Ni armes aux rebelles, ni soldats au sol en Libye, dit Longuet
REUTERS FRANCE: PARIS - La France n'a pas déployé en Libye de troupes au sol dans le cadre des opérations de la coalition internationale contre les forces du colonel Mouammar Kadhafi, a déclaré jeudi le ministre de la Défense.

Lors d'un point de presse à son ministère, Gérard Longuet a ajouté que la livraison d'armes au rebelles libyens, aux prises avec les forces de Kadhafi, n'était "pas à l'ordre du jour".

"Il y a une limite technique dans la résolution 1973, c'est qu'il n'y a pas d'occupation au sol", a-t-il dit, précisant qu'un envoyé spécial à Benghazi, fief des insurgés, constituait pour l'heure la seule présence française sur le sol libyen.

Gérard Longuet s'est rendu cette semaine à bord du porte-avions Charles-de-Gaulle au large des côtes libyennes, d'où partent une partie des avions engagés dans l'opération armée contre les forces de Mouammar Kadhafi, en vertu de la résolution 1973 des Nations unies adoptée le 17 mars.

Interrogé sur l'hypothèse d'une assistance militaire ou de livraisons d'armes à l'opposition libyenne, le ministre a répondu: "Une telle assistance n'est pas à l'ordre du jour parce qu'elle n'est pas compatible avec la résolution 1973." » | Elizabeth Pineau, édité par Patrick Vignal | Jeudi 31 Mars 2011

Wulff hält Bankern wegen Finanzkrise Standpauke
REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Berlin - Bundespräsident Christian Wulff hat den Banken die Leviten gelesen.

Die Ursachen der Finanzkrise seien nicht beseitigt, warnte das Staatsoberhaupt am Donnerstag auf dem Deutschen Bankentag in Berlin: "Ohne einen grundlegenden Kurswechsel drohen neue Finanzkrisen." Noch eine Rettungsaktion mit Steuer-milliarden könne sich der Staat nicht leisten. Auch Kanzlerin Angela Merkel warnte, die Institute könnten sich bei künftigen Finanzkrisen nicht auf neue Staatshilfen verlassen. Die Branche räumte Fehler ein, warnte aber vor einer Überlastung ihrer Ertragskraft durch die Regulierungsoffensiven der Politik.

"Haben wir aus den Fehlern wirklich gelernt?", fragte Wulff die versammelte deutsche Hochfinanz: "Mein Fazit lautet: Nein - weder haben wir die Ursachen der Krise beseitigt, noch können wir heute sagen: Gefahr erkannt - Gefahr gebannt." Er habe Zweifel, dass der mit der Pleite der US-Investmentbank Lehman Brothers im Herbst 2008 ausgelöste globale Schock dauerhaft nachwirke. "Manchmal scheint mir, dass dank der staatlichen Krisenmaßnahmen der Schreck bei vielen verflogen ist und die alten Verhaltensweisen zurückgekehrt sind." Die Krise habe die Politik an die Grenze ihrer Möglichkeiten gebracht. Eine so große, konzertierte Rettungsaktion sei nicht wiederholbar.

Bis Ende des vergangenen Jahres hatte der Staat zur Stützung wackelnder Banken Garantien von bis zu 400 Milliarden Euro und bis zu 80 Milliarden Euro an Eigen-kapitalhilfen bereitgestellt. Überall in Europa mussten sich die Regierungen schwer verschulden, um ihre Geldinstitute zu sichern. Das ist eine der Hauptursachen für die grassierende Schuldenkrise in der Euro-Zone. » © Reuters | Donnerstag, 31. März 2011

Misurata Doctor Describes Civilian Casualties
A doctor in Misurata, a city in western Libya that has been besieged by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, told Al Jazeera on March 28 that his hospital has treated more than 1,500 injured people and taken in more than 200 killed since the conflict began mroe than 40 days ago

The Defection of Moussa Koussa
Gaddafi's foreign minister has flown to Britain and is reportedly seeking refuge after abandoning the regime in Libya.
 A former spy chief, Koussa is not guaranteed a warm reception in the country, after he was expelled as Libyan ambassador to the UK, having said he would attempt to eliminate political opponents there.
 Al Jazeera's Tim Friend has more

Yemen Protesters Reject Saleh's Offer
Yemen's president has made a new offer to end the country's political crisis after talks with opposition parties stalled on Saturday.
The proposal suggests that Ali Abdullah Saleh stay in his position, but hand over some of his power to a caretaker government. But it's not enough for tens of thousands of protesters in Sanaa.
Our correspondent, who we are not naming for safety reasons, filed this report

Iran Celebrates Nowruz
Representatives from more than 20 countries are in Iran this week to celebrate the Nowruz festival, or "Persian New Year"

Inside Story: Steps towards Peace in Libya

Profile: Moussa Koussa
A look at Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister's career and the steps that led to his escape to the UK

A World View Interview with [the Great] Benjamin Netanyahu
Channel 2 and YouTube bring you a special interview with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, in which citizens ask questions about the peace process, unrest in the Middle East, and more

The Pinnacle of Incompetence
THE JERUSALEM POST: When the US director of national intelligence calls the Muslim Brotherhood a ‘largely secular’ organization we know we’re in trouble.

It is commonplace for the views of people in power to receive widespread exposure. Having presumably won their stripes in an arduous climb to the top, they are believed to know best what’s going on.

This presumption, however, is not only wrong, but is often the inverse of the truth. Given bureaucracy’s predilection for conformity, it is rarely the best and brightest who reach the top, but rather the yes-men sycophants – whether by rising to their level of incompetence, as the Peter Principle famously asserts, or by stumbling upward through successive failures, or by simply “being there” long enough.

Thus we have England’s national soccer team manager, Sven Goran Eriksson, putting Wayne Rooney on a par with soccer’s best-ever player, the legendary Pele. Yet rather than have his professional judgment questioned, the overpaid manager was allowed to lead his under performing team for three more trophy-less years.

Or take US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper’s astounding description of the Muslim Brotherhood as a “largely secular” organization.

Shouldn’t he know what countless newspaper readers know full well – the Brotherhood is probably the world’s foremost Islamist organization, committed to the establishment of a worldwide caliphate. How else is one to interpret its motto – “Allah is our objective. The prophet is our leader. The Koran is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope”? Now Baroness Eliza Manningham- Buller, former director of MI5 (Britain’s FBI equivalent), has joined the march of folly. In her first television interview since leaving her job four years ago, she argued that the “war on terror” is unwinnable, and urged the British government to “reach out” to al-Qaida. “It’s always better to talk to the people who are attacking you than attacking them, if you can,” she explained.

This gives the idea of appeasement a whole new meaning. Even the most notorious incident – the Anglo- French surrender of Czechoslovakia to Hitler in the 1938 Munich agreement – took place prior to any German military aggression. Once the Nazis invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, London and Paris attempted no further talks, but declared war on Germany.

In contrast, by the time Manningham-Buller made her startling suggestion, al-Qaida had massacred tens of thousands in the name of Islam – from the 9/11 attacks, to the ongoing slaughter in Iraq, to bombings in Yemen, Bali, Sharm e- Sheikh and Madrid. Yet neither these atrocities, nor the July 2005 London bombing, which took place under her watch, seem to have shaken the former director’s belief that outreach to the Islamist group would curb its murderous zeal: “If we can get to a state where there are fewer attacks, less lethal attacks..., fewer young people being drawn into this, less causes – resolution of the Palestinian question, less impetus for this activity, I think we can get to a stage where the threat is thus reduced.” » | Efraim Karsh | Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Al Qaeda to Obama: Thanks
THE WASHINGTON TIMES – EDITORIAL: Toppling Arab governments feeds Islamist revolution

President Obama’s advisers give him credit for energizing the Arab revolts and saving the Libyan rebels. For al Qaeda’s leadership, this is all a gift from Allah.

Al Qaeda central’s views are detailed in the latest issue of their English-language propaganda magazine Inspire, which features a special section on “The Revolution.” American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki writes in an essay entitled “The Tsunami of Change” that, “Our mujahideen brothers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and the rest of the Muslim world will get a chance to breathe again after three decades of suffocation. For the scholars and activists of Egypt to be able to speak again freely, it would represent a great leap forward for the mujahideen.”

Al Qaeda has always recognized that the greatest obstacles to jihadist progress in the Middle East were what they call the “apostate regimes,” the generally pro-Western kings and authoritarian rulers who have kept a lid on violent extremists like al Qaeda and other groups. As these regimes totter and fall, the conditions are being created for the kind of radical change the Islamists have been working towards for decades. » | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Related articles here and here

‘Freelance Jihadists’ Join Libyan Rebels
THE WASHINGTON TIMES: Ex-al Qaeda member speaks out

A former leader of Libya’s al Qaeda affiliate says he thinks “freelance jihadists” have joined the rebel forces, as NATO’s commander told Congress on Tuesday that intelligence indicates some al Qaeda and Hezbollah terrorists are fighting Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s forces.

Former jihadist Noman Benotman, who renounced his al Qaeda affiliation in 2000, said in an interview that he estimates 1,000 jihadists are in Libya.

On Capitol Hill, Adm. James Stavridis, the NATO commander, when asked about the presence of al Qaeda terrorists among the rebels, said the leadership of the opposition is made up of “responsible men and women.”

“We have seen flickers in the intelligence of potential al Qaeda, Hezbollah,” the four-star admiral said. “We’ve seen different things. But at this point, I don’t have detail sufficient to say that there’s a significant al Qaeda presence, or any other terrorist presence, in and among these folks.”

The military is continuing to “look at that very closely,” he said, because “it’s part of doing due diligence as we move forward on any kind of relationship” with the opposition.

Outside observers generally estimate the number of trained Libyan fighters to be about 1,000. » | Eli Lake, The Washington Times | Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Libya Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa Must Face Atrocities Trial, Rebels Declare
THE GUARDIAN: Rebel leadership wants defector returned and tried for crimes against humanity once Gaddafi is toppled

Libya's rebel leadership has called for Moussa Koussa, the former Libyan foreign minister who has defected to the UK, to be returned for trial for murder and crimes against humanity after Muammar Gaddafi is toppled.

Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the revolutionary council in its de facto capital, Benghazi, said that the rebels were not bent on revenge against the regime's officials but that some of Gaddafi's closest associates "have a lot of blood on their hands" and must stand trial.

The British foreign secretary, William Hague, has said that Britain is not offering Koussa immunity from prosecution, and called for other regime figures to abandon Gaddafi.

Gheriani alleged that Koussa had been partly responsible for assassinating opposition figures in exile, murderous internal repression and the Lockerbie plane bombing.

"We want to bring him to court," Gheriani said. "This guy has so much blood on his hands. There are documented killings, torturing. There's documentation of what Moussa Koussa has done. We want him tried by Libyan people. I believe once we have our government 100% in control in Libya, things are normalised, we want him tried here. I think international law gives us that right."

Gheriani said it was up to Britain to decide whether to arrest Koussa in the meantime. Koussa's arrival in London was evidence that Gaddafi's regime was "starting to crumble". He expected other senior officials to follow.

"He is a very, very major person to defect. Gaddafi trusted him more than some of his sons. Now Gaddafi doesn't even trust his own people any more," Gheriani said. » | Chris McGreal in Benghazi | Thursday, March 31, 2011

Krieg in Libyen: „Wir bleiben hier bis zum Ende“
FRANFURTER ALLGEMEINE: „Dies ist unser Land. Wir sind stark an jeder Front“, sagt der Sprecher des Gaddafi-Regimes. Der libysche Machthaber und dessen Söhne seien entschlossen, „bis zum Ende“ zu bleiben. Zuvor hatte sich Außenminister Mussa Kussa nach London abgesetzt.

Der libysche Machthaber Muammar al Gaddafi und dessen Söhne halten sich nach Angaben der Regierung weiter im Lande auf. Sie seien entschlossen, „bis zum Ende“ zu bleiben, sagte Regierungssprecher Mussa Ibrahim am Donnerstag in Tripolis: „Gehen Sie davon aus, wir sind alle hier. Wir werden hierbleiben bis zum Ende. Dies ist unser Land. Wir sind stark an jeder Front.“

Libyens Außenminister Mussa Kussa hatte sich zuvor nach Großbritannien abgesetzt. Er gehörte zum inneren Kreis um Gaddafi, dessen Truppen seit Wochen gegen Rebellen kämpfen. Wie das britische Außenministerium mitteilte, informierte Kussa die Regierung in London über seinen Rücktritt. Er wolle nicht mehr länger die Regierung Gaddafis international repräsentieren. Die Nachrichtenagentur Reuters hatte zuvor bereits von einer dem Minister nahestehenden Person erfahren, Kussa wolle in Großbritannien um politisches Asyl bitten. Er sei geflohen, weil er gegen Angriffe auf die Zivilbevölkerung gewesen sei. » | FAZ.NET mit AP/AFP/dpa/Reuters | Donnerstag, 31. März 2011

Atombehörde empfiehlt weitere Evakuierungen

Mussa Kussa setzt sich nach London ab

Gaddafi Winning Ground War, Coalition Battles On

Libya: Is the West Playing into Al-Qaeda's Hands?
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Islamists have had a marginal role in these revolutions – but that could be changing, writes Peter Bergen.

As the fortunes of Colonel Gaddafi's forces and the Libyan rebels continue to see-saw, many commentators are calling for the West to arm the opposition forces. Yet the disclosure on Tuesday that US intelligence agencies have picked up "flickers" of an al-Qaeda presence among the rebels has set off a fierce debate within the Obama administration – and the wider coalition – about whether giving them weapons may inadvertently help the enemies of the West.

Part of the problem, according to a senior US intelligence official, is that the American government is largely flying blind when it comes to the exact make-up of rebel forces. So how legitimate are the worries about al-Qaeda opportunistically inserting itself into the civil war?

Much of the concern centres around the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), a jihadist organisation founded in the mid-1990s that waged a low-level guerrilla war against Gaddafi. In recent years, it had publicly rejected al-Qaeda's ideology and entered into a ceasefire with the government, as a result of which 700 militants have been released from jail over the past four years.

Some of these have since joined the rebels, meaning that Islamist militants certainly make up some unknown percentage of their forces. Yet Noman Benotman, a former LIFG leader based in London, points out that the LIFG "never carried out attacks against the West nor against civilians", suggesting that its members are more interested in regime change in their own country than a global holy war.

Weighed against this, however, is the fact that al-Qaeda's overall number three is a Libyan known as Abu Yahya al-Libi, who has recently appeared on a half-hour videotape on jihadist forums claiming that the West is propping up Arab dictators and exhorting his countrymen to take up arms against Gaddafi. Also, there is the cache of al-Qaeda documents recovered in Iraq in 2007, containing information about some 700 foreign fighters, many of whom had volunteered to be suicide bombers. Around 20 per cent were from Libya – one of the smaller Arab countries in terms of population – and of these, most were from the east, the heartland of the opposition to Gaddafi. Continue reading and comment » | Peter Bergen | Thursday, March 31, 2011

Bahrain Hardliners to Put Shia MPs On Trial
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Bahrain is facing renewed turmoil after regime hardliners began preparations to put on trial Shia legislators accused of backing protests.

The kingdom’s parliament effectively stripped 11 MPs from the Wefaq party – a quarter of the legislature’s sitting members – of their immunity from prosecution, signalling a further hardening of the ruling family’s position.

Western human rights activists also accused the regime of torturing wounded protesters being held in a hospital in the capital Manama. » | Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Al-Qaida Leaders Welcome Arab Uprisings, Says Cleric
THE GUARDIAN: Anwar al-Awlaki uses online magazine to explain why the Middle East revolts are not a setback for al-Qaida

Senior al-Qaida leaders have welcomed the uprisings in the Arab world in their first comprehensive statement on recent events, published in an internet magazine earlier this week. Anwar al-Awlaki – the radical preacher who grew up in America but is now a fugitive in Yemen – used a lengthy article in an English-language magazine called Inspire to explain why the revolts sweeping the Middle East were not a setback for al-Qaida.

"Our mujahideen brothers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and the rest of the Muslim world will get a chance to breathe again after three decades of suffocation," Awlaki wrote in an article entitled The Tsunami of Change.

The magazine also featured translated excerpts of earlier statements by senior figures in al-Qaida, such as deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri which had previously only been posted in obscure extremist forums.

Zawahiri calls on the "people of freedom and honour in Tunisia, Egypt and in each of the Islamic lands" not to let their recent efforts go to waste. His statement appears to have been written before the fall of President Hosni Mubarak nearly two months ago. » | Jason Burke | Thursday, March 31, 2011