Saudi clerics are not doing enough to discourage militancy among Saudi youth, including those who want to fight in Iraq, Interior Minister Prince Nayef said in comments published on Saturday.
That would be militancy against the House of Saud. Militancy against kuffarim and other enemies of the regime is A-OK.
The House of Saud is like the guy who wants a 'bad-d-d-d' dog, so he buys a pit bull and mistreats it. Then he's surprised when he's bitten. Hard.
It was the second criticism of clerics by the powerful member of the royal family this year. In June he said in a speech to hundreds of clerics that they needed to stop Saudis carrying out suicide attacks in Iraq. Asked if he felt there had been progress since that meeting, the minister told Okaz newspaper in an interview: No, not at the level I would hope for.
Hundreds of Saudis are thought to be among foreigners fighting with Al Qaeda in Iraq against US forces and the US-backed government, and there have been reports in Saudi Arabia about sons of prominent Saudi clerics trying to join the Al Qaeda insurgents in Iraq.
Saudi authorities are worried that Saudis could return to continue their fight in the kingdom. Commentators have said reports of Saudis in Iraq have embarrassed the country.
In 2003, Saudi militants allied to Al Qaeda launched a campaign of suicide bombings and attacks on government installations, energy facilities and foreigners, in an effort to topple the US-allied royal family. The Saudi royal family, while allied with the clerics in promoting an austere form of Sunni Islam, has been embarrassed by the way some clerics helped create Al Qaeda which then turned against the countrys rulers.
This article starring:
Prince Nayef
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Clerics are at the centre of our war with islam.They are the ones who encourage/teach hatred of other religions.
Posted by: Paul ||
12/02/2007 9:07 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Execute all that show up.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/02/2007 13:16 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Tony Soprano's help sought against organized crime.
... Humphries, who noted Galloway's office was decorated with pictures of communist revolutionaries Fidel Castro and Che Guevara along with dolls resembling Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez told WND the incident was "a perfect example of what the left does."
"When they don't get their way they want to shut down the conversation," Humphries said. "This is the exact reason why talk radio needs to exist."
#2
You have to read the whole thing and listen to the audio. The trouble with the left and Jihadi sympathizers is that they are 100% dead certain of their position and nothing you say or do can dissuade them. Calling Hamas a terror organization set the little wacker off like roman candle. Then after he throws them out, sic's the Parliament police on them, who call the bobbies, they steal the guy's laptop and then deny it. This is the kind of jerk you would love to just walk up to at some radical-chic cocktail party and sucker punch him as he is downing his chardonnay.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
12/02/2007 16:21 Comments ||
Top||
If your own beliefs are so weak that you BOW to the beliefs of your enemies ( because they ARE our enemies) out of fear and cowardice...what do you believe in? You are spineless and a quivering squirting soul.
#11
We have the same thing in the USA. It is more subversive. No more Salvation Army ringers at Target, Christmas break is called something else, "happy holidays" instead of "merry Christmas and so on. The liberals and Islamics are bent on destroy all western culture.
Yet we sit here at take it up the rectum. The next time someone says that to you ask them what the hell do they mean. It is fricking time we stand up to the anti-American anti-Christian traitors and say that WE are Offended!!
#13
It was the best of times, it's becoming the worst of times.
[with apologies to Dickens]
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/02/2007 14:45 Comments ||
Top||
#14
I think the real problem here is not muslims or people of any other faith but the godless bureaucrats who are in charge of the schools. Britons, and Americans as well, need to remember these types of things during elections.
Posted by: Abu Uluque6305 ||
12/02/2007 15:36 Comments ||
Top||
#15
"We don't feel the need to have the nativity. We are an ethnically diverse school and want to learn about other cultures."
This is the "affirmative action" program of multiculturalism. It's not even "everybody's cultural is equal" -- it's "everybody's culture is more important our own". It's cultural suicide.
#16
Send your kids to Christian or Catholic schools to avoid all this PC crap especially at Christmas and Easter. That's what I do and we do not have these situations. In fact, we have the opposite. Its like eating a pulled-pork sandwich in a mosque - mmmmm good!
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
12/02/2007 16:23 Comments ||
Top||
#17
Careful, Eohippus--the fatwa folk don't like music. But since there wasn't really any music in the story, you only get a dozen lashes.
Seriously, the new overlords undoubtedly have as low an opinion of the UK school commissions as we do, but with somewhat more dramatic methods of changing administrators.
Posted by: James ||
12/02/2007 18:37 Comments ||
Top||
#18
UK NATIVITY PLAYS CANCELLED FOR 'FEAR OF OFFENDING OTHER FAITHS'
#19
I wonder if those guys that blew up the subway trains last year thought about cancelling for 'fear of offending other faiths'?
Oh, that's right. I guess not...
British Muslims protested outside the Sudanese Embassy over the treatment of jailed teacher Gillian Gibbons. The small but noisy group demanded the immediate release of Mrs Gibbons, who is currently serving a 15-day prison sentence in Sudan after her class of seven-year-olds named a teddy bear Mohammed.
Chanting "free, free Gillian" and "let her go, let her go", demonstrators attempted to hand over a "goodwill teddy" to the embassy, but a staff member refused to accept the gift. Some 20 British Muslims, including MP for Tooting Sadiq Khan and chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission Massoud Shadjareh, gathered outside the Sudanese embassy in Piccadilly. Leaders of the protest said they wanted to show that British Muslims supported Mrs Gibbons. Some arrived with their own teddy bears.
The protest followed angry scenes in Khartoum on Friday in which knife-wielding fundamentalists called for the execution of Mrs Gibbons. At the London demonstration, Catherine Heseltine, a 28-year teacher and member of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, condemned the action of hard-line Islamists. She said: "They are dragging the name of Islam through the mud. The overwhelming feeling in the Muslim community in the UK is that it is really sad the way Gillian Gibbons has been treated. I haven't met a single British Muslim who has taken the naming of the teddy to be an insult."
Mr Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said: "I find it offensive that Islam is being used in this way by the Sudanese government and the media. "It is totally unacceptable by the Sudanese government and the press are trying to make this into another cartoon or a Salmon Rushdie issue."
This article starring:
Catherine Heseltine
chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission Massoud Shadjareh
Gillian Gibbons
MP for Tooting Sadiq Khan
Salmon Rushdie
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
#1
Good cause, but the brit muzz are only using it as a fig leaf, nothing more...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/02/2007 11:05 Comments ||
Top||
Turkeys President Abdullah Gul has approved the sackings of seven military personnel suspected of Islamist leanings, the military General Staff said, in a move that may help ease secularist reservations about him.
Every year, the staunchly secular military expels a few officers for reactionary or Islamist tendencies.
But this year, some commentators speculated that Gul, himself a former Islamist, might refuse to approve the expulsions as he did when he was briefly prime minister. The Supreme Military Council decided with majority vote to expel seven personnel with reactionary attitude and behaviour, the army said in a statement posted on its Web site late on Friday.
The decision to expel the soldiers came after a two-day meeting of the Supreme Military Council chaired by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Gul, as commander in chief of the armed forces, was required to sign off on the expulsions.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
Speaking at a ceremony hosted by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), Fazl said that he supported the independence of judiciary, but would not favour reinstatement of the deposed CJP and other judges, who had taken oath under a PCO in 1999. Fazls remarks created uproar in the hall, with a large number of participants shouting Shame! Shame!
Replying to an angry participants comments that he wanted to become a deputy prime minister, Fazl said, I want to become the prime minister. What do you mean by deputy prime minister?
This article starring:
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
LAHORE, Pakistan - The candidacy of former prime minister Nawaz Sharifs brother was rejected on Saturday because of pending criminal charges against him, Pakistan election authorities said. Shahbaz Sharif, president of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and former chief minister of Punjab province, said he would challenge the rejection in court.
The government presiding officer said Shahbaz Sharifs bid for candidacy had been turned down after
Other candidates objected that he was unable to run for office, citing pending charges of murder and default on a bank loan.
other candidates objected that he was unable to run for office, citing pending charges of murder and default on a bank loan. In view of the objections raised by other candidates, the nomination papers of Mr Shahbaz Sharif are rejected, officer Ashtar Abbas said.
Other candidates can bump a guy from seeking office? Interesting idea. Can I bump the Hildebeast if I declare for president on the Rantburg platform?
Shahbaz had filed his papers to seek office for a constituency in Lahore, the capital of Punjab and stronghold of the Sharif brothers.
Shahbaz with his brother and their industrialist family was sent into exile in 2000, one year after General Pervez Musharraf ousted then-premier Nawaz Sharif from power in a bloodless coup. The Sharif family returned to Pakistan early this month after seven years in exile.
Government sources said Shahbaz faces criminal charges in an anti-terrorism court for ordering the killing of five people during his 1997-99 tenure as chief minister in Punjab province. According to prosecutors, police in 1998 killed five students from an Islamic school, or madrassa, on the orders of Shahbaz, who suspected them to be involved in acts of terrorism.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Other candidates can bump a guy from seeking office? Interesting idea. Can I bump the Hildebeast if I declare for president on the Rantburg platform?
Sorry, Doc Steve, but that only seems to be a Pak rule. Of course, if you run I WILL support you, and will ensure you get MY vote!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/02/2007 21:52 Comments ||
Top||
Follow-up on this story. This kind of nonsense has to stop. If he's got bombs in his house then strip him of his parliamentary immunity and prosecute him.
BAGHDAD - Iraqs faltering political process was thrown into fresh turmoil on Saturday when the main Sunni bloc walked out of parliament in protest at a security crackdown on its leader Adnan al-Dulaimi.
The National Concord Front, the main Sunni bloc with 44 MPs in the 275-member parliament, walked out of the assembly, saying it would return after Dulaimi himself comes back to the legislature. We announce our boycott of the parliament until Adnan al-Dulaimi returns to the assembly today or tomorrow, the blocs Abdul Karim al-Samarraie told the assembly. When I went to meet him I was stopped and told that he is under house arrest. This is a violation of the rights of an MP who wants to come to the parliament, Samarraie said.
After his statement the blocs MPs walked out of the assembly hall. Mahmud al-Mashhadani, the Sunni parliament speaker, joined them.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh denied that Dulaimi was under house arrest. What is being said about house arrest is not true. It is only protection given to Dulaimi until the situation is clear, Dabbagh told state television Al-Iraqiya.
Political tension has risen sharply following the security crackdown on Dulaimi after the Iraqi army said on Thursday it found car bombs near his Baghdad offices. Dulaimi has been under effective house arrest since Friday, sparking a warning by the National Concord Front earlier on Saturday that Iraqs political process could be derailed.
Shiite MP Haider al-Ibadi said the Dulaimi issue should not be discussed in the assembly. There is an investigation and parliament should not interfere in it, he said before the Sunnis walked out.
This article starring:
Abdul Karim al-Samarraie
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh
Mahmud al-Mashhadani
Shiite MP Haider al-Ibadi
Adnan al-Dulaimi
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#2
The corruption in Iraq is endemic, as it is in the whole Middle East. It starts at the very top and goes down through all ministries to the lowest construction contractor. There's too much loot floating around.
For now the US is looking the other way trying to tamp down the violence. It's very demoralizing to our folks who deal with these people daily. It's a lot like the movie "Gangs of New York".
It will be tough to root out the graft because it starts with the President of Iraq. He's an elected offical and we are "guests".
The next challenge will be an effective campaign to slow the free-for-all.
#4
Don't have a link or even remember if it was the interweb or the wireless, but the Sunni sheiks who have been turning against al Qaida have also been complaining about the lameness of their Sunni members of parliment and how the MPs will need to be replaced if they don't get with the program
#6
The Iraqi Parliament is nothing but a forum for Sunni and Shiite terrorists. Even the oil law debate followed demographics, and not Iraq constitutional law.
Ethnic cleansing is inevitable wherever Muslims are in large numbers. Muslims will not live in peace with persons of other religions; where they become a large minority, they reject majority law and confict with same. Where they are a majority, they impose sharia perversity. Muslim sectarianism ensures permanent conflict between Shiites and Sunnis.
Success of the Surge is based on both singling out terror strongholds, and using extreme force against same, while reducing 24-7 patrols through ethnic salients.
From the beginning of the intervention in Iraq, Daniel Pipes proposed rejection of Green Zone management in favor of basing troops outside of cities. The Surge ended the futility of standing in the middle of a 1400 year civil war between the sects. The Surge has allowed Shiites to conquer most of Baghdad, leaving only a small, vulnerable pocket based north of the Tigris, with Shiites surrounding south of Tigris corridor, toward the airport. The Surge should have reversed the Clinton Doctrine, which put the US in opposition to ethnic cleansing of Muslims, while allowing Muslims to cleanse ethnic minorities. The Surge wasn't a continuity of US military policy in Iraq; it was a reversal.
Frankly, I would napalm terror strongholds, then impose shoot on sight orders against burned terrorists.
Prediction: if the population of Muslims in America increases by another 1%, they will begin demanding sharia, and if they don't get it they will become violent. If their home bases in the Muslim cess pools are fully nuclearized, then they will have foreign backers of their subversion. Anyone who rejects the Huntingon-Thesis - Clash of Civilizations - should not be serving in political office in Western Civilization.
#7
if the population of Muslims in America increases by another 1%, they will begin demanding sharia, and if they don't get it they will become violent
bad mistake here - I'd welcome the chance to revenge Mo-the-Teddy-Bear, and I won't be playing for the cameras
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/02/2007 17:52 Comments ||
Top||
The usual qualifications
No one at UN headquarters in New York remembers a case of a draft resolution being abruptly withdrawn hours before a UN Security Council session was scheduled to approve it. This is what happened to a US draft that would have endorsed President Bushs announcement three days earlier at the Annapolis Middle East conference of Israeli and Palestinian consent to work toward a settlement of their conflict before the end of 2008.
The Council had been called into closed session Thursday night, Nov. 30 to endorse the Annapolis declaration. The text was buried hastily in an undignified scramble by the Bush administration after two days of sharp words between the White House and prime minister Ehud Olmert and his threat not to turn up for talks with the Palestinians.
This incident led also to the first real falling-out between President George W. Bush and his secretary of state Condoleezza Rice. He blamed her for seeking to bolster the Annapolis declaration by Security Council endorsement, thereby exposing the hyped-up event to the world as a charade and his own declaration as too flimsy to stand up.
#4
crosspatch, if you float your curser over the title of the article, the URL will be revealed. Or right click to get Properties, then left click on that, that'll do it, too.
Pakistan on Friday called for translating the promises of the peace process, most recently expressed at a meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, into action to achieve a Palestinian state that would settle the Middle East conflict. We hope the Annapolis meeting will be the beginning of the end of the tragedy of Palestine and the dawn of peace in the Holy Land, Ambassador Munir Akram, speaking on behalf of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), told the UN General Assembly. Speaking in a debate on the Middle East situation, he said the Islamic countries had participated in the Annapolis conference at the invitation of the US to signal their commitment to peace between Israel and Palestine.
He told the 192-member assembly that the OIC welcomed the commitment to start final negotiations, stressing that these should be resolved on the basis of previous agreements, resolutions, the principle of land for peace, the Madrid Peace Conference, the Road Map and the Arab Peace Initiative.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#2
Akram is now known as "Munir the Wife Beater" after NYPD were called to his residence after a particularly bad beating. Of course they could not do him a thing.. diplomatic immunity and all that...
Posted by: john frum ||
12/02/2007 6:28 Comments ||
Top||
#3
umm , pakistan can't even handle their own militants and areas and they are giving out advice on what needs too be done elsewherer in the world. go figure. maybe the Indians will wipe them out soon
#5
We hope the Annapolis meeting will be the beginning of the end of the tragedy of Palestine and the dawn of peace in the Holy Land,
We do, too. The cynicism of so many Israelis about the outcome of the meeting is a very good sign, as is the high court's approval of cutting off oil to the Gaza Strip.
The Malaysian government will set up a telephone complaint hotline for ethnic Indians following a massive rally by the minority group to demand equality and fair treatment in Muslim-majority Malaysia. The hotline will be connected to the Malaysian Indian Congress, or MIC, an ethnic Indian party in the ruling coalition, said a senior party official. He said Indians will be able to call and complain about any grievances. He said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has also instructed MIC to set up a committee to study the Indians' grievances.
Meanwhile, P Uthayakumar, leader of the Hindu Rights Action Force, dismissed the hotline plan as a "political ploy."
An angry Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badwai Sunday offered to resign if it was proved that his country was engaged in an ethnic cleansing of its Indian minority. At the same, Abdullah admitted that people of Indian origin in Malaysia do face "social problems" but added that the authorities were with the community, Malaysian media reported. Abdullah was reacting to the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) statement that the government was carrying out ethnic cleansing of the Indians in Malaysia.
He accused Hindraf of spreading "blatant lies" with a view to arouse hatred in the country and to spark racial clashes, The Star newspaper reported. "The allegations are all lies to deceive the Indians that they are an exploited race. Malaysians will not believe this. Even the Malaysian Indians will not believe this. Ethnic cleansing is something (that) was done in Bosnia. We do not do it in this country...
"Tell me, do you believe there is ethnic cleansing in Malaysia? Is there ethnic cleansing, tell me? If I allow this, I would resign." Then, looking at Indian media personnel, he asked: "Tell me, you are an Indian and so are you, have we been doing it for the past 50 years or even for that matter one week, have we done this?" The Star quoted Abdullah as saying: "I'm really angry, I rarely get angry, but this blatant lie cannot be tolerated at all."
He offered to resign if there was proof that the government was involved in ethnic cleansing. He said he did not want the people, especially the Indians, to be misled by Hindraf's "unfounded claims and allegations" and hoped that other races would not show sympathy towards Hindraf.
But despite his anger at the 20-minute press conference where he dealt mostly with the Hindraf issue, Abdullah pledged to look after the interests and the well being of the Indian community. "The social problems faced by the Indian community are clear. I have never said no. We support the Indians but there are some quarters instigating them and making them feel unhappy with the government," he said.
Abdullah said the government had never marginalised the Indians. "I've helped them, I've helped them in many ways. They want money to repair their temples, I help because we respect other religions and they are not our enemies, they have cooperated very well with us, this is what has happened," he said.
Abdullah said there was no truth to the claims in the Hindraf memorandum that a government-backed extremist group had destroyed a temple in Kampung Jawa, Klang, Nov 15. He said that "lies" like this could cause racial conflict between the Malays and the Indians. "Is this what we are seeking in Malaysia, where there has been no problems between Muslims and Indians or Islam and Hinduism?"
"I do not want our country which is growing steadily and attracting foreign investors to be destroyed. We do not want the country to be in chaos by their actions," he said.
The Indian protests in Malaysia have found their echo in India, where the issue has been taken up in the national parliament and also in Tamil Nadu. Malaysian leaders have asked Indian politicians not to interfere in the country's internal affairs.
Posted by: ryuge ||
12/02/2007 09:16 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
Posted by: ryuge ||
12/02/2007 10:58 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
The reader comment at the end is idiotic:
"...There is no threat nor is there even the slightest evidence that nuclear weapons are being produced or even planned..." -- Roger Lafontaine, Youngstown, OH
First, Iran had a secret nuclear program. Second, Iran has so much natural gas and oil that there's no economic justification for a nuclear program to generate electricity. [A gas-fired electric plant at a gas source is far simpler, cheaper, and quicker than any nuclear program.] Third, Iran is clearly developing large missiles to deliver something very hostile. And finally, Ahmanutjob has clearly indicated that he'd like nothing better than the elimination of Israel and he's rattling his sabre in every direction.
So, Roger, you can hide out there in Youngstown, OH with your delusional head up your rear end, but your survival ultimately depends on realists like John Bolton.
Iran's announcement that it has developed the 1,200-mile range Ashura ballistic missile is being viewed with some concern by the Pentagon.
Although the Defense Department has long been projecting Iranian ballistic missiles to achieve that range, it was expected to be through upgrades of the long-known Shahab-3. However, the Ashura is "different," says U.S. Missile Defense Agency director Air Force Lt. Gen. Trey Obering. "That's what surprised us," he said. Moreover, Obering notes that the Ashura's emergence indicates how much work Iran is putting into improving its ballistic missile defense capability.
Defensive? Oh, well, I guess the best defense is a good offense, after all ...
Obering was here in Paris once again trying to make the case for a European site for the ground-based midcourse defense system. He noted that the Iranian effort underscores the need to proceed.
The Pentagon also has been talking to Russia to reduce Moscow's anxiety over the emergent missile defense shield on its doorstep and has offered both radar data sharing and other inducements. Obering says that one proposal would have the Pentagon proceed with building the missile defense facilities - emplacing a radar in the Czech Republic and interceptors in Poland -- but that the European site would not become operational until a clear threat from Iran emerged. One trigger could be flight-testing of an advanced ballistic missile, for instance. Talks with Moscow appear to involve how to verify the difference between an operational and nonoperational system - the Defense Department would prefer to have interceptors already in their silo.
Moscow so far has been cool to the plan and proposals put forward, but Obering says more talks already are scheduled. And he concedes many more visits to Europe will likely be needed before political consensus is reached.
The Pentagon would like to start construction next year of the missile defense site, and hopes Prague and Warsaw will agree by no later than early next year. If that's the case, the plan to get the missile defense site up and running would be delayed only six months from the schedule put forward earlier this year - the schedule change reflects a congressional cut in the project's budget.
Testing of the two-stage interceptor would begin in two-three years, with the full system to be tested end to end and ready for operations around 2013. Obering notes that the change to the interceptor is minor. The U.S.-based interceptors are three stage, so the third one would need to be removed and the adaptor for the kill vehicle modified. However, he argues it's not a major development effort.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
12/02/2007 10:39 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Moreover, Obering notes that the Ashura's emergence indicates how much work Iran is putting into improving its ballistic missile defense capability
good catch, Moose. A "journalist" on top of his game, obviously
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/02/2007 13:17 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I am sure these will work as well as most russian-designed, chinese/nork-modified, muslim-built high-tech defense products do!
#4
And of course CF, you know that the 'defense' offered for killing civilians is that the the man / the west / the capitalist / imperialist / zionist (insert favorite) hegemon 'drove them to it'.
Syria will dispatch its deputy foreign minister to Iran on Sunday, in an attempt to explain its participation in last week's U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace conference, the Iranian news network Khabar reported...
---------- Iran is also angry at Egypt and Saudi Arabia for attending but since they don't fund these States there isn't much they can do about it.
Posted by: mhw ||
12/02/2007 06:58 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
They are just jealous they won't get the gift basket.
Lebanese MPs are reportedly preparing a petition requesting an amendment of Article 49 of the constitution to allow the election of army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman. The daily An Nahar said Saturday the petition, which will be signed by 10 MPs, was welcomed by Saad Hariri, leader of the biggest parliamentary bloc. It said Hariri assured Speaker Nabih Berri that he supports any "way out" of the political stalemate.
An Nahar said the petition, if approved, will have to go to cabinet for endorsement, a move that could face obstacles since Berri and the opposition do not recognize Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government. It said Berri authorized MP Robert Ghanem to prepare a study on a constitutional amendment mechanism.
An Nahar uncovered that a meeting in Ain al-Tineh between the Hezbollah and Amal commands took place Thursday evening in a bid to reach a united stance toward Suleiman's election. An Nahar quoted Berri as saying during the meeting that it is not in the interest of the Shiites to face up to Suleiman's election. "If there will be opposition to Suleiman , let it come from other than the Shiites" Berri said.
This article starring:
Fouad Siniora
Michel Suleiman
Nabih Berri
Robert Ghanem
Saad Hariri
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
The tents in downtown Beirut stand almost empty, their roofs newly reinforced with plastic covers for winter after the old ones fell apart. As stray cats snatch scraps of food, nearby shops and cafes starve for customers. A year after the Hezbollah-led opposition set up the so-called "tent city," the protest camp outside Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's headquarters has failed to unseat him. But it still stands, choking Beirut's once-vibrant downtown, and testifying to the long standoff between the U.S.-backed government and the opposition supported by Syria and Iran, a conflict that has thrown the country into its worst political crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.
Now, there's hope the tent city could be dismantled , if Lebanon's politicians can agree on a new president to fill the void left when pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term ended Nov. 23.
After months of deadlock over the presidency, some major factions have backed putting army chief Gen. Michel Suleiman in the post, boosting prospects for a deal.
Lebanon's complex politics don't make things easy: The constitution must be changed to allow a sitting commander to serve as president, a potentially contentious issue. A parliament session that had been planned for Friday was put off until Dec. 7 to give time for an amendment.
The tent protest began long before the presidential crisis arose and many expect that an agreement on a president would lead to its removal. In the meantime, the Lebanese capital's commercial heart suffers. The tents occupy two main squares in downtown Beirut _ Riyad Solh square and Martyrs' Square. Gone are the hundreds of thousands of opposition activists who rallied at the camp in its first weeks, shouting "down with Siniora" through loudspeakers. The maze of dozens of tents remains home to a skeleton staff of Hezbollah security agents and is surrounded by razor wire and armed troops to separate it from Siniora's office.
Together they have turned downtown into a ghost town at night, in sharp contrast to the recent past, when it was bustling with tourists and Lebanese alike who came to eat, drink, smoke waterpipes, stroll on newly rebuilt elegant streets and shop in fashionable boutiques. Now, people stay away for a range of reasons, the tent city is an eyesore, the traffic flow has been disrupted, and, of course, security concerns. Some businesses have gone bust or moved elsewhere. Those that remain have laid off employees and are barely operating. Business leaders are screaming for help after enduring a year of lost commerce and piling bills. "Before we used to say it is a show of democracy, but no one thought this could last a year," Tony Salameh, owner of a chic department store, said of the tent city. "The Arab tourists are no longer coming. Businesses are in despair and are moving out."
He and a group of about 200 business owners and employees recently staged a protest of their own, carrying banners reading "Have Mercy on Your Brothers and Families" and "Hands Off the Heart of Beirut."
This article starring:
Emile Lahoud
Fouad Siniora
Michel Suleiman
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
Suleman=Solomon, hope he lives up to his namesake.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/02/2007 13:21 Comments ||
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US President George W Bush's stepped up determination to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict within a year appears to have an underlying goal of stemming Iran's growing influence in the region. Bush closely tied the need to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to counter rising extremism in the region during his speech at the Middle East conference in Annapolis, Maryland this week, where he secured a deal between Israeli and Palestinians to resume negotiations.
"The battle is underway for the future of the Middle East," Bush said. "And we must not cede victory to the extremists, with their violent actions and contempt for human life." By focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Bush in Annapolis brought together Sunni Arab states who share Washington's concern about increasing extremism and Iranian power in the region. "The Israeli-Palestinian issue is the driver of regional politics, so the idea is to turn that into a plus by decreasing Iranian influence," said Daniel Byman, a Middle East expert at the Brookings Institute, a centre-left Washington think tank.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2007 00:00 ||
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The alliance between General Michel Aoun, MP Michel Murr and MP Elias Skaff is falling apart, as was evident during a meeting last week between the leaders of the Reform and Change parliamentary bloc. According to eyewitnesses , Aoun was very critical of MP Michel Murr and attacked him personally for visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and proclaiming his support to the government. "How dare you declare a political position that is completely different from our position and inconsistent with our political path, which we have agreed to since the beginning of our commitment to the formation of the bloc . This gives the impression of lack of harmony within the bloc as if each one of us is going in a different direction. I do not ever accept this behavior... I will not accept the philosophy of taking independent paths." Aoun told Murr.
Murr angrily responded by saying: "I do not accept at all such a talk from you. Before opening your mouth and talking about a change in our position you should stick to our agreements and not strike deals with your buddies and relatives behind our backs. As an ally I have the right to take positions that are consistent with my own convictions and beliefs. I have never let you down, I have supported you in the last election, you know this and everybody knows this very well." Murr added
Here Aoun interjected by saying "you know we are against the government of Siniora, you know we are constantly attacking Siniora and calling his government 'illegitimate', how dare you tell the media that you support his government?"
Murr angrily responded to Aoun by saying " during the previous meeting you declared the position of the bloc to the media without ever discussing this with us. Look here he added : The main issue at this time is the election of a new president and the nomination of Major General Suleiman for the presidency of Lebanon , and everyone knows, I was the first to put forward the name of the commander of the army and encountered opposition from you because you are against this proposal. I want to say now frankly, I am back and I support this idea despite the position taken by you, because I know you do not support the commander of the army." Murr then looked around and said " there are colleagues in the bloc that support General Suleiman. "
Here MP Elias Skaff responded by saying: "My bloc supports the candidacy of the army commander and we want to get the country out of this political vacuum." Following the heated disagreement General Aoun abruptly left the meeting and went outside to talk to the media.
This article starring:
Elias Skaff
Fouad Siniora
General Suleiman
Michel Aoun
Michel Murr
Posted by: Fred ||
12/02/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Aoun is only out for Aoun. Sounds like his "cult of personality" has just one member
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/02/2007 10:02 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Saudi clerics are not doing enough to discourage militancy among Saudi youth, including those who want to fight in Iraq, Interior Minister 
Turkeys President Abdullah Gul has approved the sackings of seven military personnel suspected of Islamist leanings, the military General Staff said, in a move that may help ease secularist reservations about him. 
LAHORE, Pakistan - The candidacy of former prime minister Nawaz Sharifs brother was rejected on Saturday because of pending criminal charges against him, Pakistan election authorities said. 
Pakistan on Friday called for translating the promises of the peace process, most recently expressed at a meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, into action to achieve a Palestinian state that would settle the Middle East conflict. We hope the Annapolis meeting will be the beginning of the end of the tragedy of Palestine and the dawn of peace in the Holy Land, Ambassador Munir Akram, speaking on behalf of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), told the UN General Assembly. Speaking in a debate on the Middle East situation, he said the Islamic countries had participated in the Annapolis conference at the invitation of the US to signal their commitment to peace between Israel and Palestine.
An angry Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badwai Sunday offered to resign if it was proved that his country was engaged in an ethnic cleansing of its Indian minority. At the same, Abdullah admitted that people of Indian origin in Malaysia do face "social problems" but added that the authorities were with the community, Malaysian media reported. Abdullah was reacting to the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) statement that the government was carrying out ethnic cleansing of the Indians in Malaysia.
Lebanese MPs are reportedly preparing a petition requesting an amendment of Article 49 of the constitution to allow the election of army commander Gen. 
The tents in downtown Beirut stand almost empty, their roofs newly reinforced with plastic covers for winter after the old ones fell apart. As stray cats snatch scraps of food, nearby shops and cafes starve for customers. A year after the Hezbollah-led opposition set up the so-called "tent city," the protest camp outside Prime Minister 
The alliance between General 
