Libya Offers Truce to UN as Britain Urges NATO to Intensify Bombing
Libya's prime minister has offered a truce to a visiting United Nations envoy in return for an immediate NATO cease-fire.
Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi made the comments in Tripoli Sunday following a meeting with U.N. special envoy Abdul Ilah Khatib. Soon after Khatib arrived, Libya's state television reported that a new NATO airstrike hit the western city of Zuwara, near the Tunisian border.
The head of Britain's armed forces, General David Richards, told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper there is a risk the conflict could result in Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi clinging to power if NATO does not “up the ante.” He said NATO is not attacking infrastructure targets in Libya, but needs to consider intensifying its military action.
Restrictions imposed by NATO members allow its forces to attack only targets that pose a direct threat to Libyan civilians. Libyan officials have accused NATO of violating that mandate by launching attacks aimed at killing Mr. Gadhafi.
Also Sunday, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said his investigation into crimes against humanity by senior members of the Libyan government is “almost ready for trial.” Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he will file a 74-page document outlining allegations that Libyan forces have systematically attacked civilians since launching a brutal crackdown on anti-government rebels in February.
Western media reports say Moreno-Ocampo is expected to announce Monday that he is seeking warrants for the killing of civilian protesters, with Mr. Gadhafi and two of his sons as likely indictees. Judges will study the evidence presented before deciding whether to issue arrest warrants for the suspects, a process likely to take weeks.
Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim dismissed the ICC's efforts, calling them “questionable.”
Earlier Sunday, Libyan rebels said they have taken full control of the western port city of Misrata. But opposition spokesmen said the rebels are braced for renewed attacks by forces loyal to Mr. Gadhafi.
In neighboring Tunisia, security forces arrested two suspected al-Qaida members near the Libyan border. Tunisian officials said the two were carrying an explosives belt, several bombs and led authorities to a weapons stash in the southern mountains. The men are thought to be members of al-Qaida's North African branch.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb grew out of an Islamist insurgency movement in Algeria, merging with al-Qaida in 2006 and spreading through the Sahara and the Sahel region. It has been responsible for a series of kidnappings and attacks across northern Africa in recent years.
The group is one al-Qaida's largest regional branches.
Tensions Rise Between Fiji, Tonga
Tensions between the Pacific island states of Fiji and Tonga are rising after Tonga gave sanctuary to a Fijian army officer charged with trying to overthrow Fiji's military leader.
Fiji's military leader Frank Bainamarama accused Tonga Monday of breaking the law by sending a navy boat into Fiji's waters to pick up Lieutenant Colonel Tevita Mara. Bainamarama is demanding Mara's extradition.
Mara is now under the protection of Tonga's royal family.
Relations between Fiji and Tonga already were strained by competing claims to the Minerva Reefs, remote atolls in the Pacific.
Mara is the son of Fiji's founding prime minister and former president Ratu Mara. Earlier this month, he and another high-ranking officer, Pita Driti, were charged with mutiny and accused of trying to overthrow the Bainimarama regime.
Bainamarama's government is under sanctions from neighboring Pacific nations as well as the European Union and the United States for refusing to hold democratic elections. He took power in a 2006 coup.
PNP Leader Clayton Greene writes UK calling for referendum on Constitution
Leader of the Progressive National Party (PNP) Clayton Greene has written the United Kingdom (UK) Government calling for a referendum on the proposed changes to the voting system in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) and all other controversial aspects of the constitution.
The following is the full text of the latter which Greene, an attorney-at-law and former Speaker of the House of Assembly, wrote to Mr. Henry Bellingham, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
Dear Minister Bellingham:
Just one week ago today, the United Kingdom had its Alternative Vote Referendum where Britons in their millions took to their local polling stations to inform the government that they did not wish to change the “first past the post” electoral system currently in place. Forty five million people across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland were given the opportunity to express their individual position on so fundamental an issue as the system used to elect representatives to their Parliament.
At the same time in these Islands, an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom some thirty two thousand persons are denied an opportunity to do the same.
For all the blatant disregard of the wishes of the Turks and Caicos people by the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) over the last two years; for all the feeble, insulting and deceptive ‘efforts’ at inclusion that never seem to place value or give any credence to the impassioned and unanimous pleas of Belongers; nothing so far has been as unashamedly despotic and gravely unacceptable as the recent announcement that the FCO will not conduct a public constitutional consultation meeting in Providenciales, but will broadcast a televised call-in show allowing interested persons to ask questions.
The approach of the FCO to the Turks and Caicos Islands and its characteristic lack of democratic process are in stark contrast to the approach of the British Parliament to its citizens at home. It cannot be suggested that the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands deserve any less than the 45 million Britons.
The United Kingdom held the referendum not because they were unsure of the outcome; the polls having already predicted the outcome with statistical certainty; but rather because they understood that on issues that are as constitutionally far reaching as changes in the voting system representative democracy is not good enough – each man must in those circumstances exercise his individual voice.
The proposed constitution not only threatens an equally fundamental change to the voting system in the Turks and Caicos Islands but further, marginalizes the vote of the Belonger population and the constitutional authority of representatives in their Parliament to such an extent that we must question whether under the proposed regime we would in fact still have a representative democracy.
The FCO, led by the British Parliament has been unashamedly hypocritical in denying the people of these Islands the referendum. Of the 36,000 people that make up the population of the Turks and Caicos Islands, 23,000 reside on the island of Providenciales. It takes a great deal of effort and an exceptionally wild imagination to wrap one’s mind around the idea that the FCO could accurately determine public opinion on the various controversial proposals without holding at least one public meeting in Providenciales.
When Turks and Caicos Islanders most desire and deserve a representative, responsive and transparent government that incorporates their opinions into the decision making processes, they get instead an administration that is patently out of touch, demonstrably insincere and single-minded in its desire to exclude Turks and Caicos Islanders from any meaningful participation in the decisions that impact most profoundly their future.
For Democracy’s sake I call on the FCO to reconsider its position and not deny the residents of Providenciales an opportunity to participate publicly in the consultations.
Moreover I call on the British Parliament to govern the Turks and Caicos Islands with the same creed and code that it governs its citizens at home and allow a referendum on the voting system and all other controversial aspects of the constitution as proposed. The proposed constitution is revolutionary.
A revolution that is against the expressed will of the people is dictatorial. A referendum is the democratic response not only in the United Kingdom but in the Turks and Caicos Islands as well.
Salt islands shortlisted for World Heritage status
THE SALT islands could soon be ranked alongside the Pyramids, Great Wall of China and Statue of Liberty after being shortlisted for World Heritage status.
National Trust chiefs are celebrating initial success in their bid to have Salt Cay, Grand Turk, South Caicos and surrounding cays included on the prestigious list due to their unique wildlife, flora and fauna.The TCI was one of just 11 entries – whittled down from 38 in the UK and its territories – to make it onto a ‘tentative’ line-up compiled by Britain.The list will now be submitted to UNESCO which will begin casting the final nominations next year.
If successful, the country could become one of less than 200 natural sites worldwide to be deemed to have ‘outstanding universal value’.The Trust’s previous bid a decade ago for Salt Cay alone was unsuccessful.
This time greater emphasis was placed on the country’s myriad birdlife and insects, threatened native reptiles and endemic heather.A panel of experts has now recommended the TCI for inclusion on account of its “high number of endemic species and others of international importance, partially dependent on the conditions created by the oldest established salt-pan development in the Caribbean”.In addition to being the epicentre of the country’s once roaring salt industry, Salt Cay in particular is a mecca for birds including doves, warblers, mockingbirds, herons, kingfishers, sandpipers, kestrels, ospreys, flamingoes and egrets.While the panel recognised the territory’s importance as a breeding area for seabirds, it was not convinced the case had been made for nomination under cultural criteria.
The team expressed concern over commercial development pressures and a lack of systemic protection for historic buildings.The Trust’s executive director, Ethlyn Gibbs-Williams, told the Weekly News she was delighted to get the seal of approval for the first round.“We are very pleased to have got this far, it’s very good for the National Trust and great news for our heritage.“It will help raise the profile of the country, increase tourism and bring more opportunities here.“If we make it onto the final list, it ensures protection and preservation of the sites. This would also help people here in the TCI to recognise the importance of our heritage and boost national pride in what we have.”Fellow overseas territory St Helena in the Atlantic, where Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled after the Battle of Waterloo, was also shortlisted, along with Gibraltar’s Gorham’s Cave Complex.
The other nine sites, all in England, include Cumbria’s stunning Lake District; Chatham Dockyard and its defences in Kent; Creswell Crags in Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire; Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire; Mousa, Old Scatness and Jarlshof in Shetland, Scotland; the slate industry of North Wales; the Flow Country in Scotland; and the Forth Rail Bridge, also in Scotland.Britain’s Tourism and Heritage Minister John Penrose said: “Few places in the world can match the wealth of wonderful heritage we have available in the UK. “The 11 places that make up the new UK Tentative List are fantastic examples of both our cultural and natural heritage and I believe they have every chance of joining famous names like the Sydney Opera House and the Canadian Rockies to become World Heritage Sites.”Whether sites are given a nomination slot by UNESCO will depend on the robustness of their case.They must be deemed as having special cultural or physical significance to be successful.
World Heritage status sets planning restrictions for developers in terms of the height and quality of new buildings in a designated area and protects views of the listed landmarks.There are currently 28 listed sites in the UK and its territories. Locations in the overseas territories include the wildlife sanctuaries of Henderson Island, in the Pitcairn Islands in the South Pacific, and Gough and the Inaccessible Islands in the Atlantic. Also designated is the historic town of St George, Bermuda’s first capital.
Worldwide, there are a total of 911 sites listed. They include 704 cultural areas, 180 natural, and 27 mixed properties.The UK’s Tentative List was updated following extensive public consultation with nominations invited from local authorities and others throughout the UK, its territories and dependencies.The Tentative List is an inventory of important heritage and natural sites that a country is considering for inscription on the World Heritage List, thereby becoming World Heritage Sites.
The Tentative List can be updated at any time, but inclusion on the list is a prerequisite to being considered for inscription within a five to 10-year period.
tcweeklynews
New commissioner reforming police force
New Commissioner of Police Colin Farquhar has reportedly been busy trying to correct problems in the operation of the Royal Turks and Caicos Police Force.
One of his top priorities is to find a suitable new location for the police headquarters. Farquhar is apparently targeting the old Myrtle Rigby Clinic building, which was closed when the national health care scheme moved all primary care into the hospitals. It remains empty.
A new possibility, seemingly in a better location, is the headquarters building of the Progressive National Party (PNP) on Airport Road. This building sits on land still owned by the government, where it was built without permission of the planning department and without a building permit or inspections.
The PNP is attempting to regain control of the property but angry residents are saying that for the PNP party to be able to succeed in this process while many other private parties have lost their land with less violation of regulations is a sign of prejudice on the part of the interim government.
Farquhar is encouraging more female recruits for the cadet corps and has said that the matter of a 20-year-old policeman having carnal knowledge of a minor is currently in the court system.
Pakistan condemns Bin Laden raid and US drone attacks
Pakistan's parliament has called for a review of the country's relationship with the US over the American commando raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.
During a long joint session held to debate the US operation, MPs called for an independent investigation.
They unanimously passed a resolution urging a ban on Nato transit convoys unless the US ends drone attacks.
The session followed Friday's double suicide bombing that killed 80 people in north-western Pakistan.
At least 120 others were wounded in the attack on a Frontier Constabulary training centre in Shabqadar, Charsadda district.
Heightened security
The Pakistani Taliban said they carried out the attack - this year's deadliest on the security forces - to avenge Bin Laden's death.
The 2 May US raid on the al-Qaeda leader's Abbottabad hideout has left Washington-Islamabad relations at an all-time low, correspondents say.
Members of the US Congress have been calling for Washington to cut its billions of dollars in aid to Islamabad, saying some Pakistani officials must have known Bin Laden was hiding in the country.
On Saturday, the parliament in Islamabad said the American operation was a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty.
The MPs' resolution was passed after a joint session, under heightened security, lasting more than 10 hours.
"The people of Pakistan will no longer tolerate such actions and repeat of unilateral measures could have dire consequences for peace and security in the region and the world," the AFP news agency quoted the resolution as saying.
'Unacceptable'
An investigation should take place to "fix responsibility and recommend necessary measures to ensure that such an incident does not recur", it added.
The resolution also labelled as "unacceptable" the US use of pilotless planes to attack militants along the mountainous border with Afghanistan.
It said if the attacks did not stop, the government should consider stopping the transit of supplies through its territory for Nato forces in Afghanistan.
More than 100 drone strikes are estimated to have been carried out last year.
Correspondents say Islamabad has tacitly approved of such US air strikes, although Pakistani leaders have always denied supporting them.
In recent months senior Pakistani security officials have reportedly been pressing for a limit to such operations, in the face of public anger over civilian casualties.
During the parliamentary session, Pakistan's army chiefs appeared before MPs to explain their actions over Bin Laden's death.
Lt Gen Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, head of Pakistan's security services, is reported to have told MPs that he had offered to quit after the US Navy Seals raid, but had been turned down by the army chief.
Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said Lt Gen Pasha had told MPs he was ready to take responsibility for any criminal failing.
Pakistani leaders have insisted they had no idea Bin Laden was holed up in the country.
Mississippi River flood: US to open Louisiana gates
US engineers are preparing to flood up to three million acres in southern Louisiana in a bid to protect large cities along the Mississippi River.
The Army Corps of Engineers said it could open a floodway to divert water from the river this weekend. As many as 25,000 people are preparing to leave.
Opening the Morganza Floodway would ease pressure on levees protecting the cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
The Mississippi River has risen to levels not seen in decades this year.
Fed by rainwater and the spring thaw, the river and its tributaries have caused massive flooding upstream, and officials have said the flooding in Louisiana is the worst since 1927.
If, as expected, the Army Corps of Engineers this weekend opens the Morganza floodway for the first time in 38 years, it will unleash Mississippi River water through the Atchafalaya River basin, flooding parts of seven parishes in southern Louisiana near the Gulf of Mexico.
Much of the water would end up in swamplands, bayous and backwater lakes but several thousand homes are at risk of flooding.
"My message to our people is they don't need to be delaying," Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said on Thursday. "Move their valuables. Think about where they would go."
Earlier this week, the Mississippi River flooded parts of Memphis, Tennessee, the city famed as one of the birthplaces of rock and roll and blues music.
Further upstream, the Army Corps of Engineers has opened floodways in Missouri to keep pressure off levees protecting the town of Cairo, Illinois.
The US government has said farmers whose land has been flooded will be reimbursed for destroyed crops.
Libya: White House dashes rebel hopes of recognition
The US has stopped short of recognising Libya's National Transitional Council as the country's legitimate government.
The statement comes after the first visit to the White House by a senior member of the rebel council, which is pushing for international support.
Earlier, Col Muammar Gaddafi taunted Nato troops in an audio message on state TV, saying he was in a place where they "cannot reach" him.
State media says 11 Muslim clerics have been killed in a Nato air strike.
Mahmoud Jibril, deputy leader of the Benghazi-based National Transitional Council (NTC), met officials at the White House on Friday, including National Security Adviser Tom Donilon.
'You can't kill me'
In a statement, the White House said Mr Donilon had told Mr Jibril that the US viewed the council as "a legitimate and credible interlocutor of the Libyan people".
The US and Britain have not recognised the NTC as the true government of Libya - in contrast to France, Italy and Qatar.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Thursday that such a step would be "premature".
The US has said it is up to the Libyans to decide their government, not foreign powers.
There was some encouragement on Friday, however, for rebel hopes of accessing seized Libyan regime assets.
Mr Carney said the US was working with Congress to unblock some of the more than $30bn (£18.5bn) in frozen funds, so it could be used to aid the rebels.
Six large blasts - believed to have been Nato air strikes - were heard in the Libyan capital Tripoli late on Friday and early on Saturday morning.
They followed Libyan state TV's broadcast of an audio message by Col Gaddafi, pouring scorn on the alliance.
The Libyan leader thanked those outside Libya who had "expressed deep and strong concern, enthusiasm and love for me by carrying out all these contacts to enquire about my safety after hearing about the crusader, cowardly and treacherous missile attack".
"I say to the crusader cowards that I live in a place that you cannot reach and kill me in it because I live in the hearts of the millions," he added.
"Immortality is for the martyrs, and death, infamy and disgrace are for the treacherous agents and their cowardly masters."
Italy's foreign minister said earlier on Friday that Col Gaddafi had probably been wounded in Thursday's air strike on his Bab al-Aziziya compound and had fled Tripoli.
Earlier on Friday, state TV reported a Nato strike hit a boarding house in the eastern city of Brega, killing 11 imams and wounding 45 people.
A government spokesman said the victims were part of a larger group who had travelled to the government-held town from across Libya seeking peace talks in rebel-held Benghazi.
But rebel officials in Benghazi insisted there were no civilians at all in Brega, while a Nato spokesman said he did not know anything about an attack in Brega.
Eurozone's economic growth accelerates
The economy of the 17 countries that use the euro grew by 0.8% in the first three months of 2011, up from 0.3% in the previous quarter.
Germany was largely responsible for the better-than-expected figure, reporting growth of 1.5% in the period.
There was a surprisingly strong 0.8% growth rate from debt-laden Greece.
France grew 1%, Italy and Spain grew 0.1% and 0.3% respectively and Portugal slid into recession after contracting for the second quarter in a row.
Growth there declined by 0.7%, following a 0.6% contraction in the final quarter of 2010.
"This is almost certainly as good as it gets for the eurozone and growth seems likely to moderate over the coming months in face of significant headwinds," said Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight.
Greece's positive showing in the quarterly figures was a surprise, although compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the economy has contracted by 4.8%.
Platon Monokroussos at EFG Eurobanka said the figures were, "a huge positive surprise, a reading that is significantly above market expectations".
He attributed the growth in the quarter to a recovery in exports.
Ken Wattret at BNP Paribas said: "Big picture-wise, once again the theme is divergence between the core and periphery and the core countries account for the vast majority of euro area output.
"The periphery are getting the worst of both worlds. The core countries like Germany are doing really well and that's keeping the euro strong, and it's making the ECB [European Central Bank] more inclined to tighten policy."
He added that what the countries on the periphery really needed was low interest rates and a weaker euro.
Portugal's downturn is expected to get worse as a result of the austerity measures agreed as part of its bail-out by the EU and the IMF.
Italy's growth figure was worse than expected, with the 0.1% rate the same as it was for the last three months of 2010.
Last month, the Italian government cut its growth forecast for the whole of 2011 from 1.3% to 1.1%.
The rise in Spain's latest quarterly growth rate to 0.3% from 0.2% in the previous quarter is more encouraging as the country tries to avoid a third consecutive year of contracting GDP.
It is struggling to deal with an unemployment rate of 21.29%, which is the highest in the industrialised world, as it attempts to recover from the financial crisis and a property slump.
For comparison, UK GDP grew by 0.5% in the first three months of 2011 and the US by 0.4%.
Figures earlier in the week showed that German exports and imports had both risen to their highest monthly level since records began in 1950.
Germany's GDP figures from Destatis showed that domestic demand had been one of the strongest drivers of growth.
The country's growth figures were "fantastic", according to Christian Schulz at Berenberg Bank.
"Consumption will become more and more the engine of growth in the future, since unemployment is dropping starkly," he said.
"France also expanded robustly. The eurozone core remains the anchor for the entire currency union."
France's growth rate was its fastest since the second quarter of 2006.
France's economy minister Christine Lagarde said she was now "very confident that the (government) forecast of 2% growth for 2011 can be met".
She added that the manufacturing sector had been a particularly strong driver of growth in France.
GDP figures from the eurozone |
||
|---|---|---|
| Country | Q1 2011 growth | Q4 2010 growth |
|
Eurozone |
0.8% |
0.3% |
|
Austria |
1.0% |
0.9% |
|
Belgium |
1.0% |
0.5% |
|
Cyprus |
0.0% |
0.4% |
|
Estonia |
2.1% |
2.3% |
|
Finland |
0.3% |
1.7% |
|
France |
1.0% |
0.3% |
|
Germany |
1.5% |
0.4% |
|
Greece |
0.8% |
-2.8% |
|
Italy |
0.1% |
0.1% |
|
Netherlands |
0.9% |
0.7% |
|
Portugal |
-0.7% |
-0.6% |
|
Slovakia |
1.0% |
0.9% |
|
Spain |
0.3% |
0.2% |
Japan's government approves Tepco compensation scheme
Japan's government has approved a plan to help Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) compensate victims of the crisis at its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant.
Payouts are expected to run into the tens of billions of dollars over the Fukushima nuclear plant breakdown.
The assistance could help Tepco avoid bankruptcy, but the government insisted it was not meant as a bail-out.
Meanwhile, this summer the firm also plans to restart thermal power plants shut since the March earthquake.
Oil-powered
The move is to help it avoid possible power shortages during the peak season for demand.
Tepco plans to restart the 600 megawatt No 2 unit and 1,000 megawatt No 4 unit, both oil-fired, at its Hirono thermal plant, about 20 km (12 miles) south of the Fukushima plant.
A 1,000 MW coal-fired unit at Hitachinaka in Ibaraki, north of Tokyo, will also come into operation.
The crisis has brought Tepco, Asia's biggest power firm, to the brink of ruin and there has been concern about how the company would pay a massive compensation bill.
Now Japan's government has agreed to use taxpayer's money to help - reports say more than $60bn.
Strict conditions
Under the plan a state-backed institution will be created from which Tepco can draw money to pay out claims.
In return the company will fall under close government supervision. It will remain listed on the stock exchange but will use profits to pay back the money over a period of years.
Tepco - which serves an area that accounts for 33% of Japan's economy - had earlier agreed to drastic restructuring in return for government help.
The conditions agreed by the company include massive cost-cutting, no upper limit for compensation payouts and accepting an investigation of its management.
Other electricity companies with nuclear power stations will also be expected to contribute, says the BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo.
The government is expected to provide as much support as needed to prevent companies from going into the red, and is expected to fund the scheme by issuing special-purpose bonds.
The scheme eases fears that Tepco's problems could destabilise Japan's financial markets.
But it may face opposition in parliament if it is seen as too lenient on shareholders and management, our correspondent says.
Japanese media have reported that Tepco may have to raise electricity prices in order to help pay for payments.
Tepco's shares dropped on Friday and were trading about 6% lower at 452 yen.
Banking stocks also fell, on fears they may have to rework their loan agreements with Tepco.
Plant shutdown
Meanwhile, the operators of Japan's ageing Hamaoka nuclear plant south-west of Tokyo say they have begun shutting down one of its last two functioning reactors.
The plant is located in the Tokai region near a tectonic faultline just 200km from Tokyo.
Seismologists have long warned that a major earthquake is overdue in the region.
Last week Prime Minister Naoto Kan called for the plant's closure in the light of the catastrophic events at the Fukushima plant.
On Thursday, Tepco said that damage to a reactor at the Fukushima plant was worse than originally thought.
Water is leaking from the pressure vessel surrounding reactor 1 - probably because of damage caused by exposed fuel rods melting, according to a spokesman.
Cooling systems to the reactors were knocked out by the tsunami, causing fuel rods to overheat. There were subsequently explosions in the buildings housing four reactors, three of which had been operating at the time of the earthquake.
Engineers are pumping water into the reactors to cool them as they work to restore the damaged cooling systems.
Tepco has said that it may take up to nine months to achieve a cold shut-down at the plant.