Turkey Tries to Revive EU Membership Bid
NRC HANDELSBLAD INTERNATIONAL: Despite the slow progress, Turkey is reminding Brussels that it is still very much intent on joining the European Union.

For once, the topic is not democracy, human rights or gas pipelines. Turkish diplomats are in Brussels since Tuesday to discuss tax reform with the European Commission. If Turkey wants to join the European Union one day, it will also have to adapt its tax system to the European rules.

But the most important message coming out of Brussels and Ankara is that negotiations, which began in 2005 after Turkey was officially recognised as a candidate for membership in 1999, are in fact still ongoing.

Very slowly Turkey is edging closer to EU membership, despite the fact that French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel have said they don't want Turkey to join, and despite the fact that many extreme-right parties did well in the European parliament elections in June by campaigning against Turkish membership.

With the elections out of the way, the Turkish government found it necessary to remind the EU countries that it is still intent on joining the EU as promised. Last week, Turkey sent its prime minister and its foreign and European affairs ministers to Brussels to repeat this loudly - much louder than is customary among EU officials and Turkish diplomats.

During a breakfast meeting with journalists, prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called those European politicians opposing Turkish membership "narrow-minded" and "populist". It was "wrong", he said, to use Turkey as a campaign tool. Erdogan: "We will never give up. We do our homework and we're making progress." >>> Petra de Koning in Brussels | Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Find God, Win a Trip to Mecca (or Jerusalem, or Tibet)
THE GUARDIAN: Turkish gameshow enlists imam, Greek Orthodox priest, rabbi and monk to try to convert atheists, with pilgrimage as reward

Penitents Compete could send someone to Mecca. Photo: The Guardian
It sounds like the beginning of a joke: what do you get when you put a Muslim imam, a Greek Orthodox priest, a rabbi, a Buddhist monk and 10 atheists in the same room?

Viewers of Turkish television will soon get the punchline when a new gameshow begins that offers a prize arguably greater than that offered by Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Contestants will ponder whether to believe or not to believe when they pit their godless convictions against the possibilities of a new relationship with the almighty on Penitents Compete (Tovbekarlar Yarisiyor in Turkish), to be broadcast by the Kanal T station. Four spiritual guides from the different religions will seek to convert at least one of the 10 atheists in each programme to their faith.

Those persuaded will be rewarded with a pilgrimage to the spiritual home of their newly chosen creed – Mecca for Muslims, Jerusalem for Christians and Jews, and Tibet for Buddhists.

The programme's makers say they want to promote religious belief while educating Turkey's overwhelmingly Muslim population about other faiths. >>> Robert Tait in Istanbul | Thursday, July 02, 2009

British Calls for Diplomatic Walkout from Iran Are Rejected by EU Partners
TIMES ONLINE: British calls for a mass walkout of European Union ambassadors from Tehran were shot down by more cautious nations led by Germany and Italy yesterday as the carefully constructed European consensus on responding to Iran came under intense strain.

Britain, backed by the outgoing Czech presidency of the EU, had pushed for the dramatic step of a temporary withdrawal of ambassadors to pile pressure on Tehran to free local British Embassy staff from custody.

With the release of all but two of the nine staff by yesterday afternoon, the incoming Swedish presidency of the EU, which took the reins on Wednesday, struck a less aggressive diplomatic note, more in tune with Berlin and a number of other EU capitals.

Carl Bildt, Sweden’s Foreign Minister, said last night that the EU had called on Iran to release all the British Embassy employees, but added that the EU was still awaiting a response from Tehran. Suggesting that it was too early to recall the ambassadors, Mr Bildt said: “We are taking this step by step.” >>> David Charter in Stockholm | Friday, July 03, 2009

Pahlavi : «C'est le début de la fin» du régime iranien actuel
LE FIGARO: Le fils du Shah d'Iran, qui vit en exil depuis 1979, estime qu'aucune solution à la crise ne pourra plus être trouvée au sein de ce régime «usurpateur». «Le pays entre dans une phase de résistance, de désobéissance civile».


leJDD.fr: L'Iran vu par le fils du shah

De passage à Paris jeudi, le fils du shah d'Iran a évoqué devant les journalistes la crise politique qui secoue son pays depuis trois semaines. Convaincu que le mouvement de protestation contre le pouvoir entraînera à terme la chute de la République islamique installée en 1979, Reza Pahlavi, partisan d'un Iran laïc et démocratique, appelle ses concitoyens "à l'unité".

Il veut croire "au commencement de la fin". A la rencontre des médias ce jeudi à Paris, Reza Pahlavi n'a eu de cesse de marteler que le régime islamique instauré en 1979 en Iran était voué à disparaître, affaibli, selon lui, par la crise politique qui secoue le pays depuis trois semaines. Invité de l'European American Press club, le fils du dernier shah d'Iran, en exil depuis trente ans, s'est toutefois bien gardé d'annoncer une mort à bien des égards prématurée. En revanche, "son Altesse", porte-parole en Occident d'un Iran débarrassé de la théocratie, est intimement convaincue que la vague de protestation né du verdict - faussé - des urnes lors du scrutin présidentiel du 12 juin dernier "n'allait pas mourir", et ce, malgré un certain essoufflement constaté. "Un mouvement a pris naissance", a-t-il au contraire déclaré avec gravité dans l'auditorium feutré d'un hôtel de luxe parisien. "Il s'agit d'un nouveau-né qu'il faut protéger, afin qu'il devienne un homme... ou une femme." >>> Par Nicolas MOSCOVICI, leJDD.fr | Jeudi 02 Juillet 2009

Barack Obama: Vladimir Putin Is 'Living in the Past'
THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama yesterday accused Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, of "living in the past" and indulging in Cold War thinking on the eve of his first trip to Russia as US president.

Mr Obama described the former president, who remains the country's dominant political force, as someone who still has "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new".

He said one reason he will meet Mr Putin, as well as Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, during his visit next week is that he wanted Mr Putin to know that "the old Cold War approaches" to relations with the United States were "outdated".

The US president told the Associated Press that he was developing a "very good relationship" with Mr Medvedev, whom he met in London at the G20 summit in April.

At the time, the two leaders readily agreed to move quickly to hammer out an accord for shrinking their countries' nuclear arsenals, a pact that would replace the 1991 Start I treaty that expires in December.

Both sides have been tight-lipped about preparatory talks, but negotiators are expected to narrow differences enough to allow the leaders to possibly announce a framework for a deal next week.

However, also at stake is the credibility of the Obama administration's pledge to "press the reset button" on US-Russia relations, which sank to a post-Cold War low under George W Bush and Mr Putin.

Mr Obama's forthright remarks were a strong signal that he expects Moscow to match his commitment to improving the tone in the two sides' conversation. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Thursday, July 02, 2009

Massive US Assault to Seize Taleban Heartland
It is the biggest Marine operation since the storming of Fallujah in Iraq in 2004. Photo: TimesOnline
TIMES ONLINE: Thousands of US Marines stormed into an Afghan river valley by helicopter and land early today, launching the first major military offensive of Barack Obama's presidency with an assault deep into Taleban-held territory.

Operation Khanjar, which the Marines call simply "the decisive op", is intended to seize virtually the entire lower Helmand River valley, a heartland of the Taleban insurgency and the world's biggest heroin producing region.

It is the biggest operation launched by the US Marines Corps since the retaking of Fallujah in 2004 and seeks to break the grinding stalemate between Nato forces and the Taleban in the province.

US commanders stressed this morning their desire to move quickly and decisively with overwhelming force to seize the entire southern Helmand River valley from Taleban control ahead of the delayed Afghan Presidential elections on August 20.

"Where we go we will stay, and where we stay, we will hold, build and work toward transition of all security responsibilities to Afghan forces," Marine Corps Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, commander of the Marines in southern Afghanistan said in a statement.

He told his staff before the operation: "The intent is to go big, go strong and go fast, and by doing so we are going to save lives on both sides." >>> Tom Coghlan in Kabul | Thursday, July 02, 2009

Benedict Brogan: Cutting Britain's Defence Budget to Pay Other Bills Is a False Economy
THE TELEGRAPH: Benedict Brogan believes both the main parties are missing the point of maintaining a nuclear deterrent

A free people, George Washington said, must be constantly awake against the insidious wiles of foreign influence. At any moment, from any quarter, trouble may pounce to put the sovereignty of the nation under threat. Defending the realm demands eternal vigilance.

Yet in this particular kingdom we are nodding off, distracted by the agonies of a financial crisis and the positioning of leaders vying for power. A time of great uncertainty abroad is met by political indifference at home.

From climate change and resource shortages, to cyber-warfare and disorderly states, to Islamist terrorism and international criminal networks, the dangers are multiplying. And then there are the unknown unknowns, the things we don't know that we don't know that kept Donald Rumsfeld up at night. Thirty years from now, who is to say that Russia will not have reverted to its expansionist ways, or that a nuclear-armed Caliphate of Waziristan will not be parked where Pakistan used to be?

Which is what makes British foreign policy, and our capacity to implement it, such a vital part of what a government does. It remains essential to us that our diplomatic effort be played out in the international premier league.

Listen to the whispers coming out of the chancelleries of Europe or the US state department, however, and the talk is of relegation. Britain is slipping down the rankings as Gordon Brown focuses on a domestic fight for survival. Ominously, there is no sign that the prospect of having David Cameron in charge will do anything to reverse the trend.

As so often with a national share price, it is a concatenation of decisions and behaviours that drives it downwards. Financial mismanagement, the prospect of a debt downgrade, an inability to produce the necessary resources in Iraq or Afghanistan, loose talk of defence cuts and an end to Trident, speculation about giving up our permanent seat on the UN Security Council, the threat of legal action against serving intelligence officers, and confusion over the Iraq inquiry have helped contribute to a steady loss of credibility.

The strength of our commitment to future defence is this week's wobble. Having frittered away billions since 1997, Mr Brown, with the tacit support of the Conservatives, is eyeing up those cash-draining Cold War programmes. It is tempting to detect the hand of his friends in the unions behind the well-timed leaks about cost over-runs on the two planned aircraft carriers, while the top brass fall over each other to volunteer the weapons programmes of rival services for the chop. >>> Benedict Brogan | Wednesday, July 01, 2009

New York City Council, Bloomberg at Odds Over Call for Muslim School Holidays
FOX NEWS: The New York City Council overwhelmingly passed a resolution Tuesday calling for two Muslim holidays to be added to the school calendar, despite mayoral objections.

The New York City Council is at odds with Mayor Michael Bloomberg over a resolution calling for the school system to observe two Muslim holidays.

The council overwhelmingly passed the resolution Tuesday, citing the city's growing Muslim population and the fact that the system observes comparable Jewish and Christian holidays.

But Bloomberg has spoken out against the measure, saying the school year will get too short if the calendar includes too many holidays.

Now it's unclear whether the proposal will become policy, as the council does not have direct authority over the school year -- yet Bloomberg just relinquished control of the school system to a newly appointed board of education.

"Right now the degree of control the mayor has over the education system is completely unclear," said Councilman G. Oliver Koppell, the only council member to vote against the resolution Tuesday.

Bloomberg could still block the measure. Though the city just reappointed its board of education, the state Senate could take action soon to hand Bloomberg back the reins.

Bloomberg predicted as much Wednesday, saying the new board would "serve until Albany rectifies its inaction and reauthorizes mayoral control."

And the new city school board is considered to be largely aligned with Bloomberg anyway.

Koppell, who sides with Bloomberg, said he's concerned that the calendar change would only benefit a relatively small fraction of the student body at the expense of the school year.

"If we accommodate every group's wishes to have off on religious days, we'll have a huge number of days on which kids are off from school," he said. "This is a slippery slope which we'll be going down. ... In my view, the school year's too short as it is." >>> FoxNews.com | Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Islam: Truths Obama Conveniently Forgot in Cairo (Part 1)
EXAMINER.COM: Even crazy Benito Mussolini reacted like a normal human being when a group of Arab ambassadors informed him of their desire to build a mosque in Rome . “There will be a mosque in Rome ,” the Fascist ruler said, “only when a Roman Catholic Church is permitted in Mecca .”

In the city of St Peter , off the foot of Monte Antenne, now stood an edifice that has been called the largest mosque in Europe . Its main hall can take two thousand worshipers. Its significance did not escape Abdul Qayuum Khan, the Pakistani Director of the Islamic Cultural Center in Rome given the right to build the mosque. He told the New York Times that, “Even if it is not the largest … it is the most important mosque in Europe . The simple fact that it is the only one located in the heart of Christianity, in the Mecca of Catholicism, you might say.”

The Catholic Church initial objection to building a mosque in Rome was dropped after the Second Vatican Council in 1965. Thereafter, permission to build was granted by the Italian government to the Islamic Center and a 7-5 acre undeveloped lot was donated. The $40 million building was financed by Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia.

“For centuries, Islam and Christianity were in conflict,” said Paolo Portoghesi, the Chief Architect of the project to the Times. “This is an expression of the opening of dialogue among the different religions.”

This dialogue recently reached its zenith when King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia visited Pope Benedict XV1 at the Vatican . It was the first of such visits ever. And to top it up, President Obama visited Cairo, Egypt and gave a speech aimed at beginning a new conversation with Muslims across the world.

I feel it is a perfect time to discuss Islam and the rest of us. I am psyched that maybe this time, the discussion will be fruitful. As against the discussion we usually have after some Muslims massacre Christians on their streets, burn up churches, hotels and stone foreign embassies because either the moon woke up on the wrong side of the sky or a cartoonist in a cold room in Sweden drew Prophet Mohammed without putting in parenthesis, sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam, Peace Be Upon Him.

Interestingly, King Abdullah can wake up, hop into his private jet and visit the Pope in Vatican but the Pope cannot visit King Abdullah in Mecca . In fact, non-Muslims are not allowed to visit Mecca . King Abdullah can worship in a mosque in Rome but the Pope cannot worship in a church in all of Saudi Arabia . In fact, there is no church in all of Saudi Arabia .

In an article published in the October 18, 2003 edition of La Civilta Cattolica, a journal edited by a group of Jesuits in Rome , the situation of Christians in Muslim countries were described as one burdened by discrimination and often bloody persecution. The article described Islam in all of its history as being in perpetual warlike poise pushing to conquer all it ever came in contact with.

If history can be our guide, the journal tells us that Libya , Tunisia , Algeria , Morocco and Egypt once had vibrant Christian communities from which emerged several important personalities of the early church. These North African countries produced church heavy weights theologians and philosophers like Saint Cyprian, Saint Augustine, Saint Fulgentius, Bishops of Carthage, Hippo and Ruspe respectively. With the conquest of Islam came the total annihilation of Christians in these North African countries, except for Egypt where a tiny Coptic Orthodox Christian community still exist. >>> Rudolf Okonkwo | Wednesday, June 01, 2009

Part 2 >>>

Op-Ed Contributor: Ban the Burqa
THE NEW YORK TIMES: NEW YORK — I am a Muslim, I am a feminist and I detest the full-body veil, known as a niqab or burqa. It erases women from society and has nothing to do with Islam but everything to do with the hatred for women at the heart of the extremist ideology that preaches it.

We must not sacrifice women at the altar of political correctness or in the name of fighting a growingly powerful right wing that Muslims face in countries where they live as a minority.

As disagreeable as I often find French President Nicolas Sarkozy, he was right when he said recently, “The burqa is not a religious sign, it is a sign of the subjugation, of the submission of women. I want to say solemnly that it will not be welcome on our territory.” It should not be welcome anywhere, I would add.

Yet his words have inspired attempts to defend the indefensible — the erasure of women.

Some have argued that Sarkozy’s right-leaning, anti-Muslim bias was behind his opposition to the burqa. But I would remind them of comments in 2006 by the then-British House of Commons leader Jack Straw, who said the burqa prevents communication. He was right, and he was hardly a right-winger — and yet he too was attacked for daring to speak out against the burqa. >>> Mona Eltahawy | Thursday, July 02, 2009

Mona Eltahawy is an Egyptian-born commentator on Arab and Muslim issues.

Islam: What the West Needs to Know – Full Movie
To the movie >>>

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words!
Found near a mosque in Edinburgh. Photo: MailOnline

Indian Court Decriminalises Homosexuality in Delhi
THE GUARDIAN: Sex between people of same gender has been illegal in India since British colonial era

An Indian court today decriminalised homosexuality – but only in the country's capital, Delhi.

The Delhi high court ruled that treating consensual gay sex as a crime was a violation of fundamental rights protected by India's constitution.

The ruling is the first of its kind in the deeply conservative country.

"We've finally entered the 21st century," said Anjali Gopalan, the executive director of the Naz Foundation (India) Trust, a sexual health organisation that filed a petition calling for decriminalisation eight years ago.

The verdict can be challenged in India's supreme court.

Sex between people of the same gender has been illegal in India since a British colonial era law classified it as "against the order of nature".

According to the law, gay sex is punishable by 10 years in prison. While actual criminal prosecutions are few, the legislation has frequently been used to harass people.

It can only be amended by the Indian parliament, but the court's verdict should protect Delhi's gay community from criminal charges and police harassment.

While the ruling is not binding on courts in India's other states, Tripti Tandon, a lawyer for the Naz Foundation, said she hoped it would have a "persuasive" effect. >>> Associated Press | Thursday, July 02, 2009

Listen to BBC audio: Anjali Gopalan, head of the Naz Foundation which filed the petition that prompted the ruling, she said she was ecstatic >>>

Radical Muslim Dentist May Be Struck Off
MAIL Online: A dentist faces being struck off after refusing to treat Muslim patients unless they wore Islamic dress.
Dr Omer Butt ordered female patients to wear headscarves and forced men to take off gold jewellery before allowing them into the dentists' chair.

He even kept a box full of hijabs at his practice so he could lend them to women before checking their teeth.

Butt enforced his religious dress code despite previously being warned by the General Dental Council for the same offence.

The dentist ordered two women to wear head scarves before he would see them and their families, the professional conduct committee of the GDC found.

One woman was forced to leave the clinic in pain after refusing to cover her head while another wore the garment but was outraged after Butt asked her son if he prayed.

The panel concluded that Butt, of Prestwich, Greater Manchester, sought to impose a dress code on Muslim patients while working at the Unsworth Smile Clinic in Bury, Greater Manchester, between April 2005 and June 2007. Radical Muslim dentist refused to treat patients unless they wore traditional Islamic dress >>> | Thursday, July 02, 2009

Cameron Apologises to Gays
MAIL Online: David Cameron has issued an extraordinary apology on behalf of the Conservative Party for legislation banning the promotion of homosexuality in schools.

He said the party had 'got it wrong' when it introduced Section 28 in the late 1980s.

It is one of a series of apologies Mr Cameron has made for his party's actions in government.

The Scots received one in 2006 for having the poll tax imposed on them a year before it was introduced in England.

The Tory leader's latest remarks, during an appearance at a Gay Pride event, were attacked last night by traditionalists on the Right of his party.

They pointed out that as recently as 2003, when Tony Blair axed the clause, Mr Cameron voted for a Tory amendment described by gay rights groups as 'Section 28 by the back door'.

Former party chairman Lord Tebbit said he suspected the apology had been driven by 'focus group findings'.

The gay vote - estimated at 2.65 million people - will be a key political battleground ahead of an election expected next May.
Gordon Brown is hosting a gathering of leading gay and lesbian figures in Downing Street on Saturday, and his wife Sarah is joining a Gay Pride march.

Section 28 was introduced by Margaret Thatcher's government in response to evidence of Left-wing councils promoting gay relationships in schools.

It prevented councils and schools from intentionally promoting homosexuality, but became a focal point for anger for gay rights campaigners.

Mr Cameron insisted he was making his apology because the legislation had been ' offensive to gay people'.

'I'm sorry for Section 28. We got it wrong. It was an emotional issue. We have got to move on and we have moved on,' he said.

He insisted that under his leadership the party was embracing gay rights and predicted it would produce Britain's first gay Prime Minister. Cameron apologises to gays for Section 28: Law to ban promotion of homosexuality in schools was wrong, says Tory leader >>> James Chapman | Thursday, July 02, 2009

Iran : «La crise a révélé les fissures au sein du régime»
LE FIGARO: INTERVIEW - Pour le professeur Farhad Khosrokhavar, spécialiste de l'Iran, «rien ne sera plus comme avant : la peur du guide suprême est retombée».

Spécialiste de l'Iran, professeur de sociologie à l'École des hautes études en sciences sociales à Paris, Farhad Khosrokhavar vient de passer six semaines en Iran pendant la crise. Il est l'auteur d'Avoir vingt ans au pays des ayatollahs *.

LE FIGARO. - Comment expliquer le récent «coup d'État» iranien ? Pouvait-on s'y attendre ?

Farhad KHOSROKHAVAR. - Depuis sa création, il y a 30 ans, la République islamique a toujours eu deux dimensions : l'une théocratique et non élective, avec le guide suprême et, entre autres, l'armée, le pouvoir judiciaire ; l'autre, symbolisée par des organes élus directement par le peuple, comme le Parlement ou le président. Avec l'élection d'un réformiste, Khatami, en 1997, on a pu assister à l'essor de différents mouvements sociaux : les intellectuels, les étudiants, les femmes, les minorités ethniques. Ces derniers ont commencé à inquiéter le pouvoir dominant, c'est-à-dire ce que j'appelle le «duo au pouvoir» - le guide et la hiérarchie supérieure des pasdarans. Pour eux, il fallait trouver le moyen de se débarrasser de la dimension républicaine de la République islamique, qui mettait en péril le système. Une fois élu en 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, le candidat favori d'Ali Khamenei, a rapidement entrepris de désarticuler l'appareil d'État et de lui retirer sa relative autonomie. Il a fait changer trois fois le gouverneur de la Banque centrale, il a fait jouer la planche à billets, en ignorant les objections du Parlement. En parallèle, il a systématiquement réprimé la société civile. De quoi satisfaire le guide.

La victoire d'Obama, aux États-Unis, a-t-elle encouragé cette reprise en main ?
Les élections américaines ont déstabilisé le pouvoir. Face à la rhétorique belliqueuse de George Bush, le régime iranien savait comment s'y prendre. À l'axe du mal, il opposait son propre axe du diable. Mais, face à la nouvelle politique de Barack Obama, le guide ne savait trop comment réagir. La reconduction d'Ahmadinejad se présentait donc comme la meilleure solution pour la survie du système.

Pendant les deux semaines précédant le scrutin, la campagne électorale avait paradoxalement créé une ambiance démocratique inédite…

Pendant cette élection, le guide n'avait qu'une obsession : le fort taux de participation. Il a donc, d'abord, favorisé l'expression publique, en laissant les coudées franches aux jeunes, qui se déversèrent tous les soirs dans la rue, dans une ambiance festive, parfois jusqu'à trois heures du matin. Du jamais vu en Iran. En fait, Khamenei pensait qu'après avoir voté ils rentreraient docilement chez eux. Mais c'est révélateur d'une méconnaissance totale de sa société. Deuxième faux pas : l'organisation inédite de débats télévisés entre les différents candidats. Au lieu de favoriser Ahmadinejad, ils ont poussé de nombreux Iraniens à s'identifier à son adversaire principal, Mir Hossein Moussavi. >>> Propos recueillis par Delphine Minoui | Mercredi 01 Juillet 2009

Happy Birthday, Canada!
Map: Google Images
Canadians across the country are celebrating Canada's 142nd birthday.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: To the photo gallery >>>

Hussein Pointed to Iranian Threat: Specter of Arms Allowed Him to Appear Strong, He Told U.S.
THE WASHINGTON POST: Saddam Hussein told an FBI interviewer before he was hanged that he allowed the world to believe he had weapons of mass destruction because he was worried about appearing weak to Iran, according to declassified accounts of the interviews released yesterday. The former Iraqi president also denounced Osama bin Laden as "a zealot" and said he had no dealings with al-Qaeda.

Hussein, in fact, said he felt so vulnerable to the perceived threat from "fanatic" leaders in Tehran that he would have been prepared to seek a "security agreement with the United States to protect [Iraq] from threats in the region."

Former president George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq six years ago on the grounds that Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction and posed a threat to international security. Administration officials at the time also strongly suggested Iraq had significant links to al-Qaeda, which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Hussein, who was often defiant and boastful during the interviews, at one point wistfully acknowledged that he should have permitted the United Nations to witness the destruction of Iraq's weapons stockpile after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. >>> Glenn Kessler, Washington Post Staff Writer | Thursday, July 02, 2009

Iran Opposition Leaders Speak Amid Crackdown
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: BEIRUT -- Iranian opposition figures re-emerged to accuse the government of a virtual coup against its people and plan a new political party, even as the regime hardened its crackdown on opponents and accused them of endangering national security.

The tensions within Iran reignited just as Tehran's diplomatic conflict with the European Union heated up, with the government threatening to cut off relations with EU countries unless they apologize for considering pulling their ambassadors out of Iran.

Increasingly, the government has been seeking to cast its opponents as outlaws. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has been blamed for the blood spilled during the clashes between protestors and security forces over the outcome of the presidential election, in which the government says he came in a distant second to the incumbent, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

On Wednesday a student wing of the Basij -- plainclothes militia responsible for crushing protestors with guns, batons and chains -- asked Tehran's chief prosecutor to investigate Mr. Mousavi's role in "destabilizing national security." If charged and convicted, Mr. Mousavi could face a maximum 10 years in prison.

Mr. Mousavi lashed back, joined by former President Mohammad Khatami, an influential cleric who has supported Mr. Mousavi's campaign but who had become quiet as the regime made clear it wouldn't accept further opposition to the election results.

In a statement posted on his Web site, Mr. Khatami accused Iran's leadership of a "velvet coup against the people and democracy" and criticized what he called "a poisonous security situation" in the wake of violent street protests.

Mr. Mousavi announced that he plans to form a political party with a group of like-minded intellectuals. He said the party would make public all the allegations of vote fraud that he and their candidates have made, and pursue their complaints through the judiciary.

"They keep asking me to forgive and forget. I will not compromise nor negotiate over the vote and the right of the public," Mr. Mousavi said in his statement, his ninth since election unrest began, posted on his personal Web site.

The post-election unrest over the disputed presidential vote has created the worst crisis in the Islamic republic's 30-year history. As security forces crushed street protests, the regime began pursuing the line that the turmoil was conceived by reformers and funded by Westerners -- namely Americans and British. >>> Farnaz Fassihi with contributions from Marc Champion in Brussels | Thursday, July 02, 2009

Setback for Tony Blair's Ambition to Be President of Europe
THE GUARDIAN: Former prime minister, who is believed to be considering bidding for the post, faces stiffening opposition from Sweden and Spain

Tony Blair's ambition to become Europe's first president have been set back by stiffening opposition from Sweden and Spain, the two countries chairing the EU for the next year.

Senior officials in Stockholm, which assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU today, said they feared a President Blair would be a divisive figure, triggering friction between small and large European countries, and added that José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Spanish prime minister, was even more strongly opposed to Blair securing the post and usurping Madrid's running of the union next year.

The decision to appoint a new sitting European president, for a maximum of five years, is to be taken before the end of the year if Ireland votes yes in October in a referendum on the Lisbon treaty streamlining the way the EU is run and also creating the new post.

Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Swedish prime minister, made clear his aversion to Blair securing the plum post, without mentioning the former prime minister by name.

"The small countries don't want a strong leader because they fear he will be run by the big [EU] countries," said Reinfeldt.

European governments had to decide whether the post ought to be turned into "a strong leader for Europe" or whether the president's role should be limited to chairing EU summits and "not putting the [European] commission president in the shadow," said the Swedish prime minister. >>> Ian Traynor in Stockholm | Wednesday, July 01, 2009