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Police tear-gas Iran protesters during prayer
Today's Headlines
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Afghanistan
Michael Yon on non-war developments in Afghanistan
Very good perspective on the whys and wherefores, and how well -- or not -- development efforts are working, with wonderful pictures. Go and read the whole thing. And, if you feel inclined, donate a little something. Hattip Instapundit.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Laskar-e-Taiba active in Bangladesh for 14 years
[Bangla Daily Star] Pakistan based Islamist terrorist organisation Laskar-e-Taiba has been active in Bangladesh for the last 14 years, intelligence sources said quoting one of the most wanted Indian terrorists recently captured here. Local leaders of the organisation have links to the network of absconding Indian mafia don Dawood Ibrahim, and also to leaders of other Islamist militant organisations like Harkatul Jihad al Islami Bangladesh (HuJi), the sources added.

The Detective Branch (DB) of police yesterday disclosed that they recently arrested an Indian national who is very much close to Laskar-e-Taiyeba, and also one of the most wanted by the Indian law enforcing and intelligence agencies.
Congratulations!
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner AKM Shahidul Hoque said the arrestee is identified as Mufti Obaidullah, who has been staying in the country since 1995. -"He was arrested from the capital , and was taking preparations for a jihad by organising Bangladeshi mujahids with directives from Ameer Reza, a leader of Kashmir based Laskar-e-Taiyeba, who is an Indian national now staying in Pakistan," the DMP commissioner said.

Obaidullah took part in Afghan conflicts four times. Besides, he was active in militancy in India, in collaboration with militants from Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also collaborated with Islamist militants of Kashmir, Benaras, Punjab, and Hyderabad in India, said the DMP commissioner adding that Obaidullah came to Bangladesh to evade Indian intelligence after the government of that country in 1994 had declared him one of the most wanted.
Clearly the good mufti is a very, very bad man.
DB sources said a team led by Deputy Police Commissioner Monirul Islam of DB-North identified the Indian terrorist on the basis of confessions made by another detained Indian national Daud Merchant, a close aide to Daud Ibrahim and one of the main accused in the killing of music baron Gulshan Kumer. Daud Merchant and his associate Zahid Sheikh, who is also an Indian, were arrested in Bangladesh a month and a half ago.

According to the sources, Mufti Obaidullah has a PhD degree on fatwa from Deobandh Madrasa in India, and he was a teacher at Jamiatul Sunnah Madrasa of Shibchar upazila in Madaripur since 2003.
But we all know what PhD means, and what PhDs know. ("Piled higher and deeper." and "More and more about less and less until they know absolutely everything about nothing at all").
In June 1995 he came to Bangladesh, took up a fake name, Abu Zafar, and started teaching in different madrasas in Monirampur of Jessore, in Shrimangal of Moulvibazar, and at Tikirpur Jamia Mahmudia Madrasa in Nawabganj of Dhaka.

He took part in the previous Afghan war in 1988 while he was a student. In 1990, he took part in the ensuing Afghan conflict for the second time, when he was trained in operating a wide range of light and heavy weapons like machinegun, anti-aircraft gun, BM-50 canon, rocket launcher, and mortar. In 1991, he re-joined the conflict for the third time and visited various war camps as a veteran fighter. Finally in 1992 he took part in that ever morphing conflict for the last time.

Talking to reporters yesterday in detention, Obaidullah said he came to Bangladesh only to hide, and brought his family into the country later. He admitted that he is one of the most wanted in India, and said four other most wanted Indians are also hiding in Bangladesh.

"In 1994, Indian commandos went to West Bengal from Delhi by helicopters to arrest me, but I managed to evade arrest and later left India," Obaidullah added.

He said he knows many leaders of Bangladeshi Islamist terrorist groups, but denied carrying out any militant activity in the country. He however did admit to being active in the Islamist terrorist movement in India.

He also said he has a number of friends and well wishers in the country who are former students of Deobandh Madrasa.

He also managed to get a Bangladeshi national identity card, and cast votes in several elections, Obaidullah said.
The ACORN people will be mad with jealousy when they hear about him.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


Caribbean-Latin America
Rebel video hounds Ecuador's Correa
It's not been a good year for Team Chavez ...
BOGOTA -- An hour-long video police found in a computer of an alleged rebel appears to confirm that Colombia's largest rebel army gave money to the 2006 election campaign of President Rafael Correa of Ecuador.

The video shows the second-ranking commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia reading the deathbed manifesto of founding leader Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda. The manifesto states that the FARC made contributions to Correa's campaign, but it's possible that Correa wasn't aware of them.
Of course not, candidates are never aware of who's giving them money ...
The video, given to The Associated Press by a government official on condition of anonymity due to political sensitivity, adds weight to evidence found in a half-dozen electronic documents recovered at a rebel camp destroyed in a cross-border raid last year. Correa has accused Colombia of fabricating the documents, despite an investigation by the global police agency Interpol that determined they were not altered.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White || 07/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Kind of a smoking howitzer, sounds like.
And the OAS supports this crap? Wow.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 07/18/2009 6:13 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
SKors angle for consensus on N. Korea with Russia, Mongolia
Mongolia?
SEOUL, July 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's defense minister plans to step up regional consensus on ways to deal with North Korea when he visits Russia and Mongolia next week, his office said Friday. Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee is set to visit Russia from July 19-21 and Mongolia from July 22-24, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

North Korea will be high on the agenda when he meets with his Russian and Mongolian counterparts Anatoly Serdyukov and Luvsanvandan Bold, the ministry said. "The Russian visit is expected to lead to a framework for strategic cooperation in steadfastly dealing with the North Korean problem," the ministry said in a statement.

"The trip to Russia is aimed at reinforcing existing defense dialogue channels between these countries in tackling the North Korean problem," Brig. Gen. Jeong Yeon-bong said in a briefing.

Lee will discuss the North Korean nuclear test and ways to boost security ties between South Korea and Mongolia when he visits Ulan Bator, the ministry said.
Mongolia is permitted to have security issues? Since when?
They've allied w/ the US to offset China. There's been at least one Mongolian cadet who went through West Point and from all I've heard he was pretty impressive.
The Mongolian visit is expected to help boost economic ties in resource development as well, the ministry said.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Kim Jong Il’s Physical Paralysis Gradually Worsening
According to a high level information source in North Korea, Kim Jong-Il is slowly showing procession of physical paralysis but maintains mental capacity.
If you look at recent pics he appears to be as thin as the average North Korean. That can't be healthy.
Hospital in charge of Kim Jong Il judged that there is no way to improve his health in modern western medicine. Therefore, as a last resort, Kim Jong-Il chose to adopt oriental medicine and natural cure such as massages.
I think the very large acupuncture needle at the base of the neck would do it ...
Especially, his personal masseus is always accompanying him in local inspections so that he can receive massages anytime he needs one.
Gotta stay limber for the ninth circle ...
Also the security agency is cautious of his deteriorating health problem to spread outside the country which includes China as well.
I wouldn't worry about China, I'd worry about a slightly ambitious 'aide' ...
However, regardless of his health problems, he is still able to take care of important matters, giving approvals and making decisions in National Defense Committee.
Still signing death warrants?
In other words, he is becoming weak physically, but is holding on to the kernel of political power.
Just waiting for his callow son to follow in his footsteps ...
Posted by: Steve White || 07/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yeah, it's called rigor mortis.
Posted by: DMFD || 07/18/2009 0:45 Comments || Top||

#2  pillow/face - apply vigorously
Posted by: Frank G || 07/18/2009 11:12 Comments || Top||


Mosques reopen in Xinjiang under heavy security
Mosques reopened for Friday prayers under the watchful eyes of security troops in Urumqi, a riot-torn city on China's far western frontier where 192 people were killed in ethnic attacks earlier this month.

Many of the mosques had been closed for Friday prayers last week after Uighurs attacked Han Chinese in Urumqi on July 5, although in a few cases they briefly opened when crowds formed at their doors.

Businesses: All of the 433 mosques were open this week, China's official Xinhua news agency said.

Although businesses in Urumqi were returning to normal, Internet access in the restive region is still cut. Telephone reception is intermittent. Xinjiang is home to the Muslim Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking people with cultural ties to central Asia, who now make up just under half of the region's 20 million people.

Many resent decades of migration by Han Chinese, who they say benefit from economic growth, and also resent religious and cultural discrimination.

The streets around the White mosque, where a brief protest broke out after prayers last week, were closed to traffic, but pedestrians were allowed in, some after showing their identification. At the Yang Hang mosque, the prayer session was shortened to about 20 minutes, compared to the normal duration of over an hour, but worshippers filed in and out smoothly.

The Urumqi attacks on Han Chinese shops and pedestrians broke out after police stopped a demonstration protesting the deaths of two Uighur workers attacked by their Han Chinese coworkers in a faraway factory near the Hong Kong border. Han Chinese took to the streets in revenge two days later.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  See also WORLD NEWS > IS CHINA DISINTEGRATING? + CHINA AND CHINESE IS AL QAEDA'S NEW TARGETS + OTHER MILITANT GROUPS TARGETING CHINESE IN MIDDLE EAST.

* OTOH SAME > VARIOUS > ISLAMISTS/MILITANTS LOOK TO INCREASE PRESENCE IN RUSSIA, + XINJIANG: MILITANT GROUPS TO SUPPORT JIHAD AGZ CHINA?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/18/2009 0:52 Comments || Top||

#2  OOOOPSIES, forgot add TOPIX > UIGHURS WANT MORE SUPPORT FROM TURKEY [TURKEY-based Uighur, Turkic relations, etc. + ANKARA Govt].

Seems CHIN's UIGHURS have decidedly NOT been impressed wid ANKARA's PAST SUPPORT FOR THEM > TIME TO MAKE REDRESS FOR THE PAST???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/18/2009 0:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Seems CHIN's UIGHURS have decidedly NOT been impressed wid ANKARA's PAST SUPPORT FOR THEM > TIME TO MAKE REDRESS FOR THE PAST???

I think the Turks like the idea of pan-Turkic solidarity if it gets them special privileges (mining concessions, trading rights, etc), but aren't into actually spending money on their cousins in Central Asia. Think of pan-Turkism as a less organized version of the equally useless pan-Arabism.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 07/18/2009 14:53 Comments || Top||


Europe
Carbeque season opens
French riot police firing teargas and plastic bullets have struggled to contain three nights of rioting and arson by youths on suburban estates in the Loire, amid protests over the death of a 21-year-old in police custody.
It's the season, as the headline says. Were it not this man's death, it would be something else.
High-rises in Firminy, a small town bordering countryside on the outskirts of Saint-Étienne, saw running battles between police and youths in the early hours of this morning after Mohamed Benmouna, a local supermarket cashier, was taken from his police cell in a coma and died in hospital.

Benmouna, who had been arrested on extortion charges,
So he wasn't a simple supermarket cashier, but a vile blackmailer who cloaked himself in the guise of an honest labourer.
died on Wednesday. Police said he attempted to hang himself in his cell and fell into a coma. His Algerian family, sceptical of the official story, have filed a lawsuit to establish the circumstances of his death and whether police violence was covered up. The local state prosecutor, Jacques Pin, said a postmortem confirmed Benmouna died of suffocation and his body showed no trace of violence or police abuse. But he said video surveillance equipment that would normally have filmed Benmouna's cell was not functioning properly.
"Pierre! We cut the body down."
"Hokay, Henri, I shall now turn the video system back on."
"Hey, wait til we get out of the cell!"
The police inspectorate has opened an investigation.
"You see anything, Pierre?"
"How could I, the video system was turned off."
"Good enough for me. Get that body to the morgue. I'll be eating snails."
For three nights, youths have taken to the streets of Firminy to riot over the death, burning local shops, torching dozens of cars and stoning police, despite repeated pleas for calm from the family. Last night the family and 200 locals staged a peaceful sit-down protest outside their block of flats. But later groups of youths began torching buildings and cars and stoning police. The local bakers, chemist, tobacconist and hairdressing salon were razed. Two hundred riot police were brought in to control rioters with teargas and plastic bullets. Six arrests were made.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Pakistan’s queries an endless exercise: Chidambaram
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday described as an “endless exercise” Pakistan seeking fresh clarifications on the Mumbai terror attack and said this would perhaps be the last time he would be answering them.

“It can’t be an endless exercise. It has to come to an end. It is an endless exercise, very tiresome. I think perhaps this is the last time I will answer Pakistan’s questions on this issue,” he told Times Now.

He was answering questions on Islamabad giving a fresh dossier in which it had sought replies on some new questions relating to the Mumbai attack.

Mr. Chidambaram said these are four minor questions which can be easily answered and he has asked officials to prepare the reply. “We will send the replies,” he said.

He said the material the Indian government had given was enough to secure the conviction of the accused in Pakistan’s courts.

“I am sorry for the prosecutors of Pakistan who think this is not enough to conclude investigations and start prosecution. The material given to Pakistan is enough for any court of law to convict the accused,” he said.

The Home Minister said there had to be some supplementary investigations on Pakistani soil and the accused brought to justice.

Mr. Chidambaram said Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi was an accused who could be convicted easily.

“Of course a judge has to be appointed. There has to be a trial and a judgment of conviction. If they do the investigation along with the evidence we have given, the accused can be nailed very easily. But they are nowhere near starting the trial whereas in India we are halfway into Kasab’s trial,” he said.

“It is a very sad commentary on the legal skills of the prosecutors in Pakistan,” he said.

Mr. Chidambaram said it remained India’s position that no non-state actor could launch a terror attack of this scale and magnitude on India without State support.
Posted by: john frum || 07/18/2009 14:17 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


US, Pakistani officials meet in bid to oust Taliban
[Al Arabiya Latest] Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, was due to meet army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and General Tariq Majid, the chairman of Pakistan's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mullen's visit came a day after al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri, in an audio-recording posted on an Islamist website, urged Pakistanis to join a jihad against the United States and its allies within the Pakistani political and military leadership.

Pakistan's Western allies were relieved in April when the army went on the offensive against Taliban militants spreading out of their stronghold in Swat valley to another valley just 60 miles (100 km) northwest of Islamabad.

Mullen was expected visit a camp for some of the 2 million people displaced by the fighting in Swat later on Thursday, though authorities earlier this week began letting families go home.

The army is in the final stages of the operation in Swat, and the government has given it orders to mount a campaign against the Taliban redoubt in Waziristan, a remote, mountainous tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

Air strikes and medium range artillery have been used to soften up the defenses of Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, and U.S. drones also have begun targeting Mehsud territory more frequently in recent weeks. Residents in the area say indiscriminant firing of U.S. drones have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians in the area.

Diplomats in Islamabad are speculating whether Pakistan wants to wait for the United States to deploy more troops on the Afghan side of the border before launching an all-out assault on Mehsud.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
U.S. Warns Afghan Villages Over Kidnapped GI
At least two Afghan villages have been blanketed with leaflets warning that if an American soldier kidnapped by the Taliban two weeks ago isn't freed, "you will be targeted."

Villagers near the border of two volatile provinces, Ghazni and Paktika, tell CBS News' Sami Yousafzai that aircraft dropped the leaflets during the past several days. Military spokeswoman Capt. Elizabeth Mathias confirmed that the leaflets were produced at Bagram Air Base, the primary U.S. installation in Afghanistan, and distributed in the region. She told CBS News correspondent Mandy Clark, however, that they were distributed by hand, not aircraft. The papers show on one side an image of a soldier with his head bowed so that his face is not visible (above). A message in the local Pashtun language over the image says, "If you do not free the American soldier, then..." On the other side, an image shows Western troops breaking into a house. The rest of the message is printed across the photo: "...you will be targeted".

According to the military, the translation of the last word in the sentence is "hunted," not targeted, but CBS News' independent translators say the word also means "targeted".

Mathias told Clark that another leaflet was dropped from aircraft in Ghazni and Paktika which notifies locals that a U.S. soldier is missing and requests any information on his whereabouts. Mathias' colleague, Lt. Com. Christine Sidenstricker, said no threats are made in the leaflet which was air-dropped. The image shows an unidentified U.S. soldier (not the one who was kidnapped) sitting on the ground and talking to Afghan children. On the front it reads: "One of our American guests is missing." On the back: "Return the guest to his home. Call us at...," according to the military's translation.

A Taliban source in Paktika claimed on Wednesday that U.S. forces had already launched three attempts to find the missing soldier in different locations near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, "but all three raids were ineffective and the solder is in a safe and secure protected area controlled by the Taliban."

A militant commander in southern Afghanistan said a decision to keep the American hostage "in good shape of health" had come from the Taliban's military council, or Shura. The commander, and the other Taliban source in Paktika, indicated that a ransom may be sought for the soldier's safe return, but the commander warned there was also an order to kill the man if there was any kind of operation to rescue him or an escape attempt.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/18/2009 09:04 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Gasp. Imagine, in a part of the world where power and seriousness are, naturally, the only human behaviors anyone has known in all history and pre-history, actually implying a serious attitude to using power to secure your objective.

Surely the staff schools and Kilcullen can come up with something more elegant than this?
Posted by: Verlaine || 07/18/2009 13:17 Comments || Top||

#2  According to the military, the translation of the last word in the sentence is "hunted," not targeted, but CBS News' independent translators say the word also means "targeted".

Had there been an independent translator said the word meant 'buggered', CBS would've hired him too.
Posted by: Pappy || 07/18/2009 14:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Actually, offering informants a couple hundred thousand, asylum for them and their immediate family, and a DC cab drivers permit would sweeten the pot. Oh, and a pony too.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/18/2009 22:07 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Israel: Lebanon Army helped Hezbollah hide arms cache
The Lebanese Army helped Hezbollah militants destroy evidence of its continued military activity in the south of the country after a hidden arms cache exploded there earlier this week, Israel's envoy to the United Nations has charged in an official complaint.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Gabriela Shalev described the abandoned building in which the explosion took place as "an arms cache that consisted of Hezbollah arms, including rockets, mortars, artillery shells, grenades, and additional ammunition which had been brought to the area following the Second Lebanon War."

According to Shalev, the incident proves that Hezbollah has been acting in violation of UN Resolution 1701, which called for a cease-fire in southern Lebanon after the 2006 conflict.

"This recent explosion is a glaring example of Hezbollah's use of civilian infrastructure," Shalev wrote. "With more than 20,000 rockets in its possession south of the Litani River, Hezbollah gravely endangers the local Lebanese civilian population by turning their houses into military bunkers and storages."

According to Shalev, this incident was one of a number of similar instances in which Hezbollah has violated the cease-fire agreement, which calls for the complete absence of weapons and non-UNIFIL military in the zone between the blue line and the Litani River, and kept its arsenal intact. In her letter to Ban, she cited similar instances as having occurred in March 2008 and January 2009.

"Unfortunately, such obstruction is not an isolated incident and reflects a pattern in which Hezbollah uses various means - including so-called 'civilians' - in order to prevent UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces from fulfilling their mandate," she wrote.

Following the explosion, Shalev wrote, UNIFIL forces were delayed by Lebanese troops to enable Hezbollah to rid the area of evidence. This assistance, said Shalev, has made the violations "all the more severe because an official organ of the Lebanese state - the Lebanese Army - delayed UNIFIL from fulfilling its obligations. As such, this obstruction of movement must be denounced in very clear and robust terms."

"All of these flagrant violations of resolution 1701 - inter alia, the arms smuggling and the obstruction of movement of UNIFIL forces - must be denounced and addressed in clear and unambiguous terms by the international community," wrote Shalev.

Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


In unity sermon, Rafsanjani regrets crisis handling
[Iran Press TV Latest] As Iran tries to cope with the aftermath of its disputed presidential election, influential cleric and politician Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani puts forward proposals to end the post-vote "crisis."

Ayatollah Rafsanjani, who was leading the Friday prayers at Tehran University for the first time since election, told hundreds of thousands of people that ambiguities surrounding the June 12 presidential vote had broken the trust of Iranians in the establishment. "Our key issue is to regain the trust which the people had and now to some extent is shattered," Rafsanjani said.

Rafsanjani, a two-time former president who heads both the top political arbitration body and the clerical body, criticized the government for its handling of the controversy over the election. He suggested that failing to listen to the voice of those who are dissatisfied with the election's results had disrupted the national unity. "Doubt has been created," he said. "There are two currents; one has no doubt and is moving ahead. And the other is a large portion of the wise people who say they have doubts. We need to take action to remove this doubt."

While pointing out that rebuilding the trust is not a straightforward task and cannot be achieved overnight, Rafsanjani suggested that the release of people who protested against the result of the vote could be the first step in restoring people's trust in the establishment. "It is not necessary that in this situation people be jailed. Let them join their families."
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Ahmadinejad: Iran will "bring down" Western foes
Newly re-elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday his next government "would bring down the global arrogance," signaling a tougher approach by Tehran toward the West after last month's disputed election.

Ahmadinejad, in his first provincial trip after the June 12 presidential vote, said Iran's enemies had tried to interfere and foment aggression in the country, referring to mass opposition protests against the official election result.

The hardline president, who often rails against the West, said the Islamic Republic wanted "logic and negotiations" but that Western powers had insulted the Iranian nation and should apologize.

Iranian leaders often refer to the United States and its allies as the "global arrogance."

"As soon as the new government is established, with power and authority, ten times more than before, it will enter the global scene and will bring down the global arrogance," he told a big crowd in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

"They should wait as a new wave of revolutionary thinking ... from the Iranian nation is on the way and we will not allow the arrogant (powers) to even have one night of good sleep," Ahmadinejad said, according to state broadcaster IRIB.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Israel planned to kill Ahmadinejad: Iran minister
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iranian Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni
" The Zionist regime had met with the hypocrite group (the term Iran uses for the PMOI) on the sidelines of (a meeting in) Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt and in Paris to assassinate Mr. Ahmadinejad "
Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie -- Iranian Intelligence Minister
Ejeie said on Friday that Israel had planned to assassinate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad around the time of last month's presidential election.

The Fars news agency quoted Ejeie as saying that Israeli officials had met members of the exiled Iranian opposition group, People's Mujahedeen of Iran (PMOI), to execute the plan.

"The Zionist regime had met with the hypocrite group (the term Iran uses for the PMOI) on the sidelines of (a meeting in) Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt and in Paris to assassinate Mr. Ahmadinejad," Ejeie said.

But the PMOI set some conditions for the job, he said. "The hypocrites set some conditions for this job and asked that the U.S. and others remove their name from the (terror) black list," Ejeie said, referring to the recent removal of the PMOI's name from the Europe's terrorist black list.

"The enemies even approached the rebels in east of the country to achieve this aim," he added, referring to Sunni rebels who are engaged in a rebellion against Iran's Shiite government.
Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Iran may prevent Moussavi from forming party
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran may prevent Iran's opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi from forming an opposition party, sources told Al Arabiya Thursday amid reports that he will attend Friday prayers in his first official public appearance since last month's disputed presidential election.

A statement posted late Wednesday on his website confirmed a media report earlier this week that he would attend the prayers at Tehran University to be led by former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a rival of re-elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"I will join the lines (of worshippers) on Friday as I feel obliged to respond to the call of companions on the path to protecting rights to a noble and free life," Mousavi said.

" I will join the lines on Friday as I feel obliged to respond to the call of companions on the path to protecting rights to a noble and free life "
Mir Hossein Moussavi
The 67 year-old, who was Ahmadinejad's closest rival in the June 12 election, has charged that the vote was rigged and dismissed the next government as "illegitimate." The authorities reject charges of vote fraud.

The Interior Ministry is considering blocking Moussavi from forming or heading an opposition party, sources in the ministry told Al Arabiya.

Iran's Intelligence Minister also accused reformists of planning a velvet revolution and wreaking havoc in the country after election results were announced.

Iranian religious clerics from Qom said confessions were extracted under duress and are, thus, neither legally nor religiously valid and added that the authorities promised the detainees will be released this week before the Friday sermon whose imam will be former president Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Posted by: Fred || 07/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran



Who's in the News
40[untagged]
6Govt of Iran
2Iraqi Insurgency
2Govt of Pakistan
2Taliban
1Lashkar e-Taiba
1TTP
1al-Qaeda in Iraq
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Hezbollah
1Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh

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On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

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In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
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Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
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Fred
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2009-07-18
  Police tear-gas Iran protesters during prayer
Fri 2009-07-17
  At Least 4 Dead in Bomb Explosions at Hotels in Indonesia
Thu 2009-07-16
  Qaeda threatens China over Uighur unrest
Wed 2009-07-15
  Hezbollah arms cache goes kaboom
Tue 2009-07-14
  US ambassador to Iraq escapes kaboom
Mon 2009-07-13
  Report sez Kimmie has pancreatic cancer
Sun 2009-07-12
  Ghazni Governor Survives Assassination Attempt
Sat 2009-07-11
  Uzbekistan arrests 10 after suicide bombing
Fri 2009-07-10
  Martial law in Urumqi
Thu 2009-07-09
  Egypt arrests terrorist cell of 25 members
Wed 2009-07-08
  2 suspected US missile attacks kill 45 in Pakistan
Tue 2009-07-07
  Taliban launch counteroffensive against U.S. Marines
Mon 2009-07-06
  China: At Least 140 Killed in Uighur Riots
Sun 2009-07-05
  British Forces Join Afghan Operation
Sat 2009-07-04
  US forces repel Taliban suicide assault, kill 22 Taliban fighters


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