Libyan officials posed as Dutch diplomats to try to find Colonel Gaddafi a place to stay this week on his first visit to the US.
The envoys, including one calling himself Ronald, approached a property agent on the Upper East Side of New York to inquire about renting the Barclay Mansion, a six-storey townhouse on East 78th Street.
Jason Haber, who has a master’s degree from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, realised the ruse and the deal did not go through.
“When someone says they are representing the Dutch, you accept that at face value,” Mr Haber told The Times. “After a few conversations, the accents did not match. When the e-mails started it became quite clear. The e-mails had a Libyan Embassy address.”
Colonel Gaddafi, the world’s longest-serving leader, was due to arrive in New York last night for his first visit to the annual UN General Assembly.
After 11 years of UN sanctions, Libya now holds a seat on the 15-nation Security Council and the presidency of the 192-nation General Assembly. Colonel Gaddafi is also the head of the African Union.
His rehabilitation on the international scene has been dented by Britain’s release of the Lockerbie bomber, Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi. The outcry with which the release was met in America has made it difficult for Colonel Gaddafi to find a place to stay.
The Libyan leader originally asked to pitch his customary Beduin tent in Central Park but was turned down by city authorities. He then considered staying at a Libyan-owned mansion in the New Jersey suburb of Englewood, prompting a local uprising that forced him to abandon the plan.
Libyan officials tried unsuccessfully to find a hotel with a garden near the UN so that he could pitch camp. Colonel Gaddafi then made arrangements to stay at the Pierre Hotel but was reportedly disinvited when guests complained.
Mr Haber said that the "Dutch" diplomats approached him over the Labor Day holiday weekend this month about his listing at East 78th Street. They wanted to rent the entire townhouse for four or five days, without saying who would be staying.
The property, which comprises three apartments, is owned by a family who bought it last year for $18.5 million. The triplex on the first three floors was available for $28,000 a month. “All the conversations were very abrupt. They were very rude. Everything was, ‘Right away! Right now!’,” Mr Haber said. “They would say things like, ‘Call this person. Do it now. Tell them you can do whatever he wants’. They wanted things like the whole building staged with furniture.”
Mr Haber said that he never presented the proposal to the owners because the Libyans wanted all three apartments, which were not available.
The agent said: “Any goodwill Gaddafi got post-9/11 in the United States was thrown out the window when Megrahi was released from the Scottish prison.”
Colonel Gaddafi is now having to stay at the Libyan diplomatic mission in East 48th Street, which is usually an office. It does not have a sizeable garden.
Source:Times online
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Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tear gas fired as Hondurans mark return of deposed President
Honduran security forces fired tear gas and water cannons on supporters of deposed president Manuel Zelaya today as protests in the capital turned ugly following his surprise return to the country.
Mr Zelaya, who was ousted in a coup in June, is holed-up in the Brazilian embassy following a clandestine 15-hour journey to Tegucigalpa.
Today police and soldiers in riot gear clashed with protesters who defied a daytime curfew to rally in support of their president.
The embassy was in a state of virtual siege as soldiers surrounded the building and cut off electricity, demanding the Brazilians hand over Mr Zelaya to face trial.
Smoke could be seen billowing above the city as some protesters fought running battles with police, throwing stones and wielding sticks.
"The embassy is surrounded by police and the military... I foresee bigger acts of aggression and violence, that they could be capable of even invading the Brazilian embassy," Mr Zelaya said in a phone interview with Venezuelan broadcaster Telesur.
A Reuters photographer reported that at least two gas canisters had been thrown into the embassy compound.
The United States and the European Union appealed for calm as the army set up roadblocks around the country to prevent Mr Zelaya supporters from flooding to the capital. The airports have also been closed.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking after an emergency meeting in Washington, said the two sides must seek a peaceful resolution.
"It is imperative that dialogue begin, that there be a channel of communication between President Zelaya and the de facto regime in Honduras," she said.
But the interim government of Roberto Micheletti showed no signs of rapprochement as it lashed out at the international community and insisted Mr Zelaya would be arrested for the crimes it claims led to his exile on June 28.
It says he was trying to extend presidential term limits in violation of the constitution, a claim Mr Zelaya denies.
"Let's hope for Dona Hillary's and (mediating Costa Rican president) Mr Arias' sake, after the pleasure they took in President Zelaya's arrival here, that there will not be consequences to regret," Mr Micheletti said.
Brazil said it had played no part in Mr Zelaya's return and had only granted him asylum on arrival at the embassy.
President Inacio Lula da Silva said he had spoken to Mr Zelaya "simply to ask him to take care to give no pretext to the coup leaders to engage in violence", adding that in giving him refuge it had only done what any democratic country would do.
"We can't accept that for political differences people think they have the right to depose a democratically-elected president," Mr Silva said.
Mr Zelaya, for his part, insisted his intentions were entirely peaceful, saying he was only seeking dialogue with the Micheletti regime.
But a government broadcast transmitted across all Honduran channels said he bore responsibility for any disturbances, as sympathetic television stations were shut down by the military in an attempt to prevent information from reaching his supporters.
Mr Zelaya arrived in Tegucigalpa yesterday after a secret overland journey with four companions. Two previous attempts in July saw mass demonstrations in which at least three protesters were killed.
Source:The times
Mr Zelaya, who was ousted in a coup in June, is holed-up in the Brazilian embassy following a clandestine 15-hour journey to Tegucigalpa.
Today police and soldiers in riot gear clashed with protesters who defied a daytime curfew to rally in support of their president.
The embassy was in a state of virtual siege as soldiers surrounded the building and cut off electricity, demanding the Brazilians hand over Mr Zelaya to face trial.
Smoke could be seen billowing above the city as some protesters fought running battles with police, throwing stones and wielding sticks.
"The embassy is surrounded by police and the military... I foresee bigger acts of aggression and violence, that they could be capable of even invading the Brazilian embassy," Mr Zelaya said in a phone interview with Venezuelan broadcaster Telesur.
A Reuters photographer reported that at least two gas canisters had been thrown into the embassy compound.
The United States and the European Union appealed for calm as the army set up roadblocks around the country to prevent Mr Zelaya supporters from flooding to the capital. The airports have also been closed.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking after an emergency meeting in Washington, said the two sides must seek a peaceful resolution.
"It is imperative that dialogue begin, that there be a channel of communication between President Zelaya and the de facto regime in Honduras," she said.
But the interim government of Roberto Micheletti showed no signs of rapprochement as it lashed out at the international community and insisted Mr Zelaya would be arrested for the crimes it claims led to his exile on June 28.
It says he was trying to extend presidential term limits in violation of the constitution, a claim Mr Zelaya denies.
"Let's hope for Dona Hillary's and (mediating Costa Rican president) Mr Arias' sake, after the pleasure they took in President Zelaya's arrival here, that there will not be consequences to regret," Mr Micheletti said.
Brazil said it had played no part in Mr Zelaya's return and had only granted him asylum on arrival at the embassy.
President Inacio Lula da Silva said he had spoken to Mr Zelaya "simply to ask him to take care to give no pretext to the coup leaders to engage in violence", adding that in giving him refuge it had only done what any democratic country would do.
"We can't accept that for political differences people think they have the right to depose a democratically-elected president," Mr Silva said.
Mr Zelaya, for his part, insisted his intentions were entirely peaceful, saying he was only seeking dialogue with the Micheletti regime.
But a government broadcast transmitted across all Honduran channels said he bore responsibility for any disturbances, as sympathetic television stations were shut down by the military in an attempt to prevent information from reaching his supporters.
Mr Zelaya arrived in Tegucigalpa yesterday after a secret overland journey with four companions. Two previous attempts in July saw mass demonstrations in which at least three protesters were killed.
Source:The times
Ahmadinejad vows to 'cut the hand off' Iran's enemies ahead of UN summit
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned foreign powers against striking Iran, saying it would “cut the hand off” of any potential attackers before they had the chance to do so, as Tehran flaunted its hardware in a military parade.
His fiery address came just hours before he flew to New York for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, where world leaders hope to hammer out a consensus over how to deal with Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
With protests continuing at home and widespread goodwill buoying President Obama’s diplomatic efforts on multiple fronts, this year’s meeting may see Mr Ahmadinejad more isolated than ever.
He has chosen to go into the meeting fighting, with last week's widely condemned speech questioning the Holocaust followed by his defiant assertions of Iran’s military strength on Tuesday, the anniversary of the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War.
“No power dares to contemplate an invasion against Iran,” Mr Ahmadinejad said in a speech at the parade marking the day. “The Iranian nation will resist all invaders. Our armed forces will cut the hand off anyone in the world before it pulls the trigger against the Iranian nation.”
Upping the ante further, the chief of Iran’s nuclear agency chose the day to announce a new generation of centrifuges for enriching uranium, stronger and faster than those previously used. Diplomats said there was little new in the announcement, but the timing was significant.
The leaders of the E3 + 3 – the US, Britain, Russia, China, France and Germany – are due to meet for dinner tomorrow to forge a strategy for talks with Iran, scheduled to begin on October 1. Hopes of winning over Russia to a tougher line have been lifted by Washington’s concession over the Eastern European missile shield.
Those talks will come just hours after Mr Ahmadinejad addresses the assembly. His reception will be keenly watched. The post-election crisis in Iran has sapped much of his legitimacy and Mr Obama’s global popularity makes it harder for the Iranian leader to cast himself as the plucky challenger to American hegemony.
In previous years, Mr Ahmadinejad has used his speech to voice anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric - to widespread condemnation. The Israeli and United States delegations habitually boycott his speech and Israel has launched a diplomatic offensive this year to persuade more countries to walk out, linking his words to the nuclear issue.
At least two separate demonstrations by opposition Iranian groups are planned outside the UN Secretariat building. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gabriella Shalev, said his country is explaining to others “how dangerous this man is, how dangerous his country is, how dangerous the process of nuclear development is”.
Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israel prime minister, will use his own speech on Thursday to focus on Iran. Yesterday, Israel reiterated that it is keeping “all options on the table” to prevent its enemy from building a nuclear weapon, including military action.
Among the hardware on display in Tehran for the first time today was the Russian-made Tor-M1 air-defence system, meant to defend Iran’s nuclear facilities against airstrikes. Iran is awaiting delivery of a newer version of the S-300 system from Russia but the shipment has been on hold for months due to pressure from the US and Israel, who now hope to get Russia to halt the sale altogether.
The parade also showed off various types of Iranian missiles, including the Shahab-3 and Sejjil, with ranges capable of hitting Israel. Western intelligence agencies believe that Iran has developed the Shahab-3 to carry a nuclear warhead despite Tehran’s continued denials about a weaponisation programme.
“Today, Iran is experienced and powerful,” Mr Ahmadinejad proclaimed. “Our armed forces are ready to confront the forces of darkness.” But the show of forces was overshadowed when a military transport plane crashed in the show, killing seven people.
Source:The times
His fiery address came just hours before he flew to New York for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, where world leaders hope to hammer out a consensus over how to deal with Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
With protests continuing at home and widespread goodwill buoying President Obama’s diplomatic efforts on multiple fronts, this year’s meeting may see Mr Ahmadinejad more isolated than ever.
He has chosen to go into the meeting fighting, with last week's widely condemned speech questioning the Holocaust followed by his defiant assertions of Iran’s military strength on Tuesday, the anniversary of the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War.
“No power dares to contemplate an invasion against Iran,” Mr Ahmadinejad said in a speech at the parade marking the day. “The Iranian nation will resist all invaders. Our armed forces will cut the hand off anyone in the world before it pulls the trigger against the Iranian nation.”
Upping the ante further, the chief of Iran’s nuclear agency chose the day to announce a new generation of centrifuges for enriching uranium, stronger and faster than those previously used. Diplomats said there was little new in the announcement, but the timing was significant.
The leaders of the E3 + 3 – the US, Britain, Russia, China, France and Germany – are due to meet for dinner tomorrow to forge a strategy for talks with Iran, scheduled to begin on October 1. Hopes of winning over Russia to a tougher line have been lifted by Washington’s concession over the Eastern European missile shield.
Those talks will come just hours after Mr Ahmadinejad addresses the assembly. His reception will be keenly watched. The post-election crisis in Iran has sapped much of his legitimacy and Mr Obama’s global popularity makes it harder for the Iranian leader to cast himself as the plucky challenger to American hegemony.
In previous years, Mr Ahmadinejad has used his speech to voice anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric - to widespread condemnation. The Israeli and United States delegations habitually boycott his speech and Israel has launched a diplomatic offensive this year to persuade more countries to walk out, linking his words to the nuclear issue.
At least two separate demonstrations by opposition Iranian groups are planned outside the UN Secretariat building. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gabriella Shalev, said his country is explaining to others “how dangerous this man is, how dangerous his country is, how dangerous the process of nuclear development is”.
Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israel prime minister, will use his own speech on Thursday to focus on Iran. Yesterday, Israel reiterated that it is keeping “all options on the table” to prevent its enemy from building a nuclear weapon, including military action.
Among the hardware on display in Tehran for the first time today was the Russian-made Tor-M1 air-defence system, meant to defend Iran’s nuclear facilities against airstrikes. Iran is awaiting delivery of a newer version of the S-300 system from Russia but the shipment has been on hold for months due to pressure from the US and Israel, who now hope to get Russia to halt the sale altogether.
The parade also showed off various types of Iranian missiles, including the Shahab-3 and Sejjil, with ranges capable of hitting Israel. Western intelligence agencies believe that Iran has developed the Shahab-3 to carry a nuclear warhead despite Tehran’s continued denials about a weaponisation programme.
“Today, Iran is experienced and powerful,” Mr Ahmadinejad proclaimed. “Our armed forces are ready to confront the forces of darkness.” But the show of forces was overshadowed when a military transport plane crashed in the show, killing seven people.
Source:The times
Tears and fights as French police clear Calais 'Jungle'
French police moved to clear migrants out of their makeshift camp in Calais today amid screams, tears and fights with protesters.
Scuffles broke out as the camp, known as "the Jungle", was emptied in an intervention ordered by the French Government.
Police said afterwards that they had arrested 278 people, 132 of them under the age of 18. It was not clear whether this figure included earlier arrests. The operation began at daybreak as the 150 or so Afghans remaining in the camp gathered around a fire under the glare of television cameras.
As 60 vans of riot police drove up to the perimeter of the woodland base, the migrants took down the sign which hung on the biggest of their blue tarpaulin tents: it said "mosque".
One handed a glass case containing a verse from the Koran to a UN worker.
''This was their most sacred possession and they didn't want it destroyed so they've given it to me for safekeeping,'' she said.
Minutes later, as the evacuation got under way, the migrants – virtually all Afghans – formed a circle that was surrounded by leftwing protesters.
Burly riot police bundled the activists out of the way and pulled the Afghans from the crowd one by one before marching them off.
Amid scenes of chaos, a woman fell to the ground, a male protester yelled as he was seized around the neck and an Afghan teenager cried unconsolably. With a member of a human rights association holding his head in her hands, he too was led away.
''No border, no deportation,'' shouted the protesters. ''Take that one to the police station, he's getting on my nerves,'' replied a commanding officer, pointing to one of the activists.
Within half an hour, the clearout was finished – three years after migrants first started squatting in wasteland that became their home.
All that was left were their home-made tents, litter and their meagre belongings – a pair of used black shoes, a tube of toothpaste, a dozen eggs.
It had been a simple matter for French police used to far tougher assignments. Eric Besson, the Immigration Minister, had made it easy for them by announcing last week that he intended to dismantle the Jungle.
As a result, the majority of the 800 migrants who used to sleep there had already left for other camps or squats in or around Calais.
Those remaining knew they would be arrested but wanted to mark their disapproval.
''The Jungle is our house. Plz don't destroy it,'' they had written on a sheet draped by the fire.
Bilal, 18, said: ''Whevever we go in Calais, the police will catch us. The Jungle is the only place we can call home, where we are not afraid.''
Most of these arrested were taken to detention centres in the region, which had been cleared to leave room for them.
Those under the age of 18 were separated from the adults and transported to social service hostels.
The French Government says that all the migrants will be invited to seek asylum in France.
But Michel Flahault, spokesman for L'Auberge des Migrants, a refugee support group, said: ''It's all completely useless. They'll be released with a few days and within a month they'll be back in another camp.
''This has just been a big photo opportunity so that the Government can show its doing something and keep the people of Calais happy.''
Critics point out that more than half of the 1,000 to 2,000 migrants in Calais live in other squats anyway. Several dozen Eritreans, for instance, have taken over abandoned houses by the quayside .
Mr Besson said that the evacuation was necessary because the Jungle had become a base for people-smugglers and was "insalubrious".
His supporters point out that there was an outbreak of scabies at the camp this summer.
Source:The times
Scuffles broke out as the camp, known as "the Jungle", was emptied in an intervention ordered by the French Government.
Police said afterwards that they had arrested 278 people, 132 of them under the age of 18. It was not clear whether this figure included earlier arrests. The operation began at daybreak as the 150 or so Afghans remaining in the camp gathered around a fire under the glare of television cameras.
As 60 vans of riot police drove up to the perimeter of the woodland base, the migrants took down the sign which hung on the biggest of their blue tarpaulin tents: it said "mosque".
One handed a glass case containing a verse from the Koran to a UN worker.
''This was their most sacred possession and they didn't want it destroyed so they've given it to me for safekeeping,'' she said.
Minutes later, as the evacuation got under way, the migrants – virtually all Afghans – formed a circle that was surrounded by leftwing protesters.
Burly riot police bundled the activists out of the way and pulled the Afghans from the crowd one by one before marching them off.
Amid scenes of chaos, a woman fell to the ground, a male protester yelled as he was seized around the neck and an Afghan teenager cried unconsolably. With a member of a human rights association holding his head in her hands, he too was led away.
''No border, no deportation,'' shouted the protesters. ''Take that one to the police station, he's getting on my nerves,'' replied a commanding officer, pointing to one of the activists.
Within half an hour, the clearout was finished – three years after migrants first started squatting in wasteland that became their home.
All that was left were their home-made tents, litter and their meagre belongings – a pair of used black shoes, a tube of toothpaste, a dozen eggs.
It had been a simple matter for French police used to far tougher assignments. Eric Besson, the Immigration Minister, had made it easy for them by announcing last week that he intended to dismantle the Jungle.
As a result, the majority of the 800 migrants who used to sleep there had already left for other camps or squats in or around Calais.
Those remaining knew they would be arrested but wanted to mark their disapproval.
''The Jungle is our house. Plz don't destroy it,'' they had written on a sheet draped by the fire.
Bilal, 18, said: ''Whevever we go in Calais, the police will catch us. The Jungle is the only place we can call home, where we are not afraid.''
Most of these arrested were taken to detention centres in the region, which had been cleared to leave room for them.
Those under the age of 18 were separated from the adults and transported to social service hostels.
The French Government says that all the migrants will be invited to seek asylum in France.
But Michel Flahault, spokesman for L'Auberge des Migrants, a refugee support group, said: ''It's all completely useless. They'll be released with a few days and within a month they'll be back in another camp.
''This has just been a big photo opportunity so that the Government can show its doing something and keep the people of Calais happy.''
Critics point out that more than half of the 1,000 to 2,000 migrants in Calais live in other squats anyway. Several dozen Eritreans, for instance, have taken over abandoned houses by the quayside .
Mr Besson said that the evacuation was necessary because the Jungle had become a base for people-smugglers and was "insalubrious".
His supporters point out that there was an outbreak of scabies at the camp this summer.
Source:The times
President Hu Jintao commits China to carbon-cutting deal
President Hu of China threw his country's weight behind the campaign to fight climate change today when he promised to reduce the carbon intensity of his country's economic growth.
Mr Hu, addressing a UN summit shortly after an appearance by President Obama, said that China would reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced for each dollar of national economic output by a “notable margin” by 2020 from 2005 levels. He gave no specific "carbon intensity" targets.
About 100 world leaders joined the summit – the highest-level conference on climate change ever held – to hear a call from Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, for the pace of negotiations to be stepped up before the Copenhagen summit in December.
“Failure to reach broad agreement in Copenhagen would be morally inexcusable, economically short-sighted and politically unwise,” Mr Ban said. “We cannot go down this road. If we have learnt anything from the crises of the past year, it is that our fates are intertwined."
Mr Obama's predecessor, George W Bush, broke with the international consensus and dismissed the Kyoto treaty, which the United States signed but never ratified.
Since he came into office in January Mr Obama has sharply shifted course and declared climate change to be a priority. In today's speech, his first address from a UN platform, he echoed Mr Ban's warning on the need for urgency.
“Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it – boldly, swiftly, and together – we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe," he said.
Source:The times
Mr Hu, addressing a UN summit shortly after an appearance by President Obama, said that China would reduce the amount of greenhouse gases produced for each dollar of national economic output by a “notable margin” by 2020 from 2005 levels. He gave no specific "carbon intensity" targets.
About 100 world leaders joined the summit – the highest-level conference on climate change ever held – to hear a call from Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, for the pace of negotiations to be stepped up before the Copenhagen summit in December.
“Failure to reach broad agreement in Copenhagen would be morally inexcusable, economically short-sighted and politically unwise,” Mr Ban said. “We cannot go down this road. If we have learnt anything from the crises of the past year, it is that our fates are intertwined."
Mr Obama's predecessor, George W Bush, broke with the international consensus and dismissed the Kyoto treaty, which the United States signed but never ratified.
Since he came into office in January Mr Obama has sharply shifted course and declared climate change to be a priority. In today's speech, his first address from a UN platform, he echoed Mr Ban's warning on the need for urgency.
“Our generation’s response to this challenge will be judged by history, for if we fail to meet it – boldly, swiftly, and together – we risk consigning future generations to an irreversible catastrophe," he said.
Source:The times
Lib Dems round on Nick Clegg and Vince Cable over 'codswallop' policy
Vince Cable was embroiled in a furious row today as frontbench colleagues accused the party's most prominent member of formulating a policy that was "complete codswallop".
The Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman came under intense pressure to justify why he and Nick Clegg have made series of announcements during the conference without consulting colleagues.
This principal attack was over a "mansion tax" on properties worth more than £1 million, which began to unravel yesterday when it emerged they had no firm idea how properties would be valued, whether the tax would apply in Scotland and whether it would be permanent.
Mr Cable’s frontbench colleagues were stunned to discover it formed the centrepiece of yesterday’s speech, saying that Mr Cable had been trying and failing to argue for its introduction for years.
They were stunned that he appeared to have unilaterally overridden their objections without prior discussion and several including Danny Alexander, Nick Clegg’s own chief of staff, struggled to explain how it would work in practice.
The confrontation with Mr Cable happened at a rowdy meeting of the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party at 9am in the Birkbeck room of the Highcliff Hotel, where Mr Clegg is staying.
Those present also vented their fury at the attempt to abandon the pledge to scrap tuition fees and suggestions the party might means test child benefit.
The Liberal Democrat leader was not at the meeting, having arranged a visit to a nearby farm. In his absence, colleagues felt emboldened to criticise Mr Cable, deriding the mansion tax plan as "complete codswallop".
Another said that Mr Clegg and Mr Cable had "not been given powers to govern all policy for the party". One described the policy as "suicidal".
Chris Huhne, the party's home affairs spokesman, admitted on the BBC that he hadn’t been consulted in advance. Frontbenchers have complained to The Times that they have been forced to defend decisions in their subject areas which they had no idea were coming and, in some cases, disagreed with.
The criticism represents a particular problem for Mr Clegg since the Liberal Democrats must put all policies to a vote.
A motion voted through almost unanimously by delegates said that their policy document "neither abandons nor downgrades any existing policy commitments and that the process of prioritising policy commitments will only be carried out in the preparation of the general election manifesto".
One of those present told The Times: "I don’t think the deputy leader was left in any doubt that he had put a lot of noses out of joint. People do appreciate he’s doing a good job, but people also realise that publishing a pamphlet is rather more premeditated than being put on the spot and he hadn’t observed the normal courtesies.
"On the tax policies, if he had consulted the relevant spokespeople he wouldn’t have run into the trouble."
Mr Cable faced awkward questions over whether the tax would apply in Scotland, which he answered "unsatisfactorily", according to one observer.
Scottish Lib Dem MPs including Bob Smith and Alistair Carmichael were among the ringleaders, while Julia Goldsworthy was particularly embarrassed by the mansion tax announcement because she had not been warned about it, even though it fell in her brief.
"Eventually he [Mr Cable] showed contrition. He was pretty evasive and in denial when the first complaints came through, but he got the temperature by the end and he said if it hadn’t been recess he could have consulted colleagues," the observer said.
However, "it could have been bloodier" given the levels of anger.
A spokesman for the party said "lessons would be learnt".
Sir Menzies Campbell told the BBC that the party had to "grow up".
Source:The times
The Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman came under intense pressure to justify why he and Nick Clegg have made series of announcements during the conference without consulting colleagues.
This principal attack was over a "mansion tax" on properties worth more than £1 million, which began to unravel yesterday when it emerged they had no firm idea how properties would be valued, whether the tax would apply in Scotland and whether it would be permanent.
Mr Cable’s frontbench colleagues were stunned to discover it formed the centrepiece of yesterday’s speech, saying that Mr Cable had been trying and failing to argue for its introduction for years.
They were stunned that he appeared to have unilaterally overridden their objections without prior discussion and several including Danny Alexander, Nick Clegg’s own chief of staff, struggled to explain how it would work in practice.
The confrontation with Mr Cable happened at a rowdy meeting of the Liberal Democrat parliamentary party at 9am in the Birkbeck room of the Highcliff Hotel, where Mr Clegg is staying.
Those present also vented their fury at the attempt to abandon the pledge to scrap tuition fees and suggestions the party might means test child benefit.
The Liberal Democrat leader was not at the meeting, having arranged a visit to a nearby farm. In his absence, colleagues felt emboldened to criticise Mr Cable, deriding the mansion tax plan as "complete codswallop".
Another said that Mr Clegg and Mr Cable had "not been given powers to govern all policy for the party". One described the policy as "suicidal".
Chris Huhne, the party's home affairs spokesman, admitted on the BBC that he hadn’t been consulted in advance. Frontbenchers have complained to The Times that they have been forced to defend decisions in their subject areas which they had no idea were coming and, in some cases, disagreed with.
The criticism represents a particular problem for Mr Clegg since the Liberal Democrats must put all policies to a vote.
A motion voted through almost unanimously by delegates said that their policy document "neither abandons nor downgrades any existing policy commitments and that the process of prioritising policy commitments will only be carried out in the preparation of the general election manifesto".
One of those present told The Times: "I don’t think the deputy leader was left in any doubt that he had put a lot of noses out of joint. People do appreciate he’s doing a good job, but people also realise that publishing a pamphlet is rather more premeditated than being put on the spot and he hadn’t observed the normal courtesies.
"On the tax policies, if he had consulted the relevant spokespeople he wouldn’t have run into the trouble."
Mr Cable faced awkward questions over whether the tax would apply in Scotland, which he answered "unsatisfactorily", according to one observer.
Scottish Lib Dem MPs including Bob Smith and Alistair Carmichael were among the ringleaders, while Julia Goldsworthy was particularly embarrassed by the mansion tax announcement because she had not been warned about it, even though it fell in her brief.
"Eventually he [Mr Cable] showed contrition. He was pretty evasive and in denial when the first complaints came through, but he got the temperature by the end and he said if it hadn’t been recess he could have consulted colleagues," the observer said.
However, "it could have been bloodier" given the levels of anger.
A spokesman for the party said "lessons would be learnt".
Sir Menzies Campbell told the BBC that the party had to "grow up".
Source:The times
Saturday, September 5, 2009
UK proposals backed at finance summit
Government proposals to defer bankers’ bonuses and maintain fiscal stimulus have won approval at today's G20 summit.
The finance ministers of the world’s richest countries are backing the UK’s plans for global economic recovery.
A draft proposal outlining a system of deferred bonuses for bankers and continued public spending was agreed at today’s meeting in London.
The agreement is a victory for Gordon Brown and chancellor Alistair Darling who have been resisting calls, led by France, to cap bonuses, claiming they were unenforceable.
In the proposals bankers will be rewarded for long-term success with deferred payments, instead of upfront bonuses.
Speaking at the summit this morning Brown pledged an end to the system of payouts, which reward failure and encourage risk, saying they were ‘an offence’ to the taxpayer.
The G20 ministers’ draft communiqué has also adopted Brown’s calls to continue fiscal stimulus, despite forecasts of positive growth.
Some countries, including France and Germany, are already emerging from recession, and want to implement "exit strategies" to scale back the spending introduced to combat the downturn.
Brown heralded the tentative recovery, but warned world leaders that withdrawing measures too early would be an ‘error of historic proportions’.
He claimed the fiscal stimulus programmes of increased public spending and tax cuts had prevented the world’s economies plunging into depression on the scale of the 1930s and must be sustained into 2010.
He said: “It is clear in my view that too early a withdrawal of vital support could undermine the tentative signs of recovery we are now seeing and lead to a further downward lurch in business and consumer confidence, reducing growth and employment and worsening governments’ debt problems over the longer term.”
The finance ministers also agreed to address concerns over representation and voting rights of emerging economies within the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
The draft proposals will go before the G20 summit of leaders in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania later this month.
Source:The times
The finance ministers of the world’s richest countries are backing the UK’s plans for global economic recovery.
A draft proposal outlining a system of deferred bonuses for bankers and continued public spending was agreed at today’s meeting in London.
The agreement is a victory for Gordon Brown and chancellor Alistair Darling who have been resisting calls, led by France, to cap bonuses, claiming they were unenforceable.
In the proposals bankers will be rewarded for long-term success with deferred payments, instead of upfront bonuses.
Speaking at the summit this morning Brown pledged an end to the system of payouts, which reward failure and encourage risk, saying they were ‘an offence’ to the taxpayer.
The G20 ministers’ draft communiqué has also adopted Brown’s calls to continue fiscal stimulus, despite forecasts of positive growth.
Some countries, including France and Germany, are already emerging from recession, and want to implement "exit strategies" to scale back the spending introduced to combat the downturn.
Brown heralded the tentative recovery, but warned world leaders that withdrawing measures too early would be an ‘error of historic proportions’.
He claimed the fiscal stimulus programmes of increased public spending and tax cuts had prevented the world’s economies plunging into depression on the scale of the 1930s and must be sustained into 2010.
He said: “It is clear in my view that too early a withdrawal of vital support could undermine the tentative signs of recovery we are now seeing and lead to a further downward lurch in business and consumer confidence, reducing growth and employment and worsening governments’ debt problems over the longer term.”
The finance ministers also agreed to address concerns over representation and voting rights of emerging economies within the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
The draft proposals will go before the G20 summit of leaders in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania later this month.
Source:The times
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
David Ginola faces prosecution over child abandonment claim
On the pitch he was the improbably coiffured midfield star who dazzled male opponents with his skills and delighted female fans with a certain je ne sais quoi.
But seven years after retiring as a professional, David Ginola’s image is taking a battering in his native France as the former Newcastle United player faces up to criminal proceedings for allegedly abandoning the daughter he had with his mistress.
The case was brought by Joelle Pinquier, who says she had an affair with the footballer-turned-actor in the early 1990s and gave birth to Joy, his daughter, now aged 17.
Ginola, 42, who denies the allegations, faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros if found guilty. He is accused of failing to pay the full child maintenance of 450 euros a month set by a French court in 2006.
The trial, originally due to be held this week in Marseilles in southern France, was postponed until December after Mrs Pinquier submitted evidence which she says proves Ginola’s paternity.
“David has always refused to assume his responsibilities,” she told La Provence, the regional daily. ”He just does as he wants.” She said he only paid the 450 euros ”once every six months.” “It’s wrong to play with the soul of a child,” said Mrs Pinquier, 40, from Marseilles, claiming that she had had a six-month affair with Ginola between 1991 and 1992.
Maître Gilbert Collard, her lawyer, accused the footballer of failing to submit himself to a paternity test ordered by a French judge in 2005. But Maître Benedicte Puybasset, Ginola’s lawyer, denounced the proceedings as ”hot air”.
“We don’t risk anything at all. I am awaiting the verdict with serenity.”
Ginola - nicknamed El Magnifico because of his playboy looks and flamboyant style - sprung to fame at Paris Saint Germain before playing for Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Everton in Britain.
He won international caps for France and featured in advertising campaigns for L’Oréal, the French cosmetics giant, before turning to films when his playing career ended in 2002.
He was the voice of Jacques the shrimp in Finding Nemo and had a role in The Last Drop, Colin Teague’s war movie.
According to the latest figures, more than 4,000 men are found guilty of neglecting to pay child maintenance every year in France. The charge of ”abandoning your family” can be brought under the French penal code if a parent fails to pay at least two month’s of child maintenance in full.
Source:The times
But seven years after retiring as a professional, David Ginola’s image is taking a battering in his native France as the former Newcastle United player faces up to criminal proceedings for allegedly abandoning the daughter he had with his mistress.
The case was brought by Joelle Pinquier, who says she had an affair with the footballer-turned-actor in the early 1990s and gave birth to Joy, his daughter, now aged 17.
Ginola, 42, who denies the allegations, faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros if found guilty. He is accused of failing to pay the full child maintenance of 450 euros a month set by a French court in 2006.
The trial, originally due to be held this week in Marseilles in southern France, was postponed until December after Mrs Pinquier submitted evidence which she says proves Ginola’s paternity.
“David has always refused to assume his responsibilities,” she told La Provence, the regional daily. ”He just does as he wants.” She said he only paid the 450 euros ”once every six months.” “It’s wrong to play with the soul of a child,” said Mrs Pinquier, 40, from Marseilles, claiming that she had had a six-month affair with Ginola between 1991 and 1992.
Maître Gilbert Collard, her lawyer, accused the footballer of failing to submit himself to a paternity test ordered by a French judge in 2005. But Maître Benedicte Puybasset, Ginola’s lawyer, denounced the proceedings as ”hot air”.
“We don’t risk anything at all. I am awaiting the verdict with serenity.”
Ginola - nicknamed El Magnifico because of his playboy looks and flamboyant style - sprung to fame at Paris Saint Germain before playing for Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Everton in Britain.
He won international caps for France and featured in advertising campaigns for L’Oréal, the French cosmetics giant, before turning to films when his playing career ended in 2002.
He was the voice of Jacques the shrimp in Finding Nemo and had a role in The Last Drop, Colin Teague’s war movie.
According to the latest figures, more than 4,000 men are found guilty of neglecting to pay child maintenance every year in France. The charge of ”abandoning your family” can be brought under the French penal code if a parent fails to pay at least two month’s of child maintenance in full.
Source:The times
Nancy Garrido misses Jaycee and her children, lawyer says
Nancy Garrido loves and misses the two girls that her husband allegedly fathered with Jaycee Lee Dugard, her lawyer said today.
Speaking from prison, Mrs Garrido allegedly said that she saw Jaycee and her girls as part of the family.
Gilbert Maines, her lawyer, told CBS’s The Early Show today that his client seemed distraught, and that her state of mind could be an issue when her case came to court.
"I would describe her like a ship without a rudder," he said.
“She’s distraught. She’s scared. She seems to be a little lost. She doesn’t seem to be able to really focus well at the moment.
"What she said that I can tell you about is that there came a time when she felt they were a family, and she loved the girls very much, and she loved Jaycee very much.”
He added: “That seemed a little strange under the circumstances.”
Mrs Garrido and her husband Philip have been remanded on 29 charges of kidnapping Jaycee, raping her and imprisoning the schoolgirl for 18 years in their garden.
Mr Garrido’s claimed that Nancy was under her husband's spell, describing her as “a robot" who would "do anything he asked".
According to reports, it was Mrs Garrido - who apparently once worked at a children's centre as part of a child abuse prevention programme - who allegedly snatched Jaycee from the street while her husband drove the car.
The assistant district attorney says that Mrs Garrido is charged with rape based on the basis that she participated in it by aiding and abetting the crime.
In 1993 there was a four-month period when she was Jaycee's sole jailer while her husband served time in jail for breaching his parole on an earlier conviction for rape and imprisonment.
Mr Maines acknowledged that it was "a fair question", how Mrs Garrido could argue she had no control over Jaycee's fate when she was alone with Jaycee for four months and did nothing to free her.
“The argument goes to her mental condition at the time, not so much what physically happened," said Mr Maines. "I don’t know that I can argue successfully that she didn’t know what was going on.”
He said that he will seek to have his client evaluated by experts to determine her state of mind.
Nancy, now 54, met Garrido while he was serving 11 years in prison for rape. They were married while he was still behind bars. The marriage is childless.
The Garridos were arrested last week after police officers at the University of California, Berkeley, became suspicious of Phillip when he visited with the two girls to ask if he could hold a religious event on campus. Alarmed at the children's manner, they contacted Garrido's probation officer.
Justice officials were then astonished to discover Jaycee at the Garridos' home in Walnut Avenue in the California town of Antioch.
An 11-year-old schoolgirl when she was kidnapped outside her home in the South Lake Tahoe area in 1991, she had been living with her two children in squalid tents and huts in a screened off part of the back garden for nearly two decades. The children, aged 11 and 15, had never been to school.
Police and probation officers had called at their home on numerous occasions previously but failed to notice Jaycee, even after a neighbour complained three years ago about the children living in tents.
Since the Garridos' arrest, police have searched the property for evidence that might connect Phillip to the unsolved murders of nine women in nearby town. That search turned up an unidentified bone fragment.
In separate interviews on ABC and NBC today Mr Maines said Mrs Garrido realised why she was in jail.
Source:The times
Speaking from prison, Mrs Garrido allegedly said that she saw Jaycee and her girls as part of the family.
Gilbert Maines, her lawyer, told CBS’s The Early Show today that his client seemed distraught, and that her state of mind could be an issue when her case came to court.
"I would describe her like a ship without a rudder," he said.
“She’s distraught. She’s scared. She seems to be a little lost. She doesn’t seem to be able to really focus well at the moment.
"What she said that I can tell you about is that there came a time when she felt they were a family, and she loved the girls very much, and she loved Jaycee very much.”
He added: “That seemed a little strange under the circumstances.”
Mrs Garrido and her husband Philip have been remanded on 29 charges of kidnapping Jaycee, raping her and imprisoning the schoolgirl for 18 years in their garden.
Mr Garrido’s claimed that Nancy was under her husband's spell, describing her as “a robot" who would "do anything he asked".
According to reports, it was Mrs Garrido - who apparently once worked at a children's centre as part of a child abuse prevention programme - who allegedly snatched Jaycee from the street while her husband drove the car.
The assistant district attorney says that Mrs Garrido is charged with rape based on the basis that she participated in it by aiding and abetting the crime.
In 1993 there was a four-month period when she was Jaycee's sole jailer while her husband served time in jail for breaching his parole on an earlier conviction for rape and imprisonment.
Mr Maines acknowledged that it was "a fair question", how Mrs Garrido could argue she had no control over Jaycee's fate when she was alone with Jaycee for four months and did nothing to free her.
“The argument goes to her mental condition at the time, not so much what physically happened," said Mr Maines. "I don’t know that I can argue successfully that she didn’t know what was going on.”
He said that he will seek to have his client evaluated by experts to determine her state of mind.
Nancy, now 54, met Garrido while he was serving 11 years in prison for rape. They were married while he was still behind bars. The marriage is childless.
The Garridos were arrested last week after police officers at the University of California, Berkeley, became suspicious of Phillip when he visited with the two girls to ask if he could hold a religious event on campus. Alarmed at the children's manner, they contacted Garrido's probation officer.
Justice officials were then astonished to discover Jaycee at the Garridos' home in Walnut Avenue in the California town of Antioch.
An 11-year-old schoolgirl when she was kidnapped outside her home in the South Lake Tahoe area in 1991, she had been living with her two children in squalid tents and huts in a screened off part of the back garden for nearly two decades. The children, aged 11 and 15, had never been to school.
Police and probation officers had called at their home on numerous occasions previously but failed to notice Jaycee, even after a neighbour complained three years ago about the children living in tents.
Since the Garridos' arrest, police have searched the property for evidence that might connect Phillip to the unsolved murders of nine women in nearby town. That search turned up an unidentified bone fragment.
In separate interviews on ABC and NBC today Mr Maines said Mrs Garrido realised why she was in jail.
Source:The times
Persecuted white South African Brandon Huntley made a refugee in international race row
A white South African man has been granted refugee status in Canada after successfully arguing his skin colour would put his life in danger if he returned home.
Brandon Huntley, from Cape Town, fled to Canada last April. He told immigration officials that he had been attacked seven times by black South Africans who called him a “white dog” and a “settler”.
In a move which infuriated the ruling African National Congress (ANC), an Immigration Board in Ottawa has ruled that Mr Huntley's “fear of persecution by African South Africans” is justified.
William Davis, the only member of the board, ruled that the 31-year-old unemployed former salesman would “stick out like a sore thumb due to his colour in any part of the country.”
He added that Mr Huntley, whose sister lives in Canada and who argued that affirmative action policies put him at a further disadvantage, had given “clear and convincing” proof of the state’s “inability or unwillingness to protect him”.
With some 52 murders a day, South Africa has one of the worst crime records in the world. However, the ruling ANC denies it is racially inspired and argues with considerable justification that blacks are just as much victims as whites and other minorities. However, there is little sympathy shown by the authorities to white crime victims who are frequently dismissed as “white whingers”.
Both the Government and the ANC slammed Canada’s decision as racist, saying it perpetuated false stereotypes that black people attacked white, whereas both are victims of crime which newly elected President Jacob Zuma has pledged to reduce.
“We find the claim by Huntley to have been attacked seven times by Africans due to his skin colour without any police intervention sensational and alarming,” said the ANC’s Brian Sokutu. “Canada's reasoning for granting Huntley a refugee status can only serve to perpetuate racism."
The ruling has struck a chord with many whites, who say that the Government has done nothing to stop a wave of attacks on white farmers since 1994 and is deliberately failing to make public crime statistics in the hope of improving the country’s image ahead of the 2010 soccer World Cup.
AfriForum, a Afrikaner civil rights organisation, immediately seized on the ruling to try and highlight the issue of “white flight” from the country, which has suffered a huge brain drain since the end of apartheid in 1994.
It asked the Home Affairs minister to appoint a task team to probe the reasons for emigration of minority communities. A recent report by the South African Institute on Race Relations said that some 800,000 whites out of a population of four million had left the country since 1994. It added, however, that many educated blacks had also left, describing such a pace of migration as more consistent with the advent of “widespread disease, mass natural disasters or large scale civil conflict.”
Yesterday, the same organisation said that it was wrong to present crimes against white people as racially motivated, adding that black people were far more likely to be targeted from what is an unacceptably high crime rate.
Ronnie Mamoepa, spokesman for South Africa's Home Affairs Ministry, said the Canadian move was preposterous. “It would have been courteous for the Canadian authorities to contact the South African government to verify this case,” he told reporters. “The allegations are as preposterous as they are laughable.”
The South African government was directly criticised in the ruling for affirmative action and black economic empowerment policies which, although “there is an explanation for them, are discriminatory”.
Race relations in South Africa are again under scrutiny. with many people arguing the country has gone backwards since the heady days of Nelson Mandela’s inauguration of the Rainbow Nation. Last week, an ANC youth leader said whites were notable by their absence when controversial gold medal winner Caster Semenya, whose gender has been questioned, was given a heroine’s welcome at Johannesburg airport.
“If it was rugby they would have been here,” said Julius Malema, President of the Youth League.
Source:The times
Brandon Huntley, from Cape Town, fled to Canada last April. He told immigration officials that he had been attacked seven times by black South Africans who called him a “white dog” and a “settler”.
In a move which infuriated the ruling African National Congress (ANC), an Immigration Board in Ottawa has ruled that Mr Huntley's “fear of persecution by African South Africans” is justified.
William Davis, the only member of the board, ruled that the 31-year-old unemployed former salesman would “stick out like a sore thumb due to his colour in any part of the country.”
He added that Mr Huntley, whose sister lives in Canada and who argued that affirmative action policies put him at a further disadvantage, had given “clear and convincing” proof of the state’s “inability or unwillingness to protect him”.
With some 52 murders a day, South Africa has one of the worst crime records in the world. However, the ruling ANC denies it is racially inspired and argues with considerable justification that blacks are just as much victims as whites and other minorities. However, there is little sympathy shown by the authorities to white crime victims who are frequently dismissed as “white whingers”.
Both the Government and the ANC slammed Canada’s decision as racist, saying it perpetuated false stereotypes that black people attacked white, whereas both are victims of crime which newly elected President Jacob Zuma has pledged to reduce.
“We find the claim by Huntley to have been attacked seven times by Africans due to his skin colour without any police intervention sensational and alarming,” said the ANC’s Brian Sokutu. “Canada's reasoning for granting Huntley a refugee status can only serve to perpetuate racism."
The ruling has struck a chord with many whites, who say that the Government has done nothing to stop a wave of attacks on white farmers since 1994 and is deliberately failing to make public crime statistics in the hope of improving the country’s image ahead of the 2010 soccer World Cup.
AfriForum, a Afrikaner civil rights organisation, immediately seized on the ruling to try and highlight the issue of “white flight” from the country, which has suffered a huge brain drain since the end of apartheid in 1994.
It asked the Home Affairs minister to appoint a task team to probe the reasons for emigration of minority communities. A recent report by the South African Institute on Race Relations said that some 800,000 whites out of a population of four million had left the country since 1994. It added, however, that many educated blacks had also left, describing such a pace of migration as more consistent with the advent of “widespread disease, mass natural disasters or large scale civil conflict.”
Yesterday, the same organisation said that it was wrong to present crimes against white people as racially motivated, adding that black people were far more likely to be targeted from what is an unacceptably high crime rate.
Ronnie Mamoepa, spokesman for South Africa's Home Affairs Ministry, said the Canadian move was preposterous. “It would have been courteous for the Canadian authorities to contact the South African government to verify this case,” he told reporters. “The allegations are as preposterous as they are laughable.”
The South African government was directly criticised in the ruling for affirmative action and black economic empowerment policies which, although “there is an explanation for them, are discriminatory”.
Race relations in South Africa are again under scrutiny. with many people arguing the country has gone backwards since the heady days of Nelson Mandela’s inauguration of the Rainbow Nation. Last week, an ANC youth leader said whites were notable by their absence when controversial gold medal winner Caster Semenya, whose gender has been questioned, was given a heroine’s welcome at Johannesburg airport.
“If it was rugby they would have been here,” said Julius Malema, President of the Youth League.
Source:The times
Afghan intelligence chief Abdullah Laghmani killed in suicide attack
A Taleban suicide bomber succeeded in killing one of Afghanistan’s most senior spymasters as well as 23 other people today when he blew himself up in a crowd leaving a mosque, officials said.
The attack demonstrated the Taleban’s ability to hit out at senior Afghan security officials. It also casts a shadow over British and Americans hopes to build up the country’s security forces to a point where they can handle the insurgency alone, allowing Nato troops to be reduced.
In the tense situation that has followed Afghanistan’s fraud-tainted elections, the explosion also has the potential to feed into rising ethnic tensions: Abdullah Laghmani, the murdered deputy head of the National Directorate for security, was a Pashtun, while his surviving boss is a member of the Tajik community.
The main Tajik presidential candidate, Abdullah Abdullah, has accused the Pashtun president, Hamid Karzai, of engineering massive vote-rigging to stay in power, and one of his campaign managers warned of potential violence if the alleged fraud went unchallenged.
The attack came as the Independent Election Commission in Kabul released a new tranche of partial results that showed Mr Karzai’s lead creeping towards the crucial 50 per cent threshold that would allow him to declare outright victory and avoid a second round run-off against Mr Abdullah. The results, accounting for 60 per cent of the vote, showed Mr Karzai had won 47.3 per cent of it while Mr Abdullah was trailing with just under 33 per cent.
The deadly blast occurred in Mehtarlam, the capital of Laghman province 60 miles to the east of the capital, which had been relatively quiet in the past.
Witnesses said the suicide bomber mingled with a crowd of people gathering to greet the minister as he left a celebration marking the inauguration of a new mosque.
“I saw people coming out of the mosque and some of them were getting into their vehicles. I didn’t know them. Then the explosion happened. I was wounded. When I opened my eyes I was in hospital,” said one witness.
The explosion killed 24 people, officials said, and wounded more than 50, as well as destroying cars parked nearby. Among the dead was the head of the provincial council, as well as several other senior officials.
Mr Laghmani had previously been the intelligence chief in Kandahar, a former Taleban stronghold where Pashtun Islamists are still powerful. Before the US invasion of Afghanistan eight years ago, he fought with a Tajik-led faction against the Taleban.
The bombing was a serious blow to Afghanistan’s Western-backed intelligence service, which is supposed to hunting down Taleban insurgents who have been waging deadly guerrilla warfare mainly in the south and east of the country. The suicide attack came just days after Taleban fighters kidnapped an intelligence officer in the northern province of Kunduz. His body was found hanged from a tree on the outskirts of the city of Baghlan yesterday, officials said.
The Taleban failed to prevent the August 20 election, but their threats to kill voters meant turnout was low in much of the south and east.
The election has been severely undermined by accusations of widespread and systematic fraud, much of it allegedly perpetrated by Mr Karzai’s camp.
In the north of the country, Mr Abdullah’s regional campaign chief cautioned that if the allegations of massive ballot stuffing are not properly addressed, violence could erupt, despite pledges by the former foreign minister to restrict any protests to legal, peaceful means.
Zalmai Younosi told supporters in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif: “We are not talking too much because people are very angry and we don’t want to add to that, but Dr. Abdullah is meeting with foreign embassies and regional partners to try to find a solution.
“After that, if there is no result, then it is protest and violence. Yes, violence is bad for the country ... When Russia occupied Afghanistan, we had to fight. When the Taleban came we had to fight back. How can we accept a corrupt government funded by drugs and not respected by the world? We have to defend our own rights.”
Source:The times
The attack demonstrated the Taleban’s ability to hit out at senior Afghan security officials. It also casts a shadow over British and Americans hopes to build up the country’s security forces to a point where they can handle the insurgency alone, allowing Nato troops to be reduced.
In the tense situation that has followed Afghanistan’s fraud-tainted elections, the explosion also has the potential to feed into rising ethnic tensions: Abdullah Laghmani, the murdered deputy head of the National Directorate for security, was a Pashtun, while his surviving boss is a member of the Tajik community.
The main Tajik presidential candidate, Abdullah Abdullah, has accused the Pashtun president, Hamid Karzai, of engineering massive vote-rigging to stay in power, and one of his campaign managers warned of potential violence if the alleged fraud went unchallenged.
The attack came as the Independent Election Commission in Kabul released a new tranche of partial results that showed Mr Karzai’s lead creeping towards the crucial 50 per cent threshold that would allow him to declare outright victory and avoid a second round run-off against Mr Abdullah. The results, accounting for 60 per cent of the vote, showed Mr Karzai had won 47.3 per cent of it while Mr Abdullah was trailing with just under 33 per cent.
The deadly blast occurred in Mehtarlam, the capital of Laghman province 60 miles to the east of the capital, which had been relatively quiet in the past.
Witnesses said the suicide bomber mingled with a crowd of people gathering to greet the minister as he left a celebration marking the inauguration of a new mosque.
“I saw people coming out of the mosque and some of them were getting into their vehicles. I didn’t know them. Then the explosion happened. I was wounded. When I opened my eyes I was in hospital,” said one witness.
The explosion killed 24 people, officials said, and wounded more than 50, as well as destroying cars parked nearby. Among the dead was the head of the provincial council, as well as several other senior officials.
Mr Laghmani had previously been the intelligence chief in Kandahar, a former Taleban stronghold where Pashtun Islamists are still powerful. Before the US invasion of Afghanistan eight years ago, he fought with a Tajik-led faction against the Taleban.
The bombing was a serious blow to Afghanistan’s Western-backed intelligence service, which is supposed to hunting down Taleban insurgents who have been waging deadly guerrilla warfare mainly in the south and east of the country. The suicide attack came just days after Taleban fighters kidnapped an intelligence officer in the northern province of Kunduz. His body was found hanged from a tree on the outskirts of the city of Baghlan yesterday, officials said.
The Taleban failed to prevent the August 20 election, but their threats to kill voters meant turnout was low in much of the south and east.
The election has been severely undermined by accusations of widespread and systematic fraud, much of it allegedly perpetrated by Mr Karzai’s camp.
In the north of the country, Mr Abdullah’s regional campaign chief cautioned that if the allegations of massive ballot stuffing are not properly addressed, violence could erupt, despite pledges by the former foreign minister to restrict any protests to legal, peaceful means.
Zalmai Younosi told supporters in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif: “We are not talking too much because people are very angry and we don’t want to add to that, but Dr. Abdullah is meeting with foreign embassies and regional partners to try to find a solution.
“After that, if there is no result, then it is protest and violence. Yes, violence is bad for the country ... When Russia occupied Afghanistan, we had to fight. When the Taleban came we had to fight back. How can we accept a corrupt government funded by drugs and not respected by the world? We have to defend our own rights.”
Source:The times
Iran recalls envoys who backed 'rioters'
Iran is to recall a number of its ambassadors overseas who chose the wrong horse and gave their backing to "rioters" during the popular unrest which erupted after June's disputed election, it emerged today.
The semi-official Fars News Agency said that Tehran would be replacing 40 of its ambassadors, a clearout similar in scale to the one which followed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first election victory in 2005.
"Some of these people officially took positions during the recent riots in Iran in support of rioters," it said in a report. "It is supposed that the new ambassadors will be selected from committed experts loyal to the basis of the (1979 Islamic) revolution."
A Foreign Ministry spokesman played down the report, saying that Iran had more than 130 diplomatic missions abroad and would normally replace about 45 envoys a year, usually in the summer months.
But the report coincided with other signs of a crackdown following Mr Ahmadinejad's confirmation as President.
They include a sharp attack by General Mohammed Ali Jafari, commander of the Revolutionary Guard, on Mohammed Khatami, Mr Ahmadinejad's reformist predecessor.
Mr Khatami, who was president from 1997 to 2005, had endorsed the moderate candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, and backed his claim that the election had been massive rigged to ensure Mr Ahmadinejad's re-election.
In remarks reported by Fars today, General Jafari accused Mr Khatami and other reformist leaders of seeking to use the election dispute to undermine Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, and of encouraging the protests.
General Jafari's comments effectively label Mr Khatami and his associates potential foes of the Islamic system and places them at risk of being directly punished by the hardliners wield power in Tehran.
Those include the Revolutionary Guard and their sidekicks in the Basiji military, who helped crush the post-election protests. Several of their ranks have been offered Cabinet posts by Mr Ahmadinejad,
They include Ahmed Vahidi, a former Revolutionary Guard commander wanted by Interpol for masterminding the worst terrorist attack in Argentinian history – the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in which 85 people were killed.
Despite international protests, General Vahidi looks set to become Defence Minister after receiving overwhelming support in Parliament.
Source:The times
The semi-official Fars News Agency said that Tehran would be replacing 40 of its ambassadors, a clearout similar in scale to the one which followed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first election victory in 2005.
"Some of these people officially took positions during the recent riots in Iran in support of rioters," it said in a report. "It is supposed that the new ambassadors will be selected from committed experts loyal to the basis of the (1979 Islamic) revolution."
A Foreign Ministry spokesman played down the report, saying that Iran had more than 130 diplomatic missions abroad and would normally replace about 45 envoys a year, usually in the summer months.
But the report coincided with other signs of a crackdown following Mr Ahmadinejad's confirmation as President.
They include a sharp attack by General Mohammed Ali Jafari, commander of the Revolutionary Guard, on Mohammed Khatami, Mr Ahmadinejad's reformist predecessor.
Mr Khatami, who was president from 1997 to 2005, had endorsed the moderate candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, and backed his claim that the election had been massive rigged to ensure Mr Ahmadinejad's re-election.
In remarks reported by Fars today, General Jafari accused Mr Khatami and other reformist leaders of seeking to use the election dispute to undermine Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, and of encouraging the protests.
General Jafari's comments effectively label Mr Khatami and his associates potential foes of the Islamic system and places them at risk of being directly punished by the hardliners wield power in Tehran.
Those include the Revolutionary Guard and their sidekicks in the Basiji military, who helped crush the post-election protests. Several of their ranks have been offered Cabinet posts by Mr Ahmadinejad,
They include Ahmed Vahidi, a former Revolutionary Guard commander wanted by Interpol for masterminding the worst terrorist attack in Argentinian history – the 1994 bombing of a Jewish centre in which 85 people were killed.
Despite international protests, General Vahidi looks set to become Defence Minister after receiving overwhelming support in Parliament.
Source:The times
Cancer specialists fly to Tripoli as Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi fades fast
The health of the Lockerbie bomber is deteriorating so fast that European cancer specialists are being flown to Tripoli in a chartered aircraft to treat him, Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi's brother has told The Times.
"He's in a bad situation. The last check-up was very, very bad... He's dying," said Mohammed al-Megrahi, who doubted his brother would live another month. "We are really worried about him, but it's the wish of God."
Mr al-Megrahi would not, or could not, say where the specialists were coming from or who was paying for them.
A Libyan government official said that al-Megrahi "has been admitted to the emergency room in the hospital. He is in a bad way. He is unable to speak to anyone."
A hospital spokesman said: "Because of the treatment he is receiving, his immune system is very weak."
Critics of the Scottish Government's decision to release al-Megrahi last month have questioned how ill he really is, but there seems little doubt that he is in his final weeks, or even days.
This afternoon, after a vigorous debate at Holyrood, the Scottish parliament voted not to endorse the Government's decision to release al-Megrahi last month, although opposition parties are not planning to push for a full no-confidence vote.
Annabel Goldie, leader of the Scottish Tories, said: "This was a bad day for Alex Salmond’s Government and for the First Minister himself. Releasing the Lockerbie bomber was a bad decision, made badly."
When The Times interviewed him in his Tripoli home on the day after his release on August 20 al-Magrahi looked very frail, but was still able to walk with the help of a stick. Soon after that he was confined to a medical bed installed in the ground floor of his home, and his brother said that he was refusing his family's pleas to go into hospital because he was determined to receive the hundreds of wellwishers who were coming to his home to greet him.
Last Sunday al-Megrahi did finally go into hospital, and Channel 4 filmed him lying in a bed with an oxygen mask. His brother doubts he will leave hospital alive, but added: "We believe in God. Miracles happen."
Al-Megrahi was certainly far too ill to appear at the celebrations of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's 40 years in power on Tuesday – a move that would have been provocative and prompted a walkout by the British charge d'affaires and other Western diplomats attending the events.
However, pictures of al-Megrahi flying home to a rapturous reception were shown during a two-and-a-half-hour re-enactment of Libyan history on Tuesday night that focused mostly on Colonel Gaddafi's rule.
A British Embassy spokesman said that Britain and the US had both urged the Libyan Government to ensure neither al-Megrahi nor the film footage featured in the celebrations, and said the use of the video was "disappointing".
Al-Megrahi's release has been portrayed as a great victory in the state-controlled Libyan media, and Colonel Gaddafi evidently needs some successes to boost his popularity. The celebrations, which continue all week, have been notable for the almost total absence of public enthusiasm or spontaneous displays of affection.
Nor has Colonel Gaddafi let his people share the sumptuous spectacles he is staging at vast cost. Libyans were able to watch them live for hours on end on all four television channels, but residents of Tripoli have been barred from the centre of the city where the events are taking place, held back by high wire fences and baton-wielding policemen.
Western journalists had been told that 300,000 Libyans would pack into Green Square to watch Tuesday night's show, which reportedly cost €35 million (£31 million) to produce. In the event the audience consisted of just a few thousand foreign dignitaries, Libyan officials and journalists. Officials cited security concerns.
Source:The times
"He's in a bad situation. The last check-up was very, very bad... He's dying," said Mohammed al-Megrahi, who doubted his brother would live another month. "We are really worried about him, but it's the wish of God."
Mr al-Megrahi would not, or could not, say where the specialists were coming from or who was paying for them.
A Libyan government official said that al-Megrahi "has been admitted to the emergency room in the hospital. He is in a bad way. He is unable to speak to anyone."
A hospital spokesman said: "Because of the treatment he is receiving, his immune system is very weak."
Critics of the Scottish Government's decision to release al-Megrahi last month have questioned how ill he really is, but there seems little doubt that he is in his final weeks, or even days.
This afternoon, after a vigorous debate at Holyrood, the Scottish parliament voted not to endorse the Government's decision to release al-Megrahi last month, although opposition parties are not planning to push for a full no-confidence vote.
Annabel Goldie, leader of the Scottish Tories, said: "This was a bad day for Alex Salmond’s Government and for the First Minister himself. Releasing the Lockerbie bomber was a bad decision, made badly."
When The Times interviewed him in his Tripoli home on the day after his release on August 20 al-Magrahi looked very frail, but was still able to walk with the help of a stick. Soon after that he was confined to a medical bed installed in the ground floor of his home, and his brother said that he was refusing his family's pleas to go into hospital because he was determined to receive the hundreds of wellwishers who were coming to his home to greet him.
Last Sunday al-Megrahi did finally go into hospital, and Channel 4 filmed him lying in a bed with an oxygen mask. His brother doubts he will leave hospital alive, but added: "We believe in God. Miracles happen."
Al-Megrahi was certainly far too ill to appear at the celebrations of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's 40 years in power on Tuesday – a move that would have been provocative and prompted a walkout by the British charge d'affaires and other Western diplomats attending the events.
However, pictures of al-Megrahi flying home to a rapturous reception were shown during a two-and-a-half-hour re-enactment of Libyan history on Tuesday night that focused mostly on Colonel Gaddafi's rule.
A British Embassy spokesman said that Britain and the US had both urged the Libyan Government to ensure neither al-Megrahi nor the film footage featured in the celebrations, and said the use of the video was "disappointing".
Al-Megrahi's release has been portrayed as a great victory in the state-controlled Libyan media, and Colonel Gaddafi evidently needs some successes to boost his popularity. The celebrations, which continue all week, have been notable for the almost total absence of public enthusiasm or spontaneous displays of affection.
Nor has Colonel Gaddafi let his people share the sumptuous spectacles he is staging at vast cost. Libyans were able to watch them live for hours on end on all four television channels, but residents of Tripoli have been barred from the centre of the city where the events are taking place, held back by high wire fences and baton-wielding policemen.
Western journalists had been told that 300,000 Libyans would pack into Green Square to watch Tuesday night's show, which reportedly cost €35 million (£31 million) to produce. In the event the audience consisted of just a few thousand foreign dignitaries, Libyan officials and journalists. Officials cited security concerns.
Source:The times
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