Sudan is ready to expel foreign ambassadors "if they exceed their diplomatic mission," President Omar al-Bashir was quoted as saying on Thursday in his latest act of defiance of the West. Johnson, call the president's office and find out exactly what it is we have to do to "exceed our diplomatic mission". Then have it done and make sure that he's notified.
Right away, Mr. Ambassador...
Tensions between Bashir and the West have risen since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant accusing the Sudanese president of war crimes.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Pull ALL foreigners out of Khartoum and then ARCLIGHT the city into dust. Maybe Bashir will then understand that while he controls the ground, WE control the air. As the WWII wags stated, "Hitler forgot a roof for his Festung Europa (Fortress Europe)." The same can be said of Khartoum.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/20/2009 13:37 Comments ||
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Strained relations continued this week between Morocco and Iran, this time over the issue of Shi'ism in Morocco. The kingdom broke diplomatic ties with Iran March 6th over aggressive comments the latter made towards the nation of Bahrain.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Taieb Fassi-Fihri said that Moroccan authorities have "recognised activism by [Iranian] authorities, and particularly by its diplomatic representatives in Rabat, aimed at changing fundamental religious values in Morocco, attacking the very foundations of the Moroccan people's ancestral identity, and attempting to threaten the uniqueness of Muslim practices and the Sunni Maliki faith in Morocco".
"We were aware of the existence of Shi'ite activism in Morocco," he continued, "but given that relations between the two sides were on an even keel, we did not want to rock the boat."
Now that relations between Morocco and Iran have reached their present state, the problem can be addressed in the open, he added.
Interior Minister Chakib Benmoussa confirmed that Iranians have been proselytising in Morocco since 2004, through various cultural centres and the circulation of a number of publications. Dozens of young Moroccans are now in Iran, studying Shi'ism at that country's expense.
Former Iranian Ambassador to Rabat Valid Ahmadi told the press that these students were "small in number" and that there was no need to pay the matter any attention.
"It would be pointless to want to change certain constants, such as religious adherence," Ahmadi said, refuting accusations that Iran is actively proselytising.
"The accusations about involvement in Moroccan internal affairs are unfounded and we reject them out of hand," confirmed Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Monouchehr Motaki.
Moroccan observers have had mixed reactions to the issue. While some have echoed the position taken by officials, others play down the effects of Shi'ism in Morocco, stressing that it is simply a reaction to the recent deterioration in relations between Morocco and Iran.
Moroccan MP Abdelbari Zemzemi said he has seen evidence of a Shi'ite movement in Morocco going back a decade or more.
"The danger of Shi'ism lies in the division it could create at the heart of the Nation, as is happening in Iraq," Zemzemi said. "Iran's objective is to export its culture throughout the Islamic world and among Muslim expatriates... This can divide societies."
Others express a more immediate concern.
"There is a section of Shi'ites who call for combat and pay no attention to dialogue," said Hassan Benadir, a specialist in Islamic issues. "That's the real danger, because we have seen a number of cases of Shi'ite terrorists of Maghreb origin."
"Amongst others, I could mention the now-disbanded Moroccan terrorist network 'Ansar El Mahdi', which had Shi'ite connotations... As for the Belliraj network, the interior ministry indicated it was in contact with Hezbollah," he added.
Despite the current alarm, many think the question of Shi'ism in Morocco is being overstated. Ahmed Ramzi, a specialist in Islamic movements, stressed that the Shi'ite presence in Morocco is still rather marginal, as it is not a structured or organised movement.
Political expert Mohamed Darif suggests that Morocco is pushing back, because "relations between Tehran and Algiers are getting stronger and stronger, to the detriment of Moroccan interests, particularly where the Sahara issue is concerned".
Ties between Morocco and Iran, never stable, have been severed in the past, such as in 1979 when the Shah was overthrown. Normal relations were not restored until 1991..
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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The law ministry yesterday okayed a proposal of the home ministry for trial of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) mutineers in court martial.
Contacted, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed told The Daily Star that his ministry has given its views on the home ministry's proposal, saying clauses of the Army Act 1952 are applicable to the BDR members. He noted that since the BDR is raised and maintained by the government as a 'disciplined force', its members can be brought under the Army Act for trial.
As per rules of Article 152 of the Constitution, any disciplined force can be tried under the Army Act, he mentioned. The law minister however said the government will finalise the mode of trial after getting the probe reports on the Pilkhana massacre.
If BDR jawans only are involved in the carnage, they can be tried under the Army Act 1952, he said. The trial process will be transparent, and the accused will be given opportunity to defend themselves, Shafique added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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The Bangladesh government has started scrutinising activities of NGOs approved during the rule of the BNP-led four-party alliance government to see if they have any involvement with funding militant activities.
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith has charged certain NGOs with funding militant outfits and named the former Social Welfare Minister, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, who is also secretary-general of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami, as the possible "culprit."
Mr. Muhith told reporters on Wednesday that there were some investments in Bangladesh "that patronise militant activities," but he did not identify them.
After the massive countrywide bombings in 2005 carried out by the banned Jamaat'ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, intelligence agencies reported that certain West Asia-based NGOs were funding terrorism in Bangladesh. They recommended banning the Kuwait-based Revival of Islamic Heritage Society and taking action against a number of other West Asian organisations found to have links with Islamist extremists.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
NGO's funding terrorism come under scanner by intel agencies? Must not have earned their MBA for IO & NGOs in Geneva. They're the best.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/20/2009 14:14 Comments ||
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#3
Give the task to the RAB. They will assess the situation and eliminate the problem, summarizing the whole operation in a short report. End of problem.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/20/2009 15:25 Comments ||
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#4
NGOs have earned the title "SUV people" in West Africa, according to Second Daughter, who has lived there. The NGOs tool around in their SUVs looking important, but not being particularly effective.
Second Daughter was considering applying to NGOs after graduation. After her experience in West Africa, she decided that if the organization wants her to have a Master's Degree before giving her an unpaid internship, they're probably too married to theory to be useful.
What I have long believed about NGO's can be summed up by the fact that during college I dissuaded one of my best friends from volunteering to go with the Peace Corps to the Appalachians to teach the natives to farm better. We'd grown up together in Amherst, NY, a postwar suburb populated by university professors and assorted fellow travellers. We both had memorized "Old MacDonald Has A Farm" in preschool, which I thought did not qualify her to pontificate on the subject to people who'd been doing it for a number of generations. Dear Anita went on to become a professor of religions, for which she was much better suited.
The US has expressed concern to North Korea after its border guards detained two American journalists along the frontier with China, the State Department said Thursday. The incident comes amid rising tensions in the region as Pyongyang prepares a long-range rocket launch for early next month.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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TOPIX > US: NORTH KOREA COULD FIRE SEVERAL MISSLES AT ONCE, + JAPAN [Navy/MSDF] PREPARES TO SHOOT DOWN NORTH KOREAN MISSLE.
#2
Time to oil the hinges on the Gorebot. The journalists were making a film for Current TV.
This is scary bad mojo because Kimmie has just got himself a pair of gen-u-wine Grade A human shields.
Could this be part of the test that Joe Biden promised us? Bush never ransomed any American hostages, and as a result I believe fewer were taken. Team Obama may take a different view, and as a result it would become open season on Americans 'round the globe.
#5
They were taking photos from the Chinese side and ignored Nork border guards warnings.
Posted by: ed ||
03/20/2009 9:02 Comments ||
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#6
But ed, if they'd stayed on the Chinese side of the border, how could the North Koreans put hands on them? If the journalists stepped across the border, though...
#7
The Norks definitely crossed into China to seize the two. The Norks are NOT the US Border Patrol. If the Cinese don't raise a stink, then legal niceties are just that, niceties. Paranoid, Xenophobic and Stalinist are the words I would use to describe them.
Posted by: ed ||
03/20/2009 9:27 Comments ||
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#8
Could we trade 'em for Keith Overbite and Tweety Matthews?
Seven attempts by U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf to have the U.S. State Department initiate an investigation into controversial textbooks used at two Islamic schools in Northern Virginia have gone unanswered. In his seventh letter in less than a year to the department, Wolf calls continued inaction on the part of the department "inexcusable."
The Islamic Saudi Academy, or ISA, has close ties with the government of Saudi Arabia, which Wolf says charges the State Department with overseeing any investigation of it, under the Foreign Missions Act of 1982. "The Saudi ambassador is the head of the school," said Wolf.
ISA has two campuses. One in Alexandria on Richmond Highway, and another in Fairfax on Pope's Head Road. Material in some textbooks used at both campuses has been called "intolerant" and "shocking" by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and by Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the The Institute for Gulf Affairs, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C., think tank.
According to Al-Ahmed, one example is a 10th-grade work that "indulges in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories." Wolf said, "Textbooks used in Saudi Arabia are very anti-Semitic, anti-Christian and pretty hate-filled."
While some textbook material has reportedly been changed due to pressure from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Wolf says an independent investigation of the textbooks and their overarching use at the academy has yet to be initiated. "We're just asking that there be an independent evaluation by someone that's not paid by the Saudi Academy," Wolf said.
In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on March 12, Wolf wrote: "According to AP, 'while the Islamic Saudi Academy deleted some of the most contentious passages from the texts, copies provided to the Associated Press show that enough sensitive material remains to fuel critics who claim the books show intolerance toward those who do not follow strict interpretations of Islam.'"
According to the Associated Press report cited by Wolf, along with federal court documents, at least three graduates of the academy have been involved in some questionable activities since leaving the academy. In 2001, two former students, Mohammed El-Yacoubi and Mohammed Osman Idris, were refused entry to Israel when El-Yacoubi was suspected of being part of a "martyrdom operation" there. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, a 1999 ISA valedictorian, was convicted in federal court in 2005 of joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate former President George W. Bush.
"I think you can't ignore this," Wolf told the Times. "The school is now even asking for an expansion, and yet this cloud remains over it. You don't want to put a cloud over the students that are going there, and I'm sure there are a lot of good people who go. If someone can just say that 'we looked at this and we are truly independent and not paid by anyone and everything seems OK,' then this whole thing will go away. But to date, we have not been able to get that done.
Calls made to both the State Department and ISA were not returned by the Times' deadline.
#1
It's only the Fairfax Times, so why should anyone pay attention? Perhaps if the New York Times started asking questions... But even then, I doubt it; lots of retirees from the State Department seem to end up pushing the Saudi agenda.
Maulvi Nazir, one of the three leaders of the Council of the Mujahedeen Union set up in Febuary, has said US troops in Afghanistan were 'absolutely' the group's target. "We have readied suicide bombers for them, they cannot escape us," Maulvi Nazir told ABC News in an interview, sitting in front of the mountains that separate Pakistan and Afghanistan. Until Nazir joined the alliance, he and another tribal leader had been clashing with dominant Taliban commander in Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, believed to be responsible for dozens of suicide attacks in Pakistan in 2008. "We, Baitullah, Hafiz Gul Bahadur and all our friends reached the conclusion that ... organisations have created mistrust and discrimination among us -- the CIA, Mossad, and especially Pakistani organisations," Nazir told ABC News. "All these divisions, cracks and mistrust were created by the enemy. Baitullah, Hafiz Gul Bahadur and I understood this and reached this conclusion and put all differences aside and united against the enemy." "We were [earlier] dealing with three evils, but now we're dealing with one big devil," a Pakistani intelligence agent in Waziristan told ABC News. "Strategically, they all can now facilitate each other more effectively."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Doesn't this story call for the pic of the bear c**ping in the woods?
Shia Muslims have accused Pakistani security forces of collaborating with pro-Taliban militants after the police raided a Shia memorial service.
On Wednesday, security forces Shia mourners who had gathered in the northwestern town of Dera Ismail Khan to mark the February deadly bombings, local media reports said.
At least 30 people were killed and 65 others were injured after a bomb ripped through a Shia Muslim leader's funeral procession on February 20. Moreover, in early February, at least 35 Shias were killed and 50 others were injured after a bomb exploded in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan in the central Punjab province.
In the latest incident, a Shia teacher was killed in Dera Ismail Khan while on his way to school on Wednesday.
In most cases of sectarian violence, the terrorists flee the crime scene and the security forces instead arrest the mourners who gather to mark funeral ceremony and remembrance services for the deceased, local residences say. They claim that security forces - especially in the tribal regions - are 'under the influence of local Taliban groups', adding that law enforcement officers have 'willingly or unwillingly' launched a clamp down on Shia Muslims.
This is while the extremists groups have embarked on an 'ominous mission' to 'eliminate' Shia elites across Pakistan - which became a safe haven for pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
They have killed hundreds of Shia medical doctors, university professors, lawyers and police officers across the violence-wracked country during the past few years.
Local Pakistani media say Taliban-linked militants in Parachinar, Hangu district and much of the Kurram tribal agency have killed 25 to 30 people on a daily basis over the last six months.
The killing of Shias is to such extent that has caused international outrage with rights groups and regional countries including Iran expressing concern over the 'genocide'. Moderate Pakistani Sunni groups believe that leaving Shias at the mercy of the Taliban is a conspiracy against the country.
Some reports have cited grave human rights abuses against Shias in the northwestern Pakistani city of Parachinar.
Shias say they make up one-third of Pakistan's 160 million-strong population. Since the 1980s, thousands of people have been killed in violence-related incidents in Pakistan by extremist groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON: The Pakistani leadership believes that political stability is a key to economic development and foreign investment and strengthening the democratic institutions is the way forward to a progressive and modern nation ready to integrate with the developed world, Ambassador Husain Haqqani said.
In a speech at the World Affairs Council of Houston, the envoy said Pakistan and United States are partners and allies for several decades and it is time, now, to foster this partnership into long term strategic partnership.
He said the people of Pakistan need American investment and early concretization of initiatives like Kerry-Lugar Bill and Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) to step up the process of their socio#8209;economic development.
On the fight against violent extremism, he underscored that cooperative relations between Pakistan, Afghanistan, NATO and the United States with a well-thought out strategic plan, encompassing military, political and socio-economic components would be critical to isolating and defeating Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
In this respect, he said, the U.S. companies have an important role to play to reinforce the economic component of this strategy.
The new US Administration and the democratic government in Pakistan have a common desire to cooperate not only on fighting terrorism but also on socio-economic uplift of the Pakistani people with an emphasis on education, healthcare, improved trade and cooperation in infrastructure building.
Speaking in the regional context, he stated that Pakistan and Afghanistan have close historic linkages. He informed the gathering that there was a time when the Afghan population lived in the refugee camps in Pakistan during the war against Soviet Union. Even Afghan President Hamid Karzai lived most of the time in Pakistan as he lived in Afghanistan.
He said,radical ideas found roots in Afghanistan during the fight against Soviet Union occupation and found their way into Pakistan.
A porous and wild Pakistan-Afghanistan border allows the Afghan insurgent groups to spill over to Pakistan and certain elements from the Pakistani side get involved in Afghanistan, he added. "Pakistan , Afghanistan , and the U.S will have to work together in cooperative spirit to crush insurgency and secure their border by using all possible means and by making possible political arrangements like we did in Swat."
Regarding Pakistan-India relationship, Haqqani said, Pakistan has unresolved issues with India but the long term future of Pakistan and India has to be one of the cooperation and friendship.
Washington, he said, can play a positive role in bringing Pakistan and India closer. Haqqani said Islamabad is willing to work with New Delhi to resolve all outstanding issues between the two countries, including the core dispute of Jammu and Kashmir.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Give me one good reason to invest one penny in Pakiwakiland.
BAGHDAD - Iraq has appealed to foreign countries to accept members of an Iranian opposition group, which has been based in Iraq for about two decades but which Baghdad sees as a terrorist group and a diplomatic liability.
Get in line, the Euro-rubes are taking Gitmo boyz first ...
Iraqi officials and the Peoples Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI) have been at loggerheads for years. The PMOI has run a high-profile campaign alleging abuses by the Iraqi government, and Iraq has labelled its members terrorists and liars.
The PMOI began as a group of Islamist leftists opposed to Irans shah but fell out with Shiite clerics who took power after the 1979 revolution. Allowed to operate in Iraq by Saddam Hussein, who waged war with Iran in the 1980s, the group has been less welcome under the new Shiite-led government, which has mostly warm ties with neighbouring Shiite Iran.
We do not wish to take responsibility for the sin of the presence of a terrorist organisation in Iraq, which causes us domestic problems and problems with countries of the region, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Reuters. We ask the international community ... to find another place for them other than Iraq, he added.
No country has yet come forward, Dabbagh said. The United States views the PMOI as a terrorist group, but the European Union agreed to take the group off its list of terrorist organisations following a protracted legal battle.
Human rights groups say forcing the 3,500 PMOI members out of their base at Camp Ashraf in northeastern Iraq would violate international law.
Everything violates international law.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Compare wid ISRAELI MIL FORUM > XINJIANG PROVINCE: THE BATTLEFRONT FOR ISLAMIC JIHAD IN CHINA. Are approxi 30.0Milyuhn Chin Muslims incl. 8.5Milyuhn Uighurs + 20+Milyuhn Hui ethnics. ARTIC - DEDICATED ISLAMIC SEPARATISTS HAVE NOT LIMITED THEIR TERR VIOLENCE ONLY TO DOMESTIC CHIN TARGETS.
CHINESE MUSLIM > described that IT IS UN-ACCEPTABLE FOR ANY MUSLIM TO LIVE UNDER THE RULE OF INFIDELS = NON-MUSLIMS, HENCE [Pro-Islamist/Muslim]TERROR + VIOLENCE.
As argued or inferred long ago, SCOPE OF ISLAMIST JIHAD = GLOBAL JIHAD IN SCALE > Radical Islam believes their movement has nothing to lose except USSR-STYLE LT REGRESSION + IMPLOSION, ERGO WILL NOT STOP ATTACKING + DESTABILIZING WORLD REGIONS AMAP ALAP JUST BECUZ DUBYA =USA IS LOCALLY VICTORIOUS OR SUCCESSFUL.
* 9-11 + ISLAMIST JIHAD > WAR/STRUGGLE OF GENERATIONS AND TO THE DEATH, of the US-West or Islam/Islamism.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says that the outlawed Baath Party can never be included in the political process of the country.
"There were some mass media that attributed statements to the Prime Minister he did not give," a statement by Maliki's office said in a statement, Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported.
"The Iraqi Constitution forbids any dialogues with or return of the dissolved Baath Party or any orientation to have it as a partner in the country's political process for its heinous crimes against all groups of the Iraqi people throughout 35 years," read the statement.
"This Party (Baath) is held fully responsible for the suffering of the Iraqi people and the nation's humanitarian, political, security and economic situation. Anyone who thinks to have a dialogue with Baath, let alone allow it back in the political arena, would be committing flagrant constitutional violation clashing with the state of law and institutions we work on enhancing in the new Iraq," it added.
Maliki, however, drew a line between those who were forced to join the Baath Party under Saddam and those members of the party who were loyal to the former Iraqi dictator.
"We draw a line between those who were forced to join it under pressure and those who believed in its racist and sectarian ideologies. Based on this, we reiterate our call for those people forced to join Baath to return to the nation as citizens, not as members of the dismantled Baath."
The Iraqi Baath party was founded in 1951 and involved in the suppression of many groups of the Iraqi people including Shias and Kurds.
The Iraqi government has been under US pressure to nullify legislation which imposes prohibition against the employment of the ex-members of the Baath Party in state posts.
However, Iraq's High Committee for Reconciliation has recently held talks with a 'left wing' branch of the Baath it said split from Saddam's Baath party long ago.
The talks have raised concerns about the Baath party's return to power.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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An anti-US Shiite cleric has renewed a call to his followers to renounce violence. Muqtada Al Sadr has ordered most of his Mahdi Army militiamen to lay down their arms to form a new social welfare network although he retained a small fighting force. He's "ordered" this before, if I recall correctly.
He praised the new organization in a statement issued Wednesday by his office in the holy city of Najaf. That's where his office is. He's in Qom.
He says "we hope they will continue to denounce violence and raise science and culture as a weapon." They're Tater's followers because they're into violence.
Al Sadr is believed to be in Iran. ... communing with other holy men with bad teeth...
The statement comes as he tries to position himself as a political force ahead of national elections expected later this year. He also faces a challenge from breakaway Shiite militia groups that continue to stage attacks on US and Iraqi forces. He also faces the realization that he's an idea whose time has gone.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Tater calls on followers to denounce toothpaste violence in Iraq
#2
Proof that so much of the "CW" coming out of the middle least is hooey. This guy's credibility (he isn't a strong horse) should have evaporated a long time ago. Guess the MSM ain't gettin' the message...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/20/2009 14:13 Comments ||
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RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israel launched a new crackdown on Hamas on Thursday, rounding up top leaders in the West Bank after the failure of efforts to secure the release of a soldier held by the Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip. Security forces seized 12 senior Hamas leaders in pre-dawn raids in the occupied West Bank, including four members of the Palestinian legislative council, Hamas and the army said.
The Islamists denounced the action as blackmail following the collapse of Egyptian-brokered efforts to reach an agreement on an Israel-Hamas prisoner swap.
And who would know more about blackmail than Hamas?
The Palestinian Authority, headed by Hamass political foes Fatah, also slammed the arrests and called on the international community to intervene. These men have been the leaders of the ongoing effort to restore the administrative branch of the Hamas terror organisation in the region, while attempting to strengthen the power and influence of Hamas, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.
Restore the administrative branch of a terror organization. I actually know what he's saying. Scary.
Thirty-six Hamas MPs have been in jail since a major crackdown in the West Bank that followed the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by Gaza militants including Hamas fighters in a deadly cross-border raid in June 2006. Among those arrested were Nasseredin al-Shaer, who was deputy premier in the short-lived Hamas government formed in March 2006, and two senior Hamas officials in the West Bank, Raafat Nassif and Adnan Asfur, the group said.
Any chance of these three being cross-fired?
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
BIGNEWSNETWORK > PA:THOUSANDS OF MUSLIM FIGHTER ENTER GAZA TO FIGHT ISRAEL.
#3
This blackmail attempt is destined to failure.
Oh cmon now. Sure the whole abduction-prisoner-swap-thingy has had some pitfalls in the past but one must look at the big picture. Besides, after Israel gets Shalits bleached bones back on their soil and the Paleos get their honchos out of the jug, both sides will certainly see the error of their ways and refrain from using kidnapping as a negotiation tool going forward.
Egyptian-sponsored Palestinian reconciliation talks are stuck over recognition of Israel and there may be no deal before an Arab summit at the end of this month, a Hamas official said on Wednesday.
President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction wants a proposed unity government to honour past agreements with Israel, including the 1993 Oslo accords that recognised the Jewish state. Hamas refuses, official Sami Khater said. A unity government could help accelerate the international effort to rebuild Gaza after the Israeli invasion of the territory was halted in January, and change a policy by Western powers to boycott Hamas.
"The Oslo accords recognised Israel. They [Fatah] want this as a condition to form a government of national unity. We say no," Khater, who is a member of Hamas's politburo, told reporters in the Syrian capital.
The United Sates, Israel's chief ally, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations - which form the quartet of Middle East negotiators - demand that Hamas recognise interim peace accords struck between the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Israel, renounce armed struggle and recognise Israel.
Khater said there was no need to revive discussions on these issues because Hamas had already agreed with Fatah on how to deal with them. He pointed to understandings with Fatah in the last few years that called for negotiations with Israel if the Jewish state agrees to withdraw from land it has occupied since 1967 and resistance focused on peaceful means.
"The main issue we are facing is abiding by the agreements made by the PLO, which we interpret as accepting the conditions of the quartet," Khater said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ISRAELI MIL FORUM > ISLAMIC CLERICS MEET IN TURKEY TO DEMAND NEW JIHAD AGZ ISRAEL IN GAZA; + RUPERT MURDOCH [JPOst]: THE WEST RISES[Lives] OR FALLS [dies] WITH ISRAEL???
TEHRAN, Iran Iran's supreme leader said Friday that world powers had been persuaded they could not block Iran's nuclear progress making no mention of a new-year's message sent by President Obama to his country, Reuters reported.
Neither Ayatollah Ali Khamenei nor Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad noted Obama's attempt to make a "new beginning" with their country in recorded messages they issued to mark the Iranian New Year.
Obama released the video Friday to coincide with the Iranian festival of Nowruz, which marks the arrival of spring. In the video, Obama says the U.S. is prepared to end the strained relations if Tehran tones down its combative rhetoric.
"This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect," Obama said.
A press adviser to Iran's president downplayed the video, saying "minor changes will not end the differences."
Ali Akbar Javanfekr told the Iranian state-run English-language Press TV satellite station that Iran will never forget U.S. meddling in Tehran's affairs. The two countries broke off relations after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
#4
WORLD MIL FORUM > KYRGYZSTAN WORRIED OVER INCREASING MIGRATION OF CHINESE FOREIGN LABOR Kyrgyzstan + CENTRAL ASIA becom heavily dependent on Chin labor for national/econ dev, but at same time don't want too many Chin in their country?; + WORLD ECONOMY IN TRANSITION: THE RISE OF CHINA IS UNSTOPPABLE + G20 SUMMIT: WHY CANADA IS A SECOND-CLASS COUNTRY TO USA, CHINA, JAPAN, AND OTHER G-7 NATIONS [Canucks don't like to complain = make a fuss]???
* PAKISTANI DEFENSE FORUM > IRAN TELLS/WARNS PAKISTAN TO STOP USING ITS SOIL FOR [anti-Iran] ACTIVITIES AGZ IT; + CHINA ISN'T GOING TO LIKE THIS ONE/MONGOLIA TO ENHANCE DEFENSE COOPERATION WITH INDIA. INDIA repor already has a loong- established ANTI-CHIN "LISTENING POST" in Mongolia - now besides potens arms deals, may set up a new major Base inside Mongolia agz China???
As American audiences tuned into his appearance on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno," President Obama tonight issued a notable video message aimed at the Iranian people and their leaders on the occasion of Nowruz, the traditional New Year's celebration in Iran and across much of Central Asia.
"In this season of new beginnings I would like to speak clearly to Iran's leaders," Obama says in the English-language recording, which is subtitled in Farsi. "We have serious differences that have grown over time. My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us, and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community."
"This process will not be advanced by threats," Obama continues. "We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect."
"This is huge," said Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, a group that supports U.S. engagement with Tehran. "First of all, he is addressing the people and the government, which has not been done before. At one point he talks about the Islamic Republic. He's signaling hes not looking for regime change; hes recognizing Irans system.
"You always heard Rice and Bush say 'Iranian regime,'" Parsi noted. It's a big difference. That doesn't mean Obama doesnt support Iranian democratization, Parsi said. "But he recognizes the government that exists in Iran right now."
Parsi also found remarkable Obama's comments that he recognized Iran has a "rightful role among nations."
"When he is saying the U.S. seeks constructive ties between the U.S., Iran, and international community," Parsi added, "that is signaling strategic intent. He is making it clear is that where he wants to end up through diplomacy which he supports is a constructive, positive relationship with Iran, to put aside our enmity. That is huge."
Asked if Obama's message to Iran signals a concerted public diplomacy effort related to the Iran policy review underway, the White House official responded: "He's making clear to the Iranian people and government the future that he sees for the two countries and that we're prepared to engage in direct diplomacy." Full text of the message at headline link
Lebanese security forces have assembled a special 300-member team to protect the four Lebanese judges in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, although the release of their names has been delayed because of "security concerns," pan-Arab daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat reported on Thursday.
According to the newspaper, UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who has the final decision on the matter, has not yet agreed to release the names of the judges because of security concerns.
The report added that Lebanon has assembled a special 300-strong security force to protect the judges. A Lebanese security official told Ash-Sharq al-Awsat that its members have been "subjected to very specialized training." Once the identities of the judges are made public, the force will "carry out [the judges'] protection, the protection of their houses, and the protection of their families."
The team is said to resemble "Fuhoud," the group which handles the security of visiting foreign delegations and high-level officials and handled the security of the international tribunal's prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, who was head of the UN commission investigating former Lebanese Prime Minster Rafik Hariri's assassination.
The group only awaits "information from the UN to begin its work," a Lebanese security official told Ash-Sharq al-Awsat. Even though the names of the judges have not yet been released, security authorities have stressed that measures have been taken to ensure the safety of the judges and their kin.
UN spokesman Farhan Haq told the newspaper that the organization has "trust in Lebanese security authorities." However, despite this trust and the preparedness achieved by Lebanese security officials, the names remain a secret.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2009 00:00 ||
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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.
The US has expressed concern to North Korea after its border guards detained two American journalists along the frontier with China, the State Department said Thursday. The incident comes amid rising tensions in the region as Pyongyang prepares a long-range rocket launch for early next month.
Seven attempts by U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf to have the U.S. State Department initiate an investigation into controversial textbooks used at two Islamic schools in Northern Virginia have gone unanswered. In his seventh letter in less than a year to the department, Wolf calls continued inaction on the part of the department "inexcusable." 
An anti-US Shiite cleric has renewed a call to his followers to renounce violence. Muqtada Al Sadr has ordered most of his Mahdi Army militiamen to lay down their arms to form a new social welfare network although he retained a small fighting force.
As American audiences tuned into his appearance on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno," President Obama tonight issued a notable 
