Friday, February 04, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron is to use a Brussels summit to push for EU sanctions on Egypt and call for an immediate end to "state-sponsored violence".
His call for tougher action has resulted in a clash with Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, and other Mediterranean leaders who regard Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, as an essential bulwark against Islamic extremism in the Middle East.
"If we see on the streets of Cairo today state-sponsored violence by thugs hired to beat up protesters, the regime will lose any remaining credibility it has in the eyes of the watching world, including Britain," Mr Cameron said.
"We have been clear that Egypt should be taking steps to show there is a clear, credible transparent path towards transition. So far the steps taken have not met the hopes of the people. EU leaders today have to come together to show they support that orderly transition."
Mr Cameron is demanding that the EU throws its weight behind an American plan for President Mubarak to resign immediately and hand power to a military-backed interim government before speedy elections. >>> Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Friday, February 04, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: British Muslims are sending their “problem children” to Islamic schools in Kashmir on the India-Pakistan border where they are at risk of being recruited by al-Qaeda, officials have warned.
According to a communiqué dated July 18 2008, Laura Hickey, a senior British official, told the Americans that “stabilising Kashmir is also important for UK domestic security reasons.”
Ms Hickey, the Foreign Office’s Pakistan team leader, said there was “a growing trend of UK-based parents who send their 'problem children’ to madrassahs in Kashmir, and these students are at high risk of radicalisation”. Continue reading and comment >>> Cristopher Hope | Friday, February 04, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: British authorities refused to close down a charity, despite America claiming it was allegedly funding terrorism in the Middle East.
The documents also show that Treasury officials planned a “surge” against al-Qaeda financiers amid growing American concern over the lack of British intervention.
For several years, American officials repeatedly raised concerns over a charity called Interpal, the Palestinian Relief and Development Fund, which is accused of aiding Hamas. The charity has been blacklisted in the US since 2003. Continue reading and comment >>> Holly Watt | Friday, February 04, 2011
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Protesters continue to demand an end to Mubarak’s thirty-year rule >>>
THE NEW YORK TIMES: WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is discussing with Egyptian officials a proposal for President Hosni Mubarak to resign immediately and turn over power to a transitional government headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman with the support of the Egyptian military, administration officials and Arab diplomats said Thursday.
Even though Mr. Mubarak has balked, so far, at leaving now, officials from both governments are continuing talks about a plan in which Mr. Suleiman, backed by Lt. Gen. Sami Enan, chief of the Egyptian armed forces, and Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, the defense minister, would immediately begin a process of constitutional reform.
The proposal also calls for the transitional government to invite members from a broad range of opposition groups, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood, to begin work to open up the country’s electoral system in an effort to bring about free and fair elections in September, the officials said.
Senior administration officials said that the proposal was one of several options under discussion with high-level Egyptian officials around Mr. Mubarak in an effort to persuade the president to step down now.
They cautioned that the outcome depended on several factors, not least Egypt’s own constitutional protocols and the mood of the protesters on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities.
Some officials said there was not yet any indication that either Mr. Suleiman or the Egyptian military was willing to abandon Mr. Mubarak.
Even as the Obama administration is coalescing around a Mubarak-must-go-now posture in private conversations with Egyptian officials, Mr. Mubarak himself remains determined to stay until the election in September, American and Egyptian officials said. His backers forcibly pushed back on Thursday against what they viewed as American interference in Egypt’s internal affairs.
“What they’re asking cannot be done,” one senior Egyptian official said, citing clauses in the Egyptian Constitution that bar the vice president from assuming power. Under the Constitution, the speaker of Parliament would succeed the president. “That’s my technical answer,” the official added. “My political answer is they should mind their own business.” >>> Helene Cooper and Mark Landler | Thursday, February 03, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Fourteen-year-old accused of relationship with married man given 70 lashes
Police in Bangladesh have arrested four Islamic clerics after a teenage girl accused of having a relationship with a married man was whipped to death. >>> Associated Press | Thursday, February 03, 2011
ABC NEWS: In an Exclusive Interview, Egypt's President Says He's Fed Up and Wants to Resign, "But Cannot for Fear of the Country Falling into Chaos." >>> Christiane Amanpour | Thursday, February 03, 2011
Thursday, February 03, 2011
20 MINUTES ONLINE: Battus, interpellés, intimidés, de nombreux journalistes couvrant les affrontements meurtriers au Caire, en Egypte, se plaignent de violences croissantes contre eux.
Dans les rues de la capitale égyptienne, la chasse à la presse a commencé. Qui se promène avec une caméra ou un appareil photo est rapidement pris à partie par des hommes en civil favorables au président Moubarak, mais aussi par des manifestants anti-gouvernementaux, de plus en plus nerveux. Les Etats-Unis ont dénoncé une «campagne concertée» contre les médias étrangers. >>> afp | Jeudi 03 Février 2011
DIE PRESSE: Nach einer Nacht der Gewalt ist die Lage in Kairo erneut eskaliert. Schlägertrupps attackieren Journalisten und Demonstranten. Der Generalstaatsanwalt reagiert mit einem Ausreiseverbot für Regimevertreter.Nach einer Nacht der Gewalt ist die Lage in Kairo im Laufe des Donnerstags erneut eskaliert: Mit Messern und Steinen bewaffnete Mubarak-Anhänger versuchen in der Innenstadt zu den tausenden Demonstranten vorzudringen. Zwischen den Lagern fliegen Steine, es gibt wieder Dutzende Verletzte, darunter auch Journalisten. Lokale Fernsehsender berichten, dass "Schüsse fallen" und zwar auf der Kasr-al-Nil-Brücke und dem Tharir-Platz, dem Zentrum der Proteste.
Für Despot Mubarak wird es unterdessen eng: Wie das ägyptische Fernsehen berichtet, untersagte der Generalstaatsanwalt mehreren Vertretern seines Regimes die Ausreise,darunter hochrangige Wirtschaftsleute und der frühere Innenminister. Der Bericht nährt die Hoffnungen der Regimegegner, dass die Tage von Machthaber Mubarak schon bald gezählt sein könnten. >>> Red. | Donnerstag, 03. Februar 2011
WELT ONLINE: Seit über 40 Jahren hält das Assad-Regime das Land eisern unter Kontrolle. Doch nun regt sich auch in Damaskus die Hoffnung auf Veränderungen.Die Bilder aus Kairo flackern überall in Syrien über die Fernsehbildschirme. Seit Wochen schauen die Syrer zu, wie die Ägypter Tag für Tag weiter protestieren. Sie haben beobachtet, wie Flammen aus der Zentrale von Husni Mubaraks Regierungspartei schlagen, einem nüchternen Zweckbau aus grauem Beton, der allzu sehr an die Institutionen der Macht in ihrem eigenen Land erinnert.
„Sehr viele Leute, vor allem junge Leute, verfolgen die Nachrichten genau. Ihnen ist bewusst, dass sie unter Bedingungen leben, die nicht viel anders sind als die in Ägypten“, sagt der Dissident und politische Autor Yassin Haj Saleh. Die Proteste ringsum in der Region geben ihm Hoffnung. Doch er bleibt skeptisch. „Die Mauer der Angst“, sagt er, „ist in Syrien noch viel höher als in Ägypten.“ >>> Autor: Gabriela M. Keller | Donnerstag, 03. Februar 2011
LE POINT: Le procureur a requis 12 ans de réclusion à l'encontre du Somalien reconnu coupable jeudi de tentatives de "terrorisme" et de meurtre contre le caricaturiste danois de Mahomet, Kurt Westergaard, a constaté l'AFP au tribunal d'Aarhus."Au vu des circonstances aggravantes, il doit être condamné à 12 ans de prison", a déclaré la procureure Kirsten Dyrman après que l'accusé Mohamed Geele eut été reconnu coupable à l'unanimité. >>> AFP | Jeudi 03 Février 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Somali man convicted for trying to kill Prophet Mohammed cartoonist: A Somali man has been found guilty of attempted terrorism for trying to kill a Danish cartoonist whose drawing of the Prophet Mohammed sparked Muslim outrage around the world. >>> | Thursday, February 03, 2011
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