NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somali Islamists are under the growing control of an al Qaeda cell in East Africa, a U.S. diplomat said on Thursday, as Washington condemned their threat to attack Ethiopian troops backing Somalia's interim government.
"The Council of Islamic Courts is now controlled by al Qaeda cell individuals, East Africa al Qaeda cell individuals. The top layer of the court are extremists. They are terrorists," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer told reporters. "They are killing nuns, they have killed children and they are calling for a jihad (holy war)," she added.
The Islamists, who seized the Somali capital Mogadishu in June and are vying with the weak transitional government for control of the lawless country, have denied having foreign fighters in their ranks.
Continued on Page 49
But Sudan has the bucks to kick in $10m for the Paleos... Sudan will require more than 1.8 billion U.S. dollars to fund humanitarian, recovery and development projects in 2007, according to the UN Work Plan for Sudan, launched here on Thursday. This represents nearly half of the total 3.7 billion U.S. dollars requested by Secretary General Kofi Annan for humanitarian assistance worldwide in 2007, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement. What's needed is the complete dissolution of this monstrosity. And the monstrosity in Sudan needs to go, too.
According to the UN plan, the vast majority of the funds - some 1.26 billion U.S. dollars - will go to fund humanitarian activities for large numbers of the population still in considerable need. The ongoing humanitarian operation in the strife-torn Darfur region will require more than 650 million U.S. dollars in 2007. Nearly 4 million people have been affected by three years of conflict between rebels and government forces in Darfur, and the majority of the 2 million displaced persons there are entirely dependent upon direct food aid for survival, the statement said.
It added that more money was needed to support "recovery and development activities" in the region, which has been described by the United Nations as the site of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Other funds are needed for aid and reconstruction programs in southern Sudan, where a 2005 peace deal ended over two decades of civil war. That conflict, which was separate from the one in Darfur, was the African continent's longest running fight at the time.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Must have read about Dubya's requested US$100.0Bilyuhn War funding - saw the "US" in "US Dollars"???
#5
So, he's not even out of office and he's already setting up his future gravy train, eh?
How 'bout this, Koffee? We spend 1% of that ($18 million) and arm the natives to the hilt. Seal off all media, train them some, and let them have a go at making a better future for their own country. Or, we use just 10% of that, and wipe out the gov't and janjaweed ourselves. Seems that just a few boots on the ground and some overhead AC-130s could make quick work of these Arab overlords.
Posted by: BA ||
12/15/2006 11:23 Comments ||
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#6
OK, you can have the money. Just as soon as you renounce Islam, and stop crucifying Christian men, and genitally mutilating Christian women, K?
#8
Let's just cut off all food aid to Sudan. That way people who are starving can die. I hear its a pleasant death and besides, their lives aren't worth living, we'd be doing them a favor!
Why are these requests always quoted in U.S. dollars? Why don't they quote them in euros, rubles, or Turkish lira?
The Sudanese government on Thursday despised reports that Washington and London were considering to establish a no-fly zone in Sudan's restive western region of Darfur. Oooh, hit a sensitive spot, eh? Lol. Students of history, they are.
Mahjoub Fadl Badri, the spokesman of the Sudanese president, told the official SUNA news agency that the U.S. and British threats concerning Darfur issue would not succeed in making pressure on the Sudanese government. "The U.S. and British administrations have not benefited from previous lessons that the use of force, unilateral sanctions and threats have not solved a problem in any place in the world," he was quoted as saying.
The remarks came after the Financial Times reported on Wednesday that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had backed setting up a no-fly zone over Darfur while U.S. military planners were also developing plans for air strikes and a naval blockade to pressure Khartoum to stop the violence. Also would stop the oil from getting out. Wotta coincidence.
Meanwhile, Badri noted that the Sudanese government was very keen to find a solution for Darfur problem through dialogue and wisdom. At least til the no-fly idea dies down.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Two no-fly zones needed -- one for the Darfur region, one for the south where the Black non-Muslims live. Otherwise the Janjaweed will go back to attacking the southerners when thwarted to the west.
Thoth, this is the problem with your "isolate the Ummah until they become civilized" plan. If they don't have the reach to get to the West, they'll turn on the minorities in their midst as they have done for centuries, before or even as Sunni and Shia go after each other. Mark Twain wrote how Muslim children were taught to throw stones and otherwise abuse unbelievers, driving home that their dhimmitude was such they couldn't respond even to vicious children. Mike Sylwester posted so many articles here on such interreligious discussions that it became quite tiresome, but that is the reality over there; and, sealing off the Ummah guarantees Israel's destruction, being as they are within the Ummah's borders.
(SomaliNet) The only remaining local independent FM Radio Warsan in Baidoa city, southwest of Somalia has been shut down on Thursday by the interim government authority - amid growing pressure on free press in the areas controlled by transitional federal government, Reports say.
You'd think there's a war going on or something.
The radio station was off air around 5:00 pm local time when armed policemen led by the deputy police commissioner in the town Hussein Kerow forcefully entered the station and switched off the Radios power generator, the executive director of Radio Warsan, Abdifitah Mohamed Ibrahim Gesey said in an interview with Somalinet.
Mr. Gesey said he did not know the reason that his station was closed. I was out of the station at the time of shutting down the Radio and I really got shocked when I heard the news and this is total violation against the free press.
I think my station was shut down because of early air program on complaints by families that illegally moved away from areas near to presidential palace, Gesey said.
He said there has been no early warning by the government given to the station and it was surprise action. He added that there was no any official decree from the government ordering the closure of the Radio Warsan. I was told that it was an oral order from the police command in Baidoa, he said. No harassment was subjected to the staff of Radio Warsan, Gesey confirmed.
Earlier, the studios of Shabelle and Horn Afrik Radios in Baidoa were shut down by the government accusing it of airing reports bias to Islamic Courts side. There has been four Radio stations operating in Baidoa, the base of TFG; Radio Warsan, Shabelle Radio, Horn Afrik Radio and Baidoa Radio which is pro-government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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It's not worth the festivities but they'll fight for it anyways.
Hundreds of civilians were reported to be fleeing their homes in central Somalia yesterday as the prospect of a war between Islamist militants and government forces, backed by Ethiopian troops and artillery, appeared to draw closer.
The exodus was under way in the area around Baidoa, the last big town under the control of the western-backed transitional government. Baidoa is under siege on three sides by fighters from the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) movement and rival forces are reportedly only a few miles apart in some places.
They can't even lob mortars at each other at that distance.
The UIC, which controls the capital Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia, has given Ethiopia until Tuesday to withdraw its troops from the country. If it fails to do so the Islamists, who are backed by Ethiopia's enemy, Eritrea, say they will attack. Ethiopia, which officially denies having combat troops in Somalia, has rejected the ultimatum.
"Come 'n get us!"
"Hokay!"
Western diplomats are seeking ways to bring the Islamists and the Somali government together but little progress has been made. "We still have a tiny window of opportunity to avert war," said a European diplomat in Nairobi yesterday. "But it needs a huge effort ... to get both sides talking."
That's because they don't really want to talk, they want to take what the other guy has.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Western diplomats are seeking ways to bring the Islamists and the Somali government together but little progress has been made
Maybe they'll bring all of them together on a large, leaky ship bound for Reunion Island.
Police on Thursday arrested the third highest ranking member of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, security officials and the group said. The arrest came a few days after student members of the group staged a militia-style demonstration at Azhar University outside of Cairo. Mohammad Khayrat Shater, 55, was taken from his home early Thursday, security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the press. The Brotherhood said police also arrested more than 180 students and 13 others including Shater's son-in-law.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Fearing Shiite Iran is on the verge of becoming a nuclear power, Sunni Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states are warning they will not hesitate to join a rumbling regional arms race, analysts say. The reasons are piling up.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which groups Arab countries in the world's top oil and gas exporting region, said at a summit meeting on Sunday that it has decided to set up a nuclear energy programme for peaceful purposes. The announcement by the six countries Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman came amid concerns in the West and in the Gulf that non-Arab Iran's nuclear enrichment programme could produce an atomic bomb.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Meanwhile, WORLDNEWS.com > SOMALIA > WEST CAN GET SUCKERED INTO A NEW BATTLEFIELD. Islamic Courts, etc. versus Ethiopian forces, after next Tuesday.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora met with Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday in a bid to get Moscow to pressure Syria over political unrest in Beirut, seen by the Lebanese official a Damascus-backed coup attempt.
The Lebanese premier arrived late Thursday in Moscow as supporters of Hizbullah maintained a sit-in in Beirut against his government.
Putin told Saniora in the Kremlin that Moscow was deeply concerned about the "difficult internal political situation that has arisen in Lebanon. We hope that our Lebanese friends can resolve all problems."
However, the Russian leader made no direct reference to the controversial role of Syria, with which Russia has close political and economic links, including in the sale of weapons.
"We are for the regularization of relations with Syria. I think Russia can exert some pressure in this direction," Saniora told reporters upon arrival in Moscow Thursday evening, Interfax news agency reported.
Saniora's arch rival, Syrian President Bashar Assad, is due to fly to the Russian capital on Monday for a three-day visit, sparking suggestions that Russian President Vladimir Putin may attempt to broker a deal between the two leaders. Gee, I thought the Arab League had this thing all wrapped up, unless ...
"The Lebanese have no alternative to dialogue," Saniora said. "We mustn't allow the country to split."
Hizbullah has demanded a veto-wielding one-third of the cabinet plus one seat. Saniora has rejected this and continued to convene meetings of the cabinet, from which six pro-Hizbullah ministers resigned last month.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa said Thursday that the Saniora administration and the Hizbullah-led alliance have agreed on a national unity government in which major decisions could be taken only by consensus. After Bashar's 3-day visit, things may change. More dialogue, more threats, more Dem senators in Damascus, ...
Saniora's allies also want the pro-Hizbullah factions to allow the parliament to ratify a U.N. plan for an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri. Hizbullah has given only qualified support to the tribunal and has insisted that the cabinet be restructured first.Totalitarian SOP.
Saniora pushed for setting up the Special International Tribunal for Lebanon upon his arrival in Moscow.
"We want objectivity and freedom, so that the Lebanese people don't fear terror attacks and political killings," he told reporters, according to Interfax.
Moscow could play a role in reassuring Assad, whose government opposes the tribunal and fears that U.N. investigators will uncover links between top Syrian officials and Hariri's killers. Interesting sentence - without a mention of how this "reassurance" could be effected. What "role" could Putin play?
Moscow is eager to reassert its influence in the Middle East, which has declined since the collapse of the Soviet Union. As its chief arms supplier, Russia is recognized as having some influence over Syria, its main ally in the region.Ahh. Like China's influence over North Korea?
"Saniora has come knocking on the door to the one country that has privileged contacts with Iran -- where Western powers have none -- and also with Syria and Israel," said Yevgeny Satanovsky, head of the Middle East Institute in Moscow. "Privileged" contacts with the ayatollahs and their retainers. The "one country", the Third Rome, buddy-buddy with the blood-thirstiest nation in the Middle East. What an honor. So maybe Moscow and their arms-dealin' competitor China are stinking up the Iranian sanctions thing in order to maintain their exclusive "contacts" with Iran?
"Russia once again has a strong position in the region and can play the role of mediator," Satanovsky added. Dem senators are booking their flights to Moscow soonest.
According to Saniora, Moscow could play a key role because Russia "not only supports Lebanon, but the whole Arab people.... This fact is very important for us," ITAR-TASS reported. But not the Persians, Fouad? It ain't much, but he does the best with what he's got.
He singled out what he said had been Russia's diplomatic influence in pressing for an end to Israel's summer war on Lebanon, sparked by a Hizubllah cross-border attack into Israel.
"Russia gave political support to Lebanon this summer and did everything to end this terrible war." News hitherto unreported.
Ahead of the trip, Lebanon's ambassador to Russia said that Saniora's visit was aimed at providing Russia with "trustworthy" information about the situation in Lebanon, Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti reported. My sincere respects to the author and the editors for the masterful application of quotes in the preceding sentence.
Lawyers for the Commonwealth are seeking to have dismissed legal action demanding the release of Guantanamo Bay detainee, David Hicks. Mr Hicks's lawyers have launched legal action in the Federal Court in Sydney against the Commonwealth. They are arguing it has a duty to protect Mr Hicks as an Australian citizen overseas and should seek his release and repatriation.
Mr Hicks's military lawyer Major Michael Mori says he visited him last week. "He's starting his sixth year of confinement in Guantanamo, I think everyone can understand that's been a very difficult situation locked in a box," he said. Excellent!
The Commonwealth says the proceedings should be dismissed because the case has no prospect of success. In court today a date was set in February to hear the Commonwealth's attempt to have the case struck out.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Sure thing, and hillbillies want to be called "sons of the soil", but it ain't gonna happen anytime soon. [/Dr. Julius Hibbert]
The EU has done everything in its power to assure nuclearization of the Middle East. Their utter spinelessness with respect to Iran should serve to embolden even tiny Qatar to build its own atomic weapons.
December 15, 2006 -- Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad is playing host this week to a quartet of U.S. senators who all seem to be under the delusion that they've been elected president.
How else to explain why the four - led by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) - seem to think they have the authority to sound out the Damascus dictator about his intentions in Iraq and Lebanon?
To be sure, two of the four - Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) - have run for the White House in past years. And two of them, Kerry and fellow Democrat Christopher Dodd (Conn.), are moving to do so in 2008.
Of course, the four insist they're merely on a perfectly legitimate "fact-finding field trip" - never mind the urging from the White House and the State Department that they not meet with Assad.
In sounding out Assad on his intentions in Iraq, Nelson clearly crossed the line from casual listener to active negotiator. And unauthorized negotiations with a foreign power by a private citizen is a felony punishable by up to three years in prison under the Logan Act.
Of course, no one has ever been prosecuted under the law (it dates to 1799). And applying it to members of Congress would probably be a stretch.
But it remains that these visits send an ugly message to Assad - hinting that the new Democratic majority in Congress intends to undermine the administration's conduct of foreign policy.
That would be wrong.
Nelson, for his part, came away from his meeting convinced that "Assad clearly indicated his willingness to cooperate with the Americans and/or the Iraqi army to be part of a solution."
If Assad truly feels that way, there are proper channels he can use to transmit the message - channels that can better assess the seriousness of Assad's intentions than a gaggle of footloose U.S. senators.
#1
unauthorized negotiations with a foreign power by a private citizen is a felony punishable by up to three years in prison under the Logan Act.
Didn't stop John Kerry with the North Vietnamese in Paris, even while still holding a commission in the Naval Reserves. If you don't enforce the laws, eventually they have no effect.
I notice that Sen. Leaky Leahy gets his feathers ruffled when he exclaims the President is not acting with proper authority, outside the law, against the Constitution. Wonder if the Senator will have a press conference to denounce interference with the Article II authority of the Constitution by his fellow Senators? Nah, no need to wait on that.
#4
Like I said in another thread arrest Kerry as soon as he lands. Let him spend his time in court and not in the senate. If the DoJ only had the balls to do so.
Sample:
On this radioactive subject of profiling, please pause a moment, reflect back, and take the following simple multiple choice test. These are actual violent events from past history. Do you remember?
1) In 1968, Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by:
a. Superman
b. Jay Leno
c. Harry Potter
d. A Muslim male extremist between the age of 17 and 40
2) In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by:
a. Olga Corbett
b. Sitting Bull
c. Arnold Schwarzenegger
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
#1
The article would be a laugh riot if so many thousands of people hadn't perished at the hands of these infamous, "Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40". Mineta, Conyers and Pelosi all need this quiz tattooed onto their foreheads. The reason that profiling works is because a hugely disproportionate amount of crimes against humanity and international terrorism in general are being committed by "Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40". Once that stops, such profiling will no longer work. While it still does, we would have to be idiots to abandon it.
The U.S. Defense Department has proposed to President George W. Bush the creation of a new command to oversee American military activities in the Africa region, the Pentagon said Thursday. The department has sent the proposal to Bush for approval, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
The U.S. military has already had a number of commands that control its activities across the globe, including the Central Command, the Southern Command, the European Command and the Pacific Command.
More than one of the commands currently oversee U.S. military affairs in Africa. The Central Command, for instance, controls the Horn of Africa and has set up a task force to catch any al-Qaida members that might have escaped from Afghanistan, and the European Command has sent Special Forces to do training exercises in North African countries.
The African Command was expected to be set up in two months, U. S. media reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Should've done it yesterday, i.e. months + yarns ago. Better late than never.
#4
An Africa Command is a superb idea. In essence, it is the equivalent of an immense aircraft carrier to force project US power to the far side of the world.
Commands cover a vast amount of area, and oceans, and most of what is projected to happen in the world is going to be in that region.
It will give us overwatch of much of the world's oil supply, allow us to pursue the WoT, democratize the ME, counterbalance Russian, Iranian, and Chinese influence in the region, slow and halt nuclear and missile proliferation, smite pirates on important sea lanes, assist friendly governments to establish regional security, and just generally put us where the action is and gives us a much faster response time to trouble.
"Commands" are headquarters elements that consume your limited manpower. They plan and coordinate but have no real military power per se rather that is composed of units assigned for operational purposes. Since your officer corps is limited by Congressional mandate that means other Commands must be cut either directly or by not filling existing requirements to divert the manpower into the new Command. Insert long discussion about the organizational tendencies on empire building and headquarters chairborne rangers HERE.
#10
Looks like our Africa operations are going to be ramping up.
Had a Marine that got deployed to TF HoA say that it looked like ops were just going to keep growing and growing in that sector.
And with the Ethiopia and Somalia war about to spark up, it's really no surprise.
It's also mere coincidence that Marines are on the shore opposite Saudi Arabia, and essentially at a point to control Red Sea traffic, right? map (prolly just wishful thinking on my part tho)
#11
Nigeria pumps oil at less than 50% capacity. Companies fear improvement of infrastructure, because of the Muslim threat. 100% of their oil fields are in besieged Christian, Spiritualist and Animist areas. Civilized Nigerians would like nothing better than to see US involvement in Africa.
#13
We do not need an Africa Command. We could use a JTF Africa. This will reduce the giant command that will sit in some place like Miami and put the leadership down range where they belong.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/15/2006 20:20 Comments ||
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ISLAMABAD: The present situation in Afghanistan is a failure of the United States and its allies in nation building after the fall of the Taliban regime. This was the consensus among experts on Afghanistan who gave their views to the Senates Standing Committee on Foreign Relations here on Thursday. These are Pak experts, of course, rather than normal people, so the logic may be a little convoluted in places...
They also accused the Information Ministry and military establishment of misleading President General Pervez Musharraf on the issue of Afghanistan. It is unfortunate that President Musharraf asked President Hamid Kazai to set his own house in order instead of putting blame on Pakistan. The former should have advised the latter to adopt the course of cooperation, they said. They said that the government should take immediate corrective measures by actively participating in the rebuilding process in Afghanistan to remove misconceptions about Pakistans involvement in the country. That sounds like a call for direct colonization of Afghanistan, rather than controlling proxies...
However, a few of them were of the opinion that Pakistan was at least indirectly involved in Afghanistan by providing safe sanctuaries to the Taliban on the Pakistani side of the tribal areas. No! Reeeeeally? When did that start?
They also suggested joint sittings of Pakistan-Afghanistan parliamentary bodies, which they said would help improve mutual relations and people-to-people contact between the two countries.
The experts who spoke in the meeting included Ahmed Rashid, Rustam Shah Mohmand, Rahimullah Yousafzai and Hassan Khan. The meeting was called by Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, the chairman of the committee, here at the Parliament House to get views on the sensitive Afghan situation so that recommendations could be made to improve the situation.
Khalid Khattak, the additional secretary on Afghanistan affairs in the Foreign Office, said that President Musharraf had been misquoted on several occasion on Afghanistan. He also dispelled the impression the Pakistan was supporting a selective community there.
Pakistan has arrested some 500 Taliban this year on Pakistani soil, mainly Quetta, out of which 400 have been handed over to Afghanistan. Reports of Taliban arrests came at a time when President Karzai was accusing Pakistan of supporting the insurgency in Afghanistan.
Ahmed Rashid, a well known writer and analyst on Afghanistan, claimed that the insurgency was a failure of the US and its allies in particular and the whole world in general because they had failed to prioritise nation-building after the fall of the Taliban. It was also wrong on the part of the US to shift its concentration to Iraq, leaving Afghanistan in the lurch, he added.
Rashid said that there was a common understanding throughout the world that Pakistan was harbouring Taliban on its side of the over 2,000 km border with the help of MMA governments in NWFP and Balochistan. He was also critical of Pakistan losing ground and India gaining with its imaginative policy of winning the hearts and minds of Afghans.
He also accused the establishment for misleading President Musharraf on Afghanistan. The establishment told Musharraf that Pushtoons were being deprived of representation in the Afghan cabinet while they are in a majority, he said. They are no doubt the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan but do not enjoy a majority. As far as their share in the cabinet is concerned, Pushtoons have a major share in key ministries with Karzai at the helm of affairs, he added.
He said that Pakistan could not close its border with Afghanistan but it should at least stop the flow of night vision goggles and automatic weapons into Afghanistan from Pakistan.
Rustam Shah Mohmand, the former chief secretary of FATA and former ambassador to Afghanistan, blamed Pakistan for failing to benefit from the goodwill created during the Afghan war. He said that the Afghan resistance would continue against the foreign forces until they leave the war-torn country. Pakistan cannot take another U-turn in its policy and should remove the perception that it is sponsoring Pushtoon elements, he added.
Mohmand claimed that the US motive for invading Afghanistan was to topple the only Muslim government, exert pressure on Iran and force Pakistan to change its policy on Afghanistan.
Rahimullah Yousafzai, a renowned journalist, was of the view that though the Taliban were a predominantly Pushtoon movement with 92 percent of that ethnic group, the Taliban had very intelligently maintained it as a pure Islamic movement. It is not a new scenario as they have been there since 1994 with their centre in Kandahar and its surrounding areas, he said.
Hassan Khan, another expert, said that there was a general perception that Pakistan was behind every bad move in Afghanistan, especially in non-Pushtoon areas, but still Afghans like Pakistan and value its relations with Afghanistan. There is rampant corruption in Afghanistan with millions of dollars going to private kitties rather than being used for the betterment of the people, he added.
During the question-answer session, the committee members said that these presentations should have been arranged much earlier. They said that Karzais Pakistan bashing could be a well-planned policy of the US and its allies to make Pakistan a scapegoat. Mushahid Hussain told the meeting that he had invited the Afghan Senates foreign relations committee headed by Prof Abdul Rub Rasool Sayyaf to Pakistan.
PakiWakiLand: A peek at the world in a Fun House mirror.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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"Failure" > obviously haven't been reading ASIA TIMES or, gasp, even the GUARDIAN lately have we, Pakis???
#2
For a relatively small amount of money, the US should create a massive jobs program in Afghanistan.
We could take literally hundreds of thousands of men and put them to work on improvement projects that would have a lasting effect on their economy. Everything from clearing fields for agriculture to making mud bricks.
The idea is to get them focused on improving their lives, not just supporting whoever is the most heavily armed man in town for the moment.
#6
There is nothing wrong with US policy in Afghanistan. What is wrong is Paki support for Taleban, while they rake in GWOT money. It will be gloves off should Taleban try another Summer offensive.
BTW: Taleban has little support outside of Pashto areas. Afghanistan is generally stable.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F) provincial council (shoora) said Thursday that the partys central council decision to oppose resignations had foiled the generals bid to dissolve the National Assembly. JUI-F Provincial Ameer Senator Gul Naseeb told reporters after a provincial shoora meeting in Peshawar that the central councils decision thwarted the administrations attempt to derail democracy in the country. The JUI-F policy statement on the most controversial subject between Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rehman is likely to deepen differences between the two major component parties of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), analysts said. The shoora meeting also asked district-level party leaders to finalise names of candidates for next years elections, saying, Three names for each constituency should be recommended.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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Shade of INTERFAX/ITAR-TASS? > BREAKUP OF USSR ENDED RUSSIA'S MARCH TO DEMOCRACY. *Sheriff Buford T. Justice > "The G*** D*** Germans = Tanks + Factionalism Have Got Nuthin' to do with Anything".
WASHINGTON Flame-resistant uniforms will be standard issue for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan by early 2007, Pentagon officials say. More than 160,000 suits made of the flame-retardant fabric NOMEX will be sent to combat zones, said Thomas Edwards, assistant deputy chief of staff for Army logistics.
The Pentagon moved quickly, Edwards said, because Iraqi insurgents are using homemade bombs and targeting the fuel tanks of vehicles. The bombs, called improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, are the top killer of U.S. troops in Iraq. "Guys in the area of operations said, 'Give us all the fireproof uniforms you can find and then kick up production,' " Edwards said.
After receiving the Army's request Sept. 21, the Pentagon shipped 70,000 suits by Oct. 13 to outfit troops who patrol outside U.S. bases, Edwards said. It will cost about $70 million for the uniforms, hoods and gloves. NOMEX, a DuPont-manufactured fiber, resists burning for about 9 seconds, long enough to allow troops to escape from a burning vehicle, Edwards said.
Margo Hughey, a 68-year-old grandmother from Columbus, Ind., said she has raised $2,000 to buy the suits for troops after learning of attacks with diesel-soaked explosives from relatives serving in Iraq. She and friend April Johnson, 41, also contacted Indiana's two senators Republican Richard Lugar and Democrat Evan Bayh because they did not believe the Pentagon had acted quickly enough. "When I learned our own family members were in extreme danger, and it did not look like they would be supplied by the DOD (Department of Defense) or the Army I knew I must do something," Hughey said.
Lugar contacted the Pentagon but had not received a response, spokesman Andy Fisher said.
Edwards said the Pentagon moved quickly: "I don't know how long it took Granny to raise that two thousand bucks, but it couldn't have been a helluva lot faster than we did in getting these uniforms."
Note that the USA Today "reporter" doesn't have the sense to tell us when Granny got her knickers in a bunch, i.e. before or after the Pentagon was on the case, but the real message here is clear: Never piss off Granny.
#1
Balancing the chnace, somewhat remote, of catching fire versus the NEVER ENDING discomfort of wearing the Nomex???? You'll lose more guys to heat stroke than save from burns.
#2
Chuck, I wore a nomex flight suit for years and, unless they changed the formula, it was the most comfortable uniform I had. Although no one ever told us that it was only fireproof for 9 seconds.
#5
Want fire resistant uniforms, d'ye, well how about this model:
And matching mits to pick up that hot shrapnel, perhaps:
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/15/2006 18:31 Comments ||
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#6
who is that? Homer Simpson?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/15/2006 18:33 Comments ||
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#7
No, Commodore Frank. That's just an unnamed volunteer to brave the 3000F flames for a short time in order to turn the steaks on the grill at the forward operating base.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/15/2006 18:38 Comments ||
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Detained Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Chairman Nur Misuari has been allowed to return to his hometown in the troubled island of Jolo in the southern Philippines, where he is to run for governor in next years elections.
A local court granted Misuari permission to register in Jolo, about about 950 km south of Manila. Misuari was flown to Jolo yesterday with police escorts. His aide Jamasali Abdurahman, who accompanied Misuari, told Arab News on Wednesday that the MNLF chieftain was running for governor of Sulu in next years elections. Misuari, former governor of the six-province Autonomous Region of Muslim Minda-nao, is under house arrest near Manila.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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An Indonesian court has sentenced a Muslim militant to three years in jail for storing explosives used in the 2004 suicide bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta. Twelve people, including the bomber, were killed when an explosives-laden van exploded in front of the mission on September 5, 2004.
Judges at the state court in Surabaya, East Java, sentenced 27-year-old Ahmad Arif Hermansyah. "The panel of judges found him guilty of having intentionally assisted acts of terrorism and withholding information on act of terrorism," a court clerk said.
The clerk said the defendant and his lawyers had filed an appeal. The sentence was two years lighter than the prosecution had recommended.
And Ahmad won't serve much of that.
Prosecutors had accused the defendant of agreeing to store a cardboard box for a friend, who was tried separately, but failing to ask what it contained. Prosecutors said it contained explosives later used in the embassy attack. They also told the court the defendant had been an active member of the Jemaah Islamiah militant network in 1997.
"What's in the box, Mahmoud?"
"Shaddup and put it in a safe place."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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The Indonesian Government has banned a Dutch documentary from an international film festival because it shows statements by one of the Bali bombers on death row.
Sure wouldn't want to humiliate the man, would we.
Organisers of the Jakarta International Film Festival say the documentary has been deemed too controversial by the state censorship agency, because it contains comments made by Imam Samudra. Samudra, Amrozi and Muklas have been sentenced to death over their role in the 2002 bombings.
The documentary is about the quest of a puppeteer to meet the three men, and discover their motives. The Dutch film maker used clips from an illegal DVD of their statements.
All the counterfeiting of DVDs in that part of the world and it's the one with a statement from a bloodthirsty Islamicist that causes trouble. Whoda thunk?
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Indonesia needs to suck massive amounts of hind tit in a big way.
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- A senior Hezbollah official said Friday that around 250 members of the guerrilla group were killed in the summer war with Israel, the highest toll acknowledged by the Shiite Muslim movement. Mahmoud Komati, deputy chief of Hezbollah's politburo, dismissed Israeli claims that many more Hezbollah fighters were killed, saying the group does not hide its casualties. "We are proud of our martyrs," he told The Associated Press. He estimated that around 250 guerrillas were killed in the July 12-Aug. 14 fighting with Israeli forces. Ohhh Id say bout two maybe two-fiddy whatever it takes.
A tally compiled by the AP from Hezbollah and police reports during the war put the guerrilla losses at 70 dead. Miri Eisin, an Israeli government spokeswoman, said the toll was "closer to 600. It just goes to show that slowly they'll let out the truth. And we hope that everyone will take notice that Hezbollah is trying to hide its losses," Eisin said.
Lebanon's Higher Relief Council, a government agency that handles humanitarian crises, has said 1,191 people were killed in Lebanon, mostly civilians, before fighting ended with a U.N.-brokered cease-fire. An official Lebanese police report put the toll at 1,100. The figures are based on reports from hospitals and morgues around the country. Israel said the 34-day fighting killed 159 Israelis, including 39 civilians.
#1
This number doesn't include the future Hezbollah deaths due to the thousands of unexploded cluster "bomblets" laying all over South Lebanon courtesy of the IAF.
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad says there can be no solution to the conflicts in the Middle East, including the one in Iraq, unless the United States and Europe involve Syria and Iran in finding a negotiated settlement. "You guyz need me! I'm important! I'm big heat! Even though I don't have a chin!"
"The fact is that we (Syrians) live in this region, we know it well", he said in an interview published in the Rome-based daily La Repubblica on Friday. Washington, he said "needs our help" to bring an end to the violence in Iraq. Assad indicated Damascus would be willing to co-operate for a price. "Certainly we are ready to do so. Because if you don't resolve regional questions - Iraq, Lebanon, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - it will be we bordering countries that will pay the highest price," Assad was quoted as saying. One meeting with a Dem senator in Damascus, and Bashar starts dictating terms of capitulation to the entire Middle East. Heaven knows how big his head will swell after he returns from Moscow. If it swells enough does he grow a chin?
Syria had "excellent relations" with many factions in Iraq and could support a national conference on the future of the country, he said. Assad also said the United States and Europe "must talk to Tehran". Just who in the hell do you think you are, Bashar? David Gregory?
Assad's remarks coincide with a report in the Washington Post on Friday that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has rejected a bipartisan panel's recommendations that the Bush administration involve Damascus and Teheran in efforts to solve the conflict in Iraq. And thank God for that. Condi has enough sense to recognize that Syria is an enemy.
"If they (Syria and Iran) have an interest in a stable Iraq, they will do it anyway," Rice said. And if they don't have such an interest, and the West allows Iran to build 35+ nuclear warheads a year, and allows the ayatollahs to deploy advanced missile systems to deliver them. then there will be hell on earth for a very long time.
Visiting Arab League (AL) chief Amr Moussa said on Thursday that Lebanese rival factions had agreed to establish a national unity government to resolve the current political crisis, the al-Arabiya television reported. Is "unity" the new Arab meme thingy?
Their "stability" thingy was working out so well, too.
Moussa told a news conference that the parties had agreed on a cabinet of national unity, which would include opposition minority and majority members, but they wanted to discuss "guarantees" to make it work. "Another round of talks is needed to reach an agreement on the final version (of the national unity government)," Moussa added. "We want to reach a formula of no victor, no loser... a win-win situation," the AL chief said. That makes even less sense than usual.
Moussa, who arrived here Tuesday, held talks with the major players in Lebanon's political crisis, including Seniora and Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.
Opposition supporters have been camping out in central Beirut since Dec. 1, paralyzing the heart of the capital, in a bid to press Seniora for concession.
Moussa said, agreement has been reached on "calming down the street (protests) and halting demonstrations and escalation." He promised that he would return to Lebanon in "a few days" to continue his efforts aimed at settling the dispute between the Hezbollah-led camp that seeks to topple Premier Fouad Seniora's government and the majority that supports the current administration. "I hope that we will be able to finalize (a deal) before the holidays... in two weeks or so," Moussa added.
An Arab League envoy, Sudanese presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail, told the same news conference that the two-week-old opposition sit-in in central Beirut would continue but there should be no mass demonstrations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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(Itar-Tass) -- France hopes for a quick adoption of the UN Security Council resolution on Iran, which will set off sanctions, Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Tuesday. These are proportionate and progressive measures, the minister said, adding that they will be applied only to nuclear and ballistic spheres. The United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France and Germany are holding consultations on the resolution text. If France likes it, then it's definitely useless.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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(Itar-Tass) - Moscow is opposed to politicizing the investigation into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and believes the issue should keep strictly within legal framework, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov stated to Russian reporters here on Tuesday. "Russia has always called for solving the crime, carrying the probe through, ascertaining the truth and holding the perpetrators responsible," Saltanov said.
The diplomat underlined that "in the absence of facts, a priori accusations of unlawful actions, thrown against this or that country, organization or person would be incorrect and even dangerous."
On November 21, the UN Security Council agreed with the proposals by the UN secretary general on the parameters of international tribunal for investigation into the murder of Hariri. The UN SC members approved a draft agreement between the UN and the Lebanese government on setting such a tribunal, as well as its tentative status.
The approval of the draft document on setting up the tribunal worsened the political crisis in Lebanon, because the government led by Fuad Siniora approved it only after the collective resignation of six ministers - five Shiites and one Christian. Saltanov noted that the main thing for Russia is that "the basic documents which will make groundwork for the operation of the international tribunal on the Hariri case, be legally clean, and not create unwanted precedents in international law."
"We also drew attention to the necessity to move on to the setting up of tribunal in such a way so that it doesn't create heavy overloads of the domestic situation in Lebanon," the Russian diplomat said. "Regrettably, this is what has happened," Saltanov added.
He did not rule out that it might have become a reason behind the current aggravation of the situation in Lebanon. At the same time, the deputy foreign minister underlined that the current crisis in Lebanon reflects "more complex process in the country and around it."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Even some of the Russia-philic pundits on WARFARE.ru, PRAVDA forum, and RED STAR have articles = commentaries complaining about Putin + Russia. Generally RUSSIA-PHILES > RUSSIA IS HEADING DOWN THE PATH TOWARDS BECOMING A GIANT, NORTH KOREA-esque, REGIONAL + GLOBAL CRIMINAL STATE, iff not the Cold War USSR re-incarnated.
U.S. Democratic Senator Bill Nelson said Thursday that he had a "sharp exchange of words" with Syrian President Bashar Assad over the international tribunal and the need to support Lebanese Prime Minster Fouad Siniora.
Nelson, who is a member of the powerful foreign relations and armed services committees, made his remarks after meeting Siniora at the Grand Serail. He was in Damascus Wednesday on a one-day visit during which he held talks with Assad.
Nelson is the first U.S. lawmaker to visit Syria since January 2005. Syria has been under U.S. sanctions since May 2005 because of its alleged support of terrorism and its role in Lebanese affairs.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
CSIS/WOLRDNEWS > ROBERT FISK = WHO'S RUNNING LEBANON article. *Islamist Leader >"The War is between the USA and Iran".
#2
The visit puzzles. Although Nelson may be trying to win tough brownie points at home for his tough stance, the downside from appearing to appease would seem to be just as severe. Is this an overture from GWB in disguise?
#5
Sounds like Nelson's office got last night's poll numbers in.
And I would bet that he didn't start coming off like Mr. Tough Guy until he left Syria, yes?
(Itar-Tass) - Iran has no intention to withdraw from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but will reconsider its attitude to the International Atomic Energy Agency in case of continuation of hostile actions against it, Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani was quoted by the Iranian TV Channel on Wednesday as saying. You could always be, um, violently expelled.
Iran will complete nuclear research works soon, which will result in acquiring the fundamental knowledge, he said. And once you have "the fundamental knowledge"?
Larijani pointed out that Russia does not agree with several provision of the UN Security Council resolution (on Irans nuclear dossier Itar-Tass).
Sanctions envisioned by the UN Security Council resolution will not affect Irans nuclear progress as the Islamic Republic irrespective of all previous sanctions get hold of nuclear technologies, he said. Agreed - the UNSC is little different from any other useless UN thingy.
Larijani recalled that at the talks with High Representative for the EUs Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana last summer and autumn Iran offered to create a consortium (on uranium enrichment) to persuade the world community that Tehran is not developing a nuclear bomb.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/15/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
RIAN.ru > Russia + Iran in negotiations for Russia to supply enuff nuclear fuel [domestic energy] for up to 10 years. Current - looks like a go.
Posted by: Mohammad Atta in Hell ||
12/15/2006 14:48 Comments ||
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#7
CAIR Complaint line: I was prostrated mid-aisle praying for the death of all infidels, during a turbulence spell, and a kafir bitch blasphemously interrupted me. I demand jihad.
It seemed like a good idea at the time: Have former president Jimmy Carter talk about his controversial new book "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid" at Brandeis University. But the idea ended, as many things on Carter's tumultuous nationwide book tour have, in disagreement and controversy.
Brandeis president Jehuda Reinharz said he agreed with a trustee's suggestion to invite Carter last month, if Carter were willing to debate one of his most outspoken critics, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz.
Carter, president from 1977-1981, vehemently rejected the idea. To Carter, the episode was proof that many in the United States were unwilling to hear an alternative view on what he says is the most taboo foreign-policy issue in the United States, Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory.
But others say it shows that Carter himself is unwilling to debate his own best-selling book, which has sparked allegations of errors and omissions, charges of anti-Israel bias, and protests at his book signings. "President Carter said he wrote the book because he wanted to encourage more debate; then why won't he debate?" Dershowitz said. Silly man, he doesn't want you to debate, he wants you to agree with him.
Carter, who brokered the 1978 Camp David peace accord between Israel and Egypt and who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, has said the goal of the book, including its provocative title, is to provoke dialogue and action. "There is no debate in America about anything that would be critical of Israel," he said in an interview Wednesday night.
But a furor has erupted because of the use of the word apartheid, which seems to equate the oppression of Palestinians with that endured by black South Africans under that country's now-defunct system of state-mandated racial segregation. It doesn't 'seem' to equate the two, it makes the comparison explicit.
Rabbi Marvin Heir, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading Jewish human rights organization, said Carter "should be ashamed of himself." And Kenneth W. Stein, one of Carter's former aides, dropped his association with the Carter Center in Atlanta, a human rights organization founded by the former president and his wife Rosalynn.
But Carter said: "Apartheid is the forced separation of two peoples in the same area and the forced subjugation of one to the other. No one can argue that that is not the situation in the Palestinian territories right now."
Others have praised the 39th president for raising important questions about the cost of the United States' unwavering support for Israel. His book tour is being chronicled by the same producer who made an "An Inconvenient Truth," which focused on global warming and featured Al Gore. The film about Carter will be titled "He Comes in Peace." And it'll be an Oscar nominee, you heard it here first.
#2
LOL. IIRC, the other day Carter was quoted saying he was sad that he couldn't get a speaking gig on any campus with a large jewish student population or some such. Anyone else recall that or do I hate Carter so much my mind is playing ticks on me?
Posted by: Mark Z ||
12/15/2006 11:43 Comments ||
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#3
Coward. Bring your lies to any forum that isn't packed with paleo flag-wavers, and you'll get your clock cleaned.
#8
But Carter said: "Apartheid is the forced separation of two peoples in the same area and the forced subjugation of one to the other. No one can argue that that is not the situation in the Palestinian territories right now."
Um, is it just me, or haven't the Joooos already left a lot of the "Palestinian territories, so now they're turning on each other? Oh, I guess red on red violence is still "apartheid" laid at the feet of the Jooos. Jeebus, I'm so ashmaed this pr!ck is from my Home State.
Posted by: BA ||
12/15/2006 13:39 Comments ||
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#9
For the left, a genuine debate means a discussion between
1. a white male leftist
2. a white female leftist
3. a black leftist
4. a hispanic leftist
5 a disable leftist
6. a G/L/T leftist
#11
...and an update from the Great and Powerful Oz himself
BOSTON - Former President Carter turned down a request to debate Alan Dershowitz about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the outspoken Harvard law professor "knows nothing about the situation."
Carter, author of a new book advocating "peace not apartheid" in the region, said he will not visit Brandeis University to discuss the book because the university requested he debate Dershowitz.
"I don't want to have a conversation even indirectly with Dershowitz," Carter said in Friday's Boston Globe. "There is no need ... to debate somebody who, in my opinion, knows nothing about the situation in Palestine."
The school's debate request, Carter said, is proof that many in the United States are unwilling to hear an alternative view on the nation's most taboo foreign policy issue, Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory.
Carter brokered the 1978 Camp David peace accord between Israel and Egypt and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He said the goal of his book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," is to provoke dialogue and action.
"There is no debate in America about anything that would be critical of Israel," he said.
The reference to "apartheid," the word for South Africa's former system of state-sanctioned racial segregation, has angered some rabbis because it appears to equate that system with the treatment of Palestinians.
"President Carter said he wrote the book because he wanted to encourage more debate; then why won't he debate?" said Dershowitz, a vocal First Amendment advocate who has worked for O.J. Simpson and other high-profile clients.
Brandeis was founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian university under the sponsorship of the American Jewish community. Carter said he initially was interested in going there.
"I thought it would be a good idea to go to a campus that had a lot of Jewish students and get a lot questions," he said. But then the initial proposal evolved into a plan for a debate.
He's an even bigger pussy then I thought. And I thought he was a real big one...
#13
Carter has his head so far up his old ass it. stopped being funny a long time ago. Alan Dershowitz is a liberal, Carter can't even debate a fellow leftender. Carter is wrong and he knows it. Some of the stuff in this book has been called outright lies. Carter you fail it.
The truth is the Paleos can't be dealt with in a normal way, like many Arabs they just can be held to their word or expected to abide by agreements they have made. The shit hole they live in is of their own making.
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.
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somali Islamists are under the growing control of an al Qaeda cell in East Africa, a U.S. diplomat said on Thursday, as Washington condemned their threat to attack Ethiopian troops backing Somalia's interim government.
Sudan will require more than 1.8 billion U.S. dollars to fund humanitarian, recovery and development projects in 2007, according to the UN Work Plan for Sudan, launched here on Thursday. This represents nearly half of the total 3.7 billion U.S. dollars requested by Secretary General Kofi Annan for humanitarian assistance worldwide in 2007, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement. 
The Sudanese government on Thursday despised reports that Washington and London were considering to establish a no-fly zone in Sudan's restive western region of Darfur. 
Police on Thursday arrested the third highest ranking member of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, security officials and the group said. The arrest came a few days after student members of the group staged a militia-style demonstration at Azhar University outside of Cairo. Mohammad Khayrat Shater, 55, was taken from his home early Thursday, security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the press. The Brotherhood said police also arrested more than 180 students and 13 others including Shater's son-in-law.
Fearing Shiite Iran is on the verge of becoming a nuclear power, Sunni Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab states are warning they will not hesitate to join a rumbling regional arms race, analysts say.
Lawyers for the Commonwealth are seeking to have dismissed legal action demanding the release of Guantanamo Bay detainee, David Hicks. Mr Hicks's lawyers have launched legal action in the Federal Court in Sydney against the Commonwealth. They are arguing it has a duty to protect Mr Hicks as an Australian citizen overseas and should seek his release and repatriation.
December 15, 2006 -- Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad is playing host this week to a quartet of U.S. senators who all seem to be under the delusion that they've been elected president. 
Detained 
An Indonesian court has sentenced a Muslim militant to three years in jail for storing explosives used in the 2004 suicide bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta. Twelve people, including the bomber, were killed when an explosives-laden van exploded in front of the mission on September 5, 2004.
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- A senior Hezbollah official said Friday that around 250 members of the guerrilla group were killed in the summer war with Israel, the highest toll acknowledged by the Shiite Muslim movement. Mahmoud Komati, deputy chief of Hezbollah's politburo, dismissed Israeli claims that many more Hezbollah fighters were killed, saying the group does not hide its casualties. "We are proud of our martyrs," he told The Associated Press. He estimated that around 250 guerrillas were killed in the July 12-Aug. 14 fighting with Israeli forces. 
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad says there can be no solution to the conflicts in the Middle East, including the one in Iraq, unless the United States and Europe involve Syria and Iran in finding a negotiated settlement. 
Visiting Arab League (AL) chief Amr Moussa said on Thursday that Lebanese rival factions had agreed to establish a national unity government to resolve the current political crisis, the al-Arabiya television reported. 
U.S. Democratic Senator Bill Nelson said Thursday that he had a "sharp exchange of words" with Syrian President Bashar Assad over the international tribunal and the need to support Lebanese Prime Minster Fouad Siniora.
(Itar-Tass) - Iran has no intention to withdraw from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, but will reconsider its attitude to the International Atomic Energy Agency in case of continuation of hostile actions against it, Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani was quoted by the Iranian TV Channel on Wednesday as saying.
It seemed like a good idea at the time: Have former president 
