05/07/2011 GMT with George Alagiah

Britain confirms plans to step back from combat duties in Afghanistan.

David Cameron says he is confident that the country will be able to

look after its own security by the end of 2014. As we see a stronger

and more confident national Afghan army, stronger Afghan police, many

of whom we have trained ourselves, and also the Afghan local police, I

do believe it is right to start planning the withdrawal of some of

Welcome to GMT. Also in the programme: He's back and in

fighting spirit. The Venezuelan President makes a surprise return

from Cuba following treatment for cancer.

And a cultural taste of a changing world. 100 artists descend on

London this month as part of a new Well, it is 12.30 in London, 7:30am

in Washington and 4pm in Afghanistan, where NATO has

confirmed the death of another four soldiers. There were killed in the

east of the country, where foreign troops, mostly American, are

battling a fierce Taliban insurgency. Despite this and

previous losses, both American and British leaders do believe that the

tide is turning against the Taliban. On a visit to Afghanistan today,

the Prime Minister David Cameron has confirmed that he is planning

to withdraw more combat troops in David Cameron's latest visit to

Afghanistan comes at a critical time. There is talk of a new phase

as plans are advanced to withdraw some forces. Yesterday, Mr Cameron

met both British and American troops and Helmand province. But

the death on the same day of a British soldier underlined how

dangerous the situation still is. In Kabul today, with President

Hamid Karzai, Mr Cameron said he was confident that, overall, things

were on track. I do believe it is right, as we build up the Afghan

national security forces, as we see a stronger and more confident

national Afghan army, stronger Afghan police, many of whom we have

trained ourselves, and also the local police, I do believe it is

right to start planning the withdrawal of some of our troops.

We start with 9500. There are about 426 coming home this year. I will

be making an announcement in the House of Commons tomorrow about a

modest reduction that will take place next year. The Afghan

President said that his people had to take charge of their own

security. This, of course, does not mean that there should be a sudden,

immediate end to the systems to Afghanistan. Or to co-operation

between Afghanistan and its allies, like the United Kingdom. But a

process in which Afghanistan increasingly becomes in charge of

its own affairs, all of its affairs, and where, increasingly, we are no

longer a burden on our allies. Increasingly, time lines are being

set. British combat operations in Afghanistan will finish by the end

of 2014. But David Cameron says there will be a long-term

relationship to build the country, based around trade, diplomacy and

Well, Quentin Sommerville is live with us from Kabul. Let's speak to

him now. First things first, the Prime Minister is talking about a

radical reduction in the threat from the Taliban, from terrorists.

Is the evidence in Afghanistan backing that claim? In some areas,

yes. Down in the south, in the provinces of Helmand and Kandahar,

when we visited there, it is certainly a lot less violent than

it has been in the past. The security situation seems to be

improving and we are seeing more and more Afghan troops on the

ground. When you speak to commanders, they say it is because

of the surge, the extra troops that flooded into Afghanistan,

principally from the United States. That has made a big difference.

When David Cameron and President Obama start talking about drawing

down their troops, are the Afghan security forces ready to step in

and are they able to do the job to the same level that their

international allies have been doing, in terms of keeping the

Taliban away? The Afghan people want foreign troops to leave. In

many cases, they are holding their breath to see if they themselves

will be able to keep the Taliban at bay. America and the UK have always

emphasised a legacy for their work in Afghanistan. Now they have

announced a training base for the Afghan army. Tell us how that will

work. That's right, it's going to be a Sandhurst College, the top

military college in the UK, there will be a fishing in Afghanistan to

help teach the future leaders of the Afghan security forces. We also

have an indication from the Prime Minister, from David Cameron, that

there will be continuing support in terms of international aid to

Afghanistan, that Britain would not weaken in that. I have to say,

Britain is going to be standing pretty much alone in that. Many

countries will significantly pull back their aid commitment,

particularly the United States, after troops finished their combat

operations at the end of 2014. Quentin Sommerville, live from

Kabul. Now, let's look at some of the other stories making headlines

around the world today. We begin in Iraq, where two explosions have

killed more than 30 people in the town of Taji, north of the capital

Baghdad. Officials say the blast happened almost simultaneously at a

government building that issues identity cards. One official said

that the first explosion was a car bomb and the building was full of

people. David Cameron says that claims that

a private investigator working for the News of the World newspaper

hacked into the phone of a murdered teenager, Milly Dowler, are

shocking. Executives from News International, the company owned by

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, are due to meet police shortly to

discuss the allegations. A court in the Netherlands has

ruled that the Dutch state was responsible for the deaths of three

Muslim men in 1995 after dish -- the fall of Srebrenica. The men

were handed to Bosnian Serb forces by Dutch UN troops.

A shipment or fenugreek seeds from Egypt is the most likely source of

the E.coli epidemic to sweep Europe, according to the European Food

Safety Authority. All and 4000 people in Europe and North America

have been infected by outbreaks so far. The infection has killed more

than 50 people in Germany and there has been one death in America,

France and Sweden. In Japan, the Minister for

Reconstruction has resigned after just a week in the job. Ryu

Matsumoto was criticised for offending victims of the disaster

when he said that communities would not receive help unless they came

Well, police in the state of New South Wales will have the power to

demand the removal of burkas and other face coverings to identify

people suspected of committing crimes. The law has been changed in

reaction to a high profile Sydney case involving a Muslim woman and a

police officer during a routine traffic stop. Refusing to comply

with the new rule could lead to up The very public battle over

allegations that a woman falsely accused a policeman of ripping off

her veil has seen the Government close what police regarded as a

legal loophole. I think it's a victory for commonsense and police

on the front line. Soon, anyone who has their face covered must reveal

it if an officer tells them to. Otherwise they risk a hefty $5,500

fine or a year in jail. I think it's wrong, each to their own. Why

should they have to show themselves to people? They should follow the

law. It doesn't matter if you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim...

woman came to Australia almost 20 years ago and has always covered

her face. We think in Islam that ladies are really, really precious.

But she says she is not above the law. The ABC has spoken to several

women who would wear the niqab or the burka. They say they are

comfortable with the new laws, but they prefer to show their face to a

female police officer. The Australian-Muslim Women's

Association says a sensitive balance needs to be struck. It's a

matter of how each party handles themselves from hereon in. The

Muslim community complying and reasonably requesting a female

police officer and the police force acting in a reasonable manner

without any force or coercion, in a respectful way. There are only a

limited amount of police to police each area.

Islamic groups say it will come down to a matter of trust. There

has to be a lot of engagement with people from the Muslim community,

especially the women. Other states will be watching how New South

Now, tomorrow Venezuela will mark the 200 anniversary of the

independence from Spain. The man he would expect to be at the centre of

the celebrations will not be attending. Hugo Chavez says he will

watch from the presidential palace, as he is still too unwell to attend.

His recent treatment for cancer did not stop him from addressing

thousands of supporters in Caracas. He told them that their backing was

the best medicine for whatever illness. Despite the performance,

many questions remain about his ill-health and its implications.

Let's talk to Michael Reid, the American's editor for the Economist

magazine. He joins us from central London. The message from Hugo

Chavez has been, I am still in charge, the show still goes on. Is

that realistic? Well, that has very much been the message. There are

many things that the Venezuelan people, and we don't know about his

medical complex -- condition. We don't know how advanced the cancer

was, what kind of cancer it was, what kind of treatment he will

require over the next three months. It's reasonable to assume that he

will need chemotherapy. It's reasonable to assume that he will

not be restored to vigorous good health for some weeks or months.

That does raise some questions about what will happen in Venezuela

in the next period. We know from various reports that there has been

some jockeying for position amongst his allies, just in case he has to

step aside for a few months and they need someone to take over.

Isn't the point here that with Chavez it is personal, without him,

what he is driving forward in Venezuela is it possible? That's

absolutely right. It's a highly personal EST regime. It's been all

about President Chavez. The reason he suddenly came back from Cuba was

precisely because there were signs that jockeying for power was

breaking out within the ranks of his supporters. It's in the nature

of these regimes that no successor, there is no heir, there is no

designated successor. He also faces a crucial presidential election

next year. So, I think he wanted to make sure that the battle for power

within his organisation didn't get out of hand. What about the

opposition? Where does a poorly Hugo Chavez leave them? Well, they

already had quite a good chance of winning next year's presidential

election. One assumes that, depending on what happens, and he

may well make a full recovery and be just as vigorous and active as

he was before, but there has to be some doubt about that. Clearly,

that doubt gives them a bigger opportunity, provided they stay

together. The historic failure of the a Venezuelan opposition has

been a failure to unite. They need to pick a plausible presidential

candidate and unite behind that candidate. Then they will be in

with quite a strong chance. Good to speak to you, thank you very much

indeed. Michael Reid from the Economist.

We have some extraordinary pictures from China. Chinese emergency

services on Monday, staging a dramatic rescue of dozens of people

that was stranded on a bridge which had collapsed under the force of

surging floodwaters. This is all coming from a report by the state

broadcaster, CCTV. The floods were triggered by days of heavy rain,

the rain brought down the bridge in Sichuan province. As you can see,

they were improvising with all sorts of different techniques to

try and get people to safety. There, they are using a rope. In a moment

we will also see a huge crane being used as well. The fear was that the

cables would break. They were not particularly secure. The good news

is that they didn't. The standard workers eventually fetched a crane

from their plant and they successfully used it to lift

colleagues to safety. Absolutely extraordinary. The county where

this is taking place was the epicentre of a massive earthquake

two years ago which claimed almost Still to come, we are going to talk

about a new festival of Arab art in London. Also, there has been

outrage at Indy as the country's health minister Brian's

homosexuality a disease. -- in Now Aaron is here with the business.

We have spent so much time talking about the Greeks and their debt.

You're going to be talk about the Americans. Yes unthinkable that we

could be asking who defaults first - Greece or the United States? But

the potential is there. The United States has four weeks until it runs

out of money and has a debt of $14.3 trillion and Barack Obama is

urging them to raise the debt ceiling. Here is the problem.

Republicans are at loggerheads with democrats. They say we want

spending times. The democrats say hang on, we want to raise taxes on

the rich to help pay off the debt. But whatever the outcome, if they

don't do something soon, the US defaulting is possible. Listen to

this. It has potential to be catastrophic for the US markets and

it would mean the US has to pay higher interest rates and it would

I think really be a something that the US taxpayers would get upset

about. Everyone is saying a deal will be agreed. But there is a lot

of ground to cover. I was mentioning the Greeks, when they

get a bailout, the Germans pay more and now somebody has taken this to

the courts. Yes we have known for some time the Germans dislike these

Irish and Greek rescue pots. You have said it, let's not kid

ourselves, the Germans are the pay master in the eurozone and today

the constitutional court in Germany will listen to complaints brought

by Markus Kerber who says the money is unconstitutional, because they

were organised by the European Commission and the central bank and

not by German Parliament. Here is the man himself. Parliament has an

obligation to control public funds and expenditure. They cannot give a

general authorisation to sovereign national agencies to... Spend money

for the sake of rescuing the euro or rescuing the stability of the

eurozone. There is is a man being seen as a man who will block the

bailout and it could throw the European Parliament in disarray.

That is the business for now. do remember you can get in touch

This is GMT. Our headlines: Laying out the long-term - the Prime

Minister visits Afghanistan as his forces begin the handover to local

security. And back home, Hugo Chavez returns from Cuba, following

Let's look at story that's rapidly becoming one of the most read

online. Ghulam Nabi Azad is India's Health Minister and yesterday he

told a conference on HIV-AIDS that homosexuality is a disease. He also

said it's more common in the developed world, but is spreading

fast in India. We can speak to our correspondent, Sanjoy Majumder. Has

he ever said these things before? Well he has not made comments on

homosexuality before. He has made other comments which haven't gone

down well. You can imagine the reaction these comments have got.

Particularly because of the timing and the venue. The fact that he was

making the comments at a conference which was aimed at preventing the

spread of HIV and AIDS. He made remarks that you have mentioned,

that homosexuality, he described as an unnatural act, alien to India

and brought by westerners and spreading. The gay community as

well as gay campaigners in India are outraged. Not just because of

the place he said this, but also the fact that they feel that apart

from being ignorant, this could feed into campaigners from

conservative groups from the religious right, who are opposed to

any attempt at legalising homosexuality. Put this in

contexted, homosexuality was decriminalised two years ago, is

that right? Yes, this is a community that is active in India

and two years ago the courts put out, struck down a law that dated

back to the 19th century, under which a homosexual act was a

criminal offence and you could be sent to ten years in prison that.

Ruling was welcomed and in the last couple of years, cities have

witnessed very large gay pride parades. But socially it is still,

same sex relationships are considered a taboo. The community

receives widespread discrimination and it is hard for them to carry

out a normal life and that is why they're upset. They say coming from

a minister, it almost seems as if it represents the Government's

point of view. It makes their life more difficult. Thank you. For most

of July London will play host to a new arts festival called Shubbak, a

Window on Contemporary Arab Culture. Around 100 Arab writers, actors,

artists, musicians and film-makers from around the world will be

showcasing their works. Two of them are joining me here. Ghulam Nabyi

Azad and Weal Shawky. -- - Is this necessary? Yes it is a good

opportunity to participate in such an event. I'm not sure if this is

really happening only now. Many institutions are already doing this

before. But maybe now it became the right time to focus on this. Both

of you are going to be exhibited your work. Let's look at a couple

of of the films you will be showing. Tell us more about it. These are

familiars that were part of the Dubai International Film Festival

and we are showing some of the winners in that festival. That

particular film is an interesting experimental film by a Palestinian

film maker based in Holland. The idea is to show case films, artists

and photographers who find it difficult in London's crowded

market and of course London is an important market, to be seen and to

be appreciated by audiences here. Arab and non-Arab alike. We can

pull up some of the images that people which see at your exhibits.

-- will see at your exhibits. Talk us through these. This is part of,

actually these are two different sew lows I have now in the UK. One

in Liverpool at the Walker gallery. Another one in London. Actually,

this is, yeah, so there is one of them that you have seen the image

of now. The question all of our viewers will want to ask, how are

the Arab uprising affecting Arab art? I think that objective

circumstances will affect what you think and feel and how you express

yourself. Of course how long this will take and what, I don't think

it is an automatic process, but it is a fascinating thing to watch.

This festival in particular will offer us a window as it says, to

appreciate some of the changes and the interesting things that this

new reality will take. What about you, there are plenty of protests

in Alexandria. It is already happening. Usually I'm sceptical

about these kind of events that says Arab or middle eastern Arab

art. But I think it is still a good opportunity to meet interesting

people, most of them are my friends. And also to make it more possible

for people that don't have that much access to art in general.

is the first time in London that we have a festival dedicated to the

whole region, special think contemporary output. That is

precious. The festival has arts is tick goals, does it have political

goals and are you saying come and support change? We don't organise

the festival. The mayor's office does. With reference to your work.

In terms of the UK, it is important, it is the first time we're looked

at as one culture. I think is debatable but it is interesting.

Secondly it is a secular approach and we're not just treats from a

religious point of view. And for the UK and London's Arab population

in particular, it is a great opportunity, and gives us

confidence to share and be part of the same city and it is wonderful.

Are you trying to make a political point, or just make art? I think

I'm just trying to make art in this case. But showing part of the peace

in lifplts was also showing something about -- in Liverpool was

showing something about how cultures see each other. Because

part of my work is about cliches and how people see the other

cultures and I think yeah, showing that, making a decision to show

part of it was part of this. Good to pleat you, thank you. Finally,

here's a man enjoying life at the moment - Novak Djokovic became