A powerless Gadhafi could stay in Libya, some NATO countries concede

Moammar Gadhafi remains defiantly in power after more than four months of bombing, and the nations carrying out most of the air strikes want to end the war, even if it means allowing the dictator to step down but remain in Libya.

The bloody stalemate in the ground war has dimmed early hopes that ill-equipped but enthusiastic rebels could topple the despot. With the holy Muslim month of Ramadan looming and no military end in sight, Britain has publicly echoed an offer first floated by France that would allow for Colonel Gadhafi to talk his way into retirement.

Read More

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/a-powerless-gadhafi-could-stay-in-libya-some-nato-countries-concede/article2110834/

France, Italy Seek Tighter Borders

ROME—The leaders of France and Italy called on the European Union to overhaul its border policy in an effort to stop the influx of migrants unleashed by North African unrest, but failed to reach a concrete agreement over how Europe should handle the wave.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi issued a joint letter at the end of a summit here on Tuesday that pressed the EU to reinforce patrols of European borders and stem the flow of migrants from Tunisia and Libya.

The letter stopped short, however, of making concrete demands, ducking the thorniest issue facing Europe: What to do about the more than 25,000 migrants who have already landed on Italian shores, many with plans to hopscotch across the Continent to richer economies.

Instead, the summit seemed to underscore the EU's lack of a common policy on immigration. That policy vacuum has led to clashes between France and Italy over the past month as migrants, after reaching the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, which is off the coast of Tunisia, have begun making their way toward the French border.

France, in an attempt to wall off the flow of migrants, has resurrected patrols and checkpoints along its border with Italy


Read More

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703956904576286930610634842.html

Muslims see prejudice in veil ban

VENISSIEUX, France France on Monday formally banned the wearing of veils in public places, becoming the first country in Europe to impose restrictions on a form of attire that some Muslims consider a religious obligation.

The ban, which came after a year of debate and months of preparations, is viewed by supporters as a necessary step to preserve French culture and fight what they see as separatist tendencies among Muslims. But the ban set off protests in Paris and several other cities, and has left many Muslims, including those in this heavily immigrant community near Lyon, worried about their rights as French citizens.

Karima, 31, who was born in France and asked to be referred to only by her first name, has worn the niqab since the age of 15, as a sign of her devotion to God. She says she feels as if France has betrayed her. "It's as if I was married to a man who mistreated me, but I'm still in love with him," she said. "It's as if he had an identity crisis, and I would still stay with him, after 31 years of marriage."

Police do not have the authority under the law to remove full veils, only to fine or require citizenship lessons for those who violate the new law by wearing them in public. Police also showed few signs of moving quickly to enforce the new rules for fear of causing unrest in big cities with Muslim communities.

"The law will be infinitely difficult to enforce and will be infinitely rarely enforced," said Manuel Roux, a union leader for local police chiefs, to France Inter radio.

Patrice Ribeiro, general secretary of Synergie Officiers, a police union, said the law "is a source of trouble more than anything else." In areas with large immigrant populations, he said in an interview, the law cannot be carried out strictly: "We'll create riots." He said the matter would need to be handled with the help of religious authorities.

The issue was set alight in April 2009 by Andre Gerin, then the Communist mayor of Venissieux. Half of the town's 60,000 residents are non-French citizens or their French-born children, and the niqab has been a relatively normal sight here.

Gerin said at the time that the full-facial veil, which is known in France erroneously as the burqa, should be banned in the name of the liberty and equality of women in a secular country. On Monday, in his office, Gerin said the burqa was "just the tip of the iceberg" of the spread of Muslim radicalism and separatism that threatened the French Republic.

The law does not mention Islam or women. It bans the covering of the face in any public place, including shops and the street, as a security measure. A clause says that anyone who forces a woman to cover her face can be imprisoned up to a year and fined up to 30,000 euros, about $43,000.

But the law is a "a point of departure," said Gerin, who retired as mayor but remains a member of the National Assembly. Speaking of young Muslim women who refuse to participate in school sports, or Muslim men who refuse to allow a male doctor to treat their wives or who allegedly compel their wives to veil, Gerin called the law "a wake-up call," a means "to eradicate this minority of fundamentalists, 'the gurus,' who instrumentalize Islam for political reasons."


Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/04/12/2217002/muslims-see-prejudice-in-veil.html#ixzz1JHUtp7WQ

A million Libyans need aid as UK, France seek no-fly zone

(Reuters) - Britain and France said they were seeking U.N. authorization for a no-fly zone over Libya, as Muammar Gaddafi's warplanes counter-attacked against rebels and aid officials said a million people were in need.

Al Jazeera television said rebels had rejected an offer by Gaddafi to hold a meeting of parliament to work out a deal under which he would step down.

With civilians surrounded by forces loyal to Gaddafi in two western towns, Misrata and Zawiyah, fears grew of a rising humanitarian crisis if the fighting continued.

U.N.aid coordinator Valerie Amos said more than a million people fleeing or inside the country needed humanitarian aid.

"Humanitarian organizations need urgent access now," she said. "People are injured and dying and need help immediately."

The U.N. appealed for $160 million to fund an operation over the next three months to get shelter, food and medicines ready.

MILITARY OPTIONS

"We are working closely with partners on a contingency basis on elements of a resolution on a no-fly zone, making clear the need for regional support, a clear trigger for such a resolution and an appropriate legal basis," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday.

A French source said France was "working with our partners in New York on a no-fly zone resolution." Gulf states called for a no-fly zone and an urgent Arab League meeting.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in Afghanistan where foreign forces have struggled for a decade, warned action should be taken only with international backing. The White House said all options were on the table, including arming rebels.

Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council with veto powers, said it opposed foreign military intervention.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stressed the need for U.N. authorization. "I can't imagine the international community and the United Nations would stand idly by if Gaddafi and his regime continue to attack their own people," he said.

"We have asked our military to conduct all necessary planning so that we stand ready at short notice," he added.

NATO has launched 24-hour surveillance of Libya with AWACS reconnaissance aircraft, the U.S. ambassador to NATO said.

Ivo Daalder added NATO representatives were discussing other possible moves ahead of a meeting of NATO ministers on Thursday.

Read More

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/us-libya-protests-idUSTRE71G0A620110308

Germany debates safe haven offer for Mubarak

Politicians from Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition yesterday openly supported proposals to offer the Egyptian leader, Hosni Mubarak, temporary sanctuary at a luxury clinic in Germany.

Several MPs in Ms Merkel's conservative CDU party said they were broadly in favour of plans, allegedly put forward by Washington, to invite Mr Mubarak to Germany to undergo a health check.

"The German government should send a discreet message to Mubarak telling him that he can come to Germany if he wants," said Elmar Brok, a German conservative MEP. "If this is a way to bring about peaceful change in Egypt, then it should be done," he told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper.

His remarks were echoed by Martin Schulz, a Social Democrat MEP. "I am in favour of any measures that would enable him personally to make a worthy exit and facilitate a change of power in Egypt," he said.

Ms Merkel has refused to be drawn on the possibility. Human rights activists and Green MPs said they opposed the idea. "Mubarak must not be allowed to avoid his responsibilities to the Egyptian people by escaping to a German clinic," said Cem Özdemir, the Greens' leader.

* The French Prime Minister, François Fillon, admitted last night he and his family received free flights and accommodation from the Egyptian government just after Christmas. The French government was already reeling from revelations that its Foreign Minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, had taken trips in a private jet belonging to a close associate of the ousted Tunisian president, Zine Ben Ali, during protests against his rule.


Read More


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-debates-safe-haven-offer-for-mubarak-2208627.html

Police unit frees children and teacher taken hostage at French school

FRENCH POLICE freed five children and their teacher after they were taken hostage for four hours yesterday by a teenager armed with two swords in the eastern French city of Besançon.

The 17-year-old was detained just before 1pm after an elite police unit entered the Charles Fourier pre-school and accompanied the children and their teacher to safety. The teenager had entered the building before 9am and took 20 people hostage, but released most of them within an hour after discussions with police negotiators.

Education minister Luc Chatel, who travelled to the scene yesterday morning, said the rescue took place when the children were being fed, which allowed the police to separate them from the hostage-taker. The young man was overpowered with a Taser electro-shock weapon, said Laurent Gresset, secretary general of the police union Alliance.

The hostage-taker’s motives were not known, although Jean-Marc Magda, administrative head of the mayor’s office, said he was known to suffer from depression and psychological problems.

Mr Gresset said he was “more depressive, even suicidal, than dangerous” and at one point during the stand-off requested a gun in order to take his own life. “He used no violence and never threatened the children,” Mr Gresset added.

“He is a clearly depressive individual who never had any other demand but to put an end to his own life,” Mr Chatel said.

Nathalie Roffet, the 37-year-old teacher who was with the children when they were released, said the atmosphere was calm and they never felt in danger.

“He came in and said, ‘this is a hostage-taking. I want the windows closed and the curtains drawn’,” Ms Roffet told iTélé. “He stayed in a corner, telephone in hand, and I think he called the police. He was talking to them all morning.

“He never spoke to the children. He simply replied to my questions. When I asked him could some of the children go and get a drink, he said, ‘yes, no problem’.” Shortly after the teenager entered the school, police surrounded the building and a unit of the commando-style GIPN division, which specialises in hostage-takings, arrived from Strasbourg. Police said telephone contact was quickly established with the teenager, resulting in the release of 14 people in three stages over the morning.

The children, aged between four and six, were wrapped in blankets and carried away by relatives. Affected families were being given psychological counselling to ensure that “this incident is no more than a bad memory”, said Mr Chatel.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was delighted by the outcome, praised the police and extended his “solidarity” to the teachers.

Mr Sarkozy was mayor of the Paris suburb of Neuilly in 1993, when it was the scene of the last major hostage-taking at a French school.

An armed man calling himself “Human Bomb” took a class of 21 children hostage and demanded a ransom of the equivalent of €15 million. Police shot him dead and the children were freed unharmed.

Read More

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/1214/1224285486602.html