It’s election time this week all over Europe. Britain is holding local elections in addition to elections for the European Parliament, and support for the BNP is surging as Labour’s fortunes unravel. A number of rats have already left Gordon Brown’s sinking ship, and now he faces a rebellion from a group of Labour MPs, who are attempting to oust him as prime minister.In other news, Kim Jong-Il has named his youngest son, Kim Jong-Un as his successor. Also, a survey shows that Turks have very little tolerance for cultural diversity.
Thanks to Barry Rubin, C. Cantoni, CB, Diana West, Fausta, Gaia, Insubria, islam o’phobe, JD, Paul Belien, TB, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Obama Makes Everyone Sacrifice But Himself
Obama is fond of calling upon Americans to make sacrifices — or rather, he is fond of forcing Americans into sacrificing themselves at a time and place of his choosing. Heroic sacrifice requires volunteerism, or at least an element of extraordinary choice; Obama’s sort of sacrifice runs along Agamemnon-esque lines. He names the time and the place, and you are expected to put your neck on the altar.
Obama’s sacrificial ideology is particularly egregious because it targets minority groups who can do nothing to defend themselves. Obama targets the taxpaying minority, forcing them to pay for bank bailouts and auto gratuities while falsely promising that taxpayers will earn that money back (when do we get our checks?). He targets GM bondholders, the same folks whose retirement money has been keeping the ailing carmaker afloat; his new bankruptcy plan makes their holdings worthless. He demonizes Chrysler’s investors as “speculators” and attempts to portray them as villains in Chrysler’s demise. He forces banks to take TARP money, then defenestrates bank chiefs and caps executive pay.
It would be one thing if Obama expected all Americans to sacrifice equally. Clearly, however, he does not. He, for one, isn’t willing to sacrifice — he’s ready to spend $24,000 of taxpayer money to take his wife on a date to New York. And Obama doesn’t expect his allies to sacrifice, either. The United Auto Workers, whom Obama has praised for its “sacrifice,” now owns a majority of Chrysler and a huge chunk of GM; not coincidentally, UAW gave millions to Obama’s campaign. Obama refused to bail out California unless it revoked pay cuts for members of the Service Employees International Union; not coincidentally, SEIU gave $33 million to Obama’s campaign.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Al Qaeda Eyes Bio Attack From Mexico
Seeks white militias as allies
U.S. counterterrorism officials have authenticated a video by an al Qaeda recruiter threatening to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States via tunnels under the Mexico border, the latest sign of the terrorist group’s determination to stage another mass-casualty attack on the U.S. homeland.
The video aired earlier this year as a recruitment tool makes clear that al Qaeda is looking to exploit weaknesses in U.S. border security and also is willing to ally itself with white militia groups or other anti-government entities interested in carrying out an attack inside the United States, according to counterterrorism officials interviewed by The Washington Times.
The officials, who spoke only on the condition they not be named because of the sensitive nature of their work, stressed that there is no credible information that al Qaeda has acquired the capabilities to carry out a mass biological attack although its members have clearly sought the expertise.
The video first aired by the Arabic news network Al Jazeera in February and later posted to several Web sites shows Kuwaiti dissident Abdullah al-Nafisi telling a room full of supporters in Bahrain that al Qaeda is casing the U.S. border with Mexico to assess how to send terrorists and weapons into the U.S.
Click here to see the video.
“Four pounds of anthrax — in a suitcase this big — carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the U.S. are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour if it is properly spread in population centers there,” the recruiter said. “What a horrifying idea; 9/11 will be small change in comparison. Am I right? There is no need for airplanes, conspiracies, timings and so on. One person, with the courage to carry 4 pounds of anthrax, will go to the White House lawn, and will spread this ‘confetti’ all over them, and then we’ll do these cries of joy. It will turn into a real celebration.”
In the video, obtained and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, al-Nafisi also suggests that al Qaeda might want to collaborate with members of native U.S. white supremacist militias who hate the federal government…
| — Hat tip: Fausta | [Return to headlines] |
Barack Obama is Blind to His Blunders Over Islam
The new President’s approach discourages change in Middle Eastern countries that need it most
In trying to prove that he is not George Bush, Barack Obama has committed big mistakes on key issues of foreign policy. His Cairo address, and his “one-size-fits-all” Islam policy, is just the latest. It encourages Islamists and ruling despots, discourages the forces of reform and change and, ultimately, could produce greater resentment of the United States among peoples thirsting for freedom, human rights and decent governance.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
CAIR to Obama: Address Talk Radio ‘Denigration’
Claims critics create Islamophobia, degrade Muslim religion
President Obama should act against the “denigration” of Islam in newspaper columns, on talk radio and in religious sermons nationwide, the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, wrote in a letter to the president.
As Obama prepares for his much anticipated address to the Muslim world tomorrow, CAIR offered the president some tips on how to better foster dialogue and understanding with Islam.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Diana West: Saudi Rules
Dick Morris and Eileen Gann describe the real Saudi bow now in motion as Al-POTUS touches down in “The Kingdom” on Magic Carpet One — (hey, I’m just getting into the Islamo-spirit of Barack Hussein Obama’s extremely delusional and/or extremely hopeful? statement of yesterday calling these United States “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world”). There, he is utterly dissing our kindred ally Israel with the Big By-Pass, determining that Israeli babies are the gravest threat to Middle East peace, reaching out to Iran, and now this:
But as he goes to Saudi Arabia, the United States State Department, headed by Mrs. Hillary Clinton, has announced that it has accepted the ground rules for media coverage of the Obama visit to the royal family and its domain. Reporters will only be allowed to cover the actual meetings between the Saudis and Obama and will not be permitted to visit the rest of the country or report on anything else they see during the trip. Those reporters who violate these terms are subject to arrest and imprisonment by the Saudi government!!
Hillary and Obama accepted these terms.
“Bow down, infidel White House press corps! Lower! Lower! Back, back, back into the hotel!… “ I can hear the Saudi enforcer now—Robert Al-Gibbs, perhaps? Searching around online for the actual State Department communique, I found a report about it at Time’s website…
| — Hat tip: Diana West | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s Totalitarianism
The younger generation probably doesn’t realize that the word socialism means and connotes a system that is profoundly un-American. Socialism has virtually disappeared from our national lexicon since the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) collapsed because of Ronald Reagan’s policies and the National Socialist (Nazi) Party was destroyed by the United States in World War II.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines socialism as a system of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods are owned by a centralized government that plans and controls the economy. Both Webster and Random House identify socialism as a “Marxist theory.”
Socialism requires a totalitarian system that gives the ruling gang the power to distribute the fruits of other people’s labor to its political pals. That is what is happening to the United States as President Obama proceeds with his goal of “remaking America.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama: U.S. ‘One of Largest Muslim Countries’
President makes inaccurate statement as White House stresses his Islamic roots
The number of Muslims in the U.S. would make America “one of the largest Muslim countries in the world,” claimed President Obama in an interview released last night.
His assertion, which is factually inaccurate, comes one day before he is set to deliver a much-anticipated address to the Muslim world from Cairo, Egypt.
Teasing the speech with the French television network Canal Plus, Obama commented.
“Now, the flip side is I think that the United States and the West generally, we have to educate ourselves more effectively on Islam. And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslims Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. And so there’s got to be a better dialogue and a better understanding between the two peoples.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Phyllis Chesler: Will President Obama Present the Shooting in Arkansas as an Unacceptable Act of Islamic Jihad Against America?
According to my esteemed colleague Steven Emerson, (and as I noted yesterday), Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammed has been under investigation in an effort to understand his “possible contacts with extremists overseas.” Emerson believes that Muhammed probably attended “the (Al-Da’awah Center) madrassa in Dammaj, a tribal area of Yemen, run by a Salafi cleric named Yahya Hajuri.” Unbelievably, Hajuri is the designated heir to one Muqbil ibn Hadi, who once launched an attack on Mecca and a war against Christians in Indonesia.
Yemen: What do I recall about Yemen? Osama bin Laden’s father is from Yemen, from a place called Hadramut which, I am told, means “Death has come.”
More important, according to Emerson, Abdulhakim M. Muhammed “was urged by members of the local Muslim community, (in the United States), to travel to Yemen, for more education. The Gulf nation is considered a hotbed for terrorists, and Muhammad may have been exposed to more radical ideas there.”…
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The Obama Infatuation
Is the press giving the president a free pass?
The Obama infatuation is a great unreported story of our time. Has any recent president basked in so much favorable media coverage? Well, maybe John Kennedy for a moment, but no president since. On the whole, this is not healthy for America.
Our political system works best when a president faces checks on his power. But the main checks on Obama are modest. They come from congressional Democrats, who largely share his goals if not always his means. The leaderless and confused Republicans don’t provide effective opposition. And the press—on domestic, if not foreign, policy—has so far largely abdicated its role as skeptical observer.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Releases Secret Nuclear List Accidentally
The federal government mistakenly made public a 266-page report, its pages marked “highly confidential,” that gives detailed information about hundreds of the nation’s civilian nuclear sites and programs, including maps showing the precise locations of stockpiles of fuel for nuclear weapons.
The publication of the document was revealed Monday in an on-line newsletter devoted to issues of federal secrecy. That publicity set off a debate among nuclear experts about what dangers, if any, the disclosures posed. It also prompted a flurry of investigations in Washington into why the document was made public.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
White House ‘Dialogue’ Site Scrubbed of Eligibility Posts
Many Obama birth certificate queries yanked from ‘transparency’ debate
With more than 200 individual threads and thousands of comments on the eligibility issue alone, moderators of the White House website on “open government dialogue” have been working tirelessly to edit the dialogue about Barack Obama’s elusive “long-form” birth certificate.
Many of the top-rated threads are from citizens calling on Obama to release his birth certificate. The postings in the “top rated” category have received the most “looks promising” votes from users. New threads on the topic of Obama’s constitutional eligibility to serve as president are appearing by the minute.
WND observed the “Making Data More Accessible” section for several hours as more suggestions appeared and at least 60 were subsequently deleted on the first page alone — all requests for the president to submit proof of citizenship.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
British Soap Opera Tackles Muslim Homosexuality
EastEnders to show gay Muslim kissing homosexual character
A popular British soap opera is set to introduce a controversial storyline that will see one of its Muslim characters become gay, which is likely to ruffle some feathers among British Muslims and add fuel to an already heated debate about Islamophobia in the United Kingdom.
EastEnders, a long-running soap opera named “Best Soap” in the 2008 National Television Awards, will introduce the new plotline this summer and will see its Asian character Syed Masood find himself struggling with his Muslim faith and his sexuality.
The character will then follow up on his feelings for an openly homosexual character and the two will share a passionate on-screen kiss defying his devout Muslim family and his mother’s attempts to set him up with women from “good families.”
News of the controversial plot comes just weeks after a Gallup poll revealed that British Muslims have zero tolerance for homosexuality as opposed to their non-Muslim counterparts.
“Normal friendly Muslim”
A Muslim Council of Britain spokesman refused to comment to Al Arabiya but Asghar Bokhari from the Muslim Public Affairs Committee told British press: “The Muslim community deserves a character that represents them to the wider public because Islamophobia is so great right now.”
“There’s a lack of understanding of Muslims already and I think EastEnders really lost an opportunity to present a normal friendly Muslim character to the British public,” he said.
EastEnders’ executive producer, Diedrick Santer, however, argued there was too much political correctness when it came to black or Asian characters and said he believed it was best to tackle controversial plots head-on.
“Sometimes there’s a danger of being too careful with black or Asian characters that we might go into territories that might offend,” Santer was quoted by the British press as saying.
“But it seems to me if we steer away from any controversy, they don’t stand a chance of being a great EastEnders family — they’ll just be in their kitchen unit making curries for years and years and that’s not going to be very interesting,” Santer said referring to the Asian ethnicity of most Muslim characters on EastEnders.
EastEnders is considered one of the most popular soap operas in the United Kingdom and regularly tackles controversial subjects in a bid to attract viewership.
Muslim reaction
For practicing Muslims there is no such thing as a gay Muslim because the two things contradict each other as homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Islam.
“A gay Muslim is an oxymoron. If you submit to your lord by being a Muslim, then you must obey him. How can you submit to your lord when you openly defy his will. How can you be a loyal servant to Allah when you know he despises it with utmost hatred, hence the story of Lut (ailayhu al salaam),” bloged Suree, who is described as a traveler, on the Wake Up Project forum.
For EastEnders fan Maya Haslam, who is a British Muslim currently living in Dubai, the new storyline is “appalling.”
“I don’t understand what they are trying to do,” Haslam told Al Arabiya. “This is not a true reflection of the majority of Muslims in the United Kingdom,” the 31-year-old who works in marketing said.
British Muslim of Pakistani descent, Naveed Ahmed, 35, echoed the sentiments and told Al Arabiya “I think its bad, it is going to give a bad impression about Islam.”
“The type of people that watch EastEnders are going to be very naïve about such a portrayal of Muslims,” he added.
When asked if Muslims would boycott the show over the provocative plotline, Ahmed said he did not think so because “generally practicing Muslims don’t really watch EastEnders.”
For some, however, the new storyline is great as it gives a voice to a silent minority that feels neglected.
“It is high time that the invisible minority became a visible minority,” Yusuf Wehebi from Imaan, an organization that supports Britain’s gay and transgender Muslims, told the BBC.
“It is entirely possible to be Muslim and gay and there’s many of us in Britain today,’’ Wehebi said. “It is great that the BBC have had the courage to raise such an important social issue in our society today.”
| — Hat tip: TB | [Return to headlines] |
Brown Faces E-Mail Plot to Oust Him as Hazel Blears Joins Ministers Deserting His Collapsing Government
Gordon Brown was on the brink today after Hazel Blears resigned with a jibe at his leadership and desperate Labour rebels started an e-mail campaign to oust him.
The Prime Minister saw his position become even more perilous with the Communities Secretary’s resignation on the eve of key elections.
She followed Jacqui Smith to become the fourth Government minister to resign in 24 hours and left with a bitter parting shot that Labour must ‘reconnect’ with the public.
With Mr Brown still digging in his heels, rebel Labour MPs have started an e-mail campaign soliciting signatures calling on him to quit.
They believe they will have 70 to 80 backers for the no confidence motion by the end of the day and plan to hand it to the Prime Minister on Monday once the results of the local and European elections have all come in.
Miss Blears resignation came just hours before Mr Brown had to face David Cameron at question time and appeared carefully timed to inflict the most damage to his attempts to cling on to power.
The Prime Minister tried to blame the havoc on the expenses crisis, which he took care to stress had affected every single party, but the Tory leader said he was ‘in denial’.
Miss Blears’ decision was a ‘direct challenge to his authority’, Mr Cameron declared. ‘If this was about expenses, the Communities Secretary would have resigned weeks ago.’
Both Miss Smith and Miss Blears are known to be close friends of Europe Minister Caroline Flint, raising the prospect she too could be about to stand down.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Denmark: Euro Benefits Certain But Minimal, Say ‘Wise Men’
Adopting the euro should be a political, not an economic decision, leading economic advisors argue
Ten years after the nation’s leading economic advisors recommended against Denmark adopting the euro, due to ‘uncertain and minimal’ benefits, the independent panel of economic watchdogs, nicknamed the Wise Men, now say those benefits are certain, if still minimal.
‘The question of whether Denmark should fully join the European Monetary Union is more a matter of political considerations about what role Denmark will play in the European Union,’ the four-man Economic Council wrote in its semi-annual report, released on Thursday.
Danish voters rejected scrapping the krone for a common European currency in a referendum in 2000, but the exchange rate between the two remains fixed, which the Wise Men say has benefited the economy by eliminating currency fluctuations between trading partners.
According to the Wise Men, the fixed exchange rate is responsible for between 20 and 30 percent of export growth to euro-zone countries. Sweden and Great Britain, which have also retained their currencies, but do not have a fixed exchange rate, have not seen the same export growth.
Other benefits of adopting the euro are the elimination of exchange fees and the added security of being part of a large currency bloc. Both, they say, would have minimal effects, especially since international confidence in the krone remains high.
But even though adopting the euro would give Denmark a greater say in the EU’s economic matters, they point out that Denmark’s economy would make up 2.5 percent of the euro-zone’s total economic activity, making it a small player.
Adopting the euro would also give the government less freedom to follow its own economic policies. They also worry that the economy could be dragged down if another euro-zone economy runs into trouble.
The Liberal-Conservative government supports adopting the euro, and Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen has announced he would like a referendum to be held by 2011
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
FPÖ Graf Offers Peace Talks to Jewish Leader
By Thomas Hochwarter
Freedom Party (FPÖ) MP Martin Graf announced today (Fri) he would like to meet the leader of the Jewish Community in Austria (IKG) following the verbal insults of the past few days.
Graf, who is the third president of the Austrian parliament, said a possible meeting with Ariel Muzicant “on neutral soil” had “absolute priority” for him. Graf added he had the hope FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache could attend such a meeting as well.
Graf said he was confident the mutual attacks could be “relativised, defused and regretted” in such a meeting. But the years-long FPÖ member and member of far-right student fraternity Olympia said he hoped Muzicant would disassociate himself from his statements in which he compared FPÖ general secretary Herbert Kickl with Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Graf also called on Muzicant to take the website www.kellernazisinderfpoe.at (Cellar Nazis in the FPÖ) offline which lists party members and their possible links to right-extremist mindset.
Graf has come under fire earlier this week for calling Muzicant the “godfather of anti-fascist left-wing terrorism” in an online article which was cited in the FPÖ’s Neue Freie Zeitung newspaper. Graf also accused the head of the IKG of “creating a climate of brutality” by having links to the “violent mob on the street.”
The Greens uncovered the issue by citing the statements in parliament on Wednesday. Social Democratic (SPÖ) Chancellor Werner Faymann and People’s Party (ÖVP) Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger called on Graf to step down as third president of the parliament.
Barbara Prammer of the SPÖ, the first president of the parliament, announced she wanted to try chasing the constitution so Graf can be deprived of power. Graf himself said he had no intentions at all to step down, arguing he defended his party “with democratic measures” in a reaction to the statements made by Muzicant. Graf said he would only step down for health reasons, adding: “But I am totally fit and healthy.”
The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), which was founded by Jörg Haider and FPÖ ministers in 2005, also joined those criticising Graf, while the ÖVP made clear they would not support an initiative to change the constitution so a parliamentary president can be deprived of power.
SPÖ Chancellor Faymann said today he was not surprised about the ÖVP’s position in this matter. He said: “The ÖVP does not want to take responsibility.”
Faymann said Graf is “unbearable”, adding he was in favourite of changing the law so he can be axed as the parliament’s president.
The FPÖ is expected to be the big winners of the upcoming European Election (EP) since it won just 6.3 per cent and one mandate in 2004.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Berlusconi, Subversion Like in ‘94
(AGI) — L’Aquila, 29 May — “I am sure that there are subversive acts just like in ‘94.” Silvio Berlusconi backtracked to the dawn of his political career to explain his attack on the judicial branch. “I cited ‘94, when I was elected and I was attacked by the judicial system on something that was non-existent and for which I was fully absolved 10 years later.
“That attack,” reminded Berlusconi, “changed how people voted.
“Therefore, this was also a subversive act against a democratic election.” “I wanted to specify what I meant to say. When you try to go against someone who was elected democratically with false accusations,” he observed, “this is a subversive act.”
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Spain: Granada Court Will Not Open Garcia Lorca’s Mass Grave
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MAY 29 — The mass grave in the vicinity of Granada where the remains of poet Federico Garcia Lorca are buried will not be opened. Garcia Lorca was shot 72 years ago by Franco’s troops. Today the head of the third section of Granada’s preliminary court rejected jurisdiction over the case which magistrate Balthazar Garzon of the Audiencia Nacional had passed to territorial courts after an investigation into those responsible for deaths and disappearances under the fascist dictatorship which he opened last year. Garzon withdrew from the investigation last November after considering that criminal proceedings against general Francisco Franco and 40 other civilian and military officers working under his government were pointless since they were all dead. At the same time, the magistrate also decided to allow 62 territorial courts, whose areas include mass graves where the dictator’s victims were buried, to decide whether they want to dig up the dead bodies. But Granada’s preliminary court declared itself lacking jurisdiction and so now the Audiencia Nacional has the option of asking the Supreme Court to rule on the matter in order to solve the conflict of jurisdiction. Two days ago the Supreme Court agreed to proceed on the complaint filed by right-wing union ‘Manos Limpias’ against judge Garzon for abuse of office in the case against Francoism. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
The Dutch (and EU) Establishment Protects Itself
Our American readers will find this hard to believe, but the electoral system in the Netherlands has been devised to ensure that new or small parties will not be able to win more than 20% of the seats in the Dutch Parliament. Indeed, Dutch law forbids new parties and parties which currently hold less than 16 of the 150 seats in Parliament to put forward more than 30 candidates for parliament.
This law is causing concern for the popular politician Geert Wilders, the founder and leader of the Freedom Party, PVV, which at present holds 9 seats. The latest poll predicts that the PVV will win 32 seats in the general elections next year. If Mr. Wilders does as well or even better than the poll predicts, the additional seats above 30 which his party wins will be evenly divided among the other parties.
Wilders has asked parliament to change the law to allow him to put forward more than 30 candidates. It remains to be seen whether the other parties will agree to change the law.
In the Netherlands, it is the custom that the largest party in Parliament provides the Prime Minister and puts together a government coalition. At present, the Dutch Christian-Democrat CDA of Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende is the largest party, holding 41 seats in Parliament. The latest poll predicts that the CDA will shrink to 30 seats while Mr. Wilders’ PVV becomes the largest party with 32 seats and the Socialist Party (currently Mr. Balkenende’s coalition partner with 33 seats) comes third with 22 seats. If the law is not changed and the PVV does as well in the voting booth as in the present polls, Mr. Wilders will be denied all his seats above 30 and be forced to give one seat to the Socialists and one to the Christian-Democrats. This will allow the CDA to remain the largest party with 31 seats.
| — Hat tip: Paul Belien | [Return to headlines] |
‘These Elections Are a Giant Opinion Poll in Italy’
By Marc Leijendekker for NRC International
In the run-up to the European elections, what issues are being debated in Italy?
“The elections are all about national politics, as always. It is about the government response to the economic crisis, about illegal immigrants and how to deal with them, and about integration problems. Europe has been relegated to the background. Maybe only in the eighties the Italians really discussed European problems. But now European issues do not get much attention from the electorate. Italy traditionally is a country with a high voter turnout, but there is little interest for the current campaign. The vote for the European parliament is still a country by country affair. In reality, European parties only exist in the parliament in Brussels. Our national parties do not even bother to put the European party symbols next to their own symbols on the ballot.
“Very few voters truly understand what the European parliament stands for. The division of power between the parliament, the European Council and the European Commission is different from the normal division of power between parliament and government, and hardly anybody understands what the balance of power is. So these elections are in fact a giant opinion poll which the national parties use to determine their relative strength. You will see the winning party cry victory not because it will have more power in Europe, but because it has been strengthened in national politics.
“The fact that prime minister Berlusconi himself leads his party’s European ticket may have some impact on his followers. He is very popular, and people may be more inclined to go to the voting booth. Berlusconi put himself on the list because his Forza Italy party is facing heavy competition in the north from the Northern League — an ally at the national level whose role in his ruling coalition Berlusconi hopes to limit.”
A key issue in European politics is market ideology, especially with the financial crisis…
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Ukrainian Parties in Coalition Negotiations
KIEV — Ukraine’s two leading political parties are in negotiations for an alliance that could isolate pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko and fuel political tensions ahead of presidential elections set for January.
A parliamentary deputy from the opposition Party of the Regions, led by former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, confirmed on Tuesday that it was in talks with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s party on forming a new coalition. A representative for Bloc Yulia Tymoshenko, known as BYuT, wasn’t available for comment on the negotiations.
The deal would team Ms. Tymoshenko, an ally of Mr. Yushchenko during the 2004 Orange Revolution, with her bitter rival, pro-Russian Mr. Yanukovych. Such a coalition would be a boon for Moscow, which has enjoyed warmer relations with Ms. Tymoshenko of late, and a blow to Mr. Yushchenko, who has angered the Kremlin with attempts to integrate Ukraine into Western structures such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The three have been engaged in a political battle since Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko led mass protests against suspected election fraud after the presidential vote in 2004. Following the protests, the initial victory declared for Mr. Yanukovych, who received strong backing from Russia, was overturned and Mr. Yushchenko became president. Mr. Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine party is part of the current coalition with BYuT.
Ms. Tymoshenko and Mr. Yushchenko have fallen out, and squabbling among the three has intensified in the run-up to January’s presidential vote, hampering policy making as Ukraine is buffeted by the economic crisis.
Discussions between the Party of the Regions and BYuT on a new coalition agreement and constitutional change have been taking place for several months, but the call from Party of the Regions lawmaker Dmytro Tabachnyk in parliament on Tuesday to form a “grand coalition” is the first official indication that a deal may be close.
Local media quoted people close to the negotiations as saying agreement was close on a coalition, as well as on a new constitution under which parliament would elect the president.
Mr. Yushchenko said Tuesday that the reported plans to change the constitution were “an anticonstitutional conspiracy,” and that any such change should be decided by referendum.
Critics say the changes would represent a step back from the democratic achievements of the Orange Revolution.
Mr. Tabachnyk said Tuesday that an agreement between the two parties was essential to overcoming Ukraine’s economic and political instability. Ukraine’s economy has been rocked by the crisis. Gross domestic product contracted as much as 23% in the first quarter, according to Mr. Yushchenko, and the country has been relying on a $16.4 billion standby credit from the International Monetary Fund.
Disillusionment with the current political elite also has led to a surge in the popularity of alternative presidential candidates, such as former parliamentary speaker Arseniy Yatseniuk. Observers say Ms. Tymoshenko and Mr. Yanukovych are both worried they might lose the election, and those concerns are pushing them toward a coalition deal.
Both party leaders have remained silent about their possible alliance. Stumbling blocks to an agreement remain, none larger that the two sides’ distrust of each other.
| — Hat tip: islam o’phobe | [Return to headlines] |
Agriculture: Tunisia, State Land on Loan to Italian Business
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, JUNE 1 — An Italian contractor has obtained the lease of state land in Enfidha (Tunisia) for autumn tomato crops. State agricultural land in Tunisia makes up 1.7% of cultivated land and is responsible for 2.9% of agricultural production. In the framework of the project which aims to preserve state agricultural land, the state has set up a restructuring programme for farms with surface areas of less than 500 hectares. The programme, which has caught the attention of a large number of contractors, currently regards 331,000 hectares out of a total of 500,000. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Tunisia: Women Motorcycle Racers Protest Exclusion
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, JUNE 1 — Tunisian women motorcycle racers will not be able to participate in the first Arab championships in Egypt. The women have vigorously protested the decision. Tunisia is the only country in which women are part of the national federation and allowed to compete. “The decision” said the president of the Arab Motorcycling Federation with its headquarters in Tunis, Chakib Brahmi, “has been taken to avoid embarrassment to the Gulf Countries, where women are not allowed to drive”. The champion of the Maghreb, Hamida Saklaoui, responded immediately and harshly: “How can such decisions be accepted, when the championship takes place in Egypt? They can enforce their laws and regulations in their own country. But nobody can accept these laws being forced onto us”. Another Tunisian champion, active in car racing for years, Hend Chaouch, was surprised by the decision “which discriminates against women”. She added that “Tunisian women must be proud of the freedom they have won”.(ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
How Can Israel Depend on Those Who Have Proven Undependable?
by Barry Rubin
Back in 1993, when the “peace process” began, President Bill Clinton told a press conference that Israel was ready to take risks for peace and he told Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, “If you do that, my role is to minimize those risks.”
One of the most important elements in contemporary Israeli thinking is the irony of those words. Clinton, of course, meant them and his intentions were good. But looking back from 2009, the risks taken by Israel and the concessions it has made have repeatedly plagued the country and cost the lives of thousands of its citizens.
Not only has the United States—and the Europeans who made similar pledges—failed to minimize the costs of this process but in most cases they have not even acknowledged it. Israeli concessions have not, as was expected, led to increasing support and public respect, quite the opposite.
Anyone who wants to deal with the conflict today must acknowledge and deal with this experience but we find that it is not happening. In the statements of Western leaders and in the media, what we usually discover is that such matters are either not mentioned at all or only passed over in ritualistic fashion. There is much talk about Israeli concessions and responsibilities, virtually none about Palestinian ones.
Thus, the two-state solution (TSS) or stopping settlement construction or removing roadblocks are spoken about as if these things alone will bring peace. There is little about a Palestinian Authority (PA) end to incitement to murder Israelis and denial of Israel’s right to exist (which goes on daily) or better security efforts, or agreement to end the conflict or to resettle refugees within a Palestinian state. There is little acknowledgement that Hamas’s control of the Gaza Strip is not just an inconvenience but an almost total roadblock for any hope of peace.
Note well, these are not “hawkish” or “anti-peace” arguments. Anyone who wants to make progress must deal with them very seriously. If these issues are ignored, failure is inevitable…
| — Hat tip: Barry Rubin | [Return to headlines] |
As Obama Travels to the Middle East Israel Gets Ready for War With Iran
Israel conducts war games and emergency drills involving its population and schools. Its exercises include possible missile attacks from the north and the south. Israeli air force gets ready to block air strikes and missiles from Syria and Iran. Obama is growing impatient with Iran.
Jerusalem (AsiaNews) — “An Iranian attack is certain. We are waiting for the outcome of Iran’s presidential elections to decide,” said an Israeli security source who asked his identity be withheld. He spoke on the eve of President Barack Obama’s visit to the Middle East; the US leader wants to reshape the relationship between the United States and the Arab and Islamic worlds, including, for now, engaging Tehran in a dialogue. But “Obama will have to be persuaded,” said the source, who noted that the “world economy, to get out of its crisis, needs only one thing, a war that changes the pace and trends in international trade.”
Israel has been warning about Tehran’s nuclear threat for quite some time. Rumours of possible airstrikes against Iranian nuclear sites in Isfahan, Natanz and Arak have been the talk of the region for years.
Increasing the sense of pending war, today air sirens went off across Israel at 11 am to signal the start of military exercises called Turning point 3. When the alarm sounded adults and school children ran to the nearest anti-aircraft shelter where they were shown emergency drill videos.
Turning point 3, which began on Sunday, is set to last until Thursday. It is the third in a series of exercises that began in the summer 2006, when Israel waged war on Hizbollah in Lebanon, and involves the entire population and every school in the country. It is designed to prepare everyone for possible emergencies: missile attacks from the south (Gaza) and the north (Hizbollah); attacks with non-conventional (bacteriological) weapons; attacks against essential civilian infrastructure.
It is clear to everyone that Iran is the expected attacker. Two weeks ago Israel’s air force conducted simulations that included air and missile attacks from Syria and Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu based his whole campaign on neutralising Iran’s nuclear threat, and has even urged Pope Benedict XVI for support. But his main interlocutor remains Obama. When the two met in May in Washington some sources said that the Israeli leader gave the United States an ultimatum. If Tehran does not change its policy by August, Israeli planes will attack Iran’s nuclear sites.
In the press conference that followed President Obama said that he will wait till December to see any sign of change in Tehran in response to his overtures towards Iran.
For some observers Obama’s deadline is a sign that the US president is growing impatient with the Iranians.
Barack Obama will be in Saudi Arabia tomorrow before travelling to Egypt. Media reports suggest that he will try to persuade Arab nations to become involved in finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Egypt he will try to bridge the loss of trust between the United States and Islam.
But his trip to the Middle East could also bring together the Arab world, or most of it, in opposition to Iran. Even his criticism of Israel over Jewish settlements and his demand on Israel for a commitment to a two-state solution (Israel and Palestine) is part of a strategy to convince Arab nations that the US president is, at least apparently, not totally beholden to Israel.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Fashion: Turkish Designers to Dress Iranian Women
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, JUNE 1 — Ready-wear clothing manufacturers in Turkey have been suffering from the global crisis, but they need not despair as Iran, is presenting itself as a viable market, daily Today’s Zaman reported. “Turkish ready-wear companies have rolled up their sleeves to enter this market and have prepared collections specifically for Iran”, Nedim Orun, head of the Turkish Fashion and Ready-to-Wear Clothing Federation, said. Stating that in Iran women wore very modern clothes and dressed very well, Orun added that “We are interested not in what Iranian ladies wear on the outside, but under the chador”. According to Orun “as long as firms carried out the design, production and marketing phases of the fashion and ready-wear industry, Turkey could find a place for itself in global markets such as Italy; if we continue just to be a ready-wear manufacturing market, we would melt down due to the advantages we lost to China”, Orun said. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Genuine Joke From Iran’s Election Campaign
Iran is famous for its political jokes and here’s a current one. A reporter asks current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, “What do you think about the candidates running against you?”
He replies: “When the bus is about to go off the cliff you don’t change the driver!”
| — Hat tip: CB | [Return to headlines] |
Iraqi Kurdistan Begins Exporting “Its” Oil
The crude oil is being piped from Kirkuk to Turkey. The operation was given the go ahead by the central government which in the past had cancelled all contracts signed by the Kurdish government. All proceeds from the energy sector make up 90% of Iraqi GDP. The aim is to pass from 2.2 million barrels to 6 million a day, in five years.
Kirkuk (AsiaNews/Agencies) — Iraq’s self-ruled Kurdish region began exporting its crude oil today. Taking part in the opening ceremony was the President of the autonomous regional parliament, Massud Barzani. An estimated 90 thousand barrels a day will be extracted from oil fields in Taq Taq in Erbil and Tawke in Dohuk; the beneficiaries of the concession are the Norwegian DNO and Canadian Addax Petroleum.
The crude oil will travel along an oil pipeline that unites Kirkuk in the North to Turkey. The operation finally got the go ahead from the Iraqi central government, which in the past ripped up a series of deals signed between the Kurdish government and foreign companies. All agreements on oil extraction and concessions, Baghdad repeatedly insisted, must be first approved and cannot be stipulated by the autonomous region.
According to experts the quality of the crude oil extracted from Taq Taq is “excellent”, while the second Tawke is “of good quality but not excellent” because it contains “water and condensed gas” particles. Turkey’s Genel Energji and its Canadian partner Addax Petroleum have a 12% concession on the produce of the Taq Taq oil field; Baghdad will receive 88%of earnings, while 17% of that total will be devolved to the Kurdish government. Norway’s DNO — who won the Tawke concession — instead declined to reveal the details of their accord, but sources closet o the company report that it is “very similar” to the Canadian deal.
The issue of oil is of vital importance for the reconstruction of Iraq’s economy, brought to its knees by years of war. Proceeds derived from the energy sector — petrol and natural gas — makes up 90% of Iraqi gross domestic product (GDP. Baghdad plans to increase its out put — an estimated 2.2 million barrels a day — which is around the same level of production as during the Saddam Hussein era, when the country still suffered the effects of the economic embargo imposed by the United States. The target is six million barrels a day, to be reached within the next four to five years.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: Elections, Young Generation Represents Old Dynasties
(by Ziad Talhouk) (ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, JUNE 1 — Lebanon’s political dynasties continue to perpetuate themselves through young candidates in upcoming parliamentary elections, in which non-traditional politicians also seem to lay the foundation of new political lineages. The most “prominent” young candidates are so because they had their fathers assassinated for political reasons. Photos of the “martyrs” are therefore essential in electioneering. “Young candidates with programs from the past,” commented al-Akhbar daily, recalling that almost all of the young candidates “swear to follow the footsteps of their fathers.” Catholic Maronite Nadim Gemayel, 26, is running for a seat in Beirut using the legacy of his father Bashir -a Christian icon during the 1975-90 civil war, assassinated at the “christly” age of 34 days before he was due to swear in as President in 1982. Nadim’s cousin, Sami, 28, is candidate in the mainly Christian Metn constituency north of Beirut along with his father, Amin — elected President for a six-year term in 1982 following the murder of his young brother Bashir. Sami hopes to regain the seat vacated by his elder brother Pierre, assassinated in 2006 after he was elected member of parliament and appointed minister of industry a year earlier. The Gemayels came into politics in 1936, when Pierre Sr., founded the Phalanges Party, now headed by Amin himself. At 27, Greek Orthodox Nayla Tueini is running for the seat left by her grandfather Ghassan —elected to replace Nayla’s father, Gerban, who was assassinated in 2005. Maronite Michel Moawad was 9 when his father, President-elect René, was killed in 1989. Until he finished his studies in France, his mother “represented the family” in parliament. The Moawads hail from the northern region of Zgharta, where their main rival is Suleiman Franjieh, grandson of late President Suleiman Sr. and son of deputy Tony — assassinated along with his wife and daughter in an inter-Christian feud in 1978. This “political inheritance” seemed contagious in Lebanon. When Premier Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005, his previously unknown son Saad took the political mantle and now, at 39, leads the largest Sunni group in Lebanon, al-Mustaqbal. Christian leader Michel Aoun, who built his popularity on campaigning against “corruption and nepotism” and now heads the “Reform and Change” block in parliament, has fielded his nephew Alain Aoun and son-in-law Gebran Bassil in the election battle. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Lebanon: Italy Takes Control of UN Maritime Force
New York, 2 June (AKI) — Italy has taken command of the United Nations maritime task force, which was deployed off the Lebanese coast in 2006 to stop arms smuggling following that year’s Israel-Hezbollah war.
The naval force, part of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon is the first to be part of a UN peacekeeping mission.
The maritime force has been deployed on the request of the Lebanese government to help the country’s navy secure territorial waters and help prevent the unauthorised entry of arms and other materials by sea into the country.
At a handover ceremony from Belgium to Italy aboard the flagship BNS Leopold I at the weekend, UNIFIL Force Commander Major-General Claudio Graziano commended “the constructive relationship between the MTF and Lebanese Navy.”
He applauded the “spirit of cooperation” between the two, which he said is crucial to successfully implementing Security Council resolution 1701 — a resolution that ended the 2006 war.
Since its operations began in October 2006, the MTF has hailed some 24,000 ships and referred nearly 300 suspicious vessels to the Lebanese authorities.
To date, 13 countries — Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Turkey — have contributed naval units to the force.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Obama Visit, Arab World Expects More Respect of Islam
(by Remigio Benni) (ANSAmed) — CAIRO — More pressure on Israel which seems bent on not listening to previous invitations to put a definitive halt to settlements, and greater respect for the Islamic world in order to resume relations which George W. Bush “demolished”. Reading the current multitude of articles and opinions, this is what the Arabs expect of the visit and speech that US president Obama will hold on June 4 in the main hall of the Cairo University located in the Bein al Sarayat neighbourhood that in recent hours is being overrun to repave roads, repair flowerbeds, relight streetlamps, and clean up buildings. Hinting at Obama’s softer tones, Afghani MP Sabrina Saqeb wrote that “A speech will not be enough, but it is a good start, when you show respect towards others you raise their spirits”. Going straight to the point, Egyptian commentator Osama El Ghazali Harb says that “As president of the USA he should announce, while in Cairo, which started the peace process with Israel some thirty years ago, that the time has come for a final and fair solution to the Arab/Israeli conflict”. Since the current situation of Israeli intransigence and Palestinian division is what it is, he added that “the situation is certainly a frustrating one”, but whereas Egypt is trying to lead the factions to peace, the USA “should rein in the fanatical and right-wing forces that are currently in government in Israel”. The opening of permanent channels of scientific, cultural, economic and technological dialogue with the USA is instead urged by Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, who wrote the “Welcome to President Obama” and who is the other high ranking religious figure that president Obama will meet together with the highest theological authority of Sunni Islam, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, sheikh Mohamed Tantawi. Gomma remarked that “You must understand that Islam is capable of coexisting and setting up bonds with all civilisations: dialogue with moderate Islam is the necessary basis for reciprocal understanding between the West and the Islamic world. That is why we need to put an end to defamatory campaigns and voices that to not spread the truth of Islam, calling it the first enemy of western civilisation”. Among the more or less friendly invitations aimed at the US president (some go as far as calling him Barack Hussein Obama), Salama Ahmed Salama, a reputable commentator for Al Ahram, dedicated some time to the “gentle gestures” traded by Egypt and the USA, such as the recent acquittal of Egyptian/American sociologist Saadeddin Ibrahim after years of “shows of strength” staged by the regime, or Israel’s decision to remove its veto against the candidature of Egyptian minister Faruq Hosni as Unesco General Director. Salam mused that “It is unclear whether these actions aim to set up a new environment that will lead to further steps, but in any case this situation deserves some anticipation for Obama’s visit”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turks Bear Low Levels of Tolerance Toward Diversity, Survey
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, JUNE 1 — Tolerance levels within the Turkish population toward different groups, styles of living and ideologies are considerably low, according to survey results released over the weekend as reported by local press. According to the research, three of four people in Turkey said they do not want a neighbor who drinks alcohol, while the same percentage said they do not want neighbors who do not believe in God. Sixty-six percent said they do not want a Jewish neighbor, while 52% said they do not want to live next to a Christian. The results of the survey, conducted by Yilmaz Esmer of Istanbul’s Bahcesehir University, are based on face-to-face interviews with 1,714 people in 34 cities. The number of Turks who said they believe that ethnic or religious diversity adds to life’s richness was only slightly higher than those who said they believe ethnic or religious diversity harms the country’s unity.One of the criteria for measuring tolerance levels in international surveys is to ask a question about what kinds of neighbors are preferred, said Prof. Yilmaz Esmer, who headed the team that conducted the survey. In this respect, the negative answers were higher than the European average, Esmer said. His team’s research showed gays are the most unwanted members of society, with 87% of respondents saying they do not want a gay neighbor, among the highest figures in Europe. Twenty-six percent of Turks said they do not want a neighbor of a different race or color, while 43% said they do not want American neighbors. The figure for those who said they do not want neighbors who do not follow any religion was 66%, while 75% said they do not want neighbors who do not believe in God. In contrast, 14% said they do not want a neighbor who wears a veil and 33% said they do not want one who wears a black chador. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Asian Nations Talk Peace, But Race to Arm Themselves
The 8th Asian Security Conference ended yesterday. All nations involved insisted on the need for peace. And yet they all say they want more arms for better self-defence. China is well ahead in the arms race.
Singapore (AsiaNews/Agencies) — The annual Asian Security Conference ended yesterday in Singapore, with all delegates from the different participating nations insisting on the need for peace, while on the sidelines of the summit in a luxury hotel they negotiated arms sales.Many States are concerned by the moves of neighbouring nations and want to inprove their own defence systems.The Japanese Defence Ministry says that Tokyo is worried by North Korea’s recent nuclear test and wants to strengthen its air power with F-22 fighter jets.Rohitha Bogollagama, the Sinhalese Defence Minister, whose government recently quashed a 20 year long Tamil rebellion, did not deny to reporters from his nation that the government wants to strengthen its armaments.In 2009, China increased its military spending by 15% and is a leader in the arms race, even if it maintains that its army is only for purposes of self-defence and regional stability.India plans to spend over 30 billion dollars over the next 5 years to modernise its military force, which by and large dates back to the Soviet era.The Indonesian Defence Minister announced a national project to bring military spending from the current 0.68% of gross domestic product to 1.2% within the next 5 years, buying fighter jets and submarines.Comapanies such as Boeing, the 2nd biggest provider of armaments to the Pentagon in the US, were also present at the Conference, in search of new markets, following the announcement of a reduction in military spending by the administration of the newly elected President Obama. Jim Albaugh of Boeing explained that the increase in demand for ships and planes in Asia is down to a rising need to defend trade and territory.Jonathan Pollack, professor of Asian and Pacific Studies at the Naval War College in the United States, commented “Defence suppliers find it very important to be here to make a set of contacts”.Tim Huxley, executive director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, observed “There are many players, each of which is looking over their shoulders”.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Beijing Urged by Obama to Support Pakistan Military
THE Obama Administration has appealed to China to provide training and military equipment to help Pakistan counter a growing militant threat.
The proposal is part of a push to enlist key allies of Pakistan to stabilise the country, US officials said.
The US is trying to persuade Pakistan to step up efforts against militants, while supporting the fragile civilian Government and its tottering economy.
Richard Holbrooke, the Administration’s special representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, has visited China and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks as part of the effort.
The appeal underscores China’s importance in security issues. Beijing traditionally has been reluctant to intervene in other countries’ affairs. But Chinese officials are concerned about the militant threat to its west, fearing it could destabilise the region and threaten China’s economic presence in Pakistan.
US officials believe China is skilled at counterinsurgency, a holdover from the long civil war that led to the Communist victory in 1949. And with Beijing’s strong military ties to Pakistan, US officials hope China could help craft a more sophisticated strategy than Pakistan’s heavy-handed approach.
The Pakistani military has used artillery and aircraft against Taliban extremists in the Swat Valley and surrounding areas. “They’re very focused on hardware,” a US official said. But the fighting has forced more than 2 million civilians to flee and UN officials fear a humanitarian crisis.
The tide of displaced persons could set off a backlash among ordinary Pakistanis, many of whom already see the fight as driven by American, rather than Pakistani, interests.
China’s strategic alliance with Pakistan reaches back to the 1960s. China has sold Pakistan billions of dollars worth of military equipment, including missiles, warships and tanks.
It also maintains a huge economic presence in Pakistan. China’s ambassador Luo Zhaohui said in a speech earlier this month that 10,000 Chinese engineers and technicians work in the country.
Beijing is increasingly concerned about the Pakistani insurgency, in part because Muslim separatists from its own north-western region have trained in Pakistani camps.
Officials are also concerned at recurrent kidnappings and killings of Chinese workers. China repeatedly has pressed Pakistan to protect its citizens.
Analysts say that the Pakistani Government launched an attack on militants controlling the Red Mosque in Islamabad in 2007 in part because of pressure from China for the release of its workers, who had been kidnapped by militants. More than 100 people died and Islamic militants say it represented a turning point in their struggle.
Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, acknowledged the long alliance, saying that “Chinese support and co-operation have been crucial for Pakistan at many difficult times in our history”.
In Washington, Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation think tank said it would be difficult to persuade China to assume any military role. But she said they were concerned about the spillover effects of the insurgency.
“The Chinese may try to deal with this privately,” she said. “They won’t want to make any public statements that might embarrass the Pakistanis.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
India Slams Pakistan’s Release of Cleric
ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani court released a hard-line cleric whose organization is allegedly linked to last year’s terrorist assault on Mumbai, a potential setback to U.S. antiterrorism efforts that could undermine improving relations between Pakistan and India.
Washington worked hard to dial down tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals in the aftermath of November’s attack, in an effort to keep Pakistan focused on battling the Taliban. Tuesday’s decision to release Hafiz Mohammed Saeed after nearly five months of house arrest — because of insufficient evidence, according to his lawyer — threatened to damage that effort.
New Delhi slammed the ruling as a sign of Pakistani intransigence over cracking down on extremists blamed for repeated attacks in India. Mr. Saeed’s “professed ideology and public statements leave no doubt as to his terrorist inclinations,” India’s foreign ministry said. India had struggled for months to get its neighbor to agree with its conclusion that the Mumbai attacks originated in Pakistan.
The Obama administration’s point man on Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, said he would raise Mr. Saeed’s release with Pakistani leaders. “This is a concern to all of us,” Mr. Holbrooke said while en route to Islamabad on Tuesday. “Everyone is puzzled by why this happened.”
Mr. Holbrooke is going to Pakistan to help coordinate assistance for the millions of Pakistanis displaced by the fighting in the tribal areas. “The U.S. will not let the people of Pakistan down,” he said. Mr. Holbrooke also said he would use his visit to gather more details on the Pakistani government’s military offensive in the tribal areas.
Islamabad had hoped to keep discussions with Mr. Holbrooke focused on the campaign against the Taliban, which appears to be shifting geographical focus as an army offensive launched last month in the Swat Valley, northwest of Islamabad, shows signs of success.
Officials here moved quickly to contain the fallout from Mr. Saeed’s release, saying they planned to appeal the decision. “We are awaiting a detailed summary [of the ruling] so that we can appeal to the Supreme Court,” said Farahnaz Ispahani, a spokeswoman for President Asif Ali Zardari.
Pakistan never announced any charges against Mr. Saeed — instead detaining him under a vague public-order law — and it was unclear on what grounds the government could appeal.
Mr. Saeed, 59 years old, co-founded Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant group blamed by Pakistani, Indian and U.S. officials for the Mumbai carnage, which left more than 170 people dead. He was placed under house arrest in December after the United Nations declared the charity he was leading at the time, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front for Lashkar, which has been banned in Pakistan.
Tensions between India and Pakistan have since eased considerably. Prodded by Washington, the neighbors have begun sharing intelligence on Lashkar and other Islamist groups.
Following his release Tuesday, Mr. Saeed told reporters at his Lahore home that the decision was “a victory for justice.”
| — Hat tip: islam o’phobe | [Return to headlines] |
Pakistan: Key ‘Militant Leader’ Released From House Arrest
Lahore, 2 June (AKI) — A Pakistani court has ordered the release of the leader of an Islamic charity believed to be a front for a group accused of the Mumbai terror attacks that took place in November last year. The court ruled that the continued house arrest of Jamaat-ud-Dawa founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed was unconstitutional.
The charity is accused of being a front for Lashkar-e-Toiba, the organisation that India claims was behind the attacks. Saeed is also a founder of Lashkar-e-Toiba.
India has expressed its disappointment, calling the release “regrettable”.
More than 170 people died in the attacks that targeted two international hotels and other locations in India’s financial capital last November. Nine gunmen also died in the siege.
Saeed, who has denied the charges against him, was placed under house arrest in December after the United Nations added him to a list of people and groups linked to Al-Qaeda and other militants.
Emerging from the Lahore High Court to shouts of support, Saeed’s lawyer, AK Dogar, said the court had ruled that the house arrest “is against the law and constitution of the country”.
According to Pakistan’s GeoNews he also said his arrest was a violation of human rights despite claims by the state’s counsel that the government can keep any person without giving a reason.
Hafiz Saeed was placed under house arrest on 11 December last year.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Voice of Taliban on VOA Probed
Did language service allow itself become platform for terrorist propaganda?
Complaints that the U.S. government’s Voice of America (VOA) interviewed a top Pakistani Taliban leader have sparked an investigation into VOA’s Pashto language service to determine if it has allowed itself to become a platform for terrorist propaganda.
The probe was spurred by concerns first raised by Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, an Illinois Republican who in the past had championed the Pashto-language service known as Deewa Radio. Mr. Kirk said he became concerned that American taxpayers were providing the Taliban a megaphone after he learned that Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud had been interviewed by the service — and claimed responsibility for terrorist bombings in the Pakistani city of Lahore in March.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Korea: Kim Jong-Un, Kim Jong-Il’s Youngest Son is “Appointed Successor”
His candidacy is supported by the military, vital for a “smooth” transition of power. Experts explain that Pyongyang’s recent missile tests are linked to the succession. The appointment dates back to last August, when the “Dear Leader” suffered a stroke.
Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) —North Korean Leader Kim Jong-il has named his successor: it will be his youngest son Kim Jong-un, who many in the past to as the probable heir to power in the Communist State. The news was reported by the South Korean conservative daily JoongAng Ilbo, quoting secret sources in the North.
“Kim Jong-un, 26, is the chosen one” announces the paper adding that the North’s leadership had made the decision in the aftermath of the stroke suffered by Kim Jong-il, in August 2008. A North Korean source says that the regime is promoting “songs of praise” for Kim Jong-un, who is a keen skier and has studied English, German and French in a Swiss school.
Experts have linked the North’s recent nuclear test to the issue of succession, saying it was an attempt to show solidarity with the military, whose support “is essential for the smooth transition of power” in Pyongyang. The last succession of Kim Jong-il was settled 20 years before the death of his father Kim Il-sung in 1994, and publicly announced at a party congress in 1980.
JoongAng Ilbo reports their source indicates changes to the country’s chain of command as the junior Kim emerged as the likely successor. Moreover until last March the name of the Dear Leaders youngest son did not appear among the list of candidates at the Supreme Assembly of the People. According to that source, officials such as O Kuk-ryol, vice chairman of the National Defense Commission; Kim Yong-chun, minister of the People’s Armed Forces; and Choe Ik-gyu, head of the Propaganda and Agitation Department at the ruling Workers’ Party, have led efforts to make Kim Jong-un the next leader of the country.
Kim Jong-un is the second son of Kim Jong-il’s third wife, Ko Yong-hee, who passed away in 2004. Speaking on a condition of anonymity a South Korean source reports that “there hasn’t been any official nominating process in Pyongyang, nor has North Korea informed its overseas embassies of any move.” There has been no official confirmation, or denial, so far from Seoul.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Green Tape Halts Housing as Queensland Vetoes Cape York Land Clearing
A $15 MILLION Howard government project to enable Aboriginal people on Cape York to build their own homes has been stalled for more than two years because the Queensland Government is insisting that trees in the vast unpopulated region cannot be cleared.
[…]
The Queensland Government ordered an environmental study of the block owned in freehold title by the Hopevale Council, which bought it several decades ago from a cattle grazier whose family had owned it for more than a century.
The state Government has told Hopevale that because the block is forest country, it cannot be cleared unless the council provides a similar area of cleared country for revegetation.
However, so little of the 110,000ha of land owned under native title by Hopevale people has ever been cleared that there is no such block available — so a bureaucratic green tape deadlock has been reached and no work done.
[…]
Mr Brough, who is no longer in parliament, yesterday said it was appalling that the project had been allowed to stall through government ineptitude and bureaucratic bungling.
“Enabling Aboriginal and Islander people to own their own homes and provide for their families is something that is pivotal to getting rid of welfare dependency and giving them pride and dignity,” he said.
“This was a farm for more than 100 years — it is not pristine rainforest. It is unbelievable that government bungling has stalled this project and the money that the Howard government provided is sitting in a bank account somewhere. We have the temerity to demand that indigenous people get their act together, but the fact is, as is shown in this case, it is the Government that cannot get its act together.
“You just cannot keep doing this to people — building them up and then putting artificial barriers in front of them. What does the Government really want from these people? Do they want them to live in sub-standard conditions or are we actually going to do something about it, as distinct from just continuing to talk and wring our hands?”
| — Hat tip: islam o’phobe | [Return to headlines] |
Al-Qaeda Kills British Hostage Edwin Dyer, Kidnapped in Mali After Music Festival
A British man being held hostage in Mali has been executed, his captors said today, prompting strong condemnation from Britain of a “barbaric” act.
Edwin Dyer, who was in his early 60s, was one of four European tourists kidnapped on January 22 as they returned from a music festival.
Messages posted on Islamic websites indicated that they were being held by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a 300-strong Islamist terror group that operates in the desert borderlands of Algeria, Mali, Niger and Mauritania.
Despite intense behind-the-scenes negotiations by British and local officials in Mali, the hostage-takers claimed that they had carried out their threat to kill Mr Dyer.
Gordon Brown said there was “strong reason” to believe that this was true. “I utterly condemn this appalling and barbaric act of terrorism,” the Prime Minister said. “My thoughts are with Edwin Dyer’s family. I offer them the condolences of the whole country.”
Mr Dyer, who had been working in Austria and spoke fluent German, was on holiday in West Africa with German travel operator Oase Reisen. He was abducted, along with Warens and Gabriela Greiner, a Swiss couple, and Marianne Petzold, a German woman, near the border with Niger after attending the Festival In The Desert, a celebration of music and nomad culture at Anderamboukane in Mali.
Their convoy of 4x4 vehicles was ambushed by armed men, who shot out the tyres of the first car, containing the four tourists. A second jeep containing three more tourists was hit by bullets, but the occupants were unhurt and the vehicle managed to do a U-turn and escape.
The hostage-takers then reportedly carried out a mock execution, firing a gun a bare inch from the head of the tour cook who had been travelling in the first vehicle. The cook later managed to escape and describe the incident.
At first it was believed that the hostage-takers were Tuareg rebels, bandits and smugglers who have regularly clashed with Mali’s army, but in February AQIM claimed responsibility. Some analysts say the Tuareg sold the hostages to the political group.
The two female captives were released on April 22, along with two UN diplomats — Robert Fowler, a peace envoy, and Louis Guay, his aide — who had been seized in Niger in December.
Four days later the hostage-takers issued an ultimatum, warning they would kill Mr Dyer unless the UK freed the radical cleric Abu Qatada within 20 days. He is being held in Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire while he fights extradition to Jordan, where he faces terrorism charges.
On May 15 the deadline was extended by a further two weeks to May 30, and a second demand was issued, this time for a ransom of £8.6 million in exchange for the two men.
In the end, urgent efforts believed to involve the British and French security services to negotiate the safe release of the Briton failed.
In a statement issued today AQIM said: “The British captive was killed so that he, and with him the British state, may taste a tiny portion of what innocent Muslims taste every day at the hands of the Crusader and Jewish coalition to the east and to the west.”
Mr Brown said: “This tragedy reinforces our commitment to confront terrorism. It strengthens our determination never to concede to the demands of terrorists, nor to pay ransoms.
“I want those who would use terror against British citizens to know beyond doubt that we and our allies will pursue them relentlessly, and that they will meet the justice they deserve.
“I have regularly discussed this case with the President of Mali — he knows that he will have every support in rooting out al-Qaeda from his country.”
David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said that Britain would continue working to secure the release of Mr Greiner, who is still being held. “Hostage-taking and murder can never be justified whatever the cause,” he said. “This tragic news is despite the strenuous efforts of the UK team in the UK and Mali, with valuable help from international partners.”
There are dissenting voices about the true story behind the kidnap. Jeremy Keenan, the editor of the security bulletin Sahara Focus and author of The Dark Sahara: America’s War on Terror in Africa, alleges that AQIM is infiltrated and directed by the Algerian security services, and that the leader of the kidnappers was taking orders from Algiers. He claims that the hostage-taking was orchestrated to give the impression that North Africa was in the grip of a terrorist uprising, justifying tough measures by Algeria and its American allies.
Today the Foreign Office admitted that the security situation in the region was complex, but denied that Algeria had orchestrated the kidnap. “There has been a lot of speculation and hearsay surrounding the case,” a Foreign Office spokesman said. “The picture that [Mr Keenan] describes is confused and not one that we recognise.”
Britain has a policy of not paying ransoms, and there was never any prospect of the UK releasing Abu Qatada, who has been described by one judge here as “al-Qaeda’s spiritual leader in Europe”.
| — Hat tip: Gaia | [Return to headlines] |
Al-Qaeda ‘Kills British Hostage’
Downing Street says there is “strong reason to believe” that a British citizen has been killed by al-Qaeda militants in north-west Africa.
Edwin Dyer was kidnapped in Niger in January, but was being held in Mali.
The group had said it would kill Mr Dyer if the British government refused to release radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada from a UK prison.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned what he called an “appalling and barbaric act of terrorism”.
He later told the Commons: “I want those who use terror against this country, and against British citizens, to know beyond doubt that they will be hunted down and brought to justice.”
Abu Qatada is awaiting extradition to Jordan, where he was convicted of terrorism offences in his absence and faces life in jail.
Condolences
Mr Dyer, who spoke fluent German and had been working in Austria, was kidnapped in Niger on 22 January, close to the border with Mali.
He was captured along with a number of other European tourists, including two Swiss and one German. The group had been visiting the Anderamboukane festival on nomad culture.
| — Hat tip: islam o’phobe | [Return to headlines] |
Buccaneer Pirates Threaten — “Negotiate Within 48 Hours or We Will Get Nasty”
Two phone calls to Corriere della Sera pose doubts and questions
The phone rang at 8.34 pm Nairobi time, 7.34 pm in Italy. On the line was the Somali who acts as an interpreter for the pirates and crew of the Buccaneer, the Italian ocean-going tug seized in the Gulf of Aden on 11 April. Clearly, in good Italian, the voice said: “I’ve got one of the leaders here. He says that if you don’t start negotiating within 48 hours, they will get nasty”.
The line went dead and it was impossible to call back. The phone rang and rang but no one picked it up. Two phone calls to the Corriere della Sera — one heartbreakingly dramatic call on Monday from the Buccaneer’s commander, Mario Iarloi, to say “We’ve got no food or water and we’re going crazy”, and the other with the pirates’ ultimatum — pose doubts and questions. Is what emerged from the conversations actually true? There can be no doubt that Iarloi’s voice was trembling with emotion and that by the end of the conversation, he was very annoyed. It’s also probably true that the crew has to wash with seawater. But it’s less likely that food is a problem in an area teeming with fish where even an unbaited hook will catch something. There are further doubts over the claim, backed up by an email message from Iarloi, that six crew members have been taken ashore.
Sources at Las Qorey telephoned by the Corriere della Sera confirm that there is no trace of any white people in coastal villages. Confidential Italian navy sources maintain that the warship San Giorgio, which is only a few miles from the Buccaneer and monitoring it electronically, has not noticed any strange movements. If any hostages had been taken ashore, the transfer would certainly not have passed unnoticed. The view that something is not quite right about Iarloi’s words is shared by one of the owners of the Micoperi company, Silvio Bartolotti. In a statement to the press, Mr Barlotti insists that the commander “said only what the pirates wanted him to say in order to put on pressure”. The Italian government’s representative for humanitarian crises, Margherita Boniver, says that Italy continues to do its part while maintaining maximum secrecy over the operations. No one has explained whether any negotiations are under way — according to the pirates, there are none — or whether there is any intention of paying a ransom, as the Somali pirates are demanding. The Italian navy has, however, been ordered to send another warship to the Horn of Africa, where it will join the frigate Maestrale and the San Giorgio. The warship concerned is a so far unnamed patrol vessel that should arrive in the operational zone in less than a month, as soon as preparations for the long voyage have been completed.
Massimo Alberizzi 03 giugno 2009
English translation by Giles Watson
www.watson.it
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Bomb Threat on an Air France Flight Just Days Earlier
The flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris vanished with 228 people onboard Sunday night. On Tuesday searchers found an oil slick and debris from the plane floating in the Atlantic 700 miles off the coast of Brazil.
Today, ABC News has confirmed that Air France received a bomb threat over the phone concerning a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Paris days before Air France flight 447 disappeared over the Atlantic.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Congressman Connie Mac on Chavez and Iran
“The growing relationship between Iran and Venezuela reminds me of the relationship between Russia and Cuba during the Cold War.”
“Chavez is allowing Venezuela to become the gateway to evil in our hemisphere.”
Q. Can good relationships with Cuba improve our relationship with Iran?
A. Chavez uses this relationship as a tool to further his anti-American Bolivarian revolution. Castro has the solution: if he released the political prisioners, the embargo would end. If the Castro brothers are sincere about what’s best for their people, they would allow for free expression, release the political prisoners and allow democracy.
Q. Should we buy sugar ethanol from Brazil?
A. I am worried about the government deciding what to trade. That said, we should abolish the ethanol tariff and allow for the US to be part of the solution.
Q. What incentives should US give LA countries to not build relationships with Iran?
A. We should have a clear path to reengage in Latin America. If we don’t engage with them, Iran & Chavez will try to fill that void. The FTA with Peru and Colombia are examples of that. At the same time, for those countries who don’t see the US as a friend, we need to be serious and take the resources we have, use the resources to build relationships, and for countries who don’t, we should move our resources away.
Q. Does the US recognize the inflitation of Iran & Hezbollah in the drug trade?…
| — Hat tip: Fausta | [Return to headlines] |
Feds Spike Voter Citizenship Checks in Georgia
The Justice Department has rejected Georgia’s system of using Social Security numbers and driver’s license data to check whether prospective voters are citizens, a process that was a subject of a federal lawsuit in the weeks leading up to November’s election.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
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