XXX Date On-line

He said the ethnic Albanian majority and the Serbs remained online dating service software
opposed on the final status issue.

In international law, Kosovo remains a province of Serbia, but has been online dating services web site
by the United Nations since Serb forces were ousted in 1999.

“I don’t see the parties moving on the status issue,” Mr Ahtisaari told a parliamentary seminar in Helsinki.

However, he said there had been progress on technical matters since direct talks began in Vienna in February. He has been overseeing the talks.

Pressure on Ahtisaari

Last month the Serbian parliament adopted a new dating ethnic site declaring Kosovo to be an integral part of Serbia, despite the ethnic Albanians’ demand for independence.

Serbia will now put the constitution to a referendum vote at the end of this month, to be followed by elections.

Failure to come to an agreement puts the onus on Mr Ahtisaari to come up with recommendations to be approved by the UN Security Council, the BBC’s Balkans expert Gabriel Partos says.

There is widespread most popular online dating that the eventual settlement will give Kosovo independence - albeit of a free online dating kind, under strict international supervision to protect the Serb minority.

Because of this, the Serbian government would like to put off the decision on Kosovo’s future, Gabriel Partos says.

But Mr Ahtisaari said he had received no instructions for a slow-down from the six-nation Contact Group spearheading the UN’s efforts to find a settlement.

Contact Group diplomats have told the BBC any discussion about a revised timetable would be purely hypothetical at this stage.

But they say if, and when, Serbia does set a date for elections, the Contact Group may reconsider the timing.

For the most part, the names that have disappeared have been those of white Afrikaners, many of them prominent during the days of apartheid.

OR Tambo International is South Africa’s busiest airport, handling 16 million passengers a year.

It started life in the 1950s as Jan Smuts Airport, in honour of the country’s war-time prime minister.

During the decades of racial segregation, all the airports in South Africa were named after Afrikaner leaders.

However, with the advent of democracy in 1994, those names were removed, and as part of the compromise, the airports became known by their respective towns or cities.

OR Tambo is an icon in our political history. Everybody in the airport is excited about the name change Chris Hlekane Acsa general manager

The decision to rename Johannesburg Airport again is arguably the most important change to date.

Oliver Tambo who was affectionately known as “OR”, led the ANC in exile for 30 years.

His contribution to the struggle against apartheid was immense, but he died in 1993, a year before South Africa’s first democratic elections.

The Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) says there has been a positive response to the dating ethnic site decision to recognise the late ANC president.

“OR Tambo is an icon in our political history,” says general manager Chris Hlekane.

“Everybody in the airport is excited about the name change. People have begun to say ‘ORT’, and this marks one of those events which cements what we have come through as a country.”

Raging debate

However, opponents of the government’s name changes, who are mainly white, say it is ethnic dating site meddling and a waste of money.

Tim du Plessis, editor of the Afrikaans Sunday newspaper, Rapport, believes that feelings often run much deeper.

“You must understand that the Afrikaners only have one history, and that history is here in South Africa. They feel their history is being obliterated,” he says.

They are so many unsung heroes of magnitude in this country who’ve contributed to where we are today - and very few of them have been recognised Thembi Tambo

Mr du Plessis points to the town of Lydenburg in Mpumalanga Province where a change to an African name has been proposed.

“Lydenburg means ‘town of suffering’. It was a town that the Voortrekkers established after many of them died from malaria at a previous settlement. There’s no colonial or political connotation there. And so more and more people are saying: ‘why must we put up with this?’”

Oliver Tambo’s daughter, Thembi, is delighted that her father is being recognised at Johannesburg Airport.

She hopes that in 20 years, South Africa’s history will be more accurately remembered.

“They are so many unsung heroes of magnitude in this country who’ve contributed to where we are today - and very few of them have been recognised.

“President Thabo Mbkei’s father, Govan Mbeki, is one. Moses Mabhida of the SA Communist Party is another. They’re people we should know about,” she says.

Divisive

The government has been dating ethnic site in its approach to name changes.

In the suburbs of Johannesburg, for example, the name of the first dating free online site usa prime minister, DF Malan, has gone from a main road through the suburbs, and replaced by that of the late Beyers Naude, a prominent anti-apartheid activist.

I don’t think we want that kind of ethnic mobilisation to happen in South Africa. It’s bad for this country, whether it’s Zulu mobilisation or Afrikaner mobilisation Tim du Plessis Rapport newspaper editor

But elsewhere in Johannesburg, the names of Afrikaans-speaking politicians remain, including the key architect of apartheid, Hendrik Verwoerd.

A fierce argument in the capital, Pretoria, has resulted in the retention in the city centre of the name that remembers the Great Trek leader, Andries Pretorius.

But the greater metropolitan area is now known as Tshwane, the name of an old tribal chief.

Rapport editor Tim du Plessis feels it is important that the government should follow this “give-and-take” approach.

But he warns that it is a difficult part of South Africa’s ongoing transformation.

“It’s very divisive and it causes a form of alienation. It’s unifying Afrikaans-speaking people around these things. And I’m not too sure that’s a good thing.

“I don’t think we want that kind of ethnic mobilisation to happen in South Africa. It’s bad for this country, whether it’s Zulu mobilisation or Afrikaner mobilisation.”

Last year Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Albania all edged closer towards joining the EU.

But a draft Commission report to be published next week says the countries cannot expect to join the EU in the short term, despite some progress.

The report says they are likely to join only in the medium to long term.

The countries are now marking time - not only because reforms have slowed down at home, but also because people in Western Europe want enlargement to pause.

Reforms needed

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was hoping to start membership talks, but the European Commission is saying: “Not yet.”

The draft report seen by the BBC urges Skopje to speed up political reforms, fight free online dating and improve relations with ethnic Albanians if it wants to move ahead with its EU bid.

The report praises Serbia’s new constitution and the country’s economic stability. But it offers no prospect for the early dating ethnic site of talks on an dating ethnic site agreement unless Belgrade helps catch Gen Ratko Mladic, suspected of dating ethnic site some of the worst atrocities of the Bosnian war a decade ago.

Balkan leaders will be told to delay EU membership talks

Serbia is also urged to take a constructive approach to Kosovo, where the majority ethnic Albanians are expected to gain limited independence in the next few months.

The report describes the question of Kosovo’s status, relations with Serbia and Bosnia’s future as the major challenges for the year ahead.

But it points out that accession for the countries of the region is many years away and calls for the EU to refrain from setting any dates for future new members.

It appears unlikely that a large group of countries will join at the same time, the European Commission says. Future accessions are likely to occur in the medium to long term.

When they meet in December, EU leaders are expected to back those conclusions.

But some, like the French and the Austrians, will be frustrated that the Commission has stopped short of setting the bloc’s ultimate borders.

The EU is defined by its values, the draft report says, rather than by fixed geographical limits.

Commodore Frank Bainimarama said in a televised address he had assumed executive powers and dismissed Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase.

Cmdr Bainimarama accused the prime minister of corruption and leading Fiji on a path of doom.

Mr Qarase, who said he would now retire from politics, accused the military of bringing “shame to the country”.

He said Cmdr Bainimarama was feeding the country lies about his government.

I urge all citizens to remain calm, and maintain the peace that currently prevails Cmdr Bainimarama Profile of army chief In pictures: Fiji coup Press reflects unease

“What the military has done is raped our constitution,” Mr Qarase said.

“They have brought shame to the country… and all right-thinking people should stand up and fight for our democracy - by peaceful means of course,” he said.

“Fiji has now become a laughing stock in the international arena.”

Fiji’s largest daily newspaper, the Fiji Times, says it has suspended publication after refusing to accept censorship.

Cmdr Bainimarama had repeatedly threatened to unseat Mr Qarase, expressing anger at the prime minister’s proposed legislation to offer an amnesty to those responsible for a 2000 coup which Cmdr Bainimarama helped put down.

FIJI TENSIONS TIMELINE 2000: Brief coup put down by army chief Bainimarama July 2005: Bainimarama warns he will topple government if it pardons jailed coup plotters May 2006: PM Laisenia Qarase wins re-election 31 Oct: Qarase tries - and fails - to replace Bainimarama November: Qarase says he will change law offering clemency to coup plotters - Bainimarama warns of coup 5 Dec: Military declares coup Fiji voices: Coup impact Fears for future History of coups

Cmdr Bainimarama warned that more troops would be seen on the streets but said there was no curfew and he urged the population not to be intimidated.

He said Fiji had reached a “crossroads” and that the government had been “unable to make decisions to save our people from destruction”.

“I urge all citizens to remain calm, and maintain the peace that currently prevails,” he said.

Cmdr Bainimarama named a doctor, Jona Senilagakali, as caretaker prime minister and said he would next week ask the Great Council of Chiefs to restore executive powers to President Ratu Josefa Iloilo.

The president would then appoint an interim government and elections would follow at an ethnic dating site date, the military chief said.

Cmdr Bainimarama said the prime minister had created tension in the army by trying to have him removed.

Acting dating ethnic site of the largely unarmed police force, Moses Driver, condemned the takeover.

“The military has now indulged in a very serious criminal act and… we are not going to support the military,” he said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark also condemned Mr Bainimarama, saying he had “taken leave of his senses and the power has certainly gone to his head”.

Britain said it had suspended military assistance to Fiji and was “considering further measures with our international and Commonwealth partners”.

Troop request

Fiji has a population of only 900,000 but is a major tourist destination and attracts up to 400,000 visitors a year.

Bainimarama is a man with power and intelligence who is not joining hands with the corrupt but is going against them to help the people of Fiji Trot, Suva Send us your comments

It has also witnessed ethnic dating political tension over the past 20 years between ethnic Fijians, who make up about 50% of the population and ethnic Indians at around 44%.

The military takeover will add to the concerns of Australia and New Zealand about political instability in the wider Pacific islands region.

Australia, Britain and New Zealand had advised their citizens to stay away and warned of dire social, economic and diplomatic consequences if the military completed its coup.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard earlier said he had turned down a request from Mr Qarase to send troops to prevent a coup.

“The possibility of Australia and Fijian troops firing on each other in the streets of Suva was not a prospect that I for a moment thought desirable,” Mr Howard said.

For some businesses operating in Iraq, coalition forces cannot get out soon enough.

“The departure of the coalition military would be very welcome, and the sooner it happens the better,” David Horgan, managing director of Petrel Resources, told the BBC World Service’s Business Daily programme.

“In terms of the local security environment, the coalition provides nothing to us in any area that we act in anyway.”

Mr Horgan’s firm, based in Ireland and active in Iraq since 1999, is developing two oilfields for the Iraqi oil ministry, as well as exploring other fields.

Petrel’s operations are in the south and in the centre.

In the south, he said, it relied less on coalition troops than on local Shia militias and on the Iraqi government police “which are often hard to distinguish”; while in the centre security was non-existent.

Online dating services web site

The biggest single hazard is that we are seen as westerners and thereby contaminated by association with the coalition military David Horgan, Petrel Resources

Mr Horgan was speaking ahead of the release of the report from the Iraq Study Group (ISG), led by ex-US Secretary of State James Baker.

He is in no doubt that his firm’s operations get little benefit from the coalition presence.

“The biggest single hazard is that we are seen as westerners and thereby contaminated by association with the coalition military,” he said.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence, however, insists that coalition forces - among whom British troops number about 8,000 - are in Iraq because the Iraqi government continues to want them there, for security and training purposes.

Defence Secretary Des Browne said recently that the UK would stay until its job was complete.

“We will make sure that we do not ask a single extra soldier to remain in Iraq longer than is necessary,” he said.

“In the end, of course, it must depend on conditions on the ground including the level of threat and the capacity of the Iraqis to deal with it.”

Long-standing problem

Security problems are nothing new for Western firms operating in Iraq.

Since the invasion by US and other forces in March 2003, and throughout the subsequent operation, there have been a stream of incidents that have highlighted the threat to firms and individual contractors there.

Indeed, according to Economist Intelligence Unit analyst Neil Partrick, the result is that - in some ways - the most prominent presence by Western firms on the ground in Iraq is in the form of private military and security companies such as Blackwater, Armor Group, Aegis and Custer Battles.

There are also the much larger oil and construction firms such as Halliburton’s KBR - which won billions of dollars worth of dating free online site
contracts from the US Department of Defense - and Bechtel.

Different sources

Bechtel has now announced it is pulling out.

Bechtel has been in Iraq since 2003

It has completed all of its contracts, but said in November that the “heartbreaking” deterioration in the security situation was a key factor in its decision not to seek any more.

No more US money is forthcoming on top of the $18bn or so allotted to date. Much of that, in any case, was spent on security and - it is alleged - billions went to corrupt officials and local power brokers.

Still, according to Neil Partrick, more is still forthcoming - $3,5bn from Japan, as well as sizable contributions from Middle Eastern states and Europe.

‘No difference’

Anyone wanting to bid for it, though, is going to have to contend with the security situation.

“Violence is increasing in scope and lethality,” the ISG report warns.

The upsurge has been teen online dating
marked in the past year, since Sunni militants bombed the iconic golden dome of a Shia shrine in Samarra in February 2006.

(A withdrawal) won’t reduce the key sources of tension: the contest for power and wealth between, and even within, sectarian and ethnic groups Neil Partrick, EIU

And although a sudden withdrawal of coalition forces might make things worse, a medium-term pull-out by coalition forces may not make much difference one way or the other.

“On the timescales suggested, reducing the presence of troops may reduce some of the tensions that encourage insurgents,” Mr Partrick said.

“But it won’t reduce the key sources of tension: the contest for power and wealth between, and even within, sectarian and ethnic groups.

“Whether or not troops are stationed in central Iraq, that will go on.”

On the ground

Whether troops stay or not, it is crucial to rely on local dating ethnic - as almost all foreign firms do, said Mr Partrick - and their local knowledge.

“The three Kurdish provinces in the north are relatively stable,” Mr Partrick said.

“But if you’re talking about operations in some of the most insecure parts of the country, the north and the west, then it’s highly unlikely that even profound local knowledge is going to help you.

Security has been a major issue for contractors in Iraq

As for the Dating jewish online service
south, there are relatively well-established political structures, Mr Partrick said, but still huge challenges and endemic corruption.

And within Baghdad, the acute sectarian divides mean that up-to-date local knowledge is crucial - “and, frankly, money outside formal contracts”.

Who you know…

What really matters, Mr Horgan said, is who you rely on.

“You have to closely associate yourself with the legitimate government,” he said.

“We only work for the Ministry of Oil. For example, if the ministry says, ‘Don’t work in the Kurdish area’, then you don’t, and you don’t use any contractor who does work in the Kurdish area.”

And the ISG’s call for diplomacy to bring Iran and Syria into the Iraqi situation finds an echo in business terms.

“If it’s useful having close relations with the Iranian authorities it’s a good idea to go to Tehran and introduce yourself to the Iranian Ministry of Energy, and the National Iranian Oil Corporation,” Mr Horgan said.

On the ground, however, it can be difficult for companies to decide how safe it is to be in any given area.

“You have to listen with your middle ear to the local people - not someone who presents himself in London or Paris as an expert - but the people who actually have considerable influence on the ground, and ingratiate yourselves with them,” Mr Horgan said.

But he maintained: “As long as you show proper courtesy and spend a little bit of money in the local area, you shouldn’t have any serious problems.”

Cmdr Bainimarama was sworn in as the country’s temporary leader on Friday, almost a month after dating ethnic the previous government in a military coup.

He has promised that the interim ethnic dating will pave the way for a return to democracy.

But no date has yet been given for new elections.

New leadership

The eight interim ministers were dating ethnic site sworn in on Monday by President Ratu Josefa Iloilo, who was restored to office last Thursday after being deposed during the coup.

But the president’s position is largely ceremonial, and the ministers were actually chosen by Cmdr Bainimarama.

FIJI TENSIONS TIMELINE 2000: Brief coup put down by army chief Bainimarama July 2005: Bainimarama warns he will topple government if it pardons jailed coup plotters May 2006: PM Laisenia Qarase wins re-election 31 Oct: Qarase tries - and fails - to replace Bainimarama November: Qarase says he will change law offering clemency to coup plotters - Bainimarama warns of coup 5 Dec: Military declares coup Fiji voices: Coup impact Fears for future History of coups

According to the online news site Fiji Live, a former military commander and speaker of specialty dating mormon site, Ratu Epeli Dating jewish online, will act as the interim foreign minister.

Suva lawyer Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is the new Attorney General, while caretaker Prime Minister Jona Senilagakali - who resigned last week to make way for Cmdr Bainimarama to take the job - has become health minister.

Other ministers include a former navy officer and two former senators, according to local media. More appointments are expected on Tuesday.

Fiji’s first ethnic Indian premier, Mahendra Chaudhry, who was ousted during a previous coup in 2000, has also reportedly been offered a position, but he has so far refused to comment on whether he will accept the job, according to Fiji Live.

The new Foreign Minister, Mr Nailatikau, said the new government would try to restore ties with Fiji’s neighbours, some of which publicly condemned the coup and even called for sanctions against the new administration.

“That’s part and parcel of this game,” he told the Associated Press news agency. “Those countries have the right to do that. We have to abide by it but at the same time, we will be talking to them and seeing what we can do about it.”

Cmdr Bainimarama seized control of the country in December, marking the fourth coup in two decades.

He accused former Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase’s government of corruption and racism against the country’s ethnic Indian minority.

He acted like the accuser rather than the accused and repeated the same words that got him into trouble in the first place.

“This democracy is not a democracy,” he bellowed as a reporter thrust a microphone in his face.

“This dating ethnic site shall be brought down and our struggle shall certainly end in victory over this evil regime.”

And for the next quarter of an hour, he had the entire court listening to his angry tirade in which he rained abuse on the Nigerian justice system.

“We must rise up: in the creeks; on the streets; in the village squares; in our homes. We must go down on our knees and pray against this evil system.

“For six months, I was kept in a 20-feet underground cell against court orders and someone tells me this is a democracy,” he said, working himself into tears.

Violence

Mr Asari was arrested in September 2005 after telling a local newspaper he would topple the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The government no doubt hoped that the NDVF would disappear without its fiery leader but instead the wave of violent attacks on oil installations has dating free online site usa, albeit under a new name - Movement for the Dating ethnic site of the Niger Delta (Mend).

Security was tight outside the courthouse

And now the militants - largely ethnic Ijaws like Mr Asari - have a new demand to add to that of local control of the Delta’s oil wealth - the release of their leader.

In court, his first wife, Mujahidat Dokubo-Asari tried to talk him into stopping the tirade, but he shouted her down, telling her “this fight is not about you”.

Members of his Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF) helped him to change from a white T-shirt into a black one that bore that the picture of Isaac Adaka Boro, the Niger Delta’s first rebel.

Sporting an overgrown beard, he also donned a black woolly hat with an Arabic free online dating site sex
and a sword on it.

The complete picture was reminiscent of Mr Asari’s self-given name of Mujahid after the mujahideen - or holy warriors - of Afghanistan’s Taliban.

Mr Asari only suspended his tirade to receive his one-year-old daughter whom he had not seen for the past six months.

Trial judge Justice Peter Olayiwola, who seemed amused by Mr Asari’s outburst, was rudely told by the angry militant that the smile playing on his face could soon turn to tears.

“What sort of justice is this?” Mr Asari angrily asked the trial judge.

“Is this the justice of Satan? You are laughing now, when it happens, your family will cry.

“I am just restraining myself. When I stop restraining myself, your laughter will turn to crying.”

Barred

When Justice Olayiwola ordered that he be returned to his police cell until the next court date of 5 March, Mr Asari flared up again, saying he was not going to leave the court room.

Riot policemen eventually removed him from the court room and led him to a waiting minibus that was crammed with gun-toting security operatives.

Even Mujahidat Dokubo-Asari could not calm down her husband

Displeased with Mr Asari’s behaviour since the case began, the prosecution requested that the accused be barred from future court appearances.

But the defence argued that they needed to time to file a counter-motion adult free online dating site
the prosecution’s application.

The court says it will hear the motion and the counter-motion next month, further pushing back the date when the real trial gets underway.

There have been rumours that a deal to release him could be in the offing - a move by the government to calm the region which has seen violence spiral almost out of control.

But as he got back into the police van he led his supporters in the militant song - a show, for now, of defiance.

Presented by Kirsty Wark

Army Racism

Is it acceptable for a Tory frontbencher to suggest that being called a “black bastard” was part and parcel of Army life for ethnic minority soldiers? David Cameron thinks not and so forced his Homeland Security spokesman Patrick Mercer to resign today.

In an interview with The Times Online, Patrick Mercer, a former colonel in the Worcester and Sherwood Foresters who had a distinguished military career, said that he had known many soldiers from ethnic minority dating free online place
who used racism as an excuse for poor dating ethnic site.

Is that verifiable? Was David Cameron right to sack him, or does he stand accused of trying to stifle debate and argument?

TV phone-ins

“We are shocked and disappointed and wish to apologise unreservedly to our viewers.” Those were the words of Channel Five’s Chief Executive Jane Lighting after “issues” came to light involving its daily quiz programme Brainteaser. It’s made by the aptly named “Cheetah” Television, a subsidiary of Endemol.

Responding to recent public concerns Five has been reviewing its premium rate services to ensure producers comply with the law and ICSTIS and Ofcom codes. But now Five has suspended all its photo service for online dating
involving premium rate telephone services. Ofcom is also to carry out an investigation into the irregularities. Can we trust anything on TV anymore?

Northern Ireland

After today’s Northern Ireland Assembly elections the Reverend Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness will probably have to find a way to work together at the head of any new power sharing executive. Liz McKean will be live from Belfast with the latest on the vote.

Science boy

We bring you the next instalment in the adventurous life of Newsnight reporter - and Physics student Steve Smith. In the course of his scientific studies he flew to Colombia to see the railways his grandfather built through the South American countryside - but the engineering on the plane wasn’t as precise as his grandfather - or Steve - might have expected. And so Steve had a bit of trouble concentrating hard enough on his revision for his physics exam. Don’t give him a hard time though, you know what teenage boys are like!

Women’s Day

Oh and, happy International Women’s Day . We’ll have a report from Iran, where attempts to mark the date have been decisively stamped on and an interview with the author of the online dating services web site
book ‘Reading Lolita in Tehran’.