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Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/5/2009
The most important news story of the day concerns another terrorist bulldozer attack in Jerusalem, the third in a series of such incidents. In this case no one was seriously injured — except for the terrorist, who ended up with a toe tag for his trouble.
A security camera recorded the entire event, and someone taped it off the Israeli TV news and put it up at Liveleak. Don't miss it — it's in Hebrew, but that doesn't matter, because the action is clearly visible: the bulldozer rolls a police car over and over into a bus full of children, and is then stymied by a fallen lamppost from doing any real damage to the bus.
The bulldozer driver backs off for another go at the bus, and at that point armed Israeli civilians (one of them an off-duty policeman) spring into action. The scattering of bullet holes in the windshield and windows of the bulldozer tell the rest of the story.
According to Ynet, an open Koran was found in the cab of the bulldozer.
An armed society is not only a polite society, it's a safer one.
Thanks to Abu Elvis, C. Cantoni, Diana West, DK, Insubria, Islam in Action, islam o'phobe, JD, Paul Green, Steen, TB, Tuan Jim, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
Bair Says FDIC Could be Insolvent This Year
'Stimulating' Scientists Into Proving Global Warming
Waging War on Prosperity
Churchill, Obama and Bush
Exclusive Q&A With the President of a Michigan Sharia Bank Part I
It's Not the Economy, Stupid — It's Limbaugh
Obama Intel-Chief Pick Violating Iran Sanctions?
Possible Military Blueprints Found in Minneapolis Apartment
Rahm Emanuel's Brother Advising Obama on Health Care
Senator: Eligibility is Up to the Voters
Canada: Internal Dissent: the Question of Vince Li
Canada: Editorial: Subsidizing Hatred
Canada: RCMP Link B.C. Gang Violence to Mexican Drug Wars
Canada: Michael Ignatieff: Israel Apartheid Week and Cupe Ontario's Anti-Israel Posturing Should be Condemned
"What Has Happened to the Council for Italian Islam?"
AIDS: First Aids Sample Bio-Bank in Spain for Research
Denmark: Gang Numbers Increasing
Denmark: Fighters + Lovers in Court Again
Denmark: Large Police Raid Nets Drugs and Guns
Europe Concerned About Freedom of Speech — Czech EU Presidency
Irish Race From Bust to Boom and Back Again Leaves Germans Feeling Confused and Resentful
Italy Pulls Out of UN Racism Conference
Libertas in Fresh Controversy Over Bid to Recruit Swedish Group
Racist Play Lands UK's National Theatre in Trouble
Spain: Madrid, Harsh New Laws Against Rubbish Rummaging
Sweden: Crews Remove Davis Cup Paving Stone Threat
Tourism: BIT, Italy-France-Spain, Protocol Agreement
UK: Council Admits Knowing That Teenager Who Raped Foster Parents' 2-Year-Old Son Had History of Sex Attacks
UK: Former Minister Slams 'National Catastrophe' of Teenage Mothers Addicted to Benefits
UK: Murders, Rapes… Shocking Crimes of the 65 Killers Released Under Labour to Strike Again
UK: Schools Put 'Big Brother' CCTV Cameras in Classrooms to Monitor Teachers' Performance
Wind Turbine Owners Charged 'Excess Production' Tax
Serbia: Top Milosevic Aide 'Worked for CIA'
Serbia: War Crimes Sentences Spark Outcry
Serbia-Algeria: Cooperation in Military Education
Serbia: Talks on Free Trade With Turkey, Ukraine, Iran
Serbia: Iranians Interested in Partnership With Petrohemija
EU-Morocco: First Talks on Services and Companies Concluded
Italy-Tunisia: OK for Tunisia From Rating Agencies
Italy-Libya: Berlusconi to Gaddafi, Pardon for Colonialism
Italy-Syria: Italian Exports Up 13% in First 11 Months 2008
Jordan: EU Award Projects for Democracy and Human Rights
Libya-France: New French School Opens in Tripoli
Mediterranean Games: CIJM, Israel and Palestine Not Affiliated
Mediterranean: EU, South Must Adhere to World Trade
Morocco: First Conference on Citizens Living Abroad in Rabat
Rai TV: 'Riva Sud' Poettering and 'Mediterraneo' Beirut Youth
University: EMUNI and Med Polytechnic to Work in Dialogue
Food: Tunisia, Fruit Export Doubles
University: Morocco, Study in English on Atlas Mountains
Clinton Criticises Israeli House Demolitions
Gaza: Ken Loach Wants Accountability From Russell Tribunal
Israel: Press Reports That Judges Want Barak in Govt
Israel: 'Intimidation Forces' Try to Divide Jerusalem
Jerusalem: 2 Cops Lightly Hurt, Terrorist Shot Dead in Attack
Iran: Israeli Nuclear Sites Within Missile Range
Islamic Countries Reject Al Qaeda, But Also American Policy
Lebanon: Trade Position Strengthened in Middle East
Middle East: Evidence Mounts of Syrian Nuclear Cover-Up
Oil: Syria; Study, Reserves of 24.3 Bln Barrels
Saudi Minister Calls for Joint Strategy to Confront "Iranian Challenge"
India: Intelligence Agencies Blame 'Incompetent' Pakistani Govt
Indonesia: Men May be Jailed for Multiple Marriages
Malaysia: Dispute Over Baby's Conversion
Pakistan: Was Lahore Terror Attack a Conspiracy? England Cricket Star's Shock Claims Over Test Match Massacre
Singapore: Man Admits to Airport Plot
Australia: Human Smuggler Jailed 3 Yrs
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez Tightens State Control of Food Amid Rocketing Inflation and Food Shortages
650 Immigrants in Lampedusa, 80 Leaving
Algeria: Al-Qaeda 'Recruiting' Illegal Migrants for Attacks
Greece: Government-EU Programme for Integration
Roma Question in Hungary
Spain: Young People Do Not Feel Spanish
Prof Calls Cops When Student Mentions Guns in Speech
U.N. to Make Ban on Criticizing Islam Mandatory?
March 4 (Bloomberg) — Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair said the fund it uses to protect customer deposits at U.S. banks could dry up amid a surge in bank failures, as she responded to an industry outcry against new fees approved by the agency.
"Without these assessments, the deposit insurance fund could become insolvent this year," Bair wrote in a March 2 letter to the industry. U.S. community banks plan to flood the FDIC with about 5,000 letters in protest of the fees, according to a trade group.
"A large number" of bank failures may occur through 2010 because of "rapidly deteriorating economic conditions," Bair said in the letter. "Without substantial amounts of additional assessment revenue in the near future, current projections indicate that the fund balance will approach zero or even become negative."
The FDIC last week approved a one-time "emergency" fee and other assessment increases on the industry to rebuild a fund to repay customers for deposits of as much as $250,000 when a bank fails. The fees, opposed by the industry, may generate $27 billion this year after the fund fell to $18.9 billion in the fourth quarter from $34.6 billion in the previous period, the FDIC said.
The fund, which lost $33.5 billion in 2008, was drained by 25 bank failures last year. Sixteen banks have failed so far this year, further straining the fund.
Angry Bankers
Smaller banks are outraged over the one-time fee, which could wipe out 50 percent to 100 percent of a bank's 2009 earnings, Camden Fine, president of the Independent Community Bankers of America, said yesterday in a telephone interview.
"I've never seen emotions like this," said Fine, adding that he's received more than 1,000 e-mails and telephone messages from angry bankers.
"The FDIC realizes that these assessments are a significant expense, particularly during a financial crisis and recession when bank earnings are under pressure," Bair wrote. "We did not want to impose large assessments when the industry and economy are struggling. We searched for alternatives but found none better."
The agency, which has released the change for 30 days of public comment, could modify the assessment to shift the burden to the large banks "that caused this train wreck," Fine said. "Community bankers are feeling like they are paying for the incompetence and greed of Wall Street," he said.
Bair dismissed that suggestion.
"For risk-based assessments, our statute restricts us from discriminating against an institution because of size," Bair wrote.
The deposit insurance fund won't dry up because the government can get funds from the industry and congressional appropriations, and borrow from the Treasury, Chip MacDonald, a partner specializing in financial services at law firm Jones Day, said today in a telephone interview.
"As a depositor, I am not worried in the least," MacDonald said. "No one is going to let the FDIC go without any money."
Consumers should watch this issue closely, said Edmund Mierzwinski, consumer program director at U.S. PIRG, a Boston- based consumer-watchdog group.
"I wouldn't take their money out of the bank yet," Mierzwinski said. "If the FDIC is saying that there is this serious problem, then we should all be concerned. I think there is a chance the FDIC is going to have to ask taxpayers for money in the future."
No Taxpayer Funds
Bair rejected arguments that the agency should use government aid to rebuild the fund. The FDIC has authority to tap a $30 billion line of credit at the Treasury Department and legislation pending in Congress would boost the amount to $100 billion…
— Hat tip: Paul Green [Return to headlines]
The new bill will spend billions to adjust data to "prove" the fallacy that humans are responsible for global warming.
The trillion-dollar plus porkapalooza Wreak-America Bill just passed by Congress will throw a huge amount of money into scientific research. This will be a good thing for certain scientists, but a very, very bad thing for science.
Young scientists do most of the great science. Einstein was 26 when he published his relativity theory. In 1980, when I got my first government research grant at the age of 33, some 22 percent of National Institute of Health (NIH) grants were given to scientists under the age of 35. In 2005, only three percent of NIH grants went to those under 35, while the percentage given to those over 45 increased from 22 to 77.
Increasingly, government grants are used to defend dogma, not discover new truth: 28 percent of the scientists supported by NIH admitted recently to cooking data to support establishment theory, and 66 percent admitted to cutting corners to achieve the same end. I myself no longer trust the data claims appearing in the leading science journals.
Universities have essentially been nationalized, like the banks. For years, government research grants have been pork grants: between 30 and 50 percent of all grant money is for "overhead," which is spent at the discretion of university administrators. Surprise, surprise: administrators always decide that more administrators are needed, and administrator salaries increase. Over the last 50 years — the period of increasing government grant money — the administrator-student [2] ratio at universities has increased more than 100 percent, while the faculty-student ratio has stayed the same or decreased. Today, a science professor cannot get tenure unless he has a government grant. A scientist's teaching skills, her contributions to scientific knowledge, are irrelevant.
The hallmark of a nationalized industry is degraded production, and we can already see this happening in physics. In his book The Trouble with Physics, the physicist Lee Smolin divided up the past two centuries into 25-year intervals, and listed the great breakthroughs in physics that occurred in each. Rather, in all intervals but one: the past 25 years, within which there have been no physics breakthroughs.
President Lyndon Johnson's administration was known for his War on Poverty. President Obama's will become notable for his War on Prosperity.
We're speaking, of course, of Obama's plans to hike income taxes on the most wealthy 2 or 3 percent of the nation. He's not just raising the top rate to 39.6 percent; he's also disallowing about one-third of top earner's deductions, whether for state and local taxes, charitable contributions or mortgage interest. This is an effective hike in their taxes by an average of about 20 percent.
by Diana West
Even before Barack Obama was inaugurated, the question of what to do with the bust of Winston Churchill on display in the Oval Office arose. The valuable bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein had been loaned by the British government to George W. Bush in mid-2001 — before Sept. 11, contrary to recent reports — and had gazed with weary wisdom over the Oval Office ever since. Not that Winnie was alone. Busts of Lincoln and Eisenhower rounded out the trio of wartime leaders President Bush had chosen to watch over him at work even when the nation was at peace.
The Lincoln bust remains in the Obama Oval Office. I haven't received definitive word on the fate of the Eisenhower bust, but I strongly suspect it's gone. So, definitely, is the Churchill bust, its unceremonial crating and return to the British Embassy generating a diplomatic flap and many mainly British news stories wondering, whither the "special relationship"?
There is some pathos to this reflexive plaint given that what makes this relationship special of late is the fact that the CIA considers the likeliest source of a terrorist atrocity against the United States to be British citizens traveling on the visa-waiver program — British citizens of Pakistani descent, that is. Either way, the relationship is necessarily different when some potentially lethal percentage of the British citizenry is no longer what you could call on our side. Or should I say "our" side to denote the postmodern shambles of conceiving of sides, "ours" or "theirs"?
I don't mean to go abstruse on anyone, but there is a muddle here onto which the fate of the Churchill bronze shines a welcome if cauterizing beam. Indeed, packing up and returning Churchill to the British reveals more than the current state of U.S. ties with Britain…
— Hat tip: Diana West [Return to headlines]
Back in January I posted about a Michigan bank which had implemented Islamic banking. The bank also went way beyond that and banned alcohol at after work gatherings and they have also banned their annual Christmas party.
To read this excluslive Q&A with the banks president.…
As the tax-and-spend policies of the Obama administration extend and deepen the recession, the new administration's strategy to deal with the fallout becomes more and more clear.
Blame Rush Limbaugh.
The Democrats, according to Politico.com, took a poll and discovered that Limbaugh polled higher "negatives" than those of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and radical "reform educator" William Ayers. Given the departure of their reliable piñatas — former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney — Democrats believe they've found a new Darth Vader.
Board member of company owned by China in major deal with Tehran
President Obama's nominee for a top intelligence post sits on the board of a major oil company owned by the Chinese government that is in the midst of a multibillion dollar deal with Iran which may violate U.S. sanctions, WND has learned.
When tenants move out of a certain south Minneapolis apartment on Park Avenue, Ramone moves in "I do the cleaning and maintenance," says Ramone.
Ramone and the rest of the crew pick up what tenants leave behind, getting the apartment ready for the next tenants to move in. Sometimes he finds hidden treasures.
"We have found old historic things," says Ramone. But this time, he found something very different, which is why Ramone asked KARE 11 to conceal his identity.
"We started emptying a small closet out and there was a roll of blueprints…pretty heavy and it rolled right open," says Ramone.
Ramone says these were not ordinary blueprints, but rather detailed drawings depicting the layout and security plan of a local military facility.
On the documents, he saw the words, "Property of the U.S. Army."
Ramone says he also found several diagrams depicting government power structures and anti-government stickers. Ramone was suspicious so he called police.
"They started looking around right away and they called for backup," says Ramone.
Minneapolis police won't say what they found in the apartment.
The call was described in a police report as a 'homeland security offense'.
Police say the investigation is now in hands of the FBI. At this point, it's not clear whether the blueprints are authentic, who they belong to or how that person got them.
KARE 11 spoke with someone who once lived in the apartment. He says the drawings had been there a long time.
His roommate saw them but didn't know what they were.
To Ramone, his find had potential security implications, important to report to authorities.
"Better safe than sorry," he says.
KARE 11 spoke with an agent from the local office of the FBI and he says the case was indeed referred to the FBI by Minneapolis police.
The FBI is conducting an assessment of the items and information provided by investigators.
Ramone says several people lived in the apartment, as many as ten at a time.
They didn't pay rent and were evicted.
— Hat tip: DK [Return to headlines]
Sibling has proposed value-added tax to fund nationalized medicine costs.
To advocate the president's plan, Emanuel, a physician who treated patients at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and shaped policy at the National Institutes of Health, will have to keep some of his own ideas — notably a value-added tax to fund national health care — in check.
"I'm a very practical guy," Emanuel, 51, said in an interview. "There are lots of ways you can achieve the same goal."
Implies constitutional demands for presidency can be bypassed
A U.S. senator has suggested that voters have made Barack Obama eligible to occupy the Oval Office, whether or not he meets the constitutional mandate of being a "natural born" citizen.
The comments from Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., came in an e-mail sent to a constituent shortly after the election, which just now was forwarded to WND..
Yesterday, during their daily e-mail discussion of news topics for editorial commentary, members of the National Post editorial board discussed the recommendation by psychiatrists that Vince Li, who murdered Tim McLean aboard a Greyhound bus in July, 2008, be considered "not criminally responsible" for his actions. What follows is a partial transcript of their exchange.
Lorne Gunter Dr. Stanley Yaren, the psychiatrist for Vincent Li, the Greyhound beheader, said yesterday that Li might someday be rehabilitated enough to be back on the street. Just once I like to hear someone in the same position say, "Nope, never gonna happen. Keep this guy in jail until he dies because there is no chance he will ever get better."
David Asper What Dr. Yaren said was very hypothetical in terms of future prospects. He also said that Li needs to be locked up in a secure ward at a psychiatric institution. Another point: Even if we wanted him locked up forever, the corrections system is very lacking in facilities for not criminally responsible (NCR) patients who are responding to treatment but require ongoing supervision. These folks don't need prison as such — they need a living environment that is humane, secure and supervised for continued medication. When possible, these people can also be reconnected with family and support systems, even if its within the confines of an institution. Think of it as a kind of assisted living. I know that doesn't satisfy victim's bloodlust but it's the practical reality.
Jonathan Kay That would be fine with me — as long as he never ever gets out.
Colby Cosh I note that providing for Li's mental well-being is defined as a "need" here, while the desire for retribution that the criminal justice system exists to serve is disparaged as "bloodlust." But it seems overwhelmingly likely to me that Li will never go free anyway. Granted that given the premise of the insanity defence it should be possible for him to be "cured" and released, but in practice it doesn't generally happen with crimes this monstrous and high-profile. What doctor would take the risk of freeing him?
David Asper There are people who get out under the current system as the result of parole, including dangerous offenders sentenced to indeterminate incarceration and those under warrants of committal following NCR verdicts. No one is absolutely locked up for life. The theoretical risk of re-offending is the same for non-psychiatric and criminally insane offenders. In fact, empirical evidence suggests that the latter are actually less recidivist than others. It's too simplistic to say "lock 'em up and throw away the key" within the current system. And, worse, it's unjust given where NCR offenders get housed.
Colby Cosh "It's unjust given where the NCR offenders get housed" is effectively an argument against all psychiatric detainment. No one is in favour of "Victorian-era gulags," but that can't serve as a pretext for letting people out if they still present a danger to society — it's a pretext for improving the conditions. It's never suggested, but the evidence says that a perfectly workable policy would be just to let every violent criminal go free on his 50th birthday (perhaps with a "congratulations, you have no more testosterone" cake). No one is much of a danger to anybody after that, even if they are clinically insane.
David Asper I'm not arguing against psychiatric detention, per se. Rather, I am lamenting the fact that we have not gotten enlightened enough to put long-term detainees in places other than a cuckoo's nest. I'd be happy keeping them for longer — even for their whole lives — but detaining them in the current facilities is cruel and unjust. Punishment, retribution and denunciation are all appropriate factors for sentencing, but according to the law, so is rehabilitation. My point is that in a civilized world, even where the criminally insane are locked up for life and their rehab is to occur not within society at large but under supervision, it is cruel and unjust to keep them in "Victorian-era gulags." National Post
There was plenty of justification for the federal government to cut public funding to the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF), even before its president, Khaled Mouammar, called federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney a "professional whore" over Mr. Kenney's support of Israel. Under Mr. Mouammar in recent years, the CAF has become a mouthpiece for radicals. Rather than serving as a voice for Arabs of all nationalities and ideologies within Canada, the CAF instead has become a defender of such terrorist groups as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Mr. Mouammar and his organization should feel free to advance whatever causes they wish — within the law —but they have no right to expect taxpayers to subsidize their venomous views.
After Mr. Kenney called on Arab and Muslim organizations to denounce violent chants and placards that were prominent at anti-Israel rallies across Canada during the recent Gaza conflict, Mr. Mouammar levelled his intemperate accusation against the Calgary MP. Mr. Kenney fired back that perhaps it was time to reconsider Ottawa's funding — nearly half a million dollars a year —for the CAF. Now Torontoarea Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis has asked the parliamentary ethics commissioner, Mary Dawson, to investigate whether the Minister is abusing his position to exact revenge on a critic.
Mr. Karygiannis's complaint is, of course, vexatious. He is not interested in parliamentary ethics, but rather in trying to blacken Mr. Kenney's eye while also scoring political points with the many Arab and other ethnic voters in his riding. His complaint against Mr. Kenney is what we would expect from someone who has done his best in the past to ingratiate himself with supporters of the Tamil Tigers, another terrorist group that — like Hamas and Hezbollah — has been banned by the federal government.
It's true that Cabinet ministers must not only avoid abusing their offices, but also the appearance that they are. And Mr. Kenney's promise to look into the CAF's funding so soon after Mr. Mouammar's outrageous personal remarks against him might lead some to conclude that Mr. Kenney is hoping to silence the CAF by attacking its public grants.
Another interpretation, however, is that Mr. Mouammar's over-the-top outburst simply drew Mr. Kenney's attention to the CAF's track record.
A once-active Liberal supporter and donor, Mr. Mouammar has lobbied Ottawa to remove Hamas and Hezbollah from its list of banned terror organizations and replace them with the Israel Defense Forces. He calls Hamas and Hezbollah "legitimate political parties," has accused Israel of genocide and insisted publicly it is guilty of "war crimes."
During Israel's recent conflict with Hamas, the CAF, under Mr. Mouammar's leadership, circulated cartoons showing Israeli politicians bathing in and drinking the blood of Gazans. During the 2006 Liberal party leadership campaign, the CAF president repeatedly reminded Muslim delegates that candidate Bob Rae's wife was a Jew. The CAF joined a complaint last year that former Ontario minister Monte Kwinter was "a de facto agent of a foreign country" because he asked Ontario police chiefs to join him on a trip to Israel. The organization's Ontario head has referred to members of the moderate Muslim Canada Congress as "house negroes" and accused former Liberal human rights critic Irwin Cotler of being a front man for Jewish arms-makers.
The CAF also wants Ottawa to reverse its decision to not send a delegation to the UN's Durban II conference, a human rights gathering that, like Durban I in 2001, is shaping up to be an international festival of anti-Semitism.
Aside from promoting hatred of Israel and defending terrorist groups, the CAF also operates settlement programs, mostly in and around Toronto, for newly arrived Arab immigrants, helping them learn languages and find jobs. These programs may well do some good. But with its president so determined to smear politicians and use his platform to propagandize for one side in the Middle East conflict, Canadians— including Mr. Kenney — are right to wonder why taxpayer money is being used to subsidize the group.
Canada: Judge Finds Li Not Criminally Responsible in Bus Beheading
WINNIPEG — A man who believed he was following God's orders when he stabbed and beheaded a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba has been found not criminally responsible.
Justice John Scurfield said Vince Li's attack on Tim McLean last summer was "grotesque" and "barbaric" but "strongly suggestive of a mental disorder."
"He did not appreciate the actions he committed were morally wrong. He believed he was acting in self-defence," Judge Scurfield said Thursday.
Both Crown and defence psychiatrists had testified at Mr. Li's trial that he was suffering from schizophrenia and believed God wanted him to kill Mr. McLean because the young man was a force of evil.
Mr. Li was charged with second-degree murder but pleaded not guilty.
He will be institutionalized without a criminal record and will be reassessed every year by a mental health review board to determine if he is fit for release into the community.
The decision brings an end to a trial that barely lasted two days and only heard from two witnesses — both psychiatrists — who testified Mr. Li is mentally ill and didn't realize that killing Mr. McLean was wrong.
Mr. McLean's family has dismissed the trial as a "rubber stamp" that is allowing Mr. Li to get away with murder. They are vowing to now turn their attention to fighting the law that allows people who are found not criminally responsible to be released into the community once they are deemed well without serving a minimum sentence in jail.
Carol deDelley, Mr. McLean's mother, said her son didn't die in vain. His death highlights concerns about the justice system, she said.
"Now people are aware that there is a problem."
That Mr. Li killed the 22-year-old carnival worker — brutally stabbing him dozens of times, beheading him and then mutilating his body — was never in question at the trial.
An agreed statement of facts read out in court detailed how Mr. Li sat next to Mr. McLean after he gave him a smile and asked how he was doing. It was after Mr. McLean closed his eyes to listen to music on his headphones that Mr. Li said he heard the voice of God.
"Suddenly the sunshine came in the bus and the voice said, 'Quick. Hurry up. Kill him and then you'll be safe,"' Mr. Li told one of his psychiatrists. "It was so quick, such an angry voice, and I had to do what it said. I was told that if I didn't listen to the voice, I would die immediately."
Mr. Li ignored other horrified passengers as he repeatedly stabbed the young man, who unsuccessfully fought for his life.
When the bus pulled over near Portage la Prairie, Man., Mr. Li was engrossed with stabbing and mutilating Mr. McLean's body. Passengers fled the bus and stood outside.
Mr. Li tried numerous times to leave the bus but he was locked inside and continued methodically carving up Mr. McLean's body. Police said Mr. McLean's body parts were found throughout the bus in plastic bags, although part of his heart and both eyes were never found and were presumed eaten by Mr. Li.
The victim's ear, nose and tongue were found in his pocket.
God told him to cut up Mr. McLean and scatter his body parts around the bus, Mr. Li said.
"God told me to do it. Otherwise it would come back to life very quick and kill me. So I cut it up to make sure he couldn't come back to life … God told me to cut off his head, so I did."
Mr. Li tried to escape from the bus through a window and was taken into custody.
After that, blood smeared on his face from the attack, he politely apologized to police and pleaded with officers to take his life.
VANCOUVER and TORONTO — It's a long way from the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez to a Delta, B.C., golf course where a 32-year-old man on Monday night was found dead near his grey Cadillac, shot multiple times and left to die.
But police say the two locations, roughly 3,000 kilometres apart, are linked by a drug war that has turned towns such as Ciudad Juarez into war zones, has sent the price of cocaine soaring and is reflected in a rash of deadly gang shootings that have rocked Metro Vancouver in recent weeks.
Violence between competing Mexican cartels is squeezing the flow of drugs from source countries such as Mexico and Colombia through cities such as Los Angeles, one of the major sources for Vancouver-based groups that buy and sell illegal drugs, says Pat Fogarty, RCMP superintendent with the combined forces special enforcement unit. Gangs in the Lower Mainland are now fighting over the dwindling supply.
"The distribution lines have been disrupted," Supt. Fogarty said yesterday in an interview. "It's like in any marketplace — the demand stays high, but there's not as many distributors out there because the little guys get knocked off.
"The bigger ones survive, the other ones don't. And these guys don't resolve things through a court process. It's 'I want my piece of the pie' — well, there's none left for you."
The Mexican gang violence is a major element of Lower Mainland gang shootings that have killed at least nine people since the beginning of the year, Supt. Fogarty said.
Yesterday, embattled B.C. police were able to trumpet a rare piece of good news when they announced five arrests, including that of a leader of the UN Gang, one of the major gangs operating in the province, and promising more to come.
Those arrested include Barzan Tilli-Choli, 26, of Vancouver, described by police as a UN Gang leader, who was charged with two counts of attempted murder in connection with a targeted hit outside a Surrey bar last month.
In that incident, shooters in an SUV pulled up beside a Range Rover stopped at an intersection, raking the vehicle with bullets as four people — two men and two women — sat inside.
One man was wounded in that shooting, which had targeted an associate of the three Bacon brothers, who have been linked to gang activity and who have been the subject of rare warnings to the public about the danger of associating or doing business with them.
Also arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder were Aram Ali, 23, and Nicola Cottrell, 26, of New Westminster, B.C.
Sarah Trebble, 28, of West Vancouver, was charged with one count of occupying a vehicle knowing there was a firearm inside, and Karwan Saed, 32, of Burnaby, was charged with being an accessory after the fact.
The arrests followed an investigation that involved multiple agencies including the Vancouver Police Department and the RCMP. The recent rash of gang killings has resulted in calls by some for a unified police force for Metro Vancouver, which is served by a patchwork of different forces.
Last month, the federal government named a deputy solicitor-general to act as a gangs czar.
RCMP said yesterday that all Lower Mainland police agencies are working together to tackle gangs. Those efforts extend to neighbouring Alberta, where forces in Calgary and Edmonton pitched in on the investigation.
In Delta, a suburban community in the Metro Vancouver area, police are trying to piece together a homicide from Monday night in which a man was shot, possibly several times, and killed.
Police called about 6:40 p.m. on Monday to Ladner Trunk Road, a highway near the Delta Golf Course, found Abbotsford resident Sukhwinder Dhaliwal, 32, slumped over next to his grey Cadillac. He'd been shot, apparently several times, and left for dead.
Delta police described it as a targeted, gang-style shooting.
Delta Police Chief Constable Jim Cessford has been a vocal opponent of a metro force, saying community police services can better meet community needs.
But the Monday night murder shows that Delta is not immune to gang violence, which would be best tackled by a single regional police force, argues Robert Gordon, director of the school of criminology at Simon Fraser University.
"Even bucolic Delta is going to be visited by crime, serious crime, because the actions of organized crime groups have no respect for municipal boundaries, and they will roam anywhere in the area," he said. "They don't care whether it's Delta or where the hell else, they will do their business. And so you can expect more of that to happen."
On a visit last month to Vancouver, Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with regional police chiefs and families of victims of gang violence, including relatives of two innocent bystanders who were among six men killed in a gangland slaying at a Surrey high-rise in 2007 that remains unsolved.
Ottawa last month announced proposed legislation to toughen penalties for gang-related crime.
Throughout our history, Canadians have strived to understand each other across the solitudes that have broken other countries to pieces. Our common national purpose has been built on our diversity.
We respect differences — of opinion, nationality, race and creed. We abandon that respect at our peril. "Israel Apartheid Week" (IAW), now underway on university campuses across Canada, betrays the values of mutual respect that Canada has always promoted.
International law defines "apartheid" as a crime against humanity. Labelling Israel as an "apartheid" state is a deliberate attempt to undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish state itself.
Criticism of Israel is legitimate. Attempting to describe its very existence as a crime against humanity is not. IAW is part of a global campaign of proclamations, boycotts and calls for divestment, which originated in the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. Like "Durban I," IAW singles out one state, its citizens and its supporters for condemnation and exclusion, and it targets institutions and individuals because of what and who they are — Israeli and Jewish.
IAW goes beyond reasonable criticism into demonization. It leaves Jewish and Israeli students wary of expressing their opinions, for fear of intimidation.
No Canadian should ever have to fear for their safety in a public space because of who they are or what they believe. All Canadians should condemn any attempt to intimidate anyone in the legitimate affirmation of their beliefs and identity. The Ontario wing of the Canadian Union of Public Employees has joined the chorus of denunciations of Israel on our campuses. The CUPE Ontario resolution passed last week to boycott Israeli academics is an unacceptable violation of academic freedom.
Canada enjoys strong academic, economic and cultural ties with Israel and Israeli institutions, and these relationships benefit both our countries. Collaborative research between Canadian and Israeli academics is mutually rewarding, and should be encouraged. The CUPE resolution is an attack on the free exchange that is at the heart of our university system.
The Liberal Party of Canada condemns the CUPE resolution in the strongest possible terms. I salute the others who have spoken out against the resolution, including my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the House of Commons, and CUPE's national president, Paul Moist, who has refused to support the resolution. I encourage all CUPE members, and all Canadians, to follow their example.
Israel Apartheid Week and CUPE Ontario's anti-Israel posturing exploit academic freedom, and they should be condemned by all who value civil and respectful debate about the tragic conflict in the Middle East.
Political leaders should also take care not to deepen the distrust between Canadian communities over the Middle East. Politicians who use the ongoing conflict in the Middle East as a wedge to divide Canadians for their own political gain can succeed only in accentuating acrimony and deepening tensions.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict evokes passionate disagreement. It should not damage academic freedom and it should not divide Canadian communities. We can move forward if we work together to promote the common objective of Canadian policy ever since 1948 — a secure Israel living side-by-side in peace with an independent Palestine. National Post Michael Ignatieff is the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and MP for the riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore in Toronto.
Canada: Vancouver 'Losing Battle' With Gangs, Mayor Says
VANCOUVER — Canada's Olympic city is losing the fight against gang violence, its mayor admitted on Wednesday.
"I know the police have been working very hard and trying to get ahead of it, but we can't underestimate the scale of what's going on right now," Gregor Robertson said. "We need more support, frankly, to turn the tide on this."
He called anti-gang efforts so far "a losing battle," commenting on a series of shootings across Metro Vancouver Tuesday night and Wednesday that left two people dead and five injured.
The shootings included a hit in East Vancouver that left Sunil Mall, 27, slumped dead at the wheel of his SUV and added to the perception of tit-for-tat violence in what's been described as the national capital of gang activity. In Surrey, there were three shootings within hours of each other, with two men going to hospital with bullet wounds. In Burnaby, a shooting in a high-rise left a woman dead and a man seriously injured.
"It shows how huge this battle really is," said Mr. Robertson, an outspoken supporter of a regional police force for Metro Vancouver, which is served by a mix of municipal and RCMP forces.
Around 7 p.m. Wednesday night, RCMP were called to a shooting at a Surrey Chevron gas station, near the Strawberry Hill Mall at 72 Avenue and 122 Street. They found one man who had been shot in the leg, and another who had been shot in the face. The latter man fled into a nearby Tim Hortons for help.
Mr. Tilli-Choli has been charged with two counts of attempted murder in connection with a targeted shooting last month in Surrey.
The UN Gang — whose former boss, Clayton Roueche, is in jail in Seattle awaiting trial on drug charges — is part of a gang scene driven by a multibillion-dollar drug trade that features British Columbia-grown marijuana and imported cocaine and that reaches into neighbouring Alberta, across the border into Washington and even down to Mexico.
With Mexico racked by drug wars that have killed thousands and disrupted supplies, the ripple effects are being felt in the United States and Canada.
Crime agency estimates say there are more than 120 criminal organizations at work in B.C.
The number and the sophistication of the groups involved makes Vancouver the centre of organized crime in Canada, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan said last month during a trip to the city.
An RCMP spokesman on Wednesday described the Tuesday shootings as "coincidence" and said it was not yet clear that all of them were linked to gangs.
"We need to put this in perspective," said Corporal Peter Thiessen, while repeating police promises that more arrests are to come.
Nine people have been killed in recent weeks in shootings that have taken place at supermarkets, shopping malls and on quiet streets next to parks and golf courses.
One woman was gunned down as she drove with her four-year-old son in the car. The child survived.
Constable Lindsey Houghton of the Vancouver Police Department said the force shares community concerns about brazen violence.
"These acts of violence do frustrate us. We share the concerns of the public. We want, more than anyone, to arrest those responsible for this so we can have press conferences giving people good news," Constable Houghton said.
Asked about the police failure to arrest suspects in major shootings in recent years, he said "these investigations are extremely complex and take a lot of time and efforts and resources to have a successful conclusion."
For example, police have yet to make any arrests in the August, 2007, shooting of eight people dining in an all-night Chinese eatery in East Vancouver, the Fortune Happiness Restaurant. Two men died, and the others suffered injuries.
The latest shootings are about "power and territory" among gang members, Cpl. Thiessen said.
"It's all about getting control of a larger share of the [drug] market," he said. "They're carrying out business, but not in a way that a normal business carries out business.
"It's about control of territory, the power. When there's a lack of co-operation around that, they kill each other."
Rachid Amaidia, the Imam for Salerno, talks to Sara Colantonio
"I ask this government to reinstate the organisation of the Council for Italian Islam, which is one of the fundamental means for establishing a dialogue between the State and the Muslim community." Rachid Amaidia, the Imam for Salerno and Battipaglia, has always played an active role in interreligious dialogue. Of Algerian origin and a former member of the Council, in this interview he warns against xenophobia that is spreading in Italy ("If one sees a continuous demonization of immigrants on television one incites people against foreigners"), and on the subject of the proposal of the Italian language being used in mosques, he said "This will not make immigrants feel they are Italian citizens. When Muslims will feel totally integrated, they themselves will speak in Italian."
In your opinion, how is Islam seen in Italy?
Italians previously only vaguely knew of the existence of the Islamic religion; however, during the Nineties they experienced it first hand through immigration. The Council has the duty to make heard the voice of Islam, to make known how Muslims think and live so as to encourage Italian politicians to pass laws better suited also to the Muslim population…
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MARCH 3 — The first bio-bank for AIDS samples in Spain is a reality and will be entrusted with analysing samples of the AIDS vaccine practiced by Barcelona's Clinco hospital, by the superior centre of scientific research (Csic) and by Madrid's Gregorio Marañon hospital. The bio-bank is located in this last hospital and it is active as of last January, stocking samples according to the various open lines of research: adults infected with HIV, sick people who have recently contracted the disease, and children with HIV. The bio-bank will benefit all patients, but most of all it will play a decisive role in prevention. Coordinator Maria Angeles Muñoz, speaking to El Pais, says that 'It is capable of storing more than 50,000 biological samples of the most diverse characteristics and origins. This will further help the development of base and clinical research and will positively affect assistance in the future''. She adds that 'whatever study arises from a new discovery, be it in a clinical context or that of molecular technology, it will benefit from the existence of suitable samples''. (ANSAmed)
There are some 1,500 members of biker and immigrant groups according to the police.
The influx of new members to biker and immigrant groups is currently so great that police authorities are having difficulty in keeping tabs on the environment surrounding the current gang warfare, according to Berlingske Tidende.
Police are currently holding some 700 bikers and 300 immigrant group members under observation, but recruitment to the two sides in the conflict is so great that the two sides are now more or less equal in size, according to National Commissioner Jens Henrik Højberg.
In real terms there are now probably some 1,500 individuals in the groups.
"The numbers are growing unfortunately, and we can see that people are continuously joining. There is a sort of mobilisation and we continue to see young people who we haven't seen before," Højberg says.
In 2008, police authorities counted some 140 members in the groups.
Some 40 shootings, three murders, innocent victims and the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen almost in a state of emergency has prompted the government to put forward proposals to stop the violence. The package includes proposals to double sentences on gang-related crime, as well as the ability to extradite foreigners for firearms possession.
"The situation is untenable and unacceptable and people are shooting at random. We need extraordinary steps — and that is what we are now taking," says Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen.
Immigration minister
But Immigration Minister Birther Rønn Hornbech says that at least one part of the proposals — to extradite foreigners for weapons possession — is unlikely to be able to be put into force.
In an e-mail that Politiken has acquired, Hornbech tells Danish People's Party Justice Spokesman Peter Skaarup that the new laws are unlikely to result in an increased number of extraditions.
"I hope you realize that it's not going to have that much of an effect," Hornbech writes.
According to Hornbech, the international Human Right Convention ensures that punishment must fit the crime that leads to an extradition, as well as being proportional to the length of a person's stay in a country.
— Hat tip: TB [Return to headlines]
The Danish Supreme Court has started its hearing in the final appeal case of Fighters+Lovers who are charged with supporting terrorist organizations.
Denmark's highest court has begun hearings in the appeal case of the Fighters+Lovers group, which is charged with providing financial support for two armed terrorist organisations — the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).
If found guilty, group members face up to 10 years in pridson.
Defence rejects claims While the prosecution maintains that the two organisations are terrorist organisations, the defence says that human rights organisations do not see the two as such.
"Neither Human Rights Watch nor Amnesty label the two as terrorist organisations but blame both parties in the conflicts," says Defence Attorney Throkild Høyer.
The defence also claims that civilian deaths attributed to the organisations are not part of a conscious strategy.
T-shirts At the centre of the case is the sale by the organisation of T-shirts with PFLP and FARC logos at DKK 170 each, DKK 37 of which was sent on to the two movements.
In 2007, the lower courts found Fighters+Lovers not guilty as magistrates did not find reason to label PFLP or FARC as terrorist organizations.
The decision was appealed to the High Court which sentenced two of the Fighters+Lovers group to six months in prison, while the rest of the group was either found not guilty or given a suspended sentence of 2 to 4 months.
The group was given leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The PFLP and FARC are listed as a terrorist organization by the EU, Canada and the United States.
Police searched dozens of addresses in North Zealand today in a crack down against weapons and drugs violators
Police raided 44 addresses across North Zealand this morning, arresting seven people and confiscating drugs and weapons.
The raids were carried out by more than 180 police officers and included visits to addresses belonging to drug pushers and members of the Bandidos biker gang.
Police found a kilo of amphetamine, more than five kilos of hash, a pistol and shotgun, and 881,000 kroner in cash. A statement from the North Zealand Police said that they expect up to four of those arrested to appear in court on weapons and drugs violations.
Denmark: Police Raid Bandidos Bikers
There has been a police raid on 44 addresses belonging to Bandidos bikers in a search for weapons and drugs that were sold in public schools and technical colleges.
Police officers confiscated a large amount of cash, hash, cocaine and speed during a morning raid on members of the Bandidos biker gang in North Zealand.
Nearly 180 police officers were involved in the sting operation against 44 mostly private homes. Seven people were detained in the raid, which was not connected to the biker-immigrant group gang-war currently under way in Copenhagen, Deputy Chief Superintendant Lau Thygesen told politiken.dk.
Drugs for sale at schools The police raid took place following persistent information in recent months about the group's drug trading and weapons possession. Police investigations had strengthened suspicions that Bandidos members were engaged in crime.
Thygesen said that drugs had been sold at ordinary schools and technical colleges.
Found drugs and cash "We planned the raid for a couple of months. It was a good operation intended to send a signal that we will not accept this sort of thing." Thygesen explained.
Arrests in connection with the raid took place peacefully. Police officers found five kilos of hash, 1.1 kgs of amphetamine, 100 grams of cocaine and some DKK 800,000 in cash as well as a pistol, shotgun and stolen goods.
Denmark: Government to Double Prison Terms for Gang Members
The government presented its proposals to prevent and deter criminal gangs that will see maximum sentences being doubled for gang-related crime
The government presented its so-called 'gang package' yesterday evening, outlining its plans to crack down on criminal gangs engaging in open street violence and shootings.
Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen announced the government's intention to double the prison terms handed down to offenders connected to the gang environment. The necessary law change proposals will come before parliament in the coming weeks.
Those found in possession of a loaded weapon now face a one year sentence for their first offence, while serious violence will in future be met with a three-year jail term. The prison term for intimidation of witnesses to gang violence will also be doubled under the new measures.
'This is a tough package and the bikers and immigrant gangs will not have a moment's peace. The police will be constantly nipping at their heels,' said Mikkelsen.
The government also wants to introduce better measures for emergency personnel. Those who prevent the emergency services from carrying out their work will face a jail term of 18 months. If violence or threats are involved, the maximum penalty will be eight years imprisonment.
New measures to deport gang members who are not Danish citizens and who are found in possession of illegal weapons are also being considered.
The new package also outlined preventative and investigate measures that will be introduced to prevent gang crime. Advisory councils to help prevent the recruitment of young people into gangs will be established in affected areas, while police will be allowed to use wire tapping in their investigations of weapons smuggling and dealing.
The plan has received backing from both the Social Democrats and the Socialist People's Party (SF) — a party which is traditionally against elevating maximum penalties.
SF party chairman Villy Søvndal said that the government's plan is necessary if the gangs are to be prevented from taking over the streets.
The plan comes on top of recent announcements that the number of police on the streets of Copenhagen will be increased.
Last weekend saw a spate of three shootings linked to the ongoing conflict between the Hells Angels bikers and immigrant gangs, which left two dead and another four injured.
Geneva — The Czech Republic, as the EU presiding country, and other European countries today expressed fears that the freedom of speech would be at risk if Islamic countries pushed for a ban on "defamation of religion" at the conference on racism in April, Reuters has reported.
Representatives of the EU countries also warned in their speeches to the U.N.'s Human Rights Council today that they could not accept any pillorying of Israel as "racist" and any promotion of anti-Semitism at the April conference in Geneva.
Reuters reported that the same opinions were expressed in the U.N. Human Rights Council this week by the delegations of the Czech Republic, holding the EU presidency in the first half of 2009, Austria, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland.
"The freedom of expression must be the cornerstone of our fight against racism," Reuters quotes Sweden's delegate Frank Belfrage as saying in the U.N.
The draft declaration for the Geneva conference has also been criticised by Israel, which, along with Canada previously decided to boycott the event. The United States and France are considering this step.
The World Conference Against Racism, also called Durban II, will be held at the UN headquarters in Geneva on April 20-24, as the continuation of the conference in Durban, South Africa, in 2001.
A newspaper headline over a recent interview with writer Anne Enright summed it up nicely: "The Irish drink, the Irish fight, the Irish are funny". In the last decade and a half, though, this consensus view of Ireland has been sorely tested by the march of modernity in the Grüne Insel or Green Isle.
First Ireland's economy took off, then emigrants returned, immigrants arrived and something resembling modern infrastructure began to stretch its tentacles across the country.
Older Germans with fixed notions of the country would return from holidays and complain to the first Irish person they encountered that the place had finally succumbed to the curse of motorways.
It was doubly galling for many of these Germans — truly, madly, deeply in love with "the nature" in Ireland — to hear that it was probably their tax money that had built the motorways.
Modern Dublin was a mystery — in particular the IFSC, a mysterious place of smoked glass and mirrors that seemed to be beating Frankfurt at its own game, generating vast sums of money after luring over big banks with low corporate tax rates.
As German economic growth hovered near zero, the Irish economy appeared to roar ahead. The beige-wearing Germans with their 12- year-old Mercedes had been overtaken by the sharp-suited Irish in their new BMWs.
Irish economists decided that the German economic model of slow, steady growth had had its day.
They had no qualms in telling Germany that Ireland had seen the future and it was all leverage and Louis Vuitton.
The peak of this Irish confidence-cum-cockiness came with the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.
No one here really cares for complicated explanations when a simple one will do: the "No" vote was Ireland thumbing its nose at the rest of the EU after pocketing its billions.
The final drop of goodwill towards the Irish evaporated last September when Berlin, through gritted teeth, signed loans and guarantees to prop up the Dublin-based Depfa bank, a subsidiary of Munich property investor Hypo Real Estate. Today that bill has reached €102 billion and counting.
ROME: Italy said Thursday it is pulling out of a U.N. conference on racism — the latest blow to a meeting seen by many Western governments as marred by Muslim attempts to attack Israel and shield Islam from criticism.
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Italy has withdrawn its delegation from the preparatory negotiations ahead of the so-called Durban II conference due to "aggressive and anti-Semitic statements" in the draft of the event's final document.
Frattini's comments, made on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Brussels, were reported by Italian news agencies. Ministry Spokesman Maurizio Massari confirmed Frattini's statements and said Rome would not participate in the conference unless the document was changed.
"There are expressions of anti-Semitism," Massari said by telephone. "Until the document is modified we will not have a part in it."
The United States has imposed similar conditions. Israel and Canada have already announced a boycott.
Italy is the first EU country to officially withdraw from the conference, though other nations have threatened not to attend.
Islamic countries, still angry over cartoons and films attacking Muslims, have been campaigning for wording that would equate criticism of a religious faith with a violation of human rights.
The informal negotiations have proven difficult, with many issues that marked the first U.N. conference on racism in 2001 re-emerging — such as criticism of Israel.
The April 20-25 meeting in Geneva is designed to review progress in fighting racism since the previous summit in South Africa. That meeting was marred by attacks on Israel and anti-Israel demonstrations at a parallel conference of non-governmental organizations.
The U.S. and Israel walked out midway through the conference over a draft resolution that singled Israel out for criticism and likened Zionism — the movement to establish and maintain a Jewish state — to racism.
Last week, the Obama administration said the United States will stay away from this year's meeting unless its final document is changed to drop all references to Israel and the defamation of religion.
European nations have expressed hope the summit can go ahead with a final text that is acceptable to all sides.
But they, too, have red lines they say cannot be crossed.
Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said in December that his country would walk out unless anti-Israel statements were scrapped. French diplomat Daniel Vosgien said then that his country opposed the idea of banning criticism of religion.
— Hat tip: Steen [Return to headlines]
Italy Pulls Out of UN Racism Summit
Antisemitic phrases in draft document 'totally unacceptable'
(ANSA) — Brussels, March 5 — Italy has decided to withdraw from an upcoming United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Thursday.
Frattini said ''aggressive phrases of an antisemitic nature'' in a draft declaration were behind the decision to withdraw from the conference, known as the Durban Review Conference, which is a follow-up to the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance.
The minister said the phrases in the draft declaration were ''totally unacceptable'' and stressed that they would have to be removed before Italy considered participating in the summit.
Israel, Canada and the United States have also pulled out of the conference, which is due to take place in Geneva on April 20-24.
Critics say both the original 2001 conference in Durban and preparatory meetings for the 2009 meeting undermined UN principles because of open anti-Israel sentiment.
Both the World Jewish Congress (WJC) and the European Jewish Congress renewed calls for countries to boycott the conference earlier this week.
WJC President Ronald Lauder said in a statement that the conference ''was not about combating racism, but about promoting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda within the framework of the United Nations''.
He said that ''no good'' could result from a conference where countries ''such as Libya, Iran, Pakistan and Syria are dictating the agenda'', claiming they were ''attempting to protect their extremist ideologies under the disguise of banning the 'defamation of religion' while at the same time refusing to condemn Holocaust denial''.
The United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands are also considering withdrawing from the meeting.
LIBERTAS BECAME embroiled in fresh controversy yesterday following its attempts to persuade a Swedish Eurosceptic party to merge with the organisation in Sweden.
Sören Wibe, leader of Junilistan (The June List), claims that representatives from anti-Lisbon Treaty party Libertas offered considerable sums of money, including almost €1 million on one occasion, if his party agreed to change its name to Junilistan-Libertas.
After the story appeared in the Swedish media earlier this week, Anita Kelly, a spokeswoman for Libertas, told Sweden's state-funded radio station P1 that no such offer had been made. "We did not make any offer to any party to run with Libertas or anything like that. We have discussed budgets as we would with anyone, but money was not offered," she said.
Libertas was registered as a political party by the Swedish Election Authority on Tuesday after the organisation gathered the 1,500 signatures required for registration.
Mr Wibe, whose party was formed the year after Swedish voters rejected the adoption of the euro in a 2003 referendum, told The Irish Times he had met with Libertas founder Declan Ganley in Sweden in January. The offers of financial assistance had come from Libertas representatives of Scandinavian origin on other occasions, and not from Mr Ganley, he added.
"One of my colleagues was offered 10 million kronor [about €900,000] for the party and, in other discussions, it was clear that sums of that size were available," Mr Wibe said.
"I have at least a dozen witnesses who can verify that these approaches were made."
Junilistan garnered 14 per cent of the vote in Sweden's 2004 European elections and won three seats in the European Parliament out of the country's allocation of 19. The party is a member of the Independence and Democracy grouping in Brussels.
Libertas intends to run candidates in all 27 member states in the European Parliament elections in June in an attempt to transform the ballot into a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
Mr Wibe said he was shocked by the nature of Libertas's overtures to his party. "I believe [Libertas's] behaviour was extremely unethical," he said yesterday. "I was insulted. It would be extremely unethical for our party to be funded by a millionaire from another country. It goes against everything we stand for."
Of Mr Ganley, he said: "I do believe that he means well, but I also believe he is not a politician. He doesn't understand that doing politics is not the same as doing business."
In a statement posted on its website, Junilistan said: "Politics is not money. Politics is credibility and being true to the message you deliver to your voters."
Libertas did not return calls yesterday for comment.
London, Mar.4 : A controversial play about immigration has landed Britain's National Theatre in the midst of an anti-racism row.
If the body continues to show "England People Very Nice, a new play by Richard Bean," anti-racism campaigners are now planning to picket audiences arriving at the theatre and Travelex, one of the National's main sponsors.
Last Friday, two protesters clambered on to the stage at the National's Olivier Theatre and condemned Bean as racist.
For 10 minutes, playwright Hussain Ismail and teacher Keith Kinsella interrupted a talk that Bean was giving prior to a performance of the play, before being ejected by security guards.
Bean's play charts the settling of the French Huguenot, Irish, Jewish and Bengali communities in Bethnal Green since the 17th century.
The National has billed it as "a riotous journey through four waves of immigration" in the East End of London.
But the protesters have failed to find anything humorous about its themes.
"Richard Bean is making it seem like all Bangladeshis are drug dealers or users, muggers and marry their cousins,"Ismail, 43, said.
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, MARCH 2 — Rummaging in rubbish or even chucking a single cigarette butt on the ground in Madrid could now cost you a great deal. With one eye on the old slogan of "Clean Madrid is the Capital", the Environment Council (led by Ana Botella, wife of former premier Aznar) has decided to bolster sanctions for those that do not properly observe "civil coexistence" rules. Dropping a fag-end or piece of paper or the peel of dried seeds (much eaten in Spain) could now cost between 60 and 750 euros. The same sanction is expected for those feeding pigeons in the street or public parks, but also for watering its plants. As for graffiti, the eternal albatross around the capital's neck, Assessor Botella has outlined much heavier fines of between 3,000 and 6,000 euros, whilst those who do not pick up after their pets or allow it to urinate near a tree also risk having to pay up to 1,500 euros. However, the aspect of the new plans to attract serious complaints from the opposition in the regional council (which is led by the Pp), is the introduction of a max. 750-euro fine for those who rummage through rubbish — often beggars looking for something to eat to keep themselves alive. Socialists and leaders of Izquierda Unida (IU — the United Left) have complained about the "cash fever" of the local government, which treats Madrid's people "like tax payers and not like citizens". "I refuse to live in a society in which I have to accept that there are people that look in the rubbish for something to eat", replied Ms. Botella, noting that the local authority "has a wide network of care and social services" for the poorest of people. Ms. Botella urged the opposition to distinguish between people in need and "rubbish pirates", even if she did not clarify how such a distinction might be made by police forces. Finally, the abandonment in the street of an old car can now be punished by a fine of 3,000 euros. All of which is intended to make the capital shine with cleanliness and that "the rights of most citizens not be broken". (ANSAmed).
Road crews in Malmö have succeeded in removing piles of paving stones which police said would stop them from providing security for Sweden's upcoming Davis Cup tennis match against Israel in Malmö.
"I've been out there this morning and am satisfied with what I've seen. The stones are more or less gone and during the day some other things which have concerned me will also be taken away," said Skåne police safety representative Kaj Svensson to the TT news agency.
According to the city's roads department, the office had planned to remove the stones before police voiced concerns to the press on Wednesday, but wanted to allow work on the site to continue as long as possible before taking the stones away.
The Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper reported on Thursday that police would refuse to provide security for the tennis match against if the city didn't remove the stones from near the arena.
Hundreds of police officers have been called to help maintain order during the match, which is being played behind closed doors due to security concerns.
Authorities expect roughly 10,000 demonstrators to fill the streets of Malmö near the Baltiska Hallen arena.
"There is a significant risk for violent disruptions in Malmö from Friday to Sunday," police commander Håkan Jarborg Eriksson told the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper.
Outside the venue, however, several large piles of paving stones sit waiting to be placed in a nearby road construction site, causing concern for officers' safety.
"The piles of stones which are now sitting outside Baltiska Hallen are ammunition for some of the activists," Svensson told the Polistidningen newspaper earlier in the week, according to DN.
"My demand is unconditional. The stones must be gone by today, Thursday, at the latest. Otherwise I'm going issue a stop due to safety concerns and then there won't be a single police officer on the scene."
Svensson said that the city had already managed to remove 170 truckloads of broken asphalt from the same construction site, but that he couldn't "risk the lives of his colleagues" and let the pavings stones remain.
Ever since Israel's offensive in Gaza erupted last December, a "Stop the Match" campaign has been underway in Sweden calling for a boycott of the Davis Cup match as a way to protest Israel's actions.
Police say they've had a healthy dialogue with "Stop the Match" activists, who expect 10,000 supporters to gather on Saturday for what they characterize as a "peaceful rally".
But authorities remain concerned that up to 1,000 other groups, some of which have indicated they plan to take a more hard line stance, may cause trouble.
While police plan on taking a cautious, non-confrontational approach, they are ready for action if necessary.
"If a vehicle with players or the Baltiska Hallen were to be attacked, we'd naturally use full force," Jarborg Eriksson told DN.
(ANSAmed) — RHO-PERO (MILAN), FEBRUARY 19 — Italy, France, and Spain have signed an agreement protocol today at the International Tourism Bourse (BIT) ongoing at the Milan Exposition Centre until February 22, to offer themselves as a single tourist package, a European destination par-excellence to attract visitors from other continents. ''The reasons that brought us to this agreement can by summarised in a single concept, far-sightedness'', said Vittoria Brambilla, the Italian Undersecretary of State for Tourism, presenting the agreement. ''Unlike what occurred up until a few years ago, enormous volumes of tourist flows are increasingly affected by centrifugal forces that favour other markets and distance them from Europe'', she explained. For this reason, Italy, France, and Spain, under the framework of shared historical roots intend to concentrate their efforts to develop demand with specific united international promotional projects including tourist products for all three countries. The goal is to attract tourists from the rest of the world offering them the best of Europe in a single trip. The protocol agreement was signed Brambilla, French Secretary of State for Commerce, Handcrafts and Tourism, Herve' Novelli, and Spanish Secretary of Tourism, Juan Mesquida Ferrando. (ANSAmed)
A council today admitted knowing that a teenager who raped his foster parents' infant son and molested their daughter had a history of sexual behaviour.
The youth was placed with a South Wales family who were not told about his past offences, even though Vale of Glamorgan Council knew about them.
He went on to rape and sexually abuse the couple's children, and was given an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection at Cardiff Crown Court after admitting the crimes.
The confirmation that social services knew of the teenager's background came as council leader Gordon Kemp issued an unreserved apology to the family.
Britain's army of teenage mothers living off the state was branded a 'national catastrophe' by a former minister in the Labour government yesterday.
Tom Harris broke one of the party's remaining taboos with an attack on teenage girls who deliberately become pregnant to secure a life on benefits.
The MP, a transport minister until last year, said getting pregnant was seen as a way for those who 'have absolutely no ambition for themselves' to gain independence by being given a flat and an income.
His outburst will alarm those on the Left who have historically blamed what they see as in-built deprivation and poverty for social problems.
However, the comments will be welcomed by family campaigners who believe that the state encourages single parenthood with handouts, while refusing to challenge the motives, morals and behaviour of others.
Murderers freed from life sentences under Labour have committed a string of rapes and killings.
Ministers last night admitted the full scale of reoffending by so-called lifers. After their release, the 65 killers committed at least three further murders, one attempted murder and three rapes.
They were also responsible for crimes such as a paedophile attack, two woundings causing grievous bodily harm and three offences of kidnapping, false imprisonment or abduction.
The Human Rights Act, reinforced by a European court ruling in 2002, means convicts are now entitled to a barrister — paid for by legal aid — to represent them at their hearing.
Critics have suggested the board, not wishing to have its decisions overturned, is paying more attention to the rights of the criminal than the public.
[Comments from JD: Perhaps they will be used to ensure teachers comply with the propaganda lesson plans imposed by government…]
Schools are installing CCTV cameras and microphones in classrooms to spy on teachers.
The surveillance technology is being used to check that pupils are being taught well and to expose poor teachers.
But the approach has provoked fury among teaching unions, who say the tactics smack of Big Brother.
Must stop producing too much energy at times when there is enough electricity
[Comments from JD: Done in order to artificially keep electricity prices high.]
Danish wind turbines are now producing so much energy that they may have to be stopped at night in order to avoid excess production duties.
In October, turbine owners will have to pay an excess production duty of DKK 1.70 for each kilowatt of energy produced during evenings and nights when there is too much electricity on the market.
"The last thing that we want to do is to stop a wind turbine. But we may have to. No-one wants to produce at a loss," says Wind Energy Denmark Director Niels Dupont who administers a third of the wind energy production in Denmark.
Belgrade, 2 March (AKI) — Sensational disclosures that late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic's head of state security, Jovica Stanisic, was a top American spy, have provoked shock and disbelief.
Claims that Stanisic was for nearly a decade the CIA's main man in Belgrade made headlines in most Belgrade newspapers on Monday after it was published in the Los Angeles Times.
The story broke as Serbs were still reeling from news of the lengthy prison sentences handed last week to five former top Serb officials by the Hague-based United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Stanisic is facing trial at The Hague for allegedly setting up 'genocidal' Serb death squads accused of atrocities against Bosnians and Croats.
The LA Times said on Sunday Stanisic had asked the CIA to intervene on his behalf at The Hague. Stanisic's trial was adjourned in mid-2008 and he was granted provisional release to seek medical treatment in Serbia. He is currently in Belgrade.
"In an exceedingly rare move, the CIA has submitted a classified document to the court that lists Stanisic's contributions and attests to his helpful role," said the LA Times report.
The paper said the contents of the sealed document had been disclosed by unnamed sources.
But Srdja Trifkovic, editor of US monthly Chronicle, said that Stanisic had really been betrayed by the CIA's revelation of their secret ties.
The CIA document sent to The Hague "could help Stanisic to get 33, instead of 40 years in jail", Trifkovic said.
"But he will die in a cell, bitter, lonely and depressed, and scorned in Serbia as a traitor," Trifkovic added. "His real problems are just beginning."
Stanisic, 58, became the head of Serbian state security and Milosevic's right-hand man in 1992, at the height of the civil war in Croatia and Bosnia, following the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia.
But a former CIA agent, William Lofgren, told the LA Times that he met Stanisic for the first time one night in 1992 in Belgrade Topcider park, which he described as a "perfect meeting place for spies."
Milosevic was seen as a menace to European security, and the CIA was desperate to get intelligence from inside the turmoil, the paper claimed. The two spies carved out a clandestine relationship that remained undisclosed for eight years, the paper said.
Lofgren said Stanisic supplied him with valuable information from Milosevic's insider circle, but never took money.
"He never took payment from the CIA, worked with the agency on operations or took steps that he would have considered a blatant betrayal of his boss," the LA Times quoted Lofgren as saying.
Stanisic was instrumental in freeing NATO hostages held by Bosnian Serbs and later helped the CIA to set up a spy network in Bosnia to oversee implementation of the peace deal signed in Dayton, Ohio in 1996, according to Lofgren.
Meetings between the two men later became less clandestine and Milosevic was informed of the contacts, the paper said.
But Milosevic sacked Stanisic in 1998, fearing that his chief spy was working against him. After the assassination of former prime minister Zoran Djindjic in 2003, Stanisic was arrested and handed over for trial to the Hague tribunal.
Milosevic himself was extradited to The Hague in 2001 by Djindjic, on charges of war crimes. He died in his prison cell in March 2006 just months before he was due to be sentenced.
Belgrade, 27 Feb. (AKI) — Harsh prison sentences handed down by the Hague-based United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia against four Serbian generals and another senior official have provoked anger and resentment in Serbia.
The tribunal on Thursday sentenced former Yugoslav vice-premier Nikola Sainovic and generals Nebojsa Pavkovic, Dragoljub Ojdanic, Sreten Lukic and Vladimir Lazarevic to a total of 96 years in jail for crimes committed during Serbia's 1998-1999 war in Kosovo against ethnic Albanian guerrillas.
The court acquitted former Serbian president Milan Milutinovic on the grounds that he had no direct control over the Yugoslav army and did not knowingly participate in "a joint criminal undertaking".
The verdict was front page news in Belgrade newspapers on Friday. Media reports said the verdicts were "shameful" and further proof that the tribunal was a political and "anti-Serb institution" which practised "double standards".
Since it was founded by the UN Security Council in 1993, the tribunal has indicted 161 individuals, mostly Serbs, and close to sixty have been sentenced to over 1,000 years in jail.
Most newspapers and commentators drew a parallel between the latest verdicts and the acquittal of former Kosovo prime minister Ramus Haradinaj and Bosnian Muslim military commander Naser Oric, accused of crimes against Serb civilians but cleared by The Hague tribunal last year.
Serbian prime minister Mirko Cvetkovic said the prison sentences issued by the tribunal on Thursday were "unbecomingly high" in the light of earlier acquittals.
"But regardless of our disagreements, we in principle support the Hague tribunal and believe that every criminal has a name," Cvetkovic said.
Serbia has over the past few years extradited to The Hague over 40 war crimes suspects. But two top suspects remain at large: former Bosnian Serb general and wartime military commander Ratko Mladic and a leader of rebel Serbs in Croatia, Goran Hadzic.
Some commentators warned that Hague tribunal sentences confirmed the existence of an 'ethnic cleansing' policy by the wartime Serbian leadership to expel majority ethnic Albanians from Kosovo in order to alter its ethnic balance and establish Serbian control.
Natasa Kandic, head of Belgrade non-governmental organisation The Fund for Humanitarian Rights, said the tribunal has confirmed the existence of a "joint criminal undertaking."
"These are legal facts which could be interpreted to mean that Kosovo can in no way remain to be a part of Serbia," Kandic said, adding that the country had "practically no chance" of success in its bid to have the International Court of Justice declare Kosovo's independence illegal.
Memli Krasnici, a spokesman for the Kosovo government, said Pristina highly appreciated the Hague tribunal's ruling on Thursday.
"I think that the verdict has shown once again that terrible crimes were committed in Kosovo and that the highest officials of Serbia and Yugoslavia were involved in these crimes," Krasnici said.
Ethnic Albanians declared independence with the support of western powers last year, but Serbia is continuing to wage a diplomatic battle to retain the province.
The United Nations general assembly last October approved a resolution submitted by Serbia demanding the IJC examine Kosovo's declaration of independence.
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MARCH 4 — Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac and Algerian Ambassador in Belgrade Abdelkader Mesdoua said that there were possibilities for promoting cooperation in the field of military education, reports Tanjug news agency. After a visit to the Military and Technical Institute, where 20 Algerian officers were at post-graduate studies, Sutanovac and Mesdoua in a statement to reporters pointed at the need for military education cooperation in order to promote bilateral relations. Sutanovac said that about 140 foreign students had studied at the Military Academy and Military and Technical Institute last year and added that the goal was to increase this number every year. (ANSAmed)
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MARCH 2 — State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy and Regional development Vesna Arsic stated that a second round of talks on free trade agreement between Serbia and Turkey are under way and that talks with Iran and Ukraine are started to begin this year, reports Tanjug news agency. She recalled that an extended agreement on free trade is expected to be signed with the Russian Federation in March. According to Arsic, lists of commodities that will be on a liberal regime and lists of commodities that will have a certain degree of protection are being defined in the talks with Turkey. "Our stand is to get from the Turkish side what we have got from the European Union, which is a duty free access of our industrial products to the Turkish market and to abolish duties on Turkish products gradually over a period of six months," Arsic said at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. According to her, in regards to agricultural products, quotas for duty free entrance for both countries are being established. Arsic underscored that during the recent visit by a Serbian delegation to Iran, it was agreed to start negotiations on free trade with Iran in April, while the beginning of talks with Ukraine is expected in the second half of this year, after the Ukraine elections.(ANSAmed)
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, MARCH 2 — One of Serbian largest exporters Petrohemija might get soon a long time wanted strategic partner. Iran expressed great interest in business cooperation with that factory as daily Blic was confirmed by members of Serbian delegation that visited Teheran last week. Such strategic partnership, a privatization model increasingly preferred by Serbia, would mean for Petrohemija end of crisis and keeping of 3,000 jobs. A delegation led by Iranian Foreign Minister is to come to Belgrade as early as this Wednesday for talks with experts on naphtha and energy. Milos Bugarin, president of Serbian Chamber of Commerce who led Serbian economic delegation points out big interest expressed in Teheran by Iranian Ministry of naphtha for strategic partnership with Petrohemija, having in mind the energy position of Serbia in Europe. Petrohemija produces approximately eight hundred thousand tons of petrochemicals per year. The basic product plants provide raw materials for domestic polymer plants, as well as for various industries (ethylene, propylene, C4-fraction, pyrolytic oil, pyrolytic gasoline, methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether and 1,3 butadiene). (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MARCH 2 — The first phase of negotiations between the European Union and Morocco on the liberalisation of services and company settling rights, which started in March 2008, has been concluded. According to a statement issued by the European Commission, much progress has been made in the negotiations on a free trade zone between the EU and Morocco (one of the goals of the Association Agreement) for industrial products as well as farm products. The service sector makes up more than half of Morocco's GDP and three quarters of GDP of the European Union. Most foreign investments in Morocco are made in this sector. The first stage of negotiations brings Morocco closer to integration with the European economic area, which is one of the objectives of the statute passed by the Association Council on October 13th 2008. (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, FEBRUARY 20 — According to the most well-respected international rating agencies, Tunisia has become reliable in recent years, due to reform policies laid out across the economy, and the country is therefore potentially able to attract further foreign investment to nestle amongst its already significant current portfolio. The statement comes, for example, from the Italian group which guarantees credit to the companies who work abroad (SACE) (which puts Tunisia in the highest category of its so-called "country risk" scale of evaluation), as well as from Standard & Poor's, according to whom, Tunisia's label of a "stable outlook" was awarded after its adoption of "a prudent monetary policy and an increasingly flexible trade policy, making Tunisian produce highly competitive." Positive reports also come from Fitch and Moody's, as well as, the French insurance company (COFACE), according to whom, "Tunisia represents a fairly good risk in the medium term". Dun&Bradstreet report a valuation of "a low level of trade uncertainty associated with investment return, even if external factors could lead to a higher level of volatility on returns from investment made in the near future." The most recent report from World Bank and from the International Economics and Finance Society also certify that Tunisia offers a good investment climate, putting Tunisia 73rd in its list of 188 countries which were studied for their investment suitability on the grounds of reforms adopted to improve business conditions, stimulate investments and establish the best conditions for the creation of new companies. Tunisia has moved up from 81st place in the last report. This ranking puts Tunisia in a leading position amongst other North African countries and ahead of those from the MENA region, whilst behind Gulf countries and, on the same continent, South Africa and the Mauritius isles. (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed)- SIRT (LYBIA), MARCH 2 — With a heartfelt appeal for Libya to pardon "our history of abuses against your people", in the presence of colonel Gaddafi and the General Congress of the Libyan people, prime minister Silvio Berlusconi this evening repeated his apology for Italy's colonial past on the very day that the Libyan congress authorised the friendship and cooperation agreement between Rome and Tripoli that was signed last August in Bengasi. Joined by Muammar Gaddafi, Berlusconi spoke to congress on the occasion of its ratification of the agreement (the Italian parliament recently ratified the agreement as well). Greeted by applause, Berlusconi said that "The past that we hope to put behind us with this agreement is a past which we, sons of sons, feel guilty for and beg your forgiveness". He added that "No population has the right to subjugate and govern another population, depriving it of its culture and traditions". During his speech, the Italian premier officially invited Gaddafi to visit Italy for the first time as part of the G8 meeting in Maddalena. Colonel Gaddafi replied that Italian companies that intend to work in Libya will from now on be granted priority over all others. In his speech the colonel also explained that as of this moment Italians who resided in Libya before being thrown out in 1970 will be free to return to the country for either work or tourism. (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — DAMASCUS, MARCH 2 — In the first 11 months of 2008, Italy confirmed its positive trend in trade with Syria, exporting products worth 961.6 million euro — a 12.6% increase compared to the corresponding period in 2007. Italian imports from Syria, on the other hand, totalled 728.4 million euro — a drop of 14.3%. The Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE) in Damascus reports that the total value of trade between the two countries was therefore at 1,690 million euro (-8.6%), with the balance (which has traditionally seen Italy in the red) showing Italy up by 233.2 million euro. This reversal in fortunes was brought about not only by the excellent performance of Italian exports, but also by the downturn in the purchase of refined oil (-54% compared to the same period of 2007) which totalled 58.3 million euro. Particular sources of improvement included Italian supplies of: machines and appliances for the production and use of mechanical energy (+144.7%) and 80.3 million; basic chemical products (+109.9%) with 59.7 million euro; automobile (+66.8%) with 37.0 million euro; metallurgy products (+17.5%); plastic items (+20.0%); medical apparatus (+91.7%); and cutlery items (+20.6%). Finally, the improvement in the food and drinks sector is to be noted (12 million euro of exports, +168.4%), as well as clothing (8.4 million euro, +42.0%), leather and related products (3.8 million euro, +166.9%), and furniture (1.7 million euro, +115.3%). In terms of Italian imports from Syria, the lion's share is attributable to crude and refined oil, which accounted for 87.6% (638.2 million euro, -8.8%). (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — AMMAN, MARCH 3 — The European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) today awarded a group of local NGOs a grant worth 1.7 million euros for projects to consolidate the democratic process and human rights in the kingdom, EU officials in Amman said. To be implemented as of this year, the initiatives will seek to strengthen the parliamentary work, women's political participation, dissemination of a human rights education among youth, said Patrick Renauld, ambassador of the EC in Amman. "My key message to the Jordanian public is that the civil society does not represent a political opposition; it represents a great source of creativity and dynamism that can contribute to the development of your country from all perspectives," said Renauld during a ceremony to announce the projects. "We, the European Commission, trust that Civil Society Organizations in Jordan are capable to identify challenges and propose innovative solutions to them," he added. The 10 projects were selected by the EC upon quality criteria of financial and operational capacity, Relevance, Methodology, Sustainability and Cost-effectiveness, said an official statement from the EC. "The European Commission (EC) shares the Jordanian Government's belief that sustainable development and stability cannot be achieved without a strong and responsible civil society with more involvement into the Jordanian political and social life," said the statement. Awarded organizations are: Arab Woman Organization, Al Hayat Center for Civil Society Organization, Italian Consortium of Solidarity, Women for Cultural Development, Jordanian Women Union, CDFJ, Community Media Centre, Information and Research Center/King Hussein Foundation, Noor Al Hussein Foundation/Institute for Family Health, Adaleh. Some of the key projects include: changing attitudes towards human rights and democracy for the students of the vocational training institution, strengthening women's professional capacities to realise Jordan's compliance with international conventions for gender equality, removing 'honour' from crimes of 'honour', a project to change the Jordanian mindset, strengthening the capacity of local societies to better understand human rights issues and others. EIDHR was created by the European Parliament in 1994, in recognition of the vital contribution by Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and particularly NGOs, in the development and consolidation of democracy and the rule of law, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. Jordan started benefiting from the EIDHR Programme in 2005: so far, 34 Civil Society Organizations have been supported, for an overall amount of 5.4 million euros. (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — TRIPOLI, FEBRUARY 17 — A new school of the Mission Laique Francaise was opened yesterday in Tripoli. The school is attended by the French community in Libya but also by many Libyans who are interested in learning the French language and culture. This is the second school to be opened, to cater for levels ranging from secondary to high school. France's ambassador to Libya, Froncois Gouyette, presided at the opening and reminded his audience that "the French school has been setting the example of French education in Libya for over fifty years without interruption". The first French school was opened in the country in 1956 and has never closed since, not even during the embargo, though the number of pupils enrolled fell from 750 in 1975 to 220 in 2002. Today the school can boast 600 students and the success of the French lay Mission, according to Dominique Aimon, is down to the school and "the very good price/quality ratio we offer". One year costs 2,200 dinars for a Libyan student, 4,000 for a French student, half the price of other international schools in Tripoli. To Libyans, the Libyan language and the Koran is taught as well, in line with practice in local schools. Half of the cost of renovation of the building that houses the school has been financed by French and international companies active in Libya, such as Halliburton, Total, Dassault, Vinci, Alcatel-Lucent, BNP-Paribas, Nexans, Thales, Ponticelli, Schlumberger and Siemens. (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — MONTESILVANO (PESCARA), 3 MARCH — Amar Addadi, President of the International Mediterranean Games Committee (CIJM) has told ANSA that "there is no exclusion of Palestine and Israel from the Mediterranean Games, but in order to participate in them a country must be registered with the CIJM. Palestine and Israel are not registered and to this day we have not received any application for affiliation". In the past, he added, "a proposal for Israel's admission had been started, but following the approval of the Executive Committee, no further action was taken. The rules state that there must be the approval of the Committee followed by that of the General Assembly which has the task of endorsing and officialising an application for CIJM affiliation. We have nothing against the participation of these two states, but there are rules and a statute that must be respected". Finally Addadi hoped that "the entire Mediterranean family, including Israel and Palestine, for whom admission would be concurrent, could be united as soon as possible under the flag of sport, a messenger for peace and a bridge that can unite differences and bring together different people". (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, MARCH 4 — The countries of the Middle East and the southern coast of the Mediterranean must accelerate procedures for their entrance into world trade. This is the European Union appeal launched in Rabat during the second 'Investment Forum'' organised by the World Bank, the first of which took place in Cairo in 2005. 'The surest way to meet the challenge of long term employment possibilities is to accelerate the integration of all of the countries of the region into world trade and investments'' declared Bruno Dethomas, a European Union representative in Morocco, emphasising that in 2008 the region registered 770 economic projects worth a mere 40.6 billion euros compared to 61 in 2007 and 68 in 2006. 'In spite of the current financial crisis, the countries of the region must offer work to a growing population'', Dethomas added citing an estimated 35 million jobs necessary from now to 2015 in Northern Africa alone. Mohmoud Mojeddine, the Egyptian Minister for Investment, stressed the necessity for inter-regional commerce. 'I know that Arab countries buy our products, but in ports far from the region'', he said, 'the integration of inter-regional trade is blocked by the modesty of the infrastructure, the deficit of information and the lack of air, sea and land connections between our countries''. (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — RABAT, MARCH 2 — Political participation, representation of citizens living abroad and public policies adopted by the countries these citizens come from: these are the main topics of the first International Conference of National Councils and Institutions on citizens living abroad. The conference will start tomorrow in Rabat. Sixteen delegations from Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Portugal, Italy, Spain, France, Croatia, Belgium, Lithuania, Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast, Mexico and Ecuador will participate in the event which was organised by the Consultative Council of Moroccans living Abroad (Ccme). The organisers explain that "there is no single way to allow emigrants to participate in the democratic life of the country of origin". Therefore the participants will exchange information and opinions during the event — which will end on March 4 — presenting the best practices adopted by the participating countries. (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — PALERMO (ITALY), MARCH 5 — Italian public broadcaster RAI MED's "Riva Sud' (Southern Shore) programme, being screened at 9.15 pm tomorrow, will feature the mission to Egypt and the Middle East by the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering. Talks focussed on Egypt's management of the Gaza cease-fire. There is an interview with Italy's Undersecretary for foreign affairs, Stefania Craxi. The programme is also to go out in an Arab version at 11.15 pm on RAIMed's satellite channel, (804 — Sky platform) and can also be seen at www.tgr.rai.it and www.rivasud.blog.rai.it. The programme also features an interview with the Tunisian Consulate in Sicily, Ben Mansour, who speaks of how his country is preparing to diversify its tourist presences. And, again, there is fisheries: the impoverishment of the Sicilian Channel due to over-fishing and a short film entitled 'Lipari', by Dutch director Frank van der Engel. On 'Mediterraneo', the weekly news feature produced by RAI, France 3 and Spain's RTVE, broadcast on Saturdays at 13.20 on Rai Tre and at 9 pm on Rai Med, the stars of the show are the youth of Beirut. Those who protested against the grip of Syria and the spread of the Hezbollah, who mourned the killing of Rafik Hariri and are today disillusioned, without prospects of work and looking to emigrate abroad.(ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — PALERMO, FEBRUARY 27 — "The Region is interested in investing 150 million in the Polytechnic of the Mediterranean in higher education and the realisation of an official headquarters that could coordinate all of the institute's activities". The words are those of Sicily's regional councillor for Culture, Antonello Antinori, speaking in Palermo today at the first session of the academic senate of EMUNI University, the Euro-Mediterranean University, inaugurated last June and due to collaborate with the Polytechnic of the Mediterranean. "We are proceeding today towards a new cultural movement," Antinoro continued, "one that intends to invest in higher education and not just in the creation of new degree courses. From 2009 onwards, the first payments to fund research will be allocated from these funds". According to the councillor, "the jitters affecting us a few months ago are now over, with visions of EMUNI as an institution that was going to 'hoodwink' the Polytechnic from Sicily. The presence of delegates from this university in Palermo," he concluded, "means that we enjoy their trust and their willingness to collaborate with us". (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — TUNIS, FEBRUARY 23 — In 2008, 42,781 metric tonnes of summer-ripe fruit were exported from Tunisia, as against 21,347 the previous year. According to El Fellah', the most-exported products were watermelons (42%), pears (23%), peaches (11%), pomegranates (10%) followed by prunes, melons, grapes, prickly pears and strawberries. Libya was the main market, importing 18,895 metric tonnes, followed by France (16,472). (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, FEBRUARY 26 — In the Moroccan Middle Atlas mountains, at 1,600 metres, lectures are in English. Around 1,300 students, half of them girls and half boys, including around a hundred foreigners, are studying courses at the Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, which was opened in 1995 by the then King of Morocco, Hassan II and crown Prince Abdallah (future King of Saudi Arabia) in the presence of numerous dignitaries, including Yasser Arafat. On a 75 hectare campus with ultra modern equipment the spotless buildings with their red roofs are home to the local administration, classes, libraries, amphitheatres, restaurants and housing for the students. A mosque, a scale copy of the Koutoubia in Marrakesh, a sports complex, tennis courts, and an Olympic size swimming pool are available for religious and sporting activities respectively. There are some differences between this university and western. First of all, the complete absence of graffiti: security personnel and cleaners in white overalls are on hand to pick up cigarette butts and chewing gum. Secondly, alcohol and drugs are obviously banned from the campus and the rooms are regularly checked. Boys and girls live in separate buildings, with a total ban on visits. ''This is a Moroccan university which has chosen the American model'' explains Driss Ouaouicha, the Vice Chancellor of the university where courses are taught in English, but where Arabic and French, the two languages spoken in Morocco, are compulsory. There are three faculties: commerce and finance, engineering and social sciences, international relations. The teachers are mainly English speaking, but there are also many Moroccans, and the diplomas, which include Masters, are recognised by several North American universities (including Georgetown in Washington and Laval in Quebec), as well as Japanese and European universities, including Sciences Politiques in Paris. Al Akhawayn is a university for children from rich families though, considering that other Moroccan universities are free: the annual fee including housing is around 10,000 euro, although 30% of students have scholarships or have taken out loans. However, the sacrifice is repaid in results: 95% of graduates find work within one year, not bad for a country where unemployment among 15 to 24 year-olds was 17.2% in 2007, according to official statistics. (ANSAmed).
Ramallah, 4 March (AKI) — United States secretary of state Hillary Clinton on Wednesday criticised Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, saying it does not help the situation.
"Clearly this kind of activity is unhelpful and not in keeping with the obligations entered into under the 'road map'," said Clinton during a joint media conference with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
The media conference was held in the Palestinian National Authority's headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Israel has recently issued orders for the demolition of 100 Palestinian homes it claims were built illegally in the neighbourhood of Silwan, located in East Jerusalem.
Palestinian news agency Maan said more than 1,000 Palestinians will be displaced if the demolitions proceed.
"It is an issue that we intend to raise with the government of Israel and the government at the municipal level in Jerusalem," said Clinton.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Clinton, who is on her first trip to the Palestinian territories as secretary of state, on Tuesday also held talks with prime minister Salaam Fayyad, who warned that negotiations with the Israeli government would be suspended if the Jerusalem demolitions went ahead.
However, when Clinton was asked about her position regarding the two-state solution for the establishment of a Palestinian state existing side by side with Israel, she said "I have told everyone, we are committed."
Abbas, meanwhile, warned Iran by saying it was working to deepen the divisions between Palestinian factions.
"Since the Iranians got involved in Palestinian matters, they have only worked towards deepening the rift, we urge them to stop interfering in our business because they are only deepening the dispute," he said.
Abbas made the remarks the same day that Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for Muslims to join the Palestinian resistance against Israel.
Clinton arrived in Israel late on Monday after attending a donors' conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where some 75 countries pledged more than 5.2 billion dollars to help rebuild the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, the Israeli group Peace Now claimed that the Israeli housing ministry was planning to build at least 73,000 housing units in West Bank settlements.
The organisation said 15,000 units had already been approved and another 58,000 were awaiting approval.
(ANSAmed) — BRUSSELS, MARCH 4 — At the launching of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine in Brussels, British film director Ken Loach said that "we are all complicit in the cold-blooded massacre which took place in Gaza if we do nothing to establish the responsibility of the international community." Loach argued that "we need to find out who is guilty — not the smaller criminals but the larger ones behind them, meaning the states." The director of 'Land and Freedom' said it was crucial to determine who was responsible for the war in Gaza, the "massacre of civilians" and the use of prohibited weaponry, because "no one is doing so at the moment." And the work of Tony Blair, the former British prime minister who is now special envoy for the Middle Eastern Quartet, is certainly not enough. "Blair, one of the accomplices of the war in Iraq, has been sent to judge the situation in Gaza. But how can he do so when he too should be standing in front of an international tribunal?" he concluded. (ANSAmed).
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, MARCH 3 — According to reports in the Israeli press today, former judges of the Israeli Supreme Court are behind Labour Party leader Ehud Barak's willingness to enter the government of Premier-designate Benyamin Netanyahu (Likud). The press has also stated that the position assumed by the judges is due to a request made by Israel Beitenu (Avigdor Lieberman) to confirm current Minister Daniel Friedman (independent) as Justice Minister. In recent months, Friedman has been the focus of repeated disputes with the Supreme Court, asserting that the latter has acquired excessive power over the years. According to daily newspaper Maariv, Ehud Barak reportedly received a pressing request to enter into Netanyahu's government "to prevent Friedman's confirmation" during a recent meeting with former Supreme Court President, Judge Aharon Barak. Today Aharon Barak denied these reports, as did his predecessor Yitzhak Zamir. Following the elections on February 10 in which the Labour party obtained poor results, Barak announced his willingness to be part of the opposition. However, on Sunday night in a meeting with Netanyahu, he surprisingly hinted that he is ready, under certain conditions, to consider entering into his government. The sharp turn of events has created strong tension within the Labour party, to the point that, yesterday, Secretary Eitan Cabel warned that there could be a possible schism in the party. (ANSAmed).
Palestinian intel apparatus caught thwarting property sales to Jews
JERUSALEM — The Israeli court system this week filed an indictment against two Israeli Arabs suspected of working in Jerusalem in senior positions for the Palestinian Authority intelligence, officials revealed for publication.
The charges against the two include setting up an intelligence system in Jerusalem to clamp down on Israeli Arabs selling property to Jews in strategic areas of the city.
WND exclusively reported last year the PA had established an intelligence apparatus in Jerusalem in part to stop Israeli Arabs from selling their homes to Jews in strategic areas of the city, according to informed security sources.
A Palestinian driver rammed a bulldozer into a bus and a police car on a Jerusalem highway Thursday, lightly wounding two officers before he was shot dead — the latest in a string of attacks by Palestinian terrorists using heavy machinery against Israeli civilian targets. (Click here for security camera footage of the attack)
Witnesses described a harrowing sight of the towering yellow front loader speeding along the highway, dragging the police car, flipping it into the air and trying to crush it with its front shovel.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility or details of the man's identity.
Policeman Elded Bin-Nun, who helped neutralize the terrorist, gave Channel 10 his account of the incident.
"We were in the area by chance and were waiting at a red light when we noticed the tractor in the opposite lane, to our left, trying to slam the police car into the bus," he said.
"We stopped the police car and I ran toward the tractor, firing several shots at the driver from the vehicle's left side until he slumped to the right. I then ran to the bulldozer's other side and noticed he [the terrorist] was trying to sit up, so I fired at him again. Several moments later another policeman arrived, and he fired three more shots at the driver from an M-16 rifle," Bin-Nun told the television channel.
One witness, a taxi driver identified as "Dor," told Israel Radio that he chased the driver as he witnessed the attack.
"I saw the police car fly into the air. He flipped it over twice, then continued dragging it toward a bus that was stuck in traffic," he said.
He told the station that he had fired four shots at the man, wounding him. "Then a policeman came with his M-16 and finally finished him off," he added.
Police, MDA and ZAKA forces streamed to the scene minutes later, after police received emergency calls telling them that a bulldozer was trying to run over a police vehicle.
— Hat tip: Abu Elvis [Return to headlines]
Jerusalem: Bulldozer Plows Into Police Vehicle; Terrorist Killed
A tractor plowed into a police squad car on Menachem Begin Boulevard in Jerusalem on Thursday. The driver was apparently also trying to hit a nearby bus, but missed.
Two police officers were in the car when it was hit and both sustained mild injuries. Other police officers patrolling nearby shot the terrorist.
Magen David Adom emergency services were immediately dispatched to the area. The paramedics treated both the injured officers and the tractor driver, who reportedly sustained severe injuries.
One of the police officers and the terrorist were taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. The other police officer was taken to the capital's Shaare Zedek Medical Center. The tractor driver, later identified as Mir'i Radeideh, 26, from the Beit Hanina neighborhood in east Jerusalem, died of his wounds.
Jerusalem District Police Commander Nissan Shaham recapped the event: "At approximately 1:10 pm we received a report of a terror attack taking place at Menachem Begin Boulevard. A Jerusalem Highway Patrol car was first to arrive at the scene and saw the bulldozer attempt to crush the police car and then lift it up.
"The officers shot the terrorist and neutralized him. Seconds later, a cab driver who pulled over fired as well, as did another police officer who arrived at the scene, and a force volunteer. The driver was critically injured, taken off the tractor and rushed to a nearby hospital, where he later died of his wounds. We found an open Quran book in the driver's compartment."
Shaham also said that following the event, the police have compiled a list of all bulldozer owners and licensed drivers in the capital's area, adding that "this is not the kind of attack we can anticipate to thwart in advance," he said.
Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen later added that "this event ended as well as it could have, with only two injured officers. In the next few hours we will be able to say where the terrorist came from."
Meanwhile, Gaza's Hamas rulers praised Thursday's bulldozer attack in Jerusalem as a "natural response" to Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in Arab east Jerusalem and to the Jewish state's offensive in the Gaza Strip: "The operation in Jerusalem was a natural response to aggression against our people. The Zionist enemy should realize that they alone bear the responsibility for displacing our people in Jerusalem and for the killings in Gaza and the West Bank," said Mushir al-Masri, a senior Hamas official.
Third of its kind
Three schoolgirls who witnessed the events were treated for shock. "This was nothing short of a miracle," Haim Weingarten of Zaka (Disaster Victim Identification), told Ynet. "The terrorist was apparently aiming for the bus, but a power pole that had fallen on the road stopped it."
"I was about 100 yard away from (the attack) and I could see this tractor run amuck. It looked like it would also hit a bus that was in the intersection. Then it seemed to turn and go after the police car," eyewitness Sunny Benyamini told Ynet.
"I saw the (police) car go backwards and forwards and then the policemen shot at the tractor. It came to a stop and many people around it jumped on it and overpowered the driver," he said.
MDA Director-General Eli Bin confirmed that two police officers were treated at the scene and rushed to a nearby hospital. "The security forces and the emergency teams operated in an exemplary fashion," he added.
Terror Attack in Jerusalem Caught on Traffic Camera
Quick reaction of the armed taxi driver and 2 cops saved a bus full of girls on a school trip. He was driving back to get some speed to turn over the bus, but he was shot with some 30-40 bullets before he could do it.
Iran's military chief warned Israel Wednesday that its nuclear facilities are within range of Iranian missiles, the latest message from Tehran that it will strike back if attacked.
Israel, which is itself believed to possess atomic arsenal, has warned that it could attack Iran if it does not abandon its nuclear program, which Israel and the U.S. suspect is a cover for weapons production. Israel's prime minister-designate, Benjamin Netanyahu, is among those taking a tough line and considered likely to keep open the option of a military strike.
A survey has been published by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, on the occasion of Secretary Clinton's visit to the West Bank. Approval of Osama bin Laden is down; attacks against civilians are rejected, and American policy is seen as being too close to Israel.
Beit Sahour (AsiaNews) — A survey conducted on Muslim majority countries demonstrates that support for the terrorism of al Qaeda and attacks on civilians is low, but there is still significant support for the aims of al Qaeda, like the revival of Islam and opposition to American policy in the Middle East.
The survey was carried out through direct interviews of more than 6,000 people in Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Turkey, and Morocco.
It was conducted between July and September of 2008 by WorldPublicOpinion.org, in collaboration with the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, which published the results today, on the occasion of Hillary Clinton's visit to the West Bank (today) and Israel (concluded yesterday).
The results demonstrate that a very large majority, between 67 and 89%, condemn the use of bombs and killing for political and religious purposes; more than 70% are against attacks on civilians (specifically Americans).
At the same time, a large majority supports al Qaeda's goal to "push the US to remove its bases and its military forces from all Islamic countries." These include 87% of Egyptians; 64% of Indonesians; 60% of Pakistanis.
Other al Qaeda goals also have wide approval. Among these, "strict application of Shari'a Law in every Islamic country, and in the long run to unify all Islamic countries into a single Islamic state or Caliphate" received the support of 65% of Egyptians; 40% of Indonesians; and 76% of Pakistanis and Moroccans. "To keep Western values out of Islamic countries," one of the other goals of the terrorist organization, received support of 80% in Egypt; 76% in Indonesia; 60% in Pakistan; and 64% in Morocco.
The figure of Osama bin Laden has a controversial following. If Egypt (44%) and the Palestinian Territories (56%) are left out, the "positive feelings" toward him come to 14% in Indonesia; 25% in Pakistan; 27% in Morocco; 27% in Jordan; 9% in Turkey; 4% in Azerbaijan.
The "negative feelings" toward the head of al Qaeda are distributed as follows: 17% in Egypt; 20% in the Palestinian Territories; 26% in Indonesia; 15% in Pakistan; 21% in Morocco; 20% in Jordan; 68% in Turkey; 82% in Azerbaijan.
Finally, concerning the American position on the Israeli-Palestinian question, the results are very unusual: a large majority maintains that U.S. policy favors the expansion of Israel. Among these are Egypt (86%); Indonesia (47%); Pakistan (52%); Morocco (64%); Turkey (78%); Azerbaijian (43%). In the Palestinian Territories, the figure reaches 90%, and 84% in Jordan.
And yet, to the question of whether the U.S. intends to create an independent and economically viable Palestinian state, Palestinians voted "yes" by 59%. Of the others, only about 30% agreed.
(ANSAmed) — BEIRUT, FEBRUARY 19 — Lebanon is becoming ever more the centre of the Middle Eastern economy. On the basis of figures released by Lebanese customs agencies, as reported by Italian Foreign Trade Commission (ICE) offices in Beirut, the role of Lebanon as platform for trade in the Middle East is growing at a steady rate. In the period taken into consideration, 'transit' activities rose by 103% to 339 million dollars (equal to 9.7% of Lebanese exports, 3.5 billion dollars). In the words of ICE, if to these data we add those of 're-export' (185 million dollars with a slight drop of 1.6% in 2008) we get the figure of 524 million dollars, 15.1% of total Lebanese export (+47.6% compared with 2007). Most of the activity in Lebanon in these sectors occurs with countries in the area: the United Arab Emirates (+42% of Lebanese export), Iraq (+81.8%), Syria (+6.7%), Saudi Arabia (+11.7%) and Turkey (+88.2%). (ANSAmed).
The United States said on Wednesday that United Nations inspectors had found growing evidence of covert nuclear activity in Syria, and European allies said a lack of Syrian transparency demanded utmost scrutiny.
The UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is looking into U.S. intelligence reports that Syria had almost built a North Korean-designed, nuclear reactor meant to yield bomb-grade plutonium before Israel bombed it in 2007.
(ANSAmed) — DAMASCUS, MARCH 2 — According to a recent study carried out by a strategic study centre in Damascus and reported by the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE), Syria has oil reserves totaling about 24.3 billion barrels. The study also reports that demand for oil products will remain high until 2015, and that between 2007 and 2010, the growth is due to increased reliance on vehicles and diesel fuel. Between 2011 and 2015, demand will tend to stabilise due to the progressive liberalisation of fuel prices and a growingly important role occupied by natural gas in energy production. The energy sector contributes directly or indirectly to about 18% of the country's GDP. Starting in 2005, demand for oil products started to increase in Syria due a sudden increase in fuel prices, particularly for diesel and petrol, and due to increased electricity demand. (ANSAmed).
Iran's nuclear program is a threat for the entire Middle East. The concerns of the Arab League over the possible openness of the U.S. government to talks with Tehran. Secretary Clinton reassures Arab partners and promises in-depth consultations.
Cairo (AsiaNews/Agencies) — A joint strategy on the part of Arab countries to confront the "Iranian challenge," and a nuclear program that threatens the entire area of the Gulf. Prince Saud Al Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, made the request yesterday in Cairo, during a summit that gathered the heads of diplomacy in the Arab League.
"In order to cement Arab reconciliation," the Saudi minister said, "we need a common vision for issues that concern Arab security and deal with the Iranian challenge," including its "nuclear drive."
Tehran's nuclear program is at the origin of the tension between the Arab countries of the Gulf — with Sunni majorities — and Shiite Iran. During a UN summit in 2008, the Saudi prince urged Iran to adhere to the guidelines of the international community, and spare the Middle East from "devastating conflicts, futile arms races and serious environmental hazards."
The Arab League is also expressing concern about the possible "openness" of the American government to direct talks with Iran. On the sidelines of the donor summit for the reconstruction of Palestine, U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton reassured Arab ministers: Washington is "carefully" considering the steps to take, and will "fully" consult with allies in the Gulf on questions concerning Iran.
Clinton's reassurance follows a warning issued by Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League, who asked that Arab countries be kept informed. "I demand that no foreign (power) talks to Iran without Arabs being aware of it and having a role in the process."
New Delhi, 4 March (AKI/Asian Age) — Indian intelligence agencies termed Tuesday's terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team as "complete incompetency of the Pakistani government" and said it is the military-intelligence complex (or the Inter-Services Intelligence headquarters) which is calling the shots in Islamabad.
Senior officials of the Indian Central intelligence agencies believe that neither the Inter-Services Intelligence nor the terror outfits are under the control of the civilian government of Pakistan.
"It's quite clear that the ISI is in touch with terror outfits. The civilian government is incompetent and helpless," said a high-ranking Indian official of the Intelligence Bureau in an interview with Indian daily The Asian Age.
The official also blasted Pakistan's inadequate security arrangements, after the attack, which killed six policemen and a driver during the ambush.
"There was no adequate security arrangements. It was an international match not a district-level cricket match. Security arrangements which were made outside and inside the stadium were not up to the mark.
The official also claims that it is highly unlikely that the ISI did not have any information previous to the attack.
"It's difficult to believe that terrorists were planning such a massive attack and the Inter-Services Intelligence did not have any information in a country like Pakistan. Was there an intelligence failure or was there suppression of intelligence?," he said.
He also made a comparison between the cricket team attack and the Mumbai bombings last November.
"Islamabad cannot even think about questioning ISI officials. Even after repeated denial by the civilian government, the ISI is providing all support to the militant outfits operating from Pakistan. Terror attack on the cricket team was similar to the 26/11 attack. Initial reports indicate that militants wanted to take players hostage," said the official.
Indonesia: Polygamy Bill Gets Mixed Reactions
Jakarta, 3 March (AKI/Jakarta Post) — The Indonesian government's plans to tighten procedures for polygamous marriages and ban unregistered and contractual marriages has sparked controversy across the country.
Some Indonesians believe the government should not interfere in the private lives of its citizens, while others said the plan should be supplemented with a revision of Indonesia's 1974 marriage law.
"Marriage is an individual right. Marriage is not only between two single people, but can also be between people who have problems [with their marriage]," restaurant owner Puspo Wardoyo, a polygamist with four wives and 11 children, told The Jakarta Post.
He said Islamic law allowed for unregistered marriages, locally known as nikah siri, and this matter should be accommodated in the law.
The current marriage law stipulates that all marriages are legal if conducted according to the requirements of one's religion or beliefs.
"I believe nikah siri is the best way to avoid adultery, and that it's a [legal] way before a couple marries under the state law," Puspo said.
He added his first wife had approved of his marrying other women. "Besides, I'm capable financially and spiritually to engage in polygamy, so why not share it with other women?"
Controversial singer Dewi Persik, who came under the spotlight after publicly revealing her unregistered marriage to her boyfriend and film actor Aldiansyah Taher, said she decided to make the move for the happiness of her lover.
"Many people consider unregistered marriages unfavourable for women, but I'd rather do it for the sake of another person's happiness," she said.
The Indonesian religious affairs ministry's marriage bill is aimed at curbing such practices and protecting women.
It threatens couples, who tie the knot without either the proper documents or the presence of an authorised religious official, with up to three months in jail and up to 5 million rupees (414 dollars) in fines.
Under the bill, public officials who help administer illegal marriages would also face a maximum jail sentence of one year and/or fines of up to 6 million (497 dollars) rupees.
The bill also tightens the prerequisites for polygamous marriages.
Indonesia's biggest Islamic organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama's deputy chairman Masdar Farid Mas'udi refrained from commenting on the bill.
"It's better to listen to the comments from conservatives, liberals and moderates on this issue first ," he said.
"I will only comment after that."
Indonesia's second largest Islamic organisation, Muhammadiyah's chairman Din Syamsuddin called for caution in passing such a bill into law.
"What needs to be regulated is the social dimension [of unregistered marriages]," he said as quoted by Antara news agency. "Don't try to meddle in the religious realm."
Women's rights activist Lis Markus said she supported the government's effort to protect women's rights through the bill.
"Unregistered marriages are really detrimental to women, especially if they have children, because then they can't get birth certificates because legally there is no father," she argued.
She added the move should also be followed up by amending the 1974 marriage law, which she deemed "unfavourable" to women.
Unregistered marriages are widespread in the predominantly Muslim nation because they are recognised under Islam.
A recent survey also found polygamy was a significant factor behind the country's rising divorce rate.
Jakarta, 2 Mar. (AKI/Jakarta Post) — Indonesian Muslims could face fines and imprisonment if they marry more than one wife in polygamous marriages. Under new regulations being considered by the country's religion ministry, Muslim men wanting extra wives would need written consent from their existing spouse or spouses, and need to prove they have the financial means to support them.
The religious court on marriage bill threatens to jail couples for up to three months and fine them up to Rp 5 million (415 dollars), for seeking additional wives without proper documentation or the presence of an authorised religious official.
State officials who help to administer illegal marriages would also face a jail sentence of up to one year and fines.
Nasaruddin Umar, director general of Islamic guidance at the religious affairs ministry, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday that the bill was aimed at curbing unregistered marriages and protecting women.
"Unregistered and contractual marriages are detrimental to women. Many women have been made to suffer, because in the absence of regulations concerning those matters, their husbands can easily marry other women," he said.
Unregistered marriages, known locally as nikah siri, are widely practised in Indonesia.
The house of representatives' disciplinary council recently questioned an MP after reports surfaced that he had married a woman without registering it with the state.
Contractual marriages are reportedly rampant among young women living in the resort area of Puncak in the West Java town of Bogor, who opt to marry Middle Eastern tourists for a certain period of time.
The bill also aims to tighten the prerequisites for polygamous marriages, including adequate financial means for men who seek a second wife. A letter of consent would also be required from the first wife.
"We're trying to cut back on instances of men committing polygamy," Nasaruddin said.
A recent survey found polygamy was a significant factor behind the country's rising divorce rate.
Nasaruddin said the bill, drafted by the religious affairs ministry, had been submitted for the president's perusal.
He added it would complement the 1971 marriage law, which has long been criticised by women's activists.
Muslim intellectual Siti Musdah Mulia said the new bill, despite its progressive contents, would be unable to protect women and children.
She added the bill was not enough to fulfil the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which the country adopted several years ago.
"The government is still hesitant about curbing discrimination against women," she claimed.
She suggested the religious affairs ministry revise the bill before it was submitted to the House for deliberation.
KUALA LUMPUR — AN ETHNIC Chinese man is challenging the conversion of his baby daughter to Islam by his estranged wife, a lawyer said on Thursday, the latest interreligious dispute to rock mainly Muslim Malaysia. Hoo Ying Soon, a 28-year-old carpenter, was shocked when he received a notice two days ago from the Islamic Shariah court granting temporary custody of their 15-month-old daughter to his wife, said his lawyer Tang Jay Son.
He was told that his wife, Chew Yin Yin, 23, embraced Islam on Jan. 28 while his daughter was converted on Feb. 3, Tang said. The couple, both Buddhists, wedded February 2007 in southern Negeri Sembilan state but their marriage broke down in September, he said.
'Mr Hoo will challenge the conversion of his daughter in the High Court because it was done unilaterally by the mother without the consent of the father. They are not divorced yet,' Mr Tang told The Associated Press.
Religious issues are extremely sensitive in Malaysia, where about 60 percent of the 27 million people are Muslims. Buddhist, Christian and Hindu minorities have accepted Islam's dominance but in recent years voiced fears that courts are unfairly asserting the supremacy of Islam, which is Malaysia's official religion.
Malaysia has a dual court system. Muslims are governed by the Islamic Shariah courts and non-Muslims, civil courts. But interreligious disputes almost always end up in Shariah courts, and end in favor of Muslims.
Mr Tang said Mr Hoo's wife, who has adopted the name Siti Zubaidah Chew Abdullah, has filed for divorce in the Islamic court with a hearing due later Thursday.
Mr Hoo will seek an injunction in the Shariah court to prevent his wife from taking custody of their child, he said. He has filed a suit in the High Court to question his daughter's conversion and to seek guardianship over their child, and wants the Islamic court to wait for the civil court's decision, he said. The high court has set March 10 for hearing.
'He has no problems with his wife converting to Islam but he feels it is unfair to convert their daughter,' Mr Tang said.
Mr Hoo also is concerned that their child, Hoo Joey, has been renamed Nurul Syuhada Chew Abdullah, which doesn't carry his surname, he added.
In a high profile case in 2007, an ethnic Hindu woman failed to persuade the civil court to ban her husband, who had embraced Islam, from converting their sons. — AP
'They were not well coordinated. On the first two days (of the Test), both buses left at the same time, with escorts. On this particular day, the Pakistan bus left five minutes after the Sri Lankan bus. Why?
'It went through my mind as we were leaving the hotel, "Where is the Pakistan bus?".
'There were times in the Karachi Test when the Sri Lankans went first and the Pakistanis went afterwards. But after this happened you think "My God, did someone know something and they held the Pakistan bus back?"'
His shock allegation came as it was revealed the hero driver of the Sri Lanka cricketeers' bus had a jihadist brother.
JAKARTA — A SINGAPORE terror suspect admitted in court on Thursday to helping plot a 2001 attack on the city-state's airport, saying members of his al-Qaeda-linked militant network wanted to plow a hijacked Russian Aeroflot into the terminal. Mohammad Hassan bin Saynudin, 36, did not say why the Changi Airport strike was canceled.
But prosecutors told the South Jakarta District Court that he and other Jemaah Islamiyah members backed out at the last minute — they already had tickets in hand — because the media had uncovered details about their plot.
It is not the first time bin Saynudin has made such claims of responsibility.
Last month, he told Singapore's newspaper, The Straits Times, he and fugitive JI leader Mas Selamat Kastari came up with the plan because they wanted to punish the city-state for supporting the US-led war in Afghanistan.
Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for a string of terrorist attacks on Western targets since Sept 11, 2001, including the nightclub bombings on Indonesia's resort island of Bali in 2002 that left 202 people dead, many of them foreign tourists.
They've also been linked to several foiled plots in the region — including the Singapore airport strike.
Bin Saynudin and nine other alleged members of his group were arrested in July for allegedly planning an attack on a bar on Indonesia's western island of Sumatra.
The Singaporean was speaking on Thursday at the trial of two of those men. — AP
PERTH — AN INDONESIAN man was sentenced to at least three years in jail on Thursday for trying to bring 12 asylum seekers to Australia. Abdul Hamid, 35, was convicted in Perth District Court of illegally bringing non-citizens into Australia and sentenced to six years in jail, with a non-parole period of three years. He faced up to 20 years' imprisonment.
Hamid was the captain of a boat intercepted by Australian Border Protection Command near Australia's northwest shore on Sept. 29, 2008. The boat was carrying 12 people believed to be from the Middle East. None of them were charged with any offenses.
Australian Federal Police said Hamid was part of an attempted people smuggling venture that originated in Indonesia.
Australia has long been a destination for people from poor, often war-ravaged countries hoping to start a new life. Most of the refugees who come to Australia travel on cramped, barely seaworthy boats from Indonesia. Many come from Iraq, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. — AP
President Hugo Chavez is tightening state control over Venezuela's food supply, setting quotas for food staples which are to be sold at government-imposed prices.
Venezuela's public finances are unravelling, with oil prices at $40 a barrel, while the national budget is calculated at $60 a barrel. Inflation is running at over 30 per cent, yet with the new measures Mr Chavez is seeking to ensure that his core support, the poor, can still fill their shopping baskets with food.
"If any industry wants to ride roughshod over the consumers, with a view to getting better dividends, we are going to act," said Carlos Osorio, the national superintendent of silos and storage. "For the government, access to food is a matter of national security."
Production quotas and prices have now been set for cooking oil, white rice, sugar, coffee, flour, margarine, pasta, cheeses and tomato sauce.
White rice, the staple for many Venezuelans, can now only be sold at a price of 2.15 bolivares (71p) per kilo. Private companies insist that production of that kilo costs 4.41 bolivares (£1.46) and that government regulations are impossible to fulfil and companies will quickly go broke. Companies that are dedicated to rice production must ensure that 80 per cent of their efforts are dedicated to white rice. The new regulations set production percentages, as companies were rebranding their products to avoid the government controls, like flavouring the rice, as the price restrictions apply only to white rice.
"Forcing companies to produce rice at a loss will not resolve the situation, simply make it worse," said Luis Carmona of Polar, a rice company that has been singled out by the government for trying to sidestep restrictions.
(ANSAmed) — PALERMO, MARCH 4 — There is a total of around 650 immigrants in Lampedusa, spread out between the Centre for Identification and Deportation (CIE) in the Imbriacola area and the former LORAN base in Capo Ponente. Included amongst them are 86 north Africans who arrived last night on the Navy's Sirio patrol-boat and the 171 non-Europeans (including 26 women and a newborn baby) which arrived this morning on a raft. A group of 80 immigrants should be transferred by plan in the next two hours to the temporary immigration centre in Crotone. Minors and people in the advanced stages of requesting asylum cannot, in fact, be accommodated in the Lampedusa (CIE). (ANSAmed).
Algiers, 4 March (AKI) — Al-Qaeda was seeking to recruit illegal immigrants in Europe for potential suicide attacks in Italy, Spain and France, an Algerian daily has claimed. A report in the daily Ennahar on Tuesday said Al-Qaeda had begun trying to recruit illegal immigrants in Europe, because it had not been able to find new recruits in Arab countries following elections in the United States and Israel.
"Two men, a Pakistani and a Bosnian offered me a proposal. They asked me to collaborate with Al-Qaeda in exchange for money," said Ahmad al-Shalafi, an Algerian immigrant who spoke to the daily by telephone after being approached by alleged Al-Qaeda officials.
"I would have had to recruit people from the local Islamic and African communities to carry out a suicide attack," he said.
Shalafi is an illegal Algerian immigrant who lives in Spain and works as a security official at a nightclub using fake documents and presenting himself as a Moroccan immigrant. He said he migrated illegally to Spain in 2001 after crossing the Strait of Gibraltar in a makeshift boat.
The daily said Algerians and Moroccans, who had illegally entered Italy, France and Spain by boat from North Africa, were then being asked to join the terror network, due to their precarious living conditions, lack of identification documents and poor integration in their host country.
The news report said that Al-Qaeda also exploits the immigrants' resentment towards their new country as well as their home country, as they cannot renew their passport to legally return home.
The newspaper, citing outside sources, claimed to know that Al-Qaeda is targeting illegal immigrants — but particularly Moroccan and Algerian immigrants — in order to infiltrate Europe.
The daily also said that Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan had delegated this recruitment task to its North African branch, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb organisation, also present in Algeria.
Ennahar also referred to European intelligence reports warning about possible attacks against the Israeli and US embassies in European countries.
One report to which the daily referred, does not exclude Al-Qaeda attacks on Eastern Europe due to security crackdowns which have prevented new militant recruitment in Spain, Italy and France.
There are at least 365,000 Moroccan and 22,000 Algerian immigrants in Italy, according to the latest figures by Italy's central statistics agency ISTAT.
(ANSAmed) — ATHENS, MARCH 4 — Around 550,000 immigrants living in Greece will take advantage from the Estia Programme 2007-2013, which was presented by Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos. The 26.2 million euros of the programme, funded for 75% by the EU, will be used to facilitate the integration of immigrants into the Greek society. The programme focuses on education of the Greek language, support for socially vulnerable groups like children, women and people with a handicap, and wants to inform immigrants on their rights and responsibilities. (ANSAmed)
HVG 21.02.2009 (Hungary)
On February 8th, the Romanian national handball player Marian Cozma (until recently under contract with "MKB Veszprem") was stabbed to death and two of his team mates badly injured in the Hungarian city of Veszprem. Initial reports suggest that the perpetrators are Roma members of a mafia-like organisation. "The gypsy has killed again," the right-wing press immediately barked. And so the Roma are outlawed again, says philosopher Janos Kis, who points to the racist crimes against Roma that generally go ignored. Kis warns: "Anyone who tries to boost grass-roots support in this country using cheap ethnic propaganda, is playing with fire. When emotions break loose, the first victims are often the most needy and vulnerable — and this is certainly the case in Hungary. But the price will be high for the majority society. The past two decades have shown what happens if we fail to take on the burden of Roma integration. The road ends in catastrophe."
(by Paola Del Vecchio) (ANSAmed) — MADRID, MARCH 3 — 2 out of every 3 adolescent immigrants, although born in Spain, or who have come to live in the country when they were very young, do not feel Spanish according to "The second generation in Madrid", a study performed by the universities of Comillas, Princeton, and Clemson, based on interviews carried out on 4,000 adolescents who are the children of immigrants between the ages of 12 and 17, performed in public schools and private schools in Madrid, and cited today by El Pais. Over 65% of the children interviewed said that they did not feel Spanish, and 40% said that they are not interested in staying in Spain, and prefer to move to the United States or another nation in the "developed world". The same percentage, 1 out of every 4, said that they want to remain in Spain. According to Aljandro Portes, one of the authors of the study, who in the past led a similar study in the U.S., "in Spain value is not given to the state of well-being, while on the other side of the Atlantic, where everything costs more, it is more appreciated". The framework that has emerged is complex. The majority of those interviewed said that they do not feel "a great refusal" from natives in Madrid. Over half admitted that they have never felt that they were discriminated against, while only 5% said that they have suffered discrimination many times. 70% of the adolescents are convinced that the Spanish feel superior, which influences their choice of friends, since many second generation immigrants say that less than half of their friends are Spanish, while most of their friends are from their own country of origin. An overwhelming majority of adolescents at public schools — about 85% — recognise that "there are frequent clashes between groups of children who are divided into different nationalities" and that for one-third of kids, these inter-ethnic arguments "interfere with their studies". However, different skin-colour, ethnic origin, and language do not represent an insurmountable barrier for their integration. 4 out of 5 in the study said that they are in agreement or very much in agreement with the fact that "people of colour have as many opportunities to advance in Spain as white people". The authors of the study underlined the importance of the level of education and employment aspects in the discontent expressed by the European immigrant population, like in the events which took place in the Parisian suburbs in 2006. The investigation highlights that only 53% of immigrant adolescents aspire to attend university and that only 32% believe that they will truly be able to attend, revealing a low level of self-confidence. Only 39% aspired to have a high-level job, even if — underlined the authors of the study — this is the same percentage found among Spanish adolescents. The report differed, instead, for the 500 adolescents in private schools in the study: 7 out of 10 aspire to attend university, compared to 5 out of 10 of those who attend public schools. The study also showed that about half of the immigrant adolescents consider religion "very important", although only 1 out of 5 said that they go to church at least once a week, while 1 out of 4 said that they never go. (ANSAmed).
'If you can't talk about the 2nd Amendment, what happened to the 1st Amendment?'
The student was fulfilling an assignment for his Communications 140 class that required him to discuss a "relevant issue in the media" when he and two other students on a team chose to talk about school violence, including recent events such as the 2007 shootings that left nearly three dozen people dead at Virginia Tech University.
Wahlberg made the point during his Oct. 3, 2008, class presentation that if students were allowed to carry concealed weapons on campus, the violence could have been stopped earlier. He discussed the concept of college campus gun-free zones.
That evening, the Recorder said, Wahlberg got a call from campus police officers who "requested" his presence at their station. When he arrived, officers listed firearms that were registered to him and asked him where they were.
Apparently his professor, Paula Anderson, had filed a campus police department complaint about his speech. Police officers reported she said students were "scared and uncomfortable" during his presention.
Expected proposal would criminalize such comments in U.S.
According to a report by CNN's Lou Dobbs posted on YouTube, the proposal that has been repeatedly brought in recent years by the Organization of Islamic Conference states is expected to resurface as early as this spring.
This time, however, the resolution wouldn't allow nations to opt out.
"The United Nations has adopted what it calls a Resolution to Combat Defamation of Religion," Dobbs said in the report. "The U.N. now wants to make that anti-blasphemy resolution binding on member nations, including, of course, our own. That would make it a crime in the United States … to criticize religion, in particular, Islam."
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