Muslim Aid Charity Under Investigation
THE TELEGRAPH: A charity praised by Gordon Brown and the Prince of Wales has been placed under investigation by the Charity Commission following claims it had channelled hundreds of thousands of pounds to groups linked to a banned terrorist organisation.

Sir Iqbal Sacranie, Chairman of Muslim Aid pictured addressing guests.At a celebratory dinner at the Natural History Museum. Photograph: The Telegraph
According to its own accounts, Muslim Aid paid £325,000 to the Islamic University of Gaza, where leading Hamas figures teach, and £13,998 to the al-Ihsan Charitable Society, designated by the US government as a "sponsor of terrorism" and a front for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group.

Security sources also claim that Muslim Aid has helped channel a further £210,600 to six other organisations in the Gaza Strip since July 2009, all of which they say are also linked to Hamas.

Despite repeated approaches for comment over more than a week, Muslim Aid has refused to deny these claims.

In a statement, the Charity Commission said: "We take very seriously allegations of links between charities and terrorist activity, and consider funding of terrorist organisations to be a 'zero tolerance' issue.

The Commission has opened an investigation into Muslim Aid in light of these allegations and is working with the charity to address the issues raised." >>> Andrew Gilligan | Saturday, April 03, 2010

Russian Heir Demands Tsar Nicholas II Murder Investigation
THE TELEGRAPH: The self-proclaimed heir to Russia’s imperial throne has demanded the reopening of the investigation into the murder of Tsar Nicholas II and his family by Bolsheviks in 1918.

Tzar Nicholas II and family. Photo: The Telegraph
The Russian Prosecutor-General has formally closed a criminal investigation into the shooting because too much time had elapsed since the crime and because those responsible had died.

But monarchists said a resumption of the criminal case was essential if Russia as finally to come to terms with its brutal past.

“This case is essential for Russia,” said Alexander Zakatov, who represents Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, a Romanov who styles herself as the heir to the imperial throne.

“Russians need to know about the fate of the tsarist family and all of the other victims of the Communist regime. There should be a clear legal verdict on this,” said Zakatov, who heads the chancellery of Russia’s so-called Imperial House.

He said lawyers for Mrs Vladimirovna had asked Moscow’s Basmanny court to force prosecutors to reopen the case, which he said was needed to resolve a host of questions about the murder and remains said to belong to the last tsar.

Nicholas II, his wife and five children were killed by a revolutionary firing squad in July 1918 in the cellar of a merchant’s house in Yekaterinburg, 900 miles east of Moscow. >>> The Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Saturday, January 16, 2010

US Senate Asked to Probe Lockerbie 'Oil Deal'
TIMES ONLINE: A veteran United States senator has asked Congress to investigate whether negotiations for a lucrative Libyan oil contract played a role in the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

The call from Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, will add to the pressure on Gordon Brown, who has been accused of damaging - or even killing off - the transatlantic "special relationship" by backing the release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi.

The Prime Minister insisted yesterday that there had been nothing underhand in the decision by the Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to free al-Megrahi. The 57-year-old is dying from prostate cancer.

“There was no conspiracy, no cover-up, no double-dealing, no deal on oil, no attempt to instruct Scottish ministers, no private assurances by me to Colonel Gaddafi,” Mr Brown told an audience in Birmingham.

The former Libyan intelligence office served just eight years of a life sentence for his role in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, killing 270 people including 11 on the ground. Two-thirds of the victims were American and their relatives reacted with fury to the news that he was to be freed.

Mr Lautenberg called for a Senate investigation into the decision in a letter to Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican member. He said that the congressional panel “must expose the truth" and “uncover whether justice took a back seat to commercial interests". >>> Philippe Naughton | Thursday, September 03, 2009

In Iran, an Iron Cleric, Now Blinking
THE NEW YORK TIMES: For two decades, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has remained a shadowy presence at the pinnacle of power in Iran, sparing in his public appearances and comments. Through his control of the military, the judiciary and all public broadcasts, the supreme leader controlled the levers he needed to maintain an iron if discreet grip on the Islamic republic.

But in a rare break from a long history of cautious moves, he rushed to bless President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for winning the election, calling on Iranians to line up behind the incumbent even before the standard three days required to certify the results had passed.

Then angry crowds swelled in cities around Iran, and he backpedaled, announcing Monday that the 12-member Council of Guardians, which vets elections and new laws, would investigate the vote.

“After congratulating the nation for having a sacred victory, to say now that there is a possibility that it was rigged is a big step backward for him,” said Abbas Milani, the director of Stanford University’s Iranian studies program.

Few suggest yet that Ayatollah Khamenei’s hold on power is at risk. But, analysts say, he has opened a serious fissure in the face of Islamic rule and one that may prove impossible to patch over, particularly given the fierce dispute over the election that has erupted amid the elite veterans of the 1979 revolution. Even his strong links to the powerful Revolutionary Guards — long his insurance policy — may not be decisive as the confrontation in Iran unfolds.

“Khamenei would always come and say, ‘Shut up; what I say goes,’ ” said Azar Nafisi, the author of two memoirs about Iran, including “Reading Lolita in Tehran.” “Everyone would say, ‘O.K., it is the word of the leader.’ Now the myth that there is a leader up there whose power is unquestionable is broken.”

Those sensing that important change may be afoot are quick to caution that Ayatollah Khamenei, as a student of the revolution that swept the shah from power, could still resort to overwhelming force to crush the demonstrations.

In calling for the Guardian Council to investigate the vote, he has bought himself a 10-day grace period for the anger to subside, experts note. The outcome is not likely to be a surprise. Ayatollah Ahmed Jannati, the council’s chairman, is one of Ayatollah Khamenei’s few staunch allies among powerful clerics. In addition, Ayatollah Khamenei appoints half the members, while the other half are nominated by the head of the judiciary, another appointee of the supreme leader.

“It is simply a faux investigation to quell the protests,” said Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. >>> By Neil Farquhar | Monday, June 15, 2009