I. VOICEOFGREECE - Help for Haiti from Alexandria Patriarchate
The ancient Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa, responding to the pleas of the General international Directorate of Developmental Collaboration of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the collection of humanistic aid to earthquake-stricken Haiti, with the blessing of His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, delivered to a specific area of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the February 2, a large amount of medical, pharmaceutical and orthopaedic equipment. These essential items were collected and given by the NGO “Light of Africa” of the Patriarchate, through the care and concern of the Coordinator-Director of the NGO Thomas Karakostas and the kind contribution of the Alapis Group of Companies.
II. SAE - Humanitarian aid to Haiti
Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis will head a Greek mission to quake-stricken Haiti with humanitarian aid, comprised of 50 tons of pharmaceutical supplies, foodstuffs and tents. The shipment is scheduled to depart on Sunday night. A Hellenic Aid financial assistance of 200,000 euros was approved soon after the devastating earthquake of Jan. 13 and was channeled to the UN World Food Programme. In a press conference on Thursday, Kouvelis stated that he will deliver a letter by PM George Papandreou addressed to his Haitian counterpart focusing on the Greek aid, historical bilateral relations and the Greek government’s pledge to continue to support the country. Kouvelis underlined that Greece’s next initiative is to contribute to the reconstruction of health infrastructure for children. The Greek humanitarian aid will arrive in Haiti on board a Hellenic Imperial Airways Boeing 747 aircraft. The airline will cover 50 pct of the transport costs. A five-member special team formed by Medecins du Monde and the Greek Rescue Team will also be transported to Haiti and offer its assistance. In consultation with the Spanish EU Presidency the Greek airplane will be used for the repatriation of European citizens who are still in Haiti.
III. REUTERS - Greek minister "not optimistic" on Cyprus talks
Greece's deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday he was not optimistic about current talks on reuniting Cyprus, describing the latest Turkish Cypriot proposals as "a step back." The minister, Dimitris Droutsas, was speaking as Greek and Turkish Cypriots are making a push under U.N. mediation to end the long division of the island, split by a Turkish invasion in 1974 that was triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. Diplomats worry chances of a deal may recede if Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, seen as a moderate, loses an April leadership election in northern Cyprus -- a breakaway state recognized only by Turkey. "I cannot say that I am in a position of expressing too much optimism with the present stage of the negotiations," the minister told reporters. Talat's latest proposals were viewed by Greece "as a step back, and not as a step in the necessary right direction," he said. "What we have seen in the latest proposals by Mr. Talat is again the idea, and also the rhetoric, of the past, talking about two independent states forming some sort of confederation," Droutsas added. The United Nations has long pursued what it calls a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation in the Mediterranean island. Droutsas said Greece hoped for progress in the coming days and weeks but opposed the idea "that if we do not take advantage of this opportunity, then we will never see a Cyprus solution. Let me tell you that it can't be the last opportunity, and we should always bear in mind that we need a solution that will really be viable and to the interest of both communities," he said. "Time should not be the ultimate factor." The Cyprus dispute has impeded Turkey's ambition to join the European Union, where Greek Cypriots represent the island. Problems in the talks include how the two sides could jointly govern the island, the demands of thousands of people uprooted in past conflict, territorial disputes and the future of some 30,000 Turkish troops stationed in northern Cyprus.
IV. UPI - Details of honor killing shocks Turkey
The father and grandfather of a teenage girl buried alive for talking to boys have been arrested and are being held for trial, authorities in Turkey say. The two men were detained after an informant told police that the missing 16-year-old girl had been the victim of an honor killing, The Guardian newspaper in London reported Friday. Medine Mimi's body was found in sitting position in a 6 1/2 foot deep hole under a chicken pen outside her family's home in Turkey's southeastern province of Adiyam in December. The coroner said a post-mortem examination found a large amount of soil in her lungs and stomach, indicating that she had been buried alive and suffered a slow and agonizing death, The Times of London reports. One official involved in the case called the coroner's report "blood curdling." The girl's mother said her daughter made three attempts to seek help from police but was turned away.
By joining NATO, Serbia would recognize Kosovo as independent, because that organization does not consider Kosovo to be a part of Serbia. This is according to Russian Ambassador Aleksandr Konuzin, who spoke for Belgrade-based Ekonomist magazine, in an interview published on its website. Konuzin also supported the idea that there should be a referendum on NATO, and explained that Russia’s relations with other countries are affected by whether those countries are members of the Western military alliance. “NATO has a fairly determined position on Kosovo, and if you are joining an organization that considers Kosovo and independent state, that means you share that position,” said Russia’s top diplomatic envoy in Belgrade. Konuzin also said that it will be up to Serbia to decide on whether to join NATO, and that there should be no outside intervention. He supported the opinion voiced by Parliament Speaker Slavica Đukić-Dejanović and SPC Patriarch Irinej that the people should have their say on the country’s possible NATO membership. “In 1999, NATO bombed the entire country, and each family has its own stance on what the position toward this organization should be. This organization considers that the situation in Kosovo is already stable and is scaling down KFOR’s presence, while the existence of these forces is not in line with Resolution 1244,” said Konuzin, and concluded, “naïve people have faith in NATO.”
VI. FOXNEWS - Bomb Suspect: "Imam Made Me Do It"
The suspect in the failed Christmas Day airliner attack told federal investigators that the radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki directed him to carry out his attempt at mass murder, according to reports published Friday. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has been helping in the hunt for al-Awlaki, an extremist cleric who has emerged as a prominent Al Qaeda recruiter since hiding in Yemen. Abdulmutallab has been cooperating with the FBI for about a week, providing information about the Al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen and al-Awlaki's contacts there, CBS News reported. The 23-year-old Nigerian's cooperation against al-Awlaki could provide fresh clues for authorities trying to capture or kill him. Al-Awlaki has been linked to the 9/11 hijackers, the Fort Hood shootings and the botched Christmas Day bombing attempt. Yemeni officials say they believe al-Awlaki, believed to be in the Gulf country's remote mountain region, met with Abdulmutallab, but al-Awlaki reportedly denied ordering the attack in an interview that appeared on Al-Jazeera's Web site. "Brother mujahed Umar Farouk - may God relieve him - is one of my students, yes," al-Awlaki said in the interview which appeared online Tuesday. "We had kept in contact, but I didn't issue a fatwa to Umar Farouk for this operation," al-Awlaki was quoted as saying. Al-Awlaki said he supported the Christmas attack, but it would have been better if the target was a U.S. military target or plane. "I support what Umar Farouk did after seeing my brothers in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan being killed," he was quoted as saying. "If it was a military plane or a U.S. military target it would have been better...(but) the American people have participated in all the crimes of their government. Some 300 Americans are nothing compared to thousands Muslims they have killed," he said.
U.S. officials say a “significant threat” could come from American citizens, some of them ex-convicts, who traveled to Yemen. The threat has put federal law enforcement on “heightened alert.” “Most worrisome is a group of as many as three dozen former criminals who converted to Islam in prison, were released at the end of their sentences, and moved to Yemen, ostensibly to study Arabic,” said a Jan. 21, 2010 report by the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “U.S. officials told committee staff they fear that these Americans were radicalized in prison and traveled to Yemen for training.” While intelligence agencies have determined that Al Qaeda is a less cohesive and centralized organization than in years past, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has thrived in Yemen largely because of the country’s weak government, according to the report. AQAP was involved with the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000, an attack in which 17 American sailors were killed. “We knew that Al Qaeda was going to have to make inroads in other ways,” said Kirk Lippold, commander of the USS Cole when it was attacked by the terrorists. “I think this was an opportunity that they may not have necessarily initiated but they are certainly trying to take advantage of to try to bolster ranks and to bring people in who are basically able to exploit weaknesses, being Americans and citizens with American passports able to get into our country and wreak devastating attacks,” Lippold told CNSNews.com. The findings regarding prisons are no surprise to Barbara K. Bodine, a former U.S. ambassador to Yemen, who believes that following radical Islam is not unlike other extremist movements that flourish in prisons. “A lot of people go to Yemen and some of them are going to be ex-cons,” Bodine told CNSNews.com. “People do get radicalized in prison and our prison system is not the best in the world. The same dynamic that will make a gang attractive to a young man will make different kinds of radical extremism attractive.”