Abdul Rahman, the Afghan Christian who narrowly escaped the death penalty after converting from Islam, has been formally granted refugee status in Italy, the Interior Ministry announced on Thursday. The ministry said in a statement that Rahman, spirited into the country on Wednesday night, had been granted refugee status because he had suffered religious persecution.
Unlike the persecution Moose limbs complain about, it doesn't take a trained observer to distinguish it, either...
Meanwhile, Afghan lawmakers vowed Thursday to investigate whether the judiciary violated Islamic law by freeing Rahman
No doubt. They're up in arms that they couldn't kill somebody. It's that blood fetish.
as the Taliban insurgents called for 'jihad' over the case.
There's always another excuse for jihad, isn't there?
Parliamentarians said on Thursday they would go ahead with an inquiry into the judiciary's decision to free Rahman, even though he was out of the country.
Good idea. Maybe you can find somebody else to kill.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2006 00:00 ||
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Maybe they could kill the foetus-in-foetu girl we featured on Wednesday's Page 3. I'm sure the Paks could rustle up the necessary paperwork.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/31/2006 2:45 Comments ||
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Expect a rush of (phoney) christian converts from this.
#3
Meanwhile, Afghan lawmakers vowed Thursday to investigate whether the judiciary violated Islamic law by freeing Rahman
Barbarians. Barbarians who love being barbarians.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/31/2006 8:28 Comments ||
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#4
Remember how embarrassed they are because Rahman converted from their beloved Islam, the religion of ubiquitous death and destruction, to the relative tranquility of Christianity.
Makes me blush just thinking about it.
Hussain Andaryas, an Afghan Christian leader in the U.S., said the publicity surrounding the Abdul Rahman case had resulted in a surge of interest in Christianity among Afghans, strong concern for the plight of Afghanistan's underground Christians -- and an antagonistic response from Muslims. Andaryas runs a collection of Christian websites in Afghanistan's Dari-Persian tongue as well as daily radio programs and a weekly television program. He is in daily contact with individuals in his homeland, and has been reporting for several years about the risks faced by Afghan Christians -- all converts from Islam and thus considered apostates worthy of death, according to Islamic law (shari'a).
He said one of the websites, which carries news on Afghan Christians, typically drew about 300 unique visitors every month, but since the Rahman story emerged it had attracted half a million visitors. The number of emails received also has risen enormously, and 13 people are now tasked with responding to them. ...
And then there are emails coming from Afghans wanting to know more about Christianity, asking where they can get a Bible in the Dari or Pashto language, or sharing the news that they had become believers in Jesus Christ. Among the most stirring messages are those from Afghan Muslims marveling about a faith for which a man was willing to die and wanting to study the Bible further. Andaryas estimated there are up to 10,000 Christians in Afghanistan. He based that figure on the 6,000 messages sent to his ministry since it began in 1996, all from individuals inside Afghanistan who identified themselves as believing Christians. Even if some of those messages were not genuine, he said, the number would be more than evened out by Christians living in remote areas without access to computers; and those who are too scared to risk their safety by coming out.
#9
TW, I'd mentioned that this mass attempt at exodus was a big fear of the MM's if Rahman was allowed to leave the country.. alive. It was mentioned in a Yahoo News article, but I couldn't find it again to post it as a source.
This sudden coming out of Christians - or more truly a mass leaving of islam - was a big reason for the objection to letting Rahman live.
I think we've found our next cartoon. Or a tipping point. What think you?
#10
I was a keen fan of seesaws in my playground days, Thinemp Whimble2412. That's how it feels to me. Of course, I have been accused of being a Pollyanna -- a blatant lie, of course, as my back was never broken, not even a little bit, however bedridden I may have felt at the time, and there isn't a single P anywhere in my name. ;-)
The State Department is investigating to see whether The New York Times violated American sanctions against Sudan by publishing an advertising supplement touting investment in the country. America has maintained a complex set of sanctions against the North African nation since 1997. The sanctions initially were aimed at punishing Sudan's support for international terrorism, efforts to destabilize neighboring governments and violations of human rights. In recent years, the government in Khartoum has come under intense criticism from Western nations and human rights groups for allegedly encouraging genocide in the Sudanese region of Darfur.
The same day that the eight-page supplement was published, the Times ran an editorial decrying the spread of genocide from the Darfur region of Sudan into neighboring Chad, the latest in a series of efforts by the newspaper to shine a spotlight on the mass killings in Darfur and to encourage major international pressure on Khartoum. The Times has caught the attention of the State Department, but not in the way that the newspaper had hoped. "We are currently examining the advertising supplement," Erin Tariot, a spokeswoman for the State Department, told the Forward. "We are looking into it in regards to our own policies with respect to the U.S. sanctions regime against Sudan."
The issue was not the ad's content, but the financial transaction. In addition to drawing scrutiny from the State Department, the Times is being criticized by some activists involved in the campaign to stop the violence in the Darfur. Aside from the question of whether any laws were violated, either by the Times or by the company that placed the supplement, the decision to publish the added feature is highlighting the issue of how closely a newspaper's advertising content should reflect its editorial position. The Times has denounced the Sudanese government as genocidal, and Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has made Darfur one of his signature issues. Martin Raffel, associate executive director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, accused the Times of violating its own advertising standards in accepting the advertisement. Citing the Times's published standards for "decency and dignity," he told the Forward, "I question whether the systematic rape and destruction of villages is decent and dignified."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2006 00:00 ||
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No, really, 's ok, because they like slammed Sudan at the same time they were taking their money. The NY Slimes wouldn't do anything unethical. Remember, they are better and smarter than you.
"Expose" on the Bush Administration to deflect attention in 5....4.....3....
It's been a while since I looked in on the Jerusalem Post website. Silly of me, because they really are a good news source... and an honest one, unlike, say, Ha'aretz, "The New York Times of Israel." Registration required, but free.
US Defense Department specialists made an unannounced visit to Libya in January to see what it would take to help Moammar Gadhafi's government destroy its tons of chemical weapons, a process that could cost $100 million, department officials said Thursday.
James A. Tegnelia, director of a Pentagon unit known as the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, said Thursday the officials who were in Libya are now writing a proposal for the State and Defense departments, spelling out options for helping Libya comply with an international agreement to get rid of the banned weapons.
"It would be a difficult thing," Tegnelia said, in part because of the location, which he did not describe in detail.
What a lovely idea. Not to mention reminding the good Colonel that he is not Islam Triumphant, but merely the man who surrendered his nuclear program rather than face Saddam Hussein's fate.
The US Navy sent ships, helicopters and divers on Thursday as part of a concerted rescue effort to save nearly 150 victims of a ferry accident in the sea waters of Bahrain. Initial reports said there were casualties from the evening cruise that sank after it overturned less than a mile off the coast of Bahrain in the late hours of the day. - US Navy Lieutenant Trey Brown confirmed to KUNA that some small boats with divers were responding to the ferry accident.
The Naval Forces Central Command is headquartered in Bahrain, where they are responsible for the Navy forces of the 27 countries in the area stretching from Afghanistan to Djibouti, said Brown.
You're welcome. Next time you're burning a few flags, think about who shows up when things go wrong. It's not your local holy man.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2006 00:00 ||
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Technically, the holy man *does* show up, but only to tell you it's all your fault 'cos you've fallen away from Allan's One True Path...
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shrugged off protests over the US-led war in Iraq at the start of a tour today of north-west England hosted by her British counterpart Jack Straw. "I would say to those who wish to protest, 'By all means, I have no problem with people exercising their democratic rights'," Dr Rice told reporters at a BAE Systems factory in Samlesbury, on the outskirts of Blackburn.
"That doesn't mean I have to pay any attention to their senseless nattering."
Her reciprocal visit to Mr Straw's hometown of Blackburn, after his trip last year to her native Alabama, met with a chilly reception from both anti-war protesters and press reports of a US-British dispute over defence technology. As soon as she arrived at a school in Blackburn, Dr Rice was greeted by 200 protesters, some waving placards stamped with "stop the war," and many shouting "Hey, hey Condi Rice, how many kids have you killed today?"
Ummm... That doesn't rhyme...
The refrain echoed the one shouted at "LBJ, how many kids have you killed today?" when US President Lyndon Baines Johnson was leading the United States in its war in Vietnam in the 1960s.
I see. It used to rhyme in 1968, so it should also rhyme today. Gotcha.
The protesters, who included women wearing Muslim headscarves, also chanted: "Condoleezza Rice go home". Some carried placards saying: "Stop the war" and "How many lives per gallon?"
Good question, since our Islamist adversaries seem to be the ones inflicting the majority of the casualties...
Jabbar Khan, 16, a student at the school, was among those on the other side who supported Dr Rice. "We should be proud to have such a high-profile visitor to our school," he told AFP. He said about 50 children took the day off at Pleckgate High School to join the protest. "They skived off," said Khan.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2006 10:05 ||
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Strange..., but not so. Like most of the rest, their memories are as short as their members. Feckless Pommies didn't "shrug off" our air logisitics, refueling, and intelligence support a few years back in the Falklands.
#4
The last protest I've read about that didn't turn me against the protestors was the Civil Rights protests. Pretty much everyone since then has been about the protestors themselves and not about the cause.
After these latest pro-illegal protests I'm willing to vote for Nader if he'd build a freaking wall.
#1
At the conclusion of filthy-minded Prez, Bill Clinton's 1999 hoop-jump for Kosovo Islamofascists, an armistice was signed that recognized perpetual Serbian sovereignty over the Kosovo entity. And now a 2nd - after Bosnia - terror state is being formed in Europe. The more we retreat, the more will the mortal Muslim enemy advance. Slobo was a moron, but most Serbs recognized the inherently aggressive nature of the Muslim. The 9-11 lesson didn't sink in. I guess we need another. Check this out:
http://www.serbianna.com/columns/mitic/006.shtml
THE Australian newspaper has published a cartoon depicting Indonesia's president as a copulating dog, after a Jakarta paper portrayed the Australian leader in a similar manner this week.
The cartoon in The Australian newspaper is likely to place further pressure on Jakarta-Canberra relations already strained over Australia's decision to grant refugee visas to 42 asylum-seekers from Indonesia's independence-minded Papua province.
The image, penned by award-winning cartoonist Bill Leak, shows President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as a tail-wagging dog mounting a startled-looking Papua dog and saying "don't take this the wrong way".
The caption under the cartoon reads "no offence intended".
It follows a front-page cartoon in Monday's edition of the Rakyat Merdeka newspaper portraying Prime Minister John Howard and his Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as copulating dingoes.
In that image, a shaking Howard is mounted on Downer with the Prime Minister saying: "I want Papua!! Alex! Try to make it happen."
Mr Howard dismissed the Indonesian cartoon, although Mr Downer described it as grotesque and "way below standards of public taste".
Indonesia has been stung by the decision of Australia's immigration department to issue three-year visas to the group of Papuans, including prominent separatists and their families, who arrived by boat in northern Australia in January.
In response, Indonesia has recalled its ambassador to Canberra, postponed an agreement on jointly fighting bird flu, and angry Indonesians have protested outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta.
Since the decision, Howard has repeatedly stated his support for Indonesian sovereignty over Papua, a former Dutch colony taken over by Jakarta in the 1960s.
A MAN accused of being a member of a terrorist organisation was left in a cell in his underwear after a dispute with prison officers today, a court has been told.
Abdulla Merhi, 20, of Fawkner is one of 10 Melbourne men charged with being a member of a terrorist organisation.
Eight of the men have also been charged with financing a terrorist organisation.
Rob Stary, representing Merhi and seven other defendants, told the Melbourne Magistrates' Court that there had been a dispute between his clients and prison guards this morning over what the prisoners should wear to court.
Mr Stary said the accused had been in jail for six months and their civilian clothes were soiled and musty.
They asked if they could attend in their prison garb but were refused permission.
Mr Stary said that in the course of the dispute, Merhi was left in a cell in his underwear for up to an hour.
"Obviously, there was a sense of degradation and humiliation on his part," he told the court.
The dispute held up proceedings in court one for close to two hours, with only four of the accused wearing civilian clothes eventually attending.
One of the four was the alleged leader of the group, Muslim preacher Abdul Nacer Benbrika, 46, of Dallas, who has also been charged with directing a terrorist organisation.
Before Magistrate Paul Smith entered the court room, Benbrika flanked by security in the dock silenced the courtroom.
"This life is very short," he said. "Everyone is going to die but the best of us."
The end of his statement was indecipherable and was interrupted by the arrival of the magistrate.
The case was adjourned for another committal mention on April 28 and booked in for a committal beginning in the County Court on June 14.
Outside the court, Mr Stary said his clients had asked for their clothes to be cleaned but their request was refused.
He said his clients had wanted to wear prison garb as a protest about their treatment in prison.
"It's the only thing they can do to protest against their circumstances," he said.
#1
Mr Stary said that in the course of the dispute, Merhi was left in a cell in his underwear for up to an hour.
"Obviously, there was a sense of degradation and humiliation on his part," he told the court.
LOL! what a hoot. 'O the shame of nasty privies on the head.
Benbrika This life is very short," he said. "Everyone is going to die but the best of us."
huh? well you will anyway Benbrika, by slo humiliating panty shame.
#3
You'd never be left in your pants under Sharia law - you'd be dead.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/31/2006 3:39 Comments ||
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Even Saddam Hussein managed to hand wash his own clothes while imprisoned. We've seen the [unfortunate] photos that prove it. Of course, Mr. Hussein is a secular Arab fascist, so perhaps that's the explanation. What spoiled little brats.
Turkish police backed by armored personnel carriers used tear gas and truncheons to disperse a violent march Thursday by tens of thousands of Kurdish protesters in Diyarbakir. A seven-year-old boy was reported to be in critical condition after sustaining bullet wounds in his stomach. Witnesses said he was fired on by police. The reports could not be confirmed.
The urban skirmishes, described as the worst in the past decade, first erupted on Tuesday during funeral services for 14 rebels of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The rebels were killed by Turkish security forces in the neighboring province of Mus over the weekend. Four of the rebels were from Diyarbakir, the most populous city in southeastern Turkey, a hotbed of Kurdish nationalism. Thousands of Kurds clashed with security forces during a funeral organized for the rebels on Wednesday. Three mourners, including an eight-year-old boy, were killed in the clashes. Elsewhere across the city, teenagers chanting Kurdish nationalist slogans smashed hundreds of shop windows and torched businesses and government offices in rioting that lasted for several hours. Most shops remained closed Thursday and most residents kept to their homes, fearing unrest during the funeral for the three victims of Wednesday's violence.
Eyewitnesses said the violence was triggered by teenage youths who hurled rocks at a police station on the way to the cemetery. The chief of Turkish National police and other high ranking security officials gathered in Diyarbakir Thursday as the violence spread to the neighboring city of Batman. Officials there say some 5,000 demonstrators, protesting Wednesday's deaths, torched and ransacked around 300 shops, banks and government offices in the city. At least 20 people were reported to have been wounded when police intervened to disperse that demonstration.
Violence has been steadily escalating in Diyarbakir and the surrounding region since June 2004. That is when the PKK ended a five year unilateral truce it had declared following the capture of its leader, Abdullah Ocalan, in February 1999. The PKK said it was taking up arms again because of what it termed the government's failure to broker a lasting peace. The rebel group began its armed campaign, initially for independence and later for autonomy, in 1984. Over 30,000 people have died in the fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2006 09:09 ||
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I'm amazed that the independence movements of the world are so stupid. Turkey claims to be a democracy. Turkey wants into the EU. The Kurds should march on Ankara in large peaceful groups to make demands. Time it right, and make the marches big and rare and free of puppets. If the Turks crack down they can kiss the west goodbye. if the Turks do not the Kurds get world sympathy for their independnece in a way the PKK could never provide.
#2
Oh, and demand something short of full independence so the Turks can grant it without losing too much face or else they'll replay the Armenian game with the Kurds and althought that would really get the Kurds sympathy it wouldn't help the dead get a state.
#3
If you look at the various BBC discussions on the Iran Nuke issue - almost every other letter is the WHINE that Israel has nukes. (no mention of Pak ones).
#5
I doubt we'll be able to turn the entire Middle East into a nuke FREE zone, but I'm sure we can turn it into a nuke FIRE zone - unless some spoiled children learn some manners, yesterday.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/31/2006 16:06 Comments ||
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but I'm sure we can turn it into a nuke FIRE zone
Counterintelligence posts remain unfilled. EFL, rearranged for sense.
Former CIA spy hunter Paul Redmond, who helped catch notorious Moscow mole Aldrich Ames, has withdrawn from consideration to become the Bush administration's top counterspy, U.S. intelligence officials say. Mr. Redmond had been selected to be national counterintelligence executive, but backed out after the FBI held up his formal appointment by conducting a lengthy background investigation. Why? Are they unsure who he is? Honestly! In addition to uncovering Ames in 1993, Mr. Redmond conducted the damage assessment into the case of FBI counterintelligence agent Robert Hanssen, who spied for Moscow for 16 years before his 2001 arrest.
The national counterintelligence post and the deputy position in what is called NCIX remain vacant following the resignations of Michelle Van Cleave in January and Ken deGraffenreid a month earlier. Counterspy posts at the CIA and FBI also remain vacant or held by acting officials at a time when foreign spying continues to plague the administration.I would call that unwise, but I'm just a little Midwestern housewife.
The office was recently placed under DNI John D. Negroponte as part of intelligence reform efforts, setting off a dispute over the role of counterintelligence. However, intelligence officials under Mr. Negroponte, including DNI Mission Manager for Collection Mary Margaret Graham, are opposing the new policy and instead favor making counterintelligence a passive support function for U.S. spying.
In related news, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III told a congressional committee earlier this week that Chinese spying is a "major threat" to the United States. A Pentagon report on the Iraq war made public March 24 highlighted Russian spying against the U.S. military and its military facility in Doha, Qatar. The report said documents obtained in Iraq showed that Russian intelligence passed U.S. war plans and other operational military data to Saddam Hussein's forces before the war.
#1
This is one of many stories which make me think US intelligence has one or more moles working within it to screw up our efforts to gather intelligence and protect ourselves from the terrorists. This pattern of punishing the innocent and rewarding the guilty has to stop.
Well you knew it was coming... Plans to Detonate 700 Tons of Explosives in the Nevada Desert Draw Criticism
LAS VEGAS Mar 31, 2006 (AP) Plans for a Pentagon-led experiment that involves detonating 700 tons of explosives in the desert drew criticism from state leaders and a disarmament activist.
The explosion scheduled for June 2 at the Nevada Test Site is part of an effort to design a weapon that can penetrate solid rock formations in which a country might store nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction.
"I am concerned that tests of this magnitude have been planned without providing Nevadans with any information about the possible impact on their health or safety," said Democratic Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid in a statement Thursday. You mean, Harry "Us Democrats are big on defense" Reid? That Harry Reid?
Nevada Test Site spokesman Darwin Morgan said the test will be conducted about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, near the center of the former nuclear testing site. The test, named "Divine Strake," will involve nearly 40 times the amount of commercial ammonium nitrate and fuel oil explosive set off in the largest open-air, non-nuclear blast at the site to date. In 2002, 18 tons of explosives were set off at the Nevada Test Site.
"This is nothing that's out of the bounds for us. That's what our expertise is in," he said. BWAAAAAAHAAAAAAHAAAAAAAHAAAAAAA!!!!
Morgan said the site obtained the required state approvals and air quality permits in January. Officials from the National Nuclear Security Administration, which operates the site, alerted the state's congressional delegation and state government in December. The Nevada Department of Administration responded with a letter stating: "Your proposal is not in conflict with state plans, goals or objectives." No elected officials responded to the notice until Thursday, Morgan said. The test site is not required to seek public comment, he said. But...but...that was before it became really big news and we could score political brownie points on it.
"Given the level of contamination in areas where nuclear tests were conducted, I have real concerns about the dust and other pollutants that will be released into the air as a result of this explosion," said U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley. ...and how that will effect...prarie dogs and...gila monsters and rattlesnakes, since that's about all that's out there.
Disarmament activist Pete Litster said tests at the site violate international law. Litster, executive director of the Shundahai Network, said the site belongs to the Western Shoshone Indian tribe. Wonder how many rocks the AP had to flip over before they found this guy?
#2
"I am concerned that tests of this magnitude have been planned without providing Nevadans with any information about the possible impact on their health or safety," said Democratic Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid...
"Impact"? WHAT impact???????? The damn test site is out in the freakin' middle of nowhere, you idiot!
Harry, this isn't part of your new "Democrats are tough and smart" initiative, is it?
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/31/2006 12:49 Comments ||
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Reid is an idiot.
I downloaded the Nevada EPA impact statement for the test. IT IS HUGE!
It tells everything about the test including the history which shows this test to be minor compared to some past ones.
The only reason they what to test at the Nevada site is that the limestone at the Nevada site is quite similar to the target. (heh!) They just want to get their computer models right. Nothing else.
#9
Reid comes off as so politically deaf by his comments its pathetic. I mean they tested nukes at this site in the past and he's going to go to bat over conventional munitions might have some side effect? The week after the Dems big strong on Security platform came out?
They really dropped the ball when they picked this guy to lead the Senate Democrats.
#13
Sen. Reid as a senior member of the Appropriations Committee secured $100 million for Nevada in the 2006 military construction bill, compared with $17.5 million last year. As the Senate Democratic leader he appointed the position to the BRAC commission and now his state of Nevada will get a net increase of a 1,059 military jobs. To further criticize the Bush Administration, last week Reid introduced his "Real Security" plan, which calls for staged town hall events at military bases and veterans posts. Reid made no attempt to hide the Anti-Bush agenda. However, in order to get around the prohibition of campaigning at military installations he portrayed the events as troop support. Or as Jim Manley, Reid's spokesman, puts it "These are events to highlight the need for increased funding for the troops." Now that hes secured his dough and political backdrops, Senator Reid appears to find it more politically advantageous to condemn actual military R&D in his state. Dont be surprised if it turns out that the Western Shoshone are one of the tribes hired by Abramoff to give campaign contributions to Reid.
#14
A HREF='http://budget.state.nv.us/clearinghouse/Notice/2006/E2006-222.pdf'>This document on the Divine Strake detonation is very interesting (.pdf, 14 MB).
Looks to me like someone's validating some mathematical models predicting the effects of sub-kiloton nuclear bunker-busters, with 700 tons of heavy ANFO as the stand-in for the nuke.
The ANFO will be loaded into a 32 ft. diameter hole 36 ft. deep, with a hemispherical bottom (see diagrams in the .pdf file), and detonated by a "blasting cap" consisting of about 300 lbs. of C4 explosive.
There's a tunnel 30 meters below the bottom of the blast pit, and this tunnel will be instrumented to evaluate blast effects (spalling, tunnel collapse, etc.)
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/31/2006 16:09 Comments ||
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Shit. Sorry for garfing up the link.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/31/2006 16:10 Comments ||
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#16
Of course, there never was any dust in Nevada prior to the military testing. It was verdant, and the children frolicked in the meadows happily....
#17
Note the potential for 2 speices of jack rabbits to suffer eardrum puncture if they are out of their holes when it blows up and within a quarter mile of the bang... so some bunnies could go deaf!
#23
Fertilizer bombs have the singular distinction of being able to replicate nuclear level blasts without the fallout. I recall them as being the only ones capable of such a feat.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Jill Carroll's kidnappers reportedly warned her before her release that she might be killed if she cooperated with the Americans or went to the Green Zone, saying it was infiltrated by insurgents.
The freelance writer for The Christian Science Monitor, who was freed by her captors Thursday and dropped off at a branch office of the Iraqi Islamic Party, was later escorted to the Green Zone by the U.S. military, the newspaper said Friday.
At first, she was reluctant to go, but a Monitor writer in Baghdad,
Scott Peterson, convinced her it was safe, the newspaper said.
The Monitor quoted her family as saying that her kidnappers had warned her against talking to the Americans or going to the Green Zone. They told her it was "infiltrated by the mujahedeen," the newspaper said.
Her captors, calling themselves the Revenge Brigades, had demanded the release of all female detainees in
Iraq by Feb. 26 and said Carroll would be killed otherwise.
In a video purportedly from her kidnappers that was posted on the Internet, her abductors said Carroll was released because "the American government met some of our demands by releasing some of our women from prison." The video was found on an Islamic Web site where such material has appeared before.
But U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Thursday there was no connection between the recent release of several female Iraqi detainees and Carroll's freedom.
"No U.S. person entered into any arrangements with anyone. By U.S. person I mean the United States mission," he said.
"What we did before had no connection with Jill Carroll," Khalilzad said. "We still have a few female detainees â four â and that's all I can say on that."
The Monitor's editor, Richard Bergenheim, also said no money had been exchanged for Carroll's release. "We simply know she was dropped off at the Iraqi Islamic Party headquarters," he said.
Carroll, who was kidnapped Jan. 7 in Baghdad, said Thursday she was not harmed by her captors and added that she did not know why she was released.
Also on the Internet video, Carroll is shown answering questions, presumably from her captors, and saying that Iraqi insurgents were "only trying to defend their country ... to stop an illegal and dangerous and deadly occupation."
"So I think people need to understand in America how difficult life is here for the normal, average Iraqis ... how terrifying it is for most people to live here every day because of the occupation," she said on the video.
Bergenheim said Friday that Carroll's parents, who spoke to her about the video, told him it was "conducted under duress."
"What emerged was that they actually started filming this tape the night before and then there was a power outage. Jill had been told the questions, asked to translate them from Arabic into English," he told ABC's "Good Morning America."
"When you're making a video and having to recite certain things with three men with machine guns standing over you, you're probably going to say exactly what you're told to say," Bergenheim added.
The U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Baghdad declined to comment on the video, saying all queries regarding Carroll were being handled by her family and the Monitor.
Iraq's Interior Ministry said it had no information regarding Carroll's departure plans, which an Iraqi official said were being handled by the Americans.
Bergenheim said the 28-year-old Carroll is "emotionally fragile" after 82 days in captivity and will begin her journey home as soon as possible.
"Yesterday was way too soon. I think they're investigating whether she could leave today," he told NBC's "Today" show. "But her family wants to make sure that she's strong enough, emotionally and otherwise, to take this step."
#1
She's much more than "emotionally fragile", she seems in very serious psychological trouble. This is going to take a few years of psychotherapy. I fear she may have been raped as well. The terror of her captors and what they might do to her (again?) is most evident.
#2
her first statements are to not be taken at face value - give her a break. She's obviously been abused, if not physically, then emotionally and mentally, by her detention
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/31/2006 19:22 Comments ||
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I am giving her a break - most didn't mean any of that snide. She has been badly hurt (emotionallly, mentally, spiritually) and this is going to take some healing.
First words can actually tell a lot - but mostly only hint a the reality she went through. I not concerned about the content of her video, circumstances for heaven's sake, but the tone and demeanor reveal a lot of how hard this captivity was for her.
It's her very first insistence statements to the effect the they didn't hit her, they never even hit her - so urgent was she to communicate this. So insistent probably obeying a command. Or worse, the too-quick denial and then insistence of "nothing happened".
Jill has been badly hurt. I hope she will recover.
From behind the subscription wall, so presented here complete. I've never been quite sure what the rules are in such cases, so I hope it's ok.
After substantial prodding -- including from this paper -- the U.S. government has finally begun to release its captured Iraqi documents and is posting them at the Web site of the Army's Foreign Military Studies Office. This material will take considerable time to absorb and analyze, but it may yet contribute significantly to our understanding of the nature of the threat Saddam Hussein posed.
Most dramatically, an Iraqi intelligence report, apparently written in early 1997, describes Iraqi efforts to establish ties with various elements in the Saudi opposition, including Osama bin Ladin. Until 1996, the Saudi renegade was based in Sudan, then ruled by Hassan Turabi's National Islamic Front. One of Iraq's few allies, Sudan served as an intermediary between Baghdad and bin Ladin, as well as other Islamic radicals. On Feb. 19, 1995, an Iraqi intelligence agent met with bin Ladin in Khartoum. Bin Ladin asked to carry out joint operations against foreign forces in Saudi Arabia and to broadcast the speeches of a radical Saudi cleric. Iraq agreed to the latter, but apparently not the former, at least as far as the author of this report knew. The report also states, "we are working at the present time to activate this relationship through new channels."
This one report hints at the extensive international presence that the Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) maintained. Iraq's ambassadors to Sudan and Yemen were intelligence agents, suggesting that those two countries were major centers of IIS activity. The report also mentions IIS stations in Islamabad, New Delhi and New York.
Another newly released document bears the name of Abu Musab al Zarqawi. It is a flyer from the "Committee for Arab Liaison with the Islamic Emirate" (i.e., Afghanistan) for recruiting volunteers in Iraq to fight in Afghanistan. It explains that the "Arab brothers" who wish to go there should send a written proposal "so that we can know him and his needs." Zarqawi is among six people listed as individuals to contact.
How close were relations between Iraq and the Taliban, a regime officially recognized by only three countries? The answer is necessary for understanding the nature of any ties Iraq may have had with al Qaeda or other Afghan-based Islamic groups. Hopefully, other documents will emerge to shed light on this question.
The formal cease-fire to the 1991 Gulf War required Iraq to recognize Kuwait and release the Kuwaiti hostages it had seized. Iraq did neither. On March 4, 2003, with war looming, Saddam's son, Qusay, ordered 448 Kuwaiti prisoners taken to sites the U.S. would likely attack. Nothing of their fate has been reported, and they may well have died. Iraq formally recognized Kuwait in 1994, but the official stationery of the Fedayeen Saddam in 2001 shows a map of Iraq that includes the state.
Other documents from this database were leaked some time ago. Perhaps because their provenance was not understood, these 30 pages did not receive the attention they merited. Particularly notable is an order issued by Saddam on Jan. 18, 1993: "hunt Americans on Arab territory, particularly in Somalia."
Most of these documents deal with terrorism and date from January to May 1993. They suggest that in early 1993, Saddam began to move actively to revive terrorist programs that had been established three years before, following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Responding to a request from Saddam, Iraqi intelligence produced a six-page report, listing the names and nationalities of 100 Arab "martyrs" whom it had trained in the fall of 1990.
Another report explains that the IIS had reached an agreement with the deputy head of Sudan's ruling National Islamic Front "to use the Islamic Arab elements that had been fighting in Afghanistan and now have no place to go and who are physically present in Sudan, Somalia and Egypt." The IIS also agreed with Khartoum to renew its relationship with Egyptian Islamic Jihad -- headed by Ayman al Zawahiri, familiar as al Qaeda's most prominent contemporary spokesman.
Still another report describes Iraq's earlier agreement with Islamic Jihad, concluded on Dec. 24, 1990, as the start of the Gulf war loomed. Iraq was to provide training, financing and supplies to the organization "to execute martyr operations" against the members of the U.S.-led coalition, of which Egypt was a key Arab member. However, as this document explains, those operations stopped immediately after the cease-fire.
In 1993, Iraq was cautious about backing Egyptian terrorists, more so than the Sudanese. When Khartoum informed Baghdad that it was sending an Islamic Jihad leader, who had been based in Afghanistan and then lived in Sudan, to Iraq on a Sudanese plane carrying meat, the IIS asked that the visit be postponed. Sudan insisted, and the IIS approved on condition the visit be kept secret. Subsequently, the IIS recommended that assistance to the Egyptian group be limited to financial support.
Two documents relate to Iraq's proscribed WMD programs. One is a table, providing details of a Sept. 6, 2000, contract for the production of "the malignant pustule" -- the Pentagon official who leaked these documents believed it referred to anthrax -- along with earlier contracts for sterilization and decontamination equipment. Another table describes an Aug. 21, 2000, contract for the production of mustard gas and earlier contracts for protective equipment. Small amounts of material are mentioned: three ampules of "the malignant pustule" (an ampule is a small, sealed glass vial) and five kilograms of mustard gas. These contracts could have represented test runs, or, as a former U.N. weapons inspector suggested to me, the material could have been intended for terrorism.
Many more documents are to be released in coming months. Quite possibly, they will vindicate the decision to undertake the Iraq war; help maintain public support for fighting it; and radically change our understanding of Saddam's role in international terrorism.
Opinion writer Ms. Laurie Mylroie is an adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of "Study of Revenge: The First World Trade Center Attack and Saddam Hussein's War Against America" (AEI, 2001).
Writing in monthly Naya Zamana (January 2006) Dr Parwez Parwazi narrated that Justice Muhammad Munir in his memoir talked about a spiritual leader staying next to his rest house in Murree whose disciples used stones to dry their genitals after urination. The process was called watwani. The custom was to take a stone and keeping rubbing it on the genitals while walking around. When Justice Munir protested to the pir he replied that his disciples were observing a sunnat.
Despite pious observance, the practice of watwani has declined in our times. One sees fewer and fewer men walking around with their hands obscenely thrust into the shalwar. Yet if you read the big book of Dawat-e-Islami (green turbans) the ritual of watwani is alive and well as a tradition. Some of the instructions, especially to women, are unprintable. But can anyone legally stop a man from doing this in public? How will the Federal Shariat Court rule?
Posted by: john ||
03/31/2006 15:49 ||
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The process was called watwani
he replied that his disciples were observing a sunnat.
Isn't sunnat the deeds of the profit?
So old profit Mo' used to rub his penis with a stone for hours on end?
Posted by: john ||
03/31/2006 18:20 Comments ||
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That sounds more like a local Pakistani (Pushtun?) custom to me. The kind of thing that can be done because the women are all locked up in Purdah. Can you imagine the outcry in a Beduin camp if one of the womenfolk came across such carryings on while out fetching a bucket of water from the well?
Either Asif Zardari or Gomez Addams, I'm not sure which.
An accountability court on Thursday ordered the confiscation of property belonging to Asif Ali Zardari, husband of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, in an assets reference. The National Accountability Court gave the verdict in the illegal assets reference, saying that property belonging to Zardari in various cities, including Rawalpindi, should be confiscated. The judge has also directed all concerned DCOs to take steps to confiscate the property. The court has already declared Zardari a proclaimed offender in the case. Advocates Bashir Qurashi, Tanvirul Islam, Muhammad Iqbal and Arif Chohan appeared before the court on behalf of NAB, while Zardari's counsel was not present during the hearing.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2006 00:00 ||
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A New Zealand hostage released from captivity in Iraq believes a ransom was paid for his freedom. Harmeet Sooden, a 32-year-old Auckland University student, has spoken publicly for the first time about his kidnapping and four-month detention. Harmeet Sooden was one of three members of the Christian Peacemaker Team rescued a week ago by British special forces in Iraq. A fourth American colleague was murdered by the kidnappers.
Any ransom didn't do him any good, did it?
Mr Sooden thanked all those who had worked and prayed over four months for his release. On the day he was rescued his captors were nowhere to be seen, which he thought was highly unusual. "This is strange, I mean I wasn't jumping for joy or didn't have tears of emotion, I sort of felt: this is contrived," he said. And when asked, he said he believed it was "highly likely" that a ransom had been paid.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2006 10:10 ||
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No more ransom's paid. Put the word out. You go over there, and you don't have a good reason for being there, you're on your own.
#2
The arrogance of their humility is breathtaking.
Anything they can do to denigrate the efforts of those who rescued them. And the reality is they know exactly who would do them evil. Turns out the Canadian Looney was gay; upon his kidnapping his "partner" went into hiding for fear that if the sexual orientation was publicised, Looney life might be in danger. Danger from who?
Hipocrites to the core.
Posted by: john ||
03/31/2006 20:57 Comments ||
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This demand made as part of Friday prayers, I presume in the Sadrist end of town...
A leading Iraqi Shi'ite cleric on Friday demanded the United States sack its envoy [Afghan-born ambassador and Sunni muslim] Zalmay Khalilzad, heading a push for a unity government, accusing him of siding with fellow Sunni Muslims in the sectarian conflict gripping the country. Ayatollah Mohammed al-Yacoubi's call at Friday prayers came as political leaders held their latest round of negotiations to form a new government, months after parliamentary elections in December, as sectarian bloodshed rises.
In a sermon read out at mosques for Friday prayers, Yacoubi said Washington had underestimated the conflict between Shi'ites and the once dominant Sunni Arab minority, which many fear threatens to trigger a civil war. "By this, they are either misled by reports, which lack objectivity and credibility, submitted to the United States by their sectarian ambassador to Iraq ... or they are denying this fact," Yacoubi said in the message, later issued as a statement. "It (the United States) should not yield to terrorist blackmail and should not be deluded or misled by spiteful sectarians. It should replace its ambassador to Iraq if it wants to protect itself from further failures." After the imam of Baghdad's Rahman mosque read that line, worshippers chanted "Allahu Akbar".
Yacoubi is the spiritual guide for the Fadhila party, one of the smaller but still influential components of the dominant Islamist Alliance bloc. He is not part of the senior clerical council around Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf. Nonetheless, Shi'ite politicians said his comments reflected widespread disenchantment among them with the ambassador. "It's a very good statement," one senior official in the Alliance, not from Fadhila, said of Yacoubi's sermon.
Khalilzad, who has been in Iraq 10 months, has been criticised by Shi'ite leaders, who openly resent his championing of efforts to tempt Sunnis away from armed revolt into a coalition government. Yacoubi said: "The American ambassador and the tyrants of the Arab states are giving political support to those parties who provide political cover for the terrorists."
Alliance leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim accused Khalilzad last month of provoking the Samarra bombing by making remarks critical of "sectarian" tendencies among the Shi'ite leadership. Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has also criticised U.S. "interference" this week in Iraq's political process. Jaafari's nomination to a second term by the Alliance is a major sticking point in talks with Sunnis and ethnic Kurds on a government. Shi'ite politicians say Khalilzad has delivered messages from U.S. President George W. Bush to both Hakim and Sistani in the past week urging them to drop Jaafari, whose nomination was secured with the support of Iranian-backed cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr. U.S. diplomats deny taking sides in the issue. Khalilzad is now planning talks with Iran,
Gah.
Washington's old enemy in the region, to try to ease the crisis in Iraq. The United States accuses Shi'ite Iran of fomenting violence.
#1
Never shun the chance to talk with your enemy. Such talks often reveal huge gaps in planning, secret weapons, timetables, and a vertitable cornucopia of other critical intelligence data.
Of course, such unintentional exposures can work both ways, so if possible you want the meeting recorded and heavily analyzed, to detect both their, and your own departures from discretion.
Imagine what information could be gleaned with just a few carefully crafted questions, later analyzed by audio lie detection?
#2
Sadr and his fellow institutionalistas need to keep talking. I hope someone in Washington is paying attention, so that when the final decision is made about what to do with Sadr and friends, their comments like this will move "whack and stack" to the top of the list of options.
Our biggest problem in Iraq is that we've been too nice. The islamofruitcakes believe we can't be mean enough to defeat them. We need to disabuse them of that silly, incoherent, and totally inaccurate idea. We need to come down HARD on Sadr and his minions in a way that is totally anal. I don't think we'd have any problems after that, even with Iran.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/31/2006 16:15 Comments ||
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I have heard it described that Iraq now has the second best military in the Middle East.
The militias do not stand a chance. America won't have to deal with this problem.
Would explain why Sadr and his minions are deparate to con the media into blaming the US, even to arranging hoax massacres. The Jenin Strategy? Just a ploy to keep the Coalition from letting the Iraqi army go to it.
Posted by: john ||
03/31/2006 21:07 Comments ||
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Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari warned against US interference in his countrys politics and defended his ties to a radical Shia militia an interview published in the Thursday edition of The New York Times. With backing from Shia parties, Jaafari is seeking to stay in office but his candidacy has proved contentious among parliamentary factions that have yet to agree on a national unity government three months after national elections. Jaafari told The Times that certain comments from US officials had undermined President George W Bushs public stance in favour of democracy in Iraq. There was a stand from both the American government and President Bush to promote a democratic policy and protect its interests, he told the paper in an interview conducted in his Baghdad home. But now theres concern among the Iraqi people that the democratic process is being threatened.
Jaafari appeared to be referring to US concerns over his candidacy amid reports that US officials were actively lobbying for other figures who might be able to draw support from Kurdish and Sunni leaders, who oppose Jaafari.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2006 00:00 ||
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...and that's Arab gratefulness. What lovely people.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
03/31/2006 2:35 Comments ||
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Does he really expect such statements to help his campaign? Even I am not that politically naive!
Sri Lanka's ruling coalition won an overwhelming victory in local elections, according to results released by the government, a result seen as an endorsement of the president's negotiations with Tamil Tiger rebels. President Mahinda Rajapakse's United Peoples' Freedom Alliance won majorities in 212 out of 249 local councils where results were declared, the Government Information Department said Friday. The main opposition group won 29 seats, and minor parties won the other eight seats. Remaining results for 17 councils were expected Saturday, the department said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2006 09:12 ||
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Iran successfully test-fired a missile that can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads, the military said Friday. Gen. Hossein Salami, the air force chief of the elite Revolutionary Guards, did not specify the missile's range, saying it depends on the weight of its warheads.
But state-run television described the weapon as "ballistic" suggesting it's of comparable range to Iran's existing ballistic rocket, which can travel 1,250 miles and reach arch-foe Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East. "Today, a remarkable goal of the Islamic Republic of Iran's defense forces was realized with the successful test-firing of a new missile with greater technical and tactical capabilities than those previously produced," Salami said on state-run television. It showed a clip of the launch of what it called the Fajr-3, with "fajr" meaning "victory" in Farsi. "It can avoid anti-missile missiles and strike the target," Salami said. [Sigh]. Stealth is not an on/off switch (in spite of a certain really bad movie). I'm willing to believe that they have lowered the radar observability of the booster and maybe the warheads. But, it's not going to be invisible. It just means that the detection range for a given emitter power has gone down. And true low-observable capability requires first-class precision manufacturing. On the Have Blue prototype, one screw being 1/8" above the panel resulted in several orders of magnitude increased cross-section. Think Iran can do better than Lockheed?
Plus, any IR-based missile will find the massive head signature one this thing. The Pentagon has spent tens of millions of dollars on working out countermeasures to low-observable missile and aircraft. Does any rational (i.e. not on DU) think that they don't have anything to show for it.
This isn't My speciality, but I am a rocket scientists and do work on similar items.
He said the missile would carry a multiple warhead, and each warhead would be capable of hitting its target precisely as a Scud.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the development demonstrates Iran's "very active and aggressive military program" that is worrisome to the world. "I think Iran's military posture, military development effort, is of concern to the international community," Ereli said.
"And that concern is shared by many countries in the international community, about Iran's aggressive nuclear weapons program and her parallel efforts to develop delivery systems, both in the field of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev. "The combination of extremist jihadist ideology, together with nuclear weapons and delivery systems, is a combination that no one in the international community can be complacent about," he said.
Yossi Alpher, an Israeli consultant on the peace process, said the news "escalates the arms race between Iran and all those who are concerned about Iran's aggressive intentions and nuclear potential. Clearly it's escalation, and also an attempt by Iran to flex its muscles as it goes into a new phase of the diplomatic struggle with the U.N. Security Council," Alpher said.
Andy Oppenheimer, a weapons expert at Jane's Information Group, said the missile test could be an indication that Iran has MIRV capability. MIRV refers to multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles, which are intercontinental ballistic missiles with several warheads, each of which could be directed to a different target. "From the description, it could be a MIRV. If you are saying that from a single missile, separate warheads can be independently targeted then yes, this is significant," he said. "But we don't know how accurate the Iranians are able to make their missiles yet, and this is a crucial point," Oppenheimer said. MIRV = Multiple Inaccurate Reentry Vehicle
"If the missile is adaptable for nuclear warheads, then they are well on the way," he added. "But they have not made a nuclear warhead yet. The current estimates are it could take five years." And the CIA said it would take until the mid-50s for the USSR to develop The Bomb. The existing rocket is the Shahab-3, which means "shooting star," and also is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
Israel and the United States have jointly developed the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system in response to the Shahab-3.
Last year, former Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said Tehran had successfully tested a solid fuel motor for the Shahab-3, a technological breakthrough in Iran's military. About where we were 45 years ago.
Salami said Friday the Iranian-made missile was test-fired as large military maneuvers began in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. The maneuvers are scheduled to last a week and will involve 17,000 Revolutionary Guards as well as boats, fighter jets and helicopter gunships.
#1
Yep, Iran once more proves, undeniably + unconditionally, by this test that its desire for a nuclear program is peaceful ergo devs a missle that can carry MIRVS/MRVS. The MSM/Left > Its only Uranium, not Plutonium, ergo NO WMDS IN IRAN, ergo GOP-led, Clintonian FASCIST = HALF-A-COMMUNIST LE FEMME NIKITA AMERIKKA MADE YET ANOTHER SIMPLE MISTAKE = WARLIKE IMPERIALISM!?
SUPREME LEADER OF IRAN SPEAKS TO BASIJ GESTAPO
March 26, 2006
...Refering (to) the emphesis the Holy Qoran has made on the prophet's and his followers' persistance , Ayatollah Khamenei noted Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) led the first generation of Muslims to resist against both inside asperations and outside enemies. "Today we need such resistance", the Leader added. No US nuclear-extortion against Soviet occupiers in 1946 = No Iran today. Most typos left in to stress the primitivism of these savages.
Ayatollah Khamenei called standing against the enemies' bullying, threats and promises as the way for reaching progress and dignity, saying the Iranian nation from the start of the Islamic Revolution have demonstrated its resistance and vigilance against the enemies and now has enjoy a respected place in the eyes of both freinds and foes. Respect? Anyone who matters knows that Ayatoilet Iran is an open sewer.
The Supreme Leader said enemies may act to some of their threats but the only way for a nation to preserve its identity, intrests and dignity is resistance.
Ayatollah Khamenei described the US and the Zionists as Iran's chief enemies and also refered to concpiracies hatched by Britain and said": They have been lining up aganist the Iranian nation's intersts and are calling it global consensus against Iran but all people know the global consensus is against the US arrogance and its interferences and war-mongeraing". Who cares what some third world warts from countries with tin-pot leaders think?
Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the important role the leaders can play in their nation's resistance and efforts by officials and said:" In the past 27 years the enemies have used any pretexts to confront with Iran. Today they through massive propaganda and dissimination of gossips on Iran's nuclear program are after the same goal". "Gossip"? What part of "Death to America" do you not think we understand? And it isn't ladies hanging laundry who are saying it.
Before the Supreme Leader's comments the commander of Basij forces, brigadier-general Hejazi briefed the audience of the various aspects of the volutray forces. It is easy to fill "voluntary forces," when you have 20% unemployment.
Posted by: Listen to Dogs ||
03/31/2006 16:58 ||
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"Sanctions are a bad idea. We are not facing an imminent threat. We need to lower the pitch," the International Atomic Energy Agency's Mohamed ElBaradei said. "There is no military solution to this situation. It's inconceivable. The only durable solution is a negotiated solution." But Dr ElBaradei also demanded that Iran co-operate with his nuclear inspectors.
His comments came as Iran's Revolutionary Guards successfully test-fired a homemade missile that can evade radar. Iranian state television said yesterday's test was part of naval war games. "Iran successfully test fired a homemade Fajr-3 missile," senior Revolutionary Guards commander Hossein Salami said. He said the missile's capabilities included evading radar and the ability to destroy several targets.
Attempts by the world's leading powers to join forces and stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons have fallen into disarray as they disagreed in public over whether Tehran could face sanctions. The UN Security Council on Wednesday night issued a unanimous "presidential statement", giving Iran 30 days to freeze its uranium enrichment program. A day later, at a meeting in Berlin, the foreign ministers of six key powers - America, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - reinforced the message by telling Iran it had to make a choice between negotiations or international isolation. But the ministers, who were meeting to co-ordinate future tactics, were soon at odds when it came to deciding what action to take if Tehran remains defiant.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the next steps could include a mandatory resolution under chapter VII of the UN charter "and the possibility of measures after that". But Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister who has been cautious about confronting Iran, said: "Russia does not believe that sanctions would serve the purpose of settling the various issues."
Western countries believe that Russia's ambition to host a successful G8 summit will give them enough leverage to secure Moscow's acquiescence to sanctions this summer. During weeks of wrangling, a key objective of Moscow and Beijing has been to retain as much power as possible in the hands of the IAEA, and to reduce the role of the UN Security Council. For the moment, the six key powers known as the "P5+1" - the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany - agree that Iran must freeze parts of its nuclear program. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "This is a strong sign to Iran that negotiation, not confrontation, should be their course."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2006 09:19 ||
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The UN is so usless: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the next steps could include a mandatory resolution under chapter VII of the UN charter "and the possibility of measures after that". Mandatory resolution???? Iran doesnt seem to have much to worry about from the UN. If the U.S. and Israel have to go in and stop Iran's nuclear program with a military strike, tehran has no idea the pain coming to them. Some of the new weapons the U.S. has been coming up with (i.e. the 700 ton bomb being tested in Las Vegas.. among others)are destructively awesome. But I hope this crisis gets fixed diplomatically..... though I am very very skeptical..
Fatahs chief in Lebanon, a fugitive since he was sentenced to death in absentia in 1999, surrendered yesterday to a Lebanese military tribunal that swiftly quashed his conviction, a judicial source said. Sultan Abul Aynain was exonerated of charges that he formed armed groups and carried out terrorist acts, and was released following the court session in Beirut.
The move came days after Abul Aynain pledged his Fatah faction would round up weapons from refugee camps amid growing calls for militias in the country to be disbanded. Abul Aynain surrendered to authorities at the military tribunal in Beirut after traveling from the refugee camp of Rashidiyeh in southern Lebanon, where he had been holed up since the death sentence was issued in 1999.
Just prior to his surrender, Abul Aynain spoke to Arab News about the February 2004 UN Security Council Resolution 1559 which calls for all foreign forces in Lebanon mainly Syrian to withdraw from the sovereign country. We will not have dialogue with the Lebanese government based on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 nor on any other basis, said Abul Aynain. However we are very serious in reaching a solution regarding our weapons inside and outside the Palestinian refugee camps. But we will not enter the game of answering accusations through the media, which some Lebanese politicians with foreign agendas are playing, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2006 00:00 ||
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Ministers from Lebanons anti-Syrian parliamentary majority walked out of a Cabinet meeting yesterday in protest at the presence of pro-Damascus President Emile Lahoud, in the latest political row paralyzing the country. The ministers headed out of the session after a verbal clash between anti-Syrian Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh and Lahoud, whom the parliamentary majority seeks to remove from office, an AFP correspondent said. The walkout came shortly after majority leader Saad Hariri said that talks aimed at breaking a long-running political deadlock were close to resolving one of the most contentious issues the fate of Lahoud. Solutions have actually been found to certain issues and there will soon be a solution to the issue of the Lebanese presidency, Hariri told reporters in Cairo after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The apparent meltdown also followed a public dispute between Lahoud and Prime Minister Fuad Siniora at Wednesdays Arab summit in Khartoum over a draft resolution pledging to support Lebanese armed groups. We represent the majority and Siniora was our representative at the summit. His position was the legitimate one, not yours, Hamadeh told Lahoud at the start of the cabinet session.
Interim Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat told reporters that Lahoud also attacked him verbally during the session. A visibly angry Lahoud told reporters after the session ended abruptly: This fictitious majority wants the head of the resistance (Hezbollah)... it wants all of Lebanon, but they wont go anywhere with us.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2006 00:00 ||
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Squabbling in public is good for those citizens.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Thursday that the "Zionist regime" in the Middle East has always proven to be a constant threat. In response to a question from the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on whether Iran fears an Israeli pre-emptive strike, Mottaki said that the officials of the "Zionist regime" has said that they are facing an earthquake in the occupied land, and therefore "we do not think it can carry out its threats".
Mottaki stressed in a new conference today that nuclear technology for peaceful uses is the inalienable right of the states adhering to the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and that Iran has been a member for the past 36 years. The Iranian foreign minister did not see that the Security Council is the appropriate body to deal with the Iranian issue, and noted that deadlines are also not an appropriate idea. Mottaki stressed that Iran's drive to peaceful nuclear technology does not need the permission of any country. "We are ready to work towards the achievement of this right in the context of negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and that Iran's cooperation will continue with the agency," he stressed.
On the proposed talks between Iran and the US on Iraq and whether Iran is willing to start such talks after the Security-Council developments, Mottaki said that Iran supported the expansion of democracy inside Iraq. Mottaki added that Iran supported and supports the territorial integrity, national unity and nation building in Iraq. The Iranian foreign minister noted that the recent proposal by Iraqi leaders for Iran to talk with the US about issues relating to Iraq is viewed by Iran as a means of trying to help the Iraqi nation. He stressed that these negotiations will be only limited to the Iraqi issue, and that the venue and time is yet to be finalized. Mottaki held this press conference following his address to the Conference on Disarmament.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/31/2006 00:00 ||
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In response to a question from the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on whether Iran fears an Israeli pre-emptive strike, Mottaki said that the officials of the "Zionist regime" has said that they are facing an earthquake in the occupied land, and therefore "we do not think it can carry out its threats".
Better get your story straight, Turban Boyz. You're the ones having the earthquake. See story.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/31/2006 2:28 Comments ||
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Clearly, thpse zionists are a constant threat. it's obvious that tiny speck of land on the Med has designs on conquering neighboring Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Egypt first, with the rest of the middle east to follow. They plan on forcing the indigenous populations worship only in the Jewish faith. All others will be killed. After all, they have nukes, and they're just itching to use them agains the glorious muslim world. Because these joooooos are barbaric in nature, unlike the enlightened muslims of the world. If only they could find islam, the true religion of peace.
/sarcasm
What's ironic is that just about every other middle eastern country hopes Israel DOES preemptively strike Iran, but is loathe to admit it. So they keep their fingers crossed in their halls of government while fomenting hate in their streets.
#4
Mottaki said that the officials of the "Zionist regime" has said that they are facing an earthquake in the occupied land, and therefore "we do not think it can carry out its threats".
WTF? This is even hard logic to follow in MM-land. Because of an earthquake (in Iran), Israel can't carry out it's threats (not that Israel's even really threatened them yet)? What part of F-16s dropping bombs needs to be on the ground, there MMs? Yeesh, methinks someone's been hittin' the opium pipes too much.
Posted by: BA ||
03/31/2006 9:27 Comments ||
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#5
Yeah, Israel is always attacking Iran for no reason.
Sending suicide bombers into public markets and busses.
#7
I think the "earthquake" is a reference to the Israeli elections. (Yet, I don't know why he thinks there's a discord of earthquake proportions. He must be nuts.) And that in Israel's complete dissaray post-election, they won't be able to handle a pre-emptive strike.
On the other hand, he may be forecasting that Israel is about to undergo a major attack (the earthquake) that will eliminate the threat of pre-emptive strike.
I think the tense - despite the bad phrasing of the quote - "about to face" may be truer. Option 2 is what I fear is on the calendar.
#8
If the mullahs weren't such dangerous madmen, it would almost be amusing to watch these total wingnuts vigorously suck their own butts in order to breathe enough exhaust to finally believe what they're spewing.
(2006-03-30) The United Nations Security Council yesterday passed a resolution calling on Iran to halt uranium enrichment by the end of April or face the looming specter of a virtual mushroom cloud of additional Security Council discussions and resolutions.
Iran immediately called the non-binding resolution a terrifying deployment of words that threatens our women, our children and our peaceful way of life.
The measure, which carries no consequences for non-compliance, nevertheless contains active verbs, challenging vocabulary and deliberate punctuation that pose a clear and present danger to the people of Iran, according to an unnamed spokesman for the Islamic Republic.
The brutal thugs on the Security Council have us over a barrel, the Iranian source said. Our people are filled with fear. We are at the mercy of the United Nations.
Holding one-tenth of the worlds known oil reserves and the second largest natural gas reserves, Iran desperately needs enriched uranium only to generate electricity, and not to make nuclear weapons to wipe Israel from the map.
#2
He forgot the part where they were shaking in their jackboots over the "language used". And the fact that there was a "referal" was terrifying. They were wondering if sanctions were offered, they could go to kofi's son and get the cash bag for "oil for food". The Germans even thought they seemed serious about not sending anymore technology but since russia and france was, they figgured "might as well" Besides, with friends like China, who needs the UN - or the USA - or the Joos for that matter.
#4
"a terrifying deployment of words that threatens our women, our children and our peaceful way of life.
WTF ? A tsunami of shame is upon them. They are drowning in guilt and remorse. Doubt and mistrust have collapsed their homes and mosques into piles of dust. It's almost enough to make one blow himself up in a group of innocent people.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The State Department is investigating to see whether The New York Times violated American sanctions against Sudan by publishing an advertising supplement touting investment in the country. America has maintained a complex set of sanctions against the North African nation since 1997. The sanctions initially were aimed at punishing Sudan's support for international terrorism, efforts to destabilize neighboring governments and violations of human rights. In recent years, the government in Khartoum has come under intense criticism from Western nations and human rights groups for allegedly encouraging genocide in the Sudanese region of Darfur.
The US Navy sent ships, helicopters and divers on Thursday as part of a concerted rescue effort to save nearly 150 victims of a ferry accident in the sea waters of Bahrain. Initial reports said there were casualties from the evening cruise that sank after it overturned less than a mile off the coast of Bahrain in the late hours of the day. - US Navy Lieutenant Trey Brown confirmed to KUNA that some small boats with divers were responding to the ferry accident.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shrugged off protests over the US-led war in Iraq at the start of a tour today of north-west England hosted by her British counterpart 
Turkish police backed by armored personnel carriers used tear gas and truncheons to disperse a violent march Thursday by tens of thousands of Kurdish protesters in Diyarbakir. A seven-year-old boy was reported to be in critical condition after sustaining bullet wounds in his stomach. Witnesses said he was fired on by police. The reports could not be confirmed.
Writing in monthly Naya Zamana (January 2006) Dr Parwez Parwazi narrated that Justice Muhammad Munir in his memoir talked about a spiritual leader staying next to his rest house in Murree whose disciples used stones to dry their genitals after urination. The process was called watwani. The custom was to take a stone and keeping rubbing it on the genitals while walking around. When Justice Munir protested to the pir he replied that his disciples were observing a sunnat.
A New Zealand hostage released from captivity in Iraq believes a ransom was paid for his freedom. 
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari warned against US interference in his countrys politics and defended his ties to a radical Shia militia an interview published in the Thursday edition of The New York Times. With backing from Shia parties, Jaafari is seeking to stay in office but his candidacy has proved contentious among parliamentary factions that have yet to agree on a national unity government three months after national elections. Jaafari told The Times that certain comments from US officials had undermined President George W Bushs public stance in favour of democracy in Iraq. There was a stand from both the American government and President Bush to promote a democratic policy and protect its interests, he told the paper in an interview conducted in his Baghdad home. But now theres concern among the Iraqi people that the democratic process is being threatened.
Sri Lanka's ruling coalition won an overwhelming victory in local elections, according to results released by the government, a result seen as an endorsement of the president's negotiations with Tamil Tiger rebels. President Mahinda Rajapakse's United Peoples' Freedom Alliance won majorities in 212 out of 249 local councils where results were declared, the Government Information Department said Friday. The main opposition group won 29 seats, and minor parties won the other eight seats. Remaining results for 17 councils were expected Saturday, the department said.
"Sanctions are a bad idea. We are not facing an imminent threat. We need to lower the pitch," the International Atomic Energy Agency's 
Attempts by the world's leading powers to join forces and stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons have fallen into disarray as they disagreed in public over whether Tehran could face sanctions. The UN Security Council on Wednesday night issued a unanimous "presidential statement", giving Iran 30 days to freeze its uranium enrichment program. A day later, at a meeting in Berlin, the foreign ministers of six key powers - America, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - reinforced the message by telling Iran it had to make a choice between negotiations or international isolation. But the ministers, who were meeting to co-ordinate future tactics, were soon at odds when it came to deciding what action to take if Tehran remains defiant.
Fatahs chief in Lebanon, a fugitive since he was sentenced to death in absentia in 1999, surrendered yesterday to a Lebanese military tribunal that swiftly quashed his conviction, a judicial source said. Sultan Abul Aynain was exonerated of charges that he formed armed groups and carried out terrorist acts, and was released following the court session in Beirut.
Ministers from Lebanons anti-Syrian parliamentary majority walked out of a Cabinet meeting yesterday in protest at the presence of pro-Damascus President Emile Lahoud, in the latest political row paralyzing the country. The ministers headed out of the session after a verbal clash between anti-Syrian Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh and Lahoud, whom the parliamentary majority seeks to remove from office, an AFP correspondent said. The walkout came shortly after majority leader Saad Hariri said that talks aimed at breaking a long-running political deadlock were close to resolving one of the most contentious issues the fate of Lahoud. Solutions have actually been found to certain issues and there will soon be a solution to the issue of the Lebanese presidency, Hariri told reporters in Cairo after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Iranian Foreign Minister 
