Wednesday, August 26, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Philippe Skaff faced a formidable challenge even before Libya gave the Lockerbie bomber such a rapturous homecoming last week: to erase memories of that country’s terrorist-sponsoring, WMD-producing past with a shining new global image.
It is a long-term project, but the six days of spectacular celebrations that the communications executive and his team are organising to mark Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s 40 years in power next week will be the “launch pad”, he says. “It’s the great coming-out party. These celebrations will definitely be the turning point for Libya.”
Cost is no object to this oil-rich state. Some of the world’s leading event management companies have been roped in, Tripoli is being given the mother of all facelifts and the once-closed country is admitting foreigners in unprecedented numbers.
But there are problems that no amount of festivity can obscure. One is that the celebrations come just as world attention is focused on the release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of Britain’s deadliest terrorist attack. Another is that, for all its recent courtship of the West, Libya remains a repressive police state ruled by a ruthless egomaniac.
A third is that while the entire world is being offered free live television coverage, the climax — a three-hour extravaganza on what Mr Skaff says is the biggest stage ever built — starts at 11pm local time when most of the globe is sleeping.
Mr Skaff, 52, the Canadian chief executive of Grey Worldwide Middle East and North Africa Network communications group, whose clients include BP, Bacardi, Union Carbide and BAT, is candid about his brief. It is to rebrand a country that has renounced terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, and to banish its pariah past.
“That image is not one they want to linger,” he told The Times. “They feel they have opened up, but the world has not responded the way they expected. They feel disappointed. They have made the effort and given in on a lot of issues to rejoin the international community. They are really changing.”
He hopes that next week’s celebrations will change the outside world’s opinion of Libya, and erode Libya’s suspicion of the outside world. He says that they will emphasise all that is good about Libya — its history, culture, scenery and warm people. >>> Martin Fletcher in Tripoli | Wednesday, August 26, 2009
TIMES ONLINE:
Marching band to hit big time controversy at Gaddafi parade >>> Simon de Bruxelles | Wednesday, August 26, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: British security will be harmed by the Megrahi affair, argues Irwin Stelzer.
Eleven and a half days. That's how much prison time the American commentator Charles Krauthammer reckons Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi served for each of the 270 people he murdered when he planted the bomb that blew Pan Am Flight 103 out of the skies. Alex Salmond is wrong when he says that Scotland's relationship with the US will be unaffected by the decision, and will remain "strong and enduring". It won't, at least not just now.
Congress is more than a little annoyed. Senators Joe Lieberman (Independent, Connecticut) and Chuck Schumer (Democrat, New York) have asked Gordon Brown to mount an inquiry to determine the facts surrounding Megrahi's release. That won't happen.
More important, the American security services are re-examining their relationship with their counterparts in Scotland and England, since the decision to release Megrahi is only the latest thumb in their eye. The British Government has refused on human rights grounds to extradite six suspected terrorists wanted by American authorities, including a Saudi sought in connection with bomb attacks on US embassies. Remember: this is the same Government that raised no objection when British businessmen were extradited to face trial in the United States on various charges. Apparently, the Scottish desire to show compassion to a mass murderer is matched by a British desire to keep suspected terrorists from facing justice in US courts.
There is also a boycott of Scottish goods being promoted online. Last year, visitors from the US accounted for 340,000 trips to Scotland, and spent £260 million (21 per cent of all expenditure by those from outside the UK). The number of Americans cancelling trips is increasing, but whether this will make a significant dent in the Scottish economy is too early to say. All in all, America – Scotland's largest overseas export market – spends almost £3 billion annually on goods and services, much on whisky, financial services and products from BP. American bloggers believe BP has its fingerprints all over what they see as a terrorist-for-oil deal, and that Scottish whisky can be replaced with Canadian and Irish products. Given the shaky nature of the financial system, though, cutting ties with the Royal Bank of Scotland, which has a substantial presence in the US, might be more trouble than it is worth. >>> Irwin Stelzer | Tuesday, August 25, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: The Lockerbie bomber could live far longer than predicted by Scottish ministers when they decided to release him, a cancer expert has warned.
Dr Richard Simpson said that medical reports show there is “significant doubt” that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi will die within the next three months.
The Labour MSP accused Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice minister, of failing to conduct sufficient checks before deciding to release the terminally-ill bomber last week.
This attack was echoed by the Tories, who said that the most recent medical consensus was Megrahi would live eight months, too long to be eligible for compassionate release.
The row broke out as Gordon Brown finally ended his silence on the controversy, but refused to say whether he agreed with Mr MacAskill's decision.
The Prime Minister stressed he had “no role” in the release and he was “angry and repulsed” at the hero's welcome that greeted Megrahi on his return to Libya.
A storm of international condemnation has met Mr MacAskill's ruling last week to release Megrahi, who is suffering from prostate cancer, on compassionate grounds.
Scottish Prison Service (SPS) guidelines suggest that inmates are only freed if they have less than three months to live.
However, Dr Simpson, who specialised in prostate disease research, said: “It is clear to me from the medical reports and the opinion of the specialists that Megrahi could live for many more months. >>> Simon Johnson and Andrew Porter | Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOGS: Gordon Brown can’t have it both ways. On the one hand he claims that his determination to fight terrorism remains “absolute”. On the other he says he had “no role” in the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of carrying out the Lockerbie bombing which killed 270 people.
Well, if Mr Brown really is determined to fight terror, then he should very much have made it his business to have a role in the decision to repatriate Megrahi to Libya. He should have called up the Scottish government and ordered it keep Megrahi firmly locked up in his Scottish prison cell, no matter how ill the terrorist claimed to be.
It was so clearly in Britain’s national interest not to release Megrahi that the prime minister of the United Kingdom - and that includes Scotland - should have used all the powers at his disposal to play a central role in deciding Megrahi’s fate. >>> Con Coughlin | Tuesday, August 25, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: A New Jersey town with a bitter experience of terrorism is in uproar at the prospect of Muammar Gaddafi pitching his air-conditioned tent there during his first visit to the United States.
The Libyan leader is considering making his Bedouin camp in the garden of a Libyan-owned mansion in Englewood, next door to a Jewish school and a famous rabbi, when he travels to New York to address the UN General Assembly on September 23.
Officials in the wealthy commuter town, 23 miles north of Manhattan, have vowed to stop Mr Gaddafi from staying there, particularly after he welcomed the Libyan intelligence agent convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
Englewood has its own searing memories of terrorism. The town lost five residents in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks and its fire brigade helped in the recovery effort at "Ground Zero."
Congressman Steve Rothman, who represents the area and once served as Englewood's mayor, said:"Gaddafi is a dangerous dictator whose hands are covered with the blood of Americans and our allies."
Michael Wildes, the current mayor, said: "People are infuriated that a financier of terrorism, who in recent days gave a hero's welcome to a convicted terrorist, would be welcomed to our shores, let alone reside in our city."
Mr Gaddafi's attention turned to Englewood after the US refused permission for him to pitch his tent in New York's Central Park.
Libya purchased the 25-room mansion known as "Thunder Rock", set on 4.7 acres on tree-lined Englewood Avenue, in 1982. It wanted to use the property as a diplomatic mission, but federal officials bridled at the idea.
Local officials worked out a deal with the US State Department at the time restricting Libya's use of the mansion as a weekend and summer retreat for Libya's UN ambassador and visiting dignataries [sic].
The next-door neighbour is orthodox Jewish rabbi, Smuley Boteach, the star of a TV series called Shalom in the Home. >>> James Bone in New York | Tuesday, August 25, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Brutality is at the heart of Hamas's practice and ideology, characterising its actions against both Palestinians and Israelis, writes Ron Prosor.
Earlier this month, Hamas launched a devastating bombardment of rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun fire against a mosque in Rafah. The attack killed at least 22 Palestinians, including an 11-year-old girl. Over 100 more were injured and the mosque, which belonged to a rival Islamist faction, the Jund Ansar Allah, was left riddled with bullets. The adjacent building was destroyed. Yet Hamas's disregard for the sanctity of a house of worship, and its contempt for the lives of neighbouring civilians, is unlikely to be the subject of any probing reports from Human Rights Watch.
It is no surprise to see Hamas brutalising the Palestinian population as it tightens its vice-like grip over Gaza. After all, it seized control of the territory in a bloody coup against the Palestinian Authority in June 2007, murdering rivals and hurling PA officials from the rooftops. Subsequently, it has ruthlessly and violently crushed any potential challenge to its power, whether from the Palestinian nationalists of Fatah, or from rival terrorist groups within the Islamist fold.
Meanwhile, it has imposed Gaza's rapid descent into fanatical freefall. As it hounded out the Palestinian Authority, Hamas opened Gaza's floodgates to a tsunami of extremism. Extremism breeds extremism, and the rise of rival Jihadist groups is a problem of Hamas's own making. Yet when it perceives such groups as a threat, or when ideological differences exist, it demonstrates its own barbaric methods of conflict resolution and law enforcement.
Brutality is at the heart of Hamas's practice and ideology, characterising its actions against both Palestinians and Israelis. Throughout its bloody history, the organisation has unleashed waves of indiscriminate terror against any attempt at progress. Yet alarmingly, sections of the media are determined to whitewash and legitimise it. They are joined by various politicians, commentators and activists, who argue that Israel and the West must talk to Hamas, so implying that it is on the verge of a switch to moderation.
Yet Hamas has no interest in compromise or negotiation. The most vicious, genocidal anti-Semitism is intrinsic to its goals. Its charter includes the ominous vision that, "The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews and kill them. When the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him." This year, a senior Hamas figure, Fathi Hammad, reminded us of its continued commitment to this goal when he stated: "We will not rest until we destroy the Zionist entity." >>> Ron Prosor* | Tuesday, August 25, 2009
*Ron Prosor is the Israeli ambassador to Britain
TIMES ONLINE: Libya may have renounced its weapons of mass destruction, but two weapons just as powerful remain in its arsenal: its vast and barely tapped reserves of oil and gas.
Tony Blair helped to secure a £900 million gas exploitation deal for BP when he visited Libya two years ago, but the deal remains hampered by bureaucratic obstacles.
At the same meeting Mr Blair and Colonel Gaddafi discussed Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi’s release, setting the path towards a possible prisoner transfer agreement. Will his walk to freedom on compassionate grounds now lead to BP’s hurdles magically dissolving?
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan leader’s debonair son and probable heir, implied so as he accompanied al-Megrahi back to Tripoli. “In all commercial contracts for oil and gas with Britain, al-Megrahi was always on the negotiating table,” he said. It is undiplomatic of Saif to say it, but that does not stop it from being true. Libya, once a reviled pariah state, has played a long, careful game to bring itself in from the cold — including the handover of al-Megrahi in the first place, part of its effort to re-establish trade relations with the West. Saif has publicly stated that al-Megrahi was Libya’s national fall guy, handed over in the hope of re-establishing trade relations with the West. >>> Catherine Philp | Tuesday, August 25, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: A black British man was assaulted in front of his family by three supporters of a German far-right party in Hamburg at the weekend.
Police said that the 46-year-old man was with his wife and four-year-old son at a bakery stall when the men approached him and handed him a flyer for the National Democratic Party.
When the man ripped the pamphlet up his attackers pushed him against a glass window and one man punched him while another sprayed pepper spray in his eyes.
Three suspects, who have not been named, have been arrested and are being investigated on suspicion of causing bodily harm.
The British man was treated in a hospital and released.
News of the attack came on the same day that German prosecutors brought charges against a man accused of hanging a blood-drenched pig’s head and a banner denying the Holocaust at a Jewish cemetery in the city of Erfurt.
The 47-year-old is believed to have hung the pig’s head from the Star of David on the entrance gate to the graveyard in Gotha near Erfurt and thrown two glasses filled with pig’s blood at the gate.
Police also found a cloth banner reading “six million lies” in a reference to the number of Jews killed by the Nazis. >>> Jenny Booth | Monday, August 24, 2009
LE FIGARO: Les sondages de popularité se sont mis à chuter de manière sensible et l'idée selon laquelle le président a surestimé le mandat qui lui était donné en voulant révolutionner le modèle américain fait progressivement son chemin.
Il aura donc fallu attendre le mois d'août pour que Barack Obama se retrouve dans les premières turbulences de sa présidence. Certains, peut-être un peu hâtivement, parlent même déjà d'un avis de tourmente politique pour la rentrée de septembre, avec la formidable bataille sur la réforme de la santé qui s'annonce.
Première cause d'inquiétude, les sondages de popularité présidentiels se sont mis à chuter de manière sensible. Caracolant avec 63 % d'opinions favorables lors de l'anniversaire de ses 100 jours, Barack Obama est tombé à 49 % de cote de confiance. La réforme de la santé suscite une levée de boucliers de plus en plus perceptible, puisque 54 % des sondés la jugent trop audacieuse, tandis que 41 % estiment qu'elle ne va pas assez loin. La majorité s'inquiète des visées jugées trop gauchistes d'Obama. Son électorat de gauche se pose des questions sur la force de son engagement en faveur du changement. Alors qu'en juin, plus de 50 % d'Américains étaient en faveur de la réforme de la santé, beaucoup se demandent s'il y a véritablement urgence à l'entreprendre, alors que la question du déficit budgétaire qui grève l'économie leur apparaît prioritaire. >>> Par correspondante du Figaro à Washington, Laure Mandeville | Mardi 25 Août 2009
LE FIGARO: Avec le débat sur la réforme de la santé, l'opposition a flairé une occasion unique de détruire l'image d'Obama et de trouver un second souffle.
On disait les républicains «lessivés», voire «menacés d'extinction» à la manière de ce vieux parti Whig, qui disparut un jour des écrans radars de la politique américaine sans crier gare. Le triomphe de Barack Obama paraissait annoncer une longue et aride traversée du désert. Déstabilisé par le rejet épidermique de l'ère Bush qui parcourt la société, le Grand Old Party (GOP) en était réduit à remuer nostalgiquement ses souvenirs de la révolution conservatrice de l'époque Reagan, désormais vue comme un âge d'or.
Au mois de mai, la défection du sénateur républicain modéré Arlen Specter vers le camp démocrate, parce qu'«il ne trouvait plus sa place» dans un parti ayant viré à droite toute, accentua encore le sentiment de déroute. Ce départ «soulève de profondes questions sur la viabilité du Parti républicain», lança la sénatrice de droite centriste Olympia Snowe.
Mais soudain, cet été, avec la vague montante d'opposition à la réforme du système de santé lancée par l'Administration Obama, des vents plus cléments se sont mis à souffler sur le camp conservateur, qui se reprend à croire à un retour en grâce inespéré. >>> Par Laure Mandeville, correspondante à Washington | Mardi 25 Août 2009
WELT ONLINE: Der frühere US-Vizepräsident Dick Cheney kann die Kritik an den CIA-Verhörmethoden nicht nachvollziehen. Auch mit dem Vorwurf der Folter kann er nichts anfangen. Im Gegenteil: Cheney verteidigt sie sogar: „Diese Erkenntnisse haben Leben gerettet und Terroranschläge verhindert."
Der frühere US-Vizepräsident Dick Cheney hat die umstrittenen Terrorverhöre des Geheimdienstes CIA gegen Kritik verteidigt. Die Verhöre von Terroristen, die den "harten Verhörmethoden" ausgesetzt worden seien, hätten einen Großteil der Geheimdiensterkenntnisse über al Qaida geliefert, sagte Cheney in einer Stellungnahme. "Diese Erkenntnisse haben Leben gerettet und Terroranschläge verhindert", sagte Cheney. Die neue US-Regierung betrachtet die sogenannten harten Verhörmethoden als Folter.
Cheney kritisierte die Veröffentlichung eines internen CIA-Untersuchungsberichts, der unter anderem ans Licht brachte, dass Terrorverdächtige von Agenten mit dem Tod bedroht wurden, es zu Misshandlungen, Scheinhinrichtungen und zu massiven Drohungen gegen Angehörige der Verdächtigen kam. Der ehemalige Vize des damaligen Präsidenten George W. Bush sagte, die Veröffentlichung zeige, wieso so viele Amerikaner Zweifel hätten, ob die Regierung von Präsident Barack Obama der Verantwortung für die Sicherheit des Landes gewachsen sei. >>> AP/ak | Dienstag, 25. August 2009
NZZ ONLINE: Im Gazastreifen sind zu Beginn des neuen Schuljahres die Kleidervorschriften für Schülerinnen der Oberstufe verschärft worden. Danach dürfen junge Frauen weder Jeans noch Jeansröcke tragen, sondern nur noch langärmlige lange Umhänge und weisse Kopftücher.
Schülerinnen, die sich nicht an die neuen Vorschriften hielten, durften Schulgebäude nicht betreten. Ein Sprecher der Bildungsbehörde wies am Montag in Gaza Berichte zurück, wonach die im Gazastreifen herrschende Hamas-Organisation die neuen Vorschriften offiziell angeordnet hat.
Im Gazastreifen hat das neue Schuljahr am Sonntag begonnen. Rund 250'000 Schüler gehen in Schulen, die von der radikalislamischen Hamas kontrolliert werden. Weitere 200'000 Schüler - vor allem in den Flüchtlingslagern - besuchen Einrichtungen der Vereinten Nationen.
Am Eingang zu einer von der Hamas kontrollierten Mädchenschule war ein Hinweisschild angebracht: «Alle Mädchen sollten einen dunkelblauen Umhang tragen, ihren Kopf mit einem weissen Kopftuch verhüllen und schwarze oder weisse Schuhe anziehen. Wir rufen alle Schüler auf, sich an diese Vorschriften zu halten.» Protesten und Tränen >>> sda/dpa | Dienstag, 25. August 2009
NZZ ONLINE: In der römischen Antike war das Martyrium für den Glauben nicht vorgesehen. Vielgötterei herrschte mitsamt den schützenden Mächten für Haus und Herd, und wenn der Heldentod gefordert schien, so galt er dem Staat, der ihn ehrte – genauer: der res publica, solange sie noch ihren Namen verdiente. Deshalb konnten später die christlichen Bekenner, die ihrer Religion bis zum Äussersten nachlebten, nur mit dem Unverstand – und alsbald mit der Grausamkeit – ihrer Verfolger rechnen. Anderseits wussten sie sich mit einem Jenseits belohnt, das den Himmel über ihnen aufspannte. Viele unter ihnen erhob die Kirche später zu Heiligen ihrer beispielhaften Standfestigkeit.
Die Kämpfer für den heiligen Krieg, die heute den Islam radikalisieren, beseelt eine andere Mission. Auch sie glauben sich zwar geborgen in der Vertikale, die ihr Gott geöffnet hat. Doch tragen sie den Glauben bei Bedarf mit Gewalt in die Welt, was zugleich die Unterscheidung in Freund und Feind erzwingt. Die Folgen dieser politisierten Theologie sind uns längst bekannt – die Handschrift der Anschläge und Attentate läuft inzwischen über den ganzen Globus. Wer aber gemeint hätte, dass die Mobilmachung vorwiegend junge Schreckensmänner rekrutiere, sähe sich mittlerweile eines Besseren belehrt. Die Grenze zwischen den Geschlechtern ist durchlässig geworden, Frauen mit Bildung und Verstand stellen sich in den Dienst des Terrors. Eine Titelstory >>> Martin Meyer | Samstag, 22. August 2009
ASSOCIATED PRESS: BERN, Switzerland — Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz defended his apology to Libya for the arrest of Moammar Gadhafi's son, saying Friday it was the only way to secure the release of two Swiss citizens detained by Tripoli.
The apology was heavily criticized in the Swiss media, but welcomed by companies eager to do business in the oil-rich North African country.
"My mission was to ensure that we can work through what happened in Geneva, to get the two Swiss out of Libya — that was my primary aim," Merz told reporters in the capital Bern.
Tripoli cut business and diplomatic ties with the Alpine nation after Hannibal Gadhafi and his wife were arrested July 15, 2008, in a Geneva luxury hotel for allegedly beating up two of their servants. The servants later withdrew their complaint after receiving compensation from an undisclosed source.
Four days after the arrest Libya also detained two employees of engineering company ABB Ltd. — Max Goeldi and Rachid Hamdani — for alleged breaches of immigration rules. Swiss media have described them as "hostages" that Tripoli was using to force an apology from Switzerland. >>> Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press | Friday, August 21, 2009
NZZ ONLINE:
Flugzeug nach Libyen unterwegs: Landung in Tripolis vor 18 Uhr zu erwarten>>> sda | Dienstag, 25. August 2009
YNET NEWS: Netanyahu, UK's Gordon Brown meet in London, as pro-Palestinian rally crowds entrance to Downing 10. British premier urges halt of settlement construction, PM stresses: 'Jerusalem is not a settlement. It is the sovereign capital of the State of Israel'
LONDON - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Tuesday afternoon with UK Premier Gordon Brown. Netanyahu had to be ushered into the official Downing Street residence via the back door, as the front entrance was the scene of a pro-Palestinians rally.
The rally, attended by hundreds of people, began about 30 minutes prior to Netanyahu's arrival at Number 10, causing both the British and Israeli security officers present to heighten alert, fearing the Israeli prime minister's convoy may be targeted.
Brown met Netanyahu and Israeli Ambassador to London Ron Prosor at the door, and all three were rushed in by their respective security details.
At some point, several demonstrators tried breaching the secured perimeter, but were stopped by British police. Demonstrators hollered slogans the likes of "Free Palestine" and "Netanyahu's a war criminal," and carried signs reading "Judea and Samaria are Palestinian territory," "Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine," and "Let the Palestinians live."
The two held a joint press conference after their meeting, in which Brown said the UK was and is a loyal friend to Israel and that it supports the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Nevertheless, brown stressed that that the demand to halt settlement construction remains in place, as the settlements are what impedes the two-state solution.
Jerusalem, responded Netanyahu, "Is not a settlement. It is the sovereign capital of the State of Israel. We have been building in Jerusalem for 3,000 years." >>> Roni Sofer | Tuesday, 25, 2009
YNET NEWS – OPINION: Recent ceremony reinforces sense that Obama no more than great orator
Last week, American President Barack Obama awarded 16 international figures with the Medal of Freedom. The list of recipients included Desmond Tutu from South Africa, Mary Robinson of the Durban Conference, black hole expert Steven Hawking and others.
The Fox Network offered a live broadcast of the ceremony, which is the equivalent of our Israel Prize, only much more compact: The audience in attendance was rather small, and there were no tiring speeches. The record of each award recipient was only reviewed in brief.
As opposed to what is customary around here, the recipients did not get money, but rather, only a medal. Obama did not even bother to shake their hand before he awarded the medal. He quickly kissed the women and slightly nodded at the men.
He was even stingy when it came to flashing his trademark smile, as if this was some kind of budgetary burden that the bankrupt Washington cannot afford at this difficult time.
Overall, the admired president was incredible cold and arrogant. He barely spoke to the medal recipients. His body language conveyed a sense of disinterest. Even Hawking obviously bored him. Cold and arrogant >>> Hagai Segal | Tuesday, August 25, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Lockerbie was a plot against American lives. Of course the US has every right to be outraged by the bomber’s release
Yesterday the Bishop of Musselburgh somehow tricked his way into the Scottish Parliament in the guise of Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary. How else to account for the transcendent moral tone of the statement made concerning the release of the convicted bomber of Pan Am Flight 103?
Scotland was, the Right Rev MacAskill implied, a superior place where “we define ourselves by our humanity”, a humanity obliging the Justice Secretary to show compassion to Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, in the form of letting him fly home, the occasion being the supposed proximity of the prisoner’s death.
And nothing else, note. The utterly unrepentant al-Megrahi, according to Mr MacAskill, who had by now switched to high sanctimony, was facing a “sentence imposed by another power ... He is going to die.” The word “soon” was of course implied.
So these are the new “laws and values of Scotland” — if you’re going to snuff it within a reasonably short time (let’s say months, or a year or so) you are thought to have been transferred into the custody of God and you get let out. How could one not agree with that?
Easily. One wonders how widely Mr MacAskill would like to see this form of humanity applied. Let us imagine that Robert Black, the Scottish serial killer of young girls, or Ian Brady, the Scottish-born Moors Murderer, were discovered to be on their last knockings. Like al-Megrahi, they, too, have shown a resilience in their refusal to help the authorities to uncover the full extent of their crimes, and have thus made matters worse for the victims’ families.
But surely they will soon be beyond the capacity to inflict harm, their maker’s finger beckoning to them, so wouldn’t it be best to return them from England to Grangemouth and Glasgow respectively, to die in the bosom of whatever families they can discover there? >>> David Aaronovitch | Tuesday, August 25, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: British and other Western expatriates living in Libya were warned in April that they faced serious repercussions if the Lockerbie bomber died in his Scottish prison.
“Word went out that there could be reprisals . . . . We were told not to go into the centre of Tripoli,” said one of the thousands of Westerners who are helping to develop Libya’s oil and gas fields. “Everybody went ‘eek!’. It’s so unpredictable here. You don’t know what’s going to happen. It could be something or it could be nothing.”
The expats were not told what the reprisals might be were Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi to die in Scotland, but the tale of a Swiss citizen called Max Goeldi may be instructive. Mr Goeldi has spent much of the past year holed up in Switzerland’s largely deserted embassy, unable to leave Libya and too frightened to set foot on the streets of Tripoli.
A visit yesterday by The Times to the high-walled embassy in a quiet residential street in the Libyan capital was interrupted at the door when two unsmiling men in a white car pulled up and asked our translator what we were doing. He fled. The men drove off when the embassy’s sole diplomat opened the gate, but the latter politely refused requests to see Mr Goeldi.
Mr Goeldi’s story — and that of the Swiss in Libya in general — demonstrates what the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi can do if angered by countries that covet its oil, gas and lucrative development contracts. >>> Martin Fletcher in Tripoli | Tuesday, August 25, 2009
THE INDEPENDENT: In northern Afghanistan, where opposition to Hamid Karzai is strong, the mood is darkening
With the results of Afghanistan's presidential election expected later today, supporters of the opposition leader, Abdullah Abdullah, delivered a grim message last night, threatening violence if their candidate loses.
Standing by the black marble grave of their fallen leader Ahmed Shah Masoud, two former mujahedin fighters said they still had their guns and warned that they had not forgotten how to use them.
Like most of Afghanistan's Tajik community, they had voted for Mr Abdullah, a former foreign minister of Tajik and Pashtun ancestry, who fought alongside their beloved Commander Masoud against the Soviet invaders and then the Taliban.
If the election is "stolen" by Hamid Karzai, the reaction would be violent, the former guerillas declared. Mohammed Amin, 51, said: "We have heard Karzai is saying he has already won. We have also heard there has been a lot of fraud in the south. The election cannot be decided like this. The international community should correct this and have these votes taken again. If they do not, people will resist. This is Afghanistan, and we have all got arms. If people are angry, we will use these arms." >>> Kim Sengupta in Panjshir Valley | Tuesday, August 25, 2009
THE GUARDIAN: Prince Andrew is set to pull out of Libya visit for the anniversary of military coup, as claims grow louder that Westminster 'cut a business deal' with Tripoli over the release from a life prison sentence for the Lockerbie bomber on compassionate grounds
If Gordon Brown is hoping that the furore over Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's release will die down now that the only man convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 is back in Libya, he will be disappointed.
According to reports in the Arabic press, Megrahi will be at the centre of next month's celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of the military coup that swept Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to power.
The event, to be attended by politicians, leaders and royalty, will be held in the full glare of the world's media. And, unfortunately for Brown and the many people left incensed by the decision to release terminally ill Megrahi on compassionate grounds, the former Libyan intelligence officer will be prominent.
Indeed, one Libyan official, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Asharq Alawsat newspaper that Megrahi will be "the main guest". This may explain why Prince Andrew, a regular visitor in recent years, is now unlikely to attend.
Seasoned diplomats believe the timing of the event, in effect Gaddafi's chance to showcase himself to the world, and Megrahi's release, are more than coincidental. Despite Libya having shaken off its pariah status since it turned its back on terrorism and renounced weapons of mass destruction in 2003, Gaddafi has little to celebrate at the moment.
Libya's economy is dependent on oil, and its falling price has hit hard. And the country has only recently emerged from a period of double-digit inflation that saw large increases in housing costs and food prices. Megrahi is a good news story at a time when Gaddafi badly needs one.
It was always unlikely, then, that the Libyan leader would respect Brown's request, made in a letter, to handle Megrahi's return "with sensitivity". But questions are now being asked about what role, if any, Brown and his government played in co-ordinating the release. The official line from the Foreign Office is that it was a matter for the Scottish government and there were no backroom deals. >>> Jamie Doward, home affairs editor | Sunday, August 23, 2009
THE GUARDIAN: Learning how to down pints at a young age appears to be a vital skill for anyone hoping to be leader of the Conservative party.
In his days as Tory leader, William Hague famously boasted that he drank up to 14 pints a day as a teenager. Now, David Cameron has admitted that he drank "too much" as a teenager at Eton. To show his human side, Cameron tells Grazia magazine that he was a troublesome teenager.
"When I was 14, 15, 16, I was doing things that teenagers do in terms of drinking too much, being caught having the odd fag, things like that," he says.
The Tory leader does not go into detail about how much he drank and what precisely he smoked. Hague famously ran into trouble in 2000 when he tried to shed his image as a teenage political geek by recalling how he drank up to 14 pints a day while delivering beer and soft drinks around South Yorkshire during his holidays.
Cameron never drank that much and says he managed to turn himself round, winning a place at Oxford, where he achieved a first-class degree. "I didn't do particularly well in my O-levels, but I was fortunate enough that 16 was a turning point for me. I was, in some ways, heading in the wrong direction and I pulled myself up and headed in the right one." >>> Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent | Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Grazia >>>
Monday, August 24, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: The Obama Administration will launch criminal investigations into brutal Bush-era terror interrogations after a report tonight revealed that operatives threatened to kill the children of a key September 11 suspect, and told another his mother would be sexually assaulted in front of him.
The report, which also said detainees suffered mock executions and death threats, convinced Eric Holder, President Obama’s Attorney-General, to appoint veteran federal prosecutor John Durham to investigate CIA abuse of terror suspects.
The 2004 report, which has been suppressed for five years but was released after a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), lays out in grim detail the abuse of terror suspects between 2002 and 2004 at secret CIA “black site” prisons.
Its contents, and the decision by Mr Holder to explore prosecutions, will reignite the partisan debate on Capitol Hill over the issue of torture. Mr Obama has repeatedly said that he wants to look forward, rather than get bogged down in investigations of Bush-era abuses – a sentiment repeated by his spokesman yesterday. >>> Tim Reid in Washington | Monday, August 24, 2009
LE FIGARO: L'annonce d'un projet de construction à Jérusalem et un rapport sur les implantations en Cisjordanie compliquent la tâche du premier ministre israélien face aux dirigeants occidentaux qui le pressent de geler la colonisation.
Mardi à Londres puis jeudi à Berlin, Benyamin Nétanyahou va être contraint, comme en juin à Paris, de justifier son refus de geler totalement la construction de logements dans les colonies de Cisjordanie et dans la partie arabe de Jérusalem. Il a également un rendez-vous consacré à ce même dossier mercredi dans la capitale britannique avec George Mitchell, l'émissaire spécial de Barack Obama. Cet entretien présenté comme «crucial» s'annonce plutôt mal. Selon les médias israéliens, aucun «arrangement» avec les États-Unis n'est possible pour le moment.
Ce pessimisme ambiant a été alimenté dimanche par l'annonce d'un projet de construction de 104 logements supplémentaires, d'une synagogue, de jardins d'enfants et d'un bâtiment abritant un bain rituel destinés à des Israéliens en plein cœur du quartier palestinien de Ras el-Amoud à Jérusalem. Cette opération menée par Elad, une organisation nationaliste qui s'est fixé comme objectif de «judaïser» la partie arabe de la ville, est en train d'être examinée par la municipalité.
De son côté, La Paix Maintenant, mouvement opposé à la colonisation, a publié un rapport assorti de photos aériennes prises à plusieurs mois d'intervalles. Il tend à montrer que durant le premier semestre de l'année, 596 bâtiments ont été construits dans les implantations de Cisjordanie, y compris dans une centaine de colonies sauvages qu'Israël s'est engagé à démanteler sans pour autant passer aux actes. Bref, le gel des appels d'offres publics pour la construction de logements en Cisjordanie, appliqué par le gouvernement depuis quelques mois, a certes freiné la colonisation, mais ne l'a pas arrêtée. >>> Marc Henry, à Jérsalem | Lundi 24 Août 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Kenny MacAskill, Scotland's justice secretary, accused Libya of breaking a promise not to give a hero's welcome to the freed Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi.
He told an emergency session of the Scottish Parliament: "It is a matter of great regret that Mr Megrahi was received in such an inappropriate manner.
"It showed no compassion or sensitivity to the families of the 270 victims of Lockerbie."
He went on: "Assurances had been given by the Libyan Government that any return would be dealt with in a low-key and sensitive fashion."
Mr MacAskill was speaking at a special session of the Scottish Parliament, recalled from its summer recess to allow MSPs to question him on his decision to free terminally-ill Megrahi.
The Justice Secretary defended his actions in freeing Megrahi on compassionate early release grounds, while turning down a request for him to be transferred to jail in Libya.
Earlier, Gordon Brown faced fresh criticism for commenting on England’s Ashes cricket victory, but remaining silent about what he thinks about the release of Abdulbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber.
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said the Prime Minister’s continued refusal to comment on last week’s controversial release of Britain’s biggest mass murderer "absurd and damaging".
Downing Street maintained that the matter of Megrahi’s freedom was one for the Scottish administration, despite condemnation of the release by Barack Obama and the director of the FBI.
A spokesman for Downing Street, in response to repeated questions about the Prime Minister’s silence, repeatedly stated: “It was and it remains a decision for the Scottish Justice Secretary.”
However, Mr Brown has been more forthcoming about England’s Ashes victory – inviting criticism that he is happy to comment on frivolous matters, but not the release of a man who killed 270. >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor | Monday, August 24, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: The Equality and Human Rights Commission is taking legal action against the British National Party over concerns about its admissions policy.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission today began legal action against the British National Party over concerns about ethnic restrictions of its membership.
The Commission issued county court proceedings against the party after voicing concerns in June about the BNP's constitution and membership criteria.
The BNP responded by saying that it intended to clarify the word ''white'' on its website, but the Commission said it believed the party will continue to discriminate against potential or actual members on racial grounds.
''The BNP's membership criteria appear to restrict membership to those within what the BNP regards as particular ''ethnic groups'' and those whose skin colour is white. This exclusion is contrary to the Race Relations Act. >>> | Monday, August 24, 2009
THE TRIPOLI POST: Tripoli-Switzerland publicly and officially apologized to Libya on Thursday for the unjustified arrest of Libyan diplomat Hannibal Muammar Al-Qathafi and his family by the Geneva police on 15 July 2008, the Libyan news agency JANA reported on.
Switzerland also apologized for actions undertaken by other Swiss officials, JANA said.
In an agreement signed by the Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz in Tripoli on Thursday and the Secretary of the GPC Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi, Switzerland committed itself not to repeat such actions against Libyan officials and citizens.
Switzerland also said in the agreement that it will improve the treatment of Libyans and facilitate their procedures, reported the Libyan news agency.
"We are apologizing for what happened to Hannibal Gaddafi and the two sides agreed to form a committee to discuss the matter," Merz told reporters in Tripoli.
Al-Baghdadi said the apology and visit by the Swiss President was a beginning to addressing the matter.
"Both countries agree to set up independent arbitration to investigate the circumstances of the arrest," Merz's statement said.
Merz landed in Tripoli earlier in the day Thursday and met with Al-Mahmoudi for closed-door talks. [Source: Switzerland Publicly Apologizes to Libya – The Tripoli Post] | Sunday, August 23, 2009
THE CANBERRA TIMES: The Greens will table a same-sex marriage Bill at the Legislative Assembly this week.
Greens Attorney-General spokesman Shane Rattenbury said the Bill would establish the right for same-sex couples to have a legally recognised ceremony under the ACTs civil union legislation.
''This legislation is an important step in ensuring equality and respect for same sex couples in the ACT,'' Mr Rattenbury said.
''This legislation will mean that same sex couples, if they wish, can stand before family and friends and make their declaration of love for one another, just as any other couple can.''
But under Section 35(2) of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 the Governor-General has the power to disallow any enactment made by the Legislative Assembly within six months of its passing.
This power has been used once to repeal the Civil Unions Act (2006) that allowed same-sex marriage.
At the Labor national conference there was a debate about same sex-marriage and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd reiterated his opposition to it.
Mr Rattenbury said Mr Rudd's views would not stop the Greens. ''Whilst the threat of Federal veto hangs over this legislation, we must not allow that to get in the way of doing what is right for the people of the ACT ... it's about respect, it's about equality for all couples. I know there have been battles about this before but times have changed and we need to press on. It's the right thing to do.'' [Source: The Canberra Times] Eva Kretowicz | Monday, August 24, 2009
ninemsn: A New York fashion student who called a model a "psychotic, lying, whoring ... skank" on her blog plans to file an $18 million lawsuit against Google for revealing her identity, according to reports.
Rosemary Port, 29, was sued by 37-year-old model Liskula Cohen over an alleged defamatory post on her anonymous Google blog account.
Google was forced to reveal Port's identitiy after a Manhattan Supreme Court judge rejected her claims that blogs should not be regarded as fact.
"When I was being defended by attorneys for Google, I thought my right to privacy was being protected," she told the NY Daily News.
"But that right fell through the cracks. Without any warning, I was put on a silver platter for the press to attack me.
"I would think that a multi-billion dollar conglomerate would protect the rights of all its users."
The New York Fashion Institute of Technology student said she plans to file an $18 million lawsuit against Google. >>> ninemsn staff | Monday, August 24, 2009
NZZ ONLINE: Bundespräsident Merz wurde von der Aussenpolitischen Kommission des Nationalrates mit harten Fragen zu dem von ihm eingegangenen Vertrag mit Libyen konfrontiert. Um die Freilassung der beiden Schweizer Geiseln nicht zu gefährden, will man vorläufig aber abwarten.
Die Aussenpolitische Kommission (APK) des Nationalrats will die Libyen-Affäre bis zur Rückkehr der nach wie vor festgehaltenen Schweizer ruhen lassen. Die Kommission sei sich einig gewesen, erst dann die Angelegenheit detailliert zu betrachten, sagte APK-Präsident Geri Müller (Grüne, Aargau am Montag nach der Anhörung von Bundespräsident Hans-Rudolf Merz.
Nach der Sitzung der beantwortete Merz keine Medienfragen. Auch Müller zeigte sich nicht sehr gesprächig. «Je mehr man redet, umso mehr riskiert man, die Rückkehr der Geiseln aus Libyen zu gefährden», sagte Müller.
Heimkehr «noch offen»
Ob die beiden Schweizer heimkehren könnten, sei noch offen, sagte Müller. Aber es gebe Anlass zu Hoffnung. Die Freilassung auf den 1. September bleibe möglich. Die Frage, was geschehe, wenn die Schweizer Libyen nicht verlassen könnten, bleibe offen. Die Lage würde schwierig. Harte Fragen gestellt >>> sda/ap | Montag, 24. August 2009
”And I say to my friend Brown, the prime minister of Britain; the Queen of Britain, Elizabeth; Prince Andrew, who all contributed to encouraging the Scottish government to make this historic and courageous decision, despite the obstacles.” – Colonel Qaddafi
THE HUFFINGTON POST: Where British Tradition once mandated subjects to genuflect before their royals, Britain is now busy instructing itself on how to properly render homage by prostrating themselves nose to ground before their new potentates, the oil barons of Araby.
There he was, Libyan Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi who had been found guilty of the murderous Lockerbie air disaster that took the lives of 270 people, stepping off his specially chartered Libyan aircraft to a cheering crowd upon his arrival at the airport in Tripoli. Eichmann being received by a cheering crowd in Germany would have been the same, not in dimension, but certainly in principle.
Al-Megrahi's release was being trumpeted by Mr. Kenneth MacAskill, Scotland's Justice Secretary, as an act of compassion for a man said to be diagnosed with prostrate cancer and having but three months to live. It was a decision met with outrage by family members of the victims, and a general outcry of disgust throughout much of the world ranging from President Obama to FBI Director Robert Mueller, "makes a mockery of the grief of the families who lost their own on December 21, 1988".
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that the act of releasing al-Megrahi had been the the decision of the Scottish Secretary alone. But was it?? Or as commented in the Financial Times, politicians are now prepared to go to extra lengths to maintain good relations with his country -- the richest in North Africa and an important supplier of energy to Europe. Even more pointedly according to Lord Trefgarne, Mr. al-Megrahi's release had opened the way for Britain's leading oil companies to pursue multibillion dollar oil contracts with Libya which had demanded Mr. al-Megrahi's return in talks with British officials and business executives.
Scandalous? Perhaps. But then again maybe not if this has become Britain's new norm. Kowtowing to moneyed Middle Eastern/North African oil interests may not be new but it does assume a singular level of malice when it is dealt with in such a brazen manner trashing tradition and principles of law, in the lust for lucre or responding to outright intimidation and blackmail. >>> Raymond J. Learsey* | Monday, August 24, 2009
*Scholar and Author of 'Over a Barrel: Breaking Oil’s Grip on Our Future'
leJDD.fr: Une partie de l’opinion américaine reproche à son président de s’offrir, en pleine crise économique, des vacances luxueuses sur l’île huppée de Martha’s Vineyard (Massachussetts).
En ce moment, rien n’est épargné à Barack Obama. Confronté à une recrudescence des violences en Afghanistan et en Irak, contesté sur son projet de réforme du système de santé américain - évalué à 1000 milliards de dollars - et accusant une chute sensible dans les sondages (49% de ses compatriotes lui font confiance contre 60% au moment de son investiture), le résident de la Maison blanche se voit aujourd’hui tancé sur le coût de ses vacances. Parti dimanche faire un break d’une semaine en famille sur la très chic île de Martha’s Vineyard (Massachussetts), le président des Etats-Unis est accusé, en ces temps de crise économique, de donner le mauvais exemple.
Sur l’influent site internet Huffington Post, classé à gauche, l’universitaire Robert Guttman déplore le choix présidentiel. "Le peuple américain vous regarde, M. le Président, il suit votre voie, attaque le directeur du centre de politique et de relations internationales à l’université John Hopkins. "Pourquoi ne pas les conduire aux endroits qui ont le plus besoin de votre aide, plutôt que dans une île déjà financièrement stable et prospère? Le cœur de l’Amérique vous appelle, M. le Président, pourquoi ne lui répondriez-vous pas?". Autant de questions posées à juste titre pensent beaucoup, au regard notamment du coût de la location hebdomadaire de la villa "Blue Heron Farm", où séjournera le leader américain, estimée à 25 000 dollars (17500 euros). >>> N.M (avec Reuters), leJDD.fr | Lundi 24 Août 2009
MAIL ONLINE: Vegan prisoners have won the right to have ethically-sourced cosmetics including nail polish, lip balm and cellulite oil in jail.
They will also be able to tuck into a variety of nuts after prison bosses allowed them to order directly from two new 'eco outlets'.
Vegans, who refuse to eat meat or dairy products, had been pressing for at least one Brazil nut a day in their rations to boost their immune systems.
It is the latest in a series of rulings to protect convicts' rights and ensure equality among different faiths and comes months after similar concessions for pagans.
Prison bosses were told in May to let pagan inmates collect and keep twigs in their cells to use as wands during their rituals.
Strict vegans will refuse to eat any food, wear any clothes or use any product that involves the use of animals.
This means normal sun-screen, prison-issue boots and canteen food are all against their beliefs.
From today, the estimated 500 vegan prisoners in UK prisons, will be able to order products from Holland and Barrett - which sells a wide variety of nuts.
They will also be allowed to buy a range of ethical products, including make-up, shower gels, lib [sic] balm, cellulite oil and facial scrubs from Honesty Cosmetics.
Orders can also be placed with the firm Lavera which supplies cruelty-free sun cream, aftersun, self-tanning lotion and anti-ageing creams. >>> | Monday, August 24, 2009
MAIL ONLINE: Gordon Brown was under growing pressure to speak out about the release of the Lockerbie bomber today as Scotland's Justice Minister fights for his political life.
There is mounting anger both at home and in the U.S. at the Prime Minister's silence over the decision to free Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi.
The Tories accused Mr Brown of adopting a 'cowardly silence' and the Liberal Democrats said it was 'absurd and damaging' not to speak up.
American consumers are now being urged to boycott British and Scottish exports and holiday in Ireland instead of the UK.
And security sources fear counter-terrorism co-operation with the U.S. could be at risk after the head of the FBI said Megrahi's release was a 'mockery of justice'.
The 'special relationship' is also under fresh strain over new allegations linking UK trade interests with freeing Megrahi.
Opposition MPs have demanded records of all meetings between ministers and the Libyan regime to see if the claims have any foundation.
Megrahi was sent home to Libya last weekm where he was given a hero's welcome, after being released on compassionate grounds because he has terminal cancer.
But despite the controversy, Mr Brown has yet to make any public comment about the move which has led to warnings of 'payback time' from the U.S. >>> James Chapman, Sean Poulter and Ian Drury | Monday, August 24, 2009
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: U.K. Government Fends Off Suggestions It Had Role in Scottish Release; U.S. Steps Up Criticism
LONDON -- The political fallout from Scotland's release of the convicted Lockerbie bomber has spread to London, as questions arise about whether the U.K. government played a bigger role in the decision than it has publicly acknowledged.
On Sunday, U.S. criticism of the decision took on a more strident tone, with one senior official saying it "makes a mockery of the rule of law."
The political stakes for U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown mounted after a son of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, issued a statement on Saturday thanking "our friends in the British government who played an important role in reaching this day." He said he believed the decision to release Abdel Baset al-Megrahi would further improve relations between the U.K. and the oil-rich North African nation.
A spokesman for the U.K. Foreign Office said the decision was Scotland's alone and had nothing to do with any trade deals between Britain and Libya.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who was part of a recent congressional delegation to Libya led by Sen. John McCain, noted Saif al-Islam Gadhafi's letter during a CNN television appearance on Sunday and called on "our friends in Britain" to conduct an independent investigation into "this action by the Scottish justice minister to release a mass murderer."
Both Mr. Brown and the Scottish government have maintained that the decision to free Mr. al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the 1988 bombing that claimed 270 lives, rested entirely with Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill. Under an arrangement set up more than a decade ago, Scotland rules independently on a number of local matters, including justice. Scottish legislators gathered Monday for an emergency meeting over the release of Mr. al-Megrahi, the Associated Press
reported.
Mr. al-Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, flew home Thursday to a jubilant welcome after Mr. MacAskill released him on "compassionate grounds." >>> Alistair MacDonald and Spencer Swartz | Monday, August 24, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: It will be the biggest party Libya has ever thrown, and the whole world is invited. Whether next week’s jamboree to mark Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s 40 years in power completes his country’s journey from pariah-hood to respectability depends on one question: will the Lockerbie bomber be among the guests of honour?
“Why not?,” replied one Libyan official when asked whether Africa’s longest-serving leader would invite Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi to appear alongside him at next Monday’s celebrations.
“It would be daft,” countered a Western official, who said that an appearance by al-Megrahi would deepen the outrage engendered in the US and Britain by his rapturous welcome home last week. European contractors brought in to organise the extravaganza strongly hope that Libya’s notoriously flamboyant and unpredictable leader does not take a step that would undermine all that they are trying to achieve. But, one admitted: “No one knows what he’ll do.”
The celebrations are entitled "Celebrate Libya" and intended to mark not just the 40th anniversary of the coup that overthrew King Idris and brought Colonel Gaddafi to power, but Libya’s final break with its dark, terrorist-sponsoring, WMD-building, West-baiting past.
It has invited heads of state or government from every country and expects 60 or 70 to attend. These include most African leaders, Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, Russia’s Prime Minister Putin, President Sarkozy of France and the King and Queen of Spain (they will each be given solid gold pendants in the shape of Africa with Libya marked by diamonds). Following the row over al-Megrahi’s jubilant homecoming, however, Britain and America are likely to be represented only by their ambassadors.
Libya is taking the almost unprecedented step of admitting scores of journalists and television crews from around the world, and it is sparing no expense to ensure that its guests are suitably dazzled.
An army of workers is planting thousands of palm trees along Tripoli’s long-neglected seafront, laying acres of grass on arid sand and resurfacing miles of road. Yet more are installing ornate streetlamps, removing rubbish, refurbishing hotels, demolishing or concealing unsightly buildings and painting others a brilliant white.
The streets are festooned with green flags and festive illuminations. Hot-air balloons bearing impossibly youthful pictures of Colonel Gaddafi have sprouted like mushrooms across Green Square. The city is plastered with hoardings displaying the great man in various triumphant poses and curious sartorial attires, and extolling his leadership with slogans such as “It is an honour to live in your country” or “Without you the impossible would not happen”. >>> Martin Fletcher in Tripoli | Monday, August 24, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH – Telegraph View: It is utter nonsense to suggest that the release of Megrahi is purely a matter for the Scottish justice system.
As the controversy over the release of Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi continued to rage yesterday, seriously damaging relations between Britain and America, Government ministers stuck to the line that the decision was purely a matter for the Scottish justice system. That is the most utter nonsense, and as more details of the case emerged over the weekend Gordon Brown's silence generated increasing public anger, in Britain and the United States.
President Obama has said that the release of the Lockerbie bomber to a hero's welcome in Tripoli was a "mistake". The head of the FBI, Robert Mueller, called it a "mockery of justice" that had "given comfort to terrorists around the world". Not everyone will agree that America has the right to take such a lofty view: after all, it was not troubled by (and even helped to facilitate) the release of hundreds of Northern Irish terrorists, including the most vile murderers, as part of a US-supported peace process. So America is open to a charge of hypocrisy – but not naivety. It suspects that the "compassionate" release of a dying man has a political dimension. Plenty of Britons think the same. >>> Telegraph View | Monday, August 24, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Gordon Brown believes the early release of the the Lockerbie bomber is too sensitive to comment on, Downing Street said today.
The Prime Minister is under growing pressure to say whether he agreed with the release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, amid accusations that he is ducking a subject of national importance while offering his views on the Ashes.
Defending the Prime Minister's silence, Mr Brown's spokesman said: “Clearly, the Prime Minister recognises this was a very difficult decision and was clearly an extremely sensitive one and there will be very strong feelings from the families of those people who were victims of this terrorist attack."
He said it was “a uniquely sensitive and difficult decision”. They had not commented before the decision and would not comment after, he added.
Asked whether the release gave succour to terrorists, he said: “I don’t think it does. This was a decision taken by the Scottish Justice Secretary in accordance with the laws of Scotland. I don’t see that anyone can argue that this gives succour.” >>> Sam Coates, Chief Political Correspondent | Monday, August 24, 2009
THE NEW YORK TIMES: KARACHI, Pakistan — Judith A. McHale was expecting a contentious session with Ansar Abbasi, a Pakistani journalist known for his harsh criticism of American foreign policy, when she sat down for a one-on-one meeting with him in a hotel conference room in Islamabad on Monday. She got that, and a little bit more.
After Ms. McHale, the Obama administration’s new under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, gave her initial polite presentation about building bridges between America and the Muslim world, Mr. Abbasi thanked her politely for meeting with him. Then he told her that he hated her.
“ ‘You should know that we hate all Americans,’ ” Ms. McHale said Mr. Abbasi told her. “ ‘From the bottom of our souls, we hate you.’ ”
Beyond the continuation of the battle against militants along the Pakistani-Afghan border, a big part of President Obama’s strategy for the region involves trying to broaden America’s involvement in the country to include nonmilitary areas like infrastructure development, trade, energy, schools and jobs — all aimed at convincing the Pakistani people that the United States is their friend. But as Ms. McHale and other American officials discovered this week, during a visit by Richard C. Holbrooke, the special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan, making that case was not going to be easy.
“We have made a major turn with our relationship with Pakistan under President Obama,” Mr. Holbrooke told reporters at a news conference in Karachi on Wednesday. Time and again, Mr. Holbrooke tried to delineate the differences between the Obama administration and the Bush era, painting the new administration as one that wants to see a better life and more business opportunities for Pakistanis.
He said his very presence in Karachi — Pakistan’s largest city and its commercial capital — demonstrated that drone attacks and the hunt for Al Qaeda were not the only American foreign policy activities in the country.
To polite applause, Mr. Holbrooke told local officials at the Governor’s House that the United States Consulate in Karachi would start granting business visas —100 a week — instead of making would-be business travelers to the United States go to Islamabad for the visas, as has been the case.
He stopped at a shantytown in the city to chat with schoolboys crowded into three classrooms, and even visited the home of a local resident, to get a feel for how people in Karachi live. On Tuesday, he met with opposition leaders in Islamabad, including Liaqat Baloch, the secretary general of the anti-American political party Jamaat-e-Islami, and Fazlur Rehman, the leader of another anti-American party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, who is sometimes referred to as the spiritual founder of the Taliban.
In Karachi on Wednesday, Mr. Holbrooke kept bringing up a trade bill that just passed the House, which would set up so-called reconstruction opportunity zones so that textiles and other goods made in Pakistan’s tribal areas could get preferential access to the United States market. And Ms. McHale, whose job is, in part, to try to repair America’s relations with the Muslim world, strayed from his side only when she ventured out on fence-mending missions of her own, meeting with 17 Pakistani journalists, 8 officials of nongovernmental organizations and members of several political parties, all in an effort to deliver one message: America cares about Pakistan.
But Mr. Abbasi’s reaction — a response that, Ms. McHale acknowledged, apparently reflects the feelings of about 25 percent of the population, according to a recent poll — demonstrated just how tough the job is. For all of the administration’s efforts to call attention to the nonmilitary ties that would bind the two countries, America is still being judged by many Pakistanis as an uncaring behemoth whose sole concern is finding Osama bin Laden, no matter the cost in civilian Pakistani lives. U.S. Officials Get a Taste of Pakistanis’ Anger at America >>> Helene Cooper | Wednesday, August 19, 2009
BBC: The Scottish justice secretary will be forced to defend his decision to release the Lockerbie bomber, as the Scottish Parliament is recalled later.
Opposition parties will demand to know how Kenny MacAskill aims to repair the damage they claimed had been done to Scotland's global reputation.
He has been under huge pressure, after granting early release to terminally-ill Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi.
Mr MacAskill will make a statement to parliament and be questioned by MSPs.
The parliament will reconvene at 1430 BST on Monday.
Megrahi was freed after receiving a life sentence imposed in 2001 for his conviction for the UK's worst terrorist atrocity, which claimed 270 lives in 1988.
International standing
The 57-year-old, who has prostate cancer, returned home to Libya on Thursday to jubilant scenes which included people waving Scottish flags.
Scottish ministers said their decision to release Megrahi on compassionate grounds - which has been strongly criticised by the US government - followed due process and was the right one.
As the Scottish Parliament was preparing to cut short its summer break to discuss the issue, Scotland's opposition politicians urged Mr MacAskill to set out how he intends to improve Scotland's international standing in the wake of the criticism. Lockerbie Minister Facing Critics >>> | Sunday, August 23, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
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