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Friday, November 27, 2009

Kashmir is Pakistan's jugular vein: JuD chief

Lashkar-e-Tayiba operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six others, being tried in an anti-terror court for their involvement in the Mumbai attacks, were arrested by the Pakistani authorities with the 'sole purpose of pleasing' India, Jamat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Mohammed Saeed has claimed.

"The truth is that the (Pakistan) government arrested various leaders who endorse Jihad in Kashmir and did so for the sole purpose of pleasing India. These leaders are now enduring in-camera hearings in (an) anti-terrorism court," he alleged, in a letter written on the first anniversary of the 26/11 attacks, to TV anchor Hamid Mir.

Lakhvi and six others were indicted by the anti- terror court in Rawalpindi for their role in planning and helping execute the attacks. All the accused have pleaded not guilty.

Saeed added, "My real crime is that I vociferously and comprehensively highlight the Kashmir issue. Kashmir is Pakistan's jugular vein and we can never close our eyes to it."

Though India and the United States had succeeded in getting the United Nations Security Council to impose restrictions on the JuD, the group has submitted a "formal request for de-listing in accordance with the rules of the UNSC," Saeed claimed.

He said the UNSC and the European Union had "contacted us for further clarifications. Our case is still pending at the UNSC."

Space shuttle Atlantis, 7 astronauts back on Earth

By MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Space shuttle Atlantis and its seven astronauts returned to Earth with a smooth touchdown Friday to end an 11-day flight that resupplied the International Space Station.

With bright sunlight glinting off it, the shuttle swooped through a clear sky and landed on the runway right on time. Mission Control said no one could remember such welcoming conditions; there were no clouds in sight for the midmorning arrival, and the temperature was in the 50s.

"Couldn't have picked a clearer day," commander Charles Hobaugh said during the final approach. Mission Control congratulated him on a "picture perfect" landing.

"We really had truly an amazing mission," Hobaugh said after exiting the shuttle.

It was an especially sweet homecoming for two of the crew.

Astronaut Nicole Stott was away for three months, living at the space station. Fellow crew member Randolph Bresnik's baby daughter was born last weekend.

"Everybody, welcome back to Earth, especially you, Nicole," Mission Control radioed.

Hobaugh and his crew spent a week stockpiling the space station. They delivered big spare parts and performed three spacewalks to install equipment and carry out maintenance.

The pumps, gyroscopes and storage tanks should keep the outpost in business for another five to 10 years, long after Atlantis and the two other shuttles are retired.

Stott was feeling the full effects of gravity for the first time since she rocketed to the space station at the end of August. Her mission lasted 91 days.

Hobaugh said she was doing "great."

Stott was reunited quickly with her husband and 7-year-old son, who were at Kennedy Space Center for the landing. She said throughout the flight that she also was looking forward to some pizza and icy cola.

Bresnik had even bigger plans: to hold his infant daughter for the first time.

Abigail Mae Bresnik was born Saturday night, right after her father took his first spacewalk. But he'll have to wait until Saturday to see her. Bresnik's wife, Rebecca, stayed home in Houston with Abigail and 3-year-old big brother Wyatt.

Atlantis — which brought back broken equipment from the space station's water-recycling system — logged 4.5 million miles and circled Earth 171 times.

This was Atlantis' next-to-last mission. Only five shuttle flights remain, all to the space station next year. Station construction will essentially end at that point, so NASA used the trip to send up as many hefty spare parts as possible. None of the other visiting spacecraft — from Russia, Japan and Europe — can carry so much in a single load.

Atlantis, which delivered nearly 15 tons of gear, left the space station 86 percent complete.

NASA's next shuttle flight is in February. Endeavour will deliver a full-fledged module to the space station, complete with a cupola for prime Earth gazing with a domed chamber that has seven windows.

The five remaining space station residents, meanwhile, may have to dodge a piece of space junk this weekend.

NASA said Friday that flight controllers were monitoring a large piece of an old Delta rocket that could pass within an uncomfortably close six miles of the outpost Saturday afternoon. The rocket was used to launch NASA's Stardust spacecraft in 1999 to gather comet dust samples.

A decision on whether to move the space station to avoid a possible hit was expected Friday evening.

Algeria dream of reviving the memories of 1982

Algiers/Cairo, Nov 26 (DPA) After more than two decades the Algerian national football team will take part in the 2010 World Cup, carrying to South Africa the hopes and aspirations of the Arab World as their lone representative.

In the 1980's Algeria was one of the strongest teams on the continent and played in the 1982 and 1986 World Cup finals and won the African Cup of Nations in 1990 at home.

Since then, things have gone downhill and football fans still talk of the 1982 2-1 victory against West Germany in a game that made household names of players like Rabeh Madjer and al-Akhdar Balloumi.

However, the team could not sustain the success they had in the first match, as their next game ended in a 2-0 loss to Austria and their 3-2 victory over Chile was not enough to enable them to qualify from their group, as West Germany and Austria contrived to force them out of the competition.

Four years later, the Algerian national team qualified for Mexico, but they were not helped by a tough draw which grouped them with Brazil and Spain, and they lost all matches in the first round.

After Mexico, Algeria succeeded in grabbing the 1990 African Cup of Nations, beating Nigeria 1-0 in the final match.

This tournament, however, was the end of a glittering era for the Algerian team and coincided with the retirement of a generation of key players.

It has only been recently that the team has bounced back and qualification for the 2010 Nations Cup finals in Angola and the World Cup finals in South Africa were the result.

Having been drawn into a group together with Rwanda, Zambia and Egypt, fans were hoping for a place in Angola, but dared not dream of bigger things.

That changed after they managed a 3-1 victory against Egypt - a result that gave the side confidence.

In the final game of the group Algeria were agonizingly close to qualifying, but a goal five minutes into extra time gave Egypt the two-goal victory they needed to draw level with the Algerians at the top of their group, making a play-off necessary.

Although the Pharaoh's were favoured to win the game, it was Algeria that came through, winning 1-0 - a score that resulted in riots both in Egypt and Algeria.

Algeria will go into the finals as one of the weaker sides, but the team led by coach Rabah Saadane is hoping to bring back the glory days of the 1980's.

Saadane depends on a group of players, who are a mixture of young and experienced players, who play for European clubs such as the 34-year-old Rafik Saifi, who plays for the Qatari al-Khor Sports Club, Karim Ziani, 27, who is a midfielder for Wolfsburg in Germany and Karim Matmour, 24, who plays for German club Borussia Moenchengladbach.

The Coach:

Rabah Saadane, 63, returned to coaching the Algerian national team for his fifth stint in charge in 2008 after leading Wifaq Setif Club to the Arab Champions League title in 2007.

He was in charge of the side at the World Cup in 1986, as well as the Nations Cup in 2004.

He has also been in charge of several club teams, winning the African Champions League with Raja Casablanca of Morocco.

The Star:

Despite already being 34, Rafik Saifi is still the star of the team and is an essential element.

Saifi spent several successful years in France, playing for Troyes, FC Istres, AC Ajaccio and Lorient. He moved to Qatari al-Khor last August.

Saifi, who is very popular in his home country, joined the national team in 1995 and scored his first goal for the team in February 1999 against Liberia.

Factfile:

Nickname: The Desert Foxes (or Les Fennecs)

Founded: 1962

FIFA affiliation: 1963

Highest FIFA ranking: 28 - October 2009

Lowest FIFA ranking: 103 - May 2008

Previous World Cup appearances: 2 (1982, 1986)

Best World Cup performance: Group Stage (1982, 1986)

Date qualified for finals: November 18, 2009

Hamas frees 150 Gaza prisoners for Muslim holiday

GAZA CITY — The Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip released 150 prisoners on Thursday, including what it calls security detainees, in honor of the Muslim feast Eid al-Adha.

Those released include at least 25 "security detainees" and 77 people held on criminal charges, prison official Nasser Suleiman told reporters.

He added that 53 of the detainees were near the end of their sentence.

Outside the prison, the released men were embraced by joyful relatives and led home to celebrate Eid Al-Adha (The Feast of the Sacrifice), in which Muslims traditionally slaughter animals and share the meat with the poor.

"I was detained in June by the (Hamas-run) police during an arrest campaign against Fatah members," said Tariq Muhaisan, one of the detainees, referring to the secular party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

"I was arrested for political reasons," he added.

Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya announced the release on Tuesday as a gesture for the holiday, which honours Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his only son Ishmael as related in the Koran.

Since Hamas seized Gaza in June 2007, the Islamist group and its rivals in the Fatah-led security forces -- now confined to the occupied West Bank -- have each arrested scores of people in tit-for-tat arrest campaigns, according to human rights groups.

Each of the two main Palestinian factions has accused the other of arbitrary arrests and torture in the territory under its control while insisting it only arrests those who constitute a security threat.

Erdogan deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, CoE Secretary General says

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his activities to instill peace both in Turkey and with its neighbors, Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe and also the chair of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, Arminfo news agency says, referring to the Turkish sources.

Praising the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)-led democratic initiative process in Turkey, the secretary-general of the Council of Europe said Turkey is rushing headlong into being the strongest country in Europe.

“I admire his leadership,” Jagland said. Jagland also added that the government has bravely attacked problems in the country through the Kurdish and Alevi initiatives. Noting that Turkey had signed a protocol to normalize relations with Armenia and lifted visa requirements with many countries, Jagland marked Turkey as a candidate to be one of the strongest countries in Europe.

Jagland said he cannot understand those who object to Turkey’s EU membership, a country which has one of the strongest armies in Europe, is a bridge between the East and the West and has a unifying role in one of the most problematic regions in the world, the Middle East.

“It is appreciated what the government has done to curb the influence of the military over the political system.”

Saying that it is not correct to comment on whether or not Erdoğan deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, Jagland said that he had noted that he admires Erdogan’s leadership due to his role in mediating for peace in the region. “So you decide what I think on this,” Jagland said, and indirectly signaled that he wants Erdogan to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Spain abortion bill clears hurdle

MADRID, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- A bill that would make it easier to get an abortion in Spain passed a parliamentary hurdle Thursday.

CNN said Socialist members of Parliament garnered enough support for the abortion bill to vote down a series of amendments that would have doomed the measure.

The bill would permit abortions through 14 weeks of pregnancy and allow 16-year-old girls to get abortions without permission from their parents.

To help win support for the bill, Equality Minister Bibiana Aido told members of Parliament the government was prepared to negotiate the teenage abortion proposal, which has drawn opposition.

Hundreds of thousands of abortion opponents marched in Madrid last month to protest the effort to make Spain's law on abortion less restrictive, organizers said.

The bill now goes to committee.

Turkish president to visit Jordan on Tuesday

Amman - Turkish President Abdullah Gul and his wife will pay three-day state visit to Jordan from December 1 at the invitation of King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, the royal court announced Thursday. The Jordanian and Turkish leaders will have talks on latest Middle East developments, particularly efforts under way to ensure a resumption of the peace negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the statement said.

During Gul's visit, the two countries will sign a cooperation agreements, including one on free trade, officials said.

Fossils of Martian bugs found on meteorite that landed on Earth 13,000 years ago

New evidence has made it more likely that remnants of Martian microbes were transported to Earth in a meteorite, it was revealed today.

A study by scientists from the American space agency Nasa has found chemical signatures in the rock strongly associated with life.

The discovery strengthens the case for believing that worm-like structures in the meteorite are 'microfossils' of ancient Martian bugs.

Skeptics have pointed out that similar-shaped structures could be formed from non-biological processes.

Another unanswered question is whether the microfossils were the result of contamination by Earthly bacteria. This was originally ruled out by NASA but has raised doubts in the minds of other experts.

The meteorite, cataloged as Allen Hills (ALH) 84001, crashed onto the frozen wastes of Antarctica 13,000 years ago and was recovered in 1984.

Scientists believe the rock was blasted off the surface of Mars by an asteroid or comet, reaching Earth after floating through space for around 16 million years.

It would have formed part of the planet's crust at a time billions of years ago when many experts believe water flowed on the surface of Mars, and conditions were suitable for life.

In 1996 Nasa and the White House made the explosive announcement that the rock contained traces of Martian bugs.

Photographs were released showing elongated segmented objects that appeared strikingly lifelike.

However, the excitement did not last long. Other scientists questioned whether the meteorite samples were contaminated. They also argued that heat generated when the rock was blasted into space may have created mineral structures that could be mistaken for microfossils.

The new study was conducted using advanced high resolution electron microscope techniques which were not available 13 years ago.

News of the findings, expected to be released soon by NASA, was leaked to the space news website Spaceflight Now and picked up today by the Sun newspaper.

The research was led by Dr Kathie Thomas-Keprta and members of the original team at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, that claimed to have found evidence of life in the meteorite.

It focused on a more detailed analysis of magnetite crystals - tiny magnetic particles - and carbonate discs within the rock.

Certain bacteria on Earth are known to contain magnetite crystals, which they are believed to use as tiny compasses to help them navigate.

The crystals form unusual shapes when associated with bacteria which can be seen in ALH 84001, it is claimed.

In addition the scientists say the chemical purity of the features they studied points to biology rather than geology, and a possible interaction with water.

Dr Dennis Bazylinski, from the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, who reviewed the findings submitted for publication in the journal of the Geochemical and Meteoritic Society, told Spaceflight Now: 'I think the paper is really excellent. I work on magnetic bacteria, and one indication there was life on ancient Mars are these particular magnetite crystals in the meteorite that look like they came out of magnetic bacteria.

'At first, I thought there might have been an error. I have no doubt about that now. I know there is no error.

'The big question is can these things be reliable magneto fossils, and that is a matter of debate. But it turns out that the magnetic bacteria make some very unique shapes of magnetite crystals. And one of the organisms we work with on Earth makes particles that look virtually identical to what we see from Mars in the meteorite.'

Spaceflight Now said the data provided "a powerful new case" for believing the meteorite carried traces of extraterrestrial life, according to its sources.

The report added: 'Although not a smoking gun, the new findings considerably strengthen the Mars life arguments that have been hotly and passionately debated for a decade, given that the discovery of life on Mars is the Holy Grail of science.'

Forest area in Inner Mongolia largest in China

The latest Seventh National Forest Resources Inventory shows that: By 2008, Inner Mongolia woodland occupies 660 million mu, accounting for 37.2 percent of the total land area; forest area of 355 million hectares, ranking first in the country.

In past decade, Inner Mongolia Forestry investment has reached 37 billion yuan, and forestry ecological area has totaled 117 million mu with an average increase of more than 10 million mu every year.

At present, Inner Mongolia has an unprecedented scale of ecological construction, and forestry industries have sustained long-term development. Progress has been made in flourishing forests through science and technology and managing forests according to law, etc. According to the 2008 inventory, forest area have increased by more than 40 million acres while trees and wood stores have increased more than 70 million cubic meters over 2003, achieving a sustained "double boom."

At the same time, Inner Mongolia has achieved the "double reduction" of desertification and desert land. The desert expansion phenomenon has been checked in key governance areas surrounding the five deserts. Desert area is relatively stable. Forest and grass coverage increased in the five sand areas and sand contracted inward. Horqin Sandilands, Maowusu Sandilands enjoy an overall reversal trend in regard to ecological conditions.

By People's Daily Online

Russian president set for first meeting with Pope Benedict

Moscow - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is to meet Pope Benedict XVI for the first time next week while on his political visit to Italy, the Kremlin disclosed Thursday. The presidential office said Medvedev would meet the pope in the Vatican on December 3, Interfax reported. There were no details give about their possible topics of discussion.

Former president Vladimir Putin met Benedict in the Vatican in March 2007.

Relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church have been tense for some time. Moscow as a result has yet to permit a pope to visit Russia, arguing among other reasons that it was feared the pontiff could try to lure faithful away from the Russian church.

Three ministers to join Czech interim government

Prague - Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer on Thursday announced the names of three ministers joining his caretaker cabinet expected to lead the Czech Republic until spring 2010. Ambassador to Australia, Juraj Chmiel, 49, is set to take over as European affairs minister from Stefan Fuele, who is the country's candidate for a post at the European Commission.

Lawyer Pavel Zarecky, 69, is to head the cabinet's legislative council, which has been held by Justice Minister Daniela Kovarova.

Their appointments are part of the European Commission nomination deal between the two leading Czech political parties, Mirek Topolanek's centre-right Civic Democrats and the rival Social Democrats of Jiri Paroubek.

Jan Dusik, 34, a deputy environment minister, is to replace Ladislav Miko at the helm of the Environment Ministry, as the outgoing minister plans to return to his job with the European Commission in Brussels.

Fischer's cabinet took over on May 8 with the aim of taking the country to a now-canceled early election in October. Due to the election's cancellation, the government's term has been expanded until the regular election that must take place before June 2010.

President Vaclav Klaus is expected to appoint the new ministers on Monday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/296495,three-ministers-to-join-czech-interim-government.html.

India commemorates Mumbai attacks - Summary

New Delhi - Prayers and memorial services were held across India on Thursday to mark the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai which led to the collapse of peace talks with Pakistan and forced a revamp of India's security. In the capital New Delhi, parliament began with two minutes' silence to remember the victims, before passing a resolution to wage a united war against terrorism.

The three days of attacks which began on November 26, 2008 targeted 10 key locations across Mumbai, including the main railway station and sites popular with tourists and business people, including two luxury hotels.

At least 175 people, including 26 foreign nationals and nine attackers from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group, were killed by the time Indian forces ended the terrorist siege.

Thousands participated in the memorial events in Mumbai as the country's financial center kept up its usual busy pace, sending a signal that it would not be deterred by terrorism.

Memorial services were held at the targeted Taj and Trident hotels and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway station.

The station was worst hit in the attacks, with more than 50 reported casualties. Thousands of commuters en route to their offices halted Thursday to pay homage and joined prayers with porters and railway workers.

Chabad House, the Mumbai headquarters of the Jewish Chabad- Lubavitch movement, where a rabbi, his wife and four others were killed by gunmen, reopened with a multi-faith prayer.

A small memorial comprising a wall pock-marked by bullets has been set up by residents.

"We shall never forget what happened on 26/11. We have established the memorial to make Mumbaikers more aware and alert to the dangers of terrorism," Koresh Zorawar, a local, said.

Earlier Thursday, Mumbai police held a parade, showcasing their new equipment, including automatic weapons and patrol boats.

Commandos from the city's newly created anti-terrorism force also participated. India has embarked on a multi-million dollar security upgrade for its forces after the attack.

Locals lighted candles in front of the Leopold cafe and other targets of the attack to show solidarity with the victims of the attack.

Hundreds lined up at a function to honor the memory of the victims at the Gateway of India monument which many of their family members attended.

Viju Chavan, a worker who was shot in the stomach, told the IANS news agency, "I was pregnant at the time of the attack. After that incident, people told me to name my daughter Goli (Hindi for bullet)".

"Even today, my daughter is referred to as Goli, not by her real name," she said.

Concerts, seminars and other events were also organized in cities across India such as Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata to commemorate the attack.

In one of the largest such events in Delhi, around 700 young men and women from India and abroad participated in the "Indian Model United Nations" and lit candles in memory of the victims.

The youth from Sri Lanka, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Egypt and other countries joined Indian students to salute the victims.

Later on Thursday, Federal Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram unveiled a memorial at Mumbai's Police Gymkhana for 18 policemen who lost their lives during the terrorist attack.

"Each one of the targets was chosen carefully in order to create the maximum impact on the conscience of Indians. It was a challenge which we had not faced before," Chidambaram said.

"Yet the city rose as one man. The police force rose as one force to defend the city and defend the honor and integrity of India".

The devastating attacks led New Delhi to halt five-year-old peace talks with Pakistan.

India has reiterated that it will not restart talks until Mumbai attack suspects were brought to justice. The lone surviving attacker, Pakistani Ajmal Kasab, is currently facing trial in Mumbai.

On Wednesday, a court in Pakistan charged seven people in connection with the attacks, including alleged mastermind LeT head, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.

But on the eve of the attacks, Indian Premier Manmohan Singh, currently on a US visit, said India "will not rest" until the perpetrators of the attack were punished.

"We have taken up the matter with all the force at our command with the government of Pakistan," Singh was quoted by the PTI news agency as saying.

"We expect the masterminds of the attack and their supporters to be tried and punished. The infrastructure of terrorism and all safe havens have to be dismantled," he said.

Iranians secular dissident sentenced to six-year jail term

Tehran - A renowned Iranian secular dissident was sentenced to a six-year jail term for his alleged role in the unrest following last June's disputed presidential election, reformist websites reported Thursday. Behzad Nabavi, a former industry minister and deputy parliament speaker, was sentenced by the revolutionary court to a six-year jail term on charges of having acted against the Islamic establishment.

Nabavi was however released on bail until the start of his appeal court, it was reported.

Nabavi was one of the few former officials who did not confess to court charges of planning to overthrow the Islamic system and constantly insisted on not having made anything illegal.

In line with the country's opposition, also Nabavi had accused the government of fraud in the June 12 presidential election and not acknowledged President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election.

The post-vote protests have so far led to the deaths of dozens of demonstrators, the arrest of thousands, hundreds of whom remain jailed for alleged efforts to overthrow the Islamic establishment.

Also Mohammad-Ali Abtahi, deputy of former president Mohammad Khatami from 1997 to 2005, was sentenced last week to a six-year jail term charges of national security offenses and propaganda against the Islamic establishment.

Khatami said in a meeting Wednesday with a group of physicians that when someone was critical of some of the government's policies, "then it should be no crime expressing this criticism."

Khatami blamed the government to destroy the reputation of former officials who used to be "an undeniable part of the country's political capital."

Anti-Islamic Dutch politician cancels Prague visit - Summary

Prague - Anti-Islamic Dutch politician Geert Wilders canceled his planned visit to Prague after his hosts had problems booking a venue for his speech, organizers said Thursday. Wilders was invited to give a speech Monday and show his film Fitna by Eurosceptic Czech senator Jiri Oberfalzer and a Prague-based website critical of the purported Islamization of Europe, eurabia.cz.

Oberfalzer initially invited the 46-year-old Dutch lawmaker to give his talk at the Czech Senate, but the upper house banned the planned lecture.

The hosts then unsuccessfully attempted to secure a private venue. Wilders dropped the Prague talk after owners of two locations canceled reservations at the last minute, Oberfalzer said.

A Muslim group based in Brno, the Czech Republic's second largest city, offered to provide a place but the visit's organizers did not accept it.

The senator said that the hosts managed to book yet another place but Wilders "did not want to risk the fourth cancellation" and preferred to set a new date for his visit.

Wilders, leader of the far-right Party for Freedom, is known for his anti-Islamic views. His controversial film Fitna portrays the Koran as a book inciting violence against non-Muslims.

Earlier this week, a spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the lawmaker, who planned to take part in a Dutch parliamentary delegation to Turkey, was unwelcome in the largely Muslim country wishing to join the European Union.

In February, authorities barred Wilders from entering Britain, where he was to show his film. But he visited London on October 16 after a court overturned the ban.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/296508,anti-islamic-dutch-politician-cancels-prague-visit--summary.html.

Irish report condemns 'cover-up' of child abuse by Catholic church

Dublin - The Irish government Thursday vowed to bring pedophile priests to justice after a new report revealed that the Roman Catholic Church had covered up the "systematic abuse" of children while the state turned a blind eye. The report by a long-running commission published at the end of a three-year probe concluded that "hundreds of crimes" were committed against defenseless children in the diocese of Dublin between 1975 and 2004.

It said the Catholic Church hierarchy in Ireland was "granted immunity to cover up child sex abuse" while the authorities enjoyed a "cosy relationship with the church."

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern, who offered a government apology for what happened, said that the offenders would be brought to court regardless of the time that has passed.

"The persons who committed these dreadful crimes - no matter when they happened - will continue to be pursued. They must come to know that there is no hiding place. That justice - even where it may have been delayed - will not be denied," said Ahern.

The inquiry, which examined a total of 100,000 files, was based on a sample of complaints involving 320 children and 46 priests, of whom 11 have already been convicted.

It revealed that four former archbishops did not pass on the information they were given on the abuse cases to the authorities and alleged that the police treated the clergy "as though they were above the law."

The state authorities had facilitated the cover-up by failing to ensure that the law was applied equally to all and by permitting the church institutions to be "beyond the reach of the normal law enforcement process."

The report found that children were beaten, humiliated and raped. It listed one priest as having abused more than 100 children and said another had admitted abuse on a fortnightly basis during his 25-year ministry.

In May, a separate report detailed decades of abuse in schools, borstals and reformatories run by religious orders, affecting thousands of children.

"There is no escaping the cruel irony that the Church, partly motivated by a desire to avoid scandal, in fact created a scandal on an astonishing scale," said Ahern.

"In many cases, the welfare of children counted for nothing and abusers were left free to abuse - to visit evil on the innocent," he added.

Saudi Arabia and Iran Face Off in Yemen

Frida Ghitis

November 26, 2009

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran have ranged over the years from coolly cordial to openly hostile. After all, the two countries see themselves as rivals in the quest for regional influence and for leadership of the Muslim world. They have very different histories and conflicting political ideologies, and they stand on opposing sides of the Shiite-Sunni divide. In recent months, strains in the relationship have greatly intensified. Today, the differences between Tehran and Riyadh have brought the neighbors dangerously close to open confrontation.

How serious is the crisis? Consider the recent headline in the respected pan-Arab newspaper Alsharq al-Awsat: "So: It is no longer a war of ideas!"

The writer, Osama Khawaji, was speaking about the war raging in neighboring Yemen, which has signs of becoming a proxy war between Persians and Arabs, between Shiites and Sunnis -- or, more plainly, between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Khawaji wrote, "The story of Iran with the Arabs is no longer just a war of words, but now has a military interpretation on the ground that we have previously witnessed in Lebanon, Iraq and Gaza, and recently in Yemen."

In Lebanon, Tehran and Riyadh back rival camps in that country's turbulent political landscape. Iran gives political, financial and military support to Hezbollah, while Saudi Arabia has provided ample funding to the Sunni coalition that opposes the influence of a three-part alliance made up of Hezbollah, Syria and Iran. A similar situation appears in Gaza, where militant Hamas receives support from Iran and Syria, while Saudi Arabia backs its rival, Fatah. But it is Yemen where the face-off threatens to bring Saudis and Iranians into open confrontation.

The small country of Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia to the south, is experiencing a civil war that pits government forces against northern Houthi rebels. Yemen accuses Iran of backing the Houthis, who belong to the Zaidi sect of Shiism. Tehran denies it, but many in the Arab world doubt Iran's denials.

The Houthis are based near the Saudi border, and fighting has extended into Saudi territory. When the war recently spilled inside Saudi Arabia, Riyadh responded sharply. Officials in Riyadh said Houthi shelling had killed several Saudi civilians, causing the Saudis to fire back. The rebels accused Saudi forces of moving inside Yemen. The Saudis insisted they were only defending their country, and that King Abdullah had specifically ordered his military chiefs to expel Yemeni rebels from Saudi land without crossing the border.

Despite Iran's claim that it has nothing to do with Houthi rebels, the Iranian media is providing the most comprehensive outlet to Houthi rebels, in a way that sounds very much like it is taunting the Saudis.

A recent dispatch on Iran's Press TV portrays a David and Goliath battle, with brave Houthi rebels successfully taking on a much larger and better-armed Saudi force. Press TV relates that, "After suffering a 'humiliating' defeat in their last assault, Saudi forces have launched another major ground and aerial attack along the Yemeni border in the north, Houthi fighters say. The Saudis are using 'all types of ground and air weapons,' including tanks, artillery, rocket launchers, Apache helicopters and jet fighters."

The conflict is inflaming passions on both sides. Ali Larijani, president of Iran's Parliament, charged Riyadh with bombing rebels in Yemen and accused Washington of supporting Saudi Arabia's "unacceptable" actions. Iran's Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mouttaki issued a veiled threat, warning countries in the region not to intervene in Yemen.

On the Saudi side, indignation is spreading throughout the country and threatens to inflame anti-Iranian sentiment throughout the Sunni world. The grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh, issued a statement in the daily al-Watan charging that Tehran's support of Yemen's Houthis made it complicit in sin and aggression. He even issued a call to Iranians to protect their own Sunni minority from aggression. He offered strong support for Saudi military action against the Houthis, openly linking the Yemen rebels to Tehran and telling imams and preachers to back Saudi military action during their sermons. "We are right and they are wrong," he said. "It is clear they must be fought."

For decades, Iran and Saudi Arabia have stood on opposing sides of many conflicts in the Middle East. Most of the time, however, they have confronted each other through proxies and cash contributions in support of their desired outcomes. Most recently, Saudi Arabia, like many other Arab countries, has expressed great concern about Iran's regional designs and the potential threat by its controversial nuclear program.

The conflict in Yemen now threatens to bring all those simmering disputes to the surface. Neither Saudi Arabia nor Iran wants to enter into open confrontation. But armed clashes and popular passions always risk taking on a life of their own, escalating beyond the calculated wishes of political leaders.

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=60495&s2=27.

China executes two for trafficking children

Beijing - China has executed two men convicted of abducting and trafficking at least 15 children, state media said on Friday. The men were executed on Thursday after they were convicted in cases in the south-western province of Yunnan and the central province of Henan, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Hu Minghua, 55, was convicted of abducting and selling nine boys from April 1999 to October 2005, after he was arrested for heroin trafficking in January 2006 in Kunming, the Yunnan provincial capital, the agency said.

Police returned five of the boys, who were between three and six years old, to their parents but they were unable to trace the families of the other four.

In Henan, Su Binde, 27, was executed after he was convicted of abducting six children in 2005 and 2006.

A court also convicted Su of staging six robberies and kidnapping a taxi driver who later died of organ failure, the agency said.

The government apparently publicized the two cases as a part of its campaign against child trafficking.

Wang Shaonan, a spokesman for the Supreme People's Court, which approved the executions, was quoted as saying that courts nationwide punished 1,714 people for abducting and trafficking children in the first 10 months of this year.

Wang said child trafficking was still rising in China.

Police rescued more than 2,000 children from child-trafficking gangs in a six-month campaign this year, he said.

China keeps the number of executions a state secret, but the US-based Dui Hua Foundation has estimated that at least 5,000 people have been executed annually in recent years, more than in the rest of the world combined.

It claims to have limited the use of the death penalty in recent years but retains it for 68 offenses, including drug trafficking, serious corruption and other non-violent crimes.

On Tuesday, two people were executed in the northern city of Shijiazhuang for producing and selling tainted milk powder that made tens of thousands of infants ill nationwide.

80 wild elephants left in Vietnam

Hanoi - There are only 80 elephants left in the wild in Vietnam, and they are in danger due to illegal hunting and deforestation, state media reported Friday. The state-run newspaper Lao Dong quoted experts at a Vietnam Forest Management Agency workshop on elephant preservation as saying the population was dropping fast.

Vietnamese press have reported several cases of elephants attacking humans in recent years. Elephants become more aggressive when their territory shrinks.

In January, 10 elephants charged villagers in Ha Tinh province, without causing injuries. In July 2008, a herd of 40 elephants destroyed several houses in the central highland province of Dak Lak, again without causing injuries.

In August 2007, forest warden Le Quang Kim was left paralyzed after his neck was broken in an elephant attack.

Scientists at the workshop said if elephants' territory can be protected from human encroachment and poachers, their numbers would likely recover through natural increase.

Voting underway in Namibian elections

Windhoek - Voting got underway Friday in Namibia's fifth democratic presidential and parliamentary elections and fourth since independence from apartheid South Africa in 1990. Two days of voting in both elections began across the south-west African desert nation of around 2 million people at 7 am (0500 GMT) and was due to close at 9 pm (1900 GMT).

A total of 14 parties are contesting the election to the 78-seat National Assembly, which has been dominated since independence by the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO).

SWAPO, which fought a 22-year guerrilla war against apartheid South Africa ending in 1988, a year before the country's first democratic polls, won 55 Assembly seats in the last election five years ago.

The party is expected to easily win re-election over a fragmented opposition, but with a reduced majority.

Incumbent president and SWAPO leader Hifikepunye Pohamba, who succeeded founding president Sam Nujoma in 2004, is also expected to easily win a second term over his 11 rivals.

Some 961,000 Namibians are registered to vote.

The emergence of opposition to the hegemonic SWAPO from within its own ranks is the defining feature of this election.

Popular former foreign minister Hidipo Hamutenya broke away from SWAPO in 2007 in protest over what he called the party's "autocratic" leadership style and formed his own Rally for Democracy and Progress.

Namibia is a stable, but extremely poor country, that lives off mining, fishing, agriculture and tourism.

Some 28 per cent of Namibians live on less than 2 Namibian dollars (around 30 US cents) a day and six out of 10 young people are estimated to be unemployed.

Results of the election are expected on December 4.

UNICEF worker killed in southern Philippines

Manila - A Filipino worker with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was shot dead by an unidentified gunman in the southern Philippines, a police report said Friday. Police identified the victim as Nestor Bulahan, an employee of the UNICEF in Cotabato City, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

Bulahan was shot by the lone gunman while waiting for a friend at a passenger terminal in nearby Parang town in Maguindano province, the police report said.

He was shot in the abdomen and died while being treated in a nearby hospital, the report added.

Investigators were still determining a motive for the killing, police said.

The shooting occurred despite heightened security in Maguindanao, where 57 civilians were killed in a massacre linked to a political rivalry in Ampatuan town.

Israel okays construction of 28 public buildings in settlements

Jerusalem - Israel said Friday it was authorizing the construction of 28 new public buildings in West Bank settlements, one day after it announced a 10-month suspension of Israeli building in the occupied territory. That suspension applies to new residential buildings only, and also excludes East Jerusalem - as well as some 3,000 apartments elsewhere in West Bank settlements whose construction has already begun.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak signed the approvals late Thursday, his office said in a statement sent to the German Press-Agency...

Helping The Lost Dead Of World War II Rest In Peace

During battles at the end of World War II, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians never got a decent burial. For almost 30 years, one man has been finding these bodies and helping them rest in peace.

The first thing one sees is a jawbone. Erwin Kowalke picks it carefully up out of the loamy soil and sets it in a small, gray cardboard coffin sitting next to the freshly unearthed grave. Two probes of his spade later he pulls out a skull.

"This boy was about 20. Not much older," he says, pointing out the well-preserved teeth. "The wisdom teeth aren't quite in yet." In all likelihood, he's handling the remains of a Soviet soldier. The teeth are a clue. "Russians were differently nourished. That's why their teeth are ground down more than Germans," he explains.

When he finds a decomposed leather shoe a few minutes later, his suspicions are confirmed. "This is a Russian," Kowalke reports. The shoe has a knobby rubber sole. "And those belonged only to soldiers of the Red Army."

Kowalke is a specialist in his field. He started working for the German War Graves Association (VDK) in 1980 and ever since he has traveled to the last battlefields of the World Wars to do his job. He is actually retired these days but he continues to volunteer for the organization, which has located, identified and buried German soldiers since 1919. And Kowalke's expertise is in demand. After the Balkan wars of the 1990s, he spent months in the former Yugoslavia uncovering and identifying bodies.

Kowalke pulls about 10 bodies a day out of what was once blood-soaked ground in the east of Berlin. Around 60,000 people died in the Battle of Halbe during the last few days of April in 1945 toward the end of World War II. The Red Army annihilated the remains of Germany's Ninth Army in the last major battle of the war. In the battle of Seelow Heights, east of Berlin, around 50,000 German, Russian and Polish soldiers were killed in the space of a few days. Only a few were properly buried. The majority were simply hurriedly covered up. And thousands of them are apparently still buried somewhere in Brandenburg.

These bodies are usually found during the course of road building or when unexploded bombs are being sought. Metal detectors pick up anything metallic. "And if the guy had a field shovel or a weapon on him, then we have him," Kowalke says. That's what happened this time. The metal detector beeped because the fallen soldier had a helmet, bayonet and pistol underneath him. Munitions excavation crews are responsible for the weaponry. And Kowalke is responsible for the dead.

'Not Exactly Digging For Potatoes'

Which is why the corpse expert is submerged up to his hips in a pit in a forest along the Oder-Havel canal northeast of Berlin. He digs carefully, so as not to accidentally damage any bones. "We're not exactly digging for potatoes," he notes. Suddenly, a second skull is revealed. It's no surprise though. Larger bomb craters will often contain more than one soldier.

He finds an enamel filling in a tooth. For Kowalke, this is an important clue that he's dealing with a German - the Russians didn't have that sort of amalgam filling at the time. Shortly afterwards he uncovers a broken yellow comb and a leather briefcase. Inside are a few coins but there is still no clue to the identity of the soldier. Nevetheless, Kowalke can tell he was about 25 years old and 1.7 meters (5 feet 7 inches) tall.

He reads the bones like a book. "From the size of the upper arm, for example, one can tell the overall height. And from the state of the end of the bone one can tell the age," he explains. When lightly rusted dog tags turns up in the big sieve used to sift the dirt around the bones, Kowalke can barely contain himself. "We'll soon know who you are," he says, addressing the corpse directly as is his wont. "The dog tags are like an identification document." After about three hours Kowalke carefully stows the remains of the three men discovered today, then he notes the details of his finds on a form.

Adding To A Morbid Collection

After Kowalke finds the remains, the case is turned over to the German Information Office (WASt), formerly known as the Wehrmacht Information Office for War Losses and P.O.W.s. For every number on an insignia, there exists a file which will indicate the fallen soldier's identity. In the chaos of war and its aftermath, a lot of information was lost. Nevertheless, the bureau is still the place to seek the identity of a fallen soldier after more than 60 years. Whether it's a wedding ring, an insignia, a rank or a love letter, the WASt gets all the personal items Kowalke finds. They're numbered, packed and compared with the files of 18 million members of the Wehrmacht, as the German armed forces were called during World War II. In the evidence room the belongings of soldiers whose relatives can't be found - dentures, watches, glasses - are collected.

Kowalke has been adding to this morbid collection for more than 30 years. The wiry 68-year-old is actually a cabinetmaker by trade. He tells of how, as an apprentice, he had to build a coffin as his first assignment. At the time he had absolutely no idea that dealing with the dead would become his career.

In 1980, he was asked by his minister in Buckow to take responsibility for war graves in the Oderland region. The fate of his father, killed in France in 1944, was another motivating factor. Kowalke still has vivid memories of a rainy day at the end of the 1980s when he stood by his father's grave in Andilly in Lothringen - which, with more than 30,000 graves, is the largest German war cemetery in France . He felt sad and happy at the same time: "Finally, I had a place to focus my grief." Additionally it is important to him to give those who lost brothers, sons and fathers a little knowledge.

Around 20,000 Dead Soldiers Found

Before 1990, that was no easy task. In the former East Germany (GDR), soldiers who had served in Hitler's army were viewed as wrongdoers and GDR leaders frowned upon according them any last honor or even last resting place. For this reason, Kowalke's unearthing, and then reburial, of fallen soldiers all had to be done under the auspices of the church.

It was only in 1990, the year of Germany's reunification, that what he did started to become accepted and publicly acknowledged. At that time, in the western part of Germany, there was no longer any official organization responsible for reburials and the search for the bodies of fallen German soldiers, from Scandinavia to North Africa, had generally been called off. However in the eastern part of the country, where the war's most deadly battles had been fought in early 1945, the work was really only just beginning. This was true for all of eastern Europe. And since 1990, Kowalke has dug up the bodies of 20,000 fallen soldiers.

Every year, Kowalke and his 25 colleagues, who search for fallen soldiers in Eastern Europe and Russia on behalf of the VDK, rebury between 35,000 and 40,000 soldiers. Generally the fallen soldiers are buried in the country they died in. For example, Russian soldiers found in Brandenburg are buried in a military graveyard in Lebus, a town north of Frankfurt an der Oder. Likewise, soldiers of the former Wehrmacht who died abroad are buried in German military cemeteries there. However relatives of the fallen are entitled to submit an application to the VDK requesting that their loved ones be buried in Germany.

The Worst Thing Is Finding Remains of Children

Kowalke has lost a lot of sleep thinking about his job and the fate of the young men he finds. Happily, over time, he has become accustomed to the situation and has even been able to find a greater sense of inner peace. Still, there are places that continue to haunt him, such as the area south of Berlin where the Battle of Halbe was fought. Here, at the very end of the war, tens of thousands of German soldiers in the Ninth Army and civilians died as they desperately tried to break through three lines of enemy forces to reach their comrades in the German Twelfth Army; all many of them wanted was to surrender to Western forces.

"When it comes to the Battle of Halbe," he pauses a moment, "I still feel my heart ache." The very hardest thing for him, as a father of two girls, is when he comes upon the remains of children. "Even after so many years," he says, "coming across a pair of small shoes with tiny ankle bones in them cannot help but affect you."

What worries him most is leaving someone behind, forgotten in the ground. "Here in Brandenburg, the war is far from over," he says, in a reference to an 18th-century Russian general who said that a war is only over once the last fallen soldier has been given an honorable burial. That kind of "end" to war is something that Kowalke, who has already been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, Germany's highest civilian honor, would like most.

'God Loves Them All'

When it comes to reburial, he believes even the smallest details are of paramount importance. "If I overlook something," he stresses, "no one else can make up for that. It's gone forever." And it doesn't matter to him if the person who he recovers is German or Russian, a member of the SS or the Red Army. "After death, we are all the same," Kowalke says. "I might not know the poor guy. But God knows and loves them all."

Even more than six decades after the end of the war, there is still grieving to be done for the fallen. When reburial ceremonies are held, guests may include wives, children, grandchildren, former comrades in arms and even former class mates.

Kowalke recently attended the reburial of a soldier he had found. It was held in the German military cemetery in Halbe, which is the country's largest, with 28,000 graves. The family of the soldier was also there. There was his widow, his daughter and his granddaughter.

All of them laid their hands on the small, gray coffin once more before it was lowered into the ground. Then they sang the Bach hymn, "Befiehl Du Deine Wege" together. "At moments like that, I know exactly why I do this job," says Kowalke.

Iran Confiscates Ebadi's Nobel Peace Prize Medal

Iranian authorities have confiscated Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi's medal, her lawyer and Norway's government said Thursday, in a sign of the increasingly drastic steps they are taking against any dissent.

In Norway, where the peace prize is awarded, the government said the confiscation was a shocking first in the history of the 108-year-old prize.

Ms. Ebadi, a human rights lawyer, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her efforts in promoting democracy. She has long faced harassment from Iranian authorities for her activities - including a raid on her office last year in which files were confiscated.

The seizure of her prize is an expression of the Iranian government's harsh approach to anyone it considers an opponent - particularly since the massive street protests triggered by hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed June 12 re-election.

Norwegian authorities were told that Ms. Ebadi's peace prize medal was seized “within the last week or so” from a safe-deposit box in Iran along with personal effects including the diploma awarded with the medal, said the Norwegian Foreign Ministry. Spokeswoman Ragnhild Imerslund said Norwegian authorities have been “in touch” with Ms. Ebadi since the incident.

Ms. Ebadi has criticized the Iranian government's crackdown on demonstrations by those claiming the June vote was stolen from a pro-reform candidate through massive fraud.

Ms. Ebadi was out of the country at the time of the vote and has not returned since, saying she is “in an effective state of exile.” In the days after the vote, she urged the international community to reject the outcome and called for a new election monitored by the United Nations.

During the past months, hundreds of pro-reform activists have been arrested, and a mass trial has sentenced dozens to prison terms.

In Tehran, Ms. Ebadi's lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, confirmed the medal was confiscated and said it was seized on a September order from a judge at Tehran's Revolutionary Court. The lawyer said she was not aware of the content of the order because the court has not allowed her to study it yet.

“Ms. Ebadi's husband found out some 20 days ago that all medals, including the Nobel one, were confiscated from their safe deposit box,” said Sotoudeh.

Calls to Iranian judiciary officials were not returned Thursday.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere called the move “shocking” and said it was “the first time a Nobel Peace Prize has been confiscated by national authorities.”

The Norwegian Foreign Ministry summoned Iran's charge d'affaires in Norway Wednesday to protest the confiscation, said Ms. Imerslund.

The Foreign Ministry also “expressed grave concern” about Ms. Ebadi's husband, who it said was arrested in Tehran and “severely beaten” earlier this fall, after which his pension and bank account were frozen.

Ms. Ebadi has represented opponents of Iran's regime before but not in the mass trial that started in August of more than 100 prominent pro-reform figures and activists. They are accused of plotting to overthrow the cleric-led regime during the post-election turmoil.

The Iranian Embassy in Norway refrained from giving a comment.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee's permanent secretary, Geir Lundestad, said the move was “unheard of” and “unacceptable.” He told the Associated Press that the committee was planning to send a letter of protest to Iranian authorities before the end of the week.

Ms. Ebadi could not be reached on Thursday for comment.

Ms. Ebadi said in an interview published Nov. 17 in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that her apartment, pension and her bank account and those of her relatives had been seized, along with her Nobel and Legion of Honor.

“I live in an effective state of exile,” she was quoted as saying from a hotel in New York, where she had been attending U.N. meetings. “They say I owe them $410,000 in back taxes because of the Nobel; it's a complete lie, given that the Iranian fiscal law says that prizes are excluded.”

She nevertheless said she plans to return to Iran when she can be more useful in the country than outside it.

“Nothing frightens me anymore, even if they threaten to arrest me for fiscal evasion upon my return,” she said.