Gage report cites ‘loss of discipline and lack of moral courage’ for death of Baha Mousa after 36 hours of detention in Basra British soldiers inflicted “violent and cowardly” assaults on Iraqi civilians subjecting them to “gratuitous” kickings and beatings, an inquiry into the death of the detainee Baha Mousa has found. In a devastating indictment of military culture, the retired appeal court judge Sir William Gage ruled that there was widespread ignorance of what was permitted in handling prisoners of war. Although he did not suggest there had been a policy of systematic abuse towards Iraqi suspects, he deplored the absence of any “proper MoD doctrine on interrogation”. The report at the end of the two-year inquiry contains savage criticisms of individual soldiers and officers as well as damning descriptions of poor internal communications, “loss of discipline and a lack of moral courage”. Mousa, 26, a Basra hotel worker, died after spending 36 hours in detention in the custody of soldiers from the 1st Battalion Queen’s Lancashire Regiment. He was found to have suffered from 93 external injuries. Gage found that even senior commanders were ignorant of a ban imposed in 1972 on the use of five techniques, including hooding, stress positions and sleep deprivation. The hooding, which was prohibited under the Geneva Convention, was “unjustified and wholly unacceptable”. “For almost the whole of the period up to Baha Mousa’s death … the detainees were kept handcuffed, hooded and in stress positions in extreme heat and conditions of some squalor,” the report said. Four soldiers were singled out for severe criticism, including Colonel Jorge Mendonca, the unit’s commander, who, he said, “bears a heavy responsibility for these events”. Judge Gage said he ought to have known what was going on in the detention centre and should have appreciated the dangers of “conditioning”. He is acquitted, however, of having any knowledge of the beatings. Corporal Donald Payne, was the only soldier convicted of what the report describes as a “dreadful catalogue of unjustified and brutal violence on the defenceless detainees”. Gage calls him a “violent bully”. Lt Craig Rodgers, commander of the unit responsible for guarding the prisoners, is accused of “a very serious breach of duty” for not reporting the treatment meted out. “If he had taken action when he first knew what was occurring, Baha Mousa would almost certainly have survived”. Major Michael Peebles, responsible for monitoring detainees, was accused of “unacceptable” behaviour. There was also stinging criticism of Father Peter Madden, the unit’s Catholic padre, who visited the temporary detention facility (TDF). Judge Gage concluded that he was a “poor witness”. He added: “I find that the did visit the TDF [the day Mousa died]. … He must have seen the shocking condition of the detainees and the deteriorating condition of the TDF. “He ought to have intervened immediately, or reported it up the chain of command but, in fact, it seems he did not have the courage to do either.” Among the humiliations forced upon the detainees, the report said, were toilets being flushed over their heads, beatings with metal bars, verbal abuse, being forced to “dance like Michael Jackson” and having lighter fuel poured over them. One officer who visited the detention centre told the inquiry that the detainees looked as though they had been “in a car crash”. After the death of Baha Mousa, the surviving detainees were subjected to further assaults and “trophy photographs” were said to have been taken of them being beaten. The discovery of weapons at the hotel justified the suspects’ arrest, Gage commented. “However I regard it as highly unlikely that the detainees or any of them were in fact involved in insurgent or terrorist activity.” One of the principal causes was “an unfounded rumour circulating” through the battalion that the detainees had been responsible for the murder of a popular officer or of members of the Royal Military Police. The report paints a picture of “corporate” and “systemic failure” of the MoD to provide clear and consistent guidelines about what was permitted in the treatment of prisoners of war. Techniques were used that had been banned 30 years earlier as “prohibited and unlawful in warfare by reason of the Geneva Convention”. At the time of the invasion of Iraq, “there was no proper MoD doctrine on interrogation of prisoners of war that was generally available”. A ban on hooding ordered made by a senior officer in Basra after the invasion was never effectively communicated to 1QLR. But the incidents, Gage said, “did not amount to an entrenched culture of violence in the [British] battlegroup” – a reference to the rest of British forces in southern Iraq. Even after Mousa’s death an order reminding troops of the ban was not properly disseminated down the chain of command. Prisoner handling was “not given a high priority by the divisional commanders and their chiefs of staff”. The bans on hooding and other techniques were not even included in officers’ training at Sandhurst. It added that there was “no standing orders or general instructions in 1QLR as to the medical care for civilian detainees.” Summing up his findings, Gage declared: “The events of 14 to 16 September 2003 were indeed a very great stain on the reputation of the army and no doubt they did at the time greatly damage some of the good work done by 1QLR and other units in Iraq. “My judgment is that they constituted an appalling episode of serious, gratuitous violence on civilians which resulted in the death of one man and injuries to others. They represent a very serious breach of discipline by a number of members of 1QLR.” Lee Hughes, secretary to the inquiry, said the report is now in the hands of the crown prosecution service which would have to decide whether to take action. “The chairman has no powers to find criminal responsibility, it’s for the prosecution authorities to decide,” he said. Witnesses were protected from self-incrimination but evidence from other sources and witnesses about individuals could lead to criminal charges or civil proceedings. The report of the inquiry, which cost £13m, includes 73 recommendations. They mainly call for clear guidance for all British forces handling prisoners, including an absolute ban on hooding. Baha Mousa Military Iraq Middle East Richard Norton-Taylor Owen Bowcott guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Rowan Williams hopes to discuss the violent persecution of Anglicans in Zimbabwe when he tours the region next month The Archbishop of Canterbury is hoping to have face to face discussions with Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe next month amid the violent persecution of Anglicans in the country. Rowan Williams has requested a meeting with the Zimbabwean president when he travels to Harare as part of a tour of the south of the continent, according to his spokeswoman. Williams, who will become the first prominent British representative to visit Zimbabwe’s capital in a decade, is making the journey in an attempt to “show solidarity” with Anglicans in the region, she said. In recent months priests are said to have been beaten and arrested by police, staff evicted from church buildings and property seized, while some Anglicans have allegedly been arrested and murdered. Some have questioned whether Williams would make the trip due to the violent regime, but Lambeth Palace said there had never been any debate over the matter. The Archbishop’s spokeswoman, who confirmed he will also visit Malawi and Zambia during the trip, said the recent persecution is “more of a reason to go because people need more pastoral care”. She said: “The aim of the trip as a whole is a pastoral visit and it’s to show solidarity with Anglicans there, that’s really the aim of the trip.” Dr Chad Gandiya, the Bishop of Harare, told The Times he hoped the visit would bring respite to the Zimbabwean Church. He said police had been acting on the instructions of Nolbert Kunonga, the leader of a breakaway church and a Mugabe supporter. Last month the country’s chief justice ruled that all Anglican property in the Harare diocese was under Kunonga’s custody. Gandiya said despite the attacks, Church attendance numbers were thriving. “I often think, where are all the people coming from. Sometimes I ask them if they know what they are committing themselves to,” he said. Referring to Williams’ visit he added: “He is visiting the province. He is going to Malawi and from there he is coming to Zimbabwe. It is a pastoral visit, it is not a political visit. “He is not coming to tell Kunonga off because that is not his business. He is coming to encourage Zimbabwean Anglicans in their faith.” Lambeth Palace added it has requested a meeting with President Mugabe but has received no reply as of yet. The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, cut up his clerical dog collar in 2007 in protest at the regime of Mugabe, saying he would not wear it again until the president had left office. Robert Mugabe Zimbabwe Rowan Williams Anglicanism Religion Christianity Africa guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
HCL Technologies makes claim about News of the World publisher in a written submission to select committee The technology company used by News International to store archived emails said on Wednesday NI had asked it to delete messages on 11 occassions during a 19-month period. HCL Technologies wrote to the home affairs select committee to update MPs following earlier evidence it submitted in August, in which it said News International had asked it to delete material seven times. It said it had since identified a further four requests, including one from News International last December asking the HCL to delete messages: “from an inbox of a user who had not accessed his email account for eight years”. Commitee chairman Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester East, said: “The request for deletion of folders and emails by News International is concerning. The committee will continue to investigate the issue of phone hacking and the removal of any information that could possibly point to the prevalence of phone hacking by those working in the organisation.” The committee asked HCL earlier this year to provide it with a full list of occassions when News International reqested the removal or deletion emails from December 2009 to June 2011. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . Phone hacking Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers News International James Robinson guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Eight former officers on trial for conspiring to build a false case against Stephen Miller in 1988 Cardiff murder of Lynette White A man wrongly jailed for the murder of his girlfriend broke down in tears in court as he described the “nightmare” he had lived in the 22 years since he was arrested over the killing. Stephen Miller, one of three men imprisoned for the murder of Lynette White, sobbed as he gave evidence at the trial of eight former police officers accused of conspiring to build a false case against him and two other men. Miller once again insisted that he had not seen 20-year-old White, who was working as a prostitute, on the weekend she was stabbed to death. He told Swansea crown court on Wednesday that he had not even known of the existence of the squalid flat in Cardiff where White took clients and where her body was found in February 1988. Miller broke down in tears as he recalled the moment police told him his girlfriend had been killed. “I was in a daze, a nightmarish daze,” he said. “One moment I’m speaking to her, the next she’s dead.” He told how he had gone from being a witness to a suspect. “It went pear-shaped,” he said. “I’ve been dealing with this nightmare for 22 years.” Miller and his friends, Yusef Abdullahi and Tony Paris, were jailed in 1990 over the murder of White, 20, before being freed on appeal two years later. The men were dubbed the Cardiff Three, and their case came to be seen as one of the most notorious miscarriages of justice in recent years. Another man, Jeffrey Gafoor, was later convicted of killing White alone and is in jail serving a life sentence for her murder. The jury at Swansea has heard that South Wales police officers were under huge pressure to solve White’s murder and leading detectives in the case became convinced that Miller, Abdullahi, Paris and two other men, were behind the killing. It is alleged that the officers manipulated evidence against the suspects and put pressure on witnesses to tailor their stories to match their belief of the men’s guilt. Miller, now 44, admitted he had a criminal record. As a teenager he was convicted of grievous bodily harm and when he was in his early 20s sold cannabis in Cardiff to supplement his income. However he denied he was White’s “pimp” and said they argued over her work. He wanted her to stop but she thought of it as an easy way to make money. Miller told the court that he had moved to Cardiff from London and was known as “Pineapple” in the city’s dock area where he and White lived because he wore his dreadlocks in a top knot and drank pineapple juice. He told the court he had not seen White for some days before her body was discovered and had been searching for her. Miller said that when police told him that White had been murdered he felt as if “someone had got a hammer and smashed it across my face”, adding: “I burst out crying.” He said he had co-operated with police, handing over his clothes and saying he was prepared to give a sample of his DNA. Miller said he felt “crushed”, adding: “One minute you’re with someone you love. Then they disappear.” Miller was arrested over White’s murder in December 1988. Nick Dean QC, prosecuting, has said of the police questioning: “Short of physical violence, it is hard to imagine a more hostile and intimidating approach.” Miller said he would remember how he was treated until he went to his grave. Former South Wales police officers Graham Mouncher, Richard Powell, Thomas Page, Michael Daniels, Paul Jennings, Paul Stephen, Peter Greenwood and John Seaford deny conspiring to pervert the course of justice. In addition Mouncher denies lying under oath in court. The trial continues. Cardiff Wales Police Steven Morris guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Shadow chancellor says economists arguing for end to 50p tax band are ‘not living in the real world’ Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, has accused economists arguing for the abolition of the 50p tax rate of “not living in the real world”. Balls insisted the tax cut priority to should be a temporary reduction in VAT to boost consumer confidence, rather than a break for top earners, which he said would be “unfair” in the current climate. The shadow chancellor made his comments a day after a group of leading economists used an article in the Financial Times to urge the chancellor, George Osborne, to scrap the 50p tax rate at the earliest opportunity. The group said the UK needed to return to an “internationally competitive tax regime” to stimulate the stuttering economy. The economists claimed the 50p rate “is clearly a self-defeating way for the Treasury to raise the money and a reduction in tax avoidance would be more effective”. But Balls said cutting the tax for the highest earners, which “raises billions of pounds”, should not be “the first priority”. “Do you really think, when we need to get the economy moving, do you really think the first priority is not to cut VAT for families or find other ways to help families on middle incomes but to only cut to taxes for people on incomes over £150,000?” asked Balls. “I think people watching these economists yesterday making these arguments must think these people are not in the real world.” He said while taxes should be fair “and as low as possible”, the deficit had to be kept under control and this meant “everybody” had to make a contribution. He added: “George Osborne, if he wants a plan B should listen to wiser advice than that.” But his arguments were countered by Kitty Ussher, Labour’s former Treasury minister, who used an article in the Wall Street Journal to argue that Labour should be “brave enough” to commit itself to ditching the top rate of tax in the future to avoid looking “all 1970s-ideological”, and focus on some other “truly progressive measures” to address the deficit instead. She argues that the revenue from the top rate of tax will have “no meaningful impact on the size of the government deficit, simply because of the magnitude of the sums involved” and that its importance lies in its “totemic nature”. Ussher claimed one of the reasons Labour introduced it in the 2009 budget was “because there were some Labour politicians that liked putting up income taxes on top earners as a point of principle, regardless of the economic cycle”. Ussher wrote in WSJ: “Were the Labour party to say now that it intends to abolish the tax in the future, it would be hugely to opposition leader Ed Miliband’s advantage. It would project him beyond the populist into the realm of the serious. And it would stop him from looking all 1970s-ideological if the chancellor’s own official review subsequently showed that the tax didn’t raise any money.” Cameron will try to defuse the row over withdrawing the 50p tax rate on those earning £150,000 or more by waiting for the outcome of a review commissioned by the chancellor into whether the tax is bringing in the expected revenue. The review is unlikely to amass sufficient data in time for the spring 2012 budget. Downing Street confirmed that the priority set out in the coalition agreement was to increase personal allowances for the lowest-paid over the parliament – a key Liberal Democrat commitment. But in a sign of tensions between the coalition partners over tax policy, the Tory communities secretary, Eric Pickles, broke ranks by saying he thought the 50p rate was probably doing more harm than good. Pickles told the BBC: “I think there is a strong and reasonable case to say, ‘Come on, this is not actually contributing very much.’ On balance, it’s probably doing more damage than it’s doing good.” He said the top rate should be “got rid of” but stressed the timing was up to Osborne. It emerged on Thursday that the government may bring forward a proposed increase in personal allowances to help boost the economy. A Downing Street aide told the Daily Express there was “a serious case for accelerating” the introduction of the policy, which the newspaper said would be worth up to £400 a year for low- and middle-income earners. Responding to the reports, Balls told BBC Breakfast: “If you really want to get spending and purchasing power into the economy quickly, rather than doing it through personal allowances, which tends to be a bit diffuse, better to have a temporary cut in VAT because a cut in VAT puts money into people’s pockets straight away. It will have more of an impact upon the economy.” The shadow chancellor also used the round of interviews to urge Osborne to lead the way on a “global plan B” for tackling the fragile economies in America, the eurozone and Britain, rather than “ploughing on regardless”. Osborne insisted on Tuesday that the government would stick to its austerity plans , despite admitting the long-term damage caused to the economy by the credit crunch was forcing him to revise down estimates for growth that were already weak. Balls told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme Osborne and Cameron were “uniquely placed” to make the argument on the international stage, citing the lack of political consensus both in the eurozone and America on the way ahead. “The irony is that the one country which has the political strength to change course is Britain and to make their argument in the world,” Balls said. “The problem is it’s almost the opposite problem: our coalition has decided the cornerstone is sticking to a deficit reduction plan which isn’t working, has flatlined our economy. “Our problem is we can’t argue for sanity in the eurozone and America if we are sticking to a failing policy in Britain. That’s why George Osborne having a plan B in Britain is necessary for him to make the global argument. We desperately need leadership in these times.” Ed Balls Income tax Tax Tax and spending Economic policy Economics Global economy Economic growth (GDP) Green shoots George Osborne Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Fifteen-year-old in critical condition after being attacked in road where Steven Grisales was killed after a row with youths A 15-year-old boy is in hospital in a serious condition after being stabbed in the same spot where Steven Grisales was killed after remonstrating with conker-throwing youths, Scotland Yard said. The boy, who has not been named, is not thought to be in a critical condition, after suffering stab wounds on Wednesday evening. Police were called to College Close in Edmonton, north London at 6.50pm – almost exactly the same time that 21-year-old Steven Grisales was stabbed last Thursday . The boy was taken to hospital in an air ambulance. Two males have been arrested in connection with the stabbing. A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: “At the moment we are not aware of any links between the stabbing of Steven Grisales and this incident, apart from the geographical location.” He said police would be investigating possible connections between the two attacks. Steven Grisales was allegedly stabbed to death on 1 September as he made his way to Silver Street railway station in Edmonton after running a shopping errand for his grandmother. A 15-year-old boy appeared before Enfield magistrates on Wednesday, charged with his murder. Mr Grisales, who aspired to become an architect, died after receiving a single stab wound to the heart. The student, who was born in the UK to Colombian parents, had been studying in Argentina but arrived home on 5 August to take up a scholarship at Westminster College, which was due to begin on the day he died. Gun and knife crime in the area, parts of which erupted into violence during the London riots, was among the most serious in the capital, said campaigners. Witnesses to the Grisales stabbing are asked to call the incident room on 0208 721 4961 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Crime Knife crime Alexandra Topping guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Ruling deals blow to prosecution and clears way for closing arguments in case American student Amanda Knox won another battle in her quest to overturn a conviction for murdering her British room-mate in Italy when an appeal court rejected a prosecutor’s request for more DNA testing. The decision means that an independent review of DNA evidence – previously ordered by the appeals court and hugely favourable to Knox – will stand. It deals a blow to prosecutors, who had sought to counter the results of that review, which harshly criticised how genetic evidence had been used in the case. The ruling by Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann on Wednesday also clears the way for closing arguments, which are due to begin on 23 September with the prosecution going first, followed by civil plaintiffs and the defence. Further retesting would have inevitably extended the 10-month long trial, which is now expected to end in late September or early October. Knox’s father, Curt Knox, said his daughter had started to see “the light at the end of the tunnel.” However, Knox’s lawyer, Luciano Ghirga, warned that the court’s rejection of new DNA testing was not equal to a positive outcome of the whole appeal. Knox was convicted in December 2009 of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher, while they were studying in Perugia and sentenced to 26 years. Raffaele Sollecito, an Italian who was Knox’s boyfriend at the time, was sentenced to 25 years. Both have always maintained their innocence and are appealing the lower court’s verdict. Without a clear motive or convincing witnesses, the DNA evidence is crucial, and much of the appeals outcome hinges on it. In the first trial, prosecutors maintained that Knox’s DNA was found on the handle of a kitchen knife believed to be the murder weapon, and that Kercher’s DNA was found on the blade. They said Sollecito’s DNA was on the clasp of Kercher’s bra as part of a mixed trace that also included the victim’s genetic profile. Those findings were always disputed by the defence and the appeals court agreed to nominate two independent experts to review the evidence. In a 145-page report, the experts found that much of that evidence was unreliable and possibly contaminated, that police had made glaring errors in evidence collecting and the below-standard testing raised doubts over the attribution of DNA traces. The review was at the centre of several fiercely debated hearings in the Perugia courtroom, with police and prosecutors defending the original investigation. Pratillo Hellmann said the discussion had been thorough enough for the court to form an opinion. New testing would be “superfluous,” he said, rejecting the request made earlier in the day by prosecutor Manuela Comodi. The prosecutor said she was disappointed, though not surprised by the decision. “One separates from one’s husband, and therefore one could certainly have separated from the wrong experts,” she told the Ansa news agency. Comodi had said in court that the experts were “inadequate” and “unreliable”. The defence said the prosecutors were simply unhappy over a review that had not gone in their favour. They pointed out what they said was the “paradox” of a prosecution originally opposed to having new tests, now wanting more. “It’s really kind of a desperation move on the prosecution to ask for another independent review that they originally were totally against,” Curt Knox said. “These were independent experts that the court appointed, so how many times do you need to have that done?” He said the court’s ruling showed “the judge and the jury believed in what the independent experts have brought back to them”. He is expected to be joined by Knox’s mother, Edda Mellas, for the last stage of the trial. “Hopefully we’ll get to take Amanda home,” he said. Francesco Maresca, a lawyer for the Kerchers, said the family would come to Perugia for the verdict, as they did in the first trial. Just days ago, the family released a letter to express “great concern” over recent DNA evidence findings, asking the court to assess “every single [piece] of evidence, both scientific and circumstantial, as well as any witnesses who have taken the stand independently of any other information or media”. They pointed out that there was more to the case than the DNA evidence that had been recently debated and lamented the “media frenzy” surrounding it. “My sister, a daughter brutally and selfishly taken from us nearing four years ago, and yet not a single day goes by that we can grasp any peace or closure,” Stephanie Kercher, the victim’s sister, wrote. Kercher was found stabbed to death on 2 November 2007 in the apartment she shared with Knox. She had been murdered the night before, according to forensic police. A third person, Rudy Hermann Guede of the Ivory Coast, has also been convicted of Kercher’s murder in a separate proceeding. Italy’s highest criminal court has upheld Guede’s conviction and his 16-year-prison sentence. Guede denies wrongdoing. The court also rejected another prosecution request to put back on the stand a witness who had previously testified that his brother, a fugitive, had killed Kercher during a botched burglary. The witness, a jailed Naples mobster called Luciano Aviello, announced he wanted to retract his statement and was questioned by Comodi in prison in July. The court ruled that transcriptions of that questioning would suffice. Amanda Knox Meredith Kercher Italy Europe United States guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Commission will look into long-running complaints about rights of MPs from parts of UK with their own parliaments or assemblies to vote on legislation affecting only England Ministers are to confirm that the UK government will set up a commission to investigate the voting rights of Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs at Westminster. The commission into the so-called “West Lothian question” will look into long-running complaints about the rights of MPs from parts of the UK with their own parliaments or assemblies to vote on legislation affecting only England. Ministers will announce on Thursday morning that the commission is being formed after a private members’ bill from the Tory backbencher Harriet Baldwin seeking to limit voting rights at Westminster unexpectedly passed a series of hurdles in the Commons. Baldwin’s bill is due to complete its passage of the Commons on Friday, and would then go to the Lords. It would require ministers to state on each bill whether it only affected England, to put non-English MPs under pressure not to vote on it. Ministers hope she will drop the legislation (territorial extent) bill and allow the issue to be studied by the commission instead. The proposal to set up a commission was agreed by the Tories and Liberal Democrats in their coalition agreement more than a year ago, but the announcement is expected to be light on detail about its scope and membership. The “West Lothian question” was posed by Tam Dalyell, the then MP for West Lothian and an opponent of devolution to Scotland and Wales, in 1977 as the then Labour government first tried, but ultimately failed, to set up a Scottish assembly. It is regarded as one of the most serious anomalies of devolution, with control over most major domestic policies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland now solely in the hands of the devolved parliaments and assemblies. He questioned why any MP from Scotland or Wales could have the same right as English MP to vote on legislation which only affects England if MPs for English seats were unable to vote in the Scottish parliament or Welsh assembly. Many English backbenchers across all the major parties have been critical and irritated by the issue. However, ministers also believe that cutting the voting rights of Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs could bolster nationalist parties by weakening the influence and status of non-English MPs at Westminster. Scottish politics Scotland Welsh politics Wales House of Commons Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Deposed former Libyan leader vows never to leave the country and denies claims he is in neighbouring Niger Muammar Gaddafi has issued a defiant message from hiding in which he vowed “never to leave the land of his ancestors” and denied claims he had fled the country for neighbouring Niger. The telephone message, broadcast on Syria’s Arrai TV station, is believed to have come from within Libya. Some rebel commanders say that the former dictator may be in the town of Bani Walid, which is still refusing to surrender to forces loyal to Libya’s new government. Overnight, columns of fighters from the National Transitional Council were spotted heading towards the town in pick-up trucks shouting anti-Gaddafi slogans. “We will move into Bani Walid slowly. There was a message in Bani Walid from Gaddafi this evening,” NTC unit commander Jamal Gourji told Reuters. In the audio message, the former leader of Libya said he expected a new uprising in the capital. “The youths are now ready to escalate the resistance against the ‘rats’ [rebels] in Tripoli and to finish off the mercenaries,” Gaddafi said. “All of these germs, rats and scumbags, they are not Libyans, ask anyone. They have cooperated with Nato,” he said. Arrai TV last broadcast a message by Gaddafi, who has not been seen in public for months, at the start of September when he urged followers to “keep fighting” and promised to turn Libya “into a hell” . In the new message, Gaddafi denied reports that he had fled to Niger in a column of vehicles heading across the border. Referring to himself in the third person, Gaddafi said: “Columns of convoys drive into and out of Niger carrying goods, and people inside and outside [of Libya] say Gaddafi is going to Niger,” he said. “This is not the first time that convoys drive in and out of Niger.” Earlier this week it emerged that Gaddafi’s former aide Mansour Dhao had been admitted in to the country “for humanitarian reasons”. Niger’s foreign minister, Mohamed Bazoum, said that at least three convoys had come in to the country containing, he claimed, several pro-Gaddafi businessmen, as well as Agaly ag Alambo, a Tuareg rebel leader. There were fewer than 20 of them, he added, and they would be free to stay in Niger. The US said it believed senior Gaddafi regime figures had crossed over the border, but not Gaddafi himself. In a BBC interview on Wednesday, Bazoum confirmed that Niger officials had also crossed the border as part of a series of convoys fleeing Libya across the desert. However he denied that Gaddafi or his sons had entered Niger. “There is no news about Gaddafi in Niger, we have no news about him, it is not true that he has tried to come into Niger or he came into Niger,” he said. Reports say the convoys later arrived in the Niger city of Agadez. Bazoum said there was “no means to close the border” between his country and Libya because it was “too big”. The president of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaoré, also denied reports it had offered asylum to the former Libyan leader. Earlier in the week, the National Transitional Council announced it had sent a delegation to Niamey in Niger to discuss how to stop “any kind of infiltration” by Gaddafi or his family. Fathi Baja, the head of political affairs for the NTC, said the group was determined to try to prevent the dictator fleeing to Niger or Algeria. “I think he’s near one of these borders … and he’s looking for a chance to leave. We’re asking every country not to accept him. We want these people for justice,” Baja told Reuters. As the search for Gaddafi continues, lead rebel negotiator, Abdullah Kanshil, said Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, had been spotted in the town of Bani Walid on Monday. “Saif was sighted two days ago,” he said. “He’s coming in and out.” Kanshil said that Bani Walid was made up of 52 villages, three of which were still occupied by pro-Gaddafi gunmen. It was also possible that Saif could be hiding in its numerous caves. Another “big fish” might also be in the town, Kanshil added. Pressed for details, he replied: “Another of the sons. The ugly one.” Asked if it would be necessary to take Bani Walid by force, Kanshil had said earlier in the week, “No, we hope not. The people of Bani Walid are with the revolution. But there are 80 snipers there, that’s our worry. Some in caves, some on roofs of buildings, some walking in places.” Any decision on an attack rested with the National Transitional Council, he said. “They are the leadership.” Muammar Gaddafi Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Libya Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Africa Shiv Malik Lizzy Davies guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Sea users and interest groups decide list of areas that will protect rare and threatened marine wildlife and habitats Much of the sea around the Isle of Wight and the Isles of Scilly , major estuaries and islets off the east coast, as well as reefs, trenches, sandbars and remote places seldom seen by humans, are included in a list of 127 sea areas that have been proposed as new nature reserves. The zones range from a giant 5,800 sq km (2,240 sq mile) patch on the edge of British territorial waters in the western Channel to a minute 0.09 sq km speck of rock off Dorset, from the sea floor below some of the busiest shipping lanes in the world in the Channel to the muddy waters off the northern Irish coast where Dublin Bay prawn thrives. The total area expected to be named as new nationally important marine conservation zones (MCZs) is more than 37,000 sq km – about twice the size of Wales. Nearly half the sites are off the south-west coast and in the Channel. Wales and Scotland are expected to designate other marine conservation areas later this year. “Together they will conserve a mixture of wildlife, habitats, geology and geomorphology,” said a spokeswoman for the MCZ project. “They are being recommended not just to conserve the rare and threatened, but the range of marine wildlife – from seahorses to sunset cup corals, and from honeycomb worm reefs to estuarine rocky habitats in English waters.” The project has conducted more than 2,500 interviews and held 155 meetings in what has been called a “people to parliament” approach to decision-making. Conservationists today welcomed the list as one of Britain’s most significant natural protection initiatives in decades, but said that the level of safeguards proposed for the nationally important sites varied from tight to potentially weak. Decisions about how the sites are managed, and what activities can or cannot take place in them, will only be made once formal designation is confirmed next year. However, only 20 of the 127 sites are proposed to be highly protected “reference” sites where any exploitation or damage by industry will be banned. Nearly half the sites are expected to contain highly protected areas within them, while the oil and gas, wind and dredging industries will be allowed some access in some areas. Only 2% of the sites are expected to be given full protection. In what has been described as “robust” arguments, industry objected to some areas and conservationists had to compromise to arrive at the final list. “Sites we were sorry to see dropped due to industry concerns include Flamborough-Helgoland, the north Norfolk chalk reefs and the Farne Islands,” said the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) , one of the many organisations that helped to determine the sites. But other landmark places proposed by ecologists were chosen, including the Needles off the Isle of Wight and the Manacles rocks off Cornwall. “Protected sites are desperately needed to protect our seas so that marine habitats and ecosystems can begin to recover from decades of degradation,” said Richard Harrington of the MCS. “Conservation for the UK’s marine environment has taken a major step forward. The thousands of species of sealife and habitats that live hidden under our waters need just as much protection as those that we can see on land,” said marine minister Richard Benyon . The unique process of allowing sea users to choose the sites rather than government took nearly two years, but is expected to avoid arguments and disputes later. Unlike proposals for forests and planning areas, which were decided by government ministers without proper consultation, the 127 sites were only recommended following long negotiations between dozens of sea users and interest groups – including the oil and gas, wind and fishing industries, eco-tourism and conservation groups, ports and shippers. “It has been challenging. Over 2,500 interviews have been conducted and 155 meetings held. Over 1 million individuals’ interests have been represented, and it has enabled marine industries such as fishing, ports and offshore renewable energy to share their views alongside conservationists, landowners and recreational sea users,” said the MCZ spokeswoman. Conservation Marine life Wildlife Endangered habitats Endangered species Coastlines Animals John Vidal guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …