Here's the clue to grasp the ins and outs of that Jolo crisis:
Europe Says Israel Must Remain in Euro-Mediterranean Grouping:
Yesterday, the European Commission rejected a Libyan attempt to exclude Israel from the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, while Libya hinted that it would itself remain the only North African country to remain out of the grouping as long as Israel maintained its membership. Libya told European Union (or EU) officials that Israel, as well as the Palestinian Authority, should be excluded from the 27-nation grouping until they make peace. EU spokesman Gunnar Wiegand said that the Europeans found the Libyan proposal unacceptable.
The Libyan proposal was made as discussions are taking place among European leaders concerning issuing a formal invitation to Kadhafi to visit Brussels, the headquarters of the European Union. EU commission president Romano Prodi came out publicly in support of issuing such an invitation after speaking with Kadhafi by telephone on December 24. Following that conversation, Kadhafi officially told the EU on January 4 that it is would embrace the principles of the so-called Barcelona process, which include commitments to democracy, regional stability, a market economy and, eventually, free trade in the region. Commitments to those principles are required for membership in the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, a grouping that has been criticized by many in the Arab World as a smokescreen that is being used to promote an Israeli normalization of economic ties with the Arab world.
Meanwhile, this weekend, reports emerged of an attempt to smuggle Scud missile parts from Britain to Libya. Wiegand said the reports would be taken into account when EU leaders decide in a meeting scheduled for January 18 whether to invite Kadhafi to Brussels. The 32 crates of alleged Scud missile parts were reportedly found in November at Gatwick airport and disguised as auto parts. It is unclear why the news of the alleged discovery was kept secret until now, right before the EU is to decide on whether to invite Kadhafi to Europe.
A red-carpet invitation to Brussels would be seen as a major breakthrough for Kadhafi as he seeks renewed international recognition after extraditing two suspects in the 1988 bombing of a US airliner over Scotland. Since extraditing the two suspects, most of the sanctions that had been imposed on Libya since 1992 were suspended, though an international arms embargo remains in effect. The trial of the two extradited Libyans was supposed to have started this week in the Netherlands but was postponed until early May. Yesterday, Prodi said it was his prerogative whether or not Khadafi would be invited to Brussels, although he indicated that he preferred to act in concert with EU states. Prodi added that the peace and prosperity of Europe will depend on European policy toward the southern Mediterranean.
Libya, Albania and the former Yugoslav republics are the only Mediterranean countries that are not members of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, which groups the 15 members of the EU with a number of Arab states and Israel.
Excerpted from:
ianaradionet.com
EU-AFRICA SUMMIT Africans seek partnership with Europe
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak opened Africa’s first-ever summit with the European Union yesterday [April 2000], saying Africans want more and better cooperation from Europe’s club of rich nations — not more money.
[...]
On the summit sidelines, Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi made an early splash with one-on-one meetings in a bedouin tent at a Cairo palace with European Commission President Romano Prodi, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and others.
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook was also looking to meet Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to drive home London’s anger at his government after a weekend street attack on anti-Mugabe protesters.
Prodi also met Mugabe for what an EU spokesman called a "frank exchange of views on various issues." No other details were given.
Cairo marks the first time since 1992 that Kadhafi has been able to press the flesh of western leaders at an international event, after the suspension last year of economic sanctions imposed after Libya’s alleged involvement in the 1988 bombing of a US airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland.
"We note that he is putting an enormous effort into peaceful matters here," Ahern said after his meeting with the Libyan leader whom the United States has long accused of sponsoring terrorism.
[snip]
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As regards the reported presence of US Green Berets in Jolo, I guess they've been dispatched over there as an intelligence unit only, that is, basically, to operate UAVs. It would have taken too long for US instructors to train Filipino personnel to efficiently fly their UAVs. Moreover, since most UAV technology is top secret, it was to be expected that the US military would handle any UAV deployment on their own.
Re: It should be pointed out that the French journalists that are being held hostage went to the Abu Sayyaf camp voluntarily, despite numerous warnings. The same situation prevails with the 12 Filipino evangelists, who were staging a bizarre publicity stunt that predictably backfired, and the lone American hostage. The agenda of the American remains unclear and subject to much speculation locally, but it does seem that he went there of his own accord.
I'm not sure how much consideration needs to be given to the safety of people who haven't the brains to keep their heads out of the hornet's nest.
I feel for the Malaysians and Filipinos that really are kidnap victims, but it is pretty clear that the cycle was never going to end...
Well, it sure looks to me as if those French journalists were barging into the Jolo mess on a "shift-work" basis. I mean, as soon as the first hostage group was freed --with the help of Libya's middlemanship-- BANG! a coupla Froggies took over.... out of the blue!?!
Indeed this whole hostage crisis stinks of hoax.... BTW, Abu Sayyaf itself is a fringe organization whose rogue tactics (kidnapping, beheading, and torturing civilians) has been condemned by the other two mainstream Moro factions.
Besides, the very anxiety of French authorities about their nationals only contrasts strongly with their unsettling neglect of the locals. I for one was expecting much more color-blind empathy from the self-acclaimed "cradle of Human Rights". A major cultural power like France should not haggle about the fate of French captives only or, at best, fellow Europeans. After all, what's the extra cost of throwing a dozen Filipinos in the bargaining after one's already splurged $15 million on rescuing half a dozen westerners??
Gus. |
