Wednesday, September 16, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Buried away on the dusty shelves of a London library is a student’s vision for a new world order.
Doctoral dissertations are usually of little interest outside the world of academic research but this book casts an intriguing light on the beliefs of one of the Middle East’s most influential figures.
The publication by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the eldest son of the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his second wife, is set to fuel the debate about the pace of democratic and economic reform in his homeland.
Perhaps because it is published under the surname Alqadhafi, the blue cover of the PhD thesis appears to have been little read since it was filed at the Senate House library of the University of London last autumn. Over 428 pages, the man seen as heir apparent to the socialist dictator who has ruled Libya for 40 years calls for democracy and greater influence for business in his vision of the world’s governing institutions.
Dr Gaddafi has become an increasingly powerful voice in the oil-rich country, which has influence in both the Muslim world and the African Union. Although dismissed by critics as a playboy prince for his frequent international travel and attendance at celebrity parties, Dr Gaddafi spent four years researching his thesis at the London School of Economics.
While other doctoral students struggled to survive with occasional lecturing, the multimillionaire Libyan was also negotiating the release of the Lockerbie bomber and $1.5billion compensation for his victims, opening up his country’s oil and gas fields to international businesses and restoring diplomatic links with the US.
Dr Gaddafi, 37, introduces his work by writing: “I shall be primarily concerned with what I argue is the central failing of the current system of global governance in the new global environment: that it is highly undemocratic.”
The comments will be read with interest in Libya, where his father has ruled since a military coup in 1969 and where opponents are still ruthlessly suppressed. Dr Gaddafi says that his dissertation “analyses the problem of how to create more just and democratic global governing institutions”, focusing on the importance of the role of “civil society”. >>> David Brown | Wednesday, September 16, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: When it comes to carrying out original research, few PhD students have access to one of the world’s most prestigious corporate consultancies, with advisers including the former head of the Secret Intelligence Service.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi used Monitor Group to carry out a survey and interviews with the leaders of non-governmental organisations to provide the empirical data for his thesis at the London School of Economics.
Senior advisers at Monitor Group include Sir Richard Dearlove, who was recruited in 2005, the year after he retired as head of MI6. Sir Richard was well known to the Libyans because Colonel Gaddafi had chosen British intelligence as the go-between when he decided to surrender his country’s nuclear programme.
The company also employs Sir Mark Allen, another former MI6 agent and a senior adviser to BP. Sir Mark lobbied Jack Straw just before the Justice Secretary abandoned efforts to exclude the Lockerbie bomber from a prisoner transfer deal. Mr Gaddafi hired the company in 2004… >>> David Brown | Wednesday, September 16, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, the son of the Libyan dictator, used a firm that employs the former head of British intelligence to carry out research for his doctoral thesis.
Mr Gaddafi used Monitor Group to interview the heads of non-government organisations for a paper that argued the "central failing" of current global institutions was that the set-up was "highly undemocratic.
The 37-year-old is seen as a potential heir to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi who has been dictator of Libya for 40 years. Monitor Group employs both Sir Richard Dearlove, head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) at the time of the Iraq war and Sir Mark Allen, the intelligence agent who brought Col Gaddafi's regime in from the cold.
Mr Gaddafi spent four years researching his thesis at the London School of Economics and his PhD thesis was filed at the Senate House library of the University of London last autumn. The paper runs to 428 pages and calls for democracy and greater influence for business* in multi-national affairs. >>> Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Wednesday, September 16, 2009
*What sort of nonsense is this? It is precisely because business has had far too much influence in multi-national affairs that we have just experienced the fiasco of the craven British government caving in to Libya over the release of Megrahi. If we are going to have a world in which corporations wield too much power, then we are going to have a sick world to live in! Go back to the LSE, Dr Gaddafi, you've got some learning to do! – Mark
THE TELEGRAPH: George W Bush believed Barack Obama was "a cat" who "has no clue", dismissed Sarah Palin as a nonentity and insulted Hillary Clinton's posterior, according to a new account of life in the White House under the former president.
For all his politeness in public, Mr Bush is alleged to have privately mocked fellow big name politicians, claims his former speech writer Matt Latimer, whose book Speech Less: Tale of a White House Survivor has been awaited with some anxiety by members of the previous administration.
In extracts published by GQ magazine, Latimer writes: "He came in one day to rehearse a speech, fuming. 'This is a dangerous world,' he said for no apparent reason, 'and this cat [Obama] isn't remotely qualified to handle it. This guy has no clue, I promise you'." >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Tuesday, September 15, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Telegraph.co.uk today reports that Mohammed has become the most common name for baby boys born in London and in three other English regions.
In the capital, the Islamic name - including its varient spellings - was twice as popular as the second-placed name, Daniel, in 2008.
For those who follow these things, this won’t come as a huge surprise. We know that the UK’s Muslim population is growing, both through immigration and through its higher birthrate. We know that there are particular concentrations in London, the West Midlands and the North of England. We know that Muslim families tend to choose one particular name for their baby boys - Mohammed - a way that other communities do not.
And last week it was reported that the name was now the third most popular in England as a whole. In fact, Mohammed probably rose to the number one slot in the capital some time ago. For several years, I have been trying to pin this down as a fact. But until now, it has proved impossible because for the past decade or so, the Office for National Statistics has not disclosed regional breakdowns of popular baby names, only national totals. My requests for the regional figures were met with the response that this would be impossible to provide, even under the Freedom of Information Act. >>> Ben Leapman | Tuesday, September 15, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Former President Jimmy Carter has said that Joe Wilson's outburst during President Barack Obama's speech to Congress last week was an act "based on racism" and rooted in fears of a black president.
"I think it's based on racism," Mr Carter said at a town hall held at his presidential centre in Atlanta. "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president."
The Georgia Democrat said the outburst was a part of a disturbing trend directed at the president that has included demonstrators equating Mr Obama to Nazi leaders.
"Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care," he said.
"It's deeper than that." >>> | Wednesday, September 16, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: The Archbishop of Canterbury has waded into the debate on bankers' bonuses, warning that financiers feel no "repentance" for the excesses of the boom that led to financial meltdown.
Dr Rowan Williams, the head of the Church of England, said the Government should have acted to cap bonuses and he warned that the gap between rich and poor would lead to an increasingly "dysfunctional" society.
Dr Williams told BBC2's Newsnight programme: "There hasn't been a feeling of closure about what happened last year.
"There hasn't been what I would, as a Christian, call repentance. We haven't heard people saying 'well actually, no, we got it wrong and the whole fundamental principle on which we worked was unreal, empty'."
Asked if the City was returning to business as usual he said: "I worry. I feel that's precisely what I call the 'lack of closure' coming home to roost. It's a failure to name what was wrong. To name that, what I called last year 'idolatry', that projecting of reality and substance onto things that don't have them."
His remarks referred to an article he wrote in The Spectator a year ago in which he warned that society was at risk of turning to idolatry in its worship of wealth. >>> Robert Lindsay | Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Apparently, during his big speech on financial reform last night, there were audible groans on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange when President Obama said that he had “always been a strong believer in the power of the free market”.
This was presumably because that particular element of the President’s audience thinks he is anything but. Applied to their own corner of the US economy, though, why they think as they do is anyone’s guess. One year on from the collapse of Lehmans, it looks to be business as usual on Wall Street, with big bonuses in the offing amid signs that, as Mr Obama said, the lessons of the crisis have been ignored by some.
But for all his finger-wagging, for all his promises to undertake serious financial reform, the President has actually done remarkably little so far.
Apart from trying to convince Americans that big government bailouts of financial institutions have come to an end, last night’s speech was all about trying to get that process back on track, which is why a key element of Mr Obama’s plans — a new consumer protection agency to oversee financial products such as mortgages and personal loans — was again flagged.
Yet the measure looks some way from ever reaching the statute book due to a formidable lobbying effort by the financial services industry.
Other elements of Mr Obama’s proposals, such as measuring and seeking to regulate systemic risk, are even further away. Similarly, while the Administration has tabled proposals which would ensure that many over-the-counter derivatives are traded on regulated exchanges, centrally cleared and more accurately reported, these plans are a long way from being enacted.
Part of the problem is that Mr Obama’s fellow Democrats, despite controlling Congress, seem far more determined to push through healthcare reforms before they ever turn their attention to an overhaul of financial regulation.
All of this is hugely regrettable and helps to explain why so many ordinary folk on Main Street believe that the President is in thrall to Wall Street.
Meanwhile, in fairness to those NYSE traders who groaned at Mr Obama’s comment last night, the President is giving them good reason to doubt his free-market credentials. >>> Ian King, Business commentary | Tuesday, September 15, 2009
GALA.fr: La loi Evin a fait une nouvelle victime. D’après le Parisien, l’ancien président de la république ne fumera pas sur la couverture du premier volume de ses mémoires. Jacques Chirac (fumeur jusqu’à la fin des années 80) devait apparaître une cigarette à la main, sur le premier tome de sa biographie. Seulement, l’entourage de l’homme politique à l'origine de la lutte contre le cancer en France a finalement refusé cette photo, par souci de légalité...
Le premier tome des mémoires de Jacques Chirac sera publié avec un retard d'un mois. D’après le Parisien, le prédécesseur de Nicolas Sarkozy va devoir changer l’illustration du livre. En cause, une photo le représentant en train de fumer.
Le cliché en question mettait en scène Jacques Chirac (fumeur jusqu’en 1988) avec une cigarette à la main. Seulement, l’entourage de l’homme politique, à l'origine de la lutte contre le cancer en France, a refusé cette photo par souci du respect de la loi Evin (relative à la lutte contre le tabagisme et l'alcoolisme).
En France, la loi proposée par Claude Évin en 1991 interdit la publicité pour le tabac et l'alcool. Et Jacques Chirac n’est pas le seul à avoir fait les frais de ce texte. On se souvient qu’en juillet dernier, le beau Alain Delon voyait sa cigarette gommée sur les affiches du parfum Eau Sauvage de Dior. >>> | Mardi 15 Septembre 2009
TIMES ONLINE – BLOG: Jacques Chirac, the last President, has become the latest victim of the anti-tobacco zeal that prevails these days in France. Chirac's publishers have just delayed for a month the release of the first volume of his memoirs because his staff objected to a cover portrait in which he is holding a lit cigarette.
A dangling clope was a trademark of the younger Chirac, as it was of most French stars of the last half century. The picture is a nice atmospheric shot from the 1980s of the pensive prime minister of the time. It would not have made much sense without the cigarette, though smokes have been purged in recent years from pictures of Catherine Deneuve, Alain Delon,Jean-Paul Sartre,Albert Camus, Charles de Gaulle, André Malraux, the late writer-politician, and Jacques Tati, the late film-maker.
"The release of the book has been put back because of the cover photograph," said Elizabeth Franck, spokeswoman for the NiL publishing house. "Photographs of the young Chirac smoking are quite common. Everyone has seen them (but) when Mr Chirac's staff saw the photo on the cover mock-up, they preferred to change it for a portrait of his face alone," Franck told us.
The bon vivant Chirac, 76, stopped appearing in public with cigarettes in 1988 and made cancer research one of the main priorities. His presidency ended with a smoking ban spreading in public places. Nicolas Sarkozy, his successor, is a private smoker. He enjoys one fat Cuban cigar a day in the Elysée Palace -- but never touches alcohol.
The Chirac decision has been attacked as another case of excessive obedience to the anti-smoking fervour which took hold in Chirac's years in the Elysée, from 1995-2007. "Political correctness has struck again", said Le Parisien.
The doctoring of pictures has become an issue in the cultural world, with critics accusing publishers, advertisers and museum directors of air-brushing history in the way that banished Soviet politicians were once erased from Kremlin portraits.
It's pretty clear that historic pictures are not covered by the 1991 anti-tobacco legislation, known as the Evin law. This prohibits "all propaganda or publicity, direct or indirect, in favour of tobacco and its products."
Géard Audureau, chief of the Non-smokers' Rights campaign organisation, called the Chirac cover-change silly. "This is an image of the young Chirac from a time when he smoked. It does not shock me to see a smoking president because it was the reality in that period," he told us. "It is an old-fashioned picture which does not promote tobacco." >>> Charles Bremner | Monday, September 14, 2009
MAIL ONLINE: Libyan doctors are to be trained by the NHS following an agreement signed by a Cabinet minister with Colonel Gaddafi's regime weeks before the release of the Lockerbie bomber, it emerged today.
The agreement is the latest in a series of moves to normalise relations between Britain and the north African state, which was an international pariah for years after being blamed for the 1988 bombing of PanAm flight 103 over Lockerbie, which killed 270 people.
But the Department of Health dismissed as "nonsense" suggestions that the agreement had any link with the recent release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi or trade deals with the oil-rich regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed by former Health Secretary Alan Johnson in spring 2008, Libyan medical staff will be able to get a year's instruction in Britain.
Training opportunities will be available in the UK for Libyan medical staff in areas such as intensive care, anaesthetics and endoscopy, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, the Evening Standard reported.
Links have also been formed between London's Moorfields Eye Hospital and the main eye hospital in Libyan capital Tripoli.
The agreement was later discussed in a visit to Libya by then health minister Dawn Primarolo and was raised again when Mr Johnson's successor Andy Burnham met health minister Mohamed Hijazi during a trip to the country on constituency business earlier this year, said the Department. >>> | Tuesday, September 15, 2009
First you'll hear a speech, then a man gets flogged. The stoning of two women starts 6 minutes into the video. Watch till the end.
The stoning of women is practiced in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
Warning: even if the film quality is poor, the images are extremely powerful and are not recommanded for all. [This is NOT suitable for children, for those who have a weak stomach, or for those who are of a nervous disposition.]
Hat tip: Apostates of Islam >>>
This is the barbarity that the law-makers of Aceh province have voted to make law; and this is the religion that our politicians – almost to a man – are in denial about. They call it the 'religion of love and peace', when anyone with an atom of common sense and intelligence knows full well that Islam symbolizes anything but either love or peace. Islam is a cruel, heartless cult. And I use the word 'cult' not as an insult but because that is what Islam truly is. A cult, by definition, venerates a particular figure. In this case, Muhammad. All devotion in a cult is directed towards that figure. In Islam, all devotion is directed towards Muhammad; indeed, Muslims are to love their prophet more than they love their own mothers, fathers, wives, or children. Therefore, the old name for Islam, Muhammadanism, is a very apt term for Westerners to use. Perhaps we should revert to the term! – © Mark
"What happened to Megrahi reminds us of the long suffering inflicted on Africa by the its enemies the colonialists and their heinous crimes and discrimination. The Europeans think that they are the strongest and make us fear them but we will face head on their injustice and defend our rights, marching along with Leader Muammar Gaddafi the President of the African Union." – Mr. Mustafa Abudaina from Algeria, Pan African Parliament (PAP) member
THE TRIPOLI POST: Tripoli– The Pan African Parliament declared on Wednesday its solidarity with Abdulbaset Al-Megrahi and wished him quick recovery after his release from captivity in Scottish and Netherlands prisons for more than eleven years.
The 150 strong Pan African parliamentarian delegation expressed its support with Al-Megrahi when they made a visit to him at Tripoli Medical Center.
Speaking to Megrahi and the large audience in his presence, The President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Hon. Dr. Moussa Idriss Ndele, MP said "we wished that this meeting had took place at the Parliament's headquarters [in in Midrand, South Africa] and gave you a red carpet welcome."
Mr. Ndele added that that would have been in response to the big welcome given to the Bulgarian nurses by the European Parliament despite their crime and with disregard to the feelings of over 400 Libyan children who were infected with AIDS and their relatives.
Al-Megrahi waived his hand to the African parliamentarian delegation as he responded to their words of support and get well wishes. >>> | Sunday, September 13, 2009
THE GUARDIAN: 'My flower to the occupier': Defiant journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi stands by protest against visiting George Bush
The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush has marked his release from jail by angrily defending his action and claiming he was tortured after his arrest.
Muntazer al-Zaidi's supporters and family gave him a rapturous welcome, sacrificing six sheep to mark his release and hanging laurels of flowers around his neck.
Wearing an Iraqi flag, Zaidi gave a detailed account of being tortured after his arrest, and vowed to reveal the names of senior officials in the Iraqi government and army who he said had been involved in his mistreatment.
Appearing with a missing front tooth, he told of beatings, whippings and electric shocks after his arrest. He said he now feared for his life, and believed US intelligence agents would chase after him.
"These fearful services, the US intelligence services and its affiliated services, will spare no efforts to track me as an insurgent revolutionary ... in a bid to kill me," he told the news conference.
"And here I want to warn all my relatives and people close to me that these services will use all means to trap and try to kill and liquidate me either physically, socially or professionally."
The reporter said he was abused immediately after his arrest, and the next day. He said he was beaten with iron bars, whipped with cords and electrocuted in the backyard of the building in the Green Zone.
"In the morning, I was left in the cold weather after they splashed me with water," he said.
He went on to defend his assault on Bush. "Simply put, what incited me toward confrontation is the oppression that fell upon my people and how the occupation wanted to humiliate my homeland by placing it under its boots," he said.
Zaidi said "throwing shoes against the war criminal Bush" was his answer to the cries of those bereaved by the conflict.
"The criminal murderer is standing here expecting us to throw flowers at him; this was my flower to the occupier."
Zaidi also talked of seeing "many, many massacres in every inch of our homeland" and of "witnessing the screams of victims and the cries of bereaved women". >>> Martin Chulov in Baghdad | Tuesday, September 15, 2009
COURRIER INTERNATIONAL: L’homme qui a jeté ses chaussures à la tête de George Bush pourra vivre sur un grand pied à sa sortie de prison. Une avalanche de cadeaux devrait saluer la libération du journaliste irakien Mountazer Al-Zaidi. "On a eu des promesses d’argent, l’émir du Qatar a promis un cheval en or, le colonel Mouammar Kadhafi a dit qu’il lui remettrait la plus haute décoration libyenne, et d’autres ont dit qu’ils lui offriraient une voiture de sport", a déclaré son frère Dargham, cité par la BBC. D’ores et déjà, son employeur, la petite chaîne de télévision Al-Baghdadia, lui a acheté un appartement de quatre pièces, rapporte le Guardian. Sans parler des propositions de mariage. "Un Irakien qui vit au Maroc nous a appelés pour lui offrir sa fille", rapporte son rédacteur en chef Abdul Hamid Al-Saij. "[…] Après l’événement, beaucoup de femmes ont voulu l’épouser, mais nous n’avons pas pris leur nom." Le reporter, devenu un héros pour le monde arabe, devrait être libéré lundi 14 septembre, au terme de neuf mois de prison. "C’est ton baiser d’adieu, chien ! Au nom des veuves et des orphelins d’Irak", avait-il crié à l’ex-président américain lors de son lancer de chaussures. [Source: Courrier International] | Lundi 14 Septembre 2009
LE FIGARO: Mountazer al-Zaïdi, le journaliste devenu célèbre après avoir lancé sur l'ex président américain ses souliers fin 2008, souhaite désormais créer un centre pour les orphelins et les veuves, auxquels il avait dédié son geste.
Libre après neuf mois de détention. Le journaliste irakien Mountazer al-Zaidi, propulsé au rang de héros du monde arabe après avoir lancé ses souliers à la tête de George W. Bush, a quitté mardi la prison de la base militaire de Mouthanna. La libération anticipée du reporter pour bonne conduite aurait dû avoir lieu dès lundi mais elle avait dû être repoussée suite à des problèmes administratifs.
Son avocat s'est félicité de la libération et a rendu hommage à l'indépendance de la justice irakienne. Lors d'une conférence de presse, Mountazer al-Zaidi a réclamé lui des excuses au premier ministre Nouri al-Maliki. Il affirme en effet avoir été torturé lors de son emprisonnement. «Au moment où Nouri al-Maliki expliquait à la télévision qu'il ne dormirait pas tant qu'il ne serait pas rassuré sur mon sort, j'étais frappé à coups de câbles électriques et de barres de fer. mes geôliers ont simulé des noyades [une technique employée par la CIA]».
Le reporter était entré dans l'histoire en décembre dernier en projetant ses souliers, taille 43, contre l'ancien locataire de la Maison-Blanche, qui les avaient évitées de justesse. Le journaliste s'était écrié «C'est le baiser d'adieu, espèce de chien». Condamné en première instance à trois ans de prison pour «agression contre un chef d'Etat en visite officielle», sa peine avait été réduite en appel à un an. Dans la culture arabe, jeter ses chaussures à la tête de quelqu'un et le traiter de «chien» est considéré comme une grave insulte. De nombreuses demandes en mariage >>> C.J. (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP | Mardi 15 Septembre 2009
As darkness falls over the world, our politicians continue to be in denial about the dangers of Islam. I speak not of radical Islam, but of Islam itself. For Islam truly is the problem; and it’s the greatest problem facing the civilized world today.
The silly word games our politicians play, the useless, banal games to try and separate this Islam from that one, the games they play to exonerate themselves from action – action which they are too cowardly to take, are really not helpful. On the contrary, these games hinder our ultimate success over the cult that is Islam, over the world’s greatest force for darkness, backwardness, inhumanity, and barbarity.
We need to roll back the frontiers. We need to push back the enveloping tide of ultimate backwardness – the evil forces which will take us back to the ‘New Dark Age’. The process of taking the world back to benightedness has begun; it needs to be halted forthwith, it needs to be halted without further delay. – © Mark
THE TELEGRAPH: Married people who commit adultery could be stoned to death under new law unanimously passed on Monday by MPs in the devoutly Muslim Indonesian province of Aceh.
The law, which will come into effect in 30 days, also decrees that homosexuals could be caned and jailed for eight years.
Those convicted of rape or consuming alcohol could be face up to 200 lashes of the cane meted out in public.
The 69-seat house in the semi-autonomous province voiced no reservations over the new law, an extension of the Sharia code already in force.
Gambling and drinking were already banned after Aceh introduced elements of Sharia law in 2001, when it became compulsory for women to wear headscarves. >>> Ian MacKinnon in Bangkok | Tuesday, September 15, 2009
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Behörden kontrollieren künftig strenger, ob Läden am Wochenende offen sein dürfen
Ladenbesitzer und Geschäftsinhaber, die sonntags ihre Läden geöffnet haben, müssen künftig mit Besuch staatlicher Behörden und möglicherweise auch mit erheblichen Ordnungsstrafen rechnen. Und einige werden sonntags wohl geschlossen bleiben. Denn der Senat, die Gewerkschaft Verdi und das Landesamt für Arbeitsschutz, Gesundheitsschutz und technische Sicherheit (Lagetsi) drängen darauf, dass Läden sonntags nur in Ausnahmefällen geöffnet sind, wenn sie zum Beispiel Reisebedarf anbieten. So legen es das Arbeitsschutzgesetz und das Ladenöffnungsgesetz fest, das seit 2006 gilt. "Der Sonntag hat eine besondere Bedeutung. Arbeit an diesem Tag muss eine Ausnahme bleiben", sagte Erika Ritter, Landesfachbereichsleiterin Handel bei Verdi. >>> Von Stefan Strauss | Dienstag, 15. September 2009
NZZ ONLINE: Der G-20-Gipfel im amerikanischen Pittsburgh könnte möglicherweise am Unwillen des französischen Staatspräsidenten Sarkozy scheitern. Sollten dort Begrenzungen für Managerboni nicht diskutiert werden, will Sarkozy das Gipfeltreffen platzen lassen.
Frankreichs Staatspräsident Nicolas Sarkozy will den G-20-Gipfel Ende des Monats in Pittsburgh platzen lassen, wenn dort keine Grenzen für Managerboni beschlossen werden. «Wenn es keine konkrete Entscheidung gibt, werde ich den Gipfel verlassen», zitierte ihn die regierungsnahe Zeitung «Le Figaro» am Montag. Die Drohung sei ernst gemeint, sagte der Generalsekretär des Élysée-Palastes, Claude Gueant, dem Sender RTL. Sarkozy sei «sehr entschlossen», ein Abkommen zu erreichen.
Der Staatschef hatte bereits vor dem Londoner G-20-Gipfel im April mit einer «Politik des leeren Stuhls» gedroht, sollte man sich dort nicht eine Zügelung der globalen Finanzmärkte einigen können. Obwohl sich die Europäer dort nicht mit allen ihren Forderungen durchsetzen konnten, blieb Sarkozy am Tisch.
Auf dem nächsten G-20-Treffen will der Franzose gemeinsam mit Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel eine Deckelung von Managergehältern und Bonuszahlungen durchsetzen. Das bisherige System belohnt kurzfristiges Risiko und gilt damit als eine der Ursachen der Weltfinanzkrise. >>> ap | Montag, 14. September 2009
NZZ ONLINE: Die Mitte-Links-Regierung in Norwegen hat die Parlamentswahlen knapp gewonnen. Der sozialdemokratische Ministerpräsident Jens Stoltenberg erklärte sich zum Sieger und kündigte die Fortsetzung der rot-rot-grünen Koalition an.
Nach der Parlamentswahl in Norwegen bleiben die Sozialdemokraten voraussichtlich weiter an der Regierung. Nach dem vorläufigen Ergebnis bei Auszählung von 99 Prozent der Stimmen wurde die Arbeiterpartei von Ministerpräsident Jens Stoltenberg mit einem Anteil von 35 Prozent als stärkste Partei bestätigt. Ihre Koalitionspartner, die Sozialistische Linkspartei und die Zentrumspartei, erhielten jeweils 11 Prozent. Das Bündnis kommt damit auf 86 der 169 Sitze im Parlament von Oslo.
«Es sind noch nicht alle Stimmen ausgezählt, und es ist knapp, aber zurzeit sieht es so aus, dass wir weitermachen können», sagte Stoltenberg in einer Fernsehdebatte. Führende Oppositionspolitiker räumten ihre Niederlage ein. >>> ap | Dienstag 15. September 2009
LE FIGARO – BLOG: Au pays des mollahs, tout finit par arriver ! Après cinq longs mois d’attente, le nouvel ambassadeur britannique en Iran vient de présenter ses lettres de créances à Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, le président de la République islamique.
« Nous regardons vers l’avenir, a déclaré ce dernier en recevant Simon Gass. Nous espérons que le gouvernement britannique a tiré les leçons et corrigera son comportement passé », a ajouté Ahmadinejad.
Déjà passablement mauvaises, les relations entre Téhéran et Londres se sont encore dégradées, après l’élection présidentielle de juin, remportée – grâce à des fraudes – par Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Le guide suprême, Ali Khameneï, accusa ouvertement les médias britanniques d’avoir soutenu les manifestants. Et une dizaine d'employés locaux de l’ambassade de Grande-Bretagne furent même arrêtés pendant quelques jours.
Jusqu’à très récemment, la Grande-Bretagne était considérée comme le « petit Satan » par l’Iran. Le prédécesseur de Simon Gass, Jeffery Adams, subissait – certes, avec un flegme tout britannique - les petites vexations que lui infligeaient ses homologues iraniens, quand ces derniers le convoquaient au ministère des Affaires étrangères, pour lui rappeler les déclarations « hostiles » de son patron à Londres. Avec les commentaires >>> Par Georges Malbrunot | Lundi 14 Septembre 2009
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Koblenz - Zwei mutmaßliche Mitglieder der islamistischen Terrororganisation El Kaida müssen sich seit Montag vor dem Koblenzer Oberlandesgericht verantworten. Die Bundesanwaltschaft wirft den 31-jährigen Männern vor, Geld und Kampfgerät für das Terrornetzwerk El Kaida beschafft zu haben.
Einer der beiden aus aus [sic] Sindelfingen in Baden-Württemberg stammenden Männer soll zudem für die Anwerbung von «Kämpfern» in Deutschland zuständig gewesen sein. Er habe zwei potenzielle «El Kaida-Kämpfer» rekrutiert, von denen einer sich später auch in einem Terrorcamp in Pakistan im Umgang mit Waffen und Sprengstoff ausbilden ließ, sagte Staatsanwältin Carola Bitter. >>> © dpa | Montag 14 September 2009
LE FIGARO: L'ancien général-président a utilisé des fonds destinés à la lutte contre les talibans pour renforcer son dispositif militaire face à l'Inde.
Retiré du pouvoir depuis plus d'un an et quasiment en exil à Londres depuis plusieurs mois, Pervez Musharraf continue de faire des vagues. L'ancien général-président pakistanais, qui a démissionné le 18 août 2008, vient d'admettre qu'il avait détourné l'aide américaine consentie au Pakistan pour lutter contre les talibans dans les zones tribales, en bordure de l'Afghanistan, au profit d'un renforcement militaire à la frontière avec l'Inde. «C'était dans l'intérêt du Pakistan, voilà pourquoi j'ai agi ainsi», a-t-il déclaré à la chaîne de télévision pakistanaise Express News. «Et je me moque bien de savoir si cela met les États-Unis en colère», a-t-il poursuivi, soulignant dans la foulée qu'il n'avait pas eu d'autre choix que de faire alliance avec les Américains en 2001. «Ils menaçaient de bombarder le Pakistan !», a-t-il rappelé.
Cette confession tardive est un pied de nez à Washington, qui n'a jamais osé «froisser» son allié pakistanais en lui demandant des comptes sur les 11 milliards de dollars déboursés en sa faveur depuis 2001. Elle place aussi le gouvernement civil d'Islamabad dans une position difficile à l'heure où, aux États-Unis, le Congrès doit se prononcer sur un nouveau paquet financier pour le Pakistan. Cet apport d'argent frais est avant tout destiné à aider le pays à faire face à la crise humanitaire sans précédent engendrée par les opérations de l'armée contre les talibans. Au printemps, plus de deux millions de personnes ont fui la région de Malakand et la vallée de Swat. Depuis la semaine dernière, de nouveaux réfugiés déferlent sur Peshawar en provenance de la passe de Khyber où le conflit fait rage. Clinton attendue en octobre >>> Marie-France Calle, correspondante du Figaro à New Delhi | Lundi 14 Septembre 2009
LE FIGARO: Dans un geste symbolique après la diffusion de la vidéo équivoque, le ministre de l'Intérieur et des Cultes a rompu le jeûne du ramadan avec le CFCM et condamné l'islamophobie tout comme l'islamisme.
Depuis la diffusion de la vidéo polémique, Brice Hortefeux multiplie explications et gestes symboliques. Lundi soir, il rompait le jeûne du ramadan pour la deuxième fois, invité d'honneur du Conseil français du culte musulman (CFCM). Le ministre a profité de ce repas, «de cette rencontre privilégiée», pour s'expliquer. «Je suis ému de penser que, du fait d'un certain tohu-bohu médiatique, et d'une interprétation totalement inexacte, des personnes ont pu être blessées dans leur être et leurs convictions», a déclaré le ministre. «Je veux donc dire mes regrets, au delà d'une polémique inutile et injuste, j'exprime mon respect pour tous les Français, celles et ceux qui vivent sur notre sol, quelles que soient leur religion, leurs convictions», a-t-il ajouté.
Il a également défendu une France tolérante. «L'islamophobie n'a paLs [sic] sa place dans notre pays», a assuré Brice Hortefeux, sans convaincre tous les invités. Certains ironisaient sur le droit «d'insulter les Arabes, et l'ardeur à défendre les musulmans». De son côté, le Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l'amitié entre les peuples (Mrap) qui réunissait lundi son bureau exécutif a décidé «de faire citer devant le tribunal correctionnel le ministre de l'Intérieur du chef de diffamation à caractère raciste», et a même demandé sa démission.
Le président du CFCM a, lui, mis en garde : «Nous assistons à une montée de l'islamophobie en France» a-t-il lancé. Mohammed Moussaoui a évoqué la profanation du cimetière de Notre-Dame de Lorette, les attaques contre des mosquées avant de fustiger un débat sur la burqa «instrumentalisé, qui alimente un climat hostile aux femmes voilées. On nous rapporte des humiliations». Le CFCM refuse que l'on légifère sur la burqa, a-t-il rappelé. Car si le conseil prône «l'islam du juste milieu», il n'entend pas s'opposer à l'islam fondamentaliste.
Prudent, Brice Hortefeux n'a pas souhaité évoquer la burqa avant la fin des travaux de la mission parlementaire, en décembre. Mais il a rappelé : «La République combat l'islamophobie, tout comme elle combat l'islamisme.» Avant de détailler sa vision de la laïcité à la française qui «garantit l'égalité des droits de tous les citoyens». Citant Aragon, il appelle à un dialogue étroit «avec tous ceux qui croient au Ciel et ceux qui n'y croient pas». Luttes d'influence >>> Cécilia Gabizon | Lundi 14 Septembre 2009
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