W O R L D

Gaddafi denies fleeing to Niger
Bank says he had sold more than 20% of Libya’s gold in his regime’s dying days
Tripoli, September 8
Muammar Gaddafi today dismissed as lies reports he had fled to Niger, as the central bank said the fugitive ex-leader had sold more than 20 per cent of the country’s gold in his regime’s dying days. With remnants of Gaddafi’s battered forces pinned down, Libya’s new leadership and the US called on neighbouring countries to close their borders to Gaddafi stalwarts.

Anti-Gaddafi fighters prepare to advance towards the besieged Libyan town of Bani Walid. — Reuters

Mubarak in court after top officials called to testify Cairo, September 8 Hosni Mubarak was back in court on Thursday over the killing of protesters, a day after the judge summoned Egypt's military ruler and other top officials to testify next week in the trial of the former president. Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak being wheeled into a Cairo courtroom. — AFP

Obama to propose jobs package worth $300 billion 
Washington, September 8
U.S. President Barack Obama will lay out a jobs package worth more than $300 billon on Thursday, staking his re-election hopes on a call for urgent bipartisan action to revive the faltering American economy.

3 Indians killed in ship explosion off Nigeria
Abuja, September 8
Three Indians were killed while 10 others were rescued when a Liberian-flagged ship with 15 sailors onboard exploded off Nigeria’s territorial waters. The three were confirmed dead while two persons were reported missing after tragedy struck the ship, ITB Jacksonville, near Apapa port in Nigerian city of Lagos on Sunday.

More time sought to prepare DSK’s defence

 

 

Gaddafi denies fleeing to Niger
Bank says he had sold more than 20% of Libya’s
gold in his regime’s dying days

Tripoli, September 8
Muammar Gaddafi today dismissed as lies reports he had fled to Niger, as the central bank said the fugitive ex-leader had sold more than 20 per cent of the country’s gold in his regime’s dying days.

With remnants of Gaddafi’s battered forces pinned down, Libya’s new leadership and the US called on neighbouring countries to close their borders to Gaddafi stalwarts.

The former leader, whose whereabouts are unknown, remained defiant in his first address for several days, telling his countrymen: “They have nothing else to resort to apart from psychological warfare and lies.” Speaking by telephone on the Damascus-based Arrai Oruba television channel, he added: “They last said Gaddafi had been seen in a convoy heading towards Niger. They want to weaken our morale. Do not waste time on this weak and ignoble enemy.”

‘30,000 killed in libyan civil war’

At least 30,000 persons were killed and 50,000 hurt in Libya's six-month civil war, interim health minister Naji Barakat said, offering the first detailed estimate of casualties in bringing down Muammar Gaddafi. At least 4,000 are still missing. Libya has a population of just over 6 million.  Meanwhile, two enraged young Libyans barged into their embassy in the Philippine capital on Thursday to try to evict diplomats they suspect remain loyal to Gaddafi. — AFP

Gaddafi also said NATO, which has been carrying out daily air raids against his forces under a UN mandate since March 31, “will be defeated” as its “logistical capacities will not allow it” to press on.

”We are ready in Tripoli and everywhere to intensify attacks against the rats, the mercenaries, who are a pack of dogs,” he said.

Since his Tripoli headquarters was overrun on August 23, Gaddafi has made several appeals for resistance in tapes aired by Arrai, which is run by former Iraqi Sunni MP Mishan al-Juburi. Juburi, the only media personality able to contact Gaddafi since he went into hiding after forces of the National Transitional Council (NTC) took Tripoli, said the ex-leader and his son Seif al-Islam were still in Libya.

“I can tell you that I spoke with Gaddafi very recently,” Juburi told AFP.

“He is in Libya, in very good spirits, feels strong, is not afraid, and would be happy to die fighting against the occupiers,” Juburi said by phone.

“His son Seif al-Islam is in the same state of mind,” added Juburi, whose channel has broadcast a number of audio messages from the Gaddafis.

The NTC fears Gaddafi will try to slip over one of Libya's borders, and Niger strongly denied he was in the country after a convoy carrying other senior ousted regime officials fled there on Monday.

The US stated Gaddafi  was not believed to be among them.

In a bid to cut off Gaddafi’s potential escape routes, the NTC said it had dispatched a team to the Niger capital Niamey, and the United States said Gaddafi aides who entered Niger were being detained.

None of those crossing into Niger earlier this week appeared to be on a list of persons subject to United Nations sanctions, said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. Niger Foreign Minister Mohammed Bazoum, attending a conference in Algiers, said neither Gaddafi nor any other wanted fugitives had arrived in his country. Meanwhile, Libya’s central bank governor claimed Gaddafi had sold a large chunk of the country’s gold reserves in the dying days of his regime.

Qassem Azzoz said Gaddafi had sold 29 tonnes of gold, worth more than USD 1 billion, to local merchants and that it had probably made its way out of the country. He told a press conference in Tripoli that the bank’s total assets stand at USD 115 billion, of which USD 90 billion is abroad. —AFP

Mubarak in court after top officials called to testify

Cairo, September 8
Hosni Mubarak was back in court on Thursday over the killing of protesters, a day after the judge summoned Egypt's military ruler and other top officials to testify next week in the trial of the former president.

The testimonies of such high-ranking officials could prove decisive in the case, although Judge Ahmed Refaat said when he announced the decision on Wednesday that the witnesses would be heard behind closed doors for reasons of national security.

The judge surprised the court by saying Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the military council now ruling Egypt and served as Mubarak's defence minister for two decades, would appear in the witness box on Sunday.

Armed Forces Chief of Staff Sami Enan and Omar Suleiman, Mubarak's former intelligence chief and briefly his vice-president, will also testify next week, alongside Interior Minister Essam el-Essawy and his predecessor Mahmoud Wagdy.

"The decision to summon Field Marshal Tantawi and the others is certainly a good thing, but the session has to be public in order to be fair," said Mohamed 
Adel, an activist with the April 6 movement which helped lead the anti-Mubarak uprising.

"We have to see it, and the concept of a publishing ban and secrecy is totally rejected by us," he added.

The court convened on Thursday to hear more witnesses after police officers suggested to the court earlier this week that neither Mubarak nor his former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli, who is also in the dock, had ordered police to shoot.

Lawyers for some of the 850 people killed in the revolt that ousted Mubarak on February 11 have been irked by police statements, saying officers changed their accounts when they were in court.

But the judge dismissed a prosecution bid to raise a case against one witness for alleged false testimony.

As in the four previous sessions since the trial started on August 3, Mubarak was flown to the court by helicopter and wheeled into the courtroom on a stretcher. The 83-year-old has been hospitalised since April when he was first questioned.

Mubarak is charged with conspiring to kill protesters and "inciting" some police officers to use live ammunition, as well as with corruption. He has denied all charges.

The former president is standing trial with Adli, six police officers and his two sons, Gamal, who was once seen as being groomed for top office, and Alaa, a businessman. — Reuters

Obama to propose jobs package worth $300 billion 

Washington, September 8
U.S. President Barack Obama will lay out a jobs package worth more than $300 billon on Thursday, staking his re-election hopes on a call for urgent bipartisan action to revive the faltering American economy.

With his poll numbers at new lows amid voter frustration with 9.1 percent unemployment, Obama will make tax cuts for middle-class households and businesses the centerpiece of the plan and will press for new spending to repair roads, bridges and other deteriorating infrastructure.

He will use his televised speech before a joint session of the U.S. Congress, at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT), to urge passage of his “American Jobs Act” by year-end.

If it succeeds, his plan might provide an economic boost quickly enough to help Obama’s re-election prospects. If it fails, his strategy will be to paint congressional Republicans as obstructionist and blame them for the stagnating economy.

Already on Thursday morning, White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley went on the offensive against what he described as a do-nothing climate on Capitol Hill.

“It’s time for Congress, after a five-week vacation, to come back and do something and not just say ‘no’ to everything that gets proposed in this town,” Daley said on CBS.

Weak jobs data has heightened fears that the US could be headed for another recession. — Reuters

3 Indians killed in ship explosion off Nigeria

Abuja, September 8
Three Indians were killed while 10 others were rescued when a Liberian-flagged ship with 15 sailors onboard exploded off Nigeria’s territorial waters.

The three were confirmed dead while two persons were reported missing after tragedy struck the ship, ITB Jacksonville, near Apapa port in Nigerian city of Lagos on Sunday.

Ten persons, all of them Indians, were rescued after the incident and taken to a hospital for emergency medical attention.

“All the rescued persons were Indians. They were taken to a search and rescue hospital in Apapa port in Lagos,” a spokesperson for the Nigerian Maritime Administration (NIMASA), Lami Tumaka, told PTI.

Three bodies were later recovered but two are still missing. NIMASA is the body responsible for rescue operations on Nigeria’s territorial waters.

On the origin of the ship, Tumaka said the vessel was flying Liberian flag though the documents found on it said Panama, which made the origin difficult to ascertain. Eyewitnesses said the ship’s engine exploded and the vessel went ablaze as 
it approached Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos.

The fire spread fast while a search and rescue operation rescued some people, an eyewitness said. — PTI

More time sought to prepare DSK’s defence

New York, September 8
After having successfully managed to get sexual assault charges dropped against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, lawyers for the former IMF chief are now seeking additional time to prepare for his defence in a civil lawsuit filed against him by his accuser hotel maid.

The lawyers filed a motion titled 'Extend Time' submitted on August 29 requesting for more time. — PTI