Anticipating Bambi will impose sanctions on Iran? They've got more faith than I do....
Some major oil traders have cut shipments to Iran in anticipation of the U.S. and other Western countries imposing sanctions on the country over its nuclear program.
The threat of sanctions has hovered for years and their imposition is not certain, but the U.S. and Russia again raised the possibility yesterday.
The nations will meet next week.
BP PLC halted shipments to Iran at least six months ago, a source said, and an official at Total SA said it would halt shipments if the U.S. and other European nations imposed sanctions.
U.S. companies are already banned from selling petroleum products to Iran.
Iran is one of the world's biggest oil producers, but it imports around 40 percent of oil products, providing western leaders with a key point of leverage in trying to stop Iran from enriching uranium (From WSJ - link may switch to subscription later, or not) Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/24/2009 13:08 ||
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Hundreds of Druze residents of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights headed to Syria on a pilgrimage on Thursday, crossing the demarcation line with the help of the international Red Cross. In a rare move, 43 women were to join the almost 500 men, all religious elders, who planned to spend several days attending the annual event, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
By mid-morning, about half the men had crossed the demarcation line at Quneitra, said ICRC spokeswoman Nadia Dibsy. The Quneitra crossing opens infrequently, notably for the annual pilgrimage and for weddings between Druze from opposite sides of the armistice line.
More than 18,000 Syrians, mostly Druze, are left from the Golan's original population of 150,000. The vast majority of the Druze in the Golan have refused to take Israeli citizenship. Followers of a breakaway sect of Islam concentrated in Israel, Syria, and Lebanon, the Druze are not considered Muslims by most of the Islamic world.
Continued on Page 47
#1
From Wiki:
The Druze faith began as a movement in Ismailism that was mainly influenced by Greek philosophy and gnosticism and opposed certain religious and philosophical ideologies that were present during that epoch.
The faith was founded by Hamza ibn Alî ibn Ahmad, a Persian Ismaili mystic and scholar. He came to Egypt in 1014 and assembled a group of scholars and leaders from across the Islamic world to form a new Unitarian movement. The order's meetings were held in the Raydan Mosque, near the Al-Hakim Mosque.[19]...Al-Hakim became a central figure in the Druze faith even though his own religious position was disputed among scholars. John Esposito states that al-Hakim believed that "he was not only the divinely appointed religio-political leader but also the cosmic intellect linking God with creation."[21], while others like Nissim Dana and Mordechai Nisan state that he is perceived as the manifestation and the reincarnation of God or presumably the image of God...Al-Hakim disappeared one night while out on his evening ride - presumably assassinated, perhaps at the behest of his formidable elder sister Sitt al-Mulk. The Druze believe he went into Occultation with Hamza ibn Ali and three other prominent preachers, leaving the care of the "Unitarian missionary movement" to a new leader, Bahâ'u d-Dîn.
Never was concerned much about the Druze but this sounds a lot like Dinnerjacket's Hidden Imam beliefs.
Canada will boycott Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at the United Nations on Wednesday, saying his outbursts about the Holocaust and Israel are "shameful."
Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon will be at the world body to attend the opening of the UN General Assembly's annual debate, but officials signal he and other members of the Canadian delegation will vacate the Canadian seats when the Islamic republic's President approaches the podium.
Walking out of the chamber is seen as a strong diplomatic show of disgust at the UN -- and since the chamber is generally packed on the first day of the annual summit, Canada's empty seats will not go unnoticed.
One of the first speakers of the day will be U.S. President Barack Obama, who is making his debut address before the assembly.
"President Ahmadinejad's repeated denial of the Holocaust and his anti-Israel comments run counter to the values of the UN General Assembly, and they're shameful," said one Canadian official.
"He uses his public appearances to provoke the international community, and that is why Canada's seats will be empty."
The gesture is a step stronger than one announced on Tuesday by the German foreign ministry, which asked other European Union member states to walk out of the General Assembly chamber if Mr. Ahmadinejad again denies the Holocaust, or makes anti-Semitic statements.
The Canadian initiative will be welcomed by Israel, which on Tueday urged all delegates in the 192-member chamber to stay away when Mr. Ahmadinejad speaks.
"A few days ago he gave a new speech of hate," Gabriela Shalev, Israeli ambassador to the UN, told Israeli army radio. "The simple fact of leaving the room during his speech, or not to be present during it, is a symbolic act."
Iranian officials said this week Mr. Ahmadinejad intended to use his speech to offer a message of "peace and friendship."
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Good for the Canadians. Suggest they also throw ice skates before walking out.
Posted by: ed ||
09/24/2009 8:20 Comments ||
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#2
Is the Obamanation supporting our ally in this?
#3
Nutjob had a choice. He could be cornered into talking about his country's current human rights crisis or talking about his hatred for Jooooos. He chose the latter, and it's working.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Iran's Assembly of Experts, which chooses and supervises the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, has stated that Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei is the only person suitable to lead the Islamic Republic. "[The Assembly] continues to consider Ayatollah Khamenei as the sole choice that befits the robe of leadership," said a statement by the assembly after its meeting on Wednesday. "Ayatollah, we will defend you with our blood!"
The clerical council, which is headed by Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, also thanked Ayatollah Khamenei for providing "sage guidance" in the turbulent aftermath of Iran's 10th presidential election in June.
The council also suggested that the Islamic establishment continues to enjoy the support of people, citing the eighty-five percent election turnout as proof. It also congratulated President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his re-election.
The assembly then advised the president to take use of advice given by religious leaders.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2009 00:00 ||
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In what appears to be the start of a war of words with the French president, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the people of France deserve better than their leaders.
On August 31, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Iranians deserved better after Iran's 10th presidential election in June.
When asked to comment on the remarks, President Ahmadinejad, who is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly, said his French counterpart seems to be crossing the line with his statement.
"The French people deserve better than their current leaders," he told France 2 television when asked to comment on President Nicolas Sarkozy's recent remarks on Iran.
"Mr. Sarkozy is meddling in the internal affairs of our country. I too have a similar view," Ahmadinejad told France 2 television. "The French people deserve better than their current leaders."
Ahmadinejad also urged Paris to move to earn the release of a French academic, Clotilde Reiss, who is held in Iran on alleged charges of espionage and aiding a Western plot in the aftermath of the presidential election.
"Unfortunately, we have seen no action by the French government" in favor of the prisoner, Ahmadinejad said.
Reiss is on bail and staying in the French Embassy in Tehran and awaits a verdict after her appearance in a televised mass trial.
Ahmadinejad pointed to a number of Iranians being held in France and suggested that a prisoner swap could be arranged between Tehran and Paris for the release of Reiss.
#3
Note that some chosen french wingnuts applause with both hands... but then again, as I've noted before, a good chunk of the french far-"right" is more interested in hating the jooooos, the americano-zionists, free-market capitalism,... than actualling being actual rightwingers with actual rightwing convictions...
Nice to see they've already interiorized they've lost, and are rooting for the "strong horses", putin, iran,... in their fight against the Empire.
To be frank, other commenters DO point out the idiocy of approving/rooting for the iranian midget, which is pretty nice, given that sarko really is not loved there, for good (phony "conservative") and bad reasons (jooooooos, sold to the USA, mossad agent, bling-bling, he stole pépé lepen's thunder,....).
For those who don't speak french, 1st comment is "I love that guy", 3 is "but, he's very clear-headed, that dude", 4 is "me, I like him, he's in his home turf. And, after all, he does what he wish to in his country. He's just a scapeogoat for all those bitches sarko, bush, obama and co".
Etc, etc, and so on (with the mitigating factor of th enon-idiotarians weighting in to tell how screwed up a worldview this is).
Note that the "official" rightwing party, the FN, or what's left of it (an hollow shell with a cult-like devotion to the Fearless Leader) has made a clear shift toward that 'iranian friendly' stance and it's not recent. I guess being in the sphere of influence of the MM does allow to keep on paying the bills (some other red-brown micro-political parties have been co-opted as well, but those are very marginal, unacknowledged neo-n88zis, national-bolsh44viks, anti-zionists national-m99rxists,... but those are fringe).
Pépé le pen seems to have falen back into the far-right lowest common denominator with age, funny to think that in the 80's, he was courted by the israeli right (french jews put a grinding stop to that, as was the wish of the then president, the awful mitterrand, in order to "demonize" the FN to destroy the conservative right... can't paint the Devil as antisemite if he's an anti-arab ally of Israel/jews), and the FN was leaning toward Reaganism.
But, now, it's a cult of some sort, and pépé le pen follows his heart (his daughter is less "obsessed" with certain subjects, this infuriates some wingnuts who believe in "better - islamic - green than friendly to the joooooos").
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.
Hundreds of Druze residents of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights headed to Syria on a pilgrimage on Thursday, crossing the demarcation line with the help of the international Red Cross. In a rare move, 43 women were to join the almost 500 men, all religious elders, who planned to spend several days attending the annual event, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. 
