From: Erooth Mohamed <ekunhan@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 11:15 AM
Subject: [bangla-vision] Gadhafi's Crackdown.. Mubarak's sons received millions of dollars from Israel
Report: Mubarak's sons received millions of dollars for backing Israeli gas sales
Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported Sunday that it obtained the documents from the Egyptian interior ministry.
http://english.themarker.com/report-mubarak-s-sons-received-millions-of-dollars-for-backing-israeli-gas-sales-1.347560
Gamal and Alaa Mubarak, the two sons of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, received hundreds of millions of dollars in "commissions" from the sale of Egyptian natural gas to Israel, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reported yesterday.
Gamal initially demanded a 10% commission but eventually agreed to half of that, while his elder brother and businessman Hussein Salem settled for 2.5% each from the $2.5-billion deal signed in May 2005. Salem, considered to be very close to the Mubarak family, is the the largest shareholder in Eastern Mediterranean Gas, the Egyptian firm that supplied the gas to Israel. Mubarak's sons allegedly backed the controversial gas exports to Israel in return for the payments.
| Gamal Mubarak, the son of then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and once a powerful member of the ruling party's secretariat, November 28, 2010. | |
Al-Jarida said it obtained the documents from a special department at the Egyptian interior ministry that was looking into various activities of the family of the former president, who was toppled in a popular uprising last month. Al-Jarida published photocopies of the alleged documents. The paper said negotiations took place involving Israeli officials, former Egyptian oil minister Sameh Fahmi and Salem in January 2005.
The deal called for 1.7 billion cubic meters of gas to be sold annually over 15 years by EMG to the Israel Electric Corporation. In December 2010, four Israeli firms signed 20-year contracts, worth up to $10 billion, with EMG to import Egyptian gas. Gas exports began flowing in February 2008 after the pipeline to Israel was completed.
Egypt supplies about 40% of Israel's natural gas, which is used to produce about 20% of Israel's electricity.
Gadhafi: Crackdown on Libya revolt is like Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza
Speaking to France 24, long-time Libyan Leader says estimated figures of rebel, civilian casualties are exaggerated, adding that at most '150 to 200 people were killed.'
Long-time Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi said Monday in an interview with TV network France 24 that his violent crackdown on opposition protesters is akin to Israel's efforts to defend itself from extremism during its 2009 Gaza war against Hamas.
Libya has come under international scrutiny in recent weeks, in response to violent clashes between the Libyan military and anti-Gadhafi rebels, confrontations which caused what are estimated to be hundreds of deaths.
| Muammar Gadhafi, seen in Rome, 2009. | |
| |
On Monday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon dispatched a team to Tripoli to assess the humanitarian situation in the wake of the Libyan crisis, criticizing the Libya military's "disproportionate use of force."
Speaking with France 24 later Monday, however, Gadhafi defended his military's right to oppress rebel activity, comparing his crackdown to Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in 2009, saying that "even the Israelis in Gaza, when they moved into the Gaza strip, they moved in with tanks to fight such extremists."
"It's the same thing here! We have small armed groups who are fighting us. We did not use force from the outset… Armed units of the Libyan army have had to fight small armed al Qaida bands. That is what's happened," Gadhafi said.
Referring to the purported number of casualties in wake of fighting in Libya, the long-time leader claimed "there have been at most 150 to 200 people killed."
View Libya in a larger map
"People should come here and see how many people have been killed. They can come and check among the population, and among the police and the army," Gadhafi said.
Gadhafi also dismissed the assessment that recent events injured the Libya's links with the West, saying that the country had "very good relations with the United States, with the European Union and with African countries," adding that "Libya plays a crucial role in regional and world peace."
The interview came as earlier Sunday, a top official in Gadhafi ruling establishment made an unprecedented appeal to dialogue between the warring factions, in attempt to end the conflict.
Jadallah Azous Al-Talhi, a Libyan prime minister in the 1980s who is originally from eastern Libya, appeared on state television reading an address to elders in Benghazi, the main base of the anti-Gadhafi rebels.
He asked them to "give a chance to national dialogue to resolve this crisis, to help stop the bloodshed, and not give a chance to foreigners to come and capture our country again."
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment