After Everest Bodies Return, Climbers Ask if Risk Acceptable

KATHMANDU, NEPAL — 

The Indian man wept as a helicopter landed in Kathmandu carrying the body of his brother, one of hundreds of climbers who have died while attempting to climb Mount Everest.

The body had been left on the mountain for a year until last week, when a team of Sherpa climbers managed to recover it along with two others. But the high-risk expedition, financed with about $92,000 from the Indian state of West Bengal, has sparked heated debate in the mountaineering community about the morality of risking more lives to retrieve bodies from one of the most unforgiving places on Earth.

"It was a very dangerous operation," West Bengal state official Sayeed Ahmed Baba acknowledged. "It was difficult to find Sherpas who were willing to go. But we had to do it for the families."

On the helipad Sunday, Debashish Ghosh felt relief as he watched the Indian team unload the three bodies from the back of the chopper.

"We are finally able to bring him home," he said of his brother, Gautam. "After we cremate the body there will be peace for his soul and relief to our family."

Many in the mountaineering community said that peace of mind came with unacceptable risk. Climbers who attempt to scale the world's tallest mountain know they could die from any number of challenges, including low oxygen, frigid temperatures, strong winds and steep falls. Asking others to carry down the bodies — often much heavier because they are frozen and covered in ice — puts more people in danger, they said.

"It is just not worth the risk," said Ang Tshering of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. "To get one body off of the mountain, they are risking the lives of 10 more people."

About 300 climbers have died since Everest was first conquered in 1953, and at least 100 — maybe 200 — corpses remain on the mountain. Most are hidden in deep crevasses or covered by snow and ice, but some are visible and have become macabre landmarks, earning nicknames for their plastic climbing boots, colorful parkas or final resting poses.

The most difficult bodies to retrieve are near the 8,850-meter (29,035-foot) peak in a low-oxygen area known by mountaineers as the death zone.

This is where the body of Gautam Ghosh was found last week along with the body of another Indian climber, Ravi Kumar, who died earlier in May after falling from the route on his way down from the summit. A third Indian man who died last year was recovered from the nearby South Col, the last camp at 8,000 meters (26,240 feet) before climbers make their final push for the summit.

Once the team of eight Sherpas reached the bodies, they had to break them from the surrounding ice, wrap them and tie them with ropes and slowly drag them down in high winds to Camp 2, a rocky expanse at 6,400 meters (21,000 feet) that is the highest helicopters can reach.

Expedition leader Eric Murphy, who last week guided his clients to the summit, criticized the retrieval and said he wouldn't want anyone to risk their own life to bring his body down if he died on the mountain.

"It is a sacred place and a good place to rest," Murphy said. "I would really question whether it is appropriate to risk so many to bring down one who is already lost."

It is often Sherpas who are hired for retrieval expeditions. Climbers from the ethnic group that has lived for centuries around Everest have become an integral part of the Himalayan mountaineering world, and rely on the pay they can earn during the three-month climbing season to carry their families through the year.

Despite the danger of bringing down bodies, climbers are often asked to do so by the families of those who die, said Dan Richards of Global Rescue, a Boston-based agency specializing in mountain rescue.

Of the six people who died on Everest this year, only the body of an American doctor was left on the mountain.

"It becomes much more dangerous than simply climbing if you're attempting to recover and transport a heavy load," Richards said. A recovery team faces the same risks as climbers, including altitude sickness, edema, frostbite, hypothermia as well as accidents and avalanches.

But some believe the dangerous effort is still worth it.

"It is always better to bring down the bodies, which also leaves the mountain cleaner," said veteran mountaineer Reinhold Messner, who was the first to scale Everest without bottled oxygen and climb the world's 14 highest peaks.

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Myanmar Soldiers Accused in Deaths of Minority Men in North

YANGON, MYANMAR — 

Police in northern Myanmar said Tuesday that they are investigating the deaths of three ethnic Kachin men whose bodies were found in a shallow grave after locals said they were detained by government soldiers.

The three were among a group of five people detained by the army in Kachin state on May 25 as they were on their way back to their refugee camp after collecting firewood near Hka Pra Yang village, camp manager Naw Mai said. Two of the men were released and returned to the camp, while the others never returned, Naw Mai said.

A group from the camp, which is home to hundreds of the more than 100,000 who have fled fighting between government troops and rebels in the region, went Sunday to the place where the men were last seen and found their bodies in a freshly dug grave, Naw Mai said. Their bodies had gunshot wounds, knife marks and severe bruising, he said.

"We believe that these men were severely tortured," Naw Mai said. "Now this incident is scaring every displaced person from moving around the area."

Calls to military spokesmen went unanswered Tuesday. Myo Thura Naung, a Kachin State police officer, confirmed that the bodies had been found but said it was too early to determine how the men died and who was responsible.

"This is just the beginning of our investigation and it's too early to say anything clearly," he said.

Rights groups have for decades accused Myanmar's armed forces of abusing and killing civilians during the military's long-running conflicts with ethnic armed groups. Such abuses were often cited as part of the justification for international sanctions on the country's former ruling junta.

The accusations have continued even as most sanctions have been lifted and Myanmar has transitioned to a more open and more democratic system with a partly civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who has no control over the army.

In a separate incident, a 17-minute video that appeared online Saturday showed Myanmar army and militia soldiers kicking, punching and threatening to kill six unidentified ethnic Shan villagers in northern Shan state.

The incidents came as Suu Kyi and the military were wrapping up peace talks with more than a dozen ethnic armed groups in a bid to end the conflicts. The talks, which are complicated by ongoing military offensives in Kachin and Shan states, ended Monday without an agreement.

Last year, the military made a rare admission that its soldiers had killed five ethnic Shan villagers and seven soldiers were eventually sentenced to five years in prison. Locals were outraged by what they said was the leniency of the prison term.

The military has also been accused of abuses against the country's Muslim Rohingya minority in western Rakhine state, which has drawn worldwide condemnation.

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Thailand Economy Back on Track But in Slow Lane

BANGKOK — 

The Thai economy, under the military’s stewardship for the past three years, is again witnessing steady growth but lags behind regional competitors as uncertainties remain, keeping foreign investors at bay.

The World Bank and United Nations (UN) say the Thai economy is in a slow growth lane compared to regional rivals, with a projection of over 3.0 percent growth between 2017 to 2019.

The UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) says the Thai growth outlook stands in contrast to Cambodia’s economy, which is set for 8 percent growth in 2018, Malaysia at 4.5 percent, the Philippines at 7.0 percent and Vietnam at 6.7 percent.

'Slow' economic growth in Thailand

A slow revival has been underway since 2016, in contrast to a sharp downturn in 2014 in the midst of political street demonstrations against the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, which eventually triggered a coup.

Three years later recovery has returned, with first quarter 2017 growth at 3.3 percent, and business analysts saying the trend will be sustained.

Krystal Tan, Asia economist with analysts, Capital Economics, said the recovery will continue. “For a start the export sector will benefit from relatively string external demand,” Tan said in a market commentary.

Capital Economics said the “current state of relative political calm” since late 2016 was providing support in areas such as tourism. The UN Economic Commission (UNESCAP) in a recent annual survey said the Thai economy “after years of uneven output growth record” regained momentum in 2016.

UN economists said the key contributors were “robust tourism revenue” as well as government fiscal and budget measures through soft loans and tax breaks for farmers.

Military control, political uncertainty

But economists also say the unsettled political environment has undermined progress in economic reform and strengthening the competitiveness of Thai industries.

Pavida Pananond, an associate professor of international business at Thammasat University, said the economy has under-performed over the past three years.

“It’s not declining, but it’s not going anywhere. In three years the economy under the coup government has not improved much and now faces new risks that comes from the political situation of Thailand,” Pavida told VOA.

The Bank of Thailand, in its latest assessment for the March quarter, was upbeat. “Private consumption accelerated thanks to an increase in spending on durable goods, as supported by higher farmer income and greater overall consumer confidence,” the Bank said.

But the economy’s “main driver” was still government spending, while private investment contracted in the March quarter, marking a reversal of previous periods.

But Asian Development Bank (ADB) senior country economist Luxmon Attapich was positive recent gains would continue.

“A sustained recovery in major economies, robust domestic consumption, and the continued implementation of large public infrastructure projects are the key reasons for (the ADB’s) projection,” Luxmon told local media.

Thailand’s national assembly recently accepted a new constitution, setting the way for new elections in 2018.

But analysts say a 250 member military-appointed Senate, including representatives from the armed forces along with pro-military political parties in the House of Representatives, will continue to hold sway and are in a position to elect the next prime minister.

Cautious private investors

Thailand has been torn apart by political conflict over the past 16 years as populist parties, led by deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, have challenged an establishment centered on Bangkok’s urban middle class, military and bureaucracy.

Pavida Pananond said Thailand’s political conflicts have yet to be reconciled despite the military’s calls for reform, leaving the added risk of Thai political instability.

“Everyone knows that without the military, the conflicts and everything is still there. Without the guns all this conflict would rise up again. So foreign investors know that political instability is still there. The root causes have not really been addressed; reform or reconciliation have not really taken place where it should be,” she said.

The military, in a bid to resolve issues of wide gaps in income and also to raise its popularity, has been promoting “grass-roots” economic stimulus programs.

The government’s Pracha Rath project has looked to link local village communities with major regional department stores to offer products and boost local incomes.

But analysts say the government has fallen short in pressing ahead with business reforms as part of its promoted vision towards a digitally advanced economy.

The military is maintaining a tight grip over the media and social media, including a crackdown on the social media website Facebook, amid official concerns over commentary on the Thai Royal Family.

Pavida said the attempts to block Facebook or seek out and warn people who view prohibited social media content sends “alarming signals to investors,” especially those focused on progress in the Thai digital economy.

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Polish, Afghan Forces Free 11 Hostages From Taliban

WARSAW — 

Polish and Afghan special forces, backed by U.S. air power, freed 11 people who had been taken hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan's Helmand province, Poland's Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said on Tuesday.

The hostages included two soldiers, four police officers and five civilians, all of them Afghan nationals who had been held captive for four months in a prison in a village controlled by the Taliban, Macierewicz told a news conference in Warsaw.

“These people were beaten, tortured, treated terribly for four months,” he said.

He said the action was a “great success,” and showed that the Afghan forces are well trained and able to “combat terrorists.”

Polish special forces were primarily involved in preparing the operation and had a supporting role, but the Afghan forces did the fighting, the minister said.

He said U.S. Air Force helicopters also took part in the rescue.

Poland has some 200 troops on a NATO training mission in bases across Afghanistan. Their number will be raised to 230 soon, at the alliance's request, Macierewicz said.

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Swell of Philippine Violence Will Rally Support for President

TAIPEI — 

A sudden surge of deadly violence in the ever restive Philippine southland is likely to further endear common people to once controversial President Rodrigo Duterte as they see the strife as fallout from his effort to resolve five decades of strife, experts and polls indicate.

Filipinos are accustomed to violence in the far southwest, including parts of the giant island Mindanao where troops have been fighting militants in the city of Marawi over the past week, leaving more than 100 dead, including 24 civilians.

But they resent that Mindanao has been left out of the Philippines’ overall quick economic development, partly because of security risks.

“This is not an easy fight. Our enemy is terrorism,” said Vice President Leni Robredo, who was elected separately from the president last year and often critical of his policy. “This is a time for us to unite,” she told reporters last week at the military’s headquarters. “This is the time we need to protect the security of our nation. This is not the time for divisiveness.”

Duterte support in Mindanao

People in Mindanao, population 21 million, have broadly supported Duterte’s stepped-up effort over his first year in office to get rid of Abu Sayyaf, a loose-knit group of some 400 known for kidnapping foreigners and beheading three over the past 14 months.

Duterte, who took office about a year ago, has made waves overseas and among some Filipinos for extrajudicial killings in an unrelated anti-drug campaign.

Gunfights against the Maute Group in the 200,000-person city of Marawi in western Mindanao has killed more than 60 militants and more than 20 troops while sending civilians to seek safety outside the city, Philippine media reports say.

Two rebel groups to contend with

The four-year-old Maute Group came under attack starting May 23 when troops were told Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon was in Marawi and that the two groups may have been plotting something together, Philippine media reported. Both groups have pledged allegiance to the violent Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

“The declaration of martial law has the immediate mission to prevent the spread across Mindanao because the group has the potential, particularly in alliance with other terrorist groups, to spread terror in the islands, even spread it to the Visayan [islands] and to Metro Manila,” says Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Philippine advocacy group Institute for Political and Electoral Reform. “That’s why the hope is [the conflict] will not last, should not last.”

Martial law

Despite objections among lawmakers to Duterte’s declaration last week of martial law over Mindanao until further notice, the people affected are expected to support it, said Eduardo Araral, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s public policy school.

“Duterte knows something about this ISIS-inspired group that a lot of people don’t know, and they’re not just based in Marawi city, but they probably have sleeper cells in other cities in Mindanao,” Araral said. “But you see that the people are not up in arms against this declaration. I think they trust Duterte that he knows what he’s doing.”

The Metro Manila-based research institution Social Weather Stations said Monday that 75 percent of people were “satisfied” with the Duterte government as of late March following nine months of attacks on Abu Sayyaf plus the setup of a commission to seek permanent peace with another Muslim autonomy-seeking group.

Martial law plus the fighting could finally dent the two suspected terrorist groups, earning support among Filipinos, some scholars expect.

“I’m sure it’s going to have some implications on those rebel forces [who] are in Mindanao,” said Antonio Contreras, political scientist at De La Salle University in the Philippines. “These groups that attacked Marawi are terrorists There is no country in this world that negotiates with terrorists.”

Plans for talks with other rebel groups

Separately, Duterte hopes to work out deals with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front via a 21-member commission he set up in February and talk with another group, the Moro National Liberation Front. Both want more autonomy over lands near the Sulu Sea, where the Islamic Moro people have lived for centuries and resent the country’s Catholic majority’s control of resources.

Duterte, a native of Mindanao, inspired hope for easing strife when he took office in June 2016. He proposed a federalist government system that could give Muslims a higher degree of power over their historic lands.

Duterte’s autonomy-sharing effort is still likely to meet opposition in the Philippine congress as citizens in much of the country dispute giving land rights to Muslim groups, analysts say. Some of those opponents live in Mindanao and resent the Muslim groups for their violent ways.

Fighting linked to Muslim rebel groups has left about 120,000 dead since the 1960s. Security issues, for one, have held back the resource-rich yet impoverished island from keeping pace with the rest of the Philippine archipelago in economic growth.

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North Korea Declares Latest Missile Test a Success

North Korea's state-run news agency said Tuesday the country's latest ballistic missile test was a success and involved a new precision guidance system.

In neighboring South Korea, the military said Monday's test involved a Scud-type missile that landed about 450 kilometers off North Korea's east coast in the Sea of Japan.

The U.S. Pacific Command said it tracked what appeared to be a short-range ballistic missile for six minutes and determined it did not post a threat to North America.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Twitter that "North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile." But Trump gave China credit for "trying hard" to rein in North Korea's military ambitions.

China has repeatedly said it views dialogue as the path to resolving the standoff over North Korea's nuclear program.

"The problem of course is that North Korea firing so many missiles it’s going to be a problem for both China and the United States," Rand Corporation analyst Bruce Bennett told VOA. "But it’s also a problem for South Korea, their politics, and in the end what it’s really saying is the regime probably is not very stable."

Bennett said that instability could be attributed to the government of Kim Jong Un not being able to boost its economy, not gaining the recognition it wants from China, or because its senior leaders fear they could be killed like others during Kim's time in power.

Monday's missile test -- the third in as many weeks -- came just days after world leaders at the G-7 economic summit demanded that Pyongyang give up its nuclear ambitions.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has warned that if a diplomatic solution cannot be found for the situation with North Korea, "it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat."

"The North Korean regime has hundreds of artillery cannons and rocket launchers within range of one of the most densely populated cities on earth, which is the capital of South Korea," Mattis told CBS News.

The United States is currently working to make its THAAD missile defense system fully operational in South Korea.

But the system has met opposition from China, which sees it as a threat, and questions from the new administration of South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

A Moon spokesman said Tuesday the president is demanding an investigation into the THAAD deployment after finding out four launchers arrived in South Korea in addition to the original two that were installed in April.

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Philippine Military: City Siege was Start of Extremist Plan

MARAWI, PHILIPPINES — 

The militants who have besieged much of a southern Philippine city over the past week include foreign fighters and local gunmen who want to establish a regional branch of the Islamic State group, the military said Tuesday.

Soldiers have taken control of about 70 percent of Marawi, where the gunmen have been fending off the army for a week, military chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Ano said. About 100 militants, troops and civilians have been killed.

“They wanted to show the world that there is an ISIS branch here which can inflict the kind of violence that has been seen in Syria and Iraq,” Ano told The Associated Press, using an acronym for the Islamic State group.

The siege in Marawi followed an unsuccessful army raid that attempted to capture militant commander Isnilon Hapilon, who has been designated by the Islamic State group as its leader in the Philippines.

Marawi is regarded as the heartland of the Islamic faith on the southern Mindanao island.

Hapilon escaped and gunmen loyal to him swept through the city of 200,000 people, torching buildings and taking hostages. Ano said the gunmen were prepared to fight because they had been planning to unleash attacks during the holy month of Ramadan to capture the attention of the IS group.

The unrest has boosted fears that the violent ideology of the IS is gaining a foothold in the restive southern islands, where a Muslim separatist rebellion has raged for decades.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in the south through mid-July, but lawmakers on Tuesday asked for a public session of Congress to determine whether it is still necessary.

Duterte's declaration unnerved Filipinos who lived through the rule of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who imposed martial law in 1972 and used it to hold power for more than a decade.

The army insists the drawn-out fight in Marawi is not a true sign of the militants' strength because the military has held back to spare civilian lives.

Ano said the military, working house to house, had cleared 70 percent of the city as of Tuesday morning and the remaining militants were isolated.

Still, the fighters have turned out to be remarkably well-armed and resilient. Experts have warned that as IS is weakened in Syria and Iraq, battered by years of American-led attacks, Mindanao could become a focal point for regional fighters.

Three Malaysians, an Indonesian and possibly Arab extremists have been killed in the Marawi fighting, Ano said. He said Hapilon was still hiding somewhere in the city and that authorities were working to confirm whether another top militant had been killed.

At least 65 militants and 15 Philippine troops have been killed, Ano said. The bodies of 19 civilians have been recovered and local authorities have reported more civilian deaths still to be tallied.

The fighters' support network in Marawi remains unclear, though the power of one militant group - the Mautes -has grown in recent years. Led by members of the city's Maute clan, the group has become increasingly active across Lanao del Sur province, where Marawi is located, and has been instrumental in the fighting this past week.

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