When Hamid Karzai first took to the international stage in Tokyo in 2002 he was hailed as the only man who could reunite and rebuild Afghanistan after three decades of war. Seven years on, the new US Administration appears to see him as a liability rather than an asset, and looks increasingly likely to seek an alternative candidate to support in the coming election.
Paging Mr. Diem, Mr. Ngo Dinh Diem, to the red courtesy phone ...
The political future of the Afghan President will be high on the agenda for Richard Holbrooke, the new US special envoy on Pakistan and Afghanistan, who will visit the two countries for the first time in that role next week.
President Obama, Vice-President Biden and Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, are frustrated by the corruption and incompetence of the Karzai administration, diplomatic sources have told The Times. US officials have been particularly angered by persistent allegations that Mr Karzai's half-brother is involved in the drug trade, and by the President's repeated criticism of US raids that cause civilian casualties, the sources said. One US official said that Afghanistan was becoming a narco-state, providing 90 per cent of the world's illegal opium, while Mr Karzai appeared unable to govern outside Kabul or provide services to his citizens.
And good luck finding a replacement ...
President Bush, despite criticism of the Afghan leader from allies such as Britain, remained steadfastedly loyal to Mr Karzai, telling The Times last year that he found him to be an honest man.
Mr Obama, by contrast, was reported by The New York Times this week to be planning to abandon Mr Bush's fortnightly video-conference calls with Mr Karzai. Speaking at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Mr Obama signalled that he was preparing to make some difficult decisions in Afghanistan.
Speculation about Mr Karzai's political demise mounted last week when it was reported that an unofficial delegation of four potential candidates for the Afghan presidency had visited Washington. The delegation reportedly consisted of Dr Abdullah Abdullah, a former Foreign Minister; Dr Ashraf Ghani, a former Finance Minister; Ali Ahmad Jalali, a former Interior Minister; and Gul Agha Sherzai, Governor of the eastern province of Nangahar. The four men have neither confirmed nor denied the meeting.
I guess Afghanistan doesn't have a law like we have that keeps opposition party members from interfering with foreign affairs ...
Mr Obama has been sharply critical of Mr Karzai, saying in July that his Government had not gotten out of the bunker to organise Afghanistan's Government.
When Mr Obama visited Afghanistan that month he met Mr Sherzai - the Governor of Nangahar - before seeing Mr Karzai in Kabul. Mr Biden was reported to have been so angered by Mr Karzai at their last meeting that he walked out.
The White House sought to play down the issue, saying that relations with Mr Karzai were part of a wider policy review. Robert Gates, the Defence Secretary, however, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week that corruption in Afghanistan was a very serious problem.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Wanted. A President for Afghanistan. Candidates with proven ability as miracle workers will be given preference."
#3
The problem with Hamid Karzai is that he's a Pashtun first, Afghanistani second. What's really necessary in Afghanistan is a president elected from the entire population, and vice-presidents from each of the three major tribal groups - Pashtuns, Tajiks, and Uzbeks. With Karzai, you've got a president that's looking out for about a third of the country, and telling the rest to go hang. Ninety percent of the problems in Afghanistan are in the Pashtun areas, and much of it leaks over from the Pashtun areas of Pakistan. That's one reason I suggested dismembering Pakistan - divide it along the Indus River, with the western half of the country being absorbed by Afghanistan. That would unite the Pashtuns, add the Balouchis into the mix of tribes, and provide some form of income other than opium for Afghanistan. It would also allow development of several large mineral deposits in both the Tribal areas and Afghanistan without the necessity of transshipping those minerals through Pakistan - also eliminating all the "tarrifs, taxes, graft and corruption" that otherwise exists.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/30/2009 11:56 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Sounds like a Chicago quagmire OP. Time to load up and get out.
#7
sometimes a guy just outlives his welcome. I dont know as anyone would have done better than Kharzai in 2002, but at this point he is an obstable to progress.
And yeah, given we have tens of thousands of troops on the ground fighting the enemies of the govt in Kabul, its not unreasonable that we have some input.
Sure the taliban will try to use it in their propaganda. Right now they are using the corruption, nepotism, and drug dealing.
I certainly hope that Petraus as well as Gates get input into the US decision. I havent heard that either is keen on keeping Kharzai.
#8
Karzai is a tool and is in the drug dealing up to his neck. He should be shown the door post-haste and the destruction of the poppy fields should begin in earnest. Until and unless we do this, there won't be any chance for success. Even then, it is a tenuous chance at best.
#9
Since Alexander the great and Mo' Hisself are both ancient history, there's nobody available who can effecticely rule Afghanistan.
A radical departure from the current strategy is going to have to happen. A-stan needs an economy.
On the off chance that the west is willing to spend a couple generations of hard work and treasure there to develop an eceonomy, it could be a successful nation.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/30/2009 22:26 Comments ||
Top||
Not from any conviction but to save its skin from the move to try war criminals, Jamaat-e-Islami plans to make a strategic apology not for its war crimes during the Liberation War but for its political stance in 1971. Besides, the Islamist party is discussing some other measures like getting rid of a few "controversial" party leaders.
Majlish-e-Sura, the highest policymaking body of the religion-based political party, began a two-day meet yesterday to decide the party's next course of action in the current situation. "We are thinking of seeking formal apology for Jamaat's anti-Liberation War role to save the party from the present crisis," a top Jamaat leader said.
Jamaat-e-Islami directly opposed Bangladesh's War of Independence and many of its leaders were allegedly involved in committing war crimes.
But this apology, if it ever comes, will be worded in such a way so that the party never acknowledges any war crime committed by Jamaat leaders during the war, sources said. This Jamaat stance is reflected in the party's cobbling together a panel of lawyers to tackle the war crime charges that the party now stares at, Jamaat insiders said.
Jamaat leaders say they would accept the verdict of any trial conducted and supervised by the United Nations and would eliminate those who would be found guilty in the trial.
Party high-ups admitted they are in a grave crisis at present and also fearing severe troubles in the coming days centring the issue of trial of Jamaat leaders who were involved in war crimes in 1971. "We will eliminate the leaders from the party if they are found guilty of committing crimes in the trial," a senior Jamaat leader told The Daily Star.
The issue of the trial of war criminals has surfaced and gained mass support after the landslide victory of the Awami League-led grand alliance in the December 29 parliamentary elections. Jamaat-e-Islami directly opposed Bangladesh's War of Independence and many of its leaders were allegedly involved in committing war crimes.
Anticipating sure defeat, the Pakistani occupation forces and their collaborators--Razakars and members of Al-Badr and Al-Shams who were mostly leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student front Islami Chhatra Shangha--picked up leading Bangalee intellectuals and professionals on December 14 and killed them en masse with a view to crippling the nation intellectually. War records show Jamaat formed the Razakars and Al-Badr forces to counter the freedom fighters. The then secretary general of Jamaat Moulana Abul Kalam Mohammad Yousuf established the Razakars and Al-Badr with Islami Chhatra Shangha members.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
Top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami yesterday discussed political issues including the government's move to try the war criminals and saving the party from the present severe crisis. The two-day meeting of Majlish-e-Sura, the highest policy-making body of the party, began yesterday at the Al-Falah auditorium in the city's Moghbazar.
Sources said the Jamaat leaders at the meeting discussed the reasons for the party's debacle in the December 29 election and its next course of action. Jamaat's highest policy-making body might come up with new strategies and decisions to tackle the present crisis, said party sources. "We have discussed several issues including the present political situation," a Jamaat central leader said. He, however, denied giving any details.
Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and former minister Matiur Rahman Nizami at the inaugural session of the meeting said a 'deep conspiracy' is being hatched to give transit to India, which would pose a serious threat to national security.
He also criticised the new government's plan to form South Asian Taskforce for combating militancy in the country. "Neither the transit facilities to India nor the formation of South Asian Taskforce is acceptable to us as both will pose threats to national security," said the Jamaat chief.
He also said the formation of South Asian Taskforce will allow other countries to interfere in the country's internal issues.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
Parliament yesterday unanimously passed a resolution calling on the government to ensure immediate trial of the war criminals. The historic motion came five days into inauguration of the ninth legislature. It is meant to affirm the ruling Awami League's (AL) electoral pledge that if voted to power, it would put on trial those who had committed atrocious crimes against the nation during the Liberation War in 1971.
"Measures be taken immediately to try the war criminals," reads the resolution adopted amid thunderous desk-thumping. The proposal was piloted by Mahmud-us-Samad Chowdhury, AL lawmaker from Sylhet-3.
Taking part in discussions on the motion, Prime Minister and Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina said her government is now gathering experts' opinions on the issue from across the globe. The foreign ministry is working on the matter. Urging Speaker Abdul Hamid to take the resolution as a property of the House, she said "The war criminals will be brought to justice, no matter what."
Following the discussions, State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Tajul Islam said the trial would be held in a credible and transparent manner so there arises no question over the proceedings. "The war criminals will for sure be tried on the soil of Bangla," he added.
Planning Minister AK Khandaker, who was the deputy commander-in-chief of the Liberation War forces, thanked parliament for adopting the resolution. He said, "People will sleep in peace tonight. For many, it's the beginning of the end of the torments they have been enduring for 38 long years."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has cancelled interviews with the BBC over its decision not to broadcast a charity appeal for Gaza.
Mohamed ElBaradei believed that the BBC's decision broke "the rules of basic human decency", his spokeswoman said.
BBC director general Mark Thompson had said airing the appeal would compromise the BBC's impartiality.
In a statement, the BBC said that it regretted Mr ElBaradei's move.
The IAEA chief had been due to take part in interviews with the BBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
But Mr ElBaradei cancelled them over the corporation's decision not to broadcast a three-minute appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) - an umbrella group for major UK charities - for humanitarian aid funding for Gaza.
"He believes this decision violates the rules of basic human decency which are there to help vulnerable people irrespective of who is right or wrong," his spokeswoman said.
The BBC said it hoped Mr ElBaradei would accept an interview invitation at another time.
Britain's three other terrestrial broadcasters, ITV, Channel 4 and Five, showed the appeal on Monday.
But Sky News also chose not to air it, saying it would be "incompatible" with its objective role.
#3
Atomic energy has NOTHING to do with charity for terrorists. ElBaradei has really let the mask slip. He's not about non-proliferation. He's about maintaining the "soft" Jihad. He IS the enemy.
A Muslim convert who injured himself in a failed suicide attack inside a busy restaurant will be sentenced today. Nicky Reilly, 22, accidentally set off a home-made nail bomb in a toilet cubicle as he prepared to target dozens of innocent diners. Reilly, described as the 'least cunning' person ever to have been charged with terrorism, injured only himself in the blast in May last year.
He has since pleaded guilty to attempted murder and preparing an act of terrorism but sentencing was delayed for the preparation of psychiatric reports. Reilly, of King Street, Plymouth, Devon, suffers from Asperger's syndrome and has learning difficulties.
The Old Bailey heard he decided to carry out his attack on the Giraffe restaurant in Exeter after being 'encouraged by others' on the internet. He had intended to run out into the packed dining area holding three bottles, filled with caustic soda, kerosene, and nails, to his stomach. But he got stuck in the toilet as he prepared the blast, leaving one of the bottles to go off before he could leave the cubicle. The explosion sent dozens of restaurant customers fleeing in panic and the bomber staggered out suffering serious facial injuries.
Reilly had converted to Islam between 2002 and 2003 and had told others about his interest in jihad, the court heard. In 2004 he changed his name to Mohammad Rashid Saeed Alim, and began to download videos on bomb-making and martyrdom from YouTube. He also received encouragement in an internet chatroom from two people with Arabic names.
Reilly was intent on becoming a martyr by killing himself and others and wrote: 'That is my dream.' He considered bombing Plymouth's Charles Cross police station and Drake Circus shopping centre as well as Devonport dockyard. In a rambling suicide note written in red ink and left in his bedroom, Reilly described how he was motivated by the 'disgusting' behaviour of people in Britain as well as the 'war on Islam'.
He also claimed he had not been 'brainwashed or indoctrinated'". But his defence barrister Kerim Fuad said the influence of others had 'fed and fuelled the dangerous nonsense that filled his head'. He added: 'He may well be the least cunning person ever to have come before this court for any offence of this magnitude, for terrorism.'
Reilly faces a lengthy jail term when he is sentenced later today.
Posted by: ryuge ||
01/30/2009 07:17 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Britain
The Spanish show some stones?
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos informed Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Friday of Spain's plan to amend legislation that granted a Spanish judge the authority to launch a much-publicized war crimes investigation against senior Israeli officials. Getting a little warm? Certainly wasn't Obama turning up the thermostat ...
Judge Fernando Andreu launched an investigation Thursday into seven current or former Israeli officials over a 2002 bombing in Gaza that killed a top Hamas militant, Salah Shehadeh, and 14 other people, including nine children. The judge acted under a doctrine that allows prosecution in Spain, and other European countries, to reach far beyond national borders in cases of torture or war crimes. The universal jurisdiction ruling sparked outrage in Israel and elsewhere.
Moroccans in the Netherlands are not allowed to give their children any Berber names any more. In this way, Islamic identity is being stressed, Trouw newspaper reported yesterday.
By far the biggest group of Moroccans in the Netherlands are of Berber origin, a region in the mountainous north of Morocco. "They will now be forced to give their children a Moroccan-Islamic name," according to Trouw. "Morocco wants to secure the Moroccan identity of its nationals in this way, including the Moroccan Dutch."
The Moroccan government in Rabat sent all embassies and consulates abroad a list of banned name this week. Christian names were already forbidden. "We forbid Berber names because they conflict with the identity and because they open the door to the spread of meaningless names," said Idris Bajdi, a top official in Morocco, in the newspaper.
Labour (PvdA) MP Samira Bouchibti, a Moroccan national (by royal Moroccan decree) like all other Moroccans who moved to or were born in the Netherlands, is angry. "We must get rid of these lists of names and this interference. I want to be able to decide myself how I name my children. This is discriminatory."
Bouchibti also criticised her party leader Wouter Bos, who said at a PvdA party meeting earlier this week that dual passports "belong in the Netherlands." Bouchibti: "Bos has no enforced dual nationality and therefore does not know what it means in practice." Bos considers dual nationality can foster intergation.
#1
Conquest by immigration. I would immediately a) deport all Moroccan muslims to that country, or b) refute Morocco's attempt to force the issue. Nations need to learn that their writ does not extend beyond their borders, and any attempt to force the issue is an act of war.
I have always considered Morocco a "special case" for their support and good will toward the United States (Morocco was the first nation to recognize the fledgling United States of America). Not any more. They are just another islamic potentate that feels it can overrule both the will of former Moroccans and the laws of other nations. Add them to the target database.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/30/2009 12:07 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Um, I don't think they are in any danger of losing their muslim heritage.
#4
What the fuck business is it of the government of Morocco? Just tell them to go to hell & stuff their dual citizenship up their capacious assholes. If I were Moroccan Dutch, I'd be slavering for a Dutch passport, anyways.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/30/2009 14:19 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Remember people, Netherlands = Holland. The Dutch are on a path to become the first to totally surrender to dhimmitude in Europe. The Muslim a-brains in Morocco can set any laws on Dutchmen that they want.
Posted by: Herman Glavique9758 ||
01/30/2009 14:31 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Berber Liberation Front, anyone? The Sahara is one huge soft underbelly.
This aint about Islam subduing europe. Its about Arabs desperately trying to keep Berbers subdued. In Morocco they cant take Berber names. What if some dual national living in Holland takes a berber name and comes back. The berber cooties will spread. Master race cant have that, now can they?
#8
The Berbers have always been trouble. Look how long it took Rome to conquer Carthage, then the problems the gnostic Christianity of the Berbers caused the Church of Rome. Thank goodness for St. Augustine, local boy made good...at least until Islam came through.
#9
This aint about Islam subduing europe. Its about Arabs desperately trying to keep Berbers subdued. In Morocco they cant take Berber names. What if some dual national living in Holland takes a berber name and comes back. The berber cooties will spread. Master race cant have that, now can they?
who's to say it isn't about both? wahabbiism appears to be as much concerned using islam as a tool to "arabify" non-arabic moslems as it is expanding islam at all.
how do you think the berbers wound up in arabic states anyway?
#10
We are not about subduing Europe. In fact, earlier in the seventies of 20th century, Europeens came to North Africa looking for some workforces. A lot of berbers took the opportunity for a better life and traversed Gibraltar to Spain, France and Netherlands etc. Later, new generations were born and settled there. When Islam first time conquered Morocco, local Amazigh names were replaced by arab names to obliterate berber identity and give them a new arabo-islamic one. I'm not against Islam which is my beloved religion but just looking for who I am through my real culture and berber identity.
When I read in comment N°1 "add them to target database", I thought you guys from USA see the world as 2 clans (friends and ennemies) and the ennemies should be destroyed. Is that your add to the universel civilisation? I wonder why people hate you! Isn't it because you think you're the ones and everybody else must submit to you. Or maybe because you think your way of life is the best and everybody else's is meaningless. Or maybe you've destroyed a millenium Mesopotamian civilisations in Irak because of zionists and oil.. What would have happended if America hadn't been discovered and produced a bunch of bastard cowboys? I think the world would have been a better place to live.
#12
"what would have happended if America hadn't been discovered ... I think the world would have been a better place to live."
I see midol-man is back. *yawn*
Hate to be the one to tell ya', but Americans would just as soon not be involved with the rest of the world. Y'all quit attacking us and demanding our money/charity/military aid, and we'll be glad to stay home. And keep our inventions here, too. The rest of the world is welcome to live in the 17th Century (or earlier); so few of you have even bothered to invent anything at all, and a lot of you can't/won't even feed your own people - none of which is our fault.
You don't like Americans, think the world would be better without us? Try living without American inventions for one day. Please.
Starting with the computer and Internet you're using to vomit here.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/30/2009 19:24 Comments ||
Top||
#13
Midoman dear, many of us are not Americans, and many of us are not living in America (separate but intersecting groups).
So tell us, since as a Berber this is your area of expertise, how does Morocco claim the right to order those who live outside its borders what they are permitted and forbidden to name their children? What possible justification could Morocco bring to the claim that its laws overrule the laws of another independent country?
You are quite right: to us it looks like Muslim imperialism, an attempt to extend the rule of the Ummah into a portion of Dar al Harb. We see so much of that attempt here, you see, by Somali cab drivers demanding the right to refuse fares who carry alcohol, or dogs, or are female; the demand at factories that Muslim employees get to take prayer breaks, stopping the lines, at times other than and in addition to the breaks scheduled for the rest of the workers; the demand that Muslim schools may teach hate of Jews and Christians and Westerners, and that jihad is incumbent upon all Muslims in Dar al Harb until the global caliphate is established, and that Israel must be destroyed and all Jews killed...
So share with us, if we are wrong as you claim, what this does mean, this banning of names in another country. We are eager to learn the subtleties of which we are thus far unaware. But remember your responsibility as a guest to be courteous to your hosts, rather than rude and insulting as you were in you last post. Also remember that those you insult are highly unlikely to be persuaded by any arguments you might present. So start with an apology for your bad beginning, and then go on.
#15
Besides, I thought the Quran preached that the world is divided into Dar sl Harb and Dar al Islam - in other words, them vs us.
How is this different from how Midoman claims America sees the world?
I also second Barbara's comment - I would love it if we could bring all American military home, and the world would just leave us alone. Ain't gonna happen - not in my lifetime, probably not in my sons' lifetimes, and maybe not even in my 10 year old granddaughter's lifetime.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/30/2009 20:31 Comments ||
Top||
#16
You want me to apologize for what? I hope Hussein Obama will convert you all into Islam and get your penises and clitos circumcised. I loved America very much to such an extent that I learnt English which is my fourth language next to Berber, Arabic and French. But now, If I could erase English language shit from my mind, I would do it! Yet, remember that as Rome has come and gone, USA will do!
#17
com 15 "Besides, I thought the Quran preached that the world is divided into Dar sl Harb and Dar al Islam - in other words, them vs us"
Is that what u think about islam and Quran? You think muslims want to kill Christians? Have you forgotten the Christians crusade in the 11-14 centuries and all the killing happened against muslims and arabs?. Anyway, with Obama, things will improve and US-muslim people relations will change for a better world. Hope so!
#18
The Crusades were started because Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land were robbed and enslaved. Yes, Muslims (and Jews) were killed. Muslims did the same, not that that is an excuse. Ultimately, the Crusades were a failure, since the Muslims still retain (most of) the Holy Land.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/30/2009 21:30 Comments ||
Top||
#19
Mr. al-midoman: If the your Mohammad came to earth today, would he castigate or praise bin Laden?
#20
Mr. Midoman, you may hope all you wish, but it is your duty as a guest not to insult your hosts by openly insulting them. As for English being your fourth language, that does not impress here. Most of us speak several languages -- my own being English (both British and American dialects), German, Flemish and Hebrew, with a little French -- many of us speak Arabic or Farsi or Pashtu or Urdu, depending on personal need. My husband, f'r instance, speaks more or less well several varieties of Arabic including the Egyptian, Saudi and Moroccan versions -- although those he dealt with in Morocco generally chose to speak to him in French, for some reason -- and startled his Indian hosts many years ago by reading the Urdu shop signs to them. I suspect you dare not claim as much worldly accomplishment. You live in Morocco, where Arabic and French are taught in the schools, and clearly speak Berber at home. Thus your only linguistic achievement of note is the English, and clearly your grasp of history is a bit weaker than you should like, although no doubt that is due to the schooling your received, poor dear.
We in America do not care about the Crusades. That happened over five hundred years ago, and we refuse to be shackled by events distant in both time and space. But if you wish to talk about wars and murder, remember that the entire Ottoman empire, including Egypt, and the entire Berber region of Africa, were originally Christian until the Arab Muslims forced the natives (those would be your very own ancestors, my dear rudeling) to choose between conversion to Islam or death. So rather you, as representative of the murdering Muslims, should apologize to us for forcing the Christians of western Europe to go to war to secure the safety of their coreligionists against the depredations of those you claim as yours. I think the psychologists refer to that as Hostage Syndrome, where the victim identifies so strongly with those who victimized him.
Yes, Rome has come and gone. So too, every one of the Muslim caliphates, although your own king claims direct descent from your prophet, and their current descendants are clearly unfit to establish another. So? We do not fight to maintain American supremacy, but rather that all can live in freedom, not oppressed by a totalitarian philosophy like Communism or a totalitarian religion like the one forced upon your Christian ancestors, those who did not accept death instead.
#21
Finally, you say, what would have happened if America had not been discovered...
but America was discovered quite a few times. The Irish, for instance, had been fishing off Canada since the Dark Ages, and the Vikings established colonies. Bottom line, America was fated to be settled, and settled by Europeans. The Berbers were too busy with their little Mediterranean slave trade, and all the Ummah was busy scheming and murdering to rule the caliphate, China gave up looking beyond its borders during -- if I recall correctly -- the Ming Dynasty, the Indian subcontinent reeled beneath the skull-collecting Moghuls, so fond of rape that Hindu widows threw themselves on their husband's funeral pyres to protect their corpses from violation.
If you go to the mosque with any regularity you know that there are sermons calling for all Jews, Hindus and Christians to be killed. If you don't, check out some of the videos at www.MEMRI.com, which shows all sorts of interesting things from around the Muslim world. Then come back and we can talk without either ignorance or taqiyah.
Thousands of jubilant Turks welcomed their prime minister home on Friday, thronging the airport and later chanting "Turkey is proud of you!" after he publicly confronted the Israeli president over the Gaza war. But some commentators expressed concern that the outburst at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, would hurt Turkey's bid to be an international mediator. Some media in Israel, an ally of Turkey, suggested that the Turkish leader was a hypocrite.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won praise in Gaza, where Turkish flags fluttered from a ruined mosque. But a former Israeli diplomat said the Turkish leader had slapped the face of all Israelis.
Erdogan was greeted by a jubilant crowd of more than 5,000 supporters, many waving Turkish and Palestinian flags, who flooded Istanbul's airport when his plane from Davos touched down about 2 a.m. Later Friday, a smaller crowd of about 1,500 people applauded Erdogan as he inaugurated a subway station in Istanbul. "Turkey is proud of you," they chanted.
The dispute about Israel's offensive against Hamas took place at a panel discussion Thursday. It ended when Erdogan told Israeli President Shimon Peres: "You kill people," and then stalked off the stage.
Despite the benefits to Erdogan's populist appeal in Turkey and the Muslim world, his outburst appeared to put at risk efforts to transform his country a nation with secular ideals and an overwhelmingly Muslim population into a Mideast mediator. "From now on, Turkey has lost its neutrality," said Huseyin Bagci, who teaches international relations at Middle East Technical University in Ankara, the Turkish capital. "Turkey's role as an objective mediator in the Middle East is over."
Turkey is Israel's best friend in the Muslim world, forging close security ties over the years. During the Gaza war, Turkey positioned itself as a potential mediator with unique access to the two enemies, but its perceived neutrality faded with Erdogan's harsh criticism of the Israeli offensive. Large anti-Israel protests were held in Turkey during Israel's three-week offensive against Hamas militants, and anger grew over civilian casualties among Palestinians. "The conqueror of Davos," one banner read at Erdogan's airport welcome in Istanbul.
Both Israeli mass-circulation papers put the confrontation on the front page. Yediot Ahronot's headline was "And what if they shot rockets at Istanbul?" a reference to Palestinian militants' rockets that were fired at southern Israel for years. Maariv's headline was "Turkey against Peres."
Writing in Yediot, Alon Liel who served as an Israeli diplomat in Turkey and was the director of Israel's Foreign Ministry reminded readers that in November 2007 Peres made history when he addressed Turkey's parliament. "And it was the same Peres who was dealt, along with all of us, a stinging slap on the face by the Turkish prime minister who briefly turned Davos into the sewer of Istanbul," he wrote. "It's true that Israel occupied territory, but Turkey is also holding occupied territory. It's true that Israel has violated U.N. resolutions, but Turkey has ignored dozens of such resolutions. It's true that Israel is far from perfect, but don't tempt us to mention all of Turkey's crimes," he wrote.
Erdogan won praise from Gazans. In the Gaza refugee camp of Jebaliya, Turkish flags decorated the ruins of a local mosque that was destroyed during Israel's war against Gaza's Hamas rulers. A preacher told worshippers at an outdoor service Friday that Erdogan "raised the head of the Islamic nation." Jalal Bin Yousef al-Sharifi called on other Muslim leaders to do the same. During his Friday prayer sermon in Tehran, influential Iranian cleric Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani applauded Erdogan's action, saying "Mr. Erdogan made a very good move."
Turkey has a close military relationship with Israel. The Turkish military, which suspects Erdogan's Islamic-oriented government seeks to undermine Turkey's secular principles and has sparred with it in the past, indicated its ties with Israel would not immediately change. "The rule is to act according to national interests in bilateral military relations with all countries," Brig. Gen. Metin Gurak, the military spokesman, said Friday in response to a question on the possibility of cutting military ties.
Muslims and interfaith leaders in Metro Detroit are asking a local radio station owner to discontinue broadcasts in which, they say, a Coptic priest has repeatedly defamed the Prophet Muhammad over the past year.
In an Arabic-language broadcast Wednesday on WNZK 680/690 AM, the Rev. Zakariah Boutros said the Muslim prophet Muhammad had engaged in necrophilia and gay sex, according to the Council on American Islamic Relations.
Boutros has previously come under fire from area Muslims, who say he disparages Islam. The controversial, American-based priest can be heard on purchased time slots on radio stations internationally. His words have stirred controversy in Egypt and Great Britain, and are embraced by a number of bloggers and Web sites that criticize Islam.
Amani Mostafa, who hosts the program "Questions About Faith" on which Boutros spoke Thursday, said Boutros was "reading from an Islamic text" when he said, over the air, that the Prophet Muhammad slept in the grave of a dead woman and allowed a man to kiss and caress his chest.
"I am a former Muslim," said Mostafa, who is now Christian. "I know exactly what I am talking about. These are the things we were taught as children. We are quoting the Quran and the Hadiths, and if the Muslims have a problem with that then they have a problem with their own book."
Hadiths are Muhammad's saying or writings, as reported by his followers.
Muslims say that no such wording appears in the Quran or the Hadiths. "If that's their excuse, it's lame," said Dawud Walid, of CAIR, which distributed a "national alert" Thursday asking Muslims to contact the radio station to express concerns about the broadcast. CAIR also counseled Muslims to be "firm but polite. Hostile comments can and will be used to further defame Islam and Muslims."
Sima Birach, who owns the station, said he had received some complaints on Thursday, though he said he did not know how many. In an interview with The Detroit News last summer Birach promised to end the broadcasts, upon the request of interfaith Muslim, Jewish and Christian groups in Metro Detroit.
Birach went so far as to put people associated with Boutros's broadcasts on conference calls with this reporter, while he berated them for allowing what some consider hate speech. "It's not right," Birach said at the time. "It's not fair to use some fake or stupid books to accuse someone's religion. Do you hear me?" But on Thursday, Birach said he had since heard from "several prominent people in the community," that what Boutros stated in the broadcasts is true.
"Maybe we need to have more meetings," Birach said, referring to members of the Muslim and interfaith communities.
#2
CAIR wants to see Fr. Boutros shut down, slienced and censored.
Fr. Boutros is a real threat to muslims throughout the world. Why? Because he is very careful to quote - chapeter and verse - the words of muslims right back at them from books and authors deemed by muslims to be accurate and authentic.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/30/2009 11:38 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Aren't there some borderline homoerotic parts of the Christian bible with Jesus and a couple of the the Apostles? Are there not some really violent parts also? There are I think, and every holy book must have similar passages that go unspoken. The difference is muslims pick the most despicable and savage parts of theirs to celebrate and use as justification for their aberrant behaviors.
#5
Muslims are going to have to learn that it's okay in free societies to criticize other religions, and that NONE are "special" enough to be free of such criticism. Don't like free speech? Then move back to one of the Islamic hellpits that spawned the likes of you. Riot, attempt to impose your faith and your "legal" system? Get a baseball bat up side your head. We in the United States are a free people. That means that we also have the right and the privilege of being free of islam and other fake religions.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/30/2009 12:15 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Muslims are going to have to learn that it's okay in free societies to criticize other religions...
If only. The mutual goal of the Left and the Islamists is the elimination of "free societies", but you know that.
Posted by: Huperetch Protector of the Swedes5300 ||
01/30/2009 12:31 Comments ||
Top||
London: The Mumbai terror attacks of 26/11 were planned in a third place outside Pakistan and Britain, Pakistani High Commissioner to Britain Wajid Shamsul Hasan said on Friday.
Hasan said Pakistan's official report on the Mumbai attacks in which over 170 people were killed would be ready by Saturday or Sunday".
I have spoken to the interior ministry to check on Pakistani newspaper reports that said the attacks were planned in the UK, Hasan said.
They told me there was no evidence of UK involvement. The attacks were not planned in either Pakistan or the UK.
However, they said it was planned in some other outside place. It may not necessarily be a country - it could be a ship, he said.
Hasan, who was an adviser to slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, said the report will be ready by Sunday after it is seen and approved by the president and the prime minister.
Earlier, Hasan told NDTV news channel: "We are not going to do any whitewashing business. We believe in going after facts. Our findings will be acceptable to the world. We will try to satisfy India with our findings. We are addressing the concerns of the world not just India."
"When you collect material, then you sort it out, you re-do it and re-read it. That requires time, so I am sure once they complete it, they will come out with concrete facts that will satisfy the world as to Pakistan's non-involvement in the Mumbai attacks," he said.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/30/2009 14:21 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Sweeping it under the rug, and hoping nobody notices the large lump.
When his captors released famous Pashtu comedian Alamzeb Mujahid after a week of horror and humiliation in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistans conflict-ridden North West Frontier Province, they gave him the lone choice of abandoning showbiz.
The 40-year-old entertainer, who has performed in more than 300 dramas on television and in theatre during his long career, is now planning to join a Muslim missionary group called Tablighi Jamaat. They said I should take the path of truth and righteousness, he said, refusing to identify who kidnapped him earlier this month. God Almighty will ensure a better source of income for me than the one I previously had.
Mujahid ensured his safety by adopting the new lifestyle, but many other artists are defiant and prefer to move to other parts of the country or even abroad, waiting for tolerance to return to the region. Around a dozen singers have moved to Canada, Dubai, Germany, Norway and other countries, said Sahab Gul, a local composer. The number of other actors and artists leaving the country are even higher.
Many others, who do not have the means to leave the country, are living a life plagued with starvation since the production of music albums, Pashtu films and dramas has come to almost a halt due to threats from Taliban, he added.
The onslaught on traditional art and culture started when an alliance of Islamist parties swept to power in North West Frontier Province, a region dominated by ethnic Pashtun tribes, in 2002, riding the wave of outrage over the US invasion of Afghanistan. The new government banned music in buses and public areas, shut down Peshawars only theatre, Nishtar Hall, and removed all billboards carrying pictures of women. Dabgari Bazaar, a famous music street, was closed and the whole area commercialized. It gave almost a free hand to the Taliban to spread their influence in the province, bomb hundreds of shops selling Pashtu and Urdu music and movies on CDs, and bring the once-flourishing Pashtu film industry to ruins.
Frustrated by the swift Talibanization of society, Pashtun voters brought the secular Awami National Party, or ANP, into power in provincial elections held in February 2008. Yet it changed nothing. The ANP government reopened Nishtar Hall, but few were interested in using it. Music and movie CDs remain off shelves and shopkeepers are only allowed to sell jihad propaganda CDs released by Taliban production houses. Previously, artists in Peshawar and the districts of Kohat, Bannu, Mardan and Mingora would produce between 100 and 150 video albums and dramas a year, but the industry has now collapsed, leaving some 4,000 vendors and hundreds of artists jobless.
In December, rising singer Sardar Yousafzai survived an assassination attempt with injuries but his colleague Anwar Khan died. A month later Taliban in the troubled Swat valley executed female dancer Shabana and dumped her body on a street together with CDs containing her performances.
Our leaders seem helpless. Traditional Pashtu art and culture is dying out and they are doing nothing to save it, said popular singer, Gulzar Alam, who ended his refuge from Peshawar in safer parts of the country when the ANP was elected. Nothing has changed. I was forced to grow a beard and sell kebabs instead of singing under the Islamist regime, but I dont feel safe under the new government which claims to be secular and nationalist, added Alam, who survived an assassination attempt in December and is now planning to seek asylum in Europe or America.
We have full realization of the threats to the Pashtu art and artists but the situation today is such that the lives of our government ministers are not safe, said Syed Aqil Shah, the provincial Minister for Culture. The artists should show courage and patience instead of resorting to exile. They should understand we are in a state of war with the forces of darkness and enemies of culture, art and education.
#1
Regardless of what they may say, a movement like the Taliwackers can't exist without popular support.
Leave them to the bed they have made.
Hope they enjoy banging their head on the ground, cause that's the only entertainment they are allowed.
Chief Minister NWFP Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said on Wednesday that ìelements behind the curtainî were pushing strings in Swat and Fata for their ulterior motives.
Talking to a delegation of the Timergara Press Club here, he said the roots of the ongoing insurgency and unrest in the province and the tribal areas were somewhere else and Pakhtuns were paying its price.
He repeated that lasting peace was possible through negotiation and political process and once again extended his offer for talks to the militants.He said terming the present situation as a mere law and order problem would amount to hiding the facts as it was a full-fledged insurgency and mutiny. There is a hell of difference between law and order and insurgency, he explained.
He argued had the government succeeded in controlling the militancy that had started from Waziristan, the situation would not have been so complicated today. However, he was confident that his government would emerge victorious from the present crises with the support of the people.
The fire that has engulfed the entire Pakhtun region is the result of the 30-year Afghan war and it is a planned conspiracy against the Pakhtuns, he said, adding internal and external forces were behind the unrest in Swat and Bajaur and it could devastate the country if it was not extinguished in time.
He repeated that a peaceful Afghanistan was essential for maintaining peace in Fata and the Frontier province. The NWFP government would take no time in implementing the Shari Nizam in the Malakand Division after its approval by the federal government, he explained. The government is not reluctant to fulfil the longstanding demand of the people in this regard, he further added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
...ìelements behind the curtainî were pushing strings in Swat and Fata for their ulterior motives.
The Iwizard of Ozi? And don't most people pull strings? I mean, try pushing one...
The banned outfit Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesperson, Qari Sarfraz, on Wednesday threatened to resume attacks on police installations in the district if the authorities failed to free "innocent" people.
Talking to the media by phone from an undisclosed location, he said police were interrogating "innocent" people who were arrested during different raids. He said police were well aware of the location of the criminal dens but no raid was conducted intentionally to make arrests.
"Police have been raiding inns and hotels to arrest the innocent people, under the pretext of launching a crackdown on the suspected persons," he said, adding that about 250 innocent people were in police custody and were being grilled.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
Advisor to Prime Minister for Interior Affairs Rehman Malik schemes will soon be started for rehabilitation of the people affected by the wave of terrorism following 9/11. Wrapping up the discussion on Swat law and order situation in Senate, Rehman Malik said militants continued to disturb the peace in a number of agencies in tribal areas. The government fought with them and succeeded in restoring peace in these areas. Â"Had the action not taken in time, the Taliban could have spilled over to Islamabad,Â" he asserted. He pointed out that a total of 451 schools were destroyed in Swat, of which 123 were of girls. The Interior Advisor said he could give an in camera briefing to the House on who supports the militants in Swat and what their links are. He advised the extremists to lay down their weapons. Â"Soon there will be peace in Swat,Â" he hoped. Rehman Malik said lawyers long march is not an issue and it will be dealt with when that time comes. Later, talking to media he said report of investigation into Mumbai attacks will soon be received.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
Abdul Ghani Butt, the prominent leader of All Parties Hurriat Conference said he has set off to cling a peaceful resolution of Kashmir issue but Pakistan will have to come forward first in this connection. He said this while talking to media after he met PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif in Lahore and vowed to get rid of all past disputes to attain bright future ahead for the people of India, Pakistan and Kashmir. He urged resolution of Kashmir dispute must be acceptable to Kashmiris, India and Pakistan alike. The termed table talks only way to bring forth adequate answers to all longstanding disputes including water and Kashmir issues between both nuke powers urging, Â"US and International community ought to turn their attention towards Kashmir issue.Â" On the occasion, former president Pakistan Nawaz Sharif said the people of Pakistan will continue their persistent efforts for Kashmir cause.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - If United States aircraft continue to carry out airstrikes inside Pakistan, the Pakistani Air Force should shoot them down, a former interior minister, Lt. Gen. Hamid Nawaz told journalists on Wednesday.
The comments, which appear to signal a major policy shift in Pakistan-US military cooperation, came after US defence secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday that Washington would continue with strikes by unmanned Predator drones against militants and that Pakistan was aware of this.
Nawaz was interior minister in Pakistan's last interim government before the February 2008 elections and was a close aide of former president Pervez Musharraf when he headed the army.
In a statement on Wednesday, Pakistan's foreign ministry denied the existence of a deal between Pakistan and the US allowing unmanned US Predator drone attacks against suspected militants.
Twenty-one people were killed last Friday in northwest Pakistan in the first suspected US missile strikes since US President Barack Obama took office. The two attacks took place on villages in North and South Waziristan tribal areas.
Pakistan's lawless tribal regions are believed by intelligence services to be a haven for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The US last year stepped up drone attacks in the area in frustration at Pakistan's failure to stem the flow of militants to and from Afghanistan, despite the various military operations it has launched in the northwest.
The US has rarely confirmed or denied the attacks, which are reported to have killed over 220 people. The attacks have angered Pakistanis and the government says they violate its sovereignty and undermine its military campaigns.
Pakistan is now revising its foreign policy in the belief that America will wield less influence in the future than it has in recent years and that US financial support for the 'war on terror' is likely to decrease, according to unnamed AKI diplomatic and military sources.
The credit crunch and global recession that began in the US has impacted Pakistan. Washington's late payment last year of 800 million dollars of anti-terrorism funding was a major cause of Pakistan's financial meltdown.
Only 101 million dollars of these funds were transferred to Pakistan last Friday. Defence sources see further delays in payment of anti-terror funds from the US to Pakistan next year when its finances are further strained by additional troop expenditure in Afghanistan.
So far Washington has spent over 700 billion dollars fighting insurgency in Iraq and in Afghanistan, where it is due to deploy an additional 33,000 troops in 2009.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Meanwhile back in the US, high level business drones get billions in bonuses.
Senior NWFP minister and ANP leader Bashir Ahmad Bilour has been caught in a controversy following his remarks at a function in Abbottabad but his supporters insist he (Bilour) never made the statement being attributed to him.
Sections of the press, particularly the newspapers published from Hazara, had reported him as saying that those opposed to the renaming of the NWFP as Pakhtunkhwa should leave the province and shift to the Punjab.
Reporters, who attended the function that was held in connection with the death anniversaries Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, or Bacha Khan, and his son and late ANP head Khan Abdul Wali Khan, at Abbottabad's Jalal Baba Auditorium, maintained that Bashir Bilour did utter those words.
However, supporters of Bilour and officials in the ANP-led provincial government are adamant that he never spoke those words. They stressed that Bilour at no stage asked the people of Hazara to accept Pakhtunkhwa as the new name of the NWFP or move to Punjab.
Some reports said two ANP office-bearers from Abbottabad, in their emotional speeches, made comments to this effect and asked all those people in the NWFP who opposed the name Pakhtunkhwa to migrate to the Punjab. They claimed Bilour and two other provincial ministers, Qazi Mohammad Asad and Nimroz Khan, didn't make any such comment. It was learnt that Bilour did do some tough talking while referring to the track record of most politicians from Hazara.
He argued that a number of such politicians changed loyalties and joined the government. He felt some of the lawmakers from Hazara would join the ANP-led provincial government if offered berths in the cabinet. The District Council Abbottabad and some PML-N politicians came down hard on Bilour and condemned the comment attributed to him.
They pledged to oppose the renaming of the NWFP. District Council Abbottabad, while condemning Bashir Bilour's comments, also passed a resolution. Though the office of Bilour subsequently issued a clarification and denied reports that he had made the said comment, the controversy has refused to go away. Rather, it has intensified with more people joining in and expressing their views on the subject.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Despite what Rantburgers could think it is a positive development (at least for us). People who want Pashkhtunwa refuse Shariah they call "an Arab thing" and don't accept the Pakistani motto "these are petty differnces, we are Muslims first and Pashtun-Sindh-Punjabi later, we must concentrate on fighting infidels".
As I said, Pakistan's survival depends on radicalization of its population (and Afghanistan's failure) and has pushed it far beyond the "natural radicalism" of its populations. The sooner it implodes the best for us. And these guys want it to implode...
#3
I didn't say the Pashtunkhwa people are democrats or pro-women rights. Only that they want to be left alone, don't care about Jihad and are not fond of foreigners be they Americans, Punjabis or Arabs. It is OK with me. And if they cut a few jihadists throats I am all for providing them with better weapons than mere knives.
Also once you become nationalist it is not a too difficult step to think nation is more important than religion and from then, like Mustafa Kemal, to think that islam is keeping the nation down.
Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday rejected the presence of Al Qaida in Pakistan and said the country's most of tribal areas had been cleared from terrorists. "We are genuinely attacking the targets and the most areas have already been cleared of the terrorists," the Prime Minister said in a meeting with the representatives of world's leading media organizations, held here on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.
Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan was making serious efforts to ensure peace in the region, adding the world should strengthen Pakistan's law enforcement capacity to enable it better fight the war against terrorism.
He said despite the challenges of terrorism, the government was pursuing the policy of dialogue, development and deterrence in tribal areas.
The Prime Minister said there was no Al Qaida people present in Pakistan currently, and mentioned that Pakistan paid a great price in the war against terrorism in the shape of more casualties than of the NATO forces.
On a question about a predator attack since President Obama was in office, the Prime Minister said that there was no agreement between the US and government of Pakistan to carry out such attacks.
He termed the drone attacks as counter-productive which created sympathies for the militants.
The Prime Minister said the government had full backing of the nation on its strategy to counter terrorism, and mentioned the successful military actions taken with the support of local indigenous lashkars.
To a question, the Prime Minister dispelled the impression that there was a gulf between the civilian government and the army.
He said instead the government, army and intelligence agencies were enjoying complete cohesion, adding that Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) was completely running under the Prime Minister.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
(APP): Advisor to Prime Minister on Interior A. Rehman Malik Thursday told the Upper House of the Parliament that 11,111 foreigners were arrested during last five years on various charges. Replying to a question of Muhammad Talha Mahmood during question hour he said 8,830 were arrested from NWFP, 1,369 from Sindh, 829 from Punjab and 83 from Balochistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
Didnt realise tourism was so big in Pakistan!!!!
In sharply worded report, former legal advisor to UN agency says group must redefine oxymoronic labeling of Palestinians with Jordanian, Lebanese citizenship as refugees
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees employs and provides benefits for terrorists and criminals, asserts a former legal adviser to UNRWA who left the organization in 2007. James Lindsay, now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, served as an attorney with the US Justice Department for two decades before leaving to work for UNRWA in 2000.
Titled 'Fixing UNRWA: Repairing the UN's Troubled System of Aid to Palestinian Refugees,' Lindsay's report puts forward suggestions intended to improve the agency. Established by the US and Britain after the 1948 war, UNRWA's objective was to aid displaced Palestinians.
Lindsay writes that although the US remains UNRWA's main contributor, the agency's positions contrast with Washington's. During the recent fighting in Gaza a number of UNRWA institutions were bombed by the IDF, which claimed that terrorists had fired at forces from within or near the UN compounds. The agency's employees took a clear-cut stance against Israel during the war.
Lindsay's report warns that the agency has deteriorated increasingly over the years since its establishment, and that it was currently offering services to those who were not actually in need of them. "No justification exists for millions of dollars in humanitarian aid going to those who can afford to pay for UNRWA services," the report says.
He suggests UNRWA make operational changes and "halt its one-sided political statements and limit itself to comments on humanitarian issues; take additional steps to ensure the agency is not employing or providing benefits to terrorists and criminals; and allow the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), or some other neutral entity, to provide balanced and discrimination-free textbooks for UNRWA initiatives."
Lindsay concludes his report by saying that only these changes would allow the agency to complete its task in the Middle East. "For the Palestinians it serves, this means ending their refugee status and returning, after nearly sixty years, to what most of them so desperately seek: normal lives," he writes. What are you, nuts??? Kill the Gravy Train?
The report will be handed over to US President Barack Obama's administration, which is keen to help fix the ailing agency.
"The United States, despite funding nearly 75 percent of UNRWAs initial budget and remaining its largest single country donor, has largely failed to make UNRWA reflect US foreign policy objectives. UNRWA initially served US humanitarian purposes, but in later years often clashed with US policies," the report says.
Lindsay claims the most important change that should be made in the agency is "the removal of citizens from recognized states persons who have the oxymoronic status of citizen refugees from UNRWAs jurisdiction. This would apply to the vast majority of Palestinian refugees in Jordan, as well as to some in Lebanon and Syria."
Aswat al-Iraq: Shiite leader Abdelaziz al-Hakeem on Thursday warned of local election rigging, calling on the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) to take all the required measures to foil any rigging attempts, according to a release by Hakeem as published on his web site.
"The upcoming provincial election is very important as it draws the line between two stages," the release quoted Hakeem, the head of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), as addressing a crowd in Baghdad.
"All the brothers and sisters should participate in the elections and resist all pressures that are aimed at preventing them from doing so," he said. "Rigging is a parasite and represents the ugliest theft," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Guess al-Hakeem found it too difficult to rig the election in his favor, so he wants to make sure nobody else has an opportunity.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/30/2009 12:23 Comments ||
Top||
Nope. No Jooooos, boss. You can come out.
Are you sure?
Yeah, boss. No Jooooos.
A senior member of the Islamist Hamas leadership, which went underground when Israel launched its military offensive in the Gaza Strip a month ago, on Friday made his first public appearance since the fighting ended. Do I look "defiant"?
Ya look great, boss. I swear I hear Daffy Duck in the background, just after getting exploded once again, yelling, "makeup!" Khalil Al-Hayya, one of three survivors of the five best known Hamas leaders, told supporters at a rally that the group had achieved victory in the war and was now engaged in a political battle. "We promised to come out to you either as martyrs or as victors," Hayya told supporters. "Today I come out to you and you are victors." ...and I have seen my shadow which means six more weeks of hiding winter.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh gave an interview to Al Quds television on Thursday from an undisclosed location, and remains underground. Is it safe? Are the Jooos gone? Are you sure?
Hayya tried to reassure Palestinians whose houses had been destroyed by Israel. "The reconstruction is coming, do not be worried about that," he said, adding the Hamas government intended to pay the salaries of its employees. ...and they always keep there word. Like when they're gonna fight to the last drop of blood, right?
"I tell the resistance fighters, I tell the Qassam fighters, do not drop your weapons, do not put your weapons aside and do not abandon your trenches," Hayya said. "I assure our people that the leaders who led the battle of victory are now leading the battle of politics. We are still in the midst of the battle and we are engaging politically," he said. Which is marginally safer ...
Arriving in Israel for his first visit as the Obama administration's Middle East envoy, former senator George J. Mitchell on Wednesday pushed for a more durable truce in the Gaza Strip, calling for a halt to weapons smuggling and for the territory's border crossings to be opened.
Speaking after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Mitchell said the United States is "committed to vigorously pursuing lasting peace and stability in the region."
But his visit came as the relative calm of the past week and a half was being tested by violence that threatened to reignite the 22-day war in Gaza. An Israeli soldier was killed by an explosion as he patrolled on Israel's side of the boundary with Gaza on Tuesday, an attack praised by Hamas. Israel responded with an airstrike on a Hamas fighter, wounding him. On Wednesday, Israeli jets bombed several smugglers' tunnels.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak canceled a planned visit to Washington and said in a statement Wednesday that he had told Mitchell that Israel would not tolerate attacks on its citizens. Israeli military officials did not rule out more strikes in Gaza. "If Hamas escalates, we are ready to respond in a harsh manner. We don't want to return to where we were a month ago," said Maj. Avital Leibovich, an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Senior officials in the Islamic group Hamas are indicating a willingness to negotiate a deal for a long-term truce with Israel as long as the borders of Gaza are opened to the rest of the world.
So that the widows can get their guns and ammo more efficiently ...
"We want to be part of the international community," Hamas leader Ghazi Hamad told The Associated Press at the Gaza-Egypt border, where he was coordinating Arab aid shipments. "I think Hamas has no interest now to increase the number of crises in Gaza or to challenge the world."
As opposed to all the months you were firing rockets into Israel ...
The United Nations will launch an appeal for 613 million dollars to help those affected by Israel's 22-day offensive in Gaza, UN chief Ban Ki-Moon said yesterday. "These needs are massive and multi-faceted," he told delegates attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, adding that funds can "help overcome at least some measures of this hardship."
John Holmes, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the money would be used to provide food, shelter, healthcare and other assistance. An assessment is being made on long-term needs, including reconstruction of damaged homes, said OCHA.
Hamas is trying hard to flex its muscles in the aftermath of Israel's punishing onslaught in the Gaza Strip, doling out cash, vowing revenge and declaring victory over Zionist aggression. But AP interviews with Hamad and two other Hamas leaders in the war-ravaged territory they rule suggest some of that might be more bluster than reality and the group may be ready for some serious deal making.
That raises the question of whether Hamas, which receives much of its funding and weapons from Tehran, can be coaxed out of Iran's orbit. That question looks less preposterous than it did before President Barack Obama began extending olive branches to the Muslim world and Israel's Gaza offensive reshuffled Mideast politics.
The militants appear to be in the throes of an internal power struggle between hard-liners and pragmatists. Which group comes out on top will likely depend on who is able to garner the most benefits in postwar Gaza.
Hard-liner: kill all the Jooz today.
Pragmatist: kill as many Jooz today as you can, the rest tomorrow.
With hawks urging more violence, the window of opportunity to boost the voices of relative moderation is likely to be short. "We won this war," said Hamas politician Mushir Al-Masri. "Why should we give in to pressure from anyone?"
Al-Masri spoke to the AP while standing next to a chair that used to serve as his seat in the Palestinian parliament, now reduced to rubble by Israeli bombing. Surrounding him were cracked cement, broken bricks, shattered glass and microphones covered in ash.
Smells like victory, eh Mushie ...
Yet even Al-Masri, a staunch hard-liner, sounded a conciliatory note. "We have our hands open to any country ... to open a dialogue without conditions," he said clarifying that does not include Israel.
Hamas' pragmatists may have emerged from Israel's offensive slightly stronger, perhaps because of a perception among some Gazans that the organisation's hawks overplayed their hand by provoking the wrath of Israel.
Obama has repeatedly reached out to Muslims since becoming president. He assured hard-liners in his inaugural address that "we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." He dispatched special envoy George J. Mitchell to the Middle East on a "listening tour." And on Tuesday he chose the Arab satellite network Al-Arabiya for his first televised interview, declaring "Americans are not your enemy."
It's unlikely Obama would talk directly to Hamas, which the US lists as a terrorist organisation. However, if reconciliation talks between Hamas and its pro-Western Fatah rivals in Egypt bear fruit, Obama, unlike his predecessor, may accept a Palestinian unity government that includes the militants.
It's true Hamas has yet to renounce violence and Israel's assault has hardened many hearts in Gaza. But with the territory in desperate need of recovery, the group is promising not to interfere with aid efforts and appears keen to reconcile with Fatah.
After first shooting them all in the feet ...
No one expects the international community to drop all of its reservations about Hamas, an organisation that made its name by strapping explosives onto young people and sending them to blow themselves up in crowded Israeli markets and buses.
But rebuilding Gaza after Israel's onslaught is going to require open borders and a large inflow of money and material things that Iran, whose aid to Hamas is strictly surreptitious because of Israeli restrictions, cannot provide.
And isn't interested in, because for Iran it's all about guns and ammo ...
Hamas says it wants international recognition as much as an end to the blockade of Gaza but it won't get either for free. For Hamas, the price may include allowing Fatah back into Gaza 20 months after it violently ousted them, along with halting its rocket fire and weapons smuggling.
The notion of engaging Hamas is anathema to Israel. "A dialogue with Hamas as a terror organisation would be a strategic mistake, because Israel advocates dialogue with the moderates and displaying toughness against the extremists," Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the Maariv daily this week.
Israel's position is based on the fact that Hamas refuses to recognise its right to exist. However, the three Hamas leaders interviewed said they would accept statehood in just the West Bank and Gaza and would give up their "resistance" against Israel if that were achieved. "We accept a state in the '67 borders," said Hamad. "We are not talking about the destruction of Israel."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
They're on this rather quickly. Must've really got the shit kicked outta them.
(AKI) - The exiled leader of the Islamist Hamas movement, Khaled Meshal hinted at the formation of a new political organisation and said the Palestine Liberation Organization in its current form no longer represents Palestinians. "We must build a national reference to represent the Palestinians at home and abroad, including all national forces, the Palestinian people and the national trends," said Meshal. "By now, all Palestinian factions agree, and we will surprise you.
He made the remarks during a meeting in the Qatari capital Doha late on Wednesday, called "Celebrating the Gaza victory."
We will include all the factions and national Palestinian movements."
Meshal also said that the PLO serves to divide Palestinians rather than reconcile. "This because in this moment, the PLO no longer represents us and is no longer a unitary point of reference. On the contrary, it represents existing divisions between us," said Meshal.
He made the remarks during a meeting in the Qatari capital Doha late on Wednesday, called "Celebrating the Gaza victory."
Meshal also repeated his request to other Arab countries to follow the example of Qatar, which has decided to send financial aid directly to the government of deposed prime minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, bypassing the Palestinian Authority altogether.
Meshal's view was echoed by a Hamas political bureau member present at the meeting. "The emir of Qatar (Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani) has promised us that he would give the money directly to the people of Gaza. We do not trust the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, and we do not believe that it is trustworthy," said Mohammed Nazzal.
Last week, Meshal, asked donor countries to donate funds to the Hamas government led by deposed prime minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza, and not the government led by caretaker prime minister Salaam Fayyad in the West Bank. Earlier this week, the emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah, said no donations destined for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip would go to the Palestinian Authority led by Abbas.
Nazzal concluded by accusing some Palestinian and Arab parties of complicity in Israel's three week long offensive in Gaza, that resulted in the death of 1,330 Palestinians and injured 5,000 others. "I can confirm that there are Palestinian parties who knew of an impending strike, and there was involvement of Arab parties before the outbreak." "knew of an impending strike". C'mon, only you idiots in Hamas didn't know. Israel only gave about a bazillion warnings.
Meanwhile, Ismail Haniyeh echoed the so-called 'victory' over Israel during the Gaza war, saying the Jewish state did not meet its goals. "When we speak of a Palestinian victory, we are not exaggerating. The Palestinian people have won against the Israeli occupiers in this war. The entire world has seen that they (Israel) had clear goals that were not reached, due to the stubborness of the Palestinian people and the resistance, which remained unshaken in the battlefield," said Haniyeh in an interview with Dubai-based Arab TV network Al-Arabiya.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
(AKI) - The United Nations launched an appeal for 613 million dollars to help people affected by Israel's three-week military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which killed some 1,300 Palestinians, injured more than 5,300, 34 percent of them children, and caused widespread damage and destruction.
The appeal will cover requirements of the UN and other aid agencies for the next six to nine months and cover critical areas such as food, water, sanitation, health care and shelter, as well as support basic services, such as education. The funds will also help to remove the debris of war, including unexploded ordnance, finance emergency repairs for basic infrastructure, and provide psychological help for the victims. An appeal for longer-term needs will be launched later.
"With the help of this $613 million appeal, the United Nations and other aid agencies can jump into action to help the 1.4 million civilians in the Gaza Strip to recover," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a news conference on the situation in Gaza, speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Oh great, and Bambi will put Uncle Sugar at the front of the line ...
Ban, who saw the devastation wrought by Israel's 22-day offensive against Hamas militants first-hand when he visited the Strip earlier this month, stressed that without urgent action, Gaza could face a greater humanitarian calamity. "People have lost their families. They have lost their homes, belongings and livelihoods. Schools, clinics, factories and businesses have been destroyed.
Sucks to lose a war, eh ...
Many of Gaza's inhabitants still lack clean water and electricity. Too many are living in the midst of raw sewage and the threats to their health that brings.
"By answering the call of this appeal, in the amount of 613 million dollars, the world can help overcome at least some measure of their hardship," the Secretary-General stated.
Ban was joined by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, who recently returned from a needs assessment mission to Gaza. Holmes has repeatedly called on Israel to immediately open up crossing points into Gaza for full access for relief aid and reconstruction supplies.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Wrong, wrong, wrong! As long as Palestininans can make war for free (because we pay the bills) there will be no peace. As long as there are Palestian women who say "I want to have lots of children and make suicide bombres of them" because we, not her workd, pay for their upkeep there will be no peace. As long as every Kassam will not mean tightening the belt a bit more, and in case it hits something, tightening the belet a lot more there will be no peace.
I advocate for
1) Using this money for increasing aid to Darfur
2) Reducing the iad given to Gaza and using it for compensating damages to Sderot
3) Closing the UN and demolishing its building.
#8
No need to rebuild, Ban. Within a week, Israel will have to go back in and clean out some more sh$$. Why don't we just wait until there's a real peace, with a real government (not a ruling terrorist organization), and an end to the "palestinian refugee" bullsh$$. When that happens, the world might be able to get some real worth out of their 'donations'.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/30/2009 13:42 Comments ||
Top||
Regular bombings, killings and skirmishes between terrorists rebels and the military in southern Thailand have forced Thai authorities to finally grasp the scope of a conflict that has scarred thousands and changed the lives of millions. Previously, Thai police, military and politicians had dismissed the attacks as random violence committed by bandits or a handful of disgruntled Islamic militants. Such attempts to play down the carnage were dismissed by Western governments, who see the confrontation with ethnic Malay-Muslim separatists in the south as a persistent threat to regional security. Now, as the jihad rebellion enters its sixth year, Thai police admit that the separatist movement is a well-structured organization operating across four provinces with a combined population of six million inhabitants: Songkhla, Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.
There are also growing claims of links to al-Qaida and the regional terrorist outfit, Jemmah Islamiya (JI), which advocates for a Southeast Asian Islamic state. Diplomatic sources said their concerns were driven by a series of interviews believed to have been granted by the self-described leader of al-Qaida in Southeast Asia, known as "Abu Ubaidah," in the middle of last year. In the interviews, Abu claimed that the armed struggle had changed significantly since 2004, when the rebellion was based more on locally driven nationalist aspirations than on the logic of international jihad. "What is happening in Pattani is not an internal conflict. Some [fighters] come from the neighboring country, some come from far away, many thousands of miles," he said. Abu maintained that the mass killings at the Kerisik Mosque in April 2004, when more than 100 people died, and further atrocities committed by the Thai military at Tak Bai in October of the same year helped in the scapegoating process transformation.
But fellow traveler security analyst Keith Loverard from Jakarta-based Concord Consulting doubts the extent of Abu's jihad claims, and said there was no convincing evidence linking rebels with Islamic radicalism. Noting that southern Thai separatists are Malay-speaking Muslims who feel deeply alienated from the Thai-speaking Buddhist majority, he nevertheless maintained that, "while it is logical that Islamist groups would try to capitalize on the situation and enlist the southern Thai movement to wider terrorist activity, there is no sign that there has been any success in any such endeavor." There's plenty of evidence, just none that can convince Mr Loverard, it seems. Hell, even the next paragraph in this article shows what a sham the position taken by "Concord Consulting" is.
If the conflict remains locally contained, the patchwork of southern separatist movements has become increasingly well-organized, with police identifying five principal divisions. The first consists of Islamic leaders and teachers, responsible for recruiting sympathizers and educating terrorists insurgents on an operational level. A second division develops grassroots links by occupying administration positions. A third group is responsible for funding; Assistant National Police Chief Abdul Saengsingkaew recently told local media that this division had found strong support among influential local business leaders.
The Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK), a guerilla army that police say includes between 3,000 and 5,000 troops, makes up the fourth division. A fifth column, called the Permudor, is made up of young sympathizers who obstruct police wherever possible and protect RKK soldiers. This motley group of teenagers is expected to replenish the RKK ranks over the coming years. Abdul also said that, while the actual number of RKK attacks decreased over 2008, a shift in tactics -- particularly in the unexpected use of car bombings -- made an enormous impact.
Southern Thailand, also known as Pattani Raya, was an independent sultanate until Bangkok annexed it in 1902. Separatist violence has flared up periodically ever since, but the conflict erupted on an unprecedented scale in January 2004, when an arms robbery from an army camp resulted in a heavy-handed crackdown by the military. Since then, about 3,500 people have died in bloody tit-for-tat reprisals. Fifteen insurgents have been sentenced to death, while 9,207 suspects are awaiting trial over their alleged involvement with the insurgency. Emergency rule was imposed in 2005, and according to research by the non-governmental organization Deep South Watch, Bangkok has spent $3.2 billion trying to solve the problem over the last five years, and another $8.8 billion could be required over the next five to 10 years.
To counter rebel movements, the Thai army has embarked on an ambitious plan aimed at recruiting soldiers from the southern provinces that will eventually be used to quell dissent there. "It's a tremendous project the army is putting its faith in, but it will take another four to five years to implement," said Thai historian and author, Chris Baker. "And there has to be a political resolution and this has been a blind spot amid the military takeover and politics of recent years."
Thailand has been dogged by political instability in recent years, resulting in mass street protests and three prime ministers in the last four months, largely overshadowing the tragic events in the south. But Thailand's newly-elected prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, recently raised the prospect of ending emergency rule, and promised to investigate Amnesty International's claims of torture and human rights abuses by the military. "The government must solve the problem while considering human rights, so the insurgents will not be able to exploit that issue," he said.
Abhisit has vowed to find a solution to the violence by establishing a permanent administration office, a special economic development zone, and by enhancing cooperation with Islamic countries. Given the political convulsions that have beset Bangkok in recent years, many observers have doubts about whether the current government is strong enough to deliver substantial change and bring about peace in the south. But Baker was less pessimistic. "I'm not saying [a political solution] will happen. But what is happening in the south has at least registered with this government." Considering the statistics given earlier in the article, I'm pretty sure that the terrorism in the south "registered" with the government long ago.
#1
Yes, but that was when EvilBushHitlerMonkey was fighting them elsewhere, therefore it must be the West's fault. Thailand was an inconvenient truth of the WOT that the Ministry of Truth those who control the information flow didn't want the masses to know. Now that the O'man is the Man, a whole new spin narrative now must be allowed to evolve.
#2
There really isn't any logical reason why Malay speaking Muslims are a part of Thai speaking Buddhist Thailand, except that the Kingdom of Thailand saw the British colonizing Malaya and made a preemptive annexation.
The United Nations evacuated hundreds of wounded civilians from a war-torn section of Sri Lanka on Thursday as demands increased for the government and warring rebels to allow humanitarian aid to flow more freely in the country...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
REDDIT > DER SPIEGEL - THE RICJES OF THE NORTH POLE: RUSSIA UNVEILS AGGRESSIVE NEW ARCTIC POLICY. RUSSIA is threatening to withdraw from the International Law of the Sea iff its claims on the NORTH POLE AREN'T ACCEPTED???
Also on REDDIT > EU AND US IN A TRADE WAR? + JAPAN'S ECONOMIC NUMBERS ARE FRIGHTENING.
Mehdi Khazali, the son of Ayatollah AbolGhasem Khazali, has said that the family of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is of Jewish origin. In March 2008, the Iranian Interior Ministry rejected Khazali's candidacy for the Majlis, and recently the Health Ministry rejected him for a position in the Iranian Medical Organization. Last year, Khazali stated that Ahmadinejad was elected fraudulently.
Source: Mehdi Khazali's blog, Iran, January 23 and 26, 2009, December 30, 2008
#2
Of course Hitler was said to have Jewish ancestors as well. Sometimes it seems to take (insert race, clan, tribe) the hate (insert race, clan, tribe).
#3
Of course Hitler was said to have Jewish ancestors as well. Sometimes it seems to take (insert race, clan, tribe) the to hate (insert race, clan, tribe).
#8
Looks like he ain't the only one with Jew cooties...
"Obama will not complete the plan of George Bush Senior. Obama was brought to power by the Jews. Let me tell you something. In my view, and I might be mistaken, the Jews brought Obama to power in order to take revenge... Before they establish the Semitic Middle East, they want to tear America to shreds, because they hate America. Obama will be the cause..."
Interviewer: "They want to rule..."
Farid Salman: "Of course. Obama will be the cause of internal strife in the U.S. In addition, they want to destroy the European Union, and thus, the Semitic Middle East will be established. It's the Jews, not the Zionists, that are doing this."
#9
"Before they establish the Semitic Middle East"
Arabs are Semites too. It would appear that a semitic Middle East has already been established. Idiots!
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/30/2009 13:25 Comments ||
Top||
#10
For many Muslims, there is a suspicion that when a Jewish man converts to Islam, he may secretly practice Judaism
During the late middle ages/ renasance era(1500-1700) spain, the spanish inquisition had the exact same concerns.
Given the subsequent history of the spanish empire, I am not so concerned about the possible ultimate victory of the caliphate.
Posted by: N guard ||
01/30/2009 14:16 Comments ||
Top||
#11
The Spanish Inquisition was correct. Conversions under duress are always suspect for that reason. By the time of the great-grandchildren generation, though, the connection is generally lost.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plans to honour notorious Lebanese militant Samir Kantar who was released by Israel in a prisoner swap last year, officials said on Thursday.
Kantar arrived in Iran on Wednesday and expressed his gratitude to Tehran for its role in backing the Lebanese and Palestinian "resistance" to Israel. "This country has played a crucial role in supporting the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance and I am here to express my deepest gratitude to this country," Kantar told AFP.
He also said he wished to meet Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and "shake his hand."
Kantar was released in July 2008 as part of a prisoner swap between Lebanon and Israel. Described as a monster in Israel where he was convicted for killing three locals, including a policeman and a four-year-old girl in a notorious attack nearly three decades ago, Kantar is considered a hero in some circles in Lebanon. He bashed the 4-yr Girl's head in-- anywhere they don't consider him a monster is a place I don't want to live
Iranian officials from Ahmadinejad's office said Kantar will be honoured by the president at a function in Tehran.
"You soldiers of the Zionist regime ... Why should you kill innocent women and children? The time has come for you to protest against your commanders and disobey their orders." He wrote...
While ya got him there, ssk your friend Samir for some insight on that.
An eminent Iranian analyst said Tehran has begun sounding out a group of experts on a range of topics in preparation for possible face-to-face talks with the Americans.
This is the latest sign that a possible improvement in the relations between Tehran and Washington is on the horizon.
At the same time, a British newspaper reported yesterday that the US administration of Barack Obama is drafting a letter to Iran aiming to pave the way for direct talks between the two countries at odds for nearly three decades. "The Iranian leadership," Iranian analysts Mash Allah Shams Al Wa'etheen said "is grouping a higher committee of senior negotiators in different fields such as international relations, law, bilateral relations, [and] other issues, including the Arab-Israeli conflict and the American influence in Iraq& " in preparation for a possible dialogue with the US.
Speaking to Gulf News Al Wa'etheen, an advisor to the Tehran-based Middle East Centre for Strategic Studies, predicted the way ahead of the dialogue as "very rough", adding it "will be the biggest in the history of the bilateral relations," and will deal with a "package" of issues rather than individual topics.
He noted that indirect talks between the two sides have been with Iranian mediators in the US or other mediators in the Middle East, particularly Iraq."
The two sides had held several sessions of direct talks in Iraq in the last couple of years.
According to the Iranian analyst's expectation, a direct Iranian-American dialogue might start after three to four months from now, and specifically after the upcoming Iranian presidential elections this spring.
Meanwhile, the British Guardian newspaper reported yesterday that officials of US President Barack Obama's administration are drafting a letter to Iran from the president aimed at unfreezing US-Iranian relations and opening the way for face-to-face talks. It was a response to a letter of congratulations sent by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after Obama's poll victory.
The letter gives assurances that Washington does not want to overthrow the Iranian administration, but instead seeks changes in its behaviour. It would be addressed to the Iranian people and sent directly to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, or released as an open letter.
The US State Department has been working on drafts of the letter since Obama was elected last November, the report said. However, a State Department official was quoted as saying the policy on Iran is under review at the moment, but "no decision on any specific policy initiative has yet been made by the State Department," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was quoted by the news agencies.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#2
I'd love to have a talk with them, I'd splain it to them in very unambiguous terms. We still have a few sticks left in the closet. We could let Israel off the chain for one thing.
#3
All Iran wants is 1) a free hand to kill Israelis, 2) a nuclear bomb, 3) a free hand to be a terrorist state, and, apparently, 4) an apology from Obama for humiliation. Anyone can do this, its just the prior Presidents said "Go Butt a Stump!" Is "O" so weak that he will say "Yes".
#4
OTOH, WAFF > IRAN TO SET UP/BUILD AN "IMPENETRABLE LINE OF DEFENSE" ALONG COAST OF OMAN [Eastern Gulf = Sea of Hormuz].
IRAN IRGC NAVY desires to STOP USN AIRCRAFT CARRIERS = CBG's, USMC EBG/ARG's from entering the PERSIAN GULF + HORMUZ REGION AT WILL [See CHINA's PLAN + TAIWAN + ANTI-USN/CARRIER STRATEGIES].
* READ - IOW, IRAN [as per CHIN PLA/PLAN]HAS OR INTENDS TO ACQUIRE LR BALLISTIC + TLCMS + OTHER.
SUB-IOW, FUTURE NUCLEAR ISLAMIST IRAN DESIRES US-ALLIES [Israel]WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MIL ATTACK, INVADE AND OCCUPY IRAN PROPER UNLESS ARE WILLING TO ENGAGE IN [mutually destructive]NUCLEAR WARFARE [including PROXY NUCLEAR-WMD TERROR].
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Thursday that Israel's Mossad espionage agency was behind the 2008 assassination of the Lebanese militant group's deputy leader Imad Mughniyah.
The reclusive Nasrallah said this was the conclusion of an investigation into the car bombing in Damascus that killed Mughniyah, who was on the U.S. most-wanted list for attacks on Israeli and Western targets. "The day won't come when we'll put the blood vengeance for the martyr Mughniyah behind us," said Nasrallah, vowing that his organization would avenge the assignation.
Nasrallah made the comments via a video link from his hiding place.
Brave, brave Lion of Islam ...
The Hezbollah leader also said there was no difference between United States President Barack Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush when it comes to Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
...and then he retreated to his subterranean rat's nest so he would to not share Imad's fate.
I still say he's really a giant hologram.
U.S. President Barack Obama believes that the United States should preserve all its options on Iran, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/30/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Absolute friggen' genius at work, I tell ya. Why didn't they share this revolutionary insight before they took power? It might have saved us decades of confrontation - and so much unavenged damage to our people and interests.
When a post-Vietnam War Dem talks about keeping all options open, they simply lack credibility. Cuz the use of force is just about excluded from the outset. If this fairly preposterous CinC actually uses force in any significant way, it will have the advantage of surprise. Though I wouldn't expect either the decision to use force or the follow-up to be well thought out, kinda mitigating the surprise advantage thinggie.
#3
WORLD MIL FORUM > RUSSIA TO STRENGTHEN MILITARY FORCES IN THE BLACK SEA REGION. NAVAL PRESENCE TO INCREASE TO 34 WARSHIPS [Newest types wid Latest Missles AMAP], ARMY PRESENCE TO INCREASE TO 25,000 FROM 18,500???
Also on WMF > EXILED "TIBETAN YOUTH CONGRESS: GROUPS CALLS FOR NEW WAVE OF ANTI-CHINA TIBET PROTESTS TO COUNTER 2008-2009 "BLACK YEAR" [espec pro-Tibet Independence INTERNATIONAL rallies].
* SAME > DINGTV NET VIDEO- MEGASTRUCTURES: CHINA'S NEW ULTIMATE MEGA-PORT; + CHINA's STRATEGIC SITUATION IN THE CHINA SEAS. CHINA MUST STRENGTHEN AND ENTRENCH ITS MILITARY PRESENCE, SEEK TAIWANESE POLITICAL-COMMERCIAL ASSISTANCE IN BUILDING ARTIFICIAL ISLANDS FOR PERMAMENT MILITARY BASES [INCLUDING JOINT PRC-TAIWAN BASE USE]IN ORDER TO EXPAND CHINESE STRATEGIC REACH TO THE STRAITS OF MALACCAS. CHINESE-LED MILITARY PROJECTION AND PROTECTION OF EAST-SOUTH ASIA REGIONS AND PACIFIC.
* SAME > VARIOUS - US-GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS MEANS DECLINE IN AVAILABLE US ECONOMIC AND MILITARY RESOURCES TO FIGHT WAR ON TERROR, ENGAGE IN ASIAN AND GLOBAL IMPERIALISM???
ALso, HILLARY CLINTON: US CANNOT GET OUT OF ITS [deep + worsening]RECESSION WITHOUT CHINA???
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.
Parliament yesterday unanimously passed a resolution calling on the government to ensure immediate trial of the war criminals. The historic motion came five days into inauguration of the ninth legislature. It is meant to affirm the ruling Awami League's (AL) electoral pledge that if voted to power, it would put on trial those who had committed atrocious crimes against the nation during the Liberation War in 1971. 
Thousands of jubilant Turks welcomed their prime minister home on Friday, thronging the airport and later chanting "Turkey is proud of you!" after he publicly confronted the Israeli president over the Gaza war. But some commentators expressed concern that the outburst at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, would hurt Turkey's bid to be an international mediator. Some media in Israel, an ally of Turkey, suggested that the Turkish leader was a hypocrite.
When his captors released famous Pashtu comedian Alamzeb Mujahid after a week of horror and humiliation in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistans conflict-ridden North West Frontier Province, they gave him the lone choice of abandoning showbiz.
Senior NWFP minister and ANP leader Bashir Ahmad Bilour has been caught in a controversy following his remarks at a function in Abbottabad but his supporters insist he (Bilour) never made the statement being attributed to him.
Arriving in Israel for his first visit as the Obama administration's Middle East envoy, former senator George J. Mitchell on Wednesday pushed for a more durable truce in the Gaza Strip, calling for a halt to weapons smuggling and for the territory's border crossings to be opened. 
(AKI) - The exiled leader of the Islamist Hamas movement, Khaled Meshal hinted at the formation of a new political organisation and said the Palestine Liberation Organization in its current form no longer represents Palestinians. "We must build a national reference to represent the Palestinians at home and abroad, including all national forces, the Palestinian people and the national trends," said Meshal. "By now, all Palestinian factions agree, and we will surprise you. 
(AKI) - The United Nations launched an appeal for 613 million dollars to help people affected by Israel's three-week military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which killed some 1,300 Palestinians, injured more than 5,300, 34 percent of them children, and caused widespread damage and destruction.
Regular bombings, killings and skirmishes between 
