[Quqnoos] A top US official said on Saturday that Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar were hiding somewhere along the Pak-Afghan border
Master of the obvious. They're not strutting around South Beach ...
US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke was talking to media representatives after talks with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Holbrooke added: "People all over the world should be more aware of the sacrifices Pakistani people and the army have made in pushing back militants in Swat, South Waziristan and other northwestern regions.
He said that the US did not only increase aid to Pakistan's military but also extended its support to other sectors as well.
Holbrooke claimed that the Obama administration was well aware of Pakistans energy demands and the issue was a top priority for the US.
"In July, I'm expecting Secretary Clinton to visit Islamabad for a second session of the strategic dialogue," Qureshi told the joint news conference.
They kill off some of their jihadi cannon fodder while our UAVs hunt down the senior bad guys flushed out of the underbrush. And the supply road to Afghanistan mostly stays open. No doubt there are less expensive ways to accomplish this, but in my ignorance I can't think of any.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
Former Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos has triumphed in presidential run-off vote that was marred by killings blamed on leftist rebels.
D'you think this one will be soft on the rebels, once he's sworn in?
Santos, who contested the polls as the candidate for the Social National Unity Party, has garnered 69 percent of Sunday's vote, imposing a bruising defeat on anti-corruption crusader and former Bogota Mayor, Antanas Mockus of the Green Party, Associated Press reported.
According to official results, Mockus gained 20 percent of the vote in the run-off that was held nearly a month after Santos won the first round of the presidential election but failed to secure majority of votes needed for an outright victory.
Santos has been campaigning on the platform of security, which has been regarded as the political mantra of outgoing president Alvaro Uribe in recent years.
Uribe`s support has played an important role in Santo`s victory.
He is elected with a clear mandate to tackle the rebel threats in the country.
I suspect the answer to my question is no. Good.
As Columbians were casting their ballots, at least 10 police and army officers were killed during separate attacks in the north-east of the country and elsewhere.
I'm sure President Obama will recognize the election as valid.
Columbia's Defense Minister Gabriel Silva blamed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and the smaller National Liberation Army for the attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2010 00:00 ||
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Xenon, an inert gas often generated by nuclear reactions, has been detected along the South Korean border at levels 8 times above normal. No seismic release has been noted, implying some sort of accidental processing leak.
#1
Notice how Muslim refugees never flee to the Land of the Two Holy Cities, Saudi Arabia, or the Land of the Pure, Pakistan. They're always going to some wealthy cradle-to-grave welfare state among the Lands of the Infidel. Odd, isn't it?
#2
"Victims", every one of them.
But somebody was out in the street rioting vigorously enough for the chinese govt. to send in the paramilitary police, so...
(Xinhua) -- The History Society of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Sunday urged the United States to replace the Korean Armistice Agreement with a peace treaty, the official KCNA news agency reported.
Have we heard from them before, or were they invented especially for the occasion?
"The U.S. should stop the acts of threatening peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, falsifying the truth of history, immediately disband the 'UN Command' and replace the Korean Armistice Agreement with a peace treaty," the group said in a statement.
The statement also said the U.S. move to seek to expand the "UN Command" which should have been disbanded long ago according to the UN resolution, was "a criminal act of challenging the sacred mission of UN and human conscience.
If Washington continued to strengthen the "UN Command" and step up its hostile moves against the DPRK, it would only suffer its "international isolation and destruction," it warned.
Pyongyang in January proposed discussing a peace treaty with the relevant countries within the frame of the six-party talks to replace the Armistice Agreement that ended the 1950-1953 Korean War.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Commies
#1
Versus
TOPIX > AHMADINEJAD CALLS FOR LIBERATING AMERICA, i.e. liberat the Amer people from its own Govt.
#3
The US should stop threatening peace an security!
Aren't they the ones who threaten too annilate SK and the US almost daily?
Posted by: chris ||
06/21/2010 11:11 Comments ||
Top||
#4
ION DAILY TIMES.PK/TOPIX > RADIOACTIVE GAS DETECTED AFTER NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR CLAIM, + [DPRK]ABNORMAL RADIATION DETECTED NEAR KOREAN BORDER, bu SOKOR Monitors.
ARTICS = RADIOACTIVE XENON GAS, but as yet NO GROUND TREMORS-QUAKES normally assoc wid NUCBOMB TESTS. Xenon could be from a DPRK NUCREAX LEAK, NOT A NEW NUCBOMB TEST???
SEOUL, June 20 (Yonhap) -- In one of his most energetic public outings this year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il inspected a training base for military officers and a string of industrial facilities, the communist state's official media reported Sunday.
Kim "inspected the training center for commanding officers of KPA Unit 593" while visiting a mine, an electronics factory, a co-operative farm and a machine complex in northwestern North Korea, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in reports datelined Saturday. Pyongyang's media usually report on Kim's activities a day late.
The reports did not say where the training base was, nor did it reveal the ranks of the officers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
He's looking for someone's a$$ to kick for the soccer loss to Portugal. I'm sure he'll find someone - probably someone who has absolutely no clue what soccer is, much less how it's played.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/21/2010 13:59 Comments ||
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-il "gives regular tactical advice during matches using mobile phones that are not visible to the naked eye," the team's manager Kim Jong-hun told ESPN Thursday.
Nano-phones! Shipman is going to be so excited. Not to mention dear Instapundit, who adores all things nano.
The coach dutifully told the sports channel that Kim Jong-il developed the James-Bond technology himself.
Who are you going to believe, Kimmie or your lying eyes?
In 2004, the North Korean leader claimed to have invented the hamburger, which would make the invisible cell phone his latest invention, ABC quipped.
Though not as useful as a hamburger, especially in Nork-land ...
I don't know, invisible phones are so useful for calling relatives who've escaped across the border -- if one doesn't want to be sent with one's entire family to re-education camp. On the other hand, one hamburger is enough to feed a North Korean family for an entire month, or so it's said.
It also reported that cameras caught a contingent of North Korean supporters in the stands, but it was "not certain... that any of those flag-waving fans were North Korean," citing a Xinhua news agency report that 1,000 Chinese nationals were essentially rented by North Korea in May to sit in the stands and cheer. The official Chinese news agency also reported that "the North Korean Sports Committee gave tickets to Chinese nationals, many of them actors and singers, to attend the event." Reuters reported that extra tickets were sold to Chinese nationals who wished to cheer for North Korea.
A tremendous amount of media attention focuses on World Cup underdog North Korea, which has made its appearance in the competition in 44 years, when it defeated Italy to make it to the quarter-final. ABC reported that ace North Korean striker Jong Tae-se must visit the North Korean consulate in Tokyo to change his South Korean passport to a North Korean one each time he travels abroad to represent the communist country in a match.
He might want to rethink going back to North Korea. Portugal just wacked them, 7 - 0. Coach Kimmie will not be pleased.
Gives new meaning to 'phoning it in' ...
ABC also reported that the North Korean team is training at a public South African gym while others opted for luxurious private facilities with advanced equipment.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2010 00:00 ||
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#3
I recall their 1966 quarter final match against Portugal, one of the favourites to win the World Cup that year. The Norks went 3-nil up, then Portugal went on to win 5-3.
Probably the most exciting soccer match I've ever seen (which isn't saying much as I find most soccer matches deadly dull).
#5
Actually, I'm prepared to believe this. You may have seen the article describing the "conductor" who was directing the group's cheering. He could well be linked by wireless headset and responding to Kim's enthusiasm. Kim must get an extra thrill to watch all those costumed "Koreans" following along with him.
#8
they are prcticing at a public arena instead of a private one like other teams. So, just means that you can't pay for a private one or someone wouldn't let you threaten them into letting you use it freely.
Posted by: chris ||
06/21/2010 11:14 Comments ||
Top||
#9
On the other hand, one hamburger is enough to feed a North Korean family for an entire month, or so it's said.
That is why I have an immense admiration for Condolezza Rice's courage in traveling to North Korea despite a name like hers.
#11
"luxurious private facilities with advanced equipment" like soccer balls and grass.
Posted by: Steven ||
06/21/2010 15:00 Comments ||
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#12
You know you can make soup out of grass?
Anyway, I don't know why any world leader worth his salt would want to get involved with minutia like directing a soccer team. Or securing the rights to host the Olympics.
#14
VARIOUS MIL FORUMS > IOW, KIMMIE himself is directly responsible for the World Cup loss of NOKOR's Team, but is deemed unlikely to order the formal GULAGGING = EXECUTION, ETC. OF HIMSELF???
Lest we fergit, US CIVIL WAR > CONFEDERATE GENERAL > [paraph]UNION GENERAL MCCLELLAN MAY HAD BROUGHT THE MIGHTY, SEEMINGLY OMNIPOTENT + INVINCIBLE UNION GRAND ARMY OF THE POTOMAC UNTO THE FIELD OF COMBAT/BATTLE - BUT-T-T, UNFORTUNATELY HE ALSO BROUGHT HIMSELF!
and
* KELLY'S HEROES > CARROLL O' CONNOR as TEH GENERAL > [paraph] D *** NG IT, COLONEL BOOKER, YOU'RE THE "COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER", YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE ... I'M COMING DOWN THERE, BOOKER!
The defendant in the failed Times Square bombing pleaded guilty on Monday, an abrupt and expedited end to a terrorism case that extended to Pakistan and an Islamic militant group there.
The defendant, Faisal Shahzad, 30, listened as each count of the 10-count indictment was read to him, and then indicated that he understood the charges and the penalties that he faced.
I want to plead guilty 100 times over,' said Mr. Shahzad, who faces life in prison.
Mr. Shahzad described his training in Pakistan, where he said he went to learn from the Pakistani Taliban how to build a bomb that he planned to detonate in the United States.
His guilty plea was consistent with his behavior since his arrest on May 3, when he began cooperating with federal authorities for more than two weeks without counsel and waived his Miranda rights. The only question would be whether Mr. Shahzad would be seeking some sort of leniency in sentencing in return for his assistance, something his lawyers may be seeking.
But legal experts say that absent any sort of written agreement and there may be none since he cooperated for so long without a lawyer the government is under no obligation to push for leniency for Mr. Shahzad, who faces a mandatory life sentence on two counts.
He was originally scheduled to appear in court at noon on Monday for what was supposed to be a brief arraignment on an indictment returned against him on Thursday.
But before a packed courtroom, Mr. Shahzad's lawyer and a prosecutor left the room for about 15 minutes for a meeting with Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum. The judge then returned and announced that the parties had asked that the hearing be delayed until 4 p.m.
Mr. Shahzad re-entered the courtroom just after 4:30, his hands cuffed behind his back. Marshals then removed the handcuffs. He sat at a table and drummed his fingers as his lawyer Philip Weinstein conferred with the judge and a prosecutor.
The judge asked Mr. Shahzad, who wore a dark blue shirt and a white skullcap, to stand.
She told him that the first charge he faced was attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
How do you plead to that charge?' the judge asked.
I do plead guilty to that charge,' Mr. Shahzad said.
The judge then said to Mr. Shahzad, I gather you want to plead guilty to all of them.'
#1
SHAHZAD made it clear that he regards Himself as a SOLDIER-DEFENDER OF ISLAM + MUSLIMS, a fighter in what he proclaims IHO/IHV is THE CURRENT, DE FACTO WAR BETWEEN ISLAM + AMERICA.
* SHAHZAD = ADAM GADAHN = UNLESS THE US PULLS OUT IN TOTE FROM AFPAK + STOPS INTERFERING IN MUSLIM AFFAIRS, ETC. MORE TERROR ATTACKS WILL BE FORTHCOMING = OCCUR AGZ THE US.
IOW, SHAHZAD = GADAHN = "THE SCORE WON'T BE SETTLED" UNTIL THE US STOPS + CONCEDES.
Also read, UNTIL THE US OR ISLAM IS DEFEATED IFF NOT WHOLLY DESTROYED. SHAHZAD has indir affirmed that the ISLAMIST JIHAD IS IN FACT A UNIVERSAL/GLOBAL MILITARY + IDEO + EXISTENTIAL "RULE-OR-DIE", "DEFEAT-OR-DEATH" STRUGGLE BETWEEN ISLAM = RADIC ISLAM, VERSUS THE USA.
An anti-terror court on Saturday acquitted Hijratullah, an accused in the Manawan attack case, after giving him the benefit of doubt as the prosecution failed to prove charges against him.
Police had arrested Hijratullah from the spot while he was allegedly trying to blow up a helicopter parked behind the centre. A grenade, a wireless set and a passport showing him to be an Afghan national were recovered from him.
Seven recruits and a civilian were killed and 93 injured in an eight-hour siege at the police training centre in the Lahore suburb on March 31 last year after seven terrorists stormed it.
Police had arrested Hijratullah from the spot while he was allegedly trying to blow up a helicopter parked behind the centre. A grenade, a wireless set and a passport showing him to be an Afghan national were recovered from him.
Later he was identified as Hijratullah. After that police had registered two cases against him.
Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawja Muhammad Sharif took suo motu notice of the acquittal late in the night, asking the Inspector General, Prosecution Secretary and the Prosecutor General to appear before the court on June 22.
"It is an alarming state of affairs that (a number of) accused have been acquitted by trial courts due to defective investigation and lack of sufficient evidence and as such failure of the prosecution to prove cases.
"The judiciary, being an important limb of the state, is under a constitutional obligation to see state functionaries perform their duties according to law of the land. The acquittals have mainly been because of failure of the prosecution," an LHC press release quoted the LHC chief justice as saying..
The court has summoned all officials concerned have been asked to appear before the court and explain their position. The Advocate General would assist the court on June 22.
On March 31, the terrorists had attacked three symbols of national security -- Police Training School, provincial headquarters of the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA) and Elite (police) Training Centres at Badian Road -- and held the city hostage for the entire day.
The law enforcement agencies produced Hijratullah before the court of Masood Arshad amid tight security and cordoned off the premises. The court after hearing the arguments of defence counsel (advocate) Ali Zia Bajwa and recording statements of witnesses exonerated Hijratullah from the charges, as prosecution was failed to prove charges against him. As many as 22 witnesses recorded their statements during the proceedings.
Last month, Hijratullah denied the allegations, saying he had nothing to do with the terror act as he was a garbage collector. He claimed that he had nothing to do with the attack and just happened to there to collect garbage from the school premises, when security agencies picked him up. He also denied links with Baitullah Mehsud or any other terror network in the region.
It may be mentioned that the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief late Baitullah, who claimed the responsibility of attack on April 1, 2009, had claimed responsibility for carrying out attack on the Police Training Centre but denied that the "man arrested from the spot belonged to his outfit."
The ATC had already awarded 10 years sentence to Hijrat for keeping hand grenades and arms. Hijratullah has also been acquitted in another case, involving a blast at a shrine (Pir Makki) in Lahore.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Iran Press TV Latest] Palestinians and foreign peace activists held a sit-in strike to demand the immediate opening of Gaza's northern Karni crossing.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside the restricted-use bulk goods crossing holding banners calling for an end to Israel's three-year blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Jamal al-Khoudary, head of the Popular Committee Against the Siege that organized the protest, condemned as "false," Israeli claims that the occupation is "easing the siege."
According to a report by the Palestinian import monitoring agency Paltrade, the Karni crossing was open for 17 days during the 2-month period of April and May -- only 34% of its scheduled operating hours.
Before 2007, more than 10,000 truckloads of goods entered through this crossing per month, whereas only 693 truckloads entered the Strip via Karni during the month of April, the report noted.
However, al-Khoudary said the move was nothing more than "messages to the media so that the international community would reduce pressure on Israel, after the massacre it committed on the Freedom Flotilla."
"Is the world waiting for more than this? The reality is that Gaza is at risk, whether with respect to health, environment, human or social sectors, with horrible outcomes," the politician said.
There will be no end to the siege, if all the crossings are not opened to permit easy flow of goods into the Gaza Strip, including raw materials for industrial use, cement and construction materials.
Also, said al-Khoudary, there should be a safe corridor between Gaza and the West Bank for the residents. The maritime corridor should also open, but under European supervision.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
ION ISRAEL NATIONAL NEWS > [Top HAMAS Terrorist-Official Mahmoud Az-Zahar to PA]AZ-ZAHAR: FIRE MISSLES ON ISRAEL FROM JUDEA + SAMARIA | LET HAMAS FIRE ROCKETS FROM WEST BANK, STOP PURSUING TERROR ORGS.
* Again, FREEREPUBLIC/TOPIX > REPORT: SYRIA BUILDING SCUDS BASES FOR HIZBOLLAH NEAR ISRAELI-LEBANON BORDER.
#2
"Before 2007, more than 10,000 truckloads of goods entered through this crossing per month, whereas only 693 truckloads entered the Strip via Karni during the month of April, the report noted."
True but that's partly because since 2007, more goods have come from the Sufa and Keren Shalom crossings.
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/21/2010 16:39 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas says he will "not run for president" in an upcoming election and that he is seriously considering a tour of the Gaza Strip.
How many times has that election been postponed thus far? Has a new date even been pencilled in on the calendar?
Abbas emphasized in an interview with the Al-Ayam newspaper on Sunday that he is determined about not running "for presidency for a second term," adding that his decision was personal and based on his age and a need to rest.
"Please don't kill me!"
He said that the jobs he and caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayadh are conducting are complementary. Fayadh, he said, is doing "a very good job" as far as the internal situation is concerned.
He also told the newspaper that he is serious about visiting the Gaza Strip
...once it is safe to do so, probably some time after Hamas has been kicked out...
and that achieving reconciliation would better prepare him to take this step.
Abbas noted that he has often reminded himself about the need to visit Gaza after reconciliation has been reached between Hamas and Fatah factions. "But mostly I think to go to there hoping that this visit could be useful," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#1
Abbas emphasized in an interview... that he is determined about not running "for presidency for a second term"
Police are now tracking down the suspects behind the alleged abduction of a son of an election official in southern Philippines on Sunday, a local police officer said Monday. Chief Superintendent Bienvinido Latag, police director for Mindanao Muslim Autonomous Region identified the victim as Nuraldin Yusof, son of Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Elias Yusof.
In a text message to Xinhua, Latag said the younger Yusof failed to return home after praying at a local mosque in Dansalang village, in Mindanao's northern city of Marawi at around 7:30 p.m. "An unidentified person called the commissioner two hours later, demanding the revocation of May election results in the municipalities of Malabang, Pikong, Taraka and Masiu, in Lanao del Sur province in exchange for his son's release," Latag said.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi on Sunday vowed to continue fighting the presidential "vote scandal" which rocked Iran, a year to the day after the death of a young woman at a Tehran protest rally.
Karroubi's latest salvo comes 12 months after a deadly demonstration in the capital against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led to the killing of 10 people, including Neda Agha-Soltan.
A mobile phone video posted on the Internet showing the young woman bleeding to death in the street during the June 20, 2009 rally became the symbol of the uprising against Ahmadinejad's re-election.
In an open letter to Iranians posted on his Sahamnews.org website, Karroubi criticized supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and attacked the authorities for jailing protesters and "filling cemeteries" with those killed in the unrest.
"Your stolen votes and the right which was unjustly taken away is a scandal which will not be wiped out at all," said the cleric who has refused to accept Ahmadinejad's re-election.
"I once again declare in all honesty that I will be committed to my pact with you until the end."
Hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters poured onto the streets of Tehran soon after last year's presidential election result returned Ahmadinejad to office for a second term.
The opposition movement claims that the poll was massively rigged in Ahmadinejad's favor, and has continued to reject his government ever since.
Dozens of people were killed in the clashes between protesters and security forces, and thousands were jailed in a crackdown launched by the authorities to quell the demonstrations that rocked the pillars of the Islamic regime.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2010 00:00 ||
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In the wake of a row between Israel and Lebanon over recently discovered natural gas fields in the Mediterranean, a senior Lebanese politician says Hezbollah weapons are essential for defending the country.
Speaking in a meeting with Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim Ali, Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt stressed the need for preserving the arms of the resistance movement of Hezbollah for protecting Lebanon.
Does he ever get dizzy?
"Resistance weapons are important to defend the oil in the Sea of Lebanon and national resources in the country," Jumblatt was quoted as saying by a Lebanese daily on Saturday.
Earlier last week, Hezbollah cautioned Israel that the movement would not allow Tel Aviv to loot Lebanese gas resources.
The warning came as Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri said Israel was getting ready to start exploring at the newly discovered fields off the northern port of Haifa.
According to Berri, the maps indicate that "the deposit extends into Lebanese waters."
Hezbollah countered Israel's offensive on Lebanon in 2000. It also fought a 33-day war against Israelis in 2006, as a result of which about 1,200 Lebanese -- most of them civilians -- were killed.
The Lebanese government says the Hezbollah resistance movement's military capability is part of Lebanon's national defense power.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2010 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
SEOUL, June 20 (Yonhap) -- In one of his most energetic public outings this year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il inspected a training base for military officers and a string of industrial facilities, the communist state's official media reported Sunday.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas says he will "not run for president" in an upcoming election and that he is seriously considering a tour of the Gaza Strip. 
In the wake of a row between Israel and Lebanon over recently discovered natural gas fields in the Mediterranean, a senior Lebanese politician says Hezbollah weapons are essential for defending the country. 
