The documentary produced by Ahmadinejad’s office makes it clear that the Iranian regime sees itself as religiously-commanded to lead a united Arab coalition to destroy Israel in the near future. Interestingly, it said that the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, though it is Sunni, is “in accordance with the Hadith.” The uprisings in the region are being seen as a green light for a new offensive to begin in the Middle East and Islamist forces are moving quickly to maximize their gains.
The immediate flashpoint in this new jihad is in Bahrain. The population is 70 percent Shiite but is ruled by a pro-American, Sunni Royal Family. Massive protests threatened to topple the regime that were responded to with deadly violence condemned by Iran. The Bahraini regime was forced to ask for intervention by the Gulf Cooperation Council and about 1,200 soldiers from Saudi Arabia and 800 from the United Arab Emirates came to its rescue. The Shiite opposition in Bahrain considers these forces to be an “occupation.” The leader of the hardline Haq opposition group flatly stated that the Saudi intervention gives the opposition “the right to appeal for help from Iran.” It is happy to oblige.
Hezbollah has offered support to the Shiite uprising in Bahrain and a website registered by the Iranian government is signing up volunteers to wage jihad against the GCC forces, including “martyrdom” operations that will be assigned via email. The website says that the fighters will be divinely guided by “the redeemer” who is behind the revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia and Egypt and will lead the war against Israel, the U.S. and the enemy Arab governments. It is not clear who this “redeemer” is, but it is further proof that the Iranian regime believes it is fulfilling the commandments of Allah. The website says that a total of 1,858 volunteers have signed up, 60 percent of which are from Iran and 18 percent are from Bahrain. This isn’t just talk. Qatar has seized two Iranian ships near Bahrain loaded with weapons.
At the same time, there are relatively small but consistent protests in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, which is a Shiite majority area where most of the country’s oil resides. A successful Shiite uprising in nearby Bahrain would escalate the situation and the Iranian regime has repeatedly condemned the Saudi treatment of its Shiite minority. The aforementioned documentary produced by Ahmadinejad’s office states that the death of Saudi King Abdullah, either by natural causes or assassination (as called for in the film), is foretold in the Hadith as a sign that this final grand jihad is to begin. King Abdullah is 86 years old and is in very poor health.
It is not difficult to sense the fear instilled in the Saudi Royal Family. It has gone on a massive spending binge to appease its population. It announced a $36 billion aid package earlier this year and just announced a significant larger budget to finance projects around the country, including the upgrading of mosques; new offices for the religious police; the hiring of 60,000 more security personnel; bonuses for government workers; the creation of an anti-corruption agency; the construction of low-income apartments and much more. To Iran, this is more proof that it is about to fulfill prophetic destiny.
The documentary also asserts that the revolution in Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood’s gains are part of this End Times scenario. Iran and the Brotherhood come from different branches of Islam but their struggles are tied. A seniorBrotherhood official recently attended a conference in Tehran where he praised Ahmadinejad and said the region needed more leaders like him. The March 19 vote in favor of the constitutional amendments is a boon to the Islamists, as it paves the way for parliamentary elections as early as June and presidential elections as soon as September. This gives minimal time for political forces opposed to the Brotherhood to mobilize and campaign.
In Jordan, protests are smaller in comparison to the rest of the region but they are slowly getting larger, are consistently held and clashes are increasing. Here, too, the Muslim Brotherhood has a very powerful presence. The inevitable removal of Yemeni President Saleh, a staunch enemy of Iran, is also opening doors to the Islamists. The Muslim Brotherhood’s affiliate, Islah, will gain politically and the Yemeni government will be too weak to stand in the way of the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, whose fight is referred to as a “holy revolution” in the regime’s documentary. The Houthis stated recently that their goal is the overthrow of the Yemeni government.
The regime’s film does not say that Al-Qaeda is part of this prophetic jihad and Osama Bin Laden’s picture is on a wall of Iran’s enemies. This does not mean that the terrorist group won’t benefit from this instability. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is already expanding its base in Yemen, seizing a town, a strategic mountain and a weapons factory after the police presence in the area was reduced to cope with the government’s crisis. In Libya, at least one rebel commander belongs to the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, which is tied to Al-Qaeda, and admits that about 25 of his fighters battled Coalition forces in Iraq. He also says that he was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 for fighting in Afghanistan against invading forces. CNN describes the Muslim Brotherhood branch in Libya as “energized” despite its lack of a presence in Benghazi.
This does not mean that everything is following the Iranian regime’s End Times vision. The uprising in Syria is clearly not in Iran’s interest and neither are the protests in the Gaza Strip and the declining popularity of Hamas. Recent terrorist attacks on Israel may be a desperate attempt to stabilize these situations and/or could be an opening salvo in this envisioned final jihad. Public pressure and protests in Sudan have been enough for President Omar Bashir, an ally of Iran, to announce he will not stay in office beyond his term. And of course, there is the opposition the Iranian regime also faces, though the film indicates that this is seen as a sign of the Hidden Imam’s reappearance as well.
Almost everywhere the Iranian regime looks in the region, it sees vindication of its apocalyptic worldview and signs that the final grand jihad it is meant to lead is imminent. The revolutions in the area are inspiring to Arab peoples seeking justice and freedom but they are just as inspiring to Iran and its Islamist allies. The Middle East is entering a dangerous new phase.
Telegraph
Libya: Is the West playing into al-Qaeda's hands?
Islamists have had a marginal role in these revolutions – but that could be changing, writes Peter Bergen.
Libyan rebel fighters with their weapons on the road in Bin JawadPhoto: Sipa Press / Rex Features
As the fortunes of Colonel Gaddafi's forces and the Libyan rebels continue to see-saw, many commentators are calling for the West to arm the opposition forces. Yet the disclosure on Tuesday that US intelligence agencies have picked up "flickers" of an al-Qaeda presence among the rebels has set off a fierce debate within the Obama administration – and the wider coalition – about whether giving them weapons may inadvertently help the enemies of the West.
Part of the problem, according to a senior US intelligence official, is that the American government is largely flying blind when it comes to the exact make-up of rebel forces. So how legitimate are the worries about al-Qaeda opportunistically inserting itself into the civil war?
Much of the concern centres around the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), a jihadist organisation founded in the mid-1990s that waged a low-level guerrilla war against Gaddafi. In recent years, it had publicly rejected al-Qaeda's ideology and entered into a ceasefire with the government, as a result of which 700 militants have been released from jail over the past four years.
Some of these have since joined the rebels, meaning that Islamist militants certainly make up some unknown percentage of their forces. Yet Noman Benotman, a former LIFG leader based in London, points out that the LIFG "never carried out attacks against the West nor against civilians", suggesting that its members are more interested in regime change in their own country than a global holy war.
Weighed against this, however, is the fact that al-Qaeda's overall number three is a Libyan known as Abu Yahya al-Libi, who has recently appeared on a half-hour videotape on jihadist forums claiming that the West is propping up Arab dictators and exhorting his countrymen to take up arms against Gaddafi. Also, there is the cache of al-Qaeda documents recovered in Iraq in 2007, containing information about some 700 foreign fighters, many of whom had volunteered to be suicide bombers. Around 20 per cent were from Libya – one of the smaller Arab countries in terms of population – and of these, most were from the east, the heartland of the opposition to Gaddafi. The worry in Washington is not confined to Libya: there is concern, for example, that "al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula" could take advantage of the deteriorating situation in Yemen, as the regime continues to teeter. Senior counterterrorism officials say that this group already posed the most direct threat to the West, pointing to its botched attempt to blow up an passenger jet over Detroit and the two bombs disguised as toner cartridges that were only discovered at airports in Dubai and the East Midlands because of a last-minute tip-off by Saudi intelligence.
Certainly, al-Qaeda and its affiliates in the Muslim world have long thrived amid the chaos of civil wars. Al Shabab, the militant group that pledged allegiance to bin Laden two years ago and controls large chunks of Somalia, is a good case in point. So is al-Qaeda in Iraq, which killed thousands in the recent civil war.
Yet at the same time, a striking feature of the revolutions and protests in Cairo, Benghazi and Sana is that no one is carrying placards of bin Laden. Nor have we seen pictures of burning American flags – usually de rigueur in that part of the world. This strongly suggests that al-Qaeda is not part of the Arab Spring, which has been driven instead by a bulging youth population; grim economic prospects for many; and rage at the authoritarian kleptocracies that have ruled for decades.
Al-Qaeda's leaders are defensive about the minuscule role they have played so far. On Tuesday, Anwar al-Awlaki, a Yemeni-American cleric and leading Islamist ideologue, released a lengthy rebuttal to the idea that al-Qaeda is marginal to the Arab revolutions. On the pages of the online magazine Inspire, a slickly laid-out publication that includes features on the proper use of an AK-47, Awlaki explained, "The mujahidin around the world are going through a moment of elation and I wonder whether the West is aware of the upsurge of mujahidin activity in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Arabia, Algeria, and Morocco?"
Awlaki also took me to task personally, challenging a story I wrote in which I said that al-Qaeda's main goal – the installation of Taliban-style theocracies from Indonesia to Morocco – was irrelevant to what is going on in the Middle East. "For a so-called 'terrorism expert' such as Peter Bergen," he fulminated, "it is interesting to see how even he doesn't get it right this time. For him to think that because a Taliban-style regime is not going to take over following the revolutions is a too short-term way of viewing the unfolding events."
Perhaps history may prove Awlaki right. Certainly, it has a way of surprising us: in 1916 in Russia, it was hardly obvious that within two years, not only would the Tsar be dead, but that Lenin would be ruling in his place.
Yet my hunch is that whatever the outcomes of these various uprisings, they will not be pleasing to bin Laden. The protesters are not clamouring for Taliban-style rule, but the same things most of us want: accountable government, the rule of law, and a better future. And when it comes to any of these matters, al-Qaeda doesn't have much in the way of real ideas.
Peter Bergen is a programme director at the New America Foundation and the author of 'The Longest War: The Enduring Conflict between America and al-Qaeda' (Free Press).
Telegraph
Afghanistan: United Nations workers beheaded in attack on compound
Eight foreign employees of the United Nations in Afghanistan have been killed after protesters overran their compound in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
A crowd gathers outside the UN office after it was attackedPhoto: EPA
6:14PM BST 01 Apr 2011
Two of the dead were beheaded by attackers who also burned parts of the compound and climbed up blast walls to topple a guard tower, said Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, a police spokesman for the northern region.
It is believed to be the deadliest ever attack on the UN in Afghanistan.
Over a thousand protesters had flooded into the streets of the normally peaceful city after Friday prayers to denounce the burning of Islam's holy book, the Koran, by a US pastor, and after two or three hours violence broke out.
Police fired into the air in an unsuccessful bid to control the crowd.
A United Nations spokesman confirmed employees had been killed but declined to comment on numbers of dead or their nationalities, saying reports from the scene were confusing.
Staffan De Mistura, the top UN diplomat in Afghanistan, has flown to Mazar-i-Sharif to handle the situation personally.
A police source, who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media, said protesters had stormed into the compound where they attacked the victims.
The chief of the mission in the city was wounded but survived, and the dead included employees of Norwegian, Romanian and Swedish nationalities, he added.
Russia called on the Afghan government and international forces to "take all necessary measures" to protect UN workers in a statement issued by the foreign ministry after the attack.
If the death toll given by the Afghan police is correct, it would make it the deadliest attack on the United Nations in Afghanistan.
The worst previous attack was an insurgent assault on a guesthouse where UN staff were staying in October 2009. Five employees were killed and nine others wounded.
But it was not clear if Friday's killings had any direct link to the insurgency, or were simply a product of broader anti-Western sentiment.
Mazar-i-Sharif has remained relatively peaceful as the insurgency gathers force in other parts of the north, and was recently chosen as one of the first areas for a transition of security from Nato troops to Afghan forces.
Long-standing anger over civilian casualties has been heightened by the Koran burning and the recent publication of gruesome photographs of the body of an unarmed Afghan teenager killed by U.S. soldiers.
The Christian preacher Terry Jones, who after international condemnation last year cancelled a plan to burn copies of the Koran, supervised the burning of the book in front of a crowd of about 50 people at an obscure church in Florida on Sunday, according to his website.
The Koran burning was denounced by Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, and Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari.
Thousands of demonstrators marched through western Herat city and around 200 in Kabul to protest against the same incident, but there was no violence at either demonstration.
Telegraph
Seven killed in worst-ever attack on UN workers in Afghanistan
Seven United Nations workers have been executed in the northern Afghanistan city of Mazar-e-Sharif by demonstrators protesting the burning of a Koran at a church in Florida.
The victims of the worst-ever attack on UN personnel in Afghanistan included five guards from Nepal, and civilian staff from Norway, Sweden and Romania. Four local residents were also killed.
UN officials told The Daily Telegraph the final toll could rise as high as 20, and there were unconfirmed reports that the head of the United Nations Military Assistance Mission (Unama) in Mazar-e-Sharif had also been seriously injured
Local residents said about 2,000 demonstrators attacked UN guards stationed outside Unama compound, seized their weapons and began firing at police.
Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, a police spokesman, claimed the protesters had killed two of the guards and shot others before scaling an anti-blast wall to topple a guard tower and set fire to buildings.
Few details were available on how the attack took place, but local residents said crowds began gathering there after a cleric at the city's central mosque urged worshippers at Friday prayers to call on the UN take action against Wayne Sapp, an evangelical preacher who burned a Koran at a service at a small fringe church in Gainesville, Flordia, on March 20.
The church is headed by Terry Jones, a pastor who threatened to burn a Koran in September, on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Even though Mr Jones called off his planned action in the face of global outrage, five people were killed in protests targeting Nato facilities in Afghanistan. Pastor Jones told Sky News in the wake of the attack that the US "must take action".
Following the Koran burning, Maulvi Qayamuddin Kashaf, had called on American authorities to prosecute Mr Sapp as a war criminal. Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan's President, had also described the Koran burning as a "crime against religion," and called on the US and UN to take action.
It is unclear how the demonstration in Mazar-e-Sharif turned violent, but Mr Noor said 20 "insurgents" involved in the killings had been arrested, suggesting they may have infiltrated the crowd. The crowd the turned on the guards outside the UN compound, and then settled
Mazar-i-Sharif is a relatively peaceful town, and was earmarked as one of the first where Nato troops would be replaced by Afghan forces.
There was confusion over the numbers of dead after Atta Mohammad Noor, the governor of Balkh province, said seven UN staff had been killed, including a woman. Later reports, however, placed the number at eight. Unama said it was aware of the incident, but did not disclose details on casualties, saying it was "working to ascertain all the facts."
Local police spokesman Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai said "two of the killed UN staff were beheaded." General Abdul Rauf Taj, a senior official, had earlier said that two guards were "shot in the head." But later reports suggested they had had their throats cut.
Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary general, described the attack as "outrageous and cowardly," while Barack Obama, the US president, said he condemned it "in the strongest possible terms." William Hague, the foreign secretary, condemned the "brutal act".
Security at Nato and UN buildings in Afghanistan had been upgraded in recent weeks amid fears of attacks in protest at revelations that a 'Kill Squad' of American soldiers had killed innocent civilians and taken photographs of the bodies as trophies.
The US government has apologised for the atrocities, but its officials have been braced for retaliatory attacks since the photographs were published.
The UN's representative in Afghanistan, Staffan De Mistura, has flown in to Mazar-i-Sharif to manage the crisis, and was last night meeting local Nato military commanders and the local chief of police.
ADDIS ABABA — While much of the world’s attention is focusing on crude oil prices and the Libyan pipelines in the east of the country– human right groups say rebels are committing crimes against humanity.
In east Libya, African hunt began as towns and cities began fall under the control of Libyan rebels, mobs and gangs. They started to detain, insult, rape and even executing black immigrants, students and refugees.
In the past two weeks, more than 100 Africans from various Sub-Sahara states are believed to have been killed by Libyan rebels and their supporters.
According to Somali refugees in Libya, at least five Somalis from Somaliland and Somalia were executed in Tripoli and Benghazi by anti-Gaddafi mobs. Dozens of refugees and immigrants workers from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Nigeria, Chad, Mali and Niger have been killed, some of them were led into the desert and stabbed to death. Black Libyan men receiving medical care in hospitals in Benghazi were reportedly abducted by armed rebels. They are part of more than 200 African immigrants held in secret locations by the rebels.
In many disputes involving Libyan residents and black Africans, the Libyans are turning in the Africans as mercenaries.
Thousands more Africans caught up in this mercenary hysteria are terrified. Some barricaded themselves in their homes, while others hid in the desert. Insulted, threatened, beaten, chased and robbed. Their only crime was being black and therefore treated as “mercenaries” of Gaddafi.
While the airing of Gaddafi’s so called “black mercenaries” by Western media has ignited the issue, some say an xenophobic attitude towards these refugees and labourers has existed for years. They say the current attacks are racially motivated because the rebels have released many actual Libyan mercenaries and soldiers under a tribal agreement. They believe many Arabs felt their Libyan leader was abandoning them for black Africans ever since he became a “pan-Africanist”. Many immigrants were regularly victims of racism.
In many situations, Gaddafi and his inner circle preferred black Africans and Libyans from the south over Libyans from the east. Now the angry mobs using the revolutionary movement across Arabia and North Africa are hunting down black people.
Mohamed Abdillahi, Somaliland, 25, was sleeping at his home in Zouara, when the mobs arrived. “They knocked on the door around 1 o’clock in the morning. They said get out, we’ll kill you, you are blacks, foreigners, clear.”
The testimonials and are very similar among the thousands of Africans that saw the ugly side of Libya in the past weeks. “They have attacked us, they took everything from us,” said Ali Farah, Somali labourer 29 years.
“They wanted to kill civilians, they beat many of us. To me, they are animals,” says Jamal Hussein, 25 years Sudanese worker.
Many of the fleeing Africans are terrified to tell their stories. At the checkpoint, they do not mingle with others. When asked about their ordeal, they just freeze, “they stopped us many times and said not tell what has happened here, say there are no problems,” Elias Nour from Ethiopia said.
“For the past seven days, my whole family has been holed up at home without any food, running water or electricity, we appeal for urgent intervention,” Mohamed Abdi from Somaliland told local reporters by cellphone.
In the latest reports reaching Somalilandpress from Tripoli, forces loyal to Col. Muammar Gaddafi have reportedly began kidnapping African and Libyan youths from their homes and universities. They are said to be preparing them for a showdown against the rebels. The kidnapped youths include five teenagers from Somaliland.
Many Africans have virtually nothing after years in Libya, many have been looted, robbed, while others saw their living quarters and apartments go in flames. Now they are praying to God to send them home.
While the international leaders are busy drafting resolutions to dismantle Muammar Gaddafi, the African Union has not yet commented on the situation in Libya.
Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court is said to have started a formal inquiry into possible crimes against humanity in Libya that will investigate the Libyan regime.
Telegraph
Libya: Gaddafi forces reject ceasefire
Col Gaddafi's forces have rejected a ceasefire call from Libyan rebels, saying government troops would not leave Libyan cities as demanded by the opposition.
"They are asking us to withdraw from our own cities. .... If this is not mad then I don't know what this is. We will not leave out cities," said Mussa Ibrahim, the government spokesman.
Rebels had earlier called for the ceasefire after Gaddafi forces drove them back for a third day after sandstorms and clouds hindered Nato air strikes.
Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the rebel Interim National Council, said in a televised press conference that Gaddafi's fighters should retreat from western cities and built-up areas as part of a ceasefire deal. There was no immediate response to the offer from the Gaddafi regime.
The ceasefire was proposed after Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that American jets would not fly with Nato forces over Libya after Saturday leaving the remainder of the Nato forces to provide the air power.
The US had committed 90 aircraft to the Libyan missions. Their withdrawal leaves the remaining coalition forces, including Qatar, UAE and Sweden with 143 aircraft. Britain has 17 aircraft in operation and France has 33.
Robert Gates, the Pentagon chief, told Congress the US would "significantly ramp down our commitment" to Libya apart from for electronic warfare, aerial refuelling and surveillance.
Mr Gates and Adml Mullen faced strong scepticism on Capitol Hill. "With Iraq and Afghanistan already occupying a considerable share of American resources, I sincerely hope that this is not the start of a third elongated conflict, especially in a region where we have other more discernible strategic interests," said Representative. Buck McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services committee.
Senator John McCain, senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: "We are not doing everything necessary to achieve our policy goals."
He stated that "hope is not a strategy" and that the US had "effectively stopped our strike missions altogether without having achieved our goal", which he believed was to force out Col Gaddafi.
"I know the US military has a heavy load on its back right now ... but we must not fail in Libya, and I say this with someone who is familiar with the consequences of a lost conflict [in Vietnam]".
Mr Gates told Mr McCain and his colleagues that American strike aircraft were on "standby" in case it became "apparent" that Nato coalition aircraft were not succeeding.
A Nato official conceded that clouds had affected the air strikes and made it more difficult to hit Gaddafi forces. "Yesterday, we were somewhat restricted by bad weather. There is no doubt it will be more challenging for us to identify targets of military forces that are attacking civilians."
A coalition air strike reportedly killed seven civilians and injured 25 injured, according to a doctor working with rebel forces.
Dr Suleiman Refardi said that the incident happened on Wednesday in the village of Zawia el Argobe, near Brega, when the air strike hit an ammunition truck in a pro-Gaddafi convoy and damaged two houses. According to the doctor, the dead were four girls aged between 12 and 16 and three youths aged between 14 and 20.
The doctor said that villagers considered the casualties a "sacrifice and a price worth paying" for stopping Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's troops from taking back rebel-held territory. Zawia el Argobe is nine miles from Brega, where rebels forces are massed.
Nato officials said that they were making inquiries "down our operations chain to find out if indeed there is any information on the operation side that would support this claim".
Telegraph
David Cameron rules out deal for Saif Gaddafi
David Cameron has ruled out offering Saif Gaddafi, the dictator's son, any special deal or treatment if he wishes to leave Libya, Downing Street officials said yesterday.
David Cameron made clear that Saif Gaddafi will be classed the same way as his fatherPhoto: REX
By Robert Winnett, Deputy Political Editor9:57PM BST 01 Apr 2011
Saif Gaddafi will now be treated in the same way as his father after making a series of inflammatory statements over the past few weeks. He was previously a regular visitor to Britain and was close to politicians and businessmen.
However, he is now likely to be arrested if he attempts to flee to this country or another European nation.
Downing Street has stated its position towards Saif Gaddafi after it emerged that one of his key aides had travelled to Britain earlier this week, during which he had talks with intelligence officials. This sparked speculation that the aide, Mohammed Ismail, was exploring a possible exit deal for Saif Gaddafi – although this has been played down by Whitehall sources.
Noman Benotman, a Libyan and senior analyst at Quilliam, a think tank, said that his contacts had told him Mr Ismail had proposed a scenario under which Gaddafi's sons would take over, or at least have a role in a new government, and their father would step aside with his honour intact.
The British Government is understood to have ruled out the "scenario" and Mr Ismail was told Gaddafi, and those around him, had to go.
A government source said Mr Ismail had been visiting family members, but that Britain had "taken the opportunity to send some very strong messages about the Gaddafi regime".
Yesterday, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "If people are in the UK they are subject to UK law."
He also made clear that Saif Gaddafi will be classed the same way as his father. "We have a very clear view about the present regime and those people involved in that regime," he said.
MI6 is currently thought to be in negotiations with about 12 people in the Libyan regime who wish to defect. Mr Cameron has urged Gaddafi's "henchmen" to flee. Moussa Koussa, the Libyan Foreign Minister, defected and arrived in Britain on Wednesday.
However, there is growing debate over how Koussa and others should be treated if coming to Britain. Some believe they should be treated well, at least initially, to encourage other defections but others insist they must be held accountable for their crimes.
Yesterday, Lord Malloch Brown, the former Foreign Office minister and former Deputy Secretary General of the UN, said: "It's critically important that he be seen to have been well received because there are many others who may follow.
"We have to have a strategy now of trying to fragment the regime by peeling people away from it and if we kind of 'knocked him up' that would deter that because this kind of political strategy which pulls people out of the regime and ultimately isolate Gaddafi is frankly a much better way forward than the rebels having to fight their way to Tripoli and so we want to encourage it."
Vera Baird, who served as solicitor general in the last Labour government, said: "I think we have done exactly the right thing. There were horror stories on TV last night about the things he may be implicated in, but we must keep him.
"We must keep him safe, we must keep him secure – so that in due course he has to face what he has to face – but the urgent thing, surely, is to get as much information as possible.
"He is looking obviously for what he can get and if he were to agree to give evidence against Gaddafi at the International Criminal Court much later on, that might be a very interesting proposition."
She said: "It is very tricky indeed. The priority has got to be getting him (Gaddafi) out now."
But, Baroness Liddell of Coatdyke, the former Scottish Secretary, criticised what she said had been a "euphoric welcome" of Koussa to the UK.
She said: "I'm not squeamish, I realise that in a situation of conflict the opportunity to bring someone over from the other side and there are many members of this House [of Lords] who, using their professional skills, have dealt with defectors to the value of this country's security.
"But please, do not let us forget the consequence of Lockerbie not just for the international community but on a quiet and respectable Scottish town that will forever be known as the base of one of the worst atrocities this country has ever known.
"I look forward to greater investigation of the role of Moussa Koussa in Lockerbie and in other atrocities."
Telegraph
British ambassador to US denies he helped Saif Gaddafi with PhD
The British ambassador to the US has denied claims he helped the son of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi with his PhD.
Sir Nigel Sheinwald, circled, with Tony Blair and Col Gaddafi in LibyaPhoto: BBC
11:31PM BST 01 Apr 2011
The Foreign Office confirmed that Sir Nigel Sheinwald met Saif Gaddafi during his time at the London School of Economics but said he did not play any part in the writing of his thesis.
A newspaper quoted a senior LSE source who claimed Sir Nigel had shown a ''profound interest'' in the dictator's son's academic studies and offered ''active assistance'' in his work.
The unnamed source claimed that the diplomat's help was informal and legitimate and Saif Gaddafi was simply using his contacts to ensure his work was to the highest standard. Saif Gaddafi was awarded his PhD in 2008.
Sir Nigel has been the British ambassador to the US since 2007 after being appointed by Tony Blair.
In a statement, a Foreign Office spokesman said: ''Sir Nigel Sheinwald did meet Saif Gaddafi during the time he was studying at the LSE, and was therefore aware that he was preparing a thesis. ''But Sir Nigel had absolutely no role in the writing of any part of the thesis, made no suggestions about it to Saif Gaddafi or anyone else, and suggested no changes.''
Last month Sir Howard Davies resigned from his post of director at the LSE over the university's links to the Gaddafi family.
He said the decision to accept £300,000 funding from the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation (GICDF) in 2009, had ''backfired'' and expressed regret that he had visited Libya to advise the regime about how it could modernise its financial institutions.
The LSE council has commissioned an independent inquiry into the university's relationship with Libya and with Saif Gaddafi.
The LSE had already said it was investigating claims that Saif Gaddafi plagiarised his PhD thesis and that is likely to also form part of the Lord Woolf inquiry.
Telegraph
Libya: senior aide of Saif Gaddafi 'sent to London for talks on exit strategy'
A senior aide to Saif al-Islam, Col Gaddafi’s son, had been sent to London for secret talks according to reports, in an indication that the regime was looking for an exit strategy.
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Picture taken on December 22, 1988, shows the cockpit of the 747 Pan Am airliner that exploded and crashed over LockerbiePhoto: AFP/Getty
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Moussa Koussa leaves after reading a statement to foreign journalists in Tripoli last Friday Photo: AP
By Robert Winnett, Andrew Porter and Damien McElroy in Tripoli6:00AM BST 01 Apr 2011
There was even specualtion that Saif himself may have already left Libya in Mr Koussa’s convoy but such a suggestion was dismissed.
The Foreign Office did not comment on the report which asserted that British officials met with Mohammed Ismail.
The meeting was one of a number conducted between the two nations in the last two weeks, according to the Guardian and is believed to have addressed the possibility of an exit strategy for Gaddafi.
Despite a low profile in Libya and internationally, Mr Ismail is a key aide to Saif al-Islam and represented the nation in arms purchase negotiations, cables leaked on the WikiLeaks website have disclosed.
The report comes as David Cameron was put under pressure to ensure that the Libyan defector who arrived in Britain earlier this week co-operates with authorities investigating the Lockerbie bombing, the murder of Pc Yvonne Fletcher and potential war crimes.
Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister, who fled to Britain on Wednesday, is described as having "electrifying" information on Col Muammar Gaddafi's role in terrorist atrocities across Europe.
The Prime Minister said he would not block any attempts by the police to question Mr Koussa.
Mr Cameron stressed that Mr Koussa had not been offered a deal in return for fleeing to Britain and had not been granted immunity from prosecution. But if the defector is arrested and charged with crimes, it may undermine attempts by Western governments to encourage others in Col Gaddafi's inner circle to flee from Libya, a key aim of current diplomatic efforts.
Mr Koussa may also be reluctant to co-operate fully with British officials if he is not given guarantees about his future.
Last night, the Scottish prosecuting authorities investigating the Lockerbie bombing formally requested access to Mr Koussa, a right-hand man to Col Gaddafi for more than 30 years.
International prosecutors investigating war crimes in Libyaare also expected to seek interviews with the defector. Yesterday, the Libyan rebel leadership demanded he be returned to the country to face war-crime charges.
Mr Koussa, who was likened yesterday to Rudolf Hess by a Conservative MP, is being interrogated by MI6 at an unknown location. It is not clear whether information obtained by MI6 will be made public.
Senior Whitehall sources indicated that Scotland Yard was unlikely to get involved "at the moment".
The Libyan foreign minister was identified yesterday by Jack Straw, the former Labour foreign secretary, as a key source for British and American intelligence for more than a decade.
Last night Ali Abdessalam Treki, a Libyan former foreign minister and UN General Assembly president, also defected. Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's deputy UN ambassador, said that most high-level Libyan officials were trying to defect but were having trouble leaving due to tight security. A senior figure at the Libyan Embassy in London also defected.
In other developments yesterday:
• The head of Nato ruled out arming the Libyan rebels less than 24 hours after Mr Cameron admitted that the plan was under consideration. The US defence secretary said that another country, rather than America, should be take charge of "assisting" the rebels.
• America warned that Col Gaddafi was "not about to break", citing reports that regime troops were laying landmines around rebel-held areas.
• British special forces were said to be operating beside the CIA on the ground in Libya despite official denials that land troops were in action.
• The Vatican claimed to have evidence that coalition air strikes had killed dozens of civilians in Tripoli.
• The Libyan government said that Col Gaddafi and his family would remain in Libya "until the end" despite growing speculation they would seek exile.
Last night, details of Mr Koussa's dramatic escape from Libya began to emerge. According to Foreign Office sources, Mr Koussa's arrival was in doubt up until the final few hours before he touched down at Farnborough Airfield in a private jet chartered by the British military.
He told the regime that he was travelling to Tunisia to seek medical treatment for high blood pressure. The British Government was informed that he wished to head to this country but there was concern that he would instead fly on to Italy, another destination he was said to have favoured.
One government source said: "We absolutely did not want to lose him. It was vital that he did not go to Italy."
While Mr Koussa was airborne, Mr Cameron is said to have spoken to American officials and secured their backing for allowing him into Britain.
As well as Lockerbie, officials are keen to question Mr Koussa about links to the IRA. Col Gaddafi is widely suspected of supplying arms to the terrorists at the height of IRA's bombing campaign in the 1980s.
Mr Koussa, who was previously in charge of the Libyan intelligence service has been described as the “master of terror” who was previously expelled from Britain for endorsing the assassination of dissidents in London. Western intelligence has linked him to planning the Lockerbie bombing.
Over the past few months, Mr Cameron has played a leading role in calling for key Gaddafi regime figures to face war-crime trials. The Prime Minister has also spoken of his disgust at the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
Last night Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, the former Lord Advocate who initiated and oversaw the Lockerbie case, suggested that a “snatch squad” should be sent to Tripoli to try to secure any Libyan papers on the atrocity. He said it was unlikely Mr Koussa had brought documents with him but added that he had always had “dark suspicions” that the bomb plot came from the “heart of government”.
“I think we should send in a snatch squad to secure what papers they have before they are shredded,” said the Tory peer. Yesterday, at a press conference, Mr Cameron stressed that Mr Koussa would not be offered a “deal”.
The Prime Minister said: “Let me be clear, Moussa Koussa is not being granted immunity, there is no deal of that kind.
“And the point I would make about the dreadful events over Lockerbie: that investigation is still open and the police and the prosecuting authorities are entirely independent of government and they should follow their evidence wherever it leads and the Government will assist them in any way possible.”
MPs from all political parties yesterday insisted that it was vital that Koussa did not escape justice. Robert Halfon, a Conservative MP who has tabled several parliamentary motions on Lockerbie, said: “I think what has happened is comparable to Rudolf Hess coming here during the Second World War.
“The fact is that this man is most likely a war criminal, allegedly been responsible for the deaths of British citizens, allegedly the organiser of the Lockerbie bombing, he’s part of the Gaddafi totalitarian regime and in my view and that of many others he needs to go to the international court to face trials for war crimes.”
Libya: wife of defecting foreign minister captured in firefight
The wife of the Libyan foreign minister who defected to Britain earlier this week has been seized by Colonel Gaddafi and is being interrogated by his "internal security" officials, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Moussa Kouusa was once considered the real power behind Muammar GaddafiPhoto: AP
By Damien McElroy, in Tripoli and Robert Winnett10:52PM BST 01 Apr 2011
She is thought to have been captured amid eyewitness reports of a fierce gunfight at Col Gaddafi's central Tripoli compound as the regime stepped in to stop further defections.
Yesterday, local residents recalled how the most fierce firefight yet seen in central Tripoli had erupted within hours of the regime confirming that the Foreign Minister had defected.
"The blocks in that area are the homes to high ranking official of the state who must live close to Col Gaddafi. People say that some of them were trying to flee with their families when they came under attack from the guards," said a local resident.
"They gave as they got but there was a panic that the regime had to cover up."
"In the morning they were still cleaning up the blood," he said. "It was a big operation."
Gunfire is not unusual after dark in Tripoli as residents use newly issued Kalashnikov AK-47 weapons to "celebrate" victory claims on state television. But witnesses said the prolonged battle around the Bab al-Azzizia neighbourhood was the worst fighting in the capital since the rebel uprising was crushed last month.
"It wasn't just AK-47 celebratory firing off, it was heavy exchanges, a proper battle," another onlooker said.
Potential defectors were yesterday under pressure to make public statements of loyalty to the regime and Gaddafi double the number of guards on leading figures and their families, according to one aide. Relatives said that suspect bureaucrats were being questioned by internal security.
Shurki Ghanem, a former prime minister who heads the state oil company and had been said to have defected after leaving for Tunisia with the Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, issued a statement in Tripoli saying that he was still in office.
Omar Durdah, the head of the overseas intelligence agency, told State television that he had not left the country.
"I am in Libya and will remain here steadfast in the same camp of the revolution despite everything," Mr Dorda said. "I never thought to cross the borders or violate commitment to the people, the revolution and the leader."
The family of Moussa Koussa, the Libyan Foreign Secretary, were previously thought to have also fled to Britain. His wife's detention in Libya is likely to be part of an attempt to stop her husband from helping MI6.
The Libyan foreign minister is thought to have crucial information about the regime and is also suspected of being involved in terrorist plots across Europe including the Lockerbie bombing.
Last night, Koussa who is currently staying at safe house in southern England was said to be in a "fragile condition".
It is not clear how British authorities will react if he attempts to leave the country.
He is thought to have left Libya after telling the regime he needed medical treatment in Tunisia and the disclosure his wife was left behind may point to a more complicated story being behind his defection than previously thought.
British intelligence agents are thought to be in discussions with about 12 people close to the regime who are considering defecting.
Even the dictator's sons are now rumoured to be considering fleeing the country and Col Gaddafi yesterday imposed a "ring of steel" around key regime figures.
The turmoil at the top of regime emboldened Col Gaddafi's opponents to resume attacks in the eastern suburbs of the capital.
Opposition activists said that Libyan forces were unable to enter the side streets of Tajoura, the Tripoli suburb that was at the forefront of the uprising last month.
An army post came under ambush from two sides according to opposition reports.
Police dramatically stepped up checkpoints around the capital on Thursday night.
Flak jacket wearing militia men inspected cars and questioned drivers after an alert for troublemakers was distributed to the security services.
Earlier this week, a key aide to Saif Gaddafi, the dictator's son, was in Britain and is understood to have floated a scheme which would see Col Gaddafi leave the country with his sons playing a role in a transition government. British officials rejected any such plan.
This weekend is emerging as critical in the civil war in Libya – and diplomatic efforts to remove the regime. Yesterday, there were reports that the rebels had regrouped and were better organised to launch a fresh offensive against Libyan forces.
Qatar was also in negotiations with opposition leaders to begin selling oil from rebel-held areas, with the proceeds used to buy humanitarian supplies and possibly even weapons.
Yesterday, David Cameron's spokesman insisted that "no deals" would be offered to any defectors. There was growing pressure on the Prime Minister to allow Scottish detectives investigating the Lockerbie bombing to have access to Koussa.
During a debate in the House of Lords, senior military figures also raised the prospect that British ground forces may be required to remove the dictator.
Lord Robertson, the former Defence Secretary and former Secretary-General of Nato, said: "Defections, there will be more of them, and more the better. The fighting will ebb and flow and assuredly we will be faced with new dilemmas in the next few weeks. Are we simply going to stand back even if boots on the ground could be decisive?"
Lord West, the former first Sea Lord and defence minister, added: "Air power is not decisive and it took the threat of invasion in Kosovo to change the games so we need to be very aware of that."
Telegraph
Libya: Will Moussa Koussa regret his decision to defect?
Spies like Colonel Gaddafi's enforcer are well placed to jump ship, but it rarely ends happily, says Alan Judd.
Moussa Koussa in close attendance as his former boss gives out at an Arab League leaders summit Photo: Abd Rabbo Ammar
The announcement of the defection of Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa, may have come as no surprise to those who know him. This is not simply because, doubtless acting through rational self-interest, he decided to jump ship once he thought it was going down. It is also because he is the former head of the Libyan external intelligence service.
You might think that being a spy, especially one who was expelled from this country 30 years ago and who was at the dark heart of many of his regime's unsavoury practices, would make him the least likely to defect. After all, he presumably knows about – may have been involved in – the Lockerbie bombing and the murder of the policewoman Yvonne Fletcher. Surely such a man would have no interest in defecting to the old enemy? But quite the contrary: spies are often the most likely to jump ship.
This is not because they're innately disloyal – they're usually the opposite – but because they're realists. They know the other side, they have secrets to trade and the contacts through whom to make the offer. During the Cold War, most Russian officials swallowed the Soviet line that capitalism was dying and state socialism was the inevitable and imminent future. But Russian foreign service officials posted to the West could see that life in Switzerland was better than in Sverdlovsk. They had only to look in shop windows crammed with goods or watch the downtrodden workers driving to work in their own cars.
One very senior Russian defector said it was seeing steam rising through the manhole covers of frozen Manhattan streets that marked the beginning of his disaffection. If they've got so much heat they can afford to let it go to waste like this, he thought, then something about this society works. He'd been lied to, he realised, and if he'd been lied to about basic everyday conditions, what other lies were there?
But he was a diplomat, not a spy. Spies have more than their daily observations to go on because it's usually their task to recruit other spies. That means talking to the other side, getting to know them, assessing their strengths and weaknesses. They learn more about the world, and to do their job well they have to see their own side at least partially through the eyes of others. If Koussa had spies in London, Paris or Washington, he'd have a better idea than anyone else in his government of the political will and military might that was being deployed. And he'd know the strengths and weaknesses of his own side only too well. But Koussa probably had another advantage, all his own. It's clear that he played a leading part in bringing Libya in from the cold in recent years. Given what we know of MI6's role in that, he was possibly a principal liaison contact. That would have given him unique access to the people he would need to talk to if he wanted to defect. After all, in a dictatorship with paranoid tendencies, how would you go about defecting? How would you know who to talk to, whom to trust, how to contrive such a delicate conversation or how to find out whether they'd actually want you? Let alone how to arrange it physically. Koussa would have needed no intermediary; he could get it from the horse's mouth. Indeed, we now know he talked directly to William Hague, the Foreign Secretary.
Now he has the rest of life before him. He may, of course, be hoping for a formative role in a new Libyan government – nothing now seems impossible in the Middle East – and he may have got his family (and fortune?) out with him. But few defectors make a great success of their new lives. Oleg Gordievsky, the most famous KGB defector of modern times, is a notable exception, having become a respected author and commentator, and an adviser to prime ministers and presidents. But even he has to be careful – the Russians would almost certainly kill him if they could – and his marriage became a casualty of his defection.
Some defectors simply fail to settle, finding no role to compare with the excitement of their previous lives. Some are disillusioned by the struggle to make their own way in their adopted countries (often despite generous financial help): others have simply felt they were on the scrapheap after being bled dry; one or two have even gone back – to mixed fortunes. The notorious British spies Burgess and Maclean from the Foreign Office and Philby from MI6, found mainly booze and boredom in the socialist paradise they sought in Moscow. George Blake, also MI6, is still there, having lived through the collapse of the system he spied for. How is he, I wonder?
For most defectors, the keys to successful resettlement are a sustaining belief in the rightness of what they've done, the ability to continue making some sort of contribution and a successful family life in their new country. Whether this is what awaits Mr Koussa, or whether it's the International Criminal Court, I've no idea. But I doubt we've heard the last of him.
Alan Judd is the authorised biographer of Mansfield Cumming, founder of MI6.
Telegraph
Libya: dilemma over defector's 'electrifying' Lockerbie information
David Cameron was under pressure last night to ensure that the Libyan defector who arrived in Britain earlier this week co-operates with authorities investigating the Lockerbie bombing, the murder of Pc Yvonne Fletcher and potential war crimes.
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Picture taken on December 22, 1988, shows the cockpit of the 747 Pan Am airliner that exploded and crashed over LockerbiePhoto: AFP/Getty
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Moussa Koussa leaves after reading a statement to foreign journalists in Tripoli last Friday Photo: AP
By Robert Winnett, Andrew Porter and Damien McElroy in Tripoli10:00PM BST 31 Mar 2011
Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister, who fled to Britain on Wednesday, is described as having "electrifying" information on Col Muammar Gaddafi's role in terrorist atrocities across Europe.
Yesterday the Prime Minister said he would not block any attempts by the police to question Mr Koussa.
Mr Cameron stressed that Mr Koussa had not been offered a deal in return for fleeing to Britain and had not been granted immunity from prosecution. But if the defector is arrested and charged with crimes, it may undermine attempts by Western governments to encourage others in Col Gaddafi's inner circle to flee from Libya, a key aim of current diplomatic efforts.
Mr Koussa may also be reluctant to co-operate fully with British officials if he is not given guarantees about his future.
Last night, the Scottish prosecuting authorities investigating the Lockerbie bombing formally requested access to Mr Koussa, a right-hand man to Col Gaddafi for more than 30 years. International prosecutors investigating war crimes in Libyaare also expected to seek interviews with the defector. Yesterday, the Libyan rebel leadership demanded he be returned to the country to face war-crime charges.
Mr Koussa, who was likened yesterday to Rudolf Hess by a Conservative MP, is being interrogated by MI6 at an unknown location. It is not clear whether information obtained by MI6 will be made public.
Senior Whitehall sources indicated that Scotland Yard was unlikely to get involved "at the moment".
The Libyan foreign minister was identified yesterday by Jack Straw, the former Labour foreign secretary, as a key source for British and American intelligence for more than a decade.
Last night Ali Abdessalam Treki, a Libyan former foreign minister and UN General Assembly president, also defected. Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's deputy UN ambassador, said that most high-level Libyan officials were trying to defect but were having trouble leaving due to tight security. A senior figure at the Libyan Embassy in London also defected.
In other developments yesterday:
• The head of Nato ruled out arming the Libyan rebels less than 24 hours after Mr Cameron admitted that the plan was under consideration. The US defence secretary said that another country, rather than America, should be take charge of "assisting" the rebels.
• America warned that Col Gaddafi was "not about to break", citing reports that regime troops were laying landmines around rebel-held areas.
• British special forces were said to be operating beside the CIA on the ground in Libya despite official denials that land troops were in action.
• The Vatican claimed to have evidence that coalition air strikes had killed dozens of civilians in Tripoli.
• The Libyan government said that Col Gaddafi and his family would remain in Libya "until the end" despite growing speculation they would seek exile.
Last night, details of Mr Koussa's dramatic escape from Libya began to emerge. According to Foreign Office sources, Mr Koussa's arrival was in doubt up until the final few hours before he touched down at Farnborough Airfield in a private jet chartered by the British military.
He told the regime that he was travelling to Tunisia to seek medical treatment for high blood pressure. The British Government was informed that he wished to head to this country but there was concern that he would instead fly on to Italy, another destination he was said to have favoured.
One government source said: "We absolutely did not want to lose him. It was vital that he did not go to Italy."
While Mr Koussa was airborne, Mr Cameron is said to have spoken to American officials and secured their backing for allowing him into Britain.
As well as Lockerbie, officials are keen to question Mr Koussa about links to the IRA. Col Gaddafi is widely suspected of supplying arms to the terrorists at the height of IRA's bombing campaign in the 1980s.
Mr Koussa, who was previously in charge of the Libyan intelligence service has been described as the “master of terror” who was previously expelled from Britain for endorsing the assassination of dissidents in London. Western intelligence has linked him to planning the Lockerbie bombing.
Over the past few months, Mr Cameron has played a leading role in calling for key Gaddafi regime figures to face war-crime trials. The Prime Minister has also spoken of his disgust at the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
Last night Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, the former Lord Advocate who initiated and oversaw the Lockerbie case, suggested that a “snatch squad” should be sent to Tripoli to try to secure any Libyan papers on the atrocity. He said it was unlikely Mr Koussa had brought documents with him but added that he had always had “dark suspicions” that the bomb plot came from the “heart of government”.
“I think we should send in a snatch squad to secure what papers they have before they are shredded,” said the Tory peer. Yesterday, at a press conference, Mr Cameron stressed that Mr Koussa would not be offered a “deal”.
The Prime Minister said: “Let me be clear, Moussa Koussa is not being granted immunity, there is no deal of that kind.
“And the point I would make about the dreadful events over Lockerbie: that investigation is still open and the police and the prosecuting authorities are entirely independent of government and they should follow their evidence wherever it leads and the Government will assist them in any way possible.”
MPs from all political parties yesterday insisted that it was vital that Koussa did not escape justice. Robert Halfon, a Conservative MP who has tabled several parliamentary motions on Lockerbie, said: “I think what has happened is comparable to Rudolf Hess coming here during the Second World War.
“The fact is that this man is most likely a war criminal, allegedly been responsible for the deaths of British citizens, allegedly the organiser of the Lockerbie bombing, he’s part of the Gaddafi totalitarian regime and in my view and that of many others he needs to go to the international court to face trials for war crimes.”
Telegraph
Moussa Koussa, high-profile Lockerbie spymaster
Moussa Koussa, the Libyan foreign minister who defected from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime, was one of the architects of its rehabilitation in the international community but a deeply controversial figure who is likely to pose David Cameron a particularly thorny political problem.
Moussa Koussa reads a statement to foreign journalists at a hotel in TripoliPhoto: AP
By Andy Bloxham, and Damien McElroy11:57PM BST 30 Mar 2011
As the highest-profile defection from the ranks of Col Gaddafi's loyalists, he is a plum prize who is likely to be of great value in helping to dismantle his dictatorship.
The former spy chief's resignation also comes at a critical time in the coalition's attempts to dislodge Col Gaddafi, as the rebels are retreating under fresh onslaughts and Whitehall sources suggested they were unlikely to win without arms or training from outside.
So his information and contacts among Col Gaddafi's generals will be all the more valuable.
However, the former head of Libya's external intelligence, was the mastermind accused of planning the Lockerbie bombing and any attempts to rehabilitate him are likely to be an exceedingly hot potato.
Mr Koussa has been a close confidant of Col Gaddafi's for 30 years and helped secure the release of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.
He was expelled from London in 1980 after giving an extraordinary newspaper interview when he was the head of the embassy in which he said two Libyan dissidents living in London would be killed.
Speaking outside the Libyan embassy in St James’s Square, Mr Koussa told The Times: “The revolutionary committees have decided last night to kill two more people in the United Kingdom. I approve of this."
He returned to Libya after being given 48 hours to leave the UK, where he was accused of funding terrorist groups.
Mr Kousa was named by intelligence sources in the mid-1990s as the possible architect of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which killed 270 people, and the blowing up the following year of a French airliner in central Africa in which 170 people died
Mr Koussa, who is now 61, travelled to Britain to meet British and Scottish government officials on at least two occasions as Mr Megrahi’s health deteriorated.
On October 27 last year, at the first meeting after Megrahi’s cancer diagnosis, Mr Koussa is listed as an interpreter. At the second meeting in January, he is given the then correct title of Minister of Security. In March he was promoted out of the shadows to foreign minister.
As protests against Col Gaddafi's regime developed into rebellion in recent weeks, the diplomat with a shock of silver hair became more public than ever.
Yet for all his insider status, Mr Koussa has at times given an air of being on the edge of the Gaddafi circle.
According to a leaked US embassy cable, he privately expressed exasperation with one of the Colonel's sons, Mutassim, who he was training in international diplomacy.
Late last year, unconfirmed rumours were circulating in Tripoli that another of Gaddafi's sons had had an argument with Mr Koussa and punched him in the face in front of several other people.
At an international summit in Tripoli in December, he was to be seen alone and smoking heavily in the public areas of the summit venue while Gaddafi's intimates were cloistered in a private room.
Scottish prosecutors have requested an interview with Moussa Koussa over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, following the Libyan foreign minister's apparent defection to Britain.
Mr Koussa flew from Tunisia, where he had been on a diplomatic mission, to Farnborough airportPhoto: REUTERS
"We have notified the Foreign and Commonwealth Office that the Scottish prosecuting and investigating authorities wish to interview Mr Kussa in connection with the Lockerbie bombing," a Crown Office spokesman said.
"The investigation into the Lockerbie bombing remains open and we will pursue all relevant lines of inquiry."
His arrival was welcomed by relatives of those killed in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988, which killed 270 people and which Kussa has been suspected of involvement.
Libyan agent Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi was convicted of the bombing in 2001 and sent to a Scottish jail, although he was released on compassionate grounds in August 2009 because he was suffering from terminal cancer.
But relatives of the dead have long been calling for an investigation to reveal who ordered and planned the crime.
Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was among those killed, said Koussa's arrival in Britain was an opportunity to finally shed some light on the atrocity.
"Koussa was at the centre of Gaddafi's inner circle. This is a guy who knows everything," he said.
"I think this is a fantastic day for those who seek the truth about Lockerbie. He could tell us everything the Kadhafi regime knows."
Mr Swire added: "Today those relatives who seek the truth about why their families were murdered should be rejoicing."
Telegraph
Libya: rebels seek to break stalemate
Libyan rebels moved heavier weapons and a top commander towards the disputed town of Brega on Friday, seeking to break the military stalemate against better-equipped troops loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi.
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Rebel fighters fire rocket launchers toward pro-Gaddafi forces near BregaPhoto: Sipa Press / Rex Features
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A Libyan rebel shells pro-Gaddafi forces with mortar fire, on the frontline near BregaPhoto: Sipa Press / Rex Features
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Rebels prepare to advance towards forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi near BregaPhoto: REUTERS
Rebels said neither side could claim control of Brega - one of a string of oil towns along Libya's Mediterranean coast that have been taken and retaken by insurgents and Gaddafi's forces in recent weeks.
But on Friday there were signs the rebels were seeking to regain momentum, marshalling their rag-tag ranks into a more disciplined army and moving rockets and other equipment westward towards the front line.
To the cheers of rebels who fired their guns into the air, Abdel Fattah Younes al Abidi, who was appointed head of the rebel forces after defecting as Gaddafi's interior minister, arrived at a checkpoint outside Brega. He later mounted his convoy and headed towards the front line.
Members of the opposition movement seeking to end Gaddafi's more than 40 years in power have praised the enthusiasm of their fighters but have often voiced frustration at the lack of discipline or military strategy at the front.
On the road from Ajdabiyah to Brega, rebels manning checkpoints screened unarmed Libyans who were trying to join the battle.
Oil towns of Ras Lanuf and Es Sider are now in the control of Gaddafi's forces, who have used rockets and other heavier equipment to pummel rebels, many of whom are volunteers with little training and rely heavily on pick-ups and machine guns.
Outside Brega, half a dozen rebel pick-up trucks mounted with machine guns were positioned further south into the desert after Gaddafi forces this week forced a rebel retreat from Brega and other towns to the west by outflanking them through the desert.
"Three days ago Gaddafi came this way and bombarded us," said Jamal Mohammed, a stout bearded man with a bandolier of bullets around his chest, gesturing toward the south.
Some volunteers complained at being stopped at the checkpoint, but others said it made sense.
"Me, I am a banker, I can't fire a gun," said Mohamed Edhedha, who had come to help rebels at the gates of Ajdabiyah.
"When Gaddafi started shooting, they started running and then everyone started running. In the morning we attacked, in the afternoon we escaped, that was the normal schedule."
Crouching over tiny fires and hunched beneath makeshift plastic shelters, they are the start of what threatens to become a huge exodus of desperate migrants fleeing the turmoil sweeping across North Africa.
An estimated 18,000 Tunisians have reached Lampedusa since President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled from powerPhoto: AFP/GETTY
More than 6,000 mostly Tunisian migrants have invaded the Italian outpost of Lampedusa in recent days, transforming the idyllic Mediterranean island into a rubbish-strewn refugee camp.
"England, France, Belgium, Switzerland – I don't care where I go as long as I can find work and earn money. I need to help my family because they don't have enough to eat," said Saber Khadraoui, 29, from Tunisia, as he bit into a bread roll. "I'll do anything – I've worked as a painter, a plumber and a gardener."
He is one of an estimated 18,000 Tunisians who have reached the sun-baked island since president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was toppled from power by a popular revolt in mid-January.
Around 2,000 Eritreans, Ethiopians and Somalians have also arrived from Libya – the first since the revolt against Col Muammar Gaddafi erupted last month – presaging what the Italian government fears could be an exodus of "Biblical proportions" should the regime collapse.
Lampedusa's inhabitants, who live closer to Africa than Italy, say the island is at breaking point. The sole refugee centre can only accommodate 850 people. Thousands of migrants have been left to fend for themselves as best they can.
"It's very cold at night and we have to wear all our clothes," said Jifani Becem, 22, a farmer, who like all the migrants paid around 1,000 euros to people smugglers to bring him from the Tunisian coast to Lampedusa. "We have no money and no cigarettes. We just want to get to France to find work." Some of the young men have been sleeping for days in dilapidated gun emplacements dating from the Second World War, while others live beneath ragged tarpaulins strung between palm trees and upturned fishing boats.
Ragged shelters made of plastic sheeting, crates and bits of driftwood dot a scrub-covered cliff overlooking the island's picturesque port.
Hundreds of men wander aimlessly through Lampedusa's only town, dressed in hooded sweatshirts, grubby jeans and beaten up sandals.
The smell of urine and faeces wafts over the hillside as seagulls search for scraps of uneaten food.
"We call it the hill of shame," said Antonio Geudellari, 55, a local businessman. "It's a scandal – why has the Italian government taken so long to act? This catastrophe has been going on for months. It's a disaster for the island.
"Normally this is a quiet, easy-going little place but we've had to start locking our doors and taking the keys out of our cars."
More than 2,200 of the migrants were evacuated from Lampedusa yesterday (thurs) in ferries commandeered by the Italian government, after Silvio Berlusconi visited the island on Wednesday and promised to empty the island of foreigners within two days. Many migrants are heading for hastily-built camps in Sicily and on the mainland but most plan to escape the centres at the earliest opportunity and make for northern Europe.
Hundreds of Tunisians waited patiently in the island's small harbour, sitting outside dive shops and a dock where normally fishermen mend their nets and unload their catches of squid, calamari and tuna.
Even once they have gone, Lampedusa is braced for many more arrivals. "As quick as they take them off the island, new boats arrive – another 500 people turned up last night," said Francesco, a 32-year-old fisherman, who declined to give his full name.
"We're afraid for our wives because we have to go to sea all day and they are left alone. Why should this tiny island have to shoulder the burden for the whole of Italy? It's not right."
Lampedusa's 5,500 inhabitants were, until yesterday's evacuation, outnumbered by their unwelcome guests and their patience has run out.
Carmello Scozzari, 50, a local tour guide, said: "For the most part they have behaved well. "They may be poor but they are educated – many of them speak two or three languages. They deserve better than this." Abed El Kamel, 25, from the Tunisian town of Sidi Bou Zid, said: "Europe keeps talking about liberty and dignity and removing the regimes in Libya and Tunisia, but where is the liberty here? We are living like animals."
A thousand angry Tunisians staged a march through the middle of Lampedusa’s sole town, protesting at the length of time they have been kept on the island.
Many feared that the ferries anchored off the island were to be used to repatriate them, but Italian officials managed to calm a potentially explosive situation by assuring them that instead they would be taken to refugee camps in Italy.
Britain urges nationals to leave Yemen immediately
Britain on Thursday urged its citizens in Yemen to immediately leave the country, saying London was unlikely to be able to carry out evacuations if the security situation deteriorated further.
Anti-government protesters demonstrate in Sanaa. The writing on the arms reads 'leave murderer'Photo: AP
11:58PM BST 31 Mar 2011
The Foreign Office also called on all sides in the crisis-hit Middle Eastern country to "exercise the utmost restraint" as government supporters and their challengers gathered for rival demonstrations on Friday.
"In light of the rapid deterioration in the security situation in Yemen ... we strongly urge all British nationals to leave the country now while commercial airlines are still flying," said a Foreign Office statement.
"Given the situation on the ground, it is highly unlikely that the British government will be able to evacuate British nationals or provide consular assistance in the event of a further breakdown of law and order," it said.
London pointed out it had already urged its nationals to leave Yemen immediately earlier in March but the amendment to its advice – related to evacuation – reflected "the increasing seriousness of the situation."
In Yemen, fears were growing for another tense Friday with President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his opponents setting the scene for another confrontation. State news agency Saba said tribal chiefs, clerics, civil society figures, youths and supporters from the countryside were streaming into Sanaa on Thursday in response to the longtime president's call for a show of solidarity.
His challengers, mainly youths camped out at a renamed "Change Square" near Sanaa University, have also urged demonstrators to take to the streets.
The standoff has been going on for two months but it escalated on March 18 when 52 protesters were gunned down in Sanaa by Saleh loyalists.
The Foreign Office said it urged "all parties in Yemen to exercise the utmost restraint and take all steps necessary to defuse tension on the ground.
"We call on all parties to make urgent progress in implementing much needed political and economic reform."
Telegraph
Syria: In the shadow of Assad
Dictatorial rule and a bloody recent history should not blind us to the riches of Syria, says Simon Scott Plummer.
A golden past: the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. An extraordinary procession of civilisations has left its markPhoto: ALAMY
The modern state of Syria, now the focus of so much Western interest, lies on one of the great crossroads of history. Babylonians, Hittites, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Ottomans and the French have all made their mark.
This extraordinary procession of civilisations has left the country with an astonishing range of monuments and a mosaic of religious beliefs and ethnic groups. The majority of the population are Sunni Muslims but there are Shia Alawite, Druze and Ismaili minorities, the first having run Syria since Hafez al-Assad seized power in 1970. Kurds, Armenians, Turkmen and Circassians add to the mix.
The Christian presence is diminishing but even more varied. The skyline of the Jdeide quarter of Aleppo is punctuated by the domes of Maronite, Greek Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Gregorian Armenian and Syrian Catholic churches. In the village of Maalula, Arabic has only recently replaced Aramaic, which was spoken by Christ, as the language of communication. And in Straight Street in Damascus, you can visit the supposed house of Ananias, where Paul took refuge after his conversion to Christianity, eventually escaping the wrath of the Jews in a basket lowered from the city walls.
One year, my family and I were in the country at Easter, allowing us to take part in a ceremony in Tartus memorable for its length, almost continuous chanting and the gorgeous red and gold vestments of the celebrant. The congregation, who are in communion with Rome, were in their Sunday best. Coming out of the church, we were serenaded by a party of scouts and guides playing brass instruments and drums. As we left, they were launching into a simplified version of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. Such friendly human contacts are the hallmark of a visit to Syria.
As well as its demographic mix, history has bequeathed to Syria an extraordinary variety of monuments. Many will be familiar with the Roman ruins at Palmyra and Apamea, but these are spring chickens compared with the Bronze Age sites of Ebla, Mari and Ugarit.
Looking forward from the classical era, there are the wall paintings of the synagogue of Dura Europos, now in the National Museum in Damascus; the Byzantine ruins of Serjilla and of St Simeon’s Monastery, where one of the sternest ascetics in history spent years on a platform on top of a column; and the fortresses thrown up by the Emperor Justinian in the desert and on the cold, green waters of the Euphrates at Resafe and Halebiye.
For those with an interest in medieval castles, Syria is the apotheosis. For its site, beauty of stone and ingenuity of design, Krak des Chevaliers must take the palm. But in Marqab, its walls as black as the volcanic rock on which it stands, Sahyun, with its 90 ft-deep rock-cut ditch, and the massive rectangular keep of Safita, western Syria, has a wealth of castles second to none. They are only rivalled by the fortifications built by Edward I in North Wales, but these cannot match the scale of their Crusader cousins.
Gigantism is a feature of Syrian monuments and in this respect the Arabs have proved no slouches. The centre of Aleppo is dominated by a citadel standing on a mound reinforced by a stone glacis and surrounded by a huge ditch. Its gateway is a masterpiece of Arab military architecture.
In the south of the country, near the Jordanian border, the fortress at Bosra encompasses within its walls and towers a Roman theatre with room for between 8,000 and 9,000 spectators. That combination sums up the historic splendour of Syria.
Then there are the great civilian structures, outstanding among them the souk at Aleppo; the Ummayad Mosque in Damascus, with its shrine to John the Baptist and its tower named after Jesus; and the Ottoman legacy of steam baths, none more splendid than the Hamman al-Nasri in Aleppo.
The demographic, religious and historical kaleidoscope which is modern Syria makes it very difficult to judge what will be the outcome of the present crisis. Suffice it to say that Iraq served as a warning to the West of what forces the toppling of a dictator in a complex society can release.
Under Assad, father and son, the Ba’ath Party, itself founded by a Christian and a Muslim, has maintained a secular state and provided continuity, even if its foundations are now being rocked by the wave of unrest which has crashed on to the Arab world.
Where, like other Arab countries and Iran, it has failed is in creating jobs for an overwhelmingly youthful population. There is undoubtedly Islamist opposition to the regime, as the 1982 uprising showed, but the trigger for the demonstrations is a combination of poverty and political repression.
Syria requires careful handling. Its potential as a partner for peace with Israel, which still occupies the Golan Heights, its support for terrorist organisations such as Hizbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and its inability to stop interfering in the affairs of Lebanon make it a crucial player in the Middle East.
The hope must be that long-promised reform will come, though President Bashar al-Assad’s tardy speech to parliament on Wednesday was very disappointing. What is clear is that the collapse of the political set-up would have profound consequences for Syria and its neighbours, and that anything the outside world tries to do risks opening the Pandora’s Box that was Iraq.
But enough of politics; two further memories. In Aleppo, we wanted to stay in Baron Hotel, patronised by Lawrence of Arabia, Agatha Christie, Charles Lindbergh, Amy Johnson, Theodore Roosevelt, and my 85-year-old uncle, Nigel Davidson, who had been posted to Syria as a Scots Guards officer during the war.
I suggested that he played the veteran’s card. The receptionist was melancholic but said he could give us two rooms on the first floor. The hotel was at that time extremely dilapidated. The wiring was primitive and the bulb in the bedside lamp emitted only five watts of light. Removing the plug from the bath simply let the water out onto the floor. And the iron railings of the balconies rocked in their wooden supports.
Two nights later, my uncle and I went to a nightclub which he remembered from the 1940s. Called the “Casbah Folys”, it featured a bored Russian troupe and a charming Syrian belly dancer. When we left the place, my uncle regretted not having bought her champagne.
It’s a country that leaves an impression like no other. Let us hope that, however the crisis is resolved, it is without more bloodshed and destruction.
Telegraph
Afghanistan: Kabul vs New Kabul City
The Afghan government is planning to build "New Kabul City" to the north of the existing capital in an attempt to ease overcrowding and create a modern centre for the nation. Here's how the two cities compare:
Suicide attacks are common in KabulPhoto: AP
7:30AM BST 01 Apr 2011
Kabul
Size: 164 sq miles
Population: more than 4 million (originally built for 700,000 people)
Projected population: 7 million
Age: more than 3,500 years old Problems: overcrowding, poor sanitation, air pollution, damaged roads and infrastructure, corruption, high prices, risk of suicide bombings and violence.
New Kabul City
Cost: $34bn
Size: 440 sq miles
Projected population: 1.5m
Jobs created: 500,000
To be completed by: 2025
Problems: finding investors, providing security.
Telegraph
US Embassy in Baghdad to double staff
The US Embassy in Baghdad, already the largest in the world, is expected to double its staff after American forces pull out of the country later this year.
A private security force some 5,500 strong will protect the large US diplomatic presence in IraqPhoto: AFP
11:54PM BST 01 Apr 2011
"We'll be doubling our size if all of our plans go through and if we receive the money from Congress in 2011 and then again in 2012," James Jeffrey, the US ambassador in Iraq, said.
He said the staff would increase "from 8,000 plus personnel that we have now to roughly double that by 2012," adding that US forces would make up only a very small part of that number.
"This will be an extraordinarily large embassy with many different functions. Some we took over from USFI (United States Forces in Iraq) and some of them continuation of the work we are doing now."
Mr Jeffrey said that US military advisers and trainers would stay or be added to support the Iraqi military with US-made equipment such as M1A1 tanks and other weaponry. He said the added personnel would not include combat troops.
Fewer than 50,000 US troops are currently in Iraq, down from a peak of more than 170,000 and ahead of the planned full withdrawal in late 2011.
Jeffrey and Lieutenant General Lloyd Austin, the commander of US military forces in Iraq, told members of the Armed Services Committee in February that the embassy would be well protected after the withdrawal.
A private security force some 5,500 strong will protect the large US diplomatic presence in Iraq, Jeffrey told the lawmakers.
He and Austin said they were confident that the force was adequate, and that Iraq will remain stable once US troops have departed.
They said that in 2012, the American presence in Iraq will consist of up to 20,000 civilians at sites that include two embassy branches, two consulates, and three police training centres.
The figure includes armed private security personnel, support staff and diplomats.
Currently there are 2,700 armed security contractors in Iraq, Jeffrey told the senators.
Syrians march in tens of thousands against president
Syrian protesters braved renewed bloodshed and an unprecedented security presence across the country as they marched in their tens of thousands to denounce their increasingly intransigent president.
To all visitors of Britannia Radio and the Britannia Radio Blog Spot.
If you would like to have Britannia Radio continue and expand, please start to make your contributions as soon as possible via the ‘Make a Donation’ tab ,above, contact us to offer your help at info@britanniaradio.co.uk and recommend the site to increase our visitors.
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Thank you,
Harold Hoffman
About Britannia Radio
Welcome to our site. We bring you an alternative early warning service, joining the dots of Geo Politics - alerting you to what is in store for us all if we do not wake up and unite.
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To go live, we must attract 4000-5000 visitors per day.
So, please recommend this site to as many people as possible, submit research material and make donations.
No comments are accepted on any of these recordings.
Harold Hoffman presents alternative understandings from his personal archives - recorded 35 years ago.
==================== 20.8.2008
Preservation and Humility, what they mean, for real.
click to listen circa 22.00 Sunday 20.8.2008
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The Line of Life. "I WANT... I AM... WHERE AM I?" This discussion will loose most of you but don't worry, love the struggle! The natural laws and some further world history.
==================== 22.7.2008 Extra: Explains the soul and spirit. An updating of the Human Condition. click to listen
This is different... not heard before in open lectures. Challenging and you may think confrontational - but Harold has made the decision to release it anyway! Accept the information or reject it... that's your choice!
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No comments are accepted on any these recordings.
Harold Hoffman presents alternative understandings of Religion in three 90 minute lectures. Covering briefly, but not in our chronological order, so be patient - some challenging goodies are contained herein.
These lectures are from Harold's personal archives - dating back 35 years ago.
Covering 'World History' from pre sands Egypt to current times and 'Esoteric Understandings'. History, Esoteric and Occult keys, the different types of religions, from whence they came and what this portends for the future - including how it all fits into the current times, of economics, geo-politics, law, judiciary, religious practices, moral philosophies, ceremony, magic and rituals; all in brief.
Before listening to these recordings it may be useful to have also listened to film director, Chris Everard, in conversation with Harold Hoffman.
Ashley Mote: Independant Member of European Parliament Weekly Letter from Brussels.
Starting in next few days: Letter from the Asylum ashley mote ......................................
WE ARE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE FIRST OF MANY INTERVIEWS WITH ASHLEY MOTE.
website http://www.ashleymote.co.uk/ Britain is committing collective suicide” Sensational new pamphlet J’Accuse…! calls on British “to re-install own standards” Most of the elderly in Britain are indigenous. Most of the young are the children of migrants. The British nation and its way of life are in serious danger of disappearing within one lifetime, certainly within two.
“We are committing collective suicide.”
That is the conclusion of a new pamphlet J’Accuse…! by Ashley Mote MEP, vice-president of the Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe. 'J’Accuse!' accuses the European Union and the British government of the “deliberate destruction of British identity”.
The pamphlet points the finger at uncontrolled immigration, the failure of the British to produce enough children to sustain their own future, the utterly inadequate education of tens of thousands of young people, and the exploitation of so-called ‘terrorism’ to impose a regime of oppression.
Together these factors have eroded fundamental British values. Britain is becoming a third-world country – a western version of a banana republic.
“Much of this change has been imported. It is our fault. We have allowed it to happen and we are now allowing other ideas and ways of life to replace our own.”
'J’Accuse!' goes on…“The whole point about the British way of life is our absolute right to enjoy our country and freedoms in peace. They are not the product of the law. Instead, the law and our government are there to protect that right and those freedoms – not destroy them.
“Yet it is our own government that is today the greatest single source of terrorism. Theirs is the terrorism of state control.”
The number of criminal offences on the statute book has doubled since 1997 – one more for every day Labour has been in power. Britain has become a self-imposed police state.
'J’Accuse!' concludes : “Our British way of life is at terrible risk. We British need to go back to our roots, and re-install our own standards.”
Copies of 'J’Accuse!' are available via the website http://www.ashleymote.co.uk/ or by writing to PO Box 216, Alton, Hants, GU34 4WY.
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MEP, vice-president of the Alliance of Independent Democrats in Europe. 'J’Accuse!' accuses the European Union and the British government of the “deliberate destruction of British identity”.
Harold Hoffman interviews Ashley Mote M.E.P They discuss: Europe... the UK.. and what the future holds for the sceptred isle... this jewel this "new jerusalem"? click to listen
Journalist turned businessman turned author. Now a regular columnist, broadcaster and political campaigner. Special interest in British constitutional history.
In 1972 he started his own international marketing business, helping major industrial companies to increase their export business. At one time the company had offices in Houston and Atlanta, USA, Geneva and London. The Tory government's foolhardy attempt to shadow the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) in the late 1980s and early 1990s ultimately forced interest rates to 15% and destroyed Ashley Mote's business, along with over 100,000 others.
Having had such bitter first-hand experience of the damage the ERM could do, he started researching the European Union. This led to his book Vigilance - A Defence of British Liberty. Vigilance is one of the fastest-selling books about the EU ever published. His second political book, OverCrowded Britain is about the UK's immigration crisis, and was published in 2003.
In 2000, Ashley drafted a Petition to Her Majesty under Article 61 of Magna Carta, which was later signed by 28 peers and taken to Buckingham Palace by the Duke of Rutland and others. The petition asked Her Majesty not to grant the Royal Assent to the Bill to ratify the EU's Treaty of Nice - an appeal which reports suggest came close to success.
A founder member of the SANITY group (Subjects Against the Nice Treaty), Ashley worked closely with Trevor Colman to produce three videos about the EU. The launch of Shockwaves resulted in sales of over 1000 a day. Since then he has written and directed two others - Better Off Out and Who Governs Britain?
Briefly active in the Liberal Party of Joe Grimond and Jeremy Thorpe, Ashley left when the party was taken over by left-wingers. He joined the UK Independence Party just before the 2001 general election as the only political home for people wanting Britain to leave the EU altogether. At the 2004 European parliamentary elections he won the second seat for UKIP in the south-east of England.
He now sits as the UK's only independent member of the European Parliament, free to fight for the early withdrawal of the UK from the European Union and the restoration of government of the British by the British for the British.
Married with two adult children. Ashley Mote is the author of several other books, including The Glory Days of Cricket, which won the Cricket Society Literary Award in 1997.
He is a member of the Hambledon Club and a Freeman of the City of London. His other interests include music, the theatre, good company and rugby.
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Gerard Batten UKIP MEP Interview and possible weekly fortnight Review from Brussels Interview with Gerard Batten (U.K.I.P- M E P member of the european parliament) Click to Listen his website, Gerard Batten 24.7.2007
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Experts in their Fields
Dr Richard North weekly/fortnightly review on EU - THE EU SCEPTIC MOVEMENT AND EXIT STARATEGY FOR UK. E U Referendum
Dr Richard North explains the The Reform Treaty and Why the people MUST have a vote! with Harold Hoffman Click to Listen 27.7.2007 (7993)
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Prof Dennis Cuddy
10/27/2007 Modeling the Modern Middle East LISTEN PLEASE NOTE: ACCESS OUR THREE INTERVIEWS WITH PROF DENNIS CUDDY IN 'INTERVIEWS' AND ALSO IN 'LISTEN AGAIN'. http://britanniaradio.co.uk/?q=node/2 The U.S. waved its light saber at Iran again this week, amid will- they or won't-they speculation about attacking that country, Russian President Putin's admonitions notwithstanding.
The world didn't arrive at today's Middle East in a vacuum. It's largely a product of century-old streams of globalist political thought, coupled with interventions by western counties such as France, Great Britain and the United States, topped off with Shiite Islamic expectations for the re-emergence of the Twelfth Imam. Dr. Dennis Cuddy, Ph.D, author of "The Globalists," is our sole guest for today's perspective-oriented program.27.10.2007
Prof Dennis L Cuddy fortnightly letter from the East Coast via News with Views Click to Listen 28.7.2007 (8057) Dr Dennis Cuddy-A brief dissertation on whats really happening-The Revelations of the WORLD GOVERNMENT-BACKED BY HIS DOCUMENTATION-A MUST LISTEN-A WARNING TO WAKE UP-NOW !!! THE EU-THE USA-THE MIDDLE EAST-ISRAEL-PAKISTAN-WW2-NAZISM-MONNETT-FABIANS-DIALECTS AND DELPHIC TECHNIQUES- A NEW RELIGION-GLOBALISTS-SOLANA-A WORLD SOCIALIST GOVT IN THE MAKING NOW!!!!! IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS WE SHALL BE HAPPY TO TAKE THEM ON OUR NEXT INTERVIEW
Prof Eugene Narrett a series of commencing beginning August weekly 1 hour interviews on:- Israel End Times
Israel End Times
Reminder of First Lecture by Prof Eugene Narrett Click to Listen 2.8.2007 (8179)
To include: Broad strokes. With illustrative details and examples of the situation in Israel and how it clarifies the drive toward a world state. Then in the subsequent shows, the topics on the list below:
Machiavelli and the Counter-Revolution of Paganism, 1500-1815
Western fragmentation, progress and regression, 1500-1900
Sympathy for the Devil: Romanticism and 'Darwin' 1790-1930
British Hysterics: Gothicism, Feminism and the New Empire
Working for the Three Bloc World: Betrayal, Eugenics, and Control
There's no Success like Failure... 1920 - 1966, Wars, cults and Vietnam
The pivotal year of the endtimes: 1967 and the Great Betrayal, Eras in Conflict
Land for Peace, the borderless world and War Eternal
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Prof. Eugene Narrett lecture-part 2 Machiavelli-and paganism-1500-1815 Click to Listen 8.8.2007 (8353)Link his current book World War threeBooks by Dr. Narrett
Part 6 Symapthy with the Devil Prof Narrett part 6 shelley-hegel-marx-Dialectic-new theology in the west-a new social order-auguste comte-darwin-galton-huxley-conflict to religious thought-Romanticism-ROMAN TICISM click to listen
Prof Eugene Narrett lecture 7-Mary Shelley and Frankenstein -click to listen unausa.org-COMMON PURPOSE-social physchological social control-prohibition-sympathy-despair and horror-Illuminati in Engelstadt & Percy Shelley & Rosicruscianism
Prof Eugene Narrett in conversation with Harold Hoffman leture 9 Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus-the monsters education and the authors blind spot: the failure of romantic teaching click to listen
apologies for bad background hiss Professor Eugene Narrett in conversation with Harold Hoffman lecture 10 Gothicism Terror Awe Majik or Madness into the Culture of the West click to listen
NOTHING NEW ITS OVER 5000 PLUS YEARS-EUGENICS-EUGENICS-EUGENICS-FROM CORRUPTION -DECEIT THROUGH ROMAN-TICISM-GOTHIC GLOBAL TERROR TO HUMAN ELIMINATION PROF EUGENE NARRETT IN CLASS 11 WITH HAROLD HOFFMAN CLICK TO LISTEN
Prof Eugene Narrett and Harold Hoffman discuss the span of history involving the EUGENICS MOVEMEMNT-FROM 1850's to the 1950's lecture 12 The deeper understandings of how this PROCESS AND PHILOSOPHY applies to destruction of Nation States and the furthering of the Global Agenda with such notaries as Machiavelli-Malthaus-Darwin-Galton-Huxleys's-Carnigie-Rockefeller-Sanger-Blavatsky-H G Wells- click to listen
PROF EUGENE NARRETT AND HAROLD HOFFMAN DISCUSS LECTURE 13-THE EUGENICS PROCESS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF 1967 LECT 13 -WHEN ALL WAS POSSIBLE BUT FAILURE HAPPENED-VERY IN DEPTH OF HISTRY TO ALMOST CURRENT TIMES SETTING THE CURRENT SCENE click to listen
Professor Eugene Narrett and Harold Hoffman discuss 1967 Turning Point in the Mid East-Israel lecture14 GLOBALISATION-IN SPORT ACROSS RUSSIA-EUROPE AND N.AMERICA -DESTRUCTION OF HISTORY FORGETTING NOT REMEMBRANCE-ATTEMPT TO DESTROY RELIGION FOR A NEW RELIGION FRAGMENTATION-FEDERATION-INTERNATIONALIZE-IMMIGRATION AQUARIAN AGE FEMINISM SWINGING 60's BIRTH CONTROL FAMILY UNIT DESTRUCTION-MOVING TO AN AGE OF HI TECH FEUDALISM-ALICE BAILEY click to listen
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CLICK TO LISTEN Prof Eugene Narrett with Harold Hoffman ANNAPOLIS -ISRAEL-THE END TIMES -VITAL TO LISTEN Israel as the control group for human kind and a template for whats already done in Europe and being done in USA-FROM 1967 TO 1973 -2007-The True state of Israel- Israeli Politics-Whats happening now The Future Problems !!!!!
Prof Eugene Narrett with Harold Hoffman discuss Annapolis-N Intelligence Iran Holocaust click to listen 18.12.2007 16
Prof Eugene Narret in converstaion with Harold Hoffman-Israel's Destruction-Global Security State-what it all means-part 7 click to listen
Professor Narrett analyzes the dark side of the War on Terror and exposes its true and startling target. You will read the news with new and opened eyes after examining this study. With his characteristic breadth of relevant sources, he examines Western culture from ancient works to post-Modernism.
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The Policy to Destroy Israel and timely for Annapolis)with the shifting comments on geopolitics and religion click to listen Please note our 10 plus 4 more interviews to come on britanniaradio Interviews In this show, Dr. Eugene Narrett describes the interlocking strands between British policy from 1920s through 1940s (and timely for Annapolis) with the shifting comments on geopolitics and religion of Aquarian guru Alice Bailey. These facts give a new meaning to "land for peace" and "internationalizing Jerusalem". This show exposes the diabolical plans the British and the wider International Community have, planned for Israel.
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HIR Prof Francisco Gil White History of the 20th Century 14 hourly lecturesd (Nazi Ideaology and infiltration into terrorist movements How it effects the Mid East and Israel perhaps future prophetic interpretations? History of the 20th Century 14 chapters-14 interviews(listed as per his book chapters)
Click to Listen to his site HIR part1-as promised Dissertation by Prof Francisco Gil White His Background The Importance of History The Creation of the Eugenics Movement Oh -Its those Jews Again
Dr Francisco Gil White-part 2 History of the 20th Century- The Name -Palestine-and Hadjamini al Husseini-in converstaion with Harold Hoffman Click to Listen 30.7.2007 (8113)
Prof Gil White(-chapter 4-) our part 3- The Rise of the Eugenics Movement in Germany-History-Aristocracy-and the rise of Hitler-the role of the USA/UK ELITE- Click to Listen
The role of the Vatican -pope pius 12th -chapter 5 part our part 4-Click to Listen
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Who is Robert Gaylon Ross, Sr.? First Interview with Gaylon Ross Snr. CLICK TO LISTEN PLEASE NOTE: TELEPHONE CONNECTION TO USA NOT GOOD - SO YOU WILL HAVE TO INCREASE VOLUME WHEN GAYLON IS SPEAKING. http://www.4rie.com/
Born in Big Lake, Texas, he holds a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from Texas A & M University. While active in engineering, he was a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas, and a National Certified Manufacturing Engineer. After graduation, he accepted a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant (later promoted to 1st Lt.) in the Army Security Agency (ASA), a branch of the National Security Agency (NSA), which is a big brother to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Military training was in the field of cryptoanalysis (the breaking of codes), and served as a Company Commander with an Intelligence Unit on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the Chorwan valley of South Korea, from 1956 to 1957 (after the fighting had ceased).
Upon leaving active duty, began his professional career in the petroleum industry. Served as an Industrial Engineer for ten years until being promoted into management, and was a manufacturing Plant Manager for over ten years.The past seventeen years he served as an International Management Consultant, working in the US, Japan, Mexico, Canada, England, and Iran.
After completing the manuscript to the first book, Who's Who of the Elite, he contacted a number of publishers to ascertain their interest in this material. They all declined because of the subject matter, so he formed his own publishing company, RIE, and published this first of fourteen books in progress. The author has devoted the rest of his life to exposing the real truth about those evil ones in this world who would like to make us all their slaves 27.1.2008
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March 23, 2008
Back to the future
By Ted Belman Israpundit, for regular update of news from Toronto, London and Israel.
We discuss Obama Barak and his background. Real revelations! The battle with the Clintons and McCain's position. Finally, Ted Belman's view of Israel's state. Optimistic.
Dr Sean Gabb director of Libertarian Alliance monthly review of one to two topical news items and their relevance to current issues and the Libertarian Alliance philosophy Libertarian Alliance
Interview with Dr Sean Gabb of the Libertarian Alliance by Harold Hoffman Click to Listen We are pleased to announce the discussion with Dr Sean Gabb-
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John Galt on a fortnightly basis and his views on the current state of Nations and the lack off a Spiritual -Religious Dimension in the West.
The Cassandra File click to listen Be a fly on the wall and listen to John Galt and Cassandra and myself discuss: The failure of the UK and its population.
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1.7.2008
Harold Hoffman interviewed by Tamar Yonah, Israel National Radio. PARADIGM SHIFT: the Financial Tsunami WE ARE IN NOW... Tuesday morning interview on site click to listen
THE PARADIGM SHIFT WE ARE EXPERIENCING.
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Chris Everard. Controversial? Yes Definitely. Thought Provoking? Undoubtedly!
He is Britain’s most successful documentary film-maker. He is the only British director making feature-length documentaries for cinema audiences and the only British director to have late show slots every weekend at cinemas in Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Rome simultaneously. His is called the ‘Enfant Terrible!’ (which means the terrible child) of British Cinema by Paris Match magazine.
In 2007, he made no less than 4 x 2 hour feature-length documentaries, which were all subsequently released on DVD, each with 2 hour bonus discs. That means in 2007 he almost single-handedly matched the entire cinema output of the combined British Film Industry. Since 2004, he has made no less than 7 feature-length documentaries which have all been on independent cinema release and then sold to DVD worldwide.
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Previous interviews on site under Listen Again and Listen Now.
Daniel Hannan with Martin Jay. Interview on the EU and its various implications for the UK - Daniel Hannan noted Journalist and MEP FOR S.E. ENGLAND. Click to Listen
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