Moody’s Downgrades Six Greek Banks
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 9 — Moody’s on Wednesday downgraded the deposit and debt ratings of six Greek banks, following the downgrade of Greece’s sovereign rating to B1 from Ba1 two days earlier and its reassessment of some of the banks’ standalone credit strength, reflected in their bank financial strength ratings (BFSRs), ANA reports quoting a Moody’s announcement.
According to its decision on Wednesday, Moody’s downgraded the ratings of National Bank of Greece (NBG) to Ba3 from Ba1; EFG Eurobank Ergasias (Eurobank) to Ba3 from Ba1; Alpha Bank to Ba3 from Ba1; Piraeus Bank to Ba3 from Ba1; Agricultural Bank of Greece (ATEbank) to b1 from Ba2; and Attica Bank to b1 from Ba2.
The outlook on all these ratings is negative, Moody’s said, adding that Wednesday’s rating actions conclude the preview for possible downgrade, which Moody’s initiated on December 17, 2010.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Stocks Fall Sharply on Oil Jitters; Dow Drops 228 Points to Close Below 12,000
The Dow closed below 12,000 on Thursday, slipping back under the psychological barrier that it passed in late January.
Jitters about the oil market and the conflict in Libya, as well as some disappointing economic news, served as a reminder of the fragile nature of the global recovery.
At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 228.48 points, or 1.87 percent, to 11,984.61. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 24.91 points, or 1.89 percent, to 1,295.11. The Nasdaq fell 50.70, or 1.84 percent, to 2,701.02.
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Chinese Man Held for Exporting US Military Know-How
FBI agents Tuesday arrested a Chinese national working for a US technology company for exporting information about sensitive military know-how to China, justice officials said. Liu Sixing, also know as Steve Liu, was arrested at his home in Deerfield, Illinois and charged with one count of exporting defense-related technical data without a license, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Liu, a Chinese national with permanent residency in the United States, worked for the New Jersey-based company from March 2009 until November 2010 as a senior engineer on a team developing precision navigation devices. According to the charge, he boarded a flight from Newark last November to China, but on returning from Shanghai he was found to have a non-work issued computer containing hundreds of documents about the company’s projects. There were also images of a presentation Liu made to a technology conference which was organized by the Chinese government, the statement said.
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Fourteen Suspected Pirates to Appear in Federal Court
(CNN) — Fourteen suspected pirates indicted for the February hijacking of a yacht that led to the deaths of four Americans are set to appear in federal court Thursday.
Thirteen Somalis and one Yemeni will make their first court appearance in Norfolk, Virginia, at 2:30 p.m ET, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.
The men face piracy, kidnapping and firearms charges, according to office spokesman Peter Carr. They were indicted Tuesday.
According to U.S. officials, the four Americans — ship owners Jean and Scott Adam, along with Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle — were found shot after U.S. forces boarded their vessel.
Their ship, Quest, was being shadowed by four U.S. warships after pirates seized it off the coast of Oman in February.
U.S. forces responded after a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at a U.S. Navy ship about 600 yards away — and missed — and the sound of gunfire could be heard on board, according to U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Mark Fox.
The men were found to be in possession of several assault rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, according to the indictment. They tossed additional weapons into the ocean as U.S. forces approached, it said.
It was the first time in recent history that Americans have been killed in a suspected pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden, Carr said.
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Frank Gaffney: NPRgate and the King Hearings
Yesterday’s videotaped revelations by the intrepid James O’Keefe provides welcome grist for many mills. Most obviously, it offers irrefutable evidence that National Public Radio employs elitists who are hostile to Republicans, Tea Party activists, and others derided as gun-toting, white “racists.”
The principal focus of the expose filmed last month, Ron Schiller, the network’s now-departed vice president of development and president of the NPR Foundation, declared that his organization would be “better off in the long-run” without government underwriting.
Presumably, such sentiments will make it impossible for members of Congress to justify continued public funding of the organization when the Senate considers the decision taken by the House of Representatives to zero out NPR in the latest stopgap funding measure.
What is particularly instructive, however — and highly relevant to the hearings that Rep. Peter King will convene in his House Homeland Security Committee tomorrow — is the subtext of the new O’Keefe undercover videos: NPR seems to have had no problem sitting down with, and apparently entertaining the offer of $5 million from, representatives of a group that explicitly described itself as a Muslim Brotherhood organization and that promoted the “acceptance worldwide” (read, imposition) of shariah (the Islamists’ totalitarian politico-military-legal program)…
| — Hat tip: CSP | [Return to headlines] |
Juan Williams: NPR ‘All White Organization, ‘ Exhibited ‘Worst of White Condescension’ In Firing Me
Juan Williams says NPR is an “all-white organization” that exhibited the “worst of white condescension” in its handling of his firing last year.
In an interview with The Huffington Post, conducted before the most recent controversy surrounding an NPR executive’s comments about the tea party (and CEO Vivian Schiller’s ousting), Williams blasted the organization for its treatment of him.
“I think when it comes to NPR’s decision to, without any reason, throw me out the door, I think that for them, especially for some of the people who created NPR, it’s an all-white operation,” Williams said. He added that he thought NPR “felt they had never had much success” with black or Hispanic journalists, and that they had had “more success with white women.”
NPR declined to comment.
Williams was terminated from the organization in October following comments on Fox News that he gets “nervous” when he sees “people who are in Muslim garb” on a plane. NPR was roundly criticized for its handling of the situation—an independent review “expressed concern over [Schiller’s] role in the termination process” and stripped her of her 2010 bonus.
“What you see is there a real reluctance to, despite 10 years of success…deal with me as a journalist,” Williams said. “For them, I think the fact that I was a journalist who was not being pigeonholed as just a black journalist, but something larger and sometimes even conservative in a point of view, made them have great difficulty with me.”
At the time, Schiller said that Williams should have kept his remarks to “his psychiatrist or his publicist,” a comment she would later apologize for.
“I think they acted very unfairly, and largely in a condescending manner,” Williams said of NPR’s handling of the situation. “If you stop and think about some of the things that were said in the midst of that controversy, the idea that I should have a relationship with a psychiatrist or that I need a publicist to tell me what to say. It just suggests to my mind that they think that I was some sort of infantile mentality, or childlike person.
“I think the worst of white condescension to black people was evident in some of those comments,” he said.
| — Hat tip: Zenster | [Return to headlines] |
US Counter-Terrorism Training ‘Presents Islam as Inherently Violent’
American government accused of spending millions on courses giving police a distorted impression of Muslims
The US government is being accused of pumping millions of dollars into unregulated training schemes for local police officers and other law enforcers that give a distorted, dangerous and inflammatory picture of the Muslim faith. Political Research Associates, a Massachusetts-based progressive thinktank, spent nine months investigating the burgeoning industry of counter-terrorism training. It concluded that in seminars and conferences across America, police, transit and other law-enforcement officers were being given an ideologically skewed impression of Islam that impugned the entire religion, presenting it as inherently violent and sympathetic to terrorism.
One training conference, which PRA investigators attended, was held last October by the International Counter-Terrorism Officers Association, a body formed by New York police officers in the wake of 9/11. The conference was addressed by Walid Shoebat, a speaker used by several of the private training outfits. Shoebat is a convert to Christianity, having formerly been a Muslim with links to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. In his presentation, called The Jihad Mindset and How to Defeat It: Why We Want to Kill You, he accused Muslim men of raping women, children and young boys. “They are paedophiles!” he shouted. According to the report, Shoebat went on: “The Muslim beheads with a smile. You can see it on YouTube, on TV; the Afghan child trained to execute Christians. You say that Islam is a peaceful religion? Why? It hates the west.” He also said: “Islam is a revolution and is intent to destroy all other systems. They want to expand, like Nazism.”
Another training firm that is highlighted is Security Solutions International, a Miami-based company that has worked with some 1,000 law enforcement agencies since 2004. It gives seminars with titles such as “The Islamic Jihadist Threat”, “Jihad 2.0” and “Allah in America”. At one seminar, SSI’s trainer showed footage of the 2002 beheading of Daniel Pearl, an American journalist, by his al-Qaida kidnappers.
The report is published as the Homeland Security Committee in the House of Representatives is poised to open controversial hearings into the radicalisation of the American-Muslim community. Peter King, who chairs the committee, has been accused of launching a witch-hunt. A third training outfit, the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies, based in Alexandria, Virginia, uses experienced FBI, CIA and other former federal agents to conduct its training of about 8,000 national security employees a year. PRA investigators were not allowed to attend the centre’s seminars, but based on its website and the writings of some of its key trainers, the report concludes that its course, Global Jihadist Threat Doctrine, uses the framework of the cold war to portray Islam as an existential threat equivalent to communism.
Walid Phares, who trains on behalf of the centre, argues in his writings that jihadists are infiltrating western organisations posing as civil rights advocates: “The most important mission is to further recruit and grow their numbers until the ‘holy moment’ comes.” Thomas Cincotta, the author of the PRA report, called on Congress and the Homeland Security department to begin an inquiry into the use of public money to provide training that he called dangerous and unhelpful. “Police officers and law enforcers who attend these causes will walk away with the impression that law-abiding citizens should be suspicious of the broader Muslim community. I’m deeply troubled by that — it impinges on fundamental freedoms to practise religion, and it jeopardises our safety and national security by potentially alienating Muslims at a time when we need to work together.”
The report says that in the wake of 9/11 a huge sum of taxpayers’ money had been invested in counter-terrorism training for law enforcers. Two federal grant programmes alone, led by Homeland Security, paid out $1.7bn to states across the country in 2010. Some of the training schemes are closely monitored by the Homeland Security department, but much of the money, the report says, is filtered through a host of largely unregulated training schemes, some of which are conducted by private security bodies. SSI’s president, Henry Morgenstern, defended his company’s track record. “We have a very good reputation training law enforcers. We are not a kooky organisation.” He said of the report’s authors: “These people are out to weaken the anti-terrorism effort and it’s clearly politically motivated.” He added: “You cannot whitewash radical Islam — they really do cut people’s heads off, they do carry out honour killings, so we are trying to show law enforcers that this is what they are up against. We are not saying that all Muslims chop people’s heads off.”
The Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies declined to comment. The involvement of anti-Muslim groups in federal and state training has caused consternation in the past. Last August Reverend Jesse Jackson protested to the FBI after it was discovered that Robert Spencer had been used as an official trainer on counter-terrorism for police offers.
Spencer is a founding member of Stop the Islamisation of America, a group that virulently opposed the building of a Muslim community centre near Ground Zero in New York and that has links with the far-right English Defence League
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
EU Parliament Adopts Resolution on the Progress of Turkey
(ANSAmed) — STRASBOURG, MARCH 9 — The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on the progress of Turkey with the support of a large majority of MEPs, as Anatolia news agency reports from Strasbourg. The resolution, written by rapporteur Ria Oomen-Ruijten of the Netherlands, indicated that arrest of journalists could lead to lack of confidence in judiciary, adding that such trials, on the contrary, should strengthen the democracy in the country.
The European Parliament called on the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to intensify the existing dialogue with Turkey on foreign policy issues of mutual interest since Turkey became a source of inspiration in the Arab world with its secularism and democracy.
During the voting at the European Parliament, a resolution on the Armenian allegations about the incidents of 1915 was rejected with a large majority of MEPs. The European Parliament welcomed the adoption of constitutional amendments as a step in the right direction, and urged their proper implementation with full observance of the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It underlined at the same time, however, the pressing need for overall constitutional reform transforming Turkey into a fully fledged pluralistic democracy with the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms at its core.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Magistrates Say Govt Reform Plans ‘Undermine Independence’
(AGI) Rome — The Italian magistrates association ANM characterises govt reform plans as undermining the “judiciary’s independence”. In a communique’ co-signed by the association’s president and secretary — Luca Palamara and Giuseppe Cascini -, the ANM described the Cabinet’s “overall design”, involving constitutional reform, as “undermining magistrates’ autonomy and independence” as well as “impinging on the balance between the State’s legislative and judiciary powers.” .
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi-Linked Underwear Model Says She’s Suing Moroccan Go-Go Dancer ‘Ruby’
Rome, 10 March (AKI) — The Naples underwear model whose 18th birthday party Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi attended, says she never had sex with Berlusconi and is suing another Berlusconi-linked teen nicknamed ‘Ruby’ for libel.
“I’m taken legal action against Ruby. She is lying. I never had sex with Berlusconi,” Noemi Letizia told Thursday’s issue of Italian women’s weekly magazine Diva e Donna.
Letizia, who has never revealed how she knows Berlusconi, told the weekly she had never met ‘Ruby’, an 18-year-old Moroccan go-go dancer who prosecutors allege Berlusconi paid for sex when she was 17.
In transcripts of wiretapped phone conversations, Ruby, whose real name is Karima El Mahroug, reportedly told a friend that Letizia had been Berlusconi’s “pupil” while she was his “arse”.
“I don’t know this girl. I didn’t even know she existed until she mentioned my name. She doesn’t interest me at all. Her claims I had a sexual relationship with Berlusconi are just the latest of a long string of lies,” said Letizia.
Berlusconi is due to stand trial in April for paying El Mahroug for sex when she was a minor and abusing his powers of office to pressure police to release her from custody on unrelated theft charges to conceal their relationship.
Berlusconi and El Mahroug deny they had sex and Berlusconi claims he has never had “improper” relations with a woman or paid one for sex.
After he attended Letizia’s 18th birthday party in Naples in Apri 2009 and gave her a 6,000 euro gold and pearl pendant as a gift, Berlusconi’s wife Veronica Lario announced she was divorcing him, saying he was “unwell” and “went out with underage girls”.
Letizia, who aspires to a TV career and calls Berlusconi “Papi” denies there was anything more between her and Berlusconi than platonic friendship. She also denied rumours that she was Berlusconi’s illegitimate daughter.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Row Over Subsidised Hate Campaign Against Cabinet
AMSTERDAM, 10/03/11 — The Islamic leader of Amsterdam Oost district council is under fire due to a remarkable campaign against the cabinet. The district council executive led by her subsidises an action group which called last week for bringing out a vote against the “barbarous government” or otherwise “to die.”
The campaign posters of the ASRI youth organisation bore the text: ‘ASRI calls on everyone to vote on 2 March. The future, or back to 1939’. Next to this reference to the Second World War was a picture of a clenched fist.
Additionally, the accompanying press release contained the slogan ‘Vote or die’. In this release, Muslims were called on to collect voting proxies from others who were not going to vote “so that you are the one who runs to the polling station” to support a leftwing opposition party and ensure “that we (…) never more (…) get such a barbarous government.”
Less than three months ago, ASRI recieved a subsidy of 19,400 euros from Amsterdam Oost district council. The youth club may also receive money from the central Amsterdam city council.
The campaign did not go down very well with the conservatives (VVD) in the capital. They want to quiz Oost district council leader Fatima Elatik (Labour, PvdA) next week. The campaign is “pure party politics,” in the VVD’s view.
The subsidy from the district council was intended for the organising of ‘social cohesion activities’ and educational meetings. The district council says in a reaction that ASRI does not come under the portfolio of Elatik, but under that of her colleague Lieke Thesingh. “She had a meeting with the youth organisation on Thursday last week, and at it, indicated that she finds this campaign ‘not sensible’.”
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Netherlands: Lobby Organisation Complains Anti-Semitism Not Tackled
THE HAGUE, 10/03/11 — The Centre for Information and Documentation on Israel (CIDI) has urged the Lower House to take faster action against anti-Semitism. The move has been prompted by remarks on a website which CIDI says should have been off the air as long ago as 2009, according to CIDI.
On the site, there are remarks like ‘Jews are terrorists’ and that the Jewish intelligentsia wanted the holocaust themselves. According to CIDI, the site was reported to the police two years ago and should have been off the air then. The fact that this did not happen disappoints CIDI director Ronny Naftaniel. Prompt action is necessary regarding anti-Semitism, he says.
Naftaniel has made a new police report against the man behind the anti-Semitic website. According to CIDI, Jews in general and Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal in particular are insulted by the maker.
CIDI yesterday brought the matter to the attention of the Lower House in a letter to the House Committee for Security, Justice and Police. The man involved is former lawyer Jeroen de Kreek. He was convicted in the past for threatening the then Premier Jan Peter Balkenende — who is not in fact Jewish.
The Internet Discrimination Reporting Centre (MDI) also reported kreek’s website, called hetzuur.nl, to the police in 2009 and again 2010. “It is indeed a good question why nothing has yet been done about it,” said an MDI spokesman yesterday.
The Lower House is meanwhile considering having the protection of Jewish properties paid for by the State. The Party for Freedom (PVV) and small Christian party ChristenUnie among others consider it undesirable for schools and synagogues to have to pay themselves for the costs of private security guards necessary due to violence and threats. Protecting the safety of citizens is among the core tasks of the government, the two parties declared.
ChristenUnie leader Andre Rouvoet put forward a motion yesterday calling on Home Affairs Minister Piet Hein Donner to hold talks with the Jewish community and the municipalities. In these talks, a solution should be sought for the “unfairly high security costs.”
ChristenUnie also wants teacher courses to equip incoming teachers better “to bring up the Holocaust during lessons under difficult conditions.” Research shows that one in five history teachers in the four major cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht) hardly bring up the Holocaust or not at all, because Islamic pupils do not accept it.
PVV MP Joram van Klaveren asked in a motion yesterday for a study of anti-Semitism within the Islamic community. “The core (of the problem) is that people are leaving the Netherlands due to increasing anti-Semitism.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Silvio Berlusconi Film Trailer Prompts Gagging Row
State TV lawyers say comments by late mother could prompt ‘requests for damages for offending memory of the dead’
Italy’s state TV network is facing accusations of censorship after it banned a trailer for a documentary critical of Silvio Berlusconi, claiming it pokes fun at the prime minister’s late mother.
In a filmed interview used in the trailer, which was due to be shown on Sunday, Rosa Berlusconi asserts: “You will never see a photo of Silvio going around with women.”
Since his mother’s death in 2008, Berlusconi has been plagued by allegations of sleeping with prostitutes and hosting naked soirees, culminating in accusations he paid to have sex with a 17-year-old belly dancer, Karima el-Mahroug.
Berlusconi’s lawyer Niccolo Ghedini has said that the prime minister is prepared to give up one day a week — Monday — to attend his trial for underage prostitution, which starts next month, as well as three other trials for fraud and bribery.
State TV network RAI, over which Berlusconi exercises indirect control, said that the trailer for Silvio Forever “includes the statement of a deceased person, twisting the images and the words to satirical ends.” That ran the risk, added RAI’s legal department, “of requests for damages for offending the memory of the deceased”.
Rosa Berlusconi, who once said “I adore my son. I know he is honest, good and brave,” has been lauded for her good sense by Berlusconi.
Massimo Donadi, an MP with the opposition Italy of Values party, described the ban on the trailer as “the latest illiberal decision of a servile management” at RAI.
Vittorio Feltri, the former editor of a newspaper owned by the Berlusconi family, condemned the cut. “Someone is really stupid at RAI. Even films against Berlusconi can have ads.”
In 2009 RAI banned trailers for Videocracy, a documentary film about Berlusconi’s use of female nudity at the private TV stations he controls. The film, argued RAI, was “a political message” and not a real documentary.
RAI is reportedly planning to follow its flagship evening news programme with an editorial by Giuliano Ferrara, a pro-Berlusconi journalist who recently organised a rally attacking magistrates who have been probing Berlusconi’s “bunga bunga” parties.
Berlusconi said on Saturday he would launch sweeping legislation this week aimed at limiting the powers of Italy’s magistrates and cutting down on their use of wiretaps.
Meanwhile new transcripts of wiretaps of Berlusconi’s party guests were published, including one in which Elisa Toti, a model, tells her mother she had been paid 6,000 euros to spend a week with Berlusconi. “You cannot imagine what condition I am in,” she reportedly said. “I will need a month, and the money, to recover after that week.”
Iris Berardi, a model, was reportedly recorded saying that rivalry between women at Berlusconi’s parties last year was so fierce “they could massacre each other”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Swedish Arms Exports Increase in 2010
Swedish exports of defence equipment increased in 2010 to 13.7 billion kronor ($2.15 billion), according to a new report released on Wednesday.
The figure represents an increase of 1 percent on 2009, according to the statistics published by the Swedish Agency for Non-Proliferation and Export Controls (Inspektionen för strategiska produkter — ISP) on Wednesday.
The report showed that 70 percent of Sweden’s arms exports are to the EU and other established military partners.
“Of the total Swedish defence equipment exports, 70 percent goes to the EU and well established partners such as the US and South Africa,” ISP director-general Andreas Ekman Duse said in a statement.
Major arms deals involving, for example, the JAS 39 Gripen fighter jet and Stridsfordon 90 armoured vehicle, to South Africa and the Netherlands respectively, are reflected in the statistics.
Sweden is the 11th largest arms exporter, according to figures for 2009 compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
In 2010 42 percent of the country’s exports went to other European Union and European Economic Area countries. A further 29 percent went to “established partners” outside of the EU such as Australia, Japan, Canada, Korea, Singapore, South Africa and the US.
The remaining 29 percent went to a group of 20 countries with leading recipients including Pakistan (1.3 billion kronor), UAE (804 million kronor), India (696 million kronor), Thailand (498 million kronor) and Saudi Arabia (246 million kronor).
| — Hat tip: Fjordman | [Return to headlines] |
Timo Soini: True Finn in Sheep’s Clothing
With two months left to run before general elections, the anti-immigration, eurosceptic populist leader is moving ahead in the polls. Taking advantage of a nice-guy image, Timo Soini could undermine Finland’s political establishment.
Anna-Lena Laurén
Meet Timo Soini, and you cannot fail to fall under the spell of his charm. Humorous and and friendly, with a good sense of repartee, he does not give the impression of being loudmouthed or stupid. And although he is deeply pious, he remains discreet on the subject of his religious beliefs.
Demonstrating a mastery of the background to political issues, his answers to questions are usually to the point. But he is also an outspoken populist intent on surfing the wave of ambient discontent with a ready supply of simplistic responses to complex questions.
Timo Soini is the leader of the True Finns: a political party that until recently was consigned to the sidelines of Finnish politics, which in the 2007 general elections obtained a modest 4.1% of the vote.
But four years is a long time in politics, and the most recent opinion polls show support for the party has suddenly increased to 17 % — an upsurge that has taken the country’s institutions by surprise, and elevated the True Finns to a position on a par with the country’s three mainstream parties: Kokoomus or the National Coalition Party, the Centre Party and the Social Democratic Party.
True Finns will be difficult to keep out of the next government
Today, in the wake of the most rapid rise in decades of Finnish politics and with only two months remaining until general elections, Timo Soini’s True Finns are almost on a level with the social democrats (17.3 %).
Timo Soini’s popularity is first and foremost the result of a crisis in Finnish democracy. For years, every election in the country has been followed by a bout of squabbles between future coalition partners, which has led to an increasing sense of powerlessness and frustration among voters. Voter turnout in Finland is lower than it is in any other Nordic country — 67.9% for the 2007 general elections, as opposed to 84.6% in the most recent Swedish elections.
Figures for Soini’s support should certainly be taken with a pinch of salt, but all the indications are that his party will take 10% of the vote in general elections. If that is the case, the True Finns will become the fourth ranked political force in the country, and it will be difficult to keep them out of the next government. Soini has solemnly announced that his party will obtain at least two ministerial posts, and that he himself has set his sights on the Ministry for Employment and the Economy.
Finnish withdrawal from the European Union and restrictions on immigration
At the same time, we should bear in mind that there is a major difference between politics in Finland and in Sweden. In Sweden, virtually none of the party leaders are willing to risk being associated with the far right Sweden Democrats, while in Finland, the True Finns are perceived as credible alternative. This is notably due to the fact that the party has no neo-Nazi past, but was in fact created by Timo Soini himself, who cut his political teeth in the Finnish Rural Party, a populist party of the 1970s led by the legendary Veikko Vennamo.
A talented orator, Vennamo was reponsible for a number of phrases that have marked the history of Finnish politics, most notably kyllä kansa tietää [Yes, the people know]. This is precisely the tradition that Soini aims to perpetuate, while presenting himself as the guardian of the interests of the little people and an opponent of the establishment.
His main hobbyhorses are Finnish withdrawal from the European Union and restrictions on immigration. He also believes that Finland should abandon the Kyoto Protocol and that the Church should oppose same-sex marriage. Soini is very careful to distinguish himself from racists, and often refers to his Roman Catholic faith (he converted to Catholicism when he was a student in the 1980s) as proof of his conviction that all men are equal.
Soini has become a darling of the media
His detractors have remarked that his demagoguery appeals to a xenophobic section of the electorate, and that he deliberately allows these voters to believe that he represents their values. In reality, Timo Soini’s line on immigration policy has little to do with his success, which is primarily due to his ability to reach out to the growing fringe of voters that have given up on politics.
Much to the annoyance of established politicians, who complain that the nation’s journalists are too busy admiring his rise to power to ask him any difficult questions, Soini has become a darling of the media. That said, Timo Soini’s credibility was recently dented by the launch of his climate programme, which turned out to be a cut-and-paste of a document produced by the Metalliliitto [metal workers’ union], with all of the original typos. However, he has acknowledge his mistake and is continuing to plow ahead as though nothing had happened.
One solution for the “established parties” could be to give the True Finns a place in the next government: in the hope that, like Veikko Vennamo, they will be unable to deliver on their election promises and will be wiped out in subsequent elections. But there is no guarantee that this strategy will actually work, which is why the mainstream political parties are still nervously wondering what to do.
| — Hat tip: Steen | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Free Speech for Loonies at UCLU
Here is an event which may interest some of this blog’s readers:
In the first event of its kind, the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) in conjunction with UCL Union Islamic Society (UCLU Isoc) will hold a Conference to explore discourses surrounding extremism on campus, narrate grassroots experiences and generate informed debate — bringing together experts, the sector and students. One year on from the alleged UCL-Detroit-Bomber incident, and following the release of key reports (including the Universities UK report on academic freedom and the independent Caldicott inquiry report) the event is timely.
The conference entitled “radical thinking — between extremes of freedom and security on campus” will be held at UCL on Friday 11th March 2011 and will be part of UCL Union’s One World Week initiative with this year’s theme focusing on freedom of speech and censorship.
FOSIS is an Islamist agitation outfit with a long record of defending and promoting extremists. One of its men, Qasim Rafiq, was a close friend of future pants bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab when he was at UCL. Wonderful lad when Qasim knew him, of course, unlike those nasty people from SO15 who investigated the UCL section of his trail after his attempt at mass murder over Detroit.
Here are the panellists:
- Jamie Bartlett — Demos
- Dr Abdul Bari MBE — formerly Secretary General of Muslim Council of Britain
- Elizabeth Ammon — Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Head of Preventing Violent Extremism
- Dr Julian Richards — Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, University of Buckingham
- David Knowles — Association of Chief Police Officers, Prevent Education Liaison
- Dame Fiona Caldicott — formerly Principal of Somerville College, Oxford
- Professor Marie Breen-Smyth — Chair in International Politics, University of Surrey
- Mehri Niknam MBE, Joseph Interfaith Foundation
- Ben Whittaker — NUS (Vice-President of Welfare)
- Professor Gwen Griffith Dickson — Lokahi Foundation (Director)
- Nabil Ahmed — Federation of Student Islamic Societies (President)
One can certainly expect whitewashes of extremism on campus from some of the people on that list.
Which is handy when UCL’s own Islamic society is in need of a great deal of whitewashing. The pants bomber was its president. When he was a student at the university, it hosted all sorts of horrific hate preachers. The most popular by the number of appearances was Murtaza “jihad is great” Khan, one of the worst in the country.
The society is still on form. Next Tuesday it will welcome loony tunes thug Ken O’Keefe. The society calls him a “human rights activist”. He will speak on “Global Revolution in the Arab World”.
Have a look at him here on Iran’s RePress TV, hosted by Yvonne Ridley, maintaining that the sinking of the Lusitania, Pearl Harbor, the attack on the U.S.S. Liberty, and 9/11 were all dastardly American plots.
[…]
[JP note: Tariq Ramadan was a research fellow at the Lokahi Foundation in 2005, so no surprise to see its director, Professor Gwen Griffith Dickson on this panel of clowns.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Fosis and UCLU Islamic Society to Hold ‘Radical Thinking’ Conference
In the first event of its kind, the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) in conjunction with UCL Union Islamic Society (UCLU Isoc) will hold a Conference to explore discourses surrounding extremism on campus, narrate grassroots experiences and generate informed debate — bringing together experts, the sector and students. One year on from the alleged UCL-Detroit-Bomber incident, and following the release of key reports (including the Universities UK report on academic freedom and the independent Caldicott inquiry report) the event is timely.
The conference entitled “radical thinking — between extremes of freedom and security on campus” will be held at UCL on Friday 11th March 2011 and will be part of UCL Union’s One World Week initiative with this year’s theme focusing on freedom of speech and censorship. A list of confirmed panelists is provided in the notes below.
Nabil Ahmed, President of FOSIS said, “It’s time to talk, seriously and openly. By bringing together security experts, academics, students and university leaders, we believe this event will be crucial in establishing meaningful dialogue and discourse on the hotly debated issue of extremism on campus. Unlike much of the sensationalism and fear mongering that has previously shrouded the discussion, we believe the time has come to approach the issue in a mature and responsible manner, involving the key stakeholders.”
He further added, “With officials from Prevent in attendance, alongside leading security experts and independents who have had interaction with the discourse, we believe we have a credible, balanced line-up of speakers. We may encounter some uneasy discussions; there will be disagreement at times; but there will also be an air of accountability and opportunity for constructive dialogue.”
Sahal Quazi, UCLU Isoc President said, “The Islamic society has been thrust into the limelight and come under increasing scrutiny following the Christmas day incident in 2009; this in spite of the Caldicott inquiry which exonerated the Isoc. This event is intended to initiate a responsible and mature approach to discussing allegations of campus extremism; we want to demonstrate that Muslim students at UCL will continue to persevere and tackle such issues in an open, constructive manner.
[JP note: More limelight with the tequilla please.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Guardian Letters: We Need Freedom to Talk About Islam
As representatives of a broad spectrum of belief in the Muslim community, we support Usama Hasan’s right to free speech and the right to foster a culture of intelligent and compassionate debate about Islam (Imam is threatened with death after delivering lecture on evolution, 7 March). Islam has a tradition of creative thinking and discussion which allows disagreement and, importantly, the tools to tackle social injustice. Intolerance violates the spirit of Islam and has to be condemned.
We cannot allow people to promote acts of violence against opinions they disagree with. The stakes are high as we demand the right to build a strong foundation for future generations of Muslim children living in Britain. We can only do this if our rich diversity of Muslim communities not only follow in the footsteps of some of the great thinkers that have been proud to call themselves Muslim but also lead the way in tackling some of the greatest challenges facing all people today. We have been responsible for scientific and philosophical revolutions, created art that stands the test of time. This can only continue if we allow a free exchange of ideas, rigorous debate, and protect the individual’s right to speak his or her mind when others will not.
Raheel Mohammed Director, Maslaha
Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra Chairman of mosque and community affairs committee, Muslim Council of Britain
Dr Musharraf Hussain Karimia Institute
Rabia Malik City Circle
Akeela Ahmed Muslim Youth Helpline
Yahya Birt City Circle
Mohammed Imran
Merryl Wyn Davies Director, Muslim Institute
Samia Rahman Muslim Institute
Ziauddin Sardar
Julie Siddiqi Executive director, Islamic Society of Britain
Suleman Nagdi
Dilwar Hussain Policy Research Centre
MA Qavi
Rania Hasez Muslim Women in Education
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: MCB Statement Concerning Threats Against Dr Usama Hasan
Threats are not part of the Islamic tradition of intellectual debate and dialogue
The Muslim Council of Britain condemns the death threats reported against scholars such as Dr. Usama Hasan. Such behaviour is unacceptable and against the spirit of the long Islamic tradition of intellectual debate and dialogue.
Differences of opinion, from mild and minor to serious and major, have existed and will continue to exist amongst scholars of Islam. No scholar, however much we may disagree with their views, should be subjected to such bullying and hate campaign.
Scholars must have the right and space to express their views and others are allowed to debate in a civilised, dignified and Islamic manner. Of course, no scholar has the right to impose their views on others and similarly there is no compulsion on anyone to accept one particular opinion. In that lies our unity, progress and success (falah) as a diverse faith community.
[JP note: More weasel words from from the MCB.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Media Self-Censorship — Not Just a Problem for Turkey
by Michael White
While us hacks in Britain do not fear a dawn knock at the door — as some of our Turkish colleagues do — we should not feel too pleased with ourselves
I was horrified yesterday to read that the supposedly moderate Islamic party now ruling Turkey has begun silencing critics. Not just its secular enemies, we knew about that, but previous sympathisers who nonetheless believe that governments should not be above the law or political accountability. Older journalists and writers in Turkey recall the days when some subjects were simply taboo — criticising the all-powerful military or supporting communism. Suggesting that the Turks committed genocide against the Armenians during World War I got no less a figure than Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk into trouble recently.
“I don’t remember a time when we were free in this country to write on anything … but we felt safer than today because we knew what to write and what was restricted. Now it’s more complicated,” the columnist Ismet Berkan told yesterday’s FT. There’s a particular issue here — the future of Turkey, an important country — and the more general point about “what it’s safe to write about” — an issue that affects us all on the keyboard, even here in Britain. I’ll come back to that.
Given the dishonest way the European Union has treated the protracted, phoney negotiations for Turkish access to the EU, I have some sympathy for the resurgent nationalism that is tilting the Turks away from the secular west under the Justice and Development (AK) party led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the current prime minister. My underdog’s impulse is accentuated by the snooty disdain with which Turkey’s secular elite, the commercial, intellectual, political and military types dominant in Istanbul and Ankara, seem to regard AK leaders, let alone their headscarf wearing supporters. The Times carried a feature last year whose well-heeled interviewees dripped with condescension. But the Turkish government has been arresting ever-wider circles of “subversives” and “terrorists” as two inquiries into alleged coup plots — a military plot known as “Sledgehammer” and a network called “Ergenekon” — for four years now.
At one level this could be seen as an attempt to cleanse the “deep state” network that has had huge influence over the modern Turkey, which arose from the ruins of the Ottoman empire in 1918, one of the few post-Versailles states to thrive. But the pace seems to have quickened as the next election approaches and, as so often, the revolution has started to devour its own children.
A journalist called Nedim Sener, best known for a book exposing police negligence in investigating the murder of an Armenian journalist, was arrested recently after receiving threats. So was Ahmet Sik, another writer — previously sympathetic to the Ergenekon inquiry — who had also criticised the prime minister. It’s a bad sign, especially since Turkey is currently held up as a model that modernising Islam could follow elsewhere in the Middle East where Arab peoples have been overthrowing autocracies of varying shades of depravity in 2011.
What has Turkish press freedom to do with the rest of us? Well, I listened with one ear yesterday to colleagues discussing the half-hearted attempts by the Scottish football authorities to do something about the latest outburst of sectarian violence between Celtic and Rangers fans after last week’s Old Firm match, which Catholic Celtic won 1-0.
One of my chums, who used to work for a Scottish newspaper and grew up in those parts, said that one thing reporters were simply not allowed to do was to write that Scottish football had problems with sectarian violence.
What were the others? Apparently, you could never write in this particular paper that “Hogmanay is not as good as it used to be” or submit a disparaging review of a Scottish rock band. They were all brilliant and that was that, explained my friend, who had learned this lesson the hard way. Food for thought there, too, but no grounds for complacency in England, either. On the train home I read the FT — my end-of-day read — and found columnist Philip Stephens tackling the Libyan-LSE connection in much the same way as I did here myself last week.
Fine. Except that Stephens went much further than I did in saying we Brits are, one way or another, all involved in shabby compromises with autocracy and should get used to it. London’s position as a crossroads for the world’s investments makes the capital a “global Laundromat” for all sorts of dirty money and its owners. What’s more, the Laundromat is underpinned by a host of specialist skills — clever bankers, imaginative accountants, smooth PR executives — along with ancient and prestigious institutions that could also help cleanse money and reputation. Stephens could have added lawyers and estate agents (those “hideously vulgar” new flats on Hyde Park symbolise what he means), though he did mention Wimbledon, Henley and Ascot, which all contribute to the mix.
That all sounds better coming from the FT than it would in the Guardian, since more of the FT’s readers fit that particular mould. Where he put me on the back foot was in pointing out that another attraction of London lies in its “draconian libel laws” and the battery of lawyers that polices them. “The media is muzzled” by threats and writs the moment it makes inquiries into dodgy-but-rich residents, the FT pundit writes..
Is it that bad? In today’s Guardian, doughty FoI campaigner Heather Brooke, herself a refugee from the land of the First Amendment, complains that the British royal family (“are we living in Thailand?”) is above criticism just because there are set procedures for MPs to criticise “Air Miles” Andy Windsor — part of our ancient historical settlement with the crown when parliament deposed it. Though Brooke works herself up into a lather I’m not sure she’s on the right track here. Anyone who lives in Britain — Heather has been here a long time now — must have noticed that, for all their privileges, the royals are an easy target for media torment, tabloid and broadsheet. Charlie Windsor’s clod-hopping forays into planning inquiries are both exposed and abused, not least by the Guardian. Prince Andrew’s matrimonial woes have been the stuff of ridicule for years now. Only Wills and Kate (“Catherine”) are still on the upswing of the media cycle: it won’t last much beyond 29 April.
So it’s not the royals who are above criticism, let alone the local political elite, but rich foreign plutocrats — Mohammed Al Fayed, for example. I’d love to know more about his money and people like him. But it’s time-consuming and difficult work so Fleet St usually — not always — goes after the low-hanging fruit. Randy vicars, greedy councillors, silly MPs — none of them can afford a decent City law firm with the meter running, so they all get a harder time than investment bankers do — even this week, when their egregious greed is again on display. The problem is not confined to Britain, of course.
In Ireland and France, our two near-neighbours, the rogues get away with it too often. And in all countries some of the rogues take the precaution of owning a newspaper or six. Happy birthday again, Rupert! Don’t eat too much over-rich cake, it can be dangerous at your age! And self-censorship plays a part. What, even at the saintly Guardian? Sometimes, yes, I think. It’s not like working for one of Fleet St’s autocracies. No one writes deliberately to see their work end up on the electronic spike, so Murdoch staff find it easier to attack the BBC — often and at length — than explain the predatory tactics of Sky or why Chris Patten’s memoirs were ditched by HarperCollins.
At the Telegraph, you do not lightly write about publicity-shy, tax-lite owners of weird castles on the Channel Islands — it’s easier to accuse elected MPs of lesser follies. At the Daily Star, owned by Richard “Asian Babes” Desmond, you do not write about foul-mouthed porn barons. The Mail, well, it is a law unto itself and reflects the robust prejudices of its editor, Not-Sir-Paul-Dacre, who has not been in power for half as long as Colonel Gaddafi and its shows to his credit. It is more heterodox than is widely appreciated by non-readers and has taken a strong stance against greedy bankers, who, by happy coincidence, prefer the more sympathetic FT. So do bank advertisers. But elected governments fear the Mail most.
And us? I have always sensed liberal, middle class ill-ease in going after stories about immigration, legal or otherwise, about welfare fraud or the less attractive tribal habits of the working class, which is more easily ignored altogether.
Toffs, including royal ones, Christians, especially popes, governments of Israel, and US Republicans are more straightforward targets. Why, Margaret Thatcher almost did not make the cut (so we read) in yesterday’s splendid G2 International Women’s Day anthology of 100 great gals. Amazing! Nor has it been easy to smuggle anything creditable about Tony Blair into the paper for several years now, though tyrants with more convincing leftwing credentials sometimes get the benefit of the doubt. So while we hacks do not fear the knock at the door in a Turkish dawn, we should not feel too pleased with ourselves. And remember, dear reader, that we are also striving much of the time to tell you what you’d rather know rather than challenge your prejudices and make you cross.
As the old saying goes, we are all guilty.
[JP note: Fake contrition from the Guardian’s assistant editor.]
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
‘You Are No Longer My Son’: French ‘Refuge’ Helps Muslim Gays
For many gay and lesbian young people in France, Le Refuge is a lifesaver — literally. Since 2003, the organization has helped hundreds of desperate youths, most of them from Muslim families, who have been rejected by their families and forced onto the streets. But the charity is overwhelmed by the number of people seeking assistance.
Amine (not his real name) cannot forget the last words he heard from his father. Six words that destroyed his life. “You are no longer my son.”
That night, the 23-year-old couldn’t sleep. At dawn, as his family slept, he slipped out of the house. He didn’t say goodbye to anyone — not to his mother, or to his sisters. At 7 a.m. he stood with a packed suitcase at the train station, waiting for the train to Paris.
Amine’s father had rejected him because he is gay. There was no way back.
Newly arrived in Paris, Amine wandered through the street, not sure where to go. On the Internet, someone finally offered him a place to stay. But it was dirty and stank. And as Amine went to sleep one night, the stranger forced himself into his bed.
Three days later, Amine moved out, and was on the street again. Exhausted, he spent the night on a park bench. When he woke up the next morning, he realized someone had stolen everything from him: his wallet, cell phone, passport and money.
Three weeks later, Amine again had a roof over his head, his own room and a clean bed at a home in Montpellier run by an organization called Le Refuge. The organization, France’s only refuge for gay and transsexual youth who are abandoned by their families, offers 22 rooms to desperate young people like Amine.
For up to six months, 18- to 25-year-olds can live in one of Le Refuge’s homes in Paris, Lyon and Marseille, complete with educational, medical and psychological support. Here, they can finish their schooling, search for jobs and start to build a new life.
A Life Packed into Two Garbage Bags
Le Refuge’s main office in Montpellier, which also serves as a common room for the young people who live here, has two computers, a threadbare couch, a refrigerator and a microwave. Flyers on the walls talk about AIDS prevention, vocational counseling and other opportunities to get help.
Since its founding in 2003, Le Refuge has cared for about 200 young people, including 80 in the last year alone, says Nicolas Noguier, 33, who is the organization’s founder. About 70 percent of the people living there are young men. Most come from Muslim families.
When new arrivals show up, they are often physical and mental wrecks. Many have muddled through life on the street, dazed by drugs and forced to sell their bodies. Others have been threatened with death. They come to Le Refuge, desperate and shocked. People have shown up with the remnants of their prior lives packed into two garbage bags. Nine of them, including Amine, have told their story in the 2010 book “Casse-toi!” (“Get out!”), from the noted French author Jean-Marie Périer.
Those who seek a place at Le Refuge commit to weekly counseling sessions, where they get help from a psychologist. Five volunteers help the youths with their daily needs and help them bring a bit more structure to their unstable lives.
Although the victims come from many places and different social backgrounds, around half of them come from strict religious households, such as Amine.
Playing It Straight
Amine used to live with his mother, father and sisters in Alençon in northwestern France. His parents came to France from Morocco and are both extremely religious. His dad is a Muslim, his mother Christian. He is authoritarian, she is subservient.
Amine’s life was carefully organized. His mother and father had clear expectations for their son: work, house, marriage, wife and children, who should be named after their grandparents.
When Amine realized at the age of 14 that he likes boys, he knew it wouldn’t fit into the life his parents envisioned for him. He hid his feelings from his family and pretended to be heterosexual. At first he was amazed that nobody figured it out. He felt that just his slight stature and delicate facial features were enough to reveal his sexuality.
But the fraud ended when his parents overheard him exchanging intimacies with his boyfriend on the phone. His father was infuriated. But before he spoke to his son, he closed the window — he didn’t want the neighbors to know about it. Amine’s mother was banished into the next room.
“Think about it carefully,” Amine’s father shouted. “If you decide not to be gay anymore, you can stay. If not, then leave.”
But Amine didn’t have a choice. After all, he can’t be anything but himself…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Algeria: Muslim Lawyer Defends Women’s Rights
Based on Islamic law and tribal traditions, Algerian law discriminates against women in terms of marriage, children’s custody and education, divorce and more. Here is an in-depth analysis by an expert.
Algiers (AsiaNews) — On the occasion of International Women’s day, celebrated yesterday, Nasr Eddine Lezzar, an Algerian lawyer expert in social issues, said that women in Algeria are victims of profound discrimination, and that the country’s Family Code (adopted in 1984 and changed in 2005) is unfair and has “perverse effects” to the extent that it represents one of the “darkest stains on the status of women in Algeria”.
Nasr Eddine Lezzar made his views public in an article published in the al-Watan newspaper. In it, he shows what hardships and suffering women have to endure in predominantly Muslim nations, where religion and tribal customs work together against the rights of women.
The author notes that whilst Algeria is a signatory of all United Nations international conventions, it has not signed any of the conventions that touch upon the status of women (political rights, nationality of married women, age of consent and marriage as well as elimination of all forms of discrimination). Only in 1994, did Algeria ratify the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination. However, the national parliament has not yet turned the convention into domestic law and the Family Code remains “a vile and dreadful recipient of all the gender inequalities found in Algerian law.” In particular, Mr Lezzar notes some gross inequalities:
In marital negotiations, the groom is free to act on his own behalf, whilst the bride must rely on a guardian (father, relative or judge) to ensure that the terms of the marriage contract are just and fair. In practice, this means that women have no say in the decision since the absence of a guardian invalidates the marriage.
Under Algeria’s Family Code, polygamy is an unfettered right for men. Husbands are only required to inform their wife or wives about their decision. Even if a wife disagrees, she can resign herself to it or file for divorce and leave the marital home.
Husbands can file for divorce for any reason or no reason. Wives can only file for divorce under certain circumstances (non-payment of alimony, husband’s absence for a year and a day without justification, disability preventing the consummation of the marriage as intended, husband’s refusal to share the marital bed for four months or more, husband’s conviction for shameful crimes and serious moral errors).
Children’s custody is also a cause for discrimination. Only fathers can make legal decisions on their children’s behalf. Mothers can do it only if a judge authorises it, and this only as it applies to children’s housing, food and medical treatment.
A woman with custodial rights does not automatically have right to the marital home. This can happen only if the husband owns two homes and the wife does not have parents who can take her in. In light of Algeria’s housing crisis, this means that mothers and their children can find themselves homeless or forced to move to substandard housing.
In mixed marriages, mothers have custody of their children only if they live in Algeria. For example, a French woman married to an Algerian but living in France cannot have custody of her children without their father’s consent (which is very rare).
Fathers (not parents as required by international conventions) choose their children’s education. Non-Muslim women married to Algerian Muslim men do not have a say in their children’s education.
Nasr Eddine Lezzar notes that the “wretched” Family Code was changed in 2005, without any positive change. The only improvement affects the marital home. Under the old code, courts would award women the marital home under two conditions. Under the new version, they have to ensure that women’s right “to a decent home” is upheld.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Egypt: Govt Warns of Ongoing “Counter-Revolution”
(AGI) Cairo — Egypt’s new government has warned that some “counter revolutionary” attempts are underway. It was reported by official news agency Mena following clashes in Cairo that several sources blamed on supporters of former president Hosni Mubarak.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy to Propose EU-NATO Naval Initiative for Libya
No-fly zone ‘no videogame’ says Frattini
(ANSA) — Rome, March 9 — Italy will propose to the European Union that it join with NATO in a naval operation to enforce international sanctions on Libya, in particular an arms embargo, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Wednesday.
According to the minister, it is “absolutely imperative to avoid two separate, uncoordinated initiatives,” as is the case with international efforts to combat Somali pirates.
For the time being, Frattini added, there should be “an unrestricted United Nations mission on the ground in Libya” for the protection of civilians there.
Such a mission, the minister explained, could gather first-hand information on reported episodes of bombings and air strikes against civilian targets on which the UN Security Council can act accordingly.
In regard to a no-fly zone over Libya, Frattini said this could not be carried out by any ad hoc alliance but needed “international consent”.
Creating a no-fly zone, he explained, “is not a videogame… it is a very delicate operation given its military implications”.
Such a multilateral operation would not only need to be sanctioned by a UN mandate to the EU and NATO, the minister said, but also involve “the Arab League, which has already voiced its opposition to such an initiative, and the African Union”.
Frattini on Wednesday took part in a meeting of Italy’s Supreme Defence Council dedicated to the Libyan crisis and chaired by President Giorgio Napolitano, with the participation of Premier Silvio Berlusconi and Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa. photo: Foreign Minister Frattini
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Frattini: Italy Won’t Participate in Targeted Bombing
(AGI) Brussels — Italy won’t take part in targeted bombings over Libya due to be proposed by French President Sarkozy tomorrow. The news was released by sources close to the Elysee, which further specified that the proposal will be made during the extraordinary European Council meeting. The position of Rome’s Government was confirmed by Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, at the end of the EU informal Council meeting held in Brussels.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Why No-Fly Won’t Fly
By Pepe Escobar
You don’t stay 41 years in power without learning a geopolitical trick or two. A wily fox, the African king of kings Muammar Gaddafi seems to have carefully surveyed the chessboard and come to an iron-clad conclusion; the no-fly option — not to mention an invasion of Libya — won’t fly in the United Nations Security Council.
As reported by Asia Times Online (Arab revolt reworks the world order March 10), three of the emerging BRICS group countries — Brazil, India and South Africa — have already all but torpedoed the no-fly option. They happen to be current members of the Security Council. The other two BRICS members — Russia and China — are permanent members. BRICS for some time now have coordinated crucial decisions. At Foreign Ministry level, Russia had already dismissed no-fly last week, and China did it this week. Plus there’s Lebanon — another non-permanent member of the Security Council. That makes six “no” votes. Make no mistake; Gaddafi is keeping tabs.
Even the administration of President Barack Obama is not explicitly backing up no-fly. Pentagon chief Robert Gates — even counting on two aircraft carriers and 175 planes of the US 6th Fleet based in Naples, Italy — has explicitly warned this is serious business and it means war, which implies all manners of possible escalation plus unintended consequences (think Bosnia).
Those who do back a no-fly zone make a dodgy catalogue; former African colonial powers France and Britain; US neo-conservatives; and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — which includes Bahrain (which already lethally repressed protests), Saudi Arabia (who may do the same during this Friday’s “Day of Rage”), Oman (which may do the same if protests continue) and Qatar (whose al-Jazeera is barely covering the democratic aspirations of fellow GCC members).
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), also backs no-fly (but the OIC has not taken an official position yet). Same for the toothless Arab League; a meeting has been called by the GCC to discuss it. As for the European Union (EU) it should have a unified position by the end of the week; but don’t bet your steak frites on it.
Even the liberated eastern Libya movement is puzzled. Some leaders of the provisional Benghazi government want it, some don’t (as well as a mass of rebels). There’s no evidence the Obama administration is at least trying to take an informal no-fly poll among those doing the fighting (and dying), be it in English or Arabic.
Talk to the hand
Meanwhile, Gaddafi skillfully plays the al-Qaeda joker — as in without me, the West will be confronted with an Islamic emirate assembly line churning out thousands of jihadis across the Mediterranean. The people unquestionably buying Gaddafi’s rhetoric are none other than extreme right-wingers and cripto-fascist fanatics in the EU and also in Israel. From Islamophobes in Germany and Scandinavia to the new French political darling Marine Le Pen — the I-mean-business daughter of the founder of the National Front, Jean Marie Le Pen — they will be silently congratulating the Good Colonel Gaddafi on his geostrategic acumen.
Gaddafi has also made a shrewd move; he sent an envoy to Egypt’s Supreme Army Council. The message is clear; the Awlad Ali tribe — which controls the city of Salloum, on the Egyptian side of the border with Libya — is supplying the liberated eastern Libya rebels with everything from food to weapons. He wants it to stop. It’s an open question whether the transitional army-Egyptians will fall for it — apart from notorious “war on terror” stalwarts such as now invisible Omar “Sheikh al-Torture” Suleiman.
Anyone watching al-Jazeera can tell that the rebels are disgruntled, unemployed youth engaged with a lot of spirit and no strategic/tactical insights in what The Guardian of London aptly described as “drive-in war”. Some of these come from the Zintan tribe.
So it’s no wonder that Gaddafi’s televised address in the middle of the night on Wednesday was to an audience of young people from Zintan (there were not many, and they didn’t seem to be mesmerized). The hole in Gaddafi’s rhetoric is that all the communiques from eastern liberated Libya totally bypass typical al-Qaeda terminology, and talk extensively about a united nation and the people’s desire for democracy.
A key argument of proponents of no-fly is that if “we” — the civilized West — don’t intervene Libya will descend into Somalia-style chaos. It’s instructive to follow what’s actually happening in Somalia right now.
Somalia is crucially strategic, right across Yemen by the Gulf of Aden and practically a neighbor of the GCC countries. Everyone and his neighbor intervene in Somalia — from al-Qaeda to Ethiopia, from Sudan to GCC-based “charities”.
The African Union (AU) got really scared that Libya and Egypt will not be funding its operations anymore; so their 8,000 alleged peacekeepers (from Burundi and Uganda) launched an attack on al-Shabaab, a Somali coalition supported by a coterie of Osama bin Laden-affiliated jihadis that controls much of central and southern Somalia, including key parts of the capital, Mogadishu.
No one knows how this business of UN-sanctioned peacekeepers actually attacking an Islamic militia will end up. But Gaddafi will certainly use what’s happening as a bargaining chip with the AU; as in, if you want my money and collaboration, don’t even think about supporting no-fly.
This is how the African king of kings is reading the writing on the UN walls. No-fly, even approved, would be useless against his helicopter gunships, tanks and superior firepower. He knows the no-fly contingent can’t invade Libya — that would be seen as one more chapter, after Afghanistan and Iraq, of the white man’s crusade to destroy Islam (and get the oil)…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Sarkozy Said to Want to Bomb Gadaffi’s Bunker in Tripoli
(AGI) Paris — Sources close to the French President revealed that Sarkozy will ask the European Council to bomb Gaddafi’s bunker. The proposal, according to a source close to the presidency, will be presented in the course of a special EU Counci to be held tomorrow in Brussels. The French president, added the source, “will propose that only a limited number of targets should be bombed, including those from which deadly operations are ordered.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: After Revolution, City Coffers Empty
(ANSAmed) — TUNISIA, MARCH 9 — Following the excitement of the days of the revolution, Tunisia’s local administrators now have to deal with an economic situation that is hard for all.
Especially because what happed in January, with the sudden and unexpected fall of the regime and the escape of former president Ben Ali and most members of his family clan, gave other priorities to the Tunisian people, mostly related to future uncertainties. This situation of extreme uncertainty is also affecting city coffers, some of which are practically empty and therefore must cut back their own plans. An exemplary case is that of the Tunis municipality which is dealing with a serious liquidity crisis. Also because, as reported by all administrators, money being provided by the State, when it comes, is always dealt out parsimoniously, thus upsetting expenditure plans and payments.
And this is happening at a time when there are no impending tax deadlines or other levies. And then there is the fact that the fury of the people who protested against the regime also targeted peripheral municipal offices, to the point that many of them have been abandoned because they have been damaged so badly that they cannot be brought back into operation.
However there are also situations determined by the new air in Tunisia where, as happened in recent days with the Tunis municipality, long-time temp workers are being regularised who until today were viewed as temp workers and therefore always subject to the risk of contract renewal. Major social and political decisions which however involve local administrations that have no money. In any event Tunis, after having taken care of its temp workers, had to take another decision to deal with a new expense, equal to approximately 3.5 million dinars (1.75 million euros), as a result of which it will soon finalise procedures for the sale of municipal land to raise funds.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Bank Reveals Relations With Ben Ali Clan
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, MARCH 9 — How large and what is the extent of the network of economic interests created by former President Ben Ali and the family of Leila Trabelsi, his wife, during the long period of time that the regime was in power? The difficult job or reconstructing the mosaic of shareholdings, stakes and interests is proceeding slowly. And gradually, as the banks progress with their reconstruction of the situation, it is being revealed that those who said and continue to say that Ben Ali and his family had accumulated a massive fortune are right. Confirmation of this hypothesis has come from the result of inspections conducted by Banque Nationale Agricole (BNA), one of the most important banks in Tunisia, which sought to clarify its relations with the powerful entourage of the former president’s family. Ammar Tlili, the Director General of BNA, announced that the portfolio of the businesses associated with Ben Ali and Travelsi amounts to 336.397 million dinars, or the equivalent of about 169 million euros. These loans are divided between 65 businesses that were found to be led by 10 groups that are traceable to varying extents to Ben Ali’s family. Tlili also explained that some of the loans in question, which amount to about 90 million euros, were granted in the form of documentary credit. However, it was specified, since the beginning of the year, about 18 million euros in funds were liquidated prior to their due date.
Tlili also explained the shareholdings of BNA in three businesses that have ties with the family of the former president: “Carthagene cement” (construction, 25 million euros), “Orange Tunisie” (telecommunications; 20 million euros), “Tunisie sucre” (food and agriculture, 6.5 million euros). These shareholdings were guaranteed with mortgages and funds. In the report, Tlili specified that despite all this, last year’s figures for the bank (+130 million euros) were on the rise compared to the 2009 fiscal year by 7.9%, with an increase in deposits of about 25 million euros. This year, the damages suffered by businesses (52 attacked by crowds), and six that decided to move, will weigh heavily on their results.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: 27 Mln Dollars on Ben Ali’s Bank Account
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, MARCH 9 — New revelations concerning Ben Ali’s ‘treasure’, guarded in the Sidi Dhrif palace in Said, were made today by Abdelfattah Amor, president of the investigation commission that is looking into corruption and embezzlement, during a press conference. He mentioned a foreign account holding more than USD 27 million that was opened on March 22 2010. Other substantial sums of money were held in savings books under the names of Leila Ben Ali, Halima Ben Ali and Mohamed Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Currency worth approximately 4 million dinars (2 million euros), 20,000 euros and 95,400 dollars were also found. With reference to the foreign account, Amor stated that the Tunisian authorities took the necessary measures to freeze the assets.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Italian Among Subjects of Israeli Matriculation Certificate
(AGI) Tel Aviv — Italian poet Dante Alighieri will be among the subjects of ‘bagrut’, the exam to obtain the official Israeli matriculation certificate. From this year, secondary education students in Israel can choose the Italian language and culture for the first time as a subject of their exam. A small “revolution” which confirms the role of the Italian language among the subjects officially recognized by Israeli schools, due to the success of experimental courses organized by the Italian Cultural Institute in Tel Aviv since 2006.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
EU: Project for Women in Lebanon and Morocco Launched
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MARCH 7 — A project aiming to promote the participation of women and young people in local development processes in Lebanon and Morocco, was officially launched, funded by the EU under the CIUDAD programme. In Lebanon, women make up less than 20% of the workforce and get paid less than men. In Morocco the participation of women in the workforce is slightly higher, but still singificantly behind that of men. According to the Enpi website (www.enpi-info.eu), the project “Promoting women’s and youth participation in local development processes”, is managed by the lebanese city of Hermel, in cooperation with the Province of Rome (Italy) and the Moroccan Women Union Action, based in Tangiers. It aims to reach the objectives by establishing Women and Youth desks to provide training and support for opening small businesses.
Representatives of the EU Delegation in Lebanon and the CIUDAD Supporting Mechanism joined the project partners to finalize the work plan, budget and partnership agreement. The Ciudad programme runs from 2009 to 2012 and co-finances 21 local grant projects in the Neighbourhood’s South and East.
The projects reflect the overall objective of CIUDAD and in particular the following themes: environmental sustainability and energy efficiency; sustainable economic development and reduction of social disparities and good governance and sustainable urban development planning.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Gulf: Revolts: Political Reform and Not Marshall Plan, Experts
(ANSAmed) — DUBAI, MARCH 9 — Over the medium and long term, it will be neither “cosmetic changes” nor ad hoc Marshall Plans for the region that will spare Gulf region monarchies the sort of social upheaval which is becoming ever more urgent and destabilising. The demands made over the past few weeks by those protesting in the streets of oil-rich nations, warn a number of political analysts, call for more substantial political participation by citizens and control and condemnation mechanisms for actions taken by politicians and ministers. “If they want to preserve the stability of their regimes and their populations, Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) must bring in radical political reform and not only cosmetic changes,” said Abdul Rahim Al Shaheen, political science professor in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), “since a Marshall Plan will not meet the demands of broader political rights.” A financial package dubbed the ‘Marshall Plan for the Gulf’ is one of the items to be discussed by the ministers of the six countries of the oil-rich bloc — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman and Bahrain — to foster immediate economic development of the last two, which are in the throes of particularly turbulent times. Initial attempts to stem uprisings through economic measures have failed. In Bahrain the Emir Hamdan Bin Issa Khalifa has already brought in family subsidies and ordered the hiring of tens of thousands of citizens in ministries, but this proved not enough. In Oman, the measure by Sultan Qabus Bin Said of setting up unemployment benefits and the order to hire 50,000 people were seen as insufficient as well. The high unemployment rate, the recurring theme seen in the uprisings from Tunisia to Oman is a stagnant issue in need of significant reform to resolve, added Al Shaheen. Protestors demonstrated in the streets of Kuwait yesterday, demanding political reform, the resignation of prime ministers in their fifth term in office, the naming of a new one who is not a member of the royal family, and accountability before criminal courts for those governing the country. In Oman, the government reshuffle — the most important in the history of the region — has proved insufficient, with citizens once again taking to the streets to demand a stronger parliament and changes to the constitution allowing the elections of ministers. In the Gulf there is therefore the need for a plan and financial fund which would redefine the region’s needs, as well as “collective action promoting the necessary political reforms”, said professor of political science Abdul Kalad Abdullah.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Oman: Government Decides to Hire 50,000 Unemployed
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 9 — After the recent increase in minimum wages, Oman’s government decided to hire 50,000 unemployed people. The report was made by newspaper Assharq Al Awsat, which pointed out that, upon the sultan’s recommendation, 35,000 unemployed will be hired in public sector and 15,000 in the private sector. According to economic observers these measures will solve the unemployment problem in the short term. But they emphasised that in the long term these measures cannot work in a country where young people represent 40% of the population.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Saudi Arabia: USA to Monitor Respect of Protesters’ Rights
(AGI) Washington — On the eve of the Day of Rage in Saudi Arabia, the US said it would make sure human rights are respected. On the eve of the ‘Day of Rage’ called for tomorrow in Saudi Arabia, the U.S. told Riyadh it would continue to monitor the situation to make sure that the human rights of the demonstrators will be respected, after 3 Shiite protesters were wounded by the police today. “We will of course continue to monitor closely this particular situation “, said Ben Rhodes, a senior foreign policy adviser to President Obama. Rhodes also said that the U.S. will continue to “support a set of universal values in every country in the region”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Accused Held on ‘Secret Evidence’ In Turkey
Blocking defendants in the Ergenekon coup-plot case from seeing “secret evidence” against them violates their rights to legal defense and a fair trial, defense lawyers have said following the recent detentions of journalists in the ongoing probe.
“If [a lawyer] is about to make a defense, they should see everything related to the accusations and prepare the defense accordingly. If they are not given access to some of the evidence, they cannot make a proper defense,” said Professor Hakan Hakeri, the dean of the law school at 19 Mayis University.
“The principle of ‘equality of arms’ means both the defense counsel and the prosecution have equal rights for defense. In other words, if a prosecutor has information and documents with which to accuse a suspect, the defense counsel should also have the same information and documents,” said criminal lawyer Tuncer Özyavuz.
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“Under the secrecy decision, prosecutors have full authority over the [evidence] file and defense lawyers have none. Everything is under the prosecutor’s control,” Özyavuz added. “The prosecutor reads the document, but does not allow it to be inspected. That is a restriction of the defense.”
According to Özyavuz, the use of “secret evidence” violates Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to a fair trial.
Certain files in the alleged coup-plot case, which has recently seen the arrests of reporters Nedim Sener and Ahmet Sik and the detention of other journalists, have been deemed subject to a “decision of restriction” that keeps them from being made available to the defense. The regulation is a part of Article 153 in the Criminal Procedure Code, or CMK…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Is There a Line to Toe on Libya?
The Erdogan government was against sanctions on Libya and it is now against a no-fly zone over that country. The official argument as it applies to both cases is that these steps will not contribute to efforts aimed at bringing stability to that country, and will instead only aggravate the situation and make it more intractable.
Some may find a certain merit to this argument while other will disagree. Until there is clarity about what is actually going on in Libya the question will remain an open one. Judging by what is filtering down the diplomatic grapevine; however, there appears to be renewed annoyance in Washington and some European capitals over Turkey’s reluctance to “toe the line on Libya.”
Prime Minister Erdogan’s strong opposition to U.N. sanctions on this country had already raised eyebrows, even though foreign Minister Davutoglu said after they were adopted unanimously by the Security Council that Ankara would comply with them.
Erdogan’s angry remarks recently during a visit to Germany on the question of a NATO involvement in Libya also showed that he is against any military intervention, even though Turkey is a key member of the alliance; a fact that should have made him speak more cautiously.
This seemingly preemptive outburst by Erdogan concerning a possible NATO intervention merely reinforced the notion for some that he is covertly supporting the Gadhafi regime. Some see a replay of the Iran situation here and are once more questioning “whose side Turkey is on.”
The answer to that question from a Turkish perspective in fact comes to mind easily and is a simple one in this case. Turkey is on Turkey’s side in Libya. Turkish companies have invested heavily in that country over the past three decades and are now concerned about the fate of these investments, which are valued at an estimated $30 billion.
Given the powerful business lobby in Turkey the Erdogan government cannot ignore this fact. But this does not alter the serious dilemma facing Turkey over Libya though. Turkish companies clearly want to be well positioned after that country returns to a semblance of normality, even if full stability will take time to achieve.
Put another way Ankara is facing a delicate balancing act not knowing how the die will be cast when the dust settles down. Gadhafi is also aware of Ankara’s quandary and has been playing on it by courting the Erdogan government. This was apparent in an interview he gave to TRT, the official Turkish broadcasting company, a few days ago.
Expressing regret that thousands of Turkish workers and engineers had been evacuated from Libya, Gadhafi said he was ready to welcome them all back. In order to counter the recent negative remarks his son made about the Ottoman period in Libya, Gadhafi also went so far as to suggest a certain hankering for Ottoman times.
This being Gadhafi, though, he also could not help but step on Turkish sensitivities during the interview. When asked about the possibility of a no-fly zone over Libya he responded angrily by questioning why the West never talked about a no-fly zone over Turkey where the authorities have been combating Kurdish separatists for years.
Under normal circumstances these remarks of Gadhafi’s should have elicited a strong reaction, but the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, administration decided to overlook the matter, clearly for the sake of the greater interest.
The fact that the Erdogan government is looking after Turkey’s material interests in this way has some in the West trying to denigrate it as “mercantilist” and “opportunist.” While there is some substance to this criticism if one looks at the matter in absolute terms, it is also a fact that Turkey is by no means unique in this respect.
In fact this cold blooded attempt to serve Turkey’s own interests puts the AKP administration in the league of normal countries, rather than one trying to somehow promote political Islam in the region at the expense of the national interest.
Given what is being revealed now about how Western countries turned a blind eye to Gadhafi’s misdeeds, and propped him up for years, it is not likely that any criticism over Ankara’s current position is going to cause much concern in the Erdogan government either.
The AKP administration is also aware that the necessary international consensus for a military intervention in Libya, including a no-fly zone, appears difficult to establish. Most of the talk by countries such as the U.S. and Britain about an intervention is also “hedged” and “qualified.”
This suggests that Western capitals are not prepared to get involved in Libya unilaterally, or under the guise of some meaningless designation such as “the coalition of the willing.”
Washington for one has said that any intervention should be based on a decision by the U.N.; a sure sign that the Americans are not interested in an Iraq-type intervention after already having been burned once.
Russia and China however are opposed to any intervention, even though they supported sanctions against Libya. This makes it unlikely that U.N. will come up with a single position. Meanwhile some reports indicate that Britain, France and Italy are trying to get a unified EU or NATO position with the support of the Arab League and/ or the African Union, for a no-fly zone.
NATO defense ministers were due to meet in Brussels as this article was going to print on Thursday to discuss the topic. It was doubtful, however, that they would come up with a unified position since Turkey is apparently not the only alliance member questioning whether a no-fly zone would serve any real purpose.
In other words it does not look like NATO can come up with a unified decision on Libya either. Germany for one is said to be opposed to a no-fly-zone, which also means that the necessary consensus will not be arrived at in the EU either.
It is also unlikely that the Arab League will find the necessary consensus and provide the necessary support to NATO or the EU here. As for the African Union, it has been opposing Western calls against Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe, and is therefore unlikely to toe the line over another African dictator.
If we return to the question of whether “Turkey is toeing the line on Libya” in the light of these glaring facts, it is clear that it is not doing so, but one has to question given the prevailing confusion whether there is actually a line to toe, to start off with, in this case. All we have in real terms so far is a lot of talk and nothing else by countries that are only considering their own self-interest in the first instance.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UAE: Activists Ask for Reform of Federal Parliament
(ANSAmed) — ROME, MARCH 9 — More than 100 UAE activists signed a petition addressed to Khalifa Al Nuhian, the head of State of the United Arab Emirates, asking for parliamentary reforms and greater participation of the citizens in the decision process. So reports daily Al Quds Al Arabi which pointed out that the activists are asking for the direct election of the members of the federal parliament. The petition, signed by 133 activists and posted on the internet, asks for a number of constitutional reforms concerning the federal parliament in order to guarantee full legislative and control powers.
Aside from promising to strengthen the democratic process and gradually expand it, in 2006 UAE authorities organised the first partial election of the federal parliament where half of the 40 MPs were chosen by the various governor.
The more than 160 people that signed the petition addresses to sheik Khalifa ben Zayed al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, include academics, intellectuals and former members of parliament who, according to daily Gulf News, are asking for the implementation of universal suffrage and greater legislative powers to the Federal National Council (Fnc).
The only Gulf country that has not been affected by any sort of protest since the start of the “Jasmin revolution” in December in Tunisia, which set off a domino effect in North Africa and the Middle East, in 2006 the UAE introduced a parliament comprising 40 members, half elected, the other half appointed by the sheik.
The next election, scheduled in autumn, should count 12,000 voters on a population of 750,000 citizens, a number which has recently increased but is still deemed too low by the signatories. In truth the residents of the seven emirates of the Federation amount to 5 million but 85% are foreigners who do not play any role in the Country’s political life, including the vote to elect the Fnc which has a consulting and partly legislative role: in effects the laws are subject to the sheik’s final approval.
However political analysts believe that the petition, which is still online to raise supporters, is not a prelude to street demonstrations. The UAE enjoy oil resources that translate into pro capita revenues amounting to more than 40,000 euros and economic and infrastructural investments directly benefit the citizens of the Federation. A stable situation, despite the crisis, which shielded the Emirates from the shock waves of the regional protests.
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
HRW: Chechen Women Abused if Refuse to Cover Head
GROZNY, Russia (AP) — High heels are now a fashion must for women in Chechnya’s capital, where clean pavements have replaced the moonscape of mud, bomb craters and hulking ruins of the recent past. But there’s now another absolute must-have: the Muslim headscarf.
And not all Chechen women wear one willingly.
Chechnya’s strongman Ramzan Kadyrov has imposed an Islamic dress code on women, and his feared security forces have used paintball guns, threats and insults against those refusing to obey.
In a 40-page report released Thursday, Human Rights Watch condemned the campaign as a flagrant violation of women’s rights and urged other nations to raise the issue with Moscow.
“The enforcement of a compulsory Islamic dress code on women in Chechnya violates their rights to private life, personal autonomy, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion, thought, and conscience,” the report said.
“It is also a form of gender-based discrimination prohibited under international treaties to which Russia is a party.”
Kadyrov rules with the support of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has counted on him to stabilize the mostly Muslim region in southern Russia after two separatist wars in the last 16 years. Russian authorities have turned a blind eye to the treatment of women and other rights abuses in Chechnya.
Human Rights Watch interviewed dozens of women who have experienced or witnessed attacks or harassment for their refusal to adhere to the Islamic dress code.
One of the victims, identified as Louiza, told the rights group that she and a friend were attacked while walking down Putin Avenue in Grozny on a hot day last June, wearing skirts a little below the knee, blouses with sleeves a bit above the elbow and no headscarves. Suddenly a car without a license plate pulled up, its side window rolled down and a gun barrel pointed at them.
“I thought the gun was real and when I heard the shots I thought: ‘This is death,’“ she recalled in the report. “I felt something hitting me in the chest and was sort of thrown against the wall of a building.
“The sting was awful, as if my breasts were being pierced with a red-hot needle, but I wasn’t fainting or anything and suddenly noticed some strange green splattering on the wall and this huge green stain was also expanding on my blouse.”
The 25-year-old woman said her friend was hit on her legs and stumbled to the ground. Men dressed in the black uniform of Kadyrov’s security forces looked out of the car’s windows, laughing and sneering.
“It’s only at home that I could examine the bruise and it was so huge and ugly,” Louiza recalled. “Since then, I don’t dare leave home without a headscarf.”
Another target, a 29-year-old woman whose name was not given, said she was walking down the same central avenue in June with two other women, all without headscarves, when two cars stopped nearby and bearded men in black uniforms fired paintball guns at them, screaming: “Cover your hair, harlots!”
The woman told Human Rights Watch that she knows 12 women who were shot at with paintball guns in June.
Threatening leaflets also appeared on the streets of Grozny, warning women that those who fail to wear headscarves could face “more persuasive measures.” The women interviewed by Human Rights Watch interpreted that as a threat to use real weapons.
Kadyrov’s security force has been blamed by rights activists for abductions, torture and extrajudicial killings in Chechnya.
In July 2009, the director of the Chechen office of Russia’s Memorial rights group, was abducted near her home in Grozny and found shot to death along a roadside a few hours later. Natalya Estemirova had publicly criticized the Islamic dress campaign as a violation of Russian law, angering Kadyrov who had threatened her with repercussions.
A few weeks after the paintball shootings, Kadyrov told local television that he was ready to give awards to the men who carried out the attacks and that the targeted women deserved the treatment. There was no response from the federal authorities.
The paintball attacks ended in mid-June, having achieving Kadyrov’s objective. The majority of women are now too scared to enter the center of Grozny without headscarves or dare to complain against the “virtue campaign.”
| — Hat tip: AC | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Yasmin Church in Bogor Could be Shut Down
Bogor municipal authorities justify their decision by saying it would end Christian-Muslim confrontation. To do so, they are prepared to violate a Supreme Court ruling that, after ten years of legal battle, authorised Christians to use their building as a place of worship.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — The authorities in Bogor (West Java) want to move the Taman Yasmin Protestant Church from its present location to avoid further clashes between Christians and Muslims, sources tell AsiaNews, and this for security reasons. However, the decision is in violation of the Supreme court ruling of 14 January, whereby Christians are granted the right to finish the building they had started to build and to use it as a place of worship. Then again, local authorities want Christians to give up the right to the land as granted by the Supreme Court, which would give them the power to seize the land at any time.
For years, the Yasmin church has been the target of attacks and violence by Muslims who want it shut down, this despite the fact Christians have all the papers in order to open it. Last Sunday, the Bogor municipality was forced to step back from its earlier opposition and unseal the building to allow local Christians to celebrate Mass inside the building. Still, they had to force their way through a police security barrier (pictured) to get in. Soon afterwards, more protests by extremist Muslim groups led municipal authorities to ban access to the building again.
“Such proposals do not meet with our fundamental demand, namely that the Bogor municipality should abide by the ruling of the Indonesian Supreme Court,” said Bona Sigalingging, a lawyer for the local Christian community. “If implemented, it would be a serious setback for the Christian community, which would have to start from scratch again to collect signatures from local residents, apply for a building permit and obtain an authorisation to celebrate Mass.”
Building a church in Indonesia, both Catholic and Protestant, requires a permit (Izin Mendirikan Bangunan in Indonesian) issued by local authorities.
For Christian groups, the matter is complicated by the obligation to get the signatures of 60 local residents to accept a Christian place of worship as well as the green light of the local agency for inter-faith dialogue. This can take years.
What is more, getting all the signatures, permits and authorisations may not be enough because local Muslim fundamentalists and fanatics tend to object to the mere presence of churches and turn up the pressure on local government officials.
For example, the members of the Taman Yasmin Church had obtained the required signatures in 2001, but had to wait until 2006 for the building permit.
In February 2008, local authorities in Bogor bowed to pressures from the Bogor Islamic Community Association (FUI) and put a stop to the construction of the new church, claiming that the Christian community did not have all the necessary authorisations for a place of worship.
After two years of legal wrangling, the Indonesian Supreme Court ruled on 9 December 2010 that Christians were duly authorised to build and use the building for religious purposes. However, Muslim extremists continue to oppose the building. In fact, the FUI accuse Christians of forced conversions.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Yogyakarta: Muslim Leader Gets Protestant Church to Close
A Muslim guru accuses Christian clergyman of proselytising, describing his church as illegal and without a building permit. In reality, the pastor is in favour of interfaith dialogue, funding the education of five Muslim children without trying to convert them. Sources tell AsiaNews that the whole thing was a setup by the self-styled Muslim leader, even though no one knows who is or where he comes from.
Jakarta (AsiaNews) — The statement by a Muslim fundamentalist leader, whose name and background remain unknown, has led to the closure of a Protestant church in Sleman Regency (district), in Yogyakarta province. For the Muslim guru, the church had to close (using pressures and intimidation) because the building, allegedly, did not have a building permit and its pastor had engaged in proselytising among young Muslims. The reality is quite different. Local sources insist that the Christian clergyman was an advocate of interfaith dialogue and had provided financial aid to five Muslim children without any intention of converting them.
The whole thing began in a village in Sleman Regency on the island of Java. The Pentecostal church of El-Shaddai (Gereja Pantekosta di Indonesia, GPdI) under Rev Nico Lomboan STH was forced to close down after a close-door meeting between the clergyman and local officials.
The latter acted following pressures by a local political leader and a Muslim leader, known locally as Turmudi. The latter used inflammatory language to rouse crowds, with the result that the province put a stop to Christian activities, and neon signs in front of the church were removed.
The Muslim guru claimed that the place of worship lacked a proper building permit (Izin Mendirikan Bangunan or IMB in Indonesian), normally issued by local authorities. Christians who want to build a church must also obtain the signatures of 60 local residents as well as the green light of the local agency for interfaith dialogue. Even then, having all the right papers is no guarantee that they will get their church. Local authorities are often forced by Muslim fundamentalists to reject permit applications by Christians or back track after granting them.
Rev Lomboan said that he had applied to all the right authorities “as far back as 1995”. In the area, Christians have been active since 1990. “Nothing happened until December 2010 when construction [of the church] was almost complete,” he explained.
Muslims and Christians were involved in interfaith dialogue and he had developed a good reputation, providing financial assistance to 11 students. “Five are Muslims,” he notes, “and no one tried to convert them. In fact, they are still Muslim.”
However, on 16 February of this year, a group of mothers, roused by the Muslim guru, forced their way into his house, demanding he stop his activities. The next day, the local Regency council summoned Rev Lomboan. The meeting ended with the closure of his church and the termination of all its activities. The money he had provided to Muslim children was treated as “evidence of Christian proselytising.”
Speaking to AsiaNews on condition of anonymity, local sources said that “the controversial Muslim guru, Turmudi, is not from Sleman. All school agencies in the area have no idea who he might be and from where he might come.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
China: PLA Fires Budget Guns
By Wu Zhong
HONG KONG — Each year when the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s parliament, holds its annual session to scrutinize the government’s economic plan and budget for the year, world attention focuses on the increase in spending on defense.
So much so that in recent years, routine press briefings on the agenda of the NPC session a day before its opening session — and therefore well before the budget’s delivery to lawmakers — have seen a spokesman for the parliament announce the increase of military spending, apparently to quench the thirst of the media.
This year was no exception.
On March 4, Li Zhaoxing, retired foreign minister and now the NPC spokesman, told reporters that China’s defense budget for 2011 will amount to 601.1 billion yuan (US$92 billion), up 12.7% from last year. He also gave the standard explanation for the two-digit percentage rise in military spending, saying it is for national defense reasons and poses no threat to other countries.
By way of elaboration, Li explained that Beijing has always tried to limit military spending and set the defense budget at a reasonable level to ensure a balance between national defense and economic development. Much of the extra defense money will go toward moderate improvements in armaments, military training, human resource development, infrastructure of grassroots military units and living standards of enlisted men and women, Li said.
So as usual, while Beijing gives a boost to military spending, it also tries hard to avoid provoking alarm about the “China threat”. As usual, the United States and Japan immediately expressed their “concerns”, urging Beijing to increase transparency of its military spending.
What is different this year is that Beijing seems to have allowed the military to publicly express its view on the rise in the military budget. Under the principle of “the party commanding the gun”, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has hitherto been restricted from making public comments on a party or government decision.
Major General Luo Yuan, a senior researcher with the PLA Academy of Military Science, stepped out to justify the increase of defense budget from a military point of view.
“On the issue of military spending, China does not need to care about what others may think,” Luo said, brushing aside the concern about possible provocation of cries about the “China threat”.
Luo, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a top political advisory body, made the remarks in an interview with state media in Beijing last Friday. The CPPCC is holding its annual session concurrently with the NPC. The outspoken Luo, son of Luo Qingchang, a Long Marcher who worked for a long time under late Premier Zhou Enlai, is one of the princelings, the sons of party elders.
Luo Yuan said foreigners always asked why military spending was increased, but the right question should be why it cannot be put on hold. There were at least six justifications.
First, when threatened by secession, any country will increase its military spending, Luo said. China now is facing the threats of “Tibet independence”, “Xinjiang independence” and “Taiwan independence”. So “why cannot we increase our military spending?” he argued.
Secondly, all countries in the world are undertaking military modernization. The world is experiencing a new military transformation. So “why cannot China undertake its military modernization?” Luo asked.
Third, “The mission for our military is expanding. We now face not only traditional threats but also untraditional threats,” Luo said, citing military participation in recent evacuation of overseas Chinese from Libya. “If there’s an emergency and there are a huge number of overseas Chinese needing to be evacuated, then it’s quite necessary for the army to step in and help the government get them out.”
The PLA dispatched a warship and four military aircraft last week to help the Chinese government evacuate Chinese nationals back from riot-torn Libya. China had pulled all 35,860 Chinese nationals out of Libya by late March 3 Beijing time, the Chinese foreign ministry said.
Luo said this shows the Chinese military has strengthened its capacity to deal with untraditional threats. “Our military will have to protect our national interests wherever they extend. Therefore, our military now has multiple military missions in face of multiple threats. Why cannot we increase our military spending?” Luo said.
The fourth justification was that the fruits of reform and opening up should be shared by whole society. Government spending in all other sectors has also increased, Luo said.
Fifth, prices are going up, especially water, electricity and oil, necessities for the military that account for a large part of its daily expenditure. So “why cannot our military budget be raised?” Luo said.
Lastly, Luo said foreigners only looked to the annual two-digit annual increase in military spending in the past decade. In the first decade of reform and opening up, the military budget increased only minimally and the military exercised restraint and patience. So the increases in recent years were aslo a compensation or supplement, Luo concluded.
An independent PLA source told Asia Times Online that Luo opinions mirror the thoughts of many PLA officers. “The US keeps selling advanced weapons to Taiwan and increasing its military presence in this region. We also need to strengthen our combat capability. If others want to see this as a threat, so be it.”…
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Libya: Italy ‘Proposes’ EU-NATO Joint Anti-Smuggling Patrols
Brussels, 10 March (AKI) — Italy proposed that the European Union and Nato together shoulder the responsibility of patrolling international waters off of the Libyan coast to prevent any arms smuggling and monitor the flow of illegal immigrants trying to reach European shores, German news agency dpa reported on Thursday, citing an informal document.
Italy called for “a joint EU-Nato maritime surveillance operation off the Libyan coast to implement the arms embargo,” declared by the United Nations Security Council,” declared by the United Nations Security Council, dpa reported.
Nato officials were due to meet Thursday in Brussels where they were expected to discuss possible responses to the Libyan conflict, which the International Red Cross has descended into civil war. Imposing a no-fly zone to protect civilians from warplanes flown by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was expected to be at the top of the meeting’s agenda.
A anti-arms-smuggling mission would be effectively wed with “monitoring human beings across the Mediterranean Sea,” the document said.
About nine thousand mostly Tunisians have made the trip aboard boats to Italian shores since the January when their country’s government fell under the pressure of weeks of protests. Italy says the conflict in Libya can spark an even larger migration.
The dpa report said a Nato naval base in Naples would likely be used in any operation.
It was unclear how the operation could be launched, as formal EU-Nato cooperation is blocked due to a conflict between Nato-member Turkey and EU-member Cyprus, dpa said.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Shedding Our Penis Spines Helped Us Become Human, DNA Study Hints
Genetic comparison with chimps suggests that losing chunks of DNA — including one associated with penis spines and facial whiskers — played a crucial role in making us human
Scientists have identified a clutch of subtle genetic changes that have shaped our minds and bodies into the unique form that sets humans apart from chimpanzees and the rest of the animal kingdom. The work by researchers in the US represents a landmark in a search that has occupied philosophers and scientists for millennia and one that goes to the heart of understanding what it means to be human.
The findings offer up the humbling conclusion that the secret of human success may owe more to what we lost along the path of evolution, rather than anything we gained.
When the human genome was first deciphered more than a decade ago, some scientists expected to find extra genes that explained why humans had an intellectual edge over their closest living relatives and other species. But since diverging from chimpanzees around seven million years ago, it turns out that our human ancestors lost several hundred snippets of DNA, which together led to traits that are uniquely human, the researchers claim.
In ditching these chunks of DNA, our ancient ancestors lost facial whiskers and short, tactile spines on their penises. The latter development is thought to have paved the way for more intimate sex and monogamous relationships. The loss of other DNA may have been crucial in allowing humans to grow larger brains. Intriguingly, hardly any of the lost DNA was from genes, which make the proteins that are the building blocks of life. Instead, the missing DNA came from areas of the genome that regulate where and when certain genes are active.
“Like someone looking for their keys under a lamp post, the genes were the easiest place to look for differences between humans and chimpanzees, and in many respects those have been studied pretty well,” said Philip Reno, a co-author on the study at Penn State University. “But there is a larger unknown in the form of these other regions of DNA, and in those we are only just beginning to find ways to pull out the differences between humans and chimpanzees.”
In the years since the human genome project was completed it has become clear that humans and chimps share around 96% of their DNA. Of the three billion pairs of “letters” that make up the human genetic code, genes account for less than 2%. The US team compared the complete human genome with sequences from the chimp, macaque and mouse. They found that humans lack 510 short sections of DNA that are present in the other animals. Intriguingly, only one missing piece of DNA affected a human gene directly. The vast majority of lost DNA disrupted parts of the genome that control how genes are expressed.
One missing section of DNA was found to block a gene that, in other animals, stifles the growth of brain cells. Losing that DNA may have been a pivotal moment in human development, as it allowed parts of the human brain to expand into the most complex organ known. Writing in the journal Nature, the researchers describe how our ancestors lost another piece of DNA that gives rise to both facial whiskers and sensitive spines on the tip of the penis, both of which are found in chimpanzees and other non-human primates.
Penile spines — which make the penis more sensitive and speed ejaculation — are more common in animals that face intense competition for mates, and where females are likely to mate with many males in rapid succession. The loss of penile spines may have allowed our ancient ancestors to copulate for longer, a development thought to have nurtured monogamous couples and paved the way for more complex social structures.
When the scientists checked their genetic discoveries against the Neanderthal genome, they found the same chunks of DNA were missing, meaning the DNA was lost more than 800,000 years ago, which is when our human ancestors split from the Neanderthal lineage. The scientists are still working out what many of the lost sections of DNA do, but expect to find more evidence of how humans differ genetically from chimpanzees. “There are going to be many different features that make humans unique and I don’t think we’re close to describing all the links between genes that make us different from chimpanzees,” said Reno. “We are just getting the initial picture.”
| — Hat tip: JP | [Return to headlines] |
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