Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Mattar Ibrahim Mattar is one of two members of Bahrain's opposition Al Wefaq party who have been arrested by authorities in the Gulf country.
Mattar is considered a moderate critic of the Sunni-led Bahraini government, and has worked closely with human rights organisations and journalists to uncover violations committed by the government since it launched a crackdown on anti-government protests.
Al Jazeera's correspondent in Manama, who cannot be named for security reasons, spoke to him.
BBC: US officials say Osama Bin Laden's body was treated with respect and buried at sea, but some Muslims argue there was no good reason for not burying it on land.
Islamic tradition requires the dead to be buried as soon as possible, unless an autopsy is required.
The US military took this requirement very seriously, burying the body within hours.
"Traditional procedures for Islamic burial were followed," an official said.
Religious rites were carried out on the deck of a US aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson. The body, shrouded in a white sheet and placed in a weighted bag, was then placed on a flat board, tipped up, and eased into the Arabian Sea.
This occurred at 0600GMT, approximately 12 hours after the firefight during which Osama Bin Laden was shot in the head.
After this first shot, reports ABC News['] The Blotter, he was shot again, to make sure that he was dead.
The body was then flown to Afghanistan and Bin Laden's identity was confirmed. Officials say a DNA sample was taken that matched that of several other family members. Some sources say facial recognition technology was also used.
From Afghanistan, the body was, it appears, flown to the USS Carl Vinson.
"A military officer read prepared religious remarks, which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker," a US defence official said. » | Monday, May 02, 2011
BBC: The funeral of the youngest son of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has taken place in the capital, Tripoli.Libya says Saif al-Arab, 29, and three of Col Gaddafi's grandchildren died on Saturday when Nato missiles hit his villa in the leader's compound.
His funeral was attended by several thousand people as Nato planes circled in the skies above.
Mourners chanted calls for revenge as the coffin, wrapped in a green Libyan flag, was lowered into the ground. Visible emotion » | Monday, May 02, 2011
BBC: Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has denied that the killing of Osama Bin Laden in his country is a sign of its failure to tackle terrorism.
In a forthright editorial in the Washington Post, Mr Zardari said his country was "perhaps the world's greatest victim of terrorism".
Bin Laden was shot dead by US forces in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad - Pakistan was not involved in the raid.
US officials have suggested Pakistan must have known he was there.
Bin Laden was the founder and leader of al-Qaeda. He is believed to have ordered the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001, as well as a number of other deadly bombings.
He was America's most wanted man but had eluded them for decades.
But US officials say they are "99.9%" sure that the man they shot and killed in a raid on a secure compound in the small city of Abbottabad and then buried at sea was Bin Laden.
The compound in Abbottabad is just a few hundred metres from the Pakistan Military Academy - the country's equivalent of West Point or Sandhurst[.]
US officials have said it is "inconceivable" that Bin Laden did not have a support system in Pakistan. (+ video) » | Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Monday, May 02, 2011
BBC: US President Barack Obama has hailed the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden as a "good day for America," saying the world is now a safer and a better place.
Bin Laden was killed in a raid by US special forces on a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.
He is believed to have ordered the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001, as well as a number of other deadly bombings.
He topped the US "most wanted" list.
But his details on the list have now been updated with a simple banner indicating his current status: "Deceased".
DNA tests carried out after the operation indicated with "99.9%" certainty that the man shot dead was Osama Bin Laden, US officials said.
He was buried at sea after a Muslim funeral on board an aircraft carrier in the north Arabian Sea, Pentagon officials said.
The US has put its embassies around the world on alert, warning Americans of the possibility of al-Qaeda reprisal attacks for Bin Laden's killing.
CIA director Leon Panetta said al-Qaeda would "almost certainly" try to avenge the death of Bin Laden.
The US president's chief counter-terrorism advisor, John Brennan said that al-Qaeda, though weakened, remained a danger.
"It may be a mortally wounded tiger but it still has some life in it," he said. (+ video) » | Monday, May 02, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Hamas, the militant group which has just signed a deal to join the Palestinian government, on Monday condemned the killing of Osama bin Laden.While many Middle East leaders welcomed America’s military action, the mixed reaction across the region cast a shadow over both the “Arab Spring” and the future of talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Many Arab leaders facing popular uprisings, including Col Gaddafi of Libya, have claimed the protests are backed by al-Qaeda. Those claims have largely been rejected by protest groups but many in the West are concerned at the possibility that greater freedom of expression will allow more room for Islamic militants to operate.
The Hamas prime minister of the Gaza strip, Ismail Haniya, said: “We condemn the assassination of a Muslim and Arab warrior and we pray to God that his soul rests in peace.
“We regard this as the continuation of the American oppression and shedding of blood of Muslims and Arabs.”
The Hamas reaction put it immediately at odds with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, with which it is due to sign a unity deal today to join the Palestinian government.
The intransigent tone will confirm Israeli and American fears that the reconciliation between the two feuding Palestinian factions will make a peace deal impossible. » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Monday, May 02, 2011
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Am Ende verbarg sich der meistgesuchte Mann der Welt nicht in den zerklüfteten Bergen Afghanistans, sondern in Abbottabad, einer beschaulichen Stadt nördlich Islamabads, die wegen ihres angenehmen Klimas pensionierte Offiziere anzieht. Bin Ladins Anwesen war von meterdicken Mauern umgeben.Auffallend vage äußerte sich die pakistanische Regierung zu den Vorkommnissen in ihrem Land. „Die Operation“, hieß es am Montag in einer Mitteilung des Außenministeriums, „wurde von den amerikanischen Streitkräften ausgeführt im Einklang mit der erklärten Politik, nach der Osama Bin Ladin in einer direkten Aktion von amerikanischen Streitkräften eliminiert wird, wo immer er gefunden wird.“ Auch weiterführende Äußerungen aus Regierungskreisen ließen im Dunkeln, ob und wenn in welchem Maße pakistanische Sicherheitskräfte an der Operation gegen die Ikone Al Qaidas beteiligt gewesen sind. » | Von Jochen Buchsteiner | Montag, 02. Mai 2011
LE POINT: Les autorités américaines assurent qu'elles ont respecté les rites islamiques. Des responsables musulmans s'indignent.
La dépouille d'Oussama Ben Laden, le chef d'al-Qaida tué dimanche lors d'une opération commando américaine, a été immergée pour éviter, notamment, de creuser une tombe qui serait devenue un lieu de pèlerinage, a-t-on appris, lundi, auprès de responsables américains. "L'immersion a déjà eu lieu", a déclaré un responsable américain sous le couvert de l'anonymat, confirmant une information de plusieurs médias américains. "Oui, je peux le confirmer", a dit un autre responsable gouvernemental interrogé lundi matin. Le lieu et les circonstances de cette "immersion" n'ont pas été précisés.
Selon deux autres responsables américains, le choix de l'immersion du corps avait été en partie arrêté pour éviter de laisser une tombe qui se serait transformée en lieu de pèlerinage pour les djihadistes. Un des responsables qui a voulu garder l'anonymat a dit qu'un tel endroit aurait pu devenir un haut lieu de recrutement. "Nous nous assurons que son corps est traité en accord avec la pratique et la tradition musulmanes. C'est quelque chose que nous prenons très au sérieux", avait auparavant affirmé un haut responsable américain lors d'une conférence téléphonique. "Contraire aux règles de l'islam" (Mosquée de Paris) » | Le Point.fr | Lundi 02 Mai 2011
In Bahrain, human-rights workers say at least 50 medical staff are still missing after a crackdown on hospital care for injured anti-government demonstrators.
There are fears that some of the detained staff could face stiff sentences for treating protesters. Among them is Dr al-Dallal, a prominent physician arrested on March 17 during a military raid at Salmaniyah Hospital in Manama.
His wife, Fareeda al-Dallal, was also arrested and beaten under custody last Tuesday. Al Jazeera spoke to her about her arrest and the fears she has about the safety of her husband.
YNET NEWS: Op-ed: As Muslim population mushrooms, we may be seeing last days of Europe as we know it
We are living through the self-extinction of the European civilization that shaped the age we live in. In his new bestselling book “Civilization,” renowned Harvard historian Niall Ferguson writes: “If the Muslim population of the UK were to continue growing at an annual rate of 6.7% (as it did between 2004 and 2008,) its share of the total UK population would rise from just under 4% in 2008 to 8% in 2020, to 15% in 2030 and to 28% in 2040, finally passing 50%in 2050.”
Ferguson is not alone in using the term “Eurabia” to describe an Islamicized, senescent European continent. Historian Bat Ye'or spent her career studying the phenomenon and Professor Bernard Lewis told German daily Die Welt that “Europe will have Muslim majorities at the latest by the end of the 21st Century.”
The global number of Muslims is expected to jump by 35% in the next 20 years, growing twice as fast as the non-Muslim population, according not to these “Eurabia mongers,” but to the famous US Pew Forum, which published projections Muslim population growth between 2010 and 2030.
The most frightening figures are in Europe. Some of the biggest increases in Europe’s Muslim population in absolute numbers over the next 20 years are expected to occur in the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany. The Muslim populations in Italy and Sweden are projected to “more than double in size.” Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, warned about Italy’s “slow demographic suicide” and Italian Father Piero Gheddo, a doyen of Vatican’s missionaries, warned that "Europe will be dominated by Islam in the space of a few generations."
A low European fertility rate, massive immigration from Muslim countries and a confident Islamist minority are turning the cradle of Western civilization into its grave. As historian Walter Laqueur has warned, these are “the last days of Europe.” Losing precious gifts » | Giulio Meotti* | Monday, May 02, 2011
*Giulio Meotti, a journalist with Il Foglio, is the author of the book A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism
Osama bin Laden is dead. It's news many people, especially in the United States have been waiting for ten years to hear.
US forces tracked him down, with the help of Pakistan officials, to a mansion in a small town outside Islamabad.
Al Jazeera's Imran Khan tracks down a witness account.
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: China has banned smoking in public places in an attempt to placate the World Health Organisation, however, there are no penalties for those who flout the rules.
China has the world's most serious smoking problem, and more than a million Chinese die each year from smoking related diseases, according to the China Centre for Disease Control.
The country's 300 million smokers are now banned from smoking in public places indoors, such as hotels, restaurants and bars. However, smoking in the office is still allowed.
The ban appears to have come in response to pressure from the United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO), which castigated China for failing to comply with a global anti-tobacco treaty. The WHO has said China's decision to finally implement a ban is a "groundbreaking" move. » | Malcolm Moore, in Shanghai | Sunday, May 01, 2011
It seems very strange to me that they should rush to bury him at sea. I know that in Islam, bodies have to be buried quickly; but here was a man who did not deserve to have Islamic customs adhered to. Forensic evidence would have been far more important than following custom. I hope that Obama and his special US forces had the good sense to hold back DNA evidence, and many photos of the mutilated body. The first thing I thought when I saw the supposed photo of him lying dead was this: His beard was far whiter in recent times than the photograph suggests. Now this proves nothing, of course, since it is quite a common practice for Muslim men to dye their whiskers. But it does lead one to ask oneself that question.
I am sure I speak for the many when I say: Show us the conclusive evidence of this man's death, Obama! We need to see it NOW. With an election coming up, and you being so behind in the polls, it is rather difficult to feel convinced by the meagre evidence, if any, that you have given us. Telling us that Osama is dead proves nothing. – © Mark
This is a compilation of two comments I wrote earlier today which also appeared here
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – WILL HEAVEN: Why that photo of a dead Osama bin Laden is a photoshopped fake » | Will Heaven | Monday, May 02, 2011
BBC: Osama Bin Laden came to the world's attention on 11 September 2001, when the attacks on the United States left more than 3,000 people dead and hundreds more injured.
In a matter of three years, the Saudi-born dissident had emerged from obscurity to become one of the most hated and feared men in the world.
Osama Bin Laden was born in 1957, apparently the 17th of 52 children of Mohamed Bin Laden, a multimillionaire builder responsible for 80% of Saudi Arabia's roads.
His father's death in a helicopter crash in 1968 brought the young man a fortune running into many millions of dollars, though considerably less than the widely published estimate of $250m.
Mujahideen
While studying civil engineering at King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Bin Laden came into contact with teachers and students of the more conservative brand of Islam.
Through theological debate and study, he came to embrace fundamentalist Islam as a bulwark against what he saw as the decadence of the West.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 changed Bin Laden's life forever. He took up the anti-communist cause with a will, moving to Afghanistan where, for a decade, he fought an ultimately victorious campaign with the mujahideen.
Intelligence experts believe that the US Central Intelligence Agency played an active role in arming and training the mujahideen, including Bin Laden. The end of the war saw a sea change in his views. (+ video) » | Monday, May 02, 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE – BLOGS – DANIEL WARNER: The death of Osama bin Laden is a major event, perhaps more important in its symbolism than in the reality of the end of Al Qaeda and terrorism. Ten years after the attacks in the United States, the "leader" of the group credited with the attacks has been killed by American forces in Pakistan.Bin Laden had been personified as the head of the Axis of Evil. But, that is to assume that the nebulous network called Al Qaeda was organized in a hierarchical structure as a traditional military organization. It is also to assume that the War on Terror was a traditional war against a traditional enemy who could be overcome by military force.
Amid the chest-pounding satisfaction of the American people that justice has finally been done remains the fundamental question of what drove suicide bombers into the Twin Towers. The root causes of the terrorist acts around the world have been neither identified nor properly dealt with. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a stalemate, with a forthcoming announcement of a Palestinian state in September looming on the horizon. Continue reading and comment » | Daniel Warner | Monday, May 02, 2011
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Dix ans après les attentats du 11 septembre, les Etats-Unis ont mené une opération militaire au Pakistan au cours de laquelle le chef d'Al-Qaïda a été tué. Son corps a été immergé en mer. Al-Qaïda compte encore dans ses rangs et en liberté plusieurs figures importantes.
Le président des Etats-Unis Barack Obama a annoncé dimanche soir que le chef d’Al-Qaïda, Oussama Ben Laden, avait été tué au Pakistan par les services spéciaux américains. Cette opération met fin à une longue traque de l’auteur des attentats du 11 septembre 2001.
«Ce soir, je suis en mesure d’annoncer aux Américains et au monde que les Etats-Unis ont mené une opération qui a tué Oussama Ben Laden, le dirigeant d’Al-Qaïda, un terroriste responsable du meurtre de milliers d’innocents», a déclaré M. Obama lors d’une allocution solennelle à la Maison Blanche.
M. Obama a précisé que le chef d’Al-Qaïda avait été tué lors d’un échange de tirs dans une résidence où la présence de Ben Laden avait été évoquée en août dernier. Aucun Américain n’a été blessé dans l’opération, a indiqué M. Obama, ajoutant que les Etats-Unis étaient en possession du corps de leur ennemi. » | AFP | Lundi 02 Mai 2011
ARAB NEWS: DAMMAM: Prominent Riyadh-based Saudi journalist Jamal A. Khashoggi, who fought alongside Afghans and other Arabs including Osama Bin Laden in the war against the erstwhile Soviet Union in the 1980s, described Bin Laden’s killing as no big news. “If you ask me, it is no news because I expected this to happen a long time ago,” he told Arab News in an exclusive interview.Khashoggi said the fact that Osama survived for this long after Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was the real story. “It was a big failure of US intelligence,” he said.
According to him it is a very peculiar thing to happen in a very peculiar year. “The news of his killing comes at a time when the Al-Qaeda ideology has been completely rejected by the Arab world. Al-Qaeda was in eclipse … to be very specific it was buried in January 2011 in Tahrir Square in Cairo,” he said, referring to the massive people’s movement that swept aside longtime Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak.
“In a sense it is the right ending for Osama because the recent development in the Arab world clearly indicated that there was no place for him or his ideology,” said Khashoggi. “The rise of the nonviolent movement in the Arab world was the complete rejection of the Al-Qaeda philosophy.”
Khashoggi said he felt sorry that Bin Laden chose the wrong path when he was at the crossroads of history. “He hijacked our religion and chose the path of violence. I remember how we were all in the grip of violence in the early and mid-2000s, here in Saudi Arabia, Algeria … there were suicide bombings, bomb blasts, killings. His ideology did not conform with my understanding of Islam,” he said. » | Siraj Wahab | Arab News | Monday, May 02, 2011
CNN MONEY: NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks are poised for a higher open, as investors cheer news that Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces Monday.
The founder and leader of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, was killed by U.S. forces in Abbottabad, north of Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
In an address to the nation Sunday night, President Barack Obama called bin Laden's death, "the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda." » | CNNMoney staff | Monday, May 02, 2011
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – CON COUGHLIN: Rejoice! It’s taken ten long, hard years, but the Americans have finally got their man. Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, is dead. As Ronald Reagan once said of a former bunch of Islamist terrorists, you can run, but you can’t hide.Perhaps the most remarkable feature of bin Laden’s death is that he was found hiding in a modern complex outside one of Pakistan’s most prestigious military colleges.
I have always maintained that bin Laden, who has suffered from a severe kidney condition for many years, could not have survived on the run for so long without outside help and support. My personal hunch was that he was being protected by elements within Pakistan’s ISI intelligence agency, which previously enjoyed a close relationship with bin Laden.
The fact that the American special forces that tracked bin Laden to his bolt-hole could not even tell the Pakistani authorities what they were up to tells you all you need to know about the level of Pakistani complicity in bin Laden’s survival for so many years after the worst terrorist attack in world history. Read on and comment » | Con Coughlin | Monday, May 02, 2011
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Der amerikanische Präsident Barack Obama hat in einer Fernsehansprache mitgeteilt, dass der Kopf des Terrornetzes Al Qaida bei einer Kommandoaktion der amerikanischen Streitkräfte getötet worden ist. Laut Fernsehberichten wurde der Leichnam Bin Ladins im Meer beigesetzt.Der Kopf des Terrornetzes Al Qaida, Usama bin Ladin, ist tot. Der amerikanische Präsident Barack Obama teilte in einer Fernsehansprache mit, dass Bin Ladin am Sonntag bei einer Kommandoaktion getötet worden sei: „Der Gerechtigkeit wurde Genüge getan.“ Pakistan habe die Vereinigten Staaten dabei unterstützt, Bin Ladin aufzuspüren.
Ein Vertreter der pakistanischen Sicherheitsbehörden bestätigte den Tod Bin Ladins, ohne Details seiner Tötung zu nennen. Usama bin Ladin galt als Drahtzieher der Terroranschläge im September 2001 in den Vereinigten Staaten, bei denen fast dreitausend Menschen um[s] Leben kamen. Die Vereinigten Staaten haben nach der Mitteilung vom Tod des Al-Qaida-Führers ihre im Ausland befindlichen Staatsangehörigen vor möglichen Vergeltungsmaßnahmen des Terrornetzes gewarnt und ihre Botschaften weltweit in Alarmbereitschaft versetzt. Jubel in Washington » | FAZ.NET mit dpa/AP/AFP/Reuters | Montag, 02 Mai 2011
THE TIMES: Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda terrorist network, has been killed in a US military assault in Pakistan. A decade after more than 3,000 people died in a series of co-ordinated attacks on September 11, 2001, the world’s most wanted fugitive is dead. President Obama made the announcement late last night during a live address from the White House. “This is a good and historic day,” he said. “We can say to those families who… (+ photos) » | Nico Hines, Washington | Monday, May 02, 2011 [£]
REUTERS: The body of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was taken to Afghanistan after he was killed in Pakistan and was later buried at sea, the New York Times reported on Monday. [Source: Reuters] | Reuters | WASHINGTON | Monday, May 02, 2011
LOS ANGELES TIMES: He used his great wealth to fund a terrorist campaign fueled by a puritanical vision of Islam and a hatred for the West.
Reporting from Islamabad— Osama bin Laden, a scion of one of Saudi Arabia's wealthiest families, became the grim apostle of a strain of Islamic radicalism that exalted violence against non-believers, and the leader of a terrorist network that launched repeated attacks in the West, most spectacularly in the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2011.
Born in 1957 to a life of privilege, Bin Laden was one of more than 50 offspring of a Saudi construction magnate. He spent his youth in mansions filled with crystal chandeliers, gold statues and Italian tapestries.
Yet he became a figure of worldwide influence as a supporter of Muslim freedom fighters in Afghanistan in the 1980s and, later, as an organizer and financier of terrorist cells who concealed his whereabouts, living in safe houses, remote camps and even caves in Sudan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The world's most wanted man was killed during a firefight Sunday with U.S. forces in Abbotabad, about 30 miles northeast of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. He had a $25-million bounty on his head set by the U.S.
Yossef Bodansky, a terrorism expert who wrote a biography of Bin Laden, labeled him "the man who declared war on America." For former President George W. Bush and countless Americans, he was simply "the evil one."
In 1994, Saudi Arabia stripped Bin Laden of his citizenship. Many members of his family, closely linked to the monarchy, had disavowed him long before. Hatred for America » | Monday, May 01, 2011
LA TIMES PHOTOGALLERY: The death of Osama bin Laden: Osama bin Laden, the leader of the Al Qaeda network that executed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was killed as the result of a U.S. military operation, President Obama has announced. The world’s most wanted terrorist was 54. »| Times Editors | Sunday, May 01, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind al-Qaida, is dead, President Obama announces from the White HouseOsama bin Laden, the criminal mastermind behind al-Qaida and the world's most sought-after terrorist since the attacks of 11 September 2001, has been killed by a US operation, President Barack Obama has announced.
In an address to the nation, President Obama said Bin Laden was killed in a "targeted operation" in Abbottabad, a highland town north of Islamabad, last night.
The operation started with an intelligence lead last August, and culminated in an operation involving a "small team of Americans". "After a firefight they killed bin Laden."
None of the Americans was killed. Pakistani co-operation "helped to lead us to him" he said.
Osama's body is in possession of the US, according to the first reports from the US television networks.
As the news spread, crowds gathered outside the gates of the White House in Washington DC, singing the national anthem and cheering.
President Obama made the highly unusual Sunday night live statement to announce the news at around 11.30pm eastern time. » | Richard Adams in Washington and Declan Walsh in Islamabad | Monday, May 02, 2011
Sunday, May 01, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: In response to intense pressure from France and Italy, European Commission to unveil new proposals on WednesdayBrussels said on Sunday that national passport controls might be reintroduced across Europe to allow the "temporary" re-erection of borders between 25 countries.
Responding to intense pressure from Italy and France to tighten the no-borders system known as the Schengen regime, José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European commission, said he was looking at ways of satisfying the two countries' concerns. Paris and Rome are alarmed at an influx of migrants fleeing revolutionary north Africa.
In a letter to French president Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, Barroso said that the commission would unveil new proposals on Wednesday on immigration policy, common European asylum procedures, and reform of the Schengen system.
The commission's proposals are to go to a summit of EU leaders next month, with France and Italy leading the charge for a partial renationalisation of border controls, a trend the commission would like to resist but looks too weak to counter.
The Franco-Italian push to place greater restrictions on the Schengen regime, launched last week after a furious row between Paris and Rome over refugees from Tunisia, has already won support from a handful of other EU countries, including Germany. » | Ian Traynor in Brussels | Sunday, May 01, 2011
BBC: The Libyan ambassador to the UK has been expelled following attacks on British embassy premises in Tripoli.Foreign missions in Libya's capital have been targeted by crowds angry at reports that a Nato air strike had killed a son of Col Muammar Gaddafi.
A BBC team there said the UK embassy building had been completely burnt out.
The foreign secretary said the Gaddafi regime had failed in its duty to protect it and that Omar Jelban had been given 24 hours to leave the UK.
Meanwhile, the United Nations announced it was withdrawing all its international staff from Tripoli after some of its facilities in the city were also attacked by angry crowds.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "The Vienna Convention requires the Gaddafi regime to protect diplomatic missions in Tripoli.
"By failing to do so that regime has once again breached its international responsibilities and obligations. I take the failure to protect such premises very seriously indeed."
The UK currently has no diplomats in the Libyan capital.
Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said official lines of communication with Col Gaddafi's government would remain open, as other Libyan officials would stay in its UK embassy after the ambassador's departure. (+ video) » | Sunday, May 01, 2011
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Es schien Benedikt XVI. leicht zu fallen, auf den Wunsch aus der Weltkirche einzugehen: die Seligsprechung von Johannes Paul II. Am Wochenende stellte er sich selbst in den Schatten seines Vorgängers - in einen Schatten also, der Weggefährten leuchten lässt.
Am Sonntag um 10.36 Uhr brachen mehr als eine Millionen Menschen auf dem Petersplatz und in der Umgebung in Jubel aus. Noch weiter entfernt liegende Straßen versanken in einem Meer von meist polnischen Fahnen. Der Beifall schreckte die Stare, Möwen und zwei Wildenten auf ihren Rastplätzen auf der Engelsburg auf und ließ sie in den Himmel über Rom entschwinden. Menschen brachen in Freudentränen aus und die Verbindungen der Mobiltelefone brachen zusammen. Selbst die Sonne sandte nach Tagen des Regens wärmende Strahlen herab. „Rom und der Weltkreis“ feierten: „Johannes Paul II. ist selig“. » | Von Jörg Bremer, Rom | Sonntag, 01. Mai 2011
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: A star is born, but let's pray Kate's little sister is not the new Princess Margaret.
Kate Middleton may have won the nation's hearts on Friday, but as the day's celebrations drew to a close it was clear that her little sister, Pippa, had captured the eyes.
Arriving back at The Goring Hotel close to 3am in a slinky, long emerald gown, with diamanté embellishment, she retained the poise and serene sparkle that had bewitched onlookers all day.
From the moment Pippa arrived at Westminster Abbey, clad in an audaciously simple cowl-necked ivory sheath that skimmed like a glove over her slender yet shapely figure, the nation swooned; you could almost hear the collective male gasp every time she bent to straighten Kate's dress.
By the time Friday's royal wedding service was halfway through, Pippa's crepe-covered derrière was "trending" wildly on social media site Twitter, and by the day's end there were three separate Facebook pages dedicated to praise of her posterior – with the "Pippa Middleton *** Appreciation Society" leading the panting field. Many other admirers, however, had eyes only for the tantalising glimpses of cleavage afforded by her dress's teasing neckline.
What was interesting was that women were every bit as captivated as male onlookers.
While I was waiting in BBC Newsnight's green room on Friday night to discuss the day's great events with half a dozen pundits of varying royalist and republican tendencies, the talk was in perfect accord when it came to the impact of the younger Middleton sister: everyone thought she was utterly ravishing. » | Rowan Pelling | Sunday, May 01, 2011
THE OBSERVER: Mosque in Deraa comes under fire as groups opposing President Assad call for army to lead transition to democracyThe Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad sent fresh troops on Saturday to pound the besieged southern city of Deraa, as a new opposition group appealed to the army to help the transition to democracy.
Tanks and armoured personnel carriers entered the city and troops stormed the Omari mosque, a hub for protesters, killing four people as Syria's government continued to crush dissent in the city, which has been at the centre of the six-week uprising.
Activists said that houses in the Karak district of the city were damaged by shelling which started at 5am local time on Saturday, the sixth day of a sustained siege on the city.
"They are trying to break the will of the protesters and residents while also arresting any leaders," said Rami Nakhle, a Syrian cyber-activist based in Beirut.
The assault on the Omari mosque lasted 90 minutes, during which troops fired tank shells and heavy machine guns, resident Abdullah Abazeid told Associated Press. Three helicopters participated in the operation, dropping paratroopers on top of the mosque itself, he said.
Among the dead was the son of the mosque's imam, Ahmed al-Sayasna, residents said. Sayasna is in hiding, accused by the government of inciting protests. » | Katherine Marsh in Damascus | The Guardian | Saturday, April 30, 2011
AL-MASRY AL-YOUM: Minister of Interior Mansour al-Essawy made a surprise visit to Tora prison's hospital Saturday night, a senior security source said.The source told Egyptian news agency MENA that the minister checked all the hospital's departments to determine what renovations are required to prepare it for hosting Egypt's toppled president, Hosni Mubarak.
Following the investigation, Essawy convened with his assistant for the prison sector and Tora's chief to receive a detailed report on inmates' conditions.
Earlier in April, Egypt's attorney general ordered an investigation into the possibility of transferring Mubarak to the prison. » | MENA | Sunday, May 01, 2011
CNN: London -- A lot has changed since the 17th century, when Oliver Cromwell overthrew the monarchy -- violently turning England into a short-lived republic. Today, British republicans fight with ... street parties. » | George Webster and Leo Dawson for CNN | Saturday, April 30, 2011
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Britain celebrated the royal wedding of William and Kate with a grand patriotic spectacle. Friday's ceremony also sent out a message: With these two at the helm as the future king and queen of England, the monarchy will be less distant from its subjects in the years to come -- and also a little more human.
If you want to know just how important a particular event is to the Brits, you just have to look at the bets that the bookmakers are accepting. In the runup to the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on Friday, you could, for example, bet that the bride or groom would drop the wedding ring during the ceremony in Westminster Abbey (something which did not happen), or that Kate would mix up the first names of her husband, like Diana before her (she did not), or that Prince Philip would fall asleep during the ceremony (fortunately he did not) or that the Queen would wear a yellow hat (which she did).
The British had been preparing for the royal wedding for weeks. Some had chosen the best place to observe the proceedings and had camped out on the sidewalk for days. Others chose to use the public holiday to hold royal-themed parties.
There were certainly enough attempts to make money out of the occasion. The high-end supermarket chain Waitrose, for example, had a royal couple made out of gingerbread on sale. Demand rapidly increased in the past few days, and hundreds of the gingerbread royals were sold.
The route that Kate and William traveled after the ceremony in their century-old coach had resembled a carnival scene for days. People were already camped out on Thursday evening to reserve the best places along the route. More and more arrived over the course of the evening, braving the cold. The sense of anticipation grew by the hour. Across the country, around 5,000 street parties were held in what was no less than an impressive patriotic spectacle.
The wedding was also a kind of national festival. The British were celebrating their royal family and their own Britishness. Early on Friday morning, hundreds had gathered at the Goring Hotel, where Kate Middleton spent her last night as an unmarried woman together with her parents and siblings. Spectators outside Westminster Abbey fought fiercely for the best seats. Some of them had left their homes or hotels at the crack of dawn to get a place in the front row, and were not willing to settle for less.
Even after the wedding, people continued celebrating -- some out of conviction, others simply because everyone else was doing so. The euphoria did not let up. » | Marco Evers, Barbara Hans and Carsten Volkery in London | Friday, April 29, 2011
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL PHOTO GALLERY: The Wedding of the Year »
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL PHOTO GALLERY: The Hats of Westminster »
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Papst Benedikt XVI. hat Johannes Paul II. selig gesprochen. Hunderttausende verfolgten in Rom die Messe. Derart viele, dass selbst Papst Innozenz XI. musste weichen. Oder gab es andere Gründe für dessen Umbettung?Zum Vatikan gehören Verschwörungsgeschichten. Gerade entsteht eine um den seligen Papst Innozenz XI. (1611-1689), der jetzt aus seiner Grabstätte in der Sebastiankapelle von Sankt Peter weichen musste. Am Wochenende soll an seiner statt Papst Johannes Paul II. (1920-2005) seine letzte Ruhe finden. Am Sonntag wird der Vorgänger von Benedikt XVI. seliggesprochen. Dafür wird sein Sarg aus den Grotten in die Basilika hinaufgebracht. Für die Pilger war es unten zu eng geworden. Zunächst waren Messen am Grab von Karol Wojtyla unweit des Petrusgrabes eine Ausnahme. Mittlerweile werden sie genau gestaffelt, denn fast 20.000 Menschen täglich wollen dem früheren Papst ihre Reverenz erweisen. » | Von Jörg Bremer, Rom | Sonntag, 01. Mai 2011
leJDD.fr: Professeur d’anglais de 35 ans, Amina Abdallah tient sur Internet l’un des rares blogs* en activité en Syrie. Extraits
On a reçu la visite des services de sécurité la nuit dernière: ils sont arrivés au petit matin. Tout le monde dormait. Le vacarme m’a réveillée et j’ai immédiatement compris ce qui se passait. Notre gardien s’est retrouvé nez à nez avec deux jeunes hommes, musclés, portant des vestes de cuir et fumant tous les deux. Je savais bien qu’un jour ou l’autre, nous allions recevoir ce genre de visites. Déjà, des amis ou des collègues y avaient eu droit. Alors, pourquoi pas moi? Je me suis habillée le plus vite possible, j’ai glissé mon passeport américain dans la poche de mon jean en gardant une main dessus, comme je l’aurais fait avec un talisman. J’ai chaussé mes lunettes et suis descendue au rez-de-chaussée. Mon père était déjà debout. Quand ils m’ont vu arriver, l’un des gars a dit:
"C’est elle!" - Moi?
- Oui, faut qu’on parle de certaines choses.
- Comme quoi?
Il a commencé à énumérer une longue liste de commentaires que j’avais postés sur mon blog en anglais et en arabe. » | Amina Abdallah, Le Journal du Dimanche | Samedi 30 Avril 2011
THE OBSERVER: Unrest in Syria has greater potential consequences than any other event in the Arab Spring so farAs decades-old dictatorial regimes crumbled around him in January, Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, denied that revolution would spread to his country. Balhermep, the Ba'athist concept of "the ruling of the people", would keep his country together.
But as demonstrations in towns and villages across Syria seemed only to be spreading last week, even as the regime intensified its crackdown, that notion appeared to be unravelling.
The international consequences of regime change in Syria are many and complex. The fallout will be particularly marked in Lebanon and Palestine, and there will also be impacts on the country's alliances with Iran, Turkey, and Iraq, and, perhaps most importantly, on its relationship with Israel.
Damascus's influence has always been strong in these areas. Syria is vital to Hezbollah, which leads a Lebanese coalition supporting Assad. Lebanon has no land borders except with Syria on the east and north, and with Israel to the south. To the west is the Mediterranean, swimming with battleships and an international force to prevent the smuggling of weapons. Hezbollah's links with Syria are, in turn, the linchpin of the alliance between Tehran and Damascus, for the party's first loyalty is to Iran and the supreme leader of its Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The fall of the Assad regime would mean the loss of Iran's only ally in the region and thus a weakening of the clerical regime. This could boost the enthusiasm of Iranian reformers, who have been sidelined and repressed since the disputed presidential elections in Iran in 2009. » | Zaki Chehab, The Observer | Sunday, May 01, 2011
THE OBSERVER: From darling of the TV debates to villain of the tuition fees protests, the deputy PM Nick Clegg has had a year of extraordinarily mixed fortunes. Days before the crucial AV vote, he reflects on his punishing first year in office and opens up about life in the coalition, the impact on his family… and having a sneaky fag in the gardenWe are talking in his capacious Whitehall quarters with its fine view over St James's Park, and I pop a fairly obvious question: has he enjoyed the last year? Up until this point, Nick Clegg has been as candid, good-humoured and relaxed as it is reasonable to expect from a frontline politician under great pressure. In fact, he has been bouncy. But now the sun disappears behind the low cloud of wariness that scuds across his face. His reply is cagey: "I'm not sure whether to take up your invitation to provide a kind of enjoyment monitor."
He smells a trap. If he responds that it has been a thrill to be the first Liberal in many, many decades to be entitled deputy prime minister, then he will expose himself to the accusation that he is on a power frolic while thousands of voters are suffering the effects of spending cuts, tax rises and job losses. If he says that he hasn't enjoyed it, then he will feed the rumours that he has often been depressed by the onslaught on him.
In the end, though, he can't leave the question alone and comes back to it without prompting: "Enjoyment? Some parts more than others."
In the positive column: "Do I get up every morning and ask: am I doing the things that I believe in and am I doing them for the best possible motives? Yes. Unambiguously yes."
In the negative column, he has been pounded by "a barrage of criticism". It is not David Cameron who has been burnt in effigy by protesting students. It is not George Osborne who has had dog shit poured through his letterbox. It is not William Hague who gets sworn at when he takes to the streets of his constituency. For opponents of the coalition, it is Nick Clegg who is the magnet for loathing. That has got to be tough for a politician who liked it when he was liked.
Many politicians before him have travelled this trajectory from the fresh face enjoying the cheers of the crowd to the battle-bloodied leader who can no longer hope to be loved and must instead aim to gradually win respect for his resilience. Yes, it is a road well travelled. But rarely at such speed. A process that normally takes years – about six if you think of Tony Blair – has in the case of Clegg been compressed into months.
His very existence as deputy prime minister is a daily reminder to the Conservatives and their tribalist mouthpieces in the media that the Tories failed to achieve a clear election win, even against an opponent as unpopular as Gordon Brown. For many on the left, Clegg is the great betrayer who sold out when he contracted his shotgun marriage with David Cameron. » | Andrew Rawnsley | Sunday, May 01, 2011
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Col Gaddafi's youngest son 'killed in Nato air strike': Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, the youngest son of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, has been killed by a Nato air strike, the Libyan government said. » | Alastair Jamieson | Sunday, May 01, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Muammar Gaddafi son killed by Nato air strike – Libyan government: Saif al-Arab and three of Muammar Gaddafi's grandsons killed, according to reports – but the Libyan leader was unharmed » | Tim Hill and agencies | Sunday, May 01, 2011
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Nato air strike 'kills Gaddafi's son': If details verified, serious questions will be raised about who authorised missile attack that goes beyond UN Resolution 1973 » | David Randall | Sunday, May 01, 2011
Three suspected al-Qaeda members arrested in Germany were working on a bomb to target a crowded area.
The authorities in Germany were taking no chances with their new captives, flying them for their first court appearance under enormous security.
James Denselow, security analyst, discusses how the case in Germany underlines the difficulty in striking the balance between civil liberties and security with Al Jazeera's Felicity Barr.
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