CASE DSK: Christine Lagarde, but disputed favorite to succeed DSK

She did not even nominated, but more and more European leaders want to make their champion Christine Lagarde to the estate of Dominique Strauss-Kahn as Director of the IMF. If she decides to take the plunge, the French Minister of Economy is not alone in eyeing the prestigious chair and several other personalities, including from countries known as "emerging", he will want to challenge the status as favorite.

The battle for the position was officially opened on Monday with the possibility to file applications with the International Monetary Fund.The institution was given until June 30 to adopt a new director.

Christine Lagarde has received this weekend the support of his British counterpart, George Osborne and the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. The influential German economic daily, the Handelsblatt, was even knighted in its Saturday edition, the French minister as "the candidate of Germany."

In France, the patron saint of Bercy has also received support Sunday, Martine Aubry. The national secretary of the Socialist Party said that his appointment would be "a very good thing for our country and for Europe."

Christine Lagarde had called last Thursday in a bid "to bring all together" Europeans.A vow that seems on track to be heard. His accession to the throne of the IMF is not granted, provided. Other candidates are on track. For now, three are already known and some countries like China have promised to present an alternative to Christine Lagarde:

Didier Reynders, the European outsider. Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Finance said it was "obviously" interested in the job. He has emphasized that his French counterpart was "a very real favorite" but his probable candidacy crack the united front that Europe is trying to present.

In fact Didier Reynders has hinted he would make a good candidate for replacement.One way to emphasize that domestic pots, as the case Tapie and the role it would play Christine Lagarde, French Minister could prevent the arise. To its credit, the Belgian politician recalls the Minister of Finance since 1999 and he knows well the IMF, where he served for over 10 years at the Monetary and Financial Committee.

Grigory Marchenko, the underdog came from the steppes. Russia wants the governor of the central bank of Kazakhstan replaces Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Grigory Marchenko's bid, submitted last Thursday, is the first issue of one of the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China). Little known, Grigory Marchenko was at the head of the Kazakh Central Bank between 1999 and 2004 before becoming deputy prime minister.He returned to the central bank in 2009.
His candidacy has created a chill among the Bric countries since it was announced without consultation and contrasts with the European single possible candidacy.

Augustin Carstens, the outsider from the inside. Mexico announced Sunday its intention to file the nomination of the Director of its central bank. The legitimacy of Augustin Carstens is due primarily to its past in the IMF he was deputy director for three years (2003-2006). He also represented the countries of South America to the Board of Directors of the IMF from 1999 to 2000.But Mexico is unlikely to put one of their own to head the International Monetary Fund as the country already holds the reins of the OECD since 2006.

AFGHANISTAN: Taliban attack kills 36 people

The Taliban have killed Thursday 36 employees - Afghans and a Pakistani - a construction company in an attack against buildings that lasted several hours, at night, in eastern Afghanistan, announced the company.

The attack was the deadliest since the assault, by a commando Taliban against a bank of Jalalabad (east) where the police came to collect their salaries, which had killed 38 on February 20.

"Thirty-six of our employees have been killed and many were wounded," said the director of road construction company Galaxy Sky Noorullah Bidar AFP.

Guards, engineers and workers among the victims, he said."A Pakistani is among the killed and another was wounded," he added.

The complex was located near a road construction site in the province of Paktia.

According Rohullah Samoon, spokesman for the governor of Paktia, the attack was conducted to 02:00 (21:30 GMT) with a "large group of Taliban."

Fighting between the company guards and the attackers lasted several hours, he said.

The director of Galaxy Sky said he did not know the reasons for the attack. In 2009, a suicide bomber in the same area had killed 16 of its employees working on the same road project, he said."They do this to prevent us from rebuilding Afghanistan," he said.

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed the attack saying the assailants had killed 40 employees. He did not reveal any losses in the ranks of the attackers nor the reasons for the attack.

According to the spokesman for the governor of Paktia, eight Taliban were killed in the crossfire.

He could not provide further details on the attack immediately.

Paktia province has borders North Waziristan, in Pakistan's tribal areas, regarded as a rear base for Taliban.

Such as neighboring Paktika and Khost, Paktia is one of the bastions of Haqqani network, a key Taliban rebel movements.

FOOTBALL: Bayern will go through the preliminary round of the Champions League next

AFP - Bayern Munich has reached its minimum goal, finishing 3rd in the German championship on Saturday, but he has definitely moved on Van Gaal as he survives the trap of the third preliminary round of the Champions League in August.

Scarcely had the last game of a disappointing season ended, Uli Hoeness has settled its accounts with Louis van Gaal, sacked in April.

"We would probably have acted sooner (...) I learned this season that we could win things, but if there was no pleasure, it was no use," dropped the Bavarian leader about the Dutch, thanks to lack of results and adequacy in respect of its leaders.

Hoeness knows that the shadow of Van Gaal will continue to hover over the most successful club in German football, at least until August.

After a season where he has never been ranked higher than third, Bayern must go through the repechage to compete for the Champions League 2012, whose final will take place in the stadium.

And the third preliminary round of the C1 can be quite a blow to the throat with possible opponents of the English Manchester City, the Italians Lazio or Juventus.

Bavarian players and managers are eager to take their revenge.

"I look forward to the new season begins, I look forward to working with Jupp Heynckes.We want to be at the outset Bayern Munich that everybody knows, "he told Hoeness as a warning to the competition.

Poisoned

Van Gaal after injury, Bayern has chosen to revive Heynckes, a personal friend of Hoeness and connoisseur of the Bavarian institution to have already resulted in twice.

"We need to lead this club to understand, listen to everyone and does not believe as a coach too important," summarized the dean of coaches in the Bundesliga (65).

To settle the inheritance Van Gaal who had to make any appointment last summer, Bayern will not stingy: the arrival of goalkeeper Neuer Germany team for 25 million Euro is just a formality.

It should be accompanied by the Dane Petersen (Cottus), Completion of Gomez in attack, top scorer in the Bundesliga that Van Gaal wanted to sell early in the season.

The defense, recurrent weakness will be strengthened, perhaps with German international Jerome Boateng (Manchester City), and the Chilean Arturo Vidal could beef up the midfield.

Heynckes has yet to manage one last poisoned chalice left by Van Gaal: since the departure of Van Bommel in January, the Bayern has more leadership despite the aspirations of Schweinsteiger and the captain gave Lahm.

It is even the cacophony in the locker room where Bavarian Robben seriously annoys many of his teammates.

Bayern will probably forget to succeed Van Gaal, but not necessarily its sulfur nickname "FC Hollywood".

Cubans will again travel abroad

AFP - The Cuban government will allow, for the first time in more than 50 years, tourism trips abroad for Cubans, according to a reform plan released Monday by the authorities.

The government will "consider the provisions that allow Cubans to travel outside as tourists," said one of the 313 economic reform measures adopted in April by a historic congress of the Communist Party of Cuba.

The document released Monday gives no details on how to leave these trips abroad, but formalizes the decision to allow Cubans to travel as part of economic reforms launched by President Raul Castro.

Permission to travel is a key demand of the Cuban population. It is not forbidden to travel, but restrictions are so numerous that very few Cubans are able to do so.

Cubans must obtain such an invitation from the outside and ask for permission, which can be rejected without justification.All steps bureaucratic cost also very expensive for an average salary of around 15 euros per month.

The Cuban government does not publish statistics on travel by Cubans abroad.

JAPAN: Prime Minister calls for closing a nuclear plant near Tokyo

AFP - Two months after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (northeast) following the earthquake, Prime Minister of Japan has demanded the closure of another station in the center of the group subjected to high seismic risk.

"I ordered that (...) Chubu Electric Power stops the operation of all reactors in the Hamaoka nuclear power plant," Naoto Kan said Friday during a press conference in Tokyo.

"This decision was taken for the safety of people," he said."We also took into account the enormous impact that a serious accident at the Hamaoka plant might have on Japanese society as a whole," he added.

The region will suffer a power shortage

This plant is located within 200 km southwest of Tokyo and a hundred kilometers from the city of Nagoya, the heart of an industrial region.

Specifically, this decision is to close the reactors 4 and 5 and does not restart the reactor 3, currently stopped for checking. Units 1 and 2 of the plant to five reactors had been finally stopped.

Mr.Kan warned that this decision might cause a power shortage in the region as a first step.

"The competent authorities including the Ministry of Science, estimated at 87% chance that an earthquake of magnitude 8 struck the region over the next 30 years," said Japanese Prime Minister.

"It is necessary to introduce measures in the medium and long terms, particularly the construction of protective walls facing the sea, who could resist" to a giant tsunami, he said, without elaborating on the calendar.

According to Kyodo, Chubu Electric has agreed to suspend operations.

"This can not be the last", says Greenpeace

Located at the junction of four tectonic plates, Japan is undergoing one of the strongest earthquakes recorded on Earth.On 11 March, a magnitude 9 earthquake followed by a giant tsunami devastated the northeast of the archipelago and left over 25,000 dead and missing, and in 1995, an earthquake in Kobe (center-west) made more than 6,400 dead.

The Japanese anti-nuclear activists rejoiced.

"Greenpeace welcomes the decision of the Prime Minister to close Hamaoka, one of the most dangerous nuclear plants in Japan," said Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan executive director.

"For the first time a sitting prime minister has directly sought a nuclear plant is closed in Japan.However, this can not be the last, "he added.

"Fukushima is a stark reminder of the consequences of nuclear energy, and there are still many other dangerous reactors in operation," he said.

Japan is facing two months since the worst nuclear accident in its history after cessation of cooling Fukushima Daiichi plant, caused by the disaster of 11 March.

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), operator of the plant located 250 km northeast of Tokyo, believes it can reach the reactor cooling by January 2012.

Japan had about fifty nuclear reactors in operation before the earthquake.Nuclear power provides slightly less than 30% of the electricity consumed in the country.

FRANCE: Villepin retrial on appeal in the Clearstream affair

Sixteen months after being acquitted in the Clearstream affair, Dominique de Villepin appear again in court on Monday on the occasion of his trial before the Court of Appeal of Paris, which promises to be more peaceful because of the defection the Head of State.

"I fear nothing and no one fears nothing when you're innocent," said Sunday the former Prime Minister, saying "perfectly calm this time."

In this case, is accused Dominique de Villepin, Imad Lahoud and the mathematician and the former head of EADS, Jean-Louis Gergorin of falsifying bank listings from the Luxembourg clearing house Clearstream, to to believe that several personalities, including Nicolas Sarkozy, held secret accounts abroad.

The case came to light in the summer of 2004, but not until January 2006, while the statement trampled, that Nicolas Sarkozy had a civil party, promising to hang the culprits to "a hook block.The investigation was then conducted with great fanfare by means judges Henri Pons and Jean-Marie d'Huy.

Convinced that Dominique de Villepin was the instigator of the plot, they had returned to Corrections late 2008 to include "complicity in slanderous denunciation".

After a month of trial, Dominique de Villepin had been acquitted, January 28, 2010, by the Paris Criminal Court, as the journalist Denis Robert.

The auditor Florian Bourges, who presented the Clearstream customer lists to Imad Lahoud, was sentenced to four months suspended sentence. Jean-Louis Gergorin had been sentenced to fifteen months imprisonment and 40,000 euros fine and Imad Lahoud eighteen months in prison and 40,000 euros fine.

These last two have appealed their conviction. Regarding the former minister, the prosecutor who undertook to appeal.

Twenty plaintiffs also challenged the trial decision.The most notable absentee will be Nicolas Sarkozy who has renounced his continuing Dominique de Villepin appealed.

During the four weeks of trial - the hearings will conclude on May 26 and the decision will be taken under advisement for several months - nine witnesses will inform the court of appeal, presided over by Christiane Beauquis. Among them, General Philippe Rondot, who investigated the time listings, the former head of the DST, Pierre Bousquet de Florian, or the magistrate Renaud van Ruymbeke.

A princely marriage which is perfect for the royal family

The royal marriage celebrated Abbey Westiminster cosntitue the happy ending of a drama begun in the same place in 1997: the funeral of Diana, the "people's princess", in the words of Tony Blair. That day, the world has eyes only for the two young princes, William and Harry, weeping.

The British quarrel with their queen who failed to show that this tragedy touched beyond the grief of her grandchildren. Elizabeth II has always believed that Diana was no longer part of the family.Error! The people's anger and the wrath of the press - not just the tabloids - are so violent that the question of the future of the monarchy is asked.

Seen in the wonderful film by Stephen Frears "The Queen", the queen does not respond to heart-cons (clinging to its motto: "Never explain, never complain") and under pressure from his Prime Minister Tony Blair, who himself had felt perfectly well that something big was going on in the hearts of voters and British subjects. Queen hated. His revenge in 2011: Tony Blair (and his wife considered intimate enemy of the queen) is not even invited to the wedding.

Prince William has the profile that must be

Fourteen years later, the queen of the coast is rising at its highest.Why? The petulant princess has beautiful eyes, but there are especially the personality of William. He inherited his mother's natural charm, aristocratic simplicity that is not feigned. The taste of others without his side a little "nian nian," tearful and this weakness for public outpourings. William is modern, but it is a true Windsor. He did not weave the father, Prince Charles, but fled the press like the plague (he considers responsible for the death of his mother). This is not a revolutionary, far away. In her circle of friends, there are only blue blood - almost.

We hear the objection: he marries a commoner not? A college girlfriend Moreover, as so many kids his age? That is the genius of the thing.Because here is finally what was missing for rehabilitating the Windsor and closer to the people: some new blood in this family where impeccable aristocratic alliances have neither prevented nor misfortune scandals.

But there is a deeper explanation. This revival of the monarchy is a wave of conservatism that is not suspected at the time of Diana's death. Stephen Frears (again) shot "My Beautiful Laundrette", a film about the difficulties of assimilation of a Pakistani family (we said at the time Asia) to the model british.Today, brothers or son of the characters are called Muslims and it never ceases to wonder why some of them, although born subjects of His Majesty, educated in the best schools in the Kingdom, went to plant bombs in the subway train or parties in 2007 with Al-Qaeda to learn to kill British "white".

A UK more "British" than ever

The identity of "British" does she want to say something? Not only London has become a world city, but across the Channel, we willingly considers Scottish, Welsh or English - and less and less British.Strengthening the regional autonomy laws passed by New Labour may have been desired and needed, but the people disillusioned and begins to regret a golden age that the British crown is almost alone now to embody in all its sometimes cumbersome and his conservatism, just ...

For all these reasons, William embodies the hope of regeneration of the institution.
Unlike his father, he does not feel guilty about the fate of those who are not British long line.He enjoys hunting, Balmoral, the Anglican church, the army and the label without qualms, which distinguishes him from his mother's influence and sign the education of his grandparents who played a large role in their grief and that of Harry. It is consistent with this uneasy nostalgia that has gripped part of the British.

And everywhere the monarchy shows that embodies stability. Example? In Spain, when the Catalans grow to excess their particularism. In Belgium, where the crown is all that remains when there is no government long ago. In Arab countries, see how the monarchies better take the blow that all these dictators who wanted their son succeeding them.In short, monarchy, with a minimum of pomp, continues to intrigue its ability to overcome the trials anachronism.
And then the whole world envies not necessarily Angela Merkel who is shopping at the supermarket!

UNITED STATES: New revelations about Guantanamo Wikileaks concerned about Washington

AFP - The United States has freed dozens of prisoners at "high risk" prisoners and detained nearly 150 innocents for years in military prison at Guantanamo, according to documents provided by Wikileaks and published Monday by the Western media.

The wrong place at wrong time

About 200 detainees who had been defined as "high risk" because they could constitute a "future threat against the United States or against U.S. interests" have been released or extradited to third countries, as New York Times was given access to U.S. court documents describing the history of past 779 people since 2002 in Guantanamo.

220 of them should be considered only as dangerous extremists, according to Britain's Daily Telegraph, while 380 were only grassroots activists belonging to the Taliban movement or who traveled to Afghanistan.

At least 150 were innocent Afghans or Pakistanis, arrested and transferred to Guantanamo.They were based on information collected in war zones, sometimes mistaken for another person or who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The U.S. government regretted the "unfortunate" the documents and defended himself by saying he "did everything she could to act with the utmost care and greater application in the transfer of detainees to Guantanamo" .

"The government (of former president George W.Bush and current Barack Obama) have made the protection of American citizens their priority, "say the Pentagon and State Department, expressing concern about" damage "caused by the publication of these documents.

The closure of Guantanamo, Obama promise, always rejected

Guantanamo Bay currently accommodates 172 inmates.The administration hopes to repatriate or send in a hundred countries, judging 33 for "war crimes" and plans to keep 48 indefinitely behind bars without trial.

The White House has reiterated its commitment to early April to close the Guantanamo prison term, despite the decision to try the five accused September 11 and not before an ordinary court in New York.

Their trial for "war crimes" before a special military tribunal at Guantanamo began in spring 2008 before being suspended indefinitely by Barack Obama, the night of his taking office, a symbolic decision hailed on his left.

But in just over two years, promises have collapsed: Guantanamo is still far from being closed, special courts have been restored, after reform, and the trial of Sept. 11 will be held in the hall of Hearing ultra-secure built by the Bush administration on the U.S. naval base in Cuba.

LIBYA: The United States agrees to send armed drones in the sky Libya

AFP - The United States announced Thursday the use of armed drones in Libya, responding to the desire of some NATO countries to a tightening of air operations, but Washington intends to remain behind military action against the forces pro -Gaddafi.

President Barack Obama "has approved the use of armed Predators and I think that this was their first mission today," said U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates during a press conference.

After leading the international coalition intervening to protect civilians and establish a no-fly zone during the first days of the intervention, the United States have ended their bombing missions in early April.

Since they merely a supporting role in NATO with their "unique capabilities," including their many tanker aircraft and interference.

But they retain the provision of means of air strikes if the Atlantic alliance so requests.Including unmanned Predator craft very patient and carrying two missiles or two 125 kg bombs.

"What they bring unique is the ability to fly lower and thus have a better visibility on specific targets, now they (the forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi) began to bury in defensive positions, "said Deputy Chief of Joint Staff, General James Cartwright, saying they were" perfectly adapted "to urban areas.

Two Predators are constantly engaged over Libya, which requires the mobilization of about 8 UAVs, "he added.The first flights took place on Thursday but could not carried out strikes because of bad weather, he said.

These UAVs are available since early April and have already conducted intelligence missions, told AFP an official of Defense. At the request of NATO they will now conduct strikes, "he added.

The Atlantic organization has been under fire from critics of the Libyan opposition and some of its members in recent days, accused of not doing enough against forces loyal to the Libyan leader.

France and the United Kingdom are responsible for half of bombing missions and four allies - Belgium, Canada, Denmark and Norway - make the other half.For these six countries, greater burden-sharing and military policy would be welcome.

Besides their role in supporting the U.S. side made eight of their strikes against sites in air defense since the handover of command to NATO in early April.

For the boss of the Pentagon, "NATO has shown its ability to continue the mission" is to say, to lead and conduct military operations.

But the commitment of drones does not change the nature of U.S. engagement, "he warned.

Reluctant to American intervention in Libya, Mr.Gates did not fail to recall that the U.S. had "significant commitments outside the Middle East," citing the 100,000 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan.

These drones are a very limited "that provide" additional capacity to NATO, "said Secretary of Defense, saying this" modest contribution ".

The fall of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi is the "political purposes" but it is for the Libyans to do it, he said: "It works best when done from the inside and it can take time."

BURKINA FASO: The Burkinabe military mutiny spreads in the country

The movement of rebel soldiers who touches the Burkina Faso since Thursday spread to the town of Kaya (north) on the night of Sunday to Monday, after those of Ouagadougou, and Tenkodogo Po, reported that witnesses interviewed by the AFP.

Soldiers and policemen were released Sunday night on the streets of Kaya, a town a hundred miles north-east of Ouagadougou, and fired into the air in the streets until 6:00 Monday (GMT).

This is the first time that policemen involved in the mutiny since the beginning of the movement Thursday night.

They burned the home of the head of the body of the regiment Support Command and Support (CAS) and ransacked the Commander of the 1st Military Region, the Kaya, said the locals interviewed by telephone from Ouagadougou.

In the capital, since Thursday night looked like a dead city, life was returning to normal Monday morning, said a journalist from AFP, most banks and public services have reopened their doors.

The central market, theater Saturday violence caused by traders angered by the actions of soldiers who had looted and vandalized many shops, the same traders were present but did not open their stalls.

Cities of the Po (south) and Tenkodogo (east), where rebel soldiers were also out in the streets during the weekend, firing in the air and committing plunder, had also regained their composure on Monday morning.

The protest movement was left Thursday night's own presidential guard of the Head of State Blaise Compaore, then the following days was extended to other garrisons in the capital and three other cities.

To try to contain the revolt, Mr. Compaore, who seized power in a coup in 1987, dissolved his government and appointed new heads of the armed forces.

ALGERIA: Bouteflika announces constitutional review

AFP - Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced on Friday an upcoming revision of the constitution in order to "strengthen democracy" in a speech to the nation.

"To crown the institutional structure aimed at strengthening democracy, it is important to introduce the necessary amendments to the Constitution" in 1996, saidBouteflika in this highly anticipated speech of 20 minutes.

"I have expressed on numerous occasions, my desire to revise the Constitution and I reiterated this belief and this desire on several occasions", said the Algerian head of state by announcing the creation of a constitutional commission "to be attended by political currents acting and experts in constitutional law."

The committee "I will make proposals which I will ensure compliance with the fundamental values ​​of our society, before submitting them to parliament for approval or your approval by referendum," he said.

Mr.Bouteflika also announced a revision of the electoral law and the law on political parties.

COTE D'IVOIRE: AT Duekoue, people celebrated the coming of a "new country"

At Duekoue, that shot that celebrated the arrest of Laurent Gbagbo on Monday. In this town in western Ivory Coast held by allied forces in Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara, the tension of recent days has suddenly disappeared. Yet hundreds of people were massacred in recent weeks by gunmen on both sides.

"It has been too much damage, there were too many deaths and too many unnecessary casualties", said a man lost a leg in the middle of screaming and singing.

The residents of villages around Duekoue are also jubilant. They have massed along roads in the region to show their support Alassane Ouattara.The military meanwhile abandoned their dam to talk reconciliation.

"We, we want the president Alassane [Ouattara] come to a reconciliation for everyone, make a new country, and the activities resumed at zero," said a Republican Military Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI, pro-Ouattara). Côte d'Ivoire, the challenge of peace is just beginning ...

FRANCE: Showdown between Rome and Paris on immigration

The bad blood between Italy and France. At the heart of the dispute: the fate of some 25,000 illegal immigrants arrived in Italy since January, mainly from Tunisia and Libya. Thursday, Rome decided to grant temporary residence permits for humanitarian protection for migrants, allowing them to travel within the Schengen area. Paris, meanwhile, reacted strongly, saying that it did "not suffer a wave of immigration."

After an exchange of pleasantries between Paris and Rome, accusing each other of adopting a "hostile behavior", the interior ministers of Italy and French, Roberto Maroni and Claude Gueant, met Friday in Milan.The showdown seems inevitable: France has already said she would return to Italy all migrants who could not submit the required documents to enter its territory, and those who could not prove sufficient resources whose amount was set at 62 euros per day per person - reduced amount to 31 euros if they have accommodation.

"The duty of solidarity is part of the European policy on immigration, said the antenna FRANCE 24 Catherine de Wenden, a specialist in international migration CNRS.And now? Italy was left alone to face the newcomers. "

Influx of immigrants from North Africa

"To travel within the Schengen area, it is not enough to have a residence permit in one of the Member States, must still have identity documents and, more importantly, justify resources," said Thursday French Minister of the Interior, before recalling that under the rules of the European Union, "the first country visited is the responsibility of foreigners who come home." Italy, in this case. Its southernmost island, Lampedusa is being the closest European land of Tunisia and Libya, the Mediterranean Sea.Since the beginning of the revolutions in the Arab world last January, this island of 20 square kilometers land sees every day hundreds of North Africans.

These days, cohabitation between 5000 and 6000 inhabitants immigrants currently on the island has become "unbearable" in the words of the spokesman of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Italy, Laura Boldrini. Illegal immigrants survive in poor sanitary conditions and infrastructure in place urgently by the Italian authorities have quickly proved inadequate. Faced with this situation, the head of Italy Silvio Berlusconi has promised to quickly evacuate the migrants to several shelters in southern Italy.But out of the question for the country, to assume that one wave of immigration.

An Italian decision against French targets

Especially as the words of the Italian Minister of Interior, "the overwhelming majority of respondents want to go in European countries, especially France. That's what worries Claude Gueant, who has never made any secret of his intentions regarding immigration, which he has made a priority for 2011. This year he has set a target to deport 28,000 illegal immigrants (25 500 were renewed in the first eleven months of 2011)."Quite frankly, I hope we do more," he said in an interview published Friday in Le Figaro Magazine.

To this end, he strongly defends the Besson Act in Parliament - it should take effect in coming months - which seeks to extend the term of administrative detention from 32 to 45 days."This will give more time for the administration to have the consular pass, essential for renewed [the border]," he says, pointing to work with the Justice Minister, Michel Mercier, to "mobilize more systematically the prosecution "to file an appeal if the judge decides liberties and detention of release.

This week, the Interior Minister is passed to the next level by revealing during his interview with Le Figaro Magazine, will also reduce legal immigration. "I asked that we reduce the number of persons admitted under the immigration work (20 000 arrivals per year).And we will continue to reduce the number of foreigners coming to France under the family reunion (15 000), "he said. The refuge is also in the sights of the Minister:" Our country is more generous than the Germany or the UK then we apply the same international conventions, "he was justified.

This initiative is not unanimity within the government. During an interview on France 3 on Thursday night, the Economy Minister, Christine Lagarde, has openly criticized the project."In the long term, it will require labor, you will need employees trained workforce," she said, before adding: "I do not know what are the reasons why [Claude Guéant] to say this sentence but [...] regarding immigration that is legal, of course it must be protected and secure. "

BANGLADESH: Supreme Court rejects appeal of the Nobel Peace Prize Muhammad Yunus

Bangladesh's Supreme Court Tuesday rejected the latest appeal in the Appellate Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who challenged the decision of the Central Bank to dismiss the bank he founded, Grameen Bank, told AFP his lawyer.

"The appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court," said his counsel, Mr. Husain Shawan Tamin, saying it was a decision taken unanimously by the seven judges of the highest court in the country.

Mr.Yunus, 70, was fired March 2 of the Grameen Bank by the Central Bank of Bangladesh which has been criticized for failing to obtain authorization in proper form at its renewal in 1999 to DG the institution he created in 1983.

The high court of Bangladesh has confirmed this decision on March 8, saying the dismissal was lawful and that Muhammad Yunus had also exceeded the age limit of 60 years imposed by the Grameen Bank.

Supported by his supporters around the world, however, he defied orders to leave the bank by returning to work and by launching a legal battle to keep control.

According to his supporters, Mr.Yunus, who has quarreled for years with the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is the victim of a smear campaign.

His troubles began in 2007 when he floated the idea of ​​creating his own political party, citing a ruling class interested in "money and power." Mr.Yunus was waived after a few months.

In December 2010, after it broadcast a Norwegian documentary quite critical about this pioneer of microfinance, Hasina accused him of "sucking the blood of the poor" and financial manipulations to avoid paying taxes.

After exhausting all legal options by law, his only hope now rests Yunus on a separate appeal filed by nine members of the Grameen Bank with the Supreme Court.

The matter should be discussed Wednesday, according to his lawyers. Few observers, however, expect a favorable outcome.

Muhummad Yunus has, in recent months, been regularly vilified in the press in Bangladesh.His bank is also subject to a government survey.

According to observers, the influence of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, now operating in the solar panels, mobile phones and other consumer goods, caused the jealousy of the government.

25% owned by the state, the establishment has more than 8 million clients in 82,000 villages. His model has been copied worldwide.

Washington recently expressed "deeply troubled" by the removal of Mr. Yunus, saying that bilateral relations would be affected if an amicable solution was not found.

NIGERIA: Voters asked to go to the polls for parliamentary elections

AFP - The Nigerians are expected to go to the polls Saturday for parliamentary elections that mark the beginning of a milestone for the most populous country in Africa that seeks to forget the previous elections marked by fraud and violence.

The election campaign was marked by acts of violence, including bombings and attacks against political demonstrations, but officials have promised to hold a free and fair election.

The authorities have deployed massive police to ensure the safety of some 73.5 million voters and members of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC).Nigeria's land borders have been closed Friday.

The Chairman of INEC, Attahiru Jega, a respected academic, has urged the country's leading producer of African oil to organize credible elections and hammered the crucial polls that begin Saturday should go well.

"Driving these elections successfully is of utmost importance for the future of our Nation, so we must not fail and it has to go well," he said.

Mr.Jega also explained that many people hoped that more than 10 years after the return to civilian rule "a stable democratic system within which free, fair and credible would be the usual" was introduced.

"Unfortunately, this is not the case and Nigerians are still waiting to reap the dividends of democracy," he said.

The election of 360 members of the House of Representatives and 109 senators is Saturday, a week before the presidential election (April 9) and two weeks before the elections of governors of 36 states of the federation and regional legislatures (16 April).

The People's Democratic Party (PDP), in power, has a comfortable majority in parliament, but analysts believe the election on Saturday would make him lose a significant amount of seats.

The PDP President Goodluck Jonathan has won every presidential election since the restoration of civilian rule in 1999 and still favorite part for voting on April 9.

His main opponent will be Muhammadu Buhari, a northern Muslim, former military ruler of Nigeria (1983-1985) which appears under the banner of the Congress for Democratic Change (CPC).

Historic victory of the Greens in Baden-Württemberg

Reuters - A minister-president from the Green Party should, for the first time leading a German state, after the brilliant breakthrough Sunday the Green party in regional elections in Baden-Wuerttemberg, the CDU governed since 1953.

The Christian Democrats (CDU) remain the largest party in the Land, with 39% according to final results, a decrease of five percentage points to 44.2% of previous regional elections in 2006.

But with their allies in the FDP, they only account for 44.3% against a left SPD-Greens are ahead with 47.3%.

FDP Liberals saw their score reduced by half compared to 2006, from 10.7% to only 5.3%, which allows them to sit in parliament narrowly in Stuttgart.

These are the Greens are the big winners of this election day, with 24.2% because they have more than doubled their score from 2006 (11.7%) and they pass the SPD, which, with 23.1% , fell by two percentage points compared to 25.2% in 2006.

The leading candidate of the Greens, Winfried Kretschmann, was to become the first minister-president of a German state ecologist, a revolution in the history of Germany.

"We will initiate political change in this Land," said Kretschmann, aged 62. The head of the SPD list, Nils Schmid said that voters had given a clear mandate for the Social Democrats and Greens to lead the Baden-Wuerttemberg.SPD and Greens did, however, that will have a narrow majority, with one voice, the Landtag in Stuttgart.

This is nonetheless a stinging defeat for Chancellor Angela Merkel. This new electoral setback in the state's most prosperous countries place Angela Merkel in an awkward position. On 20 February, German conservatives had already lost the city-state of Hamburg. "It's a painful defeat," conceded the Federal Education Minister Annette Schavan.

In Germany, setbacks in regional elections may have national implications.In 2005, after losing the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Social Democrat Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder announced early parliamentary elections, and was then beaten.

CDU pays its mistakes

In another Land southwest of Germany, Rhineland-Palatinate, the Social Democrats, who lead the region for 17 years, have lost their absolute majority, but Sunday they will be able to form a coalition with allies comfortable environmentalists.

The SPD records a loss of nearly 10 points compared to previous regional, but with 35.7%, it is ahead of the CDU (35.2%).With the backing of the Greens, which rose sharply to 15.4%, they have a majority in the Diet of Mainz.

The Christian Democrats had made in Baden-Wurttemberg Land's richest Germany with 11 million inhabitants with cities such as Stuttgart, Mannheim, Karlsruhe and Heidelberg, one of their electoral stronghold.

But the hostility of the electorate to Atomic Energy critics and cons of the hesitancy Angela Merkel have been strong themes of the campaign in a region where the Greens had been on the rise for several months because they been leading the opposition to a proposed new main station in the heart of Stuttgart, the state capital.

A series of large demonstrations were held against the project last year in this city.

Most importantly, the CDU seems to be paying his mistakes on the nuclear issue. Saturday, more than 200,000 people marched in major cities across the country by demanding the permanent closure of all German nuclear power plants.After all
first extended the life span of 17 units of the country, the federal government decided the immediate closure of seven of the oldest in the wake of accidents in Japan at the Fukushima-Daiichi plant.

Beyond the nuclear policy reversals Angela Merkel on Libya or the debt crisis in the euro area have also turned these elections into a referendum on regional policy as Chancellor has been conducting a year and a half with Liberal Democrats.

Three other regional elections will be held this year in Germany on May 22 in the city-state of Bremen, September 4 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and September 18 in Berlin.

JORDAN: Violent illustrative opening skirmishes took place between protesters supporters of the regime

AFP - Young Jordanians continued Friday their camp on a place in Amman, despite an attack by a group of government supporters who made thirty wounded in the night, said a journalist from AFP.

Thirty members of "Young, 24 March," a bunch of different trends, including Islamists, were slightly injured in the attack and three of them were hospitalized, according to organizers.

Hundreds of youths had gathered Thursday on the spot "Jamal Abdel Nasser" where they had set up a camp to call the Jordanian regime to "reform" and "Judgement" corrupt leaders.

At nightfall, the police tried to disperse them, then cut the electrical current, which has about fifty supporters of power to attack by throwing stones. The police did not intervene, witnesses said.

Early Friday, dozens of loyalists have moved back to a few meters from the youth camp. At the sound of loud music and patriotic songs in honor of King Abdullah II, they were dancing in the middle of the avenue. No police presence was visible.

"They do everything to push us to leave.Yesterday (Thursday) we were attacked with stones, but we will not budge no matter what happens, "he told AFP Basraoui Saddam, a student of 21 years.

"Our gathering was peaceful, but this does not prevent us from being the target of attacks. The king agrees there such actions? We are citizens and we have the right to express ourselves", for his part Darwiche said Reda, also a student.

Another demonstration is planned Friday at the Islamists' call to demand reforms.

In Jordan, where demonstrations have been ongoing for three months, the oppposite Islamist and leftist movements and nationalist, did not call for regime change, but deep political reforms and end corruption.

LIBYA: Despite signs of division, the coalition continues offensive

The international coalition bombed Monday 3rd day of his speech in the city of Libya Sabha, a stronghold of the tribe of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, according to the plan, but on the ground the violence continued killing 40 dead in Misrata, the third largest city countries.

The coalition came into action on Saturday by bombing by air and sea military objectives under the UN resolution 1973 adopted on Thursday evening, which includes the use of force to protect civilians, but she showed Monday, however, signs of division.

Monday night, firing anti-aircraft defense followed explosions were also heard in Tripoli near the residence of the Libyan leader, according to an AFP journalist. The previous night, missiles destroyed a building in the residence-hall in the south of Tripoli.

Several senior officials have assured that the coalition does not seek to directly address Colonel Gaddafi.

"The U.S. position is that Gaddafi must go," said Monday the U.S. President Barack Obama.But "it to the Libyans to decide," said U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

Within the coalition - which includes the side of the EU, France, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Greece and Spain - and dissenting voices are heard, especially regarding the command of this operation that several countries would like to see given to NATO.

"NATO will play a" new phase in the military in Libya, "saidObama, adding that this phase would begin within "days, not weeks."

The Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has claimed that "the command of NATO operations passes.

"We want (...) control using the mechanisms of NATO, so that all who wish to participate from outside can be coordinated properly," added the British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Norway has reported that its six F-16 sent Monday Mediterranean to participate in the operation erode their mission when the question of command has been clarified.

Despite the offensive and the new international cease-fire announced by Muammar Gaddafi on Sunday, the violence continued Monday on the ground, killing at least 40 dead and 300 wounded in Misrata, about 200 km east of Tripoli according to a spokesman for the rebels in the city and a medical source.

According to the spokesman, Qaddafi's forces entered the city and deployed snipers and three tanks, firing on protesters.

The spokesman said the Libyan regime for his part that the city had been "released three days ago" but the regime's forces continued to search for them "terrorist elements".

In the East, the Libyan government forces, who attacked Benghazi on Saturday morning, declined Monday to Ajdabiya, 160 km south.

South-west of Tripoli, the loyalist forces pounded the area for three days of Al-Jabal Al-Gharbi, especially cities and Zentena Yefren under rebel control, according to residents of the region evoking raids "very intensive.

According to the Libyan regime, since Saturday, the coalition has conducted raids on Tripoli, Zouari, Misrata (west), and Sirte aimed Sabha Monday, targeting in particular airports.

These attacks resulted in "numerous casualties' among civilians, including" civil airport "Sirte, Gaddafi's home town, 600 km east of Tripoli, said Moussa Ibrahim, spokesman for the Libyan government .

The French Minister of Foreign Affairs Alain Juppe described the operation of the weekend "success" because it prevented a "bloodbath".

"We have rescued civilians in Benghazi," the insurgent stronghold of a thousand miles east of Tripoli, he said.

The European Union has adopted tougher sanctions against the regime of Gadhafi and expressed readiness to provide humanitarian aid, unable to conceal deep divisions among its members.

The Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who had supported the establishment of a no-fly zone, said the bombing deviated from their goal, before changing your Monday and to say that his comments the previous day had been "misinterpreted".

Click below to replay the events of the day on Monday, March 21.

To follow the liveblogging from your smartphone, click here.

JAPAN: "It is quite possible that the rise of the yen continues"

France24.com: How do you explain the surge in the yen against the dollar?

Danielle Schweisguth: The markets anticipate that the Japanese will repatriate some of their money. These are mainly insurance companies, which will have enormous needs. These companies have placed their currencies around the world and will have to convert them into yen, which will increase demand and thus raising the price of local currency.

F24: The government has denounced speculation ...

DS: Yes, because for now, insurance companies are still assessing the cost of this disaster and have not begun to repatriate that money.So these are speculators who plan what will happen to buy yen in dollars, therefore raising the price of the Japanese currency against the greenback.

F24: Can we expect the yen continues to rise?

DS: That's entirely possible. When everyone has an update on the money to pay insurers and organize the reconstruction, the actual movement of money will start, thus putting further pressure on the yen.

F24: Who suffers the most from this surge in the yen?

DS: This is in theory a bad news for Japanese companies whose business is export oriented. The yen is more expensive, more products would be difficult to sell abroad.In practice, Japanese companies should get out. Indeed, the soaring yen is not new: the course had already appreciated the yen against the dollar last year, and a similar phenomenon occurred after the Kobe earthquake in 1995. These firms have adapted by investing heavily in innovation and positioning themselves in niche markets - where there is little competition, which reduces the importance of the yen.

F24: What can the authorities to counter this surge?

DS: The levers are now in the hands of the Central Bank, which can handle them in two ways. First, it can flood the market by issuing yen, which should lower the value of money.That's what she started, but for now, this has not prevented speculation. The other lever, the central bank could now operate, is to directly intervene by selling yen and buying, as any player in the market in order to counterbalance the speculation.

COTE D'IVOIRE: At least eight dead in the assault of the pro-Gbagbo on Abobo

At least eight people were killed in fighting Saturday in the neighborhood of Abobo, Abidjan, between soldiers loyal to Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and rebels coming out in favor of his rival Alassane Ouattara, a noted journalist of AFP and capita.

Four bodies, riddled with bullets and partially undressed, lay on a road in the popular district of Abobo, a stronghold of supporters of Mr. Ouattara, was found Sunday a journalist from AFP.The victims appeared older than twenty years.

These bodies were seen in the area Dokui Plateau, near the road from the zoo.

A resident encountered on site by the AFP journalist said he saw four other bodies in another neighborhood of Abobo in the area Sodeci, at the southern entrance of Abobo.

The toll could be much higher. Earlier in the morning, next to the church of Sainte-Monique Abobo, a body covered with a large black bag was visible.

A resident also reported the witness encountered by AFP he had seen "in a shallow" Abobo two other bodies.But it was not possible to verify this information immediately.

Ouattara camp on Saturday denounced the "indiscriminate killing" of "innocent civilians", describing the military Operatio, the first major forces led by pro-Gbagbo since the beginning of the post-election crisis in late November, to " attack of despair. "

A large deployment of security forces pro-Gbagbo was seen Sunday morning at the southern entrance of Abobo.

No firing of heavy weapons, however, has been reported in the night and Sunday morning.Life was returning gradually, businesses had reopened, minibuses traveling, people went to church.

Most populous district of Abidjan, in the city with some 1.5 million inhabitants, Abobo became the epicenter of the post-election crisis that has claimed nearly 400 lives in the country according to the UN.

This sharp deterioration of the situation came after the Thursday summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa confirmed that the political deadlock: if the AU has confirmed that she recognized Mr. Ouattara as the elected president, the Gbagbo camp has categorically rejected this position.

USA: Illinois becomes the sixteenth U.S. state to abolish the death penalty

Illinois has abolished the death penalty Wednesday, becoming the 16th U.S. state to abandon the ultimate punishment, said the office of Pat Quinn, the Democratic governor of this state in the north of the United States, a stronghold of President Barack Obama.

The abolition was passed by parliament in Illinois in January, but the mystery remained unsolved as to its ratification by Pat Quinn, newly elected governor, who had already voted in favor of the death penalty.

"Our system of capital punishment is inherently riddled with errors," said the governor according to a transcript of the text of his remarks to reporters in Chicago.

For this reason, he added, "I decided to commute to life imprisonment without the possibility of leaving the sentences of all current death row" today. Fifteen people are waiting in death row in Illinois.

Illinois has a turbulent recent history on this subject which culminated in 2003 by the commutation of all death sentences to life imprisonment by Republican Governor George Ryan after three-year moratorium.

The debate erupted in 1999 when students at Northwestern University were able to prove the innocence of a death row inmate in Illinois.

"We can not tolerate the execution of innocents, because it jeopardizes the legitimacy of the government" of Illinois, said Mr. Quinn."Since 1977, Illinois has released 20 people from death row, seven have been cleared since the 2000 moratorium, a record that should disturb us," he said.

"To say that is unacceptable is not enough to express regret and shame we should feel, as a society, for these miscarriages of justice," he estimated the governor who, in addition, the death penalty n has no "chilling effect".

Illinois had not played since 1999 executing.

A general trend of declining death sentences and executions in the U.S., the elected officials of several states in recent years wondering about the possibility of abolishing the death penalty, which is still in force in 34 states on 50, particularly because of its exponential cost compared to life.

In 2009, the governor of New Mexico (southwest) signed the law abolishing the death penalty in his state. Two years ago, it was New Jersey (east). The death penalty was declared unconstitutional by the courts in the State of New York (northeast) in 2004.

Abolitionists closely scrutinize these abolitions point in the expectation that 26 states prohibit the death penalty.They can then ask the Supreme Court to abolish everywhere, on behalf of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution which prohibits "unusual punishment", that is to say a majority disapproved of States.

The United States has executed 46 people including a woman in 2010, against 98 in 1999.

ATHLETICS: IAAF European Athletics Indoor, ask the program ...

Saturday, March 5

On the occasion of the second day of European Championships Indoor Athletics, the two major French stars, Myriam Soumare and Christophe Lemaitre, started the competition off to a wheel. The two sprinters have easily won their qualifying semi-final 60 meters.In great shape, Lemaitre has the fastest time in the series 6''59.

It will also keep an eye on Teddy Tamgho, which is aligned to the finals in the long jump and triple jump, which is the world record holder. Renaud will also Lavillenie his title at the final of the pole vault.

The finals of the day:

* 2:20 p.m. - Shot Put (Women)
14:30 - High Jump (Men)
15:45 - Pole Vault (Men)
16:25 - Long Jump (Men)
16:50 - 3000 m (Men)
17:15 - 1500m (Women)
17:30 - 400 m (Women)
17:45 - 400 m (Men)

GMT +1 *

Read the full program on the site of the European Championship Paris-Bercy.

FRANCE: Alain Juppe found the Quai d'Orsay, sixteen years after

New head of French diplomacy, Alain Juppe, formally took office on Tuesday during a handover with Michèle Alliot-Marie, who made him an indispensable stimulus to government action internationally as on the domestic scene.

On this occasion, Mr. Juppe has drawn in broad strokes his highest priorities, particularly those relating to changes in the Arab world. It must, he believes so, launch the Union for the Mediterranean, the large project from start to mandate Nicolas Sarkozy.

"We will have to rebuild the Union for the Mediterranean. It was a prescient initiative," he said about this forum for cooperation between the EU and the Maghreb and the Middle East."What is happening today in the southern Mediterranean is completely changing. We need to think about it," he added.

At 65, Alain Juppe became the centerpiece of the government while Mr.Sarkozy seeks to give a hand to a little over a year of presidential elections, according to the vagaries of diplomacy unable to gauge the wind of liberty through the Arab world.

At a time when Paris took the lead in the forums of G20 and G8, diplomacy has become a domestic policy issue.

"Providential man" or "savior", the press has broadly welcomed Tuesday with kindness and relief the arrival of Alain Juppe at the Quai d'Orsay, hoping that France's voice is heard again after weeks of strong criticism on the proximity of Paris with authoritarian regimes.

Already No. 2 in the government, Mr.Juppe spent Tuesday morning over the reins of the Ministry of Defence in Gerard Longuet, former leader of UMP senators.

An hour later, he moved to the Quai d'Orsay, following a handover with Michèle Alliot-Marie, who resigned under pressure Sunday, when she was only three months for Foreign Affairs.

The minister finally falling after statements denounced as scandalous by the opposition, especially for suggesting the "expertise" of the French police in the middle of the Tunisian regime repression of the uprising in January, and for his ties revealed by Press with a businessman close to the ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Alain Juppe found a ministry where he has already noticed a shift from 1993 to 1995 before becoming Prime Minister Jacques Chirac.

The new Minister also referred in his first speech, the strengthening of partnerships with emerging countries, European defense and Africa: "(...) We must anticipate the development of Africa in the twenty-first century. This would be a mistake for us to relax our strategic presence on this continent with so many ties which have been constructed throughout history "

Mr.Juppe will also restore confidence APRIS diplomats who expressed in anonymous forums their concerns about the "amateur" or "fear of change" manifested in the French diplomacy.

According to a Harris Interactive poll released Tuesday, 55% of French make it "somewhat confident" as the new chief diplomat.

At 14 months of the presidential election, Mr. Juppe made figure of recourse to the right while Mr. Sarkozy is still struggling in the polls.

In accepting the Quai d'Orsay, he demanded a free hand over to the Elysee and intends to keep his freedom of speech, particularly on social issues such as the debate on the place of Islam, which it has multiplied warnings.

Justice for Serbia, the unwillingness of the UN obstructing an investigation on organ trafficking in Kosovo

According to Bruno Vekaric, Deputy Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia to investigate war crimes, the UN would have partially masked the truth about his investigation into allegations of organ trafficking by Liberation Army Kosovo (UCK) at the end of the Kosovo war (1999). As proof, the exchange of letters between the Serbian Prosecutor's Office and United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) obtained by FRANCE 24.

The remarks by Bruno Vekaric follow the publication by FRANCE 24 of a confidential document showing that the UN investigation had been opened in 2003 by the UN about the crimes committed by the KLA after the war.But the result of research, which reported a traffic of organs taken from Serb victims, was never communicated to EULEX police mission and justice of the European Union in Kosovo.

These allegations were recently the subject of a report by the Council of Europe in December 2010 led by Swiss MP Dick Marty.

FRANCE 24 - You are investigating organ trafficking in Kosovo since 2008. Where's your investigations?

Bruno Vekaric - We have made great progress, although I can not disclose details of our work. I can only say that we could easily collaborate on an international investigation.Even if we are not yet able to apportion blame, we can demonstrate that these crimes took place on Albanian soil.

F24 - How did the cooperation with the UN and the Albanian authorities?

BV - For six months in 2008, the UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, has concealed the existence of documents that we have obtained informally by a journalist. We asked to get officially, but the UN have assured us he knew nothing about an alleged organ trafficking. We then sent a second letter, accompanied by a photocopy of the documents we have.The UN office in Pristina has not responded, and we finally received the official documents directly from the UN headquarters in New York.

We could also have evidence that our Albanian colleagues have lied about the nature of the clues found in the Yellow House [the alleged secret clinic in the Albanian territory, where the harvesting of organs took place, Ed].

Finally, we have faced obstruction of the Albanian authorities. As the Albanian prosecutor Ina Rama promised us his assistance, the Ministry of Justice of Tirana hastily canceled all cooperation.

Also ask ourselves about a number of issues.Some people they try to obstruct the investigation? The UN did they really sent the EULEX all documents available to them? The conditions for a fair investigation are they met in Albania and Kosovo?

F24 - What role did other institutions?

BV - We have good relations with the International Criminal Tribunal (ICTY) in The Hague, which gave us access to its database.

As for EULEX, I do not doubt his good intentions. Today, it investigates the clandestine prison camps were established at the time in northern Albania.But why does it look only on the issue now? It's been a while since we know the existence of these camps, we determined that it was there that selected the victims. It is obvious that at one time these crimes were taboo.

F24 - Many countries, including the U.S., want the investigation into the alleged organ trafficking should be entrusted to EULEX, which the Serbian government denies the legitimacy yet. What do you think is the institution best able to lead the investigation?

BV - We support the creation of a new tribunal which is not based in the region but which can cooperate with EULEX.This would be the best way to investigators without the pressures and ensure the protection of witnesses from Kosovo. It would not be reasonable to let the investigation solely in the hands of EULEX, Justice Albanian and Serbian justice. But it is necessary for this, the UN showed more goodwill. And for now, this is not the case.

F24 - Do you think the witness protection can be achieved in Kosovo?

BV - As regards the protection of witnesses, we had a bad experience at the first trial of Ramush Haradinaj [former leader of the guerrillas of the KLA and former Prime Minister of Kosovo] to the ICTY. Of persons to testify for the prosecution during the trial have been killed.Others, once at the helm, have radically changed the meaning of their testimony. Ramush Haradinaj was finally released, and the murders of witnesses have never been elucidated [Haradinaj to appear again in The Hague because the ICTY prosecutor has appealed].

F24 - The case she made you think a political turn?

BV - There is a real political conflict about these crimes. Some leaders in the region, and the rest of the world, are afraid that their elucidation will slow recognition by the international community about the independence of Kosovo [Kosovo's independence is recognized by 75 countries including the United States and 22 members of the EU, but not by Serbia and Russia].But a crime is a crime.

More politics will interfere in this case, the more it will hurt the investigation. The facts mentioned go against the values of civilization. The political cause can not justify the silence that has long prevailed in this case. There is concern also that the pressures exerted by the Kosovo government will end up jeopardizing the existence of EULEX.

TUNISIA: Mouldi Kefi Ahmed Ounaïes replaces the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

AFP - The transitional government of Tunisia has appointed a career diplomat, Mouldi Kefi, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced the official news agency TAP quoted an authoritative source in the presidency.

"Mouldi Kefi was appointed foreign minister in the transitional government," according to the TAP citing an authoritative source in the presidency. M. Kefi was sworn in Monday morning before Mr. Fouad Mebazaa, President of Tunisia interim, the agency said.

Mr.Kefi, who served under the presidency of Habib Bourguiba and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has worked as a diplomat in Prague, Moscow and East Berlin, before moving the positions of ambassador to Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone and Indonesia, according to an official biography.

M. Kefi, 65, married with four children, succeeds Ounaïes Ahmed, 75, who resigned in mid-February on the eve of the visit to Tunisia by the head of European diplomacy Ashton.

Former ambassador to retirement, Mr. Ounaïes was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the first government of national unity, January 17.He became a minister in the transitional government revised 27 January by Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi.

But a visit to France since February 4, he had hardly taken up his duties, according to diplomatic sources.

The Independent was heckled on February 7 by Foreign Affairs officials who were demonstrating in front of and within the confines of his department by claiming he leaves immediately after his remarks in Paris. He then took his belongings and left his office.

Visiting Paris whose rallying late to the revolution of jasmine cringe in Tunis, Mr. Ounaïes had no praise for his counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie."I like to listen to Ms Alliot-Marie in all circumstances and in all fora", "he said.

He hailed it "above all a friend of Tunisia," while "MAM" was summoned to explain himself at the same time in France for having benefited from the generosity of a great boss Tunisian business related to the clan and Ben Ali for proposing to the tottering regime "expertise" of the French police, while repression was in full swing.

He had been pinned to "denial of revolution" after statements to the Tunisian private TV Nesma.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Gbagbo intends to take control of two subsidiaries of French banks

AFP - Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo outgoing announced Thursday his intention to "take control" of Ivorian subsidiaries of French banks BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, while the country's banking system hangs due to post-election crisis.

After the closure of several banks since Monday, Mr. Gbagbo "has issued decrees that the State of Côte d'Ivoire take control by taking a full and complete participation in the capital of some of these banks," said a official statement read on state television RTI.

"These include the SGBCI and Biçici" respectively subsidiaries of Societe Generale and BNP Paribas, he said.

Mr.Gbagbo intended "to preserve jobs and ensure the access of Ivorians and traders to their assets" in "as soon as possible."

At least five international banks, including French and American, had suspended operations Thursday, and whose leaders Biçici SGBCI.

This is the result of the dramatic showdown between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, President-elect acknowledged by much of the international community. With its external allies, attempts to asphyxiate Ouattara Gbagbo regime to force it out from.

The origin of these closures in series: the break in January between Abidjan and the Central Bank of African States (BCEAO), which recognizes Mr.Ouattara.

Since then the Gbagbo government, isolated and financially deprived tap CFA, has worked to build a viable banking system across Ivory Coast.Including, according to several banking sources, applying "enormous pressure" on the subsidiaries of large foreign banks.

But with the lack of liquidity, technical difficulties and legal risks, and the threat of sanctions wielded by the BCEAO against banks working with the Gbagbo government, the BICICI SGBCI and gave the signal for withdrawal.

"Other banks will close," predicted one senior industry told AFP.

For the economy, already undermined by the sanctions of the EU imposing such a ban on the two ports, the country's lung, the effect of blocking bank will be "cataclysmic," said a source familiar with the matter.

Contracts canceled social plans draconian layoffs: "all sectors, including transport and industry", are being beaten, says a player in the agro-industry.

If the strategy practiced by choking the camp Ouattara produced its first effects, which the very large crisis that threatens she will benefit?

The wall, the Gbagbo government first wants to ensure payment of officials and soldiers, whose loyalty is vital to him, and overwhelms the former French colonial power through its banks.

France has defended the temporary bank closures, seeing "the consequence of the refusal of Laurent Gbagbo" to leave.

Guillaume Soro, Prime Minister Mr.Ouattara, also ruled out the responsibility of this "chaos" and advocated "revolution" to make him give as Egypt and Tunisia.

However, for bank customers is the time to worry.

The district of Plateau, Abidjan, housing the headquarters of banks, has seen during the week pouring account holders.

Thursday, before the League Ivorian bank (SIB group Moroccan Attijariwafa Bank) of Abidjan had waited in a line in the early hours of the morning to withdraw money.

"The fear is the contagion effect, so we just remove a little about our savings," explained Ms. Koffi, an entrepreneur. "I'd rather have my money on me, it is unclear what will happen," let out a military.

Frontex, a system unsuited to the Tunisian migrants in Lampedusa?

In five days, 5,000 Tunisians were able to enter the European territory by landing on the Italian island of Lampedusa. Following these arrivals, Rome has declared a state of humanitarian emergency.

On the antenna chain TG5, the Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni, has attacked the European Union (EU), pointing to his inaction on this issue: "Europe does nothing . I am very concerned and asked for the urgent intervention of the EU because the Maghreb is exploding. As usual, we were left alone. We manage the humanitarian emergency with only the civil protection .Intervention is essential for Europe. "

In Brussels, the European Commission has ensured that the Italian government was considering a series of measures to curb the phenomenon. Among these include, in particular, enhanced the action of the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex). On Monday, in fact, several European countries insist on the need to reassess the increasing involvement of the agency in the region.The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for strengthening of Frontex operational and development cooperation with countries of origin and transit. " "A shared priority with Italy," the Quai d'Orsay.

A one-time influx

According to Mehdi Lahlou, a specialist in migration dynamics of the Mediterranean and professor of economics at the National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (INSEE) in Rabat, Morocco, such a decision would be disproportionate in the short term: "It must understand that this is an exceptional flow, probably related to recent events in Tunisia, not a sustainable trend.These people, who managed to slip through the cracks, are likely complicity in Italy and were able to negotiate their passage. "

In a report published by the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI) in February 2011, Mehdi Lahlou is also underscored the fact that, according to figures from Frontex, the "irregular arrivals by sea borders Europe - mainly from Southern Mediterranean coast - have decreased by 43% between 2008 and 2009 from 84,900 in 2008 to 48,700 in 2009. "

For him, reinforcing the structure would be mostly a proof of the concern of the EU in the face of rising popular movements in the Arab world: "If Brussels is taking this decision is that European leaders expect a flashover in the region that will lead to new influxes of migrants.In this case, this increase would finally a step in a process that would see the massive mobilization of numerous other entities, including naval forces in the southern countries of Europe. "

A controversial entity

Since 2007, Frontex, in partnership with several countries in northern and southern Mediterranean, organizing joint patrols in the joint operations of border surveillance.

Claire Rodier, lawyer in the Group Information and support for immigrants (GIST) and President of the European Migreurop, the fact that 5,000 migrants were able to slip through the net would be a deeper explanation: "The breach recent days in the control of the Mediterranean area could be related to voluntary relaxation of vigilance by the Libyan authorities, working closely with Italy in this area [the two countries signed a treaty of "friendship and Cooperation "in June 2009, Ed].This would then not be the first time [Muammar] Gaddafi would open the floodgates of illegal migration to Europe to influence the course of negotiations in progress with the EU, in particular on the strengthening of the southern border of Libya ".

A thesis which does not believe Mehdi Lahlou: "The assumption that Libya would have facilitated the passage of Tunisian migrants to Europe is, in my view, implausible. The only thing that could push the Gaddafi regime to open valves would implicitly threaten the European Union with a massive influx of migrants if it continues to support popular movements.A scenario that seems, however, too convoluted and too risky. "

He concluded: "It is rather the question of the identity of these migrants, who I believe could be linked by various people through the old Tunisian administration.

JUSTICE: The death of the former chef of Osama bin Laden reported to 2 years in prison

REUTERS-The imprisonment of the former chef of Osama bin Laden, held at Guantanamo, was reduced Wednesday from 14 to two years under an agreement with American justice, says the Pentagon.

This reduction of sentence was expected since al Qosi Ibrahim, who was also a bodyguard for bin Laden, has agreed in July to plead guilty in court of the U.S. naval base in Cuba in charge of war crimes.

The Sudanese, who met with the leader of Al Qaeda in its home country before following in Afghanistan, admitted helping him escape U.S. forces in the mountains of Tora Bora in 2001.

His sentence to 14 years imprisonment imposed in August did not include the eight and a half years he spent in Guantanamo.

According to Lieutenant-Colonel Tanya Bradsher, spokesman for the Pentagon, he pledged to give up any activity or complicity of activity hostile to the United States and its allies.

Egypt: Wael Ghonim, an official of Google is based in Cairo, was released

AFP - An Egyptian part of the internet giant Google, arrested during anti-government protests that shook Egypt for nearly two weeks, was released on Monday, told AFP a security source.

Wael Ghoneim, chief marketing officer of Google in the Middle East and Africa, according to his page on the LinkedIn social network for professionals, had not been heard from since Jan. 28 after a huge rally in Cairo, said his brother had Wall Street Journal.

"They released him.He is en route to Tahrir Square, "the epicenter of protest in Cairo, said the security source.

The organization of human rights Amnesty International had expressed concern Sunday that could suffer torture in detention M. Ghoneim.

According to Amnesty, quoting eyewitnesses, Wael Ghoneim was arrested by plainclothes people, probably members of the Egyptian security services during demonstrations in Cairo.

M. Ghoneim had left Dubai where he lives, for Egypt on January 23 two days before the beginning of mass protests demanding the departure of President Hosni Mubarak, according to Amnesty.

The perpetrator of a cartoonist Muhammad found guilty of terrorism

The Somali Geele Mohamed was found guilty of attempted "terrorism" and murder against the Danish Mohammed cartoonist Kurt Westergaard said Thursday the judge of the court in Aarhus.

"The Court finds that a murder attempt at his home on January 1, 2010 against Kurt Westergaard, a man who personifies the cartoons of Muhammad should be seen as an attempt to frighten the population and a high degree of destabilization structures of society, "said the magistrate Ingrid Thorsboe.

This verdict has been "made unanimously by the jury," she said.

The sentence of up to life imprisonment must be imposed Friday.

In the evening of 1 January 2010, Mohamed Geele now aged 29, had burst into the home of the draftsman in Viby, near Aarhus, armed with a hatchet and a knife, shouting that he wanted to kill him because he had insulted the Prophet and Muslims.

Kurt Westergaard, 75, had taken refuge in a bathroom safe, forcing the attacker to give up his project before being shot by the police arrived on the scene.

TUNISIA: Opposition Islamist Ghannouchi not seek the presidency

Tunis hosted Sunday by thousands of supporters after an exile of 20 years, the Islamist Rachid Ghannouchi said he would not run in the first presidential election after Tunisia's Ben Ali, the former president who had rolled his movement.

"I'm not going for the presidency, and there will be no (candidate) member of al-Nahda," said the leader of the Islamist movement, in an interview with AFP at his brother's home in northern Tunis.

It is, however, remained vague about the involvement of al-Nahda laws, which should theoretically be organized, as the presidential election, within about six months.

"After 20 years of absence, my party is not ready to play a role in the political arena, the priority is to rebuild Ennahda," he said.

His training, which is prohibited under the reign of Ben Ali, was crushed in the 90s, some 30,000 of its members or presumed supporters arrested, while hundreds more were forced into exile.

He did not exclude a possible participation in the transition team was set up after the flight of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January 14, after four weeks of an unprecedented revolt to which the Islamists have mostly attended by spectators.

"If we feel that the government meets the expectations of those who took part in this revolution, so why not?" He said.

This is the first time that the Islamist leader address from Tunisian soil, a message of openness to the transitional government, which will meet in the coming days to demand legalization of Ennahda.

From his exile in London, the old leader, 69, had remained very cautious, often leaving it up to his spokesman in France or Tunis to convey its message.

At Tunis airport, Rached Ghannouchi was greeted by a packed crowd who sang the national anthem and shouted his "pride Islamic recovered.

"Allah Akbar" (God is greatest), "he told the crowd, smiling, arms outstretched into the sky, before being swept away by a wave of militants, while defenders of secularism expressed their concerns about a return of "obscurantism".

Sunday morning, Ghannouchi had yet held reassuring: "Sharia (Islamic law) has no place in Tunisia" and "fear is only based on ignorance" - which he attributes to the policy of demonization of his movement by Ben Ali.

Rached Ghannouchi founded in 1981 Nahda (Renaissance) with intellectuals inspired by the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.He said today represent a moderate form of Islam close to the AKP in Turkey.

Tolerated at the beginning of the era Ben Ali in 1987, his movement had been suppressed after the general election of 1989, where he supported the lists had received at least 17% of the vote.

Ghannouchi was then left Tunisia to Algeria, then London.In 1992 he was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for plotting against the president.

A penalty on Tunisian soil, the significance of his return is debatable.

For Mohammed Habib Azizi, a professor of history at the University of Tunis, "what happened in Tunisia in no way be taken as the work of Islamists, nationalists and communists," he told AFP.

At the airport, a union of 37 years, Mohammed Mahfoud, however had drawn up a sign on the "contribution" of al-Nahda in the "struggle against dictatorship," with the number of prisoners, exiles and martyrs ".

EGYPT: The police use force to disperse protesters

The tone rises in Egypt for the fourth consecutive day of protest in Egypt.

Despite the large police presence in place, mobile groups of a hundred people are moving towards Tahrir Square and al-Azhar mosque, the Mecca of Sunni Islam, where the situation has rapidly deteriorated.

Around the Mosque of al-Azhar, the police fired rubber bullets at demonstrators who responded by throwing stones at the police line, shouting slogans against President Hosni Mubarak.

According to the Special Envoy of FRANCE 24, Ygal Saadoun, present in a procession in Cairo, a policeman fired a tear gas grenade point blank in the belly of a demonstrator.

"The police decided to make a blitz to stop the protests by all means.The army took no part in the operation, but it is mostly policemen, riot police equipped with water bombs and tear gas, "said Yigal Saadoun.

Egyptian police also prevented the former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei to move freely in Cairo, where he planned to join the procession of protesters, according to the news channel Al Jazeera.

Gatherings are also organized in Alexandria, Al-Mansoura, Suez and Aswan.

A large police

Dozens of police trucks patrolled the city center Friday morning, according to FRANCE 24 correspondents on the spot.Trucks occupied by militiamen in civilian clothes were also seen going around the streets of Cairo.

"The regular police are deployed everywhere. But there was also a parade of trucks barreling through the streets with their men in civilian board, with pieces of wood," says Gallagher Fenwick, FRANCE 24's special envoy in Cairo.

The "baltageyas" in Arabic, thugs recognizable by their clubs are paid per day by the government to "bring order".They are grouped near Tahrir Square, the main place of rassemblementdepuis events of 25 January.

"Sometimes they mingle with the crowd and club demonstrators," continues Ygal Saadoun.

On Facebook, Egyptian activists fear that employs the Egyptian police provocateurs whose actions serve as an excuse for repression.

"The activists expect that the government set fire to cars and accuse the demonstrators have burned everything, using it as a pretext to suppress demonstrations in the greater violence," reads the page Facebook Stephen McInerney, Director of the Project for Democracy in the Middle East, which was able to talk to protesters Thursday night.

A "fortress in the process of closing on itself"

All Internet and mobile phones are cut off since this morning. But opponents have made an appointment for several days at noon, local time, after the prayer.

"It feels like a fortress that is now closing in on itself," testifies Gallagher Fenwick.

Spearheading the protest, the movement of 6-April, a group of pro-democracy activists, calls for several days to continue the mobilization on Friday, despite the deployment of a large police.

"Date: Friday. Time: noon.Event: farewell to Hosni Mubarak, "it said in Arabic on the Facebook page of a young Egyptian.

But the police presence still leaves some doubt about the course of the day.

A major law enforcement system

At least 1,000 people were arrested since Tuesday, according to security services, 500 for a single day on Wednesday.Among these are about 90 people arrested in the area of Tahrir Square in central Cairo, and 121 members of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, officially banned but tolerated in practice, detained in Assiut, south of the Egyptian capital.

These events are unprecedented since the uprisings of 1977, caused by the rising price of bread.

Hosni Mubarak, 82, has been in power since 1981. A presidential election is scheduled for September, but the head of state has not yet made public its intention to seek re-election. His son Gamal, 47, was announced as a possible successor to the "rais".