07-Apr-2010
AOL reviews future of Bebo network
By Kenneth Li in New York
Published: April 7 2010 00:46 | Last updated: April 7 2010 00:46
AOL is set to cut its losses on Bebo, the internet social network it purchased for close to $1bn in 2008, which is considered one of its worst acquisitions.
The network’s future is in doubt as AOL continues to figure out its place in an industry dominated by Google, Microsoft and Facebook.
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“Bebo, unfortunately, is a business that has been declining and, as a result, would require significant investment in order to compete in the competitive social networking space,” AOL said in a note to its employees on Tuesday.
The internet company that spun off from Time Warner last December has moved to shed lossmaking divisions that it considers will not make a significant contribution as it focuses on content, advertising and consumer services.
AOL, has, for example, attracted three binding offers for the ICQ messaging system it bought for $400m in 1998, according to a report in Vedomosti this week. The offers were from ProfMedia and DST in Russia and Tencent in China.
Bankers not involved with the discussions over Bebo said Tencent, considered one of China’s most valuable internet companies, would be a logical bidder for the UK-based network.
AOL is to disclose the review of Bebo in its annual filing to Companies House in the UK, and said it would wrap up the review by the end of May.
Bebo’s purchase in 2008 was panned for the inflated price it attracted even as it fought a losing battle against Facebook and News Corp’s MySpace. After the purchase, Jeffrey Bewkes, chief executive of Time Warner, admitted that the company had overpaid.
The purchase marked the end of a $2bn acquisition spree by previous managers, who were pushed out in the messy aftermath of AOL’s merger with Time Warner.
AOL, now run by former Google executives, continues to review its portfolio for potential sales.
“AOL is not in a position at this time to further fund and support Bebo in pursuing a turnaround in social networking,” the company said.
29-Mar-2010
Pakistan accused of disrupting Taliban talks
By James Lamont in New Delhi and Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad
Published: March 19 2010 11:14 | Last updated: March 19 2010 18:25
Pakistan deliberately interrupted talks between the Taliban and the United Nations by arresting senior members of the Afghan Taliban, the UN’s former top official in Kabul has said.
Kai Eide, who stepped down as head of the UN mission in Afghanistan earlier this month, said the arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and other senior figures in joint Pakistan-US operations had all but scuppered negotiations with the Afghan Taliban.
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Mr Eide accused Pakistan of acting against the interests of peace in Afghanistan by seeking to wrest control of contact between the international community and Taliban fighters that had begun a year ago.
The Norwegian told the BBC that he did not believe Pakistan was playing the role it should to promote political dialogue.
“I believe that what has happened over the last few weeks may well have hardened the Taliban rather than moved them closer to the table,” he said.
Pakistan denied it had deliberately interrupted talks. “The fact of the matter is that Mullah Baradar’s arrest was a joint operation with the US and had nothing to do with talks or reconciliation,” said Abdul Basit, a foreign ministry spokesman.
Pakistan has been pushing strongly for a mediating role between Nato forces and Taliban fighters.
Islamabad claims to have a crucial role in bringing the Taliban to the table and brokering a settlement. In the past, Pakistan has promoted militant groups to expand its influence in its neighbour, and is accused by some of creating the Taliban in the first place.
Earlier this week, Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan’s prime minister, told the Financial Times that only Pakistan could bring stability to Afghanistan. He expressed his satisfaction that Pakistan was arresting “high value targets”.
“Pakistan is strategically in a position to help the world, and therefore the world should also help Pakistan,” he said.
An official of the south-western Baluchistan province, speaking from Quetta, said on Friday: “Our knowledge of the Taliban is extensive enough for Pakistan to know about big moves by prominent leaders . . . I can say confidently that any suggestion of negotiations involving the Taliban which is meant to bypass Pakistan will, of course, alarm us.”
Some countries are distrustful of Pakistan’s role. “Pakistan wants to exercise tutelage over Afghanistan,” said Kanwal Sibal, a former Indian foreign secretary. “The policy of re-integration and reconciliation with the Taliban carries the danger of handing over power to the Taliban eventually and rewarding Pakistan with the strategic depth it wants in Afghanistan.”
Mr Eide’s account of the negative effects of the arrest of Mullah Baradar and others explains the anger of Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai on a recent visit to Islamabad. Mr Karzai expressed his concerns that the arrests of the Taliban figures may have been intended by Pakistan to “prevent” dialogue with peacemakers.
One senior western diplomat in Islamabad said the international community was deeply puzzled by the arrest of Mullah Baradar.
He said it was not clear whether the arrests were to curb the activity of dangerous militants from the Quetta Shura, stifle dialogue with peacemakers or were made by accident.
Mr Eide said: “I don't believe that these people were arrested by coincidence. [The Pakistanis] must have known who they were, what kind of role they were playing,” he said.
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