Pope Accused of Crimes against Humanity by Victims of Sex Abuse

THE GUARDIAN: Victims' complaint to the international criminal court accuses Pope Benedict and three others of failing to prevent abusers

Victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests have accused the pope, the Vatican secretary of state and two other high-ranking Holy See officials of crimes against humanity, in a formal complaint to the international criminal court (ICC).

The submission, lodged at The Hague on Tuesday, accuses the four men not only of failing to prevent or punish perpetrators of rape and sexual violence but also of engaging in the "systematic and widespread" practice of concealing sexual crimes around the world.

It includes individual cases of abuse where letters and documents between Vatican officials and others show a refusal to co-operate with law enforcement agencies seeking to pursue suspects, according to the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), a US-based organisation that represents the claimants. » | Karen McVeigh | Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Les talibans lancent une «attaque massive» sur Kaboul
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: AFGHANISTAN | Les talibans ont lancé une vaste offensive aujourd'hui à Kaboul. Explosions, et tirs de roquette et d'armes automatiques ont été entendus autour des bâtiments officiels de Kaboul. Le QG de l'Otan fait partie des cibles.

Les talibans afghans ont lancé une vaste offensive mardi contre des bâtiments officiels à Kaboul, où des explosions et des tirs de roquettes et d’armes automatiques ont retenti. Le QG de la force de l’OTAN (Isaf), une base de l’armée et des bâtiments gouvernementaux ont notamment été pris pour cible.

Les déflagrations semblaient provenir de plusieurs endroits distincts, laissant penser que les assaillants visaient plusieurs objectifs. La police a confirmé les explosions et les tirs sans préciser leur origine. Aucun bilan n’était disponible dans l’immédiat. » | ATS/AFP | Mardi 13 Septembre 2011

Dix ans du 11-Septembre: Al Qaïda publie une vidéo saluant les attentats
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: TERRORISME | D’une durée d’une heure, une vidéo intitulée «l’aube d’une victoire imminente» dans laquelle s’exprime le nouveau chef de l’organisation islamiste, l’Egyptien Ayman al Zaouahri, a été mise en ligne sur des sites djihadistes.

Al Qaïda a publié lundi une vidéo à l’occasion du 10e anniversaire des attentats du 11-Septembre dans laquelle s’exprime le nouveau chef de l’organisation islamiste, l’Egyptien Ayman al Zaouahri. » | ATS | Mardi 13 Septembre 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: 9/11 anniversary: al-Qaeda releases new video applauding Arab Spring » | Ben Farmer | Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Turkey Attempts to Rally Diplomatic Alliance Against Israel

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that the Jewish state's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last year had been "grounds for war".

Mr Erdogan arrived in Cairo last night intent on burnishing his populist credentials after casting himself as a rival to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, as Israel's critic-in-chief in the Middle East.

In what appeared to be a deliberate piece of timing designed to maximise the impact of his visit, Mr Erdogan's office yesterday released a previously unpublished transcript of a redacted interview he gave to Al Jazeera's Arabic language service last week.

In it, Mr Erdogan claimed that Turkey would have been justified in going to war after Israeli commandos shot dead nine Turkish activists during the interception of an aid convoy seeking to breach Israel's blockade of Gaza in May last year.

"The attack that took place in international waters did not comply with any international law," he said. "In fact, it was grounds for war. However, befitting Turkey's greatness, we decided to act with patience."

Mr Erdogan's comments appeared to be designed to rile Israel at one of the most strained moments in relations with the Jewish state, which until recently was a close Turkish ally. » | Adrian Blomfield, in Jerusalem | Monday, September 12, 2011

Nicolas Sarkozy 'Received Cash from West African Leaders'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy received cash from West African leaders, it has been alleged, following claims that Jacques Chirac and his Dominique de Villepin received an estimated $20 million stuffed into briefcases over eight years.

The scandal has cast fresh light on France's historically murky ties to African dictators, who for decades allegedly doled out dirty petrodollars to French politicians in exchange for diplomatic and military support in a set-up known as "Françafrique".

Robert Bourgi claimed on Sunday he personally handed millions of francs from five African leaders to Mr Chirac when he was mayor of Paris and later president, along with Mr Villepin, his right hand man.

Mr Bourgi, 66, says the money, which he variously transported in a sports bag, a poster and even a ceremonial African drum, came from Burkina Faso, the Congo, Gabon, Ivory Coast and Senegal.

Yesterday, he estimated having lugged a total of $20 million (almost £13 million) to Mr Chirac and Mr Villepin between 1997 and 2005. Around half of this went into funding Mr Chirac's successful 2002 electoral campaign, he claimed.

Bernard Houdin, an adviser to former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, said that such payments were "a historical practice" and that "the sums mentioned are no doubt below reality". » | Henry Samuel in Paris | Monday, September 12, 2011

Libyan New [sic] Leaders Pledge 'Moderate' Islamic Rule

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Libya's new leaders have pledged "moderate" Islamic rule even as their fighters were accused of committing war crimes.

Interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil received a hero's welcome when he made a public speech in Tripoli's main square late on Monday.

Thousands celebrated last month's fall of the Gaddafi regime in Martyrs' Square, two days after Abdel Jalil, the head of the National Transitional Council (NTC), arrived in Tripoli from Benghazi in the east.

Moderate Islam would be the main source of legislation in post-Gaddafi Libya, he told the crowd.

"We will not accept any extremist ideology, on the right or the left. We are a Muslim people, for a moderate Islam, and we will stay on this road," he said. » | Tuesday, September 13, 2011

NZZ ONLINE: Libyen skizziert den neuen Staat: Chef des Übergangsrates strebt eine gemässigte islamische Ordnung an » | sda/dpa/Reuters | Dienstag 13. September 2011

FAZ: „Libyen soll Rechtsstaat werden“ : Libyen soll ein gemäßigter islamischer Staat werden, mit der Scharia als wichtigster Quelle der Gesetzgebung: Das sagte der Vorsitzende des Übergangsrates Dschalil während seiner ersten öffentlichen Rede in Tripolis. » | AFP/dpa | Dienstag 13. September 2011

Phone Hacking: George Osborne 'Owed' Andy Coulson, Says Lawyer

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: George Osborne faces questions over his relationship with Andy Coulson after it was suggested that he might have helped the former editor to get a job as David Cameron’s media adviser because he owed him “a favour”.

A solicitor representing victims of phone hacking by the News of the World during Mr Coulson’s time as editor suggested Mr Osborne was “almost indebted” to Mr Coulson because of the way the newspaper had covered allegations made by a prostitute that the MP had taken cocaine with her.

Mark Lewis said the newspaper had put “a gloss” on its reporting of Natalie Rowe’s claims that the Chancellor took the class A drug in the early 1990s, before he became an MP. “Andy Coulson had done George Osborne a favour,” he said. “Perhaps it was time for George Osborne to reciprocate and do a favour back.”

The Chancellor’s aides yesterday dismissed any suggestion that Mr Osborne had felt obliged to Mr Coulson, and also denied a series of other lurid allegations made by Miss Rowe in an interview with Australia’s ABC television network.


Mr Coulson’s appointment as David Cameron’s communications director has drawn criticism throughout Mr Cameron’s tenure as Tory leader. » | Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | Monday, September 12, 2011

David Cameron Tells Russian Hosts: KGB Tried to Recruit Me But I Failed the Test

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: KGB agents tried and failed to recruit David Cameron when he was a young student, the Prime Minister told his Russian hosts yesterday.

On a visit to Moscow, he joked that he apparently failed to pass the “interview” during the bizarre incident on a gap-year trip to the Black Sea coast in 1985.

When told of the incident, President Dmitry Medvedev said that Mr Cameron would have made a “very good KGB agent”.

Mr Cameron described the apparent approach during a speech to students at the Moscow State university. “I first came to Russia as a student on my gap year between school and university in 1985,” he said. “I took the Trans-Siberian railway from Nakhodka to Moscow and went on to the Black Sea coast.

“There, two Russians, speaking perfect English, turned up on a beach mostly used by foreigners.”

He continued: “They took me out to lunch and dinner and asked me about life in England and what I thought about England.”

A naive Mr Cameron apparently did not immediately realise what had happened at the resort of Yalta until returning to Britain. He is understood to have been travelling with a friend, Anthony Griffith. The Prime Minister said: “When I got back I told my tutor at university and he asked me whether it was an interview. If it was, it seems I didn’t get the job.” Read on and comment » | Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor in Moscow | Monday, September 12, 2011

WIKI »

Israel Watches Its Old Alliances Crumble

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The overthrow of President Mubarak in Egypt, the estrangement of Turkey and a UN vote on Palestinian statehood combine to make an intractable set of problems.

Secluded in an emergency operations bunker, long after darkness had fallen to mark the start of the Sabbath last Friday, Israel’s most powerful men had become convinced that history was about to repeat itself.

Hundreds of miles away, six intelligence officers, detailed to protect Israel’s embassy in Cairo, had barricaded themselves in the building’s strongroom. A mob of hammer-wielding Egyptians were closing in. The rioters had already broken down two of the strongroom’s doors and were now hammering on the third. Three of the Israelis drew their guns, preparing for a last stand.

Speaking to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister who had been patched through on a secure line, the most senior of the men, identified only as Jonathan, asked his commander-in-chief to deliver news of his capture or death to his wife in person, rather than by telephone.

For all involved, as Israeli officials later recounted, the drama threatened to become a reprise of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when 52 US diplomats were held captive for 444 days after an Islamist mob had stormed the American mission in Tehran.

This time, the most feared outcome was averted – thanks to the intervention of the White House. Facing American threats of dire retribution if any of the Israelis was harmed, Egypt’s military rulers dispatched a team of commandos to rescue the trapped men, a mission completed in the nick of time.

In the wake of the incident, Egypt and Israel have worked hard to avert a full-scale diplomatic crisis, with both states emphasising their commitment to the peace treaty they signed in the same year the Shah fell. Even so, in Israel the mood was one of relief rather than jubilation. There is a growing conviction that disaster has merely been postponed rather than resolved. Continue reading and comment » | Adrian Blomfield | Monday, September 12, 2011

Libya Could Fall into Hands of Extremists, Nato Warns
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The warning came in an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph as Muammar Gaddafi's loyalist forces stepped up a fightback on three fronts.

Libya could be in danger of falling into the hands of Islamic extremists if a stable government is not rapidly established, the Nato secretary-general has warned.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Islamic extremists would “try to exploit” any weaknesses as the country tried to rebuild after four decades of Col Muammar Gaddafi’s rule.

Mahmoud Jibril, the interim Libyan prime minister, arrived in Tripoli only at the end of last week after complaints that he had been too busy travelling the world to lead his own revolution.

Asked if Nato was worried that a delay in setting up a fully fledged replacement government increased the risk of extremists taking control, Mr Rasmussen said: “We cannot exclude the possibility that extremists will try to exploit a situation and take advantage of a power vacuum.”

While he said Nato was not actively targeting Gaddafi, Mr Rasmussen admitted things could “move very fast” if he was removed. “I think that he still inspires resistance in some pockets of Gaddafi loyalists.” » | Thomas Harding, Ruth Sherlock in Bani Walid and Richard Spencer in Tripoli | Monday, September 12, 2011

Londres veut prendre ses distances avec l'Europe

LE FIGARO: Poussé par les conservateurs eurosceptiques, le gouvernement souhaite rapatrier certains pouvoirs dévolus à Bruxelles.

La crise de l'euro donne une occasion en or aux eurosceptiques pour remettre en cause les liens entre la Grande-Bretagne et l'Europe. L'offensive de députés conservateurs depuis quelques semaines trouve un écho jusqu'au gouvernement. Le ministre des Affaires étrangères, William Hague, plaide lui-même pour un assouplissement des relations avec Bruxelles. «C'est vrai de l'euro, cela pourrait être vrai dans de nombreux domaines à l'avenir. En fait, nous tenir à l'écart nous permettrait d'aller de l'avant», a-t-il déclaré dans une interview au Times samedi.

Plus prudent, le premier ministre, David Cameron, n'est pas totalement en désaccord avec cette idée. «Le Royaume-Uni pourrait bénéficier d'un rapatriement de certains pouvoirs de Bruxelles», a-t-il admis la semaine dernière à la Chambre des communes, citant en exemple le droit du travail ou la finance. Il souhaite également s'affranchir de la tutelle de la Cour européenne des droits de l'homme. Après les émeutes du mois d'août, il a accusé l'institution de «couvrir» les délinquants en leur offrant un recours contre les sanctions des tribunaux. Les Britanniques ont aussi eu du mal à accepter plusieurs décisions de la cour de Luxembourg sur le droit de vote des détenus ou le temps de travail des médecins par exemple. » | De correspondent du Figaro à Londres, Florentin Collomp | Dimanche 11 Septembre 2011

Gaddafi's Last Strongholds Stand Firm
September 12, 2011: Why are the rebel forces still facing such strong pro-Gaddafi resistance in the city of Bani Walid?
Watch Inside Story here

800 Foreigners Converted to Islam in 6 Months
THE PENINSULA: DOHA: A total of 800 expatriates converted to Islam in the last six months, according to statistical data released by Qatar Guest Centre (QGC).

The Centre, which is affiliated to Sheikh Eid bin Mohammad Al Thani Charity, is planning to publish the stories of these converts in a book to be translated in other languages. Also, QGC is organising in Al Khor advocacy programmes to educate the new Muslims in cooperation with religious guidance and mosque affairs department and Ministry of Awqf and Islmaic Affairs.

Of the 800 new Muslims 67 percent are Filipinos, according to Hadi Al Dosari, Director of Qatar Guest Centre. In its four years of service to Islam and the Muslims, the Centre has been contributing to the promotion of Islam with the number of new converts from various nationalities reaching 919 last year, said Al Dosari.

He said the number of converts to Islam has been increasing steadily for the last years. From 21 new converts monthly in year 2006, the numbers increased to 28 in 2007, 46 in 2008, 52 in 2009 52 and 77 last year. “These numbers reflect the efforts of the Centre to bring the message to all the communities,” he said.

The Centre is also organising cultural activities which attract a lot of people through lectures, seminars and meetings with various expatriate communities. » | Saturday, September 10, 2011

Pro-Gaddafi Forces Kill 15 at Libya Oil Refinery
Muammar Gaddafi loyalists attacked an oil refinery Monday, killing 15 guards, in an apparent attempt to disrupt a drive by Libya's new rulers to seize the ousted leader's last bastions and revive the oil-based economy.

Read article here

Mort en prison d'un militant syrien de 26 ans

LE MONDE: L'organisation de défense des droits de l'homme Human Rights Watch (HRW) a annoncé la mort en détention du militant prodémocratique syrien Ghiyat Matar, arrêté le 6 septembre avec l'un de ses amis Yahya Charbaji. M. Matar avait joué un rôle central dans l'organisation de manifestations pacifiques contre le régime de Bachar Al-Assad.

Selon HRW, ce militant de 26 ans est mort en détention à la suite de tortures. Soncorps, qui a été remis à sa famille samedi, présente des traces de blessure sur le visage et des ecchymoses à la poitrine. » | LEMONDE.FR | Lundi 12 Septembre 2011

Joan Collins: I'd Crack Down on Immigration

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Joan Collins on her political manifesto - and exactly what she thinks of celebrities today.

Politics being showbusiness for ugly people, Joan Collins has no interest in getting involved in it. As we learn in her new book, a manifesto entitled The World According to Joan, at 18 she was voted “Most Beautiful Girl in England” (page 46), while at the age of 21 she was signed up to a film in which she had to play “the most beautiful girl in New York” (page 49) [printed edition].

Dear Joanie tells me that she did once get involved with UKIP, “but I wasn’t sure it was the kind of thing I wanted to do. I’m not Glenda Jackson.” No, heaven forbid. So where does La Collins fall on the political spectrum? “I’d say I was Conservative party, 1940s.” She laughs huskily; it’s ever so naughty. “And I was a very big supporter of Thatcher.”

What does she think of David Cameron? “I like David, but I think he’s hog-tied by what’s-his-name.” Nick Clegg? “Yes. I’m not a big fan.” And what does she think of Ed Miliband. “Not a lot,” she says simply.

Even though La Collins insists that a life in Westminster holds no thrall for her – she is, after all, 78, and goodness knows what the electorate would make of her second and third homes in Los Angeles and St Tropez – she doesn’t hesitate when I ask her what she would do if, in a parallel universe, Joan Collins were Prime Minister.

“First, education. I think it is shocking that 15- and 16-year-olds leave school unable to add up and with the reading ability of a four-year-old. When I was at school, I was terrible at algebra and arithmetic, but I was always the best at English and literature. And acting, of course.” She does a self-mocking “Of course I was” shrug of her shoulders, which are currently minus Dynasty-style pads. Continue reading and comment » | Bryony Gordon | Monday, September 12, 2011

THE DAILY EXPRESS: Joan Collins: Why I Despair of Britain Today » | John Chapman | Monday, September 12, 2011

Wahlkampf in Ägypten: Radikale Moslems wollen Bikiniverbot am Strand

Auch Alkohol soll aus der Öffentlichkeit verschwinden
BILD: Eine Million Deutsche reisen jedes Jahr nach Ägypten. Besonders beliebt ist der Badeurlaub an den Stränden des Roten Meers. Doch damit könnte bald Schluss sein – zumindest für Frauen, die gern Bikini tragen.

Die konservativ-islamische Muslimbruderschaft macht Stimmung gegen nackte Haut in der Öffentlichkeit.

„Der Strand-Tourismus muss die Werte und Normen unserer Gesellschaft berücksichtigen“, sagte der Generalsekretär der neugegründeten Freiheits- und Gerechtigkeitspartei der „Jerusalem Post“. Die Partei ist der politische Arm der Islamisten. » | Bild.de | Montag 12. September 2011

Libyen: Gaddafi-Sohn flüchtet nach Niger

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE (FAZ): Einer der Söhne des einstigen libyschen Machthabers Muammar al Gaddafi, Al Saadi, ist in den Niger geflohen. Immer mehr enge Vertraute und Familienmitglieder des gestürzten Diktators setzen sich ins Ausland ab.

Gaddafis Sohn Al Saadi habe am Sonntag die Grenze zum Nachbarland Niger überquert, sagte der nigrische Justizminister Marou Amadou in der Hauptstadt Niamey. Wie der arabische Nachrichtensender Al Dschazira weiter berichtete, wurde der 38 Jahre alte frühere Fußballprofi in einem Konvoi mit acht weiteren Personen aufgegriffen. Die Regierung von Niger sei nicht vorab informiert worden.

Immer mehr enge Familienmitglieder des gestürzten libyschen Diktators Muammar Gaddafi setzen sich ins Ausland ab. Al Saadi ist bereits das vierte von acht Kindern Gaddafis, das sich ins Ausland abgesetzt hat. Zuvor war Ende August die zweite Ehefrau des untergetauchten einstigen Machthabers, Safija al-Gaddafi, mit der Tochter Aischa und dem Sohn Hannibal nach Algerien geflüchtet. Mit dabei war auch Gaddafis ältester Sohn Mohammed, der aus erster Ehe stammt. Wo sich früherer Diktator Gaddafi aufhält, ist weiterhin unklar. » | FAZ.NET | Montag 12. September 2011

Investors Shy Away from Sharia Funds Following Arab Spring
FINANCIAL NEWS: Sharia-compliant funds had been proving increasingly popular until the global financial crisis and then the Arab Spring frightened off investors and stymied private equity activity in the Middle East.

Fundraising volumes have collapsed, with not a single sharia fund raised so far this year, acacording [sic] to data provider Preqin.

Sharia-compliant funds, which enable investors to comply with Islamic law, are simple to structure and are guided by certain principles relating to interest accrual and the types of investment they can make.

Funds could be restricted, for example, from investing in businesses related to alcohol, gambling, pornography, weapons, tobacco and pork-related products. The funds are overseen and approved by a sharia supervisory board.

Sharia funds have varying degrees of flexibility depending on their target investors, which can include ultra high net worth individuals, institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds, according to Richard Hughes, a senior fund services manager at fund administration specialist Vistra Group.

Private equity firms based outside the Middle East can target Muslim investors by offering side-vehicles set up alongside existing funds that are not sharia-compliant.

Before the onset of the financial crisis, interest in sharia funds had been on the rise, with private equity firms raising $5.6bn of capital through six such funds in 2006. » | Ayesha Javed | Monday, September 12, 2011

By Reacting to 9/11 with Self-recrimination, the Western Elites Have Strengthened the Hand of Brutal Islamism
TELEGRAPH BLOGS – RICHARD LANDES: In the years before 2000, as the director of the ephemeral Centre for Millennial Studies, I scanned the global horizon for signs of apocalyptic activity, that is, for movements of people who believed that now was the time of a total global transformation. As I did so, I became aware of such currents of belief among Muslims, some specifically linked to the year 2000, all predominantly expressing the most dangerous of all apocalyptic beliefs – active cataclysmic: that is, the belief that this transition from evil to good demands massive destruction, and that we true believers are the agents of that destruction, warriors of God,Mujahidin. Death cults, cults of martyrdom and mass murder… destroying the world to save it.

Nor were these beliefs magical, like the far better known Christian, but largely passive-cataclysmic, Rapture scenarios where one must await God’s intervention. They had practical means and goals. In the same year 1989, that Bin Laden drove the Russians from Afghanistan, Khomeini issued a global fatwah against Rushdie, and the West trembled. Iran and Afghanistan, however, like so many utopias born of such death cults, proved terrifyingly dystopic – acid in the faces of unveiled women. But these bitter new heavens on earth also showed remarkable staying power… and spreading power. So when Bin Laden struck with such spectacular force on 9-11, he took his Jihad, already declared in 1998 against America (the “Second AD” ), to the next level. He put deeds to words.

We, in the West, were taken totally by surprise. Who are these people? Why haven’t we heard about them before? (NB: the blogosphere, which first “took off” in the early “aughts” (‘00s) is largely the product of a vast number of people turning to cyberspace for information that their mainstream news media had conspicuously failed to deliver.)

What was the logic of such a monstrously cruel attack that targeted civilians? A warning shot to pay attention and address grievances? Or the opening shot in a battle for world domination? Was this primarily an act of retribution for wrongs suffered, i.e., somewhat rational? Or global revenge at global humiliation, i.e., a bottomless pit of grievance?

Some of us said, “What can they possibly believe to make them hate so?” Others, “What did we do to make them hate us so?” And while both are legitimate questions, over the last decade, the “aughts”, we have split into two camps, each of which will not allow the other question’s consideration.

A Frenchwoman said to me in 2003, “after 9/11, there are two kinds of people: those who understand that we are at war, and those in denial.” Some pointed to a culture of genocidal incitement in the ideology of this religious enemy. They identified the totalistic reasoning, and warned that what these Mujahidin said in their own language was radically different from how “moderate” Muslims portrayed them to the West. Read on and comment » | Richard Landes | Sunday, September 11, 2011

9/11 Anniversary: Muslim Protesters Burn US Flag Outside Embassy in London

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: A group of Muslim protesters set fire to an American flag outside the US embassy in London during a minute's silence to mark the moment that the first hijacked airliner hit the World Trade Center 10 years ago.

A number of radical Islamic groups including Muslims Against Crusades (MAC) gathered outside the embassy on the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

The group of around 100 men shouted "USA terrorists", brandished anti-American placards and chanted through a loudhailer.

Several members of the Muslim groups made anti-American speeches following the flag burning.

One said: "You will always face suffering, you will always face humiliation, unless you withdraw your troops from Muslim lands."

Another declared that America had been "defeated in Iraq and defeated in Afghanistan".
Members of the group publicly burned a poppy on Armistice Day in a similar stunt.

However, a small opposing group of Muslims - some of whom had travelled hundreds of miles to rebut the extremists - staged a counter-demonstration nearby, holding up placards reading "Muslims Against Extremism" and "If You Want Sharia, Move To Saudi". » | Andy Bloxham | Sunday, September 11, 2011

Dix mots pour dire le souvenir du 11-Septembre

LE BLOG DE CÉCILIA ATTIAS: Merci à tous ceux et celles qui ont découvert ce blog ce matin. Les réactions sont nombreuses : je m'en réjouis, car cela signifie que chacun se sent libre de s'exprimer, ce qui est bien entendu mon souhait. De New York, où j'habite, je ne peux pas passer sous silence l'émotion qui est la mienne face au dixème anniversaire de l'attentat du 11-Septembre, alors que la ville se prépare à sa célébration. Dix ans déjà que le monde a basculé. L’attentat du 11-Septembre restera à jamais ce moment historique qui a signé la fin d’une ère et bouleversé le monde. Je vous livre ma réflexion autour de dix mots clés. » | Cécilia Attia | Dimanche 11 Septembre 2011

Ahmadinejad: le 11-Septembre, un prétexte pour envahir l'Irak et l'Afghanistan
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: IRAN | Le président iranien est intervenu dimanche en pleine journée de commémorations des dix ans du 11-Septembre: pour lui, les attentats ont eu lieu pour servir de "prétexte" à l’invasion de l’Irak et de l’Afghanistan.

Le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a réaffirmé dimanche que les attentats commis le 11 septembre 2001 aux Etats-Unis avaient eu lieu pour servir de "prétexte" à l’invasion de l’Irak et de l’Afghanistan par les Occidentaux.

"Le 11-Septembre a été un jeu visant à influencer les émotions de l’humanité et à trouver un prétexte pour attaquer des régions musulmanes et envahir l’Irak et l’Afghanistan en tuant un million de personnes innocentes", a déclaré M. Ahmadinejad dans un discours devant un congrès de responsables religieux du monde musulman et diffusé sur le site internet de la présidence iranienne. » | AFP | Dimanche 11 Septembre 2011

Margaret Thatcher Speaks to Congress
Looking back

England to New Zealand, 9/11 Remembered

September 11: America Marks 10th Anniversary of 9/11
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: America is preparing to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, with events taking place across the globe to remember the worst attack on US soil in history.

Thousands will gather at ceremonies at the site of the destroyed World Trade Center towers, at the Pentagon, and in a field in Pennslyvania where the fourth hijacked plane crashed.

President Barack Obama and former president George Bush, who was leading the country at the time, will lead the remembrances for the 2,977 people who died.

New York's 650lb Bell of Hope, which hangs near Ground Zero in St Paul's Chapel, the rest centre for 9/11 rescue workers, will sound at 8.46am New York time, the moment of the first impact.

The two presidents will join victims' families to hear the reading of the names of those who died as bells toll across the city and President Obama will also visit the other two sites.

The remembrance takes place in the shadow of the "credible" threat of a terror attack on the mainland US as other ceremonies begin to take place around the globe. » | Philip Sherwell, in New York, and Andy Bloxham in London | Sunday, September 11, 2011

We stand side-by-side, shoulder-to shoulder, with Americans today, as always, to mark the tenth anniversary of this heinous crime against the US and the civilised world. God bless America! – Mark

NZZ ONLINE: Gedenkfeiern in aller Welt zum Jahrestag der Terroranschläge: US-Präsident Obama in New York und in Washington erwartet » | sda/ddp | Sonntag 11. September 2011

LE FIGARO: L'Amérique commémore les attentats du 11 Septembre : En cette journée de dixième anniversaire des attentats du 11 Septembre, les États-Unis se souviennent. Barack Obama et George W. Bush doivent participer ensemble à une cérémonie organisée à New York.» | Par lefigaro.fr, Avec AFP | Dimanche 11 Septembre 2011

THE AUSTRALIAN: Remembering 9/11: Ten Years On »

DIE PRESSE: Zehn Jahre nach 9/11: Die Traurigen von New York – Das Leben änderte sich auch für jene, die am 11. September physisch nicht direkt betroffen waren. Manche Reaktionen scheinen kurios, helfen aber, das Unvorstellbare zu verarbeiten. "Die Presse" traf drei New Yorker.
» | Von Anneliese Rohrer (Die Presse) | Samstag 10 September 2011

JIHAD WATCH: A decade out, we're losing » | Robert Spencer | September 11, 2011

Islamist Groups Mobilize in Egypt

ÉGYPTE: La démocratie islamique, « une nouvelle démocratie » ? »

9/11 Anniversary a Time to Weigh Personal Changes

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: New York – Ten years on, Americans will gather today where the World Trade Center soared, where the Pentagon stands as a fortress once breached, where United Airlines Flight 93 knifed into the earth.

They will come together to pray in cathedrals in our greatest cities and to lay roses before fire stations in our smallest towns, to remember in countless ways the anniversary of the most devastating terrorist attacks since the nation's founding, and in the process mark the milestone as history itself.

As in earlier observances, bells will toll again to mourn the loss of those killed in the attacks. Ceremonies also will consecrate new memorials in lower Manhattan, rural Pennsylvania and elsewhere, concrete symbols of the resolve to remember and rebuild. » | Adam Geller, Associated Press | Sunday, September 11, 2011

'The British Government Must Confront Russia Over Human Rights Abuses'

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: An influential British businessmen has accused David Cameron of going soft on Russia and of naively treating the Kremlin with kid gloves out of a misplaced fear of Moscow.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph on the eve of the Prime Minister's historic visit to Russia tomorrow, William Browder, the founder of UK-based Hermitage Capital Management, said the British government had shied away from tackling Russia on human rights issues and claimed that the Kremlin was laughing at Mr Cameron behind his back.

“The government needs to be realistic about dealing with Russia. But it doesn't seem to understand its major strength in dealing with Russian officials,” Mr Browder charged.

"If they think that making nice with the Russians will solve any problems, it won't. The Russians just laugh at anyone who is approaching them from a position of weakness."

Mr Cameron's visit is the first by a British leader since 2006, and the first since former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive tea in central London that same year. Ties between the two countries have been icy ever since and Mr Cameron is under huge pressure to forge a better working relationship with Moscow.

But rights activists, including Mr Browder – who has embraced human rights advocacy since Sergei Magnitsky, his tax lawyer, died an agonising death in a Moscow jail – are worried that the British government is getting it wrong.

In particular, Mr Browder, who used to be the biggest foreign portfolio investor in Russia and who has one billion dollars under management, said it was time that the UK slapped tough visa and financial sanctions on top Russian officials involved in a series of heinous crimes, including the death of Mr Magnitsky.

Mr Browder, a British citizen but American by birth, has used his personal fortune to try to get justice [for] his friend. » | Andrew Osborn, Moscow | Sunday, September 11, 2011

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan William[s] Set to Quit Next Year

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Archbishop of Canterbury is planning to resign next year, nearly a decade before he is due to step down, it can be revealed.

Dr Rowan Williams is understood to have told friends he is ready to quit the highest office in the Church of England to pursue a life in academia.

The news will trigger intense plotting behind the scenes over who should succeed the 61-year-old archbishop, who is not required to retire until he is 70.

Bishops have privately been arguing for Dr Williams to stand down, with the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, telling clergy he should give someone else a chance after nearly ten years in the post.

Lambeth Palace would not be drawn into confirming or denying whether the archbishop will be leaving next year.

A spokesman would only say: "We would never comment on this matter."

Sources close to the archbishop say he will leave after the Queen's Diamond Jubilee next June and having seen the Church finally pass legislation to allow women to become bishops.

It is understood that Trinity College, Cambridge, is preparing to create a professorship for Dr Williams, who studied theology and was a chaplain at the university. » | Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, September 10, 2011

Now that Dr. Rowan Williams is going, it is to be hoped that he will be replaced by a committed Christian in the traditional sense of the word. In my opinion, the most suitable person to replace him is Dr. Michael Nazir Ali. It is to be hoped that he will be chosen. I can think of no more suitable a candidate than him. With the pews in churches emptying more quickly than cinema seats after a bomb scare, the Church needs someone who is determined to bring people back into the fold, and determined to show those who are not Christians that the path to salvation is through Jesus Christ. Dr. Rowan Williams didn't do this; he didn't evangelize. As I understand Christianity, this is a must for any serious Christian, still more so for the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The West in general, and the UK in particular, is being challenged by Islam. Dr. Michael Nazir Ali is therefore the ideal candidate to replace Dr. Rowan Williams, since he was raised in Pakistan, in Karachi, by Christian parents, his father being a convert from Islam. This man is a committed Christian who understands Islam thoroughly. Given the challenges we face, he is the only sensible choice. – © Mark

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Terror-Warnung zum Jahrestag der 9/11-Anschläge
Im Vorfeld der Gedenkfeiern sorgen Hinweise auf mögliche Attentate für Unruhe. Präsident Obama hat die Verdoppelung von Antiterrormassnahmen angeordnet. In Bin Ladens Versteck seien Dokumente gefunden worden, die zeigen, dass zum Jahrestag Attentate geplant seien.

Erdogan Slams Obama for Silence on Israel's Gaza Flotilla Raid
HAARETZ: Turkish premier reiterates Ankara's intent to refer legality of Israel's blockade on Gaza to The Hague, saying the world will see 'who is standing alongside the victims'.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated on Saturday his country's intent to refer the legality of Israel's Gaza blockade to The Hague, adding a criticism of U.S. President Barack Obama's position regarding Israel's 2010 of a Turkish Gaza-bound flotilla.

Speaking a convention of businessmen in the central Turkish city of Kayseri broadcast live on Turkey's state news channel TRT Erdogan vowed to continue the legal struggle for justice for the nine people killed in the raid.

"We will carry this struggle to The Hague and Erdogan criticizes Obama," the Turkish premier said, criticizing Turkish opposition leaders for what he described as "acting as advocates for Israel."

Erdogan was also deeply critical of the United States position on the Mavi Marmara incident, pointing out that he had to point out to Obama how the attack had left nine Turks dead from wounds inflicted by 35 bullets mostly fired from close range, one of them an American passport holder. » | DPA and Haaretz | Saturday, September 10, 2011

9/11 Anniversary: Photographers Recall Day of Horror - Interactive Slideshow
Photographers who were in New York on 9/11 describe the carnage they witnessed and explain the visceral power of photographs to capture a moment. Their images – and those taken by members of the public fleeing the burning towers – show intimate glimpses of individual grief and shock in the devastated city
Look at the slideshow here

Bloomberg Defends Banning Religious Leaders & Rescue Workers From 9/11 Tribute

HT: Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit »

Secret Plan to Fly Michael Jackson to Bahrain If Found Guilty of Child Molestation Charges
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Michael Jackson's brother Jermaine has revealed a plan had been drawn up to secretly fly the King of Pop to Bahrain if he was found guilty of child molestation charges.

The 56-year-old said a private jet financed by a friend was on standby to whisk the pop star to the Persian Gulf state, which does not have an extradition treaty with the US, if Michael had been convicted at the end of his 2005 court case. » | Saturday, September 10, 2011

Obama Jobs Speech: Michelle Obama Unhappy? Dissatisfied?

HT: Always On Watch »

Terrorwarnung ohne Islamdebatte
Nach der Festnahme zweier Extremisten in Berlin entbrennt Streit in der Regierungskoalition
NZZ ONLINE: Nicht eine Islamdebatte, sondern weiteres Gezänk in der Regierungskoalition hat die Festnahme zweier islamistischer Terrorverdächtiger in Berlin ausgelöst.

Die deutsche Regierungschefin Merkel hat am Freitag den internationalen Terrorismus als die neue grosse Bedrohung für die gesamte Weltgemeinschaft bezeichnet. Um zu lernen, wie man dieser Bedrohung «abschliessend» begegnen könne, werde die Weltgemeinschaft noch viel zusammenarbeiten müssen. Die neu eingeführten Sicherheitsgesetze seien notwendig, auch wenn sie Einschnitte in die persönliche Freiheit mit sich brächten. Nur so könne ein freiheitliches Leben für die grosse Mehrheit gesichert werden. » | Ulrich Schmid, Berlin | Samstag 10. September 2011

Clashes on Streets of Cairo
Sept. 10 - Egyptian police and protestors clash after the building housing the Israeli embassy in Cairo was stormed. Paul Chapman reports.

REUTERS: Israeli envoy leaves after Cairo embassy attack: Israel flew its ambassador home on Saturday after Egyptians stormed the building housing the Israeli mission in Cairo, plunging Egypt's ruling army deeper into its toughest diplomatic crisis since taking over from Hosni Mubarak. » | Yasmine Saleh and Mohamed Abdellah | CAIRO | Saturday, September 10, 2011

YNET NEWS: Embassy riots: Israeli envoy leaves Egypt » | Attila Somfalvi | Friday, September 09, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Egypt on high alert after deadly attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo: Egypt is on high alert after an attack by hundreds of protesters on the Israeli embassy in Cairo left three people dead and hundreds injured. » | Saturday, September 10, 2011

Watch The Daily Telegraph video here

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Tensions avec Israël: l'Egypte adopte l'état d'urgence: LE CAIRE | Après les violentes attaques de l'ambassade d'Israël au Caire, l'Egypte a adopté l'état d'urgence pour assurer la sécurité du pays. » | AFP | Samedi 10 Septembre 2011

Madame Butterfly - Maria Callas

The Joker That Is Blair! Tony Blair Proves God Has a Sense of Humour

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: His role on the banks of the Jordan as godfather to Rupert Murdoch's daughter Grace is just one of the things that make Tony Blair a great global comedy figure.

Another richly textured week in the crazy, crazy life of Mr Tony Blair draws to its close... and as so often when that ineradicable fungal infection in the national armpit flares up, the head is sent spinning by the man, his works and his genius for self-delusion.

It isn’t so much that you don’t know where to start with him, though I confess that on this occasion, beset by so much choice, it’s a struggle; more that you could go mad – droolingly, screechingly doolally – trying to fathom what goes on in his head.

Start somehow we must, and a brief chronological recap of recent Blairworld highlights seems as useful a launch pad as any. On Tuesday, we belatedly learnt of his attendance last year, on the banks of the Jordan, at the christening of god-daughter Grace, now nine-year-old girl child of Rupert and Wendi Murdoch. On Thursday, though only a Blair super-nerd will have noticed, it emerged that he has received a “peace award” – another one! – in Tel Aviv for his splendid if mysterious work sprinkling harmony across the Middle East. Yesterday, that cherished role as peacebringer firmly in mind, he informed us in an interview in The Times that war with Iran is the way ahead. » | Matthew Norman | Friday, September 09, 2011

Maria Callas - Tosca – Giacomo Puccini

Michael Bublé: Home Official Music Video

Interpol délivre un mandat d'arrêt contre Kadhafi, Saif Al-Islam et son beau-frère

LE MONDE: Interpol a diffusé, vendredi 9 septembre, une "notice rouge" pour demander à ses cent quatre-vingt-huit pays membres l'arrestation en vue de leur extradition ou de leur traduction devant un tribunal international du colonel Mouammar Kadhafi, de son fils Seif Al-Islam et de son beau-frère Abdallah Al-Senoussi, visés par un mandat d'arrêt international émis par la Cour pénale internationale.

Ce mandat "va restreindre significativement les possibilités pour ces trois hommes de franchir les frontières et sera un outil important pour aider à leur localisation et à leur capture", a estimé dans un communiqué Ronald K. Noble, le secrétaire général de l'organisation policière internationale, basée à Lyon. » | LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | Vendredi 09 Septembre 2011

Manchester Jihad Recruiter Jailed for Life

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A former Taliban fighter who ran a "recruitment centre" in Manchester for extremist Muslims to go to Afghanistan to kill British troops was today jailed for life.

Pakistani-born British citizen Munir Farooqi, 54, was at the centre of a plot to radicalise and persuade vulnerable young men to "fight, kill and die" in a jihad in Afghanistan, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Farooqi, of Victoria Terrace, Longsight, Manchester, and two others were captured in a police sting when two undercover anti-terrorism police officers infiltrated his group.

Farooqi bragged to the officers how he had fought with the Taliban and told them they could become "martyrs" for the jihad cause.

He also found "amusement" in the sight of the flag draped coffins of fallen allied troops returning from Afghanistan, the court heard.

Today Farooqi was given four life sentences and told he must serve a minimum of nine years before he can be considered for parole. » | Friday, September 09, 2011

Lacoste Asks Norway Police to Ban Anders Behring Breivik Wearing Their Clothes

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: French fashion brand Lacoste has asked Norwegian police to ban mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik from wearing their clothes during court appearances.

The killer insists on wearing a red Lacoste sweater with the distinctive crocodile logo on trips out of prison.

The 32-year-old gunman who killed 77 people on July 22 even wrote in his online manifesto that "refined people like him should wear brands like Lacoste".

But his choice of clothes has been described as a "nightmare" for the French company's exclusive image.

Norwegian daily Dagbladet said bosses had now written to Oslo police demanding 32-year-old Breivik be stopped from wearing their garments. Read on and comment » | Telegraph Foreign Staff | Thursday, September 08, 2011

9/11 Anniversary: US Terror Threat 'Initiated by New Al-Qaeda Chief Zawahiri'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: US intelligence officials said they had detected a potential terrorist plot timed to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.


Security is to be heightened in New York City and Washington, DC, after a "specific, credible but unconfirmed" threat was discovered, according to a statement issued by the Department of Homeland Security.

ABC News reported that officials believe the alleged plot was initiated by the new al-Qaeda chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who pledged to avenge the death of Osama bin Laden earlier this year.

Janice Fedarcyk, FBI Assistant Special Agent, said: "al Qaeda has shown an interest in important dates and anniversaries. In this instance it is accurate that there is credible, specific but unconfirmed information."

President Barack Obama was briefed on the information earlier on Thursday and requested that counterterrorism officials step up their response to the suspected threat, according to White House spokesmen.

It is understood that three people who recently entered the country, one of them a US citizen, are urgently being investigated by security officials over a potential plot to detonate vehicle bombs, possibly on bridges or tunnels. » | Jon Swaine, New York | Friday, September 09, 2011

9/11: How Osama bin Laden Caused Our Banking Meltdown and Financial Crisis

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: When historians look back on the financial and economic turbulence of our times, they will date it not from the start of the banking crisis in 2007, but to the bursting of the technology bubble at the turn of the century, or perhaps even earlier to the height of the Asian financial crisis in 1998.

The policies put in place to address these two events – first the dramatic accumulation of foreign exchange reserves by Asian economies to bolster themselves against future crises, and then the monetary easing applied by the Federal Reserve to deal with the aftermath of the dotcom boom – were to lead directly to today's banking meltdown and accompanying, rolling series of debt crises.

Yet these events were only the beginning. What really set the future in stone was the policy response to 9/11, the shocking series of terrorist attacks which have their 10th anniversary this weekend. Not in his wildest dreams could Osama bin Laden have imagined the long-term damage his atrocities would unleash on Western economies.

Before the horrendous events of 10 years ago, the Independent's Robert Fisk, one of the few Western journalists to have interviewed Bin Laden, had managed to elicit the following extraordinary claim from the world's most notorious terrorist – that he would turn America into "a shadow of itself" in much the same way as the insurgency he had helped ferment in Afghanistan had helped destroy the Soviet Union.

At the time, these claims seemed ludicrous – no more than the puffed-up, delusional conceit of the hunted and, frankly at that time, largely insignificant fugitive. Yet there is a sense in which Bin Laden did indeed manage to deliver on his promises.

With all major catastrophes, the long-term damage tends to be inflicted not by the event itself but by the response to it. America's reaction to 9/11 was to rush headlong into two, essentially unaffordable wars. What is more, to keep the economy going during the turbulence of these years, the US and its European counterparts unleashed what was to become perhaps the biggest credit bubble of all time. » | Jeremy Warner | Thursday, September 08, 2011

I have been saying for a very long time that Bin Laden couldn't have wished, dreamed of a better outcome for 9/11 than the one he has brought about. He wanted to bankrupt the USA, and he has done so, with just two planes flying into the Twin Towers.

The money that the USA has spent on security and fighting wars ever since has depleted their resources. Nobody will ever tell me that the 9/11 event and the financial crisis we now find ourselves in are unrelated. Anyone who thinks they are should take a closer look at the events that have unfolded since that fateful day.

Thank you, Mr. Warner, for bringing this to people's attention. – Mark

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