Security officers on trial over death of Hamas suspect

RORY MCCARTHY

BEIT AR-RUSH AL-FAUQA: Palestinian authorities have begun a rare military trial of security officers accused of torturing a Hamas suspect to death at a time of an intensifying crackdown in the West Bank against the Islamist movement.

Haitham Amr, 33, a nurse, was arrested by the Palestinian intelligence services, led by the Fatah political faction, at his home near Hebron in the occupied West Bank in June.

Four days later he was dead, his body showing extensive bruising and swelling, including damage near the kidneys. He had been suspected of membership of the armed wing of Hamas, the rival Palestinian faction.

He was the fourth prisoner to die in Palestinian custody in the West Bank this year. All were suspected of involvement with Hamas but none was ever charged, and apart from Mr Amr's case, there have been no official investigations.

The investigation of Mr Amr's death sheds new light on the often violent internal confrontation in the West Bank between the Fatah-dominated Palestinian security forces and their enemies from Hamas, which won the last Palestinian elections and now rules over Gaza.

Many Hamas supporters have been arrested and some have been killed. Last month the Palestinian President and Fatah leader, Mahmoud Abbas, sacked the Hamas-supporting mayor of Qalqilya and his 15-member council. Some Palestinians fear a slide into a police state.

Palestinian human rights groups say the abuse and torture of prisoners by Fatah-led security forces in the West Bank and by Hamas forces in Gaza is all too common. Three detainees have died in Hamas custody in Gaza this year.

The deaths come at a time when a $US161 million ($182 million) US-led effort is under way in the West Bank to train several battalions of the Palestinian national security forces in preparation for possible future statehood.

At least 15 security officials had been investigated over the death of Mr Amr, said the Palestinian interior minister, Said Abu Ali. He said several officers were on trial at a military court but he would not give their names or ranks.

Mr Abu Ali admitted that abuse and torture had happened in other cases but said there had been a great improvement in law and order in the West Bank.

In August he issued new directions about the treatment of prisoners and said he was working to restore authority to the civil judiciary, away from the military, but this required more prisons, among other things.

The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank was locked in a ''war'' with Hamas, he said.

Security forces had found weapons and uniforms in raids on Hamas hide-outs, a sign, he said, that the Islamist group wanted to create a security vacuum by undermining the Fatah-led security forces.

''They were preparing themselves to be an equivalent power to the Palestinian Authority,'' Mr Abu Ali said.

''In establishing a Palestinian state there is one authority, one law, one weapon … We will not allow what happened in Gaza to happen here under any circumstances.''

Syrian FM: Israel to draw war on Iran to elude peace

Syria's foreign minister expresses concern about the possibility of “Israel dragging others into a war with Iran to avoid committing to the peace process.”

“Undoubtedly, there is room for concern. If I lived in the West, I would be worried not to mention the Middle East, which is close to the tension areas,” Walid Muallem told the Al Jazeera news channel, quoted by the IRIB translation service.

“That is why I am insisting that diplomacy is the best solution to our problems. The biggest problem is the lack of trust. Iran and the West do not share any trust; that is why I believe that any military conflict in the region would be dangerous for everyone.”

“What I am afraid of is that by hyping the Iranian [nuclear] issue, Israel might drag others into a confrontation with Iran to elude its peace commitments,” Muallem added.

The foreign minister said that although Damascus had never acted as a mediator between Iran and the West, it had invited the two sides of the dispute to negotiate their differences.

He also attacked Israel for its nuclear arsenal and said Tel Aviv's nuclear warheads threaten to pull the Middle East into a nuclear arms race.

Muallem also commented on Syria's relations with Iran and said that Damascus would never give up its ties with Tehran or downgrade them in exchange for a new relationship with the United States.

He explained that Damascus conducts its foreign relations based on two main factors: the stance countries take on the issue of Palestinian rights, and Syria's national interests, adding that Iran scored positive points on both aspects.

“The Iranian Revolution,” he explained, “has adopted a clear position on the issue of the Arab-Israeli dispute.”

Former Democratic Congressman Charlie Wilson: Consider pullout

The man responsible for funding the freedom fighters during Afghanistan's decade long war with the Soviet Union is deeply skeptical about the U.S. military's current prospects there.

Former Democratic Congressman Charlie Wilson, said in a recent interview with The Times-Tribune that if he were in President Barack Obama's shoes, he would likely advocate "a calculated withdrawal" of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, rather than an escalation. Mr. Wilson is set to speak Thursday at 7 p.m. at Scranton Cultural Center.

60 anti-war protesters detained at White House

US Police have arrested 60 protesters during a demonstration condemning the ongoing wars on the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

"As the US-led war in Afghanistan begins its ninth year this week, 61 were arrested, bringing a strong message to the White House," the organizers of the event, CommonDreams.org, said on its website.

All of those arrested had been cited and released, police officials said.

More than 500 people, among them US military war veterans and peace activists, gathered outside the White House in Washington to declare that "war, torture and drone bombing are outrageous, unacceptable and must end immediately," according to the website.

Celebrated anti-war protester, Cindy Sheehan and co-founder of the 'After Downing Street Coalition,' David Swanson, were among the arrested.

Sheehan turned into one of the major faces of the antiwar movement in the United States after her 25-year-old son, Casey, was killed in Iraq in 2004. She led several anti-war rallies across the US, but the most famous one took place
outside George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas in 2005, which lasted several days.

Reports indicate that some of the demonstrators chained themselves to the White House fence, while others lay prone on the sidewalk, as if they were dead.

Protesters chanted "mourn the dead, heal the wounded, end the war" and "Healthcare Not Warfare," as President Barack Obama held his press conference on healthcare inside the White House.

Top Saudi cleric fired for coed school criticism

Tue Oct 6, 2009

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has removed a senior cleric from a top council of religious scholars who criticized the country's first mixed-gender university.

Late on Sunday, the state news agency SPA reported that based on a decision by King Abdullah, Sheikh Saad Al-Shithri was no longer on the top council of religious scholars.

Last week, Sheikh Al-Shithri attacked King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST) for not implementing segregation laws.

The senior cleric said that classroom where men and women study together are “evil” and places of “great sin”. He claimed men would not be able to concentrate on their studies in such environments.

His comments sparked angry reactions from those who saw the new university as a beacon for research that will eventually help produce Saudi scientists.

Saudi Arabia implements a very strict version of Islam. In the Arab state, religious police patrol the streets to make sure that the country's segregation laws are followed.

The Saudi government has built King Abdullah University for Science and Technology with a budget of over seven billion dollars.

The academic establishment, which is seen as one of most important projects carried out during King Abdullah's reign, includes one of the world's fastest supercomputers and enrolls more than 800 students from around the world.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/107989.html.

Spain jails Argentine 'death' pilot

An Argentine pilot for Dutch airline Transavia arrested on suspicion of running "death flights" is to remain in a Spanish prison, following a court ruling.

Spain's National Court made the decision on Tuesday to keep former Argentine Navy Lt. Julio Alberto Poch locked, while Madrid mulls whether to extradite him to his home country.

Poch was arrested on an Argentine warrant last month in Valencia, Spain, on charges that he participated in "death flights."

Judge Eloy Velasco ruled that Poch would not be granted provisional liberty, following a closed-door hearing that lasted about an hour in the judge's chambers, a spokesman told CNN.

In the 1970s and '80s, more than 1,000 drugged and blindfolded prisoners are believed to have been thrown alive out of planes during the junta's rule.

The prisoners, including students, labor leaders, opposing intellectuals and leftists, would be condemned to the harrowing plunge to death in the Atlantic Ocean or the Rio Plata.

Poch, who has dual Argentine and Dutch nationality, has apparently made no secret of his job as a “death flight pilot” during the junta era, informing friends and colleagues.

North Korea considers return to nuclear talks

PYONGYANG, North Korea – North Korea's leader is offering to return to multinational disarmament talks in a renewed effort to draw Washington into one-on-one talks that the United States has yet to fully embrace.

Kim Jong II's offer, reported Tuesday by North Korean state media, reflects Pyongyang's desire for direct engagement with Washington. The administration of President Barack Obama has said that might be possible but any talks should be part of the six-nation process aimed at ending the North's nuclear programs.

Kim told Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday that the North "is willing to attend multilateral talks, including the six-party talks, depending on the progress in its talks with the United States," China's Xinhua News Agency reported.

"Kim Jong Il wants to show through bilateral talks with the U.S. that his country is an equal partner of the United States, and this will strengthen his position before returning to the six-way talks," said analyst Lee Sang-hyun of the Sejong Institute, a South Korean security think tank.

Kim's comments were the clearest indication yet from Pyongyang that it might return to the talks from which it withdrew after conducting a rocket test in April and a second nuclear test in May. The regime said earlier it would never return to the multinational talks.

Adding urgency to those efforts was a report Tuesday by South Korea's Yonhap news agency saying that U.S. and South Korean intelligence authorities believe the North is in the final stages of restoring its nuclear program that it pledged to disable in 2007 before backing out of the disarmament process.

North Korea has been moderating its tone in recent weeks, signaling its willingness to resume a dialogue with the United States, China and other partners and backing away from the provocative behavior and rhetoric of the spring.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Washington was aware of reports that North Korea would reconsider opening talks but said the United States had not gotten details of the meeting from the Chinese.

"We've talked to our Chinese partners in the six-party talks and we're conducting close coordination with China and the other partners in the talks," Kelly said. "We, of course, encourage any kind of dialogue that would help us lead to our ultimate goal that's shared by all the partners in the six-party talks, which is the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."

Yonhap said South Korean and U.S. authorities concluded the North is restoring its nuclear program after scrutinizing about 10 atomic facilities since April when the North said it had restarted the program in anger over a U.N. rebuke of its rocket launch.

The report, citing an unidentified South Korean defense source, did not say how authorities managed to scrutinize the North's secretive facilities.

North Korea agreed in 2007 to disable its nuclear facilities in return for international aid. In June last year, the North blew up the cooling tower at its main nuclear complex near Pyongyang in show of its commitment. But the denuclearization came to a halt later in 2008 as Pyongyang wrangled with Washington over how to verify its past activities.

Kim's comments to Wen came as the Chinese premier, the country's No. 3 leader, was on a three-day trip to Pyongyang to celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Beijing was under pressure from other governments to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table.

Kim greeted Wen on his arrival Sunday at Pyongyang's airport, APTN footage showed. That was a rare honor for a non-head of state, reflecting Beijing's importance as the North's chief economic and diplomatic backer.

Larijani re-elected leader of Principlist bloc

Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has been re-elected as the head of Majlis' Principlist bloc, says a parliamentarian.

Larijani garnered 24 votes to retain his post as the head of the Principlist bloc for the second year, said Vali Esmaeili, a member of the bloc's Central Council.

His rival for the post, Morteza Aqa-Tehrani, only received seven votes.

Vice Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Reza Bahonar and Mohammad-Hasan Abutorabi were also re-elected as the Principlist bloc's first and second deputy heads with 18 and 16 votes, respectively.

Pakistan braces for more bombings

By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan braced Tuesday for more militant attacks ahead of an anticipated offensive against a Taliban stronghold, as the insurgents said they bombed a U.N. relief agency because international aid work was not in "the interest of Muslims."

The suicide bombing Monday at the World Food Program headquarters in Islamabad killed five people, prompting the U.N. to temporarily shut all its offices across the country.

The attack proved the Taliban retained the ability to launch deadly strikes in the heart of Pakistan despite government hopes that the Aug. 5 killing of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a CIA drone attack and recent military successes in the Swat Valley would send the group spiraling into chaos.

Pakistani officials have said they are prepared to launch another offensive to rout the Taliban from their mountain redoubts in South Waziristan. A media report last week said a major ground offensive was imminent, and an AP reporter in the area Sunday saw Taliban fighters taking up positions and villagers fleeing.

Such an offensive would likely come at a high price for the military. The army has been beaten back there three times since 2004 and analysts say 10,000 well-armed militants, including foreign fighters, are dug in around the region.

Helicopter gunships, jet fighters and artillery batteries pounded suspected militant hide-outs in South Waziristan on Tuesday, killing two militants and seven other people, intelligence officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. They said the army was trying to establish whether the seven unidentified victims were militants.

The military launched the strikes in response to a Taliban attack on two military bases, the officials said.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the government was already targeting the Taliban in South Waziristan and "if needed, further action shall also be taken at an appropriate time" against militants in other areas along the Afghan border.

Washington has pressed Pakistan to crack down on the militants, and on Tuesday the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, met Pakistan military chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Islamabad. The Obama administration is debating whether to add up to 40,000 more troops to fight the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, but says it cannot win there unless Pakistan does more to fight militants on its side of the border.

The Taliban said they would repel any offensive against their strongholds.

Spokesman Azam Tariq said the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the U.N. office and vowed to carry out more attacks.

"The U.N. and other foreign (aid groups) are not working in the interest of Muslims. We are watching their activities. They are infidels," he told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location.

He said the Taliban would not attack Muslim relief groups, but that future targets would include Pakistani security officials, government offices and American installations.

Malik said the country "should expect a few more" bombings.

The attack on the heavily fortified World Food Program compound prompted the U.N. to temporarily close its offices in the country, though it said its Pakistani partner organizations would continue distributing food, medicine and other humanitarian assistance. The world body said it would reassess the situation over the next several days.

World Food Program spokesman Amjad Jamal defended the agency's work as "totally humanitarian."

"We provide food. Our food is for the vulnerable groups, the poor groups who cannot afford one meal a day," he said.

Pakistani religious scholar Mufti Muneebur Rehman disputed the Taliban claim that international aid work was against Islam.

"Helping somebody in need is one of the best traits of Islam," he said. "A good Muslim would be the first to help any non-Muslim in trouble."

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said those killed in the bombing Monday were serving a "noble cause."

"Such cowardly terrorist acts will never weaken our resolve to fight against this scourge," he wrote in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Leader says Iran advances help other nations

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution has stressed that Iran's military advances are no a threat to any nation but instead are helping them progress 'without dependence' on the US.

"The great might of the Islamic Republic, the maneuvers, missiles and advanced defense capabilities are not a threat to our neighbors or any other nation in the world," Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Tuesday, addressing naval personnel in the northern city of Noshahr.

"These are opportunities which show them the path of progress and honor and teach them that dignity and might will not be gained by depending on the United States and by endless purchase of arms."

Ayatollah Khamenei said the "enemy has not denied the truth" about Iran's might as it aims to create 'Iranophobia' in the region and across the world.

The Leader said a power which is based on 'arms, bullying and money' will essentially fail and added, “Bullies which impose their demands on the nations are doomed to fall.”

In Israel, jets intercept plane over Dimona

Israel has scrambled fighter jets after a civilian ultra-light aircraft flew over its Dimona nuclear reactor in the southern Negev desert, the military says.

The warplanes intercepted the aircraft and forced it to land at an airstrip near the southern city of Arad, Ynet reported Tuesday.

Based on the report, the two men onboard the plane strayed from the planned route, flying from Rishon Letzion in central Israel to Arad near the Dead Sea, and inadvertently entered the reactor's airspace.

They however were handed over to civilian authorities for investigation.

Aircrafts are prohibited to enter the airspace of the nuclear reactor, which is housing Israel's alleged nuclear arsenal.

S. Korea rejects North's bid to bypass it

South Korea refuses to be pushed into margins in disarmament talks with North Korea, arguing that it is the most at risk by its neighbor's weapons.

"North Korean missiles and nuclear weapons pose the biggest threat to our security. So the issue must be discussed between South and North Korea," Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan told reporters on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Pyongyang said it was ready to return to the six-party nuclear disarmament negotiations it had quit in April.

The North, however, conditioned its return to the negotiation table on holding talks with the United States first, to mend 'hostile relations'.

Yu challenged North Korea's position, arguing that Washington was not the one threatened by the North's nuclear weapons.

"I think it's not logical to say that North Korea's nuclear weapons are targeting the United States," he noted.

Washington expressed its willingness to launch bilateral discussions the North, provided that they would lead Pyongyang back to the six-nation talks with the South, the United States, Japan, Russia and China, which hosts the talks.

Yu suggested that China, Japan and South Korea discuss the North's offer at Saturday's summit in Beijing to confirm Pyongyang's real intentions through discussions with China.

Iran finds basket of currencies profitable

Iran has significantly profited from the replacement of the US dollar by a basket of foreign currencies, the head of Iran's Central Bank has said.

"The basket of currencies has been adjusted by Iran's Central Bank in a way that it comprises a set of different currencies," Mahmoud Bahmani told Mehr news Agency on Tuesday, adding that due to the initiative, the country would not lose overall after a devaluation of certain currencies.

He added that the Iranian Central Bank examines regularly all the developments of the currencies market and acts appropriately.

Earlier in September, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the replacement of the US dollar by the euro in the country's foreign exchange accounts.

Iran had announced earlier that the euro would replace the greenback in the country's oil transactions. The country has also called on other OPEC members to ditch the sinking dollar in favor of the more credible euro.

Meanwhile, the Persian Gulf Arab states have recently started secret talks with Russia, China, Japan and France "to end dollar dealings for oil", a new report reveals.

According to the report written by Independent's Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk, the proposal was to replace US dollar for crude oil trade by a basket of different currencies over a period of nine years until 2018.

Turkey favors diplomacy on Iran nuclear case

After Iran held wide-ranging talks with the West on the basis of its latest package of proposals, Turkey moves to deplore a military intervention to solve Iran's nuclear case.

"In case of [nuclear] conflict [on Iran's nuclear program], Turkey believes that diplomacy comes first," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Spanish newspaper El Pais.

"There should be no military intervention," he added.

Iranian representatives held seven-and-a-half hour talks with diplomats from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Russia, China, France, Britain and the US - plus Germany (P5+1) in Geneva on October 1 on global issues and the country's mutual concerns with the West.

The two sides also agreed to continue the talks through October.

In response to whether Turkey accepts a nuclear Iran, Davutoglu said, "Nuclear energy is a right for all countries. Iran can have the energy for peaceful aims in accordance with regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA]."

"Turkey wants a region free from nuclear weapons. I'm not saying that sanctions can not be an instrument but they will hurt the people of Iran and its neighboring states."

The remarks come as Iran has announced that the newly-announced Fordo nuclear facility is open to IAEA inspection.

The Fordo site is the country's second nuclear plant, after the Natanz facility in central Iran, which will enrich uranium to the 5 percent level suitable for power plant fuel.

In line with Iran's transparency policy over its nuclear activities, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali-Akbar Salehi invited the IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei to Tehran to set a date for the agency to inspect the under-construction Fordo nuclear facility.

ElBaradei said in Tehran on Sunday that the agency's inspectors would visit Fordo site, some 160 kilometers south of Tehran, on October 25.

Hurriyat to send peace mission to New Delhi, Islamabad

Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, chairman of the separatist Hurriyat Conference, Tuesday said the group will soon send a team to New Delhi and Islamabad to defuse tensions between the two countries so that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is resolved through dialogue.

'We would be sending a peace mission to Delhi and Islamabad so that tensions between the two countries are eased and the dialogue process is restarted in order to resolve the Kashmir problem,' Mirwaiz Umer said at a press conference here.

He, however, did not specify when the Hurriyat would send the team.

The Mirwaiz, who has returned home after attending the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in New York, regretted India's response to the OIC's appointment of an envoy on Kashmir.

'The OIC wants Kashmir to act as a bridge between India and Pakistan and feels strongly that the process of dialogue and negotiations between the two countries must be re-started,' he said.

'The OIC has offered to help both countries for defusing tensions between them and starting the dialogue process,' he added.

He said 56 Islamic countries were represented in the OIC.

'The government of India cannot ignore this reality. I want the Indian government to come out of the denial mode and understand it cannot ignore the international dimension of the Kashmir dispute,' the Mirwaiz said.

The separatist leader said an erroneous impression was being created that economic packages or changes of government in Jammu and Kashmir would help resolve the dispute.

'Our readiness for dialogue should not be taken as a sign of weakness as dialogue process is part of our resistance movement,' he said.

'We support the dialogue initiative but reiterate that Kashmiri people have to be the main party to the negotiated resolution of the Kashmir dispute.'

The Mirwaiz expressed satisfaction over 'the growing awareness in international forums for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute'.

He said the Hurriyat Conference had decided to start a diplomatic offensive for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

'Our centres in Brussels, Washington and the UK are being activated to project the viewpoint of the Kashmiri people in international forums,' he said.

The Mirwaiz suggested that India, Pakistan and China coordinate for peaceful resolution of the Kashmir problem.

He stressed that the ultimate initiative for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute had to be taken by the people of the state.

Australian Army chief visits Kashmir

Jammu, Oct 6 : The Australian Army chief, Lt. Gen. Ken J. Gillespie, was briefed on the Indian Army's strategies to tackle militancy in Jammu and Kashmir during his visit to the Udhampur-based Northern Command Tuesday.

"During this brief visit, he held a cordial discussion with (Northern Command chief) Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal. He also interacted with other senior officers of the Northern Command headquarters and was briefed about the operational and functional aspects of this sensitive formation," Command spokesperson Lt. Col. D.K. Kachari said in a release.

Udhampur is 66 km north of Jammu. It is from where all the counter-insurgency operations are directed in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been battling militancy for the past 20 years. The Northern Command also oversees deployment and operations along the borders with China, Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Jammu and Kashmir has been in the news because of tensions along the 646 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in the Ladakh sector and infiltration from across the 744 km-long Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan.

Israeli police bring reinforcements to Jerusalem

By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM – Israeli police mobilized reinforcements from across the country to secure volatile Jerusalem on Tuesday, deploying thousands of officers on city streets for fears that two days of clashes with Palestinian protesters would escalate.

Rumors that Israeli extremists planned to march on the most sacred Muslim and Jewish shrine in the Holy Land apparently fueled the unrest in Jerusalem, the city at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The low-level violence has inflamed political passions, stoked breathless reports in the Israeli and Arab media and laid bare once again just how much of a tinderbox Jerusalem is.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said thousands of police, including officers brought from other areas of the country, had been called in to secure the city on Tuesday. Rosenfeld described the reinforcement as exceptional. By midafternoon Tuesday, there were no reports of violence.

The weeklong Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which draws many Jewish visitors to Jerusalem, has been the backdrop of the recent unrest. On Tuesday, Israel again accused Muslim leaders from the country's Arab minority of inciting the disturbances.

Israel and the Palestinians both lay claim to Jerusalem, with Israel insisting it will retain control of all of the city, including the eastern sector it captured and annexed in 1967.

The Palestinians want east Jerusalem, with its major Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites, for their future capital. Like the rest of the international community, they do not recognize the Israeli annexation and regard the Jewish neighborhoods that ring east Jerusalem as settlements, which Israel does not.

"Israel is working on a daily basis to Judaize Jerusalem by building settlements, not permitting (Palestinians) to build and by assaults on the Al-Aqsa mosque, like we see today," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Yemen's state-run TV on Monday.

The Palestinians are fighting "tooth and nail" to defend al-Aqsa, he added, "but this needs great Arab and Islamic efforts."

Jerusalem's 220,000 Arabs and 550,000 Jews live in an uneasy coexistence that frequently leads to friction and erupts into outright violence.

On Sunday, rumors circulated among the Palestinians that Jewish extremists planned to invade or damage the sacred east Jerusalem compound that is home to Islam's third-holiest shrine, the Al-Aqsa mosque, and is revered by Jews as the site of their two biblical temples.

About 150 demonstrators streamed to the hilltop compound, known to Muslims as Haram as-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount, where they hurled rocks and bottles at Israeli police. Police accused Muslim leaders in Israel's Arab community of inciting the unrest and closed the compound to most visitors.

The disturbances continued the next day, as Palestinian protesters hurled stones at Jewish worshippers outside Jerusalem's Old City and a Palestinian teenager stabbed an Israeli soldier at a security checkpoint elsewhere in east Jerusalem, slightly wounding him.

Raed Salah, head of a militant branch of Israel's Islamic Movement, told the Haaretz newspaper on Monday that the clashes would last as long as Israel's "occupation" of the city and al-Aqsa continued.

"The mosque compound is Muslim, Palestinian and Arab, and Israel has no rights to the mosque or east Jerusalem," Saleh said, calling on Arabs to "protect Al-Aqsa from the infiltration of extremist Jewish elements."

Jordan and Egypt, the two Arab states that have signed peace treaties with Israel, both had scathing criticism for Israel.

Some Arab media reports appeared to feed the tensions, with the Al-Jazeera satellite station reporting at the start of the clashes that Jewish "settlers" tried to enter the disputed hilltop complex and that police had put Muslim worshippers "under siege."

The main headline in a leading Palestinian newspaper, Al-Quds, blared on Monday: "A new attempt to invade Al-Aqsa Mosque fails, police suppress the people with blows and arrests."

Some of the Israeli reports also appeared to inflate the gravity of the situation. The front page of Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper on Tuesday showed a masked Palestinian throwing stones amid billowing plumes of black smoke, under the headline "Sukkot riots."

Turkey condemns Israel's closure of al-Aqsa

Thousands of people in Turkey have poured into the streets and held a protest rally, condemning Israel's closure of the al-Aqsa Mosque in al-Quds.

Chanting anti-Israeli slogans, angry protesters burned Israeli flags outside Tel Aviv's Consulate building in Istanbul on Monday and called for the immediate re-opening of the holy compound.

The demonstrators also criticized Tel Aviv for its deadly blockade starving the people of the Gaza Strip in place since June 2007.

Israeli forces closed access to the holy site in Jerusalem (al-Quds) on Sunday citing security concerns.

Following the closure, hundreds of Palestinians gathered at the holy site --known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif Haram al-Sharif-- and staged a sit-in to protect the compound from Jewish hardliners whom they fear intend to damage it.

Israeli police clashed with the protesters, fired tear gas, and stun grenades to disperse the crowd. Several Palestinians were injured and a number of arrests were made.

Receiving strong criticism from Muslims across the world, Israeli police partially opened al-Aqsa Mosque after deploying thousands of security forces in and around the holy site, allowing access only to Muslim women and men aged 50 and over.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem al-Quds during a 1967 aggression and later annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized by the international community. The status of the city is among the thorniest issues of the conflict between Israel and Palestinians, who insist that any Palestinian state must include the city as its capital.

Red Cross: Indonesia quake toll above 3,000

The Red Cross has estimated the toll from Indonesia's tremor to top 3,000 despite a previous 704 deaths confirmed by Indonesian disaster management officials.

A 7.6-magnitude quake struck off the coast of western Sumatra last Wednesday, triggering massive landslides that swallowed villages north of Padang, burying hundreds of people under tonnes of rubble.

Bob McKerrow, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Indonesia, said between 170,000 to 200,000 homes were damaged -- half of them completely destroyed.

He said up to a million people had been directly affected by damage to their home, citing an estimate of five people per household.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Indonesia El-Mostafa Benlamlih said most foreign rescue teams were leaving the country amid fading hopes to find more survivors under the debris seven days after the quake.

Padang Mayor Fauzi Bahar, however, said the city was showing signs of recovery from the trauma as most markets and all schools have reopened and people have gone back to work.

The UN children's agency UNICEF also said about 40 percent of the city's students, numbering to almost 70,000, were back in class on Tuesday.

Guinea slams France over interference

Tue Oct 6, 2009

Guinea's leader has lashed out at France for seeking intervention in the west African state, saying his country does not take orders from its former colonial power.

"Guinea is not a sub-prefecture (administrative district) of France," he told the France 24 news channel on Monday, responding to remarks by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

On Sunday, Kouchner had called for an 'international intervention' in Guinea, following a recent government crackdown on protesters, which left at least 135 people dead.

He had also said that he believes the former French colony is on the brink of a 'tremendous' civil war and had emphasized that Paris could no longer work with the government of Captain Moussa Dadis Camara.

He also called the crackdown as 'something terrible and savage'.

Camara has dismissed Kouchner's comments saying that he would not enter into dialogue with him, as he was merely a foreign minister.

On September 28, Guinean security forces opened fire on demonstrators in the capital's main stadium, during a protest against the prospect of Camara becoming a candidate in presidential elections set for January 31.

While regretting the recent bloodbath, the junta leader, who rose to power in a December 23 coup, has said he bears 'no responsibility' for the massacre.

Also on Monday, Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore, tasked by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to act as a 'facilitator', arrived in Conakry to ease tensions in Guinea.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/107965.html.

Iran police uncover 72 drug trafficking bands

In a fresh crackdown on drug smugglers, Iranian police forces have uncovered 72 drug trafficking bands in heavy clashes in the past 6 months in Iranian capital Tehran.

“The Iranian anti-drugs police managed to freeze more than 4,000 kilograms of various kinds of narcotics. The police seized nearly 601 thousand ecstasy pills and psychoactive drug injections,” said Javad Kashfi, director-general of anti-drugs police center.

“More than 26,000 distributors and smugglers were arrested, effectively dismantling 72 bands,” Kashfi added.

The groups arrested were entrenched in society and had been involved in the smuggling of narcotics on a wide scale.

Earlier this month, Tehran police commander Azizollah Rajabzadeh had promised to clean the Iranian capital of drug dealers and dangerous addicts in a month.

Iran closes three newspapers

TEHRAN (AFP) – An Iranian government-run press supervisory body has closed three newspapers without giving reasons, local news agencies reported on Tuesday.

ILNA news agency reported the closure of Farhang Ashdi (Culture of Reconciliation) and Arman (Ideals), while the official IRNA news agency said Tahlil Rooz (Day's Analysis) was also ordered shut.

The orders were issued by a government commission which supervises the media in Iran, the reports said.

"We started publishing the newspaper three months ago and then we received the commission's decision by fax," Emami Nasiri, director of Farhang Ashdi, was quoted as saying by ILNA. He did not say when the order was issued.

Bahman Hagatnian, the head of Tahlil Rooz, also said that his paper, published in the southern city of Shiraz, was closed by the commission "without any reason," IRNA reported.

Since 2005, under the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian newspapers, websites and news agencies of all political persuasions have been hit by a string of closures.

The media came under a severe crackdown after Ahmadinejad's re-election on June 12 when scores of reformist journalists were detained for their alleged role in triggering the post-vote unrest in Tehran.

Several of the journalists are still detained in prisons.

Rumors of Ahmadinejad's Judaism have been greatly exaggerated

Over the weekend, a British newspaper published an item which claimed that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, perhaps the most vocal anti-Jewish leader of the modern era, was, in fact, Jewish by birth. Unfortunately for those who appreciate irony, it appears as though that that initial report was inaccurate.

In the Telegraph's original story, which sparked a mini-worldwide uproar, the paper claimed that a high-resolution photo featuring Ahmadinejad holding up his Iranian identity card in 2008 revealed that his family had once changed its name from Sabourjian, a Jewish surname that was reported to translate to "cloth weaver," to Ahmadinejad after he was born, renouncing Judaism and embracing Islam in the process. The apparent stunning revelation led many on the Web to guffaw in amazement and, of course, crack jokes on the irony of the whole scenario.

But today the Guardian, another British newspaper, thoroughly rebutted the claims made in the Telegraph's piece over the weekend. The paper spoke to Iranian/Jewish historian David Yeroshalmi, who emphatically disputed the Telegraph's claims about the interpretation of Ahmadinejad's former surname, which they claimed "derives from 'weaver of the sabour,' the name for the Jewish tallit shawl in Persia." Said Yeroshalmi, "There is no such meaning for the word 'sabour' in any of the Persian Jewish dialects, nor does it mean Jewish prayer shawl in Persian."

Further, the Guardian also consulted with one of their correspondents who has covered Ahmadinejad since his election in 2005, as well as an Ahmadinejad biographer, who stated that the Iranian president's parents were quite steeped in Islam. They both say that Ahmadinejad's father, Ahmad Sabourjian, was a religious Shia who taught the Koran, at one point even buying a house near "a religious club that he frequented during the holy month of Moharram," in addition to saying that Ahmadinejad's mother is a "Seyyede," a title given to a woman believed to be a direct blood descendant of the Prophet Muhammad.

As far as why Ahmadinejad's father changed the family's surname, the Guardian reports that it had more to do with Iranian class structure than any attempt to conceal a Jewish heritage:

When it became mandatory to adopt surnames, many people from rural areas chose names that represented their professions or that of their ancestors. This made them easily identifiable as townfolk. In many cases they changed their surnames upon moving to Tehran, in order to avoid snobbery and discrimination from residents of the capital. The Sabourjians were one of many such families. Their surname was related to carpet-making, an industry that conjures up images of sweatshops. They changed it to Ahmadinejad in order to help them fit in.


All of which means Ahmadinejad is free to continue being anti-Jew without being anti-self.

-- Brett Michael Dykes is a contributor to the Yahoo! News Blog.

Jordan totally backs Egypt's efforts to end Palestinian feuds

Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday conferred with two senior Egyptian officials who relayed to him a message from President Hosny Mubarak dealing with Cairo's efforts to work out a reconciliation between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas. The letter, delivered by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and the Director of the Intelligence Department Omar Suleiman, also dealt with "latest developments in the region and efforts under way to achieve a progress in peace efforts" between Israel and the Palestinians, a royal court statement said.

The two officials briefed the monarch on the outcome of Egypt's efforts "to overcome Palestinian differences and work out a national reconciliation among Palestinian factions".

The two Egyptian officials were scheduled to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas later in the day in Amman to relay to him Hamas' response to a package of proposals put forward recently by the Egyptian leadership, Palestinian sources said.

Iran for Yemen's sovereignty, national unity

The Tehran government says it fully supports a united and stable Yemen, ejecting claims that Iran has been interfering in San'a's internal affairs.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has invariably stressed the importance of Yemen's territorial integrity and the independence, sovereignty and national unity of the country," Iran's embassy in Manama said in a statement.

"Iran, alongside the Republic of Yemen, is exerting efforts within the context of peace, security and stability. We believe that increasing tension and debates that lead to bloodshed do not serve peace, stability or national unity in Yemen.

"We hope to see national unity, security and stability in the Republic of Yemen, through measures and the wisdom of the leadership and government of Yemen," the statement added.

The statement came after a Bahraini parliament member and Salafi cleric Adel al-Mouawda charged that Tehran had been implementing expansionist plans in the Arab state.

The remarks comes as the Yemeni military on August 11 launched a major offensive - dubbed Operation Scorched Earth - against local Huthi fighters -- named after their leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi-- in the northern province of Saada.

The government of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh says that the Houthi fighters are trying to restore the Shia Zaidi imamate system, which was overthrown in a 1962 coup.

The Houthis, however, say that they are defending their people and fighting for their civil rights. Shias, who form the clear majority in the north, make up almost half of Yemen's overall population.

According to UN figures, the continued fighting has displaced around 50,000 people just in the past month, bringing the total to 150,000 since 2004.

Based on figures released by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the unrest has directly affected almost 75,000 children.

UK declines call for more troops in Afghanistan

The British government has reportedly turned down a call for additional troops to Afghanistan as the US is weighing a surge in its troop levels.

Former head of the army Gen. Richard Dannatt, revealed the decision to reject a call for 2,000 extra soldiers, expressing disappointment with ministers, the Sun newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Dannatt, who retired last month, said military experts have been recommending a boost since the beginning of 2009. London's refusal meant that British forces had to fight on with "at least part of one arm" tied behind their backs.

"If the military says we need more troops and we can supply them, then frankly they should take that advice and deploy up to the level we recommend," he stressed.

Britain, which currently has around 8,300 British troops in Afghanistan, is one of the very few NATO member states involved in combat operations in the war-torn country.

However, a record death toll of 219 since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 has faced Prime Minister Gordon Brown with questions over the scope and purpose of their role in the eight-year war.

Responding to Dannatt's comments, the Ministry of Defense said it would review the numbers, taking into account military advice as well as the situation on the ground and the outcome of international discussions on the McChrystal review.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama is to attend two high-level meetings this week to discuss with top military and civil advisers whether to send as many as 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

The top US commander in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, earlier said the situation in Afghanistan was serious, warning against any 'shortsighted strategy' that ignores stabilizing the war-torn country.

Jordan’s king calls for action against Israel

King Abdullah II of Jordan condemned Israel’s provocative measures and called for immediate action by the world to halt violations of the sanctity of al-Aqsa Mosque.

The monarch made the remarks as he presided over an emergency meeting of Jordan’s National Council of Policies (NCP) to discuss the latest unilateral Israeli measures in East Jerusalem, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war.

The meeting was the culmination of a series of reactions by Jordan to the breaking into al-Aqsa Mosque at least twice by Israeli troops over the last couple of weeks that sparked clashes with Palestinian worshipers.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on Monday summoned the Amman ambassadors of the UN Security Council permanent members - the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia - asking their governments to immediately intervene to force Israel to stop sending troops into al-Aqsa Mosque. He also asked for a halt to Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses with the aim of changing East Jerusalem’s demographic structure and a stop to settlement building.

“Jordan categorically rejects Israel’s provocative steps, which could derail efforts being exerted to arrive at a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and jeopardize security and stability in the region,” a royal court statement quoted the king as telling the NCP.

Under the 1994 peace treaty between the two neighbors, Israel acknowledged Jordan’s right to look after both the Islamic and Christian holy places in Jerusalem, which is still considered by the United Nations as an occupied territory.

Lebanese opposition warms to new Cabinet

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Lawmakers with the Lebanese Hezbollah expressed confidence a new government would emerge in Beirut based on a previous power-sharing arrangement.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri led his March 14 coalition to power in June parliamentary election in Lebanon, narrowly defeating the March 8 opposition alliance.

Hariri reached a power-sharing agreement for a new government that includes 15 members of March 14, 10 members of March 8 and five supporters of Lebanese President Michel Suleiman.

Hariri met during the weekend with Naim Qassem, the deputy chief of Hezbollah, to discuss the structure of the next government.

Qassem said a new government based on the 15-10-5 formula could develop within the next 10 days, Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper reports.

"There is a consensus on the 15-10-5 formula as we look forward to eliminating a few complications," he said.

Sources allied with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told the Star that Syrian and Saudi Arabian talks schedule for later in the week were expected to include discussions on the next Lebanese government as well.

Walid Jumblatt, the Druze leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, stressed the "importance" of an upcoming summit in an interview with Hezbollah's al-Manar news station last week.

"If some believe that the government is only made in Lebanon, they are wrong," he said.

Hamas calls for dropping Abbas' Palestinian ID over UN Gaza report delay

A senior Hamas leader on Monday called for taking the Palestinian nationality off President Mahmoud Abbas over the Palestinian National Authority's (PNA) request to postpone voting on a Gaza war report at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

"I call on the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) to work hard on procedures to strip Mahmoud Abbas and everyone who joined him in this crime off the Palestinian nationality," Mahmoud Zahar, a member of Hamas politburo, said during a special session for the Hamas-dominated PLC in Gaza city.

Zahar also demanded an investigation into the PNA's role in the UNHRC's decision to postpone the voting on a UN fact-finding mission into Israel's December-January offensive against the Gaza Strip to March next year.

"In this way, we can punish everyone committing crimes against our people," he added.

On Sunday, Abbas opened an investigation into the matter, but Hamas said his step "was aimed at throwing dust in the eyes of the people and a despair attempt to evade his direct responsibility in the postponement."

The Gaza report, led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, found Israel guilty of committing war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity. It also said the rockets on southern Israel territories, fired by Hamas during the fighting, violated laws of wars.

The PNA denied that it had supported the postponement, but the Palestinian ambassador to Geneva Ibrahim Khrisheh confirmed that he asked the UNHRC on Friday to delay the voting to the next session in March 2010 "to secure more consensus against Israel."

Ingush leader sacks govt

Ingushetia leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov sacked his entire government for poor work, his office said yesterday, as the volatile Russian Caucasus region battles violence and corruption.

“The reason for the dismissal is unsatisfactory work in the social and economic spheres, in the agricultural industry and corruption,” the office of the regional president said in a statement.

A new cabinet will be announced “in the nearest future”, Yevkurov’s spokesman Kaloi Akhilgov said.

At a government meeting broadcast on Russian state television, a stony-faced Yevkurov told officials he had no choice.

“I am forced to resort to these measures,” the leader told the officials, who were pictured listlessly sitting at the meeting.

Alexei Vorobyov - an ethnic Russian and until now head of Ingushetia’s security council - was appointed acting head of government, Yevkurov’s office said.

A former paratroop commander, Yevkurov was named by the Kremlin to lead a drive against corruption and militant violence in Ingushetia.

In June, a bomb attack on his motorcade left Yevkurov with serious injuries. Upon his return to work in August, he fired three senior officials, including the deputy prime minister.

The same month, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sacked the region’s interior ministry chief after a suicide attack that killed more than 20 people and injured over 100.

False hope from voice in rubble in Indonesia

By ERIC TALMADGE and IRWAN FIRDAUS, Associated Press Writers

PADANG, Indonesia – Rescuers rushed back into the rubble Tuesday after a woman's cries for help were reported coming from a collapsed hotel six days after Indonesia's devastating earthquake — but the search was in vain.

Australian experts used specialized voice detection equipment to scour the remnants of the Ambacang hotel in four different places after a worker said he heard a woman's voice. They found no signs of life, said team leader John Cowcutt, and demolition of the building's remnants resumed.

The episode underscored the agony of the families of thousands of people who are missing after last Wednesday's 7.6-magnitude quake collapsed buildings in Padang city and sent landslides crashing down onto villages in the surrounding hills in West Sumatra province.

The official death toll rose Tuesday to 704 and could reach into the thousands, officials said.

"I've been coming here every day for any kind of news," said Firmansyah Blis as he watched backhoes dig chunks of concrete from the wreckage of the hotel, where his wife was last seen. "I doubt she is alive. I think the search crews tried hard to find her. I just want them to find her body."

Betty Diraja, 39, also waited outside the hotel Tuesday in the hope of receiving news about Aswad, her husband and father to their three children.

"It was too early to leave his beloved kids. They still need his guidance as a father," said Diraja, sobbing quietly.

Hotel worker Rizal said he heard a woman's faint cries coming from within the hotel's remnants on Tuesday, even over the roar heavy machines.

"When I walked among the rubble, I heard a weak voice screaming 'Help, help, help!' " said Rizki, who like many Indonesians uses just one name. "I am confident it was from a woman who survived. Her voice was getting weaker and fading away."

Officials called in search crews, though they conceded the chances of finding more survivors is extremely remote.

"We stopped for a moment so that rescuers could check if there really was a voice," said Lt. Col. Haris, an army officer helping in the recovery operation, wondering aloud, "How long can someone survive without food or water?"

Demolition crews had begun knocking down damaged structures around Padang and hauling off debris in trucks. Around six bodies were removed and loaded into waiting ambulances to be taken to hospital morgues.

The broader search for survivors was halted Monday — five days after the 7.6-magnitude quake struck off the coast. Aid workers from at least 20 countries were focused on caring for the hundreds of thousands left homeless.

Six helicopters shuttled instant noodles, blankets, milk and other aid to the isolated hillside villages of the Padang Pariaman district, where landslides buried more than 600 people, said Ade Edward, head of operations control at West Sumatra's Center for Disaster Management.

"We have stopped looking for living survivors and are maximizing the use of heavy equipment," he said. "We hope to clear the rubble in two weeks so we can start reconstruction."

Signs of normal life have returned in some places in the city. Hundreds of children went back to classes Monday in tents supplied by UNICEF. Market stalls were full of food and bustling with residents stocking up on vegetables, fruit and fish.

But the city of 900,000 still resembled a sprawling demolition site with houses, mosques, schools, a mall and hotels brought down.

Emergency workers faced an uphill battle trying to reach remote communities in the hills of Pariaman where whole villages were wiped out by landslides. The force of the quake gouged out mountainsides and dumped tons of mud, boulders and trees, burying hundreds of people alive.

Heavy rain since Sunday and thick wet mud also made it difficult for aid workers to reach the stricken areas, said Gagah Prakoso, a spokesman for the Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency.

The Meteorological and Geophysics Agency warned the region could see strong winds and storms for the next two days.

It was unclear precisely how many people are without shelter, but more than 88,000 houses were flattened, U.N. and Indonesian agencies said, and another 100,000 public buildings damaged.

Government minister Aburizal Bakrie said $600 million was needed to repair infrastructure.

Egypt cleric 'to ban full veils'

Egypt's highest Muslim authority has said he will issue a religious edict against the growing trend for full women's veils, known as the niqab.

Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi, dean of al-Azhar university, called full-face veiling a custom that has nothing to do with the Islamic faith.

Although most Muslim women in Egypt wear the Islamic headscarf, increasing numbers are adopting the niqab as well.

The practice is widely associated with more radical trends of Islam.

The niqab question reportedly arose when Sheikh Tantawi was visiting a girls' school in Cairo at the weekend and asked one of the students to remove her niqab.

The Egyptian newspaper al-Masri al-Yom quoted him expressing surprise at the girl's attire and telling her it was merely a tradition, with no connection to religion or the Koran.

Marwan Barghouthi: Israel is not a peace partner

October 4, 2009

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi called for Palestinians to form a unified campaign of peaceful, popular resistance to Israeli settlements in an interview made public on Sunday.

In an interview from Israel’s Hadarim Prison through his lawyers, Barghouthi said that "there is no Israeli peace partner.

"Anyone who thinks that peace is possible with the current Israeli government and was not possible with the previous governments is being delusional," he was quoted as saying.

In the interview he also praised caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s plan to establish a Palestinian state, de facto, in the next two years. He called on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) leadership, specifically, to endorse the plan, along with a program of peaceful resistance.

Barghouthi, a Fatah figure thought to have a political base extending beyond his own party, was jailed by Israel in 2002 for militant activity during the Second Intifada. In 2004 he briefly campaigned for the presidency from prison before endorsing Mahmoud Abbas.

The following are excerpts from the interview:

What are your thoughts on the anniversary of the Second Intifada?

I would like to express my deep respect for all Palestinians for their steadfastness, for not giving up their rights, no matter how much suffering they are facing and will face, because there is no compromise on freedom, return, and independence.

Do you think that a third Intifada is on its way?

The question that should be asked is why did the Al-Aqsa Intifada break out? Was it not because of the collapse of the peace process? Because the negotiation reached a dead end? Was it not because of continued settlement and Judaization in Jerusalem? The refusal [of Israel] to end the occupation and accept Palestinians’ rights? And now is there an Israeli partner for peace? The answer is a big 'no.’ Did the settlements stop?

What is happening now is the height of settlement activity since 1967. In addition there is the Judaization of Jerusalem. First it was one home after another, now it’s one neighborhood after another. I am saying this loudly: anyone who thinks that peace is possible with the current Israeli government and was not possible with the previous governments, is being delusional.

The problem is that there is no leader in Israel either like Charles de Gualle in France who ended the colonization of Algeria, or like De Klerk, the president of Apartheid South Africa who handed over power to Mandela. Israel does not peace and is not ready to end the occupation.

Intifada does not result from a decision by this official or that leader, or this faction or that. It comes from the collective will of the Palestinians. That’s what happened in the First and Second Intifadas.

What is needed now is a popular movement of peaceful resistance to confront settlement, a movement that has the participation of all the leaders, factions, organizations, and the Palestinian Authority. It is clear that the conditions that were in place when the Second Intifada broke out are still in place.

What do think of the New York summit between President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and US President Barack Obama?

Honestly, I hoped it would not take place because the conditions of its failure are clear. It is regrettable that the American stance, as articulated by Obama and welcomed by Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians, has begun to evaporate. The Israelis and Americans are the ones who benefitted from this summit.

It was important that President Abbas’ refused to resume negotiations before settlements come to a halt, and he should maintain this position. If the negotiations resume with such an [Israeli] government, what will we win?

I urge the Executive Committee of the PLO to insist that Israel commit to the principle of ending the occupation, withdraw to the 1967 borders, recognize Palestinians’ right to self-determination, establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, recognize [UN] resolution 194, stop settlements, and release prisoners as a precondition to hold any negotiations with the Israeli government.

I hope we do not repeat the experience of previous years in which the Israelis took advantage of the negotiations in order to give them cover to continue expanding settlements and mislead world public opinion.

Is is possible to successfully confront Israel’s settlement project?

First, what is needed is a firm and consistent political stance on the basis we already discussed. Secondly, the PLO Executive Committee, with all of the factions, should set a plan and vision for a wide popular and peaceful movement against settlements. We need the Executive committee, the factions, and PLC members to turn up the heat on popular demonstrations.

What is needed from Israel and the US is a decision to end the occupation, not more negotiations. Negotiations have been going on for years and that’s enough. The Palestinian leadership should work to isolate Israel and put it under siege and force it to implement international resolutions.

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad had presented his plan titled "Palestine: Ending the occupation, establishing the state. Have you read this document? What you think of it?

I read the document more than once. I think it’s a good plan. It makes a the argument that ending the occupation is a precondition to establishing the state. But the PLO and the factions should compliment this plan with a blueprint for peaceful, popular resistance.

What are your thoughts on the efforts toward reconciliation and the current Egyptian proposal, especially since you were the one who initiated the national reconciliation document [the Prisoners’ Letter]?

The prisoners’ document was in fact the product of the collective will of the leaders of all the factions inside the prisons. It was an honor for me to participate in it along with the leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PFLP, DFLP and Fatah. It is still the best program for national unity.

I read the Egyptian proposal. It was sent to me through my lawyer Khader Ishqerat. I welcome this proposal. I am calling on all the national and Islamic factions to seize this opportunity to hold a comprehensive national dialogue to sign an agreement before the end of October, along with an urgent announcement of a date for new elections for the presidency, parliament, and PNC members, along with an end to media incitement, and political arrests. The factions must also release prisoners and turn a new page in relations on new bases of national partnership and pluralism, with regular elections.

When do you expect a prisoner exchange deal

We are following up with the media reports about this issue. We hope that a prisoner exchange will be carried out, in which all the prisoners will be released. The list submitted by Hamas did not exclude anyone and we support this firm stance.

Human Rights Violations in Afghanistan

Afghan Resistance Statement
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Shawwal 14, 1430 A.H, October 04, 2009

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Last week, American forces in Helmand province killed 9 civilians by firing a missile late at night. Before that, in the first week of last September, American jets killed 140 poor villagers in Kunduz province when they were siphoning oil from tankers.

The Kabul hireling army had ambiguously left the tankers after a brief armed clash with Mujahideen. All victims killed in the air raid in what seemed to be a phosphorus attack, included school students and miserable villagers.

Similarly, civilians have fallen prey to American and NATO blind bombardments in Aziz Abad, Hirat province, Dehrawood district, Uruzgan province, Shinwar district, Nangarhar province. Thousands of miserable and defenseless Afghans have been killed in the American so-called war on terror.

The whole Afghan nation now lives in a state of constant fear and terror because they do not know when they will be bombed by American jets and detained by the invading troops. The realities of today’s Afghanistan are that under the farce of democracy and war on terror, they kill, detain and torture the Afghans. No one can ask them why they commit these crimes. Nor one can bring them to justice for what they have done to innocent people.

Our people have seen atrocities by foreign invaders from the time of Alexander down to Chengis khan, Tamerlane, the Red Army but the American atrocities are worst in terms of brutality and barbarism. They have turned our ceremonies of festivities into mourning by blindly bombing them; they have made our schools and seminaries scene of blood and corpse by firing missiles at them ostensibly by mistakes or accusing them of being terrorists training centers.

It is pity that the Human Rights Watch, the Amnesty International, the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations are tight lipped over what are happening in Afghanistan.

When we try to inform the public of the world about the bloodshed, the violence, the genocide and the racial cleansing unleashed by Pentagon and its allies in Afghanistan, they suffocate our voice by blocking our websites and not publishing our news and statements.

Is this democracy? Is this justice the world wants? The world must take notice that basic human rights of liberty of speech and other human values are being violated by American troops with impunity under the notorious war on terror.

The war in Afghanistan is not between democracy and terror as they call it but it is between freedom and tyranny, independence and colonialism, human values and dictatorship. However, politics and biased media have overshadowed our legitimate cause.


Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

UK Submits Arms Offer To Algeria

LONDON [MENL] -- Britain has drafted a plan to export advanced weapons and military platforms to Algeria.

In a proposal meant to rival France and Italy, the government of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has relayed an offer to sell frigates, air defense systems and a range of missiles to Algeria. Officials said the British offer marked the removal of the last vestiges of weapons restrictions to the North African state.

Somali pirates free Turkish ship after ransom

* Bulk carrier hijacked in July

* Carrying 23 Turkish crew members

* Spanish fishing vessel still being held

By Abdiqani Hassan

BOSASSO, Somalia, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Somali pirates freed a Turkish ship on Monday after a pirate source said the hijackers received a $1.5 million ransom.

A regional maritime official confirmed the bulk carrier Horizon-1, which was seized on July 8 with 23 Turkish crew members on board, had been released.

"We accepted $1.5 million to release the Turkish ship," one of the pirates, who gave his name as Abshir, told Reuters by telephone from the gangs' stronghold of Eyl.

"We delayed leaving because of accounting: we were sharing out the money. We disembarked from the ship this afternoon."

Residents in Eyl said associates of the pirates held a big party to celebrate the ransom payment.

"There is too much noise. The pirates' friends in Eyl are celebrating. Some have gone to welcome the pirates who took the ransom," local man Abdiqadir Mohamed told Reuters by phone.

Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programm confirmed the ship, which was believed to be carrying sulphate when it was hijacked, had been released.

There was no immediate word on the condition of the crew.

Spanish media said at the time that the vessel had been en route from Jordan to Saudi Arabia when it was hijacked.

FISHING BOAT HELD

Pirate raids have continued in the Indian Ocean and strategic Gulf of Aden despite foreign naval patrols off the lawless Horn of Africa state. Monsoon rains curbed attacks in recent months, but now they have started to pick up again.

A Spanish tuna fishing boat and its crew of 36, which was seized in the area last week is still being held.

Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said he spoke to Somalia's prime minister on Monday who promised to help try to secure its release. [ID:nL574857]

"The number one authority in Somalia has committed himself to helping all the steps which the Spanish government is taking to liberate the Alakrana," a government statement said.

The government of Somalia, where civil war has been going on for 18 years, controls only small pockets of the capital, Mogadishu.

Heavily-armed gangs from Somalia -- some made up of former fishermen angered by foreign boats fishing in Somali waters -- have made tens of millions of dollars in ransoms by seizing boats in shipping lanes linking Europe to Asia.

Source: Alertnet.
Link: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L5106653.htm.

Palestinians to sign unity deal October 26

AMMAN - Rival Palestinian factions are to sign a long-delayed reconciliation deal in Cairo on October 26, Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Monday after meeting Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.

"We agreed to hold a meeting for Palestinian factions in Cairo on October 25 before signing a reconciliation agreement on October 26," he told a joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh.

"Arab officials and maybe officials from outside the Arab world might attend the signing of the agreement as witnesses."

The announcement came shortly after Abul Gheit and Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman held talks in Jordan's capital with Abbas, who heads the mainstream Fatah faction.

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian side.

The Islamist movement Hamas and Fatah have been in dispute since a split culminated in the Islamists violently seizing control of Gaza in June 2007 after 18 months of shaky coalition government.

According to extracts of proposals obtained by AFP, the plan calls for both presidential and parliamentary elections to be held across the Palestinian territories in the middle of 2010.

It also calls for bolstering the Fatah-dominated security forces under Egyptian supervision and the release of prisoners in both the Gaza Strip and the Fatah-run West Bank.

Egyptian mediation efforts have centred on a new electoral law as well as the make-up of Palestinian security forces and of a committee to liaise between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank ahead of the vote.

Egypt has twice postponed the scheduled date for the signing of a reconciliation agreement because of lingering disagreements between the two main Palestinian factions.

Earlier, Abul Gheit and Suleiman, who is Cairo's pointman on efforts to unite the rival factions, met Jordan's King Abdullah II, who said Palestinian reconciliation was a "key necessity" to establishing an independent state.

Abul Gheit's announcement comes amid new tension between Abbas's Palestinian Authority and Hamas over the PA's support for delaying the endorsement of a UN report on possible war crimes committed during Israel's Gaza offensive.

The UN Human Rights Council has decided to delay consideration of the report compiled by former international war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone.

Ismail Haniya, the prime minister of a Hamas-run government in Gaza, accused the Western-backed Abbas of making the "absurd and criminal" decision to delay endorsement of the report.

"How can the two parties (Fatah and Hamas) sit at one table and sign an agreement in this situation? ... This has placed a heavy obstacle in the way of Palestinian unity," he said.

But Abul Gheit was confident that it would not halt the signing: "I think that the Goldstone issue is not likely to affect Palestinian reconciliation," he said.

Egypt's top imam orders student to remove conservative face veil

October 06, 2009
By Agence France Presse (AFP)

CAIRO: Egypt’s leading cleric ordered a student to remove her face veil while he was was visiting an academy linked to the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, an Egyptian newspaper reported on Monday.

Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam Mohammad Tantawi asked the student to remove her niqab, a face veil worn by devout Muslim women, when he spotted her in a classroom, the daily Al-Masry al-Yowm reported, add­ing that the student complied.

Tantawi reportedly said the niqab was a tradition, not an Islamic obligation.

The newspaper also reported that Higher Education Minister Hani Hilal decided to ban women wearing the niqab from entering university residences.

Sunni Muslim scholars are divided on whether a woman must cover her face, with the majority saying it is not an obligation, but all mainstream scholars agree a woman must cover her hair and her body with loose fitting clothes.

In the Middle East, the niqab has come to be associated with Salafism, a brand of ultra-conservative Islam practiced mostly in Saudi Arabia.

Most Muslim women in the country wear the hijab, a veil that covers the hair, but an increase in women wearing the niqab has apparently alarmed the government.

The Religious Endowments Ministry has distributed booklets in mosques against the practice.

Source: The Daily Star.
Link: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/Oct/06/Egypts-top-imam-orders-student-to-remove-conservative-face-veil.ashx.

German farm win Guinness Book of Records' 'battle of coffee pots'

Roevershagen, Germany - A German farm declared victory Monday in a bizarre race to acquire the world's largest collection of old china coffee pots - saying the Guinness Book of World Records had certified it as the winner with 13,267. Karl's Farm, which offers fields of pick-your-own strawberries, restaurants and children's playgrounds, had appealed to visitors to search their attics for old china sets and to donate the pots.

The porcelain is now arrayed on every available wall at the visitor attraction in the small town of Roevershagen near Rostock.

But in a dastardly twist, the race became bitter when Oschatz Park, a visitor attraction in another eastern German town, vainly tried to overtake the Karl's mark.

Karl's said the previous top collection in the Records Book numbered 5,014.

None of the pots are allowed to be duplicates.

The collection was begun by the strawberry farm owner, who ran out of home space when the collection became too large.

A Karl's spokesman said donors, some of whom brought cartons of pots, would be invited to a free coffee party to celebrate.

Coffee pots, rather than teapots, are a standard item in German tableware sets.

Taliban claim responsibility for deadly UN blast

By MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD – Taliban militants claimed responsibility Tuesday for the deadly suicide bombing at the U.N. food agency's heavily fortified compound in Islamabad, saying international relief work in Pakistan was not in "the interest of Muslims."

The attack, which killed five workers for the World Food Program on Monday, pushed the U.N. to temporarily close its offices in the country and exposed the vulnerability of many international relief agencies working to provide aid to millions of civilians affected by the fight between the government and Islamic militant groups.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik accused the Taliban of carrying out the attack to avenge the Aug. 5 slaying of their leader Baitullah Mehsud in a U.S. drone attack.

Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq confirmed his group was behind the bombing in a phone conversation with The Associated Press and lashed out at foreign aid workers here.

"We proudly claim the responsibility for the suicide attack at the U.N. office in Islamabad. We will send more bombers for such attacks," he said. "The U.N. and other foreign (aid groups) are not working for the interest of Muslims. We are watching their activities. They are infidels."

He added that the Taliban would not target Muslim relief groups.

Tariq said the Taliban's future targets would include Pakistani security officials, government offices and American installations.

World Food Program spokesman Amjad Jamal defended the agency's work as "totally humanitarian."

"We provide food. Our food is for the vulnerable groups, the poor groups who cannot afford one meal a day," he said.

The suicide bomber was dressed Monday as a security officer and was allowed to enter the World Food Program offices — apparently bypassing the normal security procedures — after asking the guards outside if he could used the bathroom.

After the attack, the U.N. announced it was temporarily closing all its offices in Pakistan, but said its Pakistani partner organizations would continue distributing food, medicine and other humanitarian assistance. The world body said it would reassess the situation over the next several days.

Malik, who was visiting those injured in the bombing at a Pakistani hospital, said the government had taken several of the guards outside the U.N. offices into custody for questioning as part of the investigation into the security lapse.

"All the security arrangements were in place at the U.N. office," he said.

The United Nations considers itself a major target in Pakistan. Many of its offices are surrounded by 12-foot-high blast walls. Its staff members are driven in bulletproof cars and not allowed to bring their families with them on assignment in the country.

The World Food Program compound, which employs more than 70 people, is surrounded by square metal cages filled with sand and small stones used to protect against blasts and projectiles.

"This was one of the best-protected U.N. centers in all of Pakistan," U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas told reporters at the world body's headquarters in New York. "We were really quite heavily guarded at least at that compound. How that person got in — that is still being investigated, and we're trying to find out from surveillance cameras."

The U.N. closed its offices in the country until its security team determined it was safe for them to reopen.

"They will assess the situation. They are talking to the authorities and then they will decide on a further course of action," Jamal said.

Extremists in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq seeking to attack high-profile Western targets have shown no hesitation in striking foreign humanitarian agencies, including the United Nations, regardless of the work they are doing in relieving the suffering in the countries. A blast in June on a luxury hotel housing many foreign aid workers in the northwestern city of Peshawar killed two U.N. staffers and wounded others.

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said those killed in the bombing Monday were serving a "noble cause."

"They will be remembered for their commendable services by the people of Pakistan," Gilani wrote in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Bank Ki-moon, according to state-run media. "Such cowardly terrorist acts will never weaken our resolve to fight against this scourge. We will continue to work with the international community and the United Nations with greater vigor to root out terrorism from our country and the region at large."

The attack came a day after the new Pakistani Taliban leader met reporters close to the Afghan border, vowing more attacks in response to U.S. missile strikes on militant targets in Pakistan. Ending speculation he had been killed, Hakimullah Mehsud denied government claims the militants were in disarray and said his fighters would repel any army offensive on their stronghold in South Waziristan.

Malik said the government was already targeting Taliban militants in South Waziristan and "if needed, a further action shall also be taken at an appropriate time" against militants in other areas along the Afghan border.

"We will fight all of them," he said, referring to the militant groups.

Also Tuesday, militants kidnapped four employees from the customs department as they traveled in the northwestern district of Hangu, said Mohammed Islam, a local police chief.

Obama orders federal government to cut emissions

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama ordered federal agencies on Monday to set a goal within 90 days for cutting their greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, the White House said, aiming to "lead by example" in fighting climate change.

The new executive order, signed by the president, mandates agencies across the federal government to "measure, manage, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions toward agency-defined targets," the White House said in a statement.

Other environmental measures such as reducing petroleum use in vehicle fleets by 30 percent by 2020, improving efficiency f water usage by 2020, and increasing rates of recycling by 2015 were also included in the order.

"The federal government can and should lead by example when it comes to creating innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, conserve water, reduce waste, and use environmentally-responsible products and technologies," Obama said in a statement.

Obama's international credentials on fighting climate change have been called into question as chances dim that the Senate will pass a bill mandating emissions cuts across the United States economy by December, when U.N. talks on a global warming treaty take place in Copenhagen.

The White House order may be intended to counter concerns about the president's climate change commitment.

The federal government is the largest consumer of energy in the U.S. economy, the statement noted, occupying nearly 500,000 buildings and operating more than 600,000 vehicles.

The order also calls on the government to "leverage federal purchasing power to promote environmentally-responsible products and technologies."

Roman tombs found in south Lebanon cave

TYRE, Lebanon (AFP) - Japanese archaeologists discovered a cave containing frescoed Roman tombs in southern Lebanon's ancient coastal city of Tyre on Monday, an official overseeing the excavation said.

The three-metre by 12-metre (10-foot by 39-foot) cave contains six tombs from a Roman family, archaeologist Nader Siqlawi of the Directorate General of Antiquities told AFP.

"The walls at the entrance are decorated with frescoes of plants, animals and colorful birds, and parts of the floor are covered in mosaic," Siqlawi said.

Seven Japanese archaeologists from the Nara University Department of Preservation of Cultural Properties discovered the tombs in the rocky town of Burj al-Shemali on Tyre's eastern outskirts on Monday morning.

At the Beirut government's request, the Japanese university deployed teams of archaeologists and students to Tyre in 2008 to work in coordination with the Lebanese Directorate General of Antiquities.

Like many coastal cities across Lebanon, Tyre, 85 kilometres (53 miles) south of Beirut, contains relics dating back to the Phoenician and Roman eras.

Report: NKorea nearly restores nuclear facilities

By JAE-SOON CHANG, Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea is in the final stage of restoring its nuclear facilities, a news report said Tuesday, as leader Kim Jong Il expressed a conditional willingness to end Pyongyang's boycott of international nuclear talks.

South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities reached the conclusion after scrutinizing about 10 atomic facilities in North Korea since April when the communist regime vowed to restart its nuclear program in anger over a U.N. rebuke of its long-range rocket launch.

Pyongyang claimed the launch was a peaceful attempt to put a satellite into orbit, but the liftoff was widely condemned as a test of the North's long-range missile technology.

The report came as North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao that his country was prepared to return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks depending on progress in its two-way negotiations with the United States.

Kim's comments, carried by official North Korean and Chinese media, were the clearest sign yet that Pyongyang was readying to resume the six-nation talks it withdrew from after conducting missile tests in April and a second nuclear test in May.

The stalled talks involve China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the U.S.

In their meeting late Monday, Kim said that North Korea "is willing to attend multilateral talks, including the six-party talks, depending on the progress in its talks with the United States," China's Xinhua News Agency said in a report issued early Tuesday.

North Korea has long sought one-on-one negotiations with the U.S., claiming that it was compelled to develop nuclear weapons to cope with what it calls the "U.S. hostile policy" and "nuclear threats" against the regime.

Yonhap also cited the government source as saying that North Korea has conducted missile engine tests a few times recently on the country's west coast at a new missile launch site that is in the final stage of construction.

News reports said earlier this year that the North had moved a long-range missile to the new site for a possible test launch, but Yonhap said Tuesday that the missile has been moved elsewhere. The report did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported that the youngest son of Kim Jong Il could be officially named an heir to the communist dynasty as early as next year. The paper cited a South Korean government report to a ruling party lawmaker.

Talk of who will take over North Korea after Kim Jong Il intensified after Kim reportedly suffered a stroke last year. The third son, Kim Jong Un, is widely believed to be the favorite.

Hamas will bring 'resolution killers' to justice

Hamas officials have vowed to bring to justice those Palestinians who supported the delaying of a UN Human Rights Council vote on a report about Israeli war crimes during the Gaza conflict.

Hamas --the democratically-elected government of Gaza-- says the Palestinian Authority, which dropped its support for a scheduled Friday vote on the report following intense lobbying from the US and Israel, has betrayed the victims of the three-week war and must be prosecuted.

"More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the Israeli war, based on demands from the families of the victims, we have decided to go ahead and prosecute those who contributed to the delaying of the UN Human Rights Council resolution; and that is because their move has dealt a heavy blow against the Palestinian people and to those in the international community trying to help Palestinians", Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hammad told Press TV.

Hammad also believes that the controversial decision by Palestinian Authority under Acting Palestinian Chief Mahmoud Abbas proves the allegations that the Western-backed government had cooperated with Tel Aviv during its deadly offensive on Gaza.

After the Palestinian officials withdrew their support for the report, the Geneva-based body decided to delay until March 2010 a vote on the report by a fact-finding mission headed by international prosecutor Richard Goldstone.

The report reaffirmed that Israel deliberately violated international humanitarian law and used disproportionate force during its "Operation Cast Lead" against the people of Gaza at the beginning of the year.

It called for the prosecution of senior Israeli officials in the International Criminal Court if Tel Aviv fails to launch its own investigations into the Gaza war under international scrutiny.

Both Israeli and US officials dismissed the report as biased. Tel Aviv threatened to put aside resumption of the moribund peace talks with Palestinians if the Human Rights Council forwarded the report to the UN General Assembly.

The measure killed the Palestinians hope to pass a resolution against Israel in the UN Human Rights Council.

Abbas faced an unprecedented wave of condemnation and accusations of treason from other Palestinian factions even from PA officials , and ordered the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the issue.

An unnamed PA minister scoffed at Abbas' decision to establish the commission, the Jerusalem Post reported.

"What's the president [Abbas] trying to tell us? that he didn't make the decision to kill the resolution that would have seen the UN endorse the findings of the fact-finding commission into the Gaza war?" the minister asked.

"Well, if he didn't make the decision, then we want to know who's running the Palestinian Authority. If he was responsible for the [deferral] decision, then this is a very serious matter. If he knew, it's bad; if he didn't know, it's even worse," JP quoted him as saying.

'Somalia single largest humanitarian crisis'

Tue Oct 6, 2009

Somalia presents the single largest humanitarian challenge in the world, where food crisis, droughts and violence continue to devastate the country, a leading aid group says.

Over 3.6 million people, or half of Somalia's population, are currently in desperate need of aid, International aid organization, Oxfam GB, reported on Monday.

"In terms of numbers of people, access to any form of social welfare or livelihood choices, and the apparent intractability of it (the conflict in Somalia), it is the most pressing concern in humanitarian terms that we have globally," Oxfam GB's humanitarian director Jane Cocking told Reuters.

Adding to the crisis are over 1.3 million internally displaced people and another half a million refugees who reside in impoverished camps in neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia.

However, even as conflicts rage within the Horn of Africa nation, both private and government donors are reluctant to throw money in a state as disorganized as Somalia, where a weak UN-backed interim government struggles to retain a bloody insurgency, Oxfam added.

The London-based organization stressed that in negotiating the fifth year of drought in East Africa, one in six Somali children face acute malnourishment.

"That is, in the UN's terms, a crisis ... But because it's been a similarly awful picture for such a long time, the crisis warning bell no longer produces the fire brigade," Paul Smith-Lomas, Oxfam GB's east Africa director said.

Oxfam also noted that limited access to civilians caught in the conflict zones in Somalia has forced the organization to rely more on local partners.

In Somalia, scores of aid workers and journalists have been kidnapped, killed or otherwise targeted since the central government collapsed in 1991.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/107946.html.

Ransom frees Turkish ship held by Somali pirates

Tue Oct 6, 2009

Somali pirates release a Turkish ship, hijacked almost three months ago, after receiving a ransom of 1.5 million dollars.

The bulk carrier, the Horizon-1, seized on July 8 with 23 crew members aboard, and carrying sulfate en route to Saudi Arabia from Jordan, was released on Monday, Andrew Mwangura of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Program confirmed.

"We accepted USD 1.5 million to release the Turkish ship," one of the pirates, who identified himself as Abshir, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

"We delayed leaving because of accounting; we were sharing out the money. We disembarked from the ship this afternoon," he said.

This is while, Nilgun Yamaner, a lawyer for Horizon Shipping, told the Anatolia news agency that the amount of money paid in ransom was much higher than what was stated.

Yamaner, however, refused to disclose the amount citing security reasons. A lawyer for Horizon Shipping had earlier said that the pirates were demanding USD 20 million in ransom for the release of the ship, Today's Zaman reported.

Last Friday, after a month long lull, Somali pirates hijacked a Spanish tuna fishing vessel with 36 crew members in the Indian Ocean, some 360 nautical miles off the east coast of Somalia.

Somali pirates continue to re-emerge despite a growing anti-piracy mission in the region, piling millions of dollars in ransoms paid to secure the release of ships seized in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/107942.html.

Israeli, US army chiefs hold secret talks on Iran

Israeli Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and his American counterpart Admiral Mike Mullen have held secret talks in France with a special focus on Iran.

The two officials, who met in the northern French region of Normandy on Sunday, also discussed the Middle East, reports say.

Ashkenazi also discussed the developments in Iran with French Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Jean-Louis Georgelin.

The meeting comes ahead of the US and Israel's largest military drill, which is scheduled for later this month. The maneuver is planned to simulate missile strikes on Israel.

For years, Israel has threatened to bomb Iran's nuclear installations.

Dodging scrutiny over its own arsenal of up to 200 nuclear weapons, Israel accuses Iran of refining uranium for military purposes.

Iran, however, continues to dismiss the allegation, saying its nuclear activities are solely aimed at peaceful application of the technology.

Tehran says its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity, under close monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran has vowed a 'firm response' to any military action by foreign invaders, while downplaying the threat of any attack on the country by Israel.

"Talk of an Israeli attack on Iran is merely a ploy," Iran's Armed Forces Joint Chief of Staff Major General Hassan Firouzabadi had said in September.

Israel to build 800 more units in illegal settlements

Tel Aviv is going to construct some 800 new housing units across the occupied West Bank despite international calls for a halt to all settlement activities.

"The settlers are working fast to produce as many construction starts as possible so that these new housing units will be counted as existing settlements and not included in any future agreed upon freeze," according to a report released by the Israeli left-wing NGO Peace Now on Monday.

The report went on to say that the new projects are not among the some 2,400 houses which are already in different stages of construction that Israel aims to complete despite agreeing to a temporary freeze in settlement construction.

Tel Aviv is currently under intense pressure from the international community to halt the illegal settlement constructions in the West Bank. Israeli settlements are widely considered as the main hurdle in the way of comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Under the 2002 Roadmap for Peace plan brokered by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia, Israel has to 'dismantle settlement outposts erected since 2001 and also freeze all settlement activities'.

It is estimated that there are almost 200,000 illegal Jewish settlers in the twelve or so Israeli settlements in al-Quds. There are also about 300,000 more illegal Jewish settlers living in settlements across the occupied Palestinian territory of West Bank.

All Jewish settlements are illegal under international law because they are erected on occupied lands that the Palestinians claim for a future state.