[Iran Press TV Latest] Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and a delegation of ministers and lawmakers have traveled from Mogadishu to Nairobi.
The Somali president and his delegation are scheduled to meet officials from a number of friendly countries in the Kenyan capital for talks on the Somalia crisis.
In addition, there are reports that the Greek government and some other governments have called the Somali president to offer financial support to his government.
The Somali president has also been in contact with officials from a number of member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and will give first priority to OIC states, the Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu reported.
This trip comes one day after the president dismissed the mayor of Mogadishu and appointed Abdi Risak Mohamed, who is also known as Engineer Nuune, as the new mayor.
In a telephone conversation with the Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu, Engineer Nuune vowed to fight hunger and poverty in the Banaadir region and to make efforts to ensure that people displaced by the fighting in the region will be able to return to their homes.
He also asked Somali businessmen, teachers, and traditional elders to help the municipal government's efforts to help innocent civilians who are in need.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Law enforcers fear around 150 suspected or convicted militants who are now out of jail may embrace militancy again as there were no motivational programmes in the prisons.
Police sources say 149 of those released either on bail or on completion of jail terms were arrested on charge of their link to banned Islamist outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
The sources add some of them were acquitted of the charges as investigators either did not get any evidence of their involvement or failed to prove the charges in the court.
Against this backdrop, the police high-ups, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and other intelligence agencies have instructed their forces to keep constant watch on those people so that they cannot be involved in militancy again.
"We've already instructed all our units across the country to keep constant watch on those who were arrested on charge of militancy but were released on bail or acquitted of the charges," says Rab intelligence wing Director Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan.
Sources in the Special Branch say they have evidence that some of those people have returned to militant activities again.
"We'll arrest them and show them arrested in other cases filed for blasting bombs on August 17, 2005 and at other times," says an SB official wishing anonymity.
The sources say the law enforcement and intelligence agencies including Rab have so far arrested around 600 militants, mostly linked to JMB, since the August 17 synchronised bomb attacks across the country.
The law enforcers and intelligence officials suspect since the militants are out of prisons without receiving any anti-militancy motivation they may not renounce Islamist extremism.
Moreover, the present JMB leadership is also trying to take back their old members. A few members of the outfit have already been assigned to arrange legal assistance for the detained activists for this purpose.
On October 26, Rab members arrested JMB ehsar member Akbar alias Al Amin, who is in-charge of Bagerhat district. The elite force claims Al Amin was providing financial support to families of the arrested JMB members and maintaining contacts with the operatives who are behind bars.
"In absence of motivational programmes in the jails, the accused or convicted militants may not only return to militancy but also brainwash other inmates and persuade them to join in," observes an intelligence agency official.
Stressing the need for motivation, he cites the example of JMB Shura (highest policymaking body) member Khaled Saifullah, who took part in the August 17 blasts 10 days into his release from Dinajpur jail.
Deputy Inspector General (prisons) Golam Haider admitted there is no special motivational programme for militants in jail.
The DIG however said sometimes they motivate JMB members in jail taking special initiatives.
When their officials pass through cells meant for JMB militants, they ask the inmates to shun the path of militancy saying Islam does not permit such subversive activities, he explained.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
#1
150 suspected or convicted militants who are now out of jail may embrace militancy again as there were no motivational programmes in the prisons.
They must be very good motivational programmes. Zig Zigler outsourcing soon?
[Bangla Daily Star] The Detective Branch of police has identified several persons including foreign nationals as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives holed up in the country with plans to attack the US embassy in Dhaka and other establishments.
A DB official who would not be identified talking about matters under investigation also said the three LeT men arrested recently at a hilltop madrasa in Chittagong had regular contact with two LeT leaders detained in the United States and one in Pakistan on charges of scheming to attack a Danish newspaper house.
Um?
India-born US citizen David Colelman Headley alias Gilani Daud
Did we know he was born in India?
and Pakistan-born Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana were arrested in Chicago in October and Pakistani Abdur Rahman Sayeed in Pakistan last week. The three had ordered the Let men in Bangladesh to attack the local US embassy, added the official.
Oh my. Our bad boyz have been very busy. And they're not mere henchmen.
DB officials said they suspect several money transactions have taken place to fund terror attacks in Bangladesh. They have already traced one involving Tk 4 lakh.
Monirul Islam, deputy commissioner of DB-South, said two foreigners top their list of LeT suspects. The two know the ins and outs of the attack plot and are playing an important role in efforts to pull it off.
"Not only the US embassy, they may attempt to attack other places as well," the DC-DB said. "We have specific evidence the detainees had links to plotting terror attacks here," he added.
The three Lashkar men rounded up from Chittagong are Mufti Harun Izhar, 33, Shahidul Islam, 26, and Al Amin alias Saiful. Harun is son of Mufti Izharul Islam, ameer of an Islami Oikya Jote faction.
The DB assistant commissioner who led the raid on the Chittagong madrasa said they had been looking for several persons linked to LeT and Huji and the planned terror attack.
He said they have information that the suspected foreigners would frequent the madrasa, which might have been used as a training camp-cum-shelter for the militants.
How often, and over what time period?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba
BRITISH public support for the war in Afghanistan is falling, while more than 40 per cent do not understand why British troops are fighting there, a poll released on Remembrance Sunday showed.
Some 64 per cent agreed that "the war in Afghanistan is unwinnable", up six per cent from July, while 27 per cent disagreed, down four per cent. Ten per cent said they did not know.
Similar numbers said British forces should be withdrawn as quickly as possible, with 63 per cent agreeing and 31 per cent disagreeing.
Some 54 per cent felt they had "a good understanding of the purpose of Britain's mission in Afghanistan", with 42 per cent disagreeing.
"Overall there is the sense that Afghanistan is becoming for (British Prime Minister) Gordon Brown what Iraq became for (his predecessor) Tony Blair," said Andrew Hawkins, chief executive of pollsters ComRes.
"More than four in 10 don't understand Britain's mission; support for the British presence there is ebbing away, and a majority have responded to the presidential election very negatively indeed.
"The results suggest that the impact of the war must be having an impact on Labour support, since it is that party's core supporters who are most strongly opposed to it."
Meanwhile, 52 per cent agreed that "the levels of corruption involved in the recent presidential election show the war in Afghanistan is not worth fighting for." Thirty-six per cent disagreed.
"This is potentially devastating for the government's case for war," Mr Hawkins said.
ComRes surveyed 1009 adults of different ages and social classes across Britain for BBC television's The Politics Show.
#2
Headline should read "British media manage to convince 64% of Britons that Afghan war is unwinnable". Yes, a majority of those polled actually hold the opinion that the combined power of NATO versus a bunch of Kalashnikov-touting barbarians is an unwinnable struggle - for NATO.
This bloody war could be over in a week if only we had the will to finish the job.
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visited a newly constructed power plant and a farm in the southern area of the country, along with Workers' Party officials, the state's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Saturday.
During the visit to North Korea's South Hamgyeong Province, Kim congratulated laborers who participated in building the power station, and urged farmers to improve farming technologies to resolve the ongoing food shortage in the country, the KCNA said.
Kim was accompanied by Workers' Party officials, including his only brother-in-law Jang Song-thaek, who is a department director of the Party, and Kim Ki-nam, a secretary of the Party. The exact date of the visit was not disclosed. The Saturday report came a day after the news agency said Kim paid a visit to a construction site to encourage workers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Last night (Friday) former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura made a secret visit to the devastated military families at Fort Hood.
The Bushes instructed the commander of the mourning military base that they wanted no publicity. With their Secret Service detail, Bush and his wife made the 30 mile trip unannounced from their ranch near Crawford, Texas Friday evening.
Fox News broke news of the visit this afternoon. Other sources said the former first couple spent about two hours meeting with family and soldiers, talking quietly and at times hugging them as they did in private at other times of crisis such as post-9/11.
That's not "secret", merely private. Goodness, journalists do like to dramatize things!
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
11/08/2009 6:31 Comments ||
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#2
A visit from them means a heck of a lot more than a photo op with some WH functionary in lieu of his perfectness, who needs to do important things, like having his nails done.
US army chief of staff George Casey has warned deadly shootings at Fort Hood could prompt a backlash against Muslim soldiers, undermining diversity needed to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr Casey, speaking on CNN television on Sunday, warned against guessing at the motives of Nidal Malik Hasan, who is alleged to have killed 13 people and wounding dozens more on a murderous rampage at the Texas military base on Thursday.
Mr Casey, a former commander in Iraq, said he was "concerned that this increased speculation could cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers.
It has been suggested that US-born Hasan carried out the shootings as revenge for persecution about his Islamic faith at the hands of his comrades.
"I worry that the speculation could cause something that we don't want to see happen."
There are an estimated 3500 self-declared Muslims in the US armed forces, although some experts say the true figure is much higher because Muslim soldiers are wary about openly declaring their faith.
The tragedy struck an army that has actively tried to enlist recruits with a knowledge of Middle Eastern languages and culture, to aid its efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"It would be a shame - as great a tragedy as this was, it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well," Mr Casey said
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/08/2009 11:47 Comments ||
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#3
This is true however this is also not the first time a Muslim traitor has killed some of his unsuspecting fellow soldiers since the "War on Islam" began in 2003. We'll see how this plays out in court. By the way, are those Jap camps still open? We may need to fill 'em up again soon.
Posted by: Yo Adrian ||
11/08/2009 11:53 Comments ||
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#4
Mr Casey, speaking on CNN television on Sunday, warned against guessing at the motives of Nidal Malik Hasan,
Hasan is on record saying 'non-believers' should have their 'heads cut off and hot oil poured down their throats'. That enough motive for ya, General?
#6
The general makes the common mistake of linking, inversely, security to diversity, thinking that we must tolerate less of one to have more of the other.
The two are unrelated. It's possible to have perfect diversity and perfect security, and likewise it's possible to have neither of either.
The issue isn't diversity. The issue is loyalty. And as it turns out, security and loyalty ARE linked.
Major Hasan isn't an issue because he was Muslim. We have plenty of loyal Muslims in our military.
Major Hasan was an issue because he was disloyal.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/08/2009 12:59 Comments ||
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#7
I think Glirong Pelosi7914 just won Snark O' The Day in #5.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/08/2009 14:01 Comments ||
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#9
Gilrong Pelosi7914......hell of a nym generator, Fred. Gave ma a needed chuckle. Thanks.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/08/2009 14:29 Comments ||
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#10
Mr Casey, speaking on CNN television on Sunday, warned against guessing at the motives of Nidal Malik Hasan, who is alleged to have killed 13 people and wounding dozens more on a murderous rampage at the Texas military base on Thursday.
Jesus. It wasn't enough that this nimrod mismanaged the war effort in Iraq for two and a half years (he opposed the Surge, among his other stunning achievements) before getting kicked upstairs to CoS...now he has to peddle the Obamunist-MSDNC-CAIR party line as the official Army stand on this incident? If he's fuctioning as an Obama sockpuppet on this issue, that's bad enough. If this PC gasbaggery represents his true beliefs, he's unfit to hold a commission.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
11/08/2009 15:40 Comments ||
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#12
I didn't catch the CNN broadcast, but Casey was on This Week (with George Stephawhatever). Two things I observed as he was stammering and stuttering to make excuses -- one, he looked very nervous and, two, he looked very afraid. It was very odd, but he didn't speak with any semblance of confidence...it was almost as if he was trying to say whatever would get him in the least amount of trouble.
Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas, attended the controversial Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. His mother's funeral was held there in May that year.
The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organisations.
Hasan's eyes "lit up" when he mentioned his deep respect for al-Awlaki's teachings, according to a fellow Muslim officer at the Fort Hood base in Texas, the scene of Thursday's horrific shooting spree.
As investigators look at Hasan's motives and mindset, his attendance at the mosque could be an important piece of the jigsaw. Al-Awlaki moved to Dar al-Hijrah as imam in January, 2001, from the west coast, and three months later the September 11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hamzi and Hani Hanjour began attending his services. A third hijacker attended his services in California.
Hasan was praying at Dar al-Hijrah at about the same time, and the FBI will now want to investigate whether he met the two terrorists.
Charles Allen, a former under-secretary for intelligence at the Department of Homeland Security, has described al-Awlaki, who now lives in Yemen, as an "al-Qaeda supporter, and former spiritual leader to three of the September 11 hijackers... who targets US Muslims with radical online lectures encouraging terrorist attacks from his new home in Yemen". Rest at link
Posted by: ed ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
disassemble and investigate this mosque brick by brick.
#2
It's not that hard there FBI. It is really not that hard, just put down yor coffee and donut, get up and go there. You just might stop the next big attack. If a white supremist attacked a black or muzzie center and he was associated with a church that preached hate you would close it down. Your coddling this place.. Do something before good Americans take matters in their own hands!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/08/2009 9:33 Comments ||
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#3
If there was a well-funded group of civilians with knowledge of how to do these things, this Mosque could be a good place to listen to in the future. Ya know, like, just in case there's any well funded groups of civilians with knowledge of how to do these things that were frozen until yesterday and happen to be reading the burg today.
Posted by: MIke N. ||
11/08/2009 10:55 Comments ||
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#4
I would hope there is...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/08/2009 11:04 Comments ||
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#5
Mike N., if some person or group wanted to try your suggestion they would probably land themselves in jail.
And I suspect the relevant government groups are doing so - as far as the law allows (and quite likely a bit farther). They 'made' this guy but didn't manage to stop him; I wonder if some of Gorelick's silos of separation are back in action.
#9
Don't want to bother the nice mosque...the Saudis might not like that.
Posted by: Yo Adrian ||
11/08/2009 11:57 Comments ||
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#10
This mosque came up long before 911, it came up after 911, it will come up again and again until someone does something. The general public know it spews hate and desires to kill us, just go to youtube, google this ass. Our FBI and police will only act if something is about to happen or after it does and only if they have the proof that some legal PC oriented POS will be willing to take to some soft sided fat PC jugde and bet their careers on. Some killing of a few GI's in Texas has little effect on some DA around DC. To think the FBI is working it is as real as peter pan. We are again asleep at the wheel, Bambie is tacidly supporting it, and more Americans will die as long as the people runnung and financing that mosque and its hate are allowed to stay in the US. The only reason they might watch this mosque now is to apease some news report. They need to be infiltrated into the mosque, into the cells that plan, into the inner circle ot the two immams, not sitting outside in some Ford eating Dunkin donuts and talking football!!!!! Ya I'm pissed, Americans are again dieing because people are more concerned about their promotions and political correctness than about doing the right thing here.
Ok, rant off, I need a Jack and Coke, see you in the club...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/08/2009 15:43 Comments ||
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Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/08/2009 17:02 Comments ||
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#13
I have had a difficult time finding photos of ALL of the dead soldiers and civilians in one article. This LINK gives 9 of them however. Unless the others murdered are of another ethnic makeup, it would appear that only one ethnic group was excluded from this terrorist act. Maybe just a conincidence. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/08/2009 18:52 Comments ||
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#16
And where is this particular iman today?
Presently living in his home country, Yemen.
An interesting exercise for the FBI, if they could remove their diversity and multiculturalism glasses long enough, would be to see how many brownie point ticks Hasan was able to get using al-Awlaki playbook.
The grandfather of a U.S. Army psychiatrist accused of shooting dead 13 people and wounding 30 others at a base in Texas said on Saturday he found it impossible to believe his grandson had committed the act.
"He is a doctor and loves the U.S." Ismail Mustafa Hamad told Reuters in an interview at his home in the Palestinian town of al-Bireh. "America made him what he is."
U.S.-born Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, a Muslim and the son of immigrant parents, was shot during the attack and is being held at a hospital in San Antonio, Texas.
"Whether he became angry or something else, I don't know... What I do know is that it is impossible that he would do something like that," Hamad, 88, said.
Hasan, who had spent years counselling wounded soldiers, many of whom had lost limbs fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, last visited him in the occupied West Bank some 10 years ago. Hamad said he had since visited his grandson in the United States.
Hamad appeared to rule out a political motive. "He used to come to my house, to stay with me and entertain me. He never took an interest in politics and he didn't even like watching television," Hamad said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Shortly after noon Saturday, a command rang out at Pier 86 in Manhattan: "Bring the ship to life."
With that, crew members in dress blues ran to stand at attention at the rails, radar antennas on the America's newest warship began to turn, black smoke poured from three funnels, sirens rang and the horn blared. And the USS New York - docked across the water at Pier 88 - became part of the active U.S. Navy fleet.
It was a ceremony evoking emotion, pride and patriotism and full of references to Sept. 11 - hardly surprising given that the 684-foot amphibious assault vessel's bow incorporates 7.5 tons of the steel skeletons of the World Trade Center towers.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Bending plow sheers into swords! Send it to the East!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/08/2009 8:32 Comments ||
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#2
I've long been uncomfortable with this idea. Sailors are a superstitious lot at times, the fickle sea tends to do that, and it is impossible to sway their opinions about the "luck" of a particular ship once they make it.
Of course, this works both ways. If a crew thinks their ship, Captain or other crew mates are "lucky", they can be shot all to heck and still be all smiles.
#3
The word is plow SHARE, that's the part of the plow that hsa a sharp steel edge to cut the soil and grass cover, so the Moldboard can turn the soil upside down.
It's a curved steel blade much like a Scimitar, but with the sharp edge on the inside of the curve instead of the outside curve, easily removed and bent straight, and whaddya know, a straight sword, just add a handle, or in an emergency wrap about 6 inches in tough leather.
Quick and easy to convert either way.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/08/2009 12:10 Comments ||
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#4
Thanks for setting the record straight.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/08/2009 17:55 Comments ||
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#5
some people call it a Kaiser Blade. I call it a Slingblade
/Uhmhmhuh
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/08/2009 18:22 Comments ||
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The Indian government Sunday claimed that the arrested U.S. terror suspect, David Coleman Headley, had visited India, including Mumbai, on a number of occasions, before he was nabbed by the FBI in Chicago last month.
"We do know that Headley had visited India a number of times. That is being investigated. He has been in Mumbai and some other places," Indian Home Secretary G.K. Pillai said.
The Indian government recently sent an intelligence team to interrogate 49-year-old Headley, who was arrested by the FBI in Chicago along with his associate Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadiancitizen of Pakistani origin, for allegedly plotting terror attacks against India and Denmark at the behest of Pakistan-based banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).
Details of conversation between Headley and Rana, submitted by prosecutors to the Chicago court last week, indicates that the LeTwas giving priority to its attack on the National Defense College over other targets.
The reference to the National Defense College as a target was made by the duo during their conversation on Sept. 7, which was recorded by the FBI.
Some women strode the catwalk in vicious spiked bracelets and body armor. Others had their heads covered, burqa-style, but with shoulders and tattoos exposed. Male models wore long, Islamic robes as well as shorts and sequined T-shirts.
As surging militant violence grabs headlines around the world, Pakistan's top designers and models are taking part in the country's first-ever fashion week. While the mix of couture and ready-to-wear fashions would not have been out of place in Milan or New York, many designers made reference to the turmoil, reflecting the contradictions and tensions coursing through this society.
The four-day event, which was postponed twice due to security fears and amid unease at hosting such a gathering during an army offensive in the northwest, is aimed at showing the world there is more to Pakistan than violence and at helping boost an industry that employs hundreds of thousands of people, organizers said.
Many of the models, designers and well-heeled fashionistas packing out each night said the gathering was a symbolic blow to the Taliban and their vision of society, where women are largely confined to the house and must wear a sack-like covering known as a burqa.
"This is our gesture of defiance to the Taliban," said Ayesha Tammy Haq, the CEO of Fashion Pakistan Week. "There is a terrible problem of militancy and political upheaval ... but that doesn't mean that the country shuts down. That doesn't mean that business comes to a halt."
The shows are taking place in Karachi, the country's largest and most cosmopolitan city, in a five-star hotel just next door to the American consulate, which was bombed by Islamist militants in 2002. It's two hours by plane from the northwest, the heartland of al-Qaida and the Taliban, and has largely been spared the violence sweeping the country over the last month.
"Unfortunately, it is the bad side of Pakistan that gets everybody's attention," said top Pakistani model Nadia Hussain as hairdressers and makeup artists fussed over her backstage. "It has never been this bad, I don't know what will happen," she said, as fellow models chain-smoked cigarettes.
While many of the city's 12 million people live in slums, hip cafes and restaurants in wealthy neighborhoods draw sophisticated crowds of young men and women into the early hours, more often than not speaking English with each other and wearing Western dress.
While the shows in Karachi resembled fashion weeks in other parts of the world, there were no foreign designers or buyers. The organizers decided not to invite them given the precarious security situation.
"Who is going to come here with such negative stuff going on?" said Tabassum Mughal, a young designer who employs about 30 people. "Those who are here already are leaving."
Textiles make up some 60 percent of Pakistan exports and are worth around $12 billion dollars a year. The country's cotton and silks are among the finest in the world. But the industry has failed to grow in recent years amid political unrest, violence and chronic power shortages.
As if on cue, a power cut during the fashion week's opening evening left the hall in darkness for several minutes.
The fashion industry represents a tiny fraction of the country's textile exports.
"We are still doing the 30 dollar a dozen T-shirt business. There is no value added," said Haq. "We should be employing millions of people, not hundreds of thousands of them."
Designers presented a mix of clothes, some drawing on traditional Pakistani outfits and tribal motifs, others that had little or no sign of traditional aesthetics. In a culture where nearly all women dress modestly, many outfits were too racy for local tastes.
"This does not represent what we are as a people," designer Ayesha Tahir Masood said. "Only 0.001 percent of Pakistani women would wear these clothes, and then only in a controlled environment when drunk out of their minds." Where do I begin with the last statement? >:-}
[Ma'an] Ma'an/Agencies - Hamas and Islamic Jihad both advised President Mahmoud Abbas to give up peace talks with Israel and focus his efforts on creating inter-Palestinian unity following the leader's announcement that he would not run for re-election on 24 January.
I think that's a brilliant idea. It would free Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu from having to listen to President Obama's people fuss about it. Or not, but at least he could point out that this is President Abba's choice.
Oh yasss, Mahmoud, focus on inter-Paleo unity! There's an achievable goal, almost as achievable as peace with the ebil Juice ...
Abbas announced his position on Thursday, blaming US unwillingness to take a strong hand with Israel, and Israeli insistence on continued settlement construction in Palestine. The outgoing president had harsh words for Hamas, whose Gaza Strip takeover he called the "worst thing" ever to happen to Palestinians.
Oh. It's just a bargaining position for the president. But not for Hamas and IJ...
Responding to the criticism from Damascus, head of the Hamas politbureau Khalid Mash'al told Abbas to "throw the compromise project in the face of the US and Israel" because the route has "reached an impasse," while addressing a rally of Hamas supporters.
"Courage dictates that we, as leaders of the Palestinians, be frank with our people and evaluate what compromise has brought us, decide together to suspend or freeze the political settlement process and pursue our real national options," he added.
"Any leader who insists on the right of return for the Palestinian refugees and on restoring the land, even to the 1967 borders ... must know that the way to do this is not through negotiations or betting on the Americans but through holy struggle, resistance and national unity," Mash'al said.
In other words, or word: war. Ok.
The Hamas sentiments were echoed by Secretary-General of Islamic Jihad Ramadan Shallah, who said it was clear no Palestinian state would be created out of the current US-Israel linked talks. He also called Palestinian elections an inappropriate remedy for the current impasse. Rather than create unity, Shallah said, elections will "deepen the disagreement."
Shallah traced what he called "compromise with Israel" back to the 1993 Oslo Accords, which he said had failed to prevent the creation of settlements and brought Palestine no closer to statehood since it had been at the end of the 1967 war when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza.
The next step, for both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Saturday statements indicated, was unity and resistance.
"Our hand is stretched out to reconcile with our brothers in Fatah and the Palestinian presidency to achieve our national project," Mash'al told ralliers.
The last attempt at reconciliation failed in mid-October, as Abbas pulled the Goldstone report from the UN Human Rights Council on request of the United States, which said prosecuting Israel for war crimes was secondary to the importance of achieving lasting peace. Abbas faced a huge outcry from Palestinian society, and meetings of the General Assembly and Human Rights Council were called or bumped up to address the Goldstone report. Hamas had said it could not sigh a unity document until the Palestinian Authority remedied its Goldstone mistake.
Fatah signed the Egyptian mediated unity document on 14 October, as Hamas waited for the Goldstone debacle to be fixed. Following the passing of the resolution to adopt the Goldstone report in the UNHRC, however, Hamas said it still had concerns over the unity plan and said it would send a delegation to Cairo to discuss issues with mediators.
Egypt did not accept the delegation and has not continued its conciliation efforts since.
Also on Saturday, the Palestinian Legislative Council's deputy speaker, Hasan Khreisha, urged Hamas to "extend a hand to President Abbas, who made a courageous decision to end division and conclude national conciliation [by retiring], especially after settlement talks failed.
In an interview, he added, "Hamas should invest in this position, go to President Abbas, and conclude the current problems to rescue the national cause from the unknown place it is headed."
He said wrapping up division was a matter of urgency, as well, because "Israel will use any gained time to impose new facts on the ground... What is needed is an end to the division in order to confront Israel's plans."
"Elections will be held whether Hamas likes it or not, so it ought to move urgently," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal has declared 'unity and resistance' as the only ways to reach the goal of a free Palestine.
During an address at a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, Meshaal said on Friday that years of negotiations with the Zionist enemy has proved that the decades-long conflict cannot be settled through talks and that "it is time to fight for our rights".
"Any leader who wants Al-Quds, the right of return for all Palestinians and our land back as well as ending Israeli settlement expansion should know that the path towards these objectives is not through negotiations but through resistance and national unity", Meshaal told Palestinian refugees at Yarmouk Camp on the 22nd anniversary of the founding of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement.
He also called on Arab nations to accept the fact that Israel is seeking the interests of arrogant powers and is not pursuing peace and stability in the region.
The senior Hamas official also criticized the so-called US peace efforts in the region, saying that hopes of obtaining "our rights, which include regaining the land that Israel has occupied since 1967, through the mediation of the White House is an illusion" since Washington has never adopted an unbiased and fair stance towards the Palestinians.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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"Only resistance can free Palestine..." or, at least, that's what our new LTTE advisors are telling us.
[Ma'an] Fatah's Revolutionary Council will meet on Sunday evening to discuss the consequences of President Mahmoud Abbas' resignation, said member and spokesman Fahmi Az-Zarir on Saturday.
In a statement, he said the council would discuss the "dangerous and critical situation facing the Palestinian cause."
Az-Zarir also said the party leadership would seek to convince Abbas to change his mind and seek a second term in office during elections called for 24 January 2010.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Even Paleos are tired of pretending to be a nation.
Ineffectual Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is considering dissolving the PA and declaring the failure of the peace process with Israel, PA officials in Ramallah said over the weekend.
Good idea. About time someone realized the peace processor wasn't working ...
Waitaminit: dissolve the PA? What exactly would that entail, and when? I can stock up on champagne now, but the strawberries need to be bought no more than a day before.
Dissolving the PA might require a strong acid; fortunately our Moose-limb men-folk always seem to have a supply of that on hand ...
Abbas was now waiting to see if the US and other parties would exert enough pressure on Israel to stop settlement construction and recognize the two-state solution before he makes any decision, the officials said.
In his televised speech on Thursday, in which he announced that he has "no desire" to run in the upcoming presidential election, Abbas said that he would also consider taking "other measures" in the future, but did not elaborate. He was "threatening" to dissolve the PA in protest against Washington's failure to support his demand for a complete freeze of settlement construction as a precondition for the resumption of peace negotiations with Israel, the officials said.
You get the idea that even ineffectual Mahmoud can roll Bambi?
No, no! Hold him to it!
Over the weekend, Abbas instructed the Palestinian Central Elections Committee to continue preparations for holding presidential and parliamentary elections on January 24. He met in Ramallah with the heads of the committee, Hanna Naser and Rami Hamdallah, and instructed them to take all measures to ensure that the vote is held on time in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem, according to a statement released by Abbas's office.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Shiite party Hezbollah slammed on Friday two Arab satellite providers for dropping a television channel from predominantly Shiite Iran as a "violation of freedom of speech and opinion." Violation of freedom of speech and opinion, ya say? Mr. Black Pot, meet Mr. Black Kettle. How do you do?
"Hezbollah condemns Arabsat and Nilesat's decision to stop broadcasting the channel Al-Alam, a decision made on political grounds," the party said in a statement about the Arabic-language channel.
"Hezbollah declares its solidarity with the channel and considers this a violation of freedom of speech and opinion," the statement said. And what is the basis of the freedom of speech and opinion? Allen? The US Constitution? Pray tell us.
Arabsat and Egyptian Nilesat this week stopped broadcasting Al-Alam on the grounds it was in breach of contract, the press reported.
But Al-Alam's Beirut bureau chief, Atef Moussawi, said the decision was as punishment for the channel supporting Hezbollah.
"Al-Alam is paying the price for its support of the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine," Moussawi said in a television interview. The arabs are not exactly enamored with Iran.
Iran, along with ally Syria, is a major backer of Hezbollah.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/08/2009 20:59 ||
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They of course mean Hezbollah's freedom of speech and opinion.
From Geostrategy Direct, subscription.
Irans government continues to face problems with controlling the population following the riots that broke out earlier this year over the disputed election that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the post of president, according to Iranian dissident sources.
The opposition extends beyond the business and cultural elites and includes nascent opposition forces within the military, the intelligence services and even the Islamist shock troops that are the main power in Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, according to the sources who were recently been inside the country.
Despite the growing opposition, the Obama administration recently cut off support for anti-regime opponents as part of its new initiative to seek a diplomatic solution to Irans refusal to halt its illicit uranium enrichment program.
The cutoff of U.S. support for several opposition groups was one of Tehrans conditions for engaging the Obama administration. So the Obama administration conceded to the MMs in the naive or delusional hope of halting uranium enrichment......and got absolutely nothing in return. And he sent a message to the opposition to the oppressive regime: Under the bus w/ye. This is somewhat old news, but it points out the moral bankruptcy of this administration.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/08/2009 11:04 ||
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If unrest grows into a full-fledged revolution the people will become afraid. This fear will be jumped on by the hardliners and a new president will come to power, one that will ease his people's fears by using their (by then) full nuclear arsenal as a kind of national pride. Then Iran will actually use it. The End.
Posted by: Yo Adrian ||
11/08/2009 12:08 Comments ||
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A senior Iranian politician said Saturday the country would not ship low-enriched uranium out of the country, which is a major part of a pending nuclear deal between Iran and international powers, according to semiofficial state media.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chief of Iran's Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said the proposed deal to send uranium out of the country is "called off," Iran's semiofficial news agency ISNA reported.
This issue is part of a deal being negotiated by a U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. The draft agreement has been supported by the United States, France and Russia.
It calls for Iran to ship low-enriched uranium outside the country, possibly to Russia, to be converted into fuel rods.
The material then would be shipped back to the Tehran research reactor that produces isotopes for use in medical treatments.
The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency said under the deal, Iran would get the converted fuel back by the end of 2010.
But Boroujerdi, an influential member of the parliament, said he does not see the uranium shipment happening.
"Iran is not to give any of its 1,200 kilograms fuel to the other party to receive 20 percent (enriched) fuel and whether gradually or at once, this will not be done and is called off," he told ISNA.
[Dawn] The Iranian authorities have released two German nationals and a Canadian arrested on the sidelines of rallies in Tehran this week, state-run IRNA news agency reported on Friday.
IRNA, quoting Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jaffari Doulatabadi, said Iran was also examining the cases of AFP journalist Farhad Pouladi and a Danish journalist who were also detained after Wednesday's rallies.
Fars news agency reported earlier that a Japanese and two Canadian journalists had been arrested along with an Iranian working for 'satellite channels,' because they were reporting without permission on the rallies.
'Three foreign nationals, two Germans and a Canadian, arrested on Wednesday have been freed,' the prosecutor said, according to IRNA.
'Other people arrested (Wednesday) were released on Friday, half of them women,' he said without giving further details.
Concerning Pouladi, the prosecutor said he was waiting to examine a certain number of documents before taking a decision.
'We have asked the competent authorities to tell us about this journalist's work permit. When we get the reply, an adequate decision will be taken concerning him and the Danish national,' he said.
Pouladi was detained on Wednesday morning by three security personnel, two in uniform and one in plain clothes, witnesses said.
AFP has asked the Iranian authorities for the immediate release of Pouladi and is protesting his arrest and continued detention.
'We are worried for our journalist. We still don't know exactly where he is being held,' AFP chairman Pierre Louette said on Thursday.
'We strongly protest his detention and we demand that he be released without delay,' he added.
Iran's ministry of culture and Islamic guidance, which regulates the activities of the foreign press, told AFP on Thursday that Pouladi would not be released before the weekend.
'I am told that he definitely will not be released today or tomorrow. His case is being considered. Maybe he will be released on Saturday or Sunday,' a ministry official said.
The Danish union of journalists said earlier on Friday that a Danish journalism student had also been arrested in Iran after reporting on the rallies.
Niels Krosgaard, a 31-year-old student, was freelancing in Iran for a project related to his studies, a union official said.
The annual commemoration of the November 4, 1979 storming of the US embassy by Islamist students was overshadowed by a counter-demonstration by critics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's June re-election.--
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Tehran says Tel Aviv spread 'false' claims about seizing a ship with Iranian ammunition to sway attention away from the Goldstone report on Israeli war crimes.
"We strongly reject such claims. Israel has made this accusation to distract the international community's attention away from the investigating committee's report on atrocities it committed in Gaza," Iran's UN mission said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Israel alleged that it had seized a huge cache of weapons when raiding an Antigua-flagged vessel around 100 nautical miles from its shores.
Tel Aviv said the "hundreds of kilograms of Iranian-made arms" were destined either for Hezbollah or Syria, a claim that quickly drew rejections from Iran, Syria and Hezbollah.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said that contrary to Israel's claims, "the ship was not carrying Iranian-made weaponry for Syria or Lebanon", but was in fact carrying Syrian-made items for consumption in Iran.
As the UN general assembly was busy reviewing the Goldstone report, Israel's UN mission submitted a letter to the Security Council accusing Iran of violating Resolution 1701, which was issued to stop Tel Aviv's 2006 offensive against Lebanon.
Iran's responded to the allegation by reminding the Zionist regime that Tel Aviv has breached "not one but several" UN Security Council resolutions, including that very same motion.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Russia has spoken out more strongly than ever against Iran, warning that it may consider tougher sanctions against the country should it fail to accept a Western-backed nuclear proposal.
In an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel on Saturday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that, much to his reluctance, he would be forced to sign off on US-led sanctions on Iran.
"I do not want that all this ends up with the adopting of international sanctions because sanctions, as a rule, lead in a complex and dangerous direction," AFP quoted Medvedev as saying.
"[But] if the Iranian leadership takes a less constructive position, then in theory anything is possible," he added.
"If there is no movement forward then no one is going to exclude such a scenario."
Medvedev added that he thoroughly discussed the issue with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York in September.
The comments were released by the Kremlin only hours after a leading Iranian lawmaker, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, ruled out an IAEA-brokered proposal to export low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad for further refinement.
"(Iran) is not going to give the other side any of the produced 1,200 kilograms of its fuel to receive 20-percent fuel. (The shipment) will not be sent, either in stages or altogether [a single batch], and it is ruled out," said Boroujerdi, who chairs the Parliament (Majlis) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.
Tabled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the proposal requires Iran to ship as much as 70 percent of its LEU out of the country for processing into fuel for the Tehran research reactor.
Iranian officials have welcomed foreign cooperation on fuel supply, but have rejected the idea of sending out the bulk of its uranium stock in one batch, saying there are no guarantees that Western countries would keep their end of the bargain.
In the early 1970s, Iran made a deal with France under which it was expected to receive around 50 tons of UF-6 gas, which can be turned into enriched uranium.
France, however, later reneged on the deal and to this day has refused to deliver the uranium-hexafluoride to Iran.
Moreover, Iran, has a 10-percent stake in France's Eurodif nuclear facility and is entitled to the plant's output, but has never received any nuclear material.
"Iran is a sleeping partner in Eurodif [and has] never received a single gram of enriched uranium from France," said a spokesman for the state-controlled nuclear reactor builder Areva that owns the remainder of the Eurodif plant.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's former crown prince backed a campaign of "civil disobedience and non-violence" Saturday to oust the government in Tehran and urged Western support, but warned against any armed intervention.
"The end of the apartheid regime in South Africa, of military juntas in South America, of the former Soviet Union -- all of it came at the hands of the people of those nations themselves," Reza Pahlavi told the Daily Telegraph.
" None of this could have happened without foreign support, but that is not the same as an occupying army that comes in and changes a regime -- I don't see how that can ever be legitimate "
Reza Pahlavi
"None of this could have happened without foreign support, but that is not the same as an occupying army that comes in and changes a regime -- I don't see how that can ever be legitimate."
The son of the late shah added: "Change must come to Iran by civil disobedience and non-violence, I stress that. We can't have change at any cost... what happens must be the will of the people."
Pahlavi left Iran a year before his father, Shah Mohammad Reza, was ousted in the 1979 Islamic revolution, and has lived in the United States since 1984.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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BEIRUT (Reuters) Lebanon's opposition, including Hezbollah, agreed on Friday to join a national unity government proposed by Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri, a senior opposition source said.
"The Lebanese opposition has approved the proposed unity government," the source told Reuters after opposition leaders held a late-night meeting.
The source said the opposition would officially inform Hariri of its decision on Saturday and expected the new government to be formed in the coming two days.
Hariri's spokesman was not immediately available to comment on the report.
Hariri, who is backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, was nominated as prime minister-designate after he led his anti-Syrian coalition to victory in parliamentary election in June.
He has spent more than four months trying to broker a deal with the opposition to join a unity cabinet. A warming of ties between the two sides' main backers Syria and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks helped ease the rift in Beirut and led eventually to the breakthrough.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Hezbollah is rapidly rearming in preparation for a new conflict with Israel, fearing that Benjamin Netanyahu's government will attack Lebanon again prior to any assault on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Last week, Israeli commandos seized a ship in the Mediterranean loaded with almost 400 tonnes of rockets and small arms -- which Israel claimed was being sent from Iran to its Hezbollah allies. In dramatic further evidence of growing tensions, the Observer has learned that Hezbollah fighters have been busy reinforcing fixed defence positions north of the Litani river. Having lost many of its bunkers in the south, Hezbollah is preparing a new strategy to defend villages there.
Although the organisation denied last week that the weapons were intended for its use, senior commanders have done little to disguise the scale of rearmament. "Sure, we are rearming, we have even said that we have far more rockets and missiles than we did in 2006," said a Hezbollah commander, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel began after an ill-advised operation by to kidnap two Israeli soldiers, prompting a massive Israeli response that lasted 34 days and killed more than 1,000 people.
"We had to blow up or leave some of our bunkers and fighting positions, but we still have plenty of capabilities in the south. We expect the Israelis to come soon, if not this winter, then they will wait until spring, when the ground isn't too soft for their tanks."
It was expected that the ceasefire would neutralise Hezbollah military efforts along the Lebanon-Israel border, as a newly bolstered United Nations peacekeeping force and the Lebanese army took up positions.
Expected by who, exactly ...
Instead, based on dozens of interviews and multiple trips into the country's south, it is clear that Hezbollah believes it would face different challenges. It has been forced to abandon the line of deeply entrenched static positions on the border with Israel and withdraw most of its men and weaponry to clusters of Shia villages.
"It's clear that Hezbollah no longer controls the border, due to the presence of Unifil [United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon] troops," said Andrew Exum, a military expert on Hezbollah at the Centre for New American Security. "They appear to be hardening the villages for this next round of fighting, while pushing their fixed positions north away from Unifil to protect the approaches to Beirut and the Bekaa Valley."
Sorta like how the Syrians would do it if they were in charge ...
Israel and the United States have long assumed that any military action against Iran's nuclear programme would draw a muscular response from its close allies in Hezbollah. According to Israeli military and intelligence analysts, any move against Iran would require a move first against Hezbollah's capability to disrupt life in northern Israel with its rockets.
Tel Aviv seems unlikely to commit the same mistakes it did in 2006, when the plan was for air strikes to disrupt and confuse Hezbollah's military command, while minimising the use of ground troops. Israeli military sources have said that they are preparing for a potential new conflict.
Cruising through the serene green wadis that connect south Lebanon to the Litani river to the north, the commander explains what happened at the end of the last war. "We knocked out three of their tanks on the first day, as they tried to enter," he explained at a turn-off by the village of al-Qantara. "But after they entered the wadi, we knew they were going for the river and had to be stopped. So we called out to all the special forces anti-tank teams in the area. And they all swarmed the wadi. Boys would set up and wait for the tanks, fire off their rounds and then pull back. Then they would pull back a kilometre or so down the wadi and wait for them again."
According to Israeli military reports, after the first and last tanks were hit by rocket fire or mines, killing the company commander, the 24 tanks were essentially trapped inside a valley, surrounded on all sides and pinned down by mortars, rockets and mines. Eleven tanks were destroyed and the rest partially damaged and Israel lost at least 12 soldiers.
As unlikely as the Israelis might be to repeat these mistakes, they must figure out how to get their heavy armour past the Hezbollah teams that still lurk in the hills and valleys in the next round of fighting, if and when it comes.
Didn't India put up a spy satellite for Israel some time ago? One would hope Israel has been watching Hizb'allah's preparations and already has the missile/artillery coordinates programmed. And one would think Bibi Netanyahu won't unnecessarily restrain the IDF, unlike his predecessor. Hizb'allah's version of having the second best navy...
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Few iff any doubt that LEBANON won't be a viable STRATEGIC FRONT for IRAN in any ISRAELI-IRAN WAR, which is also why the geopol outcome of the SAUDI fight in YEMEN, EGYPT vs MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, etc. is also important for Israel.
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.
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il visited a newly constructed power plant and a farm in the southern area of the country, along with Workers' Party officials, the state's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Saturday.
Shortly after noon Saturday, a command rang out at Pier 86 in Manhattan: "Bring the ship to life."
Some women strode the catwalk in vicious spiked bracelets and body armor. Others had their heads covered, burqa-style, but with shoulders and tattoos exposed. Male models wore long, Islamic robes as well as shorts and sequined T-shirts.
Hezbollah is rapidly rearming in preparation for a new conflict with Israel, fearing that Benjamin Netanyahu's government will attack Lebanon again prior to any assault on Iran's nuclear facilities.
