La Libye d’avant Kadhafi
LE TEMPS: A la fin de 1951, la Libye devenait une monarchie indépendante. Rappel d’une naissance difficile après la colonisation italienne

L’axe italo-libyen. La Tripolitaine et la Cyrénaïque, contrairement aux autres provinces ottomanes d’Afrique du Nord, sont demeurées sous la domination de l’empire jusqu’en 1911. C’est l’année où les Italiens, qui entretenaient des relations commerciales avec la Libye depuis plus d’un siècle, déclarent la guerre à Constantinople. Ils obtiennent en 1912 les provinces susmentionnées et le Dodécanèse. Avec l’arrivée au pouvoir de Mussolini commence alors une longue période de colonisation et de résistance. >>> Olivier Perrin | Mardi 01 Septembre 2009

Archives du Temps: 1969, la fin du régime royaliste en Libye
LE TEMPS: Il y a quarante ans, le 1er septembre, l’armée renversait le roi Idriss à Tripoli

« Le renversement de la monarchie et du roi Idriss qui l’incarnait depuis l’indépendance du pays officiellement proclamée le 24 décembre 1951 s’inscrit dans le lent processus de désagrégation des régimes royalistes du monde arabe. […] Pour la Libye, ce renversement marque la fin d’une époque.

Profitant de l’absence du roi qui, âgé de 79 ans, suivait depuis le 12 août une cure en Turquie, l’armée a pris le pouvoir à Tripoli, faisant du même coup de la Libye le dix-huitième Etat africain à régime militaire. La soudaineté du putsch, que rien ne laissait prévoir, a surpris l’étranger et plus particulièrement l’Organisation de l’unité africaine réunie en session ministérielle à Addis-Abeba. On pensait en effet généralement que de profondes modifications interviendraient dans les structures et l’organisation du pays à la mort d’Idriss, mais on n’imaginait pas que celles-ci se produiraient de manière si brutale et surtout si rapide. Les officiers qui en ont pris l’initiative ont voulu accélérer le cours des choses et la situation au Moyen-Orient, qui se dégrade de jour en jour, n’est sans doute pas étrangère à ce coup d’accélérateur. […] >>> Michel Barde | Mardi 02 September 1969

Gordon Brown Did Not Want Lockerbie Bomber to Die in Jail, Minute Reveals
Minutes of the meeting also show the pressure exerted by the Libyan government. Image: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: A Foreign Office minister told Libya in February this year that Gordon Brown did not want the Lockerbie bomber to die in jail, according to an official minute released today.

Abdulati Alobidi, the Libyan Minister for Europe, told how he had warned Bill Rammell, a Foreign Office Minister visiting Tripoli, that Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi should not be allowed to die in a Scottish prison.

"Mr Alobidi confirmed that he had reiterated to Mr Rammell that the death of Mr Megrahi in a Scottish prison would have catastrophic effects for the relationship between Libya and the UK," the note released by the Scottish government said.

"Mr Alobidi went on to say that Mr Rammell had stated that neither the Prime Minister nor the Foreign Secretary would want Mr Megrahi to pass away in prison but the decision on transfer lies in the hands of the Scottish ministers."

The note relates to a meeting in March between Scottish officials and a Libyan government delegation including Mr Alobidi. >>> Philippe Naughton | Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Officer Does Not Like Anti-Obama Poster: "It Ain't [America] No More, OK?"


Hat tip: Always On Watch >>>

Muammar Gaddafi Hailed as 'Knight' of Revolution as Celebrations Kick Off
THE GUARDIAN: Dazzling display at airbase launches 40th anniversary tributes to Libyan leader

Part of the spectacular celebrations marking Muammar Gaddafi's 40 years in power which began early today. Photo: The Guardian
Libya's celebrations marking Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power got off to a spectacular start this morning with a colourful extravaganza lauding his achievements as the heroic "knight" of the country's revolution.

Dancing, singing, marching and feats of horsemanship were combined in a dazzling display at Tripoli's Mitiga airbase in the early hours of the morning in a lavish tribute to the one man who will forever be identified with the coup on 1 September 1969.

Gaddafi, in mottled beige suit and matching cap, sat in the centre of a dais under a striped awning as African, Arab and other VIPs were disgorged from black limousines and ranked according to their importance before the show began after the Ramadan iftar meal.

Green laser beams cut through the humid night sky to announce the "Knight and Men" salute to "a great leader, a maker of great events" – first in Arabic and then English, French, Italian and Spanish for the many foreign guests.

A troupe of Italian girls took part in the dancing sequences, but the horse riders were Libyans, men and women in tribal dress, strutting and cantering across the Astroturf repeatedly to shake their fists and hail the man on the podium. >>> Ian Black in Tripoli | Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Muammar Gaddafi Hits Out on 40th Anniversary of Libyan Coup
THE TELEGRAPH: Libyan celebrations of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s four decades in power saw the strongman lash out at Western governments he has wooed for six years.

Col Gaddafi dedicated the first spectacular mass performance of a week of celebration to his adopted daughter Hannah, who was killed in an American air raid on Tripoli in 1986. The events appear designed to inflame tensions with America and Britain, after several years of steadily improving relations.

The British embassy said a charge d'affair would attend tonight's performances in the absence of an ambassador. The guests are to watch a military parade comprising detachments of African, Arab and European troops this evening.

Some 80 aircraft, including two French Rafale jets, are to carry out a fly-past over the streets of Tripoli where the security services have imposed draconian security controls, closing the main roads and only allowing specially screened vehicles to pass checkpoints.

Tripoli's streets have been decked with thousands of multicoloured lights, and hundreds of Gaddafi portraits and placards paying tribute to the leader, including one saying: "May Glory Be Yours, Oh Maker of Glories." >>> Damien McElroy in Tripoli | Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Telegraph Picture Gallery:
Colonel Gaddafi: 40 years since the bloodless coup that brought him to power >>>

Chine: La dissidente ouïghoure Rebiya Kadeer prête à discuter avec Pékin
LE POINT: La dissidente ouïghoure Rebiya Kadeer, accusée par Pékin d'avoir fomenté des violences en juillet dans le Xinjiang, s'est dite prête mardi à discuter directement avec les autorités chinoises de l'amélioration du sort de sa communauté et de son auto-détermination.

"Je suis prête à discuter avec les autorités chinoises des moyens de surmonter les erreurs politiques des 60 dernières années et oeuvrer en vue de réformes politiques", a-t-elle déclaré devant la commission des droits de l'Homme du Parlement européen à Bruxelles, où elle était invitée pour la première fois officiellement.

"Il est temps que le gouvernement chinois s'assoie pour discuter avec moi, avec sa sainteté le dalaï lama et tous les dirigeants des communautés chinoises non Hans (l'ethnie majoritaire en Chine, ndlr), qui ont été calomniés, emprisonnés et diffamés simplement parce qu'ils sont en désaccord avec la politique officielle", a-t-elle dit.

"Je souhaite que les autorités chinoises réduisent la tension au Turkistan oriental", le nom donné par les Ouïghours au Xinjiang, en engageant "un vrai dialogue avec les représentants du peuple ouïghours à l'étranger. >>> AFP | Mardi 01 Septembre 2009

L'incendie double de volume et menace Los Angeles
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: CALIFORNIE | Après avoir doublé de volume en l’espace de 24 heures, le violent incendie de forêt qui fait rage dans la banlieue nord-est de Los Angeles continue, tôt ce mardi matin, de menacer la métropole elle-même.

Les flammes ont déjà détruit 53 maisons et en menacent 12.000 autres alors que quelques habitants ont commencé à regagner leurs maisons rendues à l’état de cendres.

Pour l’heure, le manque de vent empêche le feu de progresser vers les banlieues densément peuplée du nord-est de Los Angeles, selon les services forestiers américains. «Je ne suis pas très optimiste mais nos pompiers vont faire tout ce qu’ils pourront pour empêcher ce feu de provoquer davantage de destruction», a dit lundi soir le commandant Mike Dietrich, du Service des forêts. Zoo évacué >>> AP | Mardi 01 Septembre 2009

Lockerbie Bomber Row: Details of Blair-Gaddafi Meetings Will Not Be Published
THE GUARDIAN: Papers relating to former PM's meetings with Libyan leader will not be among those published by the government this afternoon

Tony Blair, left, and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi during a historic first meeting in 2004 after Libya had renounced its weapons of mass destruction programe. Photo: The Guardian
Downing Street has confirmed that papers relating to Tony Blair's meeting with the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, will not be among the documents about the Lockerbie bomber being released this afternoon.

The prime minister's spokesman said the government would publish all "relevant" correspondence relating to the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the 1988 bombing, this afternoon.

The Foreign Office and the Ministry of Justice are putting documents on their website after 2pm. In Edinburgh the Scottish government will also be releasing its own documents, probably later in the afternoon.

But the papers will not cover Blair's meetings with Gaddafi in 2004 and 2007, which paved the way for a prisoner transfer agreement between the two countries, Downing Street said today.

Today David Cameron claimed that Gordon Brown's failure to say whether or not he approved of the release of Megrahi showed that he did not have the leadership skills required of a prime minister. Writing in the Times, the Conservative leader says that having the willingness to express an opinion was "a basic requirement of leadership".

The Tories have condemned the Scottish government's decision to release Megrahi on compassionate grounds. Brown has said that he was "repulsed" by the way Megrahi received a hero's welcome when he returned to Tripoli, but the prime minister has not said whether or not he approved of the decision to grant Megrahi his liberty.

In his Times article, Cameron says: "Mr Brown should have condemned the decision to release al-Megrahi. At the very least, he should have expressed an opinion. But all we got, day after day, was a wall of silence, finally broken after a long week when Mr Brown declared that he was 'angry' and 'repulsed' at scenes in Tripoli. We all were. But that wasn't the point. People wanted to know what the prime minister thought about the decision to release him in the first place.

"Such candour is a basic requirement of leadership – a quality that once again Mr Brown has demonstrated he lacks." >>> Nicholas Watt and Andrew Sparrow | Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Iran: Demonstrant im Gefängnis zu Tode geprügelt
WELT ONLINE: In einem iranischen Gefängnis ist ein 25-jähriger Demonstrant so stark misshandelt worden, dass er an den Folgen starb. Die Behörden hatten als Ursache zunächst eine Hirnhautentzündung angegeben. Im Parlament herrscht Unfrieden über Präsident Ahmedinedschads Kabinett: Zu viele Frauen und Günstlinge sollen Minister werden.

Anders als von den Behörden angegeben, ist ein inhaftierter iranischer Demonstrant nicht an einer Hirnhautentzündung, sondern an den Folgen von Misshandlung gestorben. Wie die halbamtliche Nachrichtenagentur Mehr berichtete, kam ein rechtsmedizinischer Ausschuss zu dem Schluss, dass psychischer Stress, schlechte Haftbedingungen und „zahlreiche Schläge“ für den Tod des 25-jährigen Mohsen Ruholamini verantwortlich waren. Eine Meningitis, die von den Behörden als Todesursache genannt worden war, schlossen die Mediziner aus.

Ruholamini war Anfang Juli bei Protesten gegen die umstrittene Wiederwahl von Präsident Mahmud Ahmadinedschad festgenommen und in das Gefängnis Kahrisak gebracht worden. Nach seiner Verlegung in eine andere Haftanstalt starb der junge Mann. Der oberste geistliche Führer Ayatollah Ali Chamenei ordnete wegen der schlechten Haftbedingungen Ende Juli die Schließung von Kahrisak an. Inzwischen kündigte er auch die Ahndung von „Verbrechen“ gegen Demonstranten an. >>> WON | Dienstag, 01. September 2009

Hitler-Stalin-Pakt: Putins Russland glättet die sowjetische Geschichte
WELT ONLINE: Zum 70. Jahrestags Weltkriegsausbruches zeigt sich, welche aktuelle politische Brisanz die Deutung seiner Geschichte hat. Putins Russland versucht, durch Restauration der sowjetischen Lesart des "Antifaschismus" ehemalige europäische Sowjetrepubliken und Satellitenstaaten – aber auch Westeuropa – einzuschüchtern.

Die Unterzeichnung des deutsch-russischen Nichtangriffspaktes am 24. August 1939. Bild: Welt Online
Putins Russland betreibt mit der Geschichte der Zweiten Weltkriegs aktive Machtpolitik. Zwar hat der Premierminister, der in Wahrheit Russlands eigentlicher Herrscher ist, mit einem Beitrag für die polnische Zeitung „Gazeta Wyborcza" die akute Spannung aus dem Verhältnis zu Polen genommen. Immerhin räumt Putin darin ein, dass es gute Gründe gebe, den Hitler-Stalin-Pakt vom 23. August 1939 zu verurteilen. Er gibt auch zu, dass die Ermordung von etwa 15 000 polnischen Offizieren in Katyn nach der sowjetischen Okkupation Ostpolens, die knapp drei Wochen nach dem deutschen Überfall auf Polen erfolgte, das Konto der Sowjetunion gehen.

Putin macht allerdings auch klar, dass von russischer Seite in Bezug auf die verbrecherischen Folgen des Hitler-Stalin-Paktes über dessen von 1994 stammende Einstufung als „unmoralisch“ durch das russische Parlament keine weiteren Schuldeingeständnisse oder gar Entschuldigungen nötig seien. Dabei hatte der Pakt nicht nur grünes Licht für Hitlers Vernichtungskrieg gegen Polen gegeben. Gemäß einem geheimen Zusatzprotokoll hatte sich die Sowjetunion sowohl Ostpolen als auch die baltischen Staaten Litauen, Lettland und Estland einverleibt und die systematische Liquidierung oder Deportation der Eliten der überfallenen Länder zwecks „Russifizierung“ dieser Nationen betrieben. >>> Von Richard Herzinger | Dienstag, 01. September 2009

Zweiter Weltkrieg: Polen warnt vor Verfälschung der Geschichte
WELT ONLINE: Genau heute vor siebzig Jahren beschoss das deutsche Kriegsschiff "Schleswig-Holstein" das zur Festung ausgebaute polnische Munitionsdepot in Danzig. Polens höchste Repräsentanten haben nun bei der Gedenkfeier zu Beginn des Zweiten Weltkriegs an die Verantwortung Deutschlands erinnert. Sie warnten davor, die Geschichte zu vergessen.

Zum 70. Jahrestag des Beginns des Zweiten Weltkriegs hat der polnische Regierungschef Donald Tusk davor gewarnt, Geschichte zu vergessen oder zu verfälschen. „Ohne aufrichtiges Gedenken werden weder Europa noch Polen oder die Welt jemals in Sicherheit leben können“, sagte Tusk in einer Ansprache auf der Westerplatte bei Danzig (Gdansk).

Dort hatte im Morgengrauen des 1. September 1939 das deutsche Kriegsschiff „Schleswig-Holstein“ das zur Festung ausgebaute polnische Munitionsdepot beschossen. Mit dem Überfall Hitler-Deutschlands begann damals der Zweite Weltkrieg, bei dem rund 50 Millionen Menschen ums Leben kamen. >>> AP/dpa/ks | Dienstag, 01. September 2009

Affaire Libyenne: Otages: Tripoli exige une lourde caution
LE TEMPS: Plus de 430 ’000 francs suisses: selon une source citée par la Radio suisse romande (RSR), c’est le prix demandé par la Libye pour la libération des deux Suisses retenus à Tripoli depuis plus d’un an.

La Libye exige le versement de plus de 430’000 francs suisses de caution pour permettre aux deux Suisses retenus depuis plus d’un an à Tripoli de quitter le pays, selon des «sources proches du dossier, côté suisse» citées mardi par la Radio Suisse Romande (RSR).

Selon les sources de la RSR, «la Libye exige le versement d’une caution de 500.000 dinars libyens (soit 430’000 francs suisses) pour la libération des deux Suisses». >>> AFP | Mardi 01 Septembre 2009

Affaire Kadhafi: La rage et l’humiliation
LE TEMPS: C’est l’histoire d’un conflit qui tourne vite très mal et qui se termine en un cauchemar diplomatique pour la Suisse et deux de ses citoyens pris en otage en Libye

Que se passera-t-il si les deux otages suisses ne sont pas revenus dans une semaine? A cette réponse posée au retour de son voyage controversé à Tripoli, le vendredi 21 août, Hans-Rudolf Merz avait répondu: «Je suis prêt à faire un deuxième voyage pour m’assurer qu’ils rentrent. Et si je n’y arrive pas, s’ils restent bloqués en Libye, alors je perdrai la face.» Le délai d’une semaine est dépassé depuis plusieurs jours. Un autre délai était en passe d’être dépassé lundi soir. Vendredi, le Département des finances affirmait détenir une garantie écrite du premier ministre libyen que les deux Suisses pourraient quitter le pays «avant la fin du mois». >>> D.S. Miéville | Mardi 01 Septembre 2009

Pictured: The Man Who Had His Nose and Ears Cut Off by the Taliban for Daring to Vote
MAIL ONLINE: Lal Mohammad was determined to stand against Taliban threats and exercise his right to vote in Afghanistan's presidential election.

But he now regrets his defiance.

These horrifying pictures show a fearful Mohammad recovering after he was ambushed by Taliban fighters as he walked to a polling station last week.

The 40-year-old farmer was beaten and mutilated. The Taliban cut off his ears and part of his nose in the shocking attack.

The Taliban vowed to disrupt the August 20 vote, threatening reprisals against voters and staging scores of rocket attacks and several bombings across the country on election day.


The threats and violence failed to stop the election from taking place, but they do seem to have hurt turnout in some areas, especially the Taliban heartland in the south.

Mohammad was in pain and in tears as he gave the gruesome account of his ordeal. >>> | Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Top 10 Worst Bible Passages
THE TELEGRAPH: A list of the top 10 worst Biblical verse has been drawn up, which includes approval for sexism, genocide and slavery.

Readers of the humorous Christian website shipoffools.com were asked to submit their 'favourite' worst verses to compile the list, in a light-hearted project called Chapter & Worse.

Topping it was St Paul's advice in 1 Timothy 2:12, in which the saint says: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, she must be silent."

The extract is often used to justify opposition to women priests.

Next was this worrying verse endorsing genocide, from 1 Samuel 15:3: "This is what the Lord Almighty says ... 'Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.' "

Third was Moses's call to kill witches, in Exodus 22:18: "Do not allow a sorceress to live."

Another gruesome verse to make the list was Psalm 137, which celebrates this terrible revenge: "Happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us / He who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks."

A more controversial inclusion was that of St Paul's thoughts on homosexuality, from Romans 1:27, currently an extremely divisive matter with the Anglican church: "In the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error."

Others on the list included God's test of Abraham in Genesis 22, in which Abraham is made to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice; this endorsement of female subservience in Ephesians 5:22, "Wives, submit to you husbands as to the Lord"; and similar advice for slaves in 1 Peter 2:18: "Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel." >>> | Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Muslim Marriage: A Portrait
THE TIMES: A true Muslim marriage is about husband and wife helping each other attain paradise says Na'ima B. Robert

Bismillah*

My husband is ill. He lies in bed, in the dark. I try to keep the children quiet. I try to keep them from disturbing him. I try to get them to sleep without too much fuss.

When all is peace, I tiptoe into the room. I feel his forehead for signs of a fever. I ask him if he needs anything. He needs to drink fluids, Vitamin C. I know this. And I also know that he won't ask.

So I go to the kitchen, put the kettle on. I mix him a drink - lemon to fight the cold germs, honey to soothe his sore throat, fresh mint leaves to lift the taste a little. I say 'Bismillah' before I pour the hot water, make a little prayer for his well being, before taking it to him. He smiles through his discomfort. I have brought him ease.

But I wave away his thanks. It is nothing.

I am his wife. That's what I'm here to do.

Some may sneer at these small acts of kindness. Some may shake their heads pityingly at this description of servitude. But they don't understand my life or my motivations. They do not know, do not understand that I married my husband for the sake of Allah.

Our goal, from the outset of a marriage arranged by mutual friends, was to help each other to attain Paradise. Nothing more, nothing less.

We went about our marriage the traditional Islamic way. We didn't date, we didn't cohabit, we didn't spend any time alone. We met a few times, in the company of my guardian, asked each other innumerable questions, discussed every issue that was important to us. My husband flew halfway across the world to obtain my parents' consent and we were married, with a marriage contract and a mahr (dowry paid to the bride) but no pomp or ceremony, in a room in Baker Street. >>> Na'ima B. Robert** | Monday, August 24, 2009

*In the name of Allah

**The founder and editor of Sisters Magazine >>>

Libye: Un anniversaire malvenu
leJDD.fr: En Libye, le colonel Kadhafi s'apprête à fêter mardi, le 40e anniversaire de "sa" révolution. Pour l'occasion, de nombreux chefs d'Etat seront présents à Tripoli. Mais en pleine polémique sur la libération de l'auteur de l'attentat de Lockerbie, les dirigeants occidentaux boudent les festivités.

"Sarkozy, Medvedev et Poutine seront de la partie." La semaine dernière, un responsable libyen dressait, pas peu fier, la liste des personnalités censées assister aux festivités du 40e anniversaire de la révolution libyenne, mardi à Tripoli. Mais à la veille de l'événement, la liste des invités se raccourcit. Dès la semaine dernière, Paris et Moscou ont démenti la participation de leurs chefs d'Etat et de gouvernement, la France indiquant qu'elle serait uniquement représentée par son ambassadeur. Tripoli n'a pas vraiment apprécié. Hasard ou nécessité, le Quai d'Orsay a annoncé lundi que le secrétaire d'Etat à la Coopération, Alain Joyandet, représentera finalement la France aux cérémonies. Une décision semble-t-il précipitée: la visite du secrétaire d'Etat en Libye ne figurait pas, en effet, dans son agenda de la semaine, envoyé aux rédactions jeudi dernier.

Avec Tripoli, Parie joue les équilibristes, entre l'envie d'encourager le retour de la Libye sur la scène internationale – inauguré en 2007 par la résolution de l'affaire des infirmières bulgares – et le contexte actuel. La communauté internationale a en effet peu apprécié le retour triomphal réservé en Libye à Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi, l'auteur de l'attentat de Lockerbie – 270 victimes –, libéré de sa prison écossaise pour raison de santé le 20 août dernier. Paris n'a pas non plus oublié la polémique autour de la visite du colonel Kadhafi en France en décembre 2007. Et la désormais célèbre petite phrase de Rama Yade, alors secrétaire d'Etat aux droits de l'Homme: "Notre pays n'est pas un paillasson." >>> Marianne Enault - leJDD.fr | Lundi 31 Août 2009

Sebastian Faulks: Koran Has ‘No Ethics’
The Koran. Photo: The Sunday Times
THE SUNDAY TIMES: THE bestselling author Sebastian Faulks has courted controversy by saying the Koran has “no ethical dimension”.

In an interview with today’s Sunday Times Magazine, he added that the Islamic holy scripture was “a depressing book”, was “very one-dimensional” and unlike the Christian New Testament had “no new plan for life”.

Faulks was speaking in advance of the publication of his novel, A Week in December.

Best known for historical works such as Birdsong and Charlotte Gray, his new novel addresses contemporary London. Its characters include a health fund manager, a literary critic and a Glasgow-born Islamic terrorist recruit. Researching the latter, he read a translation of the Koran which he found “very disappointing from a literary point of view”.

He also criticised the “barrenness” of the Koran’s message and the teachings of the prophet Muhammad, especially when compared with the Bible.

“Jesus, unlike Muhammad, had interesting things to say,” Faulks said.

“He proposed a revolutionary way of looking at the world: love your neighbour; love your enemy; the meek shall inherit the earth. Muhammad had nothing to say to the world other than, ‘If you don’t believe in God you will burn for ever’.”

Criticism of the Koran is regarded as blasphemous by Muslims. [Source: The Sunday Times] | Cathy Galvin | Sunday, August 23, 2009

WWII Remembered While Putin’s Eye Is on Poland

Lockerbie Bomber Filmed 'On His Deathbed'
DAILY RECORD (Scotland): LIBYA yesterday allowed a British TV crew to film the Lockerbie bomber "on his deathbed".

Pictures on Channel 4 News last night showed Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on a drip, connected to a heart monitor and wearing an oxygen mask.

Unshaven Megrahi apparently could not reply when the reporter asked him a question. One of his sons said: "He is deteriorating fast."

But there was no way to independently assess the bomber's condition, and observers suggested it was in Libya's interests to make Megrahi's health look worse than it was. >>> Dave King | Monday, August 31, 2009

40 Jahre Gaddafi: Der «verrückte Hund» feiert seine Revolution
24 MINUTEN ONLINE: Vor 40 Jahren putschte sich Muammar al-Gaddafi in Libyen an die Macht. Lange war der ebenso brutale wie bizarre Diktator isoliert, doch nun sitzt er fester im Sattel denn je. Dafür sprechen auch die Heimholung des Lockerbie-Attentäters und der Kniefall der Schweiz.

Als amtierender Vorsitzender der Afrikanischen Union sonnt sich der meist in quietschbunte Gewänder oder Uniformen gekleidete libysche Staatschef derzeit in der Rolle des «Königs von Afrika». Am 1. September sollen zudem die Feierlichkeiten zum «40. Jahrestag der Revolution» ihren Höhepunkt erreichen. Gaddafi, Jahrgang 1942, hatte 1969 gemeinsam mit einer Gruppe von Offizieren in einem unblutigen Putsch den betagten König Idris I. entmachtet. Seither steuert der Beduinensohn die Geschicke des Landes.

Viele Beobachter erstaunt es, dass sich Gaddafi so lange an der Spitze halten konnte. Seine zwischen Aggressivität und Scheckbuchdiplomatie schwankende Aussenpolitik und die von ihm eingeführte «direkte Volksdemokratie» haben dafür gesorgt, dass der Lebensstandard vieler Libyer heute gering ist, obwohl das Land über grosse Energievorkommen verfügt.

Doch Kritik am autokratischen Führungsstil von «Bruder Führer» hört man höchstens von einem Dutzend libyscher Oppositioneller, die im Exil leben. Parteien sind in Libyen verboten, hunderte Regimegegner sitzen im Gefängnis, Menschenrechtsorganisationen sprechen von Folter und Verschwundenen. Die Medien werden vom Staat kontrolliert. Vorliebe für grosse Auftritte >>> pbl/sda | Samstag, 29. August 2009

Weltkriegs-Beginn: Putin nennt Hitler-Stalin-Pakt «unmoralisch»
20 MINUTEN ONLINE: Der russische Ministerpräsident Wladimir Putin hat den Pakt der Sowjetunion mit Deutschland vom August 1939 als «unmoralisch» verurteilt. Dem Westen gab er eine Mitschuld an Hitlers Angriff auf Polen.

Der Hitler-Stalin-Pakt gilt als Voraussetzung für den deutschen Angriff auf Polen am 1. September 1939, da er zunächst ein Eingreifen der Sowjetunion verhinderte. 1941 brach Deutschland den Pakt und griff auch die Sowjetunion an.

In einem am Montag veröffentlichten Beitrag für die polnische Zeitung «Gazeta Wyborcza» zum 70. Jahrestag des Beginns des Zweiten Weltkriegs warf Putin zugleich Frankreich und Grossbritannien vor, ebenfalls Vereinbarungen mit Adolf Hitler getroffen zu haben. >>> ap | Montag, 31. August 2009

Station Fire Claims 18 Homes and Two Firefighters
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Crews struggle to contain a 42,500-acre blaze that's 'still very much out of control.' The flames have continued to spread despite relatively low winds, and continuing heat will keep them going.

Los Angeles wildfires. Photo: Los Angeles Times
The giant fire in Angeles National Forest continued its slow-motion rampage through the mountains Sunday, causing the deaths of two firefighters as it bore down on the semirural community of Acton and threatened to overrun Mt. Wilson.

The two firefighters were killed when they drove off the side of a treacherous road in the Mt. Gleason area, south of Acton, around 2:30 p.m., said Los Angeles County Deputy Fire Chief Mike Bryant. They were later identified as Arnaldo Quinones, 35, of Palmdale and Tedmund Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County.

"This accident is tragic," Bryant said, choking up as he spoke Sunday evening. "This is a very difficult time for L.A. County Fire Department and the men and women that serve day in, day out."

The fire had churned through more than 42,500 acres of chaparral and forest, from the edge of metropolitan Los Angeles up to pine-clad ridges and down toward the Mojave desert. More than 12,500 homes were threatened and 6,600 were under mandatory evacuation orders Sunday night. Eighteen residences have been destroyed, fire officials said, mostly in the Big Tujunga Canyon area.

The fire was 5% contained, officials said, and at least temporarily eased off the foothill communities from La Cañada Flintridge to Altadena.

Much of Sunday turned into a blistering-hot waiting game for firefighters, who were trying to determine where the fire would move next. Rather than battling the flames in the sheer granite canyons of the interior, with heavy vegetation more than 40 years old in many areas, they cut fire lines near threatened neighborhoods.

"In this rugged, steep terrain, with this brush as thick as it is, we are having difficulties establishing containment lines where we can make a stand," said Capt. Mark Savage, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. "This fire is still very much out of control." >>> By Jessica Garrison, Alexandra Zavis and Joe Mozingo | Monday, August 31, 2009

Merkel Victory in Doubt after Left-wing Surge in Regional Elections
TIMES ONLINE: Germany’s lacklustre national election campaign was thrown open last night when left-wing parties made a surprise surge in two key regional states.

Early results from elections in Thuringia and Saarland showed that Chancellor Angela Merkel will face a much stronger opposition than expected in the general election. Political pundits had assumed that Ms Merkel would be a shoo-in on September 27 and that she was poised to rule Germany with a coalition of Christian Democrats and the small, pro-business Free Democrats.

But her Christian Democrat Party was hit hard by voters in what seemed to be a general protest against the conservative party identified with a tarnished financial and banking elite. Suddenly, the terms of this national election campaign have changed.

Ms Merkel remains the most popular politician in the country but it is now unclear with what coalition she intends to rule and how she will realise her dream of introducing a “progressive conservatism” to Germany.

“These results show that there is no support in the country for a coalition between Christian Democrats and Free Democrats,” said Frank Walter Steinmeier, leader of the centre-left Social Democrats, Ms Merkel’s main rivals. “It also shows what an unreliable indicator opinion polls have become. We will fight for outright victory on September 27.”

What seemed to be emerging last night was the prospect of a left-wing coalition governing in two important regional states. >>> Roger Boyes in Berlin | Monday, August 31, 2009

President Ahmadinejad Criticised as He Puts Together New Cabinet
TIMES ONLINE: The cracks in Iran’s political establishment became clear yesterday as conservatives came out strongly against President Ahmadinejad’s choices for Cabinet.

In the first day of confirmation proceedings in parliament, MPs repeatedly questioned the President’s picks, accusing him of choosing unquestioning loyalists over those properly qualified for the job.

Mr Ahmadinejad is tasked with forming a new Government amid unprecedented opposition following his disputed election victory. He has been under assault from reformist minded rivals and mass public opposition since the election but in recent weeks conservatives have joined the open defiance, voicing their anger at his monopolisation of key Government posts.

MPs from both sides joined in the attack in the first day of what looks to be a deeply contentious confirmation process ending with a vote on Tuesday. >>> Catherine Philp, Diplomatic Correspondent | Monday, August 31, 2009

Berlusconi chez Kadhafi malgré tout
Berlusconi et le colonol Kadhafi. Crédits photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: Juste avant les célébrations du 40e anniversaire de l’arrivée au pouvoir du colonel Kadhafi et une année après le premier anniversaire du traité d’amitié entre l’Italie et la Libye, le président du Conseil italien s’est rendu à Tripoli pour dîner avec le leader libyen

En dépit des critiques d’une partie de l’opposition, des organisations non gouvernementales et de l’irritation de l’allié américain, Silvio Berlusconi n’a pas renoncé à sa fête d’anniversaire. Un an après la signature du traité d’amitié entre Rome et Tripoli qui a officiellement mis fin au contentieux post-colonial moyennant entre autres le versement par l’Italie de 5 milliards de dollars de dédommagements, le président du Conseil, qui est à l’origine de cet accord histo­rique, s’est rendu quelques heures dimanche en Libye pour y rencontrer le colonel Kadhafi. Il en a profité pour poser la première pierre de l’autoroute qui devra être construite, aux frais de la Péninsule, le long de la côte et a ensuite dîné avec le «guide de la révolution» pour célébrer la fin du ramadan.

Malgré l’accueil triomphal réservé le 21 août, à son arrivée en Libye, à l’ancien terroriste Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, qui a profondément choqué la Grande-Bretagne et les Etats-Unis (Barack Obama a parlé de scènes «hautement déplaisantes»), Silvio Berlusconi n’a pas modifié son programme. Ses collaborateurs ont même confirmé que les «Flèches tricolores», patrouille acrobatique et fleuron de l’aéronautique italienne, participeront, mardi 1er septembre, à la célébration du 40e anniversaire de l’accession au pouvoir du colonel Kadhafi. >>> Eric Jozsef | Lundi31 Août 2009

LE TEMPS:
Al-Megrahi promet de nouvelles révélations >>> Jean-Claude Péclet | Lundi31 Août 2009

Iran: Chamenei kündigt Strafen gegen Demonstranten an
WELT ONLINE: Das geistliche Oberhaupt im Iran, Ayatollah Ali Chamenei, will Gewalt von und gegen Demonstranten während der Wahl-Proteste bestrafen lassen. Wer "strafbare Handlungen" begangen habe, werde genauso nach Recht und Gesetz zu Verantwortung gezogen, wie diejenigen, die sich dem Staat widersetzt hätten.

Das geistliche Oberhaupt des Irans, Ajatollah Ali Chamenei, hat sich im Zusammenhang mit der umstrittenen Wiederwahl von Präsident Mahmud Ahmadinedschad für die Bestrafung von Gewalt auf beiden Seiten ausgesprochen.

Nach Angaben des Senders Press TV sagte Chamenei am Sonntag, alle die nach der Wahl Opfer von Gewalt geworden seien, müssen wissen, dass die Führung keine Absicht habe, Konzessionen zu machen. Wer Verbrechen und Gräueltaten begangen habe, werde seine gerechte Strafe erhalten, ebenso wie diejenigen, die sich dem Staat widersetzt hätten. >>> AFP/dpa/dcs | Montag, 31. August 2009

L'ancien premier ministre israélien Ehoud Olmert inculpé pour corruption
LE MONDE: Le procureur général de l'Etat d'Israël a annoncé, dimanche 30 août, avoir retenu trois chefs d'inculpation de corruption contre l'ex-premier ministre israélien, Ehoud Olmert. "Le dossier d'inculpation a été présenté aujourd'hui dimanche au tribunal de district de Jérusalem", indique le bureau du procureur général Menahem Mazouz, précisant que M. Olmert est accusé de fraude, d'abus de confiance et de non-déclaration de revenus. Sa secrétaire personnelle, Shula Zaken, est également inculpée.

En septembre, dans le dossier le plus grave, les enquêteurs de la police avaient indiqué qu'ils disposaient d'éléments prouvant que M. Olmert avait reçu illégalement de l'argent de l'homme d'affaires américain Morris Talansky. "L'enquête a montré que Talansky a versé d'importantes sommes d'argent en liquide et de façon illégale à Olmert pendant des années, au moins à partir de 1997", alors qu'il était maire de Jérusalem, ministre de l'industrie et du commerce, expliquait le communiqué de la police. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP, Reuters et AP | Dimanche 30 Août 2009

Italy: La dolce vita Dampened by Excess Alcohol
ADN KRONOS INTERNATIONAL (AKI): Italy's passion for La Dolce vita seems to have been dampened by excess. There are now an estimated 60,000 alcoholics across the country and 1.5 million Italians between the age of 11 and 24 are at risk of alcohol abuse.

Now Italy's two biggest cities, Rome and Milan, have introduced new regulations to restrict alcohol consumption, particularly among young people, to tackle the problem.

The northern city of Milan took the initiative in July and banned the consumption and sale of alcohol to young teenagers in an effort to stop binge drinking.

Parents of children under the age of 16 caught drinking wine or spirits will be liable to heavy fines of up to 500 euros.

Now the city of Rome and local merchants have agreed to a new protocol designed to limit the sale of alcohol to teenagers and monitor consumption.

Under the new regulations it will be illegal to sell alcohol to anyone under the age of 16 and anyone serving alcohol must be at least 18 years of age.

If the city's nightclubs want to stay open until 5 a.m. they must also follow this new protocol or their late licence will be revoked.

Emanuela Lancianese, a spokeswoman for Rome city council, told Adnkronos International (AKI) that excessive alcohol consumption had become a serious problem in the Italian capital. >>> Christina Fox | Friday, August 07, 2009

Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Lady?
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: 'Feminine values' are making a comeback but do they have any place in today's world?

The eternal question of what makes a woman a lady has reared its well-coiffed head once again this summer thanks to a raft of new experts queuing up – politely, of course – to tell British women to polish their shoes, mind their p's and q's, and generally be a little more ladylike.

While for many the very idea of ladylike behaviour is outdated, or even risible – as illustrated by the memorable Little Britain sketches in which David Walliams cries: "I am a Laydee" – a controversial book poised to hit UK bookshops next month is seeking to rescue the term from ridicule, advocating a "return to feminine values". This may not be entirely fanciful.

At the same time, sales of the conservative magazine The Lady are soaring, and Miss Debrett, the etiquette authority's new online agony aunt, is offering women a helping hand on everything from weddings to email etiquette.

In her book How to Be a Hepburn in a Hilton World, Jordan Christy laments the rise of the "stupid girls", represented in the public eye by such celebrities as Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, declaring our "current female landscape as "embarrassing, flippant and shallow". >>> Rachel Shields | Sunday, August 30, 2009

Dignitaries from Around the World to Attend 40th Anniversary of the Revolution
THE TRIPOLI POST: Heads of State and Government from Around [sic] the World [sic] to Attend [sic] the 40th Anniversary of the Revolution.

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela will be among a large number of heads of state and government will be visiting Libya this week to take part in the celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Great Al Fateh Revolution.

Among these dignitaries there will also be Malta's President George Abela.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will also visit Libya on September 1.

A statement issued on Thursday by the Foreign Ministry of the Philippines the visit would sustain the excellent ties that have existed between the Philippines and Libya since 1976, when diplomatic ties were first established.

Also special envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Jiang Weixin, also Chinese Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, is to attend the celebration of the 40th anniversary. >>> | Sunday, August 30, 2009

US Envoy Praises Libya for Efforts to Bring Peace to Darfur, Saying: ‘Very Proud to Be Partners with the Libyans’
THE TRIPOLI POST: US envoy Scott Gration praised Libya's role in resolving the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan at a meeting with Egyptian, Libyan and Sudanese officials in Cairo Sunday.

"I'm very impressed and very grateful to the role that the Libyans are playing not only in rebel unification but in bringing peace between Chad and Sudan," he said.

"I see the Libyans have a very positive role... and we are very proud to be partners with the Libyans," he added. >>> | Sunday, August 30, 2009

The New Libya: ليبيا الجديدة

Gaddafi's Gamble - Libya
Watch Journeyman Pictures video here

Les otages de libye rentrent en Suisse aujourd'hui
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: LIBERATION | C'est par un vol régulier depuis la capitale Tripoli que les deux hommes d'affaire suisses en Libye devraient rentrer ce dimanche au pays.

Serait-ce enfin le jour tant attendu? Les deux otages suisses retenus en Libye depuis l'été 2008 sont attendus ce dimanche en Suisse. C'est en tout cas ce qu'affirmait la Radio Suisse Romande à la mi-journée. Comme l'annonçait déjà vendredi le Département des finances du président de la Confédération Hans-Rudolph Merz, Les deux hommes d'affaire sont censés rentrer à bord d'un avion de ligne en provenance de Tripoli, la capitale libyenne. >>> Grégoire Nappey | Dimanche 30 Août 2009

Wie Merz in Tripolis um eine Lösung feilschte: Offerte für ein Treffen mit Ghadhafi abgelehnt
NZZ am Sonntag: Vor der Reise von Bundespräsident Merz nach Tripolis verschärfte Libyen laufend die Forderungen. Nach Unterzeichnung des Vertrages wurde Merz ein Treffen mit Muammar Ghadhafi angeboten. Doch dieser lehnte das überraschende Angebot ab.

Die Verhandlungen waren abgeschlossen, die Pressekonferenz war vorbei. Bundespräsident Hans-Rudolf Merz sass in Tripolis schon im Auto, bereit für die Rückkehr in die Schweiz, als ihm von libyscher Seite doch noch ein Treffen mit Staatschef Muammar Ghadhafi später am Abend in Aussicht gestellt wurde. Das versichert eine glaubwürdige Quelle aus Merz' Umfeld. Der Bundespräsident hat sich darauf erkundigt, wie sicher diese Offerte sei und wann das Treffen stattfinden könne. Als er daraufhin eine ausweichende Antwort und den Hinweis erhielt, es könne noch einige Zeit dauern, bis Ghadhafi Zeit für ihn finde, habe sich Merz zur Abreise entschlossen.

Zugeständnisse Libyens

Dies war der Abschluss eines harten Verhandlungstages, an dem Merz den umstrittenen Vertrag mit dem libyschen Premierminister – statt wie erwartet mit Ghadhafi persönlich – zur Beilegung der durch die Festnahme von Hannibal Ghadhafi und dessen Frau Aline letzten Sommer in Genf ausgelösten Krise unterzeichnet hatte. >>> Stefan Bühler, Pascal Hollenstein | Sonntag, 30. August 2009

Time to Shine Light on a Murky Deal
THE SUNDAY TIMES – Leading Article: It is three weeks since news emerged of the decision to allow the Lockerbie bomber to return to Libya to die, and the sense of unease is growing. Polls show that two-thirds of people in Britain, and a similar proportion in Scotland, where the decision was made, think the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds was wrong.

Legal and quasi-judicial decisions often spark outrage. Kenny MacAskill, Scotland’s justice secretary, had to defend his decision last week in the Scottish parliament. What has increased the sense of unease is the strong suspicion that the release was the direct result of deals done in the desert between Tony Blair and Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, the Libyan leader, deals subsequently refined by British government ministers.

Today we report on a letter written by Jack Straw, Britain’s justice secretary, to his Scottish counterpart in December 2007. In it he overturned a previous understanding that Mr Megrahi was exempt from a prisoner transfer programme agreed between Britain and Libya as part of the Blair-Gadaffi discussions. A few months earlier the government had been clear on that exemption. Lord Falconer, then lord chancellor, wrote to Alex Salmond, the leader of the Scottish National party, saying Libya had agreed that the Lockerbie bomber would serve out his sentence in Scotland.

What changed? The strong circumstantial evidence is that a lucrative agreement to allow BP to explore for oil off the Libyan coast was being held up by Mr Megrahi’s exemption from the prisoner transfer programme. The idea that the Westminster government had no view and no influence is not credible. >>> | Sunday, August 30, 2009

MI6 Agent Joined Disgraced BP Boss in Secret Meetings with Gaddafi
Lord Brown and Gaddafi. Photos: Mail On Sunday
This is the same Lord Brown who struck up a 'close friendship' with Peter Mandelson's then partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva from Brazil. Peter Mandelson has been flitting about the world to attend parties of the rich and famous (and sometimes infamous). It is known that he had at least two meetings with Seif ul-Islam before the deal to release Megraho was struck.

It is difficult to tell precisely, of course, without being privy to far more detail; but can't it be said that there appears to be here at least one common thread on the British side? – ©Mark

MAIL ON SUNDAY: New questions about the extent of the Government’s involvement in the trade deals that led to the release of the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, were raised last night with the revelation that an MI6 agent flew to Libya with former BP boss Lord Browne for two cloak-and-dagger meetings with Colonel Gaddafi.

Jeff Chevalier, the ex-lover of Lord Browne, has told The Mail on Sunday that Browne was ‘shocked’ when the agent made a reference to his relationship with Mr Chevalier, indicating the authorities knew about their liaison, which was a closely guarded secret.

Mr Chevalier said Lord Browne also referred to Mark Allen, the MI6 counter-terrorism chief at the centre of the secret talks between Libya and Britain, who now works for BP.

But he did not know if Allen was the agent who accompanied the peer to Libya.

Lord Browne’s secret missions started shortly after international sanctions were lifted on Libya in 2003, prompting an ‘oil rush’ by companies keen to win lucrative contracts – and with the Government lobbying hard on BP’s behalf.

Although Gaddafi agreed to hand over Megrahi for trial as part of negotiations to lift sanctions, oil industry insiders claim BP’s attempts to win business were hampered by objections to the Lockerbie bomber’s detention.

Mr Chevalier, who spent four years in a relationship with Lord Browne, recalled that the BP boss made his first trip to Libya accompanied by the unnamed MI6 agent. >>> Glen Owen | Sunday, August 30, 2009

Related:

A sad end to an illustrious career: Lord John Browne could face charges of perjury >>> BBC | Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Gay Soap Opera >>> Friday, June 01, 2007

Watch BBC video: BP chief executive resigns >>>

Muammar Gadaffi’s Son to Move to Britain
THE SUNDAY TIMES: SAIF GADAFFI, the son of the Libyan ruler, is moving his burgeoning media empire to London as he seeks to capitalise on blossoming trade ties with Britain.

Gadaffi, who escorted Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the freed Lockerbie bomber, from Scotland to Tripoli, has bought a £10m home in Hampstead, north London.

Staff at Gadaffi’s television news company, Al Mutawassit, are moving to the UK — with the first broadcast planned this week — and their boss is expected to follow. Ultimately, it aims to rival Al-Jazeera, the leading Arab news channel, with the launch of a website and newspaper.

Whitehall sources confirmed that Gadaffi, 37, had been granted a UK visitor’s visa that allows him to stay in Britain for up to six months. >>> Kevin Dowling | Sunday, August 30, 2009

Revealed: Lockerbie Link to Oil Exploration Deal
THE SUNDAY TIMES: The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal.

Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards.

The letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to Kenny MacAskill, his counterpart in Scotland, who has been widely criticised for taking the formal decision to permit Megrahi’s release.

The correspondence makes it plain that the key decision to include Megrahi in a deal with Libya to allow prisoners to return home was, in fact, taken in London for British national interests.

Edward Davey, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, said: “This is the strongest evidence yet that the British government has been involved for a long time in talks over al-Megrahi in which commercial considerations have been central to their thinking.”

Two letters dated five months apart show that Straw initially intended to exclude Megrahi from a prisoner transfer agreement with Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, under which British and Libyan prisoners could serve out their sentences in their home country.

In a letter dated July 26, 2007, Straw said he favoured an option to leave out Megrahi by stipulating that any prisoners convicted before a specified date would not be considered for transfer.

Downing Street had also said Megrahi would not be included under the agreement.

Straw then switched his position as Libya used its deal with BP as a bargaining chip to insist the Lockerbie bomber was included.

The exploration deal for oil and gas, potentially worth up to £15 billion, was announced in May 2007. Six months later the agreement was still waiting to be ratified.

On December 19, 2007, Straw wrote to MacAskill announcing that the UK government was abandoning its attempt to exclude Megrahi from the prisoner transfer agreement, citing the national interest. >>> Jason Allardyce | Sunday, August 30, 2009

Opinion: Kingdom of Hatred
YNET NEWS: Anti-Israel sentiments have been rife in Sweden even before controversial tabloid report

There is no need for a blood libel like the one published by Aftonbladet to realize they don’t like us in Sweden. In the country that likes to present itself as equal and neutral, Israel is considered the greatest nemesis of our time.

It is difficult to find media reports that show at least the required neutrality of a news report. For example, stories about terror attacks during the Intifada did not always note the perpetrator was a suicide bomber, but rather, that “four Israelis and a Palestinians were killed in an explosion,” as if the poor Palestinian just happened to be at the scene of the blast.

When we did find a report about Israeli victims, it was immediately complemented by a long item about Palestinians whose house was razed. In those reports it was clear who deserves the sympathy, and it wasn’t us.

Why is it happening? At times this is indeed about legitimate political criticism, yet in other cases political criticism is merely a veneer for classic anti-Semitism. The Jewish community in Sweden is small and barely speaks up in defense of Israel, while the Israeli presence in the country is minimal.

On the other hand, there are many Muslim immigrants in the country. The result is hatred for Israel, which in many cases is felt by people fed by the anti-Israeli media and Palestinian propaganda.

And this hatred is easily felt: In some stores, the fact that fruits and vegetables on offer arrived from Israel is not noted, for fear they will be damaged on the shelves. Meanwhile, wine produced in the Golan Heights and sold in the national alcoholic beverage chain faced a consumer boycott. In the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, hate mail and hateful phone calls are routine. >>> Adi Porat | Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Kennedy Funeral Mass Begins

Nato-Chef Rasmussen lobt in der Türkei das Fasten
WELT ONLINE: Wenn Nato-Generalsekretär Anders Fogh Rasmussen in die Türkei kommt, ruhen die Augen der Gläubigen auf ihm und erwarten Verbeugungen in Richtung Islam. Bei seinem Besuch lobte jetzt der Däne die Vorzüge des Fastens – entschuldigte sich aber nicht nach dem Streit um die Mohammed-Karikaturen.

Einst hatte sich Anders Fogh Rasmussen gegen den türkischen EU-Beitritt ausgesprochen, und es abgelehnt, sich in der aufgeregten Debatte um die Mohammed-Karikaturen 2006 für Dänemark zu entschuldigen, oder gegen die dänischen Karikaturisten oder Medien vorzugehen, die Karikaturen des Propheten Mohammed veröffentlicht hatten.

Aus all diesen Gründen hatte die Türkei sich zunächst gegen seine Ernennung zum Nato-Generalsekretär ausgesprochen und erst zugestimmt, als unter anderem angeblich ein Versprechen gegeben worden war, Rasmussen werde sich in irgendeiner Weise entschuldigen und um eine Verbesserung der Beziehungen der Nato zur islamischen Welt bemüht sein.

Eine Entschuldigung hat er bislang nicht geboten, aber an Gebärden des Entgegenkommens mangelte es nicht, als er am Donnerstag für zwei Tage nach Ankara kam. Zurzeit ist Ramadan, und er nahm an einem abendlichen Fastenbrechen der islamisch geprägten Regierungspartei AKP teil. Er hielt dabei eine Rede, von der einige Zeitungen festhielten, er habe sich über die Vorzüge des Fastens geäußert, und von seinem großen Respekt für den Islam gesprochen, den er „eine der größten Religionen der Welt” nannte. Von Ministerpräsident Erdogan musste er sich ein Zitat des islamischen Mystikers Mevlana aus dem 13. Jahrhundert anhören, in dem fast Zweifel an der Ehrlichkeit des Nato-Chefs anklangen: „Zeig Dich wie Du bist, oder sei wie Du dich zeigst”. >>> Von Boris Kalnoky | Freitag, 28. August 2009

Kadhafi ne plantera pas sa tente en Amérique
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: NEW YORK | Le numéro un libyen Mouammar Kadhafi a accepté de ne pas planter sa tente de bédouin le mois prochain dans le New Jersey.

Il devait s'installer dans une banlieue de New York où résident des parents de victimes de l’attentat de Lockerbie.

Le dirigeant libyen a prévu de participer fin septembre à New York à l’Assemblée générale de l’ONU, pour la première fois depuis 40 ans, et les habitants d’Englewood, 30 000 habitants, craignaient qu’il ne s’installe pendant la durée de son séjour sur un terrain que possède la Libye dans la commune.

"Je suis très heureux que Mouammar Kadhafi ait apparemment renoncé à venir à Engelwood", a affirmé vendredi le parlementaire Steve Rothman, notant que "sa présence aurait posé des problèmes de sécurité pour les habitants d’Englewood et les diplomates libyens".

Englewood abrite plusieurs familles de victimes de l’attentat de Lockerbie, qui avait fait 270 morts en 1988, et qui ont été choquées par l’accueil triomphal réservé récemment par M. Kadhafi à Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi, condamné pour l’attentat et libéré pour raisons de santé. >>> AFP | Samedi 29 Août 2009

Beduinenzelt von Ghadhafi in New York nicht willkommen
NZZ ONLINE: Libyens Staatschef verzichtet auf Camping während Uno-Vollversammlung

Nach Protesten von amerikanischen Politikern will der libysche Staatschef Muammar al-Ghadhafi während seines Besuchs bei der Uno-Vollversammlung sein Beduinenzelt offenbar nicht in einem New Yorker Vorort aufschlagen. >>> sda/afp | Samstag, 29. August 2009

«Ted Kennedy, homme fantasque et poids lourd politique»

Watch AP video: Final farewell to Kennedy >>> | Saturday, August 29, 2009

GLOBE AND MAIL – Photo gallery: The Kennedy funeral; Mourners gather to say goodbye to Ted Kennedy >>>

Washington Converges on Boston for Kennedy Funeral
REUTERS: BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. presidents, members of Congress and the public gathered on a rainy Saturday to say goodbye to Senator Edward Kennedy, a towering figure in American politics who contributed to major social changes in the United States over the last 50 years.

Senators and U.S. representatives of both political parties joined the large Irish-American Kennedy clan, the country's pre-eminent political dynasty, at a Roman Catholic basilica for a funeral where President Barack Obama was to deliver the eulogy.

Dozens of lawmakers from the last several decades -- many of whom had been Kennedy's fiercest foes on legislation -- attended the traditional Catholic funeral Mass in the stone, 130-year-old Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica.

Mourners -- from Hollywood star Jack Nicholson to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer -- packed the white and gold interior of the church beneath soaring arches and stained glass.

Obama and former presidents Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton sat at the front with their wives.
Since Kennedy's death on Tuesday of brain cancer at age 77, Americans have staged a series of memorials to the last of the Kennedy brothers, and his death has been treated like the passing of a president. >>> Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Scott Malone | Saturday, August 29, 2009

Iran: Les hésitations de l'AIEA
leJDD.fr: Dans un rapport publié vendredi, l'Agence internationale de l'énergie atomique (AIEA) estime que le programme nucléaire iranien représente toujours une menace, et ce, en dépit des récents efforts faits par Téhéran.

Peut mieux faire. C'est en substance le message délivré vendredi à l'Iran par l'Agence internationale de l'énergie atomique (AIEA). Dans un rapport confidentiel dont l'agence Reuters a obtenu copie, les experts de l'AIEA relèvent les récents efforts faits par la République islamique en matière de nucléaire, mais leur conclusion n'a pas varié d'un iota depuis leurs dernières enquêtes: le programme nucléaire iranien représente toujours une menace pour le reste du monde. Ainsi, si les autorités iraniennes ont autorisé une surveillance accrue des installations de Natanz, site d'enrichissement d'uranium, elles ont, dans le même temps, installé un millier de nouvelles centrifugeuses, portant leur parc total à 8308 unités. Pour l'heure non exploitées, elles permettent, en théorie, à l'Iran d'accélérer ses activités d'enrichissement d'uranium, première étape, craint la communauté internationale, vers la mise au point d'une bombe atomique.

Dans son rapport, l'AIEA s'inquiète également des activités en cours sur le site d'Arak. Certes, Téhéran a autorisé ce mois-ci, et pour la première fois depuis un an, des inspecteurs de l'ONU à visiter le réacteur nucléaire à eau lourde qui s'y trouve. Mais les experts relèvent que depuis, la République islamique refuse de leur fournir davantage de précisions sur la nature du programme. L'AIEA craint que ce réacteur ne soit configuré de manière à retraiter du plutonium pour fabriquer des armes nucléaires, en sus de la centrale de Natanz. Et d'insister, dans son rapport, sur la dimension militaire du nucléaire iranien. Les autorités iraniennes assurent, elles, que leurs activités nucléaires n'ont qu'une visée civile, notamment pour produire de l'électricité. "Une litanie de tentatives d'obstruction" >>> M.E (avec Reuters) - leJDD.fr | Samedi 29 Août 2009

Attentat de Lockerbie: Les incohérences de la piste libyenne
LE TEMPS: La «piste libyenne» dans l’attentat contre le vol de la Pan Am en 1988 est minée d’incohérences et la libération récente du «coupable», atteint de cancer, arrange pas mal de monde. Un ingénieur suisse au cœur du procès et un professeur autrichien, parmi d’autres, contestent la version officielle depuis des années.

«Répugnant», «un outrage», «insulte à la vraie pitié». Depuis la libération d’Abdelbaset al-Megrahi le 20 août, la colère ne faiblit pas. Comment ose-t-on relâcher – même pour raisons humanitaires (cancer en phase terminale) – le terroriste qui a tué 270 personnes en glissant une bombe dans la soute du vol Pan Am 103?

Vingt et un ans après l’attentat de Lockerbie, les blessures se rouvrent. L’accueil triomphal d’Al-Megrahi en Libye est un acide versé sur la plaie, de même que les déclarations de Saïf Kadhafi, fils de Mouammar, qui qualifie Lockerbie d’«histoire ancienne. La prochaine étape, c’est un commerce fructueux et productif avec Edimbourg et Londres». Du coup, le pèlerinage des chefs d’Etat à Tripoli pour célébrer les quarante ans de la «grande révolution» devient le théâtre de la honte.

Sans doute entre-t-il beaucoup de realpolitik cynique dans le drôle de dénouement de l’affaire Lockerbie. Reste surtout une question: et si ce n’était pas la Libye qui avait fait le coup? Coups de théâtre >>> Jean-Claude Péclet | Samedi 29 Août 2009

Bishop of Rochester: Church of England Must Do More to Counter Twin Threats of Secularism and Radical Islam
THE TELEGRAPH: Traditional British society is under threat from the rise of aggressive secularism and radical Islam, one of the Church of England's most outspoken bishops has warned as he steps down.

The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, who ends his time as Bishop of Rochester next week, said the established religion must speak out more to preserve the country’s Christian heritage and offer moral guidance to the masses.

He also claimed that liberal Anglicans around the world who are following contemporary culture rather than the teachings of the Bible are effectively following a different faith.

Dr Nazir-Ali, who was born in Pakistan, became the Church’s first Asian bishop when he was appointed to Rochester in 1994 and came to be seen as a contender for the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

However the job went to Dr Rowan Williams and as the global Anglican Communion tore itself apart over the ordination of homosexual clergy, Dr Nazir-Ali instead became known as one of its leading conservative voices.

Last year he claimed some parts of Britain had become “no-go areas” for non-Muslims, and boycotted a once-a-decade gathering of senior Anglicans in protest at the presence of liberal American bishops.

In a final interview with The Daily Telegraph before stepping down on Tuesday, Dr Nazir-Ali said he did not believe the history of the church would have been different had he been given the most important job in Anglicanism.

“This is not about one man – these are currents in culture and they happen in different ages.

“I am happy that I’ve been able to do what I’ve been asked to do.”

But he also said that the Church of England, which is used to working with society, should speak up more often to defend the country’s customs and institutions, most of which are based on Christian teaching. >>> Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, August 29, 2009

Lockerbie Bomber: 'I Want a Public Inquiry'
THE TELEGRAPH: Abdel Baset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, has backed calls for a public inquiry into the atrocity.

Megrahi, 57, said it was "unfair" to the victims' families not to have an inquiry into the bombing.

Speaking from a bed in his home in Tripoli, Libya, he told The Herald newspaper: "I support the issue of a public inquiry if it can be agreed.

"In my view, it is unfair to the victim's families that this has not been heard. It would help them to know the truth. The truth never dies. If the UK guaranteed it, I would be very supportive."

Dr Jim Swire, whose 23-year-old daughter Flora died in the disaster, has frequently called for a full public inquiry.

Megrahi added: "I would want to help Dr Swire and the others with the documents I hold.

"My feeling is that the UK Government will avoid a public inquiry because it would be a headache for them and the Americans and it would show how much the Americans have been involved and it would also cost them a lot of money which they may not want to spend because of the recession." >>> | Saturday, August 29, 2009

Editorial: Lockerbie Terrorist's Release Is an Ugly Act of 'Mercy'
LOS ANGELES TIMES: The muted U.S. reaction to the bomber's repatriation to Libya adds to the insult to justice.

The release by Scotland of Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi, who was expected to spend his life in prison for the 1988 bombing of a Pan American jetliner, was merciful, certainly, but an outrage nonetheless. The "compassionate release” of the terminally ill Libyan terrorist showed no compassion for relatives of the 270 people killed when the jet exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. Compounding their trauma was the muted protest of the Obama administration.

Instead of viewing the special relationship between the United States and Britain as a cause for candor, the president, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. resorted to diplomatic circumlocution. The president called Megrahi's release "a mistake" and was reduced to asking Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi not to treat Megrahi as a hero and to place him under house arrest. Clinton issued a statement calling the release "deeply disappointing." Holder shifted into passive voice to say that the interests of justice "have not been served by this decision."

This country has a special interest in punishment for Megrahi because 189 of the victims were Americans, including 35 Syracuse University students returning home for the Christmas season. But whatever their nationality, they were innocent victims of an attack that virtually defined the term "terrorism." For many of their families, a life sentence was the minimum punishment to be meted out to Megrahi. His release and repatriation after serving only eight years thus upends their expectations and undermines the argument that life in prison is an acceptable alternative to execution. >>> Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times | Friday, August 21, 2009