Hamas rejects Egypt unity proposal

Hamas leadership in Syria, and several other Palestinian factions rejected the Egyptian proposal for unity with Fatah party, the Associated Press said on Thursday.

Eight factions, including Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, issued a joint statement calling for the revision of the Egyptian plan to include the right of Palestinians to resist the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.

Fatah signed the agreement Wednesday.

56 NATO troops killed in Afghanistan, Taliban claim

Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan say they have killed at least 56 NATO soldiers in separate incidents across the war-ravaged country over the past 24 hours.

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, Taliban spokesman, claimed on Thursday that forty soldiers were killed when their Shinok helicopter went down in Gorak district, Kandahar province.

The spokesman noted that twelve Romanian soldiers were also killed in the troubled southern Zabul province, while four others lost their lives in Uruzgan and Badgis provinces.

Ahmadi emphasized that most of the lethal attacks took place in the southern and eastern provinces where US troops have been fighting bloody battles with the insurgents in the past months.

This comes as US President Barack Obama is weighing a request for the deployment of additional 40,000 troops in Afghanistan.

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

Eight years after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, the militants have extended their influence from their southern power base to the relatively peaceful north and west of the country.

US lawmaker's 'reality-check' on the Afghan war

The outspoken US Congressman Ron Paul questions planned US troop build-up in Afghanistan predicting that “things will get worse” with deployment of more troops.

“It is no coincidence that the more troops we send the worse things get,” writes Paul in an article posted on the 'Antiwar.com' website. “Things are getting worse precisely because we are sending more troops and escalating the violence.”

“We overthrew the Taliban government in 2001 with less than 10,000 American troops,” the 2008 Republican Presidential Candidate noted. “Why does it now seem that the more troops we send, the worse things get?”

“If the Soviets bankrupted themselves in Afghanistan with troop levels of 100,000 and were eventually forced to leave in humiliating defeat, why are we determined to follow their example?”

The Texas congressman also questioned the length of the Afghan war, adding: “Lasting twice as long as World War II and with no end in sight, the war in Afghanistan has been one of the longest conflicts in which our country has ever been involved.”

Paul then expounds on reasons for strengthening of the insurgency in face of more troop build-ups and more bombings there. He writes, “Another thing that war does is create anger with its indiscriminate violence and injustice. How many innocent civilians have been harmed from clumsy bombings and mistakes that end up costing lives? People die but the killers never face consequences.”

He goes on to state that the war itself is fueling the insurgency, predicting that the US would finally have to leave Afghanistan in defeat.

“Imagine the resentment and anger survivors must feel when a family member is killed and nothing is done about it,” he asks in the article titled, Saving Face and Losing Lives.

“We have to accept that when we push people, they will push back,” Paul reiterates. “The real question is: why are we there at all? We are no longer dealing with anything or anyone involved in the attacks of 9/11.”

The congressman concludes by offering his audience the bottom-line issue concerning the war in Afghanistan: “At this point we are only strengthening the resolve and the ranks of our enemies. We have nothing left to win. We are only there to save face, and in the end we will not even be able to do that.”

Palestinians demand 'right to resist' clause in pact

Hamas along with the Damascus-based Palestinian resistance groups have rejected the Egyptian proposal for a unity deal unless it mentions the right of Palestinians to resist Israeli occupation.

"The Egyptian reconciliation proposal lacks a political vision concerning the conflict (with Israel) and the aggression against our people," said the spokesman for Palestinian groups based in Damascus, Khaled Abdel Majid, quoted by AFP on Thursday.

"The Palestinian factions will not sign the accord... unless the text includes the principles and the rights of Palestinians, especially that of resisting the Zionist occupation," he went on to say. "We urge all Palestinian groups and national personalities to act rapidly and take the measures necessary to preserve the Palestinian cause from the dangers that threaten it, and to insist on the historic rights of our people."

Khaled Abdel Majid also noted that the deal proposed by Egypt should also address the dangers of 'Judaization' and 'permanent aggression,' which threaten al-Quds (Jerusalem), as well as the right of return for the Palestinian refugees.

Hamas and Fatah have long been wrangling with each other over substantial discords that have led do real bottlenecks in mending fences and repairing the internal Palestinian divisions. Meanwhile, Egypt has been struggling for months to get rival Palestinian factions to sign a reconciliation deal. The latest Cairo proposal aims to lay the groundwork for new presidential and legislative elections next summer.

Ever since Hamas won an outright majority in 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, the two factions have pursued bitter rivalry featuring sporadic fighting and tit-for-tat arrests. Mutual hostilities boiled over in the summer of 2007, when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from the Fatah faction.

Since then, Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip, while Fatah has continued to control the West Bank from Ramallah. Further complicating the situation, Israel and Egypt, with the blessing of the Palestinian Authority, have both sealed their borders with the Gaza Strip, effectively cutting off the coastal enclave from the rest of the world.

Indonesia to decide end of emergency relief at quake-hit areas next week

The Indonesian government is to decide the termination of emergency relief works at quake-affected areas at West Sumatra province which has been devastated by a 7.6 magnitude quake last month, the country's Disaster Management Agency said here Thursday.

Head of the agency Syamsul Maarif said at a press conference "The president has asked ministers and head of disaster management agency to deliver a report to him about the implementation of the emergency relief work on Oct. 19, (the president will decide) when it will end."

The government would soon continue the work in the province with the reconstruction and rehabilitation should the emergency relief work completed, said Maarif.

The president suggested that the reconstruction of houses may adopt the methode used in Aceh province, which had been organized by Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency, following the tsunami in 2004, he said.

The quake has killed 1,117 people and destructed more than 100,000 houses, scores of office buildings, mall shopping centers, roads, bridges, school buildings and other infrastructures in the province.

Governor of the province Gumawan Fauzi also said that the local administration had distributed 6,000 tons of rice, and planned to distribute 5,000 tons more to the quake survivors.

The province still has over 14,000 tons of rice, which could feed the survivors for four months.

Financial assistance has also been given to each quake victim as much as 5,000 rupiah (some 54 cents) per day for 20 days.

Experts say dinosaur fossil found in east China may be new species

Chinese paleontologists said Thursday the newly found fossilized skeleton in east China's Shandong Province may be the remains of a new species of dinosaur.

The 1.5-meter-long and 1.2-meter-wide skeleton, discovered in Zhucheng City, has been sent to the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing for further research.

The new fossil shows a relatively smaller shape and is very different from the dinosaur fossils discovered earlier, said Zhao Xijin, a dinosaur expert with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"It is possibly a new species of dinosaur and a big discovery since the third large-scale exploration in January 2008," said Xu Xing, another expert from the academy.

They have already discovered a 21-meter-long "duck-billed dinosaur", the biggest-ever in the world, and found a giant horned dinosaur fossil for the first time.

Zhucheng boasts the world's largest dinosaur fossil coenosis. Before the third dig in 2008, another two major digs took place there in 1964 and 1988.

China to vaccinate Mecca pilgrims against swine flu: state media

BEIJING, Oct 15, 2009 (AFP) - China is to give swine flu vaccinations to 12,700 Muslims making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, state media reported Thursday, amid health concerns ahead of the three-million-strong hajj.

The China Islamic Association said the pilgrims would also be given free medicine and disposable masks, and a medical team will accompany them to hand out advice on A(H1N1) flu prevention, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Saudi Arabia has said it is ready to welcome some three million pilgrims during the annual hajj to Mecca, expected around the end of November, amid a heightened global alert on the swine flu pandemic.

Yang Zhibo, vice chairman of the Chinese association, was quoted as saying that more than 3,000 of this year's pilgrims came from the far-western region of Xinjiang -- home to the country's eight million mainly Muslim Uighurs.

According to the latest health ministry figures, China has recorded more than 23,700 cases of swine flu, with one death so far.

U.N. rights body considers condemning Israel on Gaza

By Laura MacInnis

GENEVA (Reuters) – Israeli and Palestinian leaders should launch investigations of alleged war crimes in Gaza to help rebuild trust and support peace, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Thursday.

At the opening of a U.N. Human Rights Council meeting on the issue, Navi Pillay said that all sides of the Middle East conflict were continuing to violate international law and voiced concern that transgressors are being left unpunished.

"A culture of impunity continues to prevail in the occupied territories and in Israel," she told the 47-member body, calling for "impartial, independent, prompt and effective investigations into reported violations of human rights and humanitarian law."

In a special session due to stretch into Friday, Geneva envoys met to consider a resolution that chastises Israel for failing to cooperate with a U.N.-ordered fact-finding mission into the December-January war in Gaza.

In the report circulated last month, the investigators led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone accused both Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas of war crimes in Gaza, but were overall more critical of Israel than Hamas.

Israel has rejected the charges in the report. It however came under pressure in a U.N. Security Council debate on Wednesday to fully investigate its allegations.

Israel's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Aharon Leshno Yaar, said the Human Rights Council resolution -- drafted by the Palestinians with Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Tunisia, on behalf of non-aligned, African, Islamic and Arab nations -- threatened to "set back hopes for peace."

PRESSURE ON NETANYAHU

The text calls for the U.N. General Assembly to consider the Goldstone report and for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to review Israel's adherence to it. That would keep up pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who Washington is trying to convince to commit to a "two-state solution" that previous Israeli governments have signed up to.

The rights council agreed during its last regular session to postpone discussion on the Gaza report after Washington applied pressure aimed at getting the Middle East peace process back on track. But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas came under sharp criticism for agreeing to the delay, leading to the request for a special session on the topic.

The resolution would be difficult for Israel's allies to endorse.

It "strongly condemns all policies and measures taken by Israel, the occupying power, including those limiting access of Palestinians to their properties and holy sites" and calls on Israel to stop digging and excavation work around the Al Aqsa Mosque as well as other Christian and Islamic holy sites.

In her speech, Pillay cited concern about the restrictions on Palestinians wishing to enter Al Aqsa and expressed "dismay" about the Israeli blockade of Gaza that she said "severely undermines the rights and welfare of the population there."

Washington joined the rights council earlier this year, vowing to change the U.N. body that the United States and Israel have criticized as anti-Israeli. Developing states often vote together to criticize Israel at the council, in what critics say is a tactic to divert attention from abuses elsewhere.

Spain's Zapatero in 24-hour visit to Israel, West Bank

Tel Aviv - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero opened a 24-hour visit to Israel and the West Bank Thursday. Zapatero started a packed itinerary by touring the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

He is scheduled to meet Israeli President Shimon Peres later in the morning, before making the short journey to the West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the afternoon. The Spanish premier is to dine in Jerusalem with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, before departing Friday morning.

Turkey arrests 50 suspected of planning attacks - Summary

Istanbul - Turkish police and security forces have arrested some 50 suspected members of al-Qaeda who were planning attacks against US, Israeli and NATO targets in the country, local media reported. The broadcaster CNN-Turk reported that some of those arrested had had contact with Ayman al-Zawahri, the Egyptian believed to be second-in-command of the al-Qaeda group.

The broadcaster added that the militants were planning attacks against NATO assets in Germany.

The raids took place in a total of nine provinces across the country, including Istanbul, and the provinces of Van and Erzurum in eastern Turkey.

The Hurriyet daily reported that computers, CDs and documents were seized in the raids.

Al-Qaeda was blamed for bomb attacks in 2003 in Istanbul, in which 57 people died.

Hurriyet reported that the raid in the eastern city of Van recovered an unlicensed weapon, as well as ammunition. The arrested were alleged to have handled logistics in support of al- Qaeda training camps abroad.

Turkish premier Erdogan in Baghdad for talks with Iraqi leaders

Baghdad - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Iraq Thursday for talks with Iraqi leaders to boost bilateral ties between the two countries, media reports said. Erdogan is scheduled to meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the head of the Iraqi parliament, the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported.

He will also witness the signing of a number of agreements and memorandums of understanding to foster economic and political ties between the two countries.

The visit will witness a session of the Iraqi-Turkish strategic cooperation council, VOI said.

The council was jointly established by the two countries during Erdogan's last visit to Baghdad in July 2008.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290286,turkish-premier-erdogan-in-baghdad-for-talks-with-iraqi-leaders.html.

Report: Hamas to sign reconciliation pact on Tuesday

Cairo/Gaza City - The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas will sign an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation deal with rival faction Fatah, Egyptian media reports said. The official al-Ahram daily quoted a source close to the Hamas movement as saying that a representative of the group would arrive in Cairo Thursday to inform Egypt about Hamas' decision.

"The movement will send a representative to Cairo Thursday to inform Egypt that Hamas accepts the Egyptian-drafted pact and will sign on it on Tuesday," said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Hamas and Fatah have fought over political control of the Palestinian territories since the former took over the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement announced on Wednesday that it would sign the pact.

Senior West Bank Fatah leader Azzam al-Ahmad headed a delegation earlier on Thursday to Cairo to hold talks with the Egyptian officials.

Meanwhile, Gaza-based Hamas lawmaker Mushir el-Masri said in a statement that Hamas has accepted reconciliation pact "for the sake of the highest Palestinian national interests."

"If the Hamas movement accepts the Egyptian offer for reconciliation, it will be only because Hamas wants the Egyptian efforts to succeed and reach a reconciliation deal that gains a national consensus," said al-Masri.

The Egyptian proposal focuses on forming a high-ranking joint committee to end the political rift between the two sides. Egyptian mediators formed the committee after Hamas and Fatah failed to reach an agreement on forming a unity government.

The committee will coordinate between the Hamas government in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority (PA) government in the West Bank until elections are held next year. The committee will be supervised by President Abbas.

The first item in the proposal entitled "The Palestinian National Accord Agreement - Cairo 2009," said that "an Egyptian-presided Arab committee will supervise and follow the implementation of this deal."

Abbas is authorized to decree the formation of a 16-member committee to pave the way for Hamas and Fatah to hold the elections on June 28, 2010.

Fatah and Hamas will have eight seats in the committee while the rest would go to other smaller factions and independents.

The 25-page document says the committee's mandate will start as soon as the agreement is signed by the concerned parties and will end when the elections are completed.

Next June, Palestinians will vote for a new president, parliament and the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Palestinian National Council which represents Palestinians inside the territories and in the diaspora.

The committee will supervise reopening Palestinian public institutions that were closed as a result of the fighting, as well as supervise the reconstruction of buildings destroyed during Israel's December-January offensive on Gaza.

Jordan passes tough jail terms on 12 al-Qaeda-linked terrorists

Amman - Jordan's State Security Court on Thursday sentenced 12 al-Qaeda-linked Islamists to jail terms ranging between 15 and 20 years with hard labor after finding them guilty of carrying out, or plotting, acts of terrorism against churches and tourists inside the country, judicial sources said. The tribunal first passed death sentences against four defendants, but they were commuted to 20-year imprisonment, to give them a chance to correct their conduct, given their young age.

One of them, Shaker Khatib, 28, traveled to Lebanon in 2008 where he met with one of al-Qaeda leaders and received military training, the judicial source said.

The other eight suspects were sentenced to 15 years with hard labor. The age of defendants, who were arrested in July 2008, ranged between 19 and 28 years.

According to the indictment sheet, all defendants were accused of "carrying out acts of terrorism by using explosives and inflammable materials" and planning attacks on churches and other interests belonging to Christians in Jordan.

The verdicts can be appealed within 30 days, according to judicial sources.

Pharaonic-era sacred lake unearthed in Egypt

CAIRO (Reuters) – Archaeologists have unearthed the site of a pharaonic-era sacred lake in a temple to the Egyptian goddess Mut in the ruins of ancient Tanis, the Culture Ministry said on Thursday.

The ministry said the lake, found 12 meters below ground at the San al-Hagar archaeological site in Egypt's eastern Nile Delta, was 15 meters long and 12 meters wide and built out of limestone blocks. It was in a good condition.

It was the second sacred lake found at Tanis, which became the northern capital of ancient Egypt in the 21st pharaonic dynasty, over 3,000 years ago. The first lake at the site was found in 1928, the ministry said.

The goddess Mut, sometimes depicted as a vulture, was the wife of Amun, god of wind and the breath of life. She was also mother of the moon god Khonsu.

Doha named 2021 Islamic culture capital

The sixth Islamic Conference of the Culture Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), meeting the Azerbaijani capital Baku, yesterday approved Doha as “Capital of Islamic Culture for 2021”.

In a statement to Qatar News Agency, HE the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari welcomed the decision, stressing that Qatar would utilize all its material and human resources to make this event a success, based on the strong infrastructure available in the state, such as the Cultural District, the Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), theaters and other national important cultural structures.

Baku is the Capital of Islamic Culture for 2009.

Noting that Doha had been chosen as the capital of Arab culture for 2010, the minister hoped that Arab and Islamic states would effectively participate in the celebrations in Doha next year.

A week dedicated to the Azerbaijani culture would be held in Doha next year, al-Kuwari, said.

“The week of the Qatari culture was successfully carried out here (in Baku) last year, and we agreed to hold the Azerbaijani week in 2010,” al-Kuwari, head of the Qatari delegation to the OIC conference of culture ministers.

The week of the Azerbaijani culture would be held as part of events held to mark Doha as the Capital of Arab Culture in 2010, said al-Kuwari.

“We want to share experiences between countries in the field of arts and culture. Azerbaijan has great experience in carrying out activities related to art and cinema,” said al-Kuwari.

In addition to the development of cultural co-operation between the two countries, Azerbaijan and Qatar are continuing discussions on energy co-operation.

Source: Gulf Times.
Link: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=320249&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16.

Yemen Conflict Creates Saudi Problems

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA

Saudi officials blame al-Qaida militants who crossed the southern border from Yemen for a shoot-out that left one police officer and two terrorists dead.

Aamer al-Shoais was killed during a shoot-out with al-Qaida militants at a checkpoint near the southern border with Yemen. Interior Ministry spokesman Gen. Mansour al-Turki said Shoais had stopped a car of men dressed in women's clothing believed to be hiding explosive belts, Emirati newspaper The National reports.

The spokesman said security officials believe the men were preparing for a suicide operation. Police found hand grenades and bomb-making materials in the militants' vehicle.

Saudi Arabia has seen an increase in al-Qaida activity as militants stream across the southern border from Yemen. Al-Qaida has looked to Yemen for sanctuary following a Saudi crackdown in 2006.

Meanwhile, spiraling conflict in Yemen between government forces and Shiite al-Houthi rebels has led Saudi officials to express concern al-Qaida is taking advantage of the situation.

Yemen launched a scorched earth campaign against al-Houthi rebels in early August. International aid groups and the United Nations have raised alerts that the conflict is creating a humanitarian disaster for thousands of families displaced by the conflict.

Rebel forces said recently, however, they are ready to open humanitarian corridors to allow relief agencies to reach those in need.

Source: Official Wire.
Link: http://www.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news&rid=31404&catid=863.

Indonesia sends police to conflict area in Sudan's Darfur

October 15, 2009

Indonesian police headquarters will send 140 personnel from Formed Police Unit to take part in establishing law and order in the conflict areas of Darfur in Sudan, the Kompas.com reported here on Thursday.

The police, who joined in FPU 2 Group, would replace Indonesian police group of FPU 1 whose service in Sudan was to end. The FPU 2Group would serve one year in the conflict-ridden area.

"We expect that, like the FPU 1, the FPU 2 Group would be successful in carrying out its task. We also expect that the situation in Darfur would be improving so that the FPU 2 would be our last mission sent to Sudan," Indonesian police Chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri said on the sidelines of a ceremony to depart those police.

Bambang added that the FPU 2 Group would set out for Sudan on Friday this week.

According to Bambang, the FPU 1 Group police mission, 127 personnel altogether, in Sudan received excellent appreciation from Sudan government for demonstrating an outstanding performance in carrying out their tasks.

Sudanese ambassador to Indonesia Ibrahim Busyra Muhammad Ali who attended the ceremony said that the sending of Indonesian police to his country would improve relationship between the two countries. He said that the security condition in his country has been gradually improving.

Earlier reports said that 300,000 people have been killed in the ethnic conflict in Darfur since 2003.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/6784648.html.

India’s talks offer divides Kashmir separatists

SRINAGAR: India's offer to start a ‘quiet dialogue’ with separatist politicians in the disputed region of Kashmir was on Thursday welcomed by local moderates but rejected by so-called hardliners.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram, on a visit to Kashmir, said his government was willing to hold talks with ‘every section of political opinion’ — including those who wish to break away from New Delhi's rule.

Moderate separatist leaders in the Muslim-majority state have held several rounds of talks with India's central government, though hardliners oppose any contact that does not involve Pakistan.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the head of moderate separatists, described Chidambaram's remarks as ‘a good beginning and a step forward.’

However, separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani was not impressed.

‘No dialogue process is possible unless India openly accepts the disputed nature of Kashmir,’ said Geelani.

‘There is nothing new in the talks offer. It is meaningless,’ he said.

India was trying to dilute international pressure by giving the impression that it wanted to engage with Kashmiris, said Geelani, who wants the region to merge with Pakistan.

Residents in Srinagar advised politicians not to spurn the dialogue offer as it would seem a negative move to the outside world.

‘If separatists spurn talks, the world community will dub us Kashmiris stubborn and inflexible,’ said Sheikh Shamim, a banker.

India has long thwarted international debate on Kashmir's future, saying the northern state choose to join the country after partition in 1947.

India and Pakistan have fought two wars over the scenic region, which is now divided between them along a de facto border called the Line of Control.

Chidambaram said any answer to Kashmir's problems must be ‘honorable, respectable and acceptable to the vast majority of the people’ and added that ‘the solution may turn out to be a unique one.’

According to official figures, more than 47,000 people have been killed since an armed insurgency against Indian rule began in 1989.

PoK Prime Minister resigns, saying he wants to establish democratic tradition

Islamabad, Oct.15 : Keen to discourage horse-trading in the assembly and to promote a democratic tradition in the region, Pakistan occupied Kashmir's (PoK) Prime Minister Sardar Yaqoob Khan has resigned from his post.

Addressing a press conference after tendering his resignation, Khan said he was under no pressure to step down.

“I took this decision to discourage horse-trading in the assembly and set democratic tradition aimed at promoting democracy in the state,” The Dawn quoted Khan, as saying.

“I did not use my right to dissolve the assembly as I have always respected democracy and democratic traditions,” he added.

Responding to a question regarding the status of the cabinet after his resignation, Khan said the cabinet has been dissolved automatically upon his resignation, as per the constitution.

When asked whether he would once again contest in elections for Leader of the House, Khan said he would decide about it only after consulting the party leadership and his colleagues.

“I will welcome anyone who gets elected as Leader of the House,” he added.

Jews lobby 'to remove Al-Aqsa Mosque'

Extremist Jewish organizations in Israel have demanded that the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock from East Jerusalem Al-Quds be transferred to Mecca.

Gershon Salomon is seeking the removal of the mosques from East Jerusalem Al-Quds, which Israel occupied during the 1967 aggression and illegally annexed it later despite international opposition, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Wednesday.

The founder and leader of the ultra-Orthodox Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement plans to have Israeli engineers transfer the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock to the Muslims' holy city of Mecca, the daily added.

The Israeli paper also quoted ultra-right Yehuda Etzion, who is associated with Israeli spy agencies, as saying that blowing up of the Muslim sanctities would become 'inevitable' to if Tel Aviv fails to dissemble and transfer the edifices.

Etzion was jailed for five years in the 1980s for a plot to explode the mosques on the Noble Sanctuary (Haram al-Sharif), and has vowed he would do the same again.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque has been attacked by extremist Jews over the past week while the mosque compound was sealed off to Muslim worshipers.

Israel also deployed thousands of troops in the area to quell demonstrations by Palestinians protesters who accused Tel Aviv of efforts to take away the Islamic-Palestinian identity of the Muslims' third holy site.

Jordan, who enjoys the right to look after all Islamic and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem Al-Quds under a 1994 peace treaty, demanded last week that Israel keep Jewish extremists away from the compound and keep the Mugrabi Gate closed.

Bodies of five Jordanian officers killed in Haiti arrive in Amman

Bodies of five Jordanian peacekeepers who died in a UN plane crash in the Caribbean country of Haiti arrived in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Wednesday.

Pallbearers carried the five flag-draped caskets in the presence of King Abdullah II of Jordan, the supreme commander of Jordan's armed forces, and Jordan's first lady Queen Rania and high-ranking officers and officials and families of the officers.

The dead officers are part of a Jordanian peacekeeping battalion grouping 700 peacekeepers. The mission has been working in Haiti since 2004 when President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted.

The five Jordanians, along with six Uruguayan officers were killed when a UN plane crashed into a mountain during a regular reconnaissance flight on Friday near the border with the Dominican Republic.

Military officers present at the Queen Alia International Airport, where a plane landed with the bodies, stressed Jordan's commitment to efforts to bring about global peace and security.

They said Jordan has been and will continue to be active in peacekeeping forces across the world.

Jordan dispatched its first peacekeeping mission with the UN in December 1989, according to the Morale Guidance department of Jordan's armed forces.

With the death of the five officers, the overall number of Jordanian peacekeepers who died on peacekeeping missions abroad rose to 20, according to a statement by the department.

Could Yemen be the Next Surprise of the Season?

The jihad movement around the world has witnessed a surprising growth during the past few years. After 9-11 America had succeeded in pulling together an international coalition in order to fight the mujahedeen. It invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, put pressure on governments around the world to throw anyone with association with Jihad behind bars and to stop the flow of money into Jihad movements. All over the world the mujahedeen have suffered an international effort under the leadership of America to bring an end to Jihad. But Eight years later the mujahedeen are wining on every front and are expanding into new ones. It appeared difficult back then to imagine that the world would be the way it is today just 8 years after 9-11.

That is because Rasulullah(saaws) said: “A group of my ummah will continue fighting in the path of Allah and they will not be harmed by those who are against them.”
The American people gave G.W. Bush unanimous backing to fight against the mujahedeen and gave him a blank check to spend as much as needed to fulfill that objective. The result? He failed, and he failed miserably. So if America failed to defeat the mujahedeen when it gave its president unlimited support, how can it win with Obama who is on a short leash? If America failed to win when it was at its pinnacle of economic strength, how can it win today with a recession – if not a depression- at hand?

The simple answer is: America cannot and will not win. The tables have turned and there is no rolling back of the worldwide Jihad movement. The ideas of Jihad are proliferating around the world, the mujahedeen movements are gaining strength and the battlefields are expanding with the mujahedeen introducing new fronts.

In Afghanistan the rural areas are mostly under the control of the Taliban and there is a steady improvement in the growth and strength of the mujahedeen. In Iraq even though the US claims an improvement in the security situation but one needs to ask the question at what cost is that achieved? The amount of money America is spending on Iraq with a recession at hand is unattainable.

The Jihad of this era started in Palestine, followed by Afghanistan, then Chechnya, then Iraq, then Somalia, then the Maghreb, and the new front might very well turn out to be Yemen.

And when this new front of Jihad starts in Yemen it might become the single most important front of Jihad in the world.

Why? First, the Arabian Peninsula has always been a land of mujahedeen even though there has been no fighting occurring on its soil. In Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, and Iraq the participation of mujahedeen from the Arabian Peninsula represented the largest block of foreign mujahedeen. When Jihad starts in the Arabian Peninsula, Jihad would be coming back to its home.

Second, the Arabian Peninsula is home to Makkah and Madinah. To free the Holy places from the rule of apostasy and tyranny is to free the heart of Islam.

Third, the rulers in the Arabian Peninsula are playing a central role in the fight against Islam especially the al Saud family. The al Saud of today are the Abdullah bin Ubay of yesterday. They have perfected the art of hypocrisy. They fight Islam in the name of Islam. They wear cloaks of sheep on hearts of wolfs. There cannot be Islamic rule and a return to khilafah without removing them from existence and this is the responsibility of the mujahedeen of the Arabian Peninsula.

America and its allies in the area are plotting against the mujahedeen, nevertheless their growth increases by the day. May Allah grant the true believers victory and grant them steadfastness on His path.

Their intention is to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will complete His light even thought the disbelievers may detest it. (al Saff 61)

Israel hails shift in US missile tactics

Israeli government has praised the US for its move to develop an alternative maritime missile shield project in order to 'deal' with Iran.

Speaking in the Polish capital of Warsaw on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak lauded US President Barack Obama for Washington's move to deploy sea-borne missiles in an attempt to curb the so-called threats from Iran.

Barak expressed satisfaction with Obama's new naval missile interceptors and said, "We've listened very carefully to the American argumentation about the change in policy."

"The new approach really provides more flexibility and, in a relatively short time, a much more effective, economical way to deal effectively with the challenge of missiles from Iran," the Israeli official added.

His comments come a month after the US president spoke of plans to scrap a contentious missile defense shield scheme scheduled for operation by 2013 in eastern Europe in order to contain 'foreign threats'.

The US administration changed its confrontational strategies following Russia's objection to the controversial missile interceptor program on Moscow's 'doorstep'.

However, the White House opted for a portable marine base in pursuit of its provoking missile defense shield system.

Washington plans to employ the new system by 2015 which may also use ground-based backing in its interception of short and medium-range projectiles.

The latest US move to protect Israel comes in the aftermath of a recent human rights report, aka the Goldstone report, that incriminates the Israeli regime of war crimes in a 22-day onslaught on Gaza earlier this year.

Iran has on numerous occasions warned foreign 'aggressors' of a tough response in case the country's territorial integrity comes under threat.

Ahmadinejad: New US sanctions unlikely

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has cast doubts that Washington will seek new international sanctions against Tehran, saying the time for embargoes is over.

“In a status where countries are seeking free trade, talk of embargoes is meaningless,” Ahmadinejad said in a Tuesday meeting with the prominent Al-Ahram columnist and Egyptian Islamic thinker, Fahmi Howeidi.

“At any rate, they have already imposed sanctions against our country, but achieved nothing. The world is a big place and all states are not controlled by a certain bullying regime,” he said.

“Embargoes are a thing of the past. I don't believe that the US government is trying to enforce sanctions against us.”

The Iranian president also commented on the Palestinian issue and said the dispute could not be resolved with the solutions Western powers bring to the table.

“Undoubtedly, the Palestinian issue and problems in other parts of the world can easily be solved by returning to justice and the truth,” Ahmadinejad said.

For his part, Howeidi differentiated the world of Islam from the Arab world, praising Iran and Turkey for contributing 'a great deal' to the Palestinian issue and expressed hoped that Arab states would soon follow their lead.

The Muslim intellectual said that resistance movements in today's Palestine are facing increasing pressure to sign an agreement with the Israeli regime in return for nothing.

Israel 'will do anything to survive'

Israel's far-right Minister of National Infrastructure, Uzi Landau, has said Tel Aviv will take whatever action is needed to survive in the face of Iran's nuclear program.

"We'll take the actions that are necessary for our survival, we'll do whatever is necessary at that time," Landau told AFP late Wednesday. "It is better not to talk now about the details.”

Landau further expressed regret that European Union nations did not see Iran as a major threat.

"By the actions taken by most European governments you don't see that the gravity of the situation has been understood," he said.

Some Western countries accuse Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of pursuing atomic weapons — a charged Tehran has repeatedly denied.

Iran's nuclear program has been under close inspection of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has confirmed the civilian nature of Iran's nuclear activities.

Share the Temple Mount

By Israel Harel

Sheikh Ra'ad Salah's calls for a jihad against Israel worked. At the last minute, the government was deterred from executing its plan to demolish the mosques on the Temple Mount and from exploiting the Sukkot pilgrimage to Jerusalem to lay the cornerstone of the Third Temple. For fear of Intifada III, the transfer of East Jerusalem Arabs to Umm al-Fahm was also put on hold.

When Jews are accused of harboring the most absurd intentions, the world media chorus, joined by a few Israeli soloists, fans the flames without bothering to check the facts. And though inflammatory nonsense about diabolical plans has been repeated every few months over the past 40 years, it is of course Israel that is accused of playing with fire that can only lead to war between Islam and Judaism. MK Ibrahim Sarsur was a bit more modest: He merely warned of an impending world war.

The original sin came soon after paratroop commander Motta Gur radioed his historic announcement - "The Temple Mount is in our hands" - on June 7, 1967. Instead of accustoming the dazed Islamic world to a natural and understandable Jewish presence on the Mount, defense minister Moshe Dayan ordered that it be handed over to the Waqf, the religious endowment entrusted with looking after Muslim property. And when the Waqf saw that the Jews were not aware of the historical, religious and political significance of this concession, it transformed the Jewish people's holiest site into an autonomous Palestinian religious-governmental center and kept the Jews out.

The rabbinic establishment then reinforced Dayan's historic folly by forbidding Jews from entering the Temple Mount compound for religious reasons. Thus the government and the rabbinate together bolstered the Palestinian Arab narrative, which maintains that the place is holy for Muslims alone.

The fact that the Muslim world has never responded to the frequent calls for jihad by Sheikh Salah and his cohorts has done nothing to alter the false Jewish idea that a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount would lead to a religious war between Islam and Judaism. This destructive notion has enabled the Arabs to do as they wish on the Mount and in other parts of Jerusalem, including running national and governmental centers in Israel's capital.

The most prominent of these used to be Orient House, about which a document submitted to a previous administration declared that taking control of it was "liable to set the Middle East alight." But when the Palestinians went too far, security forces did occupy the building, where they found weapons as well as intelligence documents. It was shut down, and apart from a poorly attended protest - where many of the demonstrators were Israeli Jews - the Middle East reacted the way it reacts to the cries of "Wolf! Wolf!" about the Temple Mount. And so Orient House dropped out of the headlines and fell into oblivion.

Dayan also left the keys of the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron in the Waqf's hands. But in Hebron, the Jews refused to surrender their rights, so the government was forced - despite threats of a religious war - to grant equal prayer time to Jews and Arabs. And over the last 30 years, despite Baruch Goldstein's massacre of Muslims at prayer and other grave incidents, both Muslims and Jews have grown used to the status quo.

Even at this late date, it is essential to equalize Jews' status on the Temple Mount with that of Muslims (excepting, of course, the right to enter the mosques). The Arabs will threaten a jihad and condemnations will pour in from all sides. But in time, Jewish determination will make the Muslims and their Jewish backers get used to the new reality. And the police, thousands of whom are currently plagued by Salah's habit of stirring up trouble during the Jewish holidays, will be able to spend these festivals with their families, just like other Israelis do.

Iran offers SCO transit corridors, energy

Iran has offered to enhance its role as an energy provider and transit route for Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states.

"Tehran is ready to provide SCO members with energy and access to free waters," Iran's First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi told the organization's Secretary General Bolat Nurgaliyev in Beijing on Thursday.

Rahimi said Iran would endeavor to raise the level of its cooperation with the SCO, especially as the world is facing an effort by the United States to gain unilateral control over global energy reserves.

In response to the Iranian vice president's remarks, Nurgaliyev described the Islamic Republic's role in providing energy and a transit corridor for members of the organizations as important.

Rahimi was in the Chinese capital to partake in a SCO summit that brought together envoys from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan in the Great Hall of the People.

The SCO is an intergovernmental organization founded in Shanghai in 2001. Within the framework of the SCO, member states engage in a wide rage of economic, political and security collaborations.

Iran joined the organization as an observer state in 2005.

Europe arrests may bar Israeli trips

Concerns of facing arrests in Europe shroud Israel's hawkish government as the Goldstone report on Gaza wins more support across the world.

The Israeli government is reportedly considering limitations on its officials' travel to Europe fearing that they could be arrested over charges of committing war crimes during the Gaza war in January.

Israel's Western allies on Wednesday called on Tel Aviv for a credible investigation into UN allegations of possible war crimes by the Israel Defense Forces during the winter conflict in the Gaza Strip.

"Currently there is no specific advisory and different senior officers are continuing their travel as planned," army spokesperson Avital Leibovitz told The Washington Times, adding the army was discussing Foreign Ministry and other Israeli authorities' possible restrictions on the travel of senior officials to Europe.

The Gaza war report by an independent international investigative committee has drawn much criticism from Israeli officials for highlighting Israeli army's crimes against Palestinians during the weeks-long incursion of the Gaza Strip.

The damning document has brushed off Israeli hopes to finally normalize ties with Arab states and marred Israel's relations with those few Arab countries who have peace deals with Tel Aviv.

But the report, which is finding its way to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over Israel's failure to conduct an independent and vivid inquiry into crimes committed during the Gaza war, has panicked Israel over possible arrest warrants against its officials in European countries.

The Israeli government is holding talks with Spain, Norway, Britain and other EU countries in a bid to bar international courts from 'intervening in the issue'.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday hurled still another tirade against the UN report, vowing not to let the Israeli officials who launched the Gaza war 'arrive at' the International Court in The Hague.

The Goldstone report gives Israel six months to investigate the war crimes charges before recommending that the matter be sent to the ICC.

Algeria said to cancel arms deal over Israel

CAIRO [MENL] -- Algeria was said to have canceled a major defense contract with France because of concern that Israeli components would be used.

Algerian sources said the cancellation by Algiers was part of a policy by President Abdul Aziz Bouteflika that required guarantees from foreign suppliers that Israel would not supply components for systems ordered by the North African state. The sources said the Algerian Defense Ministry has demanded the review of all components and their source of origin in foreign weapons deals.

Turkey may sue Israel over drone delay

Turkey may sue Israel for failing to meet an agreed deadline to supply surveillance drones to Ankara, facing Tel Aviv with a fine of $3-4 million.

"Turkey plans to impose a heavy monetary penalty on Israel for the delay," Turkish daily Today's Zaman quoted a senior official at the Under-secretariat for Defense Industries as saying.

The official threatened Ankara would take the case up with the International Court of Commercial Arbitration if Israel refused to comply with the penalty.

In 2005, Turkey signed a deal with Israel to purchase 10 Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) worth more than $180 million from Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Elbit Systems, Ltd.

Israel was supposed to deliver four Herons in August, followed by another two and then the last four by the end of October.

However, Israel missed the deadline, citing difficulties in the strengthening of Heron engines to enable local Aselsan-made electro-optical payloads (Aselfir300T) to be fitted onto the vehicles, Israeli media reported.

The delay apparently angered officials in Ankara and prompted them to cancel a planned joint military exercise in a show of protest, which further soured Turkish-Israeli ties.

The relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv saw another fall on Wednesday when Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned the Turkish envoy over a series of broadcasts on Turkey's public TV showing Israeli soldiers brutally killing Palestinian children.

Turkey, one of the few Middle East states which have maintained diplomatic ties with Israel, remains a voiced critic of Tel Aviv's actions against the Palestinian nation, including the closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque to Palestinians, the siege of Gaza, and the weeks-long offensive in the coastal sliver that left over 1,400 Gazans killed.

Argentina qualify for World Cup

Argentina have qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa following a 1-0 away victory over arch rival Uruguay in Montevideo.

Diego Maradona's side captured the berth after substitute Mario Bolatti scored in the 84th minute on Wednesday night.

"Thanks to my players, today I was consecrated as a coach," Maradona said. "We are in the World Cup with full honors."

Two-time winners of the World Cup, Argentina, joined Brazil, Chile and Paraguay as automatic qualifiers from South America.

Uruguay finished fifth in the group and must now face a two-game playoff in November against North America's fourth team Costa Rica to secure a place at next year's World Cup.

Argentina have not missed a World Cup since 1970.

Countries which have so far qualified for the 2010 World Cup include:

Europe Zone: Netherlands, England, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Italy, Switzerland, Slovakia

Asia Zone: Japan, Australia, South Korea, North Korea

Africa Zone: South Africa (as hosts), Ghana, Ivory Coast

South America Zone: Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina

North America Zone: Mexico, United States, Honduras

UN Draft Censures Israel over Al-Aqsa, Gaza

October 14, 2009

CAIRO – A draft Human Rights Council resolution condemns Israeli aggressions against Al-Aqsa Mosques, Islam’s third holiest shrine, its seize of the Gaza Strip and the war crimes it committed against Gaza’s civilian population.

The text "strongly condemns all policies and measures taken by Israel, the occupying power, to limit access of Palestinians to their properties and holy sites particularly in Occupied East Jerusalem."

Israel has closed access to Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which include Al-Aqsa Mosque, to Muslim men under the age of 50.

The occupation authorities usually restrict Palestinian access to the holy site as a form of punishment, under security pretexts.

During the Easter holiday, Israel denied most Palestinian Christians entry to Al-Quds, homes to some of the holiest Christian worship places including the ancient Jerusalem Church and Greek Orthodox Church, also under the same security pretext.

The UN draft, prepared by the Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims, takes a sweep at the Israeli permit regime that continues to be imposed on the movement of Palestinians and hinder their free access to their holy sites.

It dismisses such Israeli restrictions as "grave violation of the Palestinian people’s civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights."

Israel captured and occupied Al-Quds in the six-day 1967 war, then annexed it in a move not recognized by the world community or UN resolutions.

The draft asks Israel to "immediately cease all digging and excavation works ... beneath and around Al Aqsa Mosque and its vicinity, and refrain from any acts or operations that may endanger the structure or foundations or change the nature of holy sites both Christian and Islamic in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem."

Palestinians insist that the occupied holy city, which represents the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict, will be the capital of their future independent state.

Gaza Too

The draft throws support behind the Richard Goldstone report accusing Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza.

It says the Human Rights Council "fully endorses the recommendations contained in the report, and calls upon all concerned parties including UN bodies, to ensure their immediate implementation in accordance with their respective mandates."

The UN fact-finding report accuses Israel of committing war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity during its three-week Gaza onslaught.

It recommends that the UN Security Council should ask the International Criminal Court to examine the charges, unless progress was made in investigations in Israel and the Palestinian territories within six months.

Israeli troops killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, and injured thousands in 22 days of attacks in Gaza.

The onslaught wrecked havoc on the Gaza infrastructure, destroying thousands of homes and buildings across the impoverished territory.

The new draft also criticizes Israel’s long-running seize of the impoverished Gaza Strip.

"Israeli siege imposed on the occupied Gaza Strip, including the closure of border crossings and the cutting of the supply of fuel, food and medicine constitutes collective punishment of Palestinian civilians," reads the text.

Israel has been closing the Gaza Strip's exits to the outside world since Hamas took control of the territory in June 2007.

It has completely locked down the area since January, banning food and fuel shipment supplies.

Link: www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1254573630848&pagename=Zon
e-English-News/NWELayout

Iraq now of the world's most contaminated countries

Iraq war remnants cause cancer deaths: minister
IRIN news

War remnants, pollution behind rise in cancer deaths?

BAGHDAD, 14 October 2009 (IRIN) - In the late 1990s 22-year-old Manal Sabir Abdullah from Basra was diagnosed with lung cancer, from which she eventually died in 2004.

"Her cancer was bizarre as none of our relatives had cancer before and she had never had bad health or harmful habits," said her husband, Hassan Najim Ghanim. "None of the doctors could determine how she developed the disease but most believed it was probably caused by contaminated air, soil and water," he said.

Remnants from Iraq's three recent wars - the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, the Gulf War in 1991 and the US-led invasion in 2003 - coupled with the absence of adequate government controls on emissions and industrial effluent, have turned Iraq into one of the world's most contaminated countries, say officials.

"There are a number of environmental challenges in Iraq," Environment Minister Narmin Othman told IRIN. "One of them is water, air and soil contamination caused mainly by emissions from cars and generators in crowded areas, unplanned use of chemical fertilizers, war remnants and bombing with depleted uranium."

She said her ministry had identified military vehicles and tanks contaminated with radioactive materials dating back to the wars of 1991 and 2003, but no action had been taken to get rid of them.

There was a lack of government supervision of the waste being discharged into the country's two main rivers - the Tigris and Euphrates. This included waste from heavy industry, tanning and paint factories, as well as raw sewage and hospital waste, she said.

"The contamination levels are rising significantly in Iraq," she concluded.

Depleted uranium

The US-led coalition forces used depleted uranium (DU) as a "penetrator" at the core of armor piercing tank rounds in the 1991 and 2003 wars. Amid growing reports of ill-health among veterans, an international campaign has sought a global ban on DU weapons on public health grounds.

The US Department of Defense has denied that depleted uranium is an exposure threat, but does monitor soldiers with embedded DU armor fragments as a result of combat operations. So far, the amounts of DU detected after tests "pose no known" health risk, William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in a statement.

But in a landmark ruling in September 2009, a British jury concluded that exposure to depleted uranium in the 1991 Gulf War was the likely cause of the colon cancer that killed British veteran Stuart Dyson in June 2008.

DU is a heavy metal and a by-product of the uranium enrichment process. It can enter the human body by inhalation, eating contaminated food, eating with contaminated hands or by exposing an open wound to contaminated dust or debris, according to Rahim Hani Nasih, a doctor in Mosul.

It can also contaminate soil and water, and coat buildings with radioactive dust. Wind and sandstorms spread the contamination, leading to diseases, including cancer, Nasih said.

In a 2005 publication, the UN Environment Program identified 311 sites in Iraq contaminated with DU and said cleaning them up would require several years. No figures were available from the Ministry of Health on how many cancer cases might have been related to or caused by contaminated war remnants.

Basra study

Qusai Abdul-Latif Aboud, head of the Enhancing Health Directorate (EHD - affiliated to the Health Ministry) in the southern governorate of Basra, said war remnants in Iraq had become one of the main causes of cancer - along with smoking, emissions of harmful gases, and other kinds of pollution.

An EHD study earlier this year had noted that 340 cases of leukemia had been registered between 2001 and 2008 in Basra. This compares with 17 cases in 1988 and 93 cases in 1997, Aboud said.

The study focused only on leukemia, as cases of the disease had risen sharply in Basra.

It also found that the amount of uranium in Basra’s soil had jumped from 60-70 becquerels per kilogram of soil prior to 1991 to 10,000 becquerels per kilogram in 2009. As much as 36,205 becquerels per kilogram have been recorded in areas with abandoned remnants of war.

He said EHD relied on the media and community leaders to spread awareness about self-protection and how to avoid contaminated areas.

Spanish UNIFIL troops prepare for Zapatero visit

By Mohammed Zaatari
Daily Star staff

SIDON: The Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is to visit Lebanon Friday as part of a Middle East tour aimed at showing support for Spanish peacekeepers abroad. Zapatero will visit the Spanish battalion operating as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) as part of his Middle East tour to convey Europe’s support to the efforts of peace in the region. A ceremony will be held in honor of the prime minister at the Spanish battalion’s military base Miguel de Cervantes at the southern town of Ibl al-Saqi.

On the first day of his Middle East tour Wednesday, Zapatero visited the historic Umayad Mosque in Damascus.

The Spanish battalion has been preparing for the visit of their premier since the start of the week for the inauguration of Cordoba Square in the southern town of Ibl al-Saqi.

A model of the Hypostyle Hall of the Mosque of Cordoba was built to commemorate the Spanish city of Cordoba and to mark the Spanish prime minister’s visit.

The premier’s visit comes days after the Spanish battalion held a ceremony Monday to celebrate Spain’s National Day and commemorate the date of the discovery of the American continent by Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492. The national holiday celebrates the spreading of the Spanish language and culture through the South American colonies.

The UNIFIL battalion as well as the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) presented military parades during the ceremony and the LAF orchestra played a series of patriotic songs.

Solar power set to fuel communication revolution in developing world

Hereward Holland and Leonora Walet

Reuters

KAMPALA/HONG KONG: Watching his sons kick around a makeshift ball made from tightly bound plastic bags, Ugandan handyman Jackson Mawa marvels at the way business has improved since he bought a solar-powered mobile phone. “I am self-employed. Sometimes people call me and they find my [cell]phone is off. I have been having that problem a lot due to battery charging. So when [Uganda Telecom] brought out the solar phones, since I got it, that very day, I have never had any problem with my phone,” said Mawa, clutching the device.

It might not sound like much but for Mawa and millions of others in Africa and Asia with no connection to electricity grids or unreliable and expensive power access, these little solar-powered gadgets are proving to be revolutionary.

Farmers can check market prices before deciding which crop seeds to sow, speak to buyers from their fields and get weather forecasts. Never once must they worry about their phone’s battery losing power.

Solar-powered cellphones could build on the economic advantages that mobile phones have already brought to far-flung regions of Africa and the Indian subcontinent, such as price transparency and more accurate and up-to-date information for businesses.

Mobile-phone penetration in these regions has been held back by a lack of electricity: there is simply no way to charge a cellphone in many rural areas of developing countries.

An estimated 1.6 billion people have no access to electricity at all, while another 1 billion people have no electricity for much of the day, according to estimates made by development groups.

Fortuitously, perhaps, most of these people live in sunny climates. And this is where solar-powered cellphones come into their own.

“If you look at the map of countries with low tele-density there is plenty of sunshine everywhere,” says Rajiv Mehrotra, chairman of VNL, a company making solar-powered mobile network base stations in India.

Take Uganda as a case in point: Just 8 percent of the country’s 32 million-plus population have electric-grid access. Even when the grid is there, like where Mawa lives in Mulago, a poor suburb of Kampala, the power is costly and the service is intermittent.

“In our area, electricity is expensive so at six o’clock in the morning, we turn our power off until six in the evening,” said Mawa, 29, sitting on a step outside his house.

For those traveling to areas with electricity to charge standard cellphones, the journey might take all day and the cost of charging the battery might be more than that day’s lost wages.

There are more than 3 billion people using mobile phones around the world and most of the next billion users will come from emerging markets, particularly in the countrysides of these areas.

The makers of solar cellphones such as Nokia, Samsung and ZTE see the rural poor in these emerging markets as their main customer base rather than carbon-conscious consumers in the West.

“People’s need to communicate is so high. It’s running miles ahead of the power grids expansions,” says Anne Larilahti, head of environmentally sustainable business at network equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks.

Solar phones are not new: The top phone maker Nokia sold a model a dozen years ago, but with technology development their usability and prices are starting to reach masses.

About an hour of solar charging offers around 5-10 minutes of talk time. Selling at around $60, Samsung Solar Guru features FM radio, MP3 ring tones, embedded games, and a torch light.

If demand for such phones really takes off, it is a risk for Nokia, who likely cannot watch for long from the sidelines as its market share in India and in Africa is 60-70 percent.

With proper positioning and pricing, solar-powered cellphones could improve the lives of around 2 billion people across the globe who have no access to electricity.

Algerian to spend life in prison for 1995 Paris attacks

Nicolas Vaux-Montagny

Associated Press

PARIS: A French appeals court on Tuesday confirmed a life prison sentence for an Algerian convicted of helping fund and organize a string of deadly terrorist attacks in Paris nearly 15 years ago. Rachid Ramda has always denied a role in the attacks, which killed eight people and wounded some 200 in 1995. When the verdict was read, he called out “God is great!” three times.

The verdict followed the recommendation of prosecutor Anne Vosgien, who had urged the court to remember it had “the power to do its utmost so that he can’t ever do this again.” Ramda was sentenced to life in prison in a 2007 trial that took place after he was extradited from Britain to France following a decade-long wrangle. The appeals court confirmed that sentence Tuesday.

Gas cooking canisters loaded with nails, some hidden in garbage cans, were used in the 1995 bombings.

All the fatalities and most of the injuries occurred during a July 25, 1995, bombing at the Saint-Michel subway stop in the heart of Paris. Two other attacks, which wounded 44 people, followed, at the Maison-Blanche subway stop and the Musee d’Orsay train station.

The Algerian insurgency movement, the Armed Islamic Group, claimed responsibility for those and other attacks that year. The group relied on logistical and other support in France for its insurgency in the former French colony.

Ramda was based in Britain during the attacks, and was arrested soon afterward at the request of French authorities. But he spent 10 years in British custody before being extradited to France in December 2005.

During Ramda’s trial, he was portrayed as the movement’s financier. He was convicted of complicity in murder through aid and assistance and furnishing instructions or orders.

Two other Armed Islamic Group members – Boualem Bensaid, the mastermind of the Saint-Michel attack, and Smain Ait Ali Belkacem, the radical movement’s bomb expert – are serving life sentences handed down by a French court in 2002.

Israel's Barak hails US missile shield rethink

WARSAW: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday hailed a US move to create a sea-borne anti-missile shield to ward off Iranian threats in place of a planned system in eastern Europe that angered Russia.

“We’ve listened very carefully to the American argumentation about the change in policy,” Barak told reporters during a visit to Poland, where Washington had planned to base a battery of missile interceptors.

“The new approach really provides more flexibility and, in a relatively short time, a much more effective, economical way to deal effectively with the challenge of missiles from Iran,” he said.

Last month, the administration of US President Barack Obama said it was scrapping its plan to deploy the interceptors in Poland by 2013 as well as an associated radar in the neighboring Czech Republic.

The previous administration had insisted the plan was meant to parry threats from Iran, but Russia was enraged by what it dubbed as a threatening US move on its doorstep. Obama’s decision came amid thawing ties with Moscow.

Washington’s new scheme foresees a mobile, sea-based system designed to protect against short- and medium-range missiles.

Moscow has welcomed the US move to scrap the Polish and Czech sites but it has not been entirely happy with the new system, which Washington says could also include land-based components in Europe from 2015.

Barak said it was crucial to forge ahead with the plans, as Iran’s military program moves forward step-by-step – Tehran recently test-fired missiles which it said could reach targets inside Israel.

“Their missiles can now cover Israel and the margins of Europe, and in a few years they will be able to cover Europe as well. Basically Iran is perceived by Israel to be a major threat to world stability,” he said.

Cabinet deliberations stall as Aoun reiterates demands

Opposition allies hopeful for speedy government
By Elias Sakr
Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: Deliberations on cabinet-formation stumbled yet again over the distribution of mi­nisterial portfolios as Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Michel Aoun reiterated Wed­nesday his demand for the Tele­communications Ministry. However, Aoun’s opposition allies voiced optimism with re­gard to the prompt formation of the government while Leba­nese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea said the cabinet could see light in a “reasonable time given that the minority was instructed by foreign powers to facilitate the process.”

Following the Reform and Change bloc weekly meeting, Aoun stressed on Wednesday that he submitted to Hariri a proposal regarding his share of portfolios in the next cabinet and awaited the latter’s response to take the appropriate decision.

Aoun also reiterated his demand for the Telecommunications Ministry, adding that he included his request in the proposal submitted to Hariri; Aoun had expressed on several occasions his insistence that his son-in-law Caretaker Telecommunication Minister Jebran Bassil retain his post for another term. “We wait for Hariri to end his de­liberations in order to inform us on his cabinet make-up proposal so we can decide if it is in accordance with our talks,” he said.

Aoun stressed that Hariri and the majority should accept the just participation of opposition groups in the government according to their representational size, adding that some parties seek to hamper the formation process.

Meanwhile, Aoun’s ally, Marada Movement leader Sleiman Franjieh stressed after talks Wednesday with Premier-designate Saad Hariri that his party’s share of one minister was part of the five ministries to be allotted to Aoun’s Reform and Change bloc.

Franjieh underlined that his meeting with Hariri was a positive one. “We are part of the Reform and Change bloc and we demand a ministerial portfolio rather than a state ministry,” he said.

Following talks with Hariri at the latter’s residence in Downtown Beirut, Franjieh added that he expected the government to be formed soon given the positive political atmosphere.

Similarly, Development and Liberation bloc MP and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s top political aide Ali Hassan Khalil said on Wednesday that the formation process was on the right track as deliberations progressed fast toward resolving conflicting issues.

MPs participating in Wednesday’s parliamentary meetings with the speaker quoted Berri as saying that “the atmosphere is positive,” adding that he still refrained from public rhetoric.

Berri is expected to meet with Hariri in the next 48 hours regarding the cabinet formation, the Central News Agency reported on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Hariri held discussions with representatives of Hizbullah and Amal Movement after talks Monday with Aoun.

Hizbullah’s Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Nawaf Moussawi expressed optimism with regard to the formation of a cabinet soon, stressing that deliberations over the distribution of portfolios should be conducted away from the media.

Moussawi added that the issue of granting each party the right to nominate his own ministers was no longer an obstacle, adding that disagreements over the nomination of certain candidates were eliminated. He also accused the US Wednesday of seeking the formation of a majority cabinet rather than a national-unity one.

Separately, Geagea voiced doubt over the formation of a government in the next few days, adding that the cabinet could see light in a reasonable time if the positive atmosphere prevailed.

Geagea added that the positive attitude by opposition forces was due to instructions by foreign powers to the minority in order to facilitate the process.

“All cabinet line-up proposals to be suggested currently by Hariri would grant the opposition fewer gains than what was offered by the premier-designate in his first proposition to Sleiman, which indicates the power of foreign influence in Lebanon’s domestic affairs,” Geagea said.

The LF leader denied that the issue of allotting shares among Christian parties was obstructing the process. He also emphasized that the LF rejected the nomination of candidates who lost the race to parliament as ministers; however his party would not obstruct the process if Bassil is to be reappointed.

Bassil lost the polls in his hometown Batroun to March 14 MPs.

Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel said his party called for the formation of a majority cabinet but would not obstruct the rise of a national-unity one. “The president is a consensus man who attempts to avoid problems given the threats by Hizbullah to either surrender to its demands or face new May 7 events,” he said.

Bloody clashes broke out between pro-government and opposition supporters on May 7, 2008 following the cabinet’s decision to dismantle Hizbullah’s telecommunication network.

Gemayel said that forming a cabinet based on the current suggested make-up would lead to the establishment of a new caretaker government that would reflect a mini-parliament.

Maronite bishops decry cabinet delay

BKIRKI: The Council of Maronite Bishops on Wednesday condemned delay in the formation of a national unity government and accused “some” Lebanese political leaders of seeking their own interests.

“We regret that the government has not been formed after three months of efforts to form one,” said the Bishops in a statement following their monthly meeting in the seat of the Maronite Church in the Kesrouan town of Bkirki.

“Governments are made to serve the people. But in Lebanon, people’s interests are overlooked and no one cares about them while politicians are turning their attention to achieve their goals and their own interests,” added the statement read by Monsignor Youssef Tawk.

The Bishops stressed that alliance with foreign or regional “should not be mixed with loyalty to the homeland.” – Maroun Khoury

China sentences six more to death over ethnic rioting - Update

Beijing - China on Thursday sentenced to death six more people convicted of murder, arson and other violent crimes during ethnic rioting that left at least 197 dead in the far-western city of Urumqi, bringing the total number of death sentences linked to the July unrest to 12. The six sentenced to death Thursday were among 14 tried Wednesday by the Urumqi Intermediate People's Court, all of them apparently members of the Uighur ethnic minority.

Three of the death sentences were suspended for two years, after which such sentences are normally commuted to life in prison, subject to good behavior.

Three more defendants were sentenced to life in prison while the other five were also given long prison terms, the official Xinhua news agency reported from Urumqi.

Exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer condemned the six earlier death sentences, passed on Monday, as politically motivated and said they were likely to "further enrage" Uighurs, who have long complained of discrimination.

The 21 people tried this week are among 430 people charged with crimes linked to the rioting in early July.

Prosecutors had already sent cases against 108 suspects for trial by local courts, the agency earlier quoted Liu Bo, the city's deputy chief procurator, as saying.

The deadly rioting in Urumqi left 197 people dead and about 1,600 injured, according to the government.

Uighur exile groups claimed, however, that up to 800 people died in Urumqi, many of them Uighurs shot or beaten to death by police.

The rioting apparently began after a protest over the deaths of two Uighurs in the southern city of Shaoguan. The killings escalated into clashes with police and attacks by Uighurs against Han residents of Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region.

Urumqi was hit by further violence in late August and early September after reports of attacks by Uighurs using hypodermic needles and other sharp objects.

Local courts sentenced seven Uighurs to long prison terms for attacks with needles in two separate trials held last month, two weeks after the arrests of the suspects.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290245,china-sentences-six-more-to-death-over-ethnic-rioting--update.html.

Turkish TV series angers Israel

Israel's foreign minister has ordered Turkey's ambassador to be summoned over a Turkish TV series that portrays Israeli soldiers killing children.

Avigdor Lieberman said the programme, broadcast on Turkey's state television, incited hatred against the country.

In one clip screened on Israeli news channels, an Israeli soldier takes aim at a smiling young girl and kills her.

The complaint is the latest to strain the relationship between Turkey and Israel.

Strategic ties

In a statement, Mr Lieberman said the series, which "presents Israeli soldiers as the murderers of innocent children, would not be appropriate for broadcast even in an enemy country and certainly not in a state which maintains diplomatic relations with Israel".

Another clip from the series - which tells the story of a Palestinian family - reportedly shows a bullet fired by an Israeli soldier traveling in slow motion towards a Palestinian child.

The programme was broadcast on Tuesday evening on Turkey's TRT One Channel.

Turkey is one of the few Muslim countries to have relations with Israel, but these have suffered since the Islamist-rooted AK Party was elected to power in 2002, deteriorating further after Israel's offensive in Gaza in January.

Last week, Ankara canceled an international military exercise in which Israeli pilots were due to participate.

Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak sought to play down the rift, stressing that the two states shared "longstanding, important and strategic" ties.

NKorea warns SKorea incursions could spark clash

By KWANG-TAE KIM, Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea warned South Korea on Thursday that a rash of "reckless" incursions at their disputed maritime border could spark a naval clash.

North Korea's navy accused South Korean warships of routinely broaching its territory — 10 times on Monday alone — in the waters off the peninsula's west coast.

"The reckless military provocations by warships of the South Korean navy have created such a serious situation that a naval clash may break out between the two sides in these waters," the military said in a statement carried Thursday by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

The warning of a clash in the West Sea — site of deadly naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002 — comes even as relations between the two Koreas show signs of improvement after more than a year of tensions.

On Wednesday, North Korea extended a rare apology to the South for releasing a massive amount of water from a dam near their border last month. Six South Koreans drowned in the flooding.

South Korea's top official for inter-Korean relations, meanwhile, indicated that Seoul is prepared to offer the North food aid without conditions as a humanitarian gesture — an apparent softening of the government's stance toward Pyongyang.

"We will provide limited humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable groups in North Korea regardless of political and security circumstances," Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said in a speech to the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

"We will do our part to end the suffering of our brothers in the North," he said.

For a decade, South Korea was one of biggest donors to the impoverished North. But the flow of aid from Seoul stopped when President Lee Myung-bak took office last year, saying any help must be conditioned to denuclearization.

North Korea has faced chronic food shortages since flooding and mismanagement destroyed its economy in the mid-1990s. Famine is believed to have killed as many as 2 million people in the 1990s.

Hyun did not elaborate on a time frame or amount of possible aid to North Korea.

The two Koreas technically remain in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. They are divided by a heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone.

North Korea, however, does not recognize the western maritime border drawn unilaterally by the United Nations, and routinely issues warnings to the South about incursions across the military line.

South Korea, meanwhile, wants to discuss the return of 560 soldiers who have been held by North Korea since the war and 504 civilians, mostly fishermen whose boats have been seized near the maritime border.

North Korea says the civilians voluntarily defected to the North and denies it has any South Korean prisoners of war.

South Korea also wants to stage more reunions of families divided by the war. On Friday, Red Cross officials are to meet in North Korea to discuss staging future reunions.

NAM wants Israel to be responsible for Gaza crimes

115 countries of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM) have called on the UN Security Council to hold Israel responsible for atrocities committed in Gaza during its offensive.

NAM Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz asked the Security Council on Wednesday to "seriously consider and act upon the recommendations" of the UN Fact Finding Mission headed by Richard Goldstone.

The move comes while the US Administration was planning to stall efforts by the countries to condemn Israel.

Washington says the war crime charges in the Goldstone report, should be dealt with in the Human Rights Council, not the Security Council.

The Security Council decided to review the issue in its Wednesday meeting despite the US pressure. However, the attempts by Washington to stall the process has sparkled outrage by right groups.

"That President Obama is receiving the Noble Peace prize after his failure to speak out during the Gaza war, and after his administration's protection of a state that has committed war crimes, is an abomination," Michael Ratner, president of the New York-based Centre for Constitutional Rights, told Inter Press Service.

"Sadly, its conduct at the Human Rights Council [in Geneva] where it called the Goldstone report deeply flawed shows that it will again do all in its power to try and bury any investigation of Israel for war crimes," he added.

Ratner warned that such moves would embolden Israel to continue its atrocities.

The failure to refer the Gaza matter to the ICC (International Criminal Court) undercuts any claim that the law is applied equally to Israel and the Palestinians.

Canada: Afghanistan situation dire

Canada's top commander in Afghanistan says the country is in a "serious, desperate situation" which constitutes a major emergency.

"It's not to sugar coat anything, and it's certainly not to make the mission seem better than it is. It's a serious, desperate situation. It's a major emergency," Brigadier-General Jonathan Vance, Canada's top commander on the ground said in an interview aired on Wednesday.

In the face of declining public support for the Afghan mission he said, "(I) ... try and put all of that into some sort of context such that people — whether they believe we should be here or not — at least they understand."

Over 130 Canadian soldiers have died so far in Afghanistan. A recent poll shows more than half of the Canadians oppose their country's involvement in the war.

Some 2,700 Canadian troops are currently stationed in southern Afghanistan.

Canada's Parliament voted last year to extend the mission to 2011 from the original 2009 end date.

Erdogan: Why does West single out Iran

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the world powers' constant focus on Iran's nuclear program is not fair.

"We don't want nuclear weapons in this region and this is what we have always called for. We have also voiced this to the Iranian officials and they stress that they don't have any intention of developing nuclear weapons," Erdogan told Al -Arabiya satellite channel.

"They [the Iranians] want to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes because they worry that the traditional energy resources might not meet their needs in the future," Turkey's Yenisafak newspaper quoted Erdogan as saying on Wednesday.

"Besides, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has found no evidence indicating that Iran is developing nuclear weapons," he added.

"What upsets me is another thing: why those talking about nuclear weapons always pick on Iran? Why don't they discuss Israel? They only point the finger at Iran and North Korea," Turkey's Prime Minister said.

"We call on them to adopt a just behavior. We urge the UN Security Council and especially its five permanent members to take necessary precautions to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons."

Most experts estimate that Israel has at least between 100 and 200 nuclear warheads, largely based on information leaked to the Sunday Times newspaper in the 1980s by Mordechai Vanunu, a former worker at the country's Dimona nuclear reactor.

Israel, which has initiated several wars in the region in its 60-year history, maintains a policy of ambiguity over its military nuclear capabilities.

China hails 'close cooperation' with Iran

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has said that his country will maintain cooperation with Iran and foster 'close coordination in international affairs'.

China is willing "to maintain high-level contacts with Iran, encourage mutual understanding and confidence, promote practical cooperation between the two sides and close coordination in international affairs," Wen said in a meeting with the visiting Iranian First Vice President, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, in Beijing on Thursday.

He said Beijing was 'willing to continue playing a constructive role in promoting a peaceful resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue'.

"The Sino-Iran relationship has witnessed rapid development ...and cooperation in trade and energy has widened and deepened," Wen asserted.

The Chinese official's comments come after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said earlier in Moscow that Iran could face new sanctions if diplomacy fails to persuade Tehran to halt its uranium enrichment program.

Despite Iran's ongoing diplomatic negotiations with the West, Washington is seeking assurance from veto-wielding UN Security Council members - such as Russia and China - that should negotiations fail, fresh sanctions will await Iran.

Both Beijing and Moscow, however, have stressed that the international community must exhaust diplomacy before considering any other options.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly rejected Western allegations that it has a secret nuclear weapons program.

Iran, whose nuclear program has been under close inspection of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has called for the removal of all weapons of mass destructions from across the globe.

'Iran, Iraq to share intelligence to combat crimes'

Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar says that Iran and Iraq will share intelligence to fight organized crime.

"Sharing intelligence with Iraq and the Kurdistan regional government in order to serve mutual interests and to fight organized crimes has been put on Iran's agenda," Fars news agency quoted Mohammad-Najjar as saying.

The Iranian minister was in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday to attend a summit of Iraq's neighboring countries.

"Insecurity and instability in Iraq and the [Middle East] region is not genuine and has been imposed on the region by foreign powers that are trying to pursue their illegitimate interest," he added.

"Iran, once again, highlights the importance of rapid and unconditional withdrawal of the occupation forces from Iraq as the main factor for establishing security and stability in the country," Iran's Interior Minister concluded.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=108715§ionid=351020101.

Somalia: Seven Killed in Mogadishu, Peacekeepers Receive Weapons

13 October 2009

Mogadishu — At least 7 people were killed Tuesday in the Somali capital Mogadishu after insurgents attacked African Union peacekeepers (AMISOM), with sources saying AMISOM has unloaded a weapons cache from a ship, Radio Garowe reports.

AMISOM peacekeepers in south Mogadishu were targeted Tuesday, with witnesses saying insurgents "burned" a water truck used by the African peacekeepers.

A source with the Somali insurgent group, Al Shabaab, said they attacked AMISOM soldiers and "inflicted casualties." He did not say how many insurgents died, but unconfirmed sources said two insurgents and one AMISOM soldier were killed in the attack.

Separately, four people died when Hizbul Islam insurgents attacked Somali government forces in north Mogadishu's Kaaraan and Shibis districts. One civilian was among the dead.

Mogadishu medical sources said at least 11 wounded persons were admitted for treatment.

Today's fighting comes after a week of uneasy rest in Mogadishu as Al Shabaab and Hizbul Islam insurgents have been fighting each other near the southern port of Kismayo since the beginning of October.

Weapons

Mogadishu sources said AMISOM soldiers took control of neighborhoods surrounding the capital's main port on Monday, as soldiers unloaded weapons from a military ship.

It was unclear the types of weapons that were unloaded, but residents and fishermen said they were refused to go to the port or near the coast by Somali and AMISOM soldiers.

Last week, AMISOM peacekeepers unloaded weapons from a military ship under a shroud of secrecy. The 5,000-strong peacekeeping force consists of soldiers from Uganda and Burundi.

The movement at the port comes as a dispute is growing between Mogadishu business leaders and the port authority over the storage of goods.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/200910131131.html.

Somalia: Hizbul Islam Confirms That Some of Their Troops Joined to the Somali Government

14 October 2009

Somalia — Sheik Mohamed Mo'allin Ali, the secretary of the information affairs of the Islamist organization of Hizbul Islam has Wednesday confirmed that some of their forces joined the transitional government on Tuesday.

The secretary of Hizbul Islam told Shabelle radio that those forces had deliberately joined to the transitional government saying that they were very sorry for the killing one of their commanders who was shot dead in Elasha Biyaha, out of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

Asked about the search of the Islamist organization of Hizbul Islam for the mastermind of the murdering Ahmed Abdirahman Odawa and what results reached, the official replied that nothing had come out of it adding that they are still continuing.

The statement of Hizbul Islam officials comes as the transitional government displayed more fighters with their armed vehicle from Hizbul Islam who joined the TFG on Tuesday.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/200910140999.html.