Well-informed security sources about counterterrorism issues unveiled that US security forces in northern Mali tried to eliminate Mokhtar Belmokhtar alias Khaled Abu Al Abbas, who has escaped many murder attempts the most recent one in September 2006 in an ambush set by Malian agents in Kidal. The same sources added that Belmokhtar has escaped the operation while he lost four men.
The US forces track of the GSPC Northern Mali and in the Sahel countries in tight collaboration with local populations and arms smugglers. Algerian repentant terrorists have provided the US intelligence with accurate information on the GSPC structure and projects in the African Sahel. This information collected from US agents in arms trafficking networks allowed the Americans wiretap Thuraya cell phones and finally arrest the GSPC second man-in-command Abderrezak Al Para in 2004.
The US benefit from the GSPC need for arms to seek more information allowing getting rid of the terrorist groups in Africa. The African Sahel has become an opened area for many countries intelligence services who invest in the chaotic situation and the porous borders in the desert. It is also known that arms trafficking networks in Africa trade with Israelis, and most of the GSPC arms infiltrated the southern borders from Israel via Darfur in Sudan and Jordan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
I would not call the elimination of GSPC as 'murder' - assassination maybe, or execution, but not murder. Whichever, I'm all for it. So I'm sure we'd have Congressional investigations of it if we had succeeded.
#2
RIAN > RUSSIA BLAMES FAILURE OF SERBIA-KOSOVO TALKS ON OUTSIDE MEDDLING [read - US-Euros], + PUTIN:US HAS SPLIT UKRAINE INTO "PRO-US" AND "PRO-RUSSIA".
Also from RIAN > PUTIN SAY RUSSIA DOES NOT WANT TO BE A SUPERPOWER + P. WILL FOCUS ON WELFARE, ECONOMY IF APPOINTED PM.
A British resident freed from Guantanamo Bay prison has been arrested hours after returning to the UK and is to face terrorism charges in Spain.
Jamiel Abdul Latif el-Banna, a Jordanian citizen, was arrested in London on Thursday and was due to appear in the City of Westminster Magistrates Court in relation to a Spanish extradition request.
The 45-year-old was being held on a European arrest warrant alleging terrorist-related offences.
El-Banna was freed from the US jail in Cuba on Wednesday with two other British residents, Omar Deghayes and Abdennur Sameur, after four years in captivity. They were all held without charges or trial.
El-Banna was taken to Guantanamo Bay after being detained in the West African country of Gambia in November 2002.
Before their arrest, all three suspects were living in the UK under refugee, or legal resident permits. The three men arrived at Luton airport on Wednesday after their release.
Deghayes and Sameur were also arrested on their arrival in the UK on suspicion of preparing and instigating terrorism.
Senior Spanish prosecutor Baltasar Garzon had asked for el-Banna and Deghayes to be extradited to Spain in 2004.
For now, only el-Banna is likely to be extradited but 38-year-old Deghayes could also be extradited to Spain after police interrogation.
Garzon based his request on the men's alleged connection with a Spanish al-Qaeda cell, led by Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, also known as Abu Dahdah. El-Banna and Deghayes were alleged to have had extensive contact with him from 1996 until the cell was dismantled in 2001.
According to the lawyer of all three returned suspects, Clive Stafford-Smith, el-Banna is innocent. He claims Spain is using charges that have been proven to be false.
"The fact that the Spanish actually were behind this wrongful detention in Guantanamo Bay is something they should be ashamed of," he told reporters.
"The idea now that they want to use this evidence we've proved to be false to take them for further detention is very worrying."
The British Home Office is also reviewing the immigration status of the three men.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday dismissed a link between Islam and terrorism, saying terror had no national or religious identity. Putin made the remarks in an interview carried by the Kremlin website, adding that terrorism existed everywhere and that ideology of hatred should be combated.
On Iran, he cautioned against any military attack on this country as a serious mistake. He added that the recent US intelligence report on the Iranian nuclear dossier showed an objective image of the issue, echoing Russia's position on Iranian nuclear capabilities, which was based on objecting findings.
Putin urged the US anew to set a timetable for troop pullout of Iraq, but he agreed with US President George W. Bush's vision that Iraqi forces should be prepared first to take security charge in Iraq. A timetable for US troop withdrawal could spur Iraqi leaders to act to speed up the setting-up of military and security institutions, he said.
Putin commended the Annapolis meeting on the Middle East peace process as a positive step towards a settlement to one of the thorniest regional crises.
He finally reiterated his country's willingness to play more active role to find a solution to the regional conflict.
Posted by: ryuge ||
12/20/2007 01:05 ||
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Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
I also deny any NKVD/KGB/SVD link with terror, engineered famines or the occasional convenient poisoning.
#13
russkies say its "Wahabism" thats the problem not Islam. To distinguish the eevil guys they fight in Chechnya from their friends in Chechnya, but also to put Iran on the side. We tend to say radicals vs moderates, cause "radicals", unlike "wahabis" includes Iran. And of course saying "wahabis" tends to annoy KSA, which leans our way.
#17
And Vlad has petitioned the Organization of the Islamic Conference for Russian membership.
I don't know which is worse: Russian relations with Islamofascist Iran or US relations with the Saud terrorist entity. Why not make friends with the Ruskies and joint enemies with the Islamos?
Posted by: Caesar Choluck3299 ||
12/20/2007 16:32 Comments ||
Top||
#19
GLOBAL RESEARCH > PUTIN AGONISTES - [US] MISSLE DEFENSE WILL NOT BE DEPLOYED. GR article argues that Putin has scrutinized and reviewed that many of the major personages/sources in US policy-making, including ZBIGNIEW BREZINSKI's [POLISCI God "Ziggy"] theses for US grand strategeries as per EURASIA including RUSSIA.
ARTICLE - Author believes PUTIN HAS REALIZED THAT DUBYA = USA IS CLOSELY FOLLOWING ZIGGY'S, etc. LINE OF US-SPECIFIC/CENTRIC, US-ENABLED LT INTEGRATED AND COMPREHENSIVE [TOAL]DOMINATION OF THE EURASIA SUPERCONTINENT, to which PUTIN = RUSSIA must PREVENT AT ANY COST EVEN BY FORCE OF ARMS = WAR + GEOPOL MILPOL CONFRONTATION vv USA.
IOW, its "NOW OR NEVER" for Putin = Russia to stop US control of Eurasia and the World including future OWG-NWO. SUB-IOW, Putin = Russia believes that WAR AGZ AMERICA IS A REALISTIC, VIABLE OPTION TO STOP US GLOBAL CONTROL + DOMINATION IN ITS TRACKS, BEFORE IT GETS TOO LATE.
#20
WEEKLY STANDARD > RUSSIA INCORPORATED - WHY PUTIN DARE NOT GIVE HIS POSITION AS CAPO. Putin versus the post 9-11 Russian Mafia Org-Cartel known as THE POST-SOVIET/USSR RUSS GOVT. RUSS POLICRATS vz CORPORATECRATS vz MAFIACRATS, etc. vie for control of Moscow and Russ Manifest Destiny.
#21
KOMMERSANT > USA CHANGES POLICY TOWARDS RUSSIA, US has gone from merely expressing concerns vv Russ policies, to overtly formally engaging in DIRECT OBSTRUCTION AND CONFRONTATION OF RUSS ACTIONS OR DECISIONS???
Also, RIAN > EDUARD SHEVERDNADZE - GORBACHEV, YELTSIN CONFRONTATION LED TO THE COLLAPSE OF THE USSR. Signs were already pointing to the USSR disintegrating - Gorby and Yeltsy's row made USSR/State collapse inevitable; + TWO ASPECTS OF RUSSIAN-GERMAN ASSETS SWAP AGREEMENTS, + THE INEXHAUSTIBLE IRANIAN ATOM AND POOR RUSSIA. Among other thingys already well-reported on the Net + MSM, article indics that IRAN CONSIDERS OR VIEWS RUSS RECENT NUKE FUEL DELIVERIES TO BUSHESHR AS "SEPARATE" FROM ITS NUCPROGS? POOR RUSSIA - Busheshr delivery may not resolve or alter any of the various diplomatic or geopol issues Russ finds herself in, i.e. NOT AGZ RUSSIA NOR FOR RUSSIA, NOT WORSE versus NO IMPROVEMENT/FINAL RESOLUTION, etc.
#22
WAFF.com > RUSSIA WARNS IRAN - WWIII IN THE MAKING? Putin reportedly has told Iran that the new US Iran NIE may be a COVERT PC DIVERSION/DISINFORMATION FOR US MIL PREPARATIONS + POSSIB IMPENDING US MIL ACTION AGZ IRAN, which PUTIN WARNED WILL BE A "GRAVE MISTAKE" ON THE PART OF THE US.
Also from RUSSIA > Russ is reportedly warning JAPAN it will forcibly stop and physically inspect FISH HAULS/CATCHES iff Japanese fishing vessels continue to illegally fish and violate Russ maritime areas = econ zones in Northern Pacific. *IOW, RUSS WILL WAR AGZ JAPAN = USA OVER SUSHI - you know, US GMD-BMD in Japan/Asia???
#23
And now cometh HOTAIR > GUARDIAN [UK] > SHOCKA: PUTIN MAY BE A GIANT CROOK. GUARDIAN article - PUTIN, THE KREMLIN POWER STRUGGLE, AND A $40B FORTUNE. Zilyuhns Kilyuhns and Tilyuhns in secret alleged international holdings/accounts???
#1
"He also (unsuccessfully) challenged his sentence on the grounds that it was manifestly excessive when contrasted with similar cases abroad."
Glad to see there is at least one sane judge down there. So far overseas precedent hasn't made a lot of headway in the courts here either - though they keep trying.
#3
Lawyer Larissa Detmold, for Hicks, said her client was no longer was a Muslim and the letters were out of date.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/20/2007 6:12 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I walked past the Roma Mitchell court building (pictured) today, & there was quite a media feeding frenzy outside. So Hicks is no longer a Muslim; does this mean he is a target for one of Allah's hit squads? I'd be checking his Yatala meal preferences to see if it was halal.
#7
Muslims are allowed to lie, including renouncing islam, to advance islam or protect themselves (which by definition advances islam).
koran 16-106: He who disbelieves in Allah after his having believed, not he who is compelled while his heart is at rest on account of faith, but he who opens (his) breast to disbelief-- on these is the wrath of Allah, and they shall have a grievous chastisement.
Posted by: ed ||
12/20/2007 7:49 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Muslims are allowed required to lie...
Fixed
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/20/2007 8:55 Comments ||
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#9
Gay?
No, bi-sexual. Trust me from those who have been there it's pretty much an islamic tradition.
Police had to move in to calm hundreds of people last night outside a meeting of nearly 900 opposed to a proposal for one of Australia's biggest Islamic schools in south-west Sydney.
Some locals are threatening to take matters into their own hands if the 1,200-student school in Camden is approved by either the council or via appeal to the Land and Environment Court.
A group calling themselves the Public Affairs Education Committee organised last night's meeting and had to shut the doors when the Camden Civic Centre reached full capacity.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Oztralian ||
12/20/2007 00:04 ||
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[4 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
Follow the money, folks. Why doesn't this article make any mention of who is going to pay for this school?
If the school is being financed by the Soddies then simply tell them they can build schools and mosques in Christian countries when Christians are allowed to send missionaries to Soddy Arabia and to build churches and schools there.
Then ask them why we should tolerate muslims in Christian countries when they don't tolerate Christians in muslim countries.
#2
But Qu'ranic Society spokesman Jeremy Bingham says objections to the Islamic school are clearly racially motivated because Catholic and Anglican schools have been built in Camden with community consent.
So what race is Islam again?
One protester last night said she was opposed to the proposal because there was no Islamic community in Camden.
Yet - approve this 'school' and they will come - See Paris, France.
NEW DELHI: The Home Ministry on Thursday asked controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen to stay under the government security or to leave the country.
Nasreen said she has been told by government officials that she will not be allowed to return to Kolkata for now. Speaking to a news agency from an undisclosed destination, Taslima said she had told told government officials that "I am not a criminal that I will not be allowed to return to Kolkata".
Hinting that her movements at her place of stay were restricted, she said "I want to lead a normal life again." "I told the government officials that I be allowed to lead a normal life at least in Delhi," she said. "I am waiting how quickly I can lead a normal life again", said the writer.
Taslima was virtually hounded out of Kolkata following large-scale violence during a strike called by the All India Minority Forum, a platform of minorities, demanding cancellation of her visa. Shortly after the violence for which the Army had to be called out, Taslima went to Jaipur from where she was moved to Delhi.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/20/2007 14:16 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday that he, along with nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, has been punished for making Pakistan a nuclear state.
Actually the credit goes to Benazir's father, ZA Bhutto, who convened a conference of Pak physicists and engineers at Multan in 1972 and did some serious begging in Beijing.
He was addressing public rallies in Allahabad, Khudiyan Khas and Kasur. Today the situation in the country has gone out of the hands of the existing rulers and people need breathing space, Nawaz said. He said that he was virtually humiliated during his deportation to Saudi Arabia.My hands were tied to my seat for more than seven hours in the plane, he added. He said the PML-N was the only party raising its voice effectively for the restoration of the ousted judges. I will never bow to dictatorship of any kind as I am a man of principles, he said. Nawaz reiterated that the PML-N did not believe in the leadership of President Pervez Musharraf, adding that Musharraf had created differences among the people and judiciary for his personal gains. He regretted the loss of lives in military operations in Lal Masjid and Swat. He said the government had failed to curb terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2007 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
IRAN-DAILY > RUSSIAN TEAM TO PURSUE DEFENSE COOPERATION. Russ-Iran.
#2
The '72 Multan Nuke meeting was a direct response to the defeat in the '71 war and the desire for revenge against India. The first Indian test wasn't until '74.
Bhutto famously vowed that Pakistanis "would eat grass" in order to have an atomic bomb. It still required AQ Khan's theft of enrichment technology from Urenco and the provision by China of complete nuclear warhead designs (including detailed fabrication guides).
Grass eating doesn't get you anywhere... otherwise the rebels in Biafra would have had nukes... you still need a scientific and industrial infrastructure... Pakistan didn't and the Chinese stepped in... the State Department looked the other way... and now the monster is loose....
Posted by: john frum ||
12/20/2007 6:01 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Remember State's "Tilt toward Pakistan" years ago? Bitter fruit.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/20/2007 9:08 Comments ||
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#5
Remember State's "Tilt toward Pakistan" years ago? Bitter fruit.
agreed, but the tight relations between the USSR and India led to the conclusion it was the right way to go for "strategic balance". Hindsight on all parts would indicate a lot of things could've been done better on all sides. Just saying....
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2007 17:48 Comments ||
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Hizbul Mujahideen, the main militant group fighting Indian occupation in Kashmir, announced on Wednesday a complete ban on militant grenade attacks in public places.
Militant tactics include frequent grenade attacks against Indian army bunkers and vehicles. The targets are invariably protected by wire mesh. The grenades regularly bounce back and explode among civilians. Roughly 1,500 bystanders have died in such explosions over the past 18 years.
The move comes as part of an apparent initiative by militant groups to win more public support for a rebellion that frequently claims the lives of civilian bystanders. There is a complete ban on grenade attacks by Hizbul and other outfits, Hizbul Mujahideens operations chief Ghazi Misbahuddin said in a statement carried by local newspapers. Hizbul Mujahideen said such attacks were banned because the movement is passing through a crucial phase and we need the utmost caution.
Militant tactics include frequent grenade attacks against Indian army bunkers and vehicles, although the targets are invariably protected by wire mesh. The grenades regularly bounce back and explode among civilians, or otherwise provoke random retaliatory gunfire. Observers believe that roughly 1,500 bystanders have died in such explosions over the past 18 years, although the militants have blamed Indian troops for the deaths.
This article starring:
GHAZI MISBAHUDIN
Hizbul Mujahideen
Hizbul Mujahideen
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2007 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hizbul Mujaheddin
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is scheduled to arrive here [Islamabad] next week on a two-day visit that the Pakistan government said was an expression of Afghanistans solidarity with and goodwill for its brotherly neighbour. But ahead of the December 26-27 visit, Mr. Karzai on Wednesday urged the international coalition in the war on terror to track down the strongholds of Al-Qaeda and Taliban, which he said were outside Afghanistan. He did not name any country, but according to media reports from Kabul, it was an apparent reference to Pakistan. We want the struggle against terrorism to go after their bases, their hideouts and training centers, Mr. Karzai was reported as saying during an Id speech.
Pakistans position is that the Taliban is an Afghan problem and has to be resolved by Afghanistan. Asked if Pakistan would ask Afghanistan to do more to resolve the issue, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said the language of do more is not our language.
He said all bilateral issues and co-operation between the two countries on the issues of extremism and terrorism would be discussed during the visit.
The Foreign Ministry said Mr. Karzais visit was in response to an invitation from President Pervez Musharraf when he went to Kabul to attend the Pak-Afghan grand jirga in August this year.
During the visit, Mr. Karzai is expected to meet General (retd.) Musharraf and caretaker Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro. The Ministry pointed out that after Turkish president Abdullah Gul, Mr. Karzai would be the second head of state to visit Pakistan since the election of General Musharraf for a new term.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2007 00:00 ||
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[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Why? So he can 'preemptively forgive' these a55holes for fighting on native soil? His face needs to end up on a milk carton.......
Alongside a resolution adopted by the U.N. General Assembly this week calling for a moratorium on the death penalty, the world body passed a raft of other human rights-related motions. One of them, introduced by Islamic nations, focuses on combating the "defamation of religions."
Resolutions on the human rights situation in North Korea and Iran also passed, although dozens of countries -- including human rights violators Cuba, Sudan, Syria and Zimbabwe -- voted against the motions.
An annual resolution on "the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination" also passed by an overwhelming margin, with only the United States, Israel, and three small Pacific island nations voting "no." There were four abstentions.
The motion on defamation of religions has been a priority for the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) since 9/11. It took on new impetus following a Danish newspaper's publication in 2005 of cartoons satirizing Mohammed.
Introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the OIC, it passed on Tuesday by a 108-51 margin, with 25 abstentions. As with many of the other votes, the U.S. lined up with democracies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere against developing nations, including repressive regimes.
Although the resolution refers to defamation of "religions," Islam is the only religion named in the text, which also takes a swipe at counter-terrorism security measures.
It expresses alarm about "discrimination" and "laws that stigmatize groups of people belonging to certain religions and faiths under a variety of pretexts relating to security and illegal immigration."
Muslim minorities are subjected to "ethnic and religious profiling ... in the aftermath of the tragic events of 11 September 2001," it says.
The resolution decries "the negative projection of Islam in the media" and voices "deep concern that Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism."
OIC secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu earlier this month addressed an international conference on "Islamophobia," held in Turkey, and told the gathering that freedom of expression was being used as a cover in the West to promote anti-Islam sentiment.
The OIC soon will release its first-ever annual report on "Islamophobia."
'Flawed and divisive'
On a number of the General Assembly resolutions passed Tuesday, the U.S. stood in the minority, including one dealing with practices that contribute to "fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance," and another on a report on preparations by the U.N.'s Human Rights Council for a major conference on racism, scheduled for 2009.
#1
frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism.
Wrongly?
You have to be kidding me. No one in the UN has read the Koran? No one sees the daily bombings and obligatory beheadings, hangings, and stonings?
Out of the 18 major conflicts, Islam is to blame for 16 and the UN has no data?
Curse you UN, tower of Babel.
Truth costs time, but Ignorance is free. Accountability will be harder now because you even let this on your floor. You have no moral or legal pretext UN.
#3
What religion do the words "Allahu Akbar!" refer to when the ones uttering those words are killing innocent people, considered infidels. Whether these actions are being carried out on airplanes over Manhattan, subways in London, Spain, or in the Philippines.
The atrocious religion of Islam. Again, Muslims should not be allowed near any form of public transportation. THAT should be the resolution being passed in the UN.
#4
And moving the UN to the dustpile of history has arrived. Did Rage Boy deliver the Keynote speech on defamation? The irony of the Paleos self determination by suicide is, of course, lost on them. Ticket and tow them all out of the country.
#7
Im sure the claims of Israel that their religion is defamed will get a fair hearing. Not. If the western world had any balls the cudgel to pummel Islam has just been handed out.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Iraqis are receiving more electricity than last year, according to a Pentagon report, as the power sector, facing obstacles, makes progress. Nationwide, average electricity not provided by private generators was 107,581 megawatt hours from September through November, according to the U.S. Defense Department's "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq" report released Tuesday. That's a 14 percent increase over the same time frame last year and included an all-time, post-2003 high of 125,000 megawatt hours on Oct. 12, 2007.
Now the handwringing:
But this has only translated into an average of 15.1 hours of electricity per day across the country, with many provinces, including Baghdad, receiving less. Salah al-Din province, north of Baghdad, received the most average electricity with about 19.1 hours per day in November, according to the Pentagon report.
The use of private generators for a home or block is still prevalent, adding to the run on fuels that are in high demand but low supply in Iraq, a result of slow development of both the electricity and oil sectors.
The Electricity Ministry has been actively pursuing contracts to build more power plants. The minister has complained of a lack of interest from international firms, especially American, and has in recent months signed deals with Chinese and Iranian companies. This is all part of the plan to boost Iraq's power capacity by 3,300 megawatts by 2009. "Fuel shortage and system maintenance, however, may reduce actual increases in electricity production," the Pentagon report said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2007 15:48 ||
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[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The US should have claimed the carbon credits for the Iraqi power outages over the past years.
Long article from the Guardian about neighborhood patrols in Baghdad. When the Guardian can see the big news, it's big news.
Under the embers of the wintry evening sun the Tigris river, usually as brown as old boots, had turned almost blood red. Its waters were calm but its oily sheen was disturbed by the oars of a rower as he sculled his way through the city's fractured heart. Alone and apparently indifferent to the threat of a sniper's bullet, Muhammad Rafiq eased up on his stroke rate and tacked over to the shore. He hauled his craft up the bank to a mosque - the temporary headquarters for his rowing club since US soldiers had commandeered its real boathouse in 2003. Inside the courtyard, his forehead beaded with sweat, Muhammad laid a few old blankets over his upturned boat and padlocked the oars to a railing.
"My friends said I was mad when I started rowing," said the 22-year-old former science student. "They said I would be sharing the river with dead bodies and that people would shoot at me. But it keeps me fit and it keeps me focused for my night work." As dusk fell, he checked the contents of his kit bag, slung it over his shoulder and jumped into a waiting taxi.
Fifteen minutes later, he had made it through checkpoints and concrete blast barriers en route to his home in al-Amil district of west Baghdad. At a makeshift barricade close to the street where he was born he greeted the sentries as friends. Then he unzipped his kit bag and pulled out a Kalashnikov. And for the next six uneventful hours he stood guard with his peers behind the straggles of barbed wire.
"I help to keep the peace so that I can row in peace, and that is my passion," said Muhammad, who asked that neither his real name nor that of his rowing club be used. "Now when I go out on the river, you can hear the birds and the hum of the generators. When I began it was only gunfire and bombs."
Iraq said on Wednesday it believed Turkey was unlikely to extend a military operation against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq but sharply criticised Ankara for what it branded an attack on its sovereignty. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh urged Ankara to end the military action - which comes after weeks of mounting cross-border tensions - and use dialogue to solve the rebel issue. We feel this issue will not be solved militarily. Any such action is an attack on Iraqs sovereignty, he told AFP. We believe Turkey is not going to extend the operation. It is a limited operation, Dabbagh said. Turkeys military said the incursion had dealt a heavy blow to the rebels.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2007 00:00 ||
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U.S. intelligence shared with Turkey led to the weekend raids in northern Iraq on Kurdish militants, Turkey's ambassador to the United States said on Wednesday. "There is no doubt that this operation was possible due to, of course, the information shared by the United States of America," Turkey's Ambassador Nabi Sensoy told reporters.
He declined to say whether the United States had directly pinpointed targets for Turkish warplanes but he said the U.S. intelligence-sharing was very important. The Pentagon has said Washington gave Turkey intelligence to track Kurdish fighters hiding in Iraq, but would not say whether it gave precise targets used in the raids.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2007 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
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#1
FREEREPUBLIC > TURKEY'S TERROR PROBLEM IS OURS.
Officials in the Israeli prime ministers office reacted coolly on Wednesday to an indirect approach by the Hamas leader in Gaza offering talks for a hudna truce. he offer was relayed through an Israeli reporter, Sleman al-Shafhe, of Israels Channel 2 television station. On the main news broadcast on Tuesday night, Mr. Shafhe said Ismail Haniya, the leader of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, had called him earlier in the day and sought to convey a message to the Israelis.
According to Mr. Shafhe, Mr. Haniya said he had the will and the ability to stop the rocket fire directed at Israel from Gaza, on condition that Israel stopped the killing of Palestinians there and lifted the economic blockade of the strip.
Of course Haniya can't and won't stop Islamic Jihad, et al., from rocketing Israel, so the offer is meaningless.
On Wednesday, Mr. Shafhe said in an interview that Mr. Haniya had said that he would have no problem negotiating with the Israeli government on these issues, with an eye toward reaching a mutual truce.
Mr. Haniyas call followed a series of Israeli military strikes that killed at least 10 13 Palestinian militants in Gaza between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Mr. Haniyas call followed a series of Israeli military strikes that killed at least 10 Palestinian militants in Gaza between Monday night and Tuesday morning, in a concerted effort to suppress the rocket fire. Eight of those killed were from Islamic Jihad, which has been responsible for most of the recent rocket fire, and included a top commander of the groups military wing who had been specifically targeted by Israel.
Two others were from Hamas, which has mainly limited itself to firing shorter-range mortar shells at the border crossings and at Israeli border communities in recent months. Hamas fired off scores of rockets in May, when the last shaky cease-fire with Israel broke down.
This article starring:
ISMAIL HANIYA
Hamas
Sleman al-Shafhe
Islamic Jihad
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2007 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad
#1
"We're getting our a$$ handed to us in a paper sack, boss. Can you do something?"
"I know, let's call for a truce until we can rearm and find some better firing positions."
"Do you think the Jews will fall for that old trick again?"
"Europe and America will force them to accept it, the gullible fools."
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2007 17:32 Comments ||
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#2
Al-AHRAM [Egypt] > TEL AVIV ROCKED. Israeli Govt. in STRATEGIC EMERGENCY following new US NIE on Iran. Whether Israel post-USNIE choses to change its attitudes vv Iran, or engage in confrontional polices agz Iran, ISRAEL MAY NEED TO PREPARE TO STAND ALONE AGZ IRAN. * Also from AHRAM > MANIACS WITH NUCLEAR RAZORS [US + Israel], + NO OTHER CHOICE, for ME Peace = peace vv Israel save thru PALESTINIAN UNITY + STATEHOOD; + THE END OF THE JEWISH STATE.
On Islam's most important holiday, the leader of Gaza's Hamas government appealed today for a ceasefire with Israel and said his people battered by Israeli military strikes and international sanctions are greeting this year's feast with "tears in our eyes."
The heart [urp!] bleeds.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert's spokesman said there could be no deals with Hamas until it renounces violence and recognizes Israel, though one cabinet minister said Israel might consider outside mediation with the Islamic militants.
Olmert's spokesman said there could be no deals with Hamas until it renounces violence and recognizes Israel, though one cabinet minister said Israel might consider outside mediation with the Islamic militants.
That statement just oozes good sense and strategic determination.
Israel and Hamas have never had direct contacts because of the group's violently anti-Israel ideology. But they have agreed to short truces negotiated by third parties. The appeal from Ismail Haniyeh, who heads the Hamas government in Gaza, came in a phone call to an Israeli TV reporter, said Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu. It followed a two-day air assault by Israeli forces that killed 12 Gaza militants, two from Hamas and 10 from Islamic Jihad. Israel "should stop its attacks and siege," Nunu said. "Then a truce would be possible, and not unlikely."
Hamas officials said they were working with other militant groups to try to stop the rocket fire into Israel and also sent overtures to Israel through unidentified third parties.
This article starring:
TAHER NUNU
Hamas
Islamic Jihad
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Jihad
#1
Multiculturalists say we should learn about other cultures and respect their beliefs and ways. This implies that there exist differences between Western Culture and Muslim culture.
Here's one: when a Western nation is at war with another Western culture, and they ask for a truce, Western culture says that the nation asking for a truce wants to permanently stop the war and is ready to concede on some or all issues that motivated the war in the first place.
This is different from the Muslim/Islamic culture. Islam forbids surrending in a war, lest it invalidate itself. However, it does acknowledge that unfaithfulness, stupidity, circumstances, or Allah's desire to strengthen or prove the faith of the believers, may cause a Muslim army to lose battles. Islam never loses wars. What Western culture calls a war that Muslims have lost, Islam calls a group of pitched battles that Muslims lost, but which are part of a longer war that Muslims have NOT lost, but will eventually win by Allah's mandate. This is distinct from Western culture's view that, in war, there are winners and losers.
Muslim culture calls truces a "hudna", a temporary ceasefire that gives Muslims an opportunity to rearm and get stronger. This is a pattern followed by Mohammed, who regularly broke truces when he figured out his side was stronger, or the other side let their guard down. Because Mohammed is the Perfect Muslim, and the template that Allah states all Muslims should follow and imitate, Muslims give themselves permission to break truces and ceasefires. These are usually called "Hudnas", using a term Mohammed used to justify the truce when his followers objected: THEY were using the western model of the ceasefire, where it is used by the stronger side as a confidence building measure and a signal of good faith to encourage the other side to move from the ceasefire to a truce, then on to peace.
In western culture, the truce is proposed by either side, but the stronger side grants it, in an effort to stop the war. In Muslim culture, the truce is proposed by the weaker side (I.e. Muslims) so that they may become the stronger side. Muslims, when they have been stronger, never have proposed or granted truces or ceasefires: they only accepted surrenders. To them, there is no substitute for victory, and they will do anything, including violating infidel geneva conventions, to win.
Trolls are invited to post links to reputable historical accounts where Muslims, being the stronger side, granted a truce or ceasefire that did not lead to a surrender. If done, I will recant what I have said above. Names of places and dates, please: endless screeds of verbal bullshit based on authority, not facts, are not acceptable.
#2
The only time Muhamhead entered into a truce was when it was to the muslim advantage or they were to weak to attack. I wish I could remember the koran and hadith passages that explain this tactic. Maybe someone else can link it.
Conclusion: Keep pounding away. This is a sign that they're losing.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman said there could be no deals with Hamas until it renounces violence and recognizes Israel, though one cabinet minister said Israel might consider outside mediation with the Islamic militants.
They can negotiate when and how Hamas renounces violence and recognizes Israel. Those are the ceasefire terms. Hell, Israel should have demanded the return of Shalit, but hey, they're being nice this time around.
#5
"reputable historical accounts where Muslims, being the stronger side, granted a truce or ceasefire that did not lead to a surrender."
I doubt there are many occasions in history when a clearly stronger side granted a truce - why would they? Victory IS what its all about. A stronger side granting a truce is a modern thing, a product ot democracies, where the citizens grow war weary even while winning. There havent been too many instances of Muslims at war in the 20th century BEING a stronger party - and of course far fewer where they were, you know, a democracy.
Hamas, to which you refer, is a terrorist group, and the ministate they run in Gaza is no democracy of any sort. One can easily agree with you that acccepting a "truce" with Hamas would be a mistake, without accepting the broad charecterization of Islam.
#7
DEBKA > exclusive article claims that Palestinian HAMAS officios met secretly wid MOUD + AL-QODS/QUDS FORCE reps during Moud's HAJ pilgramage to discuss and plan for new escalations [attacks] agz ISRAEL???
Of course; and the more they will think they will win, like the toad gaddhaffi boasted, the more the "moderate silent majority" will join the fray, if only in support.
After all, just speaking for France, if one think the muslim brotherhood project for colonizing Europe is a reality (and I firmly believe it is), and if the broad goals evoked to one writer named René Marchand in 1994 by an algerian jihadists, everything is going according to plan : "true" muslims (arabs) are swarming into the country, their suppletives too (black africans, who are of course to follow the arab leadwhen/if needed), the re-islamization of the migrants is going swell, the vast majority have kept its muslim and arab/african identity (the war of the first names have been won, virtually no immigrant parents give french first names to their children), and the cultural subversion of french identity is going swell too, with islamic traditions being shoved down the french's collective throat (eid slaughtering, ramadan, veils, now burkhas and afghan or arab garbs, mosques sprouting like mushroom all over the place), with the complicit or tacit help of the french authorities.
And you've got low-level jihad (the ongoing frenchifada) and the threats of violence (not only terrorism, but widespread unrest) to help keep the soon to be dhimmis in place. And once critical mass is established, no more fooling around by the Master Race : National Liberation Struggle (of the repressed indigenous arab population of France) time!
Thanks, de gaulle.
Terror leader boastful after British government lists most popular baby names
JERUSALEM Statistical information released yesterday showing Muhammad is the second most popular boys name in Britain "proves Islam is becoming the majority in the UK and will one day enter every house in Europe," a senior terror leader told WND in an interview.
"We see from this study of Muhammad's name that Islam is on the rise and cannot be stopped no matter what your crusader governments do," said Muhammad Abdel-Al, spokesman and a leader of the Popular Resistance Committees terror group.
The Committees is a coalition of Palestinian terror organizations, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad. It has taken responsibility for thousands of shootings and deadly rocket attacks and is suspected of carrying out a 2003 bombing against a U.S. convoy in Gaza that killed three American government contractors.
According to statistics released yesterday by Britain's Office of National Statistics, Muhammad was the most popular boys name in the UK when all of its spellings are accounted for. Jack, cited as the most popular boy's name, fell from last year by 156 babies, while Muhammad showed a regular spike. If trends continue, Muhammad could be the most popular boys name in Britain next year.
Abdel-Al is known for his fiery threats against Western targets, but he said statistical trends indicating Muslims are gaining a major foothold in the UK show there is no need for violence to spread Islam.
"In Europe there is no need for war because if people keep on joining Islam in these countries then Islam will become the majority, which I think is the process that is taking place now, so there will not be any necessity to have war with [non-Muslims]," he said.
Also reflecting on recent trends, Sheik Yasser Hamad, a cleric and a Hamas leader in the northern West Bank, said in a recent WND interview he too sees Islam quickly spreading in the West.
"Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him, said that the sun will shine from the West. This will physically happen as part of the signs of Judgment Day, and it will practically happen as part of a big revival of Islam," said Hamad. "Islam ... may start its new campaign from the West."
Muslims are only 3% in the UK and most British people bar the GOVT either hate or distrust muslims/ISLAM fact!!!!
Most Muslims in UK are backward unemployed leeches who offer no economic/social advantage to the UK!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
12/20/2007 12:15 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Just one thing, racist loser : thanks for confirming what everybody knows, but nobody likes to acknowledge... the "problem" of Europe is NOT islam, there are practically no conversions, except for the surface ones, with a man "converting" to marry a muslim girl, for example; as a matter of fact, in France, there are way more conversions from islam to Christianity, than the reverse, when you take the populations involved (most of it charismatic Catholics or Evangelists).
BUT, the REAL problem is the mass immigration of muslims into european lands. The problem is ethnic, if you wish, not religious. Religion is just part of the identity equation; how do you assimilate or even "integrate", people whose worldview is they're superior to the roumis, the kafr (see justice) and have to RULE them, in the natural order.
Justice, two things : you're not strong; you're the losers, collectively, of history; muslims have been on the losing side for so long, and I won't even talk about the arabs, or the pakistanis (slaves converted to their Master religion, really), after all, we could make an exception for the turks, whatever you might think about their crimes and their historical hostility, they're a great people.
And, all your "strenght" now comes from US; your population surplus is made possible by colonization and modern medecine; your welath is made possible by oil and modern technology. NONE of it is your doing.
And that('s why you'll lose, that's why India will crush pakiland, why France could die (no regret, it's been dead since 1792), but you won't get yet an another civilization to parazite.
This is your last chance, islam will die if you don't succeed, it simply cannot survive faced with modernity. And you won't succeed; we may lose, in fact, we've already lost ourself, our identity (all this self-inflicted, you've got no hand in that), that's why you think you're on the verge of a "Victory", but you won't win, racist goatf*cker.
#5
Khalid (r) repied, "We are a nation that drinks blood, and news has reached us that Roman blood is very tasty" and "All the wealth that you own will become ours anyway!"
Death/vampire/Parasite cult or just scumbags with no morals!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
12/20/2007 12:43 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Look at the basic principle of the west "If some one slaps you on your left cheek, give hime your right" and "If someone shoves you from the left, look to your right". After all-Isn't that what your bible says! You are told to take a beating from us and smile. That's your culture-whether you like it or not!
No. "If some one slaps you on your left cheek, give him your right" simply means forgive someone who slaps you in anger. It does not say "Stretch your neck so someone may lop off your head more easily".
Allah-Sauron is doomed. There will be a cost--some backs will turn to mush, but many will stiffen--so it was written and so shall be done.
#7
So, what is being said is that his idol is different than the Jewish/Christian God - confirming what I have believed that islame is a patchwork of potato and rubarb sacks woven into a cloak of plagerism to justify bloodletting and extorsion. Also was said that it was ancestors of pagan worship which in invoked - not the worship of the spirit in the rock.
Why, with the wealth given by the land under your feet, does your desert not bloom except where international hotels are built by slaves of your own faith? Why do the forests of lebamoan burn instead of being reseeded? Why are you communicating in a western/christian language using western technology? Why do your elite use western medical techniques and frivil their money on camel beauty contests? Why do you choose to educate the 'pale ones', do you feel you have already finished with the blacks and chinese? Why is it all I see of your leaders is the fatness of wealth and privilage?
Your worship of a rock is pagan. Throwing a stone at a wall is not repitance. A giant koran made of gold is an idol. Active control and suppression of the creator woman shows your insecurity. Living off of booty lacks imagination. Look around you; everything you see comes from the direct results of every culture except the followers of the korazy which had to be bought from and installed by those you consider inferior - your cars, electricity, roads, concrete, ships, construction equipment, paper, keyboards, televisions, burger king soft serve - look around, how much of everything you see at the moment do you truly understand how it works or do you just buy it from eastern and western businesses?
As you killers of even those of your own faith, justifing them as martyrs to your own sexual death fetish, watch the world from flaming depths you will see your mirage of superiority fade further into history no matter how far into the past you strain.
Unfortunately for you & as w/all lower forms of pack animals you will turn inward on yourselves before scratching the ice w/us. Nice try though, have a nice day and don't forget your sign on the way out.
#10
Thanks for making it all perfectly clear, JUSTICE. But then, we all know where you stand anyway.
Dream on, little shithead, because if and when you and your fellow miscreants ever get anywhere near your goal we will burn your butts and dump the ashes into the rivers.
You know what a miscalculation is? That's when jihadis think their enemy is weak.
You remember that Holocaust, which your friend Achmadinejad denies, where genocide was committed against the Jews? It's all true, you know. It is only because you are uneducated that you doubt it. Your Quran does not tell you of such things but they are real.
We "pale ones" are capable of truly horrible things that are far beyond even your twisted imagination. We are not proud of it. Yes, our religion teaches us to make peace. But the beast in us that committed the Holocaust is only sleeping. You want to wake him up? Go ahead. Slap us once. Slap us twice. Slap us a third time. See how far you can go.
As for your claim that you captured Palestine from the Romans, how do you feel about a pathetic little handful of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust having captured it from you? Oh, Brave Lion of Islam, just how in the hell did that happen? Could it be that even though your goat fucking prophet told you to make jihad, you really aren't very good at it?
#11
JUSTICE,
You will come across better if you learn to write (And speak) english correctly, your post is full of misspellings. and misused words
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/20/2007 15:21 Comments ||
Top||
#12
Hey, Justice, did ya figure out what the proper barnyard animal is that ya have to screw to cure the AIDS yet?
Oh, well...keep trying. The Prophet commands it.
#13
Hey "justice", what do you think will happen after the next big attack against the United States or its allies? Let me give you a clue: Bush wants to reduce the number of nuke warheads in the US inventory by 1500. Can you name 1500 places between Casablanka and Islamabad? What would happen to your vaunted "islamic world" if they all disappeared early one morning, say about 3AM?
We're getting tired of muslims and Islam. We're getting VERY tired of idiots like you. One morning, perhaps soon, we're going to take you out, and there's not a damned thing you or your moon god allan can do about it. Once the mideast is free of Arabs, we'll probably give it to the Irish, or perhaps Iceland.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2007 17:58 Comments ||
Top||
#14
I'd argue that even Papuans may be a good replacement.
#15
See also RENSE/TOPIX > ENGLISH NOW SECOND LANGUAGE IN 1300 UK SCHOOLS, + ENGLISH LANGUAGE BECOMING A MINORITY IN BRITAIN? Runaway uncontrolled immigration + Brit emigration + PCorrectness [Govt. policies], etc. biting the UK in the you-know-where.
#18
It takes a while to pick up on Joe's syntax. We couldn't expect JUSTICE to get it in a million years because he spends too much time banging his head on the floor for allan.
Indonesian prosecutors say three militants facing execution for the 2002 Bali bombings will get one month to seek presidential clemency after being officially notified of the rejection of their final appeal. The chief prosecutor in Denpasar, Made Sudarmaja, spoke after a court official said a copy of a Supreme Court verdict rejecting the convicts' final appeal would be delivered to them next week. "If after one month they failed to request presidential clemency, execution would be immediately carried out," Mr Sudarmaja told reporters.
The three men - Amrozi, Imam Samudra and Mukhlas - have said they will not seek clemency from Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, saying they wanted to die as martyrs. A spokesman for the Denpasar district court, where the Bali bombers were tried, said his office had received the copy of the Supreme Court verdict. "We will convey the contents of the verdict to the convicts and their families as soon as possible," he said, adding that he expected officials to deliver the papers on Friday or Saturday.
Mr Sudarmaji said the justice ministry had approved a request by the Bali prosecutors' office not to execute the militants on the island due to concerns about possible negative effects on tourism. He said Nusakambangan, the prison island off the southern coast of Java where the three were being held, was among three locations being considered for a possible execution site.
The two nightclub blasts on Bali's Kuta strip on October 12, 2002 killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. In a statement read out by their lawyers two months ago, the convicted Bali bombers said their blood would "become the light for the faithful ones and burning hell fire for the infidels and hypocrites".
This article starring:
AMROZI
Jemaah Islamiyah
Baitullah Mehsud
Taliban
IMAM SAMUDRA
Jemaah Islamiyah
Made Sudarmaja
MUKHLAS
Jemaah Islamiyah
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2007 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
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BAGHDAD - The United States has released one of about 10 Iranian prisoners it is holding in Iraq, US forces and the Iranian embassy said on Wednesday. The embassy named the prisoner as Hayder Alami, while US forces gave his name as Hadir Alwai Mohammed. Both said the prisoner had been held since July 2004 and was freed on Tuesday.
The US detention of Iranians in Iraq is one of the issues dividing the two countries. The United States freed nine Iranian prisoners on Nov. 9 and said at the time that it had held 20. A US military spokeswoman said US forces were still holding approximately 10 Iranians after Tuesdays release.
Five of the Iranians that US forces have held have been a particular bone of contention, because Teheran said they were diplomats while Washington said they aided militants. Two of them were among those freed on Nov. 9.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/20/2007 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
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Syria received an offer of nuclear weapons six years ago, but is not interested in such arms or in a nuclear reactor, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview published yesterday in the Austrian newspaper Die Presse.
"Hey buddy, wanna buy a nuke? Cheap! 20 kilotons and everything!"
"At the beginning of 2001, someone brought us a letter from a certain Khan. We did not know if the letter was genuine or a forgery by Israel to lure us into a trap. In any case, we rejected [the approach]. We were not interested in having nuclear weapons or a nuclear reactor. We never met Khan."
Of course not. Your Dire Enemy has nuclear weapons but you don't want them. Having nuclear weapons would make you big heat in the Middle East, but you don't want them. Having nuclear weapons would have the Y'urp-peons and the IAEA licking your boots, but you don't want them. Course not. That doesn't even make sense in an Islamic way.
Abdul Qadeer Khan masterminded Pakistan's nuclear program, and has admitted selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya, and North Korea.
Regarding Syria's response to the September 6 Israeli attack on an unidentified target in its area, Assad said that Syria has a right to response to that attack, but hinted that it would not do so. "We could have responded to the IAF strike by firing a missile, but it would have given Israel an excuse to start a war, and we did not want that," Assad said.
"Please don't kick our asses!"
"This was a military facility under construction. Since it was a military facility, I can't give details. But that does not mean that this was a nuclear facility."
So now even Pencilneck has to admit that it wasn't a baby milk factory.
Western analyses of satellite imagery of the site indicated it may have concealed a nuclear reactor under construction similar to one of North Korean design. In subsequent images, Syria appeared to have quickly razed the structure.
Assad called for Syrian-Israeli peace talks to resume, as follow-up to the Annapolis Conference, and claimed that negotiations could be completed quickly. He said that Syria and Israel had gone 80 percent of the way toward peace in negotiations over returning the Golan Heights, before the talks collapsed in 2000, and that the remaining 20 percent could be completed within a few weeks, and a Golan withdrawal within six months. "Now a referee is needed - the United States above all, naturally with support from the European Union and United Nations," he said. "But without the U.S., nothing will work."
You need us to twist the Israelis' arms. We need you for ... what, exactly?
Syria sent its deputy foreign minister, Fayssal Mekdad, to Annapolis, where he emphasized the need for Israel to leave the Golan. Assad said in his interview that it is necessary to continue the effort begun at the conference. "If a plane starts and reduces speed, it will crash," Assad said "Annapolis was a one-day event. It all depends on the efforts afterward. We have to be optimistic, but cautious."
The Syrian track is slated to be discussed at the conference the Russians will host in Moscow in the first part of 2008. Details of that gathering remain vague, but senior Spanish officials told Haaretz last week that including Syria in the peace process guarantees success on the Palestinian track as well.
How, unless Iran and Syria admit that they're holding the Paleo leash these days?
Syria traditionally maintains that the peace process must advance under American auspices. Assad repeated that stance yesterday, but was skeptical that George Bush's administration would be in a position to sponsor talks during an election year.
He also insinuated that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert cannot advance peace because he is "weaker than any prime minister before him."
Can't argue with that.
Assad rejected the claim made in Israel that Syria supports "radical movements" like Hamas and Hezbollah. "Whether Hamas is radical or not, they are strong. Therefore one has to talk to Hamas. Without them, there will be neither stability nor peace," he said, adding that the same goes for Hezbollah in Lebanon.
"They're not radical in an Islamic way," he added.
Regarding ties with Iran, Assad said that Syria would support whoever advances its interests and goals. "Iran is a very important country - whether you like it or not," he said, and stability in the Middle East is not possible without it.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/20/2007 00:00 ||
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[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
IRANIAN.WS/TOPIX > ASSAD: NO ME STABILITY WITHOUT IRAN. USA should also stop isolating = punishing SYRIA for its alliance wid Iran.
Also from IRANIAN.WS > RUSSIA, IRAN, AND NUCLEAR FUEL.
#3
Actually its not all that implausible that the Mossad sent Assad a feeler, claiming to be a note from AQ Khan - I mean what do they have to lose if its found out, its not like theyre actually gonna give him a bomb, its legit to try to see what his reaction his - Pakis would be mad at the Mossad, but who gives a damn about that? And if Assad DOES take the bait, well now hes been found out - sort of.
And its ALSO plausible, that Assad might just get nervous, and turn down the bait, without stronger proof that it was genuine.
None of which indicates that Assad wouldnt have loved to REALLY get a nuke, just that he was cautious about responding to a letter that couldnt be verified.
I take it Assad doesnt invest in Nigerian get rich quick schemes either - doesnt mean he doesnt want to get rich quick.
The United Nations Security Council and Netherlands are expected to sign this Friday the agreement that establishes Holland as the headquarters for the international Tribunal . The Security council has also already secured the financing for the initial phase of the tribunal and is expected to be able to pick the judges soon . U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad told the Lebanese daily Al Hayat that he expects the International tribunal to be set up by February 2008.
Khalizad was told by U.N. top legal adviser Nicolas Michel that the funds required to initially setup the tribunal have already been secured to enable the court to be setup in February.
The Purpose of the International Tribunal is to try the killers of Lebanons former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and other Lebanese leaders that were assassinated since. Hariri was assassinated on February 14, 2005 and several other anti-Syrian were assassinated since. The last assassinated leader is army General Francoise Hajj. According to Serge Brammertz , UN Chief investigator the investigation revealed that the crimes were connected. Syria was blamed for the assassinations but it denied any involvement.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2007 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
The March 14 leaders issued an ultimatum to the opposition after a late nigh meeting yesterday urging a fruitful meeting to amend the constitution and elect a president this Saturday or the government will act alone and amend the constitution as needed .
The March 14 meeting grouping Parliament majority leader MP Saad Hariri, Democratic gathering leader Walid Jumblatt, Phalange Party leader and former president Amin Gemayel, Lebanese Forces chief Dr. Samir Geagea and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora warned against any further postponement of the legislative session to elect a president.
The March 14 leaders rejected attempts by the opposition to bypass the government in the amendment needed to elect General Suleiman as president . They insisted on sticking to the constitution which gives the government a central role in any amendment . "If Speaker Nabih Berri didn't convene the parliament on Saturday and the opposition's MPs didn't attend the session...the government will meet before Christmas to issue a bill to amend the constitution allowing the election of Gen. Michel Suleiman as president and refer it to parliament to force MPs to shoulder their responsibilities," the March 14 majority leaders warned late Tuesday.
In another related development US secretary Condoleezza Rice has cancelled her Wednesday trip to Beirut and this is why her assistant for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch and Deputy National Security Advisor Elliott showed up Tuesday in a surprise trip to try and end the impasse.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
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.
Well-informed security sources about counterterrorism issues unveiled that US security forces in northern Mali tried to eliminate Mokhtar Belmokhtar alias Khaled Abu Al Abbas, who has escaped many murder attempts the most recent one in September 2006 in an ambush set by Malian agents in Kidal. The same sources added that Belmokhtar has escaped the operation while he lost four men. 
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is scheduled to arrive here [Islamabad] next week on a two-day visit that the Pakistan government said was an expression of Afghanistans solidarity with and goodwill for its brotherly neighbour. But ahead of the December 26-27 visit, Mr. Karzai on Wednesday urged the international coalition in the war on terror to track down the strongholds of Al-Qaeda and Taliban, which he said were outside Afghanistan. He did not name any country, but according to media reports from Kabul, it was an apparent reference to Pakistan. We want the struggle against terrorism to go after their bases, their hideouts and training centers, Mr. Karzai was reported as saying during an Id speech.
Under the embers of the wintry evening sun the Tigris river, usually as brown as old boots, had turned almost blood red. Its waters were calm but its oily sheen was disturbed by the oars of a rower as he sculled his way through the city's fractured heart. Alone and apparently indifferent to the threat of a sniper's bullet, Muhammad Rafiq eased up on his stroke rate and tacked over to the shore. He hauled his craft up the bank to a mosque - the temporary headquarters for his rowing club since US soldiers had commandeered its real boathouse in 2003. Inside the courtyard, his forehead beaded with sweat, Muhammad laid a few old blankets over his upturned boat and padlocked the oars to a railing.
Officials in the Israeli prime ministers office reacted coolly on Wednesday to an indirect approach by the Hamas leader in Gaza offering talks for a 
Indonesian prosecutors say three militants facing execution for the 2002 Bali bombings will get one month to seek presidential clemency after being officially notified of the rejection of their final appeal. The chief prosecutor in Denpasar, 
Syria received an offer of nuclear weapons six years ago, but is not interested in such arms or in a nuclear reactor, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview published yesterday in the Austrian newspaper Die Presse.
