The Obama administration used the anniversary of the bomber’s release on compassionate grounds – because he had advanced prostate cancer – to condemn the decision.
The US president’s office said it had advised Libyan officials of its view that Megrahi should not be free.
John Brennan, Barack Obama’s counter-terrorism adviser, criticised the “unfortunate and inappropriate and wrong decision.”
He said: “We’ve expressed our strong conviction that Al Megrahi should serve out the remainder – the entirety – of his sentence in a Scottish prison.”
Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, said that a “cloud of suspicion” hung over the decision to release Megrahi, who is now living with his family in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
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US calls for Lockerbie bomber to be returned to jail
Taliban vows to hunt and kill those exposed in WikiLeaks documents
In an interview with Channel 4 News, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said they were studying and investigating the report, adding “If they are US spies, then we know how to punish them.”
The warning came as the US military’s top officer, Admiral Mike Mullen said that Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, may already have blood on his hands following the leak of 92,000 classified documents relating to the war in Afghanistan by his website.
“Mr Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing, but the truth is they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family,” he said.
South Korea deploys robot capable of killing intruders along border with North
Two robots with surveillance, tracking, firing and voice recognition systems were integrated into a single unit, a defence ministry spokesman said.
The 400 million won (£220,000) unit was installed last month at a guard post in the central section of the Demilitarised Zone which bisects the peninsula, Yonhap news agency said.
It quoted an unidentified military official as saying the ministry would deploy sentry robots along the world’s last Cold War frontier if the test was successful.
The robot uses heat and motion detectors to sense possible threats, and alerts command centres, Yonhap said.
If the command centre operator cannot identify possible intruders through the robot’s audio or video communications system, the operator can order it to fire its gun or 40mm automatic grenade launcher.
Petraeus to review rules of engagement
He is to re-examine the rules which some soldiers believe have prevented them from defending themselves.
“There will be no change in overall policy but all aspects of tactics and implementation will be looked at afresh,” a Pentagon official told The Daily Telegraph. “The issue of ‘courageous restraint’ is a controversial one on the ground and there may be ways it can be modified.”
Robert Gates, the Pentagon chief, said that “Gen Petraeus will have the flexibility to look at the campaign plan and the approach and all manner of things when he gets to Afghanistan”.
Japanese told to go to bed an hour early to cut carbon emissions
The Japanese government has launched a campaign encouraging people to go to bed and get up extra early in order to reduce household carbon dioxide emissions.
The Morning Challenge campaign, unveiled by the Environment Ministry, is based on the premise that swapping late night electricity for an extra hour of morning sunlight could significantly cut the nation’s carbon footprint.
Police seize 100,000 anti-Vladimir Putin books
Telegraph, “Police seize 100,000 anti-Vladimir Putin books”
Copies of ‘Putin. The Results. 10 Years on’, written by opposition politicians Boris Nemtsov and Vladimir Milov were “intended for participants of the forum”, starting Thursday, according to Olga Kurnosova, head of the city’s branch of the opposition United Civic Front, said.
The reasons for the seizure “are not very clear”, she said.
The book, which has a total print-run of one million copies, aims to “tell the truth about the real results of the leadership of Putin and the tandem”, Mr Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, wrote in his blog on Monday.
Telegraph article continues here.
Anti-Islam party surges in Holland
Telegraph, “Dutch election: Liberals take one-seat lead as far-right party grows in influence”
With 88 per cent of the votes counted, published partial results showed the Liberals with 31 and Labour on 30.
But the real victory went to Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV), which demands an end to immigration from Muslim countries and a ban on new mosques. The PVV took its number of seats from nine in the last parliament to 24, and could hope to enter a coalition government.
The far-right leader with his distinctive shock of fair hair called the result “magnificent”.
“The impossible has happened,” he told a televised party gathering. “We are the biggest winner today. The Netherlands chose more security, less crime, less immigration and less Islam.”
Telegraph article continues here.
Al-Qaeda number two plotting World Cup terrorist attack
Telegraph, “Al-Qaeda number two plotting World Cup terrorist attack”
by Richard Spencer
According to investigators, Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden’s number two, was conspiring with an al-Qaeda operative who was arrested in Baghdad two weeks ago.
The operative, named as Abdullah Azzam Saleh Misfar al-Qahtani and said to be a former Saudi army colonel who had travelled to Iraq and become security chief for al-Qaeda’s local branch, has been accused of organising suicide bombings in two cities south of Baghdad.
Major General Qassim Atta, head of security in Baghdad, said he was also believed to have made contact with al-Zawahiri, the man generally regarded as al-Qaeda’s second-highest leader after bin Laden.
Telegraph article continues here.
Bank of England: US faces same problems as Greece
Telegraph, “US faces same problems as Greece, says Bank of England”
by Edmund Conway
Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, fears that America shares many of the same fiscal problems currently haunting Europe. He also believes that European Union must become a federalised fiscal union (in other words with central power to tax and spend) if it is to survive. Just two of the nuggets from one of the most extraordinary press conferences I have been to at the Bank.
What with all the excitement yesterday over our new Government, I never had time to remark on the Inflation Report press conference. Most of our attention was on what King said about the Government’s fiscal plans (a ringing endorsement). But, as Jeremy Warner has written in today’s paper, it was as if King had suddenly been unleashed. Bear in mind King is usually one of the most guarded policymakers in both British and central banking circles. Not yesterday.
Telegraph article continues here.
Hugo Chavez to join Twitter
Telegraph, “Hugo Chavez to join Twitter”
by Nick Allen
Mr Chavez speaks to the nation for hours every Sunday on his radio and television program but on Twitter he will be limited to much shorter messages of just 140 characters each time.
His use of Twitter also marks a new tactic in his approach to the internet and social networking.
In January Mr Chavez said that using Twitter, the internet and text messaging to criticise his regime was “terrorism.”
He has now decided to use the social networking tool for his own purposes.
Telegraph article continues here.
France to ban veil says Nicolas Sarkozy
Telegraph (AFP), “France to ban veil says Nicolas Sarkozy”
The move would protect the dignity of women, the president added.
“The full veil is contrary to the dignity of women,” he said. “The response is to ban it. The Government will table a draft law prohibiting it.”
The president gave no further details during his address to the nation following a heavy defeat in regional elections for his ruling Union for a Popular Movement party.
Speaking from the Elysee Palace Mr Sarkozy gave no indication as to how an outright ban would be imposed and policed.
France is home to six million Muslims.
Telegraph (AFP) article continues here.
Obama refuses to campaign for Democrats who don’t support health bill
Telegraph, “Barack Obama threatens to withdraw support from wavering Democrats”
by Alex Spillius
The president will refuse to make fund-raising visits during November elections to any district whose representative has not backed the bill.
A one-night presidential appearance can bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds which would otherwise take months to accumulate through cold-calling by campaign volunteers.
Mr Obama’s threat came as the year-long debate over his signature domestic policy entered its final week.
Mr Obama is personally telephoning congressmen who are still on the fence this week, in between several personal appearances devoted toward swinging public opinion.
Telegraph article continues here.
Islamic radicals ‘infiltrate’ the Labour Party
Telegraph, “Islamic radicals ‘infiltrate’ the Labour Party”
by Andrew Gilligan
The Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) — which believes in jihad and sharia law, and wants to turn Britain and Europe into an Islamic state — has placed sympathisers in elected office and claims, correctly, to be able to achieve “mass mobilisation” of voters.
Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, Jim Fitzpatrick, the Environment Minister, said the IFE had become, in effect, a secret party within Labour and other political parties.
“They are acting almost as an entryist organisation, placing people within the political parties, recruiting members to those political parties, trying to get individuals selected and elected so they can exercise political influence and power, whether it’s at local government level or national level,” he said.
Telegraph article continues here.
Lockerbie bomber still alive, living in luxury villa
Telegraph, “Lockerbie bomber Megrahi living in luxury villa six months after being at ‘death’s door’”
by Andrew Alderson and Robert Mendick
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, who is suffering from terminal prostate cancer, no longer receives hospital treatment after ending the course of chemotherapy that he had been given after returning to his homeland last August.
Professor Karol Sikora, the London-based doctor who examined Megrahi and predicted he would be dead by last October, admitted this weekend that the fact the bomber is still alive might be “difficult” for the families of the 270 victims of the attack.
The latest disclosure will incense many of the relatives of those who died in the bomb blast in December 1988 when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded in mid air over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 243 passengers, 16 crew and 11 people on the ground.
Most did not want Megrahi released and they suspected he would live longer than the predicted three months.
Telegraph article continues here.
Al-Qaeda veterans ‘are flooding into Yemen’
Telegraph, “Al-Qaeda veterans ‘are flooding into Yemen’”
by Richard Spencer
In the gloomiest internal assessment of Yemen’s security yet, he said jihadis from across the Arab world are hiding in the lawless hills of Shabwa province where the so-called Christmas Day “underwear bomber” is thought to have been trained, its governor, Ali Hasan al-Ahmadi, said.
“There are dozens of Saudi and Egyptian al-Qaeda militants who came to the province,” said Shabwa’s governor, Ali Hasan al-Ahmadi.
He told the al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper the militants had joined homegrown Yemeni radicals both from Shabwa and other regions of the country.
The province, in the south-east of the country, was one of the targets of a series of air raids against al-Qaeda targets conducted by the Yemeni authorities with American military support shortly before Christmas.
Telegraph article continues here.