Tony Blair 'Visited Libya to Lobby for JP Morgan'

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Tony Blair used visits to Libya after he left office to lobby for business for the American investment bank JP Morgan, The Daily Telegraph has been told.

A senior executive with the Libyan Investment Authority, the $70 billion fund used to invest the country's oil money abroad, said Mr Blair was one of three prominent western businessmen who regularly dealt with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the former leader.

Saif al-Islam and his close aides oversaw the activities of the fund, and often directed its officials on where they should make its investments, he said.

The executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, said officials were told the "ideas" they were ordered to pursue came from Mr Blair as well as one other British businessman and a former American diplomat.

"Tony Blair's visits were purely lobby visits for banking deals with JP Morgan," he said.
He said that unlike some other deals - notably some investments run by the US bank Goldman Sachs - JP Morgan's had never turned "bad".

But he added: "Saif and his father played these people like musical chairs. At the end the reputation of the LIA was really damaged because of these interventions." » | Richard Spencer, Tripoli, Heidi Blake and Jon Swaine in New York | Sunday, September 18, 2011

Barack Obama Book Casts Grim View of President's Leadership

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: A new book about Barack Obama, whose Pulitzer-prize winning author received extensive co-operation from the White House, portrays the American president as indecisive, out of his depth and facing insubordination from advisers.

"Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President" by Ron Suskind, to be published tomorrow, could not have come at a worse time for Mr Obama. His popularity remains in the doldrums, he is struggling to implement a new economic plan and he faces a tough challenge to be re-elected next year.

Larry Summers, a former top economic adviser is quoted as telling Peter Orszag, then Mr Obama's budget director, at a dinner in Washington's Bombay Club: "We're home alone. There's no adult in charge. Clinton would never have made these mistakes." Mr Summers was US Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton.

Mr Orszag is quoted as telling the author: "Larry just didn't think the president knew what he was deciding."

Anita Dunn, a former Obama communications director, is quoted as saying that "looking back, this place would be in court for a hostile workplace ... Because it actually fits all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace for women."

Christine Romer, another former senior economic adviser, is quoted as saying after she was excluded from a meeting by Mr Summers: "I felt like a piece of meat." She is also said to have asked Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard professor and Obama ally: "Why is it always the women?" "Why are we the only ones with the balls around here?" » | Toby Harnden, Washington | Sunday, September 18, 2011

Seven Arrested in Birmingham in Major Terror Raids
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Six men and one woman have been arrested in Birmingham as part of a large counter-terrorism operation intended "to ensure public safety", police said.

The suspects were detained at or near their homes overnight on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism in the UK.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said six men, aged between 25 and 32, were taken into custody by unarmed officers in the Moseley, Sparkbrook, Sparkhill, Ward End and Balsall Heath areas of Birmingham between 11.30pm last night and 1am today.

ln addition, a 22-year-old woman was arrested at 6.30 this morning on suspicion of failing to disclose information, contrary to the Terrorism Act 2000. » | Monday, September 19, 2011

Former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn Regrets 'Moral Failure' of Liaison with New York Hotel Maid

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Dominique Strauss-Kahn said he regretted "a moral failure" that cost him the chance to run for the French presidency in a contrite but combative first interview over two attempted rape accusations.

Four months ago, the former International Monetary Fund chief was paraded unshaven in handcuffs by police in New York after his arrest on charges of seeking to rape Sofitel hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo.

The contrast could not have been starker as the 62 year-old sat wearing make-up on France's TF1 channel, where he was questioned on his judicial ordeal and on economic matters.

Claire Chazal, an anchorwoman on TF1 for 20 years, is a long-standing friend of Mr Strauss-Kahn's loyal wife Anne Sinclair, who worked on the channel for years.
Miss Diallo's lawyers had said that anything less than "pointed questions on his conduct" would turn the prime-time interview into a "publicity stunt".

The tone was friendly, but Miss Chazal pulled few punches, going straight in with the killer question: what happened on the night of May 14 in Sofitel room 2806? » | Henry Samuel, in Paris | Sunday, September 18, 2011

Tory MPs Demand Referendum on Europe

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: David Cameron must call a referendum on Europe or face a rebellion from his own party and a backlash from voters, a leading back-bench Tory warns today.

Mark Pritchard, the secretary of the 1922 committee of Conservative MPs, is the most senior Tory yet to demand a vote on Britain’s membership of the European Union following the eurozone crisis.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Pritchard says that the EU has become an “occupying force” which is eroding British sovereignty and that the “unquestioning support” of backbenchers is no longer guaranteed.

He says the Government should hold a referendum next year on whether Britain should have a “trade only” relationship with the EU, rather than the political union which has evolved “by stealth”.

He warns that the Conservatives will see constituents “kick back” if taxpayers are forced to foot the bill for the failure of “unreformed and lazy” eurozone countries to introduce fully-fledged austerity measures.

Mr Pritchard is a leading figure in a group of 120 Conservative MPs who are pushing the Prime Minister to set out a “clear plan” for pulling back from Europe. » | Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Sunday, September 18, 2011

'I Made Love to Eight Girls in One Night,' Boasts Berlusconi to Man Who Allegedly Provided Escort Girls for New Year's Eve Party

MAIL ON SUNDAY: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has boasted of sleeping with eight women in one night.

Mr Berlusconi, 74, made the claim in a bugged phone chat with businessman Giampaolo Tarantini, who allegedly recruited escort girls for his wild parties.

‘Yesterday evening there was a queue outside my door,’ said Mr Berlusconi.

‘There were 11. I had eight because I couldn’t go any further. You can’t do all of them.’ » | Mail On Sunday Reporter | Sunday, September 18, 2011

Norvège: attaque contre un caricaturiste de Mahomet déjouée

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Kurt Westergaard, le plus célèbre caricaturiste du prophète Mahomet a échappé à une attaque en Norvège. La police a arrêté un citoyen norvégien d'une trentaine d'années.

La police norvégienne a arrêté mardi une personne qui préparait une attaque contre le dessinateur danois Kurt Westergaard, l’auteur de la plus célèbre des caricatures du prophète Mahomet, a rapporté un journal norvégien.

M. Westergaard, 76 ans, avait annoncé plus tôt cette semaine qu’il avait à la demande des services de sécurité écourté un séjour en Norvège, où il devait participer à la présentation d’un livre à Oslo.

Le quotidien Dagbladet rapporte qu’un citoyen norvégien d’une trentaine d’années a été arrêté parce qu’il prévoyait une attaque contre le dessinateur, dans le collimateur des islamistes depuis sa caricature controversée. » | AFP | Samedi 17 Septembre 2011

Henry Kissinger Watches Historian Niall Ferguson Marry Ayaan Hirsi Ali Under a Fatwa

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Niall Ferguson, the television historian, has married Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the target of Muslim extremists, in an American ceremony attended by Henry Kissinger.

Never usually one to do anything without great fanfare, Niall Ferguson, the bombastic television historian, has quietly married Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the former Dutch MP, who lives under a fatwa after writing the screenplay for Submission, a film critical of Islam. » | Richard Eden | Sunday, September 18, 2011

Libya: Tony Blair and Col Gaddafi's Secret Meetings

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: New questions over Tony Blair's ties to Col Muammar Gaddafi and his role in the release of the Lockerbie bomber have emerged from documents discovered in Tripoli.

The letters and emails, found by The Sunday Telegraph, show Mr Blair held secret talks with Gaddafi in the months before Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was freed from a British jail.

He was flown to Libya twice at Gaddafi's expense on one of the former dictator's private jets - visiting the him in June 2008 and April 2009, when Libya was threatening to cut all business links if Megrahi stayed in a British jail.

The disclosure of the meetings – of which Mr Blair makes no mention on his various websites – prompted calls by relatives of Lockerbie victims for Mr Blair to make public all his dealings with Gaddafi and his regime. Mr Blair even brought an American billionaire to one of the meetings. Sources say the financier was asked by Gaddafi for help in building beach resorts on the Libyan coast.

In the correspondence, Mr Blair's private office refers to Gaddafi deferentially as "The Leader". Pam Dix, whose brother died in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie on Dec 21 1988, said yesterday: "The idea of Gaddafi paying for Mr Blair's visit is deeply offensive.

"These new meetings between Mr Blair and Gaddafi are disturbing, and details of what was discussed should now be made public. I am astonished Tony Blair continued to have meetings like this out of office." » | Colin Freeman, in Tripoli and Robert Mendick, Chief Reporter | Saturday, September 17, 2011

Is the EDL the New Voice of the White Working Class?
TELEGRAPH BLOGS – DAMIAN THOMPSON: There’s a YouTube video doing the rounds which “anti-fascist” campaigners against the English Defence League don’t want you to see. It features a couple of young middle-class supporters of Unite Against Fascism sniggering as one of them describes a “horrible tattooed woman” at a demo being punched in the face “before someone kicks her up the arse”. In the words of Telegraph blogger Brendan O’Neill, these well-bred kids admit that it’s not normally OK to hit women, “but you can make an exception when it comes to female EDL supporters because they aren’t women – they’re dogs”.

You might think there’s nothing new in this. The street battles between the Anti-Nazi League and the National Front in the 1970s pitted white middle-class students against white working-class thugs: in both cases there was a sense that the ethnic minorities they were fighting over were almost irrelevant. Actually, the similarities are misleading. The EDL isn’t the National Front or even the British National Party. It’s not a fascist party, more of an angry white rentamob. And the racism is different, too: not so much about colour, more about culture.

But here’s the worrying thing. The EDL and its sympathisers appear, at first glance, to be more representative of a section of the English working class – especially in London – than the old “far Right” ever was. » | Damian Thompson | Friday, September 16, 2011

The EDL strikes a chord with the white working class precisely because nobody in the ruling élite stands up for this country's indigenous values. If the parliamentarians were to stand up for British, Christian values, there would be no need for a group like the EDL, and they'd wither on the vine, so to speak.

It used to be so that the aristocrats of this country stood up for Britain too. But those days have gone, it seems. Now, they are too busy making money out of cheap labour provided by the mass immigration which has taken place in recent times, mass immigration which no electors gave them permission to bring about, by opening the floodgates.

Immigration can, to a certain extent, be a good thing for any country. But it must be controlled, and it must also be in proportion to the size of the country and its indigenous population. If immigration is allowed to get out of control, the culture of the indigenous population is liable to be swamped by the values and culture of those immigrating into the country. And when this occurs, the people become scared. The working class become particularly scared because they do not have the wealth and resources to insulate themselves from what is happening around them.

In this case, they are able to see that whole neighbourhoods are becoming Islamised and ghettoised. The ruling élite can afford to live in expensive areas and thereby isolate themselves from the ill effects of the laws they have passed. Poorer people cannot do this.

If the emergence of the EDL is obnoxious to us, then it behoves us to do something to stem the tide of immigrants (legal and illegal), and to reverse the clear Islamisation of this country. Muslims in this country need to be told in no uncertain terms that they are welcome here only if they abide by the laws of the land. They should also be told that there is a leading culture, a guiding culture, aLeitkultur here.

Then, and only then, can we hope to do something meaningful about this growth in thuggery (on both the side of the EDL and the Anti-Fascist League).

Might I also suggest that for our part, we start to sharpen up our act. For when I look around me, all I see is a culture which is degenerating before my eyes. If we want these immigrants to integrate, and we certainly should do, then we must give them something worthwhile to integrate into. – © Mark

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Israël incapable d'empêcher la démarche des Palestiniens à l'ONU
LE POINT: Mahmoud Abbas est déterminé à présenter une demande d'adhésion d'un État de Palestine au Conseil de sécurité.

Un ministre israélien a reconnu samedi qu'Israël ne pouvait pas empêcher la demande d'adhésion d'un État palestinien à l'ONU, jugeant toutefois possible une relance des négociations de paix. "Malheureusement, Israël n'a pas les moyens d'empêcher que les Palestiniens demandent l'adhésion de leur État à l'ONU et il est impossible de les arrêter", a déclaré à la radio publique israélienne le ministre sans portefeuille Yossi Peled, du parti Likoud (droite). » | Source AFP | Samedi 17 Septembre 2011

Der vergessene Aufstand in Bahrain
Radikalisierter Widerstand nach Niederschlagung der Opposition

NZZ ONLINE: Der Aufstand in Bahrain droht in Vergessenheit zu geraten. Die einst geeinte Opposition ist gespalten. Das Regime versucht mit Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, die internationale Meinung zu beeinflussen. Ein Ende der schwelenden Krise ist nicht absehbar.

Acht Monate nach dem Ausbruch der politischen und sozialen Unruhen in Bahrain haben sich die unterschiedlichen Interpretationen der Krise gefestigt. Mitglieder der Königsfamilie, Chefbeamte sowie ein beachtlicher Teil der sunnitischen Bevölkerungsminderheit behaupten, Bahrain vor einer Machtübernahme der Schiiten, die Iran in die Hände gespielt hätte, bewahrt zu haben. Sie nehmen Bezug auf die Toten und Verletzten unter den Sicherheitskräften und asiatischen Arbeitsmigranten und betonen, die Krise müsse mit harter Hand beendet werden. Der im Juli abgehaltene Nationale Dialog habe eine Mehrheit der Bevölkerung zufriedengestellt. Von der Regierung beauftragte PR-Firmen in Washington und anderen Hauptstädten sind damit beschäftigt, diese Version der Ereignisse international zu verbreiten. » | Toby Matthiesen | Samstag 17. September 2011

New Dark Age Alert! Tarek Fatah Talk at Ideacity 2011

Watch live streaming video from ideacity at livestream.com

WIKI: Tarek Fatah »

Les Syriens poursuivent leurs manifestations, le gouvernement, la répression
LE MONDE: Une nouvelle fois, les Syriens sont descendus par milliers dans les rues, à travers le pays, pour souligner leur détermination à protester jusqu'à la chute du président Bachar Al-Assad, six mois après le début de leur révolte. En face, les forces de l'ordre persistaient à réprimer la contestation, faisant encore vingt et un morts.

Sept civils ont péri à Hama (centre), deux à Homs (centre), trois à Idleb (nord-ouest), quatre dans la banlieue de Damas et cinq dans la région de Deraa (sud), selon l'Observatoire syrien des droits de l'homme (OSDH). Ils sont morts soit en manifestant, soit lors des opérations de ratissage et de perquisitions, sous les balles des troupes syriennes, ajoute l'organisme. L'ONG a en outre fait état de la découverte de 15 cadavres dans plusieurs villes, la plupart des personnes ayant péri ces dernières vingt-quatre heures dans des opérations de sécurité.

Selon l'ONU, plus de 2 600 personnes sont mortes dans la répression, en grande majorité des civils. Plus de 15 000 personnes sont actuellement détenues et des milliers d'autres portées disparues. » | LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | Vendredi 16 Septembre 2011

Tunesien vor der Wahl: Der nette Islamist von nebenan

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Tunesien steht vor den ersten freien Wahlen - wahrscheinlich siegt die Islamistenpartei Nahda. Ihre Mitglieder wurden während der Diktatur brutal verfolgt, heute hat die Partei Geld, gibt es für Soziales und Bildung aus. Trotzdem fürchten viele im Land eine religiöse Wende nach rechts.

Er strahlt, er scherzt, er hat heute noch viel vor: "Gleich gehe ich mit meinen beiden Söhnen einkaufen, neue Hemden und Hosen für das Eid-Fest zum Ende des Ramadan", sagt Abderrahim Khelifi in der Lobby des Afrika-Hotels in Tunis.

Draußen schieben sich Tausende durch das Herz der tunesischen Hauptstadt: Beim arabischen Pendant zu den Weihnachtseinkäufen wird gedrängelt und gefeilscht, den Kindern gehen die Augen über, den Eltern geht es ans Portemonnaie. Vor allem aber liegt diese besondere Feiertagsstimmung in der Luft, die Khelifi mit in die düstere Hotellobby gebracht hat. "Das wird das beste Fastenbrechen, das wir jemals hatten", freut sich der 52-Jährige.

Was für eine Verwandlung: Vor acht Monaten war Khelifi ein gebrochener Mann. Da hatte er sich vor den Straßenschlachten, die auf dem zentralen Burghiba-Boulevard zwischen Demonstranten und Polizei tobten, in ein Reisebüro geflüchtet. Hager wirkte er und müde, stockend erzählte er seine Lebensgeschichte: Wie die Herrschaft von Zine al-Abidine Ben Alis alle seine Träume zerstörte. Wie er, der Wirtschaftswissenschaftler, nicht mal mehr als Grundschullehrer arbeiten durfte. Wie er gezwungen war, sein Leben lang nur Hilfsarbeiten auf dem Bau zu erledigen. Davon, wie er als in der Wolle gefärbter Anhänger der islamistischen "Nahda"-Partei Jahre lang im Gefängnis saß, wie er gefoltert wurde - und wie schwer all das für seine Frau war. » | Aus Tunis berichtet Ulrike Putz | Samstag 17. September 2011

Gay Marriage ‘to Be Made Legal in Britain by 2015’
MAIL ONLINE: The coalition is to push ahead with plans for gay marriage following the personal intervention of David Cameron.

Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone will today unveil plans to legislate to bring in gay marriage before 2015.

The Equalities Minister will also announce that Britain should be a ‘world leader for gay rights’.

Vowing to be a personal ‘champion for gay rights’, Miss Featherstone will risk controversy by arguing that the Coalition should go even further in future.

At present, gays and lesbians are allowed to enter civil partnerships, which offer most of the legal protections of marriage. But the term ‘marriage’ is not used.

Miss Featherstone will announce that a consultation will begin next March on allowing homosexuals to get married. A change in the law will follow the consultation.

Under the plans, same-sex couples will be able to have full marriages in registry offices, as heterosexual couples can.

But they will still be barred from getting married in churches and other religious buildings – even though some denominations want to offer the services. Coalition sources said ministers are determined to enact the change before the next election. » | Daniel Martin and Tim Shipman | Saturday, September 17, 2011

Egypt Rewards Violence, Paves the Way for More
HUDSON NEW YORK: The ruling military dictatorship in Egypt should not be allowed to avoid responsibility for the assault on the Israeli embassy in Cairo last week.

Failure to take severe steps against the assailants will only encourage the rioters and enemies of peace. Today it is the Israeli embassy. Tomorrow it could be the embassy of the US or Denmark or any other country.

This is a case where the writing was on the wall.

A few days before the mob stormed the embassy, the Egyptian authorities honored a young man for climbing more than 20 floors to remove the Israeli flag from the offices of the Israeli embassy.

According to a report in Egypt's Al Masry Al Youm newspaper, Sharqiya Governor Azazy Ali Azazy, honored the man who climbed the building that houses the embassy and tore down the Israeli flag.

Ahmed al-Shahat, 23, affectionately nicknamed "Flagman," was awarded a flat and a job for his "courageous" deed.

"I wish I were in his place to enjoy that honor," the governor said, referring to the young man. » | Khaled Abu Toameh | Friday, September 16, 2011

Islamic Sharia Law Court Opens in Belgium
HUDSON NEW YORK: An Islamic Sharia law court has been established in Antwerp, the second-largest city in Belgium.

The Sharia court is the initiative of a radical Muslim group called Sharia4Belgium. Leaders of the group say the purpose of the court is to create a parallel Islamic legal system in Belgium in order to challenge the state's authority as enforcer of the civil law protections guaranteed by the Belgian constitution.

The Sharia court, which is located in Antwerp's Borgerhout district, is "mediating" family law disputes for Muslim immigrants in Belgium.

The self-appointed Muslim judges running the court are applying Islamic law, rather than the secular Belgian Family Law system, to resolve disputes involving questions of marriage and divorce, child custody and child support, as well as all inheritance-related matters.

Unlike Belgian civil law, Islamic Sharia law does not guarantee equal rights for men and women; critics of the Sharia court say it will undermine the rights of Muslim women in marriage and education. » | Soeren Kern | Thursday, September 15, 2011