French press review 18 November 2009

by Michael Fitzpatrick

Article published on the 2009-11-18 Latest update 2009-11-18 06:45 TU

Le Monde looks at recent efforts by Libya's Colonel Mohamar Khadafi to convert 200 young Italians to Islam.

The girls, they were, I'm afraid, all girls, were each paid 60 euros to show up at the Libyan embassy in Rome when the Supreme Guide of the Islamic Revolution gave a long sermon, including the remarkable news that Jesus was not dead, that someone who looked like him had been crucified in his place.

This may be good news for Elvis fans but will leave Christian theologians with a certain amount of ground to make up.

The candidates for conversion were chosen on bizarre criteria: they had to be female, good looking, well dressed and at least 1.7 metres tall.

No official indication has been given of the number of conversions which resulted from Khadafi's little pep talk.

Le Monde gives pride of place to Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank.

Trichet, the headline assures us, has drawn the lessons of the global economic crisis. The main lesson seems to be, never give a straight answer to a straight question, and always cover your ass. So, is the crisis over? Well, yes, no and maybe.

The period of negative economic growth which followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers 14 months ago has now been replaced by a period of slightly less negative growth, but nobody really has a clue what's happening or why.

At the worst of the crisis, says Trichet, the experts saw all the standard predictions overturned from one week to the next, and now they have no idea where to begin their analyses. Things are a bit more stable, but it's too early to say we're out of the mess. Negative economic growth is something we may have to get used to living with.

Toni Musulin, the man suspected of being responsible for the theft of the century, has given himself up to police in Monaco.

Two weeks ago, Toni drove off in an armoured vehicle with 12 million euros in cash in the back. The police quickly found the truck, and most of the money, but two million euros remain unaccounted for.

Toni, who is from Serbia, has refused to explain why he gave himself up, nor has he been able to help in locating the missing two million euros.

The police know that he rented a powerful motorbike after the money went missing, and they suspect that he's been to Serbia and back since, perhaps to hide the missing money. Since he didn't hurt anyone, or damage any property, Toni, if he's found guilty of theft, risks a maximum sentence of three years in jail.