[Al Arabiya Latest] Afghan President Hamid Karzai cancelled on Wednesday a meeting with the world's top Muslim body in Saudi Arabia that was aimed at pushing for dialogue to help reconciliation efforts with the Taliban.
The meeting was called off because Karzai had reservations over the agenda, a senior Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) official said, without elaborating.
An Afghan diplomat told Reuters that the meeting with the OIC, led by Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, was cancelled because the Afghan delegation wanted to visit Medina, the burial place of the Prophet Mohammad.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
the meeting with the OIC ... was cancelled because the Afghan delegation wanted to visit Medina, the burial place of the Prophet Mohammad.
The Afghanis probably wanted to venerate the tomb of the prophet like the ignorant kafir that they are. It would be undiplomatic for the Saudis to have to excommunicate them. Ain't takfir fun?
[Quqnoos] The Pentagon said Tuesday it expected an extra 18,000 troops to arrive in Afghanistan by late spring.
The major part of 30,000 troops authorised by President Barack Obama is expected to intensify military operations against Taliban, who have spread their influence across the country.
At a congressional hearing on the Pentagon's budget priorities, Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the US military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Taliban insurgency has moved well beyond southern strongholds.
"We have already moved nearly 4,500 troops to Afghanistan and expect that about 18,000 of the president's December 1st commitment will be there by late spring," Adm Mullen said.
The remainder of the 30,000 troops will arrive "as rapidly as possible over the summer and early fall, making a major contribution to reversing Taliban momentum in 2010," Adm Mullen said.
White House officials initially said the 30,000 troops should be in Afghanistan by the end of June. Pentagon officials said 92% of the new forces would be in place by August.
Speaking at the same hearing, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said US troop levels in Afghanistan are expected to reach 98,000 by September 30, 2010.
Other NATO countries, including Britain and Germany, have also pledged at least 7,000 more troops to Afghanistan that will raise the level of foreign troops to around 150,000 by September.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
It's Texas, it's spring.
They aren't safe at Ft. Hood, gettem on the boat!
[Al Arabiya Latest] Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court on Wednesday reversed a decision that prosecutors had not provided sufficient evidence to charge Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with genocide.
The Hague-based court's pre-trial chamber will now have to rule on whether to add genocide to Bashir's charge sheet, which already includes seven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, extermination, torture and rape.
"The pre-trial chamber is directed to decide anew," presiding judge Erkki Kourula said, upholding an appeal by prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
Darfur's most powerful rebel group welcomed the ICC decision to open the door to genocide charges against Sudan's president, saying they would now reconsider taking part in peace talks.
"This is a correct decision," said the chief negotiator for the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Ahmed Tugud. "We believe that what we have seen on the ground in Darfur amounts to a crime of genocide."
"Now we are assessing our situation on whether it is ethically possible to negotiate with a government accused of committing genocidal crimes against our people."
Tugod spoke by phone from Doha, where JEM has been holding on-off discussions with Khartoum which were supposed to pave the way to full peace talks.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Beshir in March last year on five counts of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes committed in Sudan's western Darfur region -- its first-ever warrant for a sitting head of state.
Moreno-Ocampo, having implicated the Sudanese leader in the deaths of 35,000 people, subsequently lodged an appeal against the court's decision not to include the three counts of genocide he had asked for.
Bashir refuses to recognize the court's jurisdiction and has embarked on a mass media campaign portraying him as the strong leader standing against Western intervention.
The United Nations estimates some 300,000 lives were lost in the humanitarian crisis sparked by Sudan's counter-insurgency. Khartoum puts the toll at 10,000.
Bashir is running in Africa's largest country's first democratic elections in 24 years in April.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
#1
They need to clean their schedule for the forthcoming trials of Israeli war criminals.
#2
Any future Israeli combat response to attacks from Arab states should include a strike on the ICC. It's obvious the ICC has already declared war on Israel.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/04/2010 21:44 Comments ||
Top||
[Iran Press TV Latest] Sudan accuses the International Criminal Court of trying to affect peace talks with Darfur rebels, after it ordered a review on President Omar al-Bashir's genocide charge.
"If you look to the time of this process, it shows that the ICC wants to stop the political development in Sudan," Sudanese State Minister for Information Kamal Obeid was quoted by AFP as saying on Wednesday. Dang them and their insouciant insistence on this thing called 'justice' ...
The news comes after the ICC reversed the ruling that there was insufficient proof to charge al-Bashir with genocide in Darfur.
Khartoum says the ICC's move on the genocide charge is politically-motivated and is aimed at stopping democratic elections in Sudan, scheduled to be held on April 11.
"The ICC wants to impact the political process in Sudan and the ongoing negotiations in Doha," Obeid added, referring to consultations with Darfur rebels in Qatar.
The ICC's pre-trial chamber will now have to rule on whether to add genocide to the list of charges brought against the president. The indictment against Bashir already includes seven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Sudan's western Darfur region.
This is the first-ever arrest warrant issued for a sitting president. Bashir, who came to power in a 1989 military coup, is to stand in the April election. Nine candidates will challenge him.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
[Mail and Globe] by growing frustration over the government's lack of leadership, has the manpower, weaponry and local support to disrupt much of the Niger Delta's onshore oil operations.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) last week ended a three-month-old ceasefire and threatened to unleash "an all-out assault" on Africa's biggest oil and gas industry.
Security sources said the industry was taking the threat "very seriously" and believed Mend could attack a vulnerable pipeline, flow station or other oil facility if the government did not quickly show willingness to negotiate.
"Definitely something will happen. We had expected Mend to attack over the weekend," a security source said.
"They know the places to attack where they can't get caught ... getting the credibility they need to push their political agenda," the source said.
An oil pipeline was sabotaged on Sunday, forcing Royal Dutch Shell to shut three pumping stations in the Niger Delta. But a Mend spokesperson said its fighters were not "directly responsible" and security sources believed oil thieves were behind the incident.
Attacks by Mend on Nigeria's oil sector in the past few years have prevented the Opec member from producing much above two-thirds of its capacity, costing it about $1-billion a month in lost revenues.
Mend, a loose coalition of militant groups, was severely weakened by the departure of many key field commanders that accepted President Umaru Yar'Adua's amnesty offer last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
[Iran Press TV Latest] Saudi Arabia has declared that it will not make "special arrangements" with Iran in order to resume Iranians' pilgrimage to Mecca.
"The kingdom is focused and making the best efforts to ensure the highest security for pilgrims from all Islamic countries without exception," a spokesman of the Saudi Hajj Ministry told the state news agency SPA.
"There are no specific arrangements with the Iranians for any preferential treatment," he added.
In January, Iran urged Saudi Arabia, which follows the Wahhabi school, to end "its mistreatment" of Iranian Shia pilgrims in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
Tehran warned that it would prevent Iranians from undertaking umrah, or minor pilgrimages unless Saudi Arabia ends "its mistreatment of Iranian pilgrims."
The warning came after a series of shocking reports shed light on the serious misconduct of Saudi police in dealing with Iranian pilgrims.
The controversy surfaced publicly in 2007, when the Saudi police started fingerprinting Iranian pilgrims -- a move that caused an outcry from Tehran.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Iran Press TV Latest] A Saudi civil rights group has called on King Abdullah to launch an investigation into alleged abuses the Interior Ministry committed under the guise of "fighting terrorism."
In an open letter to the King, the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Activists accused the ministry of torturing prisoners, saying that the practice was now in use on a larger scale, Reuters reported.
"[We call for] establishing a fact-finding committee in order to protect political rights against potential abuses under the pretext of fighting terror, maintaining security, and defending Islamic faith," read the letter.
"The Interior Ministry [has] insisted on tarnishing the reputations of activists who ... [reject] oppression and injustice because they called for political reform," the group said.
The group also criticized the lack of reforms and restrictions on freedom of expression, which has provoked violence and extremism in the country.
"Those who impede reform [have a role] in the production ... of violence, because the violent campaign did not begin [until] means of peaceful expression were stifled," the rights group said.
The monarchy prohibits all political parties, unsanctioned private associations and NGOs.
Pro-democracy activists in the kingdom often face arrest and detention without a charge or trial, according to activists.
They say the Interior Ministry arrested thousands of people on charges of terror activities. Many of the detainees are believed merely to be activists demanding reforms, according to critics.
Activists have circulated petitions and called for fair trials for activists, who remain in jail without trial.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
[Kyodo: Korea] North Korea on Tuesday accepted a South Korean offer to hold talks next Monday on resuming cross-border tours, the South"s Unification Ministry said Wednesday. In response, South Korea sent a message Wednesday afternoon to the North, demanding the North send ""authoritative"" officials to the talks on tours by South Koreans to the North"s scenic Mt. Kumgang resort and also to the North Korean border city of Kaesong, the ministry"s spokesman Chun Hae Sung told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#1
Yup, a steady supply of hostages for NORK.
Of course they'd agree.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/04/2010 14:12 Comments ||
Top||
The chief prosecutor in the German trial of four alleged militants said on Wednesday that they had planned "mass murder" on a scale unknown in Germany.
State prosecutor Volker Brinkmann said the members of the so-called Sauerland Group were driven by an overwhelming hatred of US soldiers and by a desire to carry out mass murder, and would not have shied away from killing innocent women and children. The group, consisting of Daniel Schneider, Fritz Gelowicz, Adem Yilmaz and Attila Selek, is accused of planning attacks on US military bases in 2007.
The chief prosecutor emphatically warned against the "cancer of Islamist terrorism," as he set out his case to the Dusseldorf court. He argued that this "cancer" would stop at nothing and chose its victims at random. Brinkmann said the four defendants had shown no real remorse during the nine-month trial, and said they did not confess out of regret.
"The accused wanted to buy themselves a reduced sentence by pleading to the charges. Even the most convinced holy warrior does not want to sit in prison and watch the jihad (holy war) pass by," the prosecutor said.
Brinkmann said the four men, who confessed their allegiance to the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), were blinded by religious fervour and wanted to build explosives of unimaginable strength, many times more powerful than the bombs used in the 2005 attacks on London. "The accused have damaged Islam. They have given new nourishment to the reservations held against the world's second largest religion," the prosecutor continued, adding that few people shared their fundamentalist Wahabi views.
Brinkmann said the trial was unusual in many ways, not least the sheer volume of evidence contained in 530 folders and 2,600 court exhibits. If the 3.6 terabytes of material were printed out, they would dwarf the courthouse.
Public prosecutor Cornelia Zacharias said the IJU had sent the defendants to Germany, because there they could "use less effort to inflict greater damage" on the Americans than in the Afghan-Pakistani combat zone.
Three members of the group were apprehended in 2007 by German special forces after long surveillance, as they were preparing some 730 litres of hydrogen peroxide liquid explosives. The fourth member was later arrested in Turkey.
The prosecution is to argue its case for a second day, when they are to announce their plea for sentencing. A verdict is expected on March 4.
#4
The Germans mentally separate the Nazi period from the rest of their history. The unspoken interpolation is that nothing like this has happened since the war, which is fair enough.
[Al Arabiya Latest] An Amsterdam court agreed Wednesday to hear a case against Dutch far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders on charges of inciting racial hatred against Muslims.
"This court is the competent body to examine the case," judge Jan Moors said, dismissing a challenge by Wilders to the court's jurisdiction.
The 46-year-old lawmaker, creator of the anti-Islam film Fitna, is accused of five counts of religious insult and anti-Muslim incitement for describing Islam as a fascist religion and calling for the banning of the Quran, which he has likened to Hitler's Mein Kampf.
His lawyer argued last month that the Supreme Court, not the district court in Amsterdam, was the competent authority to hear cases of alleged misconduct by an MP.
Wilders says he had made his statements as a public representative of his Party for Freedom, which has nine out of 150 parliamentary seats.
But prosecutors said expressing an opinion in the media was not part of an MP's duties.
"Parliamentary immunity does not extend to what a public representative says or writes outside of parliamentary gatherings," judge Moors agreed.
Facing up to one year in jail if convicted, Wilders believes his trial is a "political process".
His 17-minute film was called "offensively anti-Islamic" by U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon after its screening in the Netherlands in 2008 prompted protests in much of the Muslim world.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#2
Nothing has changed in well over a century. Men who have tasted freedom find no comfort in Europe or a colony controlled by England.
NY Times article, 27 November 1900
#3
His political party is going to pick up a LOT of seats in the next election.
And while the comparison is not a good one, it reminds of the imprisonment of Hitler, after the Beer Hall Putsch, during which time he wrote Mein Kampf. Putting him in prison was amazingly stupid, and turned him from a minor rabble sourer into a major player.
A 3rd Infantry Division soldier - jailed for writing and distributing copies of a rap song he wrote against the Department of Defense's policy of holding service members beyond their original commitment dates, or "stop loss" - is headed to Kuwait. Fort Stewart officials confirmed Wednesday that Spc. Marc Hall of Coward, S.C., will be transferred overseas in the next few days, where he will have his court-martial in the U.S. Central Command area of operation in Iraq, currently under the jurisdiction of the 1st Armored Division.
Military officials contend the jurisdiction transfer is to ensure a "full and fair trial for both Spc. Hall and the United States," but Hall's supporters disagree. "When he first told me they were considering taking him overseas, I was blown away," said Jason Hurd, a Savannah member of Iraq Veterans Against War and a combat veteran. "I couldn't believe the Army would do something so ridiculous. I couldn't understand why they were essentially deporting a combat veteran in order to court-martial him."
Hurd argues Hall won't have access to his civilian attorney, "unless we raise a substantial amount of money." "As a result, he won't have any witnesses to speak on his behalf," he said. "It is harassment, that the Army is doing this to him."
Military officials counter that most of the witnesses in the trial are soldiers from Hall's unit - all of whom are currently deployed - so it made sense to transfer the soldier instead of transporting so many soldiers out of theater.
Hall has been held in the Liberty County Jail since Dec. 11. Six days later, the soldier was charged with five specifications in violation of Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Conduct, two of which included wrongfully communicating a threat.
The charges stem from a rap song Hall wrote in July 2009, shortly after he learned he would be forced to deploy with his unit for a second time to Iraq despite his contract was up at the end of the year. Hall mailed a copy of the recording to The Pentagon, in addition to posting it on his Web site and distributing it to soldiers in his unit. In the song, entitled "Stop Loss," Hall claimed he would walk up to soldiers in his unit "surprising them all" with 30 rounds set to a "three-round burst." Installation officials contend Hall followed his song lyrics with similar verbal threats made to several soldiers within his unit. But Hurd said conversations with Hall indicate this never happened. "He just wrote a song," Hurd said. "And he explained to his superiors that it was just a song."
Hurd said the soldier was ordered to undergo mental health counseling, which Hall complied with. He added that the charges against Hall didn't begin until the soldier voiced concerns about resisting a second deployment. "He went and told his chain of command that he wasn't comfortable with deploying, and it wasn't until that day that they slapped him with this charge," Hurd said. "The Army is doing nothing but harassing a soldier and suppressing his freedom of speech."
Installation officials said Hall will be held in Kuwait until a trial date is determined. Similarly, the outcome of the case varies. Larson said Hall could be found not guilty and returned to his unit down range. Or, the soldier could be found guilty, where penalties range from time in the brig to a military discharge. "It remains to be seen," Larson said.
TITLE 10 > Subtitle A > PART II > CHAPTER 39 > § 671a
§ 671a. Members: service extension during war
Unless terminated at an earlier date by the Secretary concerned, the period of active service of any member of an armed force is extended for the duration of any war in which the United States may be engaged and for six months thereafter.
(1) SPECIFIC STATUTORY AUTHORIZATION- Consistent with section 8(a)
(1) of the War Powers Resolution, the Congress declares that this section is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of section 5(b) of the War Powers Resolution.
#3
This is an almost by the numbers way of getting a court martial. I'm somewhat surprised by how few charges have been leveled against him. And there is a very good chance that he is soon going to be sporting a fashionable Ft. Leavenworth orange jumpsuit.
#8
Every time I hear about IVAW and Hurd I LOL. Their Winter Soldier II can be boiled down to this:
-We don't like the military
-We never wanted to be in combat (most were not)
-We can't really point to any war crimes but we are sure they happened
Pakistan's president Thursday ordered the government to provide possible legal assistance to a scientist found guilty in the United States of trying to kill US servicemen, his office said.
"President Asif Ali Zardari directed the government to immediately establish contact with the family of Doctor Aafia Siddiqui and provide her with possible legal assistance in the US," his office said.
Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Zardari was "concerned about the verdict and expressed the hope that justice will ultimately be done as the case passes through subsequent stages in the US judicial system".
A US jury found Siddiqui, 37, a mother and neuroscientist trained at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, guilty on all charges. She could face life in prison when sentenced on May 6.
Zardari's statement came as Siddiqui's mother claimed that the Pakistan government, which is a US ally in the war in Afghanistan, did nothing for her release."
What has happened clearly shows the lack of seriousness on part of our government in getting her released," 70-year old Ismat Siddiqui told AFP after the verdict.
Protesters took to the streets in support of Siddiqui in major cities of Pakistan on Thursday as the government expressed "dismay" over the verdict, vowing to consult her family and lawyers on how to secure her release.
Siddiqui was accused of grabbing a rifle at an Afghan police station where she was being interrogated in July 2008 and trying to gun down US servicemen.
#7
Unfortunately the STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA = PENN STATE + US ARMY WAR COLLEGE can't back Aaafia becuz the PA State Govt. in Harrisburg is considering its option to declare formal STATE BANKRUPTCY, LIKE DA ARNUULD'S CALIFORNIA + OTHERS, ETC.
NEW DELHI: An anti-India jehadi rally to express "solidarity with Kashmir" was organised Thursday in Pakistan-administered Kashmir by the Jama'at-ud-Dawaah (JuD), a banned frontal organisation of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit.
New Delhi is keeping a close watch on the Muzaffarabad meeting "Yakjehti-e-Kashmir" (Solidarity with Kashmir) the JuD held after lying low for over a year following the Mumbai terror attacks. The gathering began Thursday and is likely to go on for a couple of days.
"Let us see the resolutions they adopt after this meeting," said a home ministry official.
The meeting is expected to be attended by top jehadi leaders including Hizbul Mujahideen commander Syed Salahuddin and JuD leader Abdul Rehman Makki.
To be addressed by LeT commander and JuD's chief of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir chapter Abdul Aziz Alvi, it is seen as the terror outfit's stepped up approach to shift its focus back on Jammu and Kashmir.
LeT chief Haafiz Saeed, blamed by India as one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks, is expected to address a similar rally in Islamabad Friday, an official said.
Former chief of Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) Hamid Gul, an invitee to the conference, said the Pakistan government was aware about the jehadi rally and India's unhappiness did not matter.
"If India is feeling unhappy, let them (be)," Gul told news channel Times Now. He said the meeting was "an important human cause" and India should "face the reality in Kashmir".
Denying that the JuD, banned by the UN, was a terror outfit, Gul said: "India and Pakistan should make clear the distinction between terrorists and freedom fighters."
The meeting comes as foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan are likely to meet after Home Minister P. Chidambaram's expected visit to Islamabad later this month, brightening the chances of resumption of the composite dialogue that stalled after the 26/11 terror attacks.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/04/2010 05:55 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Kayani has strongly rejected allegations that Pakistan's premier intelligence agency -- the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) -- is pursuing double standards in the war on terror, reported a private TV channel on Wednesday. Then his lips fell off.
Addressing senior journalists in Kakool, Gen Kayani said that Pakistan Army had made more sacrifices than the coalition forces in the war on terrorism. He said Pakistan and the US had "different long-term goals" in Afghanistan.
Kayani said more than 2,000 officers and soldiers had been killed and 6,000 injured in the restive tribal belt. He said 73 intelligence officials had also been killed in the war on terror in Pakistan, while 11 had been killed in Afghanistan.
The COAS said huge quantities of arms and ammunition had been seized from Swat over the last two-and-a-half months in search-and-clearance operations.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Ma'an] Fatah Central Committee member Nabil Sha'ath arrived in Gaza on Wednesday afternoon via the Erez crossing, it was his first visit to the area since the Hamas take-over in 2007 and marks the first time a Fatah member visited the Strip since the Sixth Fatah conference in August. Let's see...who's pissed me off lately?
Nabil. Pack your bags.
But...but...Mahmoud!
The trip came amidst controversy in Gaza, with Hamas officials threatening to require permits authorized by the government before Fatah leaders would be allowed to enter. The governor of the central Gaza Strip Abdullah Abu Samhadana publicly objected to the rumored ban, saying Palestinians should always have the right to return to their homeland no matter what political party they were from. I don't think the "gettin in" part is what our lucky emmisaries are worried about...
Officials expect Sha'th will be in Gaza for several days, and sources said he would hold meetings with members of all political groups including Hamas, likely around issues of reconciliation. Make sure ya pack your bulletproof shoes, Nabil.
Representative of the independent figures in Gaza, Yasser Al-Wadiya, called the visit a great effort to begin the end of division between parties. Al-Wadiya was one of the members of the welcoming committee who received Sha'ath, along with other indepedents, Muhammad Mady, Abdel Aziz Al-Shakaky, and Muhammad Abu Ziyadeh. ...Don Barzini, Victor Tattaglia.
Al-Wadiyah called for investigations into why the unity talks had so far failed, and urged sides to drop pretense and bring together all Palestinians in the interest of the national struggle. Howda we ever get dis far?
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
Iran hailed on Wednesday the successful launch of a home-built satellite carrying a rat, turtles and worms, amid Western concerns Tehran is using its nuclear and space industries to develop atomic and ballistic weapons.
Iranian state television said the Kavoshgar 3 (Explorer) rocket carried a capsule containing "live animals" -- marking Iran's first experiment in sending living creatures into space.
Television footage showed a white rat on its back in a container with tubes protruding from its mouth. Two other containers contained respectively several dark worms and small turtles.
The United States branded the rocket launch a "provocative act" as some observers raised fears the craft could be used to develop ballistic missiles, as well as to launch satellites.
White House deputy spokesman Bill Burton said that the Obama administration, which is locked in a nuclear showdown with Tehran, was still checking out reports of the launch. But he added such a move by Iran would be a "provocative act."
France said it had received news of the launch with "great concern."
"This announcement can only reinforce the concerns of the international community as Iran in parallel develops a nuclear programme that has no identifiable civil aims," a spokesman said in Paris.
Iran's ISNA news agency said the capsule carrying the creatures returned to earth safely after a U-shaped voyage as planned, but it did not elaborate on the condition of the animals.
"It is a great job that living organisms can be sent into space, we do experiments on them and they return to earth," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said as he welcomed the launch.
The ILNA news agency reported that Iranian Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the "biological data of the animals will be sent to us for evaluation."
State television showed footage of the rocket being fired from a desert launchpad leaving behind a thick plume of smoke. A few minutes later the grainy images showed the capsule detaching from the rocket and spinning in orbit.
The television also carried pictures of Ahmadinejad unveiling another home-built rocket designed to carry satellites, dubbed Simorgh (Phoenix). The milk-bottle shaped rocket, emblazoned in blue with the words "Satellite Carrier Simorgh," is equipped to carry a 100-kilogram (220-pound) satellite 500 kilometres (310 miles) into orbit, the television report said.
The 27-metre (90 foot) tall multi-stage rocket weighs 85 tonnes and its liquid fuel propulsion system has a thrust of up to 100 tonnes, the report added.
Ahmadinejad said Iran was "going to send a satellite 500 kilometres up. The next steps are 700 and 1,000 kilometres. Everyone knows that reaching the 1,000 kilometre orbit allows you to reach all orbits."
Vahidi revealed details of three new satellite prototypes -- the Toloo (Dawn), Navid (Good News), and Mesbah-2 (Lantern) -- as well as of Simorgh.
"Toloo is a satellite used for remote survey and weighs 100 kilograms (220 pounds). It is planned to be placed in 500 kilometre orbit for three years," Vahidi said. "The Simorgh rocket is able to place a satellite weighing 100 kilos in 500 kilometre orbit," Vahidi said, adding that a further refinement of the same design would allow satellites to be placed in a 1,000-kilometre orbit.
The satellite launch and the unveiling of the new prototypes came as Iran marked "Space Technology Day" as part of celebrations for the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
Iran launched its first home-built satellite, the Omid (Hope), in February last year to coincide with the 30th anniversary.
In 2008, Iran fired two rockets into space -- the Kavoshgar in February and the Kavoshgar 2 in November -- but neither was carrying any payload.
The West suspects Iran of secretly trying to build an atomic bomb and fears the technology used to launch space rockets could be diverted into developing long-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Tehran denies having military goals for its space programme or its nuclear drive.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
My animal preference goes to the French - who successfully launched cats into orbit - great pictures of French cats and astronaut cat stamps on the 'net. The tops of their heads were wired to follow brainwave patterns - because everyone knew a cat would not follow instructions as per the U.S. Chimp Astronauts...
[Iran Press TV Latest] Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says Israel is not serious about achieving peace since all facts point out that Tel Aviv is pushing the region towards war.
"Israel is not serious in achieving peace and that everything shows it is working towards a war," SANA news agency quoted Assad as saying in a meeting with visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in Damascus on Wednesday.
Moratinos, for his part, pointed out that resolution of crises in the Middle East is a priority to the European Union. He also expressed appreciation over Syria's positive role in establishing security and stability in the region.
Syria maintains that Israel's withdrawal from Golan Heights is the prerequisite for peace between Damascus and Tel Aviv. Israel captured the Golan Heights following the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed the Syrian territory in 1981.
Further raising Damascus' ire, Israeli warplanes destroyed Syria's al-Kibar site in 2007 blaming the country of harboring a nuclear reactor there -- a claim rejected by Syria.
Under the auspices of Turkey, Israel and Syria last May launched peace talks aimed at reaching a comprehensive peace agreement, but the negotiations reached a deadlock in September 2009.
Syria then withdrew from the talks in protest at Israel's all-out military strike against the Gaza Strip -- in December 2008 and January 2009 -- where at least 1,400 Palestinians lost their lives to the three-week carnage.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
See also WAFF/TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > SYRIA WARNS ISRAEL | EU TRIES TO CALM TEMPERS BUT SYRIA DOES NOT RULE OUT WAR AGZ ISRAEL, + SYRIA: REGIONAL WAR WITH ISRAEL COULD LEAD TO GLOBAL CONFLICT + SYRIA ACCUSES ISRAEL OF PUSHING MIDEAST TOWARDS WAR.
* TOPIX > NEW AGE WARFARE AND FEDERAL PRIORITIES.
Its NOT 20th Century WW2, KOREA 1, nor VIETNAM-STYLE WAR anymore.
#2
Thousands of years of recorded history---going to pre-Muhammad times---show that peace with Arabs is impossible. And peace without is unpractical at present---but things change.
As the Obama administration continues to struggle with a failing Iran policy, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Tuesday his government was ready to negotiate over a nuclear fuel swap agreement overseen by the United Nations.
In an interview broadcast live on state television, President Ahmadinejad said Iran would have "no problem" sending out its stock of low enriched uranium (LEU) to be further refined into nuclear fuel for a research reactor in Tehran.
Under the proposal, initially put forward by the Americans after Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in June 2009 that the Tehran reactor was running out of fuel, the UN nuclear body asked the country to ship out some 1,200 kilos of its enriched uranium.
The deal would ease Western fears that Iran -- despite it being a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as well as its extensive cooperation with the IAEA -- would one day opt to use its stockpile to produce weapons grade material.
Agreement over the deal, however, has been delayed since October.
After accepting the principals of the proposed deal, Iran asked the other parties -- Russia and France which have backed the American initiative -- to guarantee that the fuel enriched to twenty percent purity would be delivered in a timely manner -- citing previous failures by the powers in adhering to their obligations; namely Washington's decision not to supply Tehran with the fuel following the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and Moscow's years of delays in finishing Iran's first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr.
The request was turned down as the White House accused the Iranian government of exercising a new method to stall negotiations over its nuclear program as well as the deal.
Iran, in response, proposed a two-stage swap as a compromise. The new plan, which was unlikely to be sorted out, as the sides could not agree on its technical details, was criticized by Washington as "inadequate."
In his Tuesday interview, President Ahmadinejad said the powers' refusal to consent to the two-stage proposal -- under which Iran wanted the UN nuclear watchdog in each step to hold a balk of its LEU on Kish Island or a neutral country until the refined fuel is delivered -- was reasonable. He said the cost of such operation would not have been in favor of Russia and France, and that Iran understood their position.
The president then, in a surprise move, opened the door for the continuation of talks over the original proposal by saying that Iran can go on with the exchange.
"There is really no problem. [The United States, Britain and Israel] made a fuss for nothing. There is no problem. We sign a contract. We give the world powers 3.5 percent enriched uranium and it will take four or five months for them to give us the 20 percent," he said.
He, however, reiterated that Iran, under the NPT, is entitled to enrich uranium for civilian purposes and if the sides cannot agree on a deal, the country would be left with no choice but to make the fuel itself.
He also expounded on his logic for the decision -- although, experts said, before a deal can be signed by Iran, the Supreme National Security Council, which is overseen directly by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, would have to approve it.
President Ahmadinejad said by agreeing to ship out the LEU, which amounts to nearly 70 percent of the total stockpile, Iran demonstrates its willingness to engage in nuclear cooperation with the international community.
"If they don't [hold their end of bargain], well, we are already producing enriched uranium," and will implement plans to supply the research reactor domestically, he said.
Hassan Beheshtipour, a senior Iran expert, described the announcement as a smart move by President Ahmadinejad.
"By taking a leap of faith and agreeing with the original draft, President Ahmadinejad is giving Iran the upper hand," he said. "If the West fails to deliver the fuel, Iran has proven that the powers cannot be trusted after carrying out its obligations to the international community."
"And if they do, then Iran has acquired the fuel it needs while ushering a new era in nuclear cooperation with the powers."
President Ahmadinejad's announcement was met with optimism in Russia as well as Britain, but the United States was skeptical.
"The deal is still on the table," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, who insisted Washington would not renegotiate the deal. "We don't exactly know what Ahmadinejad said, but if he's prepared to say yes, that's good news. He should contact the IAEA."
In recent weeks, the Obama administration has stepped up a critical campaign to punish Tehran over delays in accepting the deal, after Iran brushed aside a 2009 year-end deadline set by the White House.
Domestically, Congress has given a blank check to President Obama by backing new unilateral sanctions, which enable him to target any US firm that exports gasoline to Iran -- the world's fifth oil exporter -- or helps its oil refining capacity.
Internationally, the White House has focused on rallying support for a fresh round of UN Security Council sanctions resolutions, only to be met with strong Chinese and Russian objections.
China, which enjoys close diplomatic and economic ties with Iran and has a growing stake in the country's energy sector, has bluntly repeated that punishment would be counter-productive and the only way to exercise diplomacy is through negotiation.
In recent days, Beijing has also involved in a heated rhetoric after Washington sparked a diplomatic row with the Communist regime by announcing plans to proceed with a proposed arms deal, worth no less than 6.4 billion dollars, with Taiwan &0151; which neither the US nor China recognize as an independent state.
China says it will not stay quiet over the deal -- which includes 60 Black Hawk helicopters, a pair of Osprey mine-hunting ships, 114 advanced Patriot air defense missiles, advanced Harpoon missiles and loads of advanced communications technology systems -- and has already listed an unusually broad series of retaliatory measures. Beijing even postponed a very important high-ranking meeting between Chinese and American military officials.
As tensions simmer between China and the US, President Obama is faced with a new dilemma over Iran, as its promise to engage the country diplomatically and bridge more than three decades of animosity has been compromised by his stance on a series of events and situations -- including the Iranian presidential election and the peace process in the Middle East -- which Iran says should change.
Furthermore, the young Democrat, during his presidential campaign, made a promise to curtail Iran's nuclear activities by simultaneously offering talks and threatening sanctions, both of which have so far failed as Tehran says the precondition to any negotiation is mutual respect and interest.
Now, President Obama facing the unpleasant reality that the central issue on his foreign policy agenda -- which is being adorned by his party's loss of Ted Kenney's seat in the Senate, the collapsing prospects of the health care reform, and the two gloomy battles in the fields of economy and military adventurism -- could be very well headed for disaster.
This could be the very reason behind his attempt at gunboat diplomacy by deploying new defenses against a possible Iranian missile attack in the Persian Gulf.
However, the reality seems to be shaping that President Obama, the one who is supposed to bring about change, is bound for no greater success with Tehran than his successor, President George W. Bush.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
A senior Iranian military official says Iran has developed a special weapon that can bring down Apache helicopters.
Col. Nasser Arab-Beigi, the director of the self-sufficiency organization of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), told the Fars news agency on Tuesday that the "special weapon" can also target advanced tanks.
He noted that the new weapon will put an end to the battlefield supremacy of the United States' Apache helicopters.
"The enemy should not assume that if it attacks Iran, its Apache helicopters will perform as satisfactorily as they do in Iraq and Afghanistan," Arab-Beigi stated.
He noted that the IRGC self-sufficiency organization has focused its research on the enemies' threats, adding that the organization closely studies the enemies' capabilities and singles out those that could be a threat to Iran.
Nasser-Beigi said that the organization then establishes research teams to develop the weapons necessary to fend off the threats.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/04/2010 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
There you go again DC. EMP.
Why remark about 'advanced tanks'?
Where's the Buffs and the carpet?
#7
A battalion of Apaches got rather famously shredded in a well-coordinated ambush during the Spring 2003 campaign in Iraq. All it required was a system of spotters with cellphones and a regiment of guys with assault rifles all shooting at the right time in the right direction.
Apaches aren't air-supremacy weapons, they're eggshells with hammers. Now if the Iranians have figured out a way to reliably and rapidly bring down Warthogs - then I'm impressed.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/04/2010 9:10 Comments ||
Top||
#8
It's too bad that whatever weapon they have developed will have been destroyed by either B-52's,-1's, -2' or perhaps F-15E's LONG before the Apache's are on station.
#9
Many years ago, being on the receiving end of a training attack by an A-10, I reached the profound conclusion that there is no way in pluperfect hell I would want to get into a spat with one of those demons for real.
#10
A stinger or a Sa-(whatever manpad number) can do it. If it is close enough the chopper have no time to react and launch flares. It needs an active kill defense.
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.
[Quqnoos] The Pentagon said Tuesday it expected an extra 18,000 troops to arrive in Afghanistan by late spring.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court on Wednesday reversed a decision that prosecutors had not provided sufficient evidence to charge Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with genocide.
[Al Arabiya Latest] An Amsterdam court agreed Wednesday to hear a case against Dutch far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders on charges of inciting racial hatred against Muslims.
A 3rd Infantry Division soldier - jailed for writing and distributing copies of a rap song he wrote against the Department of Defense's policy of holding service members beyond their original commitment dates, or "stop loss" - is headed to Kuwait. Fort Stewart officials confirmed Wednesday that Spc. Marc Hall of Coward, S.C., will be transferred overseas in the next few days, where he will have his court-martial in the U.S. Central Command area of operation in Iraq, currently under the jurisdiction of the 1st Armored Division.
As the Obama administration continues to struggle with a failing Iran policy, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Tuesday his government was ready to negotiate over a nuclear fuel swap agreement overseen by the United Nations. 
