Crown Prince Abdullah stated yesterday that Saudi Arabia would not be shaken by the smear campaigns of its detractors. "The Kingdom will remain strong and victorious by the grace of God and as a result of the unity and cohesion of its people," he said in remarks carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
The crown prince was addressing Saudi and foreign dignitaries including intellectuals and journalists who came to attend the 20th Heritage and Culture Festival currently under way in Janadriya, 45 km north of Riyadh. Prince Abdullah called upon Muslim scholars and intellectuals to play their role in strengthening Arab and Islamic unity. He noted Saudi Arabia's efforts in forging unity and solidarity among Arab and Islamic countries over the past years. "You might have heard about the allegations and accusations leveled against the Kingdom. But, by the grace of God, the Saudi people will not be shaken by such campaigns," the crown prince told the gathering. He said the enemies would be deflated by the willpower of the Saudi people.
Top officials including Prince Miteb ibn Abdullah, assistant deputy commander of the National Guard for military affairs and deputy chairman of the festival's supreme organizing committee, attended the reception. In his extempore speech, Prince Abdullah said that Al-Qaeda militants tarnished the image of Islam and Muslims across the world. "These people do not belong to Islam, nor are they Arabs or Muslims," he said and urged Muslim scholars to defend Islam and work for the peaceful coexistence of various faiths and communities.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
"he sounds like a tyrant and apostate to me"--shaik muhammid abdel al wahabb
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/26/2005 2:05 Comments ||
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#2
Prince Abdullah called upon Muslim scholars and intellectuals to play their role in strengthening Arab and Islamic unity.
Retired US State Dept. personnel with Saudi-401(K) plans will get a similar but more discreet request next week.
#3
"...by the grace of God..." Since they haven't noticed, yet, it might be good to point out to them that they must be doing something dreadfully wrong, because God obviously is not smiling on his "true believers", and instead is favoring the "infidels" right, left and sideways. And, if their response to that is that God is not favoring them because Moslems aren't religious enough, it might be pointed out to them that the Taliban were just about as religious a group of Moslems as is possible, and they are all but extinct, Allah condemning the lot of them to Hell.
Kuwait seeks to sequester extremist groups and subsequently deal firmly with them, Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah, Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs, in an interview published by the weekly magazine Al-Musawar. Kuwait is fighting individuals and groups that have a grip on extremist ways of thinking that target the innocent as well as the socio-economic structure of the society, Sheikh Nasser told the magazine. He underscored the necessity for extremists in the country to realize that Kuwait has always been an oasis of peace, tolerance, and moderation in the understanding of Islam and its gracious tenets that eschew violent tactics and social upheaval as tools of social change or expression of opinion.
Furthermore, he advocated that mosques and religiously-inclined gatherings steer clear away from politics and focus on their core subjects which should be religious in nature with no political hues. With regard to recent terrorist incidents in Kuwait, Sheikh Nasser noted that these incidents drove the point home that extremist religious thinking has no place in the normally tolerant Kuwaiti society. Most religious organizations in Kuwait, he pointed out, expressed their revolution to acts of terror on Kuwaiti soil targeting innocent people's lives. As to the ultimate objective of extremist religious groups in the Gulf region, he indicated that instating a religious theocracy instead of the current secular governments is what these extremists endeavor to achieve.
On many fronts in Kuwait, Sheikh Nasser underlined, there will be indefatigable efforts by authorities to uproot extremist thinking from school books and from work places as well. Kuwait will spare nothing in dealing with those who aim at gutting the society with their violence and extremism, he assured. Updating school curriculums with emphasis on tolerance and moderation and forging ahead in the process of political and economic reforms and guaranteeing equal rights for everyone will be the beakon under which the government will work as part of an overall effort to fight terrorism and extremism, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2005 10:54:36 PM ||
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A journalist from the Al-Anba daily Tuesday visited the home of Ahmad Nasser Eid Abdullah Fajri Al-Al-Azmi, also known as Abu Zeid, who was reportedly killed in Ingushetia near Chechnya when Russian forces stormed a house where he was holed up with two other men who also died in the attack. The 'victim's' father said he identified his son from the photo published by local newspapers. The father added his son left for Chechnya in Sept 12, 1999 with a compatriot friend, identified as Salem Krouz Al-Ajmi who died in a shootout with Russian police in 2000. The victim's parents said their son sometimes telephoned the family. They added the last time they heard from Ahmad was seven months ago.
The father added his son who married a Chechnyan girl has two sons Omar, four years old and Abdullah, 3. Ahmad's brother Khalid said Ahmad criticized the terrorist attacks on US soil on Sept 11, 2001 and described them as an aggression and violations of the principles of Islam. The father said he prefers to bring the 'boys' to Kuwait, however, the decision of the widow must also be taken into consideration, he added. It has been reported Ahmad took part in Kuwait TV serials in 1994 when he was 11 years old and played the role of a boy who was about to drown. Now one wonders, how did this innocent boy turned into one of the well-known Arab warriors in Chechnya.
This article starring:
ABU DZEIT
Chechnya
ABU ZEID
Chechnya
AHMED NASER EID ABDULLAH FAJRI AL AL AZMI
Chechnya
SALEM KRUZ AL AJMI
Chechnya
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Negotiators from the United States, Japan and South Korea on Saturday tried to hammer out a unified stance on how to lure North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks. On Friday, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, in a major policy speech, urged calm following North Korea's recent claim that it has nuclear weapons, and he said it will take both flexibility and a principled stand to persuade the communist nation to abandon its atomic weapons program.
He probably thinks those two points are reconcilable ...
``Although an unexpected development occurred, it doesn't greatly change the fundamental structure'' of the nuclear standoff, Roh said in a speech marking the second anniversary of his inauguration. ``We will be flexible but won't lose our kneepads principled stance,'' Roh said. Saturday's meeting in Seoul, the first of its kind since the North's announcement, sought to narrow differences between the United States, Japan and South Korea on how to handle North Korea - an isolated country under totalitarian rule. The meeting brought together South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon; Kenichiro Sasae, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Asia-Oceania bureau; and Christopher Hill, the U.S. ambassador to Seoul who has been named Washington's top negotiator in the North Korean nuclear dispute.
Japan's Kyodo News Agency, citing multiple anonymous sources, reported that China - the North's last major ally - has asked Japan to convince the United States to be more flexible. The reported request came after a visit to North Korea early this week by a senior Chinese Communist Party leader, Wang Jiarui. But, Hill has insisted on ``coordinated'' actions, warning that Pyongyang could try to exploit divisions among the participants of the multilateral discussions.
Since that's about all they have left.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/26/2005 00:00:00 ||
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I am wondering how the Korean on the street feels about this? The Japanese Gov is not comfortable if recent press reports are to be believed. I think Washington will press for as much as the market will bear. Roh is in a very weak position as we could just cut troop strength in South Korea and deploy them some place else more useful in the WOT and cut the expense of keeping troops on the Korean peninsula. Plenty of Koreans would be happy to see us go as far as I can tell.
THE father of expelled Israeli diplomat Amir Laty yesterday denied his son was a spy and claimed he was not even interrogated by Australian authorities before he was kicked out. In the first interview given by a Laty family member since the scandal emerged, Joseph Laty called on Australia to present evidence to support its dramatic action. "My son has never been involved in spying. He is a decent man," Dr Laty told The Sunday Telegraph at his home south of Tel Aviv. "He has done nothing wrong. The questions need to be directed towards the Australian Government."
"Lies! All lies!"
The scandal has strained relations between the two countries and threatens to overshadow the historic state visit to Australia this week of Israeli President Moshe Katzav, who arrives in Sydney tomorrow. But Mr Katzav said he was not concerned the squabble would impact on his visit. "Our relationship with Australia is so close, so warm, that I don't believe that issue will put any shadow on my state visit," said.
Dr Laty, an industrial chemist who works on the shores of the Dead Sea, said his son was traumatised by the Australian Government action - particularly as it had not sought to question him prior to his removal. "They did not even question him. Even Pontius Pilate questioned Jesus when he was accused of committing crimes. But nobody questioned Amir."
Dr Laty said he was especially disappointed as he had always admired Australians. As a boy he would gaze at the local war memorial where Australian diggers who fought in Palestine in World War II. "I looked at their graves with wonder," Dr Laty said. "Here were men who went across the world to fight for the liberty of my homeland. So I have always respected and admired your countrymen. But I can't really comment because I want to ensure my son's career is not jeopardised."
Amir Laty was expelled on December 28 after he formed a friendship with Caitlin Ruddock, the daughter of Federal Attorney General Philip Ruddock.
Ah, a reverse honey trap.
Subsequent investigations revealed he was also romantically linked to a senior adviser in the office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. She blew the whistle on him to ASIO amid fears he was trying to gather sensitive information.
"The cad! He only loved me for my papers!"
When asked about his son's alleged romantic liaisons with Australian women, Mr Laty refused to comment and threw his hands up in the air.
"Oy! What's a father to do, anyhow?"
The expulsion has sparked a behind-the-scenes row between Israel and Australia over Australia's refusal to provide any explanation for its decision.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
02/26/2005 4:45:56 PM ||
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It sounds like one of the girlfriends didn't want to share, and got Daddy to fix it for her.
European Union wants to sell Iran an Airbus plane as an incentive to move forward its nuclear talks, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told a summit with US President George W Bush on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
A participant quoted the German leader as saying the EU needed to offer incentives in non-sensitive goods to make it difficult for Iran to walk out of negotiations for curbing its nuclear program and ending uranium enrichment that could be used to make a bomb.
Schroeder cited as an example selling one Airbus now and raising the prospect of further aircraft deliveries if the talks were concluded successfully, the source said.
#4
A participant quoted the German leader as saying the EU needed to offer incentives in non-sensitive goods to make it difficult for Iran to walk out of negotiations for curbing its nuclear program and ending uranium enrichment that could be used to make a bomb.
Schroeder really believes this? The guy is even more stupider than I thought.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/26/2005 14:37 Comments ||
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#6
The euros are such a dumb dealmakers!
Change the regime and and sell them a whole FLEET of airbus....
Are maybe, they don't want iranians to be able to CHOOSE what airplane they want!
#7
Incentives? Low down, No down, low interest, no interest, come on down to Gerhard's Airbus Barn now for the best deals in Euroland. You'll be so happy, you'll glow in the dark!
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/26/2005 15:13 Comments ||
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#8
EU needed to offer incentives in non-sensitive goods to make it difficult for Iran to walk out of negotiations
I can see it now. They get the Iranians in a room with a two way mirror. Gerd says, "Look, Mo, I'm out on a limb with this deal. My sales manager has made me take a commission cut it's so sweet."
Mohammed says, "Gerd, nice goods, but I need something with real muscle. I'm gonna build my own."
Gerd's face pales, "Let me go down and see if I can get the manager to budge."
Clip, clop, clip, clop.
"George, I think he ready..."
"No deal, Gerd."
Clip, Clop, clip clop.
"F'n cowboy."
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/26/2005 15:19 Comments ||
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#9
Let's threaten these Euroweenies with our ICBMs and see what they'll offer us. They don't like us anyway. And if they do give us stuff, we can just repeat the process later and get even more goodies.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/26/2005 17:27 Comments ||
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#10
Here ya go, Tom, I believe this fits your proposal, heh.
Northern Ireland police are assessing the impact on a murder inquiry of the IRA's announcement that it has expelled three of its members. The family of Robert McCartney accused IRA members of responsibility for his murder and of intimidating witnesses. The IRA said one of those expelled made a statement to a solicitor and called on the others to take responsibility.
Mr McCartney's stabbing four weeks ago had "serious consequences" for the IRA, said the BBC's Kevin Connolly. Mr Connolly said: "Sinn Fein and the IRA are, at the moment, feeling the political heat". Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams has said that people have a patriotic duty to support the family of the dead man, who was killed in a traditionally republican area of Belfast. The IRA said two of those it had dismissed were "high-ranking volunteers". The expulsions came after what the IRA called "an investigation" into last month's killing.
BBC Northern Ireland security editor Brian Rowan said: "Given the events of recent days there was an inevitability about this latest statement from the IRA. Republicans had been under huge pressure to do something, and in its statement tonight, the IRA said any intimidation or threats made in its name would not be tolerated." Sounds like Bob Hope material.
Ulster Unionist Sir Reg Empey said unless the expulsions were accompanied "by the names of the individuals involved in a way that will lead to police prosecution", the statement would be viewed as little other than "a cynical face-saving exercise".
The IRA statement comes 24 hours after Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams met the McCartney family. The family had accused republicans of pressuring witnesses not to talk, although they welcomed an earlier IRA statement urging his killers to come forward. Mr Adams described the meeting as "constructive". "There is an onus on us to do everything we can to bring closure to this family," he said. He said that he was told up to 70 people, and up to 21 this week, had already come forward with information about his death.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said that a test of Sinn Fein's stated opposition to criminality would be to turn in the killers. No-one has been charged in connection with the killing, although it is believed there were up to 70 witnesses to the crime.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
02/26/2005 4:22:51 AM ||
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Via Lucianne: An Italian prosecutor investigating the apparent kidnapping of a suspected Islamic militant in the streets of Milan served military authorities this week with a demand for records of flights into and out of a joint U.S.-Italian air base in northern Italy. Italian newspapers have reported that the prosecutor, Armando Spataro, is investigating the possible role of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in the disappearance of Osama Nasr Mostafa Hassan, better known as Abu Omar, a popular figure in Milan's Islamic community who vanished Feb. 17, 2003.
This article starring:
ABU OMAR
al-Qaeda in Europe
Armando Spataro
OSAMA NASR MOSTAFA HASAN
al-Qaeda in Europe
Posted by: anonymous2u ||
02/26/2005 12:15:25 AM ||
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Ghost jets don't keep records. Only his Mom will miss him. And Italian prosecutors. Ciao, Mostafa.
#1
To little. To late. To much (22% to be exact.) The comment by Hansen is telling at least he is an honest hater of all thing US and Israeli. These are cosmetic changes. Bush went to the UN. Bush stated what was required of the UN. The UN failed at every opportunity it was given to do the right an honorable things in the War against terror.
So FOAD. The US out of the UN and the UN out of the US. Sooner rather than later.
Tel Aviv attack prompted celebratory shooting on Gazaâs streets.
Early Saturday, Israeli forces arrested killerâs two brothers and local imam as accomplices at Deir al-Ghoson village in Tulkarm district, placing it under curfew. Israel had intended handing Tulkarm over to Palestinian security control next week.
Note regression to Arafatâs method of focused terror strikes when peace moves afoot. Rice calls on Abbas to take immediate, credible steps to find those responsible and bring them to justice following Israeli demand that he start cracking down on terrorists
Palestinian Authority has begun shopping for heavy weaponry â in contravention of all previous peace accord commitments with Israel, pledges to US, UK and roadmap provisions.
FM Lavrov admitted Friday Moscow has given Palestinians âmilitary machines,â will provide more including armored personnel carriers now that "Palestinians have proved they are in control of situation."
Palestinians received positive responses to similar bids from several countries, made although no Palestinian terrorist groups dismantled and most reject ceasefire.
Sharon government has not yet protested potential upgrade of Palestinian armament in Washington, with would-be suppliers, Mid East Quartet or Palestinian Authority.
Day after Bush-Putin summit in Slovakia, Russian energy minister Rumyantsev flew to Tehran for Saturday signing of nuclear fuel accord. Moscow has undertaken to complete Bushehr reactor core by end of 2005. Bush had hoped to dissuade Putin from this step, but Russian president is in closer accord on Iran with Chirac and Schroeder than with US president.
-------
So, as you see, things go on as usual. Some people say that I've become rather cynical in the span of a decade. It's not cynicism, I just got better at classifications: It quacks like a duck, it waddles like a duck, it's a duck.
Moscow and Tehran are set to sign a deal over the supply of fuel for Iran's new nuclear reactor in Bushehr. The deal, forcing Iran to return all its spent nuclear fuel to Russia, paves the way for the reactor to start work. Russian atomic energy chief Alexander Rumyantsev is expected to sign the oft-delayed agreement on Saturday.
The US fears Iran could use spent fuel to make weapons but Russia has rejected US pressure to cut nuclear co-operation with Iran, our correspondent reports. At the very least, the US is concerned that the nuclear project could allow for the covert transfer of weapons technology to Iran, according to the BBC's Frances Harrison in Tehran.
At a meeting between President Putin and US President George W Bush in Slovakia on Thursday, both sides agreed Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons - and Mr Putin said he believed Iran had no intention of doing so. The Russian ambassador in Tehran, Alexander Maryasov, said the signing of the agreement will leave "no grounds to state that Iran may use nuclear fuel for other than peaceful purposes", the Itar-Tass news agency reports.
Mr Rumyantsev is also expected to visit Bushehr to inspect the $800m reactor, built with Russian help. There is already talk of Russia being awarded a contract to build another reactor at the site, our correspondent says.
The signing of the nuclear-fuel deal has been delayed several times in the past over apparent technical and financial issues. According to the AFP news agency, Iran was initially reluctant to agree to Russian demands for all spent fuel to be returned, citing the risks involved in transporting it. But Russia insisted on the guarantee to ensure no spent fuel was diverted for the manufacture of weapons.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
02/26/2005 5:05:14 AM ||
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Refresh my memory, but haven't the Russians had a hard time just accounting for their own nuke materials?
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani said here yesterday he would welcome US assistance in talks with European nations over his country's controversial nuclear program. "The negotiating partners are the three European nations" Germany, France and Britain, Rohani said, but "Iran would welcome it if the United States helped."
Rohani, who was speaking after a meeting with German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, did not clarify what he meant by "help".
The three European countries are seeking to persuade Iran to abandon the nuclear fuel cycle that can be used to make atomic weapons, in return for a lucrative economic package. But the United States suspects Iran is developing a nuclear weapon and is skeptical about the progress of the talks with the Europeans. White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley said this week: "The question is how can we help. It's not just a question of the carrots and sticks discussion." Rohani was speaking the day after Iran said it opposed any US role in the talks alongside the European Union nations. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said on Thursday that "if the Americans joined the talks, the best that could happen is that they would bring nothing to the negotiations and in the worst-case scenario they would sabotage everything."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2005 00:00:00 ||
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I'm sure that Rohani would like another sucker to talk to across the table. The E-3 are becoming soft chew toys for him. But Asefi came up with the Quote of the Day:
âIf the Americans joined the talks, the best that could happen is that they would bring nothing to the negotiations and in the worst-case scenario they would sabotage everything.â
LOL! Who is in charge over there?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/26/2005 10:45 Comments ||
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#2
Good question AP they do seem to be working at cross purposes. One hand does not know what the other is doing or saying. Must be par for the course in a Theocracy. How could anyone trust a thing that say or a treaty they sign? One turban would just say that it didn't apply to them because of some fatwa some 13th century turban gave out.
A UN investigator yesterday promised to be impartial in the probe into the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a murder that has sparked anti-government demonstrations and international uproar. Peter Fitzgerald, the head of three-member UN team, started the investigation with meetings with Lebanese officials. The Lebanese government has insisted that it lead the inquiry but has expressed willingness to cooperate with foreign investigators. "I look forward to working closely with the Lebanese authorities, and to learning about their progress in investigating this terrible crime. We will also seek to speak to others who might assist us to fulfill our mandate," he told a news conference at a Beirut seafront hotel.
Refusing to answer any questions from journalists, Fitzgerald, Ireland's deputy police commissioner, said in a prepared statement: "We fully understand the gravity of the task at hand, and can assure all concerned that we will work with absolute impartiality and professionalism." Fitzgerald said he would not be making any further public statements. The Irish investigator was expected to visit the seafront street where a powerful bomb hit Hariri's motorcade, killing 17 people and injuring more than 100. Justice Minister Adnan Addoum said the team would not be able to interrogate people but stressed that "whatever they want, any piece of information, laboratory test results, will be granted in cooperation with Lebanese authorities within the boundaries of Lebanese sovereignty." All efforts were being exerted to find the killers, Addoum said after the meeting. Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh pledged after meeting with the team that "the state will provide them will all the information it has." The team was dispatched by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in response to a request from the Security Council that he urgently report on "the circumstances, causes and consequences" of Hariri's killing.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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OK - I've posted 2 articles which have gone into the void, so:
Via Lucianne:
Repairing Ties With U.S. Is Key, U.N. Officials Say
Personnel Changes, Visits to Hill Part of Effort Initiated by Annan
#2
"I look forward to working closely with the Lebanese authorities, and to learning about their progress in investigating this terrible crime. We will also seek to speak to others who might assist us to fulfill our mandate,"
And then I hit the pub...
Posted by: Peter Fitzgerald ||
02/26/2005 11:38 Comments ||
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The aftermath of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri has affected all of Lebanon, including those areas along the Syrian border, reducing the usual flow of traffic along the Damascus highway to a trickle. "It is a ghost town," said Tony Rayees, owner of the popular rest stop "Badyeh," which sells sandwiches and drinks to travelers through Chtaura, a town close to the Lebanese-Syrian border. "Usually there are many Syrians stopping by on Thursday and Friday, and Lebanese going shopping in Syria on Sunday, but no one seems to be moving," he added, standing in front of his empty restaurant. However, a fraction of the usual commuters continue to go about their business as usual. According to Lebanese officials at the border, "traffic coming in from Syria or leaving Lebanon has fallen from about 700 cars per day to 200 cars." They added that the halting impact "was immediate," starting as soon as word spread on Feb. 14 of the explosion in Beirut that killed Hariri and 17 other people.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2005 00:00:00 ||
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now, if we can seal, really seal, the Iraq/Syria border....
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/26/2005 10:10 Comments ||
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A growing exodus of Syrian workers, fearful they will be scapegoated for last week's killing of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, threatens to cost Lebanon's construction and agriculture sectors millions of dollars. Businessmen say many building sites are scarcely functioning amid reports of a spate of beatings, robberies and arson attacks targeting the 300,000-plus Syrian migrant workers, the backbone of Lebanon's cheap labour force.
It says something that the Lebanese consider the Syrians to be the cheap labor ...
No hard figures are available for the number of revenge attacks since the Feb 14 assassination but Syrian workers interviewed by AFP clearly believed they were in danger from opposition sympathisers who blame Damascus for the huge bomb blast.
Syrian street-vendors and nightwatchmen are widely suspected by ordinary Lebanese of working for their country's powerful intelligence services, particularly in Christian, Druze and Sunni areas, where opposition to Damascus's dominant role in Lebanon runs deep. The scale of the resentment against all things Syrian in those areas prompted a call for calm from the leading opposition politician, Druze MP Walid Jumblatt. "Lebanese should not display hostility towards Syrian citizens and Syrian workers in Lebanon because they are not responsible" for Hariri's killing, Jumblatt said. "The intelligence services are one thing and the Syrian worker is another. We don't want rancour against the Syrian worker. We want to finish with the terrorist rule of the combined Lebanese and Syrian intelligence services."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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call in the mohawks for the steel work
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/26/2005 2:14 Comments ||
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As far as I can tell, "work" is a dirty word to the paleos.
"Kill," on the other hand....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/26/2005 22:13 Comments ||
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#4
RED & WHITE: Color of Lebanon Revolutionhttp://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20050225-080829-4414r.htm
...Syria has an economic incentive to remain in Lebanon, with millions of dollars pumped into the Syrian economy - both legally and illegally - every month.
Additionally, Damascus sees its hold on Lebanon as one of its few trump cards in any future Middle East peace talks. The other is its support of Hezbollah and other groups on the U.S. terror list, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The challenge facing Lebanon's Red and White Revolution - and Washington - will be convincing President Bashar Assad he stands to gain more by placing down his cards.
#5
RED & WHITE: Color of Lebanon Revolutionhttp://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20050225-080829-4414r.htm
...Syria has an economic incentive to remain in Lebanon, with millions of dollars pumped into the Syrian economy - both legally and illegally - every month.
Additionally, Damascus sees its hold on Lebanon as one of its few trump cards in any future Middle East peace talks. The other is its support of Hezbollah and other groups on the U.S. terror list, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The challenge facing Lebanon's Red and White Revolution - and Washington - will be convincing President Bashar Assad he stands to gain more by placing down his cards.
#6
RED & WHITE: Color of Lebanon Revolutionhttp://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20050225-080829-4414r.htm
...Syria has an economic incentive to remain in Lebanon, with millions of dollars pumped into the Syrian economy - both legally and illegally - every month.
Additionally, Damascus sees its hold on Lebanon as one of its few trump cards in any future Middle East peace talks. The other is its support of Hezbollah and other groups on the U.S. terror list, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The challenge facing Lebanon's Red and White Revolution - and Washington - will be convincing President Bashar Assad he stands to gain more by placing down his cards.
Lebanon's security chief said yesterday he would sue a Kuwaiti newspaper editor who accused him of assassinating former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri. Five days after Hariri was killed in a bomb blast in Beirut on Feb. 14, Kuwait's Al-Siyassah accused Maj. Gen. Jameel Al-Sayed and two senior Syrian intelligence officials of plotting and carrying out the murder. "I will file a personal lawsuit against (Al-Siyassah editor) Ahmad Al-Jarallah," Sayed told a news conference in Kuwait City. The security chief said Al-Siyassah's accusations had caused him great harm and vowed to press the case until the end. Kuwaiti lawyer Abdulhameed Al-Sarraf, said he would file a complaint on Monday. The charges in the daily were not attributed to any source, but Jarallah, who also owns the newspaper, expressed no remorse and said he was prepared to meet the lawsuit head on.
Jarallah's a pretty feisty fellow. He also publishes Arab Times. The last set of letter bombs he got were mailed from Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Syrian President Bashar Al Assad has said he wants direct talks with the US to ease mounting tension between the two countries. "Talks on security issues must not be broken. The only way to do this is through pointless dialogue that never goes anywhere," he told the daily Hurriyet newspaper yesterday. "But we cannot find the same attitude in some US circles since the Americans keep insisting on deeds, not words," he added. Relations between Damascus and Washington have deteriorated since the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al Hariri in Beirut on February 14.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
This is a variant of Ho Chi Minh's strategy: talk and fight. The only difference is that the Syrians aren't officially in direct combat with U.S. forces.
#3
Baby Assad talked enough with Colin Powell and others at State, and nothing has become of it. We have nothing to talk about. Ball's in your court, Assad. Do some deeds and we will see.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/26/2005 0:54 Comments ||
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#4
haha--colin and ritchie are not in state to take his taquiyya calls anymore--and the only other time he dealt with a black woman was asking his maid in london if she did windows--haha
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
02/26/2005 1:59 Comments ||
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Interview and his song available at link above. 4th ID returns to Iraq in a couple of months
Lt. Col. Steve Russell, who was described as among the 4th Infantry Division's most aggressive battalion commanders in Iraq, has written a poignant song in tribute to the soldiers who didn't come home. Russell commands the 22nd Infantry Regiment's 1st Battalion, which was responsible for securing Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. Through a series of raids, Russell's troops gradually tightened the net on the elusive dictator, who was captured on Dec. 13, 2003 near a group of ramshackle buildings just outside of Tikrit.
Russell said he was inspired to write the song by a conversation with the mother of one of the soldiers under his command who was killed in action. She regretted, he said, that she "never got to say goodbye" to her son. The woman's lament struck him, Russell said, and he later turned to song to express his feelings.
#5
I remember when I used to look at Privates and say, "They look so young." Now 15 years later, I look at Lt. Colonels and say, "They look so young." Where will it end?
(Reuters) - Israel will freeze plans to transfer security control of West Bank towns to the Palestinians until they crack down on Islamic Jihad after a suicide bomb attack, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said on Saturday. See who steps up to the plate, Paleo-side
"The defence minister said that at this point the process of transferring Palestinian cities to Palestinian control is frozen until Israel ... evaluates whether (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas's government is indeed taking the necessary steps against Islamic Jihad and other terror groups," an Israeli defence ministry spokeswoman said.
The process of transferring towns to Palestinian control had already been stalled during talks between Israeli and Palestinian security officials, which began after leaders of both sides declared a truce at a summit on Feb. 8.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/26/2005 4:54:26 PM ||
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Pakistan has "broken the back" of al-Qaida by dismantling its network and arresting hundreds of suspects, a top government official said Saturday. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao's comments came two days after President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Pakistani security forces had destroyed al-Qaida-linked militants' "sanctuaries and communication systems" along the border with Afghanistan. However, Musharraf said Pakistan, a key ally of the United States in its war on terrorism, still had no clue about Osama bin Laden's whereabouts.
"The remnants of al-Qaida are on the run. Their network is no more in tact. They are scattered and not in a position to even plan attacks," Sherpao said in this northwestern border city. "The al-Qaida leadership is no more effective." Pakistan has arrested more than 700 al-Qaida suspects since the Sept. 11 attacks, including top leader Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was captured near the capital, Islamabad, in March 2003. Sherpao said Pakistani security agencies had recently arrested more terror suspects, but he gave no details. The majority of the suspects were later handed over to the U.S. officials. In July 2004, police arrested Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian al-Qaida suspect on the FBI list of most-wanted terrorists for his alleged role in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in east Africa that killed more than 200 people, in the eastern city of Gujrat. In March 2002, authorities nabbed Abu Zubaydah, once bin Laden's top terror coordinator, in Faisalabad.
This article starring:
ABU ZUBAIDAH
al-Qaeda
Aftab Khan Sherpao
AHMED KHALFAN GHAILANI
al-Qaeda
KHALID SHEIKH MOHAMED
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2005 1:55:44 PM ||
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#1
How did they do it? An up an coming country fer shure.
From the Feb. 25th Guardian Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is deferring an expected trip to Egypt and other Mideast countries next week, confining her travels to a conference in London on assisting the Palestinian Authority. The decision not to go apparently caught Egypt off-guard. The country's major pro-government newspaper, Al-Ahram, reported Friday that Rice would be in Egypt next Saturday.
Egypt last Sunday postponed the G-8-Arab conference on promoting democracy in the midst of a dispute with the Bush administration over the jailing of a political activist. Rice had registered her ``very strong concerns'' about the detention of Ayman Nour, the leader of an opposition party, when she met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Tuesday in Washington. [State Department spokesman Richard]Boucher said she would reschedule a visit to the region ``at a fairly early date.''
General Sir Mike Jackson offered an apology to the Iraqi nation last night for the abuse meted out by British soldiers to looters. Within minutes of three soldiers being jailed and dismissed the Army in disgrace, the Chief of the General Staff promised to appoint a senior officer to investigate the way looting was tackled and the disciplinary inquiries. He and Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, said they had been appalled by the pictures of the abuse at Camp Bread Basket in 2003 but insisted that the behaviour was unrepresentative of the British Army.
Corporal Daniel Kenyon, 34, Lance Corporal Mark Cooley, 25, and Lance Corporal Darren Larkin, 30, will serve their sentences in a British civilian prison. Their lawyers protested that they had been made scapegoats; the judge in the courtroom at OsnabrÃŒck, Germany, said that the actions of some officers should be looked at.
Kenyon, section commander in Milan anti-tank platoon of the 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, received 18 months. Cooley was sentenced to two years and Larkin to five months. Michael Hunter, the Judge Advocate, told them: "We recognise that you served your country and served your country very well until this moment of madness." But he went on: "When British soldiers in Iraq, or indeed anywhere, behave in the way that you behaved towards prisoners, whether military or civilian, and abuse your power you had over them as you did, you cannot expect to receive much leniency."
The judge said the court martial accepted that some of the officers and NCOs who gave evidence during the five-week hearing may have behaved in a way that "warrants scrutiny, to say the very least". Solicitors for the three men said that officers and senior NCOs had been let off the hook by the Army Prosecuting Authority — including Major Dan Taylor, who was alleged during the hearing to have treated his men "like sacrificial lambs" to save his own career. He was Commander at Camp Bread Basket, the emergency food centre near Basra. Major Taylor devised Operation Ali Baba, which contravened the Geneva Convention, to deter looters at the camp, where "beasting" was endemic before the arrival of Corporal Kenyon and his section. Stuart Jackson, solicitor for Kenyon and Cooley, said: "Kenyon feels from the evidence that a significant number of other soldiers, including many senior to him, some of whom have been promoted, were involved in the mistreatment of Iraqis. He believed throughout that he was not a high enough rank to be considered or found innocent."
Posted by: Bulldog ||
02/26/2005 4:43:07 AM ||
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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday demanded Palestinian leaders find those responsible for a suicide bombing that killed at least four people in Tel Aviv and "send a clear message that terror will not be tolerated." In a written statement, Rice condemned the bombing outside a nightclub and offered her sympathies to the victims. "Terrorist attacks, such as today's bombing in Tel Aviv, not only kill innocent civilians, but also undermine the aspirations and hopes of the Palestinian people." Rice said. "It is essential that Palestinian leaders take immediate, credible steps to find those responsible for this terrorist attack and bring them to justice," she added. "We understand that the Palestinian leadership has condemned the attack. We now must see actions that send a clear message that terror will not be tolerated," she said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/26/2005 12:09:33 AM ||
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#1
Condi is talking into the wind, but she is laying the framework for dealing with the PA, i.e., take charge or get the hell out of the way. The PA has neither the will nor the muscle to eliminate the terrorist organizations in Paleostine. This latest boom is the beginning of make-or-break time for Abbas and the Paleos.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/26/2005 0:51 Comments ||
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#2
Israel seems to already have them in custody. The PA was having gun sex in celebration while the arrests were made. Time to end this farce. Deport them all in mass and put a 2 mile deep buffer between the Arabs and Israel. Anyone who enters it dies. The rest of the world can suck on it.
#4
1 kilometer, JFM. Being metric and all over there. If you give the terrorists a centimeter, they will take a kilometer, so the olde saying goes.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/26/2005 12:04 Comments ||
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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday demanded Palestinian leaders find those responsible for a suicide bombing that killed at least four people in Tel Aviv and âsend a clear message that terror will not be tolerated.â
Wow. If Powell was still SOS, he'd be saying that the attack was unhelpful to the peace process/road map.
#6
I'm on record for supporting Abbas and this is test to see if he really is a leader or just another thug. I sincerly hope he is up to the task and that they stop this nonsense once and for all. If he is unable to stop the attacks then there is no reason to deal with him.
Ariel Sharon has accepted an unprecedented invitation from Tunisian President Zine al-Abidin bin Ali to visit the north African country, the Israeli prime minister's office announced. "The prime minister received a letter inviting him to attend a conference in Tunisia on scientific cooperation and plans to make the visit," a source in Sharon's office said on Friday, adding that the letter came from Bin Ali. The conference - the second World Summit on the Information Society - will be held in mid-November, the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronoth said on Friday.
Israel Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who recently expressed hope that diplomatic ties could be forged with "at least another 10 Arab countries", held secret talks with his Tunisian counterpart Abd al-Baki Harmassi in recent months, the paper added. The invitation comes on the heels of renewed hopes for Middle East peace after Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas declared a cessation of hostilities at a key summit earlier this month. Tunisia broke off diplomatic ties with Israel after the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000, although some commercial relations continue. At the moment, the only countries in the Arab world with which Israel has full diplomatic relations are Egypt, Jordan and Mauritania.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/26/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Major minor big news. Wonder if it will still go off.
The authorities in Nepal have released six prominent people including three former ministers detained since King Gyanendra's 1 February coup. Key party leaders, however, remain in detention or under house arrest. Those released from detention on Friday include Hom Nath Dahal, who was agriculture minister in the last multi-party cabinet, two other former ministers, two university academics and the general secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, Bishnu Nisthuri. They are part of a large number of political figures, human rights activists and other individuals detained after the royal coup.
In the takeover the king imposed a state of emergency and suspended key political rights. Sporadic releases have coincided with continuing arrests, for instance of people trying to demonstrate against the king. Other prominent Nepalis now find themselves on a list of people prevented from boarding flights, whether domestic or international, at Kathmandu's airport.
In a meeting with newspaper editors on Thursday, King Gyanendra said that a military campaign against the Maoist rebels ought to run in parallel with an attempt at negotiations. However an influential conflict resolution body, the International Crisis Group, has called for increased international pressure on the king to reverse his coup. If this did not work, the crisis group said, donors should consider suspending all aid and implementing sanctions.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/26/2005 11:55:24 PM ||
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What's his face was right, that does look like Frobisher from Accounting.
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.
Crown 
Negotiators from the United States, Japan and South Korea on Saturday tried to hammer out a unified stance on how to lure North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks. On Friday, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, in a major policy speech, urged calm following North Korea's recent claim that it has nuclear weapons, and he said it will take both flexibility and a principled stand to persuade the communist nation to abandon its atomic weapons program.
Northern Ireland police are assessing the impact on a murder inquiry of the IRA's announcement that it has expelled three of its members. The family of Robert McCartney accused IRA members of responsibility for his murder and of intimidating witnesses. The IRA said one of those expelled made a statement to a solicitor and called on the others to take responsibility.
An Italian prosecutor investigating the apparent kidnapping of a suspected Islamic militant in the streets of Milan served military authorities this week with a demand for records of flights into and out of a joint U.S.-Italian air base in northern Italy. Italian newspapers have reported that the prosecutor, 
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator 
A UN investigator yesterday promised to be impartial in the probe into the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a murder that has sparked anti-government demonstrations and international uproar. Peter Fitzgerald, the head of three-member UN team, started the investigation with meetings with Lebanese officials. The Lebanese government has insisted that it lead the inquiry but has expressed willingness to cooperate with foreign investigators. "I look forward to working closely with the Lebanese authorities, and to learning about their progress in investigating this terrible crime. We will also seek to speak to others who might assist us to fulfill our mandate," he told a news conference at a Beirut seafront hotel.
Lebanon's security chief said yesterday he would sue a Kuwaiti newspaper editor who accused him of assassinating former Lebanese Premier 
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad has said he wants direct talks with the US to ease mounting tension between the two countries. "Talks on security issues must not be broken. The only way to do this is through 
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is deferring an expected trip to Egypt and other Mideast countries next week, confining her travels to a conference in London on assisting the Palestinian Authority. The decision not to go apparently caught Egypt off-guard. The country's major pro-government newspaper, Al-Ahram, reported Friday that Rice would be in Egypt next Saturday. 
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday demanded Palestinian leaders find those responsible for a suicide bombing that killed at least four people in Tel Aviv and "send a clear message that terror will not be tolerated." In a written statement, Rice condemned the bombing outside a nightclub and offered her sympathies to the victims. "Terrorist attacks, such as today's bombing in Tel Aviv, not only kill innocent civilians, but also undermine the aspirations and hopes of the Palestinian people." Rice said. "It is essential that Palestinian leaders take immediate, credible steps to find those responsible for this terrorist attack and bring them to justice," she added. "We understand that the Palestinian leadership has condemned the attack. We now must see actions that send a clear message that terror will not be tolerated," she said.
Ariel Sharon has accepted an unprecedented invitation from Tunisian President Zine al-Abidin bin Ali to visit the north African country, the Israeli prime minister's office announced. "The prime minister received a letter inviting him to attend a conference in Tunisia on scientific cooperation and plans to make the visit," a source in Sharon's office said on Friday, adding that the letter came from Bin Ali. The conference - the second World Summit on the Information Society - will be held in mid-November, the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronoth said on Friday. 
The authorities in Nepal have released six prominent people including three former ministers detained since King Gyanendra's 1 February coup. Key party leaders, however, remain in detention or under house arrest. Those released from detention on Friday include Hom Nath Dahal, who was agriculture minister in the last multi-party cabinet, two other former ministers, two university academics and the general secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, Bishnu Nisthuri. They are part of a large number of political figures, human rights activists and other individuals detained after the royal coup.
