THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013 INTERNATIONAL LONDON: In this Thursday, Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs dies Nov 17, 2011 file photo Ronnie Biggs, one of Britain’s most LONDON: Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, sons I’m not taking many calls today.” Free from sign at the waiting media. The press pack that whose audacious escape from jail and decades the long arm of the British law, Biggs appeared awaited him was a sign of the enduring fascina- notorious criminals, attends a spent on the run made him one of Britain’s most to revel in his notoriety, posing for pictures pub- tion in Britain with the train heist and particular- news conference to mark the notorious criminals, has died in London at the lished in newspapers back home and cementing ly Biggs, who was widely viewed as a loveable release of his autobiography age of 84, the justice ministry said yesterday. his folk hero status. rogue. “Odd Man Out: The Last Straw”, Biggs, who was unable to speak and could bare- Biggs returned to Britain voluntarily in 2001 The former head of London’s Metropolitan London. Ronnie Biggs, known ly walk after suffering a series of strokes, was when a number of strokes took the fun out of Police, Robert Mark, observed in his memoirs for his role in the 1963 Great being cared for at a nursing home at the time of fugitive life and left him pining for home. He was that Biggs had “added a rare and welcome touch his death in the early hours of yesterday morn- immediately sent back to jail to serve the end of of humour to the history of crime”, according to Train Robbery, died yesterday. ing, media reports said. his sentence but was released on compassionate an obituary published on the Guardian website. He was 84. —AP He was part of the gang which robbed a grounds in 2009 because of his worsening By coincidence, the BBC was due to screen night mail train travelling from Glasgow to health. two new films about the robbery last night and London on August 8, 1963, seizing £2.6 million-a He remained on parole. “The probation trust tonight. They are expected to be broadcast as record at the time and the equivalent of £46 mil- supervising him has confirmed that he has died,” planned. Peter Rayner, former chief operating lion (54 million euros, $75 million) today. a justice ministry spokeswoman told AFP. Biggs officer of British Rail, had criticised the sympathy Sentenced to 30 years in jail, Biggs escaped always said he had no regrets about his involve- for Biggs in the past, although he said his from prison after just 15 months and went on ment in the heist, although he said it was thoughts were with his family following his the run to Australia and then Brazil. In Rio he had “regrettable” that the train driver, Jack Mills, was death. a son, Michael, with a Brazilian woman which hit during the robbery. “My view is that whilst I was-and am-critical ensured his immunity from extradition. Mills never fully recovered and he died a few of the Great Train Robbers and the heroes’ wel- Michael Biggs was not immediately available years later. Biggs was last seen in public in March come they got, especially in light of the death of for comment about his father’s death, but left a at the London funeral of fellow Train Robber Jack Mills, my sympathies go out to his family,” message on his phone saying: “For obvious rea- Bruce Reynolds, where he made a defiant “V” he said. —AFP Mandela family Merkel says EU must be ready for feud resumes treaty changes JOHANNESBURG: An ongoing feud Mandela estate were disconnected late on BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday said between some of the Mandela family mem- Saturday. The occupants, including Mandla, European Union members must be open to treaty changes to bers which has made headlines in the past had no water when they awoke on Sunday; strengthen joint economic governance in the 28-nation bloc. year has taken another turn with a report Makaziwe had told Mandla, the statesman’s Merkel was speaking a day after starting her third term as that Mandla Mandela was locked out of the grandson, that he must remove his cattle, leader of Europe’s biggest economy and ahead of a visit to family’s homestead in the village of Qunu by pigs and dogs from the homestead; Paris, followed by a two-day EU summit in Brussels. relatives four days before his grandfather, Relatives, politicians and religious leaders She told parliament that the EU needs to work toward Nelson Mandela, was buried there.Mandla is aligned to Mandla were sidelined and more centralised financial and economic governance, where also reported to have found his home on the refused accreditation for Sunday’s funeral. members can be compelled to meet certain fiscal targets, Mandela estate without electricity and water Traditional family rituals, scheduled to be even if this requires changes to key EU treaties. “Since the on the day of his grandfather’s burial. held in Mvezo, a town near Qunu, where Lisbon Treaty we have a situation in Europe where everyone The Johannesburg tabloid The Times Mandla is Madiba clan chief, were cancelled. says, ‘we can develop everything but we can’t change the reported Tuesday that locks at Nelson No transport to the funeral was provided treaties’,” Merkel said. “I don’t think that we can build a truly Mandela’s home in the Eastern Cape hamlet for Mandla’s mother, Nolusapho, or for her functioning Europe that way.” French President Francois were changed shortly after his eldest daugh- sister. They were brought to the funeral after Hollande has rejected changing EU treaties, pushing for more ter, Makaziwe Mandela, arrived there on a member of the family sent a text message pro-growth policies and less austerity within the existing Thursday.At the time, Mandla Mandela was to Mandla telling him of the situation. European charters. Other EU members are also sceptical keeping vigil next to his grandfather’s coffin Nolusapho, who in the early 1970s had been about renegotiating treaties, which may require referendums, while the anti-apartheid icon’s body lay in with Nelson Mandela’s now deceased son, amid rising euroscepticism in many countries. state at the Union Buildings in Pretoria for was reportedly in tears.A further outbreak of Merkel, making her case for evolving charters in the EU, three days. He escorted the coffin to Qunu hostilities is expected over Mandela’s will, said “we have a situation in Europe where Germany is often on Saturday for Mandela’s funeral the follow- the contents of which have not been made accused of resisting certain developments. This is not the ing day. public. case. “We are among those who say that we must, if treaties Approached for comment on the report Makaziwe, who is said to wield great are no longer sufficient, develop those treaties.” Wednesday, Mandla Mandela’s spokesman, influence in the family, oversaw the family’s “Those who want more Europe must be ready for new Freddy Pilusa, told The Associated Press: “He preparations for Mandela’s funeral. rules on some competencies,” she added. Merkel was sworn in (Mandla) doesn’t want to confirm nor deny Makaziwe and Mandla locked horns earlier for a third term on Tuesday, almost three months after win- the report. He wants to focus on promoting this year when Mandla moved the remains ning September 22 elections, leading a “grand coalition” with and upholding the legacy of his grandfather of his father and two other relatives to the centre-left Social Democrats. going forward.” Mvezo, Mandela’s birthplace and where Addressing the Bundestag legislature, Merkel said that her Mandla and Makaziwe have been Mandla is tribal chief. new government wants for Germany, as a founding member involved in a bitter public spat over the con- With Makaziwe spearheading the cam- of the EU, to continue “to take a responsible role and one that trol of Mandela’s legacy and leadership of paign to have the remains exhumed, Mandla promotes integration in Europe”. Looking back at 2013, she the fractured family. The newspaper report was forced by a court order to return the said “Europe has made a fair bit of progress on the path to sta- said that since Mandela’s death on remains to Qunu, where Mandela grew up bility and growth”, citing the banking union project, keeping December 5: and where he had expressed a wish to be the common currency competitive and the fight against Water and lights at Mandla’s house on the buried. —AP youth unemployment. —AFP.