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Thursday, November 5, 2009

A Cat Comes Down With H1N1

By ALICE PARK

For all the attention that has whirled around H1N1 in recent months, it seems that one vulnerable, and furry, population may have been overlooked: the family pet.

On Wednesday, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported the first confirmed case of H1N1 in a house pet, a 13-year-old domestic shorthaired cat. The animal likely contracted the virus from its owners, veterinarians say, since two of the three family members living in the cat's household had recently suffered from influenza-like illness. Late last week, when the cat came down with flu-like symptoms - malaise, loss of appetite - its owners brought it to Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine for treatment. The family mentioned to the vet that they had also recently battled illness, which led to testing the pet for H1N1.

H1N1 is a combination of influenza strains; one part originated in pigs, and another in birds. So far, only swine and ferrets, which are particularly susceptible to the flu, have become infected with H1N1.

It's not yet clear how vulnerable cats, dogs and other household animals may be to the new virus, but the Iowa cat's case reinforces just how different H1N1 is from the seasonal flu viruses. Although some household cats and certain wild cats in zoos have gotten ill with avian influenza, and dogs have their own canine version of the flu virus, pets don't normally get sick with the regular human flu. "There has never been a report of human seasonal influenza affecting cats or dogs," says Dr. Julie Levy, director of Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program at the College of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Florida.

It's possible that the Iowa cat's case may be a bellwether of future pet disease, but it's also possible it was just a fluke event. At the cat's advanced age, its immune system may not have been as adept at fending off influenza as that of a younger animal - similar to the vulnerability seen in aging humans. Still, says Dr. Ann Garvey, state public health vet at the Iowa Department of Public Health, "We just don't know, we really don't."

Garvey notes that despite nearly 25,000 cases of positive, lab-confirmed H1N1 in people reported in the U.S. since last spring, the Iowa cat is the first pet to be documented with the virus. But before pet owners start suspecting Fido and Fluffy of being H1N1 hotbeds, Garvey stresses that so far, no cases of influenza of any kind in pets - including cases of bird flu - are known to have moved from animals into people. And even among the animals, the virus does not appear to spread easily, which may further suggest that pets are not ideal reservoirs for influenza.

That's good news for pet lovers and flu worriers. And so is the fact that the cat seems to be recovering well from its bout with H1N1. "Both the owners and the cat are recovering," says Garvey. As for anyone else who is worried about spreading H1N1 flu to their pets, vets recommend following the same guidelines that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest for protecting family members - wash your hands frequently, cover your coughs and try to avoid close contact with your furry friends until you're well.

Hamas: Abbas after a power grab

The Palestinian Hamas Movement has accused Mahmoud Abbas of harming the Palestinian nation's rights by means of power grabbing attempts to control the Palestinian political arena.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum leveled accusations of deceit against the acting Palestinian Authority Chief, adding that Abbas lied about his intention not to run for election.

"If Abbas had been sincere, he would not have five positions including the presidency of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Fatah and the Palestine liberation organization (PLO)," Barhoum was quoted as saying by the Palestinian Information Center.

The Hamas official also underlined that Abbas is adamant to eradicate the Palestinian resistance and his political opponents while staying loyal to the so-called Mideast peace process. This is while the American administration and Israel have turned their backs on him and backtracked on promises they had made during a tripartite meeting in the United States regarding settlement expansion.

According to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas and US President Barack Obama was just another chance for Israel to keep stalling the implementation of its own obligations.

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

Hamas and Fatah have long been wrangling with each other over substantial discords which have caused real bottlenecks to mend fences and repair the internal Palestinian divisions. Egypt, meanwhile, has been trying for months to get the opposing Palestinian factions to sign a reconciliation deal. The latest Cairo proposal aims to lay the groundwork for new presidential and legislative elections next summer.

Iran urges Mideast vigilance against foreign powers

A senior Iranian official has called on the nations of the Middle East to maintain vigilance about plots hatched by foreign powers.

Regional states should be more serious in their efforts to boost 'regional and strategic ties' in the face of common interests and threats, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili said in a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in Tehran on Thursday.

He added that such a move would help defuse such plots.

Jalili says Tehran and Damascus can play key roles in promoting more constructive relations in the region.

He described the Iran-Syria ties as 'strategic, excellent and unique.'

The Syrian foreign minister also emphasized that the regional countries should take the initiative to work towards 'a new Middle East' without any help from foreign powers.

Muallem, who arrived in Tehran Wednesday for a two-day visit, reiterated that Damascus was serious about promoting its bilateral relations with Iran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in his talks with Muallem that the conditions in the Middle East are changing in favor of Iran and Syria, reported IRNA on Wednesday.

Algerian Tribes Demand Protection From AQIM

CAIRO [MENL] -- Algeria's loyalist tribes have demanded protection from attacks by Al Qaida.

Algerian sources said tribes in the Tizi Ouzou have petitioned President Abdul Aziz Bouteflika for increased security. The tribes were said to have reported heightened recruitment efforts by the Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb in the province.

100,000 of H1N1 vaccines arrive in Jordan

04 November 2009
Amman -- Jordan's first batch of antiviral drug for influenza H1N1 has arrived here on Wednesday aboard a Royal Jordanian flight coming from Italy, it was announced.

Director of Unified Procurement Department Pharmacist Maisaa Al Saket said that representatives from Ministry of Health and the department accompanied the batch that included 100,000 vaccines, which were transported in special refrigerators with temperatures between 2-8 degrees Celsius.

The batch included a number of documents upon requests by the Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) including certificates of analysis from the manufacturing company and health authorities of the country of origin.

Brooklyn girl winds up in hospital after being injected with H1N1 swine flu vaccine without parental permission

(NaturalNews) A six-year-old Brooklyn girl, Nikiyah Torres-Pierre, was hospitalized recently after being injected with the swine flu vaccine. The vaccination was conducted entirely without her parents' permission in an incident school nurses are calling "a mistake."

Mother Naomi Troy told the NY Daily News, "I was outraged." After receiving the swine flu injection, her daughter complained she was itching and her stomach was hurting. That's when school officials called an ambulance that rushed Nikiyah to the hospital.

Nikiyah is epileptic and takes prescription medication to treat the condition. Her mother was concerned about the possible side effects of combining a swine flu vaccine shot with epilepsy drugs and was waiting to hear back from her doctor before giving the school permission to vaccinate her daughter. That permission was apparently irrelevant, as some schools simply vaccinate any and all children without concern for parental permission.

After injecting her daughter without permission, the school nurse then called Naomi Troy and tried to persuade her to sign a consent form after the fact. "I was insulted. I was really angry," said Naomi.

So far, 1,800 NY students have been vaccinated against swine flu. Hundreds of thousands more are in line to be vaccinated when a sufficient supply of vaccines is made available.

Protect your children from state officials
What this incident demonstrates is the important need for parents to protect your children from the vaccination agenda being pushed by the State. Even without your permission, your children can be called to the nurse's office and forcibly injected with a substance that could harm or kill them.

You, the parent, might be called after the fact -- after your child winds up in the hospital, suffering from bizarre side effects even though doctors swore the vaccine was "perfectly safe."

Every day that you send your child to a public school, you run the risk that the next time you see your child, it may be in the hospital... or the morgue. Many state Dept. of Health employees who serve as school nurses don't pay any attention to parental permission. They just inject every child they can get their hands on.

And even if your child faints, or collapses into a coma, or even dies from the side effects of the vaccine, they'll claim such things are "pure coincidence" and couldn't be caused by the vaccine itself. How do they know that? Because they've been told "the vaccine is safe." And they believe it.

If you have a child in the public school system -- and you don't want them to be vaccinated with the H1N1 vaccines -- you need to take special precautions by writing a strongly-worded note informing your school principal (and nursing staff) that if your child is vaccinated without your permission, you will sue for damages.

As a public service to NaturalNews readers, I've written and posted precisely such a letter that you can freely use for this purpose. You'll find it here: http://www.naturalnews.com/027394_s...

Use this letter to stand up for your rights as a parent! Don't let the schools inject your child with a potentially harmful chemical substance. Take action now to protect the rights of you and your children.

Middle East peace efforts 'collapsing'

Monday 02 November 2009
by Tom Mellen

Arab League chief Amr Moussa has warned that US efforts to resuscitate the Middle East peace process are on the brink of total collapse because of Washington's failure to secure an Israeli settlement freeze.

His comments followed US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's announcement of a U-turn in US policy in Jerusalem on Saturday, where she said a freeze on construction of illegal settlements was no longer a precondition for the resumption of peace talks.

"The Americans couldn't bring something serious," Mr Moussa said at a press conference before a regional economic conference in Marrakesh.

"I'm really afraid we're about to see failure - failure is in the atmosphere," he warned.

At the weekend Ms Clinton called for a quick resumption of peace negotiations and lauded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's commitment to a partial halt of construction in the West Bank.

"The Israelis have responded to the call of the US, the Palestinians and the Arab world to stop settlement activity by expressing a willingness to restrain settlement activity," she said.

"This offer falls far short of what our preference would be but, if it is acted upon, it will be an unprecedented restriction on settlements and would have a significant and meaningful effect on restraining their growth," Ms Clinton insisted.

Mr Netanyahu has proposed "limiting building" for 3,000 new settler homes already approved by Israel in the West Bank, but he does not regard building homes for Israeli settlers in occupied east Jerusalem as settlement activity.

But Mr Moussa said that if there were no settlement freeze, "there is no logic, what would we be negotiating?"

He warned that if the Israelis continued their settlements and "enjoy protection against international law, then so be it, but then there can be no normalization."

He claimed that Israel was changing the "demographic make-up, the geographic character of the occupied territories" by expelling people from their homes. In Jerusalem "you'll see families living in the street, outside their apartments which belong to them but from which they've been expelled. Is that a prelude to peace or an environment which could lead us to a just peace?" he said.

Mars photo shows seasonal change

By Tim McDonnell

A few months ago, the Red Planet was white.

A new image from the Phoenix Mars Lander shows a landscape covered in ice and frost. The image, taken during the Martian winter in July and August, marked a visual confirmation of the progression of seasons scientists had expected was taking place.

The quality of the image — taken from a satellite orbiting 196 miles above the planet and carrying the UA-designed HiRISE camera — is low due to poor lighting, but clearly shows patches of carbon dioxide frost surrounding the lander, HiRISE media liaison Yisrael Espinoza said.

The photographs are among the last taken since the HiRISE camera was temporarily shut down due to problems with the spacecraft it is attached to, HiRISE principal investigator Dr. Alfred S. McEwen said, adding that the solar-powered lander itself has been non-operational since the beginning of the Martian winter.

The ice depicted in the photographs is more than three feet thick, McEwen said, but might be patchier now as the season changes to spring. He added that because the camera has not taken any recent photos, it is hard to say for sure.

“(The ice) should still be there, but thinner,” he said.

Although the ice appears green in the image, “it’s not really green at all,” said Espinoza, explaining that the camera is designed to highlight the presence of certain minerals in the frost.

Although the frost is important, Espinoza said, it is not unexpected.

He added that part of the purpose of such photographs is to keep the public in touch with a spacecraft that many have come to form a personal bond with.

“People tend to bond with the lander,” he said. “We have a tendency to look at them as something other than machines.”

Artificial Snow in Beijing Delays Hundreds of Flights

By Aifang He & Gu Qing'er
Epoch Times Staff

Chinese scientists tinkering with the weather caused millions of tons of snow to fall on Beijing over the weekend, delaying 523 flights from the capital and infuriating passengers.

The Beijing Weather Modification Office (BWMO) induced the first snow of the season, a month earlier than usual, after firing 186 silver iodide capsules into the clouds, according to Weather China.

They fired the capsules at 8:00 p.m. on Oct. 31, and by 11:25 a.m. the following morning Beijing was covered in snow.

Chinese meteorologists say the earliest snowfall normally occurs around Nov. 29, according to statistics developed over 50 years as reported by state-run media.

“We won’t miss any opportunity to use artificial precipitation since Beijing is suffering from an ongoing drought,” the Weather Modification Bureau chief Zhang Qiang said to Student News Daily.

The snowfall inconvenienced more than 10,000 airline passengers and delayed 523 flights at the Beijing Capital International Airport.

Former Google Vice-President Li Kaifu waited 17 hours in the boarding area for a Taipei flight, according to the Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolitan Daily. He blogged about the experience on Sina.com: “I thought bringing two notebook batteries to fly from Beijing to Taipei would be enough; I didn’t think I’d be waiting 11 hours. Now I can only use twitter on my cell phone. People on the plane were full of complaints; some people were so hungry they were going to faint, I just took it as a chance to lose weight. I’d not eaten for nine hours or drunk water for three, and there was nothing for it. The air conditioning was terrible. The grumbling staff didn’t have any strength left to get angry.”

Other passengers were loaded onto planes that wouldn’t take off for hours.

Because the oxygen supply on the planes was short, some passengers fainted and had to be carried out. Later, many began demanding they be let off, some trying to force their way out of the cabins in an attempt to return to the terminal. Jin, who flew from Beijing to Shanghai, said passengers on his plane were extremely agitated, quarreling angrily with airline staff.

Others complained about the inefficient coordination between the airlines and the Beijing Weather Modification Office.

Hurricane Ida hits Nicaragua coast

By FILADELFO ALEMAN, Associated Press Writer

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Newly born Hurricane Ida ripped into Nicaragua's Atlantic coast on Thursday after forcing more than 2,000 people to flee their homes and knocking out power to some parts of the impoverished region.

The hurricane struck land about 75 miles (125 kilometers) north of Bluefields. It was forecast to weaken while cutting across Honduras before possibly emerging over open water on Saturday — a still-tentative path that could carry it near Mexico's resort of Cancun by midweek.

Ida had winds of 75 mph (120 kph), according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, and it was moving to the northwest at 6 mph (9 kph).

It could dump as much as 20 inches (500 millimeters) of rain in parts as it crosses eastern Nicaragua, with the risk of flash floods and mudslides, according to the Miami-based center.

The storm could also raise coastal water levels by as much as 3 feet (nearly 1 meter) above ground level, with dangerous waves.

There were no immediate reports of deaths, but Nicaragua's National Civil Defense director Mario Perez said more than 2,000 people had been evacuated — 800 of those from flimsy, makeshift homes on Corn Island and nearby Little Corn Island, where strong winds damaged about 45 homes, toppled trees and knocked out power. Residents were taken to the port authority building and concrete hotels.

About 2,500 people live on the two islands, which are popular tourist destinations.

"There is no electricity on the island and telephone is out and there is little water," Perez said.

About 1,100 people had been evacuated in Bluefields, Perez said.

Heavy rains and winds kept officials from evacuating about 80 people on Cayos Perla, but authorities said they planned to used speedboats to get them out.

Canada begins representing Israel in Venezuela

November 4, 2009

CARACAS (JTA) -- The Canadian Embassy has begun representing Israel’s diplomatic and consular interests in Venezuela.

Venezuela expelled the Israeli ambassador and embassy staff and severed relations with the Jewish state last January in protest of the war in Gaza.

In addition to relaying diplomatic communications between Israel and Venezuela, the Canadian Embassy will also provide consular services for Israeli citizens or those looking to travel to Israel, the Canadian embassy's press office said Tuesday.

Consular services include issuing visas for Venezuelan citizens seeking to travel to Israel and accepting passport and residency applications.

Since January, Venezuelans Jews lacking Israeli passports had to travel to either Bogota, Colombia or Miami to request a visa.

Anecdotally, Venezuelan Jews said recently that it seems Venezuela has stopped issuing visas for Israelis seeking to visit the South American nation. Venezuelan Foreign Ministry representatives were unavailable for comment.

President Hugo Chavez has adopted an unequivocally strident tone against Israel, often equating it with his other foe, the United States, while forging warm ties with countries such as Iran and Libya. Earlier this year, Chavez told Al-Jazeera there were no plans to resume direct ties with Israel until it reconsidered its "genocidal attitude."

Sikhs protest 'kidnap' of Jammu and Kashmir woman

Wednesday 4th November, 2009 (IANS)

Hundreds of Sikhs in Jammu Wednesday held a massive demonstration to protest the abduction of a Sikh woman and alleged complicity of the state police with the kidnappers.

The demonstrators were angry over the abduction of Amrit Kaur of Srinagar by a Muslim boy, while the police maintained that the duo were adults and had married out of their will.

But the community leaders asked the police to present the girl before her parents and to bring the couple to Jammu. The demonstrators also burnt effigies of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to give vent to their anger.

'She is being pressured to convert to Islam,' Gurcharan Singh, a Sikh leader, told reporters.

Source: Calcutta News.
Link: http://www.calcuttanews.net/story/561795.

Another batch of 390 Hajis from Jammu and Kashmir leaves for Jeddah in 2 flights

Srinagar, Nov 4 : Another batch of 390 pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir today left for Jeddah to perform Haj-2009.

With this, a total of 6384 pilgrims, including women and children, had left for Jeddah since the commencement of the departure of pilgrims from Srinagar International Airport on October 20.

Official sources said 390 pilgrims were taken in special buses to Srinagar International Airport from Haj house at Bemina from where they left for Jeddah in two flights.

More than 7500 pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir will perform Haj this year.

Source: New Kerala.
Link: http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-144066.html.

New schools for the children of Pakistan earthquake

04 November 2009

The UK is to help build 750 new schools in Pakistan Administered Kashmir and North West Frontier Province (NWFP), it was announced today. The schools will provide a safe learning environment for 90,000 children, who have been forced to study in tented facilities since existing schools were destroyed or made unusable by the major earthquake that affected the region four years ago.

DFID will provide an additional £35 million in funding to help people continuing to rebuild their lives after the earthquake of 2005. As well as building new schools, the funding will be used for completing the construction of earthquake resistant homes for nearly 200,000 people and 50 bridges connecting communities in the earthquake affected areas.

This latest package of assistance from the UK is part of DFID’s ongoing commitment to helping the 3.5 million people affected by the disaster, and brings its spending on reconstruction and rehabilitation to £84 million, which has helped to rebuild hundreds of thousands of homes, offices and infrastructure. UK assistance will be channeled through the government of Pakistan’s Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) and other frontline agencies.

Development Minister Mike Foster said:

“The 2005 earthquake caused widespread devastation in parts of Pakistan Administered Kashmir region and NWFP. While some of this damage – to infrastructure and buildings for example - is easy to observe, some of it - such as a child’s lost chance to learn in a safe and secure environment - is less apparent to the naked eye. But that doesn’t make it any less important, and that’s why rebuilding schools is so vital.

“We have continued to support reconstruction efforts in the region, and real progress has already been made. Over 80 per cent of homes to date have been rebuilt to earthquake resistant standards. The government, donors and civil society have shown how much can be achieved working together and putting people at the centre of decision-making. This new funding will help to make sure local people see the same results in education and other priority areas.”

DFID is also providing support to those displaced by the recent fighting in Pakistan. In May 2009, DFID provided £22m for urgent humanitarian assistance, including food, water and emergency shelter to those most in need, as well as facilitating access to basic sanitation and healthcare. In October, it announced a further £10m to help with the early stages of recovery needs for these communities.

Source: Department for International Development (DFID).
Link: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/News-Stories/2009/New-schools-for-the-children-of-Pakistan-earthquake/.

Wide support for UN Gaza report

Dozens of nations at the UN have backed a non-binding resolution calling for independent inquiries by Israel and the Palestinians into war crimes in Gaza.

The UN General Assembly is set to vote on the resolution at the end of a two-day debate on a report by former war crimes prosecutor Richard Goldstone.

The report condemns the conduct of both sides last December and January, after Israel launched an offensive in Gaza.

The Palestinians support the debate but Israel says it does not promote peace.

Mr Goldstone's report concluded that Israel had "committed actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity" by using disproportionate force, deliberately targeting civilians, using Palestinians as human shields and destroying civilian infrastructure during its Gaza offensive.

It also found there was evidence that Palestinian militant groups including Hamas, which controls Gaza, had committed war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity, in their repeated rocket and mortars attacks on southern Israel.

The report demanded that unless the parties to the Gaza war investigated the allegations of war crimes within six months, the cases should be referred to the International Criminal Court.

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

'Realization of justice'

The General Assembly draft resolution has been introduced by Arab states and the Non-Aligned Movement, which represents 118 nations.

It calls for independent investigations of alleged war crimes to be set up by both the Palestinian Authority and Israel within three months.

The resolution also asks Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to report to the General Assembly within three months on implementation "with a view to considering further action, if necessary, by the relevant United Nations organs and bodies", and to send the report to the Security Council.

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding - unlike Security Council resolutions. However, correspondents say the Security Council is unlikely to take any action if the case is ever referred to it.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, backed the resolution but also insisted that Israel's "aggressions and crimes" could not be equated "with actions committed in response by the Palestinian side".

"We are determined to follow up this report and its recommendations in all relevant international forums, including the Security Council and the International Criminal Court, until the realization of justice," he said.

Israel's permanent representative, Gabriela Shalev, warned that the report and the debate did "not promote peace - they damage any effort to revitalize negotiations in our region".

"Time and again, the report inverts Israel's unprecedented extensive efforts to save civilian lives as proof that any civilian casualties were therefore deliberate," she told the Assembly.

The US, as a key ally of Israel, was one of a small number of countries expected to vote against the resolution.

For the EU, Sweden's UN envoy Anders Liden urged Israel and the Palestinians to "launch appropriate, credible and independent investigations into possible violations".

He described the report as "serious" and said the EU was "committed to assessing it seriously".

Inquiries criticized

The UN debate also comes as an Israeli human rights organization criticized investigations being carried out by the Israeli military.

B'tselem said 13 of 23 military police investigations under way were based on information it and two other rights organizations had gathered.

Three of the cases concerned civilians allegedly killed while holding white flags, and four were cases where Gazans were said to have been used as human shields.

B'tselem said the investigations were not sufficient because they "only relate to isolated incidents in which a suspicion exists that soldiers breached military orders".

"To date, not one investigation has been opened regarding Israel's policy during the operation, on matters such as the selection of targets, the open-fire orders given to soldiers, the legality of the weapons used, the balance between injury to civilians and military advantage, and so forth," it said.

Islamic Economic Summit To Begin In Istanbul On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The 25th economic summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) would be held in the Turkish city of Istanbul from 5th to 9th November, reported Turkish news agencies on Tuesday.

Media reports indicated that the 25th session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the OIC (COMCEC) will be held at Istanbul's Four Seasons Hotel, with Turkish President Abdullah Gul chairing the meeting.

The heads of state of the OIC Executive Committee member countries, which includes Egypt, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uganda are expected to attend the summit, along with heads of state of some other OIC member countries.

Iran's official IRNA news agency had reported earlier that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would arrive in Turkey on 8th November for attending the last two days of the summit. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is also expected to participate in the summit.

The main issues expected to take center-stage at the summit include inter-OIC trade and investment relations, poverty alleviation, economic and technical support, financial cooperation and e-government applications.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference was established in 1969, and is considered to be one of the most influential international organization of Islamic states. The Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (COMCEC) was founded later, during the 3rd Islamic summit in 1981.

Source: INO.
Link: http://news.ino.com/headlines/?newsid=110320092422.

Destabilizing Baluchistan, Fracturing Pakistan

The Triangle of Jundallah, the Taliban, and Sipah-e-Sahaba

by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

“Managed Chaos” is the proper term to describe the tensions in NATO-garrisoned Afghanistan and the border zones of Pakistan. Afghanistan and Pakistan, which are now being described by the Pentagon and NATO as the same front in the very same war, are tied to the Iranian border province of Sistan and Baluchistan or Sistan-Baluchistan. It is with the tenure of George W. Bush Jr. and his administration that Sistan-Baluchistan, with emphases on “Baluchistan” begun getting international attention through the ignition of a series of attacks inside the Iranian border with Pakistan by a group originally calling itself the “Army of God” or Jundallah in Arabic.

One must first take a closer look at Sistan-Baluchistan and the issues being depicted as the source of antagonism there before discussing Jundallah, the nature of its attacks, its source of support, and if the Pakistani government and the Obama Administration have been involved with Jundallah’s attacks. So, with a purposeful focus on Baluchistan, what is Sistan-Baluchistan and where is it? The Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan, which is located in southeastern Iran, is in fact the blending of two different bodies, one is Sistan and the other is Baluchistan. Both were separate historical entities and Iranian provinces until they were amalgamated into one in 1959 under the reign of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the last shah or monarch of Iran.

Sistan according to some local traditions is the legendary home of the Iranian epic hero Rustam. Sistan is also where Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who is an Iranian, originates from. In ethnic terms the people of Sistan are mostly Persians and Sistani. Sistani is a label that can be used to identify anyone from Sistan, but it also has two other meanings. Sistani in ethnographic terms is used to refer to a sub-population of the Baluch or Baluchi, which are a distinct Iranic ethno-linguistic group. The relationship between the Sistani and the Baluchi almost correlates with the affinities between the Flemish and the Dutch or of those between the Pathans (Pashto of Pakistan) and the Pashto in Afghanistan. What sets the Sistani apart and is a cause for their distinction is geography and, more importantly, the fact that they speak a localized dialect of the Persian language called Sistani.

Moving on, Baluchistan is the other part of the Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan. Baluchistan, however, is not limited to Iran and is also a larger region that encompasses southern Afghanistan and a large slice of Pakistani territory. Sistan can also be included or excluded from this broader region of Baluchistan. The coastal region of Makran, which runs through both Iran and Pakistan, is also a sub-region of Baluchistan. Makran is of great geo-strategic importance and is home to the Pakistani port of Gwadar that both the U.S. and China are deeply interested in as an energy terminal and a naval base.

The province of Baluchistan in Pakistan is where the overwhelming majority of the Baluchi live. Pakistani Baluchistan was once mostly populated by Baluch and other relatively indigenous people before British control and later waves of immigration that caused demographic changes. Starting in 1947 the mass immigration of new ethnic groups leaving India for Pakistan because they were Muslims and the conflict in Afghanistan, starting with the 1979 Soviet invasion, also changed Pakistani Baluchistan’s ethnic composition. The Baluchi themselves, however, did not always live in Baluchistan. The Baluchi moved eastward to most of present-day Baluchistan from the Iranian province of Kerman or Kermania (Germania) during the period of Seljuk rule in Iran. The ancestors of the Baluchi also themselves had migrated to Kerman in earlier times.

Is Jundallah fighting for Baluch and Sunni Muslim rights against Persians and Shiite Muslims?

The genesis being presented about the Jundallah attacks in Baluchistan is offered as one that is dual-natured. Firstly the Jundallah attacks are being portrayed as being sparked on the basis of sectarianism and secondly on the basis of ethnicity. In this sense the intermittent attacks and explosions in Baluchistan are presented in the framework of a conflict between a confessional minority versus a confessional majority in Iran and to a lesser extent as an ethnic minority versus an ethnic majority.

One is almost tempted to state that the conflict between Tehran and Jundallah has been portrayed by Jundallah as one between Persians and Baluchi, which to some extent was originally how it was portrayed. In many places the media has framed it as such, along with the sectarian dimension of Sunnis versus Shiites. This is grossly inaccurate. Jundallah’s later attacks were portrayed differently by the group itself, but it should be noted that the statements of Jundallah on its fight have changed too. Jundallah’s attacks became mostly framed as being predominantly against the Iranian central government. The group even changed its name to the “People’s Resistance Movement of Iran” to make it appear as an internal Iranian struggle against the government in Tehran.

As an important side note: albeit Persian is the official language of Iran, Persians are merely a plurality in Iran and it is fundamentally wrong to describe the Iranian attribute as Persian. Iran is not a Persian country as so many authors, journalists, and sadly scholars wrongly state; Iran is an Iranian country and the Persian identity, like Azerbaijani (Azeri/Azari) or Baluchi, is a subsidiary to this Iranian identity as an Iranologist would be able to explain. All Persians are Iranian, but all Iranians are not Persians.

Who are the Baluch?

Simply asked, what are the Baluch? Are they Iranian or not? Do the Baluchi as a whole have aspirations to create “Free Baluchistan” or their own state? Do the Baluchi want independence from Iran as is being reported in the U.S., France, Britain, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and several other countries? Once this is answered then Jundallah can be addressed.

Nomenclature is important in regards to understanding not only Baluchistan, but all Eurasia from Lagos to Vladivostok. In categorizing the ethno-linguistic cluster of peoples in the Iranian Plateau, which extends from Iran to Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, one must grasp the understanding that the term Iranian is charged with multiple meanings. Iranian is a national, a linguistic, and an ethnic tag. These matrices can become very confusing when looking at questions concerning this area from an outside view, but yet are essential to understanding the nature of the subject.

Already as it is, ethnicity is a highly confusing topic with both subjective and objective elements. Imagine the confusion that would arise if the term “German” was being used, as it once frequently was, not only to identify German nationality and to designate German ethnicity (which is used to describe a whole people ranging from Germany to Austria and Switzerland), but to identify members of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. Germanic includes English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Dutch, amongst other languages. Great confusion would arise from calling these other peoples German on top of their other labels. In regards to Iranian, this is the case. This is also compounded by the careless substitution of Iranian as a designation for Persian or vice-versa, which is similar to the misuse of the terms English and British.

To prevent confusion the term Iranic will be used in preference to the term Iranian in regards to ethno-linguistic designation(s) to help identify the additional attributes of either ethnicity, language, or both. Without turning this discourse into a treatise on language, one may also ask are ethnicity and language linked? Yes and no. Speaking English does not necessarily make one an Anglo-Saxon, just as speaking Spanish or Russian does not make one a member of those ethnic groups either. Ethnicity, however, historically does have a direct correlation with the origins of languages.

Moving forward, the Baluch originate from the area around the Caspian Sea in the Caucasus. Speaking strictly in ethnic terms, the Baluch are an Iranian or Iranic people. They are Iranian or Iranic, regardless of if they live in Iranian Baluchistan or Pakistani Baluchistan or in Afghanistan. Despite their more commonly darker phenotype (appearance) the Baluchi are of the same stock(s) as the Persians and Kurds. They also speak their own language, Baluchi. Baluchi is a Northwestern Iranic language, which is a sub-division of a broader linguistic grouping called Western Iranic. Northwestern Iranic includes Kurdish, the language of the Kurds, and Talysh, a language mostly spoken in the Iranian province of Gilan and in the Republic of Azerbaijan. In turn Western Iranic is part of the larger Iranic branch (or sub-branch, if you consider it one with Indo-Aryan or Indic) of the Indo-European language family, which includes the Slavic, Germanic, Romance, Celtic, Albanian, and Greek languages.

Persian, the official language of Iran, and Tajik are examples of Southwestern Iranic languages, which also belong to the larger Western Iranic group like both Baluchi and Kurdish. In regards to the Western Iranic languages they evolved from the three main Iranian groups of antiquity that moved into the Iranian Plateau from Europe and/or Central Asia. The Northwestern Iranic group developed from the dialects of the Parthians (who lived in Parthia, which excluding Hyrcania was roughly corresponding to the province of Khorasan) and the Medes (who lived in Media, which roughly covered northwestern Iran and parts of Iraqi Kurdistan), while the Southwestern Iranic group developed from the dialect of the ancient Persians (who lived in Persia/Persis or roughly the modern-day province of Pars/Fars in southwestern Iran). Pashto and Ossetian are respective modern examples of the Eastern Iranic group that also included Scythian, which was once spoken from the Ukraine and Russia to what is now Chinese Turkestan.

Like all other people, the Baluchi are also a mixture of new waves and different stocks of people, including the original Dravidian people who thousands of years ago lived in the Iranian Plateau before they were pushed southward or assimilated by the ancient Iranians as they migrated into Anatolia and the Iranian Plateau during a major period of Indo-European migration. The Brahui in Pakistan, which are closely tied to the Baluchi and very often mistaken for Baluchi, are a surviving remnant of this older Dravidian stock. Arabs and other Semitic peoples, as well as various groups from the littoral of the Indian Ocean, have also mixed with the Baluchi gene pool over time, especially in Makran.

Most the Baluch are also Muslims of the Sunni confession. The confessional difference between the Baluchi and the majority of Iranians has not always existed. It began under the Safavid Dynasty of Iran. During the Safavid period, when most other Iranians became Shiite Muslims, the Baluchi like many of the Kurds maintained their Sunnism. Some of the reasons for this had to do with clan autonomy from the central government and with the fact that these groups were on the frontiers of the Safavid Empire where defensive cooperation with their chieftains was important for the Safavid monarchs and thus they were relatively left undisturbed in regards to their confessions.

Difference of confession between the majority of the Baluch and the Iranian state have not been a major problem for the Baluchi. Nor have the Baluchi been barred from practicing their interpretation of Islam in Iran. In general Baluchi complaints resemble the complaints of Shiites or other ethnic groups, including Persians, against the Iranian government. Moreover, regardless of their ethnicity or their views on Islam, the main localized complaint of the residents of Sistan-Baluchistan has been underdevelopment in their province’s rural areas. In contrast to the pictures being linked to Jundallah, Sistan-Baluchistan has enjoyed peace and stability, except for the narcotic smuggling that has involved transient elements from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Baluchi Independence: Iran’s Problem or Pakistan’s Problem?

Aside from the opium wars between Iranian security forces and a multi-national narcotic smuggling network assisted by vast sections of the security and state apparatus of Pakistan, the greatest source of antagonism in the region of Baluchistan has been specific to the Pakistani side. Although the Baluchi are not a confessional minority in the mostly Sunni Muslim country of Pakistan, the Baluchi have been marginalization in Pakistan. This, however, should not be overstated either, but has resulted in a real and widely supported nationalist and secessionist movement in Pakistani Baluchistan. The Baluchistan Nationalist Party was formed on this basis and has made demands ranging from full independence from Pakistan to more local autonomy.

Baluchi separatism is not a factor in Iran, but it is a real force in Pakistan. The Baluchistan People’s Front, which from Britain claims to represent the Baluchi in Iran also has no real popular base and is propped up by British and American support, whereas the Baluchistan Nationalist Party has a popular base of support in Pakistan. The Baluch feel they were forced to join Pakistan under pressure, especially in the case of the of the Khanate of Kalat (Qalat). Starting in 1948, Pakistan has seen five rounds of ethnic-based fighting in Baluchistan. Since the creation of Pakistan, the independence movement in Pakistani Baluchistan has gone so far as to openly wage war against the Pakistani government and military. This war between Baluchi fighters and the Pakistani military has been neglected by the same journalists and mainstream media outlets that report on Jundallah synonymously with the allegations of the systematic mistreatment of the Baluch in Iran. In this context, Jundallah’s fighters are mostly imported from Pakistan and the problems of the Baluchi with the Pakistani government have deliberately been imported to Iran.

Misleading the World on Baluchistan

Returning to the question; do the Baluchi as a whole have aspirations to create “Free Baluchistan” or their own state? The answer has been given as no in regards to Iran, but a mixed yes when it comes to Baluchi feelings in Pakistan. Nevertheless, these differences amongst the Baluchi in Iran and Pakistan are generalized as one. This generalization is given so as to vindicate Jundallah as a home-grown Iranian movement that germinated out of the conditions on the ground in Iranian Baluchistan without the involvement of any external powers.

World view is categorically being misled on the Jundallah attacks in Baluchistan. The application of Cartesian Doubt is really needed when a discourse on Baluchistan is presented. Ethnic, religious, and sectarian differences do exist in Iranian Baluchistan as they do everywhere else without exception, but they are not major cleavages or forces of tension in multi-ethnic Iran. Any Iranologist or individual that knows Iran first hand will give this assessment. Tension does exist in Sistan-Baluchistan, but to an equal or far lesser extent than the tensions between the French and the Flemish in Belgium or the Québécois and English-Canadians in Canada.

In the onslaught of the media coverage of the series of attacks in Sistan-Baluchistan against Iranian security targets many journalists have presented the conflict as being one between Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims and one for Baluchi rights. For example, in the process Le Figaro, an influential French newspaper, has described the situation as one where a Sunni minority is fighting for their rights in the most generic and non-context specific terms. Not only are these reports being made in Lebanon by individuals with little expertise or knowledge about Iran, but misleadingly the small force that is Jundallah and the Baluchi peoples are systematically being equated as one entity. The heavy influence of the same rhetorical tactics used in favor of the March 14 Alliance in Lebanon and used to describe the so-called Shiite-Sunni tensions (which are really political tensions between the Future Movement and Hezbollah) in Lebanon are evident in the reports that are presented by Le Figaro without any real understanding for Baluchistan.

In Saudi Arabia, where sectarian hate has been heavily enforced by the Saudi media, the attacks in Baluchistan are being presented as Sunni Muslims fighting Shiite repression. Another example of misinformation comes from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The BBC has steadily moved to a position where it has described the attacks in Baluchistan as attacks that have been perpetrated by an ethnic militia fighting for minority rights. Furthermore, while the BBC has generally designated other groups using the same tactics as terrorist organizations it has not done so for Jundallah.

Are the narratives behind the attacks in Baluchistan factual, even in the most subjective of terms? No, nothing can be further from the reality of the situation. It is somewhat of a giveaway that none of these reports even dare to venture into the theme of popular support for the Jundallah attacks by the people of Baluchistan. No exhaustive presentation of the Baluch has even been made. None of these reports even mention that many of the people and targets attacked have included Sunni Muslims. Nor is anything mentioned about the evidence Iran has provided to the United Nations, starting in 2007, validating Tehran’s claims of American and British involvement.

Spawn of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI): the Taliban, Sipah-e-Sahaba, and Jundallah

So what is Jundallah? ABC News (“The Secret War Against Iran,” April 3, 2007), based on reports from Pakistani intelligence sources in 2007, identified Jundallah as clearly being Pakistani in origin and American-supported. Iranian officials have also said the group is alien to Iran. In 2007, at the same time information began to emerge that the White House was supporting terrorist organizations and activities against Iran. The Telegraph (“Bush sanctions ‘black ops’ against Iran,” May 7, 2007), amongst numerous other sources, also reported that the U.S. government was funding Jundallah as part of a regime change agenda against Iran, because a war with Iran was not possible at the time. These operations are part of what can be called a “soft war.”

To hide and whitewash Jundallah’s Pakistani origin and its creation as an organization clearly for the purpose of destabilizing the Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan, the objectives of Jundallah were finessed to fit an Iranian format. The U.S. and Britain, with Pakistan as their surrogate, also began to realize that the separatist causes and organizations they had been assembling and supporting to destabilize and balkanize Iran were garnishing little support inside Iran or internationally. In an attempt to connect its operations with the broader demands for reform in Iran, Jundallah’s aims started being presented as part of a battle for Baluchi civil rights instead of its previous pretext of fighting Shiite Muslims in a hardcore sectarian war. The organization also changed its name to the People’s Resistance Movement of Iran to distance itself from a separatist identity that the Baluchi in Iran did not support.

There is something fundamentally contradictory between Jundallah’s claims of fighting for Baluchi civil rights and its systematic attacks on civilian targets, which included ethnic Baluch, and public places. A look at Jundallah’s leader also presents contradictions. Abdul-Malak Rigi is a former Taliban fighter and a smuggler involved in the international narcotics drug ring that is active on the borders of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. Rigi a narcotics trafficker with a criminal record has been presented as a political activist in places like the U.S., Britain, and Saudi Arabia. This is highly improbable. Little analysis is made on these linkages.

Jundallah not only has Taliban fighters in its ranks, but also members of Anjuman-e-Sipah-e-Sahaba. Anjuman-e-Sipah-e-Sahaba or Sipah-e-Sahaba is a former and small political party in Pakistan that was involved in attacks against Pakistani Shiite Muslims and Christians, but with the main objective of eliminating Shiites. The group shares a lot of ground with the Taliban of pre-2001 Afghanistan in regards to its use of violence, its world-view, and its intolerance against Shiite Muslims, Christians, and Jews. The transfer of Sipah-e-Sahaba fighters into the ranks of Jundallah to attack Iran is not implausible. In fact, the Pakistani government has also admitted that Lashkar-e-Jhangavi, a so-called splinter group that broke from Sipah-e-Sahaba, is part of Jundallah and Jundallah’s attacks on Iran.

Jundallah is a modified face of Sipah-e-Sahaba and the Taliban. The group would not be able to attack the Iranian police, the Iranian border guard, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard without help from the state apparatus of Pakistan or the collusion of the occupying powers in Afghanistan. This is one of the reasons that Jundallah fighters have escaped so easily into Pakistan from the Iranian border without problems with Pakistani security forces and border guards. It must also be mentioned that there are several American bases in Pakistani Baluchistan in close proximity to Iran that Jundallah could be using for support in its cross-border raids of Iran.

The truth behind so-called Islamic fundamentalism in Afghanistan is mostly linked to a nexus of destabilization, war, and the narcotics trade. The original Taliban (which does not include many of the different groups fighting NATO in Afghanistan), Jundallah, and Sipah-e-Sahaba are all the spawn of the Pakistani Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) in one way or another. All three originate in Pakistan and all of them have the hallmarks of entities created by the ISI. All three are also tied in one form or another to the international narcotics trade of opiates, such as opium and heroin. Narcotics have been involved through drug money with the funding of these organizations, as well as the Pakistani military and the personal wealth of many Pakistani leaders.

The Talibanization of Pakistan, however, is exceptional in regards to being a direct spawn of Pakistani intelligence operations. The new Taliban in Afghanistan and the Tehrik-e-Taliban in Pakistan or the Pakistani Taliban are not like the old pre-2001 Taliban. The motivations and origins for the latter two groups are different. Most the new Taliban in Afghanistan do not share the same ideology as the old Taliban and are fighting against what they see as a foreign invasion of Afghanistan. In regards to the Taliban in Pakistan, in a sense they are the blowback of Pakistani meddling in Afghanistan and a result of the American-led NATO war in Afghanistan. Demands for a united Pashto state are also at play in the formation of the Pakistani Taliban.

Tehran has accused Islamabad several times of supporting Jundallah and operations against Iran. The Iranian government has also demanded that the Pakistani government hand over Rigi for the murder of Iranian citizens and officials, including high ranking Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders. Islamabad denies working with Jundallah. Pakistan has supported Jundallah, but the extent to which it has is not clear. In fairness it must be said that the widespread corruption in the ranks of Pakistan’s security, intelligence, and military forces is another factor at play. Pakistan itself is a victim of the collaboration of its leaders and officials with America and its allies. It can be said that Pakistan is not a state with a military, but a military with a state. A vast mosaic of the Pakistani military and officialdom act on their own and are involved in the international drug industry. These individuals and groups can easily act by themselves and even against Pakistani national interests. It is the U.S. and Britain, however, which have used the corrupt officialdom and state apparatus of Pakistan as an incubator for their geo-political objectives in Eurasia.

The original Taliban and organizations like Jundallah ultimately serve the interests of America and its allies in Eurasia. Pakistan has merely acted as an agent for the interests of America and its allies. This is one of the reasons that the U.S. State Department has never put Islamabad on its list of states sponsoring terrorism even though India and other states have provided strong cases.

Eurasian Geo-Strategy: Why Destabilize Eastern Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan?

A strong, stable, and powerful Pakistan, especially one that would be independent, is not looked at in good terms by the Pentagon and NATO for many reasons. Within an Orwellian framework, Pakistan and NATO-garrisoned Afghanistan are deliberately being destabilized while there is talk about stabilizing them. Many Pakistani elites are party to this agenda.

Both Afghanistan and Pakistan act as a land bridge between Iran on one side and China and India on another. If Pakistan and Afghanistan were to fall under the orbit of Russia, China, and Iran as the Pentagon and NATO (the Periphery) fear then Central Asia would virtually be encircled and closed off to America and its allies. In addition to Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan would complete the encirclement of Central Asia and its energy resources. This last point involving Baku, however, depends on the status of the Caspian Sea, which is why Russia and Iran want the Caspian Sea to be closed off and have liberum vetoes over any development in its waters. It is, therefore, through Afghanistan and Pakistan that the U.S. and its allies have a land bridge into Central Asia and the centre of the Eurasian landmass.

The destabilization project in Afghanistan and Pakistan is aimed at specific areas in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, such as political and national unity. Ethnic divisions are being magnified in both. The answers to this come down to the struggle over Eurasia and the encirclement of Russia, China, and Iran. In this context, not only is the securing of energy resources in Central Asia tied to the industrial and economic needs of America and its partners, but also as a means to keep these resources out of the hands of China, Russia, and Iran for use, distribution, or transit. This is why an energy corridor from Turkmenistan to the shores of the Indian Ocean, going through Afghanistan and Pakistan has been an objective of the Pentagon and NATO linked to the issue of energy security.

In regards to strategic energy routes, the Pentagon and NATO see the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) Friendship Pipeline as a threat or rival energy corridor. There is a strong possibility that China could be included in the pipeline or that the pipeline could be just an Iran-Pakistan-China pipeline that would bypass India. This is a threat to American ambitions to contain China y way of controlling its energy supplies. It is also seen as a threat by the Pentagon and NATO because the ex-Soviet republics in Central Asia could supply gas to China via Iran and this pipeline. Turkmenistan already has gas pipelines going into Iran. In summary, putting a halt on the IPI Friendship Pipeline is not as important as controlling the energy route and keeping China out of the picture.

Pakistan, as noted, is filled with corrupt leaders. These leaders can easily be bought or switch sides. The fears of the Pentagon and NATO that Islamabad could become a full Chinese client state are driving the project to balkanize Pakistan. The same is true in regards to Afghanistan where NATO and the Pentagon fear that Iran and China could control Afghanistan through spheres of influence that would see a western zone controlled by Tehran and an eastern zone controlled by Beijing. Maps of Pakistan and Afghanistan falling within the geo-political orbit of China have even been produced. Balkanizing these areas makes it much harder for the area to fall under Chinese and Iranian control. Why is this important? The answer goes back to the issue of Pakistan and Afghanistan as land bridges between China and Iran. In a balkanized scenario, where Pakistan and Afghanistan have been divided, there would be less of a likelihood that a geo-strategically significant land bridge would manifest between Iran and China. This would further obstruct Eurasian solidarity and cohesion, which is a major aim of the Pentagon and NATO. Out of its own geo-strategic fears India has also made common cause with the U.S. and NATO in this project to prevent the tightening of the embrace and alliance between Beijing and Tehran.

The balkanization of this area would also make it more probable that the energy routes would be controlled by America and its allies via the new and smaller states that may ask for the protection of America and NATO like some of the states of the former Yugoslavia. The balkanization of Pakistan and Afghanistan also would help destabilize the easternmost Iranian provinces, including Sistan-Baluchistan. An independent Pakistani Baluchistan could also be at odds with Tehran over territorial claims to the Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan. In addition, an important question is would an independent Baluchistan serve or work against Chinese naval interests in Gwadar. The military infrastructure of the area is already under the control of the American military.

Baluchistan is not only geo-strategically important in regards to Eurasian energy linkages, but is also rich in mineral deposits and energy reserves. In most cases these minerals and energy reserves are all untouched. It would be far easier to procure the mineral and energy resources of this area from a relatively more lightly populated Baluchistan republic.

The Return of the Realists in U.S. Foreign Policy: Obama White House involved in Baluchistan?

With the replacement of George W. Bush Jr. with Barack H. Obama Jr. it can heuristically be said that the realists of U.S. foreign policy came back into power, whereas the neo-conservatives or neo-cons were in power in the Bush Jr. Administration. In reality both were involved to different degrees. Conceptually, realists do not believe that there are morals in international relations, just interests. Amongst the realist camp are Henry A. Kissinger and Zbigniew K. Brzezinski.

American foreign policy realists are not different in their foreign policy objectives, just different in their methodologies. The use of military force for them is just as important as the neo-cons. The realists are known for negotiating with their geo-political rivals, but covertly work to destabilize rivals. The history of Afghanistan and Brzezinski’s involvement there against the Soviet Union during the Cold War is just one example.

So is the Obama Administration involved in the attacks on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard conference in Sistan-Baluchistan? One of the main forces behind the foreign policy of President Obama is Brzezinski, a realist and someone who has talked about Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan all becoming destabilized, including in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in 2007. The concept of a geo-political “black hole” is also his. Also, the Iranian government has categorically stated that the U.S. and Britain where the forces behind the October 18, 2009 attacks on a dialogue amongst Sistan-Baluchistan’s Shiite Muslim and Sunni Muslim leaders sponsored by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Most likely the answer is yes. While the U.S. government is also negotiating with Tehran, America has not ended its covert meddling and destabilization operations against Iran. Barack Obama is continuing the last American administration’s proxy war on Iran from the Iranian border with Iraq to Sistan-Baluchistan.

Kidnapped Brits taken to pirate haven

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- The pirates who kidnapped a British couple off Somalia last month say they have moved them further inland for better protection from Islamist militants.

Paul and Rachel Chandler of Kent are now being held in Haradheere, a notorious pirate haven and stronghold about 35 miles inland from the Somali coast, The Times of London reported Wednesday.

The couple was moved because of fears Islamic militants were planning to seize them from the pirates.

"We are telling the families to respect our words, we will never harm these people but we want ransom," says Mohamed Shakir.

The pirates are demanding $7 million in exchange for their release.

The couple was seized Oct. 23 while en route from Seycelles to Tanzania.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/International/2009/11/04/Kidnapped-Brits-taken-to-pirate-haven/UPI-46141257354473/.

Somalia: Port Workers Demonstrate in Mogadishu

4 November 2009

Hundreds of port workers in the Somalia's restive capital have staged demonstrations against closure of the port activities over dispute between Somali government and the business community, workers and officials said.

The port's closure came after businessmen refused to adhere to new government-imposed rules that require all incoming items to go through security checks, saying their goods could be destroyed by port bombardment from Islamist insurgents or bad weather.

The furious workers said they were dependent on the work in the port and would impact on their lives.

"We are opposing the decision to close the port. It must be reopened because we are dependent," these are some of the phrases used by the workers to express their resentment.

However, Somalia's Treasury Minister Abdirahman Omar Osman maintained that trader should pay the proper taxes to allow their goods to be proceed, underscoring that these steps are government procedures which business community should comply.

Mogadishu port, which reopened in 2006 after suffering 15 years of neglect, is now operational and guarded by African Union peacekeepers deployed in the war-torn nation as part of international backed peace mission.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/200911040932.html.

Somalia: Hisbu Islam Official Claims Victory Over the Fighting in Beledweyn Town

4 November 2009

Beledweyn — Sheik Muse Abdi Arale, the security secretary of defense of Hizbul Islam organization has Wednesday claimed victory over the fighting in Beledweyn town in Hiran region, just after heavy clashes between Islamists and TFG soldiers that left 5 injuring 8 others.

At least 5 people were killed and 8 others were wounded in a fighting between both sides around Janta Kundishe in Hiran region on Wednesday morning.

The secretary said that they had forcibly routed the transitional government soldiers from their bases in Janta Kundishe Mountain in Hiran region adding that they inflicted more casualties to the soldiers during the fighting.

"The fighting started as the Islamist forces attacked the government soldiers in Janta Kundishe. We achieved them. They were planning to fight against the forces in Beledweyn town in Hiran region," Sheik Muse said.

The statement of the Hizbul Islam organization comes as the government officials in Hiran region said that fighting continued out of Beledweyn town in the region in central Somalia.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/200911041011.html.

European Firm Details Turkish Copter Program

ANKARA [MENL] -- A European defense major has detailed its participation in Turkey's combat helicopter program.

Italy's Selex Galileo has been contracted to supply the air vehicle monitoring system for Turkey's T-129 helicopter program. Under the deal by prime contractor AgustaWestland, Selex's AVMS would ensure data acquisition, maintenance and video output.

Egypt Suspends LNG Project

CAIRO [MENL] -- Egypt has suspended the expansion of its liquefied natural gas sector.

Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. has decided not to launch construction of an LNG train at Damietta amid financing and energy difficulties. Officials said the state-owned firm has determined that there was insufficient gas reserves for the facility.

Aides: Abbas says he won't run in January election

By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, Associated Press Writer

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has told political allies he won't run in January elections because he is frustrated over lack of progress with Israel on peacemaking, aides said Thursday.

Abbas has threatened in the past not to run, and it was not immediately clear whether this was a final decision. The presidents of Egypt and Israel, the king of Jordan and Israel's defense minister all called the Palestinian leader on Thursday, urging him to change his mind, aides said.

The two aides said Abbas would announce his decision in a speech later Thursday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because Abbas has not officially declared his intentions.

Palestinians are demoralized because the Obama administration has not been able to pressure Israel to halt its construction on lands they claim for a future state. They fear that if President Barack Obama isn't able to wrest that concession, he won't be able to prod Israel to make other, more sweeping compromises that would be needed to nail down a final peace deal.

The Palestinians say the settlements are undermining their dream of independence by gobbling up large chunks of territory they claim as part of a future state. Some 500,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in 1967.

Late last month, Abbas told Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that he would not run for re-election, but backed off after Obama called him and expressed his commitment to Mideast peacemaking, Abbas aides have said.

But days later, in a visit to Israel, Clinton had warm praise for Israel's willingness to somewhat limit construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, deepening Palestinian anxiety.

Wednesday night, Abbas informed allies in his Fatah Party that he would not run, and on Thursday, he delivered the same message to the decision-making body of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Abbas' decision aside, it is not clear that elections will be held at all. Islamic Hamas militants who seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 have said they would not participate.

Oman achieves self-sufficiency in crop cultivation

(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Unlike many of its neighboring countries, agriculture plays a significant role in Oman's economy with the Gulf state achieving a high level of self-sufficiency in several crops, including fruits and vegetables.

Estimates indicate that some 1.3 million Omanis, more than 60 per cent of the country's population, is employed in the farm sector. Agricultural exports accounted for 37 per cent of the Gulf state's non-oil exports last year, fetching RO13 million in foreign exchange.

However, its financing requirements are virtually entirely met by state institutions despite repeated calls by the authorities for the private sector to contribute more. Government-run Oman Development Bank, or ODB, provides 98 per cent of the agricultural sector's credit requirements, a meager two per cent coming commercial banks.

The issue came up for in-depth discussion during a high-profile national symposium on agriculture that ended in Ibri on Tuesday.

The seminar, held on orders from His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, was attended by several ministers, under-secretaries and key officials from both the public and private sectors. Sultan Qaboos, on his annual 'Meet the People' tour of the country, is currently camping at Saih Al Makarem in Ibri in the Dhahirah region.

"ODB contributed by 98 per cent (of total agricultural financing) during the last four years by providing soft loans with no more than three per cent interest rates," a paper presented by Mohammed bin Salim Al Wadhahi of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Hamad bin Salim al Harthy, Assistant General Manager, ODB, said.

They observed that one of the main challenges faced by the farm sector was the aversion' shown by commercial banks and private finance companies to provide credit to it. This situation, in turn, resulted from the high risks and unavailability of insurance cover for agricultural projects, they said.

In the past ten years, ODB has funded more than 6,300 projects worth RO37 million. It is due to launch a seasonal loan scheme for farmers titled Mawsimi' by the end of the year.

The paper also noted that inadequacies in marketing was another stumbling block, as was the presence of a large number of expatriate workers in the farms.

It called for new efforts to step up agricultural exports, the introduction of agricultural insurance products, encouraging private banks to play an active part in the development of the sector and the setting up of central markets in various regions.

Agriculture and its allied sectors have received special care in sultanate's Seventh Five-Year Plan. The amended allocations will amount to RO53 million by the end of 2009, a growth of 279 per cent compared to the original allocations for the sector which was 
RO14 million.

Together with provisions for irrigation and water resources development, the total outlay in the sector will be RO189 million.

Agriculture Minister Shaikh Salim bin Hilal Al Khalili outlined the ministry's plans to promote research, particularly aimed at increasing productivity, while a paper presented by the Public Authority for Craft Industries (Paci) suggested planting of more trees used as raw materials for traditional industries which, it noted, would benefit both craftsmen and farmers.

By Ravindra Nath

Source: Middle East North Africa Financial News (MENAFN).
Link: http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093280955.

Saudi Education Minister suffered from swine flu

(MENAFN - Arab News) Education Minister Prince Faisal bin Abdullah has revealed he had caught swine flu. "I did not know that I had contracted H1N1 virus except after conducting medical tests," the minister said in reports published on Wednesday. He has since recovered.

Prince Faisal said he had received the same medication that the ministry is now offering to schools to combat the disease. "There is no need for this big hue and cry created by the media about swine flu," he added.

He blamed the media for causing a panic about the disease. "There is no need to close schools again," the minister said. But a reporter interrupted him, claiming people were worried about the disease.

Prince Faisal then retorted: "There is no fear. You, the media, are frightening the public. It's true that swine flu is spreading fast but there's no fear about it."

He said it would not be mandatory for students to receive the anti-swine flu vaccine. He acknowledged that the arrangements to fight the disease in schools had been poorly implemented in certain places.

"Some of these schools are located in far-off places and it's difficult to supply the required facilities there," he explained.

Meanwhile, the swine flu related death of a 12-year-old schoolboy in Rass last week has led to a massive increase in absenteeism in schools in Qassim. Raid Naser Al-Otaibi, a pupil at Al-Abbas Intermediate School, died due to the H1N1 virus, something that led to his school's closure for a week. "We were closed for a week after Raid's death last week," said Mohammad Al-Ghufaily, the headmaster of Al-Abbas Intermediate School. "We also experienced a poor attendance on Saturday," he added.

"Raid was fine and was checked by the Ministry of Education's medical unit. His medical report showed he was fit ... his death was a shock to us," said Al-Ghufaily. "We only give students the swine flu medication if their temperature does not go down after one day," said Dr. Munir Ibrahim, a physician at the Ministry of Education's medical unit in Rass.

He added that the medical unit does not conduct tests to verify whether a patient is infected with swine flu or not. "The test is only performed in a laboratory in Riyadh," he added.

Parents are also concerned about sending their children to school fearing they may catch swine flu.

By Khaled Al-Awadh

Source: Middle East North Africa Financial News (MENAFN).
Link: http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093280996.

Noor Takaful launches Gulf's first online Islamic insurance service

(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) Noor Takaful said on Tuesday that it has launched the GCC's first online real-time, web based, Islamic insurance service.

With a simple click of a mouse, the easy to use online facility allows customers to shop for a variety of insurance products which are offered at very competitive and transparent rates, the Shariah compliant insurance brand of Noor Investment Group said in a statement. It said the service provides a quick and complete insurance solution from beginning to end, from obtaining an online instant quote to purchasing online insurance and delivery of policy cover. Noor Takaful inaugurated the new online service with a motor insurance product that covers both private and commercial vehicles. Other types of insurance products would soon be available online, it said.

"We live in one of the most under insured regions in the world," said Dr Ahmed Al Janahi, Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer of Noor Investment Group and Managing Director of Noor Takaful. "With our innovative online takaful solution, a first in this region, we aim to make our Islamic insurance products more accessible to everyone through advanced technology."

Straight forward and user friendly, the interactive portal seeks to bridge the gap between Noor Takaful and its customers who prefer the convenience of shopping online, rather than visiting a broker. By going online, Noor Takaful is able to minimise transactional costs and overheads which in turn reduce the cost of purchasing insurance for customers.

The new online service, which can be accessed at www.noortakaful.com uses a safe and secure payment facility, with a high level of encryption. Customer service advisers are on hand and can provide advice and suggestions on the various insurance options available to suit each individual's unique needs, the firm said.

Source: Middle East North Africa Financial News (MENAFN).
Link: http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093280774.

Jordan govt starts paying dues owed to construction firms

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) The government started Wednesday to pay part of dues owed to the construction sector, following complaints by the Jordan Construction Contractors Association (JCCA) during the past few months.

Public Works and Housing Secretary General Sami Halaseh told The Jordan Times yesterday that the ministry began disbursing JD8 million to contractors who have submitted claims of less than JD100,000.

However, JCCA President Derrar Sraireh expressed dissatisfaction saying: "Such practice creates further problems and does not provide a comprehensive solution."

He estimated the government's bill at JD100 million in 2009 while the ministry admits only to JD24 million.

JCCA has issued several statements calling on the government to pay the sector's due amounts, and warning that leading contractors will stop work in key projects in case the government did not pay them their dues.

The construction sector has financial claims on all government institutions including the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), Sraireh insisted.

But an official source at GAM dismissed these claims saying: "There is not a single claim from the construction sector pending in the municipality files."

By Khalid Neimat

Jordan PM pledges budget austerity

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) Prime Minister Nader Dahabi on Wednesday said that the 2010 state budget "will not rely on uncertain foreign assistance or local revenues that may not be realized".

Stating that the budget deficit represents the biggest challenge for the government and that monetary reforms are needed to address the problem, the premier indicated that the budget will feature austerity measures to reduce the deficit, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

He made the remarks at a meeting with the board chairpersons and CEOs of the operating banks in the Kingdom, held at the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ).

He announced that the government will extend its guarantee on deposits of any size at all banks operating in Jordan up to the end of 2010.

In October last year, the government decided to guarantee deposits up to the end of 2009.

Dahabi explained that the government will boost small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by establishing a risk capital fund, calling on banks to consider providing credit facilities to SMEs that do not have enough guarantees.

According to Dahabi, the new income tax draft law, which was withdrawn from the Lower House recently, seeks to stimulate the Kingdom's economy as tax rates on businesses will be reconsidered. He added that the government plans to create new markets for Jordanian products and increase exports to current markets.

Dahabi also expressed his confidence in local banking sector's performance.

The premier commended new instructions issued by the CBJ covering credit rating, imposing conditions on doubtful assets and lowering the mandatory reserve rate, which resulted in greater liquidity in the market.

Confirming that no bankruptcies occurred despite the drop in local bank profits during this year, the premier noted that not only Jordanian banks but also financial institutions worldwide adopted stricter lending measures due to the global financial crisis.

Dahabi attributed the increase in capital spending to the early approval of the budget, which expected revenues to be higher than they turned out to be. During the first nine months of this year, local revenues grew only by 2 per cent, a figure he considered very low when compared with a 30 per cent growth in capital expenditure.

Public debt, both internal and external, reached JD9.5 billion during the first nine months of this year, representing 58.6 per cent of the gross domestic product, the premier noted, explaining that the percentage should not exceed 60 per cent according to the Public Debt Law.

Swine flu vaccine arrives Jordan today

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) The first shipment of H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine will arrive in the Kingdom this evening, Ministry of Health officials said on Tuesday.

According to Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA) Director General Mohammad Rawashdeh, the administration will take two to three weeks to test samples of the 100,000 vaccines before they are allowed to be administered.

But, he added, "the administration might expedite swine flu vaccine tests to inoculate pilgrims before the Hajj season".

"We asked the manufacturing company to provide us with documents indicating that the vaccine is safe and has been tried in other developed countries," Rawashdeh told the press yesterday.

Osama Braiwish, head of Novartis Pharmaceuticals' Jordan office, pointed out that health officials in Egypt have administered the same vaccination with no side effects reported.

The vaccine has also been used in the US and some European countries, Braiwish said, stressing that the company will accept responsibility for any potential side effects.

"We pledged to the ministry that, in case of any side effects, the company will be responsible, except in cases related to improper storage," Braiwish told The Jordan Times in a phone interview yesterday.

Meanwhile, the JFDA approved on Monday the manufacture of a generic brand of Tamiflu by local pharmaceutical companies.

The new product, "Flufir", was given priority registration to supply the local market and will be sold in a 75mg, ten-capsule package for JD26, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The administration also allowed private hospitals to purchase Tamiflu from the manufacturing company, Roche. Previously, only public hospitals were allowed to purchase the drug.

Meanwhile, the epidemic and emergency committee on Tuesday decided to maintain its current H1N1 treatment strategy, according to a Ministry of Health statement.

In its statement, the ministry said that the ratio of swine flu cases and deaths in the Kingdom comply with global figures, underlining that current protocols are in accordance with the World Health Organization's (WHO) regulations.

Under the current strategy, rather than hospitalizing each case, patients are divided into three classifications in order to prioritize who is admitted and receives treatment. The first group includes those who suffer from respiratory diseases and are admitted to the hospital. The second group, people at high risk of developing complications including children, pregnant women, the elderly and those with chronic diseases, are to receive treatment at home.

The third classification is of suspected cases - those who exhibit swine flu symptoms and are later proven not to have the virus are not hospitalized or given anti-viral medication.

According to the latest figures released by Health Ministry, the Kingdom registered 2,217 swine flu cases and seven related deaths since the registration of the first case last June. According to WHO figures, more than 500,000 cases have been reported across the world with 5,700 deaths.

By Khetam Malkawi

Afghan Police Officer Kills 5 British Soldiers

2009-11-04

The deaths of five British soldiers on Tuesday at the hands of an Afghan policeman with whom they were working unleashed an outcry in Britain and highlighted the vulnerability of Western troops as they carry out a key part of the counter-insurgency strategy to train more Afghan army and police.

The attack occurred at midday Tuesday in Helmand Province as the soldiers relaxed in the still warm autumn sun on the roof of the joint checkpoint over looking the shared British-Afghan compound. They were so at ease that they had shed their body armor and helmets, never thinking that they would be attacked by one of the men they lived and worked with, said a local provincial official. The attacker then fled, setting off a manhunt.

For Britain, where public support for the war has grown shaky, the event resulted in one of the highest number of fatalities in a single attack since the Afghanistan invasion eight years ago, bringing to 92 the number of British troops killed in a single year.

It came just one month after an Afghan policeman fired on American soldiers during a joint patrol in Wardak Province, killing two, and immediately intensified concerns about Taliban infiltration of the Afghan security forces, which are supposed to be preparing to take a broader role in combating the Taliban insurgency.

An Afghan official in Helmand said the gunman was sympathetic to the Taliban insurgents who have been fighting an increasingly bold campaign against Afghan and NATO forces. Six British soldiers were also wounded.

Lt. Col. David Wakefield, a British spokesman in Helmand, described the Afghan policeman as an “individual rogue.” Helmand officials said regardless of whether the policeman was a rogue actor, he killed the British soldiers in a climate of insurgency, which has tainted the way all Afghans think of foreigners on their soil, and warned that the incident could be repeated.

“This is not the first incident and will not be the last one; it will continue in the future as well,” said Haji Muhammed Anwar Khan, a local elder and a representative of Helmand in Parliament. “As much as we are losing the territories, we will face this kind of trouble, and also as much as there is distance between the government and ISAF and the local people, we will have face this kind of event.” He was referring to the International Security Assistance Forces, the NATO-led force of some 71,000 troops from 43 nations.

An important part of the counterinsurgency strategy embraced by the United States is to train more Afghan troops and police to protect people, in hopes of reducing the tensions created by foreign forces and allowing them eventually to leave.

Col. Wayne Shanks, a public affairs officer for the NATO force, acknowledged that the plan entails risks, he but called the Tuesday attack a “very isolated incident” and said the training was already making a positive difference.

“Partnering and mentoring is more and more the way we are training the Afghan units,” he said. “You have to be there: work with them, live with them and it makes you safer in the long run. It’s a fundamental tenet of counterinsurgency strategy.”

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the American military commander in Afghanistan, issued a statement saying: “We will not let this event deter our resolve to building a partnership with the Afghan National Security Forces to provide for Afghanistan’s future.”

But there are clear indications that the public resolve among many American allies is waning. The incident Tuesday came at a time when public support for Britain’s military commitment in Afghanistan - second largest, in numbers of troops, after the United States - has been falling sharply.

A number of recent opinion polls have shown that less than half those surveyed supported the British role in the war, and about half of those urge the early withdrawal of British troops. There are now about 9,000 British troops operating in Afghanistan.

Both the Labor party government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the opposition Conservatives led by David Cameron, who are strong favorites to win a general election next spring, have stood firmly by the British commitment.

Both leaders have said that Britain’s role in the 41-nation coalition in Afghanistan is essential to safeguarding Britain’s security against Islamic extremist attacks of the kind that the United States endured on Sept. 11, 2001, and Britain on July 7, 2005, when 56 people, including four suicide bombers, were killed in attacks on London’s transit system.

After the killing of the five British soldiers, that message was reaffirmed by British Defense Minister Bob Ainsworth. Speaking in a BBC interview during a visit to Saudi Arabia, he rejected the arguments of those in Britain who have said that the country should abandon its military role in Afghanistan and concentrate on guarding against attacks by Islamic militants at home.

British intelligence chiefs have said that three-quarters of all terrorist plots uncovered in Britain in recent years have had links to Afghanistan and Pakistan, which is the ancestral homeland of the majority of Britain’s 1.5-million Muslims. “If Afghanistan is not secure, then Pakistan is not secure, and if Pakistan is not secure then Britain is not secure,” said Ainsworth.

The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, sharply condemned the attack and extended his condolences to the families of the soldiers.

The incident occurred around noon on Tuesday when the British soldiers were visiting a jointly run Afghan and British checkpoint near a health clinic in a village in Helmand, which has become an epicenter of attacks on the British in southern Afghanistan.

The British soldiers were on the checkpoint’s roof with some of the Afghan police officers responsible for protecting the clinic, according to a provincial spokesman and a local official who visited the scene of the attack.

The atmosphere was relaxed and the British were not wearing body armor, according to the spokesman for the provincial government, Dawoud Ahmadi. Without warning, at least one of the Afghan troops began firing an automatic weapon in quick bursts at the British soldiers, according to Haji Barakzai, a local official.

The British retaliated, and three Afghans were killed. It was unclear if there was more than one gunman, the British said, but at least one, identified as Gulbaddin, got away.

Barakzai said that the local police commander said the gunman was known to be sympathetic to the Taliban.

However, Taliban commanders in southern Afghanistan said they were unaware of the attack and were making calls to their local commanders in the area to see if they had any knowledge, but they did not think any of their foot soldiers were involved.
The attack mirrored at least two similar incidents in Iraq in which Iraqi Security Forces turned on American soldiers they were working with. The most recent instance was on Nov. 12, 2008, in Mosul when an Iraqi Army private opened fire on a group of American soldiers visiting an Iraqi base near an American base. One American soldier died and seven were wounded. In that case, it did not appear that the attacker had a connection to the insurgency.

Source: Free Internet Press.
Link: http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=23462.

Parents Of Slain University Student, Stunned By Hospital Bill

On Saturday, 10 days after Scott Hawkins was beaten to death inside his dormitory at California State University - Sacramento, his parents got a letter in the mail.

It contained a bill from the University of California - Davis Medical Center for $29,186.50 along with a form letter addressed "Dear Patient" that implied they were indigent and stated that the hospital no longer could provide them services.

"U.C. Davis can no longer provide follow-up care or any other non-emergency care to you," it read. "Please go to a County clinic for all non-emergency care or to get a referral to another doctor."

For Gerald and Elizabeth Hawkins, it was just too much to bear.

"It was just devastating and insulting," Gerald Hawkins said Monday. "It's just hard to grasp for words. My wife and I were near collapse."

The couple said the mailing tore at the wounds opened by the loss of their 23-year-old son.

"We were just very upset on Saturday, it just all spiraled downward," said Elizabeth Hawkins. "We called a crisis counselor and he came over and spent several hours over here."

As a means of coping, the family made a copy of the letter, took it into the backyard of their Santa Clara home and burned it.

Monday morning, they picked up the phone to straighten things out.

Gerald Hawkins said he first called the U.C. Davis billing department, but was so distraught he lost his voice and handed the phone to his wife.

"It was just one more unpleasant process," she said. "I was crying through the whole thing."

The parents also sent a note to the billing department noting that their son was not indigent and that he carried full medical coverage through a Kaiser Permanente plan.

Contacted by the Sacramento Bee on Monday, Carole Gan, a hospital spokeswoman, called the mailing "a mistake."

She said she was limited in what information she could provide about the medical care provided to Scott Hawkins, but said he arrived at the emergency room at 3:11 p.m. and was pronounced dead five minutes later.

"The trauma team did everything they could," said Gan.

She said the bill accurately reflects the services provided but that the hospital regrets that the bill and letter were mailed to the family. She said the matter would be resolved through Hawkins' insurance company.

The suspect in Hawkins' beating death, 19-year-old Quran Jones, remained hospitalized at U.C. Davis on Monday in fair condition.

Officers responding to reports of a disturbance in a CSUS dormitory on the afternoon of Oct. 21 shot Jones after he allegedly lunged at them with a knife.

Jones is expected to be booked on charges of murder and attempted murder when he recovers.

Authorities have not said what they believe might have sparked the attack. Hawkins and Jones shared a suite in the dorm, and a detailed time-line compiled by campus authorities indicates Hawkins may have walked in on Jones several minutes into his rampage. Police say Jones beat Hawkins to death using the baseball bat of another suite mate.

Hawkins, who had Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, had been attending CSUS since August, when his parents drove up to Sacramento with him and helped him move into his dorm. His parents describe him as a gentle, quiet son with a love of learning and fascination for history.

Gerald Hawkins said he was shaken by the description of services that, according to the billing, the hospital provided his son.

He said he was told by CSUS President Alexander Gonzales that his son died inside the dormitory suite.

But the billing indicates that his son lived longer than initially thought, said Hawkins. In addition to the emergency room services, the bill seeks payment for a "patient monitor," trauma rescue services, intubation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Gloria Moraga, a spokeswoman for CSUS, said she could not comment on the case because it is under investigation.

"The conversation the president and the family had was a private conversation and we cannot share it with you," she added.

The hospital bill is dated Thursday. Gerald Hawkins said he was confident his insurance company would handle the matter.

But that did nothing to allay how disturbing he finds it that the hospital sent the mailing at all.

"I can't believe this can happen in a civilized country," said Hawkins.

Killer Tsunamis From Ancient Eruption Reshaped Eastern Mediterranean Life, Culture

The massive eruption of the Thera volcano in the Aegean Sea more than 3,000 years ago produced killer waves that raced across hundreds of miles of the Eastern Mediterranean to inundate the area that is now Israel and probably other coastal sites, a team of scientists has found.

The team, writing int he October issue of Geology, said the new evidence suggested that giant tsunamis from the catastrophic eruption hit “coastal sites across the Eastern Mediterranean littoral.” Tsunamis are giant waves that can crash into shore, rearrange the seabed, inundate vast areas of land and carry terrestrial material out to sea.

The region at the time was home to rising civilizations in Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Phoenicia and Turkey.

For decades, scholars have suggested that the giant eruption, just 70 miles from Crete, might have brought about the mysterious collapse of Minoan civilization at the peak of its glory. The remnants of Thera’s eruption today make up a circular archipelago of volcanic Greek isles known as Santorini.

Thera is thought to have erupted between 1630 and 1550 B.C., or the Late Bronze Age, a time when many human cultures made tools and weapons of bronze. Scholars say the tsunamis and dense clouds of volcanic ash from the eruption had cultural repercussions that rippled across the Eastern Mediterranean for decades, even centuries. The fall of Minoan civilization is usually dated to around 1450 B.C. Geologists judge the eruption as far more violent than the 1883 eruption of the volcanic island of Krakatoa in Indonesia, which killed more than 36,000.