The agency Fitch lowered the rating of Greece

AFP - The rating agency Fitch Ratings said Friday it lowered the rating to three notches from the long-term debt of Greece, Athens has denied a penalty as not taking into account its commitments to intensify recovery efforts economy.

This degradation, preceded in January by a notch down from the Greek notes, to "B +" cons "BB +" reflects "the extent of the challenge" facing the country to implement the tax reform agenda and Structural necessary to reduce its debt and deficit, Fitch said in a statement.

"Further austerity measures are needed to fulfill the objective of a deficit reaching 7.5% of GDP in 2011," partly because of lower tax revenues than expected, "she says.

The decision "does not take into account the additional commitments that the Greek government has already taken to achieve its budget target in 2011 and accelerate its privatization program," responded the Greek Ministry of Finance in a statement.

The ministry said that these new measures, including guidelines were unveiled in mid-April but that Greece had to strengthen and clarify under pressure from its creditors EU and IMF, should be announced shortly, usually in early next week.

The rating agency said its new note incorporates its expectations of new grant "substantial" from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in the country.

This additional loan of 110 billion made in May 2011 is currently under discussion, given the likely inability to return the country to raise capital on schedule in 2012.

Fitch believes that such an extension would eliminate the prospect of a "soft restructuring or reshaping" of the Greek debt would amount to an agency by default.

The new Fitch degradation brought Greece into the speculative grade "countries that do little security for repayment," according to the classification established by the agency.

The rating of short-term debt was maintained at "B".The prospect of these two notes is "negative", which implies that the agency does not lower them further over the medium term.

The agency announced this degradation while long rates Greeks beat a new record on Friday, rising above 16.5%, after breaking the taboo until then prevailing in Europe about the prospect of a debt restructuring Hellenic .

If the option of a discount is excluded, the rescheduling is now posed, including the leader of the finance ministers of the eurozone, Jean-Claude Juncker, despite the firm opposition of the Bank European Central Bank (ECB).

Creditors of Greece, however, are unanimous in requiring it more austerity measures, as well as the acceleration and intensification of a privatization program meant to deflate the debt relating to the country 50 billion by 2015 .

Even before the sanction of the agency, the Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou, had highlighted its determination to follow these injunctions: "it is time to go faster, everything must be done and everything must be done now, "he said in Parliament Friday.

Fitch Ratings was the latest rating agency to tilt in January of Greece in the category of debt issuers "rotten" ("junk bonds"), saying that despite "significant progress" in the country to reduce its deficit public, it still faces "significant effort" to regain the confidence of borrowers.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Alassane Ouattara returns institution heads close to Gbagbo

AFP - The head of the Ivorian Alassane Ouattara ended Friday at the office of Presidents of Economic and Social Council and the Supreme Court, the Grand Chancellor of the order and two members of the Constitutional Court, relatives or supporters of former President Laurent Gbagbo.

Mr Ouattara has terminated the functions of Laurent Dona Fologo to head the Council écononomique and social character of the third state in the order of protocol, according to a presidential statement issued Friday evening.

In March, in full post-election crisis arose from the disputed presidential November 2010, Mr.Fologo had stated: "We do not negotiate the outcome of an election, there is nothing to negotiate (...) What kind of compromise can be found after an election between someone who was elected (Ed. M . Gbagbo) and the other (Ed. Ouattara) who was not elected? ".

He was replaced by Marcel Zadi Kessy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Compagnie Ivorian Electricity (ICE)-Water Distribution Company of Côte d'Ivoire (Sodeci).

The Head of State also dismissed the chairman of the Supreme Court, Tia Kone, and Grand Chancellor of the National Order of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, General Issouf Kone.

Shortly after the April 11 arrest of Laurent Gbagbo, MM.Tia Kone and had all allegiance to Mr Ouattara. The first was replaced by the magistrate off hierarchy Mamadou Kone, and the second by Henriette Diabate Dagri-history professor.

Finally, two members of the Constitutional Council, Mr. Jacques Andre and Felix Daligou Monoko Tano Kouadio, who listed relatives of Laurent Gbagbo, sanctioned by the European Union, were also dismissed.

President Ouattara, who was sworn in on May 6 and May 21 will be invested in Yamoussoukro, also signed the order creating the Commission dialogue, truth and reconciliation, to be headed by former Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny.

Iran: Trial resumes for hikers in Tehran

The trial of two Americans detained in Iran in 2009 and accused of spying for Tehran would resume Wednesday, said Tuesday the U.S. State Department, which has demanded their release.

"Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer is almost two years in prison and it is time for them to find their families," said the spokesman of the State Department Mark Toner.

"We learned from our Swiss partner that Iranian authorities have confirmed the date of May 11 for the trial resumed," he said.

Switzerland looks after U.S. interests because the United States and Iran had diplomatic relations n'entretiennent.

Shane Bauer, Josh and Sarah Fattal Shourd were arrested July 31, 2009 near the border with Iraq. They say they were hiking in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan and they have crossed the border inadvertently.

Sarah Shourd was released in September against a deposit of $ 500,000. On Monday, the lawyer for the three Americans said that Tehran would likely Shourd did not resume his trial.

Under Iran's Islamic law, espionage can be punishable by death.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Calm in a precarious Abidjan delivered to insecurity and looting

AFP - The battle of Abidjan was experiencing a lull on Sunday morning around the last bastions defended by followers of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo out, holding their positions for more than three days, residents said, and AFP journalists.

In the Plateau (center), the Presidential Palace district, only a few sporadic shots of heavy weapons were heard off in the morning, while during part of Friday afternoon the firing had been very intense, it was found.

In the Cocody district (north), in a wide area including the presidential residence and state television RTI, "during the night by pulling it here and there, heavy and light weapons", reported a capita."But there was no real fighting, only sporadic gunfire.

Since their arrival in Abidjan on Thursday evening after a lightning offensive that has allowed them to conquer nearly all of the country, the forces of Alassane Ouattara, President recognized by the international community, attempting unsuccessfully to drive the pro-Gbagbo of their strongholds while Abidjan comes to violence and looting.

LIBYA: The insurgency took over the city of Brega and continues its westward offensive

The rebels have resumed Saturday Ajdabiya strategic towns in eastern and Brega in Libya, their first major victories since the start of the international military intervention against the forces of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi a week ago.

Strong military support international air cons pro-Qaddafi, the insurgents took control in quick lock Strategic Ajdabiya, 160 km south of Benghazi, a stronghold of the opposition, then the oil city of Brega 80 km further west, according to local journalists.

The forces of Colonel Qaddafi faced since February 15 in an insurgency that has unprecedented attempt to suppress the blood, have deserted their positions under cover of darkness, leaving the Rebels celebrate their reconquest Ajdabiyah drawing in the air and honking.

"The clashes were continuing Friday and then everything stopped around 23:30. And at midnight, the men went to Gaddafi," said one resident, Omar Bashi. "The rebels entered the city shortly after.It was time, we had only rice to eat for several days. "

The fighting, according to the rebellion, nine dead and nine wounded, while outside the city, the bodies of at least 21 fighters pro-Gaddafi were collected, according to medical sources. Other bodies, some charred or dismembered by bombs, still lay in the desert.

"Ajdabiya is 100% under the control of our forces and our forces go after Gaddafi Brega on the road," he said Saturday morning, a spokesman for the insurgents in Benghazi, Chamsiddin Abdoulmolah.

Late afternoon, the rebels claimed to have taken Brega, according to a reporter traveling with them.

"We are in the center of Brega.Gaddafi's forces have retreated and are now al-Bicher (30 km further west) and we move into this area, "said one rebel fighters, Abdelsalam al-Maadani.

Hitherto disorganized and inefficient, the insurgents took advantage of the coalition air support to resume the offensive.

The raids have "prepared the battlefield", and experienced officers and soldiers who joined the rebellion played a major role, "said Abdoulmolah.These soldiers have coordinated their attacks with the coalition, which came into action between the air strikes.

Asked about a Washington Post article claiming that the coalition was planning to send arms to the insurgents, one of their spokesman, Ahmed Khalifa, said that no deliveries had taken place at the moment but that these weapons would be welcome.

Meanwhile, the coalition has not released its pressure. It launched raids Friday night and into the night on the town of Zliten (west) and the Al-Wati (west).It also bombed a military site at Tajura, a suburb east of Tripoli, a target area on a daily basis.

President Barack Obama welcomed the developments, saying that the international mission in Libya was "targeted and being successful.""A humanitarian catastrophe has been averted and the lives of countless innocent civilians, men, women and children, were rescued."

According to an official of the Libyan Ministry of Health, the coalition raids killed at least 114 dead and 445 wounded from Sunday to Wednesday, mainly in Tripoli and its suburbs.

Despite his combative tone returns, the Gaddafi regime was willing to accept an African plan providing for the cessation of fighting and a dialogue for a "transition" democratic.

But at the same time, his forces are still trying to recapture the town of Misrata, rebel stronghold in the west, continuing their bombardment, according to a witness.Since Benghazi, the rebels have asked the international community to come to the aid of Misrata.

And the rebels have rejected the African initiative. "The only way to resolve this conflict is that Gaddafi and his son are brought to justice for crimes against humanity," said Khalifa. Mr.Gaddafi, in power for 42 years, maintains a defiant and refuses to go away.

Military intervention by the international coalition also wants policy, while the leader of the National Transitional Council reaffirmed the opposition grouping does not want to "foreign forces" on Libyan soil.

With the approach of a first meeting of the Contact Group in London on Tuesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced "a Franco-British initiative" for a political solution. Italy has also announced it would present a plan during the summit.

The conduct of operations, NATO countries agreed to take immediate relay of the Coalition for the no-fly zone, but not for ground strikes.Negotiations should continue on Sunday that Nato will soon take all the operations in hand.

The Russian ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, whose country criticized the international response, said a ground invasion would be tantamount to occupation.

Find the events of Saturday, March 26 in Libya, Syria and elsewhere in the Arab world with our Liveblogging here.

LIBYA: At the UN, French diplomacy against the Libyan equation

The approval by the Security Council of UN resolution 1973, Thursday, marks something of a return to the forefront of French diplomacy. On the antenna of FRANCE 24, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe reiterated that "France [works] to convince his partners" for "days, if not weeks."

The insistence of France vis-à-vis the international community has borne fruit.After the decision of the Security Council of UN, Libya announced Friday its intention to immediately comply with UN orders by putting "an end to all military operations" and observing "an immediate cease- fire ".

If this latest development is confirmed on the ground, it could be a proven success for French diplomacy.However, the positions of Paris supported for this procedure is complex to decipher.

Since the official recognition of the Libyan National Transitional Council (CNT) as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people (March 10), Paris has stepped up calls for military intervention.

Particularly, this position contrasts sharply with the attitude of French diplomacy at recent Arab uprisings - in Tunisia and Egypt.The Quai d'Orsay was then multiplied the blunders, from the point of discrediting the entire French diplomacy and deface Paris's position on these issues.

A position to assume

Reached by France24.com Eugene Rogan, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oxford, said that Paris had no other choice but to "continue its efforts" to address the problem Jamahiriya: "France has taken a very surprising recognizing a government instead of a state.It seems that from the time when President Sarkozy has legitimized the CNT, unpredictably, [...] France could not afford to be the only major countries not to recognize the regime of Gaddafi ".

Repeated calls from the Quai d'Orsay for an international consensus had finally paid off. But the question of whether early recognition of the CNT was part of an overall strategy to put pressure on the international community continue to arise.

For Eugene Rogan, it is likely that France was forced to assume its partners a hasty decision, "President Sarkozy is very unpredictable and can be very spontaneous.When he recognized the CNT, it seems he did not consult its partners in Europe and America. "

Nevertheless, "it is very difficult to know for what purpose France decided to recognize the CNT. "Maybe she had received assurances on the award of contracts in exchange for his support. If this is a tenable hypothesis, there is nothing to verify it. I do not see any other explanation, "he develops.

However, the image of French diplomacy ultra responsive, which would cleverly controlled his skid, is not unanimously shared.According to Jean Dufourcq, a researcher at the Ecole Militaire in Paris and former director of the Research Centre of the College of Defence of NATO, "France shares the idea that it must intervene when a population suffered an attack of its leader, especially if the process takes place in an area directly concerning. "

This strategic aspect, which aims to protect the Mediterranean against a threat of destabilization, is a major factor to decrypt the French position on the issue of Libya, said Jean Dufourcq, whose reasoning supports the thesis of a controlled strategy from the beginning by Paris. "Behind the scenes, it is likely that the project was on the table for a month.Since the establishment of a military process requires a lot of work beforehand. "

The hexagonal frontline diplomacy

Rest in obtaining approval of an intervention in Libya, France was left to the initiative of a major operation. For now, the Quai d'Orsay has limited interventions. The government spokesman Baroin confirmed Friday morning that military strikes would occur "within hours" and that the French military "will participate".

For Jean Dufourcq, this vagueness is part of Paris by a certain continuity: "We have just concluded the political stage of this operation. Now open the military aspect, namely the establishment of the process, says he said.If France did not rule on a specific schedule is that the UN is in a logic of 'surprise military'. If the humanitarian need is unquestionable, the strategy calls for hitting at the right time. "

As a prelude to the Council vote, Alain Juppe had evoked a quick response, saying it was "a matter of days, [...] may be a matter of hours." Since no information has filtered out about it.

Respect of staff and military means that each country involved could make available to the coalition, they have still not been disclosed.

The outgoing coalition won the legislative

REUTERS - The center-right coalition to power in Estonia, Country came in January in the euro area after a harsh recession, has largely won parliamentary elections Sunday.

After counting 97% of votes, the Reform Party of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip wins 33 seats out of 101 in the new parliament and its partner, the Union Pro Patria and Res Republica, gets 23, ensuring the coalition an absolute majority, with five more seats in the outgoing assembly.

Analysts expect that the small Baltic country of 1.3 million people stick to the austerity policy that allowed him in January to become the 17th member state of the euro-zone government debt the lowest in the EU.

The Centre Party, main opposition, has been affected by allegations that he solicited funds in Russia, great neighbor that Estonians generally viewed with suspicion. The party officials have denied those rumors.

The Social Democrats, meanwhile, had joined the government after the 2007 elections but the alliance was broken.

The government Ansip was a minority for some time, but defections on smaller parties had come to give it 51 seats in parliament.

Estonia has been facing one of the worst recessions in the EU, with its economy shrank by 14% in 2009.Only its Baltic neighbors, the
Latvia and Lithuania, have experienced worse in the EU.

The country has implemented austerity measures to redress public finances and adopt the euro.

Estonia remains one of the poorest countries of the Union, which she joined in 2004 as well as NATO. But its fiscal situation is sound. The European Commission predicts its total budget deficit of the public sector of 1.6% of GDP for 2011, which corresponds to the average of the euro area.

The state debt, projected at 9.5% of GDP this year will be by far the lowest in the euro zone where the average is in the field to 86.5% of GDP. The Government is committed to achieving a balanced budget by 2014.

ALGERIA: The Algerians will march to "change the system"

Follow the day's events in Algeria and Egypt on liveblogging from FRANCE 24.

AFP - Major security forces were deployed in Algeria in anticipation of events "to change the system" Saturday at 11:00 am (1000 GMT), the call of the National Coordination for Democracy and Change (CNDC) and could be encouraged by the departure of President Hosni Mubarak.

Several marches and rallies are planned across the country, but in Algiers, police, came in number-between 25,000 and 30,000 according to the press, were visible as early as Friday.

Police roadblocks set up at entrances to the capital since suicide bombings in April and December 2007, claimed by Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), were also strengthened.

A demonstration organized apparently it at the last minute to salute the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, before the head of the Rally for Culture and Democracy (RCD opposition) Friday in Algiers was stopped by a cordon of police activists who pushed in and made a dozen arrests.

The march of Algiers has not been authorized under a ban in force since 2001. The demonstrators nevertheless go to the Place de la Concorde (better known under its former name Place May 1st) at 11:00 to get to Martyrs' Square at the foot of the Casbah and the entrance of Bab el Oued , traditional theater of revolt.

In Oran, 430 km from Algiers, Wilaya denied permission to demonstrate. But the NCCD maintains its watchword, and calls for a gathering place November 1st in front of City Hall Thursday she was distributing leaflets still in this great city in western Algeria.

Other cities also intend to answer the call which, on the east coast, Boumerdes, Bejaia, then south-east of Algiers, Tizi Ouzou, the main town of Kabylie, and west, Tipaza, among others.

Finally, in the main town in eastern Algeria, Annaba, leaflets calling on citizens to participate in the march were intercepted by police in recent days. A police source described them as "demoralizing" and a threat to the safety of goods and people.

The CNDC was created on January 21 by opposition parties, civil society and autonomous unions in the wake of riots earlier this year that have killed 5 people and injured over 800.

TUNISIA: Concerns about the security situation in the country

The emergence of youth gangs armed prowlers in Tunis and the burning of a synagogue in Gabes reinforce fears of a descent into violence or destabilization attempts in Tunisia.

More than two weeks after the flight of President Zine Ben Ali under pressure from the street, January 14, the army had to intervene on Tuesday for gunmen to flee, as Tunisians suspected of working for the old power.

Large protests have continued in recent days in the country, the reshuffle made on Thursday by Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi who calmed the public.But acts of sabotage or intimidation were reported.

The spokesman of the Jewish community in Tunisia, one of the largest in North Africa, condemned the arson of a synagogue at Gabes in the south, on the night of Monday to Tuesday.

"I think those who have committed are seeking to create divisions between Jews and Muslims from Tunisia who live in peace for decades," said Peres Trabelsi.

Tunisian Jewish community is rarely the target of attacks. The last claimed by Al Qaeda, was in 2002 against the synagogue in Djerba Island.She had killed 21 people, including several German tourists.

Another indication of a deteriorating security, the military has had to fire warning shots to disperse gangs of armed youths who attacked two schools of Carthage, affluent suburb north-east of the capital , terrorizing students.

Monday already, young people with knives and clubs had spread fear through the streets of Kasserine, in the center of the country, burning buildings and harassing people, reports the news agency TAP.

Self-defense committees

Saturday in downtown Tunis, bands of youths had dispersed a gathering of women in Tunisia.They were hunted down on Avenue Habib Bourguiba by merchants organized in self-defense committees, also armed with knives and sticks.

Some traders believe that these bands are formed by former supporters of RCD, a former all-powerful party of President Ben Ali, or by young people paid to create chaos.

"We're here to try to reassure the public. We will protect," said a soldier in an armored vehicle positioned in front of a school in the capital.
Ben Ali, Minister of the Interior before taking power in 1987, had a vast network of police and informants who had not been dismantled since the "jasmine revolution".

Diplomatic sources, it is estimated that his presidential guard has been dispersed or eliminated, but a small number of his armed followers is probably still present in the country.

According to the head of a UN mission sent to the country, 147 people died and 510 others were injured in the uprising in Tunisia.

Bacre Waly Ndiaye said during a news conference that 72 more people died during riots that occurred in Tunisian prisons during these events, which began Dec. 17.

"The primary sector is to reform the security forces, who must work for the people, not against him," said the official Senegalese. "The security system must be central to the reform process. It is necessary to limit the role of the state police."

The interim government has promised to investigate the deaths and injuries occurred during the revolution and the eight members of the UN mission to provide assistance and advice.

The transition cabinet has also promised to recover assets of the family Ben Ali in Tunisia and abroad.

The EU froze the assets in Eastern Europe, former president and family.France has seized on Tuesday at Le Bourget airport a private plane belonging to the family of the deposed head of state.