Canadian ambassador to remain in Syria

OTTAWA - Canada will not shut its embassy in Syria, officials say, after the United States evacuated all diplomatic staff and closed its embassy in the country on Monday.
A spokesman for Foreign Minister John Baird said that Canada is not considering following the U.S. lead.
``The U.S. as a sovereign nation makes decisions based on its situation,'' wrote Rick Roth in an email. ``We make decisions based on ours.''
Roth said Canada's ambassador to Syria - retired vice-admiral Glenn Davidson - will remain in Damascus to voice Canada's displeasure at the ongoing government crackdown in the country.
``Canada has extremely strong views about the abhorrent actions of the current regime,'' he wrote. ``And our ambassador continues to deliver those messages at the highest levels.''
``We have been clear: Assad must go,'' Roth wrote.
In August, Davidson was named Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan, but has not yet left Syria to assume his next post due to the continuing turmoil in the Middle Eastern country.
Opposition foreign affairs critic Helene Laverdiere said Monday it's time for Canada to recall its ambassador to Syria.
``We think that it would be time to recall our ambassador to Syria, as to send a strong message to the Syrian regime,'' the NDP MP told reporters in Ottawa Monday. ``This will send a very clear message to the Assad regime.''
Anti-government protesters have been calling for President Bashar al-Assad to step down since unrest began in January 2011. The regime has fought back against the uprising, and is currently shelling civilian areas of the revolutionary city of Homs. Syrian opposition groups say 50 were killed in the most recent attack on Homs.
The United States cited security concerns as the reason for closing its mission to Damascus.
Laverdiere, a former career diplomat, said Canada should not go so far.
``It's not a question of cutting diplomatic ties completely,'' she said. ``Our position doesn't go as far as that of the United States.''
With many Canadians still in Syria, the embassy must remain open to provide consular services, she said.
``It's clear the Canadian government has a responsibility to Canadians who find themselves in Syria,'' Laverdiere said.
On Jan. 31, Baird issued orders to reduce the number of diplomatic staff in Syria.
``Due to the growing instability in Syria, Canada has reduced its diplomatic staff in Syria to core personnel only,'' he said. ``Canada's embassy remains open and continues to offer limited services in Damascus and in Aleppo through our honorary consulate.''
The visa and immigration section of Canada's mission in Damascus has been closed, Baird said, and those services have been transferred to neighbouring countries.
Baird said Canadians have begun leaving Syria, and he urged all other Canadians to do the same.
``Since Dec. 15, approximately 300 Canadians have informed us that they have left Syria,'' he said. ``We hope that more will follow their example.''
``We continue to urge Canadians still in Syria to leave now.''

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No Israel decision on attacking Iran: Obama - Pakistan Times

US President Barack Obama has said that Israel has not made a decision yet on attacking Iran's nuclear installations, noting that he still prefers to use diplomacy.
"I do not think Israel has taken a decision on what they need to do," Obama told the NBC news. Obama said he believes that the tough international sanctions are hurting the Iranian regime.
"We have mobilised the international community in an unprecedented way. They are feeling the pinch. They are feeling the pressure," he said.
Until Iran commit itself to peaceful use of nuclear energy and leaves its nuclear weapon programme, both the US are Israel are going to be very concerned about it. "We have closure military and intelligence consultations than we ever had. My first priority continues to be the security of the US, but also the security of Israel. We are going to make sure that we work in lockstep, as we proceed to try to solve this - hopefully, diplomatically," Obama said.

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69 dead as US closes Damascus embassy

Syria

The Syrian army on Monday launched a new assault on Homs, killing 42 people and wounding dozens, according to activists .
This new offensive, again denied by the regime, comes on the eve of a visit to Damascus by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country has vetoed Saturday with China a UN resolution condemning repression in Syria.
In total, the violence has killed at least 69 people Monday, including 66 civilians according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.
On its part, the Syrian National Council, the main opposition coalition, urged the international community to "act quickly" to "prevent another massacre" in Homs, where shelling killed more than 330 dead on Saturday.
After the failure of diplomatic efforts at the UN, the U.S. and the EU have announced plans to strengthen sanctions against the regime, while London said it would take "other means of putting pressure" on Damascus.
London on Monday recalled its ambassador to Damascus, while Washington has closed its embassy, entrusting Poland task to represent the USA in Syria.

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Pakistan Supreme Court suspends 28 lawmakers

Islamabad: Pakistan's Supreme Court on Monday suspended membership of 28 parliamentarians elected in by-elections held on the basis of what were said to be flawed voters' lists.
Their membership will remain suspended until an amendment to the constitution is passed by the parliament to endorse their election, the court ruled.
Among the suspended are nine members of the National Assembly, the lower house of the parliament, and three members of the Senate, the upper house. The senators include Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Petroleum Minister Asim Hussain.
The affected members of provincial assemblies include eight from Punjab, four from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, three from Sindh and one from Balochistan province.

Of the Punjab Assembly members hit by the decision, seven belong to the Pakistan Muslim League-N and one to the Pakistan People's Party.
A four-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry passed the suspension order after hearing a petition regarding bogus entries in the electoral rolls.
The petition was filed by popular politician and former cricket hero Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Insaaf party (PTI).
The bench observed that the government had failed to get its proposed 20th Amendment to endorse the election of the 28 in by-polls passed by the parliament in the given time frame.
The court rejected PTI leader's plea to stop by-elections until new electoral rolls are provided by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
It said the National Database and Registration Authority has assured that by the stipulated deadline of February 25 it will be able to provide fresh lists of voters to the ECP to conduct polls in the required constituencies.

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Lobbyist for Pakistan seeks US apology over NATO airstrikes

Pakistan’s chief lobbyist asked the United States to apologize for NATO airstrikes that inadvertently killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, according to Justice Department records. On Dec. 22, 2011, Mark Siegel, a partner at Locke Lord Strategies, emailed a nine-page memo to offices on Capitol Hill that detailed Pakistan s version of the events surrounding the airstrikes. The memo said that the incident "seriously damaged" the relationship between the Pakistani Army and U.S.-led NATO forces and aroused "suspicions in the rank and file of the Pakistan Army that it was a premeditated attack … conducted to undermine the sovereignty and stature of Pakistan." "Considering the circumstances of the 25/26 November attacks that resulted in the death of 24 Pakistani soldiers, an apology by the U.S. Department of Defense to the people of Pakistan would not be inappropriate," the memo concludes. Siegel noted in the memo that the document was prepared after “briefings by multiple officials of the Embassy of Pakistan." In an interview with The Hill, Siegel said his firm’s memo on the NATO airstrikes was sent to all lawmakers, chiefs of staffs and foreign policy legislative aides on Capitol Hill. “What we were attempting to do there was summarize the Pakistan version of events and compare it to the U.S. version of events and note where the two are in conflict,” Siegel said. Siegel said an apology still has not been offered to Pakistan for the airstrikes. “There have been expressions of regret but there has not been an apology,” Siegel said. “It certainly would have helped. Now, two months after the fact, it could still be helpful.”

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Gaddafi's shirt, wedding ring up for sale

Tripoli: Slain dictator of Libya, Moammer Gaddafi's bloodied shirt and wedding ring have been put up for $2 million (Rs 10 crore) auction. The disgraced dictator was wearing the silver ring and bloodied beige shirt when he was dragged from a drainpipe near his home town of Sirte before being beaten and shot.
Libyan national Ahmed Warfali is apparently asking for $2 million (Rs 10 crore) for the items after somehow coming into their possession. He believes he could have attracted a higher value if he had been selling them in Europe.
A picture of what appears to be the ring shows an engraving representing the date Gaddafi married his wife, Safia, on September 10, 1970.

But critics say Warfali should not be selling his possessions. "The ring does not belong to Gaddafi. It's Libyan money and this guy should not sell the ring," said one person, who posted his comments on a Facebook wall for residents of the town of Zintan, where Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam is being held.
Saif was arrested in November last year, but has not yet been handed over to the transitional government or the International Criminal Court for trial.
Another Facebook user said, "Well you can sell Saif for 20 billion dollars, if you do not want the guy to sell the ring." There remains tensions in the country in the wake of Gaddafi's death as militias continue to jostle for power.

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Anonymous gain access to FBI and Scotland Yard hacking call

The hackers published a video of the call on YouTube

Hacking network Anonymous has released a recording of a conference call between the FBI and UK police in which they discuss efforts against hackers.

The call, said to have taken place last month, covers the tracking of Anonymous and similar groups, dates of planned arrests and details of evidence held.
Anonymous also published an email, apparently from the FBI, showing the email addresses of call participants.
The FBI and Scotland Yard confirmed the leak and said they were investigating.
It also emerged on Friday that hackers linked to Anonymous had accessed the websites of several US law enforcement agencies and that of the Greek justice ministry.
 
'Email intercept'

The FBI said in a statement: "The information was intended for law enforcement officers only and was illegally obtained. A criminal investigation is under way to identify and hold accountable those responsible."

London's Metropolitan Police's central e-crime unit said the matter was being investigated but that no operational risks had been identified.
It was unclear how Anonymous had managed to obtain the recording but a lawyer for one of the suspects discussed told the BBC it appeared to have been taken as an audiofile from an intercepted email, rather than having been eavesdropped on.
A comment on one of the Twitter accounts linked to Anonymous, AnonymousIRC, said: "The FBI might be curious how we're able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now."
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says the recording, which was published on YouTube, will be highly embarrassing for the cyber crime detectives.
At one point an FBI agent thanks the Metropolitan police for their help with investigations, to which the British detective replies: "We're here to help. We've cocked things up in the past, we know that."

Analysis

Leo Kelion Technology reporter

While it now appears that the FBI-Scotland Yard conference call was obtained through an intercepted email recording, recent research does suggest it is possible for hackers to intercept communications systems once thought secure.
Earlier this week, two researchers from Germany's Ruhr University Bochum announced they had reverse engineered two of the secret ciphers used to encode calls made by satellite phones. The pair said the devices - used in military campaigns and natural disaster areas - used algorithms that were "considerably weaker" than what was available elsewhere.
Another noted security researcher, Karsten Nohl, told a conference he had generated a code book which allowed calls made on mobiles using the GSM standard to be decrypted.
One solution is to make VoIP (voice over internet protocol) calls using the latest encryption techniques. But such conversations only remain safe if any recordings are similarly encrypted and the decryption codes safely guarded.

The FBI said in a statement: "The information was intended for law enforcement officers only and was illegally obtained. A criminal investigation is under way to identify and hold accountable those responsible."

London's Metropolitan Police's central e-crime unit said the matter was being investigated but that no operational risks had been identified.
It was unclear how Anonymous had managed to obtain the recording but a lawyer for one of the suspects discussed told the BBC it appeared to have been taken as an audiofile from an intercepted email, rather than having been eavesdropped on.
A comment on one of the Twitter accounts linked to Anonymous, AnonymousIRC, said: "The FBI might be curious how we're able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now."
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner says the recording, which was published on YouTube, will be highly embarrassing for the cyber crime detectives.
At one point an FBI agent thanks the Metropolitan police for their help with investigations, to which the British detective replies: "We're here to help. We've cocked things up in the past, we know that."
'Attention seeker'
According to the alleged leaked email, the 17-minute phone call took place on 17 January.
The email was sent to law enforcement officials in the US, UK, Sweden, Ireland and other countries, inviting them to "discuss the on-going investigations related to Anonymous, Lulzsec, Antisec, and other associated splinter groups".
The recording features the voices of about five men, apparently speaking from London, Los Angeles and Washington.

What is Anonymous?

Anonymous describes itself as an "internet gathering". The term is used to describe a collective of people who come together online, commonly to stage a protest.
The groups vary in size and make-up depending on the cause. Members often identify themselves in web videos by wearing the Guy Fawkes masks popularised by the book and film V for Vendetta.
Its protests often take the form of disrupting websites and services.
Its use of the term Anonymous comes from a series of websites frequented by members, such as the anarchic image board 4Chan.
These allow users to post without having to register or provide a name. As a result, their comments are tagged "Anonymous".
In the past, groups have staged high-profile protests against plans by the Australian government to filter the internet and the Church of Scientology.
Many Anonymous protests tackle issues of free speech and preserving the openness of the net.

They begin with light-hearted conversation but move on to discussing the names of some of the people being tracked and their plans for legal action.

The online pseudonyms of suspects are included in the recording, but some of the real names appear to have been bleeped out.
Among those discussed are several British men accused of being behind cyber attacks in the US and UK, including Jake Davis and Ryan Cleary who were arrested last year.
The British detectives discuss delaying some arrests while US investigations are being carried out.
The police also refer to a 15-year-old who claims to have been behind an attack on online gaming site Steam last year, where the identities and credit card details of tens of thousands of users were accessed.
"He's a 15-year-old who's basically just doing this all for attention," says the British detective.
Anonymous is a loose collective of hackers, anarchists and pranksters which has targeted the websites of a range of governments, companies, law enforcement agencies and individuals in recent years.
Also on Friday, Anonymous claimed credit for an attack on a police website in the US city of Boston. A message posted on the site said it had been hacked several months ago in response to "police brutality" towards the Occcupy Wall Street movement.
This followed another attack on a police website in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, where officials say personal information on informants, crimes and residents were accessed.
Hackers operating under the Anonymous name also took over the website of Greece's justice ministry on Friday, prompting officials to take the site down.
The hackers said the action was a protest against Greece's signing of a global copyright treaty and the government's handling of the economic crisis.
The website was replaced with a video of a figure wearing the symbolic white mask of Anonymous supporters, saying: "Democracy was given birth in your country but you have killed it."

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PTI Facebook Pages Hacked, Millions of Fans Lost

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s more than 30 fan pages were hacked today in a single go, costing the political party millions of fans go wasted.
No one has taken the responsibility for this massive hack down of PTI’s facebook fan pages.
Citing President of the Insaf Students Federation in Karachi, Arsalan Ghumman, The Express Tribune reported that the official Facebook pages of PTI leader Imran Khan, the student wing Insaf Students Federation, and several, more including that of Dr. Alvi were hacked into and hidden from the public’s eye.
“The pages were hijacked at 3 pm on Friday. We are in touch with the Facebook authorities to recover them,” he said.
On other hands Facebook is notorious for taking such cases non-seriously.
Reportedly, hacker first cracked the gmail id of Mr. Imran Ghazali, the web manager of PTI social media team before cracking into facebook pages of political party.
It is unclear so far if pages were deleted or are kept private (hidden from public) by the hacker.
If not recovered, this is going to be a big blow PTI’s short term plans. This incident yet again reminds us that we are living in a country without cyber law..
 

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Beating England 3-0 will be big, says Misbah

Misbah-ul Haq attends a practice session at The Dubai International Cricket Stadium

[© AFP]

Captain Misbah-ul Haq believes routing world number one England 3-0 will be a big achievement but stressed his team will not take that extra pressure into the third and final Test starting here from Friday.

No team has ever registered a clean sweep in the 58 years of Pakistan-England cricket and Misbah's team has a good chance of creating history after their comprehensive ten wicket win in the first Test and by 72 runs in the second.

England, who will also be in danger of losing their world's top rankings if they lose here, will have to find a quick solution to counter Pakistani spinners Saeed Ajmal (17 wickets) and left-armer Abdul Rehman who has 12 in two matches.

Misbah said Pakistan will look for an encore in the third Test.

"It will be a big achievement for the team (winning 3-0)," said Misbah of the clean sweep which Pakistan last achieved against Bangladesh at home in 2003, while their last against a top Test nation was beating West Indies 3-0 in 1997.

"The way the team is performing with consistency, if we play well like we did in the first two games good results will come but we will not take that extra pressure (of clean sweep)," said 37-year-old Misbah.

Since taking over as captain in the aftermath of spot-fixing scandal during which Pakistan lost 3-1 to England in 2010, Misbah has led Pakistan to eight wins with one defeat and five draws.

Misbah said England were still a good team and winning the last Test will not be easy.

"No doubt, England is a good team, they are number one in the world and it will not be easy because they will be more prepared, but we will try our best," said Misbah, who praised Ajmal and Rehman.

Ajmal took a career best 7-55 in the first Test here and Rehman registered his best 6-25 in the second in Abu Dhabi, feats which Misbah said were extraordinary.

"I think both have been bowling well for quite some time now and they create pressure on the batsmen and never give any opportunity to let them out of that and on top of that England batsmen were low on confidence," said Misbah.

Misbah hinted about keeping the same combination, although Pakistan have the option of using the bench player in paceman Wahab Riaz in place of Junaid Khan.

"I am a firm believer in the balance of the team because the first priority is to win and I think we will go with whatever is the best combination for the team," said Misbah, predicting the Dubai stadium pitch will help batsmen more than in the first Test.

England captain Andrew Strauss admitted the key would be countering Pakistan's spinners.

"That's one of the crucial things about playing spin, you have to adapt your game according to the surfaces you play on. I am very optimistic, you'll see people a bit clearer in what their gameplan is and how they are looking to play, which is a good starting point," said Strauss.

"These conditions are slightly different, so it's more about adapting your game to the conditions than going right back to square one and saying 'right, I need to change everything'. That's a dangerous route to go down.

"It's a setback (2-0 down) in the sense that we didn't want it to happen, and we didn't want to lose a series. But that's gone, finished - and in some ways, maybe it's a good lesson for us that if you're five percent off your game against the majority of sides you're going to come unstuck."

"We desperately want to avoid losing the series 3-0; we desperately want to come back and show we're better than we have shown so far in the series. I think there's a feeling among the whole squad that we can and should come back and do that."

Strauss added that middle-order batsman Ian Bell was fit after suffering stomach problem which forced him to miss practice on Wednesday.

The only question remaining is whether England will play with two spinners or drop one from Graeme Swann or Monty Panesar.

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Wi-Fi Service, Cellphone Headed for More Subway Stations

 Wall Street Journal

By Ted Mann

Rob Bennett for The Wall Street Journal

Subway travelers have been able to used cellphones in the C, E line station at Eighth Avenue and 23rd Street since September. Cell service is scheduled for 30 more stations this year.

Cellphone service will arrive at 30 additional subway stations in 2012, including Times Square and Rockefeller Center, broadening access to include much of Midtown, the firm conducting the improvements said this week.
Transit Wireless, which launched cell service in six stations on 14th and 23rd Streets in September, is working to extend cellphone access to the 30 new stations this summer. Construction is slated to begin in April, a spokesman said.
Among the stations scheduled to be wired for cell service this year are those at Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Columbus Circle and stations along 96th Street. A full list of the new locations is below.
The stations would come online in groups of five or six at a time, beginning in July or August, said Patrick Smith, spokesman for Transit Wireless.
Transit Wireless has negotiated deals with AT&T and T-Mobile to provide cell coverage in the subways, and negotiations with other wireless carriers for access to its underground system is ongoing, the company said.
The company also plans to announce the launch of free wireless Internet access in six subway stations within the next several weeks, said Smith. The wi-fi access would be free to subway passengers, and paid for through a sponsorship arrangement still under negotiation.
The MTA has previously estimated the cost of wiring all 271 subway stations in the transit system at roughly $200 million, a cost being borne entirely by Transit Wireless. Transit Wireless and MTA will share proceeds of the company’s contracts with wireless carriers, MTA officials have said, with a minimum annual payment to the transit system of $3.3 million once the cellphone network is complete.
“Bringing wireless service into our underground subway system reinforces the MTA’s effort to use technology to improve customer convenience that allows them to stay in touch with friends, relatives and business contacts,” said Kevin Ortiz, a spokesman for the MTA. “And by having access to real-time service status updates while underground, riders can better navigate the system.”
Meanwhile, the MTA announced the winners of its App Quest contest, in which software developers built applications to display subway data and schedules on smart phones. The winning app, called EmbarkNYC, features GPS navigation, street and subway system maps, and a trip planning feature that doesn’t require a cell phone signal to be operational.
A list of the contest winners is at the MTA’s contest website.
Stations scheduled to begin cell phone service in 2012:
1, 2, 3 station, W. 96th Street & Broadway
1 station, W. 86th Street & Broadway
1 station, W. 79th Street & Broadway
1, 2, 3 station, W. 72nd Street & Broadway
1 station, W. 66th Street & Broadway
1 station, Columbus Circle, W. 59th Street & Broadway
1 station, W. 50th Street & Broadway
1, 2, 3 station, Times Square, W. 42nd Street & Broadway
1 station, 7th Ave. & W. 28th Street 1 station, 7th Ave. & W. 23rd Street
1 station, 7th Ave. & W. 18th Street
B, C station, West 96th Street & Central Park West
B, C station, West 86th Street & Central Park West
B, C station, West 81st Street & Central Park West
B, C station, West 72nd Street & Central Park West
A, B, C, D station, Columbus Circle, W. 59th Street & Broadway
B, D, E station, 7th Ave. & W. 53rd Street
C, E station, 8th Ave. & W. 50th Street
B, D, F, M station, Rockefeller Center, 6th Ave. and W. 47-50th Streets
A, C, E station, Times Square, 8th Ave. & W. 42nd Street
N, Q, R station, 5th Ave. & W.59th Street
N, Q, R station, 7th Ave. & W. 57th Street
N, Q, R station, 7th Ave. & W. 49th Street
N, Q, R station, Times Square, W. 42nd Street & Broadway
R station, W. 28th Street & Broadway
R station, Madison Square, W. 23rd Street & Broadway
7 station, Times Square, W. 42nd Street & Broadway
Shuttle, Times Square, W. 42nd Street & Broadway
F station, 6th Ave. & 57th Street
E, M station, 5th Ave. & 53rd Street
Stations with existing cell phone coverage:
A, C, E station at Eighth Avenue and West 14th Street
L station at Eighth Avenue and West 14th Street
C, E station at Eighth Avenue and West 23rd Street
1, 2, 3 station at Seventh Avenue and West 14th Street
F, M station at Sixth Avenue and West 14th Street
L station at Sixth Avenue and West 14th Street

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US TODAY: Slain border agent's family files $25M claim against U.S.

PHOENIX -- The family of slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry filed a $25 million wrongful death claim Wednesday against the federal government, saying he was killed because U.S. investigators allowed murder weapons into the hands of criminals.

Terry died Dec. 14, 2010, when his special-operations unit got into a shootout with border bandits in a remote canyon area near Rio Rico. At the scene, investigators found two AK-47s that were traced back to a gun-smuggling probe by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Congressional investigations and Department of Justice records have since revealed that ATF agents allowed as many as 1,400 guns to be transported into Mexico, and that the AK-47s were purchased by a known firearms trafficker. The so-called "gun-walking" strategy used in Operation Fast and Furious remains the subject of inquiries by Congress and the Department of Justice's inspector general.

• STORY: Justice, House GOP tangle over Fast and Furious

In the civil claim, which is a required legal step prior to the filing of a lawsuit, Terry's family says federal agents were not only negligent, but acted "in violation of ATF's own policies and procedures."

"The murder of Agent Terry and other acts of violent crimes were the natural consequence of ATF's decision to let dangerous weapons designed to kill human beings 'walk' into the hands of violent drug-trafficking gangs," says the claim, filed by Phoenix attorneys Patrick McGroder III and Lincoln Combs.

The 65-page document was filed on behalf of Terry's parents, Josie and Kent Terry Sr., as well as surviving siblings. In it, family members criticize federal authorities for attempting to cover up the flawed strategy in Fast and Furious, and its connection with Brian Terry's death.

The claim says family members met in March 2011 with former U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, who resigned amid the scandal. The claim alleges he incorrectly said that guns found at the scene were from a store in Texas, and that the fatal bullet would never be found even though it was recovered during an autopsy.

"Burke hemmed and hawed, bobbed and weaved, refused to give straight answers, and flat-out lied about when he knew about Brian's death and Operation Fast and Furious," the family alleges.

The claim contains poetry, dozens of family photographs, lyrics from Terry's favorite songs and a detailed account of his life. In explanation of the $25 million demand, it concludes: "The love and companionship of a beloved son, warrior and American hero like Brian is impossible to quantify, but it is worth at least that much."

Wagner also reports for The Arizona Republic.

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Miami Herald to occupy a Memphis-owned building

A Memphis-based commercial real estate firm is exchanging one high-profile tenant in Miami for another, from the U.S. Southern Command headquarters to the Miami Herald.
The Miami Herald Media Company has signed a lease for the 158,000-square-foot building SMPO Properties built and opened in Doral in 1997 for $40 million.
The newspaper will move its business and news staffs of more than 700 people 12 miles inland from its longtime headquarters on the Atlantic in Downtown Miami to the affluent Doral suburb.
SMPO, owned by Oscar Seelbinder, built the building. GPA-I, a special-purpose business entity created for the project, took ownership and leased it to the Southern Command until the military moved out last August.
The Southern Command oversees military activity in South and Central America during crisis situations and disasters.
Seelbinder is also a partner in GPA-I with fellow Memphians including Jerry Sklar, an attorney; Ron Sklar, a builder-developer; and John H. Montgomery, who splits his time between Memphis and Chicago.
The Herald had been hunting for a new home. Newspaper publisher McClatchy Co., which owns the Miami Herald, sold the Herald’s seaside headquarters eight months ago for $236 million with the agreement the paper could stay rent-free for up to two years.
The Herald signed a 15-year lease for the two-story office building and nine acres. GPA also sold an adjacent six acres where the Herald will build a 120,000-square-foot production facility.
The Miami Herald lease isn’t the only big deal landed recently by SMPO, which is headquartered at 5858 Ridgeway Center Parkway in East Memphis.
Just before the Herald lease, SMPO completed a deal with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lease for 20 years a 45,000-square-foot laboratory building in Los Angeles.
“It’s the second-largest lab the USDA will have in the United States,” Seelbinder said. “The value of the lab is more valuable than the property leased to the Herald.”
SMPO was founded in 1984. It’s a comprehensive commercial real estate firm and what Seelbinder describes as a “merchant builder.’’
“You build things and then you sell them,” Seelbinder explained.
It began by building and leasing out post office buildings. SMPO has built more than 150 of them.
But the company also has built a CVS pharmacy, AutoZone stores, four FedEx facilities ranging from 115,000 to 575,000 square feet, and Captain D’s restaurants.
SMPO has sold the vast majority of the nearly 200 properties it has built over the years across 40 states, Seelbinder said.
“We only have a couple left,” he said. “It’s difficult to hold on when people offer prices. In merchant building, you put up property that’s income-producing. In essence, somebody will pay us more than we feel it’s worth and we sell it.”
In addition to developing, SMPO is a commercial real estate broker of government leased and credit-rated tenant transactions. The combined value of its brokered deals over the years exceeds $500 million.
SMPO also manages property, and as SMPO Financial, LLC, it even structures commercial real estate loans of $750,000 to more than $100 million.
Despite its successes and longevity, SMPO doesn’t seem that well known.
“There’s never been an importance placed on being in the public eye,’’ Seelbinder said.
“The primary business we do has more to do with public bids to government, and relationships with credit tenants. It just never has seemed important to have publicity.”

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