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John Howard asks for Apec
calm on YouTube
Nick Squires
London
Telegraph
Tuesday September 4, 2007
He epitomises the Bakelite radio era of the 1950s but Australian
prime minister John Howard has turned to the 21st century medium
of YouTube to appeal for calm during this week’s Apec forum.
Protest groups have threatened violence as the
leaders of 21 countries come together in Sydney for the latest
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
US President George W Bush will arrive in Australia tomorrow,
ahead of President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Chinese President
Hu Jintao.
Australia has embarked on its biggest ever security
operation, building a 3.5 mile long concrete and wire fence around
central Sydney, cutting off the Opera House and other popular
tourists sights from the public.
The fence has been nicknamed by locals The Great
Wall of Sydney or the Rabble- Proof Fence, after the popular 2002
Australian film, Rabbit Proof Fence.
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The harbour city has been dubbed Fortress Sydney,
with police taking to the water on jet skis, roads closed and
a brand new water cannon on hand to deal with troublemakers.
Mr Howard, 68, is comfortable on television
and radio but not known for being at the cutting edge of the
communication revolution.
His You Tube appearance was a rare foray onto
the internet and a bid to communicate with potential troublemakers
through their medium of choice.
"There will be some individuals who want to protest
against Apec," he said on the video clip. "I simply ask them to
stop for a moment and consider that if they really are worried
about issues such as poverty, security and climate change, then
they should support Apec, not attack it."
A protest group calling itself the Stop Bush Coalition
plans to demonstrate against President Bush, the war in Iraq and
the effects of globalisation during a march in the city centre
on Saturday.
Police fear a fringe element of anarchists and
other extremists could turn violent.
In addition to the 3,500 police officers on patrol
throughout the summit, navy ships are in the harbour, special
forces are on standby and F/A 18 Hornet jet fighters are patrolling
the skies to deter a terrorist attack.
"Unfortunately, the extra security precautions
that are needed to be taken are a necessary part of hosting such
meetings in today’s world," Mr Howard said. "They are the
fault of people who threaten violence as part of their protest."
Mr Howard, a former lawyer and Australia’s
second longest-serving prime minister, has been in power since
1996. He is hoping to win an historic fifth term at the next federal
election, which is expected to be held by the end of the year,
and could come as early as next month.
He is likely to announce the date shortly after
Apec ends.
In opinion polls he is trailing behind Kevin
Rudd, 49, the youthful, mop-haired leader of the opposition Labour
Party, whose nicknames include Tintin and Pixie.
Mr Howard had hoped to use Apec as a springboard
for his re-election campaign, a prestigious stage on which to
hobnob with some of the world’s most powerful leaders.
But President Bush’s four day visit could
turn out to be more of a liability than an electoral boost.
The US president has repeatedly described his
Australian friend as "a man of steel" — a compliment which
may go down well in Texas, but raises mostly titters of embarrassment
in the living rooms of Melbourne and Sydney.
Although Australia’s military commitment
to Iraq is modest and it has only suffered one combat casualty,
the public is tiring of the war — a discomfort made all
the more acute by the British withdrawal from Basra city.
Mr Rudd, a former diplomat, has pledged to bring
most Australian troops home from Iraq as soon as he is elected.
Mr Howard, like Tony Blair when he was in power,
has left the commitment open-ended but echoes President Bush in
saying that it would be unwise to "cut and run".
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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