FDLR PRESS RELEASE NR. 06/SE/CD/JULY/2009

The FDLR urge the International Community to impose sanctions against the dictatorial,
bloody and hegemonic Kigali regime that sows confusion, death and insecurity in the African
Great Lakes Region.
The Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) strongly condemn the recent statements of
Paul Kagame in which he rejected any prospect of negotiations with the FDLR in order to find a
peaceful negotiated solution to the political problem of Rwanda.
The FDLR urge the media, the people of the African Great Lakes Region and the International
Community, especially the African Union, the European Union and the United Nations to condemn
unequivocally the war that the Kigali regime is currently waging in North and South Kivu under the
disguised label of the "CNDP" and to impose immediate sanctions against senior officials of that
regime.
The FDLR recall that the CNDP is nothing but a creation of Kagame to lead a hegemonic war in
Eastern DRC where more than 10,000 soldiers of the hegemonic Kigali regime are currently
disguised under the label of CNDP, a number of which are officially mixed with the FARDC. The
recent statements of the dictator Kagame that he is considering a return of Rwandan troops in the
DRC are merely manoeuvres to mislead the international opinion because his troops are already
present in the DRC where they are committing atrocities against the Congolese civil population and
against Rwandan refugees, pretending that those atrocities are committed by Rwandan and
Congolese armed groups, the main one being actually the CNDP.
The FDLR consider that the Rwandan and Congolese people who have lost more than 7 million of
their relatives in less than 2 decades have paid a heavy price and do not need any other war which
would only increase their troubles and their suffering.

The FDLR remain convinced that the Rwandan problem is essentially political and can never be
resolved by war but through a direct and frank dialogue, without preconditions, between the Kigali
regime and the FDLR with the support of the International Community.
The FDLR recall that the warmongers like Kagame and his cronies who want to continue to put fire
on the African Great Lakes Region should be aware that the war they preach can not put an end to
the immense suffering of Rwandan and Congolese civilian populations, solve the political problem
of Rwanda, bring democracy and good governance in Rwanda and stop the plundering of resources
of the African Great Lakes region.
The FDLR remind warmongers like Kagame and the senior members of the Kigali regime that they
will sooner or later answer for crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes of genocide, crimes against
humanity and other heinous crimes they are committing against the peace-loving peoples of the
African Great Lakes Region since October 1990.
The FDLR reaffirm their commitments made in Rome as stated in their Declaration of 31 March
2005 and urge once again the Kigali regime to sit on the same table in the process of Rome, to find
a peaceful solution to the political problem of Rwanda.
Done in Paris on 30 July 2009
Callixte Mbarushimana
Executive Secretary of the FDLR
(Sé)

Kagame refuses to negociate with FDLR

Rwanda is prepared to take part in further joint military operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo to root out rebels operating there, President Paul Kagame said on Monday.Congolese and Rwandan soldiers launched a joint operation in January against Hutu militia known as FDLR who took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide, and who are also seen as a root cause of 15 years of festering conflict in eastern Congo.Rwanda pulled out a month later and the rebels retook ground they lost during the offensive."We continue to be ready to work on solutions ... including military operations... at short notice," Kagame said.Anti-FDLR operations began after a deal between Congo and Rwanda, but residents say they have not had much impact on the group's estimated 6,000-strong fighting force.They marked a dramatic shift in regional politics, with Rwanda helping end a Congolese rebellion Kigali had been previously accused of backing in exchange for being allowed to send its army to fight the Rwandan rebels."The relationship between Rwanda and DRC has been improving very fast. I'd say it's now at a good level. We want not only to keep it there, but also to advance it ... for the good of the people of the whole region," Kagame told a news conference.However, tensions still remain between the two countries over the whereabouts of warlord Laurent Nkunda, head of the CNDP Tutsi militia operating in the eastern Congo, who Rwanda arrested in January."Laurent Nkunda is not the problem in DRC. He's a very small part of the problem. We need to look beyond him to the bigger issues," Kagame said.Some analysts have recommended that the two governments negotiate with FDLR members not wanted for genocide."They say, 'talk to the FDLR', but which one? Moderates? If they were moderates they would have returned home," Kagame said.The United Nations peacekeeping force MONUC says more than 1,200 former combatants have returned to Rwanda this year alone thanks to the joint military operations between Rwanda and Congo and non-military efforts.Rwanda first invaded Congo in 1996 to hunt down FDLR rebels and Kigali's army ended up toppling the government in Kinshasa and much of the fighting in Congo degenerated into a scrap over mines.

Firms Fuelling 'Conflict Minerals' Violence, Report Says

WASHINGTON, Jul 21 (IPS) - Several international companies are named as helping to prolong the more than 12-year conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a new report by the British-based group Global Witness, released Tuesday.Titled "Faced with a gun, what can you do?", it details how many mining areas in eastern DRC are controlled by rebels and the national army, who violently exploit civilians to retain access to valuable minerals. It names international companies which buy from suppliers who trade in minerals from the warring parties. European and Asian companies, including Bangkok-based THAISARCO, Britain-based Afrimex, and Belgium-based Trademet, have been buying minerals from the DRC that are funding armed groups and fuelling conflict, said Global Witness. Informed by on-the-ground investigations and interviews in North and South Kivu, the report reveals that despite being on opposing sides, the national Congolese army, the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) and rebel groups, in particular the Forces Democratique de Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR), regularly cooperate with each other, carving up territory and occasionally sharing the spoils of illegal mining. The FDLR use roads controlled by the FARDC, and vice versa, without difficulty. Minerals produced by the FDLR are sent out through local airports controlled by the FARDC in South Kivu. "(The FARDC and the FDLR) don't attack each other. Where both are present, they share the spoils and both extort from the population," a human rights activist told Global Witness last year. The unregulated nature of the mining sector in eastern DRC, combined with the breakdown of law and order and the devastation caused by the war, has meant that these groups have had unrestricted access to these minerals and have been able to establish lucrative trading networks. "(The report) shows the extent to which the Congolese government is incapable not only of controlling the mineral-rich areas, but also of controlling its own army that is profiting from the mineral trade at expense of the state," David Sullivan, a research associate at the Enough Project, told IPS. He added that mine inspectors often cannot do their job because they have not been paid their salaries, or "do not have the resources to travel to mines". Once they do arrive, they are prevented from inspecting the mines with threats of violence. "The Congolese government needs more assistance in order to be able to oversee the trade, but it is not the only actor," said Sullivan, adding that companies that continue to profit from the trade must be held accountable. "As long as we don't change the way we go about purchasing these things economic incentives will override" the need for greater transparency, he added. The profits armed groups make from their illegal control of the mines allow them to survive, as they pay for arms. To sustain this control, the main warring parties have carried out horrific human rights abuses, including widespread killings of unarmed civilians, rape, torture and looting, recruitment of child soldiers to fight in their ranks, and forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people, the report said. "All the warring parties in the DRC are systematically using forced labour and violent extortion in mining areas," said Patrick Alley, director of Global Witness. "Despite recent political and military developments, including the apparent rapprochement between the DRC and Rwanda, violence against unarmed civilians is continuing and countless lives are lost each day." Years of unrest have plagued the DRC. Following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, hundreds of thousands of Hutus fled across the border into the DRC, as the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front conquered the country. The conflict has resulted in an estimated 5.4 million deaths over the past decade. This link between armed groups and the illicit mineral trade was also documented by a United Nations panel of experts in December 2008. The "conflict minerals" at the centre of the violence include cassiterite, coltan and wolframite, which are moved from the DRC, usually through Rwanda or Burundi, to East Asia where they are processed into valuable metals, like tin and tungsten, needed for electronics products. One of the companies featured in the report is THAISARCO, the world's fifth-largest tin-producing company, owned by British metals giant, Amalgamated Metal Corporation (AMC). THAISARCO's main supplier, Congo-based Panju, sells cassiterite and coltan from mines controlled by the FDLR. Another company is the British-based Afrimex, already found by the British government in 2008 to be in breach of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises for buying from suppliers who made payments to a rebel group. The British government has yet to take any concrete action on this information. Global Witness wrote to 200 companies and found that most had no controls in place to stop conflict minerals entering their supply chain. AMC denied any wrongdoing, saying that it operated under U.N. guidelines. "Both AMC and Thaisarco have always sought to comply with the requirements and recommendations of the U.N. in respect of minerals originating in the DRC," the company said in a statement. "In accordance with this, Thaisarco purchases DRC minerals subject to a recently enhanced, formal and detailed due diligence programme which ultimately is aimed at providing transparency throughout the supply chain." In a letter to Global Witness in January, F. Muylaert of the Belgian company Trademet said, "Your hypothesis according to which we should verify the exact origin of every kilo of exported material is inappropriate in the current context in Congo." The report points out that comptoirs - trading houses based in Goma and Bukavu - which buy, sell and export minerals produced by or benefiting the warring parties are officially licensed and registred with the Congolese government. Foreign companies use the "legal" status of their suppliers as justification for continuing to trade with them, without verifying the exact origin of the minerals or the identity of intermediaries. "It is not good enough for companies to say they buy only from licensed exporters, when they know full well that their middlemen buy from armed groups," argued Alley The report said that foreign governments, including Britain and Belgium, are undermining their own development assistance and diplomatic efforts to end the 12-year conflict by failing to crack down on companies based within their borders. Global Witness contends that the governments of Rwanda and Burundi have failed to acknowledge that these minerals are fueling conflict and have not held to account companies in their country which engage in this trade. "The failure of governments to hold companies to account, of Burundi and Rwanda to restrict the trade across their borders, and of donors and diplomats to address explicitly the role of the mineral trade, have all contributed to the continuation of a conflict that has killed millions and displaced many more," said Alley.

FDLR troups march in Democratic Republic of Congo

Orlando Events Center Roof Truss Assembly Begins

Orlando, FL – Seven short miles from the site of the new Orlando Events Center, six 380-foot long, 150-ton steel roof trusses for the world-class arena will be fabricated. Roof truss erection began Tuesday (July 14), as the first portion -- a segment weighing 140,000 pounds -- of the first truss was put into place. Steel roof truss erection will continue over the next five months.‪ Orlando’s new events center will open in the fall of 2010 and compete to host major national events, concerts and family shows, while serving as the home to the Orlando Magic. “This is a local success story,” said Schuff President and Chief Executive Officer Glen Davis. "The local construction community needed this project quite badly as did Schuff Steel. We are proud of the Orlando Magic and the City of Orlando for recognizing those needs and for living up to the commitments that they made to keep as much of the work local." The entire structural steel portion of the new Events Center is in excess of 3,000 tons. The cutting, shaping and assembling of the raw steel involves 200-plus local steel workers. An estimated 100 workers will take part in erecting the steel at the site of the New Orlando Events Center. "The effort the Magic, its program manager (Turner Construction) and the construction manager (Hunt Construction Group) put forth made the local and MWBE program a success —bringing people together with a goal of improving the community," added Davis, whose company has a workforce which is 39 percent diversified in administration and 64 percent diversified in operations and production at its Orlando plant. An estimated 95 percent of Schuff’s workforce resides in the City of Orlando and Orange County area. Bolts, supply and fabrication of raw materials, trucking, painting of the steel and engineering are all part of the 24 percent minority package that Schuff is committed to accomplish. Schuff Steel has been involved with the construction of many local and recognizable structures including the new UCF Arena and many phases of The Orange County Convention Center.

L.A. County coroner issues subpoenas for medical records from multiple Michael Jackson doctors

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has subpoenaed medical files and records from a number of doctors who treated the singer, as officials attempt to determine how the pop star died, sources have told The Times.
One source, who has seen one of the coroner’s office subpoenas, said it asked for “any and all” of Jackson’s medical records “including radiology and psychiatric records.”
An attorney for Dr. Arnold Klein, a Beverly Hills dermatologist who treated Jackson for nearly 25 years, said his client was among those receiving a formal request from the coroner’s office.
“It was a standard form subpoena and we turned over medical records to the medical examiner in response,” said lawyer Richard Charnley.
The subpoenas come in addition to at least three search warrants issued last week as part of a Los Angeles Police Department probe into whether prescription drugs played a role in his death.
Authorities have identified some of Jackson’s doctors from the medications and other medical evidence they recovered from the Holmby Hills mansion where Jackson was stricken June 25, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
But those sources, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because it was an ongoing investigation, said some of the medication lacked prescription labels and that officials were trying to determine how Jackson got them.
A longtime Jackson associate, who spoke on the condition that he not be named, said the pop star had little trouble finding doctors eager to treat him – and prescribe him drugs.
“They rotate in and out,” said the source. “There were a lot of doctors over the years ... They liked to be known as Michael Jackson’s doctor.”

Experts said the task before detectives and coroner’s investigators amounts to a medical jigsaw puzzle. They must get a strong handle on his medical status at the time of his death, including pre-existing conditions, previous medical procedures and his drug-use history—things that can be gleaned through many of the records requested and subpoenaed.
After gathering information about what was prescribed and in what quantity, investigators with medical training look at the patient’s history, the possible reasons each drug was prescribed, the side effects and the interactions with other medications. Investigators must also cross-reference medical files to try to recreate what a physician knew at the time he or she wrote a prescription.
Ed Winter, assistant chief of the coroner’s office, said the office does send subpoenas out in death investigations. “In many cases doctors will hand over the records,” he said. “In some cases, they will ask us for a subpoena to get those records.”
Winter would not comment on whether subpoenas were issued in Jackson’s death. While officials are awaiting the results of toxicology tests conducted by the coroner’s office the day after Jackson’s death, they warn that those tests may not answer all the questions.
For example, sources have told The Times that detectives found large amounts of the powerful anesthetic Diprivan at Jackson’s home. But experts said that Diprivan moves through the body quickly and might not show up in some tests. Diprivan, which also goes by the generic name propofol, is an extremely potent drug that is supposed to be dispensed by a person trained to administer anesthesia.
Paul Wischmeyer, an anesthesiologist at the University of Colorado who co-wrote a 2007 study of Diprivan abuse for the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia, said that propofol would be “probably undetectable” in the bloodstream in 20 minutes after a single dose.
But he said that there are other ways that pathologists have used to identify presence of the drug in autopsies, if they know what to look for. “You can find it in the urine,”Wischmeyer said. “There’s a test you have to know how to do. There aren’t a lot of labs that know how to do it. But if you know, you can do it... It wouldn’t be a test a coroner could do, but they could send out for it.”

Top Moments: Michael Jackson Memorial

Michael Jackson "was an idol, a hero and even a king. We come together and we remember the time," Pastor Lucious Smith said in his opening remarks of the Michael Jackson Memorial. In a sweet, somber and incredibly thrilling spectacle, fans, family, friends and fellow musicians gathered at Los Angeles' Staples Center to honor the late King of Pop. Here are some of our favorite moments from the service. Tell us about your favorites, too.12. Tearjerker: Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz open the service with a performance of "I'll Be There." Carey was quivering and near tears as she sang. 11. MJ Is Love: Clearly overcome with emotion as well, Lionel Richie delivers an equally touching rendition of The Commodores' "Jesus Is Love."10. Queen Hails the King: Representing "fans all around the world" and touting Jackson as "the biggest star on Earth," Queen Latifah, who said her first Jackson record was 1973's Dancing Machine, recites poetic words written by Maya Angelou: "We had him. Beautiful, delighting our eyes... . He gave us all he had been given... . We are missing Michael Jackson. But we do know, we had him — and we are the world."
9. From Little Prince to King of Pop: Fighting back tears, Brooke Shields recounts how she and Michael — who were oft labeled an "odd couple" when photographed out together as kids — enjoyed "the most natural and easiest of friendships." Having grown up in the spotlight, she says, "[We] needed to be adults very early. But when we were together, we were two little kids having fun." Shields' speech offers an illuminating glimpse inside the lives of two rising stars who helped each other embrace their inner child and all their fun and weird times, and Jackson's eccentric fashion sense. "If you're going to hold my hand it had better be the non-gloved one because sequins really hurt me," she says.
8. King of Montages: A pulsating, rousing and incredibly poignant montage encapsulates the plethora of iconic MJ images. It ends, appropriately, with the soft ballad "You Are Not Alone," the last No. 1 single of Jackson's career.
7. Remember the Time We Ate KFC?: Magic Johnson provides a moment of levity when he recounts a dinner at Jackson's house. The former Los Angeles Laker visited Jackson to discuss appearing in the "Remember the Time" video and ordered grilled chicken from Jackson's personal chef, only to learn that Jackson had ordered Kentucky Fried Chicken to be served as they sat on the floor. Johnson calls it the "greatest moment of my life."
6. One Glove, One Love: Pallbearers pay tribute to Jackson in one very distinct and unified way — each donning one silver-sequined glove — which was part of an ensemble commemorating the Jackson 5's look during the 1984 Victory tour. It also reminds us that Jackson was not only an entertainment icon, but a style one as well.
4. Summer Goodbye: Stevie Wonder performs the eerily appropriate "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer" from his 1971 album Where I'm Coming From album. The song, which was also featured in Janet Jackson's movie Poetic Justice, includes the lyrics: "I never dreamed you'd leave in summer/I thought you would go then come back home/I thought the cold would leave by summer/But my quiet nights will be spent alone." Wonder then asks: "Michael, why didn't you stay?"
3. Come Together: Harkening back to Jackson's video for "Heal the World," which features children suffering from unrest, groups of children came together on stage to perform the tune and to honor, as Kobe Bryant pointed out, the entertainer who holds the most charities supported by a pop star record in the Guinness Book of World Records.
2. No Truer Words Were Ever Spoken: Following a stirring performance of "Will You Be There" from a very pregnant Jennifer Hudson, who herself has endured loss in the past year, the performance concludes with a chilling Jackson voiceover of the spoken portion of the song.
In our darkest hour, in my deepest despair, will you still care? Will you be there?In my trials, and my tribulations, through our doubts, and frustrations, In my violence, in my turbulence, through my fear, and my confessionsIn my anguish and my pain, through my joy and my sorrow, in the promise of another tomorrowI'll never let you part, for you're always in my heart
1. Father First: As Janet Jackson said at the BET Awards last week, to us, Jackson is an icon, but to them, he is family — and to his three children, he is their father. Jackson's 11-year-old daughter, Paris, surprisingly steps up to the mic to remember her father. "I just want to say ever since I was born, daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine, and I just wanted to say I love him so much," she says before bursting into tears.

Media gear up to cover Michael Jackson's memorial service at Staples Center

Just as in life, the King of Pop in death is poised to command nearly unprecedented media coverage.Six days before he was to begin a 50-date comeback tour in London, Michael Jackson will instead be eulogized at a massive memorial service today at Staples Center. All the major networks and a host of cable news and entertainment channels, including CNN, MSNBC, E! Entertainment, TV Guide Network and TV One, plan to carry the event live at 10 a.m.Here's a brief rundown of the coverage:* MSNBC will begin its coverage at 8 a.m., with Chris Jansing anchoring. Fox News' Shepard Smith will anchor the day, beginning at 9 a.m. Meanwhile, CNN will start at 9 a.m. with Anderson Cooper, Larry King and Don Lemon as anchors. (CNN will carry the service on sister networks HLN, CNN International and CNN en Espanol as well.)* On ABC, "Good Morning America" will air a special edition from Los Angeles and Charlie Gibson will anchor "Remembering Michael Jackson" with "Nightline" anchor Martin Bashir when the service begins. At 9 p.m., Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters will co-anchor a special edition of " 20/20," reporting on the highlights of the service. " Primetime: Family Secrets" at 10 p.m. will focus on Jackson's children.
* CBS' "The Early Show" will broadcast live from Staples, with Maggie Rodriguez and Harry Smith anchoring. Katie Couric will anchor the "CBS Evening News" at 6:30 p.m. and "48 Hours" at 10 p.m., both from Staples.* NBC's "Today" will air a "split edition," with host Meredith Vieira in Los Angeles. Live coverage of the services, anchored by Brian Williams, will begin at 10 a.m. Williams also will anchor "Nightly News" from Staples Center. At 10 p.m., Lester Holt will anchor a special edition of "Dateline."The event's ratings are expected to be record-breaking, according to television analysts. More than 1.6 million people registered over the weekend for a chance at one of 17,500 free tickets to the service and Jackson's death has dominated social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.For those without access to television, there are still options. KCRW-FM (89.9) will broadcast the event live and it will also be streamed online on several news sites, including latimes.com and http://www.hulu.com/.The service will also be seen in 88 movie theaters across 31 states, including Grauman's Chinese in Hollywood.

Michael Jackson's Memorial Lures A-List Attendees, Participants

At his public memorial service today in Los Angeles, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson may finally get his wish: to be treated like royalty. From all accounts, the services will likely be of the same caliber as those held 12 years ago for a real member of royalty: Princess Diana. It's only fitting, since Jackson was obsessed with the Princess of Wales and all things royal.
"He famously wanted to be in Princess Di's good graces and the good graces of the queen (Elizabeth II)," Jackson biographer Stacy Brown told ABCNews.com. "He was obsessed with royalty and wanted to be knighted."
Jackson never got the opportunity to be called Sir Michael Jackson, but after today's memorial, there will be no doubt that he was the King of Pop.
"You're talking about the A-list of all A-lists," said Brown, who co-wrote "Michael Jackson: The Man behind the Mask."
"Nobody is going to miss it," he said. "It's going to be the grandest of all red carpet events. It's going to be something you can only imagine was a Michael Jackson production -- his final production."

Michael Jackson will be buried among Tinseltown's legends at Forest Lawn

Bette Davis has long been buried there. So have Gene Autry, Sandra Dee, John Ritter, Freddie Prinze, Isabel Sanford and Telly Savalas.
Two weeks ago, Ed McMahon joined them. And David Carradine two weeks before him.
Now, it's the King of Pop.
Today, at 8 a.m., Michael Jackson will be laid to rest in a lavish paradise of lush green lawns and million-dollar views in the Hollywood Hills.
The immaculate and gentle grounds of Forest Lawn Memorial Park are home to some of Tinseltown's brightest stars, who now rest in green pastures and giant marble mausoleums.
"It's one of the greenest cemeteries in Los Angeles," said author and cemetery historian Lisa Burks. "It's immaculately kept by a massive groundskeeping crew who are very good, and it's notorious for guarding the privacy of their clients."
Cemetery officials wouldn't say where Jackson would end up on the massive grounds, but there was a flurry of activity at the posh Court of Liberty in the south section yesterday, where workers pruned trees and cut hedges, and a backhoe dug a fresh grave.
Buried nearby are stars like Buster Keaton, Stan Laurel and Ritter.
The centerpiece of the court is a bronze and marble statue of George Washington by legendary American sculptor Thomas Ball.
Another possible place for Jackson is the Court of Remembrance on the cemetery's north side, home to the giant stone tombs of Sandra Dee, Liberace and Prinze.
The American history-themed cemetery is part of the elite Forest Lawn chain.
"It's a gorgeous location," said Burks. "You can see the Verdugo Hills, you can see into Burbank, and when you're standing at Bette Davis' crypt, you can see Universal Studios and Disney."
Another Jackson family member is already there - Tito Jackson's first wife, Delores (DeeDee) Martes, who was murdered in 1994.
Hollywood Hills is 10 minutes away from Forest Lawn's Glendale Cemetery, the largest of the chain's properties.
Buried on those grounds are Humphrey Bogart, George Burns, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Walt Disney, Clark Gable and baseball legend Casey Stengel.

Michael Jackson's love for his children was all magic, no trick, party magician says

LOS ANGELES - Christmas was two months past, but there was still a pair of withering Christmas wreaths on the front gate and the grounds beyond were poorly tended.
The plants needed watering and this Holmby Hills mansion was itself falling into disrepair - not at all what the magician Rob Zabrecky expected from having seen photos of Michael Jackson's previous residences, the Neverland Ranch and the family compound in Encino, Calif.
"Disheartening," Zabrecky recalled. "We have this grand picture of how this person lives on this grand scale, always surrounding himself by things he loved."
As Zabrecky would later recount to L.A. Weekly and then to the Daily News, security guards took him to a side room. He waited with the three other acts hired for the show, a Double Dutch team, a juggler and a Hula-Hooper.
Zabrecky went second. He stepped into the backyard and noticed a toy pirate ship bobbing in the swimming pool, right out of Peter Pan and Neverland, yet battered, the sails broken.
"Lost at sea and in a storm, but still floating," he recalled.
Zabrecky did not see the crowd of kids or the balloons or the cake he anticipated when he was hired to perform at a birthday party for the youngest of Jackson's three children, Prince Michael Jackson 2nd, known as Blanket.
Zabrecky saw only the birthday boy, his siblings and their father on a row of patio chairs. The father was at the end, not surprising in black pajamas, wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses.
The children sat beside him in ascending order of age. What was immediately remarkable about them was how much they dressed and looked like children.
"Normal," Zabrecky later noted.
The biggest and best surprise regarding all four Jacksons was made only more so by the disrepair of the house and the grounds.
"They seemed like a really happy family and to see that was beautiful," Zabrecky said. "They just kept smiling."
Unlike some children he has encountered, the Jackson kids remained attentive and appreciative through the whole performance.
"These kids were focused. They were going to see a show," Zabrecky remembered. "Spoiled children won't give you their attention."
The show was interrupted when a helicopter clattered overhead. The children had each brought some Indian print fabric, and they covered themselves with accustomed ease to guard against paparazzi shots from above.
"It just seemed, 'This is the part [when] we have to cover ourselves because of a helicopter. ... This is what we do,'" Zabrecky said.
The helicopter flew on and the children uncovered. The show proceeded to the finale, a shrinking card trick that seemed to be their favorite.
The father joined in applauding and thanking the magician at the end.
"A great audience member," Zabrecky said of the star who had thrilled millions from the stage.
Then it was over, and Zabrecky walked back out through the disrepair that made what was manifestly intact only more remarkable. Here was true magic that involved no tricks.
"I left with a really warm sense that these were four peas in a pod," Zabrecky said.
Four months after that Feb. 21 party, tragedy struck. Grieving fans were still piling fresh flowers in front of the gates yesterday.
Someone had replaced the withering wreaths with fresh ones, complete with red ribbons and oversize pine cones, perhaps because Christmas was always such an important holiday for Jackson and his kids.
"Big time," a former head of security noted.
They will never have another Christmas together, nor a Fourth of July weekend such as so many happy families are now enjoying.
The stark fact that three kids have lost their father is what should be foremost in everybody's mind as we proceed to Tuesday and what is neither a show nor a spectacle, but a memorial.
For the sake of the three forever bereft of a fourth, let's hope there is portent in that toy pirate ship right out of Peter Pan and Neverland, battered and broken as if by a storm, but still afloat.

Final tally for Michael Jackson memorial: 1.6 million people register!

The registration process for free tickets to Michael Jackson's public memorial service has closed. Now AEG, the company behind the memorial, is charged with the unenviable task of sorting through 1.6 million registers, "scrubbing" all entries to eliminate duplicates and those suspected to have been made by auto-entry, and randomly drawing 8,750 tickets. Fans selected will receive an email on July 5 after 11 am PST with instructions on how to obtain their two free tickets. Tickets will be distributed on July 6 at an off-site location. The service will be held on July 7 at the Staples Center or the live simulcast at the Nokia Theatre.

Powerful sedative Diprivan found in Michael Jackson's home

Investigators discovered the powerful sedative Diprivan inside Michael Jackson's home, a law enforcement source told the Associated Press Friday.
Diprivan, an intravenous drug used in hospital operating rooms to knock out patients, is highly unusual to have in a private home.
It is also known by its generic name Propofol.
Sources told CNN Friday Jackson suffered from such a severe case of insomnia he traveled with a private anesthesiologist in the mid-1990s.
Dr. Neil Ratner regularly helped "take down" and "bring him back up" during the pop icon's HIStory tour, sources told CNN.
The revelation adds further evidence to the theory that prescription drugs played a role in the pop star's death.
A California nurse has said Jackson begged her for Propofol for months. In a phone call from one of his staffers days before his death, she became convinced he had gotten his hands on some.
Experts say the drug can lead to cardiac arrest, especially when combined with others.
Jackson, 50, died suddenly on June 25 after going into cardiac arrest inside his Bel Air estate.
Authorities have yet to determine Jackson's official cause of death, pending toxicology results.
Ratner confirmed that Jackson suffered from a massive sleep disorder, but refused to comment on any of the other allegations.
"It's really something I don't want to talk about right now," he said outside his Woodstock, New York, home Thursday.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is also looking into the role of drugs, two federal law enforcement sources said a day earlier.
Meanwhile, the city of Los Angeles on Friday began gearing up for a monstrous tribute to the fallen pop legend.
After days of intense speculation, a Jackson spokesman announced late Thursday a public memorial would be held Tuesday morning at the Staples Center.
Fans who want to attend the memorial in the 20,000-seat Staples Center in Los Angeles must register for free tickets, said the Jackson family's spokesman, Ken Sunshine. Details on how to do that will be announced Friday.
Although only 11,000 tickets will be available - and there will be a huge rush on them - it's expected many thousands of fans will gather outside the center and on the streets leading to the arena in a massive outpouring of sorrow.
The venue is fitting: Jackson rehearsed at the arena two days before he diedhttp://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/michael_jackson/2009/07/03/2009-07-03_powerful_sedative_diprivan_found_in_michael_jacksons_home.html#ixzz0KEXXFoW3&D

Watch footage of Michael Jackson's last rehearsal - video

Promoters behind O2 Arena residency release video of late singer's preparations

footage of Michael Jackson's last rehearsal before his death on June 25 has been released.Clips of the singer preparing for his London O2 Arena residency have been published by the shows' promoter AEG Live.The video can be watched below.

Michael Jackson's farewell will be like few others before

Fans who want to attend the memorial in the 20,000-seat Staples Center in Los Angeles must register for free tickets, said the Jackson family's spokesman, Ken Sunshine. Details on how to do that will be announced today.
Although only 11,000 tickets will be available - and there will be a huge rush on them - it's expected many thousands of fans will gather outside the center and on the streets leading to the arena in a massive outpouring of sorrow.
The venue is fitting: Jackson rehearsed at the arena two days before he died.
As plans for the event were being finalized, Jackson's brother Jermaine, his eyes welling with tears, revealed the heartbreak of the final moments he spent with the body of his legendary kid brother at the UCLA Medical Center.
"I kissed him on his forehead, and I hugged him, and I touched him, and I said, 'Michael, I'll never leave you. You'll never leave me,'" Jermaine Jackson told NBC's "Today" show.
"To see him there, lifeless and breathless, was very emotional for me. ... He went too soon. I don't know how people are going to take this, but I wish it was me."
Details of the superstar's funeral were still being worked out but it's expected to be in private after Tuesday's ceremony at the Staples Center.
Several reports said he will be buried at the celebrity-filled Forest Lawn Mortuary in Hollywood Hills - even though Jermaine said he wished his brother could be buried at his Neverland Ranch, and state officials said that wasn't out of the question.
The King of Pop died last Thursday after being found unresponsive at his rented mansion.
The LAPD, along with agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, are probing Jackson's doctors amid allegations he was done in by prescription drugs.
In the day's other developments:
A video of Jackson's final rehearsal emerged, showing Jackson preparing for his upcoming London concerts at the Staples Center two days before he died.
In the clip, obtained by CNN, Jackson appears relatively fit as he dances to his hit track, "They Don't Care About Us."
President Obama spoke out about Jackson for the first time, saying he "will go down in history as one of our greatest entertainers."
Jackson will be laid to rest in the same kind of $25,000 solid bronze casket used for James Brown, TMZ.com reported. Called a Promethean, the 14-karat gold-plated casket has a blue velvet interior.

Sanwi kingdom mourns passing of a prince

He was known around the world as the King of Pop. But in a tiny kingdom on the Ivory Coast's south-eastern tip, singer Michael Jackson was true royalty.

'King of Pop' Michael Jackson was true royalty in the small Ivory Coast kingdom of Sanwi, where the people are mourning the passing of a prince.

For Sanwi’s population, the pop star was one of their own. Jackson was made a prince during a visit in 1992, when he came to discover his African roots.

"Michael Jackson comes from Krindjabo, capital of the Kingdom of Sanwi," explains Prince Joseph Koffi Aman, an inhabitant of the small kingdom on the south-eastern tip of the Ivory Coast.

After consultations with the king, district chiefs reached a surprising decision. The council wants Michael Jackson's remains to be transferred to Sanwi's capital Krindjabo, so that there can be an African funeral worthy of the pop star.

This view is echoed by the kingdom's young subjects, for whom Jackson's influence is as strong as ever.

“According to tradition, when a prince dies outside the kingdom, he should be brought back so the funeral can be carried out in line with our customs," says Jerome Tanoh Anoh, leader of the youth of Sanwi.

Anoh and his brothers are keen to attend Jackson’s funeral. However most of them will be mourning from a distance due to visa constraints.