Tuesday, May 03, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Some 2,000 of Col Muammar Gaddafi's supporters turned out for the funeral of the Libyan leader's youngest son, as the regime intensified its attack on the besieged city of Misurata.In the capital, Tripoli, a crowd of more than 1,000 people attended the funeral of Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, the leader's second youngest son, who was killed in an allied air strike on Saturday night.
Col Gaddafi himself did not attend, but two of his other sons, Saif al-Islam, who has the highest profile and was seen as his father's intended successor, and Hannibal were both seen in the crowd.
Some mourners fired weapons into the air. Others chanted "revenge for the martyrs" and carried placards reading "We are all with Gaddafi's Libya", according to news organisations.
The body, covered in a green cloth and with a wreath was delivered to the Al-Hani Cemetery in a black ambulance.
Three of Saif al-Arab's children, identified by the authorities as being a child each of Hannibal, their oldest brother, Mohammed, and their sister Aisha, were also buried. » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Monday, May 02, 2011
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VATICAN RADIO: Vatican Press Office Director Fr Federico Lombardi’s response to journalists’ questions on the killing of Osama bin Laden:Osama bin Laden - as we all know – was gravely responsible for promoting division and hatred between peoples, causing the death of countless innocent lives, and of exploiting religions to this end.
Faced with the death of a man, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibility of each and every one of us before God and before man, and hopes and commits himself so that no event be an opportunity for further growth of hatred, but for peace. [Source: Vatican Radio] | Monday, May 02, 2011
Mattar Ibrahim Mattar is one of two members of Bahrain's opposition Al Wefaq party who have been arrested by authorities in the Gulf country.
Mattar is considered a moderate critic of the Sunni-led Bahraini government, and has worked closely with human rights organisations and journalists to uncover violations committed by the government since it launched a crackdown on anti-government protests.
Al Jazeera's correspondent in Manama, who cannot be named for security reasons, spoke to him.
BBC: US officials say Osama Bin Laden's body was treated with respect and buried at sea, but some Muslims argue there was no good reason for not burying it on land.
Islamic tradition requires the dead to be buried as soon as possible, unless an autopsy is required.
The US military took this requirement very seriously, burying the body within hours.
"Traditional procedures for Islamic burial were followed," an official said.
Religious rites were carried out on the deck of a US aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson. The body, shrouded in a white sheet and placed in a weighted bag, was then placed on a flat board, tipped up, and eased into the Arabian Sea.
This occurred at 0600GMT, approximately 12 hours after the firefight during which Osama Bin Laden was shot in the head.
After this first shot, reports ABC News['] The Blotter, he was shot again, to make sure that he was dead.
The body was then flown to Afghanistan and Bin Laden's identity was confirmed. Officials say a DNA sample was taken that matched that of several other family members. Some sources say facial recognition technology was also used.
From Afghanistan, the body was, it appears, flown to the USS Carl Vinson.
"A military officer read prepared religious remarks, which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker," a US defence official said. » | Monday, May 02, 2011
BBC: The funeral of the youngest son of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has taken place in the capital, Tripoli.Libya says Saif al-Arab, 29, and three of Col Gaddafi's grandchildren died on Saturday when Nato missiles hit his villa in the leader's compound.
His funeral was attended by several thousand people as Nato planes circled in the skies above.
Mourners chanted calls for revenge as the coffin, wrapped in a green Libyan flag, was lowered into the ground. Visible emotion » | Monday, May 02, 2011
BBC: Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has denied that the killing of Osama Bin Laden in his country is a sign of its failure to tackle terrorism.
In a forthright editorial in the Washington Post, Mr Zardari said his country was "perhaps the world's greatest victim of terrorism".
Bin Laden was shot dead by US forces in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad - Pakistan was not involved in the raid.
US officials have suggested Pakistan must have known he was there.
Bin Laden was the founder and leader of al-Qaeda. He is believed to have ordered the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001, as well as a number of other deadly bombings.
He was America's most wanted man but had eluded them for decades.
But US officials say they are "99.9%" sure that the man they shot and killed in a raid on a secure compound in the small city of Abbottabad and then buried at sea was Bin Laden.
The compound in Abbottabad is just a few hundred metres from the Pakistan Military Academy - the country's equivalent of West Point or Sandhurst[.]
US officials have said it is "inconceivable" that Bin Laden did not have a support system in Pakistan. (+ video) » | Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Monday, May 02, 2011
BBC: US President Barack Obama has hailed the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden as a "good day for America," saying the world is now a safer and a better place.
Bin Laden was killed in a raid by US special forces on a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.
He is believed to have ordered the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001, as well as a number of other deadly bombings.
He topped the US "most wanted" list.
But his details on the list have now been updated with a simple banner indicating his current status: "Deceased".
DNA tests carried out after the operation indicated with "99.9%" certainty that the man shot dead was Osama Bin Laden, US officials said.
He was buried at sea after a Muslim funeral on board an aircraft carrier in the north Arabian Sea, Pentagon officials said.
The US has put its embassies around the world on alert, warning Americans of the possibility of al-Qaeda reprisal attacks for Bin Laden's killing.
CIA director Leon Panetta said al-Qaeda would "almost certainly" try to avenge the death of Bin Laden.
The US president's chief counter-terrorism advisor, John Brennan said that al-Qaeda, though weakened, remained a danger.
"It may be a mortally wounded tiger but it still has some life in it," he said. (+ video) » | Monday, May 02, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Hamas, the militant group which has just signed a deal to join the Palestinian government, on Monday condemned the killing of Osama bin Laden.While many Middle East leaders welcomed America’s military action, the mixed reaction across the region cast a shadow over both the “Arab Spring” and the future of talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Many Arab leaders facing popular uprisings, including Col Gaddafi of Libya, have claimed the protests are backed by al-Qaeda. Those claims have largely been rejected by protest groups but many in the West are concerned at the possibility that greater freedom of expression will allow more room for Islamic militants to operate.
The Hamas prime minister of the Gaza strip, Ismail Haniya, said: “We condemn the assassination of a Muslim and Arab warrior and we pray to God that his soul rests in peace.
“We regard this as the continuation of the American oppression and shedding of blood of Muslims and Arabs.”
The Hamas reaction put it immediately at odds with Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, with which it is due to sign a unity deal today to join the Palestinian government.
The intransigent tone will confirm Israeli and American fears that the reconciliation between the two feuding Palestinian factions will make a peace deal impossible. » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Monday, May 02, 2011
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Am Ende verbarg sich der meistgesuchte Mann der Welt nicht in den zerklüfteten Bergen Afghanistans, sondern in Abbottabad, einer beschaulichen Stadt nördlich Islamabads, die wegen ihres angenehmen Klimas pensionierte Offiziere anzieht. Bin Ladins Anwesen war von meterdicken Mauern umgeben.Auffallend vage äußerte sich die pakistanische Regierung zu den Vorkommnissen in ihrem Land. „Die Operation“, hieß es am Montag in einer Mitteilung des Außenministeriums, „wurde von den amerikanischen Streitkräften ausgeführt im Einklang mit der erklärten Politik, nach der Osama Bin Ladin in einer direkten Aktion von amerikanischen Streitkräften eliminiert wird, wo immer er gefunden wird.“ Auch weiterführende Äußerungen aus Regierungskreisen ließen im Dunkeln, ob und wenn in welchem Maße pakistanische Sicherheitskräfte an der Operation gegen die Ikone Al Qaidas beteiligt gewesen sind. » | Von Jochen Buchsteiner | Montag, 02. Mai 2011
LE POINT: Les autorités américaines assurent qu'elles ont respecté les rites islamiques. Des responsables musulmans s'indignent.
La dépouille d'Oussama Ben Laden, le chef d'al-Qaida tué dimanche lors d'une opération commando américaine, a été immergée pour éviter, notamment, de creuser une tombe qui serait devenue un lieu de pèlerinage, a-t-on appris, lundi, auprès de responsables américains. "L'immersion a déjà eu lieu", a déclaré un responsable américain sous le couvert de l'anonymat, confirmant une information de plusieurs médias américains. "Oui, je peux le confirmer", a dit un autre responsable gouvernemental interrogé lundi matin. Le lieu et les circonstances de cette "immersion" n'ont pas été précisés.
Selon deux autres responsables américains, le choix de l'immersion du corps avait été en partie arrêté pour éviter de laisser une tombe qui se serait transformée en lieu de pèlerinage pour les djihadistes. Un des responsables qui a voulu garder l'anonymat a dit qu'un tel endroit aurait pu devenir un haut lieu de recrutement. "Nous nous assurons que son corps est traité en accord avec la pratique et la tradition musulmanes. C'est quelque chose que nous prenons très au sérieux", avait auparavant affirmé un haut responsable américain lors d'une conférence téléphonique. "Contraire aux règles de l'islam" (Mosquée de Paris) » | Le Point.fr | Lundi 02 Mai 2011
In Bahrain, human-rights workers say at least 50 medical staff are still missing after a crackdown on hospital care for injured anti-government demonstrators.
There are fears that some of the detained staff could face stiff sentences for treating protesters. Among them is Dr al-Dallal, a prominent physician arrested on March 17 during a military raid at Salmaniyah Hospital in Manama.
His wife, Fareeda al-Dallal, was also arrested and beaten under custody last Tuesday. Al Jazeera spoke to her about her arrest and the fears she has about the safety of her husband.
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