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The foreign minister, Musa Kusa, was a canny adviser and seasoned diplomat whose ties with Western nike running shoes intelligence agencies helped pave the way for Libya’s renunciation of nuclear weapons in 2004. The former head of Libyan intelligence, he was long regarded as one of Gaddafi’s most trusted and loyal confidants.

Kusa’s defection was confirmed by the British Foreign Office, which reported that the diplomat had arrived at a small airport southwest of London on a flight from Tunisia. “He traveled here under his own free will,” a Foreign Office statement said.

The defection represents a major blow to the Gaddafi regime, which had managed to remain intact since the interior and justice ministers joined the rebels in the early days of the revolt more than five weeks ago. Kusa, who was Libya’s intelligence chief for 15 years before becoming foreign minister in 2009, is the most senior regime figure to abandon Gaddafi.

In addition to the interior and justice ministers, Libya’s ambassadors to the United Nations and Washington, among other officials, have broken ranks.

“It shows some of the rats are leaving the ship,” said a European official knowledgeable about Kusa’s defection. The official described Kusa’s decision as particularly significant because of his ability to provide Western governments with insight into the thinking of Gaddafi and others close to the Libyan leader.

U.S. and European officials say Kusa is among several high-ranking Libyans who have been putting out cautious feelers in recent days, inquiring about their options for moving abroad if they decide to defect.

Kusa’s departure follows weeks of quiet prodding by U.S. and European diplomats and intelligence officials, some of whom have had contact with him dating from the 1980s.

During the Libyan uprising, CIA officials had reached out repeatedly to Kusa but quickly concluded that he had been pushed from Gaddafi’s inner circle, U.S. intelligence officials said.shoes Buy nike cheap mens acg sandals  CIA veterans said Gaddafi knew that the agency would make contact with Kusa and may have marginalized him out of concern that he might be turned against the regime.

As Gaddafi closed ranks, he excluded even longtime allies who weren’t connected by blood or tribal ties, intelligence officials.

Despite his reputation as practical and Western-savvy, Kusa had been deeply involved in numerous Libyan-sponsored terrorist attacks against the West, and is believed to have helped plan the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, U.S. officials say.

In the early days of Libya’s pro-democracy uprising, Kusa presented himself as a staunch defender of the regime. But hints of differences with Gaddafi began to emerge after the U.N. Security Council authorized the use of force against the Libyan military two weeks ago.

Hours after Gaddafi delivered a defiant speech in which he vowed to “show no mercy” to rebels in a final assault on Benghazi, Kusa appeared before reporters to announce a cease-fire in distinctively dovish terms. His hands trembled and he refused to look at the camera as he spoke of the need to protect Libya’s economic and social infrastructure and safeguard civilians.

Two days later, he briefly reiterated the cease-fire but had not been seen in public since. The cease-fire was ignored by forces on the ground.

Speculation is also building about the buy Vibram five fingers Sprint-Vibram fivefingers whereabouts of Gaddafi, who appeared regularly on television in the first weeks of the revolt but has not been seen or heard from since last Wednesday. Gaddafi’s powerful son, Saif al-Islam, dropped out of sight after the U.N. resolution was passed.

The parts supply problem for Japanese cars has extended from new cars to the one you may be driving:nike running shoes  Toyota is rationing repair parts for its dealers in the U.S.

 

 

The company has told dealers that "approximately 233 part numbers, out of over 300,000 active part numbers, have been placed on controlled allocation." Toyota asked dealers not to stock up on those parts, but to order only "what is critically needed to support customer emergency" repairs. The shortage is being caused by the shutdown of suppliers due to Japan's earthquake and tsumani. The move is being made to prevent dealers for ordering excess inventory out of fears that shortages could develop on critical parts that they use a lot, like an engine drive belt.

 

 

Toyota won't say which exact parts are involved in the recall, but spokesman Brian Lyons confirms to Drive On that parts needed to make repairs on Toyota's many highly publicized recalls are not involved.

The company also has told workers to expect "some production interruptions" at its 13 North American vehicle assembly and engine plants due to problems obtaining parts from Japan.

The announcements were the latest indication that problems may get worse before they get better for Japanese brands in the U.S. due the ongoing crisis in Japan:buy Reebok ZigTech online

-- Drive On reported earlier that starting tomorrow Honda "will begin to adjust production levels" at most of its North American factories, cutting hours at some plants in half.

-- Subaru plans to cut shifts in half on Wednesday, to four hours, at its Lafayette, Ind., plant to conserve parts.

-- Nissan says parts inventories are OK for now, but it will have to reassess North American production on Friday.

"Teams are working 24/7 to make a detailed assessment of the situation. A car is about 30,000 parts and we have more than 60 cars in the (global) portfolio, so you can imagine the size of the puzzle," says Carlos Tavares, head of Nissan operations in the Americas.

Toyota said it can't predict yet how deeply it might have to cut production at its 13 North American engine and vehicle plants and which plants will be most affected.

"We have no idea how bad this really is. The one thing I'm absolutely certain of is that everything is completely uncertain," says Rebecca Lindland, veteran auto analyst at consultants IHS Automotive.

The shortages have hurt Detroit automakers, too. General Motors temporarily closed a pickup factory at Shreveport, La., and a related engine line in Buffalo, N.Y., for lack of undisclosed parts from Japan.online, buy Fivefingers Kso-Vibram fivefingers Kso online

Ford Motor and Chrysler Group told dealers to expect shortages of vehicles in certain paint colors because they use a pigments that come only from a supplier in Japan.

European automakers also use some Japan-only components.

Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn said he couldn't forecast production schedules after next week because of possible shortages.

Adding to industrywide vulnerability is cost-cutting maneuver called "single sourcing." An automaker will place its entire order for a component with one supplier, trading maximum volume for a rock-bottom price.

In such cases, it doesn't matter if the finished vehicles are made in North America, only that a key part, often electronic, comes from Japan.

Misrata is one of the key battlefields of the Libyan uprising. The rebels took control of it 40 days ago and have held it ever since, besieged by pro-Gaddafi forces.nike running shoes

The unsubstantiated accounts of people inside the town, and the videos they have sent out, have been the only glimpses the world has had of conditions there.

The government in Tripoli maintains that a ceasefire is now in place and offered on Monday to take the international journalists currently based in the capital to see Misrata for themselves.

But although the official version says there is no fighting there at present, we were not taken into Misrata. Instead we skirted around it and were shown a place on the edge of the town which was approximately 5km (three miles) from the centre.

There were many signs of fighting along our way and apparent evidence, too, of missile and rocket strikes by the coalition forces. Yet we saw one mobile artillery gun positioned out in the open at a roundabout, and down several side-streets armoured vehicles seemed to be parked.

Presumably it is too risky for the coalition to attack these targets.

Gaddafi loyalists

Any loss of civilian lives would be pounced on by the Libyan government, and would be a huge embarrassment to Nato. This, after all, is an operation intended to save civilian lives from the attacks of Col Gaddafi's forces.

As sometimes seems to happen with official visits laid on by the Libyan authorities, there were moments when it was legitimate to wonder if someone was trying to gild the lily. As our coach drove past the garden of a house in Misrata, there was a sudden burst of flame as something - possibly a generator - caught fire. Buy nike cheap mens acg sandals black

Maybe it was just a coincidence but if it was a deliberate effort to persuade us that the rebels, or the coalition, were carrying out attacks here, it was unnecessary. There are plenty of signs of fierce violence everywhere.

What was certainly not a coincidence was the arrival of dozens of pro-Gaddafi demonstrators, dancing, waving pictures of their leader and sometimes firing their guns in the air.

Their demonstration might have been organised but it certainly did not look as though anyone who took part had been coerced. It was a reminder that Col Gaddafi still has a sizeable number of genuine supporters in western Libya.

As final proof of the careful planning of the occasion, an entire outside broadcast unit from Libyan television was on hand to film it, complete with satellite dish to enable the pictures to be broadcast live around the country and abroad.

Crucial town

The rebels besieged in the town are thought to be in a pretty bad condition, short of food, water and medicine. But it is reasonable to assume that they are still holding out, since we were not taken to the centre of Misrata under the protection of the supposed ceasefire. Reebok ZigTech

Col Gaddafi's men badly want to recapture Misrata. It lies on the coastal road from Sirte to Tripoli, which is effectively the only route the advancing rebels can take.

If the Gaddafi loyalists can finally reduce it, virtually the whole of western Libya will form a fortress blocking the rebels' advance.

Every town and city in the west contains rebel supporters like those who are holding out in Misrata but there is no doubt that his support is far greater in the region around Tripoli than it is in the east of the country.

We were only allowed to glimpse the situation from the far edge of town, then bundled away after 40 minutes. This was, the authorities said, for our own safety.

But if the rebels still present a threat to the safety of Misrata's suburbs after nearly six weeks of fighting, then they are not finished yet. Especially since they now have the support of the coalition.

A political shift of historic proportionsnike running shoes online is unfolding in Germany as preliminary state election results indicate big losses for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Party, CDU.

The CDU now seems poised to lose a major stronghold to a Green Party-led coalition in a key state.

Green Party members were celebrating a major triumph Sunday in the prosperous southwestern state of Baden-Wurtternberg, ruled by the CDU since 1953 and home to 11 million people.

Early results showed that Merkel's party won 39% of the popular vote in Baden-Wurtternberg but failed to gain a majority. The Greens, which won 24.2% of the votes, are expected to form a coalition with the Social Democrats, which polled 23%.

This will be the first time a liberal Green Party premier will be elected in Baden-Wurtternberg, known for its conservative, pro-business voting practices.2011 nike running shoes online

Japan's nuclear disaster had a big role in this shift, analysts say, as German voters expressed their historic aversion to nuclear energy in the wake of Japan's nuclear disaster.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of Germans took to the streets to protest against nuclear power. Germany was affected by the radioactivity from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

CNN's Berlin Bureau Chief Fred Pleitgen said Merkel's swift change in nuclear policy has had a big effect on this year's election.

Germany's 17 nuclear plants are under a three-month safety review imposed after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The oldest seven of the plants will remain shut during the review.buy Reebok EasyTone

Germany's Spiegel Magazine has made the claim that the government's recent and sudden decision to temporarily shut down the seven reactors was politically motivated, an attempt to allay fears of a home-grown nuclear disaster, allegations the government denies.

"Merkel's snap decision left plenty of people across Germany scratching their heads. It was only last autumn that her government spent significant quantities of political capital in its move to extend nuclear reactor lifespans in the country," the magazine reported.

The Brussels summit also confirmed that NATO will take full command of the military operation over Libya within nike running shoes  days.

Here's our Europe correspondent Emma Alberici.

EMMA ALBERICI: In the past six months, EU leaders have bailed out Greece then Ireland. They thought the worst of their economic problems was over, they were wrong.

The single currency was in a state of upset even before the Portuguese prime minister Jose Socrates resigned. He went to Brussels anyway in an attempt to convince the heads of the EU that Lisbon can pay back its debts without help from the international community.

JOSE SOCRATES (translated): I hope the markets can understand that Portugal is a country very much engaged in the European Union and with the single currency. The country will not only do its best not to upset the single currency but it will also do its best to defend itself.

EMMA ALBERICI: But financial markets aren't buying that. Overnight the cost of Portuguese borrowing soared to eight per cent, almost three times what Germany pays for its 10 year loans.

Berlin is the EU's chief banker. Chancellor Angela Merkel is running out of patience with her smaller profligate euro partner.

(Angela Merkel speaking)

She told reporters in Brussels that the five opposition parties in Lisbon must decide whether they will back the government's latest austerity package, the fourth in less than 12 months.2011 nike running shoes online

It's in her interest for states like Portugal to regain their economic health - 40 per cent of Germany's exports go to EU countries. Which is why she supported measures to build a permanent rescue fund and co-ordinate the economic management of the 17 countries that share a common currency.

Also speaking at the EU summit was French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who would not be drawn on how long the Libyan campaign might take but he confirmed that two Arab nations have joined the coalition, with the United Arab Emirates sending 12 planes and Qatar contributing a further six to the effort.

NICOLAS SARKOZY (translated): I have had the opportunity to talk about what happened in Srebrenica in 1993. Eight-thousand people were murdered in conditions, you know full well, because the international community did not at the time gauge the danger and did not take the measures to prevent that massacre. Imagine what would have happened had the coalition had not acted. Imagine what would have happened in Benghazi.

EMMA ALBERICI: Britain's foreign secretary William Hague says the coalition is now confident that responsibility for carrying out the entire UN mission will shift to NATO in the coming days.buy Reebok EasyTone online,
WILLIAM HAGUE: So I think within a matter of days NATO will be able to command the whole operation with of course the input from Arab nations who are also taking part.

EMMA ALBERICI: Winning over Turkey was considered pivotal in the race to put NATO in charge but it's understood that there is still tension between those in the military alliance who want boots on the ground in Libya and those, like Turkey, who believe that such an escalation in the conflict would contravene the UN resolution.