DR HANAN ASHRAWI INTERVIEW- Wednesday 27th June, 2007
Effectively,
last week's street battles on the Gaza Strip have left the Palestinians
with two governments - a new cabinet in the West Bank run by Fatah, and
Gaza, now controlled by Hamas, virtually isolated from the outside
world. The Fatah government in the West Bank - installed by Mahmoud
Abbas - excludes Hamas and has already received support from Western
powers. That said, it wasn't so long ago - early last year, in fact -
that Hamas won a clear democratic victory in elections held throughout
the Occupied Territories. Meanwhile, the long-held dream of a united
Palestinian state has turned into a nightmare. Earlier, George Negus
spoke with the respected Palestinian MP, Hanan Ashrawi.
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GERRY ADAMS INTERVIEW - Wednesday 20th June, 2007
Locals
call this street RPG Avenue, Rocket-Launcher Avenue - black Irish
humour being what it is. And this mural is a stark reminder, like so
many of these murals, of this city's past. But what about its future?
Ian Paisley - whatever happened the old Protestant firebrand? These
days he's a changed man if you can go by his current words and deeds,
which makes you wonder if Gerry Adams is also going through his
religio-politico conversion.
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IRISH PEACE TALKS - Wednesday 20th June, 2007
You
can't really go to this part of the world and not go to a pub for a
Guinness and a chat about politics and religion, so that is exactly
what Paddy and George Negus did with Lawrence, a cabbie pal of his. But
wait for it - Lawrence is a Protestant from the Shankill. A Protestant
in a Sinn Fein pub in Andersonstown, bang in the Falls Road Catholic
heartland.
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REVEREND IAN PAISLEY INTERVIEW - Wednesday 20th June, 2007
George
Negus has come back to Northern Ireland to speak with the Protestant
leader Ian Paisley and the head of Sinn Fein Gerry Adams about the
quite extraordinary transformation that has taken place in their lives
and their politics. Looks like the lads are getting ready for their
bonfires on Orange marching day. During the Troubles this was typical
of the signage here in the Protestant Shankill Road area. In fact "no
surrender" was pretty much the war cry of the Loyalist gunmen who lived
around here.
The last time George Negus was here he spoke with Ian
Paisley who was absolutely adamant that there was no way he would ever
deal with Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein. That is why they call him Dr No.
But just a few weeks ago Ian Paisley became the new First Minister of
Northern Ireland. Not only that, he is sharing power with Martin
McGuinness - Gerry Adams's right-hand man and a former IRA military
commander. How things can change.
No, hers is certainly not a job for the faint hearted.
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HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA INTERVIEW - Wednesday 13th June, 2007
His
real name is Tenzin Gyatso, he's a 71-year-old Tibetan living in exile
in northern India, but you probably know him better as the 14th Dalai
Lama, the Nobel Peace Prize winning leader of the world's Buddhists.
He's wise, he laughs without a hat even being dropped, and the powerful
Chinese Communists who over-ran his tiny Himalayan nation more than 50
years ago attack him as a dangerous troublemaker. Indeed, in a notable
display of megaphone diplomacy overnight, the Dalai Lama's Communist
detractors in Beijing condemned John Howard for even allowing into this
country the man they describe as an exiled Tibetan independence
campaigner - a charge you'll shortly hear him totally rebut.
That said,
he's already been here for a week and watching John Howard and Kevin
Rudd desperately looking for excuses not to see him has bordered on the
embarrassing. Yesterday, they finally caved in. George Negus had his
second television audience in a decade with the chortling man in maroon
and gold, in Canberra.
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BENAZIR BHUTTO INTERVIEW - Wednesday 6th June, 2007
In
the midst of the current turmoil in Pakistan, former Prime Minister Ms
Benazir Bhutto announced from exile this week that she intends to
return home, form an alliance with Narwaz Sharif, also an ex-prime
minister, and try to pull off some sort of democratic deal with Pervez
Musharraf, the country's incumbent President.
General Musharraf, of
course, is an unelected military dictator who's kept a solid grip on
power now for eight years. Of late however, issues have emerged to
loosen that hold, particularly his attempt to dismiss the nation's
Chief Justice. Massive public support for the judge rocked Musharraf
and earlier this week, he clamped down on the country's media. But
apparently this won't stop his currently banned political adversaries.
They plan to defy Musharraf by fronting, later this year, for the
country's presidential elections. So it could be well and truly on for
young and old. Earlier this evening, George Negus spoke with the
charismatic Ms Bhutto from an undisclosed overseas location.
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Please Note: More interviews will be added as time permits.