Sunday, March 20, 2011
SUEDDEUTSCHE: Der Westen gegen Muammar al-Gaddafi: Die von Frankreich und den USA geführte Kriegsallianz überzieht die Truppen des Despoten mit einem massiven Bombardement. Doch er gibt nicht auf, stößt wüste Drohungen aus - das gesamte Mittelmeer solle Schauplatz der Kämpfe werden.
Es ist fast Geisterstunde in Tripolis, als sich der libysche Despot zu Wort meldet. In einer Tonbotschaft, kurz und knapp. Ohne Bilder, die Aufschluss darüber ermöglichen würden, wie es Muammar al-Gaddafi gehen mag, wo er sich aufhält und ob die Mitteilung, die kurz vor Mitternacht im Staatsfernsehen verbreitet wird, überhaupt aktuell ist oder aufgezeichnet.
Ihr Inhalt dagegen hat es in sich.
"Das Mittelmeer wird zum Schlachtfeld werden", droht der Diktator, der seit Wochen brutal den Aufstand der Opposition in seinem Land niederschlagen lässt. Er schwadroniert, die Angriffe der westlichen Koalition auf seine Armee seien "Auslöser eines zweiten Kreuzfahrerkrieges". Er droht mit Vergeltung: Es würden "zivile und militärische Ziele" im Mittelmeer angegriffen. "Die Interessen der Länder, die an der Aggression teilgenommen haben, sind in Gefahr." Und: Das libysche Volk ist bereit, die Kreuzritter zu bekämpfen. Wir werden die Waffenlager für alle Libyer öffnen." Dann ruft er die Länder Afrikas, Arabiens, Lateinamerikas und Asiens auf, ihm im Kampf beizustehen.
Ist diese Botschaft schon das letzte Aufbäumen eines sterbenden Regimes, das der westlich geführten Allianz nur leere Drohungen entgegenzusetzen hat? Oder ist Gaddafi ernster zu nehmen, als es viele in diesen Tagen vermuten: weil er nun in seine größte Schlacht ziehen und alles versuchen wird, um seinen Clan an der Macht zu halten?
Fest steht, dass er nicht das tun wird, wozu ihn der Westen noch Stunden zuvor aufgefordert hatte, nämlich die Waffen schweigen zu lassen, den Aufständischen im Land ihren Raum zu lassen, einer friedlichen Lösung eine letzte Chance zu geben.
Und so ist nun Krieg in Libyen. » | © Sueddeutsche | Sonntag, 20. März 2011
NZZ ONLINE: Ghadhafi ruft sein Volk zur Selbstverteidigung auf: «Das Mittelmeer wird zum Schlachtfeld werden» » | Samstag, 19. März 2011
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Bis in die Nacht hinein haben amerikanische, französische und britische Truppen Libyen bombardiert, um weitere Übergriffe von Gaddafi-Anhängern auf ihre Gegner zu verhindern. Das amerikanische Verteidigungsministerium will sich heute einen Überblick über das Ausmaß der Zerstörungen verschaffen.
Das amerikanische Verteidigungsministerium will sich nach den massiven Luftschlägen gegen Ziele in Libyen einen Überblick über das Ausmaß der Zerstörungen verschaffen. Vizeadmiral William Gortney sagte, dies könne erst am Sonntag nach Tagesanbruch geschehen. Amerikanische Beamte sagten dem Fernsehsender Fox News, die Luftverteidigung des Regimes von Diktator Muammar al Gaddafi sei schwer getroffen worden. Der internationale Militäreinsatz hatte am Samstag mit massiven Luft- und Raketenangriffen begonnen.
Die Vereinigten Staaten und Großbritannien starteten von Kriegsschiffen und U-Booten aus Raketenangriffe auf militärische Ziele des Regimes von Machthaber Muammar al Gaddafi. Zudem griffen französische und britische Kampfjets in die Militäraktion ein. Beschossen wurden vor allem Ziele in Küstennähe. » | FAZ.NET | Sonntag, 20. März 2011
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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: U.S. and coalition forces launched military strikes against Libya, a calculated gamble that a rapid, and substantial attack could knock out loyalist support for strongman Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
In an opening salvo, U.S. and U.K. forces on Saturday unleashed around 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles against Libyan targets. U.S. Vice. Adm. William Gortney told reporters that the missiles, which struck Libya around 3 p.m. EDT, were aimed at more than 20 Libyan air-defense sites.
In the early hours Sunday in Tripoli, heavy antiaircraft guns and small-arms fire were heard for about 15 minutes close to Col. Gadhafi's compound. It couldn't be determined if coalition aircraft were in the vicinity, however.
The coalition missile strikes represented a dramatic escalation in turmoil that has swept across the Mideast and North Africa. They came after Col. Gadhafi appeared determined to press his attack on Benghazi, the eastern Libyan city that's become the last bastion of opposition resistance.
Despite a United Nations resolution authorizing force against the regime, the colonel's troops penetrated deep into the city Saturday and heavily shelled the rebel capital's residential neighborhoods, threatening to snuff out the month-old Libyan revolution.
In a brief audio address broadcast by state media shortly before midnight Libya time, Col. Gadhafi responded to the strikes by vowing to turn the Mediterranean basin and North Africa into "a battleground," and said he would arm all Libyan civilians to defend the country against "a second Crusader war."
Al-Jamahiriya television, the state's main channel, aired a photo of Col. Gadhafi's headquarters in Bab Aziziya in Tripoli, which was hit in U.S. airstrikes in 1986, and played Pan-Arab patriotic songs from the 1950s.
A Libyan military spokesman said 48 people had been killed and more than 150 injured in the coalition strikes against civilian and military targets in Benghazi, Misrata, Tripoli, Sirte and Zuwara. The spokesman, who appeared on state television reading from a prepared statement, didn't provide further details.
The casualty figures couldn't be independently verified and no coalition strikes could be heard in Tripoli.
A doctor in Misrata said allied strikes hit two locations for Col. Gadhafi's forces. The doctor said massive explosions lit up the sky.
State-media said strikes by U.S. and coalition forces hit a civilian hospital on the outskirts of Tripoli and a gas storage facility in Misrata. Neither statement could be independently verified. » | Nathan Hodge in Washington, D.C., Keith Johnson in Paris and Sam Dagher in Tripoli | Sunday, March 20, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: • Britain, France and US launch wave of attacks from the air
• 110 Tomahawk missiles fired at key defencesWestern allies unleashed a ferocious series of air and missile strikes against Muammar Gaddafi's military as they mounted Operation Odyssey Dawn, the biggest assault on an Arab regime since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
A Pentagon spokesman said that more than 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles had been fired from US and British ships and submarines in the Mediterranean, striking more than 20 integrated air-defence systems and other military facilities on the mainland. A US national security official later said Gaddafi's air defences had been "severely disabled".
The spokesman said the attacks were just the start of what was likely to be a multi-phase military operation designed to enforce the will of the United Nations and "deny the Libyan regime the ability to use force against its own people".
The strikes took place less than 48 hours after the UN had authorised the use of "all necessary force" to protect civilians from Gaddafi's brutal attempts to regain control of his country. The patience of the international community finally ran out as Gaddafi's troops pounded the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, hours after the Libyan dictator had promised a full ceasefire and invited foreign officials to monitor it.
Powerful explosions heard to the west of the capital were thought to be an attack on a radar station – part of the country's air-defence system. A government spokesman said military and civilian locations had been hit.
Libyan television reported that the air forces of what it called the "crusader enemy" had hit a hospital on the outskirts of Tripoli. Targets in Zuwara and Misrata, Sirte and Benghazi were also hit, it said.
The Jana news agency reported that ambulances were rushing to take casualties to hospitals. But there were no air-raid sirens or overt signs of a country under bombardment. Traffic continued to flow as normal in the streets of Tripoli, with many vehicles flying the green flags of Libya and passengers screaming pro-Gaddafi slogans. A large crowd of Gaddafi supporters waving flags and portraits of the leader gathered outside his house in Tripoli, in an apparent move to discourage foreign air strikes.
US President Barack Obama said: "Make no mistake. Today we are part of a broad coalition. We are answering the calls of a threatened people." » | Chris McGreal in Benghazi, Ian Black in Tripoli, Toby Helm in London, and Kim Willsher in Paris | Sunday, March 20, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
MAIL ONLINE: Newt Gingrich has slammed Barack Obama for his lack of leadership over Libya as Western jets - led by France - bombed Muammar Gaddafi's forces today.The former House Speaker, who is considering a presidential run in 2012, mocked Mr Obama yesterday for publicising his Final Four pics as Libyan rebels battled for their country.
He attacked the President for making America look 'weak and uncertain', and said former Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan would have been far more decisive.
The world's leaders met in Paris today for a summit on the crisis.
The group included British Prime Minister David Cameron, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Canadian premier Stephen Harper, and leaders of several Arab states.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is at the summit to represent America. But Mr Obama is thousands of miles away in Brasilia, where he has taken his family to help him promote U.S. trade links. Thank goodness the French don't have March Madness: Gingrich bashes 'weak' Obama's leadership in Libya » | Daily Mail Reporter | Saturday, March 19, 2011
THE INDEPENDENT: Gaddafi is completely bonkers, a crackpot on the level of Ahmadinejad and LiebermanSo we are going to take "all necessary measures" to protect the civilians of Libya, are we? Pity we didn't think of that 42 years ago. Or 41 years ago. Or... well, you know the rest. And let's not be fooled by what the UN resolution really means. Yet again, it's going to be regime-change. And just as in Iraq – to use one of Tom Friedman's only memorable phrases of the time – when the latest dictator goes, who knows what kind of bats will come flying out of the box?
And after Tunisia, after Egypt, it's got to be Libya, hasn't it? The Arabs of North Africa are demanding freedom, democracy, liberation from oppression. Yes, that's what they have in common. But what these nations also have in common is that it was us, the West, that nurtured their dictatorships decade after decade after decade. The French cuddled up to Ben Ali, the Americans stroked Mubarak, while the Italians groomed Gaddafi until our own glorious leader went to resurrect him from the political dead.
Could this be, I wonder, why we have not heard from Lord Blair of Isfahan recently? Surely he should be up there, clapping his hands with glee at another humanitarian intervention. Perhaps he is just resting between parts. Or maybe, like the dragons in Spenser's Faerie Queen, he is quietly vomiting forth Catholic tracts with all the enthusiasm of a Gaddafi in full flow. » | Robert Fisk | Saturday, March 19, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Wolfgang Schäuble enters multiculturalism row, saying problems of integrating Turkish guest workers have grown with third generationGermany's finance minister has waded into the country's simmering row over multiculturalism, saying it had been a mistake to bring in so many Gastarbeiter, or guest workers, from Turkey during the economic boom years of the 1960s.
In an interview with the Guardian, Wolfgang Schäuble said Germany had expected its 3.5 million Turkish minority to integrate better in the decades that followed the wave of immigration.
"We made a mistake in the early 60s when we decided to look for workers, not qualified workers but cheap workers from abroad, Turkey," said Schäuble. Some people of Turkish origin had lived in Germany for decades and did not speak German, he said.
"When we decided 50 years ago to invite workers from Turkey, we expected that their children would integrate automatically. But the problems have increased with the third generation, not diminished, therefore we have to change the policy," Schäuble said.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's plain-speaking finance minister was adding to comments she made last year, claiming multiculturalism had been a disaster for Germany. More recently her new interior minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, stoked the debate by saying that Islam did not belong in Germany. The foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, has also spelled out the new, tougher message from Berlin, declaring that children of immigrants should learn German before the language of their parents and grandparents. » | Larry Elliott and Julia Kollewe in Berlin | Friday, March 18, 2011
ROMANDIE NEWS: CARACAS - Le président vénézuélien Hugo Chavez a jugé "irresponsable" l'intervention armée internationale lancée samedi contre la Libye, qui vise selon lui à s'emparer du pétrole libyen, et il a réclamé qu'un cessez-le-feu soit instauré.
Dans une déclaration télévisée, M. Chavez a condamné "l'action militaire des alliés contre la Libye", qui constitue "une ingérence dans les affaires intérieures d'un pays". » | AFP | Samedi 19 Mars 2011
ÉLYSÉE – PRÉSIDENCE DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE: COMMUNIQUÉ » | Samedi 19 Mars 2011
CNN: Tripoli, Libya -- French fighter jets soared over Libya on Saturday to counter Moammar Gadhafi's military forces who were intent on destroying the opposition as they pushed into the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
"Our air force will oppose any aggression by Colonel Gadhafi against the population of Benghazi," said French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking after an international, top-level meeting in Paris over the Libyan crisis.
"As of now, our aircraft are preventing planes from attacking the town," he said, calling the intervention a "grave decision."
"As of now, our aircraft are prepared to intervene against tanks, armored vehicles threatening unarmed civilians."
The international show of force is much-welcomed by besieged rebel forces who have called for backup to help them stave off a government offensive against their positions in Benghazi and other rebel-held enclaves. » | CNN Wire Staff | Saturday, March 19, 2011
DAILY EXPRESS: COLONEL Gaddafi threatened to unleash a wave of terror against Britain yesterday and warned of revenge attacks on holiday jets in the Mediterranean.
The dictator raised the chilling spectre of a second Lockerbie outrage after Britain’s leading role in securing a United Nations-backed no-fly zone over Libya.
Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs that Britons could now face reprisals from the Libyan leader if the despot manages to maintain his grip on power.
With British fighter planes preparing to deploy over Libya as early as today, Gaddafi’s defence ministry warned of swift retaliation, even beyond its national frontiers, against any hostile action.
“Any foreign military act against Libya will expose all air and maritime traffic in the Mediterranean Sea to danger and civilian and military facilities will become targets of Libya’s counter-attack,” the ministry said in a statement yesterday. Significantly, it warned the danger to Western targets would arise “not just in the short term but also the long term”. » | Padraic Flanegan | Saturday, March 19, 2011
STERN.DE: Die ersten Jets fliegen über Libyen, in Paris tagt der internationale Gipfel. Deutschland ist zwar dabei - aber nicht mittendrin. Die Welt sieht die Bundesregierung als provinziellen Populisten und nicht als Global Player.Der Kampf gegen Libyens Machthaber Muammar al-Gaddafi: Während ein Gipfel in Paris mit deutscher Beteiligung über das weitere militärische Vorgehen berät, muss sich die Bundesrepublik für ihre Weigerung, an der Militäraktion teilzunehmen, Häme und scharfe Kritik gefallen lassen.
In der deutschen Presse gab es ohnehin keine zwei Meinungen: Die deutsche Enthaltung im UN-Sicherheitsrat wurde von den Kommentatoren einhellig verdammt. Doch auch im Ausland war die Enttäuschung groß. So wirft die konservative Pariser Zeitung "Le Figaro" der Bundeskanzlerin "Unbeweglichkeit" vor - und lobt den französischen Präsidenten dafür, dass er diese umgangen und sich auf den britschen Premier David Cameron gestützt habe. Schärfer geht die polnische "Rzeczpospolita" mit Merkel ins Gericht: "Sowohl die plötzliche Wende der schwarz-gelben Koalition in der Atompolitik als auch die demonstrative Ablehnung der Teilnahme an einer Aktion in Libyen sind auf die bevorstehenden Landtagswahlen zurückzuführen", meint das Blatt aus Warschau - und spottet: "Einerseits will Deutschland in der Politik als 'Global Player' agieren, anderseits handelt die Regierungskoalition sogar aus Anlass einer lokalen Wahl populistisch." » | ben/Reuters | Samstag, 19. März 2011
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LE POINT: Samedi, le dirigeant libyen a prévenu Paris, Londres et l'ONU qu'ils regretteraient toute ingérence dans les affaires intérieures.
Muammar Kadhafi a qualifié par avance d'"agression manifeste" toute intervention militaire étrangère en Libye, selon des propos rapportés samedi par un porte-parole du dirigeant libyen. "C'est une injustice, c'est une agression manifeste", a déclaré Moussa Ibrahim, citant le contenu d'une lettre adressée par Muammar Kadhafi à la France, à la Grande-Bretagne et aux Nations unies. "Vous regretterez toute initiative vous conduisant à une ingérence dans nos affaires intérieures", a-t-il ajouté.
Dans une autre lettre adressée aux États-Unis, Muammar Kadhafi affirme que lui-même et tous les Libyens sont "prêts à mourir" pour défendre leur pays, toujours selon ce porte-parole. "Tout le peuple libyen est avec moi, et ils sont prêts à mourir pour moi, les hommes, les femmes et les enfants", affirme Kadhafi. » | Source AFP | Samedi 19 Mars 2011
NZZ ONLINE: In Paris kommen zur Stunde zahlreiche Staats- und Regierungschefs und die Generalsekretäre von Vereinten Nationen und Arabischer Liga zusammen, um einen Militäreinsatz gegen das libysche Regime vorzubereiten. Ghadhafi hatte gemäss einem Sprecher zuvor die anhaltenden Angriffe auf Benghasi verteidigt.In Paris beginnt der Staaten-Gipfel, an welchem die Umsetzung der Uno-Resolution zum Schutz der libyschen Bevölkerung beschlossen werden soll, die am Donnerstag den Weg zu Luftschlägen gegen Ghadhafis Truppen freigemacht hatte. » | ddp | Samstag, 19. März 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Col Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has rejected UN-backed military intervention as an illegal act in a series of letters to world leaders.
The 68-year old told President Barack Obama that his forces were battling al-Qaeda within Libya.
A spokesman read out the letter at a press conference in Tripoli.
"Our son, the president of US," the letter to the US leader said. "I have said to you before that even if Libya and US enter into a war, God forbid. I have all love for you as a son.
"I have all Libyan people with me, and I am prepared to die and they are prepared to die with me. We are confronting al Qaeda and nothing more.
"What would you do if you found them controling American cities with the force of weapons." » | Damien McElroy, Tripoli | Saturday, March 19, 2011
BBC: Pro-Gaddafi tanks are inside Libya's rebel stronghold of Benghazi, a BBC journalist has witnessed, as the city came under attack.
A jet appears to have been shot down over the city in spite of a declared ceasefire and a UN no-fly resolution.
World leaders are due to meet in Paris to discuss military action.
The rebel leader has appealed to the international community to stop the pro-Gaddafi bombardment, but the government denies claims of attacks.
"Now there is a bombardment by artillery and rockets on all districts of Benghazi," Mustafa Abdul Jalil told Al Jazeera television. "There will be a catastrophe if the international community does not implement the resolutions of the UN Security Council.
"We appeal to the international community, to the all the free world, to stop this tyranny from exterminating civilians."
UN Secretary General ban Ki-moon says the world must "speak with one voice" on Libya.
The new UN resolution authorised "all necessary measures" to protect Libyan civilians. (+ video) » | Saturday, March 19, 2011
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain could face terrorist attacks backed by Libya if Colonel Gaddafi clings to power, David Cameron has warned.
The Prime Minister told MPs that Britain’s own national security "interests" will be at risk if the Gaddafi regime survives in Tripoli.
British officials said that the Government’s leading role in international efforts to topple Gaddafi could increase the threat of reprisals from the Libyan leader and his followers.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Gaddafi regime was considered one of the most active state sponsors of terrorism in the world, supporting and funding groups including the IRA.
The Gaddafi regime also paid compensation to the families of the 270 people killed when a Pan-Am airliner was bombed over Lockerbie in 1988.
Following the September 11th attacks on the US in 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Gaddafi sought a rapprochement with the West and is largely believed to have ended his support for terrorist activities.
However, Western intelligence officials fear that the current Libyan crisis could potentially see him return to state sponsorship of terror, in reprisal for Western support for his opponents. » James Kirkup | Friday, March 18, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libya: Tripoli on edge as regime enters new phase in fight to survive – Silver knives glinted in the afternoon sunshine as a tribal nomad in a blue headdress swatted carelessly with a fly whisk but the Friday market at Tripoli's old city walls offered no respite from Libya's troubles. » | Damien McElroy, Tripoli | Friday, March 18, 2011
THE SPECTATOR: Just as the British press is venerating David Cameron in the aftermath of last night’s UN resolution, so too the French press is praising President Sarkozy. In fact, the whole administration is basking in his reflected glory. Le Figaro describes Sarkozy’s and Prime Minister François Fillon’s roles in obtaining the UN Resolution and preparing the French military for action; the Defence minister also receives a hearty appraisal.Even the Presidency’s determined adversaries have expressed more than grudging respect. The left-wing newspaper Libération applauds Foreign Minister (and grand old man of Gaullism) Alain Juppé’s success in bringing the fractious United Nations to resolution. In recent days, the paper has also reported that the French Left aligned behind Sarkozy on this issue.
Libération has also given some space to David Cameron: it frequently refers to the ‘joint Anglo-French operation’ and today it included Cameron’s Commons statement in its Libyan live-blog. Other French newspapers have been more reticent about Britain’s role. Le Figaro mentions Cameron in passing and Le Monde, the ‘newspaper of record’ in France, has taken a patriotic line. Although it acknowledges that the UN Resolution was a joint effort with Britain and other nations, it is presented as an achievement for ‘la France’. Particular praise is reserved for the ‘solemn letter’ that Sarkozy personally wrote to members of the UN Security Council before yesterday’s vote. » | David Blackburn | Friday, March 18, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libya crisis: David Cameron emerges as a bold statesman – MPs of all political colours paid tribute to David Cameron's role in securing the United Nations resolution on Libya. » | Andrew Porter | Friday, March 18, 2011
My comment:
To talk of Cameron and statesmanship in the same breath is something I find rather odd at this stage. Forgive me if I'm missing something; but what has he done yet that would classify him as a statesman? Since when did declaring war on a madman in the desert count? In any case, it is far too soon to talk of statesmanship. Let us see first how this crisis unfolds. We haven't yet ousted the 'Mad Dog.' And he may prove to be far more formidable an enemy than either Cameron or Sarkozy can imagine. Gaddafi could yet turn the Mediterranean into a fireball. God only knows what he's got lined up the sleeve of his jalabi for us. One thing is certain: He's not going to give up without one almighty fight. And remember this: He's in a corner. He's like a trapped rat! A trapped rat is a dangerous rat! So before we start talking of statesmanship, let us first see how well Cameron performs. – © Mark
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces pushed into the rebel-held city of Benghazi on Saturday, defying world demands for an immediate ceasefire and after France's U.N. envoy predicted an imminent military action.Libyan rebels shot down a warplane that was bombing their eastern stronghold Saturday as the opposition accused Moammar Gadhafi's government of defying calls for an immediate cease-fire an launching a sea and land assault[.]
"The explosions started about 2 a.m. Gaddafi's forces are advancing, we hear they're 20 kms (12 miles) from Benghazi," Faraj Ali, a resident, said.
Gaddafi's forces advance into Benghazi pre-empted an international meeting hosted by France to discuss military intervention in Libya. The meeting will be attended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Arab leaders.
"We saw Gaddafi's tanks, cars and missile trucks less than five km away," a rebel figher giving his name as Mohammed told Reuters.
Libya had declared a unilateral ceasefire on Friday after the U.N. Security Council authorised a no-fly zone over Libya.
But the United States accused Gaddafi of defying international demands for an immediate ceasefire, and France's U.N. envoy predicted military action within hours of the Paris meeting on Libya on Saturday.
Libyan rebels said they were being forced to retreat by Gaddafi's forces. Black plumes of smoke could be seen on the road to the west of the city, a witness said. » | Saturday, March 19, 2011
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Deutschland hat sich in der Entscheidung über die Flugverbotszone über Libyen enthalten - und sich damit in der westlichen Welt isoliert. Die Folge ist ein diplomatischer Schadensfall höchsten Ausmaßes für Berlin und auch für Westerwelle persönlich.Kurz nach neun Uhr am Freitagmorgen steht ein übermüdeter Außenminister im Auswärtigen Amt. Die Nacht war kurz, bis zuletzt gab es Telefonate auf allen Ebenen mit dem Ziel, genügend Mitglieder des Sicherheitsrates zur Enthaltung zu bewegen, um einen Militäreinsatz gegen Libyen zu verhindern. Nun muss Guido Westerwelle die Frage beantworten, ob er sich international und innerhalb der EU isoliert habe. „Wir haben uns enthalten“, sagt er und fügt hinzu, „gemeinsam mit so bedeutenden Ländern und auch Partnern wie Brasilien, wie Indien, wie Russland und auch China“, was freilich auch hieß, dass er sich damit gegen die bislang bedeutenderen Partner Amerika, Großbritannien, Frankreich und auch Portugal stellt.
Damit ist eingetreten, was Westerwelles Vorvorgänger Joseph Fischer 2003 kurz vor dem Irak-Krieg befürchtete: die Isolierung Deutschlands in der westlichen Welt – ein diplomatischer Schadensfall höchsten Ausmaßes für Berlin und auch für Westerwelle persönlich. Seinerzeit war Europa in „alt“ und „neu“ gespalten. Diesmal aber steht Deutschland an der Seite Chinas und Russlands. Im Auswärtigen Amt hatte es lange nicht nur die Hoffnung gegeben, wenn zumindest auch Portugal mit Deutschland stimme, könne man glaubhaft machen, in der Libyen-Frage gebe es in Europa nun einmal einen Dissens. Zudem setzte Berlin darauf, Moskau und/oder Peking würden durch ihr Veto einen Militäreinsatz verhindern. » | Von Majid Sattar, Berlin | Samstag, 19. März 2011
DIE PRESSE: Ein mit schwarz-gelber Mehrheit beschlossenes Gesetz bringt eine Reihe von verschärften Regelungen für Migranten und soll Zwangsehen bekämpfen. Die Opposition lehnt das Gesetz ab.
Für in Deutschland lebende Migranten gilt künftig eine Reihe verschärfter Regelungen. Ein vom Bundestag am Donnerstag mit den Stimmen von Schwarz-Gelb beschlossenes Gesetz sieht Sanktionen für den Fall vor, dass Neuzuwanderer nicht in ausreichendem Maße an den verpflichtenden Integrationskursen teilnehmen. Solange ein entsprechender Unterricht, in dem auch Deutsch gelehrt wird, nicht absolviert ist, wird die Aufenthaltserlaubnis jeweils nur für höchstens ein Jahr gewährt. Die Opposition sprach sich gegen die Neuregelung aus und votierte bei der Abstimmung dagegen. » | Ag. | Donnerstag, 17. März 2011
leJDD.fr: Alors que la situation en Libye pourrait très prochainement basculer, les mouvements de révolte se poursuivent dans d’autres pays du monde arabe. Au Yémen, la répression se fait sanglante: une cinquantaine de personnes ont été tuées par les forces de l’ordre.Il y a deux jours à peine, la contre-offensive sanglante menée par le colonel Kadhafi en Libye augurait de sombres perspectives pour le printemps des révolutions arabes. Commencé en Tunisie, poursuivi en Egypte, le mouvement s’est étendu à de nombreux pays, des rives de la Méditerranée jusqu’au Golfe persique. L'hypothèse d’une victoire du dictateur libyen menaçait l’avenir des révoltes menées dans d’autres pays, au premier rang desquels, Bahreïn et le Yémen. Après l’adoption d’une résolution de l’ONU sur le cas libyen jeudi, les manifestants n’ont pas cédé face à la répression.
Le président yéménite, Ali Abdallah Saleh, a proclamé vendredi l’état d’urgence. Les forces de l’ordre ont tiré sur la foule qui manifestait dans la capitale, Sanaa, pour exiger le départ du dirigeant au pouvoir depuis 32 ans. Bilan: 46 morts, au moins, et 400 blessés. Le président des Etats-Unis, Barack Obama, a fermement condamné ces violences. "J’appelle le président Saleh à tenir sa promesse d'autoriser les manifestations à se dérouler pacifiquement", a-t-il ajouté. » | Adrien Gaboulaud (avec agences) - leJDD.fr | Vendredi 18 Mars 2011
TIME: The 45 helmeted men, armed with rifles, their faces masked, came for Ibrahim Sharif at 2 a.m. on Friday. They hopped the fence and entered his home, carted him off to jail — or Saudi Arabia — no one's really sure. "They were ringing the bell and shouting 'open, open, open,'" the dissident's wife, Fareeda, told TIME later that day. "Ibrahim told them to lower their guns, to calm down. They took him anyway. It took less than 10 minutes." The vans outside, she said, sported the insignia of Bahrain's national security forces.
Sharif, the leader of the Bahrain's opposition Waad party, was among several key anti-government activists arrested in a wave of pre-dawn raids on Thursday and Friday. At 4 a.m., on Friday, shortly after the raid at Sharif's home, the Waad headquarters was set on fire. All that remains of the two-story office building are charred walls and office furniture, gutted meeting rooms, giant shards of glass littering the floor. In a subsequent press conference, Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, dismissed the blaze as a random act of arson. But it comes as the regime of his cousin, King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, stages an increasing ferocious crackdown against the Shi'ite majority, a campaign abetted by the unprecedented prescence of Saudi Arabian troops sent in to preserve the Sunni monarchy.
Until the end of last week, the political opposition had been rapidly been gaining steam, and support. Then, on March 11, the government let lose with the first of a series of increasingly ferocious responses. Now, Waad party leaders and even younger activists fear for their safety. On Friday morning, TIME received a text message from a protest organizer who said he had been warned that a crackdown on youth was underway. He said he had not left his [home?] for more than a day. "The streets are not safe," he texted, adding that his bank accounts had been frozen, phone tapped and every move monitored by police. » | Karen Leigh | SITRA | Friday, March 18, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The rise of the Tea Party has seen an increase in extreme legislation across the US, ranging in from a bill in Montana saying global warming is good for the state to a suggestion in Missouri to end restrictions on child labour.Earlier this month Utah's state legislature approved a bill that would recognise gold and silver as legal tender as alternatives to more foldable forms of currency. It needs only the governor's signature to become law.
Similar moves are under consideration in a dozen other states, where legislators are outraged by soaring deficits and the federal government's promiscuous dollar-printing.
The Utah bill is among an abundance of proposals made by Tea Party-backed Republicans who were elected to state assemblies last year.
Others include a bill in South Dakota to make every adult carry a gun, a bid in Arizona to nullify federal laws.
In Montana, House Bill 278 would authorise arming citizens' militias against invaders, even though the state borders Canada.
Wyoming and Tennessee are among 14 states that have either passed or are contemplating legislation to ban sharia law, though objectors say that Islamic justice has yet to be presented as an alternative to US law.
Many proposals in the states will never become law, and state legislators have a tradition of eccentricity which is regarded with a measure pride by politicians of all stripes as truly representative of the nation.
But taken collectively, the new plans reveal an anxiety among grassroots conservatives about the direction of the country under President Barack Obama, a fierce devotion to single issues – such as opposing Islam – and at times a yearning for a rose-tinted past. » | Alex Spillius, Washington | Friday, March 18, 2011
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Reports from Libya say pro-government forces have entered the western outskirts of the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, with the city's south also believed to be under heavy bombardment. » | Source: Agencies | Saturday, March 19, 2011
YNET NEWS: Several thousand gathered in Deraa chant 'God, Syria, Freedom' and anti-corruption slogans; state TV reports of other; amateur videos show similar rallies in Homs, BaniyasSyrian security forces killed four demonstrators on Friday in the southern city of Deraa as they took part in a peaceful protest demanding political freedom and an end to corruption in Syria, a human rights activist said.
Akram al-Jawabra, Houssam Abdelwali Ayash, Ayham al-Harri and a member of the Abu Aoun family were among several thousands who where chanting "God, Syria, Freedom" and anti-corruption slogans, accusing the family of President Bashar Assad of corruption, when they were shot dead by security forces who were reinforced with troops flown in by helicopters, the activist said.
"Hundreds of protesters were wounded and many were snatched by the security force from the hospital where they had been taken and removed to an unknown location," he added.
Plain-clothes Syrian police broke up a protest after Friday prayers at the main mosque in central Damascus, dragging away at least two activists, AFP reporters witnessed.
"There is no God but God," a crowd inside the men's section of the Omayyed Mosque chanted in crescendo after Friday prayers at noon. » | Roee Nahmias, agencies | Friday, March 18, 2011
الثورة السورية تشتد في يومها الرابع -- السلطات تغلق الجامع الاموي في دمشق لاحتواء المتظاهرين، والاف يتظاهرون في حمص ودرعا واستخدام خراطيم مياه لتفريق المتظاهرين
YNET NEWS: Syria: Israel behind anti-government rallies – Hundreds take part in 'day of rage' demonstrations in Damascus, Deir ez-Zor and Halab; Syrian official says 'many residents received inciting text messages originating in army base in Palestine » | Roee Nahmias | Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Related »
Friday, March 18, 2011
WELT ONLINE: Bahrainische Streitkräfte haben ein Denkmal auf dem Lulu-Platz in Manama zerstört. Das Bauwerk war zum Symbol für die Protestbewegungen geworden.
Die bahrainischen Streitkräfte haben ein Denkmal auf einem zentralen Platz der Hauptstadt Manama zerstört, das zum Symbol für die seit Wochen anhaltenden schiitischen Proteste gegen die sunnitische Regierung geworden war. Das 90 Meter hohe Monument auf dem Perlenplatz sei „ein schlechtes Andenken gewesen“, begründete Außenminister Chalid bin Ahmed al Chalifa die Maßnahme bei einer Pressekonferenz. » | dapd/sv | Freitag, 18. März 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Bahrain’s authorities have demolished the Pearl Roundabout monument which had become the symbolic heart of the country’s protest movement as forces continued a crackdown.The monument was flattened two days after police used armoured vehicles and tear gas to sweep away a month-old Shia protest camp which had gathered around the monument.
State media said the monument, acknowledging Gulf unity and the kingdom’s pearl fishing history, was removed in a “facelift” to boost traffic flow.
Bahrain's most prominent Shia cleric criticised Britain and America for doing nothing to stop the violent crackdown by the Sunni monarchy against anti-government protests.
Sheikh Issa Qassem told a congregation of around 1,500 worshippers that protesters should remain peaceful, but that they would "bend to no one but God."
He gave the defiant Friday sermon before the funerals of two Shia men who died in clashes with the security forces earlier this week as the crackdown continued. » | Ben Farmer, Manama | Friday, March 18, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Col Muammar Gaddafi was on Friday night warned that he must surrender large swathes of Libya or face military action from Britain, France and other Western countries this weekend.British warplanes were poised to participate in bombing raids against tanks and other targets after David Cameron and Barack Obama issued an ultimatum to the Libyan leader.
The Prime Minister said that Britain would not tolerate Libya "festering" on Europe's borders, alluding to fears that Col Gaddafi may support terrorist attacks in this country.
In a statement on Friday night, the US president warned Col Gaddafi that he must withdraw troops from towns previously held by rebels, including Misurata and Zawiyah. The regime should also stop its advance on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi immediately, he said, and basic services including water and electricity should be returned to the areas.
Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, said that the "final result" of international action against Libya must be Col Gaddafi's departure from power. » | l | Friday, March 18, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: Libya: Obama tells Gaddafi to withdraw or face UN-backed air strikes » | Ewen MacAskill in Washington, Patrick Wintour, Ian Black in Tripoli, and Nicholas Watt | Friday, March 18, 2011
LE FIGARO: Les deux pays se sont beaucoup rapprochés lors de la préparation de l'accord de défense signé à Londres en novembre. Ils se partagent aujourd'hui les lauriers du succès diplomatique obtenu jeudi à New York.Quelques heures après le vote aux Nations unies de la résolution autorisant l'usage de la force contre la Libye, David Cameron s'est rendu vendredi matin à la Chambre des communes pour dévoiler son intention de mobiliser les forces aériennes britanniques contre le régime du colonel Kadhafi. «Nous allons envoyer sans tarder des Typhoon (Eurofighter), des Tornado, des avions de ravitaillement et des avions de surveillance, a-t-il expliqué. Les préparatifs pour déployer ces avions ont commencé, et d'ici quelques heures, ils vont partir vers des bases aériennes où ils seront à pied d'œuvre.» » | Par Cyrille Vanlerberghe | Vendredi 18 Mars 2011
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