Moqtada al-Sadr Supporters Protest New Military Pact in Baghdad
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Radical Shi'ite cleric demands Iraqi parliament reject pact, set to take effect in January
Thousands of noisy demonstrators filled Baghdad's renowned Firdous Square to protest a new military pact between Iraq and the United States which is being debated in parliament. Radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who called for the protest, is demanding that the Iraqi parliament reject the pact, which is set to take effect in January, as Edward Yeranian reports from Cairo.Thousands of followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr converge on Firdous Square in central Baghdad to protest a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact, 21 Nov 2008Throngs of mostly Shi'ite supporters of anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr filled Baghdad's Firdous Square to protest a new security pact between Iraq and the United States that is being debated in parliament.Sadr has been demanding that the Iraqi parliament reject the new pact, which would allow U.S. forces to remain in Iraq until December 2011. The old U.N. mandate expires on December 31.Protesters chanted anti-U.S. slogans and waved banners decrying the new security pact, such as "no, no, to the security agreement," and "occupation forces must go, now."One demonstrator, who gave his name as Abdul Amir Aboud, said that he was against the new accord, which some political leaders are trying to ram through parliament.He says that the demonstration shows that the people reject the new Security pact with the United States, which he thinks has been imposed on them, and which is now being whisked through the Iraqi parliament and the government.In a symbolic gesture, Moqtada al-Sadr supporters strung up an effigy of U.S. President George Bush from a statue in Firdous Square to express their displeasure with the United States.Thousands of Iraqis tore down a statue of deposed former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in the same square, shortly after U.S. forces arrived in Baghdad in 2003.Al Jazeera TV reported that both Shi'ites and Sunnis took part in the demonstration, which followed an unusual joint Friday prayer session. Media reports, however, say that most of the demonstrators were Shi'ite.Moqtada al-Sadr's top spokesman in Baghdad, Salman al Freiji also told al Jazeera TV that the "U.S. occupiers must leave the country immediately" and that parliament must reject the security pact, which he claims has "unacceptable secret provisions."Iraqi military forces kept a close watch on demonstrators, placing sharp-shooters on rooftops surrounding Firdous Square.National Security Advisor Mufawaq al Rubaie, who helped draft the new pact, refused to comment on Friday's demonstrations when asked by VOA.Iraq's parliament had a stormy debate over the text of the new agreement Thursday, with Iraqi government station al Iraqia showing members of parliament trying to shout each other down and others trying to stir up a frenzy.With a vote set for the beginning of next week, analyst Paul Salem, who heads the Carnegie Center for Peace in the Middle East, thinks that it's too soon to tell what may happen."Well, it's certainly touch and go. I mean, the vote is for Monday and it's not clear that [Prime Minister] Maliki has all the votes necessary," he said. "The coalition of Sadrists and some of the Sunni groups and some of the secularists who are against it are a strong coalition. There is also issues of a quorum, because it's the beginning of the haj season and some deputies have already left and does really put the approval of the status of forces agreement somewhat up in the air. Maliki is doing his best to get the votes necessary. It's probably touch and go down to the wire. I don't think anybody can predict." Moqtada al-Sadr is also a long-standing ally of Iran, and Salem thinks that it's still not entirely clear what position the Iranians are taking in the debate over the new military pact."There have been conflicting statements from different Iranian authorities," he said. "The head of the judicial branch welcomed the agreement, whereas Larijani, the head of parliament, while saying that it's a much better draft than the one that the Americans initially tabled, he publicly said that the parliament should still oppose it. So, it seems that either that there are different Iranian factions pulling in different directions, or they're sitting on the fence on this one."Despite the loud debate in parliament and attempts by Moqtada al-Sadr's block of 30 deputies to shout down the accord, a majority of Iraq's 275 member legislative body is still believed to support it.
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US Stocks Plunge to New Lows Not Seen Since 2002
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Closely watched S&P 500 index fell to 11-year low, taking that index back to pre-technology bubble levels
Economic gloom deepened Thursday in the United States as stock prices fell to five-and-a-half-year lows and Congress delayed until next month action to assist hard-pressed U.S. automakers. VOA's Barry Wood has more.
Traders at New York Stock Exchange, 20 Nov 2008The closely watched Standard and Poors 500 index fell to an 11-year low, taking that index back to pre-technology bubble levels. The Dow Jones Industrials fell another 444 points to 7,552, its lowest level since 2003.
"Once the market takes out its 2002 lows, which the S&P just did, and I think the Dow is around 7,200, then I think you can look for the blow-off bottom and perhaps an end to the selling, or at least an intermediate term bottom," said Tim Mulholland, a futures trader in Chicago, said on Bloomberg Television.
Citigroup, until recently the biggest U.S. bank, continued its fall and has now lost nearly 50 percent of its value in just the past two days.
Congress Thursday turned aside the pleas of industrial state lawmakers from both parties and postponed until the week of December 8 any vote on granting emergency loans to U.S.-based car companies. The Detroit three say the credit squeeze and sharp falloff in consumer demand has left them so short of cash that they face possible bankruptcy.
Lee Hoskins, the former governor of the Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Ohio, told Bloomberg News that he opposes aid to the car companies unless tight conditions are attached.
"If Congress is foolish enough to do this, then I think they should demand a lot from both the labor unions and the companies themselves, including changing the management, if they want," he said.
Gold gained $13 on the day to $749 an ounce and oil lost another $4 to under $50 a barrel. Oil prices are now down about 60 percent from their record highs set in mid-July.
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Lawmakers Seek Restructuring Plan From US Automakers Before Approving Aid
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General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler have until early next month to submit proposals to make their companies economically viable
U.S. lawmakers are demanding that America's big three automakers submit plans for making their companies economically viable before approving federal aid to the beleaguered industry. Under a bipartisan proposal announced Thursday, automakers have until early next month to send Congress their plans. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.
House Nancy Pelosi (left) with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (far right), 20 Nov 2008Democratic congressional leaders say they are prepared to return to Washington next month to continue a post-election session and approve federal loans to the automobile industry if automakers submit plans to restructure by December 2.
"Until they show us the plan, we cannot show them the money," said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid echoed the comments.
"We want to help, but we can only help if they are willing to help themselves," he said.
Senator Reid withdrew legislation to use $25 billion of the $700 billion financial rescue package approved by Congress last month to help the auto industry, saying the plan lacked lawmakers' support.
It also lacked the support of the Bush administration, which argued the $700 billion was meant to shore up financial institutions, not automakers. The administration favored using money from another loan program set up by Congress to help develop more fuel-efficient automobiles. Congressional Democrats had opposed using that money for anything other than developing vehicles that use less gasoline.
But under the bipartisan plan announced Thursday, that loan program could be used to help the auto industry in the short term - if automakers submit restructuring plans, with a guarantee that the account would be replenished.
Senator Chris Bond, a Missouri Republican, led the compromise effort.
"This bipartisan compromise will protect the millions of American jobs at stake, protect taxpayers and will require the auto industry to come forward with a plan to show how they will get to viability, financial stability and profitability," he said.
In testimony before the Senate and House this week, top executives from General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, appealed for $25 billion in loans, warning that their industry, hurt by a sharp drop in sales and a tight credit market, might collapse without them and further worsen the U.S. economy.
But skeptical lawmakers argued that much of the industry's problems stemmed from mismanagement. House members criticized the executives for flying into Washington on multimillion dollar corporate jets to seek federal assistance.
In separate action Thursday, the Senate voted to extend unemployment benefits for jobless Americans. The House of Representatives had already acted on the measure, which now goes to President Bush for his signature.
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Bush Travels to Peru for Final Pacific Rim Summit
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White House says president will urge APEC to endorse steps already being taken to boost global economy
U.S. President George Bush is on his way to Peru for his final Pacific Rim summit. VOA White House Correspondent Paula Wolfson reports this is expected to be Mr. Bush's last foreign trip before leaving office.President George W. Bush walks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, center, and National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, left, as they leave the White House, 21 Nov 2008President Bush attended his first Pacific Rim summit just two months after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.Now, with the nation in the midst of a financial crisis, he is making his last appearance at the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.White House aides say the president will urge APEC to endorse steps already being taken to boost the global economy. They indicate he will likely focus on the need to expand trade worldwide and open markets.Charles Freeman is a former U.S. trade official. He says even though Mr. Bush has little time left in office, his words can have an impact at the forum."Well, I mean, words count," Freeman said. "So I think what the leadership says about trade liberalization is very important. And standing up for that is key."The Pacific Rim countries account for about half of the world's trade and population. And the number of bilateral and free trade agreements between and among APEC members has soared in recent years.APEC is not a formal organization or a negotiating body, but a venue for leaders to come together to exchange thoughts and ideas. And while it does not have the clout of the Group of 20 leading industrialized and emerging economies, it is an instrument of dialog in a key region of the world.Steven Schrage, an expert on international business and trade at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, says the Pacific Rim is vitally important."You've got 60 percent of U.S. exports, 60 percent of world GDP [i.e., gross domestic product]. I believe it is over 50 percent of world trade, three billion consumers - so there is a critical mass of world leaders here with some of the most advanced and important economies," Schrage said.The APEC forum also gives Pacific Rim leaders a chance to hold numerous one-on-one meetings on the sidelines. President Bush, for example, is expected to confer with the leaders of China, Russia, South Korea, Japan and host Peru.While it will be an opportunity to say his farewells, aides say Mr. Bush has a full agenda for these meetings. They say he wants to discuss North Korea's nuclear ambitions with others involved in the negotiating process with Pyongyang. And they say he wants to discuss Georgia and a proposed missile defense system for Europe with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.
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UN Security Council to Sanction Obstructers of Somali Peace Process
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Sanctions include asset freezes and travel bans against anyone blocking political process, violating arms embargo or obstructing delivery of humanitarian aid
The U.N. Security Council has authorized sanctions against any individual or group that obstructs the peace process in war-torn Somalia. From United Nations headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.
UN Security Council meeting (File)The Security Council unanimously adopted a British resolution calling for targeted sanctions such as asset freezes and travel bans against anyone blocking the political process, violating the arms embargo or obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid.
British Ambassador John Sawers said the resolution is an important weapon against spoilers in Somalia.
"The prime goal of this is to provide a framework to stem the flow of arms into Somalia, which is causing such mayhem there," he said.
Somalia has been without an effective government since 1991, when warlords overthrew longtime dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another in a struggle for power.
One effect of the ensuing lawlessness is the growing danger from piracy off Somalia's nearly 4,000-kilometer-long coastline.
Efthimios Mitropoulos, the head of the International Maritime Organization, said Somali pirates are holding 14 ships and some 280 crew members hostage.
He urged the Security Council to renew the mandate allowing international naval vessels to pursue pirates into Somali territorial waters when it expires early next month - action Somalia's transitional federal government also supports.
"A coordinated and cohesive response, at the international and national levels, is, therefore, necessary for the safety and well being of seafarers, for the seamless delivery of humanitarian aid to Somalia, for the protection of the maritime environment against casualties that may have a catastrophic impact and for the shipping industry to continue to serve the seaborne trade and the world economy efficiently and effectively," he said.
The United States announced that it is circulating a draft resolution that would enhance the current mandate from the Security Council for fighting piracy. It would allow states, in cooperation with Somalia's transitional federal government, to repress acts of piracy and establish jurisdiction for bringing pirates to justice.
But South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo said all of Somalia's problems must be addressed before piracy will disappear.
"You cannot only resolve piracy without resolving the situation on the ground in Somalia," he said. "Yes, piracy is urgent; we see it on the news; it catches our attention. But we keep on arguing that the condition of the people of Somalia should do the same - should catch our attention. That is what feeds into this whole situation."
The African Union representative at the Security Council meeting urged that U.N. peacekeepers be sent to Somalia.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has proposed replacing the current force of about 3,500 African Union troops in Somalia with an international stabilization force, eventually sending a large U.N. peacekeeping contingent once there is a real peace to keep.
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Africa's Top Diplomat Blames Somalia's Feuding Politicians for Piracy Surge
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AU commission chairman says surge in pirate activity is symptom of political failure that has brought transitional government to brink of collapse
Africa's top diplomat is blaming Somalia's feuding politicians for the surge in piracy along the coast of the Horn of Africa, and is calling for swift international intervention. VOA's Peter Heinlein reports from African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.Jean Ping (File)African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping is holding urgent talks on the piracy issue with several European diplomats, including visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the European Union presidency. Speaking to VOA, Ping said the surge in activity by Somali pirates is a symptom of the political failure that has brought the country's U.N.-backed transitional government to the brink of collapse."Piracy is an extension on the sea of the problem you are facing on the land. Of course we talked about all these problems [like] piracy, which is an important aspect of all the disorder you already have in Somali territory," Ping said.An African Union statement urges the U.N. Security Council to dispatch a peacekeeping force to assist a beleaguered A.U. force of about 3400 troops trying to maintain order in the lawless country that is home to a raging Islamist insurgency. The statement quotes Ping as saying piracy is a clear indication of the further deterioration of Somalia's political situation, with far reaching consequences for the entire Horn of Africa region.In a pointed message to Somalia's feuding leaders this week, both the United Nations and the East African regional grouping IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) approved economic sanctions on anyone blocking peace efforts in the Horn of Africa nation. Diplomats say the resolutions are equally aimed at politicians and pirates, both of whom have contributed to the instability that in turn has led to what aid officials call the world worst humanitarian crisis.The surge in Somali piracy has led the world's largest shipping company, A.P. Moeller-Maersk of Denmark to suspend shipping through the Gulf of Aden. Several countries, including the United States, India and Russia have sent navy ships to the region to try to protect commercial shipping. But officials admit it will be difficult to police the vast oceans where heavily armed pirates operate, using high-powered speedboats.The pirates have seized eight vessels in the past two weeks, including a Saudi supertanker carrying $100 million worth of crude oil. In one rare instance of countermeasures, an Indian Navy ship Tuesday destroyed a pirate "mother ship" in the Gulf of Aden. Such 'mother ships' are used to transport gunmen and speedboats to targets offshore.
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UN Approves 3,000 More Peacekeepers for DRC
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Question now is who will contribute the troops and how soon will they arrive in conflict zone
The U.N. Security Council has approved the deployment of 3,000 more police and peacekeepers to reinforce the overstretched U.N. mission in eastern Congo. From United Nation's headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.A woman walks past a United Nations peacekeeper from Tunisia in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), 2007 file photoThe council unanimously approved the secretary-general's request for a temporary surge in peacekeepers. But the question now is who will contribute the troops and how soon will they arrive in the conflict zone. French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said some countries have offered troops, but the department of peacekeeping is still looking for the full number needed and it would take some weeks."Today, we authorized the DPKO [Department of Peacekeeping Operations] to recruit and increase the number of troops on the ground, but they have to do the work," Ripert said. "But they have started planning for that, I think." Countries considering contributing troops are meeting at U.N. headquarters.Diplomats say the reinforcement of the mission, known as MONUC, is necessary to help the fragile peace process and ease the growing humanitarian crisis.The U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo is already the organization's largest, with about 17,000 peacekeepers. But they keep watch over a territory the size of Western Europe, and a spike in violence since August has, according to U.N. officials, "overstretched" the mission.Peacekeepers have been redeployed in recent weeks from other parts of Congo to North Kivu - the epicenter of the violence. About 6,000 peacekeepers are in that area now, particularly in and around the city of Goma. Congolese government forces and rebel fighters led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda have clashed repeatedly in the eastern Congo since August, following the collapse of a January peace deal.
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Analysts: Al-Qaida Seeks to Capitalize on Global Financial Crisis
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Terrorist sympathizers describe financial turmoil as punishment for al-Qaida's enemies
Analysts say al-Qaida appears to be trying to capitalize on the global economic crisis. They say traffic on al-Qaida-linked Web sites indicates terrorist sympathizers see the financial turmoil as punishment for al-Qaida's enemies. VOA's Michael Lipin has this report from Washington.
Al-Qaida number two leader Ayman al-Zawahiri's video statement about President-elect Obama, 19 Nov. 2008The world's financial crisis appears to have energized Islamic militants and their supporters.
Groups that monitor terrorist Internet traffic have seen a flurry of messages on al-Qaida-linked Web sites that gloat over the West's economic difficulties, and urge militants to take advantage.
On one Web site monitored by the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, a user says, "now is a golden opportunity. If America is hit now, it will never survive, unless God permits it."
Al-Qaida spokesman Adam Gadahn released a video last month saying the terror network hopes to use the financial crisis to inflict a "crushing defeat" on what he calls the "enemies of Islam."
Terrorism expert and professor Bruce Hoffman of Georgetown University in Washington says al-Qaida has long sought to destroy the West's way of life, rather than try to win a conventional war.
"In terms of al-Qaida's propaganda, for at least the past six years - they have constantly hit on the issue that they will bankrupt us. So, consequently they see recent global economic events as providing proof of the effectiveness of their strategy. That may be completely divorced from reality, but, unfortunately, propaganda does not have to be true to be believed," he said.
Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Affairs agrees that al-Qaida is using the financial crisis as a propaganda tool.
"There is not much taking credit for it, but there is a lot of, 'this is what America and the West has brought upon itself - this is God's retribution on the West," he said.
Both analysts say al-Qaida has not suffered financially in the current economic crisis, because the group continues to draw funding from wealthy donors.
They say al-Qaida also profits from its affiliation with Afghanistan's Taliban movement, which raises tens of millions of dollars annually from illegal production and export of opium.
Hoffman, of Georgetown, says al-Qaida also has become skillful at moving money around without relying on bank transfers.
"Al-Qaida has been able to survive for the past seven years largely because it has proven enormously adaptive and innovative across the board. It is not to say that the means that it funds itself or even communicates are not extremely cumbersome and time consuming - it just means that al-Qaida is willing to invest the time and the patience in order to ensure that it continues to have a flow of money and is still able to communicate to its supporters," he said.
Hoffman says countries combatting al-Qaida should not let the financial crisis pressure them into cutting spending on counterterrorism.
"It is also what I think al-Qaida counts upon, that in an era of global economic downturn, that inevitably the worldwide struggle against terrorism may be clawed back, and that this may provide al-Qaida with exactly the breathing space and the opportunity to further consolidate its revival, and carry on its terrorist campaign," he said.
Levitt says the West should do more to combat what many analysts call al-Qaida's increasingly sophisticated propaganda machine.
"We do need to get more involved in the battle of ideas, and we do need to be much more focused on shutting down the radicalization portals, whether they are online or elsewhere, and getting our message out...frankly, of all the counterterrorism operations and activities we are engaged in, this is where we are weakest," he said.
Levitt believes Western nations will not cut back on anti-terrorism efforts during the economic crisis because the primary responsibility of government is to safeguard its citizens.
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Obama to Face Strained US-Russian Relations After Taking Office
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Most pressing issue is disagreement over plans for a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe
When President-elect Barack Obama is sworn into office January 20, he will face a host of domestic and international issues, including what policy to pursue toward Russia. In Focus, VOA's André de Nesnera looks at U.S.-Russia relations and the most serious disagreement between Washington and Moscow - U.S. plans for a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe.
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama (file photo)Most analysts agree that relations between Washington and Moscow are not good. Some experts use phrases such as "poor", "tense" and "at a very low point" to describe the relationship.
Marshall Goldman from Harvard University says both sides are to blame for the deteriorating relationship.
"The United States under President George W. Bush adopted some policies that the Russians viewed as being unilateral and in an effort to undermine Russia's position in the world political system. And at the same time, the Russians did some things, and particularly the war in Georgia, that upset Americans and American leaders," he said.
Goldman says that in the past few years, as Russia's economic status in the world grew as a result of high oil prices, Moscow wanted to regain its place as an international superpower.
"And when it began to demand a larger voice on the world scene and had the ability to carry out those words [i.e., its larger voice], then inevitably that meant that they were backing into the United States, which had moved in to fill the vacuum, so to speak," he said. "So the two of them, the two countries, began to bump into each other. And I think that's where we are right now."
Experts say relations between Washington and Moscow hit a low point this year, following the August five-day war between Georgia and Russia. The United States strongly criticized Russia's massive military invasion of Georgia following Tbilisi's abortive attempt to take over the capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia. U.S. President George Bush warned Moscow that bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century.
While the recent Russia-Georgia war cast a shadow on U.S.-Russia relations, analysts say the main problem between Washington and Moscow remains the Bush administration's plans to put an anti-missile defense shield in Eastern Europe - 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic. U.S. officials say that kind of defense is needed against potential threats from countries such as Iran and that it is not targeted against Russia.
But as Robert Legvold from Columbia University explains, Moscow strongly oppose the missile shield.
"... because it doesn't believe that in the end its [i.e., the United States'] principal motivation is to defend against an Iranian missile threat, even though the missile deployments in Poland and the radar to accompany it in the Czech Republic clearly are not large enough in themselves to seriously threaten Russia's nuclear capability. The Russians believe it's a piece of a larger fabric that links back to the national missile defense the United States is building in the U.S. -- the idea of theater missile defense to accompany it in East Asia, maybe in Taiwan, elsewhere in Europe, is part of a larger enterprise that would in the end be directed against Russia, or at least certainly would have considerable implications for Russia," he said.
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev (file photo)Just how important that issue is for Russia was emphasized just hours after Barack Obama was elected president. In a "State of the Union" address in Moscow, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev threatened to deploy short-range, high-precision missiles in Kaliningrad - a Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea located between Poland and Lithuania, two NATO allies - if the Obama administration proceeded with the missile shield.
Many analysts, including Jason Lyall from the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, say this was a direct challenge to the U.S. president-elect.
"This is particularly interesting if you make the comparison to the Soviets. At least the Soviets would let the new president-elect come to power, get his feet sort of settled on the ground and then they would challenge - typically, up to six months after he took powerm" he said. "Here, we didn't even get six hours. I think what Medvedev is trying to do is to force Russia back onto the first tier of issues. I think there's a concern that Russia will slip back down to the second tier. It wasn't mentioned much in the [U.S.] electoral campaign, which is a two-year electoral season. And it didn't get that much prominence. Iraq, Afghanistan really kind of drowned out Russia. And I think Medvedev is trying to send a signal, not so much to provoke a crisis, but simply just send a signal and saying, 'Hey, we're here and we need to be paid attention to because there are issues over here'. And he's trying to establish Russia on an equal footing with the United States."
William Drozdiak, an expert on Europe and President of the American Council on Germany, says Mr. Medvedev's warning was very poorly timed from a diplomatic standpoint.
"It does not serve Russia's interests to push Obama into a corner. Because if he [Mr. Medvedev] is really serious about making such aggressive gestures, any new [U.S.] president, regardless of which party, Republican or Democrat, that feels tested by a Russian leader like that, will need to show that he is strong and [will] need to push back," he said. "So if he was hoping for a more conciliatory reaction from Washington, he just won't get it because no president, particularly early in his administration, wants to be perceived as weak."
President-elect Obama did not react to President Medvedev's statement. Mr. Obama's advisers say he supports deploying the missile defense system, but only when the technology is proven to be workable. His advisers also say that Mr. Obama wants to collaborate with Russia to scale back nuclear weapons and ultimately have a nuclear weapons-free world.
During the recent international economic summit in Washington, President Medvedev expressed a conciliatory tone, saying he hoped relations between Washington and Moscow will improve under an Obama administration. But when it came to the missile defense shield, Mr. Medvedev did not soften his position.
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US Senate Confirms Diplomat to be First US Ambassador to Libya in 36 Years
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Nomination had been held up by Senate Democrats until Libya made good on its promise to fully compensate families of victims of terrorist acts in 1980s
The U.S. Senate has confirmed career diplomat Gene Cretz to be the first U.S Ambassador to Libya in 36 years. His nomination had been held up by Senate Democrats until Libya made good on its promise to fully compensate the families of victims of terrorist acts in the 1980s. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.
The Senate action late Thursday came after the Senate Democrat who had led the effort to block the nomination cleared the way for confirmation by noting that Libya last month paid $1.5 billion to relatives of victims of acts of terrorism for which Tripoli accepted responsibility.
"I lifted my hold. The process will work its way now," said Senator Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat.
Gene Cretz (2004 file photo)The confirmation of Gene Cretz, who becomes the first U.S. Ambassador to Libya since 1972, had been blocked from the time President Bush nominated him in July of last year. He has served in key diplomatic posts in Israel, Egypt and Syria.
His confirmation caps a warming of relations between Washington and Tripoli that began in 2003 when Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi renounced terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. The process accelerated this year when U.S. and Libyan officials agreed on a comprehensive plan to compensate families of Americans killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland and the 1986 bombing of a Berlin discotheque that killed two U.S. servicemen.
Relatives of those who died in the Pan Am bombing joined Senator Lautenberg at a Capitol Hill news conference Thursday to mark the settlement of claims.
"We are here today to say that a measure of justice has finally prevailed," he said.
Kara Weipz lost her brother in the tragedy.
"We are free now to close this chapter in our nightmare," she said. "Does it change the majority of feelings of families towards Mr. Gadhafi? Absolutely, positively not. And do the families believe that he himself or those high-ranking officials in his regime were responsible for this? Absolutely. And that does not change just because this was completed."
The Pan Am bombing claimed the lives of 270 people.
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EU Opens Online Library
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European Union launches vast online library offering people across globe access to millions of books, movies and other items from 27-member block
The European Union has launched a vast online library offering people
across the globe access to millions of books, movies and other items
from the 27-member block. Lisa Bryant has more on Europe's efforts to
showcase its cultural heritage - via the Internet.Call it the
21st century version of the famous Alexandria library that served as a
hub of knowledge in ancient times. Europe is offering a similar trove
of information via the Internet - allowing users to access tens of
thousands of paintings, books, manuscripts, sound recordings,
newspapers and other items from across the European Union.European
Commission spokesman Martyn Selmayr says the Europeana digital library
is planning to expand enormously in the years to come."Today
its just the beginning," he said. "We have two million objects today on
Europeana - cultural objects which exist in digital form. Our
objective is to have by the year 1010, 10 million digitized objects
available from all over Europe and they will be offered in 23 languages
so that everybody around the world has access to these cultural
heritages of the European Union member states.That includes
digitalized representations of masterpieces from the Louvre museum in
Paris or manuscripts of composers like Beethoven - or books from
libraries around Europe - although only a small fraction of the
region's 2.5 billion books will be available online in the coming years.The project is one way to showcase the European Union - this time through its cultural heritage."On
the one side it shows that Europe is made up not of a single unified
culture but that it has 27-member nations and each one of them has a
very long history," said Selmayr. "It also shows what we have in
common and gives the perspective of the neighbors."
"For example, the
fall of the Berlin Wall - very important for German history and also
for European history - is something you can find on Europeana in the
form of a film that is today stored in the French national audiovisual
institute. Germans, Hungarians, British citizens and also Americans
can see this big event, but through the eyes of French citizens," he continued.Those who want to check out the new European library can click on http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=2079EB7:E2FDB7E6D97F9373AC80D6906AD6087298CBE7246176B735&
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