04/08/2011 Newsnight Scotland

It has only got the sauce which it used... The source his opponents of

Ethiopia, who have been rejected by the electorate and who have been

time and again have already shown that their allegations are

unfounded. If you look at, for example... Do you disbelieve these

women were raped and tortured? 1 had marks on her feet. These are

women and grandmothers. These are in the refugee camp. Pardon? Only

one way in the camp. I don't think so. They were. No. He was reporting

from the refugee camp. He spoke to one woman in the refugee camp and

he spoke to others within the country. Ambassador, whether these

women are opposition supporters or not, presumably you condemn any

kind of torture or abuse? Yes. I was generally talking about the

report. As far as torture and rape is concerned, the Ethiopian

government is a government actually that is governed by the rule of law.

That human rights and also democratic rights are enshrined

within it the Ethiopian constitution. The so what happens

imprison men because in the present in Addis Ababa we heard there were

men that had their heads held under water, their genitals were smashed,

they had electric currents put through their body? This is a

complete rehash and recycling of all delegations for which no

government has time and again and repeatedly has given actually

answers to four. What about having a UN special rapporteur on torture

to go into the country? And look around the prisons and speak to

people with my what I am saying is, for example, your reporter was

saying that your reporter was not allowed and he was reporting for at

is at the back! He was undercover, ambassador.

No, he was reporting... What I am saying is... Very recently, one of

your reporters was actually in Ethiopia. He was reporting in a...?

Ambassador, it is important to understand the BBC position. He had

to go in under cover. He would not have been allowed entry. But who

are his sources? Who took him inside the country? The opposition

group. The two organisations... spoke to many villages and he spoke

to scores of people and one particular point, let's talk about

the farmer who said he had neither fertiliser... One village would be

on the edge of fertilisation, and with no crops and everything, but

the next village, people were not stopping and the village that was

in much greater trouble was the village with opposition forces. The

village that was looked after better work government supporters.

Do you deny that? Yes. In 2003 15,000 people -- 50 million people

were requiring assistance -- 15 million people were requiring

assistance. Now only 4.5 million people are requiring assistance.

The government is putting priority in making sure that the only...

These people, who are saying they have starved, have never actually

is daft. So the UN report on torture, Amnesty International,

Human Rights Watch. They are all lying and talking nonsense? And

Newsnight? The Independent investigations have already been

carried out and as a matter of fact, by saying my government is stopping

people, and the use of aid money and paid resources, the donor

assistance group has already investigated independently and they

have already found that these allegations were completely

unfounded and were fabricated. last point. Do you think you would

let not only the UN special wrapper taught him but did you think that

journalists should be allowed into the country to travel wherever they

wish to speak to whomsoever they wish? Journalists of all

nationalities to make their own judgments? By journalists who have

special agendas, who have been working closely actually with

terrorist organisations will still not be allowed. The UN rapporteur?

They will be able to do that. Excellent, ambassador. Thank you

very much indeed. Unfortunately, there was no one

from the Department of International Development tonight

On tonight's programme: Politicians falling over themselves in the

outrage stakes. The Scottish Government publishes meetings and

correspondence between Alex Salmond and Rupert Murdoch's media empire.

Cue indignation with claims and counter-claims of blatant

sycophancy and delusional hypocrisy. And Scottish students learn their

fate, by installments. What prospects await them in the labour

and higher education markets? Good evening. There were

invitations to the theatre, the opera and a golf tournament, and a

notable warm tone in the exchanges between "Rupert" and "Alex".

Letters have been released today by the Scottish Government detailing

the relationship between the First Minister and senior executives at

News Corporation. Lists of meetings between all ministers and media

Today's documents also show first ministers met with executives of

News International 25 times since 2007. The correspondence includes

letters from Les Hinton, James Murdoch and Rupert Murdoch. In a

letter to Rupert Murdoch, Alex Salmond refers to a meeting with

him in New York earlier that month in 2007. He said: He found his

views both stimulating and insightful. He goes on to say he

was delighted Rupert Murdoch became a member of the global Scottish

Rupert Murdoch replied to an invitation to the homecoming

celebration saying, thank you very much for your letter and beautiful

brochure. He said he had forwarded Alex Salmond's suggestion that Sky

should televise it. Alex Salmond wrote to James Murdoch saying it

was a pleasure to meet him in London. Murdoch wrote to

congratulate the first minister saying they look forward to working

with his administration. Alex Salmond replied saying, I wanted to

thank you personally for your kind words of support. I am very

grateful for your support and look forward to working with you in the

future. Guests and invitations have been passed between the two. Alex

Salmond offered tickets to Mr Murdoch and up to four guests to

see a play in New York. Mr Murdoch gave Mr Salmond a book. Rupert

Murdoch was invited to the Ryder Cup in 2008 as part of the Scottish

delegation. He would have been provided with entry tickets and

full hospitality. Mr Murdoch did not take up the offer. He was also

invited by the first minister to be a special guest at the gathering in

2009. The First Minister and his wife were invited to the opera in