Monday, February 28, 2011
BBC: Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has told the BBC he is loved by all his people and has denied there have been any protests in Tripoli.
Col Gaddafi said that his people would die to protect him.
He laughed at the suggestion he would leave Libya and said he felt betrayed by leaders who had urged him to quit.
Earlier world governments condemned attacks on Libyan civilians, with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying Col Gaddafi must "go now".
The EU on Monday imposed sanctions including an arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban on Col Gaddafi and his close entourage.
Col Gaddafi is facing a massive challenge to his 41-year rule, with protesters in control of towns in the east. (+ video) >>> | Monday, February 28, 2011
The interview with Col Gaddafi took place in a restaurant on the seafront overlooking the port in Tripoli. He came in with his entourage, he had sunglasses on, and some kind of autumnal brown robe. He was relaxed throughout the interview.
He laughed quite a bit when asked various questions. He seemed very unconcerned about foreign pressure, saying the Libyan people were behind him, the Libyan people loved him.
He departed at the head of his motorcade, which consisted of dozens of vehicles. They left at high speed. – Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor, Tripoli
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LE MONDE: Comment organiser une alternative politique durable dans un pays en proie au chaos, sans partis, sans syndicats et sans Constitution ? C'est la question qui divise aujourd'hui les leaders de l'opposition au colonel Kadhafi, alors que la capitale est toujours aux mains du Guide de la révolution libyenne.Dimanche 27 février, à Benghazi, fief de la contestation situé dans l'est du pays (voir la carte des villes libyennes désertées par les pro-Kadhafi), des dirigeants du mouvement insurrectionnel ont annoncé la formation d'un Conseil national indépendant de transition représentant les villes tombées aux mains des insurgés. Sa composition et son mode de fonctionnement n'ont pas été arrêtés. Selon son porte-parole, Abdelhafez Ghoqa, l'instance est surtout chargée d'incarner "le visage politique de la révolution". Elle ne constitue en aucun cas un gouvernement provisoire. >>> LEMONDE.FR | Lundi 28 Février 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: L’opposition libyenne contrôle les principaux champs de pétrole, a annoncé lundi l’UE. La contestation se poursuit notamment en Tunisie et à Oman, nouveau domino poussé par le vent de révolte. Au 14e jour de l’insurrection, le Guide libyen ne contrôle plus que Tripoli et sa région. «Nous avons tout lieu de penser que le gros des champs d’exploitation (de gaz et de pétrole) n’est plus entre les mains de Kadhafi», a déclaré le commissaire européen à l’énergie, Günther Oettinger.
Après l’ONU et les Etats-Unis, l’Union européenne a adopté lundi un embargo sur les armes contre la Libye ainsi qu’un gel des avoirs et des interdictions de visas d’entrée dans l’espace Schengen contre le colonel Kadhafi et 25 de ses proches. >>> ATS | Lundi 28 Février 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: "Mon peuple m’adore. Ils mourraient pour me protéger", a affirmé lundi le colonel libyen Mouammar Kadhafi dans un entretien à plusieurs médias dont la chaîne de télévision américaine ABC."Mon peuple m’adore. Ils mourraient pour me protéger", a affirmé lundi le colonel libyen Mouammar Kadhafi dans un entretien à plusieurs médias dont la chaîne de télévision américaine ABC. >>> AFP | Lundi 28 Février 2011
ISRAEL TODAY: Most of the international community, and certainly the mainstream international press, has moved on from Egypt and its 18-day uprising that lead to the downfall of former President Hosni Mubarak and his dictatorial regime. The new story on everyone’s lips is Libya, where the masses are fighting, and dying, to similarly remove Col. Muammar Gaddafi.But what is happening now in Egypt? The sudden removal of Mubarak cannot be the end of the story, and with the future of such a significant regional power hanging in the balance, what happens in the weeks and months after is far more important than the president’s resignation.
Amazingly, while the Western intelligentsia spent the two weeks leading up to Mubarak’s departure alternatively insisting that the Muslim Brotherhood was either not a threat or too small to worry about, almost no one covered the February 18 return to Egypt of Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf al-Qaradawi as the major event it was.
Qaradawi was exiled from Egypt decades ago by Mubarak, and was also banned from entering the US and Britain for his radical views and teachings. But that didn’t stop the cleric. Instead, he was given a spot on Al Jazeera, where his show “Sharia and Life” quickly became the top rated program on the Middle East network.
When he stepped into Cario’s now-famed Tahrir Square this month, it was to a hero’s welcome by the estimated two million Egyptians that came to hear him. During his speech, Qaradawi advised those who had toppled Mubarak that “the revolution is not finished,” and insisted that democracy in Egypt must be along Islamic, not Western lines.
The Muslim Brotherhood’s platform officially states that Egypt’s government must be “republican, parliamentary, constitutional and democratic in accordance with Islamic Sharia law.” >>> Ryan Jones | Sunday, February 27, 2011
ISRAEL TODAY: The Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip continued its transition to Sharia Law this week when the ruling Islamic terror group arrested five local hair stylists for cutting women’s hair.The Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported that the five were made to sign a declaration that they would never again work at salon’s that cater to women, and ordered all local beauty salons to employ only female stylists.
Other recent similar actions include banning Gaza women from smoking the water pipes that are so prevalent in Arab culture, and forbidding women to ride behind men on motorcycles.
Hamas has also taken to banning certain books from entering Gaza that it feels violate Islamic law. [Source: Israel Today] Ryan Jones | Friday, February 25, 2011
ISLAM TIMES: Israeli television interviewed close members of Gaddafi’s family and announced that Muammar Gaddafi is a Jew.
Islam Times reports that the Israeli channel 2 interviewed Rachel Saada, and Guita Brown, Gaddafi’s cousins, about Gaddafi’s Jewish roots. The television host asked Muammar Gaddafi’s Saada when she found out that Gaddafi’s mother and father were Jewish.
Rachel Saada answered: “The story goes that Gaddafi’s grandmother, herself a Jewess, was married to a Jewish man at first. But he treated her badly, so she ran away and married a Muslim sheikh. Their child was the mother of Gaddafi.”
The host asked whether his mother became Muslim which she did. But, the host then reminded the viewers that according to religious law she was still ethnically Jewish. He then said: “So, the point is that Gaddafi doesn’t just have Jewish relatives, he is Jewish.”
Israel Today Magazine stated: “If the story told by Brown and Saada is true, Gaddafi is entitled to immigrate to Israel as a Jew under Israel’s Law of Return. Even if every other country on earth refused him entry, Israel would be obligated by its own laws to take Gaddafi in.” [Source: Islam Times] Islam Times | Wednesday, February 23, 2011
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: US secretary of state says Gaddafi's government must be held to account as EU approves new sanctions against Libya.Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has said the government of Muammar Gaddafi must be held to account over atrocities committed in Libya as she reiterated calls for the leader to step down.
Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, Clinton said Gaddafi must leave power "now, without further violence or delay". "Gaddafi and those around him must be held accountable for these acts, which violate international legal obligations and common decency," she said.
"We have seen Colonel Gaddafi's security forces open fire on peaceful protesters. They have used heavy weapons on unarmed civilians. Mercenaries and thugs have been turned loose to attack demonstrators." Clinton said Washington was keeping "all options on the table" in terms of action against the government, and that a no-fly zone was "an option we are actively considering".
She also said two US humanitarian teams are being sent to Libya's borders with Egypt and Tunisia to provide aid to refugees fleeing the country.
Meanwhile, a Pentagon official said the US military was repositioning naval and air forces around Libya. >>> Al Jazeera and agencies | Monday, February 28, 2011
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Demonstrations calling for economic changes continue into third day in northeastern city of Sohar.
Residents in the northeastern Omani city of Sohar have reportedly looted a supermarket damaged in protests, as demonstrations over economic woes carried on into a third day.
Security forces sealed off main roads to the city on Monday and hundreds of protesters reportedly stormed a police station, while protests spread throughout the city.
Sohar, a city about 200km northwest of the capital of Muscat, was the scene of protests over the weekend, as demonstrators demanded higher salaries, jobs for the unemployed and the removal of some government ministers.
But police did not respond to Monday's protests, witnesses said, and appeared to have withdrawn from the scene of the looting.
"It's a free for all," said one man who watched while people grabbed food and other goods, piling their hauls into stolen trolleys and heading away from the burnt Lulu Hypermarket, according to a report from the Reuters news agency.
"There's no security ... I want to live," said a 28-year-old Omani, who identified himself as Youssef, walking away with 10 bottles of juice.
One woman was seen stacking up slightly burned cartons of eggs, powdered milk, orange juice and cream cheese on her trolley and calmly leaving the supermarket. >>> Al Jazeera and agencies | Monday, February 28, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Court rules against Christian couple who claimed their beliefs on homosexuality should not prevent them becoming foster carersA Christian couple opposed to homosexuality because of their faith have lost a landmark high court battle over the right to become foster carers.
Eunice and Owen Johns, aged 62 and 65, from Oakwood, Derby, went to court after a social worker expressed concerns when they said they could not tell a child a "homosexual lifestyle" was acceptable.
The Pentecostal Christian couple had applied to Derby city council to be respite carers but withdrew their application, believing it "doomed to failure" because of the social worker's attitude to their religious beliefs.
They asked judges to rule that their faith should not be a bar to them becoming carers, and that the law should protect their Christian values.
But Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beatson ruled that laws protecting people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation "should take precedence" over the right not to be discriminated against on religious grounds. >>> Press Association | Monday, February 28, 2011
Related >>>
Henceforward, it is to be hoped that Muslim couples will also be disallowed from fostering children, because no faith is as homophobic as Islam is (if indeed Islam is a faith rather than a socio-political ideology). Somehow, though, I can't see this happening, can you? – © Mark
FAZ.NET: Marokkos König Mohammed VI. wird im Volkmund kurz „M6“ genannt. Er selbst ließ sich als „König der Armen“ bezeichnen, zählt aber zu den Reichsten der Welt. In Marokko gehören ihm fünf Paläste. Und in Frankreich hat er auch noch einen. Das Gros seines Vermögens aber sind finanzielle Beteiligungen.Spaniens König Juan Carlos ist im Vergleich zu seinem marokkanischen Nachbarn Mohammed VI. ein armer Schlucker. Als die Zeitschrift „Forbes“ den 47 Jahre alten Alawiten-Herrscher zuletzt auf seine Liste setzte, wurde sein privates Vermögen mit knapp 2 Milliarden Euro angegeben. Juan Carlos ist zwar vor einigen Jahren mit fast dem gleichen Betrag auch auf die Liste gerutscht. In seinem Fall handelte es sich aber um ein Versehen, weil der Wert all der königlichen Schlösser mitgezählt wurde, die in Spanien dem Staat gehören. In Marokko ist das anders. Dort gehören die fünf Paläste in Rabat, Casablanca, Fes, Meknes und Marrakesch „M6“, wie er im Volksmund genannt wird, allein. Und auch in Frankreich hat er noch einen, von seinem Vater Hassan II. geerbten Palast nahe Paris, wo er um den Jahreswechsel, als Nordafrika von Tunesien bis Ägypten schon politisch in Brand geraten war, geruhsame Ferientage verbrachte. >>> Von Leo Wieland | Montag, 28. Februar 2011
FAZ.NET: Marokko will eine Königsdemokratie: Hau ab! Dieser Schlachtruf aller Demonstrationen im arabischen Raum ist in Marokko nicht zu hören. Niemand verlangt dort die Abdankung des Monarchen Mohammed VI. Stattdessen erhofft man neben der Demokratie auch eine Reform des Königtums. >>> Von Joseph Hanimann, Rabat | Dienstag, 22. Februar 2011
BEAUTIFUL ATROCITIES: UN Security Resolution 1970 dealing with crimes against humanity in Libya lists six individuals whose assets shall be frozen & who are placed under an immediate travel ban: “Member States shall take the necessary measures to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of individuals listed“: Check them out and comment >>> | Monday, February 28, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: International action to pressure Gaddafi into surrendering gathers momentum with Russia and China joining the west in backing calls to prosecute him for war crimesThe European Union has agreed sanctions against the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, including an arms embargo, asset freeze and visa ban.
EU ambassadors agreed the sanctions at a meeting to assess the deteriorating situation in the north African nation. An announcement confirming the decision is expected later on Monday.
William Hague, the British foreign secretary, warned there would be a "day of reckoning" for anyone involved in supporting Gaddafi's human rights abuses against protesters in Libya.
Hague, who is attending a meeting of the UN human rights council in Geneva to discuss the crisis, called on other countries to join Britain in backing a resolution being debated by the UN general assembly in New York on Tuesday which would make Libya the first nation ever to be suspended from membership of the council.
David Cameron will make a statement to MPs later on Monday. >>> Hélène Mulholland and agencies | Monday, February 28, 2011
Related >>>
REUTERS: Sons of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have failed to persuade prominent Saudi clerics to issue religious rulings against a revolt that is threatening to bring down the veteran leader, Al Arabiya television said on Monday.The Saudi-owned channel said on its website that Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam had contacted one cleric, Salman al-Awda, and Saadi Gaddafi had reached out to a second, Ayedh al-Garni, but both rejected their calls.
"You are killing the Libyan people. Turn to God because you are wronging them. Protect Libyan blood, you are killing old people and children. Fear God," Garni said he told Saadi.
Garni made the remarks on air on Sunday, the website said, adding Awda gave the same message to Saif al-Islam.
Awda has a weekly television show on Saudi-owned pan-Arab channel MBC1 and has been praised by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before as a religious scholar he felt did not toe the government line. Garni gave lectures in Libya last year. Continue reading and comment >>> Reporting by Andrew Hammond, editing by Mark Trevelyan | Dubai | Monday, February 28, 2011
REUTERS: Rebels "down" Libyan aircraft, governments discuss next move: Rebels downed a military aircraft on Monday as they fought a government bid to take back Libya's third city, Misrata, a witness said, while foreign ministers discussed how to help them oust Muammar Gaddafi. >>> Maria Golovnina | Monday, February 28, 2011
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Leaked diplomatic cables tell a tale of sibling rivalry, private armies and multi-million dollar parties.On Saturday, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to adopt a resolution imposing international sanctions on Libya, including an arms embargo, asset freezes and travel bans. Resolution 1970 also referred the situation in the country to the International Criminal Court (ICC) - and marks the first time that the US has ever voted in favour of such a move.
This comes after more than 10 days of protests in Libya, which have been met with violence by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, the country's leader. Speaking after the vote, Ibrahim Debbashi, Libya's deputy ambassador to the UN, said that at least 2,000 people had been killed and added that the newly passed resolution would target all those responsible, including members of the Libyan leader's family.
Heir apparent?
Of all Gaddafi's children, the most outspoken throughout the uprising has been his eldest son from his second marriage. Once considered the heir apparent, Saif al-Islam has remained defiant since he declared that his country faced civil war and "rivers of blood" on February 20. He again spoke out on Saturday to say that his family was standing firm. Up until a week ago, many Western observers saw Saif al-Islam as a reformer - but times have since changed.
Recent years brought about a rapprochement of sorts between Libya and the US, after Gaddafi’s government renounced the development of weapons of mass destruction and accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing. The Bush administration announced in 2006 that full diplomatic ties between the two countries would be re-established and that Libya would be taken off the US state department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Two years later, Saif al-Islam was welcomed in Washington, where he met with Condoleezza Rice, the then secretary of state. In a recently leaked US diplomatic cable, US officials wrote about his "high-profile role as the public face of the regime to the West" being a mixed blessing. "While it has bolstered his image (he is probably the most publicly recognised figure in Libya other than Muammar Gaddafi), many Libyans view him as self-aggrandising and too eager to please foreigners at the expense of Libyans' interest." >>> Karim Haddad | Monday, February 28, 2011
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Im Oman haben am Montag wieder Hunderte Menschen für mehr Arbeitsplätze und politische Reformen demonstriert. Die Zahl der Toten nach Zusammenstößen am Sonntag zwischen Demonstranten und der Polizei blieb weiterhin unklar.
Im Oman haben die Demonstrationen für mehr Arbeitsplätze und politische Reformen die Hauptstadt Maskat erreicht. Hunderte Menschen protestierten am Montag vor einem Regierungsgebäude. In der Industriestadt Sohar blockierten ebenfalls Hunderte Demonstranten Zufahrtswege zum Hafen, zu einer Raffinerie sowie einer Aluminium-Fabrik. Nach Auskunft des Hafenbetreibers konnte Öl jedoch wie gewohnt exportiert werden. Die Zahl der Toten nach Zusammenstößen am Sonntag zwischen Demonstranten und der Polizei war zunächst unklar. >>> FAZ.net | Montag, 28. Februar 2011
ZEIT ONLINE: Wohlklingende Versprechungen für die Landsleute, klare Worte zur Integration für die Deutschen: Der türkische Premier ist auf Stimmenfang. Von Lars Geiges, DüsseldorfRecep Tayyip Erdogan kommt zu spät. Gut anderthalb Stunden sind es. Das Flugzeug des türkischen Ministerpräsidenten hat einfach etwas länger für die Reise aus Ankara gebraucht. Und dann war da noch der dichte Verkehr auf den Straßen von Düsseldorf: 10.000 Türken hatten sich aufgemacht, um Erdogan zu sehen. Doch die Hauptperson steckte im Stau. Zum großen Auftritt gehört die kleine Verspätung.
Erdogans Fans nahmen das klaglos hin. Die letzte Rede Erdogans in Deutschland liegt drei Jahre zurück, da kam es auf einige Minuten nicht an. Sein Auftritt in Köln damals war politischer Zündstoff. Seine Anklage, Assimilation sei ein "Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit", zog eine heftige Integrationsdebatte nach sich. Und heute? Würde Erdogan nachlegen? >>> Von Lars Geiges | Montag, 28. Februar 2011
FAZ: Westerwelle und CSU kritisieren Erdogan: Als Reaktion auf die Rede des türkischen Ministerpräsidenten in Düsseldorf hat Außenminister Westerwelle das Erlernen der deutschen Sprache als „Schlüssel zur Integration“ bezeichnet. Die CSU kritisiert, Erdogan habe den Besuch genutzt, seine hier lebenden Landsleute „aufzuwiegeln“. >>> | Montag, 28. Februar 2011
ASHARQ ALAWSAT: Abha – A study by Saudi Arabian social researcher at the University of Umm al-Qura, Dr. Mahmoud Kisnawi, claims that 60 percent of Saudi Arabian husbands financially exploit their wives.The study argues that many working wives allowed their husbands to take advantage of their salaries, under the pretence of ensuring family stability, despite the wives religious and legal right to her complete salary.
Dr. Kisnawi confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that 60 percent of husbands utilize their wives[‘] salaries to enter the real estate market or complete the construction of a home, without taking into account the needs and desires of the wife. He added that this phenomenon contributed to the increase in divorce rates in Saudi Arabia.
Kisnawi added "in some cases, husbands have demanded that their wives provide them with large amounts of money so that they can complete the construction of their home. However these husbands may be deceiving their wives and want to complete construction in order to marry a second wife, with this [second] wife living in the home bought by the first wife's salary. This causes psychological trauma to the [first] wife and causes her to lose her trust in the sanctity of marriage, and as a result she would [therefore] seek separation and divorce."
Dr. Kisnawi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the issue of what happens with a wife's salary remains a thorny issue in Saudi Arabian society, and has contributed in the increase in divorce rates. He added "many wives perceive that their husbands are stealing their rights with regards to their monthly salary, and this causes [marital] problems, often forcing the woman to submit to her husband in order to protect the integrity of the family and the welfare of her children." >>> Fatin al-Shehri | Friday, February 25, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Rocked by a wave of scandals, Hong Kong's legendary generation of tycoons are increasingly becoming the objects of public derision on the island.In their heyday, the entrepreneurs built Hong Kong into one of the most successful cities on earth and established near total control over the property, shipping and retail industries.
But over the past year, the city's residents seem to have lost patience with the greed and arrogance of the tycoons and a series of scandals has tarnished their legacy.
On Sunday, the 44 year-old son of Li Ka-shing, the richest man in Asia, became the latest man to find himself splashed across the media when his 22-year-old partner announced she was leaving him.
Isabella Leong Lok-si, an actress who bore twin sons to Richard Li last June, said she was ready for a "new chapter" in her life.
Mr Li is the chairman of PCCW, Hong Kong's largest telecommunications company. His father has a fortune of more than £13 billion. >>> Malcolm Moore, Hong Kong | Sunday, February 27, 2011
LE POINT: L'ancien président égyptien a quitté le pouvoir le 11 février à la suite d'un soulèvement populaire.L'ex-président égyptien Hosni Moubarak et sa famille proche sont interdits de quitter le pays, et leurs avoirs en Égypte sont gelés, a-t-on appris lundi de source judiciaire égyptienne. Outre le président, qui a démissionné le 11 février, cette requête concerne son épouse Suzanne ainsi que ses deux fils, Alaa et Gamal, et leurs épouses Heidi Rasekh et Khadiga al-Gammal, selon cette source.
Hosni Moubarak, qui a quitté le pouvoir à la suite d'une révolte populaire et confié le pouvoir à l'armée, a, depuis, quitté Le Caire pour la station égyptienne de Charm el-Cheikh, sur la mer Rouge, selon le gouvernement. Ni lui ni les membres de sa famille proche n'ont fait d'apparition publique depuis lors. Le 21 février, la justice égyptienne avait annoncé avoir demandé le gel des avoirs à l'étranger de l'ex-président et de sa proche famille. Selon le journal gouvernemental Al-Ahram, la famille Moubarak aurait "des comptes secrets dans des banques égyptiennes". Le journal cite des dépôts sur ces comptes de 147 millions de dollars pour Suzanne Moubarak, 100 millions pour Alaa et 100 millions également pour Gamal. >>> Source AFP | Lundi 28 Février 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The High Court will today rule in a case involving a Christian couple who say they were ''doomed not to be approved'' as foster carers because of their traditional views on homosexuality.Eunice and Owen Johns, 62 and 65, said issues were raised over their suitability as foster carers after they told social workers they could not tell a child a homosexual lifestyle was acceptable.
The Pentecostal Christian couple from Derby had applied to Derby City Council to be respite carers.
But at a hearing last year, two High Court judges, sitting at Nottingham Crown Court, heard the couple withdrew their application after a social worker expressed concerns over their attitudes towards homosexuality.
At the hearing of the case, the couple's lawyer Paul Diamond told the court the couple were ''doomed not to be approved'', which was why they agreed with Derby City Council to seek clarification of the law from the High Court. >>> | Monday, February 28, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libyan protestors have overrun several strongholds of Col Muammar Gaddafi in the western part of the country.
* Witness reports jet gunned down near Misrata and crew captured
* Geneva-German foreign minister proposes moratorium on all financial transfers to Libya for 60 days
* Libyan loyalists evicted from towns of al-Zawiyah and Nalut
Gaddafi loyalists had been evicted from Nalut, 145 miles west of Tripoli. "The city has been liberated since February 19. It has been run by a revolutionary committee named by the town's communities," said Shaban Abu Sitta, a local lawyer and member of a revolutionary committee.
"The towns of Rhibat, Kabaw, Jado, Rogban, Zentan, Yefren, Kekla, Gherien and Hawamed have also been free for days. In all these towns, Gaddafi's forces have gone and a revolutionary committee put in place," he said.
Libyan rebels established a transitional national council to coordinate administration in several cities seized from the Gaddafi regime, and have called on the army to help them take Tripoli, the capital. >>> | Monday, February 28, 2011
ZEIT ONLINE: Der libysche Staatschef verliert die Kontrolle über sein Land. Immer mehr seiner Offiziere desertieren. Die Opposition hat bereits eine Übergangsregierung gebildet.
Die Machtbasis des libyschen Staatschefs Muammar al-Gadhafi bröckelt. Bereits die Hälfte der Offiziere habe die Geheimdienste und Militärkomitees verlassen, berichtet die arabische Tageszeitung Asharq al-Awsat unter Berufung auf einen Mitarbeiter der libyschen Sicherheitskräfte.
Die Oppositionellen bildeten mittlerweile eine Übergangsregierung, wie der arabische Fernsehsender Al-Arabiya berichtete. Demnach hatte sich der ehemalige Justizminister Mustafa Abdul Dschalil zuvor mit Stammesführern geeinigt. Dschalil ließ verbreiten, dass die Übergangsregierung für drei Monate im Amt bleiben solle. Danach werde sie durch eine gewählte Regierung ersetzt. Die Übergangsregierung soll in Bengasi sitzen, der zweitgrößten Stadt Libyens. >>> dpa, AFP, Reuters | Sonntag, 27. Februar 2011
LE FIGARO: Dans son allocution télévisée dimanche soir, le chef de l'Etat a justifié le remaniement gouvernemental par les défis diplomatiques et sécuritaires auxquels est confrontée la France, notamment en Méditerranée.
Fait inhabituel : c'est à l'occasion d'une allocution télévisée que le chef de l'Etat a lui-même annoncé le remaniement de son gouvernement. Nicolas Sarkozy a justifié ce changement d'équipe, le quatrième en onze mois, par la complexité de la situation actuelle dans les pays arabes : «C'est mon devoir de prendre les décisions qui s'imposent quand les circonstances l'exigent», a-t-il expliqué, sans jamais citer Michèle Alliot-Marie. «Pour obtenir les résultats que vous attendez et que nous obtiendrons, je me dois de ne faire prévaloir aucune autre considération que le souci de l'efficacité et de l'intérêt général dans le choix de ceux auxquels sont confiées les plus hautes responsabilités de l'Etat». >>> Par lefigaro.fr | Dimanche 27 Février 2011
REUTERS: The massive U.S. budget deficit is the gravest threat facing the economy, topping high unemployment and the risk of inflation or deflation, according to a survey of forecasters released on Monday.
The National Association for Business Economics said its 47-member panel of forecasters increased its estimate for the 2011 federal deficit to $1.4 trillion from $1.1 trillion in its previous survey in November.
"Panelists continue to characterize excessive federal indebtedness as their single greatest concern," with state and local government debt the second-biggest worry, the survey said. It was conducted between January 25 and February 9.
The panel's deficit forecast is lower than the Obama administration projection of a record $1.65 trillion this fiscal year, or 10.9 percent of U.S. gross domestic product.
Although the White House budget proposes $1.1 trillion in deficit reductions over 10 years, Republicans in the House of Representatives say that is not enough. >>> Reporting by Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Dan Grebler | Washington | Monday, February 28, 2011
REUTERS: Libyan rebels awaited a counter-attack by Muammar Gaddafi's forces on Monday, after the country's leader defied demands that he quit to end the bloodiest of the Arab world's wave of uprisings.
Rebels holding Zawiyah, only 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, said about 2,000 troops loyal to Gaddafi had surrounded the city.
"We will do our best to fight them off. They will attack soon," said a former police major who switched sides and joined the rebellion. "If we are fighting for freedom, we are ready to die for it."
Gaddafi is fighting a rebellion which has swept through his Mediterranean oil producing nation after uprisings toppled entrenched leaders in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt. His fierce crackdown has killed hundreds, triggering U.N. sanctions and Western condemnation, but has not turned the tide of protests.
Residents even in parts of the capital Tripoli have thrown up barricades against government forces. A general in the east of the country, where Gaddafi's power has evaporated, told Reuters his forces were ready to help rebels in the west.
"Our brothers in Tripoli say: "We are fine so far, we do not need help'. If they ask for help we are ready to move," said General Ahmed el-Gatrani, one of most senior figures in the mutinous army in Benghazi.
Analysts say they expect rebels eventually to take the capital and kill or capture Gaddafi, but add that he has the firepower to foment chaos or civil war -- a prospect he and his sons have warned of. >>> Maria Golovnina | Monday, February 28, 2011
REUTERS: Omani protesters demanding political reforms blocked roads to a main export port and refinery on Monday and a doctor said the death toll from clashes with police in the Gulf Arab sultanate had risen to six.
Hundreds of protesters blocked the entrance to the industrial area of the northern coastal town of Sohar, which includes a port, refinery and aluminum factory. They pushed back four army vehicles that had been observing the scene.
"We want to see the benefit of our oil wealth distributed evenly to the population," one protester yelled over a loudhailer near the port. "We want to see a scale-down of expatriates in Oman so more jobs can be created for Omanis."
The unrest in Sohar, Oman's main industrial center, was a rare outbreak of discontent in the normally sleepy sultanate ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said for four decades, and follows a wave of pro-democracy protests across the Arab world.
Oman's government, trying to calm tensions, promised on Sunday to create more jobs and give benefits to job seekers.
A main supermarket in Sohar was burning on Monday after being looted, witnesses said. Protesters stormed the town's police station on Sunday to try to free detainees before burning it. They had also set two state offices alight.
As well as those demonstrating outside the industrial area, hundreds more were at the main Globe Roundabout, angry after police opened fire on Sunday at stone-throwing protesters demanding political reforms, jobs and better pay.
Graffiti scrawled on a statue said: "The people are hungry." Another message read: "No to oppression of the people."
Nearby, sidewalks were smashed and office windows broken. Troops deployed around the town but were not intervening to disperse protesters.
"There are no jobs, there's no freedom of opinion. The people are tired and people want money. People want to end corruption," said Ali al-Mazroui, 30, who is unemployed. >>> Jason Benham and Saleh Al-Shaibany | Monday, February 28, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Emergency meeting of Privy Council held at Windsor Castle after Libyan leader reportedly moved £3bn to Britain
Britain froze the assets of Muammar Gaddafi and his five children on Sunday evening at an emergency meeting of the Privy Council at Windsor castle presided over by the Queen.
The chancellor, George Osborne, acted amid reports that the Libyan leader had moved £3bn to Britain last week. In a separate cloak-and-dagger operation, £900m of Libyan currency was impounded in Britain.
Earlier ministers announced they had stripped the Gaddafi family of its diplomatic immunity in Britain.
A special meeting of the Privy Council at 5.15pm on Sunday approved an order in council freezing the assets of Gaddafi, his sons Saif al-Islam, Hannibal Muammar, Khamis Muammar, and Mutassim, and his daughter Aisha Muammar. The Times reported on Saturday that Gaddafi had deposited £3m with a Mayfair-based private wealth manager last week. >>> Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent | Sunday, February 27, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Russia and China join west in UN war crimes ruling as Britain revokes immunity for leader and family
Muammar Gaddafi is running out of options and friends as international action to pressure him into surrendering gathers momentum, with Russia and China joining the west in backing calls to prosecute him for war crimes.
Britain said it was revoking the diplomatic immunity of the Libyan leader and his family, including his high-profile son Saif al-Islam, who has had close links with the UK. David Cameron echoed Barack Obama in calling on him to go. The PM said: "All of this sends a clear message to this regime: it is time for Colonel Gaddafi to go and to go now. There is no future for Libya that includes him."
Hillary Clinton said the US was reaching out to the Libyan opposition and was not negotiating with Gaddafi.
"We want him to leave and we want him to end his regime and call off the mercenaries and troops who remain loyal to him," the US secretary of state said. "How he manages that is up to him." >>> Ian Black, Middle East editor | Sunday, February 27, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Michèle Alliot-Marie had faced criticism over links with former regime in Tunisia and has been replaced by defence ministerBeleaguered French foreign minister Michèle Alliot-Marie has resigned after weeks of criticism over her links with the former regime in Tunisia.
She was replaced by the defence minister, Alain Juppé, a former prime minister convicted in a corruption scandal six years ago, in an unplanned but widely predicted government reshuffle.
Alliot-Marie, 64, known as MAM, insisted in her resignation letter that she had "committed no fault". She is one of the longest-serving ministers in France, having held many important cabinet posts, including defence and justice. She had been at the foreign ministry for just three months.
As civil unrest spread through the Arab world, Alliot-Marie committed a series of gaffes leading to her downfall. In January, she offered the services of French security forces to quell the uprising in Tunisia, just three days before protesters forced dictator Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali to flee. >>> Kim Willsher | Sunday, February 27, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: King Abdullah's offer of bribes to his country's alienated youth is no substitute for genuine reformNo kingdom is an island, particularly when it sits in a sea of revolution. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, watching the assault on Libya's strong man Muammar Gaddafi with his monarchy's usual complacency, thinks he can buy off protests with the promise of gifts.
Of course, the scale of the bribes the king offered last week to his country's alienated young generation – £22bn – is something only an oil-rich monarch could deliver. The Saudi king speaks as a father to the youthful population – after all, this is the only royal family to give its name to its people – and he expects them to obey the name al-Saud as they would their own father.
But the king has compromised his authority by combining it with the role of "sugar daddy". Nowhere else are subjects promised such largesse to not rock the boat.
Throughout the Arab awakening that began in Tunisia, the 86-year-old monarch and several of his elderly royal brothers have watched the turmoil across the Arab world convinced that the traditional pillars of their political control would see them through: oil revenues, US protection and custodianship of the holy places.
But Abdullah's kingdom is surrounded by waves of revolutionary rage lapping at the fortress: Yemen in the south, Bahrain in the east, Egypt, Tunisia and Libya in the west. Even the usually docile kingdom of Jordan is racked by the spectre of change. Saudi Arabia's royals have no doubt been shaken to their core by these disturbances and feel threatened by the successive, swift revolutions that have put paid to their cronies in Cairo and Tunis. How is it possible, they ask, for a few hundred shahids [martyrs], in just two to three weeks, to bring down their fellow autocrats so quickly? Continue reading and comment >>> Mai Yamani * | Sunday, February 27, 2011
* Mai Yamani is the author of Changed Identities: The Challenge of the New Generation in Saudi Arabia
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Armed rebels opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were in control of Zawiyah, close to the capital Tripoli, on Sunday and their red, green and black flag flew above the town."The people want the fall of the regime," a crowd of several hundred people in Zawiyah chanted, using the same slogan that has echoed across the Arab world in protests against long-standing authoritarian rulers.
"This is our revolution," they also chanted, punching the air in celebration and defiance. Some stood on top of a captured tank, while others crowded around an anti-aircraft gun. Women stood on top of buildings cheering on the men below.
"Libya is the land of the free and honourable," a banner read. Another depicted Gaddafi's head with the body of a dog.
Bullet holes pockmarked charred buildings in Zawiyah, where the fighting had been most intense, while burnt-out vehicles lay abandoned in the streets.
The scene in Zawiyah, only 30 miles west of Tripoli, was another indication that Gaddafi's grip on power appeared to be weakening by the day. >>> Telegraph reporter | Sunday, February 27, 2011
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Five rocks in a line on the tarmac made a minimal roadblock, and two men with broom handles as weapons guarded the road into eastern Libya, stamping their feet in the freezing rain.Brown teeth flashed in a genuine grin, and one of them shouted: "Engilisi very good!"
Behind him, on a small roadside obelisk which might once have carried a picture of Col Muammar Gaddafi, hung a long-hidden red, green and black banner decorated with a silver star and crescent moon. It was the national flag of the old kingdom of Libya, which was overthrown in the coup launched on Sept 1 1969 by the young Colonel. Now, after 41 years in hiding, the flag is back. And the Colonel is being overthrown.
It was very much like being back in the revolutionary year of 1989, driving across the Yugoslav/Romanian border immediately after Ceausescu's fall from power: the air of improvisation, the sheer unexpected delight at being free of a repressive regime which had lasted so long that everyone thought it was permanent.
And there was the symbolism of the flag. In Romania they cut the Communist symbols out, so the old tricolor flew everywhere with a jagged hole in its centre; here, they brought the old flag out of hiding places and hung them up.
It was an act of restitution, a symbolic eradication of everything Col Gaddafi's crazy rule has tried to establish. But, as in Ceausescu's Romania, it will take decades to restore the immense waste, and the loss and outright theft of the nation's patrimony.
Libya is an empty country: an enormous section of North Africa containing only six million people. Divide the trillions which the country's oil had produced since the early 1970s by six million and everyone here should be a multi-millionaire. Not so. Libya may not be dirt poor like Sudan or Yemen, but the comfortable capitalism of Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt is entirely missing. Even Algeria seems richer. >>> John Simpson, BBC World Affairs Editor | Sunday, February 27, 2011
REUTERS: Omani police fired rubber bullets at stone-throwing protesters demanding political reform on Sunday, killing two people, and demonstrators set government buildings and cars ablaze, witnesses said.The trouble in the town of Sohar, Oman's main industrial center, was a rare sign of discontent in the normally sleepy Gulf Arab sultanate and followed a wave of pro-democracy protests across the Arab world.
Witnesses said more than 2,000 protesters had gathered for a second day in a square in Sohar demanding political reforms, more jobs and better pay before police tried to disperse them, first with tear gas and batons and then rubber bullets.
"Two people have died after police fired rubber bullets into the crowd," one witness, who declined to be named, told Reuters from Sohar. A third person was reported in critical condition after being shot.
Another witness said the police had used live ammunition, but that could not immediately be confirmed. Troops deployed in the area, but did not intervene, witnesses said.
Sultan Qaboos bin Said, trying to ease tensions in U.S. ally Oman, reshuffled his cabinet on Saturday, a week after a small protest in the capital Muscat. He has ruled for four decades, exercising absolute power. Political parties are banned.
Oman's state news agency said riots in Sohar had destroyed public and private property but did not mention any deaths. >>> Saleh Al-Shaibany, Muscat | Sunday, February 27, 2011
Islam: The Enemy of Democracy and Freedom >>> Mark Alexander
THE GUARDIAN: Colonel Gaddafi's son was educated in London and has friends in the City and Westminster. Or he did until last weekGeneva places a high premium on guarding secrets, but rumours are a different currency. Amid momentous scenes being played out across the Middle East last week, sources in the Swiss financial centre were privately gossiping about a visit to Geneva earlier this year by Farhat Bengdara, the governor of the Central Bank of Libya.
According to one popular rumour, Bengdara had visited Geneva with a purpose. He was there to make changes to key Swiss accounts, into which flow hundreds of millions of dollars of Libyan oil money that are then allocated to the Libyan Investment Authority and the Libyan Central Bank.
Financiers in Geneva gossip that, as far back as 17 January, Bengdara established that four new names would be added as signatories on three crucial accounts controlling much of the money. The signatories were Colonel Muammar Gaddafi; his son Khamis, who heads Libya's infamous martyrs' battalion; the Libyan leader's daughter Aisha; and his son Saif al-Islam.
Where Libya's petro-dollars may have been channelled in the weeks since tensions first erupted across the Arab world is hard to say. But those who know him would be surprised if Saif did not hold the answers.
The westernised 38-year-old, who studied at the London School of Economics and enjoys close friendships with senior British politicians and financiers, has become the focal point of the conflict now threatening to rip Libya apart.
Whereas Gaddafi senior has always been seen in the west as a dictator – albeit one brought back into the fold – Saif, a trained architect who established a medical charity and was considered his father's heir apparent, held out the promise of a new dawn.
As far back as 2002, Saif told an interviewer that Libya needed democracy. "It's policy number one for us. First thing democracy, second thing democracy, third thing democracy," Saif said, using a rhetorical technique he was to repeat last week to far more sinister effect. >>> Jamie Doward | Saturday, February 26, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: William Hague says Libyan leader and immediate family will receive no diplomatic safeguards in UK and says he should quit
Britain has revoked the diplomatic immunity of Muammar Gaddafi and his family, William Hague confirmed, as the foreign secretary called for the Libyan leader to step down.
Hague said the UK was "working intensively" to establish how many Britons remained in Libya as final evacuation missions were being planned.
Asked whether the Libyan leader could remain in power, Hague told BBC1's Andrew Marr Show: "We have here a country descending into civil war, with atrocious scenes of killing of protesters and a government actually making war on its own, so of course it is time for Colonel Gaddafi to go. That is the best hope for Libya.
"And last night, I signed a directive revoking his diplomatic immunity in the United Kingdom but also the diplomatic immunity of his sons, his family, his household. So it is very clear where we stand on his status as the head of state." >>> Press Association | Sunday, February 27, 2011
TAGESSPIEGEL: Unionsfraktionschef Kauder verlangt Stopp der EU-Beitrittsverhandlungen, das FDP-geführte Auswärtige Amt sieht es anders. Heute ist der türkische Minister-präsident Erdogan in Deutschland.
Vor fünf Wochen hat sich Tayyip Erdogan überaus selbstbewusst gegeben. Sein Land, so schrieb der türkische Premier im US-Magazin „Newsweek“, befinde sich inzwischen in einer Position, in der es die Europäische Union nicht mehr um eine Mitgliedschaft anflehe. Doch einen Tag vor seinem Deutschland-Besuch hat Erdogan die Verhandlungen wieder zum Thema gemacht. Deren Verlauf erwecke den Eindruck von Diskriminierung, klagte der Premier. Und forderte die Deutschen auf, „wie unter früheren CDU-Regierungen“, bei den Beitrittsverhandlungen eine „Vorreiterrolle“ einzunehmen.
Die Angesprochenen in der CDU aber tun das Gegenteil. Unionsfraktionschef Volker Kauder verlangte einen Stopp der Verhandlungen, „solange die Türkei nicht die volle Religionsfreiheit gewährleistet“.
Die Türkei müsse sich hier nicht mehr nur an Worten, sondern an klaren Zeichen messen lassen, sagte Kauder der „Rheinischen Post“. Dazu gehöre, dass griechisch-orthodoxe Christen „ihre Priester wieder in der Türkei ausbilden dürfen“. >>> Von Rainer Woratschka | Sonntag. 27. Februar 2011
DIE TAGESZEITUNG: Auch die neuen Proteste in Tunesien haben Erfolg: Der Chef der tunesischen Übergangsregierung, Mohammed Ghannouchi, hat seinen Rücktritt erklärt.
TUNIS | Der Chef der tunesischen Übergangsregierung, Mohammed Ghannouchi, hat seinen Rücktritt erklärt. Er werde das Amt niederlegen, sagte Ghannouchi am Sonntag bei einer Pressekonferenz in Tunis. Er zog damit die Konsequenzen aus den anhaltenden Protesten gegen ihn.
Seit Freitag hatten tausende Menschen gegen die Übergangsregierung demonstriert, wobei es zu Straßenschlachten mit der Polizei kam und mindestens drei Menschen getötet und zahlreiche verletzt wurden. Meist junge Demonstranten warfen in der Hauptstadt Tunis mit Steinen Fensterscheiben von Gebäuden ein und errichteten Barrikaden. >>> afp/dpa/dapd | Sonntag, 27. Februar 2011
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Tripolis/Berlin- Das Regime Muammar al-Gaddafis in Libyen gerät immer mehr in die Isolation und wehrt sich mit aller Brutalität gegen seinen Sturz. Trotz heftiger Angriffe auf Demonstranten verloren die Sicherheitskräfte offenbar die Kontrolle über weitere Landesteile. Bei dem Versuch, den Aufruhr militärisch niederzuschlagen, wurden nach UN-Angaben bisher mehrere Tausend Menschen getötet oder verletzt. Die Europäische Union will deshalb am Montag Sanktionen gegen Gaddafis Regime verhängen.
Wegen der Nachrichtensperre und der Ausweisung internationaler Medien sind Informationen über die Lage in dem nordafrikanischen Land spärlich und teils widersprüchlich. Nach Berichten aus Tripolis von gestern schossen aber in der Hauptstadt Truppen des Regimes auf Aufständische und töteten mindestens fünf Menschen. >>> Von Damir Fras, Julia Gerlach, Marten Hahn und Thorsten Knuf | Samstag, 26. Februar 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Enfant terrible du nationalisme arabe, "sponsor" officiel du terrorisme, vieux lion du désert, roi et bouffon: le colonel Mouammar Kadhafi abreuve depuis quarante ans le monde de ses fulgurances, théories personnelles et remarques incongrues.Confronté depuis douze jours à une insurrection qu’il réprime dans le sang, le leader libyen a multiplié les déclarations menaçantes, promettant des "boucheries" aux manifestants accusés d’être des militants d’Al-Qaïda gavés de "pilules hallucinogènes".
En saharienne kaki, en uniforme militaire chamarré d’or, en gandoura (l’habit des Bédouins) ou en costume blanc, coiffé d’une chapka à la russe ou d’une casquette couvrant ses cheveux noirs et bouclés, le colonel Kadhafi est d’abord un choc visuel... Puis viennent les paroles.
"Shakespeare: ce grand dramaturge d’origine d’arabe", dit-il, en expliquant à une assistance peu informée que le nom de l’écrivain anglais est une déformation du nom arabe cheikh Zubayr.
Dans le dictionnaire tout personnel du guide de la révolution libyenne, les ancêtres des Indiens d’Amérique sont originaires d’Afrique du Nord. Et l’Amérique tire son nom d’un "émir Kâ" auquel le navigateur italien Amerigo Vespucci aurait tout volé.
Dans le registre économique, la Suisse est un pays "proche" de la Libye mais "moins développé". >>> AFP | Samedi 26 Février 2011
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