MFA denies Shaariibuu's statement

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified today that Shaariibuu's statement to Malaysian press representatives was his own personal view, not formal position by the Government of Mongolia.
The statement said that the Government of Mongolia carefully observing the murder trial, and has sent four letters to Malaysian side in the hope that the case would be solved fair and just.

Монгол Улсын иргэн, талийгаач Ш.Алтантуяагийн эцэг С.Шаарийбуу Монгол, Малайзын харилцааны талаар хийсэн мэдэгдэл нь хувь хүний санаа бодол бөгөөд энэ нь Монгол Улсын Засгийн газрын албан ёсны байр суурь биш юм.

Монгол Улсын Гадаад хэргийн Яам Малайз Улсад болж буй шүүх хурлын үйл ажиллагааг анхааралтай ажиглаж байна. Энэхүү асуудалд манай Засгийн газраас анхаарч Монгол Улсын Ерөнхий сайд, Гадаад хэргийн сайд нар Малайзын талд албан захидал 4 удаа явуулсан. Саяхан УИХ-ын гишүүн, Гадаад хэргийн сайд С.Оюун уг хэргийг шударгаар шүүнэ гэдэгт итгэж байгаагаа илэрхийлсэн захидал Малайзын парламентад УИХ-ын гишүүнийхээ хувьд явуулаад байна.

Шүүх хурлын явц байдлыг хөндлөнгөөс ажиглах ажиглагчдын зардлыг Монгол Улсын Засгийн газар гаргасан бөгөөд хэргийн явц байдлын талаар олон нийтэд мэдээлж ч ирсэн, цаашид мэдээлэх ч болно. Энэхүү хэргийг Малайзын шүүх олон улсын эрх зүйн хэм хэмжээний дагуу шударгаар шүүнэ гэдэгт Монгол Улсын ГХЯ найдаж байна.

2008 оны 4 дүгээр сар 28

It said Foreign Minister S.Oyun, as a Member of Parliament, has sent a letter addressed to Malaysian Parliament.

Mongolia-Stop Whaling!

Received an email from Fred O'Regan, CEO of International Fund for Animal Welfare (www.ifaw.org). He said

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) will soon be meeting to decide the future of whales. Japan continues to buy votes with foreign aid to influence the outcome of the next IWC in favor of increased whaling.

Japan is ignoring international whale sanctuaries, "buying" countries to support its position and trying to launch a return to full-scale commercial whaling. I will need your continuing support if we are to make a stand at the next IWC to ensure that whales remain protected. If Japan wins a majority of votes at the next IWC it will be a disaster for whales.

The other day, I got also an email from Amai. He noted that Mongolian journalists should send message by press to global audience that Mongolia's young generation is standing "all against their Government's stance on promoting commercial whaling". IWC meeting will be held in June in Chile.

Will Mongolia freeze diplomatic ties with Malaysia?

I doubt. But should wait for an official response by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over what S.Shaariibuu stated earlier in Malaysia that Mongolia would break all diplomatic ties with the country in case if Malaysian judicial system fails to solve the Altantuya murder trial justice and fair.

Server down

Web server of the UB Post (www.mongolnews.mn) was down for unknown reason On April 23. Today, April 24, it resumed operation thanks to the company's web team.

Mongolia-Stop Whaling!

Ever visited Amai's blog (in Mongolian), a blog run a Mongolian music producer, Amai, who is traveling all over the world? A recent post was about a Mongolian whaling which I found really interesting.

He said he felt deeply ashamed to know that his home country ever voted for whaling in favor of Japanese whaling fleet, the biggest in the world. He is now traveling in somewhere in Africa, where he met a man called Tim from Wildlife Conservation Society.
Amai proudly talked with the man where he is from and about the world's first-ever strictly protected mountain is located in Mongolia. But his mouth was shut after knowing Mongolia voted "Yes!" with other pro-whaling countries like Mali at the International Whaling Commission meeting.

Some foreigners, whom I met with in the past, were also talking similar things to me. Even English Editor at our newsroom, a man from Australia, is a huge anti-whaling protester. Why Mongolia? Read this editorial? But note that this was not the UB Post's.

6/26/2006

Whaling in Mongolia

Commentary by Paul Watson
Founder and President of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Are there whales in the Gobi desert?

There must be whales somewhere in landlocked Mongolia. Maybe some “Goby Dick” is at this very moment lurking in the depths of Lake Baikal.

Why else would Mongolia have joined the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to send delegates all the way to the Caribbean to cast a vote for the resumption of whaling?

Some people claim they have heard whale sounds in Mongolia. Closer investigation has revealed it was the unique and peculiar type of throat singing called Khoomiy. It sounds a little like oceanic humpback and is “sung” by shepherds in the desert but none of the sounds have led to any actual whale sightings – just sheep, horses, and shepherds. It may, however, be the link that will allow humans to communicate with whales. I think the Japanese are presently conducting research into this link with Mongolian scientists. It appears that a thousand whales need to be killed to research whale voice boxes. No word yet on how many Mongolian throat-humming shepherds will be lethally researched in the comparative study.

Khoomiy musical artists called Khoomchi insist there is no relationship between their music and the whales. “I don’t believe that there is a connection,” said famed Khoomchi Dashnym Enhtuya. “But our Japanese friends have said they will be researching this for us in Antarctica and promised to buy our CD’s.”

Mongolians did try to go to sea before – twice in fact – both times with disastrous consequences when they tried to invade Japan under Kublai Khan. They failed because of the Kamikaze or divine winds. That’s what the samurai called typhoons back then. The Mongolians refer to it as the time when that “crazy Kublai Khan guy tried to go to sea without a barometer.”

After the storm, there was a dead calm and that was the only time the Mongols ever got intimately close to whales. They floated around with them for days, except the ones in full armor life jackets who went quickly to the bottom to feed the crabs.

Mongolia is not a wealthy nation so there must be some economic motivation to send delegates halfway around the world to support the resumption of commercial whaling.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been unsuccessful in finding a Mongolian whaler to interview and there does not appear to be an argument for traditional or cultural whaling. Further inquiries revealed that 99.5% of all Mongolians have never seen a whale.

Interviews with Mongolian gourmets have revealed some fairly exotic recipes for horse’s milk, pony brains, and sheep’s eyeballs, but there was not a single Mongolia to be found who expressed a desire for a whale burger.

Japan denies that it has any influence over Mongolia’s attendance at the IWC meetings. Mongolia is an independent nation says Mongolian IWC Commissioner Mr. Tsend Damdin. “We are not influenced by other nations. Our vote reflects the concerns of our people who have expressed support for ending the global ban on whaling. Any suggestion that Japan is influencing us is a lie”

The Mongolian delegation’s travel expenses were covered by the Japanese pro-wildlife trade group the Japan Bekko Association. That is not a suggestion, but a fact.

When not in charge of regulating Mongolia’s whaling interests, Mr. Damdin serves on the Mongolian Olympic Committee. His area of expertise is in judo and wrestling, which according to Mongolian tradition, seems to make him an expert on whaling. This expertise was well reflected in Mongolia’s vote to accuse the whales of destroying the world’s fisheries.

Mongolians have never had a national referendum on whaling nor has it ever appeared on a ballot. Whaling is not a hot issue on Mongolian talk shows and is not your average topic of conversation amongst the horse manure shoveling crowd in the mornings.

But Mr. Tsend Damdin is prepared to change that. “I think Mongolia has a future in whaling. We don’t actually have to kill whales but if we vote to kill whales, Japan will give my Judo team a large donation. I think that the interests of Mongolian sports fans would be positively served with a strong judo team financed with the profits of Japanese whaling.”

At a special dinner hosted by the Japanese delegation in St. Kitts and Nevis, Mr. Damdin ate his first whale steak. “It was chewy, not as bad as dog, and a little tastier than horse, but Mongolian crystallized camel urine gave it the pinch of salt that was needed to make it go down with the local rum.”

Mongolia joined the IWC in 2002 because whaling is a matter of grave national importance to the Mongolian people who are worried that the whales are eating all of the world’s fish.

At this year’s IWC meeting Mongolia voted with Japan on every resolution earning Mr. Damdin a pat on the head by Joji Morishita. “That’s my boy,” said the Japanese whaling commissioner. “Ain’t he cute?”

New web design

Something went wrong with the old Joomla template of the UB Post last week, causing us a big distraction. So, new and clean template is up and running now. We hope our readers like it.

Paul

An old contributor to our newspaper Paul Bacon resumed writing for us sports. We published his article on Tseveenpurev's winning match for world boxing title. The event was reported to Mongolian audience only by Mongol News publications, UB Post and Tavan Tsagarig (sports periodical) . No other Mongolian press outlets was aware of this event. Thanks Paul.

New subscription price

Dear readers,
From April 25, a new subscription price will be effective immediately. For more than a decade (actually, since its first edition), the UB Post has had the current print subscription price stable, US$78 for annual, as well as online subscription.
The new subscription charges are as follows:

Print subscription
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12-month: US$125
6-month: US$70
3-month: US$40

Online subscription
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12-month: US$50
6-month: US$30
3-month: US$20

Note: Mongol Post company increased its postal mail tariff repeatedly in the past. And, further increases are predicted.

Journalist/Translator Vacancy Opened

We urgently require Mongolian national only.

Major duties and responsibilities
· Write articles on any of the following areas: politics, business, economics, culture, travel and entertainment
· Assist in developing and maintaining close collaboration with information sources
· Assist in editing articles for the English editor by finding necessary information
· Assist in layout pages for design editor by collecting required materials
· Perform other newspaper-related tasks as assigned by the Editor in Chief
· Contribute to the increasing newspaper subscription
Qualifications and skills
· Professional background and university degree in Journalism and Media
· Good desktop computer skills with sound knowledge of word-processing, spreadsheets and graphics software.
· Proficiency in the use of electronic information systems (Internet/Web) as an effective communication tool
· Previous professional work experience in print or interactive media at either national or international level.
· Fluency in English is required
· Ability to work independently

Candidates with professional journalism and translating experiences will be given strong consideration. If you possess the above qualifications, please submit your letter of interest along with your CV/Resume, and letter of reference from your previous employer to ubpost@mongolnews.mn