Jose Maria [sic?] Aznar Under Fire Over Attempt to Secure US Congressional Medal
THE TELEGRAPH: The former Spanish prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar, is facing accusations that he used £2 million of public funds in an attempt to "buy" the US Congressional Gold Medal.

The Conservative premier, who held office between 1996 and 2004 during which time he supported the US-led war in Iraq, is under investigation for claims he hired lobbyists to push US lawmakers to award him their highest civilian honour.

Spain's national Court of Auditors announced it would investigate whether payments made to Washington law firm Piper Rudnick during Aznar's term in office constituted wrongdoing.

Mr Aznar authorised 2.3 million euros in payments to the lobbyists ostensibly to "assist the Government of Spain in closer relations with the United States".

But it is alleged that the primary aim was to run a PR campaign that would secure the highest recognition for the Spanish leader with the award of Congressional Gold medal. >>> Fiona Govan in Madrid | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

What Took You So Long, Gord? Gordon Brown: 'Immigrants Must Honour British Values'
TIMES ONLINE: Immigrants who refuse to honour British values are unwelcome, Gordon Brown said today as he pledged to do more to meet the concerns of the “mainstream majority”.

Mr Brown said he agreed that it was unfair if newcomers took advantage of Britain’s freedoms without making a fair contribution in return.

But his attempt to meet voter concerns over immigration was undermined when he was criticised by the chairman of the national statistics watchdog for exaggerating the fall in migrant numbers.

Sir Michael Scholar said that the Prime Minister had used details in his weekend podcast that were “not comparable” when claiming a recent big fall in net inward migration.

Mr Brown conceded the point today, but stuck to his theme, saying that migrant numbers had fallen by tens of thousands in the past two years.

He defended Labour’s recent record on immigration as he sought to draw the sting from a potentially inflammatory campaign issue. >>> Roland Watson, Political Editor | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Blue: Best In Me

Come hither, ya habibati! O hibbuki! Photo: Google Images
Sharia-compliant, Halal Sexual Fantasies! Online Sex Shop a Hit with Muslims
THE TELEGRAPH: An online sex shop for Muslims has been launched in the Netherlands to tap into a demand for erotica that does not offend Sharia law.

"We had about 70,000 hits in the first four days," Abdelaziz Aouragh, the founder of El Asira, said. The site went online last week and claims to be the world's first erotic webshop for Muslims.

The 29-year-old Dutch national said it targets married Muslim couples as an alternative to sites "that focus on pornography and the extravagant side of erotica" - things forbidden in Islam.

The home page of El Asira, which means "Society" in Arabic, is a sober black and grey street with a line down the centre, inviting women to enter on the left and men on the right.

Once inside, clients can browse in Dutch, Arabic or English through more than a dozen products, mainly massage oils, lubricants and tablets that claim to act as aphrodisiacs.

All ingredients are halal, or "permissible under Islam", said Mr Aouragh, and conspicuously absent is any type of pornography. >>> | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

El Asira’s First Muslim Halal Online Sex Shop
AFRIK.COM: Abdelaziz Aouragh, a 29-year old Dutch-Moroccan and a practicing Muslim, has launched El Asira, a rather unlikely, if not daring, enterprise in the Netherlands. It is the first halal "sex shop". The question is whether the concept, which is raising many eye brows, will be accepted by an increasing skeptical niche market.

Sensual stimulants, organic lubricating gels, pure power capsules for men or women ... El Asira, the first halal sex shop made in the Netherlands has opened its doors. Solely available on the Internet, the shop was inaugurated March 24 by Abdelaziz Aouragh, a 29-year old Dutch-Moroccan Muslim.

Halal? Really? Yes, says the young entrepreneur. "There is even a fatwa (religious decree, editor’s note) on the subject," he says. The fatwa was given after he contacted a local imam who in turn consulted with a Saudi Sheikh who gave his blessing, provided that the products are used, strictly, within the context of marriage.

The product range is diverse, from "Lovpil" capsules, to fight against everyday stress that "may affect sexual energy and pleasure", to "Gel Max", a lubricating gel that promises greater "sexual performance". Jewelry and lingerie will soon be added to their range of products. >>> Shahinez Benabed | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

New Sex Shop is a Sensation Among Muslims: Despite Their Conservative Views, Muslims Flock to Sex Shop Website
abcNEWS/INTERNATIONAL: The mere mention of sex in Egypt's relatively conservative society is forbidden or ''haram,'' the word used when something is deemed un-Islamic, or considered to be unholy. Even trying to conduct a search online with the word ''sex'' in the title leads you to a dead end stating, ''This URL or Page has been blocked.''

So how would Egyptians react to a new website selling erotic aids aimed at Muslims? Set up in the Netherlands the site has become an worldwide hit with 70,000 visits and counting in its first week of going live.

The website, ''El Asira,'' which means ''society'' in Arabic, was launched by Abdelaziz Aouragh, a Moroccan Muslim living in Amsterdam along with his business partner Stefan Delsink. Aouragh told AFP that "everybody is talking about Islam in a negative way," adding that "I am trying to get something positive out of the dark."

The online shop boasts products such as sensual stimulators for him and her and lubricants based on cocoa butter, water or silicon, all of which are ingredients that are ''halal," permissible or lawful in Islam.

"I knew that Muslims do have a need for sex products." Aouragh said. >>> Lama Hasan | Undated

Related:

NRC HANDELSBLAD INTERNATIONAL: Online Islamic Sex-shop Opens for Business >>> Hanina Ajarai and Joke Mat | Friday, March 19, 2010

Omar bin Laden Speaks Out
THE TELEGRAPH: Omar bin Laden was being groomed as ‘the chosen one’ by his notorious father Osama. Now the favourite son has turned his back on jihadism. But is he really the agent of peace he claims to be?

Omar bin Laden during a dinner party he and his wife Zaina held at his horse ranch near Cairo on September 11, 2008. Photo: The Telegraph
It is after midnight when Osama bin Laden’s fourth-born son, Omar, leads me into a nightclub called Les Caves de Boys in the centre of Damascus.

He brushes past the two heavyset Syrian thugs at the door and picks a booth in the back.

A dozen or so wealthy Arab men are drinking whiskey and watching Russian strippers put on a show – tame by Western standards, but as Omar sips a 7 Up, he follows their every move with boyish wonder. Russian women, he tells me, are the most beautiful in the world.

As a teenager in the mountains of Tora Bora, Omar had been his father’s chosen successor, the favoured son meant to lead al-Qaeda and carry on global jihad.

Then, in 2001, a few months before Osama bin Laden was to become the world’s most wanted man, Omar abandoned his father’s compound in Afghanistan. He left behind almost certain death for this: the world, Les Caves de Boys, life.

Past two in the morning, a statuesque dancer emerges for the grand finale. Dressed in a red rhinestone bra and panties, with a black shimmy belt and an ostrich-feather crown, she gyrates her hips as Omar watches, mesmerised.

‘Thank God my father doesn’t run the world,’ Omar grins.

To Omar, Osama bin Laden is neither a jihadist nor a mass murderer – he is a lost man, a fanatical father who withheld his love, beat and betrayed his children, and destroyed his family chasing his fantasy of becoming a latter-day prophet. >>> Guy Lawson | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

THE GUARDIAN: Osama bin Laden's Son: Why I Refused to Follow in My Father's Footsteps >>> Mark Tran | Wednesday, November 18, 2009

German Bishop Accused of Hitting Children with Carpet Beater
THE TELEGRAPH: A close friend and ally of Pope Benedict XVI has been accused of regularly beating children in his care.

Bishop Walter Mixa of Augsburg is facing claims he flogged and hit former pupils at a Catholic orphanage in Germany 30 years ago.

The Bishop, who was appointed by the Pope in 2005, is a controversial figure who has tried to explain paedophilia in the Church by claiming the sexual liberation movement must share a "significant" part of the blame.

He is accused of using a carpet beater on the bare skin of boys and girls as he screamed: "Satan is in you and I must drive him out."

Five alleged victims from the orphanage, in the village of Schrobenhausen, have claimed he also used a stick, a wooden cookery spoon and, when that broke, his fists.

Nuns of the Mallersdorf order who worked for him at the at the St. Josef children's home in Schrobenhausen also hit the children with "wooden brooms, wooden shoes, and clothing hangers," they said.

Hildegard Sedlmair, now 48, claimed she was beaten by him when she was 15. >>> Allan Hall in Berlin and Nick Pisa in Rome | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Der «Emir vom Kaukasus» soll der Drahtzieher des Blutbades sein: Russland jagt diesen Grössen-Wahnsinnigen
BLICK.ch: MOSKAU – Er ist ein Islamist, ein Warlord und ein Grössenwahnsinniger: Nach dem Blutbad in Moskau machen Putin und Medwedew Jagd auf Doku Umarow (45), den mutmasslichen Drahtzieher. Wann sprengt er ein Flugzeug?

Doku Umarow: Der Rebellenführer will sich den Kaukasus Untertan machen. Bild: Blick.ch
Doku Umarow drohte schon im Februar: «Blut wird nicht mehr nur in unseren Städten fliessen, der Krieg wird in ihre Städte kommen.» Und er warnte vor explodierenden Zügen und Flugzeugen.

Jetzt ist die Prophezeihung wahr geworden: Im November fanden 26 Menschen nach einer Explosion in einem Schnellzug den Tod. Bei den zwei Selbstmord-Anschlägen von vorgestern im Zentrum Moskaus starben 39 Menschen, über 60 wurden verletzt. Wann erwischen Umarows Handlanger ein Flugzeug?

Putin und Medwedew haben den Islamisten aus dem Kaukasus nach dem Blutbad auf der «Roten Linie» zum «Staatsfeind Nummer 1» erklärt. Im Fadenkreuz der russischen Geheimdienste ist der Tschetschene aber schon länger, wie «Der Kurier» schreibt. Traum vom kaukasischen Reich >>> Von Christian Bischoff | Mittwoch. 31. März 2010

Amir Dokka Umarov: "There Are Thousands of Mujahideen …

Wütender Präsident: Sarkozy nimmt schöner Ex-Ministerin Dienstwagen weg
BLICK.ch: PARIS – Sie war der Star seines Kabinetts. Jetzt ist Sarkozys Ex-Ministerin Rachida Dati bös in Ungnade gefallen: Der Präsident entzog über Nacht ihr Dienstwagen, Bodyguards und Handy.

Früher war sie seine Justizministerin, ein Star im Kabinett. Als Maghreb-stämmige Französin verschaffte Rachida Dati dem französischen Präsident auch Sympathien bei den Einwanderern.

Doch als Sarkozy kürzlich an Abend im TV seine schöne Ex-Ministerin und jetzige Europaabgeordnete bei einem Auftritt sah, wurde er fuchsteufelswild, wie «Le Canard Enchaîné» berichtet: «Was macht die denn da?», habe er sich empört. «Im Wahlkampf hat man nichts von ihr gehört, und jetzt stellt sie sich vor die Kameras!»

Sarko fackelte nicht lang und griff zum Telefon«Noch in derselben Stunde» musste der Leiter der Polizei Datis Wagen samt Fahrer und den drei Leibwächter entziehen. Im Umfeld der konservativen Politikerin hiess es, ob die Anordnung von Sarkozy gekommen sei, sei unklar. «Klar ist, dass es eine Entscheidung des Innenministeriums war.» Letzte Fahrt vom Studio nach Hause >>> SDA/bih | Mittwoch, 31. März 2010

Rachida Dati Blamed for Sarkozy Affairs Rumours
THE TELEGRAPH: Former French cabinet star, Rachida Dati, has had her government security team withdrawn after being blamed for spreading rumours about the state of Nicolas Sarkozy’s marriage.

Rachida Dati. Photograph: the Telegraph
The president is said to believe his former justice minister, now an MEP, started talk that his wife was having an affair with Benjamin Biolay, a pop singer, while he was seeing his ecology minister, Chantal Jouanno.

She has now been deprived her of her chauffeur-driven limousine and three bodyguards in mysterious circumstances.

Mr Sarkozy has dismissed the affair allegations as idiotic “rantings” but is said to be privately bent on finding out who was behind them.

It is understood he took “retaliatory action” against Miss Dati, 44, the night his ruling Right-wing UMP party suffered a drubbing in the first round of regional elections on March 14.

The president was sitting at the Elysée Palace watching the fallout from his electoral debacle on the television, when Miss Dati appeared on France 2 — the French BBC1— and appeared to criticise his strategy.

Mr Sarkozy suddenly saw red, not simply because of her mild criticism, but because he suspects the former justice minister of spreading, or even starting, rumours about the state of his marriage.

He is understood to have instantly picked up the phone and ordered Frédéric Péchenard, France’s national police chief, to cut off Miss Dati’s limousine graciously provided by the interior ministry, her driver and police bodyguards “within the hour”. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Les députés belges veulent interdire le voile intégral
Femme portant le niqab, un "voile intégral" qui ne laisse voir que les yeux. Photo : Le Monde
LE MONDE: Les députés belges membres de la commission de l'intérieur de la Chambre ont approuvé à l'unanimité, mercredi 31 mars, une proposition de loi visant à interdire le port de la burqa dans les lieux publics.

Ce texte doit être approuvé prochainement en séance publique mais, selon ses auteurs, il marque déjà une importante première dans un pays européen. "Nous devons ressentir de la fierté d'oser faire cette démarche alors qu'il y a aussi des débats en France, en Suisse, en Italie", a expliqué le député Denis Ducarme, membre du Mouvement réformateur (libéral francophone).

Le texte n'évoque pas explicitement la burqa ou le niqab. Il parle de "tout vêtement cachant totalement ou de manière principale le visage". Si la personne qui porte un tel vêtement n'est plus identifiable, elle sera punie d'une amende ou d'un emprisonnement (de 1 à 7 jours).

La notion d'"espace public" évoquée par le texte recouvre les trottoirs, les accotements, les passages aériens et souterrains pour piétons, les parcs, les jardins publics, les terrains de sport, les aires de jeu, les bâtiments à vocation culturelle accessibles au public et les bâtiments des services publics. >>> Bruxelles, correspondant | Mercredi 31 Mars 2010

LE MONDE: Débat sur le voile intégral : où en sont nos voisins ? >>> | Dimanche 28 Mars 2010

Al hamdu lillah! Belgium Moves to Ban the Burqa
TIMES ONLINE: The face-covering veil is set to be banned within weeks in Belgium, making it the first country in Europe to make the wearing of Muslim clothing illegal.

Women who flout the ban will face from one to seven days in jail or a fine of 15 to 25 euros.

While President Sarkozy is encountering obstacles to his plans to outlaw the face-covering niqab in France, Belgium's main parties are united behind the move and the influential home affairs committee voted for it unanimously today.

A vote in the full Belgian parliament is expected on April 22 and a "yes" vote seems assured given the political consensus.

"Wearing the burqa in public is not compatible with an open, liberal, tolerant society," said MP Daniel Bacquelaine, from a French-speaking centre right party who proposed the bill.

"The burqa is contrary to the dignity of women. It is a walking prison."

He added: "We cannot allow someone to claim the right to look at others without being seen.

"It is necessary that the law forbids the wearing of clothes that totally mask and encloses an individual."

Denis Ducarme MP, also from the centre-right Reform Movement, added: "This is a very strong signal that is being sent to Islamists. I am proud that Belgium would be the first country in Europe which dares to legislate on this sensitive matter." >>> David Charter, Brussels | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Mission Destruction: Obama Opens Up East Coast for Oil Drilling
The President is due to announce his plans later today in scheduled remarks on "energy security". Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: President Obama will today announce plans to open huge swaths of the US coastline to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time.

The affected areas include 167 million acres (259,000 square miles) of ocean along the vast Atlantic coastline as well as eastern parts of the Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska.

The proposals, which Mr Obama is due to announce later today at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington in scheduled remarks on "energy security", are designed to reduce America's dependence on imported oil.

But The New York Times said it was far from clear whether they would achieve their more immediate political aim: winning crucial Republican support for energy and climate change legislation due to go before the Senate in the next few weeks.

"While Mr Obama has staked out middle ground on other environmental matters — supporting nuclear power, for example — the sheer breadth of the offshore drilling decision will take some of his supporters aback," the newspaper reported.

"And it is no sure thing that it will win support for a climate bill from undecided senators close to the oil industry, like Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, or Mary L Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana."

The proposals would end a longstanding moratorium on East Coast exploration for natural resources, a move that would please oil companies but is likely to outrage environmental groups and residents of coastal areas. >>> Times Online | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Obama to Open Offshore Areas to Oil Drilling for First Time >>> John M. Broder | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

General Election 2010: Gordon Brown Warns Against Immigration 'Scaremongering'
THE TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown has warned political parties against ''scaremongering'' about immigration in the general election campaign.



In a major speech on immigration in east London, the PM acknowledged it was ''legitimate'' for voters to express anxiety about the numbers of incomers and their impact on their public services and lifestyles, and said politicians must address these concerns.

But he said that net inward migration to the UK was in fact coming down and that no mainstream party was advocating shutting the country's doors to newcomers altogether.

He urged the major parties to present ''a united front'' against those who would ''bring down the shutters around Britain entirely''.

The real choice for voters on immigration at the election was between Labour's points-based system, designed to restrict non-EU entrants to those with in-demand skills, and Conservative plans for an annual cap on migrants, said Mr Brown. >>> | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Immigration Comes At Hefty Price
NRC HANDELSBLAD INTERNATIONAL : Immigrants are expensive for Dutch society, but few people want to say it out loud for fear of the consequences, a study by a Dutch scientist has found.

The economic effects of immigration have become a hot-button issue in Dutch politics. The mere mention of the subject is often greeted with suspicion and loathing. But that didn’t stop scholar Jan van de Beek from writing his doctoral thesis on the issue. In his PhD research, which he defended at the University of Amsterdam on Tuesday, he answered two related questions: what kind of economic consequences did mass immigration to the Netherlands between 1960 and 2005 have, and why is it such a taboo to study the economic effects of these immigrants?

Van de Beek has come to conclusions the Netherlands may not like. Since the 1970s, little research has been done into the economic effects of immigration, for fear of playing into the hand of the xenophobic right. As recently as last year, populist politician Geert Wilders asked the Dutch cabinet to calculate the net costs or benefits imposed on society by immigrants. Cabinet refused to do so, which led to uproar amongst several opposition parties. The minister responsible called it “improper” to reduce citizens’ contribution to society “to a profit-loss analysis”.

The reluctance to study the matter has done well to conceal some unpleasant facts, Van de Beek claims. For one, the Dutch policy of recruiting workers from outside of Europe in the 1960s needlessly delayed the modernisation of Dutch industry. As the Dutch economy was modernised in the 1980s, many immigrants were laid off and became dependent on welfare. Even today, the Dutch welfare state mainly attracts immigrants that impose a net cost on the Dutch economy, Van de Beek found.

Van de Beek is a mathematician and a cultural anthropologist. He is interested in social problems and has a soft spot for numbers. “In 1999, I was writing my master’s thesis about Dutch asylum policy,” he said in an interview. “I wanted to devote a chapter to the economic aspects of the matter, because the asylum debate centres mostly on numbers. To my surprise, I couldn’t find any sources. Filling this gap became the subject of my doctoral research.” 43,000 euros per immigrant >>> Dirk Vlasblom | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Net Is Closing Around Pope Benedict XVI
NRC HANDELSBLAD INTERNATIONAL – EDITORIAL: Now that it has been revealed that the pope failed to act against the sexual abuse by clerics when he could have, he has become part of the problem.

The Dutch archbishop, Johannes Simonis, appeared on national television this week to argue that the Dutch Catholic Church had been ignorant of the massive sexual abuse that had taken place within its ranks over the last few decades. If there is one single Roman Catholic prelate who could not argue the same, it is pope Benedict XVI. Archbishop Simonis demonstrated a shocking naiveté by his choice of words. “Wir haben es nicht gewusst,” he said, German for “we didn’t know”. This phrase recalls the excuse German citizens used after the war to explain their failure to prevent atrocities committed by the Nazi regime.

Whether Simonis was telling the truth or not, the pope cannot possibly say he was unaware. In July of 1996, then cardinal Ratzinger, chief ideologist for the Vatican in his capacity as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, received a letter from the archbishop of Milwaukee in the United States. The archbishop asked Ratzinger for advice regarding two priests in his diocese who had sexually abused children in their care. One of them had done so at a school for the deaf. And ecclesiastical authorities knew of the abuse but failed to act.

Ratzinger never even bothered answering the letter. The New York Times revealed this striking example of the Vatican’s callousness and arrogance on Thursday.

The Church is hoping the matter will blow over. Papal spokesman Federico Lombardi called the case “tragic”, but said the Vatican did not learn about the case until the late 1990s. Lombardi made a splash before by going on the offence and saying sexual abuse is not exclusively committed within the Church. But the New York Times’ article goes a long way towards debunking this ‘pot calling the kettle black’ argument.

The net is closing around pope Benedict XVI. His letter to the Irish faithful last weekend was full of consoling words, but little promise of action. It was mostly political in nature and an attempt at damage control. >>> Editorial | Friday, March 26, 2010

Serbia Apologises for Srebrenica Massacre
NRC HANDELSBLAD INTERNATIONAL: The Serbian parliament passed a landmark resolution Wednesday condemning the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of over 9,000 Bosnian Muslims but stopped short of labelling the killings a genocide.

The ruling coalition of pro-Western democrats and socialists hopes to win EU and investor favour with measure, which was adopted after debate over nearly 13 hours broadcast on live television. The adoption of the text with a majority of 127 of the 173 lawmakers ends years of denial by Serbian politicians about the scale of the killings.

"We are taking a civilised step of politically responsible people, based on political conviction, for the war crime that happened in Srebrenica," said Branko Ruzic, whose socialist party was led by strongman Slobodan Milosevic during the 1990s.

According to the latest estimate by the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Bosnian Serb forces led by general Ratko Mladic killed 9,210 Bosnian Muslim men and boys after taking over the eastern enclave that was put under the UN protection. The massacre is Europe's worst atrocity since the Second World War.

Belgrade applied for European Union membership in December but must capture and send Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague before starting talks. The former general is believed to be hiding in Serbia. >>> AFP, NRC, Reuters | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

News Hub: Obama Steps Up Confrontation

The Obama-Sarkozy Love-in
MAIL ONLINE: Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Barack Obama appeared inseparable as they went to extraordinary lengths last night to defuse speculation of a chilly relationship.

Mr Obama repeatedly referred to Mr Sarkozy by his first name during the French President's first Washington visit and spoke fondly of his trip to Paris last year.

'We respect one another and understand one another,' Mr Obama said. Obama and Sarkozy can't stop smiling at each other as they agree they are 'inseparable' in their thinking over Iran >>> Mail Foreign Service | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

US School Children Warm to Chic Carla Bruni
THE INDEPENDENT: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy turned up the heat on her first trip to Washington as France's first lady, visiting a school in a poor neighbourhood and lunching at Ben's Chili Bowl.

The ex-top model later met US first lady Michelle Obama for dinner with their husbands - behind firmly closed doors in the Obamas' private residence quarters in the White House, leaving the curious guessing about how the glamorous four got along and whether their children joined them.

The White House put such a clamp on the dinner details that not even the menu was released.

Youngsters at Washington's KIPP DC charter school were over the moon at their visitor and her entourage of bodyguards and serenaded her with Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy read them a book from the Madeline series about a girl living in France - in English, which the Italian-born French first lady speaks fluently. When eighth-graders asked her about her favourite museum she responded, to their delight: "If you come to Paris I'll bring you to the Louvre and I'll show you the Mona Lisa, and then we'll go to the restaurant."

Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy, who took up a singing career after quitting the catwalk and is now active in foundations fighting illiteracy and Aids, had surprised pupils at Juilliard Music School with a visit the day before in New York. >>> Associated Press | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Blair Needs £5m to Pay for His Lairs – and His Henchmen (Poor B****** Can’t Get By On Less!)
MAIL ONLINE: Tony Blair has told friends he needs to earn at least £5million a year just to break even.

The former prime minister has been heavily criticised for cashing in on his contacts for personal gain and is thought to have made around £20million since leaving office.

But last night his former election agent John Burton claimed Mr Blair needed the astonishing annual income - and possibly much more - to pay spiralling wage bills at his growing list of companies and charities.

The revelation about his finances came as the former premier returned to the political fray with a lukewarm televised endorsement of Gordon Brown.

Mr Burton, one of Mr Blair's most loyal political friends, said: 'What I asked him was, you know he gets this criticism about what he earns. I said how many people do you employ? And he said 130.

'I mean it was 25 about two years ago and he said to me I have got to earn £5million a year to pay the wages, so God knows what he has got to earn now to pay the wages.'

Mr Burton's extraordinary claims mean average wages could be as high as £200,000 a year. And his figures suggest Mr Blair now needs to make £20million a year. Tony Blair: Why I need £5m every year just to get by >>> Jason Groves and Sam Greenhill | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

US General Apologises for Gay Dutch Troops Slur
THE TELEGRAPH: An American general has apologised for his claim that the presence of homosexual troops was responsible for the Dutch army's failure to prevent the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

John Sheehan, a former US General and Nato commander, caused outrage two weeks ago when he alleged that open homosexuality in the Dutch ranks had so damaged military morale that the country's army was powerless to prevent genocide in Bosnia.

He claimed, before a US Senate hearing, that Henk van den Breemen, the Dutch chief of the defence staff in 1995, had told him of problems related to gay troops.

"I am sorry that my public recollection of those discussions of 15 years ago inaccurately reflected your thinking on some specific social issues on the military," he wrote in a letter to the Dutch general.

Without explicitly referring to gay Dutch military, General Sheehan acknowledged that a weak United Nations mandate for troops was the problem facing peacekeepers.

"To be clear, the failure on the ground in Srebrenica was no way the fault of individual soldiers," he wrote.

A spokesperson for the Dutch Ministry of Defence said General Van den Breemen was satisfied with the apology. >>> Bruno Waterfield, in Brussels | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Related:

THE TELEGRAPH: General John Sheehan Isn't the First Bigot to Blame 'The Gays' >>> Tom Chivers | Friday, March 19, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Gay Dutch Soldiers Responsible for Srebrenica Massacre Says US General >>> The Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Friday, March 19, 2010

Anti-immigrant Support Rises as Italian Far Right Makes Big Gains in Poll
TIMES ONLINE: Regional elections see surge in votes for Northern League party, which campaigned on anti-migrant agenda

Final results from Italy's regional and local elections have confirmed a surge in support for the anti-immigrant right, mirroring similar gains recently seen in the Netherlands and France.

With Silvio Berlusconi and his allies taking four regional governorships from the left, Umberto Bossi's Northern League has emerged as the undisputed winner. The League was expected to take 13% of the national vote, up from 8% at the last general election in 2008 when it used a poster of white sheep kicking out a black one.

Bossi's party won two important governorships – Piedmont, the region around Turin, and the Veneto. In the Veneto it received a 10% higher share than the prime minister's Freedom People movement.

The League also continued its expansion into areas outside its Po valley homeland. In "red" Emilia-Romagna it won almost 14%.

The party's success fitted an emerging pattern. Earlier this month the Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, who has compared the Qur'an to Hitler's Mein Kampf, made big gains in local elections. In France Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front won nearly 10% of the vote in regional ballots. >>> John Hooper in Rome | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Scandal and the Italian Vote

Suicide Bombs Strike Southern Russia
THE NEW YORK TIMES: MAKHACHKALA, Russia -- Two suicide bombers including one impersonating a police officer killed at least 12 people and injured 18 others in the southern Russian province of Dagestan on Wednesday, officials said. Nine police officers were among the dead.

The blasts in the North Caucasus region came two days after a twin suicide bombing tore through the Moscow subway system, killing 39 people and wounding scores, and a day after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin vowed to drag terrorists ''out of the sewer.''

Dagestan borders Chechnya, where Russian troops have fought two full-scale wars against Islamic separatist rebels in the past 15 years.

In Wednesday's attacks, a suicide bomber detonated explosives in the town of Kizlyar near Dagestan's border with Chechnya, when police tried to stop the bomber's car, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said in televised comments.

''Traffic police followed the car and almost caught up -- at that time the blast hit,'' Nurgaliyev said, adding the car was heading toward the center of Kizlyar.

As investigators and residents gathered at the scene of the blast, a second bomber wearing a police uniform approached and set off explosives, killing the town's police chief among others, Nurgaliyev said. A school and police station nearby were also damaged.

Grainy cell phone video footage posted on the life.ru news portal showed the moment of the second blast, with officials wandering past a destroyed building before a loud clap rings out and smoke rises in the distance. >>> Associated Press | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Authorities Analyze Security Following Metro Blasts

RUSSIA TODAY: Authorities analyze security following Metro blasts: The first funerals of the 39 people who were killed in Monday's suicide bombings in the Moscow Metro will be held on Wednesday. Dozens of others remain in hospital, with several in a critical condition. >>> | Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Israel Lobby Presses Congress to Soften Obama's Tough Stance on Netanyahu
THE GUARDIAN: American Israel Public Affairs Committee circulates letter urging White House to 'reinforce' relationship with Israel

America's main pro-Israel lobby group is mobilising members of Congress to pressure the White House over its bitter public confrontation with Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

The move, by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), appears aimed at exploiting differences in the Obama administration as it decides how to use the crisis around settlement building in Jerusalem to press Israel toward concessions to kickstart peace negotiations.

Aipac has persuaded more than three-quarters of the members of the US House of Representatives to sign a letter calling for an end to public criticism of Israel and urging the US to "reinforce" its relationship with the Jewish state.

The open letter, which has been circulating among members of Congress for the last week, says that while it is recognised that there will be differences between the two countries, they should be kept behind closed doors. "Our view is that such differences are best resolved quietly, in trust and confidence," it says. >>> Chris McGreal in Washington | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Hartes Urteil: Deutsches CIA-Opfer muss 2 Jahre ins Gefängnis
Bild: Kronen Zeitung
KRONEN ZEITUNG: Die Geschichte des Khaled el-Masri klingt wie das Drehbuch zu einem Agenten-Thriller, dürfte aber wahr sein: Der Deutsch-Libanese wurde während eines Mazedonien-Aufenthalts von CIA-Agenten verschleppt und gefoltert - während die deutschen Behörden untätig zuschauten. Heute gilt El-Masri als traumatisiert. Er fiel mehrfach wegen Straftaten auf. Jetzt wurde er wegen einer Prügelei zu zwei Jahren Gefängnis verurteilt.

Es war zu Silvester 2003, als der damals 40-Jährige auf dem Weg in einen Kurzurlaub an der mazedonischen Grenze von Grenzpolizisten aus dem Reisebus geholt wurde. Er war ins Visier einer internationalen Terrorfahndung geraten - offenbar, weil er den gleichen Namen hat wie einer der mutmaßlichen Drahtzieher der Anschläge vom 11. September 2001. Monatelang verhört und misshandelt >>> | Dienstag, 30. März 2010

Smacking Ban Extended to Muslim Madrassahs and After School Clubs
MAIL ONLINE: Islamic schools are to be banned from smacking after a report warned that children were at risk of physical abuse.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls today acted to extend the ban on smacking to all who teach or care for children outside the family including leaders of Muslim madrassahs.

The move followed an investigation by Government adviser Sir Roger Singleton which found evidence youngsters in madrassahs were sometimes given physical punishments, including a 'clip round the ear' or the 'hen' position, where fingers are squeezed around a pencil.

'I do not think that there should be any scope to conceal reality by dissembling with words,' said Sir Roger, chief adviser on child safety.

'A "clip round the ear" could result in a damaging blow to a child's head.'

He went on: 'I was told of other physical punishments such as the "hen" position where fingers are laced with a pencil and squeezed.'

He also raised concerns about treatment of children in some fundamentalist Christian part-time schools, where biblical references to chastising youngsters are taken literally.

Existing laws outlaw smacking by teachers in schools. But those who tutor children outside school, in part-time educational settings and weekend and evening faith schools are not covered.

These include Britain's estimated 1,600 madrassahs. >>> Laura Clark | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Gulf Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan Found Dead in Morocco
THE TELEGRAPH: The boss of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund, has been found dead in Morocco.

Gulf sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan was ranked 27th on the Forbes list of the most powerful people in the world. Photograph: The Telegraph
Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who directed ADIA's recent acquisition of 15pc of Gatwick Airport, was found four days after his glider aircraft went missing. He was 40.

ADIA, which is thought to have assets worth $627bn (£420bn), declined to comment.

The Sheikh had no deputy director. However, sources close to the fund said that a succession plan is being worked on.

Ranked 27th on the Forbes list of the most powerful people in the world, Sheikh Ahmed was also a half-brother of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Abu Dhabi's ruler and the president of the United Arab Emirates.

Sheikh Ahmed took control of ADIA in 1997 where he was described as "very hands on" in investment decisions. The sovereign wealth fund's most high-profile investment was a stake of about 4pc in Citigroup. >>> Louise Armitstead, Chief City Correspondent | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

TIMES ONLINE: Sovereign wealth fund boss found dead in Morocco: A team of French and Moroccan divers have found the body of an Emirati sheikh who headed the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, four days after the ultralight glider he was travelling in crashed into a lake near Rabat. >>> Philippe Naughton | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Washington: Première rencontre au sommet pour Sarkozy avec Obama à la Maison Blanche
LE TEMPS: WASHINGTON, Les présidents américain Barack Obama et français Nicolas Sarkozy se retrouvent mardi à Washington avec la volonté d'approfondir leur dialogue sur les grands dossiers internationaux et de tourner la page des malentendus qui ont parasité leurs premiers pas.

Attendu depuis de longs mois côté français, ce rendez-vous à la Maison Blanche vient réparer un oubli, puisque M. Sarkozy est le dernier grand dirigeant européen à y être reçu, bien après la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel ou le Premier ministre britannique Gordon Brown.

Les deux dirigeants devaient se retrouver mardi après-midi (19h30 GMT) pour un entretien de plus d'une heure dans le Bureau ovale, avant de donner ensemble une conférence de presse dans les jardins de la Maison Blanche.

Pour donner un retentissement particulier à cette rencontre, M. Obama et son épouse Michelle ont convié leur visiteur et son épouse Carla Bruni-Sarkozy à un dîner à quatre dans leurs appartements privés, avant le départ du couple présidentiel pour Paris. >>> AFP | Mardi 30 Mars 2010

Editorial : Acte de défiance
LE TEMPS: Le double attentat de lundi dans le métro moscovite va pousser le président Dmitri Medvedev à réprimer les islamistes caucasiens

Des scènes comme celle du théâtre de la Doubrovka à Moscou en 2002 semblaient appartenir au passé. Des femmes voilées, portant des ceintures d’explosifs, avaient effectué une prise d’otages spectaculaire. Lundi, deux jeunes femmes ont pourtant humilié le pouvoir russe en se faisant exploser dans deux stations du métro moscovite proches du siège du FSB (services secrets russes) et du Ministère de la défense. >>> Stéphane Bussard | Mardi 30 Mars 2010

Suisse – Détention difficile : Amnesty très inquiète pour Max Göldi
20MINUTES.ch: La «dégradation drastique» des conditions de détention de Max Göldi préoccupe Amnesty International.

L'organisation appelle les autorités libyennes à améliorer immédiatement la situation, a-t-elle indiqué mardi dans une brève prise de position.

L'employé d'ABB emprisonné près de Tripoli a été transféré le week-end passé dans une cellule sans fenêtres ni eau chaude, selon son avocat Salah Zahaf. La pièce est très humide et sent mauvais, a ajouté Amnesty International. Et l'organisation de préciser que M. Göldi a été privé de promenade lundi. >>> ats | Mardi 30 Mars 2010

New Dark Age Alert! Islamic TV Show ‘Backed Marital Rape’ and Promotes Extremist Groups, Claims Muslim Think Tank
MAIL ONLINE: Britain's leading Islamic TV channel has regularly broadcast demeaning material about women and promoted extremist groups, it was alleged yesterday.

Programmes on the Islam Channel have told women they should not refuse to have sex with their husbands or leave home without their permission, an inquiry by the Islamic think-tank the Quilliam Foundation found.

Women who wear perfume in public have been labelled prostitutes.

The channel has regularly acted as a propaganda platform for Hizb ut-Tahrir, the fundamentalist organisation that Tony Blair wanted to ban after the 2005 London bombings. It has also promoted hate preachers, a report said.

And, the inquiry by the Islamic think tank the Quilliam Foundation found, its broadcasts are also trying to sow hatred between different Muslim groups by promoting a single strand of hardline theology.

The Islam Channel, launched in 2004, is the most watched satellite channel aimed at a Muslim audience and the think tank is now calling for an investigation by regulator Ofcom.

Report author Talal Rajab said: 'Unfortunately during the three month period that we monitored its output, it repeatedly promoted bigoted and reactionary views towards women, non-Muslims and other Muslims who follow different versions of Islam.

'Although the channel does not directly call for terrorist violence, it clearly helps to create an atmosphere in which religiously-sanctioned intolerance and even hatred might be seen as acceptable.'

One programme featured remarks instructing women that 'the idea that a woman, even if married, can refuse relations with her husband because of individual choice was part of the Western culture.'

It was necessary for 'maintaining a strong marriage' that a woman should submit to a man, viewers were told.

Under English law, a husband who forces his wife to have sex is guilty of rape. >>> Steve Doughty | Thursday, March 25, 2010

Hardline Muslim Clerics' Books Still Publicly Available
THE TELEGRAPH: Books written by hardline Muslim clerics are still available in public libraries it can be disclosed, three years after they were first exposed.

Works by the jailed preacher Abdullah al-Faisal and the controversial Islamic leader Bilal Philips are available to borrow from the controversial Tower Hamlets council in East London.

The council leader Lutfur Rahman, has been accused of gaining power through his links with an organisation called the Islamic Forum of Europe, based at East London mosque, that secretly campaigns for an Islamic social and political order.

The Prime Minister announced in 2007 that the Government would consult with the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) after extremist literature was found on lending lists across the country, but particularly in Tower Hamlets.

However a recent visit by the Daily Telegraph revealed that many of the books are still on the shelves.

The council said in a statement that it was committed to tackling extremism but added: "As far as we are aware these materials have not yet been banned or judged to be illegal in the UK. If this were the case they would not have been on our shelves."

In one of the books, Natural Instincts, Faisal, writes: "The societies of Europe and America are the new Sodom and Gomorra of today. The kafirs [non-believers] are the henchmen of the devil...The only language the kafirs respect is jihad [holy war]."

Faisal says Christian clergymen who practice celibacy are prone to paedophilia: "Priests, monks, popes and nuns who abstain from sex...will inevitably be led to child abuse."

He adds that non-Muslim charity workers will go to hell: "The Red Cross or any other infidelic organisation should not expect to receive any reward from Allah in the hereafter for their so-called humanitarian works. The infidels who die in their disbelief will be in the hellfire forever."

In another chapter, the book says: "Of all the people in the world, the Jews are the greediest...Everyone of them wishes that he could be given a life of 1,000 years. But the grant of such life will not save him even a little from due punishment." >>> Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent | Monday, March 29, 2010

Moscow Metro Blast: First Video Of Subway Explosion: Exclusive footage taken right after the explosion at Park Kultury Metro station

Related to this video:

THE GUARDIAN: Investigators warn of further attacks as Moscow metro death toll rises: Security officials say two women who blew themselves up, killing 39 people, could have been part of squad of bombers >>> Luke Harding in Moscow | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Authorities Say Chechen Warlord Umarov Top Suspect In Moscow Bombings

Verbunden mit diesem Video:

WELT ONLINE: Anschläge in Moskau: Terror bringt Medwedjew und Putin in Bedrängnis / Moskau: Terroristen tragen den Krieg in die Städte >>>

Französischer Staatsrat gegen Burka-Verbot: Verfassungsrechtliche Bedenken
NZZ ONLINE: Wegen verfassungsrechtlicher Bedenken hat sich der Staatsrat in Frankreich gegen ein vollständiges Burka-Verbot in der Öffentlichkeit ausgesprochen.

Selbst das Tragen von Ganzkörperschleiern teilweise zu untersagen werde schwer umzusetzen sein, erklärte das Gremium am Dienstag. Zur Begründung hiess es, ein Burka-Verbot könnte die französiche Verfassung und die Europäische Menschenrechtskonvention verletzen. >>> ddp | Dienstag, 30. März 2010

WELT ONLINE: Frankreichs Staatsrat – Burka-Verbot aus Sicherheitsgründen möglich: In Frankreich ist nach Einschätzung des Staatsrates ein generelles Burka-Verbot nicht zulässig. Wenn es die öffentliche Sicherheit erfordere, sollen allerdings Vermummungsverbote ausgesprochen werden können. Das gilt etwa für Banken, Juwelierläden, Sportveranstaltungen oder internationale Konferenzen. >>> AFP/fas | Dienstag, 30. März 2010

Entspannungsgesten Merkels in Ankara: Differenzen in der Frage der EU-Integration der Türkei
NZZ ONLINE: Die deutsche Bundeskanzlerin Merkel hat sich bei ihrem Besuch in der Türkei um Entspannung bemüht. Sie machte aber deutlich, dass sie eine privilegierte Partnerschaft einem EU-Beitritt der Türkei vorzieht.

Mit einer kleinen Geste hat die deutsche Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel am Montag die Atmosphäre bei ihrem Staatsbesuch in der Türkei aufgelockert. Sie überreichte dem türkischen Ministerpräsidenten Erdogan eine weisse Friedenstaube, die eine neunjährige Schülerin gemacht hatte, mit der Bitte, sie nach einiger Zeit weiterzureichen. Eine solche Geste war dringend notwendig. Zunächst hatte Merkel die Türkei gegen sich aufgebracht, als sie in Interviews mit türkischen Zeitungen erneut für ihre Idee einer privilegierten Partnerschaft der Türkei anstelle einer Vollmitgliedschaft in der EU warb. Darauf weigerte sich der Oppositionsführer Deniz Baykal, an einem Empfang mit Merkel teilzunehmen.

Erdogan hatte dagegen Deutschland mit seiner Forderung nach türkischen Schulen für die knapp drei Millionen Türken in Deutschland aufgebracht. Merkel reagierte mit schroffer Ablehnung: «Das bringt uns nicht weiter!» In Ankara vermied es dann Merkel möglichst, auf den Begriff «privilegierte Partnerschaft» näher einzugehen. Auch in der Schulfrage machte sie ein Zugeständnis. Natürlich, so erklärte Merkel, könne es in Deutschland türkische Schulen geben, so wie es deutsche Schulen in der Türkei gebe. >>> Jan Keetman, Istanbul | Dienstag, 30. März 2010

Merkel Tells Turkey EU Talks 'Open-ended'
BREITBART: German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Turkey Monday that its membership talks with the European Union did not guarantee accession and urged it to grant trade privileges to EU-member Cyprus.

"The rules of the game have changed" since Turkey first applied to become a member of the bloc five decades ago, Merkel said through an interpreter after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"The (accession) negotiations are an open-ended process. We should now pursue this open-ended process," she added, suggesting that Turkey's integration with the bloc does not have to be full membership. >>> AFP | Monday, March 29, 2010

Merkel auf heikler-Türkei-Visite
Video hier anschauen

Another Bloody Fool! This Time a Bit Younger! Kuwaiti Islamist: Homosexuals Should Be Tortured in Public Squares

There’s No Fool Like an Old Fool! Saudi Cleric: Punishment for Homosexuality Is Flogging

Syrian Actress Amal 'Arafa: Hatred of Israel Is in Our Genes and Blood

Arab-American Psychiatrist Wafa Sultan Harshly Criticizes the Status of Women in Islam

Muslim Gay in China

Barack Hussein Obama and Indonesia: There's No Place Like Home
”Obama has made it clear he despises both the US Constitution and the British tradition from which it springs.”
MAIL ONLINE – BLOG: Now that President Obama has done enough back-room deals to get the Democrats' health care legislation through the House of Representatives, he can resume making plans for a visit to his childhood home, Indonesia. The trip was on for this week, but the White House cancelled it so Obama could stay in Washington to push through the Bill.

Once he lands at Jakarta, capital of the world's largest Muslim state, he probably won't make the same mistake he made a few years ago in Kenya, when he let himself be photographed wearing a turban. Still, he may find it hard to resist the urge to go native.

One of the reasons a lot of Americans find Obama oddly foreign is that he had an oddly foreign childhood: his formative years were spent in Indonesia. His half-sister, Maya Soetoro Ng, was born there. The rest of Obama's childhood was spent in Honolulu, a Pacific Ocean capital soaked in East Asian culture.

What's this got to do with Britain, or indeed with Europe? Plenty. Obama is the first US president who was raised without cultural or emotional or intellectual ties to either Britain or Europe. The British and the Europeans have been so enchanted with 'America's first black president' that they haven't been able to see what he really is: America's first Third World president.

If you doubt it, remember the kick in the teeth he gave Britain over the Falklands just a few weeks ago. Obama had his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, fly to Buenos Aires to give American support to President Kirchner's call for international negotiations over the Falklands. Amazing. What was more amazing is that all we've heard out of Number 10 and the Foreign Office since then is that it doesn't mean anything.

Oh, yes it does, and Washington insiders know it does.

I've just been in touch with Dr James Lucier, a former US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Staff Director, about all this. He tells me: 'Culturally, Obama detests Great Britain. He sent the bust of Churchill back without a fig leaf of an excuse. He insulted the Queen and the Prime Minister, giving them ridiculous gifts.' At one point, 'he refused to meet the prime minister.'

Here is what is happening, though the British Government seems oblivious of it. The Obama administration is ready to dump the Old World in pursuit of the One World.

Britain is being dumped. The special relationship, whatever is left of it, is over. Britain losing control of the Falklands to Argentina would just be collateral damage.

But France is being dumped, too. Obama's ostentatious refusal to have dinner with President Sarkozy during his visit to France last year was no accident. Rather than meet the French president, Obama went off to a restaurant with his wife Michelle.

Germany is being dumped. Obama has been little more than dismissive of Chancellor Merkel. Russia in turn will be waved aside.

Most spectacularly of all, the European Union has now been comprehensively dumped. The American president has refused to attend what is supposed to be a US-EU Madrid summit in May.

What we have shaping up, but what the British Government doesn't yet grasp, is that Obama has a conscious policy of down-grading America's relationship with, first, Britain and then with the rest of Europe.

He believes that the US -- yes, his own country -- and Britain, and the leading European countries, too, for that matter, are imperial powers who ruthlessly exploited the Third World for their own profit.

And Obama is America's first Third World president. Read on and comment >>> Mary Ellen Synon | Monday, March 22, 2010

Peace Village, enclave islamique au Canada
Peace Village, une petite ville de 3 000 habitants, d'origine pakistanaise pour la plupart d'entre eux. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: À une cinquantaine de kilomètres au nord de Toronto, des musulmans ahmadis bâtissent leur ville depuis dix ans, à l'écart des banlieues traditionnelles.

L'appel à la prière tombe sur Peace Village, terre d'islam en plein Canada. Les 3 000 habitants y sont tous musulmans. Des Pakistanais pour la plupart, mais aussi des Bengalis ou des Nigériens. Comme tous les vendredis, à 13h30 tapantes, la foi transporte ce petit peuple voilé ou moustachu de l'avenue Abdus Salam vers une immense mosquée blanche. Les dômes d'acier de Bait'ul Al Islam dominent l'horizon. Des croyantes, vêtues du niqab noir ou de voiles aux couleurs chatoyantes, se pressent vers la mosquée. Journaux en ourdou sous le bras, les hommes vêtus du ­salwar kameez, longue chemise traditionnelle pakistanaise, entrent par une porte séparée. La mosquée fait salle comble. Un millier de fidèles se tourne vers La Mecque.

Tous sont des ahmadis, pratiquant une version eschatologique de l'islam. Le secrétaire de l'association ahmadie du Canada, Ahmed Dildar, est un ancien colonel de l'armée pakistanaise. Le vieillard à la peau parcheminée s'enflamme : «Nous ne pouvions pas pratiquer notre religion au Pakistan. Certains d'entre nous ont été tués par les autorités. Ici, nous sommes libres.» À deux pas de la station de télévision musulmane locale et de la mosquée, une gigantesque inscription : «Ahmadiya, le vrai islam.» Face à la salle de prière, un libraire vend Le Djihad des Britanniques ou La Place de la femme dans l'islam, en version arabe, ourdoue et anglaise.

Cette vague coranique au pays des caribous a commencé il y a vingt-cinq ans par la croisade d'un immigré pakistanais, Naseer Ahmad, devenu à 56 ans un homme d'affaires prospère. «En 1985, il n'y avait que de la friche à des kilomètres à la ronde. Notre communauté a acheté de grands terrains et fait transformer cela en zone constructible. Sept ans plus tard, nous avons construit - pour 4,5 millions de dollars cash - ce qui était alors la plus grosse mosquée d'Amérique. C'est cher, mais c'est le rêve de toute une communauté.» Le fondateur de Peace Village vante aussi sa cité islamique de 330 pavillons, construite entre 1998 et 2008 et dont toutes les rues mènent à la mosquée. Des cloisons pour séparer hommes et femmes >>> Par Ludovic Hirtzmann | Jeudi 18 Mars 2010

Al Islam: The Official Website of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community >>>

Völkermord: Beim Sklavenhandel lernten Christen von Muslimen
WELT ONLINE: In der Geschichte wird gern den Europäern die Schuld an Afrikas Elend gegeben. Doch als Kolonialmächte profitierten sie ab dem 17. Jahrhundert von einem System, das die Araber etabliert hatten. Über 17 Millionen Menschen waren bereits wegen muslimischer Sklavenhändler gestorben.

Sklavenhandel in Afrika: Lange vor den Europäern machten Araber Jagd auf Menschen (hier eine Zeichnung von 1884). Bild: Welt Online
Hatte es lange so ausgesehen als seien allein die Europäer an Afrikas Elend schuld, so hat sich das Bild inzwischen gewandelt. Menschenjagden muslimischer Reitermilizen im Südsudan und das Massaker muslimischer Nomaden an nigerianischen Christen enthüllen Konfliktlinien, die weit in die vorkoloniale Ära zurückreichen.

Es wäre an der Zeit, schreibt der afrikanische Anthropologe und Wirtschaftswissenschaftler Tidiane N’Diaye, „dass der araboislamische Sklavenhandel, der einem Völkermord gleichkommt, näher untersucht wird und gleichermaßen zur Sprache kommt wie der transatlantische Menschenhandel.“ In diesem Sinn hat er sein beim Erscheinen in Frankreich 2008 leidenschaftlich und viel diskutiertes Buch betitelt: „Le génocide voilé“ – „Der verschleierte Völkermord“ (Rowohlt, 252 Seiten, 19,90 Euro).

Über 17 Millionen Menschen habe Afrika in den letzten dreizehnhundert Jahren an araboislamische Sklavenhändler verloren, und dabei sei die noch weit größere Zahl derer nicht mitgerechnet, die bei der Versklavung ganzer Dörfer umgebracht wurden.

Aus wenn „sich Horror und Grausamkeit weder differenzieren noch monopolisieren lassen“, könne man doch sagen; „dass der von den erbarmungslosen arabomuslimischen Räubern betriebene Sklavenhandel und der von ihnen geführte Dschihad weitaus verheerender für Schwarzafrika war als der transatlantische Sklavenhandel.“ >>> Von Ulrich Baron | Montag, 29. März 2010

Anschläge in Moskau: Terror bringt Medwedjew und Putin in Bedrängnis
WELT ONLINE: Bei aller Trauer und der Furcht vor neuen Anschlägen gerät nach den Selbstmordattentaten in der Moskauer U-Bahn das Tandem Medwedjew-Putin in die Kritik. Regierungstreue Abgeordnete werfen den Sicherheitsorganen völliges Versagen vor. Liberale Politiker fürchten den Abbau demokratischer Rechte in Russland.

Bild: Welt Online
Am Tag nach den Anschlägen in Moskau haben die Menschen der Opfer gedacht, die in der Metro ihr Leben verloren haben. In den beiden U-Bahnhöfen, wo sich die Tragödien ereigneten und wo die Spuren der Explosionen noch sichtbar sind, haben Trauernde Blumen niedergelegt. Die Zahl der Toten stieg inzwischen auf 39.

Die Metro hatte ihren vollständigen Betrieb bereits am Montagnachmittag wieder aufgenommen, war aber auch am Dienstag ungewöhnlich leer. Er habe erstmals seit Jahren auf dem Weg zur Arbeit einen Sitzplatz in der U-Bahn gefunden, berichtete Wladimir, ein Ingenieur.

Die Sicherheitsdienste wurden gleich nach den Attentaten in erhöhte Alarmbereitschaft versetzt. Die Miliz-Patrouillen auf den Straßen der Hauptstadt und vor allem in der Untergrundbahn wurden verstärkt. Unter größerer Beobachtung stehen auch die russischen Wasserkraftwerke.

Es gilt inzwischen als gesichert, dass die Spur der Hintermänner der Anschläge in den Kaukasus führt. Klar ist, dass eine der beiden Selbstmordattentäterinnen eine Kaukasierin war. >>> Von Manfred Quiring | Dienstag, 30. März 2010

Moskau: Terroristen tragen den Krieg in die Städte
WELT ONLINE: Hat Russland diese Warnung überhört? Bereits im April vergangenen Jahres riefen kaukasische Terroristen eine Offensive gegen Russland aus. "Blut wird nicht länger nur in unseren Städten fließen", drohte Terror-Chef Doku Umarow und bildete neue Selbstmordattentäter aus. Nun folgten seinen Worten blutige Taten.

Der Anführer der kaukasischen Terroristen, Doku Umarov, in einem Interview im Februar 2010. Bild: Welt Online
gern eine Baseball-Cap, meist in Kombination mit einer Militäruniform. So zeigt sich Doku Umarow in seinen Propagandavideos, die irgendwo in den kaukasischen Wäldern aufgenommen werden.

Der 45 Jahre alte bullige Tschetschene mit dichtem Vollbart ist sechsfacher Vater und selbst ernannter Gotteskrieger. Er hat Moskau den Krieg erklärt."Blut wird nicht länger nur in unseren Städten fließen. Der Krieg wird in ihre Städte kommen!", drohte er der russischen Führung im Februar dieses Jahres.

Umarov wurde in beiden Tschetschenien-Kriegen mehrfach verwundet, von russischen Anti-Terror-Einheiten gejagt und immer wieder totgesagt - zuletzt im vergangenen November. Der russische Geheimdienst FSB soll seine Familie entführt, Verwandte und Kampfgenossen gefoltert haben, heißt es. Doch den „Bin Laden des Kaukasus“ konnten sie bislang nicht fassen.

Seit Doku Umarow im Oktober 2007 den Fantasiestaat “Islamisches Emirat Kaukasus” ausrief und sich zu dessen Emir ernannte, ist er Russlands meistgesuchter Terrorist. Der Kreml hält ihn für einen Al-Qaida-Terroristen, der die Scharia in der gesamten Region zwischen den russischen Teilrepubliken Dagestan und Tscherkessien einführen will. >>> Von Florian Flade | Montag, 29. März 2010

Blair, the Consummate Liar Talks BS – Again!
THE TELEGRAPH: Tony Blair has hailed the leadership of Gordon Brown, praising him for setting the country on the road to recovery after the financial crisis.



In his first intervention into the pre-election fray, the former prime minister declared he was ''optimistic'' about the prospects for the future under his successor.

Speaking to activists in his former constituency in Sedgefield, Co Durham, he hit out at David Cameron, dismissing the Conservative leader's ''time for change'' slogan as ''the most vacuous in politics''.

Mr Blair said that while Britain was not yet ''out of the woods'' following the financial crisis, it was ''on the path out'' as a result of the actions taken by Mr Brown.

''At the moment of peril the world acted. Britain acted. The decision to act required experience, judgment and boldness. It required leadership. Gordon Brown supplied it,'' he said.

Mr Blair acknowledged that it would be a "big thing" for Labour to win a fourth successive general election - something it had never achieved before. Tony Blair: Gordon Brown's leadership led us out of economic peril >>> | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

If the British electorate fall for this crap yet again, they deserve all they get! This is the government which has decimated the economy and taken so many freedoms away from the British people. The best thing the British electorate can do on polling day is vote this shower OUT OF OFFICE. By the way, Tone, if anyone's words are "vacuous", yours are! – © Mark

Nicolas Sarkozy and Wife Carla Arrive in New York
THE TELEGRAPH: French President Nicolas Sarkozy made a splash even before he opened his mouth as he arrived with his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy to give a no-holds-barred speech at Columbia University.

President Sarkozy and wife Carla arrive to address World Leaders Forum at Columbia University in New York. Photograph: The Telegraph
Amid blogger reports of strains in their marriage, Mr Sarkozy and his former supermodel wife made every effort to appear the happy couple, walking closely together and clasping hands as they mounted a staircase into an auditorium packed with students, faculty and other spectators.

The French first lady, elegant in a swept-up chignon and form-fitting black top with grey skirt, at times threatened to upstage her husband, who scolded his American hosts about health care and for not paying enough attention to the rest of the world.

However, Mr Sarkozy is in hot water at home. His poll ratings are at record lows of around 30 per cent and there are widening cracks in his conservative party.

In New York, though, he basked in the rapt attention of hundreds of Columbia students and even jettisoned a prepared speech. "Speeches kill off creativity," he said. "I'm going to speak from the heart."

"Welcome to the club of states who don't turn their back on the sick and the poor," Mr Sarkozy said, referring to the U.S. health care overhaul signed by President Barack Obama last week.

From the European perspective, he said, "when we look at the American debate on reforming health care, it's difficult to believe."

"The very fact that there should have been such a violent debate simply on the fact that the poorest of Americans should not be left out in the streets without a cent to look after them ... is something astonishing to us."

Then to hearty applause, he added: "If you come to France and something happens to you, you won't be asked for your credit card before you're rushed to the hospital." >>> | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy to Bury the Hatchet >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, March 29, 2010

LE FIGARO: Sarkozy appelle Obama
à «écouter l'Europe» >>> Par Alain Barluet | Lundi 29 Mars 2010

White Supremacist Guilty of Plot to Assassinate Barack Obama
THE TELEGRAPH: A white supremacist from Tennessee has pleaded guilty to plotting to assassinate US President Barack Obama as part of a killing spree targeting African Americans.

Paul Michael Schlesselman and Daniel Gregory Cowart. Photos: The Telegraph
Daniel Cowart, 21, was arrested just days before Mr Obama was elected the first black president of the United States on November 4, 2008.

Cowart and fellow skinhead Paul Schlesselman told police that they planned to kill 88 people, beheading 14 of them, and then die in a blaze of glory as they drove towards Mr Obama dressed in white tuxedos and firing out the windows.

While officials said the pair posed no real threat to Mr Obama, the arrest heightened fears about the Democrat's safety in the final days of his campaign. >>> | Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Sarkozy appelle Obama
à «écouter l'Europe»
Nicolas Sarkozy, ce lundi, lors de son discours devant les étudiants de l'université de Columbia. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: À New York ce lundi, le chef de l'État a exhorté son homologue américain à travailler avec l'Europe, en particulier pour réformer le système financier.

À New York ce lundi, le chef de l'État a exhorté son homologue américain à travailler avec l'Europe, en particulier pour réformer le système financier.

Sarkozy l'Américain, le retour. Douché par l'échec des régio­nales, confronté aux doutes de sa majorité, malmené dans les sondages, le président de la République ne pouvait trouver mieux que cette visite aux États-Unis pour échapper aux pesanteurs hexagonales. Les hasards du calendrier diplomatique font parfois bien les choses. Une arrivée discrète, samedi à New York, en compagnie de Carla Sarkozy, le rituel du jogging à Central Park, dimanche matin, puis une journée familiale, loin des caméras et des micros, avant l'entrée en scène officielle, ce lundi matin, avec un discours à l'Université de Columbia.

L'occasion pour Nicolas Sarkozy d'exhorter «en ami» les États-Unis à «travailler avec l'Europe pour inventer un nouveau modèle mondial», dans le but de réguler le capitalisme, de stabiliser les monnaies et d'améliorer la gouvernance mondiale. «Si l'Europe et les États-Unis n'inventent pas ce nouveau modèle, personne ne le fera», a plaidé le chef de l'État devant plusieurs centaines d'étudiants et de professeurs de la prestigieuse université new-yorkaise. Montant à la tribune, sous une imposante coupole néoclassique, Nicolas Sarkozy a ostensiblement rendu son discours à son aide de camp -«si on lit cela tue la créativité», a-t-il expliqué, avant de se lancer dans une improvisation très maîtrisée. «La crise que nous avons connue nous offre des opportunités extraordi­naires, a déclaré le chef de l'État. En demandant la régulation du capitalisme, je pose les ­bases qui sauveront le capita­lisme, l'absence de règles tue la liberté», a-t-il ­lancé, à quelques «blocs» de Wall Street, l'épicentre du séisme financier. «Irresponsables» >>> Par Alain Barluet | Lundi 29 Mars 2010