ABU DHABI — The UAE, Germany and Iraq signed here yesterday a tripartite agreement, which provides for the training of Iraqi military personnel.
Presenting a background about the UAE-German cooperation to train the Iraqi military personnel, Major-General Mu'dad Harib Al Khieli, Chief of Operations in the UAE Armed Forces, said the UAE-German cooperation began on November 17, 2004 when some 122 Iraqi personnel were trained to operate, repair and maintain Daimler-Chrysler trucks. The UAE undertook to bear the cost of 100 trucks, in addition to the cost of transporting them from Germany to the UAE and then to Iraq. The UAE further covered the expenses of 40 trainers and translators from Germany in addition to the expenses of the Iraqi trainees.
Hadn't read this before. This is good.
Al Khieli noted that the UAE Armed Forces further undertook to train the engineering unit of the Iraqi military. Necessery equipment and material for this engineering training were provided. Expenses of the trainers, translators and the trainees were also covered by the UAE military.
Bruska Noori Shaways, Secretary-General of Iraq's Ministry of Defence praised the UAE and Germany for assisting the new Iraq. "It is my pleasure to be here in Abu Dhabi to attend the announcement of the professional and military tripartite agreement. These agreements will certainly boost the capabilities of the Iraqi military and thereby enhance its role in building the new, free, stable and democratic Iraq."Â
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Senator John Kerry (D-PDRMA) was curiously unavailable for comment.
LONDON: The leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats criticised the government yesterday for its handling of the Iraq war, and demanded an exit strategy for British forces. In a keynote speech at his party's conference, Charles Kennedy urged voters to choose the Liberal Democrats over Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party and Britain's largest opposition group, the Conservative Party, during a national election expected on May 5.
"Tony Blair took us to war in Iraq on the basis of the supposed threat of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction," Kennedy said in Harrogate, a city in northern England. When the weapons couldn't be found, Blair then switched to saying that the reason for the war was the removal of Saddam, Kennedy said. "Of course Britain should honour its legal and moral responsibilities with regard to the situation in Iraq. But we need to focus on a proper exit strategy - as we warned at the outset. That should mean a phased withdrawal of British troops to coincide with the end of the United Nations mandate this year."
UN mandate?
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2005 11:43:09 PM ||
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If they were proactive, they should make demands for a Syrian or Iranian exit strategy.
#2
Wow! Does your Kennedy drink like our Kennedy? They certainly sound the same and they are rooting for the same side. Perhaps he is a long lost bastard of Joe?
LOL CS - Yes! Charles Kennedy has received stick in the past for excessive imbibtion - though you can't really blame him. In his position, in his party, I'd probably be hitting the bottle heavily too.
#5
I just saw the US Kennedy being interviewed by George what's-his-name (the dweeby guy from the Clinton administration.) George showed him the Walid Jumblatt statement that's been circulating about how the invasion of Iraq might just possibly have been responsible for the outbreak of democracy in the ME, and asked Ted whether Bush might be entitled to some credit.
To which Ted replied, "Absolutely..." I almost fell out of my chair. Of course, Ted then fuzzed up his statement by referring to American casualties, and George forgot to ask him any followup questions ("Salt with that crow, Senator?")
Posted by: Matt ||
03/06/2005 12:10 Comments ||
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#6
I just saw the US Kennedy being interviewed by George what's-his-name (the dweeby guy from the Clinton administration.)
George Stephanopoulos. I'm not surprised George didn't follow up - the producer was probably screaming in his earpiece.
#7
Kennedy needs to remember the words of one of his country men:
"You ask, what is our policy? I will say: it is to wage war, by sea, land, and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.
You ask, What is our aim? I answer in one word: Victory â victory at all costs; victory in spite of all the terror; victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."
Maybe Tony Blair could say something comparable. He occasionally rises to heights. Meanwhile, I'd "settle" for Winston.
LOL CS - Yes! Charles Kennedy has received stick in the past for excessive imbibtion - though you can't really blame him. In his position, in his party, I'd probably be hitting the bottle heavily too.
LOL CS - Yes! Charles Kennedy has received stick in the past for excessive imbibtion - though you can't really blame him. In his position, in his party, I'd probably be hitting the bottle heavily too.
LOL CS - Yes! Charles Kennedy has received stick in the past for excessive imbibtion - though you can't really blame him. In his position, in his party, I'd probably be hitting the bottle heavily too.
LOL CS - Yes! Charles Kennedy has received stick in the past for excessive imbibtion - though you can't really blame him. In his position, in his party, I'd probably be hitting the bottle heavily too.
LOL CS - Yes! Charles Kennedy has received stick in the past for excessive imbibtion - though you can't really blame him. In his position, in his party, I'd probably be hitting the bottle heavily too.
LOL CS - Yes! Charles Kennedy has received stick in the past for excessive imbibtion - though you can't really blame him. In his position, in his party, I'd probably be hitting the bottle heavily too.
Voting has opened in Moldova's general election - with 100 Russians who said they were election observers barred from entering the country. The Moldovan authorities said the Russians intended to disrupt the elections - the fifth since the state won independence from Moscow in 1991. They have also accused Russia of trying to influence the ballot.
The governing Communist Party, which is pro-western, is expected to win the majority of seats and remain in power. At present they hold 71 of the 101 seats in parliament.
European integration
According to Russian television, the Russians who were detained on a train on Saturday wanted to ensure that the ballot was free and fair. But the authorities claim they were not registered as monitors. "These people said they were observers but they don't have a single document to prove it," a government official told AFP news agency.
This is just the latest dispute between the two countries. Last month a number of Russians were expelled from Moldova on suspicion of spying. Leading up to the parliamentary election, tension has been escalating. Russia threatened trade sanctions and a visa regime for Moldovans in a row over Trans-dniester, Moldova's breakaway republic.
The Russian speaking region declared itself independent in the early 1990s and since, Russian troops have been stationed there. Moldova's government has called for their withdrawal, saying they are an illegal occupation force.
There have been complaints in Moldova that Russia is trying to determine the outcome of the election to prevent the ruling Communist Party from remaining in power.
Moscow had denied this. But according to BBC correspondent Helen Fawkes in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, Russia cannot be happy with the direction Moldova is heading.
The Moldovan President, Vladimir Voronin, who is the Communist leader, used to support closer ties to Moscow but is now in favour of European integration. Heh. Brezhnev & Co are spinning in their graves, lol!
Posted by: .com ||
03/06/2005 6:02:38 AM ||
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A pro-Western Communist leader? Now I've seen everything.
SEOUL, March 6 (UPI) -- South Korea's opposition Millennium Democratic Party is trying to arrange for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to visit North Korea along with other U.S. senators.
MDP Chairman Han Hwa-kap said he plans to meet with U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill to discuss the issue, the Korea Times reported.
"If possible, the visit will come sometime later this year," an MDP member said on condition of anonymity.
Han, leading the Asian part of the Asia-U.S. Network , a forum of lawmakers from both continents -- sent invitations to five U.S. senators earlier this year, including Republican Sens. Conrad Burns of Montana and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, to visit North Korea with him.
The MDP said Clinton hoped to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to discuss the nuclear issue.
"We understand that both the South Korean and U.S. governments would support Sen. Hillary Clinton's North Korea visit," an aide to the Korean opposition leader said.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/06/2005 7:16:17 PM ||
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South Korea's opposition Millennium Democratic Party is trying to arrange for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to visit North Korea along with other U.S. gasbags senators. A chance for her to drive a wedge between SK, Congress, the Pres, Japan, while remaking Ms. Hillary's image for '08
MDP Chairman Han Hwa-kap said he plans to meet with U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill to discuss the issue, the Korea Times reported. "If possible, the visit will come sometime later this year," an MDP member said on condition of anonymity. If possible, during an attack
Han, leading the Asian part of the Asia-U.S. Network , a forum of lawmakers from both continents -- sent invitations to five U.S. senators earlier this year, including Republican Sens. Conrad Burns of Montana and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, to visit North Korea with him. The MDP said Clinton hoped to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to discuss the nuclear issue. "we're so ronery...."
"We understand that both the South Korean and U.S. governments would support Sen. Hillary Clinton's North Korea visit," an aide to the Korean opposition leader said. I wouldn't get those thankles near the folks in the hinterland...they'd have 100 recipes for them
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2005 11:24:15 AM ||
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#1
Don't forget the brooch, Hillary. It worked wonders for Halfbright.
#3
I can't believe Hillary's staff is stupid enough to let her make this trip.
For one thing, depending on how cute her cheek bones look that day, Dear Leader might like her looks and want to make Hillary his sex slave (at least Halfbright wouldn't have had that risk).
Note to R-Burg readers: Try not to close your eyes for a few minutes after reading this.
#4
We've have Hanoi Jane,
then Hanoi John,
NEXT -->> 'Hanoi' Hillary.
Any chance we can get a pic of her in a artilary piece aimed at S. Korea?
Look for the North Koreans to appear all soft on the nuke issue to give support for her election. (cause afterwards they would be allowed to do what they want..).
#7
Nothing like the cover of a high-profile visit for moving nuclear materials. No chance that missiles or bombers will fly while Hanoi Hillary is in town.
Where's JM? This'll send him into all-caps mode.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/06/2005 17:06 Comments ||
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#8
Maybe we'll get lucky and some nork idiot will shoot her plane down. Please, please, please!!!!!
Posted by: Tom Dooley ||
03/06/2005 18:06 Comments ||
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#9
Hang down your head, Tom Dooley.
I can't stand this woman but her salute has more snap than sKerry's.
"China is a developing country, we do not have the money to buy a lot of weapons from your country that are very expensive and useless to us," said Li at a news conference on the sidelines of the annual National People's Congress (NPC) parliamentary session.
"your country" would be...frogistan. Looks like the Chinese know Islamic weapons haven't proved that succesful in practice. And besides, they've already stolen the designs they really want.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/06/2005 9:55 Comments ||
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#2
Much cheaper to steal "dual use" American technology.
#8
This is reverse psychology. They want the Euro stuff, because it incorporates a lot of American technology and is more advanced than the Russian stuff. When the EU starts selling to China, it will initially sell a lot, but it will need to sell the production technology as well to make any deals with the Chinese. For the EU, this is a poisoned chalice, because in the long run, the Chinese will put a lot of Euro arms manufacturers out of business. Just look at Russia - it has no industrial base whatsoever, but it has a thriving arms industry. China is developing a thriving industrial base via domestic- and foreign-owned civilian plants incorporating foreign-designed machine tools. Thanks to the EU, China will eventually end up replacing Russia (and the EU) as an alternative to Uncle Sam in the weapons market.
#9
I'm certainly glad that American liberals are taking Europe to task for being so hypocritical, greedy, self-serving and treacherous. Those daily editorials in the NYT and on NPR and the networks are so refreshing, and we can only hope that the social pressure they bring to bear from plateau of morality, might convince Europe to emulate the US and stop supporting dictatorship and injustice.
#10
read - we will save our fighting manpower and counter American and Western dominance with People's War, aka "New Vietnams, plus the Clintons are for us!?
The United States on Friday said the North Korean government was likely involved in drug trafficking and that Washington would keep an eye out for evidence to confirm its suspicions. In its annual global report on drug smuggling, the US State Department said North Korean official have participated in criminal behavior, including drug trafficking, and used government assets such as military-type patrol boats for their crimes. Such incidents have "caused many observers and the Department to come to the view that it is likely, though not certain that the North Korean government sponsors such illegal behavior as a way to earn foreign currency for the state and for its leaders," the report said. In June, two North Korean diplomats were arrested in Egypt for "attempting to deliver 150,000 tablets of Clonazipam," a drug used to treat seizures and anxiety, according to the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.
Both diplomats were expelled from Egypt. In December, Turkish authorities arrested two North Korean diplomats suspected of smuggling synthetic drugs destined for Arab markets, the report said. The two diplomats, who worked at North Korea's embassy in Bulgaria, were caught in a drug raid with "over half a million Captagon tablets," it said. The synthetic drug, which is taken as an aphrodisiac, had a seven-million-dollar street value, the report said. The diplomats were sent back to Bulgaria, whose government expelled them.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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smuggling synthetic drugs destined for Arab markets,
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said on Sunday the six party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions were the only realistic way to resolve the "complex" issue and urged all parties to consider Pyongyang's concerns. "China pursues the objective of a nuclear-weapons-free, peaceful and stable Korean peninsula. At the same time we also believe the legitimate concerns of the DPRK (North Korea) should be addressed," Li told a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing National People's Congress. "The six party talks present a realistic choice for the resolution of the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula through dialogue and should be continued."
China just again refused to help the NKors get bilateral talks with us. Good.
Without naming names, he urged both North Korea and the United States to maintain flexibility and patience and work for the resumption of the talks. China Saturday appeared to launch a low-intensity drive to get the United States to talk directly to North Korea, with officials urging Washington to hold the talks within the six party framework. "To restart negotiations and make progress, I hope Washington agrees to hold bilateral talks with Pyongyang," Yang Xiyu, director of the Office for the Korean Peninsula Issue under the Chinese foreign ministry, told the China Daily.
That was from the other side of their mouth.
However, the United States has ruled out bilateral negotiations for the foreseeable future, and even North Korea has indicated recently it is less than keen. Last month, North Korea said there was "no justification" for undertaking "bilateral one-to-one talks on the nuclear issue with the United States."
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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From the weblog 'bloggledygook', referred by Instapundit. All your Ukrainian conspiracy needs under one roof. Especially loved how the Uke former foreign minister committed suicide with two shots to the head.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2005 1:19:06 PM ||
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Saturday, February 05, 2005 [a month ago but I don't remember seeing it before] Woman will kill Hirsi Ali
Jihad!Three woman, Fatima, Naima and Khadisja [not their real names] who say they are part of the Hofstad terror [the terrorists don't mind calling themselves that, at least in this case, but the MsM can't bring themselves to do that]
network, which they call a friends club, have given an interview in Dutch newspaper "De Volkskrant".... They say Ayaan Hirsi Ali will be murdered by a woman. They did not decide this for tactical reasons ....[I think it was for ideological reasons]...
"If Hirsi Ali is murdered by a woman that will have a much bigger impact" says Naima. She also says that the sisters are patient. "even if it will take ten years"...
#3
Good piece, showcasing one of our weaknesses... one the MSM seems only to happy to exploit and propagate.
Quibble: Islam is the bloodiest ideology of all time, methinks, not since anything.
Eventually, even the most jaded, or clueless, or forgiving, or Pollyanna among us will get it. The Mythical Moderate will vaporize along with the rest of the disinformation. Hey, it's okay. It's an ugly monstrous thing to grasp in one go. Even in two. Perhaps, when "enough" directly attributable / indisputable deaths have been chalked up (10, 20, 30 thousand?) within a short enough timeframe, it will be seen as the raw deadly implacable foe it is.
Due to the "extreme" nature of my view, I have few fellows who also arrived here by rational means - there are plenty of lugnuts, however, and they frighten away those who might take that final step in logic. It's so ronery here, lol! But, sadly, I have no doubt that will change over time.
The Bush administration has adopted a new counterintelligence strategy that calls for "attacking" foreign spy services and the spy components of terrorist groups before they can strike, a senior U.S. intelligence official said yesterday. National Counterintelligence Executive Michelle Van Cleave said in a speech here that the past policy of waiting for intelligence threats to emerge "ceded the initiative to the adversary."
Why only now? We should have been doing this since sometime around September 12th, 2001...
"No longer will we wait until taking action," Miss Van Cleave said during a conference hosted by the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. "To meet the threat, U.S. counterintelligence needs to go on the offensive, which will require major but achievable changes in the way we do business."
...
The world is getting very much smaller and the threats very much larger. This makes sense - just as pre-emptive action against enemies. Screw the lot of fools stuck in 1969, bummer doods.
Posted by: .com ||
03/06/2005 5:17:14 AM ||
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Will this include taking out agents and infrastructure? If it doesn't it's useless.
#7
If you are talking about applying sufficient "operational latitude" for field personnel in "attacking the infrastructure", then there will have to be a lot of legal ground properly prepared.
Most cases, there will be some PDD's and memoranda from the DCI endorsed by the AG will be first and foremost. And possibly a classified EO if they need large scale issues to be nailed down.
To me, this sounds like they finally cleared that gate, so routine 'infrastructure elements' will be just as 'at risk' from our activities as would be HVTs, assuming there were no other intel value to them.
The surprising thing is that it did take them this long to nail it down.
#9
If you are talking about applying sufficient "operational latitude" for field personnel in "attacking the infrastructure", then there will have to be a lot of legal ground properly prepared.
Most cases, there will be some PDD's and memoranda from the DCI endorsed by the AG will be first and foremost. And possibly a classified EO if they need large scale issues to be nailed down.
To me, this sounds like they finally cleared that gate, so routine 'infrastructure elements' will be just as 'at risk' from our activities as would be HVTs, assuming there were no other intel value to them.
The surprising thing is that it did take them this long to nail it down.
#11
If you are talking about applying sufficient "operational latitude" for field personnel in "attacking the infrastructure", then there will have to be a lot of legal ground properly prepared.
Most cases, there will be some PDD's and memoranda from the DCI endorsed by the AG will be first and foremost. And possibly a classified EO if they need large scale issues to be nailed down.
To me, this sounds like they finally cleared that gate, so routine 'infrastructure elements' will be just as 'at risk' from our activities as would be HVTs, assuming there were no other intel value to them.
The surprising thing is that it did take them this long to nail it down.
The slaying of an Egyptian family that has caused tension between local Christians and Muslims was motivated by robbery, not religious fanaticism, authorities said. Two men on parole for drug offenses — one of them the Armanious family's upstairs tenant — were charged with four counts of murder in the killings. Many in New Jersey's Coptic Christian community had speculated that Hossam Armanious angered Muslims with opinions he posted in Internet chat rooms under the user name "I Love Jesus."
"I'd like to make one thing perfectly clear: The motive for these murders was robbery. This was a crime based on greed, the desperate need of money," Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said. Authorities said Hossam Armanious, 47, his wife, Amal Garas, 37, and their children, Sylvia, 15, and Monica, 8, were slain three days before their bodies were found Jan. 14, bound and gagged with puncture wounds to their heads and necks. In the days after the slayings, about $3,000 was withdrawn from Armanious' bank account using his ATM card, and investigators were able to get surveillance video from cameras over those cash machines, officials said. Edward McDonald, 25, who rented a second-floor apartment above the family, and Hamilton Sanchez, 30, were arrested Thursday. They pleaded not guilty to murder charges and were ordered held on $10 million bail. "I didn't kill nobody, man," Sanchez said as he was led from the courtroom.
DeFazio said officials believe a planned robbery spiraled out of control when the 8-year-old loosened her bonds and recognized McDonald. He is accused of killing her to avoid identification, and Sanchez is accused of killing the three others, DeFazio said. The murders spread fear throughout the region's Coptic Christian community and spurred tensions that erupted in scuffles and anti-Islam slogans being shouted during the family's funeral. "Everybody is relieved that there is no religious implication behind it," said Maged Riad, a spokesman for the worldwide head of the Coptic Church, Pope Shenouda.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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I am smelling rotten fish here.
They left too much "loot" behind.
Being New Jersy I have no confidence in the "Law."
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/06/2005 8:19 Comments ||
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bound and gagged with puncture wounds to their heads and necks
Cops are so terrified of pursuing a Islamist angle - like in the Malvo case - that I find it hard to just accept that they have pursued the somewhat obvious angle that is still hanging out there as a question in all of our minds. While it could just be a robbery, you have to wonder if the cops would make the effort to see if this was a murder for hire with the upstairs junkies used as patsys - or be happy to just accept them as such and close the books to make it all go away.
#7
2b: Cops are so terrified of pursuing a Islamist angle - like in the Malvo case - that I find it hard to just accept that they have pursued the somewhat obvious angle that is still hanging out there as a question in all of our minds. While it could just be a robbery, you have to wonder if the cops would make the effort to see if this was a murder for hire with the upstairs junkies used as patsys - or be happy to just accept them as such and close the books to make it all go away.
One of the felons was on parole. If he had been arrested committing a crime, he would have returned to serving hard time from his previous sentence, in addition to whatever sentence he received for armed robbery. I think he just wanted to make sure they were dead.
Note that the movies tend to romanticize felons. Real-life criminals are real hardcases - closer to the people in Goodfellas (based on a real-life mobster's bio) than in Godfather. The stuff you saw in the movie - and described in the Post article - is the kind of thing violent criminals routinely do. Real life violent criminals are seldom subtle. A couple of years back in NYC, a bunch of Hispanic kids bashed in the head of a Chinese takeout deliveryman with a brick and took his money off him. As far as I know, they didn't have anything personal against him - they just wanted a free meal and his money.
#9
Maybe others put the goons up to the deed. I agree with Sock, there is rotten fish here. I am not a conspiracy nut, but if there is a religious angle to this case, the police are not going to mention it, though they may explore it.
The police SHOULD mention the possibility publically, though, and say that it is one of a number of possibilities that they will pursue in the normal course of their investigation. Silence over this issue is just being a dhimmi.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/06/2005 13:17 Comments ||
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#10
And refusing to accept the obvious, because it doesn't fit the racial/religious profile certain people would prefer, is both prejudice and denial.
I believe there are thousands such murders every year, done by non-Muslims for non-religious reasons. What exactly was people's reason to believe that this one was a targetted killing instead? Was there a religious message/Islamic threat left over the bodies? I don't think so.
And since when have Islamic fanatics hired infidels to do their murders for them? I fail to remember any such example.
#13
Re #10: "...I believe there are thousands such murders every year..."
Sure, get us some statistics on families of four slain for an ATM card by puncture wounds to their heads and necks. Happens all the time here in my neighborhood. What a twit you are.
"The murders spread fear throughout the regionâs Coptic Christian community and spurred tensions that erupted in scuffles and anti-Islam slogans being shouted during the familyâs funeral."
Note: "Spurred" tensions, not "created" tensions.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/06/2005 21:23 Comments ||
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#14
on families of four slain for an ATM card
Sorry, Tom, I didn't think it was such specific details we were seeking, I was just thinking of murders taking place by people breaking into houses. I'm sure however that you can limit the similar cases down to one if you also demand that the murdered victims I need to find should be Copt Christians named Armanious.
What a twit you are.
It's not me who's in denial, because he so much wanted the murderers to have been 'mooselimbs' and this turns out not to have been the case.
Does it invalidate anything of your belief-system, having to acknowledge that not all evil in the world originates from Islam?
#15
Sobiesky: Binky, there are people that write the pin # on their cards. My 1st X would be a fine example.
These folks are smarter than your average bear. It takes a fair amount of smarts to establish yourself in a foreign country where you start off not knowing the language that everybody uses. Most Americans (and Egyptians) couldn't do it. These folks did. I live in NYC. I know a fair number of immigrants. None of them writes their PIN down *anywhere*.
Let's face it - most violent criminals are scumbags. These guys ought to be fed feet-first into a wood chipper, a la Fargo. But the likelihood is that they'll be guests of the governor until they're ready to be fitted out for pine boxes.
#16
Tom: Sure, get us some statistics on families of four slain for an ATM card by puncture wounds to their heads and necks. Happens all the time here in my neighborhood. What a twit you are.
Puncture wounds are another way of saying they stabbed the family to death. (Gunshots are loud and tend to attract the cops almost immediately). It's happened before, and it'll happen again. Some years back, an Indian couple was stabbed to death on Long Island. A few years before that, a Taiwanese couple was stabbed to death in Queens, NYC. These things happen. This is why owning a handgun in a readily accessible spot can be a real lifesaver.
#18
While some of you casually tossing off this crime and the subsequent arrest, will you for Christ's sake at least admit that four people dieing for robbery or religion is horrific enough, without adding the sneering non-chalance of your world views?
#19
The Coptic community was justifiably worried because they've seen this happen in Egypt. This time, apparently, their fears were wrong.
But when the declared representatives Muslim community constantly does the "dance of the seven veiled denials" over their support for terrorist groups, when Theo van Gogh was knifed to death in the middle of a public street, to believe their (and our!) fears are simply bigotry is a sign of arrogance and stupidity that I find unbelievable even in you.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/06/2005 23:16 Comments ||
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#20
Family members are loath to condemn Muslim extremists for the murders, but say that the details of the killings are similar to murders perpetrated by extremists in Egypt, where Coptic Christians have been bound, gagged and had their throats slit.
The preliminary causes of death are "stab wounds to the throat." The necks of each of the victims were "slit" across the throat. Below the slit of the parents' necks, three holes, about the size of the thumb, were "drilled" or "twisted" into the lower part of their throats. The daughters had two similar holes inflicted on their throats as well. These eyewitnesses say they have evidence of this in photographs taken of the bodies. The photos are said to be gruesome.
It said that money was not found at the scene, that Armanious's pockets had been turned out and his wallet was emptied. A pocketbook had been emptied, the statement said, and drawers had been rifled in the home. The statement also said, however, that jewelry was present in the apartment. A computer was recovered in the children's bedroom. ......
But the Coptic community remains skeptical. Anies Garas, whose daughter, Amal, was among the victims, told me: "The police have vouchered all of the jewelry," he said. "None of it was taken. In fact, my daughter was still wearing a ring worth $3,500 after she was murdered." Mr. Garas says that though a small amount of money was taken, no valuables were removed from the house.
Russian-Iranian military cooperation reaches into space. Russia will next month launch on Iran's behalf two satellites. Kosmos-3 will loft Mesbah (Dawn) military surveillance probe and Sinah-1 (Sinai-1) into space.
Iran claims resolution of Mesbah's instruments high enough to pick up valuable military and strategic data for attacks on Israel. Launching put forward from summer to April at Tehran's insistence.
#1
Putin and Chirac have a lot in common. They are both undermining the U.S. by selling military goods and services to Islamo-dictatorships hostile to the U.S. They did it in Iraq. Now they're doing it in Iran. I wonder what Putin was paid for those satellite launches. I'm about ready to re-declare the Cold War, and this time France is on the other side. On second thought, it's just the WOT, and France and Russia are on the other side.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/06/2005 20:53 Comments ||
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#2
Time for a pad mishap.
After all the Japanese had them, the US had them...
#3
Or how about them satellitess going out of commission right after launch for some type of error or another... Wouldn't be the first time that happened.
#5
Awful lot of junk floating around in Earth orbit. You just never know when some random piece of trash is going to smash into a satellite. A shame when that happens! Hope Puti got the money up front.
I know we don't link to bloggers, but the link above is to a TV piece made by Iranian television and shown in Iran. Click on the link above. This is frighten stuff. Read what one of our diplomats writes about how Iran is winning the propaganda war
Can't get the link code to work, so http://dailydemarche.blogspot.com
The Mullahcrocy in Iran, on the other hand, is doing everything they can to get the word out to the masses. The following video clips are worthy of Michael Moore. They are slick, effective and frightening. As propaganda they are excellent. We know that satellite receivers abound in the ME. What are we beaming into those dishes? Nothing to compare to the following, I am willing to bet. We are losing the war of ideas on the airwaves to pieces like these, from the indispensable MEMRI TV snip
#1
"We" don't need to beam anything into those satellite dishes. Free Iranians living in the West, mostly in LA, are beaming plenty into Iran. I don't care how slick the Mullah agitprop is. Deepdown the Iranian people know it's horsepucky.
Hizbollah, Lebanon's most powerful party, threw its weight against Syria's opponents on Sunday, calling for a peaceful mass rally in central Beirut on Tuesday in support of Damascus and against Western meddling. The Shi'ite Muslim group, which has the largest following in the country and is the only one with weapons, has in the past steered clear of plunging into internal Lebanese politics or flexing its political muscles against domestic rivals. But after Syria announced Saturday a two-phased total troop withdrawal from Lebanon, the staunchly anti-Israeli group entered the domestic political ring facing the opposition. The group's chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah warned that Syria's pullout under intense global pressure could spell chaos for Lebanon and push it toward peace with Israel.
Peace with a neighboring country? Oh, horrors!
"The aim of America and Israel is to spread chaos in Lebanon and bring back Lebanon to a state of chaos to find excuses for foreign intervention and to push some Lebanese to call for international intervention," Nasrallah told a news conference.
How does he undefine Syrian occupation as an "international intervention"?
In the name of loyalist parties, he called for a mass rally Tuesday at a square in central Beirut close to another square where opposition protesters have been demanding Syria quit Lebanon for the past three weeks. "I call on all Lebanese to this peaceful popular gathering to reject foreign intervention that is contrary to our independence, sovereignty and freedom," he said.
His lips move, words come out, but he's not making any sense.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 4:27:26 PM ||
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#1
I love the phrase "could . . . push it toward peace with Israel."
how diabolical! The Religion of Peace⢠will not stand for this!
#4
I have no easy answer for the Hezbollah problem but it was going to have to be dealt with eventually. We're putting major pressure on Syria and our presence in Iraq should help interdict Iranian support, but they're still a major factor. I am intrigued by the idea that maybe the French can be maneuvered into playing a significant role here. Bush seemed to enjoy saying "The US and France demand..." the other day.
BA the Syrian president brought no thing new at all about the issue of peace with Israel. He confirmed that the peace process is to stay on standstill for the time being.
About Iraq BA denied any involvement in the situation about the terrorists' activities. He said there are no Syrians in Iraq and they don't know those (Syrian and other Arabs) who confessed lately about their relation to Syrians intelligence systems. He said that if Iraq is not agreed about the constitution then this will mean civil war! He compared the Syrian border with Iraq with the borders between the USA and Mexico. He said that the USA need from Syria to watch its border yet the USA is unable to keep its border with Mexico!
BA talk about Iraq is very unhelpful indeed. It would have been better for him to tell the truth and make some movement forward to help in preventing more interference in Iraq. He indeed by his denials make it clear that Syria will not end its support for the terrorists and in another words it is a call for the insurgents to relax and by using Syria as a base for their activities. He blamed the US side as well as the Iraq side that they failed to provide him with information about the names and the sites that the insurgents uses inside Syria. He described this as an unhelpful.
In actual fact the only truth that he mentioned in his part regarding Iraq is that they were against the war against Saddam regime! He pointed out that the USA has failed in Iraq.
About Lebanon he blamed the media to distort Syrian image about this subject. He was laughing at some of these reports and mocked them! He described the death of Arafat as an (assassination)! He also considered 1559 UN resolution as an illegal especially in regards to the resistance and settlement issues. He said that Hariri's assassination has been used against Syria however he confessed that Syria did some mistakes in Lebanon but gave no details. He described some of the Lebanese politicians as traders of politics.
He said Syria is the only one which is responsible for its presence in Lebanon and accused again the media by looking to the situation from one angle. He described some of the Lebanese as treacheries. He said he will pull his troops fully from Lebanon until Bakaa then the Syrian borders however he has not said when this will happen.
BA said that the Syrian interest in Lebanon will not end by pulling the troops.
It is interesting that he predicted the world condemnation about his speech to happen immediate after he finished. He said they will say it is not enough so as we tell them it is not enough and mocked about it!
In summary no thing new at all about peace process with Israel, Iraq, and no details about Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon about when to pull, however he predicted that Lebanon may do a peace deal with Israel which may lead to the down fall of the Lebanon government by popular revolt!
Asad is talking it up! Everything he's said in this speech sounds like trouble!
#1
Saw the speech on C-SPAN. Translated into English it made no damn sense. It was kind of fun to watch it. When Bashir hit a key point (obscure to me) he would start clapping and then everybody else would clap like hell and outside cameras would show his bosters outside jumping and clapping... Then he would quit clapping and everybody else would quit bang.
Right out of the outer-limits....
A real alternate reality.
#2
3dc-
I have a wonderful book about Stalin's last days that has a similar story - everybody gives him a standing O, which runs about twnety minutes - but as the applause starts to die, Stain gave them a dirty look, and everybody kept going. Something like two HOURS later, some poor bastard finally gave out and sat down. Everybody stopped then, and the guy who stopped first was arrested the next morning.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/06/2005 18:06 Comments ||
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For Iranians living outside of Iran, the internet has become a lifeline, a way not only to stay in touch with friends and family back home, but also to stay connected to Iranian culture no matter where they are.
Hossein Derakhshan, who keeps a weblog under the name of Hoder, has already made a name for himself in the Persian-language blogosphere. He created the script that allows Iranians to keep online diaries in their native Persian language. But now, Derakhshan has taken his online activities to next level.
He is now producing an audio blog, or podcast.
Crackdown started
Derakhshan's road to podcasting began five years ago in Tehran, where he worked for a reformist newspaper. The Iranian authorities began a crackdown against such publications beginning in 2000.
Between the government's increasingly heavy hand and the lack of job opportunities for young people, the 30-year-old Derakhshan decided to leave the country. He moved with his wife to Toronto, Canada in 2001.
In September of that year, just a few weeks after the World Trade Center attacks in New York City, Derakhshan started blogging. The personal, online accounts of people affected by the attacks convinced him of the power of keeping an online diary.
His decision to create the computer script for Persian-language blogging came naturally. "I wanted to stay connected to Iranian culture, especially the youth culture," Derakhshan says. "And I wanted to find a way to stay in touch with my readers from my days at the newspaper."
'Flourishing blogs'
Derakhshan's work sparked an explosion in Persian-language blogs. One estimate puts the numbers of bloggers inside Iran at 46,000, and Derakhshan says there may be as many as 75,000 active Persian-language blogs worldwide.
"During the last two or three years, Iranian blogging has flourished," says Hadi Ghaemi, a native Iranian who now works for Human Rights Watch in New York City. "In fact, blogging has become the main medium for information, new, analysis and exchange of information for Iranians, both inside and outside the country."
Derakhshan wanted to build on that trend. Just a few months ago, he launched a podcast called Radio Hoder. He's currently offering both a Persian and English version. Podcasting takes its name from the Apple iPod. A podcast is a radio programme that can be downloaded, and listened to directly on a computer or an MP3 player.
The programmes can be made by anyone with some basic recording equipment, a computer with editing software, and some server space to host the MP3 files.
'Totally controlled'
"The radio available in Iran is either totally controlled by the government, or by exiles living in Los Angeles," says Derakhshan. "The amount of accurate information or political debate is limited to these two types of sources.
Radio Hoder, its creator says, will offer Iranians more choice.
"With podcasts, they can actually produce something and contribute to the political debate and social debate, which doesn't exist in Iran except on the internet."
There are drawbacks to Persian podcasting, though. For Derakhshan, the biggest problem is that recording, editing, mixing and uploading a podcast is time consuming. Would-be podcasters inside Iran, many of whom connect to the internet through dial-up modems or at internet cafes, would face some technical hurdles. Those inside Iran looking for podcasts might have a hard time finding them.
The Iranian government regularly filters content from outside of Iran that it deems counter-revolutionary. The Iranian government might also choose to censor anyone who tries podcasting from inside Iran. The recent arrests of more than two dozen webloggers and cyber-journalists do not bode particularly well for podcasters.
Another potential issue for Iranian podcasters is the hosting services provided by companies in the United States. Many Iranians use American internet service providers to host their blogs and websites. But that hosting may be in jeopardy.
Recently, a US service provider suddenly stopped hosting the website of Iran's student-run news agency, ANSA. "We're having internet service providers for websites in Iran closing down those websites without giving any reason," says Hadi Ghaemi of Human Rights Watch. Iranian podcasts could suffer the same fate.
Actively podcast
Hossein Derakhshan admits that Iranian podcasts might not prove as influential as blogs in the short term.
But in the longer term, as podcasts become technically easier to produce and more people are able to listen to them, he says that may change. Toward that end, he says he's going to actively podcast in the lead-up to the Iranian elections this spring.
Derakhshan plans to interview Iranian scholars and journalists, both inside and outside the country, whose voices Derakhshan feels aren't heard enough. "Anyone who takes podcasting seriously could have a very big effect, even on the elections," says Derakhshan. "Maybe even some of the mainstream Iranian media will pick up the podcasts, and distribute them in a much broader way, to an even larger audience." Such potential... If the CIA hasn't totally degenerated into silly putty, we ought to be able to hook up with many people who live in and travel outside - or visit Iran regularly. We should be able to create trust and ties and, gulp, plans for the day, coming soon, when the Mullahcracy can be tolerated no more. Perhaps the Persians will do the job first. Perhaps not. Considering Bush's Inaugural speech, the election in Iraq, what's happening in Lebanon, and knowing that their fledgling democratic aspirations were crushed by the Mullahs must be making them think very hard, indeed. Regardless, we need to be open to them - ready to connect and cooperate... for that day.
Posted by: .com ||
03/06/2005 6:21:58 AM ||
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#1
Nothing unknown about the Iranian people: Given half a chance to legitimate, free elections, they will vote, proudly, just like the Iraqis did.
#2
And for governments Bill Clinton identifies with. I'm not sure that's in the American interest.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/06/2005 8:18 Comments ||
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#3
Time was when I would have looked at the Iranian people and shaken my head. Such a collection of disparate groups competing with each other over every facet of their lives. But this was before Iraq demonstrated the possibility of evolving beyond sectarianism and strife to a unified national cause--made possible only by an injection of endless good will from the United States. And no, I cannot see the Iranians overcoming a millenium of misadventure on their own. They are too focused on their squabbles for any great leader or movement to emerge. They cannot evolve given half a chance, they must have the whole chance.
The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), Hassan Rowhani, warned the United States that it tried to derail nuclear talks between Iran and the European Union, and refers Iran's nuclear dossier to the United Nations Security Council, Iran would cease all voluntary and confidence-building measures it has implemented. "In such a case, the Majlis [Parliament] deputies may make another decision," Rowhani told participants at the International Conference on Nuclear Technology and Sustainable Development in Tehran. Rowhani said that any referral of Iran's nuclear dossier to the U.N. would be an illegal and illogical political decision that would actually undermine the International Atomic Energy Agency.
I'm not at all sure what the logic behind that statement is. Perhaps I'm dense. Perhaps it intrinsically makes no sense...
If Iran were referred to the U.N., the Islamic Republic would stop implementing the additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and would resume uranium enrichment, he added. Rowhani asked, "Is confidence-building better with the protocol or without the protocol?"
I'd have to check with somebody who actually speaks the language, but I suspect the original Persian version of that statement was something along the lines of "My way or the highway."
Rowhani said that if Europe referred Iran to the U.N. it would be committing political suicide and would lose its international standing, that Europeans and others realize that the region is volatile, and understand that they have no right to create crises in violation of international law. Creating crises in the region is like playing with fire, Rowhani observed. "It is impossible to deprive the Iranian nation of nuclear energy," he said.
Lemme get this straight: Iran — a decayed cultural backwater ruled by theocrats — threatens Europe with a loss of international standing for "violating international law" by referring Iran's pecadilloes to the UN Security Council. Is that what I just read?
If Europe really seeks a permanent freeze on Iran's nuclear fuel cycle, the negotiations with Europe will cease at that moment, he stated. "We announced clearly in Paris that if you want a halt, we can have no dialogue with you."
That probably means we have nothing to talk about, doesn't it?
Rowhani also warned of the danger of an oil crisis if Tehran were referred to the U.N. "The first to suffer would be Europe and the United States themselves. This would cause problems for the regional energy market, for the European economy, and even more so for the United States," Rowhani said.
Though ultimately for Iran. Perhaps because of some defect in the national reasoning mechanisms, they haven't thought that idea through to a logical conclusion. This isn't 1973.
If Iran is referred to the U.N., the security situation in the region will deteriorate, and the U.S. would be the first to suffer, he noted. In a veiled warning to Washington to avoid getting ideas about more adventurism in the region, Rowhani said, "The United States has spread its forces and equipment all around us and become our unwanted neighbor."
We can get much closer. Like down the block.
Rowhani also said, "We believe we will reach an agreement with Europe if the United States ceases pressure, because Europe doesn't want to deprive the Iranian nation (of nuclear energy)." Europe knows that it will lose its international standing if it tries to deprive the Iranian nation of its rights, the SNSC secretary added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 9:51:30 PM ||
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#1
Fred, do you thing it will work on EUnuchs?
The choice is simple: empty threats now or nukes pointing at EU locations a bit later.
Actually, maybe EUnuchs bet that the moment it would look like Iran is getting closer the evil Jooos or Merkins would see to it, so they can play their goody-guys game for now.
#4
Sobiesky, its an expression that has fallen out of common usage. It even sounds odd to my ears. It means the statement is motivated by panic as much as anything else. Iran is looking at losing its last regional ally in Syria (the regime is teetering on the brink) and its proxy forces in Lebanon. It has been a particularly bad week for the mullahs.
#5
An even worse week is just down the road. Not June or July, as some fear-mongering wags have shouted from the MSM rooftops, but somewhere around the end of the year... John Pike & Co seem to have a more precise estimate... and I'll wager they have a good "feel" for how things are shaping up, heh.
#7
The MMs have by their actions and words, painted themselves into a corner. They do believe their own sh**te. They have tipped their hand and even the EUniks are starting to see the danger. The US will not do their heavy lifting. We will do our own heavy lifting. One thing we will NOT do with Iran and that is jawbone and appease. With the neutering of Syria, Iran will be an island, more or less. Pressure MUST be kept on Syria in order to further isolate the MMs. We are in a race with MM nuke development and the fall of the MMs. Exciting and dangerous times ahead. Move the Ship's Telegraph to Full Speed Ahead, Mr. Rumsfeld, if you please.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/06/2005 3:26 Comments ||
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#8
..Iran would cease all voluntary and confidence-building measures it has implemented.
I wouldn't give them the time of day, much less a reactor. It's an irrelevant joke, anyway.
They don't want nuke power, never did, don't need it. They have approx 120 yrs worth of proven oil production reserves at current rates, last I looked it up. The notion is so absurd it does not bear even mentioning. The biggest red herring in the M.E. desert. Pfeh.
They want nuke weapons. Period. And Nationalism has dick to do with it. Sure, the Persians would like to sit at the Big Table, what people wouldn't?. But not with the Mullahs running the show. They want to be a power, as big as they can be, period, and it has nothing to do with the Persian people and everything to do with who "they" are: the Mullahcracy. There's nothing else to this equation, except that they are actually more likely to use a nuke pkg, if they aren't stopped in their tracks first, than any other regime on the planet. Their religious dogma demands it - and they've said it enough times to convince anyone except an MSM or Tranzi appeasenik.
Nah. It's Mullah Whacking Time and it will happen sooner or later because they are deranged, in spite of posts to the contrary 'round here. If they were "sane", they would either back off and enjoy their oil loot -- or have kept the whole thing under the radar as much as they could for as long as they could. The course they've chosen makes sense only in their ultra-insulated ultra-dogmatic world, it's insane outside of that bubble.
#12
Mullah fantasy land. We will get a nuke and if the Americans try to stop us, we will cut of their oil and crush them. Bwaahhhaaa.
Um..hello, you won't get a nuke - and if you do succeed in cutting off our oil - it will hurt us as we eat sparingly off the goose that laid your golden egg.
#13
I particularly like this: Rowhani said, "The United States has spread its forces and equipment all around us and become our unwanted neighbor." to which Fred said We can get much closer. Like down the block.
Is there a movie of what happened to Saddam's Republican Guards that could be sent to the Mullahs' Revolutionary Guards?
The two-day International Conference on Nuclear Technology and Sustainable Development opened on Saturday in the presence of Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Hassan Rowhani. Nuclear experts from Iran and 11 foreign countries as well as 12 international organizations active in the sphere of nuclear issues are participating at the conference, IRNA reported.
The conference is held in two scientific-technical and political-legal aspects to prepare appropriate grounds for Iranian intellectuals and experts to become more familiar with scientists from foreign countries. Meanwhile, Iran`s stance on peaceful use of nuclear technology will be outlined for foreign participants. The use of nuclear technology for medical treatment, international peace and security, challenges and threats, Iran`s nuclear challenges, Iran`s nuclear opportunity and diplomacy and nuclear threat in the Middle East region are among the important issues to be raised at the conference. The SNSC secretary is scheduled to deliver a speech at the inaugural ceremony of the conference. He is also to take part in a press conference attended by domestic and foreign reporters on Iran`s nuclear case and the country`s negotiations with Europe.
Foreign ambassadors to Iran including the ambassadors of Kuwaiti and Palestine are expected to attend the international conference. The International Conference on Nuclear Technology and Sustainable Development is being held jointly by the Foreign Ministry, Iran`s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO), the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and Strategic Research Center of the Expediency Council (EC).
Minister of Justice Ahmed Yaqoub Baqer said Kuwait has so far 200 files on Iraqi war crimes which were compiled by local and international experts and these will be part of more than 1,000 files that will be used by the Iraqi tribunal in the prosecution of Iraqi war criminals. He said Kuwait was distressed by the destructive activities wrought by the previous Iraqi regime during its invasion and occupation of the country in contravention of international laws. Commending the International Red Cross Society for agreeing to train the magistrates and prosecutors, he said the course will enable trainees to get acquainted with the implementation of international humanitarian laws. Baqer said Kuwait believes wars only bring destruction and demolition and delays human progress, adding that conflict prevention should be among the objectives of all countries.
He said should war become inevitable, efforts must be made to differentiate between humanitarian issues and military contingencies in accordance with human rights. Daniel Fasnacht, ICRC deputy regional delegate in Kuwait, said 191 states have so far signed and ratified the Fourth Geneva Convention of which Article 1 obliges the signatories to respect the conventions in all circumstances. He commended Kuwait for signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the ICRC in 2004 to provide a regional platform for the training and teaching of international humanitarian law, one of the cornerstones of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 4:38:20 PM ||
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ROME (Reuters) - Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena, shot and wounded after being freed in Iraq, said Sunday U.S. forces may have deliberately targeted her because Washington opposed Italy's policy of dealing with kidnappers. you mean paying large ransoms that allow the kidnappers to expand their ops?
She offered no evidence for her claim, but the sentiment reflected growing anger in Italy over the conduct of the war, which has claimed more than 20 Italian lives, including the secret agent who rescued her moments before being killed. a tragedy for him - wasted his life over this commie
Friday evening's killing of the agent and wounding of the journalist, who worked for a communist daily, has sparked tension with Italy's U.S. allies and put pressure on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to take a hard line with President Bush. The United States has promised a full investigation into incident, in which soldiers fired on the Italians' car as it approached Baghdad airport Friday evening.
The U.S. military says the car was speeding toward a checkpoint and ignored warning shots, an explanation denied by government ministers and the driver of the car. Of course
Speaking from her hospital bed where she is being treated, Sgrena told Sky Italia TV it was possible the soldiers had targeted her because Washington opposes Italy's dealings with kidnappers that may include ransom payments. Paging Eason Jordan? "The United States doesn't approve of this (ransom) policy and so they try to stop it in any way possible."
According to Italy's leading daily Corriere della Sera, the driver, an unidentified Italian agent, said: "We were driving slowly, about 40-50 km/h (25-30 mph)." Italians routinely lie about their speeding.. In a harrowing account of her ordeal, Sgrena wrote in Sunday's Il Manifesto newspaper that the secret agent, Nicola Calipari, saved her life by shielding her with his body.
"Nicola threw himself on to protect me and then suddenly I heard his last breath as he died on top of me," she wrote. ewwww
PUNISHMENT, APOLOGY
Although Italy has denied paying kidnappers in past hostage releases, Agriculture Minister Gianni Alemanno told the Corriere that "very probably" a large ransom had been paid in this case. Italian newspapers have speculated that anything up to 8 million euros ($10 million) may have been paid. that buys a lot of killers and IEDs
"We need to get the guilty punished and an apology from the Americans," Alemanno said. "We are trustworthy allies but we must not give the impression of being subordinates."
Italy's minister for parliamentary relations, Carlo Giovanardi, has also said he did not believe the U.S. version of events.
A national outpouring of grief and anger put pressure on Berlusconi, an ardent supporter of Bush and his war on terror, to get answers from Washington on what went wrong.
"All 57 million Italians who were united in the anticipation of Giuliana Sgrena's liberation have the right to know what happened," said Romano Prodi, the former prime minister and leader of Italy's center-left opposition.
Berlusconi summoned the U.S. ambassador immediately after the event and will need to present some answers from Washington when he addresses parliament Wednesday.
He led Italy into the conflict in Iraq where it has some 3,000 soldiers, a decision opposed by a majority of Italians and the opposition which is seeking to unseat him at a general election next year and weaken him at regional polls next month.
So it's a political call for national honor and against Berlusconi, with no proof whatsoever
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2005 11:16:25 AM ||
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#1
Isn't it our stated policy to shoot indiscriminatly at vehoicles in Iraq? If the U.S. wanted to dispose of this Commie Bitch we would have staged an ambush on a deserted part of the highway and NOT at a checkpoint. The former would have far fewer questions and implications. Funny how only the U.S. and Lefty European press is touting her story.
#2
Verification through repeated experiments. Take any area in Iraq which has experienced multiple car bombings in two or three days, load a car up with people, run it at night at any speed above 1st gear towards any American checkpoint which does not know the experiment is going on. Any volunteers to see if this would have happened just by accident? Or do rational people grasp that its really not a good thing to do?
#5
besides I hope they do pursue this. I'm curious as to why the Italians felt they had to gun past an American checkpoint. Obviously there is a reason they didn't want to stop. What was it?
#6
Has anyone offered an explanation of how the evil, bloodthirsty US soldiers would know that this particular checkpoint-running vehicle contained peace-loving, italian, ex-hostage journalists and were therefore able to deliberately target them for death?
#8
That the Italians would cave in and pay ransom to known killers is disgusting. The Italian press will keep the ball rolling and ride the horse until it dies.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/06/2005 13:45 Comments ||
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#9
If we wanted her dead, she would have been dead, all of them.
#1: She works for a COMMUNIST newspaper. That juts about explains everything.
#2: And they're rich Commies, evidently, to be able to pay $10 million for her sorry ass.
#3: She certainly is quick to use the situation to bolster her own "credibility" and deflect attention from questions regarding what she (did, in fact) learn at the hands of the terrorists. And she gets all that by blaming US soldiers for doing their duty. Lucky her.
#4: The liberal Italian press is even more outwardly agenda-oriented than our own beloved MSM, and they want to get rid of their prime minister, in order to further their Communist agenda. This is a big load of hype, designed to do just that.
#5: Like all Communists tend to do, she is playing on cultural emotionality , when she suggests that a big, bad "plot" was enacted by the US to kill her. (Right--we consider her SO dangerous, cuz' she's SO important, don't ya know . . . )
#6: Guess she got a pretty great "pay off." She can tell fake stories impugning the US, and get some mileage out of that, she can capitalize on her negotiator's death and use it to further impugn the US, and she can be certain the funds she so generously provided the terrorists (or, Arab gangsters, as Classical Liberal pointed out) will be used to kill US forces and Iraqi freedom fighters. She must be really, really proud of herself.
Is everyone else sick of the whiney, cowardly outlook of the Europeans? Sometimes it makes me want to just hand them over to their Islamic "brothers" for a couple of centuries. Then they'll be cryin home to mama!
#11
According to Italian (press) fable production, 300 - 400 rouds were fired at the car from an armoured vehicle. There wouldn't be anyone alive after 300 rounds! I venture to say that even 50 rounds may have the same results.
#14
I see three rounds (two in engine, one by door handle) + broken window (round four?) and then the car rammed something. I don't think the white spot in the windshield is a bullet. No central hole and no large spider web around the impact.
Posted by: ed ||
03/06/2005 17:23 Comments ||
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#15
Anyone want to bet the killing shot was fired from inside the car?
#16
Dishman, autopsy found a single shot into temple. So, yes, that thought crossed my mind. In fact, I would bet that if the shot was fired from inside the car, it was prior to the checkpoint incident and the perp slipped out in time. It would be interesting to compare passenger count from previous checkpoints.
#17
ed, the spot by the door handle is probably not a bullet hole rather a keyhole for the doorlock. Both the driver and driver's passenger window appear to be shattered. The holes we see on this side may be exit holes. We do not know how many holes are on the driver's side where the shattered windows are.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/06/2005 17:44 Comments ||
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#18
This pic is from AP. You would think that AP would show the most damaged portion of the car.
Also its amazing that with 300-odd rounds only the 2 windows were shattered. All the other windows appear intact - of course the rear window might be shattered also.
#19
..looks just like what the troops said...An engine shot, to stop the vehicle. It's self evident the car wasn't shot up. The photo bears this out.
My opinion>>Troops showed great restraint. Minimal fire.
Posted by: x ||
03/06/2005 17:55 Comments ||
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#21
Okay, the autopsy correction:
The bullet entered the parietal-occipital part of the skull (back of skull about 2-3" below the top) and exited a little above left ear.
#22
Could she have made the first shot? just before reaching the checkpoint? or could a jihadi sniper have shot them, knowing where they were going, when, and in what car?
Are we sure the photo/video shows the correct car?
#23
Mrs. D,
Could be, but to me, it looks a bit low to be a keyhole. It does seem to be at the right height to hit someone covering another in the back seat. I think they are entry holes. Exit holes would be irregular due to bullet tumbing/breakage after hitting the engine block. And no, I don't have any reason to believe the fatal shot came from inside the car or from a sniper.
Posted by: ed ||
03/06/2005 18:43 Comments ||
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#24
Kalle, seems that this is the car she was kidnapped from. Why AP used it for the story? Apparently, it really doesn't matter what car is used to them. Fake but accurate.
#26
There is another possibility that is quite a stretch... Someone at AP wanted to alert people that the whole story is fishy. I know, as I said quite a stretch...
The Italian government paid up to $US6 million ($A7.67 million) for the release of kidnapped journalist Giuliana Sgrena in Iraq, the Milan-based Corriere della Sera reported, citing a senior Iraqi politician.
Italian media also reported Italian state prosecutors had launched a manslaughter investigation into the fatal shooting by US troops of Italian agent Nicola Calipari which occurred as Sgrena was taken to Baghdad airport following her release.
The kidnappers had been loyalists of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who had increased their ransom demands from an initial $US1 million ($A1.28 million), Younademn Kana, Iraqi MP and ex-member of the former provisional governing council was quoted as saying.
The ransom was handed over by Italian agents to mediators in Abu Dhabi, the newspaper La Repubblica wrote.
#34
We should apologize and punish the guilty. The Italian government is guilty for paying ransom to terrorists and thus funding terrorism. The Italian driver is guilty for approaching an American checkpoint like an Italian driver. The commie is guilty for offering no evidence for her libelous claim.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/06/2005 21:06 Comments ||
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#35
Giuliana Sgrena, who writes for the communist newspaper Il Manifesto, described how she was wounded and Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari was killed as she was celebrating her freedom on the way to the airport. The shooting Friday has fueled anti-American sentiment in a country where people are deeply opposed to U.S. policy in Iraq.
âI remember only fire,â she said in her article. âAt that point a rain of fire and bullets came at us, forever silencing the happy voices from a few minutes earlier.â
Sgrena said the driver began shouting that they were Italian, then âNicola Calipari dove on top of me to protect me and immediately, and I mean immediately, I felt his last breath as he died on me.â
Suddenly, she said, she remembered her captorsâ warning her âto be careful because the Americans donât want you to return.â
The last sentence may be a slip that leads me to believe she was on it from the beginning. I mean, she is a fundraiser for jihadis, like I suspected of the other 2 italian biatches about half an year ago.
#37
It gets even better... Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported yesterday that the Italian Government had paid a ransom of between E6-8million ($10-13.4million)
#7
So why were these photos released? Is this an attempt by Zarqawi to reassure his followers that he's safe and healthy? Since they don't seem to have been accompanied by a message I'm a little puzzled by this.
Iraq's dominant Shiite-led alliance set a mid-March deadline to form a government, prodded to action by spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who demanded progress after more than a month of post-election haggling. Members of the United Iraqi Alliance, the big winner in the Jan. 30 elections, met in central Baghdad and agreed Saturday to try to form a government and convene the 275-member National Assembly by March 15 after al-Sistani demanded that they stop bickering. Abbas Hassan Mousa al-Bayati, head of the alliance's Turkomen bloc, said Sunday if no agreement was reached, the assembly would convene on March 16 at the latest "in order to hold more negotiations." Officials in the prime minister's office could not be reached to confirm the date. ...snip...
The Shiite-led alliance, which already has missed two target dates, gained 140 seats in the assembly during the election but is hoping to get the backing from the 75 seats held by Kurdish political parties so it can muster the required two-thirds majority to ensure control of top posts in the new government. Sheik Fawaz al-Jarba, one of the few Sunni Arabs in the alliance, said after meeting al-Sistani in Najaf that the elderly cleric urged the group "to unite and to form the new government as soon as possible and not to delay this issue any longer, and that the interests of Iraq and Iraqis should be their first priority."
Mohammed Bahr al-Ulloum, an alliance deputy, said they agreed the National Assembly would convene "no later than March 15." Another deputy, Fattah al-Sheik, said pressure would be put on interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and the Kurds so a cabinet could be ready by that date. Allawi's party finished third with 40 seats in the assembly. He has been trying to build his own coalition in an effort to keep his job. The alliance wants to name Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the leader of the conservative Islamic Dawa Party and one of the country's two current interim vice presidents, to the prime minister's post. "Al-Sistani demanded that we put aside minor matters and that we should be united. I am not comfortable with the delay in holding the assembly," said Mudhar Shawkat, a senior official in Ahmad Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress. Shawkat said failure to convene the assembly "represents an insult to Iraqi voters."
Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two parties in the Kurdish coalition, has long been the Kurds' choice for president. Al-Bayati said a parliament speaker would be named on the day the National Assembly convened. "It seems that the general opinion is leaning toward the parliament speaker being a Sunni Arab and the president being Mr. Talabani," al-Bayati said. A Sunni Arab speaker would go far toward appeasing the minority, which is believed to make up the core of the insurgency and, like the Kurds, makes up 15-20 percent of Iraq's estimated 26 million people. But unlike the Kurds, Sunni Arabs largely stayed away from the election to protest the U.S. presence in the country. Al-Bayati said the candidates would include interim President Ghazi al-Yawer and interim Minister of Industry Hajim al-Hassani.
The main sticking point in forming a government has been the alliance's inability to broker a deal with the Kurds. Kurdish leaders have demanded constitutional guarantees for their northern regions, including self-rule and reversal of what they call the "Arabization" of areas including oil-rich Kirkuk. Ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein relocated Iraqi Arabs to the region in a bid to secure the oil fields there. "Kurdish demands are negotiable. We can meet them 100 percent if the demands do not affect others, such Arabs and Turkomen. If this is not achievable, then we should look for compromise," said Redha Jawad Taqi, a spokesman for the main Shiite political group, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Adnan Mufti, who heads the PUK office in Irbil, said talks between Kurdish officials and the head of the alliance, Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, were "positive" and the Kurds were "optimistic." They're really good at the bickering and wrangling and haggling. Time to learn how to compromise, find common ground, and actually govern. Give the Kurds what they ask - it's reasonable and you can't do it without them. Gotta start somewhere, sometime. Here. Now.
Posted by: .com ||
03/06/2005 5:36:35 AM ||
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Jordan's Foreign Minister Hani Mulki said he would press Israel to release of Jordanian prisoners when he visits the Jewish state today, the first trip by such a senior Jordanian since 2001. Jordan has renewed ties with Israel, restoring an ambassador to Tel Aviv following a Feb. 8 peace summit in Egypt. Mulki said freeing Jordanian prisoners was "a basic demand" in line with Jordan's peace treaty with Israel. "Every prisoner occupies a paramount importance in our hearts. We cannot speak ... with Sharon ... without raising this issue" of Jordanians jailed after border clashes, Mulki told reporters. "We will not forget the prisoners." Mulki spoke after discussing Middle East peace with Palestinian leaders including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, hours before he was to visit neighboring Israel for groundbreaking talks.
Jordanian officials say Israel is holding about 20 Jordanian prisoners, including several jailed before Jordan's peace treaty with Israel was signed in 1994. Nabil Shaath, the deputy Palestinian prime minister, told reporters Mulki had also indicated a readiness to send Palestinian forces from Jordan to help police in the West Bank. Israel has previously rejected the idea.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he could not impose law and order in the Palestinian areas until Israel hands over control of West Bank cities and urged Israel to return to talks on their transfer. "We have no control on the ground," Abbas told a news conference in Ramallah.
Militant groups have undermined recent attempts by Abbas to impose control over the armed groups, twice firing on Palestinian officials and police officers in the last week. Abbas said Palestinian forces would only be effective once Israeli troops leave. "Nobody can say we hold responsibility for the situation because we do not have a presence in the cities," he said.
Israel had promised to hand over five cities following the Feb.8 cease-fire declaration but suspended talks after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed five Israelis at a Tel Aviv night club last weekend. Abbas said the two sides must move ahead with transferring control of the cities. "The Israelis have stopped the talks and we call on them to resume the dialogue as soon as possible," Abbas said. But Israeli officials said there would be no more talks until the Palestinians find those behind the Tel Aviv bombing and accused Abbas of dragging his feet. "We are waiting to hear the results of the (Palestinian) investigation into the bombing that came from the very same city they want us to hand over," said Assaf Shariv, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The bomber came from a village near the town of Tulkarem, one of the first places slated for transfer. "We are waiting to see what he (Abbas) will do, so far it is not a lot," Shariv said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 10:55:23 PM ||
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#3
Abbas said Palestinian forces would only be effective once Israeli troops leave. âNobody can say we hold responsibility for the situation because we do not have a presence in the cities,â he said.
Who or what is stopping the Paleos from deploying their own police forces in the areas in question? Unless, of course, Mazen and his buddies are afraid that the Paleo "police" will be moonlighting as terrorists.
After more than five centuries, Muslims of Al-Andalus (now Spain) still mark every year in anguish the mass exodus of their ancestors by Spanish authorities to North Africa. The Moriscos, the name given to Muslims who were living in Spain after the fall of the last Muslim stronghold of Granada in 1492, were subjected to an array of persecution, torture, mass killings, forced conversions to Christianity, the notorious Spanish Inquisition and mass exodus that started in February 1502. Today, up to four million great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great- grandsons of the Moriscos are living in North African countries like Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. They used to commemorate every year these painful memories to keep the agonies of their forebears vivid, Moroccan historian Bin Azouz Hakim, a specialist in the history of the Moriscos, told IslamOnline.net Sunday.
Morsicos's descendants in Morocco, who are concentrated in cities like Tangier, Fes, Marrakesh and Rabat, mark every year the fall of Granada and Al-Andalus, which was regained in 1492 by Spanish troops in the long process known as the Reconquista under the Catholic monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. The descendants, many of whom still have Spanish surnames, mark the anniversary with symposiums, Andalusian music and shows portraying the sufferings of their ancestors. The northern city of Shafshoun, which was built by the Moriscos when they were forced to flee to Morocco, still have the Moriscan aura with its Andalusian architecture and traditional Moriscan costumes.
I was born in a place called McCarr, in Pike County, Kentucky. It's not there anymore. The Tug River flooded in, I think, 1973, and washed it away. Gone. Kaput. I haven't held any seminars on it, and on the rare occasions when I go to visit my long-lost kinfolk, I go where they're living now. And that was only 30 years ago. I guess I'm not sensitive enough to be a Moose limb.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#4
I don't have time and space to detail the reasons the Muslims were expelled from Spain (revolts with massacres of Christain populations, Muslims acting as a fifth column for the Turks,jealousy of Old Christains who were not happy to see Muslims keep lands they had stolen thnaks to Sharia provisions, like testimony of non-Muslims not being equal to the one of Muslims, a man converting to Islam getting ALL heirloom and his Christian brothers getting nothing or the need to pay protection money to Muslims since they weren't allowed to defend their life and propetrty against Muslims.
#5
The Muslim chronicle about the consquest of Spain gloats about the enslaving of "thirty thousand women of great beauty". No if you think about it, if those women had been enslaved for say, cleaning dishes, their beauty would have been irrelevant. Their beauty mattered becauuse they were destined to be raped by the highest bider. Now the Moriscos want for Spain apologizing and indemnifying them. Forgive me if I think that negotiations should not be about what Spain pays to Moriscos but about what the Arab world pays to Spain. I suugest one oil well for each one of the raped women with Spain picking the wells of course.
#6
Fred man thatn a terrible nakaba, you should feel persecute!
Posted by: Y Gibbons ||
03/06/2005 8:35 Comments ||
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#7
we should feel heartened by this. If it took them 500 years to conquer Spain, imagine how long it will take them to conquer the US...at least we won't be around.
#8
Ever notice how movements that wrap themselves in the "good old days" usually involve a bunch of losers and leads to a lot of pain and anguish for everyone else?
#9
how many centuries did they regress once they were back in Islam's clammy embrace? 5? 7?
A religion of Losers and Whiners and Fifth Columns? CAIR should be documented and catalogued so when the round up needs to begin, there's no delay
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2005 10:22 Comments ||
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#10
eb
Nope, the conquest of Spain was very quick what took 784 years was the Reconquista
Historical notes: like Harold in England the King of the Wisigoths was warring in the North of his realm, he quickly went to the South to meet the invaders meaning that like Harold he went to battle with an exhausted and incomplete army and like Harold he was killed in the battle. The resulting confusion and the revolts of the Catholics against the Arian Wisigoths (1) allowed the Muslims to conquer Spain in very little time.
In 718 seven years after the invasion a small troop (a few hundreds at the most) of Muslims on a mop-up/plunder/tax-collection mission was ambushed at Lakes of Covadonga (North of Spain). This allowed the formation of a tiny Christian kingdom in the mounts of Asturias.
(1) Note: At one point the Wisigoths controlled both France and Spain (it was them who with help from the Romans crushed Attila) but they were Arian Christians and with time they became more and more intolerant towards Catholicism and persecuted their Catholic subjects. They ended losing the Gaule to the Franks (whose king had opportunately converted to Catholicism) in no small measure due to the revolts of their Catholic subjects. You would think that would have teached the Wisigoths a lesson and that in Spain they would relax their persecution of Catholics but no, they continued the same intolearant policy who had led to disaster in Gaule and got the same results. The Christian Kingdoms of the Reconquista didn't consider themselves as continuing the Wisigoths kingdom so for practical effects the Wisigoths disappeared.
The present military government has absolutely failed in maintaining law and order situation, controlling price hike, facing internal and external challenges hovering over the country and therefore, it would have to quit power. These views were expressed by the chief of Muthidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and Ameer, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP) Qazi Hussain Ahmed.
I'm not too sure what the actual news value of this is, other than to show that Qazi's still alive. He always says the same thing, even if somebody asks what's for breakfast.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
There he goes giving lessons in palpating dromedary testes agqain.
Is that one of those biodegradable flowerpots on his cranium?
Unrest similar to one in Balochistan could erupt in Sindh province also if it were not properly paid for its natural resources, an opposition member from Sindh told the National Assembly on Friday. Manzoor Hussain Wasan of the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) said during an inconclusive debate in the lower house on the Balochistan situation that Sindh was not getting its due share of revenues from its resources such as natural gas, iron and oil. He also complained about job quotas in projects and said the government was intentionally creating a situation similar to that in Balochistan. "If the excesses continue, then the people of Sindh will think in the same way as those of Balochistan are thinking," said the member who was the first of only two members who spoke on the fourth day of the debate on Balochistan that will resume when the house reassembles on Monday at 3:30pm. Mr Wasan said demands like increase in royalty for gas and oil and more jobs for local people in projects in their province should not be branded as something anti-Pakistan. "If a situation is created (in Sindh) then we will also raise demands (like those made in Balochistan)," said the member whose party is the main political force in the southern province.
Maulana Merajuddin, a pro-MMA independent member from the troubled South Waziristan agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, complained of perceived injustices done to the people of Balochistan as well as of last year's military operations in his own constituency near the Afghan border against suspected al Qaeda militants and their local harbourers. He said patriotic Wazir people were killed to please America and was complaining about alleged mistreatment of women when deputy speaker Sardar Mohammad Yaqub, who was in the chair at the time, cut short his speech by switching off the member's mike.
"Mister Speaker! Point of order! Mister Deputy Speaker told me to shut my fudge up!"
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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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.
LONDON: The leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats criticised the government yesterday for its handling of the Iraq war, and demanded an exit strategy for British forces. In a keynote speech at his party's conference, Charles Kennedy urged voters to choose the Liberal Democrats over Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party and Britain's largest opposition group, the Conservative Party, during a national election expected on May 5.
South Korea's opposition Millennium Democratic Party is trying to arrange for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to visit North Korea along with other U.S. 
The United States on Friday said the North Korean government was likely involved in drug trafficking and that Washington would keep an eye out for evidence to confirm its suspicions. In its annual global report on drug smuggling, the US State Department said North Korean official have participated in criminal behavior, including drug trafficking, and used government assets such as military-type patrol boats for their crimes. Such incidents have "caused many observers and the Department to come to the view that it is likely, though not certain that the North Korean government sponsors such illegal behavior as a way to earn foreign currency for the state and for its leaders," the report said. In June, two North Korean diplomats were arrested in Egypt for "attempting to deliver 150,000 tablets of Clonazipam," a drug used to treat seizures and anxiety, according to the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said on Sunday the six party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions were the only realistic way to resolve the "complex" issue and urged all parties to consider Pyongyang's concerns. "China pursues the objective of a nuclear-weapons-free, peaceful and stable Korean peninsula. At the same time we also believe the legitimate concerns of the DPRK (North Korea) should be addressed," Li told a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing National People's Congress. "The six party talks present a realistic choice for the resolution of the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula through dialogue and should be continued."
The Bush administration has adopted a new counterintelligence strategy that calls for "attacking" foreign spy services and the spy components of terrorist groups before they can strike, a senior U.S. intelligence official said yesterday. National Counterintelligence Executive Michelle Van Cleave said in a speech here that the past policy of waiting for intelligence threats to emerge "ceded the initiative to the adversary." 
The slaying of an Egyptian family that has caused tension between local Christians and Muslims was motivated by robbery, not religious fanaticism, authorities said. Two men on parole for drug offenses — one of them the Armanious family's upstairs tenant — were charged with four counts of murder in the killings. Many in New Jersey's Coptic Christian community had speculated that 
The secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), 
The two-day International Conference on Nuclear Technology and Sustainable Development opened on Saturday in the presence of Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Hassan Rowhani. Nuclear experts from Iran and 11 foreign countries as well as 12 international organizations active in the sphere of nuclear issues are participating at the conference, IRNA reported. 
Iraq's dominant Shiite-led alliance set a mid-March deadline to form a government, prodded to action by spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who demanded progress after more than a month of post-election haggling. Members of the United Iraqi Alliance, the big winner in the Jan. 30 elections, met in central Baghdad and agreed Saturday to try to form a government and convene the 275-member National Assembly by March 15 after al-Sistani demanded that they stop bickering. Abbas Hassan Mousa al-Bayati, head of the alliance's Turkomen bloc, said Sunday if no agreement was reached, the assembly would convene on March 16 at the latest "in order to hold more negotiations." Officials in the prime minister's office could not be reached to confirm the date.
Jordan's Foreign Minister Hani Mulki said he would press Israel to release of Jordanian prisoners when he visits the Jewish state today, the first trip by such a senior Jordanian since 2001. Jordan has renewed ties with Israel, restoring an ambassador to Tel Aviv following a Feb. 8 peace summit in Egypt. Mulki said freeing Jordanian prisoners was "a basic demand" in line with Jordan's peace treaty with Israel. "Every prisoner occupies a paramount importance in our hearts. We cannot speak ... with Sharon ... without raising this issue" of Jordanians jailed after border clashes, Mulki told reporters. "We will not forget the prisoners." Mulki spoke after discussing Middle East peace with Palestinian leaders including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, hours before he was to visit neighboring Israel for groundbreaking talks.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he could not impose law and order in the Palestinian areas until Israel hands over control of West Bank cities and urged Israel to return to talks on their transfer. "We have no control on the ground," Abbas told a news conference in Ramallah. 
After more than five centuries, Muslims of Al-Andalus (now Spain) still mark every year in anguish the mass exodus of their ancestors by Spanish authorities to North Africa. The Moriscos, the name given to Muslims who were living in Spain after the fall of the last Muslim stronghold of Granada in 1492, were subjected to an array of persecution, torture, mass killings, forced conversions to Christianity, the notorious Spanish Inquisition and mass exodus that started in February 1502. Today, up to four million 
The present military government has absolutely failed in maintaining law and order situation, controlling price hike, facing internal and external challenges hovering over the country and therefore, it would have to quit power. These views were expressed by the chief of 
