Question
Will these allegations receive the same attention and dedication from UN weapons inspectors as had similar claims about Iraq?
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Facts
Qatari news channel Al Jazeera is the vehicle of choice for Osama bin Laden’s leakages of information. Its reporters are always first on the scene in every major breaking news event all over the Arab world. Al Jazeera has shown us footage of carnage from Afghanistan and Iraq, and also given in-depth and often violent coverage of the situation in the Occupied Territories. In particular, it has shown footage of women and children killed in recent attacks in Fallujah. However, when it came to the murder of Italian hostage Fabrizio Quattrocchi, executed in cold blood by Sunni insurgents in Fallujah last week, Al Jazeera suddenly decided that the footage was “too gruesome” to show on television, and limited its report to a verbal description.
Question
Does Al Jazeera only show brutal killings when the victims are Arabs, and the killers Westerners?
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Facts
In 1998, Dr Simon Busuttil was appointed head of the Malta-EU Information Centre (MiC), co-funded by the European Union and the Government of Malta to dispense impartial, unbiased information and to answer the general public’s questions relating to the European Union.
Between 1998 and 2003, MiC advertised its services throughout the local media. In 2001, for instance, a PQ revealed that MiC spent Lm109,018 on publicity, distributed as follows: Print Media Lm66,902. Radio: Lm26,795. TV: Lm15,321. (Source: www.gov.mt) Simon Busuttil himself became the face of MiC, appearing on numerous local TV programmes including Xarabank, Bondiplus and JoeGrimaLive. He also appeared on the MiC leaflet Question and Answer. The first edition, printed in 2001, cost Lm15,207 to design, print and distribute. All these initiatives were co-funded by the European Union.
After resigning as MiC chairman in 2003, Dr Busuttil went on to become consultant for the PBS-produced programme Ewropej, also co-funded by the European Union. Today, after resigning this consultancy, he has been entered by the PN as candidate for the MEP elections... notwithstanding earlier complaints that he had been dragged into politics against his will.
Question
Can all the other MEP candidates apply for EU funding for their campaigns, too?
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Facts
On 9 March 2003, the EU referendum results were announced. The Yes vote obtained 53.65 per cent, the No 46.35 per cent. Voter turn-out was 90.86 per cent. Later that same day, Dr Alfred Sant, leader of the Malta Labour Party, addressed a crowd of supporters outside the Super One offices in Marsa. He claimed that the “Partnership” option had won the referendum, and later justified this statement by arguing that if you calculated the result on 100 per cent of the registered voting population, including invalid votes (1.45 per cent), the votes those who passed away before the election (?%), the votes of those who obeyed one third of the MLP three-pronged directive (?%), and the votes of those who abstained for other reasons (?%), the result would be 51% No, 49% Yes.
Using the same central argument and applying it to the last four general elections (statistics taken from www.maltadata.com), the results would be as follows:
2003 – 50.3% MLP49.7% PN
1998 – 51.25% MLP 48.75% PN
1996 – 51.7% PN 48.3 MLP
1992 – 50.7% MLP 49.3% PN
Incidentally, applied to the Irish Referendum on the Nice Treaty held in 2000 (actual results: 53.9% No, 46.1% Yes, Turnout: 35%) the results calculated on a 100% turnout would be: 96.5% Yes, 3.5% No.
Question
Does Dr Sant think the Malta Labour Party should today be in power, having won all of the last four elections except for 1992?