Thousands of civilians flee battles in NW Pakistan

By RIAZ KHAN, Associated Press Writer

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – Thousands of civilians are fleeing the latest military operation against insurgents in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber tribal region, a government official said Sunday.

Pakistan is under intense U.S. pressure to crack down on insurgents along its border with Afghanistan, especially the lawless tribal belt where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is suspected to be hiding. The U.S. believes militants use Pakistan's tribal areas as safe havens from which to plan attacks on Western troops across the frontier.

Khyber is of particular concern because militants frequently attack trucks along the famed Khyber Pass, a main route for supplies destined for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The military destroyed two training centers and 15 militant homes on Sunday, paramilitary troops said. One militant was killed and nine more taken into custody, a written statement from the paramilitary force said, adding that two people kidnapped by militants had also been recovered.

The region is largely off-limits to journalists, making it difficult to verify the information independently.

Farooq Khan, a government official in Khyber, said hundreds of families had been fleeing the region since authorities relaxed a curfew on Friday.

"A few thousand, I think," he told The Associated Press by phone when asked how many civilians have so far fled.

Khan said there were no procedures in place to register the fleeing civilians, making impossible to reach an exact number. He said there were no plans for refugee camps and security forces were "keeping a strict eye" out for any militants trying to blend in.

Three villages in Khyber have been hard hit by the operation. While some families in Malik Din Khel, Sipah and Kambar Khel have left for other villages in the tribal area, most appeared to be leaving Khyber altogether, Khan said. Most of those families were heading to Peshawar, the main city in the northwest, and its neighboring villages.

There have been several army operations in past in the Khyber region that have always concluded with announcements by authorities that the area was cleared of all militants.

The Taliban-affiliated group Lashkar-e-Islam has been a main target of the latest offensive, which authorities say has killed about 90 alleged militants. The operation was launched a week ago after a suicide bombing at a border checkpoint killed 19 police.

Elsewhere, three policemen were fatally shot — each by a single bullet to the head — west of Pakistan's capital.

The dead policemen were discovered early Sunday in their guard room along a railway bridge in Hasan Abdal, a town 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Islamabad, police official Arshad Mahmood said. It appeared to be a targeted killing, he said, but he would not say if Taliban militants were suspected.

Pakistani Taliban militants frequently target police, though usually in the northwest.

Fire no longer threatening LA-area communities

By JAMES BELTRAN, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES – With one of the largest wildfires in Southern California history nearly half contained, authorities were pressing forward with their investigation to try and determine who set the deadly blaze.

The fire, which started Aug. 26, has killed two firefighters, blackened 242 square miles of Angeles National Forest and destroyed at least 76 homes. Fire agencies so far have spent $43.5 million fighting the fire.

At least a dozen investigators were working Saturday to analyze clues found at a burnt hillside near Angeles Crest Highway — the place where fire started more than a week ago. But officials, who say the cause of the fire was arson, were hesitant to release any of their findings to the media.

"Arsonists are not stupid. They can read," said U.S. Forest Service Cmdr. Rita Wears, who supervises federal agents investigating the fire. "I have to be very careful."

The fire was 49 percent contained Saturday night after crews built protective lines on the northwestern flank near Santa Clarita, said incident commander Mike Dietrich. Still, two new flare-ups presented challenges.

The fire jumped a dozer line near the closed Angeles Crest Highway and burned about 500 new acres in the Pleasant View Ridge Wilderness Area, Dietrich said. Flames were within about five miles of the community of Juniper Hills and firefighters planned to make the area their primary focus into the night.

Dietrich said crews also were fending off new fire activity on the southeastern end of the fire and trying to keep the blaze from burning into Santa Anita Canyon and Chantry Flats north of Arcadia and Monrovia.

And firefighters were trying to slow the eastern movement into the San Gabriel Wilderness and secure the southeastern flank north of Arcadia, Monrovia and other foothill communities.

No homes were immediately threatened in either area, said.

"We're making tremendous progress," Dietrich said, "but we have not turned the corner on this fire."

The weekend weather forecast called for cooler temperatures and slightly higher humidity that could help firefighters further surround the blaze. Because of the reduced heat, about 400 firefighters assigned to protect structures had been dismissed, Dietrich said. About 4,800 firefighters remained.

Near a large shade tree where crews get their daily briefings, a makeshift memorial was set up for fallen Los Angeles County firefighters Tedmund Hall and Arnaldo Quinones.

Capt. Hall and Specialist Quinones were killed Aug. 30 while seeking an escape route for their inmate fire crew after flames overran their camp on Mount Gleason. The two died when their truck plunged 800 feet off a steep mountain road.

Sheriff's detectives opened a homicide investigation after the fire was ruled arson earlier this week, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has offered $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the culprit.

"We are in the early stages, just beginning to put things together," said sheriff's Lt. Liam Gallagher, who is heading the homicide investigation. "Firefighters losing their lives in the line of duty is an added incentive, but we work every case to the fullest."

Karzai edges closer to 50 percent in Afghan vote

By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer

KABUL – President Hamid Karzai nudged closer to the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff in Afghanistan's election, according to the latest results released Sunday.

The Aug. 20 ballot has been marred by accusations of vote-rigging and election officials said they threw out results from 447 out of more than 26,000 polling sites because of fraud allegations. The head of the Independent Election Commission, Daoud Ali Najafi, said it was not yet clear how many votes were affected.

With 74 percent of polling stations counted, Karzai is leading with 48.6 percent. Top challenger Abdullah Abdullah has 30.1 percent. Karzai needs more than 50 percent to avoid a second round against Abdullah.

The country's election commission has slowly been releasing partial results, but says it will complete the count from all polling stations later this week.

Those results won't be finalized until later this month, after a complaints commission investigates more than 650 claims of serious violations on voting day and after. These include charges by Abdullah that Karzai supporters stuffed ballot boxes with tens of thousands of votes.

The commission has the power to nullify the results from districts or provinces, or even call for a new election, if it finds large-scale fraud.

Former Foreign Minister Abdullah on Saturday urged the election commission to stop announcing preliminary results because of "highly suspicious numbers" in tallies released so far.

He said a number of polling stations posted nearly identical numbers for Karzai and none for any other candidate. The challenger alleged electoral officials were beholden to Karzai, who appointed them.

"It is state-engineered fraud. It is not violations here and there," Abdullah said.

Commission chairman Najafi insisted Sunday that the commission was unbiased.

"The Independent Election Commission has been completely impartial in fulfilling its duties throughout the process," he said.

International and Afghan observers have been critical of the vote but have withheld judgment until counting and fraud investigations are complete.

China-donated primary school put to use in Darfur

KHARTOUM: A primary school donated to the Darfur region by the Chinese embassy in Sudan was completed and put to use on Saturday.

Located in Nyala, capital of South Darfur state, the school has 32 classrooms, six teachers' offices, 600 sets of chairs and desks, and a small football pitch.

Chinese Ambassador to Sudan Li Chengwen, Deputy Governor of South Darfur state Abdel Aziz Adam al-Hilu and hundreds of children studying in the school attended the opening ceremony held in the school's playground.

Al-Hilu called the school the best gift the local people have ever received and praised the Chinese people as the true friends of the Sudanese people.

He said even before the school was finished, some anxious teachers and students began to have classes there.

The school was constructed by the engineering troops of the Chinese peacekeeping forces in Darfur. After getting the go-ahead from the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), the troops used their spare time to build the school, which is deemed as the top-class school in South Darfur state in terms of the standard of construction and equipment.

Al-Hilu also said 54 primary schools donated by the Chinese government to South Darfur State are being completed and put to use one after another and will surely play an important role in promoting the local cultural and social development.

Pope: religion should build peace, fight racism

VITERBO, Italy – Pope Benedict XVI marked the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II on Sunday by saying religion should promote peace and fight racism and totalitarianism.

The German-born Benedict said the memory of one of the worst conflicts in history should serve as a warning to never repeat such a "barbarity" as the Holocaust and the extermination of millions of innocents.

"The contribution that religion can and must make is particularly important in promoting forgiveness and reconciliation against violence, racism, totalitarianism and extremism, which defile the image of the Creator in man," he said.

Benedict spoke during his traditional Sunday blessing while visiting Viterbo, a city north of Rome that once rivaled Rome as the residence for popes. Viterbo also was the site of five papal elections, or conclaves, and is affectionately known as the "city of popes."

The 82-year-old Benedict has spoken out frequently about the horrors of World War II. The pontiff was forced to serve in the Hitler Youth corps and later in the army before deserting near the end of the war.

This week, European leaders gathered in Gdansk, Poland to mark the 70th anniversary of the opening salvo of the war, when a German battleship shelled a Polish military outpost.

Hamas rejects rights group accusation over religious dress

The Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement Saturday rejected a rights group's accusations that it violated personal freedom by imposing religious uniform on female students.

The accusations were made by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) which said it received reports from Gaza residents about unofficial orders asking the secondary school female students to wear Islamic-style clothing at school.

Yousef Ibrahim, deputy education minister of deposed Hamas government in Gaza, said his ministry "has not imposed any new orders on the girls."

He admitted that two school principals prevented the students who did not wear the Islamic gown from entering the schools, but said "the two principals have acted without receiving orders from the ministry."

He refused to say if the ministry has investigated the matter and takes any action against the principals.

Nadya Khalife, a women's rights researcher at HRW, said, "No one should be forced to wear religious clothing, including the headscarf, to receive education."

Hamas has been controlling Gaza since it ousted Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by force in mid-2007.

Unemployed Gazans work as "Musaharati" in Ramadan

by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly

Abu Allil and his two former colleagues, who have been unemployed for several months in the Gaza Strip, found a temporary job in the holy Muslim month of Ramadan -- waking people up before dawn for pre-fasting meals.

Every early morning since the beginning of Ramadan on late August, the three young men started their work, wearing unified uniforms of yellow long-sleeve shirts and black trousers.

They roam the streets and alleys of the beach refugee camp of 60,000 population in western Gaza city, breaking the silence by beating the drums and singing traditional Ramadan songs.

Abu Allil is called by the local residents as "al-Musaharati," the man who roams the streets, beats the drum and sings songs during Ramadan to wake people up for their pre-fasting meals, better known as "al-Sahour."

During Ramadan, Muslims usually fast around 15 hours a day. They are allowed to have only two meals: one meal before dawn of their fasting day, namely the pre-fasting meal; the other one in the evening after the sun-set, namely the fast-breaking meal. They should not eat or drink between the two meals.

Abu Allil and his two friends are not the only "Musaharatis" inthe Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. In every neighborhood, refugee camp or village, there are Musaharatis. The local authorities, mainly the department of religious affairs in Gaza, offer them a special permission for the job.

At the end of the month, Abu Allil will knock at people's doors and get his reward.

"Two reasons drove me to this job," said Abu Allil, a father of four children.

"First, I am unemployed, I can earn some money at the end of Ramadan to feed my children. Second, I do this because it is a good thing to wake people up for their pre-fasting meal," he said.

According to figures of international humanitarian organizations, the poverty rate and unemployment rate in Gaza both stand at more than 70 percent, due to a tight Israeli blockade imposed on the impoverished enclave since Hamas seized control of it in June 2007.

"Working as Musaharati does not bring us lots of money, it is temporary and only last for one month, anyway, it is an opportunity to challenge our bitter reality," said Abu Allil, who meets his two colleagues every night outside his humble house in the refugee camp.

The figure of "Musaharati" is not exclusive to the Gaza Strip, but can be seen all over the Arab world as the old tradition lasted for hundreds of years.

Osama al-Easawi, a socialist who is also a teacher of a secondary school in Gaza city, said "Since the economic situation has been deteriorating in Gaza, some people find this job an opportunity to make a living."

Othman Imdoukh, another Musaharati in Gaza, who once owned a sewing factory, said he was compelled to close down his factory three years ago, because he could not get the fabrics from Israel or abroad.

"I do this job only to make a living, though it can not bring a lot of money," he added.

Obama 'green jobs' adviser quits amid controversy

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's environmental adviser Van Jones, who became embroiled in a controversy over past inflammatory statements, has resigned his White House job after what he calls a "vicious smear campaign against me."

The resignation, announced early Sunday, came as Obama is working to regain his footing in the contentious health care debate.

Jones, an administration official specializing in environmentally friendly "green jobs" with the White House Council on Environmental Quality was linked to efforts suggesting a government role in the 2001 terror attacks and to derogatory comments about Republicans.

Jones issued an apology on Thursday for his past statements. When asked the next day whether Obama still had confidence in him, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said only that Jones "continues to work in the administration."

The matter surfaced after news reports of a derogatory comment Jones made in the past about Republicans, and separately, of Jones's name appearing on a petition connected to the events surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. That 2004 petition had asked for congressional hearings and other investigations into whether high-level government officials had allowed the attacks to occur.

"On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me," Jones said in his resignation statement. "They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."

Jones said he has been "inundated with calls from across the political spectrum urging me to stay and fight."

But he said he cannot in good conscience ask his colleagues to spend time and energy defending or explaining his past.

Jones flatly said in an earlier statement that he did not agree with the petition's stand on the Sept. 11 attacks and that "it certainly does not reflect my views, now or ever."

As for his other comments he made before joining Obama's team, Jones said, "If I have offended anyone with statements I made in the past, I apologize."

Despite his apologies, Republicans demanded Jones quit.

Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana said in a statement, "His extremist views and coarse rhetoric have no place in this administration or the public debate." Missouri Sen. Christopher Bonds said Congress should investigate Jones's fitness the job.

Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck repeatedly denounced Jones after a group the adviser co-founded, ColorofChange.org, led an advertising boycott against Beck's show to protest his claim that Obama is a racist.

James Rucker, the organization's executive director, has said Jones had nothing to do with ColorofChange.org now and didn't even know about the campaign before it started.

Jones, well-known in the environmental movement, was a civil-rights activist in California before shifting his attention to environmental and energy issues. He is known for laying out a broad vision of a green economy. Conservatives have harshly criticized him for having left-wing political views.

Nancy Sutley chair of the council, said in a statement released early Sunday that she accepts Jones resignation and thanked him for his service.

"Over the last six months, he had been a strong voice for creating jobs that improve energy efficiency and utilize renewable resources," she said. "We appreciate his hard work and wish him the best moving forward."

Jordan Fails To Secure Release Of Prisoners In Iraq, Signs Trade Agreement

2009-09-05

Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi paid a whirlwind visit to Baghdad on Thursday during which the two countries signed a free trade agreement, which Jordan hoped would serve as a catalyst for boosting bilateral trade ties, the official Petra news agency reported.

Dahabi, who held talks with his Iraqi counterpart Nuri Al-Maliki, expressed his country’s desire to establish “strategic ties” with Iraq, Jordan’s top trade partner for almost two decades. He pointed out that merchandise between Jordan and Iraq almost doubled in the first six months of 2009 to $489 million compared with $262 million in the same period of 2008.

“We aspire to see this figure doubled again when obstacles to the flow of goods and movement of people are removed,” said Dahabi.

The Jordanian prime minister also pressed the Iraqi side for doubling its crude oil exports to Jordan from 10,000 to 20,000 barrels per day, saying the quantity could be increased in future when the oil pipeline between Kirkuk and Banias was repaired to facilitate the delivery of crude to Jordan through the pipelines rather than by trucks.

Jordan and Iraq signed an agreement in 2006 under which Baghdad pledged to supply the kingdom with crude oil at preferential prices, but security problems so far prevented a smooth implementation of the accord.

Dahabi appeared to have failed to ensure the release of 50 Jordanians currently held at Iraqi jails. “We all know that the law should take its due course,” Dahabi was quoted as saying at the joint press conference with Al-Maliki.

He said Jordanian prisoners in Iraq were classified into three categories - terrorists, those who committed administrative violations and suspects.

“We have agreed that the files of suspects and those accused of committing administrative violations will be addressed as soon as possible,” said Dahabi.

Source: Free Internet Press.
Link: http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=22789.

Sweden's foreign minister cancels Israel visit

By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM – Sweden's foreign minister abruptly called off a visit to Israel this week, an Israeli spokesman said Sunday, amid a feud over a Swedish newspaper article and a growing gulf between Israel and the international community over West Bank settlement construction.

Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has called off a trip to Israel planned for this Friday, according to Yigal Palmor, spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry. Palmor, who would not comment on a possible reason for the move, said Sweden informed Israel's embassy in Stockholm of the decision on Friday.

The Swedish decision came the same day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew international condemnation for deciding to approve hundreds of new apartments in West Bank settlements in defiance of U.S., European and Palestinian calls for a total settlement freeze. Sweden holds the rotating European Union presidency.

But the cancellation also followed a diplomatic feud between Israel and Sweden over an article in a Swedish tabloid that accused Israeli soldiers of harvesting organs from dead Palestinians and suggested a connection with an international organ trafficking ring run by Jews. Israeli officials condemned the article as anti-Semitic.

Swedish officials denied a connection between the cancellation and the newspaper article, but offered differing explanations for Bildt's decision not to come.

Anna Brodin, political officer at the Swedish consulate in Jerusalem, said Bildt has put off his visit in the hope Mideast peacemaking would progress during the U.N. General Assembly later this month.

"It has been delayed until after the General Assembly in New York, when there might be more substance in the process," Brodin said.

Israel and the Palestinians have indicated that Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas could hold a first meeting during the U.N. gathering.

But in Stockholm, Bildt spokeswoman Irena Busic denied the foreign minister had canceled a trip to Israel, saying a date had never been set. Now was not a good time for such a trip, she said, citing logistical reasons and the "situation in the peace process."

Both Swedish officials denied the article in the Swedish daily Aftonbladet had anything to do with Bildt's travel plans.

Netanyahu demanded that Sweden denounce the article, headlined, "Our sons are plundered for their organs." But the Swedish government rebuffed Israeli calls for an official condemnation, citing freedom of the press.

"Freedom of expression and press freedom are very strong in our constitution by tradition. And that strong protection has served our democracy and our country well," Bildt, the foreign minister, wrote in his blog after the controversy erupted.

The article provoked a flap inside Sweden's own Foreign Ministry after its ambassador to Israel published a condemnation of the article only to be reprimanded by her superiors for doing so.

The incident has drawn comparisons with the controversy over the 2005 publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons negatively depicting the Prophet Muhammad, which sparked protests and riots throughout the Islamic world.

Denmark's then-prime minister distanced himself from the cartoons throughout the crisis but resisted calls to apologize for them, citing freedom of speech and saying his government could not be held responsible for the actions of Denmark's press.

Lebanese in Gabon to be evacuated if needed: FM

Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh Saturday said Lebanon arranged with France for Lebanese to be evacuated along with French citizens if the situation deteriorates in Gabon, local LBC television reported.

Salloukh said in an interview with LBC that his ministry is now working closely with French foreign and interior ministries and French embassy in Gabon to keep Lebanese in the African country safe.

He said the Lebanese embassy in Gabon is contacting Lebanese citizens to confirm their safety. "The situation is starting to get better and not worse," he added.

Another report by As-Safir newspaper Saturday said Lebanese in the city of Port-Gentil, the economic hub of oil-rich Gabon, are forced to stay at their homes amid fears that the violent post-presidential election demonstrations during the past two days will continue.

At least two people were killed on Friday as demonstrators attacked and torched a police station in the city during unrest following Ali Bongo Ondimba, the son of the country's late president, was announced as the winner of the election.

Demonstrators set fire to the French consulate in Port-Gentil and attacked other French interests, including the offices of oil giant Total on Thursday.

Salloukh said in Libreville, capital of Gabon, no Lebanese was hurt and their possessions were not damaged, whereas in Port-Gentil shops owned by Lebanese were torched or looted.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/6749365.html.

Chavez: No proof of Iran nuclear bomb

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Saturday here there is no proof that Iran is building a nuclear bomb, Iran's English-language Press TV reported.

"There is no single proof that Iran is building a nuclear bomb," Chavez was quoted as saying after arriving in Tehran early Saturday.

"We are certain that Iran, as it has shown, will not back down in its effort to obtain what is a sovereign right of the people -- to have all the equipment and structures to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes," Chavez said.

He also said Venezuela aims to build "a nuclear village" with Iran's assistance.

U.S. President Barack Obama has set a late September deadline for Tehran to initiate multilateral talks over its disputed nuclear issue, or face further sanctions.

Washington has been trying to beef up its sanctions on Tehran for Iran's involvement in anti-U.S. activities and allegedly secret development of nuclear weapons.

Iran denied these charges and insisted its nuclear program is for generating electricity only.

According to Iran's official IRNA news agency, Chavez, who is accompanied by a high-ranking delegation, was received at airport by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Industry and Mines Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian.

Chavez is on his seventh official visit to Iran and will meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad later Saturday.

Chavez has visited Libya, Algeria and Syria and is also scheduled to go to Belarus, Russia, Turkmenistan and Spain, Press TV said.

Yemen army reports gains against Shiite rebels as truce collapses

Sana'a, Yemen - Yemen's military has inflicted "enormous losses" on Shiite rebels in the north-western Saada province after a shaky ceasefire collapsed, a military source said on Sunday. "Army and security units held off an attack by the Houthi rebels on a (military) position in al-Jaraib area, and inflicted enormous losses on the attackers with dozens of dead and injured," the source said in a statement.

The source did not give specific casualty figures, but said four rebel leaders were killed in the combat that lasted more than nine hours Saturday.

Troops also carried out a "swift attack" against rebel positions on hills overlooking the al-Safra district and Sharmat valley, where they destroyed several "dens" of the insurgents, the source said.

The Defence Ministry accused the rebels, led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi and known as Houthis, of executing six women and 10 children on Saturday after they raided a village in Saada, which borders Saudi Arabia.

Fighting escalated following the collapse of a brief ceasefire ordered by the government late Friday to allow access for humanitarian relief agencies to the fighting areas.

The government blamed the rebels for breaking the truce that ended in three hours.

The rebels denied breaking the ceasefire, saying the government "was not serious" in executing it, and that it only wanted to secure passage for supplies to troops besieged by Houthis on the frontline.

Fighter jets resumed airstrikes on rebel positions in several areas in Saada Saturday, according to local sources.

Saada, some 240 kilometres north of Sana'a, has been the scene of fierce fighting between the rebels and government troops since the army launched a massive offensive on their strongholds on August 11.

Both sides claim to have caused heavy casualties over the past three weeks, but none of the claims have been independently verified because the media is denied access to the restive province.

Officials said the offensive will only end when all insurgents are taken out or they surrender.

This is the latest flare-up in the fighting that has been raging on and off since the Houthis began their revolt in mid-2004.

Authorities accuse the Shiite group of seeking to restore the rule of the Zaydi royal family, which was toppled by a republican revolution in 1962 in northern Yemen.

The Houthis say they are revolting against government corruption and the Yemeni alliance with the United States.

Holy city twist: Arabs moving into Jewish areas

By BEN HUBBARD, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM – Yousef Majlaton moved into the Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev for such comforts as proper running water and regular garbage pickup. But he represents a potentially volatile twist in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute over the holy city.

The hillside sprawl of townhouses and apartment blocks was built for Jews, and Majlaton is a Palestinian.

Pisgat Zeev is part of Israel's effort to fortify its presence in Jerusalem's eastern half which it captured in the 1967 war.

But Majlaton, his wife and three kids are among thousands who have crossed the housing lines to Pisgat Zeev and neighborhoods like it in a migration that is raising tempers among some Jewish residents.

It wasn't so much the politics of this contested city that drew Majlaton to Pisgat Zeev, however; it was the prospect of escaping the potholed roads and scant municipal services he endured for 19 years while renting in an Arab neighborhood.

"You see that air conditioner?" he said, pointing to the large wall unit cooling his living room. "In the Arab areas, the electricity is too weak to run one that big."

Majlaton, 50, says some Jewish neighbors are warming up to him, but the influx bothers others, who say they're thinking of moving out or refuse to sell or rent to Arabs.

This is much more than a simple matter of real estate. Demographics could figure heavily in how Jerusalem is partitioned in a future peace deal. If that happens, it is expected the city will be split along ethnic lines — Jewish neighborhoods to Israel, Arab neighborhoods to Palestine.

Palestinians see east Jerusalem as their future capital. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows the whole city will remain united as Israel's capital.

Palestinians have long accused those among them who sell land to Jews of betraying their homeland, and last week similar language was heard from a group of rabbis. Meeting in Pisgat Zeev, they issued an edict denouncing Jews who sell land to Arabs as "traitors" and barring them from participating in communal prayers.

"This is a war, and if the Arabs conquer one neighborhood, they will conquer others and they will strangle the Jews," said Hillel Weiss, a spokesman for the "New Sanhedrin," which takes its name from the supreme court of ancient Israel.

In 2007, the latest year with available statistics, about 1,300 of Pisgat Zeev's 42,000 residents were Arabs. In nearby French Hill, population 7,000, nearly one-sixth are Arabs, among them students at the neighboring Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Neve Yaakov, with 20,000 people, had 600 Arabs, according to the Israel Center for Jerusalem Studies, a respected think tank.

Weeks after the 1967 war, Israel annexed east Jerusalem with its major Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites in a move recognized by no other country. It continues to build housing in sensitive areas in defiance of U.S. protests.

Netanyahu says Arabs have the right to live anywhere in the city, and so should Jews, though the Old City's Jewish Quarter is closed to Arabs.

Jerusalem's mayor and city councilors are all Jewish. Almost all the city's Arabs refuse to vote or run in municipal elections, saying that would be recognition of Israeli rule. But it deprives them of clout in competition for city spending.

Today, while west Jerusalem is overwhelmingly Jewish, the eastern half is an ethnic checkerboard. More than 180,000 Jews live there, most in places like Pisgat Zeev but also in enclaves in Arab areas. Nearly all the city's 220,000 Palestinians live in eastern neighborhoods.

Ironically, much of the Arab migration was set off by the separation barrier which Israel started building through the West Bank in 2002 during a wave of suicide bombings. Its Jerusalem segment meanders to scoop up as many Jewish areas as possible and make several Arab neighborhoods a part of the West Bank.

The wall stranded tens of thousands of Jerusalem Arabs on the "West Bank side," and many moved to Arab neighborhoods on the Jerusalem side for easier access to jobs and schools. But a housing shortage in those districts is pushing the overflow into Jewish areas, residents and real estate agents said.

These areas are "less crowded, you can live in a house, and there are streets, parks and places to play," said Moukhless Abu el-Hof, an Israeli Arab lawyer who owns a home in Pisgat Zeev. "In the Arab neighborhoods, there's nothing."

Jewish resident Shlomi Cohen, 37, said the Arab influx made him sell up and move elsewhere in Pisgat Zeev. "If an Arab comes to live in the building and someone wants to buy and he knows there is an Arab there, he will not buy," he said.

Yael Antebi, editor of the Pisgat Zeev community newspaper and a Jerusalem city council member, said Arab and Jewish teens sometimes brawl, Arab youth often harass Jewish girls, and parents fear their daughters will date Arabs.

Majlaton and his wife are both Hebrew-speaking Christians. He said his new neighbors cold-shouldered them when they arrived in 2002, but gradually became friendlier.

He said he has since helped about 30 Arab families to move in and gets calls from prospective renters almost every day.

While his primary motivation was quality of life, he says living in Pisgat Zeev is "a nationalistic act" — a way to cement Arab presence in the city of his birth.

He said Palestinian leaders should follow his lead.

"They should bring all the Arabs to Pisgat Zeev," he said. "I'll help them find homes one by one."

David Irving sparks row over Holocaust 'propaganda'

Controversial historian causes outrage by calling the Nazis' mass murder a 'commercial phenomenon'

By Elizabeth Nash in Madrid

Eminent historians have condemned a Spanish newspaper's decision to interview the controversial historian David Irving as part of its coverage to mark the 70th anniversary of the Second World War.

The Hitler specialist Sir Ian Kershaw, whose interview last Monday launched El Mundo's commemorative series, said he – and most historians – would have pulled out had they known of Mr Irving's participation.

In the interview published yesterday, Mr Irving once again played down the slaughter of millions of Jews during the Second World War, despite having served time in an Austrian jail for his extremist views.

"The Holocaust is just a slogan, a product like Kleenex or Xerox printers. They've turned it into a commercial phenomenon, and succeeded in making money out of it – producing films about it which have made millions," said the 71-year-old Mr Irving, prompting fury and dismay in Israel.

Israel's ambassador in Madrid, Raphael Schutz, condemned the interview as an insult to readers, to legitimate historians and to the concept of free speech. Mr Schutz said: "Everyone who knows anything about the issue knows that David Irving is nothing but... a con man."

El Mundo justified publication on the grounds of freedom of expression and because Mr Irving was at the centre of a wider debate about the criminalisation of opinion.

But Avner Shalev, the director of Israel's Holocaust Museum, responded in a letter published by El Mundo: "There are subjects about that don't permit a 'for' and 'against'. The paper gives legitimacy to a man who doesn't deserve it... It is inconceivable that a serious newspaper should provide a platform for anti-Semitism."

The notion of the Holocaust was built up decades after the event, Mr Irving argues. "Until the 1970s it was just a speck of dust on the horizon," he tells El Mundo. "The proof is that it doesn't appear in any of the biographies of the great leaders of the Second World War. But from then on it became fashionable. The Jews turned it into a brand, using the same technique as Goebbels. They invented a slogan... and repeated it ad nauseam."

Asked if he continued to believe that the figure of six million Jews exterminated was an exaggeration, Mr Irving replied: "I'm not interested in figures. I don't count bodies. I'm not all that interested in the Holocaust."

How come, the interviewer persisted, you are the only historian to deny that the concentration camp at Auschwitz contributed to the Holocaust? "Because they all copy each other. To jump off the rails would condemn them to jail and poverty, which is what happened to me."

Mr Irving served 11 months in an Austrian jail in 2006 for denying that the Nazis killed six million Jews.

He insisted yesterday that Hitler was not responsible, being merely the dupe of smarter collaborators. "Hitler was a simple man constantly deceived by his subordinates." The allegation that the Nazi leader sought to exterminate the Jews was, he said, "a propaganda lie. In Hitler's speeches there is only one anti-Semitic sentence. Something about 'when the war begins, I want the Jews to suffer'. But that's just a stereotypical expression."

Goebbels and Himmler were more to blame, he said, but Churchill – "a corrupt politician" – was responsible for the war: "He pushed the UK into the war and destroyed the British empire. Churchill was in the hands of the Jews, and if he'd surrendered he'd have gone down in history as a failure. People would have laughed at him." So should he have made a pact with Hitler? "Of course. We were very close to ending the war in 1940."

Spanish foreign minister 'regrets' Holocaust denier interview

STOCKHOLM (AFP) – Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos "regrets" that a Spanish newspaper on Saturday published an interview with a British historian who denies the Holocaust, a spokeswoman said.

"The foreign minister, while maintaining the most absolute respect for freedom of expression, regrets that space was given to a historian who denies one of the biggest tragedies for humanity in modern history," she told reporters in Stockholm where EU foreign ministers were meeting.

"These types of statements deeply hurt the Jewish people," she added.

Centre-right daily newspaper El Mundo published the interview with David Irving, who has denied Nazi Germany killed six million Jews during the Holocaust, as part of a series of six interviews with World War II experts, timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the war's outbreak.

"We don't agree with the majority of what he says, but we defend his right to say it," the newspaper wrote in an editorial on Saturday.

Among the other people it plans to interview as part the series are the director of the Holocaust museum in Israel, Avner Shalev, and a leading biographer of Hitler, Britain's Ian Kershaw.

Israel's ambassador to Spain, Raphael Schutz, condemned the newspaper's decision to plan the interview with Irving, saying it put the arguments of esteemed historians and intellectuals with those of a charlatan, criminal and fraudster who was sentenced to jail in Austria.

"We are not standing before a case where we can evoke freedom of expression," he wrote in a letter to the newspaper published Wednesday.

In 2006 a court in Austria sentenced Irving to three years in prison after he pleaded guilty to denying the Holocaust but he was released and deported to Britain after serving just one-third of his sentence.

He was arrested in late 2005 on charges stemming from two speeches he gave in Austria in 1989 where he said most of those who died at Nazi concentration camps were not executed, but instead succumbed to diseases like typhus.

Great white sharks tagged for first time off Mass.

BOSTON – Massachusetts officials are using high-tech tags to track the movements of two great white sharks near Cape Cod — the first time the fearsome fish have ever been tagged in the Atlantic Ocean.

The electronic tag uses satellite technology to record the travels of the sharks, allowing scientists to better understand their migratory patterns.

The sharks were spotted Saturday by scientists investigating sightings off Monomoy Island in Chatham. Officials say a harpooner tagged them with help from a state shark expert.

Sharks are common in Cape waters during summer, though great white sharks are relatively rare around New England.

State officials have warned area swimmers to be on the lookout for sharks this weekend, and state environmental police are patrolling the area as a precaution.

Afghan presidential challenger wants results held

By HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writer

KABUL – The leading challenger in Afghanistan's presidential vote urged electoral officials Saturday to stop announcing preliminary results because of "highly suspicious numbers" in tallies released so far.

Results from the Aug. 20 election have been dribbling out alongside a torrent of complaints of ballot box stuffing and voter intimidation. International and Afghan observers have been critical of the vote but have held back judgment until counting and fraud investigations have finished.

Partial results from 60 percent of polling stations show President Hamid Karzai ahead but still shy of the more than 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff.

Former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said that the tallies released so far show suspicious figures, with a number of stations posting nearly identical numbers for Karzai and none for any other candidate. Abdullah said those numbers were "highly suspicious" and indicate that the electoral commission is not holding back votes from areas where complaints have been filed.

The electoral commission has said it is only announcing "clean votes," not reporting those that suggest ballot-box stuffing or other fraud.

Abdullah has previously alleged fraud on the part of the Karzai administration and said that electoral workers, appointed by Karzai, are partisan to the president. He said the latest tallies are proof that the system is rigged.

"It is state-engineered fraud. It is not violations here and there," Abdullah said. "I request the electoral commission not to announce the provisional results anymore because it's fraudulent."

In eastern Paktika province, six polling centers showed hundreds of votes for Karzai, with none for any other candidate, Abdullah noted. Karzai has strong support in the province, where the majority of people belong to his Pashtun ethnic group, but Abdullah said it was highly unlikely that not a single person cast a ballot for one of the more than 30 other candidates.

"The commission has done its best to be impartial and prevent any fraud," the Independent Electoral Commission said in a statement responding to Abdullah's allegations. The statement did not directly address the charge of statistical irregularities in results and officials were not available for comment.

A separate, U.N.-backed complaints commission is supposed to act as a check on the electoral commission for these types of allegations, but Abdullah said that group is working too slowly.

The latest countrywide results released Thursday show Karzai with 47 percent and Abdullah running second with 33 percent.

More had been scheduled for release Saturday, but the electoral commission said early in the day that it was delaying results. Abdullah said he had made an appeal directly to the commission but did not say if the delay was due to his request.

Abdullah said he would not call his supporters out in protest if the request is not met, but warned that they may take action on their own if they feel they are being cheated.

"I still urge our supporters to stay calm, but people's patience will run out someday," Abdullah said.

Voting day itself was marred by Taliban attacks that killed dozens. Turnout was low amid the violence and threats of recrimination against voters.

Abdullah called on international bodies and foreign governments with troops in Afghanistan to push more strongly for a quick and thorough investigation of fraud. He said attempts to look past allegations in the name of preserving calm were misguided.

"If a leadership is imposed on people based on fraud ... this in itself is a recipe for instability," he said.

Belgium agrees to accept Gitmo detainee

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Belgium officials say they have agreed to accept a U.S. Guantanamo Bay terrorism detainee who has been cleared by U.S. courts.

A statement Friday from the Belgium Foreign Ministry didn't reveal the detainee's identity or specify his nationality, nor did it detail a timeline for the transfer, The Miami Herald reported.

"The individual in question is no longer facing prosecution,'' the statement said, which the Herald said suggested he was among the 19 detainees still held at Guantanamo who have been ordered freed by federal judges on habeas corpus grounds.

With the move, Belgium joins France and Portugal -- which have accepted two Syrian detainees for resettlement -- and Ireland in agreeing to repatriate Guantanamo inmates, the newspaper said.

U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered the prison be closed by early 2010. Some 226 captives have reportedly been cleared for release, but are fearful of returning to their own countries for fear of retaliation.

Iran to send fourth fleet to Gulf of Aden

TEHRAN, Sept. 5 (MNA) – The Navy is going to dispatch the fourth warship to the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships against pirates, a top commander announced on Saturday.

So far the Army and the IRGC have sent three warships to the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian oil tankers and trade vessels.

Iran will continue sending its fleets of warships to the area until it deems necessary, Navy Commander Habibollah Sayyari said in a ceremony arranged to welcome the second Navy fleet which returned home from the gulf.

Sayyari also said that 65 thousand ships sail across the zone annually and 45 percent of Asia’s export-bound gas has to be shipped through the area and any insecurity will damage the whole world’s economy.

Piracy has flourished in recent months off the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean shipping lanes and seaborne gangs have seized several cargo ships and collected tens of millions of dollars in ransom for the safe release of crews and cargoes.

Iran's Mousavi defiant after MPs back Ahmadinejad

By Fredrik Dahl

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi called on Saturday for more protests over Iran's disputed June election, two days after lawmakers backed most of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's new government ministers.

But a religious ceremony next week which could have become a rallying point for the moderates was canceled after authorities put pressure on its hosts, Iranian media said.

Nevertheless, Mousavi remained defiant over the poll he says was rigged in favor of Ahmadinejad and urged his supporters to create a wide opposition network using meetings such as family and union gatherings, as well as sporting and cultural events.

"In order to achieve our cause, I do not recommend anything but the pursuit of the green path of hope which you have followed in the past few months ... through small and large gatherings," he said in a statement on a reformist website.

Green was the color of Mousavi's campaign and the huge protests which followed the election.

"It is up to your friends to not betray the confidence ... created in the struggle against the cheaters and the liars," he said, repeating charges of "organized violations and fraud."

Iran's volunteer Islamic militia, the Basij and elite Revolutionary Guards forces put down the protests.

A reformist website published the names of 72 people it said had been killed in the street unrest.

Some 30 died from gunshot wounds, others from baton blows, one had his throat slit, one was thrown from the third floor of a building and one woman was burned beyond recognition, it said.

Authorities put the death toll in post-election violence at 26 and say the dead include Basij militiamen.

Officials reject allegations of rigging in the vote, which plunged Iran into its deepest internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution and exposed widening establishment rifts.

Bolstering Ahmadinejad after weeks of post-election turmoil, parliament on Thursday approved 18 out of the 21 proposed ministers in his new cabinet after reported intervention by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It will allow Iran's leadership to focus on the nuclear row with the West, which has given Tehran until later in September to take up a six powers' offer of talks on trade benefits if it shelves nuclear enrichment, or face harsher sanctions.

The West suspects Iran of trying to build nuclear bombs while Iran says its program is for peaceful power generation.

"MARTYRS"

The world powers, the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France and Germany, on Wednesday pressed Tehran to meet them before the U.N. General Assembly session on Sept 23-25.

While showing no sign of backing down in the row, Iranian officials have in recent days said Tehran is ready to hold talks and will soon present its own "package," without making clear to what extent it addresses the nuclear issue.

State radio quoted Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, as saying it would be handed over to the powers within the next week.

He described it as a "comprehensive package" that would include issues such as nuclear and economic cooperation as well as concerns about the proliferation of atomic arms.

Iran has often said nuclear bombs have no place in its defense doctrine and called on the United States and other countries with such weapons to dismantle them.

Israel, Iran's arch-foe, is believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal. It says an Iranian bomb would be a threat to its existence that it would not tolerate.

Iranian media said a religious ceremony at which reformist former President Mohammad Khatami was expected to speak had been canceled, in what may reflect authorities' concern it could have become the scene of renewed opposition protests.

The Mardomsalari newspaper cited "pressure" on the family of late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to call off the speeches traditionally held at his shrine near Tehran to mark the seventh century death of Imam Ali, Shi'ite Islam's most revered figure after the Prophet Mohammad.

"The official communique says the Imam's shrine is unable to hold the mourning period in view of the problems it is facing," it said, referring to the annual religious event during three successive nights from next Wednesday.

Gabon troops outside stadium as unrest continues

By JOEL BOUOPDA TATOU and RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press Writers

LIBREVILLE, Gabon – Hundreds of soldiers deployed en masse around Gabon's soccer stadium for a World Cup qualifier Saturday as the country's new president attended and post election violence continued for a third straight day.

Ali Bongo arrived at the stadium in a convoy of SUVs. He walked up to the VIP booth, then stepped forward to salute the crowd, wearing a cap embossed with a miniature map of his country and the word "Gabon." Soldiers and riot police set up a perimeter around the stadium and stood guard at every entrance.

The mood inside the stadium was tense as Gabon lost 2-0 to neighboring Cameroon. An Associated Press reporter saw police beat one man who tried to enter without a ticket. Otherwise, the match finished without incident.

On Friday, the country's constitutional court declared Bongo the winner of last weekend's divisive presidential race.

Bongo, 50, is accused of having rigged last weekend's election in which he ran against 17 other contenders. He is the eldest son of Omar Bongo, the country's late dictator who died in June after a 41-year rule. Omar Bongo had been the world's longest-serving president.

The special election was called to replace the late president, and many had hoped that it would mark the country's first chance at democracy. The elder Bongo ran in multiple elections where he was the only candidate. After intense pressure, he allowed the opposition to run against him and won multiple other elections riddled with irregularities and fraud accusations.

The country's top three opposition leaders who say the election was rigged went into hiding, releasing statements through their allies to say they feared security forces were trying to kill him. Two of them — Andre Mba Obame and Zacharie Myboto — were seen at a meeting of opposition leaders Saturday afternoon. The election's No. 2 finisher in the election, Pierre Mamboundou, was still in hiding.

Jean Eyeghe Ndong, a former prime minister and a spokesman for the 16 independent and opposition candidates, announced the election results "were false" and said the opposition planned to make an important announcement in coming days, but refused to elaborate.

Earlier, a spokesman for Obame said the opposition was considering forming a parallel government.

The country's No. 2 city Port Gentil, the hub of Gabon's oil industry, devolved into chaos, with angry protesters torching a police station, a market and the French Consulate over the past few days.

French oil company Total said it evacuated employees and their families from Port Gentil to the capital, Libreville, amid spiraling violence. One of Total's facilities was torched overnight, said Dianney Madztou, the editor-in-chief of local TV station Top Bendje who saw the smoldering rubble.

Total spokeswoman Phenelope Semavoine said only a minimal number of employees had remained in the coastal oil hub. She called the withdrawal temporary and said Total had no plans to pull its employees out of the African country altogether.

France, Gabon's former colonial master, is accused of having propped up the elder Bongo, handpicking him as the country's future president in 1967 and offering him covert support through his four decade rule. Gabonese have accused the French of helping the younger Bongo allegedly rig the election and French nationals have been systematically targeted.

Looters continued to attack shops overnight in Port Gentil and at least two people have been killed during sporadic shooting since Thursday, the day the election results were first announced, said Madztou, who saw one of the bodies and the puddle of blood where witnesses said the second died.

The shooting, he said, was especially intense in the early hours of Saturday, apparently as security forces were flown in from the capital.

Ali Bongo is seen by many as a usurper of power. He was nicknamed "Baby Zeus" when he was a child because of his heir apparent status. The elder Bongo was viewed by many as the father of the nation and although he amassed a fortune, including 66 private bank accounts and more than 45 homes in the names of his immediate family, he was mostly tolerated and seen as a vestige from another era, when Africa was ruled by autocrats.

Some Islamists to join Somali govt - minister

MOGADISHU, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Somalia's government is negotiating with Islamist insurgents and has persuaded some of them to join its administration, the foreign minister said on Saturday.

Somalia's U.N.-backed administration is facing a stubborn insurgency by Islamist rebels, including foreign militants who Western security agencies say use the Horn of Africa nation as a safe haven to plot attacks in the region and beyond.

"Some al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam (members) have joined our government," Foreign Minister Ali Jama Jangili told reporters in Mogadishu. "We are negotiating with these two groups."

It was not clear how many Islamists were joining the government, and in what roles.

Washington accuses al Shabaab of being al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia. President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's government controls only small parts of the central region and a few districts of the bullet-scarred capital.

More than 18,000 Somalis have been killed since the start of 2007 and another 1.4 million driven from their homes.

That has triggered one of the world's worst aid crises, with the number of people needing assistance leaping 17.5 percent in a year to 3.76 million, or half the population.

"We are planning to handle the country's security in the near future, this is our priority and we have support from the international community," Jangili said.

Source: Alertnet.
Link: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L5207026.htm.

Jordan shuts down Press TV in Amman

The Jordanian government has reportedly shut down the Amman bureau of the Tehran-based English news channel, Press TV.

The report comes as Jordanian officials had earlier called on Press TV to apply for a renewal of its accreditation in 2009, which the satellite station had accordingly submitted to the concerned parties.

In June, Jordanian authorities revoked the press credentials of two Iranian satellite TV stations, the Arabic-language Al-Alam and the English-language Press TV.

The move caused the Paris-based journalism watchdog organization, Reporters Without Borders, to write a letter to the Jordanian Media and Communication Minister Nabil Al-Sharif urging him to treat all satellite TV stations equally, and to therefore rescind the closure of Al-Alam and Press TV and give them the licenses and accreditation they need.

"News media must be able to work freely even if their editorial policies or their funding are clearly linked to a foreign country," the press freedom organization said.

Amman alleges that the two Iranian satellite TV stations were denied licenses after they lacked the accreditation and permits needed to operate in Jordan.

This is while an Al-Alam journalist has informed Reporters Without Borders that his station has submitted several requests to the media and communication ministry for the renewal of its accreditation in the past seven months.

Somali FM: Government will regain control soon

Sat Sep 5, 2009

Somalia's foreign minister says the government is in direct negotiations with insurgents as a step in stabilizing the lawless horn of Africa nation amid escalating violence.

Ali Ahmed Jama Gengeli told reporters in Mogadishu on Saturday that the government of President Sharif Ahmed would soon regain complete control of the country.

He said Mogadishu was set on moving forward with reconciliation plans with "rebel groups of Hezb al-Islam and al Shabaab… We are working closely with community groups and the country will be under government control soon."

"Some of them have already joined the government and we hope our mission for broader reconciliation will be fruitful soon," the minister said without elaborating on the names or number of new members.

Hezb al-Islam led by former Sharif ally, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, is more political than Al Shabaab, and both rebel groups, that began waging a war against the country's new government almost from the start, have vowed to continue until the departure of African Union (AU) peacekeepers.

Although deadly clashes still erupt on a near daily basis in the conflict-torn capital, there has been less overall fighting since al Sabaab launched a military offensive against forces of the Transitional Federal Government on May 7.

Clashes have left scores of people dead this month alone, prompting a call by the Arab League on Thursday for troops from Arab countries to assist the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia.

Renowned aid agency Oxfam said this week that the international community had failed Somalia by not doing enough to end the war in a country that has lacked an asserting functional government since 1991, when warlords toppled the regime of Siad Barre.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/105381.html.

U.S. general: Afghan civilians wounded at bomb site

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writer

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan – The top NATO commander confirmed Saturday that civilians were wounded by a devastating airstrike targeting insurgents in northern Afghanistan, a major test of his policy to curb airpower to reduce civilian casualties and win over Afghans to the war against the Taliban.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal waded through a knee-deep river to inspect the charred remains of two fuel tankers destroyed in the Friday attack, which Afghan officials say killed about 70 people. It was unclear how many were Taliban and how many were villagers who rushed to the scene to siphon fuel from the stolen trucks.

McChrystal visited the site about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Kabul as European leaders already nervous about the escalating war demanded answers. Some called the airstrike — requested by the Germans and carried out by U.S. jets — "a tragedy" and "a big mistake" that must be investigated.

The bombing also sent shock waves through Germany ahead of national elections Sept. 27. Opposition politicians called for a thorough investigation, even as the defense minister insisted all the dead were militants.

After touring the bomb site — where villagers' yellow fuel cans still littered the river bank — McChrystal paid a somber visit to the Kunduz hospital, where he stooped low to talk with a 10-year-old boy whose arms and legs were swathed in gauze.

"While I was going to get the fuel, on the way I heard a big bang, and after that I don't know what happened," said the boy, Mohammad Shafi.

McChrystal whispered "tashakor," — thank you in the Afghan language of Dari — to the boy and left the room.

"Anytime anybody is hurt it is something that gives pause to everybody, particularly when they're young people, still children. And so you take it very seriously," McChrystal said. "So I take this entire effort as something that is a responsibility of our command, and a responsibility of mine, to try to protect Afghans."

Civilian casualties have dogged the U.S. and NATO mission in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion. When McChrystal took command in June, he immediately issued orders aimed at reducing such deaths, and asked his troops to concentrate on protecting and understanding Afghan villagers.

The new approach appeared to help, but Friday's bombing threatened a major setback to McChrystal's goals.

"From what I have seen today and going to the hospital, it's clear to me that there were some civilians that were harmed at the site," McChrystal told reporters. He did not say if any civilians were killed.

"I think it's a serious event that is going to be a test of whether we are willing to be transparent and whether we are willing to show that we are here to protect the Afghan people," McChrystal added. "And I think that it's very important to me that we follow through on that."

German officials have insisted everyone killed in the attack were militants. Other NATO officials, though, have conceded that civilians likely died as well.

"There is no reliable information on numbers, but there's a good sort of a gut sense that there had to have been civilians that made their way just based on the anecdotal conversations we've been hearing," said U.S. Rear Adm. Gregory J. Smith, McChrystal's top spokesman.

During his visit to the site, McChrystal asked Smith how many people could be seen on the riverbank through the video feed from U.S. F-15E fighter jets that carried out the attack.

"We could see from the downlink about 120 people?" McChrystal asked.

"It was ebbing and flowing," Smith said.

Afghan officials at first said as many as 90 people died in the bombing, though the Kunduz governor lowered his estimated toll on Saturday to about 70.

Smith said a preliminary review of surveillance video showed that 56 people died in the blast. But no U.S. or NATO official would say how many might have been civilians. McChrystal's reference to 120 people at the site suggests that officials believe civilians died because militants rarely congregate in such numbers.

NATO officials said a B-1 bomber first spotted the two stolen trucks and the dozens of people around them. The B-1 was low on fuel and had to return to base, but the two F-15Es arrived 20 minutes later. The jets transmitted video back to officials at the German base. About 30 minutes after the F-15s appeared, the bombs were dropped, at about 2 a.m.

The nighttime video would have been grainy. Smith described it as showing dark spots on the screen. "You can see shapes," he said.

McChrystal said it's hard to tell who is an insurgent solely by dress.

"They are not obvious by actions until they are doing the hostile act," McChrystal said. "This particular activity occurred about 2 o'clock in the morning, so you have the natural confusion of dark and a rural environment as well. So it's a challenge, but it's a challenge that we have to take very seriously and try to take as much care as we can."

Smith said the upcoming investigation would show if any language barriers between the Germans and the American pilots played a role. It hadn't yet been decided which NATO nation would lead the investigation, he said. Afghan officials were expected to take part.

Before traveling to the site of the bombing, McChrystal met local Afghan leaders and expressed sympathy for any civilian losses. He said the fight against the Taliban should not come at the expense of civilian lives.

At least one local official supported the allied bombing, saying it would help drive the insurgents from the area.

"If we did three more operations like we did yesterday morning, the Kunduz situation would be peaceful and stable," said Ahmadullah Wardak, a provincial council chief.

That was not a view shared by many European leaders, who called Saturday for a speedy investigation. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the airstrike was "a big mistake." EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner called the incident "a great, great tragedy."

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung insisted in comments to the Bild am Sonntag weekly that officials had no information indicating any civilians died in the airstrike.

Also Saturday, NATO said two U.S. service members were killed in separate attacks in Afghanistan.