[Dawn] A US-based rights watchdog said Friday an Afghan bill that 'formalises discrimination' against Shia women had become law and accused President Hamid Karzai of using it to win votes. Human Rights Watch said it had learned that the bill had been published in the official Gazette on July 27, giving it the force of law. 'Afghanistan's influential international supporters should insist that President Hamid Karzai act to amend the notorious law that formalises discrimination against Shia women,' Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
There was no official announcement and government officials could not be immediately reached to confirm the legislation's publication.
Karzai in April ordered the justice ministry to review the legislation, which he had already signed in March, after an outcry from Afghan and international groups which said it legalised Taliban-era restrictions on women. However, the justice ministry has not announced the results of its review.
Karzai, who is expected to win a second term at an election on August 20, said that any article which violated women's rights would be removed. But Human Rights Watch said it had seen a final copy of the law and it contained 'many regressive articles' while not being as severe as a draft version. These include giving a husband the right to withdraw basic maintenance from his wife, including food, if she refuses his sexual demands and that guardianship of children is granted only to fathers and grandfathers.
It also requires women to get permission from their husbands to work and effectively allows a rapist to avoid prosecution by paying 'blood money' to the affected girl, the New York-based group said.
It accused Karzai of an 'unthinkable' election deal with hardline Shia leaders who wanted special legislation to cover family matters for their minority, in return for the support of fundamentalists at the ballot box. Shias make up around 15 per cent of Afghanistan's population.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir issued a decree early Friday replacing influential intelligence chief Salah Gosh with his deputy Mohamed Atta Al-Moula Abbas. "President of the Republic ... Omar al-Bashir has issued a Republican Decree appointing Salah Abdallah as a Presidential Advisor," the official Suna news agency said. "The president has issued another Decree appointing General Mohamed Atta al-Moula as director general of the National Security and Intelligence Organ," the agency said in a terse statement without giving the reasons for the change.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi is abandoning his appeal against conviction, his lawyers said Friday, following reports he is set to be freed on compassionate grounds, which the United States has vehemently rejected.
Lawyers for the former Libyan agent, jailed for 27 years over the 1988 bombing, made the application two days ago to the High Court in Edinburgh, said legal firm Taylor & Kelly.
It still has to be approved by the court and a hearing will take place at Edinburgh's High Court on Tuesday, the Scottish Courts Service said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
now withdraw the compassionate release option. Let the POS die in a cell
Posted by: Frank G on the road ||
08/15/2009 10:25 Comments ||
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[Kyodo: Korea] South Korean President Lee Myung Bak will announce Saturday a plan to offer massive aid to North Korea if it abandons its nuclear ambitions, his office said Friday in a press release. The plan will be contained in a speech to commemorate the 64th anniversary of liberation from the Japanese colonial rule, which lasted from 1910 to 1945.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION WMF > VARIOUS Artics > NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR BLACKMAIL TURNS STEADILY AGZ CHINA. Iff the USA can change its NucDiplom Strategeery agz NOKOR, the latter's FOREIGN POLICY can also be easily adjusted. NOKOR CAN A POWERFUL "FIRM ANTI-CHIN/BEIJING FORTRESS FOR AMERICA IN ASIA", iff the USA plays its cards correctly. NOKOR"S NUCS reflects its REGIONAL FEARS ala TOKYO + BEIJING.
* SAME > WORST POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES FOR NORTH KOREA AND CHINA: NORTH KOREA TO USE NUCLEAR BOMBS AGZ CHINA: + MYSTERY: KIM JONG-IL SPEECH RANTS NOT ONLY AGZ USA [UNO-led Econ Sanctions] BUT STRANGELY ALSO AGZ CHINA [Poor-Negative domestic impact ala Nokor]???
A ban on the wearing of the burka in France would help stem the spread of the "cancer" of radical Islam, one of its female Muslim ministers has said.
Urban Regeneration Minister Fadela Amara told the Financial Times that a veil covering everything but the eyes represented "the oppression of women".
Ms Amara said she was "in favour of the burka not existing in my country".
The comments come as French MPs conduct hearings on whether to ban the garment, which covers the body from head to toe. The National Assembly set up the 32-member commission after President Nicolas Sarkozy said the burka was "not welcome" in France, home to Western Europe's largest population of Muslims.
Mr Sarkozy said it was unacceptable to have women who were "prisoners behind netting" and that burkas deprived them of identity. The president said it was not a sign of religion but a "sign of subservience". However, he also called for respect for Muslims.
It's not even subservience: it's control. The hard boyz in the Muslim neighborhood have de facto permission to beat up any Muslim woman who doesn't "dress properly". And they do. It's all about control.
[Iran Press TV Latest] An appeal court in Canada has upheld an order requiring the government to seek the return of Omar Khadr, a young Canadian held at Guantanamo, to the country.
"The government of Canada is reviewing the decision," Lawrence Cannon, a foreign affairs ministry spokesperson was quoted by AFP as saying on Friday.
In April, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that Ottawa's refusal to seek Khadr's repatriation violated his constitutional rights. The Conservative government challenged the ruling, but the appeal was rejected on Friday and the original decision was upheld.
Khadr, a Toronto native, is one of the youngest people ever imprisoned for war crimes. He was 15 when he was accused of killing an American soldier with a grenade during a 2002 battle in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
I don't see anything there that says the government must work quickly. O Bureaucrats of Canada, do what you do best!
#2
I'm comfortably certain the required positions in the Department of Justice haven't yet been filled ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/15/2009 13:28 Comments ||
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#3
We don't want him. We REALLY, REALLY don't want him. But if we're forced to take back on this soil, then he might quickly find his health to be in a failing state.
Seriously, there are a bunch of . . . . . "angry conservatives" with "hidden agendas" waiting to see the outcome of this one. And all with yet another potential Federal Election on the horizon.
A third man pleaded guilty Wednesday to terror-related charges stemming from a federal investigation into Americans traveling to Somalia to fight with Islamic militants.
Kamal Hassan acknowledged lying to FBI agents questioning him in February about the case and admitted spending time at a training camp run in Somalia by al-Shabab, a group designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist group linked to al-Qaida.
Hassan told federal agents that he traveled to Yemen after spending time in the camp, but admitted Wednesday to a federal judge in Minneapolis that he had lied. He told U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum he fought with al-Shabab in Somalia. Hassan also admitted concealing the identities of people he associated with in Minnesota and Somalia.
He faces up to eight years in prison in a plea agreement worked out with the U.S. attorney's office. A sentencing date wasn't immediately set.
Court documents unsealed later Wednesday showed that Hassan had pleaded guilty in February to two other charges: providing material support for terrorism and providing material support for a foreign terrorist organization. Court documents said Hassan faces up to 15 years in prison on each of those charges.
Two others also have pleaded guilty to terror-related charges. Salah Osman Ahmed, 26, of New Brighton, pleaded guilty in July to providing material support to terrorists. Ahmed acknowledged that he worked with al-Shabab in Somalia. Ahmed said he did menial labor at a training camp but acknowledged he also was trained to use guns.
Abdifatah Yusuf Isse, 25, of Seattle, pleaded guilty in April to one count of providing material support to terrorists. Isse also spent time in an al-Shabab camp in the lawless Horn of Africa country.
Posted by: ed ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti on Friday said that "foreign hands" were trying to destabilise the region, while referring to the Taliban insurgency in the province. "I have confirmation that foreign hands are involved in the insurgency," he said after attending a flag-hoisting ceremony at the Police Lines to celebrate the 63rd Independence Day. However, the CM did not name the foreign forces he suspected of supporting the Taliban. Interior Minister Rehman Malik handed over a list of training camps to Kabul where Islamabad said Delhi were training militants for subversive acts in Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Pakistan on Friday urged Taliban militants recovering from the apparent slaying of their leader to surrender, promising that those who did would be treated fairly.
The call could be a sign the government is seeking to exploit any potential weaknesses in the militant movement since Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was reportedly killed in a CIA missile strike on August 5. Pakistani and US officials believe he is dead, though his followers contend he is still alive.
'Say goodbye to terrorism and start a new life,' Interior Minister Rehman Malik appealed to the militants in televised comments to the media. 'This is a new day.'
He said those surrendering would be treated on an individual basis, with authorities deciding between 'leniency' and prosecution.
Al Qaeda and Taliban militants based close to the Afghan border have carried out a wave of bombings and shootings on government and Western targets in Pakistan over the last two years.
Pakistani officials have called on the militants to surrender before, but with little success. The level of behind-the-scenes contact between the two sides is unknown.
US and Western officials have said reaching out to moderate Taliban will likely be a major part of any solution to the raging insurgency in neighbouring Afghanistan, but have been concentrating on urging Pakistan to fight the extremists, not talk with them.
Pakistan launched an operation against militants close to the border in the Swat Valley earlier this year after they violated the terms of a peace deal. It claims to have killed more than 1,200 extremists there and brought the region under government control.
Since the apparent killing of Mehsud, government officials have claimed that militants are fighting over who will replace him. Taliban spokesman have denied any disunity.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
IOW, say hello Talibs to SECUUULA-A-AR POLITICS = ACTIVE POL CAMPAIGNING, iff your COMMIES-SOCS-ANARCHISTS, ETAL. OWG-NWO COMRADES-IN-GLOBALISM WILL LET YA???
[Geo News] Justice Tariq Parvez, Chief Justice Peshawar High Court Friday said the judges will soon resume work in Swat where judges for Darul-Qaza will also be appointed before long.
He expressed these views while talking to media in Peshawar High Court during a program to celebrate Independence Day.
Justice Tariq Pervez said there is no shortage of judges in Malakand, however the judiciary has not resumed its activities, as some of the requirements are yet to be fulfilled to make the judicial system and police to be fully functional again.
Justice Tariq said Darul-Qaza is a bench of the Peshawar High Court and it will soon appoint judges there.
Regarding price hike he said: "It is administration's responsibility to control the prices and not ours," adding, "however, we are doing our level best and we also took a suo moto notice in this regard."
Earlier, a flag-hoisting ceremony was held in which Justice Tariq Pervez hoisted the national flag. On-service and retired judges of the Peshawar High Court besides bar room's officials attended the ceremony.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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[ADN Kronos] A group of European MPs on Friday urged the United Nations to send a permanent mission to a refugee camp in northern Iraq, where Iranian exiles are alleged to have been violently attacked at the end of July. Residents at Camp Ashraf near the Iranian border claim at least nine residents were killed and another 450 injured when Iraqi security forces attacked the facility on 28 July and 29 July.
Let the European MPs find their own troops. Ours are busy.
Friends of a Free Iran in the European Parliament held a media conference on Friday to appeal for UN protection for the 3,500 members of the People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI) who live there.
The Iranian opposition group has been in Iraq since 1986.
Welcomed by Saddam Hussein, were they? Funny how the European MPs neglected to mention that. Perhaps there's a connection between SH's welcome and the Iraqi security forces actions.
And a further connection as to why the Euro MPs care so ...
The organisation has claimed another 36 people at the camp which is 60 kilometres north of Baghdad were detained by Iraqi security forces and the MPs accused Baghdad of a "worrying" complicity in the move.
The MPs expressed their solidarity with the people of Ashraf and all the other Iranians around the world that have been conducting a hunger strike in a bid to raise awareness and pressure UN secretary-general to provide UN protection at the camp.
Amnesty International said the 36 Iranian residents believed to have been detained by authorities were at risk of being forcibly returned to Iran.
Amnesty said the detainees were taken to a police station inside the camp and reported to have been beaten and tortured before being transferred to the town of al-Khalis, 25 kilometres to the south, with no access to lawyers or medical care.
"Amnesty International has urged the authorities not to forcibly return any Camp Ashraf resident or other Iranians to Iran, where they would be at risk of torture and other serious human rights violations," it said in a statement released this week.
"The organisation has called upon the Iraqi authorities to investigate all allegations of torture and beatings and to bring the perpetrators to justice."
Early this week human rights lawyers in Washington urged the Pentagon to take control of the camp and prevent further attacks and rights violations.
They claim that the Obama administration has largely ignored the issue and consider it a sovereign Iraqi matter.
But a Pentagon spokesman said the US defense department had no jurisdiction to assume control of the camp under the new bilateral security agreement that Washington reached with Baghdad in late 2008.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets on Friday to protest moves by the government to control the flow of information both in print and online, which has raised fears of a crackdown on free speech reminiscent of the regime of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein.
Some 200 Journalists, writers and booksellers demonstrated in Baghdad's Mutanabi Street in opposition of a governement decision to screen imported books that incite sectarianism and ban websites deemed pornographic or that encourage crimes such as bomb making, prostitution and "terrorism."
" Blocking internet websites and censoring books is a new dictatorship "
Iraqi human rights activist
Intellectuals said they worried such moves were a sign that the years of freer expression could be coming to an end and journalists worried a new draft legislation being mulled leaves them exposed to government interference in their profession.
"Blocking internet websites and censoring books is a new dictatorship," said Muhammad al-Rubaie, a human rights activist.
"They want to stop the free word from unveiling corruption. We will work in parliament to cancel any censorship that limits the freedom of expression," the head of Iraq's Integrity Commission in parliament, Sabah al-Saedi, said.
Iraq's 2005 constitution enshrines freedom of the press and publication unless they "violate public order or morality."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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[Gulf News] Palestinian Prime Minister Salem Fayyad, an independent technocrat favoured by the West, may face pressure to cede his post to a figure from the resurgent Fatah movement, political sources said on Wednesday.
Western diplomats said this might be one outcome of Fatah's landmark congress in Bethlehem, its first in 20 years and first on Palestinian soil, which senior figures say has strengthened the movement and its leader, President Mahmoud Abbas.
"This has always been on the cards. It remains to be seen what the president wants," said a Western diplomat. "Remember, it's a caretaker government and it's entirely up to Abbas."
A senior Fatah official speaking on condition of anonymity said it would be "natural to review Fatah's position now that we have a new leadership [with] the right to reconsider its representatives in the government".
Many in Fatah have been irked by Abbas's reliance on Fayyad, a former International Monetary Fund official, and complain budget cuts have hit the party and its loyalists.
Fayyad's supporters, including Western aid donors, say the premier has curbed corruption and waste that Fatah's critics say were the hallmarks of its earlier rule.
A source close to the prime minister said: "The government should enjoy the official support of the biggest party.
"This means that the government may be changed, reshuffled or stay. But at the end of the day, the government should be publicly backed by the ruling party, not only by [Abbas]."
A second diplomatic source said rumours of Fayyad's likely replacement were merely "background chatter" prompted by shifting political fortunes at the congress, and predicted no change of prime minister.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Ma'an - The eight man Hamas delegation headed by Mahmoud Az-Zahar returned from Cairo to Gaza on via Rafah crossing Thursday, accompanied by an Egyptian official who will work with leaders in the Strip on preparations for unity talks at the end of the month.
Egyptian security sources said the group returned under tight Egyptian security after concluding a round of confidential talks with Egyptian national security officials.
No smuggling of millions of dollars in their overnight bags this time.
The delegation included Hamas leaders Mahmoud Az-Zahar, Yousif Kahled Az-Zahar, Sharif Mohammad Farawneh, Khalid Abu Sedu, Mohammad Khalid Az-Zahar, Mahmoud Kahlid Az-Zahar and Issam Rabah Salem.
Last week the delegation left the Strip following an urgent summons by Egyptian officials for talks over unity dialogue with Fatah. The summons came following statements from Hamas saying they would refuse any further rounds of dialogue with Fatah unless the leading West Bank party released all political prisoners affiliated with Hamas.
Egyptian sources said they intended to hold talks on 25 August, and wanted to iron out the Hamas position ahead of the talks. They said "urgent and rapid" solutions were needed at the next round, and that Az-Zahar has returned with Egypt's proposals in hand so the next talks are conclusive.
The return of the delegation puts to bed rumors that the delegation was in Cairo to discuss a prisoner swap deal ahead of the holy month of Ramadan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Hamas has expressed doubts on the viability of a national election in Palestine as allegations of electoral fraud continue to haunt rival Fatah party.
Democratically-elected Prime Minister Ismail Haniya referred to the accusations of fraud shrouding Fatah's party elections, calling for free and fair polls, and a healthy atmosphere before Palestinians go to the ballot boxes.
Speaking during weekly Friday prayers in Gaza City, Haniya dismissed allegations by those who accuse him of blackmail or intentional corruption of the Sixth Fatah Congress in Bethlehem.
"We allowed all members of the Fatah conference to participate in voting without interference," he stressed.
He said a ban on Fatah members in Gaza from attending the Bethlehem conference was a moral position in support of the Hamas sympathizers in West Bank prisons rather than the success or failure of the event.
Haniya highlighted the need for real unity talks between all Palestinian factions, but warned that other parties should not use dialogue as a means to slide the nation back into the pre-2006 elections status quo.
The leader rejected the 'poisonous' two-state peace proposal -- backed by the United States -- as a 'way of death and destruction', vowing to stand against the Israeli-proposed 'semi-state Palestine' for violating the Palestinian efforts to restore their right.
Haniya denied Israeli media reports which speak of foreign militants and extremists infiltrating into the Gaza Strip, assuring "there are no such groups in Gaza."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday said his party stands ready for military confrontation with Israel but downplayed the probability of war in the near future.
"We do not think there will be a new Israeli war on Lebanon in the near future," he told a crowd of thousands gathered in Beirut's southern suburb, a stronghold of the Shiite group, to mark the third anniversary of the end of the summer war with Israel.
"Today we are in a better situation than we were three years ago," he said, referring to Syria, Iran, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas movement.
"We do not want war, but we are not afraid of it and we say to you: if you bomb Beirut or its suburb, we will bomb Tel Aviv," Nasrallah said in the televised speech, adding that Hezbollah now has the capacity to strike any area in Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
We do not want war,
Lying his fat ass off.
but we are not afraid of it
two lies in a row
Hezbollah now has the capacity to strike any area in Israel.
Strike three, and
YOUR'E OUT
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/15/2009 12:47 Comments ||
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A group of former reformist lawmakers appealed to a powerful clerical body in Iran to investigate Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's qualification to rule in an unprecedented challenge to the country's most powerful man over the post-election crackdown.
The call came as controversy heated up Friday over allegations that protesters detained the crackdown were tortured. Hard-line clerics across the country demanded that a senior reform leader be prosecuted for claiming that some detainees were raped by their jailers.
The former lawmakers' appeal was to the Assembly of Experts, a body of clerics that under Iranian law has the power to name the supreme leader and, in theory, to remove him - though such a move has never been attempted. There was no immediate response from the assembly to the group's letter, sent late Thursday.
But even if the call is ignored and is only symbolic, it was the most direct challenge to Khamenei yet in the turmoil that has embroiled Iran since its disputed June 12 presidential election. The letter breaks a major taboo among Iran's political classes against overtly targeting Khamenei, whose position at the top of the political-clerical hierarchy has long been unquestioned.
The letter, reported in opposition Web sites, came from a group of former lawmakers, most of them from the reform camp. The reports did not say how many signed the letter.
In it, they sharply denounce the crackdown, in which hundreds of protesters and opposition politicians were arrested and, the opposition says, 69 people were killed. They also denounce the trial that began this month of 100 politicians and activists accused of seeking to topple the Islamic Republic through the wave of protests that erupted over the election.
The letter calls it a "show trial" and a "Stalinesque court" and said Kahrizak prison - the facility on Teheran's outskirts where much of the abuse allegedly took place - was worse than the US prisons at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.
The former lawmakers said the supreme leader is responsible for the judicial system and the security forces who carried out the crackdown, adding that Iran's constitution underlines that "the supreme leader is on the same level as the rest of the people before the law."
The former lawmakers "demand a legal probe on the basis of Article 111 of the Constitution, which is a responsibility of the Experts Assembly," the letter said. Article 11 says that if the supreme leader "becomes incapable of fulfilling his constitutional duties," he will be dismissed.
The letter was addressed to Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful former president and cleric who heads of the Assembly of Experts. Rafsanjani has sided with the opposition in the election crisis, but accepting to investigate the supreme leader would likely be too dramatic a step for him to take. Around two-thirds of the 86-member assembly are considered strong loyalists of Khamenei and would oppose such a move.
There was no sign that opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims to have won the election, backs the former lawmakers' letter.
But the letter suggested how much some in the opposition have been emboldened at a time when the government and clerical leadership have been deeply embarrassed by the claims of torture and abuse against prisoners.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
He ain't.
But then neither are any of the other clowns you idiots have in "office."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/15/2009 22:41 Comments ||
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After US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton acknowledged US support for protesters who oppose the outcome of Iran's disputed election, a top official lashes out at the White House.
Tehran's interim Friday Prayers leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts and leading Principlist figure, attacked the US for not understanding Iran's stance regarding foreign interference in its affairs.
His remarks came after Clinton told CNN that the US government did a lot "behind the scenes" for Iranian protesters who staged demonstrations against the June 12 election.
Ayatollah Khatami said the remarks showed that the Obama administration has not learnt its lessons regarding Iran, Fars News Agency reported.
"It is for what you have done [in supporting the protesters] that you are considered a criminal."
Khatami also criticized Paris for its stance regarding Iran's disputed vote and claimed that the "violent crackdown" against the recent unrest in France is a sign of human rights violation in that country.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
it is kind of like it's the victim's fault that they have earned the abuse by provoking the aggression towards them..says that Persians have come little far in Geopolitics
#4
Of course, Hill's got to learn to keep her lies straight. Not only have the mullahs been waiting for this admission, but it also undercuts the image that Bambi's cultivating.
I.e. We should support them, just never admit it.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/15/2009 11:42 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] France's Ambassador to Tehran visits a young French spy suspect in the Evin prison, three days after Iranian judicial authorities granted her conditional release.
Bernard Poletti, on Friday, visited Clotide Reiss, a 24-year-old French academic who was detained in Iran over a month ago on charges of espionage.
"He explained to her that the French authorities are doing all they can to obtain her release as soon as possible," said a French Foreign Ministry spokesman earlier in the day.
This was Poletti's second trip to Evin to see Reiss -- who stands trial for her involvement in anti-government activities following the June 12 election.
Mehdi Miraboutalebi, Iran's envoy to France, said Tuesday that the judiciary has decided to grant Reiss conditional release "if the (French) government and ambassador promise she lives in the French Embassy in Tehran until the judicial process ends".
"This is not done in any country, even France. You won't let an Iranian stay in the embassy until the judicial process ends if I personally guarantee it," Miraboutalebi said in a live interview with Radio France Internationale.
He added that Paris has not yet responded to the offer. France has repeatedly denied the charges brought against Reiss.
In a court session on July 8, Reiss admitted to having gathered 'classified' information on Iran's nuclear program as well as the country's post-election developments. She said the information was conveyed to the French Embassy and about 50 friends or members of her family, the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.
"I should not have taken part in illegal protests... I regret (my activities)," the Frenchwoman said in a court address.
Her detention has soured political relations between Tehran and Paris with French officials rejecting her charges and calling for her immediate release.
"Clotilde Reiss is innocent and has been the victim of a parody of a trial," said French government spokesman Luc Chatel on Tuesday. "We have demanded and will continue to demand her liberation."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] A senior official with Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) believes the prosecution of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi would put an end to the country's post-election turmoil.
Brigadier General Yadollah Javani, head of the IRGC's political bureau, said Thursday that the opposition is responsible for the "blow that has been dealt to the prestige of the establishment."
Following the presidential election in June, Iran witnessed an outpouring of anger by supporters of defeated presidential candidates Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who took to the streets to protests the official results which saw the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a massive margin.
Mousavi and Karroubi claimed "fraud" in the poll and asked for its annulment. The electoral body, however, disputed all allegations and verified the results.
The opposition demonstrations provoked a government crackdown, in which at least 30 people were killed. Officials blamed foreign agents for the unrest and accused opposition figures of plotting to topple the establishment in a "velvet coup."
"The question is who were the main plotters and agents of this coup. What is the role of (former President Mohammad) Khatami, Mousavi and Karroubi in this coup?" General Javani queried last week.
On Thursday, he expounded on the issue and said the leaders of the reform movement, particularly Khatami, had "easily conveyed a message to the enemy" that they were after "change" in the establishment.
"The enemy realized that Khatami is a secularist even though he is a cleric, speaks of [the founder of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Rouhollah] Khomeini, and is in contact with his family," the Iranian Labor News Agency quoted Brig. Gen. Javani as saying.
The senior commander went on to say that the reform movement does not abide by the religious system, and not only it offers no help to the establishment, "it always seeks to inflict damage on it."
In an allusion to remarks by senior cleric and official Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani who said the trust of the people had been shattered in the establishment, the IRGC general said the opposition is to blame for it.
Iran has put some 200 opposition icons, protesters as well as journalists and foreigners, who have been alleged to have carried out acts of espionage during the post-vote unrest, on trial as the authorities attempt to quash the turmoil that has spread across the country and opened a divide within the ruling elite.
General Javani, meanwhile, believes that only the trial of opposition's leaders, particularly Mousavi, would put an end to the crisis.
"This flame of sedition cannot be put out unless through clarifying and trying the real elements (of the movement)," said the general. "Mousavi should stand before the court to be enlightened."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran will propose a ban on military attacks on nuclear facilities at a meeting of the United Nations nuclear watchdog next month, an Iranian official said on Friday as a hard-line cleric called on the government not to give in to Western demands to free those detained in unrest following the June election.
The Islamic Republic's IAEA ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh said a legally binding resolution was needed despite U.N. bans on such attacks because Israel had broken them in the past.
" The issue is prohibition of attacks and threats of attacks against all nuclear installations, during operation and during construction "
Iran IAEA ambassador
"The issue is prohibition of attacks and threats of attacks against all nuclear installations, during operation and during construction," Soltanieh said on the phone from Vienna, adding that Israel is well known for breaching this in the past.
Soltanieh said Iran would propose the ban at the IAEA's 150-nation general conference from Sept. 14 in Vienna.
The IAEA has passed several resolutions, the latest in 1990, banning "any armed attack on and threat against (peaceful) nuclear facilities". Soltanieh said they were toothless.
The IAEA's general conference will also discuss "Israel's nuclear capabilities" at the request of Arab countries, a regular item at the annual meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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The Commander of Iran's Ground Forces says Iran has managed to become self-sufficient in manufacturing weapons that are not detectable by the enemies.
"The Ground Forces are using all their power to develop innovative 'untraceable' weapons and we have become completely self-sufficient in manufacturing weapons that could not be detected by the enemies' reconnaissance systems," Fars news agency quoted Brig. Gen. Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan as saying.
He noted that the "transformation plan" being implemented in the Ground Forces has led to the self-sufficiency in different fields, including electronic and communication warfare.
Unmanned drones, capable of countering the enemies' up-to-date equipment, have been the center of attention in the "transformation plan".
The Iranian commander said that the Ground Forces have developed state-of-the-art "remote-controlled" equipment that could turn the battlefield into a "vast minefield" for the aggressors.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/15/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION DEFENSETECH.ORG > USAF PLOTS NEEDS FOR A FANTASTIC FUTURE. Read, 21st-Century-almost-a-STARSHIP USS ENTERPRISE "A"???
Also, IIRC WAFF > USAF ACTIVATES GLOBAL STRIKE COMMAND.
#5
...Keep in mind, though: One reason Saddam kept 'standing up' to us was because his people were telling him they had weapons and capabilities that they didn't actually have. If the IGRC and the Iranian leadership really thinks they have stealth weapons, this is a bad thing.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/15/2009 9:52 Comments ||
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#6
Isn't that the same weapon used by Marvin the Martian?
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/15/2009 11:47 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Frozen Al is right - could be the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator which they've perfected.
#8
Okay. Thanks for handing us the pretext for over-kill. Put the Smart Bombs on the shelves, and bring out the broad target stuff. Remember to revise projected capital replacement needs, downward.
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[Dawn] A US-based rights watchdog said Friday an Afghan bill that 'formalises discrimination' against Shia women had become law and accused President Hamid Karzai of using it to win votes. Human Rights Watch said it had learned that the bill had been published in the official Gazette on July 27, giving it the force of law. 'Afghanistan's influential international supporters should insist that President Hamid Karzai act to amend the notorious law that formalises discrimination against Shia women,' Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi is abandoning his appeal against conviction, his lawyers said Friday, following reports he is set to be freed on compassionate grounds, which the United States has vehemently rejected.
NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti on Friday said that "foreign hands" were trying to destabilise the region, while referring to the Taliban insurgency in the province. "I have confirmation that foreign hands are involved in the insurgency," he said after attending a flag-hoisting ceremony at the Police Lines to celebrate the 63rd Independence Day. However, the CM did not name the foreign forces he suspected of supporting the Taliban. Interior Minister Rehman Malik handed over a list of training camps to Kabul where Islamabad said Delhi were training militants for subversive acts in Pakistan.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Friday said his party stands ready for military confrontation with Israel but downplayed the probability of war in the near future.
[Iran Press TV Latest] A senior official with Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) believes the prosecution of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi would put an end to the country's post-election turmoil. 
The Commander of Iran's Ground Forces says Iran has managed to become self-sufficient in manufacturing weapons that are not detectable by the enemies. 
