The chairman of the U.S. Senate's Foreign Relations Committee
[God help us]
will meet with Syria's president this week on a tour of the region that began Sunday in Egypt.
The U.S. has accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters to cross its border into Iraq, though Syria denies that. Kerry has in the past spoken of his concern about what he said was the flow of money, weapons and terrorists through Syria into Iraq and Lebanon.
In Egypt on Sunday, the senator said the U.S. is eager to talk to Syria, whose president said last month he also wants a dialogue with Washington, but without preconditions. here is the dialogue,
Syria: F... Israel
US: Peace?
Syria: Sc... Israel
US: Peace?
Syria: OK we'll settle for cash Continued on Page 47
#3
He does have previous experience dealing with the enemy while in no legal position to do so. During the Vietnam war he negotiated with the North Vietnamese.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
02/16/2009 7:06 Comments ||
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#4
sKerry will do for the Assad family what he did for HoChiMinh and his stalinist comrades...sKerry isn't sKerry unless he's working against the best interests of America. That's why he's loved in Massatwoshits.
The head of Iran's Expediency Council says the country should be managed practically adding that time for a 'trial and error' method has ended.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
02/16/2009 00:00 ||
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Iran's Prosecutor General Qorban-Ali Dorri-Najafabadi says members of the banned Bahai sect have irrefutable links with Israel.
After Tehran's deputy prosecutor Hassan Haddad announced on Wednesday that seven members of the Bahai sect would soon be tried, US State Department issued a statement to condemn the decision.
The seven Bahai followers will be tried on charges of "espionage for Israel, desecrating religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Republic."
The statement by the US State Department condemned the move, saying the espionage charges were "baseless."
"There is irrefutable evidence that adherents of the Bahai sect are in close contact with the enemies of the Iranian nation and have strong links to the Zionist regime," Dorri-Najafabadi explained on Sunday.
The top Iranian judiciary official accused the group of gathering intelligence on Iran and involvement in espionage activities against the Islamic Republic.
"Bahai organizations are illegal and their connections to Israel and their enmity toward Islam and the Islamic system are absolutely certain and their threat against the national security is a proven fact," added the Iranian cleric.
Followers of the Bahai sect -- founded in Iran in 1863 -- are regarded as infidels and have been persecuted both before and after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - The U.S. Treasury Department has authorized the transfer of $500,000 to a Syrian charity in a sign that it is easing its economic embargo on the country, Syria's ambassador to Washington said Sunday. Imad Mustafa told reporters that the money to the Children with Cancer Support Association was raised by Syrians living in the United States. There was no immediate comment from the Treasury Department.
How much gets diverted to the Widows Ammunition Fund?
The U.S., under former President George W. Bush, imposed a variety of sanctions on Syria to punish a government it accused of allowing foreign fighters to cross into Iraq, as well as supporting militant groups in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. One measure banned U.S. exports to Syria except for food and medicine.
Syria has denied allowing fighters to cross into Iraq, while saying it is impossible to control its extensive desert border.
I wouldn't have minded having us try it, from both sides ...
If the money transfer is confirmed, it would be another sign that the U.S. is easing some sanctions. A Syrian newspaper reported last week that the U.S. Trade Department has agreed to provide spare parts for two Syrian-owned Boeing 747 aircraft out of service for years.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/16/2009 00:00 ||
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Iran's powerful hardliners are showing signs of jangled nerves and disunity after Mohammad Khatami, the country's moderate former president, declared his intention to contest June's presidential elections. Supporters of the hardline incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, hoped that the potent challenge posed to their monopoly on power by Mr Khatami, the charismatic politician-philosopher who still retains some of his rock star-like popularity, would unite conservatives behind the president.
But a hardline deputy revealed last weekend that some conservatives are ready to ditch the populist Mr Ahmadinejad as their most obvious candidate -- if they can persuade Mr Khatami to stand down.
Ali Motahhari, the MP, said the plan had been discussed with many "Principlists", the flattering term hardliners use to proclaim themselves as exclusively loyal devotees of the principles of the Islamic Revolution -- and all agreed.
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.
Iran's powerful hardliners are showing signs of jangled nerves and disunity after Mohammad Khatami, the country's moderate former president, declared his intention to contest June's presidential elections. Supporters of the hardline incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, hoped that the potent challenge posed to their monopoly on power by Mr Khatami, the charismatic politician-philosopher who still retains some of his rock star-like popularity, would unite conservatives behind the president.
