DDMA Headline Animator

Friday, October 9, 2009

Moon bombing as search for space water begins

A NASA rocket has successfully crashed into a crater on the moon to raise a debris plume, an experiment that allows scientists to look for traces of ice and water in the perpetually dark lunar craters.

NASA on Friday steered two parts of a spacecraft, Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), into Cabeus, a crater in the vicinity of the moon's lunar South Pole, at more than 9,000km per hour, the Guardian reported.

The effect of the impact was captured by the cameras of a shepherding spacecraft that followed the rocket four minutes later. The impact, however, did not occur the way scientists had anticipated, raising speculations that the mission may end with a failure.

NASA scientists had hoped that the crash would form a 10km-high cloud that could be easily scanned for evidence of water.

Nonetheless, the data relayed back to earth will be analyzed for hydrogen bearing compounds. If such traces are found, the water will be used for future long-term space missions as NASA is hopeful to one day establish a human outpost on the moon.

"If we could live off the land, using this water -- if we discover it -- that would be a great benefit," said Jim Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, ABC News reported. "That would mean we don't have to bring it with us."

Amid fears that the moon bombing would have harmed the moon, Daniel Andrews, LCROSS project manager, moved to allay the concerns on Thursday.

"The impact has about a million times less impact on the moon than a passenger's eyelash falling to the floor of a 747 during flight," Andrews said, DPA reported.

In Switzerland, fury over minaret ban poster

Zurich, the largest Swiss city, has permitted the use of a controversial poster which promotes a ban on the construction of minarets on mosques in Switzerland as a national referendum on the issue draws near.

The far-right Swiss People's Party (SVP) is using the posters which show a veiled woman in front of a Swiss flag pierced by several minarets.

The anti-immigration party's campaign has prompted strong opposition in the central European state, with Basel and Lausanne describing the posters as racist and banning them in publicly-owned spaces, Euronews reported.

The SVP, condemned by rights activists for inciting hatred toward Islam, argues that the mosque towers symbolize ideological opposition to the country's constitution.

However, Zurich has chosen not to prohibit the poster. The mayor of the city, Corine Mauch, told CNN that although the city officials disapprove of the poster, the decision was taken on the basis of political freedom of speech in the run-up to the vote.

"We consulted the Federal Commission against racism and spoke to Muslim communities in the city, but decided banning the posters from public spaces would draw more attention to the issue."

SVP's controversial bid will be decided in a national referendum on November 29.

According to the latest opinion polls, most Swiss voters are against any ban on minaret construction, with the federal government and all the other major political parties recommending a 'no' vote.

Local Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders have also joined forces to reject a ban, AFP reported.

In letter, Iran urges UN to stand up to Israel

In the face of resumed military threats by Israeli leaders, Iran's ambassador to the UN, calls on the world body to put a stop to such 'irresponsible behaviors'.

“There is absolutely no sense in the ongoing Israeli threats against the Tehran government,” said Iranian ambassador to the UN Mohammad Khazaei in a letter of protest to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Khazaei pointed to claims made by Ephraim Sneh, a former Israeli deputy defense minister, earlier last week. Sneh had told the Sunday Times that time was running out for action against Tehran's enrichment activities.

“If no crippling sanctions are introduced by Christmas, Israel will strike,” he had said. “If we are left alone, we will act alone.”

Khazaei said that considering Israel's trigger-happy attitude in the past, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) should take necessary action against these “irresponsible comments”.

“Such remarks, which are occasionally made by Tel Aviv leaders, are nothing but lame excuses to fudge the issue over Israel's nuclear arsenal and divert attention from its criminal and terrorist activities in the region,” he added.

Khazaei assured that Iran's nuclear activities are peaceful. “The only threat in the region is the existence of Israel's nuclear arsenal, which has so far remained unsupervised and undeclared.”

Ever since Iran announced plans to build a second enrichment plant in the southern outskirts of Tehran, speculation has been rife that Israel might attack the country's nuclear infrastructure as soon as next year.

Tel Aviv, which houses an arsenal of 200 nuclear warheads, views Tehran's nuclear program as a mortal threat. Israeli leaders repeatedly warned to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities out of existence.

This is while the Islamic Republic, since its establishment in 1979, has never committed a single act of invasion. Iran has gone to war only once, to defend itself against the Iraq-imposed war in 1980, whereas Israel has invaded Lebanon twice, bombed Syria once, and attacked Gaza many times.

The Israeli regime has also masterminded a wave of undercover operations and assassination plots in countries it considers foes, including Syria and Lebanon.

Ahmadinejad recounts multiple triumphs in election

More than five months after the June 12 elections, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad describes his landslide victory as multiple triumphs for the Iranian nation.

"The recent election was a success in many terms," said the Iranian President in an address to a group of campaign activists on Friday afternoon.

"First and foremost, the election was a success because of the extremely high voter turnout, an achievement that was repeatedly downplayed by Western powers," he added.

Ahmadinejad said the Iranian people's commitment to the main principles of the 1979 Islamic Revolution was another sign of success in the elections.

"Western countries had planned to represent a deep-running rift between the government and the people, and all their efforts were to no avail," he remarked.

Ahmadinejad was re-elected for a second term in office after winning more than 24.5 million of the votes in the country's tenth presidential election.

The voter turnout in the June polls was widely considered as 'unprecedented' across the globe.

Saudi, Syria talks boost Mideast peace hopes

Saudi King Abdullah's landmark visit to Syria comes as a turning point in Riyadh-Damascus ties, raising expectations of eased tension in the Middle East.

King Abdullah's two-day trip was the first by a Saudi monarch since the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Refiq Hariri, blamed on Syria by the Western-backed politicians in Beirut. Damascus vehemently denied any role in the murder.

The visit also followed three other meetings between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Abdullah over the last two years, and a US announcement of plans to return an ambassador to Syria after some four years.

Isolated for years by the West , Syria is under a strong trade and financial sanctions imposed by the US and has been trying to regain control of its Golan Heights, which have been long-occupied by Israel, Washington's protégé and closest ally in the Middle East.

This is while, Syria' support for Iran's steadfast pursuit of a peaceful nuclear program has irked Tel Aviv, presumably the Middle East's sole wielder of nuclear arms, and its allies in the West.

Damascus voiced its criticism of Saudi Arabia and other pro-West Arab countries for not condemning Israel's offensive against the Gaza Strip which left more than 1,400 Palestinians killed at the turn of the year.

Syrian officials, however, evaluated the talks with the Saudi monarch as productive and aimed at 'strengthening the Arab Islamic position' in the face of the Israeli intransigence.

"Syrian-Saudi ties are seeing excellent progress," said Buthaina Shaaban, an adviser to Assad, adding that Syria's ties with Iran and Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia, would help create an effective Islamic bloc.

During their meeting, Assad and Abdullah exchanged national medals and inked an agreement to regulate taxation. They also urged politicians in Lebanon to reach consensus and form a national unity government to secure stability, unity and strength in the country.

The call comes while Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has fruitlessly been struggling to form a cabinet for months, since after the June 7 elections.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=108249§ionid=351020206.

IAY to cover 30,000 homes in Kashmir

Srinagar, Oct 9 : The Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) will cover 30,000 households in the Jammu and Kashmir this year, official sources said here today.

They said this information was given by Minister for Rural Development, Panchayat, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Sagar during distribution of cheques amounting to Rs 87.55 lakh to 589 beneficiaries of Pampore, Kakpora and Pulwama under IAY.

''We have issued strict instructions to the concerned that while preparing the list of the beneficiaries only the genuine persons are identified'', he said added that if there was any sort of complaint regarding the benefit of any scheme being given to the un- deserving person, people should come forward and report the same so that swift action would be initiated.

Reiterating the government's commitment for equitable and comprehensive development of the state especially the far flung and rural areas, Mr Sagar assured due care would be taken to implement all developmental schemes fully and to see that the benefit extended to the targeted populace.

He further said the government wanted to make Jammu and Kashmir one of the model states of the country, where even the remotest corners were be provided efficient road connectivity, proper health care facilities and state-of-the-art facilities.

Terming NERGA as a scheme with the potential to change the rural landscape and generate employment, the Minister said by availing the benefits of the scheme to the maximum, people living in rural areas can get employment at their doorsteps and also exhibit a participatory part in developing their areas.

'' We have increased the remuneration under the scheme from Rs 70 to Rs 110 so that more and more people come forward and avail benefits of the same'', he maintained.

Asking the people to exhibit a participatory role by providing effective feedback and suggestions about the schemes and their implementation, the Mr Sagar said by doing the same, accountability and transparency would be ensured so that the schemes were completed within the stipulated time and funds utilised to the maximum.

Do not pick and choose between Kashmiri separatists, says Mufti

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Friday urged the Centre 'to make its dialogue process with Kashmiri separatist groups all inconclusive and not to resort to a pick and choose policy.'

Addressing senior functionaries of his Peoples Democratic Party after launching the membership drive in the winter capital of Jammu, Mufti cautioned against 'ignoring any leader or group in the dialogue process' and said, "There should not be a pick and choose policy while initiating dialogue with separatists."

"The government of India should come out with a positive attitude to initiate dialogue process with Pakistan and separatists groups of Kashmir. And to make the talks result oriented, it was imperative to involve all groups and factions," Mufti said.

Stressing on the need of evolving consensus on the self-rule proposal, Mufti said that his party's proposal was the 'realistic and practical solution to address both external and internal dimensions of the vexed Kashmir issue.'

Mufti said that there was 'need to evolve a consensus on this issue both at national and state level to aggressively pursue this agenda aimed at restoring lasting and sustainable peace in this region.'

"Through our self-rule proposal we have been demanding more powers for the state and if our state would become economically self-reliant, all regions and sub-regions would be equally benefited", he observed while reiterating demand of re-negotiating water agreements with the Central agencies.

He said according to the self-rule proposal the Sadar-e-Reyast must be elected and should necessarily belong to the state.

"The proposal suggests that Article 356 of the Constitution under which the state governments are dismissed should not be applicable to Jammu and Kashmir," Mufti added.

CODE PINK: Women FOR the Occupation of Afghanistan

by Scott Creighton

October 8, 2009

The Global War on Sexism?

The Obama administration has ruled out any troop reduction in Afghanistan after a Tuesday meeting with 30 lawmakers from congress.

That should suit Medea Benjamin of CODE PINK just fine. Apparently she has returned from a trip to the Green Zone of Afghanistan with a slightly less than "antiwar" message for the people of America.

Yet another example of how infectious Obama’s fraudulent "compromise" propaganda really is.

President Barack Obama will not consider any reduction in the US military commitment in Afghanistan, White House and congressional officials declared after a three-hour meeting at the White House Tuesday between Obama and more than 30 congressmen and senators, both Republicans and Democrats.

The "No more war" movement is "off the table" in DC according to the new report out by Patrick Martin of the World Socialist Website.

Now all that is left is to figure out how many U.S. sons and daughters will be shipped off to the killing fields of Pipelanistan.

More drones? Of course. More collateral damage? Why not. After all, these kids blew up the Twin Towers… right? RIGHT! (Oh, no, wait… I mean they "collapsed". wink wink)

But while Obama and the Clintonistacrew were setting those silly "elected officials" straight with regard to what is best for the people of America (ie. "compromise" with the war mongering right and left), we can at least rest assured that the antiwar movement is working hard to get our young men and women out of Afghanistan and putting an end to the illegal and brutal occupation.

I mean… we CAN assume that… right?

"I do think that we have thrown ourselves into this quagmire and we’ve got to extricate ourselves in a way that is as responsible as possible."

… what I’m saying is that I did feel a palpable fear among many of the women that they don’t want the Taliban to take over again." Benjamin

Wrong again.

Yes, Medea Benjamin of the formerly antiwar group CODE PINK (well, that is, they WERE strongly opposed to killing and maiming innocent civilians while George Bush was doing it but now SOMETHING seems to be different about it now that Obama and Hillary are in charge) is now advocating FOR a continued U.S. occupation of Afghanistan. Yes, you read that right. No bones about it. No "ifs, ands, or buts".

In an excellent interview with Benjamin, Antiwar’s Scott Horton doesn’t cut her any slack about this new, pro-occupation position.

Horton exposing the root of Benjamin’s positional shift, which is basically that Benjamin went to Afghanistan, she never left the safety of the occupied Green Zone (yet she claims to be speaking for "the women of Afghanistan" having never gotten out into the country to meet the VAST majority of the women of that nation), she met with several women who are aligned with the corrupt Obama puppet regime in Kabul, and now she is afraid that when we leave that country and end our brutal illegal occupation, her new friends in Kabul will lose their grip on their new-found power as the Taliban regains control.

Quite a remarkable justification for the continuation of an illegal occupation of another nation: they should treat women better because we say so.

But at least she doesn’t just use the Obama/Clinton propaganda lines like "we need a responsible exit strategy" to justify it. No, Benjamin, when pressed, actually had to resort to the same kinds of cliched bullshit that spewed from the mouths of the former administration officials: "Afghanistan will become a safe haven for Al Qaeda". any propaganda "port in a storm", I suppose.

Horton:… wasn’t Code Pink’s argument about Iraq not "We have to leave responsibly but we’ve got to get the hell out of there because staying there is irresponsible"?

Benjamin: Yeah, in the case of Iraq I think it was a little bit different. It was absolutely clear our troops should never been there beginning and you didn’t have a Taliban like government…

Horton:Yeah, but I mean Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri escaped eight years ago. They haven’t been in Afghanistan for eight years.

Benjamin: But you do have the Taliban in Afghanistan and you have…

Horton: Yeah, but what did the Taliban ever do?

Benjamin: Well the Taliban…

Horton: To us.

Benjamin: Huh?

Horton: What did they ever do to the United States?

Benjamin: Well see, if your perspective is just from the United States. My perspective is also from what they did to the women of Afghanistan. But if your perspective is truly from the United States, what people say is that if we allow the Taliban to take over Afghanistan then that will be a safe haven for Al Qaeda.

Neocon talking points from the head of CODE PINK in order to justify the continued occupation of Afghanistan.

Believe it or not, there it is.

Well, Medea will get what she wants. The Obama administration is signalling that they, once again, don’t give a rat’s ass about what the vast MAJORITY of the American people want, and they are determined to stay in Afghanistan.

So now, according to CODE PINK, the Obama/Clintonista regime can continue to bomb, torture, and rendition the sexism out of Afghanistan. And that should make CODE PINK very happy.

Now that is "CHANGE" you can "BELIEVE" in.

EU, Arab world seek cooperation on green energy

Brussels - The European Union and the governments of Egypt, Israel, Syria and much of the Arab world kicked off discussions Friday on the launch of a common green energy market. The occasion was a conference in Brussels organized by the European Commission. It was attended by energy and foreign ministers from both sides of the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf region.

"Taken as a whole, the EU, the Mediterranean and the Gulf have one of the world's biggest potential markets for renewable energy," EU External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told the conference.

"Our cooperation makes sense on a number of levels - the EU has significant experience and know-how in renewable energies, whilst the potential for renewable energies in its Southern partners is enormous," Ferrero-Waldner said.

The EU has set itself the ambitious target of reducing its emissions of greenhouse gas by 20 per cent below their 1990s levels by 2020. To do so, it wants 20 per cent of its energy needs to come from renewable sources such as solar or wind power.

This week, the commission warned that those targets will not be met unless current levels of investment in renewable sources are increased by 50 billion euros (73 billion dollars) over the next decade.

One way of obtaining green energy is for the EU to link up with its southern neighbors, so as to allow it to buy cheaper solar energy from sun-bathed countries in North Africa and the Middle East.

"While we will produce renewable energy ourselves, we will also have to buy this renewable energy. And we see that there is a great deal of interest in the southern Mediterranean countries and in the Gulf, for their own markets, but also for export. So here is a situation that could benefit both sides," Ferrero-Waldner told reporters.

The commissioner called on delegates to explore common rules on regulating such a market and to find ways of financing research aimed at making renewables economically viable.

Equally importantly, governments would have to start work on building the expensive infrastructures needed to link up the sides' energy grids - so called "interconnectors".

The EU and its southern neighbors have long talked about cooperating on the energy front. In July 2008, for instance, EU leaders agreed to build 20 gigawatts worth of renewable power generation around the Mediterranean Sea by 2020.

In the meantime, the EU has already funded a number of related projects, including a solar and wind energy resource atlas in the southern and eastern Mediterranean, and a study aimed at identifying and prioritizing potential demonstration sites for wind and concentrated solar projects in Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan and Turkey.

Ferrero-Waldner said delegates at the conference had reacted "enthusiastically" to the idea of a common green energy market. But she conceded that its realization would require plenty of time.

"It will take time. But we have to start somewhere," the commissioner told reporters.

Pakistan happy that Iran has defended its nuclear rights: ambassador

TEHRAN, Oct. 9 (MNA) -- Pakistan congratulates the Islamic Republic of Iran for successfully defending its right to uranium enrichment for peaceful purposes during the talks in Geneva, Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran stated on Tuesday.

“We are happy that Iran was able to defend its right as an independent nation,” Ambassador M.B. Abbasi told journalists on the sidelines of the Pakistan Defense Day reception, which was held at his official residence.

The October 1 talks in Geneva between Iran and the 5+1 countries (France, the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and Germany) were the first such negotiations in 15 months.

A number of senior officers from the Iranian Army, Navy, Air Force, and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps attended the event that is held to commemorate the memory of September 6, 1965, when Pakistan, its military, and people stood united in defense of the country against the sudden Indian military invasion. Since September 6 coincided with the holy month of Ramadan, the Pakistan Defense Day function was postponed until October 6.

Ambassador Abbasi highlighted the significance of Defense Day and paid tribute to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives defending the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country.

The Pakistani ambassador stressed the need to enhance Iran-Pakistan relations in all areas, especially in the trade sector. He said bilateral relations had received a significant boost over the past year and a half but there is much more that needs to be done to tap the full potential.

“We have to go a long way. Only 20 percent has been achieved -- 80 percent is still there,” he stated.

Commenting on his meeting with the Iranian business community at Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines, the ambassador said Iranian businessmen have shown great interest in capturing the Pakistani market.

On the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, the ambassador said that the IP agreement has been signed by the presidents of Pakistan and Iran and experts are working to sort out the technical details of the project.

On the Pakistan-Iran-Afghanistan trilateral summit, Ambassador Abbasi stated that the summit will be held in November in Islamabad and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will attend the event, and added that Ahmadinejad will extend his stay in Pakistan and have additional meetings with Pakistani officials.

Commenting on Kashmir, the Pakistani ambassador said that the Kashmir issue is very much alive and despite its complexities, efforts are being made to achieve a peaceful resolution of the problem.

Abbasi highlighted the successes achieved by the Pakistan Army in restoring peace and bringing normalcy to the troubled Swat and Malakand regions of the country, adding that the newly elected government was committed to uprooting terrorism.

A large number of foreign diplomats based in Tehran, members of the Pakistani community, Iranian officials, scholars, and media representatives attended the Pakistan Defense Day reception.

Indonesia reiterates support to peace process in Philippines

Indonesia reiterated on Thursday its commitment in supporting the ongoing peace process between the Philippine government and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as it urged both sides to put an end to the armed conflict in southern Philippines.

Indonesian Ambassador Irzan Tandjung assured that Indonesia, as chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Peace Committee for the southern Philippines, "will do its utmost effort for the creation of a lasting peace to bring prosperity in Mindanao."

"Indonesia is committed to preserve peace, stability and prosperity with regards to the ongoing peace process in the southern part of the Philippines," Tandjung said.

The MILF, which used to be part of a larger secessionist group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), have been combating government troops in southern Philippines since 1969, in one of Asia's longest-running insurgencies. Philippine military says the MILF has 11,000 fighters.

The OIC, through the Indonesian government, brokered a peace deal between the Philippines and the MNLF in September 1996.

He said Indonesia will ensure the continuing peace process of genuine dialogue in fully implementing the 1996 final peace agreement signed between the government and the MNLF under the aegis of the OIC.

NASA crashes into moon for water research

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Two U.S. spacecraft hit the moon Friday, successfully crashing into a crater on the moon's southern axis to test for water ice on the celestial body.

Minutes after the rocket created a hole about 65 feet wide and 10 feet deep in the Cabeus crater, instruments aboard the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite analyzed a 6-mile debris plume and sent its observations back to Earth before it also slammed into the same crater, The New York Times reported.

On Earth, scientists at Mountain View, Calif., say they're interested in learning whether water exists in the form of ice in the crater's perpetual dark and cold. The data could play a role in the direction of the space agency's human spaceflight program and whether it should return to the moon or move elsewhere in the solar system.

Data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter already confirmed hydrogen is deep within craters near the Moon's poles.

"There is hydrogen down in that crater, and we're going to go dig some of it up," Anthony Colaprete, the mission's principal investigator, said Thursday during a news conference.

While scientists saw the impact generate debris and its data immediately, they said analyzing the information would take several weeks.

Taliban seen firmly established

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's advisers say the Afghan Taliban are so firmly entrenched, it is unrealistic to believe they can be eliminated, officials said.

Administration officials participating in the policy review meetings on Afghanistan this week told The Washington Post the conclusion is that however many U.S. troops are put one the ground, the Taliban cannot be uprooted as a political or military force in that country.

The goal, the officials told newspaper, should be to weaken the Taliban to the point they cannot threaten the Afghan government or re-establish sanctuaries for al-Qaida.

The Post reported such a goal and its objectives would be in line with the assessment of U.S. Afghan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal. In that assessment, the general said the strategy "cannot be focused on seizing terrain or destroying insurgent forces" but on convincing the Afghans to support the government. The general's assessment also recommends an additional 40,000 troops in Afghanistan.

"The Taliban is a deeply rooted political movement in Afghanistan, so that requires a different approach than al-Qaida," a senior administration official who has participated in the meetings told the Post.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday "there is clearly a difference between" the Taliban and al-Qaida, which seeks "to strike the U.S. homeland," the report said.

Hamas bails out Gaza's losing tunnel investors

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian Islamists who run the Gaza Strip find themselves in the odd position these days of bailing out speculators who went from boom to bust when Israeli warplanes blew up their smuggling tunnels into Egypt.

Profits from hundreds of tunnels burrowed into the neighbor state to get around an Israeli embargo skyrocketed after the Islamist Hamas movement seized control of Gaza from Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.

Israel tightened its blockade sharply, fearing Hamas would import arms, and profits from the smuggling operation multiplied even faster, fueling a hot market in tunnel shares.

But when Israel launched a major offensive in late December to stop Hamas forces firing rockets at its southern towns, the tunnel network was designated a prime target and fortunes were lost, some real, some on paper.

Now, Hamas is trying to deflect criticism of its handling of the millions of dollars Palestinians sank into the business that literally collapsed under their feet.

Economy Minister Zeyad al-Zaza estimates some $60 million was lost by thousands among Gaza's 1.5 million population, from housewives to wealthy merchants, who ploughed cash through middlemen into expanding the tunnel network.

Two key middlemen are among several people arrested over the losses, Zaza added. He said $10 million recovered had gone back to investors who lost, rescuing 16.5 percent of their capital.

"We are close to returning another $20 million, which will be handed over to the government. Hopefully the people will be receiving another payment," Zaza said.

The pain, however, remains great for investors who say they made massive profits on their original investments, only to see those evaporate along with their capital when tunnels were destroyed in Israeli air raids.

One Gaza economist estimated paper fortunes worth between a quarter and half a billion dollars may have gone up in smoke, though accurate figures are hard to come by in an economy cut off from the world and dominated by clandestine dealings.

CAUTIONARY TALES

University teacher Jad Sabri recounted how he won -- and lost -- undreamed of sums in the tunnel trade after investing a substantial chunk of savings in early 2008.

"I put $60,000 into the tunnel business. In a few months the man came to me with $500,000 saying that's what my money had become," Sabri told Reuters. "It was unbelievable."

"I was so happy, I gave it back to him and asked him to invest it for me, hoping for bigger profits."

Unfortunately, Israel pounded the warren of tunnels under the sandy border between the town of Rafah and Egypt's Sinai peninsula in December and January, and its airforce continues to hit them every time a rocket from Gaza explodes in Israel.

The tunnels bring in everything from calves to sewing-machines and soap powder. Israel says Hamas also imports arms, including missiles.

"I lost it all," Sabri said of his investment. "They fooled us. They knew that if they tell somebody your $10 has grown fivefold in two months they'll insist on putting more in."

Abu Ali, who trades in clothing in Gaza, said he lost about $200,000 but others lost even more: "Some were greedy and others just could not help themselves, looking for an easy profit."

Gaza economist Omar Shaban estimated possible losses at $250-$500 million.

"It's a world of mystery," he said. "No one really knows the reality of this business. Those who took people's money had no business background and their methods of investment were vague.

"Hundreds of millions of dollars disappeared and that can only be a disaster in the general economic conditions in Gaza."

Economy minister Zaza, a member of the unrecognized Hamas government, rejected criticism of the Islamists' mismanagement, saying those who lost out had taken private initiatives to invest without due precautions.

Hamas itself is widely assumed to benefit from the tunnels, hundreds of which are still operating.

Aside from financial gains, Hamas benefits by the way the tunnels blunt the impact on Gaza's population of the Israeli blockade, which permits only the most essential goods to pass over authorized crossing points from Israel.

Health officials say more than 100 people have died digging and operating tunnels in the past year alone.

"The tunnels harm our national interests and harm our economy," Zaza said. "But people have been forced to build them because of the blockade. Once the blockade is lifted and crossings are reopened there will be no need for tunnels."

Abbas praises Obama award as Hamas calls it premature

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas on Friday congratulated Barack Obama on winning the Nobel peace prize, while the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip said the US president did not deserve the award.

Abbas, who heads the Palestinian Authority and the mainstream Fatah faction, "congratulated President Obama on winning the Nobel Prize," top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.

"The president wished that President Obama will achieve his quest for peace throughout the Middle East by establishing an independent Palestinian state in the 1967 borders with its capital in east Jerusalem," he said.

But Islamist movement Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since routing pro-Fatah forces from the narrow coastal strip in June 2007, said the award was premature.

"He did not do anything for the Palestinians except make promises," said Hamas spokesman Samir Abu Zuhri. "At the same time, he is giving his absolute support for the (Israeli) occupation."

As troop dies, UK mortality in Afghanistan hits 221

The British death toll in Afghanistan surpasses 220 as another soldier dies in the conflict-torn country's southern province of Helmand.

The UK's Ministry of Defense said on Friday that the British troop died in an explosion on Thursday near Camp Bastion, where the largest part of the 9,000-strong British contingent is based.

The death brings to 221 the number of the British troopers, who have lost their lives in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion in 2001.

The news came as pressure mounts on the Whitehall to improve the reportedly poor logistics on the ground.

Many of the deaths, the opposition and British public say, have been caused due to lack of sufficient equipment.

Results from a recent opinion survey, published by the BBC, served as a wake-up call for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, when it revealed that 56 percent of the public were opposed to the Britain's armed involvement in Afghanistan.

Obama's Nobel Peace Prize source of 'mockery'

Pundits believe that after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, US President Barack Obama is now open to criticism an even mockery should he fail to deliver his promises.

Paul Rogers, Professor of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford in Britain, yet argues that the "unusual" decision by the Nobel Committee is going to encourage Obama to complete an unfinished process.

"It is certainly a surprise (but) the Nobel Peace is quite often awarded for what you might call process, things under way, rather than completed achievements."

"We remember the prize being awarded to Nelson Mandela and Frederik De Klerk in the early nineties, before apartheid had ended," he told AFP on Friday.

Nevertheless, "there is certainly a risk that this could backfire. I would expect there to be very strong opposition to this decision in Republican circles in the United States," the British university professor reiterated.

Dana Allin, a senior fellow for US foreign policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, also believes that the gorgeous prize could be a source of 'criticism' and 'mockery' for Obama.

"Even for people who are generally supportive of Obama and what he is trying to achieve, this is going to be very easily parodied," he said.

"So the fact that it has come so early in his presidency before any of the things he has set out to do in international terms have been achieved is going to cause some controversy," Allin said.

Iain Martin, deputy editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe, challenged the Nobel Committee's decision by describing the award-giving a "completely bizarre" issue.

He said it was unclear why Obama had bagged the prize.

"For making peace, of a kind, with Hillary Clinton? For giving up the missile shield …For preparing a surge of troops and weaponry in Afghanistan?" Martin wrote on the newspaper's website.

Obama's stated goal of a world without nuclear arms prompted the Nobel Committee to offer the US President the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.

Israeli soldier, Palestinians clash on 'day of rage'

Israeli forces resorts to tear gas and use of force to disperse scores of Palestinians gathered in Jerusalem Al-Quds in defense of their holy Al-Aqsa mosque.

Palestinian worshipers, who were denied access to Al-Aqsa mosque, thronged in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood just outside the gates of the Old City after the weekly Friday prayers, in protest at threats posed to the Muslims' third holy site by right-wing Israelis.

The demonstration came amid tightened security and deployment of thousands of Israeli security forces to the city to prevent Muslims from entering to the holy site.

Israeli forces clashed with the protesters, as stone-hurling Palestinian youths responded to the soldiers who fired tear gas to disperse the crowd and arrested two Palestinians.

Chasing the masked youths deeper into the neighborhood, Israeli forces found themselves beset from all sides by residents who threw stones, water and even chairs at them.

In the Gaza Strip, thousands of people on Friday took part in demonstrations called by leaders of the Islamic Hamas and the Islamic Jihad movements who had called for "a day of rage in Gaza and the West Bank”.

The call was echoed in the West Bank by the central committee of the Palestinian Fatah movement, urging Palestinians to stage a peaceful protest to proclaim their “attachment to their holy places and to Jerusalem Al-Quds as the eternal capital of the independent Palestinian state.”

The Fatah-run Palestinian Authority accused Tel Aviv of allowing ultra right Jewish extremists to enter the mosque compound, while denying access to Muslims, calling on the United Nation to intervene and prevent Israel from imposing provocative measures.

Turkey mulls 20 more F-35 fighters

Turkey is mulling over paying an extra USD 2 billion to purchase twenty more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) to raise its order quantity for the aircraft to 120.

"We may buy 120 JSF aircraft, instead of 100," head of the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, Murad Bayar, was quoted as saying by Hurriyet newspaper.

Turkey's potential decision to buy 120 F-35s would increase the cost of Ankara's program from USD 11 billion to at least USD 13 billion. The country's eventual decision on the number of fighters to be acquired will depend on the amount of finance available in the forthcoming years.

The fifth-generation Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a single-seat, single-engine and multi-role fighter. The aircraft can conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions.

The F-35 Lightning II is manufactured in three variants; conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL), carrier variant (CV) as well as a short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL).

In addition to Turkey, the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Italy are among the countries that have ordered the F-35.

Gunmen kill Hizbul-Islam chief, companions

Fri Oct 9, 2009

Armed men have assassinated a top Hizbul-Islam leader along with guards and two civilians shortly after the group made a pact with Al-Shabaab fighters.

At least eight people including five guards, a woman and a child lost their lives along with an unnamed Hizbul-Islam leader on Friday after unknown armed men sprayed their convoy with bullets in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The killing of the Hizbul-Islam member follows a recent agreement between Somalia's warring guerrillas in which Al-Shabaab and Hizbul-Islam groups reportedly sealed a deal to unite in their anti-government campaign.

“Today (Wednesday) we are, hereby, clearly and loudly informing our Muslim brothers that we have signed a significant agreement with our brothers Hizbul-Islam,” Sheikh Hussein Ali Fidow, the head of Al-Shabaab's political affairs and regional relationship had earlier told reporters.

In the past two weeks, fighter of the two groups have clashed in the strategic southern port of Kismayo, 500 kilometers from Mogadishu, which was formerly shared by the two.

The two groups maintained differences in the activities, with Hizbul-Islam favoring politics and Al-Shabaab seeking an armed campaign in the nation.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/108233.html.

Turkey cancels air drills over Israel presence

Turkey has taken a decision to call off the military aerial maneuvers that were supposed to be held in participation of Israel, the US, Italy and the NATO.

The spokesman for Israeli embassy in Ankara, Amit Zarouk, confirmed Thursday that the joint airborne drills were canceled. He said he did not know if the cancellation would only be for the current year or it would be forever.

The military exercises were scheduled to take place later this month at an air base in Konya city located in central Turkey and the heart of the Anatolian plateau.

The decision is made while Turkish public had earlier called on Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to allow Israeli warplanes, which bombed Palestinian homes, to participate in military drills over Turkey's airspace.

EU supports Goldstone report, upsets Israel

The European Union has come out in support of the UN report which accuses Israel of war crimes as well as possible crimes against humanity during the weeks-long onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

"It is worthy of consideration needless to say, I think Mr. Goldstone is a person of high credibility and high integrity and accordingly his report carries weight," the Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told reporters in Stockholm.

Bildt -- whose country holds the EU presidency -- added, "It is now in the Human Rights Council (based in Geneva) and that's where we think it should be deliberated, it is an independent report,"

A United Nations inquiry led by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone detailed what investigators called Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity," during Israel's winter offensive against Gazans.

The 575-page report by Goldstone and three other investigators asserts seven incidents in which Palestinian civilians were shot while leaving their homes, trying to run for safety or waving white flags. The report says Israel targeted a mosque at prayer time, killing 15 people, and shelled a Gaza City house where soldiers had forced Palestinian civilians to assemble. These attacks constituted war crimes, the report says.

The probe also found Israel violated international humanitarian law in several ways. Dozens of Palestinian policemen were killed at the start of Gaza onslaught when Israel bombed their stations. The security agents were not involved in hostilities and should have been treated as civilians. Palestinians in addition were forced to walk ahead of Israeli soldiers searching civilian neighborhoods.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor has branded the investigation as not an independent or professional, but a collection of claims brought forward by Hamas to the members of the UN fact-finding mission.

More than 1,500 Palestinians mostly women and children were killed during three weeks of Israel's land, sea and air assault, Operation Cast Lead , in the impoverished coastal sliver. The offensive also inflicted $ 1.6 billion damage to Gaza economy.

Russia tests two intercontinental missiles, Moscow reports

Moscow - Russia this week launched two intercontinental rockets during naval exercises in the northern Pacific Ocean, the Defense Ministry disclosed Friday, the Interfax agency reported. The ministry said the RSM-50 missiles were launched on October 6 and 7 from two nuclear-powered submarines in the Sea of Okhotsk in the Far East and hit their target on the uninhabited peninsula of Kanin, located in the Barents Sea, some 8,000 kilometres away in northern Russia.

The Russian military command described the tests as successful.

The RSM-50 - designated as the SS-N-18 by the western NATO alliance - is some 14 metres long and weighs 35.5 tons and is capable of carry multiple warheads. The liquid fuel-propelled rocket has been part of the Russian arsenal since 1977.

Iran to 'blow up the heart of Israel' if attacked

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran will "blow up the heart of Israel" if the United States or the Jewish state attacked it first, a top official with Iran's most powerful military force — the Revolutionary Guard — warned Friday.

Cleric Mojtaba Zolnour, who is the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in the Guard, said that if a U.S. or Israeli missile lands in Iran, Iranian missiles will hit Israel in retaliation.

"Should a single American or Zionist missile land in our country, before the dust settles, Iranian missiles will blow up the heart of Israel," Zolnour was quoted as saying by the state IRNA news agency.

Iran and Israel are archenemies and anti-Israeli stance is a trademark for the hardline Guard. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has since 2005 often called for Israel's destruction and predicted demise for the Jewish state.

Though common, Zolnour's remarks appear to be ratcheting up the rhetoric ahead of the next round of talks between Iran and the West later this month over Iran's controversial uranium enrichment program.

The U.S. and Israel have accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons but Iran denies the charge, saying its nuclear program is geared toward generating power, not a bomb. Israel has said it favors a diplomatic solution to the nuclear standoff but has not ruled out a military strike over fears that Iran may develop nuclear weapons.

Israel maintains a doctrine of "nuclear ambiguity" and has never confirmed nor denied having its own nuclear weapons program. It considers Iran a serious threat not only because of Tehran's nuclear program but also because of Iran's arsenal of long-range missiles, which can be fitted with nuclear warheads and are capable of striking the Jewish state.

Tehran is equipped with Shahab-3 missiles which have a range of up to 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers). Israel is about 625 miles (1,000 kilometers) west of Iran.

Iran's missile program and its nuclear work — much of it carried out in secrecy — have long been a concern for the West, which fears Tehran is intent on developing an atomic weapons capability and the missiles to deploy such warheads.

In September, the revelation of a secret uranium enrichment facility near the Iranian holy city of Qom, represented a coup for Western intelligence and put Iran on defense. Within days of intense diplomatic activity, Tehran entered landmark nuclear negotiations with the U.S. and other world powers — talks that have since somewhat eased tensions between the two sides.

Oct. 25 has been set as a date for an inspection of the Qom site by the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. Separately, a meeting is slated for Oct. 19 in Vienna with Iran, the U.S., France and Russia to discuss details of a deal that would lead to more cooperation from Iran on the enrichment process.

Gore Vidal says Obama will lose next vote

Renowned American historian Gore Vidal says that President Barack Obama would lose 2012 presidential elections, calling the first black US president "incompetent."

In an interview with the Independent, Vidal sharply criticized Obama who took power when the United States was involved in two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

About the election of Obama, Vidal said that he was initially optimistic, but after witnessing the administration, he has relegated himself to despair.

"He's incompetent. He will be defeated for re-election. It's a pity because he's the first intellectual president we've had in many years, but he can't hack it. He's not up to it. He's overwhelmed," said the 84-year-old Vidal.

"[Obama] wants to be liked by everybody, and he thought all he had to do was talk reason," the novelist continued.

"But remember - the Republican Party is not a political party. It's a mindset, like Hitler Youth. It's full of hatred. You're not going to get them aboard. Don't even try. The only way to handle them is to terrify them. He's too delicate for that."

Vidal also predicted that "Afghanistan will be terminal for the American empire," which he sees as a positive development.

"This kid [Obama] has never heard a gun fired in anger. He's absolutely bowled over by generals, who tell him lies and he believes them. He hasn't done anything."

"He's not ready for prime time and he's getting a lot of prime time on his plate at once."

The intellectual once again called the 2000 election "stolen" by the Bush administration then added they were "probably" involved in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and the Pentagon.

This is not the first time he has assailed the government's public theory of the attacks. In 2008, Vidal said that 9/11 was "a coup d'etat" to overthrow the government, allowing the Bush administration "[to] make legal each and every breach of the constitution that [they] had in mind."

AL condemns Israeli attack on al-Aqsa Mosque

The Arab League has convened an emergency meeting in condemnation of the brutal aggression on al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli military forces as well as escalating tension in a-Quds.

"The (Thursday) meeting, chaired by Syria, focused on the Israeli violations of al-Aqsa Mosque," Vice Secretary General of the league Ambassador Ahmad Bin Hilli told reporters in Cairo, Egypt.

The League's deputy secretary general went on to note that the assembly also sought to devise an Arab action plan to fend al-Quds off Israel's serious and oppressive practices and prevent desecration of al-Aqsa Mosque.

The council condemned Israeli siege imposed on al-Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque and the policy of systematic ethnic cleansing pursued by Israeli authorities against the Palestinians.

It called upon international organizations to move on and mobilize international public opinion to end Israeli violations and destruction activities of Islamic and Christian sanctities.

The Arab group moreover demanded an urgent UN session to inspect the situation and take necessary procedures to stop the Israeli practices and protect Palestinian people's rights to their sacred land.

"Arab League also discussed available avenues to pressure Israel to freeze construction of housing units in illegal Jewish settlements across the occupied Palestinian territories," Hilli highlighted.

Tensions flared after Israeli police allowed Jewish extremists to enter the grounds of al-Aqsa Mosque last Sunday and then shielded them from attack by Palestinians defending the sacred place. After the eviction of the settlers by Muslim worshipers, the occupation forces turned on the crowds. About 16 Palestinians and several Israeli police were injured in the clashes.

Barack Obama wins Noble Peace Prize

The first African-American President of the United States Barack Obama has been named as surprise winner of Noble Peace Prize.

Obama won the prestigious award on Friday for his calls to reduce the world's stockpile of nuclear weapons and working for world peace.

The head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Thorbjoern Jagland said that Obama was honored "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

"Very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the committee said in a citation.

The US president wins over more than 200 nominees.

Last month, Obama chaired a meeting of the UN Security Council, which unanimously approved a US-drafted resolution calling on nuclear weapons states to scrap their arsenals.

Obama is the third senior US Democrat to win the award this decade after former president Jimmy Carter and former vice president Al Gore won the prize in 2002 and 2007 respectively.

The prize, worth 10 million Swedish crowns ($1.4 million), will be handed over in Oslo on Dec. 10.

Palestinians to hold support rally at al-Aqsa

Palestinian factions have called for a demonstration at the al-Aqsa Mosque and staging a general strike and protests throughout the nation to condemn the desecration of the holy site by Israelis.

The Islamic Resistance Movement of Hamas declared Friday as a Day of Rage and urged mass attendance of Friday prayers as well as a rally at the Muslims' cared shrine in response to the recent Israeli blasphemy.

Fatah Central Committee, the movement's highest governing body, has meanwhile demanded a general strike calling for Palestinians' 'steadfastness and determination' to keep hold of their holy sites.

The committee also called for peaceful demonstrations that would show al-Quds (Jerusalem) is Palestinians' 'eternal capital' and the future seat of government in an independent state.

Clashes erupted early last Sunday after a group of Jewish radicals broke into the yard of al-Aqsa Mosque an attacked Palestinians . About 16 Palestinians were injured in the clashes, according to media reports.

The incident made the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, express disapproval over the incursion by Israeli extremists. He called upon the international community to exert pressure on Israel and force it to halt such flagrant violations.

Hamas official Mushir al-Masri in addition said the injury of several Palestinians in clashes with Israeli extremists who broke into the yard of al-Aqsa mosque was 'the fruit of the tripartite meeting' in Washington between acting Palestinian Authority chief, Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama.

Last Monday, demonstrators in Amman set the Israeli flag on fire and called on the government officials to sever diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv in reaction to Israeli soldiers' breaking into the Muslim sacred shrine.

Dozens of trade unionists and politicians meanwhile staged a sit-in in front of the headquarters of Jordan's Professional Association Council. Protesters held banners reading, "Our blood is shed for you, our souls are sacrificed for your sanctity. We swear to you, Aqsa, that we will never forget you".

Muslims consider the trespass into the al-Aqsa Mosque yard as part of a Judaization campaign that targets the holy city of al-Quds and a provocation of Muslim feelings.

Huge blast rocks Peshawar, kills 49

A powerful blast has ripped through a crowded market in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing at least forty nine and injuring one hundred more.

The deadly blast hit a shopping area close to the city's main Khyber Bazaar on Friday morning.

A Press TV reporter in the city said at least forty nine people were killed and more than a hundred were injured in the explosion which also damaged nearby buildings in the area.

He said the death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured were in critical condition.

The attack comes hours after militants fired three rockets from an undisclosed location, hitting different areas of Peshawar on Thursday.

Peshawar is the main city in the northwest and has been a frequent target of insurgents.
At least five people were killed on Monday when a bomber disguised as a security officer blew himself up in the lobby of the UN World Food Program's office in central Islamabad.

The chief of the notorious militants' group has announced his group would exact revenge on US and Pakistani forces for the killing of a former commander.

Hakeemullah Mehsud has recently vowed to avenge the death of his cousin and former leader Baitullah Mehsud who was reportedly killed in a US drone attack in the volatile tribal Waziristan region.

Insurgents have also destroyed dozens of NATO trucks and containers taking supplies to NATO-led forces in Afghanistan.

Thousands have lost their lives in the nuclear-armed country since the former military ruler Pervez Musharraf joined the so-called US war on terror in 2001.

UN extends controversial US war in Afghanistan

Despite widespread discontent over the US' handling of war in Afghanistan, the UN Security Council has extended the mandate of foreign troops for one more year.

A resolution by the 15-member council called for bolstering NATO-led forces in the country to counter growing Taliban insurgency.

The resolution also urged more personnel, equipment and other resources for the foreign troops across the war-ravaged country.

The call came at a time when lethal blasts in Kabul near the Interior Ministry building and the Indian embassy on Thursday killed 17 and injured another 63, most of them civilians.

Despite the already heavy presence of coalition forces for more than eight years, the insurgency has skyrocketed in southern and eastern Afghanistan, where the Taliban has stepped up attacks against US and NATO occupation troops with roadside bombs and ambushes.

A security map by the London-based International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) has recently showed a deepening security crisis with substantial Taliban activity in all corners of the war-ravaged country.

This comes as US President Barack Obama is weighing a request for 40-thousand extra troops in Afghanistan.

The developments come as Obama administration was also looking at whether it could work with some members of the Taliban insurgents in the troubled region.

The US and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to allegedly eradicate insurgency and arrest its leaders. The first military power in the world however says it has been unable to arrest or kill any of the main militant leaders including Al-Qaeda's Osama Bin Laden and Taliban's Mullah Omar.

Meanwhile, US and NATO commander Stanley McChrystal has warned that the war could be lost unless more troops are sent to the conflict-torn country.

McChrystal has called for troop reinforcements in response to the escalating Taliban insurgency, which is at its highest level since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

The current year has been the the deadliest for foreign forces, as well as Afghan civilians.

Afghans have been the main victims of the tide of violence. More than 1,500 civilians have been killed and many others wounded in the first six months of 2009, which shows a 24 percent increase compared with the same period last year, according to the latest UN report.

Meanwhile, The mounting number of Western soldiers coming home in body bags has sent support for the war plummeting in Europe, Canada, and the United States.

Canada and several European countries seem to oppose further commitments to the mission in Afghanistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that US-led troops had brought more misery to the Afghan people.

Pakistani officials in Islamabad say that the NATO's wrong policies were also destabilizing their nuclear-armed country as well.

Egyptian university bans face veil in classrooms

Fri Oct 9, 2009

A leading Egyptian cleric, Mohammed Seyyed Tantawi, has banned face veils in the girls' classrooms and dormitories of al-Azhar University in Cairo.

The decision to ban the Egyptian teachers and students from wearing face veil came four days after Tantawi said that the face veil "has nothing to do with Islam."

He said on Thursday that his decision to impose a partial ban is based on a 1996 constitutional court ruling that granted education officials the right to regulate Islamic attire in schools. He also said the goal was to "spread trust, harmony ... and the correct understanding of religion among girls."

The majority of scholars say this trend is merely a custom that dates back to tribal, nomadic societies living in the Arabian desert before Islam.

The decision seems to be setting the stage for the government to ban the face veil in public institutions.

Al-Azhar University is a segregated school, and men and women's classrooms are separated.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/108207.html.

Turkey, Armenia to sign historic accord

After years of hostility, Armenia and Turkey are expected to sign a historic accord that would, among other things, improve security in the South Caucasus.

The signing of the accord is to be held on Saturday in Zurich without any preconditions.

The agreement would bolster Turkey's standing with the European Union, which it hopes to join.

The agreement would also boost the poverty-stricken economy of landlocked Armenia, and prompt improvement in security of the South Caucasus, a key transit corridor for oil and gas to the West.

Diplomatic relations broke off between Turkey and Armenia more than 15 years ago, during Armenia's war with Azerbaijan.

Tension between Armenia and Turkey dates back to the World War I-era allegations that the Ottomans committed genocide against Armenians.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will attend the signing of the agreement between the two nations.

Study: One in four people is Muslim

A new study has shown that nearly one in four people worldwide is Muslim, and two out of three of the world's Muslims live in Asia, extending from Turkey to Indonesia.

The study by American think-tank the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found unexpected data, including that there were more Muslims in Germany than in Lebanon, and more in Russia than in Jordan and Libya together.

Amaney Jamal, an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University, told the AP news agency that the whole idea that Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are Muslims is completely obliterated by this report.

The report, published on Wednesday, shows that more than 300 million Muslims are in countries where Islam is not the religion of the majority.

It also says that the number of Muslims in China is more than in Syria.

According to the study, of the total Muslim population, 10-13 percent are Shia Muslims while 87-90 percent are Sunnis.

Israeli's bid to buy Al-Jazeera from Qatar

An Israeli media tycoon has offered to buy the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera satellite television network from the government of Qatar.

Haim Saban, has submitted an offer to the Qatari government in a bid to purchase half of the Doha -based Al-Jazeera satellite network.

The Egyptian newspaper al-Mesryoon reported Wednesday that the Israeli billionaire is currently engaged in negotiations with Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, over the partial purchase of the media outlet. The talks are said to be conducted through an Egyptian mediator.

The account comes amid reports that the largest and most controversial Arab news channel in the Middle East is grappling with a terrible financial crisis at present. Saban had previously made an offer to purchase al-Jazeera in 2004, but it was turned down.

The Israeli-American magnate has supposedly made an offer of $5 billion for the popular Arabic-language news channel, in an attempt to get a hold of it and to broadcast a pro-Israeli message so as to influence the Arab opinion in favor of Tel Aviv's hawkish regime.

Al-Jazeera spawned a media revolution in the Arab world after it was founded in 1996. The network is reliant on state financial largesse, estimated at over $70 million a year, but does not broadcast shows critical of the Qatari government. Al-Jazeera, however, does air programs leveling criticism at all other Arab governments.

Seban made his fortune by buying the rights to market the Japanese kids show, “The Power Rangers,” in America. He is a prominent supporter of Israel and the right-wing Netanyahu government. In addition, the Egyptian-born Jewish businessman is well known for his under-the-table dealings.

UN 'concerned' over Israeli aggression at Al-Aqsa

The United Nations has expressed concerns over the situation at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem (Al-Quds), caused by ongoing Israeli aggression.

The UN's special Middle East coordinator, Robert Serry, said on Thursday that he was in contact with all sides "in an effort to defuse tensions."

Israel deployed thousands of troops in the area after it closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound to Palestinians in a bid to allow a Jewish religious ceremony to be held in the compound.

"Incitement from any quarter regarding holy sites, as well as provocative actions in East Jerusalem (Al-Quds), do not serve the sanctity of the city or the cause of peace, and must stop," he added.

"UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon has been very concerned at the recent clashes in Jerusalem (Al-Quds)," Serry said in a statement following a visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound.

The UN envoy said that all parties involved have expressed their desire to see calm restored, adding that he hopes to see practical steps taken in this regard. "We cannot allow a further outbreak of violence or let extremists set the agenda," he said.

"The way forward is for the parties to implement their Roadmap commitments and resume final status negotiations on the basis of the 1967 lines on all core issues, including Jerusalem (Al-Quds), in the framework of UN Security Council resolutions and previous agreements," Serry said.

"Only this offers a route to lasting peace for both peoples and this holy city," he concluded.

Afghans on the road to liberation

By Carsten Kofoed, Free Afghanistan Blog of Denmark

October 5, 2009

On October 7, eight years have passed since the USA attacked Afghanistan. The "War on terror" had begun. Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan, with its strategic location in oil and gas rich Central Asia and with borders with both Iran and China, had been proclaimed the perpetrators of September 11. The USA shouted for "retaliation", but Afghanistan’s Taliban government had neither attacked the USA nor supported others in doing so. Therefore, the US aggression against Afghanistan is an illegal war of aggression violating the UN Charter. Nor has the UN Security Council endorsed it. Afghanistan was and is not a center of terrorism. The White House is.

Kabul was captured in November 2001, and a puppet regime of exiled Afghans and the drug barons and warlords of the Northern Alliance was installed. The Taliban, who in 1996 had ended the bloody civil war, brought peace and security to Afghanistan after almost 20 years of continuous war and started a rebuilding process, which was counteracted by the US-led UN sanctions, were driven away.

NATO and Denmark became involved in the subsequent occupation. Since January 2002, Denmark has been increasing its number of occupation troops in Afghanistan, so it is now more than 700. Twenty-six Danes have lost their lives down there, while several billion Danish Kroner have been spent on gunpowder and bullets – and a single well and some schoolbooks for the sake of the propaganda image. While about half of the Danes are against the war, all parties in the Parliament, except the Red-Green Alliance, are for. Despite this, the anti-war movement in this country is incredibly lame.

However, the resistance struggle in Afghanistan is certainly not lame. It has been increasing in both width as well as strength, and the Taliban now appear to be its undisputed main force, running their own shadow administrations of justice, police and education – including education of girls. According to the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS), the Taliban now have a "permanent presence in 80 percent of Afghanistan", and another 17 percent of the country is seeing a "substantial Taliban activity". More than 100,000 foreign occupation troops are now in Afghanistan with US demands for more. The number of killed occupation troops is the largest ever. The Karzai regime is thoroughly corrupt, incapable of fighting the resistance movement and is seen as treacherous by most Afghans, which also the massive popular boycott of the sham elections of August 20 – a total collapse of the NATO-controlled "democracy" – showed. The scandal at Copenhagen Airport during Obama’s recent visit to Denmark, when the US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, almost forced his way into the Air Force One, showed a superpower in acute crisis.

All this is thanks to the Taliban, who are so misunderstood in the West, but who to the majority of Afghans, based on experience, first and foremost signify peace, security and justice – in contrast to NATO and its Westernized exiled Afghan lackeys. Therefore, the Muslim Afghan people are with the Taliban. What do the Taliban want after liberation then?

The leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammed Omar, stated on September 20, marking the end of Ramadan:

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has distinctive and useful plans for the future of Afghanistan under the shade of the just social system of Islam after the withdrawal of the foreign forces. They include rehabilitation of social and economic infrastructure, advancement and development of the educational sector, industrializations of the country and development of agriculture."

Whether this will turn out to be possible, time will tell. However, the fact is that the Taliban are the Afghan force, which today has the broadest popular support and the best opportunities to bring forward a free Afghanistan. The preconditions – peace and security – they have shown to be able to deliver.

Fatah seeks joint action with Hamas over Gaza report

October 8, 2009

RAMALLAH, AFP — The Palestinian Fatah movement urged its Hamas rivals on Thursday to join forces to press for international action against Israel over a damning UN report on the Gaza war.

The move comes after the Islamist movement slammed Palestinian president and Fatah leader Mahmud Abbas for agreeing to delay a vote on the report at the UN Human Rights Council following Israeli and US pressure.

Senior Fatah official and Abbas ally Jibril Rajub told reporters that the secular movement supports using the report to bring Israeli officials to trial "for crimes against the Palestinian people".

"The Fatah leadership has decided to invite the Hamas movement as well as all other Palestinian factions to form a joint Palestinian committee," Rajub said in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The committee's objective is "to take action on the regional and international levels in order to relaunch the Goldstone report".

"We want our joint efforts... to bring all the Israeli generals and leaders who had committed crimes against our people before the (International Criminal) Court in The Hague for war crimes," Rajub said.

Rajub went on to say that Fatah was checking the reasons that led to the delay in the vote on the report but urged Hamas "to end its provocation. I am not threatening anyone but the provocation does not serve Hamas or anyone."

The decision to support delaying consideration of the report -- which accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes -- led to an unprecedented tide of anger in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-administered West Bank against Abbas.

US Troops Disillusioned With Afghan War

October 8, 2009

CAIRO – Losing their lives in a futile war that has no obvious purpose, US troops in Afghanistan are growing depressed and deeply disillusioned with the eight-year conflict.

"The many soldiers who come to see us have a sense of futility and anger about being here," Captain Jeff Masengale, of the 10th Mountain Division’s 2-87 Infantry Battalion, told The Times on Thursday, October 8.

"They are really in a state of depression and despair and just want to get back to their families."

US commanders say their soldiers are losing their morale over the ambiguous goals of the Afghan war.

"They are tired, strained, confused and just want to get through," said Captain Sam Rico, of the Division’s 4-25 Field Artillery Battalion.

"They feel they are risking their lives for progress that’s hard to discern."

The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to topple the ruling Taliban and its ally Al-Qaeda.

Since then, the Taliban has launched a protracted guerrilla warfare against the US-led forces, rendering heavy losses to the foreign troops.

Eight US troops were killed in a daring Taliban attack on Saturday, the deadliest attack on foreign troops in more than a year.

The growing Taliban attacks have made 2009 the worst year for the US-led foreign troops since the 2001 US-led invasion.

Some 394 soldiers have died so far this year, 236 of them Americans, according to a tally of coalition deaths by the independent icasualties.org website.

More than 1,430 soldiers have died since 2001.

"We’re Lost"

Most US soldiers don’t know the purpose of their mission in the central Asian Muslim country.

"We’re lost — that’s how I feel," said Specialist Raquime Mercer, 20, who lost a friend in an attack by an Afghan policeman last week.

"I’m not exactly sure why we’re here.

"I need a clear-cut purpose if I’m going to get hurt out here or if I’m going to die," added Mercer, who has lost many colleagues in Taliban attacks.

A hundred soldiers of the battalion have also been flown home with amputations, severe burns and other injuries likely to cause permanent disability.

"Soldiers want definite answers, other than to stop the Taliban, because that almost seems impossible. It’s hard to catch someone you can’t see," said Mercer.

Sergeant Christopher Hughes, 37, from Detroit, who lost six colleagues in Taliban attacks, agrees.

"If I knew exactly what the mission was, probably so, but I don’t."

The ferocity of the war has also left its stamp on the soldiers, with many suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

"They’re tired, frustrated, scared. A lot of them are afraid to go out but will still go," said specialist Sergeant Erika Cheney.

Many soldiers suffer nightmares, sleeplessness and anger attacks.

"Everyone you meet is just down, and you meet them everywhere — in the weight room, dining facility, getting mail," said Captain Rico.

"It’s a very frustrating mission," added Lieutenant Peter Hjelmstad, 2-87’s Medical Platoon Leader.

"The average soldier sees a friend blown up and his instinct is to retaliate or believe it’s for something [worthwhile], but it’s not like other wars where your buddy died but they took the hill.

"There’s no tangible reward for the sacrifice."

Captain Masengale, a soldier for 12 years before he became a chaplain, is also frustrated.

"We want to believe in a cause but we don’t know what that cause is."

The Afghan war, in addition to Iraq, is also leaving its stamp on the soldiers’ families.

"They’re killing families," Caption Masengale said.

"Divorces are skyrocketing. PTSD is off the scale. There have been hundreds of injuries that send soldiers home and affect families for the rest of their lives."

US commanders say that most soldiers no longer want to stay in Afghanistan.

"All they want to do is make it home alive and go back to their wives and children and visit the families who have lost husbands and fathers over here. It comes down to just surviving," said Captain Masengale.

Sergeant Hughes has the same hope.

"If we make it back with ten toes and ten fingers the mission is successful."

President Abbas to the Junkyard of the History

October 8, 2009

The usurper "President" Mahmoud Abbas, whose presidential term is over since January 2009, is actively involved in urging the UN to postpone their vote on the report of Richard Goldstone, which President Abbas accuses Israel of committing war crimes against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Yesterday, Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization leadership said: "it was a mistake to suspend action on the UN report on Israeli war crimes in Gaza; we have the courage to admit that there was a mistake, but the mistake can be repaired".

What Abed Rabbo describes as "a mistake which could be Yaser Abed Rabu corrected" is seen by the majority of the Palestinians as a betrayal to the nation, who demand that "President" Mahmoud Abbas and all the Palestinian National Authority resign without delay. The PA concessions in the national Palestinian issues and rights have increased, this is forbidden. The PA must resign if they still have a slightest sense of dignity and responsibility.

President Abbas to the Junkyard of the History

Yesterday, huge posters of the President Mahmoud Abbas pictures surrounded by victims of the Israeli war crimes were hanged everywhere in the streets of protest2Gaza, with the phrase "To the JUNKYARD of history you traitor Mahmoud Abbas" written on them. The poster was adopted and signed by Palestinian academics and university professors. A conference in which the human rights organizations and the victim’s families spoke was held in Gaza under the same title of the poster. Everybody was seen throwing old shoes at the posters of Abbas. The West Bank Palestinian media did not report anything about the conference, the posters, or the families of the victims. In the West Bank, were the PA gang took control, such posters or even raising poster of the Palestinian victims is forbidden by the PA.

In addition, the human rights organizations in Palestine and abroad, led by Human Rights Watch, deplored the attitude of the Palestinian Authority to vote on the report, which condemns Israel of committing war crimes during the bloody assault on the Gaza Strip in December 2008 to the end of January 2009.

Today the voices of the Abbas thugs, the group around him from those who are MIDEAST ISRAEL PALESTINIANS paid well for their traitorous behavior by the US, raised to defend the criminal decision of this tinpot "President" Abbas, in which he protects the Israeli war criminals, and the "Cell Phones company" project of his oldest son. The irresponsible and criminal voices claimed that criticizing Abbas and the criminals around him are "red lines" which nobody is allowed to trespass.

These criminals forget that ONLY Palestine and ONLY the Palestinian national APTOPIX MIDEAST ISRAEL PALESTINIANS rights are not for bargaining, compromise, renouncing, and selling for the personal enrichment of criminals, and that they are the ONLY the red lines which no Abbas and nobody else is allowed to trespass. Abbas and all those around him getting rich on the misery of the Palestinians are criminals of the worst kind, and as such they should be treated.

Fatah Seeks Joint Action With Hamas Over Gaza Report

AFP/ RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian Fatah movement urged its Hamas rivals on Thursday to join forces to press for international action against Israel over a damning UN report on the Gaza war.

The move comes after the Islamist movement slammed Palestinian president and Fatah leader Mahmud Abbas for agreeing to delay a vote on the report at the UN Human Rights Council following Israeli and US pressure.

Senior Fatah official and Abbas ally Jibril Rajub told reporters Jibril Al-Rajub 3433that the secular movement supports using the report to bring Israeli officials to trial "for crimes against the Palestinian people".

"The Fatah leadership has decided to invite the Hamas movement as well as all other Palestinian factions to form a joint Palestinian committee," Al-Rajub said in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The committee’s objective is "to take action on the regional and international levels in order to relaunch the Goldstone report".

"We want our joint efforts… to bring all the Israeli generals and leaders who had committed crimes against our people before the (International Criminal) Court in The Hague for war crimes," Rajub said.

Rajub went on to say that Fatah was checking the reasons that led to the delay in the vote on the report but urged Hamas "to end its provocation. I am not threatening anyone but the provocation does not serve Hamas or anyone."

The decision to support delaying consideration of the report — which accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes — led to an unprecedented tide of anger in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-administered West Bank against Abbas.

Camera Laden Albatrosses Snap Spectacular Photos

An international team of scientists recently attached mini cameras to the backs of albatrosses. The unique pictures taken shed new light on the hunting habits of the birds, showing how they even hook up with killer whales (Orcas) to find food.

Sailors have often been astounded by how an albatross could follow their ships for hours, with a minimum of an effort, hardly flapping a wing. They glide effortlessly on wind thermals, using their more than two-meter (6.5 foot) wing span. "It is absolutely phenomenal to observe them," enthuses biologist Philip Trathan.

He should know. Trathan is a scientist at the British Antarctic Survey at Cambridge and he investigates the behavior of southern polar marine birds such as penguins, petrels and albatrosses. The black-browed albatrosses are mainly found in the cooler latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere - but they occasionally cross the equator, spending the summer even in northern climes. No one knows why.

Albatrosses pose a number of puzzling questions for researchers. Not least, how do they locate their prey in the vastness of the ocean? Even when the seas are rough, they can locate fish swimming meters below the surface. It is also thought they can locate dense schools of fish. Unlike its close relatives, the black-browed Albatross eats not only fish, squid and krill, but also a few centimeter-long crustaceans that live in the open sea.

To get to the bottom of how the black-browed Albatross manages to survive, Philip Trathan and three Japanese colleagues devised a way to monitor their hunting antics. He attached small cameras to four of the birds. The devices, which weigh only 82 grams (2.89 ounces) apiece and are about the size of a lipstick, take a picture every 30 seconds. They are also kitted out with a tiny thermometer and a depth gauge. The measuring device monitors temperature fluctuations and, if the albatross dips into the water, measures the depth of his dive.

People are Not a Threat

In January, right in the middle of the Antarctic summer, investigators visited a colony of black-browed Albatross on Bird Island off the coast of South Georgia where the birds raise their young. "They are very tame and remain seated on their nests," Philip Trathan tells Spiegel Online. The colonies have virtually no experience with people, so they do not see two-legged visitors as a threat. That fact made the scientists' task easier.

Four albatrosses were recruited as research assistants and each one had a mini-camera mounted on its back. The birds hardly resisted. But the biologists still worked with caution because of their sharp beaks. "Those are mean weapons which one doesn't want to have near their face," says Trathan.

During the breeding and rearing seasons the parents usually take turns guarding the young and hunting for food. In the beginning, the birds fly for up to five days, sometimes traveling as far as the Patagonian shelf off the coast of Argentina. "That's a flight of about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles)," says Philip Trathan. Once the chicks hatch they no longer have the time for such distant trips. Instead they travel within a radius of a few hundred kilometers to find food to sate their hungry offspring.

Although one of the four cameras was lost during the long flights, the measuring devices recorded a wide range of data. Of a total of 28,725 images, some delivered the evidence researchers had been looking for. For example, one picture clearly shows the back of a killer whale with at least four albatrosses following behind. Shortly before and after the picture was taken, the depth gauge recorded that the birds had taken several dives. Apparently there was something of interest in the water.

Whale Helpers?

From this evidence, Trathan and his colleagues believe that the birds track the orcas in order to profit from the remains of their hunting. By feasting on the whale's food scraps, the birds could save energy, the researchers suggested in a peer-reviewed article in the Internet magazine PLoS One published on Wednesday. It is also possible that the birds prey on the fish which the killer whales have driven towards the surface. In other pictures the scientists noted that the birds flew together, indicating that they, at least sometimes, tend to hunt in packs.

However, albatrosses certainly aren't just scavengers. "They have a very well developed olfactory system," said Philip Trathan. With this organ, the olfactory bulb, the animals seem to be able to smell their fishy prey. Years ago, the biologist observed from a boat that he could attract the black-browed Albatrosses and petrels simply by pouring herring scent into the waves. Trathan's American colleague Gabrielle Nevitt brought further details to light in a recent study. She found that albatrosses seemed to be deliberately following wind borne scents for kilometers in a bid to track down food.

"But we are still far from knowing how the birds manage to smell fish swimming underwater," says Trathan.

Kurdish-Arab Conflict Threatens Iraq

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Iraq faces its greatest threat from a conflict by Kurds and Arabs in the north.

A report for Defense Secretary Robert Gates has determined that Iraq's stability was being threatened from an Arab-Kurdish war in the oil-rich area of Kirkuk. The report by the Rand Corp. urged the United States to maintain its troops through 2010 to prevent such a conflict.

"The greatest danger arises from the tension between the Iraqi government and the quasi-independent Kurdish northern portion of the country," Rand said.

Source: Middle East Newsline.
Link: http://menewsline.com/article-1173,4777-Kurdish-Arab-Conflict-Threatens-I.aspx.

PA Eyes Replacing Security Chief

RAMALLAH [MENL] -- The Palestinian Authority has been examining the prospect of dismissing the commander of a key security agency.

PA sources said PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has been considering a recommendation for the dismissal of the head of Preventive Security Apparatus. They said Abbas has been urged to dismiss PSA commander Ziyad Hab Al Rih.

Algeria, U.S. Hold Naval Exercise

CAIRO [MENL] -- Algeria and the United States have concluded a naval exercise.

Officials said a U.S. Navy destroyer arrived in the port of Algiers on Oct. 5. They said the three-day exercise in the Mediterranean Sea focused on enhancing interoperability and maritime security skills.

Jordan Develops Armed UGV

AMMAN [MENL] -- Jordan has developed an armed unmanned ground vehicle.

Jordan's state-owned King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau has completed development and production of an armed UGV. The vehicle was designed for border security and counter-insurgency missions.

US forces in Afghanistan leave base after attack

By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press Writer

KABUL – U.S. forces have withdrawn from an isolated base in eastern Afghanistan after a fierce insurgent attack last week that marked one of the deadliest battles of the war for U.S. troops, the NATO-led coalition said Friday.

The pullout of troops and equipment from the Kamdesh outpost near the Pakistan border is likely to embolden insurgent fighters in the region. The Taliban claimed "victory" for pushing the forces out and said they had raised their flag above the town.

The NATO coalition said the withdrawal had been planned well before the Oct. 3 battle and was part of a wider strategy outlined by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who has said for months he plans to shut down such isolated strongholds to focus on more heavily populated areas in an effort to protect civilians.

The Kamdesh base was largely burned down during the fierce gunbattle that left eight Americans, three Afghans and an estimated 100 insurgents dead, according to NATO.

U.S. Master Sgt. Thomas Clementson said coalition forces destroyed what was left of the outpost.

Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the U.S. bombarded the outpost with airstrikes after leaving, as well as the local police headquarters.

"This means they are not coming back," Mujahid said. "This is another victory for Taliban. We have control of another district in eastern Afghanistan."

"Right now, Kamdesh is under our control, and the white flag of the Taliban is raised above Kamdesh."

In a statement Friday, the NATO-led force said the move was "part of a previously scheduled transfer."

It said "troops and equipment were moved ... to other locations in eastern Afghanistan in preparation for future assignment to more populated areas."

Spain promises to help Zimbabwe improve relations with EU

Madrid (Earth Times - dpa) - Spain on Thursday promised to help Zimbabwe improve its relations with the European Union during its EU presidency in the first half of 2010. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai that Spain wanted the EU to step up its dialogue with the southern African country to help it move towards a "democratic stabilization," government sources said after the two leaders met in Madrid.

Tsvangirai, a former political opponent of President Robert Mugabe who entered a national unity government in February, said he felt hopeful about the possibilities of a "national reconciliation" in Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai asked Spain to promote an "open and direct" dialogue between his country and the EU to normalize gradually Zimbabwe's relations with the West.

An EU delegation that visited Zimbabwe in September said the EU was prepared to normalize relations and to resume development aid once Harare showed it respected human rights, and once Mugabe met the conditions set in the agreement that led to the formation of the national unity government.

Tsvangirai was visiting Spain to meet with Zapatero and to receive a human achievement award.

Thaw in Saudi-Syria ties seen as good omen for Lebanon

By Natacha Yazbeck

BEIRUT, Oct 08, 2009 (AFP) - Saudi King Abdullah's landmark visit to Syria this week augurs well for Lebanon, which has been caught in a long-running tug-of-war between the two regional powerhouses, analysts say.

But some that the thaw in relations between Damascus and Riyadh will not necessarily spell a swift end to Lebanon's political troubles and its four-month struggle to form a government.

"The summit acknowledges the mutual interests both countries have in Lebanon and that neither can alone have the upper hand," said Nicolas Nassif, a columnist for the Al-Akhbar newspaper which is close to the Syrian-backed minority bloc in parliament.

A June 7 general election saw a Western- and Saudi-backed alliance headed by prime minister designate Saad Hariri defeat the minority bloc led by Shiite militant group Hezbollah and Hariri has since been trying to put together a national unity government bringing together the two sides.

Nassif said that it was in the best interests of both Syria and Saudi Arabia to see the new government formed, even though their motives widely differ.

"Saudi Arabia wants Saad Hariri to succeed in his bid to form a government," he told AFP. "And Syria considers that the opposition's participation in the new government will outweigh their loss in the election."

Syria was the main powerbroker in Lebanon for nearly 30 years until the 2005 murder of Hariri's father Rafiq, a five-time prime minister who was close to the Saudi monarchy and also a Saudi national.

His assassination soured relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia, which had already been damaged by the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"The only central dispute between Syria and Saudi Arabia was and remains Lebanon," wrote columnist Sateh Nureddine in As-Safir, another pro-opposition newspaper.

"What is important now is that a new chapter for Lebanon was opened at the Damascus summit, and all that Lebanese must do is read it well to avoid the same outcome ... that has so often led to temporary settlements," Nureddine added.

The Saudi-Syrian summit made front-page headlines in every Lebanese newspaper on Thursday.

"Syria bids farewell to its isolation," read the headline in Al-Akhbar which ran a full-page picture of the Saudi monarch on its cover.

Some cautioned, however, against reading too much into King Abdullah's visit, the first since he acceded to the throne in 2005.

"The meeting is a bit far off from impacting cabinet formation," said Oussama Safa, who heads the Beirut-based Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies.

"What's important is that it gives some kind of political detente and will stop any escalation, whether rhetorical or potential violence -- assuming it will continue to be a successful visit," he told AFP.

Ali Hamadeh, a columnist with the pro-Hariri daily An-Nahar, warned that it was still too soon to know what impact the summit would have the role of Shiite Iran, which has been Syria's main regional ally for some three decades and is also a leading backer of its co-religionists in Hezbollah.

"The question is: What is the Iranian stance towards Syrian-Saudi rapprochement? And will they release their hold over the Lebanese government?" he said.

Source: Zawya.
Link: http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidANA20091008T120216ZGAC04/Thaw%20in%20Saudi-Syria%20ties%20seen%20as%20good%20omen%20for%20Lebanon.

Israel unveils newest business jet

Written by Arieh O'Sullivan
Published Wednesday, October 07, 2009

The luxurious G250 was designed and built in Israel, but will be marketed through US-based Gulfstream Aerospace

A US and Israeli aerospace company have launched the G250, a new mid-size business jet which they hope will dominate the niche when the market recovers from its current slump.

Rolling out on its own power before a crowd of some 600 people, the Gulfstream G250 emerged for its first public view outside a hangar at Israel Aerospace Industries. Under the blare of a ram’s horn, aviation executives cut the traditional ribbon marking its roll out.

This sort of event is very rare in the aviation business, particularly during this economic crisis. Designed and built by the Israel Aerospace Industries near Tel Aviv, Gulfstream’s G250 boasts the longest range; fastest speed; and largest, most luxurious cabin among mid-size executive jets.

Yet, it’s hard to imagine companies splurging $24 million on new business jets in these times. Aircraft sales have slumped by more 50 percent during the past year. But Gulfstream hopes the G250 will conquer the market once it starts to pick up.

“Actually I think it is a good time for the market,” Preston Henne, a Gulfstream vice president told The Media Line. “We have gone through a recession. We think it has bottomed. We have seen signs that it is starting to come back. A lot of indicators say in 2011 we will return to a robust market and that is when this airplane will be certified and go in service. To be going in service with a brand new airplane, best in class at the beginning of a recovery is almost perfect timing.”

The G250 was designed and built by IAI’s Commercial Aircraft Group for Gulfstream, a US-company that specializes in larger business jets. Gulfstream purchased the IAI’s Galaxy Aerospace Company from IAI in 2001 for $330 million to acquire its smaller executive jets to round out its fleet. They have produced and sold over 300 of IAI’s G150 and G200 executive jets. IAI officials said in a press conference that so far they already have nine orders for the new G250 in hand.

The aircraft is scheduled for first flight later this year and is expected to be certified during the course of 2010.

The G-250 can be configured to seat between eight to 10 passengers, depending on the interior layout. With a range of 3,400 nautical miles, the G-250 can fly non-stop from London to Dubai. Its cruising speed is Mach 0.8. Its cruising altitude is 41,000 feet.

It claims to be the most luxurious, comfortable and largest of the mid-size executive jets. It will have leather seats, an enlarged kitchen, and lots of storage space, plus a whole new cockpit packed with the latest Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics and twin Honeywell HTF7250G engines.

As they roll off the production line, the raw aircrafts will be flown to Gulfstream’s plant in Texas where customers will be able to choose its external paint color and the interior configuration.

The G250 will be replacing the G200 which is expected to be phased out.

“It can fly further, faster and with more comfort than any of its competitors,” claimed IAI chairman Yair Shamir. “This is a brand new state of the art flying machine. We put everything here which is top of the envelope of physics and electronics and all the rest.”

IAI plans to produce about two dozen of these flying limousines a year. Israel Aerospace Industries is flourishing at a time when its American competitors are laying off workers. Shamir told The Media Line that the G250 project provided 700 jobs at IAI and an additional 300 thru subcontractors.

Gulfstream, which is marketing the G250, is also targeting customers in China, Russia and the Middle East. But will the fact that the jet is made in Israel prevent Arabs from purchasing the airplane?

“Oh I don’t think so. We have seen acceptance of these airplanes around the world. So I think for us that is not really an issue,” said Gulfstream’s Henne.

Even if the plane meets resistance in the civilian sector, it also has a bright future in military uses. With its 6,000 kilometer range; high altitude and heavy payload capability, the G250, could easily be reconfigured for use as a classic flying platform for airborne warning systems and other applications.

The Israel Air Force recently acquired the G250’s bigger brother, the G550 which serves as its main AWACs, early airborne warning platform.

In its history, the IAI has produced over 800 business aircraft. These include the Westwind, and Astra, G100, G150 and G200.