Category: Non-EU Countries

  • Rebels ask leader of UK’s Libyan Jews to run for office

    Rebels ask leader of UK’s Libyan Jews to run for office

    U.K. Libyan-Jewish leader: I was invited to run for office in Libya
    the Book of Mordechai
    (JTA) — The leader of the Libyan Jewish community in Britain said he has been invited to run for political office in post-Muammar Gadhafi Libya.

    Raphael Luzon told the Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, a day after the fall of the Libyan capital to rebel forces, that opposition leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil had invited him to return to Libya and run in free elections. Jalil is a former Libyan justice minister and now chairman of the rebel council in Benghazi.

    Luzon told the newspaper that he was invited to take part in the elections “because they would like it to be open to all people, including women and Jews.”

    Luzon, whose family fled Libya in 1967, met Gadhafi twice in recent years. He said he would await further developments in the country before making a decision.

    Reconstruction of the war-torn country and the restitution of Jewish assets confiscated by the Libyan regime would top his political agenda if he ran, Luzon told the Jerusalem Post.

    Fighting continued in the Libyan capital on Tuesday, centered around Gadhafi’s fortified compound.

    www.jta.org, August 23, 2011

    Rebels ask leader of UK’s Libyan Jews to run for office

    By GIL SHEFLER, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT

    Raphael Luzon tells ‘Post’ that rebel council chief told him post-Gaddafi gov’t should include women and Jews.

    The day after the fall of Tripoli to the rebels, the leader of a Libyan-Jewish Diaspora group said he was offered by the emerging ruling power to run for office in free elections in that country.

    Raphael Luzon, the head of Jews of Libya UK, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that opposition leader Mustafa Abdul Jalil recently invited him to return to his country of birth and participate in the political discourse.

    “A week ago I received an [invitation] from the chief of the rebels,” he said referring to Abdul Jalil, a former justice minister and current chairman of the rebel council in Benghazi.

    “They proposed for me to take part in one of the parties because they would like it to be open to all people including women and Jews.”

    The Benghazi-born Jew, whose family was forced to flee Libya following a pogrom in 1967, said he was waiting for further developments before he gave a definitive answer.

    “I said I would accept it once I see it is real democracy and the proposal is offered,” he said. “If I do it I do it for one matter: the historical matter. The first Arab country that proposed that a Jew run in a free election.”

    Jews have lived in Libya since ancient times. At its peak during the 1930s the Jewish community in Libya numbered 25,000 but persecution by Italy and Germany during World War II and a series of state-sponsored pogroms after Libya became independent in 1951 took a toll and its members immigrated mostly to Israel, Italy and the UK. The last Jew in Libya left the country almost a decade ago.

    From his base in London, Luzon has been in contact with Muammar Gaddafi’s regime over the past decade representing the demands of Jewish Libyans abroad. He visited his country of birth several times and met with the Libyan dictator privately twice.

    If he were to return to Libya, Luzon said the reconstruction of the war-torn country and the restitution of Jewish assets which were confiscated by the Libyan regime to their rightful owners would top his political agenda.

    “As you know we left there 82 synagogues, land and property and I would like to take care of this because it belongs to the Jewish community of Libya,” he said.

    Luzon dismissed fears that the northern African country might emerge as a hotbed for radical Islam.

    “No country in northern Africa has a tradition of Islamic extremism,” he said. “They’re never Islamist. Perhaps there will be a small party in Libya but different than the ones in Egypt.”

    The 57-year-old Luzon also did not rule out the option that Israeli Jews of Libyan descent would be free to visit their country of origin similarly to other northern African countries.

    “If it will be democratic there will be no reason not to visit, like in Tunisia and Morocco,” he said.

    He emphasized that all this depended on the outcome of fighting in the capital, which is still raging between the rebels and forces loyal to the Libyan dictator, who has so far evaded capture.

    “First they have to get rid of Gaddafi, rebuild the country and decide which direction to take,” he said.

    www.jpost.com, 23 August 2011

  • Norway attacks reinforce need for united stand against intolerance

    Norway attacks reinforce need for united stand against intolerance

    ISTANBUL, Turkey: The horrific and tragic incident that happened in Norway reminds us again of the importance of combating religious intolerance and promoting cultural understanding.

    Anti-Islam and anti-Muslim attitudes and activities, known as Islamophobia, are increasingly finding place in the agenda of ultra-right wing political parties and civil societies in the West in their anti-immigrant and anti-multiculturalism policies, as was evident in the manifesto of the Norway killer. Their views are being promoted under the banner of freedom of expression while claiming that Muslims do not respect that right.

    A few days before the Norway attack, on July 15 in Istanbul, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the United States agreed to a united stand on “[c]ombating intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of, and discrimination, incitement to violence, and violence against persons based on religion or belief” through the implementation of UN Human Rights Council Resolution 16/18.

    The meeting – co-chaired by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and myself, with the attendance of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs together with the foreign ministers and officials of OIC member states and Western countries, as well as international organizations – reaffirmed the commitment of the participants to the effective implementation of the measures set in the resolution.

    This was a major step towards strengthening the foundations of tolerance and respect for religious diversity as well as enhancing the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms around the world.

    The OIC, which was the initiator of Resolution 16/18, worked in close cooperation in the drafting process with the United States and the European Union in bringing about a breakthrough on 21 March.

    The 2011 HRC resolution is a genuine effort to usher in an era of understanding on the issue of religious intolerance. It gives the widest margin of freedom of expression, and reiterates the rejection of discrimination, incitement and stereotyping used by the other or against the symbols of the followers of religions.

    The OIC has never sought to limit freedom of expression, give Islam preferential treatment, curtail creativity or allow discrimination against religious minorities in Muslim countries.

    The Islamic faith is based on tolerance and acceptance of other religions. It does not condone discrimination of human beings on the basis of caste, creed, color or faith. It falls on all the OIC member states as a sacred duty to protect the lives and property of their non-Muslim citizens and to treat them without discrimination of any form. Those elements who seek to harm or threaten minority citizens must be subjected to law. Our strong stand condemning violence perpetrated against non-Muslims whether in Iraq, Egypt or Pakistan has been consistent.

    No one has the right to insult another for their beliefs or to incite hatred and prejudice. That kind of behavior is irresponsible and uncivilized.

    We also cannot overlook the fact that the world is diverse. The Western perception on certain issues would differ from those held by others. We need to be sensitive and appreciative of this reality, more so when it comes to criticizing or expressing views on issues related to religion and culture.

    The publication of offensive cartoons of the Prophet six years ago that sparked outrage across the Muslim world, the publicity around the film Fitna and the more recent Qur’an burnings represent incidents of incitement to hatred that fuel an atmosphere of dangerous mutual suspicion. Freedom of expression has to be exercised with responsibility. At the same time, violent reactions to provocations are also irresponsible and uncivilized and we condemn them unequivocally.

    It is not enough to pass resolutions and laws against religious incitement. We should also be diligent in launching more initiatives and measures towards better intercultural dialogue and understanding at all levels – the political, social, business, media, academic and religious.

    Resolution 16/18 includes an eight-point approach that calls for various measures to foster tolerance, including developing collaborative networks to build mutual understanding and constructive action, creating appropriate mechanisms within the government to identify and address potential areas of tension between members of religious communities, and raising awareness at the local, national and international levels on the effects of negative religious stereotyping and incitement to religious hatred.

    The implementation of the 2011 HRC Resolution 16/18 would take us a long way in making our world a more peaceful and harmonious place to live in.

    ###

    * Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu is the Secretary General of the Jeddah-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation (formerly Organization of the Islamic Conference), an international organization consisting of 57 member states. This article was written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

    Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 16 August 2011, www.commongroundnews.org

    BM

    via Norway attacks reinforce need for united stand against intolerance : Bikya Masr | Independent news for the world.

  • Princess Diana Death: French Authorities May Arrest British Police, Conspiracy Re-ignited

    Princess Diana Death: French Authorities May Arrest British Police, Conspiracy Re-ignited

    diana crashFrench authorities may seek an international arrest warrant for two former police chiefs, who withheld a prophetic note in which Princess Diana seemingly predicted her assassination by car crash.[1] Something she stated on more than one occasion.

    Former Scotland Yard chief Lord Condon and former Assistant Commissioner of Specialist Operations Sir David Veness, have been ordered to attend an interview in Paris to address why the note was under lock and key for 3 years following Diana’s death. If they fail to attend they will be treated as suspects. The note remained hidden even when Lord Condon’s successor Lord Stevens took over as Metropolitan Police Commissioner, suggesting the orders may have came from a higher authority.

    The note was handed to the MET by Diana’s Lawyer Lord Mishcon shortly after the 1997 Paris tunnel crash, which also claimed the lives of Diana’s boyfriend Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul. It drew on a meeting between Diana and the law firm where she claimed her life was in danger; the record of the meeting in the form of a hand-written note says efforts would be made to get rid of her “…be it by some accident in her car such as pre-prepared brake failure or whatever.”

    Lord Condon and Sir Veness have publicly claimed that they made the decision not to release the document unless there was a suggestion that the crash was not an accident [2], but the French Judge Gerard Caddeo may see this as withholding the very evidence that does suggest it wasn’t an accident. Under French law,“removing or concealing” evidence, which could “facilitate the discovery of a crime”, is punishable by three to five years in jail or a fine.

    Coinciding with the release of controversial Keith Allen documentary “Unlawful Killing” that suggests Diana was assassinated, this re-ignition of the case may open a whole new can of worms, right when the British establishment is being rocked by the phone hacking scandal.

    It should be noted that this isn’t the only document where Diana’s death appears to be foreshadowed. As reported by The Telegraph another document was written way back in 1993!
    A handwritten letter in which Diana, Princess of Wales claimed that the Prince of Wales was plotting to kill her so he could marry Tiggy Legge-Bourke, the former nanny to Princes William and Harry, has been shown at the inquest into her death.

    That letter reads:
    “This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous – my husband is planning ‘an accident’ in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for him to marry Tiggy. Camilla is nothing but a decoy, so we are all being used by the man in every sense of the word.”

    Even the most non-conspiratorial minded person has to scratch their head with intrigue that Diana feared for her death by orchestrated car crash as early as 1993, and then wound up dead in a car crash, while one of the notes that predicted this was subsequently hidden by police officers honored by the Queen, whose oh so Royal family would be prime suspects in an assassination of the Princess.

    So far the official story is that the Mercedes-Benz carrying the victims collided with the 13th pillar of the Pont de l’Alma tunnel, because driver Henri-Paul was intoxicated with alcohol, anti-depressants and possibly carbon monoxide, causing him to lose control of the wheel. However video surveillance at the hotel that evening show an upright Paul who appears to be in full control of his faculties. Moments before entering the vehicle he can be seen quite happily tying his shoe laces with no obvious impairment.

    The media frenzy that called Henri “drunk as a pig” [3], was well underway before samples had even been presented [4], suggesting the narrative was to some degree pre-arranged or grossly speculative. Independent forensic pathologists have reviewed the toxicology reports and concluded that the blood samples were not stored at the correct temperatures, meaning higher levels of alcohol would have been recorded due to decomposition of the blood.[5] Furthermore it was claimed that Henri-Paul had over 20% carbon monoxide blood content, which would cause any regular person severe head-aches and a lack of coordination, which again is refuted by the CCTV evidence of Paul in the hotel lobby.

    No acceptable explanation has been given for the presence of Carbon Monoxide. Initial reports claim it came from the vehicles airbags, but this was later ruled out. It seems absurd that a life saving system could release a toxic gas. It quite logically has been suggested that this intoxication came post-crash from exhaust fumes, but Henri was supposed to have died on impact rendering him unable to breath in any of the fumes. Smoking was also blamed, but Toxicologist Professor Robert Forrest ultimately had to concede that “It’s either conspiracy or cock-up.”[6] “…he could not find any logical explanation for the findings.”

    A thorough investigation needs to follow all leads and motives. The Henri-Paul claim is flimsy, so it would be worth following up on Diana’s cries for help, specifically the idea that she was to be murdered by “pre-prepared brake failure”. Such a technique for carrying out assassinations does purportedly exist within the secret services of the world. According to author Jon King it’s called the “Boston Breaks” method and involves installing hardware within a vehicle, which allows the assassination team to jam the steering column and braking functions remotely, causing the car to hurtle out of control, unable to break or steer. This is dealt with in his book Diana: The Evidence

    Also in the book The Feathermen by former SAS demolition expert and famous British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, he recounts the alleged assassination of Major Michael Marman via this very method.

    The Clinic had been watching Major Michael Marman, and had determined that he frequently drove along the A303 arterial road, in Wiltshire, south-west England, on personal business. While doing this, he was habitually alone, and the fact that his vehicle was a relatively flimsy Citroen 2CV meant that a crash was the perfect method to kill him. Nevertheless, the Clinic dared not tamper with Marman’s car or deploy a driver to ram him off the road, since their contractual obligation to make the death appear accidental would almost certainly come unstuck under the slightest police investigation. They therefore decided to use a proxy: an apparently random driver who would unknowingly become the Clinic’s untraceable instrument of execution, by colliding with Marman.

    Through relatively simple research, they discovered a businessman whose offices were in Plymouth and London, and who regularly drove between the two along the A303 road. This was Air Marshal (ret’d) Sir Peter Horsley, former equerry to the Duke of Edinburgh and to the Queen, and ex-Commander in Chief of Britain’s atomic strike force, who now worked for an engineering firm, ML Holdings. Study and surveillance showed that Sir Peter was due to drive from London to Plymouth for a board meeting on 11 November 1986, at a time which would mean he would pass Major Marman in the opposite direction along the length of the A303. The Clinic then entered Horsely’s garage during the night of 10-11 November, and, over an eight-hour period, fitted a ‘parasite’ braking system in the cavities of his BMW, in such a way that it couldn’t be seen on immediate inspection. This radio-controlled system was powered by a scuba-diving cylinder of compressed air, which would allow each of the car’s brakes to be applied separately, without the control of the driver.

    The next day, having practised their technique for weeks with stock cars and models, two of the Clinic members shadowed Horsely, while keeping in radio communication with a second Clinic team, shadowing Marman. As Marman’s 2CV and Horsely’s BMW approached each other along the A303, the parasite braking system was applied, and Horsely lost control of his vehicle, which was steered across the central reservation and into Marman’s path. the ensuing collision killed Marman outright, and severely injured Horsely. Horsely was initially under suspicion of reckless driving, but fortunately had a witness who had been driving behind him, who testified that he had seen a puff of smoke emerge from the rear of Horsely’s car immediately before he lost control: at inquest, the local coroner said the accident would remain unexplained. The more definitely so, since the Clinic’s parasite brake-system had been secretly removed after the accident while the BMW was impounded at the police garage facility. The Feather Men, who failed to prevent this assassination, ultimately learned exactly how this scenario unfolded when they captured and interrogated the Clinic’s chief assassin.

    In his autobiography, Sounds From Another Room, Horsley says that he was accelerating to about 60 miles an hour when the car began to react strangely. He saw a grey Volvo closing up quickly behind him and as he was about to wave it past, his BMW spun sharply to the left, the brakes screeching, and then sharply to the right and back again. This is remarkably similar to what happened to the Mercedes before it struck the pillar.

    Horsley wrote:
    “Out of the corner of my eye I saw the grey Volvo accelerating past me at high speed. My car had now developed a mind of its own as it swung broadside and skidded down the road. With a lurch it hit the central reservation, mounted the grass verge separating the two lanes of the highway and crossed over into the opposite carriageway. I had just time to see a small car approaching from the opposite direction. I hit it sideways on with tremendous force. In a split-second the driver’s horror-stricken face was visible and I heard his hoarse scream.”

    It’s worth noting the Mercedes carrying Diana had previously been stolen. The Daily Mail notes:
    It had been stolen several months before the accident and there are those who speculate that this might have been an opportunity to tamper with the car.

    The general public are familiar with Prince Charles’ affair with Camilla, but Diana’s 1993 letter claims he wanted her dead to pursue a marriage with Tiggy Legge-Bourke (the Prince’s nanny), not Camilla. In fact Camilla herself nearly died in a car accident shortly before Diana’s death [7], and as the letter states: “Camilla is nothing more than a decoy.”

    Lets suppose the massive coincidences here are simply that, coincidences, and Diana’s death was just a tragic accident. We still have two documents where Diana feared for her death via car crash. Did Charles and/or the perpetrators strike it lucky; did fate deliver a dead Diana in the exact manner they wanted?

    Or are we just being silly conspiracy theorists? If that’s the case, the alternative is to believe that Diana was a lying bitch….

    Wide Shut

     

     

  • Hugo Chavez Nationalizes Venezuelan Gold Industry

    Hugo Chavez Nationalizes Venezuelan Gold Industry

    Hugo ChavezChavez Demands 211 Tons Be Returned From Abroad – JPMorgan, Bank Of England & ETFs Scramble For Physical Metal

    ‘We just reported that Hugo Chavez has nationalized the entire Venezuelan gold industry this afternoon. Well, Hugo didn’t stop there, as latest headlines flashing indicate that Chavez has requested that the Bank of England return 99 Tons of Venezuelan gold held on deposit, and a total of 211 Tons of gold held abroad (WSJ).

    http://silverdoctors.blogspot.com/2011/08/hugo-chavez-demands-99-tons-of.html

  • UK: David Cameron calls in US ‘supercop’ William J Bratton to stop England riots

    UK: David Cameron calls in US ‘supercop’ William J Bratton to stop England riots

    William J BrattonUS ‘Supercop’ William J Bratton, who fought gang violence and street crime in New York and Los Angeles, is to advise David Cameron on how best to deal with recent riots in cities including London, Manchester and Birmingham.

    Mr Bratton will meet the prime minister next month to share his knowledge and provide tips on how the UK can avoid further disorder.

    He believes making police forces more ethnically diverse could be one way of reducing racial tension and said the lessons learned in previous rioting in the US can be applied to the UK.

    Now working as a security consultant and chairman of Manhattan-based security firm Kroll, the 63-year-old claimed law enforcers in the UK need to work more with community leaders and civil rights groups to calm racial tensions.

    ‘Part of the issue going forward is how to make policing more attractive to a changing population,’ he said, pointing to the success of similar initiatives in New York and LA.

    Earlier this month, Mr Bratton took part in a panel at the second annual National Sports Safety and Security Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, where fan violence was high on the agenda.

    Metro

     

  • UK Birmingham riots: Intense anger after deaths of three young men

    UK Birmingham riots: Intense anger after deaths of three young men

    forensicCommunity leaders appeal for calm after three British Asians rammed by carload of suspected looters in Winson Green

    Community leaders in Birmingham are working all-out to calm intense anger in the city’s British Asian community over the deaths of three young men who were rammed by a carload of suspected looters.

    West Midlands police arrested a man near the scene and recovered a vehicle, which forensics experts are examining. They later launched a murder inquiry.

    Groups of residents in Winson Green, the inner-city area where the men were killed as they tried to protect local businesses in the early hours of Wednesday, openly warned of inter-communal violence if the murder inquiry fails to produce rapid results.

    Their anger was passed on by the local Labour MP for Ladywood, Shabana Mahmood, and the Bishop of Aston, Rt Rev Anthony Watson, who joined a meeting at Dudley Road mosque, which locals claimed was on looters’ hitlist of targets where money might be found. The victims, brothers Shazad and Munir Hussein, 32 and 30, and Haroon Chohan, 19, were among some 80 young men who turned out after a gang tried to ransack the nearby Jet petrol station on Monday night.

    The bishop warned of possible reprisals and events “potentially having an ugly race dimension”. Shortly after he spoke, a screaming and swearing African-Caribbean woman challenged a group of British Asians in a side street off Dudley Road, saying: “Your attitude is how riots start,” before a friend bundled her into a car and drove off.

    Another group of British Asian men said they had seen the fatal incident, which was over in seconds but saw the victims flung into the air as a black Audi rammed into them. One, who declined to give his name, said: “Of course it was deliberate. No way was it an accident. The driver went on to the pavement and rammed them. He knew what he was doing.”

    He said that four carloads of young African-Caribbeans had cruised down Dudley Road and there had been no doubt about what they were planning. He said that he had given evidence to the police.

    “These were bright young guys we’ve lost,” he said. “They knew the meaning of work and got themselves decent jobs. The brothers had a carwash which was another business which might have been targeted, and Haroon worked as a mechanic in a garage.

    “They were well-known round here. One of them only got married in March and his wife was expecting their first child in four months’ time.”

    The bishop said that extended families were part of a very strong network in the community – he had met Haroon’s uncle and older brother – which added to the strength of feelings.

    Haroon’s father Jahan joined appeals for calm, holding a photograph of his son in the doorway of his home at Winson Green. He said: “He was trying to help his community and he has been killed.

    “He was a very well-liked kid. I can’t describe to anybody what it feels like to lose a son. He was the youngest of three, and anything I ever wanted done, I would always ask Haroon to sort it out for me.

    “A day from now, maybe two days from now, the whole world will forget and nobody will care.”

    Calling for calm and no attempt at revenge, he said: “I don’t blame the government, I don’t blame the police, I don’t blame nobody. It was his destiny and his fate, and now he’s gone.”

    Long queues of friends and relatives waited outside the house to pay their respects as other family members spoke of the tragedy. Numbers increased in the early afternoon, in spite of the onset of rain which police hoped would deter a third night of violence.

    Sobia Nazia, a cousin to the brothers, said: “They were brothers to everybody. They used to look out for everyone. They were heroes. I heard people describing them on Facebook as brothers to one and all.

    “People who only just knew of them haven’t slept all night. It’s made a huge impact, more than we thought.”

    Another mourner embraced Sobia and the victims’ younger sister who was welcoming mourners into the house, and said in Urdu: “They died martyrs.”

    The sister was too upset to reply, but Sorbia said firmly: “We don’t want anything more to happen – just the culprits brought to justice. We don’t want other families to suffer. It’s the youth. They have no knowledge, they have no jobs and they are bored.”

    Feelings have also been inflamed by an alleged 20-minute delay before an ambulance arrived, with other locals saying that police riot vans had got in the way. Frantic efforts to resuscitate the men failed and two died at the scene. The third died shortly afterwards at the nearby City hospital.

    Other men said that they had been told by overstretched police to protect their own businesses. He said: “They were too busy looking after all the big places in the centre, chasing the mob all night rather than cracking down.”

    For the second day running, British Asian businesses in areas such as Soho Road, the bazaar-like mile of shops in Handsworth, were guarded by large numbers of men.

    The incident plunged England’s second city into fresh tension after a night which saw sporadic raids on shops but a much lower level of violence than on Monday night. A determined attempt by a fluid mob of some 200 looters to break into the iconic Bull Ring centre was quickly foiled, partly thanks to fences and four privately-hired dog teams.

    Over £500,000 damage was done on Monday to Emporio Armani in the Bull Ring while security men with fire extinguishers kept looters out of Harvey Nichols.

    More than 80 arrests were made on Tuesday and 19 men appeared in court in the city on Wednesday morning.

    The Guardian