Libya: Barack Obama 'Signed Order for CIA to Help Rebels'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama signed a secret order authorising covert US government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, according to government officials.

Mr Obama reportedly signed the order, known as a presidential "finding", within the last two or three weeks.

Such findings are a principal form of presidential directive used to authorise secret operations by the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA and the White House declined immediate comment.

The New York Times reported that the CIA has had clandestine operatives who have been gathering intelligence for air strikes and making contact with the rebels for several weeks.

News that Mr Obama had given the authorisation surfaced as the president and other US and allied officials spoke openly about the possibility of sending arms supplies to Col Gaddafi's opponents, who are fighting better-equipped government forces.

In interviews with American TV networks on Tuesday, Mr Obama said the objective was for Col Gaddafi to "ultimately step down" from power. » | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Moussa Koussa Profile: High-profile Lockerbie Spymaster
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister who defected from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime, was one of the architects of its rehabilitation in the international community but a deeply controversial figure who is likely to pose David Cameron a particularly thorny political problem.

As the highest-profile defection from the ranks of Col Gaddafi's loyalists, he is a plum prize who is likely to be of great value in helping to dismantle his dictatorship.

The former spy chief's resignation also comes at a critical time in the coalition's attempts to dislodge Col Gaddafi, as the rebels are retreating under fresh onslaughts and Whitehall sources suggested they were unlikely to win without arms or training from outside.

So his information and contacts among Col Gaddafi's generals will be all the more valuable.

However, the former head of Libya's external intelligence, was the mastermind accused of planning the Lockerbie bombing and any attempts to rehabilitate him are likely to be an exceedingly hot potato.

Mr Koussa has been a close confidant of Col Gaddafi's for 30 years and helped secure the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi. Continue reading and comment » | Andy Bloxham, and Damien McElroy | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libya: Moussa Koussa resigns – factbox: Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa arrived in Britain on Wednesday and has quit Muammar Gaddafi's government, according to the Government » | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa Defects to Britain
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libya's foreign minister will be questioned by the Foreign Office today after defecting to Britain from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's government.

Moussa Koussa flew into Britain yesterday and told officials "no longer willing" to serve the regime, in a significant blow to the dictator.

The move was welcomed in Whitehall where fears have been growing that poorly organised Libyan rebels cannot defeat Gaddafi without being given arms or training on the ground.

"We encourage those around Gaddafi to abandon him and embrace a better future for Libya that allows political transition and real reform that meets the aspirations of the Libyan people," a Foreign Office spokesman said.

David Cameron had earlier admitted that the Government was considering arming the rebels following talks in London with Libyan opposition leaders.

Rebel forces were forced to retreat again and surrendered several towns in the face of heavy resistance from troops loyal to the regime. » | Thomas Harding, and Robert Winnett | Thursday, March 31, 2011

THE GUARDIAN: Libya: Moussa Koussa, Gaddafi's foreign minister, defects to UK – Moussa Koussa says he is no longer willing to represent the regime in a morale boost for the rebels » | Patrick Wintour , Richard Norton-Taylor , Nick Hopkins , and Chris McGreal in Ajdabiya | Thursday, March 31, 2011

Libya: Rebels Retreat from Ajdabiya in See-saw Battle
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The latest swing of the pendulum saw panicked rebel fighters fleeing their fleetingly-held gains in the west of Libya.

"Back to Benghazi!, defend Benghazi!" yelled one young man from the back of his pickup as it tried to force its way through a traffic jam at a squalid checkpoint strewn with rubbish.

Only five days earlier rebels had burst out of their eastern base of Benghazi following a storm of Nato air strikes that had left Col Muammar Gaddafi's tanks and armour as smoking wrecks.

That five-day Libyan rebel offensive ended yesterday in desperate flight as the rebels hour-by-hour deserted all their gains to fall back once again to their stronghold. The total reverse was the latest tilt of the see-saw: eastern rebels have twice approached Col Muammar Gaddafi's home town of Sirte and twice fled back. They are starved of weapons and unprotected by more attacks from British, French and American warplanes. » | Ben Farmer, Ajdabiya | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

THE GUARDIAN: Libya rebels flee as Gaddafi retakes Brega: Government tank and artillery fire forces opposition fighters to abandon ground won since Nato air strikes began » | Chris McGreal in Ajdabiya and James Meikle | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Is the Qur'an a Miracle?

UK Takes Steps to Expel Five Libyan Diplomats - Hague
BBC: The UK has taken steps to expel five Libyan diplomats, Foreign Secretary William Hague has said.

Updating MPs, Mr Hague said the five - which include the military attache - "could pose a threat" to UK security.

Meanwhile, David Cameron said the UK was not ruling out providing arms to rebels in "certain circumstances" but no decision had yet been taken.

Shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander questioned the legality and "advisability" of such a move.

The rebels are continuing to lose ground to forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi and are retreating from their former strongholds along the eastern coast of Libya.

Earlier, the prime minister's official spokesman rejected suggestions the UK's stance on the possibility of supplying weapons to them had shifted in recent weeks.

'Grave concern'

The coalition military action is aimed at enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya and protecting civilians from attacks by forces loyal to its leader Col Gaddafi. It has denied air strikes are meant to provide cover for a rebel advance.

The foreign secretary's statement came after the allies held a summit in London on Tuesday to discuss Libya's future.

Mr Hague said: "To underline our grave concern at the [Gaddafi] regime's behaviour, I can announce to the House that we have today taken steps to expel five diplomats at the Libyan embassy in London, including the military attache.

"The government also judged that, were these individuals to remain in Britain, they could pose a threat to our security." (+ video) » | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Western Non-democratic Software for Middle East

Moscow "Alarmed" by Reports of Al-Qaeda Presence in Libyan Opposition
RUSSIA TODAY: As Washington considers arming the Libyan opposition against the government of Muammar Gaddafi, Russia fears it might be putting weapons into the hands of the world’s most notorious terrorist group.

Moscow officials on Wednesday expressed alarm that al-Qaeda may be working inside the ranks of the Libyan opposition. “Quite alarming reports are coming, which say that al-Qaeda elements could very likely be present among the opposition forces,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters at a news conference. “This certainly alarms us.” Lavrov added that the “plague” in the form of al-Qaeda terrorism could “spread all over the region and not only there."

The Russian foreign minister was certainly referring to the possibility that any arms delivered to the Libyan opposition could all-too-easily slip into the hands of fundamentalists and extremists. » | Robert Bridge, RT | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Bahrain 'Targets' Wounded Protesters
THE INDEPENDENT: Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that Bahrain authorities were harassing and isolating hospital patients wounded in anti-government protests when security forces began a crackdown in the kingdom two weeks ago.

Bahrain's Sunni rulers this month imposed martial law and brought in troops from Sunni-led Gulf neighbours, including Saudi Arabia, to quell weeks of unrest during pro-democracy demonstrations led mostly by the state's Shi'ite majority.

Twenty-four people were killed in the ensuing clashes, the government said on Tuesday. The opposition Wefaq party says 250 people have been detained and another 44 have gone missing since the crackdown.

The security measures were condemned by Iran, the main Shi'ite power in a region dominated by Sunni Muslim rulers, which said they could lead to a wider conflict.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled al-Khalifa said Iran should stop its "offensive" against Bahrain, telling pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that political dialogue could only start once security had been restored in the island kingdom. Opposition parties reiterated denials of any foreign backing on Wednesday.

US-based Human Rights Watch said it was concerned Bahrain forces were targeting hospital patients who were protesters or bystanders in scattered demonstrations that broke out last Friday in a planned "Day of Rage" that police quickly quashed.

"Human Rights Watch (HRW) has documented several cases in which patients with protest-related injuries were transferred to or sought treatment at Salmaniya and were then severely harassed or beaten," it said in a statement. » | Erika Solomon, Reuters | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Another Step Closer to Sharia Law: TV Alcohol Advertising Ban Proposed
THE INDEPENDENT: A bid to impose a total ban on alcohol advertising on television has been launched in Parliament.

The legislation, proposed by GP and Tory MP Sarah Wollaston, would also prevent alcohol brands being used to sponsor sporting and cultural events.

Under her plan to limit children's exposure to alcohol marketing, tightly controlled advertising would only be permitted in certain circumstances with a blanket ban on all other promotion.

Dr Wollaston (Totnes) has cross-party backing for her move, but critics labelled it an extension of the "nanny state". » | David Hughes, PA | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

In Search of the Spirit of Al-Andalus
With the Moorish architecture of Granada's Alhambra and Córdoba cathedral as a backdrop, Marcel Theroux meets a group of Spanish Muslims who are drawing on the area's Islamic legacy to a promote a new religious tolerance

Syrian President Fails to Lift Emergency Laws
President Bashar al-Assad has defied expectations on Wednesday that he would lift Syria's decades-old emergency law after nearly two weeks of protests that have presented the gravest challenge to his 11-year rule.
Addressing the nation for the first time since the start of the unprecedented wave of protests, inspired by uprisings across the Arab world, Assad said he supported reform but offered no new commitment to change Syria's one-party political system.
Al Jazeera's correspondents have more on this developing story

FOCUS ONLINE: Assad – Verschwörer versuchen Syrien zu zerstören: Syriens Staatspräsident Baschar al Assad hat in seiner Rede an die Nation Verschwörer für die Proteste in Syrien verantwortlich gemacht. Die Verschwörer – Satellitensender und andere Medien – versuchten, Syrien zu zerstören, erklärte Assad in seiner Rede vor dem syrischen Parlament. Wider Erwarten hob Assad den seit fast 50 Jahren geltenden Ausnahmezustand in Syrien nicht auf. » | gxs/dapd | Mittwoch, 30. März 2011

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Altbekanntes aus Syrien: Der Gehalt der Rede Assads, auf welche Syrer wie der Rest der Welt seit Tagen mit großer Spannung gewartet hatten, war ein Dokument der Selbsttäuschung. Assad repräsentiert die Welt von gestern. Einfach kapitulieren wird er nicht. » | Von Wolfgang Günter Lerch | Mittwoch, 30. März 2011

Saudi Arabia Faces New Canadian Blood Donation Restrictions
MONTREAL GAZETTE: Saudi Arabia has been added to the list of countries whose one-time residents are not allowed to donate blood in Canada.

Canadian Blood Services said this week it is imposing the ban after learning of a "probable case" of a rare and fatal degenerative brain disease — variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease — in a Canadian resident who lived in Saudi Arabia between 1980 and 1996.

The Canadian blood agency said it's believed the person picked up the disease several years ago, likely from imported British beef. The person was not a blood donor or recipient.

There have also been two other suspected cases of the disease outside Canada linked to current or former residents of Saudi Arabia, the release said. » | © Postmedia News | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Bahrain Opposition Leader Warns Against Foreign Interference
RADIO FREE EUROPE / RADIO LIBERTY: Bahrain's Shi'ite opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salem today urged Iran to keep out of his country's internal affairs.

Salem also demanded the withdrawal of foreign troops deployed in Bahrain, warning against the kingdom being turned into a "conflict zone" between Saudi Arabia and Iran. » | Compiled from agency reports | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Qaddafi Troops Launch Fresh Offensive
Mar 29, 2011 – Rebels retreat after fierce fighting

Libya - Muammar Gaddafi Interview - TV Eye
Extracts from an exclusive 'TV Eye' interview of Libyan Leader, Colonel Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi. In this 1981 interview the Gaddafi speaks about the USA, terrorism and also his feelings on the assassination of the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
Watch the interview here

Brilliance and Insight from Melanie Phillips: Humpty in Toytown and the Arab Boomerang
THE SPECTATOR: One can only gape in stunned amazement at the extent of the idiocy being displayed by the leaders of America, Britain and Europe over the ‘Arab Spring’ – which should surely be renamed ‘the Arab Boomerang’.

First of all, their declared policy is utterly incoherent. They claim that their aim in Libya is not regime change. Yet bombing Gaddafy’s compound hardly signals their desire that he should stay alive, let alone in power. Yesterday Obama said Gaddafy should leave power. Today he said overthrowing Gaddafy by force would be a mistake. In similar vein, Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague says the UK wants Gaddafy to leave power -- but that’s not regime change, because apparently it’s up to him to decide to do so. Presumably, for both Hague and Obama, if Gaddafy did decide to give up power this would have nothing whatever to do with the fact that they are bombing Libyan forces fighting for him to retain power. And they would also have us believe that the fact that the western air strikes are enabling the Libyan rebels to advance does not mean that the west intends its air strikes to enable the rebels to advance.

One is reminded of Humpty Dumpty, who told Alice in Through the Looking Glass: ‘When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less’. Especially where the restrictive wording of a UN resolution is involved.

And what might the results of this incoherent support for freedom against tyranny be? Well, in Egypt the Muslim Brotherhood appears to be in pole position to come to power in the elections planned for later this year. And in Libya, either Gaddafy will survive, in which case the begetter of the atrocity against the west over Lockerbie will doubtless be sufficiently enraged against the west to return to anti-western terror; or, should he fall, there seems to be a more than sporting chance that the Islamists he has until now fought off will eventually come out on top. Continue reading and comment » | Melanie Phillips | Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Krieg in Libyen: Streit über Waffenlieferung an die Aufständischen
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: In Amerika wird darüber gestritten, ob Libyens Auf-ständische bewaffnet werden sollen. Befürchtet wird, ungewollt Terrororganisationen zu fördern. Auch London erwägt Waffenlieferungen. Truppen Gaddafis eroberten derweil den Ölhafen Ras Lanuf.

In der amerikanischen Regierung gibt es offenbar große Zweifel am Sinn von Waffenlieferungen an die libyschen Rebellen. Es sei eine heftige Debatte darüber entbrannt, ob die Aufständischen bewaffnet werden sollten, berichtete die „New York Times“ am Mittwoch. Im Weißen Haus, Außenministerium und Pentagon gehe die Angst um, ungewollt Terrororganisationen mit Waffen zu versorgen.

„Al Qaida in dem Teil des Landes ist offensichtlich ein Thema“, zitiert die Zeitung einen hohen Regierungsbeamten. Die amerikanischen Geheimdienste versuchten zurzeit fieberhaft, Informationen über die Oppositionellen zu beschaffen. Amerikas Präsident Barack Obama hatte sich in Interviews am Dienstagabend (Ortszeit) nicht festgelegt, ob er für eine Bewaffnung der Aufständischen ist, einen solchen Schritt aber auch nicht ausgeschlossen.

Der Nato-Oberkommandeur, der amerikanische Admiral James Stavridis, hatte vor einem Senatsausschuss in Washington ausgesagt, dass es zumindest Hinweise darauf gebe, dass sich Mitglieder von Al Qaida und der schiitischen Hizbullah-Bewegung unter den befinden könnten. » | FAZ.NET | Mittwoch, 30. März 2011

Bachar el-Assad n'annonce aucune réforme en Syrie
LE POINT: Le président syrien fait face depuis plusieurs jours à des contestations.

Le président syrien Bachar al-Assad est intervenu publiquement mercredi pour la première fois depuis le début de la contestation dans son pays, sans annoncer la levée de l'état d'urgence, une mesure hautement symbolique que lui seul a le pouvoir de prendre. Bachar el-Assad a prononcé un discours télévisé devant le Parlement, au cours duquel étaient attendues l'annonce de la fin de l'état d'urgence en vigueur depuis près d'un demi-siècle et de nouvelles lois sur les médias et le pluralisme politique. Mais le président syrien, qui est apparu détendu face à un auditoire acquis, ne s'est finalement pas engagé sur la mise en oeuvre de réformes pour calmer la contestation sans précédent depuis son arrivée au pouvoir en 2000.

"Nous sommes totalement favorables à des réformes. C'est le devoir de l'État. Mais nous ne sommes pas favorables à des dissensions", a-t-il poursuivi, avant d'indiquer que la lutte contre la corruption et le chômage était une "priorité" du prochain gouvernement. Le cabinet dirigé depuis 2003 par Mohammad Naji Otri a démissionné mardi, et la presse syrienne a affiché mercredi sa préférence pour un gouvernement de technocrates afin de mener à bien les réformes. Mais le dirigeant syrien n'a annoncé mercredi aucune des mesures de libéralisation du régime, dont l'imminence avait été annoncée par ses proches. » | Source Reuters | Mercredi 30 Mars 2011

Geert Wilders 'Hate' Trial to Go ahead in Amsterdam
BBC: The trial of Dutch political leader Geert Wilders on charges of inciting hatred against Muslims is to go ahead, an Amsterdam court has ruled.

Mr Wilders, whose Freedom Party props up the government, had argued the court could not try the case as the alleged offences took place in The Hague.

He insists his remarks on Islam were part of a legitimate political debate.

An original trial was halted last October after claims of bias by Mr Wilders against the judges were upheld.

Mr Wilders has described Islam as "fascist", comparing the Koran to Hitler's Mein Kampf.

In his ruling on Wednesday, Judge Marcel van Oosten said the court would pursue the charges against him for the comparisons he had made with Nazism, according to Dutch media. » | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

DEUTSCHE WELLE: Dutch court orders resumption of Wilders race hate trial: After months of adjournments and objections, a Dutch court has given the go-ahead for the race hate trial of Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders, who faces charges including inciting hatred. » | Darren Mara (AFP, AP, dpa) | Wednesday, March 30, 2011

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Court orders trial of Dutch anti-Islam MP » | AFP | Wednesday, March 30, 2011