[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday Tehran was ready to talk with world powers on global issues but not about its right to nuclear technology.
"We are ready to talk about international cooperation and resolving global economic and security problems as we believe that such issues cannot be resolved without everyone's participation," Ahmadinejad was quoted by Fars news agency as telling the new British ambassador to Tehran, Simon Gass.
" Having peaceful nuclear technology is Iran's lawful and definite right and Iranians will not negotiate with anyone over their undeniable rights "
Iranian President Ahmadinejad
But Ahmadinejad, who is to attend the U.N. General Assembly meeting later this month in New York, ruled out any talks on Iran's alleged nuclear program.
He also did not directly respond to the call by world powers for urgent talks with Tehran.
"Having peaceful nuclear technology is Iran's lawful and definite right and Iranians will not negotiate with anyone over their undeniable rights," he told Gass as the British envoy presented his credentials.
Turkey's foreign minister said during a visit to Tehran on Sunday his country would be prepared to host talks between Iran and the world powers, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported.
It said Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made the offer in a meeting with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.
Turkey, a U.S. NATO ally which is also looking to expand economic and energy ties with neighboring Iran, earlier this year said it was trying to bridge U.S.-Iranian differences.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Despite recent meetings between the foreign ministers of Syria and Iraq, no steps have been taken in solving the problem of the ever growing population of Iraqi refugees in Syria, where the majority of refugees seem to be just fine.
In the wake of the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq thousands of refugees fled to neighboring Syria and many of them are concerned about their fate since relations between the two countries have soured after the Aug. 19 bombings, known as "Bloody Wednesday."
In the little town of Jermana, south of the capital of Damascus, the population doubled as refugees flooded in. Out of Jermana's 200,000 residents, 100,000 are Iraqi refugees, turning the area into a replica of an Iraqi city.
"I am worried about the current situation," a refugee told Al Arabiya. "However, I still feel secure in Syria."
Another refugee agreed and attributed this feeling of security to the fact that politics does not interfere with relations between people.
"Anything can happen between politicians," he told Al Arabiya. "But this is not reflected on the citizens of both countries."
Syria and Iraq restored their diplomatic relations in 2006 after almost three decades of frosty relations.
But the relations turned sour last month after a suicide bomber killed almost 100 people by blowing up a truck at a ministry. The attacker made a tape in which he claimed he was trained in Syria.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Business tycoon Salah Ezzedine, dubbed Lebanon's "Bernard Madoff" by local media over allegations he squandered more than one billion dollars of his clients' money, has been charged with embezzlement and fraud, state media reported Sunday.
Ezzedine's business partner, Yussef Faour, the deputy mayor of the southern village of Maaroub, was charged with the same offences on Saturday, the official National News Agency reported.
" He managed to win the trust of the Shiites of south Lebanon and handled a lot of their money "
Mohammed al-Duheini, mayor
Prominent Hezbollah MP Hussein Haj Hassan was among the investors according to the party, the Financial Times newspaper said.
Ezzedine turned himself in earlier this month after filing for bankruptcy. Faour was arrested days afterwards. Five others were also charged but are reportedly on the run.
Ezzedine is charged with creating a phony embezzlement scheme --- which officials have referred to as a Ponzi scheme -- that promised returns of up to 40 percent a year, prompting comparisons with Bernard Madoff. Ezzedine could face up to up to 15 years in prison
Acting financial prosecutor Fawzi Adham charged Ezzedine and a partner, Youssef Faour, with fraudulent embezzlement, issuing bad checks and violating the Lebanese monetary and loan laws. Ezzedine reportedly handled the investments of thousands of clients from Lebanon's Shiite community, many of whom eschew traditional banks that charge interest, which is forbidden in Islam. "He managed to win the trust of the Shiites of south Lebanon and handled a lot of their money," Toura mayor Mohammed al-Duheini told AFP earlier this month.
The Shiite Muslim from outside the southern city of Tyre is also the owner of Dar al-Hadi Publishing House, which has published books by senior Hezbollah officials, in the southern Beirut suburbs. Authorities have shut down the store, named after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's late son Hadi.
Born in 1962, the financier first went into business organizing pilgrimages to the Muslim holy places in Saudi Arabia.
While Ezzedine's own political beliefs remain unclear, Beirut newspapers have reported that many of his clients were members of Hezbollah. Nasrallah denied that Ezzedine had any ties to the party in a speech earlier this month, but reports say Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan has filed a complaint over a bounced check signed by Ezzedine.
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Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2009 00:00 ||
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Extremists tied to Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon may have been behind the latest rocket attack from the south into Israel, a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon official said on Saturday. "My understanding is that they (the investigations) are focusing on the extremist groups that might be linked to the refugee camps," UNIFIL political adviser Milos Strugar told AFP.
At least two rockets fired from the village of Al-Qlaileh in southern Lebanon slammed into Israel on Friday, triggering retaliatory artillery fire.
Israel said on Saturday it had lodged a complaint with the United Nations. Strugar said that UNIFIL immediately launched an investigation into the incident, in coordination with the Lebanese army. "The investigation in this regard is in the hands of the Lebanese authorities, primarily the army, but my understanding is that there are some indications pointing in the direction of some extremist groups and I understand also that the investigation is focusing on these extremist groups," he said. He would not give further details.
Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps are considered fertile breeding grounds for extremism. The army does not generally enter the camps, leaving responsibility for security to Palestinian factions instead.
"The investigation is ongoing, so to talk about the details could be counter-productive," Strugar said. "The most important issue is to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice."
No casualties were reported on either side in Friday's incident.
The Lebanese army said the village of Al-Qlaileh was hit in the retaliatory bombardment and ambulances were rushed from the port city of Tyre, nine kilometres (five miles) away.
On Saturday UN peacekeepers were monitoring the border, where the situation was reported "calm," UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane told AFP.
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Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2009 00:00 ||
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An interim Friday prayer leader in the western city of Sanandaj in the Iranian province of Kordestan has been shot dead.
Three unidentified gunmen approached the home of Mamousta Borhan Ali in Sanandaj on Saturday "under the pretext of asking religious questions" from the cleric.
The interim Friday prayer leader, who was part of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election campaign in Kordestan, was then assassinated by a hail of bullets, Fars news agency reported.
The incident comes only days after a failed attempt to assassinate a Revolutionary Court judge in Sanandaj.
Sanandaj governor Mohammad Taghi Heydari said the assassination was part of the enemy's plots to portray the region as insecure.
"Through such plots, they seek to stoke tensions in the region so that they can achieve their evil objectives," the governor added.
[Asharq al-Aswat]
Whilst watching one of the [Arabic] satellite channels, I saw somebody who described himself as a political and military expert make a statement in which he said that the people responsible for the Lebanese rocket attack against Israel may be affiliated to the Israeli espionage network! This strategic political and military expert wants to say that Israeli wishes to provoke a crisis with Lebanon, and has therefore ordered its spies to fire rockets into its own territory.
The question that must be asked is; who benefits from rockets being fired from southern Lebanon into Israel?
Is Israeli targeting itself at the same time that it is diplomatically and tactically working to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons?
If we wish to persist in looking at this conspiracy theory we could ask; is it logical that at the same time that Damascus is trying to resolve its issues with the US and the West and is preparing for the difficult months to come, that it would risk opening another [battle] front with Israel i.e. Lebanon?
Damascus is certainly not keen to brighten Hezbollah's image, or return to calling for resistance in Lebanon, as it previously did in the past, especially since Syria's relationship with Hezbollah is not as it was before, and it is Syrian ally -- not Hezbollah ally -- [Michel] Aoun who is obstructing the formation of a government in Lebanon.
It is also important that we pay particular attention to the statement issued by Khalid Mishal a few days ago in Khartoum during which he said that Hamas not only smuggles arms, but that it buys and manufactures them as well. The meaning behind this statement is clear; Hamas is saying to Israel that the Gazan front is prepared for any escalation. Therefore the rocket fire from southern Lebanon into Israel, and Mishal's statement a few days ago, are nothing more than a message to Israel from Iran's allies in the region to the effect that all the fronts, from Gaza to Lebanon, are ready for battle should Israel decide to attack Iran.
We are facing a new media campaign of disinformation that will be launched in the coming days, the goal of which is to distract public opinion until we find ourselves facing a new adventure, such as the Hezbollah adventure in 2006 [Hezbollah -- Israel war], or the adventure of the rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip at the beginning of this year [which led to the Israeli invasion].
We musts therefore be prepared [for this] from now, and in order to be ready we must continually ask ourselves; who benefits from Hezbollah or Hamas giving new causes to Israel to incite a new war?
Is it in the interest of Iran, who wants to gain control of Iraq, exploit the Palestinian Cause, and have a hand in Afghanistan, as was evident by the Iranian response to the West on the nuclear issue?
Therefore is this battle on behalf of those who wan to control and divide us, our battle?
The other important question is; are we destined to pay the price for these adventurers?
It is strange that we have simultaneously become both the victims of these wars, as well as the victims of those who finance them. This is what happened in Gaza and prior to that in Lebanon, and others.
Do we not need our finances to build our own future, and our own nations?
These are questions that we must continually ask ourselves, and discuss aloud. There has been enough reckless shedding of innocent blood, and enough recklessness with regards to our nations and stability, and enough wasting of our money. Resistance is one thing, but defending the mullahs in Iran is something else entirely.
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Posted by: Fred ||
09/14/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm not a newsbody. I think Lebanon is commiting suicide.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/14/2009 0:32 Comments ||
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#2
The other important question is; are we destined to pay the price for these adventurers?
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday Tehran was ready to talk with world powers on global issues but not about its right to nuclear technology. 
