Zimbabwe/Long Crisys: Peter Godwin exposes the truth and the fear of the Mugabe era

In mid-2008, after nearly three decades of increasingly tyrannical rule, Robert Mugabe, the 84-year-old Pandora’s Box of Zimbabwe, lost an election. But instead of conceding power, he launched a brutal campaign of terror against his own citizens. Peter Godwin, author of the award-winning books Mukiwa: A White Boy In Africa and When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, was one of the few outside observers to bear witness to the terrifying period that Zimbabweans call, simply, “The Fear”.

Peter Godwin was born and raised in Zimbabwe. He studied Law at Cambridge University, and International Relations at Oxford. He is an award-winning foreign correspondent, author, documentary-maker and screenwriter.
After practising human rights law in Zimbabwe, he became a war correspondent, and has reported on war from over 60 countries, including in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Somalia, Congo, Ivory Coast, Sudan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Kashmir and during the last years of apartheid South Africa.
He served as East European correspondent and diplomatic correspondent for the London Sunday Times, and chief correspondent for BBC television’s flagship foreign affairs program, Assignment – making documentaries from such places as Cuba, Panama, Indonesia, Pakistan, Spain, Northern Ireland, the Philippines, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, the Baltics, and the Balkans as it descended into war.
At great personal risk, Godwin returns secretly to the country he knows so well. He visits the torture bases, the burning villages, the death squads, the opposition leaders in hiding, the last white farmers, the churchmen and diplomats putting their own lives on the line to stop the carnage.
Threaded through with personal history, The Fear: The Last Days of Robert Mugabe is the brave and astonishing record of a dictatorship gone mad.
Accompanied by his sister, Georgina, Godwin journeys through the ravaged, once-familiar landscape.
They visit the grave of their sister, killed during the civil war. As they pour “lucky bean” seeds from the coral tree in their old garden into the runnels of the letters on her gravestone, they call their mother, now living in exile in faraway London. “Where would you like to be buried when you die?” he asks her. “At home,” she says. “In Africa. Next to your father.”
Told with a brilliant eye for detail and Godwin’s natural storytelling gifts, this is a story framed by personal loss. But, most deeply, it is a moving and stunning account of a people grotesquely altered, laid waste by a raging despot. It is about the astonishing courage and resilience of a people, armed with nothing but a desire to be free.
Leadership editor Robbie Stammers had the pleasure of meeting up with Godwin on his visit to South Africa recently, and had the following questions to ask him:
You have studied Law at Cambridge and International Relations at Oxford – it is an incredibly impressive CV. You could have landed with your bum in the butter in a very cushy job. What made you decide to become a war correspondent, travelling to some of the most violent countries in the world?

My real problem is that I don’t plan ahead. I’ve never been career-minded.
People with whom I grew up have dispersed across the world, so you get used to this constant change and, somehow, that becomes your expectation. And in that sense, planning seems sort of pointless.
I trained as a lawyer, but I mostly read law to appease my father.
When I went back to Zimbabwe originally, it was to finish the fieldwork for a PhD and I ran out of money, so the only thing I was trained to do as such was law. So I started working as a lawyer while I was trying to finish the PhD and didn’t do it for very long – and I don’t think I was very good at it, either. I got bored!
The thing about law is that you see it on television and everyone is in court, but every one minute you’re in court, arguing your case, there is probably an hour of research. I took on a big high-treason case and I did hours of political research on it, which fascinated me.
I then started doing odd pieces of freelance journalism and the London Sunday Times said, “Well, if you want to send that stuff, there is no guarantee we will publish it and we’re not going to pay your expenses. We won’t pay for anything unless we use it.”
I had no expectations, and then I discovered that they had run these pieces and I started writing more and more.
I imagine that increased your confidence?
I enjoyed it. I never went to journalism school or anything. I just learnt on the job and became some sort of “Wiki journalist”.
I found myself ultimately in London, on the foreign desk with a short-term contract.
You become a prisoner of your own resumé insofar as to say, “Look, this guy has been in a war in Africa.” So then I ended up just getting sent wherever, covering conflict.
I did it for a long time – for the Sunday Times and then for the BBC. I must’ve done probably 10 years as a foreign correspondent and then documentaries for the BBC before moving over full-time to books.
You had to contend with two competing legal systems: that of the Rhodesian government and the other of tribal chiefs. Do you think tribal chiefs still play a significant role today in Zimbabwe?
They play a huge role.
Zimbabwe is much more rural than South Africa; and the other thing in Zimbabwe, which to a greater or lesser extent is probably not half as true now as it used to be, is that many urban Zimbabweans have rural homes at the same time.
What’s happening now is that the chiefs are under more and more pressure from Mugabe. He put them on salaries, gives them cars, and then expects them to be agents of political control. If their areas turn against Zanu-PF and Mugabe, then the chiefs will come under enormous pressure and will be changed, if necessary.
So one of the bad things that we have seen happen in the last couple of decades – but in particular, in the last five or 10 years – is the chiefs coming under Zanu-PF’s control.
It has been noted that Zimbabwe is the most educated country on the continent. If you consider Zimbabweans to be a very highly educated country, how has Mugabe managed to secure such an iron fist over his people, and why have they not had the ability to fight the oppressor?
In some ways, the more educated you are, the more options you have to get out.
The fact is, with no education whatsoever, you may ultimately resist more; but if you have two degrees and a job offer is on your desk, you can just bugger off.
So Zimbabweans have left in enormous numbers. Black Zimbabweans in their millions. So that’s been one of the problems – the best and brightest have been skimmed off and have gone elsewhere into the Diaspora.
The other thing is, Zimbabweans have actually resisted – peacefully. The opposition movement (Movement for Democratic Change), from its very formation in early 2000, was a platform that was dedicated to non-violence, and it’s kept that up. It hasn’t been given nearly enough credit for that.
However, it is up against an army and police force that are extremely well established. These aren’t people into whose gun barrels you’re going to put carnations. Trust me, they are not people who are going to be using just teargas. They are pretty hardcore.
I think that there has been reluctance on the part of the opposition leadership to push young people into the guns of these oppressors.
You could argue that we’ve actually lost far more people over the last 10 years to disease and HIV and a collapse of health and agriculture than we might have done in a short, sharp revolution, but that is difficult to say.
Has the brain drain in Zimbabwe passed a point of no return?
I think that it’s hanging by a thread.
At the moment in Zimbabwe, there is still a cultural memory of how things should work, and I think that is related to the education point.
You get this tragic situation where, if you finished school 10 years ago, you’d be 28 now. So anyone beyond their mid-20s is probably still very well educated, but people under that age may have very little, since the education system has collapsed. You therefore have these contiguous generations where one is very well educated and the other is not at all educated.
We now have kids of 15 years of age who cannot even read or write, and I think that’s the worry – that you lose the cultural memory of efficiency and how it all works.
People can’t even remember how a good economy once functioned. You have to start from scratch.
Since last year, with the banishment of the Zimbabwe dollar, and everything turning into the so-called Government of National Unity, there’s been some improvement, mostly for the upper middle-classes. However, the ordinary folk still struggle to source US dollars, so their lives haven’t changed that much.
I think that the law of entropy applies here, where the more complicated the organism, the more likely it is to go wrong.
Zimbabwe has always been a smaller and simpler place than South Africa. The economy is less complex and it can probably be fixed quicker with relatively less capital.
So I do honestly think that if democracy – real democracy, not the fudge we have at the moment – were restored in Zimbabwe, much money would go in and I think you could fix it astonishingly quickly.
Whether you could still do that in five years, I don’t know. I think if it were started quickly, you could just snatch it back; but the longer it’s delayed, the more difficult it gets.
It is very sad. I have travelled to many places over the years and, after visiting Zimbabwe in 1997, I realised one of the most beautiful places on earth is right on our doorstep.
An astonishing country – and the truth is, it’s one of the reasons that I keep writing about it.
The point is that Zimbabwe is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s more important than just being viewed as a small landlocked country. In many ways, it’s become totemic. It is symbolic of Africa’s hopes and fears – continentally.
At one point, it was the most advanced country with the highest standards of living. People would always point to it as an example of “See what Africa can do and what it can achieve”, and now it’s one of the worst countries.
It has become a universal story, with a Shakespearean plot line.
There is something about the place – it affects people more than most other countries.
You must have a file bigger than a telephone directory on Mugabe’s desk, considering your books – starting with Mukiwa, to the current The Fear.
I’m not sure. (laughs) They are much more sensitive about daily newspapers, radio and TV footage, though, and I don’t think they’re great readers of books. I think, in general, they don’t see books as much of a threat.
But since The Fear was published, the ripple effect in other countries has been enormous, particularly in South Africa, where people said: “Oh, my God. This is happening on our borders!”
They are gobsmacked and ashamed that they haven’t given the situation more attention because they’ve become anaesthetised to it in a way. Then, suddenly, if you put it all together in one book, it has a real emotional impact.
You may not reach tens of millions of people, but the people you do reach become activists in a way. It can really galvanise them into doing something.
How did you manage to return secretly time and again and interview the key people you did for The Fear?
It was no great cloak and dagger thing, but there are places and ways to get in.
After years in war-torn areas, you can judge how and when a political climate goes up and down. There are times when the police are everywhere and other times when they are literally looking elsewhere and are not that bothered.
In some points, it was a very scary place to be in and, indeed, I had some near misses.
I think, certainly, having been born and having grown up in Zimbabwe helps you to fit in.
My journalistic background taught me how to blend into different environments. For example, when I was on the white farms, I made sure I was dressed to look just like a farmer; and when I was in the hospitals, I dressed consistently with people who might routinely be there.
Your sister, Georgina, was with you. I imagine that by what I’ve read, she is a broadcaster and a writer in her own right, who was banned from Zimbabwe. If everything went according to plan and the winds of change sweep through Zimbabwe, would you and your sister return to live there?
The problem is, the longer you stay out, the more you do get integrated into your other life.
My kids were born in America and London and my wife edits Marie Claire magazine in New York, so there would be nothing really as an equivalent job for her.
I think Georgina may be very tempted to go back and I’m sure she could get a good job in Zimbabwe.
I would probably spend a big chunk of every year there, but whether I could move lock, stock and barrel immediately back is a different question.
I think I’d be in a situation where I would spend six months a year there and then commute the rest of the time.
What are your thoughts on the current dilemma facing the country? Just last month, Mugabe told his so-called Prime Minister of the Government of Unity Morgan Tsvangirai that he had unilaterally appointed all 10 provincial governors. What now?
This Global Political Agreement has been breached by Zanu-PF in major ways, all the way along.
Most importantly, the electronic media is still completely dominated by Zanu-PF, as are the police and the army. All these many breaches, any one of which should be enough for the MDC to pull out.
And the process of public consultation, nationally – with town hall meetings and meetings in the countryside to decide what should go into a new constitution draft – was also deeply flawed.
In fact, what’s been happening, is Mugabe’s people have been breaking up these get-togethers where the people are critical of Zanu-PF. They get beaten up and intimidated. So that process of consultation has been a joke. It’s been a disaster.
Mugabe said that they would have a referendum on a new Constitution early this year, and if the answer was a resounding “yes” from the public, then they would have elections in June under the new Constitution; and if they vote “no”, they would still have elections in June, but under the old Constitution.
But they basically have the same underlying conditions that they had in the 2008 elections. The dollar might have gone, but Mugabe is still in charge of the forces of intimidation.
The chance of having a free and fair election under the conditions I’ve described is infinitely small.
One thing that is necessary before you go anywhere near the next election in Zimbabwe, is to completely reform the voters’ roll, which is a joke. There are thousands of voters who are over 100 years old in a country that has one of the lowest lifespan averages in the world – I don’t think so.
There are ghost voters: almost a third of the registered voters are actually dead! Others are infants.
So the MDC is faced with this terrible conundrum, which is that either it can pull out now and just bring the whole ‘unity’ government down and Mugabe would go it alone, or it can stay with it through the constitutional vote and into the next elections and almost certainly lose because of fraud and intimidation – even if the MDC is the most popular party.
My biggest worry now is the diamonds discovered in Chiadzwa. This has effectively given Mugabe a new lease on his political life. It has changed everything.
Diamonds in Chiadzwa were discovered in 2006 and started being mined by freelancers until about 2008. Then Mugabe’s people stepped in and now the Chiadzwa diamonds are the exclusive domain of Mugabe and the military. So, suddenly, this huge extra amount of money comes flowing in.
Zimbabwe was a kleptocracy, but even for the corrupt elite, there is not much left to steal in a full-blown failed state, when everything
has collapsed.
The farms, the mines and businesses eventually run out of money and the economy just gets smaller and smaller.
One would sometimes hope in those situations that that was where you would find the solution, with just no one making money anymore – but then the diamonds changed the whole dynamic.
It’s depressing. The timing of the diamond finds is extremely demoralising – it has refinanced Mugabe’s regime, made them more determined to cling to power.
This may sound like a rather juvenile question, but it is one that has come up for years at dinner parties. People argue that you do not want to make a martyr out of him, but why has no one assassinated Mugabe yet?
Mugabe has pretty good security, and the concern there is that if your method of changing power is through assassination, it tends to create a knock-on effect.
Also, the people in Zimbabwe are relatively pacifistic.
There was apparently a very early attempt by a chef, who put ground glass into Mugabe’s food in the ‘80s, but I don’t think that was political – it was some bizarre witchcraft thing.
Mugabe alluded to it once, but other than that, nothing that we know of.
Do you think many of the Zimbabwean exiles are in denial about what goes on at home?
I think that most of the black Diaspora has been aware of it because many of them have had relatives who had been tortured as well
as threatened.
It depends on when you left. Some of the whites who left a long time ago have decoupled and don’t pay daily attention to what is happening in Zimbabwe.
It also depends where people are with their own lives. Some people have stopped being exiles and ‘become’ South Africans or whatever. Their identities have changed.
For those who still try to keep a finger on the pulse, there is still much detail they may not know about which is contained in The Fear, and it has much more power when it is all laid out in literary terms in one chunk. It shocks them.
You have been involved in bringing so much attention to the atrocities happening in your homeland. Is there ever going to be a place for Peter Godwin to get involved politically, considering your history with your own country?
No, I think that is funny, as I have been asked that before.
I’m not a politician, but I think writers have real roles to play in these situations. They can bear witness, and help expose the terrible truth to conscientise people.
We have different roles in society, and writers have a really important one – particularly in unfree societies.
This is what I did after the 2008 elections. I felt that if I could contribute in some small way toward a transition to real democracy, then that would be reward enough.
When you returned at the time of the 2008 elections, to “dance on the political grain of Mugabe”, were you full of hope at the time?
Oh, yes, there was a period of about two weeks where we had seen the raw data and realised the huge extent of the turn against Mugabe.
There was much negotiation behind closed doors. Specifically with some of the Western diplomats helping to put together an exit package from Mugabe – amnesty and financial guarantees etc. – and it looked like it was really going to happen, that he would stand down.
Of course, Harare was pulsing with rumours and we all thought that there was a really good chance.
I think Mugabe was feeling his age and his wife, Grace, was saying: “It’s enough.” Then Mugabe had meetings with the generals and decided to go another way altogether.
For that brief window, though, it looked like change was going to happen.
But political parties that are born of liberation wars, and become the government, can be particularly stubborn about ceding power. They can be quite Messianic – believing they have a right to continue in power indefinitely.
In South Africa, you are on your fourth president, but Zimbabwe is still on its first.
Mugabe is so associated with power, and the party would be very vulnerable without him. He has painted himself into this corner, as he never allowed a successor to be groomed – such is the hubris of the dictator.
I don’t think that Mugabe has been bullied or controlled, but I do think that he’s not hands-on in the day-to-day running of the country. He has always delegated, that’s always been a style. He’s never been a hands-on guy in terms of how it’s done.
What is Peter Godwin’s definition of a good leader?
If you want to be a good leader, we all know the obvious things one needs, but I think you also have to have empathy. A good leader needs the ability to try and see things from other people’s point of view. You need a certain amount of empathy before they are able to feel compassion – and Mugabe has shown no compassion whatsoever to his own people.
When more and more power is concentrated in one man, such as Mugabe, the more difficult it is to change his own world view. He becomes even more authoritarian.
He reacts badly to criticism; and if people criticise him, they get taken out or squeezed out.
In that situation, people around you only tell you what you want to hear, which affects the impartiality of your input. You start getting more and more unreliable data, and your decisions start to get more and more skewed and bizarre.
For instance, about the famine, when people tried to warn Mugabe that farming had collapsed and that what few crops that had been planted, had failed, one of Mugabe’s ministers said: “No, no, I’ve flown over the country and all looks nice and green.” That’s what Mugabe wants to hear, and his ministers all know you don’t ever bring him bad news.
A real leader needs to get the real input and absorb it with empathy and then act upon it.
Mugabe lives in a totally delusional world now and I think that that is the biggest danger Zimbabwe faces.

Source: Leadership online/by Robbie Stammers

Zimbabwe/Long Crisys: Zanu in shadow of elusive magnate

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A Chinese businessman, Sam Pa, is casting a long and warped shadow over Zimbabwe as it heads towards what many fear will be violent elections later this year.

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ENIGMATIC: A rare photograph of Sam Pa who has allegedly been underwriting operations to influence the outcome of polls in favour of Zanu-PF

" 'No other foreign businessman in Zimbabwe has such enormous influence' "

He has been identified as the financier of a covert operation whose purpose is to sustain President Robert Mugabe's regime.

The details of the deal that this mysterious Hong Kong-based magnate has cut with Mugabe's national intelligence chief, Happyton Bonyongwe, have not been disclosed officially and officials loyal to Mugabe and Bonyongwe deny any connection.

International researchers into his opaque business activities have noted a similarity with his wheeler-dealing in other African countries, where companies he represents are alleged to have manipulated networks within the elites and used closed-door negotiations to secure a large stake in strategic mineral resources.

Oil-rich Angola, a rising economic power in Africa and the main source of China's oil, was a prime example. He has also invested heavily in mineral-rich Guinea and Tanzania. Madagascar since the coup has been another focus of attention. Now it looks as if Zimbabwe is falling under the spell of this canny Chinese investor.

Pa conducts his business largely under the radar, keeps his name and face out of the headlines and is said to use a variety of different identities and nationalities which he changes with nonchalant ease depending on the country and situation he is in.

In the case of Angola, the relationship was built up by key figures in the presidency and intelligence services and is now controlled by General Helder Vieira Dias. Dias, known as ''Kopelipa", is the most powerful man in the country after president Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

The courtship clinched billions of dollars of oil and infrastructure contracts for the Chinese and Angolan companies Pa's name is associated with. Although he uses a profusion of aliases Pa's special standing has enabled him to travel by private executive jet on an Angolan diplomatic passport whenever he wants.

In Zimbabwe, elements of the Bonyongwe deal have now begun to emerge and it fits his pattern of drawing members of a country's elite into lucrative joint ventures so that, over time, he becomes indispensable to them.

Some disillusioned intelligence officers and party officials, unhappy at the way the country's valuable mineral resources are being traded away for personal and electoral gain, have released what they know is happening.

They allege that in return for diamonds and mineral resources to supply China's booming economy Pa has provided funds and equipment to Bonyongwe's Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) to enable it to deliver an electoral victory for Mugabe and his party.

Opponents of Mugabe and the many Zimbabweans wanting free and fair elections and democratic and accountable government will find it disturbing to learn that a secretive Chinese businessman, who schemed his way into Mugabe's inner circle, has allegedly been underwriting operations to influence the outcome of polls in favour of Zanu-PF.

The ramifications of Pa's secret funding of the CIO are already beginning to be felt, the sources said. The money is being used to train and deploy militias who are harassing and intimidating people amid a sudden surge in political violence

"We all know that Zanu--PF does not have even a ghost of a hope of winning a free and fair election," said political analyst, John Makumbe, a longtime Mugabe critic. Makumbe said it was therefore "obvious" that the former liberation movement intends to resort to indiscriminate political violence to cow people into voting for Mugabe and his party which could spell a return to single-party dictatorship.

Pa has also ploughed money into vehicles for the CIO, providing the intelligence service with more than 100 Nissan pickup trucks, so increasing its operational capability against the regime's opponents, the sources said. He was also involved in funding a CIO hearts and minds programme and Mugabe's anti-sanctions campaign against Western governments headed by Britain and the United States which have hit Mugabe and key regime figures with a travel ban and asset freezes.

He has underwritten a seed and fertiliser inputs programme to win over the large farming vote which is vital for a Zanu-PF victory. Most striking, the sources alleged that in early 2010, he had offered to match the salaries of the entire staff of the CIO, the police and the armed forces to ensure their loyalty to the Zanu-PF cause.

There is no evidence that the money has been paid and the low salaries continue to cause resentment in the services.

Subsequently, they said Bonyongwe, himself, had proposed that the CIO should pay off all the party's debts.

The intelligence chief's suggestion caused concern in the upper echelons of Zanu-PF as questions were asked about where and how the CIO had got its hands on so much money.

The unease was not dispelled when it was revealed that Pa was behind the funding and was in a commercial relationship with Bonyongwe, the sources said. It was believed that the Chinese businessman was to be the beneficiary of lucrative diamond concessions in the Marange diamond fields negotiated by Bonyongwe. The intelligence chief used his position to intimidate local companies to sell assets to Pa at knock-down prices.

Marange is home to one of the world's richest diamond deposits. Experts say it could make anywhere in the region of $75-billion to $200-billion in the next 50 years if exploited properly. But the industry is riddled with corruption and mismanagement.

The finance minister Tendai Biti complained recently that his treasury has received almost no diamond-based revenue at all. Millions of dollars' worth of diamonds remain unaccounted for and have been smuggled abroad. Renegade CIO sources said that Pa himself "is part of the grand plan to use Marange diamonds to prop up the regime".

The sources alleged that, using different aliases, Pa had flown out of Harare and military airbases last year with about 60000 carats of gem-grade diamonds and 69kg of industrial diamonds.

Crucial to Pa's special relationship with Bonyongwe and the CIO, the sources said, was the creation of the joint-venture Sino Zim Development. Backed by Bonyongwe it was awarded its own diamond concession at Marange. Last year, Sino Zim ranked top of five bids for concessions which Zanu-PF classified as "special national interest projects". The joint venture came ahead of even a Chinese government bid backed by General Constantine Chiwenga, the Defence Force Chief and other bids which Zimbabwean ministers and vested interests had supported. This issue continues to irritate Bonyongwe's rivals at the top of the regime. But, the sources said, it was too late to undo. Pa has made himself too important to Zanu-PF for anyone to act except Mugabe as the party readies for elections. But shunned by the West, Mugabe applauds and relies on China for political and economic support.

"No other foreign businessman in Zimbabwe has such enormous influence," said one CIO officer familiar with the Pa dossier. "Pa has burrowed into the very heart of the regime. ''

It was in 2008 that Pa was first introduced to Bonyongwe and realised that he was a man he could do business with. The introduction was made by the head of the Tanzanian intelligence service, CIO sources said.

Zimbabwe, for all its great economic potential, was in a mess. It had just gone through flawed and violent elections. There were food shortages, services were at a standstill and the economy was in ruins - the kind of chaos a shrewd businessman could exploit.

Nearly three years later Zimbabwe is an important component of a vast, controversial and opaque business empire.

At its core is the China International Fund (CIF) which heads a network of more than 20 associated companies.

It occupies a building at 88 Queensway in the heart of the Hong Kong business district. Also pivotal to the structure is China Sonangol, CIF's joint venture with Sonangol, Angola's national oil company and main cash cow. Although Pa has no official position in the companies and remains anonymous, in that his name does not appear on any company documents, he has been identified as the deal-maker time and again.

Typical was CIF's $7-billion deal with Guinea's former military dictatorship which gave the fund the right to develop the country's mining, oil, gas and infrastructure projects. It was there that this rare photograph of Pa was taken (above). International human rights organisations criticised the deal, saying it showed China was willing to deal with countries with poor human rights records to secure their mineral wealth for itself.

China Sonangol has snapped up several prime Harare properties including luxury lodges and Livingstone House.

The CIO occupies one floor. When in town Pa stays at a beautiful lodge bought from a Dutch woman, where he has held parties for his CIO friends. The staff has been provided with CIO cars.

The CIO sources said they always assumed that Pa had Chinese intelligence connections.

In 2009, a US congressional commission published a scathing report about the 88 Queensway Group. It said its lack of transparency and public accountability was a "major concern" for the United States as it acquired assets globally by stealth. It implied strongly that CIF could be falsely representing itself as a private business when it was actually an arm of the intelligence and public security services out to increase China's influence and guarantee the supply of oil and raw materials from Africa to fuel its runaway economy.

The researchers said they could find no paper trail for Pa. His name was not on any company documents and he held no official positions, nor shareholding. He was an enigma. They were not sure Sam Pa was his real name, but whoever he really was they regarded him as "very important".

"The Sam Pa connection was the most elusive," one of the writers of the report recalled. "All our research was based on finding concrete documents and paper trails but he stayed essentially clean."

Chinese experts said it was not entirely uncommon for leaders of Chinese businesses to operate behind the scenes, even nominating their wives to front their companies. This was especially true when the People's Liberation Army privatised its vast business empire in the 1990s.

On one of Pa's recent visits to Zimbabwe he was accompanied by a Chinese woman called Veronica Fung, who is a director of at least 24 companies, including CIF and China Sonangol. It is thought she is Pa's wife.

The Chinese experts speculated that there could be another explanation why Pa was so hard to identify: perhaps he was a "princeling", the son of a well-connected original Chinese communist revolutionary.

"It is almost impossible to research on them, not even Chinese dissidents will touch it," said a researcher.

''But they are extremely well-connected and they are extremely organised. It is also well recognised as a problem that exists. That is obviously a possibility. How else would these companies obtain financing of billions of dollars for projects?"

A Hong Kong magazine claimed that CIF was really controlled by a Chinese man who went by various names, including Samo Xu.

Adding to the puzzle, the American congressional report said Sam Pa was possibly the businessman controlling the multibillion-dollar Chinese oil and infrastructure projects in Angola who had been identified as Xu Jinghua, but who was known to have several aliases, including Sam King.

"Xu may also refer to himself as Sam Pa or Sampa," the report said. Hong Kong sources said Pa had used the name Sam King in the 1990s when he traded guns for diamonds during the Angolan civil war.

Whoever he really he is, with this confusion of identities, it is clear that the influence of this elusive Chinese businessman in Africa is enormous.

The Chinese foreign ministry has put out several statements distancing itself from some of Pa's business dealings.

In Zimbabwe, the Chinese ambassador Xin Shunkang has also warned the government to be cautious, saying his government has no connection with China Sonangol and, by implication, Pa.

Sources said Mugabe has started to harbour reservations as signs emerged that Pa cannot deliver all that he undertook.

Pa's long-promised deal on delivery of two Airbus 340s for Air Zimbabwe from Germany fell through at the beginning of the year. But with elections in the air the regime still depends on him.

It may be that Bonyongwe will come to regret the association. For the moment, though, the Mugabe regime depends too much on this arch-manipulator with his multiple personalities and mysterious, unexplained, connections to let him go.

Timeslive.co.za

Libya/Crisys: Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi Forces Move on Town Near Rebel-Held Benghazi

AJDABIYA, Libya — Military forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi advanced Sunday on this anxious town, a strategic linchpin on the doorstep of the opposition capital of Benghazi and within grasp of a highway crucial to recapturing the eastern border and encircling the rebellion with heavy armor and artillery.

After another day of headlong retreat, this time from the refinery and port at Brega, one town west of here, the rebels prepared for what some called a last stand at Ajdabiya, taking refuge in military barracks where they stacked ammunition boxes six deep, positioned a handful of tanks and tried to bring order to a jumble of small artillery and anti-aircraft guns. Bulldozers built berms three feet high near a pair of green, metal arches that mark the town’s entrance.

The fate of Ajdabiya, an eastern town of 120,000 near the Mediterranean coast, may prove decisive in the most violent and chaotic of the uprisings that have upended the Arab world. Under a sky turned gray by a menacing sandstorm, the rebels valiantly vowed victory but acknowledged the deficit posed by their weapons and pleaded for a no-flight zone that seemed a metaphor for any kind of international help.

“Our retreat is a tactic,” said Said Zway, 29, a civil engineer-turned-fighter, at Ajdabiya’s entrance. “We can wait until they impose a no-fly zone. If they don’t, what can we do, my friend? We fight and die. God is with us, God willing.”

¶From its ecstatic beginning, Libya’s uprising has taken a darker turn, as Colonel Qaddafi’s forces have recaptured Zawiyah, near Tripoli, and are now besieging Misurata, a commercial capital and an oasis of rebel control in the west. Officials in Tripoli talk with bluster, and a more sullen mood has settled over Benghazi, where reports of lawlessness grow.

¶The United Nations Security Council may take up this week an Arab League call for a no-flight zone over Libya, a decision that Colonel Qaddafi’s government deemed Sunday an “unexpected departure” from the league’s charter. The foreign ministers of major industrial nations are expected to consider the topic at a meeting in Paris on Monday. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is to fly on to Egypt and Tunisia afterward, and is expected to meet with Libyan opposition leaders.

¶But a front line that shifted eastward by the day and plunging morale here threatened to outpace a decision that still faces opposition from Russia and China and lacks the clear support of the United States and Europe.

¶The debate abroad overshadowed the stark reality on the ground — planes alone have not defeated the rebels, but rather a relentless onslaught of tanks, artillery, helicopters and ships at sea has sent rebels hurtling back the past several days from a series of oil towns along Libya’s flat, virtually indefensible coastal plain.

¶At the front, pleas for foreign help have grown by the day, from demands for a no-flight zone to growing calls for bombing of Libyan ships at sea, military bases and Bab al-Aziziya, the compound in Tripoli that serves as Colonel Qaddafi’s headquarters.

¶“We demand intervention from America, from Britain, from France!” shouted Wanis Kayhani, 42, a fighter waiting in a parked Toyota pickup near the front. “I personally want them to send troops from abroad to stop this dictator. I swear to God almighty!”

¶“No, no, that won’t work!” another fighter shouted.

¶“Whatever it takes,” Mr. Kayhani replied.

¶Libya’s former interior minister, Gen. Abdel Fattah Younes, appeared unexpectedly before reporters in Benghazi on Sunday evening in his role as the new head of the rebel army and promised a vigorous defense of Ajdabiya, calling it a “key” city.

¶Once a close ally of Colonel Qaddafi and head of the country’s special forces, General Younes resigned his post in late February to join the rebels. He said that he had spent days at the front lines and acknowledged that opposition fighters had overextended: they advanced “too far, too fast and did not protect the areas they gained,” he said.

¶Striking an optimistic note, though, he cast the setbacks as a strategic decision.

¶“War is a matter of advance and tactical withdrawal,” he said. “What we are trying to do is lure him into an area where we can even the fight.”

¶The day began with military vehicles, ambulances, cars and pickup trucks loaded with everything from anti-aircraft guns to a coat rack fleeing Brega, which rebels held just Saturday. Winds blew sand across the street like drifting snow, as rebel trucks and cars hurtled down both lanes of a two-lane road toward an old sign that read, “Warning ... speeding is the quickest way to die.” There was no traffic going the other way.

¶They regrouped at the entrance to Ajdabiya, where only last week jubilant crowds of many hundreds had beckoned convoys of fighters west to Tripoli.

¶“We are going to defend Ajdabiya now, we have to defend Ajdabiya,” said Massoud Bousier, a 36-year-old fighter who fled Brega. “He has a tank and we have a stone. This Kalashnikov,” he said, raising his rifle, “does nothing. This is like a stone.”

¶So far, the strategy of an invigorated, though no less bizarre Colonel Qaddafi, absolute ruler here for nearly 42 years, has proven clear. With little regard for life, he has pummeled into submission rebel-held towns in his traditional stronghold of the west — Surt and Misuratah among them — and deployed to the east forces believed loyal to his sons to recapture strategic oil towns between his birthplace of Surt and Ajdabiya.

¶Ajdabiya is most strategic for its location, 100 miles from Benghazi and perched on a highway that bypasses eastern Libya’s coastal cities and cuts straight to the border with Egypt, which rebels have lightly defended. It was still unclear whether Colonel Qaddafi would try to take the city in a bloody battle or bypass it en route to Benghazi and the highway.

¶General Younes said he hoped Colonel Qaddafi’s forces would overextend as they advance, and many rebels speculated that his army was already running short on fuel.

¶Even in regions he controls, his rule remains contested. Women organized a small protest in the capital on Sunday, witnesses said, and a rebel spokesman in Misurata said 30 soldiers had defected from a brigade organized by Colonel Qaddafi’s son, Khamis, that has besieged the city.

¶But optimism was in short supply on the rebel side, and officials in Tripoli boasted they would quickly and easily, as they put it, liberate Benghazi, where the opposition has formed a state in waiting.

¶“You do not need a full-scale military attack because when we come to them, they just raise their hands and give up,” said Col. Minad Hussein, a military spokesman.

¶At the edge of Ajdabiya, rebels tried to bring military discipline to the throngs of fervent youth who have volunteered to fight. Gates were closed to two makeshift military bases, where hundreds of boxes of ammunition were stacked in a sprawling courtyard. Volunteers filled dozens of sandbags that were lined behind berms and not yet tied shut.

¶On loudspeakers, rebel leaders urged the curious to leave.

¶“If you don’t have a tank or a heavy weapon, go back home,” one shouted.

¶Rumors swirled — that rebel special forces had encircled government forces in Brega after nightfall, that 8,000 volunteers were coming under cover of night from Benghazi and that Colonel Qaddafi was deploying mercenaries from Egypt. A fear of the unknown endemic to wartime rippled through a town of dull buildings interspersed with pastels of pink, orange and green. Doctors reported shortages of equipment at the hospital, and residents stocked up on infant formula, medicine and food.

¶“When you start fighting, do you think how it’s going to end?” asked Mr. Zway, the engineer. “You don’t. There is no chance to go back now, believe me. Believe me.”

¶A little ways away, near the bulldozer that build the sand embankment, a smiling Abdel-Salam Maatouk sat with friend and drank tea boiled on a small fire.

¶“You live how many times?” he asked. “Once. You die how many times? Once.”

¶His friends nodded, as he offered a smiling soliloquy: “We’ll draw the line at Ajdabiya. And then from there to Surt and then to Tripoli. God willing, I’ll be able to shout chants at Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli, and I’ll be able to do that on a day soon.”

¶Maybe it did not really matter that he could say it tomorrow. He said it today. And as he did, the tea may have tasted a little sweeter and the campfire felt a

¶Kareem Fahim in Benghazi and David D. Kirkpatrick in Tripoli contributed reporting.

By ANTHONY SHADID/Nyt

Analysis: Seawater helps but Japan nuclear crisis is not over

NEW YORK/VIENNA (Reuters) - Pumping seawater into troubled nuclear reactors in Japan should keep them from a catastrophic full-scale meltdown, but conditions are still so volatile that it is far too early to declare the emergency over, nuclear experts said.

It is probably the first time in the industry's 57-year history that seawater has been used in this way, a sign of how close Japan is to facing a major nuclear disaster following the massive earthquake and tsunami on Friday, according to the scientists.

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) workers on Sunday were pouring seawater into two reactor cores at the coastal Fukushima Daiichi power plant and were considering using seawater on a third. Authorities have been forced to vent radioactive steam into the air to relieve pressure in the plant and reactors at the company's nearby Daini plant are also troubled.

"I am not aware of anyone using seawater to cool a reactor core before. They must be desperate to find water and the seawater was the only thing nearby," said Richard Meserve, former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and president of the Carnegie Institution, in an interview on Sunday.

He said that suggests the company has decided it will sacrifice the reactors altogether, in what has become the worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine in 1986.

The method being used to regain a semblance of control of the reactors smacks of last-resort desperation, said Robert Alvarez of the Institute for Policy Studies and formerly a senior policy adviser at the U.S. Department of Energy.

"I would describe this measure as a Hail Mary Pass but if they succeed, there is plenty of water in the ocean and if they have the capability to pump this water in the necessary volume and at the necessary rates...then they can stabilize the reactor," said Alvarez in a press conference on Saturday.

In a sign of how volatile the situation is, the Union of Concerned Scientists said in a statement on Sunday in Washington that it fears the situation "took a turn for the worse as serious problems developed" at the Unit 3 reactor at Daiichi.

It said that statements from Tokyo Electric officials indicate that water levels have dropped so far that approximately 90 percent of the fuel rods in the core of the reactor were uncovered and that despite pumping in seawater the water level is still well below where it should be.

The Daiichi plant was shut immediately after the March 11 earthquake when outside power was lost. Diesel generators kept the cooling water running over the superheated uranium fuel rods in the reactor core for about an hour until water from the tsunami caused them to stop.

Without circulating cooling water, the water inside the core was heated by the rods and enough evaporated causing some to partially melt. Adding the seawater should keep the rods from melting further, the scientists said.

The fear is that if the uranium fuel rods did not cool, then they could melt the container that houses the core of the reactor, or even explode, releasing a radioactive material cloud.

The experts interviewed by Reuters cautioned that it is still far too early to definitively say that the day has been saved, especially as the information from the company and the authorities is incomplete.

But they say that with every hour that goes by, the chances of a major catastrophe is diminished -- as long as water from the sea or elsewhere, keeps reactor cores from overheating.

Japanese authorities "appear to be having enough success to have forestalled a definite core melt accident that's difficult to control," said Mark Hibbs of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "After three days that is very good news."

Still, he said it was "still a touch-and-go situation."

A meltdown of nuclear fuel -- which contains most of the radioactivity -- would not lead to a major escape of potentially dangerous clouds into the air as long as thick walls shielding the reactor cores were not breached. The danger is that a full-scale meltdown could cause the pressures that could create that breach through an explosion.

The passage of time may help to reduce the danger, said Professor Richard Wakeford at the Dalton Nuclear Institute of Britain's University of Manchester.

"The reactor cores were still hot when the reactor shut down, as time goes on that radioactive decay heat will get less and the problem will get less," he said in a statement.

TEPCO officials have not publicly addressed the danger facing workers involved in the seawater operation at the three reactors. However, a statement from TEPCO Director Tsuyoshi Otani suggested there is some concern.

"TEPCO staff are currently working near and in the plants and injecting seawater and boric-acid into the reactors to cool down the core under such high radiation atmosphere in order to prevent catastrophe," he said in a press release.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said there might have been a partial meltdown of the fuel rods at the No. 1 reactor at the Daiichi plant.

A German industry expert, however, said any partial meltdown "is not a disaster" and that a complete meltdown was unlikely.

Robert Engel, a structural analyst and senior engineer at Switzerland's Leibstadt nuclear power plant, said he believed Japanese authorities would be able to manage the situation at the damaged Fukushima facility north of Tokyo.

Engel was an external member of a team sent by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to Japan after a 2007 earthquake that hit Japan's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, at the time the largest such event to affect a nuclear complex.

"I think nobody can say at this time whether there is a small melting of any fuel elements or something like that. You have to inspect it afterwards," he said.

Normally, Engel said, the water level inside a reactor core is 3 to 4 meters above the fuel. If the rods are not covered by water for a short period of time then they will be damaged and a core melting is possible.

"I think they will be able to manage it ... when the (reactor) containment is intact only a small amount of radioactivity can go out, like in Three Mile Island," he said referring to the 1979 nuclear accident at a plant in Pennsylvania in the United States that badly setback the nuclear industry in the United states.

At Three Mile Island, a cooling fault led to a build-up of pressure in the radioactive core and resulted in a relatively small radiation leak.

But Wakeford, the University of Manchester professor, said the Japanese authorities were doing the right thing by evacuating people in the case the worst happens.

"If the fuel is uncovered by cooling water it could become so hot it begins to melt -- if all the fuel is uncovered you could get a large scale meltdown," he warned.

By Scott DiSavino and Fredrik Dahl

Competitive parenting’s latest weapon: Just what competitive parents need in the race to have the best child in the world.

There’ll be no more excuses for under-performing children now their parents can get them tested for sporting prowess.

So, kids, just give up those dreams of being an astronaut and start running! Pic: AP

A US company is selling DNA home testing kits – just swab the little darling and post it off, and they’ll let you know whether you’re nurturing the next Usain Bolt.

Just what competitive parents need in the race to have the best child in the world. Now they can hang around the school gate boasting that not only did little precious learn to align a Rubik’s Cube at two months, he also has the genes of a champion.

Never mind that the science is wobbly at best – with experts arguing that eight in 10 humans have the relevant gene (ACTN3), and that athletic success is slightly more complex than an inbuilt genetic predisposition.

What matters is that for a mere $200-odd, parents have a piece of paper that justifies their overly optimistic expectations.

I used to coach kid’s soccer for an exclusive private school. And the parents were living the stereotype – always thinking their tubby little two-left-footer should be up the front. They’d be on the sidelines, screeching at other kids to pass to their wunderkind.

Imagine if they’d had this kid tested and found out his DNA showed he was set to be the next Flores. There’d be no stopping them.

Or imagine some poor young boy who only dreams of rocketships being told his future is long-distance running. Out come the trainers, on goes the expectant parental smile.

Atlas Sports Genetics describe the test as safe for “the youngest of athletes”, and helpfully suggest it would make a wonderful birthday present for little Johnny.

The Journal of the American Medical Association warns the tests will lead to a “winning is everything” culture for kids, while Australian Medical Association SA President Dr Andrew Lavender said:

It smacks of Hitler’s idea of the ideal race. The product preys on insecurity and ignorance. Most genes interact with each other so it is impossible to exclude specific results.

When mum or dad takes the swab of their kid’s cheeks, what are they dreaming of? Are they imagining the pure joy of their child, forced up before dawn for extra laps of the local pool?

I doubt it. They’re imagining what they’ll be able to tell their friends. Their colleagues. They’re imagining being in the VIP stands as their kid wins Olympic gold, or sitting just behind Bec and Lleyton at the tennis, while their respective progeny battle it out.

And what, then, when the kid hits the oily skids of early adolescence, when he has lost all interest in the outside world and dreams only of slaying cyber-dragons?

Will the parents’ disappointment be all the more bitter for having dreamed of physical perfection?

And this poor kid, battling with the usual pains of growing up, to know they were genetically blessed, but must be mentally flawed to have failed so badly.

Competitive parenting is a blood sport, and this mail-order test is the latest weapon.

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Libya/Crisys: NATO, war, lies and business

REFLECTIONS OF FIDEL -  (Taken from CubaDebate)

AS some people know, in September of 1969, Muammar al-Gaddafi, a Bedouin Arab soldier of unusual character and inspired by the ideas of the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, promoted within the heart of the Armed Forces a movement which overthrew King Idris I of Libya, almost a desert country in its totality, with a sparse population, located to the north of Africa between Tunisia and Egypt.

Libya’s significant and valuable energy resources were progressively being discovered.

Born into the heart of a Bedouin community, nomadic desert shepherds in the region of Tripoli, Gaddafi was profoundly anti-colonialist. It is known that a paternal grandfather died fighting against the Italian invaders when Libya was invaded by the latter in 1911. The colonial regime and fascism changed everyone’s lives. It is likewise said that his father was imprisoned before earning his daily bread as an industrial worker.

Even Gaddafi’s adversaries confirm that he stood out for his intelligence as a student; he was expelled from high school for his anti-monarchical activities. He managed to enroll in another school and later to graduate in law at the University of Benghazi, aged 21. He then entered the Benghazi Military College, where he created the Union of Free Officers Movement, subsequently completing his studies in a British military academy.

These antecedents explain the notable influence that he later exercised in Libya and over other political leaders, whether or not they are now for or against Gaddafi.

He initiated his political life with unquestionably revolutionary acts.

In March 1970, in the wake of mass nationalist protests, he achieved the evacuation of British soldiers from the country and, in June, the United States vacated the large airbase close to Tripoli, which was handed over to military instructors from Egypt, a country allied with Libya.

In 1970, a number of Western oil companies and banking societies with the participation of foreign capital were affected by the Revolution. At the end of 1971, the same fate befell the famous British Petroleum. In the agricultural sector all Italian assets were confiscated, and the colonialists and their descendants were expelled from Libya.

State intervention was directed toward the control of the large companies. Production in that country grew to become one of the highest in the Arab world. Gambling was prohibited, as was alcohol consumption. The legal status of women, traditionally limited, was elevated.

The Libyan leader became immersed in extremist theories as much opposed to communism as to capitalism. It was a stage in which Gaddafi devoted himself to theorizing, which would be meaningless to include in this analysis, except to note that the first article of the Constitutional Proclamation of 1969, established the "Socialist" nature of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

What I wish to emphasize is that the United States and its NATO allies were never interested in human rights.

The pandemonium that occurred in the Security Council, in the meeting of the Human Rights Council based in Geneva, and in the UN General Assembly in New York, was pure theater.

I can perfectly comprehend the reactions of political leaders embroiled in so many contradictions and sterile debates, given the intrigue of interests and problems which they have to address.

All of us are well aware that status as a permanent member, veto power, the possession of nuclear weapons and more than a few institutions, are sources of privilege and self-interest imposed on humanity by force. One can be in agreement with many of them or not, but never accept them as just or ethical measures.

The empire is now attempting to turn events around to what Gaddafi has done or not done, because it needs to militarily intervene in Libya and deliver a blow to the revolutionary wave unleashed in the Arab world. Through now not a word was said, silence was maintained and business was conducted.

Whether a latent Libyan rebellion was promoted by yankee intelligence agencies or by the errors of Gaddafi himself, it is important that the peoples do not let themselves be deceived, given that, very soon, world opinion will have enough elements to know what to believe.

In my opinion, and as I have expressed since the outset, the plans of the bellicose NATO had to be condemned.

Libya, like many Third World countries, is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Group of 77 and other international organizations, via which relations are established independently of economic and social system.

Briefly: the Revolution in Cuba, inspired by Marxist-Leninist and Martí principles, had triumphed in 1959 at 90 miles from the United States, which imposed the Platt Amendment on us and was the proprietor of our country’s economy.

Almost immediately, the empire promoted against our people dirty warfare, counterrevolutionary gangs, the criminal economic blockade and the mercenary invasion of the Bay of Pigs, guarded by an aircraft carrier and its marines ready to disembark if the mercenary force secured certain objectives.

Barely a year and a half later, it threatened us with the power of its nuclear arsenal. A war of that nature was about to break out.

All the Latin American countries, with the exception of Mexico, took part in the criminal blockade which is still in place, without our country ever surrendering. It is important to recall that for those lacking historical memory.

In January 1986, putting forward the idea that Libya was behind so-called revolutionary terrorism, Reagan ordered the severing of economic and commercial relations with that country.

In March, an aircraft carrier force in the Gulf of Sirte, within what Libya considered its national waters, unleashed attacks which destroyed a number of naval units equipped with rocket launchers and coastal radar systems which that country had acquired in the USSR.

On April 5, a discotheque in West Berlin frequented by U.S. soldiers was the target of a plastic explosives attack, in which three people died, two of them U.S. soldiers, and many people were injured.

Reagan accused Gaddafi and ordered the Air Force to respond. Three squadrons took off from 6th Fleet aircraft carriers and bases in the United Kingdom, and attacked with missiles and bombs seven military targets in Tripoli and Benghazi. Some 40 people died, 15 of them civilians. Warned in advance of the bombardments, Gaddafi gathered together his family and was leaving his residence located in the Bab Al Aziziya military complex south of the capital. The evacuation had not been completed when a missile directly hit the residence, his daughter Hanna died and another two of his children were wounded. That act was widely rejected; the UN General Assembly passed a resolution of condemnation given what was a violation of the UN Charter and international law. The Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League and the OAU did likewise in energetic terms.

On December 21, 1988, a Pan Am Boeing 747 flying from London to New York disintegrated in full flight when a bomb exploded aboard, the wreckage fell on the locality of Lockerbie and the tragedy cost the lives of 270 people of 21 nationalities.

Initially, the United States suspected Iran, in reprisal for the death of 290 people when an Airbus belonging to its state line was brought down. According to the yankees, investigations implicated two Libyan intelligence agents. Similar accusations against Libya were made in the case of the French airline on the Brazzaville-N’Djamena-Paris route, implicating Libyan officials whom Gaddafi refused to extradite for acts that he categorically denied.

A sinister legend was fabricated against him, with the participation of Reagan and Bush Senior.

From 1975 to the final stage of the Regan administration, Cuba dedicated itself to its internationalist duties in Angola and other African nations. We were aware of the conflicts developing in Libya or around her via readings and testimonies from people closely linked to that country and the Arab world, as well as impressions we retained from many figures in different countries with whom we had contact during those years.

Many known African leaders with whom Gaddafi maintained close relations made efforts to find a solution to the tense relations between Libya and the United Kingdom.

The Security Council had imposed sanctions on Libya which began to be overcome when Gaddafi agreed to the trial, under specific conditions, of the two men accused of the plane sabotage over Scotland.

Libyan delegations began to be invited to inter-European meetings. In July 1999 London initiated the reestablishment of full diplomatic relations with Libya after some additional concessions.

In September of that year, European Union ministers agreed to revoke the restrictive trade measures imposed in 1992.

On December 2, Massimo D’Alema, the Italian prime minister, made the first visit to Libya by a European head of government.

With the disappearance of the USSR and the European socialist bloc, Gaddafi decided to accept the demands of the United States and NATO.

When I visited Libya in May 2001, he showed me the ruins left by the treacherous attack during which Reagan murdered his daughter and almost exterminated his entire family.

In early 2002, the State Department announced that diplomatic talks between the United States and Libya were underway.

In May, Libya was once again included on the list of states sponsoring terrorism although, in January, President George W. Bush had not mentioned the African country in his famous speech on members of the "axis of evil."

At the beginning of 2003, in accordance with the economic agreement on compensation reached between Libya and the plaintiffs, the United Kingdom and France, the UN Security Council lifted its 1992 sanctions against Libya.

Before the end of 2003, Bush and Tony Blair reported an agreement with Libya, which had submitted documentation to British and U.S. intelligence experts about conventional weapons programs and ballistic missiles with a range of more than 300 kilometers. Officials from both countries had already visited a number of installations. It was the result of many months of conversation between Tripoli and Washington, as Bush himself revealed.

Gaddafi kept his disarmament promises. Within five months Libya handed over the five units of Scud-C missiles with a range of 800 km and hundreds of Scud-B which have a range exceeding the 300 kilometers of defensive short-range missiles.

As of October, 2002, a marathon of visits to Tripoli began: Berlusconi, in October 2002; José María Aznar, in September 2003; Berlusconi again in February, August and October of 2004; Blair, in March of 2004; the German Schröeder, in October of that year; Jacques Chirac, November 2004. Everybody happy. Money talks.

Gaddafi toured Europe triumphantly. He was received in Brussels in April of 2004 by Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission; in August of that year the Libyan leader invited Bush to visit his country; Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Texaco and Conoco Philips established renewed oil extraction operations through joint ventures.

In May of 2006, the United States announced the removal of Libya from its list of nations harboring terrorists and established full diplomatic relations.

In 2006 and 2007, France and the U.S. signed accords for cooperation in nuclear development for peaceful ends; in May, 2007, Blair returned to visit Gaddafi in Sirte. British Petroleum signed a contract it described as "enormously important," for the exploration of gas fields.

In December of 2007, Gaddafi made two trips to France to sign military and civilian equipment contracts for 10 billion euros, and to Spain where he met with President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Contracts worth millions were signed with important NATO countries.

What has now brought on the precipitous withdrawal of U.S. and other NATO members' embassies?

It all seems extremely strange.

George W. Bush, father of the stupid anti-terrorist war, said on September 20, 2011 to west Point cadets, "Our security will require … the military you will lead, a military that must be ready to strike at a moment's notice in any dark corner of the world. … to be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives.

"We must root out terrorist cells in 60 countries or more … with our friends and allies, we have to stop their proliferation and confront regimes which harbor or support terrorism, as is required in each case."

What might Obama think of that speech?

What sanctions will the Security Council impose on those who have killed more than a million civilians in Iraq and those who everyday are murdering men, women and children in Afghanistan, where just recently the angry population took to the streets to protest the massacre of innocent children?

An AFP dispatch from Kabul, dated today, March 9, reveals, "Last year was the most lethal for civilians in the nine-year war between the Taliban and international forces in Afghanistan, with almost 2,800 deaths, 15% more than in 2009, a United Nations report indicated on Wednesday, underlining the human cost of the conflict for the population.

"… The Taliban insurrection has intensified and gained ground in these last few years, with guerrilla actions beyond its traditional bastions in the South and East.

"At exactly 2,777, the number of civilian deaths in 2010 increased by 15% as compared to 2009," the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan annual report indicated.

"On March 3, President Barack Obama expressed his profound condolences to the Afghan people for the nine children killed, as did U.S. General David Petraeus, commander in chief of the ISAF and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

"… The UNAMA report emphasizes that the number of civilian deaths is four times greater than the number of international forces soldiers killed in combat during the same year.

"So far, 2010 has been the most deadly for foreign soldiers in the nine years of war, with 711 dead, confirming that the Taliban's guerilla war has intensified despite the deployment of 30,000 U.S. reinforcements last year."

Over the course of 10 days, in Geneva and in the United Nations, more than 150 speeches were delivered about violations of human rights, which were repeated million of times on television, radio, Internet and in the written press.

Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, in his remarks March 1, 2011 before Foreign Relations ministers in Geneva, said:

"Humanity's conscience is repulsed by the deaths of innocent people under any circumstances, anyplace. Cuba fully shares the worldwide concern for the loss of civilian lives in Libya and hopes that its people are able to reach a peaceful and sovereign solution to the civil war occurring there, with no foreign interference, and guarantee the integrity of that nation."

Some of the final paragraphs of his speech were scathing.

"If the essential human right is the right to life, will the Council be ready to suspend the membership of states that unleash war?

"Will it suspend states which finance and supply military aid utilized by recipient states for mass, flagrant and systematic violations of human rights and attacks on the civilian population, like those taking place in Palestine?

"Will it apply measures to powerful countries which are perpetuating extra-judicial executions in the territory of other states with the use of high technology, such as smart bombs and drone aircraft?

"What will happen with states which accept secret illegal prisons in their territories, facilitate the transit of secret flights with kidnapped persons aboard, or participate in acts of torture?

We fully share the valiant position of the Bolivarian leader Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA).

We are against the internal war in Libya, in favor of immediate peace and respect for the lives and rights of all citizens, without foreign intervention, which would only serve to prolong the conflict and NATO interests.

Fidel Castro Ruz

March 9, 2011

9:35 p.m.

Translated by Granma International

African consumer stands tall amid commodity boom

 

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Soaring commodity prices are boosting African economies and state budgets, but strong growth on the poorest continent is much more deep-seated than just bumper revenues from ores and oil.

In a far cry from the strained budgets of late 2008 and 2009, when oil and minerals prices collapsed, treasuries in major hydrocarbon producers such as Nigeria and Angola and copper exporters such as Zambia are now flush with cash.

Not only do the flows allow more state spending on the infrastructure needed to entrench prosperity, they also facilitate borrowing -- as is the case with Zambia, which is looking for a $500 million loan from world markets in the next six months.

However, another sharp fall in commodity prices does not spell doom for sub-Saharan Africa, which the International Monetary Fund thinks will grow 5.5 percent this year and 5.8 percent next.

"It's not as direct a correlation as people might think," said John Green, head of global business development at Cape Town-based Investec Asset Management, which has $4 billion invested in Africa outside South Africa.

"In most of sub-Saharan Africa, there's a high level of entrepreneurial energy, and basic infrastructure in terms of communications and banking is now in place. It's very difficult to just shut that down," Green said, speaking at the Reuters Africa Investment Summit.

Proving the point is the vigorous economic performance during the 2002-2008 commodity boom by non-resource producers, such as Kenya, which was humming along at 5 percent annual growth or more from 2005 to 2008.

Similarly, the lesson from the 2008/09 economic crisis is that even in countries with a heavy reliance on mineral extraction, the non-mineral sector can run its own course regardless.

For instance, diamonds are more than a third of GDP in Botswana, the world's biggest producer of the gems, meaning the overall economy took a hammering two years ago when mines were forced to close for the first time in the country's history.

But while mining contracted by 20 percent year-on-year in 2009, the financial and business services sector grew 14 percent and transport and communications 12 percent.

CONSUMING MORE

Of course, oil prices sticking above $100 a barrel will impose a large inflationary burden on the continent, where even major exporters such as Nigeria end up importing most of their petrol and diesel because of a lack of domestic refineries.

But Africa, where food and fuel makes up a much larger slice of the inflation basket than in developed markets, managed to endure crude at $120 a barrel in mid-2008.

And should prices fall back, even producers should be able to weather the storm, according to a 2010 McKinsey analysis of Africa's performance that suggested as little as 20 percent of the region's growth in the last decade was attributable to soaring commodity prices.

Reflecting this, the majority of frontier Africa investors tend to target the region's evolving consumer middle class that is expected to increase its spending from $860 billion in 2008 to $1.4 trillion in 2020.

"The African growth story is not being led by commodity prices," said Kofi Bucknor, a partner at private equity firm Kingdom Zephyr, which is in the middle of investing a $429 million fund across the region.

Zephyr's existing investments include a South African electricity transmission company, a tuna-processing plant in Ivory Coast and a Barcelona-based firm specializing in producing low-cost housing for north African markets such as Morocco.

In general, banks and telecommunications firms are key investment picks because of the explosive growth they are expected to register in the world's last major untapped region.

A study by consultancy Bain released this week suggests the continent's financial services will grow by 15 percent a year over the next decade, and account for nearly 20 percent of regional output in 2020, from 11 percent now.

"It's a story about economic and political change. It's a story about opening up markets and attracting capital. And it's a story about a growing consumer class that is seeing the effects of globalization, changing its spending habits and asking for a wider range of goods and services," Bucknor said.

"Commodity prices have just been the icing on the cake."

By Ed Cropley, African Investment Correspondent

Angola Minister:Worried About Oil-Price Impact On World Economy

Houston - The impact that oil prices, currently boosted by unrest in the Middle East, could have on the global economy is concerning, more so as oil markets seem to be well-supplied with crude, Angola's oil minister said Monday.

"We are concerned, we have said that," said Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, adding that high oil prices not only result in more volatility for a recovering economy, but also in higher costs for oil producers. "A situation like this doesn't satisfy anybody."

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires ahead of the IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates meeting here, the minister said that an ideal price for Brent crude would be $90 a barrel. On Monday, Brent for April delivery settled down 0.8% at $115.04 a barrel.

West Texas Intermediate futures in New York rose 1% to $105.44 a barrel, the highest level since Sept. 26, 2008.

Currently, oil producers see the market as "very well supplied," with high levels of inventories, de Vasconcelos said. Unfortunately, instability in the Middle East has prompted speculation in the markets to drive prices up; changes in the value of the U.S. dollar versus the euro have also contributed to an increase in oil prices.

That is why members of the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries don't see the need to call for an extraordinary meeting, the minister said. "The fundamentals of the market are in a good position," he said.

The minister said Angola, a member of OPEC, is producing about 1.7 million barrels of oil per day. The country has a production capacity of two million barrels of oil per day, he said.

-By Angel Gonzalez, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9214;

Libya: 'Gaddafi will prevail', says Barack Obama's intelligence chief

James Clapper's remarks came as the Dow Jones index fell 228 points

London - James Clapper, the director of US national intelligence, told the Senate armed services committee “the regime will prevail”, forcing the White House into an embarrassing damage control exercise.

“With respect to the rebels in Libya, and whether or not they will succeed or not, I think frankly they’re in for a tough row,” he said, adding the momentum had shifted to Col Gaddafi.

“I don’t think he has any intention of leaving. From all evidence that we have ... he appears to be hunkering down for the duration.”

His remarks came as the Dow Jones index fell 228 points on concerns over the effects of the Libyan conflict on oil supplies, slipping back under the psychological barrier that it passed in late January.

Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, will travel to Egypt and Tunisia next week to press democratic reforms after the recent rebellions and meet members of Libya’s opposition.

Libyan Rebels Gain Diplomatic Advance, but Retreat on Battlefield

Photo: VOA - P. Ittner - Rebel fighters at positions outside Brega, Libya, show their support for the opposition and their

 

Libya’s opposition had success on the international stage Thursday, but setbacks in fighting against forces loyal to the country's leader, Moammar Gadhafi.

The opposition lost territory in both the east and west of the country, though the rebels here in Benghazi were buoyed by the recognition by France of the opposition administration.
Hundreds of supporters took to the streets in the opposition’s stronghold. They carried signs praising and thanking France for recognizing their new interim governing council as the representative of the Libyan people.

For 19-year-old Zarah this puts France in good standing in her heart and her favor. "They are good to us from the start, they stand with us since the beginning… So they good… We like France… We like them more… We like the government France."
For the rebel leadership, it means more than good tidings that France has recognized them. As opposition spokesman Mustaffa Geliani put it, it means some tangible steps forward for what he hopes will be the new government of Libya…
"At least as a legal government of this country we can request to purchase weapons if we have to," said Geliani… "We could address United Nations, formally, as a country, trying to protect ourself, which we couldn’t do that before… Once you have recognition and you are member of world community you can ask for things. Before we were doing it, in a sense, illegally, right? It’s a revolution. But today we have a voice. So we are quite optimistic… Time is on our side."
Time may not be on the side, however, for the fighters on the front lines. Counter-offensives by government troops are using overwhelming force and regaining territory with a bloody cost.
Even the rebel leadership now acknowledges the western town of Zawiya, near Tripoli, is back in the hands of forces loyal to Gadhafi after holding out for days.
In the east, the oil refinery town of Ras Lanuf is under intense pressure from airstrikes, artillery and naval bombardment. Rebel fighters were seen leaving. Reports from the town and refinery are that they were on the verge of falling into the hands of pro-Gadhafi forces.

If that happens, there are only a handful of small towns to slow down a government push across the desert. Just a bit more than 200 kilometers lie between Ras Lanuf and the opposition stronghold of Benghazi.

Voanews.com

Italia/Educazione: La scuola dei copioni; due su tre "sbirciano" il vicino

I furbetti del compito in classe sono perlopiù maschi e asini in matematica. È l'identikit emerso da uno studio sull'arte di "ispirarsi", pratica perdonata dal 77% dei docenti. Un giudizio ben diverso da quello che ha costretto un ministro tedesco a dimettersi. Primato tra i periti agrari: il 45% si fa aiutare dai compagni. Contro l'11% nei classici

di VERA SCHIAVAZZI

Ecco, finalmente, un campo nel quale le buone, vecchie abitudini si intrecciano con le nuove tecnologie, senza elidersi né cannibalizzarsi. Sui banchi di scuola italiani, nelle università, nei concorsi, si copia come prima e più di prima. Lo fanno tutti, i maschi più delle femmine, gli studenti del liceo scientifico più di quelli del classico, chi è scarso in misura maggiore rispetto ai bravi, ma - al netto dei contrappesi statistici - le percentuali sono eloquenti: copiano "spesso" o "qualche volta" il 69,2 dei ragazzi, il 59,8 delle ragazze. Due studenti su tre. E a comporre l'identikit del copione ci sono dati curiosi, come il primato dell'istituto tecnico agrario, dove confessa di copiare spesso il 45,1 per cento degli allievi, contro l'11,1 dei classici. All'artistico, in compenso, non copia mai il 12,8 per cento, ma è facile ritenere che questo dato, il più virtuoso in assoluto, sia legato alla difficoltà di riprodurre un disegno o una tavola. Chi ha la media dell'8, del resto, copia spesso soltanto nel 6,4 per cento dei casi, mentre chi è sotto il 6 lo fa una volta su due.
È da questi dati, messi insieme con lunghe ricerche e incroci, che è partito il sociologo Marcello Dei per il suo "Ragazzi, si copia", che esce domani per il Mulino con una prefazione di Ilvo Diamanti. Lo studioso e altri ricercatori (nel caso dei licei, Rita Chiappini) hanno poi classificato i sentimenti di chi attinge a piene mani, nascondendosi al professore: 6 su 10 risultano indifferenti, uno su quattro è soprattutto soddisfatto per la furbizia dimostrata. La gioia supera di un soffio il senso di colpa: 38,5 per cento contro 37,1. Un atteggiamento mentale lontano, almeno apparentemente, da quello tedesco, che ha da poco spinto alle dimissioni il ministro Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, smascherato come laureando copione, o i regolamenti delle principali università americane che prevedono l'espulsione in caso di plagio.
D'altra parte, in Italia, chi non copia non lo fa per virtù. "Timidezza e superbia. Sono i due difetti che mi hanno impedito di farlo, ma non ci avrei trovato nulla di male - ammette Domenico Starnone, scrittore ed ex prof, autore di Ex Cattedra e Sottobanco  -  Ero, anche, abbastanza arrabbiato con i miei compagni che copiavano ossessivamente mentre io sgobbavo sui libri. Più tardi, da insegnante, ho valutato seriamente la possibilità di consentire ai ragazzi di accedere alle fonti: come si fa, per esempio, a scrivere qualcosa di non banale in un tema letterario se non si ha la possibilità di consultare dei testi? Chi non sa nulla, comunque, non è in grado di fare neppure questo". Stesso problema per gli scienziati: copiare è un'arte e richiede abilità. "Per "rubare" un compito di matematica al compagno bisogna comprendere le formule, altrimenti si sbaglia - spiega il matematico Piergiorgio Odifreddi - Inoltre, ci vuole una grande fiducia nelle capacità dell'altro, che io per esempio spesso non avevo, convinto di essere il migliore... Si copia fin dai tempi di Pitagora, e i geni come lui sono rarissimi: la maggior parte di noi, anche dopo la scuola, non fa altro che rimasticare cose già fatte da altri".
La tolleranza è molto diffusa. "Copiare - avverte Dei nel suo nuovo libro - è come giocare a guardie e ladri. Presuppone l'interazione tra copiatore e guardiano, e magari un terzo complice". Del resto, come rivelano i suoi dati, solo il 24,4 per cento dei professori ritiene il fatto di copiare il compito in classe "molto condannabile", mentre chi suggerisce ai compagni può essere perdonato secondo il 77 per cento. Il campione utilizzato dall'autore tra gli alunni di quinta elementare e quelli delle medie inferiori, del resto, rivela che il vizio si impara da piccoli: già in quelle classi, infatti, copia spesso il 4,7 per cento, e qualche volta un più consistente 28,7, mentre solo il 25 per cento si dichiara del tutto virtuoso. In cima alla classifica c'è la matematica, che offre quasi la metà delle occasioni di frode. Bambini e ragazzi, del resto, non vengono particolarmente repressi: alla domanda "sei stato scoperto?" il 58,3 per cento dei copioni risponde con fierezza "mai", e al quesito "che cosa è capitato quando l'insegnante se ne è accorto?" il 6,2 per cento asserisce che non è successo nulla e il 38,8 spiega con sollievo di aver ricevuto "solo una sgridata", mentre è stato punito il 10,8 per cento. "Rubare" i compiti scolastici, d'altra parte, è un delitto senza vittime, almeno nella percezione degli studenti italiani, e tutt'al più fa male a chi lo commette. Alla domanda su quale sia il danno di questo comportamento, il 66,8 per cento risponde "lo studente che lo fa e ottiene un buon voto inganna se stesso", mentre solo il 6,6 ritiene che la parte lesa sia il compagno dal quale si è copiato, e il 12 per cento si rammarica per chi "invece ha studiato".
Ogni tanto, qualcuno si stanca di dover passare i compiti, come l'astronoma Margherita Hack. "Feci una gran scenata ai miei compagni, ero stanca di essere sfruttata, e del resto non andavo oltre il 6 o il 7", racconta. Lo scrittore Claudio Magris ne fa, invece, una questione di lealtà: "Passare il bigliettino al compagno in difficoltà insegna a essere amici di chi ci sta di fianco". La pensa allo stesso modo Fabrizio Jacobacci, avvocato, titolare di uno degli studi più importanti al mondo specializzati nella tutela dei marchi, e dunque nelle strategie anti-plagio. "Ero bravo in matematica - racconta - e facevo in modo che tutti i miei amici riuscissero a copiare da me. Almeno allora non ci vedevo nulla di male".
E tra i coming out più famosi, come dimenticare quello di un imprenditore di successo, Luca di Montezemolo, che nel maggio del 2007 incoraggiò così gli studenti della Luiss: "A scuola ero campione mondiale di copiatura, facevo sempre in modo di mettermi vicino a qualcuno bravo e generoso...". Altri, come l'attore e regista Moni Ovadia, rivendicano il sottile filo rosso che unisce la tolleranza tra i banchi con arte, musica, teatro. "Copiavo, avrò copiato di certo qualche volta - ricorda Ovadia, che ha frequentato il liceo scientifico alla Scuola ebraica di Milano - Ora lo faccio di continuo, perché il mio lavoro non è altro che trasferire delle idee, possibilmente senza spacciarle per nostre. Un giorno un pianista klezmer di Cracovia suonò una canzone che mi piaceva molto, glielo dissi e mi rispose: "La musica è mia, le parole le ho rubate anche quelle". È stata una lezione di vita". Lontano dai palcoscenici e fuori dalle aule, però, esistono mondi dove il furto del lavoro altrui è considerato una bestemmia: "Cerchiamo di avere idee originali, ma se fossimo tentati di copiare i concorrenti se ne accorgerebbero subito - dice Anna Innamorati, pubblicitaria, presidente di McCann Erikson Italia - Paradossalmente, per noi, l'esistenza della Rete e la possibilità per tutti di spiare il lavoro altrui ha reso più difficile il plagio".
La condanna morale del copiare, invece, è al centro del sistema scolastico americano, dove la parola usata è cheating, imbrogliare. "Per chi studia negli Stati Uniti - dice Daniela Del Boca, economista, docente, studi a cavallo tra i due Paesi - si tratta di una possibilità che non esiste, specialmente una volta arrivati all'università, dove si paga molto e in genere si è molto motivati. Ma copiare viene stigmatizzato fin dal liceo. Copiare significa non credere in se stessi, che si scontra con l'individualismo alla base del loro pensiero, mentre da noi prevale la tendenza a conformarsi ad un gruppo. Personalmente, se scopro uno studente che copia annullo la sua prova, ma perlopiù cerco di responsabilizzarli". La maggior parte dei prof, però, non è così ottimista, e cala le armi di fronte a finti orologi collegati a Internet o alla vecchia "cartucciera" ancora in voga, con le varie traduzioni infilate negli interstizi della cintura. "Che cosa dovremmo fare? - lamenta l'insegnante di liceo Luigi Smimmo, uno dei tanti che hanno scritto a Marcello Dei - Dare da tradurre versioni non d'autore, in modo che siano introvabili? O isolare le nostre aule, creando una zona senza campo telefonico? Impossibile. Non resta che continuare a lavorare. E sperare".

5 Ways To Make Money Online: Marketing, Blogging, etc

Today, making money online has never been easier. New opportunities are literally sprouting out daily. It can get pretty confusing and complicated to try and choose which of the opportunities to grab. The following ways are still the best and most effective ways of making money online.

1. Affiliate marketing - Affiliate marketing is simply selling other people's products and services. If you make a successful sale, you earn a sales commission. If you have experience of offline sales, then affiliate marketing will be a lot easier to learn for you. There are thousands of affiliate companies online from which you can choose from. These include Amazon, ClickBank, eBay, Commission Junction and a whole lot more. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages so it's best that you weigh down all these pros and cons against each other to find the affiliate company suited for you. There are many ways as well of doing affiliate marketing. The best way still is to create a website, your own website where you can then promote and sell your affiliate products and services. You can also buy advertisements from other websites or ad programs and include in your ads your affiliate links.

2. Blogging - It is very common nowadays to hear of bloggers making full-time incomes online. You can as well if you have the right skills and attitude. The key to blogging business is patience and your actual knowledge about what you are blogging about. There are numerous ways on how to monetize a blog. The most used technique is to display advertising on your blog. These could be direct ads purchased from you served by advertising programs like AdSense or Bidvertiser. You can also promote affiliate products and services on your blog. All you have to do is direct your visitors to affiliate companies and if they buy something, you earn a sales commission. Or you can create your own products like an eBook and sell it directly on your blog.

3. Freelance writing - The internet is run and powered by content which can be in the form of images, videos, articles or a combination of the three. Now, it is without a doubt that articles comprise more than 50% of the internet's content. This is great news if you are a freelance writer. Blogs, websites and companies are always in the lookout for freelance writers to hire. All you have to do is find these writing jobs. There are hundreds of job boards online listing these writing jobs. Just find them and apply.

4. Domain flipping - You set up and create websites then offer them up for sale. This can be very lucrative if you are good in finding profitable and in-demand niches.

5. Direct selling - This is the best way to make money online if you have your own product that you yourself created. You can list your product in sale directories or you can setup a website just for the product.

The above-mentioned ways to make money online are the most popular and effective. Start using them first before you try your hands on other ways.

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26 Best Online Photo Editors And Image Tools if you love pics

Imagine that you could conduct quality photos edition or image manipulation without the need of having pricey software or even engage a professional to do it. Forget about high-end desktop image & photo editor or application, what normally seems like the indispensable tools for photographer, designers or even image addicts could be replaced with free or budget web based image & photo editors.

Plenty of online photo editors have surged up steadily in recent years as photo manipulation and modification sets the trend. We could enhance, change, add effects, customize the looks and make interesting photo editing without the familiarity and program like Photoshop or other desktop bound software. With just a web browser and few clicks of the mouse, we could be featured on a magazine cover, change our facial expression or even personalized our own photos.

One notable reason that encourages us to use these free online photo and image tools, other than entertaining ourselves, is that we won’t be draining our processor speed and memory which is heavily required by high-end photo editing software.

These 26 web based photo editors and image tools’ showcases here are some of the most popular, efficient and powerful in term of features available online. Some of them are mainly for entertainment so feel free to try them out and you will agree with us that even free tools could be great too. Enjoy and have fun!

Web Based Image And Photo Editors

Aviary

Aviary is currently a comprehensive suite of 5 tools which includes Image Editor, Image Markup, Effects Editor, Swatch Editor and Vector Editor. A next generation of design tools is under development and will be available soon. The Phoenix is a very powerful image editor that can be said as a true competitor for Photoshop, just that this one runs directly from a browser. There are many videos tutorials on how to use it to produce some stunning photo effects.

Aviary

BeFunky

BeFunky is founded by Tekin Tatar & Kemal Ozisikcilar. BeFunky allow everyday people to easily create photographically rich and artistic results from their digital images without the need for any technical knowledge. These "one-click" photo effect options produce desired results effortlessly and each effect comes with the option to make simple adjustments.

BeFunky

BigHugeLabs

BigHugeLabs boosts a huge based of utilities and photo editor tools. From magazine cover creator to FX, a tool that can transform your photos with fun special effects and filters. Be sure to explore each of the tools slowly and did we mentioned that there are some interesting games and toys available too!

BigHugeLabs

Blingee

Blingee turns traditional photos into cool pictures by simple to use tools to create your own masterpieces that express your own ideas, feelings, and emotions!

Blingee

Condenet

Condenet Wired Cover tool allow you to design your own wired magazine cover for entertainment purposes! You can customize your cover headlines, border, color palette background and even upload a favorite photo. After that, yo ucan print out your creation.

Condenet

Dumpr

Dumpr is where you can create marvelous photos with cool and interesting effects to share with your friends. There is no limit on how many effects you can generate. While Dumpr offer most of their effects for everybody, some of the effects are for PRO users only. This is because some require more computing power than others.

Dumpr

FACEinHOLE

FACEinHOLE allows you to create a totally "new look" for you and your friends in a matter of seconds. You just have to select a scenario, upload and adjust a photo (or use your webcam) and there you have it; a great FACEinHOLE that you can send to your friends, post in your blog or make available to the world. Did we mentioned that it's free too!

FACEinHOLE

flauntR

This cool online photo editor featured fun and easy options such as cool and funky frames for images to other more advanced editing option such as contrast adjustments. This editor also allows integration with popular social sites like Facebook, Blogger and Windows Live Spaces by using the site's ProfilR editing tool.

flauntR

FotoFlexer

FotoFlexer was founded by Arbor Labs and describe as the world's most advanced online digital photo editor. It performs advanced effects previously only available to professionals using expensive software. It like Picasa running in your browser. If you are searching for a feature in online picture editors, then FotoFlexer has it.

FotoFlexer

Funny.Pho.to

Funny.Pho.to is an online Photo Enhancement and Presentation Platform with face detection technology. It allows you to take advantages of the file selection panel which can saves up to 20 latest results and allows you to instantly create beautiful 3D albums and flash-based slide shows with your enhanced photos. You can also upload your image to be vote or create a template for others to use.

Funny.Pho.to

Funphotobox

The FunPhotoBox is a free photo editing online service where you can create funny pictures from your photos and allows you to add special effects to your photos.

Funphotobox

Hairmixer

Hairmixer allows you to select celebrity photo from the net or upload your own photo to mix and match their face or hair. You can choose from hundreds of virtual hairstyle and get a new hairstyle and color in seconds.

Hairmixer

Instyle

InStyle Hollywood Makeover allows you to try on the hottest celebrity hair and makeup looks. Simply upload your own photo try on New Star Styles added every month Or try on tons of lipstick, lip gloss and eye makeup shades. You can even try on Best Beauty Buys from their annual list.

Instyle

MagMyPic

MagMyPic create fake magazine covers and comics with your picture which is perfect for posting on MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Hi5 and other social networks & blogs.

MagMyPic

Photo505

Photo505 enable you to select from numerous digital photo effects to add into picture for fun. It's digital photo effects is almost updated daily so be sure to check them out.

Photo505

PhotoFunia

PhotoFunia is an online photo editing tool that gives you a fun filled experience. You upload any photo and their proprietary technology automatically identifies the face in the photo and allow you to add cool photo effects and create funny face photo montages. With hundred over effects, PhotoFunia is free, fun and very easy to use.

PhotoFunia

Photoshop

Photoshop.com is the complete solution for managing, editing, storing, and sharing your photos online, with tutorials, inspiration and more. Photoshop.com is available from any web-enabled computer, compatible mobile phones, and directly from within Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 or Adobe Premiere Elements 7 software. Organize, tweak, create, e-mail, display, and store--all with Photoshop.com.

Photoshop

Photovisi

Photovisi let you create collage style wallpapers using your own photos. There are many templates to choose from and very easy to use.

Photovisi

PicArtia

PicArita is a free powerful service to create online photo mosaic (or photo collage) easily. Enjoy the quality, speed and easiness for creating your own photo mosaic online free. Alternatively, you can watch the short tutorial video to get started.

PicArtia

Picnik

Picnik makes your photos fabulous with easy to use yet powerful editing tools. With it's beautiful and responsive interface, it's why Picnik is one of the most pleasant and popular online photo editor to use. On the downside, the free version of the site features only the basic photo editing options like cropping, resizing and adjusting color.

To get more effects, a $25 annual fee is required.You can also photos directly from most photo sharing sites such as Flickr, Picasa Web Albums, Facebook, Photobucket and pretty much provide any image URL to start editing it or email photos to a variety of sites like Wal-Mart Photos, Snapfish and AOL Pictures.

Picnik

Pixlr

Pixlr is the creator of online cloud-based image tools. As of now they have two applications in their suite, one is Pixlr Editor and the other is Pixlr Express. They are built in Flash and you need to have a Flash plug in to get it to work.

The Pixlr services is built for users that have basic editing needs like editing web images to be posted on social networks like Facebook, MySpace and image sites like Flickr, Fotolog, Photobucket etc. Pixlr also being described as Photoshop in a browser, continues to amaze many.

Pixlr

Pizap

Pizap is a free online photo editor featuring fun free photo effects, photo stickers and one click effects for your digital photos. PiZap provides a very easy to use photo editor that lets you add photo effects, custom text or speech bubbles, hundreds of original colorful stickers, a full painting program, and much more.

PiZap also has built in tools for sending e-cards, downloading your image, embedding your image in any website, or sharing the link directly to your image.

Pizap

Poladroid

Poladroid is a easy and fun image maker that create easily high resolution Polaroid-like pictures from your digital photos. Even though still a beta version, it's quickly gaining popularity.

Poladroid

Slaspup

Splashup, formerly Fauxto, is a powerful editing tool and photo manager. With the features professionals use and novices want, it's easy to use, works in real-time and allows you to edit many images at once. Splashup runs in all browsers, integrates seamlessly with top photo-sharing sites, and even has its own file format so you can save your work in progress.

You can open files from your computer or from all popular photo sharing sites. It supports the concept of layers, like Gimp and Photoshop. Splashup also has the ability to import images directly from your webcam.

Slaspup

Sumo Paint

Sump Paint is a free image editing software that gives you the opportunity to create, edit and comment images online with powerful tools and layer support. Sumo Paint also claim to be the easiest, fastest and most creative paint application on the Internet.

Sumo Paint

WriteOnIt

WriteOnIt is a fun image manipulator that can easily create your fake pictures,captions and fake magazines or other funny jokes for you and your friends.

WriteOnIt

Switching To Online Photo Editors?

Having fun with these easy and convenient online photo tools? There are just too many type of photo editors and image manipulator that claims to be the best around today. It's up to the individual to decide which one suit them the most.

Which online photo tools do you use the most? Did we miss one? Let us know, or leave your personal favorites in the comment below.

Mor info: http://www.onextrapixel.com/

Presidente da República anuncia transferência de Novas Centralidades

O Presidente da República, José Eduardo dos Santos, anunciou segunda-feira, dia 27 de Setembro, a transferência das Novas Centralidades do Kilamba Kiaxi, Zango e Cacuaco, em Luanda, do Gabinete de Reconstrução Nacional (GNR) para a emprensa Sonangol Imobiliária.
O Chefe do Executivo, que falava durante uma visita à Nova Centralidade do Kilamba Kiaxi, informou que a Imobiliária da multinacional angolana vai cuidar de todas as matérias relacionadas com o desenvolvimento do projecto e com a venda dos espaços e edificios das Centralidades projectadas em Cabinda, Kuando-Kubango e Dundo.
Essa decisão, explicou, insere-se num “conjunto de medidas que têm a ver com a transferência de todas as responsabilidades” que cabiam ao Gabinete de Reconstruçao Nacional, no quadro da execução de vários projectos do Estado referentes à reabilitação de infra-estruturas e edificação de Novas Centralidades.
José Eduardo dos Santos anunciou, igualmente, a transferência do Gabinete de Reconstrução Nacional para outras entidades que vão desenvolver projectos de construção de infra-estruturas rodoviárias, ferroviárias e de reabilitaçao de infra-estruturas sociais.
Reconheceu que o Gabinete de Reconstrução Nacional desempenhou um papel central e fundamental no quadro da reconstrução do país, relançou projectos de reabilitaçao dos caminhos-de-ferro, actualmente em fase bastante adiantada, e “cuidou da reabilitaçao e construção de vias rodoviárias estratégicas” nacionais.
A Sonangol fica igualmente com a responsabilidade da Zona Económica Especial (ZEE) de Luanda-Bengo. Para este projecto, o Presidente da República defendeu uma “articulaçao com a Centralidade do Kilamba Kiaxi e disse esperar que, das cerca de 70 unidadades fabris instaladas na ZEE, pelo menos 14 mil pessoas venham a conseguir postos de trabalho.
O desejo do Chefe do Executivo é que a Nova Centralidade do Kilamba Kiaxi seja “um modelo” com os serviços necessários para que seja útil ao desenvolvimento do país, com espaços administrativos e sociais condignos.
José Eduardo dos Santos esclareceu que o Estado vai recorrer a especialistas estrangeiros para assessorar quadros angolanos na “concepção de um modelo de gestão e organização” daquela Centralidade, para se evitar os problemas que Luanda vive actualmente.

Portal oficial dos Serviços de Apoio ao
Presidente da República de Angola:  Eng° José Eduardo dos Santos