Algeria: hostages feared dead after troops storm gas field

The BP plant in Algeria, where up to 30 hostages may have died as troops attacked their jihadist captors. Photograph: Demotix/Corbis

A large number of western hostages, including Britons, were feared dead after Algerian troops stormed a desert gas field seized by a jihadist group, in a bloody end to the worst international hostage crisis of recent years.

Reports from the remote outpost on the country's eastern border were conflicting: the Algerian government said six foreign hostages had been killed – while the militant hostage-takers claimed 34 had lost their lives. One British contractor was killed in the initial attack by the Islamists on Wednesday, but the fate of an unspecified number of other western hostages was unclear.

David Cameron warned that the country "should be prepared for further bad news in this very dangerous, fluid situation". The Foreign Office called it "an appalling tragedy".

The Algerian authorities said that the rescue operation was still going on, and that many of the militant hostage-takers had been killed. Officials said that 600 Algerian workers at the site had been freed and that more than 20 foreigners had also survived.

Twelve Norwegians, working for the Statoil oil company, were reported to have been at the gas field site at the time of Wednesday's attack. The government in Oslo said it had no news of their fate.

The Algerian government said it had had to take instant action to end the stand-off, and that the jihadist group, known as the "Signers in Blood" had intended to take the hostages out of the country.

One Algerian survivor said that the militants had stated their intent to kill the "Christians and infidels" among the hostages.

But the British government complained that it had not been informed before the military operation was launched. Cameron only heard once it was underway and immediately demanded an explanation from Algiers. Washington and Paris indicated they too had been left in the dark.

There were also questions about the tactics used by the Algerians to break the hostage stand-off.

Several reports from the scene describe helicopter gunships strafing the workers' living quarters where the hostages were being held. The militants claimed 34 westerners had been killed in the Algerian army attack and that they still hold seven: two Americans, three Belgians, one Japanese and one British citizen.

Earlier in the day, the Algerian authorities claimed that 30 Algerians and 20 foreign workers had escaped their captors and had been picked up by army helicopters.

One of the survivors was Stephen McFaul, an Irish national, who called his wife, Angela, in west Belfast at 3pm to say he was alive and free.

The White House said it was concerned about the loss of life and was seeking clarification. A senior official told journalists travelling with the US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, in the UK: "Details remain very murky over this raid and what has happened. We're assessing reports that the Algerians may have conducted some kind of action in connection with the incident, but cannot confirm precisely what happened."

In France, President François Hollande told business leaders that the hostage crisis "seems to be heading towards an end in dramatic conditions" and that the violence in Algeria justified his decision last Friday to launch a military campaign against Islamist militants in neighbouring Mali.

The Algerian raid, thought to have been spearheaded by the army's special intervention group, was carried out only hours after the British government had said its "focus is on working through the Algerian government and BP" — a partner in the gas field.

According to Downing Street, Cameron learned of the rescue attempt from British officials in Algiers in touch with London by satellite link. He then rang the Algerian prime minister at 11am to be informed that the operation was already underway, despite an earlier appeal by the British prime minister that no substantial action be taken without first consulting him.

"The prime minister explicitly told the Algerians he wanted advance warning of any military operation, but they just went for it," a Downing Street source said.

One source described the 10-15 minute phone call as businesslike, but stressed that no British judgment would be made on the operation while it was still underway.

However a spokesman said: "The prime minister explained we would have preferred to be consulted in advance."

The prime minister made that view known first in a phone call on Wednesday, but Algerians countered that it had not been possible since in its judgement it had been imperative to act immediately.

Asked if Britain had counselled against a direct strike, the prime minister's spokesman said "the aim of the British government had been to work with the Algerian government and the company to resolve the situation peacefully".

According to two separate reports many of the casualties were caused when an Algerian helicopter gunship opened fire on one of the jihadists' vehicles, which was carrying militants and hostages. It is not clear whether the vehicle was attempting to flee the scene at the time.

Even before the main Algerian army attack, the jihadists told al-Jazeera television that the army was firing on the complex, and a Japanese hostage reported he and a Norwegian hostage had been wounded by army snipers. Another hostage warned the "message does not seem to be getting through," al-Jazeera reported, and Algerian troops were continually firing at the camp.

The Signers in Blood militant group that attacked the gas field before dawn on Wednesday also called itself the Masked Brigade and owed allegiance to Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed veteran jihadist who until last year was a deputy leader in al-Qaida in the Maghreb. He broke away from the group to start his own faction, pledging to fight western influence in the region. One of the hostage survivors said that members of the group spoke Arabic with Egyptian, Tunisian and Syrian accents.

"The terrorists told us at the very start that they would not hurt Muslims but were only interested in the Christians and infidels," another survivor, a 53-year-old local man called Abdelkader, told Reuters news agency. "We will kill them, they said." He added: "The terrorists seemed to know the base very well … Moving around, showing that they knew where they were going."

The timing of the attack also suggested inside knowledge. The group struck when there was an unusually high number of foreigners at the gas field and some of them were leaving in a bus to the airport.

Julian Borger and Patrick Wintour

Source: the guardian 

Quran verse posted at US Harvard varsity

Faculty of law says verse is one of the greatest expressions for justice

The US Harvard University has posted a verse of the Holy Quran at the entrance of its faculty of law, describing the verse as one of the greatest expressions for justice in history, a Saudi newspaper reported on Sunday.

Verse 135 of Sura Al Nisa (women chapter) has been posted at a wall facing the faculty’s main entrance, dedicated to the best phrases said about justice.

A Saudi student who studies at Harvad published a picture of the poster in his Twitter page, according to the Saudi Arabic language daily Ajel.

“I noticed that the verse was posted by the faculty of law, which described it as one of the greatest expressions for justice in history,” Abdullah Jumma said.

Harvard University was established in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1636 as the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.

Need for speed: Swedish cleaning lady steals train, crashes into house (PHOTO, VIDEO)

In a massive joyriding accident, a young cleaning lady stole a train and crashed into a house in the suburbs of Sweden’s capital, and was then taken to hospital hours later with serious injuries. No one else was hurt in the accident.

On Tuesday morning, the 20-year-old cleaner managed to start the train, breaking her way through a line barrier after driving for about a mile only to derail and crash into a nearby house 25 meters further.

Luckily, no passengers were inside the locomotive at the time. The train, which destroyed the building’s wall and smashed the kitchen, did not kill any of the house’s residents.

“It's incredibly lucky that no one in the house was injured,” a police spokesperson told Swedish TT news agency. It was later reported that five people were sleeping in the building when the train crashed into it.

The impact of the crash trapped the woman in the engine car of the hijacked vehicle for two hours. She was then extracted by rescue crews and flown to a hospital by helicopter, with serious injuries.

A local train derailed into a residential building in Saltsjoebaden, Sweden, on January 15, 2013.(AFP Photo / Scanpix Sweden)

A subcontractor operating the line where the accident took place said that it is not yet known why the woman stole the train. The unlucky cleaner-turned-train-conductor was reportedly detained on suspicion of destruction of public property.

The incident sparked a stir in Swedish media, with local politicians demanding that the public transport operator revise its security procedures. Questions arose as to how the woman managed to break into the train and then drive away so easily.

“It shouldn't be possible for unauthorized people to drive our trains,” Christer G Wennerholm of the Stockholm County Council’s traffic committee said in a statement.

But public transport officials expressed confusion about the incident, and were unable to comment on the matter.

“The train must have been going much faster than it normally does,” a Stockholm public transport spokesperson was quoted by Swedish media as saying. He was only able to explain why the train escaped the depot barrier and then derailed.

Policemen stand in front of a local train that derailed into a residential building in Saltsjoebaden, Sweden, on January 15, 2013.(AFP Photo / Jonas Ekstromer)

Chelsea FC considering bid for Malaga CF starlet Isco - report

Chelsea are reportedly considering launching a bid for Malaga starlet Isco.

Isco has been linked with a number of Premier League clubs over the past few months, with Liverpool, Manchester City, rivals Manchester United, and Tottenham all believed to be keen.

It is thought Man City could be preparing to launch a bid for the 20-year-old during the current transfer window, with the club's newly appointed director of football Txiki Begiristain a big fan of the youngster.

But Chelsea have also been monitoring Isco for some time, and according to the Daily Mail, the Blues are considering tabling a bid for the playmaker at the end of the season.

Malaga are keen to keep hold of the highly-rated midfielder, who has a buy-out clause believed to be set at around €21million, and have insisted that a move will only happen this year should that figure be met.

Malaga sporting director Mario Husillos last month told TuttoMercato: "Isco is our player and he is not on the market."

When asked if clubs could tempt Malaga to cash in, Husillos added: "We want to keep him here. But, you all know that there is a termination clause and if a club chooses to pay this then it does not depend on us."

When asked to clarify if his comments meant Isco would only leave if his buy-out clause was met, Husillos confirmed: "Yes, but we would like to keep him with us.

http://www.crunchsports.com/category/Soccer/Chelsea-FC-considering-bid-for-Isco-201301070003/

Zambia held by Morocco

African champions Zambia had the better of a 0-0 draw with Morocco at the Rand Stadium on Tuesday in a warm-up match for the 2013 Cup of Nations tournament.

But Chipolopolo (The Copper Bullets) wasted several scoring chances and when Mukuka Mulenga unleashed a powerful shot eight mintues from time, goalkeeper Nadir Lamyaghri deflected it on to the woodwork and the ball was cleared.

The result came as a relief to France-born Zambia coach Herve Renard, who has come under media fire after friendly losses in Saudi Arabia and Tanzania last month and to Angola in Johannesburg last Saturday.

Zambia are in Group C with Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Nigeria while Morocco face hosts South Africa, Angola and the Cape Verde Islands in Group A of a 22-day championship that kicks off on January 19 in Soweto.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/Wasteful-Zambia-held-by-Morocco-20130108

Lionel Messi: a fourth Ballon d'Or and dominance looks unstoppable

source:the guardian

Another record falls. Lionel Messi finished 2012 on 91 goals in 69 games. He began 2013 by winning the Fifa Ballon d'Or (with 41.6% of the votes), Cristiano Ronaldo (23.7%) came second and Andrés Iniesta (10.9%) third. It is the fourth time Messi has won it and no one else has won it so often. Because the award is a merger of the old European Footballer of the Year and the Fifa World Player of the Year which was inaugurated only in 1991, Diego Maradona never won it and nor did Pelé but it is doubtful if they would have matched Messi's achievement. Marco van Basten won the European award three times in five years, Johan Cruyff three in four and Platini three years in a row. Alfredo Di Stéfano won it twice. Messi has superseded all of them.

Months of speculation slowly gave way to a growing realisation, especially as the European Championship was left behind and Messi accelerated towards the end of the year: it was going to be him again. He scored twice in each of eight successive games and they were almost all goals of barely plausible brilliance; when he scored only once in his final game of 2012, it was as if he had underachieved. On Monday night, finally it was confirmed. "The good thing about the Ballon d'Or is that it's being handed out tomorrow," the Barcelona coach, Tito Vilanova, had said the night before. Everyone could get on with their lives, talk about something else for a change.

Hardly: first there will be the reaction and then it will not be long before talk turns to next year's award – except that right now it is hard to imagine anyone else walking away a winner from Zurich in 12 months' time. 2012, like 2010, was an opportunity for others but Messi swept all before him again – all the excitement, all the debates, all the headlines and the same winner. "To tell you the truth this is really quite unbelievable," Messi said. "The fourth award that I have had is just too great for words."

Michael Owen recalls how Gérard Houllier had to pull him aside after he won the Ballon d'Or in 2001 and impress upon him the significance of the award. Owen had taken it in his stride; Houllier was shocked at how blasé he was. In France, he insisted, it is huge.

So it is in Spain. The Ballon d'Or has become more important in England over the decade since international football, projected by the Champions League, carried by a television and internet boom, accessible in a way unthinkable 10 years ago, is followed far more closely than it was then and European exposure brings European tastes. But, at least while the candidates all reside south of the Pyrenees, the interest still does not match that of the Spanish.

Only one Spaniard has won the award: Luis Suárez in 1960. Many have never forgiven Owen. Some consider it a grave injustice that Raúl did not become the second; 2001 was the year when Raúl's candidacy was at its strongest; the England striker's Ballon d'Or was "rightfully" Raúl's. Similarly, had Owen not been a former winner, Real Madrid's president Florentino Pérez would surely have been less interested in signing him: here was another one for the collection, status guaranteed. An "objective" measure of the best player in the world.

Just as with Raúl, a sense of injustice exists now. It is quieter but it is there. This Spain side is the most successful international team there has ever been. But none of its players have won the award. In 2010 even Messi seemed surprised to finish ahead of Xavi and Andrés Iniesta. Here Iniesta was Spain's sole representative – the winner of Uefa's Best Player in Europe award following Euro 2012. "I don't need individual awards to feel recognised; football is a collective game," he said. But that collective success, some argue, should have been recognised in this award.

Spain's media and fans remain divided along club lines, though. Over 60% of the country declares itself a fan of Madrid or Barcelona and sports newspapers wear their club colours unashamedly. Even the idea of a Spanish winner only unites them at a superficial level: they want a club winner. When the list for the team of the year was released the front cover of AS said it all: "Madrid 6 Barcelona 5".

And so it is that the battle comes back down to the two men who have come to represent Spain's biggest two clubs, the personification of the greatest rivalry. Messi had already admitted that he would be voting for Xavi, Iniesta and his Argentina team-mate Sergio Agüero; asked why he did not vote for Messi, Ronaldo said the reason was simple – he had not voted at all. Injury meant that he missed international duty and his voting papers were passed to a team-mate – who voted for him.

By the time the ceremony came round, Ronaldo had got used to the idea that he was not going to win: "This is not a life and death issue," he said. In August he had insisted: "I only want justice to be done." José Mourinho, who did not attend despite being short-listed for the managerial award, bemoaned that Messi would win, "after the campaign that has been carried out". Yet the most aggressive campaign had been his own in favour of Ronaldo. "How can Messi win the Ballon d'Or without winning the league or the Champions League?" Mourinho asked.

Last year Messi picked up almost half the votes; there was no question. This time a case can certainly be made for Ronaldo, who helped carry Real Madrid to the league title, taking it from Barcelona for the first time in four years and breaking an all-time points record. He scored the goal that effectively clinched the title at Camp Nou, one of 63 he scored in 71 games. Ronaldo, like Messi, reached the Champions League semi-final and, like Messi, missed a penalty. But Ronaldo missed his in the shootout having scored in normal time.

At Euro 2012 Portugal reached the semi-final where they were defeated by Spain; Ronaldo was down to take the final penalty but never got the chance. Messi, of course, was not there. At team level Messi won only a Copa del Rey.

But then he scored more goals than anyone in a calendar year (the last man to hold the record, Gerd Müller, did not win the Ballon d'Or: Franz Beckenbauer did in 1972). Messi finished as the Champions League's top scorer for a fourth year in a row. And he started to do the one thing that everyone agreed he still had pending: perform brilliantly, consistently, for Argentina: his 12 international goals included a hat-trick against Brazil.

This is a wider electorate now than the ones used for either of the awards that preceded it. With the old system, where only journalists voted, Messi would not have won in 2010. With 600 in the electorate now, the criteria are widened and yet also narrowed; virtually no one is going to leave Messi out of their top three.

Beyond the analyses there is a very simple question: who is the best player in the world? Few would doubt that the answer is Messi. "For as long as Messi is around, the Ballon d'Or makes no sense," Dani Alves said, and Agüero concurred: "The Ballon d'Or will always be for Messi."

Messi is 25. It may be a long wait for someone else.

Fifa World XI of the Year

Iker Casillas (Real Madrid); Dani Alves (Barcelona), Gérard Piqué (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Marcelo (Real Madrid); Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Xavi (Barcelona), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona); Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Radamel Falcao (Atlético Madrid), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2013/jan/07/lionel-messi-ballon-dor

Morocco’s Engagement with the Sahel Community

The Arab Spring’s echoes in sub-Saharan Africa are more complex than initially imagined; for example, much has been made of how Libya’s crisis has led to Mali’s crisis, but rather less has been said about how the transitions in North Africa may set the stage for new forms of security cooperation in the Sahel. Such possibilities are quietly taking shape now, even as the world struggles to find a multilateral response to northern Mali. A prime example is the upcoming January 2013 meeting of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) in N’djamena, Chad, where Morocco will likely continue its steps to take command of the organization.

CEN-SAD was set adrift by the Arab Spring, which unmoored the African Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) and shook the African Union (AU) by removing its key supporter, Muammar Qaddafi. The least known of the AU’s eight regional economic communities (RECs), the Community of Sahel-Saharan States proffered lofty and increasingly improbable visions of economic union and political/cultural exchange for an ever-growing swath of the continent; it mushroomed from six to 28 members over thirteen years through Libyan largesse. By late 2011, however, the organization looked likely to fade along with the death of Libya’s dictator. 

Meanwhile, the Arab Spring opened up new partnership opportunities for Morocco, Africa’s only non-AU member country, which has been long isolated by the Western Sahara conflict and its rivalry with neighboring Algeria. With the polarizing personalities of Qaddafi and Zine el Abidine Ben Ali gone, there may be glimmers of a new hope for one of the African Peace and Security Architecture’s most troubled northern REC: the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), whose revival Tunisia looks set to push forward. Also about a year ago, African states began lobbying Morocco to revitalize CEN-SAD. 

Of these alliances, CEN-SAD must be particularly attractive to Morocco, for several reasons. Its preeminence in the organization will likely go uncontested; no other member has the spur, stature, and stability to lead it. Other potential leaders (namely Nigeria and Kenya) are firmly ensconced as anchor states in existing, functional RECs—Nigeria in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Kenya in the East African Community (EAC), among others. Egypt remains deeply embroiled in regional diplomacy and its own internal affairs, and Algeria’s absence from CEN-SAD should allow Morocco free reign to guide the organization independent of its neighbor. Moreover, the Kingdom may enjoy novel forms of influence within a REC based on a projection of Africa’s Arab and Muslim North into the continent’s South; CEN-SAD apparently an abbreviation taken from Arabic letters sin and sad (for al-sahil and al-sahara), covers over half of Africa’s nations, and what unites such a diverse set of countries—from the Gambia to the Comoros, and Somalia to Sierra Leone—more than any connection to ecoclimatic or environmental conditions, is Islam. With the exception of Algeria, CEN-SAD is the REC of all Muslim-majority African states (as well as member states with significant Muslim minorities)—convenient for a king whose authority rests in part on his position as “Commander of the Faithful” (amir al-muminin). 

More importantly, however, leadership of CEN-SAD would allow Rabat to engage in a region where it has deep and direct security concerns. Moroccan officials regularly reference the south and southeast as major sources of concern, especially for rising transnational threats. The bordering Sahel is a zone of illegal immigration; of illicit trafficking in weapons, arms, and people; and of operation and sanctuary for al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and a proliferating set of armed groups. These challenges are clearly costing Morocco; as more illegal migrants settle in the country, more trafficking corrupts Saharawi youth, and more Islamist terrorist attacks threaten metropolitan centers and tourist hubs. While weathering the Arab Spring, the Moroccan government adopted a new constitution in July 2011 that restates Morocco’s foreign policy priorities, with notable prominence given to sub-Saharan Africa. The Sahel is explicitly highlighted, and it follows only the Maghreb and the umma (and precedes the Mediterranean world) in the document’s listing of Morocco’s regional priorities. For all of these reasons, the country has an interest in adopting and adapting the ready-made structure of CEN-SAD—an organization with a history not only of economic interaction and cultural exchange, but of deployment of multi-national forces for peacekeeping operations (as it did in 2001 with the Central African Republic). 

Last June, Rabat took the first step: hosting a CEN-SAD meeting aimed at revitalizing the organization and shifting its focus toward security. The upcoming N’djamena meeting should provide further insight into Morocco’s intentions and CEN-SAD’s prospects and direction. Key indicators to watch include responsibilities and authorities delegated to CEN-SAD’s new peace and security committee; financial commitments made to CEN-SAD by member states, particularly Morocco; proposals to locate any CEN-SAD organs outside of Tripoli, Libya (where the organization is presently housed); the role taken by weighty members, such as Egypt, Senegal, Nigeria, and Kenya; and the emphasis placed on security questions in CEN-SAD’s west (like Mali and Nigeria) rather than its east (such as Somalia and Sudan–South Sudan). Last month in N’djamena, Chadian government officials described a scenario in which peripheral nations peel away, no longer drawn to the table by Qaddafi’s carrots (or sticks), and CEN-SAD tightens to a ten-country community focused exclusively on the REC’s west. This would prime the organization for action in places like northern Mali. Finally, beyond the meeting itself, any reaction from Algeria regarding a Moroccan-led CEN-SAD reboot will have major implications. A particularly interesting and thorny situation for Morocco would be an Algerian application for membership. 

The January 2013 summit under the presidency of Chad will mark an advance, but CEN-SAD will remain hard pressed to make any quick-fuse intervention in the Mali crisis. Nonetheless, this improbable REC may eventually find itself engaged there and in the Sahel more broadly—whether in the current crisis or another down the road. The Arab Spring’s reverberations are full of contradictions and ironies. It may be that CEN-SAD’s founder had to die for the organization to live, and that the REC’s anchor state will shift from one of the AU’s strongest advocates, Libya, to its only non-member, Morocco. The straight line from the Libya crisis to the Mali crisis is rather clear, but the ultimate meaning of the Arab Spring for peace and security in Africa remains to be seen.

Dr. Benjamin P. Nickels is an assistant professor of transnational threats and counter-terrorism at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. This article is in part based on direct conversations with Moroccan, Libyan, and Chadian officials in Washington, D.C. and N'djamena, Chad.

http://carnegieendowment.org/2013/01/03/morocco-s-engagement-with-sahel-community/ez1c

Benjamin P. Nickels

Catalonia, with 9 FC Barcelona players, tie Nigeria (1-1)

All nine FC Barcelona that were called up to the Catalan national team featured in today's match against Nigeria 

Sergio González scored for Catalonia (3'), Nigeria equalised through Bright (54')



The Cornellà-El Prat stadium hosted the Catalan national team’s traditional holiday match this year. The match against Nigeria, Johan Cruyff’s final match at the helm of the Catalan national team, ended in a one-all draw. Nine Blaugrana featured for Catalonia in the Dutchman’s farewell game. 27,234 spectators attended the match. 

Possession and goal for Catalonia 

The Catalan national team, with Piqué, Puyol, Bartra and Xavi in the starting line-up, dominated the first half. It didn’t take long for Cruyff’s men to find the back of the net as the referee pointed to the penalty spot on three minutes after a Nigerian defender handled the ball in the area. Sergio González, who has donned the Catalan strip more than any other footballer, stepped up and netted for the home team. Shortly there after, Sergio was subbed off for Carles Puyol. 

With the 1-0 in favour, the Catalan national team continued to control the match. Nigeria’s first real goalscoring chance came after 20 minutes, but it was stopped short by an onrushing Marc Bartra. Minutes later, the FC Barcelona defender, who started this evening out wide, won the end line and crossed the ball. It could have been Catalonia’s second but no strikers were able to connect with the Blaugrana’s cross. 

The stadium fell silent on 42 minutes when Puyol, after receiving an elbow to his eye, fell to the ground. The Barça defender was subbed off for his club teammate Martín Montoya. 

Six Blaugrana on the pitch 

Catalonia started off the second half with six FC Barcelona players on the pitch. Without Xavi, Piqué and Puyol, who were brought off at the break, it was time for Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto and Tello to take center stage. The four players were joined by Bartra and Montoya, who had already played a portion of the first half. On 35 minutes Montoya was denied by the Nigerian goalkeeper. The visiting team, more active in the second half, scored the equaliser - through Bright (min. 54)- after a fantastic counter attack .

Cruyff’s men looked for the match-winning goal and it almost came on 72 minutes when Tello found Jonathan Soriano in the box. Nigeria also created chances to score, especially on the counter. On 80 minutes, Uche’s shot was brilliantly saved by Codina. With 30 seconds to go before the 90 minutes were up, Tello had a fantastic chance to score the winner but his shot went wide.

fcbarcelona