Egypt unrest: Mubarak moves to restart economy
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has held talks with ministers to try to revive an economy hit by a wave of anti-government protests.
Banks will reopen on Sunday. Finance Minister Samir Radwan says the economic situation is "very serious".
Analysts say the uprising is costing the country at least $310m a day.
In a separate development, the politburo of the ruling National Democratic Party has resigned en masse.
Hossam Badrawi, seen as a liberal, became the party's new secretary-general and also took over a position held by Mr Mubarak's son Gamal, Reuters news agency reported.
Meanwhile the army has tried to secure one of the entrances to Tahrir Square, where protesters remain encamped since Friday's mass rally.
Dozens of soldiers were seen trying to remove barricades in what appears to be an attempt to restore order ahead of the new working week.
A senior army official tried to negotiate the army's moves which led to arguments with the protesters, who accused them of attempting to retake control of the square.
Earlier there were reports of an explosion at a pipeline that supplies gas to Israel and Jordan. The blast caused a fire near el-Arish, Egyptian state television reported.
'Solid base'
Mr Mubarak has said he will not stand for re-election in September but insists he must stay until then to prevent chaos in the country. Protesters are demanding that he goes immediately.
On Saturday, the president met the prime minister, finance minister, oil minister and trade and industry minister, along with the central bank governor.
Trade Minister Samiha Fawzi Ibrahim said exports were down 6% in January and that the authorities were providing extra food to try to stabilise prices and curb shortages.
Banks and the stock exchange have been closed for days, and many factories in the major cities have shut.
State media said the stock market would not now open on Monday as planned.
The BBC's Kevin Connolly, in Cairo, says the paralysis induced by the protests is having a huge impact on the creaking economy. Tourists have been frightened away and the prices of basic goods like cigarettes and bread have been soaring.
He says many Egyptians are beginning to wonder aloud how quickly daily life will return to normal regardless of the outcome of the struggle for power.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Radwan admitted the economy faced a "very serious" situation and that he was in constant touch with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
But he also said the economy had a "solid base" and "so far, we are coping".
Economists at Credit Agricole say the uprising is costing the country at least $310m (£192m) a day and they have revised down their economic growth estimate for Egypt this year from 5.3% to 3.7%.
Hotel businessman Adly el-Misikawi told the BBC his trade was down 30% and although he believed the demands of the protesters should be met he said Mr Mubarak should stay in office to oversee a smooth transition
Mr Radwan also said there would be a meeting with opposition groups to try to end the 12 days of protests.
He said Vice-President Omar Suleiman and "almost certainly Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq" would attend, adding that they would have "sufficient authority to negotiate with the opposition".
He did not say which opposition groups would attend. Egyptian television said the al-Wafd and Al-Tajammu parties would be at the talks.
However, the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says if only these parties were involved the dialogue would have little credibility.
Leading opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei told Germany's Der Spiegel weekly he would like to hold talks "with army chiefs, preferably soon, to study how we can achieve a transition without bloodshed".
The biggest opposition group in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood, has said it will take part in discussions provided the government submits political reform within a specified time frame. But it also insists Mr Mubarak must leave office immediately.
Mr Radwan said the transition of power had already begun, with Mr Mubarak saying he would not run again for president.
"It is setting a process in place to ensure a smooth transition of power without falling into the trap of the chaos scenario," he said.
Saturday's pipeline explosion targeted supplies to Israel and Jordan from Egypt's Port Said.
Gas was shut off and the fire was brought under control by mid-morning, state television said.
It also reported that the curfew had now been shortened and would be in effect from 1900 to 0600 local time (1700-0400 GMT).
Also on Saturday, Reuters news agency said a senior Egyptian security source had denied reports on the Fox news network that there had been an assassination attempt on Mr Suleiman which left two of his bodyguards dead.
On Saturday at a conference in Munich, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the "status quo" of undemocratic nations in the region was "simply not sustainable".
She said: "Governments who consistently deny people freedom will open the door to instability... free people govern themselves best."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UK PM David Cameron, also at the conference, both stressed the need for stability in Egypt.
Mrs Merkel added: "Early elections at the beginning of the democratisation process is probably the wrong approach."
On Friday huge crowds had demonstrated across Egypt for an 11th day.
More than 100,000 people - including large numbers of women and children - gathered in Tahrir Square for what was being called the "day of departure".
There were also demonstrations in Egypt's second city, Alexandria, and in the towns of Suez, Port Said, Rafah, Ismailiya, Zagazig, al-Mahalla al-Kubra, Aswan and Asyut.
However, there were suggestions that the protesters would now reduce their presence in central Cairo.
The UN believes more than 300 have died across Egypt since the protests began on 25 January, with about 4,000 hurt.
Egypt opposition wary after talks
Egypt's opposition groups say government proposals on how to end the political crisis are not enough.
The banned Muslim Brotherhood and other groups took part in landmark talks with the government after 13 days of street protests aimed at forcing President Hosni Mubarak to resign.
The government has proposed a review body to amend the constitution.
The opposition says the talks are only a first step and the government's offer is insufficient.
President Mubarak has refused to resign, saying that to do so would cause chaos. He has instead said he will not stand for re-election in September.
Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, US President Barack Obama said the time for change in Egypt was now.
He said the Muslim Brotherhood was only one faction in Egypt, and did not enjoy majority support but admitted that some strands of their ideology were anti-American.
However, he said it was clear Egyptians wanted free and fair elections.
In all, six groups were represented at Sunday's talks hosted by Vice-President Omar Suleiman, including a coalition of youth organisations, and a group of "wise men".
Egyptian state TV said the participants had agreed to form a joint committee of judicial and political figures tasked with suggesting constitutional amendments.
It was the first time the government and the long-banned Brotherhood have held talks.
However, the Muslim Brotherhood said it would only take part in the talks if the government made progress on meeting its demands:
- the immediate resignation of President Mubarak
- lifting emergency laws
- dissolving parliament
- releasing all political prisoners
"Our demands are still the same," senior Brotherhood figure Essam el-Erian told reporters in Cairo. "They didn't respond to most of our demands. They only responded to some of our demands, but in a superficial way."
The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Cairo, says opposition members and the "wise men" who were also there told him they were sceptical of the government's moves.
Leading opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei was not at the talks but one of his representatives met Vice-President Suleiman separately.
Speaking to the US network NBC, he described the process as "opaque".
He said he was proposing a one-year transitional period where Egypt would be run by a three-member presidential council as it prepared for free and fair elections.
The Brotherhood had previously said it would not take part in the negotiations.
The Islamist group is Egypt's most influential and well-organised opposition but it remains officially banned and its members and leaders have been subject to frequent repression.
The Muslim Brotherhood denies accusations that it is seeking to create an Islamist state in Egypt.
Tens of thousands have again joined demonstrations in Cairo and other cities, calling for him to quit.
Meanwhile, many banks opened for the first time in a week, drawing long queues as people waited to withdraw money.
The government is seeking to revive an economy said to be losing at least $310m (£192m) a day.
Many shops, factories and the stock exchange have been closed for days, and basic goods have been running short.
Correspondents say many Egyptians have been wondering how quickly daily life will return to normal regardless of the outcome of the struggle for power.
But they also say there is no let-up in the magnitude of the protests in Tahrir Square, and the mood is almost back to the festival atmosphere of the first few days, with many families and young children in attendance.
Belgian students removed from Ryanair Spanish flight
Spanish police have removed more than 100 Belgian students from a plane that was due to fly from the Canary Islands to Belgium.
The Irish budget airline Ryanair says police were called after the university students became disruptive.
They refused to carry out instructions after some objected to being charged a fee for excess hand luggage, it said.
Most of the students are now stranded in Lanzarote because other flights are either full or too expensive.
Spanish newspaper La Provincia said airline staff had tried to charge one passenger extra for carry-on baggage and his friends on the plane "mutinied".
A spokesman for the Spanish interior ministry said the pilot was preparing for takeoff at Guacimeta airport bound for Charleroi, Belgium, when she radioed for police assistance.
The spokesman said that of the 168 passengers on board, fewer than 70 were allowed to re-board the flight.
Ryanair confirmed that passengers "became disruptive and refused to comply with crew instructions" over a fee for outsized luggage.
In a statement, it said police had required the entire aircraft be off-loaded and each passenger identified.
"Following further disruptive behaviour, the police required for security reasons that this entire group be refused travel," the statement said.
Some of the students - from the University of Brussels - were later able to find alternative flights, but about 70 were still stuck on Lanzarote on Sunday evening.
Tunisia suspends Ben Ali's RCD party
Tunisia's former governing party is to be suspended and its offices closed, the interior ministry has announced.
In a statement broadcast on state television, the ministry said the ban had been imposed pending a decision on the dissolution of the RCD party.
The announcement came three weeks after protesters ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
It came amid fresh clashes at the weekend, in which at least three people were killed in separate incidents.
On Saturday police opened fire on protesters in the north-western town of Kef, killing at least two people. Some reports say four died.
On Sunday protesters set fire to a police station and tried to march on the town prison before troops intervened, the official TAP news agency reported.
Sunday also saw clashes in the central town of Kebili, in which one person was killed. It is believed the victim was hit by a tear gas canister.
Correspondents say that if the Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD) is dissolved, it would be among the most sweeping moves since Mr Ben Ali's departure.
He fled into exile in Saudi Arabia on 12 January following a month of nationwide anti-government protests. The UN says more than 200 people died in the clashes.
The RCD was the key instrument by which Mr Ben Ali maintained power in Tunisia.
The country is being run by an interim unity government under Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi pending presidential elections due to be held in six to seven months' time.
Tunisia's uprising has inspired protest movements elsewhere in the Arab world, including in Egypt.
Security transfer to Afghan control will start in March, Karzai says
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that a critical phase in the transfer of security authority from international to domestic forces would begin March 21, a precursor to a planned full handover three years hence.
Karzai made the announcement during a speech at the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of diplomatic and military leaders from Western and other nations.
"We are determined to demonstrate Afghan leadership and ownership of the transition process," he said.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in an interview conducted with conference organizers and posted on its website, explained this move next month marks the start of "a gradual transition to lead Afghan responsibility -- province by province, district by district." Thus, Afghans may take over full control in some locales relatively soon, while the process may take much longer elsewhere.
"I'm very optimistic about this timetable leading to Afghan (security) responsibility all over Afghanistan by May 2014," said Rasmussen. "But I have to add, that obviously this development will depend on conditions on the ground."
During his speech, Karzai credited the influx of 70,000 international forces in 2010 for improving the situation and helping Afghan security forces. He frequently mentioned the fight against the al Qaeda terror group, but did not mention the Taliban -- which was ousted from power in 2001, for harboring al Qaeda, and has been behind many attacks since.
"We have regained the initiative," Karzai said. "Security in the country is better than it was a year before, and the year before that."
In a letter to troops late last month, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus voiced a similar sentiment, saying the surge "inflicted enormous losses" on militants and weakened terror networks. It came at a steep price: Last year was the deadliest for coalition and U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the war began. There were 708 such troops killed, of which 498 were American service members.
Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said insurgents were now on the defensive in Afghanistan, and pointed specifically to progress in Kabul, where one-fifth of the Afghan population lives. Still, he cautioned that past success doesn't guarantee a smooth road ahead.
"In sum, 2010 was a year of significant, hard-fought accomplishments," Petraeus wrote. "The year ahead is likely to be a tough one, too."
U.S. President Barack Obama has promised to begin a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan starting in July, a pledge he reiterated during his recent State of the Union address.
During the speech Sunday, Karzai also acknowledged issues of corruption in Afghanistan, focusing especially on contracts that fell outside the Kabul government's control. The president outlined efforts to curb abuses, which is the past he said had "undermined the capacity of the state rather than building it."
"With the U.S. and NATO, we're overhauling the system to make contracting an instrument of good rather than bad governance," he said.
By 2015, Karzai predicted that Afghanistan will have "binding agreements with the United States and long-term partnerships with NATO" -- noting that the shift in security responsibility does not mean a clean break with international forces that have been engaged there for nearly a decade.
As to NATO's role, the current head of the military and political Western alliance said he expected that some of its troops may still be in Afghanistan even after 2014.
"I ... foresee a continued international presence, beyond the date when our combat mission ends, with the aim to assist the Afghans," Rasmussen said.
Karzai closed his speech Sunday by again thanking other nations for committing financial resources to Afghanistan, as well as the human sacrifice many have made. And he urged them to continue to help, claiming Afghan's prosperity and security was vital to the interests of the region and the world.
"Some journey is left and that journey will not be easy," Karzai said. "But it's a journey worth taking."
Police find remains of 5 men, 13 others killed in northern Mexico
Police discovered Sunday the remains of five men discarded along the highway between Monterrey and Reynosa, in northern Mexico, Notimex reported. The state news agency said the bodies were naked, except for plastic bags.
In other violence, gunmen clashed with soldiers in three separate incidents in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, leaving 13 people dead, the agency reported Saturday.
In the first, in San Fernando, gunmen opened fire on a group of soldiers as they were making their rounds, Notimex reported. The news agency said the soldiers responded in kind, leaving six people dead.
The second incident, in Valle Hermoso, was reported much the same. Soldiers on patrol came under gunfire and they responded, leaving six people dead, Notimex reported.
In the third incident, in Nuevo Laredo, soldiers again came under attack and killed one of their assailants, according to Notimex. The agency added that a second man was arrested.
Separately on Saturday, Notimex reported that the remains of the man in charge of security at a prison in the northern city of Monterrey were found inside a parked car near the jail. Francisco Martinez Ramirez, 60, had been abducted from his home Friday, Notimex said.
The clashes are the latest in a string of violence fueled by the lucrative drug trade in Mexico. According to the government, there have been more than 34,600 drug-related deaths since President Felipe Calderon began a crackdown on the cartels in December 2006.
Jordanian tribal figures criticize queen, demand reform
In unprecedented criticism of Jordan's royal family, three dozen prominent Jordanian tribal figures issued an urgent call for reform Sunday and warned that the country may follow Tunisia and Egypt into turmoil without it.
The statement from 36 members of the country's major tribes attacked what they called the interference of Queen Rania in running the country. The queen, "her sycophants and the power centers that surround her" are dividing Jordanians and "stealing from the country and the people," the letter states.
The tribal figures said they were sending a clear message to King Abdullah II. They warned that if corruption was not prosecuted and reform was not implemented, "similar events to those in Tunisia and Egypt and other Arab countries will occur." The internet and satellite television had overcome the ability of regimes to stifle the thirst for information, the statement said.
There has been no response from the royal palace to the statement, which was posted on a popular Jordanian website. But the website, ammonnews.net, later complained that it had been the target of "intentional hacking" and that the statement had been removed.
Jordan's tribes make up about 40% of the country's population and are seen as the bedrock of support for the Hashemite monarchy that has ruled the country for nearly a century. Though it was not clear whether all the signers were speaking for their tribes, such criticism of the monarchy is rare in Jordan -- recent street protests that criticized the government stopped short of calling for King Abdullah II to step down.
Abdullah marks twelve years on the throne this month, but faces growing criticism among Jordanians amid a recession and allegations of widespread corruption among officials. He dismissed his Cabinet last week, acknowledging that corruption needed to be tackled and political reforms urgently pursued.
Rania, 40, has been married to Abdullah for 17 years. She has had a high profile at home and internationally and has been involved in a number of charitable causes, including youth unemployment.
The tribal leaders said Sunday that allegations of corruption by Layla Trabelsi -- the wife of longtime Tunisian strongman Zine El Abedine Ben Ali, who was forced into exile by a popular revolt in January -- and by Egyptian first lady Suzanne Mubarak have been "the catalyst of populist movements" in those countries. What has happened in Jordan is even worse, the statement said.
"We refuse the squandering of public money and aid to polish her own personal image at the expense of the nation," the statement said. The signatories demanded a breakdown of how aid money from the United States and European Union was being spent and called for a new election law and greater media freedom.
Resentment of Rania, who is Palestinian, is not new among Jordan's Bedouin tribes, but has risen sharply. In recent days, tribal sources have expressed to CNN their resentment about what they perceive as her lavish lifestyle and her interference in politics.
Google’s Bermuda Tax Avoidance “Unethical”
Google has become one of the worst global corporate citizens after deciding to funnel profits through Bermuda to avoid taxes rather than reinvesting in countries where it does business, says the former head of a British TV network.
Luke Johnson, one of Britain’s best known businessman and the former chairman of that country’s Channel 4, said Google “pays for no content whatsoever, but parasitically lives off the back of all those organisations that actually commission writers, actors, directors, producers to make original material.
“All those film-makers, journalists and others who are being thrown out of work can blame Google: they have ransacked the UK media industry, and are not even paying reasonable levels of tax on their usurious gains,” he said.
Mr. Johnson said Britain is Google’s second-largest market, generating approximately £5.7 billion in revenues in the last three years — most of it profit.
“It exploits tax havens such as Bermuda to legally avoid taxation,” he said, describing the multinational’s actions as “profoundly unethical”. ” … Effectively, Google invests negligible amounts in Britain, pays negligible amounts of tax on its underlying surplus to contribute to civil society, and yet extracts vast sums in advertising revenues.
“The tragedy is that those advertising revenues siphoned off to California should be used to help fund high-quality content –- TV programmes, radio shows, newspaper and magazine articles.
“… Britain punches way above its weight in the entertainment and culture industries – but we are also easily the biggest loser from Google’s assault, since none of the cash it extracts is recycled in any serious way in creative content.”
Since Bloomberg revealed in October how Google diverts profits from non-US operations to Ireland and then onward to tax-free Bermuda, the California-based Internet giant has been the subject of intense media criticism.
Google’s use of Bermuda for tax avoidance is being blamed, in part, for President Obama’s deep reluctance to grant US multinationals a “tax holiday” and repatriate profits deposited in off-shore jurisidictions like Bermuda.
EU provides record funding to CARICOM states
The European Union (EU) said Friday it had made available a record high €130.2 million (US$162.7 million) in grant funding to nine Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries last year.
A statement from the Barbados-based European Union Delegation to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean said that among the nine countries, funds were also made available to the British Overseas Territories of Anguilla and Montserrat to the tune of €12.7 million (US$17.2 million).
"This amount clearly demonstrates the continued commitment by the European Union to supporting the Caribbean states, especially in these difficult times of a sustained financial and economic crisis and natural disasters like Hurricane Tomas," said Ambassador Valeriano Diaz, head of the European Union Delegation to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.
The EU said that the funds contributed to the social development of the small island states and their economic stability.
It said the budgetary support "was a delivery instrument that provided up to €59 million (US$72 million), or 45 per cent of the overall development assistance.
"This was especially crucial at times when the countries in the region battled with lack of fiscal space and a rising debt problem. In order to benefit from budgetary support, recipient countries have to demonstrate macroeconomic stability, improvements in public-finance management, and progress in the implementation of the supported strategies.
intensifying dialogue
The statement said: "The European Union is, therefore, keen in intensifying its dialogue with the countries concerned on these important matters."
It said that the overall disbursement total also includes banana payments totalling €19 million (US$23.7 million), which was distributed in St Lucia, Dominica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines to assist them in diversification of the agricultural sector and to create safety nets for banana farmers.
In the case of Antigua and Barbuda, the European Union disbursed €9 million (US$11.2 million) under its special vulnerability assistance scheme which was set up to help eligible African, Caribbean and Pacific countries deal with the effects of the global financial crisis.
"This contribution allowed the Government of Antigua to fill a financing gap and maintain critical social expenditure as it supported government's macro-economic and fiscal-reform programmes in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)," the EU said.
In the case of Barbados, the European Union disbursed €12.1 million (US$15.12 million) in grants in 2010.
The main highlight of the support was €4.94 million (US$6.17million) in support of the country's information and communication technology strategy, along with another major payment of €4.7 million (US$5.86 million) budget support disbursement towards the international business and financial services sector.
Other aspects of the overall intervention include the signing of the first phase of a sector budget-support programme towards the implementation of a human resource development programme, assessment of the country's public finance management systems, and institutional strengthening.
budgetary support
Disbursements in Dominica totalled €16.3 million (US$20.38 million) which included vulnerability assistance of €8.15 million (US$10.1 million) in the form of budgetary support which went towards funding some of government's priority programmes in education, health, water management, and housing. Some of this assistance was also channelled towards a private sector growth and development programme.
Banana-related payments in Dominica amounted to € 842,000 (US$1.05 million).
In the case of Grenada, that island benefited from payments totalling €11 million (US$13.7 million), which included two vulnerability-assistance payments of €7.3 million (US$9.12 million).
"This major contribution allowed the Government of Grenada to fund social projects such as the book-rental programme, the school-feeding programme, transportation assistance to school children, road improvement and maintenance programmes, the public-assistance programme, and the debushing or roadside- clearing programme."
The EU said that it also provided banana-related payments totalling €352,000 (US$400,000).
The EU provided €5.7 million (US$7.12 million) to St Kitts and Nevis last year. The funds went towards a safety and security programme, the aim of which is to construct a new prison for those on remand, psychiatric prisoners, and repeat offenders; to renovate a number of police stations and coastguard facilities; and to upgrade the fleet of the Ministry of National Security.
- CMC
LIME completes US$35 million undersea link
Cable and Wireless (C&W), the telecoms company that trades in the Caribbean as LIME, says it has completed the buildout of the US$35 million undersea cable connecting Jamaica, the British Virgin Islands, and the Dominican Republic. The cable will enhance ability to carry voice and data traffic in the Caribbean and to compete for business.
"The new system ... strengthens LIME's position as the leading wholesale capacity provider and increases its capability to serve its carrier customers in North and Latin America as well as within the Caribbean," the CEO of LIME Caribbean, David Shaw, said on Friday.
LIME operates in 13 Caribbean countries and up to a decade ago, had a near monopoly on telecoms services in most of the former British colonies in the region.
struggling
That was until market deregulation and the entry to the region of competitors such as Irishman Dennis O'Brien's mobile phone company Digicel not only dislodged C&W from market leadership, but left it struggling to regain market share, especially in voice telephony.
In Jamaica particularly, where Digicel has its headquarters, LIME has gone through several reorganisations, spent heavily to upgrade systems, and wracked up big losses.
Analysts say that fibre-optic networks such as the one now being launched put LIME in a better position to go after corporate clients - who are more likely to make decisions based on hard economics -even as it seeks to claw its way back in favour with the young 'cool' crowd of mobile phone users who have largely been captured by Digicel. Digicel is estimated to be beating LIME nearly three to one in the mobile market.
In fact, this is the third submarine cable built by LIME in the region since 2008. It joins the CBUS cable between Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands, and the Gemini-Bermuda cable between Bermuda and the east coast of the United States.
These, the company said, have enabled LIME to meet the rising demand for high-speed bandwidth from consumers and business customers in the Caribbean. In some markets this might lead to a relative decline in price.
However, LIME's market share for this kind of service was not immediately clear.
"LIME's network is well positioned to benefit from growth in wholesale markets," said Managing Director of Carrier Services Martin Fijman. " The Caribbean is a major traffic corridor between South America and the major Internet, content and carrier hubs in the United States - acknowledged as one of the fastest growing inter-continental routes in the world today."