Al Qaeda is expanding its reach, recruiting a new wave of international terrorists in northern Africa who will wind up in Iraq, intelligence officials tell FOX News.
The area known as the Sahel, which runs from Niger in the south to Morocco in the north, is just miles from Spain, which offers a gateway to and from Europe. In this vast no-man's land, Al Qaeda's North African franchise, known as Al Qaeda in the Lands of Islamic Maghreb, is training new operatives. Photos obtained exclusively by Fox News show just how big Al Qaeda's operation is in the Sahel. Images show hundreds of AK-47s, mortar shells and heavy machine guns capable of taking down aircraft. These weapons were stolen from the army of Mauritania in northwest Africa.
According to an intelligence report, Al Qaeda has smuggled up to 800 AK-47s into the region over the past two years to supply training camps. "They train in the desert, return to Morocco and then plan attacks," said a senior intelligence official who asked not to be named. "One hundred percent of new recruits go straight to Iraq."
Al Qaeda's activity in Northern Africa are well known. In 2007, there were four major homicide bombings targeting Algeria's government and police headquarters. One of those attacks was an attempted assassination of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika . He survived, but more than 50 others were killed. In Morocco, Al Qaeda was believed to be responsible for a failed double-homicide bombing at a Spanish cultural center and the U.S. consulate. This time, only the bombers were killed.
Intelligence officials say Al Qaeda is now using the Moroccan city of Tetouan, with a population of 400,000, as a main recruitment site. They say once the new recruits are trained, an overwhelming number of Al Qaeda fighters go to Iraq and become homicide bombers.
"Passport please."
"Here."
"Sayyyy, you're an Algerian, aren't you?"
"Why yes, yes I am."
"Thought so." [BANG-BANG-BANG]
"Rosebud."
During an annual threat assessment hearing in the U.S. Senate this month, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell warned of Al Qaeda's increased activity. "Al Qaeda's North Africa affiliate, known as Al Qaeda in the Lands of Islamic Maghreb, that group is active in North Africa and is extending its target set to include U.S. and Western interests," McConnell said.
U.S. intelligence estimates that Algeria now has at least 800 Al Qaeda members in Africa; European intelligence puts that number at 1,200.
This comes as Usama bin Laden has issued recent audiotaped recordings encouraging recruits to unite and launch attacks against Western and Arab government targets.
While the gathering of intelligence has foiled several attacks in Northern Africa and Europe, one intelligence official cautioned there's always a new threat emerging. "We are doing our best to stop attacks but you never know fully what you might be waking up to each day."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
The area known as the Sahel, which runs from Niger in the south to Morocco in the north, is just miles from Spain, which offers a gateway to and from Europe.
Was gonna say something about that, but nevermind.
"One hundred percent of new recruits go straight to Iraq."
Giving them a chance to fulfill their jihad studies in an area set up to deal with this. Bet they stand out like a hayseed in an art museum too. Rather than them sitting around the projects with idle hands trying to figure out the next car-b-que etc.
As for the desert camps I seem to remember a scene from Patriot Games unless we are watching ants traveling to/from a hill...both I like.
Egyptian police rounded up and arrested Wednesday 70 more senior members and potential election candidates from the banned Muslim Brotherhood in the latest crackdown on the country's largest opposition movement, the group and a security official said.
At dawn, the security forces stormed the homes of senior Brotherhood members in five Egyptian provinces, including Cairo, a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. The detained were arrested on charges of joining a banned group in an attempt to revive its activities, the official said. The Brotherhood, which posted the names of the 70 detained on its Web site, said the arrests meant to prevent the group from running the city council elections on April 4.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood
#1
After last weekend's photo ops and elabote "i support and love you all, man" BS, I haven't seen anything about Cindy, the M. B.'s pin-up doll. Has she left the coutry?
#2
Nah, she's just run out of things crazy enough to notice, hard to escalate eachand every time. soon you run out of "Crazy enough to get released, but Enough to make headlines".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/21/2008 19:22 Comments ||
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Via JihadWatch
A prestigious Islamic school in London was forced to shred 2,000 textbooks used to poison pupils' minds with lessons of hate, a former teacher claimed yesterday.
Colin Cook, who taught English at the King Fahad Academy for 18 years, told a tribunal how "incompetent" Ofsted inspectors reported that the school's teaching of Islamic studies was "mostly good". But their report was wildly inaccurate, he said, because pupils as young as five were being taught by rote from Arabic textbooks describing Jews as "monkeys" and Christians as "pigs".
Mr Cook said that when he exposed the racist teaching, the school's head Dr Sumaya Alyusuf lied on television, insisting that hateful passages had never been taught.
Under public pressure the Academy eventually agreed to destroy 2,000 books but photocopied them first for future use, he told the tribunal.
The school, in Acton, West London, opened in 1985 for the children of Saudi diplomats and is funded and controlled by the Saudi government. Its 1,250 pupils have included the five children of jailed claw-handed cleric Abu Hamza and those of Abu Qatada, who was said to be Osama Bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe.
Posted by: ed ||
02/21/2008 08:36 ||
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#1
Who funds these schools pupils as both Hamza and Qatada are in prison???
British taxpayer as per usual or our allies???the Saudis!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
02/21/2008 10:16 Comments ||
Top||
#2
That's what "Contempt of Court" is designed for, fine them 1,000 per copy for violating the court's ruling.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/21/2008 12:46 Comments ||
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THE wife of the terrorist who sponged £20,352 a year off the taxpayer while plotting to behead a squaddie will STILL collect benefits. Exhibit #1 why Britain can't equip it's soldiers and public services are collapsing.
Evil Parvis Khans wife Mahnaz has vowed to stand by him even though he may never be freed after being jailed for a minimum 14 years on Monday. Fanatic Khan, 37, raked in dole and other benefits totalling £1,696 a month even though he had a full-time job with al-Qaeda. His wife will still be entitled to nearly all of the payouts. She is looking after their four children and can collect £160 full-time carers allowance for Khans elderly mother Taj. Mahnaz would not comment yesterday at the family home in Alum Rock, Birmingham.
Antiterror cops who bugged the house heard Khan brutalising his kids, aged eight to one. The evil Islamist made his five-year-old son chant his love for Osama bin Laden on pain of a beating. Khan was jailed at Leicester Crown Court for plotting to kidnap and behead a British Muslim soldier. He also supplied warfare equipment to his al-Qaeda bosses killing and maiming British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Photo of Parvis Khan at link. Very prominent islamic forehead and aimpoint.
This article starring:
al-Qaeda in Britain
PARVIS KHAN
al-Qaeda in Britain
Posted by: ed ||
02/21/2008 08:14 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Britain
#1
Most muslims in UK slag off UK/US but are happy to sit on their behind and take benefits instead of improving society!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
02/21/2008 9:22 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Just part of The Jihad...
A terrorist caged for life yesterday for plotting to behead a squaddie was sponging £20,352-a-year from the taxpayer.
Evil dad of four Parvis Khan, 37, raked in dole and other benefits totalling £1,696 a month.
The fanatic even moved his elderly mother here separating her from his dad in Pakistan just to claim the £640-a-month carers allowance.
He crowed to fellow members of his five-man terror cell in Birmingham: When you take from the Kufar it makes you feel happy. Kufar is an offensive term for non-Muslims.
#7
He's got the forehead callus of the "true believer".
I wonder if he realises that is a wonderful target bull?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/21/2008 12:49 Comments ||
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#8
In KY that's called a "punk knot" and you get it for running your mouth at the wrong guy. Prolly a Bobby that wasn't in the mood for any bullshit that day.
#9
Look at it this way, Parvis. With those nice concrete prison floors and at least 14 years to practice, you'll get a prayer knot that'll be the envy of Zawahiri himself...
Hundreds of supporters of Egyptian-born Muslim cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi protested Wednesday in Qatar Britain's decision to deny the influential preacher entry for medical treatment on grounds he supports terorrism.
Around 200 hundred people shouted slogans and recited prayers in front of the British embassy in Qatar's capital Doha, declaring that the 81-year old cleric, who is a trustee of the Oxford University Center for Islamic Studies and chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, is not a terrorist. "Qaradawi is someone who has always worked to promote dialogue and understanding among different faiths," said Muhammad Sawalha, president of the British Muslim Initiative and one of the protesters in Doha on Wednesday. "He has never supported terrorism, on the contrary, he has condemned it publicly many times."
Britain announced February 6 that it had refused to issue a visa to Qaradawi, saying it would not tolerate visitors seeking to justify terorrism.
This article starring:
MUHAMAD SAWALHA
British Muslim Initiative
YUSEF AL QARADAWI
Learned Elders of Islam
British Muslim Initiative
European Council for Fatwa and Research
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Global Jihad
Young immigrant women who have lived in Finland for a number of years, are most likely to face conflicts between norms of Finnish society and their own culture. Women like these are the ones that most frequently contact Monika - Naiset liitto, a multicultural organisation set up ten years ago to help immigrant women and children who face domestic violence, says Reet Nurmi, the organisation's executive director.
Nurmi defines honour-related violence as actions perpetrated by those who feel that a woman's behaviour has hurt the honour of her husband or family. There are no precise figures on the frequency of the problem. Monika-Naiset was contacted 28 times last year over alleged honour-related violence.
According to the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare, domestic conflicts involving issues of honour have emerged among immigrants from countries such as Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Afghanistan. Reet Nurmi says that the police do not always know how to investigate the cultural factors behind acts of violence.
Honour killings have taken place in Finland, Nurmi says. "Naturally, they do not go directly into the knowledge of the media, bot women have told about them."
However, Kari Tolvanen of the violent crimes unit of the Helsinki Police denies that honour killings had taken place in Helsinki. He adds that all suspicious cases have been "thoroughly" investigated. "Some acts of violence linked with honour have been uncovered. For instance, we have worked with social welfare officials to hide a potential victim, a girl, from her own family." Tolvanen says that it is difficult to approach the cases, because immigrant communities are often very closed.
An immigrant woman living in Finland often becomes the victim of domestic violence when the perpetrator feels that his power is diminished. "A woman will want to go to work and earn her own money, or will not want to have any more children", Reet Nurmi says.
Immigrant women also know their rights better than before. Nevertheless, family violence is often not recognised, and it remains hidden. "If the women are asked if they have experienced violence, they might answer no - no bones have been broken and no shots were fired."
Some of the women want to leave their violent husbands quietly. "Making a criminal complaint involves crossing a big threshold. One's own position is always weak in a foreign country." The shelter maintained by Monika-Naiset has room for eight people, and there is a constant queue to get in.
Nurmi emphasises that resorting to violence is always the choice of an individual. Nevertheless, upbringing and cultural background are factors, which stay with a person even in a foreign country. Work to help immigrants integrate also helps prevent violence, Nurmi emphasises.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
02/21/2008 12:49 Comments ||
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#3
Or one particular type of immigrant?
That's the problem, innit?
Muslims immigrating en masse (at least relatively speaking) to Finland, who would have thought of that, only say 50 years ago, or even 30?
Without that population surplus being exported (with lots of afterthoughts by the thinking Learned Elders of Islam, even if the vast bulk of migrants are not consciouly aware of that, at least not beyond resentment and a sense of civilizational supremacy toward the host kufr societies) into european people's mainlands, islam wouldn't be a problem, actually.
There would be foreign challenges posed by the natives, when it comes to geopolitics, security,... but not that existential threat, ranging from subversion and cultural jihad, to quasi-population replacement through long-term birthrates & constant immigration, as for Belgium or France, or even Germany,... not to mention unrest and rampant criminality and other "frictions" (sex crimes, for one, or more generally anti-white violences, or even the ritual carBBQ).
I'm sorry to respectfully disagree with Wilders or Ali, but IMHO the problem is not islam, the problem is MUSLIMS.
#6
These fuckers have it all backwards, if MY daughter is attacked, MY "Honor" Requires THEIR death. (Daughter will help, she can shoot as well as I can.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/21/2008 19:17 Comments ||
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#7
Forgit to say "If they survive Daughter in the first place."
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/21/2008 19:36 Comments ||
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Former Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali would not be entitled to French state protection in the US even if she was to become a French citizen, reports ANP news service, quoting the French foreign affairs ministry.
The French government can only pay for security to citizens on home soil and to diplomats abroad, the foreign ministry is reported as saying in a statement on Wednesday. Diplomatic sources have confirmed that the French have made the situation clear to the Dutch government on an informal basis, says ANP.
#1
She would be worth her weight in gold to the US if she would come here to be used as a honey trap. We could use her name to catch any number of terrorists in the US.
First we would put her in the regular federal WPP, so she would be out of harm's way. Then the feds could set up *several* traps in the US, to catch Muslim men intending to kill her. Then let the word slip out of where she *might* be.
Each trap would be an isolated house in a rural area, where you would have to select the exact route six or seven times, or you would go somewhere else. This clearly establishes the *intent* to try to get to her.
Next, the rural house is located in overlapping "no weapons" special zones. This means that even possession of a weapon is a serious federal offense there.
About the only building anywhere near the house is a gas station run by a federal agent. The gas station would surreptitiously have a weight scale, to tell if the car is possibly a car bomb, cameras to examine its undercarriage, and explosive sniffing sensors.
Hell, they might even set up a giant concealed fluoroscope to scan the car unawares.
Once they arrive near the house, they are under intense camera surveillance. But everything is set up so that they have the opportunity to break a multitude of federal laws.
Put up houses like that on the East coast, near Detroit, in Texas, probably two or three in California, etc.
To make things extra sweet, they might even say that Salman Rushdie is also there, and the two are shacking up.
#2
I like the general plan, but you can do this without involving Hirsi at all, just say she's using said house as a base between appearances, they'll try to set a trap for when she returns, GOTCHA.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/21/2008 12:54 Comments ||
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#3
You guys are diabolical. I like it!
but you can bet that if the MSM caught wind of it, Chopper 5 News-Action-Eye-In-The-Sky would be there and blow the whole thing.
The new government is likely to be formed in the first week of March, learnt Daily Times Tuesday in an exclusive interview with caretaker Home Minister Brigadier (retd) Akhtar Zamin.
Zamin said that the election commission will issue its notice within three to four days. Later, the governor of Sindh on the behest of the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, will give a proposal to form the government in Sindh to those parties who have won the majority. This will be done within the first week of March, speculated Zamin. We will resign one day before the new government takes oath, said Zamin, adding that he was glad with how the election had turned out.
The retired brigadier said that there was a lot of work he can do even after handing over responsibility of his post to the newly elected government. To hold transparent, creatable and peaceful elections was basically the aim of the caretaker government, and we have succeeded. I would like to thank all the party leaders and their workers for their peaceful participation in the elections. I would also like to extend a special thanks to the law enforcement agencies and all security personals for playing their part.
Zamin said he hoped his last few days in the office were also peaceful. The caretaker government was set up on November 3, 2007. During its time in power three major incidents occurred in Karachi including the twin blasts on Benazir Bhuttos convoy on October 18, the September 27 riots as a reaction Bhuttos assassination and the blast at Quaidabad at the beginning of Muharram.
However, any major terrorist attack during Muharram and the elections was averted while three outlaw groups were arrested whose members belonged to banned militant outfits including Jandullah, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Harkatul Mujahideen, Tehreek-e-Islami and Lashkar-e-Mohammadi. Arms, explosives, suicide jackets and poison was also recovered in a huge quantity.
Law enforcers will remain on high alert: Police and rangers will remain on high alert because of security concerns. Around 27 army battalions, that were called out incase of an emergency during the elections, will also remain on stand-by till Wednesday evening. It will then be decided what to do with them, said Zamin.
Zamin said that prizes will be distributed to those law enforcers who played a special role in maintaining law and order. He also appealed to the upcoming government that opportunities should be provided to the police on the basis of merit and not to make them a part of politics.
Zamin added that those political parties who have lost should not act like spoiled sports and let the victors celebrate in peace. He appealed to all political parties to remove their banners, flags, posters and holdings which they put up during their campaigns. Furthermore, cases against political workers who were arrested on Election Day will not be taken back.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday tha the new parliament would decide the future of President Pervez Musharraf. He was addressing a press conference at Zardari House here after a two-day meeting of his partys Central Executive Committee. The people of Pakistan have spoken and the world has heard them. But we want all the decisions to be taken at the forum of parliament, he said to a question. We are fighting for democracy and want to make the parliament independent and strong.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Lawyers representing Pakistan urged a Swiss court on Wednesday to prosecute Pakistan Peoples Party Co-chairman Asif Zardari, accused of stashing 60 million Swiss francs ($55 million) in the Alpine country.
At a hearing, Swiss lawyers for Pakistan argued that money-laundering charges against Zardari should proceed in Geneva in spite of an amnesty, the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), signed by President Pervez Musharraf last year. They said the Pakistani Supreme Courts (SC) decision on the NRO was expected in a few weeks.
This dossier is a bomb for Zardari, Pakistans Swiss lawyer Dominique Henchoz told the Geneva court. His name appears on each page as the beneficial owner of offshore companies. Some 60 million Swiss francs have been frozen (in Geneva accounts), she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Secretary General Maulana Fazlur Rehman says the religious alliance would prefer to sit on opposition benches and cooperate with political parties for legislation.
That's when they're not walking out, of course.
The MMA faced severe drubbing in Mondays parliamentary election. Qazi Hussain Ahmads Jamaat-e-Islami, an MMA component party, had boycotted the elections.
That was a move of sheer brilliance, wasn't it?
Poll results shows people have rejected the idea to boycott the polls, Rehman told former NWFP chief minister Akram Khan Durrani here on Tuesday. Ahmads move to boycott elections has caused severe loss to the MMAs credibility. He too must have observed this.
Not that he'd admit such a thing...
The MMA leader vowed not to challenge election results, although he blamed the government for creating panic among political parties that kept them from effective campaigning.
This article starring:
Akram Khan Durrani
MAULANA FAZLUR REHMAN
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
QAZI HUSEIN AHMED
Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
Interior Minister Lt Gen (r) Hamid Nawaz Khan claimed on Wednesday that Indias top spy agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan.
"Yeah. We can tell it's them from all the turbans and Korans that are involved."
The government has broken the back of terrorists and their activities have been confined to the Tribal Areas, Nawaz told a press conference here.
If you define the "Tribal Areas" as including Karachi and Rawalpindi and Lahore. And Barcelona...
Government forces and militants in the Tribal Areas have been fighting each other after the September 2006 government-Taliban peace pact collapsed in July last year. A large number of terrorists have been arrested with the help of the army and other law-enforcement agencies. Many other have been either killed or driven out of the country, Nawaz said, adding that militants were surrendering or fleeing the Tribal Areas.
"Many others we've surrendered to."
The minister was satisfied with security arrangements made for the month of Muharram and Mondays parliamentary elections. Unfortunately, he added, 18 people were killed and 186 injured in clashes between rival political parties. Other than this, no major violence incident took place, he said.
"18 deaders? In Pakistain? Barely to be noticed."
This article starring:
Hamid Nawaz Khan
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, former railways minister, on Wednesday said the coming parliament would not stay for a long, as there existed little chances that President Musharraf and new assemblies could work together.
Addressing a news conference here, he said the governments failure to handle Lal Masjid issue besides power and gas crises were the causes of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaids (PML-Q) crushing defeat in Mondays elections.
Rashid, who suffered defeat in NA-55 and NA-56 constituencies of Rawalpindi, said: I am considering to make my own political party but before taking a decision I will consult Chaudhrys. He said he had no intention to quit politics. However, he added, he would quit politics at the peak of his political career. He said though President Musharraf was keen to work with the coming parliament, but some politicians did not want to let the system work for a long period.
Accepting the PML-Q defeat in the elections, he said the polls were held in a free, fair and transparent manner enabling the nation to bring a change. We are defeated due to our own deeds like ghee, atta, electricity and gas crises. The Lal Masjid issue is the most important reason behind our defeat, he conceded.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Takfir wal-Hijra
#1
Lal Masjid might also be a major reason for the Islamofascists' defeat.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Powerful Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is expected to extend a six-month ceasefire by his Mehdi Army militia, two senior officials in his movement confirmed for the first time on Thursday.
They said Sadr had issued a declaration to preachers to be read during midday prayers on Friday at mosques affiliated with the cleric, whose militia was blamed for fuelling sectarian violence with minority Sunni Muslims in 2006 and 2007.
U.S. officials say the ceasefire has helped to sharply reduce violence in Iraq, and an extension of the truce would be widely welcomed.
"The general idea is that there will be an extension," said one senior official in Sadr's movement in Baghdad who declined to be identified or go into detail on the declaration. "Sayed (Sadr) has distributed sealed envelopes to the imams of the mosques to be read tomorrow. They cannot be opened before tomorrow."
Another senior official in Sadr's movement, speaking from the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf where Sadr has offices, said the cleric would likely extend the truce for another six months.
Sadr's spokesman, Salah al-Ubaidi, has previously said the cleric would issue a statement around February 23 if he was renewing the truce, while silence would mean it was over. Distribution of Sadr's statement to religious leaders seems to indicate the anti-American cleric will renew the truce.
TRUCE DISPUTE
Besides involvement in bitter tit-for-tat sectarian attacks, the Mehdi Army has battled U.S. and Iraqi forces and clashed with rival Shi'ite factions. The militia launched two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004. Many Mehdi Army members and Sadrist political leaders want the truce scrapped, accusing Iraqi security forces of exploiting it to detain Sadrists, especially in Shi'ite southern Iraq, where rival Shi'ite factions are locked in a struggle for power.
U.S. military commanders say violence in Iraq has dropped 60 percent since June 2007. They have attributed that to Sadr's ceasefire, the deployment of 30,000 extra U.S. soldiers, and Sunni Arab tribal leaders turning against al Qaeda.
U.S. officials have said they want the government to take advantage of the lull in fighting to continue making progress on laws to reconcile majority Shi'ite and minority Sunni Muslims.
Sadr called the truce after deadly clashes between his militia, Iraqi security forces and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a rival Shi'ite faction, in the holy city of Kerbala. Analysts say he sought to impose order on the unrulier elements of his militia, some of whom have degenerated into gangsterism and organized crime. It is a powerful force in Baghdad and the southern oil hub of Basra.
The U.S. military has praised Sadr for the truce but pursued what it calls "rogue" elements of the Mehdi Army. It has accused Iran of arming, training and funding these groups.
The International Crisis Group this month warned U.S. forces not to provoke al Sadr into revoking the ceasefire, which it said would be a major setback for Iraq's security gains.
Who the hell are they to warn us?
The son of a Shi'ite cleric killed under Saddam Hussein, Sadr led two uprisings against the U.S. occupation in 2004. He quit the ruling Shi'ite coalition in 2007 after the government failed to set a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal.
#3
Given Moqky's ... warm ... relations with the mullahs next door, I'm guessing they don't want to give Petraeus/Bush an opportunity to stomp them hard prior to the election.
Al-Qaeda and other militants in Iraq have shifted their sights to the growing number of U.S.-backed neighborhood security groups, quadrupling the number of attacks on the lightly armed volunteers over recent months.
Al-Qaeda calls the local security forces "the most dangerous enemy" it faces and ordered more attacks against the groups, according to a document captured last month. The letter from an al-Qaeda regional commander to a subordinate was dated Jan. 3, 2008.
The letter was among a series of documents found last month by U.S. soldiers in a network of tunnels in Samarra, a city north of Baghdad, according to Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, a U.S. military spokesman. The letter detailed recent al-Qaeda attacks and urged more assaults on the volunteer groups. "They're going after them as enemy No. 1," Smith said.
The number of attacks against the local security groups increased to 100 last month from about 25 in November and about 50 in December, according to Multi-National Force-Iraq.
The statistics indicate the effectiveness of the attacks is declining. In December, more than half the attacks resulted in death or injury. Last month, 35% of the attacks resulted in casualties.
Tribal leaders have been the targets of assassination attempts in the past, but al-Qaeda is shifting to broader attacks on rank-and-file members of the groups. Shiite extremists also target the groups.
The volunteers, whose ranks have grown to more than 91,000, helped reduce violence in Iraq by establishing security and separating al-Qaeda from Sunni support. About 80% of the volunteers are Sunnis. They have also improved intelligence information, since many volunteers are former insurgents.
Smith said the number of volunteers continues to grow and recruitment has not been hurt by the attacks, most of which have been in Baghdad and Diyala province, north of the capital.
In the Baghdad area, the number of volunteers increased to 26,634 from 19,748 over the past two months, according to the U.S. division based there.
Col. Raad Ali Hassan, commander of a volunteer group in Baghdad's Ghazaliyah neighborhood, said the volunteers are a threat to militants because they know the neighborhoods and can point out al-Qaeda and other extremists.
In the past week, there were two roadside bomb attacks on members of the Ghazaliyah security group, said Army Capt. Rob Gillespie, a company commander based in the neighborhood. One of the attacks killed a volunteer.
Hassan said the attacks have not hurt recruitment or intimidated members of the group. "Every day the number of volunteers is increasing," he said.
The local security movement started more than a year ago among tribal leaders in Anbar, a mostly Sunni province in western Iraq. Tribal leaders turned against al-Qaeda and teamed up with U.S. and Iraqi forces.
The movement, initially called the Awakening, spread to other parts of Iraq, with the support and encouragement of the U.S. military. The U.S. military formalized the movement and pays the volunteers about $350 a month.
The U.S. military has spent $148 million on the program since its inception. "They are the first line of defense," Smith said. "If you're trying to attack (local security groups), it is not that hard to do."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
This tactic of killing ordinary Iraqis has been working so well for AQI that they've decided to expand it? They're betting intimidation will trump revenge, but for that to happen they'll have to prove they are capable of killing anybody, whenever they want (Hussein was able to, but I think the people are getting over transferring the effect to just any thug wannabee.)
#2
Saddam was working within the structure of tribal obligation and revenge. AQI are operating outside that structure. And this time the tribes are backed by US air power and the US Marine Corps.
In a nationwide campaign launched Tuesday, the Iraqi Interior Ministry ordered police to round up beggars, itinerants and the mentally disabled, fearing they could be unwittingly used as suicide bombers by insurgent groups. "We want to prevent al-Qaeda from using the mentally handicapped to kill innocent people," said Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, referring to the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The Iraqi government has said that a number of recent suicide attacks were carried out by the mentally impaired. Iraqi and U.S. officials said a suicide bombing this month that killed nearly 100 people was unwittingly carried out by two women with Down syndrome.
Khalaf said Iraqi law already prohibits beggars and the mentally disabled from "hanging around in the streets." He said beggars younger than 18 would be brought to shelters and adult professional panhandlers would be charged with crimes. The mentally disabled would be taken to hospitals, he said. "These people with mental defects can cause a lot of damage if they are left on the streets and taken advantage of by al-Qaeda," Khalaf said. "Their proper place is in the hospitals."
Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith, a U.S. military spokesman, said in an e-mail that the U.S.-led coalition was "aware of the Ministry of Interior's efforts to try and protect homeless and mentally impaired citizens from becoming the unwitting victims of al-Qaeda in Iraq. It is our understanding that the MOI intends to transfer these, the most vulnerable of Iraq's people, to the Ministry of Work and Social Affairs."
The campaign got off to a slow start. News of the crackdown leaked out, Khalaf said, and all the beggars and mentally disabled people "disappeared" from the streets. "We couldn't arrest anybody because they were not available," he said. "But we will continue our campaign."
Also Tuesday, the trial of high-ranking former officials accused of letting Shiite militias use hospitals and ambulances to kill and kidnap civilians was postponed.
Judge Abdul Satar Ghafur al-Bayrkdar, the spokesman for the Iraqi judicial system, said the case would be delayed until March 2 because a number of witnesses failed to show up for the trial of Hakim al-Zamili, a former deputy minister of health, and Brig. Gen. Hamid Hamza Alwan Abbas al-Shamari, a former top security official for the ministry. Both are accused of having ties to the Mahdi Army, the powerful militia of anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
The case has been viewed as a test of the judicial system's ability to deal with senior officials, particularly Shiites whose support is crucial to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
In the evening, at least five Iraqi police officers were killed and 10 wounded when they came upon insurgents in a truck firing rockets and mortars at a U.S. military outpost in eastern Baghdad, U.S. officials said. The truck exploded after the insurgents left, causing the injuries. Three American troops were injured from rocket or mortar fire on the base, U.S. officials said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
You'd literally have to be a frickin retard to join Al-Qaida now.
#2
The two bomb mules may not have had Down's syndrome. They could just have been mentally disturbed but knew what they were doing. US: Bombers didn't have Down syndrome Lt. Gen. Abboud Qanbar, the chief Iraqi military commander in Baghdad, said soon after the attacks that photos of the women's heads showed they had Down syndrome, but he did not offer any other proof.
A U.S. military spokesman for the Baghdad area, Lt. Col. Steve Stover, also said at the time that medical experts with his division had examined the photos and agreed the women probably suffered from the genetic disorder. "They were both females and they both looked like they had Down syndrome," Stover said on Feb. 2.
A cell phone image of one of the heads viewed by The Associated Press was inconclusive.
There was speculation that the heads could have been distorted by the blast, leading police initially to believe they had Down syndrome.
On Wednesday, Smith backed away from the claim about Down syndrome while responding to a question concerning the psychiatric histories of the two bombers.
"Both had recently received psychiatric treatment for depression and/or schizophrenia. From what we know now there's no indication that they had Down syndrome," Smith said, citing records obtained by the military.
Posted by: ed ||
02/21/2008 8:31 Comments ||
Top||
#3
"This is a depressed schizophrenic homicide bomber free school zone"
Just not gentleman's billiards you see; with their sense of honour I am quite sure they will comply.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas quickly dismissed a top aide's call Wednesday for a unilateral declaration of statehood if negotiations with Israel fail. The Palestinians are committed to reaching a negotiated peace agreement this year, Abbas said in a statement. "If we are unable to do that... We will return to our Arab [brothers] to take the appropriate decision," he said.
Earlier in the day, Abbas's aide, Yasser Abed-Rabbo, said he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Kosovo, which on Sunday declared independence from Serbia.
This article starring:
YASER ABED RABO
Palestinian Authority
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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[3 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#1
BIGNEWSNETWORK > KOSOVO MUSLIMS FOLLOW A LAID-BACK ISLAM.
That sound Europe hears are Islamist hardliners = Radicalists saying, "IN YOUR DREAMS, EUROPE"???
#2
I think Abbas needs to have Israel's troops in the west bank to keep Hamas suppressed. If Fatah had to do this themselves it wouldn't work and Abbas would probably be assasinated within a month.
A top Palestinian official, arguing that Israel is stalling peace negotiations, said the Palestinian Authority should declare independence as Kosovo did. Yasser Abed Rabbo, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Voice of Palestine Radio that he does not expect any agreement with Israel this year, Voice of America reported. Abbas and Israeli officials disagreed. Abbas, in a statement, said he does expect an agreement by the end of the year.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said that unilateral independence has never been brought up in the negotiations. "It is not going to be easy," Regev said about the talks. "The issues on the table are difficult, but with hard work, and if both sides come to the table and are willing to make compromises, I believe it is possible to have such a deal. "
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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[1 views]
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#1
ION, BIGNEWSNETWORK > CHINA VIEW - USA DEMANDS TO SEE "ESSENCE" OF TAIWAN INDEPENDENCE, + SCHOLAR SUPPORTS NUCLEAR PLANT CONTRUCTION.
#2
Good, and like any adolescent who so declares their independence, you're now responsible for providing for yourself. Don't come knocking at our doors.
#4
This guy must be out of his mind. Doesn't he realize what he is saying! No more welfare checks!!! Quick put that idiot in a straitjacket! For his own protection.
#5
Of course, if Palestine were an independent country, shooting rockets would be an act of war. Israel would be free to respond to any attacks just as any sovereign country would. And they would not be obligated in any way to take care of the Palestinians.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
02/21/2008 16:22 Comments ||
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BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - An exiled Iranian opposition group claimed Wednesday that Tehran was speeding up a program to develop nuclear weapons. "The Iran regime entered a new phase in its nuclear project," said Mohammad Mohaddessin of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran.
The NCRI is the political wing of the People's Mujahedeen of Iran, which advocates the overthrow of government in Tehran. The Mujahedeen has been designated a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union as well as Iran.
Mohaddessin claimed that Tehran has established a command and research center near a Tehran university. And, he said, Iran is developing a nuclear warhead for use on medium-range missiles at a site on the southeast edge of Tehran. Mohaddessin also claimed that the regime obtained aid from North Korea.
It was not possible to independently verify the NCRI claims. Mohaddessin said his group got the information from "hundreds" of reports and sources from within the Iranian regime, whom he did not name. He said some of the sources are within the nuclear project itself.
An official of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said the agency was aware of the allegations. Mohaddessin said he had provided information to the IAEA on Tuesday.
Four years ago, the group disclosed information about two hidden nuclear sites in Iran. But much of the information it has presented since to support claims of a secret weapons program has not been publicly verified.
Posted by: Nick ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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[7 views]
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#1
Mohaddessin claimed that Tehran has established a command and research center near a Tehran university
Opposition group? Yeah riiight and HAMAS has a political wing. The NCRI are remnants of Saddams favorite terrorist group. When he was in power, the MEK received most of its financial support from the Iraqi regime. Their goal is to rule Iran under their Maoist/Islamic Cult leaders. Not only have they been caught flat-footed lying about so-called intelligence, this shifty bunch has been known to turn on anyone who they think stands in their way. You may remember, back in the 70s the MEK killed several U.S. soldiers and civilians working on defense projects in Iran because they were pissed off by U.S. support for the shah. Oh and there is that little episode where the MEK supported the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Funny how that still sticks in peoples craw.
#3
Let's screw around for a few years and debate the meaning of the word "proliferation" without end in the UN for at least 1000 hours. If we don't quit being a bunch of pussies and do something substantial we are going to have a bunch of crazy religious nutjobs with a nuke on our back.
Saudi Arabia is warning its citizens against traveling to Lebanon, the U.S. Embassy is urging Americans to be vigilant and French cultural centers in two major Lebanese cities have temporarily closed.
Lebanon's intractable political crisis is no longer business as usual not after the slaying last week of a top fugitive Hezbollah commander, Imad Mughniyeh.
The killing prompted the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, to declare "open war" against Israel, which Hezbollah and Iran accused in the assassination. Israel, which denied any role, went on high alert. A Hezbollah retaliation would most certainly draw Israel's wrath and risk igniting another war.
It also could sharpen Lebanon's internal turmoil between the Hezbollah-led opposition and the Western-backed government. Over the weekend, government and opposition supporters engaged in fistfights in the streets of Beirut in clashes that injured more than a dozen people and wrecked cars and shops the latest in frictions between the two camps.
And even though most recent incidents of violence have not touched foreigners and have been quickly quelled by the army, they have heightened fears across Lebanon and increased its sense of vulnerability.
They also evoked memories of the civil war, when fighting, bombings, kidnappings and assassinations drove most foreigners out. Plus, scenes from the devastating 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war when many scrambled to flee the country are still on people's minds.
The Saudi advisory, issued Monday, was clearly prompted by Mughniyeh's Feb. 12 killing in a car bombing in Syria and Hezbollah's subsequent retaliation threat. "There is a real Saudi fear ... that the entire region might slide into chaos if Nasrallah carried out his threat to retaliate," said Edmond Saab, executive editor of Lebanon's leading newspaper, An-Nahar.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
sadr will be the catalyst to another iran inspired subversion, the fix is in, Sadr forces will be used to ratchet up tension, attempting to undermining the positive Iraq momentum.
sadr will not be able to resist the spotlight....he's bought and paid for and soon he'll assume the role of titular useful idiot.
The Future Movement Parliament bloc of Akkar condemned the tragic shooting and the killing by the Syrian border guards of the Lebanese child inside the Lebanese territory Abbas Abbas 13, was shot and severely wounded Tuesday by the Syrian border guards and later died at the hospital.
Abbas Abbas was returning home after working on his farmland on the frontier when a Syrian border guard opened fire on him. "The bloc considers this grave incident as a violation of the Lebanese sovereignty and the Lebanese government to perform an immediate investigation The statement read
The deputies asked : Did the Syrian guards think Akkar is the occupied Golan and the Lebanese child an Israeli soldier ? Or is it and issue of Syrian terrorism against the Lebanese people on the eve of the International Tribunal ?
On Monday the Syrian intelligence forces and Syrian border guards invaded Lebanon and stormed the house of a Lebanese citizen, fired three bullets at him wounding him in his hand, elbow and hip . No explanations were given for both Syrian actions .
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Former MP Nasser Qandil, a staunch ally of Syria, on Tuesday accused Saudi Arabia of "conspiring against Lebanon" and supporting an Israeli aggression. Qandil made the charge in a statement to reporters after meeting vice president of the higher Shiite Islamic Council Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan. "We believe that an American-Israeli war is behind the door and it would be a continuity of the July (2006) war unfortunately the same countries that had planned, financed and executed the July aggression stand behind continuity of this war," Qandil said.
He noted that the assassination of Hezbollah's Imad Mughniyeh "strangely coincided with the declaration by a group of states about banning citizens from visiting Lebanon, as if the suspect is saying here I am."
Saudi Arabia on Monday issued a travel advisory urging citizens to avoid Lebanon due to the persisting situation. Qandil said citizens of such states that he did not mention by name "would not be treated for what their governments do." Restricting travel to Lebanon, according to Qandil, is a "serious indication that the decision to go to war has been taken." He warned Lebanese leaders against "hurling Lebanon in a new civil war that would change it into scorched earth."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Wednesday to express "outrage" over recent statements by Iranian officials calling for the destruction of Israel. In the hour-long conversation, Gillerman said it was "outrageous for a member state to use racist, Nazi-like statements against another member state."
In yet another verbal attack against Israel Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the Jewish state a "filthy bacteria" whose sole purpose was to oppress the other nations of the region. "The world powers established this filthy bacteria, the Zionist regime, which is lashing out at the nations in the region like a wild beast," the Iranian president told supporters at a rally in southern Iran.
Referring to last week's assassination of Hizbullah terror chief Imad Mughniyeh, the Iranian leader said that Israel "uses terror as a threat every day, and afterwards is happy and joyful."
Ahmadinejad's remarks followed similar statements last week by Gen. Muhammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, who wrote in a letter to Hizbullah head Hassan Nasrallah that he was convinced "that Hizbullah's might is increasing with every passing day, and that in the near future, we will witness the disappearance of this cancerous growth called Israel."
Following a letter sent Tuesday to the president of the Security Council by the Israeli Mission to protest threats by the Iranian officials against another member state, Gillerman asked to meet with the UN chief to personally express his outrage.
Ban agreed to meet on very short notice and said such statements were "unacceptable and unforgivable," according to Gillerman, who also stressed the need for a "quick and strong" resolution to prevent Iran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions.
Gillerman also used the opportunity to express "grave concern" about the situation in southern Lebanon, where there is a continued flow of arms to Hizbullah, and over the fact that kidnapped soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev are still being held without any sign of life.
Additionally, Gillerman discussed the incessant rocket attacks on Sderot and the "fear and plight of the people."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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In an unprecedented vitriolic attack on Hizbullah, a Saudi journalist on Wednesday called into question the Arab world's approach to the organization's chief, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, and his liaison with the Islamic Republic of Iran. In an opinion piece in the London-based daily Al-Hayat, journalist Mussad al Hamis asks whether Nasrallah "wishes to be the Al Capone of Lebanon and the Arabs, to sit in his lair and receive orders from the Great Satan [Iran], and carry them out in exchange for a fistful of dollars."
Hamis blames Nasrallah of being too quick to name Israel the perpetrator of the assassination of Hizbullah terror chief Imad Mughniyeh, and points out that even Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem refused to lay blame until the investigation of the attack was completed.
Attacking Nasrallah's declaration of an "open war" with Israel, Hamis writes: "What war does he mean? Does it make sense to put the decision on whether to declare war or establish peace in Lebanon and the region in the hands of a man like Hassan Nasrallah? If such a war were to break out no one but Allah knows when and how it will end."
Nasrallah issued the threat in a videotaped address at Mughniyeh's funeral last week. "You have killed Hajj Imad outside the natural battlefield," Nasrallah said, in reference to Hizbullah's contention that it only fights Israel within Lebanon and along their common border. "You have crossed the borders," he continued. "With this murder, its timing, location and method... If you want this kind of open war, let the whole world listen: Let this war be open."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The whole world is bored with your crap, fat boy, and rooting for the Jews to kick your ass.
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.
Egyptian police rounded up and arrested Wednesday 70 more senior members and potential election candidates from the banned Muslim Brotherhood in the latest crackdown on the country's largest opposition movement, the group and a security official said. 
THE wife of the terrorist who sponged £20,352 a year off the taxpayer while plotting to behead a squaddie will STILL collect benefits. 
Hundreds of supporters of Egyptian-born Muslim cleric 
Young immigrant women who have lived in Finland for a number of years, are most likely to face conflicts between norms of Finnish society and their own culture. Women like these are the ones that most frequently contact Monika - Naiset liitto, a multicultural organisation set up ten years ago to help immigrant women and children who face domestic violence, says Reet Nurmi, the organisation's executive director.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday tha the new parliament would decide the future of President Pervez Musharraf. He was addressing a press conference at Zardari House here after a two-day meeting of his partys Central Executive Committee. The people of Pakistan have spoken and the world has heard them. But we want all the decisions to be taken at the forum of parliament, he said to a question. We are fighting for democracy and want to make the parliament independent and strong.
Lawyers representing Pakistan urged a Swiss court on Wednesday to prosecute Pakistan Peoples Party Co-chairman Asif Zardari, accused of stashing 60 million Swiss francs ($55 million) in the Alpine country.
Interior Minister Lt Gen (r) 
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, former railways minister, on Wednesday said the coming parliament would not stay for a long, as there existed little chances that President Musharraf and new assemblies could work together. 
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas quickly dismissed a top aide's call Wednesday for a unilateral declaration of statehood if negotiations with Israel fail. The Palestinians are committed to reaching a negotiated peace agreement this year, Abbas said in a statement. "If we are unable to do that... We will return to our Arab [brothers] to take the appropriate decision," he said. 
