Saudi Arabia yesterday announced plans to reorganize its judicial system by setting up a supreme court in Riyadh, appeals courts in all its 13 regions as well as labor and commercial courts. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd yesterday issued a royal decree endorsing the reorganization plan for the judiciary proposed by the ministerial committee for administrative reforms.
Justice Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Asheikh said the New Judicial Law crowned other regulations passed by the government in recent years such as the Law of Procedure Before Shariah Courts and the Criminal Procedure Law. "This is a major development in the Kingdom's judicial history as it will strengthen judicial agencies and speed up the justice system," the Saudi Press Agency quoted the minister as saying. He said Shariah would remain the basis of the Kingdom's judicial system. He said the Supreme Council of Judiciary, as per the new set-up, would take care of the personnel affairs of judges as well as court affairs. "The judicial powers of the council will be transferred to the Supreme Court, which will be highest judicial body in the country," he explained.
The new law abrogates the courts of cassation and calls for the establishment of appeals courts in all regions within a timeframe, Al-Asheikh said. It approves the setting up of specialized courts such as labor and commercial courts to settle labor and commercial disputes. Under the new law, there will be general courts to deal with all conflicts except labor, commercial and family disputes and criminal courts to address crimes. Civil courts will handle family and personal conflicts. Al-Asheikh said his ministry has set up special sections for reconciliation between defendants and plaintiffs to achieve peaceful settlement of conflicts. "The move aims at achieving the objectives of Shariah, which prefers peaceful settlement of conflicts between people, and cutting down the number of court cases," he added. The minister emphasized the significance of out-of-court settlement as it promotes good relations between defendants and plaintiffs and helps them win their rights in a way acceptable to both parties.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov was shot by an aide at his request to avoid being captured alive, Deputy Prosecutor General Nikolai Shepel said Friday, in a remarkable departure from the previous official version of Maskhadov's death.
"Maskhadov died from multiple bullet wounds that were inflicted at his request by individuals who were with him in the bunker," Shepel told reporters at his offices in Vladikavkaz, Interfax reported.
"He had a suicide belt on him at the time, but he did not want to detonate it because he wanted his accomplices to live. So he asked them to shoot him," he said, Itar-Tass reported.
The Federal Security Service, or FSB, has said Maskhadov was killed in a bunker during a raid by FSB commandos in the Chechen village of Tolstoy-Yurt on March 8. It said three aides who were with Maskhadov, as well as with the owner of the house above the bunker, were arrested during the raid.
The detained rebels told investigators that one of them killed Maskhadov after FSB commandos blew up the top of the bunker and were preparing to move in, Shepel said, Interfax reported.
In addition, investigators have confirmed that Maskhadov was killed with a gun and that the gun belonged to one of the detained rebels, Shepel said. Also, bullet holes in the bunker are consistent with the rebels' testimony, he said.
Authorities destroyed the house over the bunker a short time after Maskhadov's death, saying they feared it contained booby traps.
Offering one of the first accounts of Maskhadov's death, Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov said on March 8 that one of the rebel leader's bodyguards had accidentally shot him. The headquarters of the federal forces in Chechnya insisted that Maskhadov had died when FSB commandos tossed grenades into the bunker, and Kadyrov withdrew his account, calling it a joke.
Kadyrov, however, said Friday that he had not been joking and that Shepel had effectively confirmed his initial account, Interfax reported.
Shepel said officials who offered the earlier accounts of Maskhadov's death had jumped to conclusions, and that he was relating the findings of a careful investigation.
"It was previously said that the death occurred from bullet injuries. But those injuries also could have been caused by a shock wave from an explosion," he said, RIA-Novosti reported. "The injuries had to be thoroughly examined, and that is why we ... gave experts time to conduct a complete examination."
The FSB could not comment immediately about Shepel's remarks, an FSB spokesman said.
The headquarters for federal forces in Chechnya could not be reached for comment Friday.
Alexei Malashenko, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, noted that Shepel's account was politically convenient in light of Western regret that Moscow did not capture Maskhadov alive. The European Union has demanded an explanation about why Maskhadov was killed, and the Council of Europe, a human rights watchdog, has expressed regret that authorities lost the opportunity to bring Maskhadov to court.
Gennady Gudkov, a member of the State Duma's Security Committee, complained that the latest statement on Maskhadov's death was only creating more confusion. "The more time goes by, the information that is made public gets more confusing and incomprehensible," he said, Interfax reported.
Shepel also said Friday that forensic tests had confirmed that Maskhadov died March 8, RIA-Novosti reported.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/03/2005 4:31:26 PM ||
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Ousted President Askar Akayev has agreed to resign without returning to the country, the parliament speaker said Saturday, signaling a major step toward easing the political uncertainty that has plagued the nation since the government was overthrown.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Elections for a new Kyrgyz president can legally go ahead whether deposed leader Askar Akayev formally resigns or not, the Central Asian state's top judge said on Saturday. The statement by constitutional court head Cholpon Bayekova took some of the heat off the country's post-coup leaders who have been under pressure to allow Akayev back home to tender his resignation. Acting leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev has said Akayev should remain in exile in Russia, where he fled after last week's uprising, since the government might not be able to protect him from public anger. "Because the government cannot guarantee his security as Bakiyev has said, parliamentarians intend to have a notary certify his declaration of resignation and bring it to Kyrgyzstan," Bayekova said. "But if he doesn't write this statement, elections will be held anyway. The election will be held on (June) 26, declaration or no declaration."
Legally, Akayev should resign before parliament and then deputies would vote on holding new elections, but Bayekova said she had to "take into account the reality that there is a danger to his life" in taking her decision. Akayev has offered to resign if he is allowed home and given security guarantees. Foreign mediators have urged the new leadership to negotiate with the deposed president.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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A leading presidential contender accused the interim government of destabilising an already tense situation. Felix Kulov, a popular former security chief and Bishkek mayor imprisoned in 2000 on charges that observers at home and in the West saw as politically motivated. As protestors stormed Akayev's administration building known as the White House, other opposition activists spirited Kulov out of jail and quickly awarded him the security portfolio as a massive wave of looting spread across the capital Bishkek.
Many saw this as a crowd-pleasing gesture, but Kulov managed to rein in the looting, which threatened to become a major blow to the credibility of the newly installed government of Prime Minister and Interim President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Reunited with his family who took shelter in the United States during his imprisonment, Kulov, who heads the Ar-Namys (Dignity) party, confirmed this Friday his hope of standing against Bakiyev at June 26 presidential polls.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Pyongyang, April 1 (KCNA) -- Leader Kim Jong Il was presented with a gift by the friendship delegation of the Communist Party of China on a visit to the DPRK. The gift was today handed to Kim Yong Nam, president of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly, by Ma Wen, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC who is heading the delegation.
Uhhh... Okay. So what was the gift? You forgot to say. A pony? Scantily clad maidens? A crystal ash tray with the Communist Party of China logo? Or is it a state secret?
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 11:08:28 AM ||
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#1
For a dictator who has everything, Lil Kim sure could use a Soloflex, a case of Dexatrim, and platform shoes.
Posted by: ed ||
04/03/2005 11:36 Comments ||
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a pre-release Director's Cut of Team America World Police DVD?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/03/2005 12:08 Comments ||
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OK, I give up. What does a "deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection" do exactly?
#4
A "deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection" inspects gifts before they go to Kimmie to see if they are politically correct and also are explosive-free.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/03/2005 14:12 Comments ||
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I wonder if he would dub me copy of TAWP? I loved that movie and of course Kimmie stole the show.
Pyongyang, April 1 (KCNA) -- The U.S. imperialists have become more sinister and crafty in their carrot and stick policy towards the DPRK and other countries.
I think Condoleeza looks kinda comely with that cloak, though she does have to work on rubbing her hands together with just the right touch of anticipatory glee...
The U.S. could not behave as it pleased when the former Soviet Union stood firm against it.
Ah, the good old days! Brings a tear to your eye, don't it?
But when renegades of socialism came to power and made one concession after another, the U.S. took a tough attitude towards it and buckled down to bringing it to a collapse. Its carrot tactics succeeded in doing so.
Economic collapse helped, of course. Then again, the Soviet Union in economic collapse was kinda like NKor at its healthiest...
After the Gulf War, the U.S. put pressure upon Iraq in various aspects. When Iraq yielded to its pressure by making concessions in various fields, the U.S. set the no-fly zone in the air above the country as it pleased, sent a U.N. weapons inspection team there to scour all the targets including presidential palaces and succeeded in invading and occupying Iraq by force of arms with ease. Its stick tactics worked there.
Didn't they, though? And which do you think Kimmy's going to get eventually?
Rodong Sinmun Thursday in a signed article called for maintaining the utmost vigilance against the U.S. carrot tactics and building up forces strong enough to cope with its stick tactics.
If you don't want the carrot, and you don't want the stick, what would you like? A pony's not an option, mind you...
Aggression and plunder represent the invariable nature of the U.S. imperialists, the article observed, and went on: The U.S. imperialists have used the carrot tactics in order to appease and deceive their rival, weaken and calm down his anti-U.S. sentiment and create illusion about them. The U.S. has employed a variety of the carrot tactics such as "peace," "aid" and "cooperation" to cover up nooses and thorns hidden in them. The U.S. imperialists become coward before the strong but get ferocious before the weak. They dare not wield a stick before the countries strong in political and ideological capability and enormous in military muscle.
Like Iraq? Remember the "Fourth Largest Army in the World"?
For the last several decades they have left no means untried to stifle the DPRK. The basic method employed by them is to stifle it by force of arms.
Like the time we attacked... ummm... uhhh...
Their nukes, carrier flotillas, strategic bombers and various types of missiles are involved in this stick tactics.
"Yeah! They been flyin' back and forth and sailin' back and forth and... ummm..."
The U.S. says that it has "no intention to invade north Korea." But this only betrays its ambition to dominate the whole of Korea at any cost by applying the carrot and the stick to the DPRK.
"They have no intention of invading us! Oh, the perfidy of it all!"
The article called upon the world progressive countries and peoples to clearly see through the U.S. imperialists' tactics for aggression and check and frustrate their crafty and vicious moves for aggression.
No juche, no songun, not even a few running dogs, but still a clear demonstration of the almost Islamic level of NKor logic...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 10:41:47 AM ||
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#1
Carrot and stick soup would be a huge improvement over the only NKor food group - bark and grass. They should be so lucky.
Let's see here, large phallic-shaped missiles in the picture, and endless discussion of carrots and sticks. It's more than food you're not getting enough of, isn't it?
#4
must hurt when your country's such a shithole nobody wants to invade
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/03/2005 11:21 Comments ||
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lol, raj!
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/03/2005 11:21 Comments ||
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You know, these crazy Rodong Ding-Dongs have been spouting the same deranged bullshit my entire life; I passed the half-century mark eons ago, and I can't remember ANY time when they weren't jabbering like a buncha howler monkeys hopped up on PCP.
We need to whack these idiots; I'm sick and tired of hearing their crap.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
04/03/2005 11:43 Comments ||
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An elderly man remains in a critical condition in hospital after an explosion destroyed a block of units in Perth in Western Australia.
The early morning blast was so powerful, the walls of several units collapsed.
Roof tiles and windows were damaged in neighbouring houses.
Seven people were treated in hospital.
A 71-year-old man remains in hospital with serious injures.
Detective Sergeant Steve Post says it was initially thought a gas leak was to blame, but police have now ruled that out.
"The bomb squad have indicated that it's probably not a gas explosion because of the large nature of the explosion that's taken place," he said.
"It's blown out a number of windows and caused significant damage to the structure.
"So they consider that it's not likely to be gas, it's likely to be an explosive device of some description."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
04/03/2005 4:51:38 PM ||
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#1
Becuase of the amount of mining that goes on here, a lot of people have access to explosives. If it was in the old mans unit, he probably brought a stick of dynamite home years ago, put in a cupboard and somehow it detonated.
A BOATLOAD of alleged illegal immigrants had been stopped in Indonesia with Australian assistance, Justice Minister Chris Ellison said today. Senator Ellison said 14 people of Pakistani-Afghan background had been detained by Indonesian authorities, suspected of trying to reach the Australian mainland. Australian authorities were involved in helping their Indonesian counterparts in stopping the people smuggling effort, he said. "This is an alleged attempt to bring people illegally to Australia and demonstrates the very good working relationship that we have with the Indonesian authorities," he said on Channel 10. "Of course we have Australian Federal Police and Australian immigration authorities working with the Indonesian authorities. They've done an excellent job in this case in thwarting what is an alleged attempt to bring people illegally to Australia."
Posted by: God Save The World ||
04/03/2005 4:35:17 AM ||
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Nice title - can you feel the MSM/Al-Rooters snark?
NOGALES, Ariz. (Reuters) - A civilian militia in Arizona seeking to stop illegal aliens coming in from Mexico claimed its first immigrant when a hapless Guatemalan wandered into the group's base camp seeking help. They, of course, shot him dead, being drunken white bigots with guns....no? They didn't?
A spokesman for the controversial Minuteman Project, which has rallied hundreds of volunteers to join a month-long vigil on the border, said on Sunday a Guatemalan migrant unwittingly walked into the camp. The volunteers then handed him to the Border Patrol. those bastards! Amigos de la Migra!
Apparently lost and desperate for food and water, the man headed for a Bible college on Friday in Palominas, just north of the Mexican border, unaware it was being used for a militia base camp. Since it usually functions to help illegals flood the U.S., huh?
"He inadvertently wandered into the hornets' nest," Minuteman spokesman Fred Elbel told Reuters. "He was stung?" "Uh..well...no...but they taunted him"
"But it turned out to be his lucky day," he added. "He was tired and dehydrated and we gave him medical attention, food and drink before handing him over to the Border Patrol." ooh those inhuman bastardos!
The U.S. Border Patrol had no immediate comment.
Organizers of the Minuteman Project, which takes its name from American Revolution militia, said volunteers would stake out a 20-mile stretch of the border with Mexico and report illegal aliens to the Border Patrol. The volunteers, including retirees and housewives from as far away as California and Maryland, begin their patrols on Monday and will continue until April 30.
President Bush calls them vigilantes and the Mexican government has warned it will file civil suits against any who lays a finger on Mexican nationals during the exercise.
The Arizona Border Patrol also says the militia is not welcome and has warned them that volunteers risk confrontations with increasingly violent drug and people traffickers.
Our president needs to get his head right and in front of this and seal the border except to legal immigrants. His legacy will forever be tainted as Fox's bitch, and he won't see Dollar one from me in contributions otherwise
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/03/2005 8:01:25 PM ||
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#1
There is a huge building boom going on here in Lubbock; new malls, private houses, medical offices and various other yuppy warrens going up seemingly at every intersection. This is all with little or no increase in population and no new industry.
A local developer recently confided to me that the reason is the "sharp drop in labor costs" making it possible to replace old units with new ones and "there is pressure to get this done while the (labor) climate is so favorable".
He didn't give any reason for this drop in labor costs but anyone who has been to one of the local sites can easily guess.
Incidentally, unemployment among union construction workers is at a record high in this area.
#2
Two days and only 1 illegal? Sounds like what they are doing is working. If the illegals get through the Mexican Army, now 1000 strong, on the far side of this section of border, and *then* they get past the newly-augumented Border Patrol guarding this section of border, then and only then do they have a chance of being seen by the Minutemen. What they ought to do is blow everybody's mind, and start doubling the distance between outposts. They might even stop illegals entering all of Arizona for a day or two, and cause several corporations stock to drop by a few percent.
A ranking leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) claimed Saturday that a recently arrested Indonesian with alleged links to the Jemaah Islamiyah was a "spy of the Philippine or the United States governments."
Muhammad Ameen, secretary to the office of MILF chair Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, said the arrested Indonesian national Rohmat, alias Zaki, is "another deep penetration agent" or spy of the Philippine military or the US Central Intelligence Agency tasked "to infiltrate the Abu Sayyaf."
Ameen based his claim on the treatment Rohman got after his arrest.
"Freely allowing Zaki to be interviewed on television a few days after the military provoked controversy for their stiff opposition to interviews of 'terrorists' is highly suspicious," Ameen was quoted as saying in a report posted at the rebels' website.
Earlier, Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan, Armed Forces of the Philippines deputy chief of staff, urged the media to shun giving interviews to suspected terrorists in line with the fight against terrorism.
Ameen charged that Rohmat "had himself arrested to tell a story already scripted."
Rohmat, who was arrested last month in Maguindanao, later appeared to tell his story on national television.
He claimed to have participated in the series of bomb attacks in the country last February 14 in the cities of Davao, General Santos and Makati that left eight people dead and over 150 others injured.
Rohmat claimed he was around when Abu Sayyaf chief Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Sayyaf spokesperson Abu Solaiman planned the Valentine's Day bomb attacks.
Rohmat also claimed the Abu Sayyaf has more plans to bomb places in Metro Manila and Mindanao, the suspect said.
Military officials said then that Rohmat trained members of the Abu Sayyaf in bomb-making.
Ameen's claim that the US government has spies in Mindanao was not the first.
Early this year, Senator Aquilino Pimentel, who hails from Mindanao, said there are a number of spies allegedly deployed by the US government in Mindanao.
American embassy officials immediately denied the senator's claim.
US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone told MindaNews in an interview in February tthat he "never said such thing" as the US having 70 military spies running around Mindanao.
"What I am saying is we have about 70 soldiers temporarily in Zamboanga. Sometimes they venture out.. but their main mission is Ops-Intel fusion. Ops-Intel-fusion is not spying. It is working in a rural area linking up computers, linking up data from the United States, from outside, money laundering, profile of bad guys, identities, fingerprints, photos, locally available⊠putting it together and making it availableâŠ"
Ameen dismissed charges that the MILF has links with the Jemaah Islamiya and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.
"This is an old story being kept alive to destroy the MILF as a revolutionary organization," Ameen said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/03/2005 4:19:56 PM ||
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Japan, increasingly concerned over piracy, and potential terrorism, in the Straits of Malacca, is offering to send coast guard ships to help patrol this vital waterway between Malaysia and Indonesia. Japan's economy would be badly hurt if the straights were closed, as this would force tankers and other merchant vessels to take longer routes to and from Japan. With the current shipping shortage, this would drive shipping rates way up. Japan has already been training Indonesian naval and coast guard personnel at Japanese bases.
Iran has dismissed as "false" claims of an Iranian asylum seeker that Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was tortured.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened. Nope..."
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said late on Friday that such unfounded claims are the product of adverse publicity by the Canadian press.
"It would have worked, except for that pesky press!"
Asefi stressed that officials of the hospital, where the man claimed working, have denied such a person was on their medical team.
"Never heard of him!"
He said the man's bogus claims were made for personal gain, adding there is a history of such people using the same tactic, but all their malicious intentions were soon brought to light. Sources say an Iranian asylum seeker in Ottawa, introducing himself a physician, claimed without presenting any proof, that Ms. Kazemi was tortured to death.
"Tortured to death? In Iran? Pshaw! Prob'ly choked on her tea. Happens all the time..."
Kazemi, a 54-year-old Iranian photojournalist, was arrested on June 23, 2003 on charges of violating security regulations while taking photographs of the prohibited zones in Tehran. She died of a brain complication at hospital a few days after her detention.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 11:25:27 AM ||
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welll then, OK, I guess that also explains the gang rape
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/03/2005 14:09 Comments ||
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Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi wound up a short visit to Syria and left here for Tehran Saturday night.
Popped in to give Baby Assad his latest marching orders, did he?
Kharrazi, who was here at the head of a political delegation, discussed with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara settlement of the ongoing crisis in the region. Talking to reporters, the Iranian minister assessed regional developments after the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri as `unpleasant'.
Toldja so...
He urged the regional states to have more contacts and consultations to prevent escalation of crisis in the sensitive Middle East region. Kharrazi, in a meeting with his Syrian counterpart here Saturday, stressed the important role Damascus plays in Arab and the Islamic world and added that the economic cooperation between Iran and Syria are expanding. He further referred to Tehran-Damascus relations as close and amicable. He expressed hope that bilateral consultations between the two states would be constructive for the entire region. In the meeting, Kharrazi and al-Shara also exchanged views on the latest developments in the occupied lands. The two ministers expressed their disgust over US false policies, stressing that injustice, discrimination and growing terrorism stem from the US continued support for the Zionist regime.
"Kharrazi, speaking for Boskone! Out!"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 11:19:45 AM ||
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That'd be Jean-Pierre on the left, Jean-Claude in the middle, and Jean-Louis on the right...
French ambassador to Tehran Francois Nicoullaud said here Friday there is not the slightest difference between Iran and France.
Oh, sure there is. The Medes and the Persians have turbans and the Frenchies have apache dancers...
Talking to IRNA, Nicoullaud called bilateral political, economic and cultural ties "very good" and said President Mohammad Khatami's Paris visit is a friendly visit, partly aimed to address the UNESCO meeting on Dialogue among Civilizations. Nicoullaud said French President Jacque Chirac had voiced interest to meet Khatami after his UNESCO address in order to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues. As ambassador of one of the three European heavyweights, being a negotiation party with Tehran on nuclear issues, Nicoullaud said his country does her best for success of the talks and would do all she can to ensure its success. He said, "As you know we are not alone in the talks and there are other countries in as well but France would do her best to play a more dynamic role in the talks."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 11:14:32 AM ||
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Envoy: Not least difference between Iran, France
For once, the frog speaks the truth.
Posted by: ed ||
04/03/2005 11:40 Comments ||
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#2
referring to their Anti-American policies, I guess?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/03/2005 12:12 Comments ||
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#3
Okay, burn me.... what's an Apache Dancer? Other than the obvious White Mt. variety.
#4
For once the frog is right: Both nations have not won a war in about 400 yrs (the frogs have won some battles, last of which was about 200 yrs ago).
The Syrian government has promised to remove all its troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon by April 30, the U.N. envoy said Sunday after meeting with Syria's president and foreign minister. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
04/03/2005 7:59:45 AM ||
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Syria will announce a timetable for the withdrawal of its remaining forces from Lebanon on Sunday, a Syrian official source said on Saturday. Syria has come under international pressure to end its 29-year military presence since the 14 February assassination of Lebanese former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. "The date and timetable will be announced tomorrow, Sunday, after it is given to UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen," said the source. Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara and Roed-Larsen will hold a joint news conference at 11:30am (0830 GMT) on Sunday after the UN envoy has met with President Bashar al-Assad. The source added that a Lebanese-Syrian military committee had met in Beirut and Damascus in the past few days to agree on the timetable.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Hope that 'announcing' does not have the same subtext like Soddy 'surrounding'.
The State Department yesterday called on Israel to forswear nuclear weapons and accept international Atomic Energy Agency safeguards on all nuclear activities.
This is the second time in about two weeks that officials in the Bush administration are putting the nuclear weapons of Israel, India and Pakistan on a par.
The officials called on the three to act like Ukraine and South Africa, which in the last decade renounced their nuclear weapons.
The similar phrasing used by the officials refers to Israel's military nuclear capability, as distinct from "nuclear option," which is to be rolled back, although not necessarily in the "foreseeable future."
The rare use of these terms contradicts the custom of senior administration officials to avoid any possible confirming reference to Israeli nuclear weapons.
The officials, who hold middle-level and lower ranks, are Jackie Wolcott Sanders, ambassador, Conference on Disarmament and special representative of the president for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and Mark Fitzpatrick, acting deputy assistant secretary for nonproliferation.
Sanders was quoted yesterday in the State Department's Electronic Journal, published ahead of the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference scheduled in New York at the beginning of May.
Fitzpatrick spoke on March 17 at a security conference of the Organization of American States (OAS).
On March 7 President George Bush called for a strengthening of the NPT regime and thwarting the efforts of rogue states and terrorists to obtain weapons of mass destruction. Bush devoted his statement to enforcing NPT clauses on treaty regime members (like North Korea and Iran) and ignored non-member states (India, Pakistan, Israel and Cuba).
In the past six years, since the Wye conference in 1998, presidents Clinton and Bush repeatedly promised then prime ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak and also Ariel Sharon that Israel's strategic capability to protect itself will not be harmed.
Israeli experts on Bush's nuclear policy say that the president is focusing on objecting to the nuclear process of North Korea and Iran, and even approves aid to India - in nuclear energy among other things - and to Pakistan (selling F-16 planes), while far lower ranks abound with verbal formulas to excuse the withdrawal of the NPT regime during the Bush era.
Sanders and Fitzpatrick refrained from calling on Israel, India and Pakistan explicitly to renounce their weapons. The expectation of these three states was phrased in terms of a vow - a verbal pledge to forswear, rather than real action. Nor was this demand accompanied by a time table, conditions and sanctions.
An official known for his sympathy for Israel, Robert Joseph, has been nominated undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, and has been serving in a similar position on the staff of the National Security Council. His predecessor in the post is UN ambassador-designate John Bolton, also known for his sympathy for Israel.
Sanders and Fitzpatrick hold more junior ranks in the administration.
In her statement yesterday Sanders said: "The Conference should also reinforce the goal of universal NPT adherence and reaffirm that India, Israel and Pakistan may join the NPT only as non-nuclear-weapon states. Just as South Africa and Ukraine did in the early 1990s, these states should forswear nuclear weapons and accept IAEA safeguards on all nuclear activities to join the treaty. At the same time, we recognize that progress toward universal adherence is not likely in the foreseeable future. The United States continues to support the goals of the Middle East resolution adopted at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference, including the achievement of a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction."
According to the Israeli experts, the American administration does not want to expand nuclear proliferation to additional states in the region and agrees that in time it would be preferable to have the Middle East nuclear free, but disagrees with the immediate adoption of a policy which would prevent American forces like the Sixth Fleet ships and airplanes from carrying nuclear warheads in bombs and missiles as well.
This is the seventh time that the Review Conference is convening, to mark the 35th year of the NPT's establishment. The conference, held every five years, will end at the end of May, shortly before the IAEA governing council meets in Vienna in June to elect a director general. The U.S. has not decided yet whether to support incumbent IAEA Director General, Mohammed ElBaradei for another term. ?
#4
It's the usual diplospeak. Since the first thing US diplomats hear when they want states like Pakistan to give up nukes, they hear: but, but Israel?
So now they have told Israel to give em up, too, and they can go back to business.
It's obvious that India or Pakistan won't give up their nukes, but at least we talked about it?
Not to mention that lovely country with the turbans.
THE typical recruit to al-Qaeda is Western-educated and has a wealthy, professional background, according to a new study.
The analysis of 500 members of Osama bin Laden's organisation has turned Western experts' presumptions about al-Qa'ida upside down.
Marc Sageman, a forensic psychiatrist who conducted the study, said he assumed it would find that most recruits were poor and ill-educated.
"The common stereotype is that terrorism is a product of poor, desperate, naive, single young men from Third World countries, vulnerable to brainwashing and recruitment into terror," he said.
However, his study showed 75per cent of the al-Qaeda members were from upper-middle-class homes and that many were married with children; 60 were college-educated, often in Europe or the US.
Some, such as British-born terrorist Omar Sheikh, were educated at fee-paying schools before heading for Afghanistan, Bosnia or Chechnya.
Sheikh, who has been sentenced to death in Pakistan for his role in the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, attended Aitchison College in Lahore, Pakistan, and the fee-paying Forest school in east London.
Dr Sageman said most of the terrorists came from a small number of wealthy Arab countries, from immigrant communities in the West or from Southeast Asia. Few were from poor Islamic countries such as Afghanistan.
"Al-Qaeda was very selective at first in terms of who it recruited," said Dr Sageman, a former CIA officer who once worked with anti-Soviet mujaheddin fighters while based in Islamabad.
"If you look at the Saudis who have been killed while fighting for the organisation, you find the majority come from Riyadh, the capital, rather than poor rural provinces."
He said most grew up in caring families concerned about their communities.
The men in Dr Sageman's sample joined al-Qaeda at an average age of 26. About half grew up as religious children, but only 13 - mostly from Southeast Asia - attended Islamic schools.
The study is backed by Abdullah Anas, a former senior mujaheddin commander in Afghanistan who now lives in London.
"There is no question (but) that most of those who came to Afghanistan in the 1980s were from middle-class backgrounds - teachers, doctors, accountants or imams," he said. "Most came with their families."
But Dr Sageman and Mr Anas agree that more recent al-Qaeda recruits are likely to come from less privileged backgrounds.
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04/03/2005 6:04:08 PM ||
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Israel's ambassador to Ethiopia died on Sunday in Jerusalem, the Foreign Ministry said, four days after he was found unconscious with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. Officials said Doron Grossman, 48, was in advanced stages of incurable cancer. He was found gravely wounded in his Addis Ababa apartment and flown to Israel for treatment, but he did not regain consciousness. Police ruled out criminal involvement.
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Grossman, "slated for promotion," was recently appointed as Israel's ambassador to South Africa. Israeli officials said that Grossman played an important role as ambassador in overseeing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's efforts to bring to Israel the Falash Mura, who claim descent from Ethiopian Jews forced to convert to Christianity in the 19th century. Sharon's government in 2003 gave the go-ahead for some 20,000 Falash Mura to immigrate under Israel's Law of Return, which grants Jews anywhere in the world the right to immigrate to Israel and claim citizenship.
Iraqi politicians have elected a Sunni Arab to be the Speaker of Parliament.
In an open ballot, the members of the 275-seat National Assembly voted overwhelmingly to elect Industry Minister Hajem al-Hassani as Speaker.
Shiite politician Hussain Shahristani and Kurdish lawmaker Arif Tayfor were elected as deputy speakers.
The Shiites and Kurds, who came first and second in the January 30 election, had agreed between them that a member of the once dominant Sunni Arab minority should be Speaker.
Around 240 members of the Assembly were present for the vote.
The vote took place hours after insurgents mounted a brazen attack on Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, battling US forces for an hour.
Forty-four US troops were wounded.
The process of forming a government has been drawn out by sharp differences between the Islamist-led Shiite alliance and the more secular Kurds over who should get what Cabinet posts.
Parliament's last meeting on March 29 descended into chaos after politicians berated their leaders for not reaching decisions more quickly.
Live TV coverage of the event was cut.
Next step
Iraq's Parliament says it will announce the names of the country's new president, vice presidents and prime minister by Wednesday.
The president is expected to be Jalal Talabani, a Kurd. One of the vice presidents will likely be Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shi'ite.
Senior Iraqi officials have raised concerns that the longer it takes to form a government, the more it will fuel the insurgency by making elected authorities appear indecisive.
Once a president and the vice presidents are approved by two-thirds of the Assembly, the Presidential Council will have two weeks to name a prime minister.
The prime minister will decide on a Cabinet.
In other developments:
The Al Qaeda-linked group of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has claimed responsibility for a massive assault on Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
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04/03/2005 5:04:06 PM ||
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Al Qaida-aligned operatives have launched a campaign to assassinate Shi'ite leaders.
Iraqi officials said operatives linked to Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, head of Al Qaida in Iraq, have been recruiting and planning strikes on Shi'ite leaders and mosques. They said Al Qaida has sought to foment a sectarian war in Iraq that would lead to the early exit of the U.S.-led coalition.
"We know for certain that Zarqawi is involved and perhaps even a leader in the effort," an Iraqi official said. "What we don't know is whether he is operating on his own or on behalf of the former regime [of Saddam Hussein]."
On March 17, Iraqi authorities announced the capture of an Islamic operative ordered to kill Shi'ite spiritual leader Ali Sistani. The operative was identified as a Kurd from Mosul and directed by Ansar Al Islam, a group controlled by Al Zarqawi.
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The WMD commission also blasted the intelligence community's failings on the al Qaeda terrorist organization. It was only after the invasion of Afghanistan, the panel says, that analysts understood the scope of Osama bin Laden's programs to develop biological and nuclear weapons.
The analysts' most weighty prewar judgment--that al Qaeda lacked a nuclear device--was "made in the absence of any hard data." But most troubling, the report suggests, is the lack of knowledge about a biological weapon referred to in the unclassified version only as "Agent X," which sources tell U.S. News was a strain of anthrax. Hints of al Qaeda experimenting with anthrax have been reported before, but the report reveals an official assessment that the group "probably" acquired "at least a small quantity of this virulent strain and had plans to assemble devices to disperse the agent." The program was based at several sites in Afghanistan, two of them stocked with commercial lab gear and staffed by operatives "with special training." At the center of the activity, sources say, was Yazid Sufaat, a former Malaysian Army captain who had studied biochemistry at a state college in California. Sufaat allegedly created several front companies for al Qaeda and its Malaysian affiliate, Jemaah Islamiyah.
Ominously, the report warns that questions remain about al Qaeda's WMD efforts that can be answered only by improving spy operations. But the commission also says that counterterrorism efforts could be jeopardized by a "bitter" bureaucratic turf battle between the new joint FBI-CIA National Counterterrorism Center and the CIA's own Counterterrorism Center. Amid confusion over responsibilities, the two agencies have competed for resources and issued overlapping, sometimes inconsistent, warnings. The report concludes the new national intelligence director "will have to force the nation's counterterrorism organizations to concentrate more fully on fighting terrorists, rather than each other."
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04/03/2005 4:26:09 PM ||
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TWO years after the huge statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled in the centre of Baghdad, the tide could finally be turning against the country's insurgents.
Although the euphoria that accompanied the demolition of the statue has long since evaporated, some observers are beginning to wonder whether the insurgency in Iraq is at last running out of steam.
The US military has experienced its least deadly month for more than a year. Operations along with the newly formed Iraqi police have snared a number of leading terrorists with links to al-Qaeda and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The casualty data for March shows that 39 American and coalition troops were killed during the month - the lowest toll since February 2004.
US deaths have now dropped for three months in a row, from 106 in January to 56 in February and 35 in March. Attacks on US troops are also down from over 100 before the January 30 election to around 60 today. Among the March figures were one British death and three from other coalition countries.
Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita says: "The intelligence is getting better. We have apprehended or killed an enormous number of insurgents, so we may well be seeing people who are less skilled at what they're doing. Their ability to anticipate and target is becoming cruder because the coalition's intelligence is getting better."
But there is much to be cautious about. CNN, which publishes detailed analyses of casualties in Iraq on its website, including the identities of all those killed, says: "The fatality trend line is at 8.3 this week - the lowest level for a year. However, both fatalities and the number of wounded, while reaching low levels, have increased in each of the past three weeks. The recent increases may be indications of the start of a new second anniversary insurgency."
Grim confirmation that the insurgency can still inflict lethal blows came with the deaths of four more US soldiers in separate incidents at the end of last week. Yet the downward trend in attacks since the January 30 elections may be a sign that the tide has turned.
The Pentagon's view is that the insurgency is losing momentum in the wake of Iraq's experiment with democracy. It also believes that US counter-insurgency operations are having an effect, with US commanders reporting that troops are finding more bombs before they go off and that the bombs are less sophisticated.
Last week, Iraq's interim interior minister, Falah al-Naqib, claimed that the progress was due to the growing number of Iraqi security forces, and that not only were the attacks decreasing but also claiming fewer victims. He said it was easier for them to gather intelligence on insurgents than it was for US troops.
American defence officials now put the number of trained Iraqi security forces at 142,472. The total includes only those who have both the training and equipment to fight. These forces consist of 81,889 trained and equipped police, highway patrol and other forces in the Ministry of Interior Forces, and 60,583 troops in the Ministry of Defence Forces.
The suicide bombing of army barracks, police stations and recruiting queues resulting in many deaths is the biggest obstacle to building up local forces.
Yesterday a car bomb exploded in Khan Bani Saad, near the city of Baqouba, killing five Iraqis, including four police officers on patrol, while gunmen killed an education official in Baghdad. But many recruits are refusing to be intimidated. Moreover, a $5bn American-financed effort has bought Iraqi units more than 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles, 100,000 flak jackets, 110,000 pistols, 6,000 cars and pick-up trucks, and 230 million rounds of ammunition.
No one is certain how many insurgents there are. Including foot soldiers, safe-house operators, organisers and financiers, the number is estimated at between 12,000 and 20,000 - but there is some evidence that they are under pressure.
US officials say that since the elections Iraqis have begun providing information on suspicious activities or people, encouraged by the state-run television station that broadcasts the confessions of alleged insurgents.
Michael O'Hanlon, an expert on Iraq at the Brookings Institution in Washington, says that the current mood of optimism is damaging insurgent recruitment and has turned public opinion against the militants. "There's more and more a sense that the insurgents are attacking Iraqis and Iraq itself," he says. If the insurgents continue to focus attacks on Iraqi officials, O'Hanlon added, the conflict "could become more of a civil war".
Militants are focusing their attacks on Iraqi government and security officials because there are more of them on the streets every day. Ali al-Faisal, a member of the Shiite clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance, the largest group in the new parliament, says the change is because Iraqi police are taking the lead in fighting the insurgency.
"In the past they were targeting the American forces because they were in charge of security," he said. "After the new Iraqi army and police were established and succeeded in maintaining security and began annihilating them, the insurgents shifted their attacks."
However, the situation is not being helped by the failure of the political parties to follow the timetable designed to lead to elections at the end of the year. Deadlock prevails in the national assembly, which has now met three times without being able to agree on a president, prime minister and a speaker of the house, delaying the drawing up a new constitution.
The two groups which emerged as winners in the elections, the Kurds and the Shia, are at loggerheads in what is more than a classic power struggle. It is not just a question of dividing up the top jobs - at stake is the character of the new Iraq.
The Kurds want substantial autonomy in any new government. They also have a secular outlook. The Shia want a united Iraq run from the centre in Baghdad, in which Islamic values will be accorded high priority.
At a late stage, the main losers, the Sunnis, who boycotted the elections, have entered the fray, complicating the bargaining game. But they themselves are not united. Officials from the Shia Muslim majority say the delay is due to efforts to find a Sunni Muslim candidate for speaker who is acceptable to all parties.
Professor Juan Cole, author of a widely respected web diary on events in Iraq, says: "Two sticking points in the negotiations are the role of Islam in the new government and who gets the ministry of petroleum. The Kurds want it as a way of getting hold of the oil city of Kirkuk, which they covet. The Shiites want it because they have the huge Rumaila oil field in the south." I take issue with the characterization of Cole, but okay ...
The deadlock is diverting the new government from restoring law and order - the top priority for most Iraqis. Iraqi health ministry figures show that record numbers of Iraqi civilians are meeting violent deaths, often as a result of violence unconnected with the insurgency, such as kidnappings, car-jackings and local vendettas.
A lot of the violence is caused by ethnic, tribal and religious rivalries that were suppressed by Saddam's regime.
The physical reconstruction of the country remains stalled, foreign contractors are too scared to travel to work sites, and basic amenities such as electricity, water and petrol are in short supply.
US deaths have now dropped for three months in a row, from 106 in January to 56 in February and 35 in March. Attacks on US troops are also down from over 100 before the January 30 election to around 60 today. Among the March figures were one British death and three from other coalition countries.
Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita says: "The intelligence is getting better. We have apprehended or killed an enormous number of insurgents, so we may well be seeing people who are less skilled at what they're doing. Their ability to anticipate and target is becoming cruder because the coalition's intelligence is getting better."
But there is much to be cautious about. CNN, which publishes detailed analyses of casualties in Iraq on its website, including the identities of all those killed, says: "The fatality trend line is at 8.3 this week - the lowest level for a year. However, both fatalities and the number of wounded, while reaching low levels, have increased in each of the past three weeks. The recent increases may be indications of the start of a new second anniversary insurgency."
Grim confirmation that the insurgency can still inflict lethal blows came with the deaths of four more US soldiers in separate incidents at the end of last week. Yet the downward trend in attacks since the January 30 elections may be a sign that the tide has turned.
The Pentagon's view is that the insurgency is losing momentum in the wake of Iraq's experiment with democracy. It also believes that US counter-insurgency operations are having an effect, with US commanders reporting that troops are finding more bombs before they go off and that the bombs are less sophisticated.
Last week, Iraq's interim interior minister, Falah al-Naqib, claimed that the progress was due to the growing number of Iraqi security forces, and that not only were the attacks decreasing but also claiming fewer victims. He said it was easier for them to gather intelligence on insurgents than it was for US troops.
American defence officials now put the number of trained Iraqi security forces at 142,472. The total includes only those who have both the training and equipment to fight. These forces consist of 81,889 trained and equipped police, highway patrol and other forces in the Ministry of Interior Forces, and 60,583 troops in the Ministry of Defence Forces.
The suicide bombing of army barracks, police stations and recruiting queues resulting in many deaths is the biggest obstacle to building up local forces.
Yesterday a car bomb exploded in Khan Bani Saad, near the city of Baqouba, killing five Iraqis, including four police officers on patrol, while gunmen killed an education official in Baghdad. But many recruits are refusing to be intimidated. Moreover, a $5bn American-financed effort has bought Iraqi units more than 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles, 100,000 flak jackets, 110,000 pistols, 6,000 cars and pick-up trucks, and 230 million rounds of ammunition.
No one is certain how many insurgents there are. Including foot soldiers, safe-house operators, organisers and financiers, the number is estimated at between 12,000 and 20,000 - but there is some evidence that they are under pressure.
US officials say that since the elections Iraqis have begun providing information on suspicious activities or people, encouraged by the state-run television station that broadcasts the confessions of alleged insurgents.
Michael O'Hanlon, an expert on Iraq at the Brookings Institution in Washington, says that the current mood of optimism is damaging insurgent recruitment and has turned public opinion against the militants. "There's more and more a sense that the insurgents are attacking Iraqis and Iraq itself," he says. If the insurgents continue to focus attacks on Iraqi officials, O'Hanlon added, the conflict "could become more of a civil war".
Militants are focusing their attacks on Iraqi government and security officials because there are more of them on the streets every day. Ali al-Faisal, a member of the Shiite clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance, the largest group in the new parliament, says the change is because Iraqi police are taking the lead in fighting the insurgency.
"In the past they were targeting the American forces because they were in charge of security," he said. "After the new Iraqi army and police were established and succeeded in maintaining security and began annihilating them, the insurgents shifted their attacks."
However, the situation is not being helped by the failure of the political parties to follow the timetable designed to lead to elections at the end of the year. Deadlock prevails in the national assembly, which has now met three times without being able to agree on a president, prime minister and a speaker of the house, delaying the drawing up a new constitution.
The two groups which emerged as winners in the elections, the Kurds and the Shia, are at loggerheads in what is more than a classic power struggle. It is not just a question of dividing up the top jobs - at stake is the character of the new Iraq.
The Kurds want substantial autonomy in any new government. They also have a secular outlook. The Shia want a united Iraq run from the centre in Baghdad, in which Islamic values will be accorded high priority.
At a late stage, the main losers, the Sunnis, who boycotted the elections, have entered the fray, complicating the bargaining game. But they themselves are not united. Officials from the Shia Muslim majority say the delay is due to efforts to find a Sunni Muslim candidate for speaker who is acceptable to all parties.
Professor Juan Cole, author of a widely respected web diary on events in Iraq, says: "Two sticking points in the negotiations are the role of Islam in the new government and who gets the ministry of petroleum. The Kurds want it as a way of getting hold of the oil city of Kirkuk, which they covet. The Shiites want it because they have the huge Rumaila oil field in the south."
The deadlock is diverting the new government from restoring law and order - the top priority for most Iraqis. Iraqi health ministry figures show that record numbers of Iraqi civilians are meeting violent deaths, often as a result of violence unconnected with the insurgency, such as kidnappings, car-jackings and local vendettas.
A lot of the violence is caused by ethnic, tribal and religious rivalries that were suppressed by Saddam's regime.
The physical reconstruction of the country remains stalled, foreign contractors are too scared to travel to work sites, and basic amenities such as electricity, water and petrol are in short supply.
These diverse trends are being closely watched inside and outside Iraq for any sign that might indicate when the US and other governments will begin to withdraw their troops - first from the cities and then from the country.
The Bush administration says that a trained Iraqi security force is the key to the US withdrawal because Iraqis would then be able to secure their own country.
Air Force Lt Gen Lance Smith, deputy commander of US Central Command, says that US forces could begin coming home in significant numbers if insurgent violence is low through the general elections scheduled for the end of this year.
But a resurgent insurgency, setbacks in the Iraqi security forces or missed deadlines by the transitional government, could delay any significant withdrawal, he adds.
O'Hanlon argues that only when the coalition governments announce a timetable for withdrawal will the insurgency really run out of steam. "Most of the growth in the insurgency has come from Sunni Arabs who were 'fence-sitters' in the early months after Hussein fell. They now seem motivated primarily by anger at foreign forces, which they perceive as occupiers," he says.
"The perception of coalition forces as latter-day imperialists is fundamentally unfair and wrong, but it is widespread."
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04/03/2005 4:24:54 PM ||
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Lawmakers broke days of rancorous stalemate Sunday and reached out to Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority for their parliament speaker, cutting through ethnic and sectarian barriers that have held up selection of a new government for more than two months since the country's first free elections in 50 years.
Deputies still face, however, difficult choices for Cabinet posts and failed again to name a new president — broadly expected to be Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani. That choice and those of two vice presidents were put off until a Wednesday session that could mark a major milestone as Iraq tries to build a democratic government and civil society.
Once the president and his deputies are selected, they have 14 days to choose a prime minister, the most powerful position in Iraq's envisioned government hierarchy. That job was widely believed reserved for Ibrahim al-Jaafari, of the Shiite Muslim majority.
Pressure is building on parliamentarians, with some growing frustrated with the slow pace of forming a government, because they have an Aug. 15 deadline to write a permanent constitution — a task that cannot be undertaken until a government is in place.
Sunday's selection as speaker — Industry Minister Hajim al-Hassani, one of only 17 Sunni Arabs in parliament — could signal progress in the political tussle over selecting politicians for key Cabinet posts, a process that has been snarled by disagreement over how to reach out to the Sunnis.
They are believed to make up the backbone of the Iraqi insurgency, were dominant under ousted dictator Saddam Hussein and largely boycotted the Jan. 30 elections or stayed home for fear of being attacked at the polls.
The choice of al-Hassani, however, was not well received in all quarters.
Osama Abdulfatah, a 30-year-old architect and a Sunni, said the new speaker's support last year of the U.S. assault on the militant stronghold of Fallujah showed he "does not have beliefs, and will never do anything against his benefit."
Al-Hassani refused to quit as industry ministry even though his Iraqi Islamic Party pulled out of the interim government over the issue.
"How could we just trust such a traitor?" Abdulfatah asked.
Former nuclear scientist Hussain al-Shahristani, a Shiite, and Kurdish official Aref Taifour were chosen deputy speakers.
The speaker's job, not the most sought-after positions in the still-forming Iraqi hierarchy, produced more than a week of sometimes angry haggling. A Tuesday session ended in shouting and finger-pointing with reporters hustled out of the chamber to keep them from witnessing more of the angry exchanges as deputies tried to agree on candidates.
"It's time for the patient Iraqi people to be treated with the dignity that God has given them," al-Hassani said Sunday, accepting his new post.
"If we neglect our duties and fail, then we will hurt ourselves and the people will replace us with others," al-Hassani said, urging cooperation among lawmakers.
Voting was by paper ballot, with each legislator allowed to select as many as three names to fill the posts of speaker and two deputies. The top three were Al-Hassani with 215 votes, al-Shahristani won 157 and Taifour captured 96.
Lawmakers appeared largely happy with the choice of the three men, but some expressed disappointment that a president was not chosen as planned.
"I am optimistic," said Fathallah Ghazi of the Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance. "But I think that it would have been better if the president's council was named today because there was no reason to delay this issue."
Others called for back-to-back meetings this week.
"After this delay, we need continuous meetings throughout the week until we finalize the main points," Alliance leader Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim said.
But the next meeting was not scheduled until Wednesday, and al-Hassani urged patience, asking lawmakers to pledge their "allegiance to the country and the people, not to the party or the sect or the ethnicity."
His remarks drew applause.
Shortly after the vote, what was believed to have been a mortar round slammed to ground near the lawmakers' meeting place, the Foreign Ministry which is not far outside the fortified Green Zone. There were no reported casualties.
During the session, some lawmakers called for the release of detainees in U.S. military prisons, a day after dozens of insurgents attacked the Abu Ghraib prison in western Baghdad with car bombs, gunfire, and rocket propelled grenades.
One insurgent died in the 40-minute firefight that wounded 44 American troops and 13 prisoners.
An Internet statement purportedly by al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility Sunday. The claim could not be independently verified.
It was unclear if the clash was aimed at helping prisoners escape. The militants did not breach the prison walls, and no detainees were set free.
Some soldiers were evacuated with serious injuries, officials said, but many wounds were minor and treated at the scene.
Also Sunday, the U.S. military announced that two U.S. service members had been killed — one by an explosion during combat a day earlier in the central city of Hadithah, another when a homemade bomb exploded on Sunday. It also said two car bombings in the troubled northern city of Mosul killed one Iraqi civilian and wounded several others.
The U.S. military also released details of an investigation that confirmed a Bulgarian soldier was killed last month by friendly fire during a clash with U.S. soldiers.
The investigation found that Gurdi Gurdev was fatally wounded March 4 in southern Iraq when U.S. and Bulgarian forces "fired on each other in response to what each believed to be a hostile act from a legitimate military target," according to a statement released by the U.S. military.
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04/03/2005 4:14:58 PM ||
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Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq said on Sunday seven suicide bombers spearheaded its brazen overnight raid on Abu Ghraib prison that wounded 44 U.S. soldiers, according to an Internet statement.
In a statement on Saturday's raid on the notorious facility outside Baghdad, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group said its fighters killed "dozens of Americans," destroyed more than 15 vehicles and shot down an Apache helicopter.
It said 57 fighters attacked watchtowers from four sides and "silenced them" as seven suicide bombers detonated vehicles laden with explosives around the facility.
"Three martyrs were ⊠(killed) while infiltrating the infidels' fortresses, and seven other martyrdom seekers went to heaven after they blew up the enemyâŠ," said the statement posted on a Web site used by Islamists.
The U.S. military said dozens of insurgents carried out the attack, detonating two car bombs and firing rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. forces before the assault was repelled.
"Your brothers in the al Qaeda Organization (for Holy War) in Iraq launched a well-planned attack on Abu Ghraib prison, where Muslim women and men are held," the group said in another statement.
It said the battle, which also involved missile strikes, lasted most of the night.
"Columns of smoke were seen rising from the crusaders' bases," the statement said. "This battle is part of a series of raids ⊠which began yesterday across the land of Mesopotamia."
The group said it would provide a film of the attack soon.
Besides the 44 U.S. troops wounded, 12 detainees were hurt, one seriously. The U.S. military said at least one insurgent was killed.
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04/03/2005 4:08:03 PM ||
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#1
"Three martyrs were ⦠(killed) while infiltrating the infidelsâ fortresses, and seven other martyrdom seekers went to heaven after they blew up the enemyâ¦," said the statement posted on a Web site used by Islamists.
...But to paraphrase a line I heard years ago, if blood were brown they'd ALL be martyrs.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/03/2005 17:10 Comments ||
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Pakistani nuclear scientists A Q Khan and Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood had held meetings with Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders, exchanged letters with militant groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba and attended their gatherings and rallies, a media report said.
"When the CIA searched Sultan Bashiruddin Mehmood's UTN (Umma Tameere-Nau) office in Kabul, they found large amounts of data on the construction and maintenance of nuclear weapons from the Kahuta laboratories. It also found letters exchanged between the UTN and Islamist extremist organisations including Lashkar-e-Toiba," a report in Pakistani weekly Friday Times said.
Mehmood, a close confidante of A Q Khan and a former director of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, was arrested on October 23, 2001, at the headquarters of the UTN which he had set up for "humanitarian work in Afghanistan", it said. Quoting the famed journal Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the article said Khan and Mehmood and other scientists of his organisation "attended Lashkar-e-Toiba gatherings".
Khan also appeared in the rallies of the LeT headed by Hafeez Saeed. The militant outfit, which later changed its name to Jamaat al-Dawaa after being banned, "is alleged to have helped in equipping al-Qaeda with 'dirty' bombs," the article said.
Mehmood and Khan were also known to have held meetings with top Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden, the paper said.
It said Mehmood "may have been a genius, but he was crazy in his religious zeal" and had a firm belief that plutonium enrichment in Pakistan "should not be kept secret and should be passed around to Islamic countries to challenge Israel and the West. He also had expert knowledge of the global nuclear black market". After his arrest, Mehmood had denied he had ever met bin Laden. However, after months of questioning "he admitted to having met Osama, Al Zawhiri and other al-Qaeda members repeatedly, including on the day al-Qaeda struck in New York (9/11)".
This article starring:
HAFIZ SAID
Jamaat al-Dawaa
SULTAN BASHIRUDIN MEHMUD
Umma Tameere-Nau
Jamaat al-Dawaa
Umma Tameere-Nau
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Hardly anyone was more surprised by Iraq's insurgency than Osama bin Laden. The terrorist chief had never foreseen its sudden, ferocious spread, and he was likewise unprepared for the abrupt rise of its most homicidal commander, Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi. Bin Laden and his aides knew the Jordanian-born Palestinian from Zarqawi's Afghan days, but mostly as a short-tempered bully and a troublemaker. So in the late summer of 2003, unwilling to sit on the sidelines, bin Laden sent two of his most trusted men to assess the Iraqi resistance and carve out a leading role for Al Qaeda. "The resistance happened faster than we expected, and differently, so we were not prepared to assist and direct it," one of the two envoys later told a senior Taliban official. "The sheik sent me to see how we could help."
The Taliban man recently told the envoy's story to NEWSWEEK. He personally heard the account from the envoy, a top-ranking Qaeda member known as Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi, at a meeting last December in western Pakistan. The Taliban official, who uses the name Zabihullah, is a liaison between his group and Al Qaeda. Many of the account's details are borne out by interviews with other well-informed jihadis. Officials familiar with U.S. intelligence, while refusing to discuss many of the story's specifics, confirm that its fundamentals are accurate.
The two bin Laden envoys traveled overland from Afghanistan separately. One never got to Iraq. Authorities in Iran later announced that they had apprehended the Egyptian-born Saif al-Adel, and he seems to be there still. Al-Iraqi did better. Those who know him say he fits in perfectly wherever he goes. Born in Iraqi Kurdistan about 1960, he rose to the rank of major in Saddam Hussein's Army before joining the jihad in Afghanistan in the late 1980s. He speaks not only Arabic but Urdu, Kurdish, the Waziri tribal dialect of Pashtu and a courtly form of Persian. In the palatial salons of the gulf states he has raised millions of dollars for Al Qaeda. But dressed for the part he can easily pass for a mountain tribesman. "He's just like any Afghan," says Zabihullah. "He doesn't have the arrogance and formality of other Arabs."
Al-Iraqi needed all the poise and charm he could muster for his mission to the insurgents. By the time he reached Iraq, in late 2003, Zarqawi had built a fearsome team of resistance fighters. The Jordanian considered himself to be the obvious choice for Al Qaeda's top man in Iraq. He was livid at the news that bin Laden had chosen al-Iraqi for the job. "I'm already here!" Zarqawi told al-Iraqi. "So why is the sheik sending someone else?"
No one but Zarqawi could see much mystery there. Zarqawi was widely disliked in Afghanistan. Even bin Laden was repulsed by reports of his vicious temper and gratuitous cruelty. In the late 1990s, commanding a unit of Arab irregulars near Afghanistan's Iranian border, the Jordanian terrorized local civilians and infuriated Taliban leaders. Mullah Mohammed Omar's men had just taken control of the area and were trying to win the trust of its mostly Shiite inhabitants. When Zarqawi wasn't busy persecuting Shiites, he wrangled with other Arabs and with the local Taliban chief.
Zarqawi had "a terrifying face," al-Iraqi recalled later. But the envoy said he knew at once that Zarqawi was exactly what Al Qaeda needed. "There is no doubt that he is the best man to lead foreign and Iraqi insurgents in Iraq," al-Iraqi told bin Laden when he got back to the caves, according to Zabihullah's account. "He deserves our support." The envoy has made three trips to Iraq since then. Just before the last, in September, a London-based Arabic-language daily quoted Zarqawi as repudiating bin Laden and Al Qaeda: "I have not sworn allegiance to the sheik and I am not working within the framework of his organization." But after meeting again with al-Iraqi, the Jordanian proclaimed his loyalty to bin Laden and announced a new name for his terrorist group: "Al Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers." "I'm a loyal soldier and ready to sacrifice myself to the sheik, who is our leader," he told al-Iraqi.
Bin Laden replied by issuing an audiotape that praised Zarqawi's exploits and called him the "prince of Al Qaeda in Iraq." The tape instructed all Qaeda supporters to follow Zarqawi's orders. Bin Laden had already made his wishes known to Zarqawi via al-Iraqi. "My greatest wish is for you to keep the resistance alive and growing, to increase the number of local insurgents and give the Iraqis more decision-making powers," Zarqawi was told. "Make it as much of an Iraqi organization as possible." Bin Laden also urged his prince to widen the war against America: "We have to expand our attacks on the enemy outside Iraq."
The envoy is proud of his work. "I'm the person who broke the silence and solved the difficulties between Zarqawi and the Al Qaeda leadership," he told Zabihullah. Donations to Al Qaeda's coffers had dried up as bin Laden's top men were killed or captured. Now private money is once again flooding in. Bin Laden himself is looking more confident and relaxedmaybe too relaxed, al-Iraqi said. When he visited the Qaeda leader in November, the envoy noticed fewer checkpoints than previously along the trail. "The sheik has a new mentality and is more healthy," he told Zabi-hullah. On his last visit to Iraq, the envoy got an offer from Zarqawi: if life got too risky in the mountains along Pakistan's border, bin Laden would be welcome to take refuge with him among the insurgents in Iraq. The envoy politely declined. At present, the Qaeda leader seems to be doing just fine where he is.
This article starring:
ABDUL HADI AL IRAQI
al-Qaeda
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI
al-Qaeda
SAIF AL ADEL
al-Qaeda
ZABIHULLAH
Taliban
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
04/03/2005 4:03:45 PM ||
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Iraqi national assembly breaks out of two-month political impasse to name speaker — outgoing industry minister Sunni Arab Hajem al-Hassani, two deputy speakers Shiite Hussain Shahristani and Kurdish politician Arif Tayfor. Names of president, vice presidents and prime minister promised by Wednesday.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
04/03/2005 10:14:42 AM ||
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A chance meeting between Krakow Archbishop Wojtyla and Harvard professor Brzezinski in 1976 produced a formula that 15 years later shook the Soviet empire and set democratic revolutions rolling through Eastern Europe until today. But the same religious weapon Brzezinksi applied to Muslim lands had a different end-product: Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda war on the West.
Posted by: Sobiesky ||
04/03/2005 12:01:48 AM ||
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This article is from Friday April 1, but if carried out would present some problems to both the military effort as well as Afghan transport. I don't see how to deny fuel to military forces w/o cutting off all fuel shipments. No sense in becoming hostage to internal Pakistan politics. Better to import fuel from Tadjikistan and Uzbekistan and help their economy, than feed the Paki stupidity.
PESHAWAR: The All Pakistan Oil Tanker Owners Association (APOTOA) continued its strike on Thursday for an acceptance of its 20-point demand charter, saying it would stop supplying oil to US forces in Afghanistan from today (Friday).
Haji Muhammad Ayub, APOTOA's NWFP president, told Daily Times that oil and diesel supplies to US and allied forces in Afghanistan would be stopped from today unless the government accepted their 20-point demand charter. About 150 oil tankers cross into Afghanistan every day via Torkham and each tanker carries about 40,000 litres of fuel to US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.
He said APOTOA had allowed 37 oil tankers into Afghanistan on Thursday, but would stop all tankers from crossing Torkham from today.
APOTOA office-bearers met NWFP Governor Khalilur Rehman on Thursday, but the meeting proved futile as oil tanker owners refused to call off their strike without a clear assurance of their demands being accepted.
Meanwhile, truckers said they had blockaded one of the country's largest oil terminals at Mehmoodkot, Punjab, and were preventing supplies reaching the north of the country from there, Reuters reported. Strikers had also stopped supplies of fuel from the terminal to US forces in landlocked Afghanistan, he said.
Pakistan State Oil played down the impact of the strike, saying it would not cause any shortages. "Our operations have not been disrupted even for a minute," PSO said in a statement.
Posted by: ed ||
04/03/2005 7:10:24 AM ||
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#1
So what are the 20 demands? Nothing in the linked article mentions any of the specifics.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/03/2005 14:08 Comments ||
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AP-
Well, if you think about it, since when did they ever have to have their demands written down? I'm guessing they wouldn't have listed them until the US came groveling to the table.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/03/2005 16:57 Comments ||
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#3
I'm not certain the Union understands the groundrules.
#5
sounds like Haji and his trucker buddies don't want work. Bring in other tankers and armed escorts. Fuck these guys, and if the new tankers are attacked, kill Haji first
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/03/2005 18:25 Comments ||
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Posted by: ed ||
04/03/2005 07:47 ||
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Moderates have to put their foot down on the necks of these radicals. If you end up having to beg for every freedom from fanatics who live by whim, you have no life.
Abdul Wahid, commonly known as Raees-i-Baghran, who has surrendered to the Afghan government, is one of the ranking Taliban military commanders to have laid down arms. His defection is a blow to the Taliban even though he was no longer active in the resistance movement against the US-led troops and the Afghan government. It would have a psychological effect and would demoralise Taliban fighters.
Abdul Wahid hailed from Baghran area in the southwestern Helmand province. He is from a prominent landowning ruling family, hence the title Raees-i-Baghran (chief of Baghran). He was a known mujahideen commander fighting the Soviet occupation troops during the 1980s. Later, like everybody else he joined the Taliban and rose to prominent position in the movement. He also gained access to Taliban leader Mulla Mohammad Omar. There were reports that Abdul Wahid helped Mulla Omar to flee Kandahar after the fall of the Taliban regime in December 2001 and seek refuge in Baghran. The US military bombed Baghran following reports that Mulla Omar had been sighted there. A number of people were killed in these attacks but Mulla Omar couldn't be eliminated or captured.
This article starring:
ABDUL WAHID
Taliban
RAIS I BAGHRAN
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 00:00:42 AM ||
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Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) President Makhdoom Amin Fahim said on Saturday that his party had initiated a dialogue with the government in people's interest, Indus Plus news channel reported. The channel quoted Mr Fahim as telling reporters at the Sukkur airport that the PPPP wanted to take Pakistan towards development. Mr Fahim said he had asked the government to hold general elections in 2005 under an independent election commission, the report added. He said the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) was struggling for "real" democracy but didn't believe in creating turmoil for a change, the report said.
Oh, why not? The MMA believes in creating turmoil for stagnation...
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 00:00:00 ||
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The National Assembly's Standing Committee on the Interior on Saturday opposed the restoration of the religion column in the new passport. Malik Niaz Ahmad Jhakhar, acting chairman of the committee, told its meeting that the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal's (MMA's) "hue and cry" about the removal of the religion column from the passport was unjustified and the subsequent restoration of the column harmed the country's reputation abroad. He said that the government's decision to restore the religion column was needless, adding, "We have sent a wrong message abroad by doing so."
The message I got was that the turbans are a lot more concerned with keeping the pot boiling than they are with matters of governance...
MMA's Farid Ahmad Piracha said if there had been no religion's column, Qadiyanis might have visited Makkah unlawfully. Mr Jhakhar said that Qadiyanis were no a doubt a religious minority and this was mentioned in the 1973 Constitution. "Today, we have restored the religion column. Tomorrow, Shias, Barelvis and Deobandis may insist on including a column on sects. I feel the government is in the wrong," he added.
I don't think they feel shame like we do...
This article starring:
FARID AHMED PIRACHA
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 00:00:00 ||
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I think maybe a checkbox for Fanatic would be handy.
Hundreds of Sudanese students gathered on Saturday to denounce a UN decision to refer those accused of war crimes in Darfur region to the International Criminal Court. Sudan's government on Friday dismissed the UN Security Council resolution, originally a French draft, which will refer to the ICC a sealed list of 51 people suspected of crimes against humanity during more than two years of rebellion in Darfur. The government-dominated student union organised the march, which began with speeches in Martyrs Square outside the Republican Palace denouncing the United States and France, and was to follow on to the French and British embassies and finally to the UN building in central Khartoum.
A few dozen students were wearing red scarves around their heads signalling jihad, or holy war. The at most 200 students chanted "down, down USA", and called for the cutting of diplomatic relations with France. There were almost as many security and police as students. Organisers said the poor turnout was due to the holidays as most students had gone home to their villages outside Khartoum.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Sudan is rapidly becoming a "target-rich environment" deserving of some "urban renewal". I still suggest an ARCLIGHT strike at 2:30AM, local time, with the President's Palace in the center of Box #1.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
04/03/2005 17:26 Comments ||
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Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir has vowed not to hand over any of his countrymen to a foreign court, after the UN cleared the way for Darfur war crimes suspects to be tried by the International Criminal Court. "I swear thrice in the name of Almighty Allah that I shall never hand any Sudanese national to a foreign court," said Bashir on Saturday in a speech to the ruling National Congress's consultative council.
In that case, try them quick and hang 'em...
The UN Security Council on Thursday passed a resolution allowing those suspected of carrying out war crimes in Sudan's western Darfur region to be handed over to the Hague-based International Criminal Court. The UN vote came after intense haggling, with Washington eventually ensuring that none of its nationals could be referred to the court, prompting accusations of double standards by Khartoum's representative.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Iraq's new Parliament was set to meet again today to choose a speaker. Leaders of Iraq's Shiite majority issued an ultimatum to Sunni MPs to accept a compromise nominee for the post of Parliament speaker as MPs prepared to meet for their third session since Jan. 30 elections. The United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), which controls 146 seats in the 275-member Parliament, said it would veto Sunni MP Mishaan Al-Juburi and told Sunnis who did not like the decision to leave the assembly. "We have agreed on the nominees, and the candidate for the speakership has been endorsed by a majority of Sunnis," Jawad Al-Maliki, a senior member of the UIA, told AFP. He was referring to Hajem Al-Hassani, a compromise candidate more acceptable to Shiites, who maintains he is only interested in the post as a last resort. "If there is a minority of Sunnis that does not agree with the choice, well, they are free to withdraw from the assembly."
"So piss off. What part about 'majority' don't you understand?"
Posted by: Fred ||
04/03/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#2
Tell ya what, the strike sure was at least somewhat effective here in Karachi, though, I suspect, not out of support for the hirsute gentlemen in question but rather out of a fear for property and life. Or maybe people just wanted stay home and watch the India-Pakistan cricket match...
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.
Saudi Arabia yesterday announced plans to reorganize its judicial system by setting up a supreme court in Riyadh, appeals courts in all its 13 regions as well as labor and commercial courts. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd yesterday issued a royal decree endorsing the reorganization plan for the judiciary proposed by the ministerial committee for administrative reforms.
Elections for a new Kyrgyz president can legally go ahead whether deposed leader Askar Akayev formally resigns or not, the Central Asian state's top judge said on Saturday. The statement by constitutional court head Cholpon Bayekova took some of the heat off the country's post-coup leaders who have been under pressure to allow Akayev back home to tender his resignation. Acting leader Kurmanbek Bakiyev has said Akayev should remain in exile in Russia, where he fled after last week's uprising, since the government might not be able to protect him from public anger. "Because the government cannot guarantee his security as Bakiyev has said, parliamentarians intend to have a notary certify his declaration of resignation and bring it to Kyrgyzstan," Bayekova said. "But if he doesn't write this statement, elections will be held anyway. The election will be held on (June) 26, declaration or no declaration." 
A leading presidential contender accused the interim government of destabilising an already tense situation. Felix Kulov, a popular former security chief and Bishkek mayor imprisoned in 2000 on charges that observers at home and in the West saw as politically motivated. As protestors stormed Akayev's administration building known as the White House, other opposition activists spirited Kulov out of jail and quickly awarded him the security portfolio as a massive wave of looting spread across the capital Bishkek.
Pyongyang, April 1 (KCNA) -- Leader Kim Jong Il was presented with a gift by the friendship delegation of the Communist Party of China on a visit to the DPRK. The gift was today handed to 
Pyongyang, April 1 (KCNA) -- The U.S. imperialists have become more sinister and crafty in their carrot and stick policy towards the DPRK and other countries. 
A BOATLOAD of alleged illegal immigrants had been stopped in Indonesia with Australian assistance, Justice Minister Chris Ellison said today. Senator Ellison said 14 people of Pakistani-Afghan background had been detained by Indonesian authorities, suspected of trying to reach the Australian mainland. Australian authorities were involved in helping their Indonesian counterparts in stopping the people smuggling effort, he said. "This is an alleged attempt to bring people illegally to Australia and demonstrates the very good working relationship that we have with the Indonesian authorities," he said on Channel 10. "Of course we have Australian Federal Police and Australian immigration authorities working with the Indonesian authorities. They've done an excellent job in this case in thwarting what is an alleged attempt to bring people illegally to Australia."
Japan, increasingly concerned over piracy, and potential terrorism, in the Straits of Malacca, is offering to send coast guard ships to help patrol this vital waterway between Malaysia and Indonesia. Japan's economy would be badly hurt if the straights were closed, as this would force tankers and other merchant vessels to take longer routes to and from Japan. With the current shipping shortage, this would drive shipping rates way up. Japan has already been training Indonesian naval and coast guard personnel at Japanese bases.
Iran has dismissed as "false" claims of an Iranian asylum seeker that Iranian photojournalist 
Iran's Foreign Minister 
Syria will announce a timetable for the withdrawal of its remaining forces from Lebanon on Sunday, a Syrian official source said on Saturday. Syria has come under international pressure to end its 29-year military presence since the 14 February assassination of Lebanese former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri. "The date and timetable will be announced tomorrow, Sunday, after it is given to UN envoy 
Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) President Makhdoom Amin Fahim said on Saturday that his party had initiated a dialogue with the government in people's interest, Indus Plus news channel reported. The channel quoted Mr Fahim as telling reporters at the Sukkur airport that the PPPP wanted to take Pakistan towards development. Mr Fahim said he had asked the government to hold general elections in 2005 under an independent election commission, the report added. He said the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) was struggling for "real" democracy but didn't believe in creating turmoil for a change, the report said.
The National Assembly's Standing Committee on the Interior on Saturday opposed the restoration of the religion column in the new passport. Malik Niaz Ahmad Jhakhar, acting chairman of the committee, told its meeting that the 
Hundreds of Sudanese students gathered on Saturday to denounce a UN decision to refer those accused of war crimes in Darfur region to the International Criminal Court. Sudan's government on Friday dismissed the UN Security Council resolution, originally a French draft, which will refer to the ICC a sealed list of 51 people suspected of crimes against humanity during more than two years of rebellion in Darfur. The government-dominated student union organised the march, which began with speeches in Martyrs Square outside the Republican Palace denouncing the United States and France, and was to follow on to the French and British embassies and finally to the UN building in central Khartoum. 
Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir has vowed not to hand over any of his countrymen to a foreign court, after the UN cleared the way for Darfur war crimes suspects to be tried by the International Criminal Court. "I swear thrice in the name of Almighty Allah that I shall never hand any Sudanese national to a foreign court," said Bashir on Saturday in a speech to the ruling National Congress's consultative council. 
Iraq's new Parliament was set to meet again today to choose a speaker. Leaders of Iraq's Shiite majority issued an ultimatum to Sunni MPs to accept a compromise nominee for the post of Parliament speaker as MPs prepared to meet for their third session since Jan. 30 elections. The 
