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Science & Technology

Gore: Polar ice may vanish in 5-7 years

2009-12-15

New computer modeling suggests the Arctic Ocean may be nearly ice-free in the summertime as early as 2014, Al Gore said Monday at the U.N. climate conference. Northern polar sea ice has been retreating dramatically. These new projections suggest an almost-vanished summer ice cap much earlier than foreseen by a U.S. government agency just eight months ago. "It is hard to capture the astonishment that the experts in the science of ice felt when they saw this," former U.S. Vice President Gore told reporters and other conference participants at a joint briefing with Scandinavian officials and scientists, his first appearance at the two-week session. The group presented two new reports updating fast-moving developments in Antarctica, the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland, and the rest of the Arctic. "The time for collective and immediate action on climate change is now," said Denmark's foreign minister, Per Stig Moeller.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Denmark hosts Gaza arms smuggling meeting

2009-02-05

Experts from nine countries including the United States, Britain and France met in Copenhagen Wednesday to discuss ways of combating weapons smuggling into Gaza, the Danish foreign ministry said. The meeting took place amid calls for demonstrations in Copenhagen denouncing what organizers called "the Danish government's one-sided acceptance of a pro-Israeli agenda." The Initiative for a Free Palestine group sent out flyers calling for protests at the Danish foreign ministry to highlight the right of the Gaza population to defend itself from Israeli aggression. " At the same time, it is important to ensure that an opening of the borders does not entail that the population of Gaza once again risk to be taken hostage by fighting initiated by Hamas " Per Stig Moeller No political decisions are expected at the two-day conference, which will focus more on arms trafficking from the sea than the underground tunnels between Egypt and the Palestinian territory. The meeting "will seek to map the challenges related to illicit arms trafficking to Gaza, including the political, juridical, diplomatic and technical aspects of potential international contributions to handle this challenge," the ministry said in a statement. The countries attending the meeting were invited for their "maritime expertise," the ministry said. The experts come from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway and the United States.

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Europe

EU ministers ask Ireland to explain Lisbon Treaty no

2008-06-16

The European Union's foreign ministers Monday called on their Irish colleague to explain his countrymen's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, warning that no quick solutions were in sight. What part of 'no' don't you understand? 'Ireland signed the Lisbon Treaty, it is up to her to find a solution,' Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said at a meeting in Luxembourg. But his Austrian colleague, Ursula Plassnik, said it would be unfair to isolate Ireland and called on all 27 member states to come up with a way out of the impasse. 'We are not going to put anyone in a corner, let alone the Irish. We must be fair towards them and listen to what they have to say,' Plassnik said.

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India-Pakistan

Danish investigators arrive in Pakistan as four held over embassy attack

2008-06-05

Denmark’s intelligence services have sent three experts to Islamabad as part of their investigation into Monday’s suicide attack on the Danish embassy, as Pakistani police held four suspects in Jhang on Wednesday. A 10-strong crisis management team had arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday. Danish intelligence officials said the attack had been meticulously planned for a “long time”. Preliminary information gleaned from the car used in this suicide attack, which was equipped with fake Danish diplomatic licence plates, “seems to indicate that it had been planned for a long time with precision,” the PET intelligence service said in a statement. The embassy’s video surveillance showed “a car with a man at the wheel arriving at high speed, passing in front of the embassy’s entrance before the explosion several seconds later,” PET added. Footage handed over: The footage has been handed over to the Pakistani authorities as part of their criminal inquiry. The Danish Foreign minister said there was growing evidence that Al Qaeda was behind that attack. Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said: “It seems that it was Al Qaeda. The pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place.” Neither Moeller nor the intelligence service elaborated. Meanwhile, police raided a house in Satellite Town in Jhang, and arrested Abdul Rehman, his son Zafar Iqbal and two businessmen whose identity had not yet been ascertained, sources told Daily Times. The men owned the car used in the attack, they said, and had filed a complaint in Jhang’s Mochiwala police station on February 15 that their car had been stolen. Sources in the Interior Ministry confirmed the arrest, but said the ministry had no information so far on who was behind the attack. They said the authorities were not ruling out foreign involvement. They said the ministry had asked the authorities concerned on Monday to compile data of all the vehicles stolen or car-jacked from Rawalpindi and Islamabad in the past and their owners, and had asked the Crime Investigation Agency, the anti-car theft cell and the Police Department to provide information necessary in this regard.

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India-Pakistan

Denmark: Minister blames 'dark forces' for suicide attack

2008-06-03

(AKI) - Denmark called an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday after a suicide car bombing outside its embassy in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. At least eight people died and around 30 others were injured in the blast, which damaged the embassy and left a huge crater in the road outside the building. Danish media reports said a Pakistani cleaner at the embassy died and three other Pakistani employees were wounded. No Danes were injured in the attack, the Danish foreign ministry said. But it issued a warning to its citizens against travelling to Pakistan. No Danes were injured in the attack, the Danish foreign ministry said. But it issued a warning to its citizens against travelling to Pakistan. Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, blamed the attack on 'dark forces' that want to destroy Pakistan's relationship with others. "We will not give them that victory," he said at a media conference in Copenhagen. He said the relationship between the Danish and Pakistani governments remained strong and that the bombing was also an attack against Pakistan's government. The minister said that both governments were working together to find out who was responsible for the attack. "It is terrible that terrorists commit such acts," he said. Denmark had downgraded the embassy and transferred many of its staff in recent months, after threats arising from the reprinting of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in Danish media The attack on the Danish embassy also damaged the nearby home of the Australian defence attache, but the Australian government says no one there was hurt

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Europe

Danish FM condemns blasphemy of holy Prophet Mohammad (PTUI PBUH)

2006-10-11

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller in a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki here Tuesday strongly condemned the blasphemy of the Islamic Prophet Mohammad (PTUI PBUH) by a group of Danish youth. According to a report released by the Media Department of the Foreign Ministry, Moeller underlined that the move has also been condemned by Denmark's prime minister in a statement issued on Sunday. "Tusk tusk. And you can quote us on that!" He said that the desecration took place by some members of the youth wing of the Danish People's Party and condemned such an unacceptable and inappropriate approach. "Wudn't us." For his part, Mottaki welcomed such condemnation of the blasphemy by Danish prime minister and foreign minister and underlined that all faithful Iranian people and students are furious over the desecration, particularly given this is the second time that Muslims' most sacred beliefs are blasphemed. "And you know how sensitive we are to blasphemy and stuff!" The Iranian minister stressed the sensitivity of the issue and warned Denmark against its consequences, adding that some Zionist associations are involved in anti-Islam instigation. "Y'gotta watch them Zionists. They're a sneaky lot!" Mottaki called on his Danish counterpart to do his best to stop such insulting provocations. "You should be more like us Medes and Persians!"

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Iraq

Denmark may pull 100 soldiers out of Iraq

2006-05-02

COPENHAGEN - Denmark may pull 100 soldiers out of Iraq -- a fifth of its total contingent -- during the second half of this year, according to a government report to be published on May 10, Danish media said. “The report will be published on the 10th of May but no announcement will be made before then” as to the number of soldiers, a civil servant at the foreign affairs ministry, who did not wish to be named, told AFP. The document is not yet finished, and must be submitted to parliament for approval, according to the state television station TV2. “There will be two procedures in the parliament before the final vote later in May probably,” AFP’s foreign ministry source confirmed. Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller refused to make any comment until the report was published. The 500 Danish troops are stationed in Basra under British command. Their mandate, renewable every six months, comes to an end in June.

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India-Pakistan

Suicide squad formed to kill Danish cartoonist

2006-02-24

A cleric who offered $1 million and a car for the death of those cartoonists who drew blasphemous caricatures said yesterday that suicide bombers had volunteered to “kill the blasphemers”. Yousaf Qureshi, the prayer leader at the 300-year-old Mohabat Khan mosque in Peshawar, announced the reward on Friday. “The blasphemers will not live and there are mujahedin who visited me to assure that such people will not be allowed to live for their unpardonable act,” the cleric told a news conference. “Mujahedin suicide bombers have contacted us and they are ready for this mission. They are college and university students.” Qureshi is considered close to the Jamaat-i-Islami party, which is at the forefront of the ongoing campaign against the cartoons in Pakistan. The imam also hit back at criticism from both Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu that rewards for murder were forbidden by the Holy Quran. “The OIC secretary-general is ignorant of Islamic teachings,” he said. He said the Danish foreign minister “lost sense” after he realised the strength of the Muslim world’s reaction to the cartoons. The only solution to the crisis was the trial of the blasphemers under Islamic laws, Qureshi said. “Nothing else is accepted than capital punishment under Islamic laws to the cartoonists,” he said. "Nope, nope, can't do nuttin' else, religion of peace demands death, nope." Our correspondent adds from Peshawar: Maulana Qureshi, defending his decision regarding reward for killing of the cartoonist, said Muslims have the right to do so as the act was initiated by the United States and its allies. “The US and its allies are not only involved in aggression against the Muslim countries but they are also announcing rewards against Muslim leaders,” the prayer leader added. Qureshi said the government is unable to denounce the plots against the Muslim as the rulers are more interested in power than their religious obligations. However, he praised the NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani for leading a peaceful demonstration. But he was harsh about the silent role of the chief ministers of the other three provinces. He urged the government to demand of the Danish government to extradite the cartoonist. Which will never happen, thus providing Qureshi, Qazi and the rest with a convenient excuse to whip up the masses ... Qureshi condemned the government, for what he called, demolishing the houses and killing of innocent people just to please the Western world. "Mujahideen are being bombed and targeted in Pakistan.” The imam demanded of the government to ask all the foreign countries to withdraw their troops from Pakistan at the earliest. There are foreign troops in Pakland? He demanded an end to the military operation in the tribal belt.

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India-Pakistan

Bombers Offer to Kill Cartoonists: Cleric

2006-02-23

A Pakistani cleric who offered $1 million and a car for the death of cartoonists who made carricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (May his drip clear up without medication peace be upon him) said yesterday that suicide bombers had volunteered to “kill the blasphemers.” Yousaf Qureshi, the imam, at the 300-year-old Moonbat Mohabat Khan Mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar, announced the reward on Friday. “The Prophet Muhammad’s blasphemers will not live and there are mujahedeen who visited me to assure that such people will not be allowed to live for their unpardonable act,” the cleric told a news conference. “Mujahedeen suicide bombers have contacted us and they are ready for this mission. They are college and university students.” I guess that's one way to get out of exams. Thought of it myself, back when I was taking statistics... Five people died in Pakistan last week during a wave of violent protests against the cartoons printed in a Danish newspaper and other European publications. That'd be the cartoons that mocked Islamists for their propensity for violence... Qureshi is considered close to the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which is at the forefront of the ongoing campaign against the cartoons in Pakistan. The imam also hit back at criticism from both Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu that rewards for murder were forbidden by the Qur’an. “The OIC secretary-general is ignorant of Islamic teachings,” he said. "So you can just shut yer fudge up or yer car'll go boom. That's in the Koran, too!" He said the Danish foreign minister “lost sense” after he realized the strength of the Muslim world’s reaction to the cartoons. The only solution to the crisis was the trial of the blasphemers under Islamic laws, Qureshi said. “Nothing else is accepted than capital punishment under Islamic laws to the cartoonists,” he said. Is it still considered a clash of civilizations when one side isn't a civilization?

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India-Pakistan

‘Bounty on cartoonists against Islam’

2006-02-21

Denmark and Norway on Monday condemned as incitement to “murder” a Pakistani cleric’s offer of a reward for anyone who kills any of the 12 Danish cartoonists who lampooned the Prophet Mohammad. No scare quotes required. "Murder" is murder. And you forgot to say "PTUI" after you mentioned the Profit. “It’s murder and murder is also forbidden by the Holy Quran,” Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller told a news conference with his colleague Jonas Gahr Stoere from Norway, which has been dragged into the row after a paper there published the cartoons. “Islam is also a religion of peace, mercy and forgiveness. Demonstrably it's not... "That is why it is my opinion, but also the opinion of many Muslims, this is un-Islamic,” he said. And equally demonstrably it's the opinion of learned but fly-blown Pak and Indian holy men that it's just as Islamic as can be. A Pakistani Muslim cleric and his followers offered rewards on Friday amounting to more than $1 million for killing one of the Danish cartoonists, who have been under police protection since the storm of protest broke out last month. “If the West can place a bounty on Osama bin Laden and Zawahri we can also announce reward for killing the man who has caused this sacrilege of the holy prophet,” cleric Maulana Yousef Qureshi said, referring to the al Qaeda leader and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri. The cartoonists didn't kill anyone, but that doesn't matter, does it? At Friday prayers in the city of Peshawar, he set a bounty of 500,000 rupees and two of his congregation put up rewards of $1 million and one million rupees plus a car. My patience meter is heading for the sub-zero area. I don't have any money, but anyone who pops a holy man will definitely receive my best wishes.

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Iraq

Baghdad asks Danish troops to stay

2006-02-17

The Iraqi interim government has officially asked Denmark to keep its soldiers in Iraq, after Basra city council told Danish troops to leave until their country apologises for the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. "The Iraqi government formally asks the Danish military contingent to continue its presence and work in the south of Iraq as part of the international coalition," Hoshyar Zebari, Iraqi foreign minister, wrote to his Danish counterpart Per Stig Moeller, the Danish Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Danish prime minister, on Tuesday asked the Iraqi government to speak out on the issue of around 530 Danish troops, mostly based in Basra in southern Iraq under British command.

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Europe

Muslims protest in Brussels as global Islamic rage grows

2006-02-06

efl Thousands of Muslims staged a spontaneous protest march in Brussels on Sunday as outrage against the depicting of Mohammed in satirical cartoons spread further across the Islamic world. Some 4,000 Muslims took to the streets of the Belgian capital on Sunday afternoon, moving from the Brussels North train station to the offices of public broadcasters VRT and RTBF on the Reyerslaan. Angered by cartoons of Mohammed that first appeared in the Danish newspaper 'Jyllands-Posten', the protestors wanted to show the media that freedom of speech is not an absolute right. They demanded respect from the media for the Islamic faith and shouted: 'Don't touch my religion', newspaper 'De Standaard' reported on Monday. The protest was at times tense, but the demonstration largely passed off without incident and ended at about 6pm. The only unrest involved several youths throwing stones at the US embassy. Police had sealed off the Danish embassy to ward off any problems. But in an indication of the deep unrest among Belgian Muslims, the Arab European League (AEL) of Dyab Abou Jahjah placed three anti-Semitic cartoons on its website over the weekend. Belgian Islamic politicians urged for calm, but have especially requested understanding from the public and government authorities for the insulted feelings of Muslims, both in Belgium and abroad. However, they also said that repeats of violence witnessed internationally would not be tolerated in Belgium. ..... The violence (in Syria, Lebanon, etc.) prompted Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller to call for calm. "It is a critical situation and it is very serious," he said. He said further that the riots were no longer about the cartoons, warning that some "powers" were instigating a confrontation of cultures. "This is in no one's interest, neither ours nor theirs." The EU, the US and NATO condemned the rioting. Lebanese politicians and the US have accused the Syrian government of supporting the protests in Lebanon to undermine the government.

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