Curruption Prayer.
Abuja– Spokesperson for President Jonathan Ebele Goodluck, Mr Reuben Abati, has responded to accusations that Jonathan and members of his cabal refused to say amen to at this weekend’s democracy day Church Service when the preacher offered a prayerful curse against corruption amongst public officials.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Abati revealed aspects of protocol that are not widely known outside Government circles, and which would explain why Mr President and ministers didn’t say Amen to the prayer by Most Reverend Peter Akinola, committing corrupt politicians to the court of God.
According to him, it is a long standing presidential protocol that during Church or Mosque services, the President only offers a fixed number of amens or amis, as the case may be.
The Reverend had offered many prayers and demanded many amens prior to the contentious one, Abati explained, the result of which was that the day’s quota of amens had been used up.
“Why?” asked the spokesperson, “would President not say amen to a prayer against corruption?”
He advised preachers, pastors, imams etc, to familiarise themselves with government protocol and to also limit the length of their prayers and sermons.
“It is the same people accusing the President of not saying amen to anti-corruption prayer that would be accusing him of favouritism if he had broken with protocol and said more amens than is allowed by constitution,” Abati said.
For more refreshing and hot news, log-on to: http://oddyta0.blogspot.com. Please remember to bookmark it.
Monday, May 28, 2012
First year anniversary: Jonathan’s Facebook’s friends’ damning verdict
First year anniversary: Jonathan’s Facebook’s friends’ damning verdict
As President Goodluck Jonathan marks his first year in office on May 29, his comment on the first anniversary on his Facebook has attracted varying degree of reactions from some of his friends and followers on the social media platform.
His comment on the anniversary uploaded on Monday, May 14 stated thus:
“As we approach the first anniversary of this administration and because we derive our mandate from the people by the way of free and fair election, I have instructed members of the Executive Council of the Federation to render an account of stewardship to Nigerians.
“This rendering by the way of televised live ministerial briefings are ongoing and I encourage all Nigerians to watch these briefings and give me feedback on this page.
“Feedback is the synergy that is needed to make government work better for you and as I have demonstrated from inception of this page. I take your feedback into account in formation of government policy as well as the decision making process” the president wrote.
As at the time of this report, about 2,720 comments and 922 likes have been recorded on the anniversary message. While 64 per cent of the respondents expressed their displeasure on Jonathan’s administration’s performance so far, 36 per cent gave him a pass mark but urged him to speed up his transformation agenda.
Some of the comments on the anniversary message are as follows:
Robert Akpebi: Goodluck should forget about 2015, complete your tenure and leave for more qualified person. You forgot to bring development to your home state like the abandoned East/West road.
Agare Isaac: Sir, you have failed me in the area of security, your administration has cost the death of 1,800 people, unlike our Military Heads of State. Going by this data, by 2015, about 800,000 to 1,000,000 souls would have gone.
Sufya Deen Ibrahim: Sir, you have a silver tongue like the Niger State Governor ( Talba).
Duru Vincent: One year after your Presidential pronouncement of job offer and immortalization of slain Bauchi NYSC Corp members, this promise is yet to be fulfilled.
Bisi Awoeyo: Mr. President, your anniversary gift to Nigerians like the New Year subsidy gift, is the tariff for darkness instead of light.
Opeodu Olutayo: Where is the electricity to watch the briefings?
Akan Martins: Mr. President, my regards, ministerial briefings is good, but people in the village might not be part of this.
Others include:
Ayodele David: Please, it is time you step on toes to move this country forward.
Michael Abugu: A big congratulation for job well done, we have never witness unprecedented transparency a premise upon which your government was built, your promises for renovation of refinery, railway transportation has been fulfilled. To curb insecurity, please retrain the armed forces.
Balogun Abiodun: Mr. President, it is not the. numbers of years, that matter but your legacy. You may be trying but trying is not enough. Let power be your only agenda at affordable rate. I want to assure you that Nigerians will forgive your mistakes.
For refreshing and hot news, log-on to: http://oddyta0.blogspot.com. Please remember to bookmark it.
As President Goodluck Jonathan marks his first year in office on May 29, his comment on the first anniversary on his Facebook has attracted varying degree of reactions from some of his friends and followers on the social media platform.
His comment on the anniversary uploaded on Monday, May 14 stated thus:
“As we approach the first anniversary of this administration and because we derive our mandate from the people by the way of free and fair election, I have instructed members of the Executive Council of the Federation to render an account of stewardship to Nigerians.
“This rendering by the way of televised live ministerial briefings are ongoing and I encourage all Nigerians to watch these briefings and give me feedback on this page.
“Feedback is the synergy that is needed to make government work better for you and as I have demonstrated from inception of this page. I take your feedback into account in formation of government policy as well as the decision making process” the president wrote.
As at the time of this report, about 2,720 comments and 922 likes have been recorded on the anniversary message. While 64 per cent of the respondents expressed their displeasure on Jonathan’s administration’s performance so far, 36 per cent gave him a pass mark but urged him to speed up his transformation agenda.
Some of the comments on the anniversary message are as follows:
Robert Akpebi: Goodluck should forget about 2015, complete your tenure and leave for more qualified person. You forgot to bring development to your home state like the abandoned East/West road.
Agare Isaac: Sir, you have failed me in the area of security, your administration has cost the death of 1,800 people, unlike our Military Heads of State. Going by this data, by 2015, about 800,000 to 1,000,000 souls would have gone.
Sufya Deen Ibrahim: Sir, you have a silver tongue like the Niger State Governor ( Talba).
Duru Vincent: One year after your Presidential pronouncement of job offer and immortalization of slain Bauchi NYSC Corp members, this promise is yet to be fulfilled.
Bisi Awoeyo: Mr. President, your anniversary gift to Nigerians like the New Year subsidy gift, is the tariff for darkness instead of light.
Opeodu Olutayo: Where is the electricity to watch the briefings?
Akan Martins: Mr. President, my regards, ministerial briefings is good, but people in the village might not be part of this.
Others include:
Ayodele David: Please, it is time you step on toes to move this country forward.
Michael Abugu: A big congratulation for job well done, we have never witness unprecedented transparency a premise upon which your government was built, your promises for renovation of refinery, railway transportation has been fulfilled. To curb insecurity, please retrain the armed forces.
Balogun Abiodun: Mr. President, it is not the. numbers of years, that matter but your legacy. You may be trying but trying is not enough. Let power be your only agenda at affordable rate. I want to assure you that Nigerians will forgive your mistakes.
For refreshing and hot news, log-on to: http://oddyta0.blogspot.com. Please remember to bookmark it.
Nigerian appointed first black police commander in London
Nigerian appointed first black police commander in London
Olisa, A United Kingdom-based Nigerian and a Chief Superintendent with the London Metropolitan Police, Mr. Victor Olisa, has been appointed as the first black commander for Bexley local council in London.
“Policing runs in the family and I have always wanted to be a police officer and ethnicity does not affect that” Olisa told the Europe Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in his reaction on the appointment in London.
Olisa, whose grandfather was a police officer in Nigeria, said his focus was on the job rather than on being the ``first black’’ adding that his ethnicity never affected the way he carried out his duties.
``I consider myself first and foremost a police officer. If (being black) is an advantage, then brilliant; If it’s a disadvantage, I will have to deal with that, I can’t hide it.''
Olisa said a lot was being done to address racism within the force, adding that it was the responsibility of the force to correct wrongs and not an institution for people with racist views.
``I am impeccably against anyone who uses racist language or behaves in a racist manner. This will not be allowed under my watch.
``I believe that everyone should be treated with dignity wherever they come from,’’ Olisa said.
Olisa, 52, born in Warri, Delta, is one of the three chief superintendents from black minority ethnic background working for the Metropolitan Police.
He started his career in Surrey Police in 1982 before transferring to the City of London Police in 1990 as detective inspector in the Fraud Squad.
After a spell at the Home Office, he transferred to the Metropolitan police in 2006 as a superintendent in Southwark Council before his recent appointment.
Olisa, A United Kingdom-based Nigerian and a Chief Superintendent with the London Metropolitan Police, Mr. Victor Olisa, has been appointed as the first black commander for Bexley local council in London.
“Policing runs in the family and I have always wanted to be a police officer and ethnicity does not affect that” Olisa told the Europe Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in his reaction on the appointment in London.
Olisa, whose grandfather was a police officer in Nigeria, said his focus was on the job rather than on being the ``first black’’ adding that his ethnicity never affected the way he carried out his duties.
``I consider myself first and foremost a police officer. If (being black) is an advantage, then brilliant; If it’s a disadvantage, I will have to deal with that, I can’t hide it.''
Olisa said a lot was being done to address racism within the force, adding that it was the responsibility of the force to correct wrongs and not an institution for people with racist views.
``I am impeccably against anyone who uses racist language or behaves in a racist manner. This will not be allowed under my watch.
``I believe that everyone should be treated with dignity wherever they come from,’’ Olisa said.
Olisa, 52, born in Warri, Delta, is one of the three chief superintendents from black minority ethnic background working for the Metropolitan Police.
He started his career in Surrey Police in 1982 before transferring to the City of London Police in 1990 as detective inspector in the Fraud Squad.
After a spell at the Home Office, he transferred to the Metropolitan police in 2006 as a superintendent in Southwark Council before his recent appointment.
Retirement Age of Staff of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education (Harmonisation) Act, 2012
STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
PRESIDENT JONATHAN SIGNS AMENDED BILLS ON RETIREMENT AGE OF STAFF OF POLYTECHNICS, COLLEGES OF EDUCATION AND UNIVERSITIES AND TENURE OF PRINCIPAL OFFICERS OF UNIVERSITIES
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has signed the Bill for an Act entitled,
Retirement Age of Staff of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education (Harmonisation) Act, 2012. This law harmonises the compulsory retirement age of staff of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education to be 65 years and exempts them from the Public Service Rule which requires a person to retire from the Public Service after serving for 35 years.
President Jonathan has also assented to the Bill for an Act to further amend the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act No. 11, 1993. The new
Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act, 2012, limits the tenure of principal officers of universities to a single term of five years, while increasing the compulsory retirement age of staff in the professorial cadre and non-academic staff in Nigerian universities to 70 and 65 years respectively.
REUBEN ABATI
Special Adviser (Media & Publicity) to the President
May 14, 2012.
PRESIDENT JONATHAN SIGNS AMENDED BILLS ON RETIREMENT AGE OF STAFF OF POLYTECHNICS, COLLEGES OF EDUCATION AND UNIVERSITIES AND TENURE OF PRINCIPAL OFFICERS OF UNIVERSITIES
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has signed the Bill for an Act entitled,
Retirement Age of Staff of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education (Harmonisation) Act, 2012. This law harmonises the compulsory retirement age of staff of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education to be 65 years and exempts them from the Public Service Rule which requires a person to retire from the Public Service after serving for 35 years.
President Jonathan has also assented to the Bill for an Act to further amend the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act No. 11, 1993. The new
Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act, 2012, limits the tenure of principal officers of universities to a single term of five years, while increasing the compulsory retirement age of staff in the professorial cadre and non-academic staff in Nigerian universities to 70 and 65 years respectively.
REUBEN ABATI
Special Adviser (Media & Publicity) to the President
May 14, 2012.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
NEWSPAPER HEADLINES
Tribune:
*How petrol stations dupe Nigerians billions of naira daily
*BOKO HARAM FUNDING: Nigeria may face international sanctions •Security beefed up in Benue as Boko Haram gives notice to strike
*How NJC’s letter gave Jonathan option on Salami •CJ assigns suit on reinstatement, hearing date today •MTN yet to respond to N1trn fraud suit
*2013 budget ready in Sept - Okonjo-Iweala
Punch:
*Labour, NBA caution FG against fuel subsidy removal
*Police warn NURTW against lawlessness in Ibadan
*Why FG can’t solve Boko Haram crisis – el-Rufai
*84 Lagos private hospitals to offer free services
Guardian:
*Lagos engages new doctors as ‘casual workers’, bans strike
*WHO Assembly urges universal health coverage
*Immigration, trade, others top Nigeria, S’ Africa commission’s agenda
*Govt to meet Labour, others over new power tariffs
Vanguard:
*SWF: Govs threaten to dump out-of-court settlement deal
*Pandemonium over threat to bomb Senate President's home
*Enugu guber poll: Court decides Chime’s fate today
*Power generation ‘ll increase by 50% in Dec – Ngige
*How petrol stations dupe Nigerians billions of naira daily
*BOKO HARAM FUNDING: Nigeria may face international sanctions •Security beefed up in Benue as Boko Haram gives notice to strike
*How NJC’s letter gave Jonathan option on Salami •CJ assigns suit on reinstatement, hearing date today •MTN yet to respond to N1trn fraud suit
*2013 budget ready in Sept - Okonjo-Iweala
Punch:
*Labour, NBA caution FG against fuel subsidy removal
*Police warn NURTW against lawlessness in Ibadan
*Why FG can’t solve Boko Haram crisis – el-Rufai
*84 Lagos private hospitals to offer free services
Guardian:
*Lagos engages new doctors as ‘casual workers’, bans strike
*WHO Assembly urges universal health coverage
*Immigration, trade, others top Nigeria, S’ Africa commission’s agenda
*Govt to meet Labour, others over new power tariffs
Vanguard:
*SWF: Govs threaten to dump out-of-court settlement deal
*Pandemonium over threat to bomb Senate President's home
*Enugu guber poll: Court decides Chime’s fate today
*Power generation ‘ll increase by 50% in Dec – Ngige
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Lockerbie Bomber Dies
Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi dies
Cannot play media. You do not have the correct version of the flash player. Download the correct version
The BBC's Mike Wooldridge reports on the life of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi
Continue reading the main story
Lockerbie Bombing
Megrahi obituary
Bomber to the end Watch
Lockerbie relative: 'Sad day' Watch
Timeline of release
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing above Scotland which killed 270 people, has died at his home in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
Megrahi, 60, was convicted by a special court in the Netherlands in 2001.
He was released from prison in Scotland in 2009 on compassionate grounds. He was suffering from cancer and was said to have only months to live.
When he arrived back in Tripoli, he received a hero's welcome.
His release sparked the fury of many of the relatives of the victims of the Lockerbie disaster. The US - whose citizens accounted for 189 of the dead - also criticised the move.
But others believed he was not guilty of the bombing.
Continue reading the main story
At the scene
Rana Jawad
BBC News, Tripoli
There are just over a dozen cars lining up the street outside Megrahi's house, on the outskirts of central Tripoli.
Chairs are being put up - presumably for guests who will be paying their condolences, although it is still very quiet here.
I spoke earlier today to Megrahi's brother, who said he wished his brother had lived to see the day when his innocence was proven.
Megrahi - and his family - had long maintained that he was not responsible for the Lockerbie bombing.
During Col Gaddafi's rule, many Libyans maintained that Megrahi was innocent whatever the court decided.
I have spoken to a number of Libyans since Col Gaddafi was ousted last year who believe that Megrahi was guilty.
But you still find that many Libyans say that Megrahi did not directly participate in the bombing, that he was used as a scapegoat by the former regime.
So there are mixed views in Libya on this matter.
Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died at Lockerbie, called Megrahi's death a "very sad event".
"Right up to the end he was determined, for his family's sake... [that] the verdict against him should be overturned," said Dr Swire, who is a member of the Justice for Megrahi group.
"And also he wanted that for the sake of those relatives who had come to the conclusion after studying the evidence that he wasn't guilty, and I think that's going to happen."
Died at home
His brother Abdulhakim said on Sunday that Megrahi's health had deteriorated quickly and he died at home in Tripoli.
He told the AFP news agency that Megrahi died at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT).
The BBC's Rana Jawad, who is outside Megrahi's home in Tripoli, says family members are making preparations to receive guests paying their condolences.
Megrahi's sister told the Libyan Wal news agency that his funeral would take place at Tripoli's main cemetery on Monday, following early afternoon prayers.
Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, always denied any responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988.
It remains the deadliest terrorist incident ever to have taken place on British soil.
All 259 people aboard the plane, which was travelling from London to New York, were killed, along with 11 others on the ground.
Megrahi, who had cancer, died at his home in Tripoli, his brother said
Investigators tracing the origins of scraps of clothes wrapped around the bomb followed a trail to a shop in Malta which led them, eventually, to Megrahi.
He and another Libyan, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, were indicted by the Scottish and US courts in November 1991.
But Libya refused to extradite them. In 1999, after protracted negotiations, Libya handed the two men over for trial, under Scottish law but on neutral ground, the former US airbase at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.
Their trial began in May 2000. Fhimah was acquitted of all charges, but Megrahi was found guilty and sentenced to a minimum of 27 years in prison.
He served the first part of his sentence at the maximum-security prison at Barlinnie, in Glasgow, but was transferred in 2005 to Greenock prison.
He lost his first appeal against conviction in 2002 but in 2007, his case was referred back to senior Scottish judges. He dropped that second case two days before he was released.
No extradition
Last August, after the fall of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, Megrahi was reported to be "in and out of a coma" at his home in Tripoli.
There have been calls for him to be returned to jail in the UK or tried in the US.
But shortly after they toppled Colonel Gaddafi, Libyan rebel leaders said they would not extradite Megrahi or any other Libyan.
Continue reading the main story
Megrahi: Key dates
November 1991: Indicted for Lockerbie bombing
2001-02: Tried and convicted at special court in the Netherlands August 2009: Released on compassionate grounds and returns to Tripoli July 2011: Last known public appearance at pro-Gaddafi rally 20 May 2012: Dies at home in Tripoli Timeline: Megrahi since release
Our correspondent says that since the fall of Gaddafi, more Libyans are expressing the view that whatever happened at Lockerbie was bigger than just Megrahi, and he may have been used as a scapegoat by the regime.
Last September, it emerged that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had raised Megrahi's case in talks with Gaddafi in 2008 and 2009 in Libya, shortly before Megrahi was freed.
At the time, Libya was threatening to sever commercial links with Britain if Megrahi was not released.
But Mr Blair's spokesman told Col Gaddafi it was a case for the Scottish authorities and no business deals were discussed.
In his last interview, filmed in December 2011, Megrahi said: "I am an innocent man. I am about to die and I ask now to be left in peace with my family."
He had previously claimed he would release new information about the atrocity but little new has emerged.
Megrahi had rarely been seen since his return to Tripoli, but he was spotted on Libyan television at what appeared to be a pro-government rally in July 2011.
Cannot play media. You do not have the correct version of the flash player. Download the correct version
The BBC's Mike Wooldridge reports on the life of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi
Continue reading the main story
Lockerbie Bombing
Megrahi obituary
Bomber to the end Watch
Lockerbie relative: 'Sad day' Watch
Timeline of release
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing above Scotland which killed 270 people, has died at his home in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
Megrahi, 60, was convicted by a special court in the Netherlands in 2001.
He was released from prison in Scotland in 2009 on compassionate grounds. He was suffering from cancer and was said to have only months to live.
When he arrived back in Tripoli, he received a hero's welcome.
His release sparked the fury of many of the relatives of the victims of the Lockerbie disaster. The US - whose citizens accounted for 189 of the dead - also criticised the move.
But others believed he was not guilty of the bombing.
Continue reading the main story
At the scene
Rana Jawad
BBC News, Tripoli
There are just over a dozen cars lining up the street outside Megrahi's house, on the outskirts of central Tripoli.
Chairs are being put up - presumably for guests who will be paying their condolences, although it is still very quiet here.
I spoke earlier today to Megrahi's brother, who said he wished his brother had lived to see the day when his innocence was proven.
Megrahi - and his family - had long maintained that he was not responsible for the Lockerbie bombing.
During Col Gaddafi's rule, many Libyans maintained that Megrahi was innocent whatever the court decided.
I have spoken to a number of Libyans since Col Gaddafi was ousted last year who believe that Megrahi was guilty.
But you still find that many Libyans say that Megrahi did not directly participate in the bombing, that he was used as a scapegoat by the former regime.
So there are mixed views in Libya on this matter.
Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died at Lockerbie, called Megrahi's death a "very sad event".
"Right up to the end he was determined, for his family's sake... [that] the verdict against him should be overturned," said Dr Swire, who is a member of the Justice for Megrahi group.
"And also he wanted that for the sake of those relatives who had come to the conclusion after studying the evidence that he wasn't guilty, and I think that's going to happen."
Died at home
His brother Abdulhakim said on Sunday that Megrahi's health had deteriorated quickly and he died at home in Tripoli.
He told the AFP news agency that Megrahi died at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT).
The BBC's Rana Jawad, who is outside Megrahi's home in Tripoli, says family members are making preparations to receive guests paying their condolences.
Megrahi's sister told the Libyan Wal news agency that his funeral would take place at Tripoli's main cemetery on Monday, following early afternoon prayers.
Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, always denied any responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988.
It remains the deadliest terrorist incident ever to have taken place on British soil.
All 259 people aboard the plane, which was travelling from London to New York, were killed, along with 11 others on the ground.
Megrahi, who had cancer, died at his home in Tripoli, his brother said
Investigators tracing the origins of scraps of clothes wrapped around the bomb followed a trail to a shop in Malta which led them, eventually, to Megrahi.
He and another Libyan, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, were indicted by the Scottish and US courts in November 1991.
But Libya refused to extradite them. In 1999, after protracted negotiations, Libya handed the two men over for trial, under Scottish law but on neutral ground, the former US airbase at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.
Their trial began in May 2000. Fhimah was acquitted of all charges, but Megrahi was found guilty and sentenced to a minimum of 27 years in prison.
He served the first part of his sentence at the maximum-security prison at Barlinnie, in Glasgow, but was transferred in 2005 to Greenock prison.
He lost his first appeal against conviction in 2002 but in 2007, his case was referred back to senior Scottish judges. He dropped that second case two days before he was released.
No extradition
Last August, after the fall of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, Megrahi was reported to be "in and out of a coma" at his home in Tripoli.
There have been calls for him to be returned to jail in the UK or tried in the US.
But shortly after they toppled Colonel Gaddafi, Libyan rebel leaders said they would not extradite Megrahi or any other Libyan.
Continue reading the main story
Megrahi: Key dates
November 1991: Indicted for Lockerbie bombing
2001-02: Tried and convicted at special court in the Netherlands August 2009: Released on compassionate grounds and returns to Tripoli July 2011: Last known public appearance at pro-Gaddafi rally 20 May 2012: Dies at home in Tripoli Timeline: Megrahi since release
Our correspondent says that since the fall of Gaddafi, more Libyans are expressing the view that whatever happened at Lockerbie was bigger than just Megrahi, and he may have been used as a scapegoat by the regime.
Last September, it emerged that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had raised Megrahi's case in talks with Gaddafi in 2008 and 2009 in Libya, shortly before Megrahi was freed.
At the time, Libya was threatening to sever commercial links with Britain if Megrahi was not released.
But Mr Blair's spokesman told Col Gaddafi it was a case for the Scottish authorities and no business deals were discussed.
In his last interview, filmed in December 2011, Megrahi said: "I am an innocent man. I am about to die and I ask now to be left in peace with my family."
He had previously claimed he would release new information about the atrocity but little new has emerged.
Megrahi had rarely been seen since his return to Tripoli, but he was spotted on Libyan television at what appeared to be a pro-government rally in July 2011.
Lockerbie Bomber Dies
Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi dies
Cannot play media. You do not have the correct version of the flash player. Download the correct version
The BBC's Mike Wooldridge reports on the life of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi
Continue reading the main story
Lockerbie Bombing
Megrahi obituary
Bomber to the end Watch
Lockerbie relative: 'Sad day' Watch
Timeline of release
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing above Scotland which killed 270 people, has died at his home in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
Megrahi, 60, was convicted by a special court in the Netherlands in 2001.
He was released from prison in Scotland in 2009 on compassionate grounds. He was suffering from cancer and was said to have only months to live.
When he arrived back in Tripoli, he received a hero's welcome.
His release sparked the fury of many of the relatives of the victims of the Lockerbie disaster. The US - whose citizens accounted for 189 of the dead - also criticised the move.
But others believed he was not guilty of the bombing.
Continue reading the main story
At the scene
Rana Jawad
BBC News, Tripoli
There are just over a dozen cars lining up the street outside Megrahi's house, on the outskirts of central Tripoli.
Chairs are being put up - presumably for guests who will be paying their condolences, although it is still very quiet here.
I spoke earlier today to Megrahi's brother, who said he wished his brother had lived to see the day when his innocence was proven.
Megrahi - and his family - had long maintained that he was not responsible for the Lockerbie bombing.
During Col Gaddafi's rule, many Libyans maintained that Megrahi was innocent whatever the court decided.
I have spoken to a number of Libyans since Col Gaddafi was ousted last year who believe that Megrahi was guilty.
But you still find that many Libyans say that Megrahi did not directly participate in the bombing, that he was used as a scapegoat by the former regime.
So there are mixed views in Libya on this matter.
Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died at Lockerbie, called Megrahi's death a "very sad event".
"Right up to the end he was determined, for his family's sake... [that] the verdict against him should be overturned," said Dr Swire, who is a member of the Justice for Megrahi group.
"And also he wanted that for the sake of those relatives who had come to the conclusion after studying the evidence that he wasn't guilty, and I think that's going to happen."
Died at home
His brother Abdulhakim said on Sunday that Megrahi's health had deteriorated quickly and he died at home in Tripoli.
He told the AFP news agency that Megrahi died at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT).
The BBC's Rana Jawad, who is outside Megrahi's home in Tripoli, says family members are making preparations to receive guests paying their condolences.
Megrahi's sister told the Libyan Wal news agency that his funeral would take place at Tripoli's main cemetery on Monday, following early afternoon prayers.
Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, always denied any responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988.
It remains the deadliest terrorist incident ever to have taken place on British soil.
All 259 people aboard the plane, which was travelling from London to New York, were killed, along with 11 others on the ground.
Megrahi, who had cancer, died at his home in Tripoli, his brother said
Investigators tracing the origins of scraps of clothes wrapped around the bomb followed a trail to a shop in Malta which led them, eventually, to Megrahi.
He and another Libyan, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, were indicted by the Scottish and US courts in November 1991.
But Libya refused to extradite them. In 1999, after protracted negotiations, Libya handed the two men over for trial, under Scottish law but on neutral ground, the former US airbase at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.
Their trial began in May 2000. Fhimah was acquitted of all charges, but Megrahi was found guilty and sentenced to a minimum of 27 years in prison.
He served the first part of his sentence at the maximum-security prison at Barlinnie, in Glasgow, but was transferred in 2005 to Greenock prison.
He lost his first appeal against conviction in 2002 but in 2007, his case was referred back to senior Scottish judges. He dropped that second case two days before he was released.
No extradition
Last August, after the fall of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, Megrahi was reported to be "in and out of a coma" at his home in Tripoli.
There have been calls for him to be returned to jail in the UK or tried in the US.
But shortly after they toppled Colonel Gaddafi, Libyan rebel leaders said they would not extradite Megrahi or any other Libyan.
Continue reading the main story
Megrahi: Key dates
November 1991: Indicted for Lockerbie bombing
2001-02: Tried and convicted at special court in the Netherlands August 2009: Released on compassionate grounds and returns to Tripoli July 2011: Last known public appearance at pro-Gaddafi rally 20 May 2012: Dies at home in Tripoli Timeline: Megrahi since release
Our correspondent says that since the fall of Gaddafi, more Libyans are expressing the view that whatever happened at Lockerbie was bigger than just Megrahi, and he may have been used as a scapegoat by the regime.
Last September, it emerged that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had raised Megrahi's case in talks with Gaddafi in 2008 and 2009 in Libya, shortly before Megrahi was freed.
At the time, Libya was threatening to sever commercial links with Britain if Megrahi was not released.
But Mr Blair's spokesman told Col Gaddafi it was a case for the Scottish authorities and no business deals were discussed.
In his last interview, filmed in December 2011, Megrahi said: "I am an innocent man. I am about to die and I ask now to be left in peace with my family."
He had previously claimed he would release new information about the atrocity but little new has emerged.
Megrahi had rarely been seen since his return to Tripoli, but he was spotted on Libyan television at what appeared to be a pro-government rally in July 2011.
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The BBC's Mike Wooldridge reports on the life of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi
Continue reading the main story
Lockerbie Bombing
Megrahi obituary
Bomber to the end Watch
Lockerbie relative: 'Sad day' Watch
Timeline of release
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing above Scotland which killed 270 people, has died at his home in the Libyan capital Tripoli.
Megrahi, 60, was convicted by a special court in the Netherlands in 2001.
He was released from prison in Scotland in 2009 on compassionate grounds. He was suffering from cancer and was said to have only months to live.
When he arrived back in Tripoli, he received a hero's welcome.
His release sparked the fury of many of the relatives of the victims of the Lockerbie disaster. The US - whose citizens accounted for 189 of the dead - also criticised the move.
But others believed he was not guilty of the bombing.
Continue reading the main story
At the scene
Rana Jawad
BBC News, Tripoli
There are just over a dozen cars lining up the street outside Megrahi's house, on the outskirts of central Tripoli.
Chairs are being put up - presumably for guests who will be paying their condolences, although it is still very quiet here.
I spoke earlier today to Megrahi's brother, who said he wished his brother had lived to see the day when his innocence was proven.
Megrahi - and his family - had long maintained that he was not responsible for the Lockerbie bombing.
During Col Gaddafi's rule, many Libyans maintained that Megrahi was innocent whatever the court decided.
I have spoken to a number of Libyans since Col Gaddafi was ousted last year who believe that Megrahi was guilty.
But you still find that many Libyans say that Megrahi did not directly participate in the bombing, that he was used as a scapegoat by the former regime.
So there are mixed views in Libya on this matter.
Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died at Lockerbie, called Megrahi's death a "very sad event".
"Right up to the end he was determined, for his family's sake... [that] the verdict against him should be overturned," said Dr Swire, who is a member of the Justice for Megrahi group.
"And also he wanted that for the sake of those relatives who had come to the conclusion after studying the evidence that he wasn't guilty, and I think that's going to happen."
Died at home
His brother Abdulhakim said on Sunday that Megrahi's health had deteriorated quickly and he died at home in Tripoli.
He told the AFP news agency that Megrahi died at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT).
The BBC's Rana Jawad, who is outside Megrahi's home in Tripoli, says family members are making preparations to receive guests paying their condolences.
Megrahi's sister told the Libyan Wal news agency that his funeral would take place at Tripoli's main cemetery on Monday, following early afternoon prayers.
Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer, always denied any responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988.
It remains the deadliest terrorist incident ever to have taken place on British soil.
All 259 people aboard the plane, which was travelling from London to New York, were killed, along with 11 others on the ground.
Megrahi, who had cancer, died at his home in Tripoli, his brother said
Investigators tracing the origins of scraps of clothes wrapped around the bomb followed a trail to a shop in Malta which led them, eventually, to Megrahi.
He and another Libyan, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, were indicted by the Scottish and US courts in November 1991.
But Libya refused to extradite them. In 1999, after protracted negotiations, Libya handed the two men over for trial, under Scottish law but on neutral ground, the former US airbase at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands.
Their trial began in May 2000. Fhimah was acquitted of all charges, but Megrahi was found guilty and sentenced to a minimum of 27 years in prison.
He served the first part of his sentence at the maximum-security prison at Barlinnie, in Glasgow, but was transferred in 2005 to Greenock prison.
He lost his first appeal against conviction in 2002 but in 2007, his case was referred back to senior Scottish judges. He dropped that second case two days before he was released.
No extradition
Last August, after the fall of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, Megrahi was reported to be "in and out of a coma" at his home in Tripoli.
There have been calls for him to be returned to jail in the UK or tried in the US.
But shortly after they toppled Colonel Gaddafi, Libyan rebel leaders said they would not extradite Megrahi or any other Libyan.
Continue reading the main story
Megrahi: Key dates
November 1991: Indicted for Lockerbie bombing
2001-02: Tried and convicted at special court in the Netherlands August 2009: Released on compassionate grounds and returns to Tripoli July 2011: Last known public appearance at pro-Gaddafi rally 20 May 2012: Dies at home in Tripoli Timeline: Megrahi since release
Our correspondent says that since the fall of Gaddafi, more Libyans are expressing the view that whatever happened at Lockerbie was bigger than just Megrahi, and he may have been used as a scapegoat by the regime.
Last September, it emerged that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had raised Megrahi's case in talks with Gaddafi in 2008 and 2009 in Libya, shortly before Megrahi was freed.
At the time, Libya was threatening to sever commercial links with Britain if Megrahi was not released.
But Mr Blair's spokesman told Col Gaddafi it was a case for the Scottish authorities and no business deals were discussed.
In his last interview, filmed in December 2011, Megrahi said: "I am an innocent man. I am about to die and I ask now to be left in peace with my family."
He had previously claimed he would release new information about the atrocity but little new has emerged.
Megrahi had rarely been seen since his return to Tripoli, but he was spotted on Libyan television at what appeared to be a pro-government rally in July 2011.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
My BlackBerry!
You hold me with both hands as gently as u could be.
You ensure that I am always with you.
If I fall you are afraid of my injury.
I always have your undivided attention, you get upset if others disturb our time together.
U can never forget me in a taxi & u won't let me go unlike my old friends nokia, sony and samsung that u would proudly just hand over.
When u eat, I'm beside u.
When u sleeping, my head is by ur pillow.
When I scream u rush and pick me like an egg.
When I feel low, you make every effort to recharge my battery.
When I am hungry, you fill me with airtime.
You buy me all sorts of clothes to cover my precious skin.
And if I make u feel like a cowboy u strap me to ur waist or jeans.
Every month you ensure that you set aside the money, to buy me bundles (of love).
You upgraded me from my friends nokia, sony and samsung to a Curve, Bold & Torch.
You rush home from work and spend quality time with me; not really bothered to make a conversation with those at home.
You can sit up with me for hours and smile at me, yet I have no humanly emotions; sometimes I make u laugh that ppl think u are mad.
I watch your wife/hubby or your bf/gf who envies our time together.
But dearie...
I appeal to you. Your life is wasted because of me. Take some time, leave me aside and Sort out issues that are important to you because I may love you as much as you do love me but I'm just a blackberry,
You ensure that I am always with you.
If I fall you are afraid of my injury.
I always have your undivided attention, you get upset if others disturb our time together.
U can never forget me in a taxi & u won't let me go unlike my old friends nokia, sony and samsung that u would proudly just hand over.
When u eat, I'm beside u.
When u sleeping, my head is by ur pillow.
When I scream u rush and pick me like an egg.
When I feel low, you make every effort to recharge my battery.
When I am hungry, you fill me with airtime.
You buy me all sorts of clothes to cover my precious skin.
And if I make u feel like a cowboy u strap me to ur waist or jeans.
Every month you ensure that you set aside the money, to buy me bundles (of love).
You upgraded me from my friends nokia, sony and samsung to a Curve, Bold & Torch.
You rush home from work and spend quality time with me; not really bothered to make a conversation with those at home.
You can sit up with me for hours and smile at me, yet I have no humanly emotions; sometimes I make u laugh that ppl think u are mad.
I watch your wife/hubby or your bf/gf who envies our time together.
But dearie...
I appeal to you. Your life is wasted because of me. Take some time, leave me aside and Sort out issues that are important to you because I may love you as much as you do love me but I'm just a blackberry,
5 Things That Helped Chelsea to the Champions League Glory
5 Things That Helped Chelsea to the Champions League Trophy
Chelsea survived missed penalties and missed chances on the way to glory while the interim manager proved inspired.
1. MISSED PENALTIES
Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou and then Arjen Robben at the Allianz Arena; two spot-kicks that should have sunk Chelsea but instead failed to hit the net and kept their dreams of European glory alive.
2. MISSED CHANCES
Napoli, Barcelona and Bayern Munich created enough chances in their respective ties with Chelsea to have each won the Champions League10 times over, but they were crucially wasteful, Barcelona especially.
3. WELL-TIMED STRIKES
The margin of victory over Barcelona was fine and, as such, the closing seconds before half-time in both legs of the semi-final tie should be cherished by Chelsea. Didier Drogba scored in that period at Stamford Bridge before Ramires did the same in the return game.
4. SACKING SAVIOUR
The firing of André Villas-Boas after just nine months as manager looked like another reckless move by Roman Abramovich, but he will reflect on that decision with huge satisfaction now. Roberto Di Matteo came in and galvanised the squad towards its greatest moment. The change was an inspired one.
5. DEADLY DROGBA
In what is set to be his final season at Stamford Bridge it was perhaps written in the stars that the Ivorian would make a final, decisive impact.
Chelsea survived missed penalties and missed chances on the way to glory while the interim manager proved inspired.
1. MISSED PENALTIES
Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou and then Arjen Robben at the Allianz Arena; two spot-kicks that should have sunk Chelsea but instead failed to hit the net and kept their dreams of European glory alive.
2. MISSED CHANCES
Napoli, Barcelona and Bayern Munich created enough chances in their respective ties with Chelsea to have each won the Champions League10 times over, but they were crucially wasteful, Barcelona especially.
3. WELL-TIMED STRIKES
The margin of victory over Barcelona was fine and, as such, the closing seconds before half-time in both legs of the semi-final tie should be cherished by Chelsea. Didier Drogba scored in that period at Stamford Bridge before Ramires did the same in the return game.
4. SACKING SAVIOUR
The firing of André Villas-Boas after just nine months as manager looked like another reckless move by Roman Abramovich, but he will reflect on that decision with huge satisfaction now. Roberto Di Matteo came in and galvanised the squad towards its greatest moment. The change was an inspired one.
5. DEADLY DROGBA
In what is set to be his final season at Stamford Bridge it was perhaps written in the stars that the Ivorian would make a final, decisive impact.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
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