[Al Arabiya Latest] United States Ambassador Susan Rice warned Thursday that recent fighting and "the blatant disregard" of a U.N. arms embargo in Darfur are undermining peace efforts in the region.
We are shocked. Shocked!
Heavy fighting between government forces and the Sudan Liberation Army erupted last week in central Darfur, according to rebel and U.N. officials, sending thousands of people fleeing from their homes and sorely testing the cease-fire signed days earlier between the government and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement.
If the reports of a government military offensive are true, Rice said, it would "not suggest a new willingness on the part of Sudan to fully engage in the peace process."
Rice called for a halt to the fighting and urged all rebel groups to cease military activity and sign on to the peace agreement.
The U.S. envoy made her comments following a closed-door Security Council briefing on the implementation of sanctions against Sudan.
In November, a U.N. panel of experts monitoring sanctions reported that the Sudanese government and rebel groups in Darfur refuse to abandon the military option and are increasingly violating the arms embargo.
Rice said that she criticized Security Council members during the closed-door session for failing to take action on any of the panel's recommendations.
"We want this committee to be active and engaged and to shine a spotlight on sanctions violations" by working with the government, the parties to the conflict and governments in the region "to end what have been cavalier violations of this sanctions regime." Rice said.
This would improve conditions on the ground, limit the flow of arms into Darfur "and do much to protect civilians who remain at grave risk," she said.
The 15-member Security Council -- and the sanctions committee which includes all members -- are deeply divided on the issue of sanctions against Sudan.
Sudan's allies Russia and China, both veto-wielding council members, are reluctant to impose or enforce sanctions against Sudan.
The Darfur conflict began in February 2003 when ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government in Khartoum, claiming discrimination and neglect. Khartoum is accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes and unleashing militias known as the Janjaweed on civilian populations -- a charge the government denies.
U.N. officials say at least 300,000 people have lost their lives from violence, disease and displacement, and 2.7 million have been driven from their homes.
The Security Council initially imposed an arms embargo on rebels and the Janjaweed in Darfur and in March 2005 extended the embargo to include Sudan's government.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Morocco's secular-minded establishment wants to squeeze the country's biggest Islamist party out of the political mainstream, a step that risks strengthening religious extremists.
Morocco has earned a reputation as a stable, moderate reformer during the first decade of King Mohammed's rule, leading to a tourism boom and improved access to markets and financial aid from neighbouring Europe.
In that time, the moderate opposition Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) has embedded itself in the north African country's political landscape and has become the third largest opposition group in the parliament.
But the Makhzen -- a group of powerful business and political figures who dominate the ruling royal establishment -- has vowed to take the wind out of the PJD's sails and drag the kingdom in a secular direction.
The moderate Islamists say that could lead to a resurgence in the kind of radical sentiment that contributed to coordinated suicide bombings in Casablanca in 2003 that killed 45 people.
"If you shut the door of participation in the face of moderates, you reinforce the current of violence," said PJD deputy chief Abdallah Baha. "Those Islamists who might join the PJD would look to other alternatives including bad ones."
Abderrahim Bahsen, a political analyst, said moderate Islamists appeal to Moroccans who want Western-style democracy with an Islamic cultural reference.
"Disagreement with reform-minded Islamists ... does not justify their isolation, which would only bolster extremists," he said.
The Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) -- the brainchild of Fouad Ali el-Himma, a friend of the king and the country's former security chief -- is being used by the secular-minded elite to marginalise the moderate Islamists.
"The Makhzen aims to kill two birds with one stone: bring political parties together against a common enemy and enhance its credibility as a fighter of Islamic fundamentalism in the West's eyes," said Ahmed Reda Benchemsi, editor of liberal current affairs magazine Telquel.
The move against the PJD suggests a change of strategy because previously it was embraced as a mainstream opposition party with popular support, albeit staunchly loyal to the king who remains all-powerful as head of state.
Now PAM leaders are branding the PJD an "obscurantist party" trying to turn Morocco into a purist Islamic state by stealth.
"We are ready to work with all parties, but not the PJD because it is different," said senior PAM official Hassan Benaddi.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
[Iran Press TV Latest] Dubai's police chief has vowed to resign if DNA tests on Israeli suspects prove that they have not been behind the killing of a Hamas commander in his hotel room in January.
What Israeli suspects?
The Irish ones ...
Police Chief Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim said on Friday that Israel should allow the Emirates to conduct DNA tests on Israelis that Dubai identifies as suspects in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
Identifies them how? Do they plan to run their state-of-the-art facial recognition software on every single Israeli resident plus non-resident Israelis around the world in order to find the people they claim are the perpetrators? That would certainly keep their people busy for a couple of years.
"I call on Israel to bring the suspects for DNA tests, so it can be compared to DNA found at the scene," Khalfan said. "If it turns out that the results do not match, I will resign. You can lie about anything, but not about DNA," he added.
We trust the disinterestedness of Dubai lab techs, do we?
Khalfan said the investigators have collected crime scene DNA samples and fingerprints of some of the suspects.
"There are samples from a number of them (suspects) which they left behind. We have these samples, and when they are arrested ... the fingerprints and DNA samples will be used," the police chief told Al-jazeera.
Dubai authorities have accused Israel's Mossad spy agency of being behind the murder, and have identified at least 26 suspects of a hit squad that traveled to Dubai on fake identities and forged European and Australian passports to kill al-Mabhouh in January.
But Hamas says Mr. al-Mabhouh was betrayed from within. And Hamas has accused Jordan and Egypt of colluding in the murder. Was the entire Middle East, excepting only the Dubai police, united against this one man?
Israel has so far refused to confirm or deny involvement in the assassination of the Hamas commander.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Police Chief Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim said on Friday that Israel should allow the Emirates to conduct DNA tests on Israelis that Dubai identifies as suspects in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
Well, since there's about as much a chance of that happening as me hitting Powerball, I'd say chiefy's job is quite safe for the foreseeable future.
Venezuela should combat the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) because they represent a threat on that country, Colombia and the whole region, an official of the US Department of Defense said on Thursday and criticized Venezuela's poor cooperation in fighting the rebels.
Frank Mora, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Western Hemisphere, hailed Ecuador's recent cooperation with Colombia, but complained of the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the strongest critic of the United States in Latin America, Reuters reported.
"Venezuela should combat this scourge," Mora said during a press conference in reference to the FARC, regarded by the US government as a terrorist group. Hugo didn't create FARC but he's been happy to do business with them. That isn't going to change.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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Hillary Rodham Clinton, the US Secretary of State, said on Wednesday that her government would very much like to have a positive relationship with Venezuela, but she added that there are many things which concern us "about what is happening in Venezuela today."
No duh.
"President (Hugo) Chavez is trying to stifle the press in Venezuela. If you say any negative about him, he tries to shut you down. That is not the way a democracy operates," Clinton said in an interview with Brazil's Globo network. Occasionally Hilde gets one right. Then again, she just may be jealous ...
US Secretary of State said that the Venezuelan President "is taking over companies and taking their assets and, unfortunately now, we see the results of those economic policies. There are electricity shortages in Venezuela, a country with oil. It makes no sense." Our country is following down that same path. Consider what Oogo is doing as a warning ...
However, the top diplomat confirmed the US desire to have a positive relationship with Venezuela. She said that US President Barack Obama had acted accordingly. "I'm sure some of you remember when President Obama went to the Summit of the Americas, he shook hands with Hugo Chavez. He exchanged words with him. We want to have a positive relationship, but it's difficult under the current circumstances." It would be impossible with any other American as president ...
Clinton was asked about the alleged unsuccessful attempts of President Obama to reach out to the Muslim countries, to Iran, China, Chavez. She replied: "I don't agree with that. I think that it's working in many, many places, but it's also exposing those governments and leaders who have a different agenda."
Meanwhile, President Chavez responded to the US Secretary of State by saying that Hillary Clinton came to Latin America "to sow discord" within the region. He compared Clinton with her predecessor Condoleezza Rice, but with the difference that "she is white." That Oogo, nothing gets past him ...
President Chavez rejected on Thursday night in a mandatory nationwide radio and TV broadcast the statements made by the US State Secretary in Brazil: "Mrs. Clinton said (some things) in front of (Brazilian Foreign Minister) Celso Amorim, who is a great friend (of Venezuela) ... She was disrespectful to Brazil, to Latin America... She came to sow discord, to stir up trouble, by saying that Venezuela continues to erode democracy and other stories."
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm not seeing to much 'try' in it. He pretty much does it.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
03/06/2010 2:40 Comments ||
Top||
#2
As the current administration has created a domestic policy akin to a house on fire, so is it doing the same to foreign policy.
In the event that Venezuela will pull out of the Organization of American States (OAS), as threatened by President Hugo Chávez, Venezuelans will be increasingly unprotected, Santiago Cantón, Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), said on Friday.
"We hope that they will not walk out of he system. As a protection agency, the more involvement by States, the more assurances for advocacy of human rights," Cantón told reporters. "Leaving the system means increasing lack of protection for the inhabitants of outgoing countries," he added.
Chávez threatened to pull out Venezuela of the IACHR as the OAS independent agency released last week a report attesting to weakening democracy and human rights restrictions in Venezuela, AFP quoted.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Heh. I'll bet that's a real heavy lifting job, eh, Santiago?
I would have sent a Jesuit myself ... Nobody woulda stood for it. They're too... ummm... Jesuitical.
Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez would meet on Friday night with his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe, acting as mediator to improve relations between Colombia and Venezuela, a source from Colombia's President Office reported.
Fernandez will hold a private meeting with Uribe in Bogota. The Dominican President is scheduled to leave on Saturday, AFP reported. Colombian media said that after the meeting with Uribe, Fernandez will meet with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Caracas.
President Chavez froze diplomatic and commercial relations with Colombia in July 2009, in retaliation for a military agreement between Washington and Bogota that Chavez considers a "threat" to his country.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The Islamist insurgency in Russia's North Caucasus region appears to be mutating from a grassroots separatist movement towards global jihad or holy war, whose goals, propaganda and patronage point abroad.
In February Russia's most wanted guerrilla, Chechen-born Doku Umarov, vowed on Islamist websites to spread his attacks from the Muslim-dominated North Caucasus into the nation's heartland, wreaking havoc through jihad.
His pledge follows escalating violence in the form of shootings and suicide bombs targeting authorities over the last year in the mountainous North Caucasus, particularly Chechnya, site of two separatist wars since the mid-1990s, and the provinces flanking it, Ingushetia and Dagestan.
Regional Muslim leaders and rebels revile each other as blasphemous and criminal. But after years of the Soviet Union suppressing religion, both welcome a Muslim revival that has brought elaborate new mosques, government-sponsored hajj trips to Mecca and a bubbling interest in Arabic.
Alexander Cherkasov, who has closely followed the North Caucasus for 15 years for rights group Memorial, said whereas in the past rebels wanted freedom from Russia, a struggle that dates back over 200 years, now they are influenced by jihadism, a global fight against alleged enemies of Islam.
"Part of it is homegrown. Corruption leads many to seek out what they call true Islam, but political Islam, by way of foreign financing and insurgents, is certainly playing a role," he told Reuters.
Al-Qaeda links?
Al-Qaeda operative and Egyptian militant Makhmoud Mokhammed Shaaban in Dagestan, who the FSB security service said had masterminded several bombings.
A myriad of web sites that have come to characterize the insurgency show videos of "martyrs", something unheard of in the region five years ago. They feature mostly local men, framed by Caucasus flags, chanting in Arabic ahead of suicide missions.
Over the last year, public statements of support for Doku Umarov and other Caucasus rebel leaders have come from a leading al-Qaeda mentor, Jordanian Sheikh Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi.
U.S. intelligence officials say Maqdisi is a major jihadi mentor who wields more influence over Islamist ideology than leading militants such as Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.
In an open letter to Umarov last year, which was posted on unofficial Islamist websites, Maqdisi said "it is my great pleasure to express my alignment with, patronage for, and support to the Mujahideen of the Caucasus."
Rebel leader Alexander Tikhomirov, an accomplished cleric who renamed himself Said Buryatsky after his native East Siberian Buryatia region, trained for jihad in Egypt for many years, where he learned fluent Arabic, political analysts say.
Buryatsky took responsibility for the deadliest attack in the North Caucasus in four years last August when a suicide bomber killed at least 20 and injured 138 at a police headquarters in Ingushetia.
Christopher Langton of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London told Reuters that "jihadism" in the North Caucasus is "energized" partly by links to Afghanistan and the Middle East composed of a mixture of smuggling, trade, Islamic non-governmental organizations and charities.
The FSB, successor to the KGB, has long said the insurgency has links to al Qaeda although regional leaders reject that.
"We have identified enormous financial influence from Afghanistan and Pakistan," said Sergei Goncharov, head of a group of veterans of an elite KGB force.
Isolation tactic
But Kremlin critics say the government blames al-Qaeda to cover up its share of responsibility for the region's poverty and endemic corruption, which also inspires youths to turn to extremism.
"Moscow wants to conceptualize the North Caucasus, they are interested in isolating it from the rest of Russia," Glen Howard, President of the Washington-based think tank Jamestown Foundation, told Reuters.
Regional leaders often play down the insurgency as a whole. Moscow-backed hardline Chechen boss Ramzan Kadyrov says there are fewer than 30 insurgents left in his republic. He has also accused the West of financing the Islamist insurgency, as well as plotting to seize the entire Caucasus region.
Ingushetia's leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov maintains that deep poverty alone fuels discontent.
Over the last two years, deaths due to violent incidents have shot up dramatically in the North Caucasus, from just over 40 in January 2008 to 140 in August 2009, according to a study by Washington's Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
There is now alarm that Islamist extremism could spread to other parts of Russia, home to around 20 million Muslims, more than half of whom live outside the North Caucasus.
Paul Quinn-Judge, from the International Crisis Group, warned that the violence could indeed spread: "The guerrillas are trying to extend the war to Russia proper."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Versus
WMF > NRO MEDIA: SURVEY SHOWS TWO-THIRDS OF AMERICANS BELIEVE THE US WILL NO LONGER BE THE WORLD'S SOLE OR NUMBER ONE MILITARY SUPERPOWER BY 2030.
* SAME > CURRENT "INTERNATIONAL LAW OF THE SEA" CONVENTION IMPRISONS CHINA TO ITS EAST ASIA COASTS AND BLOCKS FULL OCEAN ACCESS TO ITS DESIRED FIRST, SECOND ISLAND CHAINS, THUS OBSTRUCTING CHINA FROM DEV A TRUE "BLUE WATER NAVY".
* SAME > CHINA'S ONLY ACCESS TO THE OPEN PACIFIC IS THROUGH OKINAWA AND OGASAWARA ISLANDS. [Okinoroti]. SEA DENIAL THRU SAME IS A VALID CAUSE FOR WAR AGZ US, JAPAN.
* SAME > CHINA INCREASINGLY ISOLATED IN ASIA BY RUSSIA'S DEFECTION TOWARDS FRANCE, GERMANY, AND NATO. NEW VENTURES FOR INCREASED CHIN INVESTMENT IN FORMER CHINESE TERRITORY OF MONGOLIA [Pro-Russia] AGZ RUSSIA.
Senior government officials of North Korea and Russia held talks in Moscow to discuss issues regarding the resumption of the stalled six-party nuclear talks.
During a bilateral meeting on Thursday, visiting North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Goong Seok-woong and Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin exchanged views on issues of mutual concern, with particular attention on Pyongyang's nuclear program.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said the two officials also focused on improving bilateral ties as well as expanding political and economic exchanges.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
RUSSIA = VLADVEDEV is also repor finding itself serously outmaneuvered by CHINA in AFRICA - everywhere in everyting???
#2
ION WMF > JAPAN PUZZLED: THE TWO TRUE INTENTIONS OF THE NAVAL MOVEMENTS OF CHINA'S ARMED FRORCES THROUGH THE RYUKYUS ISLANDS.
* SAME > CHINA SHOULD LEASE FROM RUSSIA THE FOUR FORMER ISLANDS OF JAPAN IN KURILES; + CHINA-JAPAN'S PROPOSED NEW STRATEGIC UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE WILL REACH THE WESTERN PACIFIC.
IMO read, will one day reach, recce GUAM-WESTPAC + incoming USN Aircraft Carriers.
* SAME > CHINA SURPRISED: RUSSIA ENGAGING IN UNPRECEDENTED POST-SOVIET/COLD WAR MILITARY BUILDUP.
Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, the Spanish Minister of the Interior, has demanded the Venezuelan government on Friday to cooperate with the Spanish Judiciary in an investigation into alleged links between the Basque separatist group ETA and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), a guerrilla organization, because "terrorism is a serious issue." Demand away. How are you going to make them cooperate? You may not have noticed since you're a European and all, but Hugo doesn't really respond to 'soft power' ...
"We must request the Venezuelan government to cooperate with the Judiciary. They have to collaborate with the Spanish Judiciary system," Rubalcaba said in statements released on Friday by the state-run TV network Televisión Española (TVE), as reported by Efe.
The Minister of the Interior was referring to evidence of cooperation between President Hugo Chavez's government with the Basque terrorist group ETA and the Colombian guerrilla, according to an indictment released by Judge Eloy Velasco of the Spanish National Court.
Pérez Rubalcaba recalled that "there has been some cooperation" between both terrorist groups, which has been already proved. However, the Spanish minister said that he was not sure that "the word 'permissive' was adequate to describe Venezuela's involvement in the case."
Pérez Rubalcaba said that, in the past, the Venezuelan government refused to extradite several ETA members, at the request of Spain. He added that the Spanish government had to intervene to prevent some terrorist members from obtaining Venezuelan citizenship.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON - The Pentagon should consider blocking a potential $1 billion contract with the company formerly known as Blackwater to train Afghan police because of questions about its conduct in Afghanistan, a top U.S. senator said.
In letters to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Attorney General Eric Holder, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin said there was evidence of misconduct in a previous subcontract awarded to a Blackwater affiliate to conduct weapons training for the Afghan National Army. Levin, of course. Too bad he doesn't have enough to do in saving GM and Chrysler ...
There was evidence, the Democratic senator wrote, that Blackwater may have used a front company for the contract, made false official statements and misled Department of Defense officials in its proposal documents. There was also evidence Blackwater may have misappropriated government weapons, carried weapons without authorization and hired unqualified personnel with backgrounds that included assault and battery, as well as drug and alcohol abuse, Levin said in the letter dated Feb. 25.
Blackwater Worldwide has since changed its name to Xe.
Levin said the Pentagon should consider Blackwater's past "deficiencies" in deciding whether to award the new contract worth as much as $1 billion to the company to provide Afghan national police training. This is just another attack by the progressive Left on private security forces that contract with our military. The Left understands that they can't attack our military directly -- average Americans won't stand for it -- so they're using 'Blackwater' as a surrogate.
The Pentagon had no immediate comment on the contracts involved.
"The department is required to follow the law with a certain degree of transparency with respect to awarding contracts," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. But he said: "I don't know of of any prohibitions with respect that particular company (being) banned from being able to compete for U.S. government contracts."
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I have long foreseen that Blackwater needs to set up a HQ outside CONUS, for its own protection. The Democrats are abundantly clear that they want to destroy it, and the only thing stopping them are current contracts. As soon as those contracts have expired, all bets are off.
This is why a French Foreign Legion solution is best for them. Keep administrative offices in the US, and put operations on a Caribbean island.
And thinking about it, they might even buy one of the uninhabited Greek islands, to provide similar services to the EU. Right now, they could probably get close to full sovereignty, and maybe subcontract parts of the island to other corporations.
#2
Well, Senator Levin, how is the cut off of funds working with ACORN? Oh, they found a sympathetic judge to declare it a 'bill of attainder' and you and yours have dropped the issue. Seems like you're singling out this organization as well. Wonder if the ACORN judicial ruling is a precedent.
ABU DHABI/ DUBAI -- The first day of polling by Iraqi expatriates in the UAE saw nearly 5000 Iraqi voters cast votes peacefully, in contrast to the atmosphere in their home country where Al Qaeda-linked attacks have sought to derail the process.
The Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq (IHCEI) is geared to receive 75,000 Iraqis from across the UAE to choose from 6,000 candidates for the 365-member Iraqi parliament, IHCEI Bureau Director Odai Al Taie told Khaleej Times.
The voting shall remain open till Sunday from 8am to 6pm at the Iraqi embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Dubai International Airport Exhibition Centre. The commission expects to send by Thursday the ballot boxes to Baghdad. A similar procedure is being followed in other countries too.
An estimated 1.4 million Iraqis from the war-wracked nation's large diaspora are located in 80 cities of 16 countries.
Brigadier Khalil Ibrhaim Al Mansouri, Director of General Department of Criminal invesitgation, said that the Dubai Police had put in place a foolproof seucurity plan to ensure smooth conduct and safety. The General Deparment of Emergency had assigned 20 police hard-task and riots team to stand in readiness. Nothing untoward was reported.
Security outside the centres were tight with police keeping a close watch on the voters. Some eager youngsters were seen waving flags, while others posed for the camera with their ink-stained fingers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki held the ministries of interior and defense responsible that thousands of security and military men did not cast their ballots on the special voting day on Thursday (March 4).
Thousands of security elements' names were not included in the electoral records,' Maliki said in a press conference on Friday.
Maliki criticized an attempt made by a political figure to visit a voting center yesterday after the special voting ended. He said that although blasts have occurred, the election security plan will not be changed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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Mossad chief Meir Dagan's tenure at the Mossad is up for renewal at the end of the year.
Defenders of Dagan point to the long list of Mossad achievements in the war on terrorism and the campaign against Iran's nuclear program, and argue that his tenure at the intelligency agency should be extended for an unprecedented fourth time. They insist that his knowledge of the Iranian theater is unmatched, and that as the clock reaches zero hour on the Iranian nuclear threat, his input will be invaluable -- and not only for Israel.
Under Dagan, the Mossad has had just two priorities: delaying Iran's nuclear program and counter-terrorism.
Continued on Page 49
#4
One thing I wondered about is this. If Iran gets to the point where Israel has to do something, i.e. take out their nuclear capability given that most likely no one else will do it, what capability do they have? Do they have long-range bombers with bunker buster bombs? Long range missiles? In 1981 they had to outfit their planes so the range was extended in order to bomb Iraq's nuclear facility.
Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the Israeli crackdown on Palestinian demonstrators describing it as an act 'aimed at damaging the chances to resume the peace process.'
"We started it, which makes it Israel's fault." Although, to be fair, it was really Hamas, not the PA.
On Friday, Israeli troops surrounding the Al-Aqsa Mosque since the early morning hours raided the compound of the holy site in the occupied East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) and cordoned off the premises to push out the Palestinian worshippers who had gathered for the weekly Friday prayers.
The move triggered protests that quickly turned violent after Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters and stun grenades at demonstrators, leaving 60 Palestinians injured.
"Today's events were aimed at damaging the chances of resuming the peace process and Israel is crossing all the red lines -- after the Arab League's monitoring committee recommended that the negotiations between the sides be resumed," said a statement by Abbas' office in Ramallah.
The Western-backed Fatah leader also called on Washington to "stop the adventure which may ignite a religious war in the region" and urged the international community to "take responsibility and stop the Israeli recklessness, which may have serious implications on the entire region and on peace and security in the entire world."
On Wednesday, the Arab League foreign ministers meeting in the Egyptian capital of Cairo expressed their support for a US proposal regarding indirect Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
Members of the Arab League said they would review the results of the negotiations after four months, and insisted that direct talks could not begin until Israel completely halted all settlement constructions beyond the 1967 borders, including those in East Al-Quds.
Despite it being a Palestinian issue, Abbas had said he would adhere to any decision made by the Arab League ministerial committee.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Psychologists call that "Projection"
Posted by: abu do you love ||
03/06/2010 2:38 Comments ||
Top||
#2
As they say "A predator is not looking for a fight---it's looking for a meal."
#3
On the day the Israelis blow up a pizza joint solely because of the religion of the patrons, get back to me and we'll talk about them igniting a religious war in the ME.
A bomb on board a U.S. Christmas Day flight would have failed to bring the plane down even if it had been detonated successfully, a new test explosion suggests.
A controlled blast on a Boeing 747, using the same explosives that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is accused of smuggling on board, failed to burst the fuselage. A bomb on board a U.S. Christmas Day flight would have failed to bring the plane down even if it had been detonated successfully, a new test explosion suggests.
A controlled blast on a Boeing 747, using the same explosives that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is accused of smuggling on board, failed to burst the fuselage. It means, had the bomb exploded on December 25, Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit would have successfully landed.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Just a little give in the fuselage can do this. Fortunately, emergency landing could be executed in minutes reducing the time the remainder of the structure was subject to stress.
#2
They don't mention whether the AC was pressurized to the equivalent altitude. That makes a HUGE difference. Example: An under inflated balloon is anti-climatic when poked; fully inflated they explode when pricked.
#5
So. This is what passes as investigation at the BBC? Cuz it looks to me like the door is open so unpressurized, and the windows sealed with metal, and the cabin empty (correct me if wrong, but the total volume occupied by the passengers and baggage would make the bomb more effective).
#8
BBC should have used an identical aircraft in their test; IIRC the a/c involved was an Airbus A 319 or 320, not a B-747. Different build details and different interior volume to absorb the shock.
Regarding the Aloha flight; that strucutral failure was due to several things, key being cyclic fatigue of the structure due to the pressurization / depressurization requirements of the flight (constant exposure to the salty air environment didn't help any). That accident led to the FAA's Aging Aircraft Inspection Program, and uncovered many more like it.
#9
would be nice if the BBC had put at least that much effort in verifying the Climate Change claims. Kinda like the Dubai assassination investigation where they seem to have spent a couple year's budget on one dead asshole. I guess the budget matches desired outcome. Go figure
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2010 19:50 Comments ||
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In reaction to several accidents involving Russian-built passenger planes in Iran, the Islamic Republic sets a two-month deadline for Russian pilots to leave the country.
"Upon an order from President [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad], the Road and Transport Ministry has set a two-month deadline, after which all Russian pilots must leave the country," Fars News Agency quoted Minister of Roads and Transportation Hamid Behbahani as saying on Saturday.
"When our country itself has plenty of competent and skilled pilots, there is no need for hiring pilots from abroad to operate our flights," he added.
Iran has suffered a string of aviation disasters over the past decade, most involving private airlines using Russian-made planes and crew.
Officials have blamed the incidents on a ban on the sale of airplane parts to Iran, forcing it to purchase the parts from Russia and other former Soviet states.
In the worst plane crash in Iran, a Tupolev-154M, crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran en route to the Armenian capital of Yerevan on July 15, 2009, leaving all 168 passengers onboard dead.
#1
"we are fully capable of neglecting maintenance on our own"
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2010 21:32 Comments ||
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#2
How much you want to bet that the Russian pilots were complaining of the maintenance (or lack thereof) and were threatening to leave. So Dinner Jacket says "you can't quit, you're fired".
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday that the arrest of terrorist ring leader Abdulmalek Rigi has humiliated the intelligent services of the US, Britain and the Zionist regime.
President Ahmadinejad made the remark in a meeting with minister of information, ministry staff and top security officials.
Iran's intelligence forces have the most transparent performance in the world, said the Iranian president.
He advised the ministry to adopt more coordinated and powerful stands in dealing with classified issues.
Liberal democracy and global hegemony led by the US are bent on fighting the Islamic Revolution, he said.
They have committed the most inhuman crimes and atrocities worldwide under the guise of human rights, he said.
The Islamic Revolution has challenged materialistic schools of thought while Marxism has disappeared in the world, said the Iranian president, adding that the capitalism is on the verge of collapse.
US aggression and NATO;s military operations in the region are aimed at saving liberal democracy and capitalism school of thought, he said.
The September 11 attack on the US and collapse of twin towers were parts of complicated intelligence move to give enough excuses for them to prepare the ground for invasion of Afghanistan under pretext of fighting terrorism, he said.
5 March 2010 TEHRAN - Iran's long-delayed Bushehr nuclear plant will be launched within a few months, an Iranian energy official said on Friday.
This plant will be launched according to schedule at the end of the spring and will run the same as the other nuclear plants in the world,' Ali Akbar Saleh, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said in quotes carried by news agency ILNA.
Russia said in January it would finish building a 1,000 megawatt nuclear power plant this year that it agreed to build 15 years ago. Delays have haunted the $1 billion project and diplomats say Moscow has used it as a lever in relations with Tehran.
Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, has been disappointed by Tehran's refusal to agree to a compromise plan for Iran to enrich uranium in Russia and could back new sanctions Washington is seeking. Supposedly ...
Russia says the Bushehr plant is purely civilian and cannot be used for any weapons programme as it will come under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision. Supposedly ...
Iran will have to return all spent fuel rods to Russia. Supposedly ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has urged the top nuclear body to switch its focus from Syria's atomic work to Israel's nuclear arsenal as the main cause for concern. "Hey look! Over there! It's William Shatner! ..."
Ali Asghar Soltanieh read out a statement in the Thursday meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors on the implementation of the Safeguards Agreements in Syria.
In the statement, Soltanieh said that Iran was "deeply concerned" about the IAEA's verification measures which, he said have shifted focus from Israel's nuclear work as the main source of problem to "secondary technical" issues.
"The core problem is, in fact, the Zionist regime of Israel's offensive against Syria which is a blatant violation of the UN Charter and the international law including the Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency," Fars News Agency quoted Soltanieh as saying on Thursday.
In September 2007, Israeli warplanes destroyed Syria's al-Kibar military site blaming the country for harboring a nuclear reactor there, a claim rejected by Syria.
Soltanieh then accused Israel and its allies of having engaged the IAEA in a made-up scenario by raising "false claims" against Syria.
"Meanwhile, those member states who cry foul over Syria ['s nuclear work] have turned a blind eye to the Israeli regime's nuclear arsenal, which poses a serious threat to both regional and global peace and security," he said.
An IAEA report by Director General Yukiya Amano said in February that uranium particles found at the Syrian complex suggest the possibility of covert nuclear activity at the site.
In response to the report, Syria said that unlike Israel, it was "committed to the non-proliferation agreement," reiterating that its nuclear work is totally peaceful.
Israel, the world's sixth largest nuclear weapons power, maintains a policy known as "nuclear ambiguity" and continues to remain outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2010 00:00 ||
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Syria is a signatory to the NPT and is thus subject to IAEA inspections. Israel is not.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/06/2010 7:29 Comments ||
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Unlike Iran, Israel does not advocate eliminating other sovereign nations from the face of the earth. Just sayin'.
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.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Dubai's police chief has vowed to resign if DNA tests on Israeli suspects prove that they have not been behind the killing of a Hamas commander in his hotel room in January. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Islamist insurgency in Russia's North Caucasus region appears to be mutating from a grassroots separatist movement towards global jihad or holy war, whose goals, propaganda and patronage point abroad. 
ABU DHABI/ DUBAI -- The first day of polling by Iraqi expatriates in the UAE saw nearly 5000 Iraqi voters cast votes peacefully, in contrast to the atmosphere in their home country where Al Qaeda-linked attacks have sought to derail the process.
Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the Israeli crackdown on Palestinian demonstrators describing it as an act 'aimed at damaging the chances to resume the peace process.' 
