#2
Maybe it will have an impact on the locals. Maybe not. But it will be good for the medics' souls, which is no small dividend in these dark and demoralizing times.
#1
I truly wish they had hung on to this ship, because I can see all sorts of possibilities for Xe in the future with it. So there is probably an underlying reason why they are dumping it.
Unless, of course, they are going to sell it to a shell company, to get out from under restrictive maritime limits imposed by whatever flag it is registered under.
#3
i would not be surprised to find that the DoJ had contacted Xe and made statements about criminal charges in the USA if any fuzzy ducks or baby bunnies happened to get hurt...
Posted by: abu do you love ||
01/07/2010 21:59 Comments ||
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Clashes erupted on Thursday as thousands of Coptic Christians in a southern Egyptian village buried six of their number gunned down on Coptic Christmas Eve by men believed to be Muslims, security officials said.
Officials and the local bishop said three men in a car had raked pedestrians with gunfire along a street containing two churches and a shopping precinct late on Wednesday.
Bishop Kirilos said the victims were people who had just emerged from church after attending a Christmas Eve service, and the proximity of the shopping area might have drawn some of them to it.
Six Copts and a Muslim policeman were killed, while at least nine more Copts were wounded, two of them seriously, a security official said.
Posted by: ed ||
01/07/2010 17:31 ||
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Thousands of angry protesters in Turkey have staged a demonstration in the city of Istanbul to condemn the Egyptian police crackdown on a Gaza-bound aid convoy.
At least 55 people were injured in clashes that broke out between riot police and Viva Palestina activists at the Egyptian port of El-Arish on Tuesday, after Egypt said it would not allow 59 trucks for the relief convoy to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Following the incident, Turkish protesters poured into streets and assembled in front of the Egyptian consulate in Istanbul on Wednesday.
It's interesting that it's the Turks protesting, not the Arabs. I s'pose there aren't that many Palestinians in Turkey, making friends of the locals as they did in Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq...and Egypt.
They carried flags of Palestine and chanted slogans in condemnation of Cairo's use of force against the human rights activists and Israel's ongoing siege of the Palestinian coastal enclave.
Led by British politician George Galloway, Viva Palestina has over 200 vehicles laden with basic food items and medical supplies, and is set to break Israel's months-long closure of the Gaza Strip.
Earlier, Cairo had said it would only permit 157 members of the convoy to drive to Gaza, but later agreed to allow the group's 400 volunteers to enter the impoverished Palestinian territory.
The Egyptian government's denial of entry for Viva Palestina trucks came despite talks in which a delegation of Turkish lawmakers sought to convince Cairo officials to open its border to Gaza for the aid convoy.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2010 00:00 ||
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[Maghrebia] Mauritania on Tuesday (January 5th) launched a colloquium on Islam and tolerance, local and international press reported. President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz addressed the opening ceremony of the four-day event in Nouakchott. Participants at the conference, hosted by the Mauritanian Ministry of Islamic Guidance, will also discuss the rejection of violence, fundamentalism and terrorism, ANI reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2010 00:00 ||
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More of the terror suspects released from the Guantanamo Bay prison are returning to the fight, the Pentagon said Wednesday. A new report shows the recidivism rate among former suspects released from the U.S. prison in Cuba continues its upward trend, Defense Department press secretary Geoff Morrell said. He did not release the figures, but he said officials are working to declassify the latest report so the rate can be made public. good luck on getting that one past the 'most transparent administration in history'
The rate of those returning to militancy was first reported early last year to be 11 percent. In April it was 14 percent.
Morrell said he believes the numbers are rising because the majority of prisoners have been released and officials are down to the most difficult cases. see... it IS bush's fault afterall
"There is no foolproof answer in this realm. That's what makes this so difficult," he told reporters at a Pentagon news conference. I can think of a pretty easy solution that would lead to zero recidivism I dunno, I swear some of these guys come back from the dead ...
Nearly half of the remaining 198 detainees at Guantanamo Bay are from Yemen. U.S. officials believe two Saudis released from Guantanamo, one in 2006 and the other in 2007, may have played significant roles in al-Qaida activities in Yemen. just goes to show that you can take the terrorist out of the jihad, but there is no getting the jihad out of the terrorist
Posted by: abu do you love ||
01/07/2010 15:15 ||
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#1
Are these guys included in Barack's jobs created/saved numbers?
Posted by: ed ||
01/07/2010 16:54 Comments ||
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Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi drew some red lines Wednesday in its burgeoning alliance with Washington against al-Qaida, telling The Associated Press that Yemen welcomes U.S. and foreign troops for training, intelligence and logistical support.
"But not in any other capacity," he said, adding, "there is a lot of sensitivity" among Yemenis about foreign combat troops. He underlined that Yemeni forces would remain under Yemeni command, without any joint authority with the Americans.
The Yemeni foreign minister's insolent remarks are in stark and interesting contrast to the abject fear of the US expressed by Pakistani President Musharraf immediately after 9/11.
Unlike the Pakistanis in 2001 the Yemenis today know that they need not fear western punishment for any act of aggression. Just like in Afghanistan there will be massive payments of protection money development assistance, under the framework of an "anti-terror" alliance.
Neither the Yemeni government nor the Yemeni people will be held responsible for harboring terrorists.
Yemen's interior ministry said Wednesday its security forces were repeatedly raiding hideouts of "terrorist elements" in several provinces and had turned their "fight against terrorism into a daily confrontation."
"(Security operations) are not leaving the terrorist elements the chance to take a breath or reorganize their lines," the ministry said in a statement on its website.
"Al-Qaeda elements are no longer the ones taking the initiative in deciding the time and place of confrontations," it said, adding that "painful and recurring strikes have forced al-Qaeda to retreat to the holes."
The U.S. embassy closed on Sunday over security concerns prompted by fears of an al-Qaeda threat against foreign interests just days after a failed attack on a U.S. airliner claimed by the al-Qaeda franchise in Yemen.
Some countries, including Britain and France, followed suit while others curtailed consular operations as security was tightened around their missions.
The U.S. embassy reopened for business on Tuesday, saying that Yemeni security forces had addressed a "specific area of concern" the previous day -- thought to be a reference to the crackdown on Hanq's group.
The British and French embassies have also resumed operations, although the British mission's consular services remained shut on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] A Yemeni Parliamentarian says al-Qaeda enjoys strong support from the government of President Ali Abdullah Salih and runs key ministries in his cabinet.
Exiled Yemeni lawmaker Yahya al-Houthi -- who is the brother of the Shia leader, Abdul-Malek -- accused the government of allowing hundreds of al-Qaeda militants into the country.
He said members of al-Qaeda are in charge of many key ministries in the Salih administration including ministries for media and intelligence.
Al-Houthi added that extremist groups such as Salafi and al-Qaeda have toughened their grip on the country.
Yemen has opened an all-out war against Houthi fighters in the mountainous north in August. Saudi Arabia also joined the offensive against the fighters in November.
The government accuses fighters of seeking to restore a religious state in the northern areas that was overthrown in 1962.
The Houthis, however, say they want more autonomy, a halt in alleged Saudi-backed efforts to impose Wahabism in the region
The Saudis were imposing Wahabism in Yemen? Is that allowed?
as well as an end to "discriminatory policies" against their people.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2010 00:00 ||
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It is unclear when Sheik Abdullah el-Faisal might arrive in Jamaica, where he lived before departing for Africa in early 2009 on a Jamaican passport, Minister Kenneth Baugh told Nationwide News Network radio. He did not know what route el-Faisal would take to Jamaica.
"As far as monitoring him, that will be left to the Ministry of National Security who have their program in place to maintain surveillance," said Baugh, without revealing specifics.
Kenya deported El-Faisal was to Gambia on Thursday after several countries, including the United States, denied him a transit visa. Kenya's immigration minister said Gambian authorities have agreed to help el-Faisal find his way home.
El-Faisal once led a London mosque attended by convicted terrorists, and Britain has said that his teachings heavily influenced one of the bombers in the 2005 transport network attacks in London that killed 52 people.
Posted by: ed ||
01/07/2010 17:45 ||
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North Korea began a uranium enrichment program shortly after signing the Geneva accords to end its nuclear program in 1994 or at least in 1996, Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said Wednesday.
Speaking to Yonhap News, Yu said, "What is certain is that the North began its uranium enrichment program very early on." But it is unclear how far the North got, how much uranium it has enriched, and how much enriched uranium it has turned into nuclear weapons, he added.
Yu said even if he knew, he could not discuss it. "Intelligence is shared" between countries concerned "but now is not the time to disclose it," he said.
A ministry official said, "Unlike in early days, when we took the question of plutonium somewhat lightly, we should deal seriously with the question of North Korea's uranium enrichment program from now on once the six-party nuclear talks resume."
North Korea denied the existence of any uranium enrichment program since 2002, when the U.S. raised suspicion about it, but changed tack last June, saying it had "successfully developed" uranium enrichment technology and was now testing it.
The technology is much easier to conceal than that needed to make weapons-grade plutonium from spent nuclear fuel rods, which was apparently used for the North's two nuclear weapons tests.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
So they were enriching uranium while Clinton and company were paying them off to be peaceful. Big surprise.
It now appears that reports suggest that a man was temporarily detained at Stuttgart Airport last Tuesday after the repeatedly told security personnel that he had explosives in his underwear. The 42-year-old man was apparently just joking about the failed attempt by a Nigerian man to blow up a jet that was bound for the United States. The failed terrorist had attempted to light explosives that were concealed in his underwear.
Police went on to say that a full body search of the German man showed that he did not have any explosives on him. However, Tuifly refused to let the man, his wife and his daughter on the plane going to Egypt. This is where the man's family was planning on spending their vacation. Today German TV channel SWR reported that the guy is actually a police officer who's now looking forward to disciplinary action in addition to any criminal and civil legal procedures.
As an Imam he might have gotten away with it but he isn't and so might well lose his job.
France's opposition Socialists have come out against a law banning the burka - even though they remain firmly opposed to the garment.
The announcement comes ahead of a parliamentary report on the issue that is due out later this month.
Last summer, French MPs held hearings on whether to ban the Muslim veil, which covers the body from head to toe.
President Nicolas Sarkozy had said the burka was "not welcome" in France, home to Europe's largest Muslim population. Mr Sarkozy has left open the idea of introducing legislation to ban the burka.
While the Socialist Party opposes the wearing of the burka, it was "not favourable" to a legal ban, said party spokesman Benoit Hamon.
"We are totally opposed to the burka," he told French radio. "The burka is a prison for women and has no place in the French Republic. But an ad-hoc law would not have the anticipated effect."
I suppose that make sense if you're a socia1ist ...
President Obama's decision to suspend sending any detainees being held in the Guantanamo Bay detention facility back to Yemen was "politically, a no-brainer," a senior administration official tells NEWSWEEK. But the move will do more than complicate Obama's commitment to shut down the base: it has raised new questions about whether the facility will be shuttered at all, at least in the first term of Obama's presidency.
Isikoff of course has pushed far, far into the memory hole why it is that Gitmo had a bad rep in the beginning. The story that he wrote. The one that he had to retract. That was the story that pushed a lot of people into thinking that Gitmo 'had' to be closed. Wanna bet Isikoff won't ever bring that up?
"I'm beginning to think that Guantanamo is not ever going to be closed," says John Bellinger, the top State Department lawyer under former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and a persistent advocate of shutting down the facility. Given the current political obstacles, "I would bet some money that it's not going to get closed in the Obama presidency."
"To some extent, I think the administration has blown it," adds Marc Falkoff, a lawyer who represents some of the Yemeni detainees at Gitmo. "It has delayed, and they've gotten themselves into a reactive state and you can't get anything done when you're reacting to political winds . . . It looks like Guantanamo will be around for the foreseeable future."
Publicly, of course, Obama is sticking to his pledge--made during the first full day of his presidency--even if officials acknowledge they will no longer come close to meeting his original deadline of shutting it down by later this month. Given the importance he attached to his original announcement, and the enormously positive worldwide response it generated, it would be "unthinkable" for the president to publicly admit he won't be able to close the prison, says Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch, who served as an adviser to the Obama campaign on Guantanamo matters.
So HRW is 'advising' Bambi on Gitmo? Figures. Nope, no conflict of interest there.
"Make no mistake: we will close Guantanamo prison, which has damaged our national-security interests and become a tremendous recruiting tool for Al Qaeda," Obama said Tuesday right after he announced he was stopping further transfers to Yemen.
But the new pessimism is the result of a confluence of unanticipated developments, all of which relate to Yemen, a country that is home to about 92 Guantanamo detainees, nearly half the facility's current population of 198. Among those: the surge in attacks by Al Qaeda in Yemen, the media's intense focus on the role that former Guantanamo detainees (released by the Bush administration) are playing in the group, and the alleged Christmas Day bombing attempt by a Nigerian student who immediately told authorities he had been trained and equipped for his mission by Qaeda operatives in Yemen.
The senior Obama administration official (who requested anonymity because of the political insensitivities) says that "security concerns" along with congressional politics prompted Obama's phone call to Attorney General Eric Holder this week in which he directed that further transfers to Yemen be halted.
But a key development, little noticed by the national news media but a small bombshell inside the White House, was a statement issued by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, last Tuesday stating that Yemen was now too "unstable" for any more Guantanamo transfers and calling on the president to suspend them, according to another senior administration official.
Once the White House had lost Feinstein, who had previously sponsored legislation to close the base, officials realized they had little hope of sustaining any transfers back to Yemen.
The original analysis--offered by the second senior administration official--is that blocking more transfers to Yemen won't necessarily affect the Guantanamo closure because it will simply mean more of the detainees will be moved to the new facility that the administration wants to build in Thomson, Ill. The proposed population for that transfer, which officials once had hoped to hold into the dozens, will now almost certainly swell to more than 100, the administration official says.
But "numbers matter," says Malinowksi. Moving more than 100 detainees--the vast majority of whom would end up being held without charge--to a U.S. facility that is already being dubbed "Gitmo North" will blunt the positive message Obama hoped to send by shutting Guantanamo in the first place, he says.
But the more serious question for the White House is whether Congress will even allow the transfers to take place at all. The administration is already blocked from moving any Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. for purposes other than putting them on trial. That's the result of a rider to a congressional appropriations bill that passed overwhelmingly last spring and which expires Sept. 30.
In order to move the Yemenis and other Gitmo detainees to Thomson, the administration needs to persuade the Congress to lift the rider--in an election year, no less--a much more difficult task when the proposal is to move more than 100 detainees to the U.S. rather than 20 or 30.
Already, moderate GOP Rep. Mark Kirk, the likely Republican nominee in next year's Illinois Senate race, has taken an increasingly hard line on the transfers, saying they would make Illinois "ground zero for jihadist terrorist plots."
Part of Bellinger's reluctant calculation that Gitmo will stay open is that there is little chance in the midst of the 2010 midterm election campaign that Congress will lift the rider to permit detainees to be moved into the U.S. If Republicans make big gains in the fall elections, as many analysts now predict, the odds of lifting the anti-Gitmo rider would become even steeper.
But the final irony is that many of the detainees may not even want to be transferred to Thomson and could conceivably even raise their own legal roadblocks to allow them to stay at Gitmo. Falkoff notes that many of his clients, while they clearly want to go home, are at least being held under Geneva Convention conditions in Guantanamo. At Thomson, he notes, the plans call for them to be thrown into the equivalent of a "supermax" security prison under near-lockdown conditions.
"As far as our clients are concerned, it's probably preferable for them to remain at Guantanamo," he says.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/07/2010 16:08 ||
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#1
Oh, no, no, no....send them to Illinois! I'm just over the river and we got ourselves 8 inches of global warming in the past 24 hours, with a nasty wind blowing it all around. Feels like well below zero, and there is a frostbite warning in effect. We got plenty of that goodness to share, and who knows, there might even be a pig farm or two in the vicinity.
#1
As Maxwell Smart used to say, "Missed him by that much."
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
01/07/2010 8:19 Comments ||
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#2
Nobody made that GIANT leap of logic based on his seating and other pertinent data and happened to say...hey WTF if the plane he is on is the target aircraft?
#3
As I understand it he was seated above the fuel tanks. I haven't heard if this was accidental or intensional but I think the airlines should implement a policy of creating an Islamic section near the rear of the aircraft where Halil food will be served and they are far and away from the gas tanks. Then any Muslim that requests to be seated near the fuel tanks can get extra scrutiny.
They should also reserve the seats near the fuel tanks for Air Marshals.
They should also make a point of filling the seats near the fuel tanks first.
"They could have made the decision on whether to stop him from getting on the plane," the senior law enforcement official said.
[Administration official.]
But an administration official said late Wednesday that the information would not have resulted in further scrutiny before the suspect departed. Abdulmutallab was in a database containing half a million names of people with suspected extremist links but who are not considered threats. Therefore, border security officials would have sought only to question him upon arrival in the U.S., the administration official said.
But they asserted that the likelihood of Abdulmutallab being intercepted in Amsterdam was low because he was not on the no-fly list, which contains about 4,000 names, or a separate terrorism watch "selectee" list that contains fewer than 20,000 names. Instead, the Nigerian was on the larger database.
[Former senior homeland security official]
The real breakdown came months before the flight because intelligence officials failed to match the father's tip with intercepts about a suspected plot involving a Nigerian, a former senior homeland security official said.
"There was enough information in the system to make the guy a selectee or a no-fly without hoping for Customs and Border Protection to detect it at the last minute," the official said.
[Atty. Gen.]
"This investigation is fast-paced, global and ongoing, and it has already yielded valuable intelligence that we will follow wherever it leads," Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said. "Anyone we find responsible for this alleged attack will be brought to justice using every tool -- military or judicial -- available to our government."
#6
IMHO the departure lounge should be treated like an embassy in the country is treated. i.e. as a part of the country it connects to rather than the country it's in.
#7
Ok, so why wasn't that flight IMMEDIATELY diverted to the nearest airport before the idiot had a chance to get to the restroom and prepare the explosive?
The response at that moment should have been:
1. Put the passengers in "lockdown" ... nothing on their laps, nobody unescorted to the bathroom.
2. Divert the flight immediately to the nearest airport ... Ireland, Greenland, Newfoundland wherever.
The key would have been to "freeze" the passengers in place so that the bomb could not be prepared/detonated and get the plane on the ground, get the suspect passenger off the plane, and then allow the flight to continue.
#9
rjschwartz: As I understand it he was seated above the fuel tanks. I haven't heard if this was accidental or intensional
It is ABSOLUTELY intentional. This is al Qaeda standard operating procedure in airline bombings, dating from 1994. In that year, Ramzi Yousef wished to test a bomb design on an airliner. He chose Philippine Airlines flight 434, Cebu to Tokyo. He inserted his bomb in a life jacket stowed under a seat. The seat he chose was (he thought) directly above the center wing tank.
#10
I'm not sure why the realtive sizes of the watch lists would be significant. Although I have sometimes felt as if my ticket agent was reviewing a 2000 person database by hand, but I'm banking that the databases are probably computerized so it would not take appreciably longer to add everone who has ever been to Yemen onto the list and keep things safe.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/07/2010 21:31 Comments ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] The outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) yesterday threatened to attack security forces and vital installations in Assam ahead of India's Republic Day.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station and other sensitive locations in Mumbai Wednesday following a threat to carry out explosions this afternoon, officials said.
An anonymous threat call to carry out blasts in at least half a dozen locations was received by the Mumbai police control around 7.30 am Wednesday.
The caller threatened to blow up around half a dozen targets -- which he did not specify -- just after noon yesterday, officials said.
The railway and security authorities at CST were alerted and the entire station complex -- a World Heritage Building -- shifted to a high security gear.
Confirming the developments, an official spokesperson for Central Railways (CR) said: 'We are taking all possible precautions, making announcements, deploying the dog squad and sufficient security personnel to ensure there is no untoward incident.'
He said there was no panic among the three million plus commuters who use the CR services daily.
Besides CST, security has been tightened at various locations, including the famed Siddhi Vinayak Temple in Prabhadevi, some five star hotels, Churchgate and Dadar railway stations.
'We are going to step up our offensive and target security forces and other vital installations,' self-styled Ulfa commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah said in an e-mailed statement.
Titled 'new guidelines and instructions', the rebel statement also warned of action against Assam Police personnel and informers.
'We are not going to spare those who act as informers to pass on inputs to the security forces,' the Ulfa leader said.
The rebel statement also threatened action against 'intellectuals' who are anti-Ulfa.
'We shall identify the intellectuals and first warn them and then take action on such people,' the statement said.
The elusive separatist leader also threatened to take action on corrupt officials.
'Government officials who are corrupt would be dealt with sternly,' the statement said.
The Ulfa statement also asked people to capture and punish anybody who triggers bomb blasts.
The Ulfa and other militant groups in Assam and other parts of the northeast are known to step up violent acts ahead of national celebrations like Republic Day and Independence Day.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iraq has approved all pending deals with foreign energy firms over oil fields auctioned last year, paving the way for more than 100 billion dollars in investment, the oil ministry said Wednesday.
The nine contracts, which will be officially signed soon, will dramatically ramp up Iraq's oil output in the coming seven years and could make it one of the world's biggest crude producers, providing much-needed revenue for a country in dire need of rebuilding.
"All of the contracts have been agreed by the cabinet," oil ministry spokesman Assem Jihad told AFP.
"More than 100 billion dollars will be invested by these companies."
Jihad said the government had introduced what he described as minor legal amendments to the contracts, but declined to specify what changes had been made.
He said the oil ministry had received official documents from Anglo-Dutch giant Shell, Malaysia's Petronas, Japex of Japan and Angola's Sonangol giving their assent to the changes.
Once the ministry receives similar documents from firms working on three other fields, "we will set a date to hold a ceremony for all the companies to put down their final signatures."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I haven't heard much liberal screeching lately about how the war in Iraq was all about oil. Have they conveniently forgotten?
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced plans to hold a major defense exercise in the Strait of Hormuz in late January.
"The sensitive conditions of the Middle East region have multiplied the need for us to be ready to defend the country," commander of the IRGC Navy, Rear Admiral Morteza Saffari said on Tuesday.
RAdm Saffari said different units of the IRGC navy would take part in the maneuver to try out their new tactics and equipment in real life situations.
He added that the IRGC forces would use the experience they had gained in previous Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz exercises in the upcoming drill to increase their defensive abilities.
The commander explained that both IRGC naval personnel and its newly introduced equipment would be put to the test.
He also noted that the various stages of the drill would be planned out based on logical strategies, specific objectives and time limitations.
According to RAdm Saffari, the message Iran is trying to send out is that any aggressors that violate the country's borders will encounter a strong response from the Islamic Republic's defense forces.
RAdm Saffari said the drill also aims to reassure neighboring states that, by cooperating with each other, regional states can maintain the security of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz without the interference of foreign powers.
The Strait of Hormuz is an essential waterway that connects the oil-rich Persian Gulf region to the Sea of Oman, and thereon to the Indian Ocean. A large portion of the oil that the world uses passes through the Strait on a daily basis.
Other than the IRGC Navy, the Iranian army also plans to hold a defensive exercise in late January or early February.
The announcement comes amid speculations that the US is preparing to launch an attack on Iran with the help of Israel.
The former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has recently added to those speculations by verifying them.
"Obama is preparing for a (military) offensive on Iran with the help of his ally, the Israeli regime," IRNA quoted Mohamad as writing on his weblog.
Mahathir said the US is expected to launch the war on Iran on the pretext that the Islamic Republic is seeking to build a nuclear bomb.
He said that the US will introduce "forged evidence" showing Iran aims to "start a nuclear war against the world," just as it did before invading Iraq.
Mahathir's warning came as some US intelligence sources confirmed Iran's assertions that a document published by a British daily about Tehran's nuclear program was a fabrication.
According to a recent article, penned by renowned investigative journalist Gareth Porter, former CIA official Philip Giraldi has revealed that US intelligence agents believe Israel or Britain forged the document, which was published by the Times of London.
On 14 December, the Times of London published a document, which alleged that Iran had been secretly experimenting on a key component of a nuclear bomb called the "neutron initiator."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2010 00:00 ||
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China's ambassador to the UN has called for a diplomatic solution to the dispute over Iran's nuclear program, saying that it is not the right time to impose new sanctions on Iran.
"This is not the right moment for sanctions," Zhang Yesui, who chairs the UN Security Council this month, told reporters in New York on Tuesday.
He stated that diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful settlement "still need some more time and patience," AFP reported.
Zhang said sanctions themselves "are not an end" and a diplomatic solution "would be the best option."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters on Tuesday that Beijing believes that "dialogue and negotiation are the proper way to resolve the Iran nuclear issue."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Just like their poodles N. Korea and Pakiwakiland...
Spit.
[Ma'an] Hizbullah communicated "deep disappointment" to Hamas leadership over the discovery that the party was conducting military drills in a residential building in Lebanon without the party's knowledge, the country's An-Nahar newspaper reported Wednesday.
Information around the training was uncovered during the course of an investigation into an explosion in Haret Treik that killed two Hamas members last week, the paper said. Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Al-Murr said the blast targeted Hamas Representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan.
According to the London-based Arabic daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat, the attack was carried out as Hamas members received live ammunition training in the basement of the building under Hamas control.
The daily said Hezbollah told Hamas it would not intervene, and that Hamas "would have to resolve the problem on its own."
Ash-Sharq al-Awsat also reported that Hamas decided to close its office in Haret Hreik until the situation was resolved.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Looks like we have a scenario developing for Hizbulla/Hamas festivities. May need to order popcon, Barbara.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/07/2010 7:48 Comments ||
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#2
Whenever I see things like " without the party's knowledge" I can't help of thinking of "The Chicago Way".
#3
Secular Militants versus God-Faith-based Militants.
It shows that even within ISLAM-BASED SOCIALISM-GOVTISM, to incl. ISLAMISM, there is deep suspicion and distrust among DA KOMRADES as to which brand of Socialism-Govtism is proper = righteous???
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.
North Korea began a uranium enrichment program shortly after signing the Geneva accords to end its nuclear program in 1994 or at least in 1996, Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said Wednesday. 
It now appears that reports suggest that a man was temporarily detained at Stuttgart Airport last Tuesday after the repeatedly told security personnel that he had explosives in his underwear. The 42-year-old man was apparently just joking about the failed attempt by a Nigerian man to blow up a jet that was bound for the United States. The failed terrorist had attempted to light explosives that were concealed in his underwear.
Michael Isikoff
