THREE Bali bombers on death row over the 2002 bombings could soon be executed after a dramatic end to their final appeal today.
Their lawyer Fahmi Bachmid today withdrew from their last-ditch legal appeal, bringing it to an abrupt end.
Outside court, Chief Judge Ida Bagus Putu Madeg said the judges would now treat the appeal, known as a judicial review, as if it had "never existed".
"With this, whatever happened in the previous hearings is considered to not exist," Madeg told AAP after the hearing for convicted terrorist Imam Samudra.
"We will not convey this (case) to the Supreme Court because it's not something for which a decision is needed.
"So the case will stay here. It is considered that the judicial review request never existed."
Denpasar District Court had held three separate judicial review hearings, one for each of the three terrorists: the so-called smiling assassin Amrozi Nurhasyim; his brother Ali Ghufron (alias Mukhlas); and Imam Samudra.
The trio played key roles in the Bali nightclub bombings on October 12, 2002, which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
But the hearings became weighed down by a protracted bid to either have the bombers brought to Bali to testify or to have the appeal held in Cilacap District Court, off central Java, closer to their island prison.
No witnesses were called to testify in any of the four hearings.
In court today, Bachmid presented a letter formally objecting to the decision not to move the hearing or bring the convicted terrorists to the Bali court.
"We really object to the judges' decision," Bachmid said.
"The reasons are really unreasonable according to the existing law."
But after a brief adjournment, Chief Judge Madeg said the judges retained their position.
Bachmid then thanked the judges, but said he had no alternative but to withdraw from the case.
"I will give it (the case) back to Amrozi, Samudra and Ali Ghufron, whether to continue with the judicial review or not," he said.
Outside the court an angry Bachmid rejected accusations the entire case had been a tactic to stall the executions.
He said the trio must now send a letter if they wanted to formally withdraw the appeal, a point disputed by prosecutors.
The prosecutor in Amrozi's case, I Wayan Suila, said there was no obligation for the judges to ask the convicted terrorists if they wanted to withdraw the case, and it was now considered closed.
These three devils are known as "the smiling assassins" for the moronic grins they wore in court (see pic at link). I'm sure the hangman will provide a more appropriate expression.
#1
Correction: The 3 stooges will be shot by firing squad rather than hanged. They claim that this is unIslamic and have asked to be beheaded instead. I say we give them their wish, with a rusty hack-saw blade as the instrument of choice.
#4
Outside the court an angry Bachmid rejected accusations the entire case had been a tactic to stall the executions.
Actually, if you read the story, that's exactly what it sounds like.
Unless the Australians decide to get really hardass and start pushing for it, which would be nice, I got a feeling we'll be reading about these three mooks "imminent" executions for at least the next 5 years. Or at least until they figure out a way to get them off the hook. Maybe as an Eid present or Ramadan dispensation or...sumthin.
#6
How about drawing and quartering, followed by burning in gasoline and burying wrapped in pig fat in an unmarked grave. (Somewhere out in the desert sands, Untrackable, Unrecoverable, publish it widely)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/24/2008 14:42 Comments ||
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#7
Second thought, plant them in a relatively remote (Uninhabited) area, with about 10 pounds of C-4 under the body, and a trigger on top. Publish the location widely.
Whoever excavates the "Martyrs" gets showered with the remains. (If they survive the blast)
Should cut down on those mass "Funerals" where it's really a gun-sex celebration with cameras.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/24/2008 14:53 Comments ||
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#8
heck... skip the execution and jump straight to a burial at sea.. a roll of duct tape, a length of anchor chain, and an old chunk of canvas... take em a mile or so out to sea, and bon voyage!
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
03/24/2008 15:55 Comments ||
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#2
Well, if you watch the video you will see that some Muslims in Qatar MAY have a problem with it. There are apparently more Catholic guest workers in the country than there are Muslims, so they let them build a church. Makes sense. They are also letting the Orthodox, Anglicans, and one other unspecified denomination build churches. All next to one another out in the desert somewhere.
#shrug# Seems like progress to me. I don't think the Emir of Qatar gives a damn who his subjects are so long as they work, pay taxes, and don't break things. Pretty much like every other modern ruler.
You know, they don't go out of there way to actually interview any Muslims in this story. They just show some guys praying in a mosque, then show some other guys in Arab robes having tea in a cafe somewhere. They don't actually ask them what they think about it. Maybe the Muslim on the street in Qatar doesn't give a damn so long as his food gets cooked and the oil in his car gets changed.
(Xinhua) -- The issue of reunification, peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula should be settled by the Koreans themselves rather than depending on foreign forces, the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said Saturday in a signed article.
Wasn't that how we got there in the first place?
Interference by foreign Chinese forces is what saved them last time ...
If foreign forces are allowed to interfere, the situation will be more complicated, making it harder to expect any solution to the reunification issue, it said.
'Nother words, we'd be expected to kick them back over the 38th Parallel again. Only this time without the heavy casualties.
All the issues arising from the inter-Korean relations including the reunification of the peninsula should only be handled by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea, it added. The article said the anti-reunification forces at home and abroad were hamstringing the efforts to implement the Oct. 4 declaration signed by top DPRK leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun last year. In the declaration, the DPRK and South Korea pledged to work together to establish a permanent peace mechanism to replace the current truce status on the peninsula and achieve common prosperity through expanding economic cooperation.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX > AN UPDATE ON SYRIA'S NUCLEAR SITES + SYRIA AND NORTH KOREA:THE USA WANTS TO KNOW MORE. What's holding up the US-NOKOR talks is that NK refuses to clarify or verify its role vv Syria's nucprogs. Author > Dubya is right to be worried becuz iff one connects the dots, NK provides the NucTechs/Knowledge, Iran provs the weapons-grade "dual-use" Nucmats, Syria the operational Missles, and Radical Islamists everywhere gets to do anything and everything they want wid the combo = nuclear end-products all over the World.
As they listened to the gospel during mass Sunday, few parishioners at Holy Name parish could have imagined how their holiday service and their Easter finery were about to be tainted. Six protesters disrupted the beginning of Cardinal Francis George's homily to shout their opposition to the Iraq war. The demonstratorswho called themselves Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War, despite their male and female membershipsquirted fake blood on themselves and nearby worshipers as security guards tried to usher them from the parish's auditorium, where mass is being said during repairs on the downtown Chicago cathedral.
The syrupy red substancewhich one protester later described as "stage blood"initially drew horrified gasps and a few shrieks from the 600 worshipers at the mass. The shock, however, quickly gave way to anger as people booed the demonstrators while they were being removed from the hall. A few livid parents followed the protesters into the lobby and berated them for scaring children at mass.
"Are you happy with yourselves?" Mike Wainscott of Chicago shouted at the demonstrators as they were being handcuffed by police. "There were kids in there. You scared little kids with your selfish act. Are you happy now?"
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2008 01:09 ||
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#2
The "peace movement" is a naked emperor. I do not believe in the sincerity of ANY "peace activist." As George Orwell said in 1942, "the peace movement is objectively pro-fascist."
I believe that sympathy and support for barbarism is the conscious purpose of every posturing fool of a peace hypocrite, from the Copperheads of the Civil War to the doddering hippies and blackshirt glue-huffers of today. They are not people of peace, they are depraved beasts; arrogant, infantile, totalitarian, heedless, cowardly tools of a satanic enemy.
Remember, none other than Harvard itself has established that terrorist activity increases in response to increased anti-war media coverage. That would of course include high profile media events like this one and the inevitable spin the media will put on it.
This kind of event is especially encouraging to the enemy, since they interpret the failure to punish the offenders as evidence that the administration is too weak to enforce the law in this country let alone pacify places like Afghanistan and Iraq. Favorable media coverage is interpreted as indicating wide-spread popular opposition. As in Vietnam, the message is that our enemies do not have to win, they have only to hold out long enough for our policies to collapse from within.
#7
I say sell them and "their male and female member-ships" to a couple of lewd old Saudis.
Posted by: ed ||
03/24/2008 9:26 Comments ||
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#8
The only sort of "peace" advocated by these sorts is "the peace of the grave," specifically for you and me, not for themselves...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/24/2008 10:32 Comments ||
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#9
I saw the mugshots. They look like every loser you've ever met.
When you're a male and you're a member of something called Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War, you probably couldn't get laid in a monkey whorehouse with a bag of bananas.
#13
Each and every one of those people spatter can and should file assault and battery charges. The "fake blood" splash constitutes battery. Also, sue thim in civil court,a nd since the conspired, request RICO charges be brought, including civil forfeiture.
#15
Orwell said in 1942 "the peace movement is objectively pro-fascist."
And Orwell still seemed to give them the benefit of doubt about their sincerity. I don't. I don't since theirt thundering silnce over the Communist massacres at Hue during the Tet, since their thundering silence over the Khmer Rouges, since their thundering silence over Saddam gassing of Kurds, since their thundering silence over the massacre of Hazaras by Taliban, since their silence over Rwanda, since their silence over Al Quaida and Iran-funded militias atrocities in Irak , since their thundering silence over Paleostinians actions and project of a Second Shoah, since their thundering silence over Soudan.
Remember the hate filled face of burkha clad
Rachel Corrie while she burned an American flag
in Paleonistan? Pace activis Rachel Corrie.
I don't believe they are weell intentioned idiots.
They are ave
#16
The American Civil War. Amazing how liberals forget how illiberal both North and South were during that conflict.
Secretary of War Edwin Stanton once told a man demanding release of a friend similarly locked away for treason, If I tap that little bell, I can send you to a place where you will never hear the dogs bark. VDH's Private Papers
When A. Lincoln suspended habeus corpus, any 2nd lieutenant in the US Army could arrest a man or woman and incarcerate that person without a hearing or notification of next of kin. No lawyer, no magistrate, no nuthin'.
#17
CHICAGO -- A judge set bond at $25,000 to $35,000 today for six anti-war protestors following an Easter service disruption at Holy Name Cathedral in the Loop Sunday morning.
Bond was set at $35,000 for Donte D. Smith, 21 and $25,000 for the five others including: Ephran Ramirez, Jr., 22, and Ryane J. Ziemba, 25, Mercedes Phinaih, 18, Regan Maher, 25, and Angela Haban, 20. Smith has served time in a federal prison in Texas for trespassing on a Native American reservation.
All six protestors were charged with two counts of felony criminal damage to property and two counts of simple battery.
Looks like they'll have plenty of time to get to know their cellmates. Maybe they could rename their group Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War Who Get Pounded in the Ass in Prison...
Sen. Barack Obama says that a pro-Hamas Op-Ed printed in his church's bulletin was "outrageously wrong." In an issue dated July 22, 2007, in a section titled "Pastor's Page," the Trinity United Church in Chicago reprinted an article by Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk.
And it was just printed last July? Picked right up on that, didn't he?
The article, which originally appeared as an Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times, justifies the Palestinian terrorist group's denial of Israel's right to exist.
The church's pastor, Jeremiah Wright Jr., who retired this year, has stirred controversy for Obama's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination with statements likening Israel to colonialists and blaming attacks on the United States in part on its support for Israel.
In slamming the Hamas piece, Obama noted that he strongly rejects some of his longtime pastor's views. "I have already condemned my former pastor's views on Israel in the strongest possible terms, and I certainly wasn't in church when that outrageously wrong Los Angeles Times piece was re-printed in the bulletin," Obama said in a statement e-mailed to JTA late Thursday. "Hamas is a terrorist organization, responsible for the deaths of many innocents, and dedicated to Israel's destruction, as evidenced by their bombarding of Sderot in recent months. I support requiring Hamas to meet the international community's conditions of recognizing Israel, renouncing violence, and abiding by past agreements before they are treated as a legitimate actor."
This article starring:
Moussa Abu Marzouk
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
yet you continued to attend the church and take your daughters.
#4
Yeah, B. Hussein Obama, we agree it's outrageous. Yet we find that you are present and accounted for to this day, and recently gave a donation of $22,000 to this very "church". After you got your dick in the ringer, you deny, deny, deny. Do you think even the lght-headed loons kissing your ass are going to believe this tripe ? Let alone thinking adults. Your f**ckin' joy ride is over. Finished !
#5
To continue his unbroken streak of tardy denunciations, I hear Obama is next going to denounce 70's disco.
Posted by: ed ||
03/24/2008 9:31 Comments ||
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#6
Cut Obama some slack. There are some church bulletins that I did not read until I was cleaning out the car months later. Brother Ralph passed away? I though he just left town.
Posted by: Creling Darling of the Lichtensteiners8341 ||
03/24/2008 9:51 Comments ||
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#7
Do you think even the lght-headed loons kissing your @ss are going to believe this tripe ?
Yup. Won't faze 'em - most won't even hear about it.
#8
Well, yeah, I could maybe cut him a little slack. I actually have grown tired of my rabbi, not for his politics so much (I can claim to be somewhat ahead of him in recognizing that Ariel Sharon was really a moderate) as for personal stuff over the last few years (which Id rather not go into) and Id like to do more synagogue hopping, despite liking most of the folks there, but its real hard to leave when your kids in particular have lots of good friends there, better than the their friends in school. So Im willing to buy it if Obama would say he cant leave cause his daughters have lots of their friends there, or something like that.
Though if somebody caught may rabbi on tape saying "damn the arabs" (not that that would happen in a million years, see above) I dont know if Id have the chutzpah to respond with a speech about the need for Jews to get over their need to react to the deeds of the medieval Catholic church, and how some Catholics are tired of being called bigots cause of what they personally hadnt done.
#9
Obama followers who called into one of the NPR discussion shows the day after his explanation speech were practically giddy, so sure were they that all opposition would be converted to believers. This is merely more of the same.
liberalhawk, I take it you aren't terribly worried about the Pope's conversion prayer. ;-)
#4
Altering passports is hardly a new thing -- grandfather did such work for the Dutch Underground during the war.
Interesting that, however many bad guys managed to come over the border, so few have actually done bad things. One has to wonder how many of those sponsored by the terrorists were secretly economic immigrants.
The second bit I noticed was that 'twas a Kuwaiti customs official who noticed they couldn't speak Spanish, and turned them in. Perhaps some Kuwaitis are grateful, after all.
#5
Nothing is ever as it seems with Afghans. The first batch showed up around here right after the Soviet invasion.
They opened a restaurant. Just peeking through the door and judging from their decor I saw that it was a very high class place. However, even though I tried repeatedly, they always claimed that it was completely booked. 100%. Always.
It closed at the same time the Soviets left.
Another batch came later, about the same time as the Taliban took over. They were economic migrants, but overnight they had set up small businesses, like convenience stores. That was the first time I'd ever met Pushtuns up close.
They're still here. Never been any problem with them. And though they romanticize Afghanistan, they have no desire to go back there.
A warning about the impending Oklahoma City bombing may have been delivered three days in advance to a white supremacist tied to suspected additional conspirators in the terrorist attack. Newly released documents reveal a detailed timeline of events that strengthens the case for additional conspirators in the bombing that killed 168 people on April 19, 1995. ...
Mark Thomas, a former Christian Identity minister and Aryan Nations member, pleaded guilty in 1997 to conspiring with the Aryan Republican Army (ARA) bank robbery gang, which was led by white supremacists Richard Lee Guthrie and Peter Langan. Thomas was staying in Elohim City, a white supremacist compound in rural Oklahoma, just days before the bombing, at the same time as other ARA associates with suspected links to the bombing and at the same time that Timothy McVeigh called the residence where some of the ARA members were staying. ....
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
03/24/2008 00:00 ||
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"The FBI and the Pennsylvania State Police" > oooooooooo, now, speaking of RICHARD REID, "E-T-A-L"..............
#3
And one of the only people who could tell us anything about all of this was and help solve the puzzle was.... executed, pretty much at his own request.
#4
I'm not going to dance on this bunk BS. What we do know is that there were two blasts (seismic and witnesses) and that ALL the police and fire radio contact tapes are gone. What about the German that they refused to try and have extradited.
This is the same FBI that decided to rush the Waco compound when they were listening in to conversations and hearing the Dravidian's were going to burn everyone alive if attacked.
The same FBI that covers up almost all the Muslims terrorist activities they come across.
Killing McVeigh was a huge mistake. Taken in context, how many mussies have been executed by the USA? For crying out loud the FBI even warned CAIR that they were going to raid their fricking offices.
#5
The German, Andreas Strassemeir? It's true that the FBI basically let him amble off to Germany. I was going over some of the material years ago and there was something that caught my eye -- I don't remember what -- that made me think that he was an agent of German intelligence. I thought perhaps he'd been sent to monitor any links between US militia types and German neo-Nazis. Certainly Elohim city had informants reporting back to both ATF and FBI, who weren't talking to each other.
There's much grist yet to be milled, that's for sure. I don't always agree with Berger, but he does excellent work.
Terming 'fidayeen' attacks as ''totally un-Islamic'', Islamic scholar, cleric and Shia leader Maulana Kalbe Jawwad has called for a fatwa or Islamic edict against suicide attacks.
''Suicide attacks lead to killing of innocent people and Islam firmly prohibits such activities,'' Maulana Jawaad said in Lucknow.
''I fail to understand why institutions authorised to issue fatwas chose to sit pretty while such attacks were being carried out indiscriminately not only in India but also in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan,'' Maulana Jawaad said.
''I have reasons to believe that the silence of leading Islamic institutions and even prominent Maulanas on a vital issue like fidayeen attacks was attributable to undue influence of Americans and Israelis.
''I am sure such organisations were guided by Americans or Israelis whose one point programme is to distort Islam and project its teachings in poor light.'' Yup! thats it, can't be any other reason, now can there?
Asked why did he not issue an edict, the Maulana said, ''I do not believe in issuing fatwas but I have always and will certainly continue to raise my voice against all types of terrorism, and even more vehemently against suicide attacks.''
India's most prominent Sunni Islamic seminaries in Deoband as well as the Nadwatul Ulema in Lucknow issued edicts against terrorism in February.
#3
''I am sure such organisations were guided by Americans or Israelis whose one point programme is to distort Islam and project its teachings in poor light.''
#4
Asked why did he not issue an edict, the Maulana said, ''I do not believe in issuing fatwas
Really?
Maulana Jawwad had no problem issuing this fatwa in 2002 link renowned shia cleric maulana kalbe jawwad has also issued a `fatwa' directing them to quit the party or face boycott from the community. maulana jawwad has directed the community members to exert pressure on muslim legislators to quit `the power-hungry party hobnobbing with communal forces'. the shia cleric has called for their boycott if they show any reluctance in quitting the party. maulana jawwad alleged that the vajpayee-led nda government was part of the `international coalition against islam'. "state-sponsored atrocities against members of the minority community have unmasked vajpayee and the bjp,"
Posted by: john frum ||
03/24/2008 15:54 Comments ||
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Muslim religious leaders and clerics in Lucknow have issued a fatwa against Coke, asking Muslims in the country and across the world to boycott the fizzy drink as they are certain that the words Coca-Cola when held against a mirror reads No Muhammad No Mecca in Arabic.
An enraged Maulana Kalbe Jawwad, religious head of the Shias, said: It is blasphemy. We will ask Muslims in the country and throughout the world to boycott the product until the company withdraws the offending words.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/24/2008 15:57 Comments ||
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#8
I wonder what ispep means. It must be something really nasty too, in Arabic. Dr Pepper is a nasty stuff on its own without reading it backwards. ;-)
#9
Classic. Instead of appealing to the humanity of it all, he resorts to saying they haven't banned suicide attacks because the US and Israelis are paying them to discredit Islam. He'd rather make a ridiculous claim than work the problem.
The fact that the big clerics did nothing when Iraqis were murdered by religious zealots. Young Iraqis must see this.
If the Iraqi SF is good enough they should start retaliating for suicide bombers by striking back at the family of any known suicide bomber. Kill a couple of people in the Kingdom and in Libya for a start. I also don't understand why they haven't sued in Saudi court or in the Arab League.
New Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gillani has ordered the release of all judges detained under emergency rule, minutes after being elected by MPs.
President Pervez Musharraf sacked dozens of judges in November and former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was among those still held.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/24/2008 10:06 ||
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Posted by: john frum ||
03/24/2008 22:47 Comments ||
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LAHORE Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has reservations about the Muttahida Qaumi Movements plan to join hands with the four-party coalition to be set up at the centre. Sharif told reporters that he had reservations about the MQM which should be allayed by the relevant quarters.
The PML-N had hosted the all parties conference in London last July where all participants had said no party should form a coalition with the MQM in future because of the latters alleged role in the killings in Karachi on May 12 last year.
Some 50 people had been killed when deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry went to Karachi to address lawyers, who were condemning a reference against him. The London APC had held the MQM responsible for the carnage and vowed not to cooperate with it in forming a government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2008 00:47 ||
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ISLAMABAD Claiming that Pakistan has entered the third stage of "an era of real democracy" he had ushered in eight years ago, President Pervez Musharraf has said he would extend full support to the new government.
Until he can overthrow it ...
Musharraf said he has put the country "on the track of development and progress" and it was now up to the incoming government to sustain this process and also rid the country of extremism and terrorism. He recalled that after 1999 coup Pakistan was under military rule, after 2002 elections it moved to a quasi military-cum-civilian dispensation and has now entered into an era of pure civilian elected government.
"Whichever new government is formed, it will enjoy my full support," Musharraf said in a speech while addressing the military parade at a sports stadium in Islamabad to mark the Pakistan Day commemorating the adoption of Pakistan Resolution in 1940 that set the stage for creation of a homeland for Indian Muslims. "I hope that these governments will maintain political peace ... and will continue the struggle against terrorism and extremism with the same force," he said.
Musharraf described country's armed forces as one of the best in the world of which the nation should be proud.
No doubt the Paks could take down the Zimbobs' and the mighty Uruguyans ...
He said Pakistan has no aggressive designs against anyone ...
... other than Pashtunistan, Balochistan, Kashmir and the Punjab ...
... and but emphasised that the defence, security and integrity could be achieved only through power not weakness.
There's an idea, Pakistan should try it sometime.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2008 00:36 ||
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Saddam Hussein's intelligence service collected information on dozens of sites in Israel, including airports, other transportation centers, as well as scientific and religious centers that were thought to be potential targets for attacks. Among the sources providing intelligence to Saddam's regime was Force 17, the security force of Yasser Arafat, which planned and carried out from its Ramallah headquarters attacks against Israeli targets.
No surprise that Yassar and Saddam were working together ...
This information emerged following the release of documents captured during the American invasion in 2003 and made available as part of a West Point program to evaluate the lessons of the war in Iraq.
In addition to the detailed collection of intelligence on potential Israeli targets, the documents also show that Saddam's intelligence was following closely the links between Iran and Hezbollah and the potential that such ties could provide Iran to operate in the territories and in North Africa.
The captured documents also detail a 2001 plan to release Iraqis jailed for three- to 20-year sentences if they agreed to volunteer to carry out attacks on Israeli targets.
But containment was working just fine ...
The Americans captured more than 600,000 intelligence items, including thousands of hours of video and sound recordings, all of which have been scanned and summarized, but only 15 percent was fully translated into English.
A document from 2002, from the chief of staff of the Al-Quds Army, sent to the Karbala Division, orders each brigade to build a model of an Israeli town and practice taking it by force.
Whatever else we think of Saddam, this demonstrates a serious lack of reality testing. Just exactly how would an Iraqi brigade be presented with an opportunity to capture an Israeli town? How exactly would Iraqi armed forces survive in a fight against the Israelis?
Hamas representatives, including Abdel Aziz Rantisi, who was assassinated by the Israel Defense Forces in 2004, contacted Iraqi intelligence and asked to coordinate attacks against American and Israeli targets to delay the American invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The documents also show that Iraqi agents also followed the activities of Israel in Jordan, Qatar and the Philippines.
A video recording of a meeting between Saddam and Yasser Arafat on April 19, 1990, showed Saddam threatening to assassinate then president George Bush. "We may not be able to reach Washington, but we could send someone with an explosives belt to Washington," Saddam told Arafat, three months before the invasion of Kuwait. "We can send people to Washington. A man with an explosives belt could throw himself on Bush's car."
Saddam also told his Palestinian guest that he intended to launch surface-to-surface ballistic missiles against Tel Aviv and that he possessed chemical weapons that "have been successfully employed" against Iran - and he would not hesitate to also use them against Israel.
You get the sense that Saddam was a big talker, particularly with other Arabs.
The file listing potential targets in Israel covers 223 pages and was classified as Top Secret by Iraqi intelligence. It was found on April 13, 2003, in the headquarters of the Iraqi intelligence service in Baghdad by a unit of U.S. Marines. The file was sent two weeks later to U.S. army intelligence and then to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon for translation and analysis. The decision to make the report available is part of a program to evaluate the lessons of the war in Iraq at West Point military academy. Five volumes of captured documents were disseminated a year ago throughout the American defense establishment, and are now being made available after censorship.
The file lists in its "main targets" the bridges over the Jordan River, the central bus stations in Be'er Sheva, Jerusalem, Ashdod, Dimona, Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat, Rehovot, Lod and Rishon Letzion and train stations in Tel Aviv and Haifa. Also in the file were road maps of Kiryat Shmona, Tel Aviv and Haifa, as well as maps of parking lots and taxi stations at the Tel Aviv train station.
In the table of contents it is noted that pages 42-76 contain a catalog of "main targets," listing 35 targets in Israel, including bus stations, pharmaceutical plants, medical centers and synagogues. Following pages note, on a map of Israel, main sports venues and are then followed by 20 more pages that include 35 other potential targets: mosques, synagogues, swimming pools, government offices and sports centers. Also included is the Weizmann Institute, "56 airports and 18 runways," air force bases, including squadrons, aircraft types and missiles, the names of companies working in civilian airports and the crossing points on the border between Israel and Jordan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/24/2008 00:51 ||
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Baath Party
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I think the best solution to the Palestinian problem is to buy one of Indonesia's larger islands and move ALL the Palestinians to the island. Provisions must be made to make it too far to swim to another island and all boats must be kept away. Give them a home of their own in a muslim country where they can't bother anyone.
#3
If the Palis can part the Red Sea, then let them walk to Egypt. Otherwise they can swim.
Posted by: ed ||
03/24/2008 8:59 Comments ||
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#4
Also "Long Overdue" is Cheney's retirement.
Cheney is a realist and far, far from any kind of St. Pancake view. After running this through my news-speak filter, it comes out as "The main obstacle to Palestinian statehood is Palestinians. It is time to put up or shut up when it comes to a Paleo state."
(Xinhua) -- Visiting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney claimed on Sunday that "terror and rockets" against Israel killed not only innocent civilians, but also hopes for a Palestinian state.
The establishment of a Palestinian state "needs more efforts and painful concessions by both sides," Cheney said at a joint press conference held in this West Bank town with Palestinian President Madmoud Abbas. "President George W. Bush is the first U.S. president who adopts the principle of establishing an independent Palestinian state living in peace and able to live," Cheney said. "Our administration is committed to achieving this goal." Cheney arrived in Ramallah earlier in the day and held talks with Abbas. Cheney will later meet interim Palestinian Prime Minister Sallam Fayyad.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
Egypt has released 33 Palestinian detainees from the militant group Hamas who had been held after they crossed over from the Gaza Strip. The men came over after Hamas breached the border with Egypt two months ago. Hamas has accused the Egyptian authorities of torturing them. Egyptian officials have been holding talks with representatives of both Hamas and another group Islamic Jihad. They have been trying to bring about a truce between Palestinians and Israel.
The Palestinian detainees were arrested in January after they crossed into Egypt along with hundreds of thousands of other Gazans who poured in following the destruction of the border wall by Hamas militants. The Gazans had come to buy supplies after Israel subjected the territory to a blockade in response to rocket attacks by militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
(Xinhua) -- An Islamic Hamas spokesman said Sunday that his movement opposes the return of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) security forces to the Gaza Strip, which Hamas has been ruling since last June. Sami Abu Zuhri, the spokesman, told reporters in Gaza that Hamas movement "would never accept, in any case, the return of the former corrupted security forces to the Gaza Strip again."
Yemen and Egypt have been exerting efforts over the past few months to bring the two rival movements back to the dialogue table. Yemen is now discussing an initiative of reconciliation between the two movements. "We accepted the Yemeni initiative for the sake of dialogue. Hamas is ready for dialogue, and it has the will for that. Hamas is strong, in spite of the attempts to weaken and break the movement," said Abu Zuhri.
I'm probably wrong, but I thought the purpose of "dialogue" was to work out "actions" acceptable to both sides?
Since Wednesday, delegations from Fatah and Hamas have been engaged in dialogue in Yemen in an attempt to resolve an internal Palestinian conflict that reached its peak in June 2007, when Hamas routed Fatah and took over Gaza. Asked about an unannounced truce between Hamas and Israel, Abu Zuhri said "there is no calm with the occupation (Israel). Hamas has its own weapon and can use it whenever it wants according to the interests of the Palestinian people."
This article starring:
Sami Abu Zuhri
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
See also IRANIAN.WS > NETAHYAHU: IF WE [Israel] LEAVE JERUSALEM, IRAN AND HAMAS WILL WIN.
#2
Silly Fred! You well know the Arab-Muslim view on dialog is, like a hudna, for the purpose of obtaining concessions until the attack can be resumed -- not to meet the other guy in the middle.
Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have agreed to hold their first direct talks since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. The agreement, mediated by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, aims to end the bitter feud between the two groups. Fatah, which controls the West Bank, denounced the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip as a coup. Both sides say they want to return to the situation before the events of June 2007 and that Palestinian unity is paramount. The first round of talks are scheduled to take place on 5 April but the make-up of the delegations has not yet been announced
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
TOPIX > BREAKING - PERES: IFF THE GOLAN [Heights] IS RETURNED, IT WILL BE/COME UNDER IRAN-SYRIAN CONTROL, plus assorted TERROR GROUPS???
An exiled Muslim rebel leader ruled out peace talks with Thailand's new government, saying Monday that authorities have cultivated "conditions of war" that were not conducive to ending bloodshed in the restive south. Lukman B. Lima, who heads the Pattani United Liberation Organization from exile in Sweden, said such talks should be held in the presence of an international mediator. "We want to resolve the conflict through peaceful means, through civilized methods, without recourse to bloodbath and destruction of life," Lukman said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. But "peace talks cannot be held under the conditions of war, military aggression and occupation."
Lukman called on Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's government, which took office last month, to withdraw troops and grant sovereignty to the south, reiterating long-standing demands. A government spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment, but Samak said last month it would be dangerous to do so. It was not clear to what extent Lukman's comments reflected the views of the other shadowy groups involved in the insurgency. PULO is the only rebel organization to comment on the fighting, and its leaders have been in self-imposed exile in Sweden for several years.
Thailand's police have arrested a man suspected of involvement in the bomb attack at the CS Pattani hotel. A combined police and military force arrested Muden Sameng at a house in Pattani's Panare district after an investigation found he was a member of the Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) insurgent group and linked him to a bomb incident at the CS Pattani hotel on March 15. Mr. Muden was also suspected of involvement in a bombing which killed three officials in Panare district. He denied any involvement in bombings.
#1
Ever notice these turbans always exile themselves in skimpy clothed, blond aplenty Scandinavia, never in places like Saudi, Pakistan or Taliban Afghanistan which they want to model their rule should they ever take power?
Posted by: ed ||
03/24/2008 9:06 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I believe the Danes tend to be dark, although no more clothed. ;-)
The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has called on the two Moro rebel groups to unite for the welfare of the Bangsamoro (Muslim nation) people. The call was contained in a resolution passed during the 11th session of the Islamic Summit held in Dhakar, Senegal on March 13 to 14.
Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, told BusinessWorld that both groups were invited to attend the summit. He said for MILF, a "position letter" was sent informing the OIC of the status of the "Bangsamoro in Mindanao" and the current state of the more than 10-year peace talks with the government.
In its statement, the OIC "also took note of the ongoing negotiations between the Philippine government and the MILF, which it "hopes [will have] a positive outcome." The OIC brokered the peace talks between the MNLF and the government in 1996, and recognized the MNLF as the representative of the Bangsamoro people. However, the MILF, a breakaway group of the MNLF, has since emerged as the biggest armed Muslim group fighting for a separate Islamic state in Mindanao and is now on the final stage in signing the ancestral domain agreement with the government.
The government has earlier urged the two groups to talk. "The two of them would have to talk because they will represent the Bangsamoro autonomous government. There could not be separate Bangsamoro concepts of the MNLF and MILF," Executive Secretary Eduardo R. Ermita earlier said.
This article starring:
Moro Islamic Liberation Front
Moro National Liberation Front
Eduardo R. Ermita
Mohagher Iqbal
Moro Islamic Liberation Front
Organization of Islamic Conference
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Moro Islamic Liberation Front
#1
IRANIAN.WS [paraph]> TURKEY AND SAUDI ARABIA IN THE RENDEZVOUS OF THE 3R's - REAWAKENING, REFORMATION, and RETRAINING/RESHAPING OF MINDS AND THOUGHTS. Joint Re-interpretation and Revision of the QURAN/SUTRAS in the works???
(Xinhua) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres said Sunday that Israel will not make a deal with Syria to return the Golan Heights, the Jerusalem Post reported. "If the Golan is given back, it will boost Iran's influence in Lebanon and the territory will effectively be under Iranian-Syrian control," Peres was quoted by the website of local Jerusalem Post as saying during a meeting with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. Peres made similar remarks to visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week, when he said "talk of peace with Syria arouses distrust within Israel."
Peace talks between arch-foe Syria and Israel foundered in 2000over the fate of the strategic Golan Heights, which the Syrians lost was occupied by the Jewish state in the 1967 Middle East war.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2008 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
FREEREPUBLIC > AL QAEDA NO. 2 [Zawahiri]SAYS FOR MUSLIMS TO ATTACK ISRAEL, US [interests].
ALso, COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG > HAVE TERRORISTS CROSSED [into CONUS?].
Those heights would make excellent rocket platform firing positions for attacks into the northern valleys. Israel would slit their own throat if they gave them up.
#3
Just think how history might have been changed if Lee had managed to position a strong force on Little Round Top before the Battle of Gettysburg really got rolling. Israel seems to understand the importance of strategic high ground. (Not to mention the value of control of the watershed in an arid region.)
#5
It's something, though maybe not even a starting point. When I hear "NO partition of Jerusalem" from Israeli authorities, I might move from pessimist to neutral...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/24/2008 10:37 Comments ||
Top||
#6
this will be denied. Much as Israel sees the need to keep the Golan, theres no international legal basis for keeping it indefinitely (its not disputed territory as the West Bank is) They could legitimately though, press for real peace with Syria, and assert that Syrias relationship wiht Iran is a contradiction of that.
Whats really important here, is Peres assuring Cheney that Israel wont cut a deal with Syria that the US objects to. Israel would love to turn Syria from the Iranian alliance - a turned Syria that no longer supported Hamas and attempted to restrain Hezbollah would very much alleviate Israels worst security threats, and breaking away from Iran would help to. But Syria probably wants more than the Golan for that - they want a free hand in Lebanon. Which might be worth it to Israel, but would run counter to US policy in Leb. So Israel is defering to the US on this. If and when a US admin takes office that wants a deal with Syria, Israel will look at this again.
#7
no international legal basis for keeping it indefinitely
Possession is nine tenths of the law. After 40 years, it's Israels. Spoils of war. Don't want to lose territory? Don't pick fights you can't win. Eventually Israel will probably fall to the Muslims, but no point accellerating it by giving back Golan.
On Dec. 10, 2001, after completing his al-Qaeda training in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Sajid Badat returned home to Britain. Badat, a 22-year-old Muslim born in Gloucester, had an associate, a gangly man named Richard Reid, and the duo were now ready to carry out their mission: blowing up two separate aircraft traveling from Europe to the United States. Badat and Reid had been given identical explosive devices, specially designed to evade airport security and destroy an aircraft in mid-flight. On Dec. 22, Reid -- now infamous as the "shoe bomber" -- was jumped by his fellow passengers when he tried to light his device on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. He got further than Badat, who simply bailed on the plot, leaving his dismantled bomb in his parents' house.
Badat is now serving a 13-year sentence in a British prison. He told prosecutors that he decided to "get away from danger and introduce some calm in his life."
Badat's case sheds some light on a rarely considered question: Why do some terrorists drop out? We rightly think of al-Qaeda and other jihadist groups as formidable foes, but the stories of would-be killers who bail give us some intriguing clues about fault lines that counterterrorism officials should exploit. The reasons for a change of heart can be strikingly prosaic: family, money, petty grievances. But they can also revolve around shaken ideology or lost faith in a group's leadership.
It's become a truism of counterterrorism that we must understand how and why individuals become jihadists in the first place. But almost nobody is studying the flip side of radicalization -- understanding those who leave terrorist organizations. We'd do well to start. Figuring out why individuals walk away from terrorist groups can help governments predict whether an individual -- or even a cell -- is likely to go through with a plot. Understanding the dropouts should also make it easier for governments to determine which terrorists might be induced to switch sides, help stop radicalization and craft messages that could peel away people already in terrorist organizations. The more we know about why terrorists bail, the better we can fight them.
So where to start? Despite al-Qaeda's reputation for ferocity and secrecy, plenty of wannabes wind up dropping out from it and its affiliates -- not just the hapless Badat.
Consider the Sept. 11, 2001, plot. Even in Osama bin Laden's greatest triumph, not all of his recruiting efforts paid off. Two Saudis who were selected for the plot -- Mushabib al-Hamlan and Saud al-Rashid -- decided not to participate in the attacks after leaving the training camps in Afghanistan. And in the summer of 2001, Ziad Samir Jarrah, who became the hijacker pilot on United 93, agonized about whether to withdraw from the operation. In an emotional conversation, Ramzi Binalshibh -- the Hamburg-based liaison between the plotting cell and al-Qaeda's senior leadership in Afghanistan -- persuaded Jarrah to stay.
Al-Qaeda prides itself on its esprit de corps, but key members have turned against the group from its earliest days. These include Jamal Ahmed al-Fadl, a Sudanese radical who was one of al-Qaeda's first members and helped work (unsuccessfully) in the early 1990s to procure uranium for the organization; Essam al-Ridi, an Egyptian veteran of the 1980s jihad against the Soviets who later purchased an airplane in the United States to help ship Stinger missiles from Pakistan to Sudan; and L'Houssaine Kherchtou, a Moroccan who trained to serve as bin Laden's personal pilot. (All three became prosecution witnesses in the trial of the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998.)
Looking at al-Qaeda dropouts, some clear patterns emerge. Some left after becoming disillusioned with the group's tactics and strategy. Probably the unkindest cut from any former member was delivered by bin Laden's fourth son, Omar bin Laden, who had spent nearly five years living in Afghan training camps. After 9/11, Omar quit al-Qaeda, calling the attacks "craziness," according to the journalist Peter Bergen. "Those guys are dummies," bin Laden's son said. "They have destroyed everything, and for nothing. What did we get from Sept. 11?"
Another factor driving jihadists to drop out is a general lack of respect for the group's leadership. Ridi testified during the embassy bombings trial that he resented having to take battlefield orders during the Afghan jihad from bin Laden and others who lacked military experience. For Ridi, the final straw was a battle in which many jihadists died -- in his view needlessly -- thanks to inept leadership, but that al-Qaeda nonetheless declared a victory. Jarrah, the 9/11 pilot, felt cut out by ringleader Mohamed Atta's leadership style.
Another reason bad guys bail out is money. Like the rest of us, some terrorists see inadequate compensation as a sign of unfair treatment. Fadl, the Sudanese radical, fumed over his salary while al-Qaeda was based in Sudan and began embezzling funds -- stealing approximately $100,000 from bin Laden, according to his testimony in the embassy bombings case. (When bin Laden got wind of Fadl's theft, he ordered Fadl to repay the money; after forking over about $30,000, Fadl fled, fearing retribution.)
Don't forget the role of petty slights, either. Kherchtou grew bitter after a bin Laden aide turned down his request for $500 to cover the costs of his wife's Caesarean section -- and grew livid when al-Qaeda subsequently paid the expenses of a group of Egyptians sent to Yemen to renew their passports. "If I had a gun," Kherchtou later testified, "I would shoot [bin Laden] at that time."
The final factor seems to be good old family ties. Terrorists who maintain contact with friends and family outside their cell or organization seem more likely to drop out. This may be why Atta forbade the 9/11 hijackers to contact their families to say goodbye. The wobbliest of the hijackers, Jarrah, resisted al-Qaeda calls to cut his ties with his fiancee in Germany and his family in Lebanon, souring his relationship with Atta, according to the 9/11 commission.
Something similar happened to two would-be 9/11 plotters, Rashid and Hamlan. Both men bailed out when they left the fanatical, insular atmosphere of the Afghan training camps and returned home to Saudi Arabia. After getting a visa to enter the United States, Hamlan contacted his family, despite clear al-Qaeda instructions to the contrary. He found out that his mother was ill and decided not to return to Afghanistan, despite intense pressure from his handlers. Hamlan later moved back in with his parents and returned to college. Similarly, Badat, the would-be shoe bomber, appears to have decided to abandon the plot once he returned to Britain and resumed contact with his family.
There's no obvious silver bullet here, of course. But the tales of the terrorists who weren't are of more than academic interest. Counterterrorism officials have spent a great deal of effort trying to understand the process of radicalization that turns ordinary people into killers. But strikingly little work has been done on the flip side of the coin: on the factors that can turn a fanatical would-be killer into a somewhat chastened citizen. We'd do well to spend some time trying to understand how Mr. Hyde turns back into Dr. Jekyll. It might help us beat back a rising tide of radicalization -- and win a war that is clearly not going well.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/24/2008 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Broadly speaking, I don't think OMAR comprehends the "true nature" of his father OSAMA's + AYMAN's, etal. ORIGINAL INTENTIONS.
#7
This is interesting. Al Qaeda seems to have wasted considerable resources on men playing at being terrorists. This would partly explain the relative dearth of terror incidents post-9/11, intelligence from Iraq and Afghanistan coupled with near-superhuman work by Western and otherwise FBI-types (I can't remember which MI is internal, -5 or -6) accounting for those caught in flagrante delicto.
#9
I'll consult trailing daughter#1 about that, twobyfour. The trailing daughters and the trailing father have Latin, I was the generation that skipped.;-)
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.
(Xinhua) -- The issue of reunification, peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula should be settled by the Koreans themselves rather than depending on foreign forces, the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said Saturday in a signed article. 
As they listened to the gospel during mass Sunday, few parishioners at Holy Name parish could have imagined how their holiday service and their Easter finery were about to be tainted. Six protesters disrupted the beginning of Cardinal Francis George's homily to shout their opposition to the Iraq war. The demonstratorswho called themselves 
Sen. Barack Obama says that a pro-Hamas Op-Ed printed in his church's bulletin was "outrageously wrong." In an issue dated July 22, 2007, in a section titled "Pastor's Page," the Trinity United Church in Chicago reprinted an article by Hamas official 
ISLAMABAD Claiming that Pakistan has entered the third stage of "an era of real democracy" he had ushered in eight years ago, President Pervez Musharraf has said he would extend full support to the new government.
(Xinhua) -- Visiting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney claimed on Sunday that "terror and rockets" against Israel killed not only innocent civilians, but also hopes for a Palestinian state. 
(Xinhua) -- An Islamic Hamas spokesman said Sunday that his movement opposes the return of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) security forces to the Gaza Strip, which Hamas has been ruling since last June. 
Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have agreed to hold their first direct talks since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. The agreement, mediated by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, aims to end the bitter feud between the two groups. Fatah, which controls the West Bank, denounced the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip as a coup. Both sides say they want to return to the situation before the events of June 2007 and that Palestinian unity is paramount. The first round of talks are scheduled to take place on 5 April but the make-up of the delegations has not yet been announced
(Xinhua) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres said Sunday that Israel will not make a deal with Syria to return the Golan Heights, the Jerusalem Post reported. "If the Golan is given back, it will boost Iran's influence in Lebanon and the territory will effectively be under Iranian-Syrian control," Peres was quoted by the website of local Jerusalem Post as saying during a meeting with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. Peres made similar remarks to visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last week, when he said "talk of peace with Syria arouses distrust within Israel." 
