• BBC coverage
• In pictures: Peshawar bomb attack

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This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman and this is The World. It’s been an especially deadly two weeks in Pakistan. Suicide bombers and gunmen have attacked markets, military headquarters, police stations, even a UN food aid office. All told the attacks have killed more than 150 people. Pakistan’s leaders held a four-hour emergency meeting today to discuss the country’s deteriorating security situation. The World’s Katy Clark begins our coverage.

KATY CLARK: Pakistani officials say at least 11 people were killed in today’s attack. It involved a suicide car bombing on a police outpost in the northwester city of Peshawar. Local TV news footage showed the burnt wreckage of the car the bomber apparently used. A nearby mosque was also badly damaged. This policeman escaped relatively unscathed.

POLICEMAN: [SPEAKING PASHTO]

CLARK: He says he was outside his office at the time. He heard only the sound of the blast but he knew immediately what was going on because there was smoke and dust everywhere. After that he says he doesn’t know what happened. Pakistan’s high commissioner in London, Wajid Shamsul Hassan, thinks he knows why the attack happened though.

WAJID SHAMSUL HASSAN: This is a desperate attempt by the Taliban and the terrorists to dissuade the Pakistan Army and the government of Pakistan and after having seen the success of Swat operation, they know that they have to run away. And while running away they are hitting indiscriminately.

CLARK: The Swat Operation was a Pakistani government led offensive this past spring. Its goal was to route the Taliban from the Swat Valley in the country’s largely ungoverned northwest frontier province. Government forces are now going after other Taliban strongholds in Pakistan. But as the past few weeks have shown ordinary Pakistanis in all corners of the country are being caught up in the bloodshed. Khaddija Ali studies law in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad. She says no one feels very safe at the moment.

KHADDIJA ALI: People are scared because of the security situation. But then again I think that it only unites us in this war against terrorism.

CLARK: The Pakistani government has been accused in the past of not being committed to a war against terrorism. While it takes US money earmarked for fighting extremism, Pakistan’s leadership has been reluctant to alienate those who actually support the Taliban and other militants. But Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution says that’s changed since Pakistan’s current president came to office last year.

BRUCE RIEDEL: In this conflict right now, President Zardari understands that there is an existential battle within his country between his side and a jihadist Frankenstein that’s grown out of control. Why does he understand that? Because his wife was murdered by them and because he’s now number one on the hit list that they’re going after.

CLARK: And these recent attacks in Pakistan underscore the urgency of the fight. Richard Holbrooke is the US Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. In an interview with The World, Holbrooke said the violence in Pakistan is serious.

RICHARD HOLBROOKE: But the Pakistani people, the Pakistani Army, they’ve shown that they’re fed up with it. They’re pushing back. I think the terrorists have made a big mistake. I think there’s going to be a substantial backlash.

CLARK: The Pakistani government doesn’t seem to be wasting any time in that regard. War planes and artillery pounded a Taliban stronghold is South Waziristan today. The government says a ground offensive against Taliban forces there is imminent. For The World this is Katy Clark.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

• Watch the trailer to “Win in China”
• “Win in China” website

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This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman. This is The World. Entrepreneur is no longer a dirty word in China. Businessmen and women are now held up as powerful icons. In China’s cities these days highway billboards featuring real estate and tech moguls have replaced many of the massive tributes to Chairman Mao and heroic workers. Filmmaker Ole Schell traveled to the city of Weifang to profile an up and coming lingerie baron – a member of China’s new generation of high profile entrepreneurs.

OLE SCHELL: Weifang is a smoky, bleak, industrial city where commerce pulses around every corner.

STREET MERCHANT: You want to buy? Cheap, cheap for you.

SCHELL: Curbside merchants hawk bootleg DVDs and knockoff designer bags. Here in this frenzied commercial landscape, some Chinese entrepreneurs have achieved celebrity status. One of China’s newest celebrity entrepreneurs can be found at the Ti Hui Lingerie factory here in Weifang. He invites us to follow him into what looks like a storage shed. The sign on the door says Bra Specimen Room. The proud proprietor of the factory is 37-year-old Zhou Yu. He shows off racks of faux leopard-skin bras, feather boas, lacy garters, and angel wings. He asked us to take whatever we liked – for our girlfriends of course.

ZHOU YU: [SPEAKING CHINESE]

TRANSLATOR: I want all women to love my brand of underwear around the world.

SCHELL: The TV show “Win in China” catapulted Zhou to fame two and a half years ago. Think of the program as a Chinese version of “The Apprentice.”

HOST WANG LIFEN: [SPEAKING CHINESE]

SCHELL: “Win in China” was one of the most popular programs on the state-run television network. It featured 120,000 budding entrepreneurs competing to impress a panel of China’s most celebrated businessmen. The prize was a 4.5 million-dollar pot. The show’s creator, the producer, and host, Wang Lifen, said the program was designed to reeducate the Chinese masses on the rudiments of business practice and to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs.

WANG LIFEN: [SPEAKING CHINESE]

TRANSLATOR: Today entrepreneurs are the biggest icons in our society. Since China began the open door policy our personalities here in China have been changing. We’ve gone for more communal ways of thinking to be more individualistic and the ultimate goal of this show is to spread the spirit of enterprise throughout China.

SCHELL: Lingerie entrepreneur Zhou was a contestant. And for some viewers, and even some judges, he was THE contestant. The one that the audience of 200 million viewers adored and gossiped about. He was affectionately nicknamed the wolf for his raw predatory style and willingness to spy, cheat, and lie with great charm and energy. Zhou was the only finalist not to have gone past high school.

[MUSIC FROM FINALE OF SHOW]

SCHELL: The show’s finale was a lightening round of quick back and forths. Here a female contestant accused the wolf of being rough around the edges.

FEMALE CONTESTANT: [SPEAKING CHINESE]

TRANSLATOR: You said earlier that one of your shortcomings is your bad temper. My question is as a CEO are there other areas that you need to improve? We have seen that your marketing and sales skills are very strong. But I didn’t see you improve in any other areas. Why is that? I’d like you hear say something about your education and ability to think.

SCHELL: The wolf responds with trademark vigor.

YU: [SPEAKING CHINESE]

TRANSLATOR: In terms of learning and thinking I believe I’m one of the best of the 12 finalists. I’m not well educated but I’m standing here today. This proves my strong learning and thinking abilities.

SCHELL: When Zhou grew up most Chinese still wore unisex Mao suits. He says he realized that Chinese women were developing sophisticated tastes and he borrowed money and went into lingerie. It turns out he had judged the trends just right.

YU: [SPEAKING CHINESE]

TRANSLATOR: Things are different now. If I had been living abroad, I probably wouldn’t have become so successful because there are not as many opportunities. Now the environment is still young. I’m very lucky to be here.

SCHELL: Although he was only a runner up on “Win in China” Zhou is now expanding his empire. He used his $800,000 prize money to finish building a new 30,000 square-foot factory. There are rows and rows of women hunched over sewing machines surrounding by piles of bras contributing to Zhou’s earnings of about $6 million US a year. Although Zhou came in second on “Win in China” he is the most successful of the program’s winners. Despite his often unscrupulous tactics he and businessmen and women like him are pushing China forward with their brand of entrepreneurial zeal. For The World I’m Ole Schell in Weifang, China.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

Marco Werman and Erica Hirshler at the MFA

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Anchor Marco Werman talks with Erica Hirshler, a Senior Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston about the Parisian background of painter John Singer Sargent’s 1882 masterpiece “The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit.”

• Sargent’s Daughters by Erica Hirshler and John Singer Sargent
• Boston Museum of Fine Arts
• John Singer Sargent Virtual Gallery

MARCO WERMAN: In the 19^th century Paris was the capital of the art world. Artists from around the world went there to train and exhibit their work. Many were American. One of them was John Singer Sargent. In 1882 Sargent painted a portrait of the four daughters of an American family living in Paris. The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit is considered one of the masterpieces of the late 19^th century. Art historian Erica Hirshler has just written a book about the rich story behind the painting. It’s called Sergeant’s Daughters: The Biography of a Painting. I met Hirshler at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where she is a senior curator. The museum is also home to the Daughter’s of Edward Darley Boit.

ERICA HIRSHLER: The picture is big. That’s the first thing to note about it. It’s about seven and a half feet tall. And one interesting thing about it is that it’s square which is not the usual portrait or landscape format that we expect. So the figures are spread across this big, square, composition. And they’re four little girls, each one wearing one. Three of them in white pinafores and the littlest one in a white dress. Two of them stand in the background, in the shadows. One of those girls leans against one of the large Japanese vases that are in the hallway represented here. One stands … .

WERMAN: Yeah the actual vases are here from the Boit’s home.

HIRSHLER: These are in fact the vases that the Boit’s owned and were given to us by the family. And the vases, along with the painting, traveled back and forth across the Atlantic along with the family. It’s sort of amazing to consider that kind of thing.

WERMAN: And something that just kind of immediately strikes me is that the background is kind of drab but these expressions are so clear on these girls.

HIRSHLER: Well the great art of this picture I think is that some parts are very clearly defined. The little girl on the rug or the expression on the face of Isa who stands at the left. And other parts are very mysterious almost like these girls have come out of Alice in Wonderland.

WERMAN: So I mean once you start to dig there’s obviously much more here than meets the eye. I mean we know from your book that Sargent and the Boits had in common kind of a well-to-do Massachusetts background, Harvard connections, and they generally preferred living in Europe. What was it like for American ex-patriots at the end of the 19^th century just trotting around the world like that?

HIRSHLER: Well it’s really like reading Henry Jame’s novels. That sort of back and forth between the Americas and the life in Europe that was so different and also so appealing for Americans of a certain class. This idea of being an American abroad and that sense of transience that you were in Paris now but maybe you’d be in Italy in a few months or back in Boston.

WERMAN: And I imagine at the time if you were doing that you weren’t just in the upper 10 percent; you were in the upper one percent of society.

HIRSHLER: Well you were pretty well off. But what we forget is that it was cheaper for Americans to live in Europe in the 19^th century. The housing expenses were less and you could live in a grander style abroad sometimes than you could at home.

WERMAN: Tell me about Sargent a bit. He was born in Italy. He studied art a bit in Florence and then went to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. I mean did Sargent have an advantage in that he came from American money? Or was it really all about talent and originality for him?

HIRSHLER: I think Sargent was comfortable. I don’t think … . He certainly wasn’t in the same income bracket as the Boits. But for Sargent Europe was the place to be. Paris at this time was really the international capital of the Western art world. And people flocked there from every country. There were more Americans probably than anybody else but artists from Finland, Germany, Argentina, everywhere came to Paris which was renowned for its art schools. It was renowned for its international exhibitions, where an artist could show his work and get international press. And it also was the center of the art market. So if you were an artist Paris was absolutely the place to be.

WERMAN: So what did the critics say after they saw this large, square, painting of these four sisters at the Salon 1883.

HIRSHLER: The reviews at the Salon which was a giant international exhibition that was sponsored by the French state and one of the highlights of the international art year, were absolutely mixed. Some critics loved it for the way that it took an old subject and made it new again. And others were totally perplexed by the sort of big empty spaces that surround these four girls and for the disconnection between them. Some of them called it four portraits in one picture. One of them called it four corners and a void. And a lot of them found it very unconventional for its day.

WERMAN: So in spite of the modesty of this painting, the way these girls look, they do seem like they’re headed for a life destined for debutant balls and you know great marriages. What happened to them?

HIRSHLER: Well they were in fact of a class to be destined for debutant balls and great marriages and that’s one of the interesting stories that circles around this picture. In fact none of these girls ever married. And some people feel that this painting in some way is a premonition of what was going to happen to them – that their loneliness displayed here somehow shows that. But it’s a painting that continues to attract attention and great love and admiration. It’s one of the most popular paintings in the museum. It’s a monument of its own time but it’s also reflective of our own interests and I think that’s one of the things that makes it so special.

WERMAN: Erica Hirshler, art historian and the author of Sargent’s Daughters: The Biography of a Painting. Thank you for showing us the painting and for talking to us about it.

HIRSHLER: You’re very welcome.

WERMAN: The Boit daughters donated the painting to the Museum of Fine Arts in 1919 after their father’s death. We’ve posted pictures of the painting plus information about Erica Hirshler’s book at The World dot org.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit by John Singer Sargent (1882)

Its nearly 1,200 coral islands top out at less than eight feet above sea level. And climate forecasters predict they will be swamped by rising seas due to global warming… within a century.

So this weekend the country’s prime minister and his cabinet are staging a world-class publicity stunt to draw attention to their plight and raise the alarm about climate change. They’re holding the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting. We’ll hear from this archipelago’s UN representative. Meanwhile, spin your globe to the Indian Ocean to find his country.

The World’s Alex Gallafent spoke with the country’s top diplomat at the United Nations.

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Maldives' Ambassador at the United Nations, Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed

(Photo: Alex Gallafent)

• BBC coverage
• President Nasheed’s office

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This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

MARCO WERMAN: As we heard in that report President Obama’s envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, describes the militant offensive underway in Pakistan as a big mistakes by the terrorists. Hassan Abbas is the author of Pakistan’s Drift into Extremism, Allah, the Army, and America’s War on Terror. We asked him to explain who those quote terrorists are.

HASSAN ABBAS: Al Qaeda, Taliban, and many more. And by many more I mean there are so many different militant groups. For instance in the north [INDISCERNIBLE] province FATA – Federally Administered Tribal Areas. There are groups such as [INDISCERNIBLE] Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariate-Mohammadi. Then there are other militant groups. Then in Punjab, especially in south Punjab, groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Toiba. These very similar sounding names. And actually their titles have very similar meanings also. Party of Islam, Party of the Leaders of Islam, Army of Islam. So these are all very different groups which have different and nature of relationship with al-Qaeda. Some have institutional relations. Some have no connection at all. But still they’re militants.

WERMAN: You know with all these groups, I mean, some having ties to al-Qaeda; some having ties to the Taliban. Does that mean that they’re taking orders from them? And do you have numbers on how many terrorists we’re talking about?

ABBAS: Numbers is a very difficult thing. We know that there are a few numbers ranging from … . For instance, this group Jaish-e-Mohammad which was banned many years ago. But it has members in the range of about two to three thousand. The estimate among the security analysts says that the most dangerous of the militants and terrorists are in the range of certainly between 20,000 to 40,000 maybe.

WERMAN: Okay. And a lot of these groups presumably were banned by the Pakistani government after 9/11 right?

ABBAS: Exactly. Most of these were banned but the clamp down against these was somewhat selective. Some of the groups which were more focused on Indian Kashmir. They never went through a very rigorous scrutiny so to say. And also in reference to what we’d asked about their linkages with al-Qaeda. There are no institutional linkages per say. I mean it’s not that they sit across a table, define their goals. But at individual level, at times within groups, there are splinter groups.

WERMAN: Now a lot of these groups are often said to be tolerated by the Pakistani government. Why is that?

ABBAS: I would say we have to define in somewhat more detail the whole idea of Pakistan government. The government, as it stands today led by competitively progressive parties, these parties are very strongly against these militants group. But during the Musharraf era for instance there’s evidence that the intelligence services, both civilian and military, had linkages or they were at least supporting some elements within Lashker-e-Taiba. Those groups which are focused more on Kashmir. There are others like Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi which have been kind of, the support has been cutoff.

WERMAN: Hassan is there a shared caused between all these different groups? And is that maybe part of their success? They have similar goals but different organizations to carry them out.

ABBAS: Similar goals to this extent that some are focused primarily on Kashmir, some are focused purely in Afghanistan side or Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The real commonality in all these groups is the theology – their conceptual understanding of jihad. And this feeling which has been propagated for the last many years – I would say 10 to 15 years – that jihad or that understanding of jihad which says it’s an armed conflict. That jihad is incumbent upon every militant in his or her individual capacity.

WERMAN: You mentioned one of their common goals is Kashmir. I mean as far as the US and the West is concerned – and their keen to solve this Afghanistan-Pakistan crisis – should they be taking note of the fact that this disputed area of Kashmir could be strategic in somehow solving the crisis in Afghanistan-Pakistan.

ABBAS: I think absolutely. The Pakistan-India relationship is of central peace in this matrix. The issue is … . Even Pakistan military. At times when they have somewhat … they’re somewhat sympathetic to some groups of Taliban, the reason is they are weary of India’s influence in Afghanistan. So India-Pakistan settlement, India-Pakistan peace process will play a significant role in convincing Pakistan to really go against these militants in the strongest way possible.

WERMAN: Hassan Abbas there, the author of Pakistan’s Drift into Extremism, Allah, the Army, and America’s War or Terror. He’s also the Bernard Schwartz fellow at the Asia Society in New York.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

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This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

MARCO WERMAN: There’s a controversial report that Italian groups in Afghanistan paid the Taliban not to attack them. That report appears in the newspaper, The Times of London. It quotes unnamed Taliban and Afghan officials describing the alleged payoffs. The story claims that secret payments may have led to the deaths of French soldiers in Afghanistan. The Italian government has denied the story. So have French officials. But as The World’s Gerry Hadden reports, if it proves true it could damage the unity of the international coalition in Afghanistan.

GERRY HADDEN: The Time of London reporter who wrote the Italian bribe story is Tom Coghlan. Speaking from his newsroom Coghlan says Italian forces maintained relative peace in the Sarobi district east of Kabul at a price – literally.

TOM COGHLAN: The Italian intelligence service made routine payments of tens of thousands of dollars to particular Taliban and insurgent commanders in areas where Italian troops were operating in Afghanistan.

HADDEN: Coghlan says the goal was to reduce Italian casualties as much as possible.

COGHLAN: And the reason for this was that the Italian government was obviously facing a very limited support for the war in Afghanistan on the part of the Italian people. The Italian government strenuously denies the allegations. Ignazio La Russa is Italy’s defense minister.

IGNAZIO LA RUSSA: [SPEAKING ITALIAN]

TRANSLATOR: The information given by the Times is absolute rubbish. I’ve given authority to my staff after speaking with all the high ranking military officials and looking at the information to begin legal action against the Times.

HADDEN: What make the accusations all the more inflammatory aren’t the payments themselves. It’s what the Time says came next. In July 2008 French troops took over the Sarobi district from the Italians. According to the Times the Italians didn’t tell the French of their financial arrangement with the Taliban leading the French to think the area was safer than it perhaps was. A month later 10 French soldiers were killed in Sarobi in the deadliest single attack on NATO forces since 2001. Some relatives of those victims are now calling for an investigation. But today the French government cast out on the story saying there was no evidence to back it up. But coalition members will likely discuss the issue – at least behind closed doors. Spain also has troops in Afghanistan and as in Italy the war is unpopular in Spain. Spanish newspaper editor, Jose Antonio Alvarez says NATO needs to get to the bottom of the accusations or support for the mission could drop further.

JOSE ANTONIO ALVAREZ: [SPEKING SPANISH]

HADDEN: He says they have to launch an investigation to either show that it’s false or if it turns out that some Italian military commanders committed such a barbarous act to punish those responsible. If not he says the confidence between coalition members will be blown to pieces. A spokesman for NATO forces in Afghanistan also denied the allegations saying we don’t pay the insurgents. But NATO has acknowledged that coalition forces sometimes pay village leaders to get information. And some observers point out that paying insurgents was part of a successful strategy in Iraq in 2007. Dana Allin is with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

DANA ALLIN: A big, big part of it was siphoning off these former insurgents in Ambar province. Payment to Sunni tribes was key.

HADDEN: The key difference Allin says, is that at the time the US didn’t hide the payments from its partners. If the Italians did slip cash to the Taliban, the secrecy around such payments could be more damaging than the money itself. For The World I’m Gerry Hadden.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

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This text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

MARCO WERMAN: Britain’s high court issued a ruling today that could lead to the release of sensitive US intelligence. The court said several paragraphs detailing the alleged torture of a former Guantanamo detainee must be made public. The paragraphs were part of written exchanges between US and British officials regarding Binyam Mohamed. He’s an Ethiopian who lived in Britain and was arrested in Pakistan in 2002. He was accused o training with al-Qaeda and transferred to US prisons in Afghanistan and Guantanamo. Mohamed claims he was tortured while in American custody. The charges against him have since been dropped and he was released back to Britain. But the legal case has continued with several news organizations pressing the British government to disclose what it knows about the torture allegations. Today’s ruling orders British Foreign Secretary David Miliband to release information he previously withheld. Richard Norton-Taylor is covering the case for the Guardian newspaper in London. He says the ruling is a blow to the government.

RICHARD NORTON-TAYLOR: It really is. It’s very damning criticism of Miliband because they’re talking about … . Instead of hushing things up and covering things up they should be champions of openness and the rule of law [INDISCERNIBLE] being the cornerstone of democracy and all that.

WERMAN: Well what blowback is this all going to have for David Miliband, the foreign secretary?

NORTON-TAYLOR: [INDISCERNIBLE] and therefore we won’t see what’s [INDISCERNIBLE] yet. And he issued a strong statement saying he was very disappointed with the judgment and he intends to appeal his standing by his argument that no English court can reveal foreign countries intelligence given to British intelligence agency. In this the CIA’s.

WERMAN: Is it certain that the seven paragraphs will now be published?

NORTON-TAYLOR: No it’s not because even though the judges here said that they should be published and an appeal. And so the whole purpose of an appeal would be squashed if the seven paragraphs were released into public domain at this stage. So I’m afraid the [INDISCERNIBLE] goes on.

WERMAN: How is this going to affect US and UK relations?

NORTON-TAYLOR: At the moment it’s actually not probably. Because David Miliband, the British foreign secretary, bent over backwards to say that one of the reasons why he can’t give out this information, it was American information, and the American administration, even the Obama Administration, doesn’t want this CIA evidence being disclosed. And Hilary Clinton [INDISCERNIBLE]. And then if the English courts win or at least Mohamed’s lawyers, the media lawyers win on appeal, and [INDISCERNIBLE] information is disclosed then it might cause concern. You know is it credible? Because [INDISCERNIBLE] and the Americans were saying with the British foreign secretary that [INDISCERNIBLE] information would actually damage intelligence cooperation for the two countries and put British lives at risk as a result. The judges here today clearly did not believe that. It was just an exaggerated, and end credible claim frankly.

WERMAN: Richard Norton-Taylor with London’s Guardian Newspaper. Thank you very much for your time.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman and this is The World, a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI, and WGBH Boston. Many eyes are on the West African nation of Guinea this weekend. Two weeks ago in the capital Conakry, soldiers attacked civilians at an opposition rally. People were shot and stabbed in broad daylight. Women were raped. Over 150 died. The United States and France are increasing pressure on the military government in Guinea. They want the head of that government, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, to step down. And the US and France have also advised its citizens to leave. And though the government has dropped a ban on public demonstrations, a rally this weekend in support of the government will take place. We’re on the phone with Patrick Smith, editor of Africa Confidential in London. And Patrick I know you’re not in Guinea but often Africa Confidential know more and hears more than even people on the ground. So what are you hearing today about the mood in Guinea?

PATRICK SMITH: Well certainly the government of Dadis Camara feels and it’s acting like it’s under very heavy international pressure. And there’s an increasingly menacing mood on the streets between the soldiers and the people of Guinea and particularly foreign nationals at the moment.

WERMAN: So I would imagine that a rally tomorrow in support of Camara has got to be demoralizing for people in Conakry.

SMITH: Well it’s going to be demoralizing. And I think also the way it must be that we could see more violence meted out by the soldiers loyal to Dadis Camara as well as that we have the prospect inter-army fighting between rival sections.

WERMAN: How has Captain Camara reacted to these calls from the US and Europe for him to step down? Has he said anything?

SMITH: He’s absolutely rejected them. And he is saying that he personally bears no responsibility for the murders which is what they were essentially – street murders.

WERMAN: Now you’ve actually seen some of the amateur video footage that was shot of September 28^th at the stadium. How did you come across this and what did you see?

SMITH: Well we got these films from our correspondents on the ground, many of whom had cell phones. It’s horrific stuff. It really is absolutely appalling. And what comes across so clearly is that this is directed violence. It’s not random violence. It’s not in reaction to what was said or done against the soldiers. This is soldiers deciding to lock people in an area, surround them, and then kill them.

WERMAN: And I heard that they were asking civilians in the stadium do you support Camara? And if you said yes you were fine. If you said no or if you said nothing you were shot.

SMITH: That’s right. That’s why people are saying it’s just impossible that Camara can deny some form of responsibility for this.

WERMAN: What else do we know about Captain Camara?

SMITH: He came to power through a military coup last December after the death of Lansana Conte. And initially at the time, he sort of had a good record. He wasn’t linked with any of the examples of grand corruption or indeed into themselves a [INDISCERNIBLE] human rights abusive. And certainly when he came to power he said I’m here as a stop gap. We need to stabilize this country and we need to organize open elections. And then since then there’s this sort of cult in top around him.

WERMAN: Nine months is a pretty short time for absolute power to corrupt so absolutely.

SMITH: It is strange.

WERMAN: West African leaders are scheduled to meet in the Nigerian capital tomorrow to take stock of the situation in Guinea. What impact might that have? What can they actually accomplish?

SMITH: If there’s a really strong voice, I think that’s going to make his situation very untenable within Guinea and I think it will encourage his opponents to put pressure on him and try and edge him out.

WERMAN: And there’s some talk that some of these West African leaders are talking about potential sanctions on Guinea. I mean has that ever happened before? Or what impact could sanctions from other West African nations have?

SMITH: We’ve had sanctions in the West African region. We had sanctions of course on Charles Taylor’s government. We had … .

WERMAN: In Liberia right.

SMITH: We had sanctions on the [PH] Hunta alliance in Sierra Leone. So it’s not unprecedented.

WERMAN: Patrick Smith, editor of Africa Confidential in London. Thank you for your time.

SMITH: Thank you too Marco.

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MARCO WERMAN: The Middle East has seen a lot of upheaval in the years since the attacks of September 11, 2001. But some of it has had some positive impact. For one it’s fueled a growing interest in contemporary Middle Eastern art. The World’s Aaron Schachter has the story.

AARON SCHACHTER: The Beirut Art Center recently showed short films by Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari to a standing-room only crowd. This new gallery of modern art is the first of its kind in Lebanon. Sandra Dagher, who created the space with a partner, says it’s filling a niche many locals didn’t realize was there.

AKRAM ZAATARI: We exist now because of all this dynamic and maybe there was just a need of time for this to happen here.

SCHACHTER: Part of the dynamic in Lebanon was the after-effects of a 15-year civil war that made buying or even viewing art a luxury. But even more important were the events of 9/11.

KAELEN WILSON GOLDIE: There has been a huge spike in interest on the part of Western institutions in finding out more about what was happening artistically in the region.

SCHACHTER: Kaelen Wilson Goldie is an art critic for The National, a newspaper based in Abu Dhabi. She says the art world is often influenced by the headlines and that was especially true in the years following 9/11.

GOLDIE: Just an interest on the part of Western institutions – museums, public art spaces – in finding out more about what was happening artistically in the region at a time when Arabs and Muslims seem to be vilified in America and in Europe, whether for immigration policies or the war on terror.

SCHACHTER: What the art world found was a cross section of styles from different ethnicities and traditions. Kurds or Turks doing realism. Muslims painting in a cubist style. Christians dashing off abstract expressionist work.

[MUSIC]

SCHACHTER: Fadi Yaziki is a Syrian painter and sculpture. He says no one paid attention to his work until a few years ago.

FADI YAZIKI: 2004, 2005 when I was in London they … . You don’t believe how many museum come and how many foundation came to meet me and to visit me. It’s good things they find like treasure here.

SCHACHTER: Yaziki says foreign diplomats in Damascus caught on soon afterwards and bought up dozens of pieces at once. And now they’re not cheap. His work sells for about $10,000 to $20,000.

TOUR GUIDE: In Lebanon and then … . So also … .

SCHACHTER: And galleries have opened in recent years run by savvy owners who realized they could market contemporary Middle Eastern art.

TOUR GUIDE: A lot of his memories are connected to his mother or his grandmother.

SCHACHTER: I got a tour earlier this year of Ayyam Gallery, the first in Damascus for modern art. IN 2001 Syrian Swiss banker Khaled Samawi sold his finance company to focus on his passion and make money in the process. Samawi says when he started the Ayyam Gallery there was little interest n Modern Middle Eastern art but he knew his clients and he got them hooked.

KHALED SAMAWI: Somebody who is in New York or who’s in Sydney or who’s in Hong Kong who likes art. They’re sick of having their Picasso and this is a Van Gogh and this is this, this is that. You know it’s not a … . Every hedge fund manager has a Picasso or a Van Gogh or a Matisse in his home in New York. All of a sudden having something that comes from Syria that you bought in an auction in London or in Dubai or you … . You have a nice story to tell somebody.

SCHACHTER: Samawi says he’s trying to ensure this isn’t a quick fad. He spends a lot of time cultivating talent. Because the market is still so young artists here aren’t used to being represented by galleries. Or for that matter making much money. One artist, Othman Moussa, used to moonlight in his father’s bakery. Now his still lifes sell for thousands of dollars. Since the global economic downturn Samawi says prices have dropped by about 30 percent but you shouldn’t feel too sorry for him. In the gallery’s first few years Samawi watched prices go up by 3 to 400 percent. And this year he’s opening his third gallery here in Lebanon’s capital. For The World I’m Aaron Schachter in Beirut.

Copyright ©2009 PRI’s THE WORLD. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to PRI’s THE WORLD. This transcript may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without prior written permission. For further information, please email The World’s Permissions Coordinator at theworld@pri.org.

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