07 avril 2009
Obama set to finish European tour
US President Barack Obama is set to end his tour of Europe, during which he has held talks on the economic crisis and sought better relations with Muslims.
He will spend his last day in Istanbul, where he is holding discussions with students. He earlier met religious leaders and visited the Blue Mosque.
His chief political adviser says the trip has been "enormously productive".
On Monday, Mr Obama stated that the US was "not at war with Islam" and offered partnership to the Muslim world.
"Strategy, strategy, strategy. Does not impress all the folks back home and even those folks who are more kindly disposed towards the Obama White House are worried that tactics are being ignored or confused while everyone on Air Force One sits and thinks"Justin Webb
BBC North America editor
Webb's America: Yet more strategy
Addressing the Turkish parliament, he spoke too of his deep appreciation for the Islamic faith and said the US had been enriched by Muslim Americans.
"Many other Americans have Muslims in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them," he said.
"And when people look back on this time, let it be said of America that we extended the hand of friendship," he added.
Correspondents say Mr Obama's remarks went further than expected but that questions remain over whether his warm words will lead to better relations.
'Turning the page'
After three international summits and 14 bilateral meetings, President Obama will leave Turkey for Washington later on Tuesday.
"Over time, the seeds that were planted here are going to be very, very valuable"David Axelrod
White House Senior Adviser
Earlier, David Axelrod, his closest political aide, said there had been tangible benefits already, in particular with pledges of support for the war on Afghanistan, reform of the global financial system, and restarting arms talks with Russia.
But he said the visit had been a great step forward in establishing personal relationships with leaders who will be important in promoting world security.
He referred as well to a dialogue Mr Obama had begun with the people of Europe.
"You plant, you cultivate, you harvest," Mr Axelrod told reporters. "Over time, the seeds that were planted here are going to be very, very valuable."
Before he leaves, Mr Obama held an informal meeting with Turkish students. He told them that he understood the frustrations that recent US actions have caused Muslims, and wanted to turn the page.
Earlier, Mr Obama met Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II, Istanbul Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva, the senior Islamic official in Istanbul, Mufti Mustafa Cagrici, and Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yusuf Cetin.
He later went on a tour accompanied by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Istanbul's famous Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, a museum that was first a Byzantine basilica and then a mosque.
Stanford: 'Clients lost no money'
Sir Allen Stanford, accused of an $8bn fraud by US regulators, has insisted no money was lost by customers dealing with his financial services companies.
In an emotional interview with ABC, the Texan financier wept as he spoke about how much he loved his employees.
He later threatened to punch the interviewer in the mouth if he repeated allegations Sir Allen was involved in the laundering of Mexican drug money.
He has already denied any wrongdoing in the case.
But the US financial regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has said Sir Allen is guilty of fraud of "shocking magnitude", and criminal charges are expected to follow.
Raw emotion
By court order, the Texan billionaire is denied access to his own money, and he said the seizure of his assets had left him with little money and few changes of clothing.
Even though in the past he has reportedly owned both a castle and an island he insists his lifestyle was always frugal.
"If it was a Ponzi scheme, why are they finding billions and billions of dollars all over the place"Sir Allen Stanford
Profile: Sir Allen Stanford
Throughout the interview Sir Allen ran rapidly across a wide spectrum of emotion from the mawkish to combative, says the BBC's Kevin Connolly in Washington.
He insisted any attempt to compare his investment companies with those of the disgraced Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff was unfair.
He added that customers who have tried to recover their money from his banks have been able to do so.
In one of his more dramatic moments, he said he would "die and go to hell" if his investment plans were proved to be financial pyramid schemes, or Ponzis.
"If it was a Ponzi scheme, why are they finding billions and billions of dollars all over the place" he asked.
Sir Allen came to prominence last year when he sponsored a high-profile Twenty20 cricket tournament, which culminated in a match between England and an all-stars West Indies team that gave each winning player $1m.
His property in the Caribbean state of Antigua and Barbuda, where many of his business interests are based, has already been seized by the islands' government.
Irish braced for emergency budget
By Russell Padmore
BBC Europe Business Reporter, Brussels
The Irish Republic's government is to unveil its second budget in six months as the economy contracts sharply.
Dublin faces the double challenge of dealing with a deepening recession while being forced to correct the worst deficit in Europe.
Unemployment is tipped to near 12% in 2009 and based on government forecasts the deficit could reach four times the level allowed by the European Union.
The Irish emergency budget is likely to mean higher taxes and lower spending.
This is in contract to other countries, which have been spending billions and cutting taxes as a means to economic recovery.
The Republic's Taoiseach, or prime minister, Brian Cowen, primed his fellow citizens to expect bad news during a speech aired on YouTube: "The coming months and years we will be asking people to take the strain, to make more sacrifices," he said.
Model
The days of major foreign investments, especially from American technology companies, are over.
From the late 1990s economists were praising the Irish Republic as the model to follow.
Multi-national firms were attracted to a European Union country where running costs were cheap and there was a highly skilled English-speaking workforce.
As fewer Irish workers emigrated and foreign migrants flocked to share the state's wealth, demand for houses jumped.
That prompted a boom in construction which drove the economy forward.
Tens of thousands of Irish people invested in properties overseas.
The state's newspapers were full of advertisements selling apartments in places like Bulgaria, Portugal and Spain.
Downturn
Banks were only too willing to lend money for construction projects.
But that strategy has returned to haunt Irish banks, as troubled construction firms now struggle to sell houses or land and the usual remedy of seizing the assets is risky because they have dropped in value.
The fall-out of the global downturn has hit the country hard and the collapse of the construction boom has sent the economy into a tailspin.
Austin Hughes, chief economist at the Irish arm of Belgium's KBC Bank, has watched the health of the Celtic Tiger deteriorate.
"The government faces problems at home from people losing their jobs and internationally from financial markets, who are wondering if the Irish economy could eventually default. That isn't going to happen, but the government needs to show that it is prepared to take tough measures," he said.
Recovery will be a long-term process and much will depend on sales by Irish companies abroad.
Deficit
Kick-starting exports is vital for the revival of the economy and a challenge for Enterprise Ireland, the state body that helps companies boost overseas sales.
According to Stephen Hughes, Enterprise Ireland's director for Northern Europe, a recession brings opportunities: "Most of our companies are relatively small and nimble footed and can move themselves around in their existing markets, indeed into other markets, with relative ease."
We will learn more about the mettle of the Irish coalition government. Politicians know that raising taxes is not a vote winner but other options are limited.
The Republic has to reduce its huge deficit and the taxpayers will be leaned on.
The government in Dublin has reassured the power brokers in Brussels that it will not have to make an emergency dash for the IMF's cash machine, like its fellow European Union members Hungary, Latvia and Romania.
The European Union has given the Irish five years to get the budget deficit under control but the decision makers in Brussels are watching carefully.
Later this year the Republic will hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, aimed at streamlining EU institutions to make the enlarged bloc of 27 states function better.
Europe's politicians are hoping Irish voters do not react to the recession and try to punish the government by killing off the Treaty that is key to European Union's future.
