Death of South Africa's first
black president sparks global outpouring of grief and affection, as
Jacob Zuma announces funeral will be held on 15 December
Latest
“Former prime minister Gordon Brown told
ITV News that Mandela had phoned to congratulate him the day after his
son's birth.
Brown said: "We'd…”
Latest reaction to Mandela's death
Former prime minister Gordon Brown told ITV News that Mandela had phoned to congratulate him the day after his son's birth.
Brown said: "We'd both lost children and we had what was not a
statesman to statesman conversation but a father to father conversation.
"That was Mandela all the time - the personal care he took in his
relationships, his great sense of humour .... he was just a very
complete and warm human being".
The New York Stock exchange is to hold a minute's silence in Mandela's honour.
Earlier trade was halted for five minutes on the Johannesburg stock exchange, Africa's largest bourse, out of respect.
Brazil
The Brazilian president's office put out this message from Dilma Rousseff.
The Brazilian government and people are dismayed to receive the news
of the death of Nelson Mandela. A major figure of the twentieth century,
Mandela led with passion and intelligence one of the most important
processes of emancipation in modern history - the end of apartheid in
South Africa.
His fight has become a model, not only for Africa, but for all those who struggle for justice, freedom and equality.
The Brazilian government and people bow down before the memory of
Nelson Mandela and transmit to their families, to President Zuma and
South Africans our deepest condolences. The example of this great leader
will guide all those who fight for social justice and peace in the
world.
Mandela death is likely to be marked by a minute's silence at today's
World Cup draw in Costa do Sauipe, according to our Brazil
correspondent Jonathan Watts.
Here's the full text of Zuma's statement setting out the funeral arrangements.
Compatriots and friends around the world,
We meet on the second day of the passing of our beloved founding
President of a free and democratic South Africa, His Excellency Nelson
Mandela.
We sincerely thank all South Africans for the dignified manner in
which they have responded to the monumental loss of this international
icon who was a symbol of reconciliation, unity, love, human rights and
justice in our country and the world.
We thank the Heads of State and Government, international
organisations and eminent persons around the world who continue to send
messages of condolence and support to the family and all South
Africans.
We announced yesterday that the Former President will be accorded a
State Funeral. He will be laid to rest on the 15th of December, in Qunu
in the Eastern Cape province.
We should all work together to organise the most befitting funeral
for this outstanding son of our country and the father of our young
nation.
We have declared Sunday, 8th December as a national day of prayer and reflection.
We call upon all our people to gather in halls, churches, mosques,
temples, synagogues and in their homes for prayer services and
meditation, reflecting on the life of Madiba and his contribution to our
country and the world.
The main activities of the national week of mourning are as follows;
The official memorial service will be held on the 10th of December at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.
From the 11th to the 13th of December, the remains of our beloved
Madiba will lie in state at the seat of government, the Union Buildings
in Pretoria, where he served as the first President of this young
democracy. During these days, official memorial services will also be
held in all provinces and regions.
Once again we thank all South Africans for the dignity, respect and
the support that has been provided to the Mandela family, from the
period of Madiba's illness to his eventual passing.
The outpouring of love that we experienced locally and abroad was unprecedented.
It demonstrates the calibre of leader that was Madiba.
We will always love Madiba for teaching us that it is possible to
overcome hatred and anger in order to build a new nation and a new
society.
We will spend the week mourning his passing.
We will also spend it celebrating a life well lived, a life that we
must all emulate for the betterment of our country and Africa.
Long live Madiba!
You can see the power of his example in one of my favorite
photographs ever. My dad went to visit him in South Africa along with
President Jimmy Carter. President Mandela took them to a clinic that
cared for infants born with HIV. As reporters and photographers looked
on, he picked up one of the babies and held it in his arms. President
Carter and my dad did the same. The next day, the image of all three men
cradling HIV-positive babies was broadcast throughout South Africa.
It sent a powerful message: that people did not need to be afraid of touching a person with HIV.
It was just one small step, and we still have a long way to go in the
fight against AIDS. But Nelson Mandela played a crucial role in the
progress we have made so far. I will never forget the example that he
set.
Nelson Mandela has passed away, an icon of our time, for man's
dignity, equality and freedom, a selfless human being, who struggled not
only for the black South Africans against Apartheid, but for the
dignity of all of us. History will throw a very kind light on him.
Mandela deserves it.
Updated
Daniel Howden recorded this clip of singing outside Mandela's home in Houghton
Mandela's home
Cars are parked up for more than five blocks around Nelson Mandela's home in the plush suburb of Houghton, writes Daniel Howden.
An ANC truck sits blocking the main junction with a giant, beaming Jacob Zuma emblazoned on the side.
Many families have come to pay respects but one of the neighbours is
having a children's party across the street and guests are wading
through onlookers, complaining at the inconvenience.
#Mandela's Houghton home in upscale Joburg looks like the cheerful adverts for South Africa, affluent & colour blind
— Daniel Howden (@howden_africa) December 6, 2013
The memorial service will take place on 10 December at the FNB stadium in Johannesburg - the site of the 2010 World Cup final.
From the 11 - 13 December Mandela's body will lie instate at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Zuma said.
Official memorial services will also be held all over the country during this period, he said.
Zuma said the outpouring of love in South Africa and across the world has been "unprecedented".
He added: "It demonstrates the calibre of the leader that Madiba was."
Zuma ended his announcement by saying: "love live Madiba".
Updated
Zuma said: "We should all work together to organise the most
befitting funeral for this outstanding son of our country and the father
of our nation."
We have declared Sunday the 8th of December as a national day of
prayer and reflection. We call upon all our people to help in halls, in
churches, in mosques, in temples, in synagogues to hold prayer services
and mediation reflecting on the life of Madiba and his contribution to
our country and the world."
Zuma announces funeral date
Zuma has confirmed that the funeral will be held in 15 December in
Qunu. A memorial service will be held in 10 December in the national
stadium.
Funeral date
The funeral will be held on Sunday 15 December, according to South African broadcaster eNCA.
BREAKING: The funeral for Nelson #Mandela will be held on Sunday the 15th of December.
— eNCA (@eNCAnews) December 6, 2013
The interview was recorded at a time when a show of force by the
South African government tested Mandela's non-violent strategy.
At one point in the interview he said:
This show of force throughout the country, notwithstanding our clear
declaration that this campaign is being run on peaceful and nonviolent
lines, closes a chapter as far as out methods of political struggle are
concerned.
There are many people who feel that it is useless and futile for us
to continue talking peace and nonviolence against a government whose
reply is only savage attacks on an unarmed and defenceless people.
I think the time has come for us to consider, in the light of our
experiences in this stay at home, whether the methods which we have
applied so far are adequate.
Mandela was never a revolutionary, according to the Guardian's Gary Younge, who writes:
While other freedom fighters on the continent were embracing
socialism and pan-Africanism, Mandela at his trial praised the country's
former colonial power. "I have great respect for British institutions
and for [Britain's] system of justice. I regard the British parliament
as the most democratic in the world."
But he was always a radical. Comfortable with communists, he could
have left jail a lot sooner if he had been prepared to ditch his
comrades in the name of pragmatism. More recently he was forthright in
his condemnation of the Iraq war, insisting that the attitude of the US
was "a threat to world peace".
Updated
Zuma is due to announce the funeral arrangements in 15 minutes or so, according to the South Africa Press Association.
President Jacob Zuma expected to announce details of arrangements for Mandela's funeral at 3pm on Friday #RIPNelsonMandela
— SA Press Association (@SapaNews) December 6, 2013
At Westminster MPs will get a chance to pay tribute to Mandela in a special debate being scheduled for Monday, writes Andrew Sparrow.
David Cameron and Ed Miliband will lead the tributes, and there will a
parallel session in the House of Lords, opened by the leader of the
Lords, Lord Hill.
There are also plans to hold an event in Westminster Hall, the oldest
part of the Palace of Westminster and the venue for Mandela's address
to both Houses of Parliament in 1993. The exact details have yet to be
confirmed, but Peter Hain, the South African-born former Labour cabinet
minister who was a leading anti-apartheid campaigner before he became an
MP, said it would provide an opportunity "for civil society, for the
anti-Apartheid diaspora still in London, for everybody who wants to
commemorate Nelson Mandela’s life."
Hain said John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, had proposed the idea and
that Westminster Hall was an ideal venue for people "come together and
commemorate an incredible life".
Cameron is also expected to travel to South Africa next week to take
part in the South African government's state memorial service
commemorating the life of Mandela. On Friday morning Cameron signed a
book of condolence for Mandela at South Africa House in London.
PM signs Nelson Mandela condolence book: Your generosity, compassion & forgiveness have given us lessons to live by pic.twitter.com/JN1N343vGr
— UK Prime Minister (@Number10gov) December 6, 2013
The South African government has yet to announce details of the funeral arrangements.
The mourning period is expected to last more than a week, according to AP.
It reports the scene outside Mandela's house.
Hours after his death on Thursday night, a black SUV-type vehicle
containing Mandela's coffin, draped in South Africa's flag, pulled away
from Mandela's home after midnight, escorted by military motorcycle
outriders, to take the body to a military morgue in Pretoria, the
capital.
Many South Africans heard the news, which was announced on state TV
by President Jacob Zuma wearing mourning black just before midnight,
upon waking on Friday, and they flocked to his home in Johannesburg's
Houghton neighbourhood. One woman hugged her two sons over a floral
tribute.
A dozen doves were released into the sky. A man walked around with a
tall-stemmed sunflower. People sang tribal songs, the national anthem,
God Bless Africa, the anthem of the anti-apartheid struggle and
Christian hymns. Many wore traditional garb of Zulu, Xhosa and South
Africa's other ethnic groups. One carried a sign saying: "He will rule
the universe with God". Jewish and Muslim leaders were also present.
Preparing for larger crowds in the coming days, portable toilets were
delivered. Also expecting an influx of mourners, a man sold flags and
paraphernalia of Mandela's political party, the African National
Congress, or ANC. Zuma will lead a delegation of party officials to
offer condolences to the Mandela family in Houghton.
Mourners carrying a picture of Mandela gather outside his home in Houghton. Photograph: Handout/Reuters
Pope Francis paid tribute to Mandela's struggle to forge a just South Africa, Reuters reports.
In a telegram to Jacob Zuma he said:
"I pray that the late president's example will inspire generations of
South Africans to put justice and the common good at the forefront of
their political aspirations.
The pontiff praised "the steadfast commitment shown by Nelson Mandela
in promoting the human dignity of all the nation's citizens and in
forging a new South Africa built on the firm foundations of
non-violence, reconciliation and truth".
Updated
Government buildings across the world are flying flags at half mast (with the notable exception of Australia).
The Twitter feeds of various governments have the photographic proof.
The Guardian's video team has upload footage of former Archbishop of Cape Town Desmond Tutu leading a service there.
Updated
The Guardian's photo team is running a separate blog showing the reaction in pictures.
Europe
The European commission has put together a video tribute to Mandela
featuring him meeting various dignitaries, including Jacques Delores,
and addressing the European parliament.
Updated
Nadime Gordimer
The South African novelist Nadine Gordimer recalls what happened when Mandela was awarded the Nobel peace prize.
In a blogpost for the New Yorker, she writes:
When it was announced that Nelson Mandela was to receive the Nobel
Peace Prize, in 1993, the joy among some of us was slightly diminished
by the Nobel committee’s decision to award the prize to FW de Klerk as
well. There would be one ceremony in Oslo for both recipients. I was
invited, along with George Bizos, to be in Mandela’s entourage. We
travelled to Sweden with him and other ANC leaders, and we had the
unforgettable experience of seeing him receive the honour.
After the ceremony, we had another kind of experience. As part of
Mandela’s entourage, we stood on a balcony of the hotel where all of us,
including Madiba (as Mandela was known), were staying. We saw him being
celebrated by a huge crowd of people, Scandinavians and others, all
singing and chanting ANC freedom songs. It was an ecstatic celebration.
George and I noticed De Klerk and his wife standing on an adjoining
balcony, and we were not able to credit what we saw next. The De Klerks
turned their backs on the joyous crowd in the street below and retreated
inside the hotel. Had de Klerk just realised that the songs were not
for him?
Updated
Caroline Davies has more reaction from the world of entertainment:
Steven Van Zandt, actor and guitarist with Bruce Springsteen’s E
Street band, who in 1985 recruited performers to record Sun City, an
anti-apartheid album, said: “Nelson Mandela set the standard for all
revolutionaries past, present, and future: have a righteous cause, fight
with dignity, and win with grace”.
Singer Geri Halliwell, who as a member of the Spice Girls pop group
met Mandela, posted several pictures of their encounter on Twitter along
with the message “Rip Nelson Mandela, it was a absolute honour to meet
such an inspiring man, he was amazing, incredibly charming and warm”.
Rip Nelson Mandela , it was a absolute honour to meet such an inspiring man , he was amazing, incredibly charming and warm.
— Geri Halliwell (@GeriHalliwell) December 6, 2013
Updated
Soweto
The Guardian's South Africa correspondent, David Smith, is tweeting the reaction in Soweto.
At Mandela's old house in
Soweto. About a hundred people dancing and singing liberation songs.
Written on whiteboard: "Rest in peace Tata."
— David Smith (@SmithInAfrica) December 6, 2013
A man on Vilakazi Street says: "Nothing like this has happened in the whole world."
— David Smith (@SmithInAfrica) December 6, 2013
Lifelong Soweto resident: "He was the kind of person you never could find. He was my leader."
— David Smith (@SmithInAfrica) December 6, 2013
People read a newspaper on Vilakazi Street
in Soweto, where former South African President Nelson Mandela resided
when he lived in the township Photograph: Stringer/Reuters
Updated
David Cameron has signed a book of condolence at South Africa House in London.
In a message, he wrote:
Your cause of fighting for freedom and against discrimination, your
struggle for justice, your triumph against adversity – these things will
inspire generations to come.
And through all of this, your generosity, compassion and profound
sense of forgiveness have given us all lessons to learn and live by.
He ended his message with a quote: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.”
What I wrote in the Nelson Mandela condolence book, quoting, "Blessed are the peacemakers..." pic.twitter.com/1nN99MQlFP
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) December 6, 2013
Updated
Marwan Barghouti, who is often referred to as the Palestinian Mandela, has issued a statement from prison.
He said: "From within my prison cell, I tell you our freedom seems
possible because you reached yours. Apartheid did not prevail in South
Africa, and apartheid shall not prevail in Palestine."
Updated
Sporting tributes
England observe a minute's silence in memory
of Mandela ahead of day two of the second Ashes Test cricket match
against Australia at Adelaide Oval. Photograph: Quinn Rooney/Getty
Images
At the Ashes, the Australia and England cricket teams temporarily
set aside their rivalry to pay tribute to Mandela, writes Caroline
Davies.
Wearing black armbands, the two teams joined in a one-minute silence
on the field before the start of play in the second Test at Adelaide's
Oval.
Tributes poured in from sportspeople for a man who passionately
believed in the power of sport to unite, and who very publicly
demonstrated that when he embraced South Africa’s mainly white rugby
team before they won the 1995 World Cup.
Today the website of Super Rugby
paid homage to him by running his famous quote: “Sport has the power to
change the world. It has the power to unite in a way that little else
does. Sport can create hope where there once was only despair.”
The South African Rugby Union president, Oregan Hoskins, said: “All
of our lives are poorer today at the extinguishing of the great beacon
of light and hope that led the way for our country through the
transition to democracy. ‘Madiba’ was a great man of vision,
determination and integrity who performed a miracle that amazed the
world as much as it amazed his fellow countrymen.”
International Rugby Board chairman, Bernard Lapasset, said: “Mr
Mandela was a truly remarkable man. I was honoured to be with him during
the historic days of Rugby World Cup 1995 and saw his incredible impact
on his nation and his people. His wisdom, intelligence and sheer
presence was a wonder to behold.”
From the world of football, the former England captain David Beckham
said: “We have lost a true gentleman and a courageous human being.”
Brazilian football star Pelé tweeted: “He was my hero, my friend. Let
us carry on his work. He was one of the most influential people in my
life.”
He was my hero, my friend, and also a companion to me in our fight for the people and for world peace.
— Pelé (@Pele) December 5, 2013
The Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo said:
“Thankful Madiba for your legacy and your example. You’ll always stay
with us.”
The Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, said flags of the world football
body’s 209 member associations would fly at half-mast at its Swiss
headquarters with a minute’s silence to be held before the next round of
international matches.
Blatter said: "It is in deep mourning that I pay my respects to an
extraordinary person, probably one of the greatest humanists of our time
and a dear friend of mine: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. When he was
honoured and cheered by the crowd at Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium
on 11 July 2010, it was as a man of the people, a man of their hearts,
and it was one of the most moving moments I have ever experienced.”
The former heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali said in a statement: “What I
will remember most about Mr Mandela is that he was a man whose heart,
soul and spirit could not be contained or restrained by racial and
economic injustices, metal bars or the burden of hate and revenge. He
taught us forgiveness on a grand scale.”
Jamaican sprinter and Olympic champion Usain Bolt also took to
Twitter. “One of the greatest human beings ever … May your soul rest in
peace … The worlds greatest fighter,” he tweeted.
One of the greatest human beings ever..May your soul rest in peace..The worlds greatest fighter… http://t.co/kriCCKM7Is
— Usain St. Leo Bolt (@usainbolt) December 5, 2013
The US golfer Tiger Woods said: “I got a chance to meet him with my
father back in ‘98. He invited us to his home, and it was one of the
most inspiring times I’ve ever had in my life.”
Woods added: “Pop and I felt your aura when we met you. I feel it
today and I will feel it forever. You have done so much for humanity.”
Pop & I felt your aura when we met, I feel it today & I will feel it forever. You have done so much for humanity...
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) December 6, 2013
Tennis world No. 1, Rafael Nadal, said: “Rest in peace Nelson
Mandela, you have been a role model to the world. My most sincere
condolences to family and friends.”
International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach, said: “He was
a true statesman. A remarkable man who understood that sport could
build bridges, break down walls, and reveal our common humanity.”
Updated
Westminster Abbey
will hold a national service of thanksgiving for the life of Mandela
after the state funeral in South Africa, and has opened a book of
condolence.
The dean and chapter of Westminster sent a message of condolence to the high commissioner for South Africa.
It said: "[Mandela] was an iconic figure who changed irrevocably the
course of history in his country and the African continent and who
changed the world's attitude to issues of equality and human justice."
Updated
Police are guarding access to the military hospital in Pretoria
where Mandela's body was moved to early on Friday morning, according to South Africa's EyeWitness News.
The officers are searching every car entering the facility.
A blue light convoy left Madiba’s Houghton home with his body and arrived at around 3am.
The
N1 highway was flooded by blue lights as scores of official cars and
motorbikes escorted a black vehicle carrying the casket.
This forms part of preparations for Madiba's state funeral, a date for which has not yet been announced.
Mandela's body will lie instate for three days in Pretoria, according
to the BBC. His funeral is expected to be held on Saturday week in
Qunu, the village in Eastern Cape where he was born. Mandela always returned to the modest village where he grew up, write Emma Brockes and David Smith.
"Nature was our playground," wrote Mandela in his memoir, Long Walk
to Freedom. "The hills above Qunu were dotted with large smooth rocks
which we transformed into our own rollercoaster. We sat on flat stones
and slid down the face of the rocks. We did this until our backsides
were so sore we could hardly sit down."
Mandela's "sliding stone" is still visible today, a big granite
boulder with a track worn smooth and shiny by his childhood sport nearly
a century ago. It is one of the rocky outcrops overlooking the bucolic
valley of Qunu, the place where he grew up and always returned.
"Some of the happiest years of my boyhood were spent in Qunu,"
Mandela wrote. The old men and women of Qunu smile to remember,
remembering themselves.
If Mandela's death inspires pilgrims, it is to this modest village in
Eastern Cape province, where chickens scarper at the sound of a car and
maize grows ad hoc in the yards, that they will come. It is hard to
look at the green hills of the former Transkei, designated during the
apartheid era as an "independent homeland" and as such a great source of
political unrest, and not find in them some sympathy of scale with the
man who emerged from them.
Police put up fence barricading outside
former President Nelson Mandela's home in Houghton, Johannesburg, South
Africa. Photograph: Gallo Images/Barcroft Media
Updated
Angela Merkel
Speaking to the press, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said:
Mandela led by shining example and his political legacy of peaceful
resistance and the rejection of racism will continue to be an
inspiration for people around the world. Several years in prison could
not break Nelson Mandela or embitter him – out of his message of
reconciliation came a new, better South Africa.
Updated
China
The Chinese premier, Ki Keqiang, has sent a letter of condolence to Jacob Zuma.
The state news agency Xinhua
quoted him saying: "Mandela is not only admired by the South African
people, but also respected by people from all over the world."
Updated
Peter Hain
Former Welsh secretary Peter Hain, whose family was blacklisted and
fled South Africa because of their support for the anti-apartheid
movement, described Mandela as “a friend and a hero”, writes Caroline Davies.
Recalling Mandela’s 2000 visit to the Labour party conference in
Brighton, the Labour MP for Neath said: “As I escorted him inside, he
asked his usual question: ‘How’s the family?’
“On hearing my mother was in Swansea’s Morriston hospital with a
fractured femur, he stopped immediately and said that he must speak to
her.
“Out came my mobile and, when she answered from her hospital ward,
she was greeted with: ‘Hello. Nelson Mandela here, do you remember me?’
Hain also remembered a “vintage Mandela performance” in 1998 when
Mandela was awarded the Freedom of Cardiff on his only visit to Wales.
“He ignored my guiding arm on his elbow and stopped at a group of primary-school children sparkling in Welsh national dress.
“As the queue of VIPs waited, sweating in the unusually hot weather,
he began conducting the children to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
“I later learned that it was the absence of his children that he
missed most in all his long years of imprisonment on Robben Island.”
When it seemed that Scotland Yard might have been able to cover up
the botched investigation of the murder of Stephen Lawrence and deny the
calls for justice from the family and the wider community, Mandela stepped in.
No fiery words were necessary, because he carried moral authority. "I'm
deeply touched by the brutality of this murder. It's something we are
all too used to in South Africa where black lives are cheap" was the
observation. Devoid of rage or bitterness, yet scathing enough to jolt
the complacent authorities, and suspects were soon arrested. With that
critical help from Mandela at a critical time, the Lawrences set off
that chain of events that saw our police and race relations subjected to
unprecedented review; that led black and white to a new area of
understanding. And, ultimately led to two of Stephen's murderers being
tried and sent to jail.
George Osborne
The chancellor's autumn statement was drowned out first by storms and then by Mandela's death.
He was booked on to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme for an interview
on the British economy, but also gave this personal tribute to Mandela:
I grew up in the 1980s and the great protest movement of my
childhood, the great campaign of my childhood, was for the release of
Nelson Mandela, so he was very much a backdrop to my life, like the
lives of many people listening.
What I remember about him above all is not just his incredible stamp
of freedom, and the endurance of being in prison for so many years, but
then turning around and reconciling himself with the people who kept him
captive. Not only did he as a result avoid a very bloody civil war in
South Africa, but I think he stands for something much bigger even than
that, which is that there can be hope and reconciliation. That's the
most extraordinary thing about Nelson Mandela.
Updated
Australia
Australia’s national flag has remained at full mast over Parliament
House, in contrast to flags above Downing Street in the UK and the White
House in Washington, writes Oliver Laughland in Sydney.
The prime minister’s office confirmed that Tony Abbott had not
requested the flag be flown at half mast, but added that the decision to
lower the flag rested with the presiding officers of parliament.
On Friday morning Abbott described Mandela as “arguably one of the great figures of the last century”.
Speaking to Fairfax radio, Abbott said Mandela was a “truly great man”.
“While
I never met him, I did read that book A Long Walk To Freedom and I
guess the impression we get of Nelson Mandela is someone who suffered
but was not embittered but ennobled through that suffering."
In the US, President Obama made the decision to order the lowering of flags on US government buildings and ships at sea.
Updated
Mahmoud Abbas
The Palestinian president said Mandela was a "symbol of freedom from
colonialism and occupation" and his death was a great loss for
Palestine, whose cause he championed, writes Harriet Sherwood in
Jerusalem.
"The Palestinian people will never forget his historic statement that
the South African revolution will not have achieved its goals as long
as the Palestinians are not free," Abbas said.
Many Palestinians and international observers have drawn parallels
between Israel's occupation of Palestine and the apartheid regime in
South Africa, and Mandela was frequently cited as an inspirational hero
for Palestinians.
Abbas described Mandela as the "most courageous and important of those who supported us".
He added: "The name Mandela will stay forever with Palestine and with all Palestinians."
Updated
Here's a roundup of some of the tributes from leading actors and entertainers:
He could charm the birds off the trees – and cash right out of wallets. He told me once how Margaret Thatcher
had personally donated £20,000 to his foundation. “How did you do
that?” I gasped. The Iron Lady, who was famously frugal, kept a tight
grip on her purse. “I asked,” he said with a laugh. “You’ll never get
what you want if you don’t ask.” Then he lowered his voice
conspiratorially and said her donation had nauseated some of his
cohorts. “Didn’t she try to squash our movement?” they complained. His
response: “Didn’t De Klerk crush our people like flies? And I’m having
tea with him next week … He’ll be getting the bill.”
Morgan Freeman
The actor who played Mandela in Invictus was quoted by Enterntainment Wise as saying:
Today the world lost one of the true giants of the past century.
Nelson Mandela was a man of incomparable honour, unconquerable strength,
and unyielding resolve – a saint to many, a hero to all who treasure
liberty, freedom and the dignity of humankind.
As we remember his triumphs, let us, in his memory, not just reflect
on how far we've come, but on how far we have to go. Madiba may no
longer be with us, but his journey continues on with me and with all of
us.
Cat Stevens
Writing on Facebook, he said:
My shadowy link with the spirit of this man goes back to when I first heard the song Shosholoza in
the all-black, South African musical, King Kong. It played for about a
year in the Princes Theatre, across the road from my doorway, in 1961.
Though I never understood the words, it was rooted in my musical
influences way before even the Beatles stepped into the cavern. The song
was about progress, freedom and a train coming to South Africa. The
song was sung by working miners in time with the music beat as they were
swinging their axes to dig. It was usually sung under hardship in 'call
and response' style (one man singing a solo line and the rest of the
group responding by copying him). It was also sung by prisoners in call
and response style. Former South African President Nelson Mandela
describes how he sang Shosholoza as he worked during his imprisonment on
Robben Island. He describes it as "a song that compares the apartheid
struggle to the motion of an oncoming train" and goes on to explain that
"the singing made the work lighter".
How strange that later, without knowing the words and history of this
song I wrote Peace Train which mirrors the hope for the future of all
suffering souls in every war torn land and country. Curious also is the
fact that my return to music was triggered in South Africa while
recording a children’s album, and following that, my return to the stage
after 25 years was to honour Nelson Mandela at the 46664 concert for
Aids victims in Cape Town, 2003.
R Kelly and Arsenio Hall
The R&B star R Kelly teamed up with the comic actor Arsenio Hall to record this tribute:
Nicole Scherzinger
The X Factor judge and singer made a moving tribute at Thursday night's Cosmopolitan Women of the Year Awards, according to the Mirror. She sang a touching rendition of This Little Light of Mine - a song she said she'd performed for him in the past.
Updated
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has emphasised Mandela's role in uniting South Africa.
In an obituary for South Africa's Mail and Guardian he wrote:
We thought enemies could become friends, as we followed Madiba in the
path of forgiveness and reconciliation exemplified by the truth
commission and a polyglot national anthem, 11 official languages, and a
government of national unity in which the last apartheid president could
be a deputy president and a "terrorist" the head of government.
Madiba lived what he preached. Had he not invited his former white jailer as a VIP guest to his presidential inauguration?
Did he not have lunch with Percy Yutar, the prosecutor at the Rivonia
trial? Had he not flown to Orania, the last Afrikaner outpost, to have
tea with Betsy Verwoerd, the widow of the high priest of apartheid
ideology?
He was amazing. Who will forget his support for the retention of the
Springbok emblem for rugby, although it was much hated by blacks? And
that breath-taking gesture when he walked on to the turf at Ellis Park
wearing a Springbok jersey to present Francois Pienaar the trophy for
beating the All Blacks in the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, with
the huge crowd of mainly Afrikaner spectators chanting "Nelson, Nelson
…" And who could have believed that we would live to see the day when
blacks in Soweto would be celebrating a Springbok victory, as they did
in 1995?
Madiba was an amazing gift to us and to the world. He believed
fervently that a leader is there for the led, not for
self-aggrandisement. He was a prodigal spendthrift as he worked
tirelessly to raise funds for schools and clinics in rural areas. While
in office, he used some of his salary to set up the Nelson Mandela
Children's Fund and later established his foundation for charitable
works.
He was renowned the world over as the undisputed icon of forgiveness
and reconciliation, and everybody wanted a piece of him. We South
Africans basked in his reflected glory.
Updated
Aung San Suu Kyi
Burma's pro-democracy leader has paid tribute to her fellow Nobel
Peace prize winner. She said Mandela was a "great human being who raised
the standard of humanity".
She added:
I would like to express my extreme grief at the passing away of the
man who stood for human rights and for equality in this world. He also
made us understand that we can change the world.
Aung San Suu Kyi gives a speech during the Women's Forum in Yangon. Photograph: Nyein Chan Naing/EPA
Updated
The Spectator's outspoken columnist Rod Liddle demonstrates why it
is just as well he is no longer editing the BBC's Today programme. In a Spectator blogpost he writes:
Look; I’m sorry Nelson Mandela is dead ...
But for Christ’s sake BBC, give it a bloody break for five minutes,
will you? It’s as if the poor bugger now has to bear your entire
self-flagellating white post-colonial bien pensant guilt; look!
Famous nice black man dies! Let’s re-run the entire history of South
Africa. That’s better than watching the country we’re in being flattened
by a storm.
Tutu leads mass
Veteran anti-apartheid campaigner and former archbishop of Cape
Town, Desmond Tutu, led a service of remembrance in Cape Town's St
George's Cathedral.
"Let us give him the gift of a South Africa united, one," he said.
Archbishop Emeritus, Desmond Tutu leads a
service in St George's Cathedral, after the announcement of the death of
Nelson Mandela, in Cape Town. Photograph: Rodger Bosch/AFP/Getty Images
Updated
The Queen's tribute
The Queen said she was "deeply saddened". A statement from Buckingham Palace said:
The Queen was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Nelson Mandela
last night. He worked tirelessly for the good of his country, and his
legacy is the peaceful South Africa we see today, worked tirelessly for
the good of his country, and his legacy is the peaceful South Africa we
see today. Her Majesty remembers with great warmth her meetings with Mr Mandela
and sends her sincere condolences to his family and the people of South
Africa at this very sad time.
The Prince of Wales also paid tribute to the former South African leader.
Mr Mandela was the embodiment of courage and reconciliation. He was also a man of great humour and had a real zest for life. With his passing, there will be an immense void not only in his
family's lives, but also in those of all South Africans and the many
others whose lives have been changed through his fight for peace,
justice and freedom. The world has lost an inspired leader and a great man. My family and I
are profoundly saddened and our thoughts and prayers are with his
family.
DANBURY,
Conn. - Recordings from the Connecticut school shooting a year ago
reveal a mixture of calm and anguish from the callers, and gunshots from
the assailant are heard in the background. Full Article | Full Coverage
(Reuters) - A teacher calmly explains she has been shot in the foot.
Another woman, sounding anguished, pleads for help. A custodian relays
information from officers at the scene to a police operator. There is also the booming echo of gunshots.
Officials
in Newtown, Connecticut, on Wednesday released audio recordings of
emergency 911 phone calls from the Connecticut school shooting that
killed 20 children and six educators almost a year ago, revealing raw
emotion in the voice of the callers.
The
audio files may be the final pieces of evidence released about the
tragedy that rocked the United States on December 14, 2012, when gunman
Adam Lanza, 20, shot dead his mother at home and then went to Sandy Hook
Elementary school, where he massacred 26 people before killing himself.
"They're
still running, they're still shooting," pleaded one woman, sounding
increasingly distraught over the course of the 24-second call. In the
final seconds, she grows more insistent, pleading with the 911 operator
for help.
"Sandy Hook school, please!" she said.
With a volley of several gunshots audible in the background, she moans.
Town
officials initially tried to prevent the release of the recordings. The
state Freedom of Information Commission ordered calls placed from
inside the elementary school to be aired.
Late
last month, a judge ruled the town must comply with the commission's
order, and Newtown officials have since dropped their appeal. First
Selectman Patricia Llodra recently reversed her long-standing position,
saying the tapes should be released in full in order to prevent partial
leaks.
Seven files were released, two of which were identical.
On
one, a woman who described herself as a teacher said she was shot in
the foot. The 911 operator instructed her to apply pressure to the
wound.
"There's children in this room," the teacher said, sighing heavily.
"Are you OK right now?" the 911 operator asks?
"For now, hopefully," the teacher said.
Another caller, custodian Rick Thorne, appeared to play an important role helping police piece together events early on.
Sounding composed, he told police the gunfire had stopped. Moments later the silence is broken by more gunshots.
"There's still shooting going on, please," Thorne said, sounding more urgent.
On
another call, Thorne is heard identifying himself as a custodian to
officers who had just arrived at the scene. He then replays information
between those officers and the operator, repeating their questions and
answers to each other.
"Victims in the buildings," Thorne said.
"How many" he asked, relaying the question the operator.
"Two down," he responded, repeating the response from the officer.
On
Tuesday, Newtown School Superintendent John Reed had emailed parents to
alert them to the recordings' release and warning them they could serve
as an "emotional trigger."
Last
week, State's Attorney Stephen Sedensky released a report on the Newtown
massacre that concluded Lanza had acted alone, and that his motivation
for the attack "may never be answered."
Among
those who opposed release of the recordings was Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis, a
Sandy Hook first-grade teacher who hid in the bathroom along with her
students during the shootings.
"I
don't understand the reasoning for the general public to hear them,"
Roig-DeBellis told Reuters, saying the decision should have rested with
the families of the victims and people who were in the school that day.
"The families, they've already experienced such immeasurable pain and
loss and sadness."
The town has
intended for the 911 recordings to be the final release of evidence from
the case. Other phone calls and crime scene photographs exist but have
been sealed by state officials
Otherwise,
once the December 14 anniversary has passed, the town may finally get a
reprieve from the exhaustive media coverage of the past year.
"Vulture media, you got your tapes," read a hand-painted sign on a telephone pole in Newtown on Wednesday. "Please leave."
(Additional reporting by Chris Francescani, Elizabeth Dilts and Curtis Skinner; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Gunna Dickson) COPY www.reuters.
WASHINGTON - The
National Security Agency gathers nearly 5 billion records a day on the
location of mobile telephones worldwide, including those of some
Americans, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing sources
including documents obtained by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
U.S. spy agency gathers data on cellphone locations globally: report
WASHINGTONWed Dec 4, 2013 6:28pm EST
Antennas of the former National Security
Agency (NSA) listening station are seen at the Teufelsberg hill, or
Devil's Mountain in Berlin, November 5, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch
(Reuters) - The National Security
Agency gathers nearly 5 billion records a day on the location of mobile
telephones worldwide, including those of some Americans, the Washington
Post reported on Wednesday, citing sources including documents obtained
by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. The records feed a database
that stores information about the locations of "at least hundreds of
millions of devices," the newspaper said, according to the top-secret
documents and interviews with intelligence officials.
The
report said the NSA does not target Americans' location data
intentionally, but acquires a substantial amount of information on the
whereabouts of domestic cellular telephones "incidentally."
One
manager told the newspaper the NSA obtained "vast volumes" of location
data by tapping into the cables that connect mobile networks globally
and that serve U.S. cellphones as well as foreign ones.
U.S. intelligence officials contacted by Reuters declined to comment on the Post report.
The
article cited officials as saying the programs that collect and analyze
location data are lawful and meant solely to develop intelligence on
foreign targets.
U.S. intelligence
agencies' extensive collection of telephone and Internet data has been
subject to scrutiny since Snowden began leaking information in June
showing that surveillance was far more extensive than most Americans had
realized.
Facing a public outcry
and concern that programs are targeting average Americans as well as
international terrorism suspects, Republican and Democratic members of
Congress are writing legislation to clamp down on the data collection
and increase public access to information about it.
Advocates responded to the Post report by calling on Congress to take up legislation to reform NSA data-gathering programs.
"How
many revelations of NSA surveillance will it take for Congress to act?
Today's news is the latest startling blow to the right to privacy," Zeke
Johnson, director of Amnesty International USA's Security and Human
Rights, said in a statement.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Mark Hosenball)
COPY www.reuters.
Les députés ont adopté la proposition de loi qui
sanctionne les clients de prostituées d'une amende de 1 500 euros. Le
Sénat devrait l'examiner en juin.
L’'Asemblée nationale a adopté, mercredi 4 décembre, par 268 voix
contre 138, la proposition de loi de lutte contre le système
prostitutionnel, qui instaure une contravention de 1 500 euros contre
les clients de prostituées, et une amende de 3 750 euros en cas de
récidive.
La loi abolit également le délit de racolage et instaure un “parcours de sortie de la prostitution”.
De nombreux députés étaient absents ou se sont abstenus, mais la
mobilisation a été bonne au groupe socialiste, puisque 238 députés sur
292 ont soutenu le texte. Cinq d’entre eux, dont Jean-Marie Le Guen, ont
voté contre. Le Front de gauche a voté pour.
En revanche, alors que le groupe avait dans un premier temps annoncé une abstention, l’'UMP
a massivement voté contre avec 101 députés. 42 autres députés se sont
abstenus et 45 n’'étaient pas présents. Seuls 10 ont voté pour, dont
l’'un des principaux promoteurs du texte, Guy Geoffroy et la candidate à
la mairie de Paris, Nathalie Koscuisko-Morizet.
L'UMP a mis en garde contre les risques liés, selon elle, à
l'’abolition du délit de racolage, et à un possible “appel d’'air” lié à
l’octroi de titres temporaires de séjour aux migrantes qui arrêteraient
de se prostituer.
Les Verts se sont en majorité opposés au texte – 12 contre, 4 pour, 1
abstention – pour d’'autres raisons : ils redoutent une dégradation sur
le terrain pour les prostituées contraintes à davantage de
clandestinité. La proposition a rassemblé peu de voix chez les radicaux
et à l’UDI, qui a dénonce l’impréparation du texte.
Avant d'entrer en vigueur, le texte devra cependant franchir l'étape du Sénat qui devrait l'examiner d'ici à fin juin. Vingt sénateurs de tous bords, dont Laurence Rossignol (PS), Chantal Jouanno (UDI) et Jean-Vincent Placé (Europe Ecologie-Les Verts), ont d'ailleurs réclamé « un examen de ce texte à court terme par par la Chambre haute ».
Combien de personnes sont concernées par la prostitution ?
C’est le grand flou. Le nombre de prostituées est évalué entre 20 000
et 40 000. Le chiffre est contesté par le Syndicat du travail sexuel
(Strass), qui relève qu’en Allemagne, il s’élève à 400 000. Les chiffres officiels français sont estimés à partir
du nombre d’interpellations pour racolage et de victimes identifiées
dans les affaires de proxénétisme. Ils intègrent une évaluation du
nombre de prostituées passant leurs annonces sur Internet. Mais celle-ci
est, de l’avis même des services de police, peu fiable, car cette activité, cachée et mobile, est très difficile à quantifier.
Quelque 10 000 annonces différentes ont été comptabilisées sur une
journée. Environ 15 % des prostitués seraient des hommes. Entre 12 % et
18 % des hommes auraient déjà payé pour du sexe.
Quelles mesures contre l’organisation de la prostitution ?
La proposition de loi prévoit que lorsque les sites Internet hébergés
à l’étranger contreviennent à la loi française sur le proxénétisme et
la traite, les fournisseurs d’accès devront empêcher
l’accès à leurs services. Une mesure qui pose à la fois des questions
de légitimité (sur le filtrage d’Internet) et de faisabilité.
Quelles mesures en faveur des prostituées ?
Le délit de racolage public, qu’il soit actif ou passif, est abrogé.
Selon l’Inspection générale des affaires sociales, cette disposition a
accru la précarité des prostituées en les contraignant à se prostituer dans des zones éloignées. La police, en revanche, l’estimait utile pour lutter contre les troubles sur la voie publique, ainsi que pour prendre contact avec les prostituées et recueillir des renseignements sur leurs éventuels proxénètes.
Cependant, le ministre de l’intérieur, Manuel Valls, a estimé, jeudi
14 novembre, devant la commission spéciale de l’Assemblée, qu’au vu des
statistiques, ce délit n’avait pas eu de rôle significatif dans la lutte
contre la traite.
Un fonds pour la prévention de la prostitution et l’accompagnement social et professionnel des personnes prostituées est créé. Ses recettes seront constituées de crédits
d’Etat, des recettes provenant d’affaires de proxénétisme démantelées
et d’un prélèvement sur les amendes prévues pour les clients.
Un « parcours de sortie de la prostitution » est proposé aux
femmes qui en font la demande auprès d’associations agréées (fixées par
décret). Ces personnes bénéficieront d’une remise totale ou partielle
d’impôts, de places en centres d’hébergement, etc. L’objectif est de toucher plusieurs milliers de personnes par an. Le budget « en rapport avec cet effort » s’élèvera de 10 millions à 20 millions d’euros par an, selon la ministre des droits des femmes, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem.
Une autorisation provisoire de séjour de six mois sera délivrée aux
migrantes qui s’engagent dans le parcours de sortie de la prostitution.
Jusqu’à présent, seules celles qui dénonçaient leur proxénète y avaient
droit. Elles bénéficieront de l’allocation temporaire d’attente (336
euros par mois).
Quelles mesures contre les clients ?
L’achat de services sexuels, considéré comme une violence, devient
hors la loi. Une peine de prison pour les clients récidivistes avait
d’abord été envisagée, avant d’être écartée.
S’ils sont pris en flagrant délit, les clients risqueront une amende
de 1 500 euros, doublée en cas de récidive. Une peine complémentaire est
créée, les stages de « sensibilisation aux conditions d’exercice de la prostitution ». L’objectif est de dissuader les réseaux de traite de s’installer en France et de faire évoluer les comportements.
Qui est pour, qui est contre ?
De nombreuses associations féministes (Osez le féminisme, l’Assemblée
des femmes, le Collectif féministe contre le viol…), le mouvement du
Nid, qui est présent sur le terrain et soutient la reconversion de
prostituées, et la Fondation Scelles font campagne en faveur de la loi.
Ils sont rassemblés dans le collectif Abolition 2012.
En revanche, le planning familial, le Strass, Act Up et plusieurs
associations de soutien aux prostituées (Médecins du monde à Paris et à Nantes, Cabiria à Lyon, Grisélidis à Toulouse,
les Amis du bus des femmes à Paris) sont opposés à la pénalisation des
clients. Ils estiment que les prostituées de rue seront encore plus
poussées dans la clandestinité.
Les forces de l’ordre, de leur côté, regrettent la suppression du
délit de racolage et estiment que l’infraction de recours à la
prostitution sera difficile à mettre en évidence, comme M. Valls lui-même l’a affirmé devant les parlementaires. >> Lire les témoignages :
Former U.S. subcontractor Alan Gross' made a plea to President Barack
Obama in a letter on the fourth anniversary of Gross' imprisonment in a
small military prison cell in Cuba. FULL STORY
American imprisoned in Cuba pleads for U.S. help
By Michael Pearson, CNN
December 3, 2013 -- Updated 2240 GMT (0640 HKT)
Former contractor Alan Gross, here in a family photo, has been jailed in Cuba since 2009.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: "I'm angry at the U.S. government," Alan Gross' wife says
NEW: "We are asking President Obama to get personally involved," she says
Secretary of State John Kerry says discussions on Gross' release are ongoing
Cuban authorities say Gross was illegally distributing satellite gear
(CNN) -- Please, Mr. President, don't leave me behind.
That's the gist of former
U.S. subcontractor Alan Gross' plea to President Barack Obama in a
letter on the fourth anniversary of Gross' imprisonment in a small
military prison cell in Cuba.
In the letter, Gross,
convicted by a Cuban court of "acts against the independence or
territorial integrity of the state," says he spends 23 hours a day in a
small cell with two other inmates, is in poor health and is largely cut
off from the outside world.
"With the utmost respect,
Mr. President, I fear that my government -- the very government I was
serving when I began this nightmare -- has abandoned me," wrote Gross, a
former subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development.
"Officials in your administration have expressed sympathy and called
for my unconditional release, and I very much appreciate that. But it
has not brought me home."
His wife, Judy Gross,
told CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" that she's fed up with
apparently empty promises from government officials who have said
they'll help.
"It's emotional. ... It
causes me a lot of anger. I have to say right now I'm angry at the U.S.
government. I'm angry at the Cuban government," she said Tuesday. "I'm
totally frustrated for this lack of action, that Alan is still in the
same situation that he was four years ago."
Cuban authorities
arrested Gross in 2009, holding him for more than a year before formally
accusing him of illegally distributing prohibited satellite
communications equipment to Cuban dissidents.
After a brief trial in 2011, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
According to USAID, Gross
was in the country to work on a U.S. government-funded project to set
up individual satellite-based Internet connections in Cuba. His family
has said he was working to help Jewish groups set up Web access.
Despite saying that it
plans to provide Cubans with Internet access, the country's government
restricts the ability of everyday citizens to access the Web.
The White House did not
immediately comment on Gross' letter, but Secretary of State John Kerry
said Tuesday in Brussels that the administration is "currently engaged
in some discussions" regarding Gross' imprisonment. He said he was not
at liberty to go into any detail.
"We will do everything
we can and will continue to, but these things are often best resolved in
quiet diplomacy, under the radar screen, behind the scenes, and that is
exactly what we have been pursuing."
Numerous U.S.
representatives have tried to bargain for the former contractor's
release, including former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former
President Jimmy Carter, but to no avail.
On Monday, the State Department released a statement calling Gross' continued imprisonment "gravely disappointing."
"Mr. Gross is a
64-year-old husband, father, and dedicated professional with a long
history of providing aid to underserved communities in more than 50
countries," the State Department said. "We reiterate our call on the
Cuban government, echoing foreign leaders and even Cuba's allies, to
release Alan Gross immediately and unconditionally."
Judy Gross said Tuesday that assurances from Kerry that discussions are ongoing aren't enough.
"This is something that
I've heard for four years. It hasn't changed. I don't know what that
means, 'doing something.' We have not been told what they're doing," she
said. "So at this point we feel that we have to step it up a notch, and
we are asking President Obama to get personally involved in the
situation and do what needs to be done to get him out."
Obama, she said, has the
power to jump start the process and give Cuban officials what they've
repeatedly told her they want: a chance to talk with an envoy from the
U.S. government.
"I want Obama to take
Alan seriously, to take the situation seriously," she said. "He's the
leader of the nation. He's the one that could go to the State
Department, go to the Justice Department and say, 'Let's make this
work.' He could do this tomorrow if he wanted to.
"How can you improve any situation without sitting down and talking? It just doesn't work that way," she said.
At a rally across from
the White House on Tuesday, she said U.S. calls for her husband's
"unconditional" surrender would amount to a "death sentence" for her
husband, intimating that the United States will need to bargain with
Cuba for her husband's release.
"He tries so hard to hold on to hope, but it is fading fast," she told protesters.
Gross' family says that
he has lost nearly 100 pounds, has developed degenerative arthritis in
his leg and has battled depression since his arrest. In a statement read
to demonstrators on Tuesday, Gross said his treatment at the prison is
"stressfully demeaning and my environment is oppressive."
He does not speak
Spanish and so cannot communicate with his guards or the other two
inmates jailed with him, Gross said in the statement.
Gross says he is allowed
out of his cell for one hour a day, which he spends in a small
courtyard with high walls and limited views of the sky and nothing else.
"I don't sleep much,
between my arthritis and the lights in my cell, which are kept on 24
hours a day. With the exception of a few phone calls and visits, I am
completely isolated from the outside world," he wrote.
"I have lost almost
everything in the last four years, most of all time with my family -- my
wife, Judy, and my daughters, Shira and Nina. I have had to ask my
daughters not to visit because I cannot bear them seeing me like this, a
shadow of my former self, surrounded by men with machine guns," he saidin his letter to Obama.
"My heart is broken from
acute homesickness, loneliness and disappointment from my government,"
Gross said in his statement to protesters.
Gross, a longtime
international development worker, said he was pleading for his release
not only for his own benefit and that of his family but also for all
Americans working, living or traveling abroad.
"There are countless
Americans all over the world, some serving in uniform, others serving in
diplomatic or civilian capacities, still others private citizens
studying or traveling abroad, and they must not harbor any doubt that if
they are taken captive in a foreign land, our government will move
heaven and earth to secure their freedom," Gross wrote.
CNN's Jason Hanna and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.
Russia called for "stability and order" in neighboring Ukraine on
Wednesday as thousands of protesters kept up their demonstrations
against the government in Kiev. FULL STORY
|
UKRAINE'S FUTURE WITH EU: OPINION
Russia calls for 'stability and order' in Ukraine as protests continue
By Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Phil Black, CNN
December 4, 2013 -- Updated 1447 GMT (2247 HKT)
Ukrainian police block the street in front of presidential offices in Kiev on Tuesday..
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Russia says it is watching events in Ukraine
It says the protests in Ukraine are an "internal matter" but calls for "stability and order"
Thousands of protesters are still in the streets of Kiev
They oppose Ukraine's about-face on EU trade deal and want new elections
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Russia called for "stability
and order" in neighboring Ukraine on Wednesday as thousands of
protesters kept up their demonstrations against the government in Kiev.
Speaking to a visiting
Ukrainian delegation in Russia, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev told
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Boyko that Moscow was watching the
events that have plunged its neighbor, whom he called an important
strategic partner to Russia, into a political crisis.
"We're watching what's
happening in your country. It's an internal affair of Ukraine, though
it's really important to have stability and order there," he said,
according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Thousands of
demonstrators kept up the pressure on the Ukrainian government
Wednesday, tightening their blockade of key Cabinet offices, angry about
its U-turn away from integration with Europe.
Ukraine's Prime Minister calls for peace
In the biggest protests
since Ukraine's Orange Revolution nine years ago, they have also stayed
put in the main Independence Square as they demand new elections.
Prime Minister Mykola
Azarov, who survived an opposition bid to topple his government in
parliament Tuesday, has called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
"We are open to dialogue,
we are ready to discuss with peaceful demonstrators all terms of our
agreements," he told parliament Tuesday, according to a government
website.
Azarov said he was
extending his hand to the opposition but warned that he was working from
a position of strength: "If we find a fist, I say frankly, we have
enough forces."
Azarov said the
government is supported by most Ukrainians, who want the government to
restore order "and continue the course to democratic transformation, to
European integration."
But opposition leaders
Vitaly Klitschko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk have called on President Viktor
Yanukovich, currently on a trip to China, to sack the Prime Minister and
his government by executive order. Klitschko, who gained fame as a
boxer, vowed that the opposition would make sure its demands were met.
Among those demands was for someone to be held responsible for the
violence against the demonstrators, he said.
"It's not enough to tell
just 'sorry,' it happens,' " Klitschko told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
"How many times do we have to listen to that?"
Since the weekend, tens
of thousands of protesters have been descending on the capital's
Independence Square to voice their anger, and demonstrations show no
signs of abating.
The crowds have blocked
the government's main headquarters, preventing employees from going to
work. Some have also taken their protest to Yanukovich's office
building.
The scenes are
reminiscent of the 2004 Orange Revolution -- a populist movement that
booted Yanukovich, then Prime Minister, from office.
"I hope they (the
demonstrators) will be able to keep this up," Volodymyr Valkov, 26, told
CNN, speaking from the western town of Lviv, where he said protesters
had taken to the streets as well. "The Orange Revolution has provided
for things to happen."
The protests have been
largely peaceful, though violence flared Sunday when demonstrators using
a bulldozer were met with stun guns and tear gas as they tried to push
through barricades at the President's administration building.
That night, police chased and beat protesters with batons. Dozens were hurt on both sides.
NATO has condemned the use of violence against the demonstrators and called on all parties to refrain from violence.
"Obviously we fully
respect Ukrainian decisions on their alliance affiliations and to which
organizations they want to belong or with which organizations they want
to cooperate," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. "But I
would expect such decision-making processes to be truly democratic."
In Brussels, Belgium,
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said there was "very powerful
evidence" that Ukrainians want to be associated with the European Union.
"We stand with the vast majority of the Ukrainians who want to see this
future for their country," he told reporters.
U.S. Assistant Secretary
of State Victoria Nuland is to visit Ukraine on Wednesday, he said,
adding that he himself was looking forward to visiting the country "when
it too gets back on the path of European integration and economic
responsibility."
Yanukovich told reporters on Monday he supports a peaceful resolution to the "questions brought on by our citizens."
But he also warned his
opponents: "As for the politicians participating in this, I consider any
radicalization of the political process will only have negative
consequences."
As the protests grip the
nation -- split between pro-European regions in the west and a more
Russia-oriented east, Ukraine's central bank said it would seek to
maintain financial stability.
In a video statement,
National Bank of Ukraine chairman Ihor Sorkin urged depositors to have
confidence in the banking system and not withdraw their savings.
At the heart of the
protests is Ukraine's about-face after a year of insisting that it would
sign a political and trade agreement with the European Union.
Last month, Kiev
suspended talks with the EU, angering many Ukrainians, who say the
agreement would have opened borders to trade and set the stage for
modernization and inclusion.
Chief among Yanukovich's
reasons for backpedaling was Russia's opposition to it. Russia
threatened its neighbor with trade sanctions and steep gas bills if it
forged ahead with an EU deal, but promised deep discounts on natural gas
if it were to join the Moscow-led Customs Union instead.
Yanukovich was also
facing an EU demand that he was unwilling to meet: Free former Prime
Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, his political opponent. The Orange Revolution
that swept him from office also swept Tymoshenko to power.
Two years ago, she was
found guilty of abuse of office in a Russian gas deal and sentenced to
seven years in prison in a case widely seen as politically motivated.
Her supporters say she needs to travel abroad for medical treatment.
Russian President
Vladimir Putin dismissed the protests Monday, saying they are unrelated
to Ukraine's turn away from the European Union. He called them
reminiscent of a "pogrom" rather than a revolution and an effort by the
opposition to destabilize the government, RIA Novosti said.
Yanukovich on Monday
asked the European Commission to receive a Ukrainian delegation to
discuss "some aspects" of the agreement Kiev had been expected to sign,
according to a statement from Brussels.
Commission President
Jose Manuel Barroso acceded to the request but noted that the commission
was not prepared "to reopen any kind of negotiations."
Mandela was never a revolutionary, always a radical
