9/26/09

Claude Mashala : « Meje 30 est victime de la cybercriminalité…»

Kinshasa, 25/09/2009 / Musique
L'avocat de l'orchestre Dynastie Mutuashi
de Tshala Muana vient d'initier en justice
une action contre inconnu au sujet
des images érotiques trafiquées
sur Internet de Meje 30.

Il ne fait l'ombre d'aucun doute que

la cybercriminalité au monde ne cesse

de prendre de plus en plus des allures

très inquiétantes à telle enseigne

que la combattre devient très hypothétique.

Qu'à cela ne tienne, des personnes averties

ne s'étonnent guère de cela car elles

en voient de toutes les couleurs, allant

jusqu'à compromettre les grandes personnalités

à travers le monde.

L'objectif est d'écorner l'image ou la réputation

de celle ou celui dont la montée

fulgurante dans un domaine donné fait des émules.


En effet, il y a peu, des internautes aussi bien

congolais que d'ailleurs, ont eu à visualiser

les images érotiques montées

de toutes pièces et distillées par

des cybercriminels non identifiés,

sur lesquelles on pouvait voir juste

les visages du président de la

Commission électorale indépendante (Cei),

Abbé Apollinaire Malu Malu,

aux côtés de la Vice-ministre des congolais

de l'Etranger, Madame Colette Tshomba Tundu.

Et pas plus tard que cette semaine, ces genres

d'images viennent d'être montées cette fois-ci

contre l'une des pouliches de « Mamu nationale »,

en la personne de Meje 30, cette coqueluche

âgée de 22 ans, de l'orchestre « Dynastie Mutuashi »,

allusion faite à la dernière production

de l'ensemble musical précité à Kampala

en Ouganda, dans le cadre du réchauffement

des relations diplomatiques entre Kampala

et Kinshasa, ce à la demande

du Président Yoweri Museveni Kaguta.

Abordé par l'équipe rédactionnelle du site web

digitalcongo.net, Claude Mashala  le manager

de la « Mamu nationale » balaye d'un revers

de la main l'existence de toutes ces images

et les commentaires qui les accompagnent,

qui à l'en croire, relèvent d'une fiction.

Selon lui, le malheur de la victime fait suite

au fait que Meje 30 a cartonné au cours

de cette tournée. Il en est de même

de son featuring  avec Tshala Muana

dont l'album se comporte bien

sur le marché du disque.

Notre interlocuteur a profité de l'occasion

pour fustiger le comportements de certains

de nos compatriotes qui n'arrêtent de

proliférer ces images, dans l'intention de nuire

aussi bien à Meje 30 qu'à Tshala Muana.

Somme toute, Claude Mashala lie cet incident

aux conséquences du succès que toute star

rencontre dans son parcours et lie ces attaques

à l'agression dont a été victime

Tshala Muana en Europe.

Fort de ce qui précède, une plainte vient

d'être initiée en justice contre l'inconnu,

pour débusquer les auteurs

de cette machination, a déclaré Mashala.

Nous y reviendrons.

(CLBT/PKF)

C L/MMC

Link here

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9/25/09

Legalize ..

 I am not a consumer of this plant and
other artificial stimulants.

However, trade in this substance is a source
of income for some people.

When you look at the military operations
taking place in these countries.

We see the terrible statistics of casualties,
the question that comes to mind
is where does come the funding
of these machines of mass destruction?

A more productive approach would be
to make it legal, trade and consumption
of these substances,
the law would only market prices are more
affordable and thus,
a depletion of these illicit proceeds.

The mismatch between producer countries and
the countries that consumes the most,
encourages a look at this problem without qualms.

We can overnight be said that the Criminal Code
itself is the solution.

The period of Prohibition is the proof by nine
that not only taxes (I implies the state revenues)
but also the consumer end there
is a definite advantage.


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Investment Inflows Increase By 84 Percent

Rwanda:

Kigali — Rwanda has seen a dramatic rise
in investment inflows, according to
the World Investment Report (WIR) 2009.
The report released recently said that inflow
increased from $16m in 2006 to $67m in 2007
and $103m last year, surpassing
for the first time giant Kenya.

For the third year running, Uganda has led

the East Africa region in attracting

foreign direct investment, according to the WIR.

Uganda fetched $787m in foreign investments

in 2008, up from $733m in 2007

and $644m in 2006.

Kenya only came fourth.

Its foreign investments fell to $96m in 2008,

from $728m as the country suffered

the consequences of post-election violence.

Burundi still has a negligible inflow

as the country tries to hold together

a fragile post-conflict government

and find its feet in the

greater East African Community.

"In East Africa, FDI inflows amounted

to $4 billion - almost the same as in 2007.

This represents 5 percent of total inflows

into Africa, making it the lowest recipient

among African sub-regions," says the report.

Despite the rise in foreign investments

in some countries, East Africa did not

escape the effects of the global financial crisis

which started in the US in September 2008.

In Uganda, inflows started to fall in the last quarter

of 2008, to $159m in the fourth quarter,

down from $211m in the third quarter.

Over-all, Africa registered another record level

in foreign direct investments despite

the global financial crisis.

The continent attracted a total of $88b in 2008,

a rise from $69b in 2007 and $57b in 2006.

Africa's share in attracting foreign

direct investment also rose - from 3.5 percent

in 2007 to 5 percent in 2008.

"Cross-border mergers and acquisitions were

an important contributing factor

in the increased inflows," the report said.

"Transnational corporations, mainly from Europe
and to a lesser extent Asia, stepped up mergers
and acquisitions of firms in the region in early 2008,
particularly in the manufacturing sector."

The report also attributes the increased

foreign investments in Africa to policy measures

adopted by several African countries

to make the business environment more conducive.

The top 10 recipient countries in Africa accounted

for nearly 82 percent of the

total foreign investments in the continent,

according to the report.

A large proportion of the inflows

to these countries targeted petroleum exploration

and mining activities.

Nigeria tops the list with foreign investments

amounting to $20b in 2008.

It is followed by Angola ($16b),

Egypt and South Africa (both $9b).

The others include Libya, Tunisia, Algeria,

Congo and Sudan.

Link here



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9/23/09

: Reading Hu Jintao's mind



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jean-Louis Kayitenkore <kayisa@gmail.com>
Date: 2009/9/23
Subject: Reading Hu Jintao's mind
To: blog jean-Louis Kayitenkore <kayisa1.jlk78930@blogger.com>


 Hu Jintao is simultaneously President of China, General Secretary
of the Chinese Communist Party, and chairman of
China's Central Military Commission.
Last year
Newsweek labeled him the "second most powerful
man in the world," and he has undoubtedly watched the events
of the past few years with keen interest and
no small amount of satisfaction.
Here's what I imagine he's thinking these days...


"We are realists here in the People's Republic, and

in a sense we have been for centuries.

Even during the most radical phases of

our history -- such as the Great Leap Forward

or the Cultural Revolution -- our foreign policy

was prudent and keenly attuned to the balance of power.
 
The United States has had the world's largest economy

for more than a century, and despite

some self-inflicted wounds, it is still the world's most

powerful country.

We recognize this fact, and our current strategy

of "peaceful rise" reflects what we have learned

by studying the U.S. experience.

America became a great world power by

remaining aloof from the quarrels of the other

major powers and letting them destroy each other

in ruinous wars, while it built its own economic

strength and gradually established itself as

the dominant power in its own region.

When it did fight wars, it picked weak and easily

defeated opponents or it waited until the last minute

to get involved in wars with other great powers.

The United States was the last major power to enter

both World War I and World War II, and it made

sure that other states bore the heaviest burdens

during the fighting.

As a result, both wars ended with the United States

in the strongest position.
 
Our strategy of "peaceful rise" reflects a similar set

of calculations.

We want to stay out of pointless quarrels with

others and avoid costly military commitments,

at least until our economic strength equals

that of America. 

For this reason, we are happy to let the United States

take the lead in troubled regions like

the Middle East or Central Asia.

Why shouldn't we want them to squander

their strength trying to fix intractable global problems,

while we retain good relations with all parties?

It just makes sense.

I do miss President George W. Bush, of course.

We had good relations with the United States

while he was president, and he even came

to visit us during our Olympics.

I probably should have thanked him personally

for all the foolish things he did, like letting

Bin Laden and the Taliban slip through his fingers

in Afghanistan and then invading Iraq in 2003. 

He did cultivate closer ties with India and

that development didn't make me happy,

but on the whole, his threats and bluster frightened

many U.S. allies and made U.S. relations with states

like Iran even worse than they were before.

Needless to say, these policies created

valuable opportunities for China, and we've

been quick to take advantage of them.

While America was distracted and wasting

hundreds of billions occupying

hostile countries -- we were establishing profitable

commercial ties in the oil-rich Persian Gulf and

quietly expanding our influence in our

own Asian backyard.
 
President Bush also helped us by presiding over

scandals such as Abu Ghraib, Hurricane Katrina,

and the treatment of terrorist suspects at Guantanamo.

To be frank, I never understood why some Americans

are so obsessed with protecting "rights."

In fact, I was pleased to discover that

former Vice President Cheney agrees

with me; he understands how a strong executive

deals with potential troublemakers!

I sometimes think he'd make

a good Vice President here. 

Anyway, the good news for us is that these events

made the United States look both incompetent

and hypocritical and made it harder

for Washington to criticize my own domestic policies.

I owe former president Bush a real debt

of gratitude; I should probably call him

and say thanks.
 
I confess that I wanted John McCain to win

the 2008 election, because I thought he would

keep America on the same failed course.

And having someone like Governor Palin

as Vice President was almost too much

to hope for.

So naturally I was worried when Barack Obama

got elected; he seemed smart and level-headed

and is obviously a gifted politician.

He's much more charismatic than Bush and

to be frank, he's a lot more charismatic than I am.

So I asked myself: Would he be able reverse

America's recent missteps and restore

its international reputation?

And at first, it seemed like he might do just that.

But now I'm not so concerned.

President Obama may have good instincts

and intentions, but his aides don't seem to

be giving him very good advice.

He is going to get most U.S. troops out

of Iraq (a smart move for him, but not so good

for me) but he's getting a lot of pressure to put

more troops and money into Afghanistan.

I hope he does, because that will leave

the United States with fewer resources

to devote to containing China. 

Moreover, President Obama doesn't seem

to be making any headway with Iran

or the Middle East peace process,

and failure there will make that big speech in Cairo

look rather silly.

Obama also wants China and India and

other developing countries to make

big concessions on greenhouse gas emissions,

but he's having trouble getting his own Congress

to adopt a serious program and I doubt we'll face

much genuine pressure at the upcoming

summit in Copenhagen.

That's a relief.
 
And I can't help smiling to myself whenever I think

about America's domestic political system.

Americans like to lecture China about

the importance of "free speech" and other

quaint Western concepts, but at least I don't have

to deal with madmen spouting nonsense

on television and radio and special interest groups

making it impossible to enact reforms that

the nation as a whole badly needs.

I may have some minor problems in Xinjiang,

but I hear states like California are rapidly

becoming ungovernable and that the universities

we used to envy are losing their edge.

I even hear that Harvard isn't so rich anymore.

This makes me smile too, because a well-educated

population is the key to future power and a society

that is content to be ignorant cannot remain

a world power for long.

Meanwhile, my economy is beginning

to grow rapidly again, while the United States

piles up debt and lots of people there

are looking for work.

I do like that

nice young Treasury Secretary; he understands

that he needs my help to keep the world economy

afloat and he isn't going to try to browbeat

us very much. 

The silly new tariff on imported tires is annoying

and we will of course issue a loud protest, but even

that reactionary magazine The Economist said

it was "bad politics, bad economics,

bad diplomacy, and hurts America."

So from where I sit, the view looks pretty good.

America likes to say that it is the "leader of

the free world" and I'm happy to let them

have that title -- for now -- provided they stay

focused on other issues and let China's peaceful

rise continue.

The more "global leadership" they insist upon taking,

the more resources they will expend, the faster

they will decline, and the sooner

we will be in a position to supplant them.

I do have one lingering concern, however.

America's leaders may come to their senses,

and go back to the unsentimental realism

that guided their rise to greatness

in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

They might discover what

Sun Tzu taught -- "There is no instance of a nation

benefitting from prolonged warfare" -- and stop

insisting on bearing all the world's burdens themselves.

But then I remember what their foreign policy "debate"

is like, and I recall that both Democrats and

Republicans seem equally eager to interfere

all over the world, and suddenly that danger

doesn't seem very great. In fact,

the future looks bright."

MAYELA LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images

Stephen M. Walt

Link here

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Germany's Merkel turns caution to strength

Reuters
By Noah Barkin

TEMPLIN, Germany (Reuters) - Hans-Ulrich Beeskow

still recalls the quiet determination of teenager

Angela Kasner as she swept aside male rivals

to reach the local, regional and then national

math championships in communist East Germany.

"Angela was very focused, very analytical, and

took her time getting to a solution," said the 70-year old

retired math teacher.

"She was highly talented, an absolute exception,

but not a student that stuck out

and sought attention or accolades."

Four decades later, the same low-key drive

that impressed her teachers at the Goethe Schule

in Templin has helped turn the woman now known

as Angela Merkel into one of the world's most

influential leaders.

Merkel, 55, appears on track to win a second term

as German chancellor on Sunday after four years

of rule that have won her admirers at home

and abroad, but also confounded some

of Berlin's partners.

On the global political stage, where

macho personalities like France's Nicolas Sarkozy,

Italy's Silvio Berlusconi and Merkel's predecessor

Gerhard Schroeder seem the norm,

the shy Lutheran pastor's daughter has made

her name with caution and control.

While many fellow leaders revel in the spotlight,

their private lives often dominating the headlines,

Merkel seems to view the attention that comes

with her status as an unfortunate by-product,

to be tolerated and contained.

Over the past four years, she has been more

moderator than leader of her awkward "grand coalition"

with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD),

dashing early comparisons to hard-driving

former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

When her counterparts in foreign capitals abroad

rushed to announce ambitious measures

to combat the financial crisis last year,

Merkel resisted pressure for quick steps

and bold speeches, taking her time

to think things through before acting.

This go-slowly approach earned her accusations

of weak leadership.

In the heat of the crisis, French President Sarkozy

famously jibed: "While France is working,

Germany is thinking."

But Merkel's reserve has also turned her,

against the odds, into one of Germany's most

popular post-war chancellors -- polls show three

in four Germans believe she is doing

a good job -- and made her a reliable, go-to leader

in Europe for heads of government outside the bloc.

"Merkel has brought a new style to politics after

the machismo of Schroeder and others,"

said Juergen Falter, a political scientist at Mainz University.

Merkel was plucked from obscurity by former

German Chancellor Helmut Kohl after the fall

of the Berlin Wall, and became

the youngest member of his cabinet

in 1991 as minister for women and youth.

In her early years in politics Merkel, who still

uses the name of her first husband,

was seen as the token "Ossi," or easterner,

of the first post-unification government.

This led would-be rivals in her heavily Catholic,

male-dominated conservative party

to underestimate her.

"At first nobody took her seriously,"

Michael Glos, a veteran conservative who

has known Merkel since the 1990s and

served as German economy minister under

her until February, told Reuters.

"But it gradually became clear that

she had both ability and ambition."

Colleagues say her leadership style owes

much to Kohl himself, who was notorious

for sitting out divisive policy debates until

it was clear which way to lean -- a steadiness

known in German as "Sitzfleisch."

But those who knew Merkel as a child believe

her upbringing in the "DDR" also offers

clues to her behavior as a politician and chancellor.

Growing up in Templin, a small town north of Berlin

surrounded by rolling hills and picturesque lakes,

Merkel and her family were viewed as suspect

by the communist authorities because

of her father's religious role.

As a result, she was forced to maintain a clear

separation between her life at home and at school,

where her parents urged young Angela and

her siblings to keep a low profile.

Bodo Ihrke, who was in class with Merkel from

the first grade through secondary school,

says this experience shaped the cautious,

controlled approach that she exhibits to this day.

"It does remind me of school days," said Ihrke,

now a local Social Democrat (SPD) politician.

"This controlled nature, it was and is

her signature trait."

QUIET OVER BOLD

With the election looming, some in the media have

speculated that Merkel's cautious leadership over

the past four years, notably on the economic front,

may be a product of her

uneasy partnership with the SPD.

Last week's Economist magazine urged

German voters to "set Angela free" from

her grand coalition and back

a center-right government that would allow

her to fully exercise her leadership potential.

"The hope is that it is less her own nature

that has stopped her from putting the case

for more reform, than her imprisonment

with her SPD partners," the magazine wrote

in its lead article.

But those that know her well say it would be wrong

to expect dramatic changes in the "small steps"

approach she has used since 2005.

Even if she does seal a coalition with the business-friendly

Free Democrats (FDP), she will not suddenly

turn into a German version of Thatcher.

"Everyone has their own character, their own

leadership style and that doesn't change,"

said a close adviser to Merkel,

who requested anonymity.

"Would she be different in another coalition?

I would say not.

She is someone who prefers quiet to bold,

who sees things in shades of grey,

rather than black and white.

"You can see this as a weakness and accuse her

of thinking too long, but it is who she is

and it has proven effective."

(Additional reporting by Oliver Denzer;

Editing by Sara Ledwith)

Link here

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French Minister's Star Status Holds Political Promise

Rama Yade Rises As a Symbol Of Integration

Rama Yade, 32, junior minister for youth and sports, was born in Senegal and raised in a Paris suburb. Aides say she is thinking of running for an office that would give her a political foothold. She will be in Washington this week. (By Thibault Camus -- Associated Press)

Washington Post Foreign Service

LYON, France -- The photographer insisted on telling her

how to pose. A television soundman thrust his microphone

toward her face while behind him the intruding camera rolled.

A knot of bystanders, meanwhile, edged in for

a close-up look and opened fire with cellphone snapshots.

"Please, could you back away a little?

I would like to be alone for a bit," pleaded Rama Yade,

France's junior minister for youth and sports and, at 32,

one of the most popular political personalities in the country.

The recoil from pop-star treatment during a recent visit to Lyon,

in eastern France, was a rare moment of hesitation

in Yade's swift rise to fame and political fortune.

Only nine years after graduating from the prestigious

Paris Institute of Political Sciences, Yade has become

more than a minister.

She has become a phenomenon: black, Muslim,

female -- and one of the brightest stars

in President Nicolas Sarkozy's political constellation.

Along with two women of North African Arab descent

also named to the government, Yade's main mission

when she was appointed in May 2007 was

to embody Sarkozy's effort to bring minorities

into positions of responsibility.

But with her good looks and impudence -- qualities

French people cherish -- she has ended up

two years later not only as a poster girl for

integration but also as a politician with her

own support and the promise of

a career on the national stage.

"There is not just the image; there is

also substance," said Lyon Mayor Gérard Collomb

of the opposition Socialist Party.

Collomb, only half-joking, added that he had told

Yade over lunch that he would find a place for her

in the local government or parliamentary representation

if she wanted to jump ship from Sarkozy's neo-Gaullist

coalition and run for office in Lyon.

At a forum here on the role of sports in forming

good citizens, however, Yade cited

Charles de Gaulle in advocating the need

to cultivate athletes capable of bringing

glory to France.

She rolled off statistics on the number of jobs

that would be created by building more stadiums.

But most of all, she walked around shaking hands,

signing autographs and being photographed. 

Conscious of her status as a neophyte, Yade
tried loyally to play her assigned role, that of
conscientious minister with a Hillary-style pantsuit
and a relentless schedule.
"I'm not here pushing an image," she told reporters
following her travels. "I'm doing my job."





Reminded that she was constantly accosted

like a rock star, she smiled and

replied: "I can't observe myself.

I am an actor, not an observer."

The Yade act will be on tour this week in Washington,

where aides said the young minister has

been invited to attend the Congressional

Black Caucus Foundation's annual legislative

conference.

President Obama is likely to attend, they added,

inviting a comparison with the U.S. leader

whose charisma, like Yade's, seems

to eclipse racial considerations.

Yade's ascension to stardom was not foreordained,

however, in a country where politics traditionally

are as exclusive as a London gentlemen's club.

Born Mame Ramatoulaye Yade in Senegal, West Africa,

Yade was brought up on a tight budget by

her immigrant mother in the Paris suburb of Colombes.

Her father, a diplomat and professor,

by then had gone his own way.

The young girl was educated at a Roman

Catholic secondary school and, after

a tough entrance exam, entered the Institute

of Political Sciences for her launch toward fame.

After several years as a staff assistant

in the Senate, she joined Sarkozy's Union

for a Popular Movement, telling acquaintances

she admired his proposals for

positive discrimination to advance France's growing

black and Arab populations.

When Sarkozy was formally named

the party's presidential candidate in January 2007,

Yade gained celebrity with a conservative-oriented

speech in which she castigated the opposition

Socialist Party as the creator

of a "service-window republic" in which

immigrant children got "pity instead of respect."

About the same time her star began to rise

in the party, Yade married Joseph Zimet,

a high-level bureaucrat and the son

of a well-known Yiddish singer.

Along with Rachida Dati, the daughter

of Algerian immigrants, Yade emerged as

a media star during the 2007 presidential campaign.

When Sarkozy was elected, Dati was named

justice minister and Yade was plopped down

in the previously nonexistent post of junior minister

for human rights under Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

During the same year, Yade published her first book,

"Blacks of France," in which she analyzed the place

in French society occupied by African

immigrants' children and other French blacks.

It reminded people that, despite her own swift rise

in a conservative movement,

Yade carried the heritage of a black woman

in a predominantly white society.

As a girl, aides recalled, Yade pinned posters

of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and

Michael Jordan in her room. Later,

she collected press clippings of Obama's voyage

to the White House, and she told French reporters

after his election that she was "penetrated"

by the history of American blacks and civil rights.

Soon after assuming her new job, Yade's refusal

to submit to authority became an issue,

rubbing fellow officials the wrong way but

drawing favorable attention from the public.

Sarkozy, seeking political and economic gains,

invited Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi to Paris.

Yade boycotted official functions,

saying Gaddafi should be made to understand

"our country is not a doormat on which a leader,

terrorist or not, can come wipe the blood

of his deeds off his feet."

Kouchner, who helped found Doctors Without Borders

and had made a career of promoting human rights,

swiftly became irritated at Yade's refusal to play

by traditional Foreign Ministry rules.

On last year's Human Rights Day, he told

an interviewer that creating Yade's post

was a mistake, and according to aides,

his complaints were among the reasons

Sarkozy recently eliminated the position.

Yade also refused Sarkozy's exhortation to run

in elections for the European Parliament,

letting it be known she regarded the European

Parliament as a political parking lot and

wanted instead to run for the French

National Assembly.

Against that background, many commentators

expressed surprise to see Yade named

junior minister for youth and sports in a government

reshuffle in June in which Dati and others departed.

According to Le Point magazine, Yade responded

by handing a note to Sarkozy during the first

government meeting, saying, "Mr. President.

One word: thanks!"

Despite her second chance in government,

Yade has yet to prove herself as a candidate

in a significant election, which aides acknowledge

is an obligatory next step.

She was elected last year on

a government-coalition list to the council

of her former home town of Colombes.

But now, aides said, she is contemplating running

for an office that would give her a political foothold

and allow her to transcend the role

of Sarkozy's television-friendly integration symbol.

In that, she has a way to go.

As Yade walked down a platform to board

a train for Paris, for example, heads turned

and many travelers pointed in her direction,

recognizing the showcase minister.

A tall black man, asked if he knew who she was,

replied, "Yes, that's Rachida Dati."

Told he was wrong, he said,

"Oh, yeah, it's the other one."

Link here


 
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             J-L K.
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Behind the scenes

From Economist.com

A trial in Paris will illuminate the murky

workings of French politics

AFP

THE courtroom doors opened on Monday

September 21st for the start of a judicial drama

that is set to expose the murky dealings at

the heart of French political power.

On paper, the "Clearstream trial", as the court case

is known, concerns five suspects accused of involvement

in a smear campaign, and some 40 civil plaintiffs,

whose names were linked to fake bank accounts

supposedly holding the proceeds of kickbacks

on an arms deal.

Politically, however, the trial is a duel between

two ambitious politicians, once rivals

for power: one, Nicolas Sarkozy, is now president,

and the other, Dominique de Villepin,

is a former prime minister who was

once his chief challenger for the job.

The case dates back to a judicial investigation,

launched in 2001, into kickbacks linked to the sale

of French frigates to Taiwan in the early 1990s.

In 2004, investigating judges received anonymously

a list of foreign bank accounts, subsequently found

to be fake, that fingered various French personalities.

They include Mr Sarkozy, then interior minister under

President Jacques Chirac, Dominique Strauss-Kahn,

then a Socialist Party notable and now head of the IMF

in Washington. Others from across the political spectrum

included such people as Jean-Pierre Chevènement,

another left-winger, Alain Madelin, a liberal former

finance minister, and Brice Hortefeux,

the current interior minister.

When the judge ruled the list bogus, a fresh investigation

began into the false accusations. Investigative judges

have spent years raiding premises,

confiscating documents, decrypting computer files

and interrogating witnesses, including

two top French former spymasters.

Besides Mr de Villepin, the judges have also put

in the dock Jean-Louis Gergorin,

a former executive at the European Aeronautic

Defence and Space company (EADS),

and Imad Lahoud, an EADS computer whiz

and sometime intelligence operative himself.

For Mr Sarkozy, the affair is proof of a plot

at the highest level to discredit him

and thwart his chances of becoming

president in 2007.

It is easy to forget that, at the time,

the two men were seen to be part of

an evenly matched contest.

Mr de Villepin, who became Mr Sarkozy's boss

when named prime minister in 2005,

was Mr Chirac's right-hand man for years.

Elegant, aristocratic, lyrical, having made

his name as the poster boy for those opposed

to the Iraq war, he was Mr Chirac's preferred heir.

As his former chief-of-staff at the Elysée palace,

Mr de Villepin also honed the more opaque arts

of political kingmaking.

He is accused of "complicity in false accusation,

complicity in the use of forgeries,

receipt of stolen goods, and breach of trust".

Appearing in court on Monday for the first day

of the trial, in the courtroom where

Marie-Antoinette was sent to the guillotine in 1793,

Mr de Villepin declared: "I am here because of

the doggedness of one man, Nicolas Sarkozy."

He insisted that he would emerge "free and cleared"

at the end.

Mr de Villepin has repeatedly complained of

political manipulation of the judicial process,

and of a personal "lynching" by the media.

He admits having asked a top intelligence boss

to look into the list of names but, he claims,

let the matter drop once he learned

that the list was bogus.

During the next four weeks, evidence that

has leaked out into the press over the years

from France's sieve-like investigation process

will finally be put firmly in the public domain.

It will cast light on the inner workings of not just

French political power, but also

the intelligence services and the defence industry.

Mr Sarkozy himself will not be asked to testify,

as he enjoys judicial immunity while in office.

Mr de Villepin could, in theory, face up

to five years in prison.

In any event, the trial will determine whether

he has a political future.

And it will supply an extraordinary glimpse into

the backroom manoeuvrings of the French establishment.

Link here



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             J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
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Home:  (250) (0) 25-510-4140
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L'Amérique raciste se réveille

Le Président américain Barack Obama à

la Maison Blanche à Washington,

le 17 septembre 2009. (AFP Jim Watson)

Au moment où la popularité de Barack Obama s'effrite,

les attaques sur ses origines et sa couleur

se font de plus en plus précises.

Par LORRAINE MILLOT correspondante à Washington

Obama en sorcier africain, un os en travers du nez,

Obama en fourrure de singe, mangeant une banane…

Dans les manifestations de ces derniers mois

contre le président américain et sa réforme de la santé,

les attaques racistes ont fait un retour en force.

Dans les talk-shows à la télévision ou la radio,

les plus exaltés se moquent presque ouvertement

de la couleur du président.

Ainsi Rush Limbaugh, le plus célèbre des porte-voix

de l'ultra-droite, montait en épingle la semaine

dernière des images filmées dans un bus,

montrant un enfant blanc rossé par un noir.

Son commentaire : «Voilà l'Amérique d'Obama,

des enfants blancs maintenant battus

dans les bus scolaires.»«un Noir qui cherche

la bagarre».

Pour Glenn Beck, un autre de ces enragés,

animateur sur la chaîne de télévision Fox,

Obama est «un type qui a une haine profonde

pour les Blancs ou pour la culture blanche».

«Je pense que ce type est un raciste»,

a lancé Glenn Beck cet été.

«Birthers». Même sur CNN, le conservateur

de service Lou Dobbs s'est pris de passion cet été

pour le certificat de naissance de Barack Obama,

demandant que le président «montre le document»

prouvant sa citoyenneté américaine.

Cette question de la nationalité du Président

inspire tout un mouvement, les «birthers», qui,

envers et contre toute évidence, suggèrent

qu'Obama ne serait pas vraiment américain,

ni donc éligible comme président, car

il serait né au Kenya (il est né à Hawaï, État américain).

La polémique a rebondi la semaine dernière quand

Jimmy Carter a accusé de racisme

les détracteurs d'Obama. « Je pense qu'une part

écrasante de l'intense animosité qui s'est exprimée

envers le président Obama tient au fait qu'il

est noir, qu'il est afro-américain », a lancé l'ancien

président démocrate. «Je vis dans le Sud,

et j'ai vu le Sud faire beaucoup de chemin.

Mais cette tendance raciste existe toujours

et je pense qu'elle est remontée à la surface

en raison d'un sentiment partagé par

beaucoup de Blancs, pas seulement dans le Sud

mais dans l'ensemble du pays,

selon lequel les Afro-Américains ne sont pas

qualifiés pour diriger ce grand pays.»

«Diversion pathétique». A l'heure où l'Amérique

se veut «post-raciale», fière de son premier

Président noir, la semonce de Carter a fait du bruit.

Les Républicains crient à la manœuvre

de diversion, soupçonnant les démocrates

de vouloir ressouder les rangs derrière Obama,

au moment où sa popularité s'effrite.

Le président, noir lui aussi, du parti républicain,

Michael Steele, dénonce «une diversion pathétique

des démocrates pour détourner l'attention

du très impopulaire projet gouvernemental

de système de santé».

Fidèle à lui-même, et à son souci de rassembler

au-delà des races, Barack Obama a fait mine

de ne guère s'intéresser au sujet : «Je pense

que les critiques ont plus à voir avec le fait

que certains personnes veulent cyniquement

me faire échouer dans ma politique», a assuré

le Président dimanche, invitant les Américains

à revenir à «plus de politesse et de courtoisie».

Grand interdit. Même si Obama le nie -tout en en

profitant pour remobiliser ses troupes-, il est clair

qu'une partie de l'Amérique a encore

un problème avec un Président noir.

Le Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC),

qui traque les groupes extrémistes,

observe un «retour des milices» qui s'étaient déjà

manifestées dans les années 1990

sous le nom de mouvement «patriote».

Avant même l'élection d'Obama, de 2000 à 2008,

le SPLC a compté une augmentation

de 54% du nombre de groupes racistes

et extrémistes, passés de 602 à 926.

L'installation d'Obama à la Maison blanche «a injecté

un fort élément racial dans ces milieux

d'extrême droite», souligne Larry Keller, du SPLC,

qui a déjà recensé plusieurs meurtres

et complots en partie inspirés par cette élection.

En Floride, un homme rendu furieux par Obama

a tué deux policiers.

Près de Boston, un autre tourmenté par

le «génocide» de la race blanche

a tué deux Africains.

Tous ces mouvements restent ultra-minoritaires

bien sûr, le racisme fait même sans doute partie

des grands interdits aux États-Unis.

Mais «il ne manque qu'une étincelle,

s'inquiète un policier cité par le SPLC.

Ce n'est qu'une question de temps

avant de voir des menaces et des violences.»




--
             J-L K.
Procurement Consultant
Gsm:    (250) (0) 78-847-0205 (Mtn Rwanda)
Gsm:    (250) (0) 75-079-9819 (Rwandatel)
Home:  (250) (0) 25-510-4140
    P.O. Box 3867
  Kigali - RWANDA
    East AFRICA
jlkayisa@yahoo.com
http://facebook.com/kayisa
Blog: http://cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID: kayisa66