Iceland gives up crown defence and seizes another bank

Iceland gives up crown defence and seizes another bank
Reuters
By Niklas Pollard and Omar Valdimarsson Reuters - Wednesday, October 8 08:21 pm

STOCKHOLM/REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - The Icelandic central bank abandoned efforts to defend the country's currency on Wednesday and the government seized control of a second big bank as the global financial storm battered the island's economy.
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Prime Minister Geir Haarde said Iceland had not asked for help from the International Monetary Fund, which has sent a delegation to Reykjavik on a fact-finding mission.

But he said assistance from the Fund was "definitely an option" and separately said negotiations to secure a 4 billion euro (3.16 billion pound) loan from Russia would begin next Tuesday.

"I'd like to underline that we have not, at this point at least, asked the IMF for a standby facility or an economic programme," Haarde told a news conference.

With two of the island's biggest banks now under state control, the market is focussed on top bank Kaupthing to see if it can weather a crisis that threatens Iceland's entire banking system.

Kaupthing was forced to take an emergency loan from Sweden on Wednesday for its Swedish unit, which has been put up for sale. The bank's shares dived in Stockholm by 34 percent before they were suspended.

The Swedish central bank said it would lend the Swedish arm of Kaupthing up to 5 billion Swedish crowns (406 million pounds).

The Icelandic crown, hammered in recent days, plunged again and the central bank abandoned a two-day attempt to hold it at 131 per euro -- what Commerzbank called "the shortest peg in history."

"It has become clear that this rate has insufficient support. The bank will therefore make no further attempts in this regard for the time being," the central bank said.

In late European trade, the crown recovered and was being quoted by Icelandic banks back around 131.60, up 14 percent from the U.S. close. But traders said the market was barely functioning and no real business was being done.

BOOM AND BUST

Home to just 300,000 people, the North Atlantic island epitomised the global credit boom that went bust 15 months ago. Its banks expanded dramatically overseas, investors took large positions in its high-yielding currency and foreign firms poured money into local projects.

Now facing financial meltdown, Iceland has taken over two of its largest banks -- first Landsbanki on Tuesday and then Glitnir on Wednesday -- and has had to go cap in hand to other nations.

"We will do whatever it takes to protect our interests," Haarde said. "We will seek help if needed."

Later, speaking in a joint interview with news agencies, he sounded a contrite note after what has been a harrowing few days for the country.

"What we have learned from this whole exercise over the last few years is that it is not wise for a small country to try to take a leading role in international banking."

Journalists have descended on Iceland in large numbers to report the saga, with reporters and camera crews outnumbering customers at some bank branches.

"The situation is rather serious and quite scary and we just have to let these days pass and hope for the best," Sveinn Andri Sveinsson, a 45-year-old lawyer, told Reuters.

The financial regulator said Glitnir's operations in Iceland would be open for business as usual and domestic deposits were guaranteed. Glitnir said it would sell its Swedish unit and its Finnish arm was also up for grabs.

Meanwhile, ING Direct, the online banking arm of ING Group, said it was acquiring more than 3 billion pounds ($5.3 billion) of British deposits from Icelandic online savings providers IceSave, owned by Landsbanki, and Kaupthing Edge.

But tension between Iceland and Britain emerged because savers of Icelandic banks in Britain have been put at risk.

"We are taking legal action against the Icelandic authorities," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told a news conference, as he announced the UK's own bank bailout.

The British Treasury said a Kaupthing unit in Britain had been put into administration to protect retail depositors, while Haarde said the two countries would review the situation for Icesave. He said there was a good chance Landsbanki's assets would cover the deposits of British savers in Icesave.

Haarde said Iceland was determined not to let the crisis overshadow its friendship with Britain.

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07:12 GMT, Thursday, 9 October 2008 08:12 UK
Councils seeking Darling meeting
Landbanksi branch

Local authority leaders are seeking an urgent meeting with the chancellor after it emerged at least 20 councils have cash in troubled Icelandic banks.

Their overall investment is hundreds of millions of pounds and they are asking the UK government for the protection it has promised to personal savers.

Iceland Prime Minister Geir Haarde said his government is working to repair relations with Britain amid the crisis.

The Local Government Association said services would in no way be at risk.

The Treasury said it was looking into the issue of protection for councils.

Council investments

Gordon Brown announced legal action would be taken over Iceland's failure to guarantee compensation for UK customers in its banks.

The Local Government Association (LGA) represents councils in England and Wales.

It says it has identified more than 20 councils which are believed to have deposits in Landbanksi or Heritable, the firm's UK bank.

They include Kent County Council, which has £50m invested with Iceland-based banks.

The LGA is still trying to work out the total sums involved but believes that, Kent aside, many of the councils had investments in the "single figure millions of pounds" but others had deposits "running into the low tens of millions".

ICELANDIC INVESTMENTS

* Kent County Council, £50m
* Westminster City Council, £17m
* Hertfordshire County Council, £17m
* Havering Council, £12.5m
* Buckinghamshire County Council, £5m


A small number of the councils involved have already been identified. Westminster City Council has revealed it had deposits totalling £17m.

Sutton Council in south London confirmed it had exposure totalling £5.5m, and Havering Council in east London said it had investments worth £12.5m.

North Lincolnshire Council has £2m invested with Landsbanki and £3.5m in Heritable. North East Lincolnshire Council said it had £2.5m on deposit with Landsbanki.

Hertfordshire County Council has £17m invested, while Buckinghamshire has £5m - the same sum as Cornwall County Council.

The Conservatives have warned that town halls could face a "massive financial shock" and be forced into council tax hikes or cuts in local services.

The LGA insisted that all the councils involved had enough money to ensure that frontline services should not be affected.

"The government is now going to have to decide how hard a hard ball it's going to play"
John Andrew, BBC

The LGA says there is no question of services being at risk, but it wants the same protection for councils as has been given to personal customers of Icesave and other failed Icelandic banks.

The Treasury said councils fall into a different category to savers, but that the government was aware of the concerns and was looking at the issue.

BBC local government correspondent John Andrew said there was growing anger among councils, who say they followed Treasury advice by investing surplus money in a way that would deliver the highest return for taxpayers.

He said the councils had been told by the government that the Icelandic banks had been given a "double A" rating.

Payroll threat

"The government is now going to have to decide how hard a hard ball it's going to play with them," he said.

One option, our correspondent added, was to follow the example set during an earlier investment crisis suffered by councils and offer not a total bail-out but a softening of the blow through measures such as reductions business rates payments.

Shadow communities secretary Eric Pickle said the government has two priorities towards local councils.

He told the BBC's Today programme: "It needs to get a thoroughly comprehensive idea as to what the size of the problem is.

"Then we need to look at the number of authorities that will be facing a cash-flow problem - some have their payroll on this, for others it's in terms of long-term investment."

Mr Haarde was unable to say what protection Iceland could offer for the bank's customers in the UK, but said his ministers had made contact with their British counterparts in an effort to avoid legal action.

He also said his government had been taken by surprise by the crisis in its banks and by Britain's decision to bring legal action over Icesave.

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Kaupthing follows rivals into state ownership

By Chris Hughes in London and Tom Braithwaite in Reykjavik

Published: October 9 2008 08:22 | Last updated: October 9 2008 09:24

The financial crisis has claimed Iceland’s largest lender, Kaupthing Bank, which on Thursday followed domestic peers into nationalisation after a collapse in confidence in the country and its banking system.

The move comes in the wake of the nationalisation of Landsbanki, owner of the Icesave savings business popular in the UK, and Glitnir earlier this week.

Sigurdur Einarsson, Kaupthing’s executive chairman, said the bank had asked Iceland’s Financial Supervisory Authority (FME) to take control after Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander, its UK subsidiary, was placed into administration on Wednesday by the UK government, putting the parent company in technical default.

“It did not matter that the parent company had sufficient liquidity and its position was solid,” he added.

Mr Einarsson also said Kaupthing Edge, Kaupthing’s online saving bank, had been hit by a wave of withdrawals by UK depositors in the wake of the run on Icesave, in spite of its deposits directly benefiting from a UK guarantee, whereas Icesave’s were backed by an Icelandic protection scheme in the first instance. Kaupthing agreed to sell Kaupthing Edge deposit business to ING, the Dutch bank, on Wednesday.

The FME said Kaupthing’s domestic deposits were fully guaranteed and “domestic branches, call centres, cash machines and internet operations will be open for business as usual”.

“The action taken by the FME is a necessary first step in achieving the objectives of the Icelandic government and parliament to ensure the continued orderly operation of domestic banking and the safety of domestic deposits,” it added.

The bank’s Finnish operation said it was continuing operating as normal on Thursday and its Swedish business said it had enough liquid assets to cover deposits. Both businesses were excluded from the Icelandic’s government’s move on Thursday to take control of the parent company.

The decision to nationalise Iceland’s largest lender came just hours after Geir Haarde, prime minister, said on Wednesday night that it was “unlikely” that the financial regulator would seize Kaupthing.

The regulator used recently enacted emergency legislation to take control of the bank.

Mr Einarsson moved to defend Kaupthing’s recent performance and management action, saying the bank had attracted increased deposits during September and had been preparing for a downturn by slowing its loan growth.

“At the same time, dark clouds began to form in the international financial markets,” he said. “On the morning of 29 September news emerged of the difficulties at Glitnir Bank … This triggered a series of events which nobody predicted or was able to control,” he said.

“Foreign investors unleashed a landslide in which they tried to get rid of Icelandic assets, regardless of how solid they were.”

Mr Einarsson said on Thursday that the bank’s board of directors had resigned.

▪ Norwegian insurer Gjensidige Forsikring on Thursday said it was buying an 8.69 per cent stake in rival Storebrand from ailing Icelandic investment fund Exista, taking its total share capital in Storebrand to 24.26 per cent.

The sale comes just days after Exista sold a 20 per cent stake in Sampo, the Finnish insurer, for €1.3bn. Exista has been caught up in the wave of selling by Icelandic companies since the economy almost collapsed earlier this week.

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UK terror law used for Iceland deposits

The UK signalled Wednesday it would use anti-terrorism powers to recoup money owed to UK depositors in a failed Icelandic bank in a move that risked sending Britain’s relations with Reykjavik to their lowest since the 1970s “cod wars”. UK taxpayers are likely to pay out at least £2.4bn as part of a £4.6bn scheme to compensate hundreds of thousands of account holders at Landsbanki, the Icelandic lender, according to Whitehall sources. Alistair Darling, chancellor, offered a blanket guarantee to UK retail depositors with money placed in Icesave, a failed internet bank owned by Landsbanki, which was seized by Iceland on Tuesday and declared insolvent. Icesave has about 300,000 UK customers, nearly equivalent to Iceland’s entire population. But wholesale depositors in failed Icelandic banks – including dozens of local authorities and some universities – were offered no immediate support. Some UK local councils have lost sums of up to £40m, and are calling for protection to extend to town halls. Meanwhile, Gordon Brown vowed legal action against the Icelandic authorities to recover depositors’ money.

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Iceland frosty as London gets tough

By Tom Braithwaite in Reykjavik and Alex Barker and,Michael Peel in London

Published: October 9 2008 03:00 | Last updated: October 9 2008 03:00

Iceland's relations with the UK threatened to fall to the lows of the 1970s "cod wars" yesterday as anti-terrorism powers were used in an effort to recoup money owed to UK depositors in a failed Icelandic bank.

Geir Haarde, the Icelandic prime minister, expressed disappointment at the refusal of western allies to help prop up the plummeting krona and said he had to find "new friends" in the form of Russia, which is considering a €4bn loan.

But officials from both the UK and Iceland later said ties between the two were not as bad as the political rhetoric implied. Lord Myners, UK City minister, spoke to Icelandic counterparts and offered to send officials to help deal with the crisis.

Iceland has told Nato allies its putative deal with Russia will not influence foreign policy. Rumours in Reykjavik had suggested Russia might use a base vacated by the US air force in 2006.

Gordon Brown, UK prime minister, unveiled "legal action against the Icelandic authorities" to recover lost depositors' money as the tone deteriorated. to its lowest level since fishing and coastguard vessels skirmished in the North Atlantic in 1976. London used a law put in place after the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks to freeze about £4bn (€5bn) of the UK assets of Landsbanki, which went into receivership this week.

Mr Haarde said his government was "determined not to let the current financial crisis overshadow the long-standing friendship between Iceland and the United Kingdom."

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Risk Professional: UK uses anti terrorism sanctions against Iceland

Risk Professional

Thursday 09 October 2008

The UK Treasury has applied measures under The Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 to freeze the assets of Landsbanki, including those held by the Icelandic government.

In a startling move, the UK Treasury last night issued an order freezing the assets of Landsbanki not under the powers of intervention reserved to the Financial Services Authority but under anti-terrorism legislation.

The Treasury says "The Treasury make the Order because they believe that action to the detriment of the UK’s economy (or part of it) has been or is likely to be taken by certain persons who are the government of or resident of country or territory outside the UK."

The Order "gives effect to a freeze on funds owned, held or controlled by the Icelandic bank Landsbanki, including those owned held or controlled in relation to that bank by the relevant Icelandic Authorities or the Government of Iceland. For the purposes of the Order ‘Landsbanki’ means Landsbanki Island hf., a public limited company incorporated under the law of Iceland."

It "applies to banks, financial institutions, charitable organisations and non-governmental organisations in the UK or established under UK law. The Order does not apply to subsidiaries of UK companies operating wholly outside the UK and which do not have legal personality under UK law. "

Under the Order, " “funds” means financial assets and economic benefits of any kind, including (but not limited to): (i) gold, cash, cheques, claims on money, drafts, money orders and other payment instruments; (ii) deposits with relevant institutions or other persons, balances on accounts, debts and debt obligations; (iii) publicly and privately traded securities and debt instruments, including stocks and shares, certificates representing securities, bonds, notes, warrants, debentures and derivative products; (iv) interest, dividends or other income on or value accruing from or generated by assets; (v) credit, rights of set-off, guarantees, performance bonds or other financial commitments; (vi) letters of credit, bills of lading, bills of sale; and (vii) documents providing evidence of an interest in funds or financial resources. "

The frozen funds are"(a) funds owned, held or controlled by Landsbanki; and (b) funds relating to Landsbanki and owned, held or controlled by: (i) any of the Authorities;

(i.e.

- the Central Bank of Iceland, Kalkofnsvegi 1, 150 Reykjavik; - the Icelandic Financial Services Authority (the Fjármálaeftirlitið); and - the Landsbanki receivership committee established by the Icelandic Financial Services Authority )or

(ii) the Government of Iceland. "

As a result of the Order, those to whom it applies (which is every person, legal or natural in the UK) "must not make frozen funds available to or for the benefit of a specified person, or at the direction or instruction of a specified person, or deal with frozen funds except under the authority of a licence granted by the Treasury" and "are required to inform HM Treasury of all funds that they have frozen in accordance with the Order. They must also provide HM Treasury with all relevant information necessary for ensuring compliance with the Order. "

Similarly such persons must not deal with the funds. "Deal with" is defined by the Treasury in terms that are those used to define money laundering and the funding of future crimes including terrorism viz: "use, alter, move, allow access to or transfer, or deal with in any other way that would result in any change in volume, amount, location, ownership, possession, character or destination; or make any other change that would enable use, including portfolio management. "

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アイスランド：銀行最大手も国有化　預金流出止まらず

　【ロンドン藤好陽太郎】アイスランド政府は９日、最大手行のカウプシング銀行を国有化した。これにより、同国の上位３行が国有化された。

　同行によると、政府が先月２９日に大手行グリトニル銀行の国有化を決めて以降、海外からの預金引き出しが殺到。ハーデ首相は非常事態を宣言したが、国有化した大手行ランズバンキの英国向けネット銀行サイトが支払い不能となるなど混乱に拍車がかかっていた。

　アイスランドは財政赤字が拡大する一方でインフレも加速。銀行が抱える海外からの巨額の借り入れを高金利で維持していたが、最近は通貨クローナが急落していた。

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Lebanese Group Seeks to Reclaim Hummus in Israel Trade Tiff

By Robin Stringer and Jonathan Ferziger

Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Middle East peace negotiators may need to be careful what they serve with their pita next time they break bread.

Lebanese businessmen are making a legal claim that would designate hummus as traditional to Lebanon. That would make it easier for them to sue to prevent companies in Israel and other nations from marketing the popular chickpea-and-olive-oil spread as their own.

The Association of Lebanese Industrialists wants the European Union to declare hummus and other culinary specialties as traditional Lebanese dishes. The menu of potential targets also includes arak, the anise-flavored alcoholic drink, and tabouleh, a mixture of bulgur, parsley, mint and other herbs.

While the group's complaint covers all countries that produce such products, ``it's mostly Israeli companies claiming all our specialties as their own,'' said Fady Abboud, president of the association, in a telephone interview from Beirut yesterday. ``So many of our specialties are being marketed now as Israeli traditional dishes'' and ``among the most famous of these is hummus.''

The 65-year-old association hopes the EU will award legal protection to the foods in the same way it gave Greek milk producers exclusive use of the name feta for their crumbly, white cheese in 2005. That ruling gave feta protection in the EU that's similar to France's claim over champagne and Italy's over parmesan.

`From the Amazon'

``It's the same with tabouleh; it's even the same with our national drink, which is arak,'' Abboud said. ``It's even exported under the name `arak' from Israel.''

The culinary dispute may extend beyond the Mideast.

Some Brazilians think kibbe, ground meat with bulgur, and sfiha, a small, doughy pie similar to a pizza, ``come from the Amazon,'' Abboud said. In fact, he said, the foods were brought there by the first Lebanese immigrants in the 1860s.

``You can buy dehydrated Canadian tabouleh, which has nothing to do with the real thing,'' Abboud said. ``Lebanon is losing a lot. This is really not fair.''

In the U.S. alone, sales of hummus totaled $192 million last year, according to PepsiCo Inc., the world's biggest snack maker.

Osem Investments Ltd. -- maker of Israel's best-selling Tzabar hummus, a supermarket staple -- declined through a spokeswoman to discuss the food's origin.

`We Love It'

Israelis don't claim to have invented hummus, though they're proud of how much of a fixture it's become on the national menu.

``As far as I know, it comes from Egypt, not Lebanon, but who cares?'' said Shemaya Cohen, who ladles out his family recipe at the Hummus Bar in Tel Aviv's Florentine neighborhood.

``Hummus is a part of our lives, and we love it even if we borrowed it,'' he said. ``It's a symbol of being Israeli.''

Even the spelling of the word is a matter of debate.

Hummus is a transliteration of the Arabic word for chickpeas. The Oxford English Dictionary says the word was first absorbed into English from Turkish. Hummus is its common spelling in English, with variations hommos and hoummos.

But don't confuse it with humus, an English word in use since the 18th century referring to vegetable mold.

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IMF sees greatest shock since 1930s

By Alan Beattie in Washington

Published: October 8 2008 16:14 | Last updated: October 8 2008 16:14

The financial crisis will drive down global economic growth to its lowest since 2002 with a big risk it will drop even further, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

Though Olivier Blanchard, the fund’s chief economist, said that the chance of another Great Depression was “nearly nil”, the IMF said that the US and European economies were mainly already in or close to recession.

“The world economy is now entering a major downturn in the face of the most dangerous shock in mature financial markets since the 1930s,” the IMF said. “The situation is exceptionally uncertain and subject to considerable downside risks.”

The fund said that global growth was likely to slow to 3.9 per cent growth in 2008 and 3 per cent in 2009, sharply down from 5 per cent growth last year. Some economists regard 3 per cent or 2.5 per cent global growth as equivalent to a world recession, given the trend rates of growth in the global economy, but Mr Blanchard said that such definitions were unhelpful.

Mr Blanchard said that Wednesday’s co-ordinated interest rate cuts from the major economies were “definitely a step in the right direction”, though declined to say whether more reductions would be needed in the short term. “More may be needed, and if so we hope it is done,” he told reporters. “Fifty basis points [cut] is not nothing.”

The IMF chief economist’s optimism that the world would avoid a repeat of the Great Depression of the 1930s was based on an expectation that governments would follow the right policies. European governments were having difficulty in coordinating their response to the crisis and more action was needed to shore up their shaky financial systems, he said.

The fund reduced its forecast for global growth next year by nearly a full percentage point, compared with its previous projection in July, with expected US growth for 2009 cut by 0.7 percentage points to 0.1 per cent – hovering just above a “full recession” of a year-on-year fall in growth rather than the narrower definition of “technical recession” of two successive quarters of a shrinking economy. Predicted growth for the eurozone in 2009 was cut by a percentage point to an increase of 0.2 per cent.

Emerging market economies, which have seen rapid falls in asset prices this week but have yet to bear the brunt of the slowdown in the real economy, would fare somewhat better, the fund thought.

The projection for Chinese growth next year was cut by half a percentage point to a still-healthy 9.3 per cent, and India was forecast to grow at 6.9 per cent. Charles Collyns, the deputy director of the IMF’s research department, said that India, being less open an economy than China and many of the industrialised economies, had strong internal drivers of growth which should shield it from the worst of the economic downturn.

Growth in sub-Saharan Africa, being also less exposed to financial turmoil, would slow to 6.3 per cent next year from 6.9 per cent last year, the fund said.

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S African rebels set to split ANC

By Tom Burgis in Johannesburg

Published: October 7 2008 16:37 | Last updated: October 8 2008 14:15

Jacob Zuma, leader of South Africa’s ruling party and the country’s president-in-waiting, faced a fresh threat to his authority on Wednesday when senior figures in his African National Congress indicated they were planning to form a breakaway party to contest next year’s elections.

The schism was led by Mosiuoa Lekota, a former defence minister, and is seeking to latch on to disaffection among supporters of Thabo Mbeki, whose nine-year presidency was brought to an abrupt end by the Zuma faction last month.

ANC logo

While Mr Lekota stopped short of declaring a new party, he told reporters in Johannesburg: ”It seems that we are serving today divorce papers.”

Claiming to have garnered support among the grassroots, Mr Lekota said he would convene a conference within four weeks, at which disgruntled cadres as well as opposition movements and likeminded South Africans would decide whether to create a party.

”This is probably the parting of the ways. We hope that sense may still prevail in us... If not there’s no going back.” The divisions fly in the face of appeals for unity from Mr Zuma following the biggest ructions in South African politics since democracy replaced apartheid in 1994.

The party has dominated the political landscape since then but now faces its sternest test as Mr Zuma struggles to appease competing interests and ease deep enmity within the 96-year-old liberation movement led for decades by Nelson Mandela.

Mr Zuma on Wednesday sought to lay down the law to unruly cadres. Referring to the plan to mobilise the new grouping from within existing ANC branches, he said: ”Whilst we are going to engage those who have grievances and different views, they should bear in mind that there’s a limit to utilising ANC structures to destabilise the ANC…People shouldn’t think there’s a blank cheque.”

Party leaders expressed confidence that Mr Mbeki would remain loyal to the movement he has served for 52 years There were doubts as to the level of support the new entity could count on, given its base among Mbeki loyalists. Mr Mbeki was unceremoniously removed from the party leadership by 60 per cent of the membership last December.

But some analysts suggested that if the splinter group gained traction and the small existing opposition parties maintained their support, they might prevent the ANC repeating the qualified majority it secured by winning 70 per cent of the votes in 2004’s polls.

Mike Davies, an analyst at the Eurasia Group, said a new party would ”struggle to develop a political identity separate from the ANC, which still attracts emotive and historical support, and unify the various voices dissatisfied with the new ANC leadership”.

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Do not let Russia ‘Finlandise’ western Europe

By Edward Lucas

Published: October 8 2008 19:32 | Last updated: October 8 2008 19:32

When I first published The New Cold War last February, many contested my title. But what once seemed eccentric now looks mainstream. Relations between the west and Russia have entered a period of extraordinary mistrust and mutual disdain. Indeed, after the conflict in Georgia, the description “cold war” risks looking like an understatement. Russia has shown that it is prepared to use military force against another country; the west has shown that it will not fight and will merely respond with a token protest. Some in the European Union, such as Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France, may see the Kremlin-dictated truce that stopped the fighting (though not the ethnic cleansing, which continues apace) as a triumph. From Russia’s point of view, the lesson of the Georgian adventure is simple: we got away with it.

News last week that a Russian nuclear bomber simulated an attack on a city in northern England, combined with the biggest military manoeuvres since the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the dispatch of a Russian naval squadron to the Caribbean, raise two pressing questions: what is Russia up to and what should we do in response?

The easy but mistaken answer to the first question is that Russia is simply flexing its muscles in response to the west’s misguided meddling, such as its decision to expand Nato and set up a missile defence scheme in Russia’s backyard. Unlike in the 1990s, we now have to respect, and accept, Russia’s interests. A shopping list based on that thinking might include: sacrifice Georgia, cancel Nato expansion (or better still, dissolve the alliance), scrap missile defence, arm-twist the Baltic states and Ukraine into giving their Russian population special status, allow Russia to buy anything it wants in western Europe – and all will be well.

But supposing Russia’s aim is the re-creation of a “lite” version of the Soviet empire, based not on military might but on economic dominance and pipeline monopolies; and that it wants the “Finlandisation” of western Europe. That involves the use of money, above and below board, to cultivate friendly lobbies. One example is this week’s dramatic €4bn ($5.5bn, £3bn) Kremlin bail-out of Iceland. Another is the former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder chairing a Russian-German gas pipeline consortium. The “Schröderisation” of Europe is matched by divide-and-rule tactics. The result: most big countries of “old Europe” care more about ties with Russia than about their supposed allies in eastern Europe.

Attempts to isolate Russia in response would be wrong: keeping communication with the regime may help slow its paranoia and adventurism. It also sends a signal to the burgeoning Russian business class. The financial crisis has prompted some powerful figures such as Alexander Lebedev, the ex-KGB financier, to criticise openly the Kremlin’s bellicose rhetoric and repressive internal policies.

But we can also make it harder for Russia to do the things that endanger us. The overwhelming need is to rethink energy policy. At the moment, the push inside the EU is for greater liberalisation. That would be fine, if we were not dealing with highly politicised monopolists as our energy suppliers. If the European Commission can bring Microsoft to heel over its outrageous behaviour with Windows software, it can do the same with Gazprom: not just as a tool of Kremlin foreign policy, but also as a flagrant price-fixer and competition inhibitor (for example in its refusal to allow third-party access to its pipelines). Any EU company that operated like Gazprom would find itself in the dock within days.

Even more important is restricting the flow of dirty money (not only from Russia) into our banks and markets. Instead of being bean-counters without a conscience, accountants must be guardians of financial probity, with a demanding test for clients whose business model is based on rent-seeking and cronyism. Some of the energy trading companies with close Kremlin ties based in Europe are little more than conspiracies to loot from the Russian taxpayer, gaining oil and gas cheaply and selling it dearly.

The same goes for bankers. If they conceal the beneficial ownership of these phoney companies they are an accomplice to theft. Perhaps one of the benefits of the credit crunch will be a more sceptical response to financiers who maintain that their critics are Luddites. The west has done well to impede the crudest kind of money-laundering. It is no longer possible to turn up at an Austrian bank with a suitcase full of cash, open an account, and make some transfers. We should apply the same principle to asset-laundering: using western capital markets to sell shares and bonds in phoney companies.

These measures will not stop the regime in its tracks. But they will show its backers that their geopolitical ambitions come at a cost: provoke us enough and it will be bad for business. That lesson has not yet got through.

We need to hurry. It will not be too long before financial centres such as Dubai, Shanghai and Mumbai are competing so effectively with London that clients that we find too dodgy will go elsewhere. What our financial centres sell, above all, is respectability. We have priced it too cheaply in the past few years. It is time to be choosier, while we still have some left in stock.

The writer is author of ‘The New Cold War: How the Kremlin Menaces both Russia and the West’. A new edition is published next week

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Beijing to pave way for land reform

By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing

Published: October 8 2008 16:59 | Last updated: October 8 2008 16:59

The leadership of China’s Communist party will meet on Thursday to discuss whether to allow peasant farmers to trade their land titles in what could be one of the most significant reforms since the country left Maoism behind three decades ago.

Over the next four days the plenary session of the Communist party’s central committee will meet behind closed doors and is expected to take a step that many analysts and policymakers say will lead to the eventual privatisation of rural land.

Details of the reform remain a closely guarded secret but the country’s top leaders are expected to enshrine the rights of rural citizens to transfer or rent their 30-year land leases to other individuals or companies and possibly allow that land to be used for collateral to access loans.

All land in China has been, in effect, owned by the state since the 1949 communist victory and direct private ownership is very unlikely to be introduced soon under the party’s gradualist approach to reform.

“The current land contractual relations will be kept stable and unchanged for a long time, and we will allow farmers to transfer the right of land contract and management by various means, in accordance with their will,” Hu Jintao, China’s president, said in a statement last week.

Government insistence on collective ownership of land in the countryside “hinders growth of agricultural productivity and achievement of scale efficiency”, according to Yiping Huang, a Citigroup economist. “Many economists have urged the government to privatise land ownership and that is likely the direction we are now heading in.”

Proponents of reform argue the parcelling out of small plots of land to households and the rigid laws that forbid private sale or purchase of contracted land mean agriculture remains small-scale and inefficient and ties down the country’s more than 730m rural residents at a time when the government is encouraging rapid urbanisation.

In practice, many of the more than 150m rural residents who have migrated to the cities in search of work have already leased their contracted land on an informal basis to neighbours or even some of China’s pioneering agribusinesses.

But legal protection for these arrangements is lacking, and corruption and abuse by local government officials who oversee the transactions are rife.

Some policymakers in Beijing said they expected the party to renew and extend the current system from 30-year contracts to 70-year contracts but others said this was unlikely to happen immediately.

The government’s expected decision to press ahead with rural land reform is not universally popular, even among the party leadership.

Many government advisers argue the current system has allowed China to avoid the problems of other large developing nations – such as India, Brazil and Indonesia – which struggle with huge populations of landless farmers.

In China, migrant workers who lose their jobs in the cities are usually able to return to a plot of land in their village and the country’s largest cities are noticeably free of slums.

Some officials concede that allowing farmers to transfer contract titles for a fee amounts to de facto privatisation.

“This reform will allow real capitalists into the agricultural sector but we cannot use the words ‘privatisation’ or ‘capitalism’ because they will just provide ammunition to hardliners to fight this reform,” according to one Chinese analyst who asked not to be named.

The leaders are also expected to discuss the global credit crisis.

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U.S. court blocks Uighurs' release from Guantanamo
Thu Oct 9, 2008 6:57am BST

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday temporarily blocked the release of 17 Chinese Muslims held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The appeals court granted the Bush administration's emergency request for a stay of a federal judge's order that the members of the Uighur ethnic group be released into the United States at the end of this week.

In a sharp rebuke to the Bush administration, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina ruled on Tuesday there was no evidence the detainees, who have been held at Guantanamo for nearly seven years, were "enemy combatants" or a security risk.

He ordered that the prisoners be brought to his courtroom for a hearing on Friday morning, when they would be freed and allowed to live with Uighur families in the area.

The three-judge panel said it granted the stay only to give the appeals court more time to consider the dispute. The court ordered that briefs be filed by both sides on various dates through October 16.

It then will have decide whether the stay should remain in place. The court said the temporary, administrative stay "should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits" of the government's request.

Although the U.S. military no longer considers the Uighurs "enemy combatants," they have remained at Guantanamo because the United States has been unable to find a country willing to take them.

In seeking a stay, the Justice Department told the appeals court that diplomatic negotiations continued in an effort to find an appropriate country to send the detainees.

"We are pleased that the court of appeals granted our request for a temporary stay, and we look forward to presenting our case," department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said.

One lawyer for the detainees expressed disappointment. "It's a very hard day," said Emi MacLean of the Centre for Constitutional Rights, but she said she remained hopeful the Uighurs ultimately would be released.

In 2006, the United States allowed five Chinese Muslims released from Guantanamo to go to Albania. The U.S. government has said it cannot return the Uighurs to China because they would face persecution there.

Many Muslim Uighurs, who are from Xinjiang in far western China, seek greater autonomy for the region and some want independence. Beijing has waged a relentless campaign against what it calls their violent separatist activities.

The Uighurs had been living in a camp in Afghanistan during the U.S.-led bombing campaign that began in October 2001. They fled into the mountains and were detained by Pakistani authorities, who handed them over to the United States.

There are about 255 detainees at Guantanamo, which was set up in January 2002 to hold terrorism suspects captured after the September 11 attacks on the United States by al Qaeda militants. Most have been held for years without being charged and many have complained of abuse.

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Repsol and Total reply to Libya case

By Carola Hoyos in London

Published: October 8 2008 03:00 | Last updated: October 8 2008 03:00

Repsol YPF and Total, two of Europe's biggest energy groups, were yesterday implicated in an alleged Libyan bribery scheme after a report for Norway's Hydro found mistakes in paying consultants to secure oil fields in the North African country.

Two senior executives at StatoilHydro - formed last year from the merger of the two groups - also resigned yesterday after an independent report found Hydro had breached company rules. The company handed the case to Norwegian police after publishing the report, which concluded Hydro had paid millions of dollars in "consultancy fees" in the early 2000s.

Total denied any wrong-doing and a Repsol official said the company's current management had attempted to correct the situation and to recoup the money.

In December 2000, at the Repsol-operated Murzuq development, Hydro paid $300,000 after it received an invoice from the operator. In hindsight the payment was viewed as "problematic" by some people, according to Hydro documents, states the report by law firm Sherman and Sterling.

When in late 2001 Repsol wanted to hire a second consultant and to agree a success fee of $4.5m-$10.5m, Hydro and one other partner raised concerns this could contravene the OECD's convention against bribery of foreign officials, according to the report. The report stated that it sought to set out the facts, rather than to make legal accusations, but did not include testimony from the operators.

In 2002, Hydro refused to pay $900,000 of a $4.5m fee for "exceptional overhead costs," which it perceived as "a camouflage for payments" to a consultant and threatened to bring the matter before a steering committee. But it backed down when the "operator agreed not to seek Hydro's share of the payment," the report stated.

Repsol officials said the current management became aware of the payments in 2005 and sought to recoup them in an arbitration hearing in the UK. "But the justices, even on appeal, said the contracts were valid and Repsol was not refunded and in fact was forced to pay a further sum being sought by the consultant," a senior Repsol executive said.

Spain ratified the OECD's convention against bribery of foreign officials on January 4 2000 while France did so on July 31 2000.

In the Mabruk development, operated by Total, Hydro had similar reservations, but nonetheless paid $1.9375m to the operator in October 2000. "The evidence suggests that these payments may have been understood, at the time or later, as having been tied to the operator's consultant," the report stated.

Paul Floren, a spokesman for Total, said: "The report does not establish any wrongdoing by Total. The invoices sent out by the joint venture to Hydro were normal expenses for the Mabruk field and the report does not establish anything to the contrary."

But Hydro called that payment "another misjudgement."

Terje Vareberg, chairman of Hydro's board of directors, said: "The investigation has revealed that mistakes were made in Libya in 2000-2001 that represent a breach of Hydro's regulations. This is regrettable, and we need to learn from it. Any mistake in this area is unacceptable . . . "

Hydro is said to be concerned about a third relationship with a consultant, retained in 1999 by Saga, the company Hydro took over in 1999 and that became part of StatoilHydro, when Hydro and Statoil merged.

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Asia’s revenge

By Martin Wolf

Published: October 8 2008 19:54 | Last updated: October 8 2008 23:48

“Things that can’t go on forever, don’t.” – Herbert Stein, former chairman of the US presidential Council of Economic Advisers

Collectors of currency view notes for sale in Beijing. Dollar surpluses in emerging economies such as China have been influential in inflating asset price bubbles in the US and elsewhere in the developed world

What confronts the world can be seen as the latest in a succession of financial crises that have struck periodically over the last 30 years. The current financial turmoil in the US and Europe affects economies that account for at least half of world output, making this upheaval more significant than all the others. Yet it is also depressingly similar, both in its origins and its results, to earlier shocks.

To trace the parallels – and help in understanding how the present pressing problems can be addressed – one needs to look back to the late 1970s. Petrodollars, the foreign exchange earned by oil exporting countries amid sharp jumps in the crude price, were recycled via western banks to less wealthy emerging economies, principally in Latin America.

This resulted in the first of the big crises of modern times, when Mexico’s 1982 announcement of its inability to service its debt brought the money-centre banks of New York and London to their knees.

Carmen Reinhart of the University of Maryland and Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University identify the similarities in a paper published earlier this year.* They focus on previous crises in high-income countries. But they also note characteristics that are shared with financial crises that have occurred in emerging economies.

This time, most emerging economies have been running huge current account surpluses. So a “large chunk of money has effectively been recycled to a developing economy that exists within the United States’ own borders”, they point out. “Over a trillion dollars was channelled into the subprime mortgage market, which is comprised of the poorest and least creditworthy borrowers within the US. The final claimaint is different, but in many ways the mechanism is the same.”

The links between the financial fragility in the US and previous emerging market crises mean that the current banking and economic traumas should not be seen as just the product of risky monetary policy, lax regulation and irresponsible finance, important though these were. They have roots in the way the global economy has worked in the era of financial deregulation. Any country that receives a huge and sustained inflow of foreign lending runs the risk of a subsequent financial crisis, because external and domestic financial fragility will grow. Precisely such a crisis is now happening to the US and a number of other high-income countries including the UK.

These latest crises are also related to those that preceded them – particularly the Asian crisis of 1997-98. Only after this shock did emerging economies become massive capital exporters. This pattern was reinforced by China’s choice of an export-oriented development path, partly influenced by fear of what had happened to its neighbours during the Asian crisis. It was further entrenched by the recent jumps in the oil price and the consequent explosion in the current account surpluses of oil exporting countries.

The big global macroeconomic story of this decade was, then, the offsetting emergence of the US and a number of other high-income countries as spenders and borrowers of last resort. Debt-fuelled US households went on an unparalleled spending binge – by dipping into their housing “piggy banks”.

In explaining what had happened, Ben Bernanke, when still a governor of the Federal Reserve rather than chairman, referred to the emergence of a “savings glut”. The description was accurate. After the turn of the millennium, one of the striking features became the low level of long-term nominal and real interest rates at a time of rapid global economic growth. Cheap money encouraged an orgy of financial innovation, borrowing and spending.

That was also one of the initial causes of the surge in house prices across a large part of the high-income world, particularly in the US, the UK and Spain.

What lay behind the savings glut? The first development was the shift of emerging economies into a large surplus of savings over investment. Within the emerging economies, the big shifts were in Asia and in the oil exporting countries (see chart). By 2007, according to the International Monetary Fund, the aggregate savings surpluses of these two groups of countries had reached around 2 per cent of world output.

Government spending

Despite being a huge oil importer, China emerged as the world’s biggest surplus country: its current account surplus was $372bn (£215bn, €272bn) in 2007, which was not only more than 11 per cent of its gross domestic product, but almost as big as the combined surpluses of Japan ($213bn) and Germany ($185bn), the two largest high-income capital exporters.

Last year, the aggregate surpluses of the world’s surplus countries reached $1,680bn, according to the IMF. The top 10 (China, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Switzerland, Norway, Kuwait, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates) generated more than 70 per cent of this total. The surpluses of the top 10 countries represented at least 8 per cent of their aggregate GDP and about one-quarter of their aggregate gross savings.

Meanwhile, the huge US deficit absorbed 44 per cent of this total. The US, UK, Spain and Australia – four countries with housing bubbles – absorbed 63 per cent of the world’s current account surpluses.

That represented a vast shift of capital – but unlike in the 1970s and early 1980s, it went to some of the world’s richest countries. Moreover, the emergence of the surpluses was the result of deliberate policies – shown in the accumulation of official foreign currency reserves and the expansion of the sovereign wealth funds over this period.

Quite reasonably, the energy exporters were transforming one asset – oil – into another – claims on foreigners. Others were recycling current account surpluses and private capital inflows into official capital outflows, keeping exchange rates down and competitiveness up. Some described this new system, of which China was the most important proponent, as “Bretton Woods II”, after the pegged adjustable exchange rates set-up that collapsed in the early 1970s. Others called it “export-led growth” or depicted it as a system of self-insurance.

Yet the justification is less important than the consequences. Between January 2000 and April 2007, the stock of global foreign currency reserves rose by $5,200bn. Thus three-quarters of all the foreign currency reserves accumulated since the beginning of time have been piled up in this decade. Inevitably, a high proportion – probably close to two-thirds – of these sums were placed in dollars, thereby supporting the US currency and financing US external deficits.

The savings glut had another dimension, related to a second financial shock – the bursting of the dotcom bubble in 2000. One consequence was the move of the corporate sectors of most high-income countries into financial surplus. In other words, their retained earnings came to exceed their investments. Instead of borrowing from banks and other suppliers of capital, non-financial corporations became providers of finance.

In this world of massive savings surpluses in a range of important countries and weak demand for capital from non-financial corporations, central banks ran easy monetary policies. They did so because they feared the possibility of a shift into deflation. The Fed, in particular, found itself having to offset the contractionary effects of the vast flow of private and, above all, public capital into the US.

A simple way of thinking about what has happened to the global economy in the 2000s is that high-income countries with elastic credit systems and households willing to take on rising debt levels offset the massive surplus savings in the rest of the world. The lax monetary policies facilitated this excess spending, while the housing bubble was the vehicle through which it worked.

The charts show what happened, as a result, to “financial balances” – the difference between expenditure and income – inside the US economy. If one looks at three sectors – foreign, government and private – it is evident that the first has had a huge surplus this decade – offset, as it has to be, by deficits in the other two.

In the early 2000s, the US fiscal deficit was the main offset. In the middle years of the decade, the private sector ran a large deficit while the government’s shrank. Now that the recession-hit private sector is moving back into balance at enormous speed, the government deficit is exploding once again.

Looking at what happened inside the private sector, a striking contrast can be seen between the corporate and household realms. Households moved into a huge financial deficit, which peaked at just under 4 per cent of GDP in the second quarter of 2005. Then, as the housing bubble burst, housebuilding collapsed and households started saving more. With remarkable speed, the household financial deficit disappeared. Today’s explosion in the fiscal deficit is the offset.

Inevitably, huge household financial deficits also mean huge accumulations of household debt. This was strikingly true in the US and UK. In the process, the financial sector accumulated an ever greater stock of claims not just on other sectors but on itself. This frightening complexity, which lies at the root of many of the current difficulties, was facilitated by the environment of easy borrowing and search for high returns in an environment of low real rates of interest.

A protest against the US banking rescue

These linked dangers between external and internal imbalances, domestic debt accumulations and financial fragility were foretold by a number of analysts. Foremost among them was Wynne Godley of Cambridge university in his prescient work for the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, which has laid particular stress on the work of the late Hyman Minsky.**

So what might – and should – happen now? The big danger, evidently, is of a financial collapse. The principal offset, in the short run, to the inevitable cuts in spending in the private sector of the crisis-afflicted economies will also be vastly bigger fiscal deficits.

Fortunately, the US and the other afflicted high-income countries have one advantage over the emerging economies: they borrow in their own currencies and have creditworthy governments. Unlike emerging economies, they can therefore slash interest rates and increase fiscal deficits.

Yet the huge fiscal boosts and associated government recapitalisation of shattered financial systems are only a temporary solution. There can be no return to business as usual. It is, above all, neither desirable nor sustainable for global macroeconomic balance to be achieved by recycling huge savings surpluses into the excess consumption of the world’s richest consumers. The former point is self-evident, while the latter has been demonstrated by the recent financial collapse.

So among the most important tasks ahead is to create a system of global finance that allows a more balanced world economy, with excess savings being turned into either high-return investment or consumption by the world’s poor, including in capital- exporting countries such as China. A part of the answer will be the development of local-currency finance in emerging economies, which would make it easier for them to run current account deficits than proved to be the case in the past three decades.

It is essential in any case for countries in a position to do so to expand domestic demand vigorously. Only in this way can the recessionary impulse coming from the corrections in the debt-laden countries be offset.

Yet there is a still bigger challenge ahead. The crisis demonstrates that the world has been unable to combine liberalised capital markets with a reasonable degree of financial stability. A particular problem has been the tendency for large net capital flows and associated current account and domestic financial balances to generate huge crises. This is the biggest of them all.

Lessons must be learnt. But those should not just be about the regulation of the financial sector. Nor should they be only about monetary policy. They must be about how liberalised finance can be made to support the global economy rather than destabilise it.

This is no little local difficulty. It raises the deepest questions about the way forward for our integrated world economy. The learning must start now.

*Is the 2007 US subprime financial crisis so different? An international historical comparison. Working paper 13761, www.nber.org

**The US economy: Is there a way out of the woods? November 2008, www.levy.org

The writer is the FT’s chief economics commentator and author of Fixing Global Finance, published in the US this month by Johns Hopkins University Press and forthcoming in the UK through Yale University Press.

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比、日本とのＥＰＡ批准　年内にも発効へ

　【マニラ＝遠西俊洋】フィリピン上院は8日、日本と署名した日比経済連携協定（ＥＰＡ）を批准した。これにより同ＥＰＡは年内にも発効し、フィリピン人看護師・介護福祉士が来年前半にも来日する見通しだ。

　日比ＥＰＡは賛成16、反対4で批准した。フィリピン人看護師・介護福祉士の日本への受け入れを盛りこんだ同ＥＰＡは2006年9月、小泉純一郎首相（当時）とアロヨ大統領が署名。日本が海外から労働力を本格的に受け入れる内容が注目されたが、野党優位の比上院が批准に難色を示していた。今回、一層の審議長期化を懸念する議員らが動き、批准した。(07:01)

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フィリピン：上院、日本とのＥＰＡを批准　看護師送り出し

　【マニラ矢野純一】フィリピン上院は８日深夜（日本時間９日未明）、日本との経済連携協定（ＥＰＡ）を批准した。フィリピン人看護師、介護士の日本への受け入れなどを盛り込んだ同協定は０６年９月、両国首脳が署名。日本の国会は同年末に承認したが、発効に必要なフィリピン上院の批准が遅れていた。

　同協定は両国間の物品、人、サービス、資本の自由な移動を促進する目的。協定発効後、１０年でほぼすべての鉱工業品の関税撤廃などを盛り込んでいる。日本から廃棄物が持ち込まれる懸念などから、批准が大幅に遅れた。

　同協定は発効後２年間に日本がフィリピンから看護師４００人、介護士６００人の最大計１０００人を受け入れるとしている。しかし、日本語による国家試験に合格するなどの条件が付いている。フィリピン労働雇用省は「希望者が条件を見極めて決めること」と話し、目標が達成できるかは懐疑的だ。

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卸１、２位合併　メディセオ・パルタックとアルフレッサ

　国内卸最大手のメディセオ・パルタックホールディングスと、同2位のアルフレッサホールディングスは来年4月1日をメドに合併することで合意した。両社の取扱品は医薬品と日用品で、売上高は計4兆円を上回る巨大卸となる。規模拡大で競争力を高める。

　週内にも発表する。存続会社はメディセオ・パルタック。新社名はアルフレッサ・メディパルホールディングスになる見通し。合併新会社の社長にはメディセオ・パルタックの熊倉貞武社長（64）、副社長にはアルフレッサの渡辺新社長（67）が就任、ともに代表権を持つ。(10:46)

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Ｊリート投資法人が初破綻　金融危機余波、不動産に波及

2008年10月9日20時4分

　東京証券取引所に上場する不動産投資信託（Ｊリート）の「ニューシティ・レジデンス投資法人」は９日、東京地方裁判所に民事再生法を申請し、同日付で保全処分命令を受けたと発表した。負債総額は約１１２３億円。東証に上場するＪリートの破綻（はたん）は初めてという。サブプライムローン問題をきっかけとした米国の金融市場の混乱の影響を受け、国内の不動産市況が悪化。今月に期限がくる借入金返済のための資金調達が、困難になったという。

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ストーブなどの電源、地震なら自動遮断　東電が機器開発

　東京電力は地震の際、つけっ放しにすると火災の恐れがある電気ストーブやアイロンなどの電源を自動的に切る機器を開発した。共同開発した無線機器メーカー、アドソル日進（東京・港）が販売を始めた。年間1万台の販売を目指す。

　新商品は「グラッとシャット」。コンセントに差して使う親機と子機からなり、電源を切りたい機器とコンセントの間に子機をはさんで利用する。親機が震度 5強以上の揺れを感知すると、子機に無線信号を送り機器への通電を遮る仕組みだ。地震が発生すると両機とも赤く光り、音声で「遮断」を知らせる。

　親機からの信号は複数の子機で受けられるため、子機だけの追加もできる。親機と子機は20メートル程度離れていても反応するという。価格は親機と子機のセットで1万1970円。子機だけは5880円。(10:30)

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中国野菜、カゴメ輸入削減　食品大手７割「厳選検討」　日経調査

　大手食品会社が中国から調達する食材の削減や安全管理に動き出した。カゴメは約10種類の中国産野菜や果物の輸入停止に着手。日本水産は海外の食材調達先を本社でリアルタイムで確認するシステムを導入する。日本経済新聞社が主要32社に調査したところ、7割強の企業が調達先の「厳選・絞り込み」を検討と回答。有害なメラミンの混入問題などで、食の「中国離れ」が加速しそうだ。

　9月末に実施した調査では、食の安全性確保のため、全体の78％（25社）が中国食材の「調達先の厳選・絞り込み」に取り組んでいると回答した。例えば、カゴメは第一弾として、主力の野菜飲料「野菜生活１００」などに使用する原料野菜の調達先変更に着手した。(08:13)

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非食用ＭＡ米、国内流通禁止へ　政府が方針決定

　政府は8日、食用に適さないミニマムアクセス（ＭＡ）米の国内流通を禁止する方針を決めた。カビ毒や基準値以上の農薬が検出された場合に、輸入国に返送するか廃棄するように義務付ける規定を輸入業者との契約に盛り込む。同日開かれた内閣府の「事故米穀の不正規流通問題に関する有識者会議」で農林水産省が明らかにした。(07:01)

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日中韓首脳会談の開催を打診　韓国大使、金融危機対応で

　河村建夫官房長官は8日、首相官邸で韓国の権哲賢（クォン・チョルヒョン）駐日大使と会談し、米国発の金融危機への対応策などについて意見交換した。権大使は、李明博（イ・ミョンバク）大統領は日中韓3カ国首脳会合を開催する用意があると伝えた。河村長官はアジア各国での同日の株価下落を踏まえ、引き続き日韓両国が連携して金融危機に臨む考えを伝えた。

　河村長官は同日の記者会見で、金融危機に対応するための日中韓首脳会合について「日本が経済大国として中心的役割を果たさねばならないことは当然だ。ただ日中韓だけで良いかということもある」と、日中韓の枠組みによる開催に慎重な考えを示した。(07:01)

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米住宅バブル、差し押さえ25軒に１軒　加州ストックトン市

　世界的金融危機の引き金になった米住宅バブル崩壊で、全米に名前が知れ渡った街がある。カリフォルニア州中央部のストックトン市。25軒に1軒の住宅が差し押さえられ、「売り出し中」の看板を掲げた空き家が並ぶ。住宅バブル崩壊の「被災地」を歩いた。

　ストックトンの空き家には共通点がある。雨が少ないため、手入れをしなければ庭の芝生はすぐに枯れる。市街地には「庭が茶色い家」が点在、プールの水が異臭を放つ場所もある。（ニューヨーク＝清水石珠実）(16:00)

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中国製パンからメラミン検出　大阪の輸入会社

　業務用食品を輸入する「トップトレーディング」（大阪市）は8日、同社が中国・江蘇省のメーカーから輸入した冷凍クロワッサンから化学物質メラミンを検出したと発表した。これまでに1.6トンを社員食堂向けなどに販売したという。

　メラミンを検出したのは「ホイロ後冷凍チョコクロワッサン」など4品目。検出量は1キログラムあたり17―36ミリグラムで、同社は摂取しても健康被害が出る可能性は低い濃度と説明している。(07:00)

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韓国籍の男が覚せい剤密輸、４キロ所持容疑で逮捕

　千葉県警などは8日までに、成田空港から入国する際、覚せい剤約4キロ（末端価格2億4000万円相当）を所持していたとして、覚せい剤取締法違反などの疑いで韓国籍の会社役員金基柱容疑者（49）を逮捕した。

　金容疑者は「（プロ野球巨人軍の）李スンヨプ選手の元代理人」と身分を供述、李選手が韓国球界からロッテ入りする際、交渉役を務めたという。千葉地検は同日までに、覚せい剤取締法違反罪などで金容疑者を起訴した。千葉県警は大掛かりな密売ルートが背後にあるとみて追及している。

　県警などによると、金被告は9月15日、ソウル発の航空便で成田空港に到着。土産品のお茶の缶から中身を取り出し、覚せい剤を詰め込んで隠していたが、税関検査で見つかったという。

　金被告は1977年にスカウトされて大相撲入り。88年に幕下で引退後、ソウル五輪を手始めに東京を拠点にして日韓のテレビ局コーディネーターの仕事に従事。

　5年ほど前から、北朝鮮脱出者を支援する日本の非政府組織（ＮＧＯ）活動にかかわっていた。〔共同〕(07:00)

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デキる子７つの法則…東大ノートでドット合格だ！

現役生の声を反映、決め手は自由さ

　文具メーカー「コクヨＳ＆Ｔ」（大阪市）が１０日、東大合格生のノートの取り方を研究して開発した「ドット入り罫線シリーズ」を発売する。デキる子のノートは７つの法則に従ってきれいにまとめられており、新製品では横線上に等間隔のドットを入れ、図形を描くなどの作業をしやすくした。これで誰でも、東大に合格できる－かも。

　大学ノートには通常、一番上と下の横線へ等間隔に小さな点（ドット）が置かれている。新製品ではドットをすべての横線に入れた。同社では多くの東大合格生がノートに図形を描いたり、資料を張り付けたりしている点に着目し、行き着いたのがドットだった。定番の「キャンパスノート」「キャンパスルーズリーフ」などにドット入り商品を投入し、価格は１５７－２７３円で年間７０００万円の販売を目指す。

　東大ノートは、フリーライターの太田あや氏（３２）の観察力が生み出した。東大合格生のノートについて取材したところ、大半が「キャンパスノート」を使っていることが判明。そこで「もっと使いやすいノートを作れないか」と、同社が生の声を反映させた商品開発に乗り出した。

　同社では老舗文具メーカーのノウハウを活用し、多くの見本を現役東大生に提示した。ところが、ほとんどの見本が不評。同社事業戦略部は「例えば『変な線があるとジャマ』『かえって書きづらい』など、辛口のご意見ばかりでした。美しく書くのをサポートしつつ、自由に使えることが重要だと気づき、ドットにたどり着きました」と振り返る。

　太田氏は、ベネッセコーポレーションで通信教材「進研ゼミ」の編集を担当した経験がある。あるとき東大生の受験生時代のノートについて特集し、その美しさに興味を抱いた。２００６年に退社してからノート取材を本格化させ、このほど、２００冊にも及ぶ東大ノート研究を「東大合格生のノートはかならず美しい」（文芸春秋）にまとめた。東大ノートには別項のような７つの法則があるという。

　「東大生の１人が『未来の自分のためにノートを書く』と話していたのが印象的でした。何のために書くのか、後でどう活用するのかを最初に考えるのが、きれいで使えるノートを作るコツです。きれいに仕上がれば楽しく、楽しければ勉強もはかどります」

　受験の現場でも「きれいなノートを取る子は成績がよい」といわれる。数学を教える予備校講師の男性（３１）は「黒板を丸写しする子、黒板以上の内容をノートにまとめようとする子との間に学力差ができ、広がっていく。きれいに取りやすいドット入りノートで、ヤル気のある子はさらに伸びる」と話している。

ZAKZAK 2008/10/09

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確かにチン味？！○○料理のレシピ本、ネットで発売

　【ＧＯＲＮＪＩ ＭＩＬＡＮＯＶＡＣ（セルビア）７日＝ロイター】セルビアのシェフＬｊｕｂｏｍｉｒ Ｅｒｏｖｉｃさんが、睾丸（こうがん）を使った料理を紹介した「Ｔｈｅ Ｔｅｓｔｉｃｌｅｓ Ｃｏｏｋｂｏｏｋ」（睾丸料理ブック）をインターネットで発表した。

　副題として「睾丸の調理法」と付けられたこのオンライン本は、価格が約６ポンド（約１０００円）。ローズマリーやタイム、バジルなど、多彩なスパイスと合わせて料理するレシピが掲載されている。睾丸料理の材料となる動物は、牛、豚、羊、馬、カンガルー、ダチョウなど１５種類にも上る。

　睾丸には男性ホルモンが豊富に含まれ、性的不全を治す効果があると考えられている国もある。また、古代ギリシャでは、戦いの前に羊の睾丸を食べると強くなると信じられていたという。

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ノーベル賞、賞金減額も　金融危機、財団を直撃
2008.10.9 19:52

　９日付のスウェーデン紙ダーゲンス・ニュヘテルは、世界的な金融危機がノーベル財団の資産を直撃しており、危機が長期化すればノーベル賞各賞の賞金額が減額される可能性があると報じた。

　同紙によると、ノーベル財団の資産は３６億クローナ（約５０４億円）。資産の運用益などから物理学賞、化学賞、文学賞などの賞金として、それぞれ１０００万クローナが支出されるほか、授賞式の際の夕食会費用にも充てられる。

　昨年の財団報告では全資産のうち２６億クローナが株式などに投資されており、大半を米国で運用。毎年、運用益の一割の再投資が必要だが、金融危機でこの確保が難しければ、賞金額減額も検討されるとの見方を示している。（共同）

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【官房長官会見（２）】アフガン国軍育成１７０億ドル支援要請「日本への要求、承知していない」（９日午前）

【アフガニスタン支援】

　－－アフガンに関連してアメリカの国防総省がアフガニスタンの軍の増強に今後５年間で１７０億ドル程度費用がかかると見積もっており、アフガンに戦闘部隊を送っていない同盟国に財政負担を求めるという話があるようだが、こういう話はきているのか。それに対する対応は

「あのー、１７０億ドルの負担をですね、日本側に要求したというような事実は私どものほうでは承知をしておりません。しておりません。しておりませんが、７月の後半に大統領特使としてウィルクス国防次官補代理が来日をされまして、アフガニスタン情勢等に関し、政府関係者で意見交換した事実がございます。その個別的なやりとりについてお答えするのは差し控えたいと思います。いずれにいたしましても、アメリカを含むですね、国際社会の国々から日本に対してアフガニスタンへの支援を強化してほしいという期待が存在することは、事実であるというふうに認識をしております。日本といたしましては、治安、テロ対策、それから人道復興支援、これを車の両輪としてですね、引き続きできる限りの支援を行っていく。この方針には変わりはございません。アメリカ側も日本がいかに実質的な支援を行うか。これについては日本が決定をする立場にあることは十分に承知をしておるというふうに思って、われわれ、そういう相互理解のもとに立っていると、こういうことでございまして、冒頭申し上げましたように、１７０億ドルの負担を日本側に、日本政府に対して要求があったということは承知をしていないということでございます」

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２億円支払いで和解成立　三重の町営プールで小３女児がおぼれた事故
2008.10.9 19:35

　三重県の旧白山町（現津市）の町営プールで、当時小学３年の女児がおぼれ脳障害が残ったのは安全管理が不十分だったためとして、両親らが津市などに損害賠償を求めた訴訟は９日、市側が２億円の和解金を支払うことで津地裁で正式に和解が成立した。

　平成１６年８月に女児が小学校敷地内のプールでおぼれ、救助が遅れたため脳に重い障害が残った問題をめぐり、両親側は管理態勢の不備などが原因と主張。１８年４月に提訴したが、津地裁が今年６月に提示した和解案について双方が合意した。

　原告側は「裁判所が被告の責任を認める和解案を出し、津市なども責任を認めたと認識している」と話した。

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天皇皇后両陛下、北京五輪メダリストら招きお茶会開かれる　石井 慧選手も出席

天皇皇后両陛下は、北京五輪のメダリストや入賞者らを皇居に招いてお茶会を開き、歓談された。あの柔道の石井 慧選手(21)も出席し、陛下に「大和魂を持って陛下のために戦っています」と話したという。
天皇皇后両陛下は9日、北京五輪のメダリストや入賞者らを皇居に招き、お茶会を開かれた。
お茶会には、皇太子ご夫妻、秋篠宮ご夫妻も出席された。
お茶会後、各選手が報道陣の取材に応えた。

競泳・北島康介選手(26)「(試合と違う緊張感が?)当たり前じゃないですか」
ソフトボール・上野 由岐子投手(26)「『よく投げてくれました』と言ってくださった」
バドミントン・小椋 久美子選手(25)「『バドミントンはこんなにハードなんだね』とおっしゃっていた」
バドミントン・潮田玲子選手(25)「オリンピックの試合も、実際にテレビでご覧になったと」

柔道の石井 慧選手も両陛下と対面した。
石井選手は「昔からの日本人の気持ちを忘れずに、気持ち前面で戦っていくという姿勢を忘れずに戦いましたと。天皇陛下のために戦いましたと言いました。(陛下はどのように?)笑っておられました」、「(天皇陛下から伝わったことは?)感動しかなかったし、天皇陛下と福田前首相(と会ったとき)を一緒にされたら困るしね」と語った。

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両陛下、五輪入賞者招きお茶会　柔道石井、陸上朝原も
2008.10.9 17:57

　天皇、皇后両陛下は９日、北京五輪の入賞選手や競技団体関係者を皇居・宮殿の「春秋の間」に招いて茶会を開かれた。

　ソフトボールの上野由岐子投手や男子競泳の北島康介選手、男子柔道の石井慧選手ら金メダリストをはじめ、選手と団体関係者計１５２人が出席。冒頭、天皇陛下は「皆さんの活躍は多くの日本の人々に喜びと励ましを与えたことと思います」と、選手たちの活躍を讃えられた。

　茶会には皇太子さまと常陸宮さま、秋篠宮ご夫妻もご参加。選手たちに囲まれ、和やかに懇談された。

　茶会終了後、石井選手は「『天皇陛下のために戦いました』と（陛下に）お伝えしました。陛下は笑っておられました。天皇陛下とお会いするのは嬉しいし、幸せでした」と話した。

　また、すでに引退を表明している男子陸上４００メートルリレー銅メダリストの朝原宣治選手は、「緊張しましたが、皇后さまからは『長い間努力されて、最後によい結果が出てお疲れさまでした』とねぎらいの言葉をかけていただきました」と笑顔で話していた。

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石井決断のデッドラインは４月全日本選抜…上村専務理事

　全柔連の上村春樹専務理事（５７）は７日、石井に“猶予期間”を設ける考えを明かした。プロ転向の決断を先延ばしするとした石井に「（柔道続行ならば）来年の福岡（４月・全日本選抜体重別）に出ないとみんな納得できないだろう」とデッドラインを示した。

　国際柔道連盟では、来年１月から五輪出場枠にかかわる世界ランキングを導入予定。石井がロンドンを目指すならば、４年間を通して「ある程度大会に出場し上位に入っていなければいけない」（同専務理事）。そのため、来年の世界選手権（ロッテルダム）の代表最終選考会となる選抜体重別が事実上のリミットとなり、半年以内に結論を出すことを求めた。

　一方、前日に全柔連の吉村和郎強化委員長（５７）が、石井の“追放”も示唆したが、上村専務理事は「本人が続けてくれるなら支持したい。退路を断つつもりはない」と軟化。それでも「総合に進みたいならば、彼の人生なので我々がイエス、ノーを言うことじゃない」と改めて慰留しない考えを示した。

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師匠が絶対の存在　３人の兄弟子「逆らえない」
2008.10.9 16:49

　時津風部屋の傷害致死事件の公判で、亡くなった斉藤俊さんに暴行を加えた３人の兄弟子は「親方（先代時津風親方の山本順一被告）は絶対的な立場で、絶対に逆らえなかった」などと証言した。３人が話したように、相撲部屋では師匠が絶対の存在である。

　８日に証言した時津風親方（元幕内時津海）は「オヤジ（師匠）は実の父親以上の存在。父親には逆らえるが、師匠に逆らうのには力士をやめる覚悟がいる」と発言。「３人は山本さんに暴行をさせられた被害者で、かわいそうでならない」とも述べている。

　横綱でも師匠には逆らえない。武蔵川理事長（元横綱三重ノ海）が育てたハワイ出身の横綱武蔵丸（現・武蔵丸親方）は負傷後、師匠の指示で腕をつったまま巡業に参加したこともある。理事長は「武蔵丸はおれに『分かりました』としかいわなかった。本当に分かっていたのかは知らないけどね」と苦笑混じりに振り返る。

　師匠次第で弟子も大きく変わる。横綱朝青龍の奔放な振る舞いを黙認し続ける高砂親方（元大関朝潮）は、角界内でも指導力不足が指摘されている。昨年３月に脳内出血で倒れた間垣親方（元２代目若乃花）は指導が行き届かなくなり、弟子だった元若ノ鵬が大麻に手を染める事態を招いてしまった。

　絶対の存在である以上、担う責任も重大だ。暴行の指示を否定している山本被告も、斉藤さんが瀕死（ひんし）の状態になるまでけいこをさせた責任は免れないだろう。時津風事件は、他の師匠にとっても対岸の火事というわけにはいかない。

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「一生をかけて償いたい」暴行の兄弟子が涙の謝罪

　時津風部屋の時太山＝当時（１７）、本名斉藤俊さん＝が暴行死した事件で、傷害致死罪に問われた兄弟子３人の公判が９日、名古屋地裁であり、伊塚雄一郎被告（２５）は被告人質問で「事件を忘れることなく、一生をかけて罪を償いたい」と涙ながらに父正人さん（５１）ら遺族に謝罪した。

　元親方の山本順一被告（５８）＝同罪で起訴＝については「親方は絶対的な立場で、絶対に逆らえなかった」と話した。伊塚被告は弁護側から「親方から理不尽なことを言われた場合、反対できるか」と問われ、「無理だと思う」「親方に殴られる」と答えた。「今思うと、殴られてでも（反対意見などを）言えばよかった」と述べた。

　ぶつかりげいこの際、金属バットを持ち出した点は「異常なことだった」とした。

　日本相撲協会は有罪が確定した時点で兄弟子３被告を解雇することを決めているが、伊塚被告は「斉藤さんにしたことを考えると当然」と述べた。

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時津風部屋暴行　兄弟子「親方の指示、異常だと思った」

2008年10月9日12時45分

　大相撲・時津風部屋の序ノ口力士斉藤俊（たかし）さん（当時１７）＝しこ名・時太山（ときたいざん）＝の暴行死事件で、傷害致死罪に問われた兄弟子３人の公判が９日、名古屋地裁であり、被告人質問が始まった。伊塚雄一郎被告（２５）＝怒濤（どとう）＝は、前親方の山本順一被告（５８）の指示について「異常だと思った」と話し、「取り返しのつかないことをして、申し訳ない」と涙を流して謝罪した。

　伊塚被告は、０７年６月２５日夜の大広間で、親方がビール瓶で斉藤さんの額を殴り、「おまえらも教えてやれ」と言われた時の状況について、「何のことか分からず、その場にいた兄弟子らは誰も動かなかった」と述べた。

　その後の親方の「鉄砲柱に縛り付けておけ」との指示については「本気とは思わなかった」と証言。しかし、木村正和（２５）＝明義豊＝、藤居正憲（２３）＝時王丸＝の両被告が斉藤さんを連れ出したため、「異常な指示だと思ったが、弟弟子だけにさせられないと思った」と、暴行に加わった経緯を話した。

　また、翌２６日のぶつかりげいこ後、親方が木の棒を斉藤さんの腹に当てて体重をかけていたのを見て「怖くなった」と話した。

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時津風親方出廷、先代親方を「情けない」

　大相撲時津風部屋新弟子死亡事件で、序ノ口力士の時太山（当時１７、本名・斉藤俊さん）を暴行し、死亡させたとして傷害致死罪に問われた伊塚雄一郎被告（２５）ら兄弟子３被告の第２回公判が８日、名古屋地裁で行われた。部屋関係者の証人尋問が行われ、現時津風親方（元幕内時津海）も出廷。斉藤さんへの暴行指示を否認している先代親方の山本順一被告（５８＝同罪で起訴）を「情けないと思う」と強く批判した。

　５日に断髪式を終えた時津風親方は「３人とも山本さんにやらされた被害者であり、かわいそうでなりません。師匠は雲の上の存在。業界的にも逆らうには相撲をやめる覚悟が必要。自分が（３被告と）同じ状況でも防げなかったと思う」などと裁判長に訴えた。

　事件当時、同親方は現役で、山本被告は師匠だった。昨年１０月、日本相撲協会を解雇される前に山本被告がテレビ出演して斉藤さんへの暴行は兄弟子たちの独断だったと印象づける発言をした。時津海（当時）は３被告に師匠と話すよう指示したが、山本被告は斉藤さんをビール瓶で殴るなど暴行の事実も、暴行を指示したことも「よく覚えていない」ととぼけたという。

　解雇に伴い同被告から部屋を継承した時津風親方は、この経緯も含めて同被告に憤りをみせた。「酒が入るとグダグダと説教し、オレのハンコ１つで（弟子を）首にできると言っていた。事件後、年寄名跡のお金（売上金）を投げ打っても、自分が何とかするといいながら、（暴行指示を否認するとは）情けない」。

　その上で「師匠が絶対ではなく、若い衆の言うこともいいことは聞き入れるようにした方がいい」と話した。「他の部屋でも起こりえたか」との問いにも「絶対にないとは言えない」とした。３４歳の師匠の証言と提言は、再発防止を責務とする角界関係者に響くだろうか。【柳田通斉】

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時津風親方が３被告かばう　傷害致死裁判で証言

2008年10月9日 紙面から

　大相撲の時津風部屋の序ノ口力士、時太山（ときたいざん）＝当時（１７）、本名斉藤俊（たかし）さん＝の傷害致死事件で、３人の被告の師匠である時津風親方（元幕内時津海）が８日、被告側証人として名古屋地裁で証言した。

　先代時津風親方の山本順一氏について、「師匠は父親以上の存在。父親には逆らえるが、師匠には逆らえない。師匠に逆らうことは、力士をやめる覚悟がないとできない。（若い衆にとって）雲の上の存在」と、逆らうことができない山本氏の指示で起こったことだと証言した。

　また、斉藤さんが死亡したことは「申し訳ない気持ちでいっぱい」と語り、同時に「彼ら３人（被告）も山本さんにやらされた被害者。かわいそうでなりません。（山本氏が）もっとちゃんとしたことを言っていればこうならなかった」と話した。

　部屋を継承する際に山本氏から「年寄名跡のお金をなげうってでも全部やる（面倒見る）」と言われたが、その後で話が食い違ったことに不信感をあらわにした。

　まげを切り落とした３人は、時津風親方が入廷すると、それまで我慢していた涙があふれ出していたが「後ろ姿しか見えなかったが反省しているのが伝わってきた。斉藤君をしっかりさせようとしただけだと思う」と語った。

　有罪が決まれば相撲協会から解雇されるが「職がないならできる限りのことをしたい」と今後も面倒を見ていくと話していた。

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時津風親方「３人とも前親方の被害者」…力士暴行死事件

　　大相撲時津風部屋の時太山（当時１７歳、本名・斉藤俊さん）が暴行死した事件で、傷害致死罪に問われた兄弟子３被告の第２回公判が８日、名古屋地裁で開かれた。時津風親方（元幕内・時津海）も出廷し、３被告への情状酌量を訴えた。

　時津風親方（元幕内・時津海）が法廷で３被告と涙の対面を果たした。午後３時３分、弁護側の証人として出廷。丸刈り姿の３被告は現役時代から慕っていた親方の姿を見て号泣。２０分の証言中に、声を上げ泣き通していた。

　刑事事件の裁判で現役親方の出廷は初。この日も東京・両国の部屋で朝げいこの指導を終え、スーツ姿で出廷した。事件は山本被告の指示で起きたことを主張し「弟子にとって師匠は雲の上の存在。３人とも山本さんにやらされた被害者。かわいそうでなりません」と訴え、山本被告の行為を「いきすぎていた」と断じた。

　また、昨年１０月に山本被告が３被告に「自分が責任を取る」と言いながら、テレビでは正反対の発言をして相談された新事実も明かした。３人を山本被告へ直談判させたが発言をとぼけたため、一門の理事の伊勢ノ海親方（元関脇・藤ノ川）に相談し３被告を愛知県警に事情説明のため出頭させたという。証言後、時津風親方は引退を覚悟した丸刈り姿に「つらくて見ていない。将来は個人的に支援していきたい」と、社会復帰の際には師匠として助けていく考えを明かした。

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「けいこ」「制裁」兄弟子２人の証言食い違い…力士暴行死事件

　大相撲時津風部屋の時太山（当時１７歳、本名・斉藤俊さん）が暴行死した事件で、傷害致死罪に問われた兄弟子３被告の第２回公判が８日、名古屋地裁で開かれた。証人として３被告の兄弟子となる時津風部屋の現役力士と、事件後に引退した元力士が出廷。斉藤さんが死亡した０７年６月２６日にあったぶつかりげいこを巡って、証言が真っ向から対立した。この日は時津風親方（元幕内・時津海）も出廷し、３被告への情状酌量を訴えた。

　ぶつかりげいこを巡る兄弟子の証言が真っ向から対立した。２人は暴行に加わったが、かかわり合いが低いとして書類送検された。最初の証人としてまげ姿で出廷した現役力士は「通常のけいこだった」と証言したが、続いて検察側の証人として出廷した元力士は「斉藤君が逃げたことへの制裁だった」と明言。斉藤さんに胸を出した序二段・明義豊こと木村正和被告（２５）の行動を「転がせていた」とする現役力士に対し元力士は「土俵にたたきつけるよう」と反論。土俵さながらの激しい突っ張り合いが法廷で展開された。

　２人はともに初土俵が９６年春の同期生で３被告の兄弟子。最高位も同じ幕下だったが、今回の事件でたもとを分かつ格好だ。元力士は前親方の山本順一被告（５８）から事件２日後の６月２８日に「ビール瓶で殴ったことは話すな」と指示され、「ついていけない」とその夜に愛知・犬山市内の宿舎から逃げ出し、犬山署に駆け込んだという。その後、引退し現在は飲食店で働いている。立場の違いが証言に表れた可能性があるが、事件は山本被告の指示が原因という点では証言は一致している。

　３被告が傷害致死罪を認めた今、最大の争点は３被告の量刑にかかわる一連の暴行、ぶつかりげいこで制裁の意思があったかどうかにかかってくるが、一部の暴行に加担し目撃した２人の証言は重要になる。

　弁護側は元力士が東京の部屋で斉藤さんを単独で暴行した事実を取り上げ、３人の被告と立場は「同じです」と答えた。一方、検察側は元力士が最初からぶつかりげいこは「おかしいと思っていた」と話した供述調書を否定し、「検事さんにお前はバカかとか、言わないと帰さないと言われた」とあたかも自白を強要させられたかのような証言に激しく迫った。兄弟子同士の対決も生まれた裁判は、９日に被告人質問があり、真相解明へ向けた最大のヤマ場を迎える。

　◆時津風部屋力士死亡事件　昨年６月２５日、序ノ口力士の斉藤俊さんが、愛知・犬山市内の時津風部屋宿舎で前時津風親方の山本被告からビール瓶で殴られるなどの暴行を受けた。さらに、てっぽう柱に縛り付けられ暴行された。斉藤さんは２６日にも約３０分ものぶつかりげいこを強いられ、さらに伊塚被告が金属バットで殴った。意識不明となった斉藤さんは、同日午後２時１０分、搬送先の病院で死亡した。