[Iran Press TV Latest] Afghan electoral monitors have started to partially recount the results of the country's recent presidential polls won by the incumbent president, Hamid Karzai.
On Friday, the Electoral Complaints Commission began looking into the returns from 10 percent of the 3,063 polling stations suspected of vote rigging.
The suspicious polling stations are said to have either hosted more than their expected share of the electorate or announced an almost flawless victory by one contestant.
Karzai's main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, has called the reassessment process confusing. Abdullah fell notably short of the president's absolute majority according to the final outcome of the August 20 election.
"We will seek clarity about the methods and ways it will be conducted. If we are convinced that this is the right way to move ahead of course we will support the process," he said.
The recount is expected to take two weeks.
Abdullah has also warned that an Afghan administration who disputably clinches the vote would be one lacking in credibility and competence.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] In two interviews following his contentious address at the UN General Assembly, Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi rejects a two-state solution to the conflict in Middle East.
Does anyone care what the long-winded grandfather in the funny hat thinks?
Qaddafi told Time magazine and Aljazeera network that he deemed that the UN Security Council's efforts for a lasting peace between Palestinians and Israel were futile.
"There is no way to have these two states so close, because they are already integrated. Two million Palestinians live in Israel, Gaza is isolated ... torn apart and isolated. Israel should get rid of their nuclear weapons - the Muslim countries will not recognize Israel as long as they have nuclear weapons - and these problems would be done," he told Aljazeera.
Nurse, he's doing that thing again!
When asked whether his 'one-state solution' could not be interpreted as opposing a Jewish state and his views on the legitimacy of such a state, Qaddafi instead talked of a worldwide 'persecution' of the Jewish people spanning history.
Nurse -- hurry! He's dribbling green, and I'm not sure it's the khat!
"I am keen and anxious for the safety of both the Jews and the Palestinians. The position that we are in, the road that the world is going on, would lead to the destruction of the Jews," Qaddafi told Time editors Romesh Ratnesar and Michael Elliott on Thursday. "We know that they're not that big. Unfortunately, they were persecuted by all nations."
Yes, yes. Nursie is coming with her lovely long needle and the pretty white jacket... err, green jacket, specially for you. And Susie is following behind with the special green hat to match. You'll look so handsome, Gran'ther!
Citing the unjust persecution of Jews by the Romans and King Edward I and the Holocaust, Qaddafi said, "Once seeing the history like that we can only but sympathize with them as Jews."
"The Arabs actually were the ones who gave them the safe haven and the protection along all these areas when they were persecuted. As recent as '48 or '49...the Jews were there in Libya. There was no animosity, no hatred between us," added the leader known for his eccentric ideas and behavior.
He added that the Jews had somehow blended into the Libyan communities, "spoke Arabic, wearing Libyan uniforms, Libyan clothes."
When a people has been living somewhere about 2400 years they tend to go native.
Asked for a direct answer to the question he said, "We have to serve God, or guarantee the safety of the Jews.
That sounded mutually exclusive, which means the shot hasn't kicked in. Nurse!
And this can be done by them accepting the Palestinians, recognizing the Palestinians, accepting that fact that they should live with the Palestinians in one state, together."
They do, in Israel. The Palestinians in the territories seem to feel a need to keep their space Judenrein, which doesn't lend itself to mutual acceptance. Funny, that.
The leader, who assumed control following a coup in 1969, addressed the United Nations during its annual meeting for the first time on Wednesday in a 95-minute speech that broke UN protocol, and at one point ripped up a copy of the UN charter and threw it at officials.
His country assumed the rotating presidency of the UN General Assembly on September 15, giving rise to concerns in Switzerland over an outrageous motion he filed to the international body asking for the demolition of the Alpine country over recent disagreements.
That was before Nurse's lovely drugs took hold. He's much more sensible... well, insensible, really... now. But it seems he forgot to put on his lovely green hat.
Causes his brain to overheat.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Two state solution already exists: Israel for the Jews and Jordan for the Palestinians.
[Al Arabiya Latest] NATO said on Friday it had decided to resume full cooperation with Mauritania in the Mediterranean Dialogue security forum, citing political progress after July presidential elections.
Last week the International Monetary Fund said it was ready to restart its relationship with Mauritania suspended last year after a coup by now President Mohamed Ould Abdul Aziz. The European Union has also said it may be ready to rekindle ties.
Aziz was sworn in as president in August after a poll that opponents said was fraudulent, but which former colonial power France and others have said paved the way for re-engagement with the Islamic state.
NATO said its 28 members took their decision "following the political process opened in the country by the presidential elections."
The Mediterranean Dialogue forum was launched in 1994 with the aim of enhancing regional security. It groups NATO states with seven non-NATO countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.
NATO is keen to step up security cooperation with Mauritania given al-Qaeda militant activity in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Nigeria has warned Niger Delta rebels fighting for larger share of the oil-rich country's revenues that an amnesty deadline for their surrender would not be extended.
Defense Minister Godwin Abbe rejected on Friday the rebel's request to rethink the October 4 deadline.
"To all those still in doubt, the deadline for amnesty is Sunday, October 4, 2009 and government does not intend to extend it," local media quoted Abbe as saying on Thursday.
"I therefore appeal to those that are yet to lay down their arms to do so and join all other peace-loving Nigerians in their quest for accelerated development of the Niger delta," he added.
The remarks were made at the end of a rehabilitation program for 300 of the militants who have given up arms under the amnesty, declared in June by President Umaru Yar'Adua, which offers an unconditional pardon to repentant rebels.
Government Tompolo and Ateke Tom, commanders of the region's main rebel group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) waging a 'war' on the country's oil industry, asked for three more months last week to resolve some issues.
The amnesty, which officially began in August, is seeking to avert further unrest, which has blocked the country from pumping two-thirds of its oil capacity and caused production to decline, and resulted in a 60-day truce with MEND.
MEND has rejected the amnesty but extended the truce which ended on September 15 by a month, demanding the removal of military forces from the area and a "meaningful dialogue" with Abuja.
Insecurity has long plagued the Niger Delta, one of the world's largest wetlands where almost all of Nigeria's oil comes from. The locals are angry at their continued poverty in the world's eighth largest oil producer.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
Meh. Sarko's yapping because w/out its nukes, France no world power; and would be a peg below N Korea and, soon, Iran.
Posted by: regular joe ||
09/26/2009 11:47 Comments ||
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#3
Joe, the difference is that N Korea is not an Islamic country. Iran is, and France will be one.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/26/2009 15:30 Comments ||
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#4
Jules Critenden said it as well as anybody: ItÂ’s a sad state of affairs when a Frenchman mocks an American president and you have to go with the Frog.
#5
The Europeans wanted The One and now they've got him.
I was wondering how long it would take them to realize that a weak America really isn't in their best interests.
Too bad. Too late.
Europe really needs to take a good look at what it will take to defend itself without America because the half of America that voted for The One don't fight and the half that does will never fight for people who stabbed us in the back.
Good luck Europe, you're on your own.
Posted by: Pearl Thromoque4002 ||
09/26/2009 23:30 Comments ||
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Real grassroots beats astroturf north of the border. Well done, guys!
A new Web site set up by pro-Israel Canadians seeks to defy anti-Israel boycotts by encouraging subscribers to deliberately buy Israeli products that are being boycotted.
The campaign, titled "Buycott Israel," was organized by the Canada-Israel Committee together with the Jewish federations of Vancouver and Toronto and the Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region, to counter the increasing number of boycotts in Canada over the last year.
Aiming to turn a disadvantage into a strong advantage, Buycott Israel's Web site asks readers, "Are you fed up with calls to boycott Israeli goods and services? Want to do something about it?" and then calls on them to sign up for "Buycott alerts."
The enterprise promises to alert users "when a boycott initiative needs to be countered," and lets subscribers know the results of every Buycott action.
Over the last year, there have been three public attempts to boycott Israeli wine in Canada: two protests in Vancouver, and one in Toronto. In the Toronto boycott, protesters led by the anti-war group Not In Our Name picketed liquor store LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) to protest the sale of Israeli wine there.
Dismayed and disgusted by the protest, Toronto's Jewish community rallied, and hundreds of Jews arrived at the scene to buy all the Israeli wine in the store. Activists claimed to have led LCBO to sell out of Israeli wine - over 500 cases in a just over half an hour - and to have caused the boycotters to leave in defeat not long afterward.
Although there have been a number of anti-Israel boycott campaigns in Canada recently, "in each of them, it comes out of our experience that [buying the product that is being boycotted] has been effective, successful and sends out an absolutely unequivocal message," explained Saber-Freedman.
"We even caused the store owners to stock up in anticipation for one of the boycotts," she recalled triumphantly. "We used our internal mail list to ask our members to specifically go and purchase Israeli wine, and as a result the wine sold out."
A-Pee story. Rest at link.
The Marine commander who built the Guantanamo Bay prison said Thursday the U.S. lost the "moral high ground" with its brutal treatment of prisoners, and the facility should be closed as quickly as possible.
#4
They are America's guest. Put them up in the White House.
Posted by: ed ||
09/26/2009 10:24 Comments ||
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#5
brutal treatment of prisoners
Detention = torture.
Better diet than most of the poor in America = torture.
High quality medical care (confirmed by the Red Cross) = torture.
Unfettered access to detainees by ICRC = torture.
Ask him why some of the prisoners scheduled for release refused to leave.
#6
I'm not certain what the general meant by losing the moral high ground. What brutal treatment was there? Everyone that I heard of that went down, Congressmen, newspeople, etc. there to uncover brutalities came back and reported good treatment of prisoners.
#7
Another general probably looking to get 'in' with demonrats to sell his book when it comes out. Alot of our Generals seem to morph into politicians once they realize they're not going any higher before retirement.
#8
JohnQC - The NYT published an article - 3 pages - back in '03 or '04 regarding the ICRC and alleged 'torture' going on at Gitmo (ICRC refused confirmation). The worst they could find was detainees being strapped to a chair, naked, and forced to listen to loud music with strobe lights.
Loud music and strobe lights? The kids in this country subject themselves to that willingly and on a regular basis.
I assume the fact that they're IN prison at all.
You know, trot out that High Horse, they were only practising their religion.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/26/2009 12:20 Comments ||
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#10
Is there a time limit on how long you have before you shoot pirates and spies and other combatants flaunting the rules of war by avoiding uniforms and hiding amongst civilians?
#12
I'm with moose on this one. Release them all, with an RFID chip in their ass, and bomb them and all their friends next Tuesday. Learn from our past mistake and never bring another one in alive.
[Geo News] Fata Students Federation Friday demanded the government to stall the the security forces' operation in Bara. Fata Students Federation staged a demo in front of Peshawar Press Club with slogans against ongoing operation in Khyber Agency. They demanded that the operation should be stanched forthwith, as the tribal people are facing problems due to the operation. The demonstrators demanded the government to resolve the issue through Jirga.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Syed Munawwar Hasan Friday said India is busy with disruptive activities against Pakistan from its base in Afghanistan.
Addressing Friday prayers congregation, he said there is no need of back channel diplomacy with India.
Those who ascended at the helms of power on being pushed by the US, are quite afraid of US, Munawwar said urging the rulers to decline the US aid on stringent conditions.
JI Amir said there are some elements busy in the country to get Qadiyanis declared as Muslims and Namoos-e-Risalat laws nullified, adding the patriots should take to streets for the issue.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2009 00:00 ||
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The President hailed the agreement as a landmark in halting the spread of nuclear weapons and beginning multilateral disarmament. "The historic resolution we just adopted enshrines our shared commitment to a goal of a world without nuclear weapons," he said. "We now face proliferation of a scope and complexity that demands new strategies and new approaches."
But forceful statements from other leaders on the need to act against Iran following the vote threatened to upstage the special meeting.
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, came close to mocking his American counterpart for the good intentions, which Mr Obama had heralded as an "historic" step towards nuclear abolition, even though it set no specific targets or fresh mandates.
"We live in a real world not a virtual world," the Frenchman told the 15-member council. "And the real world expects us to take decisions.
"President Obama dreams of a world without weapons ... but right in front of us two countries are doing the exact opposite. "Iran since 2005 has flouted five security council resolutions. North Korea has been defying council resolutions since 1993.
"I support the extended hand of the Americans, but what good has proposals for dialogue brought the international community? More uranium enrichment and declarations by the leaders of Iran to wipe a UN member state off the map," he continued, referring to Israel.
The sharp-tongued French leader even implied that Mr Obama's resolution 1887 had used up valuable diplomatic energy.
"If we have courage to impose sanctions together it will lend viability to our commitment to reduce our own weapons and to making a world without nuke weapons," he said.
Mr Sarkozy has previously called the US president's disarmament crusade "naïve". More at link
Posted by: ed ||
09/26/2009 09:16 ||
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#1
Greg Marmalard: But Delta's Iran's already on probation.
Dean Vernon Wormer: They are? Well, as of this moment, they're on DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION!
[Asharq al-Aswat] Asharq Al-Awsat - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki ended speculation surrounding his return to the Shia Iraqi National Alliance coalition by announcing that he will form his own 'State of Law' coalition soon. Al Maliki announced that he will contest the forthcoming Iraqi parliamentary elections [to be held in January 2010] by way of this coalition, and ruled out joining any other political coalitions.
The Iraqi National Alliance is a Shia-majority electoral coalition previously known as the United Iraqi Alliance. Al Maliki's Islamic Dawa party was previously a member of the United Iraqi Alliance and Nouri al Maliki came to power in the December 2005 elections under its banner.
During a question and answer session conducted with journalists through the National Media Center website, Iraqi Prime Minister al Maliki said that the process of forming his own State of Law coalition is ongoing, and stressed that "the door is open with regards to reaching agreements with other coalitions in order to reach an understanding, whether this is prior to- or following- the elections, but this does not mean [we will be] joining other coalitions."
Al Maliki clarified, "If a coalition wants to join the State of Law [coalition] then we will welcome it, so long as it takes up the standards and principles that we have adopted." Al Maliki also confirmed that he is in the process of forming a large [political] bloc "in order to protect the political process and activate the executive and legislative role in order to prevent the state of weakness that characterizes the current phase."
The Iraqi Prime Minister also told journalists that he intends to focus on "the principles of the National Project that has been adopted by the State of Law coalition to eliminate the obstacles that have accompanied the political process over the previous period."
Iraqi MP Sami al Askari, who has close ties to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki also revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that "the day the new Iraqi National Alliance was announced was like [the declaration of ] the end of genuine dialogue between the Dawa party and the Iraqi National Alliance." He added, "We stressed that if anybody rushed to announce the [formation of] the new alliance, that person would not be considered a founding member [of the coalition when it is officially established]."
Al Askari also told Asharq Al-Awsat that "the course of the dialogue between the State of Law coalition and the [Iraqi National] Alliance involved the latter putting pressure on al Maliki to convince him to catch up with it on a number of issues, as well as [attempting] to intimidate him by saying that he would lose the elections, and that his contesting of the elections individually would result in dividing the Shia vote. Other people [attempted] to intimidate al Maliki through Shia marjas [religious authorities] who do not believe the State of Law coalition to be [religiously] acceptable."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2009 00:00 ||
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Ma'an - Israel's ongoing occupation and colonization of Palestinian land remains the greatest threat to the two-state solution, President Mahmoud Abbas said at the United Nations in New York on Friday.
"Time is running out and the risks are becoming greater while Palestinians suffer under the last occupation regime on earth," the president told the General Assembly, speaking a day after Israel's prime minister addressed the world body.
Abbas said that while the Palestine Liberation Organization remained committed to achieving a "comprehensive, just peace based on international legitimacy," Israel's continued colonization could eliminate any chance of resuming talks. Under such circumstances, "How can you imagine reaching an agreement while meanwhile Israel's bulldozers are working on creating a new reality? How can you imagine reaching an agreement to end the occupation or find a just solution for the refugees...?"
He said this was exactly what Palestinians were being asked to do under the status quo arrangement, to negotiate with Israel while it refuses to restrain itself and abide by its previous commitments.
Abbas praised Barack Obama's speech two days earlier, applauding the US president's stand on the illegitimacy of settlements and that he called for an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967. Obama "inspired the people of the region when he announced his support to the two-state solution," Abbas said. "We welcome every effort made by the Quartet, the European Union, and all of the Arab countries, but all of these efforts to relaunch the peace process have been thwarted by Israeli rejection."
Abbas reminded the UN that in line with Obama's call for regional agreements, the Arab world has continuously offered Israel peace with not just Palestine, Syria and Lebanon, but with every Muslim country via the Saudi Peace Initiative.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] A shiny green Volkswagen, standing out among the rattletraps on Gaza's dilapidated roads, is the latest hot item to come out of the besieged territory's smuggling tunnels.
Cars are brought in piece by piece from Egypt, which only opens its sole crossing point into Gaza for humanitarian purposes, because of an embargo imposed by Israel two years ago.
A handful of the hundreds of smuggling tunnels in the Rafah border area are dedicated solely to the auto operation that started a few years ago. The entrepreneurs who run them say they've managed to bring in 30 to 40 vehicles in the past few months alone.
Hamas controls at least two of the car tunnels, according to operators who spoke under pseudonyms because of the sensitive nature of their work.
"We receive a car in four sections plus the motor," says Abu Bilal, a mechanic who, like others involved in the enterprise, gave an assumed name.
"We verify that everything is OK and then we begin to reassemble it right away," he says, as his team prepares to get to work on a 2004 BMW fresh from the subterranean passages.
My Bimmer! The bastards!
"We need two weeks to reassemble a car, since we have to solder the pieces and repaint the body," Abu Bilal says. "The client chooses the color."
Tunnel operators buy the sections -- mostly from stolen or repossessed vehicles -- in Egypt.
"Smuggling cars is more difficult than smuggling fuel, for example, since we are dealing with large pieces that can be detected and this means a lot more care has to be taken during transport, since Egyptian security on the other end are watching carefully," Abu Bilal says.
The business is lucrative, at least by the standards of the impoverished coastal strip.
"A car on the Egyptian side costs us $ 6,000 to 10,000 on average," says Abu Saed, another trafficker. "Once we re-assemble and repaint it, we sell it for at least double that."
But it is also a risky business. One of the tunnels was hit last week by the Israeli air force. "After that raid, car smuggling was briefly halted," a smuggler said.
The Israeli military usually targets smuggling tunnels in retaliation for attacks from Gaza on the Jewish state. The tunnels are used to bring in supplies as well as weapons into the impoverished territory. Tunnel operators say Egypt too is increasingly cracking down on the underground smuggling, by pumping sewage or gas or by throwing explosives into the tunnels.
In his Gaza City auto shop, Abdel Sattar is putting the final touches on a 2009 Mitsubishi four-by-four that has just been assembled and repainted gray.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Wehell, many Paleos + Militants don't want peace wid Israel whether they get there own sovereign PA State or not, so why should Israel rush to help dev their economy for them [iff at all].
#3
A car on the Egyptian side costs us $ 6,000 to 10,000 on average," says Abu Saed, another trafficker. "Once we re-assemble and repaint it, we sell it for at least double that."
Good thing about being oppressed is that you can save all your cash and go big when the time comes. Wonder how these d00ds would feel about 300 lbs. of chocolate covered cotton
candy
[Straits Times] THE body of slain Islamist militant leader Noordin Mohammed Top will be returned to Malaysia next week, Indonesia's police chief said Friday.
'On Thursday, God willing, (Noordin's) family will come here to take the body to Johor, Malaysia,' national police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri told reporters.
Malaysian Noordin, a 41-year-old who led a violent splinter faction of the radical Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network was killed along with three other militants at the bloody end of a nine-hour siege in Central Java last week. Police said earlier in the week they had decided to hand Noordin's body over to his first wife in Malaysia, Rahmah Rusdi, with whom he had three children.
Two other women he had married while on the run in Indonesia had their request to access the body turned down by Indonesian police because their marriages were never officially registered.
Police also announced Friday that three people who were arrested during last week's swoop near Solo city had been officially named suspects, a legal move allowing them to be held for longer.
Supono, alias Kedu, faces likely terror charges for assisting Noordin and helping in a foiled plot to blow up the home of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with a truck bomb, police spokesman Nanan Soekarna said.
Another suspect, Bejo, faces charges over helping to shelter Noordin. Putri Munawaroh, the wife of one of the militants killed in the raid, also faces charges of sheltering Noordin.
The death of Noordin brought to an end an exhaustive manhunt for a man who led an organisation he once labelled 'Al-Qaeda in the Malay Archipelago' and who was blamed for a string of deadly attacks.
He is believed to have masterminded the meticulously planned double suicide bombing of the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in the Indonesian capital Jakarta in July in which seven people were killed.
He is also said to have been behind a 2003 attack on the Marriott that killed 12 people, as well as the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta and 2005 attacks on tourist restaurants on the holiday island of Bali.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
THE body of slain Islamist militant leader Noordin Mohammed Top
[Iran Press TV Latest] President Ahmadinejad says Iranians' "Down with the US" slogan is a result of the "ugly behavior" of the United States governments.
In an interview with the National Public Radio (NPR) on Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad noted that even the US President Barack Obama in his remarks has accepted the fact and has called for a change in the way Washington treats other nations.
The Iranian president meanwhile noted that friendship is more sustainable than animosity and voiced Iran's readiness for dialogue with the US, Fars news agency reported.
Asked about the reason behind the "Down with the US" slogan chanted in Iran, Ahmadinejad said "this is their (the Iranian nation's) reaction to the ugly behavior of the US governments."
The Iranian president was also asked to explain his remarks on the Holocaust, which he had delivered during a speech on Al-Quds Day.
"I have a number of questions with respect to the Holocaust: Why is the Holocaust the sole historical event that has been magnified, and why politicians have paid special attention to this event and have approached it with bias. Why the people of Palestine have to pay the price for it and why no one is allowed to launch independent and logical investigation into the Holocaust," he told the NPR.
"Currently there are a number of prominent historians, who are serving prison terms on charges of investigating the Holocaust. These are serious questions and I call on those who care for human rights to answer these questions."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
"Ugly"?! Now there's a word you might think Mr Dinnerjacket would be keen to avoid.
#2
I'm sure the liberal NPR listeners rubbed their chins and gave Mr. Ahmadinejad's comments serious consideration. Because they are, you know, so much smarter than the rest of us and so nuanced. We just think he's crazy - they can see he is deep and nuanced.
#3
Ahmadinejad elaborates on 'Down with US' slogan
Nothing more that is different than what's held by the usual suspects on the left here. I just suspect jealousy rather than content separates those now in charge in the Beltway from coming to a amenable accord.
#4
Paragraph 6 sounds like he's finally acknowledging the Holocaust was real. I think on an intellectual level he's probably always accepted it did take place and I'd count this newest revelation as progress, except for the fact that he doesn't seem to believe it was a 'bad' thing.
[Iran Press TV Latest] On the day that Iran made public it is building a new nuclear enrichment facility in the country, the European Union foreign policy chief says the announcement has made the upcoming nuclear talks 'more necessary than ever.'
Observing the rules of the game, Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the existence of an under-construction nuclear plant for uranium enrichment in the country.
IAEA spokesman Marc Vidricaire confirmed Iran's attempt for clarity on its nuclear activities, saying, "I can confirm that on 21 September, Iran informed the IAEA in a letter that a new pilot fuel enrichment plant is under construction in the country".
Reacting to the news, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Friday that the issue necessitates a meeting for crucial nuclear negotiations.
"In view of today's announcement concerning Iran's nuclear program the upcoming meeting on Oct 1 is more important and necessary than ever," Solana said in a statement issued by his office.
The chief Western negotiator said the European Union expects Iran to use the scheduled October 1 meeting in Geneva with global powers for full engagement, with the aim of removing concerns about its much wrangled-over nuclear program.
"At this meeting we expect Iran to engage fully in order to resolve the nuclear issue," said Solana, who has headed the Western negotiating efforts with Iran.
Iran and the six major powers -- Russia, China, Britain, France and the US plus Germany -- have agreed on October 1 as the date to hold wide-ranging talks addressing global issues along with Tehran's nuclear program.
While the Islamic Republic is under three rounds of UN Security Council sanctions resolutions for its enrichment work, tougher sanctions are likely to be considered against the country should the talks fail to bear fruit.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
TOPIX/WORLDNEWS > OBAMA: MILITARY OPTION AGZ IRAN STILL ON TABLE; + OBAMA: IRAN ON PATH OF CONFRONTATION [US-World Powers].
* SAME > IN TWO CASES, FBI LET TERROR OPERATIONS PLAY OUT, before stopping 'em.
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.
Ma'an - Israel's ongoing occupation and colonization of Palestinian land remains the greatest threat to the two-state solution, President Mahmoud Abbas said at the United Nations in New York on Friday. 
