Sunday, April 03, 2011
REUTERS AFRICA: TRIPOLI - Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi shelled a building in Misrata early on Sunday to try to dislodge rebels from their last big stronghold in western Libya where a doctor says hundreds have been killed.Like many cities, Misrata rejected Gaddafi's rule in a revolt in February. In a violent crackdown, Gaddafi's forces restored control in most places in western Libya, leaving Misrata cut off and surrounded, with dwindling supplies.
In the rebel capital of Benghazi in the east, the anti-Gaddafi council have named a "crisis team", including the former Libyan interior minister as the armed forces chief of staff, to try to run parts of the country it holds. » | Maria Golovnina | Sunday, April 03, 2011
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Paper critical of government accused of publishing "fabricated" reports about last month's pro-democracy protests.Bahraini authorities have banned Al-Wasat, the country's main opposition newspaper, which has been critical of the government in its coverage of Shia-led protests quashed last month.
The newspaper did not publish on Sunday after a message on state TV saying Bahrain's Information Ministry had ordered the paper to shut down.
The state-run Bahrain News Agency (BNA) says officials accuse Al-Wasat of "unethical" coverage of the Shia-led uprising against the country's Sunni rulers.
The Kingdom's Information Affairs Commission also referred the newspaper for investigation, BNA said.
Al-Wasat has been accused of publishing "fabricated" reports last week about the "security developments in Bahrain". » | Source: Agencies | Sunday, April 03, 2011
WIKI: Inspire magazine »
BBC: President Barack Obama has described as "outrageous" the killings in Afghanistan triggered by the burning of a Koran in the US last month.
Mr Obama said the desecration of any holy text was "an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry", but it did not justify killing innocent people.
An attack on a UN base on Friday in the city of Mazar-e Sharif killed 14 people, seven of them UN staff.
A top UN official has blamed the pastor who burnt the Koran for the violence.
At least 10 people were killed and many more were injured in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Saturday in a second day of protests.
'No justification'
During a service at the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida on 20 March, Pastor Wayne Sapp soaked a Koran in kerosene, staged a "trial" during which the Islamic holy book was found guilty of "crimes against humanity", and then set it alight.
The incident took place under the supervision of Pastor Terry Jones, who last year drew condemnation over his aborted plan to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.
In a statement published on Saturday evening, Mr Obama extended his condolences to the families of those killed by the protesters in Afghanistan.
"The desecration of any holy text, including the Koran, is an act of extreme intolerance and bigotry," he said. "However, to attack and kill innocent people in response is outrageous, and an affront to human decency and dignity.
"No religion tolerates the slaughter and beheading of innocent people, and there is no justification for such a dishonourable and deplorable act." » | Sunday, April 03, 2011
KHALEEJ TIMES ONLINE: The UAE’s population has grown exponentially to 8.26 million in mid-2010, a growth of 64.5% in four years, as strong economic growth attracted workers from all over the world.
According to latest population estimates put out by the National Bureau of Statistics on last Thursday, the population of Emiratis have increased by 96,833 to 947,997, or 11.47 per cent, in the last four years.
The bureau has based its estimates on administrative records of the Ministry of Interior and data on births and deaths obtained from the Ministry of Health.
Abu Dhabi, the largest emirate in terms of land mass, has the biggest population of 404,546, or 42 per cent, of the UAE nationals also. » | Saturday, April 02, 2011
KUWAIT TIMES: ANKARA: Turkey plans to build a coastal nuclear power plant close to an earthquake-prone area, dismissing neighbors' fears that Japan's nuclear disaster shows that the new plant could be a risk to the whole Mediterranean region. Greece and Cyprus say the move is a gamble that could cause catastrophe and want the European Union to scrutinize the EU candidate's plan in a debate fraught with political and historical baggage. Turkish officials insist the plant is safe and necessary to keep the country's strong economy going. » | Sunday, April 03, 2011
KUWAIT TIMES: MUSCAT: Omani police shot dead a protester yesterday in the port of Sohar, north of Muscat when they opened fire to disperse demonstrators demanding the release of prisoners, witnesses told AFP. It was the second death in the port during the current wave of unrest sweeping across the region, after police killed a protester at the end of February in Sohar, an industrial area some 200 kilometers (124 miles) north of the capital Muscat, particularly badly hit by unemployment.
Police tried to disperse a crowd of protestors who were hurling stones at them and fired on the crowd when the victim was hit, a witness said. "Dozens of Omanis emerged from mosques in Sohar after Friday prayers to protest and demand the release of jailed relatives" detained during protests earlier this week, one witness said. "One protester, Khalifa Al-Alawi, was hit in the head by a bullet during confrontations with the police and died immediately," the witness said. » | Saturday, April 02, 2011
KUWAIT TIMES: MUSCAT: Security forces detained between 50 and 60 protesters in clashes in the Omani industrial town of Sohar, witnesses said. The violence on Friday during a fifth week of protests involved the use of knives, stones, teargas and rubber bullets, Oman's general prosecutor said. It came three days after a crackdown against protesters to clear a Sohar roundabout where about 100 people had camped out. A 25-year-old man injured by a rubber bullet in Friday's clashes died in hospital. Activists told Reuters security forces used teargas and beat some protesters with batons. » | Sunday, April 03, 2011
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Terry Jones, the radical pastor who oversaw the burning of a Koran in his Florida church last month after a mock court hearing, may put the Islamic prophet Mohammed on trial in his next 'day of judgement', he told The Sunday Telegraph.
"It is definitely a consideration to stage a trial on the life of Mohammed in the future," he said in interview on Saturday.
Such an inflammatory move would almost certainly trigger further violent protests in the Muslim world. But Mr Jones struck an unapologetic stance, insisting that his actions bore no responsibility for the murders in Mazar-i-Sharif.
The pastor had first threatened to burn a pile of Korans on last year's ninth anniversary of the Sept 11 terror atrocities.
But he backed down under intense pressure, including interventions from President Barack Obama, defence secretary Robert Gates and Gen David Petraeus, the commander of Nato forces in Afghanistan who warned that such a stunt would endanger American lives.
Indeed, Mr Jones said then that a Koran would never be burned in his church.
But he claimed that last month's Koran-burning was different as the Islamic holy book had first been put on trial and was then set alight as punishment after it was found guilty of "crimes against humanity". » | Philip Sherwell | Saturday, April 02, 2011
Saturday, April 02, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: As his country erupted in the kind of unrest not seen in Syria for nearly 30 years, Bashar al-Assad last week gave the impression of a leader plagued by self-doubt, dithering as the tide of history threatened to wash over him.Only two months before, the Syrian president had seemed so much more sure-footed, confidently predicting that the wave of revolution sweeping aside the old order elsewhere in the Middle East would never reach his shores.
But his own people, drawing inspiration from their Arab brethren to take on one of the region's most repressive regimes, confounded him.
On the streets, Mr Assad's forces responded in predictable fashion. In the south, in and around the dusty city of Deraa, protesters were mown down in their scores.
North of Damascus, in the coastal city of Latakia close to the tribal seat of the Assad family, loyalist snipers took up positions on rooftops and balconies to pick of unarmed demonstrators one by one.
Yet of the president himself there was no sign. A man whose every move, no matter how insignificant or mundane, is normally covered in breathless tones by state television appeared to have vanished at precisely the moment many of his people yearned to see him. » | Loveday Morris | Saturday, 02 April 2011
THE ECONOMIST: Religion is a growing force in the Arab awakening. Westerners should hold their nerve and trust democracyTHE sight of corrupt old Arab tyrants being toppled at the behest of a new generation of young idealists, inspired by democracy, united by Facebook and excited by the notion of opening up to a wider world, has thrilled observers everywhere. Those revolutions are still in full swing, albeit at different points in the cycle. In Tunisia and Egypt they are going the right way, with a hopeful new mood prevailing and free elections in the offing. In Libya, Syria and Yemen dictators are clinging on to power, with varying degrees of success. And in the Gulf monarchs are struggling to fend off demands for democracy with oil-funded largesse topped by modest and grudging political concessions.
So far these revolts have appeared to be largely secular in character. Westerners have been quietly relieved by that. Not that they are all against religion. Many—Americans in particular—are devout. But by and large, they prefer their own variety to anybody else’s, and since September 11th 2001, they have been especially nervous about Islam.
Now, however, there are signs that Islam is a growing force in the Arab revolutions (see article). That makes secular-minded and liberal people, both Arabs and Westerners, queasy. They fear that the Arab awakening might be hijacked by the sort of Islamists who reject a pluralist version of democracy, oppress women and fly the flag of jihad against Christians and Jews. They worry that the murderous militancy that has killed 30,000 over the past four years in Pakistan (see article) may emerge in the Arab world too. Islam on the rise » | Leaders | Thursday, March 31, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Violence mars demonstration in Afghan city the day after mob killed seven at UN compoundNine people have been killed and 81 injured in the Afghan city of Kandahar during a demonstration against the burning of a Qur'an by Christian extremists in the US.
Violence erupted as hundreds of demonstrators marched through Kandahar a day after seven foreigners were killed when an angry mob stormed a United Nations compound in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. Hundreds of people took part in the protest. Gunfire was heard and cars were set on fire.
In a statement, the Kandahar governor's office claims demonstrators were incited by the Taliban. Authorities say 17 people, including seven armed men, have been arrested.
But the Taliban have rejected the accusation. "The Taliban had nothing to do with this, it was a pure act of responsible Muslims," spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told Reuters.
The UN mission in Afghanistan has been plunged into jeopardy after the violent protest in Mazar-e Sharif. » | David Batty and agencies | Saturday, April 02, 2011
THE NEW YORK TIMES: On April 11th the French Republic will give birth to two new crimes: hiding one’s face in public and encouraging another to hide her face. On March 2nd the prime minister sent a circular to the head of each of France’s regional departments to explain the rationale of the new law. “The French Republic,” he proclaimed, “does not live with a hidden face.”
While the French president has made it clear that Muslim women who hide their faces are not welcome in France, the new law is not limited to Muslims. For the French government now believes that “to hide the face breaches minimal needs of social life.”
So on April 11th hiding one’s face in public will become a misdemeanor, with a €150 fine and/or civic training to teach the criminal the need to show her face. The prosecutor must prove that (a) the face was hidden and (b) the person was in a public space. He need not show intent to violate the law. If one encourages another to hide her face, one risks a year in prison and a €30,000 fine, two years and a €60,000 fine if the person encouraged is under 18. » | Ronald Sokol* | I.H.T. Op-Ed Contributor | Friday, April 01, 2011
*Ronald Sokol is a lawyer in Aix-en-Provence, France. He taught at the University of Virginia Law School and is the author of “Justice after Darwin.”
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: BBC presenter Michael Buerk has criticised the corporation for being "out of touch" with public opinion.The veteran journalist accused BBC staff of making the left-wing Guardian newspaper their “bible” and political correctness "their creed”.
Mr Buerk, who presents Radio 4’s Moral Maze, was reviewing the memoir of his former colleague, Peter Sissons, who also attacks the BBC for having “institutional bias”.
Writing in political magazine Standpoint, Mr Buerk said: “What the BBC regards as normal and abnormal, what is moderate or extreme, where the centre of gravity of an issue lies, are conditioned by the common set of assumptions held by the people who work for it.” Continue reading and comment » | Saturday, April 02, 2011
THE NEW YORK TIMES: BAGHDAD — The violent suppression of the uprising in Bahrain has become a Shiite rallying cry in Iraq, where the American war overturned a Sunni-dominated power structure much like the one in place in Bahrain.Ahmad Chalabi, an erstwhile American partner in the period before the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and a Shiite member of Parliament, on Friday denounced what he called a double standard in the Western powers’ response to the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East — particularly in Bahrain, where a Sunni minority dominates a vast and restive underclass made up of his Shiite brethren.
“They called for international action in Libya,” Mr. Chalabi said in a meeting hall on the grounds of his farm outside Baghdad. “But they kept their mouths shut with what is happening in Bahrain.”
The Iraqi Parliament briefly suspended its work to protest Bahrain’s crackdown on largely peaceful protesters, and the prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, also a Shiite, recently said in an interview with the BBC that the events in Bahrain could unleash a regional sectarian war like the one that menaced Iraq just a few years ago. » | Tim Arango | Friday, April 01, 2011
THE NEW YORK TIMES: GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Before a Koran was burned at his modest church here on March 20, the pastor Terry Jones held a self-styled mock trial of the holy book in which he presided from the pulpit as judge. The prosecutor was a Christian who had converted from Islam. An imam from Dallas defended the Koran.Sitting in judgment was a jury of 12 members of Mr. Jones’s church, the Dove World Outreach Center. After listening to arguments from both sides, the jury pronounced the Koran guilty of five “crimes against humanity,” including the promotion of terrorist acts and “the death, rape and torture of people worldwide whose only crime is not being of the Islamic faith.”
Punishment was determined by the results of an online poll. Besides burning, the options included shredding, drowning and facing a firing squad. Mr. Jones, a nondenominational evangelical pastor, said voters had chosen to set fire to the book, according to a video of the proceedings.
Mr. Jones said in an interview with Agence France-Presse on Friday that he was “devastated” by the killings of 12 people in a violent protest in Afghanistan when a mob, enraged by the burning of a Koran by Mr. Jones’s church, attacked the United Nations compound in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. “We don’t feel responsible for that,” he told the news service. » | Lizette Alvarez and Don Van Natta Jr. | Friday, April 01, 2011
ABC NEWS: Florida Pastor Says He's Not Responsible for Protest Against his Koran Burning That Left 11 Dead, Including U.N. Staffers, in Afghanistan
Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who oversaw the burning of a Koran last month, said he did not feel responsible for the violent protest at a United Nations compound in Afghanistan today that left at least 11 dead. Instead, he said the violence proved his point.
"We wanted to raise awareness of this dangerous religion and dangerous element," Jones said. "I think [today's attack] proves that there is a radical element of Islam."
As for the 11 dead, which included seven U.N. staffers and guards, Jones told "Nightline" anchor Bill Weir, "We do not feel responsible, no."
The deaths followed a protest march in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif today against the Koran burning. Jones supervised while another pastor, Wayne Sapp, soaked the Koran in kerosene and burned it.
"We decided to put the Koran on trail," he told Weir. "I was the judge but I did not determine the verdict. I was just a type of referee so that people got their time to defend or condemn the Koran."
Jones said that a "jury" of people from all over Florida debated the radicalism of Islam, and the "Koran was found guilty." (+ video) » | Nick Schifrin, Agha Aleem, Lee Ferran and Matt Gutman | Saturday, April 02, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Pastor Terry Jones is a homophobic used furniture salesman who has become famous solely through the use of controversy.The 59-year-old runs the Dove World Outreach Centre in Gainsville, Florida, whose congregation numbers just a few dozen.
The church is based in a 20-acre compound where Jones lives with his wife, Sylvia, and is said to regularly patrol the grounds with a pistol strapped to his hip.
He took over the church in 1996 on the death of its founder, Dr Don Northrup, after spending 20 years as a missionary in Europe, including Germany.
His chief enemies are homosexuals and Muslims, although he insists it is only radical Islam which he opposes.
In the most recent incident, which sparked the slaughter in Afghanistan, Pastor Jones was preaching at a service at his church on March 20 when his colleage, Pastor Wayne Sapp, set a copy of the Koran alight.
However, Pastor Jones denied any responsibility for the riot in Mazar-e Sharif, in which around 20 people died, including two who were reportedly beheaded, in what is the worst incident of its kind in recent years.
He said he was "absolutely not responsible" for the atrocities, and tried to move the conversation to Muslims, saying: "We must take a serious, serious look at Islam. It's a violent religion that promotes acts of violence. I believe we need to bring this before the UN." » | Andy Bloxham | Saturday, April 02, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: What do Barack Obama and Muammar Gaddafi have in common? If you guessed that they're both Muslims, go to the front of the Tea Party.
Their real commonality is that neither got invited to Prince William's and Kate Middleton's royal wedding.
I can understand Ghaddafi's exclusion - probably bad form to have a guy in your party who's killing his own people. Besides, his wardrobe would clash with anything they'd wear.
Plus he's pretty busy right now defying NATO and Anderson Cooper and most likely couldn't make it anyway.
But what's with the President of the United States? He's in the rejected category along with Fergie, the Weight Watching Duchess of York.
Michelle Obama even said a few weeks ago on "Live With Regis and Kelly" that, "if I get invited, I'll go," as close to begging as this regal First Lady gets. And who, including the world's most powerful husband, has said "no" to her lately?
This is a snub of epic proportions. We should impose a no-Richard-Branson-zone over the U.S. in protest.
The other night in his Libya speech, Obama said, "Born, as we are, out of a revolution by those who longed to be free..." You think that was a coincidence? That's you he was smack-talking, rude and exclusive England! Continue reading and comment » | Phil Bronstein | Friday, April 01, 2011
YOUTUBE: Prince William & Kate Middleton - The Interview »
ARAB NEWS: RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned a statement issued by Iranian authorities that demanded Saudi Arabia to pull its forces out of Bahrain and describing the Saudi policy in the Gulf as playing with fire.
An official source of the Saudi government said, "It condemned in strong terms the irresponsible statement issued in the name of the Committee for National Security and Foreign Policy of the Council of Iranian Islamic Shoura which described the Saudi policy in the Gulf region as playing with fire and demanded the Kingdom to withdraw its forces from Bahrain," the Saudi Press agency reported on Friday.
"The statement (of the Iranian committee) ignores the premeditated interference in the internal matters of the countries in the region violating the sovereignty and independence of those countries. It also attempts to stoke sedition and incite trouble with hostile policies contravening international laws and norms and principles of good neighborliness. The latest instance of Iran's brazen interference was in Kuwait where it used a network, linked to the Iranian mission, to plot against that country," the Saudi statement said. Continue reading and comment » | ARAB NEWS | Friday, April 01, 2011
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THE GUARDIAN: The fatwa's meaning is clear: reform measures may proceed, but will be dictated from the royal and clerical heights of powerThe official Saudi religious scholars' fatwa banning mass demonstrations, issued on 6 March, is a lengthy but, for the Muslim reader, a transparent document. It embodies the balancing act that has become necessary for the royal family to maintain its authority. Saudi subjects desire social reform profoundly, and most of them trust King Abdullah to lead them on the path of change. The Saudi monarchy and the religious authorities with which it is allied must channel such demands through existing "Islamic" means of redress, generally consigned to the heading of "consultation".
But the sixth paragraph cites a hadith, or oral comment, of the prophet Muhammad that includes a severe threat against internal dissent: "The Prophet again said: 'He who wanted separate affairs of this nation who are unified, you should kill him with [the] sword whoever he is' (narrated by Muslim)." "Muslim" was Muslim Ibn Al-Hajjaj, an early collector of hadith, recognised by Sunnis as authoritative.
The Council of Senior Scholars praises itself for loyalty to Islam and its own "wise leadership", then calls on the Saudi people to "increase cohesion" and "strengthen intimacy" in the country. It "affirms the necessity of mutual advice, understanding and co-operation in righteousness and piety, and in prohibition of evil and hostility".
It also claims a secular legitimacy for the state of Saudi Arabia: the identity of the kingdom, its "progress and prosperity", have been "obtained … with legal secular means". This cannot appear as anything but dissonant considering that the Saudi state has no official secular institutions, and that it asserts (in the same fatwa) that its governance is founded exclusively on the Qur'an and mainstream Islamic tradition. Continue reading and comment » | Irfan al-Alawi | Friday, April 01, 2011
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Bahraini activists and locals describe midnight arrests, disappearances, beatings at check-points, and denial of medical care – all aimed at deflating the country's pro-democracy protest movement.Manama, Bahrain
With a wave of midnight arrests, checkpoints, and targeting of wounded protesters, Bahrain's Sunni rulers have launched what appears to be a calculated campaign to intimidate supporters of the pro-democracy protest movement that began here in February.
Security forces have directed much of the abuse – which includes midnight arrests, checkpoints, and targeting of wounded protesters – toward Bahrain’s majority Shiite population, instilling fear and raising sectarian tensions in the tiny kingdom.
“I don’t want to go anywhere now. I’ll stay in my home because there is no safety,” says Ibrahim, a university student who says he was recently beaten and held for 36 hours at a checkpoint, and has a deformed left ear and bruises elsewhere to prove it. He asked that his last name be withheld for his own safety.
“While they were beating us, they said, ‘Where is your Mahdi now? Why isn’t he coming to save you?’ ” says Ibrahim, referring to a messianic figure in Shiite Islam. “They made us scream 'Mahdi.' They put my face in the ground, and told me to speak. Then they kicked dust in my mouth.”
What was their crime?
“We are Shiite,” says Ibrahim. “They want to remove all Shia from Bahrain.”
In a speech to parliament Tuesday, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed al-Khalifa said the authorities were not targeting Shiites, but were imposing law and order. Bahrain is operating under emergency law, put in place last month.
"The measures are not imposed against any religious sect as some have said, but rather they are used against those who have broken the law," he said, according to the state news agency. " We are not trying to spread evil, but good, and outlaws will meet justice." » | Kristen Chick, Correspondent | Friday, April 01, 2011
TAGES ANZEIGER: José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero möchte im nächsten Jahr nicht zur Wiederwahl als spanischer Ministerpräsident antreten. Die Popularität des 50-Jährigen hat in jüngster Zeit stark gelitten.Der spanische Ministerpräsident José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero strebt keine weitere Amtszeit an. Er trete bei der nächsten Parlamentswahl im nächsten Jahr nicht erneut als Spitzenkandidat der Sozialisten (PSOE) an, sagte Zapatero heute auf einer Sitzung des Parteivorstandes in Madrid. » | mrs/sda | Samstag, 02. April 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
MAIL ONLINE: They sent a stark message Saif can play no role in Libya's futureGaddafi's son Saif has made ‘repeated’ attempts to reach out to British and Italian intelligence officers, it was claimed yesterday.
The moves have raised hopes he is considering betraying his father.
British officials and MI6 officers say they have held ‘several’ conversations with close allies of Gaddafi’s heir over the past three weeks – and have indicated they are prepared to offer the family an exit route.
They sent the stark message that Saif can play no role in the future of Libya.
But they also indicated that Saif would be allowed to land in Britain if he were to repeat the defection of Libyan foreign minister Musa Kusa, who took a private plane from Tunisia to Farnborough airfield on Wednesday night.
That is likely to provoke widespread revulsion. But senior Libyans admit Saif’s alleged attempts to talk are part of a wider bid by those around Gaddafi to devise an exit strategy. Continue reading and comment » | Tim Shipman | Saturday, April 02, 2011
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron has ruled out offering Saif Gaddafi, the dictator's son, any special deal or treatment if he wishes to leave Libya, Downing Street officials said yesterday.Saif Gaddafi will now be treated in the same way as his father after making a series of inflammatory statements over the past few weeks. He was previously a regular visitor to Britain and was close to politicians and businessmen.
However, he is now likely to be arrested if he attempts to flee to this country or another European nation.
Downing Street has stated its position towards Saif Gaddafi after it emerged that one of his key aides had travelled to Britain earlier this week, during which he had talks with intelligence officials. This sparked speculation that the aide, Mohammed Ismail, was exploring a possible exit deal for Saif Gaddafi – although this has been played down by Whitehall sources.
Noman Benotman, a Libyan and senior analyst at Quilliam, a think tank, said that his contacts had told him Mr Ismail had proposed a scenario under which Gaddafi's sons would take over, or at least have a role in a new government, and their father would step aside with his honour intact.
The British Government is understood to have ruled out the "scenario" and Mr Ismail was told Gaddafi, and those around him, had to go.
A government source said Mr Ismail had been visiting family members, but that Britain had "taken the opportunity to send some very strong messages about the Gaddafi regime".
Yesterday, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "If people are in the UK they are subject to UK law."
He also made clear that Saif Gaddafi will be classed the same way as his father. "We have a very clear view about the present regime and those people involved in that regime," he said. » | Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor | Friday, April 01, 2011
Friday, April 01, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Syrian protesters braved renewed bloodshed and an unprecedented security presence across the country as they marched in their tens of thousands to denounce their increasingly intransigent president.
THE GUARDIAN: Former prime minister says Libyan officials trying to negotiate with UK, France and US, as rebels outline ceasefire conditions
The regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has initiated a concerted effort to open lines of communication with western governments in an attempt to bring the conflict in the country to an end.
As fighting continues in Libya, the country's former prime minister Abdul Ati al-Obeidi told Channel 4: "We are trying to talk to the British, the French and the Americans to stop the killing of people. We are trying to find a mutual solution."
Obeidi's indication of the increased effort to make contact with western governments came as opposition leaders in the rebels' de facto capital of Benghazi laid out their own conditions for a ceasefire.
The initiatives on both sides appear to reflect an emerging stalemate between the forces and a growing war-weariness.
Obeidi's comments followed his confirmation that a meeting had taken place between a senior aide to Gaddafi's influential son Saif al-Islam and British officials on Wednesday in London, as revealed by the Guardian. » | Peter Beaumont | Friday, April 01, 2011
WELT ONLINE: Chaos im Einsatzgebiet der Bundeswehr: Ein fanatischer Mob hat ein UN-Büro in Masar-i-Scharif gestürmt, es gab viele Tote. Zwei Ausländer wurden enthauptet.
Bei einem Angriff wütender Demonstranten auf das UN-Hauptquartier im nordafghanischen Masar-i-Scharif sind am Freitag elf Menschen getötet worden. Unter den Opfern seien acht ausländische UN-Mitarbeiter, unter ihnen fünf Wachmänner aus Nepal, sagte der regionale Polizeichef.
Die Demonstranten protestierten gegen die Verbrennung eines Korans in einer Kirche in Florida vor knapp zwei Wochen. Nach Angaben des örtlichen Polizeichefs sollen zwei UN-Mitarbeiter geköpft worden sein. Das berichtet die "New York Times" auf ihrer Website. » | AFP/pku | Freitag, 01. April 2011
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Eine Schweizerin, die seit seit rund sieben Jahren in der syrischen Stadt Latakia lebt, hat «tagesschau.sf.tv» am Telefon ihre Eindrücke aus Syrien geschildert. Im Moment verlässt sie ihre Wohnung nur selten. Sie hat vor allem Angst, dass Blut fliesst.
Das letzte Mal verliess die 40-jährige Frau aus der Region Zürichsee ihre Wohnung vor drei Tagen. Sie besuchte ihre Schwägerin. «An vielen strategisch wichtigen Punkten sind Militärs zu sehen», erzählt sie «tagesschau.sf.tv».
Auf dem Heimweg von ihrer Schwägerin kam es zu einer brenzligen Situation. Junge Männer rannten über die Strasse – «ich habe beinahe einen überfahren», so die Schweizerin. Sie habe den Eindruck gehabt, dass sich die Lage zuspitze.
Müllabfuhr muss zweimal anrücken
Die Stimmung sei allgemein angespannt. Die Schulen sind geschlossen und auf dem Spielplatz, den die Schweizerin von ihrer Wohnung aus sehen kann, toben keine Kinder mehr. Oft würden dort Knaben in Schuluniform Fussball spielen. «Die fussballspielenden Kinder sind weg.» » | Sibylle Katja Bossart | Freitag, 01. April 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Foreign Office says people should get out of Yemen while commercial airlines are still flyingAll British nationals have been urged to leave Yemen in the run-up to protests planned for Friday which could result in violent clashes.
The Foreign Office said that, "in light of the rapid deterioration in the security situation", people should get out while commercial airlines were still flying.
It said it was highly unlikely that it would be able to evacuate British nationals in the event of increased disorder.
A statement read: "In light of the rapid deterioration in the security situation in Yemen and likely protests on Friday 1 April which might result in violent clashes, we strongly urge all British nationals to leave the country now while commercial airlines are still flying. » | Press Association | Friday, April 01, 2011
ASIA TIMES ONLINE: You invade Bahrain. We take out Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. This, in short, is the essence of a deal struck between the Barack Obama administration and the House of Saud. Two diplomatic sources at the United Nations independently confirmed that Washington, via Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, gave the go-ahead for Saudi Arabia to invade Bahrain and crush the pro-democracy movement in their neighbor in exchange for a "yes" vote by the Arab League for a no-fly zone over Libya - the main rationale that led to United Nations Security Council resolution 1973.
The revelation came from two different diplomats, a European and a member of the BRIC group, and was made separately to a US scholar and Asia Times Online. According to diplomatic protocol, their names cannot be disclosed. One of the diplomats said, "This is the reason why we could not support resolution 1973. We were arguing that Libya, Bahrain and Yemen were similar cases, and calling for a fact-finding mission. We maintain our official position that the resolution is not clear, and may be interpreted in a belligerent manner." » | Pepe Escobar | Saturday, April 02, 2011
REUTERS AFRICA: DUBAI - Bahrain released a prominent blogger but detained several people, including a pro-opposition doctor, the latest in a series of arrests since the kingdom's crackdown on street protests, opposition sources said on Friday.
The tiny island's Sunni rulers have stepped up arrests of cyber activists and Shi'ites, with more than 300 detained and dozens missing since the crackdown on pro-democracy protests earlier this month.
It imposed martial law and called in troops from fellow Sunni-ruled neighbours, including Saudi Arabia, to quell the protest movement led mostly by the state's Shi'ite majority.
More than 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites and most want a constitutional monarchy.
Mattar Ibrahim Mattar, a member of Bahrain's largest Shi'ite opposition group, Wefaq, said the party's official arrest count was 329 by Thursday, but that the real number was likely to be over 400.
He said at least 20 people had been detained on Thursday and 31 were missing. It was unclear if those people were in hiding or had been abducted. » | Writing by Erika Solomon; Editing by Nick Macfie | Friday, April 01, 2011
PEOPLE’S DAILY ONLINE: Bahrain's blogfather released: Bahrain's blogfather Mahmood Al Yousif was released Thursday night after he was arrested by Bahraini authorities a day earlier. » | Source: Xinhua | Friday, April 01, 2011
PEOPLE’S DAILY ONLINE: Iran's Majlis (Parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission on Thursday called on Saudi Arabia to pull its forces out of Bahrain, the official IRNA News agency reported.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the lawmakers warned Saudi Arabia "not to play with fire" in the Persian Gulf and asked Saudis to pull their forces out of Bahrain, the report said.
The statement urged Saudi Arabia not to follow "the wrong polices of the U.S. in the region," consider its own interests as well as the interests of the Muslim world and help restore tranquility and security to the region, according to the report. » | Source: Xinhua | Friday, April 01, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron was under pressure last night to ensure that the Libyan defector who arrived in Britain earlier this week co-operates with authorities investigating the Lockerbie bombing, the murder of Pc Yvonne Fletcher and potential war crimes.
Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister, who fled to Britain on Wednesday, is described as having "electrifying" information on Col Muammar Gaddafi's role in terrorist atrocities across Europe.
Yesterday the Prime Minister said he would not block any attempts by the police to question Mr Koussa.
Mr Cameron stressed that Mr Koussa had not been offered a deal in return for fleeing to Britain and had not been granted immunity from prosecution. But if the defector is arrested and charged with crimes, it may undermine attempts by Western governments to encourage others in Col Gaddafi's inner circle to flee from Libya, a key aim of current diplomatic efforts.
Mr Koussa may also be reluctant to co-operate fully with British officials if he is not given guarantees about his future.
Last night, the Scottish prosecuting authorities investigating the Lockerbie bombing formally requested access to Mr Koussa, a right-hand man to Col Gaddafi for more than 30 years.
International prosecutors investigating war crimes in Libya are also expected to seek interviews with the defector. Yesterday, the Libyan rebel leadership demanded he be returned to the country to face war-crime charges.
Mr Koussa, who was likened yesterday to Rudolf Hess by a Conservative MP, is being interrogated by MI6 at an unknown location.
It is not clear whether information obtained by MI6 will be made public.
Senior Whitehall sources indicated that Scotland Yard was unlikely to get involved "at the moment". » | Robert Winnett, Andrew Porter and Damien McElroy in Tripoli | Thursday, March 31, 2011
THE AUSTRALIAN: GERMANY'S foreign minister today said the situation in war-torn Libya could not be resolved through "military means" and called for a ceasefire.
Guido Westerwelle made the comments after meeting his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Beijing.
"There can only be a political resolution and we must get the political process underway. That should begin with a ceasefire that Gaddafi must heed to allow the peace process to begin," Westerwelle told reporters.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi struck a defiant stance after two high-profile defections from his regime, saying he's not the one who should go - it's the Western leaders who have decimated his military with airstrikes who should resign immediately.
Gaddafi's message last night was undercut by its delivery - a scroll across the bottom of state television as he remained out of sight. The White House said Gaddafi's inner circle was clearly crumbling with the loss of Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, who flew from Tunisia to England on Wednesday.
Ali Abdessalam Treki, a former foreign minister and UN General Assembly president, announced his departure on several opposition websites yesterday, saying: "It is our nation's right to live in freedom and democracy and enjoy a good life." » | AFP / AP | Friday, April 01, 2011
STERN.DE: Guido Westerwelle setzt sich für einen Waffenstillstand zwischen den libyschen Truppe und den Rebellen ein. Der Bundesaußenminister betonte, dass in Libyen nur eine politische Lösung möglich sei.
Bundesaußenminister Guido Westerwelle (FDP) hat einen Waffenstillstand zwischen den Truppen des libyschen Machthabers Muammar el Gaddafi und den gegen ihn kämpfenden Rebellen gefordert. "Es wird keine militärische Lösung in Libyen geben, nur eine politische", sagte Westerwelle am Freitag nach einem Gespräch mit seinem chinesischen Kollegen Yang Jiechi vor Journalisten in Peking. … » | vim/AFP | Freitag, 01. April 2011
SKY NEWS: Libya has sent a senior aide of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's son to London for talks with British officials, according to the Guardian newspaper. » | Friday, April 01, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Revealed: Gaddafi envoy in Britain for secret talks – Exclusive: Contact with senior aide believed to be one of a number between Libyan officials and west amid signs regime may be looking for exit strategy » | Peter Beaumont , Nicholas Watt and Severin Carrell | Friday, April 01, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: William Hague has hailed the defection of Col Gaddafi’s foreign minister as a major blow to the Libyan leader and claimed he could be the first of many to desert the regime.
The Foreign Secretary, giving the Government’s first official reaction to the arrival in London of Moussa Koussa, said his departure from Gaddafi’s side showed the regime was fragmenting and “crumbling from within.”
Mr Hague said that Koussa, who he described as “one of the most senior members of the Gaddafi regime", was not subject to any immunity, but confirmed that he was being debriefed by government officials.
At a press conference in the Foreign Office, Mr Hague said: “He travelled here under his own free will. He said he is resigning his post. We’re discussing this with him and we will release further details.
"We encourage those around Gaddafi to abandon him and embrace the better future for Libya that allows political transition and real reform that meets the aspirations of the Libyan people."
He added: "Moussa Koussa is one of the most senior members of the Gaddafi regime, he has been my channel of communication to the regime in recent weeks ... His resignation shows that Gaddafi’s regime – which has already seen significant defections to the opposition – it is fragmented, under pressure and crumbling from within." » | Andrew Porter, Thomas Harding and Robert Winnett | Thursday, March 31, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: It is not enough for Muslims to “rub along” without breaking the law, they must be persuaded that their long-term future lies in Britain, the Security Minister has said.Baroness Neville-Jones told the Daily Telegraph that that at the same time the government need to persuade the majority of the population that the UK is a single nation.
The minister said there needed to be a new approach in which people did not simply “rub along together and as long as people obey the law that’s quite sufficient.”
“I think it’s a common experience now that we know less about each other than we used to and I think there’s a very strong feeling that we need to understand each other and we need to be working together as a nation,” Lady Neville-Jones added.
“[We are] trying to convince minorities in this country that they actually do have a long term future here and that it’s their country as much as anybody else’s,” she said in an interview.
It is also important to “convince the majority population we are a single nation,” she added.
The security minister, who is in charge of re-drawing Britain’s counter-terrorism strategy, added: “We do need to have a much more conscious framework in which to transmit that message and it isn’t something you can just assume people understand.”
The security minister was speaking ahead of a visit to Washington today in which she is expected to outline a “unity strategy” for integration in Britain which emulates the “American dream” and creates a “palpable sense of national identity.” » | Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent | Thursday, March 31, 2011
More gobbledygook from the political class! Lady Neville-Jones clearly has no understanding of the problems we face with Islam. She needs to do some serious studying. She seems to think that one has to be a “right-wing extremist” to believe that Islam and the West are immiscible. How wrong can anyone be? To know the facts about Islam, and to understand the religion is in no way akin to being an Islamic extremist. What kind of ridiculous logic can one use to come to that conclusion?
The big mistake was to bring all these Muslims into the West, for the powers that be should have known the nature of Islam. Prophet Muhammad instructed his followers NOT TO INTEGRATE INTO THE CULTURE OF THE INFIDEL. No lady or lord can change that fact. For a fact it is indeed.
But now that the mistake has been made to allow all these people to immigrate to the West, we need to foster a Leitkultur, our culture. Because they came to us – remember? Not the other way around! And by the way, who created this fractured nation in the first place? Wasn't it the politicians? – © Mark
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