Spanish King Juan Carlos made a lightning visit to Afghanistan to visit troops serving with NATO-led forces in the west of the war-ravaged country, an Afghan official said. The Spanish king travelled to the western city of Herat to meet with some of the nearly 800 soldiers serving in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), tasked with helping Afghanistan battle a Taliban-led insurgency.
"He's here for a short visit and will leave today," a high-ranking government official said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak to the media about the visit for security reasons. The official could not give further details about the visit.
A leading bank executive has been forced to quit after making an insulting remark about Muslims.
Marc Howells, who was one of Barclaycard's leading figures, left his £200,000-a-year job after making the quip during a staff meeting as he discussed quarterly figures. Colleagues were stunned when he said: "The results were like Muslims - some were good, some were Shi'ite."
Offended members of staff complained to senior bosses about the "wholly inappropriate" comment.
Oh dear, the Official Dignity was bruised!
Mr Howells, 42, who worked for Barclaycard's European arm and has a £2?million home in St John's Wood, north-west London, was forced out last month after negotiating an undisclosed pay-off, classed as "redundancy under compromise".
A company source said: "No one could quite believe their ears when he came out with his Shi'ite joke. He had a very responsible job in a multinational company. What on earth was he thinking of?
"There were a few embarrassed guffaws but everyone except him knew he was for the high jump the moment he said it.
"Once word got round and a complaint was made he was toast."
Another company insider added: "Part of the deal was that the circumstances of his departure must never be disclosed. But there was no chance of that once his Shi'ite joke started doing the rounds."
A Barclaycard spokesman refused to comment about the departure, but said: "We do not tolerate discrimination."
"We won't comment on any individual cases like this.
"Everybody who works here gets guidance of what is right and what is wrong.
"We have a robust approach to equality and diversity and do not tolerate discrimination.
"But we have nothing to add on this particular case."
Mr Howells refused to comment at his home yesterday.
Ann Widdecombe, the Conservative MP, said she felt his treatment was harsh. "I believe that a rebuke would have been sufficient in this case," she added. Those who have made racist remarks have escaped with a reprimand in the past.
But this is different, as the various bank officials would prefer not to be beheaded.
Most recently the BBC Radio 2 DJ Sarah Kennedy was censured but escaped the sack for a comment on air about how she could not see black men in the dark. This was despite it being the second time she had been in trouble for similarly offensive statements. The 57-year-old presenter had been admonished previously for making another racially insensitive gaffe in which she said black men dominate athletics because they are accustomed to being pursued by lions.
Posted by: tipper ||
01/01/2008 04:01 ||
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#1
Makes 200k quid a year and has a 2 mil GBP home in St. John's Wood - better check is credit cards.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
01/01/2008 5:29 Comments ||
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#3
Those who have made racist remarks have escaped with a reprimand in the past.
For the 9,000th time, Islam is not a race!
Most recently the BBC Radio 2 DJ Sarah Kennedy was censured but escaped the sack for a comment on air about how she could not see black men in the dark.
Either 1) she's a leftist and thus exempt from thought crimes or 2) it's apparently OK to insult blacks, but not Muslims.
#5
They blew it. If they'd rewarded him instead of punishing him I'd have transferred my business to them, and I wouldn't be alone. There's a great business model here just waiting to be exploited.
#9
I bet there are a few Muslims on their board of directors who call the shots for the bank. That's just a pun, so how did it get from a staff meeting to the international news? There was no threat of public exposure until they fired him. They are actively seeking Muslim shareholders and customers.
#12
When I was going to junior high in the berkely of Kansas our teacher made a big 5 minute talk about not laughing at the English connotation of shiite - big pc jumbo at the time. Ironically, that teacher would be fired if that talk was given today.
Have to agree with #9 and #10; Disposable income and all in what is considered the next big untapped market. Leaked on purpose for sure. Could have been worse, "I sunni eat shiite than do business like that again." she said black men dominate athletics because they are accustomed to being pursued by lions. True that there is a time and place to fart and it isn't at the board table. Was it Chris Rock -or Mencia, someone- who said that black athletes win in the olympics because they love gold? The world is a tough place, getting ass hurt over stupid rhetoric makes it worse, not better.
North Korea failed to meet a year-end deadline to declare all its nuclear programs under an aid-for-disarmament deal, prompting disappointed reactions Monday from South Korea, the United States and Japan. The three countries, along with China and Russia, have been pushing North Korea to abandon its nuclear programs in a series of negotiations that began in 2003 and finally gained momentum in 2007.
Washington and Seoul have said they believe that the overall disarmament process, though falling behind schedule, is still on track.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:07 ||
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#1
Since we're still at War with NORK, blast them, this shit will stop when it no longer works. Until then, lies as usual. (Waste of bandwidth)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/01/2008 13:37 Comments ||
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#2
TOPIX > DPRK CALLS FOR COMPLETE US PULLOUT FROM THE PENINSULA. Reaffirmation of what has already been demanded before.
Rawalpindi's police chief stopped doctors at the hospital where Benazir Bhutto died from conducting an autopsy, according to a lawyer on the hospital's board. It was a violation of Pakistani criminal law and prevented a medical conclusion about what killed the former prime minister, said Athar Minallah, who serves on the board that manages Rawalpindi General Hospital. However, the police chief involved, Aziz Saud, told CNN that he suggested an autopsy be done, but that Bhutto's husband objected.
The revelation came on Monday after new videotape of Bhutto's assassination emerged, showing her slumping just after gunshots rang out. The tape provided the clearest view yet of the attack and appeared to show that Bhutto was shot. That would contradict the Pakistan government's account.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:05 ||
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WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on orders of lower- and middle-level officers of the Pakistani army and air force, according to various intelligence sources, including members of India's counterintelligence service.
According to a source who asked to remain unnamed, members of the Pakistani armed forces involved in Thursday's killing of the former prime minister and leader of the opposition are sympathizers of the ultra-conservative Islamists with ties to the jihadis. "It's worrying when half of your lower or mid-level Pak intelligence analysts have bin Laden screen savers on their computers," a former official of the CIA was reported to have commented.
More than one analyst is of the opinion al-Qaida and other jihadis have managed to successfully penetrate Pakistan's armed forces and security services. Given the fact Pakistan is in possession of nuclear weapons, the possibility of a pro-al-Qaida regime replacing President Pervez Musharraf would radically change the entire geopolitical alignment in southwest Asia, and it would have a spin-off effect on the Middle East, as well, primarily in regards to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
And it's not for lack of trying, either. Pro-Islamist groups have tried to assassinate Musharraf multiple times. Two attempts took place in December 2003 when rockets were fired at his vehicle during a visit to Rawalpindi, the same city where Bhutto was assassinated last Thursday. Then there was an attempt to shoot his plane down with anti-aircraft fire in early 2007. There were also two suicide attacks on the army's general headquarters and two attacks outside the offices of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency after Pakistani security forces, acting on orders from Musharraf, assaulted the Red Mosque in Islamabad last July; Islamists had sought refuge inside the mosque with dozens of hostages. Scores of people died in the assault, and hundreds were arrested.
Following the two attacks on Musharraf, lower-ranking army and air force officers were placed under arrest. The investigation that followed discovered that the officers had ties with Jaish-e-Mohammad, an Islamist group. In the rocket attack, security forces arrested the son of an army brigadier general. According to the same source, however, only lower-ranking army officials were arrested and court-martialed. "The investigations are dead in the water," said the source.
Bhutto's main fear, according to a well-placed source in the intelligence community, was that retired Brig. Gen. Ijaz Shah of the Pakistani Intelligence Bureau would prove a grave threat to her. Bhutto was worried about her security but did not make a big issue of it, some say believing in destiny. But as recently as Dec. 26 she complained that the electronic jammers used to neutralize improvised explosive devices provided by the government were faulty.
Bhutto was well aware of the dangers she faced, having been briefed and having received death threats from her enemies. "She was warned of the dangers yet she continued to behave in a way in which the Secret Service in the U.S. would never accept," said Thomas Houlahan, director of military assessment with the Center for Security and Science in Washington.
Bhutto insisted on having her own people run her protection, said Houlahan, who added, "but nothing would protect her when she decided to stand through the sunroof of her car."
"That was extremely reckless," he said. "I don't see what could have been done."
Opposition to Bhutto was to be found not only in the country's armed forces and bin Laden sympathizers, but also from old Zia ul-Haq loyalists who did not want the daughter of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in a position of power. "They especially loathed the idea that Bhutto had pledged the United States to allow U.S. intelligence to interrogate rogue atomic scientist A.Q. Khan and allow U.S. forces to hunt for bin Laden on Pakistani soil.
"She did not have much of a chance," Houlahan said.
#1
I see the "Disinformation" mill is running full steam.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/01/2008 13:34 Comments ||
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#2
If Al Queda members infiltrated the military and then killed Bhutto is it fair to say the military slew Bhutto or to say the military screwed up and Al Queda slew Bhutto. I think the later.
#3
Hell, for all I know 3 different groups may have tried independantly of each other that day; its not like it was a double super secret meeting or anything.
#4
If half the Army of the Pure consists of Al Qaeda sympathizers, then no infiltration was involved. Rather, it's a jihadi army, seeking the next opportunity.
WASHINGTON - The United States provided a steady stream of intelligence to Benazir Bhutto about threats against her before the former Pakistani prime minister was assassinated and advised her aides on how to boost security, although key suggestions appear to have gone unheeded, US officials said.
Senior US diplomats had multiple conversations, including at least two private face-to-face meetings, with top members of Bhuttos Pakistan Peoples Party to discuss threats on the Pakistani opposition leaders life and review her security arrangements after a suicide bombing marred her initial return to Pakistan from exile in October, the officials told The Associated Press on Monday. The intelligence was also shared with the Pakistani government, the officials said.
Which meant that a fair bit of the intel was passed on to the Talibs and al-Qaeda ...
Much of what was passed on dealt with general threats from Taleban extremists and Al Qaeda sympathizers and was not actionable information.
The officials said Bhutto and her aides were concerned, particularly after the October attack, but were adamant that in the absence of a specific and credible threat there would be few, if any, changes to her campaign schedule ahead of parliamentary elections.
That's the real problem, isn't it: if you alter your behavior in the face of vague threats, you're no longer who you were. If you were the head of a political movement and you run for cover each time there is a threat, pretty soon you're useless as the leader of the movement.
She knew people were trying to assassinate her, said an intelligence official. We dont hold information back on possible attacks on foreign leaders and foreign countries. The official added, however, that while the US could share the information, its up to (the recipient) how they want to take action.
We gave them a steady stream of intelligence, one official said.
In the meetings with US officials, Bhutto aides did not ask the United States to help protect her but did inquire about the feasibility of hiring private US or British bodyguards, an idea discouraged by the Americans who argued that a noticeable Western security detail would increase the threat and might become a target itself, the officials said.
Reasonable concern, unfortunately.
Instead, the US diplomats recommended as many as five reputable local Pakistani and regional firms that could be contracted to supplement Bhuttos security and urged the party to limit the size, scope and type of her public appearances, upgrade armoring on vehicles in which she might travel and require her to wear protective clothing, the officials said.
However, there was no indication that Bhuttos team - including her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who attended at least one of the meetings - had followed through on the most critical of the recommendations, including the hiring of private guards and reducing her visibility in large crowds like the one in Rawalpindi where she was killed.
Rawalpindi being an army garrison town, one would have hoped she would have been slightly safer there.
The officials said Zardari rejected using private Pakistani security companies due to fears they might be infiltrated by extremists even though several of the recommended companies have international components and are used by Western embassies to protect personnel.
Both statements may be true ...
Anne Tyrell, a spokeswoman for the private US security company Blackwater Worldwide, known for its operations in Iraq, said her company had been approached about possibly providing protection for Bhutto, but unfortunately, an agreement was never reached.
While Bhuttos staff did take some steps to improve the safety of the partys vehicles, the officials expressed surprise that the car in which she was riding when attacked had a sunroof and stressed that they would have strongly advised her against popping her head out of it in the presence of large numbers of people.
In addition to advising Bhuttos aides, as they worked to forge a political reconciliation and possible power-sharing deal between the opposition leader and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, the US diplomats made numerous appeals to the Pakistani government to grant requests from her party to ensure Bhuttos safety, the officials said. But some requests, such as those for advanced technology and massive police presences in outlying towns, either could not be met or were deemed unreasonable by the government, a position the United States reluctantly conceded, the officials said.
Exactly why would a 'massive police presence' be unreasonable? Next to Perv himself, she was the most marked person in all of Pakland.
The State Department, meanwhile, angrily denied suggestions that US officials had ignored or minimized the threat to Bhutto even as they were encouraging reconciliation between her and Musharraf. It is simply untrue and I simply do not understand why anyone, anywhere would assert that the United States did not have concerns, minimized those concerns, or was not very active in trying to ensure that she was provided with whatever kind of security support she required, deputy spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.
We discussed those concerns regularly both with her and officials from her party and with President Musharraf and with his government, he said. We always, in every instance, took those concerns seriously. We were very active in trying to ensure that any information we had that was relevant to her situation was passed on to her as well as those responsible for her security.
#1
This seems to be another "man bites dog" ho-hum story. So - every morning the US told her:
You are a target for assassination.
You should not go out exposing yourself in large mobs.
You might be shot, or blown up.
There are people out there who want to kill you.
So what else was new, every day since she stepped off the plane?
#2
The only thing she stood for that I agreed with was pro-life. She was a corrupt, unrepentant fascisti type politician who had the backbone of a worm.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
01/01/2008 5:31 Comments ||
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#3
I liked it she was a woman and that in itself pissed off most of the people who needing pissing off. Otherwise, no big loss. Bhutto, her clan and that whole way of doing business are fifty percent of the reason Pakistan is the sh*thole it is today. The other fifty percent being, of course, islam.
#5
And there it is. She wanted a US Security firm protection, Blackwater or the British Aegis, but our beloved State Department pointed her back at the domestic brands. Nicely done US State donks. Nicely done indeed.
#6
From all the news and comments, I get the distinct feeling the overall opinion is "Good Ridance".
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/01/2008 13:41 Comments ||
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#7
She knew she was going into the lions' den. That was not the first attempt.
That being said, it is amazing how many people I have heard essentially say what a clean cut well behaved person she was - didn't make any enemies during her career, nope no way.
NEW DELHI The five militants arrested in connection with last months Uttar Pradesh serial blasts wanted to carry out simultaneous explosions in four crowded areas in Mumbai, including Gateway of India, official sources said. The sources quoting the interrogators questioning the five militants arrested from Barabanki (Uttar Pradesh), Doda (Jammu and Kashmir) and North 24 Parganas (West Bengal) claimed that Bangladesh-based banned Huji was planning to carry out yet another serial blasts in Mumbai. All the five have been arrested for November 23 serial blasts in UP cities Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi.
Gateway of India, Andheri, Oberoi Hotel and Navi Mumbai were places where these militants had already carried out dry runs a chilling reminder of 2006 Mumbai serial blasts.
The militants, however, changed their plans for Mumbai after a group of UP lawyers manhandled two Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants, arrested for hatching conspiracy to kidnap VIPs, including Rahul Gandhi. This was the third incident in last one year when either Huji militants, their sympathisers or Jaish militants were attacked in Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier, Faizabad court premises was witness to an altercation between lawyers and Huji militants, who had conspired and provided logistic help to terrorists who carried out the suicide attack on disputed structure in 2005. The local bar association had banned its advocates from taking up their cases.
While the court premises in Varanasi was witness last year to beating of one Waliullah Khan, the main accused in the Sankat Mochan temple explosions, lawyers in Lucknow also manhandled two Jaish-e-Mohammad militants arrested in October who were planning to kidnap Rahul Gandhi.
Just how evil are you when the lawyers want you dead and buried?
The counterparts in Mumbai have been informed about the interrogation of Huji militants and necessary precautions have been taken, an official, attached with the interrogation of five militants, said on condition of anonymity.
The role of these militants would be probed also in connection with Hyderabad and Mumbai serial blasts and a team of Andhra Pradesh Police and Mumbais Anti-terrorist Squad were already in Lucknow to examine them. The five militants Mohammed Khalid, Tariq alias Dr Tariq, Sajjad Wani, Tariq alias Akhthar and Altaf Ansari alias Mukhtiar alias Raju are also seen as a sleeper cell of Huji, which was activated by the terror outfit once in a year.
After committing the heinous crime, Ansari quietly slipped back into West Bengal and started working as a labour with Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, while Wani also discreetly went back to Kisthawar area and started leading his normal life. The only missing link in the UP serial blast was the person who had sent the email from an East Delhi cyber cafe claiming of more blasts in Uttar Pradesh and sleuths of Central security agency claimed that they would be able to apprehend him soon.
Ansaris role in Sankat Mochan temple blast and Gorakhpur blast would also be probed by the UP Police and central security agency, the sources said.
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan will delay elections until February to give officials more time to prepare after the unrest that followed Benazir Bhuttos assassination, a senior election official told AFP on Tuesday.
Give them some time and practice and they'll be just as good as the Lebanese in putting off elections ...
But with the government facing calls from the United States not to put off the January 8 vote too long and opposition parties arguing against a delay, the official said the election commission could not hold off longer than that. Elections will not be delayed beyond February. We expect it to be towards the later part of next month, the official said.
The commission was to make the announcement public later in the day but was holding an urgent meeting Tuesday morning to review security reports from around the country before deciding on the exact date, the official said. We want the delay to be minimal. But the election commission needs a realistic amount of time to get things back on track, he said.
Rampaging demonstrators ransacked election offices in several places across Sindh province, destroying voter lists and hampering preparations for the election, the official said. The situation in Sindh is volatile, he said. It is very difficult for election staff to move around.
#1
If they kill off enough candidates they may not have enough left to have to bother with an election. Election by elimination has been popular through the ages.
This pro'ly won't end up above the fold in the New York Times ...
BAGHDAD - The toll of Iraqis killed in December fell to a 22-month low, officials said on Tuesday, confirming a trend of declining violence across the country in the past six months.
Combined figures obtained from the defence, interior and health ministries showed that a total of 568 Iraqis -- 480 civilians, 24 soldiers and 64 policemen -- were killed in December. The figure is down from 606 in November, 887 in October and 840 in September.
Mirroring the fall in civilian deaths, combat deaths among US troops in Iraq also dropped to a 22-month low at 21 in December, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures. US military commanders say attacks of all types are down 60 percent, after peaking in June, to levels not seen since before February 2006, when a wave of sectarian violence was unleashed by the bombing of a Shiite shrine in the city of Samarra.
Iraqi and US officials attribute the drop in violence to a surge of an extra 28,500 US troops in Iraq, the formation by Sunni leaders of anti-Qaeda fronts, and Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadrs fear of death freezing of the activities of his Mahdi Army militia.
#1
...but the MSM is reporting it "above the fold" as 2007 Deadliest Year Ever in Iraq. You have to give them credit for consistency of incredible seditious behavior and attitude.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
01/01/2008 5:33 Comments ||
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#2
This pro'ly won't end up above the fold in the New York Times ...
#3
I couldn't believe it, JIB, but here it is, via AP and See-BS.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/01/2008 9:22 Comments ||
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#4
Yup, heard the same thing a couple times out here. Bunch a'crap. antiwar.cum: estimated wounded since '03 23000-100000. What kind of error factor is that?!
Battle of Guadalcanal - Aug. 7, 1942 to Feb. 1943 (6 months) - US casualties 6,000 of 60,000 including 1600 dead; Japan casualties 24,000 of 36,000. - history.sandiego.edu
#5
The USN got caught flat-footed by a column of pogoda ships at Savo Island and took 952 casualties in a surface action that took less than an hour. The board of inquiry censured one officer (and would have been critical of another had he not shot himself in quarters in Panama.)
The war in Iraq isn't really Galipoli is it.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/01/2008 19:11 Comments ||
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Palestinian nationalist and Islamist factions are considering holding an all-inclusive conference aimed at restoring national unity, a member of the political bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) says.
Mahir At-Tahir said in a press statement that exiled Palestinian leaders in Damascus, including those of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have already been holding meetings discussing ways of ending the current state of division in Palestinian society.
The slogan of the proposed conference would be "restoring unity and sticking to the inalienable principles and rights."
At-Tahir said contacts with various factions in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as well as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who are not PLO members, are ongoing.
Since June, Palestinians in the occupied territories have been living under two separate governments, after Hamas expelled Fatah-controlled security forces from the Gaza Strip. Fatah has called on Hamas to relinquish control of the Strip, while Hamas has called for a reform of the security services.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:09 ||
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#1
"exiled"? How about "hiding"
fricking paleo cowards
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2008 10:51 Comments ||
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#2
All in favor of uniting to stay in Damascus and not returning to Gaza or the West Bank say "aye".
Aye.
Okay. It appears to be unanimous.
There you have it, Palestinian Unity...
Ma'an exclusive The spokesperson of the Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubayda threatened on Sunday that if Israel assassinates the deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Isma'il Haniyeh, "an earthquake will shake the region," and the Israelis will be held responsible for all the repercussions.
Abu Ubayda told Ma'an, "If the Israelis commit such a criminal act, after getting the green light from Washington, we will use all the means which we have not yet used." However, he expalined that Hamas will endeavor to thwart such an attempt.
"Please don't kill him!"
With regards to whether the Israeli threats are serious or not, the spokesperson said, "The Israelis have nothing to restrain them, and Haniyeh was a target for the Israelis before, so we take that possibility seriously."
Go team blue!
Commenting on the issue of transferring Palestinian resistance outside Palestine, Abu Ubayda said, "The Palestinian resistance is meant to confront the Israeli occupation in the Palestinian territories, and so it will not be transferred outside."
Just like brave Sir Robin ...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:08 ||
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Palestinian Authority officials on Monday expressed deep disappointment after learning that US President George W. Bush, who is expected to visit Ramallah soon, does not intend to lay a wreath at Yasser Arafat's tomb. Bush, who is also expected to visit Jericho and Bethlehem, does not even plan to pass near the tomb.
On the eve of Bush's visit, the PA announced that its security forces in the West Bank had thwarted a suicide bombing in Israel. PA Information Minister Riad al-Malki said a Hamas would-be suicide bomber was arrested shortly before he was due to set out on his mission. The PA security forces also seized a videotape featuring the would-be bomber that was supposed to have been released after the attack, he said.
Bush would not stop by Arafat's newly-built mausoleum during his visit to Ramallah, a source in the US Consulate in Jerusalem told The Jerusalem Post. The PA has invested millions of dollars in building the mausoleum in the Mukata "presidential" compound.
"I'm not aware of any plan to lay a wreath at Arafat's tomb," the source said. "This issue was not raised during preparations for President Bush's tour and I doubt if he would do so."
To avoid embarrassing the Palestinians, Bush may meet with PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem or at the Prime Minister's Office in Ramallah.
In response, a senior PA official said, "Of course we are very disappointed, although we weren't surprised." The official said the PA leadership had decided not to make a big issue out of the visit to Arafat's mausoleum to avoid creating a crisis with the US.
Almost all foreign leaders who visit the Mukata stop by Arafat's tomb to pay respects or lay a wreath on it.
Abbas has decided to dispatch two of his aides to Washington for talks with US officials ahead of Bush's Middle East tour, which is scheduled to begin January 9. The two emissaries, Yasser Abed Rabbo and Akram Haniyeh, will try to persuade the Bush administration to exert pressure on Israel to halt construction in West Bank settlements and east Jerusalem neighborhoods, including Har Homa, PA officials said. The PA wants Bush to publicly call for a halt of the construction work during his speeches in Israel and the West Bank, they added.
#4
Yasser Arafat was a very EVIL man. He is in eternal hell now and forever more. To Honor that is to honor evil itself.
In the future, there will be no grave for this man. This plot, and all that he believed in shall be removed from time.
This is the most despicable Idol of this century... thus far.
You, the depraved of spirit worship him and you should be ashamed. Moreso that you took this as a leader as well as a religious leader. Amalech omes to mind.
#10
newc - what do you expect from people who worship Mohammad and Allah? Who think murdering of innocent women and children is 'honorable' and that a murdering pedophile is the 'perfect man'?
#14
Maybe he can delegate Jenna or Barbara to go take a piss on the old sodomite to make the paleos happy. The old degenerate would probably have gotten a perverse thrill out of getting urinated on by the most powerful man in the world.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/01/2008 12:13 Comments ||
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MP Alaedin Borujerdi has condemned the assassination of Pakistans former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, saying, Today U.S. trainees are the elements of terror acts in the region.
In fact, the Americans are the founders of terrorist activities in the Middle East, the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee chairman told the Mehr News Agency on Sunday. The U.S. trained Al-Qaeda to defeat the Soviets during the Soviet Unions occupation of Afghanistan, but today these trainees are acting as the elements of terrorist activities in the region, even against the U.S. itself.
He added, Since at present the United States is doing the same job in Iraq and is supplying tens of thousands of irresponsible forces with weapons, it is predicted that in the near future we will witness a huger wave of terror acts in the region, for which the U.S. should be held accountable.
#3
If this is what trainees can do, sport, wait until you see the guys who graduate from Basic.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
01/01/2008 16:40 Comments ||
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#4
supplying tens of thousands of irresponsible forces with weapons
buildup envy, or just scared of a reckoning
I'll take Force 10 from Navarone.
Any takers on how many days it will be until mahmud/chavez/bob says something outrageous to get the attention back onto themselves? I'll put 5 on Sunday.
Hezbollah-led opposition ally General Michel Aoun on Monday attacked Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir and said " he does not represent the public opinion, but only the Church."
The Patriarch, Aoun said, "is free to express his opinion regarding the political situation but he does not decide our constitutional powers on behalf of us."
Aoun asked Sfeir to "clarify what is being said" about Bkirki's support for Premier Fouad Saniora's government. Aoun, who was addressing a delegation from Byblos at his residence in Rabieh, also accused former President Amin Gemayel and Lebanese Forces leader Dr. Samir Geagea of "blocking the Bkirki meeting" that had been aimed at achieving consensus among Christian leaders on a presidential candidate.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2008 10:07 ||
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The Bushehr nuclear power station will operate 50 percent of its capacity even in summer of 2008, said on Sunday Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Half of the stations capacity will be put into operation next summer, the Iranian foreign minister told reporters. Following the delivery of fuel by Russia, which will be made in eight stages, conditions will be created for its loading (into the reactor) and for putting the station into operation, he added.
The first batch of Russian nuclear fuel was brought to the construction site of the Bushehr station from Novosibirsk on December 16. Tehran hailed this event, stressing that these deliveries will precondition deeper strategic relations between Iran and Russia, but warned that they would not tell on its intention to enrich uranium independently.
Earlier, Iranian representatives called various dates for commissioning the Bushehr nuclear power station. For instance in mid-December, head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation Mohammad Saidi expressed opinion that the station would start operating in three months, generating 100-200 megawatts of power and will start operating at designed capacity in one years time.
However, president of the Russian Atomstroiexport Company (general contractor of the stations construction) Sergei Shmatko, commenting on these statements, emphasised that the Bushehr power station would not be put into operation earlier than late in 2008.
#1
Its a reactor... you can't beat it and make it work...
Posted by: john frum ||
01/01/2008 7:28 Comments ||
Top||
#2
They want it in operation so that bombing it would spread vast amounts of deadly radioactive material (including gamma ray emitters) coming from irradiated fuel, causing worldwide condemnation of the attacker. Bombing it now, with fresh fuel on-site, would only result in alpha emitters being scattered around: messy, but confined to the perimeter.
Such condemnation would be justified: this place should have suffered the fate of Osirak long before the fuel arrived on site.
France has vowed to cut off contact with Syria until it shows a willingness to end the long-standing political crisis in Lebanon by facilitating the election of a new president, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said from Cairo on Sunday. "We will have no more contact with Syria ... until we have proof of Syrian willingness to let Lebanon appoint a consensus president," Sarkozy told reporters during a joint news conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak also urged Syria to facilitate the Lebanese presidential election.
Sarkozy, on his first official trip to the Middle East as president, said France wants a president for Lebanon. "It's time for Syria to prove with action what it has not stopped saying in speeches. We're now waiting for acts on Syria's part and not speeches," he said.
Sarkozy spoke with Syrian President Bashar Assad as recently as the beginning of December to urge him to "facilitate" the election in Lebanon. Sarkozy said he didn't regret contacting Assad, adding the move was well intentioned. He said France is ready to provide the money needed to create the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon to try suspects in the slaying of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Pappy ||
01/01/2008 00:20 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Somebody needs to serve a few injunctions, via JDAM, on some Syrian generals and Assad to get their goddam mitts off of Lebanon.
#2
Might help if a few Lebanese were sent a JDAM message, too. I suggest Aoun, for starters. Hezbollah's positions in south Lebanon should receive the attention of a couple of carriers' worth of Naval Aviation, at the invitation of Fouad Siniora's goverment. That would help, too.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/01/2008 17:06 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Well, O.P., you are just proposing 'diplomatic talk' by other means, right?
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North Korea failed to meet a year-end deadline to declare all its nuclear programs under an aid-for-disarmament deal, prompting disappointed reactions Monday from South Korea, the United States and Japan. The three countries, along with China and Russia, have been pushing North Korea to abandon its nuclear programs in a series of negotiations that began in 2003 and finally gained momentum in 2007.
Rawalpindi's police chief stopped doctors at the hospital where Benazir Bhutto died from conducting an autopsy, according to a lawyer on the hospital's board. It was a violation of Pakistani criminal law and prevented a medical conclusion about what killed the former prime minister, said Athar Minallah, who serves on the board that manages Rawalpindi General Hospital. However, the police chief involved, Aziz Saud, told CNN that he suggested an autopsy be done, but that Bhutto's husband objected.
WASHINGTON - The United States provided a steady stream of intelligence to Benazir Bhutto about threats against her before the former Pakistani prime minister was assassinated and advised her aides on how to boost security, although key suggestions appear to have gone unheeded, US officials said.
NEW DELHI The five militants arrested in connection with last months Uttar Pradesh serial blasts wanted to carry out simultaneous explosions in four crowded areas in Mumbai, including Gateway of India, official sources said. The sources quoting the interrogators questioning the five militants arrested from Barabanki (Uttar Pradesh), Doda (Jammu and Kashmir) and North 24 Parganas (West Bengal) claimed that Bangladesh-based banned Huji was planning to carry out yet another serial blasts in Mumbai. All the five have been arrested for November 23 serial blasts in UP cities Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi.
Ma'an exclusive The spokesperson of the Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubayda threatened on Sunday that if Israel assassinates the deposed Palestinian Prime Minister Isma'il Haniyeh, "an earthquake will shake the region," and the Israelis will be held responsible for all the repercussions.
Commenting on the issue of transferring Palestinian resistance outside Palestine, Abu Ubayda said, "The Palestinian resistance is meant to confront the Israeli occupation in the Palestinian territories, and so it will not be transferred outside."
Palestinian Authority officials on Monday expressed deep disappointment after learning that US President George W. Bush, who is expected to visit Ramallah soon, does not intend to lay a wreath at Yasser Arafat's tomb. Bush, who is also expected to visit Jericho and Bethlehem, does not even plan to pass near the tomb.
The Bushehr nuclear power station will operate 50 percent of its capacity even in summer of 2008, said on Sunday Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
