Avon and Somerset Constabulary has begun to equip its female officers with a uniform issue hijab to wear when they enter a mosque.
The £13 headscarves are embroidered with the West Country force's name and logo, and come in two colours — black for police officers and blue for community support officers. A spokeswoman insisted that they were not intended purely to cater for Muslim cultural sensibilities but were multi-faith.
"They are designed to be used in any place of worship and can be used to cover the head or the shoulders. For example, plain clothes officers could use them to cover their shoulders in a Catholic Church, or they can be used to cover the head in synagogues," she said.
The scarves were however developed in a joint project with the Aklima Initiative, which focuses on working Muslim women, and the Mosque Initiative - both Islamic groups.
The scheme is believed to be a first for the British police. The Metropolitan Police, the largest and most diverse UK force, said that it issued headscarves to its Muslim female officers but not to non-Muslim officers.
"We have had these scarves for Muslim female officers for some time, but as far as officers going into mosques — if it was appropriate for them to wear a scarf they would do that. But I don't think there are any plans to issue 15,000-odd officers with a headscarf," a Met Police spokeswoman said.
Jackie Roberts, Assistant Chief Constable for Avon and Somerset, modelled the black headcovering for reporters yesterday, arranging its folds with the help of PCSO Nora Ndiaye, who modelled the blue version. They are among 15 women officers to have received the head coverings so far.
Ms Roberts said that the scarves were intended to respect the cultural and religious practices of local communities.
"This is a very positive addition to the Avon and Somerset uniform and one which I'm sure will be a welcome item for many of our officers," she said.
Rashad Azami, imam and director of the Bath Islamic Society, said he was pleased with the move. ''This will go a long way in encouraging a trustful relationship between the police and the Muslim community," he said.
"The Avon and Somerset Constabulary has been working closely with the Muslim community in the area on many levels for the last few years. We have found their co-operation very helpful and hope this step will further strengthen the mutual relationship."
It is not the force's first foray into the minefield of cultural sensibilities. In 2006 the Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset had to apologise after it emerged that the force had used positive discrimination to try to increase the number of female and ethnic minority officers, randomly excluding 186 white male applicants during a recruitment drive on the grounds that they were already over-represented.
#4
Maybe British policewomen dress much differently from the ones over here, but I kinda thought that the shoulders were already covered by the uniform.
Not only that, last weekend I saw plenty of wimmen in tank tops and spaghetti strap sundresses, as is common in the summer. Father Dave and the rest of the congregation didn't even care.
Knock it off with the "multi-culti" BS, please. It's to mollify one little religious group, and it sure as hell ain't the Methodists.....
This moves up to true WoT material: FARC is providing Mel Zelaya with financing as he schemes to take over Honduras. The story is from Libertad Digital in Spanish, and Fausta provides the translation:
Honduran authorities denounced on Monday the alleged financing by the FARC of deposed president Manuel Zelaya's followers' marches to the Nicaragua-Honduras border.
The article goes on to say that police seized a notebook and receipts showing that "Zelaya's government officials and supporters, leftist leaders, farmers, union members, and at least one mayor and one governor" were paid between $2,500 to $100,000 for the "transportation of people and supplies" to the border region.
The information was gathered from a computer seized from a FARC leader. No money was seized since the funds had already been distributed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
OTOH WORLD NEWS > SWEDEN: VENENZUELA SENT ROCKET LAUNCHERS TO FARC TERROR GROUP.
#2
Its well known that many of Zelaya's "marchers" are getting paid to do so.
What's new is that we know who is wiriting the checks. Bet if they trace back behind FARC, they will find Hugo CHavez signature on quite a few of those.
#1
Bekri said the government would send teams to "educate" Xinjiang households about "the evil acts and monstrous crimes" of separatists, terrorists and religious extremists headed by the exiled Kadeer.
[Kyodo: Korea] South Korea would welcome direct talks between North Korea and the United States, a foreign ministry spokesman said Monday. ""Our position is to welcome U.S.-North Korea talks, if held, in the context of what U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during her visit earlier this year that talks with North Korea would be held in cooperation with us,"" Moon Tae Young told a news briefing.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
No doubt muttering under his breath, "let the Americans wipe the spittle from their faces for a change."
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/28/2009 17:21 Comments ||
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[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea on Monday reiterated its refusal to return to the six-party talks on its denuclearization but expressed a willingness to participate in some other form of dialogue. ""There is a specific and reserved form of dialogue that can address the current situation,"" a Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted by the Korean Central News Agency as saying, without elaboration.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea should return to the table of six-party talks aimed at disbanding its nuclear arsenal, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday. ""North Korea must change its behavior. They"ve engaged in a lot of provocative actions in the last month,"" she said in an interview with NBC News" ""Meet the Press"" program.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Or what? Obama's going to make faces and apologize to them?
All the Norks have to gain is to go another round of the talk-dance while they perfect their nukes.
An Australian convert to Islam on Tuesday admitted being part of a terror cell that plotted to kill thousands of people by bombing major sports events, just moments before his retrial.
Shane Kent, 33, pleaded guilty to being a member of a group led by radical Islamic cleric Abdul Nacer Benbrika, who told his followers they could kill women and children in the pursuit of holy war. Kent also admitted involvement in the cell's plans for a bomb attack on sports events including the Australian Football League's (AFL) 2005 Grand Final, which attracted some 92,000 fans and a TV audience of millions.
The former forklift truck driver was about to face a retrial on the charges, which he previously denied, after a Supreme Court jury last September failed to reach a verdict.
Kent, wearing a grey shirt and black jacket, looked down as the charges were read and replied "guilty" to each.
Six members of the cell, as well as Benbrika, were last year found guilty on related charges in Australia's largest ever terrorism trial.
Benbrika was jailed for 15 years and the six followers received at least seven-and-a-half years each. Another man, Izzydeen Atik, pleaded guilty in August 2007 and was jailed for five-and-a-half years. Benbrika was so committed to violent jihad, Bongiorno said, that he had talked about continuing the group's activities behind bars if its members were jailed.
They were arrested in November 2005 after Australia strengthened laws to detain those in the early stages of planning terror acts, following the London transport bombings in July that year.
Jurors were told the group originally planned to attack the 2005 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, but were foiled by a series of police and secret service raids. They then decided to hit either the Melbourne stadium during AFL pre-season, or the sports-mad city's Crown casino during 2006 Grand Prix week, the jury was told.
Material seized from the group included bomb-making instructions and video tapes with messages from Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. While the cell had not made advanced plans for a specific target or carried out an attack, Bongiorno said they had shown no remorse, and did not appear to have renounced their beliefs.
Kent was charged with intentionally being a member of a terrorist organisation and to making a document connected with the preparation of a terrorist act. According to evidence at his first trial, Kent, who converted to Islam at 19, undertook two months of paramilitary training in the use of firearms and explosives in an undisclosed country.
His lawyers told the court Tuesday he was receiving psychiatric treatment for acute depression and anxiety. He will face a sentencing hearing on August 17.
#1
hewas receiving psychiatric treatment for acute depression and anxiety. He will face a sentencing hearing on August 17.
Under the circumstances, acute anxiety is a realistic response to the situation. Acute depression is just another expression of the same brain chemistry problems, not a separate response. May Mr. Kent live long enough to atone for each murder he planned to commit, and to change his mind about the beliefs that led him to this moment.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief (JUI-F) Fazlur Rehman on Monday warned the government that his party would leave the ruling coalition if it did not implement an Islamic system in view of the recommendations of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) by September. Addressing a press conference after a two-day meeting of the party's central executive council, Fazl said the pace of implementation of the agreement, the basis for his party's inclusion in the government after the general elections, was unsatisfactory. He said the masses were facing grave issues of law and order, inflation, insecurity and load shedding, for which the government had no answer. Fazl added the government, ignoring the recommendations of a parliamentary committee, launched the operation in Swat.
He said targeting madrassas under the garb of the operation was tantamount to playing into the hands of the West. Fazl invited urged the groups fighting the government to join mainstream politics. He said his party would continue to oppose the presence of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. To a question on General (r) Pervez Musharraf, he said whoever had subverted the constitution must be punished.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Federal Minister for Interior Rehman Malik Monday said it has been confirmed that Fazlullah has been injured and has gone into hiding along with his accomplices in Peochar.
Talking to Geo News here, the Minister said Maulvi Fazlullah and some of his accomplices could not escape from the area and that the security forces will be able to arrest him in a few days. He said the operation against militants is reaching its conclusion with success.
The people returning to their areas are being provided complete security, Rehman Malik said, adding all the IDPs will be reaching their homes in two to three weeks' time. "Now there is no danger of the terrorists regrouping," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
follow the smell
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/28/2009 8:54 Comments ||
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The NWFP government will soon frame charges against Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad and no witnesses may be needed to prosecute him for his links with the Taliban, said NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti on Monday.
"We may not need witnesses (against him)... he publicly spoke against the constitution, the judiciary, misled the provincial government, has links with the Taliban and has been facilitating the group," the chief minister told the media.
Police arrested 75-year-old Sufi Muhammad -- who had trimmed his beard and dyed it red -- on Sunday along with three others, including the TNSM chief's sons Rizwanullah and Ziaullah. The men were shifted to the Peshawar Central Prison on Monday.
"After gathering the required information, we will frame charges against him formally," said Hoti, but did not divulge exactly when the formal charges would be brought against the TNSM chief. Military sources told Daily Times the army was not involved in Sufi Muhammad's arrest, as it was a move launched by the provincial government. Peshawar SSP (Operations) Abdul Ghafoor Afridi said Sufi Muhammad had been detained under the Maintenance of Public Order for 30 days.
Intelligence sources said Sufi Muhammad was secretly reorganising the TNSM to the alarm of the provincial government.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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Hafiz Saeed will not be arrested since his alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks has not been proved, a private TV channel quoted Interior Minister Rehman Malik as saying on Monday. Malik said Pakistan had demanded details of Indian citizens convicted in the Mumbai attacks. He said Afghanistan had conceded there were Taliban training camps on its soil and Afghan President Hamid Karzai had ordered immediate closure of such camps. He said Afghanistan had also assured the government it would arrest and hand over Brahamdagh Bugti.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION BHARAT RAKSHAK > MUSHARAFF WILL NOT RETURN TO PAKISTAN [pedning arrest > okay wid him iff stays a bit in London].
A dossier on the Mumbai attacks, given by Islamabad to New Delhi may convince India that it is dealing with a reformed neighbour and that there is a need to change the rules of engagement. A report in Hindustan Times assessed that Pakistan unequivocally admitted in the 36-page document that the attacks were "planned, funded and facilitated" in its territory by activists of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. The dossier said the investigators "unanimously agreed that substantial incriminating evidence was available on the record directly connecting the accused with the commission of the offence", according to the newspaper. Pakistan had initially denied its citizens had carried out the attacks or that they were planned on its soil. It had even denied Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving 26/11 terrorist, was a Pakistani.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm sure the ISI 'cleaned it up a bit'....
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/28/2009 12:07 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] A U.S. aid agency had to suspend a $644 million jobs program in Iraq after two reviews raised concerns about misspending.
Among concerns raised in a report was evidence of phantom jobs and money being steered to insurgents instead of jobs projects, USA Today reported Monday.
The Community Stabilization Program, meant to thwart insurgent activity by paying Iraqis cash for public works projects, was run by the International Relief and Development, a non-profit corporation in Virginia that runs similar programs for the U.S. government.
Funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development, the stabilization program 'is generally thought of as one of the most effective counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq,' Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Lew told USA Today.
In the first audit in March 2008, USAID's inspector general reported evidence that the program was defrauded through overbilling and payments to nonexistent Iraqi employees. While not alleging corruption, the inspector general said it found IRD's records were riddled with 'irregularities that call into question not only' the reported jobs 'but also the validity of payments made to project contractors.'
That report led USAID and IRD to implement new financial monitoring mechanisms.
An outside company reviewed the program's youth component in February and in June reported 'inconsistencies' in Mosul, Iraq, USAID said in a statement to USA Today.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Iraq's Kurdish opposition has accused the regional President Massud Barzani's party of vote rigging in the weekend elections.
Nusherwan Mustafa, the Leader of the Reformist Gorran (Change) list, brought the charges against Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) shortly after the post-election violence that left one person dead and 12 others wounded. The regional Kurdish Prime Minister, Nechervan Barzani condemned the post-election violence.
"There was lots of forgery in Arbil and Dohuk (provinces) to change the result and to go against the will of the people," said Mustafa in a statement addressed to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the British, French and US envoys to Iraq.
He called for pressure to be put on Barzani and the Iraqi electoral commission to 'stop the forged results'.
Gorran has won 28 seats in the 111-seat regional Kurdish parliament overall, but claims to have won most of the votes in the region.
His offices in Arbil were ransacked on Sunday by suspected KDP supporters as unofficial results started to filter out.
Several Gorran members are defectors from the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) which had formed a coalition with the KDP. Mustafa himself is a former PUK deputy leader -- who quit the party just months before the elections to protest at what they claim is the PUK's unwillingness to reform and fight corruption.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates held talks with Jordan's King Abdullah on Monday amid a push by Washington to jumpstart Middle East peace talks that saw both him and Mideast envoy George Mitchell in Israel and Cairo. "Finding a just solution to the Palestinian issue that would lead to the creation of an independent state is the basis for achieving peace and stability in the region," a palace statement quoted the king as telling Gates.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Afterall, the creation of a "paleostinian" state has always led to peace (AKA Jordan).
#1
A good piece, and NYT writer to watch for, that Benedict Carey.
Hunches are valuable in a lot of situations, not just battle. We tend to do 'analysis' in our verbal or literate brain, and as a serial operation, but at the same time our subconcious brain is essentially processing in parallel and evaluating a lot more data in a far less predictable fashion. Experience and thus training plays a big part. I think of it as analagous to 'muscle memory' which is vital to athletes and musicians.
[ADN Kronos] Two unidentified bodies from the recent bomb blasts that ripped through the JW Marriot and Ritz-Carlton hotels earlier this month remained at the National Police Sukanto Hospital, Kramat Jati, East Jakarta. Police said on Monday they were suspicious that the two were the suicide bombers in the blasts on 17 July that killed nine people and injured 53 others.
So far, police have identified seven victims of the blasts, named as: Nathan Verity, Craig Senger, Garth McEvoy, Timothy McKay, Evert Mocodompis, Pieter Burer, and EJC Keaning.
The names of the last two victims were released by police over the weekend. They are Dutch citizens and their bodies were flown to the Netherlands late on Sunday.
Al-Qaeda linked fugitive Noordin M. Top is connected to the bombings, top government anti-terrorism officials believe. Top is wanted for plotting the Bali bombings of 2002 which killed 202 people and for other Indonesian attacks.
His main accomplice, Azahari Husin, was killed by police in 2005. Top escaped a police raid in 2006 and has continued to evade capture. Police have said the same explosives were used in the Bali bombings as in this month's hotel bombings in Jakarta.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
They are probably foreigners. An unmarked grave shall do them well.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have a new chief. Its former head of arms procurement, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, has been named as successor to the slain Velupillai Prabhakaran, according to a statement issued by its Executive Committee.
Fifty-four-year old Pathmanathan, aka Kumaran Pathmanathan or "KP", was serving as the LTTE's chief of international relations before rising to the top post.
The Executive Committee has said he will lead the LTTE into the "next steps of the freedom struggle". The announcement comes a little over two months after Prabhakaran and his family - as well as the entire LTTE top brass - were killed by the Sri Lankan army.
Prabhakaran's death and the military defeat of the LTTE plunged overseas Tigers and the Tamil diaspora into a state of shock. They went into denial over the death of their leader, as well as the LTTE's future. Sections within the LTTE even claimed Prabhakaran was alive and would emerge "when the right time comes".
Pathmanathan has had a long association with the LTTE and Prabhakaran. He was a close confidante of the Tiger leader and functioned as the chief of the LTTE's arms procurement network. His first big arms purchase on behalf of the LTTE is believed to have taken place back in 1984.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi has said that Iran's political relations with Egypt are not a secret.
"Tehran-Cairo ties are not undisclosed and the two countries' foreign ministers had warm and cordial contact in front of cameras," Qashqavi said at his weekly press conference on Monday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met with his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Aboul Gheit at the 15th ministerial meeting of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm al-Sheikh held from July 13-14.
"Iran and Egypt have different opinions in some fields, but we can have international cooperation as we have common interests in other fields," Qashqavi added.
The Iranian spokesman went on to describe the relations between Iran and Syria as mutual and brotherly. "Iranian and Syrian officials have had many meetings in the past few years."
"Nobody can disturb the ties between the two countries, which are based on mutual respect and brotherly relations," Qashqavi concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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The EU's External Relations Council will formulate the block's policy toward Iran based on the Iranian government's treatment of protesters.
Pointing to the treatment of those who protested against the official election results, Germany's Minister of State for Europe, Guenter Gloser, said before the monthly meeting Monday "we will now be talking about options for action if the situation does not improve."
"The current development fills us with great concern," said Gloser. "People who express their views are imprisoned, reporting is heavily restricted, and opposition [members], human rights activists as well as journalists are detained."
The EU's External Relations Council is usually made up of the Member States' foreign ministers. However, in this case, the German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be represented by Guenter Gloser.
The council will meet on Monday in Brussels, Belgium, and will be headed by Swedish Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.
Also speaking ahead of the meeting, the French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner urged the release of a French citizen from an Iranian prison, reported EU Business.
Clotilde Reiss, a French teacher at the Isfahan University of Technology, has been detained for almost a month in Tehran's Evin prison, on suspicion of spying. The French government has flatly rejected the allegations.
"She must be freed in the next few days," Kouchner said.
Following the disputed June 12 presidential election, which returned incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to office with almost two-thirds of the votes, two of the three opposition candidates dismissed the official results as "fraudulent" and demanded a re-run, and many of their supporters took to the streets in support of their demands.
The violence in the Iranian capital resulted in a number of deaths and some of the detainees of the unrest also died in custody, drawing harsh criticism from Iranian officials and public.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
The fecklessness of the EUros in their relations with Iran never cease to amaze me. They've never gotten anything before, so what's their answer? Double secret probation!
Amid reports of the mistreatment of detainees who protested against the result of the presidential vote, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution orders officials to shut down a "non-standard" prison.
The head of Iran's National Security Council said Monday that Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei had demanded that the prison which did not measure up to the required standards to be shut down.
"In the course of recent events, the Leader has ordered officials (to take measures), so that no one, God forbid, suffers injustice," Saeed Jalili said in a statement.
The presidential election in June, which lead to the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president, was followed by massive protests by supporters of the defeated candidates.
Thousands were detained in the aftermath of the vote, many of whom have since been released. According to Judiciary spokesman Ali-Reza Jamshidi, at least 300 people remain behind bars.
Jalili, who is also the representative of the Leader in the powerful council, added that Ayatollah Khamenei had insisted that officials were obliged to "precisely" probe into incidents in which wrongdoings may have been committed against detainees.
The Leader has repeatedly advised officials to abide by the law and personally follows up on the fate of detainees, Jalili added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Geez...
Don't use the term "Fearless Leader" I never know if you are referring to Kim Jung Il, Ahmadinejad, or Obamma it until I read the article and I must admit does raise a different level of fear.
I assume you are referring to Obama until I see otherwise.
Posted by: Kelly ||
07/28/2009 13:46 Comments ||
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[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Lebanese defense officials believe there is a secret pact between Hizbullah and top officers in the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), the Kuwaiti paper Asiyassa reported on Monday.
According to the account, a LAF battalion will operate within the Hizbullah framework and have independence and access to the group's arsenal.
The paper said Israel gave the United States and European governments which have UNIFIL contingencies (France, Germany, Spain and Italy) information which proves Hizbullah was training dozens of LAF soldiers to prepare them to fight alongside Hizbullah guerrillas in case the IDF attacks Lebanon. Israel conveyed the information on July 1, according to the report.
The LAF battalion in Hizbullah, according to Asiyassa, will include 150 troops who will have access to areas south of the Litani River from where Hizbullah fighters are currently banned in the framework of UN Resolution 1701. Hizbullah reportedly trained the officers on the use of specific Iranian missiles with average- and long-distance ranges. The Jerusalem Post could not confirm the Kuwaiti report.
On Monday morning, Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah was quoted by two Lebanese newspapers as warning that the group would strike Tel Aviv with missiles from Lebanon if Israel attacked the guerrillas' south Beirut stronghold in a new war.
The papers - As-Safir and Al-Akhbar - both with close ties to Hizbullah - said Nasrallah made the threat during a weekend closed meeting with a group of Lebanese expatriates.
"The former equation has changed. Now it will be Dahiyeh against Tel Aviv, not Beirut against Tel Aviv," Nasrallah was quoted as saying.
The southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh houses Hizbullah's headquarters.
He warned that if the Israelis hits Beirut, "there will be a more painful equation for the Israelis." The papers did not elaborate.
A Hizbullah media official contacted by The Associated Press could not confirm the reports, which is not unusual for the group.
Over the weekend, Nasrallah said he believed Israel would initiate an attack against Lebanon by the summer of 2010.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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[Haaretz Defense] Israel will attack Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon sometime before next spring, the Shi'ite guerilla group's leader is quoted as saying over the weekend.
Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah told Lebanese media his organization will launch missiles at Tel Aviv if Israel attacks the Shi'ite group's positions in Lebanon.
Monday editions of the Beirut-based newspapers Al-Akhbar and As-Safir said the Hezbollah chief made the statements during a meeting with a group of Lebanese exiles over the weekend.
During the meeting, Nasrallah predicted that Israel would initiate hostilities against Hezbollah "sometime between the end of this year and next spring."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION LITTLE GREEN FOOTBALLS > MEMRI TV Video = GADAFI [aka "Da Kolonel/Leader"] SAYS LIBYA WAS ON THE VERGE OF PRODUCING A NUCLEAR BOMB.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Amid growing dissension among Iran's ruling elite over the president's conduct, former presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi says the post-vote crisis is the product of undervaluing the will of the people. That's characteristic of dictatorships. The people are there to do what they're told.
Mousavi, who is described by some as a symbol of opposition, said Monday that the only way to end the disquiet in Iran is to return to the values that the Islamic Republic was based upon some 30 years ago. That's either politeness on his part or he's smoking something stronger than Camels.
The crisis that Mousavi spoke of in a meeting with a group of intellectuals and activists was sparked after the presidential election in June in which the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was re-elected with almost two-thirds of the votes. Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, another defeated candidate, claim that widespread ballot fraud in favor of Ahmadinejad had led to his victory. The fixers didn't even have the foresight to have it come out 51-49 or 51-40-9...
Their supporters, consequently, took to the streets, demanding the annulment of the election in support of reform within the establishment. Whereupon a benevolent government sent forth its agents to thump knobs on their heads...
Mousavi on Monday said the continuation of the current crisis would damage the political establishment as well as the revolution, the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported. "People made the (1979 Islamic) Revolution for freedom. Where is that freedom now? This situation will destroy everyone and will harm the system," he said. Perhaps people were in favor of freedom in 1979, but what they got wasn't it.
During the meeting, he also urged authorities to give the nod to his request to hold a mourning ceremony for those killed in the post-election protests. "The pro-reform path will continue," said Iran's last prime minister. "The establishment should respect the Constitution and let us gather to commemorate our killed loved ones on Thursday." That's another characteristic of dictatorships, isn't it? The law exists to keep the powers that be in power. It twists, it turns, it slips, it slides, it slithers on its belly like a snake, and somehow it always reaches the same conclusions: nobody can guide the ship of state like Fearless Leader, usually followed by his family.
Mousavi and Karroubi, in a letter to the Interior Ministry, assured that the ceremony, planned to be held on Thursday at central Tehran's Grand Mosalla -- a prayer location where tens of thousands can gather -- would be a silent one. Silent demonstrations are the worst kind, next to noisy ones. Best to turn out the basij and thump knobs on their heads if they show up. Better still to just forbid the whole thing, for the Greater Good®, of course.
The government has also come under fire over its detention of those who protested against the election results and over the death of two protesters while in custody. Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi on Monday called on pertinent officials to decide within a week the fate of those protesters who remain imprisoned.
On the issue, Mousavi said detentions would not be able to sap the people's will for freedom. "The killings and arrests are a catastrophe. The people will not forgive those behind such crimes," he said. "The more they arrest people, the bigger this movement becomes. The country of 70 million cannot become a prison for all of them."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
No matter what, time is limited for the regime.
#2
I don't know why y'all think Mousavi would be disingenuous or reticent about his feelings on the subject of the revolution. He was as much a part of the "revolutionary generation" as Khamenei or Rafsanjani. He isn't even a Gorbachev or Khrushchev, he's more like a Bukharin.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/28/2009 16:50 Comments ||
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Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has rejected a "power struggle" among top Iranian officials following the last month's presidential election. "I have hope in the Leader [of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei] to take an action to resolve the current problems based on his thoughts and experience," said the influential cleric on Sunday. "I have the same short-term solutions, which I offered in the Friday prayer sermons," he added.
Leading Tehran Friday prayers on July 17, Rafsanjani said that ambiguities surrounding the June 12 presidential vote had shaken the trust of a large portion of the Iranian society in the establishment. "Our key issue is to regain the trust, which the people had and now to some extent is shattered," Rafsanjani told thousands of people.
The official results of the vote, which saw millions casting their ballots after weeks of intense campaigning by four candidates, have been rejected by two of the hopefuls, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, and their supporters as fraudulent.
In his Sunday remarks, Rafsanjani expressed regret about ground prepared for foreign enemies of the Islamic Revolution and their media to question achievements of the country and its management. "Mistakes by a party, a person, a group or a movement can be compensated but it is difficult to correct a mistake, if the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic establishment will be brought into question," he said.
The head of the Expediency Council pointed to 50 years of friendship between himself and Ayatollah Khamenei starting long before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, saying, "He is a progressive and forward-looking thinker in different issues. The propaganda by the foreign media who seek to portray that there is a power struggle in the top level of the country is indeed unfair injustice to the Islamic Revolution. The current differences are only related to the [June 12] election and its aftermaths. If these disputes are settled, the row will end."
Iran blamed foreign powers, namely Britain, for 'interference' in its internal affairs and for playing a significant role in fueling the post-vote unrest. The two-time former president suggested that paying attention to concerns and viewpoints of critics can be useful in "promoting the goals of the Islamic Revolution and settling the country's problems".
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has rejected the resignation of the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi, his office said on Monday.
"This resignation has not been accepted by the president," Mohammad Jafar Mohmmadzadeh, communications director at the president's office, told the ISNA news agency.
The minister submitted his resignation on Sunday over what he said was a weakened government following Ahmadinejad's decision to sack the intelligence minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie.
"Unfortunately due to the recent events which shows the esteemed government's weakness, I will no longer consider myself the minister of culture and will not show up at the ministry as of tomorrow," Saffar-Harandi said in his resignation letter.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/28/2009 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
"This resignation has not been accepted by the president,"
Hopefully Saffar-Harandi's response to dinnerjacket is "Bugger off".
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/28/2009 12:17 Comments ||
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#2
I'm picturing a fancy executive-suite desk with a heavy set of iron manacles crudely bolted into the desktop.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/28/2009 17:19 Comments ||
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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.
Avon and Somerset Constabulary has begun to equip its female officers with a uniform issue hijab to wear when they enter a mosque. 
[Geo News] Federal Minister for Interior Rehman Malik Monday said it has been confirmed that Fazlullah has been injured and has gone into hiding along with his accomplices in Peochar.
The NWFP government will soon frame charges against Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad and no witnesses may be needed to prosecute him for his links with the Taliban, said NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti on Monday. 
Hafiz Saeed will not be arrested since his alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks has not been proved, a private TV channel quoted Interior Minister Rehman Malik as saying on Monday. Malik said Pakistan had demanded details of Indian citizens convicted in the Mumbai attacks. He said Afghanistan had conceded there were Taliban training camps on its soil and Afghan President Hamid Karzai had ordered immediate closure of such camps. He said Afghanistan had also assured the government it would arrest and hand over Brahamdagh Bugti.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have a new chief. Its former head of arms procurement, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, has been named as successor to the slain Velupillai Prabhakaran, according to a statement issued by its Executive Committee.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Amid growing dissension among Iran's ruling elite over the president's conduct, former presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi says the post-vote crisis is the product of undervaluing the will of the people. 
Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has rejected a "power struggle" among top Iranian officials following the last month's presidential election. "I have hope in the Leader [of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei] to take an action to resolve the current problems based on his thoughts and experience," said the influential cleric on Sunday. "I have the same short-term solutions, which I offered in the Friday prayer sermons," he added. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has rejected the resignation of the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi, his office said on Monday.
