Israel ohne Kompromissbereitschaft bei Siedlungsbau: Netanyahu in Kairo mit Mubarak zusammengetroffen
NZZ ONLINE: Der Konflikt um den Bau von israelischen Siedlungen in palästinensischen Gebieten bleibt festgefahren. Auch der US-Nahostgesandte George Mitchell war am Sonntag bei einer neuen Gesprächsrunde mit der israelischen Führung in den umstrittenen Punkten erfolglos.

Nach dem Gespräch mit Israels Präsident Shimon Peres sagte Mitchell, bisher sei in mehreren wichtigen Punkten noch keine Einigung erreicht worden, aber es werde schwer daran gearbeitet. Peres war nach einem Zusammenbruch am Samstag erst kurz vor dem Treffen aus dem Spital entlassen worden.

Der israelische Ministerpräsident Benjamin Netanyahu sagte nach seiner Zusammenkunft mit Mitchell: «Es gibt immer noch genügend Arbeit zu tun.» In einigen Punkten habe man Fortschritte gemacht, doch es gebe auch Fragen, bei denen man nicht weitergekommen sei.

Während der wöchentlichen Kabinettssitzung in Jerusalem betonte Netanyahu, Israel behindere den Friedensprozess nicht und sei bereits «morgen» zur Aufnahme neuer Friedensgespräche bereit. Netanyahu in Kairo >>> sda/Reuters/afp/dpa | Montag, 14. September 2009

Harris Tweed Maker Drops 'Scottish' Marketing Over Lockerbie Release
THE TELEGRAPH: The biggest manufacturer of Harris tweed has dropped the word "Scottish" from its marketing campaign in America amid fears of a consumer backlash over the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

Harris Tweed Hebrides said it had to “de-Scottishify” the product after receiving feedback that sales could suffer.

The company, whose chairman, Brian Wilson, a former government minister, believes it was a mistake to release Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, has removed references to Scotland and Scottish imagery from its promotional material.

Instead, the firm plans to use a neutral image of a model in a tweed frock coat reclining on a couch.

Mark Hogarth, the company's creative director, said it had decided to focus on the brand's island heritage rather than its Scottish credentials ahead of the launch of its fashion collection in New York next month.

He said that he was forced to rethink the marketing campaign because of the anti-Scottish backlash that followed the release of Megrahi, 57, who is terminally ill, last month.

“We are not going to promote ourselves as a Scottish company as we would previously have done,” said Mr Hogarth.

“From everyone we spoke to in the US, the feeling came back that a serious mistake had been made in releasing Megrahi.

“It really wasn't seen as a British decision in the media there, but a Scottish one. While in Scotland and in the UK as a whole there may be a sense of ambivalence about Megrahi's guilt, in the US they are very much as one.

“We have been getting a lot of feedback and we have had to de-Scottishify the image of the brand. If he had not been released we would not have altered anything. >>> Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent | Sunday, September 13, 2009

Iran Snubs Barack Obama's Nuclear Talks
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran has dealt a blow to one of President Barack Obama's most ambitious diplomatic initiatives by dismissing demands to put its nuclear programme at the heart of direct talks with the United States.

Less than 48 hours after Washington and its allies reluctantly accepted an offer of face-to-face negotiations from Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, insisted that the topic of greatest interest to the West would not be on the table.

"From the Iranian nation's viewpoint, the nuclear case is closed," he told Britain's ambassador to Tehran, Simon Gass. "Having peaceful nuclear technology is Iran's lawful and definite right and Iranians will not negotiate with anyone over their undeniable rights."

In a rambling five-page document presented to western diplomats last week, Iran proposed negotiations on a wide array of economic and regional security issues but made no mention of its nuclear activities.

After responding with initial coolness, the United States defied expectations by taking up the offer to negotiate directly for the first time since Mr Obama came to power. The US president had promised during his election campaign to hold unconditional talks with Iran. >>> Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem | Sunday, September 13, 2009

This Corrupt, Craven, Unprincipled Government!
MAIL ONLINE: Ministers were branded ‘corrupt’ this evening for agreeing a secret deal with Libya that will make it impossible to bring the killer of a British policewoman to justice in the UK.

In a new favour for the Gaddafi regime, the Foreign Office agreed to drop their demands to try the murderer of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, who was gunned down outside the Libyan Embassy in London in 1984.

The deal was signed off by Justice Secretary Jack Straw three years ago, when he was Foreign Secretary -- at a time when Britain was negotiating trade and oil deals with the regime in Tripoli.

A year later, Mr Straw also agreed to include the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya, in a bid to preserve a lucrative oil contract between BP and the regime in Tripoli.

Details of the secret deal sparked claims that the government is letting the Libyans ‘get away with murder’.

Ministers stand accused of misleading the family of WC Fletcher, who have campaigned for 25 years to have her killer handed over for trial in Britain.

Queenie Fletcher, Yvonne’s mother said yesterday she had not been told about a deal. ‘They should have informed us. We were never told they’d agreed to this. No, never.’ Government's secret deal with Gaddafi saved killer of WPC Yvonne Fletcher from UK trial >>> Tim Shipman and Stephen Wright | Sunday, September 13, 2009

The New Politics of Decline
THE SPECTATOR: Trevor Kavanagh says that Britain’s pitiful standing on the world stage is not just about al-Megrahi or the recession, but is the result of Labour’s disastrous mismanagement. Everything now depends on Cameron

For the incurable optimist — of which there are no doubt several in the Downing Street bunker — there are signs that Britain is starting to recover. The stock market is booming once more, confidence is returning to the housing market and the recession may soon be over. Is it possible Gordon Brown really has saved the world — even if it is too late to save himself? Or, as Labour used to warble, might things only get better?

If only. The bleak truth for UK plc is that after 12 years of stupefying Labour incompetence, the worst is yet to come. Britain is once again on the slide towards the margins of economic influence and military clout. We have the worst public finances of any comparable western economy. The British Chambers of Commerce warned this week that the UK faces a ‘grim’ economic future, with a high risk of a relapse. Unemployment is not just spreading but setting like concrete for years to come. And our shabbily treated troops, once a match for the world’s best, will soon be driven humiliatingly out of Afghanistan.

This is not the slow, managed decline of an empire looking for a role. It is a sudden, embarrassing discovery that we don’t count on the world stage any more. Thanks to our lumbering Prime Minister, we have been given the unwelcome gift to see ourselves as others see us. And it ain’t pretty.

I am writing this from New York, whose citizens once saw Britain as a staunch economic, diplomatic and military ally. It is only a few short years since they hailed Tony Blair as a 9/11 hero and awarded him the Congressional Medal he was so embarrassed to collect. That was the high-water mark for New Labour.

Today, thanks to the Oil-for-Megrahi fiasco, we are a bitter disappointment to America. Newspapers from the Wall Street Journal to the New York Daily News are still running every fresh turn in this tawdry story.

It was perfectly summed up by a devastatingly editorial in the News: ‘Gordon Brown has given grounds to believe today’s British are a cowardly, unprincipled, amoral and duplicitous lot. Because he is all of those.’ Those are cruelly exaggerated words, but they put the finger on a single identifiable cause of Britain’s collapse. The new decline in Britain’s standing on the world stage is not just about Lockerbie. Nor is it even the decision to trade a convicted mass murderer for Libya’s vast oil reserves. It is about the shifty, furtive and ultimately disastrous management of a country which, in 1997, had every conceivable chance of becoming great again.

Labour strode to power with a huge Commons majority, the goodwill of the British people and the prospect of at least two terms in office. For the first time, Labour could ride an economy which had just taken off on a long and sustainable boom.

Tony Blair could have done one or two truly great things. His government had the cash and clout to transform a welfare state in which almost three million were on incapacity benefit. Instead, it left them to rot while importing migrants to fill almost all of the three million new jobs created. It could have performed drastic but urgently needed surgery on the lumbering National Health Service. Instead, it poured truckloads of taxpayers’ money into a giant bureaucracy, entrenching inefficiencies that will cost us up to £40 billion a year, every year. >>> Trevor Kavanagh | Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The Islamization of Anti-Semitism
YNET NEWS: Oslo Accords, instead of curbing anti-Semitism, had opposite effect

Anti-Semitism infiltrated the Islamic world in the 19th century as Muslims came into contact with the Christian West. The founding of the State of Israel intensified the power and importance of anti-Semitism ideas in the Middle East. The Oslo Accords, instead of diminishing anti-Semitism, actually seemed to have had the opposite effect. Israel had become the agent of Western imperialism

Soon after the September 11 terror attack on the twin towers, Sheikh Muhammad al-Gamei'a, Imam of the Islamic Cultural Center and Mosque of New York City suddenly decided to return to Egypt. In his role as a New York Imam, al- Gamei'a had participated in scores of interfaith meetings together with Christian and Jewish clergy, and had been a genteel presence, expressing moderate views. That is why, a few days after his hasty departure, friends and colleagues in New York City were astounded to hear of an interview with al-Gamei'a in which he accused "the Jews" of having engineered the September 11 attacks in order to discredit Islam.

The interview, which had been posted on the unofficial web-site of Al Azhar, the Islamic world's premier institute of higher learning, revealed a world view based on the notorious "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" read with Islamic-tinted glasses. Al-Gamei'a claimed that Americans "knew very well that the Jews were behind this ugly act," but could not talk about it openly because "the Zionists control everything, the political decision-making, the big media organizations, and the financial and economic institutions. The Jewish element is as Allah described it," he continued, "They disseminate corruption in the land..." They have always unjustly broken agreements, murdered the prophets and betrayed the faith... all the time, disseminating corruption, heresy, homosexuality, alcoholism, drugs. They do this to impose their hegemony and colonialism on the world."

For al-Gamei'a, anti-Semitism was not merely an intuitive distrust of Jews, but a fully fleshed out theory of history. "These people always seek out the superpower of the generation and develop a symbiotic relationship with it. Before this, they rode on the back of England and on the back of the French empire. After that, they rode on the back of Germany. But Hitler annihilated them, because they betrayed him and violated their contract with him."

Al-Gamei'a's "proof" that the Jews were behind the attacks was an odd mixture of Arab feelings of inferiority and inflated estimations of Jewish power: "If we look closely at the incident we find that only the Jews are capable of planning such an incident, because it was planned with great precision of which Osama bin Laden or any other Islamic organization or intelligence apparatus is incapable." Al-Gamei'a's turn to a virulent form of anti-Semitism upon his return to Egypt is far from an isolated occurrence. >>> Micha Odenheimer | Friday, September 11, 2009

Call Obama's Bluff
YNET NEWS – OPINION: Confronting Obama menace critical for Israel’s future, Bibi's real test

President Barack Hussein Obama has threatened dire consequences if Israel refuses his demands to prevent Jews from building in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.

His plan is yet another disastrous form of Israeli unilateral withdrawal.

This unprecedented challenge to Israel's sovereignty and strategic needs must be met firmly. At stake are not only simple human needs, but the integrity of the State of Israel and a 60-year old alliance.

Israel is an American ally, not an enemy; a partner in the struggle against terrorism, not a perpetrator. Did Obama forget? Is he confused, or didn't he ever know?

Whose side is he on?

Confronting the Obama menace is difficult, but essential; it's critical for Israel's future.

If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu capitulates, he will undermine Israel's independence and set a dangerous precedent: not if Israel's national and strategic interests will be sacrificed, but when.

That will simply invite even more pressure for Israel to surrender to sworn enemies.

Paradoxically, it's not weakness and appeasement that have deterred Israel's opponents, but a strong defense based on security needs and realistic assessments of consequences.

An imposed dictated "solution" that does not resolve core issues and is unacceptable to those dedicated to violence has never succeeded - ever - without their total and complete destruction. Policy of defeatism >>> Moshe Dann | Sunday, September 13, 2009

Britain in Moral Crisis, Warns Bishop of Rochester
THE TELEGRAPH: The Bishop of Rochester has warned that Britain is facing a moral crisis.

The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali said that the rejection of Christian values is having a damaging effect on the country.

Speaking at his farewell service, he expressed particular concern at the breakdown of the family and at growing calls for the legalisation of assisted suicide.

Although he is stepping down as bishop, he vowed to continue to speak out on important issues and to fight for a return to Christian principles.

"I believe that the Christian faith is necessary for the life of our country," he said.

"We need to get away from the constant making of moral decisions by opinion poll.

"We are facing a crisis about affirming the dignity of human purpose.

"It may be at the earliest stage of life or as we are hearing more and more, at the later stages of life."

He added: "It is obvious to many people that the weakening of family life is responsible for what we face on our streets, in our classrooms and in homes. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones | Sunday, September 13, 2009

How Islamist Gangs Use Internet to Track, Torture and Kill Iraqi Gays
THE OBSERVER: Iraqi militias infiltrate internet gay chatrooms to hunt their quarry – and hundreds are feared to be victims

Sitting on the floor, wearing traditional Islamic clothes and holding an old notebook, Abu Hamizi, 22, spends at least six hours a day searching internet chatrooms linked to gay websites. He is not looking for new friends, but for victims.

"It is the easiest way to find those people who are destroying Islam and who want to dirty the reputation we took centuries to build up," he said. When he finds them, Hamizi arranges for them to be attacked and sometimes killed.

Hamizi, a computer science graduate, is at the cutting edge of a new wave of violence against gay men in Iraq. Made up of hardline extremists, Hamizi's group and others like it are believed to be responsible for the deaths of more than 130 gay Iraqi men since the beginning of the year alone.

The deputy leader of the group, which is based in Baghdad, explained its campaign using a stream of homophobic invective. "Animals deserve more pity than the dirty people who practise such sexual depraved acts," he told the Observer. "We make sure they know why they are being held and give them the chance to ask God's forgiveness before they are killed."

The violence against Iraqi gays is a key test of the government's ability to protect vulnerable minority groups after the Americans have gone.

Dr Toby Dodge, of London University's Queen Mary College, believes that the violence may be a consequence of the success of the government of Nouri al-Maliki. "Militia groups whose raison d'être was security in their communities are seeing that function now fulfilled by the police. So their focus has shifted to the moral and cultural sphere, reverting to classic Islamist tactics of policing moral boundaries," Dodge said.

Homosexuality was not criminalised under Saddam Hussein – indeed Iraq in the 1960s and 1970s was known for its relatively liberated gay scene. Violence against gays started in the aftermath of the invasion in 2003. Since 2004, according to Ali Hali, chairman of the Iraqi LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) group, a London-based human-rights group, a total of 680 have died in Iraq, with at least 70 of those in the past five months. The group believes the figures may be higher, as most cases involving married men are not reported. Seven victims were women. According to Hali, Iraq has become "the worst place for homosexuals on Earth". >>> Afif Sarhan and Jason Burke | Sunday, September 13, 2009

Sunday Afternoon Chill-out: Stevie Wonder
I Just Called to Say I Love You


Part-time Lover


As

Obamas Präsidentschaft: Reden statt regieren
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Die Regierungszeit des 44. Präsidenten der Vereinigten Staaten beginnt erst jetzt richtig. Bisher war alles nur Vorgeplänkel. Und es waren vor allem Versprechen Barack Obamas, die es noch einzulösen gilt. Das Gefangenenlager Guantánamo Bay etwa soll bis zum 22. Januar 2010 geschlossen werden. Das ist wegen des Streits über die Unterbringung der noch 229 Gefangenen sowie über deren Verfahren vor Militärtribunalen oder Zivilgerichten schon jetzt ein kaum noch fristgerecht zu erreichendes Ziel. Oder die Welt soll von der Geißel des drohenden Atomtods befreit werden - so will es eine am Freitag dem Sicherheitsrat der Vereinten Nationen vorgelegte Resolution Washingtons, die nach dem Willen des Weißen Hauses am 24. September in New York bei einer von Obama geleiteten Ratssitzung angenommen werden soll.

Ob Obamas Präsidentschaft erfolgreich sein wird, wird indes an Zahlen abgelesen werden: Um wie viel Prozent wächst die amerikanische Volkswirtschaft? Wie hoch sind Defizit, Schuldenberg und Arbeitslosenrate? Wie viel kostet die Amerikaner ihr Gesundheitswesen, und wie viele fallen dennoch - unversichert oder unterversichert - durch das großmaschige Netz in den finanziellen Ruin oder ins Grab? Wie viele Menschen werden im Irak, in Afghanistan und anderswo auf der Welt Tag um Tag von islamistischen Terroristen ermordet, und wie viele amerikanische Soldaten verlieren im Kampf gegen die Gesinnungsmörder ihr Leben?

Obama hat seit seinem Amtsantritt am 20. Januar etwa 120 Reden gehalten - vor allem längere, vor kleinem und vor großem Publikum, für Radio, Fernsehen und Internet. Seine vorerst letzte monumentale Rede war jene zur heftig umkämpften Gesundheitsreform vom Mittwoch vor beiden Kammern des Kongresses; gewöhnlich wenden sich amerikanische Präsidenten nur im Januar mit ihrer "Rede zur Lage der Nation" an die im Plenum des Repräsentantenhauses versammelten Abgeordneten und Senatoren. Und auch seither hat Obama nicht geschwiegen: Bis zum Wochenende kamen Reden bei Gewerkschaftsversammlungen und Demonstrationen hinzu. Bald wird auch die ganze Welt - beim G-20-Gipfel in Pittsburgh und bei der UN-Vollversammlung in New York - noch mehr von Obama hören.

Mancher fragt sich, ob der Präsident vor lauter Reden auch noch zum Regieren kommt. Und mancher glaubt, er habe auch nach der Abreise von George W. Bush aus der Hauptstadt mehr vom Kandidaten Obama gesehen und gehört als vom Präsidenten Obama. >>> Von Matthias Rüb, Washington | Samstag, 12. September 2009

We Need to Confront Islamist Extremists, Not Conciliate Them
THE TELEGRAPH: The conviction of the terrorist bomb plotters shows that we need to confront the Islamists, and show that being Muslim and Western are indeed compatible, says Ed Husain.

On July 7, 2005, my sister missed one of the trains that was attacked by the bombers by four minutes. I was living in Saudi Arabia, but returned to Britain to help this country better understand why so many young activist Muslims were becoming extremists – as I briefly had. The convictions this week of three men who wanted to attack transatlantic flights show why that task remains as urgent as ever.

Organised hatred, separatism, and extremism were present in Britain's cities and campuses long before July 7, often cloaked in the guise of moderation. But very few people understood the complexities of extremist ideology, while many politicians had Muslim constituents they did not want to upset.

The toughest task has been convincing Muslim leaders of the need to end denial, and stop playing politics with Islamist extremism. At a recent meeting with a Muslim grandee, I was stunned to learn that he thought the British government had carried out the July 7 bombings, to give it an excuse to spy on us.

It beggars belief how many Muslim organisations have claimed that by founding Quilliam, a counter-extremist think tank which argues that there is no inherent contradiction between being Muslim and being Western, I have somehow sold out, become a patsy of the intelligence services.

I have very little idea about the espionage industry. But what have we got to hide? Why are we so worried? We should be proud citizens in a liberal democracy, committed to protecting our country from terrorist attacks just like any other crimes. Instead, I am attacked on websites, newspapers and Islamic television channels in the crudest terms.

Nor are our politicians standing up to the threat. When Quilliam's researchers revealed that Abu Qatada, "al-Qaeda's ambassador to Europe", was smuggling propaganda letters from inside a British prison, the then justice minister turned up on the BBC to dismiss our findings and say such work was "unhelpful". Boris Johnson recently called for greater understanding and tolerance of Islam at the East London Mosque – the same place where I and many others were introduced to radical Islamist ideology, and whose Saudi-trained imam is a signatory to a document that many say calls for attacks on the Royal Navy. >>> Ed Husain* | Saturday, September 12, 2009

*Ed Husain is co-founder of the Quilliam Foundation and author of 'The Islamist' (Penguin)

Quilliam >>>

Jihad: The Somalia Connection
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Numbers of young Britons heading for war-torn African country have soared

British intelligence chiefs have targeted war-torn Somalia as the next major challenge to their efforts to repel Islamic terrorism, after scores of youths left the UK for "jihad training" in the failed African state. MI5 bosses have warned ministers that the number of young Britons travelling to Somalia to fight in a "holy war", or train in terror training camps, has soared in recent years as the country has emerged as an alternative base for radical Islamic groups including al-Qa'ida.

The Independent on Sunday understands that the number of young Britons following the trail every year has more than quadrupled to at least 100 since 2004 – and analysts warn that the true figure (which would include those who enter the country overland) will be much higher.

However, the British authorities are particularly concerned about the number of people with no direct family connection to Somalia who are travelling to fight and train there. The diversity suggests Somalia is flourishing as a training ground for radical British Muslims, who could join the local terrorist militia al-Shabaab ("the youth"), go on to join conflicts including the Afghan campaign, or return home to pose a security threat to the UK. >>> Brian Brady | Sunday, September 13, 2009

Proche-Orient : «On vit mieux» en Cisjordanie
LE TEMPS: Chantiers par dizaines, magasins de luxe, cafés branchés: le territoire palestinien vit un certain boom économique, même si le chômage demeure encore élevé

Pour l’heure, Rawabi n’est encore qu’un rêve. Pourtant, dans moins d’un mois, c’est sur cet espace de 630 hectares situé à 9 kilomètres au nord de Ramallah que débutera l’érection de la première ville moderne de Palestine. Un projet de un milliard de dollars qui devrait, à terme, permettre à 40 000 Palestiniens de s’installer dans des logements modernes.

Bien sûr, la ville nouvelle ne s’adresse qu’aux familles aisées. Mais il n’en manque pas dans les territoires contrôlés par l’Autorité palestinienne (40% de la Cisjordanie). Ces derniers mois, cette bourgeoisie gravitant autour des institutions de l’AP a d’ailleurs abandonné ses scrupules et n’hésite plus à afficher son opulence.

Il suffit de se promener dans le centre de Ramallah pour constater la multiplication de chantiers. Outre deux centres commerciaux à l’européenne, la municipalité accueillera bientôt son premier immeuble de bureaux de 40 étages.

Alors qu’un ouvrier palestinien gagne environ 350 euros par mois, on trouve désormais à Ramallah des boutiques de luxe proposant les mêmes produits qu’à Paris ou Genève. Habillée à l’européenne et avec des vêtements griffés, une vendeuse explique que les ceintures Dolce & Gabana à 700 euros pièce «se sont vendues comme des petits pains» à l’occasion du Ramadan. «Nous avons une clientèle de qualité: quelques diplomates étrangers et une majorité de Palestiniens», poursuit-elle.

Le dernier endroit à la mode de Ramallah est le café Zaman inspiré des expresso-bars qui pullulent dans les rues de Tel-Aviv. La carte est semblable et les prix sont identiques. Le soir, à l’iftar (la rupture du jeûne du Ramadan), les jeunes s’y pressent en masse. Quelques-uns débarquent en 4x4 dotée de tous les instruments «indispensables»: écrans plasma et GPS.

«Avant, il fallait aller à Jérusalem-Est pour changer d’air», affirme Nayman, une jeune fille de bonne famille qui joue nerveusement avec son portable dernier cri. «Maintenant, nous avons tout ce que l’on veut à portée de la main. On vit mieux grâce à [président] Mahmoud Abbas.» Et la bande de Gaza? «Bien sûr, c’est terrible ce qu’ils endurent là-bas, mais c’est aussi la faute du Hamas», estime l’étudiante, membre du Fatah. >>> Serge Dumont, Ramallah | Samedi 12 Septembre 2009

Alan Duncan, Sultan Qaboos, and the Sultan's ‘Glittering Gifts’
I just wonder why Sultan Qaboos, the Sultan of Oman, showers Alan Duncan with ‘glittering gifts’? – Mark

MAIL ONLINE: With the first hints of autumn in the air, the sound of weary gardeners breathing a sigh of relief echoes across Britain.

But for MP Alan Duncan an aching back and calloused hands are unlikely to be high on his list of immediate problems.

For while his four-bedroom constituency home is surrounded by an acre of beautifully-tended gardens, their appearance isn't entirely down to his hard graft.

'I spend a fortune on my garden in Rutland,' he boasted last year, explaining that it is a place 'where you will never see a weed'.

What British taxpayers now know is that the pristine flower-beds and carefully kept lawns owe almost as much to them as to the 52-year-old Tory high-flyer.

Earlier this year, leaked expenses revealed that Mr Duncan had claimed in excess of £4,000 over three years to maintain his garden.

This sum included the costs of a £6-an-hour gardener who, at times, was pocketing more than £350-a-week.

Then there were the running costs of Mr Duncan's ride-on lawn-mower - a £598 service and a £49 bill for puncture repair - not to forget the £1.60 price of a bag of nails.

Mr Duncan tried to put through even more, a bill of £3,194.50 for the period between July 2006 and March 2007 being presented to the House of Commons fees office.

Alan Duncan with his partner, James Dunseath, the man to whom he proposed whilst on holiday in Oman.
It declined to pay, pointing out that the sum in question 'may not be necessarily an appropriate use of public funds'.

In all, Mr Duncan claimed £127,658 over six years under second home allowances, £126 short of the maximum.

While agreeing to pay back some £5,000 he stopped short of admitting any wrongdoing, saying: 'This is not guilt. This is a voluntary act.'

Amid the ensuing furore over moats and duck islands and 'flipped' second homes, as far as Mr Duncan was concerned that might just about have been that.

Until, that is, the multi-millionaire former oil-trader single-handedly reignited the public's ire by bemoaning the lot of a modern day MP.

Covertly recorded on camera, the Shadow Leader of the House was heard to complain that MPs were being treated like 's***' and forced to live on 'rations' in the wake of the expenses scandal.

Again the silver-tongued, bouffanthaired [sic] MP apologized. And again he sloped away hoping it would all blow over.

But, on Monday, David Cameron finally acted against Mr Duncan, moving him from the Shadow Cabinet to become justice spokesman with responsibility for prisons.

Critics complain that this demotion is little more than a slap on the wrist and that Mr Duncan may yet return to frontline politics as a Government minister.

'He is a very experienced politician who still has a lot to give and hopes that he will get another chance to prove this in the future,' a close friend told me.

If he does, then it would do well to remember just how that 'experience' was gained.

His views on money owe much to the fact that by the age of 30 he was already a wealthy man, once describing £1 million as 'not going very far'.

As for his £65,000-a-year salary as a frontbench MP, that was also clearly insufficient - until recently Mr Duncan pulled in an extra £90,000-odd from directorships.

His expertise is in trading oil, a line of work that has seen him linked to a number of characters mired in financial scandals.

Then there are his property interests. These include his £1 million-plus London home, his beautifully appointed constituency home and a third property that he rents out next to his own.

He bought it for £140,000 in a highly unusual transaction 15 years ago - more of which later. It is now worth at least five times that sum.

And let's not forget Mr Duncan's love of foreign travel. In the past decade he has spent a staggering 99 days living it up in luxury in Oman - the tab picked up by the Sultan's government.

Gifts from the same source include five watches, three sets of cufflinks, and a 'traditional Omani coffee pot and incense burner'.

He even had his appendix removed for free while on holiday there. No chance then, at least, of the 'rations' causing any problems as they work their way through Mr Duncan's system. Whining Tory Alan Duncan's £1m Gulf War oil 'rations' and glittering gifts from Sultan of Oman >>> Tom Rawstorne | Saturday, September 12, 2009

About Sultan Qaboos >>>

Massive Crowd Marches Against Obama's Agenda
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Tens of thousands of angry conservatives converge on Washington to denounce the president's healthcare proposals and more, echoing Rep. Joe Wilson's accusations.

Demonstrators are shown during a rally at Freedom Plaza in Washington. Photo: Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Washington - Tens of thousands of protesters marched on the U.S. Capitol on Saturday, airing a wide range of grievances rooted in a shared sentiment: seething anger at President Obama and his far-reaching agenda.

Led by a fife and drum corps in period costumes, the demonstrators filled Pennsylvania Avenue and swarmed the Capitol grounds with a sea of bobbing placards and hand-lettered signs that spelled out a catalog of dissent.

There were antiabortion protesters and term-limit advocates. Critics of financial bailouts and the federal investigation into CIA interrogation techniques. Marchers who were worried about rekindling inflation and upset about the soaring national debt. Pickets opposed to Obama's healthcare reform plan and challenging the legitimacy of his election.

"Is This Russia?" one sign said. "Traitors Terrorists Run Our Government," read another. "Don't blame me. I voted for The 'American,' " a third stated.

The protest -- touted by organizers as the largest-ever outpouring of political conservatives -- was organized by a loose-knit coalition of anti-tax, small-government proponents, and widely promoted by sympathetic voices in the blogosphere and on TV and talk radio. Park police declined to provide an official crowd estimate.

The rally was embraced, after some hesitation, by congressional Republicans, some of whom were leery of associating with the more incendiary elements of Obama's opposition.

"The coming weeks and months may well set the course for this nation for a generation," said Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, the No. 3 GOP House leader, voicing the apocalyptic tone that rang through much of the day's rhetoric. "How we as conservatives respond to these challenges could determine whether America retains her place in the world as a beacon of freedom, or whether we slip into the abyss that has swallowed much of Europe in an avalanche of socialism." >>> Mark Z. Barabak | Sunday, September 13, 2009

THE WASHINGTON POST:
Picture Gallery: Conservatives Protest at the Capitol: Opponents of government spending held a massive demonstration on Saturday >>>


Massenprotest gegen staatliche Ausgabenflut: Zehntausende demonstrieren in Washington gegen die Politik Obamas
NZZ ONLINE: Mehrere zehntausend Demonstranten haben in Washington gegen die Politik von Präsident Barack Obama protestiert. Auf Spruchbändern warfen sie der Regierung am Samstag vor, die Rolle des Staates in der Gesellschaft übermächtig werden zu lassen.

Die Demonstration fand vor dem Hintergrund des anhaltenden heftigen Streits in den USA über Pläne von Präsident Barack Obama für eine umfassende Gesundheitsreform statt. Neben dem übrigen Ausgabenverhalten von Kongress und Regierung wurden vor allem diese von den Demonstranten scharf angegriffen.

Auf selbstgemalten Plakaten warfen einige Demonstranten dem Präsidenten vor, die USA Richtung Sozialismus führen zu wollen. So trug ein Immigrant aus der Ukraine ein Pappschild mit der Aufschrift «Ich hatte genug Sozialismus in der UdSSR.» >>> sda/dpa/afp | Sonntag, 13. September 2009

Proche-Orient : Liban: Hariri jette l'éponge
leJDD.fr: Le Premier ministre désigné du Liban, Saad Hariri, a annoncé jeudi qu'il renonçait à former un gouvernement après deux mois et demi d'efforts infructueux.

Il devait représenter le symbole de la stabilité politique retrouvée du Liban. Saad Hariri, fils de l'ancien Premier ministre Rafic Hariri, assassiné en 2005, voulait créer un gouvernement d'union nationale. Dix semaines après sa nomination comme Premier ministre, Saad Hariri a avoué jeudi avoir échoué dans sa mission. Ses tentatives de réunir ses rivaux du Hezbollah et les alliés chrétiens de la milice chiite pro-iranienne au sein d'un même gouvernement on toutes été infructueuses.

"J'annonce à tous les Libanais que j'ai dit aujourd'hui au président (Michel) Sleimane que je renonçais à former un gouvernement et j'espère que cette décision servira les intérêts du Liban", a-t-il déclaré jeudi après un entretien avec le chef de l'Etat. L'opposition avait rejeté mardi le cabinet proposé, dont les trente postes ministériels étaient répartis entre la coalition majoritaire dirigée par Hariri, l'alliance d'opposition dont fait partie le Hezbollah et un troisième groupe désigné par le président Michel Sleimane. >>> V.V. (avec Reuters), leJDD.fr | Jeudi 10 Septembre 2009

Les populistes menacent la gauche en Norvège
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ÉLECTIONS | Les Norvégiens se rendent aux urnes lundi pour élire leur parlement. Principal enjeu de la campagne? Un meilleur Etat providence. La gauche au pouvoir et la droite sont au coude-à-coude.

La Norvège? Un royaume paisible de lacs, de forêts et de fjords majestueux, blotti au nord de l’Europe, avec ses 4,8 millions de sujets qui se disent parmi les plus heureux du monde. Les plus riches aussi, grâce à la manne pétrolière qui a transformé en trente ans ce pays de paysans et de pêcheurs en un eldorado européen très convoité. 

Dans ce paysage de carte postale, presque idyllique, où tout respire le bon vivre, une partie de la population se plaint pourtant de ne pas profiter suffisamment de ses immenses richesses tirées de l’or noir, amassées depuis près de quinze ans par les gouvernements successifs dans «un bas de laine» qui ne cesse de grossir et qui contient près de 280 milliards d’euros.

Cette manne providentielle, investie un peu partout dans le monde sur les marchés boursiers, est destinée aux «périodes de vaches maigres», pour assurer l’avenir des générations futures, le jour où le filon de pétrole s’épuisera. Campagne contre «l’islamisme rampant» >>> Slim Allagui, Oslo | Samedi 12 Septembre 2009

Barack Obama Starts US Talks with 'Axis of Evil': North Korea and Iran
THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama has approved plans for the US to start direct talks with both North Korea and Iran, in a significant shift in policy.

The State Department said it would meet one-to-one with Pyongyang negotiators in an effort to persuade the reclusive Stalinist state to return to multilateral talks on dismantling its nuclear weapons programme.

Washington has also accepted a vague Iranian offer of talks on broad national security issues, even though Tehran refused to discuss its illicit atomic operations.

The US insisted it would raise Iranian’s nuclear activities in the meeting. "This may not have been a topic that they wanted to be brought up but I can assure that it's a topic that we'll bring up," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

The new approach to two regimes shunned by the previous Bush administration as rogue states from the so-called "axis of evil" marks a significant change in American diplomacy.

It is certain to come under fresh attack from prominent conservatives and national security hawks such as former vice-president Dick Cheney.

They are resolutely opposed to what they see as "rewarding" hostile nations for their nuclear belligerence by agreeing to talks.

The North Korea gambit comes just a week after Pyongyang declared that it was close to being able to enrich uranium, a development that would give the outlaw regime a potential second means of building nuclear weapons.

Until now, the US has insisted it would only speak directly to North Korea if it had already agreed to re-join the six-party talks. South Korea said yesterday that it would back a US-North Korea meeting if the goal was to kick-start the stalled six-party talks.

The strategy is a risky one, however. The North has long wanted to engage America in direct and wide-ranging talks over its nuclear ambitions while the US insists any one-to-one contact would be focussed on pushing Pyongyang back into multilateral negotiations over its atomic projects.

The regime has also long proven itself to be an unreliable partner, reneging on deals during the administrations of Mr Obama's two predecessors, George W Bush, a Republican, and Bill Clinton, the last Democrat in the White House. >>> Philip Sherwell in New York and David Eimer in Beijing | Saturday, September 12, 2009

Enya: Amarantine