Showing posts with label foreign minister. Show all posts
Showing posts with label foreign minister. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 06, 2017
Qatar's Foreign Minister Talks to Al Jazeera about Diplomatic Crisis
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Qatar FM: The Fall of Aleppo Won't End the Syrian War - Talk to Al Jazeera
Friday, March 02, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Australia's prime minister, Julia Gillard, has stunned colleagues by plucking a high-profile former state leader, Bob Carr, from retirement to replace Kevin Rudd as foreign minister.
After a tumultuous week in which she won a crushing victory against Mr Rudd in a bitter leadership challenge, Ms Gillard today unveiled her new cabinet.
The most dramatic surprise was the appearance of Mr Carr, the bush-walking author, arts aficionado and former Premier of New South Wales who led the state for a decade and oversaw the 2000 Olympics despite a barely-hidden disinterest in sport.
Several senior ministers had tried to prevent the recruitment of Mr Carr, including the defence minister, Stephen Smith, who reportedly wanted the position of foreign minister. Mr Smith held the role until Ms Gillard handed it to Mr Rudd after she ousted him as prime minister in 2010 but then needed his support during the subsequent election campaign. » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Friday, March 02, 2012
Monday, June 27, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Moussa Koussa, Colonel Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief and foreign minister, is facing calls to return to Britain for prosecution after The Daily Telegraph tracked him down to a luxury hotel in the Gulf.
Mr Koussa has been living for several weeks in a 17th-floor penthouse suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Doha, the capital of Qatar, under the protection of Qatari security services.
He has been in the Gulf state, a close western ally which is also a conduit for support for the Libyan opposition, since being allowed to leave Britain in mid-April.
At the time officials said Mr Koussa was likely to return to the United Kingdom, where his grandchildren live.
But at the weekend he refused to say when he would leave Qatar, or even if would be allowed to. He is constantly trailed by a team of Qatari “minders”, who were summoned to escort The Daily Telegraph away when it approached him for an interview.
The Conservative MP for Harlow, Robert Halfon, called for Mr Koussa to be handed over to the International Criminal Court in the Hague and put on trial for his role in atrocities perpetrated over decades by the Libyan government under Col Muammar Gaddafi.
“He was part of a grim regime,” said Mr Halfon, whose family’s roots are in Libya and whose grandfather fled Tripoli in the 1960s. » | Richard Spencer, Doha | Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Guido Westerwelle's image as foreign minister isn't just eroding abroad, but also at home. Inside the Foreign Ministry, German diplomats are hoping they will soon have a new boss. Chancellor Angela Merkel is also reportedly disappointed in the top diplomat, who doesn't seem to have grown into his role.
Christian Hacke has already passed judgment on Guido Westerwelle's role in history. Hacke is one of Germany's leading political scientists. He is the director of the political science department at the University of Bonn and has written a standard work on German foreign policy. But Hacke now has nothing but cold disdain for Germany's current foreign minister.
"Look at Germany's foreign ministers, from Konrad Adenauer and Heinrich von Brentano to Joschka Fischer and Frank-Walter Steinmeier," he says. "These were solid, well-informed men, who mastered the core principles of diplomacy: enhancing Germany's image and representing its interests in the world."
By contrast, the professor contends that Westerwelle -- who was a protege of former Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher -- has embraced a "neo-German Wilhelminism," which he displayed in particular when he abstained from the United Nations Security Council resolution on an establishing a no-fly zone over Libya. Hacke says that Westerwelle engages in self-righteous grandstanding while, at the same time, cowardly running for cover. "He is the vainest, most narrow-minded and stubborn foreign minister since von Ribbentrop."
It is a monstrous allegation. Joachim von Ribbentrop was Hitler's foreign minister from 1938 to 1945. In Hacke's opinion, the consequences are perfectly clear: "Westerwelle must go because he can no longer properly represent German interests -- and because we have to feel ashamed of him." Westerwelle Widely Viewed as Failure » | Ralf Neukirch | Monday, April 25, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
LONDON EVENING STANDARD: An EU decision to lift sanctions on Muammar Gaddafi's former right-hand man Musa Kusa has been condemned as "astonishing".
Kusa, who made a high-profile defection to Britain last month, no longer faces travel restrictions or an asset freeze.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Sanctions are introduced to invoke behavioural change and as Musa Kusa has chosen to leave the regime he is no longer sanctioned in this way." » | Thursday, April 14, 2011
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
THE NEW YORK TIMES: WASHINGTON — The Obama administration dropped financial sanctions on Monday against the top Libyan official who fled to Britain last week, saying it hoped the move would encourage other senior aides to abandon Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the country’s embattled leader.But the decision to unfreeze bank accounts and permit business dealings with the official, Moussa Koussa, underscored the predicament his defection poses for American and British authorities, who said on Tuesday that Scottish police and prosecutors planned to interview Mr. Koussa about the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and other issues “in the next few days.”
Mr. Koussa’s close knowledge of the ruling circle, which he is believed to be sharing inside a British safe house, could be invaluable in trying to strip Colonel Qaddafi of support.
But as the longtime Libyan intelligence chief and foreign minister, Mr. Koussa is widely believed to be implicated in acts of terrorism and murder over the last three decades, including the assassination of dissidents, the training of international terrorists and the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
“He was both the left arm and the right arm of the regime, its bloodhound,” said Dirk Vandewalle, a Dartmouth professor who has studied Libya for many years.
Mr. Vandewalle recalled a dinner with friends in Libya a few years ago when one man mentioned Mr. Koussa’s name, a dangerous faux pas. “The conversation just stopped,” he said. “People switched to a different topic. Koussa was considered beyond the pale.” » | Scott Shane | Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Saturday, April 02, 2011
LE FIGARO: Arrivé mercredi soir à Londres, le ministre des Affaires étrangères libyen est une prise de choix pour les alliés.La défection du ministre des Affaires étrangères libyen, Moussa Koussa, paraît digne d'un roman de John Le Carré. Arrivé lundi en Tunisie par la frontière terrestre, il atterrit mercredi soir sur l'aéroport d'affaires de Farnborough, près de Londres, à bord d'un jet privé, ou, selon d'autres sources, d'un appareil militaire britannique. Coup de maître des services secrets occidentaux le lâchage de cet ancien chef des services de renseignements va faire mal à Kadhafi. Même s'il n'était plus au cœur du système politico-sécuritaire depuis un an environ, Moussa Koussa, 61 ans, est la boîte noire du régime. Comme les enregistreurs placés à bord des avions, il emporte avec lui l'historique d'un trajet sanglant, l'histoire des services secrets libyens depuis 1969. De l'époque du terrorisme à celle des négociations avec l'Occident.
Malgré la résonance comique de son patronyme («courgette» en arabe) Moussa Koussa n'a rien d'un amuseur, même s'il entame sa carrière par une gaffe monumentale. À peine nommé ambassadeur à Londres, il annonce en 1980 dans une interview au Times: «Les comités révolutionnaires ont décidé hier soir d'exécuter deux personnes de plus au Royaume-Uni, et je les approuve.» Le gouvernement britannique, qui le soupçonne déjà d'être chargé de superviser les assassinats d'opposants libyens en exil en Europe du Nord, lui donne 48 heures pour faire ses bagages. D'autant plus que, dans la même interview, l'éphémère ambassadeur chante les louanges de l'IRA, à laquelle Kadhafi envoie kalachnikovs, lance-missiles et explosifs militaires par bateaux entiers. Continuez à lire et écrire un commentaire » | Par Pierre Prier | Jeudi 31 Mars 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
THE TRIPOLI POST: Talking for the first time to the press about the defection of former Libyan Foreign Minister Mussa Kussa, to the UK, Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said he understood that Mr Kussa had resigned.Initially, the Libyan government denied that Mr Kussa had defected, claiming he was merely on a "diplomatic mission", but now, after adnitting [sic] to Mr Kussa's resignation, the Libyan spokesman said the former FM had needed some medical treatment for a few days in Tunisia. He was given permission to do so, and he was expected back.
Moussa Ibrahim: "He (Mr Mussa) asked for sick leave because he had diabetes and high blood pressure. The government gave him permission to leave the country, because he needed to look after himself and he was in bad need of medical care. We understand now he has resigned from his position," he said.
Then he added: "He is an old man. He has serious health problems - his heart, his body, could not take the pressure and we hope that he will recover mentally, psychologically and physically and rest.
Ibrahim Moussa said: "We are expecting him to come back. This is his homeland. We are his family," adding that if Mr Kussa did decide to return to Libya, he would be welcomed with "open arms".
The Libyan leader Muammar Al Qathafi, meanwhile, has issued a warning to the West about their actions, reportedly telling the Libyan news agency, JANA: "They have started something dangerous, something they cannot control. It will be out of their control no matter what methods of destruction they have at their disposal. Continue reading and comment » | Thursday, March 31, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Prime minister says Gaddafi's henchmen should 'come to their senses' and follow defecting foreign minister by abandoning Lybian regime
David Cameron approved the decision to allow the Libyan foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, to defect to Britain with at least one member of his family after consulting the US, Downing Street has said.
Cameron said Muammar Gaddafi's henchmen should "come to their senses" and follow Koussa by abandoning the "brutal regime".
And he reiterated that "no deal" had been made with the minister in exchange for his defection to Britain.
Koussa's defection has led to expectations that he will be questioned about his possible involvement in, or knowledge of, atrocities including the Lockerbie bombing and the murder of PC Yvonne Fletcher.
Scottish prosecutors have told the Foreign Office they want to interview him in connection with the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie.
His 15-year tenure as the head of Libyan foreign intelligence covered this period, but he has always denied that Libya was involved in the bombing. (+ video) » | Nicholas Watt and Hélène Mulholland | Thursday, March 31, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Rebel leadership wants defector returned and tried for crimes against humanity once Gaddafi is toppledLibya's rebel leadership has called for Moussa Koussa, the former Libyan foreign minister who has defected to the UK, to be returned for trial for murder and crimes against humanity after Muammar Gaddafi is toppled.
Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the revolutionary council in its de facto capital, Benghazi, said that the rebels were not bent on revenge against the regime's officials but that some of Gaddafi's closest associates "have a lot of blood on their hands" and must stand trial.
The British foreign secretary, William Hague, has said that Britain is not offering Koussa immunity from prosecution, and called for other regime figures to abandon Gaddafi.
Gheriani alleged that Koussa had been partly responsible for assassinating opposition figures in exile, murderous internal repression and the Lockerbie plane bombing.
"We want to bring him to court," Gheriani said. "This guy has so much blood on his hands. There are documented killings, torturing. There's documentation of what Moussa Koussa has done. We want him tried by Libyan people. I believe once we have our government 100% in control in Libya, things are normalised, we want him tried here. I think international law gives us that right."
Gheriani said it was up to Britain to decide whether to arrest Koussa in the meantime. Koussa's arrival in London was evidence that Gaddafi's regime was "starting to crumble". He expected other senior officials to follow.
"He is a very, very major person to defect. Gaddafi trusted him more than some of his sons. Now Gaddafi doesn't even trust his own people any more," Gheriani said. » | Chris McGreal in Benghazi | Thursday, March 31, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister who defected from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime, was one of the architects of its rehabilitation in the international community but a deeply controversial figure who is likely to pose David Cameron a particularly thorny political problem.
As the highest-profile defection from the ranks of Col Gaddafi's loyalists, he is a plum prize who is likely to be of great value in helping to dismantle his dictatorship.
The former spy chief's resignation also comes at a critical time in the coalition's attempts to dislodge Col Gaddafi, as the rebels are retreating under fresh onslaughts and Whitehall sources suggested they were unlikely to win without arms or training from outside.
So his information and contacts among Col Gaddafi's generals will be all the more valuable.
However, the former head of Libya's external intelligence, was the mastermind accused of planning the Lockerbie bombing and any attempts to rehabilitate him are likely to be an exceedingly hot potato.
Mr Koussa has been a close confidant of Col Gaddafi's for 30 years and helped secure the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi. Continue reading and comment » | Andy Bloxham, and Damien McElroy | Wednesday, March 30, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libya: Moussa Koussa resigns – factbox: Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa arrived in Britain on Wednesday and has quit Muammar Gaddafi's government, according to the Government » | Wednesday, March 30, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libya's foreign minister will be questioned by the Foreign Office today after defecting to Britain from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's government.Moussa Koussa flew into Britain yesterday and told officials "no longer willing" to serve the regime, in a significant blow to the dictator.
The move was welcomed in Whitehall where fears have been growing that poorly organised Libyan rebels cannot defeat Gaddafi without being given arms or training on the ground.
"We encourage those around Gaddafi to abandon him and embrace a better future for Libya that allows political transition and real reform that meets the aspirations of the Libyan people," a Foreign Office spokesman said.
David Cameron had earlier admitted that the Government was considering arming the rebels following talks in London with Libyan opposition leaders.
Rebel forces were forced to retreat again and surrendered several towns in the face of heavy resistance from troops loyal to the regime. » | Thomas Harding, and Robert Winnett | Thursday, March 31, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Libya: Moussa Koussa, Gaddafi's foreign minister, defects to UK – Moussa Koussa says he is no longer willing to represent the regime in a morale boost for the rebels » | Patrick Wintour , Richard Norton-Taylor , Nick Hopkins , and Chris McGreal in Ajdabiya | Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Libyan leader condemns 'crusader strategy' amid speculation that his foreign minister has defected
Muammar Gaddafi told the London conference discussing Libya's future without him that there was no room for compromise with the Benghazi-based rebels, whom he described bluntly as al-Qaida terrorists supported by Nato and representing no one.
Far from showing any sign of bending to demands from Barack Obama, David Cameron and other world leaders that he step down, Gaddafi issued a characteristically defiant challenge to what he called a "new crusader strategy or imperialist plan".
But three powerful explosions that shook Tripoli in mid-afternoon – apparently the first daylight attack in 10 days of UN-mandated air strikes – seemed to presage a possible escalation of the conflict. Libyan officials made no comment.
In another dramatic development, there was speculation that Gaddafi's foreign minister, Mousa Kousa, might have defected during a visit to Tunisia.
The Libyan leader warned that the UN-imposed no-fly zone would turn north Africa into "a second Afghanistan" in an extraordinary letter sent to the European Parliament, the US Congress and "the Europeans" meeting in London.
"Stop your barbaric and unjust offensive against Libya," he wrote. "Leave Libya for the Libyans. You are carrying out an operation to exterminate a peaceful people and destroy a developing country. We are united behind the leadership of the revolution, facing the terrorism of al-Qaida on the one hand and on the other hand terrorism by Nato, which now directly supports al-Qaida."
The full text shows the Libyan leader to be baffled by the ingratitude of the world towards him after years of rapprochement and utterly dismissive of concerns about the use of violence against his own people. » | Ian Black in Tripoli | Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
FORBES: NEW YORK -- Morocco's foreign minister is warning that the current "Arab spring" can quickly end if the transitions in Egypt and Tunisia don't lead to real democracy.
Taieb Fassi-Fihri says he plans to tell U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at a meeting Wednesday in Washington that the Group of Eight major industrialized countries should launch a new initiative to ensure that democratic principles and institutions are entrenched in Tunisia and Egypt. » | Associated Press | Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has furiously rejected accusations of nepotism being levelled at him by opposition politicians and the media. Commentators wonder whether Germany's top diplomat, so prone to shrill tirades, is diplomatic enough for his job.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, under fire from opposition politicians and media commentators for taking party donors and his partner Michael Mronz on official trips abroad, hit back at his critics over the weekend, dismissing the accusations as "slander" that was damaging Germany.
"Such slander by the opposition against a foreign minister while he is on a foreign trip in the interest of German jobs damages Germany," the leader of the country's pro-business Free Democrat Party (FDP) told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper in an interview published on Sunday. "Political culture has hit a low point when the opposition even attacks the relatives of political opponents for party political gain."
"I've got a very thick skin," the leader of Germany's pro-business FDP said. "Party political defamation campaigns just make me fight harder."
SPIEGEL reported last week that Westerwelle, who is also deputy chancellor in Angela Merkel's government, has been taking friends and party donors on official trips abroad, and that he took part in a ceremony that Mronz had helped organize to mark the opening of a luxury hotel in Bonn.
It also emerged last week that the manager of a company in which Westerwelle's brother, Kai Westerwelle, owns a stake was part of the business delegation accompanying the minister on a trip to Asia in January. Ralf Marohn, the majority owner and managing director of Far Eastern Fernost Beratungs- und Handels GmbH, a trading consultancy, was on Westerwelle's government jet for the four-day trip to Estonia, Japan and China. According to a corporate register seen by SPIEGEL ONLINE, Kai Westerwelle took a €15,000 ($20,600) stake in the consultancy in 2007.
The allegations, together with Westerwelle's controversial remarks about benefits paid to the long-term unemployed, have hit the FDP's opinion poll ratings ahead of a major regional election in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, in May.
Several media commentators say the accusations against Westerwelle are exaggerated, but that he hasn't done himself any favors with his shrill reaction to them. >>> David Crossland | Monday, March 15, 2010
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