[Dawn] A Greek volunteer worker kidnapped by Afghan Taliban in northwest Pakistan seven months ago arrived in Athens on Saturday following his release from captivity earlier this week.
Athanasios Lerounis was kidnapped in September near the border with Afghanistan while working as a teacher among the ethnic Kalash community in the mountains of Chitral.
"I am very happy to step on Greek soil," a visibly thinner and emotional Lerounis told reporters at Athens International Airport.
"I wish to apologise for the turmoil and give great thanks to the people of Pakistan, the Greek government and the personal interest of the Prime Minister (George Papandreou), who acted as a human being and not as a politician," he said, according to the semi-state Athens News Agency.
Pakistani officials said Lerounis's seven-month ordeal ended on Wednesday night after he was released in Afghanistan and brought across the border into northwestern Chitral valley.
"It was a difficult task but our intelligence agencies did this job," Rahmatullah Wazir, the top administrative official in Chitral, said by telephone on Thursday.
Elders from Chitral had been negotiating with those holding Lerounis in the neighbouring Afghan province of Nuristan, the official said.
The group had demanded a ransom and that Pakistan release three detained Afghan Taliban leaders, but Wazir said none of their demands had been met and that Lerounis had been released unconditionally.
A Greek negotiator on Saturday also denied the Taliban had received compensation.
Some Kalash people are fair with light-coloured eyes, leading to academic speculation that they might be descended from an ancient Middle Eastern population or even from soldiers of Alexander the Great's army which conquered the area in the fourth century BC.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The high quality of your great idea about this good post could be compared with the essay papers from custom essay writing service only. So, you come in a right way. Thnx for your efforts!
[Al Arabiya Latest] Southern former rebels called for polling to be extended in Sudan's first multi-party vote in two decades on Sunday as the electoral comission acknowledged "mistakes" in distributing ballot papers.
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) said it had asked for polling to be extended from three to seven days after what it described as a "wasted" first day marred by procedural problems across Africa's largest country.
"There have been a lot of irregularities that we have noticed," said Samson Kwaje, campaign manager for SPLM leader Salva Kiir.
"Today was a wasted day. We are seriously sending a protest to the NEC," the National Election Commission, he added.
Kwaje said the irregularities included polling stations opening late, wrong ballot boxes in the wrong places and ballot boxes going missing.
The NEC acknowledged there had been "mistakes" in distributing ballot papers in some areas but made no comment on the possibility of prolonging the election.
It said the process was going well "except some technical mistakes about the distribution of ballots in 26 centres in Khartoum state."
"In White Nile state, there has been a problem matching the symbols with the candidates," it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2010 00:00 ||
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Governmental warnings issued yesterday in Saudi Arabia opened the door to the possibility of Al Qaeda elements disguising themselves as journalists and disguising explosive devices as camera equipment in order to target government dignitaries and state guests. Such warnings are expected to lead to increased security procedures and rigorous inspection of journalists covering press events attended by senior state officials or official state visits undertaken by foreign delegations.
Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour al-Turki confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat the need for media figures to carry credentials identifying them as journalists whilst on duty, stressing the importance that all precautionary measures are taken in order to plug any holes that Al Qaeda could in order to achieve its objectives. In addition to this, media sources monitoring Al Qaeda activity have not ruled out the possibility of Al Qaeda utilizing the media in order to achieve its objectives under the Machiavellian precept of "the end justifies the means." There have also been previous examples of such criminal acts, for example Afghan commander Ahmed Shah Massoud was killed by elements who posed as journalists claiming to want to interview him.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2010 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Central Jamaat leaders had to leave the port city yesterday without holding a scheduled conference in the face of strong protests. Activists of different organisations had been surrounding the conference venue since noon with slogans calling Jamaat an anti-liberation force.
Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, senior assistant secretary general Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Dhaka city unit secretary Hamidur Rahman Azad, also a lawmaker, had arrived here in the afternoon to join the conference.
Sources said around three thousand Jamaat men from different districts and upazilas were supposed to attend the conference of the party's Chittagong divisional representatives. It was scheduled to be held at a community centre in the city's Sirajudoullah Road around 3:00pm.
Three platoons of police were deployed in the area since morning.
Tension mounted as Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad gathered near the venue around noon and held a rally setting up a stage.
A huge procession of Chhatra Sangram Parishad -- a forum comprised of Chhatra League, Bangladesh Chhatra Moitree and Chhatra Samiti -- arrived on the scene around 3:30pm. Bangladesh Jubo and Swechchhasebak League also joined afterwards. The protesters held a rally where the speakers termed Mojahid and Kamaruzzaman collaborators and vowed to resist them attending any programme in Chittagong.
Law enforcers urged the Jamaat activists present at the venue to cancel the event.
Meanwhile, the Jamaat high-ups arrived. Barred by police from entering the venue, the leaders left the place and tried to hold a press briefing at the party's city unit office -- some 500 yards off the community centre. Law enforcers, however, refused to allow any press briefing, instead cordoned off the office where the Jamaat leaders were staying.
Hearing about Mojahid's presence, the agitators brought out a procession and gathered near the Jamaat office around 5:00pm. They tried to encircle it, but police foiled the attempt.
Finally, the situation calmed down when Jamaat leaders in three microbuses left for Dhaka around 5:30pm.
Jamaat's Chittagong city unit Ameer Shamsul Islam told The Daily Star, "Police illegally barred us from doing our organisational activities."
"We stopped the programme showing respect to the law," he said.
Chittagong Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner (north) Banaj Kumar Majumder said, as unpleasant incidents took place at different places centring presence of Mujahid, police didn't allow Jamaat to hold the conference for the sake of law and order.
Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad Chittagong city Convener Syed Fahim Uddin said, they wouldn't allow any identified collaborator in Chittagong.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2010 00:00 ||
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Sowing and reaping and all that -- a personal perspective.
George Galloway was set upon by a group of Muslim extremists while campaigning in East London this afternoon. Three men, believed to belong to the extreme sect Islam4UK, the latest name for Al-Muhajiroun, were arrested and subsequently charged with public order offences. Galloway, who is standing in the Poplar and Limehouse constituency, was with a party of supporters in Watney Market around 3pm when he and his colleagues were first abused and then attacked by the group.
"They called me a filthy Kaffir" said Galloway, "and shouted that no one should shake the 'filthy Kaffir's hand'. This lot are the latest incarnation of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun. They don't want Muslims to vote, they don't believe in democracy, and because I encourage Muslims to vote and take a full part in our society they hate me. My party, Respect, is the antidote to these despicable extremists."
Galloway's assistant Kevin Ovenden had his phone smashed in the incident and other supporters were abused and jostled.
Galloway was also attacked, held hostage and received death threats from Al-Muhajiroun, then called Al-Gourabaa, in the 2005 General Election.
#2
As Dennis Hopper's character said in Apocalypse Now
"And watch out, those monkeys bite..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/12/2010 12:04 Comments ||
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#3
"They called me a filthy Kaffir" said Galloway, "and shouted that no one should shake the 'filthy Kaffir's hand'
Normalistic Shia theology is that the touching the body parts, secretions, and/or excretions of an infidel contaminate a believer (lots of other things contaminate also).
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/12/2010 14:17 Comments ||
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#4
I'm guessing not a lot of Shia become doctors or nurses, lg?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/12/2010 14:51 Comments ||
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#6
I don't know if the age demographic would've fit but if there were any men that could even half-way throw a punch, they should've jumped on the bastards.
Posted by: yo adrian ||
04/12/2010 21:48 Comments ||
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#7
This couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Wonder if Mr. Calloway is starting to have second thoughts about being a Pali patsy?
btw ..it's Wahabi Sunnis that do the 'filthy Kaffir's hand' thing...not Shia muslims generally.
And believe me there are a lot of Shia doctors and nurses. Both in the middle east and America.
Paging Dr. Ali... Paging Dr. Ali
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
04/13/2010 0:01 Comments ||
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BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN -- Less than a month before the violent protests that toppled the government of Kyrgyzstan last week, Russian television stations broadcast scathing reports portraying President Kurmanbek Bakiyev as a repugnant dictator whose family was stealing billions of dollars from this impoverished nation.
The media campaign, along with punishing economic measures adopted by the Kremlin, played a critical role in fanning public anger against Bakiyev and bringing people into the streets for the demonstrations that forced him to flee the capital Wednesday, according to protest leaders, local journalists and analysts. It's a page out of the old imperialist textbook ...
"Even without Russia, this would have happened sooner or later, but . . . I think the Russian factor was decisive," said Omurbek Tekebayev, a former opposition leader who is now the No. 2 figure in the government.
Continued on Page 49
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04/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
FREEREPUBLIC > KAZAKHISTAN OPENS ITS AIRSPACE TO US MILITARY PLANES.
versus
WMF > KYRGYZSTAN COUP AND RUSSIA'S ROLE IN DEATH OF POLISH PRESIDENT HERALD THE END OF THE SCO-CSTO?, + RUSSIA'S "POLAR BEAR" HURTS THE CHINESE "DRAGON": THE FIRE SWORD OF RUSSIA'S REVENGE AGZ THE US, NATO, CHINA LIES IN ITS POLICIES OF HIDDEN OR SUBTLE EXPANSIONISM | BOTH ENEMIES AND ALLIES ARE ON RUSSIA'S LIST FOR REVENGE???
#2
TOPIX > GEOPOL BATTLE IN KYRGYZSTAN OVER US MILITARY LILYPOND IN CENTRAL ASIA, + US, RUSSIA, AND CHINA INTERESTS IN CENTRAL ASIA DEPEND ON A STABLE KYRGYZSTAN.
* ION SAME > MINING HORDES INVADE MONGOLIA, THE "KUWAIT" OF CENTRAL ASIA + IRATE UIGHUR MINORITY BEGINNING TO UNSETTLE BEIJING.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Australia's spy agencies are investigating the apparently fake passports linked to a Cold War-style hit in Dubai after a police probe failed to yield enough answers, the foreign minister said Sunday.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he needed "further advice" about the case, in which Israel's Mossad spy agency stands accused, after receiving the initial report on Friday.
"It's clear from a preliminary assessment of that report that I need to get further advice and see further work and have further discussion with other agencies," Smith told the Nine Network TV station.
"I want to make sure that we get this right. I need further work done by our intelligence agencies and I'm going to get this right rather than rush it in any way," he added. "It's a very important issue."
Canberra has said all four Australian passport-holders linked to the January killing of Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a luxury Dubai hotel were victims of identity fraud.
Passports were also used from four European countries including Britain, which expelled an Israeli diplomat last month. Australia has summoned the Israeli ambassador and warned the countries' friendly ties were at risk.
Smith said both the Australian Secret Intelligence Organization (ASIO) and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) -- which probe threats to the country and gather information abroad, respectively -- were now investigating.
"Further work is required. Further consideration is required. When that is done, I'll let the government's decision about these matters be known publicly," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
A car bomb that exploded early Monday at Northern Ireland's Palace Barraks was taken there in a hijacked taxi and the driver's family were held hostage, Sky News reported.The barracks is a former British army complex just outside Belfast which now houses MI5. My first thought was payback from Hamas for using Irish passports....
[Dawn] President Barack Obama's pledge to one day rid the world of nuclear weapons runs up against global realities this week when representatives from 47 countries try to craft an agreement on keeping nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.
Sweeping or even bold new strategies were, however, unlikely to emerge from the two-day gathering that begins Monday. But Obama invited the swarm of world leaders as an important step to intensify global focus on one of the most serious nuclear proliferation threats: a world in which non-state actors, like the al-Qaida terrorist organization, obtain nuclear materials.
On the table, too, will be Iran's perceived attempts to build a nuclear weapon in violation of the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and North Korea's nuclear weapons stockpile and exports of nuclear materials and technology.
''We want to get the world's attention focused where we think it needs to be with these continuing efforts by al-Qaida and others to get just enough nuclear material to cause terrible havoc, destruction and loss of life somewhere in the world,'' Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC television's ''This Week.''
Clinton said the gathering would be the largest assembly of world leaders hosted by an American president since the 1945 San Francisco conference that founded the United Nations.
Obama hopes to set the tone with one-on-one meetings Sunday with the leaders of India and Pakistan, antagonistic, nuclear-armed neighbors, as well as South Africa and Kazakhstan, which have given up nuclear weapons programs.
Iran and North Korea were not invited because they are viewed as violators of the non-proliferation agreement.
Syria was left off the invitation list because the US believes Damascus also has nuclear ambitions. An Israeli airstrike in 2007 destroyed what Washington claims was a nearly completed nuclear reactor designed to make plutonium.
Iran's nuclear program likely will come up as Obama pushes for a UN Security Council resolution calling for additional sanctions against Tehran.
Israel, meanwhile, said last week that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not attend the conference as planned. Insiders said he was worried Turkey and Egypt would use the summit to challenge him over his country's nuclear arsenal, which the Jewish state never has acknowledged. In Netanyahu's absence, Israel will be represented by Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor.
Obama opens the conference Monday with a working dinner, and meets individually that day with the leaders of Jordan, Malaysia, Armenia and China. The sessions close Tuesday with a joint statement on efforts to prevent the transfer of nuclear materials and technology and to keep them locked up.
The Washington conference is the fourth leg of Obama's campaign to rid the world of nuclear weapons, which have been used only by the United States to force a Japanese surrender in World War II.
The high-flown goal, which the president admits likely will not be reality in his lifetime, began a year ago in Prague when he laid out plans for significant nuclear reductions.
In the meantime, he has approved a new nuclear policy for the United States, vowing last week to reduce America's nuclear arsenal, refrain from nuclear tests and not use nuclear weapons against countries that do not have them.
North Korea and Iran were not included in that pledge because they do not cooperate with other countries on non-proliferation standards.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2010 00:00 ||
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Chilling new details about the foiled Al Qaeda plot to blow up the city's busiest subways have emerged as a fourth suspect was quietly arrested in Pakistan, the Daily News has learned.
The unidentified man, who helped plan the plot, is expected to be extradited to the U.S. to betried in Brooklyn Federal Court with Adis Medunjanin and Zarein Ahmedzay of Flushing, Queens, sources said.
Najibullah Zazi and his two Queens friends allegedly planned to strap explosives to their bodies and split up, heading for the Grand Central and Times Square stations - the two busiest subway stations in New York City.
They would board trains on the 1, 2, 3 and 6 lines at rush hour and planned to position themselves in the middle of the packed trains to ensure the maximum carnage when they blew themselves up, sources said.
During Zazi's brief visit to Queens from his home in Denver last September, he rode the subway multiple times to the Grand Central and Wall St. stations, scouting where to best spread death and mayhem, the sources said.
Image deleted. Don't use that one; we don't need to be associated with the fringe. AoS. Ay-Pee. Here's the teaser. Rest at link.
"The single biggest threat to U.S. security, both short-term, medium-term and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon," Obama said. "This is something that could change the security landscape in this country and around the world for years to come." So far so good. Even a crackhead could keep up.
"If there was ever a detonation in New York City, or London, or Johannesburg, the ramifications economically, politically and from a security perspective would be devastating," the president said. Oblahblah being Oblahblah, I guess.
"We know that organizations like al-Qaida are in the process of trying to secure nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction, and would have no compunction at using them," Obama said. But now that they know we are kinder and gentler, for sure they will now back off to name-calling.
The Nuclear Security Summit of more than 40 world leaders in Washington this week is aimed at securing "loose nuclear material," Obama said. He was holding one-on-one meetings Sunday with several of those leaders. How 'bout keeping the stuff from getting loose in the first place. Better yet, keep the stuff from being made in the first place. I know a few good places to start.
But hey, if Obongo feels he is accomplishing something by essentially fiddling while Iran and NorK are busily popping out nukes, I guess I'll just have to be satisfied by waiting for that politically devastating thingy to come into play.
#1
Loose cannons = Iran, North, Korea, Pakistan. Difficult to deal with insanity from mad mullahs and NK. Pakistan is at risk because of shaky internal politics and AQ.
#2
Oh, good grief. He's just now figuring out the real terrorist threat? I hear all the pols are at a loss of what to do now that health care has been rammed down our throats--please, please don't outsource this to Pelosi, too!!!!She'll let Iran build them, NK sell them, but sanctions won't begin until 2020. Oh, wait, that is current policy already.
#4
Oh, good grief. He's just now figuring out the real terrorist threat?
Its difficult to address the real terrorist threat if you are unwilling to define it. If you define these islamic terrorist threats as "man-made disaster threats," you are unlikely to do much about these threats. If the president is so afraid of being PC and ticking off and hurting the feelings of the muslims, he is going to be blind to islamic terrorist threats. And if he has islam in his own background, it is unlikely he is going to criticize that which he is. Further, if he thinks the real threat to America is the vast right wing conspiracy and the racists, he is unlikely to address islamic terrorism.
[Geo News] An unknown militant group 'Fidain Jihad' is planning to carry out terrorist attack in Lahore and federal capital, says a circular issued by the Crime Investigation Department of Punjab on Sunday.
It said the militant group belonging to Darra Adamkhel has assigned its trained fighters to target foreign nationals, offices and foreign missions in Islamabad and Lahore.
According to the circular, the code names of four alleged terrorists are Qari Nasrullah, Alamzeb, Sardar Khan Mujahid and Hidayatullah.
It further disclosed that one suicide bomber of this group will particularly target the minorities.
The law enforcement agencies have been directed to make foolproof security arrangements to foil the terror plot.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2010 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] US President Barack Obama on Sunday launched a flurry of meetings with world leaders on the eve of his nuclear security summit, with talks with Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. The president, accompanied by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, strode across Pennsylvania Avenue to Blair House to hold talks with Prime Minister Gilani on the eve of a 47-nation summit on improving nuclear security. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Ambassador Hussian Haqqani were also present during the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal denied his country boosted Iraq's former premier Iyad Allawi in last month's election, a Saudi-owned newspaper said Sunday.
"We do not interfere in (Iraq's) internal affairs. We support all Iraqis, and Iraq's unity, independence and sovereignty over its territory, and we maintain the same distance from all politicians," Saud told the London-based Asharq Alawsat.
Critics have linked Allawi's visit to Riyadh and meeting with King Abdullah on the eve of the March 7 general election with his Iraqiya bloc's narrow victory over Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law Alliance.
While the Saudis made no direct comments on the polls at the time, relations between Riyadh and Maliki's government have been strained and the Saudis have refused to establish a formal diplomatic representation in Baghdad, citing security concerns.
Saudi Arabia is most concerned about Iran's potential influence over any Baghdad administration.
Observers have speculated that Riyadh could upgrade relations if Allawi, whose Iraqiya has the support of both Sunni Iraqis and some secular Shiites, is successful in forming a parliamentary majority.
On March 30 Allawi accused Iran of conspiring to deny him the premiership, but is now planning to send representatives to Tehran for talks next week, according to Iranian ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kazemi Qomi.
Asked about the post-election visit to Riyadh by representatives of the Sadrist movement loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, Prince Saud said the Saudi government welcomes visits by any Iraqi political leaders.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2010 00:00 ||
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[Ma'an] Israel's latest military orders facilitating the illegal expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland are simply the latest in a string of Zionist attempts to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians, Islamic Jihad officials stated Sunday.
The statement was issued only hours after Israeli media and human rights organization HaMoked made public two Israeli military orders amending a 1969 act - itself amended in 1980 - allowing the detention and deportation of those described as "infiltrators."
At the same time, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat and Fatah Central Committee leader Nabil Sha'ath issued their own condemnations of the orders, with Erekat calling them "an assault on ordinary Palestinians, and an affront to the most fundamental principles of human rights," and the tools of an "apartheid state."
For his part, Sha'ath accused Israel of throwing out the Oslo agreements and challenging the power of the Palestinian Authority to govern its citizens in Palestinian controlled areas.
If the people are not there legally, then the PA is not doing a very good job of governing.
"What the occupying power is doing is punishing Palestinians for existing. Under this new Apartheid law, a Palestinian from the West Bank found in the Jordan Valley, a Gaza ID holder living in the West Bank, a Jerusalemite married to a Palestinian ID holder or a foreigner married to a Palestinian who lives in the West Bank can all be considered criminal offenders, meaning they can be imprisoned for up to three years or deported," a statement from Sha'ath's office said.
Is that what the order says? Show me the original order, and then we'll talk.
According to analysts, the new definition is so broad it could be applied to tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank. Most likely, a HaMoked statement explained, the order would target Palestinians born in Gaza and foreign nationals married to Palestinians residing in the West Bank. An report in Israel's Haaretz said the order was set to be used against Palestinians protesting land confiscation.
But Ha'aretz has lost in court before for not checking the claims in their stories.
Palestinian Legislative Council members in Gaza denounced the order, describing it as "an attempt to void the West Bank gradually from its residents [and] to impose Zionist expansionist plans."
"The Israeli occupation has gone far with its procedures and plans with no one to stop them. These moves require a serious Palestinian, Arab and Muslim stance to fight back the Zionist entity and prevent it from continue its policy at the expense of the Palestinians and their national rights."
The PLC said to confront "these racist procedures," the leadership should undertake all possible legal avenues.
Islamic Jihad called the reports an "announcement to Palestinians" that they must "rearrange the situation."
Nafeth Azzam, member of the Islamic Jihad politburo, said the policy was the result of a world content to stand back, thereby "encouraging the Zionist entity to continue with its racist procedures...this is the same path taken against the Palestinians from the start, it is happening now like it happened to Gaza in 2008-9," he wrote.
Erekat was no less damning of the orders, saying, "These orders have the effect of turning Palestinians into criminals in their own homes, while directly undermining the efforts of Palestinians to run their own internal affairs.
"They also open the flood gate for Israel to target foreign-born spouses, foreign workers, and even Israeli citizens as 'infiltrators', as well as anyone participating in demonstrations in support of Palestinian rights and against Israel's occupation,' he said.
Under the new orders, anyone found without a designated permit, including Palestinians living in areas governed by the Palestinian Authority, can be imprisoned for up to seven years as well as expelled from the West Bank.
"Most of all, they reveal the invidious design behind Israel's settlement policy. The fewer Palestinians there are in the West Bank, including in occupied East Jerusalem, the more settlers there will be. Israel's endgame is not peace. It is the colonization of the West Bank," Erekat explained.
"By systematically violating past agreements, as for example in its refusal to freeze settlements, and undermining international efforts to resume negotiations, Israel is turning the Palestinian-Israeli conflict into a zero sum game. At a time when the international community is trying to create an environment conducive to negotiations, these military orders achieve the exact opposite result."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Versus ISRAEL FORUM > NEW AL QAEDA LEVANT LEADER PLANS MORE ATTACKS FROM GAZA, LEBANON.
TEHRAN, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Sunday that the country has started to produce a domestically-built medium-range air defense missile system, the local satellite Press TV reported.
Vahidi said that the anti-aircraft missile, dubbed Mersad ( Ambush), features cutting-edge technology that makes it able to " destroy modern aircraft at low and medium altitudes," according to the report. Mersad is also equipped with sophisticated radar signal processing technology, an advanced launcher, and contains exclusive electronic equipment for guidance and target acquisition, Press TV said.
"The state-of-the-art technology used in Mersad links it to other anti-aircraft batteries and provides it with the unique ability to combat electronic warfare," Vahidi said, adding that its dynamic system features capabilities that are superior than those U.S.-made Hawk missile, which Iran purchased in the 1970s. They're up to the 1980s now ...
He announced that the country has begun mass-production of the medium-range missile and plans to deliver a sizeable number to its armed forces by the end of the year, according to Press TV.
The production of Mersad marks a technical breakthrough in Iran 's defense capabilities and proves that the country's armed forces have achieved high levels of self-sufficiency, Vahidi was quoted as saying.
Earlier in March, the Iranian navy successfully test-fired a new missile from its first indigenously-built Jamaran destroyer in the water of the Persian Gulf, Press TV reported. In a footage shown on Press TV, the surface-to-surface Nour missile successfully hit its target at a distance of 100 km in the test-fire on Tuesday.
Over the past years, Iran has made considerable progress in producing home-made multiple-range missiles.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/12/2010 00:00 ||
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home-made multiple-range missiles.
Home-made but with NORK consultants and blueprints.
WORLD NEWS > [India > post-Dantewada CRPF Massacre] RED ALERT: MAOISTS PREPARED TO COUNTER AIR STRIKES, + MAOISTS WARN GOVT: STOP OFFENSIVE, OR SEE MORE DANTEWADAS.
* SAME > [Indian INTEL] FILIPINO INSURGENTS IN LEAGUE WITH MAOISTS.
#6
I've read it's the system R0cK, made for very-low flying aircraft. This comes on the heels of their latest cruise missile design, the Gu11. These mullahs are R&D masterminds.
#7
FREEREPUBLIC > ISRAEL STRIKE ON IRAN WOULD CAUSE A GLOBAL CATASTROPHE [WW3?]. ANY military andor missle strike by ANY NATION occurring in the [volatile] Middle East includ Persian Gulf.
* SAME > SCUD CRISIS THREATENS WAR BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HIZBULLAH [Also read, IRAN + SYRIA + LEBANON].
[Iran Press TV Latest] US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has accused Iran of moving toward the production of nuclear weapons but said that Iran is not "nuclear capable" yet.
"I'd just say, and it's our judgment here, they are not nuclear capable," Gates said in an interview. "Not yet."
Speaking to NBC's "Meet the Press," Gates said that Iran was "continuing to make progress" in its nuclear program, which Washington alleges also has a clandestine military component.
"It's going slower... than they anticipated. But they are moving in that direction," he claimed.
Gates denied that the US was resigned to Iran becoming a nuclear-armed power.
"We have not... drawn that conclusion at all. And in fact, we're doing everything we can to try and keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons," he said.
How effective are those efforts, pray tell?
The Pentagon chief's comments come despite the fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has never found a shred of evidence indicating that Iran is pursuing a military nuclear program.
Iran, which is an IAEA member and a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), has repeatedly declared that the only aim of its nuclear program is producing energy for peaceful purposes.
To review: Soviet Russia proliferated to China, which proliferated to North Korea, Pakistan, and Libya; North Korea proliferated to Iran and Syria. The IAEA under director El Baradei carefully ignored the traffic until Iran had 8.000 machines running full blast to refine uranium useful for the bombs they'd long announced they'd use to wipe out Israel, even as they claimed -- once caught -- that their nuclear program is only for power plants. Did I miss anything?
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Versus TOPIX > IRAN: NO TURNING BACK FROM NUCLEAR STATE.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran will lodge a complaint with the United Nations about what it sees as U.S. President Barack Obama's threat to attack it with nuclear weapons, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.
Obama made clear last week that Iran and North Korea were excluded from new limits on the use of U.S. atomic weapons -- something Tehran interpreted as a threat from a long-standing adversary to attack it with nuclear bombs.
"Saying this kind of remark shows that it is those countries which possess nuclear weapons which are themselves the biggest threats to the world's security," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told the semi-official Fars news agency.
"We will officially present our complaints to the United Nations about these kinds of threats," he said. The complaint was backed by a letter signed by 255 of Iran's 290 members of parliament, Fars said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/12/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
IIRC WORLD NEWS > IRAN: WE SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED AS A NUCLEAR POWER/STATE.
Compare the numbers below to the 78% who voted for Candidate Obama in 2008.
The 2010 Annual Survey of American Jewish Opinion, commissioned by the American Jewish Committee, found that 47 percent approve of Obamas strategy vis-a-vis Iran, while 42% disapprove and 11% are unsure.
Released on Friday, ahead of Obamas nuclear summit in Washington, the survey found that a majority of American Jews have little faith that the Iranian regime would abandon its nuclear program; 68% of those surveyed said there is little' or no' chance that sanctions and diplomacy will curb the Islamic Republics nuclear program. A slim majority 53% would support American military action against Iran, while 63% would support Israeli military action.
Overall, those surveyed gave the president a 57% approval rating on a range of issues, including health care, the economy and homeland security.
Sixty-three percent characterized US-Israel relations as somewhat positive,' while 10% said they were very positive.'
Fifty-five percent of respondents approved of the Obama administrations handling of US-Israel relations, compared to 54% who approved last year. Some 57% of respondents approved of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahus handling of the relationship, and 30% disapproved.
On a main point of contention between the two governments the future of Israeli settlements 8% of American Jews surveyed said all' and 56% said some' settlements should be dismantled as part of an agreement with the Palestinians.
Even Netanyahu is willing to give up "some" settlements as part of an agreement with the Palestinians, just not the ones in Jerusalem, and not unilaterally.
Thirty-four percent said none should be removed.
The survey clearly depicted a strong bond with Israel felt by American Jews. Thirty percent of respondents said they feel very close,' while 44% said they feel fairly close.'
Orthodox Jews expressed stronger levels of identification, with 77% saying they were very close' to Israel. Younger Jews also eclipsed older counterparts in this regard: 40% of Jews under 40 feel very close' to Israel, compared to 24% of Jews between 40 and 59.
That bit is actually quite important for long term.
When it came to the peace process, the survey found the vast majority of American Jews, 94%, want the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state in any agreement; 61% support an undivided Jerusalem as Israels capital.
Respondents were split regarding a Palestinian state 48% favor one and 45 oppose this but 80% said Israel cannot make peace with a Hamas-led government. The survey showed deep suspicion of Arab intentions, with 75% saying the goal of Arabs is the destruction of Israel.
The concern extended to anti-Semitism in the Muslim world and beyond. A full 98% said anti-Semitism is a problem in the Muslim world, including 87% who said it was a very serious' problem. Ninety-five percent said it was a problem in Europe; 91% said it was a problem in the US, including 25% who said it was a very serious' problem and 66% who said it was somewhat of a problem.'
It is somewhat of a problem if one moves in liberal circles or knows anyone going to college. "Very serious" is what the former Jews of Malmo experienced.
#1
based on 800 respondents to phone calls made during about 3 weeks in March
and how did they know who to call
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/12/2010 0:25 Comments ||
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#2
and how did they know who to call
The survey was commissioned by the American Jewish Committee, according to the article, lord garth. From their website:
The 2010 survey was conducted for AJC by Synovate (formerly Market Facts), a leading research organization. Respondents were interviewed by telephone between March 2 - March 23, 2010; no interviews took place on the Sabbath. The sample consisted of 800 self-identifying Jewish respondents selected from the Synovate consumer mail panel. The respondents are representative of the United States adult Jewish population on a variety of measures. The margin of error for the sample as a whole is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
For perspective, this page has links to the AJC annual surveys going back to 2000, plus a number of other surveys of greater or lesser interest to non-specialists.
#3
All very well, but when it comes to voting, it's dems or those nasty, right-wing conservative Christians.
These stats are irrelevant to the voting patterns.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
04/12/2010 8:02 Comments ||
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#4
I'd agree about voting patterns. As a people, Jews are very susceptible to messianic idealism, as was demonstrated in the 17th Century with Sabbatai Zevi, who conned the European Jews into thinking he was Mesach.
Importantly, this is not so much a religious desire, as it is a cultural offshoot of their religion. So even bitterly atheistic Jews are often fanatically idealistic, embracing any philosophy, especially Marxism, that promises Earthly paradise.
In modern times, American Jews had near glassy eyed adoration of JFK, and his imaginary "Camelot", wrapped in a cult of personality. Yet shortly thereafter, they utterly despised LBJ, who actually tried to bring about much of what they wanted with his Great Society.
Such adoration for empty and idealistic promises, and such revulsion with what was real and practical, is part and parcel to this messianic idealism.
This is why for years of trying, and failing, to find a JFK clone, so much so that Democrat presidential candidates all had to have "JFK hair", the messianic idealists, and not just Jews, found their Mesach in Obama.
A man literally created from scratch, with no real history, background, or character. He was everything they wanted, as long as he had no face, and blathered empty idealism.
But since such people are bound to disappoint, unless they are absolute dictators.
Yet the Democrats keep trying to put forward messiah candidates, to appeal to Jewish and non-Jewish idealists. The Republicans don't, and won't. This guarantees that the vast majority of the Jewish vote will remain wholly owned by the Democrats.
#5
In modern times, American Jews had near glassy eyed adoration of JFK, and his imaginary "Camelot", wrapped in a cult of personality. Yet shortly thereafter, they utterly despised LBJ, who actually tried to bring about much of what they wanted with his Great Society.
TW: Go figure. ??????????. I don't understand things any more than I did before. But thanks for trying. Adored JFK but despised LBJ? Sounds a little irrational and somewhat schizoid. Such adoration of a man like JFK or any man for that matter can lead to embracing dangerous narcissistic demagogues or dictators. They certainly may not have the best interests of Jewish. Oh, a little like today.
#7
Anymoose, I'm not saying you are irrational and schizoid, I am agreeing with what you said: Basically, this embracing of charismatic spellbinders seems to snag many Jewish people in the U.S. 78% voted for BO in 2008. Why? I don't have a clue. I do think LBJ was viewed as George W., not very classy or sophisticated or smart. None of these things were really true.
#8
In America a lot of the explanation for the JFK and Obama worship has to do with American jews' deep attachment to civil rights and a visceral fear/loathing of anyone remotely (or intimately) connected with the legacy of racial discrimination, most notably southerners with heavy accents and/or evangelical leanings. There is an instinctive revulsion among many or most jews for the Foghorn Leghorn southern type, hence the hostility to LBJ-- despite his having done far more for the cause of civil rights than any elected pol before or since.
#9
I think the fear of Southern Rural types goes beyond Jews and includes Northeast urdan folks of any religion. There are any number of Hollywood movies of the "Deliverance" type about New York college kids running into murderous Southerners while driving through the countryside.
#11
...And yet what garners at best a page four or back page story is the drive-by shootings seemingly at random in the New Orlean's French Quarter or some cafe in California. However, if some crazy who can be shoots up place can be termed right wing or right wing nut, the main streamm news media will hover on that story for days making it front page. If they happen to be southern all the better for them and their agenda. For example the programmer who flew his plane into the IRS building in Austin; initially it was reported he was right wing until it was realized that wouldn't fly--no pun intended.
#13
I seem to recall that the Fed Banker equiv. of the CSA was Jewish and that he had major input into CSA policy. You can't get more "South" then the CSA but I have never heard a liberal own up to this....
#15
Well, because whenever it comes time to vote they overwhelmingly vote to export the energy industry to Saudi Arabia and countries like it, and disparage anyone who doesn't want to do so.
The economic policies they favor and vote for by a 4:1 ratio favor the Mullahs of Iran and Saudi Arabia with roughly half a trillion dollars cash profit a year.
That's money to buy TV networks on both the "left" and the "right," that's money to say "If you sell the Israelis oilfield equipment and you'll never sell any in the other Middle Eastern countries," which means a pretty big hit when they're shutting down leasing here too.
(BTW, today the Zero Administration added recent leases in Montana to those in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming that they were putting on hold. Oh, and that's in addition to the ones in Alaska they cancelled during their fake offshore drilling announcement).
That's also money to buy uranium from anywhere, centrifuges from Malaysia built with the blueprints the Pakistanis got from the Netherlands (and money to get the blueprints), money to buy IRBM's from China (which Saudi Arabia has done)...
...and money to buy elections, both in the west and their immediate area. I remember Turkey used to have a good relationship with Israel, for instance.
Those policies are immensely bad for Israel, and while there are republicans stupid enough to support them, their main support is overwhelmingly from the Democratic party.
Four out of five of 'em, you can't even talk to about these sorts of things; too many cultural assumptions about Deliverance and non-archdruid-of-Canterbury Protestantism and a grasp of economics that comes from having watched late-70's-reruns of Dallas.
(And, probably, I can't talk to you about this either because to say that it's hard talking to them here about this stuff is antisemitism; in addition,you've divided the world into people who believe in your particular brand of realpolitik and liberal idiots who don't, as if everyone's brand of realpolitik is going to wind up looking like yours.)
I seem to recall that the Fed Banker equiv. of the CSA was Jewish and that he had major input into CSA policy. You can't get more "South" then the CSA but I have never heard a liberal own up to this....
It is occasionally remarked upon by the Nation of Islam and similar groups.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
04/12/2010 16:25 Comments ||
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#17
Judah Philip Benjamin (August 6, 1811 May 6, 1884) was an American politician and lawyer.
He was born a British subject in the West Indies, became a citizen of the United States and then the Confederate States of America. After the collapse of the Confederacy, he settled in England and died in France.
Benjamin held the following posts:
* Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives;
* U.S. Senator from Louisiana; and
* Three successive Cabinet posts in the government of the Confederate States of America
He was also a distinguished barrister and Queen's Counsel in the United Kingdom. He was the first Jewish Cabinet-member in a North American government, and the first Jew seriously considered for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court (he declined an offer of nomination twice). He was either the first or second Jewish U.S. Senator (after David Levy Yulee of Florida who became a Presbyterian).
#18
Thing fromSM: Those policies are immensely bad for Israel, and while there are republicans stupid enough to support them, their main support is overwhelmingly from the Democratic party.
This is true. Assume for a minute the rest of which you have said is also correct. One has to ask: What's the point and benefit to the American Jewish people of voting Democrat?
From what I understand the people of Israel are not in lock step with American Jewish people? The former tend to be nationalistic while the latter tend to be liberal. The Democrats tend to show less tolerance for Israel and the Republicans tend to be more supportive of Israel. So my question still exists? Why do Jewish people vote Democrat? This doesn't make much sense--at least to me. I am married to a Jewish woman and we have these discussions. She is bright and tends to be conservative in the political sense. Her family tends to vote as 78% of other Jewish people in America vote. These are not discussions that I can generally have at family gatherings.
#20
I'll tell you a funny story. I was at a family gathering. Some of the people attending were doctors and one was a retired dentist. I thought I would learn something from the medical folks about the chances of the health care bill passing. This was in November of last year. I threw the question out to a group of people of which the retired dentist replied: "G_d damned Republicans; if it were up to them all of us would die for lack of health care." I figured there was no rational discussion occurring here and I walked away. I told my wife this story and she said: "You didn't know about this family member?" I said what don't I know?" She said he smokes dope most of his waking moments and most likely was stoned at the time." So there you go. Not much to learn there. Other than just SAY NO to drugs.
#21
So irrational fears about deliverance are what keeps people trapped in NY? Haha that's freakin pitiful
No. That's freakin GOOD! Listen to him Blue State Yankee Liberals, we Southerners are all Rednecks. Stay up North in your Liberal Utopias, and you will be safe. For real.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
04/12/2010 19:54 Comments ||
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#22
So, how long will Rham Emmanuel stick with it?
Posted by: war on terror ||
04/12/2010 21:28 Comments ||
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#23
There is a very old, very southern Jewish community, that predates the Civil War. One of their noteworthy members is conservative columnist Paul Greenberg, of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, one of the last of the "real" newspapers in the US, having been kept on an even keel by a wealthy benefactor.
Here are some of his past columns. Pretty good reads.
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.
George Galloway was set upon by a group of Muslim extremists while campaigning in East London this afternoon. Three men, believed to belong to the extreme sect Islam4UK, the latest name for Al-Muhajiroun, were arrested and subsequently charged with public order offences. Galloway, who is standing in the Poplar and Limehouse constituency, was with a party of supporters in Watney Market around 3pm when he and his colleagues were first abused and then attacked by the group.
TEHRAN, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Sunday that the country has started to produce a domestically-built medium-range air defense missile system, the local satellite Press TV reported.
