The ancient city, which dates back to the Sabean dynasty of the 6th century B.C., is expected to run out of drinking water as early as 2025 at current consumption levels, according to the Sanaa Water Basin Management Project funded by the World Bank.
#1
Much of Yemen's water problem is self-inflicted. An estimated 40 percent of available water is consumed by the cultivation of qat, a leafy stimulant that is chewed by 70 percent of Yemeni males daily. Farmers prefer to grow it for the high profit involved in the narcotics trade.
#2
Sanaa, Yeman may be the first capital city in the world to run out of water
I thought that would have been Atlanta. With the exception of unwitting tourists and conference attendees, no one familiar with the Atlanta City Water Works will drink it.
Afghan presidential challenger Abdullah Abdullah plans to boycott next week's runoff against incumbent Hamid Karzai following a breakdown in talks on how to fix the country's electoral crisis, two people familiar with the discussions said.
A boycott would severely undermine a vote intended to affirm the Afghan government's credibility. However, an Abdullah spokesman said no final decision had been made on the candidate's pullout, and that Abdullah will announce his decision Sunday morning. It was possible that word of the boycott was a negotiating tactic by the Abdullah camp.
An Afghan figure close to Abdullah said Saturday that the boycott decision came after a contentious and fruitless meeting Thursday over Abdullah's conditions for a runoff. Both spoke on condition of anonymity, saying that the announcement must come from Abdullah himself.
Posted by: ed ||
10/31/2009 11:22 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
[Al Arabiya Latest] United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon late Thursday warned that the world body was vulnerable to more attacks in the week leading up to the Afghan elections and pleaded for more help to protect his staff.
"We cannot do it alone," the secretary general told a crisis meeting of the U.N. Security Council following Wednesday's suicide attack by Taliban fighters on a U.N. guesthouse in Kabul that killed five U.N. staffers and wounded nine.
"We need the support of the member states," he told diplomats from the world's most powerful countries.
"Send 40,000 more American troops, President Obama."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Send the New Black Panthers. I'm sure their billy-clubs will inspire fear.
[Maghrebia] Mauritania on Thursday (October 29th) officially asked Niger to extradite an important terror suspect, PANA reported. Taghi Ould Youssouf allegedly participated in the kidnapping of Western nationals in the Sahel-Saharan region. Mauritanian authorities also reportedly suspect Youssouf in connection with a deadly attack on a broadcast centre in Tevragh Zeina in April 2008 by a terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda. Youssouf was arrested earlier this month in Niger.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
[Bangla Daily Star] The bomb used in the attack on Awami League lawmaker Fazle Nur Taposh in the capital's Motijheel area on October 21 was remote controlled, said officials of the Detective Branch (DB) of police.
Meanwhile, Khandaker Mehnaz Rashid, detained daughter of fugitive condemned convict in Bangabandhu assassination case Lt Col (retd) Khandaker Abdur Rashid, was put on a fresh remand for four days yesterday. She had been put on a five-day remand earlier.
Assistant Commissioner (AC) Akbar Hossain of DB, who is also the investigation officer (IO) of the case in connection with the attack on Taposh, told The Daily Star yesterday, "We've become preliminarily sure that it was a remote controlled bomb planted by the attackers. Bomb experts of the Detective Branch and the Criminal Investigation Department [CID] helped us to ascertain that."
The IO said the bomb might have been planted by Freedom Party operatives trained in Libya between 1982 and '83 by party founder Lt Col (retd) Syed Faruqoor Rahman who is also a condemned convict in Bangabandhu murder case and currently behind bars.
DB so far arrested six people in connection with the attack on Taposh, who are Mehnaz, jailed condemned convict in Bangabandhu murder case Lt Col (retd) Mohiuddin Ahmed's two sons Nazmul Hasan alias Sohel and Mahbubul Hasan, absconding condemned convict in the same case Maj (retd) Shariful Haque Dalim's brother Kamrul Haque Swapan, and Freedom Party leaders Abdur Rahim and Sheikh Shafiullah Sofu.
AC Akbar Hossain produced Mehnaz before the court yesterday morning seeking a 10-day remand, but Metropolitan Magistrate AKM Emdadul Haque of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court granted four days.
The remand petition said evidence and testimonies established that Mehnaz had links with bombing suspects both detained and free. Moreover, vital information on the 1975 killings of Bangabandhu and his family members were also elicited from her through interrogation, the petition added.
Barrister Taposh, also a prosecution lawyer in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman murder case, escaped the recent attack unhurt, but 14 others were injured.
Five teams including two additional deputy commissioners and 12 ACs were formed to deal with the case.
Taposh is son of Sheikh Fazlul Huq Moni, nephew of Bangabandhu, who was also killed on August 15, 1975 along with Bangabandhu and his other family members.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
[Kyodo: Korea] U.N. members including Japan, the United States and European Union countries have introduced to the U.N. human rights panel a draft resolution demanding that North Korea immediately return abduction victims to their home countries, a U.N. diplomatic source said Friday. The action marked the fifth consecutive year that a resolution seeking Pyongyang"s concrete action on solving the abduction issue has been presented to the General Assembly"s Third Committee.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
As an enticement, did the UN remind the NorKs that they won't have to feed them anymore if they return them?
Wouldn't it make more sense to give it to pregnant American citizens who want it first? Or am I just an idiot?
The Pentagon will offer the H1N1 vaccination to detainees at the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay, officials there said Friday.
The Pentagon made the decision based on U.S. government assessments that people held in detention facilities are at high risk for the pandemic, said Maj. Diana R. Haynie, a spokeswoman for Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay, which is in charge of holding the suspected terrorists.
Like university students, I guess -- close quarters leads to diseases running through like wildfire.
"Detainees at JTF Guantanamo are considered to be at higher risk and therefore they will be offered the H1N1 vaccination," Haynie said. "JTF Guantanamo conducts safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees. As such, we must provide detainees the medical care necessary to maintain their health," she said.
Goodness knows we don't need the bad publicity of bad people dying while in custody.
Base officials had not received the vaccinations and did not know when they were expected to arrive, Haynie said.
I think the technical term is "eventually".
Once the vaccinations are received, doses will be administered to active-duty personnel before being offered to detainees and others on the base, Haynie said. The vaccination is mandatory for all uniformed personnel, she said.
The vaccinations will be voluntary for the detainees, who will be briefed on the virus and the vaccine prior to deciding whether to receive the latter. Some of the detainees have already voluntarily taken the seasonal flu shot, Haynie said.
#2
Science viruses are contracted from other people and close contact to other people I would think those isolated like this would be fairly immune in the first place. Make sure none of the guards or handlers is ill and the inmates should be unable to catch the virus.
#3
Troops move in and out of Gitmo [leave, TDY, etc]. Better to keep the morlocks in their secure facility than have to watch them in a servicing clinic/infirmary.
#6
Woozle, I think that not only should they be told that it is swine flu, but also that the vaccine causes impotence and sterility in Muslim men (just like polio vaccine).
Oh yeah, that the vaccine is alcohol based and made from pig's saliva.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/31/2009 13:59 Comments ||
Top||
#7
... and developed by juice
Posted by: abu do you love ||
10/31/2009 14:29 Comments ||
Top||
#8
I'm curious as to how many will accept the shots. My guess is that most will reject them out of superstition.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/31/2009 15:31 Comments ||
Top||
#9
My guess is they will reject the vaccinations based on the grounds of religious conflict, ie, swine venom derivative, etc.
#10
Let's hope so, Besoeker, they can die in their millions as far as it goes. They rejected Birth Control as a means to wealth and happiness to following Gen-X's. Deny them everything now.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The Swat valley tribal elders have called on the government to ban all religious organizations to help stop growing militancy in the region. The light dawns, does it?
At a press conference in Makaan Bagah area of the Swat valley, tribal elders urged the government in Islamabad to ban all Jihadi groups to maintain peace in the region, a Press TV correspondent reported on Friday.
The elders said that there is a need to expel militants in order to eliminate terrorism.
"If the government really wants to maintain peace in the region, it has to ban all religious groups who are directly or indirectly involved in supporting the militants," they said.
They added that the people of the region backed Pakistani army's Swat operation and demanded the punishment of Sufi Muhammad, Muslim Khan, Mahmood Khan and many other militants, who were arrested during the operation.
The demand came at a time when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Pakistani tribal elders in Islamabad on Friday, wrapping up a diplomatic visit overshadowed by a public outburst against the Pakistani government over its failure to arrest key al-Qaeda leaders and a devastating attack in the restive city of Peshawar which killed more than 100 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Shocka-Commonsense prevails in Pakistan!
The religious parties supported by Saudi/ISI are the route of all evil!
[Dawn] US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton struck an assertive tone in Pakistan on Thursday, hitting out at its government over Al-Qaeda and calling for better management of the economy.
Clinton has spent the last two days in Pakistan trying to bolster the civilian government and counter rising anti-US sentiment in the Muslim nation.
But after pressing her message -- the US desire to turn a new page in its relations with Pakistan after mistakes of the past -- she appeared to get annoyed during talks with senior editors and business leaders.
The most senior US official to visit since President Barack Obama put the nuclear-armed state at the heart of the war on Al-Qaeda, Clinton took issue with Islamabad's position that the Al-Qaeda leadership is not in Pakistan.
'Al Qaeda has had safe haven in Pakistan since 2002,' Clinton told senior Pakistani newspaper editors in the country's cultural capital, Lahore.
'I find it hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn't get them if they really wanted to,' she added.
'Maybe that's the case; maybe they're not gettable. I don't know... As far as we know, they are in Pakistan,' she added.
She also showed impatience with criticism of a record US non-military aid bill giving Pakistan 7.5 billion dollars, which the army and political opposition have slammed for violating the country's sovereignty.
'At the risk of sounding undiplomatic, Pakistan has to have internal investment in your public services and your business opportunities,' Clinton told businessmen, taking swipe at tax evasion in the cash-strapped country.
'The percentage of taxes on GDP is among the lowest in the world... We (the United States) tax everything that moves and doesn't move, and that's not what we see in Pakistan,' she said.
'You do have 180 million people. Your population is projected to be about 300 million. And I don't know what you're gonna do with that kind of challenge, unless you start planning right now,' she said.
A US official, speaking to journalists on board Clinton's plane from Lahore to Islamabad, said there was nothing contradictory in her remarks and her mission to strengthen ties between the United States and Pakistan.
Pakistan's relations with Washington, on whom it depends for cash and weapons to fight Islamist militants bombing the country, can be uneasy.
Obama's administration wants to broaden engagement with a country whose people traditionally see the United States as interested only in securing its military cooperation in the fight against the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
Clinton has already committed 85 million dollars to countering poverty, 125 million dollars to improving Pakistan's woefully inadequate electricity supply and 104 million dollars to law enforcement and border security assistance.
At the weekend she will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas separately as the United States seeks to unblock stagnant peace efforts in the Middle East.
She is due in Morocco on Monday and Tuesday for talks with Middle East and Group of Eight countries about promoting economic and political progress.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
TOPIX > HILLARY TELLS PAKISTAN: FIND AND KILL AL QAEDA.
versus
COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG > HILLARY: US CAN FIND A WAY OUT FROM AFGHANISTAN.
[Geo News] U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton came face-to-face Friday with Pakistani anger over U.S. aerial drone attacks in tribal areas along the Afghan border, a strategy that U.S. officials say has succeeded in killing key terrorist leaders.
In a series of public appearances on the final day of a three-day visit marked by blunt talk, Clinton refused to discuss the subject, which involves highly classified CIA operations. She would say only that "there is a war going on," and the Obama administration is committed to helping Pakistan defeat the insurgents and terrorists who threaten the stability of a nuclear-armed nation.
Clinton said she could not comment on "any particular tactic or technology" used in the war against extremist groups in the area.
The use of Predator drone aircraft, armed with guided missiles, is credited by U.S. officials with eliminating a growing number of senior terrorist group leaders this year who had used the tribal lands of Pakistan as a haven beyond the reach of U.S. ground forces in Afghanistan.
During an interview broadcast live in Pakistan with several prominent female TV anchors, before a predominantly female audience of several hundred, one member of the audience said the Predator attacks amount to "executions without trial" for those killed.
Another asked Clinton how she would define terrorism.
"Is it the killing of people in drone attacks?" she asked. That woman then asked if Clinton considers drone attacks and bombings like the one that killed more than 100 civilians in the city of Peshawar earlier this week to both be acts of terrorism.
"No, I do not," Clinton replied.
Earlier, in a give-and-take with about a dozen residents of the tribal region, one man alluded obliquely to the drone attacks, saying he had heard that in the United States, aircraft are not allowed to take off after 11 p.m., to avoid irritating the population.
"That is the sort of peace we want for our people," he said through an interpreter.
The same man told Clinton that the Obama administration should rely more on wisdom and less on firepower to achieve its aims in Pakistan.
"Your presence in the region is not good for peace," he said, referring to the U.S. military, "because it gives rise to frustration and irritation among the people of this region." At another point he told Clinton, "Please forgive me, but I would like to say we've been fighting your war."
A similar point was made by Sana Bucha of Geo TV during the live broadcast interview.
"It is not our war," she told Clinton. "It is your war." She drew a burst of applause when she added, "You had one 9/11. We are having daily 9/11s in Pakistan."
Capturing a feeling that Clinton heard expressed numerous times during her visit, one woman in the audience said, "The whole world thinks we are terrorists." The woman said she was from the South Waziristan area where the Pakistani army is engaged in pitched battles with Taliban and affiliated extremist elements -- and where U.S. drones have struck with deadly effect many times.
The Pakistani army said Friday its forces had killed 14 militants in 24 hours and were closing in on a prominent insurgent stronghold as its offensive in the remote region continued.
Clinton's main message on Friday was that the U.S. wants to be a partner with Pakistan, not just on the military front but also on trade, education, energy and other sectors. She stressed, however, that Pakistan needs to do its part in demonstrating a real commitment to democracy.
Clinton also was asked about her remark on Thursday that she found it hard to believe that Pakistani officials don't know where leaders of terrorist groups are hiding in Pakistan.
On Friday she took a bit of the edge off that comment, saying, "I don't know if anyone knows, but we in the United States would very much like to see the end of the al-Qaida leadership, and our best information is that they are somewhere in Pakistan."
In an interview broadcast Friday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Clinton was asked about the bluntness of her remarks.
"Trust is a two-way street. There is trust deficit," she said. "It will not be sufficient to achieve the level of security that Pakistanis deserve if we don't go after those who are still threatening not only Pakistan, but Afghanistan, and the rest of the world. And we wanted to put that on the table. And I think it was important that we did."
Asked if she thought Pakistan was harboring terrorists, Clinton replied, "I don't think they are. ... But I think it would be a missed opportunity and a lack of recognition of the full extent of the threat, if they did not realize that any safe haven anywhere for terrorists threatens them, threatens us, and has to be addressed."
Later Clinton was to fly to Abu Dhabi in the Persian Gulf for a meeting Saturday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
You guys want peace so much? Cough up the few we are asking for and you can have it. They're not doing you any good. They just walk around with automatic weapons and sow problems.
What value do the Pakistanis place on these terrorists' existance? Do they grow lots of food for the population when they aren't out taking pot shots at Americans? Are they doctors? Are they lawyers? What is so great about them? Do they help out people with their day-to-day needs like some gangs do in the US? Why are they valued so much? Or is it more that they are feared? These folks seem to be genuinely upset by the US going after them.
#7
The problem is that the predator does not have large enough ordinance. What you need is the MOAB. Then it mixes things up, what you can find, as just to what you did kill. Oh and of course problem solved.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Israeli envoy to the United Nations has accused the Human Rights Council of being 'obsessed with demonizing Israel' ahead of a special discussion of a report on the regime's war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
Gabriela Shalev accused the Geneva-based body of 'constant and exclusive discrimination against Israel' during the discussion of the Rights Councils' annual activity report on Friday, Haaretz reported.
Regarding a report prepared by former South African judge Richard Goldstone on Israeli war crimes in Gaza, Shalev said, "The UN rights council is dominated and used by countries obsessed with demonizing Israel and its democratic nature".
The report, which is to be discussed by the assembly on Wednesday, concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December 27-January 18 offensive against the Palestinians in the strip.
Goldstone recommended that the conclusions of the report be forwarded to the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) if the sides involved the Gaza war failed to conduct credible investigations within six months.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Former Israeli premier Ehud Olmert would probably face arrest on war crime charges if he visited Britain, a leading British newspapers has quoted a lawyer as saying.
"Neither Olmert nor Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister during the Cast Lead offensive, and a member of Israel's war cabinet, would enjoy immunity from prosecution for alleged breaches of the Geneva conventions," the Middle East editor of The Guardian , Ian Black, quoted Daniel Machover as saying.
Machover has been involved in intensifying legal work after the controversial Goldstone report on the three-week conflict. "Neither are ministers any longer," he explained.
"Prosecutions of Israeli political and military figures remain likely despite the failure to obtain an arrest warrant for Ehud Barak, the defense minister, when he visited the UK earlier this month.. In the Barak case, a magistrate accepted advice from the Foreign Office that the minister enjoyed state immunity and rejected an application made on behalf of several residents of the Gaza Strip".
This is while the United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to meet on November 4 in a bid to consider a UN report, which accuses Israel of war crimes, as well as crimes against humanity, during the weeks-long onslaught on the Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
On the other hand, Dani, maybe we'll remember how we run out the pederast empire from our country in the first place.
[Ma'an] Gaza -- Ma'an -- Israeli authorities will allow the transfer of 7,000 cows into the Gaza Strip ahead of the Eid Al-Adha holiday at the end of November, officials announced Friday. There'll be a hot time in the olde towne 2nite!
The news follows a Wednesday announcement that 3,000 cows would be allowed into the Strip.
Under-secretary for the local economy in Gaza Nasser As-Siraj said starting Monday Israeli officials said they would increase the average number of cows being transported into the besieged Strip, up from the 300/day announced earlier. Officials did not give a reason for the increase.
The shipments are transferred into the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Do the Paleos eat horses, too? 'Cause that would leave the gate open for a bunch of Mr. Eid jokes.
Initial fielding of FNH USA's Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle (SCAR) to the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is expected to conclude in December and a larger follow-on order is anticipated in early 2010 to fully equip the majority of associated units within the group.
A total of 1,200 Mk 16 and Mk 17 SCAR weapon systems have been delivered to SOCOM to date, but FNH USA told Jane's that it expected a larger order for around 20,000 weapons next year.
The additional orders are expected to include approximately 15,000 5.56 mm Mk 16 SCAR-Light and 5,000 Mk 17 7.62 mm SCAR-Heavy weapons as well as a number of 40 mm Mk 13 Enhanced Grenade Launcher Modules.
#2
I'm sorry...I know I should just apologize in advance, but y'all had to know it was absolutely inevitable someone was going to post this, didn't you?
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
10/31/2009 2:32 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Snif... M203 was my baby. BLOOOOK... POP-BAM! I could put one of those in the hatch of an old M114 (target hulk) at 200m. Mostly fired old orange chalk practice rounds - live fire was a ball for qual each year. Night all.
#5
Cool lookin' gun. The lines kind of remind me of some HK models or FN-FAL. Glad they offer it in 7.62. I've always thought 5.56 is a bit of a loser. The caliber is barely equal to a .22, ferheavensakes. I know it has a LOT more power behind it than .22lr, but sometimes there's no substitute for shooting a big hole in something.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran has told the U.N. nuclear watchdog that it wants fresh nuclear fuel for a reactor in Tehran before it would agree to ship most of its enriched uranium stocks to Russia and France, diplomats said on Friday. I feel kinda guilty for not paying closer attention to Iran's nuke program, but that's because events are so repetitious they become boring.
Western diplomats said on condition of anonymity that major Western powers found the Iranian demand for immediate access to fresh atomic fuel unacceptable.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Thursday it has received an "initial response" from Iran to the deal, but IRNA said it was not Tehran's "answer" to the plan brokered by the agency.
Amid growing French impatience and U.S. calls for clarification, IRNA indicated Tehran's message to the IAEA was "not an answer to the draft agreement," adding Iran would state its full position after more negotiations.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Seems to me that they want to know they will be receiving fuel that is uncontaminated and can be further refined to weapons grade before they give up their own. Is it true that they can use their contaminated fuel for medical and power-generation purposes? Then I would say no, unless the "contamination" thing is a hoax just to get the west off their backs as they go about furthering their nuclear program. If all this is true, then it seems we would need to inspect much more of their Uranium before we can go any further with this process. And what is with all this "research grade" Uranium? Seems to me it is probably just how far they had managed to get in the bomb-making process before they figured out they had a problem, so they dubbed it "research" material rather than pre-"weapons grade" material.
I'd say get them to fess-up and cough-up or make sure they get fuc&ed-up.
#2
ION WMF > CHINESE EXPERTS: RUSSIA CANNOT PRODUCE ANY TYPE OF NUCLEAR-POWERED SPACECRAFT. Its all "just paper" as RUSS lacks the economic strength, according to the CHIN ACADEMY OF SPACE TECHNOLOGY.
ARTIC > Perhaps should be read, NO RUSSIAN NUKULAAR SPACERAFT TO AMRS WIDOUT CHIN HELP [sub-read, CHIN REVERSE-ENGINEERING = SPACE TECHS TRANSFERS].
** SAME > RUSSIAN GENERAL: DESPITE REFORMS NEW EQUIPMENT IS REACHING ONLY 10% OF RUSSIA"S ARMED FORCES [Rate NOT likely to improve anytime soon]???
Also, PHILIPPINES, CHINA PROMISE NEW BILATERAL COOPERATION IN PROTECTING STABILITY IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEAS
#3
Let us just admit to ourselves that Iran's plan is to create nuclear weapons and be a dominate regional power with expansionist aims. They are not going to honor any treaty that will impede their goals. The world can confront Iran now and do something about it at a great cost, or wait and hope they implode. Or face them later and pay a cost in human life and treasure that we cannot even fathom.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran is ready to continue talks on a UN-brokered nuclear fuel deal based on its economic and technical concerns, IRNA quoted an informed official as saying.
"The Islamic Republic has announced its positive viewpoint towards the talks, noting that it is ready to continue negotiations on providing (nuclear) fuel for Tehran reactor based on economic and technical concerns," the informed official was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency on Friday.
On Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed it had received Iran's reply on the UN-brokered nuclear fuel deal.
"Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei has received an initial response from the Iranian authorities to his proposal to use Iran's low-enriched uranium for manufacturing fuel for the continued operation of the Tehran Research Reactor," the UN nuclear watchdog said in a statement.
However, the informed Iranian official confirmed that Tehran's message to the IAEA on Thursday was not an answer to the draft deal.
The source added that 'even if a new round of talks was held, Iran would announce its opinion and not an answer'.
The deal brokered by the IAEA would require Iran to ship out 80 percent of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) in exchange for highly-enriched uranium converted into metal fuel rods for the Tehran research reactor.
Tehran, however, wants to ship out the LEU in small, staggered portions and receive the high-level uranium needed for the Tehran Research Reactor at the same time.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
In the wake of a terrorist attack in southeastern Iran, Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has accused the United States of helping terrorist carry out acts of violence in Iran.
"Reliable evidence shows the US played a role in the recent move," Larijani said referring to the recent bomb blast in Sistan-Baluchistan Province.
At least 41 people, including seven senior commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), were killed in the bombing on October 18 during a unity gathering of Shia and Sunni tribal leaders in the town of Pishin on the Iran-Pakistan border. The Jundallah terrorist group claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.
Larijani criticized Washington's policies on Iran and said the US acts against Iranian interests despite making offers to hold talks with the country.
"The Iranian nation should correctly recognize the US for what it is. The United States and Israel are the main culprits of these events and known enemies of the Iranian nation," added Larijani, who represents the city of Qom in Majlis.
Spearheaded by Abdulmalek Rigi, Jundallah terrorists have staged a tidal wave of bombings and terrorist attacks in Iran, one of which left at least 25 Iranians dead in early June.
Abdulhamid Rigi, the apprehended brother of the Jundallah point man, told Press TV in a recent interview that Abdulmalek had held several "confidential" meetings with FBI and CIA agents in Karachi and Islamabad.
He added that during one of the meetings, two female US agents had offered weapons, safe bases in Afghanistan and professional trainers and had attempted to recruit volunteers.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Jundullah
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.
