Dutch TV show exonerates bin Laden
A Dutch TV jury has found Osama bin Laden not guilty of the September 11 attacks.
In the conclusion Wednesday night to the show Devil's Advocate on Dutch public broadcaster Nederland 2, the jury of two men and three women, along with the studio audience, ruled that there was no proof bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in 2001.
The Netherlands, home to Big Brother creator Endemol, is known for being on the cutting edge of format-based television.
But even for Dutch standards, Devil's Advocate, from Amsterdam production house AVRO, pushes the envelope.
The show features star defence attorney Gerard Spong standing up for some of the world's worst criminals.
In the latest show, Spong was able to convince the jury that bin Laden's connection to September 11 was a product of "Western propaganda".
The jury also ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove bin Laden was the real head of terrorist network Al Qaeda.
The jury did rule, however, that bin Laden is a "terrorist who has misused Islam".
The show is certain to provide further ammunition in the already heated Dutch debate over immigration and the country's large Muslim minority.
The Netherlands saw a sharp rise in anti-immigration and anti-Islamic sentiment after the 2004 murder of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh by a Muslim extremist.
Spong has been at the centre of the debate, supporting legal action against anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders.
- Reuters
Catholics suffered most as result of WW2
A Brazilian archbishop dropped a bombshell on Friday when he said Catholics and gypsies had been more persecuted than Jews during World War II.
"The Jews talk about six million people killed. But how many Catholics were victims of the Holocaust? They were 22 million in all," Archbishop Dadeus Grings, from Porto Alegre in southern Brazil, told advertising magazine Press & Advertising.
The archbishop also contended that while "Jews say they were the main victims of the Holocaust, the biggest victims were the gypsies, because they were exterminated."
The Jewish federation of the state of Rio Grande do Sul was quick to fire back, stressing that "this was not the first time Dadeus referred to the Holocaust in a distorted way.
"To diminish the Holocaust is an attack against the millions of people killed in a war unleashed by fanaticism and intolerance," the group added in a statement. Story
"The Jews talk about six million people killed. But how many Catholics were victims of the Holocaust? They were 22 million in all," Archbishop Dadeus Grings, from Porto Alegre in southern Brazil, told advertising magazine Press & Advertising.
The archbishop also contended that while "Jews say they were the main victims of the Holocaust, the biggest victims were the gypsies, because they were exterminated."
The Jewish federation of the state of Rio Grande do Sul was quick to fire back, stressing that "this was not the first time Dadeus referred to the Holocaust in a distorted way.
"To diminish the Holocaust is an attack against the millions of people killed in a war unleashed by fanaticism and intolerance," the group added in a statement. Story
Pakistan: Bush’s policy helped promote terrorism: Nawaz
LAHORE, (The News): PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif said former US President Bush’s policy had helped promote terrorism by backing General Pervez Musharraf, the former military ruler and president of Pakistan.
“ Mr Bush gave blind support to Mr Musharraf and he turned a blind eye to all the atrocities at home that Mr Musharraf committed in his eight year dictatorial rule. He never was keen that Pakistan should get back to the democratic path,” Sharif told Financial Times.
He said that Obama’s policy was only slightly different from the disastrous one pursued by George W. Bush.
“Mr Obama has now come up with a new policy with little changes, very minor changes as compared to the last policy”.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=73485
“ Mr Bush gave blind support to Mr Musharraf and he turned a blind eye to all the atrocities at home that Mr Musharraf committed in his eight year dictatorial rule. He never was keen that Pakistan should get back to the democratic path,” Sharif told Financial Times.
He said that Obama’s policy was only slightly different from the disastrous one pursued by George W. Bush.
“Mr Obama has now come up with a new policy with little changes, very minor changes as compared to the last policy”.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/updates.asp?id=73485
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