Sudanese police fired tear gas and beat women protesting outside a Sudanese court Tuesday during the trial of a female journalist accused of violating the Islamic dress code by wearing trousers in public. Police moved in swiftly and dispersed about 50 protesters, mostly women, who were supporting Lubna Hussein, a former U.N. worker facing 40 lashes on the charge of "indecent dressing." Some of the women demonstrators wore trousers in solidarity with Hussein while others wore more traditional dress.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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[Mail and Globe] Eritrea wants a peaceful and united Somalia and believes now is the best time in nearly two decades to foster genuine political dialogue involving all in the Horn of African nation, Eritrea's information minister says.
Washington's new top diplomat for Africa has been seeking to engage with Eritrea, and met the country's foreign minister in Libya last month, but has also blamed Asmara for fuelling conflict that has plagued Somalia since 1992.
Eritrea has repeatedly denied it is helping arm al-Shabaab insurgents fighting Somalia's latest transition government and bristles at calls for United Nations sanctions against the small nation that borders Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sudan.
"I don't think that in this 21st century the philosophy of carrot and stick will work," Information Minister Ali Abdu told Reuters, when asked what his message to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would be during her visit to Africa this week.
"In this 21st century, people could have differences but they can agree to disagree and respect each other, instead of using the carrot and stick," he said in a telephone interview.
Eritrea's arch-foe in Horn of Africa is Ethiopia -- Washington's main ally in the region.
Ali said Ethiopia, rather than Eritrea, should be sanctioned for meddling in Somalia. UN and US accusations against Asmara originated from retrograde "interest groups", and probably did not reflect Obama administration policy, he said.
The two nations are embroiled in a border dispute that has been rumbling since Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in the early 1990s after a 30-year war.
Some analysts and diplomats believe Eritrea and Ethiopia are fighting a proxy war in Somalia -- with Asmara backing rebels who want to impose their own harsh version of sharia law and Addis Ababa supporting pro-government militia.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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[Mail and Globe] Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua said on Tuesday he had ordered an investigation into last week's deadly uprising in northern Nigeria, including the controversial killing of the leader of an Islamist sect. "This is an incident that will be investigated together with the overall events that have happened," he said in response to reporters' questions about his reaction to the killing of Boko Haram sect leader Mohammed Yusuf by police.
Yar'Adua said he had "directed the national security adviser to carry out a post-mortem [probe] with the security agencies as a first step so that we can have a full report of what has happened during the crisis, including how the leader of the Boko Haram was killed, the circumstances under which he was killed".
He said the preliminary report should be handed in before the weekend. The government will at that stage "determine what actions to take, whether we need to carry out further investigation into the entire matter, because it is really a very serious issue", he added.
An uprising by the sect in several northern states and the security forces' response killed more than 800 people, the majority of them sect members. The leader of Boko Haram, 39-year-old Mohammed Yusuf, was killed in police custody on Friday after being captured by the military. The police said that he died in cross-fire with security forces as he tried to escape.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"Recommendation: kill all the rebels and their supporters"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/05/2009 19:13 Comments ||
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[ADN Kronos] Five men accused of planning a suicide attack on an Australian army base had a "desire to join a religious war," according to a leading expert. Greg Barton, director of Monash University's Centre for Islam in the Modern World. Barton spoke to Adnkronos International (AKI) after the five - Australian nationals of Somali and Lebanese descent - were arrested in the southern city of Melbourne on Tuesday.
Barton said the men had been seeking to join Islamist insurgents fighting in Somalia with the Al-Shabab group, accused of links to Al-Qaeda. They became frustrated when they failed to do so, he said.
"When they couldn't get to Somalia, they thought about who they could attack in Australia, " Barton told AKI. "They sought to target the Australian army because it is involved in Afghanistan and Iraq. They planned to get some assault weapons and kill as many as they could."
More than 400 officers were involved in raids on 19 properties across Melbourne before dawn on Tuesday.
A Melbourne court was later told the men had sought a religious ruling to authorise their attack in Australia.
"Although they had been radicalised, the best they could do was to attack army personnel," Barton said. "They clearly were not very competent. They had a desire to join a religious war."
While Barton said there was no serious danger from this plot, it exposed how vulnerable young people were to recruitment by "predatory recruiters".
"These young men were quite traumatised by war and they were befriended and groomed, not through a mosque," he said.
The suspects are Australian nationals of Somali and Lebanese descent - one 25-year old man, Nayaf El Sayed, has been charged with conspiring to plan a terrorist act and remanded in custody.
It is alleged that five men were planning to carry out an armed attack on the Holsworthy army base in Sydney.
Barton said the men's desire to fight in Somalia was consistent with what was being seen in the United States, where some 20 Americans, of Somali descent, had travelled to the war-torn country to fight.
"In the last couple of months young men from stable backgrounds in Somali communities have gone to fight and some of them have ended up in morgues," he said. "Outside agents seem to be coming from Somalia and recruiting them and encouraging them to fight."
Australian Federal Police also won an application to further question three other suspects who appeared in court but have not been charged.
There are an estimated 2,000 foreign fighters in Somalia currently and Al-Qaeda is directly involved in the Islamist insurgency, Pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat last Friday quoted an unnamed Somalian intelligence source as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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A Saudi-funded academy was granted a zoning exemption Monday that allows it to expand at its 34-acre Popes Head Road campus in Fairfax County, Virginia, culminating a years-long campaign to enlarge the school at that location...The school has been subjected to a series of high-profile examinations of its religious curriculum, which has been revised repeatedly in the recent to remove passages that extolled militant jihad and martyrdom. As recently as 2007, at least one textbook still said that the killing of adulterers and apostates was "justified."
Students, parents and teachers have maintained that the school does not teach intolerance.
"Throughout my whole time in ISA, I've never been taught to hate anyone," said Heba Rashed, 16, a junior at the school. Kill apostates, but don't hate them.
The school's curriculum was revised again at the beginning of the 2008-09 school year after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom condemned its textbooks. Critics of the academy say most of the offensive material has now been removed. But they say the textbooks clearly remain guided by Wahhabism...Last week, the school's 1999 valedictorian, Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, who had been convicted in 2005 of plotting with al-Qaeda to kill President George W. Bush, was resentenced to life in prison.
Just look a few miles up the road from the Saudis for your answer.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/05/2009 8:42 Comments ||
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#3
Fairfax County has been trending Democrat as it is the home of many Wealthy and Correctly Thinking People and where in many households both spouses work for our Great Government making $150 K each Doing Great Things for the Betterment of Mankind. So of course promotion of Multicultural Diversity that gives preference to radical cults that have values diametrically opposed to our Constitution just add to the wonderful panoply of life.
[Geo News] President Asif Ali Zardari Tuesday said he was committed to strengthening the institutions to make Pakistan into a strong and prosperous nation and never let it turn to a failed state.
Addressing a convention of the PPP office bearers from all districts of the country along with their spouses and children at the President House, President Zardari said, "We will make a new Pakistan."
"Pakistan Peoples Party has nurtured this country with its blood and will render all sacrifices to make it strong," the President said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"OJ, meet Asif. Asif, OJ. You're both looking for the 'real killers'".
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Tehrik Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad is wanted by the Swat and Dir Lower police in 16 cases, sources told The News on Monday.
A sedition case, filed by the Saidu Sharif police station, is now the 17th against Sufi. "In fact, 10 cases were registered against Sufi Muhammad in police stations of Swat, while six others were lodged in Dir Lower under different sections of the law," a senior police officer said. He added that some family members of Sufi, his close aides and leaders of the TNSM were also booked in these cases. Sufi had been acquitted by the court in one of the 16 cases. A source disclosed that the government had decided to withdraw the rest after the TNSM leader was tasked to broker a deal between the government and the militants, led by his son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah, for restoration of peace to Swat. "However, these cases have not been formally withdrawn," said a source in the NWFP government. The 17th case against the TNSM chief was lodged at the Saidu Sharif police station on Saturday.
The police had initiated an inquiry under 156/3 two days before the registration of the First Information Report (FIR), after which a case was registered against the TNSM chief under Section 120-B and 7-ATA for issuing statements against the State and its institutions, including parliament and the judiciary, during a public gathering at the Grassy Ground in Mingora on April 19.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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[Geo News] Governor Punjab Salman Taseer has said that incident of Gojra could be averted if police and administration had reacted diligently, efficiently and with sense of responsibility.
He was addressing Christians during his visit to Christian Colony, Catholic Church and village Korian near Gojra on Tuesday. The Governor expressed his shock and grief over this incident and said that such treatment to Christians in Pakistan of Quiad-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto is highly regrettable. "The white strip in our national flag clearly admits the presence of minorities and PPP would continue its struggle for their fundamental rights," he said and added that Christians are very dear to us as a Christian had committed suicide on the hanging of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
"We are duty bound to protect their fundamental and constitutional rights, " he added.
He said that President Asif Ali Zardari had also taken an immediate notice of this situation and sent Rangers to restore normalcy and protect Christians' life and properties. "We are also here to share your grievances and give you a sense of protection on the special directive of President Asif Ali Zardari," he added.
Governor expressed surprise on the presence of large number of police officials during his visit and said that this incident could be avoided if police and administration had reacted efficiently and diligently. He assured Christians that federal government would help them and protect their life and property at all costs.
He also directed chairman Evacuee Trust Property to send engineers to undertake the work for the repair and construction of damaged houses. " He termed incident of Gojra as a black spot on Pakistan's face and said that we all should make serious efforts to remove it as early as possible". "Gojra incident is not a sudden happening," he said and added that it was a planned conspiracy. "Same elements are involved in it that had turned Swat into a hell," he said and added we had flushed them out from Swat and would also eliminate them from Punjab.
He said that families of dead would get Rs.5 Lac while Rs.3 Lac would be given for the repair of damaged properties.
Federal Minister for Minorities Mr. Shahbaz Bhatti said that judicial inquiry into this incident has already been ordered and strict action would be taken against elements responsible of these riots. He said that President had asked him to go to Gojra to condole with the affectees. "We would remain available here till their complete rehabilitation," he assured.
Mr. Bhatti also said that this incident could be averted if police and administration had reacted efficiently. He said that President had taken immediate notice of this incident and sent Rangers to control the situation but it was a delayed action.
He termed this incident as a deep rooted conspiracy to sabotage the efforts of government to promote religious harmony. However, he said that elements involved in this riot would not be spared.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] With hours left until the inauguration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the US president and some of his European counterparts join Germany in refusing to congratulate the Iranian official.
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday clarified Washington's stance with regards to the disputed re-election of Ahmadinejad as Iran's president. "I don't have any reason to believe we will send any letter [to congratulate the Iranian president]," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, for his part, is set to snub President Ahmadinejad after he is inaugurated on Wednesday. "There is no plan to send any message," an official at the Elysee Palace told Reuters.
In addition, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will not send a congratulatory message to Ahmadinejad, who, according to official election results, garnered almost two-thirds of the votes. "The prime minister will not be writing to congratulate Mr. Ahmadinejad," a spokesman said on Tuesday.
The political brush-offs follow an earlier snub by Germany on Monday saying that Chancellor Angela Merkel will not send a customary congratulatory letter to the Iranian official. Merkel's spokesman Klaus Vater said on Monday that "In view of the circumstances of the controversial re-election, the chancellor will not, as usual, write the customary letter of congratulation" to the Iranian president.
The president is due to be sworn in by the Iranian Parliament, Majlis, for a second term on Wednesday morning.
After the presidential poll in June, the opposition maintains that the election was "fraudulent" and calls for its annulment. Ever since the official announcement of the poll result, Iran has witnessed widespread protests as supporters of defeated presidential candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi take to the streets to protest Ahmadinejad's re-election.
Iranians across six continents have since staged numerous demonstrations in protest at the result of the vote, calling on different governments not to acknowledge Ahmadinejad as Iran's president.
Iran's Guardian Council, the electoral watchdog, has disputed any allegation against the validity of the June 12 vote. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, on Monday formally endorsed Ahmadinejad's presidency. The president is due to be sworn in by the Iranian Parliament, Majlis, for a second term on Wednesday morning.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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The Iraqi government has decided to crack down on Internet service providers and ban sites that incite violence or carry pornography, officials said Tuesday, a move that has been strongly criticized by freedom of speech advocates as a dangerous first step toward political censorship. The plan to strengthen government control of content and usage will require Internet cafes--and later the service providers as well--to obtain licenses that are subject to government review and cancellation if compliance requirements are not met.
"All Web sites that glorify terrorism and incite violence and sectarianism, or those that violate social morals with content such as pornography will be banned," communications ministry spokesman Sameer al-Hasoon told The Associated Press by phone Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Meet the new boss ... yada yada yada
Posted by: Albert Ebbager8936 ||
08/05/2009 19:49 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Men cannot go topless on Gaza beaches, owners of clothes shops are told to remove mannequins displaying lingerie and some couples complain of being asked for marriage papers as they walk in the streets. Human Rights groups and critics say some in the Islamist Hamas group, which rules Gaza, are exerting pressure to impose Islamic law on the public at a time when others seek to engage with the Western world.
Hamas, which wrested control of the Gaza Strip from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction in fighting in 2007, denies plans to impose Islamic laws.
" There were figures in Hamas calling for imposing Islamic laws ... while others felt it was not the right time ... because they were concerned about the outside world "
Khalil Abu Shammala, al-Dameer Association
But Gazans say bearded men who identify themselves with the Ministry of Religious Affairs are advising people to follow Islamic values, stop smoking and stick to conservative forms of Muslim dress for men and women.
"People from the Virtue Campaign of the Religious Affairs Ministry came and said mannequins were a provocative source of temptation," said clothing-store owner Saoud al-Rayes. "They said if we did not remove the mannequins which display underwear, they would kill me confiscate them."
The Hamas-run government denies any bid to impose Islamic law, but a recent decision by the Hamas-appointed chief Justice ordering women lawyers to cover their hair has revived fears.
Ahmed Abu Khaled said three young men had approached him recently as he went for a swim without a T-Shirt on Gaza beach. They told him that was wrong and urged him to stick to Islamic and moral values. "They were polite but I did not think I could argue," he said.
Taleb Abu Shaar, the Minister of Religious Affairs, said the campaign of his ministry was "cultural and educational," to spread public awareness but not to force people to do things.
"The campaign is in line with our religion and traditions. We see some dangers threatening youth and some wrongdoings, and our role is advise and to warn our people against bad things," Abu Shaar said. "Some people exaggerate the campaign in order to accuse the government to stir fears in society. We do not force people to do what they dislike."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Thought you folks voted for return to the 7th Century.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/05/2009 9:49 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] President Mahmoud Abbas opened his Fatah movement's first conference in 20 years on Tuesday, saying Palestinians sought peace with Israel but "resistance" would stay an option. It is the group's first congress to be held on Palestinian soil. The last Fatah congress was held in Tunisia in 1989.
More than 2,000 delegates will seek in three days of talks to adopt a program that distinguishes Fatah from Islamist Hamas which has rejected Western demands to renounce violence and recognize Israel.
"Although peace is our choice, we reserve the right to resistance, legitimate under international law," the Western-backed Abbas said in a policy speech, using a term that encompasses armed confrontation as well as non-violent protests.
" No one can decide alone. No one can lead the homeland to catastrophe. No one can take the decision and take us to where we do not want to be "
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
Officials said a draft of Fatah's new program called for new forms of resistance such as civil disobedience against Jewish settlement expansion and a West Bank barrier Israel says is for security but which Palestinians see as a land grab.
Crucially, the draft leaves open the option of "armed struggle" if peace talks with Israel fail and does not rule out a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood in the West Bank and Gaza Strip if peace negotiations remain at a stalemate.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The audience in the Gaza Strip clapped and cheered as the actor delivered the movie's most memorable line.
"To kill Israeli soldiers is to worship God."
"Imad Aqel", which had its premiere on Saturday, is the first feature film produced by the Islamist Hamas movement and the title is the name of a Palestinian fighter whom Israel held accountable for the deaths of 13 soldiers and settlers.
In accordance with strict Muslim tradition, men and women sat in separate sections of the theatre to view what Hamas officials termed the "Cinema of Resistance", referring to what it describes as a fight against Israeli occupation.
"Imad Aqel" was filmed on a set built inside the former Jewish settlement of Ganei Tal in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
It depicts Hamas's founding in the 1980s, attacks Aqel mounted on the Israeli military in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the signing of the Oslo peace accord between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993.
The film cost $120,000 and was written by Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior leader of Hamas, which the West regards as a terrorist group and shuns because of its refusal to renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept existing interim peace deals.
Aqel was killed at the age of 22 by Israeli soldiers who surrounded his hideout in Gaza in 1993.
Four of the actors in the film, which took several months to make, were later killed in the 22-day offensive Israel launched in the Gaza Strip last December with the declared aim of halting cross-border rocket attacks by Palestinian fighters.
Majed Jendeya, the movie's German-trained director, said he hoped to screen the film at the Cannes festival in France. The movie is Hamas's latest foray into the mass media -- it owns a satellite TV channel, a radio station and several newspapers.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Anti-semantic?
Then it ought to be the big blockbuster at Cannes this year.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/05/2009 12:23 ||
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#1
You knew this purge was coming.
Also, wouldn't the photo on this article look better if DinnerJacket was wearing fuzzy bunny ears along with a nice pink furry outfit? I've seen that before somewhere and it would look look really really stylish on him.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/05/2009 14:34 Comments ||
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#2
hope he gets rid of the competent ones?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/05/2009 19:15 Comments ||
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in as Iranian president on Wednesday as riot police broke up an opposition protest after an election that triggered the worst turmoil in the Islamic republic's history.
The 52-year-old hardliner took the oath of office for another four-year term at a ceremony in parliament, but outside police used pepper gas against demonstrators who claim his landslide election victory in June was fraudulent, witnesses said. Hundreds of policemen, including riot police and members of the Basij volunteer Islamic militia, were on the streets outside parliament for the ceremony, where Ahmadinejad vowed that his election marked the beginning of major change for Iran and the world.
Wednesday's ceremony was attended by about 240 of Iran's 290 MPs as well as clerics, but notable by his absence was powerful cleric and former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has criticised the regime over the election crisis.
Ahmadinejad's presidency was formally endorsed on Monday by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who described him as "courageous, astute and hardworking." Opposition leaders including Ahmadinejad's defeated rival Mir Hossein Mousavi and former president Mohammad Khatami were pointedly absent on Monday, as was Rafsanjani who suffered an upset defeat to Ahmadinejad in 2005.
Iran's judiciary chief on Tuesday urged the country's bitterly divided political groups to unite. "I hope all officials understand the situation and maintain unity," said Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi. "I hope they do what is best for the revolution, the regime, and Islam and disappoint the enemies."
Posted by: ryuge ||
08/05/2009 02:57 ||
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#1
To quote Roozonline:
The absence of senior state officials was so conspicuous that it forced the state-run IRNA news agency to use photographs from the presidents first swearing-in ceremony four years ago in lieu of photographs taken at yesterday
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/05/2009 12:38 Comments ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] In a move that looked to turn Lebanese politics on its head, the Druze leader of the country's Progressive Socialist Party said Sunday his alliance with March 14, Lebanon's anti-Syrian Party, was driven by political circumstances and hinted at the possibility of splitting off.
Politician Walid Jumblatt, once a March 14 hawk, said his membership in the alliance could not continue, thereby signaling a serious shift in Lebanon's political landscape and radical change in the alliance that started with the Cedar Revolution in 2005.
He surprisingly called for rapprochement with Syria, a radical change from his anti-Syrian stance which held the Syrian government responsible for the assassination of Hariri and the series of assassinations that followed.
Jumblatt's new political stance towards Syria comes amid the changing regional status of the country, once isolated by the West but now on better terms with the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
Abbas Hisham, member of the March 8 Alliance, welcomed Jumblatt's statements and told a Lebanese T.V. channel that they signal forming a government within the coming week.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] As the ruling system mounts pressure on Iran's opposition, a lawmaker rules out any prospect of prosecuting Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mohammad Khatami -- two of the public symbols of the opposition.
With Iran grappling with a grave turbulence following a controversial presidential election in June, a formal endorsement by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution on Monday set in motion Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second inauguration as president.
Meanwhile, remarks made by Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei during the approval ceremony suggested that President Ahmadinejad had plans to quell the elites who "failed" the election test.
"Those who talk of the nation's distrust do so either out of spite or out of negligence," said Ayatollah Khamenei in an allusion to protests against the vote result, adding that the angry crowd would continue their opposition during Ahmadinejad's second term in office.
The suggestion was made as the Iranian president had reportedly warned earlier that after taking office he would put down any uprising against his government.
Ever since the poll, a vast outpouring of discontent with massive and deadly street protests against the official outcome of the election has caused a growing divide among the ruling elite.
Among the opposing voices are influential figure Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani and Mousavi, whose credentials are well-known since the 1979 revolution, as well as Khatami, a two-time former president, and Mehdi Karroubi, a former Parliament speaker.
The opposition figures, as well as the family members of the founder of the Islamic Revolution, shunned Ahmadinejad's approval ceremony on Monday.
The defiant opposition, meanwhile, has attracted storms of criticism and an increasing number of attacks by Principlist politicians and a raft of high-ranking officials.
Senior cleric and official Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami has assailed efforts to question the 'legitimacy' of the government that is "legitimized" by the Leader and law.
On Saturday, Tehran Representative in Majlis Hamid Rasayi said the mass trial against opposition figures, protesters and journalists -- which had opened earlier in the week -- had paved the way for action against the "real riot leaders".
In separate remarks on Tuesday, Javad Karimi-Qoddousi, a member of the Iranian Parliament's National Security Commission, said that Mohammad Khatami, who has expressed his disbelief and opposition at the election result as well as the trial, should be banned from leaving the country until further notice.
Commenting on recent reports, Qoddousi claimed that it was likely that Khatami would take asylum in a foreign country to avoid 'prosecution.'
However, a member of the minority bloc in Parliament, Ali-Akbar Oliya, was quoted by the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) as saying that such reports are of pure propagandist nature.
Oliya went on to say that the prospects of any trial against influential figures and opposition leaders were "rumors" floated by "hardliners".
"Instead of spreading such rumors, we need to work to restore law and security to the nation," the parliamentarian added.
On Tuesday, Iranian Judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi called for "solidarity" and "unity" among officials ahead of President Ahmadinejad's swearing-in ceremony.
Ahmadinejad is to take the oath of presidency before Iran's Parliament on Wednesday at 4:30am GMT.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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[Gulf News] A key Lebanese politician who bolted out of the Western-backed parliament majority Tuesday sought to allay concerns by some that he could join the rival Hezbollah bloc - a move that could lead to new political turmoil in the country.
Druze leader Walid Junblatt said he would not ally himself with Hezbollah's camp but remain independent.
But Junblatt's political realignment almost certainly will delay prime minister-designate Sa'ad Hariri's efforts to form a national unity cabinet, which has been in the works for more than a month.
In a stunning move, Junblatt, who leads Lebanon's minority Druze community, declared on Sunday he was leaving the coalition he had joined "out of necessity" four years ago.
Junblatt said his alliance with the Hariri bloc must end, but didn't say whether his 11 lawmaker-group would no longer vote with the coalition in parliament and thus effectively deny it a necessary majority in the 128-seat house.
"I want to be independent... I did not apply to join March 8," Junblatt told the daily An-Nahar newspaper in yesterday's edition, referring to the Hezbollah led-alliance.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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[Gulf News] Prominent defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi yesterday promised to keep up pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whose re-election sparked off Iran's worst unrest since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Ahmadinejad will be sworn in by parliament today when the authorities will want to avoid any repeat of the street unrest after the disputed June 12 poll in which at least 20 people were killed.
Karroubi, the most liberal of the presidential candidates who lost to Ahmadinejad, was quoted by the Spanish El Pais daily yesterday as saying that he and Mousavi would never capitulate. "Neither Mousavi nor I have withdrawn. We will continue to protest and we will never collaborate with this government. We will not harm it, but we will criticise what it does," Karroubi said in an interview. He added: "Quite honestly, if the authorities had acted in a different way, we would never have had these problems, because the majority of those protesting only did so for that reason."
Mousavi's credentials as a loyal servant of Iran's revolution may help explain why he has escaped arrest for leading protests against the election.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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" I tell those few selfish and meddling governments that you were cruel during this election towards our people and you used your financial and political abilities inappropriately "
Iranian re-elected president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's supreme leader formally endorsed the second term presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday after a disputed election that leading reformists say was rigged to ensure the incumbent's victory. "The official ceremony was held and Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) approved Mr. Ahmadinejad's presidency," the Arabic language al-Alam state television said after the Iranian auithorities banned the live airing of the ceremony.
Khamenei has endorsed the June 12 election result and demanded an end to protests during which at least 20 people were killed. He said that Ahmadinejad's election victory reflected the people's support for a fight against arrogance and for justice, after formally confirming his second term in office.
On his part, Ahmadinejad accused foreign governments of trying to cause trouble during the June election which returned him to power, the Fars news agency reported. "I tell those few selfish and meddling governments that you were cruel during this election towards our people and you used your financial and political abilities inappropriately," Fars quoted Ahmadinejad as saying after the ceremony. "You do not want a new model of divine democracy rising in the world. You wanted to divert global opinion from the collapse of capitalism, so you insulted the Iranian people."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
WASHINGTON -- White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is "the elected leader" of the Islamic republic. Gibbs was asked Tuesday if the White House recognized Ahmadinejad as the country's legitimate president. "He's the elected leader," Gibbs responded.
Iranian opposition to Ahmadinejad's re-election claimed he stole the vote, and there have been massive street demonstrations that have shaken the religious leadership of the country. Ahmadinejad reports to the religious establishment. Dozens of demonstrators were killed or wounded in the uprising.
President Barack Obama has been cautious in responding to the turmoil because he's trying to open a dialogue with Iran about its nuclear program.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/05/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
the dumbf*ck walked it back today. Gibbs: "making incompetent spokesholes look good since 2009"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/05/2009 19:18 Comments ||
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#2
And Saddam Hussein was the "elected" leader of Iraq (with 100% of the vote!).
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/05/2009 21:09 Comments ||
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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.
[Mail and Globe] Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua said on Tuesday he had ordered an investigation into last week's deadly uprising in northern Nigeria, including the controversial killing of the leader of an Islamist sect. "This is an incident that will be investigated together with the overall events that have happened," he said in response to reporters' questions about his reaction to the killing of Boko Haram sect leader Mohammed Yusuf by police.
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Tehrik Nifaz Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad is wanted by the Swat and Dir Lower police in 16 cases, sources told The News on Monday.
[Geo News] Governor Punjab Salman Taseer has said that incident of Gojra could be averted if police and administration had reacted diligently, efficiently and with sense of responsibility.
[Gulf News] Prominent defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi yesterday promised to keep up pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whose re-election sparked off Iran's worst unrest since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
