France rules out Libya intervention

5 hours ago

Source:Yahoo News

Paris (AFP) - France on Monday ruled out Western military action against Islamist fighters in southern Libya for the time being, rebuffing an appeal for intervention from neighbouring Niger.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, asked about Niger's call for action, said there was no question of putting foreign troops into a region that the United States has identified as an increasingly worrisome new haven for Al-Qaeda-linked militants.

But he said the Western powers were aware of the problem and were drawing up plans to help the Libyan government deal with it.

"No, an intervention, no (that's not being discussed)," Fabius told RTL radio. "But we are going to have an international meeting in Rome at the beginning of March to give Libya more help because it's true that there are terrorists gathering in the south.

Fabius said Britain, Germany, the United States, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia were all involved in talks on how to help Libya.

"We have to fight terrorism everywhere," Fabius said. "That does not mean we have to have people on the ground, it means we have to help governments that want to get rid of terrorism, which is the case with the Libyan government."

Niger last week called on the West to finish the job they started in Libya by dealing with the Islamists who have established bases in the south since the 2011 overthrow of former dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

A poor but mineral-rich former French colony, Niger has had to contend with numerous Islamist attacks and kidnappings on its own soil, some of which have threatened the security of its uranium production.

In an annual intelligence report published in December, the United States said southern Libya had become an "incubator" for terrorism in a "hothouse" region and described a possible intervention as "within the bounds of the possible".

France sent troops into Mali last year to combat Islamist militants who had seized control of much of the north of the country.

The security of the region is expected to be discussed by French President Francois Hollande and his US counterpart Barack Obama at talks in the United States this week.

French police, youths clash after veil incident

1 hour ago
NICOLAS GARRIGA and ANGELA CHARLTON
AP
Source:Yahoo News

TRAPPES, France (AP) — About 250 people hurling projectiles clashed with police firing tear gas west of Paris, in apparent protest over enforcement of France's ban on Islamic face veils. Five people were injured and six detained in the violence, authorities said Saturday.

The interior minister urged calm and dialogue, insisting on both the need for public order and respect for France's Muslims. The incident in the town of Trappes on Friday night reflected sporadic tensions between police upholding France's strict policies of secularism and those who accuse authorities of discriminating against France's No. 2 religion.

A few garbage dumpsters in the area were torched and a bus shelter shattered in the Trappes unrest. Spent tear gas capsules lay on the road Saturday near the police station at the center of the violence.

A 14-year-old boy suffered a serious eye injury in the violence, from a projectile of unknown provenance, Prosecutor Vincent Lesclous told reporters. Four police officers were injured and six people were detained in the violence, said an official with the regional police administration.

The violence came after a gathering of about 200-250 people to protest the arrest of a man whose wife was ticketed Thursday for wearing a face veil. The husband tried to strangle an officer who was doing the ticketing, the prosecutor said.

France has barred face veils since 2011. Proponents of the ban — which enjoyed wide public support across the political spectrum — argue the veil oppresses women and contradicts France's principles of secularism, which are enshrined in the constitution. In addition to small fines or citizenship classes for women wearing veils, the law includes a hefty 30,000 euro ($39,370) fine for anyone who forces a woman to wear one.

The law affects only a very small proportion of France's millions of Muslims who wear the niqab, with a slit for the eyes, or the burqa, with a mesh screen for the eyes. But some Muslim groups argue the law stigmatizes moderate Muslims, too. France also bans headscarves in schools and public buildings.

The Collective Against Islamophobia in France urged Interior Minister Manuel Valls, who recently joined Muslim leaders in a fast-breaking sundown feast for holy month of Ramadan, to crack down on insults and attacks against Muslims.

Valls urged calm after the Trappes violence, and pledged to stand against "all those who attack Muslim buildings or our compatriots of Muslim faith."

But he also came down firmly against those who attack police.

"There is no valid reason for the violence seen in Trappes," he told reporters in the southern city of Marseille, which has seen a wave of urban unrest. "The law should be applied, and applies to everyone."

The CCIF said in a statement that it was contacted by the veiled woman ticketed in Trappes on Thursday, and that she said the police officer yanked her by the veil and pushed her mother.

Police argue they are doing their jobs and that veiled women are breaking a well-known law.

Trappes is deploying extra riot police Saturday night to try to head off any new violence.

Trappes was among many towns around France that saw rioting in 2005 by disillusioned youth in neglected housing projects, many with origins in former French colonies in North and West Africa.

Valls acknowledged the "difficulty our fellow citizens have living in these working class neighborhoods, especially young people. What they need is jobs, hope, training."

"Only in dialogue can we find the solutions to the problems of our society, of joblessness, the sentiment of discrimination and exclusion," he urged.

"Violence leads to nothing."

___

Egypt seeks French help with wheat imports

 1 hr 26 mins ago
By John Irish and Valerie Parent | Reuters
Source: Yahoo News

PARIS (Reuters) - France has received a formal request from Egypt for free grain storage and far easier payment terms for imports, official sources said, as the world's largest wheat buyer grapples with a prolonged economic crisis.

France, the European Union's top wheat exporter and one of Egypt's leading suppliers, is studying the request and is open to helping Egypt on a vital food security issue, a French diplomatic source said.

"We need to make an effort and if the French government has to push this forward it will," a diplomatic source told Reuters on Tuesday.

"It's an urgent matter. It won't be settled within hours but we're not talking either about an agreement in six months."

The diplomatic source said Egypt's request included assistance with building grain silos in Egypt; the stocking in France of French wheat bought by Egypt for up to six months free of charge, with shipment as and when needed by Egypt; and an extended payment period for wheat sales of nine to 12 months from shipment.

The extended period compares starkly with the "cash against documents" terms Egypt normally applies, in which grain is paid for on agreement of terms.

A source at the foreign trade ministry said it was too early to say whether France would approve the request.

Two years of political turmoil and economic crisis have eroded Egypt's hard currency reserves, making it difficult for the country to finance essential food and fuel imports.

Egypt's state grain buyer General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), which together with private importers normally obtains around 10 million tonnes of wheat per year, has not bought on international markets since February.

While Egyptian authorities have said they expect a bigger local harvest this year to replenish wheat stocks as part of a plan to phase out imports within four years, they are also trying to get assistance from suppliers.

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi failed in April to secure grain and a loan from Russia to help ease a deepening economic crisis.

The French finance ministry was now studying with French grain exporting firms a possible response to Egypt's request, the source said.

Traders were sceptical over the outcome.

"They (Egypt) have to import and the crux of the matter is money. And France isn't Qatar, Russia or the IMF," a European trader said.

The request was initially sent several weeks ago to the French embassy in Cairo, and was then discussed last week by the Egyptian ambassador in Paris with France's food industry minister, the source added.

Blatant Corruption Exposed as EU Blocks France's Ban on Monsanto's GMO Maize

24 May 2012
By Anthony Gucciardi
Source: Nation of Change

France legislators and officials moved to ban Monsanto’s genetically modified strain of GMO maize over environmental and health concerns, the European Union has decided to step in and re-secure Monsanto’s presence in the country — against the very will of the nation itself. This should come as no surprise when considering the fact that the United States ambassador to France, a business partner to George W. Bush, stated back in 2007 that nations who did not accept Monsanto’s GMO crops will be ‘penalized’. In fact, ambassador Craig Stapleton went as far as to say that the nations should be threatened with military-styled trade wars.

That’s right, it appears the reason for the unprecedented move to maintain Monsanto’s deeply-rooted foothold in France has to do with the fact that the United States and other nations are continually pushing Monsanto’s agenda — even going as far as to threaten military-styled trade wars to those who oppose the company. Monsanto has major connections with political heads that have actually threatened trade wars against nations opposed to GMOs on record. As I reported back in January, WikiLeaks cables surfaced revealing startling information concerning Monsanto’s deep involvement with back-end politics.

One of the most telling details involves a statement made by Craig Stapleton, in which he said:

“Country team Paris recommends that we calibrate a target retaliation list that causes some pain across the EU since this is a collective responsibility, but that also focuses in part on the worst culprits. The list should be measured rather than vicious and must be sustainable over the long term, since we should not expect an early victory. Moving to retaliation will make clear that the current path has real costs to EU interests and could help strengthen European pro-biotech voices.”

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And that is not even the most shocking part. WikiLeaks cables go on to state that United States diplomats actually work directly for Monsanto, furthering the agenda of the company across the globe. Is it any wonder that France is being assaulted by the EU over its decision to secure the health of its citizens?

It becomes even more obvious when examining the ridiculous reasoning as to why the EU had to step in and block France’s in-house legislation. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) rejected the ban on the grounds that “there is no scientific evidence” that shows “risk to human and animal health or the environment.” Of course there is an overwhelming amount of research showing that Monsanto’s creations do in fact threaten not only human health, but the planet as a whole. Even the EPA has warned over the fact that Monsanto’s GMO crops are spawning ‘mutant’ resistant insects and subsequently requiring substantially more pesticides.

Consumers are waking up to Monsanto’s agenda and the dangers associated with their modified creations. Over 45,000 comments were submitted on the USDA website in opposition to Monsanto’s new genetically modified strain, and only 23 in favor. The corruption of Monsanto is now out in the open, and only serves to show how deeply rooted the company is within the United States government. Is it any coincidence that a major head of the FDA was a leading employee of Monsanto?

In Search of the Burqa

Thursday, 09 July 2009 15:46 Umm Harith

Nicolas Sarkozy and Muslims would agree on one thing when it comes to his comments to Parliament about the burqa, and that is he didn't make the remarks that he did in order to start a debate or discussion, he did it with the clearest of intentions, to insult, hinder and ultimately frighten those who are so obviously regaining, without compromise, their Islamic identity.

It is a sign of subjection and is a symbol of "women's enslavement". If one had heard that in isolation one may be forgiven for thinking of the endless enslavement of women whose bodies are used and abused in order to sell the health and beauty products. You may even think of the women who suffer from abduction from their home countries only to be brought over into countries such as France to be prostitutes; women who suffer violence, 400 a year die at the very hands of their spouse, women such as Sarkozy wife, who is an acclaimed former nude model. But he was speaking of a piece of cloth.

The banning of pieces of cloth is not something that Mr. Sarkozy is strange to. Indeed he was the very man as Interior minister who spearheaded the ban of the hijab in 2004 in schools. Has that meant their liberation, have women forsaken their scarf's and thanked Mr. Sarkozy for his championing of Muslim women's rights.

My recent trip to Paris tells a very different story. France does see the subjection of Muslim women and their enslavement, but not for the reasons that the French President has us believe. They are subjected as a consequence of the very laws that seek to "liberate them". I heard of women denied medical help for refusing to take off her hijab at her doctor's surgery, a women refused vaccination for her child for her refusal to remove her "symbol of enslavement"; scores of women bullied and demoted at work for daring to adhere to the Islamic dress and one woman was actually denied entry to a police station to complain of an assault. In essence the French secular state should not preach what it most certainly does not practise.

Mr. Sarkozy would do well to learn from Muslim women about rights. Women had the right to vote, to trade, to education, to be employers and employees well before the so called enlightenment. Was it not Roseau who said that women will always remain intellectually inferior to men?

The reality is Mr Sarkozy - that 20% of your French born citizens are reverting to Islam. Muslims living in France are proud of their pieces of cloth and are increasing by significant numbers every day. My return to Paris having lived there for some years prior was truly eye opening. Despite the attack on the Islamic dress, women donning it were apparent everywhere.

Whilst Mr. Sarkozy is trying to spread fear, perhaps it is he who is fearful of the resurgence of Islam in the hearts and minds of Muslims. His attempt to create a "French Islam" has failed miserably, and his attempt to step up the attack is weak and transparent. What does it say about the strength of your secular values if you feel threatened by a mere piece of cloth?

A veiled attack on freedom in France’s niqab debate

Trying to support Sarkozy’s decision by arguing that niqab is not a religious obligation is absurd, and beside the point. Women in France being allowed to wear niqab if they choose to has very little to do with France’s respect of Islamic law. It has much more to do with the French government’s respect of minority rights, and of the basic human rights of the few Muslim women choosing to wear niqab in the country.

Wednesday, July 8,2009 02:01

by Ibrahim El Houdaiby

French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s comments on the burka or niqab (face cover) have stirred a huge debate in France and in the Muslim world. Sarkozy argued while addressing the French Parliament that niqab is a “sign of [women] debasement” that should be outlawed in France. A parliament commission is reviewing the issue to make recommendations.

Trying to support Sarkozy’s decision by arguing that niqab is not a religious obligation is absurd, and beside the point
I do agree that niqab would be a sign of debasement if women were forced to wear it. Taliban’s government forced Afghani women to wear it, and the Saudi regime forces still beats men whose wives walk around the streets of Riyadh without a face veil. Both regimes have been constantly criticized by Muslims and Westerners alike for their human rights abuses and discriminatory positions. But these positions are not any better than that adopted by the French president, forcing women not to wear niqab. Both positions reflect a belief that the individual woman in unqualified and incapable of making decisions for herself.

Trying to support Sarkozy’s decision by arguing that niqab is not a religious obligation is absurd, and beside the point. Women in France being allowed to wear niqab if they choose to has very little to do with France’s respect of Islamic law. It has much more to do with the French government’s respect of minority rights, and of the basic human rights of the few Muslim women choosing to wear niqab in the country.

I do have respect for women’s individual choices, and I do believe that no law should define what they should or should not wear
Ironically, this argument comes from the very same people who have for long criticized Muslim scholars for “hijacking” religious text and dictating what interpretation are to be viewed as authentic. Their argument has always been that there are no priests in Islam, and that the holy text is open for interpretation. This rationale is being completely reversed now. My good friend Mona Eltahawy puts herself in that exact position by arguing in her New York Times piece that niqab has “nothing to do with Islam but everything to do with the hatred for women at the heart of the extremist ideology that preaches it.”

I am not a supporter of niqab, and I like the vast majority of Muslim scholars I do not view it as a religious obligation. But the fact is that there is a large school of Muslim scholars who believe that it is a religious obligation, and their views should be respected as long as they do not violate the individual woman’s freedom of choice. I do have respect for women’s individual choices, and I do believe that no law should define what they should or should not wear.

I wrote an OpEd some two years ago supporting Eltahawy when the Muslim Brotherhood’s Chief Akef called her naked for meeting him without hijab (headscarf). In that article I made it clear that I “support Akef’s stance on wearing the hijab, and like him view it as a religious obligation,” but not wearing it “makes a woman unveiled, not naked.” I asserted that while hijab in an obligation, I believe “it is an individual woman’s choice to uphold it — a choice that the state should not interfere in.”

In fact, the ban on niqab reflects a trend that has been growing in France over the past decades; political diversity with cultural intolerance
I adopt the same position vis-à-vis niqab. I do not believe it is a religious obligation, and I believe it detaches women who decide to wear it from the society; more specifically from men in the society. But no law should criminalize or restrict an individual’s decision to decrease her social integration, and niqab is not the only manifestation of detachment and should not be singled out and banned. People should be encouraged to engage in their societies through illustrating tolerance, appreciation of diversity and respect for individuals’ choices, not through fascistic measures that dictate what a woman should wear.

In fact, the ban on niqab reflects a trend that has been growing in France over the past decades; political diversity with cultural intolerance. The French government is adopting a version of secularism that is not separating state and religion, but is using the state to dictate specific religious, cultural and social values. Those who accept these values are integrated into the system, while those who rejected it are banned, and marginalized.

I am afraid the notion of liberalism is being twisted to undermine women rights. In fact I would quote President Obama from his speech in Cairo last month saying: “It is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practicing religion as they see fit – for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear. We cannot disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretence of liberalism.”


* Written for AL ARABIYA. Ibrahim El Houdaiby is a freelance columnist and researcher. A graduate of the American University in Cairo, he holds a B.A. in political science and is working towards a M.A. in Islamic Studies at the High Institute of Islamic Studies.