[Yemen Post] Vice President Abu Rabu Mansour Hadi admitted on Wednesday that the government had suffered big losses during the sixth war on the Houthi rebellion in the far north that ended in a ceasefire early this year.
At a closed meeting with the ruling party leaders in Rima province, Hadi said the government spent about $ 3 billion on the war operations and that 3000 soldiers were killed and 14000 others maimed, a source, who attended the meeting told almasdaronline.com.
The website quoted the source, who asked not to be named, as saying that Hadi ordered to turn off recorders and videos before he revealed the losses, thrice the losses revealed in July.
Hadi also held the Joint Meeting Parties, the opposition, responsible for supporting the Houthi Group during the sixth war in Saada.
The government and the group reached in February this year a ceasefire ending a six-year war between them.
In July, a governmental report estimated the losses during the war in Saada at $ 850000, but the figures about the losses and casualties were not precise.
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12/24/2010 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The Sherlocks suspect that the recently recovered huge quantity of bullets in Bakagora village of Sherpur belonged to the Indian Orcs and similar vermin active in the bordering hilly villages.
Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan, chief of Rab intelligence wing, told The Daily Star that they suspected the ammunition belonged to Indian separatists and they left it behind while leaving their hideouts. He said operatives of United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa) were active in the area amid intensive drives but their network here is almost destroyed. The Ulfa train its operatives in the hilly bordering areas.
Many law enforcers and locals told The Daily Star that operatives of Ulfa have hideouts in the bordering villages in Sherpur. On the recovered bullets, the locals and Sherlocks said it is difficult to identify the people who had left those as no one, except for an 80-year-old, had a look at them in the dark.
On December 18, Jhenaigati police recovered 13,680 rifle bullets, equivalent to 57 packets of ammunition, in plastic sacks from an abandoned room of octogenarian Wasir Uddin around 7:00am.
A man with a knife threatened Wasir Uddin not to disclose that bullets have been hidden in his house when Wasir stepped out of his house hearing a sound in the adjacent room, said Jhenaigati upazila freedom fighters' commander Yousuf Harun.
Harun, also a neighbour of Wasir, said, "He [Wasir] rushed to my house when the criminals left. With a few other neighbours I whisked to Wasir's house and immediately informed the superintendent of police and the officer-in-charge of Jhenaigati Police Station over the cellphone."
OC Abdur Rauf of Jhenaigati Police Station said, "The bordering villages on hills are so remote that our men and logistics are not sufficient to keep vigil over the area after nightfall. Besides, there are herds of wild elephants to deal with. The Indian Orcs and similar vermin have been taking this advantage of their hideouts."
The OC also suspects that Ulfa operatives might have left the bullets.
Earlier in October last year, the Rapid Action Battalion recovered 10 Arges grenades from Jhenaigati and jugged three persons including two indigenous men.
After preliminary interrogation Rab Sherlocks said indigenous Pang Vang Sangma, 37, and Nipin Sangma, 25, of Gajni village in Jhenaigati collected the grenades from Indian separatists.
Locals and Ulfa intruders
Locals at some hilly villages in Jhenaigati upazila said they are living in constant fear. They cannot go out of home at night fearing Ulfa men. They fear that since the villagers have informed law enforcers of the abandoned ammunition, the Ulfa men may come back and take Dire Revenge™ on them.
The villagers alleged that although Indian Orcs and similar vermin kept intruding and living with indigenous families in the remote hilltop villages during the BNP-led four-party alliance government, local police and administration remained indifferent about it leaving the locals insecure.
The Orcs and similar vermin used to roam about at night and sometimes scared wild elephants using firearms.
Some villagers seeking anonymity said Ulfa separatists had taken shelter at Chhoto Gajni, Boro Gajni, Nakshi, Halchhati, Tilapara, Naukuchi and Bakakura villages of Jhenaigati during the four-party alliance government and started leaving the areas during the tenure of caretaker government.
It has been around three months since Ulfa operatives were last seen in the area, they added.
Another local wishing not to be named told The Daily Star that Ulfa operatives usually married into indigenous families and settled here. They, however, did not come to Bangalee neighbourhood, he added.
Hajiran, a middle aged poor woman, said on one evening three years ago, her son-in-law took his wife and one-year-old son for a walk and they went missing.
"After their disappearance, I came to know that my son-in-law was an Ulfa operative," she said, adding that he could not speak Bangla well but Hajiran agreed to marry her daughter off to the man as he was rich.
Several coppers said they also heard about Ulfa men disappearing with their wives and children from the country but no victim has ever reported that to police.
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[Bangla Daily Star] The opposition BNP has connection with domestic and international terrorist networks, alleged State Minister for Home Affairs Shamsul Haque Tuku.
"Hawa Bhaban had links with beturbanned goons and international terrorist outfits. Even now, they have the connections too," Tuku told UNB in his ministry yesterday when his attention was drawn to BNP Secretary General Khondoker Delwar Hossain's recent remarks.
Delwar on Wednesday expressed concern over the prime minister's reported remarks about possible subversive acts in the country as the trial of war criminals begins, alerting her ministers to remain vigil against it.
Such remarks by the premier at this time have created anxiety among the people, Delwar said.
People know well who patronised militancy and terrorism in the country, said Tuku.
About alleged torture on nabbed BNP politician Salauddin Qauder Chowdhury, he said SQ Chowdhury was not tortured physically under police custody. News of torture on him is 'false and baseless.' BNP's politics is based on falsehood and fabrication, he added.
BNP has been observing various programmes to protect Khaleda's cantonment house as well as to hamper trial of war criminals, Tuku alleged.
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A neighbour of three men arrested in Cardiff said that, after they were convicted of theft and drugs offences, they "went to prison as petty criminals and came out expressing extreme views".
Twelve men, mainly British nationals of Bangladeshi origin, were still being questioned by anti-terrorism officers last night following co-ordinated raids in the Welsh capital, London, Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham on Monday.
Sources said the gang was planning a "spectacular" attack on banks, shops and "iconic" sites in London.
The alleged cell was said to have been linked to the banned extremist group al-Muhajiroun and its offshoot Islam4UK, as well as Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical al-Qaeda preacher based in Yemen.
The neighbour of the three Cardiff men said he believed a "radical preacher" had "politicised" them in prison.
He claimed they had grown long beards while in jail and later handed out leaflets at the Jalalia mosque encouraging people not to vote in this year's general election, saying it was "unmuslim".
Muslim leaders said they had tipped off police about a group of extremists in the Welsh capital, where a total of five men, aged 23 to 28, were arrested.
They said they had stopped the group from holding meetings in mosques and informed police, but it was thought that MI5 was already aware of them. The group of about 15 to 20 young men was understood to have held a meeting at a community centre in Cardiff less than two weeks ago, addressed by Abu Izzadeen, a radical preacher recently released from jail.
Counter-terrorism officers were understood to have been aware of the event at the Cathays Community Centre attended by up to 30 people. The group has held events under the banner Islam4UK and Islamic Pathways among others.
n Stoke-on-Trent those arrested included men using the pseudonyms Abu Saif, 19, Abu Bosher, 26, and Abu Sumayyah, 25, who were arrested two years ago in connection with Islam4UK's plans to march through Wootton Bassett, the Wiltshire town where tributes are paid to British troops killed in Afghanistan.
[Pak Daily Times] Smuggling charges should be brought against three Swiss engineers suspected of giving nuclear weapons technology to a rogue network in Pakistain, a magistrate said on Thursday, in a case involving Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) ties, shredded documents and national security implications.
Investigating magistrate Andreas Mueller said his recommendation that the trio -- two brothers and a father -- face trial is based on an exhaustive probe into an alleged nuclear smuggling ring. Mueller submitted his confidential report to federal prosecutors, who will decide whether to bring charges on violating Swiss non-proliferation laws.
Mueller oversaw the last three years of a six-year federal probe against Urs Tinner, his brother Marco and their father Friedrich.
The politically sensitive case was slowed down after the Swiss government repeatedly ordered evidence destroyed in the case, allegedly under pressure from senior US officials. The Tinners are suspected of links to the nuclear smuggling network of nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan. They allegedly supplied Khan's black market nuclear network with the technical expertise and equipment used to make gas centrifuges. Khan sold the centrifuges for secret nuclear weapons programmes in countries that included Libya and Iran before his operation was disrupted in 2003.
Mueller, who said he is relieved to be done with the investigation, harshly criticised the Swiss government for having "massively interfered in the wheels of justice by destroying almost all the evidence". He said the government also ordered the federal criminal police not to cooperate with him.
"There are many parts. It is like a puzzle and if you put the puzzle together you get the whole picture," Mueller said at a news conference. "There is not (just) one piece of evidence, there are many pieces of evidence."
US officials in Bern had no immediate comment. Mueller said he recommended the three face charges for "supporting the development of atomic weapons" in violation of non-proliferation laws, while Marco Tinner should face additional charges of money laundering.
Mueller's 174-page report "is now being studied in detail" by the Swiss attorney general's office, which "will inform the public in due course" on whether charges will be filed against the Tinners, Federal Prosecutors Office spokeswoman Jeannette Balmer said.
He said the Tinners did not deny working for the AQ Khan network, but claimed they did not know his aim was to produce nuclear weapons. He also said the Tinners had worked for the CIA since June 2003.
"The findings are that the Tinners might be part of the Khan network," Mueller said after the news conference.
"And beginning where they should have known that Khan produced atomic weapons, in May 1998, until they started to collaborate with the secret services, in June 2003, they in their specific roles were part of this network, and delivered parts to the network that the network then itself delivered to other countries, (such) as Libya," Mueller said.
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12/24/2010 00:00 ||
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POLICE said today a suspicious package full of wires and powder that prompted a terror scare in Rome's subway during the Christmas season was a fake made out of cement-like powder, not explosives.
The device was found several days ago at around 10am (local time) inside a train at Rome's Rebibbia station, on the outskirts of the Italian capital. The subway car was at the end of the line and empty when the package was found, said Atac, which runs the Rome subway.
"When you create loopholes like this that you can drive a Mack truck through, you are giving countries something for nothing, and they just laugh in their teeth," said Stuart Eizenstat, who was the Clinton administration's point man on international sanctions. "I think there have been abuses." When you allow trade, you allow opportunities for smuggling. I say they get nothing.
#1
Mmmm, I can think of a loophole.
Say I sell Ammo to our troops, then say they deliver it to the enemy(High speed mind you)You COULD say I was sending Amunition to the enemy, and our stupid in chief would likely sue me for it.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/24/2010 10:32 Comments ||
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[Dawn] The investigation into the liquidation of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto is likely to be expanded to unveil some faces, who have so far been out of picture, after two jugged former coppers have told Sherlocks that some intelligence officials were in contact with them on Dec 27, 2007.
In a related development, the interior ministry has sent a questionnaire to former president Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... currently living in London to record his statement.
The Federal Investigation Agency obtained on Thursday six days' physical custody of former chief of Rawalpindi city police Saud Aziz and SP Khurram Shahzad to recover the cellphones they were using on the day the former prime minister was assassinated in a gun-and-bomb attack outside Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh.
The agency had sought a 12-day remand, but the special judge of Anti-Terrorism Court-III granted six days.
The two former coppers were taken into custody on Wednesday after a trial court hearing the case cancelled their pre-arrest bail.
Special Public Prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali told news hounds after the court proceedings that jugged officers had informed the Sherlocks that four officers of the Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence had been in contact with them.
But he said that their names could not be disclosed now because it was yet to be ascertained in what context they were in contact with the accused.
If concrete evidence was found against the intelligence officers they would be included in the investigation.
The FIA Sherlocks said in the court that forensic tests of the cellphones were needed to ascertain who had been in contact with the two coppers on the day of Benazir's liquidation.
Advocate Zulfiqar said that phone data would help the Sherlocks to know if other elements were also involved in the murder.
He said the coppers had given divergent statements about the cellphones and the numbers used by them three years ago. First they said they had lost the phones and later claimed that these had broken up.
Advocate Malik Muhammad Rafique, the counsel for Saud Aziz, said the cellphone data could be collected from the mobile companies concerned, and not from the coppers. It was surprising, he said, that the Sherlocks had sought the data three years after the incident.
The two coppers were brought to the court without handcuffs in a van with windows covered with newspapers.
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12/24/2010 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazalur Rehman on Thursday strongly criticised US media reports over the military operation in the Tribal Area of Pakistain, saying that the Pakistain Army should announce 'jihad' in response to the US forces' ground retaliation in North Wazoo.
While speaking on the floor of the National Assembly, he expressed dismay over the policies adopted by the present Pakistain People's Party-led government, particularly regarding the on-going war against terror in the country.
Referring to a news report published in The New York Times regarding a US plan to carry out ground incursions in North Wazoo, the JUI-F chief announced that his party would not let any foreign troops into the country's soil and also urged the army to declare jihad in case US troops carry out the attacks in the Tribal Area.
He said that Pakistain wanted good ties with the US but the relationship must not be that of a "slave and master."
He said that the PPP-led government had failed to act upon its promises as the JUI-F had joined the coalition government under an agreement. "I have declared my seat and those of other party members on the treasury benches as opposition benches, unless the House allocates us seats on opposition benches," he added.
Fazl assured the House that he was not a threat for the democratic system in the country, however he termed the rulers a threat to the shariah and Tahafuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat movement. "The JUI-F can continue to be a friend, but not a 'peasant' for the prime minister," he said.
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12/24/2010 00:00 ||
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Former coppersjugged for their alleged involvement in the Benazir Bhutto murder case have named four intelligence officials, who could be interrogated in the case.
Former city police officer, Syed Saud Aziz, and former Rawal Town superintendent of police, Khurram Shehzad, who were jugged by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from the premises of an anti-terrorism court on Wednesday after their pre-arrest bail pleas were rejected by the court, had during investigations named four Military Intelligence (MI) and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials, who could also be interrogated in the murder case, a private TV channel reported on Thursday.
Talking to news hounds outside the court, FIA Prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar said Aziz and Shahzad had named four officials of major and colonel rank, who had been in contact with them after Benazir' s murder, the channel said. Separately, an anti-terrorism court Judge Rana Nisar Ali Khan awarded a six-day physical remand of the accused to the FIA. The agency had requested a 12-day remand, which was turned down by the court. The FIA had pleaded that the agency wanted to recover the mobile phones used by the accused at the time of killing of Benazir Bhutto. Khan ordered the FIA to produce the accused before the court on January 7, 2011.
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12/24/2010 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani categorically stated on Thursday that the ISI chief would not be asked to appear before a US court.
Gilani was responding to a Brooklyn court summons asking present ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha, his predecessor Nadeem Taj and Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders, including Hafiz Saeed, to appear before it next month in connection with the suit filed by relatives of Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, who were among the 166 people killed in the Mumbai attacks. Gilani said that ISI chief, being the head of an extremely important and sensitive national organisation, would never be asked to appear before a US court. "We are as sensitive about this issue as any other in the House," he told the National Assembly.
The prime minister said no military operation would not be launched in North Wazoo on foreign dictation. He said the nation would decide about it and the government will take the nation into confidence before launching security operations in North Wazoo and adjacent regions. "No compromise will be made over the illusory sovereignty and integrity of the country," Gilani assured the House. He said the country would not give in to any external pressure to launch a military operation in North Wazoo, and said that no one can "dictate us" on the when and where of things.
"We can sacrifice our lives for the defence and security of the country, so, no one should have the impression that they can dictate when military operations should be conducted in North Wazoo and South Wazoo," he added. Gilani said the government took onboard the nation and the politicianship as well as the House before launching military offensives against Orcs and similar vermin in Malakand, Swat and South Wazoo Agency.
He said it was an important decision meant to improve the law and order situation, which he termed a prerequisite for improving the economy. "Until and unless conducive law and order (environment) prevails (in the country), investment is not going to come, a single suicide blast undermines a very good investment scenario," he added. The whole nation and the politicianship were united against terrorism, which destabilised country's economy, Gilani said.
He said law and order and economy were the government's two most important priorities. Speaking on the arrest of Jamhoori Watan Party chief Shahzain Bugti, Gilani said that law enforcement agencies, including the Frontier Constabulary, Frontier Corps and Federal Investigation Agency, could not take action on their own without the approval of the provincial government. He drew the attention of the House towards involvement of foreign elements in creating trouble in Balochistan and asked the opposition to help in improving the situation there. "Let's devise a mutual strategy," he added.
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12/24/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
This nonsense of issuing summons and subpoenas to foreign leaders is just ridiculous, no matter who does it.
Despite treaties and agreements, the very essence of sovereignty relies on retaining authority over your own government. If such an individual wishes to travel to respond to such things, even then he needs to get permission to do so. But being summoned involuntarily means that a nation is not independent.
[Dawn] Reacting to opposition challenges and a controversy fuelled by media reports, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani assured the National Assembly on Thursday his government would not succumb to any foreign dictation about when and where to launch a military operation in the so-called war on terrorism.
And he also said nobody could force any official of the country's top spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), to comply with reported summons from a US court for appearance in a case related to the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.
Opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had raised the issue of the reported summons from a New York court for the present and a former chief of the ISI and two serving Pakistain Army majors in a lawsuit accusing them of training and facilitating the Mumbai attackers, asking the government not to let it happen or allow any foreign power to make Pak institutions hostage despite his own "reservations" about the role of intelligence agencies within the country.
The question of alleged US pressure on Pakistain to launch a military operation in North Wazoo against Taliban and Al Qaeda hideouts was raised by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... in an anti-government tirade over his party's decision last week to quit the PPP-led coalition over the sacking of a party minister for alleged indiscipline.
But the prime minister, in his response, only referred to the speech of the opposition leader -- who also complained about alleged humiliation of a grandson of the late Baloch leader Akbar Khan Bugti while being jugged near Quetta on Wednesday for allegedly carrying illegal arms -- and seemed to ignore the JUI leader, who had spoken earlier in his absence, accusing the PPP of breaking "a string of friendship" with his party, bowing to perceived American dictates in the war on terror and being a threat to Sharia, which he said his party wanted enforced.
"It will be a fallacy to think that we will take any action under their pressure," the prime minister said about the alleged US pressure, often reported by western media but denied by American officials, adding that there would be "no compromise on Pakistain's integrity and illusory sovereignty".
"This will be a decision of the Pak nation where and when we have to launch an operation and nobody can dictate to us (from the outside)," he said.
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#1
Pak would actually have to be a unified nation before anyone could dictate to it.
A Palestinian caught trying to infiltrate a settlement Wednesday night claims he was sent by his family members, who had hoped he would be killed by soldiers during the infiltration.
Israel Defense Forces soldiers patrolling the central West Bank near the settlement of Beit El on Wednesday spotted a Palestinian walking toward the settlement and subsequently arrested him.
According to the investigation into the incident, the boy was behaving in a strange manner and the soldiers originally thought that he was drunk. Later on in the investigation, it was clarified that he was actually suffering from a mental illness.
The boy told investigators that his family wanted him dead. He said they threatened him at gunpoint, forcing him to walk towards the settlement with the hope that soldiers would think he was trying to infiltrate and would shoot him.
IDF scouts who searched the area confirmed the boy's version of events and found four family members who had tried to flee the area.
#2
Of course *everyone* *knows* that it was the Jooos who caused his mental illness in the first place. Being under the evil Joooish thumb drove him bonkers...
#3
Israel should respond by declaring unauthorized graves to be either a matter for police forensics, to determine if foul play was involved, or of anthropological interest. In either case, the bodies need to be removed for purposes of proper analysis and sanitary disposal.
[Iran Press TV] Iran's Deputy Ambassador to the UN Eshaq Al-e-Habib has said that the spread of terrorism in the region is the result of the presence of US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan.
The foreign forces in Afghanistan have failed to uproot terrorism in the country and terrorism has spread to other countries such as Iran, Al-e-Habib said in a UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan on Thursday.
"We believe the recent terrorist attack in Chabahar, which led to the death and injury of scores of people, was due to the wrong policy of foreign forces present in our region," Mehr News Agency quoted him as saying.
"Our view, based on realities and assessments and in line with resolving the country's problems is that foreign forces should leave Afghanistan," Al-e-Habib said, adding that Afghan forces should be strengthened to provide security of their own country.
On December 15, a terrorist attack took place at the Imam Hussein mosque in Chabahar in Sistan-Baluchestan Province, where people were commemorating the martyrdom of the third Shia Imam, Imam Hussein (PTUI!).
At least 38 mourners were killed and more than 89 others, including women and kiddies, were maimed.
Iran says the equipment of the beturbanned goons behind the attack indicate that they were supported by advanced foreign intelligence services.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... the Iranian UN envoy described the production and trafficking of drugs as one of the obstacles to development and security in Afghanistan.
"Drugs are the financial source of terrorism and terrorist, jihad boy and illegal groups are supported in this way," he said.
"During the past years, Iran has been on the frontline of fighting drug trafficking and has paid dearly for them."
Afghanistan continues to account for 90 percent of the world's illicit opium and heroin production, the UN drugs monitoring body said in its 2010 report.
The poppy production and drug business in Afghanistan has come at a heavy cost for neighboring Iran.
With a 900-kilometer (560-mile) common border with Afghanistan, Iran has been used as the main conduit for smuggling Afghan drugs to drug pushers in Europe.
The drug trade originating in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of more than 3,000 Iranian coppers over the past 30 years.
Al-e-Habib stressed the need for cooperation between Afghanistan's neighboring states for facilitating the country's economic and social development.
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#1
Muslims and terrorism/Enviros and AGW. Only the details change.
IRNA -- Iran's diminutive PresidentMahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that spread of monotheism and ethics are the keys to help resolve the global problems.
The President made the statement in his speech at the inaugural session of the 11th ECO Summit of Leaders which started in Istanbul this morning.
President Ahmadinejad suggested six practical proposals for strengthening the performance of the Economic Cooperation Organization in global economy.
He reiterated that the proposals would strengthen the role of the 10-member states ECO in the regional and international economic cooperation.
'The world is in dire need of new order in light of the common grounds in the international community based on justice, monotheism, humanitarian spirit and respect,' Iranian president said.
He added that progress of each ECO member state is considered as the progress of the other members.
President Ahmadinejad highlighted the cultural affinilty of the ECO members along the history and presence of large number of scientists and eminent figures in the domain of literature in this region.
'This serves as a treasury for political, economic, social and cultural cooperation between ECO members.'
Giving a brief report about Iran's performance during the two-year ECO presidency, he said several meetings were held in the past two years in different fields of trade, investment, transport, energy, mines, environment, agriculture, tourism and health.
The president said that maps of international rail transportation corridors were finalized duing Iranian presidency of ECO.
'During the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran's presidency, the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul container train was inaugurated and preparations were made for inauguration of Bandar Abbas-Marv-Tashkent-Almaty cargo train.'
He expressed hope that during the Turkey's presidency, the organization would witness great developments.
Expressing his gratitude to all presidents and bigwigs of the ECO member states, President Ahmadinejad handed over the organization's presidency to his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul.
Ahmadinejad left Tehran for Istanbul on Wednesday on a two-day stay.
During his stay, the President will meet a number of his counterparts on the sidelines of the ECO meeting.
ECO is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985. Iran, Pakistain, Turkey, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are the ECO members.
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#1
Personally, I favor "mind own business-ism". But if people insist on making themselves my business...
An Iranian former diplomat says Iran is working toward developing a nuclear bomb with the help of scientists from North Korea and other countries worldwide, the Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday.
Mohammed Reza Heydari, formerly of the Iranian embassy in Oslo, Norway, told the British newspaper that he had helped North Korean technicians and military experts enter Iran while he was working for the Iranian foreign ministry office in Tehran's airport.
Heydari said the North Korean experts helped Iran develop nuclear bomb capability and increase the range of Iran's ballistic missiles.
He said that his mission was to allow North Korean military staff, as well as Palestinians associated with Hamas, to enter the country without any visa and passport inspection.
The outlawed Islamist group al-Muhajiroun is openly recruiting near the home of the suicide bomber who blew himself up on a Stockholm street last week.
This has been going on there for years without police interference. Click on al-Muhajiroun, above, to read articles from the Rantburg archives on the subject.
MI5 and anti-terrorist police are attempting to unravel what transformed the father of three into an extremist. But moderate Muslims in Luton, where Iraqi-born Taimour Abdulwahab lived for almost 10 years, claim the authorities are to blame for turning a blind eye to the activities of hard-core jihadi sympathisers.
Unimpeded by the police, the group, now calling itself The Reflect Project, is accused of mounting a campaign of intimidation and violence against those who disagree with it. The group's members are followers of the radical cleric Omar Bakri Muhammad, who is being held in jail in Lebanon on terrorism charges, and are led locally by Ishtiaq Alamgir or Sword of Islam -- a former inland revenue accountant.
O brave, brave tax man of Islam!
Earlier this year, Mr Alamgir helped to organise a protest at a homecoming parade in Luton for troops who had served in Afghanistan. The demonstration ended in violence and arrests.
Continued on Page 49
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.
[Dawn] The investigation into the 
Former 
IRNA -- 
The outlawed Islamist group 
