Djibouti has accused neighbouring Eritrea of illegally intruding into its territory. Mahmoud Ali Youssef, the Djiboutian foreign minister, told Al Jazeera on Friday that Trade Federation Eritrean troops crossed the border on the Bab Al Mandeb Strait and took control of Djiboutian land.
Youssef said: "Eritrean storm troopers troops entered Djiboutian territory and took more land. Right now, Imperial Eritrean troops are stationed inside Djiboutian territories." The Bab Al Mandeb Strait south of the Red Sea is a key navigation route and the subject of a border dispute between the two countries.
Youssef continued: "The UN Security Council has asked for both countries to withdraw their troops from this area. The Djiboutian government has withdrawn its forces up to 5km inside the Djiboutian land. But Eritrean forces have advanced."
The Bab Al Mandab Strait is a strategic passage separating the Arabian Peninsula from East Africa. It is a key trade and oil route linking Europe to the east. Eritrea denies its troops have crossed the border.
Senator Palpatine has invited Queen Amygdala to address the Imperial Senate...
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Picture's upside down, the planet was above, not below, in the movie.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/21/2008 13:31 Comments ||
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#2
Considering the region, the graphic's appropriate.
#4
Jonathan, Ridgebacks were very popular with the farmers as they were known as 'one-family' dogs. I heard they were used for hunting lions originally, in Ethiopia, don't know the truth in that. RLI mascot was the cheetah.
#5
Yes, they were used to hunt lions but not in Ethiopia. The breed originated in South Africa from a cross between the dogs of several European settlers and hounds used by the Khoisan to hunt game. They work in rotating pairs or small groups to wear down lions and other large game, but typically don't move in for the kill itself which is left to the human hunter.
Sensitive, loyal, intelligent, tough dogs that should be owned by experienced dog people rather than newbies. Not to be lightly adopted but when they bond with a family they do indeed bond tightly.
A Guantanamo prisoner testified Thursday that U.S. troops made loud noises, kept the lights on in his cell, and frequently moved him around the prison to deprive him of sleep. Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan detainee charged with attempted murder, told a military court he does not know why he was subjected to the military's 'frequent flyer' sleep deprivation program in May 2004, nearly 17 months after he was arrested. 'Day and night, they were shifting me from one room to another,' Jawad said.
His testimony came in a pretrial hearing at the U.S. war crimes court. Lawyers and human rights groups have accused the military of using sleep deprivation to 'soften up' Guantanamo detainees for questioning, but this was the first time a prisoner testified about such treatment.
Jawad's defense has asked the military judge, Army Col. Stephen Henley, to dismiss the charges, saying the sleep deprivation amounted to torture. Prosecutors denied that allegation.
'In no sense is it torture. In no sense is it coercion,' said prosecutor and Army Lt. Col. Darrel Vandeveld. 'In no sense is it such mistreatment that charges should be dismissed.'
Prison records obtained by the defense show Jawad was moved between cells 112 times over two weeks in May 2004, sometimes after just a few minutes. The prisoner said bright lights were kept on in his cell, and guards made noises and played loud music to keep him awake.
Jawad testified the sleep disruption caused his blood pressure to rise and resulted in unspecified 'mental problems.' Records obtained by the defense show he tried to commit suicide on Dec. 25, 2003, even before he was subjected to the 'frequent flyer' treatment.
'Islam never permits suicide ... but it was beyond my control,' he told the court through a Pashto interpreter. 'That's why I tried that.'
U.S. authorities have used sleep disruption to prepare prisoners for interrogations, but Jawad's lawyer, Air Force Maj. David Frakt, says his client had already supposedly confessed to throwing a grenade that wounded two American soldiers and their translator in Afghanistan. He had also already been interrogated at least 21 times before May 2004.
Frakt said he believes the sleep deprivation was done for 'sport' or as punishment. 'Abnormal sleep deprivation is a form of mental torture,' he said.
Vandeveld noted in cross-examination of a sleep expert called by the defense that Jawad was sometimes allowed to remain in his cell for up to four hours. He said the prisoner was offered treatment by military psychiatric personnel.
Frakt has also filed a motion to dismiss the charges based on allegations that Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann, the legal adviser to the military commissions, used what the military calls 'unlawful command influence' to make sure the detainee went quickly to trial. Frakt said Hartmann pushed for charges against his client even though prosecutors had said they weren't ready to try to garner public support for the military commissions.
Hartmann was barred last month from participating in another Guantanamo trial after the judge in the case said he lacked impartiality.
Hartmann testified Thursday that he acted within his authority to speed up the pace of prosecutions. He denied allegations that he mistreated military prosecutors under his supervision and had an abusive management style.
The judge did not issue an immediate ruling on either motion.
This article starring:
Mohammed Jawad
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
By that lawyer's definition, I was tortured during my internship year. Come to think of it ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2008 0:26 Comments ||
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#2
I wonder how many people were deprived of sleep while that idiot was running around in Afghanistan.
Well I was flipping I was flopping, like a fish out of the water
Rocking around And baby yea yea yea yea
Swoop swoop I was looping a loop
Cutting the rope but no such luck
Somebody help me please, I'm begging on my knees
Oh I couldn't sleep
#4
A Guantanamo prisoner testified Thursday that U.S. troops made loud noises, kept the lights on in his cell, and frequently moved him around the prison to deprive him of sleep
Sounds like Basic Training to me. BTW, were the pipes and toilets back flushing too?
#6
...Jose Padilla - the 'dirty bomb' guy - claimed his cell was being pumped full of 'noxious odors' as a form of torture while he was at the Charleston NB brig. The Federal judge on the case took it seriously enough to check things out on a no-notice inspection.
Seems Charleston NB is downwind from a paper mill.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/21/2008 10:08 Comments ||
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#7
Just another push by the enemy and their 5th column friends to weaken the US in this war. And thanks to the court system, they are succeeding on that front. This country is in trouble, witness the state of the Congress and the presidential candidates.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/21/2008 12:41 Comments ||
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#8
Anyone who still believes in freedom should take heart by re-reading the second paragraph of our Declaration of Independende - the ENTIRE paragraph. It should be required reading for anyone holding public office, at any level. Our government is rapidly approaching the tipping point. The election of an idiot like Obama may push us over the top.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/21/2008 14:20 Comments ||
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Posted by: Bob ||
06/21/2008 18:55 Comments ||
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#12
I'll third Old Patriot's words. I fear we're rapidly approaching, if not already past, a governmental singularity - the point beyond which we the people no longer have any real influence on or ability to predict the government's decisions. State and CIA seem prime examples of this. EUrope is well past it, IMO, with Canada lapping at their heels.
written for the Wall Street Journal by two young ladies amongst the leadership of the group
The school year that just ended brought to the fore a couple of controversies over Muslim students on U.S. campuses. Yet away from the often-harsh media glare, a profound shift has begun across the country. Where dogma and conformity once defined the Muslim scene on campus, students with liberal outlooks are emerging to assert their voices on the quad. At some American colleges where the only official Muslim events used to feature gender-segregated seating, new programs are drawing diverse Muslim and non-Muslim participants to explore the complexity of the Muslim community.
Only a half-century ago, there was hardly any Muslim communal presence at American universities. In the 1960s, the Muslim World League, a Saudi charity, funded the establishment of the Muslim Students Association (MSA), initially to support foreign students studying in the U.S. and, according to the organization's Web site, to advance Da'wah (proselytizing). The MSA established its first chapter at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and now can be found on more than 100 campuses across North America. Useful background, that bit. I knew the MSA was associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, but not that it was forged as a Saudi tool.
This kind of radicalism does not appeal to most Muslim students, who are simply trying to maintain a connection to their faith while they are at school. 'We were at a modern liberal university,' one student observed, 'listening to an imam who stepped out of the medieval period.' The result on many campuses is a binary scene, divided between what some call 'hardcore Muslims and cultural Muslims.' More than 70% of Muslim students on campus, it is estimated, are not involved with any organized Muslim association.
It was precisely this need that inspired a group of Washington-area students to establish a new campus initiative last fall. We were young men and women, mostly but not entirely of Muslim background, who decided to create an inclusive space where people of all backgrounds could join together to explore Muslim identity and community. We chose the name Project Nur, adopting the Arabic term for 'light' and 'enlightenment.'
Some students initially come to Project Nur, an initiative funded by the American Islamic Congress, because of what it rejects -- proselytizing and the politicized ambiance dominant in some Muslim groups. But what keeps students engaged is a positive civic agenda of promoting human liberty, spurring genuine interfaith dialogue and addressing identity challenges in the Muslim world and in our local communities. Speakers promote an open-minded embrace of American life and creative expression. By the end of the academic year, more than 1,000 students had joined our mailing list, and seven chapters along the East Coast had organized over 30 events.
Students also organized protests outside the Saudi and Afghan embassies to demand freedom for young activists jailed in those countries for expressing their opinions. We partnered with Darfur advocacy groups to challenge genocide in the Muslim world and helped organize a concert in solidarity with Iranian rock bands restricted from performing publicly. Many of these activities included non-Muslim participants and co-organizers.
Project Nur reflects the complex identities on campus -- including cultural Muslims and students with only one Muslim parent -- defying outsiders' stereotypes and hardliners' religious dogmas. Responsible leadership, on campus and beyond, is the remedy for the pressing challenges facing the American Muslim community. Exactly what we've been demanding since 9/12/01. May they stay safe from those who would make them as well as us slaves to jihad. Oh, and take a look at the American Islamic Congress website. I like their suggestions on responding to hate speech -- especially within the Muslim community.
#1
A truth about Muslims I have known since the 1980s is that if you take any two Muslims at random, you will get a doctrinal and cultural argument.
It gets bizarre, and a lot of it surrounds eating, such as who prepares food, where and when women and children and men eat, eating and drinking rituals, prayers during meals, and the list goes on and on. Add to that regional foods and you have a mess on your hands.
#3
MSA attracts all the Sunni groups, including Muslim Brotherhood, Wahabi and Jamaat Tabligh. At each MSA meeting the door is guarded to ensure that no kaffir enters dar-Islam. However, meeting doesn't describe what they do. At Friday meetings they transform public facilities into mosques (mas-jid = prostration place) and commence with prayer. After same, a leader commences an address (khutbah) in which the interests of Muslims are discussed, and their mortal enemies - America and Israel - are vilified. They incite Muslims to participate in jihad terror, by both financial and physical means. The MSA exists to prevent integration of Muslims into the American body politic. They use American law with the purpose of the destruction of America, and imposition of Sharia. The MSA is a rearbase terror group, that seeks to enhance frontline capability. Most members are of Pakistani origin. On that note, it is worth knowing that that country's main Islamofascist group - Jamaat-i-Islami (Islamic Society) - invited Osama bin Laden to attend their 1998 convention in Peshawar. The MSA, ISNA, ICNA, AMC, and offshoots should be banned as terror fronts, for their integration with the designated terror groups. When you see an MSA member you are looking at an al-Qaeda operative, who has yet to take up arms.
#4
Reminder: the founder of the islam cult personally participated in 59 jihad terror operations, only 1 of which - Battle of the Trench - was defensive. While alive, Muhammad conducted wars of religious conquest against Meccans, Taifis, Yemenis, Jews, Byzantine Christians. In not one case, was there a causa belli that could be morally justified. Muslims advance by naked aggression. They are passive only when they don't have the numbers. Like now. However, their literature is filled with accounts of jihad terror, waged by Muhammad and his successors. They allow a low value to kaffir life.
If you are disgusted by the pyramid building slave cultures of antiquity, be disgusted by the abdullahs (slaves of allah). We need to think of every Muslim as a potential jihad terrorist. For that mortal enemy, peace is only a transient phase where they prepare for final jihad. Islam is terror, and Muslims are terrorists.
Pakistan has received no request by the United States asking Pakistan to arrest listed terrorists, Adviser to Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik said on Friday. Talking to a private television channel, Rehman said reports that a new list of terror suspects had been drawn up by the US were totally incorrect. He said Pakistani law-enforcement agencies were capable of dealing with terrorists, and that they had been doing their jobs efficiently. He said terror suspects would have to undergo trials in Pakistan. Rehman said Osama Bin Laden was not in Pakistan, adding that those who believed he was in Pakistan should provide concrete evidence to support such claims.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Would his stinking, bullet-riddled body be sufficient, Mr. Malik? I'm sure some of our boys can provide it to you, but they may have to "breach" Pakistani sovereignty to do it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/21/2008 14:26 Comments ||
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Pakistans Ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani has said that the war against terror is Pakistan's own war. Talking to ARY One World, he said that Benazir Bhutto and many other Pakistanis had been killed in terrorist attacks. He added that the people who were killed in the Tribal Areas and others parts of the country were Pakistanis and not the US citizens. To a question, the ambassador said, "While we want to deal with the US on equal footings, it is a reality that we are on the receiving end." Haqqani said that there were many similarities in Pak-US policies. He said that the United Nations had passed a resolution, making it mandatory for all member states to take practical steps against terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"While we want to deal with the US on equal footings, it is a reality that we are on the receiving end."
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday accused Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) workers of attacking his vehicle at the Khal area near Peshawar on Thursday.
Speaking to media, he said that he had been travelling to Upper and Lower Dir to campaign for one of his party leaders when JI workers stopped his convoy and threw stones at his vehicle, Aaj TV reported. It quoted Fazl as saying that it was planned JI conspiracy, adding that they had been trying to injure him in the incident. Fazl also said that he had escaped the attack unscathed and did not believe in political vendettas.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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There are no Taliban in Peshawar and the provincial government will not hold talks with local Taliban in other settled areas, NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour told the provincial assembly on Friday. We do not accept Taliban except in Swat. Nor are we going to initiate dialogue with them, he told the House while addressing suggestions from ANPs Maulana Obaidullah in his budget speech that the Taliban had reached Peshawar. Bilour said the provincial government stood by Swat peace agreement that it made with local Taliban, and Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain reiterated the sentiments, saying the deal would be implemented in phases. He said the government would release those Taliban who deserved to be freed. On a point of order, former chief minister and the leader of the opposition Akram Khan Durrani from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), accused the local Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leaders and workers of stoning the car of party chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in Lower Dir and accused the local administration of siding with the local JI leaders and workers. Condemning the incident, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti said he and his government held Rehman in high esteem and assured Durrani his government would take strict action against those involved in the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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The federal government is changing its stance from a strictly military approach to a soft multi-pronged political approach to tackle growing militancy with a new policy linked to both shor-and long-term gains against militants, the NWFP governments peace envoy said on Friday.
The previous policy (of a purely military solution) has changed and a holistic approach has been adopted to make gains against militancy, Afrasiab Khattak, the peace envoy for the NWFP government, told Daily Times. The new policy is one which the political parties had discussed before coming into power and it ... includes negotiations (with militant groups), administrative and financial measures, Afrasiab added.
The ANP freed hardline cleric Maulana Sufi Muhammad from prison and inked a peace deal with pro-Taliban rebel cleric Maulana Fazlullah to encourage calm and order in the militancy-plagued Swat district. However, the peace deals have raised tensions between Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States, with the latter two saying that such steps can export militancy to Afghanistan through cross-border movement.
Cross-border movement: Both short and long-term measures will address cross-border movement (by militants), Afrasiab, who is also ANP NWFP president, said. A senior official with the government, requesting anonymity, said that the military approach had aggravated the situation. He said the problem could only be resolved through a solution that would bring the local population onboard.
Similarly, development and security expert Khalid Aziz said that militancy had grown because of a flawed Pakistan-United States security policy based on a military approach that failed to work towards winning the hearts and minds of the people. This approach has changed. The federal and NWFP governments have realised that the time has come to either engage the militants in peace negotiations or face a difficult governance situation, he told Daily Times.
A high-level meeting between NWFP Governor Owais Ghani and Prime Ministers Adviser on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik on Thursday also decided political agents in every tribal region would form jirgas. They decided that these would consist of elected members, ulema and high-ranking tribesmen. The meeting maintained that issues related to FATA would be resolved through peaceful means. The law abiders would be protected while the lawbreakers would be dealt with under the law of the land, a communiqué released after the meeting stated.
Former FATA security chief Brigadier (r) Mehmood Shah, when asked about the new policy, said: It cannot be only talks and it cannot be only use of force. There should be a mix of both to keep order in tribal and settled areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Sounds suspiciously like what the Brits tried in Basra, and will probably result in equal success.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/21/2008 14:28 Comments ||
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The NWFP government and the Swat Taliban resumed talks on Friday when Forests Minister Wajid Ali Khan secretly met Taliban leaders and assured them that their reservations would be addressed.
Wajid Khan met several Taliban leaders, including Ali Bakht, Haji Muslim Khan, Maulana Amin, Mahmood Khan and Nisar Khan in the Deouli area of Swat and asked them to continue peace talks. According to sources, the Taliban complained that their colleagues were still imprisoned and the army was still occupying the area. The Taliban also said that their reservations should be addressed by June 23 or there could be consequences.
Khan requested the Taliban to continue negotiations so that all issues could be settled through dialogue and assured the Taliban that he would convey their reservations to the provincial government. The local Taliban had ended contact with the government on June 17 to protest at the governments delay in releasing 50 Taliban prisoners.
Peace deal:NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Bilour said the NWFP government would honour the peace agreement with the Taliban in letter and spirit to ensure stability and prosperity. Clause IV of the peace deal says prisoners would be released after reviewing cases against them. Under the deal, the NWFP government has conceded to a gradual withdrawal of all security forces from the Swat district.
This article starring:
ALI BAKHT
Taliban
Forests Minister Wajid Ali Khan
HAJI MUSLIM KHAN
Taliban
MAHMUD KHAN
Taliban
MAULANA AMIN
Taliban
NISAR KHAN
Taliban
NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Bilour
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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The NWFP government has decided to form a special force to overcome the menace of terrorism, Aaj television reported on Friday.
According to the channel, the force would work to counter suicide attacks and terrorist activities in the province. The channel reported that people between 18-25 years of age would be inducted, who would keep an eye on foreigners, Afghan refugees and miscreants.
The force would take part in the actions against terrorists and the district police officers would head the force in their respective districts. Officials of law enforcement agencies will provide training to the forces recruits. The channel said that the federal government had issued funds for this force, adding that this force would take charge in the tribal areas and Swat after army troops return from these areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD (AP) Hundreds of followers of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took to the streets after Friday prayers in Shiite areas to protest plans for a longterm security pact between Iraq and the United States. The crowd stretched at least fifteen or twenty yards down the alley.
Iraqi officials and lawmakers have opposed the proposed security pact, which would provide a legal framework for the presence of U.S.-led forces after a U.N. mandate expires later this year. The opposition claims it infringes Iraq's independence and sovereignty.
Sadrist Sheik Assad al-Nassiri warned the agreement, which faces a July 31 target date for completion, will 'humiliate Iraqis, rob the Iraqi government of its sovereignty and give the occupier the upper hand.' 'We do believe that the presence of the occupation is the main reason behind all of our crises, and unfortunately we hear some of our government officials calling on the occupation forces to stay,' he said during a sermon in Kufa.
Worshippers poured out onto the streets in Kufa as well as Baghdad's Sadr City after Friday prayers chanting 'No, no to America! No, no to the agreement!' and carrying banners that said 'we will not accept Iraq to be an American colony.'
Al-Sadr has called for weekly protests against the deal, which also has drawn criticism from other powerful Shiite leaders, as well as Sunni politicians and Iran.
In Tehran, Friday prayer leader, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, thanked the Iraqi government and clerics in the country for their opposition during the past week to the U.S.-Iraq security pact. 'The great clerics took a very commendable stance regarding the pact,' said Khatami. 'The Iraqi government also took a praiseworthy stance and said it would not sign the pact.'
Looks like Old Spook was right ...
The comments came a week after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, said talks on an initial draft had stalled but were continuing.
The White House said late Thursday that President Bush had discussed the ongoing negotiations during a teleconference call with al-Maliki and the dialogue over the agreement was 'proceeding well.' 'President Bush confirmed the United States' commitment to forge an agreement that fully respects Iraqi sovereignty,' said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council.
Critics have denounced the purported failure of the U.S. to offer a firm commitment to defend the country from any invasion and a demand for immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts for all American personnel in Iraq. Also in contention has been the number of bases the United States would maintain in the country and whether the U.S. military will retain the power to arrest Iraqi civilians and keep them in U.S. detention facilities.
#3
Any ranter with a beard can attract hundreds of angry muslims. I still believe that the Shiite clerics want SOFA to be scuttled. They will do anything to create conditions for Obama surrenders. And he would do exactly that.
FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S.-funded reconstruction in a one-time Sunni insurgent stronghold has been suspended because of a corruption probe, including allegations that the mayor and police chief were involved in a multimillion-dollar oil smuggling ring, The Associated Press has learned.
The problems in Hit, a dusty, ramshackle western town along the Euphrates River, provide a glimpse of the challenges in rebuilding a country where years of war and misrule have destroyed the social fabric. Reconstruction is a key part of the U.S. military strategy against both Sunni and Shiite extremists, but many projects have long been dogged by mismanagement and allegations of corruption.
The U.S. government suspended its efforts in Hit this month after the police chief, Col. Salah Rasheed al-Gaoud, was fired for his alleged role in the scheme, U.S. and Iraqi officials familiar with the investigation told the AP. Officials also confirmed that the mayor, Hikmat Jubair al-Gaoud, was under investigation. Marine Lt. Col. Chris Hughes, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Anbar province, said the mayor's current whereabouts were unknown and that it was unclear whether he fled the country.
But a man identifying himself as the mayor told the AP when contacted on al-Gaoud's mobile phone that he was still in Hit and 'still in my job as the mayor.' 'There is a committee that it is investigating the case of stealing oil and its work has not finished yet,' he said Thursday.
Among the reconstruction projects that have been suspended are repairs to the town's dilapidated infrastructure, including street repairs, sewerage upgrade and school construction.
U.S. military officials said reconstruction projects in Hit would remain on hold during the investigation, which Iraqis said was being conducted by the Ministry of Interior. 'Since the mayor and the chief of police are under investigation for corruption, we have stopped all reconstruction efforts in Hit until the investigation is resolved,' said Mike Isho, the Arabic public affairs officer for Multi-National Forces-West. 'Since there is nobody to lead the city, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to continue these projects,' Isho said. Caught in the middle are the 120,000 residents of Hit, located in Anbar province 85 miles west of Baghdad.
Although the U.S. has been trying to pursue reconstruction projects in Iraq since the early months of the war, the effort has taken on greater urgency since Gen. David Petraeus assumed command of the U.S. mission in late 2006. Once U.S. and Iraqi troops subdue militants in a town or district, the next step is to begin programs to improve the quality of life to undermine support for the militants among the civilian population.
Last month, however, Democratic Sens. Bryon Dorgan of North Dakota and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island asked the Treasury Department to investigate whether Iraqi officials have embezzled or misspent billions of U.S. tax dollars intended for the country's reconstruction. Both senators called the scope of corruption within the Iraqi government staggering.
Such allegations have not been limited to the Iraqis. The Pentagon's inspector general reported last month that an internal audit of about $8 billion paid to U.S. and Iraqi contractors found that nearly every transaction failed to comply with U.S. laws or regulations aimed at preventing fraud. Those findings provide fresh fodder for anti-war Democrats, who say the Bush administration has turned a blind eye to the problem of corruption and fraud by relying too heavily on contractors to manage the war.
The investigation in Hit began this year after allegations that al-Gaoud, the police chief, was involved in a scheme to divert oil illegally from a storage area at Kubaisa, about six miles southwest of the town. Officials familiar with the probe said the police chief allegedly provided false papers authorizing tanker drivers to load fuel at Kubaisa. The fuel was then sold on the black market.
In April, al-Gaoud was forced out of his job. Officers from the Marine Corps' Regimental Combat Team 5, which helps train Iraqi security forces throughout Anbar, witnessed his resignation. Iraqi officials confirmed the account but spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.
Al-Gaoud's predecessor in the post, Col. Hamid Ibrahim al-Jazaa, was arrested by U.S. forces last year for allegedly freeing prisoners from the local jail in return for money. He is currently held at the U.S.-run Bucca prison in southern Iraq.
Most recently, the Anbar provincial council ordered the dismissal of the provincial police chief, Maj. Gen. Tariq Youssef Mohammed, for alleged misconduct. It was Mohammed who had ordered al-Gaoud to resign. But Mohammed refused to give up his post because he was appointed by the Ministry of Interior in Baghdad, arguing that the council had no right to replace him.
Hughes said that although U.S. officials were not involved in the investigation of the mayor and police chief, they were keeping an eye on developments in the case. 'We're eager to plug back in though. Hopefully, this matter will soon be resolved,' Hughes said.
The suspension of the reconstruction effort is the latest obstacle for U.S. forces in Hit. The city was once believed to be a way station for weapons and insurgent fighters entering the country from Syria, 110 miles of rough road to the west. In early 2004, the Marines took over responsibility for western Anbar but had to shift forces eastward when violence flared in the provincial capital of Ramadi and in Fallujah. With the remaining Marines overstretched, Hit fell back under the control of Sunni insurgents.
In February 2007, Iraqi police backed by U.S. troops swept through the city, arresting suspected insurgents, establishing new police stations in the downtown area and reasserting the government's authority. Since then, corruption has not been Hit's only problem. Last month, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a police checkpoint. Only a police colonel was killed, but the attack was a reminder that stability remains uncertain.
Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniyeh said on Friday the Islamist group would not stop smuggling activities in the territory.
'We said we wuz gonna, but our fingers wuz crossed!'
Stopping smuggling is a central Israeli demand in an Egyptian-brokered Gaza ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas that came into force on Thursday.
Kinda negates the agreement before it's even agreed on...
Militant groups smuggle arms and ammunitions into Gaza through tunnels across the border with Egypt and on boats along the coast. Israel has also demanded Egypt step up efforts stop the flow of arms into Gaza. 'We cannot talk about stopping smuggling because it is something beyond our ability as a government and we did not give a commitment in this regard,' Haniyeh told worshippers before Friday prayers in Gaza City. Haniyeh also said Hamas would not to impose the truce by force on other Gaza militant groups, but added that other groups had agreed to the deal voluntarily.
That's the usual arrangement, isn't it?
Egypt, who spent months working on the agreement, said it would step up efforts to crackdown on smuggling. Mark Regev, spokesman to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said the ceasefire agreement included an end to attacks on Israel by all militant groups and a complete end to arms smuggling. 'Anyone who says otherwise apparently wants to destroy the calm before it has a chance to really succeed,' Regev said.
Picked right up on that, didn't you, Mark?
Israel and Hamas halted fighting in the Gaza Strip on Thursday but, with wider peace prospects hazy, both sides voiced doubt over how long the calm could last.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe it's time for Israel to take off the gloves, and completely destroy Gaza, leaving nothing but a vast expanse of rocks, rubble and death in their wake. It appears that's all Hamass has the brain power to understand. Fighting a war with your hands tied behind your back is NOT a good strategy.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/21/2008 14:34 Comments ||
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A delegation sent by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas failed to turn up for a meeting with Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the Islamists said, describing it as a snub that hurt reconciliation efforts.
In the first such mission since Hamas routed Abbas's forces to take over Gaza a year ago, two envoys from the president's secular Fatah faction this week travelled to the territory from the Israeli-occupied West Bank to brief members there.
The visit, coming as Egyptian mediators sealed a Gazan truce between Israel and Hamas, prompted speculation that the Fatah delegates could hold high-level Palestinian reconciliation talks.
Ismail Haniyeh, who was the Hamas prime minister in a unity government dissolved by Abbas after last June's civil war, was due to have met the envoys in his former office on Thursday but they never showed up, Hamas said. Haniyeh waited for an hour. "We deplore the irresponsible act by the Fatah leaders and the envoys of President Abbas," Hamas said in a statement. "We thought that they sought reconciliation and dialogue but it turned out they had other goals."
Neither Fatah envoy could be reached for comment. A faction official in the West Bank blamed the Gaza no-show on logistics. "The arrangements came at a late time and were insufficient for such a meeting to take place. Therefore the meeting did not happen, and it will not happen during the current visit of the Fatah delegation," the Fatah official told Reuters.
Past reconciliation bids have foundered on Hamas's refusal to give up Gaza and resubmit to Abbas's authority.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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'Nothing is impossible,' said Palestinian parliament member and Hamas' spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Salah al-Bardawil, about the possibility of a peace agreement between Israel and his organization in wake of the cease-fire, or tahadiyeh, that took effect Thursday. While many in Israel are pessimistic about its chances of success, things look a little different on the Palestinian side, and in Hamas in particular.
Unlike some of his Hamas colleagues, Bardawil does not act horrified when hearing the words 'peace' and 'Israel' put together. 'The Arab world has already outstretched its hand for peace with the Israelis in the past,' he says. 'The ideas of Ahmed Yassin [Hamas' founder and former leader], who supported a cease-fire for some 15-20 years, focused on peace, not war. Hamas people who insist that there will never be peace with Israel do so because they are skeptical about the intentions of Israel's leadership. Everyone on your side is saying that the hudna [truce] is an opportunity for Hamas to narrow the military gap, but it's actually a historic opportunity for Israel and for all the sides involved to live in peace, and to build a future for the next generations.'
Still, Bardawil, 49, a literature professor from Khan Yunis who has been a member of Hamas for the past 20 years, is careful not to sound overly optimistic. In a telephone conversation, he says: 'After years of fighting, each side has doubts about the other side's seriousness in upholding the cease-fire. Your side says that the small factions are liable to blow it to pieces, but they have all pledged to abide by it. Experience shows that when Hamas commits to something, it makes sure to keep its promises.'
And if rockets are fired at Israel? What will you do with the people responsible?
Bardawil: 'I'm not going to say that we'll start deploying forces at the border and turn into the Palestinian Authority, which works to safeguard Israel's security interest. But we made a decision that anyone who fires rockets at Israel will be doing so without our approval. We'll let the organization with which he is affiliated deal with him. If it's someone who doesn't belong to any organization, measures will be taken against him. Anyone who violates the factions' decision on the cease-fire is harming the Palestinian interest and we will deal with him accordingly.'
There you go: the Peoples Popular Islamic Front for the Liberation of Paleostain will be shooting off tomorrow ...
Bardawil is not the only optimistic voice within Hamas when it comes to the cease-fire. Right now, the organization has a clear interest in preserving the agreement, since its conditions serve it well. The opening of the border crossings and the lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip, without any further restrictions on Hamas gaining strength, might help to explain the positive forecasts about the future of relations between Israel and 'Hamastan.'
'Today, the relations between Israel and Hamas are those of enemies,' Bardawil explains. 'But during past negotiations between Hamas and Fatah we agreed on 'the national reconciliation agreement,' which declares that the Palestinian state will be established within the 1967 borders. Israel mustn't pass up such an agreement with Hamas - otherwise an ideology more extreme than Hamas will be the result. Israel has to understand that nowadays, Hamas is a factor that balances the radical and out-of-control voices in both the Arab and the Muslim world.'
However, it's hard to ignore the more hawkish voices in Hamas, which see the cease-fire as little more than a timeout, allowing the organization to build up its military forces in anticipation of the future - when they envision wiping Israel off the map. But according to Bardawil, the Hamas members who speak in such terms are merely voicing religious ideas. 'It's impossible to change religious beliefs,' he says. 'But the conflict between us and Israel is political and not religious.'
So why don't you recognize Israel?
'We won't repeat Fatah's mistakes and get into the whole adventure of recognizing Israel. To this day, the borders of this state remain uncertain. It's too early to talk about negotiations with Israel. The cease-fire is a kind of de facto recognition of this entity, just as Israel recognizes the existence of Hamas. We cannot deny the reality of its existence.'
Who's the winner and who's the loser when it comes to the cease-fire?
'The agreement meets the interests of both sides. No one won, but the truce benefits both Israel and Hamas. It's only natural for each side to try to portray the move as a victory for itself and to boast of its achievements. In the end, everyone gains. Otherwise, they wouldn't have agreed to the cease-fire.'
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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The family of a television reporter who was abducted by alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf paid P5 million to her captors although only P2 million reached them, police and justice officials disclosed yesterday.
In separate press conferences, Philippine National Police Chief Avelino Razon and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said that the family of ABS-CBNs Ces Drilon gave the ransom to Indanan Mayor Alvarez Isnaji, who was negotiating for her release, along with her crew and a professor, after they were abducted last June 8 in Sulu.
The kidnappers initially demanded a P15-million ransom. The initial payment was P5 million, however only P2 million was given to the kidnap for ransom group and the P3 million was kept by Mayor Isnaji, said Razon.
The PNP Chief also showed media pictures of the money being counted in Isnajis house in Indanan. Together in the picture were Alvarez, his son Haider, Sulu Vice Gov. Lady Ann Sahidulah and Superintendent Winnie Quidato. Citing accounts by witnesses whom he did not name, Gonzalez affirmed Razons statement that Isnaji allegedly pocketed P3 million and gave the balance to the abductors.
But Gonzalez also disclosed that aside from the P5 million that was given by Drilons family, another P15 million was paid to the kidnappers. He said the money, which was inside a duffel bag, was delivered to the Orchid Hotel in Zamboanga via Negros Air Express Company, owned by the Lopezes of ABS-CBN.
Gonzalez said this was revealed to him by Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno. Razon confirmed that there was another demand for P15 million but said that whether this was met would be the subject of further investigation.
Razon said that based on intelligence information gathered, the leader of the kidnap gang was identified as Larin-Larin, an alleged alias of Isnaji.
Gonzalez confirmed this, saying it was former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Nur Misuari who identified Larin-Larin as Mayor Isnaji, being a member of the Moro National Liberation Fronts central committee that signed the peace agreement in 1996. Gonzalez said during the debriefing of the victims, they claimed that they heard their abductors mention Larin-Larin.
In the south, a military commander said troops are prowling the forests of Sulu in search of the abductors of the news team and their guide. We are using small units which can move at night and target selective areas. These specialized operations are more effective in running after the bandits, Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, chief of the Jolo-based counter-terrorism unit Task Force Comet, said.
Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga, Western Mindanao Command chief, said the offensive was launched on Thursday after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued the marching orders. But Allaga clarified that they have always been pursuing the Abu Sayyaf even before the kidnapping.
Aid workers yesterday said they expect an exodus of civilians from different villages in Sulu after security forces unleashed a barrage of howitzer rounds on suspected Abu Sayyaf targets late Thursday.
Also yesterday, Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan said the kidnapping crisis severely affected the province and demanded that ABS-CBN publicly apologize to the people for allegedly besmirching Sulus image because of the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, is tolerant of religious minorities. That is the message that Indonesian participants want to share at an international conference organised by the scientific committee of Oasis in the Jordanian capital Amman this weekend.
Participants from predominantly Muslim countries will attend the conference which will focus particularly on freedom of expression and religion.
Should be a short meeting ...
Father Heru Prakosa, professor of Islamic studies at Sanata Darma University said that Indonesia is a tolerant country where freedom of religion still exists.
Greg Soetomo, director of the Catholic weekly Hidup, agreed with Heru. What Father Heru and I want to say, is that despite the ugly news that capture the front pages of newspapers, Indonesia is tolerant and Muslims also participate here in the activities of the church.'
'The openness is incredible and in this sense Indonesia is a unique country,' he added.
Which is why they have a jihadi infestation ...
More than 85 percent of Indonesia's 240 million inhabitants are Muslims and most of them are thought to practice a moderate strand of Islam, even though a more fundamentalist faction has gained more attention in the political sphere in recent years. The archipelago has also seen a rise in radical violent Islamic groups and in recent weeks members of the Islamic Defence Front or FPI attacked a procession for religious tolerance.
In Indonesia, Christians and Protestants make up around five percent of the population, while Catholics account for three percent.
Heru Prakosa and Greg Soetomo who have prepared a joint report for the Amman conference, said that Oasis could offer others ideas on how the Catholic church can operate in a country with a Muslim majority.
'Of course there is not only one way that works for everyone. Every country has their own problems and peculiarities,' Soetomo said. 'But hopefully we can learn from the experiences of others and then adapt them here.'
Born in Germany, Franz Magnis Suseno has lived in Indonesia for more than 30 years. He is the leading spokesman for the country's Catholic academy and shares the views of his colleagues. Suseno, also a professor of philosophy and religion at Driyarkara University said he wanted to discuss the danger of 'relativism' which he considers to be the biggest enemy of all religions. 'Relativism says that all religions are the same and that no religion should claim it possesses the 'true' message,' he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Two Muslim rebel groups operating in the country, including one engaged in peace talks with the government, have provided sanctuary and helped Indonesian terror suspects sought by the United States elude arrest for years, according to an interrogation report of a captured Indonesian militant.
Are these the tolerant Muslims at the religious conference?
Among several Indonesians hiding in the South are Umar Patek and Dulmatin, suspects in the deadly 2002 Bali nightclub bombings who have trained local insurgents in bomb making, according to the Indonesian government report.
Mohammad Khildan Baihaqi, a suspected member of the Indonesia-based militant group Jemaah Islamiyah who was captured by troops in Davao Oriental province in February, told Indonesian authorities that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf helped him and other Indonesians gain sanctuary and protection in the South, the report said.
Baihaqis disclosures show that Indonesian militants and Filipino insurgents continue to maintain active ties in Mindanao, organizing terror training and plotting new attacks. The Armed Forces of the Philippines has said that about 40 Indonesian Islamic radicals have been on the run from US-backed offensives, looking for a way to escape back home.
Indonesian authorities were allowed to interrogate Baihaqi, who is in Army custody in Manila. The Indonesian mujahedeen or voluntary fighters in Mindanao were under the protection of the MILF and the ASG (Abu Sayyaf group), the report quoted Baihaqi as saying.
Mindanao, home to the Muslim minority, has seen decades of bloody Islamic separatist rebellions by several groups. The Abu Sayyaf, blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist group for conducting bombings, kidnappings and beheadings, was implicated in the recent kidnapping of recently freed popular TV news anchor Ces Drilon and her two-man crew.
The MILF and Abu Sayyaf had separately collaborated with Indonesian Islamic radicals in plotting new attacks, said Baihaqi, who the report said was involved in a plan to bomb a Roman Catholic cathedral in Mindanao when captured. Baihaqi said he was given sanctuary by the Abu Sayyaf in their mountain strongholds on Jolo island in January-September 2006 and then lived with MILF guerrillas in Davao del Norte, near where he was arrested.
The MILF, a large rebel group involved in on-and-off peace negotiations with the government, has denied any links with foreign terror groups. It forged an agreement with the government in 2005 to help local troops capture criminals, including al-Qaida-linked militants. Rebel spokesperson Eid Kabalu said yesterday that Baihaqi might have been given sanctuary by MILF members who have broken away and allied themselves with foreign Islamic militants.
"Wudn't us."
This article starring:
Dulmatin
Mohammad Khildan Baihaqi
Umar Patek
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday accused the United States of plotting to kidnap and assassinate him during a visit to Iraq, state media reported.
The president told a meeting of clerics in the central city of Qom that Iran's "enemies" planned to kill him when he went to Baghdad in March, according to the president's Web site. Iranian leaders usually use the term "enemies" to refer to Western nations and the United States in particular.
The report on the presidential Web site did not specify the United States as the source of the plot. But state television reported that Ahmadinejad had "unveiled a shocking story" that "Americans had intended to kidnap him during his trip to Iraq."
Ahmadinejad said the plot was never carried out because of "intentional" last-minute changes in his schedule during the visit, the Web site said. He said the conspirators learned about the changes after he left Iraq.
Ahmadinejad's trip to Baghdad was the first by an Iranian leader since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, a sign of the close ties between Tehran and the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
During his visit, Ahmadinejad did not stay in the heavily fortified Green Zone, where the Iraqi government and U.S. Embassy are centered and where most visiting dignitaries reside. Instead, he stayed in a compound that includes the home of President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, head of Iraq's largest Shiite party, both of whom have strong ties to Tehran, the security official said. His security was provided by members of the Shiite Badr Movement, close to al-Hakim, and Kurdish peshmerga fighters, instead of army or police, the official said.
Iran and the U.S. have no diplomatic relations since shortly after the 1979 storming of the U.S. Embassy by militant students who held American hostages for 444 days.
Tensions have been high between Washington and Tehran over U.S. accusations that Iran aims to build a nuclear weapon and that it is financing and arming anti-U.S. Shiite militias in Iraq. Iran denies both charges.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#5
I've got no problem with offing Short Round. I'd prefer it to be a public hanging but if that's too difficult to manage, whatever is necessary will do. Just make sure it sends the message that "you could be next" to all the other would-be jumped-up bastards.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
06/21/2008 11:25 Comments ||
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A Syrian source acquainted with the progress of the indirect Syrian-Israeli negotiations has stated their move to the direct stage remains dependent on Washington joining the negotiating table, something it has refrained from doing.
The source said that raising the issue of returning the Lebanese Shebaa Farms and Israel's simultaneous call on Lebanon to enter into direct peace negotiations are merely double standard dealings from the premise of "inciting the parties' hostility against each other," adding that any settlement of the Shebaa Farms status should be completed within the framework of the Madrid peace principles; that is, land in exchange for peace. "I solve the Israeli's problem with Lebanon and demarcate the borders in return for what?" the source asked.
The Syrian source said "it is too early" for any meeting between Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and Israeli officials and explained that if it did happen, Syria would be regarded as having recognized the State of Israel.
The source also discussed attempts by international parties "to dip their hands in the cooking pot," while Syria categorically refuses to steer away from Turkish mediation or bring in other parties to the process. The source added that the process has entered a "tug-of-war" stage and would take a long time to complete, indicating that the parties are still preparing to discuss details, a stage that cannot be reached outside the framework of direct negotiations.
During a telephone call with Asharq Al-Awsat in London, the source explained that the "basic impression [in Syria] is that any direct negotiations will not take place until after there is a clear resolution of the land in return for peace issue and Israel's commitment and clear stand on the mechanisms. As President Al-Assad had already said, moving to the complete and open process with the Israelis should happen only when the Americans join the process."
In response to a question about the US role in the indirect negotiations, the source said: "there is no American clarity or endeavor up to this moment" and called US Secretary of Stare Condoleezza Rice's statements about returning Shebaa Farms a "voluntary service on her part."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Guess there's no direct talks then. Too bad--for Pencilneck and his posse.
Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 ||
06/21/2008 11:26 Comments ||
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#2
Somebody's been picking up ideas from their new buddies on the Yellow Sea.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
06/21/2008 18:02 Comments ||
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Annual update on confidence in institutions finds just 12% of Americans expressing confidence in Congress, the lowest of the 16 institutions tested this year, and the worst rating Gallup has measured for any institution in the 35-year history of this question.
In the latest update, Congress ranks just below HMOs, for whom 13% of Americans express "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence. Big business, the criminal justice system, organized labor, newspapers, television news, and the presidency all receive relatively low confidence ratings.
In contrast, Americans express the most confidence in the military, as they have each year since 1988 (with the exception of 1997, when small business edged it out). Small business ranks second in the current poll, just ahead of the police. These are the only three institutions that for whom a majority of Americans express a high degree of confidence.
Looks like Pelosi is an utter failure. One wonders whenthe Dems will finally pay a price - their rating is less than HALF of the GOP rating when they got run out of office. Corrupt, spineless, pork heavy, stupid and simply owned by special interest - thats Congress. See John Murtha for a prime example.
#3
Majority Leader Pelosi and all her colleagues in both Houses of Congress are re-elected on the promise of accomplishing things. If I recall correctly, she and her party have not accomplished a single thing they were elected to do, hence the low level of trust. The Republicans, on the other hand, have accomplished the key things they set out to do. It would be very revealing were Gallup to have broken out these numbers by party. One also wonders how much confidence is impacted by reportorial fashions, the story they all keep telling over and over for a while before going on to the next hot thing.
#4
The problem is mostly the voters who elected these losers. How you gonna get rid of them?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
06/21/2008 16:52 Comments ||
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#5
Many of you will recall that on July 8, 1947, almost exactly 60 years ago, witnesses claim that an unidentified flying object with five aliens aboard crashed onto a sheep and cattle ranch just outside of Roswell , New Mexico . This is a well-known incident that many say has long been covered up by the U.S. Air Force and other federal agencies and organizations. However, what you may NOT know is that in the month of March 1948, nine months after that historic day, the following people were born:
-Albert A. Gore, Jr.
-Hillary Rodham
-William J. Clinton
-Howard Dea
-Nancy Pelosi
- Dianne Feinstein
-Charles E. Schumer
-Barbara Boxer
See what happens when aliens breed with sheep? Certainly hope this piece of information clears up the Gallup Public Trust issue. It did for me.
#7
If I recall correctly, she and her party have not accomplished a single thing they were elected to do..
I seem to recall they got the minimum pay raised. Whoopee. So, Nancy how'd that help teen summer employment this year? Oh, that's right, those don't vote yet.
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.
Djibouti has accused neighbouring Eritrea of illegally intruding into its territory. Mahmoud Ali Youssef, the Djiboutian foreign minister, told Al Jazeera on Friday that 
Pakistans Ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani has said that the war against terror is Pakistan's own war. Talking to ARY One World, he said that Benazir Bhutto and many other Pakistanis had been killed in terrorist attacks. He added that the people who were killed in the Tribal Areas and others parts of the country were Pakistanis and not the US citizens. To a question, the ambassador said, "While we want to deal with the US on equal footings, it is a reality that we are on the receiving end." Haqqani said that there were many similarities in Pak-US policies. He said that the United Nations had passed a resolution, making it mandatory for all member states to take practical steps against terrorism.
The NWFP government and the Swat Taliban resumed talks on Friday when 
BAGHDAD (AP) Hundreds of followers of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took to the streets after Friday prayers in Shiite areas to protest plans for a longterm security pact between Iraq and the United States. 
FALLUJAH, Iraq - U.S.-funded reconstruction in a one-time Sunni insurgent stronghold has been suspended because of a corruption probe, including allegations that the mayor and police chief were involved in a multimillion-dollar oil smuggling ring, The Associated Press has learned. 
Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniyeh said on Friday the Islamist group would not stop smuggling activities in the territory.
(AKI) - Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, is tolerant of religious minorities. That is the message that Indonesian participants want to share at an international conference organised by the scientific committee of Oasis in the Jordanian capital Amman this weekend.
