Al Qaeda kidnaps Italian tourist in Algeria

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5 February 2011

ALGIERS – An Italian woman on a tourist trip to the Sahara desert in Algeria has been kidnapped by al Qaeda insurgents, Algeria’s official news agency and a government security source said on Friday.

Insurgents operating as al Qaeda’s north African wing have been active in the Sahara desert and have kidnapped several foreigners, but until now most of their activities have been in areas of the desert south of Algeria’s borders.

“It seems that this is a group which was freed from prison a few months ago and which then joined al Qaeda and has now kidnapped this Italian woman,” the Algerian security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

LTTE exporting terrorism for profit

Why Bruce Fein has come forward to deproscribe LTTE in the US? – Hemantha Warnakulasuriya:

A letter written by Hemantha Warnakulasuriya, a President’s Counsel has posed pertinent questions to Bruce Fein, the US Attorney said to be representing the Tamils For Justice. Given below is the final part of the letter sent by Hemantha Warnakulasuriya to Bruce

F ein, I would like to remind you, in case this information has not been given to you by your friends of TFJ, that in the last Presidential election there were two candidates: one was Mahinda Rajapaksa, presented by the LTTE as racist and supported by the racist parties and the other was Ranil Wickremesinghe, the darling of Tamils, who had with the help of Norway brought about the Peace Accord, which allowed Prabhakaran to replenish his depleted war tools, arms and ammunition. Ranil Wickremesinge thought that with the help of Prabhakaran, he would win the elections.

Hemantha Warnakulasuriya PC

He in fact proposed a federal state with full powers to the Tigers. In fact, he thought that by these remarks he would win the Presidential election with ease, as the voters in the South were equally divided and an overwhelming majority in the Northeast would vote for Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Britain’s foreign policy needs to be made clear on Egypt

William Hague has not actually said that “Her Majesty’s Government really doesn’t know what to make of all this”. But he might as well have.

By Telegraph View 7:18PM GMT 04 Feb 2011

The sudden unravelling of the Egyptian political establishment has produced feelings of exhilaration and anxiety in the West. It has also exposed what looks dangerously like a hole in the middle of British foreign policy. William Hague has not actually emerged from his office to announce that “Her Majesty’s Government really doesn’t know what to make of all this”. But he might as well have. And that is worrying, at a time when Iran is hailing the vast demonstrations in Egypt as an “Islamic uprising”.

David Cameron talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso prior to a working session of the EU summit

This may be wishful thinking from Tehran; then again, the crisis may indeed be the prelude to the transformation of the Arab world‘s most populous country into an Islamist regime. There are many possible outcomes to this drama. We can rank their likelihood, but when crowds of huge size and uncertain allegiance are milling through Cairo, it is a brave man who predicts who will be running the place next week, let alone next month.