NEWS,07.04.2012

Hundreds attend funeral of Greek pensioner

Hundreds of people shouting defiance have attended the funeral of retired pharmacist Dimitris Chrisoula, who shot himself in central Athens this week saying government austerity cuts had left him in penury. "Forward the people, heads high, the only answer is resistance" they shouted, applauding as the coffin arrived at Athens' main cemetery, television pictures showed.Chrisoula's daughter said in a farewell speech that his act had been "deeply political," while a message from composer Mikis Theodorakis, an icon of defiance against the junta that ruled Greece in the 1970s, was also read out.Unusually for Greece, the ceremony had no religious component and the remains were to be taken to neighbouring Bulgaria for cremation, a practice forbidden by the powerful Greek Orthodox Church.Chrisoula shot himself in Athens' central Syntagma Square on Wednesday, leaving a note saying his pension had been wiped out and that "I find no other solution for a dignified end before I start sifting through garbage to feed myself".His death prompted new protests and clashes with police over the government's measures aimed at resolving Greece's massive debt crisis.Athens has been forced to cut state spending drastically, and has slashed civil servant salaries and pensions by up to 40 percent to secure bailout loan payments from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.Hundreds of thousands of Greeks have lost their jobs in the past year, and unemployment currently tops one million, a quarter of the workforce.Greek protesters marching in memory of a man who killed himself over financial woes have attacked a policeman. The policeman was left bloodied and his bulletproof vest was stolen.The demonstrators marched after a memorial service for Dimitris Christoulas, 77, a retired pharmacist who shot himself on Wednesday in the Greek capital's Syntagma Square. He left a note blaming politicians for his money problems and calling on "young people" to kill their elected leaders.His death has further galvanised Greeks angry over their leaders' implementation of tough austerity measures that are aimed at bringing the country out of its fiscal crisis but which have caused hardships for many ordinary citizens. Greece's economy is now also heavily dependent on international loans.Hundreds attended the memorial service for Mr Christoulas, singing and chanting slogans. Afterward, about two hundred people, escorted by bikers, marched through central Athens, ending their march at Syntagma.There, some of the demonstrators spotted two policemen who had just finished their patrol. About a dozen protesters quickly put on balaclavas to hide their faces and pursued the policemen.One managed to escape. The second was dragged down some steps, shoved to the ground and punched and kicked for about three minutes.The attackers took his bulletproof vest, as well as a bag containing a belt, a uniform and handcuffs. The attackers placed some of the items on the spot where Mr Christoulas shot himself, adding them to a makeshift memorial.The policeman, his face covered in blood, managed to make his way to a police van that had arrived on the scene. A police official said the policeman was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The official did not give his name in line with agency rules.According to a text of Mr Christoulas' note published by local media, the man said the government had made it impossible for him to survive on the pension he had paid into for 35 years. "I find no other solution than a dignified end before I start searching through the trash for food," read the note.Mr Christoulas' daughter, Emy, told media that her father, who had taken part in several protests at Syntagma Square, had intended to send a political message with his suicide. He had incurred no debts, she said."Father, you could not grasp it when they took away our democracy, our freedom, our integrity, " Emy Christoulas said at her father's memorial service."You could not grasp it when they surrounded us with a harsh social and economic apartheid."Mr Christoulas' body will be cremated at a later date, in Bulgaria, because Greece lacks cremation facilities.

NEWS,06.04.2012.

Fears of another motorbike serial killer after four shootings in Paris

Police in Paris have linked a 7.65mm gun to four separate murders in the Essone area of the capital since November, raising the possibility of another serial killer following the death of Mohamed Merah in Toulouse on 22 March.The fourth victim, a 47-year-old woman of Algerian origin, was shot four times in the head on Thursday. The gunman was seen to flee on a motorbike.Interior Minister Claude Guéant told radio  Europe-1: "This series of killings deserves our maximum attention and we're putting all our resources into this affair." Prosecutor Marie-Suzanne Le Quéau told a press conference that police were trying to determine whether there the victims were linked, and whether there was one killer or more than one: "On the theory of a serial killer, I will simply say that three of the murders  the second, third and fourth, show similarities."However, it was also stressed that as yet no terrorism link had been made, unlike in the seven murders around Toulouse by Merah, who also used a motorbike.Le Quéau said that a suspect in the first attack was still being held, but had retracted a confession. The fourth victim, Nadjia Lahsene, was shot while in the entrance hall of her housing block in the district of Grigny. A neighbour was quoted as saying: "Everyone is in shock. She didn't feel threatened. She's a normal person, simple, no history." Police appealed for witnwsses who saw the gunman, described as tall and slim.The first victim, Nathalie Davids, a 35-year-old lab assistant, was shot in her block's carpark in Grigny on 27 November. On 22 February, her 52-year old neighbour, Jean-Yves Bonnerue, was killed in the entrance to their building. The third, an 81-year old man, was shot in the suburb of Ris-Orangis on 19 March. 19th.Le Queau said that over 100 officers have been deployed to investigate the case and carry out identity checks in the area of the attacks. All were killed execution-style, with shots in the head. Le Quéau also said that all four deaths occurred at the same time of day, around 4 to 6 pm. Their locations are also near two trunk roads, allowing a fast escape.Following the first murder, a man aged 46 was arrested in December; he had been jilted during an affair with the woman, and had a record for petty crime. While in custody and with his lawyer, the man had confessed, but he then made a retraction in front of the investigating judge.The killings come as France is still distressed by the terror attacks in the south that left dead three Jewish children and a rabbi, plus three paratroopers. Mohamed Merah, the al Qaeda-inspired gunman, also used a powerful motorbike. He was identified, put under siege in his flat, and shot dead while leaping out of the window.France is holding the first round of its presidential election on 22 April, and the Toulouse case has played into a sharpening of the tone in the campaign; an opinion poll put Socialist François Hollande's lead over President Nicolas Sarkozy at its narrowest so far.

Tearful Hugo Chávez prays for God to spare him from cancer

'I have more to do for this country,' Venezuelan president pleads at pre-Easter mass after latest round of treatment in CubaThe Venezuelan president wept in a televised speech from the Catholic service in his home state of Barinas. His voice broke as he eulogised Jesus, the revolutionary fighter Che Guevara and the South American independence hero Simon Bolívar. "Give me your crown, Jesus. Give me your cross, your thorns so that I may bleed. But give me life, because I have more to do for this country and these people. Do not take me yet," Chávez said, standing below an image of Jesus with the Crucifix. Chávez said he had held faith that his cancer would not return after his first two operations last year  which removed a baseball sized tumour from his pelvis  but it did."Today I have more faith than yesterday," he said. "Life has been a hurricane ... but a couple of years ago my life began to become not my own any more. Who said the path of revolution would be easy?"Very little is known about the 57-year-old president's condition, including even what type of cancer he has. Chávez has undergone three operations in less than a year and received two sessions of radiotherapy. He has said the latest surgery was successful, that he is recovering well and will be fit to win a new six-year term at an election in October. But big questions remain about his future and on Thursday the strain appeared to show."Never forget that we are the children of giants ... I could not avoid some tears," the former soldier said as his parents and other relatives looked on from the church rows. Chávez soon seemed to recover his composure, joking with his brother Adan in the congregation that few people were watching because it was Easter, when Venezuelans typically hit the beach. After 13 years of his rule over the continent's biggest oil exporter, Chávez's sickness has thrown its politics into turmoil in the run-up to the election on 7 October.Flying back and forth to Havana for treatment, Chávez has been forced to run a kind of virtual campaign via Twitter and appearances on state television, while his opposition rival Henrique Capriles tours the country.He returned to Barinas late on Wednesday from Havana, where he had undergone a second session of radiotherapy. He said it went well and that all the test results had been positive.But in the absence of detailed information on his condition, Venezuelans have hunted for clues in his appearance each time he is on state TV. One local news website ran a large photo of his heavily perspiring brow after he disembarked from the jet.One Venezuelan opposition journalist who has broken news on Chávez's condition in the past reported that his medical team continued to disagree among themselves over the best course, and a Brazilian blogger said he might travel there for treatment.Capriles has mostly kept quiet about the president's illness, preferring to wish him a speedy recovery so that he can beat him in a fair fight at the polls.But the youthful state governor has criticised Chávez for choosing to be treated abroad, saying it sends a bad message to ordinary Venezuelans if he does not trust local doctors.Capriles, 39, took issue this week with repeated comments by Chávez and his allies that Jesus must have been a fellow leftist radical. "This theme is an obsession of the eternal candidate," Capriles said on Twitter, referring to Chávez. "This holy week we should remember Christ was neither socialist nor capitalist.In the latest opinion poll released last month the president had a solid 13 percentage point lead over Capriles, but many voters remained undecided.

NEWS,05.04.2012.

Retiree's suicide jolts Greece, triggers violence

A Greek retiree shot himself dead in Athens' main square Wednesday, blasting politicians over the country's financial crisis in a suicide note that triggered violent clashes hours later between police and anti-austerity protesters. Riot police fired tear gas and flash grenades after protests attended by some 1,500 people turned violent, and youths hurled rocks and petrol bombs outside Parliament. Authorities reported no injuries or arrests. The 77-year-old retired pharmacist drew a handgun and shot himself in the head near a subway exit on central Syntagma Square which was crowded with commuters, police said. The square, opposite Parliament, has become the focal point of frequent public protests against Greece's two-year austerity campaign. The incident, during morning rush hour, jolted public opinion and quickly entered political debate, with the prime minister and the heads of both parties backing Greece's governing coalition expressing sorrow. "A pharmacist ought to be able to live comfortably on his pension," said Vassilis Papadopoulos, a spokesman for the "I won't pay" group. "So for him to reach the point of suicide out of economic hardship means a lot. It shows how the social fabric is unraveling." Greece has relied on international rescue loans since May 2010. To secure them, Athens implemented harsh austerity measures, slashing pensions and salaries while repeatedly raising taxes. But the belt-tightening worsened the recession and led to thousands of job losses that left one in five Greeks unemployed. "As a Greek, I am truly shocked," Dimitris Giannopoulos, an Athens doctor, said before the protest. "I am shocked because I see that (the government is) destroying my dignity ... and the only thing they care about are bank accounts." Police said a handwritten note was found on the retired pharmacist's body in which he attributed his decision to the debt crisis. According to a text of the note published by local media, the man said the government had made it impossible for him to survive on the pension he had paid into for 35 years. "I find no other solution than a dignified end before I start searching through the trash for food," read the note. Police did not confirm whether it was genuine. Greece has seen an increase in suicides over the past two years of economic hardship, during which the country repeatedly teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. Police did not release the pharmacist's name and offered few other details. By Wednesday evening, dozens of written messages had been pinned to the tree under which the man shot himself, some reading: "It was a murder, not a suicide," and "Austerity kills." Hundreds of protesters made their way across the street from the square to outside Parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, chanting: "This was not a suicide, it was a state-perpetrated murder" and "Blood flows and seeks revenge." Dozens of riot police stood guard. Papadopoulos, the protest organizer, said the suicide shows Greeks can take no more austerity. "This suicide is political in nature and heavy in symbolism. It's not like a suicide at home," Papadopoulos said in a telephone interview. "There was a political suicide note, and it happened in front of a clearly political site, Parliament, where the austerity measures are approved." Prime Minister Lucas Papademos issued a statement as protesters gathered at the site of the suicide. "It is tragic for one of our fellow citizens to end his life," he said. "In these difficult hours for our society we must all  the state and the citizens  support the people among us who are desperate." Government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis described the incident as "a human tragedy," but said it should not become part of the political debate. "I don't know the exact circumstances that led that man to his act," Kapsis said. "I believe we must all remain calm and show respect for the true events, which we do not yet fully know." Evangelos Venizelos, leader of the Socialist party, said the suicide "is so overwhelming that it renders any political comment unbecoming and cheap." "Let us reflect on the condition of the country and of our society in terms of solidarity and cohesion," said Venizelos, who served as finance minister for eight months before resigning to lead the Socialists. Conservative party head Antonis Samaras said the tragedy highlighted the urgency of getting Greece out of the crisis. "Unfortunately, this is not the first (suicide)," he said. "They have reached record levels." More protests are planned Thursday.

NEWS,04.04.2012.

French anti-terror raids: security and protection, or electioneering?

Nicolas Sarkozy's opponents query the 'spectacle' of the raids and their timing in the wake of Mohamed Merah's killing spreeOnce again, France woke to news of a string of dawn raids against suspected Islamists across the country, from the old industrial heartlands of the north to Marseille on the southern coast. Days earlier, rolling TV-news and breakfast bulletins broadcast dramatic images as elite anti-terrorist squads in black body armour smashed windows and bashed down doors shouting "Police!", emerging with hand-cuffed suspects with their faces covered, on residential streets from Nantes to Toulouse.Less than three weeks before the first round of the presidential election, France is gripped by one of its biggest crackdowns on suspected radical Islamists in recent memory. Amplified by TV coverage, it has been led by an unrelenting Nicolas Sarkozy, who is also battling for re-election. Opposition politicians now openly question whether the timing and TV crews are as much linked to electioneering as anti-terrorist crime prevention.France is still in a state of shock and confusion after Mohamed Merah, a 23-year-old unemployed panelbeater from Toulouse, went on a 10-day killing spree across south-west France, executing three paratroopers and shooting children and a rabbi at the gates of a Jewish school. Following a dramatic 32-hour siege at his flat, Merah died in a hail of police bullets as he leapt from the balcony. But questions remain over how Merah  who claimed inspiration from al-Qaida, was heavily armed, on police intelligence files and had been under surveillance  was not picked up earlier and his attacks prevented. Some commentators warn that the new anti-terrorist crackdown, which included the deportation of a handful of preachers, should not be used as a smokescreen to distract from potential failings in the Merah operation.The right-wing Sarkozy had long ago seen his election strategy compared to that of his friend George W Bush's 2004 fight for re-election in the US: styling himself as the only trustworthy protector of the nation in the face of serious threat. A month ago, the danger was impending financial meltdown. Now, it is closer to Bush's own target: Islamist fundamentalism and terrorism. Sarkozy last week likened the Toulouse killings to France's 9/11. The scale of the attacks maybe different, he said, but the national "traumatism" was the same.The justice system will have the last word on the arrests, which were not directly linked to Merah. Preliminary charges have been filed against 13 alleged members of a banned fundamentalist group. An intelligence chief suggested militants were planning a kidnapping. The 10 arrested on Wednesday were suspected of links to Islamist websites and of threatening violence in online forums.But in an election more than ever determined by TV coverage, Sarkozy's opponents queried the "spectacle" of the raids and their timing in the wake of the Toulouse killings. "I'm not questioning all that's being done. I'm simply saying that we should have perhaps done more before," said François Hollande, the Socialist candidate. The government insists the arrests had nothing to do with the elections, but with the security and protection of France.The "Toulouse effect" on the presidential race has so far been limited. Crucially, it allowed Sarkozy, during a week of national mourning, to regain presidential stature. Before Toulouse, he had been heckled so badly on the campaign trail in the Basque country that he took refuge in a bar. Now, over 70% of French people approve his stance at the time of the Toulouse killings. His poll ratings have lifted giving him a narrow lead in the first-round, but Hollande remains ahead in the final 6 May run-off.Yet the shootings have not changed French voters' chief topics of concern: crippling unemployment and the difficulty making ends meet. Crime and terrorism remain low on their list. Indeed, many French people feel disappointed that the presidential debate isn't addressing their everyday worries, and abstentionism could be high. But the extreme-right Front National's Marine Le Pen has used Toulouse to hammer home her rhetoric on fears about Islam,terrorism, immigration and what she warned were fundamentalists festering on France's notorious suburban high-rise estates (even if the raids were often carried out on smart semi-detached houses). To win the election, Sarkozy knows he must court Le Pen's voters. Politicians and religious leaders, have warned against stigmatising French Muslims a long held fear following Sarkozy's recent Front National-inspired election crusade against halal meat.

 

Anna Chapman never got anywhere near seducing a member of US cabinet

Anna Chapman, the famously sultry Russian operative who was arrested in the US with nine others for espionage in 2010, was apparently "close to seducing a sitting member of President Barack Obama's cabinet."The reports were based on an interview that Frank Figliuzzi, the FBI's assistant director of counterintelligence, gave to the BBC in which he called the confessed spy a "honeytrap", adding: "She got close enough to disturb us."The story went viral.There's only one problem with it, though: it's not true in the slightest."It's a completely bogus story,"a defense department spokesman told. "They made a giant leap."Figliuzzi never mentions Chapman, 30, by name in the BBC video. And while he did say that one of the 10 operatives had gotten "close enough to a sitting US cabinet member" to "disturb" the agency, he wasn't talking about Chapman. Nor was he talking about seduction. The New York Daily News picked up the story under the drooling headline: "Sexy Russian spygal Anna Chapman got too close to President Obama's inner circle, FBI official tells BBC."heir article, which ran Wednesday, is maddeningly confusing.In the fourth paragraph, the Daily News reports: A high-ranking FBI official says Anna Chapman was busted in 2010 spy ring because flame-haired sexpot got too close to sitting President Obama cabinet member.But the sixth paragraph directly contradicts this: Flame-haired sexpot Anna Chapman was quickly fingered as the tight-bodied temptress by the British press  but the needle slowly moved in the direction of dowdy New Jersey housewife Cynthia Murphy, who was also taken down in the spy sting.It's not until the twelfth paragraph that the paper admits: Figliuzzi refused to reveal the cabinet member  or the female spy.But the "honey trap" may have actually been G-man speak for cold, hard cash  and the access it can gain with powerful people.So why headline it otherwise?It was ABC News that actually bothered to pick up a phone to call the FBI. The network reports that the spy Figliuzzi was referring to is, in fact, Cynthia Murphy. And by "getting too close" to an Obama cabinet member, he meant as a financial advisor to a Hillary Clinton fundraiser.The FBI, for its part, released a statement denying that Chapman attempted to seduce a cabinet member. Mr Figliuzzi's comments to BBC were consistent with and confined to the information outlined in the criminal complaint that was filed nearly two years ago. There is no allegation or suggestion in the complaint that Anna Chapman or anyone else associated with this investigation attempted to seduce a US cabinet officialChapman, of course, is a red-headed beauty who has since modeled in lingerie for Maxim and hosted a TV programme in Russia. She was ratings and Internet gold when her story broke in 2010  a femme fatale in the flesh. So it's perhaps somewhat understandable that the Telegraph and the Daily News would leap at the opportunity to splash her come-hither photograph on its pages without actually bothering to fact check their stories.

NEWS,03.04.2012.

Crazy gas prices driving German consumers mad

A price board at a petrol station in Berlin, Germany on March 30. The price for "super" at 1.71 euro per liter is approximately $8.56 a gallon.  “Oh nein,” there is another traffic jam at my local gas station.Normally, German drivers only encounter severe congestion on their famed autobahns, where traffic flow is often hampered there by the large number of construction sites regularly installed by the German government to keep its state-of-the-art highways "in order."These days, though, it is not unusual for gas prices to change up to five times per day at German gas stations, a phenomenon which traffic experts refer to as the “yo-yo effect.” When prices are lowered, many inner-city gas stations in Germany see drivers pull up in hordes.Given costs of up to 1.70 Euro (and more) per liter of unleaded fuel  the equivalent of $8.56 per gallon – it should come as no surprise that Germany's drivers have become bargain hunters. (One gallon is equal to 3.78 liters).Critics say that the yo-yo phenomenon is fueled by the highly competitive market and dominance by leading suppliers in the German market, like Aral, Jet or Shell.Retailers and consumers, who see a lowering of prices during lower-demand times and a hike during rush hours or school holidays, are increasingly calling for prices to be directed by supply and demand."When the prices are high in the morning during rush hour and then suddenly drop when most people are at work, our customers often get upset and complain heavily," said Ferdinand Raker, who has been running an independent gas station in the town of Molbergen since 1998."On some days, we see a lowering or raising of the prices by up to 14 euro cents ($0.18) per liter," said Andreas Hoelzel from German automobile club ADAC in Munich. "We understand that there is a competitive market situation, but the extent of price fluctuation is just enormous."It is all about a plethora of petrol pumps in Germany, representatives from the industry argue."This shows that we have a functioning business competition in the German petroleum market, which in comparison to other European countries has an above-average volume of gas stations with its nearly 14,700 outlets nationwide," said Karin Retzlaff from the Association of the German Petroleum Industry, known as MWV.This argument, however, has neither satisfied the average driver nor officials from automobile clubs, who represent Germany's now grumpy motorists.Reports about illegal price fixing among multinationals could not be proven in recent investigations by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office, but experts and media reports are still accusing oil firms of implementing “methods of systematic confusion.“On Monday, weekly “Der Spiegel” news magazine headlined its cover “The Fuel Cartel – How Oil Firms Manipulate the Fuel Prices” and argued in its seven-page analysis that the leading gas companies are using their power in the market to deliberately inflate fuel prices.Frustration over high fuel costs has also set off a high level of fuel thefts across the country, officials say.According to police in Germany's most populous state, Northrhein-Westphalia, diesel thefts, for example, have increased over the course of the past year. (More than 40 percent of German cars are powered by diesel.) An internal survey, which listed all cases with diesel thefts above 100 liters, showed 111 cases in January and 83 in February in this local state alone.The statistics indicate that criminals are mainly targeting fuel depots, heavy construction machines and large trucks. In 2011, state police in Northrhein-Westphalia recorded 986 cases with a total of 344,000 liters (90,875 gallons) stolen.Thieves have become increasingly creative. Police have recorded incidents in which criminals have drilled holes into gas tanks of private cars or used stolen or fake licence plates so that they can remain unidentified at gas stations when they drive off without paying the bill."Last month, I lost 10,000 liters of fuel after thieves signed up for a special debit card with false identifications and then pulled up numerous times with different vehicles to steal my petrol," says Raker, the Molbergen gas station owner. “Police caught the culprit," he said, "but he was broke and I was left with the damage.”With anger on all sides, the mass-circulation BILD newspaper offered a sign of possible relief soon with the headline "Finally! A law against fuel rip-off.“ The article referred to a meeting of Germany's upper house of parliament last Friday, where politicians debated proposals for a new law, which could help calm down fluctuating gas prices.Politicians in Berlin suggested that oil firms should be required to warn of new fuel prices by 2 p.m. on the day before the change, and the altered prices would have to remain unchanged for at least 24 hours.Prices could also be stored in a central public database under a new law, which would give motorists the ability to check the cheapest pump prices in their vicinity with the help of the Internet or modern smart phones.Yet, a decision on a possible new law is not expected before the end of the summer (or, as some believe, might not come at all).And, despite the fact that there now appears to be light at the end of Germany's tunnels in regard to regulations that could stop the rollercoaster ride at the pump, the underlying price for crude oil on the world market is unlikely to fall dramatically any time soon.

NEWS,02.04.2012.

Attack On Iran Would Be 'Disastrous' For Middle East, Turkish Prime Minister Warns

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned over the weekend that an Israeli strike on Iran would have "disastrous" consequences for the Middle East, likely sparking a regional war, Turkish newspapers reported on Sunday. Turkey is a major U.S. ally in the region and Erdogan indicated that he had expressed his concerns to President Barack Obama.Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Erdogan was quoted by the Turkish daily Hurriyet as warning against the "disastrous" outcome of a possible Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, saying: "The entire region would be devastated if Israel strikes Iran."Erdogan also criticized the international community for keeping mum on Israel's alleged nuclear weapons, while threatening Iran over what he said was a peaceful nuclear program."Israel has between 250 to 300 nuclear warheads. Nobody is discussing that," Erdogan said, adding: "Iran says they would not produce nuclear weapons. They are saying that they would produce a specific amount of enriched uranium rods and stop after that."Turkey is set to host a new round of diplomatic talks between Iran and a group of world powers -- the U.S., France, Britain, China, Russia, and Germany -- beginning on April 13.On Monday, Russia's foreign minister also strongly warned against a military attack on Iran, saying that a pre-emptive strike would violate international law. Sergey Lavrov said on a visit to Armenia that an attack on Iran would destabilize the region.Israel and the U.S. have warned that all options remain open, including military action, to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.Iran insists its uranium enrichment program is aimed at civilian power generation and research, but Israel and Western nations believe it is a cover for a nuclear weapons bid.Russia, which built Iran's first nuclear power plant, backed some of the previous U.N. sanctions against Tehran, but in recent months has firmly rejected imposing new sanctions and called for dialogue.An end to a nearly decade-long nuclear standoff between Iran and major world powers will be possible if the United States and its European allies recognize Tehran's right to enrich uranium, a former Iranian negotiator said in an editorial. "Talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany (P5+1), scheduled for next month, provide the best opportunity to break the nine-year deadlock over Iran's nuclear program," Hossein Mousavian, Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator, wrote in an editorial in the Boston Globe. Mousavian, now a visiting scholar at Princeton University in New Jersey, had been seen as a moderate when in the Iranian government. Although he is not currently a policymaker, such public presentations of Iranian thinking is rare. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful and rejects U.S. and European allegations that it is secretly amassing the capability to produce atomic weapons. Iran has rejected Security Council demands that it halt enrichment and other sensitive nuclear work, saying it has a sovereign right to atomic energy. This has led to four rounds of increasingly stringent U.N. Security Council sanctions, mostly focusing on its nuclear and missile industries, but also targeting some financial institutions, a few subsidiaries of its major shipping firm, and companies linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In recent months there has been increased speculation about possible Israeli air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites - which some analysts fear could spark a Middle East war. For the talks, expected to take place in mid-April, to open the door to a resolution of the standoff with Iran, Mousavian said the United States and its European allies must make clear that war and coercion are not the only options. They should seek enhanced engagement with Tehran, as U.S. President Barack Obama has repeatedly called for. "This could work - since 2003, Iran has been looking for a viable and durable solution to the diplomatic standoff," wrote Mousavian. Mousavian was Iran's chief nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005 before conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took over from his reformist predecessor Mohammad Khatami. According to Western envoys familiar with Mousavian, he appeared at the time to be genuinely interested in reaching a deal with the West. After he was removed from the nuclear negotiating team, Mousavian was arrested and briefly jailed in 2007 on accusations of espionage. He was acquitted of that charge, which could have carried the death penalty, but was found guilty of "propaganda against the system." Analysts and diplomats said the charges against Mousavian were really a reflection of an internal Iranian dispute over how to handle Iran's atomic dispute with the West. Some Iranians favor the moderate line adopted by Mousavian while others have backed Ahmadinejad's more confrontational approach. Mousavian writes that if a deal that is acceptable to both parties is to be reached, the two sides' "bottom lines" should be identified. "For Iran, this is the recognition of its legitimate right to create a nuclear program - including enrichment - and a backing off by the P5+1 from its zero-enrichment position." "For the P5+1, it is an absolute prohibition on Iran from creating a nuclear bomb, and having Iran clear up ambiguities in its nuclear program to the satisfaction of the International Atomic Energy Agency," Mousavian writes. The West also needs to abandon calls for regime change and accept that "crippling sanctions, covert actions, and military strikes might slow down Iran's nuclear program but will not stop it." "In fact, it is too late to demand that Iran suspend enrichment activities," Mousavian writes. "It mastered enrichment technology and reached break-out capability in 2002 and continues to steadily improve its uranium-enrichment capabilities." The so-called "break-out" capability refers to the ability of a country to construct a nuclear weapon. A U.S. think tank, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), has said that capping Iranian uranium enrichment at 5 percent purity level compared with the 90 percent needed for a bomb could form part of an interim deal that would give time for more substantial negotiations. This and other priority measures would "limit Iran's capability to break out quickly," ISIS said in a report. Among the things the West should offer to Iran is a package that includes recognition of its nuclear rights, ending sanctions, and "normalization of Iran's nuclear file." In return, Iran should offer the IAEA full transparency and permit the most intrusive inspections possible.

NEWS,01.04.2012.

Presidential race heats up as Sarkozy hails manifesto

France’s election race will pick up pace next week after being thrown off course by an Islamist gunman, with Nicolas Sarkozy unveiling his manifesto and opponents set to tear it apart.Mohamed Merah’s killings of three soldiers, a rabbi and three Jewish children in the worst terrorist attacks in France since the 1990 prompted presidential candidates to suspend campaigning for several days from Mar 19 and the nation is only just emerging from a distressed daze. Merah, a 23-year-old Frenchman who said he had links to al Qaida, was buried near Toulouse yesterday.With only three weeks to go before the Apr 22 first-round vote, Sarkozy says he is ready to unveil a fully-fledged manifesto to compete with a weighty 60-point plan presented by Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande in January. "You’ll have a global project, with financing, next week," Sarkozy said. The manifesto will provide bait to Hollande to come back on the offensive after 10 days of treading water, sidelined as Sarkozy took command over the shooting crisis. On launching his campaign last month, Sarkozy bet that his best chance of overcoming dismal popularity ratings and a strong desire for change was to announce his ideas one-by-one on TV and radio, or campaign speeches, for maximum impact. "As soon as you unveil an idea, it immediately sounds worn out," Sarkozy said, explaining his tactic. Having vowed to halve legal immigration, deport more illegal immigrants, tax fiscal exiles and hold policy referendums, Sarkozy said it was finally time for a full manifesto complete with financial incomings and outgoings. He is expected to launch one before he departs for a trip to the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion on Tuesday. Meanwhile, French police yesterday detained 19 people in a crackdown on suspected Islamist extremists in cities around the country.Sarkozy promised more raids to come, but gave no details about the reasons for the arrests or what the detainees were suspected of."It’s in connection with a form of Islamist radicalism," he said."There will be other operations that will continue and that will allow us to expel from our national territory a certain number of people who have no reason to be here."French Muslims have worried about a backlash after Merah’s attacks, and French leaders have urged the public not to equate Islam with terrorism.But concerns about radical Islam are high, and the government banned a string of international Muslim clerics from entering France for a conference of a fundamentalist Islamic group.

Spain’s €27bn budget cut aims to reassure

 Spain announced deep cuts to its central government budget yesterday as it battles to convince European partners and debt markets it can rein in its budget deficit in the face of growing complaints from the public.The government said it would make savings of €27bn for the rest of 2012 from the central government budget, equivalent to around 2.5% of GDP. The figure includes tax rises and spending cuts of around €15bn announced in December.The cuts come despite popular resistance  a general strike on Thursday disrupted transport, halted industry and saw some minor violence and against a grim economic backdrop; Spain is thought to have fallen back into recession in the first quarter and has the highest unemployment rate in the EU. "Everyone knows the difficult problem we face in this country, and it calls for special efforts in fiscal consolidation and structural reforms to grow and create employment," deputy prime minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaria said after the weekly cabinet meeting. The centre-right government, which swept to power in November with the largest parliamentary majority in 30 years, has already passed labour market and banking sector reforms that it says can improve competitiveness and reduce wage costs. EU partners have agreed to let prime minister Mariano Rajoy aim for a total 2012 deficit at 5.3% of GDP, a less demanding goal than the 4.4% originally suggested but substantially less than last year’s 8.5%. The Spanish government said it was aiming for a central government deficit equivalent of 3.5% of GDP, a deficit of 1.5% of GDP coming from Spain’s regions and a balanced social security budget. Smaller local authorities expect a deficit equivalent to 0.3% of GDP. The regions announced a deficit of 2.9% of GDP in 2011, meaning that they would have to cut around €15bn to meet the 2012 target. Details were scarce, with the government due to set the budget before parliament on Tuesday, but some economists are concerned that deep austerity measures could hurt already weakened growth and further endanger the deficit targets. The government said it would slash spending by 16.9% across the ministries, with spending at the foreign ministry cut by more than half, and the industry, energy and tourism ministry taking a cut of more than 30%. Total cuts of over €42bn, between the central administrations and the regional authorities, could be tough for an economy struggling to grow, economists warn. "This is as austere as it gets. It’s a tightening of fiscal policy until the pips squeak. There can be no doubting the government’s willingness to curb Spain’s excessive budget deficits," said Nicholas Spiro at Spiro Sovereign Strategy. Rajoy can ill afford to upset nervous bondmarket investors, who on Thursday pushed the yield premium for Spanish 10-year debt close to their highest levels since early January. The premium investors demand to hold Spanish over German debt dipped slightly after the budget announcement to around 356 basis points, suggesting a cautious welcome for the plan intended to improve Madrid’s ability to service its debt. Investors fear, however, that the government may fail to deliver the budget cuts it is promising or will need to announce new measures before the end of the year which could hurt growth.