN BATOR, Mongolia (AP) - Police broke-up scuffles between rival demonstrations Tuesday in the Mongolian capital over the government's handling of a major mining contract.

A gathering of 1,500 pro-government demonstrators dispersed after confronting 2,000 people who protested Mongolia's handling of a mining contract with a Canadian firm in this resource-rich but impoverished country.

The government supporters, mostly members of nationalist groups and student organizations—many of them wearing blue scarves symbolizing Mongolian patriotism—say they favor political stability and fear protests could push the country into anarchy.

There were no signs anyone was injured or that any of the protesters were detained by police.

Dozens of opposition protesters have been camping for days in the capital's central square, living in traditional round tents and huts. Police inspected vehicles around the square to prevent protesters from bringing in supplies to enlarge the camp.

Protesters are demanding the 3-month-old government resign if it cannot negotiate favorable terms from Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. to mine a huge copper deposit in the southern Gobi region.

They plan to take ``extreme action'' if their demands are not met by April 18, said S. Ganbaatar, an environmental activist with the Radical Reform Movement, one of several civic groups claiming to represent the poor and unemployed.

In particular, the protesters want Mongolia to retain 51 percent ownership of the mine, instead of the full ownership Ivanhoe has.

There have been no accusations that Ivanhoe has acted improperly.

Copper mining is a major part of the economy of this impoverished former Soviet satellite, a sprawling grassland where many people are traditional nomadic herders of cattle and sheep.

Politicians have clashed repeatedly over how to exploit the country's mineral resources. The opposition accuses the government of giving away Mongolia's wealth and wants the national minerals law changed to give the government a large share in any foreign-owned mine.

Ivanhoe, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has said its investment helps the Mongolian economy. The company said the project would generate 117,000 jobs and pay 46 percent of its pretax profits, or $7 billion, to the state over the contract's 35-year term.

The anti-government protests, however, are not limited to the mining issue, Ganbaatar said. ``Mainly, we want transparency, please,'' the activist said in an interview. ``Everything should be very clear.''

In trying to defuse the protests, Industry and Trade Minister B. Jargalsaikhan promised on national television that parliament would debate the terms of a ``long-term stability contract'' with Ivanhoe.

Jargalsaikhan, who is the government's lead negotiator with the mining corporation, also said that laws on mining, taxation and foreign investment should be amended to favor Mongolia.

Protests have become increasingly common in Mongolia's 16-year-old democracy, with political parties often trying to capitalize on demonstrations and public disaffection. The current government, led by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, was installed in January after a wave of demonstrations.

At the start of the mining protests last week, about 3,000 people threw eggs and scuffled with 300 police who prevented them from leaving the central square and marching on Government House.

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Global Good News comment:

Maharishi's Vedic Economy creates a balanced state of world economy, alleviating poverty, and ushering in the dawn of a new world order of affluence and peace for every nation.

Read more about Maharishi's Vedic Economy at:

http://maharishi-programmes.globalgoodnews.com/vedic-economy/index.html

'Vedic Economy delivers the source of wealth—it is also the course of wealth, and the goal of wealth; it is the system of an inexhaustible economy which will maintain the freedom and sovereignty of every nation.'

—Maharishi

Ideal India—the Lighthouse of Peace on Earth (536-page publication)





Translation software is not perfect; however if you would like to try it, you can translate this page using:

(Google) Select a language English to Afrikaans English to Albanian English to Arabic English to Belarusian English to Bulgarian English to Catalan English to Chinese (Simplified) English to Chinese (Traditional) English to Croatian English to Czech English to Danish English to Dutch English to Estonian English to Filipino English to Finnish English to French English to Galician English to German English to Greek English to Hebrew English to Hindi English to Hungarian English to Icelandic English to Indonesian English to Irish English to Italian English to Japanese English to Korean English to Latvian English to Lithuanian English to Macedonian English to Malay English to Maltese English to Norwegian English to Persian English to Polish English to Portuguese English to Romanian English to Russian English to Serbian English to Slovak English to Slovenian English to Spanish English to Swahili English to Swedish English to Thai English to Turkish English to Ukrainian English to Vietnamese English to Welsh English to Yiddish

(Altavista babelfish) Select a languageEnglish to Chinese-simpEnglish to Chinese-tradEnglish to DutchEnglish to PortugueseEnglish to FrenchEnglish to GermanEnglish to GreekEnglish to ItalianEnglish to JapaneseEnglish to KoreanEnglish to RussianEnglish to Spanish