Barack Obama: President Pantywaist - New Surrender Monkey on the Block
TELEGRAPH BLOG – Gerald Warner: President Barack Obama has recently completed the most successful foreign policy tour since Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. You name it, he blew it. What was his big deal economic programme that he was determined to drive through the G20 summit? Another massive stimulus package, globally funded and co-ordinated. Did he achieve it? Not so as you'd notice.

Barack is not the first New World ingenue to discover that European leaders will load him with praise, struggle sycophantically to be photographed with him and outdo him in Utopian rhetoric. But when it comes to the critical moment of opening their wallets - suddenly it is flag-day in Aberdeen. Okay, put the G20 down to inexperience, beginner's nerves, what you will. Read on and comment here >>> Gerald Warner | Saturday, April 10, 2009

'The BNP Are Now a Bigger Threat Than Ever'
THE INDEPENDENT: Labour fears the far right will win its first European seats in June, Harriet Harman tells Andrew Grice

Labour is facing its biggest threat from the BNP, Harriet Harman admits today, as the party gears up to prevent the far right group from winning its first seats in nationwide elections this June for the European Parliament.

In an interview with The Independent Ms Harman, the Leader of the Commons, who is heading Labour's election effort in in her role as the party's chairman and deputy leader, said Labour was launching its biggest-ever campaign targeting the BNP. "It is a worry," she said. "Certainly they [the BNP] are a bigger threat than they have been before."

Labour fears the BNP could land two or three seats in the European elections, which are fought under a proportional representation (PR) system based on huge regional constituencies. Labour believes the BNP threat is greatest in the North West, where its leader, Nick Griffin, is a candidate; Yorkshire and the Humber and the East and West Midlands. >>> Andrew Grice | Friday, April 10, 2009

New Dark Age Alert! Obama, the Great Appeaser

Al-Qaeda Terror Plot to Bomb Easter Shoppers
THE TELEGRAPH: An al-Qaeda cell was days away from carrying out an "Easter spectacular" of co-ordinated suicide bomb attacks on shopping centres in Manchester, police believe.


Sources told The Daily Telegraph that the arrests of 12 men in the north west of England on Wednesday were linked to a suspected plan to launch a devastating attack this weekend.

Some of the suspects were watched by MI5 agents as they filmed themselves outside the Trafford Centre on the edge of Manchester, the Arndale Centre in the city centre, and the nearby St Ann's Square.

Police were forced to round up the alleged plotters after they were overheard discussing dates, understood to include the Easter bank holiday, one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.

"It could have been the next few days and they were talking about 10 days at the outside," one source said. "We had to act." Police are now engaged in a search for an alleged bomb factory, where explosives might have been assembled.

If such a plot was carried out, it would almost certainly have been Britain's worst terrorist attack, with the potential to cause more deaths than the suicide attacks of July 7, 2005, when 52 people were murdered. >>> By Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent | Thursday, April 9, 2009

Iran's President Opens Door to Talks with US on Nuclear Programme
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has opened the door to talks with the US over his country's nuclear programme, declaring that Tehran wanted negotiations based on 'justice'.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at a ceremony after inaugurating the Fuel Manufacturing plant at the Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility. Reuters photo courtesy of The Telegraph
Mr Ahmadinejad delivered a moderate message on Iran's annual "day of nuclear technology". The hardline leader, who rose to power on a tide of anti-American demagoguery, gave his first response to an invitation from the world's leading powers, including the US, to join a new round of talks.

"The Iranian nation has from the beginning been after logic and negotiations, but negotiations based on justice and complete respect for rights and regulations," he said during a speech in the city of Isfahan, where he opened a new nuclear plant.

The president added: "One-sided negotiations, conditional negotiations, negotiations in an atmosphere of threat are not something that any free person would accept."

But a few hours earlier, officials claimed that Iran is now operating 7,000 centrifuges inside its underground plant in Natanz. These machines are used to enrich uranium, a highly sensitive process which could be used to produce fuel for civilian power stations - or the essential material for a nuclear weapon. >>> By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor | Thursday, April 9, 2009

Tony Blair Should Just Be Quiet on Anything to Do with Church
THE TELEGRAPH: Tony Blair was right to reform the laws on homosexuality but his hypocrisy is unbearable, says Andrew Pierce.

Mahatma Gandhi once said: "Hypocrisy and distortion are passing currents under the name of religion." Tony Blair, take note. First he declared that the Pope was wrong on homosexuality, then he had the temerity to suggest that the Roman Catholic church reorganise in the same way as the Labour Party did. So, cardinals, there you have it. Forget your Papal encyclicals: all you need is a red rose, some pledge cards, and a few soundbites to restore your church to its rightful place at the centre of the moral order.

What is Blair on? He must have been too busy counting the cash from his speaking engagements to notice that at the next election New Labour will be buried after 16 years and two leaders. I suspect that Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th Bishop of Rome, prefers the more solid foundations of the Vatican.

The Pope has described homosexuality as a "tendency ordered towards an intrinsic moral evil", which Blair takes issue with. But he has also said that "legislative action in favour of abortion is incompatible with participation in the Eucharist". On that topic Blair was silent, not least because, as PM, he failed to back a lower legal limit for abortion of 24 weeks, and presided over an NHS that terminated 200,000 pregnancies a year. >>> By Andrew Pierce | Thursday, April 9, 2009

Diana West: Obama Bows To No One, Unless You're a Saudi King
Obeisant Obama
TOWNHALL: Chances are good you haven't heard this one: that, while in Buckingham Palace last week, milling about with G-20 leaders, the current president of the United States bowed deeply at the waist, one knee bent, on meeting the current King, so-called, of Saudi Arabia, who did not bow back. Chances are even better you haven't seen the video.

That's because Big Media, from viewer-deprived networks to newspapers considering bailouts, have neither aired the video of the incident nor reported on it. ("The O'Reilly Factor" doesn't count.) Washington Post reporter Michael A. Fletcher's breezy dismissal of a reader's online query exemplifies media disinterest: "I'm not sure what the etiquette is for such greetings, but I'm sure the president was only trying to convey respect ... Remember some years ago when President Bush touched cheeks with and held the hand of a Saudi monarch during a visit to his Texas ranch? Another sign of respect. I would not make too much of it."
Well, I would. >>> By Diana West | Thursday, April 9, 2009

Prophet Muhammad Cartoon Goes on Sale in Denmark
ASSOCIATED PRESS: COPENHAGEN — A Danish press freedom group said Wednesday it is selling copies of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad that caused outrage across the Muslim World.

Some 1,000 printed reproductions of a drawing depicting the prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban are being sold for 1,400 kroner ($250) each, said Lars Hedegaard, chairman of the Danish Free Press Society.

"All we are doing is starting a debate," Hedegaard said. "We are using our freedom of speech." >>> By Jan M. Olsen | Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The most famous cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad, created by Kurt Westergaard.

Saudi Jihadi Divorces Wife by Text Message
THE TELEGRAPH: A Saudi man has set a legal precedent by divorcing his wife by text message.

The man was in Iraq when he sent the SMS informing her she was no longer his spouse. Saudi Man Divorces Wife by Text Message >>> | Thursday, April 9, 2009

Obama Plans Amnesty for 12m Illegal Immigrants
THE GUARDIAN: White House set to take on Republicans and union-backed Democrats to create 'orderly' immigration system

Barack Obama plans to grant citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants in an overhaul of US immigration policy, trying to succeed where George Bush failed, according to a report today.

The US president will broach the contentious issue next month, bringing congressional Democrats and Republicans together over the summer to discuss possible legislation for the autumn, the New York Times reported.

Obama will present his drive as "policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system", the paper quoted Cecilia Munoz, deputy assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs in the White House, as saying. Obama has identified energy and healthcare reform as his legislative priorities.

The timetable for immigration reform backs pledges made to Hispanic groups in the presidential campaign that immigration reform, including a plan to make legal status possible for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, would be a priority in his first year. Hispanic voters turned out strongly for Obama at the election. Storm Brews as Barack Obama Embarks on Pledge to Grant Citizenship to Illegal Immigrants >>> Mark Tran | Thursday, April 9, 2009

Rod Liddle: The C Of E Has Forgotten Its Purpose. Why, Exactly, Does It Exist?
THE SPECTATOR: Rod Liddle offers an Easter message to the leaders of the Church, who have ditched its traditions and reduced it to a sort of superannuated ad-hoc branch of social services. It has lost all sense of mission and direction. Whatever happened to muscular Christianity?

Image courtesy of The Spectator
What did you give up for Lent? I gave up chives again. Forty-five days of deprivation. According to the ecclesiastical calendar I am allowed my first chive on Saturday — but do you know what? I’m going to say no. My willpower has become a marvel to myself; I’m saying no to chives all the way through to May. I might have one then, and then again, I might not. The power of my faith enables me to crush utterly any bodily craving for chives. I am on a spiritual plane beyond such temptations, although this does not stretch to other members of the alliaceae family, i.e. onions. I have had onions.

Lent is another of those things which is not what it used to be. It lacks the rigour of, say, Ramadan. By and large the Church of England does not demand that we be self-denying because it knows that we do not want to be self-denying. Perhaps it does not see the point in self-denial or deferred gratification anymore. But it’s more likely that it is too closely attuned to a society which is not terribly keen on even the briefest expression of asceticism.

The Bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, gave up something rather more substantive for Lent — and he won’t be succumbing on Saturday either. He’s given up being a bishop for good, unless we can persuade him otherwise. In future he intends to work for the benefit of Christian people who suffer religious persecution in foreign lands — in other, less elegant words, he is going to be socking it to the mozzies. It is remarkable that he should be forced to leave his current position in order to fight for the human rights of persecuted Christians; you might have assumed that being a Church of England bishop was a pretty good platform from which to undertake such work. As it is, he will not have the full force of the Church of England behind him; he will be, so far as Lambeth Palace is concerned, an ex-parrot.

We do not hear very much from the Church of England about the plight of Christians, and particularly Anglicans, in hostile foreign environments. Under the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the church does not like to make too much of a fuss about murdered priests in the Sudan, the constant fears of samizdat believers in Riyadh, the continued state persecution in Turkey, the perpetual discrimination in Indonesia and Malaysia and Bangladesh. Or about the Punjabi Christian dragged before a court in Pakistan accused of having sent a blasphemous message on his mobile phone, the Muslim hordes screaming for the death sentence outside the court. The thousands of Christians in Bauchi, Nigeria, watching their homes burned to the ground and their leaders attacked by, again, Muslim mobs. The beatings and murders in liberated — yea, praise the lord! — Afghanistan. We don’t hear much about that stuff from anyone, be it the BBC, our politicians or most notably the Church of England.

You might expect the C of E to feel at least a little bit uncomfortable that Anglicans were being strung up or burned alive in the middle east and elsewhere. But it does not seem to be an enormous issue for the prelates. The problem being that it would bring Rowan, and the church, into conflict with the very Islamists with whom they are thoroughly enjoying their important ‘inter-faith dialogues’, by which they seem to set so much store. These inter-faith dialogues have never, ever, to my knowledge, touched upon Islamic persecution of Christians: all the traffic is in the other direction, and the Church of England thinks it is all going swimmingly. >>> Rod Liddle, The Spectator | Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Iran: Ein großes Gefängnis – A Big Prison (September 2008)
Teil 1:


Teil 2

Iraq Shoe Thrower's Jail Term Cut
BBC: The Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at former US President George W Bush has had his sentence cut from three years to one year on appeal.

Muntadar al-Zaidi's lawyer argued that the charge should be changed from assault to insulting a foreign leader.

The judge agreed and reduced the term in line with the less serious offence.

An official for the court said the presiding judge had also taken into account the fact that Zaidi had no prior criminal history. >>> | Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Egypt Bans 'Blasphemous' Magazine
BBC: An Egyptian court has withdrawn the publishing licence of a monthly magazine, Ibdaa (Creativity), because it carried a "blasphemous" poem.

In its ruling the court said the poem, printed two years ago, had included "expressions that insulted God".

Egyptian courts have in the past convicted individuals or groups of people in blasphemy cases.

But correspondents say that it is unusual for a magazine to have its licence withdrawn.

The offending poem, On the balcony of Leila Murad, by Egyptian poet Hilmi Salem, was published in the small circulation magazine in 2007.

The court's ruling said: "Freedom of press... should be used responsibly and not touch on the basic foundations of Egyptian society, and family, religion and morals." [Source: BBC] Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Gay Rights Groups Celebrate Victories in Marriage Push
THE NEW YORK TIMES: MONTPELIER, Vt. — Gay-rights groups say that momentum from back-to-back victories on same-sex marriage in Vermont and Iowa could spill into other states, particularly since at least nine other legislatures are considering measures this year to allow marriage between gay couples.

The Vermont Legislature on Tuesday overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’s veto of a bill allowing gay couples to marry, mustering one more vote than needed to preserve the measure.

The step makes Vermont the first state to allow same-sex marriage through legislative action instead of a court ruling, and comes less than a week after the Iowa Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages in that state. >>> By Abby Goodnough | Tuesday, April 7, 2009

THE INDEPENDENT: White House Invites Gay Families to Easter Egg Roll

The White House is allocating tickets for the upcoming Easter Egg Roll to gay and lesbian parents as part of the Obama administration's outreach to diverse communities.

Families say the gesture shows that the new Democratic administration values them as equal to other families. And for many, being included in the annual tradition — dating to 1878 — renews hope that they will have more support in their quest for equal rights in matters such as marriage and adoption than under the previous administration. >>> AP | Wednesday, April 8, 2009

THE NEW YORK TIMES: New Dark Age Alert! Iraq’s Newly Open Gays Face Scorn and Murder

“The people [gay men and lesbians] should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing.” – most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
BAGHDAD — The relative freedom of a newly democratic Iraq and the recent improvement in security have allowed a gay subculture to flourish here. The response has been swift and deadly.

In the past two months, the bodies of as many as 25 boys and men suspected of being gay have turned up in the huge Shiite enclave of Sadr City, the police and friends of the dead say. Most have been shot, some multiple times. Several have been found with the word “pervert” in Arabic on notes attached to their bodies, the police said.

“Three of my closest friends have been killed during the past two weeks alone,” said Basim, 23, a hairdresser. “They had been planning to go to a cafe away from Sadr City because we don’t feel safe here, but they killed them on the way. I had planned to go with them, but fortunately I didn’t.”

Basim, who preferred to be called “Basima” — the feminine version of his name — wears his hair long for Iraq. It falls to just below the ear. His ears are pierced, uncommon for Iraqi males. White makeup covers his face, a popular look for gay men in Sadr City who say they prefer light skin.

Though risky, his look is one result of the overall calm here that has allowed Iraqis to enjoy freedoms unthinkable two years ago: A growing number of women walk the streets unveiled, a few even daring to wear dresses above the knee. Families gather in parks for cookouts, and more people have begun to venture out at night.

But that has not changed the reality that Iraq remains religious, conservative — and still violent. The killers, the police say, are not just Shiite death squads, but also tribal and family members shamed by their gay relatives. (And the recent spate of violence has seemed aimed at more openly gay men, rather than homosexuality generally.)

Clerics in Sadr City have urged followers to help root out homosexuality in Iraqi society, and the police have begun their own crackdown on gay men. >>> By Timothy Williams and Tareq Maher | Reporting was contributed by Sam Dagher, Rod Nordland, Steven Lee Myers, Anwar J. Ali, Riyadh Mohammed and Campbell Robertson | Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Iran Charges U.S. Journalist With Espionage
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: TEHRAN, Iran -- An Iranian-American journalist detained in Tehran has been charged with espionage, her lawyer said Wednesday.

Roxana Saberi has been informed of the charges against her, her lawyer Abdolsamad Khorramshahi told the Associated Press, without providing any further details.

"Yes, Saberi has been charged with espionage," he said.

The charges against her come two days after her parents visited their daughter in prison. The couple from North Dakota met Ms. Saberi for half an hour at the prison where she is being held -- the first time they had spoken to her since she called them on Feb. 10 to say she had been arrested.

The 31-year-old U.S.-born journalist has reported for the BBC, NPR and other media. She was arrested in late January. Iranian officials said at the time that she was working in the Islamic Republic with expired press credentials. >>> Copyright © 2009 Associated Press | Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: WASHINGTON -- Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, according to current and former national-security officials.

The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, these officials said, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls. The intruders haven't sought to damage the power grid or other key infrastructure, but officials warned they could try during a crisis or war.

"The Chinese have attempted to map our infrastructure, such as the electrical grid," said a senior intelligence official. "So have the Russians."

The espionage appeared pervasive across the U.S. and doesn't target a particular company or region, said a former Department of Homeland Security official. "There are intrusions, and they are growing," the former official said, referring to electrical systems. "There were a lot last year."

Many of the intrusions were detected not by the companies in charge of the infrastructure but by U.S. intelligence agencies, officials said. Intelligence officials worry about cyber attackers taking control of electrical facilities, a nuclear power plant or financial networks via the Internet.

Authorities investigating the intrusions have found software tools left behind that could be used to destroy infrastructure components, the senior intelligence official said. He added, "If we go to war with them, they will try to turn them on." >>> By Siobhan Gorman —Rebecca Smith contributed to this article | Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Hussein Returns Home from the Grand Tour Empty-handed
THE TELEGRAPH: The US President has to explain why he is sending more troops into Afghanistan and his Nato allies won't, says Irwin Stelzer

Fugedaboutit. For those of you who don't speak New York, that's "forget about it", the most emphatic of the negatives in a New Yorker's repertoire. But it has nothing like the power to influence events that the "non", "nein" and "no" that capped Barack Obama's tour of Europe have. It is one thing to attract a crowd in Berlin, a city in which politicians have historically been successful in attracting mass audiences, or to wow several hundred adolescents in Strasbourg and thousands of adults in Prague with talk of a nuclear-free world, and quite another to get the elected representatives of those crowds to shoulder a fair share of the burden of the fight against Islamist terrorists.

The leaders of Europe came naked to the Nato meeting last weekend, shorn of the cover provided by Bush-hatred. As the American commentator Robert Kagan puts it: "George W Bush did the Europeans a great favour by giving them the best excuse for inaction in transatlantic history." Europe's leaders have always claimed they would co-operate with America in all things, were it not for that toxic Texan with his unilateralist belief in spreading democracy and free markets.

Well, George W Bush is safely back in Texas, Barack Obama wants to listen as well as lead, and Michelle Obama, after a touchy-feely visit with the Queen, proved to have more crowd-appeal than Carla Bruni. One astute observer told me that British and European crowds "went weak-kneed in the presence of the Obamas". But popularity on the streets means little in the conference room.

At the Nato meetings, "weak-kneed" took on an added meaning – no significant permanent deployment of fighting troops to aid the Americans. Obama was prepared for the turn-down, although he did harbour the illusion that in the end Gordon Brown would come up with more than a few poll-watchers. After all, the President had gone out of his way to sprinkle some of his stardust on the embattled Prime Minister. Unfortunately, Obama had not been briefed by Tony Blair on Brown's capacity for gratitude.

Turkey was a somewhat better stopover for the travelling President, who had no specific requests that could be turned down. The persistently fawning New York Times reported that the President was "showing more self-confidence each day on his maiden overseas trip as President", although how Obama could show more self-confidence than he already has is difficult to imagine: this is a man confident in self to a point that is slightly unnerving.

Obama had won favour with European audiences by proclaiming that America has shown inadequate respect for Europe's accomplishments. So he carried his I-am-not-George-Bush campaign to Ankara by implying that the US bears responsibility for "the difficulties of these last few years" between Muslim countries and America. No need to mention the World Trade Centre, Khobar Towers, the USS Cole or his support in the Senate for labelling as "genocide" the killing of Armenian Christians by Ottoman Turks. More politic to support Turkey's application for membership in the EU, despite a mind-your-own-business warning from President Sarkozy, who earlier agreed to accept one – yes, one – of the 245 Guantánamo detainees because that is "what being allies is about".

After having spent an entire presidential campaign playing down his full name and early years, the President had himself introduced to the Turkish parliament as Barack Hussein Obama, and pointed out that "Many other Americans have Muslims in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country. I know, because I am one of them." This, on the heels of his deep bow to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (the Queen of England merited what can at best be described as a deferential nod). There is more to come: the President will soon travel to an as yet unnamed Muslim country to deliver a major speech laying out his views on Islam. President Barack Obama Is Going Home with Non, Nein and No Ringing in His Ears >>> By Irwin Stelzer | Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Tony Blair Tells the Pope: You're Wrong on Homosexuality
TIMESONLINE: Tony Blair has challenged the “entrenched” attitudes of the Pope on homosexuality, and argued that it is time for him to “rethink” his views.

Speaking to the gay magazine Attitude, the former Prime Minister, himself now a Roman Catholic, said that he wanted to urge religious figures everywhere to reinterpret their religious texts to see them as metaphorical, not literal, and suggested that in time this would make all religious groups accept gay people as equals.

Asked about the Pope’s stance, Mr Blair blamed generational differences and said: “We need an attitude of mind where rethinking and the concept of evolving attitudes becomes part of the discipline with which you approach your religious faith.”

The Pope, who is 82, remains firmly opposed to any relaxation of the Church’s traditional stance on homosexuality, contraception or any other area of human sexuality. He has described homosexuality as a “tendency” towards an “intrinsic moral evil”.

Mr Blair, who now travels the world on behalf of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which aims to promote understanding of the main religions, left the Church of England for Rome soon after leaving office in 2007.

In the interview Mr Blair spoke of a “quiet revolution in thinking” and implied that he believed the Pope to be out of step with the public.

“There are many good and great things the Catholic Church does, and there are many fantastic things this Pope stands for, but I think what is interesting is that if you went into any Catholic Church, particularly a wellattended[sic] one, on any Sunday here and did a poll of the congregation, you’d be surprised at how liberal-minded people were.” The faith of ordinary Catholics is rarely found “in those types of entrenched attitudes”, he said. >>> Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent | Wednesday, April8, 2009

Obama will Beziehungen zur Türkei ausbauen: Präsident bezieht Stellung zum historischen Konflikt mit Armenien
NZZ Online: Präsident Obama setzt zur Überwindung der Kluft zwischen muslimischen Staaten und dem Westen nach eigenen Worten auf die Türkei. Nach einem Gespräch mit dem türkischen Staatspräsidenten Abdullah Gül sagte Obama am Montag in Ankara, die Türkei und die USA könnten eine Modellpartnerschaft zwischen einer christlich und einer muslimisch geprägten Nation aufbauen.

Präsident Barack Obama und Staatspräsident Abdullah Gül. Bild dank der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung
Er sei sich mit Gül darüber einig, dass Terrorismus unter keinen Umständen akzeptabel sei, sagte Obama auf der letzten Station seiner Europareise. Die Beziehungen zwischen der Türkei und den USA hätten sich zu lange auf militärische Fragen und die nationale Sicherheit konzentriert. Beide Seiten müssten aber auch bei der Bekämpfung der Wirtschaftskrise zusammenarbeiten, forderte Obama.

Zum Vorgehen der Osmanen gegen die Armenier zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts bezog Obama klar Stellung, vermied aber eine Wiederholung des Begriffs «Völkermord» wie noch während seines Wahlkampfs. «Meine Ansichten sind offiziell dokumentiert, und ich habe die Ansichten nicht geändert», sagte er.

Historiker gehen davon aus, dass im Osmanischen Reich bis zu 1,5 Millionen Armenier vor und während des Ersten Weltkriegs getötet wurden. In der Türkei wird der Vorwurf des Völkermords jedoch vehement zurückgewiesen. Obama hatte Anfang 2008 erklärt, «der Völkermord an den Armeniern» sei kein Vorwurf oder eine persönliche Meinung, sondern vielmehr eine gut dokumentierte Tatsache.

Am Montag würdigte Obama Güls Teilnahme an Verhandlungen zwischen Armenien und der Türkei. Er wolle diese Gespräche unterstützen und nicht zugunsten einer Seite beeinflussen, sagte der US-Präsident. Sollten beide Länder ihre «schwierige und tragische Geschichte» aufarbeiten können, «sollte das die ganze Welt unterstützen». >>> ap | Montag, 6. April 2009