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Al-Jazeera Reporter Among 10 Al-Qaida Suspects Jailed in
Spain
Spain's Political Landscape: How the Spanish Gvt. Radically
Shifted From Conservative to Progressive
The Killing of Ricardo Ortega: Witnesses Say U.S. Marines
Fatally Shot Spanish Journalist in Haiti
Europe's New "Bill of Rights" - European Parliament
Approves New EU Constitution
Al-Jazeera Reporter Among 10 Al-Qaida Suspects Jailed
in Spain
A journalist with the Arabic satellite television channel,
Al-Jazeera, and ten others have been jailed in Spain ahead
of a trial on charges of having links with Al-Qaeda. We speak
with the chief editor of the Spanish magazine "La Clave."
A journalist with the Arabic satellite television channel,
Al-Jazeera, and ten others have been jailed in Spain ahead
of a trial on charges of having links with Al-Qaeda. The ten
were charged last year and have been free on bail for over
a year.
Prosecutors urged that they remain in custody until their
February trial for fear they may flee after their appeals
were rejected last week. Lawyers for the ten criticized the
order, saying they had abided by the conditions of bail set
over a year ago.
The ten are among more than 35 people - including Osama Bin
Laden - indicted on charges of belonging to or collaborating
with al-Qaeda by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon.
Al Jazeera reporter Tayseer Alouni, who holds dual Syrian
and Spanish citizenship, was arrested Thursday evening in
the southern city of Granada, where he lives. Alouni is one
of Al-Jazeera"s best-known journalists, and has interviewed
Osama bin Laden. He was first arrested on September 5, 2003
but was released on bail after telling the court he had heart
trouble. Alouni is accused of using his reporting trips to
Kabul in Afghanistan as a cover for his activities for providing
money and information to the network.
The leading Spanish daily reports Alouni told the court "How
am I going to run away? If I flee, I risk my entire journalistic
career." Lawyers said Alouni and another of the ten had
health problems that could get worse in jail.
- Inigo Garcia, Chief editor of the international section
of the Spanish magazine "La Clave."
Spain's Political Landscape: How the Spanish Gvt.
Radically Shifted From Conservative to Progressive
The Madrid train bombings earlier this year that killed
192 people, radically changed the Spain's political landscape.
We take a look at how in just a few months, Spain's government
has shifted from being one of the leading conservative members
of the European Union, to becoming one of the most progressive.
Seven months ago, on March 11th, a series of train bombings
rocked Madrid killing 192 people and radically changing the
country's political landscape. The bombings happened just
three days before the country's national elections. President
José María Aznar's conservative political party,
the Partido Popular or PP, had been poised to win the elections.
But the subsequent government cover-up surrounding the bombings
led to mass protests and the ouster of his party. On March
14th, with the rail tracks still smoking and bodies still
being pulled from the wreckage, Spaniards elected socialist
José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Tomorrow we will look at the effect that those bombings had
on Spain, as well as at the ongoing judicial and political
investigations into the bombings and the government cover-up.
But today we begin with a look at how in just a few months,
Spain's government has gone from being one of the leading
conservative members of the European Union, to becoming one
of the most progressive.
Just after taking office in April, Rodriguez Zapatero fulfilled
a campaign promise: he withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq and
left the "coalition of the willing." To use Donald
Rumsfeld´s terms, Spain left the New Europe and joined
the Old Europe.
In the past few months, Rodriguez Zapatero has appointed
a cabinet composed of 50 percent women, and drawn up legislation
that if passed will legalize abortion and gay marriage, introduce
gender violence laws and roll back many of Aznar's conservative
educational and social initiatives. In its proposed annual
budget, which now awaits approval in Congress, the government
has earmarked more funds for social spending, somewhat reduced
the military budget and increased aid to developing countries.
Meanwhile, US-Spanish relations are at an all-time low, particularly
after Rodriguez Zapatero pulled troops from Iraq and then
gave an anti-war speech before the UN General Assembly calling
on other countries to withdraw from Iraq.
- Javier Corcuera, Spanish filmmaker who recently returned
from Iraq. His latest film is about civilians in Iraq. Among
his other films is La Espalda del Mundo, The Back of the
World.
- Guillermo Fesser, host of the popular radio show Goma
Espuma, heard nationally in Spain on Onda Cero.
The Killing of Ricardo Ortega: Witnesses Say U.S.
Marines Fatally Shot Spanish Journalist in Haiti
We speak with Spanish journalist Jesus Martin who traveled
to Haiti earlier this year to pay tribute to his slain friend
and colleague, Ricardo Ortega, who was fatally shot in the
chest while he was covering a street protest. He says Ortega
was probably killed by American marines - not by supporters
of Haitian president Aristide, as had been claimed officially.
On March 7th of this year, as the coup against Haitian President
Jean Bertrand Aristide took shape, journalist Ricardo Ortega
fell to the ground as he covered street protests in Port Au
Prince. He had been fatally shot in the chest. His last words,
as he was loaded onto a truck with other wounded, were "I
cannot breathe." It was reported at the time that he
had been shot by Aristide supporters.
Ricardo was in Haiti as a freelance journalist, after being
dismissed as New York correspondent for the Spanish TV station
Antena 3, which had ties to the former government of Jose
Maria Aznar. The reporter told friends that he was dismissed
after the government complained to his superiors that his
reports of the Bush administration were too critical.
Months after the death of Ricardo Ortega, his friend and
colleague Jesús Martin traveled to Haiti with a crew
to film a program paying tribute to his friend. But as they
began to interview the witnesses to Ricardo's killing, they
were shocked to learn that he was probably killed by American
marines, and not by supporters of Aristide, as had been claimed
officially. Witness after witness described the arrival of
a contingent of Marines on the scene, and the subsequent gunfire
that came from their direction and struck the reporter. The
witnesses complained that no-one had ever contacted them to
find out what happened, and that no investigation had ever
been conducted into the killing of Ricardo Ortega.
- Jesus Martin, a journalist with the national Spanish
TV network Antena 3. He conducted the investigation into
the death of his friend of Ricardo Ortega.
Europe's New "Bill of Rights" - European
Parliament Approves New EU Constitution
As the European Commission prepares its agenda for the next
few years, Europeans are debating the merits of a new Constitution
signed by its 25 member states. Next February 20th, Spain
will become the first country in the European Union to hold
a popular referendum on the Constitution.
This past week, the European Parliament approved a new European
Commission, headed by the EU's new president, former Portuguese
Prime Minister Jose Manual Durao Barroso. Durao is best remembered
internationally for hosting the summit in Azores between President
Bush, Tony Blair and Jose Maria Aznar that declared war on
Iraq.
The EU vote ended a crisis that began three weeks ago when
the majority of parliamentarians refused to back Durao's choice
of commissioners. He was forced to withdraw his list in order
to remove his controversial choice for Justice, Freedom and
Security, Italian Rocco Buttiglione. Buttiglione had publicly
stated that homosexuality was a sin, and that a woman's place
was in the home.
As the commission prepares its agenda for the next few years,
Europeans are debating the merits of a new Constitution signed
by its 25 member states. Next February 20th, Spain will become
the first country in the European Union to hold a popular
referendum on the Constitution. The treaty, which amounts
to a European bill of rights, was signed on October 29th by
leaders of all 25 European Union member states and three candidate
countries. The countries now must ratify it individually.
Some, like Spain, plan to put it to a popular vote, while
others will approve it through Congressional ratification.
- Ramon Fernandez Duran, a representative of the environmental
rights group Ecologistas en Acción.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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