Misc Islamic Discussions - The 4 Freedoms Library2024-03-28T15:07:18Zhttp://4freedoms.com/group/middleeast/forum?groupUrl=middleeast&feed=yes&xn_auth=noEmirates Hall (donated by UAE) is 2nd largest building in the UNtag:4freedoms.com,2017-03-30:3766518:Topic:1864092017-03-30T23:28:24.626ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
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<li><img alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva" src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-01.jpg"></img></li>
<li><img alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva" src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-02.jpg"></img></li>
<li><img alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva" src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-03.jpg"></img></li>
<li><img alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva" src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-04.jpg"></img></li>
<li><img alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva" src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-05.jpg"></img></li>
<li><img alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva" src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-06.jpg"></img></li>
<li><img alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva" src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-07.jpg"></img></li>
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<div class="franjaBlog"><h1>PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva</h1>
<p class="fecha">Friday March 24th, 2017 · PORCELANOSA Grupo</p>
<p>The unique performance of the <a href="http://www.krion.com/en/" target="_blank">KRION® Solid…</a></p>
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<li><img src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-01.jpg" alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva"/></li>
<li><img src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-02.jpg" alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva"/></li>
<li><img src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-03.jpg" alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva"/></li>
<li><img src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-04.jpg" alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva"/></li>
<li><img src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-05.jpg" alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva"/></li>
<li><img src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-06.jpg" alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva"/></li>
<li><img src="http://www.porcelanosa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Porcelanosa-Projects-Emirates-Hall-ONU-07.jpg" alt="PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva"/></li>
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<div class="franjaBlog"><h1>PORCELANOSA Grupo Projects: KRION® at the Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva</h1>
<p class="fecha">Friday March 24th, 2017 · PORCELANOSA Grupo</p>
<p>The unique performance of the <a href="http://www.krion.com/en/" target="_blank">KRION® Solid Surface</a> <a href="http://www.porcelanosa.com/uk/krion-solid-surface.php" target="_blank">mineral compact</a> has proved its magnificence in becoming a part of such a symbolical and majestic project as The Emirates Hall ONU in Geneva is. The acrylic stone from the <a href="http://www.porcelanosa.com/uk/" target="_blank">PORCELANOSA Grupo</a> has been the choice made by both the Adeli & de Rham Studio and the C.C.M. ITALY Fabricating Company to give shape to the furniture and the <a href="http://www.porcelanosa.com/uk/wall-tiles.php" target="_blank">wall tiles</a> in the main room.</p>
<p><strong>The Emirates Hall was a donation made by the United Arab Emirates to the United Nations by means of a building in Geneva. It is the second largest building in the institution around the world, only behind the New York headquarters.</strong> The construction, which started in July 2015 and finished in May 2016, developed architectural, technological and design improvements, with the Solid Surface from the PORCELANOSA Grupo being the most outstanding. One can find KRION® in every single conference table, and in its purest version: 1100 KRION® Snow White. One of the other finishes present at this Emirates Hall, is the 1102 KRION® Marfil, which was installed as vertical covering along the circular perimeter of the room.</p>
<p>Its natural origin, visual neatness, elegant style and timeless design were some of the features that convinced the architects Siavash Adeli & Joakim de Rham to use the state-of-the-art mineral compact from the PORCELANOSA Grupo for this unique project. Furthermore, its thermoforming in curving sections, its ability to create invisible joints, and the fact of integrating screens, sound systems, etc., are also a plus. The objective: to bank on the simplicity and practicality in the project design, leaving the objects and material aside. This way, the functionality of the structure and furniture is reinforced around a single concept, that is to say, to be the setting for meetings for the United Nations.</p>
</div> Islamic Economicstag:4freedoms.com,2013-09-07:3766518:Topic:1372492013-09-07T08:52:53.035ZPaul Austin Murphyhttp://4freedoms.com/profile/PaulAustinMurphy
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-6"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jizya</span></i></b></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110492464?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110492464?profile=original" width="230"/></a> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-6"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Jizya</span></i></b></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">There have to be reasons why most – nearly all – Muslim countries are in such an economic mess. (Those few that aren’t in such a mess, including Malaysia, aren’t so because they don’t allow Islam to interfere in their economic – and other – affairs to such a great degree as Pakistan and other Muslim countries. It also depends on how much oil they’ve been blessed with.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">Well before the 20<sup>th</sup> century, or during and within the various Islamic empires, these Muslim populations didn’t really need usury (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">riba</i>) - or rates of interest on loans - because they taxed all the non-Muslims (dhimmis) of the nations and empires they conquered. This was called <a href="http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Jizyah_%28Tax%29"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">jizya</i></a>. This is the extra tax that all non-Muslims had to pay for ‘protection’ (often protection from Muslims) when living in Muslim or Islamic states or empires.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">One point that can be made is that because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">riba</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zakat</i> (see next section) fail, economically speaking, Muslims traditionally and historically relied on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">jizya</i> instead! That meant that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">jizya</i> at least partly sustained Muslim countries and empires.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Zakat</span></i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"> <a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110492398?profile=original"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110492398?profile=original" width="250"/></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">According to the sharia law of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Zakat_%28Tax%29">zakat</a></i>, every adult male Muslim has to pay 2.5% of his wealth to the poor or needy. That may not seem fair by Western standards. For example, take the admittedly extreme case that if a person has £500 in wealth: 2.5% of that will be very insubstantial. However, if a Muslim has £10 in wealth, then 2.5% of that would be a real burden. Of course it is said, by (some) Muslims, that there is a minimum level of wealth below which no <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zakat</i> is payable. But that would depend on what that minimum rate is and by whom it is set, as well as on when it is set.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">Above and beyond all that, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zakat</i> is not something collected by the state or government anyway. It is voluntary in nature and also has no direct impact on domestic/private economies. Because it is essentially for the poor or needy, it is not really an economic tax at all.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">The sharia law against interest on loans (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">riba</i>), as well the inefficiency (i.e., it’s not collected by the state) and unfairness of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zakat</i>, may contribute massively to the backwardness of Muslim nations.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">As I said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zakat</i> is not a government or state tax. It’s a voluntary tax which Muslims are supposed to impose upon themselves. But what if they don’t? It follows from this that not only is there are big economic problem for a Muslim state in that it clearly can’t use <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zakat</i>, it may also be the case that not all adult Muslims – even if they have the money – pay it anyway. And even when they do pay it, it is paid to the poor and need and is not directly - or even indirectly - connected to economic investment or sustaining any kind of productive capacity. In addition, the fact that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zakat</i> exists means that many Muslims do not want to pay any extra – non-Islamic! – tax to the state or government.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">The other thing about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zakat</i> which follows from it being a tax on wealth -rather than being a tax on income (income tax) - is that it is collected just once a year. It follows from this that if a Muslim has spent up by that time, then he will pay no <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zakat</i>. Whether or not he earns £10 a week or £500 a week, if he has spent up by the time <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zakat</i> comes around, then he won’t pay a thing.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">Finally, even if Muhammad set the rate of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zakat</i> at 2.5%, why should it automatically stay at that rate, regardless of fairness, efficiency or practicality?</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Riba</span></i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"> <a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110492430?profile=original"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110492430?profile=original" width="250"/></a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">If Muslims are fundamentally against interest on loans (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riba">riba</a></i>), then does that mean they don’t pay any interest on IMF and British/US loans? If they don’t, that’s incredibly unfair on both the loaners and on the non-Muslims who do pay interest on IMF and British/US loans.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">This diktat – or sharia law - against usury (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">riba</i>) has even become (sharia) law in non-Muslim countries – such as the UK! All sorts of non-Islamic/Muslim banks and companies are offering interest-free loans to their Muslim customers; and that is to discount all the British banks and companies which are completely Muslim or Islamic in the first place.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">All this is a con anyway. In the British banks case, usury, or <em>riba</em>, simply comes in through the back door. British banks charge a large upfront fee on their loans to Muslims (‘sharia finance’) - in the form of management fees and other charges - so that these very same Muslims don’t receive any later fees in the form of interest on any future loans.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">This sounds absurd and self-contradictory. The supposed sin of usury is that it is ‘profit on money’ (or it is ‘unearned income’), rather than profit from work or labour. But charging a large upfront fee to their Muslim customers is also a kind of profit from money (from unearned income; not from work or labour)! Does exactly the same kind of thing happen in Muslim countries? It must do. Hence this at least partly explains the economic impotence of Muslim countries.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">It is also the case that UK banks charge upfront fees to non-Muslims (the ‘arrangement fee’, etc.). On the other hand, Islamic banks, or UK banks with ‘sharia finance’, charge ‘management fees’ or something similar. This means that a Muslim will pay a fee in order to not pay interest on his future loans. That is, he will pay a fee in order not to pay another kind of fee. It follows that the non-interest (non-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">riba</i>) fee may be equal to - or even higher than - any possible interest that would be paid - as interest - on any loans. Again, this appears to be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">riba</i> through the back door. This is shown even more graphically in the case of ‘sharia renting’. What happens is that the Islamic bank, or a UK bank which uses sharia finance, buys the house which a Muslim wants to buy. Then this Muslim pays rent to the bank; as well as a certain amount of capital repayment on the house itself. Yet isn’t the renting of property a classic case of usury or profit from money - or from capital in this case (profit from ‘unearned income’)? This can mean, and often does mean, that ‘sharia renting’ ends up with the Muslim paying just as much, or more, to the bank (for a house) than a non-Muslim would pay if he took out a mortgage for a house from the same bank.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">The other thing you can say if that if Muslim countries don’t pay interest on the loans they receive from the IMF and from Western states, and if British Muslims don’t pay interest on loans from British banks (even if they pay an upfront free for that privilege), then this may well be a surreptitious and sly way in which Muslims are actually extracting <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">jizya</i> (the Islamic tax on non-Muslims) from non-Muslim banks and from non-Muslim states – from us! Is that the real reason why Muslim states are not repaying the loans it has received from the IMF and from Britain? Is that systematic and ongoing non-repayment of foreign – infidel – loans actually in accordance with sharia law?</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Conclusion</span></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">It may of course be the case that neither <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zakat</i> nor <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">riba</i> is fully - or strictly - implemented across the board in Muslim countries. However, since for tens of millions of Islamists it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">must</i> be implemented, and for the 80% or more strict Muslims in Muslim countries it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">should</i> be implemented, then I wonder how hard it is for Muslims to disregard both <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">riba</i> and zakat - even in small ways - in Muslim states.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="font-size-3">To conclude. The sharia law against interest on loans (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">riba</i>), which has a bad effect on investment, etc., as well as the inefficiency and unfairness of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zakat</i>, may contribute massively to the backwardness of both Muslim peoples and states.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> Redlines and the Problems of Intervention in Syria - by George Friedman at Stratfortag:4freedoms.com,2013-05-02:3766518:Topic:1229632013-05-02T02:44:22.061ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
<div class="grid-8" id="main-area-wrapper"><div id="main-area"><h1 class="title" id="page-title">April 30, 2013 | 0900 GMT</h1>
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<div id="main-area-wrapper" class="grid-8"><div id="main-area"><h1 class="title" id="page-title">April 30, 2013 | 0900 GMT</h1>
<div class="content"><div class="region region-content"><div id="block-system-main" class="block block-system"><div class="content"><div id="node-197156" class="node node-stratfor-weekly clearfix"><div class="content"><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><strong>By George Friedman</strong><br/><em><a href="http://www.stratfor.com/about/analysts/dr-george-friedman">Founder and Chairman</a></em></p>
<p>The civil war in Syria, one of the few <a href="http://www.stratfor.com/geopolitical-diary/arab-spring-two-years-later">lasting legacies of the Arab Spring</a>, has been under way for more than two years. There has been substantial outside intervention in the war. The Iranians in particular, and the Russians to a lesser extent, have supported the Alawites under Bashar al Assad. The Saudis and some of the <a href="http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/qatar-possible-retaliation-syrian-opposition-support">Gulf States have supported the Sunni insurgents</a> in various ways. The Americans, Europeans and Israelis, however, have for the most part avoided involvement. </p>
<p>Last week the possibility of intervention increased. The Americans and Europeans have had no appetite for intervention after their experiences in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. At the same time, they have not wanted to be in a position where intervention was simply ruled out. Therefore, they identified a redline that, if crossed, would force them to reconsider intervention: <a href="http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/specter-syrian-chemical-weapons">the use of chemical weapons</a>.</p>
<p>There were two reasons for this particular boundary. The first was that the United States and European states have a systemic aversion to the possession and usage of weapons of mass destruction in other countries. They see this ultimately as a threat to them, particularly if such weapons are in the hands of non-state users. But there was a more particular reason in Syria. No one thought that al Assad was reckless enough to use chemical weapons because they felt that his entire strategy depended on avoiding U.S. and European intervention, and that therefore he would never cross the redline. This was comforting to the Americans and Europeans because it allowed them to appear decisive while avoiding the risk of having to do anything.</p>
<p>However, in recent weeks, first the United Kingdom and France and then Israel and the United States asserted that the al Assad regime had used chemical weapons. No one could point to an incidence of massive deaths in Syria, and the evidence of usage was vague enough that no one was required to act immediately.</p>
<p>In Iraq, it turned out there was not a nuclear program or the clandestine chemical and biological weapons programs that intelligence had indicated. Had there been, the U.S. invasion might have had more international support, but it is doubtful it would have had a better outcome. The United States would have still forced the Sunnis into a desperate position, the Iranians would have still supported Shiite militias and the Kurds would have still tried to use the chaos to <a href="http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/turkeys-energy-plans-iraqs-kurdish-region">build an autonomous Kurdish region</a>. The conflict would have still been fought and its final outcome would not have looked very different from how it does now.</p>
<p>What the United States learned in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya is that it is relatively easy for a conventional force to destroy a government. It is much harder -- if not impossible -- to use the same force to impose a new type of government. The government that follows might be in some moral sense better than what preceded it -- it is difficult to imagine a more vile regime than Saddam Hussein's -- but the regime that replaces it will first be called chaos, followed by another regime that survives to the extent that it holds the United States at arm's length. Therefore, redline or not, few want to get involved in another intervention pivoting on weapons of mass destruction.</p>
<h3>Interventionist Arguments and Illusions</h3>
<p>However, there are those who want to intervene for moral reasons. In Syria, there is the same moral issue that there was in Iraq. The existing regime is corrupt and vicious. It should not be forgotten that the al Assad regime conducted a massacre in the city of Hama in 1982 in which tens of thousands of Sunnis were killed for opposing the regime. The regime carried out constant violations of human rights and endless brutality. There was nothing new in this, and the world was able to act fairly indifferent to the events, since it was still possible to create media blackouts in those days. Syria's patron, the Soviet Union, protected it, and challenging the Syrian regime would be a challenge to the Soviet Union. It was a fight that few wanted to wage because the risks were seen as too high. </p>
<p>The situation is different today. <a href="http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/halting-syrian-chaos">Syria's major patron is Iran</a>, which had (until its reversal in Syria) been moving toward a reshaping of the balance of power in the region. Thus, from the point of view of the American right, an intervention is morally required to confront evil regimes. There are those on the left who also want intervention. In the 1980s, the primary concern of the left was the threat of nuclear war, and they saw any intervention as destabilizing a precarious balance. That concern is gone, and advocacy for military intervention to protect human rights is a significant if not universal theme on the left.</p>
<p>The difference between right-wing and left-wing interventionists is the illusions they harbor. In spite of experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, right-wing interventionists continue to believe that the United States and Europe have the power not only to depose regimes but also to pacify the affected countries and create Western-style democracies. The left believes that there is such a thing as a neutral intervention -- one in which the United States and Europe intervene to end a particular evil, and with that evil gone, the country will now freely select a Western-style constitutional democracy. Where the right-wing interventionists cannot absorb the lessons of Afghanistan and Iraq, the left-wing interventionists <a href="http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20110829-libya-premature-victory-celebration">cannot absorb the lessons of Libya</a>.</p>
<p>Everyone loved the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. What was not to like? The Evil Empire was collapsing for the right; respect for human rights was universally embraced for the left. But Eastern Europe was occupied by Josef Stalin in 1945 following domination and occupation by Adolf Hitler. Eastern Europeans had never truly embraced either, and for the most part loathed both. The collapse freed them to be what they by nature were. What was lurking under the surface had always been there, suppressed but still the native political culture and aspiration. </p>
<p>That is not what was under the surface in Afghanistan or Iraq. These countries were not Europe and did not want to be. One of the reasons that Hussein was despised was that he was secular -- that he violated fundamental norms of Islam both in his personal life and in the way he governed the country. There were many who benefited from his regime and supported him, but if you lopped off the regime, what was left was a Muslim country wanting to return to its political culture, much as Eastern Europe returned to its.</p>
<p>In Syria, there are two main factions fighting. <a href="http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20110504-making-sense-syrian-crisis">The al Assad regime is Alawite</a>, a heterodox offshoot of Shi'ism. But its more important characteristic is that it is a secular regime, not guided by either liberal democracy or Islam but with withering roots in secular Arab Socialism. Lop it off and what is left is not another secular movement, this time liberal and democratic, but the underlying Muslim forces that had been suppressed but never eradicated. A New York Times article this week pointed out that there are no organized secular forces in areas held by the Sunni insurgents. The religious forces are in control. In Syria, secularism belonged to the Baath Party and the Alawites, and it was brutal. But get rid of it, and you do not get liberal democracy.</p>
<p>This is what many observers missed in the Arab Spring. They thought that under the surface of the oppressive Hosni Mubarak regime, which was secular and brutal, was a secular liberal democratic force. Such a force was present in Egypt, more than in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya, but still did not represent the clear alternative to Mubarak. The alternative -- not as clearly as elsewhere, but still the alternative -- was the Muslim Brotherhood, and <a href="http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/mubaraks-resignation-context">no secular alternative was viable without the Egyptian army</a>. </p>
<h3>The Difficulties of an Intervention</h3>
<p>There are tremendous military challenges to dealing with Syria. <a href="http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20110404-immaculate-intervention-wars-humanitarianism">Immaculate interventions will not work</a>. A surgical strike on chemical facilities is a nice idea, but the intelligence on locations is never perfect, Syria has an air defense system that cannot be destroyed without substantial civilian casualties, and blowing up buildings containing chemical weapons could release the chemicals before they burn. Sending troops deep into Syria would not be a matter of making a few trips by helicopter. The country is an armed camp, and destroying or seizing stockpiles of chemical weapons is complicated and requires manpower. To destroy the stockpiles, you must first secure ports, airports and roads to get to them, and then you have to defend the roads, of which there are many. </p>
<p>Eradicating chemical weapons from Syria -- assuming that they are all in al Assad's territory -- <a href="http://www.stratfor.com/image/syrias-chemical-weapons-program">would require occupying that territory</a>, and the precise outlines of that territory change from day to day. It is also likely, given the dynamism of a civil war, that some chemical weapons would fall into the hands of the Sunni insurgents. There are no airstrikes or surgical raids by special operations troops that would solve the problem. Like Iraq, the United States would have to occupy the country.</p>
<p>If al Assad and the leadership are removed, his followers -- a substantial minority -- will continue to resist, much as the Sunnis did in Iraq. They have gained much from the al Assad regime and, in their minds, they face disaster if the Sunnis win. The Sunnis have much brutality to repay. On the Sunni side, there may be a secular liberal democratic group, but if so it is poorly organized and control is in the hands of Islamists and other more radical Islamists, some with ties to al Qaeda. The civil war will continue unless the United States intervenes on behalf of the Islamists, uses its power to crush the Alawites and hands power to the Islamists. A variant of this happened in Iraq when the United States sought to crush the Sunnis but did not want to give power to the Shia. The result was that everyone turned on the Americans.</p>
<p>That will be the result of a neutral intervention or an intervention designed to create a constitutional democracy. Those who intervene will find themselves trapped between the reality of Syria and the assorted fantasies that occasionally drive U.S. and European foreign policy. No great harm will come in any strategic sense. The United States and Europe have huge populations and enormous wealth. They can, in that sense, afford such interventions. But the United States cannot afford continual defeats as a result of intervening in countries of marginal national interest, where it sets for itself irrational political goals for the war. In some sense, power has to do with perception, and not learning from mistakes undermines power.</p>
<p>Many things are beyond the military power of the United States. Creating constitutional democracies by invasion is one of those things. There will be those who say intervention is to stop the bloodshed, not to impose Western values. Others will say intervention that does not impose Western values is pointless. Both miss the point. You cannot stop a civil war by adding another faction to the war unless that faction brings overwhelming power to bear. The United States has a great deal of power, but not overwhelming power, and overwhelming power's use means overwhelming casualties. And you cannot transform the political culture of a country from the outside unless you are prepared to devastate it as was done with Germany and Japan.</p>
<p>The United States, with its European allies, does not have the force needed to end Syria's bloodshed. If it tried, it would merely be held responsible for the bloodshed without achieving any strategic goal. There are places to go to war, but they should be few and of supreme importance. The bloodshed in Syria is not more important to the United States than it is to the Syrians.</p>
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<div id="block-stratfor-node-tools-feedback" class="block block-stratfor-node-tools"><div class="content"><div id="feedback">"<a href="http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/redlines-and-problems-intervention-syria">Redlines and the Problems of Intervention in Syria</a> is republished with kind permission of Stratfor."</div>
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</div> Libya: (Maroccan) Italian MP Souad Sbai, warns against Muslim Brotherhood taking over Middle East, and not onlytag:4freedoms.com,2011-03-23:3766518:Topic:455202011-03-23T09:02:53.561ZIndoeuropeanhttp://4freedoms.com/profile/Indoeuropean
<div class="ArticoloTitolo bgfr"><div style="background-color: #000066; color: #fff; padding: 5px;">Esteri</div>
<h1 style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2%; width: 96%; float: none;">Ai fondamentalisti l'Egitto. E dopo toccherà a noi</h1>
<h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2%; width: 96%; float: none;">Inerzia politica ed errori strategici: così il referendum del Cairo ha esaltato i Fratelli musulmani. L'Europa trema…</h2>
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<div class="ArticoloTitolo bgfr"><div style="background-color: #000066; color: #fff; padding: 5px;">Esteri</div>
<h1 style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2%; width: 96%; float: none;">Ai fondamentalisti l'Egitto. E dopo toccherà a noi</h1>
<h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2%; width: 96%; float: none;">Inerzia politica ed errori strategici: così il referendum del Cairo ha esaltato i Fratelli musulmani. L'Europa trema</h2>
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<p class="FontGr" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt; text-transform: uppercase;"> </p>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt;"><span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.libero-news.it/news/696567/Egitto_regalato_ai_fondamentalisti_Dopo_il_Nord_Africa__toccher%C3%A0_a_noi.html">Source</a> via <a target="_blank" href="http://www.lisistrata.com/cgi-bin/lisistrata3/index.cgi">Lisistrata.com</a></span><span> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify; line-height: 15pt;"><span>L’Egitto è perso. Peggio, è nelle mani dei Fratelli Musulmani, una sigla e una realtà che ai più forse dice poco, ma che non fa dormire la notte chi qualcosa ne sa. Quando parlavamo, all’alba delle prime proteste, del rischio altissimo di fondamentalismo in Egitto, venivamo presi per visionari e il nostro timore veniva sottovalutato. Anche quando Al Qaradawi, leader spirituale dei Fratelli Musulmani, tornato al Cairo per l’occasione, chiamava alla da-wa e all'apertura del passaggio del valico di Rafah per unirsi ai fratelli palestinesi, tutti voltavano lo sguardo in altre direzioni. E oggi che il sì alle modifiche della Costituzione ha sancito definitivamente la caduta del Paese fra le spire dei Fratelli Musulmani? Di nuovo non una parola. Certo, c’è l’esclusiva attenzione per l’attacco in Libia, sul quale pure moltissimo ci sarebbe da dire, ma non è nemmeno lontanamente giustificabile che nessuno “faccia caso” a cosa accade in Egitto e alle conseguenze per loro e per noi di quelle scelte. <br/><br/>Perché non si vuole capire che da lì parte la conquista del Nordafrica da parte del fondamentalismo oscurantista? È cecità oppure ignoranza tout court? Mentre scriviamo, la protesta infiamma anche lo Yemen, la Siria e il Bahrein. L’Egitto è solo la punta dell’iceberg di questo movimento tellurico che sconvolge il quadrante nordafricano intero e che presto guarderà con occhi avidi anche all’Europa. La sete di islamizzazione dei Fratelli Musulmani non ha fine. Se guardiamo alla Costituzione egiziana, così come è stata emendata, forse si capisce bene cosa vogliamo dire e il perché delle nostre denunce. Copti, donne e minoranze sono praticamente estromessi dalla vita politica del paese. E'escluso dalle candidature presidenziali di chi ha doppia nazionalità: Moussa e Baradei sono quindi già fuori dai giochi, con quest’ultimo preso a sassate fuori da un seggio. La favola della rivoluzione per la libertà ha presto gettato la maschera e svelato il suo volto di subdola scalata al potere politico da parte di un movimento senza scrupoli. L'Islam moderato, lasciato solo, non può far altro che assistere impotente allo sradicamento della sua libertà e identità. <br/>Il tutto si innesta in un quadro di instabilità totale, nel quale Gheddafi pare ad oggi il solo imputato, peraltro già condannato senza processo, e quindi obbligato a lasciare il suo posto, anche con le armi, che puntualmente hanno tuonato. In Italia fanno particolare impressione gli ormai ex-pacifisti dell'opposizione, le loro facce campeggiano sui manifesti in giro per le nostre città mentre rivendicano una guerra per cosiddette "ragioni umanitarie".<br/><br/>Se ne faccia una ragione chi nasconde i propri interessi dietro alla guerra per la democrazia: dopo il Colonnello ci saranno solo e soltanto i Fratelli Musulmani in Libia. Le facce, gli occhi, le armi sono le stesse già viste a Piazza Tahrir. È tutto preordinato, scritto e orchestrato alla perfezione dai Fratelli Musulmani, con la colpevole inerzia di chi guarda ma non vede, ascolta ma non sente. Lo scandaloso baratto fra libertà ed interessi geopolitici ed economici è ormai evidente. È una responsabilità storica enorme, che qualcuno dovrà necessariamente caricarsi sulle spalle. Ma allora, forse, sarà troppo tardi, perché le dittature teocratiche oscurantiste domineranno incontrastate.<br/><br/><strong>di Souad Sbai (Deputato Pdl)</strong></span></div>
<p style="font-size: 10px;">22/03/2011</p>
<p style="font-size: 10px;"> </p>
<p style="font-size: 10px;"><span class="font-size-3">NOTE:</span></p>
<p style="font-size: 10px;"><span class="font-size-3"> </span></p>
<p style="font-size: 10px;"><span class="font-size-3">Souad Sbai is the Founder of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.acmid-donna.it/acmid/">ACMID</a>, Marrocan Women in Italy Association, to protect (Araboislamic) Women against domestic Violence</span></p> Libya - Islamistic Groups lead the Protest(s) against Kadhafi's Regime (DEU)tag:4freedoms.com,2011-03-23:3766518:Topic:457062011-03-23T05:25:33.993ZIndoeuropeanhttp://4freedoms.com/profile/Indoeuropean
<h1><a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/meinung/libyen-gut-gemeint/3976722.html" target="_blank">Libyen: Gut gemeint……</a></h1>
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<h1><a target="_blank" href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/meinung/libyen-gut-gemeint/3976722.html">Libyen: Gut gemeint…</a></h1>
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<div class="hcf-caption">Zahlreiche Soldaten der Gaddafi-Truppen wurden bei den Luftschlägen der Koalition getötet. <span class="hcf-copyright">- Foto: Reuters</span></div>
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<p class="hcf-teaser"><strong>…ist meist das Gegenteil von gut. Malte Lehming erläutert im Kontrapunkt, warum die "Odyssee Morgendämmerung", mit der eine Kartenhauskoalition der Willigen in Libyen eingreift, falsch und töricht ist.</strong></p>
<div><p class="MsoNormal">Wenn die Welt auf dem Kopf steht, sind Hals-über-Kopf-Entscheidungen der Normalfall. Was weiß man im Westen von den Rebellen in Libyen? Eigentlich bloß, dass sie Muammar al Gaddafi stürzen wollen. Aus diesem Grund haben sie sich bewaffnet, Kasernen gestürmt und den Kampf aufgenommen. Im Unterschied zu den Demonstranten in Tunesien und Ägypten, die stets bewundernswert friedlich blieben, sind die libyschen Aufständischen zu Kombattanten in einem Bürgerkrieg geworden. Entsprechend verhalten sie sich. Es gibt wenig Grund zur Annahme, dass sie bei einem etwaigen Sturm auf Tripolis die dort lebende Zivilbevölkerung schonender behandeln würden, als es Gaddafi beim Sturm auf Bengasi getan hätte.</p>
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Vor vier Jahren, im November 2007, kam das amerikanische „West Point Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center“ in den Besitz von rund 700 Dokumenten, die Aufschluss darüber geben, aus welchen Ländern die ausländischen Al-Qaida-Terroristen im Irak stammen. Die so genannten „Sinjar documents“ umfassen den Zeitraum von August 2006 bis August 2007. Und nun nicht überrascht sein: In absoluten Zahlen liegt Saudi-Arabien als Herkunftsland zwar vor Libyen, aber in Relation zur Bevölkerungszahl führt Libyen die Liste mit großem Abstand an. „Mehr als jedes andere Volk in der Arabisch sprechenden Welt wollten Libyer im Irak so viel Amerikaner wie möglich töten“, bilanziert der US-Terrorexperte Andrew Exum. Und woher kamen diese Libyer? Nun wieder nicht überrascht sein: ganz überwiegend aus dem Osten des Landes, dort, wo die Rebellen ihr Zentrum haben. Die Herkunftsreihenfolge nach Städten: Darna (Ost-Libyen), Riyad (Saudi-Arabien), Mekka (Saudi-Arabien), Bengasi (Ost-Libyen).</div>
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<div><p class="MsoNormal">Islamistische Organisationen in Darna und Bengasi kämpfen seit vielen Jahren gegen das Gaddafi-Regime. Die „Libyan Islamic Fighting Group“ (LIFG) ist des Despoten ärgster Feind. Mehrere Aufstände, insbesondere in den neunziger Jahren, schlug Gaddafi brutal nieder. Doch weil er sich nicht nur entschieden gegen radikale Islamisten und Al Qaida stellte, sondern auch dem Terrorismus abschwor, mehrere Milliarden Dollar Entschädigung an Lockerbie-Opfer zahlte, sein Atomwaffenprogramm aufgab und diplomatische Beziehungen mit Washington aufnahm, wurde Gaddafi von den USA und anderen westlichen Ländern unterstützt. Ist er ein anständiger Mensch? Natürlich nicht. Wären Libyen und die Welt besser dran ohne ihn? Na klar.</p>
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<li class="hcf-article-link"><a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/300-soldaten-fuer-awacs-fluege-ueber-afghanistan/3976830.html" title="300 Soldaten für Awacs-Flüge über Afghanistan"><em>Bundesregierung:</em> 300 Soldaten für Awacs-Flüge über Afghanistan</a></li>
<li class="hcf-article-link"><a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/meinung/sarkozys-antrieb/3974920.html" title="Sarkozys Antrieb"><em>Frankreich und Libyen:</em> Sarkozys Antrieb</a></li>
<li class="hcf-article-link"><a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/gaddafi-trotzt-den-angriffen/3974922.html" title="Gaddafi trotzt den Angriffen"><em>Libyen:</em> Gaddafi trotzt den Angriffen</a></li>
<li class="hcf-article-link"><a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/kaum-beteiligung-aus-der-region-am-militaereinsatz/3974648.html" title="Kaum Beteiligung aus der Region am Militäreinsatz"><em>Zweifel der Araber:</em> Kaum Beteiligung aus der Region am Militäreinsatz</a></li>
<li class="hcf-tour-link"><a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/mediacenter/fotostrecken/weltspiegel/libyen-und-die-un-resolution/3964040.html" title="Libyen und die UN-Resolution"><em>Fotostrecke:</em> Libyen und die UN-Resolution</a></li>
<li class="hcf-tour-link"><a href="http://www.tagesspiegel.de/mediacenter/fotostrecken/politik/luftangriffe-auf-libyen/3969582.html" title="Luftangriffe auf Libyen"><em>Fotos:</em> Luftangriffe auf Libyen</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Doch sollten wir uns davor hüten, Mutmaßungen in den Rang von Gewissheiten zu erheben. Eine davon ist die selbst in der UN-Resolution 1973 verbreitete Behauptung, Gaddafi hätte ausländische Söldner engagiert. Kurt Pelda, ein Korrespondent der „Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung“, war am vergangenen Wochenende in Bengasi. Am gestrigen Montag schrieb er: „Sechs der Gefallenen sind schwarz, für die Männer in der Leichenhalle ein Beweis, dass es sich dabei um schwarzafrikanische Söldner handelte. Doch es ist absurd, von der Hautfarbe Rückschlüsse auf die Nationalität ziehen zu wollen, denn es gibt auch viele schwarze Libyer. Papiere hätten die Soldaten oder Milizionäre nicht bei sich getragen, sagen die Krankenhausmitarbeiter. Dies ist der Stoff, aus dem Falschmeldungen und Kriegspropaganda entstehen. Bis jetzt haben die Rebellen den Medien keinen einzigen gefangenen Söldner präsentiert, obwohl sie eine ganze Menge Schwarzer einsperrten.“</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Eine andere Mutmaßung drückt sich in dem auf die Rebellen gemünzten Begriff „Freiheitskämpfer“ aus. Woher wissen wir, dass die Gaddafi-Gegner für Menschenrechte, Demokratie und Freiheit zu den Waffen greifen? Die Annahme, nur noble Charaktere würden einen Diktator stürzen wollen, ist naiv. Gerade der afrikanische Kontinent, auf dem auch Libyen liegt, ist reich an Beispielen von Rebellenarmeen, die einen Alleinherrscher stürzten, nur um danach ebenfalls alleine herrschen zu wollen (und ebenso brutal wie der Vorgänger). Dass in Libyen ein Genozid drohte, ist Quatsch. Belegt ist nicht einmal, dass Gaddafi gezielt Zivilisten angegriffen hat.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Libyen ist, trotz seines Öls, für den Westen ein strategisch eher unwichtiges Land im Nahen Osten. Ägypten, Saudi-Arabien, Iran: Das sind die entscheidenden Schauplätze. Dennoch hat sich eine westliche Kartenhauskoalition der Willigen, auf Drängen der Arabischen Liga, zur Intervention bereit erklärt. Auf wessen Drängen? Die Arabische Liga mit ihren 22 Mitgliedern ist alles andere als ein Hort der Zivilität. Sie besteht überwiegend aus autokratischen, demokratiefeindlichen Staaten. Wenn deren Votum, das nach den ersten Luftangriffen schnell wackelig wurde, für die US-Regierung den Ausschlag gab, sollte sich Barack Obama fragen, ob er sich wirklich immer gut beraten lässt.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nein, sie wissen nicht, was sie tun. Die große Stärke der Revolten in Tunesien und Ägypten war, dass es die Bevölkerung alleine und mit friedlichen Mitteln geschafft hatte, die Diktatoren zu stürzen. Es waren authentische Umstürze, ohne Hilfe von außen. In dem Maße, wie nun der Westen militärisch interveniert, delegitimiert er die Widerstandsbewegungen in anderen islamischen Ländern. Was in Tunesien mit der Jasmin-Revolution begann, endet in Libyen gerade mit der „Odyssey-Dawn“-Revolution. Oder das Gegenteil passiert, und die Menschen in Syrien, Bahrein, Saudi-Arabien, Algerien oder gar im Iran verlieren das Realitätsbewusstsein und glauben, der Westen werde irgendwann auch ihnen beistehen. Wird er das? Sicher nicht.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Wie soll die Intervention in Libyen weitergehen? Eine Flugverbotszone gab es zehn Jahre lang auch über großen Teilen des Irak - Saddam Hussein blieb trotzdem an der Macht. Will der Westen, womöglich über viele Jahre, ein Schiedsrichter aus der Luft über einen Bürgerkrieg sein? Nach wie vor gilt die Interventions-Formel „You break it, you own it“. Die Zukunft Libyens liegt von jetzt an in der Hand des Westens, wie auf dem Balkan, in Afghanistan und dem Irak. Doch was ist der Westen? Die Obama-Administration war lange Zeit gegen eine Intervention und hat sich nur widerspenstig überreden lassen. Die Nato ist heillos zerstritten, die EU uneins, Frankreich berauscht sich am revolutionär-humanitären Pathos, wird aber kaum den notwendigen langen Atem haben.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">„Ohne Hören, ohne Sehen stand der Gute sinnend da, und er fragt, wie das geschehen, und warum ihm das geschah“: Menschen in Not zu helfen, ist gut. Sie beim Sturz eines Diktators zu unterstützen, ist gut. Doch gut sein zu wollen, befreit nicht von der Pflicht, Konsequenzen zu bedenken. Experimentelles Bombardement, verursacht durch Hoffnungen statt gründend auf durchdachten Strategien, zeugt von großem Mitleid, aber erschreckend geringer politischer Reife.</p>
</div> Afghanistan: cultural Richness(es)tag:4freedoms.com,2011-03-20:3766518:Topic:445512011-03-20T08:25:23.938ZIndoeuropeanhttp://4freedoms.com/profile/Indoeuropean
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486940?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486940?profile=original" width="104"></img></a></p>
<p>Wives's/Women's Clothing</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486899?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486899?profile=original" width="126"></img></a> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486797?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486797?profile=original" width="122"></img></a></p>
<p>Treatement of Wives/Women (Note: the latest is a Kid, a…</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486940?profile=original"><img width="104" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486940?profile=original" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Wives's/Women's Clothing</p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486899?profile=original"><img width="126" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486899?profile=original" class="align-full"/></a><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486797?profile=original"><img width="122" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486797?profile=original" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Treatement of Wives/Women (Note: the latest is a Kid, a Wife)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>*</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sexual most favourite Partners for Afghani Males/Men -></p>
<p> </p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486897?profile=original"><img height="129" width="164" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486897?profile=original" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486965?profile=original"><img height="115" width="157" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486965?profile=original" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486978?profile=original"><img width="259" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/110486978?profile=original" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>(Note: these are young Boys, Kids -> dressed up like Females, who have to dance for adult Males, who eventually sexually (ab)use (of) them )</p> Libya - Kadhafi wanted to create the "United States of Africa" and talked againt the Condition of Arab Womentag:4freedoms.com,2011-03-02:3766518:Topic:395652011-03-02T14:10:05.172ZIndoeuropeanhttp://4freedoms.com/profile/Indoeuropean
<div class="titreune0"><span class="titreune6"><strong><font color="#CC3300" size="6">Southern Africa countries attack Muammar Gaddafi</font></strong></span></div>
<p></p>
<div class="boutons3"><span class="pays"><a class="pays" href="http://www.afrik-news.com/archives-2010-11.html"><font color="#000000" size="1">Monday 22 November 2010</font></a> <span class="pays5"><font size="1">/ by</font> <a href="http://www.afrik-news.com/writer1279.html"><font color="#000000" size="1">Sakhile…</font></a></span></span></div>
<div class="titreune0"><span class="titreune6"><strong><font size="6" color="#CC3300">Southern Africa countries attack Muammar Gaddafi</font></strong></span></div>
<p></p>
<div class="boutons3"><span class="pays"><a href="http://www.afrik-news.com/archives-2010-11.html" class="pays"><font size="1" color="#000000">Monday 22 November 2010</font></a> <span class="pays5"><font size="1">/ by</font> <a href="http://www.afrik-news.com/writer1279.html"><font size="1" color="#000000">Sakhile Modise</font></a></span></span></div>
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<p><img height="160" width="143" src="http://www.afrik-news.com/local/cache-vignettes/L143xH160/arton18478-55529.jpg" border="0" class="photo" style="width: 143px; height: 160px;"/></p>
<div class="chapeau3" id="chapeau">Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) has expressed concern that some critical decisions reached by their heads of state are not being implemented as scheduled at the African Union level. And Zimbabwe has accused Libyan leader of breaking other countries’ protocol in pursuance of his agenda.</div>
<p></p>
<div class="print2" id="print"><p class="spip">Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi’s vigorous push for the creation of the United States of Africa was felt during the African Union summit held in Gaborone, Botswana on Friday, November 19.</p>
<p class="spip">According to a communiqué of the meeting, leaders of the bloc directed their foreign ministers to write a report on the progress of the cooperation between African Union (AU) and regional groupings, including the Sadc.</p>
<p class="spip">The Sadc secretary general, Tomaz Augusto Salomao said, “They (Sadc leaders) observed that matters are not moving according to their plans... several decisions are not implemented as required and head of state directives are not followed”.</p>
<p class="spip">According to Salomao there was concern that there has not been progress in carrying out decisions that were reached by the AU leaders on regional integration. He also revealed that a Sadc meeting held in Windhoek, Namibia last August, insisted that there was a need to hold a special meeting to discuss the issue.</p>
<p class="spip">“The decision was made by the leaders after deliberating on various issues regarding deliberations made by the AU and established that many of the issues have not been implemented as required,” he said.</p>
<p class="spip">Though the deepening crisis in Zimbabwe was also among the agendas at hand the issue was not discussed as there was no quorum when the chair of the Troika, Zambia’s President Rupiah Banda, and his Mozambican counterpart, President Armando Guebuza, were not in the Botswana capital.</p>
<p class="spip">“After the Troika summit failed to take place, it was agreed that President Zuma should go to Harare again where he would hold talks with the three parties in the (political agreement),” Salamao said.</p>
<p class="spip">“After that he would be expected to make a recommendation to the chairperson Rupiah Banda on the next date for another Troika summit.”</p>
<p class="spip">Zimbabwe’s Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa said Sadc was also concerned with the way Gadaffi was pushing for the creation of the United States of Africa.</p>
<p class="spip">Said Chinamasa, “Sadc countries are not happy with President Gadaffi as in some cases he is reported to have been mobilising traditional leaders in the region as part of efforts to advance his agenda,”</p>
<p class="spip">Sadc member countries have proposed to mandate its legal experts to review the strengths and weaknesses of the AU rules of procedure, especially those related to the right of a member State proposing agenda items as and when it deems necessary.</p>
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<p></p>
<div class="mesdocuments" id="mesdocuments"></div> Libya - United Nation Organisation and African Union protest over Kadhafitag:4freedoms.com,2011-03-02:3766518:Topic:399172011-03-02T14:06:21.888ZIndoeuropeanhttp://4freedoms.com/profile/Indoeuropean
<h1>UN expels Libya from Human Rights Council, adopts sanctions</h1>
<div class="heading_divider"></div>
<p><span class="date">02 March 2011 [WorldJewishCongress dot org]</span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/userfiles/image/gaddafi-un2.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/userfiles/image/gaddafi-un2.jpg?width=182" width="182"></img></a> The General Assembly (GA) of the United Nations has voted unanimously to suspend Libya from the UN Human Rights Council. The GA resolution accused Libya of committing gross and systematic violations of human…</p>
<h1>UN expels Libya from Human Rights Council, adopts sanctions</h1>
<div class="heading_divider"></div>
<p><span class="date">02 March 2011 [WorldJewishCongress dot org]</span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/userfiles/image/gaddafi-un2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/userfiles/image/gaddafi-un2.jpg?width=182" width="182" class="align-right"/></a>The General Assembly (GA) of the United Nations has voted unanimously to suspend Libya from the UN Human Rights Council. The GA resolution accused Libya of committing gross and systematic violations of human rights. The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the assembly: "These UN actions send a strong and important message […] that there is no impunity, that those who commit crimes against humanity will be punished, that fundamental principles of justice and accountability shall prevail." The US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, pointed out: "People who turn their guns on their own people have no place on the Human Rights Council."</p>
<p>On Saturday, the UN Security Council had voted unanimously to impose sanctions on the regime Muammar al-Gaddafi over its excessive use of force in dealing with the civil rebellion. The council voted for an arms embargo, asset freeze, and for referring the Libyan dictator to the International Criminal Court, for crimes against humanity.</p>
<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called on the West to impose on Iran the same tough measures it is putting in place against Gaddafi. "If the international community is applying special pressure on Libya and warning its leader and soldiers against violating civil rights, the same warning must be aimed at Iran's leaders and their henchmen," Netanyahu said. Both countries were "serial violators of human rights." He added: "At the same time as Gaddafi is massacring his opponents in Libya, the regime of the ayatollahs in Iran is systematically executing its opponents."</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has warned that the situation at the Libya-Tunisia border was reaching a "crisis point" because of the high number of people trying to escape the country. According to the UN, over 70,000 people have fled the violence in Libya since the protests against leader Muammar Gaddafi began on 20 February.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Gambian President hits out at African Union over Gaddafi protests</span><br/> Leader says the union's lack of action against brutal responses to protests is unacceptable<br/> BY: Melissa Rudd | Sat Feb 26, 2011 <br/> TAGS: African Union, Gambia, Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, North Africa, revolts, Yahya Jammeh <br/> <br/> <img src="http://www.africanbusinessreview.co.za/sites/default/files/imagecache/Slideshow_656x400/Gambian%20President%20Yahya%20Jammeh%20has%20criticised%20the%20AU.jpg" border="0"/> <br/> <i>Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has criticised the AU</i><br/> <br/> Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has hit out at the African Union for its "unacceptable silence" on the violent responses to revolts in North African nations and urged Libya's Moammar Gaddafi to step down immediately.<br/> <br/> "It is a shocking reality that in all the happenings, beginning with the crisis in Tunisia, to that in Egypt, and now Libya and countries in North Africa, the leadership of the African Union (AU) neither made a statement nor took action despite the fact that these were uprisings affecting member states," said Jammeh's statement read on national television.<br/> <br/> The Gambian government said the African Union should have at least discussed how to avoid brutality. Instead, the Gambians said, the lead has been taken by non-African countries.<br/> <br/> "The AU should not and cannot play second fiddle in situations as we now see them happening on the continent," Jammeh's statement said.<br/> <br/> "If the AU cannot stop the carnage taking place in some of its member states, then it cannot be in a position to bring a continental government capable of lifting Africa out of abject poverty and under-development. Whether Black or Arab Africa, we are all Africans without discrimination."<br/> <br/> A statement from the chairman of the AU's commission Wednesday condemned the "disproportionate use of force against civilians" in Libya and deplored "the many human lives lost so far."<br/> <br/> "The chairperson of the Commission reiterates the appeal made by the (African Union) Peace and Security Council for an immediate end of the repression and violence," said the statement from Jean Ping.<br/> <br/> "He stresses that only dialogue and consultation will enable the Libyans to find appropriate solutions to the challenges facing their country and to embark upon the necessary reforms to fulfill the aspirations of their people."<br/> <br/> The Gambian president's statement, which also urged Gaddafi to resign, has come as a shock considering the relations between Libya and Gambia.<br/> <br/> <a href="http://www.africanbusinessreview.co.za/tags/libya/gambian-president-hits-out-african-union-over-gaddafi-protests">http://www.africanbusinessreview.co.za/tags/libya/gambian-president-hits-out-african-union-over-gaddafi-protests</a></p> Lybia - Protests against Khadafi's Gouvernment (300 Casualties up to Today)tag:4freedoms.com,2011-02-22:3766518:Topic:387172011-02-22T06:05:52.752ZIndoeuropeanhttp://4freedoms.com/profile/Indoeuropean
<p><a href="http://www.leparisien.fr/crise-egypte/en-direct-libye-sarkozy-condamne-l-usage-inacceptable-de-la-force-21-02-2011-1325253.php" target="_blank">Source</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH KHADAFI'S SON <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdr8ay6vtx8&feature=player_embedded">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdr8ay6vtx8&feature=player_embedded</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>VIDEO: PROTESTS…</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.leparisien.fr/crise-egypte/en-direct-libye-sarkozy-condamne-l-usage-inacceptable-de-la-force-21-02-2011-1325253.php">Source</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>VIDEO: INTERVIEW WITH KHADAFI'S SON <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdr8ay6vtx8&feature=player_embedded">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdr8ay6vtx8&feature=player_embedded</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>VIDEO: PROTESTS <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDozcByEYOE&feature=player_embedded">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDozcByEYOE&feature=player_embedded</a> AND <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDxZNj1j8CM&feature=player_embedded">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDxZNj1j8CM&feature=player_embedded</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>La Libye continue de connaître un vent de révolte sans précédent. Lundi matin, le bilan s'élevait à plus de 230 morts, selon Human Rights Watch, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.leparisien.fr/international/plus-de-173-morts-en-libye-la-police-tire-a-balles-reelles-20-02-2011-1323872.php">après 5 jours d'intense mouvement de contestation</a>. Plus de 160 victimes auraient trouvé la mort lundi à Tripoli, selon Al-Arabiya.</p>
<p> </p>
<div id="pubComplementsArt"><div class="complements"><p class="top">SUR LE MÊME SUJET</p>
<ul class="redac">
<li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/feb/11/guardian-twitter-arab-protests-interactive" title="Une carte permettant d'avoir accès aux tweets libyens">Une carte permettant d'avoir accès aux tweets libyens</a></li>
<li class="last"><a href="http://www.leparisien.fr/crise-egypte/libye-au-moins-233-morts-le-fils-kadhafi-menace-les-manifestants-21-02-2011-1325034.php" title="Au moins 233 morts, le fils Kadhafi menace les manifestants"><img height="45" width="63" src="http://www.leparisien.fr/images/2011/02/21/1325034_filskhadafi_63x45.jpg" alt="Au moins 233 morts, le fils Kadhafi menace les manifestants"/>Au moins 233 morts, le fils Kadhafi menace les manifestants</a></li>
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<p>En milieu de journée, des villes seraient même tombés aux mains des opposants. Après <a target="_blank" href="http://actualites.leparisien.fr/zine+el+abidine+ben+ali.html">la Tunisie</a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://actualites.leparisien.fr/hosni+moubarak.html">l'Egypte</a>, la Libye ? Seïf Al-Islam, le fils du leader contesté <a href="http://actualites.leparisien.fr/mouammar+kadhafi.html" class="invisible">Mouammar Kadhafi</a>, a brandi la menace d'un bain de sang dans le pays.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 21h50. Selon Caracas, Kadhafi est en Libye,</strong> «faisant face à la situation», voulant ainsi faire taire la rumeur de son départ vers l'Amérique Latine. <br/> <br/> <strong>21h30. </strong>Deux diplomates de l'ambassade de Libye à Washington, Saleh Ali Al Majbari et Jumaa Faris marquent leur distance avec Kadhafi : c'est lui, disent-ils qui porte <strong>«la responsabilité d'un génocide contre son peuple».</strong> Ils l'accusent d'avoir utilisé des «mercenaires», rapporte <a target="_blank" href="http://english.aljazeera.net/">le site d'Al Jazeera</a>. Ils demandent aux Nations Unies d'imposer une zone d'exclusion aérienne à la Libye pour empêcher l'arrivée de mercenaires. <br/> <br/> <br/> <strong>21h15.</strong> Selon une source militaire libyenne, la ville de <strong>Benghazi</strong> doit être bombardée avant minuit, indique la chaîne Al Arabiya.<br/> <br/> <br/> <strong>20h50.</strong> L'<strong>OTAN</strong> appelle à la fin des répressions contre des civils non armés. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, son secrétaire général s'est dit «choqué par l'usage aveugle de la violence contre des manifestants pacifiques». <br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 20h53.</strong> Le chef du gouvernement italien <strong>Silvio Berlusconi</strong>, dont le pays est très lié économiquement à la Libye condamné dans un communiqué «l'usage inacceptable de la violence sur la population civile». L'Italie va, par ailleurs, rapatrier ses ressortissants.<strong><br/> <br/> <br/> 20h49.</strong> <strong>Des affrontements meurtriers</strong> ont eu lieu dans <strong>les quartiers de Fachloum et de Tajoura à Tripoli</strong>, déclarent des habitants de ces quartiers joints au téléphone, l'un d'eux qualifiant les évènements de «massacre». «Ce que s'est passé aujourd'hui à Tajoura est un massacre», ajoute un habitant. «Des hommes armés tirent de manière aveugle. Il y a même des femmes qui sont mortes», a-t-il ajouté, sous couvert de l'anonymat. Un autre témoin à Fachloum a indiqué que des hélicoptères avaient survolé le quartier pour faire descendre des mercenaires africains armés, qui ont tiré sur toutes les personnes se trouvant dans la rue. Il a fait état d'un grand nombre de morts.<strong><br/> <br/> <br/> 20h11.</strong> Les deux pilotes des deux avions de chasse libyens qui ont atterri sur l'île de Malte en début de soirée affirment aux autorités insulaires qu'ils avaient dû fuir de leur base de Benghazi (nord est) prise par les insurgés. Les pilotes de deux Mirage F1 ont par ailleurs confié avoir refusé d'ouvrir le feu avec leur appareil sur la foule<span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span><strong><br/> <br/> 19h40.</strong> <strong>Le gouvernement libyen nie le départ de Mouammar Kadhafi,</strong> selon Al Jazeera. <br/> <br/> <strong>19h36. <a href="http://actualites.leparisien.fr/nicolas+sarkozy.html" class="invisible">Nicolas Sarkozy</a> condamne «l'usage inacceptable de la force»</strong> contre les manifestants. Il exige «l'arrêt immédiat» des violences et appelle à une «solution politique afin de répondre à l'aspiration du peuple libyen à la démocratie et à la liberté».<br/> <strong><br/> 19h28. Le mouvement armé libanais Hezbollah dénonce</strong> les «massacres» commis par le régime de Mouammar Kadhafi en Libye, affirmant qu'il «priait» pour que les «révolutionnaires» vainquent «le tyran.<br/> <strong><br/> 19h30. Plusieurs diplomates libyens en poste à l'étranger démissionnent</strong>, comme l'ambassadeur en Inde. Trois employés non diplomates de l'ambassade libyenne à Stockholm annonce dans une lettre qu'ils quittent leurs fonctions pour protester contre les violences en cours en Libye.<br/> <br/> <strong>19h10.</strong> Selon la chaîne Al-Arabiya, <strong>des témoins font état de 160 morts à Tripoli.</strong> <br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 19h03. Dix Egyptiens ont été tués par balles dans la ville libyenne de Tobrouk</strong>, non loin de la frontière avec l'Egypte, a indiqué un médecin égyptien qui tentait de se rendre en Libye. <br/> <strong><br/> <br/> VIDEO. Des réfugiés libyens affluent à la frontière tunisienne</strong><br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <strong>18h50.</strong> Des <strong>hôpitaux tunisiens</strong> (notamment ceux de Tataouine et de Ben Gardane), situés aux frontières avec la Libye s'organisent pour l'accueil des blessés. «Que ce soit des Libyens ou des Tunisiens qui fuient le pays. Nous avons mis en place un dispositif médical en place», confie un médecin tunisien joint depuis Paris par le parisien.fr.<strong><br/> <br/> <br/> 18h44.</strong><strong> L'Italie déclenche l'alerte maximum</strong> dans toutes ses bases aériennes, après l'atterrissage un peu plus tôt à Malte de deux avions militaires et deux hélicoptères civils en provenance de Libye. Rome a également décidé l'envoi dans le sud de la péninsule d'un nombre important d'hélicoptères de l'Armée de l'Air et de la Marine.<strong><br/> <br/> 18h40.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.france24.com/fr/20110221-libye-tripoli-live-blogging-evenements-temps-reel-mouammar-kadhafi-seif-al-islam-benghazi-revolte-revolution"> Selon France 24,</a></strong> de très nombreux tweets affirment que la situation à Tripoli serait chaotique. Certains évoquent des centaines de morts. <br/> <br/> <strong>18h30.</strong> Malgré le démenti de Caracas, le ministre britannique des Affaires étrangères soutient <strong>la thèse d'un départ du chef libyen vers le Venezuela.</strong>«Vous m'avez demandé si le colonel Kadhafi est au Venezuela, je n'ai pas d'information me permettant de dire qu'il y est» mais «j'ai vu des informations qui suggèrent qu'il est en route», a-t-il réaffirmé. <br/> <br/> <strong>18h20.</strong> Le fils du raïs, <strong>Seif al-Islam annonce une commission d'enquête sur les violences. </strong> <br/> <br/> <strong>18h10. A priori, quatre soldats,</strong> qui se seraient enfuis de la base militaire de Benghazi, étaient à bord des deux avions militaires libyens (dont au moins un Mirage) qui ont atterri sur l'île de Malte. Les deux hélicoptères civils auraient transporté sept personnes, se prétendant de nationalité française. Elles ont affirmé travailler sur une plate-forme pétrolière en haute mer, du côté de Benghazi, et ont demandé la protection des autorités maltaises. <br/> <br/> <strong>18h08. Le gouvernement vénézuélien</strong> dément que Kadhafi soit sur son territoire.<br/> <br/> <strong>18h05. Le groupe français de BTP Vinci</strong> rapatrie son personnel travaillant sur la construction de la tour de contrôle du nouvel aéroport international de Tripoli.<br/> <br/> <strong>17h50.</strong> La ministre française des Affaires étrangères, <strong>Michèle Alliot-Marie déclare que la violence en Libye «doit absolument cesser».</strong> <br/> <br/> <br/> <strong>17h48. </strong>Le groupe pétrolier français <strong>Total</strong> a changé d'avis. Il va rapatrier «la majeure partie» de ses employés français en Libye ainsi que leurs familles. «Quelques effectifs» restent toutefois sur place «avec des mesures de sécurité renforcées».<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 17h55. Le secrétaire général des Nations unies</strong>, Ban Ki-moon, téléphone à Mouammar Kadhafi. Il lui dit que les violences contre les manifestants devaient «cesser immédiatement». <br/> <strong><br/> <br/> 17h50.</strong> La chef de la diplomatie européenne, <strong>Catherine Ashton n'a «pas connaissance»</strong> d'un voyage de Kadhafi vers le Venezuela. <br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 17h45.</strong> <strong>L'opération contre «les terroristes»,</strong> menée par les forces de sécurité en Libye, a fait plusieurs morts dans la journée, a annoncé la télévision d'Etat. <br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 17h35. La Bourse de Milan s'est terminée une chute de 3,59%</strong> à 22.230 points. Les liens économiques sont très étroits entre l'Italie et la Libye. <br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 17h35. </strong>Selon Al Jazira, <strong>des avions de chasse tirent contre les manifestants à Tripoli</strong>. Ce serait le cas, également à Benghazi, selo, lemonde.fr. Des tirs à balles réelles sont signalés dans la capitale.<br/> <strong><br/> <br/> 17h30.</strong> Le ministère des Affaires Etrangères anglais, cité par l'agence Reuters, affirme que <strong>Kadhafi pourrait avoir quitté son pays pour le Venezuela.</strong> L'information a été démentie par un ancien militaire du régime. <br/> <br/> <br/> <strong>17h20. L'Union européenne «condamne»</strong> la répression des manifestations.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 17h05. Deux avions militaires libyens et deux hélicoptères civils,</strong> avec sept personnes à bord affirmant être françaises, ont atterri lundi après-midi à <strong>La Valette, la capitale de Malte.</strong> Mais seule une d'entre elles possèderait un passeport français Toutes ont été retenues à l'aéroport pour identification. Les hélicoptères, qui n'avaient pas l'autorisation de quitter le pays du Maghreb, ont par contre eu l'aval de Malte pour se poser sur l'île. <br/> <br/> <img height="401" width="600" src="http://preview.leparisien.fr/images/2011/02/21/1325474_mirageokbis.jpg"/><br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <strong>16h54.</strong> L'agence de notation Fitch a annoncé lundi avoir abaissé <strong>la note souveraine de</strong> <strong>la Libye d'un cran, de BBB+ à BBB. <br/></strong> <br/> <strong>16h30. </strong> Les <strong>entreprises étrangères</strong> commencent à rapatrier leurs salariés, notamment dans le secteur pétrolier : l'italien <strong>ENI,</strong> premier producteur étranger a entamé l'évacuation de son personnel «non essentiel» ainsi que des familles des salariés. Le britannique <strong>BP</strong> va évacuer les siens dans les 48 heures. La compagnie norvégienne <strong>Statoil</strong> et les allemandes <strong>Wintershall et RWE Dea,</strong> filiale pétrole et gaz du groupe d'énergie RWE, ont également procédé à l'évacuation de leurs expatriés. Chez le français <strong>Total,</strong> «toutes les dispositions sont prises pour assurer la sécurité des employés». La Turquie a rapatrié ce week-end environ 600 des 25 000 de ses ressortissant installés en Libye. Quelque <strong>200 entreprises du BTP turques</strong> y sont présentes.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 16h10. La Bourse de Milan chute de plus de 3%. </strong><br/> <br/> <strong>16h05</strong>. Barack Obama «étudie toutes les actions appropriées» face aux événements en Libye. Il exhorte le régime de Mouammar Kadhafi à ne pas faire usage de la force. <br/> <br/> <strong>16 heures.</strong> <strong>Les pays européens réfléchissent à l'évacuation</strong> de leurs citoyens de Libye face au risque croissant de guerre civile dans le pays, mais restent divisés entre partisans de la fermeté et de la prudence à l'égard de Mouammar Kadhafi.<br/> <strong><br/> 15h59.</strong> Kadhafi a assuré le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan qu'il s'efforce de <strong>garantir la sécurité des milliers de Turcs qui travaillent en Libye.</strong> <br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 15h20</strong>. Mustapha Mohamad Abdeljali, <strong>le ministre de la Justice a démissionné de son poste «pour protester contre l'usage excessif de la force»</strong>, selon l'édition en ligne d'un journal libyen.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 15h15. L'Union européenne redoute un afflux de migrants</strong> <strong>tunisiens mais aussi libyens</strong> vers ses côtes méridionales, ce qui pourrait mettre à rude épreuve la solidarité entre ses pays membres.<br/> <br/> <strong>15h03</strong>. Des témoins à <strong>Syrte</strong> démentent la chute de cette ville libyenne aux mains des manifestants anti-Kadhafi, comme l'avait affirmé la Fédération internationale des ligues de droits de l'Homme.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 14h50</strong>. Outre Benghazi et Syrte, la FIDH affirme que les localités de <strong>Tobrouk</strong>, à l'extrême Est, ainsi que celles de <strong>Misrata, Khoms, Tarhounah, Zeiten, Zaouia et Zouara</strong>, qui sont plus proches de la capitale, sont également tombées aux mains des manifestants.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 14h42</strong>. <strong>L'Autriche</strong> annonce l'envoi lundi d'un avion militaire, basé à Malte depuis dimanche, vers Tripoli en vue d'évacuer des ressortissants autrichiens et européens.<br/> <br/> <strong>14h31.</strong> La police libyenne a déserté dimanche midi <strong>Zaouia (60 km à l'ouest de Tripoli) qui est depuis livrée au chaos</strong>, ont indiqué à l'AFP plusieurs Tunisiens arrivant de cette ville lundi matin à Ben Guerdane en Tunisie près de la frontière entre les deux pays. «Il y a des affrontements entre pro et anti-Khadafi depuis deux jours et la police a quitté la ville dimanche midi. Depuis hier, tous les magasins sont fermés, une maison de Kadhafi a été brûlée, des gens ont volé les voitures de policiers, il y a des braquages sur les routes», a raconté Omar Dhawadi, coiffeur de 30 ans, dont les propos ont été confirmés par une dizaine de personnes. «Il y a des tireurs, des violences, des maisons brûlées, il n'y a pas de police, elle est partie depuis hier matin. Dans le centre-ville, il y a des manifestations de partisans de Kadhafi», a également dit un maçon de 27 ans.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 14h23</strong>. Le <strong>groupe pétrolier italien ENI</strong> annonce avoir entamé l'évacuation de ses salariés «non essentiels» expatriés en Libye ainsi que des familles de tous ses salariés dans le pays en raison des violences.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 14h14</strong>. «Beaucoup de villes sont tombées, notamment sur l'Est de la côte. Des militaires se sont ralliés» au soulèvement contre Mouammar Kadhafi, déclare <strong>la présidente de la FIDH, Souhayr Belhassen</strong>, citant notamment <strong>Benghazi</strong>, bastion de l'opposition, et <strong>Syrte</strong>, ville natale du colonel Kadhafi. Les informations de la FIDH, basée à Paris, proviennent essentiellement des ligues libyennes des droits de l'Homme. Selon ces informations, le camp de Bab el Azizia, où vit le dirigeant libyen en périphérie de Tripoli, aurait également été attaqué dans la nuit de dimanche à lundi.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 14h08.</strong> Les <strong>douaniers et policiers libyens</strong> ont déserté pendant quelques heures la frontière au principal point de passage entre la Libye et la Tunisie à Ras Jdir, selon des sources militaires, douanières et des témoins tunisiens venant du territoire libyen.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 14 heures</strong>. Plusieurs villes libyennes dont Benghazi et Syrte, sont tombées aux mains des manifestants à la suite de défections dans l'armée, affirme lundi la Fédération internationale des ligues de droits de l'homme (FIDH) qui avance un bilan de <strong>300 à 400 morts</strong> depuis le début du soulèvement.<br/> <br/> <strong>13h57</strong>. La <strong>Bulgarie</strong> demande à ses ressortissants se trouvant en Libye de quitter ce pays secoué par de violentes émeutes où Sofia craint la mise en place prochaine de restrictions sur les voyages.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 13h45</strong>. Un <strong>poste de police est en flammes</strong> lundi dans une banlieue de la capitale libyenne Tripoli, et plusieurs véhicules garés devant brûlent également, selon un journaliste de Reuters présent sur les lieux.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 13h30</strong>. Le Parti socialiste attend du gouvernement une «condamnation et une parole forte» sur la répression actuelle en Libye et déplore que la <strong>diplomatie française soit «en panne»</strong> sans «aucune déclaration» de Michèle Alliot-Marie sur la question, après sa «timidité» sur la Tunisie et l'Egypte.<br/> <br/> <strong>VIDEO. Le fils de Mouammar Kadhafi assure que la Libye n'est pas la Tunisie ni l'Egypte</strong><br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 13h25</strong>. Le <strong>gouvernement portugais</strong> annonce l'envoi d'un avion militaire C-130 qui devrait atterrir dans les prochaines heures à Tripoli pour rapatrier ses ressortissants et des citoyens d'autres pays de l'Union européenne <br/> <br/> <strong>13h12</strong>. Le <strong>chef de la Ligue arabe</strong>, Amr Moussa, exprime son <strong>«extrême inquiétude»</strong> après la répression sanglante des manifestations contre le colonel Mouammar Kadhafi en Libye, appelant à «cesser toutes les formes de violence».<br/> <br/> <strong>13h09</strong>. La France renouvelle son appel à <strong>«la cessation immédiate des violences»</strong> et «au respect du droit de manifester pacifiquement» en Libye.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 13h06</strong>. Plus de <strong>2 300 Tunisiens vivant en Libye</strong> ont quitté ce pays depuis dimanche pour des raisons de sécurité, indique l'agence officielle Tap, citant l'office des Tunisiens à l'étranger.<br/> <br/> <strong><br/> 12h55</strong>. 71 personnes ont trouvé la mort dans des affrontements à Tripoli depuis ces dernières heures, rapporte lundi la chaîne Al-Jazira.<br/> <br/> <strong>12h40</strong>. La Chine demande lundi à ses hommes d'affaires de différer leurs déplacements en Libye et aux entreprises chinoises de prendre leurs précautions en raison des affrontements qui secouent le pays.<br/> <br/> <strong>12h35.</strong> Le <strong>ministère italien des Affaires étrangères</strong> déconseille lundi «tout voyage» en Libye en raison des «manifestations qui se déroulent ces jours-ci dans diverses villes du pays» et qui, violemment réprimées, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hrw.org/fr/node/96649">ont fait au moins 233 morts selon l'ONG Human Rights Watch.</a><br/> <br/> <strong>Les portes ouvertes d'une prison à Tripoli</strong><br/> <br/> <img height="365" width="546" src="http://www.leparisien.fr/images/2011/02/21/1325253_prison.jpg"/><br/> <br/> <strong>12h10</strong>. La chaîne de télévision Al-Jazeera du Qatar a accusé lundi les renseignements libyens de <strong>brouiller son signal dans le pays</strong>. Selon la chaîne, son signal est brouillé à partir d'un bâtiment du sud de Tripoli qui est le siège de l'un des services de renseignement.<br/> <strong><br/> 11h58</strong>. La <strong>Grande-Bretagne convoque l'ambassadeur de Libye à Londres</strong> pour protester contre la violence de la répression des manifestations dans le pays.<br/> <br/> <strong>11h42.</strong> Environ 1 000 Tunisiens vivant en Libye veulent être rapatriés, annonce l'ambassadeur de Tunisie en Libye Slah Eddinne Jemali.<br/> <br/> <strong>11h37</strong>. <strong>Le pétrole grimpe</strong> au-dessus de 105 dollars le baril à Londres, un niveau comparable à celui atteint fin septembre 2008, porté par des inquiétudes sur l'approvisionnement d'or noir alimentées par une flambée de violence en Libye.<br/> <br/> <strong>11h07</strong>. Le <strong>groupe italien d'aéronautique et de défense Finmeccanica</strong> a rapatrié ses salariés expatriés présents en Libye qui étaient «moins de dix», en raison des violences dans le pays.<br/> <br/> <strong>10h38</strong>. La <strong>compagnie pétrolière norvégienne Statoil</strong> commence à évacuer «la poignée» d'expatriés travaillant pour elle en Libye en raison des violences dans ce pays.<br/> <br/> <strong>10h06</strong>. Le <strong>groupe pétrolier britannique BP</strong> se prépare à évacuer sous 48 heures une partie de son personnel en Libye, où il emploie en tout 140 personnes dont une quarantaine d'expatriés.<br/> <br/> <strong>9h46</strong>. <strong>L'Union européenne envisage d'évacuer ses citoyens de Libye</strong> et en particulier de la ville de Benghazi, bastion des opposants, à 1 000 km à l'est de Tripoli, annonce la ministre espagnole des Affaires étrangères, Trinidad Jimenez.<br/> <br/> <strong>9h30</strong>. Le siège d'une <strong>télévision et d'une radio publiques ont été saccagés</strong> dimanche soir par des manifestants à Tripoli où des postes de polices et des locaux des comités révolutionnaires ont été incendiés.<br/> <br/> <img height="365" width="546" src="http://www.leparisien.fr/images/2011/02/21/1325253_tv.jpg"/><br/> <br/> <strong>9h27</strong>. Interrogé sur un possible rapatriement de ces ressortissants, le ministre des Affaires européennes, <strong>Laurent Wauquiez</strong>, affirme que <strong>«pour l'instant, il n'y avait pas de menaces directes»</strong> visant les 750 Français vivant en Libye, en dépit des violentes manifestations contre le régime libyen.<br/> <br/> <strong>9h09</strong>. <strong>L'ambassadeur de Libye en Inde annonce à la BBC qu'il a démissionné</strong> pour protester contre la violente répression par le régime des manifestations en cours dans son pays.<br/> <br/> <strong>8h25</strong>. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.leparisien.fr/international/plus-de-173-morts-en-libye-la-police-tire-a-balles-reelles-20-02-2011-1323872.php">Les violences lors des manifestations en Libye</a> contre le pouvoir de Mouammar Kadhafi ont fait au moins 233 morts depuis le 17 février, dont 60 pour la seule journée de dimanche dans la ville de Benghazi, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hrw.org/fr/node/96649">selon un nouveau bilan publié lundi par l'ONG Human Rights Watch</a>.<br/> <br/> <strong>8h16</strong>. Quelque 500 Libyens ont envahi et ont pillé lundi un chantier de construction sud-coréen près de Tripoli, faisant des blessés parmi les ouvriers bangladeshis et les Sud-coréens, selon le ministère des Affaires étrangères à Séoul.<br/> <br/> <strong>VIDEO. Une vidéo tournée devant un commissariat à Tripoli</strong> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <strong>6h10.</strong> Hussein Sadiq al Mousrati, un diplomate libyen en poste en Chine, annonce sa démission et appelle tous les membres du personnel diplomatique libyen à faire pareil, selon la chaîne de télévision satellitaire qatarie Al-Jazira. Selon le diplomate, il se pourrait que le numéro un libyen, Mouammar Kadhafi, ait déjà «quitté la Libye».<br/> <br/> <br/> <strong>5h56.</strong> Le secrétaire général de l'ONU Ban Ki-moon appelle à «ne pas faire usage de la force et à respecter les libertés fondamentales» dans les pays d'Afrique du Nord et du Moyen-Orient en proie à une contestation populaire sans précédent.<br/> <br/> <br/> <strong>4h29</strong>. Les cours du brut sont en nette hausse dans les échanges électroniques en Asie, soutenus par la montée des tensions en Libye et les craintes de propagation des manifestations aux pays de la région gros producteurs de pétrole, indiquent les analystes.<br/> <br/> <strong>VIDEO. Des images de Tripoli tournées par un amateur</strong><br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <strong>3h16</strong>. L'Australie demande à ses citoyens présents en Lybie de s'en aller et à ceux qui entendaient s'y rendre de renoncer à leur voyage, en raison des affrontements qui secouent le pays et qui ont fait plusieurs dizaines de morts.<br/> <br/> <strong>1h15.</strong> Des tirs nourris sont entendus dans plusieurs quartiers de Tripoli après le discours de Seïf Al-Islam, fils du dirigeant libyen Mouammar Kadhafi.<br/> <br/> <br/> <strong>1 heure</strong>. Seïf Al-Islam Kadhafi, le fils du dirigeant libyen Mouammar Kadhafi, affirme que la Libye est au bord de la guerre civile et la cible d'un complot étranger, lors d'une allocution télévisée dans la nuit de dimanche à lundi. «Nous allons détruire les éléments de la sédition», a-t-il dit, tout en promettant une constitution et de nouvelles lois libérales. <br/> <br/> <br/></p>
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<p class="source">LeParisien.fr <img src="http://www.leparisien.fr/imgs/article/avec_afp.jpg"/></p> U.S. Identifies Vast Mineral Riches in Afghanistantag:4freedoms.com,2010-07-22:3766518:Topic:260942010-07-22T16:23:32.000ZAlan Lakehttp://4freedoms.com/profile/AlanLake
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<h6 class="byline" style="margin-top: 2px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(128, 128, 128); font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; font-weight: normal; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 15px;">By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/james_risen/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More Articles by James Risen" class="meta-per" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: none;">JAMES RISEN</a></span></h6>
<h6 class="dateline" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(128, 128, 128); font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; font-weight: normal; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 15px;">Published: June 13, 2010</span></h6>
<div class="articleBody" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.7em;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;"><br/>Multimedia</span>WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/afghanistan/index.html?inline=nyt-geo" title="More news and information about Afghanistan." class="meta-loc" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: underline;">Afghanistan</a>, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.</span></p>
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<div class="articleBody" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.7em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 22px; font-size: 15px;"><br/>The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/l/lithium_metal/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="More articles about lithium (metal)." class="meta-classifier" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: underline;">lithium</a> — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.</span></div>
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<div class="articleBody" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.7em;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The vast scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/k/hamid_karzai/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Hamid Karzai." class="meta-per" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: underline;">Hamid Karzai</a> were recently briefed, American officials said.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">While it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">“There is stunning potential here,” Gen. <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/david_h_petraeus/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about David H. Petraeus." class="meta-per" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: underline;">David H. Petraeus</a>, commander of the United States Central Command, said in an interview on Saturday. “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The value of the newly discovered mineral deposits dwarfs the size of Afghanistan’s existing war-bedraggled economy, which is based largely on opium production and narcotics trafficking as well as aid from the United States and other industrialized countries. Afghanistan’s gross domestic product is only about $12 billion.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">“This will become the backbone of the Afghan economy,” said Jalil Jumriany, an adviser to the Afghan minister of mines.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">American and Afghan officials agreed to discuss the mineral discoveries at a difficult moment in the war in Afghanistan. The American-led offensive in Marja in southern Afghanistan has achieved only limited gains. Meanwhile, charges of corruption and favoritism continue to plague the Karzai government, and Mr. Karzai seems increasingly embittered toward the White House.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">So the Obama administration is hungry for some positive news to come out of Afghanistan. Yet the American officials also recognize that the mineral discoveries will almost certainly have a double-edged impact.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Instead of bringing peace, the newfound mineral wealth could lead the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/t/taliban/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about the Taliban." class="meta-org" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: underline;">Taliban</a> to battle even more fiercely to regain control of the country.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The corruption that is already rampant in the Karzai government could also be amplified by the new wealth, particularly if a handful of well-connected oligarchs, some with personal ties to the president, gain control of the resources. Just last year, Afghanistan’s minister of mines was accused by American officials of accepting a $30 million bribe to award China the rights to develop its copper mine. The minister has since been replaced.</p>
<p id="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Endless fights could erupt between the central government in Kabul and provincial and tribal leaders in mineral-rich districts. Afghanistan has a national mining law, written with the help of advisers from the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/world_bank/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about World Bank" class="meta-org" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: underline;">World Bank</a>, but it has never faced a serious challenge.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">“No one has tested that law; no one knows how it will stand up in a fight between the central government and the provinces,” observed <a href="http://www.defense.gov/bios/biographydetail.aspx?biographyid=128" title="Defense Department profile" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: underline;">Paul A. Brinkley</a>, deputy undersecretary of defense for business and leader of the Pentagon team that discovered the deposits.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">At the same time, American officials fear resource-hungry China will try to dominate the development of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth, which could upset the United States, given its heavy investment in the region. After winning the bid for its Aynak copper mine in Logar Province, China clearly wants more, American officials said.</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Another complication is that because Afghanistan has never had much heavy industry before, it has little or no history of environmental protection either. “The big question is, can this be developed in a responsible way, in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible?” Mr. Brinkley said. “No one knows how this will work.”</p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">With virtually no mining industry or infrastructure in place today, it will take decades for Afghanistan to exploit its mineral wealth fully. “This is a country that has no mining culture,” said Jack Medlin, a geologist in the <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/united_states_geological_survey/index.html?inline=nyt-org" title="More articles about United States Geological Survey" class="meta-org" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: underline;">United States Geological Survey</a>’s international affairs program. “They’ve had some small artisanal mines, but now there could be some very, very large mines that will require more than just a gold pan.”</p>
<p id="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The mineral deposits are scattered throughout the country, including in the southern and eastern regions along the border with Pakistan that have had some of the most intense combat in the American-led war against the Taliban insurgency.</p>
<p id="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></p>
<div class="articleBody" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.7em;"><p id="aeaoofnhgocdbnbeljkmbjdmhbcokfdb-mousedown" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">The Pentagon task force has already started trying to help the Afghans set up a system to deal with mineral development. International accounting firms that have expertise in mining contracts have been hired to consult with the Afghan Ministry of Mines, and technical data is being prepared to turn over to multinational mining companies and other potential foreign investors. The Pentagon is helping Afghan officials arrange to start seeking bids on mineral rights by next fall, officials said.</span></p>
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<div class="articleBody" style="margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.7em;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><br/>Like much of the recent history of the country, the story of the discovery of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth is one of missed opportunities and the distractions of war.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">In 2004, American geologists, sent to Afghanistan as part of a broader reconstruction effort, stumbled across an intriguing series of old charts and data at the library of the Afghan Geological Survey in Kabul that hinted at major mineral deposits in the country. They soon learned that the data had been collected by Soviet mining experts during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, but cast aside when the Soviets withdrew in 1989.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">During the chaos of the 1990s, when Afghanistan was mired in civil war and later ruled by the Taliban, a small group of Afghan geologists protected the charts by taking them home, and returned them to the Geological Survey’s library only after the American invasion and the ouster of the Taliban in 2001.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">“There were maps, but the development did not take place, because you had 30 to 35 years of war,” said Ahmad Hujabre, an Afghan engineer who worked for the Ministry of Mines in the 1970s.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Armed with the old Russian charts, the United States Geological Survey began a series of aerial surveys of Afghanistan’s mineral resources in 2006, using advanced gravity and magnetic measuring equipment attached to an old Navy Orion P-3 aircraft that flew over about 70 percent of the country.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">The data from those flights was so promising that in 2007, the geologists returned for an even more sophisticated study, using an old British bomber equipped with instruments that offered a three-dimensional profile of mineral deposits below the earth’s surface. It was the most comprehensive geologic survey of Afghanistan ever conducted.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">The handful of American geologists who pored over the new data said the results were astonishing.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">But the results gathered dust for two more years, ignored by officials in both the American and Afghan governments. In 2009, a Pentagon task force that had created business development programs in Iraq was transferred to Afghanistan, and came upon the geological data. Until then, no one besides the geologists had bothered to look at the information — and no one had sought to translate the technical data to measure the potential economic value of the mineral deposits.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Soon, the Pentagon business development task force brought in teams of American mining experts to validate the survey’s findings, and then briefed Defense Secretary <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/g/robert_m_gates/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Robert M. Gates." class="meta-per" style="color: rgb(0, 66, 118); text-decoration: underline;">Robert M. Gates</a> and Mr. Karzai.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">So far, the biggest mineral deposits discovered are of iron and copper, and the quantities are large enough to make Afghanistan a major world producer of both, United States officials said. Other finds include large deposits of niobium, a soft metal used in producing superconducting steel, rare earth elements and large gold deposits in Pashtun areas of southern Afghanistan.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">Just this month, American geologists working with the Pentagon team have been conducting ground surveys on dry salt lakes in western Afghanistan where they believe there are large deposits of lithium. Pentagon officials said that their initial analysis at one location in Ghazni Province showed the potential for lithium deposits as large of those of Bolivia, which now has the world’s largest known lithium reserves.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">For the geologists who are now scouring some of the most remote stretches of Afghanistan to complete the technical studies necessary before the international bidding process is begun, there is a growing sense that they are in the midst of one of the great discoveries of their careers.</span></p>
<p id="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-size: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">“On the ground, it’s very, very, promising,” Mr. Medlin said. “Actually, it’s pretty amazing.<br/><br/>”</span></p>
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<p id="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(94, 94, 94);"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?_r=1">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?_r=1</a></span></p>
<p id="" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.467em; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I can hear it now "The US only went into Afghanistan for the mineral wealth".</p>
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