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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

MIT honors Iranian-born inventors

Two Iranian scientists are among the under 35 innovators of 2009 chosen by the MIT published Technology Review.

According to Technology Review Shahram Izadi (33) and Ali Javey (29) are selected for their innovations believed to be able to change the world.

Microsoft researcher, Shahram Izadi, has improved Microsoft's already impressive touch table, Surface, to present information in a completely new way.

The intuitive 3-D interface known as SecondLight is believed to help individuals manage layers of data through adding another physical layer in a second hidden image above the first one.

The assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Ali Javey, was elected for “painting” nanowires into high-quality electronic circuits.

Javey has so far used the technique to print transistors based on germanium, silicon, and indium arsenide nanowires as well as arrays of light-sensing cadmium selenide nanowires.

MIT magazine has also selected Kevin Fu (33), a software engineer and assistant professor of computer science, as innovator of the year because of his invaluable research in innovating hacker-protected radio frequency chips for objects ranging from credit cards to pacemakers.

José Gomez-Marquez (32) was also honored as the Humanitarian of the Year due to the invention of practical medical devices for impoverished countries.

Among the inventors on the list is Jeffrey Bigham (28) from the University of Rochester, who has created a free screen reader that can be used with practically any Web browser on any operating system to help the blind navigate the Web.

Since 1999, the editors of Technology Review have been honoring young innovators, all under the age of 35, whose inventions and research in different fields of medicine, computing, communications, electronics, and nanotechnology has changed the world.

Indonesian customs agents arrest 10 Iranians in major drug bust

Jakarta - Customs agents seized methamphetamine worth up to 10 million dollars and arrested 10 people, a senior official said Wednesday. Two men and eight women from Iran, aged between 24 and 59, were arrested on Monday and Tuesday at Jakarta's international airport.

They arrived on four different flights from Malaysia, Qatar, and Syria, Customs director-general Anwar Supriyadi said.

The state-run Antara news agency quoted Supriyadi as saying the arrests began when custom officers stopped a man and two women arriving on a Malaysian Air flight from Kuala Lumpur, and seized 9.8 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine.

Agents eventually seized a total of 26.8 kilograms and 22.8 litres of crystal and liquid methamphetamine, locally known as "shabu-shabu," worth estimated up to 102 billion rupiah (10.7 million dollars), he said.

"This is the biggest catch ever," Supriyadi said, adding that the drugs were hidden in food containers and in bottles of shampoo, soap and porcelain cleaners.

Nine of the suspects, believed to be members of a Middle Eastern drug ring, were being held by the national police. One other man was hospitalized after a suicide attempt.

If found guilty of smuggling second-class drugs into the country, the suspects could face a maximum 10 years in prison, Supriyadi said.

China sentences three to death in mafia-plagued city

Beijing - Two courts in the south-western city of Chongqing on Wednesday sentenced three men to death after convicting them of leading organized crime rings, state media said. They were among 31 alleged members of two criminal gangs tried this week as the first of hundreds of people in Chongqing, including several top officials, accused of involvement in some of China's largest organized crime rings.

Three other members of the two gangs were given suspended death sentences on Wednesday, while the other 25 defendants were given prison sentences ranging from one year to life, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Prosecutors accused the gang members of crimes including murder, illegal possession of firearms, running illegal coal mines, false imprisonment, robbery, extortion and forgery, the agency said.

Chongqing police questioned more than 2,000 suspects during a six-month crackdown on organized crime, including 67 alleged gang leaders and 50 government officials.

Police formally arrested more than 600 suspects, while Chongqing state prosecutors had charged 263 people by the end of August.

Wen Qiang, the former director of the city's justice bureau, and a former deputy police chief were among those detained by police for questioning, earlier reports said.

Chongqing was reportedly one of China's biggest centres for weapons trafficking, while the gangs also controlled prostitution, gambling, drugs, entertainment and many local businesses, including one city bus company.

City courts also tried a major organized criminal gang in April, sentencing 19 people after convicting them of murder, drug trafficking, robbery, illegal possession of firearms, and bribing police officers.

In an editorial on Monday, the official China Daily newspaper said the provision of "protective umbrellas" to the gangs by municipal government officials and police officers was a problem of China's "transition from a planned economy to a market one."

France flies three illegal Afghan immigrants back to Kabul

Paris - France has flown three Afghan citizens, who were illegally on French soil, to the Afghan capital Kabul, Immigration Minister Eric Besson said Wednesday. The flight, made jointly with British authorities, left Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport near midnight Tuesday and was the first such "charter" carrying forcibly expelled immigrants from France back to their home country in four years.

It was not clear how many Afghans expelled from Britain were on the plane.

Besson told Europe 1 radio that the three men would be returning to Kabul, "where there is no threat to their physical safety."

But a broad alliance of charities working with immigrants have mounted a vocal opposition to the flights, saying they contravened the European Declaration of Human Rights because they exposed the returning Afghans to war and terrorism.

On October 6, a planned flight of illegal immigrants to Afghanistan was annulled when the European Court of Human Rights suspended the forced expulsion of seven Afghans on a technicality.

Pakistan to help Iran root out Jundallah

Pakistan says it will help the Tehran government locate and arrest the masterminds behind a deadly terrorist attack that killed scores of people in southeastern Iran.

In remarks published on Wednesday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced that an Iranian delegation will soon arrive in Islamabad for talks on the matter.

"We will help them and support them in unearthing the people responsible …We will sort this thing out on a government-to-government basis," Reuters quoted Qureshi as saying.

He said terrorism was a regional problem and Iran and Pakistan should join forces in rooting out extremism and radicalism.

"What we are asking is that we as neighbors, as friends, as brotherly friendly countries, have to adopt a cooperative regional approach to deal with this menace," he continued. "Pakistan is suffering, Pakistan is a victim of terrorism."

At least 42 people, including senior commanders from the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Nour-Ali Shoushtari and Rajab-Ali Mohammadzadeh, were killed in a Sunday morning bombing during a gathering of Shia and Sunni tribal leaders in the borderline region of Pishin.

The Pakistan-based Jundallah terrorist group, which is closely affiliated with the notorious al-Qaeda organization, has claimed responsibility for the bomb blast.

Led by Abdulmalek Rigi, Jundallah terrorists have staged a tidal wave of bombings and terrorist attacks in Iran, one of which left at least 25 Iranians dead in early June.

The Asia Times reported in May, that al-Qaeda militants had sought to establish an alliance with the exiled Jundallah to fulfill longstanding plans of creating a strategic corridor in the region and lay the foundation for joint regional operations in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.

Abdulhamid Rigi, the apprehended brother of the Jundallah point-man, told Press TV in a recent interview that Abdulmalek had held several "confidential" meetings with FBI and CIA agents in Karachi and Islamabad.

He added that during one of the meetings, two female US agents had offered weapons, safe bases in Afghanistan and professional trainers and had attempted to recruit volunteers.

Abdulhamid's remarks comes two years after The Sunday Telegraph declared Jundallah to be a CIA brainchild engineered to achieve the Bush-era goal of "regime change in Iran."

Iran 'steadfast' on nuclear deal with West

Iran says it is determined to cooperate on a deal to provide a research reactor with nuclear fuel in line with its rights and national interest.

On the third and final day of a nuclear sit-down in Vienna, Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh, said Iran laid down its terms and conditions during the meeting "through logic and reason."

"The onus is now on Western countries to review their options and respond as to whether they agree to our proposals," he added on Wednesday.

Speaking exclusively to Press TV, Soltaniyeh described the Vienna talks as “three days of intensive technical discussions on all aspects of an agreement for the supply of the nuclear fuel for Tehran research reactor.”

He also mentioned that the Vienna talks were stalled on Monday and consecutively on Tuesday due to lack of concurrence and harmony among Western diplomats.

"Contrary to the Western delegation's discordant and inharmonious stance, the Iranian diplomats began the negotiations with stamina and endurance," said Soltaniyeh, who led a high-level delegation of nuclear experts to the meeting.

His remarks come only hours after IAEA Director-General Mohammed ElBaradei, proposed and sent a draft nuclear agreement to the governments of Iran, Russia, the United States and France.

"I have circulated a draft agreement that in my judgment reflects a balanced approach to how to move forward," said ElBaradei after the meeting broke up around 1 p.m. local time (1100 GMT) in Vienna.

"I very much hope that people see the big picture - that this agreement could pave the way for a complete normalization of relations between Iran and the international community," he added.

Details of the deal have not been confirmed, but the plan is believed to involve Iran trading its low-level uranium with higher level. Iran has repeatedly maintained that it prefers to buy the fuel rather than exchanging it.

ElBaradei said the countries have until Friday, October 23, to inform the UN nuclear body whether they accept the compromise.

Diplomats from Iran, France, Russia and the United States gathered in Vienna on Monday for three days of talks on a deal to supply highly-enriched uranium for Tehran's research reactor.

Tehran's research reactor, which supplies medical isotopes for treating cancer to more than 200 hospitals in Iran, requires uranium enriched up to 20 percent.

US after new military ventures in Africa

The United States is taking its military venture in Africa to new levels amid suspicions that Washington could be advancing yet another hidden agenda.

American operatives are expected to fly pilot-less surveillance aircrafts over the Seychellois territory from US ships off its coast, in what Washington claims are meant to spy on the Somali pirates, according to a BBC report on Wednesday.

Washington has also started to equip Mali with USD 4.5 million worth of military vehicles and communications equipment, in what is reported to be an increasing US involvement in Africa.

The latter nation is reportedly cooperating with the US to fend off alleged al-Qaeda operatives in North Africa.

The developments come as the White House seeks grounds to establish a major military presence in Africa.

US officials have been strongly arguing that there is an alleged terror nexus in Somalia along with a militant-run recruitment network which, they claim, could ensnare the Somali-American community.

The US reportedly started operating spy planes over Somalia in 2006 when it generously aided an Ethiopian military intervention in the Horn of Africa nation.

Commenting on the developments, analyst caution that similar pretexts were used to justify the US invasion of Afghanistan, the missile attacks in Pakistan, and its waning military operations in Iraq, where the civilian population continue to bear the brunt of the US intervention.

Iran again rejects UAE claims over 3 PG islands

Iran reiterates, once again, its legal dominion over the three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Mousa and the two Tunbs, objecting to “baseless” claims by UAE's parliament speaker.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman dismissed on Wednesday UAE's claims over the three Persian Gulf islands, stressing that they remain an indisputable part of the Iranian territory.

Despite the repeated claims by the UAE officials regarding their sovereignty over the small Persian Gulf islands, Iranian officials continue to emphasize that they are indivisible part of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman added that arguing about the islands in different assemblies and summits will not help in the way of removing any potential misunderstandings about the Iranian jurisdiction over the three islands.

Last May, a communiqué released at the end of the 3rd ministerial meeting of China-Arab cooperation forum in Bahrain expressed mutual support of any peaceful effort aimed at settling the dispute over the three islands, including negotiations in accordance with international law and initiatives from the UAE.

International documents establish that the islands, historically the territory of Iran, were temporarily under British control when the UK had a presence in the region. However, the islands were formally returned to Tehran on November 30, 1971 following the withdrawal of British forces from the area.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=109257§ionid=351020101.

WFP shuts down food centers in Pakistan

Amid rising insurgency in Pakistan, the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP) has shut down its distribution centers in the country's north-west over security concerns.

"We have closed all our food distribution centers in Swabi, Charsadda, Mardan, Swat, Buner, Dir and Bajaur which are the humanitarian hubs for internally displaced people in the region," a spokesman for WFP said in Islamabad on Wednesday.

This comes after a WFP center was attacked in the capital Islamabad earlier this month. Five people were killed in the strike.

The UN agency handed out food to more than two million people in the Swat Valley and its adjoining districts.

Most of the people were displaced by the fighting between the military and militants in the region.

This is while, the UN says the renewed fighting in South Waziristan could force up to 250,000 people to flee their homes.

North Korea 'more lethal' than ever, says US

North Korea's nuclear program and its proliferation of nuclear know-how gravely imperil the global stability, says Robert Gates warning that the US does not accept a nuclear-capable Pyongyang.

The US defense secretary, addressing a gathering of US and South Korean soldiers in Seoul on Wednesday, warned that Pyongyang with its nuclear arsenal poses threats "even more lethal and destabilizing" than before.

"America's long-term military commitment here recognizes that the peril posed by the North Korean regime remains, and in many ways has become even more lethal and destabilizing," Gates was quoted by Reuters as saying.

"There should be no mistaking that we do not today, nor will we ever, accept a North Korea with nuclear weapons," said Gates, who was in South Korea after visiting Japan.

Gates added that Washington will not hesitate to protect its regional allies against Pyongyang by providing a nuclear umbrella or deploying a missile shield.

North Korea has so far defied Washington's threats against its nuclear program. It has tested numerous missiles this year and has boosted the number of its soldiers to ward off a possible military encounter with the South.

Abdullah warns of 'fraud' in Afghan runoff poll

In Afghanistan, presidential contender Abdullah Abdullah has called for measures to prevent a repeat of fraud in the forthcoming second round election face-off with President Hamid Karzai.

Abdullah made the comments after a UN-backed commission, pushed by Western leaders of NATO members, claimed widespread vote rigging in favor of Karzai during the August vote and trimmed his 55% share of the vote to just below 50 percent, to force a new vote.

The United Nations has 'promised' that all necessary measures will be taken to prevent fraud in the run-off election.

Questions have been raised about such promises by the UN since it also had a major role in overseeing the first election.

However, the UN does caution that the next vote will not be perfect either, adding that the current insecurity in the country will hamper efforts to hold the run-off as flawless as possible.

Also, the European Union has declared that it is not able to send monitors for the next election. It has cited 'safety concerns' and the short notice as the reasons for the decision.

The second round is due to be held on November seventh despite the prospect of severe weather conditions and persisting security risks for voters.

Observers raise concerns about the legitimacy of the next election, raising doubts about the extent of voter participation when the Europeans, who pushed for another round of votes, express “safety concerns” for their own monitors but expect the Afghan population be unfazed by the lack of security that NATO an US has brought to their country.

It is widely believed that the UN, backed by western nations, forced the second round election to give their favorite candidate, Abdullah Abdullah, another chance to defeat the incumbent President Hamid Karzai, who has fallen out of their favor.

Israel pulls textbook with chapter on Nakba

The Ministry of Education has taken the unusual step of collecting all copies of the history textbook, "Nationalism: Building a State in the Middle East" which was published about two months ago by the Zalman Shazar Center. They will be returned to the shelves only after corrections are made to the text, particularly with reference to the War of Independence.

The book had already been approved by the ministry.

"Collecting the books from the shops is an unnecessary [form of] censorship," said Dr. Tsafrir Goldberg, who wrote the controversial chapter on the war. "The process of approving the text was completed in serious fashion from both the pedagogic and the historic points of view. The fact that the education minister changed does not mean that it is possible to bypass this procedure."

On September 22, Haaretz reported that the textbook, which is meant for 11th and 12th-grades, for the first time presented the Palestinian claim that there had been ethnic cleansing in 1948.

"The Palestinians and the Arab countries contended that most of the refugees were civilians who were attacked and expelled from their homes by armed Jewish forces, which instituted a policy of ethnic cleansing, contrary to the proclamations of peace in the Declaration of Independence," states the text, which presented the Palestinian and the Israeli-Jewish versions side by side.

Criticism about the book was voiced by history teachers.

"Presenting Israel's claims as being equal to those of Arab propagandists is exactly like presenting the claims of the Nazis alongside those of the Jews," one of them said.

On the other hand, another teacher noted that the most important component in studying history is to introduce as many points of view as possible.

Following the newspaper report, Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar instructed the ministry's director general, Shimshon Shoshani, to examine the book and look into the process of approving texts in general.

Officials in the ministry said Sunday that an examination carried out by Michael Yaron, who is in charge of history studies, found "a great many mistakes, some of them serious. As a result of this examination it was decided that the original version of the textbook must be withdrawn and returned to the stores only after being corrected."

Among other things, the Shazar Center was asked to exchange the original Palestinian text that appears in the book, written by Walid Khalidi, for another that is closer to reality, said Goldberg, who finished making the changes recently.

Another demand was that the term "ethnic cleansing" be redacted. Goldberg says that he changed the phrase and spoke instead of an organized policy of expulsion.

When the corrections have been completed, the book will be reviewed again at the publishers and in the ministry, before it is given final approval.

"The state has the right to determine the contents of textbooks but this is not supposed to be done by the education minister," Goldberg said.

He noted, though, that some of the remarks were merely cosmetic and did not pose any problem. "The publishing house decided to make the corrections as a form of self censorship," Goldberg said.

Zvi Yekutiel, the executive director of the Shazar Center, said that "the book has to be aimed at the widest possible consensus and not at the fringes on the left or the right. We made a mistake and we are correcting it."

Last month, Yekutiel said that there had been no remarks about the chapter on the War of Independence during the process of approving the book.

He added that "the explicit instruction from the ministry was to include controversial points of view so that the students can confront them and make up their own minds."

Yekutiel said the ministry would pay for the collection of the books from the stores.

The ministry approved the textbook for use in the schools on July 26, after it had been sent to two external assessors - an academic and a teacher.

It was granted approval after an examination of its suitability for the curriculum and its scientific reliability.

The ministry spokesman said last week that, "from the start the book was intended to go into use as a textbook only from this coming January, so the students were not yet exposed to the relevant material. It was decided as well that the director general's circular should be corrected to make it clear that the responsibility and authority for approving textbooks is on the inspectors and coordinators who are responsible for the various subjects taught and who have to examine the books before they are approved and pass on their remarks and instructions."

Hamas refuses any proposal dissolving its armed wing

Dissolving the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) would be easier than breaking up the armed wing of Islamic Hamas movement, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

"Dismantling al-Qassam brigades or any other wing of the Palestinian resistance is an unattainable dream," said Abu Obaida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing.

"What we can say is that dismantling the authority (PNA) is worthier and easier than doing this with al-Qassam," he added in a statement sent to the media.

According to Abu Obaida, freezing the armed wings of the Palestinian factions was suggested in the latest Egyptian proposal which aims at reconciling Hamas and Fatah movement.

"Any document, paper or agreement that harms the resistance or tries to exclude it would be incomplete and impossible to meet the reality," he added.

Abu Obaida said his movement "needs a full clarification" from Egypt over that point.

Hamas, which routed pro-Abbas forces and seized control of Gaza in 2007, has not yet responded to Egypt which had initially set October 25 as the date for declaring the Palestinian unity agreement.

Egypt has reportedly got fed up with Hamas' continued delaying while Fatah has accepted the Egyptian proposal which calls for holding presidential and parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories in the middle of next year.

Mars Caves May Hold Secret to Life on Planet, Shelter Explorers

By Ryan Flinn

Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Scientists have discovered a series of caves on Mars that might provide shelter to future explorers and may hold evidence of life, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The caves were probably formed when lava cooled and solidified on top of channels created during ancient volcanic eruptions, making tunnels, said a statement today from the USGS.

The formations may hold evidence of microbial life that would have been destroyed or buried on the surface of the planet, said Glen Cushing, a USGS physicist who made the discovery.

“There’s even been speculation that lava tubes could be sealed and pressured to create a habitat for long term use,” said Cushing in a telephone interview from Portland, Oregon. “That’s in the pretty far distant future, but it’s seems like a fairly reasonable prospect once we do get to that level.”

NASA is currently planning to return humans to the moon by 2020 as a step toward an eventual manned mission to Mars.

Cushing, 39, discovered the caves by studying images of grooves on the planet’s surface, some longer than 100 kilometers (62 miles), with depressions he said are skylight entrances into the tunnels.

While every planetary body likely has some sort of cave system, the eight examples found on Mars are the first to be discovered off of Earth, he said.

“It’s not surprising to find them, and we figure they almost certainly had to be there, we just hadn’t located them yet,” he said.

The depressions were detected on high-resolution images beamed back from orbiting satellites.

“By finding caves on Mars, USGS scientists have demonstrated once again that real, cutting-edge science is more exciting than the best science fiction ever written,” U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in the statement.

Troops shifted from Kashmir Valley to Doda

Jammu, Oct 20 : Two battalions of the Indian Army shifted out last week from the Kashmir Valley have been deployed in the mountainous Doda district of Jammu region, officials said Tuesday.

The two battalions - one each from Qazigund, 80 km south of Srinager, and the other from Handwara, 100 km north of Srinagar -- were shifted out last week, giving an impression that the troops were being reduced in Kashmir, where Kashmiri separatists and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have raised demands for the withdrawal of troops.

"Basically, we wanted these troops to launch an overall offensive in Doda district, where militants from the valley have shifted in large numbers in the past couple of months," an officer told IANS.

The shift is seen to serve two purposes. One, political and separatist groups in the valley were given the impression that the process of thinning out of troops had started.

More importantly, the offensive against militants in the difficult terrain, would get intensified.

"The results of shifting the troops would be known in the days to come in Doda district," the officer said.

Somalia: Somalia Troops Arrive in Mogadishu After Djibouti Training

20 October 2009

Mogadishu — Somali government troops who completed military training in the neighboring Republic of Djibouti have landed in the capital Mogadishu, a day after 11 people were killed in insurgent attacks, Radio Garowe reports.

The Somali troops arrived at Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport on Tuesday, where they were welcomed by Somali Defense Minister Abdalla Haji Boss and the spokesman of the African Union peacekeeping force (AMISOM) in Mogadishu, Maj. Bahoku Barigye.

The troops were transported in a private airplane from Djibouti, with Defense Minister Boss saying that they were training to help the Somali interim government restore order, especially in Mogadishu.

Somali government officials would not confirm the exact number of soldiers and local media was prohibited from the airport, but it the first batch of Somali soldiers to arrive in Mogadishu after completing military training in Djibouti. Some reports say around 800 Somali soldiers are being trained in Djibouti.

The newly arrived troops marched in front of the Somali government officials before being transported to Villa Somalia presidential compound, where President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed briefly addressed the troops.

The Somali interim government and its AMISOM backers is combating insurgents who have vowed to overthrow the UN-recognized government in Mogadishu.

Thousands of people have been killed and over one million displaced since the insurgency erupted in early 2007.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/200910201125.html.

Iranian musicians enthrall people in Kashmir

Tuesday 20th October, 2009

Srinagar, Oct 20 : Residents of Kashmir were treated to Iranian music during a Sufi music event held in Srinagar.

The five-member group enthralled the music lovers during 'Jahan-e-Khusrau', a show dedicated to Sufi music, which was organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages in collaboration with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), India's foreign affairs ministry, the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department and the Rumi Foundation.

For the singers from Iran, the experience of performing in Kashmir was quite good.

Though many singers performed at the event, it was the Iranian group that stole the hearts of the people.

"It seemed as if it was a gathering of Sufi musicians. We had Iranian musicians, group from Awadh and then there were Kashmiri singers, " said Tabrez Ahmed, a resident.

Central Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Farooq Abdullah, elt such events would help in facilitating friendship between the people.

"Such events could help in increasing friendship between us. It would help in lessening the distances," said Farooq Abdullah.

The event was held to keep alive the tradition of Sufi music in the valley.

Kashmiri separatist leader seeks vacation of land occupied by Indian troopers

Chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani Monday called for an agitation against the land occupied by the Indian troopers in India-controlled Kashmir.

While addressing the press conference in Srinagar, the summer capital of India-controlled Kashmir, Geelani announced a campaign demanding vacation of land under army and paramilitary troopers stationed in the region.

"I shall be announcing a detailed protest program against the illegal occupation of land by the Indian troopers in Kashmir. We had earlier announced that Hurriyat will launch a campaign against illegal occupation of land by the security forces after Eid. However, the program could not kick start because of our arrest. Now the festival is over we have decided to educate people in this regard," Geelani said.

Geelani said the Hurriyat will be calling for one-day strike and peaceful demonstrations in every district of the region separately.

"The demonstrations will be peaceful and there will be no provocative slogans. However, a Kashmir bandh will also be called after all the districts are covered," the aged leader said.

Meanwhile, police raided the venue of the press conference and arrested three of Geelani's activists who were raising pro-freedom slogans.

According to Geelani Indian, army and paramilitary troopers have occupied 138,057 hectares (276,1140 kannals) of land across the region.

Kashmiris head for Mecca to pray for peace

SRINIGAR, India (AFP) - More than 400 Muslims from Kashmir headed Tuesday for the annual hajj pilgrimage, with many saying they would pray for peace in the Indian-administered state and neighboring Pakistan.

The first batch of pilgrims were due to fly to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia late Tuesday where they will tour holy sites before taking part in the pilgrimage to Mecca, which starts late November.

"My preference will be to pray for peace in Kashmir and Pakistan," said Nissar Ahmed, a 39-year Kashmiri, as he prepared to board the plane.

The subsided airfare on state-run Air India for hajj pilgrims has this year been increased for the first time in 15 years, up a third to 16,000 rupees (350 dollars), according to the Hindustan Times newspaper.

The government increased the price to reduce its subsidy for the pilgrims, which reached 4.0-5.0 billion rupees in previous years, the report said.

The Times of India said 167,000 pilgrims would leave India for Mecca, all issued with a mandatory health certificate saying they are free from swine flu.

Kashmiri Muslims are strongly attached to Islamic Pakistan and recurring violence there is a source of concern among many residents here.

"In every prayer, I will urge a return of complete peace to Kashmir and an end to violence in Pakistan," said Afaq Qadri, 45, a businessman, who was heading to Mecca with his mother, wife and two-year-old son.

Indian Kashmir has been rocked by violence for the last 20 years due to an armed struggle against New Delhi's rule that has left over 47,000 people dead by an official count.

Pakistan, which holds one-third of the Kashmir region, is accused by India of arming and funding the unrest, an accusation Islamabad denies.

The neighbors have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir but violence has dropped sharply since they started a peace process in 2004.

Israel bars French visit to Gaza

JERUSALEM, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has rejected a request by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to visit Gaza, an Israeli official said.

Netanyahu said Hamas would take advantage of such a visit to create media frenzy and show the damage caused in Israel's military offensive in Gaza earlier this year, the official told Haaretz Wednesday.

The Israeli prime minister reportedly stated his reasons in a letter sent to Kouchner, the newspaper said.

Kouchner had planned to visit a local hospital in Gaza currently being rebuilt after Netanyahu approved a French government request to allow the entry of building materials into the Gaza Strip last month, Haaretz said.

Netanyahu turned down similar requests submitted by European Union policy chief Javier Solana and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to visit Gaza in the past.

In September, while attending the United Nations General Assembly, French President Nikolas Sarkozy asked Netanyahu to permit the entry of building materials in order to rebuild the hospital damaged during Operation Cast Lead.

India's new missile is able to attack China's Harbin

October 14, 2009

India's Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) has made its forthcoming Agni-5 missile highly road-mobile, or easily transportable by road, which would bring Harbin, China's northernmost city within striking range if the Agni-5 is moved to northeast India.

The Agni-5 is similar to the Dongfeng-31A presented in China's National Day Military Parade in Beijing . India is going to test-fire the missile in early 2011.

The ASL, which develops India's long-range, nuclear-tipped missiles, enables the Agni-5 to reach targets far beyond its stated 5,000-km range by quickly moving closer to the target. Therefore, from various places across India, the Agni-5 can reach every continent except North and South America.

Somalia Islamists shut down two radio stations

October 21, 2009

The Islamist rulers of southern Somali town of Baidoa on Wednesday ordered the closure of two local radio stations for an indefinite time.

In a decree issued by the local Al Shabaab appointed Islamist administration, the two local independent FM radio stations, Warsan and Jubba, were ordered to halt their transmission "until further notice".

"If you fail to comply with the order to close the stations you will face severe punishment in accordance with the law," the decree said.

The Islamists administrators did not say why they decided to close down the stations in Baidoa, the provincial capital of Bay region, 245 km southwest of Mogadishu.

Local journalists advocate group, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), condemned the closure of the radio stations as "acts of suppression', calling for immediate resumption of the radios' programs.

"We condemn this act of closing down the radio stations in Baidoa and Al-Shabab must end these acts of suppression by immediately allowing the radio stations for resumption," Omar Faruk Osman, NUSOJ secretary General said in a statement.

Al Shabaab, considered by Somali government as a terrorist group with links to Al Qaeda, controls much of southern Somalia and wants to establish a Islamic state which implements stricter version of Islamic law in Somalia.

Local and international media watchdogs consider Somalia as one of the worst places for journalists to operate as nearly 20 journalists have been killed since January 2008.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90855/6790079.html.

Rising oil price may hinder Indonesia's growth: president

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned against the volatile global oil prices which could be an obstacle for economic growth in the country in the coming years, local media reported in Jakarta Wednesday.

The oil price has climbed to above 80 U.S. dollars a barrel. The country's central bank has predicted that the inflation in the country next year would be between 4 percent to 6 percent as the global economy stars to recover, according to Wednesday's report on the Jakarta Post.

"Oil and commodity prices are still fluctuating, threatening our economic stability and certainty," Susilo was quoted by the report as saying.

Oil increased for an eighth day, the longest rising streak over two years, as equity indexes rose to one-year high amid positive earnings and speculation policy makers may retract cash added to the financial system. The dollar fell, boosting the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment.

"When oil prices go up, our challenge is to prepare the people to deal with the shock so they can still run their activities and maintain their purchasing power," Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati was quoted as saying.

The minister added that the government had experienced "difficult" situations in the past five years due to fluctuating global oil prices.

"How does one design a subsidy policy that protects people's purchasing power and the economy, while also maintaining the sustainability of the state budget?" she said.

An increase in the cost of subsidized fuels will hurt people's purchasing power, which contributes 60 percent of Indonesia's economy, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS). The government has allocated 7.34 billion U.S dollars in the 2010 state budget to fuel subsidies.

Mulyani refused to comment on whether the government might raise fuel prices next year, as it did in 2008 when global oil prices rose above 120 U.S. dollars per barrel.

In the 2010 budget, the government aims to achieve a 5.5-percent growth rate next year.

Iran to open int'l oil bourse

Iran plans to launch an oil bourse at Kish Island in the Persian Gulf to offer crude and petrochemical products.

"Next week the international exchange hall of crude, oil products and petrochemical goods of Iran's Mercantile Exchange will be inaugurated" to help develop "national economy," said Ali Akbar Hashemian, director general of Iran's Mercantile Exchange Company.

Hashemian expressed hope the bourse would increase trade of oil products and encourage investment in the energy sector.

The Tehran-based Iran Mercantile Exchange is using 'spot' rather than futures trading, requiring immediate payment and delivery of the physical product.

The first phase of the bourse kicked off in 2008.

Iran, holder of the world's second-largest oil and gas reserves, is trying to play a more active role in oil and petrochemical transactions in international markets.

The Islamic Republic also wants to encourage local investors to participate in the oil market as it tries to reduce the state's role in the country's energy industry.

China warns ships to avoid Somali waters

Wed Oct 21, 2009

Chinese ships have been warned by the government to avoid waters off Somali coast due to the seizure of a Chinese coal ship De Xin Hai.

Beijing is still trying to recover the De Xin Hai and its crew of 25 Chinese nationals which was abducted about 700 nautical miles east of Somalia, where piracy has become a bane to the region's busy sea lanes.

China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the government had set in motion efforts to rescue the captured ship. Pirates told Reuters that the crew could be killed if authorities try such an operation.

"Experts said it was more likely that a ransom would be paid than a rescue operation mounted," reported the China Daily, the country's official English-language newspaper.

The China Transport News warned that the growing effectiveness of naval patrols in the Gulf of Aden and seasonal shifts bringing milder winds made it more tempting for pirates to go after ships in the broader seas of the Indian Ocean.

"This may lead to increased hijackings," said the Chinese-language newspaper. "In particular, vessels with low freeboards and slower speeds must be especially vigilant."

Indian coal traders feared that Monday's incident — the first reported hijacking of a coal vessel by Somali pirates — could mean the gunmen would start targeting other coal ships because these dry bulk vessels lie low in the water and have few crews onboard.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/109231.html.

Iran swine flue death toll hits 16

Iran's Health Ministry's latest updates confirm that swine flu has claimed the lives of 16 people across the country as new infected cases push the tally to 1194.

"The number of swine flu deaths in Iran has reached 16. The country's central cities of Qom and Arak as well as some cities in southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan have the highest rate," said Deputy Health Minister Hassan Emami-Razavi.

He added that 1194 confirmed A/H1N1 cases have so far been identified in the country.

Emami-Razavi has warned families about the high risk of contracting swine flu in the flu season especially with schools increasing children's interaction.

“Precautionary measures must be taken seriously in schools to prevent epidemic spread of the disease. Classes must be closed in case of pandemic,” the Iranian health official said. “However, one case in a class must not be mistaken by a pandemic and classes must not close for one case.”

According to the country's officials, adopting simple precautionary measures such as washing hands frequently, using a tissue at the time of coughing and sneezing and avoiding kissing can help contain the virus.

Iranian authorities had earlier canceled the Umrah (the minor pilgrimage) in the holy month of Ramadan with the aim of containing the A/H1N1 virus.

Iran's first swine flu case was a 16-year-old Iranian-American boy, who tested positive for the disease on June 22, upon his arrival in Tehran.

Hamas Opens Another Police Academy

GAZA CITY [MENL] -- The Hamas regime has opened another police academy in the Gaza Strip.

Officials said Hamas would launch its second police academy in the Gaza Strip as part of a drive to professionalize the security forces. They said the new school would enroll up to 200 students, many of them already in the police and security forces.

Jordan Orders Combat Training Center

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Jordan's military has ordered a combat training center from the United States.

The Jordanian Armed Services, in cooperation with the U.S. Army, has begun selecting equipment and systems for a mobile combat training center. The Jordanian military has approved one award to the U.S. firm Cubic Defense Applications for systems to train battalion-sized units.

Clashes over slums break out in Algiers

2009-10-21

Youths from slum in Algiers clash with police in protest against poor housing conditions.

ALGIERS - Youths from a slum in Algeria's capital clashed Tuesday with police in a protest against their housing conditions, leaving at least 11 policemen injured.

Similar incidents had occurred on Monday as residents of the Diar Echems working-class district of Algiers protested against their squalid housing and demanded new homes.

At around 3:30 pm (1430 GMT), dozens of youths were harassing riot police by throwing stones and other projectiles at them from an area that overlooks the road, which was closed to all traffic.

At least 11 police officers were wounded, according to a journalist at the scene. The police practically sealed off the area, keeping the youths at a distance. Some of the youths wore balaclavas to hide their faces.

The police then brought in anti-riot vehicles and beefed up their presence to pre-empt further clashes and attacks on banks and shops near the area.

Residents of the district sometimes live 10 to a single room or in shacks, according to accounts in the Algerian press, and they have begun to protest at these conditions and press for better housing.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=35126.

Iraqi MPs fail to agree on election law

No agreement has been reached on new electoral law due to stalemate over Kirkuk province.

BAGHDAD - Iraqi MPs failed Wednesday to agree on a new electoral law intended to establish more transparency for polls due in January because of a stalemate over the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.

Parliamentary speaker Iyad al-Samarrai told reporters the issue had been referred to a senior political council made up of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani and the leaders of major political parties.

"The issue has failed and has been moved on to the Political Council for National Security," said Samarrai, adding lawmakers would vote on it on Monday if the council made a proposal by Sunday.

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Iraq's parliament to end delays and pass the law so that the elections can take place on time in January.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=35139.

Israel wants international law of war changed

Israel fails to call for internal investigation into alleged war crimes after damning UN Gaza report.

TEL AVIV - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his government on Tuesday to draw up proposals to amend the international laws of war after a damning UN report on its war in Gaza.

The security cabinet did not, however, discuss calls made by ministers for an internal investigation into the 22-day offensive at the turn of the year that killed some 1,400 Palestinians (mainly civilians) and 13 Israelis, an said.

"The prime minister instructed the relevant government bodies to examine a worldwide campaign to amend the international laws of war to adapt them to the spread of global terrorism," his office said in a statement.

Israel was dealt a heavy diplomatic blow with the adoption by the UN Human Rights Council of the report that accused both Israel and the Hamas of war crimes.

Israel's closest allies, the United States, Britain and France urged it to investigate war crime allegations raised by the fact-finding missions headed by Richard Goldstone, a former international war crimes prosecutor.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak backed Netanyahu's call for a diplomatic campaign, saying that Israel should propose changes in the international laws of war.

Netanyahu dismissed the Goldstone report on the Gaza war and vowed that Israel would not give up its right of self-defense.

"We are struggling to delegitimise the ongoing attempts to delegitimise Israel... We must persistently fight this lie, which is being spread by the Goldstone report," Netanyahu was quoted as saying.

"I want to make it clear: no one will weaken our ability and right to defend our children, citizens and communities."

Meanwhile, extremist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, reiterating Israel's stance that peace talks with the Palestinians could not progress amid international support for the Goldstone report.

Lieberman said Palestinian support for the report "raises real questions about the true intentions of the Palestinians: Is it the establishment of a Palestinian state or the destruction of the State of Israel?" he said according to a statement from his office.

Goldstone, the respected South African jurist who led the UN fact-finding team, recommended that the conclusions of the report be forwarded to the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court at The Hague if the two sides fail to conduct credible investigations into the conflict within six months.

Israel has slammed it as a "diplomatic farce" and threatened to sink the stalled Middle East peace process.

Goldstone, who has faced a storm of personal attacks inside Israel since the report's publication, dismissed the argument and urged Israel state to comply with the recommendation to investigate the war.

"It's a shallow, utterly false allegation," Goldstone said during a meeting with a group of rabbis in the United States, remarks aired on Monday by Israeli public radio.

"What peace process are they talking about? There isn't one. The Israeli foreign minister doesn't want one," Goldstone said.

Iraqi shoe-thrower launches aid foundation

Zaidi’s humanitarian foundation aims to help Iraqi widows, orphans, build hospitals, medical centers in Iraq.

GENEVA - An Iraqi journalist who was jailed for throwing his shoes at US President George W. Bush on Monday launched a foundation to help Iraqi widows and orphans.

"I am making an appeal on behalf of my people and I announce the launch of a humanitarian foundation for my people," Muntazer al-Zaidi told journalists in Geneva.

"I am planning to help orphans, widows and the deported in priority. We want to build hospitals, medical centers, a center to replace limbs of people handicapped by this war," he added.

A website has been created for the Al Zaidi Foundation, which already has a capital of 50,000 Swiss francs (33,021 euros/49,387 dollars), although Zaidi would only say that the funds came "from friends."

Zaidi criticized the war in Iraq, calling on the international community to bring those responsible for the war "led by George Bush" to justice.

According to official figures from Iraq's human rights ministry, more than 85,000 Iraqis died violently from 2004 to 2008.

The data did not include the number of dead and wounded in the immediate aftermath of the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Independent British website www.iraqbodycount.org calculates that at least 93,540 people died in Iraq from the beginning of the war until August 2009.

Zaidi had filed a claim for asylum in Switzerland before deciding to withdraw it. He arrived in Switzerland on Tuesday on a tourist visa.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=35089.

Iraq occupation set to continue despite imperialist lies

Iraq occupation set to continue despite imperialist lies
So-called withdrawal frees U.S. military for expansion of Afghanistan occupation

James Circello

PSL, October 19, 2009

The debate among the politicians in Washington and the Pentagon brass about their next steps in the brutal war against the people of Afghanistan are splashed across the front pages. The occupation of Iraq has been given a back seat in the discussion, despite continuing U.S. violence and popular resistance.

The mainstream media, which exists to serve the interests of the capitalist class, is fashioning the so-called withdrawal as if it were a real diminishing of the occupation.

Recently the New York Times published an article that opened with this sentence: "There is no more visible sign that America is putting the Iraq war behind it than the colossal operation to get its stuff out: 20,000 soldiers, nearly a sixth of the force here, assigned to a logistical effort aimed at dismantling some 300 bases and shipping out 1.5 million pieces of equipment, from tanks to coffee makers."

Only a mouthpiece of U.S. imperialism could call the removal of only a sixth of an occupation force, leaving tens of thousands of soldiers and between 130,000 and 180,000 U.S.-paid private contractors and numerous bases in another country putting the war "behind it."

The fact that dozens of bases will remain in Iraq long after the United States puts the Iraq war "behind it" clearly demonstrates that the U.S. ruling class has no intention of truly relinquishing Iraq. These bases—six of which are so-called "supersize bases"—will continue to be filled with the boots and rifles of U.S. occupational forces.

The same NY Times article notes that at least 50,000 troops will be left in Iraq through at least 2011. Soldiers, airmen and marines will continue to kill innocent Iraqis, while simultaneously building the military might of a puppet Iraqi army. The purpose of that reduction in Iraq, according to the senior commander in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, is to free up U.S. soldiers to go to Afghanistan.

Much of the equipment that is removed from Iraq is simply being sent to Afghanistan to help expand the war and occupation there. Whether the equipment is all transferred to Afghanistan or not, every vehicle or piece of equipment taken from a base in Iraq will soon be used for war or occupation in the interests of U.S. imperialism. The same "withdrawal" policy applies to the nearly one-quarter of a million foreign-occupation force that exists in Iraq right now. Every set of boots that is removed from Iraq will eventually end up in Afghanistan or some other country to continue the U.S. colonial project in the Middle East and Central Asia.

More sleight of hand by U.S. imperialism

U.S. policymakers have continued to throw out tentative time lines and dates for what they would want us to believe will signal the end of the occupation. These dates always come with strings attached and are always subject to change based on guidance from generals "on-the-ground."

We have seen, for instance, that the ruling-class proclamation that "as of June 30 all U.S. troops are out of Iraqi cities," was totally false. In some cases, city borders were redrawn in order to leave the U.S. bases and outposts outside of city boundaries. None of the deadlines or timelines actually means the end of the Iraqi occupation.

The U.S.-led war on the people of Iraq did not begin in 2003 when bombs struck Baghdad. At that point the war was already well into its 12th year. The United States invaded Iraq in 1991. Following that invasion, more than a million Iraqis died while living under a different type of war—a war of genocidal sanctions. These sanctions were pushed for and enforced by the United States with the intention of toppling the Iraqi government and creating the ability to colonize Iraq without a ground invasion. The ruling class never got the results it was looking for and was forced to change its tactics—opting for an air and land invasion in 2003.

This so-called withdrawal is a continuation of using different tactics to achieve the same goal: imperialist domination and exploitation. The U.S. ruling class is invested in maintaining the occupation and due to multiple factors—most notably the heroic resistance by the Iraqi people against its occupiers—has now chosen to change its policies and the appearance of the occupation in Iraq.

For the millions of families in Iraq and Afghanistan that have seen loved ones die while living under occupation, the nature of the experience doesn’t change by simply lowering troop levels from 125,000 to 50,000. Foreign soldiers armed and under the direction of foreign governments in Iraq mean that Iraq is still occupied.

'All troops out now!’

The vast majority of people in the United States are against not only the war in Iraq, but the war in Afghanistan as well. The demand of the anti-war movement must continue to be "all troops out now!"

While the officer class sits in catered office rooms with Washington politicians and mulls over what equipment to leave to the newly formed Iraqi military, discusses the newest phase of its colonial project in Iraq and debates how best to repress the Afghani popular resistance, U.S. soldiers and Iraqis die every day.

The only strategy that is in the interests of the people of Iraq, Afghanistan and the working-class men and women who make up the majority of U.S. soldiers is an immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces from the Middle East, Central Asia and around the world.

March Forward! calls for all soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines to refuse the illegal orders that are being passed down from Washington and given to you by your officers.

Colonial wars are not in our interest and therefore not our wars!

The people of Iraq and Afghanistan are not our enemies!

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=59120&s2=20.

Hunt for Jundallah may cross into Pakistan: Iran MP

October 19, 2009

TEHRAN: An Iranian member of parliament on Monday raised the prospect of a possible cross-border military operation into Pakistan against the terrorist group blamed for a deadly attack on the elite Revolutionary Guards. Iran has in the past alleged that members of the Jundallah group, which state media said claimed Sunday’s suicide bombing in Iran, have been operating from Pakistan.

"There is unanimity about the Revolutionary Guards and the security forces engaging in operations in any place they would deem necessary," ISNA news agency quoted MP Payman Forouzesh as saying, appearing to refer to agreement on the issue among lawmakers.

250 suicide attempts since the beginning of 2009

250 suicide attempts since the beginning of 2009
Suicide rates in Palestine highest ever
Ola al-Madhoun

GAZA, October 20

Suicide rates have reached unprecedented levels in Palestine as economic conditions keep deteriorating and political solutions seem more distant than ever.

According to a report issued by the Ramallah police Planning and Research Department, there have been 250 suicide attempts since the beginning of 2009 with eight deaths. In the Gaza Strip, there were 95 attempts and seven deaths.

Political reasons

Suicide attempts mostly prevail amongst the young, especially amongst those under 21 years old, said Saber Khalifa, spokesman for the Hamas police in the Gaza strip.

"The deplorable conditions in which Palestinians live are the main reason," he told Al Arabiya. "What they have been through since the war on Gaza can not to be downplayed."

Khalifa added that the police and human rights organizations played a major role in interfering in most of those attempts, saving people.

Authorities in Ramallah however, are reluctant to link suicide attempts to the political condition in the occupied territories.

The rise of suicide rates in the West Bank, with an average of three attempts per day, is due to lack of religious principles as well as family problems, said a source in the Palestinian police media bureau from Ramallah.

Social and economic reasons

"The reason is not political, but mainly social and economic," he told Al Arabiya. "Poverty, domestic violence, and unemployment are the main reasons."

The source added that 14 out of the 250 attempts were also for ethical reasons.

According to police statistics, the percentage of women trying to commit suicide is higher than that of men. Out of the total 250 cases, 60.6 percent were women, usually between 16 and 45 years old.

Common attempts to commit suicide in Palestine include drinking chemical substances, drug overdoses, wrist- slitting and jumping from high altitudes.

Dr. Fadel Abu Hein, professor of psychology at al-Aqsa University and director of the Community Training Center for Crisis Management (CTCM) in Gaza, said that people want to end their lives when they lose hope and become unable to adapt to the reality around them.

"For many Palestinians, death is better than life," he told Al Arabiya. "They have reached a degree of depression that makes them lose interest in life."

Israel's blockade

Abu Hein sees the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip as the main reason behind the rising rate of suicide attempts.

"Every aspect of their lives is affected by the blockade. They became enclosed upon themselves and unable to communicate with the outside world. They cannot travel, marry, get an education, or buy basic goods from outside the strip."

The massive destruction that followed the latest Israeli aggression in December 2008-January 2007 is another reason that makes Palestinians in Gaza want to end their lives, Abu Hein added.

"They look around them and see the damage caused by the war and they feel so helpless and unable to do anything, so they become desperate and want to end their lives."

Abu Hein added that even personal problems that cause Palestinians to commit suicide are mostly related to the political situation. He cited the example of a girl he was treating who wanted to end her life because of problems with her husband.

"This is because of the blockade. Before that her husband used to work and he used to have a good income. Now, he is unemployed and unable to provide for his family."

As a result, Hein added, the husband started losing his temper and mistreating his wife and children. The wife, unable to handle the pressure, decided to commit suicide.

Although the West Bank is not besieged like the Gaza Strip, Abu Hein argues that Israel's blockades are still the main reason behind suicide attempts.

"There are hundreds of barriers and checkpoints, Palestinians in the West Bank are isolated from their compatriots in Gaza, and social life and economic conditions are affected by the pressure Israel is exercising on Palestinians," he concluded.

Abbas says to issue decree for Palestinian vote

By Mariam Karouny

CAIRO (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday he would issue a decree on Sunday to hold elections by January 24, a move that could raise pressure on Hamas to sign an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation deal.

Egypt has been trying for more than a year to close a rift between Abbas' secular Fatah party and Islamist Hamas, which won a parliamentary election in 2006 and took over the Gaza Strip in a brief Palestinian civil war in 2007.

"Based on the constitution, we are obliged to issue a decree on October 25 to hold presidential and parliamentary elections before January 24, and we will issue it," Abbas said after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo.

Abbas had said last week that he would hold elections as planned in January unless Hamas agreed to the reconciliation deal, which would delay the polls until June.

Analysts say Abbas would not be able to hold full elections in both Gaza and the West Bank without a deal with Hamas, which has vowed to block voting in Gaza if the ballot was scheduled without its agreement.

"He (Abbas) is just maneuvering and exerting pressure," said Hasan Nafaa, political science professor at Cairo University.

"If he holds the elections without Hamas, he will be the ruler of the West Bank only, and therefore he will decrease his legitimacy as a president of the Palestinian Authority."

Egypt had invited Fatah and Hamas to attend a ceremony later this month in Cairo to sign the reconciliation pact.

But Hamas asked for a postponement and said it was angered after Abbas' government approved a U.N. decision to delay action on the so-called Goldstone report, which accuses Hamas and Israel of war crimes in Gaza but is most critical of the Jewish state.

Abbas, who has said his government erred in approving the delay, has reversed course and the issue was being reconsidered at a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, which he requested.

Abbas accused Hamas on Tuesday of using his government's initial support for the report's delay as a pretext to reject the Egyptian brokered unity deal, but he left the door open for reconciliation.

"The reconciliation is sacred for us. We cannot shut the doors and say we do not want to reconcile. We cannot say that, because we want to restore the unity of our people and restore the unity of our land in order to face the occupation and the political process," he said.

Under the proposed reconciliation, a committee of Palestinian groups would act as a liaison between the Fatah-dominated government in the West Bank and Hamas, and a joint police force would be formed.

Afghanistan's Karzai agrees to election run-off

By Jonathon Burch

KABUL (Reuters) - President Hamid Karzai agreed to face a second round of voting in Afghanistan's disputed election on Tuesday after a U.N.-led fraud inquiry tossed out enough of his votes to trigger a run-off.

Karzai's decision immediately eased tensions with the West and removed one stumbling block for U.S. President Barack Obama as he weighs whether to send more troops to Afghanistan to fight a resurgent Taliban.

Obama called Karzai to congratulate him for accepting the run-off and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also welcomed Karzai's decision.

"It is now vital that all elements of Afghan society continue to come together to advance democracy, peace and justice," Obama said in a statement.

"We look forward to a second round of voting, and the completion of the process to choose the president of Afghanistan."

Obama also telephoned Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister whom Karzai faces in the November 7 run-off, to thank him for his "constructive efforts," the White House said.

Obama administration officials have stressed that for Washington to succeed in Afghanistan it is essential that there be a legitimate and credible government in Kabul.

Obama was to meet with his war council this week and next on the request by his top military commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, for 40,000 or more reinforcements.

After hours of closed-door talks with Western diplomats, Karzai appeared tense as he accepted the ruling by the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC). The ruling cut his tally to 49.7 percent from the preliminary first-round result of 54.6 percent -- below the 50 percent needed for an outright win.

"We believe that this decision of the IEC is legitimate, legal and constitutional and that it strengthens the path toward democracy," said Karzai, with U.S. Senator John Kerry and U.N. Afghanistan envoy Kai Eide at his side.

The IEC made its ruling after a separate U.N.-backed fraud panel invalidated tens of thousands of votes for Karzai this week. Karzai had earlier said the extent of fraud was exaggerated and expressed confidence in his first-round victory.

Abdullah's camp said they were prepared for the run-off.

"We had hoped the president would accept the second round," said his spokesman, Fazel Sangcharaki.

MOUNTING CASUALTIES

Karzai, who is a Pashtun, Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, is almost certain to win the run-off but the level of mass fraud alleged in the first round will cast a shadow over the new vote.

Security issues are also of concern at a time when the insurgency is as strong as it has ever been and with winter approaching, which could disrupt voting.

"The Taliban no doubt will try their best to disrupt it," said Waheed Mozhdah, an Afghan analyst. "It (the run-off) will be difficult if our intention is for a better and (more) transparent election compared to the first round."

Kerry said holding the second round would be tough in the present environment. But the West, he said, was committed to assisting Afghanistan.

"We know it will be difficult and require sacrifice," he said. "But we are committed to this effort." [ID:nSP359291]

The uncertainty has added to pressure on Washington, where polls show Americans are weary of the eight-year-old war.

Many within Obama's Democratic Party have spoken out against sending more troops, while Republican opponents say his lengthy deliberations on a new strategy are undermining U.S. troops and emboldening the Taliban.

Afghanistan's other allies, Britain in particular, also face pressure due to mounting casualties.

In Washington, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said it was not certain Obama would announce a new strategy before the run-off.

"Whether or not the president makes a decision before that I don't think has been determined," he told reporters. "I continue to say that the decision will be made in the coming weeks as the president goes through an examination of our policy."

Earlier, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the United States could not wait for problems surrounding the Afghan government's legitimacy to be resolved before making a decision on whether to send more troops.

More than 100,000 foreign troops, two-thirds of them Americans, are in Afghanistan fighting Taliban insurgents.

US arms Mali to battle al-Qaeda

The US is preparing to give Mali's army millions of dollars worth of military hardware to help them fight al-Qaeda's North African branch.

Trucks, powerful communication devices and clothing are among $5m (£3m) of equipment being handed over.

Mali is already being helped to fight the Islamists by Algeria and Libya.

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb emerged in 2007 from an Algerian Islamist group and has since claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks in the region.

The US ambassador to Mali told the BBC's Focus on Africa program there was growing concern over the actions of the group.

"We applaud the fact that the government of Mali has taken a firm stance and wants to be as effective as possible in combating that problem," Gillian Milovanovic said.

The military equipment is intended to ensure that the country can protect its own borders, she said.

'Total war'

The Islamist group killed scores of people during 2007 and 2008 in suicide attacks and car bombings, mainly along Algeria's Mediterranean coast.

Algeria has seen fewer attacks in 2009 but the group - thought to be made up of a few hundred fighters - appears intent on moving southwards.

They have claimed responsibility for killing a US citizen in Mauritania and a British hostage in Mali.

Mali's President Amadou Toumani Toure promised a "total war" against the Islamists and has claimed several successes.

The government recruited members of the nomadic Tuareg people - themselves former insurgents - to battle the Islamists.

But the BBC's Martin Vogl in the capital, Bamako, says there has been little action over the past few months.

He says the gift from the US and talk of co-operation with other countries in the region may mean the battle is about to begin in earnest.

Man makes giant matchstick oil rig

A British man has received a Guinness World Records certificate for the largest matchstick model in the world.

Retired rig worker David Reynolds created the replica of the Brent Bravo oil platform over 15 years, spending £5,000 on materials, the Daily Mail reports.

The 51-year-old said: "People sit in front of the television for five or six hours a night but I get bored so I'd just nip off for a few hours here and there to work on it.

"It just started as a bit of a hobby but I guess it got out of hand. I never really gave it much thought but when people came round they'd comment on how incredible it was."

He added: "I suppose I got quite complacent about it. It's good fun and keeps the grey matter working. It wasn't as though I set out to make something so huge but it just grew and grew.

"I wasn't even sure it would all fit together and it was quite nerve-racking when I assembled it. I've had a few museums contact me to say they want to buy it and there's even been an offer from Hollywood."

The model, which is made from 4.75 million matchsticks, is 12ft tall and 21 ft long. It weighs a tonne and had to be split into 14 sections for storage.

Goldstone rejects Israel protests

UN human rights investigator Richard Goldstone has rejected Israel's claim that the peace process would be harmed by his report on the offensive in Gaza.

Judge Goldstone said there was no peace process at present and Israel's foreign minister did not want there to be one.

The Goldstone report, which has been endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council, accuses both Israel and Hamas militants of committing war crimes.

Mr Goldstone's remarks came in a conference call with American rabbis.

"It's a shallow, utterly false allegation," Mr Goldstone said of Israel's attempt to brand his report as an obstacle to peace.

"What peace process are they talking about? There isn't one. The Israeli foreign minister doesn't want one," Mr Goldstone said.

"If the Israeli government set up an appropriate, open investigation, it will really be the end of the matter. That's where the report would end as far as Israel is concerned," he added.

He was speaking days after Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman spoke of his belief that the Arab-Israeli conflict would not be resolved in the coming years, and people should "learn to live with it".

Palestinians and human rights groups say more than 1,400 Gazans were killed in the 22-day conflict that ended in January, but Israel puts the figure at 1,166. Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, were killed.

In the report, Mr Goldstone calls for the war crimes allegations to be referred to the International Criminal Court at The Hague unless the parties to the Gaza war investigate them.

If the report comes before the UN Security Council, the US is expected to veto any call for ICC action against Israel.

Favorable

On Tuesday, Israel's Security Cabinet hardened the country's rejection of an independent inquiry.

Earlier reports said discussion about setting up an inquiry had been on the agenda of the meeting, which brings together seven ministers with security responsibilities.

However, an official said it was blocked by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, an architect of Israel's winter onslaught, supported by Benjamin Netanyahu, who was elected prime minister in March.

Both men have called the UN report one-sided and said it undermined Israel's right to defend itself. They argue internal investigations by the Israeli military are already dealing with a small number of violations.

"Our struggle is to delegitimize the continuing attempt to delegitimize the state of Israel. The most important sphere we need to work in is the sphere of public opinion in the democratic world," Mr Netanyahu was quoted telling the cabinet.

Foreign and justice ministry officials are reported to favor setting up an investigation in the hope of defusing an international row which is widely seen to have done damage to Israel's reputation.

Instead, ministers agreed on the establishment a legal-diplomatic panel to handle any possible war crimes prosecutions against Israel or its citizens.

Separately, Palestinian Authority President and Fatah party leader Mahmoud Abbas has been holding talks in Cairo with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak.

It is the latest in a long-running process attempting to reach a reconciliation deal between Fatah and the other main Palestinian faction, Hamas.

Aides of Mr Abbas have accused Hamas, which runs Gaza, of shirking a commitment to sign the Egyptian-mediated agreement after Fatah signed it.

Hamas says it will sign the document as long as there are no clauses added that have not been agreed.

It said its previous request for a postponement was to give it time to study new Egyptian proposals, and to comment on the Goldstone report.

China secretly held dozens of Uighurs after riot, group says

Beijing - Chinese authorities arrested dozens of men of the Uighur ethnic minority and held them without legal process after deadly rioting in the far western city of Urumqi in July, Human Rights Watch reported Wednesday. The US-based rights group highlighted the "enforced disappearances" of 43 Uighur adults and teenagers who were captured by security forces and urged Western governments to press China to account for the missing men.

"The cases we documented are likely just the tip of the iceberg," said Brad Adams, the group's Asia director.

"The Chinese government says it respects the rule of law, but nothing could undermine this claim more than taking people from their homes or off the street and 'disappearing' them - leaving their families unsure whether they are dead or alive," Adams said.

The deadly rioting in Urumqi, which began after Uighur protesters clashed with police, left 197 people dead and about 1,600 injured, according to the government.

Most of those who died were Urumqi residents from the country's Han Chinese majority, the government said.

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 Human Rights Watch report said police, paramilitary officers and soldiers had conducted "numerous large-scale sweep operations in two predominantly Uighur areas of Urumqi" on July 6-7 with several more sweeps in the following weeks.

"According to witnesses, the security forces sealed off entire neighborhoods, searching for young Uighur men," the group said.

Most of those listed as missing were in their 20s, but two of them were 12 and 14 years old, it said.

It said no Han Chinese residents interviewed had reported any similar detentions in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region.

"The United States, the European Union and China's other international partners should demand clear answers about what happened to those who have disappeared in Xinjiang," Adams said.

"They should not let trade relations or other political considerations lead them to treat China differently than other countries which carry out this horrific practice," he said.

China has sentenced eight Uighurs and one Han man to death for murder and other violent crimes committed during the rioting.

Three more Uighurs were given suspended death sentences last week, and three were sentenced to life in prison.

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

Prosecutors had charged 430 people with crimes linked to the rioting and sent cases against 108 suspects for trial, state media said last week.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291092,china-secretly-held-dozens-of-uighurs-after-riot-group-says.html.

Planet has chemicals needed for life

BY RYAN FLINN

Astronomers have discovered a second planet outside Earth's solar system with some key chemical ingredients for life, NASA says.

Water, methane and carbon dioxide were detected on a hot gaseous planet about 150 light-years from Earth, larger than Jupiter and inhospitable to life, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said Tuesday.

The planet, HD 209458b, orbits a sunlike star in the constellation Pegasus, NASA said.

"Detecting organic compounds in two exoplanets now raises the possibility that it will become commonplace to find planets with molecules that may be tied to life," said Mark Swain, a NASA researcher.

Bird sanctuary receives backing from society

THREE Owls bird sanctuary has received support from the Royal Society for the Protect of Birds in its bid to remain open.

Bosses at the Norden sanctuary are concerned that it could be reclassified as a zoo following an inspection by the council this summer.

Manager Nigel Fowler fears this could lead to its closure because it would not meet the requirements for a zoo license.

The RSPB's UK headquarters has written to Mr Fowler after a Three Owls supporter contacted the charity last month about the predicament.

The letter says: "We have always known your centre as a leading centre for rehabilitation of injured or orphaned wild birds.

"We certainly would not associate your facility as being a zoo."

It adds: "I hope that the council can apply some common sense to this matter and resolve it promptly with a favorable outcome for the sanctuary and its occupants so it can continue its excellent work long into the future."

Andy Glover, public protection manager at Rochdale Council said: "Currently we're pursuing further legal advice on this issue and when we receive this we'll discuss the options available with the Three Owls before any action is considered.

"We have no desire to prevent Three Owls from performing its valuable service so we'll do all that we can to help them comply with all relevant legislation, but we all must abide by the law.

"The law is designed to protect the safety of the public and safeguard the welfare of animals."

"We sincerely hope that the Three Owls will continue with its sanctuary work and that visitors will still be able to access the information centre, volunteer to assist with the work there and bring in injured birds."

Afghan president's political rival accepts runoff

By RAHIM FAIEZ and HEIDI VOGT, Associated Press Writers

KABUL – President Hamid Karzai's chief political rival agreed Wednesday to take part in the Nov. 7 runoff election, setting the stage for a high-stakes showdown in the face of Taliban threats and approaching winter snows.

Ex-Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah made his comment to reporters one day after Karzai bowed to intense U.S. and international pressure and accepted findings of a U.N.-backed panel that there had been massive fraud on his behalf in the Aug. 20 vote.

Those findings showed Karzai failed to win the 50 percent required to avoid a runoff.

Election officials have fired 200 district election chiefs — about half of those from the first round — following complaints by candidates or observers about misconduct in their regions, the U.N. said last week.

Abdullah said he telephoned Karzai to thank him for agreeing to the second-round ballot.

"We are completely ready for the second round," Abdullah said, calling on Afghan officials to organize a "free, fair and credible election" with enough security encourage people to turn out and vote.

Abdullah's declaration sets the stage for an election that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said would be a "huge challenge" to pull off without repeating the widespread fraud that marred the first-round balloting.

Finding replacements for election workers implicated in fraud will be difficult. The government had to scramble this summer to recruit enough election officials and poll workers, especially at voting stations for women. It's unclear if they would be able to fill open posts with better-qualified people.

"It is hard to see how a second round can be credible unless women's security and access to the polls is dramatically improved," said Rachel Reid, a researcher with Human Rights Watch in Kabul.

The Independent Election Commission, the Afghan body that runs elections, must also finalize the list of polling stations. Much of the fraud in the August balloting came through ballots that arrived from so-called "ghost polling stations" that never opened because they were in dangerous areas.

But closing the questionable stations would prevent voters in those areas from casting ballots. Kai Eide, the U.N. chief in Afghanistan, has said he worked to open the stations to avoid disenfranchising voters.

Abdullah said Wednesday that he is preparing a list of conditions that his team wants election organizers to commit to in order to have a fair vote. He said he would be open to negotiating the conditions, but would not accept an election organized on the same terms as the August vote.

"I will be flexible, but I will be serious about this because, after all, it is the transparency and fairness of the elections which will decide the outcome," he said.

Karzai's capitulation Tuesday was a relief to American officials and averted a constitutional crisis. But new balloting carries with it the risk of low turnout or another round of wholesale ballot-stuffing and voter intimidation.

That would bring the Obama administration no closer to its goal of a credible, legitimate Afghan government necessary to win public support in the U.S. for the war in Afghanistan and reverse the Taliban rise.

If the election goes relatively well, it's unclear that a second-round win by Karzai, widely considered the favorite, would erase the stain brought on his leadership by widespread fraud in the first balloting Aug. 20.

Holding the poll as the country enters its cold season poses additional challenges, both for transporting ballots and drawing voters. U.S. and Afghan forces also must provide security to prevent a repeat of Taliban attacks in August that killed dozens. In some areas, militants cut off the ink-marked fingers of people who had voted.

During his news conference, Abdullah said he hoped the November election would take place on time and "under good circumstances."

Abdullah said voters in parts of the country under Taliban threat will be risking their lives to cast ballots "and they should be confident that the risk is worthwhile."

Karzai announced his decision Tuesday moments after the government election commission accepted the findings of auditors that the president fell short of a majority in the August ballot. The Karzai-influenced commission released preliminary results last month that showed the president winning with more than 54 percent out of a field of 36 candidates.

The president agreed to accept the findings after a day of intensive talks between Karzai and U.S. Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kerry praised the Afghan leader for "genuine leadership in the decision he has made today." The two men met at least five times before the announcement.

ABC-TV reported from Washington that Karzai was refusing the runoff as late as Tuesday morning, even as reporters arrived at the presidential palace for a press conference in which he was expected to endorse a second round. He backed down after a flurry of telephone calls with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke.

Karzai supporters had complained of interference by foreigners, especially those on the U.N.-backed panel, which investigated and reported the fraud.

Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun, noted that most of the rejected ballots were from his power base in the Pashtun-dominated south, where the Taliban insurgency is strongest. He said those votes were "disrespected" and should be investigated further.

In an interview later with The Associated Press, Kerry described the evolution in Karzai's thinking.

"President Karzai really deeply believes he had won the election and ... that the international community was kind of conspiring to push for a different outcome," Kerry said in a telephone interview from Dubai. "He had people within his government, people within the election commission who felt they were being insulted about putting together a faulty election process."

"There were a lot of very deep feelings about Afghanistan's right to run its election, its competency in running it and so forth," Kerry continued.

US firm buys UK airport for $2.5b

An American investment fund has agreed to buy Gatwick Airport, Britain's second busiest hub, for £1.51 billion ($2.5 billion).

Airport operator BAA said it would 'sell its 100 percent interest in Gatwick Airport Limited to an entity controlled by Global Infrastructure Partners for £1.51 billion'.

The agreement came under the pressure of British regulators to end a dominance that 'hurts passengers and airlines'.

Regulators have forced BAA to hand over three of its seven airports in Britain — two in London and one in Scotland.

"BAA is changing and today's announcement marks a new beginning for both Gatwick and BAA," BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said.

Ferrovial, Spain's second largest builder, bought BAA for £10.23 billion in 2006.

US presses Japan on base pact

The US defense secretary has pressed the Japanese government to quickly proceed with a plan to relocate a controversial US military base to southern Okinawa Island.

After meeting Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged Japan to stick to a 2006 agreement to allow for a new replacement airbase to be built on the island by 2014.

Gates said the base move was the 'lynchpin' of the wider agreement, under which both countries also agreed to move 8,000 Marines to Guam, a relocation to be partly financed by Japan.

"Our view is this may not be the perfect alternative for anyone but it is the best alternative for everyone," Gates said in a joint press briefing with Kitazawa.

Many residents of Okinawa, fed up with aircraft noise and the large US troop presence, want the base to be moved off the island or even out of Japan — a view Hatoyama and his coalition allies have supported in the past.

Hatoyama has said he plans to review the wider Tokyo-Washington agreement that included the relocation of the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Base from an urban area of Okinawa to a less-populated northern coastal area.

The United States has some 47,000 troops based in Japan, more than half of them on Okinawa island, where residents have also been angered by crimes committed by service members and environmental concerns.

Gates' two-day visit is the first by a member of Obama's cabinet since Japan's new government took power, which has signaled it wants a less subservient relationship with the US.

Gates later left for Seoul, where he was due to hold talks on the nuclear-armed North Korea, before heading Thursday to Slovakia for a NATO meeting of defense ministers on Friday.

Ties between Japan's center left government and the Obama administration has been clouded due to Okinawa issue.

US President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Japan next month.

UN fires Afghan vote staff for fraud

The UN secretary general says that it will fire most of the election staff complicit in Afghanistan's presidential election for widespread vote rigging.

Speaking in New York on Tuesday, Ban Ki-moon said the UN had learned 'a painful lesson' after noticing the widespread fraud in the August election in Afghanistan.

“We have learned very valuable and painful lessons from the first round,” Ban told reporters. “We will try to ensure that all Afghan people should be able to express their own will freely and without any intimidation or threat.”

Ban said the UN would advise the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) not to employ officials who may have been involved in recent fraud to make sure that mistakes would not be repeated.

"We will try to replace all the officials who have been implicated in not following the guidelines or who have been complicit in fraudulent procedures,” he told the BBC.

The UN investigation found evidence of massive vote-rigging in the recent presidential election in Afghanistan.

Ban told the BBC that 200 top officials who had been involved in fraud should leave, to ensure a run-off vote due next month was 'transparent and credible'.

It came after a UN-backed commission lowered Karzai's vote share below 50 percent.

The second round of vote, between Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, has been scheduled for November 7.

Mottaki: US behind abduction of Iran nationals

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said the United States is involved in the abduction of several Iranian nationals in Europe and the Middle East.

“The US should be accountable as it is directly and indirectly responsible for causing problems for Shahram Amiri, Alireza Asgari and Ardebili,” Mottaki said on Wednesday.

Amiri was kidnapped in Saudi Arabia, Asgari went missing in Turkey and Ardebili was abducted in Georgia, the foreign minister said.

Amiri, a researcher at Tehran's Malek Ashtar University, went missing after he traveled to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah Hajj (a shortened version of the major hajj pilgrimage) in June.

According to his wife, the missing pilgrim has not contacted his family except for a few phone calls he made at the beginning of his trip.

Former deputy defense minister Alireza Asgari, 45, retired from office two years ago. He was on a business trip to Syria and then Turkey, where he checked in at the Hotel Ceyran in Istanbul on December 7, 2007. He disappeared two days later.

Mottaki further referred to the illegal detention of Iranian diplomats in Iraq by the US for a lengthy period of time.

“The United States has a very bad and indefensible record in its relations with Iran,” the Iranian foreign minister added.

In January 2007, US troops stormed the Iranian consulate in the northern Kurdish city of Arbil, seizing the consulate's computers, documents and staff, including five diplomats.

Two diplomats were later released. The three remaining diplomats were released in July 2009 after two and a half years in prison, in line with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the US and Iraq.

US, Israel to launch largest war game

Israel and the United States plan to begin their largest-ever joint war exercise on Wednesday to simulate possible missile attacks on Israel.

The Juniper Cobra air defense drill will involve some 1,000 troops from the US European Command and the same number of Israeli soldiers, the Israeli army said in a Tuesday statement.

The 16-day war game, which was originally scheduled to start last week, will also test the Israeli Arrow (Hetz) missile defense system together with three US systems, including the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), the ship-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, as well as Patriot and Hawk anti-aircraft systems.

The US has also dispatched 17 warships, including those planned to fire dummy projectiles to test defenses, and radar ships that will play an integral part in the exercise.

The US-made Forward Based X-band Tactical radar, capable of detecting long-range missiles, has been erected in the Negev and will work along with the Arrow missile system, while also transmitting data to a US joint tactical ground station.

The Israeli army claims the fifth biennial Juniper Cobra drill is not in response to any world events, but is 'part of a routine training cycle designed to improve the interoperability of both air defense systems'.

The drills will simulate the firing of long-range missiles against Israel, and towards the end will include a 'live missile interception', the Yediot Aharonot daily reported.

The air drill is based on expectations that the United States will provide Israel with missile defense systems that will operate alongside Israel's Arrow 2 system in the event of a war, the paper added.

Pakistan shuts schools after university bombing

ISLAMABAD // Pakistan closed all educational institutions today after twin suicide bombings at a university, showing the power of militants to disrupt everyday life as they fight back against a major army offensive in the north-west.

Tuesday’s attack occurred at the International Islamic University in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, a target that surprised many in a country all too used to terror.

Eight people died, including two women and the two attackers. All but one of the victims was students.

“Godless, kill in God’s name,” read the headline of The News daily.

The Interior Ministry spokesman Rashid Mazari said schools and colleges would be closed until the end of the week so they could improve security measures.

The attacks, the latest in a surge in recent weeks across the country, occurred as troops pressed ahead with a five-day-old offensive in South Waziristan, a tribal region along the Afghan border that has long sheltered the Taliban and al Qa’eda.

The army, which claims to have killed about 90 militants, said it was meeting tough resistance. A reporter met three Taliban fighters yesterday traveling in a car with darkened windows at Shaktoi, a town close to the border between South and North Waziristan.

They carried assault rifles, grenades and radios. One of the men, who gave his name as Askari, said they had come from South Waziristan, where they and other fighters had pushed the army back from Kotkai, the birthplace of the Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud and a major strategic prize.

“We are inflicting heavy losses on them,” he said.

Their account was consistent with one provided by two intelligence officials, who said the army was close to taking the town but was repelled.

They asked that their names not be used for operational reasons. It is nearly impossible to independently verify information coming from South Waziristan because the army has closed off all roads to the region.

Analysts say both sides have exaggerated successes and downplayed loses in the past. The university in Islamabad is attended by 18,000 students. It has close to 2,000 international students, many from China.

While it is a seat of Islamic learning, most students take secular courses such as management science or computer studies.