Ahern to quit leadership post – The Washington Times
April 3rd, 2008
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/apr/03/ahern-to-quit-leadership-post/
Bertie Ahern announces his resignation
DUBLIN — Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern announced yesterday that he will step down next month after accusations of corruption.
Ireland achieved record economic growth and peace with Northern Ireland during Mr. Ahern’s 11-year tenure, but an ongoing inquest into the prime minister’s personal finances raised questions about more than $1 million in payments.
Mr. Ahern will formally step down May 6. He is scheduled to address Congress in Washington on April 30 and then host the Japanese prime minister in Dublin.
“I have done no wrong and wronged no one,” an emotional Mr. Ahern told reporters. He was surrounded by his government ministers, most of whom learned of the resignation only hours before the announcement.
Mr. Ahern said he had “never done anything to corrupt my office.”
On Monday, Mr. Ahern challenged a tribunal that had homed in during the past year on a plethora of cash gifts and loans in the early 1990s, when he was finance minister. (more…)
Ahern resigns; denies wrongdoing – The Washington Times
April 2nd, 2008
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/apr/02/ahern-resigns-denies-wrongdoing/
DUBLIN — Prime Minister Bertie Ahern this morning announced his resignation after 11 years in power.
Mr. Ahern’s tenure saw Ireland achieve record economic growth, with Northern Ireland at peace. However, a recent inquest into Mr. Ahern’s personal finances saw questions raised over almost $781,000 in payments.
Mr. Ahern will formally step down on May 6, after addressing Congress in Washington and receiving the Japanese prime minister here.
“I have done no wrong and wronged no one,” said a visibly emotional Mr. Ahern at a press conference on the steps outside Dublin’s government buildings this morning. (more…)
Albania comes in from the cold – Sunday Business Post
March 16th, 2008
http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2008/03/16/story31233.asp
Simon Roughneen in Tirana - ’Euro-Atlantic integration’ was the buzzword among officials from Albania’s Prime Minister’s Office and Ministries for Defence and Foreign Affairs, speaking to this reporter during last week.
Statue of Skanderbeg, Tirana (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Albania is a country split four ways confessionally – between Sunni Muslims, Sufi Muslim Bektashis, Catholics and Greek Orthodox – and two ways tribally, with northern Ghegs and southern Tosks. But all now seem to be pulling one way politically.
“It has been a long time coming, but Albania is ready to rejoin the West. In truth and in spirit, it never left”. So said Tirana’s Catholic Archbishop, Rrok Krol Mirdita, interviewed Tuesday last. (more…)
Young Paisley departure stirs rumours on dad – The Washington Times
March 2nd, 2008
Ian Paisley, 1969
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/mar/03/young-paisley-departure-stirs-rumors-on-dad/
DUBLIN — The resignation of Ian Paisley Jr. has prompted speculation that his octogenarian father, Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley Sr., will step down as well.
With his father at his side, the younger Mr. Paisley quit his post as junior minister last week over links to a real estate developer from whom he bought a house.
Known to locals as “Young Paisley,” he has not been cited for any crime nor has there been anything more than an implication of something inappropriate afoot.
Still, the scandal was enough to force him out of the Cabinet, although he will continue to serve in the national legislature.
The resignation cost Ian Paisley Sr., 82, the sprightly leader of Northern Ireland’s biggest pro-British political group — the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) — support of a trusted aide. (more…)
Pipeline deal strengthens Russian grip on Europe’s gas supplies – Sunday Business Post
March 2nd, 2008
http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2008/03/02/story30892.asp
Russia notched up major success in its quest to establish a strategic stranglehold on gas supplies to western Europe last week.
Hungarian prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany met outgoing Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin last Thursday, inking a deal to allow Russia’s Gazprom to extend a pipeline, already set to cross Bulgaria and Serbia, into western Europe.
The Serbian agreement was part of a package where Gazprom gets a controlling stake in Nis, the Serbian national oil company, in exchange for Russia backing Serbia’s opposition to Kosovar independence in the UN Security Council.
Alex Brideau of business risk analysts Eurasiagroup, told The Sunday Business Post that Russia’s policy was ‘‘guided primarily by the desire to maintain the country’s position in the natural gas business in Europe over the coming decades, given its importance to Gazprom and the overall economy’’, rather than based directly on Kosovo. (more…)
End nigh for pulpit-pounding Paisley? – ISN
March 2nd, 2008
Rev Paisley pictured with Martin McGuinness (BBC)
By Simon Roughneen in Dublin
Now almost 82, the long-time Ulster Protestant firebrand frontman Ian Paisley looks set to depart his formerly strife-torn region’s political scene. His son, Ian Paisley Jr, formally resigned his Belfast ministerial post late last week, after a drip-fed series of revelations showed the younger Paisley as too close to a property developer for the liking of rival politicians.
With his father at his side, Paisley Jr said he was proud to have served in the power-sharing executive.
“I leave with high hopes, good spirit, deep humility and with gratefulness in my heart,” he said.
Ian Paisley paid tribute to his son’s contribution to government. “I would just like to say, as the first minister, a word of thanks [...] to my son Ian for the hard work he did while he was in office.”
Young Paisley has not been cited for any illegality, nor has there been anything more than an implication that something inappropriate was afoot. But it was enough to force his hand. (more…)
Kosovo or Kosova? New York or Makkah? – IslamOnline
February 25th, 2008
Although some Western countries still refuse to recognize the new Albanian-majority state in the Balkans, the major powers — the US, the UK, Germany, and France — are backing the declaration of independence made by Prime Minister Hashim Thaci on Sunday, February 17, 2008. The former Yugoslav, and later Serb, province of Kosovo disappeared into history, and the Republic of Kosovo (or “Kosova” as the Albanians pronounce the name) came into being.
At street celebrations all afternoon and into the night after the declaration, backed by a unanimous vote by an extraordinary parliamentary session, the Kosovars drove noisy motorcades around Pristina’s central thoroughfares, honking wildly and brandishing Albanian and US flags. It is a marked contrast, then, to the usual agent-provocateur media images of enraged Muslims in Iran, Pakistan, the West Bank, burning the “stars and stripes” and chanting “Death to America.”
Partying at the Newborn Sq, downtown Pristina, Feb 2008 (Photo: Simon Roughneen
In fact, Islam, and religion generally, might be described as attenuated in former communist Eastern Europe because of the legacy of state-sponsored atheism in some cases and brutal repression in others. To Laura Krasniqi, a pharmacy student in Pristina, “faith is different from identity.” However, Fitora Rama, a student from Pristina, told IslamOnline.net (IOL), “We have to thank the US and the NATO — they have done so much for us here.”
However, the Kosovars have a humorously cynical view on international bureaucratic excesses. (more…)
Fledgling nations can learn from each other – Irish Examiner
February 25th, 2008
Timor-Leste and Kosovo flags (Crossed-Flag-Pins.com)
http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2008/02/25/story56145.asp
Simon Roughneen in PRISTINA – To a sea of Albanian and American flags, Prime Minister Hasim Thaci called the republic of Kosovo into being last Sunday week, setting off a diplomatic firestorm, raising Russian- backed Serbian ire and sparking fears that minority ethnic groups from Spain to China would have a new basis for resistance.
Kosovo can draw from examples elsewhere, as well as set what Sri Lanka described as “an unmanageable precedent”.
East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta awoke from an induced coma on Thursday, after an assassination/coup attempt by his former military police chief. The 1996 Nobel peace laureate will have seen Kosovo follow Montenegro and his own former Indonesian garrison into statehood.
In 1999, just weeks after Nato routed Serb forces from Kosovo, East Timor broke with Jakarta, after a brutal military occupation However, political stability is in tatters today. (more…)
Violence may damage Serbia’s chances of joining EU – Sunday Business Post
February 24th, 2008
http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2008/02/24/story30679.asp#
Serb demonstration in Mitrovica (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
There are fears that violence – especially attacks on embassies – resulting from Kosovo’s declaration of independence could spiral out of control and harm Serbia’s chances of joining the European Union.
Since prime minister Hasim Thaci called the Republic of Kosova into being last Sunday, there have been many incidents of unrest.
The declaration set off a diplomatic firestorm and raised the ire of Russia-backed Serbia. It also sparked fears in countries such as Spain and China that ethnic minority groups would have a new basis for resistance.
Last Thursday, Serbian protesters stormed the US embassy in Belgrade and set it alight. This followed a rally by 200,000 people denouncing the western-backed declaration. More than 100 people were injured and a charred body was later found in the embassy. The US embassy later withdrew non-essential staff from Belgrade. (more…)
Rioters torch U.S. Embassy in Belgrade – The Washington Times
February 22nd, 2008
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/feb/22/rioters-torch-us-embassy-in-belgrade/
PRISTINA, Kosovo — A torched U.S. Embassy building in Belgrade became the latest target of Serbian anger yesterday, as the United States faced growing consequences of its support for Kosovo’s independence.
Despite billions of dollars spent on security upgrades in the decade since al Qaeda bombed two embassies in Africa — including $1 billion budgeted for 2008 — rioters managed to break into an outer embassy building in Belgrade and set it ablaze to cheers from rioting mobs outside.
Embassies have been either rebuilt or reinforced with multiple security barriers whenever possible.
Congress has backed the effort, with funds for construction, a worldwide guard force and security staffing for more than 1,300 personnel deployed worldwide to protect U.S. staff and facilities, according to a House Appropriations Committee report in June.
Even before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, $3.5 billion already was budgeted for U.S. Embassy security upgrades and the amount has continued to grow.
Whether the investment paid off in Belgrade yesterday will be determined in a “forensic investigation” promised by the U.S. State Department yesterday.
A charred body was later found in the embassy, prompting a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman to assure Agence France-Presse it was not that of a staff member. (more…)
