Thursday, December 9, 2010

wi-tribe Ranked Pakistan’s No. 1 Broadband Company: ProPakistani

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wi-tribe Ranked Pakistan’s No. 1 Broadband Company: ProPakistani

wi-tribe Ranked Pakistan’s No. 1 Broadband Company
Exclusive: Naeem Zamindar and Zouhair Khaliq Confirmed as CEO and Board Director at Wateen
Symbian Phones Get Upgraded Skype Mobile Client
Facebook Pakistan Throws 3 Million Punches at the Critics
Bible Goes mobile in Pakistan
Ncomputing Offers Unique virtualization Solutions to Computer Users
Samsung Opens Mobile Service Center in Rawalpindi

wi-tribe Ranked Pakistan’s No. 1 Broadband Company

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 01:37 PM PST

wi-tribe Ranked Pakistan’s No. 1 Broadband Company is a post from: ProPakistani

PTA PHOTO thumb wi tribe Ranked Pakistans No. 1 Broadband Company

Dr. Mohammed Yaseen, Chairman PTA and Mustafa Peracha, CEO, wi-tribe along with company management

In its 2010 annual report, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced that wi-tribe Pakistan successfully ranked number one in both the 'Technology Neutral' and 'Technology-wise' categories for highest Quality of Service, despite being the youngest broadband company, said a statement issued by the company today.

PTA's acknowledgment of wi-tribe's service quality emphasizes that the company is passionate about delivering nothing short of excellence to its customers.

To celebrate this achievement, PTA Chairman, Dr. Mohammed Yaseen, was invited by wi-tribe Pakistan's CEO, Mustafa Peracha and his team for a cake-cutting ceremony at wi-tribe's head office in Islamabad.

During the ceremony, wi-tribe's CEO Mustafa Peracha expressed his delight on the recent achievement, stating,

"I am elated about wi-tribe's success in Pakistan. I'm also thankful to PTA for recognizing our effort to take broadband to the next level."

On the team's effort he said,

"Today, I proudly share wi-tribe's feat with my dedicated team, our community, customers and partners, who have continuously extending their trust and support. We aim to deliver an exceptional and personalized broadband experience to our customers, and believe in constant evolution, which will continue to reflect in all our offerings."

In addition to recognizing wi-tribe's quality-driven approach, the report also concluded that wi-tribe is the fastest growing broadband operator in Pakistan, successfully delivering high speed internet to customers in all its cities of operation.

During the last five years, Pakistan's broadband subscriber base has increased by leaps and bounds. People from all walks of life, including professionals, students, academics and corporates are all finding high speed internet to be essential towards their respective progression. wi-tribe realizes the need to serve growing demands, with no compromise on quality of service.

With a focus on delivering high quality broadband internet across its network of operations, wi-tribe enables instant connectivity with its plug 'n' play devices, offering the latest in affordable internet technology.

Exclusive: Naeem Zamindar and Zouhair Khaliq Confirmed as CEO and Board Director at Wateen

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 03:05 AM PST

Exclusive: Naeem Zamindar and Zouhair Khaliq Confirmed as CEO and Board Director at Wateen is a post from: ProPakistani

Wateen logo Exclusive: Naeem Zamindar and Zouhair Khaliq Confirmed as CEO and Board Director at Wateen Mr. Tariq Malik today confirmed that his resignation was finally accepted at a Board Meeting held on December 8th, 2010. Along-with he announced that Mr. Naeem Zamindar is replacing him as CEO of the company, with support from Mr. Zouhair Khaliq as company's new Board Director.

Mr. Malik mentioned this today morning in his farewell email to Wateen employees, which was shared with ProPakistani through sources.

Mr. Malik thanked everyone for making it possible for wateen to become world's largest WiMAX network. He said that in 5 years Wateen earned cumulative revenue of $588mn (or Rs. 43.3bn) and operating profit of $97.1mn (or Rs. 6.9bn). The Company has built an asset base of $353m from a mere $35m initial investment.

He said that with efforts of the team, Wateen has become the goldmine With 10,000+ km of fiber optic cable connecting Pakistan, its cities and its neighbors, the largest Wireless Broadband Network in the country, the largest VSAT network in the country, the largest alternative LDI network in Pakistan, which can all be leveraged to generate significant revenues / profits.

Mr. Malik congratulated and welcomed Naeem & Zouhair.

Following is the complete excerpt of Tariq Malik's email:

From: Tariq Malik/CEO/Wateen <______@wateen.com>
Date: 9 December 2010 11:23:02 GMT+05:00
Subject: Farewell & Best Wishes

Dear Wateen Team & Well Wishers

As you may be aware, I had informed the Board earlier this year that I intended to resign to pursue some alternative ideas I had. I was asked to stay on by the Board & Chairman personally to help ensure a successful IPO, "turn around" the business and find a new CEO for Wateen.

After achieving these tasks, at yesterdays Board Meeting my resignation was finally accepted and Mr Naeem Zamindar was appointed Wateen's CEO with the support of Mr Zouhair Khaliq as our new Board Director.

During the past few months, with the hard work and dedication of the entire Wateen Team, we have been able to achieve new heights and turn the business into strong operating profits with an EBITDA position of 20% positive or Rs382m on a revenue of just under Rs2bn (as per the last reported financial quarter the EBITDA for 3 months was more than the EBITDA for the entire previous financial year).

The Sponsors have also been convinced on the potential of Wateen and have committed a further additional Financial Support of a staggering $44.5m (or Rs3.8bn); with $29.5m (or Rs2.5bn) already received and a further $15m (or Rs1.3bn) committed this month – well done and thank you all.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank ALL of you for making this happen and making this adventure Exciting, Fulfilling and Memorable. Wateen has a huge potential and I wanted to thank all those unsung heroes (whether either still at Wateen, who have moved on or those who have indirectly supported us) who have made this happen ranging from Wateen's Senior Management Team (SMT) / Management Team who will be the driving force behind Wateen's future to the engineers, guards, drivers, patrollers, splicer's, cleaners and others who ensured operations run smoothly 24 / 7 / 365, including all of our customers, lenders, vendors and strategic partners who have remained committed to Wateen throughout.

In a matter of only 5 years Wateen, under a dynamic team, delivered cumulative revenue of $588mn (or Rs43.3bn) and operating profit $97.1mn (or Rs6.9bn). The Company has built an asset base of $353m from a mere $35m initial investment. We have managed vendor deferment of $75 m as a Greenfield / New project, $108m as vendor financing through reputable organizations such as MCC ($65m) / ECGD ($43m), Rs4.7bn syndicated loan which was the largest syndicated loan last year, one of the larger Islamic Ijara Financing of Rs570m and the largest IPO of 2010 raising Rs2bn+ (which was more than the previous 3 IPO fund raisers together).

Wateen has managed to acquire some of the best human resources in the world and our employees have managed to grow both professionally and personally. The Wateen family has been committed to Wateen throughout as can be seen during the recent challenging times and Wateen has stayed committed to its employees with strong career development, strong bonus / reward programs and an annual review / bonus despite the challenging financial situation.

Wateen's potential is still untapped with 10,000+ km of fiber optic cable connecting Pakistan, its cities and its neighbors (including 3 out of 5 USF projects), the largest Wireless Broadband Network in the country, the largest VSAT network in the country, the largest alternative LDI network in Pakistan and the second largest USF partner which can all be leveraged to generate significant revenues / profits; to give an example just 3-4 deals our commercial teams are working on can generate more than Rs14bn revenue which can all be closed / realized very quickly. We have been able to achieve 230,000 Broadband customers and a maximum daily revenue of rs6m from Broadband alone.

Our customer base is a representation of our operations with 26 of the top banks, all major mobile / telecom / media & IT operators using our network and many enterprise, corporate & SME's using our services. The new Media division has managed to connect more than 300,000 in Lahore alone and launched several new Wateen TV channels which have already become operationally profitable.

The existing Wateen Team has worked very hard to make these a reality. The reason I mention these accolades is that while fire fighting we have forgotten to recognize this exemplary performance and the fact that Wateen's infrastructure and position put it in a unique position to really benefit from the current market dynamics.

All Wateen Team Members and Well Wishers should be proud of this. I would like to thank our BEC members and Chairman for their continued support and our special thanks to Mr Parvez Shahid who, as our in country / operational director, has given us continued support, direction and commitment throughout. I would also like to congratulate and welcome Naeem & Zouhair on their new appointment. With the recent Sponsor Support of $44.5m / Rs 3.8bn and their dedication, commitment and vision I am sure they will take Wateen to new heights.

I hope our paths cross again and my wishes and prayers will be with You and Wateen forever

With best regards & wishes

Tariq

(a proud founder, CEO and Wateen team / family member)

Symbian Phones Get Upgraded Skype Mobile Client

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 03:01 AM PST

Symbian Phones Get Upgraded Skype Mobile Client is a post from: ProPakistani

By Wajid Ali

VoIP Provider, Skype has released an updated version of its mobile client for Symbian OS adding support for high-end mobiles like N8, C7 and E5.

It uses SILK support which is company's high quality audio codec. SILK ensures that voice calls are crystal clear even when subscribers are in low-bandwidth area.

New version promises to bring along interface changes, easier way to add contacts & photo to profile and set mood message. Improved menu navigation and user interface updates to fit larger screens are also among the enhancements.

Given below are the salient features of Skype VoIP client with snapshots of application running on Symbian^1 (S60v5 OS 9.4) Phone:

Free Skype-to-Skype calls and IM on 3G or WiFi (Mobile to PC & vice versa are also supported)
Save money on calls and texts (SMS) to phones abroad.
Share pictures, videos and other files from your phone.

Call & IM to Skype Contacts Free

If you already use Skype on a computer, you’ll see your full contact list when you sign in to Skype on your Nokia or Sony Ericsson. Call free Skype-to-Skype on your mobile, and send and receive instant messages (IMs) one-to-one or with a group.

Calls & Texts to Phones Abroad

Call and text people who don’t have Skype at really low rates. It’s especially great value if you’re calling or texting people who live abroad. Simply dial the number in Skype and pay with Skype Credit or talk unlimited with a subscription. When you’re abroad, connect to a Wifi zone and avoid roaming charges on calls and texts. This applies to Skype-to-Skype calls, plus calls and texts to phones.

File Sharing

It’s also free to send and receive pictures, videos, and other files so you can share your experiences and stay in touch when you’re away from a computer. Take a picture with your built-in camera and send it to friends on Skype.

Change Log:

Added support for the new Symbian phones, including the Nokia N8, C7 and E5,
Included SILK, high quality audio codec, which should help make sure your calls are crystal clear, even when you're on a low-bandwidth connection,
Number of interface improvements, making it easier to add contacts, navigate, add a photo to your profile and set your mood message
Updated the interface to better fit larger screens.

Snapshots

Where To Download

To download new version of skype client visit http://skype.com/m from mobile or alternatively download it from here

Facebook Pakistan Throws 3 Million Punches at the Critics

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 12:58 AM PST

Facebook Pakistan Throws 3 Million Punches at the Critics is a post from: ProPakistani

facebook Facebook Pakistan Throws 3 Million Punches at the Critics Today, Facebook has reached yet another milestone in its journey through the Land of Pure.

Facebook Pakistan now boasts more than 3 Million members from Pakistan and this is just the beginning. More than 200,000 members are being added to Facebook every month making it the medium of the communication on the internet for Pakistanis.

It was just a few months back when the future of Facebook seemed doomed for us. Government censures and religious zealots predicted the end of this "evil" from Pakistan's cyberspace.

Copycats jumped up to this opportunity and announced their own versions of social networks claiming to topple the social media giant. However, Facebook survived all these attacks and despite a short period of mass withdrawal it continues to grow at an astronomical rate.

Currently, Facebook is adding more than 230,000 new members to its network from Pakistan every month. This is a 7.7% Month on Month growth for Facebook in Pakistan.

In comparison, Pakistan's most hyped cellular sector added nearly 580,000 new subscribers to its 100 Million user base showing a 0.58% Month on Month growth. While Pakistan's Cellular users are reaching a point of saturation, the Social Media has just started its journey.

Social Media may never take over Cellular networks but with a current user base of 3 Million talking mouths and growing at a phenomenal 7.7% rate, it is impossible to ignore anymore.

Note from Editor: ProPakistani doesn't use Facebook for reasons mentioned here. Our writers may have their opinion different from ProPakistani's policy, reflecting their own thoughts, experiences and ideologies.

Bible Goes mobile in Pakistan

Posted: 08 Dec 2010 10:56 PM PST

Bible Goes mobile in Pakistan is a post from: ProPakistani

Christians in Pakistan have praised the first-ever audio service of the Bible via mobile phones.

The project was launched by E-verses, a private telecommunication company. About 200 media workers listened as Christian project designer Philemon Joseph demonstrated the service by playing Qur'anic and Biblical verses on a loud speaker followed by quotations from Hazrat Ali, the fourth Islamic Caliph.

Joseph said he got the inspiration months ago while reading the Bible and came up with the idea of providing people "easy access" to the word of the God.

Mobile users can listen to the services by dialing 2121 and navigating through different options to access the holy verses voiced by renowned Pakistani actor Abid Ali. A new playlist of scriptures is uploaded daily, with telecommunication companies charging five rupees for each verse, little expensive.

Just to add here, downloadable copy of Holy Bible can be searched here

Via

Ncomputing Offers Unique virtualization Solutions to Computer Users

Posted: 08 Dec 2010 09:59 PM PST

Ncomputing Offers Unique virtualization Solutions to Computer Users is a post from: ProPakistani

Parents will no more have to worry to give their children extra computers while keeping an eye on them for using computer and internet; thanks to Ncomputing's virtual desktop technology for resolving the issue simply and easily.

The internet is a source of knowledge but its misuse causes negative impacts on the education of the children and moral values. It is very difficult for the parents to check their kids mostly waste their precious time in playing games, chatting and browsing.

Ncomputing's U170 is a plug and play USB kit which uses desktop virtualization technology to provide a computer owner an extra virtual desktop; which is used by most of the parents specially for the purpose of safe parental control on children.

"Today’s PCs are so powerful that vast majority use only a small fraction of their PC processor’s capacity and world’s first USB-connected plug-and-play desktop virtualization solution, the U170, taps this unused resource so that a computer can be simultaneously shared by many users," said Khawaja Samiullah CEO NConnexion, Ncomputing's distributor and authorized service center for Pakistan & Afghanistan.

"NComputing U 170 is the hottest computing solution that will revolutionize the desktop virtualization market as it perfectly suits to small businesses, schools and home users in Pakistan."

Price:

Price for U170 device in Pakistan is $150 or PKR 13,000

Where to Get Ncmputing U170

nconnextion is the sole distributor of Ncomputing in Pakistan. They have offices in Lahore and Karachi, while products are sold via re-sellers in Islamabad. You can contact nconnextion here

Samsung Opens Mobile Service Center in Rawalpindi

Posted: 08 Dec 2010 09:03 PM PST

Samsung Opens Mobile Service Center in Rawalpindi is a post from: ProPakistani

Mr. Shaikh Abdul Hai, Service Representative Samsung Electronics, Mr. Inam Ul Haq, National Manager Customer Support, Mr. Asif Javed – Senior Manager and Mr. Arslan Amjad, Assistant Manager Customer Support Inaugurating the Samsung Mobile Service Centre in Rawalpindi.

Samsung's Mobile Service Center is located at following address in Rawalpindi:

94/C, Block-E, Satellite Town,

Near Holy Family Hospital,

Rawalpindi

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Gavin Hewitt| The Reporters

The un-European

December 9, 2010 at 11:44 PM

As a student of American history, I was always intrigued by the House Committee on Un-American activities.

The search for disloyalty. The taint of being a dissenter. The fear of subversives.

The list of spies brandished by Joseph McCarthy, the Senator from Wisconsin. McCarthyism had its roots in the paranoid strain of American politics.

I was reminded of this when I heard Jean-Claude Juncker, the Chairman of the Euro-Group, brand German thinking as un-European.
His ire had been stirred by Berlin's quick rejection of his advocacy of euro-bonds.

Now I am not suggesting for a moment that Mr Juncker is seeking to expose those he deems disloyal to the European project. His appeal, I suspect, was to "solidarity". But to be labelled un-European is not a light jab.

The German paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, as quoted by the think-tank Open Europe, asked "is it European to bend the EU treaties and break the bail-out plan?"

And that is the difficulty in assessing who is the good European. The longer the crisis in the eurozone defies solution the more deep-seated the tensions that emerge.

The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, recently opined that Euroscepticism led to war. Extreme nationalism, of course, has resulted in terrible European tragedies. But Euroscepticism?

His comments came just days after David Cameron had declared himself a Eurosceptic in Brussels. On clarification, President van Rompuy was referring to those who were against the EU.

The fact is there are different visions of what makes for a "good European". Helmut Schmidt, the former German Chancellor, recently scolded the Bundesbank for being opposed to European integration.

Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (November 2010)

At the same time he said it was a mistake for some of the peripheral countries to join the euro in 1999. It raises the interesting question as to whether those who pushed for the wider eurozone were the "good Europeans" or those who pointed out the risks of such different countries sharing monetary union.

It is part of the culture of Brussels that people are labelled as either with the project or against it. More often it is just that people have different visions for Europe.

But, as I say, these various comments reflect anxiety and tension.

All of this was in the Brussels buzz on the day when Greenpeace and Avaaz handed in a petition signed by over a million people under the new citizen's initiative.

One of the reforms embedded in the Lisbon treaty was to close the "democratic deficit" by enabling citizens to collect over one million signatures and so exercise the right to put forward initiatives.

Avaaz and Greenpeace had collected the signatures to back a halt to genetically-modified crops until safety testing is made thorough, independent and scientific.

The legislative process for the citizens' initiative has not yet been finalised and this particular petition may well fail but there is a wider issue at stake here.

This act of direct democracy must be treated seriously, according to the Greens. Avaaz Executive Director Ricken Patel said: "This is a massive step for European Democracy. The rapid response shows that citizens are excited to engage with this new democratic instrument to re-insert a democratic voice into EU policy."

Of course one million signatures does not guarantee the Commission will change its mind. But this will be an interesting area to watch.

Will these initiatives influence thinking? Consulting the people does not have a happy history in the EU. Negative votes on the Lisbon Treaty were side-stepped. Referendum is a dirty word for many officials; a process that at all costs must be avoided.

But the period of the citizens' initiative has arrived. All you need is a million signatures from across several states. Comissioner Dalli said: "I can assure you that there is a political will to listen to everybody and one million signatures is a voice that we should listen to."

Perhaps that will be one of the tests of being a good European.

Where now for the euro?

December 8, 2010 at 6:05 PM

Another round of meetings concludes. The limousines carrying Europe's finance ministers head to Brussels airport. Only to return next week. No one believes the eurozone crisis has been fixed. Some band-aid is in place.That's all.

The search is on for the holy grail - the formula that fixes the single currency and returns it to stability.

The head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has attacked the current "piecemeal" approach. "The EU," he said, "needs a comprehensive solution to the debt crisis. It can't be done on a country-by-country basis."

Yet the differences between members of the eurozone are real and cannot easily be smoothed away.

Take the idea of a eurobond (E-bond). It is a suggestion that has been around before. Using an article in the Financial Times the chairman of the 16-nation Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the Italian Finance Minister, Giulio Tremonti, tried to engineer it onto the agenda.

Not surprisingly the Portuguese came out as enthusiasts for the E-bond. "Europe's monetary union," said Portuguese Treasury Secretary Carlos Pina, "is missing solidarity mechanisms between countries and we consider that the mechanisms are insufficient ".

It remains true that the weak and vulnerable like to appeal to "solidarity" while the strong are less persuaded. The Germans were quick to reject the E-bond. They saw it as a way of enabling debt-prone countries to avoid the judgement of the markets. Juergen Stark, a German board member of the European Central Bank (ECB), pointed out that "each country needs to be held responsible for its own debt". The German paper Bild ran a headline that said "EU wants to make euro soft".

All of this has clearly irritated Mr Juncker. He said "Germany's thinking is a bit simple on this". He went on to say that the "proposal is being rejected before it has been studied".

There were similar divisions over whether to increase the bail-out fund, the European Financial Stability Facility. The IMF - among others - believed a bigger pot would dispel fears that there wouldn't be enough resources to help Spain if it cried out for help.

Interestingly, it was not just Germany who opposed adding to the fund. The Dutch, the Austrians and the Finns were all decidedly reluctant. Within those countries there is increasing opposition to supporting bail-outs. The mood is disturbing some in the Brussels hub. "I am worried," said Economy Commissioner Olli Rehn, "about the divergence in the public debates between the northern and southern countries".

So where does this leave the euro crisis?

The pressure will remain on Spain and Portugal to reduce their deficits. Eurozone ministers were quick to applaud Spain for increasing the retirement age, hiking the tobacco tax and selling a significant share in the state-owned lottery and in a couple of airports.

Ministers hope the ECB will continue buying bonds, particularly if either Italy or Spain come under pressure. But this is seen as more of a "holding tactic" rather than a solution.

There will be a further round of stress tests of the banks in February.

There is always the hope that growth will gather pace and ease the pain, but many believe that 2011 will actually see growth slacken.

None of these measures, of course, addresses how some of the weaker countries will bring down their debts. Austerity measures will surely dampen demand and will herald a tough decade of low growth and wage restraint. Greece almost certainly will be granted more time to pay back its loans. Even then it is hard to see where the growth will come from to significantly pare down its debts.

That is why many observers believe that some restructuring of sovereign debt is inevitable. That move is not even countenanced by Europe's finance ministers, but the markets believe it will happen.

The argument over the way forward will be had most keenly in Germany. Yesterday the former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt lashed out at the Bundesbank, which he called "reactionary" and opposed to European integration. He said Chancellor Angela Merkel was "not acting very cleverly".

But Helmut Schmidt comes from a generation when it was much more accepted that the German and European interest were entwined.

A debate is under way in Germany over how to stabilise the single currency, but at heart this has become an examination of what an increasingly confident Germany wants from Europe.

What the cables tell us about Europe

December 6, 2010 at 4:52 PM

All that gathering. All that note-taking. Hundreds of thousands of cables arriving electronically in Foggy Bottom in Washington.

On the surface the Wikileaks revelations are the stuff of asides at diplomatic receptions. President Sarkozy has a "thin-skinned and authoritative style". Chancellor Merkel is "risk-averse". David Cameron is seen as "lacking depth". Prime Minister Berlusconi is regarded as "vain". As for Vladimir Putin, well he's the "alpha dog".

The United States has always attached great importance to understanding leaders. The CIA employed for many years - and probably still does - a team of psychiatrists whose job it was to analyse the inner lives of men like Cuba's Fidel Castro and former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. They wanted every detail about what they ate, who they loved, about the state of their health. It was a question of "know your enemy".

Even with friends, Americans have an insatiable appetite to know. More often than not what is delivered are snap judgements that diplomats, politicians and journalists make all the time.

Whether it was right to publish is a separate question. We often have no way of knowing the context in which these notes were made. Some flesh out character. But contained within these diplomatic sketches are serious issues, and in Europe there could still be fall-out from these revelations.

The Americans clearly see Angela Merkel as by far the most important leader in Europe. There has not been a German leader as powerful and influential probably since World War II. Yet the cables don't warm to her. They find her "risk-averse and rarely creative". She is the "ultimate Teflon politician", who seems to avoid bad news sticking to her. Less flatteringly, one cable says that she "promotes incompetent people to make her look better". She is "circumspect" and "unimaginative".

Certainly her style is to move cautiously, as was revealed at the start of the eurozone crisis, when she hesitated over whether to abandon the EU's "no bail-out" commitment and help Greece. When cornered, the American diplomats say, she can be tenacious. The eurozone crisis has revealed her taking a tough line but retreating under pressure.

But step-by-step she is moulding Europe to the German way, where countries have to live within their means or face severe consequences.

Apart from the fact that the chief of staff in her foreign minister's office was passing information to the Americans she, on this viewing, will not be unhappy with what has been revealed so far.

An early judgement going back to 2005 is that Nicolas Sarkozy is pro-American. He is "very much unlike nearly all other French political figures, Sarkozy is viscerally pro-American," reads one cable.

There is a revealing passage where Sarkozy talks about himself to a diplomat. "They call me Sarkozy the American," he said. "They consider it an insult but I take it as a compliment." The cable goes on to say that "Sarkozy said how much he 'recognised himself' in America's values".

Italy PM Silvio Berlusconi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at G20 in Seoul, 12 Nov 10

But for that, the Americans are wary. "Just being in the same room with Sarkozy is enough to make anyone's stress levels rise." He is described as autocratic, over-sensitive to criticism and surrounds himself with "yes" men. He is an emperor without clothes.

It is not a damning assessment, but these portraits will feed into the minds of the voters when they decide whether or not to re-elect Sarkozy in 2012.

The American assessment of Italy's Silvio Berlusconi is more serious. On the one hand a charge d'affaires notes that he has a "penchant for partying hard (which) means he does not get sufficient rest". They see him as "physically and politically weak". He is seen as " feckless, vain and ineffective".

But there is much more here than a pencil-sketch of another leader. The ambassador to Rome, Ronald Spogli, reports two years ago that Berlusconi has taken "single-handed" control of Italy's dealings with Moscow. He is described as the "mouthpiece of Putin". The Putin family is reported to be "spending long visits at the Berlusconi mansion in Sardinia at Berlusconi's expense". The two men are seen as "tycoon oligarchs".

The Italian leader is portrayed as championing every Russian initiative. He consistently "rejects the advice of a demoralised, resource-starved and increasingly irrelevant foreign ministry, in favour of his business cronies".

And then a suspicion. A US diplomat wonders whether Berlusconi was "personally and handsomely" profiting from from energy deals with Moscow.

These are serious issues and come at a dangerous time for the Italian leader. Next week he faces a vote of confidence. The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, tried to soften the damage by describing him as "the best friend of America", but the cables are out there. If he has to resign it won't be because of the cables, but Italians will feel a pang of embarrassment at how outsiders see their leader.

Then there is a meeting between a US ambassador and Herman Van Rompuy, just after he has been appointed President of the EU Council. Van Rompuy says the Europeans have all but given up on the Afghanistan mission. He says the EU no longer believes in success in Afghanistan and that troops are there "out of deference to the US".
"No one believes in Afghanistan anymore," he continues. And the he adds that "if a Belgian gets killed, it would be over for Belgium".

It is hard to know the full context of this conversation, but it raises disturbing questions: the implication that servicemen and women are giving their lives for a political gesture; that troops are being deployed on a mission no one believes in; that a nation might cut and run after a single casualty.

Herman Van Rompuy was dismissive of the current climate change conference in Cancun. "It would be a disaster as well (as Copenhagen)," he predicted. His concerns about Copenhagen were less about what had been achieved for the planet but more that Europe had been "totally excluded" and "mistreated".

"Had I been there," he continued, "my presidency would have been over before it began". The EU leadership does not like large multi-national conferences but would prefer a world where the EU and US reach an understanding and then talk to the Chinese.

What this brief cable underlines is the determination in Brussels to promote Europe as a player on the world stage. Van Rompuy told the ambassador that he "planned to take control of getting Europe on the same page".

And, of course, that won't be easy. Why? Well, the answer lies in the other cables that reveal Europe's leaders as big personalities who very much follow their own agendas.