Yemen said on Saturday it has asked neighboring Saudi Arabia to extradite Abdullah al-Asnaj, a prominent exiled opposition figure, accusing him of subversive activities.
"We have asked the kingdom to hand over Asnaj based on the ⊠agreement between the two countries which prohibits each state from allowing any political or media activity against the other," Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi told Reuters.
Asnaj, a former foreign minister, left Yemen for Saudi Arabia in the early 1990s after being granted a pardon following his sentencing to death on treason charges.
He was also foreign minister in a short-lived breakaway government in southern Yemen in 1994.
"Asnaj was a refugee in Saudi Arabia and was not active politically, but lately he has announced that he would form an opposition group abroad, and this is against the agreement between Sanaa and Riyadh," Qirbi said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/15/2005 18:03 ||
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Summary of GAO voluminous report at .pdf link. They're paid by the pixel.
A number of government and non-government sources reported that Saudi private entities and individuals, as well as sources from other countries, are allegedly financing or supporting Islamic extremism. For example, in July 2005, a Treasury official testified before Congress that Saudi Arabia based and funded organizations remain a key source for the promotion of ideologies used by terrorists and violent extremists around the world to justify their agenda. In addition, according to Stateâs 2005 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, Saudi donors and unregulated charities have been a major source of financing to extremist and terrorist groups over the past 25 years. The 9/11 Commission reported that despite numerous allegations of the government of Saudi Arabiaâs involvement with al Qaeda, the commission has found no persuasive evidence that the government as an institution or senior officials within the government knowingly supported al Qaeda. The agencies we reviewed also told us that the threat of the global propagation of Islamic extremism is emerging not only from Saudi sources but also from sources in other countries, such as Iran, Kuwait, and Syria, as well as from indigenous groups within some countries. U.S. agencies we reviewed are still examining Saudi Arabiaâs relationship, and that of other sources in other countries, to Islamic extremism.
The government of Saudi Arabia has publicly announced and, in some cases, undertaken some reform efforts to address Islamic extremism; however, U.S. agencies do not know the extent of the Saudi governmentâs efforts to limit the activities of Saudi sources that have allegedly propagated Islamic extremism outside of Saudi Arabia. First, the government is implementing educational and religious reforms, including revising textbooks and conducting a 3-year enlightenment program to purge extremism and intolerance from religious education. However, as of July 2005, agency officials did not know if the government of Saudi Arabia had taken steps to ensure that Saudi-funded curricula or religious activities in other countries do not propagate extremism. Second, the government is undertaking legal, regulatory, and institutional reforms to address vulnerabilities in Saudi financial and charitable systems. For example, according to the government of Saudi Arabia, and State and Treasury officials, Saudi Arabia is undertaking a number of charity reforms, including requiring all private Saudi donations marked for international distribution to flow through a new National Commission for Relief and Charity Work Abroad. However, as of July 2005, this commission was not yet fully operational, according to Treasury. In addition, in 2004, Saudi Arabia and the United States announced that they had jointly designated as terrorist financiers nine branch offices of the al Haramain Islamic Foundation under United Nations Security Resolution 1267. According to State, the government of Saudi Arabia also announced its intentions to close al Haramain Islamic Foundation, but in May 2005, a Treasury official told us it was unclear whether the government of Saudi Arabia had implemented its plans. State officials also told us that the government of Saudi Arabia had undertaken some political reforms, including establishing a human rights association to implement human rights charters and a center for national dialogue to facilitate discussion of issues such as education and extremism.
With the conspicuous absence of Fidel Castro, Latin America leaders began an Ibero-American summit designed to achieve more than "presidential tourism".
The heads of state want to achieve more than rhetoric and set concrete goals. The summit, which lasts until Saturday, is to focus on three big themes: the socio-economic situation in the region, immigration and the role of Ibero-America in the world. But first the leaders of 22 Latin American and Iberian nations observed a minute of silence to honour victims of flooding and mudslides in Central America and Spain.
Rains associated with last week's Hurricane Stan are blamed for the death of more than 1,000 people in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and southern Mexico. Downpours battering the northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia in recent days have caused the death of four people.
Uruguay's Enrique Iglesias, head of the new Ibero-American general secretariat, told reporters that an effort would be made to "reduce the rhetorical discussions" at these summits and move from word to action.
Colombian president Alvaro Uribe complained such meetings "are odious because they amount to presidential tourism". Uribe said the international agenda includes "too many" summits scheduled "too closely" together. He said he was taking part in this one "because it's my job".
The permanent secretariat, which was created to energize, give continuity to and implement the mandates emerging from the summits, will have an initial budget of EUR 5.24 million.
Iglesias, nevertheless, admitted the new body was "not yet ready to submit a detailed working plan," a document to be presented at the summit in Uruguay next year after consultation with the governments.
But give them another EUR 5.24 million and they'll see if they can whip something together.
The lack of action at the summits, since they started in 1991, was commented on in recent days by several foreign ministers, but no one pressed the issue like Uribe.
The Colombian leader told EFE he was talking about presidential summits in general, although he reiterated his belief that the Ibero-American summits "must become useful". Most of the heads of state and government from the 22 countries in Ibero-America, which includes Spain and Portugal, are expected to attend.
There had been much speculation as to whether or not Fidel Castro would attend the summit, and late on Thursday word came that the Cuban leader would not take part in the gathering. Castro last attended an Ibero-American Summit in 2000 in Panama City.
Guatemalan president Oscar Berger, Salvadoran president Tony Saca, Nicaraguan president Enrique Bolaños and Ecuadorian president Alfredo Palacio will also not be at the summit. Berger and Saca said they could not attend due to the recent natural disasters in their countries, while the political crises in Nicaragua and Ecuador will prevent the leaders of those countries from attending the Salamanca summit.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who plans to attend, was behind schedule in arriving in Salamanca on Thursday.
Given that Columbia, a US ally, is complaining about lack of substance, it's not surprising that Castro didn't go and Chavez is 'late'.
ASIO is to be boosted with 500 extra agents and up to $50 million more in annual funding. The latest terror attacks in Bali and London have prompted the move, to be announced today by Attorney- General Philip Ruddock. The build-up is part of a five-year plan to strengthen the terrorist and espionage-fighting capabilities of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation - the nation's frontline intelligence-gathering agency.
ASIO will get the extra staff to improve the collection and analysis of intelligence and increase its covert surveillance expertise. Its $200 million annual budget will get a big boost so that by 2010 the organisation will have 1500 agents.
At present, ASIO has fewer than 1000 agents - but that is double what its numbers were on September 11, 2001, when the World Trade Centre in New York was attacked.
The boost in numbers follows the Federal Government's decision to accept the recommendations of an independent report into ASIO by former spymaster Allan Taylor. His report was ordered last year after concerns that growth in ASIO numbers should be achieved on a more efficient basis.
The main fear in the intelligence community since the London and Bali blasts has been domestic attacks. But a broader rise in potential threats has raised the need for more agents. "ASIO's investigative workload has increased dramatically (since) September 11. We need to be able to cover all our bases," a Government spokesman said yesterday.
Criticism of the Government's planned terror laws has continued to mount after ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope posted a draft copy of the proposed laws on his website.
A peak lawyers group said Australians could face life behind bars if their money was used to finance terrorism, even accidentally.
Except it's usually not an accident.
Law Council of Australia president John North said people unwittingly doing business with clandestine terror supporters or making innocent religious donations could be jailed. "And if it was shown that you were reckless - and didn't really make sufficient inquiry - you could go to jail for up to life," he said. But a spokeswoman for Mr Ruddock said there were defences within the legislation to protect the innocent.
Posted by: God Save The World AKA Oztralian ||
10/15/2005 20:28 ||
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Labor is calling on Prime Minister John Howard to allow a full and proper inquiry into the government's new anti-terror laws. Copies of the sweeping new laws leaked yesterday by the ACT Government have sparked concerns among legal experts.
'Experts' who don't express 'concerns' don't have 'jobs'.
The Government last week said it would introduce the laws to parliament on October 31, but only allow the Senate one week to investigate them and report by November 8. Opposition homeland security spokesman Arch Bevis said given the amount of concerns the new laws have raised, Mr Howard should allow more time for an inquiry. "With laws of this kind, the Australian people rightly deserve there be careful consideration to balance their rights against national security issues," he said. Parliament resumes for two weeks on October 31, with the first sitting week set aside for the Senate to hold its regular budget estimates committee inquiries. As a result, the Senate will struggle to hold its inquiry into the new anti-terror laws that week and report by November 8. Under the new laws, people who support insurgents can be jailed for up to seven years. Australian Federal Police will also be able to carry out what are termed preventative detention orders, effectively locking up people thought to be involved or to have knowledge of a terrorist act. Suspected terrorists who are detained by police will be able to ring loved ones but not tell them where they are, while judges can stop suspects from using the internet or telephones.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
10/15/2005 00:21 ||
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#1
The only people i've heard complaining about these new laws are the wacky civil libertarians and the loopy labor party, oh and don't forget the ragheads-heads. Most people with enough common-sense realize that times have changed, and with change comes reform. If these laws weren't in place and there was a terrorist attack on Oz soil, then all these people would be screaming that the govt. never done enough to protect them. I have a little bit of advice for all the whinging whining wankers out there...... STFU !
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
10/15/2005 8:20 Comments ||
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#2
test...
Posted by: God Save The World AKA Oztralian ||
10/15/2005 20:14 Comments ||
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read in conjuction with the other post on Mexico-US agreement. EFL
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said yesterday that the Senate will tackle border security and interior immigration enforcement before turning to the broader question of immigration reforms and a guest-worker program.
"It is a separate issue, but it's one that people understand," the Tennessee Republican said of border security. "It's an immediate issue, it needs to be addressed more aggressively, we need to do that."
Speaking with The Washington Times by telephone after a helicopter tour yesterday of 300 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, Mr. Frist said he does not know whether an immigration bill can pass this year because of a heavy workload, but the Senate will pass a bill before adjourning next year.
He said the next immigration bill should address border security and could cover interior enforcement as well.
As majority leader, he controls the floor schedule of the Senate, and his decision will please many conservatives, who are calling for enforcement first. But it puts him at odds with President Bush and immigration rights advocates, who have said they want action on a broader guest-worker program this year.
His position on tackling enforcement first is similar to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who says the government must prove to voters that it can enforce immigration laws before Congress turns to a guest-worker plan.
"I think what I'm saying is probably parallel to that," Mr. Frist said. "The understanding of immigration issues will be accelerated by the condition of understanding what border security is about, what internal enforcement is about."
New House Majority Leader Roy Blunt, Missouri Republican, is also leaning in that direction, said his spokeswoman, Burson Taylor.
"Mr. Blunt's focus with respect to the immigration question is securing the border and enforcing the immigration laws we have on the books," she said, adding that it's the top issue on Republican constituents' minds. "Mr. Blunt was in 10 districts in August, and whether it was in Michigan or Georgia or his own district in Missouri, it is the number one issue."
Several guest-worker plans are circulating in the Senate, and Mr. Frist said Congress eventually will have to address the overall issue of foreign workers and illegal aliens now here, although he is not backing a proposal. However, he did say he's "opposed to amnesty."
Mr. Frist toured the border with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas Republican, and Lynne Underdown, chief of the Rio Grande Valley sector of the U.S. Border Patrol. He said that from the helicopter, he could see the worn paths that illegal aliens have made to the shallowest crossings of the Rio Grande.
"It is a torrential flow of aliens coming across the border that have little difficulty in entering this country and staying illegally," he said.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/15/2005 19:26 ||
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#1
His position on tackling enforcement first is similar to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who says the government must prove to voters that it can enforce immigration laws before Congress turns to a guest-worker plan.
Law enforcement from the United States and Mexico have formed a partnership aimed at quelling drug-related violence on the border. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Mexican counterpart Daniel Cabeza de Vaca stood side by side Thursday to announce the security plan.
The Violent Crime Impact Team will target the most violent members of warring drug cartels. Armed with high-powered weapons, the warring cartels have been blamed for more than 140 murders this year alone in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. The new partnership will double the current presence of federal law enforcement in Laredo and the border, Gonzales said.
There are 22 anti-violence teams operating nationwide. The Laredo chapter is the first to meld law enforcement agencies from outside the United States. "In order to have an effective relationship with Mexico, there has to be a level of trust," Gonzales said. "That's why operations like this are very important."
The plan calls for police agencies to keep working as they have, and within their geographical boundaries, but also to increase information sharing and be ready to offer support when asked. Anti-violence teams typically operate for six months and are led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Other federal agencies involved include the U.S. Marshals Service; FBI; and Drug Enforcement Administration.
Both attorneys general said new cooperation would include sharing technology for securing ports of entry, locking down prisons and the ability of inmates to send messages to the outside world, and engaging in joint training exercises. "This helps us target specific offenders, the worst of the worst, and take them off the streets," said Donnie Carter, special agent in charge of the Houston AFT office overseeing the Laredo team.
#1
heard yesterday that Frist and Hastert have agreed that first priority before ANY immigration reform (guest workers, amnesties, etc.) will be securing the border, including military assistance. Actions speak louder than words, but apparently, illegal immigration is the highest concern among voters right now
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/15/2005 15:10 Comments ||
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US, Mexico agree to tighten border security
Yeah, right. The "security" being sought is largely the quelling of violence on the Mexican side of the border. Can't handle the job? Get the Yanquis involved! And notably absent in this piece (and likely in the arrangement) is the issue of illegal immigration. So much for having something substantial in it for us.
In a bipartisan appeal, members of the Armed Services Committee have written Senate leaders urging that the 2006 defense authorization bill be brought to the floor for debate and approval after months of delay.
The letter, addressed to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), reflects mounting frustration on the committee about the bill's stalled status and rising concern among members that the congressional session could end without Senate passage of a defense authorization measure for the first time in more than 40 years.
The annual legislation, which sets policy for the armed forces, has been in limbo since July, when it was yanked from the floor to avoid attempts to amend it with controversial proposals. Republicans have insisted that before the bill can be brought back, Democrats must agree to limits on the number and nature of amendments.
Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), the committee's chairman, said in an interview yesterday that agreement had been "pretty close" on a plan to allow 12 amendments by each party. But the major "stumbling block," he added, has come over two proposals that Democrats have refused to drop.
One would try to attach a provision mandating a presidential commission to investigate the military's treatment of detainees. The other would establish an independent commission to assess the government's response to Hurricane Katrina.
Warner acknowledged that the effort to impose constraints on what changes can be made in the bill during floor debate is "unique," but he suggested it is warranted, given the need to avoid tying up the Senate amid other pressing business.
In an attempt to get around the impasse, Warner seized last week on the Senate's consideration of the defense spending bill and filed the authorization bill as an amendment to that measure. But the Senate knocked down that move in a 50 to 49 vote, rejecting Warner's argument that the authorization legislation was "germane" to the spending bill.
The Senate went on to approve the spending measure, sending it to conference with the House version that passed in June. But the fate of the Senate authorization bill remains uncertain, with lawmakers expected to consider other options when they return Monday from a week-long recess.
"I'm very concerned because this could be the first situation in many, many years in which we do not consider and pass an authorization bill," Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), an Armed Services Committee member, told a group of reporters yesterday.
Warner noted the particular importance of passing the authorization measure while the nation remains at war.
In its Oct. 7 letter to Frist and Reid, the full panel said: "The records of the Senate reflect that our committee has an unbroken record of compiling, obtaining full Senate approval and adoption of a conference report on every annual authorization bill for the armed forces since 1961. . . . We ask for your continuing support to have our bill to be called up as a freestanding measure before the end of the first session of the 109th Congress."
John Bolton, America's ambassador to the United Nations, reiterated that Washington is prepared to work outside the United Nations if the world body's flaws cannot be repaired. "We look at it in a kind of cost-benefit way," he said. "If it's not solving problems, what do we do to fix it? And if we can't fix it, where else can we look to have those problems solved?"
The League of Democracies, the Anglosphere, ...
Bolton's temper flared briefly when some in the audience laughed at his assertion that America's contribution to maintaining world security is a form of overseas aid. "If you would prefer us to withdraw to Fortress America, get up and say so," he snapped.
"Yes," replied one man in the audience, but Bolton later said the United States would not retreat into isolationism.
Not today, anyway.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/15/2005 00:00 ||
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Is it just me, or did that man = audience just dare the hyperpower-and-still-expanding USA to withhold or pull-out its direct and indirect contributions to the UNO. To use a WENDYS? fast-food commercial, "WITHOUT US, MANY [IFF NOT ALL]COMMIES AND SOCIALISTS WOULD STARVE, SOONER OR LATER"!? Iff the Cold-War and present "We don't need the USA andor Capitalism for anything" Lefties were so successful in their -ISM's own right, why are they wilfully hiding behind the skirts of Dubya, including the "FASCIST" label they themselves belabeled upon him, have been, and will be thru 2008!?
#3
Bolton doesn't flinch from the truth, even to the BBC and short-sighted British audience members. I suspect he knows the kind of bullshit he is due to receive when he defends his country, and he remains steadfast.
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/15/2005 0:54 Comments ||
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Yeah, somebody remind me why we have a UN. But, I gotta tell ya it is purty cool to see him turn some of the delegates into his own little prison bi#$^#$(. How long before he starts to make 'em wear dresses and sells 'em for cigarettes.
#7
It's worthwhile that he said it, if for no other reason than to remind these ungrateful governments that they may one day have to secure their own asses. In the stupor of their cynicism, it never occurs to these spoiled, smug excuses-for-countries that we actually COULD withdraw to Fortress America.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
10/15/2005 15:43 Comments ||
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Bolton's temper flared briefly when some in the audience laughed at his assertion that America's contribution to maintaining world security is a form of overseas aid.
Keep right on laughing until America perfects both its missile shield and bulk shipping container inspection technologies. What might have once been self-interested foreign aid could suddenly become rather scarce and desperately sought-after largess. Effing ingrates!
#10
The guy in the audience prolly comes from a country that owes whatever freedom it has to the US, too bad it wasn't identified for singular ridicule, but that sort of asinine reaction is de rigeuer, nowadays.
LONDON (AP) - John Bolton, America's ambassador to the United Nations, predicted Friday that efforts to greatly expand the Security Council will fail.
Bolton's remarks were a rare case of a U.S. official publicly pimp-slapping speculating on the outcome of a bitter Security Council reform debate. In the past, he and other officials have repeated strong American opposition to rival proposals for adding at least 10 seats to the 15-nation body.
Bolton, who has made overhauling the United Nations a priority since President Bush appointed him to the job, said the world body must become more efficient, effective and accountable. Making the Security Council too large would undermine that goal, he said.
Increasing the number of seats to 25 or 26 "gives us great pause," he said, adding that the maximum that Washington could support would be 19 or 20 seats.
'bout time for the League of Democracies, isn't it?
U.S. opposition is a key factor because there is no consensus among the 191 U.N. member states on how to expand the council. Also, while the United States does not have the power to block a vote in the General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, its support would be crucial when necessary changes to the U.N. Charter would have to be approved by national legislatures.
Giving his first talk in Europe since taking his post in August, Bolton noted previous efforts to restructure the powerful Security Council had foundered. "Our prediction would be that this latest effort at changing the composition of the council is not going to succeed," he said at the Chatham House foreign affairs think tank.
He reiterated the U.S. administration's support for Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the council, but did not say what other countries America might back. Japan teamed with Brazil, Germany and India in proposing a 25-member council, including six new permanent seats without veto power. All four hope to get a permanent seat and say the two others should go to Africa nations. The African Union, however, has insisted on veto power for its two seats and one additional non-permanent seat.
Another group, led by Italy and Pakistan, also calls for a 25-nation council but argues against making any of the new seats permanent and wants the 10 new members elected.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/15/2005 00:00 ||
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...the powerful Security Council....
Now that's a good one, Dr. Steve! I can see it now. The UN will increase the seats to 25 just to stick it to the US. Then the UNSC will be over critical mass and will accelerate the decline of the body. What could a body of 25 really do except consume food, drink, and oxygen and generate greenhouse gases and methane?
I'm glad Bolton is UN ambassador. He will keep them a-buzzing, and that is a source of merriment.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/15/2005 0:12 Comments ||
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China sez NO, the US sez NO. It is not going to happen. This is just some Eurowanking and TRANZI BS. He is telling the EU, get over it, You still don't count.
#3
"U.S. opposition is a key factor because there is no consensus among the 191 U.N. member states on how to expand the council."
And there never will be consensus among those diametrically opposed to democracy. They will never relinquish their self-imposed power and corrupt money for -gasp- accountability and freedom for the peons. A League of Democracies is past due.
Sunni Arabs voted in surprisingly high numbers on Iraq's new constitution Saturday, many of them hoping to defeat it in an intense competition with Shiites and Kurds over the shape of the nation's young democracy after decades of dictatorship. With little violence, turnout was more than 66 percent in the three most crucial provinces.
The constitution still seemed likely to pass, as expected. But the higher-than-forecast Sunni turnout made it possible the vote would be close - or even go the other way - and cast doubt on U.S. hopes that the charter would succeed in luring Sunnis away from the insurgency.
Washington hopes the constitution will be approved so Iraqis can form a permanent, representative government and the 150,000 U.S. troops can begin to withdraw.
``The constitution is a sign of civilization,'' Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said after casting his ballot. ``This constitution has come after heavy sacrifices. It is a new birth.''
In Baghdad, men counted votes by lanterns because the electricity was out. Results were written on a chalkboard. Outside, Iraqi soldiers huddled in a courtyard, breaking their fast. Northeast of the capital, in Baqouba, men sat around long tables, putting ``yes'' votes in one pile and ``no'' votes in another.
The country's Shiite majority - some 60 percent of its estimated 27 million people - and the Kurds - another 20 percent - support the approximately 140-article charter, which provides them with autonomy in the northern and southern regions where they are concentrated.
The Sunni Arab minority, which dominated the country under Saddam Hussein and forms the backbone of the insurgency, widely opposes the draft, convinced its federalist system will tear the country into Shiite and Kurdish mini-states in the south and north, leaving Sunnis in an impoverished center.
Last-minute amendments to the constitution, adopted Wednesday, promise Sunnis the chance to try to change the charter more deeply later, prompting one Sunni Arab group - the Iraqi Islamic Party - to support the draft.
In the south, Shiite women in head-to-toe veils and men emerged from the poll stations flashing victory signs with fingers stained with violet ink, apparently responding in mass to the call by their top cleric to support the charter.
But in Sunni regions - both in Baghdad and several key heavily Sunni provinces - the high turnout seemed to consist largely of Iraqis voting ``no'' because of fears the charter would set in stone the Shiite domination they fear.
A day that U.S. and Iraqi leaders feared could become bloody turned out to be the most peaceful in months.
Insurgents attacked five of Baghdad's 1,200 polling stations with shootings and bombs, wounding seven voters. The only deaths reported were those of four Iraqi soldiers killed by roadside bombs far from a polling sites, and there were no major attacks reported as U.S. and Iraqi forces clamped down with major security measures around balloting sites.
Overall turnout was about 61 percent and surpassed 66 percent in seven of Iraq's 18 provinces, including key Sunni Arab-majority ones, according to initial estimates, election officials said Saturday.
Some 250 election workers in Baghdad were starting to compile the ballots, collecting the summarized results and ballot boxes from around the country to count. So far, only materials from areas close to the capital have arrived, and no results were expected Saturday night, said Farid Ayar of the Independent Elections Commissions of Iraq.
``Initial estimates are that the turnout is no less than 61 percent,'' said Abdul-Hussein Hindawi, another senior IECI member said.
More than 66 percent of voters cast ballots in the three crucial provinces that could decide the vote - Salahuddin, Diyala and Ninevah, each of which has a Sunni majority but also significant Shiite or Kurdish populations, Ayar said.
Sunni opponents are hoping to get a two-thirds majority ``no'' vote in these provinces, which would defeat the constitution.
Other provinces with a similar rate of participation were Baghdad and Tamim - with mixed Sunni, Kurdish and Shiite populations - and the overwhelmingly Shiite provinces of Babil and Karbala, in the south.
Most provinces in the mostly Shiite south and the three provinces that make up the autonomous area of Kurdistan in the north had turnout rates between 33 and 66 percent, Ayar told a Baghdad press conference soon after polls closed Saturday evening.
Fewer than 33 percent of voters cast ballots in the southern Shiite province of Qadissiyah, he said. He did not give specific figures for any province.
The figures suggested a somewhat higher enthusiasm for voting in the mixed provinces than in the heartlands of Iraq's Shiite majority and Kurdish minority, where approval of the constitution was all but assured.
There was no information on turnout in Anbar, the vast western province that is overwhelmingly Sunni Arab and is the main battlefield between U.S.-Iraqi forces and the insurgents, Ayar said.
Anbar's largest city, Fallujah, saw thousands voting on Saturday. But in other towns and cities, where fear of insurgent retaliation was higher, almost no one was seen going to the polls.
The Bush administration sees success in the election as key to defeating the Sunni-led insurgency.
``All that I've seen is pictures on television so far which looks as if the Iraqis are exercising their right, they are doing so in a peaceful manner, they are doing so enthusiastically,'' Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters as she flew from Moscow to London.
``That's been our principal concern, that the Iraqis have this opportunity to go and voice their views on this constitution. That's the way this was set up ... and that's what they are doing,'' Rice said.
President Bush, who taped his weekly radio address on Friday before the voting, said Iraqis who participated in the vote would strike a blow against terrorism.
``This weekend's election is a critical step forward in Iraq's march toward democracy, and with each step the Iraqi people take, al-Qaida's vision for the region becomes more remote,'' the president said in the address aired Saturday.
The Sunni Arab turnout was a dramatic change from January's parliamentary election, which most Sunnis boycotted. Now they were eager to cast ballots.
``This is all wrong. I said 'no' to a constitution written by the Americans,'' said Jilan Shaker, 22, a laborer who showed up at an Azamiyah polling station in shorts and plastic sandals.
In the crucial northern city of Mosul, there was a constant flow of voters all day long into a kindergarten in a Sunni Arab neighborhood: men and women, dressed at their best in suits and ties or neatly pressed veils, many carrying young children in holiday clothes.
``The government can't just sew together an outfit and dress the people up by force. We do not see ourselves or see our future in this draft,'' Gazwan Abdul Sattar, 27-year-old Sunni teacher, said after voting ``no.''
As polls closed at 5 p.m. in Iraq's 6,100 polling stations, many rounds of gunfire were heard in celebration. People were seen in some streets of Baghdad handing out sweets ahead of the end of the day's Ramadan fast.
In a mostly Kurdish neighborhood of Mosul, Bahar Saleh supported the constitution.
``This constitution will at last give the Kurds their lost rights,'' the 34-year-old housewife said, coming from the polls with the red-and-green Kurdish flag wrapped around her body.
In the south, the heartland of Iraq's Shiites, some Shiite cities reported a higher turnout than the January vote. Top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani had urged his followers to turn out and support the charter.
``Today, I came to vote because I am tired of terrorists, and I want the country to be safe again,'' said Zeinab Sahib, a 30-year-old mother of three, one of the first voters at a school in the mainly Shiite neighborhood of Karrada in Baghdad.
``This constitution means unity and hope.''
Overall national turnout in the January elections was 58 percent, but only 2 percent of the eligible voters cast ballots in Anbar province. Turnout was also low in the Sunni Arab provinces of Ninevah and Salahuddin.
American troops in Humvees rattled down Baghdad streets in patrols, while Iraqi soldiers and police ringed polling stations at schools and other public buildings protected by concrete barriers and barbed wire.
Iraqi soldiers armed with heavy machine guns looked over polling sites from nearby rooftops. U.S. troops in tanks and armored vehicles stood not far away as helicopters hovered overhead. Driving was banned to stop suicide car bombings by insurgents determined to wreck the vote.
The polls opened at 7 a.m., just hours after government workers restored power lines that insurgents sabotaged in the north Friday night, plunging the Iraqi capital and surrounding areas into darkness.
In the central Baghdad area of Khulani, where Sunnis and Shiites both live, a steady stream of voters entered a large polling station after being searched three times.
They included old men and women who could barely walk with canes, and young mothers wearing chadors and carrying infants. Other voters wore baggy traditional Kurdish dresses, and some youths were dressed in jeans.
After placing the ballots in the plastic boxes at the polling centers, the Iraqis had the forefinger of their right hands marked with violet ink to prevent repeat voting.
In Sadr City, a mostly Shiite area of Baghdad controlled by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who led uprisings against the U.S.-led coalition last year, people were widely expected to vote ``yes.''
Not Haitham Aouda Abdul-Nabi, a 23-year-old co-owner of a convenience store. When he showed up at a Sadr City secondary school to vote, he said: ``More than 90 percent of Iraq's Shiites support the constitution, but not me.''
Why? Because he is tired of the chaos that has followed Saddam's ouster: killings by insurgents, fighting between rebels and U.S. troops, squabbling in Iraq's mostly Shiite and Kurdish government, and nearly daily power outages in the capital.
``Only force can bring results with a people like us in Iraq,'' he said. ``Unfortunately, we need someone like Saddam. This government is too weak.''
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/15/2005 17:11 ||
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Business as usual.
JERUSALEM â Jewish soldiers murder Arab brides in cold blood, and the Israeli coastal towns of Jaffa and Haifa are really Palestinian cities, according to broadcasts this week on official Palestinian Authority television. The programs aired in spite of several claims by the PA it reformed its government-controlled media.
"The Canaanite," a special Palestinian-produced series for the month of Ramadan, this week featured an Arab bride dancing alone on a beach in her wedding gown, Palestinian Media Watch reported. A hook-nosed Israeli soldier notices the bride and races to the beach to murder her in a fit of laughter. Filfil, the series' hero, tries to save the woman, but, unable to he runs ashore and fires his rifle into the air.
In another program, a play filmed in front of a live studio audience, two jailed Palestinian "resistance fighters" recount being interrogated and tortured by Israeli security agents and call Haifa and the Tel Aviv neighborhood of Jaffa occupied Palestinian land
Text from the play, translated from Arabic by PMW:
Prisoner A: "The soldier asked me, 'Where are you from?' I said, 'From Jaffa,' so he hit me. He asked me again, 'Where are you from?' I said, 'From Jaffa,' so he hit me. I could not stand it any more, so I told him, 'Tell me what to say!' "He said, 'Say you are from Gaza! Jaffa and Haifa are not yours.'
Prisoner B: "No, definitely not. Jaffa and Haifa are ours! Jaffa and Haifa are ours!"
(audience cheers and applauds)
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other Israeli leaders recently have credited PA President Mahmoud Abbas with working to lower official incitement against Israel in the Palestinian media.
But PMW Director Itamar Marcus said, "Two foundations of Palestinian Authority hate ideology are the denial of Israel's legitimacy as a state and the depiction of Israel and Israelis as cruel and inhumane murderers. The PA under Abbas continues to promote this hate ideology."
This week's broadcasts follow other recent anti-Israel programming in the Palestinian media.
A new music video on Palestinian television has been accusing Jews of torturing, mutilating and killing Palestinians in the name of God. In the video, titled, "A Mirror of the Palestinian Heritage," women dance and sing about what they describe as Israeli war crimes against Palestinians in the name of the Jewish religion. One woman pens the words "A mirror of the Palestinian heritage" over a map of Israel, portraying all of Israel as occupied "Palestine."
During Israel's Independence Day celebrations this past May, PA television broadcast interviews with terrorists, accused Israel of planning attacks against Islamic holy sites, charged that the Jewish state uses radiation poisoning against Palestinian travelers and depicted an Israeli soldier stuffing a rifle in a baby carriage, Michael Widlanski, an associate of Independent Media Review and Analysis, told WND.
Widlanski also said that following a suicide bombing in February that killed five Israeli civilians at Tel Aviv's Stage night club, official PA radio told its listeners information received from a "very senior Israeli officer" indicated "an elite unit of the occupation army" was meeting in the nightclub and was the real target of the "martyrdom" operation. Two days later, Al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, an official newspaper directed by Abbas's Fatah Party, ran a front-page picture of the suicide bomber with a caption calling him a "martyr."
Earlier in January, PA television blamed the Jews for causing the tsunami in southeast Asia, and preached the destruction of Israel and the U.S. "The Muslim remembers how the Jews corrupted the land. ... They invest in the East Asian countries, which were destroyed [by the tsunami] because of the Jewish and American corruption and destruction," said Palestinian preacher Sheik Ibrahim Madiras during his weekly television sermon.
A week before that, Palestinian television featured a senior PA academic, Dr. Hassan Khater, founder of the Al Quds Encyclopedia, saying the killing of Jews is mandated by the prophet Muhammad. Khater, quoting what he said was Islamic tradition, told viewers, "Muhammad said in his Hadith: 'The Hour [Day of Resurrection] will not arrive until you fight the Jews, [until a Jew will hide behind a rock or tree] and the rock and the tree will say: Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!'"
#2
Filfil, the series' hero, tries to save the woman, but, unable to he runs ashore and fires his rifle into the air.
...Because if he shot at the soldiers, he'd be dead too.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/15/2005 10:54 Comments ||
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#3
Bad propaganda. Does anyone in Palestine really believe this sh--?
Sadly, they believe every word of it.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/15/2005 13:05 Comments ||
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#4
an unbiased history will not be kind to teh Paleos and their patrons. Shit like this, brainwashing the population, makes any Paleo a future combatant and target. Reap what you sow assholes
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/15/2005 13:56 Comments ||
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#5
Paleo TV transmitter tower. HARM missile. Some assembly required.
#6
JERUSALEM â Jewish soldiers murder Arab brides in cold blood, and the Israeli coastal towns of Jaffa and Haifa are really Palestinian cities, according to broadcasts this week on official Palestinian Authority television.
It's quite obvious that reforming Paleo schools would only be addressing part of the problem.
By this, I can only assume they are referring to those "brides" of Allah. You know, the ones with all the explosives strapped to their bodies.
If Abbas is incapable of stopping this sort of sewage from poisoning the minds of his people, he is unworthy of further oxygen consumption. Same goes for the Saudis.
The irony, regards the Arabs "states" of the ME is that there would be an audible sigh of relief from every capitol, since they know the Paleos are a sinkhole and liability... But then they'd have to come up with something else to divert attention from the corrupt shitholes they've created. The Paleos are, everywhere in the ME, the Great Passion Play of Arabs. There's a 24x7 feeding program in most of the ME countries, just like the homebrewed one. Even the most "tolerant" Saudi I met had automatic knee-jerk reactions regards the Paleos - couldn't even get him to laugh when I parodied them, and I could keep him in stitches on any other subject, including Saudi Royalty. The Paleo BS was sacrosanct and he had swallowed the BS from birth.
The Bush Administration has offered Syriaâs beleaguered President a âGaddafi dealâ to end his regimeâs isolation if Damascus agrees to a long list of painful concessions. Or perhaps a Qadafi deal. Or a Khadaffi deal.
According to senior American and Arab officials, an offer has been relayed to President Assad that could enable him to avoid the looming threat of international sanctions against his country. The matter could come to a head as early as next week when Detlev Mehlis, the head of the United Nations team investigating the murder of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister, is due to submit his report to Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General. While details of that report are not yet known, it is widely expected that senior figures in the Syrian intelligence services, which until earlier this year were in control of Lebanonâs security, will be named as accomplices. The assassination was widely blamed on Damascus, and consequently relations have been badly damaged with key Syrian allies such as France and Saudi Arabia. Already strained relations with Washington have become even more fraught.
Evidence of Syrian complicity could lead to international sanctions and make the country a pariah state. âAssad is facing a tough time ahead and he has very few friends left,â said a senior Arab diplomat. âHe is desperately looking for a way out of this predicament.â Mr Assad said this week that contacts had resumed between Damascus and Washington via Arab intermediaries, thought to be Egypt and Saudi Arabia. âThere has been an attempt to resume co-operation, basically through mediation, by some Arab and European states,â he told CNN. The Times has learnt that the American proposal is very specific, with at least four key demands being made of Damascus. Syria must first co-operate fully and adhere to any demands by the UN inquiry into Mr Haririâs assassination.
If members of the Syrian regime are named as suspects they would have to be questioned and could stand trial under foreign jurisdiction. The Syrians would also have to stop any interference in Lebanon, where they have been blamed for a series of bomb attacks against their critics, most recently May Chidiac, a television presenter who was badly injured last month when a device exploded under her car. Washington also wants Syria to halt the recruiting, funding and training of volunteers for the Iraqi insurgency, which they claim are openly operating in Syria with the connivance of the regime. They include former members of the Iraqi regime and foreign volunteers responsible for suicide car-bomb attacks.
The Bush Administration also has a long-standing demand that Syria cease its support for militant Islamic organisations such as Lebanonâs Hezbollah and the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. In return America would establish full and friendly relations with Damascus, opening the way for foreign aid and investment and ensuring the regimeâs survival. Last night, a source close to the regime in Damascus confirmed that the offer had been presented by a third party in the past ten days and that the Syrians had signalled a willingness to co-operate. The Americans are convinced that if Syria was prepared to commit such a radical volte face it could transform the whole climate in the Middle East â freeing Lebanon, dealing a serious blow to the insurgency in Iraq, and opening the way for progress between Israel and Palestine.
The precedent for the offer is the deal clinched two years ago with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya. His regime was isolated internationally after it was blamed for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie. After more than a decade, sanctions were lifted when Tripoli handed over two intelligence officers to stand trial in a Scottish court and paid compensation to the relatives of the victims. Full relations were restored after Washington and London concluded a secret deal with Mr Gadaffi to dismantle and turn over all his nuclear, biological and chemical weapons programmes. The Americans have now reopened their embassy in Tripoli, US oil companies are operating in Libya and recent visitors have included Tony Blair and top British businessmen. There's the carrot. See the Page 1 article I posted for the stick.
The main question troubling the Americans is whether the Syrian leader is strong enough and bold enough to cut a deal. There are even doubts that he is really in control of the country. Some suspect it is run by various security services in the hands of his extended family. Asef Shawkat, his brother-in-law, is head of military intelligence. Maher al-Assad, his brother, commands the presidential guard. British diplomats do not believe that the Syrian leader will take the offer, not least because it would be regarded as a huge climbdown and a betrayal of Syriaâs hardline policies established by his late father, Hafez al-Assad.
Washington has made clear that if the Syrians do not co-operate, it intends to increase the pressure on the regime. One consequence of that pressure was the death this week of Ghazi Kanaan, the Syrian Interior Minister and a key witness in the UN inquiry. He was found shot dead in his office. The authorities said that he had taken his own life, but many suspect he was killed by those who feared what he might divulge from his time as head of Syrian Intelligence in Lebanon. A Syrian source close to the ruling family predicted that Mr Assad would suicidally turn down the deal. âThe regime has calculated that it has the resources to survive for quite some time even if it is isolated,â said the source. âThe strategy could be to manage the conflict until external pressures ease.â And if the "external pressures" include a mechanized division or two?
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice failed Saturday to persuade Russia to offer new support for a hard line on Iran's disputed nuclear program, during a hastily arranged trip to the Russian capital.
Rice wanted Russian cooperation as the United States and its European allies try either to draw Iran back to diplomatic talks or invoke the threat of punishment from the powerful UN Security Council.
Despite lengthy meetings with Russian officials, including a long session alone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, it was clear Russia had not changed its opposition to using the Security Council.
The Iranian nuclear question can be handled through the UN nuclear watchdog agency, which is already monitoring nuclear activities in Iran, Lavrov told reporters afterward.
"We think that the current situation permits us to develop this issue and do everything possible within the means of this organization, without referring this issue to other organizations now," Lavrov said.
Rice said the UN Security Council "remains an option" if Iran does not cooperate.
"We've said all along there remains time for negotiations if Iran is prepared to negotiate in good faith," Rice told reporters.
The International Atomic Energy Agency last month passed a resolution warning Tehran it would be referred to the Security Council unless it allayed international fears about its nuclear program.
Russia handed the United States a subtle diplomatic victory last month when it abstained, rather than vote against that measure.
Lavrov appeared to dash US hopes for a Russian "yes" vote when the IAEA next meets on Nov. 24, but it is not clear whether Russia would actively block the move.
Iran says its nuclear activities, some of which are carried out with Russian cooperation, are intended to produce electricity, not weapons. The United States claims Iran is hiding a bomb-making project behind the shield of a legitimate energy program.
Rice also could not sway Russia on the related question of whether Iran has a right, as it insists, to enrich uranium. Enrichment is a possible step toward weapons development and the United States and European allies are determined to keep Iran from having full nuclear know-how.
Under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which Iran signed, "nations have that right," Lavrov said.
He added that Iran must not violate the arms pact, which is intended to allow peaceful use of nuclear energy under strict controls but to stop international spread of nuclear weapons and technology.
Rice was also to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin before flying to Britain for further talks on Iran and other Middle East issues. She was in Paris on Friday for similar consultations.
France, Britain and Germany have led an effort to offer economic incentives for Iran to drop the disputed portions of its nuclear program. Iran's new hard-line government walked away from talks and has resumed nuclear activities it suspended during negotiations.
The United States is expected to make a strong push to bring Iran before the UN Security Council. Russia and China, both allies of Iran and permanent members of the Security Council, could block economic sanctions or other tough punishment, if the case gets that far.
Iran has said it has nothing to fear from the Security Council, presumably out of confidence that Russia and China would veto a tough proposal for punishment from the United States or the Europeans.
Rice's discussions on Iran come at a sensitive time. Iran has indicated a willingness to return to negotiations, but not to drop what it calls its right to full nuclear know-how. Iran's supreme leader also may be trying to undercut the authority of Iran's new hard-line government.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently strengthened the powers of Expediency Council chief Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who lost to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June's elections. He recently criticized the handling of Iran's nuclear issue by Ahmadinejad's government.
#1
Maybe even Russia sees how useless the UN has been but Iran and NK don't even have the basic desire for self-preservation. Japan, Britain, Israel, and the US may need to knock some sense into the rest of the world that seems to not have any with some more "Shock and Awe". Just don't forewarn them so far in advance they have time to hide and protect their assets.
#3
The Russians are stupid, they are still going to sell them the stuff anyway, so why not send it to the security council then have the sanction put in.
Then charge the Iranians 15 times the price originally going to sell it for. :)
#4
Here's hoping the first Iranian nuclear missile is launched against Russian forces in Chechnya. With all their glorified scientists and mathematicians, one would think that the Russians had a somewhat better understanding of Cause & Effect than Turkey, Iran or Pakistan's civil engineers.
If America undergoes an Iranian sponsored nuclear terrorist attack, Russia should be the immediate recipient of several Intercontinental Ballastic Thank-You Notes.
#6
The same Russian game played well during the run-up to the Iraq War, so they've trotted it out again. The real lessons are all obvious:
1) You can't part Russia from a hard-currency deal - and I presume MM promises for many more.
2) UN Agencies are led by asstards nominated and approved by the General Assembly. They are toothless and pointless babble-generators. Using the term "watchdog" is, in a word, hysterical. If we had the power to veto any of these absurd examples, IAEA, UNHRC, et al, I presume we would've done so when the opportunity arose.
3) The UN is DEAD. It's fatally flawed, broken, usurped, taken-over, worthless. We absolutely should reduce out funding to match our influence... say 191th of the budget plus, oh, a buck fifty, maybe two bucks, for the UNSC seat.
Mr Prez, please use the next 3 yrs to extract us from the heavy burden of supporting an organization run by people out to destroy America. Please? Go ahead and check off the remaining boxes. You got the right guy to do the job, there. Keep the membership, veto everything that comes along, pay the above mentioned amount, and ignore the entire lot of toolfools. Sure, they'll go apeshit. Doesn't matter.
Your legislative agenda is dead. Dead as hell, with Katrina, Donk vitriol, gutless RINOs, back-stabbing cowards of every stripe. All you can do is what is within the Executive's direct purview and whatever actionable warrants you already possess from previous legislative votes. Concentrate on making those things work for us and bury the rest of it in a grand ceremony. Tell the public why - in plain speak.
Decide to seal our borders - period - embrace the Minutemen and apologize to them. Then support them 100% as well as the Border Patrol. Demand cooperation - or the heads of every asshole in the Border Patrol and Law Enforcement who doesn't understand who and what America is all about. The Minutemen are perfectly named - and proof America's core is alive and well. Make it happen.
Kill the Mad Mullahs and cripple their nuke and regional hegemony ambitions - if the Persians want to help, fine... and it's fine if not, too. This is about US security. Job 1. Stomp the shit out of Syria - and apologize to Sharon for holding them back so many times - we'll support that. Slam the Saudis for every act and non-act - going back to '73 when they turned the oil war on us for saving Israel's ass. Do it. Despite the MSM deluge of lies, the abandonment by perfidious allies, the Moonbat outrage, the Tranzi attempts to derail you - despite all of it, you see another victory, another confirmation of your efforts and strategic vision in Iraq, not to mention Afghanistan. It's working, in spite of the attempts to trip you, undermine you, blackmail you, make you fail. Keep pluggin. Save as many of us as you can - as fast as you can. Please. And Thanks for all you've already done. It's an amazing list - and there can be much more if you use the next 3 years wisely and well.
Africa's Islamic charities are booming but their success is also stoking suspicions -- are they genuinely trying to help the destitute or are they preachers of religious fundamentalism using aid operations as a front?
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, Islamic non-governmental organisations (NGOs) -- the fastest growing charities in Africa -- have come under close scrutiny.
Some of those operating in the world's poorest continent have had their assets frozen by the U.S. Treasury Department on suspicion of raising funds for al Qaeda. Others have been shut down at Washington's request.
Yet advocates of Islamic NGOs -- some of which are based locally while others are funded from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or Libya -- say they are not trading aid for faith.
They argue it is precisely their Islamic inspiration that helps reach out to those who would not listen to their Christian or secular counterparts.
"We work in different fields -- educational, cultural and humanitarian," said Idris Al Hareir, a professor of Islamic history and senior official from the World Islamic Call Society (WICS), a Libyan-based charity active in sub-Saharan Africa.
"We teach Arabic to those who want to learn, we try to improve literacy, and we've been digging water wells in West African countries like Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso," Al Hareir told Reuters by telephone from Paris.
Organisations like WICS are increasingly working alongside United Nations agencies and Western charities in parts of Africa where winning over religious leaders is key to convincing sceptical Muslim communities to accept outside help.
When the government of Senegal -- a West African state which is 95 percent Muslim -- first started trying to fight HIV/AIDS by sending doctors into villages to teach people about condoms, they were given a hostile reception.
Religious leaders thought promoting condoms risked creating a generation of promiscuous infidels. Among those who helped persuade them otherwise was an Islamic charity, Jamra, based in the capital Dakar.
"People were hostile. They thought their children would be taught to have sex, would be turned into perverts, would have their morals destroyed," said Jamra chairman Abdou Latif Gueye.
The organisation helped broker a deal between the government and religious leaders under which clerics would preach abstinence and fidelity but not criticise the use of condoms.
"We focused our studies on religion ... We said 'leave us to convince the imams with Koranic verses and you tell the medical story'," Gueye said.
The strategy paid off. Just 0.8 percent of adults aged 15-49 in Senegal were living with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2003, the second lowest prevalence rate in sub-Saharan Africa.
"The imam has an audience that no doctor or NGO could hope for. Five times a day he has a congregation which represents all of society: the old, young, rich and poor," Gueye said.
In a similar more recent case in Niger, over 100 Islamic religious teachers spoke out this month against "marabouts" -- local spiritual leaders -- who oppose vaccination of children against polio on the grounds the vaccines are harmful.
In Nigeria, Africa's most populous state, Muslim politicians and clerics blocked a 2003 polio immunisation drive, saying they suspected vaccines had been tainted with AIDS and infertility agents by Western powers waging war on Islam.
The ban divided the powerful Muslim elite in northern Nigeria and charities were caught in the middle. The temporary boycott caused the crippling disease to spread to some African and Asian countries previously declared polio-free.
A scientist working for Jama'atu Nasril Islam (Congregation for the Propagation of Islam), a major Muslim organisation which is also involved in health-related activities, took part in a series of tests that found some vaccines were contaminated.
It was only when a deal was struck to import vaccines from Indonesia -- the country with the biggest number of Muslims in the world -- that northern Nigerian governors lifted the ban.
Some security experts, particularly in the United States, fear Islamic NGOs are spreading militant forms of Islam using humanitarian assistance as a pretext.
The U.S. Treasury Department froze the U.S. assets of the Islamic African Relief Agency (IARA) last October, an organisation which three years earlier had been granted U.S. funding for relief work in northern Mali.
The Treasury Department said IARA had raised funds with al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 2001 attacks, to provide assistance to Taliban fighters.
Islamic clerics and analysts warn against tarring all Islamic charities with the same brush.
Independent think-tank Crisis Group said in a report earlier this year that orphanages run by Islamic NGOs in Mauritania, Mali and Chad had been shut down at the request of the United States and warned such closures could stoke anti-American sentiment in the region.
"Organisations that you call terrorist movements, we call Muslim organisations to defend Islamic interests," Mamour Fall, a Senegalese imam deported from Italy in 2003 after being branded a national security threat, told Reuters.
World Islamic Call Society's Al Hareir said that while teaching the Koran was a key part of humanitarian work for many Muslims, conversion was not a prerequisite for receiving aid.
"It is our duty only to teach about Islam, never to put pressure on people. You cannot link the needs of the people to converting them," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
10/15/2005 17:16 ||
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#1
the World Islamic Call Society (WICS)
Islamic Call == Da'Waa?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/15/2005 17:44 Comments ||
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LAHORE: Afghanistan has decided to recognise the State of Israel, ARY news channel reported on Friday.
The channel, while quoting the Afghan governmentâs diplomatic sources, said that the Karzai administration has finally decided to recognise Israel. The governmentâs vital decision will pave the way for other Muslim countries such as Pakistan to follow suit, the channel added. The official announcement of the recognition will be made in the next few days, the channel said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/15/2005 00:00 ||
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#4
Afghanistan poking a thumb in the eye of Iran, Saudi Arabia, The Talibs, Waki Pakis, AQ and everyone else who has been destablising them and funding attacks on them.
#5
gutsy move by Karzai, also guarantees we'll have bases and access for a LONG time. The Jihadis/ISI will never (say a thousand yrs) forget or forgive
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/15/2005 1:42 Comments ||
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#6
In my wanderings around the Internet I have met a number of Afghans, even Pashtoons who are either admirers of Israel or, due to natinalistic pride, resentful of Arabs.
BTW: I think we shoiuld try to show to Muslims that the Islamist project is only a tool of Arabaic imperialism, and let them draw their conclusions. For instance by getting some exposure to that to that text published in Rantburg yesterday ("I too have a dream" http://rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=132220&D=2005-10-14&HC=4)
where the author advocates for an islamic caliphate embracing all Muslim nations and with a single language: arabic. I am quite sure of the reaction of those nationalistic Pashtoons I referred to.
#8
A fun bit of trivia that would really put the turbans in orbit....Khyber as in the 'Khyber Pass' is a Hebrew word. When the Assyrians dispersed the 10 Lost Tribes, some apparently went to Persia,Afghanistan and India. This is from a PBS documentary on them:
"The great medieval Jewish traveler is familiarly known as Benjamin of Tudela. We know little about him other that what emerges in his famous Book of Travels. In whichever community he visited, and even in those he didn't, Benjamin recorded his observations, many of which are quite imaginative.
When visiting in Persia and in the Arabian peninsula, Benjamin came across Jewish tribesmen whom he was convinced were descendants of the Lost Israelites. The self-sufficiency and fierceness of these tribesmen deeply impressed him. He writes as follows:
"There are men of Israel in the land of Persia who say that in the mountains dwell four of the tribes of Israel, namely, the tribe of Dan, the tribe of Zevulun, the tribe of Asher, and the tribe of Naphtali. They are governed by their own prince, Joseph the Levite. Among them are learned scholars. They sow and reap and go forth to war as far as the land of Cush, by way of the desert. They are in league with the Kofar-al-Turak, pagan tribesmen who worship the wind and live in the wilderness."
During his visit to Arabia he came across the largest Jewish settlement in the region, the Jews of Kheibar. "These tribesmen," he writes, "are of the tribes Reuven and Gad, and the half-tribe of Menasseh. Their seat of government is a great city surrounded by the mountains of the North. The Jews of Kheibar have built many large fortified cities. The yoke of the gentiles is not upon them. They go forth to pillage and to capture booty in conjunction with the Arabs their neighbors." The diary of Benjamin, son of Jonahâtranslated into so many languagesâinspired many in their quest for the independent kingdoms of the Ten Lost Tribes.
Straddling the boundaries between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kashmir lives the world's largest tribal groupingâthe Pathans. All of the 15 million Pathans, who comprise some 60 tribes, claim descent from Kish, an ancestor of the Biblical King Saul. Many of them also claim to be children of the Lost Israelites. The Pathans perform circumcision of the eighth day, wear a fringed garment similar to the Jewish tzizit, light candles on Friday nights and observe food taboos similar to the laws of Kashrut."
I fear the Jews of Arabia have been wiped to a man since then. About Persia I know that there have been Jewish communities passing for Muslims (cf the Marranos in Spain passing for Christian) but practicing Judaism secretly and on differnt prextexts turnning true Muslims who wanted to marry one of their girls (beleieving she was a Muslim).
For Pashtoons, they love to attribute mythical origins to themselves (Jewish is one of the hypothesis they air, of course, taliban partisans vehemently deny it). Others tell of such or such Pashtoon tribe as a of Jewish origin, such other as of Arab origin and so on. I don't know about those Jewish-like traditions between Pashtoons (another name for Pathans) but I can inquire if you are interested. I confess I am sceptical: if they originated in the lost tribes I would expect Pashto being a semitic language but it is from the indo-european group
#12
I suppose it mostly wishful thinking that UBL could be traveling with Jews and what they could do to him while sleeping, as Jael put a tent stake through the temple of Sisera. :) However, I happened to find this information because I am part of the Genome DNA study to track migrations from mitochondrial Eve. They are also testing DNA specifically for Jewish ancestry trying to find the cohanim and even the fabled Lost Tribes, so the mythological speculation can be definitively decided by science.
#13
#3: Turbans twisting to maximum torque...
Posted by: Seafarious|| 2005-10-15 01:10|| Comments|| Top||
LMAO Seafarious! That will put the gages on red line. Stand back! Their heads are gonna hex-plode!
All kidding aside, Karzai's decision is another step in the transformation of the ME. I certainly hope that it keeps going. Maybe the end of the beginning, as Churchill would say. I certainly hope so. Wouldn't it be something if the ME transformed itself and Eurabia became a backwater ME ghetto? I hope that everyone transforms themselves into something good. Major project.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/15/2005 14:11 Comments ||
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#14
Ooooohhhh, what a knee in the gonads to the Taliban, and Osama's little band of merry murderers... what fun it till be, watching the die-hard jihadis all in a tizz...
So, who's making the popcorn?!!
#16
Hurrah! Another grand thumb-in-the-eye to Arab Muslim anti-Semitism. Karzai (and not ElBaradei, worthless maggot he), should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize for such a courageous and outstanding move. A few more such defections and the remaining hardcore anti-Semite Arab nations will finally take on the calcified and obsolete aspect they so clearly manifest.
#17
Seems as if these guys have every intention of joining the modern world. Why don't American companies begin setting up shop here then instead of China? Low cost labor and they get to develop a bit faster as a result.
#19
JFM - you'll have to work in the Persian Mad Mullahs - who're following the lead of the Syrian (IIRC) Khomeini... They're interested in World Dominion, too, just not the same flavor...
JERUSALEM - Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed hope in an interview on Friday that he would meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon whom he praised for pulling troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip.
Karzai said that he would follow the lead of neighouring Pakistanâs President Pervez Musharraf, who shook hands with Sharon at the UN General Assembly last month, if the opportunity arose. âIn my eyes it is a positive development that Musharraf shook Prime Minister Sharonâs hand,â he told the Yediot Aharanot daily. âIf I had an opportunity to meet the Israeli prime minister, I would do so.
âInshallah (God willing) I will also meet Prime Minister Sharon soon,â he added.
The president however recalled how Afghanistan had played host to a now rapidly dwindling Jewish community which was concentrated in the western city of Herat. âIn Afghanistan there was an impressive Jewish community, and the relations between them and the Afghans were excellent,â he said.
But when pressed on whether he would envisage diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, Karzai stuck to the line that full ties would not come about until the creation of a Palestinian state. âWe want to see peace between Israel and the Palestinians, we want to see an end to violence on both sides. The Palestinians have a right to live in peace and Israel has a right to live in peace,â he said.
âWe welcome Israelâs withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. This is a good thing that the Israeli government did. When there is further progress and the Palestinians begin to get a state of their own, Afghanistan will be glad (to establish) full relations with Israel.â
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/15/2005 00:00 ||
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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.
ASIO is to be boosted with 500 extra agents and up to $50 million more in annual funding. The latest terror attacks in Bali and London have prompted the move, to be announced today by Attorney- General Philip Ruddock. The build-up is part of a five-year plan to strengthen the terrorist and espionage-fighting capabilities of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation - the nation's frontline intelligence-gathering agency. 
Labor is calling on Prime Minister John Howard to allow a full and proper inquiry into the government's new anti-terror laws. Copies of the sweeping new laws leaked yesterday by the ACT Government have sparked concerns among legal experts.
John Bolton, America's ambassador to the United Nations, reiterated that Washington is prepared to work outside the United Nations if the world body's flaws cannot be repaired. "We look at it in a kind of cost-benefit way," he said. "If it's not solving problems, what do we do to fix it? And if we can't fix it, where else can we look to have those problems solved?"
JERUSALEM - Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed hope in an interview on Friday that he would meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon whom he praised for pulling troops and settlers out of the Gaza Strip.
