Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/453517
SERGEYVAGANOV—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS People pay their final respects to the Bobylev family, Mykola Bobylev, his wife Lyubov, daughter Maryna and three-year-old grandson Vyacheslav, who were killed during a Saturday attack in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Tuesday. ByYurasKarmanau The Associated Press KIEV, UKRAINE TheUkrai- nian parliament on Tuesday declared the Russia-backed separatist republics in the east to be terrorist organi- zations, formally eliminat- ing the possibility of hold- ing peace talks with their representatives, as fighting escalated. The move came after Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed the Ukrai- nian government to speak directly to the rebels in ef- forts to end the fighting that has killed about 5,100 people in eastern Ukraine since April, according to U.N. figures. The Kiev government has long called the separatists in the self-proclaimed Do- netsk and Luhansk peo- ple's republics "terrorists," but now they can be sub- ject to the counter-terror- ism law, said Oleksiy Mel- nyk, a defense analyst at the Razumkov Centre. That means the government has the right to restrict their movements within Ukraine, block their bank accounts, and most importantly stop them from participating in peace talks, he said. Parliament is sending a message that Ukraine will negotiate only with Russia and not with its "puppets" in the separatist republics, Melnyk said. The parliament also de- clared Russia to be an "ag- gressor state" and called on the United Nations, the Par- liamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and par- liaments in other countries to formally recognize it as such. Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of back- ing the rebels with troops and weapons. Russia de- nies that, but Western mil- itary officials say the sheer number of heavy weapons under rebel control belies that claim. A lull in fighting in De- cember raised hopes for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, but diplomatic ef- forts stalled. In recent weeks, the separatist forces have launched a series of new offensives to extend the territory under their control in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions along the Russian border. Some of the fiercest fight- ing has been around the town of Debaltseve, a road and railway hub northeast of the main rebel-held city of Donetsk. Armed forces spokesman V ladislav Seleznyov said the rebel forces were attacking from two sides in an attempt to surround the Ukrainian troops. The fighting has left nine servicemen dead and 29 wounded over the past day, Seleznyov said, adding that artillery and mortar fire was hitting residential ar- eas and there were reports of civilian casualties. Fighting also has raged on the outskirts of Donetsk. The remaining highway into Donetsk was closed to traffic for the second day running Tuesday following a blast at a Ukrainian mili- tary checkpoint that left at least two soldiers dead. Ukraine calls rebel gr ou ps t er ro ri st s FIGHTING ESCALATES By Ronnie Greene and Jonathan Paye-Layleh The Associated Press BUCHANAN, LIBERIA On paper, the pitch was sim- ple: A green energy com- pany backed by $217 mil- lion in U.S. government loans would convert one of Africa's poorest coun- tries into the world's first biomass-driven economy. But the plan to help Libe- ria collapsed amid ques- tionable business decisions and oversight. The company, Buchanan Renewables, dismissed 600 workers and left the coun- try amid complaints of workplace injuries, environ- mental harm and, at times, sexual abuse. Backing the company at every stage was the Over- seas Private Investment Corporation, a federal agency with a global man- date but low profile. The agency approves more than $3 billion a year in financ- ing, targeting developments in hard-pressed communi- ties. But its internal watch- dog has issued reports on just five deals since 2005, a period when OPIC approved more than 530 projects. From the start, an in- vestigation by The Asso- ciated Press found, OP- IC's support for the power project in the western Afri- can country of Liberia was marked by questionable scrutiny and deep politi- cal links. Even for ostensi- bly philanthropic projects meant to aid the world's poorest, corporate oppor- tunities and profits can intersect with family and business ties among Wash- ington's political elite. On the ground in Liberia, Buchanan Renewables' CEO was James Steele, a larger- than-life former U.S. mil- itary figure and onetime Texas business partner of OPIC's then-president and CEO, Robert Mosbacher Jr. Mosbacher's father was Commerce secretary un- der President George H.W. Bush. Steele drew acclaim, and controversy, over his role in U.S. military efforts, from the Iran-Contra affair to Iraq, where he performed work for President George W. Bush's defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld. Even before the Libe- rian project, Mosbacher had tapped Steele as a con- sultant to help OPIC de- velop power projects. Over 22 months from 2006 to 2008, the agency paid Steele $390,000 for consulting and an additional $114,556 in travel expenses, the AP found. Then it approved three loans to support Bu- chanan's vision in Liberia. The venture collapsed amid tensions between the company and the Libe- rian government, questions from the U.S. Embassy and the withdrawal of a vital fi- nancier. Troubling stories emerged: charcoal produc- ers having to trade sex for wood promised as part of the undertaking, Buchan- an's machinery cracking open an ancestor's grave on one family farm, the com- pany leaving piles of wood- chips that attracted sting- ing ants and fouled local waters. Some women said they became pregnant after trading sex for wood sticks with Buchanan staff mem- bers in Liberia. "If we didn't have sex with the employees they wouldn't give you sticks," Sarah Monopoloh, chair- woman of a local charcoal sellers union, told the AP. She said she suffered a pain- ful miscarriage. "I nearly died in the process," Mono- poloh said. Tree planter Aderlyn Bar- nard was knocked uncon- scious, breaking a leg and wrist and dislocating an arm, when the company's clearing machine felled her with a tree. "I am one of the victims," she said. "Right now I am disabled." To Mosbacher, who ab- stained from OPIC's loan vote, the project was an op- portunity lost. Steele de- clined an interview request. FEDERAL AGENCY BACKING US green-energy blueprint, meant to help Liberia, fails ALEX BRANDON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Overseas Private Investment Corporation building is seen on New York Avenue NW in Washington. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015 REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM | NEWS | 5 B