:09:35. > :09:43.It has only got the sauce which it used... The source his opponents of
:09:43. > :09:53.Ethiopia, who have been rejected by the electorate and who have been
:09:53. > :09:58.time and again have already shown that their allegations are
:09:58. > :10:06.unfounded. If you look at, for example... Do you disbelieve these
:10:06. > :10:13.women were raped and tortured? 1 had marks on her feet. These are
:10:13. > :10:21.women and grandmothers. These are in the refugee camp. Pardon? Only
:10:21. > :10:25.one way in the camp. I don't think so. They were. No. He was reporting
:10:25. > :10:30.from the refugee camp. He spoke to one woman in the refugee camp and
:10:30. > :10:34.he spoke to others within the country. Ambassador, whether these
:10:34. > :10:41.women are opposition supporters or not, presumably you condemn any
:10:41. > :10:47.kind of torture or abuse? Yes. I was generally talking about the
:10:47. > :10:52.report. As far as torture and rape is concerned, the Ethiopian
:10:52. > :10:59.government is a government actually that is governed by the rule of law.
:10:59. > :11:03.That human rights and also democratic rights are enshrined
:11:03. > :11:08.within it the Ethiopian constitution. The so what happens
:11:08. > :11:15.imprison men because in the present in Addis Ababa we heard there were
:11:15. > :11:20.men that had their heads held under water, their genitals were smashed,
:11:20. > :11:24.they had electric currents put through their body? This is a
:11:24. > :11:28.complete rehash and recycling of all delegations for which no
:11:28. > :11:33.government has time and again and repeatedly has given actually
:11:33. > :11:38.answers to four. What about having a UN special rapporteur on torture
:11:38. > :11:46.to go into the country? And look around the prisons and speak to
:11:46. > :11:50.people with my what I am saying is, for example, your reporter was
:11:50. > :11:55.saying that your reporter was not allowed and he was reporting for at
:11:55. > :12:03.is at the back! He was undercover, ambassador.
:12:03. > :12:13.No, he was reporting... What I am saying is... Very recently, one of
:12:13. > :12:15.
:12:15. > :12:19.your reporters was actually in Ethiopia. He was reporting in a...?
:12:19. > :12:25.Ambassador, it is important to understand the BBC position. He had
:12:25. > :12:31.to go in under cover. He would not have been allowed entry. But who
:12:31. > :12:36.are his sources? Who took him inside the country? The opposition
:12:37. > :12:41.group. The two organisations... spoke to many villages and he spoke
:12:41. > :12:51.to scores of people and one particular point, let's talk about
:12:51. > :12:52.
:12:52. > :12:59.the farmer who said he had neither fertiliser... One village would be
:12:59. > :13:03.on the edge of fertilisation, and with no crops and everything, but
:13:03. > :13:09.the next village, people were not stopping and the village that was
:13:09. > :13:12.in much greater trouble was the village with opposition forces. The
:13:12. > :13:19.village that was looked after better work government supporters.
:13:19. > :13:25.Do you deny that? Yes. In 2003 15,000 people -- 50 million people
:13:25. > :13:33.were requiring assistance -- 15 million people were requiring
:13:33. > :13:43.assistance. Now only 4.5 million people are requiring assistance.
:13:43. > :13:47.The government is putting priority in making sure that the only...
:13:47. > :13:52.These people, who are saying they have starved, have never actually
:13:52. > :13:56.is daft. So the UN report on torture, Amnesty International,
:13:56. > :14:01.Human Rights Watch. They are all lying and talking nonsense? And
:14:01. > :14:06.Newsnight? The Independent investigations have already been
:14:06. > :14:16.carried out and as a matter of fact, by saying my government is stopping
:14:16. > :14:17.
:14:17. > :14:21.people, and the use of aid money and paid resources, the donor
:14:21. > :14:25.assistance group has already investigated independently and they
:14:25. > :14:31.have already found that these allegations were completely
:14:31. > :14:35.unfounded and were fabricated. last point. Do you think you would
:14:35. > :14:39.let not only the UN special wrapper taught him but did you think that
:14:39. > :14:44.journalists should be allowed into the country to travel wherever they
:14:44. > :14:48.wish to speak to whomsoever they wish? Journalists of all
:14:49. > :14:58.nationalities to make their own judgments? By journalists who have
:14:59. > :15:00.
:15:00. > :15:06.special agendas, who have been working closely actually with
:15:06. > :15:10.terrorist organisations will still not be allowed. The UN rapporteur?
:15:10. > :15:15.They will be able to do that. Excellent, ambassador. Thank you
:15:15. > :15:17.very much indeed. Unfortunately, there was no one
:15:17. > :15:27.from the Department of International Development tonight
:15:27. > :15:40.
:15:40. > :15:44.On tonight's programme: Politicians falling over themselves in the
:15:44. > :15:49.outrage stakes. The Scottish Government publishes meetings and
:15:49. > :15:51.correspondence between Alex Salmond and Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
:15:51. > :15:59.Cue indignation with claims and counter-claims of blatant
:15:59. > :16:02.sycophancy and delusional hypocrisy. And Scottish students learn their
:16:02. > :16:06.fate, by installments. What prospects await them in the labour
:16:06. > :16:09.and higher education markets? Good evening. There were
:16:09. > :16:15.invitations to the theatre, the opera and a golf tournament, and a
:16:15. > :16:17.notable warm tone in the exchanges between "Rupert" and "Alex".
:16:17. > :16:20.Letters have been released today by the Scottish Government detailing
:16:20. > :16:24.the relationship between the First Minister and senior executives at
:16:24. > :16:34.News Corporation. Lists of meetings between all ministers and media
:16:34. > :16:38.
:16:38. > :16:45.Today's documents also show first ministers met with executives of
:16:45. > :16:50.News International 25 times since 2007. The correspondence includes
:16:50. > :16:54.letters from Les Hinton, James Murdoch and Rupert Murdoch. In a
:16:54. > :17:03.letter to Rupert Murdoch, Alex Salmond refers to a meeting with
:17:03. > :17:06.him in New York earlier that month in 2007. He said: He found his
:17:06. > :17:11.views both stimulating and insightful. He goes on to say he
:17:11. > :17:20.was delighted Rupert Murdoch became a member of the global Scottish
:17:20. > :17:23.Rupert Murdoch replied to an invitation to the homecoming
:17:23. > :17:29.celebration saying, thank you very much for your letter and beautiful
:17:29. > :17:35.brochure. He said he had forwarded Alex Salmond's suggestion that Sky
:17:35. > :17:45.should televise it. Alex Salmond wrote to James Murdoch saying it
:17:45. > :17:47.
:17:47. > :17:53.was a pleasure to meet him in London. Murdoch wrote to
:17:53. > :17:57.congratulate the first minister saying they look forward to working
:17:57. > :18:01.with his administration. Alex Salmond replied saying, I wanted to
:18:01. > :18:04.thank you personally for your kind words of support. I am very
:18:04. > :18:13.grateful for your support and look forward to working with you in the
:18:13. > :18:17.future. Guests and invitations have been passed between the two. Alex
:18:17. > :18:23.Salmond offered tickets to Mr Murdoch and up to four guests to
:18:23. > :18:29.see a play in New York. Mr Murdoch gave Mr Salmond a book. Rupert
:18:29. > :18:33.Murdoch was invited to the Ryder Cup in 2008 as part of the Scottish
:18:33. > :18:38.delegation. He would have been provided with entry tickets and
:18:38. > :18:43.full hospitality. Mr Murdoch did not take up the offer. He was also
:18:43. > :18:49.invited by the first minister to be a special guest at the gathering in
:18:49. > :18:53.2009. The First Minister and his wife were invited to the opera in