Cameron Seeks to Calm Turmoil Over Europe

But scores of Conservative lawmakers signaled that they would press ahead with plans to force a parliamentary vote on Wednesday which they are almost certain to lose but which is likely to embarrass Mr. Cameron by highlighting his party’s turmoil over Britain’s ties to the 27-nation European bloc and a profound split over the same issue within his coalition government. </P>During a visit to Washington by Mr. Cameron on Monday, Mr. Obama urged Britons not to give up on their membership in the union without first seeking to improve it. “You probably want to see if you can fix what is broken in a very important relationship before you break it off — that makes sense to me,” Mr. Obama said, while stressing that any decision was for the British people. </P>The statement reflected growing worries that one of America’s closest allies is moving toward leaving the bloc. </P>Mr. Cameron has pledged an “in-out” referendum on British membership in the European Union by 2017 if he wins the next election in 2015. But he did not include that promise in a traditional legislative program delivered last week by Queen Elizabeth II. </P>According to British news reports, almost 80 rebellious Conservatives are promoting a parliamentary vote on Wednesday to castigate Mr. Cameron for the omission, demanding that the referendum pledge be enshrined in law immediately. </P>Mr. Cameron’s spokesman said the prime minister would counter by publishing his own draft legislation later on Tuesday “to show the strength of his commitment to hold an in-out referendum.” But it was not clear whether the maneuver would satisfy the vocal euroskeptic wing of his party. </P>The draft legislation does not have the support of the junior coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats. </P>Mr. Cameron’s spokesman said that the decision to produce the draft bill as a Conservative Party initiative reflected the fact that the prime minister’s view on Europe “is clearly different” from that of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who is the leader of the Liberal Democrats. </P>“The prime minister felt, as he has made clear in the past, that he was always keen to look at all options to show the strength of his commitment to hold an in-out referendum, and he felt that this was the best course of action,” said Mr. Cameron’s spokesman, who is not normally identified by name in line with government policy. </P>The timing of the debate in the Conservative Party was particularly awkward for Mr. Cameron, who used his visit to Washington to push for a free trade area for the European Union and the United States, a long-cherished objective of policy makers, and one that the British prime minister said would benefit the global economy. </P>Britain holds the G-8 presidency, and Mr. Cameron will lead the annual gathering of the group next month in Northern Ireland. His meeting with Mr. Obama was part of his preparations for that meeting. </P>At the news conference in Washington, Mr. Cameron repeated his strategy of renegotiating Britain’s ties with the union before holding a vote on membership in 2017. He insisted that there was “not going to be a referendum tomorrow,” saying that to hold one now would present a “false choice between the status quo and leaving, and I don’t think that’s the choice the British public wants or the British public deserves.” </P>Earlier, Mr. Cameron said other critics within his party who dismissed his prospects of negotiating a new deal with the union were taking an “extraordinary” position and “throwing in the towel before the negotiations even started.” </P>Such strains in British politics are nothing new, and deep divisions over Europe have afflicted the Conservative Party on and off for a quarter of a century, contributing to the downfall of the party’s two last prime ministers. </P>In 2006, soon after he took over the leadership of his party, Mr. Cameron warned colleagues that they had alienated voters by “banging on” about Europe and tax cuts. </P>When the issue refused to go away, Mr. Cameron had hoped that, by going further than any of his predecessors in offering Britain’s first referendum on Europe since 1975, he would persuade his party to unite behind his strategy. </P>Though surveys show Britons to be highly skeptical about the European Union, it tends to be an issue well down their list of priorities. But the rise of the populist U.K. Independence Party, which wants Britain to quit the union, has sent shock waves through the ranks of Conservative lawmakers. </P>The idea of quitting the bloc, which was once seen as the preserve of a tiny, extreme faction of the party, is gaining respectability after endorsement by two former cabinet ministers last week. Meanwhile, ministers seeking support on the right of the party have been stressing their euroskeptic credentials. </P>Knowing the strength of feeling within his party, Mr. Cameron has allowed ministers to abstain and his party’s other lawmakers to vote against on Wednesday if they choose, a rare and unusual concession. </P>But Emma Reynolds, a spokeswoman on Europe for the opposition Labour Party, told the BBC that the Conservatives were demonstrating their well-known divisions over Europe. “It is history repeating itself,” she said. “We have seen this for the last 20 years — they are in complete chaos and disarray.” </P><br /><p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/world/europe/cameron-seeks-to-calm-turmoil-over-europe.html?partner=rss&emc=rss" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</a></p>

But scores of Conservative lawmakers signaled that they would press ahead with plans to force a parliamentary vote on Wednesday which they ...

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Algerian hostage crisis: six Britons feared dead, says David Cameron

<img alt="Algerian soldiers" height="276" itemprop="contentUrl representativeOfPage" src="/Algerian-soldiers-010.jpg" width="460"> Algerian soldiers secure the airport before the departure of freed hostages. David Cameron said the priority was to get Britons home. Photograph: Zuma/Rex Features<P>Three British nationals have died and three more are feared dead following the Algerian hostage crisis, David Cameron has said.</P><P>The prime minister said a UK resident had also been killed in the four-day stand-off in the desert, which dramatically came to an end on Saturday.</P><P>Speaking at Chequers on Sunday, Cameron said the priority was to get the surviving hostages home from Algeria.</P><P>"I know the whole country will want to join with me in sending our sympathy and our condolences to the families who have undergone an absolutely dreadful ordeal," he said.</P><P>The Foreign Office said the figures announced by the prime minister included the Briton killed on Wednesday in the initial raid by Islamist militants.</P><P>The final assault by Algerian special forces on the group of jihadist hostage-takers who seized the In Amenas gas facility ended on Saturday with the deaths of the seven remaining foreign hostages. Also killed was the Niger terrorist believed to lead the al-Qaida splinter group's leader, Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri. Twenty-three 23 hostages were killed during the standoff.</P><P>Sixteen foreign nationals – including two Americans, two Germans and a Portuguese – were freed during Saturday's operation.</P><P>After a day of desperate uncertainty over the fate of the remaining British captives, David Cameron said the deaths would unite world leaders in the cause of defeating global terrorism. He added: "Our determination is stronger than ever to work with allies right around the world to root out and defeat this terrorist scourge and those who encourage it."</P><P>The White House released a statement from Barack Obama, in which the US president said: "The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the families of all those who were killed and injured in the terrorist attack in Algeria. The blame for this tragedy rests with the terrorists who carried it out, and the United States condemns their actions in the strongest possible terms. We have been in constant contact with Algerian officials and stand ready to provide whatever assistance they need in the aftermath of this attack.</P><P>Announcing the latest casualties, the foreign secretary, William Hague, said: "We believe that there are five British nationals and one British resident who are either deceased or unaccounted for, in addition to the one fatality that we had already confirmed."</P><P>He added: "We are working hard to get definitive information about each individual. We are in touch with all of the families concerned."</P><P>First reports suggested the hostages were killed by their captors as the attempt to rescue them was launched. Official sources quoted by the Algerian newspaper El Watan said the militants executed them after having given up hope of escape. The Niger terrorist believed to have led the al-Qaida splinter group behind the hostage-taking, Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri, was also killed during the final assault.</P><P>Algeria's interior ministry said 23 captives and 32 kidnappers had died during the four-day hostage crisis.</P><P>The 11 surviving Islamist fighters from the group of 40 who attacked the desert plant last Wednesday were also killed in the raid on a workshop where they had taken their captives.</P><P>The state oil and gas company, Sonatrach, said the hostage-takers, who identified themselves as Those Who Sign in Blood – a splinter group of al-Qaida in the Islamic Mahgreb – had boobytrapped the complex with explosives. Earlier on Saturday, Algerian special forces found 15 burned bodies at the plant. Details of the operation's bloody end emerged as it was revealed that the UK had offered assistance to the Algerian government, reportedly including British special forces. The offer was apparently rejected by Algeria.</P><P>The hostage crisis began when two groups of Islamists attacked two buses carrying foreign workers then took hundreds of Algerians and expatriates hostage at the complex. The group had been demanding the cessation of a French military operation against Islamists in northern Mali as well as the release of two men jailed in the US.</P><P>Last Thursday, Algerian special forces mounted an operation to take back the plant – to the initial dismay of the British and other governments, which were not notified in advance.</P><P>According to early accounts to emerge from In Amenas, Saturday's raid was launched after Nigeri and his group threatened to blow up the plant and kill the remaining hostages. The decision to go in was made after attempts by the terrorists to sabotage and mine the plant were detected overnight on Friday. According to El Watan, the hostage-takers had tried to sabotage the gas installation by starting a fire, but it was quickly extinguished.</P><P>"The terrorists were prepared to commit a collective suicide; the army's intervention led to their neutralisation. Unfortunately, the hostages were executed," the newspaper said.</P><P>Hague said the crisis was a reminder of "the scale and ruthlessness of the terrorist threat that we and other nations face". One senior government source said London had been hampered by a continuing lack of information from the Algerian government.</P><P>Cameron, who had to postpone a major speech on Europe on Friday to handle the crisis, spoke to the Algerian prime minister, Abdelmalek Sellal, who confirmed the military operation was "effectively ended".</P><br /><p><a href="http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/~r/theguardian/rss/~3/f1m5reBUiSE/algerian-hostage-crisis-david-cameron" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">View the original article here</a></p>

Algerian soldiers secure the airport before the departure of freed hostages. David Cameron said the priority was to get Britons home. Phot...

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