TR EMERITUS

By Jeff Mason from Reuters U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ends her visit to Russia on Wednesday with a charm offensive to win public support for Washington's efforts to reset relations but no clear breakthroughs from formal talks. During talks on Tuesday with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and President Dmitry Medvedev, Clinton failed to win specific pledges from Moscow on tougher sanctions against Iran if Tehran does not allay concerns that it wants to build a nuclear bomb. But Clinton did not meet Russia's key decision maker, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was in China on an official visit during her time in Moscow, although she had wanted to see him. "I would have enjoyed meeting with Prime Minister Putin and we certainly had intended to do so but our schedules didn't allow us, so I am looking forward to seeing him on a future date," she told the Ekho Moskvy radio station on Wednesday. Clinton, finishing a European trip that included stops in Zurich, London and Belfast, will hold a question and answer session with students at Moscow State University and fly to the ethnically diverse Republic of Tatarstan for a "roundtable" discussion. President Barack Obama has said he wants the United States to improve its relationship with the Russian government as well as its people, and Clinton's trip has worked to achieve that. Russian media have given generally positive, though low-key coverage to her visit. "The main result of the Moscow meeting is that the parties have stopped preaching to each other and engaged in a serious dialogue on all the issues," commentator Vladislav Vorobyov wrote in the government newspaper Rossiskaya Gazeta. The planned Moscow back-and-forth with a local audience, a campaign-like format that has become a hallmark of Clinton's tenure as secretary of state, may give Russians a chance to express views on U.S. policies and practices they do not like. Goaded by anti-Americanism during recent years in state-controlled media, polls show that many Russians still have a negative view of the United States despite the officially proclaimed "reset" in relations. On Iran, U.S. officials said Medvedev had reiterated his stance that sanctions may be necessary if Iran did not fulfill promises it made to world powers at a meeting in Geneva. But Lavrov emphasized during a joint news conference with Clinton on Tuesday that talk of sanctions at this point was counter-productive, saying efforts should focus on dialogue. HUMAN RIGHTS Human rights -- another issue where Washington and Moscow have often disagreed -- also came up in Clinton's meetings with leaders and could draw attention at Wednesday's events. Clinton said she had raised the unsolved killing of journalists during her talks with Lavrov and Medvedev. "I mentioned the names, I mentioned the killings of journalists, it's a matter of grave concern not just for the United States but for the people of Russia," she said during Wednesday's radio interview. Rights activists told Clinton on Tuesday during a private meeting that authorities were not doing enough to solve the killings of journalists such as Anna Politkovskaya and human rights advocates including Natalia Estemirova. Clinton's trip to Kazan in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan is also meant to illustrate how people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds can live together. More than 3.8 million people from eight main ethnic groups live in the republic, according to its official web site. More than half the population practices Islam, while Orthodox Christianity is the other main religion. "What's particularly attractive to me about Kazan is you have a Mosque and an Orthodox church side by side in the capital there, and the larger Tatarstan is predominantly Muslim, but people live very well together in an interfaith way," Clinton said. - Reuters  Read More →

By Debra Chong from The Malaysian Insider Ong Boon Hua, once the country’s “Public Enemy No 1” for leading a bloody communist insurgency before laying down arms 20 years ago, says he only wishes to die a Malaysian and be buried next to his grandfather and father in Sitiawan, Perak. “Call me Uncle Ong,” the frail-looking old man with thinning, white hair told The Malaysian Insider in an interview here this week. Better known by his alias Chin Peng, he was the last leader of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) and is once again at the centre of much controversy in Malaysia, the land of his birth. He wishes to go home but the Malaysian government will not let him. Last month, he challenged the government for going back on the agreement with him and the Thai government, made 20 years ago in Haadyai to allow all Malaysian communists who desired it to return home and live in peace. The High Court in Kuala Lumpur tossed out his suit without calling for a trial. Judge Datuk Balia Yusof Wahi ruled that Ong was suing the government for defamation but had no grounds to argue his case because it was a known fact that he had committed “evil” acts during the 12 years of the Emergency after World War Two (WW2). Several key players who brokered the deal on behalf of the Malaysian government, including former Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Rahim Noor, who were waiting to testify in support of Chin Peng – or ”Uncle Ong” as he wishes to be known now – never got their day in court. Speaking to The Malaysian Insider at the hotel where he is put up, just next door to the British High Commission here, the anti-colonialist explained why he is so adamant about returning to Sitiawan, Perak. “It’s my birthright,” said Ong, who will be turning 85 in five days. “I’m getting older and older. My home is in Malaysia,” he said, rubbing his hand repeatedly over his face. He added that he wishes to spend the rest of his twilight years catching up with his family and his childhood friends on home turf, and to be laid to rest beside his grandfather and father. When asked why he did not simply slip back into the country as he did years ago as a guerrilla fighter, if he truly wished to go home and lead a peaceful life, Ong shot back: “You mean by smuggling in?” Ong, who has been described by both his former enemies and allies as an “honest man” appears unable to abide anything less than “honourable”, even as the front doors to his return are being shut and barred one by one. His suit against the Malaysian government, he claims, is two-fold: to get legal recognition as a lawful citizen of Malaysia; and to gain lawful recognition as someone who has contributed to the country. He sees himself as a “resistance fighter” and a third-generation Malaysian even though the country went by Malaya before his exile. “The country is still the same. First, I’m Malayan. But since the country has changed to Malaysia, so I’m Malaysian. I can’t say I don’t want to be Malaysian,” he laughed. But he still holds to his communist faith. “Communism is an ideology. Being a communist is fighting for the welfare of poor people,” he explained. Asked if he viewed US President Barack Obama’s statement to “spread the wealth” as akin to communism, Ong nodded his head and laughed, seemingly tickled by the irony. His views on communism, however, have mellowed over the years. Some parties have painted him as anti-monarchy. Ong no longer sees a need to copy the People’s Republic of China and oust the sultans from their posts as rulers in Malaysia. At breakfast this morning, he was approached by a Malaysian lawyer, who sought his views to petition Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to allow him home. Ong neither agreed nor objected to the project. Najib has hinted that Ong is unlikely to be allowed home because of the overwhelming objection against him as the leader of an outlawed political party that perpetrated atrocities against Malaysians — largely against the Malay community. Ong who has been “homeless” for decades feels he is blocked from stepping foot on Malaysian soil because of the race factor. “If I’m Malay, it would be very much easier for me... Unfortunately, I’m not Malay,” he said. “Umno’s policy is very much influenced by ‘racialist’ sentiments,” he added. Ong is sorely disappointed with former premier, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, for failing to do anything to enable his return during the latter’s administration. The Haadyai peace accords were signed in 1989, and according to insiders, was mooted by Dr Mahathir. “But I don’t know the real situation. Maybe he was under much pressure,” Ong said. He is aware that the legal avenues are fast closing. Because of that, he is pinning his hopes on Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim taking over the federal government. “My only hope is that Anwar takes over. That’s the most realistic,” he revealed. Anwar openly supported Ong’s homecoming to be allowed “on humanitarian grounds” after the Federal Court rejected the former CPM secretary-general’s last bid to go home on the basis that he could not show his birth certificate to prove Malaysian citizenship. Ong claimed that Anwar’s financial supporters have passed a message promising to help him go home. “Anwar is a man of his word,” Ong believes. “If Anwar cannot, it’s hopeless. It has to be Anwar. The other political parties are weak,” he added, pointing out that Anwar’s party won the biggest number of votes in Election 2008. Is there a Plan B? Ong rubs his face while considering the question. After a long pause, he replies: “No. No Plan B. Have to persist to go back. - The Malaysian Insider  Read More →

By Lingling Wei from Wall Street Journal One of the biggest, most high-profile deals of the commercial real-estate boom is in danger of imminent default, say people familiar with the matter, signaling the beginning of what is expected to be a wave of commercial-property failures. The sprawling Manhattan apartment complex known as Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town -- acquired for $5.4 billion in 2006 by a venture of Tishman Speyer Properties and a unit of BlackRock Inc. -- is running out of cash. As of the end of September, it had $33.7 million left of the $400 million in interest reserves set up to service its debt, according to the people familiar with the matter. At its current burn rate of about $16 million per month, the reserve could be depleted before the end of the year, the people said. Others have said the venture could avoid default until February. The spokesman for Tishman Speyer declined to comment on behalf of the partnership. The ownership, which includes a roster of high-profile investors from the Church of England to the California Public Employees' Retirement System, has no current plans to inject more capital into the venture, according to the people. Lenders who financed the deal first projected the complex's net operating income would triple to $336 million in 2011 from $112 million in 2006, according to Deutsche Bank AG. But net income is projected to be $139 million this year, according to Realpoint LLC, a credit-rating agency. Investors who bought into the deal were confident that real-estate manager Tishman Speyer would be able to greatly boost profits by raising rents in Manhattan's sizzling apartment market. But today, the 56-building, 11,000-apartment property is suffering from a slowing New York economy, a lawsuit that has hindered the owner's ability to convert rent-controlled units to market rentals, and the debt load. Realpoint estimates that the property is worth only $2.1 billion now, less than half of the purchase price. By that measure, all the equity investors and many of the lenders, including Government of Singapore Investment Corp., or GIC; Gramercy Capital Corp.; and SL Green Realty Corp., are in danger of seeing most, if not all, of their investments wiped out. Hartford Financial Services Group, which bought $100 million of the debt tied to the property, said it has "sufficiently reserved for ths asset in the first half of this year." Some of the nation's largest institutional investors already consider their investment a failure. The $133 billion Florida State Board of Administration committed $250 million to the equity partnership in 2007. It now counts the value as zero. A spokesman for the pension fund declined further comment. The failure of the high-profile investment also would further rattle the market for apartments, offices, hotels and other commercial property. The market this year has seen increases in loan delinquencies and property foreclosures, stoking worries that it will drag down the nascent economic recovery. Commercial mortgage-backed securities -- the kind that financed a chunk of the Peter Cooper-Stuyvesant deal -- are high on the list of concerns. Some $700 billion worth of CMBS were issued during the boom years but they have never been tested by a protracted downturn. The apartment complex was developed by MetLife for returning World War II veterans and remained a middle-class bastion even as rents in other parts of Manhattan skyrocketed. New York's strict regulations prevented the owners from raising rents. But New York rent rules were eased over the years. When the Tishman/BlackRock venture purchased the property from MetLife in late 2006, the new owners predicted they would be able to convert thousands of protected apartments to higher market rents. These projections convinced Calpers and the pension funds of several other states to make large equity investments in the deal. Meantime, the Tishman/BlackRock venture put a $3 billion first mortgage on the property and another $1.4 billion of so-called mezzanine debt. The new owners ran into a slowing economy and resistance from tenants that battled to block rent increases. In one of their most successful challenges, tenants groups filed a lawsuit charging MetLife and the new owners with improperly converting rent-regulated units while receiving tax benefits from the city. The appellate division of the State Supreme Court in March ruled in the tenants' favor. The state's highest court is expected to rule on an appeal this month. But even a victory by the Tishman/BlackRock partnership likely won't save the deal from a default. One indication: a "special servicer" is in the process of taking over the deal's CMBS debt, say people familiar with the matter. Special servicers are experts in dealing with troubled loans. The transfer to the special servicer, CW Capital, could occur as soon as this month, the people said. Once that happens, the special servicer likely will try to negotiate with the partnership to restructure the debt. Major players in these talks will likely be Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together own more than $1.5 billion of the most highly rated, triple-A slices of the CMBS debt, according to people familiar with the matter. They would likely benefit from a fast foreclosure because, as senior lenders, they would be paid back first. A Fannie representative declined to comment. A spokesman at Freddie confirmed its holding of the debt. "We don't expect to incur any losses on these securities," he said. Another big player in the restructuring talks could be Singapore's GIC. The fund owns a $575 million mezzanine loan backed by the property, according to people familiar with the matter. Also, GIC owns about $100 million to $200 million in equity, the people said. Both investments might be wiped out unless GIC maneuvers to have more influence in the loan workout process, possibly by buying more senior debt. GIC declined to comment. Source: Wall Street Journal  Read More →