Ordinary Iraqis rarely strike back at the insurgents who terrorize their country. But just before noon today, a carpenter named Dhia saw a troop of masked gunmen with grenades coming towards his shop and decided he had had enough.
As the gunmen emerged from their cars, Dhia and his young relatives shouldered their own AK-47's and opened fire, police and witnesses said. In the fierce gun battle that followed, three of the insurgents were killed, and the rest fled just after the police arrived. Two of Dhia's young nephews and a bystander were injured, the police said.
"We attacked them before they attacked us," Dhia, 35, his face still contorted with rage and excitement, said in a brief exchange at his shop a few hours after the battle. He did not give his last name. "We killed three of those who call themselves the mujahedeen. I am waiting for the rest of them to come and we will show them."
Saudi and Yemeni troops will conduct joint military exercises for the first time next week to boost military relations and cooperation, reports say. The official Saudi News Agency, SPA, said the maneuvers will take place in Yemeni territory and are expected to go on for several days. Ground and air forces from the two neighboring countries will take part in the exercise which is aimed at boosting brotherly relations between the two Arab countries, SPA said.
Nothing sez brotherly relations like war games
A Saudi military team visited Yemen recently to discuss the preparations for the maneuvers and ensure their success and objective to boost the expertise of both armies.
Well, it's not like they can get any lower.
An official source said the exercise will boost the bid for reconciliation between the two countries, which were at odds for several years over disputed territory. In July, Saudi Arabia and Yemen started implementing an agreement on the border demarcation signed in 2000.
"This sand is your sand, that sand is my sand. From the Red Sea border to the Persian Gulf waters, this sand was made for you and me!"
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2005 2:12:42 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
A shadowy Islamist group which claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing near a British school in Qatar has vowed to carry out attacks against oil installations, churches and Western military bases in the Middle East, in two statements posted on the Internet Tuesday. Singling out the United States, Britain and Italy as potential targets, the Jund ash-Sham Organization, (Organization of Soldiers of the Levant) said the attack in the Qatari capital Doha was "only the beginning" and a "big surprise" was coming. There was no way to verify the authenticity of the two statements. They followed a statement attributed to the group and also posted on an Islamist website Monday claiming Saturday's attack in Doha, which killed a Briton and injured 12 people.
Addressing its "cells in Ash-Sham and Mohammed's (Arabian) peninsula," the group called for "striking at the enemies of God while sparing civilians." "Hit their bases and churches," the group told its followers, decrying the presence of "crusader military bases, containing churches and idols, across the land of Islam." The group suggested it would not spare France, saying: "We tell all our cells to hit oil [facilities], military bases and churches and prevent them from entering mosques through martyrdom (suicide) operations, as they prevented us from [wearing] the hijab (Islamic veil) in France." The car bombing in Doha, which the group said was carried out by one of its "lions," occurred outside at a theater affiliated with the British school.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Of course, we have many "lions" and, uh, those cell thingys. We will attack the Crusader's schools and churches! Their children are not civilians! It will be very manly! The Big Surprise? Well, um, it will be a Big Surprise! Our lions will sneak to within mere kilometers of your cowardly soldiers - and kill your children! Lions! In cells! Big Surprises! Manly men doing manly things! You will cower in fear for your Crusader children - who are not civilians! It will be glorious!
A liberal Kuwaiti professor convicted of mocking Islam in a newspaper article said Monday he will seek asylum in a Western country to protect his life, family and freedom of speech. Ahmed Al-Baghdadi was sentenced Sunday to a suspended year jail term for a June column he wrote saying he had decided to send his son to an expensive foreign school in Kuwait, rather than a state school, because he did not want "ignorant" teachers to teach him "how to disrespect women and non-Muslims."
"After this sentence, there is nothing I can do but ask ... for political asylum in a Western country," Al-Baghdadi wrote in his daily column published in Al-Seyassah. Al-Baghdadi, who specializes in political Islam, said he was going to "stop writing about religion" until the higher Cassation Court hears his appeal. Asylum would protect his freedom and prevent any harm to his family, he added without detailing who would threaten his continued stay here. But Al-Baghdadi is a staunch liberal who has blamed extremists for teaching intolerance and encouraging young citizens to take up arms alongside militants in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and Iraq.
Al-Baghdadi was initially taken to court over the column by two Islamists. The Appeals Court found the column "derogatory" toward Islam by connecting state school teaching of the religion to terrorism and backwardness. He was acquitted in January, but the Prosecution appealed. Al-Baghdadi said he did not know where he would consider seeking asylum, but said such a move was necessary to protect him and his family. "It has become clear that the target of my enemies - and there are so many of them in this country - is to put me behind bars at any cost," he wrote. "What good is life when you can't express your opinion?" he told The Associated Press on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Fred-
BRAVO on the graphic - that's two Marxist references in the last week. I am firmly convinced that everything you need to know in life one can learn from the Brothers.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/23/2005 1:04 Comments ||
Top||
The Islamic Fiqh Academy, an affiliate of the 55-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, has strongly condemned as "religious heresy" the recent incident of a woman leading Friday prayers in New York City. "This is a misleading heresy and sedition," the academy said about the incident in which Amina Wadud, a professor of Islamic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, led prayers for a mixed-gender group.
"She must be killed!"
"The incident is a clear violation of Shariah as it does not allow women leading prayers for men or delivering Friday sermon to them or mingling of men and women at prayers," said the academy's statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency. "The incident has contradicted what has been generally agreed upon by most Islamic scholars and experts of jurisprudence," the statement said, adding that the organizers of the prayers, at a church in Manhattan, were following weak evidence that is not drawn from authentic Islamic books. The academy quoted a Hadith in which the Prophet (PTUI) said: "The best rows for men are the front ones and the worst are the rear ones. The best rows for women are the rear ones and the worst are the front ones (during prayers)." Sheikh Muhammad Tantawi of Cairo's Al-Azhar, the Islamic world's leading institution, said Islam permits women to lead other women in prayers, but not a congregation with men in it.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
The only splash of color in the drab bluish gray office of Kyrgyzstan's Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society was a wool orange scarf thrown over the back of its president's chair.
It was Edil Baisalov's souvenir from Ukraine's Orange Revolution that swept opposition leader Victor Yushchenko to the presidency. Baisalov had been in Kiev in December as an election monitor. He returned home inspired: "I was intoxicated by the protests, by the desire for change, the power of the people."
The popular uprisings in Ukraine and in Georgia a year earlier have fired up Central Asia's nascent political opposition and brought protesters into the streets of Kyrgyzstan.
The movement is unsettling authoritarian regimes who have ruled since the Soviet Union collapse 15 years ago. But it's also exposed the frailty of opposition groups who lack charismatic leaders — and created an opening for extremist Islamic parties to gain power in a strategic oil-rich region known as a terrorist haven.
"What happened in Ukraine and Georgia touches the hearts of our people because these countries are like us," said Kyrgyzstan's deputy ombudsman Sadyk Sherniyas, whose office investigates complaints against the government.
In most of Central Asia, however, the absence of a cohesive opposition group is encouraging regionalism and chaos, said political activist Alymkulov Berdi, who protested when his candidate was disqualified from Kyrgyzstan's February elections.
"Today all we have are regional leaders and that is a dangerous situation because people are frustrated and furious but they don't have one leader to guide them," Berdi said.
During the February elections, opposition leaders sought to mimic Ukraine's Orange Revolution with a color of their own — but even there they couldn't agree.
In the more prosperous and liberal north, Roza Otunbayeva, leader of the opposition Ata-Jurt movement, wrapped supporters in yellow. In the south, demonstrators wore pink, called their uprising the "pink revolution" and strung pink banners from windows of government offices they overran to demand the resignation of President Askar Akayev.
Protests against Akayev began after the first round of voting in February and swelled after run-off balloting that the opposition and the Organization for Security and Cooperation (news - web sites) in Europe said was seriously flawed. The fiercest opposition has been in the south.
Akayev blames the demonstrations on outside interference.
A senior Georgian lawmaker who helped stage his country's 2003 Rose Revolution was in southern Kyrgyzstan, where opposition seized control of the country's second-largest city and other towns, Georgia's Rustavi-2 television reported. Givi Targamadze was also in Ukraine for the Orange Revolution.
A series of parliamentary elections across the region in the past six months — which exposed authoritarian regimes to criticism from international observers — spawned allegations of U.S. attempts to foment anti-government uprisings through U.S.-funded democracy building organizations, like the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Freedom House.
"American organizations like the NDI were involved in the revolution in Ukraine and Georgia and definitely they want to create the same situation here," says the Kyrgyz president's spokesman, Abdil Seghizbayev. "The United States thinks we are too close to Russia and China."
In February, electricity was shut off at the Freedom House printing press in Bishkek, where opposition newspapers were printed. Tajikistan refused to register Freedom House. Uzbekistan in 2004 denied registration to the Open Society Institute funded by the George Soros Foundation.
"After Ukraine and Georgia we have certain concerns about the activities of these western democratic promotion organizations," said Igor Sattarov, the foreign ministry's information chief in Tajikistan.
Baisalov, president of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society that receives a U.S. grant, described his Kyrgyz group as a "civil non-partisan organization."
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan - The only splash of color in the drab bluish gray office of Kyrgyzstan's Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society was a wool orange scarf thrown over the back of its president's chair.
It was Edil Baisalov's souvenir from Ukraine's Orange Revolution that swept opposition leader Victor Yushchenko to the presidency. Baisalov had been in Kiev in December as an election monitor. He returned home inspired: "I was intoxicated by the protests, by the desire for change, the power of the people."
The popular uprisings in Ukraine and in Georgia a year earlier have fired up Central Asia's nascent political opposition and brought protesters into the streets of Kyrgyzstan.
The movement is unsettling authoritarian regimes who have ruled since the Soviet Union collapse 15 years ago. But it's also exposed the frailty of opposition groups who lack charismatic leaders — and created an opening for extremist Islamic parties to gain power in a strategic oil-rich region known as a terrorist haven.
"What happened in Ukraine and Georgia touches the hearts of our people because these countries are like us," said Kyrgyzstan's deputy ombudsman Sadyk Sherniyas, whose office investigates complaints against the government.
In most of Central Asia, however, the absence of a cohesive opposition group is encouraging regionalism and chaos, said political activist Alymkulov Berdi, who protested when his candidate was disqualified from Kyrgyzstan's February elections.
"Today all we have are regional leaders and that is a dangerous situation because people are frustrated and furious but they don't have one leader to guide them," Berdi said.
During the February elections, opposition leaders sought to mimic Ukraine's Orange Revolution with a color of their own — but even there they couldn't agree.
In the more prosperous and liberal north, Roza Otunbayeva, leader of the opposition Ata-Jurt movement, wrapped supporters in yellow. In the south, demonstrators wore pink, called their uprising the "pink revolution" and strung pink banners from windows of government offices they overran to demand the resignation of President Askar Akayev.
Protests against Akayev began after the first round of voting in February and swelled after run-off balloting that the opposition and the Organization for Security and Cooperation (news - web sites) in Europe said was seriously flawed. The fiercest opposition has been in the south.
Akayev blames the demonstrations on outside interference.
A senior Georgian lawmaker who helped stage his country's 2003 Rose Revolution was in southern Kyrgyzstan, where opposition seized control of the country's second-largest city and other towns, Georgia's Rustavi-2 television reported. Givi Targamadze was also in Ukraine for the Orange Revolution.
A series of parliamentary elections across the region in the past six months — which exposed authoritarian regimes to criticism from international observers — spawned allegations of U.S. attempts to foment anti-government uprisings through U.S.-funded democracy building organizations, like the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Freedom House.
"American organizations like the NDI were involved in the revolution in Ukraine and Georgia and definitely they want to create the same situation here," says the Kyrgyz president's spokesman, Abdil Seghizbayev. "The United States thinks we are too close to Russia and China."
In February, electricity was shut off at the Freedom House printing press in Bishkek, where opposition newspapers were printed. Tajikistan refused to register Freedom House. Uzbekistan in 2004 denied registration to the Open Society Institute funded by the George Soros Foundation.
"After Ukraine and Georgia we have certain concerns about the activities of these western democratic promotion organizations," said Igor Sattarov, the foreign ministry's information chief in Tajikistan.
Baisalov, president of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society that receives a U.S. grant, described his Kyrgyz group as a "civil non-partisan organization."
"But we are able to criticize authoritarian governments," Baisalov told The Associated Press in early March. "After 15 years of Akayev we say it is enough. The personality cult around Akayev has stifled discourse in our country."
On Wednesday, Baisalov was among 20 to 30 protesters detained by riot police in Bishkek as the government got tougher with demonstrators. "The tolerance is being scaled down," he told AP by cell phone from a police station.
Both the United States and Russia regard the Central Asian countries as vital security interests — and both have military bases outside Bishkek. The United States places high importance on stability in the region, which borders Russia, Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iran (news - web sites).
Although the Bush administration supports pro-democracy movements, the turmoil in the region also has created a potentially dangerous opening for extremist Islamic parties.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, or the Party of Liberation, has a following among the young in Central Asia. It has called for Islamic rule to replace secular governments and unite the Muslim world. And its pamphlets criticize U.S. bases established in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to support the war on terror.
A senior Western diplomat in Tajikistan confirmed that Hizb ut-Tahrir's influence is growing across the region, particularly among the young who are looking for alternatives to what they perceive as corrupt, totalitarian regimes with links to the Soviet past.
The United States has not declared Hizb ut-Tahrir a terrorist organization because it does not advocate violence, but the diplomat said some of its literature is virulently anti-American and anti-Semitic and could inspire violence.
Leaders across Central Asia have banned Hizb ut-Tahrir. Kyrgyz security authorities have accused the group of having links with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which is allied to al-Qaida and operates in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Kyrgyz government has also warned of cooperation between Hizb ut-Tahrir and Uighur separatists in China, but has not provided evidence. Russia has accused Hizb ut-Tahrir of involvement in breakaway Chechnya (news - web sites).
The south of Kyrgyzstan is where Hizb ut-Tahrir is strongest, presidential spokesman Seghizbayev told the AP. He said the group blames the government for every problem and makes promises it cannot fulfill.
Hizb ut-Tahrir has become more politically active. In Jalal-Abad, the scene of some of the fiercest anti-government protests, the group collected 20,000 signatures on a petition calling for more Islamic instruction in schools and segregation of the sexes.
The petition, circulated in November, also demanded state sponsorship of Muslim schools and restrictions on the sale of pornography. Candidates who espoused a like-minded philosophy got support from Hizb ut-Tahrir members.
Askarov Azimjan, a human rights activist whose office in southern Kyrgyzstan is partially funded by Freedom House, says Hizb ut-Tahrir has emerged as an alternative for residents frustrated by corruption.
"Most ordinary people I think support them now because they feel that in a democratic society it is difficult to get anything done without corruption. People believe that if the government was religious the situation would change," he said from Bazar Korgon, about 20 miles from Jalal-Abad.
"Even high school students know exactly how much they will have to pay if they want to get a job in the police station," he added. "If Hizb ut-Tahrir registered as a political party it would get a lot of support. But the government won't allow them to register. They are afraid."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2005 3:45:32 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Opposition supporters and police officers formed joint patrols to keep order in several southern Kyrgyz cities Tuesday, while President Askar Akayev pledged he would not impose a state of emergency amid mounting pressure for his resignation over allegations of fraud in recent parliamentary elections. A day after stone-throwing mobs stormed government buildings to underline their demand that Akayev resign, both sides in the Central Asian nation's tense stand-off appeared intent on re-establishing calm.
Kyrgyz politics is heavily clan-based and Akayev, a northerner, has strong support there. If the fractured opposition coalesced enough to carry protests across the mountain range bisecting the country and toward the capital Bishkek in the north, tension could increase significantly in a strategically important country where both the United States and Russia have military bases. Protests against Akayev began after the first round of parliamentary elections on Feb. 27 parliamentary elections and swelled after the March 13 run-offs that the opposition and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said were seriously flawed.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
THE Turkish embassy in Canberra has passed on to authorities details of West Australian Liberal senator Ross Lightfoot's January trip to Iraq and Turkey. Senator Lightfoot revealed in a travel report presented to the Senate that he crossed the border from Iraq into Turkey in January by making a payment in US dollars. His travel report said: "Cleared Turkey Customs after much trouble. Payment of US$ facilitated my egress."
"Note to self: save receipt of bribe for travel voucher"
Second Secretary Zafer Ates said today the embassy had forwarded details of Senator Lightfoot's trip to Turkey. But he said Senator Lightfoot had made a number of other statements contradicting the report, making it difficult for authorities to investigate. "It is self-evident that any such action ... constitutes a crime in Turkey," Mr Ates said. "The details of this `allegation' have already been forwarded to Turkey. However, there are contradictory statements of the person in question that have taken place in the Australian media. Therefore, in my view, it would be difficult and hardly appropriate to follow up these allegations in (the) judicial process."
Besides, it would be embarassing to admit that Turkish Customs officials take bribes, er, accept tips.
Senator Lightfoot has also been accused of taking $25,000 into Iraq, conducting business while on a taxpayer-funded trip and carrying a concealed weapon while he was in that country. While he has confirmed he accepted use of a .38 calibre pistol, he has denied taking the money into Iraq or conducting business on behalf of oil giant Woodside. Woodside has also denied the allegation.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
03/23/2005 1:53:18 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
AUSTRALIA'S top spy has told an international law conference that suspected terrorists are moving freely around Australia because security authorities don't have enough powers. Legal loopholes had enabled many suspected terrorists to escape prosecution, ASIO Director-General Dennis Richardson said.
Mr Richardson said fewer than one in 10 people known to be involved with terrorist groups in Australia were ever likely to face court. "The great majority of people in Australia, who are assessed to have trained with al-Qaeda and associated groups, remain free in the community because, amongst other reasons, the relevant laws did not come into force until July, 2002," he told the LAWAsia conference on the Gold Coast.
Mr Richardson said Australia was not alone in this regard. "In many cases, the capacity to obtain evidence sufficient to meet proper legal standards is beyond reach," he said, adding that Australia had not been slow to respond to terrorism.
But he said Australians had an understandable expectation that the government would lawfully protect them from the potential threat posed by those involved with terrorist groups. Australians could have confidence that its legal system had worked well so far and had the capacity to adjust to future challenges.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It sounds like Australia has the same problems we have in the U.S.
EFL: BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders rushed to the rescue of President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday in a bid to save a knife-edge French referendum on the EU constitution by retreating on a disputed bill to open up the services sector. Their decision to send a draft deregulation law back to the drawing board was a victory for Chirac and other west European critics of unbridled competition from low-cost east European countries, but a setback for bold EU economic reform plans. At their two-day summit, the 25 leaders also agreed to ease the bloc's battered budget deficit rules and stepped back from ambitious targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
So much for the Protocols of Kyoto
Fierce opposition in France to EU proposals to throw open services from architects to plumbers to cross-border competition has fueled the "no" camp, which has seized the lead in opinion polls ahead of the crucial May 29 referendum.
The leaders told the executive European Commission to revise its draft to meet the requirements of "the European social model" with high standards of labor and consumer protection. "France is an essential, indispensable country in Europe. The Europe we want wouldn't exist without France's contribution," Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said. If France, a founder member, voted against the charter, it would plunge Europe into political crisis.
Chirac said a defeat for the constitution, intended to streamline EU institutions and provide stronger leadership for the recently enlarged bloc, was inconceivable unthinkable.
"It is certain that if France blocked the European project, the consequences would not be insignificant and it would lose a large share of its authority, which is necessary, in the Europe of tomorrow," he told a news conference in Brussels.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2005 11:15:05 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Zee people, zay are stupid. We can pull zee wool over zere eyes every time."
#2
It is certain that if France blocked the European project, the consequences would not be insignificant and it would lose a large share of its authority...
France still has authority?
Respect my authoratah!!! (maybe)
#3
Reminds me of the joke in which a man gradually raises his offers until a woman finally agrees to have sex with him for $1-million. Then, having established that she is therefore a prostitute, he drops the offer back to $20. In this case, the woman is the French electorate. They will get what they deserve.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/23/2005 13:33 Comments ||
Top||
#4
They will get what they deserve.
Balkan plumbers?
#5
I think the people there really are stupid, or at least ignorant. The reason they would vote against it is not that is creates this vast bureaucracy, but that it loosens some regulations on labor. Don't want to let that unemployment figure drop back into single digits, do we?
#6
Well, that bill (or rather directive) "to open up the services sector" needed to go back to the drawing board, as it was deeply flawed. What it stated was that any company offering services could work in any EU country and be subject only to the rules of the country it is based. That means that a Polish construction company could legally employ workers in Germany under Polish law, Polish safety regulations, Polish taxation etc. Of course all German companies would have needed was a letter box in Poland to qualify as a Polish service company. Clients it provided services to would have to sue in Poland only. And this with 25 different states.
This couldn't fly.
The real scandal is what happened to the Euro stability pact. This is one of the most blatant political betrayal I have ever seen. People in Germany were convinced to give up the Deutschmark and embrace the Euro by rock solid affirmations that the stability pact had iron rules and would therefore safeguard the stability of the Euro, making it as "tough" as the Mark was.
Germans weren't even allowed to have their say. Only half a decade later the rules are simply changed, and actually abolished. The "basis of transaction", so to speak, simply vanished in thin air. The former German finance minister, Theo Waigel, who gave his word, is outraged.
I'm not saying that the Stability Treaty was perfect, as it didn't account for difficult economic times. But you cant change the rules of a business contract just because you ran into some trouble with the clauses you signed.
The German people (and others) have been blatantly cheated, solemn promises were broken.
With little or no actual accountability, lax or non-existent auditing, and now the surprising ability to abrogate agreements at will, there seems to be a massive case of recognized cognitive dissonance, like a giant bubble of magma, coming up the pipe. I hope the innocent are well back when it surfaces - the guilty, given their advance notice, certainly will be safely away.
I believe the bite was too much to chew in one go, there were no curbs / checks & balances on anyone, the design was drawn up by elite / chattering class intelligentsia who've never actually done anything real in life - and that includes the pure politicians and academics, and most of the negatives of the bureaucratic world were enshrined, instead of rejected out of hand.
What we seem to have is a good solid idea but an amazingly corrupt and inept execution. Effectively a bridge too far... and now there is so much ego in the equation that throwing good money after bad into this lousy poker hand is the only recourse the heavily invested can see. So much lost / wasted potential. I do not wish Europe ill - there are sufficient forces within Europe doing an incredibly competent job of that, already. I'd like to see them start over, lessons learned, assholes jailed, fools excluded, sensible rules for both admission and ejection, equitable economics, forward-looking plans for a common defense, and do it right. Just as I do regards the UN.
I figure that any enterprise involving more than one person should be subjected to the BS Detection enshrined in the C Northcote Parkinson Quotes before funds are expended...
A large increase in oil prices has always led to a recession and this time will be no different. When you factor in the Kyoto tax, cyclical factors - there has been a long run of good times - and the China factor, the recession will be severe in Europe and ripple across the globe.
Business confidence in Germany, Europe's largest economy, unexpectedly fell to an 18-month low in March as oil prices surged to a record and the euro's increase against the dollar weighed on exporters.
The Ifo institute in Munich said today its business confidence index fell to 94, the lowest since September 2003, from a revised 95.4 in February. Economists expected an unchanged reading, the median forecast of 43 economists in a Bloomberg survey showed. The euro and European stocks dropped.
``The increase in oil prices and the appreciation of the euro are basically eating up the modest recovery that is gradually emerging,'' said Lorenzo Codogno, co-head of European economics at Bank of America in London. ``If this continues, it could result in another sluggish growth performance this year.''
A 35 percent increase in oil prices this year is imposing additional costs on companies already squeezed by a slump in consumer spending amid the highest unemployment since World War II. Further dimming the outlook, a 9 percent appreciation in the euro against the dollar in the past seven months is making German goods more expensive on markets tied to the U.S. currency.
Posted by: phil_b ||
03/23/2005 5:17:45 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I have never been accused of being an optimist, but I can't extrapolate from this story to the "Great Depression of 2005." Germany has been in the tank since the decision to redeem OstMarks at parity with Deutschmarks. Add to that the demographic problems in Europe and it's not hard to see Europe going through a long dismal period like Japan has for the last 10 years. However, I can't see this precipitating a worldwide depression.
#2
Unlike in the past oil represents a tiny % of our economy. Even if oil doubled it would be annoying and slightly lower peoples' standard of living temporarily but it wouldn't cause much more than that and I doubt would lead to even a short lived recession.
#3
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the German and French economies have been flat for a decade or so, unlikely to have major 'ripples'. The UK economy is relatively better and the eastern countries are also raising [from the communist era bottom they existed in for nearly half a century]. The unemployment in both major countries is tied to their socialist laws which makes firing all but impossible, ergo, the employers didn't hire in the good times in anticipation for exactly this sort of thing developing [self fulfilling prophecy]. So the hit on the employment figures isn't likely to change much either. As far consumption of oil, the US demand for foreign oil, that which the Euros and Asians compete for, is flat since refinery capacity has remain unchanged for nearly two decades. It just means more money shipped to China from Walmart goes to the oil supplier, rather than to Mercedes and on to the oil supplier. The money is just shifting from European purchases to Chinese purchases. That's bad for the Europeans, but simply shifts the employment to the Chinese. You're shifting a line on a pie graph. I don't see a great depression in that structure. I do see localized stagnation and recession, but that has a great amount due to interfering with free market system.
#4
The money is just shifting from European purchases to Chinese purchases. That's bad for the Europeans, but simply shifts the employment to the Chinese. You're shifting a line on a pie graph.
That's an interesting take on the issue of recession: it may be localized, but not as globally serious as the entire pie shrinking.
On January 12, Turkish police arrested Mehmet Semih Arikan, a member of Hizballah in Turkey, a group not necessarily part and parcel with Lebanese Hizballah, while he was carrying out a reconnaissance mission near the governor's office of Konya province, ten minutes ahead of a scheduled visit by Gen. Fevzi Turkeri, commander of the Turkish gendarmerie. Hizballah is alive in Turkey, despite a 2000 crackdown in which security forces arrested 3,366 of its members and killed its leader and founder Huseyin Velioglu. What is more, according to recent intelligence this group might have established links with al-Qaeda. Why has the organization been able to recover from the 2000 crackdown? Given its suspected al-Qaeda connection, what kind of threat does it pose to Turkey and the West?
Hizballah emerged in Turkey's predominantly Sunni Kurdish southeast in the 1980s. Unlike Alevi Kurds and Turks, whose faith encompasses a liberal version of Islam, and Sunni Turks, who belong to the relaxed Hanefi school, Sunni Kurds adhere to the strict Shafi'i school and are among Turkey's most conservative constituencies. Thus, after its emergence, Hizballah found a receptive audience in southeastern Turkey, becoming a Kurdish group.
Like other Kurdish terror groups in Turkey, such as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Kurdish Hizballah (KH) under its leader Velioglu developed a strictly hierarchical structure. Iran played a crucial role at this stage: Velioglu was inspired by the Iranian revolution, received funding from Tehran, and members of the organization went to Iran in the 1980s for training.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
Gen. Fevzi Turkeri
HUSEYIN VELIOGLU
Turkish Hezbollah
Kurdistan Workers Party
MEHMET SEMIH ARIKAN
Turkish Hezbollah
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2005 12:07:30 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Italy was questioned on Tuesday by the EU's executive over its decision to return 180 refugees to Libya, and reminded that it must not deport entire groups without considering each individual's case for asylum. The United Nations and Amnesty International both voiced concern about a lack of proper scrutiny of the refugees, who were removed from a detention centre on the island of Lampedusa and flown to Tripoli last Thursday.
European Union Justice, Freedom and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini spoke by telephone with Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu to get an explanation. The European Commission said in a statement that Frattini had "encouraged Italy to guarantee to each person that wants it the right to claim asylum and the right not to be deported until a decision on such a claim has been made". The Commission quoted Pisanu as saying that he would provide a detailed report on the incident, making clear the measures Italy has taken to guarantee fundamental rights. He also reassured Frattini that Rome understood the European Convention on Human Rights protocol prohibiting expulsion of individuals without a proper consideration of their situation. Pisanu said those returned included Egyptians who were sent back to Libya, where they had begun their journey, under conditions allowing a swift transfer to their home country.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Fine. Send 'em to Brussels next time. I'm sure the king has a palace or two he can spare...
West Seattle high school students (with the school district approval) invite Vets to talk and then stage a anti-war spectacle instead.
This is a letter written by Major Thomas to the school board.
March 14, 2005
Seattle Public Schools
Attn: School Board & Superintendent
P.O. Box 34165
Seattle, WA 98124-1165
Dear Seattle School Board and Superintendent:
It is with extreme and heartfelt regret, anger and utter dismay that I find myself having to write this letter to your attention given my family's deep personal ties to West Seattle High School.
This past Friday afternoon, March 11, 2005 I served as one of a panel of guest speakers at the West Seattle High School Theater after having been invited to West Seattle High School by a student, Mr. Ben Doty, via referral from Ms. Nadine Gulit of Operation Support Our Troops. I served as one of a panel of approximately seven guest speakers at the West Seattle High School Theater. The topic on which I was invited to speak was my experience as a combat veteran of the war in Iraq. I was informed that I would have an opportunity to speak to students, along with other veterans as part of an objective forum with both anti-war and pro-troops sentiments. It was my understanding the purpose of this event was to provide students of West Seattle High School with an opportunity to hear from people with varied opinions on the war. I am pleased that my remarks were welcomed by the student audience. The panel of guests, though varied in opinion, was most professional in all aspects of a disagreeable but respectful discourse.
Why, then, am I writing to you? Upon entering the theater at 12:30 PM, approximately 15 minutes prior to the event, I was taken aback by what I witnessed. As I stood there in my Marine Corps Dress Blue uniform, there before me stood numerous kids running around in sloppily dressed and ill-fitted helmets and military fatigues with utter disrespect for the symbols and uniforms of the U.S. military. The walls were covered in camouflaged netting and the stage was covered with approximately twenty white, life-sized cut-out patterns in the shape of dead women and children, all of which were splattered in red-paint to depict human blood. Onstage, children were kneeling and weeping while dressed in ill-fitted Arabic headdress with white-faced masks similarly covered in red paint to depict human blood. At a podium, children were reading a monologue of how U.S. troops were killing civilians and shooting at women and children. Moreover, several grown adults were standing on stage in bright orange jump-suits, with black bags on and off their heads, some bound and tied, and some banging symbols and gongs in a crude depiction of what I believe were their efforts to depict victims of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse episode.
Within the auditorium, numerous adults appeared to have been supervising this behavior and children were literally running amok. What is going on in your classrooms and auditoriums? Who supervised this program? Who are these grown adults dressed as prisoners and performing such the attics on the stage of our public schools? Since when has it become Seattle School Board policy to take an official anti-troops position and declare returning combat veterans from Iraq such as myself as killers of innocent women and children as if this war were some sick sport. As an Iraq war veteran I am outraged by what I witnessed going on at West Seattle High School!
My fellow veterans and I were immediately made to feel unwelcome by these organizers as if each of us were the devil himself; indiscriminate killers and enemies of our own community. To someone's credit, all of this nonsense was ceased less than one minute prior to the curtain going up. I can only assume someone realized how sickly embarrassing this would be for the school district. However, this last minute cover-up does not excuse what was going on and it appears to have been going on for quite sometime given the obviously lengthy art and script preparation developed for this event. I and the other veterans from Afghanistan, the Balkans and Ms. Gulit from Operation Support Our Troops were all witness to this ugly spectacle along with over 40 or so people that appeared to be willingly participating in this depravity.
I have served my country honorably for nearly 13 years all around this globe. I have fought on the battlefield in Iraq, lost good friends dead and wounded in this conflict and I will not sit back and allow our Seattle school district to shame or sully the name, reputation and good name of our military and our returning veterans. I will not tolerate an ill-administered school bureaucracy that seeks to sanction, condone, advocate or chaperon a vile position that Americas military men and women are somehow blood thirsty, indiscriminate murderers, executioners or war criminals.
I am requesting a meeting with your board as soon as possible to explain and address this issue and a letter should be written to the parents of West Seattle High School students making them aware of Fridays events explaining how and why it occurred. A full accounting of those teachers, counselors, parents, groups and adults that were allowed preferential access on to the campus to advocate for this particular position, use school facilities and develop these abhorrent materials is expected immediately. Lastly a public letter of apology is due the Seattle community with apologetic cordiality extended to the returning Iraq war veterans of this community for the shameful antics going on in our public schools with an assurance that this sort of sick nonsense will not be condoned or tolerated in Seattle public schools now or ever.
Sincerely,
Terry Thomas
Major, USMCR
Combat Veteran— Operation Iraqi Freedom
P.O. Box 31406
Seattle, WA 98103
Email addresses for the Seattle School board at the link.
#2
Enough pressure, say with federal funding being cut, and swift action is gauranteed. I certainly hope too keep updated on this despicable act and it's consequences.
Posted by: Charles ||
03/23/2005 14:06 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Seattle again....I'm not surprised. Semper Fi, Major, but don't hold your breath. OT - anyone know how's the investigation into the Governor's election fraud going? I've seen zip on it.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
03/23/2005 14:16 Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: ed ||
03/23/2005 14:53 Comments ||
Top||
#6
OT - anyone know how's the investigation into the Governor's election fraud going?
Check over at soundpolitics.com, I think. In summary: More and more evidence of fraud, accompanied by more and more foot-dragging and whining from the Democrats.
Par for the course, in other words.
But remember, folks, it was Ohio that was "stolen"!
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2005 20:12 Comments ||
Top||
At a news conference in Washington, D.C., President George W. Bush said that the Iranian people deserve a democratic government:
"I believe the Iranian people ought to be allowed to freely discuss opinions, read a free press, have free votes, be able to choose amongst political parties. I believe Iran should adopt democracy; that's what I believe."
Referring to the Iranian clerical regime's pursuit of nuclear weapons, Mr. Bush said that diplomacy should be given a chance to work. "It takes a while," he said, "for things to happen in the world."
"There's a certain patience required in order to achieve a diplomatic objective. And our diplomatic objective is to continue working with our friends to make it clear to Iran we speak with a single voice."
Since December, the European Union has been trying to persuade Iran to stop all uranium-enrichment activity in exchange for economic benefits. Enriched uranium is a key component in the manufacture of nuclear weapons. Mr. Bush thanked the Europeans for trying to convince Iran to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons:
"I was so pleased to be able to participate with our friends, France and Great Britain and Germany, to say to the Iranians, 'We speak with a common voice, and we share suspicions because of your past behavior. And the best way to ensure that you do not develop a nuclear weapon is for you to haveâŠno highly enriched uranium program or plutonium program that could lead to a weapon.'"
Mr. Bush said that countries are suspicious of Iran because of its history of concealing its nuclear program and because Iran is "a non-transparent regime. . . .run by a handful of people." He said that if the rulers in Tehran reject the offer made by the European Union, "the understanding is that we go to the [United Nations] Security Council." "I hope they don't [reject it]," said President Bush. "I hope they realize the world is clear about making sure that they don't end up with a nuclear weapon."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2005 12:37:06 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
3 amigos a.k.a. "The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America"
Prime Minister Paul Martin has signed a pact with the presidents of the United States and Mexico to boost co-operation on security, trade and public-health issues. The agreement, forged as Martin met with U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox in Texas on Wednesday morning, will see the three countries increase their border security, and integrate their approaches to cargo inspection and maritime and aviation safety. The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America agreement also aims to make their markets more competitive with the European Union and China by:
-Standardizing some business regulations.
-Making it easier for business people to cross borders.
-Moving toward a common external tariff for certain North American products sold elsewhere.
..."We face new opportunities but we also face new challenges, and this requires a renewed partnership, — [a] stronger, more dynamic one that is focused on the future," Martin said at a news conference after the meeting, dubbed the "Three Amigos Summit," at a university in Waco, Texas. "We are determined to forge the next generation of our continent's success. That's our destination. The security and prosperity partnership that we are launching today is the road map to getting there." Another road map? Oh great.
Relations between the United States and the other two countries have been strained in recent years. Irritants have included the U.S. decision to close its border to Canadian cattle in 2003; the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq the same year, which neither Canada nor Mexico backed; and Canada's recent decision not to participate in the U.S. missile-defence shield, which reportedly left Bush furious. However, all three leaders appeared friendly at Wednesday's news conference and dismissed any talk of tensions among them. "I'm amazed that we don't have more, whatever you call, 'sharp' disagreements" because the three countries are so interconnected, said Bush, who called Martin "Paul" during the news conference. "I think the relationship is very strong and very positive. Just because somebody doesn't agree with our policies doesn't mean we can't have very positive relationships." Martin said "the file is closed" on ballistic missile defence, but took pains to highlight that Canada was co-operating with the United States on other military efforts. "The defence of North America is not only going to take place in North America. Canada is playing an increasing role, as an example, in Afghanistan and that's also part of the defence of North America." ...
Posted by: Rafael ||
03/23/2005 2:33:08 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
LOS ANGELES — Critics of illegal immigration say America's borders have always been too easy to cross, and now one Mexican state is trying to make it easier than ever. The state of Yucatan has issued a new 87-page handbook that tells people how to get across the U.S. border illegally. The guide, which has an accompanying DVD, contains a section on how to apply for a lawful visa but the remaining 50-plus pages are filled with instructions about how to safely sneak into the United States, then blend in. "They need to cease and desist and, in fact, return to a position of being an ally of the United States instead of an adversary," said Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz.
But Sara Zapata Mijares, president of the Yucatecan Club of Los Angeles, called the guide a "life-preserving document." Mijares and officials in Yucatan say illegal immigration is a reality and the guide is a necessity to save lives. But she points out that in the handbook, the dangers of crossing the border are illustrated with photographs of tombs. "You tell me if this is an image that promotes immigration," she said. Last year, the Mexican Foreign Ministry published a similar guide, but in comic book form, that angered some U.S. lawmakers.
The newest guide also tells immigrants where to find health care, how to get their kids into U.S. schools and how to send money home — the reason some say Mexico is encouraging people to come to the United Sates illegally. "This is really the way they keep their corrupt system afloat, by sending their excess workers to the United States and getting billions of dollars in remittances every year ... so for them this is a worthwhile investment," said Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
Hayworth and several of his colleagues have written a strongly worded letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, encouraging her to tell Mexico to stop undermining U.S. immigration laws. If they do not, Hayworth suggests tough consequences, including sanctions.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2005 9:19:29 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
A call to issue a fatwa (religious edict) for the death of American Islamic Studies Professor Amina Wadud is being circulated on jihadist websites, affiliated with al-Qaeda. The author explains that the fatwa is needed "so some of the brothers in America are encouraged to kill her. This is very easy." Wadud, who teaches at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, led a widely publicized mixed gender prayer service on March 18, 2005 at St. John the Divine, an Episcopal church in Manhattan, New York.
The call for her death asks: "Where is the scholar who can issue a fatwa to kill this converted woman, who changed the Sunna and described the Prophet's followers as extremists and fanatics?" Furthermore, the message says "I am calling upon Sheikh Usama (bin Laden), may Allah keep him well, to issue a Fatwa to kill this woman and those who helped her and supported her."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2005 12:18:40 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
described the Prophetâs followers as extremists and fanatics
They were.
And the "prophet" was a fucking mad man.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2005 8:05 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The "Prophet" was FALSE! A Murder, a pedophile, a thief, a liar, etc....
Oh he was predicted in the bible (and presumably the Toran) all right -- as a False Prophet who would lead many astay.
#3
Yes, this is the tolerant practice of religion I know and love! Hear the great voice of the umah declaiming the few bad apples in the otherwise nice and tolerant faith? Do they have to take her before a Sharia court first or can they just whack all associated without discussing it? Tolerant faith, no thank you. I'll stay a stinkin kafir.
#5
This is probably the most press coverage Virginia Commonwealth University has gotten in a long time.
Prof Wadud teaches full time at the School of World Studies. Here is what they say on their web site about Religious studies:
Religious studies
The religious studies program places heavy emphasis on developing studentsâ abilities to think, read and write critically in their chosen religion courses.
If they actually mean this, just their purpose and objective statement would be enough to tick off every Wahabi on the planet.
#8
In fact she was wrong on the prophet followers. They weren't fanatics. In fact, according to Ibn Warrak, the most illustrious of them were notorious unbelievers who joined because there was money to be made through the plundering of infidels. Notice that from the five first caliphs, four were murdered, a rare thing in the religion field but a common thing in organized crime.
#9
Notice that from the five first caliphs, four were murdered, a rare thing in the religion field but a common thing in organized crime.
Nah, being murdered isn't that unusual for the early followers of a faith; lots of the early Christians were murdered, after all.
What's odd is that they did each other in.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2005 11:59 Comments ||
Top||
#10
It is not unusual for the first leaders of a religion to be killed by opponents of the religion but having so many leaders to be killed by the next guy in the succession order says a lot about the morality of Muhammad companions.
#13
Thinens E - My neighbor is an episcopal and was delighted with her parish church's foray into the "understanding islam/why can't we all get along" thing. Some Episcopals like to do the interfaith spiel. Her Hindi boyfriend had a very different take on it. Another parish only a mile away wants nothing to do with it.
20.03.2005 at 1905 LT at Balikpapan inner anchorage, Indonesia. Several robbers boarded a bulk carrier and tried to break open bosun store. Alert crew raised alarm and robbers escaped empty handed. A crewmember was injured whilst resisting robbers. Authorities informed.
19.03.2005 at 2245 LT at Chittagong 'B' anchorage, Bangladesh. Robbers armed with long knives boarded a general cargo ship at stern whilst anchoring. They stole ship's stores and escaped. Crew raised alarm, sounded whistle and fired a flare. Port control informed but no response was received.
16.03.2005 at 0400 UTC in position 12:45.35N - 051:33.18E, Somalia. Three armed pirates in a boat hijacked a fishing vessel underway. They directed the fishing vessel to come closer to Somali coast. Pirates held the 26-crew members as hostage for a ransom. IMB piracy reporting centre alerted coalition ships in the area who rescued the vessel and the crew and apprehended three pirates.
15.03.2005 at 1330 UTC in position 11:59.1N - 051:16.6E, Somalia. Three pirates armed with guns in a white hull speedboat chased a general cargo ship underway and fired upon her. Crew raised alarm, activated fire hoses, increased speed and took evasive manoeuvres. After 30 mins pirates aborted attempt and fled.
15.03.2005 at 0531 UTC in position 14:20N - 050:50E, Gulf of Aden. Three speedboats with four persons in each boat approached a RORO ship underway and persons inside attempted to board. Crew activated fire hoses, sounded whistle and warned ships in vicinity. One boat was yellow in colour and the other two were brown.
After the recent pirate attack on the Japanese tugboat IDATEN, Japan reportedly agreed to provide Indonesia with a patrol boat for anti-piracy work. Despite territorial disputes, Indonesia and Malaysia are now cooperating in joint operations. Malaysia reportedly announced they'll start 24-hour radar surveillance of the Strait, as well as taking other steps. The kidnapping of the Japanese crew has put both nations under international scrutiny; both realize they could lose sovereignty over their portions of the Strait if they don't take action.
Posted by: Pappy ||
03/23/2005 1:14:59 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
They're closer then we think...
Growling man with sword robs store; suspect arrested
NEW IBERIA -- Police arrested an Abbeville man Saturday who is suspected of having walked into a convenience store growling with a sword clenched between his teeth to rob the place of a can of tobacco and a bottle of whiskey.
Brandon Doucet, 28, 306 N. St. Charles St., Abbeville, was arrested by Broussard police and charged with armed robbery, hit and run, two counts of reckless operation, aggravated flight from an officer and no driver's license.
Iberia Parish Sheriff Sid Hebert said his deputies responded Saturday to a report that a man had come into the Food N Fun convenience store at Duperior Avenue and Maire Street about 7:50 p.m. with a white sword between his teeth, and growling at the clerk behind the counter. YARRRRRR!
That man, believed to be Doucet, walked behind the counter, grabbed a can of tobacco and a bottle of whiskey -- while continuing to growl -- and left without a word. YARRRRRRR!
"He was like a pirate. If he had been wearing a patch and a hat on his head and a parrot, she (the clerk) would have thought he was a pirate," Hebert said.
"There was some extremely abnormal behavior."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has agreed to have the United Nations pay some legal fees for the embattled chief of its defunct oil-for-food program in Iraq, Annan's spokesman said Tuesday. The United Nations will pay legal bills incurred by Benon Sevan, a retired 67-year-old career U.N. employee from Cyprus who oversaw the program from shortly after its launch in 1996 to its end in 2003 with the fall of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. "We haven't paid for anything yet," Annan spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters Tuesday. "Mr. Sevan has submitted some bills to us. We are reviewing them now."
The legal bills will be paid with money left over from the program Sevan is accused of mismanaging. The United Nations recently decided to suspend Sevan after corruption allegations were contained in the first report by a U.N.-appointed commission investigating problems in the oil-for-food program. (Full story) Until the suspension, which he is appealing, Sevan was kept on the U.N. payroll for a symbolic dollar-a-year salary to ensure his cooperation with the probe. The U.N. payments will not cover legal fees incurred since the February 3 release of the report. "It is not our intention to reimburse Mr. Sevan for any fees since the Volcker report laid charges against him," Eckhard said. "The secretary-general decided in principle to reimburse Mr. Sevan for what we called 'reasonable legal fees' as determined by the United Nations for services in connection with his appearances before the [Paul] Volcker commission," Eckhard said.
Sevan's attorney, Eric Lewis, declined to discuss the nature of bills submitted. Eckhard did not have a total dollar amount. He said Annan made the decision last October upon advice of the U.N. Office of Legal Affairs, following a request by Sevan. The payments will come from the U.N. account that drew 2.2 percent of oil-for-food proceeds for administrative costs. "I am not aware that in the past we've ever reimbursed staff for legal fees," Eckhard said. "It starts and stops with Benon Sevan."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"I am not aware that in the past we've ever reimbursed staff for legal fees," Eckhard said. "It starts and stops with Benon Sevan."
#3
'the Blix bone is connected to the Sevan bone,and the Sevan bone is connected to the Kofi bone,and the Kofi bone is connected to the Kojo bone......'
Posted by: Dem Bones ||
03/23/2005 3:08 Comments ||
Top||
Kojo Annan, the son of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, received at least $300,000 from a Swiss company that was awarded a contract from the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq, almost double the amount previously disclosed, two newspapers reported in Wednesday's editions. The London-based Financial Times and the Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 said the payments "were arranged in ways that obscured where the money came from or whom it went to."
The two papers, which conducted a joint investigation, also reported that the secretary-general met top executives of the company, Cotecna Inspection S.A., twice before the oil-for-food contract was awarded in December 1998 and once afterwards. Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, who is conducting an independent investigation of alleged corruption in the oil-for-food program, is scheduled to release an interim report on March 29 detailing his findings about whether or not Kofi Annan and Kojo Annan committed any wrongdoing. The secretary-general, his son, and Cotecna, all deny any wrongdoing.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
A former Malaysian university lecturer has admitted he helped finance Islamic militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), viewed as the Southeast Asian offshoot of Al Qaeda, a newspaper said on Wednesday.
Wan Min Wan Mat, freed from two years' detention this week, told Malaysia's New Straits Times newspaper that he sent $30,500 to senior JI members "to finance operations in Indonesia".
He denied specific knowledge of the October, 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people, the paper said, though he is accused of sending money to a fiery Muslim preacher convicted of an "evil conspiracy" to commit the bombings.
"It was wrong and I now realise that," said Wan Min, 45, who was pictured relaxing on a couch at a relative's home, arm around the youngest of his six cildren, six-year-old daughter Syafiyyah.
"I want to rest for at least two months. After that I will try to look for a job," he added.
"I have repented. I know who I am now."
Malaysia is keen to show Wan Min, former lecturer at the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, is no longer a serious security threat, a clear inference from the New Straits Times article.
It has also imposed conditions on his release, which require him to report regularly to the nearest police station. Wan Min is confined to Pasir Mas, a suburb of Kota Baru, the capital of Kelantan, the country's most conservative Muslim state.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2005 12:16:05 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/23/2005 15:03 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Check out this Powerpoint presentation. The insides and outsides of the project. These are "before" bictures, heh heh. Keep them for the record.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/23/2005 15:05 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Nice that it's right on the coast there too. Easy access...
Posted by: Dar ||
03/23/2005 15:35 Comments ||
Top||
#3
All the more critical that action be taken before it is loaded with uranium fissile fuel, otherwise we could have major radioactive contamination in the Persian Arabianwhoever's Gulf.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/23/2005 15:41 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Interesting that the Russians are smiling so much. I know that there has to be money under the table but becomming photographed targets for Mossad and other nation's wetworks is not something to smile about.
One day ahead of the scheduled arrival of U.S. special envoy to the Middle East David Satterfield, hundreds of Lebanese youths gathered at the U.S. Embassy in Awkar Tuesday to protest American interference in the country and UN Security Council Resolution 1559. Less than one week after a similar demonstration, yesterday's protest was by far the smallest demonstration since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Jamal Ghorabi, 22, said: "Today's demonstration could have been bigger but we wanted it to be symbolic. The number doesn't count as long as we show others that there is another viewpoint."
That means all the other guys were having their hair done that day...
They were having their beards oiled and curled...
... and liner and mascara for the eye-rolling ...
Ghorabi, head of activities in Al-Nasiri group, told The Daily Star that his group took part in the demonstration to express their resentment of any external interference, to reject calls for the disarming of the resistance and to refuse Resolution 1559. Tuesday's rally was organized by several student wings of Lebanon's pro-Syrian parties, including Hizbullah and Amal. The participants, who came from throughout the country, spoke in one unified voice as they shouted, "No for Foreign interference. No for Zionism and terrorism." Mohammed Melhem, 18, from the southern village of Majdel Silm, said: "We say yes to democracy but not the U.S. democracy. Lebanon can manage on its own, and we don't want the U.S. to intervene in our internal affairs. They aided Israel against us by giving it arms, why do they look for our best interest now?" Altered posters of U.S. President George W. Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were brandished by the youths and later burned.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
...and deep breathing exercises to promote more effective seething.
Israel and the United States have been cooperating in developing a missile defense architecture against Iran's Shihab-3 intermediate-range missile. Officials said the Israeli and U.S. militaries have sought to pool their missile defense resources to provide a regional defense against a Shihab-3 attack. They said the effort called for the linking of such U.S. assets as the PAC-3 lower-tier system, the upgraded PAC-2 and the Aegis sea-based missile defense system. Israel would contribute the medium-tier Arrow-2 system. Israel and the United States have deployed most these missile defense assets during the current Juniper Cobra exercise, which began in Israel on March 10. The exercise, meant to end on March 31, has been based on a scenario that envisioned an Iranian missile attack on Israel or U.S. forces in the Middle East. Officials said Juniper Cobra has sought to define the role of each of the Israeli and U.S. missile defense assets. They said the Arrow-2, with a reported range of 100 kilometers, would be responsible for the outer tier of defense against an intermediate-range missile.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
By now, Iran must have calculated that only two war senarios will collide...the Use It Or Lose It senario, whereby after the initial attack by Israel, they will have a very short window to respond before the US counters, versus a Preimptive strike against Israel and/or local US theater stagings, to galvanize gobal muslim support! The Nightmare Senario would be triggered on how measured the Israeli and US follow up should be! Highly factored in being a conventional, chemical or nuclear first strike by Iran.
#3
The israeli dung can be taken out by a small but brave God fearing army.
Been tried Sal. A couple of times. Your raghead friends regularly get their asses kicked by the inhabitants of the "tiny dunghole".
Can't we reopen that post from last year that he always used to reply to and keep Sal occupied?
#20
Hey! Sal's back...like the rash on a homeless man's ass - he returns, and is just as welcome.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2005 10:38 Comments ||
Top||
#21
Ah Sal. Why are you teaching a kafir language while poor boy muhjahids are out there doing God's bidding (including killing schoolchildren in Breslan)? I'd say you are only a halfstep from kafir buddy. Where's a smackdown fatwa when you need one?
#24
So.... it has been all the non-God fearing Arabs we have been kicking the shit out of for the last 15 years. Does that make the Iraqi commandos who have been trained by the Americans God fearing since they are kicking the crap out of the "insurgents"?
#28
Itchy trigger finger there Sal ?
You do look foolish clicking the submit button three times on your same post. Perhaps you should practice your skills on the college intranet before you venture onto web.
#29
Brother Sal - Slow down please. Read post #7. You're obviously all worked up and we all know how hard it is for you to keep organized and focussed in that state. Try waiting a second after your post.
#30
Hitting the 'Submit' button once for each post is sufficient, you dimwitted wog.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/23/2005 10:57 Comments ||
Top||
#31
MetimuSal,
I am sick of you Western-educated, anti-Western hypocrites using the convenient and rather lame excuse that the pagan Mooselimb god is punishing the Islamofacists countries because they accepted the Hollywood culture. You can bet your bottom pound that this war is between your pagan god vs. the God of Israel. Bring it on!!! I can't remember the last time that Israel was ever defeated. Israel handedly, handed the Mooselimb assess back to them. Are you telling everyone here that the Mooselimb pagan nations were punishied by Allan, in 1948 and beyond, because of the mass influx of Western culture? There was NO x-rated Hollywood movies being imported into the pagan countries at that time. Frankly, your thesis that Arab countries always get defeated by Israel because of punishiment from Allan is a fallacy. Israel defeats your pagan countries because the God of Israel is stronger than your pagan moon god.
#38
Sal baby. What a nice Jewish name you have. Bet your father's name was Ariel. But then the Jews always had the best sense of humor. Happy to know you are continuing that fine Talmudic tradition. That's some hilarious shtick you have. Delusional, but funny. I especially enjoyed #2. I give it a 9. I would have given you a 10, but you left out the Illuminati, Neo-conspiracy, and Betty Crockercrats. Have you considered comedy as a career? You could follow in the footsteps of the giants of Jewish comedy: Lenny Bruce, MelBrooks and Jerry Lewis. Heck, with the material you have, the French will love you even more than the Great Jerry. But stay away from angry wrestlers, OK, or you will end up like Andy Kaufman.
Stay goy, Sal.
Posted by: ed ||
03/23/2005 11:17 Comments ||
Top||
#39
mmmm....Sal-ad dressing, with tasty bacon bits.
Posted by: john ||
03/23/2005 11:17 Comments ||
Top||
#40
Are we allowed to call Muslims, pigs (bacon bits).
" That tiny dunghole (israel) can be taken out by a few conventional strikes. So relax Iran. Jews will only show you one thing in a war...their backs...Ha!Ha! That cowardly zionist, homosexual, gypsie, masonic, baphometic, facsist, secular, atheistic, fanatic, land stealer, Palestinian baby killer, usury taker, night club loving, drug dealing, terroristic, evolutionist, mystic, kabbalist, rotary, free masonic, templar, alcoholic,brutal, oppressive, anti-religious, david copperfieldic, black magical, Satanic, Lucerific piece of dung nation does not deserve life. I would say to Iran relax. The israeli dung can be taken out by a small but brave God fearing army. "
Hypocritical idiot.
Your arguements are poor , your mentality even worse and your soul is empty.
I will tell you why time and again the Arabs are put to shame by a few Jews. Because they have strayed from the ways of God and God hates them.
I found the following haddith when reading Kammal al Hindi, a Muslim military theorician: "Don't kill the children. Even the best of you are sons of polytheists. Don't kill the children". You will notice that the prophet insists on the point. And now in 1967, the Palestinians were boasting about how they would exterminate the entire Israeli population. Childrens included. God was horrified by the blackness of their hearts so he handled them defeat and humiliation. Like it will hand defeat and humiliation to those who would kill thousands of people just because they want to copulate for ever. Mohammed Atta died thinking in the reward, but his reward was hell. You can pray five times a day, you can wear Arab garments, memorize the Coran and go to the Hadj not one, but ten times. God will still handle you and humiliation and defeat because he sees in your hearts. Do you really think that God would reward the God-fearing child rapers from the Algerian GIA or the Soudanese Janjaweed?
(Was it Khomeini or Khameini who said that? They may be right, but missed the fact that there's a lot of laughter at Islam. Particularly their foul, foul form of it.)
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2005 12:18 Comments ||
Top||
#62
My dear Salahuddin (are you a Kurd perchance, as the original was?), you really must do better research before you post to open fora. First of all, this site is American, not British, hence the spelling and vocabulary anomalies and some of the punctuation usage. Second, some of those who post here are true academicians, not mere English lecturers; some could have remained safely ensconsed in ivory towers, but chose to put their knowledge to use in the outside world, again not like mere English lecturers. And finally, it is clear from your unilluminating overuse of adjectives and your clear ignorance of Near Eastern history, Christian dogma, and the intellectual/emotional/religious makeup of those who are healthily attracted to this site, why it is that you so woefully mis-aim the arrows of your argument.
Everything you have posted to this thread appears designed to persuade your reader to believe the opposite, even to your very choice of insults. I most strongly suggest, my dear Salahuddin, that you take a few beginning courses from your college in the subjects I mention above, lest you continue to prove yourself an ignorant fool in the eyes of those you attempt to berate.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
03/23/2005 14:05 Comments ||
Top||
#64
Sal - Thats very pious of you to think God has nothing better to do than "decree" your speech. You haven't answered why you teach the kafir's language, use the kafir's internet, and consume the kafir's culture. Don't you have more islamic things you could be doing like issuing a fatwa against the kafirs?
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
03/23/2005 14:10 Comments ||
Top||
#66
Thank you, Sam. I grew up in an ivory tower, you see. Poseurs offered us endless amusement, and I must say I rather miss it out here in the real world. Salahuddin has unintentionally done me a small service thereby, and I really ought, after the Moderators trace down his computer, to write a small note of thanks to the Head of his college. That is one of the advantages, after all, of having retired intelligence types and Master Programmers running a site such as this.
#67
One more thing Sal - please give 3 examples of anything the arab culture alone has contributed to the world in the last 100 years.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
03/23/2005 14:11 Comments ||
Top||
#68
Brother Sal - Trailing Wife has expressed some timely advice in an eminently polite manner given the circumstances. You'd do well to think about it. Whatever you do though Sal, please don't go away for too long. I'm sure I'm not the only one who derives a small measure of pure joy from your longer and more focussed rants.
#69
Sal - Trailing Wife is and will always be welcomed to this site. It is exactly that mentality that will keep you and your people behind, relegating it to nothing more than a parasitic culture.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
03/23/2005 14:22 Comments ||
Top||
#70
Hey, Sal. Trailing wife strike a nerve there? This isn't one of your Islamic Republic shitholes. You don't make the rules here. You apologize to the lady or take a hike.
#73
Sayonara, Salahuddin. Just letting you know that you are being sent to Troll Paradies by the unclean touch of a woman. Enjoy your Sink Trap Trollops, shaheed, and give our regards to Allan.
Also hope the Saud Interior Ministry functionaries looking over your shoulder and watching where you go on the Internet don't find you lurking at an infidel website...
#74
Lecturer Salahuddin, how dare you presume upon the right of my husband to dictate such things to me? And, then, to presume upon the right of the Moderators of this site? As they do not object to my behaviour, how do you dare to do so.
#79
Trailing wife-you are not allowed to talk to men on this site.
Bub, you have got NO idea what you're screwing with. DB, Mrs D, TW, and especially Sgt Mom are the RB equivalents of Uma Thurman in 'Kill Bill'.
Oh wait...you probably haven't seen that.
So much the better.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/23/2005 20:37 Comments ||
Top||
#80
And American women have been known to choose some interesting means of transportation.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/23/2005 20:57 Comments ||
Top||
#81
Why, thank you, Mike Kozlowski. But you forgot the deadly Seafarious, who I believe vaporized his sorry ass on this thread.
#83
Greetings to the readers ofthe esteemed peper of Great Britain...the Rantburg...I am back. But as I am very busy these days I may not be able to immediately reply. Please readers...don't think that I have lost the argument. If I do not reply immediately, it means that I am busy. O.K.? Firstly, I don't see any need for our brotherly Muslim country of Iran to develop nuclear weapons. That tiny dunghole (israel) can be taken out by a few conventional strikes. So relax Iran. Jews will only show you one thing in a war...their backs...Ha!Ha! That cowardly zionist, homosexual, gypsie, masonic, baphometic, facsist, secular, atheistic, fanatic, land stealer, Palestinian baby killer, usury taker, night club loving, drug dealing, terroristic, evolutionist, mystic, kabbalist, rotary, free masonic, templar, alcoholic,brutal, oppressive, anti-religious, david copperfieldic, black magical, Satanic, Lucerific piece of dung nation does not deserve life. I would say to Iran relax. The israeli dung can be taken out by a small but brave God fearing army.
#84
Dear Tu(polov) 3031 (That's a bad Russian airplane! ). We were small but NOT God fearing. This time we have learnt that to fear God is the greatest weapon. How could we have won while we were drinking, smoking disrespecting our elders, watching westernm films, listening to dirty western music and copying western culture?
#85
MacDonalds...I mean Macnails. Bad grammar.
"I only feel sorry for his 'students', they can't be getting..." Put a period after the comma. I think I am just too good for you people. Sorry!
#87
Dear Tu(polov) 3031 (That's a bad Russian airplane! ). We were small but NOT God fearing. This time we have learnt that to fear God is the greatest weapon. How could we have won while we were drinking, smoking, disrespecting our elders, watching western films, listening to dirty western music and copying western culture?
#90
Islam means submission to the will of God. Everything that happens to you, whether good or evil is created by God. So, as everything is created by God, there is justice, wisdom and mercy in all that happens-His creation. There is good in everything. Evil is created by God for a reason. So, no matter what happens to you, rejoice! See the good in it. Submit to God's will-be a Muslim (One who submits to God's Will). Don't worry-be happy. Because every event and incident is created by God for us there is good in it. It is the best thing that could have happened to you even if it seems apparently evil to you. After all, it was created by God for you. So be a Muslim-surrender to God's Will.
#92
"You so funny" You call that English? What third class public school did you graduate from? You fool! You're trying to teach me about MY language? Dear KitKat, I mean Tkat, I happen to teach English at the college level.
#93
Tupolov. Victory is from God. God does not want us to win now because we have become decadent by copying YOU! When we follow Islam then you will see the fireworks!
#95
Dear Howard (the duck). My wife's doing fine. Infact, she is getting even more religious! You "English" fool! There is nothing wrong with the definite article in English. By the way, you can't put a semi-colon after Arab. Idiot!
#98
Dear Tupolov (Tu-147), We were worse! We were doing some of that western decadent "" too. (And using dirty language like you.) But now we realize that our weakness was in following a decadent culture like yours. Once we stick to Islam, watch the fireworks! Victory is on the way!
#99
Dear Howard (the duck). My wife's doing fine. Infact, she is getting even more religious! You "English" fool! There is nothing wrong with the definite article in English. By the way, you can't put a semi-colon after Arab. Idiot!
#100
Dear Howard (the duck). My wife's doing fine. Infact, she is getting even more religious! You "English" fool! There is nothing wrong with the definite article in English. By the way, you can't put a semi-colon after Arab. Idiot!
#103
MacDonalds, it is a long story..Israel is an evil dunghole full of vipers. Hitler was Mr. Rogers (in Mr. Roger's neighbourhood)compared to the zionists. It has taken the garb of a religious, "jewish" country. However, it is atheistic, deadly and Satanic...enemy of mine and yours! (Hopefully yours!)
#104
Tupolov (Tu147), there must be some good in what you said. After all your speech was decreed by God. I am a Muslim. I submit to God and only God. I will remain cheerful.
#2
And what moron press outlet is gullible enough to believe they ever stopped? Al Jizz. Nevermind, heh, they're not gullible, they're complicit in the burlesque... the AFP guy thinks they have nice gams. He would, of course.
Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said he wants talks with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir to discuss the resistance group's status in Lebanon's political life. Nasrallah said: "A meeting with Sfeir should be planned. It will be difficult for me to visit him in Bkirki for security reasons but we will surely decide on the place and date soon."
Nasrallah, who also said the group didn't retain its arms for a "hobby", added: "We fought to free our land and will continue to fight to free our land. We are concerned with protecting our country, as are all Lebanese, against Israeli aggression." Sfeir, who returned from a trip to the United States where he met U.S. President George W. Bush, has called for Hizbullah to disarm and enter the political life. Speaking after his arrival at Beirut International Airport, Sfeir said: "We will not disarm Hizbullah by force. It is a move the party will decide on."
Nasrallah accused the U.S. of planning to split the Lebanese under the guise of wanting to help Lebanon regain its freedom and sovereignty. He said: "The United States contradicts itself when it says it is helping Lebanon to achieve freedom, sovereignty and independence because that's a lie, a deceitful notion, a slander." Alluding to U.S. support for Lebanon's political opposition, he added: "It is helping some Lebanese to pressure Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and is trying to offer some the upper hand over others and incite some against each other." Nasrallah reiterated his calls for dialogue and warned parliamentary elections, scheduled for May, will not be held if the opposition members keep refusing to join a national unity government.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
Despite hopeful soundings from Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir and loyalist expectations of a breakthrough in the current political stalemate, it is increasingly unlikely that Lebanon's opposition will take part in any government until after the elections. After arriving back in Beirut after his high-profile visit to the U.S., Sfeir said some opposition leaders told him they "might share" in the new government. But in addition to the opposition's well-known demands they also said they would not settle for "one or two symbolic" Cabinet seats, insisting instead on a 50-50 division of seats.
Sfeir, who commands strong support in opposition circles, said: "I cannot decide for them, as it is up to the politicians to decide their next moves." Just to confuse things even more. Opposition MPs and figures handed in a petition to both the UN and the Arab League summit calling for an independent investigation into Hariri's death. It also calls for the "immediate resignation" of the heads of Lebanon's six security-services and the public prosecutor "in order to get at the truth." Premier-designate Omar Karami, who has insisted he would resign again if he fails to form a national unity government, will dispatch his envoys to meet with Sfeir, and in separate meetings with opposition leaders remains hopeful for a breakthrough, but following a week of further recriminations between loyalists and opposition in the wake of the New Jdeideh bombing, success is likely to remain elusive.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
Hizbullah's political position as a resistance group seems to have garnered a hint of international legitimacy recently, with the U.S. administration saying disarming the party was an internal Lebanese issue and a Euro-American think-tank holding talks with representatives from the party. Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Monday that the disarmament of Hizbullah was an internal Lebanese issue that should be solved by the Lebanese government.
He said: "The disarmament of Hizbullah and other militias found in Lebanon is an issue that should be decided by the Lebanese government." This statement clearly contradicts the traditional American position on the party, which has long been labeled a "terrorist organization" by American administrations. However, the latest comment did not come as a complete surprise as it comes on the heels of other moderate statements by U.S. officials, including President George W. Bush, who said last week that Hizbullah could be viewed as a political party if it laid down its weapons.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Appropriate tactical move by the US. This annoucement sends two messages; one of implication, that the fight is with Syria, and this time...no nation building after the invasion of Syria. Hizbullah will eventually have to be absorbed into the Lebanese governmental structure or return Home to face their demise!
Prime Minister-designate Omar Karami has dispatched members of his outgoing Cabinet to hold final talks on the viability of a national unity government, with one envoy saying Karami will once more step down if the talks fail to reach an agreement. Karami, who was reappointed earlier this month after resigning on February 28, insists on forming a national unity government, but opposition figures have refused to join any government, saying he must form a Cabinet without them and hold parliamentary elections expected on time this spring.
Opposition figure Batroun MP Butros Harb met with Speaker Nabih Berri Tuesday to "discuss the last developments." Harb said: "It was an opportunity to talk about the next stages the country could face in the event an agreement is reached over the Cabinet formation, and on the contrary in case of no agreement." He hoped the next Cabinet would be able to handle the responsibilities concerning the elections, the international investigation into former Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination and the opposition's call for the resignation of the country's security chiefs. Karami has been trying to hold talks with political and religious leaders in order to assemble a national unity government.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 10:29:23 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
WASHINGTON - Jordan's King Abdullah warned yesterday that Syria and Hezbollah are encouraging Palestinian activists to carry out terror attacks against Israel, trying to divert attention from the situation in Lebanon and Syria. In a meeting with representatives of leading Jewish organizations, Abdullah also said Iran, Syria and Hezbollah are the greatest threats to stability in the Middle East.
Abdullah said he recently told Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that in case of a terrorist attack Sharon should check carefully who is behind it to avoid an Israeli retaliation against the wrong target. Abdullah was implying that, should a terror attack occur, Sharon would find that Hezbollah was responsible.
Sources who attended the session said they were surprised by the vehemence of Abdullah's remarks about Syria. They noted that he opened the meeting with his concerns about efforts by Syria and Hezbollah to undermine the peace process with terror attacks against Israel. One U.S. Jewish source, recalling a similar meeting with the king on his first visit to Washington as Jordan's ruler, said Abdullah was then full of praise for Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Abdullah said Jordan has succeeded in thwarting several attempts by terrorists to infiltrate Israel to carry out attacks. He told President George W. Bush at their meeting last week that the success of the peace process could weaken Hezbollah and Hamas, while its failure would strengthen them. He said relations between Jordan and Israel were good and that he intends to act to speed up joint projects.
Abdullah spoke at the meeting of a new Jordanian initiative to fight anti-Semitism in the Arab world. He said he sent a message to the Muslim states urging them to fight anti-Semitism. He also said Jordan intends to act with Jewish and Christian organizations in the U.S. to quash it. Taking the religious component out of the dispute would reduce the tension and help to find a solution, he added. He said he was appointing his cousin, Prince Ghazi, to head the team to advance interreligious dialogue.
Attending the meeting were representatives of U.S. groups, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, B'nai B'rith, American Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, Americans for Peace Now and the Jewish Council on Public Affairs.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2005 2:36:39 PM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Was that a pig I saw flying by the window?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/23/2005 15:22 Comments ||
Top||
#2
yep - and snowshoes ordered for hell, too
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2005 15:26 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Hey, my surprise meter twitched! Abdullah also said Iran, Syria and Hezbollah are the greatest threats to stability in the Middle East
For starters, at least. RBers could name a few more.
#4
The Hashemite line in Jordan has been bitter enemies of the Damascus regime since Syria became independent in 1946. At that time this Abdullas great grandfather, Abdullah was pursuing a policy of "Greater Syria" with him as its king, in fulfillment of the kingdom of his brother Faisal, who ruled in Damascus before being tossed out by the French (the same Faisal who is friends with Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia) Under Hafez Assad it was Syria that pursued "Greater Syria" and sought to undermine Jordan AND Lebanon, and to take over the PLO (many PLO guys have been killed over the years by Syrian intell) In 1970 Syria and the PLO joined forces in trying to overthrow king hussein. Syrian troops in Lebanon - Syrian undermining of the PA - all part and parcel of the Greater Syria strategy. Obviously young King Abdullah is sharp enough to realize this strategy endangers his own throne.
#5
Jordan's King Abdullah warned yesterday that Syria and Hezbollah are encouraging Palestinian activists to carry out terror attacks against Israel, trying to divert attention from the situation in Lebanon and Syria.
#8
This is the same Jordanian royal family that gave the PLO its Waterloo in 1970 : Black September -- the elder King wiped out the PLO plotters along the Syrian agents that tried to overthrow him at the time. That is where the terrorists that hit Munich got their name -- from the Jordanian smackdown that the terrs called Black September.
#9
Besides which, King A is Western educated and realizes that the PLO is as much a threat to his country and royal line as it is to Israel. And Hamas and Hezbollah are even worse : if they could ever get rid of Israel, Jordan is next. So he is stating the obvious to get on the right side of history and the US force projection in the area.
#10
Didn't a Syrian try to off Abdullah not to long ago? Or was it that there was a terrorist plot to kill thousands of Jordanians? In either case, seems to me there's no love lost between Abbie and Ass-ie.
#11
PD - Are you referring to Zarqawi & Co who tried to create and place huge truckbombs of chemicals to wipe out the Jordanian Intelligence Service? IIRC, it was tons of stuff, although I don't recall if it was ever decided how effective the materials chosen would have been. What's not in doubt, however, is that they intended to wipe out Abdullah's FBI/CIA/SS etc in one shot.
#12
This is a canny effort by Abdullah to surf the wave of democracy sweeping over the Middle East. I think he would like to go down in history as one of the liberators of the Arab world. Good for him.
Posted by: Tibor ||
03/23/2005 20:09 Comments ||
Top||
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi grabbed the spotlight at the Arab summit in Algiers on Wednesday, calling Israelis and Palestinians idiots for seeking separate states and saying the U.N. Security Council was a terrorist organization. The Algerian hosts of the two-day meeting gave the maverick leader a star role on the closing day, allowing him to vent at length on Arab grievances about international relations. He said the world should thank Syria for maintaining peace in Lebanon and argued that what he called "Islamic terrorism" was mainly the result of the West's cultural arrogance... I suspect that Gaddafi's problem is not that he's a kook, but that he's a blue collar guy in a white collar world. Put him in a coffee shop with a dozen Libyan construction workers, and you would be hard pressed to tell which one is him, based on their opinions.
(CNSNews.com) - The teenager who went on a shooting rampage at a Minnesota high school Monday, killing ten people including himself, apparently had links to a neo-Nazi website that promotes environmental extremism and eco-terrorism. Despite those connections, don't expect the establishment media to make it an issue, said a spokesman for a free market think tank.
"A real Nazi killer commits horrible acts, and much to the media's disappointment, he's linked to green groups. Not convenient, not gonna go down that path," Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the free market Competitive Enterprise Institute, told Cybercast News Service Tuesday. "The national press corps now faces a moral dilemma, as they see it either consciously or subconsciously, given this killer's apparent connection to and the Nazis' inarguable praise for green groups, even the so-called 'establishment' gangs at the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) and Environmental Defense," Horner said.
Police say Jeff Weise, who was either 16 or 17 years old, went on the alleged killing spree at the Red Lake Indian Reservation high school, although his motives may never be known. But they say Weise may have posted messages on a neo-Nazi website, where he referred to himself as the "Angel of Death" and "a Native American from the Red Lake 'Indian' Reservation." Weise also reportedly praised Adolf Hitler. The website, run by the Libertarian National Socialist Green Party, has a "Nationalist Link Directory" that lists a series of fringe environmental groups, including Earth Liberation Front, which is described on the site as "the leading domestic terrorist group." The neo-Nazi website also links to articles referring to humans as a "cancer digesting the Earth" and stating that the "maximum sustainable population of the Earth is about 1 billion people." Other articles deal with "Deep ecology" and "Green Anarchy."
The extremist group Earth First is also cited, as are mainstream environmental groups such as Environmental Defense, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the online publication Grist Magazine.
Horner predicted that if the teenage shooter were in any way linked to conservative groups, the establishment media would have aggressively jumped on the connections. "Things would have been so simple, and the gloves would be off immediately, were the shooter to have instead been found blogging on, say, a conservative political website linking to and praising the NRA (National Rifle Association) and anti-abortion groups," Horner said. "Instead, despite the obvious issues, the killing spree now is likely destined for light news coverage instead of the frenzy of a competition for cover stories, serial reportage and in-depth worrying over troubling connections," Horner explained.
I thought the coverage on this was strangely light, now I know why
"So the story will now go without exploration and the press will soon return to Michael Jackson's courtroom wardrobe and spells of the vapors (a reference to fainting spells)" Horner added.
Kendra Howe, managing editor of Grist magazine, declined to comment when contacted by Cybercast News Service . Calls to Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council seeking comment for this article were not returned by press time.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/23/2005 9:11:30 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
the online publication Grist Magazine
Grist? Isn't that the one that started the lie about Watt?
As for the reason for low coverage -- it happened too far from comfortable hotels and good restaurants to attract reporters. I don't think the reporters would have considered the kid's political views any deeper than the word "Nazi", and in their ignorance they'd come up with some way to tie him to the Republicans if they did.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/23/2005 11:11 Comments ||
Top||
#2
"Libertarian National Socialist Green Party"
Sounds like output from a random political movement generator.
Weirdest bunch of kooks I'd ever heard of. Makes a DU look like a bunch of Rotarians.
#6
Not as surprising as one might think. The Nazi movement was founded on pastoral principles, opposed smoking on medical grounds, and was more enviromentally friendly than it's despicable and evil actions might suggest. In many ways (just examine the name) the NAZIs were very much the product of a "random political movement generator", adopting whichever policies seemed expedient or neglected by other parties.
Posted by: Chinese Elmomoger1853 ||
03/23/2005 15:28 Comments ||
Top||
#7
You called?
The plan continues apace. We are herding all the cockroaches into the same ideological corner, where they can be conveniently flattened by the boot heel of unfolding events.
#8
I noticed with great approval that the Chippewa tribal leadership has caged the media-beasts, confining them to a tiny "designated media area" forbidding taping or questions elsewhere on the reservation.
It might be fun to go by and poke sticks at them through the fence. (There really is a fence around the media cage, I shit you not).
Unfortunately, the media-beasts may use this as an excuse for their oddly subdued coverage of the massacre, lame though that would be.
The restriction would only apply to on-site harrassment of residents and would not of course explain the lack of non-stop commentary and studio reporting of the kind we saw after Columbine.
#9
AC - good catch - I was watching the media go nuts tonight in spasmodic frustration, after all, the media-repressing authorities (and killer) are Ethnic minorities: American Indians on a recognized reservation...
hee hee about the media, sad to the bone about this shitheads' victims
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/23/2005 22:11 Comments ||
Top||
This paper presents an overview of two of the principle Sunni radical groups in Iraq. It is estimated that these groups will continue to oppose reconstruction efforts in the country, particularly following the resounding victory for Shiite and Kurdish parties in the recent elections. Both of these Sunni groups have connections with radical Islamist groups outside of Iraq, such as al-Qaida and its offshoots. In addition, the support given to them by fundamentalist regimes outside of Iraq could give them a reach beyond the local arena.
Ansar Al-Islam a.k.a. Jund al Islam[1] History
In August 2001, leaders of different Kurdish Islamic factions met with leaders of Al Qaida to discuss the formulation of an alternate Al-Qaida base in Northern Iraq. The new network, Ansar al-Islam, came about from the merging of several small Islamic movements in Kurdish Iraq.[2] It was formally activated in September 2001 with $300,000 - $600,000 of Al-Qaida seed money, together with donations from Saudi Arabia.[3]
Bases
Ansar al Islam's primary bases are located in the mountains along the Iran-Iraq border. Assessments by the PUK [define] indicated that in 2002, a second group affiliated with Ansar al Islam was formed in Baghdad and controlled from the city of Mosul.[4] The city of Halabja was a base for many of the group's Al-Qaida-affiliated members.[5] Ansar also maintained strongholds in the villages of Kharbani, Zardahal, and Bayyarah. Following significant defeats in battle with the PUK, Ansar subsequently retreated from these areas, eventually settling in the Darka Shikhan area, a remote village on the border between Iraq and Iran.[6] Ansar's shura council most recently operated from the village of Beyara.[7]
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/23/2005 12:14:15 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Russian President Vladimir Putin is to visit Israel at the end of April — becoming the first Russian or Soviet leader to do so. Putin will arrive in Israel on 27 April for a two-day visit, said Ron Bon-Yishai, an aide to Israeli President Moshe Katsav. During the trip, Putin will meet with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other senior Israeli officials for talks on advancing Middle East peace talks. Russia is a member of the so-called Quartet of international mediators for the Middle East peacemaking, along with the United States, the United Nations and the European Union. It was not clear if Putin would also meet with Palestinian officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Putin smells the mild aroma of F15 afterburners! He really wants to gauge whether his pet nuke project income can be salvaged!
The government of Pakistan has restored the column of religion in passport, said Federal Minister of Defense Rao Sikanader Iqbal here yesterday. The column identifying the bearer's religious affiliation will be restored to the Pakistani passport, in a bid to avoid a clash with Islamic parties threatening a countrywide strike over the issue. Iqbal told a news conference here the recommendation to restore the religion column had been made by a special Cabinet committee headed by him after discussing the issue at length. "The committee has unanimously recommended that the religion of the passport holder may be stamped at a suitable place on the new passport," Iqbal said.
He said a Cabinet meeting tomorrow would approve the recommendation. The move came ahead of a strike called by six-party Islamic alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal to protest the government's policies including the deletion of religion column from the machine readable passports, which were launched late last year. The Islamists have said the deletion of the column was a deliberate attempt by President Pervez Musharraf to damage the Islamic identity of the 150-million strong overwhelmingly Muslim nation.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Arab League delegates overcame initial hiccups and quickly got down to business yesterday after the start of the summit discussing peace with Israel while making it clear any road to peace must be a two-way street. "Israel still imagines that rights will be forgotten ... (and) that the Arabs will normalize relations with it without any equivalent worth mentioning. It cannot happen without something real in return," Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told the summit. Moussa rejected accusations that Arabs would only produce terrorism and referred to Arab peace initiatives in the past years. His speech focused on global developments, including moves to change regimes by force.
In his inaugural address, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the conference chairman, said Arabs must show the world their peaceful intentions to mobilize international public opinion against Israel's intransigence. "We must make the international community, the conscience of the world and the Jewish people themselves bear witness to the strategic nature of the Arab option for peace," he said. The president urged Israel to withdraw from all Arab territories it occupied after the 1967 war — one of the demands of the Arab peace plan — for normalization of ties. He stressed the Palestinians' right to establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
..after the start of the summit discussing peace with Israel while making it clear any road to peace must be a two-way street.
After having attempted to overrun Israel several times, the Arabs are in no position to talk about two-way streets.
The U.N.'s version of "hit 'em where they ain't ..."
The U.N. Security Council may adopt a resolution this week sending peacekeepers to relatively calm southern Sudan but take no action against perpetrators of atrocities in Darfur. The United States decided on Tuesday to split its draft resolution on Sudan into three parts, with only the peacekeeping force for southern Sudan fairly certain of approval. The two main measures on the Darfur region -- sanctions and a venue to try war crimes suspects -- face opposition. "We were literally running out of time on Sudan and we felt strongly that we had to move ahead," Anne Patterson, the acting U.S. ambassador, told reporters. "So what we have done is circulate three draft resolutions, one on peacekeeping, one on sanctions, and one that would provide for measures to end impunity," she said.
Send in the mighty Uruguayans!
The United States hopes to have at least the peacekeeping resolution adopted this week. Council members are consulting their governments before consultations on Wednesday. "It is clear there is very broad support for the peacekeeping resolution and that is very very critical because it will strengthen the new government in Sudan and get more boots on the ground," Patterson said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Well, I guess we can call it a day. Who's up for brunch?"
#5
hey guys, its not the UN bureucrats OR the peacekeepers who are preventing a UNSC resolution to adopt sanctions wrt to Darfur. Its the virtual certainty of a Chinese veto. Place blame where blame belongs.
Piles of rubble still line the streets here, but a few shops have opened on the main drag, schools are finally in session and a compensation program to help families rebuild made some token initial payments this month. Four months after the assault on Fallujah, in the center of Iraq's Sunni Muslim heartland, American forces working to rebuild the city say they're seeing some progress, albeit limited, in a city that's still blockaded and under a curfew. Even a little progress is an important development in a city that's been a major test for the American presence in Iraq.
On March 31, 2004, four U.S. contractors were ambushed and killed here, setting off a battle when U.S. Marines tried unsuccessfully to dislodge the insurgent forces that had taken control of the city. The second battle began in November, when U.S. Army and Marine units moved through the city, destroying buildings and killing hundreds of opponents. Now the reconstruction effort faces a problem - how to get life back to normal while preventing another uprising. The American forces say they're insisting that the Iraqi government take the lead and they admit that the work ahead will be slow going.
A group of Iraqi men shoveling dirt and sand in a vacant lot said much about the effort. "They're making big piles into little piles," joked one Marine, as he guided a group of journalists on a tour of the city this week. The Marines could do the job in a couple of hours with a front-end loader but prefer to pay military-age men to get it done with the tools they have - giving the men an alternative to working with the insurgents and a chance for Iraqis to lead the reconstruction effort. "If we did everything, we could do this faster," said Master Sgt. Leon Brown, of the Army's 445th Battalion, a reservist from Milpitas, Calif. "But how are the Iraqi people going to feel confident about their country or their government?"
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Yes, despite the seemingly positive headline, it seems the author can't quite escape from the the "quagmire" mold!
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/23/2005 0:18 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Najaf is also pretty safe. Haven't heard anything from Sadr city either. Draw your conclusions.
Posted by: ed ||
03/23/2005 0:26 Comments ||
Top||
#3
. "They're making big piles into little piles,"
Teaching the locals Paris Island engineering techniques.
#5
Shovelling by hand keeps the eyes engaged for the presence of IEDs.
Posted by: john ||
03/23/2005 11:02 Comments ||
Top||
#6
On March 31, 2004, four U.S. contractors were ambushed and killed here, setting off a battle when U.S. Marines tried unsuccessfully to dislodge the insurgent forces that had taken control of the city.
Uhhh, no. Had there not been a "suspension of offensive operations" declared, the Marines would have kicked the you-know-what out of the insurgents the first time around, instead of having to go through the whole thing a second time.
#7
Very true, BaR, but the break allowed the civilians to leave and more Hard Boyz to arrive to defend their stronghold. So, while frustrating all around, this allowed the environment to be even more target rich. I seem to recall estimates of 15000 captured/killed during the recent operation, and a kill ratio of something like 100:1.
#8
I think the final toll was around 4,000 killed and captured in Falluja. The US lost around 130 dead and the Iraqi troops lost about 10 dead. The kill ratio was therefore 10-15:1, which is amazing for an infantry led urban assualt.
Posted by: ed ||
03/23/2005 14:07 Comments ||
Top||
Egyptian prosecutors formally charged opposition leader Ayman Nour yesterday with forging signatures to secure approval for his political party, referring for trial a case that has drawn international criticism and created friction between Egypt and Washington.
What, this guy thinks he's a Democrat or something?
Nour, 40, was ordered to stand trial along with six defendants from his Al Ghad, or Tomorrow Party. After 42 days in prison without charges, Nour — who has declared his intent to run for president in Egypt's first multicandidate presidential elections this fall — was released on bail March 12. Prosecutor-General Maher Abdel Wahed announced the charges and referral for trial at a news conference Tuesday. A trial date has not yet been set. Nour's lawyer, Amir Salem, said a trial won't stop Nour's bid for the presidency. This (the trial) was expected," said Salem. They will not arrest him, he will be able to carry on with nominating himself as long as the verdict is not issued."
"And besides, we got a bundle from George Soros," he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
CAIRO A former member of Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood group said yesterday he had applied for permission to form a moderate religious party.
Moderate? By what standards?
Khaled Zaafarani said he had sought authorisation with the government's political parties commission to create a Reform, Development and Justice party. "We believe that Islam is our national and cultural reference, but we respect all revealed religions and the values of Christianity on the basis of citizenship and national co-existence, without discrimination until we can grab power for ourselves and do Allan's will," he said.
This article starring:
KHALED ZAAFARANI
Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Saudi Arabia and Egypt want to include the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon in the final declaration that will emerge from a two-day Arab summit which opens here Tuesday, a senior Arab official said. "Saudi Arabia and Egypt are trying to ensure that the final declaration that will be adopted by the Algiers Arab summit will include a clause on the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon," the official said on condition of anonymity. Officials from Cairo and Riyadh have been consulting with other Arab delegates and also want the final declaration to mention the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
Twisting the knife that's about to be in Assad's back ...
Meanwhile, Arab countries will carry out political reforms at their own snail's pace and not be lectured on them, leaders said yesterday. "Just as we refrain from giving lessons to others, we will not tolerate being told what to do. No one, from the Arab world or anywhere else, shall impose their views on us," Moroccan King Mohammed said.
Really? Talk to Sammy 'bout that?
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/23/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
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.
A shadowy Islamist group which claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing near a British school in Qatar has vowed to carry out attacks against oil installations, churches and Western military bases in the Middle East, in two statements posted on the Internet Tuesday. Singling out the United States, Britain and Italy as potential targets, the 
A liberal Kuwaiti professor convicted of mocking Islam in a newspaper article said Monday he will seek asylum in a Western country to protect his life, family and freedom of speech. 
The 
Opposition supporters and police officers formed joint patrols to keep order in several southern Kyrgyz cities Tuesday, while President 
Italy was questioned on Tuesday by the EU's executive over its decision to return 180 refugees to Libya, and reminded that it must not deport entire groups without considering each individual's case for asylum. The United Nations and Amnesty International both voiced concern about a lack of proper scrutiny of the refugees, who were removed from a detention centre on the island of Lampedusa and flown to Tripoli last Thursday. 
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has agreed to have the United Nations pay some legal fees for the embattled chief of its defunct oil-for-food program in Iraq, Annan's spokesman said Tuesday. The United Nations will pay legal bills incurred by 
One day ahead of the scheduled arrival of U.S. special envoy to the Middle East 
Israel and the United States have been cooperating in developing a missile defense architecture against Iran's Shihab-3 intermediate-range missile. Officials said the Israeli and U.S. militaries have sought to pool their missile defense resources to provide a regional defense against a Shihab-3 attack. They said the effort called for the linking of such U.S. assets as the PAC-3 lower-tier system, the upgraded PAC-2 and the Aegis sea-based missile defense system. Israel would contribute the medium-tier Arrow-2 system. Israel and the United States have deployed most these missile defense assets during the current Juniper Cobra exercise, which began in Israel on March 10. The exercise, meant to end on March 31, has been based on a scenario that envisioned an Iranian missile attack on Israel or U.S. forces in the Middle East. Officials said Juniper Cobra has sought to define the role of each of the Israeli and U.S. missile defense assets. They said the Arrow-2, with a reported range of 100 kilometers, would be responsible for the outer tier of defense against an intermediate-range missile.
Despite hopeful soundings from Maronite Patriarch 
Prime Minister-designate 
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi grabbed the spotlight at the Arab summit in Algiers on Wednesday, calling Israelis and Palestinians idiots for seeking separate states and saying the U.N. Security Council was a terrorist organization. The Algerian hosts of the two-day meeting gave the maverick leader a star role on the closing day, allowing him to vent at length on Arab grievances about international relations. He said the world should thank Syria for maintaining peace in Lebanon and argued that what he called "Islamic terrorism" was mainly the result of the West's cultural arrogance...
Russian President Vladimir Putin is to visit Israel at the end of April — becoming the first Russian or Soviet leader to do so. Putin will arrive in Israel on 27 April for a two-day visit, said Ron Bon-Yishai, an aide to Israeli President Moshe Katsav. During the trip, Putin will meet with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other senior Israeli officials for talks on advancing Middle East peace talks. Russia is a member of the so-called Quartet of international mediators for the Middle East peacemaking, along with the United States, the United Nations and the European Union. It was not clear if Putin would also meet with Palestinian officials.
The government of Pakistan has restored the column of religion in passport, said Federal Minister of Defense Rao Sikanader Iqbal here yesterday. The column identifying the bearer's religious affiliation will be restored to the Pakistani passport, in a bid to avoid a clash with Islamic parties threatening a countrywide strike over the issue. Iqbal told a news conference here the recommendation to restore the religion column had been made by a special Cabinet committee headed by him after discussing the issue at length. "The committee has unanimously recommended that the religion of the passport holder may be stamped at a suitable place on the new passport," Iqbal said.
Arab League delegates overcame initial hiccups and quickly got down to business yesterday after the start of the summit discussing peace with Israel while making it clear any road to peace must be a two-way street. "Israel still imagines that rights will be forgotten ... (and) that the Arabs will normalize relations with it without any equivalent worth mentioning. It cannot happen without something real in return," Arab League Secretary-General 
Piles of rubble still line the streets here, but a few shops have opened on the main drag, schools are finally in session and a compensation program to help families rebuild made some token initial payments this month. Four months after the assault on Fallujah, in the center of Iraq's Sunni Muslim heartland, American forces working to rebuild the city say they're seeing some progress, albeit limited, in a city that's still blockaded and under a curfew. Even a little progress is an important development in a city that's been a major test for the American presence in Iraq. 
Saudi Arabia and Egypt want to include the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon in the final declaration that will emerge from a two-day Arab summit which opens here Tuesday, a senior Arab official said. "Saudi Arabia and Egypt are trying to ensure that the final declaration that will be adopted by the Algiers Arab summit will include a clause on the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon," the official said on condition of anonymity. Officials from Cairo and Riyadh have been consulting with other Arab delegates and also want the final declaration to mention the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
