Order! Order! Britain's speaker quits Brexit hotseat

Yahoo – AFP, Robin MILLARD, October 31, 2019

John Bercow is the youngest person to hold the role of speaker in 100 years
(AFP Photo/HO)

London (AFP) - John Bercow stepped down on Thursday after 10 years as speaker of Britain's House of Commons -- a role that rocketed him into the heart of the Brexit battle, and won him European fans.

The man in the middle of more than three years of fiery parliamentary debates has proved a controversial figure, loathed by pro-Brexit supporters and hailed by its foes.

Animated, verbose and with an idiosyncratic style, the 56-year-old Bercow has yelled "Order! Order!" more than 14,000 times during his tenure as the 157th speaker.

His detractors call him pompous -- one MP even branded him a "sanctimonious dwarf" -- but his backers say he has bolstered the rights of backbenchers to hold the government to account.

A social media mash-up by German television of Bercow trying to calm down rowdy MPs has been seen thousands of times. A Belgian newspaper called him "irreplaceable".

Dutch daily De Volksrant wrote: "The only order in British politics comes from John Bercow's mouth in these turbulent days."

Both Britain's main party leaders paid tribute to Bercow Wednesday as he chaired the weekly prime minister's questions session for the final time.

Bercow is loathed by Brexit supporters (AFP Photo/DANIEL SORABJI)

'Unreturnable volleys and smashes'

"Although we may disagree about some of the legislative innovations you have favoured, there is no doubt in my mind that you have been a great servant of this parliament and of this House of Commons," said Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Johnson, in his own inimitable style, said the tennis fan had been "peppering every part of the chamber with (his) own thoughts and opinions, like some uncontrollable tennis ball machine, delivering a series of literally unplayable, unreturnable volleys and smashes".

He also likened Bercow's glare to a "trademark Tony Montana scowl", after Al Pacino's character in the 1983 film "Scarface".

Opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn added: "You've done so much to reform this House of Commons and our democracy is the stronger for the way you have done it."

Bercow will not stand in the December 12 general election.

His replacement as speaker will be chosen on Monday. Nine candidates are standing, including his three deputies and former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman.

Bercow's number two, Lindsay Hoyle, is the bookmakers' odds-on favourite to win.

By convention, the main parties give the speaker a clear run in a general election, standing down their candidates.

John Bercow will not be standing in the December 12 election in Britain 

(AFP Photo/Tolga AKMEN)

'Egotistical preening popinjay'

Born in 1963 into a modest family, Bercow grew up in London and was a child tennis champion, leading to his lifelong love of the sport, notably Swiss great Roger Federer.

He was always a Conservative, but in his youth held hard-right views that he now rejects.

He became an MP in 1997 and 12 years later was elected as speaker, becoming the youngest person to hold the role for 100 years.

While the Brexit clashes came to dominate his tenure, Bercow also caused a stir by saying he would not allow US President Donald Trump to address parliament during a planned visit.

Bercow married Sally Illman in 2002 and they have three children.

She became a household name after posing for a photoshoot in Bercow's official residence in the Houses of Parliament draped only a sheet, and appearing on the "Celebrity Big Brother" reality television programme.

Critics say Bercow is filled with self-importance.

The Daily Mail newspaper called him an "egotistical preening popinjay" who had "shamelessly put his anti-Brexit bias before the national interest -- and is a disgrace to his office".

But Bercow's supporters say he has sought to modernise parliament, abandoning the speaker's traditional robes for a simple gown over a suit, and seeking to make it easier for female MPs with new babies.

Joy in Armenia, fury in Turkey as US House recognizes 'genocide'

Yahoo – AFP, Michael Mathes, 30 October 2019

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was honored to join her colleagues
"in solemn remembrance of one of the great atrocities of the 20th century"

Armenia rejoiced but Turkey was furious on Wednesday after the US House of Representatives passed a historic resolution recognizing mass killings of Armenians a century ago as genocide.

With tensions already high over Turkey's assault on Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria, US lawmakers voted 405 to 11 on Tuesday in support of the measure to "commemorate the Armenian Genocide through official recognition and remembrance."

The move was a first for the US Congress, where similar measures with such direct language have been introduced for decades but never passed.

The resolution says the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923 amounted to genocide, a claim recognized by some 30 countries.

Turkey strongly denies the accusation of genocide and says that both Armenians and Turks died as a result of World War I. It puts the death toll in the hundreds of thousands.

Ankara was swift to condemn the measure, summoning the American ambassador and calling the vote a "meaningless political step".

"This step which was taken is worthless and we do not recognize it," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised speech.

"A country whose history is full of the stain of genocide and slavery neither has the right to say anything nor to lecture Turkey," he said.

Ties between Washington and NATO member Turkey have been strained by Ankara's offensive against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, which came after US forces withdrew from the area.

'Historical justice'

The House also passed a measure on Tuesday imposing sanctions on senior Turkish officials involved in the Syria offensive.

The international recognition of the killings as genocide has long been the top priority of Armenia's foreign policy, supported by vigorous campaigning by Armenian diasporas around the world.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hailed the House move, tweeting that it was a "bold step towards serving truth and historical #justice that also offers comfort to millions of descendants of the Armenian Genocide survivors."

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hailed a US House of Representatives 

resolution officially recognizing the "Armenian genocide"

The Armenian foreign ministry said the resolution was of "profound significance" and thanked US lawmakers for "their overwhelming commitment to truth, justice, humanity and solidarity, and to universal values of human rights."

The sentiment was shared by Armenians on the streets of the capital Yerevan.

"I am so happy that the US has finally recognised the Armenian genocide," said 69-year-old cobbler Koryun Hakobyan.

"Other countries will now follow suit."

The hilltop genocide memorial that dominates Yerevan's skyline draws hundreds of thousands on April 24 each year to mark the anniversary of the start of the tragedy.

In April 2015, on the centenary of the killings, the Armenian Church conferred sainthood on victims of the massacres.

Kim Kardashian, the US reality star who is a prominent member of the Armenian diaspora and visited Yerevan for the 2015 anniversary, hailed the Washington vote on social media.

'Anti-Turkey groups'

"WOW LOOK AT THESE INCREDIBLE NUMBERS!!! THE U.S. JUST RECOGNIZED THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE!!!!" she wrote in a Tweet to her 62 million followers.

Turkey's foreign ministry suggested the House measure was the result of domestic politics in the United States, where people of Armenian origin number between 500,000 and 1.5 million.

"Its sole addressees are the Armenian lobby and anti-Turkey groups," the ministry said.

In 2017, newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump criticized the killings as "one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century," but in keeping with longstanding US practice he stopped short of using the word genocide.

Before being elected in 2008, Trump's predecessor Barack Obama had pledged to recognize the killings as genocide, but ultimately did not do so during his two terms in office.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that the truth of the "staggering crime" had been denied too often.

"Today, let us clearly state the facts on the floor of this House to be etched forever into the Congressional Record: The barbarism committed against the Armenian people was a genocide."

Ukraine foes start troop withdrawal in east

Yahoo – AFP, Ania TSOUKANOVA, Dmytro GORSHKOV, October 29, 2019

Ukrainian nationalists have staged a series of protests against President Volodymyr
Zelensky's peace process with Moscow-backed separatists (AFP Photo/GENYA SAVILOV)

Kiev (AFP) - The Ukrainian army and Moscow-backed separatists said Tuesday they had begun to withdraw their troops from a key area in the war-torn east ahead of a high-stakes summit with Russia.

The long-awaited pullback is a precondition for the first face-to-face talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, to be mediated by the leaders of France and Germany.

"The process of troop withdrawal began by both sides... in the area of Zolote-4" in the Lugansk region, Ukraine's army said on Facebook.

Monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe confirmed the move.

"Today the sides have just resumed the withdrawal of troops and arms in Zolote," Martin Sajdik, an OSCE special representative, told journalists.

"I think that we did a lot to bring about the Normandy (summit)," Zelensky told the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, referring to the name given to the internationally-mediated talks.

The rival forces also need to withdraw troops from the village of Petrivske in the Donetsk region for the summit to go ahead.

Map of Ukraine showing regions controlled by pro-Russian separatists and 

Crimea which was annexed by Russia (AFP Photo/Sébastien CASTERAN)

'Surrender'

Since coming to power in May, comedian-turned-president Zelensky has sought to revive a peace process to end a five-year-old separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine that has claimed some 13,000 lives.

But those efforts have stalled as Kiev's forces and the separatists have repeatedly failed to pull back troops from the frontline because of exchanges of gunfire.

Zelensky's peace plan including the troop pullback has been strongly criticised by many in Kiev, especially war veterans and nationalists.

Some 300 Ukrainians heeded the calls of veterans and nationalists to protest outside the presidential office against the withdrawal of troops, chanting: "No surrender!".

The same calls have been made over the past few weeks, as thousands of Ukrainians including Zelensky's predecessor Petro Poroshenko have protested in the capital Kiev and other cities.

Various nationalist organisations even deployed their own troops to Zolote in an effort to prevent a retreat of Ukrainian forces.

Last week the 41-year-old Ukrainian president was forced to personally travel to Zolote in an effort to persuade his nationalist critics not to stand in the way of the peace process.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has agreed to withdraw troops in key 

parts of the war-torn east of the country (AFP Photo/TIMOTHY A. CLARY)

"We have to look for ways and work to end the war," Zelensky said Saturday during his trip to the village.

"There will be no surrender in any case... I am sure we will succeed and Ukraine will be united again."

Special status

Putin's aide Vladislav Surkov expressed satisfaction about the move.

"If everything works out in Zolote, similar procedures in Petrivske should follow immediately," he told Russia's TASS news agency.

Political opponents were quick to criticise Zelensky on Tuesday.

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, a lawmaker from Poroshenko's party, called the troop withdrawal a "capitulation on the Kremlin's conditions".

Another opposition party Golos condemned Zelensky for breaking his own promise to withdraw troops only after fighting stops for seven days, while there was shooting across the frontline as recently as the weekend.

13,000 people have died since the conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out in 2014 

(AFP Photo/Sergei SUPINSKY)

"The withdrawal of troops without fulfilling the conditions of the 7-day silence regime is unacceptable," the party said in a statement.

"Such actions of the president and his team are a mistake," it said.

In the run-up to the planned summit, Ukrainian, Russian and separatist negotiators also agreed on a roadmap that envisages a special status for the separatist territories if they conduct free and fair elections under the Ukrainian constitution.

Critics say the proposal favours Russia but Zelensky has pledged not to betray Ukraine's interests.

Ties between Ukraine and Russia were shredded after a bloody uprising ousted a Kremlin-backed regime in 2014.

Moscow went on to annex Crimea and support insurgents in eastern Ukraine.

British PM loses election bid after EU backs Brexit delay

Yahoo – AFP, Alice RITCHIE with Dave CLARK in Brussels, October 28, 2019

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is struggling to get parliament to agree to his
demand for an early election (AFP Photo/ISABEL INFANTES)

London (AFP) - British MPs on Monday defeated yet another attempt by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to force an early election, just hours after the European Union agreed to postpone Brexit for up to three months.

The Conservative leader immediately announced an alternative plan to hold a snap poll that could yet see an election in early December.

Johnson suffered a major setback earlier Monday when he was forced to agree to delay Britain's departure from the European Union beyond this week's October 31 deadline.

He had previously said he would rather be "dead in a ditch" than extend the tortuous Brexit process started by the 2016 EU referendum.

But he was forced by law to ask EU leaders for what is the third postponement, after MPs refused to endorse the divorce terms he struck with Brussels earlier this month.

Ambassadors from the other 27 EU member states agreed to the request on Monday but proposed that Britain could leave earlier if the deal is ratified.

Johnson sought to regain the initiative by calling an election for December 12, with a plan to persuade MPs to back his agreement before then.

His initial proposal was defeated late Monday in the 650-seat House of Commons, as he failed to muster the required two-thirds majority.

But he immediately put forward a second plan to legislate for a poll on December 12 -- which would require only a simple majority to pass.

"This house cannot any longer keep this country hostage," Johnson told MPs.

He added: "We have a great new (Brexit) deal, and it's time for voters to have a chance to pronounce on that deal and to replace this dysfunctional parliament with a new parliament that can get Brexit done."

Flextension

The EU's approval came just three days before the latest Brexit deadline, a decision held up by scepticism in France about giving yet more time to a deeply divided British parliament.

"The EU27 has agreed that it will accept the UK's request for a Brexit flextension until 31 January 2020," European Council President Donald Tusk said.

Johnson accepted the offer in a letter to Tusk and other EU leaders a few hours later, but made clear his reluctance.

He urged EU members states "to make clear that a further extension after January 31 is not possible. This is plenty of time to ratify our deal".

Brexit has now been delayed three times from the original planned date of 

March 29 (AFP Photo/Gal ROMA)

According to a copy of the agreement seen by AFP, if Johnson convinces MPs to approve an amicable divorce accord in the coming weeks, Brexit could be on November 30 or December 31.

This is not impossible -- MPs last week backed Johnson's deal in principle but refused to rush through its ratification before October 31.

However, the legislation required to implement the treaty could get bogged down in the scrutiny process, and some supporters could yet change their minds.

In the meantime, the EU text says London must nominate a senior official to serve on the next European Commission and must agree not to try to reopen the divorce agreement.

After London gave its formal approval, Tusk will ask the EU capitals to sign off on it, likely on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Election wrangling

More than three years after Britons voted 52-48 percent for Brexit in a 2016 referendum the country and parliament remain deeply divided over when, how and even whether to leave the EU.

Johnson has tried twice before to force an election to break the political impasse.

The main opposition Labour party dislikes Johnson's Brexit deal and says it will not back an election until his threat of leaving the EU with no deal at all is removed.

"This is a prime minister who cannot be trusted," Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told parliament. "Every promise this prime minister makes he abandons."

Some MPs fear that if the deal does not pass parliament, Johnson might delay an election until February, risking a "no deal" exit that many fear would cause huge economic disruption.

After losing Monday's vote, the premier announced he would introduce a bill on Tuesday to legislate for an election, which would enshrine a date in law.

Two smaller parties, the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats, had earlier offered their own similar bill for a December 9 election.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said Johnson's legislation must guarantee that he will not try to ratify his Brexit deal before any election.

"We don't trust this prime minister," he said.

Bishops urge Pope to open priesthood to married men in Amazon

Yahoo – AFP, Catherine MARCIANO, Ella IDE, October 26, 2019

The synod brought some 184 bishops to the Vatican, over 60 percent of
whom hail from the nine Amazon countries (AFP Photo/Vincenzo PINTO)

Vatican City (AFP) - Catholic bishops gathered at a special Vatican assembly called on Pope Francis Saturday to open the priesthood to married men in the Amazon, as well as giving women a greater role to play and making damaging the environment a sin.

The bishops issued a list of recommendations at the close of a three-week "synod" on the Pan-Amazonian region which highlighted challenges such as the destruction of the rainforest, the exploitation of indigenous peoples and a scarcity in priests.

The pontiff said Saturday he would addressing the issues before the year's end.

The text could have repercussions not only for the vast, isolated territory, but the whole of the Roman Catholic Church.

The synod brought some 184 bishops to the Vatican, over 60 percent of whom hail from the nine Amazon countries.

Together with representatives of indigenous peoples, experts and nuns, they discussed a multitude of regional concerns, from climate change to poverty, land-grabbing, mercury-polluted waters and violence against women.

The most hotly-debated question was whether or not to allow "viri probati" -- married "men of proven virtue" -- to join the priesthood in remote locations, where communities seldom have Mass due to a lack of priests.

It would not be necessary to rewrite Church law; the bishops simply asked Francis for an exemption to the rules -- like the one already granted to married Anglican pastors who later converted to Catholicism.

'Ecological sin'

"Sometimes it takes not just months but even several years before a priest can return to a community to celebrate the Eucharist, offer the sacrament of reconciliation or anoint the sick," the synod document said.

It suggested ordaining as priests "suitable and esteemed men of the community" who had "a legitimately constituted and stable family".

But the ultra-conservative wing of the Catholic Church -- particularly in Europe and North America -- has spoken out strongly against the idea, warning that making exceptions could pave the way to the abolition of celibacy globally.

A representative of one of the Amazon rainforest's ethnic groups reads a 

document (AFP Photo/Andreas SOLARO)

The bishops also urged the Argentine pope to make "the acts and habits of pollution and destruction of the harmony of the environment" an "ecological sin" -- or the breaking of a divine law.

It called for the Church to lead the battle against "our culture of excessive consumption", saying "we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and the use of plastics".

People should also change their eating habits and stop an "excess consumption of meat and fish/seafood", they said.

They also proposed creating a "world fund" to protect the Amazon and its indigenous communities from "the predatory compulsion to extract their natural resources by national and multinational companies".

'Ministries for women'

The document also called for an official recognition by the Church of the key role played by lay women in the evangelisation of indigenous people by creating a formal specific role, or "ministry", called "woman leadership of the community".

There are some in the Church who would even like them to be allowed to become deacons, a function currently reserved for lay men.

Male deacons, who can be single or married, are able to baptise, witness marriages, perform funerals and preach homilies.

Francis said Saturday he would reconvene a commission to study the history of female deacons in the early Catholic Church, after the body's initial report -- delivered to the pontiff this year -- was inconclusive.

Two thirds of the indigenous communities without priests are guided by women.

"We still have not grasped the significance of women in the Church. Their role must go well beyond questions of function," Francis said.

Representatives of the Amazon rainforest's ethnic groups attended the 

synod with Pope Francis (AFP Photo/Tiziana FABI)

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after the vote to allow female bishops. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP/Getty

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God/Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There is a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness.  …”

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“ … Spirituality (Religions)

Number one: Spirituality. The systems of spiritual design on your planet are starting to change. This is not telling you that certain ones are going to go away. They're simply going to change. Some of the largest spiritual systems, which you would call organized religion on the planet, are shifting. They're going to shift away from that which is authority on the outside to authority on the inside. It will eventually be a different way of worship, slowly changing the rules while keeping the basic doctrine the same.

The doctrine of the Christ has always been to find the God inside. The teachings were clear. The examples of the miracles were given as an example of what humans could do, not to set a man up for worship as a God. So when that has been absorbed, the teaching of the Christ can remain the teaching of the Christ. It simply changes the interpretation. 

The teachings of the great prophets of the Middle East (all related to each other) are about unity and love. So once the holy words are redefined with new wisdom, the Human changes, not the words of the prophets. In fact, the prophets become even more divinely inspired and their wisdom becomes even more profound.

You're going to lose a pope soon. I have no clock. Soon to us can mean anything to you. The one who replaces him may surprise you, for his particular organization will be in survival mode at that point in time. That is to say that fewer and fewer are interested in starting the priesthood. Fewer and fewer young people are interested in the organization, and the new pope must make changes to keep his church alive. That means that his organization will remain, but with a more modern look at what truly is before all of you in a new energy. It is not the fall of the church. It is instead the recalibration of the divinity inside that would match the worship that goes on. It's a win-win situation. The new pope will have a difficult time, since the old guard will still be there. There could even be an assassination attempt, such is the way the old energy dies hard. That is number one. Watch for it. It's a change in the way spiritual systems work. It's a realignment of spiritual systems that resound to a stronger truth that is Human driven, rather than prophet driven.…”

"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now) - (Text version)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

From death strip to 'Green Belt' of life

Yahoo – AFP, Hui Min NEO, October 25, 2019

The border area was once blocked off with barbed wire, littered with landmines
and manned by soldiers with shoot-to-kill orders (AFP Photo/John MACDOUGALL)

Salzwedel (Germany) (AFP) - Olaf Olejnik served among the guards patrolling the heavily fortified border deterring freedom-seeking East Germans from escaping to the capitalist West three decades ago.

Today, the 50-year-old still regularly marches up and down the former death strip, no longer as a conscript of the communist dictatorship, but as an ornithologist surveying the area for wildlife.

Once a zone blocked off with barbed wire, littered with landmines and manned by soldiers with shoot-to-kill orders, today, much of the 1,393 kilometre (865 mile) border dividing the former East from the West is a thriving natural paradise.

Rare dragonflies, Eurasian otters and wildcats now call the strip home. In all, more than 1,200 species on the red list of endangered flora and fauna can be found.

"This place has transformed from a death strip into a line of life," Olejnik told AFP, standing just metres away from a watchtower where he sometimes patrolled past as part of his duties during his 14-month-long military service.

Olejnik said he was only ordered once to load his machine gun but thankfully never had to fire a shot.

Alarmed by increasing flight to the West, the GDR communist regime began in 1952 to construct barriers to keep its citizens in.

Former border guard Olaf Olejnik patrols the old border are, but this time to 

survey wildlife (AFP Photo/John MACDOUGALL)

A ditch to block cars from ramming through to the West was dug along the border, and a protective strip of about 500 metres in diameter was installed.

A further five-kilometre-wide area became a restricted zone accessible only to those deemed loyal to the regime.

Barbed wires were installed, later replaced by metal meshes and electronic signalling systems. A total of 327 people lost their lives on the inner-German border, an official study showed, although victims' associations put the figure higher.

Over time, the space snaking from the Czech border up to the Baltic sea became no-man's land, allowing nature to move in.

"Because of the border situation, the area became a high-quality living space for wildlife," said Dieter Leupold, who like Olejnik, works at nature group BUND which spearheaded the Green Belt project.

'Symbol of hope'

Birdwatchers in West Germany counted among the earliest to appreciate the natural value of the border.

"Since the 1970s, we recognised the outstanding value of the Green Belt from the West through our binoculars," said Kai Frobel, one of the founders of the nature zone.

The area is a sanctuary for birds species (AFP Photo/John MACDOUGALL)

Rare bird species like the whinchat or red-backed shrike were making their appearances -- something that also caught the eye of fellow nature enthusiasts in the East like Olejnik.

A month after the fall of the Berlin Wall, "during a meeting between environmentalists from east and west, a resolution was adopted to protect the Green Belt as a line of life," said Leupold.

BUND persuaded the authorities to turn over for conservation purposes land left unclaimed by owners following reunification -- totalling about half of the former border area.

But for the rest, BUND has had to purchase them back from landowners, spending five million euros ($5.6 million) to buy 900 hectares (2,224 acres) of parcels to date, with a view of creating a continuous nature conservation strip along the entire former border.

The extraordinary project has attracted attention as far away as in South Korea, which has sent delegations to study the experience, in the hopes of one day replicating it at the demilitarised zone (DMZ) separating the communist North from the democratic South.

Underlining the significance of the project, Frobel said his most striking memory was of a pair of courting whinchats perched on the border fence.

"That was a symbol of hope that nature knows no borders."

Many details -- whether about villagers forced to relocate or the numbers of 

people who died at the border -- are still hazy (AFP Photo/John MACDOUGALL)

'National responsibility'

Just before dawn on a wet October's day, the loud cackling of wild geese rang through the forest.

At first light it became clear that the cacophony did not stem from a few dozen birds, but thousands -- as if discussing their day's agenda at the top of their voices.

Suddenly, they appeared to fall silent before a giant "whoosh" whipped through as they took off into the skies, leaving hundreds of cranes behind.

A few moments later, a deer stopped to graze in the backdrop.

This natural theatre at a wooded area by the Green Belt underlines its importance to preservation throughout Germany and Europe, noted Leupold as he whipped up his binoculars to peer at a fox slinking by unperturbed cranes.

For the long-legged birds, "this area is their retreat," noted Leupold.

"You can say that the area bears national responsibility as their living space."

Filling the gaps

But BUND's vision is far from completely realised, as 12 percent of land along the zone is still used for intensive farming or roads.

Birdwatchers in West Germany counted among the earliest to appreciate 

the natural value of the border (AFP Photo/John MACDOUGALL)

It is increasingly difficult to convince farmers to sell, with some owners now demanding parcels elsewhere in exchange.

The group is now looking to the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt to class the area a protected zone by the end of October, as Thuringia region did last year.

If successful, that could provide BUND with financial and human resources to fill in the gaps at the Green Belt, which the group wants ultimately protected as a national heritage site.

After all, entangled with its natural significance is its historical significance.

"This dimension is inseparable from the Green Belt and much needs to be done to shed light on the period," Leupold said.

Many details -- whether about villagers forced to relocate or the numbers of people who died at the border -- are still hazy.

Border remnants like watchtowers, bunkers or border fences also need attention and maintenance.

"A historian once said that at least 30 years must pass before historians take an interest. I hope the time is now," said Leupold.

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