OTTAWA (AP) - Canada's acting military commander in Afghanistan stopped Canadian soldiers from transferring prisoners in Afghanistan to local authorities the day after a November prison visit yielded evidence of torture, a general testified Thursday. Brig.-Gen. Andre Deschamps said the decision was made by Col. Christian Juneau a day after a Nov. 5 visit to the prison, and no prisoners have been transferred since.
The disclosure that Canada stopped handing prisoners over in November comes a year after Canada's Conservative government ridiculed its opponents for raising torture allegations and Prime Minister Stephen Harper accused them of being pro-Taliban.
Juneau was acting commander of Canada's military effort in Afghanistan when Canadian officials heard stories of abuse from prisoners being held in a Kandahar prison.
One prisoner told Canadian officials he had been beaten unconscious, whipped with electrical cables, and belted with a rubber hose at the National Directorate of Security detention facility in Kandahar city in Afghanistan, according to a newly released government letter. The NDS is the domestic intelligence agency of the government of Afghanistan. The prisoner told the Canadians exactly where they could find the torture instruments and led them to his prison cell where they discovered the hose and cable under a chair. He showed the Canadians a four-inch bruise on his back. He said he could not recall who interrogated him because he was knocked unconscious.
The letter was submitted this week by government lawyers to Amnesty International and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association as part of their suit to block further transfers.
A spokeswoman for the prime minister had little to say about the policy shift, except to note that it stemmed from an agreement between the Canadian and Afghan governments to monitor detainees. ``The government will not provide any comment on operational matters,'' said spokeswoman Sandra Buckler said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/24/2008 23:07 ||
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The new Senior Civilian Representative (SCR) of NATO in Afghanistan, Maurits Jochems, will arrive in Kabul next week, NATO spokesman James Appathurai told reporters Wednesday.
Welcome, Maurits, and good luck. Remember, when the Princess Pats tell you to duck, get your head down quick!
Jochems, of Dutch nationality, is at present Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Operations in the 26-member alliance. The length of his stay in Kabul has not been determined as yet, added the spokesman.
Depends on whether or not he listens to the Princess Pats.
Working closely with NATOs International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, the SCR provides a direct channel of communication between the theatre and NATO headquarters in Brussels. NATO created the position of a SCR in October 2003, to represent the political leadership of the Alliance in Kabul. The first SCR appointed by NATO was Minister Hikmet Etin of Turkey. In August 2006, minister Etin was succeeded by Ambassador Daan Everts from The Netherlands.
UN-African Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Commander Gen. Martin Luther Agwai said here Wednesday the UNAMID had only defensive, rather than offensive, equipment. Gen. Agwai was speaking to Sudanese military service commanders in Khartoum. Accompanied by the UNAMID police chief, Gen. Agwai held a significant meeting with Sudanese military, police and security chiefs on the military and police components of the UNAMID, according to a UNAMID release.
The UNAMID is expected to raise the number of its troops and policemen up to 20,000 and 6,000 respectively, he said.
[The UNAMID chief listed the] four stages of hybrid peacekeepers in Darfur as transition, stabilization, reinforcement and troop reduction
During the meeting, the UNAMID chief also elaborated the equipment, structure, operations and deployment of his forces, the release said. The UNAMID will use its equipment in defensive, rather than offensive, equipment, he said, listing four stages of hybrid peacekeepers in Darfur as transition, stabilization, reinforcement and troop reduction.
Translated into UN-ese, the four stages are hand-wringing, deploring, finger-pointing, and afternoon tea with extra clotted cream.
Having taken over the peacekeeping mission in Darfur from African Union forces early this year in line with the UN Security Council Resolution 1679, UNAMID is being deployed to try to quell nearly five years of violent clashes between rebels, government forces and allied militia known as the Janjaweed.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians crossed into Egypt from Gaza on Wednesday after gunmen destroyed about two-thirds of the Gaza-Egypt border wall. Most of the Gazans returned after stocking up on food and other basic supplies that have become scarce due to the blockade imposed on the territory by Israel.
UN personnel said they estimated the number of Palestinians who entered Egypt to be 350,000. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced that he had ordered his troops to allow Palestinians to cross into Egypt because they were starving. Speaking at the Cairo International Book fair, Mubarak told reporters that when Palestinians began breaking through the Gaza-Egypt border at Rafah by force, he told his men to let them in to buy food before escorting them out.
Technically, Hosni invited the Paleos over for takeaway kebabs, and they had to use hand sanitizer and bring their own sporks.
Figures. You know how hard it is to eat a kebab with a spork?
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced that he had ordered his troops to allow Palestinians to cross into Egypt because they were starving.
Yeah, that's it. Please blow up the wall and come in. It's too much trouble for me to open the door. Since you're all skin and bones, please have some food. Of course, you'll have to pay for it. Then leave. Don't bother about the mess you made, I'll take care later.
#8
Mubarak is making sure that he is not seen as abrogating Arab customs of hospitality.
Might seem like a trivial issue to us, but that perception could go a long way to preventing the Muslim Brotherhood from stirring up serious internal unrest by removing a pretext for public anger at him.
In the months after President Bush's 2002 speech branding Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an "axis of evil," North Korean officials channeled at least $2.7 million through a bank account normally used to process United Nations development projects because of fears that the United States would block its ability to transfer money outside the country, according to a Senate subcommittee report.
The report supports U.S. assertions that the North Korean government routinely manipulated the U.N. Development Program to move cash around the world. But it stopped short of confirming reports that millions of dollars in U.N. funds were diverted to purchase properties in Europe and Canada.
"The North Korean government made a concerted effort to conceal the movement of its funds out of North Korea and into western financial institutions," according to the report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. "North Korean officials explained to the subcommittee that they expected sanctions against their country would be tightened and were concerned their wire transfers would be barred."
The report, prepared by the staff of the subcommittee, found that UNDP's operations were plagued by "management and operational deficiencies" that rendered the agency "vulnerable to manipulation by North Korea." Its release comes on the eve of a Senate hearing Thursday on the UNDP's past North Korea operations.
The Senate report asserts that between April and September 2002, North Korea made nine wire transfers totaling $2.7 million from a U.N.-affiliated account at Pyongyang's Foreign Trade Bank to the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia. The funds were deposited in an account controlled by a Chinese company, International Finance Trade Joint Company, and then transferred to North Korean diplomatic missions in the United States and Europe.
U.S. officials said the Senate report confirmed their most serious concerns about a breakdown in UNDP's controls that aided the North Korean dictatorship in abusing international efforts to improve the lives of its people. But UNDP insisted that Wednesday's report "contains nothing" to substantiate persistent allegations that it transferred tens of millions of dollars to North Korea or that its funds were diverted to a clandestine North Korean nuclear or missile program.
"We are gratified that the staff report contains no suggestion that these allegations can be substantiated," said UNDP spokesman David Morrison.
The U.N. development agency, which employs more than 7,000 workers in 166 countries, had operated in North Korea since 1981. It shut down its North Korean operations in March 2007 after U.S. and Japanese criticisms about its practice of hiring government-appointed employees and paying their salaries directly to the North Korean government.
The Senate report said there was no way to verify whether the government skimmed a portion of salaries. It asserted that UNDP appears to have "unwittingly" transferred about $50,000 to a company that the United States has linked to a North Korean entity responsible for the sale of conventional arms and ballistic missiles.
#1
FREEREPUBLIC > REGIME COLLAPSE IN PYONGYANG. Kim is 66-yo and reportedly not in good health - any sudden Govt. collapse has potent = dangerous consequences for East Asia region, NOT just the KOREAS.
#2
I am guessing that David Morrison thinks that all is well in Norkland. Of course they are channeling money and stealing wages it's like a tradition to them now. Heck I bet they don't even consider it illegal.
#5
WAFF.com today > JANES.com > NORTH KOREA MAY COLLAPSE IN SIX MONTHS, as per USCSIS and US INstitute for Peace study. Study warns that China is de facto preparing for contingencies as per NK and is "PREPARED TO TAKE THE INITIATIVE" [read -ACT UNILATERALLY] TO TAKE OVER AND OCCUPY NORTH KOREA. *TOPIX > CHINA GETTING READY TO OCCUPY NORTH KOREA?
#6
Thus far, there is little to indic that the USA WON'T have to fight a TWO-FRONT [plus?] WAR vv IRAN + NORTH KOREA, and wid ONLY A VOLUNTEER NON-NATIONAL ARMY. Taiwan????
The Dutch government is set to impose a ban on burqa (veil) in schools and government offices, media reported on Wednesday, in a retreat from the previous cabinets plan for a general ban.
The cabinet has decided against a complete ban on burqas in public as that would violate the principle of freedom of religion, news agency ANP said, citing unnamed cabinet sources.
Danish Muslims say only about 50 women wear the head-to-toe burqa or the niqab. They said a general ban would heighten alienation among the countrys about 1 million Muslims. An Interior Ministry spokesman said there was no final decision on the subject yet and the issue was expected to be discussed at the weekly cabinet meeting on Friday next week.
The wearing of headscarves in schools and at work is a sensitive topic across the European Union. France, with Europes largest Muslim minority, bans headscarves and other religious garb from state schools. Italy has a decades-old law against covering the face in public as an anti-terrorism measure. Shortly before being voted out of office, the previous centre-right Dutch government proposed a complete ban on burqas and other Muslim face-veils in public, citing security concerns.
A new centrist coalition government of Christian Democrats, Labour and the Christian Union came into power in February 2007 and has taken a more conciliatory line on immigration. Right-wing lawmaker Geert Wilders who has angered Muslims with his fierce criticism of Islam sent a bill to parliament last July proposing a ban on the burqa in public. . He called the governments reported retreat very disappointing and cowardly, according to ANP.
Philip van Praag, political science professor at Amsterdam University, said the partial ban would be welcomed by many. It does not seem extreme. In the eyes of lots of Dutch people, they do not like the burqa at all, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#6
Except that because of projected Muslim upset over the film, the burqa ban is off the table. The film release has been delayed for two weeks for the same reason.
Media insiders in London report that The Independent, the British paper of which the viciously anti-American and anti-Israeli polemicist Robert Fisk is the star foreign correspondent, is in dire financial straits and is now considering launching a free edition to boost circulation and shore up its advertising revenues.
The Independents editor, Simon Kelner, has denied the reports but the rumors persist.
Circulation for The Independent was 228,400 in December, down 4.3% compared with November and down 5.7% compared with the previous year. This is now well below sales for each of the other dozen or so British national daily papers.
About 40,000 of The Independents December sales were estimated to be bulk copies, sold to airlines, gyms, and hotels and then distributed to customers for free.
Nevertheless the paper continues to have influence far beyond its immediate readership, with articles by Fisk and others republished on anti-American websites the world over.
Among those who have praised the writings of Fisk is Osama Bin Laden.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/24/2008 13:37 ||
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#1
Maybe Fisk can get on USB's payroll when the Independent folds.
#2
"Circulation for The Independent was 228,400 in December ... About 40,000 of The Independents December sales were estimated to be bulk copies, sold to airlines, gyms, and hotels and then distributed to customers for free."
Meaning that the number of people in the world who chose to buy The Indie is equivalent to something less than the population of Warrington. Wow.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The commander of U.S. forces in Central Asia has launched planning for more extensive use of U.S. troops to train Pakistani armed forces, a senior defense official said Wednesday.
Oh, this is a bad idea ...
Adm. William J. Fallon, commander of U.S. Central Command, issued a planning order, an internal instruction to lower-level commanders, to propose ideas for a long-term approach to helping Pakistan combat what has become an expanding, homegrown insurgency that threatens the stability of the government.
I don't think training is the major issue with the Pak army's inability/unwillingness to confront the Talibs ...
Fallon's intent is to develop new approaches to help Pakistan, with a time horizon stretching to 2015, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the order has not been made public. A central assumption in the planning is that no such U.S. training contribution would be made without the Pakistani government's prior approval, the official said.
In an interview last week during a conference with Middle Eastern defense chiefs in Florida, Fallon said Pakistan is taking a more welcoming view of U.S. suggestions for using American troops to train and advise its own forces in the fight against anti-government extremists.
Anything to deflect responsibility for their own failures ...
Fallon said he believes increased violence inside Pakistan in recent months has led Pakistani leaders to conclude that they must focus more intensively on extremist al-Qaida hideouts near the border with Afghanistan. ``They see they've got real problems internally,'' Fallon said. ``My sense is there is an increased willingness to address these problems, and we're going to try to help them.'' He said U.S. assistance would be ``more robust,'' but he offered few details. ``There is more willingness to do that now'' on Pakistan's part, he said.
I think Adm. Fallon is being led down the garden path ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Either down the garden path, or an opportunity to get a sufficiency of advisers with Ranger patches and lots of free time for playing tourist.
#2
When they say history doesn't repeat itself, just point out that human behavior is consistent.
In the latter half of the 19th Century the Apache would raid our Southwest out of Mexico. No amount of diplomatic 'pressure' or complaint would get Mexico City to act against the Apache based in their northern territories. So the American Army put a full court press on the problem [even the anti-Army post Civil War Donks couldn't hold back their brethren from Texas who demanded action for obvious reasons]. When the heat became too much for the cheap cross border raids, the Apache turned upon their hosts in Mexico. Then and only then with the Apache causing death and destruction in their midsts, that undermined the political standing of the ruling class in Mexico City, that action was taken. Or as Yogi Berra would say - It's deja-vu all over again.
Opposing the recent Supreme Court order making marriage registration certificates mandatory, the New All-India Muslim Personal Law Board on Wednesday said the community would not accept the directive, as it was an infringement of the Muslim personal law.
Mohammed Hashmi Kanpuri, a member of the board, stated that each and every Muslim was bound with Shariat laws, given by Islam and guaranteed by the country's Constitution. "Any marriage in Islam is certified by three people including a Kazi, and there is no need for any other certification," he said. "Muslims are governed by their own rules which are different from the rules of other communities," said Mr Hashmi.
If Mo' didn't say it, it ain't so, etc, etc, etc ...
He stated that according to Shariat law, a girl can marry once she attains the age of 16 years, whereas the Constitution allows marriage only after the girl reaches the age of 18.
Taking a swipe at the government's anti-terrorism policies, another board member, Tauqeer Raza, said the community was being victimised in the name of curbing terrorism. "Every time, a terrorist act takes place, Muslim youth are blamed and taken into custody on mere suspicion, whereas the real culprits are never caught," he said.
How 'bout turning the 'real culprits' over?
The board members were of the view that all the governments in power have adopted the policy of 'use and dump' whenever the issues relating to Muslims have come up.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Uh oh, you just the Muslim babes are going to demand some Mullah get tasered for this one.
#3
He stated that according to Shariat law, a girl can marry once she attains the age of 16 years
Taqqiya for the Hindus?
Posted by: ed ||
01/24/2008 12:53 Comments ||
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#4
France in Algeria used to have a rule, you could vote if you accepted French marriage and divorce law. Or you could follow your own (muslim) law, but then you couldnt vote. Worked, for a while.
I think we can see a pattern here: No matter what the Pak government does against terrorists, win or lose, they're still going to surrender.
The government has said it would release Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) Chief Sufi Muhammad after the implementation of its proposed Shari Nizam-e-Adl Regulation of 2008 in Malakand division. The proposed regulation is aimed at ending the unrest created by rebel cleric Maulana Fazlullah.
Talks between government and the leaders of the banned outfit have accelerated in the last two weeks, officials and TNSM leaders said. TNSM acting chief Muhammad Alam said TNSM leaders wanted their ailing leader released, while the government wanted to implement its proposed Shari Nizam-e-Adl Regulation.
The proposed new law will repeal the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and high courts in Malakand (including Swat district) to speed up the justice delivery system in the aftermath of the unrest created by cleric Maulana Fazlullah.
TNSM will definitely accept the reforms under which Islamic laws are being imposed, Alam said. A government official, seeking anonymity, told Daily Times that the government would soon announce the promulgation of the proposed regulation to deal with the Swat crises politically. The government would announce several important decisions regarding Swat, he said, including the release of the TNSM chief. He said that a committee formed by the government had recommended that the Supreme Court and high courts Extension of Jurisdiction to Tribal Areas Act, 1973 (Act XVII of 1973) be repealed and the Federal Shariah Court have an exclusive jurisdiction there.
This article starring:
MAULANA FAZLULLAH
TNSM
MUHAMAD ALAM
TNSM
SUFI MUHAMAD
TNSM
Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Former premier Benazir Bhutto told an American reporter that a brother country had warned her that four networks, three of them operating in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, and one based in Karachi, planned to kill her.
Steve Coll, former Washington Post correspondent, writes in the January 28 issue of the New Yorker magazine that the three Federally Administrated Tribal Areas groups were Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and Lal Masjid survivors. She told him that the support networks of these groups were rooted in sections of Pakistans government.
She told Coll in October after the attack on her homecoming procession, Everybody talks about Baitullah Mehsud and Osama Bin Laden and all of that. There is another structure that is giving them succour, that is giving them encouragement.
As prime minister, she had discussed support to Islamist groups with ISI officials, a fact that she denied at the time but later conceded.
Benazir told Coll when he asked if she trusted Musharraf, You cant see into peoples hearts. I dont know him, so I cant say. The contacts between Benazir and Musharraf began in August 2006 when he phoned her while she was in New York. Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani, then the chief of the ISI, led an initial round of discussions. Benazir flew by helicopter to a palace in Abu Dhabi in January 2007 to meet Musharraf, he writes.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Only 4 groups? Seemed like there should have been more in Pakland.
Mehsud tribesmen staged a demonstration in the South Waziristan political katchehry (court) in Tank here on Wednesday. Addressing the demonstrators, local elder Hassan Khan appealed to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Amnesty International, Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and national and international media organisations to witness atrocities being committed against tribesmen.
He said economic sanctions had been imposed on the tribesmen of South Wazirstan, calling them a violation of international laws and United Nations charter. Other speakers said the government had deployed around 70,000 troops along the border with Afghanistan, which according to them was guarded by the Mehsud tribesmen in the past.
Later, local elders held a jirga. Several elders, including Maulana Mirajuddin and Malik Masood Ahmed, told the jirga that tribesmen should join hands to prepare a strategy to resolve the crisis.
Maulana Attaur Rehman, brother of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and a candidate for NA-25, also participated in the jirga, assuring the tribesmen of his support. He said, Action being taken by the government against tribal people, especially the Mehsud tribe, is a blow to national interests. The jirga formed a 33-member committee, which would resume its activities from Thursday (today) for restoring peace in the area. Also, Mehsud traders in Tank observed a shutter-down strike against the ongoing military operation in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Canada has withdrawn its support for a UN anti-racism conference slated to take place in South Africa next year after deeming it to be anti-Israel, a government official said Wednesday.
The so-called Durban II conference "has gone completely off the rails" and Canada wants no part of it, said Jason Kenney, Canada's secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity. "Canada is interested in combating racism, not promoting it," Kenney said. "We'll attend any conference that is opposed to racism and intolerance, not those that actually promote racism and intolerance."
The 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban turned into "a circus of intolerance," Kenney said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Lets hope Eskom can keep the electricity going for the upcoming Durban-II conference. With the numerous brownouts, portable electrical generator sales are skyrocketing of late.
#7
"Secretary of state for multiculturalism and Canadian identity"
You can pick one; you can't have both.
Maybe to be that "Secretary" you have to have a split personality....?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/24/2008 14:30 Comments ||
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#8
Skunky Glins5285 dear, that letter is absolutely delicious! Secretary Kenney would make a lovely minister of defense, or perhaps prime minister some day.
The sharp drop in violence that has accompanied the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq has given the war-torn country a rare opportunity for stability, analysts said on Wednesday.
The panel of independent experts on Iraq told a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that the fragile successes of recent months in Iraq could easily unwind if the United States is unwilling to maintain a large troop presence in the Gulf region for years to come.
"We may have an opportunity in Iraq that has not been available since 2003 to stabilize the country and avert the downside risks of failure," Stephen Biddle of the Council on Foreign relations told the House Armed Services hearing.
'Cos it don't say stable 'til *we* say it sez stable!"
They said the current lull in violence could be exploited to hold provincial elections that would help ease friction between elected officials and tribal sheikhs. They also recommended expanding cease-fire agreements, like the ones that have bought relative calm to previous hotspots such as Anbar province, into northern provinces.
But the analysts said a stable Iraq was less likely to resemble a model democracy than modern-day Bosnia or Kosovo, both volatile countries with substantial international civilian and military presences.
The hearing by the Armed Services Oversight and Investigations subcommittee was held to examine U.S. options at a time when the Bush administration is scheduled to withdraw about 20,000 troops from Iraq by mid-summer.
The brigades were the extra forces sent a year ago to quell sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shi'ites. There are currently about 158,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
Lawmakers were told that the 60 percent drop in violence last year was due largely to Sunni tribal leaders' backing of the U.S. military against al Qaeda in Iraq and radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's call for loyal Shi'ite militiamen to stand down.
Those developments, combined with an apparent reduction of Iranian support for violent Shi'ite militias, have altered the calculus of sectarian differences in the country and cast the U.S. mission in a more positive light, they said.
"While the U.S. presence may have stoked insurgent violence in Iraq between 2003 and 2006, the U.S. is, for now, a force for stability," said Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Lawrence Wilkerson, one-time chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, praised the competence of U.S. commander in Iraq Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker in tackling Iraq's problems.
But he said the U.S. chances of building on recent success would be severely limited by the time President George W. Bush's successor takes office a year from now because of personnel strains on the Army and the burden of $11 billion in costs for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"To continue to put this money in at the rate we're putting it out now, or even close to the rate we're putting it out now, is going to be virtually impossible," Wilkerson said.
"That's another constraint on the time we have left remaining to exploit these opportunities that we've got."
#3
The Republicans better start realizing we can't foot the tab any longer. We either seize their oil industry outright, or quit playing games and leave. The Dummos better consider what happens when they yank out the troops. Are they ready to pull the big trigger and incinerate these f**kers and set a precedent on how we will deal with all Islamos ? It's time for hard choices. No one is talking straight except for McClain who says we ought to stay for 100 years. Yeah, tell us who pays ? Our piggybank is empty. Not only that, our Wall Street geniuses have been putting in washers, not nickels, so we are more than broke.
#6
Of course we can foot the tab. We could foot a much bigger tab if we had to. It's a matter of choices, is all. Actually, if Mr.Zawahiri doesn't hurry up and answer the questions posted at his websites, we'll have won the Long War, except for mopping up Iran & Syria, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accepted an invitation to visit Baghdad, Iraq's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, a landmark trip that would make him the first leader of Iran to visit its former foe.
Iran and Iraq fought an eight-year war in the 1980s in which hundreds of thousands were killed, but relations have improved since Saddam Hussein was ousted in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and a Shi'ite Islamist-led government came to power.
"President Ahmadinejad has accepted an invitation from President (Jalal) Talabani to come to Iraq," Iraqi deputy Foreign Minister Labeed Abawi told Reuters.
An aide to Ahmadinejad, who asked not to be identified, said: "We have heard about it but no date has been scheduled."
Both Talabani and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have visited Shi'ite Iran, which some Middle East analysts say exerts greater influence in Iraq than the United States. The main Shi'ite political blocs in Iraq's government have enjoyed close ties with Iran in the past and were based there during Saddam's rule.
There has been tension over the U.S. military's continued detention of several Iranians. U.S. forces say the Iranians pose a danger to Iraq's security, but Tehran says they are diplomats or other innocents illegally held by the Americans. U.S. and Iranian officials were to have held a fourth round of talks in Baghdad in mid-December on curbing violence in Iraq but the meeting was put off. No new date has been set, U.S. embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said.
The U.S. military said at the weekend there had been a sharp drop in the number of Iranian weapons being used in Iraq but no let-up in Tehran's training and financing of Iraq militias.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The U.S. military said at the weekend there had been a sharp drop in the number of Iranian weapons being used in Iraq but no let-up in Tehran's training and financing of Iraq militias.
And as such cannot quite guarantee Nutjob's safety. But he should be OK. Probably.
Hey! This wasn't supposed to happen...
CAIRO, Egypt - The Gaza border crisis caused another sharp flap Thursday in Egyptian-Israeli relations, with Egypt angrily accusing Israel of trying to dump all responsibility for the troubled Gaza Strip in its lap. Aw, c'mon, Hosni. Help your Pali "brothers" out.
It was not clear if the proposal for Israel to relinquish all control over Gaza, expressed privately by several Israeli officials and publicly by one, was serious or just an effort to test international reaction to the idea. Toss them the keys and wish them luck. Maybe it'll sink in then.
But Egyptian officials were fuming."This is a wrong assumption," Hossam Zaki, the official spokesman for Egypt's Foreign Ministry, said of Israeli hints that it was thinking of giving up administration of Gaza, including supplying electricity, now that the Palestinian territory's southern border with Egypt is open. "The current situation is only an exception and for temporary reasons," Zaki said. "The border will eventually go back to normal." Aw, c'mon, Hossam. You'll love 'em! As you well know, they spread sweetness and light wherever they go...
Another senior Egyptian official said he hoped the Israeli idea was "not serious and only meant for local consumption." He spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to speak publicly about the sensitive matter. ...oh, please, make it go away.
In the past two days, Gazans have stocked up on supplies in Egypt, including cement, fuel, generators and other staples. Israel then stopped emergency shipments of industrial diesel fuel, arguing that Gazans were now able to get supplies from Egypt. Several Israeli leaders have suggested Israel should stop such shipments and oversight of Gaza altogether permanently. "We need to understand that when Gaza is open to the other side we lose responsibility for it. So we want to disconnect from it," Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said Thursday. Vilnai said Israel's 2005 disengagement from Gaza "continues, in that we want to stop supplying electricity to them, stop supplying them with water and medicine, so that it would come from another place. We are responsible for it as long as there is no alternative". Heh...heh...heh...eat that, Hosni.
Israel has long accused Egypt of not doing enough to stop weapons smuggling from its territory into Gaza, and the United States has said Egypt could do more to police the border. Uh-huh. Sure. We'll get right on that...
Some Israeli officials have suggested Egypt could be punished for its inaction, by being forced to deal alone with the dire needs of Gaza's 1.5 million impoverished residents. "We have an extraordinary opportunity here to roll responsibility for the Gaza Strip into Egypt's court," analyst Alex Fishman, wrote Thursday in the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot. Ya want em, ya got em.
Egyptian officials fumed at the proposal, and said Israeli officials had made no effort to consult with Cairo over the matter. Humminah humminah humminah humminah....
A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic, said Israel was not yet discussing the idea formally, but acknowledged it could serve Israel's interest. So long, suckers!
On Wednesday, Arab and U.S. officials in Washington said Egypt had assured Washington it soon will reseal its Gaza border. Real soon now that we've heard about this.
In Cairo, Egyptian officials said Thursday that closing the border and rebuilding the destroyed barrier there would take some time, but that the current situation would not continue for long. "Technically speaking, it cannot be restored within 24 hours it needs more time," said one security official on condition of anonymity, because he is not authorized to speak to the press. So as long as it's open, Israel can get out the cinder blocks up on their end?
But many Egyptians believe their government should not be saddled with responsibility for Gaza, which stayed under Egyptian control until 1967 when Israeli seized it in the Middle East War that year. "It goes against every grain we have," said Abdel Moneim Saeed, head of the Cairo-based Al Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies. They all love their Pali brothers. Just as long as they stay in their own neighborhood...
#1
The Israelis should just do it, cut Gaza off and say "not our problem". That in essence is what Egypt did.
But the best part is that Egypt will not tolerate the Paleos cutting up rough. After years of telling the Egyptian people that the Paleos were their brothers, now they will have to discipline them. In Egypt, that means "kill".
#3
To line the smuggling tunnels with, flash91, in case the border wall is rebuilt. Also to rebuild all those houses the Israelis knocked down... and the ones that came apart as a result of work accidents.
#4
let Egypt deal with em. Cut em off - every drop of fuel & water, and amp of electricity from the evil Joooooos
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/24/2008 21:40 Comments ||
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#5
The Israelis need to shut of the electricity and put up a sign saying "DANGER---ONE MILLION OHMS!"
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/24/2008 22:31 Comments ||
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#6
Why, AP?
Think the paleos will be attracted by the "1 million" (and not know what an "ohm" is) and try to steal them? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/24/2008 22:34 Comments ||
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#7
Maybe we can turn on the power after the ohm swarm.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/24/2008 22:37 Comments ||
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#8
hehe, I find this funny as hell and think this is the right idea. Let Egypt have them and when the Egyptians administer "collective punishment" let the world whine and wail (the world won't because it's not the "evil Jews" doing it)
Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said on Monday that Israel may have to take military action to prevent its archfoe Iran from acquiring an atomic bomb. Bolton also said that further UN sanctions against the Islamic republic will be ineffective in stopping Iran's controversial nuclear programme which Israel and the US believe is aimed at developing a bomb -- a claim denied by Tehran.
"One can say with some assurance that in the next year the use of force by the United States is highly unlikely," Bolton told AFP on the sidelines of the Herzliya conference on the balance of Israel's national security. "That increases the pressure on Israel in that period of time... if it feels Iran is on the verge of acquiring that capability, it brings the decision point home to use force," he said.
The hawkish former diplomat said that after a US intelligence report published late last year that claimed Iran had suspended a nuclear weapons programme in 2003, the US was unlikely to take military action against it. "The pressure is on Israel now after the National Intelligence Estimate because, I think, the likelihood of American use of force has been dramatically reduced," he said.
Ambassador Bolton devoted the first part of his speech to an attempt to push the Israeli press into revealing details of the strike against the suspected Syrian nuclear facility four months ago. "There is a lot that we don't know about the facility because of the veil of secrecy that the Israel government and the American government have tried to throw over it," he said. "We don't know for example exactly what the facility was whether it was a clone of the Yongbyon reactor; whether it was a uranium enrichment facility; whether it was a storage location for North Korean plutonium or plutonium based weapons," he added, and explained that he could speak freely at the conference because the American Constitution's First Amendment applied to him even when he was abroad (this elicited laughter from the audience).
Bolton went on to list his conjectures: "We don't know if it was North Korea in effect renting space in Syria to recreate the North Korean program. We don't know if it was a sale of technology or equipment from North Korea directly to Syria and we don't know whether it was a joint venture perhaps between Syria and North Korea working together," he said. "Our governments, however, do know the answers to some of these questions."
He continued with a jab at Israel's media: "What I don't understand really is the timid nature of the Israeli press which I know knows a lot more about this strike than it's been willing to talk about. I am sure somewhere in the Israeli press there is a John Peter Zengler who is willing to risk something in order to give the public more information about this."
Bolton explained that this information is being withheld for fear that if it came out that North Korea once again, following its game plan, was engaged in nuclear proliferation contrary to its obligations, it would embarrass the U.S. which is seeking ways to back off of North Korea.
Regarding the IAF Syria raid, Bolton said: "The daring and successful Israeli military strike has obvious significance for the potential of a military strike against Iran's nuclear program. I think, given the debacle caused by our National Intelligence Estimate, that it's close to zero likelihood that President Bush will authorize use of military force against Iran's program before he leaves office, absent some dramatic new development."
He concluded: "Certainly in Teheran you can bet that they took careful notice of what the Israeli Defense Force did. Penetrating Russian supplied radars very similar to the air defenses that Teheran has; using techniques that could be very useful for a long range strike against Iran; this is the kind of operation that the Iranians need to continue to worry about. Because I think with the collapse of American policy, the Israeli strike against the Syrian / North Korea facility is the harbinger of what may be absent regime change in Teheran the last resort Unless you are prepared to see Iran proceed unmolested toward a nuclear weapons capability, which this NIE has given them free rein to do in my judgment, you are coming very close to a decision point in this country of whether you will use military force to stop Iran."
#3
So if Bush doesn't have the political capital to do what needs to be done with Iran by himself, then the Israelis should get the ball rolling. Then when Iran retaliates Bush has to keep his promise to defend Israel. Works for me.
#5
I'm sure Israel is accepting the Bolton reaction as something less than a 'cold water splash in the face'. A steady methodical realization has blanketed the Jewish state. The calm of resolve will guide the Israelis to their destiny, and the US knows it!
#6
The Israelis aren't going to attack. The Americans aren't going to attack. The Iranians know it and rightly believe they have the biggest balls in the neighborhood.
The Iranians are idiots if they don't already have the U235 for half a dozen bombs. The only question is when will they figured out how to build the Chinese implosion type device so they can place them on top of their ballistic missiles. The Pakis still seem to be hit and miss on that.
Posted by: ed ||
01/24/2008 12:31 Comments ||
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#7
The Radical Islamist agenda is GLOBAL in scale - as per the implosion of the former USSR, THE GREATEST FEAR THE ISLAMISTS HAVE IS FEAR OF THEIR OWN SELF-DECLINE/OBSOLESCENCE AS A GOD-BASED FAITH + MODEL FOR HUMAN-SOCIETAL BEHAVIOR. By their own scope peace wid the US-West can only be TEMPORARY - FAILURE > ISLAM/ISLAMISM WILL BE SHOWN TO BE A FALSE RELIGION-DOGMA.
DUBYA-USA ENTRENCHMENT > The longer the USA-West is NOT suborned, defeated or destroyed, the harder it will be for Radicalists to "justify" Islam/Islamism.
As before, 9-11/WOT > THE "STATUS QUO" IS NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE OR TOLERABLE, EITHER FOR PRO-AMERICANS NOR FOR ANTI-AMERICANS. America is not made safe by it deciding to unilater leave or pullout from the ME in the name of peace wid Islam = Radical Islamists.
The number of Arab Israeli youth performing national service has more than doubled this academic year, despite strong opposition to the initiative by the overwhelmingly majority of Arab community leaders. According to figures provided by the Administration for National Service, 240 Arab Israeli youth chose to volunteer for national service in the 2005/2006 academic year. The number rose to 289 in the last academic year, and jumped to 628 in the current one.
Three-quarters of Arab Israeli youth want to volunteer for national service, according to findings presented at the Herzliya Conference on Wednesday.
The national service program has been angrily rejected by leaders such as MK Jamal Zahalka, who said the Arab community would treat participants "like lepers," and other MKs and Islamic Movement leaders who have suggested recently that the voluntary program is a covert plan to eventually draft young Arabs into the IDF.
According to a study presented at the conference, 75.3 percent of Israeli Arabs support national service, compared to just 7.8% of the community's leaders. The support, however, was deeply affected by communal attitudes.
Asked if they would support the program if Israeli Arab leaders opposed it, support for national service among respondents fell drastically to 42.2%. If local community leaders were also opposed, support fell further to 35%, and if one's family were opposed, it fell to 27.1%.
The study, conducted by University of Haifa researchers in late 2007 among 910 Israeli Arabs and 78 community leaders, also questioned the reasoning behind the different attitudes of the leadership and the general population.
The study found that most of those opposed to participating in national service did so for nationalistic reasons, with some saying it was a first step toward forced military draft, some opposing the participation in state institutions and some expressing skepticism that national service would help Arabs achieve equality. Meanwhile, supporters of national service said they favored the program because it would benefit them personally.
According to the Administration for National Service, nearly all the Arab Israeli youth who choose to volunteer do so in their own communities. Half of them work in educational institutions and half of them gravitate to the health and welfare fields.
Last week, a government decision went into effect establishing the Administration for National-Civic Service in the Prime Minister's Office, creating a mechanism for expanding the national service program beyond the current annual number of some 11,000 volunteers, most of whom are religious Jews.
Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Tuesday that Spain would continue to support the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) after meeting with visiting PNA counterpart, Salam Fayyad.
According to a statement, Zapatero told Fayyad of his concern for Gaza's situation, underlined the international community's recognition of the PNA and urged Fayyad to continue to seek peace, despite difficult circumstances. "Spain has always supported the PNA with words as well as deeds," Zapatero said, emphasizing the government's interest in PNA stability.
Fayyad emphasized the "enormous weight" that Spain exercises within the European Union to promote the Israel-Palestine peace process and thanked Spain for always being "very receptive" to the grievances of Palestinians, the bulk of whom want peace with Israel, he insisted. He also called for international efforts to ensure the agreements made at the Annapolis conference were fulfilled and underlined the importance of the PNA controlling Gaza.
Fayyad also said he was very worried by the Gaza crisis, arguing that the civilian population was worst hit, and restated a call for the PNA to control border posts. Such a move would resolve many problems within Palestine, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
Hamas's exiled leader said Wednesday his group was willing to work with Egypt and his rivals in the Palestinian Authority to bring order to the chaotic situation on the Egypt-Gaza border. The comments by Khaled Mashaal, political bureau head of Hamas, came shortly after tens of thousands of Gazans poured into Egypt across the Rafah border crossing. Overnight, Palestinian gunmen had blown holes in the border wall, allowing the influx. "We in the Hamas movement and our brothers in the Palestinian government headed by Ismail Haniyeh declare our readiness to reach an understanding with the brothers in Ramallah (Palestinian Authority) and the brothers in Egypt on how to manage those crossings," Mashaal said at a three-day conference of Syria-based Palestinian factions opposed to peace with Israel. More than 1,500 people attended the conference, aimed at boosting national unity. "We don't want to control anything. We want liberty and relief for our Palestinian people," Mashaal said.
Now that they've knocked the wall down between Egypt and Gaza ...
He also called for the Gaza border crossings with Egypt to be purely controlled by Palestinians and Egyptians. "The most important standard for lifting the siege on Gaza is that the Rafah crossing be opened and be purely under the Palestinians and Egyptians without any blackmail," he said.
Later Wednesday, Gaza's Hamas Prime Minister Haniyeh called for "an urgent speedy meeting" in Egypt to work out a new shared arrangement for Gaza's border crossings. Under a 2006 agreement after Israel pulled out of Gaza, the Palestinian Authority was left in charge of the crossings but with monitors from the European Union supervising. Israel also had cameras and computers installed there to monitor and vet who should cross. That agreement collapsed when Hamas took over Gaza in June.
Mashaal said international agreements can be abrogated and noted that Egypt was not a signatory to the 2006 border agreement. As if urging Egypt and Arabs to ignore the agreement, he pointed out that Egypt had in the past nationalized the Suez Canal and Gulf states had nationalized their oil industry. "I am addressing all the Arabs: Don't say it as an excuse that there is an international agreement concerning the Rafah crossing," he said. Directly addressing the Egyptians, he said: "This (agreement) is not binding on you nor on our people."
He said Israel's partial lifting of the blockade was a "plot to absorb the Arab and Palestinian wrath" and called on Arab countries to help lift the siege of Gaza. "No one can believe that you can't lift the siege ... don't deceive yourselves."
He urged the Arab League foreign ministers' meeting scheduled for Sunday in Cairo to call for lifting the siege on Gaza, which he called the "biggest prison in history." "Any other decision is unacceptable," he added.
Ramadan Shallah, who heads the Islamic Jihad movement, called on the Palestinian Authority to immediately stop what he said were "nonsense and farce" negotiations with Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Seeing how you're hiding under your bed in Syria, which border are we talking about, Khaled...
#3
"Willing to work with Egypt and his rivals in the Palestinian AUthority" - but NOT ISRAEL???
WND: FATAH's military wing, i.e. the AL-AQSR MARTYRS BRIGADES, has allegedly called up WND to claim credit for two new terror attacks today in the North + South of JERUSALEM. ARTICLE > AL-AQSR MARYRS BRIGADES, besides ISLAMIC JIHAD, has claimed credit for every single anti-Israeli Terror attack in 2005 + 2006 besides also 000's of rocket attacks???
#4
They can claim anything they want when the hard boyz are on multiple payrolls, JosephM. Hamas today, Islamic Jihad tomorrow, U.S. Army-trained Palestinian Authority police the next... one's got to feed the family somehow, after all, and cigarette prices only just came down again.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday rejected calls to halt peace talks despite the crisis in the Gaza Strip, and criticized Hamas for firing rockets at Negev communities. "Negotiations and contacts with Israel must continue," Abbas told reporters in Ramallah. "We must even step up these negotiations and contacts to end the suffering of our people." Abbas, who was speaking at a joint press conference with Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, said halting negotiations wouldn't help the Palestinians.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
An Arabic-language Web site hosted on a server located in Tampa, Fla., is apparently offering a new version of software that was designed to help al-Qaeda supporters encrypt their Internet communications. The new encryption tool is called Mujahideen Secrets 2 and appears to be an updated version of easier-to-crack software that was released early last year, said Paul Henry, vice president of technology evangelism at Secure Computing Corp. in San Jose.
The tool is being distributed free of charge on a password-protected Web site that belongs to an Islamic forum known as al-Ekhlaas, according to Henry and a blog posting by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
Henry said that he contacted the FBI about the al-Ekhlaas site and its contents last weekend. But as of this afternoon, the site was still up and running. Prior to being hosted on the server in Tampa, the site appears to have been run off of a system in Minnesota, Henry said. MEMRI identified the Web hosting firm that owns the server on which the al-Ekhlaas site is running as Tampa-based Noc4hosts Inc. Officials from the hosting firm didn't immediately return calls to a general toll-free number listed on its Web site.
Because of the password protection, Henry hasn't been able to download the new tool and therefore can't say what level of encryption it supports. But he said that a banner ad on the site claims that the software offers the highest level of encryption now available. That means it likely uses at least 1024-bit encryption, whereas the first version of Mujahideen Secrets used 256-bit AES encryption, he said.
A Reuters story posted Jan. 18 and datelined Dubai quoted the al-Ekhlaas Web site as saying that the new release was a "special edition" of the encryption tool created "in order to support the mujahideen in general and the Islamic State in Iraq in particular." That organization was described by Reuters as being linked to al-Qaeda.
Efforts by groups that support al-Qaeda to develop their own encryption tools appear to be driven by concerns about possible back doors being built into publicly available encryption software, Henry said. He added that the upgraded Mujahideen Secrets tool could cause problems for law enforcement and antiterrorism agencies that are tracking the activities of such groups. "Up to this point in time, we have been able to discount al-Qaeda's use of the Internet as an attack vehicle because of their use of outdated and easily thwarted technologies," Henry said. But, he warned, that could begin to change if al-Qaeda backers start adopting more up-to-date tools.
MEMRI posted a notice last January about the release of the original version of Mujahideen Secrets. The initial release was announced by the Global Islamic Media Front on Jan. 1, 2007, according to the MEMRI. It noted that the GIMF advertised the tool as "the first Islamic computer program for secure exchange [of information] on the Internet" and went on to say that the software provided users with "the five best encryption algorithms, and with symmetrical encryption keys (256 bit), asymmetrical encryption keys (2048 bit) and data compression."
#1
Quiet, you fools! The new version's got a backdoor!
Half the hackers and cryptographers in Islamist circles work for the NSA. And we're not telling you which half.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/24/2008 8:09 Comments ||
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#2
It doesn't matter how many bits they use. That's not how we break 'em.
Wonder if this software has a distinctive trace associated with files it encrypts? Wouldn't it be interesting if you could immediately identify terrorist communications based on their having used this software to encrypt them. After all, it's one thing to know what's being said, and quite another to know who said it and to whom.
#3
Shhhhh! Y'all keep quiet about how sneaky we are this stuff. DON'T give away any secrets.
Thank goodness nobody from Al-Q ever reads Rantburg or we'd be in real trouble....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/24/2008 12:50 Comments ||
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#4
Relax, I'm just bullshitting. I'm a liberal arts major, for the love of Ham. Why would I know anyone in the NSA?
Honest.
Seriously? The more uncertainty and distrust you can sow among the bastards, the better. Paranoia myopically checks every crevice of his boots for hidden scorpions while blind ignorant overconfidence strides happily across the world's stage. Most of the time the scorpion's in somebody else's shoe.
Except this time, Achmed. Better check, because I'm short a scorpion. And every copy of Microsoft has a keystroke recorder & remailer activated when you set your language to Arabic or Farsi. (Who needs to break unbreakable crypto when you can just catch the keystrokes involved in the composition process?)
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/24/2008 14:33 Comments ||
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#5
They are in your eggs.
The are in everybody's eggs.
/Firesign Theater
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/24/2008 16:40 Comments ||
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An Iranian Foreign Ministry official said here Wednesday that Iran has refused to receive a message from the US.
"Iran refused to accept the US government's message due to the appearance of the world `Gulf' instead of `Persian Gulf' in it and rejected it. So, on this basis, no message has yet been received and evidently, once a revised version is received, it would be investigated," Head of the No. 1 American Affairs Department at Foreign Ministry Ali-Akbar Rezaie told IRNA on Wednesday.
Rezaie made the remark when asked about his assessment of certain media reports on the delivery of the US government's message to Iran by Swiss Embassy and hesitation about receipt or non-receipt of the US government's message to Iran's Foreign Ministry on the formation of a joint military committee.
Elaborating on the message, Rezaie said, "On January 10, 2008, the US government's message was delivered to Iran's Foreign Ministry by the Swiss Embassy concerning the Iranian Navy's encounter with American navies in the Persian Gulf but since the message twice cited instead of `Persian Gulf', the Foreign Ministry customarily declined to accept it and returned it. Therefore, no message has yet been received. Obviously, once the revised version is received it would be investigated."
He added, "On November 21, 2007, the US government sent a message which cited a number of international signs for conversation between the Islamic Republic of Iran's Navy and the US in the Persian Gulf. Thirty days after its (the message's) delivery, it (the US government) offered through Swiss Embassy in Iran the proposal for observation of the signs in conversations. The message has made no reference to the formation of a joint military committee and content of the message was revealed to related authorities for consideration and investigation."
Rezaie noted, "It's worth mentioning that as honorable military officials of the country have announced, all conversations in the Persian Gulf and in the course of the January 6 encounter had been based on the internationally recognized signs and customary measures." He said, "As you see, Foreign Ministry spokesman's statements concerned careful investigation of the issue and of content of the messages (conversations), especially the point questioned by the (IRNA) reporter with regards to the offer for formation of a joint military committee by Iran and the US. And it is necessary to express actual conversation in details of the issue. So, creating any suspicion in public opinion would be an unprofessional and irresponsible move and approach."
A reminder for the left/socialist/progressive types who think that Iran is a democracy ...
TEHERAN - Irans conservative vetting body the Guardians Council has disqualified more than half of the reformist candidates for March parliamentary polls, the Reformists Coalition spokesman told AFP on Wednesday. In some provinces more than 70 percent of our candidates were rejected. We can say more than 50 percent of our candidates were disqualified throughout the country, Abdollah Nasseri said.
Inspired by former president Mohammad Khatami, the coalition brings together 21 pro-reform groups, including the largest reformist party, Islamic Irans Participation Front (IIPF), and the Organisation of Islamic Revolution Mujahedeen. Practically all IIPF and Mujahedeen candidates were rejected, Nasseri said of the two groups whose members served as key cabinet ministers and lawmakers during Khatamis presidency from 1997 to 2005.
Interior ministry committees were tasked with screening 7,168 hopefuls for the March 14 polls by gathering information from the police, intelligence ministry, the judiciary and by making local inquiries. The committees passed the results to the local surveillance commissions of the Guardians Council, a powerful electoral watchdog controlled by conservatives, which has the final say on the choice of candidates.
Rejected candidates have until January 26 to appeal to the surveillance commissions. If unsuccessful, they can then appeal directly to the Guardians Council itself, which has 20 days to give a ruling. Nasseri said there was a chance that the surveillance commissions would allow some reformist candidates to stand.
In 2004 the Guardians Council barred more than 2,000 mostly reformist candidates out of a total number of 8,172 candidates. The conservatives won a landslide victory in the legislative elections which saw a low turnout.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Half is not bad. Last time they banned all "reformist" candidates.
"If Israel even thinks about attacking Lebanon, Hizbullah will stand up against it," the group's deputy leader Sheikh Naim Kassem said Wednesday night.
In an interview with Hizbullah's Al-Manar television network, Kassem also said that the recent speech by Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, in which he claimed Israel left behind body parts on the battlefield in Lebanon, had "fully achieved its goal."
He said Israel had been lying to the families of fallen and wounded soldiers and that they had not been given the "full picture." The Hizbullah deputy chief vowed that any attempt to harm Nasrallah would be met with "unforeseen consequences."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
I'm sure that if Hezballah doesn't get its a$$ kicked soon it's because everyone's afraid of Nasrallah, wherever he is hiding.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa found out during his last visit to Syria that Damascus has a different road map for Lebanon than the proposed Arab initiative , according to sources close to Moussa. The three point Arab League plan calls for the immediate election of the president to be followed by the formation of a national unity government based on the constitution, to be followed by a new electoral law . A step by step approach for ending the crises .
The Syrian road map centers around blocking the second step (Government formation) of the Arab plan in order to achieve its ultimate objective which is the blocking of the election of army General Michel Suleiman and replacing him with a candidate who will be similar to the former president Emile Lahoud . This is the reason for the recent accusations by the Lebanese pro-Syrian media against General Suleiman . In doing so the media is trying to prepare the country for his dismissal as the only candidate and replacing him by a pro-Syrian candidate . The media even claimed that Syrian president Bashar al Assad has picked out one name from the list of candidates that Cardinal Sfeir has presented to Berri, but this could not be confirmed.
General Michel Aoun is not the candidate that Syria has in mind according to the sources. This is why when Aoun found out about Syrias plans he decided not to go to the quartet meeting that was scheduled for last Saturday. Aoun pretended that he was sick with kidney stones and asked his son- in -law to represent him in the meeting . This is of course a big blow to Aouns dream.
This is the second time that the Syrians deceive general Aoun the first time was in 1988.
Aoun joined the Hezbollah-led opposition with the sole objective of replacing Lahoud as the next president . His alliance angered the Christian community and the parliament majority and turned his dream into a nightmare.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians crossed into Egypt from Gaza on Wednesday after gunmen destroyed about two-thirds of the Gaza-Egypt border wall. Most of the Gazans returned after stocking up on food and other basic supplies that have become scarce due to the blockade imposed on the territory by Israel. 
Mehsud tribesmen staged a demonstration in the South Waziristan political katchehry (court) in Tank here on Wednesday. Addressing the demonstrators, local elder Hassan Khan appealed to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Amnesty International, Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and national and international media organisations to witness atrocities being committed against tribesmen.
The sharp drop in violence that has accompanied the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq has given the war-torn country a rare opportunity for stability, analysts said on Wednesday.
Hamas's exiled leader said Wednesday his group was willing to work with Egypt and his rivals in the Palestinian Authority to bring order to the chaotic situation on the Egypt-Gaza border. The comments by Khaled Mashaal, political bureau head of Hamas, came shortly after tens of thousands of Gazans poured into Egypt across the Rafah border crossing. Overnight, Palestinian gunmen had blown holes in the border wall, allowing the influx. "We in the Hamas movement and our brothers in the Palestinian government headed by Ismail Haniyeh declare our readiness to reach an understanding with the brothers in Ramallah (Palestinian Authority) and the brothers in Egypt on how to manage those crossings," Mashaal said at a three-day conference of Syria-based Palestinian factions opposed to peace with Israel. More than 1,500 people attended the conference, aimed at boosting national unity. "We don't want to control anything. We want liberty and relief for our Palestinian people," Mashaal said. 
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday rejected calls to halt peace talks despite the crisis in the Gaza Strip, and criticized Hamas for firing rockets at Negev communities. "Negotiations and contacts with Israel must continue," Abbas told reporters in Ramallah. "We must even step up these negotiations and contacts to end the suffering of our people." Abbas, who was speaking at a joint press conference with Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, said halting negotiations wouldn't help the Palestinians.
"If Israel even thinks about attacking Lebanon, Hizbullah will stand up against it," the group's deputy leader Sheikh Naim Kassem said Wednesday night. 
