'US plot against Hamas' revealed
The US plotted to overthrow the democratically elected Hamas government in the Palestinian territories, documents obtained by Al Jazeera reveal.
One of the documents appears to show that Washington tried to persuade Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and leader of Fatah, to remove Hamas from power.
One document, dated March 2007, states "the plan will enable the Palestinian leadership to be more credible in the eyes of Israel and the others".
But, when that plan failed, the US set up an operation to fund Fatah fighters and drive Hamas out.
In Cairo, Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, justified the arming of Fatah, saying the situation had called for it.
She said she had not read a report in Vanity Fair magazine which quoted a former US intelligence official said to be knowledgeable of the US plans to overthrow Hamas after it failed to convince Abbas to dissolve the cabinet.
US support
"It is very clear that Hamas is being armed. And it is very clear that they are being armed in part by the Iranians," Rice said on Tuesday.
"So if the answer is that if Hamas gets armed by the Iranians and nobody helps to improve the security capabilities of the legitimate Palestinian Authority security forces, that's not a very good situation."
Rice said that international forces, including the US, would therefore continue to work with the PA to bolster its forces to keep security in its mandated region.
Responding to Rice's comments about Iranian support for Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, the exiled Hamas political leader, told Al Jazeera Rice was "lying".
"Their main concern is to provoke Iran," Meshaal said. "I'm saying it again if they have proof of this let them produce it".
"Everyone knows the origins of the Israeli weapons, it's American made while our men are using very simple homemade arms," he said.
The US has openly supported Fatah and after Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007, the US announced an $80m funding deal for Fatah's security services in the West Bank.
Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Ramallah, said that many Palestinians would be upset that Fatah appeared to have played into the hands of an American foreign policy that wanted to make an example out of Hamas, whom the US labels a "terrorist" organisation.
Emerging evidence
Hamas won democratic elections in January 2006, prompting Western governments, which have refused to engage with Hamas, to threaten to withdraw financial aid to the Palestinians.
Left with little international support, by June that year Hamas and Fatah had agreed to form a unity government but were unable to broker a conclusive end to factional fighting on the streets of Gaza.
Allegations the US sought to remove Hamas in a coup dates back to 2006, after the group had come to power through Palestinian elections.
The leaked documents include a memo sent to Fatah officials, apparently by a senior US diplomat in Jerusalem in November 2006, encouraging Fatah to declare a state of emergency and take control.
The memo stated: "If Hamas does not agree [to accept a new government] within the prescribed time, you should make clear your intention to declare a state of emergency and form an emergency government explicitly committed to that platform."
The plan was ignored by Abbas who instead formed a unity government with Hamas in 2007, intended to bring an end to fighting between the two factions.
The unity government, agreed in February 2007 with the mediation of Saudi Arabia, appears to have
prompted the second document and a plan to oust Hamas by force, with the US bolstering Mohammed Dahlan, the head of Fatah's security forces.
But the unity government failed to end factional fighting and in June Hamas seized Gaza, dividing the Palestinian territories into Gaza and the Fatah-controlled West Bank.
Plot denied
The US on Tuesday denied the coup plot allegations.
"There is no accuracy to that story. I've checked and there is no truth to it," Sean McCormack, the US state department spokesman, said.
A statement from the office of Mohammad Dahlan, the former head of the Palestinian national security council, called the Vantiy Fair article "highly inaccurate and misleading".
"Accordingly there was (and remains) no secret plan to carry out a coup against Hamas," said the statement.
"Although the US offered its financial support for the plan to reform the PA's [Palestinian Authority's] security forces (by offering assistance for non-lethal equipment as requested by the PA), financial support was never received."
No official US stamps or seals appear on the document.
Kenyan power-sharing era to begin
Kenyan power-sharing era to begin
The state opening of Kenya's parliament is due to take place in Nairobi.
It comes a week after President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga agreed to share power.
They signed a deal to form a coalition following weeks of bloodshed - some of it said to have been state-sanctioned - after December's disputed elections.
Kenyan MPs' first duty in the next few days is expected to be voting on legislation that will put into effect the power-sharing deal.
BBC sources alleged meetings that led to post-election violence were held at the official residence of President Kibaki between a banned militia group, the Mungiki, and high-ranking government figures.
The aim was said to be to hire the militia as a defence force in Kenya's Rift Valley, to protect the president's Kikuyu community from attacks by opposition supporters. The government labelled the claims "preposterous".
Ethnic divide
The violence that convulsed Kenya in the aftermath of the election left some 1,500 people dead.
Ethnic groups loyal to Mr Odinga and President Kibaki clashed amid claims the government had rigged the poll.
International mediators led by ex-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan arrived in Kenya in January in an effort to break the political deadlock.
Under a deal agreed last week by negotiators, Mr Odinga is to be appointed prime minister - a post which does not currently exist under the Kenyan constitution.
MPs from both sides have agreed to back the national accord and the necessary changes to the constitution, as well as plans to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The BBC's Adam Mynott in Nairobi says an agreement has helped to dispel anger but much work remains to be done - and for parliamentarians it starts on Thursday.
They will be watched closely by a country which has suffered its worst crisis since independence 45 years ago, he says.
Analysts say there is growing suspicion the post-poll bloodshed was orchestrated by both sides of the political divide.
Vatican holds talks with Muslims
A group of Muslim scholars who have called for greater dialogue with Christians have started two days of talks with Vatican officials to prepare for an official audience with Pope Benedict XVI.
The delegation wrote to the pope and other Christian leaders last year urging both religions to develop their common ground of belief in one God.
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who heads the Vatican's pontifical council for inter-religious dialogue, is hosting the meeting in order to lay the groundwork for the papal audience which is expected sometime later this year.
'Historic dialogue'
Tauran said the meeting, which Benedict proposed as part of his official response to the Muslims' letter, could start a "historic'' dialogue between the faiths.
The Vatican had welcomed the Muslim letter as an encouraging sign, eager to improve relations ever since the pope angered many in the Muslim world with a 2006 speech about Islam and violence.
In the speech, the pope cited a medieval text that characterised some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman".
The pope later said he was "deeply sorry" over the reactions to his remarks and that they did not reflect his own opinions.
Common ground
In the letter to the pope and other Christian leaders, the Muslim scholars, muftis and intellectuals drew parallels between Islam and Christianity and their common focus on love for God and love for one's neighbour.
They also noted that such a focus is found in Judaism.
"As Muslims and in obedience to the Holy Quran, we ask Christians to come together with us on the common essentials of our two religions," the letter said.
"Let this common ground be the basis of all future interfaith dialogue between us."
Noting that Christians and Muslims make up an estimated 55 per cent of the world population, the scholars concluded that improving relations would be the best way to bring peace to the world.
France Gets New Islamic School
France Gets New Islamic School
PARIS — A fourth private Islamic school in France is to be inaugurated next week to meet the growing needs of the Muslim minority amid a boom in faith-based schools in the strictly secular European country.
"The government has recently granted us the license to start operation," Mahmoud Awwad, the sponsor and director of the "Education et Savior" school, told IslamOnline.net Tuesday, March 4.
Starting on March 10, in the middle of the academic year which started in September, the school will open just one primary class for 10 students to complete the academic year.
"As of the coming academic year 2008/9, we will open secondary classes accommodating 40 students," noted Awwad.
He said the new school, located in the southern Paris suburb of Vitrerie, will follow state curricula in addition to two mandatory subjects on Arabic and Islam.
"Education et Savior" is the second the school to be opened in Paris after the Reussite school in the northern Paris suburb of Aubervilliers, and the fourth of its kind in France.
The two other private Islamic schools are Ibn Rushd in the northern city of Lille and Al-Kindi in the central city of Lyon.
There had been a strong desire among French Muslims, estimated at six to seven million, to have private Islamic schools after Paris banned hijab and religious symbols in state schools four years ago.
French Muslim students who adhered to their hijabs had been expelled by principals and their future appeared largely at stake.
They heaved a sigh of relief after the opening of such Islamic schools, which are recognized by the state.
No Obstacle
Awwad said the new school faced no obstacle in getting the operation license.
"Unlike Al-Kindi secondary school, we faced no obstacles," he said.
The opening of Al-Kindi in Lyon hit several snags when it tried to start operation in 2006.
The Academy of Lyon, the highest state educational body in the city, denied the school the needed operation license and closed the fledgling seat of learning, arguing that it failed to meet hygiene and safety standards.
But the Administrative Court in Lyon overturned the closure last February, opening the way for the school to start anew in March 2007.
French Muslim leaders say the Al-Kindi incident has encouraged Muslim societies to open similar schools.
"The Al-Kindi controversy has helped break barriers of fear among the Muslim minority to have more schools," said Lhaj Thami Breze, chairman of the Union of Islamic Organizations in France (UOIF).
"The French people and institutions have come to terms with the establishment of faith-based schools in the country."
Awwad, the director of the new Islamic school in Vitrerie, said the main obstacle facing his school is finance.
"We need 250,000 euros to meet the school needs next year," he said. "This year we started with 100,000 euros because we have only one class."
Awwad urged French Muslims to donate generously to keep the nascent school running.
"We, like other Muslim schools in France, depend on (Muslim) donations as tuitions only cover 15 percent of the cost," he said, noting that every student pays 1,500 euros a year.
The finance problem facing Muslim schools came to the fore last year when the Reussite school in Aubervilliers nearly closed due to the lack of finance.
The Ibn Rushd school will be the first Muslim school to get state finance as of next school year.
Motorists filling up ahead of the petrol hike
Motorists filling up ahead of the petrol hike
Motorists have been flocking to service stations since last night to secure petrol at the current prices, before the price of fuel is hiked at midnight tonight. The price of petrol will rise by 61 cents a litre and that of diesel by 76 cents a litre. Petrol will breach the R8 mark for the first time.
Filling station owners have warned that the rush to beat the petrol hike could leave pumps dry. Fuel Retailers' Association CEO Peter Morgan says the big petroleum companies decide when to deliver and they are at their mercy. Garage owners have placed additional fuel stock orders in anticipation of today's expected rush.
Meanwhile the Department of Minerals and Energy blames the weaker rand and higher world oil prices for the increase. The rand has improved by 3% overnight, while oil prices are still at over $101 per barrel.
Sabcnews.com
Berlin gallery in Kaaba insult row
Berlin gallery in Kaaba insult row
A gallery in Berlin has temporarily closed an exhibition of satirical works by a group of Danish artists after six Muslim youths threatened violence unless one of the posters depicting the Kaaba shrine in Mecca was removed.
The Galerie Nord said it had closed its "Zionist Occupied Government" show of works until security could be improved.
Four days after the display opened, a group of angry Muslims had stormed the gallery, demanding that one of the 21 posters should be removed, the gallery said.
The show had been arranged by Surrend, a group of artists who say they poke fun at powerful people and ideological conflicts.
The Muslims objected to a depiction of the Kaaba, the ancient shrine in Mecca's Grand Mosque, which Muslims face to say their prayers.
The protesters said objectionable words were printed on the poster.
The gallery said the poster gave a "bitingly satirical commentary against radicalism".
Ralf Hartmann, the gallery's artistic director, said: "They were very agressive and shouted at an employee that the poster should be taken down otherwise they would throw stones and use violence."
He said the gallery was working with German authorities to improve security and he hoped to re-open the show as soon as possible.
"It would be unacceptable if individual social groups were in a position to exercise censorship over art and the freedom of expression," the gallery said.
Neo-Nazis ridiculed
Surrend said it had put on the show to oppose religious extremism.
The exhibition also contained pictures which ridiculed neo-Nazis who believe Jews dominate global politics and industry.
Surrend members are mainly street artists and use stickers, advertisements, posters and websites to express irony.
In 2006, a Berlin opera house caused a storm in Germany when it cancelled a production of Mozart's "Idomeneo" which showed the Prophet Muhammad's severed head, citing security fears.
Earlier this month, Danish newspapers reprinted cartoons of the Prophet which caused outrage in Islamic countries and sparked violent protests across the globe two years ago.
The drawings were republished after police arrested three men on suspicion of plotting to kill a cartoonist who drew one of the images.
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SA load shedding resumes today
SA load shedding resumes today
March 03, 2008, 06:00
Nationwide power cuts are expected to resume today. In Johannesburg power distribution company, City Power, says a new load shedding plan will ensure customers are only hit twice a week.
It says, however, outages can last up to four hours at a time in the event of nationwide power cuts. The electricity cuts are expected to hit small businesses hard.
Hospitals will also not be protected from power cuts in the new load shedding plan by Johannesburg City Power. This is contrary to assurance given to the Johannesburg General Hospital that it would not be affected by outages.
In the new plan, which was implemented on the 1st of this month, power cuts in the Johannesburg North West area, where the hospital is situated, can be expected between 18.00 and 22.00 this evening.
City Power's general manager of supply availability, Louis Pieterse says the new system makes it "extremely difficult" to exclude certain buildings like hospitals from the outages. The hospital says only emergency operations will be performed during the load shedding.
Sabcnews.com
Saudi Arabia Is Not a Puppet State: Saud
Saudi Arabia Is Not a Puppet State: Saud
Raid Qusti, Arab News
RIYADH, 3 March 2008 — Saudi Arabia will never change its domestic or foreign policies under pressure from the United States, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said here yesterday.
Addressing a closed session of the 150-member Shoura Council in the capital, Prince Saud said the Kingdom’s policies were steady and not dictated by the superpower or any other country. “We have never been a puppet state,” a Shoura member quoted Prince Saud as saying.
He said the United States and Saudi Arabia have been sharing “strategic” relations over decades, but the relationship was built on national interests.
Speaking about the American bias toward Israel, the prince said the Kingdom had exerted every effort to persuade the US administration to honor its commitments to peace in the Middle East region.
“What have you done after Annapolis?” was a question directed at US President George W. Bush by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah during his visit to the Kingdom in January, the prince was quoted as saying.
Speaking about Saudi Arabia’s stance on a number of regional matters such as Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon and Iran, the prince said the Kingdom’s policies on these issues were “rational.” He said, being the cradle of Islam and home to Islam’s two holiest mosques, it was the Kingdom’s fate to have an important role in the Arab and Islamic world.
Asked about the Kingdom’s response if Iran was attacked over its nuclear program, Prince Saud said every country dreaded another war in the region, whose impact could be devastating. However, if a war broke out, Saudi Arabia would be forced to protect its interests, he said.
Regarding the negative image projected by certain media outlets about Saudi Arabia in the West and the need to improve the country’s image abroad, the foreign minister said it was unfortunate that Western media outlets continue to print misleading facts about the Kingdom. He said the Kingdom was moving forward to correct misconceptions about the country by promoting more cultural exchange with foreign states.
Regarding steps to improve living conditions of Saudis working in the diplomatic corps, Prince Saud said the Kingdom was keen on safeguarding their interests, as they are citizens representing the country abroad. He said a new wage scale diplomats and support staff was currently being looked into by senior officials.
Prince Saud also spoke about the upcoming Arab summit in Damascus and Saudi Arabia’s efforts to strengthen Arab unity. “The Kingdom offers solutions and presents proposals through the Arab League to achieve political and economic stability in member countries and settle conflicts,” the prince told the Shoura.
He said Arab foreign ministers will discuss all aspects related to the Arab summit in Damascus, adding that Riyadh sees the summit as a venue to unify Arab ranks. He also referred to the Kingdom’s efforts to stop Israeli violations against the Palestinians and settle the Lebanese crisis.
Arab News.com
Nato fears over Dutch Islam film
Nato fears over Dutch Islam film
Nato's secretary general says he fears the airing of a Dutch film criticising Islam will have repercussions for troops in Afghanistan.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's comments came after Afghans protested on Sunday against the film being made by far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders.
The Dutch government has warned Mr Wilders that the film will damage Dutch political and economic interests.
Mr Wilders says the film is about the Koran but has given few details.
In the past, he has called for the Koran to be banned and likened it to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.
The project has already been condemned by several Muslim countries, including Iran and Pakistan.
Nato's secretary general said he was concerned about his troops after the protests against the film in Afghanistan.
"If the [troops] find themselves in the line of fire because of the film, then I am worried about it and I am expressing that concern," he said in a television interview.
'Kick out forces'
On Sunday, hundreds of Afghans took to the streets in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif to protest against the film.
Demonstrators burned Dutch flags, and called for the withdrawal of Dutch troops from the Nato force.
The demonstrators say they will step up their protests unless the Afghan government expels the troops.
The protesters also criticised the recent republication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad in several Danish newspapers, and called for the withdrawal of Danish troops.
"We don't want our government to have any diplomatic relations with these two countries," Maulawi Abdul Hadi, one of the protesters, told the Associated Press news agency.
"We don't want Danish and Dutch troops in Afghanistan. They should be kicked out of the Nato forces here."
Mr Wilders has said he expects his 15-minute work will be shown in the Netherlands in March and released on the internet.
Dutch authorities have told him he may have to leave the country for his own safety amid reports of death threats.
Submission
Mr Wilders' film is called Fitna, an Arabic word used to describe strife or discord.
He has said his film will show how the Koran is "an inspiration for intolerance, murder and terror".
Mr Wilders leads the Freedom Party, which has nine seats in the Dutch parliament.
He has had police protection since Dutch director Theo Van Gogh was killed by a radical Islamist in 2004.
Van Gogh's film Submission included verses from the Koran shown against a naked female body.
news.bbc.co.uk
Medvedev wins Russian presidency
Medvedev wins Russian presidency
Dmitry Medvedev has vowed to continue the course of predecessor Vladimir Putin after winning a landslide victory in Russia's presidential election.
The result is not official but with almost all ballots counted, he was holding about 70% of the vote.
Mr Medvedev told reporters he hoped to work in an "effective tandem" with Mr Putin as his prime minister.
As president, he said, he would control foreign policy with the defence of Russian interests his chief priority.
Mr Putin, he confirmed, would be moving out of the Kremlin.
Mr Medvedev has about 70% of the vote with more than 98% of ballots counted, the Russian election commission reports.
His nearest rival was Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, on about 18%. He vowed to go to court over alleged fraud, Itar-Tass news agency reports.
The mainly pro-Kremlin media have welcomed a Medvedev victory.
The Izvestia newspaper said the vote was a "triumph of the majority" that created a "bridge to the future for Russia".
Mr Putin late on Sunday congratulated the front-runner on his big lead when they appeared together at a rally in Moscow's Red Square.
Speaking to reporters later, Mr Medvedev said his policies would be "a direct continuation of that path which is being carried out by President Putin".
Asked about foreign policy, he said "the president defines Russia's foreign policy according to the constitution".
Russia's priorities would, he said, continue to be its fellow ex-Soviet republics.
On where Mr Putin would work as prime minister, he said "the place of the prime minister and the government is the White House", referring to the government building a few miles from the Kremlin.
A first deputy PM, Mr Medvedev was the clear favourite from the start and enjoyed generous television coverage.
Mr Putin, who has been in office for eight years, was barred by the constitution from seeking a third term, but has pledged to serve as Mr Medvedev's prime minister.
'Irregularities'
Turnout was high, at nearly 68%, officials said. But there were reports that many workers were told by their bosses to vote. Various inducements were also offered to mobilise voters, including cheap food, free cinema tickets or toys, correspondents say.
After polls closed Mr Zyuganov said there had been widespread irregularities.
"We will go to court over this," Itar-Tass quoted him as saying.
The Kremlin has dismissed claims of fraud.
There has been very little scrutiny of voting by Western election observers, many of whom stayed away.
The main independent Russian observer group, Golos, said the turnout was impossibly high in some regions.
news.bbc.co.uk
S Africa grants $4bn power deals
Eskom, the South African electricity company, has awarded two contracts worth more than $4bn for a coal-fired power station to be completed by 2017.
The public utility said in a statement on Friday that it had awarded an about $2.5bn contract for the construction of the power plant's boilers to the Hitachi unit, Hitachi Power Africa.
A $1.7bn contract to construct turbines at the new power station in the province of Mpumulanga was awarded to French engineering company Alstom.
The Alstom deal was signed during a business summit attended by Thabo Mbeki, South African's president and his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy.
South Africa has been gripped by a power shortage as Eskom struggles to meet demand. The country's mining industry ground to a halt for five days in January as rolling blackouts intensified and millions of homes were left without power.
'Victim of own success'
Sarkozy vowed to help South Africa overcome an acute electricity shortage, saying: "You are victims of your own success."
A team of French engineers will arrive next week to advise the government and Eskom on possible solutions.
South Africa's sustained economic growth is partly responsible for the electricity shortage but South Africa's government concedes it ignored calls 10 years ago for more investment in power-generating facilities.
Eskom wants to double generating capacity by 2011 by bringing three mothballed power stations back into production and building new power stations.
It plans to spend about $46bn increasing its generating capacity over the next five years.
Eskom said first activity on the Bravo site in South Africa's Mpumalanga province is expected in 2008. The first generating unit is due for completion late in 2013 and other units would come into operation at eight-month intervals.
Alstom signed a separate turbine contract last November for a new power plant in the northern province of Limpopo.
South Africa is dependent on coal powered stations for more than 90 per cent of its electricity. However, it wants to expand its nuclear power generating capacity with the construction of a second nuclear power station.
Source: Agencies
Real Cost of Iraq War
Real Cost of Iraq War
CAIRO — Though US President George Bush will leave office in nine months, the entire world will continue for many years to trail under the backbreaking, undeclared costs of his unnecessary Iraq war, insists prominent US economist Joseph Stiglitz.
"This kind of penny-wise, pound-poor behavior was just unbelievable," Stiglitz, a Nobel prize-winner in economics, told the Guardian on Thursday, February 28, in an interview on his new ground-breaking book "The Three Trillion Dollar War."
The book partly exposes misleading audits given by the Bush administration on the cost of the Iraq war, but largely reveals the domino effects of the war.
Stiglitz, a former chief economist at the World Bank and a senior advisor to the Clinton administration, said the general approach of the Bush administration's fiscal policy has been a "pastiche of corporate bail-outs, corporate welfare, and free-market economics that is not based on any consistent set of ideas."
"And this particular kind of pastiche actually contributed to the failures in Iraq."
The book, co-authored by Linda Bilmes; former Clinton financial advisor, takes the $500 billion figure declared by the Bush administration as the cost of the Iraq war to a mind-boggling $3 trillion.
They trace the not-publicized billions of dollars that fell between the cracks in Iraq, a staggering sum that reveals the real cost undertaken by American taxpayers, the US budgetary ills and effects of the war elsewhere, starting from a London high street to a shanty remote town in Africa.
The audits, obtained by Stiglitz after much investigation that laid bare deliberately obscured accounts, the $3 trillion is the true cost - to America alone - of Bush's Iraq adventure.
The rest of the world, including Britain, will shoulder about the same amount again, estimate the two prominent American economists.
Missing Money
Stiglitz and Bilmes discovered that daily military operations in Iraq (not counting, for example, future care of wounded) have already cost more than 12 years in Vietnam, and twice as much as the Korean war.
They found that America is spending $16 billion, the entire annual budget of the United Nations, a month on running costs alone in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The two economists found that the Pentagon was actually counting the costs of only combat troops before the February troop surge, brushing aside the costs of the new troops, the cost of death payments and caring for the alarming number of causalities.
The book cites the well-publicized $8.8 billion that went missing under former civil administrator of Iraq Paul Bremer and millions that went unaccounted for under a clumsy Pentagon's accounting system that some analysts compared to that of a grocery store.
But Stiglitz found the most disturbing, unbelievable spending was the money given to security guards.
He found that a contractor working as a security guard lands about $400,000 a year while a soldier only gets about $40,000.
"Nobody in their right mind would have done that. The Bush administration did that," Stiglitz told the Guardian.
"I couldn't believe. And that's not included in the cost the government talks about."
Stiglitz was similarly provoked by the non-bidding construction contracts given to giant US corporation like Halliburton, which received at least $19.3 billion in single-source contracts.
The two economists regretted that one of these three trillions spent on Iraq could have paid for 8 million housing units, 15 million public school teachers, one-year healthcare for 530 million children, or 43 million university scholarships.
"Money spent on armaments is money poured down the drain," they said.
Domino Effect
Stiglitz said that while the Bush administration will be history in nine months, subsequent administrations and generations will pay the price of its Iraq adventure.
To cover the colossal, towering spending in Iraq, Bush had to borrow money from countries at interest of couple of hundred billion dollars a year, which, by 2017, will add up to another trillion dollars or so, he notes.
Stiglitz said the US is now operating at such a deficit that it doesn't have the money to bail out its own banks.
"When Merrill Lynch and Citibank had a problem, it was sovereign funds from abroad that bailed them out. And we had to give up a lot of shares of our ownership. So the largest shareowners in Citibank now are in the Middle East. It should be called the MidEast bank, not the Citibank."
Worldwide, the Iraq war is the main culprit behind the skyrocketing oil prices, which climbed from $25 a barrel to $100 in the past five years, because of the disruptions and instabilities caused by the war.
Stiglitz said that rising oil prices have had the effect of lowering the average income by 3 percent in Africa and offset badly needed foreign aid.
"Yes, that's part of being in a global economy. You make a mistake of this order, and it affects people all over the world.”
IslamOnline.net & Newspapers
Thousands in Sudan Back Danish Boycott
Thousands in Sudan Back Danish Boycott
KHARTOUM, 28 February 2008 — Sudanese President Omar Bashir says he will bar Danes from Sudan and told tens of thousands of people at a government-backed rally that the Muslim world should boycott Denmark because of a reprinted cartoon of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
“We urge all Muslims around the world to boycott Danish commodities, goods, companies, institutions, organizations and personalities,” Bashir told the crowd yesterday outside the Republic Palace in downtown Khartoum. “Down, down, Denmark!” shouted the protesters.
Bashir vowed that “not a single Danish foot will from now on desecrate the land of Sudan.” It was not clear whether Bashir would carry out his rhetoric and expel over two dozen Danes who work in Sudan, mostly in aid organizations and as peacekeepers in southern Sudan and Darfur.
Danish diplomats in Khartoum said they were not told of a new trade boycott and that Sudanese authorities had not notified them about expelling the Danes.
Seventeen Danish newspapers reprinted the blasphemous cartoons this month in a gesture of solidarity after police in the Scandinavian country said they uncovered a plot to kill the cartoon’s artist.
Sudan was one of the nations where large protests were held against Denmark in 2006 when the cartoon and 11 others denigrating the Prophet and Islam were first published. In riots that followed around the Muslim world, dozens of people were killed and several Danish embassies were attacked, while Danish goods were boycotted.
But unlike the 2006 violence, Khartoum’s rally yesterday passed peacefully and failed to reach the “million” participants predicted by the organizers, the Popular Front for the Defense of Faith and Religion which backs Bashir’s ruling National Congress party.
Protests earlier this month elsewhere have also been low-key, mostly restricted to diplomatic condemnations. But in Pakistan, hundreds set fire to Danish flags and demanded the Danish ambassador’s expulsion.
Palestinians protested in the Gaza Strip, ruled by the militant Islamic Hamas, calling the reprint a heresy.
In Denmark, rioting Muslim youth set fires and hurled rocks at police for five consecutive nights.
The Khartoum protest came a day after Sudan enforced a ban called by Bashir on imports of Danish goods. The central square was closed for traffic since early morning as hundreds of buses and trucks brought in protesters, who included women and students, from far-flung areas around the capital to downtown Khartoum. Nearby roads were also blocked and traffic slowed elsewhere in the city.
The protesters carried banners reading: “We love you our dear Prophet,” “Shame on the enemy of Islam,” and “Boycott Danish commodities.”
“There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger,” they shouted. “We will protect our Prophet, we will not be intimidated by America!” Bashir also spoke in support of Palestinians and called for jihad to “liberate” Jerusalem.
Danish exports to Sudan are minimal, consisting mainly of dairy products. In 2006, they amounted to $23 million, a drop of 26 percent over the previous year.
But Sudan is one of the largest recipients of Danish aid and Danish aid groups that operate there include the Danish Refugee Council and the Danish Red Cross, which runs large projects to alleviate suffering in the western Darfur region.
Khartoum Gov. Abdul Halim Al-Mutaafi told the local Al-Riyadiah radio station from the rally that Danes were no longer wanted. “We don’t want them to come to our land nor will we like to go to their land.”
Germany’s interior minister expressed respect for the Danish newspapers’ decision to reprint the cartoon and argued that all European newspapers should follow suit, according to comments released yesterday.
Source: Arab News
Race video 'just play-acting'
Bloemfontein - The controversial video that hit the campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) this week like a racist bombshell was "no more than play-acting", according to a lawyer's letter delivered to the rector's office on Wednesday afternoon.
The surfacing of the video led to a protest march and police action on Wednesday.
Two students of the Reitz men's hostel, who have been suspended from campus pending possible disciplinary action, deny in the letter that they committed any actions that make them criminally liable.
Nico Naudé of Honey attorneys said in the letter that if the students were to be prosecuted, they would consider countering with charges of wilful prosecution.
In the lawyer's letter, RC Malherbe and Schalk van der Merwe denied they were guilty of either criminal actions or deeds.
Should any scene or scenes create such an impression, said Naudé, he wished to make it clear that the video was mere play-acting.
Wants list of allegations
In the letter, addressed to the executive council of the university and its dean of student affairs, he also informed UFS that he and the rest of the students' legal team, including a senior advocate, also wished to be present at any disciplinary hearing or any other action planned against the two.
He also asked that a list of allegations against the students be provided to him as soon as possible.
The students indicated earlier that they wanted legal representation at a disciplinary hearing, but apparently this was refused by the university.
The two hostel students, both in their final year, have been barred from the campus and consequently forfeit their student fees and the opportunity to study, because they are not allowed to attend classes.
The two students and two former ones at the hostel can easily be recognised on the video in which one male and four female staff are "initiated" into the residence.
The staffers are seen drinking with the students, among other things.
Volksblad newspaper heard that the video, which was an attempt to produce a Leon Schuster-type movie, had been made in September last year. It was apparently intended for a "cultural evening" at the hostel.
A political football
At the time, the UFS integration policy featured prominently in the media.
Former UFS students told the newspaper it appeared that the video had become a political football.
Others felt it strange that the video should surface at this stage, almost as if it was intended to distract attention from the R3m damage caused last week at the campus by students.
German Minister in Cartoon Crisis
BERLIN — German's interior minister embroiled himself on Wednesday, February 27, in a growing international controversy triggered by the reprinting of a satirical cartoon of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
"I have respect for the fact that Danish newspapers have now all printed the Muhammad caricatures, on the basis (that) we will not let ourselves be divided," Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an interview with the Die Zeit weekly.
"In fact, all European newspapers should print these cartoons," he suggested.
Seventeen Danish newspapers reprinted on Wednesday, February 13, a drawing of a man described as Prophet Muhammad with a ticking bomb in his turban.
The move came following the arrest of two Tunisians and a Dane of Moroccan origin for allegedly plotting to kill the cartoonist who drew the caricature.
The re-printed cartoon was one of 12 commissioned and published by Denmark's mass-circulation Jyllands-Posten daily in 2005.
Schaeuble said Europe's newspapers should print the cartoon "with the caveat: 'We too find them pathetic, but the exercise of press freedom is no reason to resort to violence.'"
His spokesman did not contest the quote but he told a news conference the minister had made the comments in a long conversation, and was not urging papers to reprint the cartoons.
"I see no reason to interpret this as Schaeuble calling for the cartoons to be printed across Europe. He rather said that we have the principle of press freedom and that under the threat of violence, we must not move away from…press freedom."
More Protests
Schaeuble's controversial remarks coincided with boiling anger in some Muslim countries over the reprinting of the cartoon.
Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese marched through the capital Khartoum Wednesday, carrying banners and shouting slogans against Denmark.
The crowd, walking or riding pick-up trucks through the city center, demanded a rapture in diplomatic ties with Denmark.
"Any Dane will be prevented from setting foot on Sudanese territory," President Omar al-Bashir told the angry crow.
He called on Muslims around the world to follow Sudan's example in boycotting Danish products, companies, personalities and institutions.
Sudan has declared a national boycott of Danish products after a presidential degree.
Muslims worldwide boycotted Danish products during the 2005 crisis, causing Danish companies nearly $1.5 million in losses a day.
Denmark's leading dairy company Arla Foods, one of the hardest hit, issued at the time a strong condemnation of the cartoon and appealed to Muslims not to boycott its products.
Protests have raged in a number of Muslim countries since the cartoon was reprinted two weeks ago.
Demonstrators took to the streets in Pakistan, Indonesia, Jordan, Sudan, Egypt, and the Gaza Strip to condemn the move.
The Vatican joined Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni world, Tuesday, February 26, in condemning the reprinting of the cartoon.
"Freedom of expression should not become a pretext to insult religions and defaming religious sanctities," they said in a joint statement.
Cyclone kills dozens in Madagascar
Cyclone kills dozens in Madagascar
A cyclone that hit Madagascar more than a week ago has left at least 44 people dead, and 145,000 homeless, government officials say.
Relief efforts were being hampered by massive flooding which has submerged most of the roads and damaged bridges.
Cyclone Ivan swept through Madagascar on February 17 with winds of up to 230kph, causing severe flooding that cut off access to the eastern part of Indian ocean island.
The transport ministry said seven major roads remained inaccessible, hampering relief efforts to the worst-affected districts.
The government said on Monday that more than 80,000 people had lost their homes in the worst-hit Fenerive district, and up to 70 per cent of buildings had been destroyed.
Marc Ravalomanana, Madagascar's president and the richest businessman in the country, is leading a relief effort by providing rice, yoghurt, cheese and money to some of the hardest hit areas on the east coast.
Food shortage
The island-nation is now facing a serious food shortage as 15,000 hectares in the rice-growing region of Alaotra Mangoro remain submerged in floodwaters.
The area provides 30 per cent of the island's staple food.
Ivan first struck the island of Sainte Marie, a popular tourist resort where nearly half of the population were left homeless.
The government said the cyclone had affected 211,000 people, more than 1 per cent of the population, in some way.
Madagascar, the world's fourth-largest island, is regularly struck by cyclones and there are fears that global warming may exacerbate the cyclone season.
An earlier storm, Cyclone Fame, killed at least 13 people.
Last season is the worst on record, when six cyclones killed about 150 people.
