DDMA Headline Animator

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Rotterdam opens Iranian art gallery

The Netherlands has opened an art gallery to exhibit works created by veteran and contemporary Iranian artists in the city of Rotterdam.

Iran Art displays paintings, miniatures, and graphic and calligraphy works, some of which are for sale, ISNA reported.

According to Head of Iran's Institute of Contemporary Art Development Rahim Siahkarzadeh, some 60 artworks have been transferred from Paris to the Dutch gallery.

Iran is known for its rich artistic heritage, which includes various forms of art as well as original architecture, metalwork and stone masonry.

Persian artworks have also adorned numerous museums and art galleries around the world and many of its historical and ancient relics are housed at prestigious art centers such as the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Larijani: West trying to deceive Iran on nuclear deal

Iran's Parliament (Majlis) Speaker warns that the world powers involved in an IAEA-brokered draft proposal on nuclear fuel supply intend to "deceive" Tehran.

"I think that Westerners are insisting to go in a direction of deception of some sort or imposing some issues on us in a way," Larijani told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).

"They said that we will give you the 20 percent (enriched uranium) fuel when you give us your (low) enriched uranium. We see no link between these two issues," he added.

Larijani termed such an exchange as illegal and illogical and said the US intends to "get the 4.5 percent-enriched uranium from Iran and change it into fuel through countries such as France and Russia."

"They may think that they can extract the enriched materials out of Iran. We hope the Iranians will pay due attention to the issue," he said.

Larijani's comments came after Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh, told Press TV on Friday that Iran would respond to an IAEA draft on a third-party enrichment of uranium for a Tehran reactor next week. The United States, Russia and France have earlier approved the deal.

The deal is expected to supply 20 percent-enriched uranium for the Tehran reactor, which produces medical isotopes for treating cancer to more than 200 hospitals across the country.

The proposal was drafted earlier in the week after delegations from Iran, France, Russia and the United States as well as experts from the UN nuclear watchdog gathered in Vienna and ironed out the details of the uranium deal.

The Parliament speaker reiterated that based on the IAEA regulations, countries which possess nuclear fuel should supply the fuel for every country, which has an atomic reactor.

Tehran cartoon biennial to host over 70 countries

Artists from 73 countries have so far submitted their works to the 9th edition of the Tehran International Cartoon Biennial.

Some 400 Iranian cartoonists will compete with participants from Albania, Turkey, Russia, Afghanistan, the US, Ukraine, the UK, Syria, Spain, South Africa, Serbia, Romania, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Portugal and 57 other countries.

Biennial director Seyyed-Masoud Shojaei-Tabatabaei has estimated the number of participant countries to reach 85.

The 2009 Tehran International Cartoon Biennial will be held on the theme of fear in the categories of cartoon and comic strip. Participants will also compete with their political portrait caricatures.

The winner will receive the contest's grand prize consisting of 8,000 USD, a trophy and an honorable mention.

The first three winners will receive 2,000, 1,500 and 1000 USD respectively.

The jury panel of the 9th biennial will also award 10 selected artists with honorable mentions and special prizes will be granted by different sponsors, establishments, associations, newspapers and agencies.

Four Afghan civilians killed by US military

Sat Oct 24, 2009

American forces in Afghanistan have opened fire on a vehicle killing four civilian aboard, including a woman and two children.

The incident happened in southern Kandahar city on Saturday when a US military convoy opened fire on the vehicle, which was passing, Shah Agha, a Kandahar police official told Reuters.

A statement from the provincial governor of Kandahar also confirmed the casualties.

Countless number of civilians have lost their lives since the 2001 US-led invasion of the country.

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

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/109498.html.

New German coalition govt. to slash taxes

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the first step that her coalition government, formed with Free Democrats (FDP), will take is to cut taxes staring from January 1.

"The burden on families has to be lessened, the burden on companies and inheritance tax has to be reformed," Merkel said on Saturday.

The coalition agreement comes after nearly four weeks of talks between Merkel's conservative party and the FDP that won a parliamentary majority in a federal vote.

"The coalition agreement has been reached," said Ronald Pofalla, general secretary of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).

Officials said earlier that the new coalition planned EUR 24 billion (USD 36 billion) worth of tax cuts.

The FDP leader Guido Westerwelle had promised in its election campaign EUR 35 billion (USD 52.5 billion) worth of tax cuts, but Merkel wanted lighter cuts of EUR 15 billion (USD 22.5 billion) in view of the shaky state of Germany's public finances.

The coalition agreement is expected to be approved and signed on Monday.

Merkel announced some new members of her new cabinet, while Westerwelle said he would present the Free Democrats' ministers to his party first and announce them later in the day to the public.

Westerwelle is expected to personally take over the posts of foreign minister and vice chancellor.

Arab inaction over 'organ theft' shocks Journalist

The Swedish journalist, who caused controversy by accusing Israeli troops of killing Palestinians for their organs, has criticized Arab countries for their lack of action regarding the humanitarian tragedy.

Donald Bostrom said on Saturday that the Arab indifference to Israel's gross mistreatments of Palestinians has bitterly disappointed him. Bostrom said the least he expected was a widespread condemnation.

In his article, They plunder the organs of our sons, Bostrom mentions the names of 133 Palestinians, whose body organs were removed after undergoing autopsies in Israeli centers.

He believes a shortage of organs for transplant in Israel is the real cause behind the violent crime and mentions a 1992 government campaign to recruit new donors.

''At the same time that this organ campaign was going on, young Palestinian men were disappearing and being delivered back to their villages five days later at night, dead and cut open,'' he writes.

Bostrom maintains that Palestinian youths are not the sole victims of the smuggling racket and that some Israeli firms have been behind such enterprises for much longer.

The Swedish journalist says he will not quit the story despite receiving hundreds of death threats.

Iranian scientist wins New Innovator Award

Sat Oct 24, 2009

An Iranian scientist has been awarded the 2009 NIH Director's New Innovator Award for her research in host and pathogen evolution in Lassa fever.

Pardis C. Sabeti, an assistant professor of organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University, is to use the funds to further her research and investigate the possible presence of inherent genetic immunity to the disease.

According to Ms. Sabeti, Lassa fever is "the most deadly disease known to man."

The fatality rate of the disease has so far been reduced from 70 percent to 15 percent in her research station in Irrua, Nigeria, as a result of effective drugs and advanced diagnosis techniques.

Lassa fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic fever, which was first described in 1969 in the town of Lassa, in Borno State, Nigeria. Outbreaks of the disease have been observed in Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the Central African Republic.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/109494.html.

Aoun urges army, Hezbollah to remain well-equipped

In the face of growing threats from Israel, Lebanon's Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun says that Hezbollah should remain armed and the Lebanese army should be well-equipped.

"We should bolster our defense forces at all costs; but I believe no matter how many weapons we obtain and how much money we spend, we will never have the potential to deter an Israeli attack. That is why, I believe, the resistance movement should remain armed" said Aoun in an exclusive interview with Press TV on Saturday.

"The best way to succeed against Israel is resistance-style asymmetrical warfare, therefore these artillery should be given to Hezbollah and should remain at its disposal until a peace deal is reached with Israel," the Christian leader explained.

The former general said he has decided to hold another meeting with prime minister-designate Saad Hariri, but refrained from elaborating on the exact time and venue.

"I am still waiting for Hariri's reply to the proposals I submitted in my latest press conference," he said.

Aoun was referring to demands that his party be granted six portfolios and be allowed to maintain the five ministries, including the Telecommunications Ministry — which is of great security and financial importance.

Iran's parliament warns against drop in oil exports

An Iranian parliamentary center has warned that Iran's oil exports may face a plunge due to depreciation of oil wells and a jump in domestic consumption.

Strategic Majlis (Parliament) Research Center said in its latest report that the oil industry needs an annual $5.4 billion investment to keep the current volume of crude exports.

"Regarding negative investment growth (in the oil industry), supplying this amount of the investment is unlikely," Fars news agency quoted the research center as saying.

Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, put its oil production capacity at 4.3 million barrels per day (bpd).

The center says the 'serious and fundamental investment' is necessary for the oil-rich country.

In June, former Iranian Oil Minister, Gholam-Hossein Nozari, said that Iran plans to invest $100 billion during the next four years in different sections of its oil industry.

"Several projects, including the development of North Pars, Golshan and Ferdowsi gas fields will be operational in the next four years," said Nozari, who added that the total investment in Iran's oil projects has been $66 billion in the past four years.

He went on to say that many people (in the beginning) did not believe this amount of investment could be made, but that investment has now turned into real operational projects, including the Mehr Petrochemical Complex.

Barak against probe into Israeli war crimes in Gaza

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has strongly opposed the investigation of a UN report that accuses Israeli troops of committing war crimes during the recent war on the Gaza Strip.

Barak said in a Saturday statement that he fully trusted the investigations conducted earlier by the army on the troop's performance during the three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip, Ynet reported.

"There is not an army in the world that investigates itself this way," he said.

The minister's comments were in line with the regime's efforts to prevent a UN debate on a report prepared by former South African judge, Richard Goldstone on Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

The report by a team of experts led by Goldstone, concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December 27-January 18 offensive against the Palestinians in the strip.

Goldstone recommended that the conclusions of the report be forwarded to the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) if the sides involved the Gaza war failed to conduct credible investigations within six months.

However, in a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Israeli deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said he was "optimistic" about his request to "bury the Goldstone report".

He claimed that Ban had told him the Security Council would not discuss the report until he had considered the matter further, according to Ynet.

The UN General Assembly was expected to discuss the report by the end of the year after it was endorsed by the Human Rights Council.

Mujahideen declared that the head of the puppet administration of the Old Achkhoy was killed by Kadyrov's gang

22 October 2009

KC received a letter on behalf of the Mujahideen of the Southwestern Front of the Caucasus Emirate, which states that the head of the puppet administration of the Old Achkhoy, Artamov Ali and his son were both murdered by Kadyrov's assassins.

Further, the letter states:

"On October 21, 2009 in the village of Alkhan-Kala in battle with highly numbered apostates, our brother Aslambek Hachukaev became Martyr (inshaAllah).

Apostates claim that Aslambek Hachukaev, allegedly, relates to the assassination of the head of the puppet administration of the village Old Achhoy, Artamov Ali and his son.

We, Mujahedeen of Southwestern Front, declare to father of Aslambek Hachukaev that neither Aslambek, nor Mujahedeen have no relation to the death of Artamov Ali and his son.

Kadyrov's gangs commit murder and robbery and then accuse Chechen Mujahideen in these crimes in order to turn the population against us.

We know that the father and mother, Hachukaev Salambek and Khokha, are in Europe, we ask to convey our words to them.

God bless the Martyrdom of our brother Aslambek!"

Mujahideen of Southwest sector

Mahmad Salih

Ali Abu

Hassan Yandinsky

Russian aggressors are building a new 'Berlin Wall' in Georgia

Special detachments of Russian terrorist gang formations of "FSB of Russia", in the morning on October 23 began to pull the barbed wire along the demarcation line between occupied by Russia South Ossetia and the rest of Georgia.

It was revealed by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili at the opening of the new settlement of refugees.

As President of Georgia stated, those on the other side are "our people too", and most of the fled from there are ethnic Ossetians.

According to Saakashvili, on the other side of barbed wire, people are starving and living in tents, despite the fact that government-invader Russia provided (on paper) a huge sum of money.

Saakashvili is confident that Moscow will "not get away" with its temporary occupation of Georgian territories.

Further he said that in the history of Kartli, "different conquerors came down from the mountains, whose names are not remembered by history, nor ourselves."

"And the present conquerors, also die and evaporate from our land. Kartli is the heart of Georgia, and Georgia is eternal", - declared Saakashvili.

He then stressed that the presence of occupiers in Georgia "will be temporary, as in cases with their predecessors."

"More than 60 thousand people lived before the war in the former Autonomous District of South Ossetia, but today there are just a little more than 10 000 people. These people fled from the brutal force, which urged that it came for their freedom. All this towers of lies that have been erected, are destroyed once and for all", - said Mikheil Saakashvili.

"It is symbolic that this morning the representatives of the FSB began to erect barbed wire, they are creating a control zone, and we are using the best technology in building a modern highway from Tbilisi to Gori, and after will prolong them up to Black Sea coast.

They care about the imperialist grandeur, and we care about our each and every citizen. They care about power, about whom to punish, injure, destroy their future, and we respect our citizens, and then other Countries", - Saakashvili stated.

Rise of the Turkish crescent

By Ahmed Janabi

Since the Israeli war on Gaza last January, Turkey's role in Middle Eastern politics has become significantly more prominent.

When Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development (AK) Party took office in 2002, it pledged that it would not forsake its historic, religious and cultural bonds with other Muslim countries.

During the Gaza conflict, the party made good on its promise. Turkey's government did not hesitate to voice its displeasure at Israel's military actions, which it said were targeting the civilian population of Gaza.

Last week, the Turkish government demonstrated its loyalties again, banning Israeli warplanes from participating in an international military air exercise.

The Anatolia Eagle exercise has been held since 2001 under the auspices of a Turkish-Israeli military agreement signed in 1996. The war-game usually involves Turkish, Israeli and US troops, and has been seen by Israel as a golden opportunity for its pilots to practice over a much larger air-space than usual.

Istanbul's decision raised eyebrows in Israel, where Turkey has long been seen as an ally, and has prompted concerns about future relations between the two countries.

"It raises the question: What direction is Turkish policy taking?" wondered Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, after Turkey's decision was made public.

Revived role

Observers believe that Turkey's new attitude toward Israel is part of a plan to revive the role it believes it should play as the leader and guardian of the Muslim World.

"The new Turkish policy is interesting, in terms of trying to regain its ties with the Arab and Muslim world," said Mounzer Sleiman, the director of the Centre for American and Arab Studies.

"It is not the first Turkish government that has tried to do this, but the aspiration to join the EU was an obstacle. This government realizes that the road to the EU is rough and complicated, so it chose to go with its strategic plans in its Muslim environment instead of waiting indefinitely."

Turkey also believes it is traditionally and historically linked to the rest of the Middle East - Turkish Ottoman Empire ruled large parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe for almost five centuries, until its defeat in the First World War.

The new policy, aimed at placing Ankara at the centre of Middle East's geopolitics and regaining Turkey's former power and influence over the region, makes conscious reference to the country's imperial past. The trend is even known as Neo-Ottoman, a term coined by Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister and architect of the policy.

It is a popular approach. Erdogan says that the decision to exclude Israel from Anatolia Eagle drill was based on Turkish public opinion.

"Anyone who exercises political power has to take account of public opinion ... It is a question of sincerity... I want people to know that Turkey is a powerful country which takes its own decisions," he said. "We do not take orders from anyone."

Erdogan believes that the Turkish people back his goals to use the country as a counter-weight in relations between Israel, the West and the Muslim World. This viewpoint is shared by many observers.

"Anyone who looks at the Turkish press and listens to people in the street would realise how much the Turkish public opinion is in support of the government's new approach toward Israel," says Yousef al-Sharif, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Turkey.

"Also, the nature of the current Israeli government, which consists of conservative figures like Netanyahu and [foreign minister Avigdor] Lieberman, makes it easier for Erdogan to take such a tough approach against Israel."

History matters

Since it took office, Erdogan's government has been keen to show that Israel is no longer the only serious power in the region. During the Palestinian intifada uprising in 2000, Turkey condemned the Israel's use of force and canceled a proposed water deal with Tel Aviv.

By the end of 2008, the neo-Ottoman doctrine was more advanced. When Tel Aviv launched a war on Gaza in late December 2008, Erdogan squarely blamed the Israelis.

But he also invoked the shared history of Jews and Turks to make his point: "We are speaking as the grandsons of Ottomans who treated your ancestors (Jews) as guests in this land (Turkey) when they were expelled from Europe," he said.

But such references will also remind Israel that the cash-strapped Ottoman Empire turned down an offer by the Zionist leader Theodor Herzl to cede Jerusalem to the Jews in return for huge loans and a personal reward for Sultan Abd al-Hamid II (1842-1918).

Erdogan's coded historical message was clear: Turkish policy toward the Middle East is no longer led by political expedience, but by principle.

Regional mediator?

Until recently, political analysts and observers characterised the relationship between Turkey and Israel as one based on mutual interests.

Israel needed a strong regional Muslim ally, and Turkey needed the Jewish lobby in the US to prevent Greek and Armenian groups from securing a congressional condemnation against Turkey for its alleged role in the deaths of more than a million Armenians in the early 20th century.

Some observers, however, now believe that Erdogan's current Middle East approach could jeopardise the delicate balance of power in the region.

Elter Turkmen, a former Turkish foreign minister, warned earlier this year that the short-term benefits may be outweighed by the long-term disadvantages. "I do not think Turkish-Israeli relations would reach the point of clash," he said.

"Both sides will lose, Israel will lose a reliable partner and Turkey would lose the backing of Jewish lobby in Washington."

Still, others question whether Istanbul still needs the US Jewish lobby.

Turkey and Armenia signed a landmark peace accord earlier this month, pledging to restore ties and open their shared border after a century of hostility stemming from what Armenians said was the mass killing of their people by Ottoman forces during the First World War.

Some believe that Israel and the US will nevertheless continue to need Turkish help in brokering indirect talks between Israel and Syria, widely seen as a crucial but difficult step in the Middle East peace process.

In June 2008, and after years of diplomatic effort, Turkey succeeded in kick-starting indirect Syrian–Israeli talks. In Iraq, Turkey maintained balanced relationships with almost all Iraqi factions. The culmination of that successful policy was the visit of Muqtada al-Sadr, the Iraqi Shia leader of the Mahdi Army, in May 2009.

Turkey also played a pivotal role in brokering a strategic deal between al-Sadr, the Iraqi government, the UK and the US. Mahdi Army militias laid down their arms and released US and British hostages they had been holding since 2007.

In return the Iraqi government stopped the arrest campaign against the al-Mahdi Army and released some of its jailed leaders such as Abd al-Hadi al-Darraji, in 2009.

Middle East powerhouse

Bashir Nafie, a Palestinian historian specialized in Turkish politics, believes that Ankara is adopting a multi-directional policy, simultaneously resolving conflicts directly linked to its history (rapprochement with Armenia and resolving its Kurdish problem), and tackling the tensions in the greater region.

He said: "Turkey has realized that its future not only with the EU, but more importantly with its Arab, Muslim and Caucasian neighbors. It also realizes that Western arrangements imposed after the First World War is the core of many problems the region is suffering, and it is willing to solve the problems of that heavy heritage."

Hasan Koni, a former adviser to the Turkish National Security Council agrees that Turkey is likely to play an increasingly important role in Middle Eastern politics in coming years.

"Given the fact that there are no more neo-cons in the White House, and that the new US administration is attempting to get out of Iraq, the US will need Turkey to stand against Iran in Iraq and the Middle East in general," he says.

"Turkey is qualified to play that role since it is a Muslim state that maintains ties with both Israelis and Arabs."

Bristol kebab seller returns to Gaza on second aid trip

A Bristol kebab-seller who drove an ambulance loaded with supplies to Gaza is to return to the region in an articulated lorry.

This time around, Sakir Yildirim, 40, will be joined by several other people to make the 8,000-mile round trip as part of an international convoy organized by charity Viva Palestina.

As well as the lorry, Mr Yildirim's convoy will include a motorbike, pushbike and hopefully a minibus filled with skilled people.

Mr Yildirim, who lives in Fishponds, said: "We're the Bristol contingent of Viva Palastina. We're going to try to be the best one and we're hoping to get a big send off from the city."

The group has a translator and war artist going along and Mr Yildirim is urging anyone with a skill who wants to get involved to get in touch.

The married father of three will leave for Gaza on Friday, December 4, but not before loading his 44-tonne lorry with donated supplies including electric wheelchairs, babies' sleeping bags, tents and even two pallets of toothpaste.

He said: "Last winter, I saw the horrendous devastation caused by the Israeli bombardment. The wrecked buildings, people living in tents, children who have lost their fathers.

"Food, medicine, building materials, and many other necessities of life are in short supply. That's why I wanted to take a lorry. It's the only possible way to take more aid."

The route will take the convoy to London where hundreds of others from all over the UK will join up before heading to Gaza. From there, the group will travel through Europe, Syria, Jordan and Egypt to arrive into the strip on December 27.

Mr Yildirim is familiar with the potential danger he faces after hearing constant machine-gun fire and bombs going off on his last trip.

He said: "My family want me to go and help them but don't want me to go completely.

"If anything happens, at least I'll be dying trying to help. I sleep better knowing that I've helped people,"

Mr Yildirim has also enlisted the help of a local Bristol graffiti artist Iggy, who has started painting the lorry's trailer with an inspirational design.

He said: "We want to make it a bit different and show a bit of Bristol. We're going to get Iggy to paint the Clifton suspension bridge."

So far the artist has drawn cartoon character "Handala", an iconic symbol of Palestinian identity, onto the back of the lorry.

Abbas should face trial for usurping power: Hamas

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Hamas accused Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Saturday of usurping power after he called presidential and legislative elections for January.

Abbas, whose term expired in early 2009, "must be tried for usurping power," deputy Palestinian parliamentary speaker Ahmed Bahar told a news conference in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Late on Friday, Abbas decreed elections be held on January 24, in a move seen as turning up the heat on Hamas to sign an Egyptian-brokered deal for Palestinian unity.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum swiftly rejected the move, branding it illegal and unconstitutional.

The decree calling elections "has no value whatsoever from a constitutional point of view," Bahar said, noting that Abbas' tenure expired in January.

Abbas was elected on January 9, 2005, for a four-year term. The Palestinian Authority extended his presidency by one year so that the next presidential and parliamentary elections could be held on the same date.

Hamas has consistently rejected the extension granted to Abbas and does not consider him the legitimate president of the Palestinian people.

The Islamist Hamas and the secular Fatah faction led by Abbas have been at loggerheads for years.

Simmering divisions boiled over in June 2007 when Hamas fighters expelled Abbas loyalists from Gaza in a week of bloody clashes, seizing control of the impoverished and densely populated territory.

In the last parliamentary elections in January 2006, Hamas won an upset victory over the previously dominant Fatah.

Chechen leader escapes assassination attempt

An assassination attempt on the life of Chechen President, Ramzan Kadyrov, has been averted in the Chechen capital, Grozny, a Russian senior official says.

The Chechen deputy interior minister said that the attacker also wanted to kill State Duma member, Adam Delimkhanov, on Friday while he was waiting for President Kadryov's inspection at a construction site.

Roman Edilov said the police shot the driver of a car that was speeding toward the site where Delimkhanov was waiting.

He said the car carried a container, which the police suspected might be an explosive device. The police first fired warning shots and then killed the driver, who had ignored them.

Police found a 200-liter tanker believed to be filled with explosives. Bomb disposal experts went to work at the scene. Later reports said the driver was identified as a militant leader.

Chechnya, which saw two separatist wars in the late 1990s and early 2000s, has recently been swept by a fresh wave of violence. Shootouts and attacks on troops, police and other officials have been reported daily. The neighboring regions of Russia have also been plagued by instability.

Kadyrov, a former separatist who fought against Russia in the First Chechen War, has pledged to end militancy in Chechnya and occasionally leads police operations. His father, the previous leader of Chechnya, Akhmad Kadyrov, was assassinated in May 2004.

Iran plans to file 'gas complaint' against Turkey

Iran reportedly plans to file a complaint against Turkey at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Commission on Arbitration over a 'reduction in gas imports'.

The Iranian-based ISNA news agency says the complaint will be based on a "take or pay" clause in the gas deal between Iran and Turkey.

Under the "take-or-pay" contract, the importer is required to take delivery of a minimum annual volume and pay if less is taken.

The move came months after the international arbitrary body ruled in favor of Turkey in a gas price dispute with Iran.

In February, Turkey won the Swiss-based arbitration case, obliging Iran to revise the per-unit price of gas exports to the neighboring country.

Head of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC), Azizollah Ramezani, also confirmed to ISNA that 'the clause (take-or-pay) has been considered in the agreement (between Iran and Turkey)'.

Iran is the second biggest gas exporter to Turkey, which receives between 15 and 18 cubic meters of gas through a pipeline linking the northwestern city of Tabriz to the Turkish capital of Ankara.

Hamas: Abbas' election call serves US, Israel

Hamas protests against the Palestinian Authority's decision to hold presidential and legislative elections in January, calling the move 'destructive to unity' and in favor of enemy.

Hamas spokesman, Ismail Radwan, on Saturday branded a decree by acting Palestinian chief, Mahmud Abbas, which calls for January 24 elections across the Palestinian territories and Gaza Strip as "illegal and unconstitutional".

Radwan added that the call for a unilateral election before reaching a unity deal only serves American demands and worsens divisions among Palestinian factions.

"This step is actually serving American demands, the external agendas as well as the Zionist enemy. This declaration is devoting the Palestinian split," the Hamas official noted, adding that "Mahmoud Abbas' tenure is over and he has no right to issue any decree concerning this election".

Hamas has repeatedly said that the vote must be held only after reconciliation is achieved. There are also reports suggesting that the Islamic movement could hold its own ballot in Gaza.

Fatah (which rules the West Bank), and Hamas have been divided since 2007 when Hamas -- the democratically-elected Palestinian government-- took control of the Gaza Strip.

The decree is viewed to be aimed at rushing Hamas into signing a Cairo-brokered unity deal with the Fatah faction of Abbas, whose presidential term expired in early 2009.

Palestinian 'tortured' for calling Blair terrorist

A Palestinian man has told Press TV that he was tortured after he was arrested for verbally protesting against Tony Blair's Mideast policy.

Ali Hamdan, who was arrested for calling Middle East quartet envoy, Tony Blair, a "terrorist" on Tuesday during his visit to a mosque in the West Bank city of Al-Khalil (Hebron), says he was tortured by the Palestinian Authority intelligence service.

Hamdan says PA security forces violently removed him from the mosque and beat him and verbally abused him while interrogating him for several hours.

The 23-year old engineer told Press TV that his remarks had nothing to do with Blair' steadfast support for Israel, but were merely directed at his Islamophobic and warmongering policies. Hamdan believes any oppressed Muslim in his place would do the same.

"It was a spontaneous reaction to seeing this war criminal enter the Holy place. I didn't do it as a Palestinian nationalist, but rather as a Muslim who has been deeply offended by the huge crimes that Blair committed against Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine", Hamdan said.

"I think I was reflecting the feelings and views of the vast majority of Muslims. After all, this is the man whose policies led to the destruction of two sovereign Muslim countries and caused the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. He is more than a war criminal. He is satanic", he continued.

Blair is widely despised by many Arabs for supporting the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and for declining to speak out against Israel's 2006 war against the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, while he was Britain's prime minister.

Hamdan was freed after a ten-hour interrogation and the signing of a pledge stating that he wouldn't indulge in such behavior again.

Ex-CIA agent confirms US ties with Jundullah

A former Central Intelligence Agency officer has confirmed US' relations with the terrorist group Jundullah, despite the CIA knowing that the group has close links with the al-Qaeda.

"American intelligence has also had contact with Jundullah. But that contact, as Iran almost certainly knows, was confined to intelligence-gathering on the country," Robert Baer, a former Middle East CIA field officer wrote on the Time.com, IRNA reported early on Saturday.

However, he noted that the US-Jundullah relationship "was never formalized, and contact was sporadic."

The news comes amid US denial of any involvement in a recent terrorist attack in Sistan-Baluchestan province in southeastern Iran, which Jundullah claimed responsibility for.

"I've been told that the Bush Administration at one point considered Jundullah as a piece in a covert-action campaign against Iran, but the idea was quickly dropped because Jundullah was judged uncontrollable and too close to al-Qaeda. There was no way to be certain that Jundullah would not throw the bombs we paid for back at us," said the former CIA agent who is a columnist in the weekly, and very probably an advisor in the Middle East.

Baer also noted that Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has had relations with the Jundullah leader, Abdolmalek Rigi.

"Pakistani intelligence has indeed had contact with Jundullah over the years, but there's no good evidence that Pakistan created Jundullah from scratch. And there's certainly no evidence that Pakistan ordered the attack," Baer said in reference to the terrorist attack that took place in Iran on Sunday, October 18, which killed 42 people including the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps commanders.

"In fact, Pakistani intelligence over the past few years has been arresting Jundullah members and turning them over to Iran," he claimed.

This is while earlier on Friday, Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi vowed to do everything in his power to hunt down the Jundullah terrorists and bring them to justice.

"This very incident unveiled the true nature of those who call themselves the pioneer in 'war on terrorism'," he said in reference to the United States.

A number of leading newspapers in the West, such as The Sunday Telegraph, have also declared Jundullah to be a CIA brainchild engineered to achieve the longstanding US goal of "regime change in Iran."

Iran's Interior Minister, Mustafa Mohammad Najjar, is currently in Islamabad to ask Pakistani officials to hand over Abdolmalek Rigi and assist Iran on cracking down on his terrorist group.

North and South Koreas held secret meeting: Report

Reports say that North and South Korea held secret talks last week to arrange a possible inter-Korean summit after months of hostility.

The meeting to arrange the summit was held either in Singapore or China, South Korean papers quoting government sources said on Friday.

South Korea's Unification Minister Hyun In-taek was addressing lawmakers during the annual parliamentary audit of the ministry on the same day and was reluctant to comment on the media reports of the secret meeting.

He only said that his government was open to an inter-Korean summit. "With respect to the summit, we need to take various conditions such as progress on the DPRK (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) nuclear issue and whether the inter-Korean relations will be able to develop sincerely," he said.

Meanwhile, some reports say negotiations hit a snag after the North refused to accept the South's proposal that the summit should be held in Seoul. The two Koreas held summit-talks in 2000 and 2007 and agreed on a series of reconciliation efforts and economic projects.

The new developments come as tensions have been mounting between the two Koreas over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile development plans.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak earlier said that he was willing to meet DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-II any time, promising a "transparent" process while pushing for an inter-Korean summit.

NATO admits failure in Afghanistan

Fri Oct 23, 2009

NATO defense ministers meeting in Slovakia admit that their operation in Afghanistan is not working and that they should change their war strategy.

NATO defense ministers and UN officials, including top US commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal, during their meeting in the Slovakian town of Bratislava on Friday sought a new strategy to replace their failing operation in Afghanistan.

They backed a new plan to shift towards a broader counter-insurgency strategy. However, they side-stepped from committing more troops despite demands by the US to increase troops by tens of thousands, including as many as 80,000 American soldiers.

US President Barack Obama has yet to decide over whether to escalate US troop numbers to counter Afghan insurgents.

Most of the 28 NATO ministers at the meeting were reluctant to increase their commitment because of the mounting military and civilian casualties. But, despite this, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that the Afghanistan mission will continue.

They also agreed on the need to boost the training of Afghan forces to allow them to eventually take over from international troops and insisted on higher standards from the next Afghan government.

NATO leads a force of some 70,000 troops drawn from 43 nations in a country wracked by more than 30 years of war.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/109441.html.

Israeli police clash with protesters in WB

Israeli police have resorted to force as hundreds of Palestinians and international peace activists held a demonstration to protest the regime's settlement activity on occupied lands in the West Bank.

Police clashed with the protesters near the West Bank village of Ni'lin, firing tear gas as the demonstrators threw stones to protest the construction of the separation wall and the expansion of Israeli settlements, Ynet reported.

At least eight people, including a French national were injured in the clashes.

Six others were also arrested on the outskirts of the Qiryat Arba settlement near the West Bank city of al-Khalil.

The West Bank towns of Bil'in and Ni'lin are the scene of weekly demonstrations against the Israeli separation wall.

The protesters condemn the confiscation of thousands of acres of Palestinian land for constructing 723 km (454 miles) of a barrier of steel and concrete walls, fences and barbed wire.

Sunni cleric: Blast heightened Shia, Sunni unity

A senior Sunni cleric says that the terrorist attack in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Balouchestan has strengthened the unity between Sunnis and Shias in the region.

“The attack was aimed at encouraging disunity in the region but reiterated that it had conversely united Sunnis and Shias,” said Friday prayers leader of Zahedan Mowlavi Abdul Hamid.

Mowlavi Abdul Hamid 'severely' condemned the terrorist attack in southern Iran, which killed at least 41 people while calling it 'distressing'.

He said that the bomb attack 'was heinous to such an extent that it was strongly condemned by the global community as well.'

On Sunday, at least 41 people including top commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) were killed in an explosion during a unity conference between Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in the borderline city of Pishin.

The Pakistan-based Jundallah terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the bomb blast. This is not the first time that the group conducts a deadly attack in the country.

In late May, the group led by Abdolmalek Rigi took responsibility for a bombing in a mosque in the Sistan-Balouchestan province, which left at least 25 killed and several others injured.

The terrorist cell denies having any links to the US but Rigi's brother, in a recent interview with Press TV, confirmed that the Jundallah leader had established links with the US agents.

Abdulhamid said that in just one of his meetings with the US operatives, Rigi had received $100,000 to fuel sectarianism in Iran.

The Pakistan-based Jundallah, led by Abdolmalik Rigi, has staged a torrent of bombings and terrorist attacks in Iran.

Iran has called on Pakistan to help the country in tracking down and bringing to justice the terrorists behind the attack.

Humanitarian crisis worsening in Yemen

The United Nations and international rights groups have warned about the disastrous situation of Yemeni civilians who have been displaced by a government offensive on the country's north.

The International Committee of the Red Cross warned on Wednesday that tens of thousands of people are trapped in north Yemen as the government continues its offensive against Houthi fighters in the region, UPI reported.

"Tens of thousands of people remain out of reach, however, because of intense fighting and poor security," said Jean-Nicolas Marti, the ICRC's head of delegation in Yemen.

"Unless more is done to protect civilians and enable them to receive life-saving aid, the situation will worsen further," she added.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Yemen Red Crescent have reached more than 100,000 people since the fighting escalated in August, but have warned that tens of thousands remain at risk as winter approaches.

Thousands of civilians have been displaced from their homes since the government launched Operation Scorched Earth in August, triggering fierce battles in the northern provinces.

Two new channels to launch in Jordan

The Arab Telemedia Group (ATG) has announced it is launching two news and variety satellite channels in late January 2010,Jordan Times has reported. AT News and AT First, will start transmission on January 31, 2010 and aim to provide a variety of news programmes, dramas, sitcoms and other contents tailored towards various segments of society. ATG CEO Talal Awamleh has clarified the new channels have no links to their previous incarnation, ATV, which faced several hurdles preventing its launch.

Karroubi's bodyguard fires into air at Tehran fair

Former Iranian presidential candidate Karroubi has been met with slogans both in favor of and against himself while visiting Tehran's Press Fair.

The opponents shouted “Liar, get lost” and “Death to Monafeq (hypocrite)” while the proponents chanted “Long live Karroubi”.

The fair turned into a scene of clashes and some booths were damaged after the politician was attacked by a shoe.

One of his body guards tried to make way for Karroubi to get out of the scene by shooting into the air.

After Karroubi left the fair, some of his proponents chanted “Death to dictator” near the booth of the pro-government daily of Kayhan which resulted in both physical and verbal clashes.

Tehran's Press Fair is annually held with the presence of local media.

UK expert involved in Iran talks dies mysteriously

Austrian police have begun investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a British nuclear expert involved in Iranian talks at a UN building in Vienna.

Timothy Hampton, who had joined the United Nation's team for the talks between Iran, France, Russia and the United States, died after falling off the 17th floor of the Vienna International Center.

Hampton had been a member of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization.

A UN spokeswoman in Vienna told the Austrian Times that Hampton was found dead at the bottom of a stairwell at 08:30 local time on Tuesday morning, one day before the high-level talks were set to resume.

Although the police have not ruled out suicide completely, they say that the nuclear expert may have possibly been murdered, as investigators have not discovered a note from Hampton indicating that he planned to kill himself.

"Vienna police are investigating the incident and there is nothing else we can say," said Anne Thomas.

Sources told The Sun that the circumstances surrounding Hampton's death were suspicious.

"The timing adds to suspicions and the whole thing is a mystery," they said according to the British paper.

Hampton's suspicious death at the Vienna International Centre- one of main UN headquarters along with New York, Nairobi and Geneva- is not the first of its kind.

According to UN staff members, four months ago, an employee, who was also believed to be British, lost his life in a similar case when plunging down from a comparable height.

Iran finds new evidence on deadly blast

After a series of intensive investigations into the deadly bomb blast in southeastern Iran, new revelations show that the 24-year-old culprit was trained and equipped in Pakistan.

"Based on our latest findings, the bomber was none other than Abdolvahed Mohammadizadehhad, who had recently gone to Pakistan to receive specialized terrorist training," Jalal Sayyah, Deputy Chief for security affairs in the Sistan-Baluchestan Province, said early Saturday.

Sayyah said the findings were confirmed following the confession of those who were arrested for having links with the Jundallah group.

"Fully-trained with bombs and explosives, he was then sent to Iran to carry out this tragic incident," he said, referring to a bomb blast that killed more than 40 people on Sunday in the borderline region of Pishin.

The Pakistan-based Jundallah terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack. At least 41 people were killed by an explosion during a conference between Sunni and Shia tribal leaders to strengthen unity among the people in the region.

Spearheaded 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.

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.

Robert Baer, a former Middle East CIA field officer, revealed Saturday that Washington had formed relations with the Jundallah group, while aware of its terrorist nature.

"American intelligence has also had contact with Jundallah. But that contact, as Iran almost certainly knows, was confined to intelligence-gathering on the country," Baer wrote on the Time.com.

Baer said the close relations between the US and the terror group were to such extent that Jundallah had once been considered "as a piece in a covert-action campaign against Iran."

His remarks have raised alarming questions about the US involvement in the recent wave of terrorist attacks in Iran.

Iran's biggest aluminum plant launched

Iran has put into operation its biggest aluminum plant with an annual capacity of 147,000 tons in the southern city of Bandar Abbas.

The Hormozal aluminum smelter plant will increase Iran's aluminum output by 47 percent to 457,000 tons per year.

"400 million euros plus 2 trillion rials ($200 million) have been invested in the project," said Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) Director, Ahmad-Ali Haratinik.

Haratinik added that Iran reached an agreement with the Chinese NFC Company to construct an aluminum plant in the city of Lamard with an annual capacity of 276,000 tons.

Iran's aluminum exports have reached approximately $125 million in the first half of the current Iranian year (beginning March 21).

A report released by IMIDRO in October shows a total of 87,693 tons of aluminum having been exported in the same period -- up 18 percent compared with the previous year.

It says Iran's aluminum output increased by 22 percent to 143,622 tons in the same period.

The data shows that two Iranian companies -- Iralco and Almahdi -- produced 86,544 and 57,078 tons of aluminum respectively in the first half of the year.

Abdullah refuses to join cabinet if Karzai wins

Sat Oct 24, 2009

Afghan presidential hopeful Abdullah Abdullah has ruled out a possibility of joining Hamid Karzai's cabinet should the incumbent president win another term.

The former foreign minister who left Karzai's government some three-and-a-half years ago, told CNN in an interview taped for broadcast on Sunday that he was not interested in being part of Karzai's cabinet.

"(I have) absolutely no interest in such a scenario, while at the same time, for the interest of my country, if Mr. Karzai is elected through a transparent and credible process, I will be the first person to congratulate him," he said.

Initial results gave Karzai the win in the recent election, but a subsequent review by a UN-backed panel of election monitors threw out more than one million ballots cast in August's poll, mostly for Karzai, because of "clear and convincing evidence of fraud."

Abdullah and others have accused Karzai's government and Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) of involvement in massive vote-rigging in the August 20 presidential election.

"Unfortunately, the government was involved, IEC was involved. That's according to everybody," Abdullah said.

A run-off election has been set down for November 7th.

A 12-day campaign period for Afghanistan's run-off officially began Saturday morning.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/109464.html.

Iran warns against 'US-led' arms race in outer space

Iran's deputy ambassador to the United Nations calls for global act to prevent the militarization and weaponization of outer space as an arms race in outer space is apparently emerging.

Speaking at the Fourth Committee of the UN General Assembly, Ishaq Ale-Habib expressed 'deep concern' over any arms race in outer space.

He urged the global community to step up efforts to ensure that the exploration and use of outer space would only be directed toward peaceful purposes.

The envoy added that Iran's space missions including the launch of Kavoshgar and Omid satellites as well as Safir satellite carrier were all in line with its policy of making use of space for peaceful purposes.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is committed to work with the international community in preventing the militarization of outer space, Ale-Habib reiterated.

China and Russia both have criticized US plans for space-based weapons including plans to deploy a missile interceptor system in outer space.

"Outer space is now facing the looming danger of weaponization," said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi at the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament in Geneva in mid August.

In 2007, then Russian President Vladimir Putin blasted US plans for space-based weapons.

Answering to a question about the reason behind a Chinese anti-satellite weapons test, Putin pointed the finger of blame towards Washington saying "At the same time, I would like to note that China was not the first country to conduct such a test."

Beijing and Moscow have called for negotiations over an additional treaty that could prevent an arms race in outer space.

In 2008, the two also submitted a draft treaty text about additional outer space agreements to the UN Conference on Disarmament.

The US, however has expressed its opposition to additional outer space treaties claiming that such an accord would be too difficult to verify and that no additional outer space treaties are needed because there is currently no arms race in outer space.

Myanmar, North Korea feature at Asian summit

DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer

CHA-AM, Thailand – Southeast Asian leaders, having launched the region's first human rights watchdog, called Saturday on military-ruled Myanmar to conduct free and fair elections next year but refrained from criticizing one of the world's worst human rights offenders.

A final statement from the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also urged North Korea to return to six-party talks aimed at halting Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, and stressed the need to continue domestic stimulus packages to ensure sustained recovery from the global economic crisis.

The three-day meeting at a Thai beach resort also includes leaders of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

When the summit opened Friday, the bloc unveiled the region's first human rights commission, but it was immediately derided as toothless by activists who pointed out that its mandate did not extend to prosecution of violators like Myanmar, an ASEAN member. The activists were also angered by the exclusion of several members of civil society from the summit.

Members of ASEAN have recently escalated their criticism of Myanmar, particularly over the detention of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who Saturday will have spent 14 years in detention, most of it under house arrest.

But as a bloc, ASEAN acts by consensus, avoids confrontations and maintains that the group's approach to engaging Myanmar works better than the West's sanctions and threats.

The junta has ignored calls to free Suu Kyi and an estimated 2,100 political prisoners ahead of elections, which will be the first in two decades. The leaders' statement Friday was typically meek, obliquely referring to Suu Kyi to avoid publicly scolding Myanmar.

"We underscored the importance of achieving national reconciliation and that the general elections to be held in Myanmar in 2010 must be conducted in a fair, free, inclusive and transparent manner in order to be credible to the international community," the statement said.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva described the rights commission as "a significant milestone" in the 42-year history of ASEAN.

The group has traditionally steered clear of rights issues because of its reluctance to meddle in the internal affairs of member nations.

"It is a big shame to our dreams for genuine democracy in the region. It's like all of the human rights of the people in this region have been violated," said Sister Crescenia L. Lucero, a leading rights advocate and Roman Catholic nun.

ASEAN's 10 member countries include military-run Myanmar, communist-run Laos and Vietnam plus several countries whose governments routinely persecute opposition parties or political activists.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, however, delivered a strong condemnation of North Korea, delegation spokesman Kazuo Kodama said.

"Japan cannot tolerate nuclear and ballistic missile development by North Korea," Kodama quoted the prime minister as saying. "In order to insure peace and stability in the region, we must have comprehensive agreement. I urge you to close ranks with me."

The ASEAN bloc is also following up on China's $25 billion initiative to promote infrastructure development in Southeast Asia, Japan's program on the use of efficient energy, and a $100 million South Korean project to help the region respond to climate change, conference documents said.

The statement also welcomed what it called a "historic point in ASEAN-U.S. relations," a summit of the bloc and the United States is scheduled for Nov. 15 in Singapore.

Survey. The majority of Chechens living in Europe support the Caucasus Emirate

22 March 2009

According to Caucasus Times edition, earlier this year the editorial staff received results of the study, which has been conducted among the Chechen refugees in Poland by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

According to the study, 66% of the surveyed refugees said that, in their view, the struggle for independence should be continued, 54% stated that they have positive attitude towards the idea of creating a single Islamic state.

The edition indicates that despite the significant part of the Chechen Diaspora, which is Euro-oriented and in many respects got the so-called democratic values, many of them continue to sympathize the Caucasus Emirate.

Somalia's Shabaab rebels threaten Uganda, Burundi

Friday October 23, 2009
By Abdi Guled and Ibrahim Mohamed

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somalia's hardline al Shabaab insurgents said they would strike the capitals of Burundi and Uganda in revenge for rocket attacks by peacekeepers from those countries that killed at least 30 people in Mogadishu.

"We shall make their people cry," Sheikh Ali Mohamed Hussein, al Shabaab's self-styled governor of Banadir region, which includes Mogadishu, told reporters late on Thursday.

"We shall attack Bujumbura and Kampala ... We will move our fighting to those two cities and we shall destroy them."

Burundi and Uganda both have about 2,500 peacekeepers in the Somali capital for the African Union's AMISOM force.

Reuters witnesses said they fired at least 35 rockets into the capital's Bakara market area on Thursday after al Shabaab gunmen there launched mortar shells at President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's plane as he left the airport for a summit in Uganda.

The United States accuses the rebel group, which wants to topple Ahmed's fragile U.N.-backed administration and impose its own strict version of Islamic law across the country, of being al Qaeda's proxy in the failed Horn of Africa state.

AMISOM's spokesman in Mogadishu, Major Barigye Ba-hoku, denied on Friday that the AU soldiers had fired any artillery and blamed Thursday's civilian deaths on rebel bombs.

"We did not shell any place ... We are investigating and the Somali government is investigating too," Ba-hoku told Reuters.

"Al Shabaab wants to drag us into their war ... they shell us and then they also shell Bakara, then they tell people there it was AMISOM who killed civilians. We know their tactics."

Fighting in Somalia has killed 19,000 civilians since the start of 2007 and driven another 1.5 million from their homes, triggering one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.

Western security agencies say Somalia has become a haven for militants, including foreign jihadists, who are using it to plot attacks across the region and beyond.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni warned al Shabaab not to try anything. "These terrorists ... if they attempt to attack us, they will pay very heavily," he told reporters in Kampala.

CIVILIAN DEATHS "DISASTROUS"

Speaking to Reuters in neighboring Kenya, Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke denounced the insurgents.

"They are firing from Bakara and even mosques. They are using people there as human shields ... We regret what happened. It is never our intention to hurt our own people," he said.

Thursday's clashes were some of the heaviest to rock Mogadishu for weeks, and they underlined the difficulties facing the 5,000-strong AU mission.

While winning some hearts and minds by giving residents access to clean water and free medical treatment, AMISOM has been unable to do much more than secure the city's airport, sea port, presidential palace and a few roads in between.

Its soldiers come under near-daily attacks from roadside bombs and rebel artillery, and last month al Shabaab hit their main headquarters with a twin suicide car bombing that killed 17 peacekeepers, including the Burundian deputy force commander.

"We do not take their threats lightly," Ba-hoku said. "Any attempt to attack Burundi or Uganda will be met with decisive action and will be defeated."

Several African nations had committed to send troops to reinforce AMISOM but have so far failed to do so, some saying in private that they are put off by the incessant violence.

Despite that, Mogadishu-based political analyst Abdikarim Omar said AMISOM was still better organized and armed than the rebels, and it should begin a drive to clear them from the city.

"They should launch a major offensive ... This endless shelling of commercial and residential neighborhoods, the killing dozens of innocent people, is more disastrous than a two- or three-week operation." he told Reuters.

Source: The Star.
Link: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/10/24/worldupdates/2009-10-23T234031Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-433826-5&sec=Worldupdates.

Afghan run-off campaigning begins

Campaigning for Afghanistan's presidential election run-off is due to officially get under way.

Incumbent President Hamid Karzai is due to face his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, in two weeks' time.

The run-off was announced after the Election Complaints Commission decided fraud in August's first round had inflated both candidates' results.

But Mr Abdullah now says he will pull out of the 7 November vote unless poll officials are dismissed.

Mr Abdullah's spokesman said the officials from the government-appointed Independent Election Commission (IEC) should be replaced by people who both Mr Abdullah and President Karzai found acceptable. Mr Abdullah, a former foreign minister, has previously accused the commission of not being impartial.

Meanwhile, the US special envoy to Afghanistan has said it is reasonable to hope for fewer irregularities in the presidential run-off poll than in the August election.

At a state department briefing in Washington, Richard Holbrooke told reporters: "It is reasonable to hope that there will be less irregularities this time for several reasons.

"One, there are only two candidates. Two, there is the experience factor. Three, the international community... are going to go all out to help make this a success."

Kai Eide, chief of the UN mission in the country, admits that fraud cannot be eliminated but also says he expects its level to be reduced.

Mixed feelings

The Independent Election Commission says it is sacking thousands of officials from the first round and cutting the number of polling stations.

But the BBC's Charles Haviland in the Afghan capital Kabul says there are mixed feelings about the run-off.

He says that while many diplomats feel it will clear the air after a first round marked by rampant fraud, including the stuffing of ballot boxes on a huge scale, many ordinary Afghans cannot see the need for a second round, with some feeling that the politicians do not serve them well in any case.

Our correspondent adds that others fear the consequences of voting - hardly surprising when some had their ink-stained voting fingers cut off by Taliban militants in August.

Afghan politicians have mixed views. Some see the election as necessary, while others feel it has been imposed by Western countries.

Whatever the doubts, ballot boxes and papers are already being flown to the provinces while trucks, helicopters and donkeys are on standby to deliver them.

Turnout in the first round was less than 40%.

Source: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8323254.stm.

Protesters urge end to Afghan war

Soldiers and military families will be among those joining a Stop the War Coalition march in London later against UK military operations in Afghanistan.

Organizers say they hope thousands of people will take part in the march - the first since the war began in 2001.

It will be led by L/Cpl Joe Glenton, who is facing a court martial for refusing to return to Afghanistan.

The government said Afghanistan must become "stable and secure" before Nato forces could pull out.

'Disobeying orders'

The death of a British corporal in a blast on Thursday - since named as James Oakland, of the Royal Military Police - took the number of UK personnel killed in Afghanistan since 2001 to 222.

Demonstrators are expected to gather at Speakers' Corner, in Hyde Park, from 1200 BST on Saturday.

They will then march to Trafalgar Square where a rally will be held at about 1500 BST, with speakers including MP George Galloway and campaigner Tariq Ali.

L/Cpl Glenton will also give a speech despite being advised not to do so by military commanders.

Andrew Burgin, from the Stop the War Coalition, told the BBC News website: "He has just been told by his commanding officer that he should not enter the demonstration and he should not speak.

"He has decided to disobey those military orders."

L/Cpl Glenton, based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, is facing a court martial in November for alleged desertion after going absent without leave in 2007.

In an interview with BBC Radio York, L/Cpl Glenton's wife Claire said he was "proud" to be taking part in the march.

Lindsey German, convener of the coalition, said it would be the first time a serving soldier had openly attended a national anti-war demonstration.

"This shows how deep feeling against the war in Afghanistan goes," she said.

"Barack Obama and Gordon Brown will soon find that this war turns out to be their Vietnam if they keep pouring in troops."

Also speaking in Trafalgar Square will be Peter Brierley whose son, L/Cpl Shaun Brierley, was killed in Iraq.

Mr Brierley, from Batley in West Yorkshire, confronted former Prime Minister Tony Blair at a memorial service at London's St Paul's Cathedral, telling him: "You have my son's blood on your hands."

'Key to security'

A BBC survey carried out earlier this month suggested that most people in the UK still oppose Britain's military operations in Afghanistan.

Of 1,010 people polled, 56% were opposed, 37% in favor, 6% unsure and 1% refused to answer.

In 2006, 53% of those polled were opposed, and 31% were in favor.

A spokesman for the MoD said on Friday: "It is vital to the UK that Afghanistan becomes a stable and secure state that is able to suppress violent extremism within its borders.

"Britain's own security is at risk if we again allow Afghanistan to become a safe haven for terrorists, and that would be the result if Nato forces were to pull out of the country immediately."

Organizers of the march say they expect a "substantial turnout" on Saturday, possibly as many as 15,000 people.

In February 2003, an estimated one million took part in a march in London against the Iraq war.

Palestinian who tells Blair “you are a terrorist, go home” is beaten for his outburst

From Khalid Amayreh in al-Khalil, occupied West Bank

"I think I was reflecting the feelings and views of the vast majority of Muslims. After all this is the man whose policies led to the destruction of two sovereign Muslim countries and caused the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. He is more than a war criminal. He is satanic."

October 23, 2009

Tony Blair, the former British Prime Minister, had an unpleasant experience Tuesday, October 20th, when during a visit to the ancient Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, a young Palestinian worshiper shouted at him "you are a terrorist, you are not welcomed in Palestine."

The mosque, the most ancient in occupied Palestine, was the site of a 1994 massacre when an Israeli settler terrorist from the nearby colony of Kiryat Arba, murdered 29 Muslim worshipers as they were praying at dawn during the holy month of Ramadan.

Blair, the special Quartet envoy to the Middle East, was touring the southern West Bank town as part of his efforts to reactivate the Palestinian economy, effectively paralyzed by stringent Israeli restrictions.

However, his efforts seem to have so far achieved no concrete results on the arduous road of Palestinian independence from the enduring Israeli military occupation.

Nonetheless, Blair’s failure to make any real progress in Palestine doesn’t seem to be the main source of the nearly universal anger at him among Arabs and Muslims. The pivotal role he played in the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and his close collaboration with the Bush administration earned him widespread indignation amongst Muslims all over the world.

"You are a terrorist, you are not welcomed in Palestine, go home, you are a war criminal," shouted Ali Hasan Hamdan, a young communications engineer from a small hamlet called Khursa, located 15 kilometers south west of Hebron.

The young engineer, 23, was praying when Blair and his entourage, which included several Palestinian officials, entered the Mosque. He says he had not pre-planned his verbal protest as he didn’t know beforehand that Blair was coming to the Mosque.

"It was a spontaneous reaction to seeing this war criminal enter the Holy place. I didn’t do it as a Palestinian nationalist, but rather as a Muslim who has been deeply offended by the huge crimes that Blair committed against Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine," Hamdan intimated to this writer.

Hamdan was immediately subdued by Blair’s Palestinian guards who dragged him to a corner inside the Mosque before taking him to the offices of the local Preventive Security headquarters where he was badly beaten.

During the fracas, Blair maintained his composure telling Palestinian security officials and reporters that the man had the right to protest.

"You know, he’s made his protest, and that was fair enough."

However, the Quartet envoy remarked that what happened was an individual behavior and didn’t reflect the views of the whole Palestinian population.

But Hamdan strongly disagrees.

"I think I was reflecting the feelings and views of the vast majority of Muslims. After all this is the man whose policies led to the destruction of two sovereign Muslim countries and caused the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. He is more than a war criminal. He is satanic."

Hamdan says that had he been allowed to speak further, he would have made Blair angrier.

"I wanted to tell him that the Islamic Umma (worldwide community) is waking up and that Muslims will be soon emancipated from enslavement to West. I wanted to tell him that Arab and Muslim regimes didn’t represent the Muslim masses and that Muslims were seething with anger toward criminal western powers such as Britain and the United States. I wanted to tell him that sooner or later Muslims will reinstitute the political authority of Islam and re-establish the Caliphate."

Hamdan, said that his outburst against Blair was not particularly motivated by the former British prime minister’s pro-Israeli stance.

"I think he is one of the most evil tormentors of Muslims in our time. He played a key role in the American-led invasion, occupation and destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan. And in Palestine it is amply clear that he is conspiring and conniving with Israel against the Palestinians."

"What has he done for the Palestinians? Nothing."

When Hamdan was dragged to the Preventive Security building nearly three kilometers from the Ibrahimi mosque, he was asked to sign a pledge stating that he wouldn’t indulge in such behavior again.

"Four officers ganged up on me, beating me savagely on the head and on my hands. I know the identity of three of them. They told me that if I didn’t cooperate with them, they would let me bleed a pool of blood."

"They told me that what I did insulted and embarrassed the Palestinian Authority. I retorted by telling them that I didn’t recognize the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority, which made them very angry."

After five hours of threats, beating and verbal abuse, Hamdan was released, apparently following intervention by local notables.

During the interview, I asked Hamdan if he didn’t fear for his life when he booed Blair, he said he didn’t think about it.

"We are Muslims, and as a Muslim, I believe that one’s life expires only when God decides."

Widely despised

Blair, who travels in the West Bank, in a bullet-and-bomb proof Jeep provided by the United Nations, normally avoids holding press conferences, probably in order to avoid being asked embarrassing questions pertaining to his erstwhile alliance with the Bush administration.

Several months ago, during a visit to the Hebron City Hall, this journalist asked him how he thought future Arab and Muslim generations would view him in light of his role in the American-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Noticing that the question was a little "fishy," Blair said he apologized for not answering the question because he didn’t have enough time for a detailed answer.

Blair had refrained from speaking up against Israel ’s genocidal invasions of Lebanon in 2006 and the Gaza Strip in winter.

He also has been reluctant to challenge Israel on the settlement-expansion issue, perhaps in order to keep his good-paying job for as long as possible.

I asked a Palestinian shopkeeper, not far from the Ibrahimi Mosque where Blair was visiting, what he thought of the "British guest."

The elderly man, after a moment of silence, said the following:

"We have to constantly remember that it was Blair’s country that gave our homeland to the Jews on a silver platter. That was the original sin."

"As to Blair, I think he has more Muslim blood on his hands since Hulagu and Gengiz Khan. He is an evil man."

Washington pushes Pakistan to the brink

Keith Jones

WSWS, 23 October 2009

Under heavy pressure from the Obama administration, Pakistan is now waging all-out war in South Waziristan. Since last Saturday, 28,000 Pakistani troops, supported by F-16 fighter aircraft and helicopter gunships, have mounted a three-pronged offensive in the Pashtun-speaking tribal agency.

Their target is the Tehrik-i-Taliban, an alliance of tribal-based militia groups opposed to the US occupation of Afghanistan and the pivotal logistical support that Pakistan’s government has provided the occupation, first under the US-backed dictator General Pervez Musharraf and since March 2008 by the Pakistan People’s Party-led coalition government.

The US’s guiding role in the Pakistani offensive was underscored by the sudden descent on Islamabad early this week of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Obama’s Afghan war chief, and Gen. David Petraeus, the head of the US Central Command.

Taking its cue from the White House, Capitol Hill and the Pentagon, the US media has been full of commentary lauding the widening civil war in Pakistan. Typical was a column by the Washington Post’s David Ignatius titled "Pakistan Fights Back: The Offensive in South Waziristan is the Latest Sign It’s Finally Taking the Taliban Seriously."

No matter that this offensive is being waged by the Pakistani military to assist the US in pursuing its geopolitical ambitions and with callous indifference to the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Pakistanis.

As was the case in last spring’s offensive in Swat and adjoining districts of Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, homes and schools are being flattened by bombs and artillery barrages and tens of thousands have been forced to flee for their lives.

South Waziristan and the Federally-Administered Tribal Agency (FATA) of which it is part constitute Pakistan’s most socio-economically deprived region. Sixty percent of the population survives on less than the official subsistence-level poverty line.

Islamabad has historically treated FATA as a quasi-colonial dependency, giving it substantially less per capita aid than other regions and until little more than ten years ago denying the vast majority of its inhabitants the right to vote. In seeking to quell support for the Afghan insurgency and enforce the British-imposed Durand Line that divides the Pashtun of Afghanistan and Pakistan, Pakistani authorities have regularly made use of regulations inherited from the British Raj sanctioning collective tribal punishments.

The violence in FATA—including repeated US drone missile strikes—has displaced more than one million people, or close to a third of its 3.5 million residents.

The enthusiasm in Washington for the bloodletting in South Waziristan exemplifies the bloody mindset that prevails within the US ruling elite. It also speaks to their shortsightedness and recklessness.

In pursuit of its twin objectives of securing a commanding US presence in oil-rich Central Asia—a region from which it was historically barred by the existence of the Soviet Union—and containing a rising China, US imperialism is destabilizing the entire region and sowing the seeds of future wars.

Iran, China, Russia, India and Pakistan either border or fall in the immediate neighborhood of Afghanistan and all, understandably, maintain that they have a major stake in the outcome of the ever-expanding Afghan war.

Moreover, all are acutely aware that under the Bush administration the US undertook to fundamentally reshape the geopolitics of Asia by aggressively courting India, including offering it a "global strategic partnership" and help in becoming a "world power."

Toward that end, the US secured for India a unique exception in the world nuclear regulatory regime that allows New Delhi to engage in civilian nuclear trade, although it developed nuclear weapons in defiance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. As Pakistan has repeatedly protested, the Indo-US nuclear accord has changed the balance of power in Asia by providing its arch-rival India with the means to concentrate its indigenous nuclear program on the development of its nuclear arsenal.

Russia and China have cooperated with the US-NATO intervention in Afghanistan. Russia is now allowing the transit of war material across its territory. But Moscow and Beijing share the objective of severely limiting US influence in Central Asia. That common interest has found expression in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as well as in their attempts to coordinate their response to Washington’s campaign to bully and threaten Iran over its nuclear program.

As in Iraq, Iran has reached a shaky modus vivendi with the US military forces in Afghanistan. But under conditions where Washington is threatening Iran with crippling economic sanctions, including an international gasoline import embargo, and the Obama administration is considering a Pentagon request to increase the US’s Afghan troop strength to 100,000, Tehran cannot but feel anxious.

Tehran has accused the US, Britain and elements within Pakistan of complicity in two bombings last weekend in the eastern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan that killed more than 40 people, including six high-ranking members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The Pakistani elite, and especially its military, have for decades enjoyed a mercenary relationship with US imperialism at the expense of the Pakistani people. Beginning with Ayub Khan in the mid-1950s and continuing through the only recently removed Musharraf, Washington has sponsored a succession of right-wing military dictatorships in Pakistan.

But of the major states in the region, Pakistan is the one whose internal equilibrium and strategic interests are most immediately threatened by the US war to subjugate Afghanistan and its attempt to make India a pivot of its drive to counter China.

So as to choke off support for the insurgency in Afghanistan, Islamabad has been pressed by Washington, through financial inducements and repeated violations of its sovereignty, to wage war in much of the country’s northwest. And the US has made clear that it expects that the military operations will soon be expanded to include the volatile western province of Baluchistan.

Previous military offenses in South Waziristan ended in failure, not just because of the tenacity of the resistance, but because many of the Pashtun troops reportedly balked at killing their brethren. There are reports that in the current offensive, the Pakistani military is using predominantly non-Pashtun troops, but in a country riven by ethno-linguistic and communal frictions, this could well stoke centrifugal tendencies.

Less than two years ago, the Musharraf dictatorship unraveled under the combined impact of mounting economic crisis, popular opposition to its support for the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and its denial of basic democratic rights. The PPP-led government that replaced it has only implicated Pakistan more deeply in the Afghan war, been forced to accept an IMF readjustment plan, and, so as to secure the military’s support, left Musharraf and his cronies at liberty.

Within Pakistan’s political establishment and military there is enormous apprehension and resentment at the extent to which Islamabad is being forced to sacrifice what they perceive to be Pakistan’s long-term strategic interests to secure US objectives, and to do this even as Washington showers favors on India.

The Pakistani elite is outraged that the US has encouraged India to play an ever greater role in Afghanistan, even as it demands that Islamabad sever all ties with the Pashtun-based Taliban and associated Islamist militia.

For its part, India, anxious to prevent Islamabad from using the US predicament in Afghanistan to gain leverage, has taken an increasingly hard line against Pakistan, demanding that it suppress Kashmir insurgent groups in Pakistan with the same vigor that it is battling the Pakistani Taliban.

The anxieties of the Pakistani elite over their rapidly deteriorating geopolitical position found expression this week in statements from Interior Minister Rehman Malik. First he charged that India is behind unrest in Baluchistan. Later he amplified the charge, saying that New Delhi is behind most terrorist attacks in Pakistan.

Said Malik, "We have solid evidence not only in Baluchistan [that] India is involved in almost every terrorist activity in Pakistan." India, Malik complained, routinely makes threats against Pakistan. He then added, "We are a nuclear state and not so weak. We better know how to retaliate."

The US ruling elite’s attempt to offset its economic decline through wars of aggression is destabilizing world geopolitics and throwing fuel on longstanding conflicts. If imperialism is to be prevented from reprising the catastrophes of the 20th century, the international working class must be mobilized against capitalism and the outmoded nation-state system.

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=59251&s2=23.

Alexander the Great: not first at Alexandria?

Growing evidence shows others predated his arrival by hundreds of years

Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. But in the past few years, scientists have found fragments of ceramics and traces of lead in sediments in the area that predate Alexander's arrival by several hundred years, suggesting others got there first.

By Andrea Thompson

Alexander the Great has long been credited with being the first to settle the area along Egypt's coast that became the great port city of Alexandria. But in recent years, evidence has been mounting that other groups of people were there first.

The latest clues that settlements existed in the area for several hundred years before Alexander the Great come from microscopic bits of pollen and charcoal in ancient sediment layers.

Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. The city sits on the Mediterranean coast at the western edge of the Nile delta. Its location made it a major port city in ancient times; it was also famous for its lighthouse (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) and its library, the largest in the ancient world.

But in the past few years, scientists have found fragments of ceramics and traces of lead in sediments in the area that predate Alexander's arrival by several hundred years, suggesting there was already a settlement in the area (though one far smaller than what Alexandria became).

Christopher Bernhardt of the U.S. Geological Survey and his colleagues took sediment cores (long cylindrical pieces of sediment drilled from the ground) that featured layers going as far back as nearly 8,000 years ago as part of a larger climate study of the area.

In these sediment layers, Bernhardt and his colleagues took samples of embedded ancient pollen grains to look for shifts from primarily native plants to those associated with agriculture. They also analyzed levels of microscopic charcoal, whose presence can indicate human fires.

At a mark of 3,000 years ago, Bernhardt's team detected a shift in pollen grains from native grasses and other plants to those from cereal grains, grapes and weeds associated with agriculture. They also found a marked increase in charcoal particles, all of which suggests that a settlement pre-dated the great city of Alexandria.

"They're definitely using the landscape," Bernhardt said.

Interestingly, this idea is also supported in the stories of Homer: In Book 4 of "The Odyssey," there's a mention of a one-day sail from the coast near the Nile to the nearby island of Pharos. This suggests that a port settlement of some sort was already there, the researchers say.

"Fiction is true," in this case, Berhnhardt said.

Whether the early settlement was Greek, Egyptian or affiliated with some other culture isn't known. Nor can scientists say exactly how big the settlement might have been.

"At this point I don't think you can tell much about the people themselves," Bernhardt told LiveScience, adding that archaeologists are interested in learning more about them.

Bernhardt's findings were presented at a recent meeting of the Geological Society of America and will appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Coastal Research.

Iberian Wolves Prefer Wild Deer To Domestic Animals

A Spanish researcher has analyzed the preferences of wolves from the north east of the Iberian Peninsula to demonstrate that, in reality, their favorite prey are roe deer, deer and wild boar, ahead of domestic ruminants (sheep, goats, cows and horses).

Wolves (Canis lupus) have been pursued by humans for centuries due to their supposed "addiction" to livestock. However, the study by Isabel Barja, sole author and researcher at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid [Autonomous University of Madrid], demonstrates that in the Macizo Central Orensano [mountain range in the Ourense region] (Galicia) wolves prefer wild hoofed animals to livestock in spite of the latter being available in the study area.

The researcher, who identified the food type of wolves through their feces, emphasizes to SINC that "in 87.1% of cases the carcasses of wild hoofed animals appeared, while domestic animals were only found in 11.3%, and, to a lesser extent, the remains of carnivorous animals, such as badgers, dogs, cats and rabbits were found".

The study, which has recently been published in Wildlife Biology, reflects how roe deer are the main prey, consumed during all seasons of the year and particularly during the summer (52%) and spring (26.2%). Analysis of 593 wolf excrement samples, collected between May 1998 and October 2002, revealed that 62.8% of prey was roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), 12.6% deer (Cervus elaphus) and 10% wild boar (Sus scrofa). The consumption of domestic sheep and goats only represented 7.7% and 2.9%, respectively.

The fact that livestock remains are present in excrement samples of wolves is justified by their scavenging activity in the studied area. "Furthermore, while the study was being conducted, no attacks on livestock herds were reported", the biologist states.

One of the most important aspects to emerge from the analysis of the diet of wolves is that consumption of wild and domestic hoofed animals does not depend on their availability, that is, the abundance of prey species. The wolf prefers roe deer, deer and wild boar ahead of livestock, "in spite of the fact that both food types can be found in large quantities", Barja adds.

The results of the study confirm that wolves do not feed on the most easily captured prey, such as domestic hoofed animals; rather they prefer to consume wild animals. It would, however, be inaccurate to categorize the wolf as an opportunist species in the study area.

"In areas with a low density and diversity of wild hoofed animals where wolves feed on domestic animals, an increase in the number of wild prey, livestock vigilance and limited access to carcasses could force wolves to specialize in the consumption of wild prey and transmit this behavior to their offspring. Without doubt, this would help to minimize conflict between humans and wolves, and would support the conservation of canidae", the researcher concludes.

As Tunisian elections near, attacks on press mount

(CPJ/IFEX) - New York, October 22, 2009 - Tunisian authorities must halt harassment of independent journalists, release a journalist jailed for taking photographs, and allow a prominent French reporter to enter the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ has documented a spike in government attacks on independent journalists as Tunisian presidential and legislative elections approach.

"We condemn this wave of intimidation, detention, and attacks on critical journalists," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. "Coupled with a deep-seated disdain for independent reporting, these attacks further tarnish the image of the Tunisian regime. It's telling that the government would unleash these tactics as it prepares for elections. Truly democratic nations don't beat, harass, and jail reporters."

Tunisia is set to hold elections on Sunday. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is running for a fifth term after coming to power in a bloodless coup 22 years ago. Three other candidates are running in a race that Ben Ali is virtually assured of winning; two of the candidates have said they actually support Ben Ali.

On Tuesday, authorities barred Florence Beaugé, a Le Monde correspondent, from entering the country after she arrived at the Tunis-Carthage International Airport, according to news reports. After spending the night at an airport terminal under tight police surveillance, she was put on a flight back to Paris. No official explanation was given. Government sources quoted by Agence France-Presse said she was denied entry because she had "always adopted an obvious malevolence toward Tunisia and systematically took hostile positions."

Beaugé has covered Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia since 2000, and is widely respected among independent journalists and human rights defenders in the three countries. In comments published in Le Monde on Thursday, Beaugé said her recent interview with Hamma Hammami, an opposition figure and former editor of the banned leftist newspaper Al-Badeel, apparently angered Tunisian authorities. Hammami told Beaugé that he was beaten by the police upon his recent arrival from Paris after calling on Tunisians to boycott what he called "farcical elections." He also told Le Monde that a flammable liquid was poured into the engine of the privately owned car that he and his wife, human rights lawyer Radhia Nasraoui, took home after he was assaulted at the airport.

On Tuesday, authorities jailed Zuhair Makhlouf, a political activist and contributor to Assabil Online, a Tunisian news Web site, in Nabeul province on a charge of "harming and disturbing others through the public communication network." Makhlouf had taken pictures and published an article about pollution in the industrial areas in Nabeul, according to a statement by local human rights organizations. He is currently being held in Al-Mornaguya prison, in the southern suburbs of Tunis. Under the Telecommunications Code, he could be sentenced to up to one year in prison. A hearing is scheduled for November 3, journalists told CPJ.

Also Tuesday, plainclothes police roughed up Sihem Bensedrine, editor of the online print and radio news outlet Kalima, and prevented her from taking part in a workshop concerning coverage of the election campaign, she told CPJ. Lotfi Hidouri, a journalist with Kalima and Al-Quds Press, was barred from the same workshop a day earlier. He has been under tight police surveillance since Saturday, local journalists told CPJ.

Kalima journalists Bensedrine, Hidouri, and Mouldi Zouabi were detained by police for nearly four hours last week after taking pictures of campaign scenes in the northern city of Tabarka without "authorization" from the state-run Tunisia External Communication Agency, Bensedrine told CPJ.

Taoufik Ben Brik, one of the country's most critical journalists, told CPJ that he was assaulted today by a plainclothes officer after he parked his car and headed to a neighboring school to pick up his daughter. "She was suddenly at my throat and started hitting me and tearing my clothes. She claimed I insulted her. But I am sure this is one of the prices for interviewing human rights and opposition activists for the French weekly Le Novel Observateur. I am extremely shocked and don't know how to deal with these kinds of oblique attacks," Ben Brik told CPJ.

Local journalists told CPJ that the government's pressure on journalists spiked following the publication this month of a book about the Tunisian first lady's perceived rise in political and economic influence and alleged involvement in corruption. An Associated Press reporter witnessed police at the Tunis-Carthage airport rummaging through luggage belonging to journalists in search of copies of the book, the news agency reported on Wednesday.

On October 10, authorities seized an issue of the weekly Al-Tariq al-Jadeed, owned by the opposition al-Tajdeed Movement, for "violating the electoral codes," after the paper published the election manifesto of its candidate, Ahmed Ibrahim, the movement said in a statement.

In 2009, CPJ wrote twice to Ben Ali to protest ongoing attacks on journalists.

Journalists and activists targeted prior to elections

(ANHRI/IFEX) - On 22 October 2009, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) expressed its growing concern over the organized campaign against journalists and activists in Tunisia. This campaign expresses the desire of the government to silence writers ahead of the parliamentary and presidential elections on 25 October. What is happening in Tunisia now is totally contrary to all government declarations on the necessity of respecting freedom of opinion and expression, ANHRI said.

On 20 October, the Tunisian authorities arrested the well-known journalist and human rights activist Zouhayr Makhlouf, who is also a correspondent for the "Assabilonline" newspaper, after he reported on environmental problems in the industrial district of the city of Nabeul. He was charged with "insulting others via a public telecommunications network".

The timing of the arrest, which comes during the election campaign, is a strong indicator of the regime's desire to stop the Tunisian journalist, who has repeatedly exposed violations of human rights. Makhlouf has already been assaulted and exposed to violent attacks and he received death threats on several occasions. His car was also struck, resulting in a crash. One of the previous assaults left him with a broken arm.

In addition, Radhia Nasraoui, a lawyer and president of the Tunisian Association for Combating Torture in Tunisia, has suffered the imposition of a siege on her home. Clients of her law practice have also been terrorized and she had been prevented from traveling to France to participate in a European Parliament seminar, on the pretext of a complaint against her and her husband, Hamma Hammami, who has been the secretary general of the Tunisian Communist Workers Party since 2008. Nasraoui did not manage to obtain information on the identity of the complainant.

Journalist Ziad El Hani has also been exposed to attacks and was subjected to a smear campaign when other journalists launched a petition demanding the suspension of his membership in the Press Syndicate and that he be prosecuted after he wrote an article about the sexual harassment of a female journalist by a newspaper's managing editor.

ANRHI strongly condemns these violations of the rights of journalists and activists and considers the actions of the Tunisian government to be a declaration of war against its opponents. These are the same practices that harmed the reputation of Tunisia with respect to freedoms within Arab and international circles.