Tuesday, February 22, 2011
SKY NEWS: Libya's embattled leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has said he has no intention of stepping down "like other leaders have", declaring on state TV: "I will die here as a martyr." >>> | Tuesday, February 22, 2011
SKY NEWS: Libya's embattled leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has said he has no intention of stepping down "like other leaders have", declaring on state TV: "This is my country and the country of our ancestors". >>> | Tuesday, February 22, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – CON COUGHLIN: Now that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan dictator’s second son and heir apparent, has shown his true colours by declaring he will fight “until the last bullet” to defeat the pro-democracy protests sweeping his country, it is amusing to see how all his former friends are rushing to abandon him.
Saif’s overnight transformation from the cool Mediterranean dude who preached the virtues of democratic rule to the shambolic figure who appeared on Libyan television on Sunday night has caused particular consternation at the LSE, his alma mater and the recipient of a £1.5million gift from the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation. Read on and comment >>> Con Coughlin | Tuesday, February 22, 2011
BBC: UK university reviews funding from Libya: The London School of Economics has said it is reconsidering its links with Libya "as a matter of urgency". >>> Katherine Sellgren, BBC News education reporter | Tuesday, February 22, 2011
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: DUBAI--King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia returned to his country Tuesday after a three-month absence for medical treatment, potentially signaling he will play a more active role as the country deliberates its response to the turmoil sweeping across the Arab world.Although the oil-rich kingdom has escaped the sort of unrest unleashed in Egypt, Libya or Tunisia, there have been signs of domestic discontent over high unemployment, as well as some nervousness that Saudi Arabia's Shiite Muslim minority could be inspired by the protests of their co-religionist neighbors in Bahrain.
During the king's prolonged absence from the kingdom, analysts had voiced worries that the country's other ageing leaders—notably the defense minister Prince Sultan and the interior minister Prince Nayef—could struggle to react with agility to the regional challenges and to any big protests at home.
Since King Abdullah left in November for two operations on a herniated disc, Saudi Arabia has lost a key regional ally with the toppling of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak earlier this month.
Scholars and analysts have said the royal family will be particularly worried by the protests that have shaken Bahrain—the only member of the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council so far to have been affected by the regional unrest. The tiny island kingdom is linked to Saudi Arabia by a 16-mile causeway and has a majority Shiite population who are ruled by a Sunni royal family.
Although Saudi Arabia is mostly Sunni, its own Shia minority mainly live in the oil-rich east of the country adjacent to Bahrain and historically have shared some of their neighbors' anger over religious discrimination and lack of opportunities. Read on and comment >>> Angus McDowall | Tuesday, February 22, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Prime minister will tell Kuwait national assembly that Britain was wrong to prop up 'highly controlling regimes' as [a] way of ensuring stabilityBritain has been guilty of a prejudice bordering on racism for believing that Muslims cannot manage democracy, David Cameron will say as he recasts foreign policy in light of protests across the Arab world.
In a speech at the national assembly in Kuwait, the prime minister will abandon decades of so-called "camel corps" diplomacy by saying Britain was wrong to prop up "highly controlling regimes" as a way of ensuring stability.
Cameron – who is facing anger in the UK for placing defence exports at the heart of his long-planned visit to the Gulf – will use the speech to show that Britain is promoting political reform in the region.
The prime minister, who attended a ceremony in Kuwait with Sir John Major to mark the 20th anniversary of the first Gulf war, said: "Now, once again, this region is the epicentre of momentous changes, but pursued in a very different way. History is sweeping through your neighbourhood."
Cameron, who on Monday visited the scene of the demonstrations in Tahrir Square in Cairo that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, said the protests had highlighted a hunger for freedom across the Middle East.
He depicted the protests as "movements of the people" that were not ideological or extremist.
But he indicated that the demonstrations presented a challenge for Britain as he dismissed as a "false choice" the old calculation that authoritarian regimes needed to be supported as the price of ensuring stability.
"For decades, some have argued that stability required controlling regimes and that reform and openness would put that stability at risk," Cameron said.
"So, the argument went, countries like Britain faced a choice between our interests and our values. And to be honest, we should acknowledge that sometimes we have made such calculations in the past."
He added: "But I say that is a false choice. As recent events have confirmed, denying people their basic rights does not preserve stability – rather, the reverse."
The prime minister said Britain and other western countries cannot impose any democratic model on the Arab world, but stressed: "That's not an excuse, as some would argue, to claim that Arabs or Muslims can't do democracy – the so-called Arab exception.
"For me, that's a prejudice that borders on racism. It's offensive and wrong and it's simply not true." >>> Nicholas Watt in Kuwait | Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Related >>>
Read my essay on Islam and Democracy, Mr. Cameron. You might learn something! >>>
My comment:
I find Cameron’s naïveté and ignorance of the Islamic world staggering! I also find it rather unnerving that a man so ignorant in Middle Eastern affairs at this important juncture in the history of the Middle East, and the world, could be my prime minister! Doesn’t Cameron know anything about the meaning of democracy? Doesn’t Cameron think that there might be a very good reason why democracy has never taken hold in all these Muslim countries? Is he so naïve as to think that this is a co-incidence?
It wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to start reading some books in your spare time, Mr. Cameron, especially on Islam, and on Middle Eastern affairs. You might learn something as you read. Now that would be a good thing! – © Mark
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain and the US have contributed to instability in the Middle East by supporting autocratic regimes that suppress human rights, David Cameron has said.
The Prime Minister said that popular uprisings now flaring across the Middle East showed the West had been wrong to support dictators and oppressive regimes.
Speaking to the Kuwaiti Parliament, Mr Cameron said Britain would back democracy campaigners seeking greater rights across the Middle East.
"History is sweeping through your neighbourhood," he said. "Not as a result of force and violence, but by people seeking their rights, and in the vast majority of cases doing so peacefully and bravely."
Britain and other Western countries supported Hosni Mubarak, ousted by protests in Egypt. They have also backed authoritarian regimes in the Gulf region, making few efforts to push allies towards democratic reform.
That approach was wrong and counter-productive, Mr Cameron said. Read on and comment >>> James Kirkup, in Kuwait City | Tuesday, February 22, 2011
My comment:
Cameron's diapers must be in the wash. And where is that cotton wool? I have the urge to wipe dry the back of his ears!
Does this man seriously think that the Palestinians are ever going to be satisfied with a two-state solution? Does he seriously think that the Muslim Arabs, still less the Palestinians, would ever be satisfied to have Jerusalem as the capital of both a future Palestine and Israel. I know the guy smokes cigarettes. But he must have been smoking something much stronger on this occasion! And doesn't he know that not only Iran, but also the Palestinians and most other Arabs want to see the back of Israel altogether? This man is living in cloud cuckoo land!
And what is all this nonsense he is speaking in Kuwait about authoritarian régimes? Does he not realise that Saudi Arabia, Kuwait's neighbour, is the arch-autocratic régime? And what about the state he is speaking in? Does he believe Kuwait to be the bastion of democratic values?
Come on, Mr. Cameron! Get real! Start living in the real world! – © Mark
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FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Im vergangenen Jahr sind nach Schätzungen mehr als 3000 Britinnen zum Islam übergetreten. Die Übertritte erfolgen in einer zunehmend islamfeindlichen Stimmung in Großbritannien.
LE POINT: Le monde arabe est confronté à une révolte sans précédent. Entretien avec le politologue Antoine Basbous.
En Libye, à Bahreïn, au Yémen, mais aussi en Algérie et au Maroc, les mouvements de protestation enflent : après la chute des régimes tunisien et égyptien, l'ensemble du monde arabe fait aujourd'hui face à une vague de contestation qui semble résister jusqu'aux tentatives de répression les plus brutales. Pour le politologue Antoine Basbous, directeur de l'Observatoire des pays arabes, les dictatures usées de la zone ne peuvent avoir raison d'une jeune génération avide de liberté, et qui se jette dans la bataille avec l'aide d'Internet.
Le Point.fr : Comment analysez-vous les événements actuels en Libye ?
Antoine Basbous : De tous les régimes arabes, celui de Kadhafi est le plus usé. Premièrement, parce que son chef exerce un règne absolu depuis 42 ans. Deuxièmement, parce qu'il est orphelin : ses deux voisins autocrates Ben Ali et Moubarak, qu'il a maladroitement soutenus y compris après leur chute, sont très rapidement tombés. Aujourd'hui, la peur a changé de camp. La nouvelle génération est celle d'une jeunesse décomplexée, qui n'a pas subi la répression de ses parents et dispose d'Internet. Grâce à cet outil, il est devenu impossible de mener comme autrefois une répression illimitée, à huis clos, sans que cela se sache. Le "seuil" de la répression s'est établi à trois cents morts, il est devenu trop bas pour empêcher la chute d'un régime. Aujourd'hui, Kadhafi a coupé le téléphone, chassé les rares journalistes étrangers, brouillé toute une série de chaînes autour d'Al Jazeera qui faisaient des directs en continu. Et, malgré cela, des Libyens partent en Tunisie et en Égypte poster ce qu'ils ont réussi à enregistrer depuis leur téléphone portable. Ces dictateurs avaient appris à réprimer des mouvements islamistes. Ils sont confrontés aujourd'hui à leur jeunesse, et une jeunesse connectée au reste du monde. Ils ne savent pas comment réagir. Continuez à lire et écrire un commentaire >>> Le Point.fr | Lundi 21 Février 2011
LE POINT: La haut commissaire des Nations unies aux droits de l'homme, Navi Pillay, a averti mardi les autorités libyennes que "les attaques systématiques contre la population civile pourraient être assimilées à des crimes contre l'humanité".Navi Pillay a exigé mardi l'ouverture d'une "enquête internationale indépendante" sur les violences en Libye et demandé l'"arrêt immédiat des graves violations des droits de l'Homme commises par les autorités libyennes". >>> AFP | Mardi 22 Février 2011
FRANCE 24: Prince Moulay Hicham El Alaoui, a fellow at Stanford University and a cousin of Morocco's King Mohammed VI, tells FRANCE 24 why democratic reforms would be in the interest of the Moroccan monarchy.
Or here:
THE GUARDIAN: Bestselling Turkish novelist Elif Shafak on multiculturalism, eastern stereotypes and the fallacy that democracy cannot work in the Middle East
My comment:
This woman is talking BS! Total and utter BS at that! She conveniently omits the fact that Islam is the dominant religion in the East; and that this religion teaches its own superiority. Moreover, it teaches that Islam must prevail over all other religions, ways of life. "Stagnant" is not the word for these Islamic countries; "fossilized" would be a better, more appropriate word. – © Mark
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THE GUARDIAN: Libya's oil has protected its regime from criticism abroad. But those who support democracy must back our fight for freedom
'Libya is not Tunisia or Egypt. Libya is different, if there is disturbance it will split into several states." These were the words of the son of Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, on Libyan state TV on Sunday.
He is right of course; Libya is not Egypt or Tunisia. It is a country of over 600,000 sq miles of land, populated by less than 7 million people. Since 1969 it has known just one leader – a man who has shown merciless cruelty to anyone who speaks out against him, the regime or the revolution he headed. It is a country built on the foundations of tribal unity and which, despite having the largest oil reserves in Africa, continues to allow two-thirds of its citizens to live below the poverty line. It is also a country that cannot boast of long ties with Europe and the west, having only in the last few years made amends with its neighbours across the Mediterranean after years of US- and UN-imposed sanctions.
After "coming in from the cold" in 2004, European ties with Libya developed rapidly. As it stands Libya is the third biggest supplier of oil to Europe, having recently surpassed Saudi Arabia. Its proximity to Europe, its unexplored terrain and its relative lack of foreign investment made Libya a gem worth cultivating to the oil-dependent economies of the west. The fact that its leader may publicly hang dissident students was of no great concern as long as his philosophy of intolerance extended to, and adequately suppressed, the supposed extreme "threat" of Islamism.
However, the events of the last few days have forced world leaders to re-examine their relationship with the crumbling regime. Accounts of unprovoked sniper attacks on peaceful demonstrators, the use of violent foreign mercenaries as a means of crowd control, live ammunition being shot into crowds of protesters, and the media blackout that tried (unsuccessfully) to prevent the world from finding out, has brought about new focus and attention to the plight of the Libyan people and to the reaction of their inhumane leader.
As he addressed the nation, Saif's feebly masked threats were received angrily by protesters in the streets. His claims that the celebrations of the people of Benghazi, Darnah and al-Bayda had been brought about by drunk and drugged youths led to furious chanting and jeering against Gaddafi and his son. His warnings of the possibility of separatism and civil war evoked slogans emphasising the unity of the Libyan people and their intention to support each other till they had achieved victory. >>> Mohamed Abdul Malek | Monday, February 21, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Ian Black charts the recent history of Libya, from the rise of Gaddafi to Lockerbie to a thaw with the west
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The regime of Col Muammar Gaddafi of Libya is on the verge of collapse, but the dictator has hit out at the “dogs” who claimed he had fled the country.
As the violence intensified and indiscriminate shootings were reported in Tripoli, Gaddafi appeared on state television early on Tuesday to deny “malicious reports” he had fled Libya after several cities fell to opposition forces.
Libyan air force jets launched bombing raids on military bases and, it was claimed, rebel areas in a final attempt to reassert control.
Two colonels in the air force flew their jets to Malta, saying they had refused orders to fire on protesters in the second city Benghazi and wanted to seek asylum.
Senior regime figures, including his public security minister, justice minister and seven ambassadors around the world, also deserted Col Gaddafi. Libya’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Omar al-Dabashi, described his leader’s actions as “genocide” and pleaded for international intervention.
In his brief appearance on Libyan television, where he was filmed leaning out of the back of a car holding an umbrella, Gaddafi claimed he was still in Tripoli. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent, James Kirkup in Kuwait City and Nabila Ramdani in Cairo | Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Related video >>>
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Universities in Texas are set to be forced to allow students and academics to carry guns on campus, in a victory for a firearms lobby unbowed after last month’s massacre in Arizona.
A new law that looks certain to pass through the Texas legislature would mean that its 38 public colleges, which are attended by half a million students, must permit concealed handguns on site.
It would become only the second state, after Utah, to enforce such a rule.
More than 20 states have rejected similar proposals introduced since the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007.
At present, colleges in Texas – along with churches and businesses – are free to ban firearms from their premises. Guns are prohibited from university buildings, dormitories and surrounding grounds.
The plan is likely to astonish most who recall the mass shootings at Virginia Tech, where a student killed 32 people, and in Northern Illinois the following year, where five people were murdered.
It also comes just six weeks after six people were killed and 13, including the US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, were wounded during a shooting spree in a supermarket car park in Tucson, Arizona. >>> Jon Swaine, New York | Monday, February 21, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A major earthquake in the New Zealand city of Christchurch has left at least 65 people dead, hundreds more injured and toppled buildings in what the prime minister has described as "New Zealand's darkest day".
A state of emergency has been declared following the 6.3 magnitude quake, which struck in the middle of the day when office blocks and shopping centres in the city centre were bustling with people.
Rescue workers on Tuesday scrambled to free scores of people trapped in buildings, some crews arriving by helicopter because streets were blocked by rubble and jammed traffic.
Officials fear the death toll could double amid reports that more than 200 were trapped in collapsed buildings and wreckage of homes. Bodies were seen lying in the streets, untended until emergency services were able to reach them.
Bystanders dug with bare hands to rescue survivors trapped under piles of rubble. Some reports said the city had ran out of ambulances, with rescuers forced to use private vehicles.
John Key, the prime minister who has flown to the city, described what he saw as "utter devastation".
"We may be witnessing New Zealand's darkest day," he told reporters.
"The death toll I have at the moment is 65 and that may rise.
"So it's an absolute tragedy for this city, for New Zealand, for the people that we care so much about." >>> Paul Chapman, in Wellington and Bonnie Malkin | Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Watch Telegraph video here
Watch other related videos >>>
Monday, February 21, 2011
THE AUSTRALIAN: THE iron-fisted rule of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was rocked overnight as protests spread to the capital, regime loyalists defected, and colonels fled abroad to defy orders to fire on demonstrators.
Barely a week after his Egyptian neighbour Hosni Mubarak was forced from office, the Middle East's longest-ruling leader sent out a warning that he was ready for a fight to the death, despite signs his grip on power is loosening.
However, Libyan officials were forced to deny that Gaddafi had fled to the country, after British Foreign Secretary William Hague said "information that suggests (Gaddafi) is on his way" to Venezuela. Caracas also issued a denial.
The president of Yemen, another ruler who has chalked up more than three decades in power, also defied calls to quit saying he would only exit if defeated at the ballot box.
And a top exiled opposition figure said he planned to return to Bahrain, fuelling pressure on the ruling royal family for reform.
While there was fresh violence in several Arab cities, the most dramatic events were in Tripoli where heavy gunfire broke out in downtown areas for the first time since the uprising began in eastern Libya last week.
Tripoli residents said by telephone there had been "a massacre" in the Tajura and Fashlum districts, with indiscriminate shooting and women among the dead.
"What happened today in Tajura was a massacre," one resident said. "Armed men were firing indiscriminately. There are even women among the dead," he said, adding mosque loudspeakers were putting out appeals for help. >>> AFP | Tuesday, February 22, 2011
THE AUSTRALIAN: THOUSANDS of Europeans fled the unrest in Libya yesterday and the United States has ordered non-essential personnel to leave the oil-rich north African nation amid escalating violence.
Portugal, Austria and The Netherlands sent military planes to Tripoli to evacuate their nationals and those of other EU states as companies with major interests in the country, including British energy giant BP and Italy's ENI and Finmeccanica, were also set to repatriate their employees.
An Austrian foreign ministry spokesman said regular flights on Austrian Airlines from Tripoli to Vienna were fully booked, adding that the airline would use a larger plane today for the daily round-trip flight.
Russia was to begin evacuating its nationals today, Moscow's emergency situations ministry said. The Russian community totals more than 500.
Earlier yesterday, rail monopoly Russian Railways said that it would evacuate its employees working on a multi-billion euro high-speed railway.
Turkey plans to send four planes and two ferries to evacuate more nationals from Libya after repatriating some 600 at the weekend after rioters stormed construction sites in the Benghazi area, the NTV news channel reported. >>> AFP | Tuesday, February 22, 2011
LE FIGARO: Le gouvernement tunisien a demandé à l'Arabie Saoudite de lui remettre l'ex-raïs, qui serait actuellement dans le coma, ainsi que son épouse, Leïla Trabelsi.La Tunisie, où les ministres de l'Économie, Christine Lagarde, et des Affaires européennes, Laurent Wauquiez, se rendent mardi, a demandé dimanche à l'Arabie saoudite d'extrader Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. Le gouvernement tunisien a fait de même lundi pour l'épouse du président déchu, Leïla Trabelsi. Ben Ali est accusé d'être impliqué dans «plusieurs crimes graves» et d'avoir «semé la discorde entre [les Tunisiens] en les poussant à s'entre-tuer». Ces charges viennent s'ajouter à celles, déjà formulées, pour corruption dans un mandat d'arrêt international lancé fin janvier.
Ben Ali, qui a dirigé le pays pendant vingt-trois ans, a pris la fuite le 14 janvier pour se réfugier à Djedda, port saoudien situé sur les rivages de la mer Rouge. Depuis, ses avoirs ont été gelés à l'étranger et plusieurs membres de sa famille arrêtés.
Alors que les rumeurs sur son état de santé enflaient, un proche de l'ex-raïs avait affirmé jeudi que Ben Ali, âgé de 74 ans, avait été victime d'un accident vasculaire cérébral le 15 février. Dans le coma, il serait soigné dans un hôpital de Djedda. Après avoir estimé que la santé de l'ancien président n'était pas «son affaire», le gouvernement tunisien a changé de pied. Le ministère des Affaires étrangères, qui a été confié lundi à Mouldi Kéfi, a demandé aux autorités saoudiennes des renseignements «dans les plus brefs délais» sur l'état de santé de l'ancien président, voire sur «son décès éventuel». >>> Par Pierre Gastineau | Lundi 21 Février 2011
BBC: Egypt's top prosecutor has requested the freezing of the foreign assets of Hosni Mubarak, 10 days after the president stood down amid mass rallies.
Prosecutor General Abdel Magid Mahmud asked the Egyptian foreign minister to contact other nations on the issue.
He said the freeze would apply to Mr Mubarak, his wife, his two sons and two daughters-in-law. >>> | Monday, February 21, 2011
BBC: As pressure increases on the Libyan government there has been another day of protests outside the embassy in London. A number of employees have begun joining the demonstrators outside and the Libyan flag switched for one that pre-dates Gaddafi's rule.A small but passionate crowd had gathered outside the embassy in Knightsbridge to voice their disapproval of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime.
There was a definite sense among the protesters of a long wait coming to an end.
Earlier, while Col Gaddafi's 'green revolution' flag still hung from the building, the demonstrators had detected a marked change in the behaviour of the building's occupants.
Monday was the first day they had been there without an embassy video camera recording their faces and chants.
It was yet another sign, they said, that the regime was crumbling. >>> Neil Henderson, BBC News | Monday, February 21, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: UNITED NATIONS – Libya's deputy ambassador at the United Nations, surrounded by fellow diplomats, called Monday for Moammar Gadhafi to step down as the country's ruler.
"If he doesn't," deputy ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi warned, "the Libyan people will get rid of him."
Dabbashi spoke as deep cracks appeared in Gadhafi's regime after more than 40 years in power, with a fire raging at the main government hall in the capital, Tripoli, and protesters calling for more demonstrations despite the government's deadly crackdown.
Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, went on state TV in the early hours Monday, vowing to fight and warning in a sometimes confused speech that if protests continue, a civil war will erupt in which Libya's oil wealth "will be burned."
Some diplomats abroad and the justice minister at home resigned.
But Dabbashi said the U.N. diplomats were not resigning because they served the people of Libya and not the regime. Libyan UN diplomats say Gadhafi should step down >>> Edith M. Lederer, AP foreign | Monday, February 21, 2011
LE POINT: Le Quai d'Orsay ne prévoit pas de rapatriement général mais exhorte les 750 Français présents sur place à la prudence.
La France a encouragé lundi ses quelque 750 ressortissants en Libye à rentrer et a réclamé la "cessation immédiate" de violences qui ont fait plus de 200 morts dans le pays. Des discussions sont en cours à Bruxelles pour adopter une position commune de l'Union européenne face au problème de ses ressortissants, a déclaré le porte-parole du ministère français des affaires étrangères.
"Nous discutons de ce sujet avec nos partenaires européens dans le cadre du conseil affaires générales qui se tient actuellement à Bruxelles", a dit Bernard Valero lors d'un point de presse électronique. Paris, qui n'envisage pas pour l'instant d'organiser l'évacuation de ses expatriés, réclame la fin de la répression brutale du mouvement de contestation contre le régime de Mouammar Kadhafi, a-t-il ajouté. >>> SOURCE REUTERS | Lundi 21 Février 2011
DIE PRESSE: Eine Ermittlungskommission entdeckte auf der Jagd nach dem illegalen Vermögen des geflüchteten tunesischen Machthabers Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in der Nähe von Tunis Geld und wertvollen Schmuck in Milliardenhöhe.Tunis Die Ermittler wollten ihren Augen nicht trauen: Auf der Jagd nach dem Vermögen des geflüchteten Machthabers Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali stießen sie in einem Palast nordöstlich der Hauptstadt Tunis auf einen wahren Schatz. Banknoten in Höhe von mehreren Milliarden Euro und Dollar, reihenweise in Stapeln zu 500er-Scheinen geordnet, sowie Schmuck in unschätzbarem Wert: Diamanten, Smaragde und weitere wertvolle Steine. In den Safes hinter der falschen Bücherwand fanden sich außerdem bündelweise tunesische Dinar und ägyptische Pfund.
Eine eigens eingerichtete Kommission sucht seit dem Sturz Ben Alis nach dem illegalen Vermögen des Ex-Machthabers und seines Clans. Vor allem gegen die Familie von Ben Alis Ehefrau Leila Trabelsi werden schwere Korruptionsvorwürfe erhoben. >>> Ag. | Montag, 21. Februar 2011
PRESSEUROP: Terrorism, immigration, the economy: for Europeans, the wave of revolts that have shaken the Arab world is fraught with dangers that are not altogether clear. El País has tried to unravel truth from falsehood.Rare are those who allow themselves to discuss the fact that the support offered by the West for decades to the dictatorships on the southern shores of the Mediterranean is a blotch on their history. The Arab uprisings of recent weeks have put to flight these attitudes, among other debasements. This does not mean, however, that the concerns motivating this Western policy were not and do not continue to be based on very real dangers. The dream of bringing democracy to the Arab world is an exciting one, but the path weaves among yawning chasms that some fear the dream will end up in (and others want it there).
The most obvious and widely discussed fear is that these changes will pave the road to power for Islamist groups hostile to Israel and to the West. However, several factors would appear to hold off that threat, at least in the short term. First is the nature of the events of these last weeks, which have been led by legions of young people aspiring to live in an open and tolerant society, and in which Islamism has not played a leading role. That does not stop some in Europe from raising the spectres of unstable transitions, terrorism, waves of immigration and drug-trafficking that can threaten economic stability and our energy supply.
Certain risks are there, but some experts are insisting there is no need to exaggerate them: the likelihood that they will become reality remains low. All the more reason to face the risks inherent in the bet on democracy with a little courage.
Some issues are more worrisome than others: >>> Andrea Rizzi | Monday, February 21, 2011
PRESSEUROP: EU – LIBYA: High noon with Gaddafi ¬– "If the EU continues to support the protests, Libya will stop cooperating with it on illegal immigration." As summed up by La Repubblica, this is the brunt of the message sent from Tripoli to the Hungarian presidency of the EU on February 20. The threat is worrisome, writes the Italian daily, for "if the Libyan dam breaks, tens of thousands of Africans who are working as slaves or being held in detention centres in Libya will lead an exodus of Biblical proportions. >>> | Monday, February 21, 2011
THE INDEPENDENT: Addressing the Labour Party conference after 9/11, Tony Blair issued this much-quoted rallying cry. "The kaleidoscope has been shaken. The pieces are in flux. Soon they will settle again. Before they do, let us re-order this world around us." How high-handed those words sound today, and how wrong. The re-ordering he spoke of then entailed two costly wars and little else.
Now, almost a decade on, the geopolitical kaleidoscope has again been shaken. But less than two months from the start of street protests in Tunisia, it is increasingly evident how little power "we" have to reorder anything, even that part of the world immediately around us.
The speed of events is breath-taking. Just in the past week, the Bahraini Royal Family has tried to suppress pro-democracy protests by force, before eventually calling off the troops and proposing talks with the opposition. Demonstrations in Algeria and in Yemen resulted in violent clashes, even as Egyptians resumed their celebrations over the downfall of Hosni Mubarak in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Iran experienced a flurry of new unrest in an echo of the post-election protests 18 months ago. There were marches in Morocco in the west and in Azerbaijan in the east.
But the fiercest confrontations appear to have taken place in the east of Libya, where Colonel Gaddafi is said to have deployed heavy weapons and African mercenaries in an effort to reassert his rule. With what success is not yet apparent, but as many as 200 people are reported dead and hundreds injured, with the country's second city, Benghazi, possibly still under opposition control. Read on and comment >>> | Monday, February 21, 2011
THE INDEPENDENT: Deep cracks opened up in Colonel Gadhafi's regime after more than 40 years in power, with diplomats abroad and the justice minister at home resigning, air force pilots defecting and a fire raging at the main government hall after clashes in the capital Tripoli.
Meanwhile protesters called for another night of defiance in Tripoli's main square despite the government's heavy crackdown and Gadhafi's regime appeared to be preparing a new major assault in the capital in an attempt to crush unrest that has already swept the eastern parts of the country — leaving Libya's second largest city in protesters' control — and was now overwhelming the capital of 2 million people.
State TV at nightfall announced that the military had "stormed the hideouts of saboteurs" and called on the public to back the security forces as protesters called for a new demonstration in central Green Square and in front of Gadhafi's Tripoli residence.
Military warplanes were seen swooping low over the city in the evening, and snipers had taken position on the roofs of buildings around Tripoli, apparently to stop people from outside the capital from joining the march, according to Mohammed Abdul-Malek, a London-based opposition activist in touch with residents. >>> AP | Monday, February 21, 2011
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: 'The genie is out of the bottle' >>> | Monday, February 21, 2011
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Read article here >>>
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG – KOMMENTAR: Der libysche Revolutionsführer Muammar al Gaddafi wird sich wohl nicht mehr lange an der Macht halten. Die Libyer haben genug von der Despotie eines Mannes, der sich international den Ruf eines Erzterroristen erworben hat.
Wenn die Zeichen nicht trügen, wird sich auch der libysche Revolutionsführer Muammar al Gaddafi nicht mehr lange an der Macht halten. In der Hauptstadt Tripolis brennen Regierungsgebäude, und einige Städte sollen sich, wie es heißt, schon ganz oder teilweise in den Händen von „Aufständischen“ befinden. In Wirklichkeit handelt es sich um Libyer, denen nach Jahrzehnten einer geduldig ertragenen autokratischen Herrschaft — mit der verglichen die der Familie Mubarak im benachbarten Ägypten geradezu sanft erscheint — der Geduldsfaden gerissen ist. Sie haben genug von der (sozial bisweilen versüßten) Despotie eines Mannes, der sich zudem international den Ruf eines „politischen Derwischs“ und eines Erzterroristen erworben hat.
In einer nicht anders als gespenstisch zu nennenden Rede, die nur eine Art Selbstgespräch war, hat Gaddafis ältester Sohn mit dem friedfertigen Namen „Saif al Islam“ (Schwert des Islam) kaum verhüllte Drohungen gegen das eigene Volk ausgestoßen: Libyen sei anders als Tunesien und Ägypten. Damit wollte er sagen, nur eine harte Hand könne die libysche Stammesgesellschaft zusammenhalten, und die Libyer würden sie zu spüren bekommen. >>> Von Wolfgang Günter Lerch | Montag, 21. Februar 2011
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Die Unruhen in Libyen weiten sich aus: Parlament und Innenministerium sollen in Flammen stehen. Nach unbestätigten Angaben kamen am Montag allein in Tripolis mehr als 60 Personen ums Leben. Libyens Vertreter bei der Arabischen Liga legte sein Amt nieder.In der libyschen Hauptstadt Tripolis haben Regierungsgegner die Halle des Volkskongresses sowie zahlreiche Gebäude der Sicherheitskräfte in ihre Gewalt gebracht. Ausländische Nachrichtensender berichteten zudem von Bränden und Plünderungen. Nach unbestätigten Angaben kamen am Montag allein in Tripolis mehr als 60 Personen ums Leben. Die internationale Menschenrechtsorganisation Human Rights Watch sprach am Montag von mindestens 230 Toten in ganz Libyen. Am Abend meldete der Sender Al Dschazira, Kampfflugzeuge hätten in Tripolis auf Demonstranten gefeuert.
In der Nacht auf Montag hatte sich Saif Gaddafi, der Sohn des Revolutionsführers, im Fernsehen an die Bevölkerung gewandt und vor einem Bürgerkrieg gewarnt. >>> Von Hans-Christian Rößler | Montag, 21. Februar 2011
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