China starts repairing controversial TV tower

Beijing - Workers have started repairing a fire-damaged tower next to the new Beijing headquarters of state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), sources said on Thursday. Fire blackened most of the outer surfaces of the hotel and arts center in February after CCTV executives organized a display of giant fireworks outside the building to celebrate the Chinese lunar new year.

High fences have cordoned off the 159-meter tower since the fire, but workers could be seen on the upper stories on Thursday.

"The concrete structure of the building was not damaged by the fire and can be repaired," German architect Ole Scheeren told the German Press Agency dpa.

Many Chinese commentators had criticized the striking design of the boot shaped tower and the main, angular arch, which together form the landmark CCTV complex in Beijing's Chaoyang business district.

The fire delayed completion of the main building by six to nine months, but work was "now fully under way," Scheeren said.

"We expect the new broadcast center to be finished by the middle of next year," he said.

Beijing residents initially likened the center, co-designed by Scheeren and Dutch architect Rem Kolhaas, to giant trouser legs or boxer shorts.

Some critics decried the two buildings as representing male and female genitals.

"The main building looks like a naked woman on her knees, with her backside facing the viewer, and the annex building has the shape of a phallus," wrote Xiao Mo, a retired professor of architecture of Beijing's prestigious Qinghua University.

Outraged over the "giant bottom," Xiao joined forces with others who consider it a national disgrace, which is believed to have cost about 1 billion dollars, to be torn down.

Scheeren said he was "surprised by the size of the reaction" against the complex.

"There is still a long way to go to open this media organization (CCTV) and bring it closer to the ordinary people," he said.

"We still have the hope that the buildings will contribute to that."

The fire-damaged smaller tower was "for the public" and contained cultural facilities including a hotel, theatre, cinemas and conference halls, Scheeren said.

"It's a pity that it happened before this was clear to everyone," he said of the fire.

Many Chinese were annoyed that foreign rather than domestic architects have designed many of Beijing's most prestigious new buildings.

Others complained about the cost of a showpiece complex for CCTV, which many see as a stilted propaganda organ of the ruling Communist Party.

Police detained 12 people after the blaze, including four CCTV employees and eight workers from the company which set off the fireworks.

A police spokesman said CCTV managers had ignored police safety warnings and insisted on going ahead with their spectacular firework display.

One 30-year-old firefighter died from smoke inhalation while battling the blaze.

Too costly, so India scraps rivers inter-linking project

New Delhi—Quoting huge cost factor, the Indian government has scrapped the ambitious project to inter-link major rivers, which was seen as a means to control frequent floods and droughts that ravage the country in different parts the country each year.

Federal Water Resources Minister P K Bansal told parliament that inter-linking Himalayan rivers with peninsular rivers that flow in the southern part of the country would require Indian Rupees 4,400 billion (USD $ 95,176 million), which was “beyond the capacity of the federal government”.

“Inter-linking Himalayan rivers with peninsular rivers is a huge task. It involves a massive expenditure of Rupees 4,400 billion and such kind of money is not available to us,” Bansal told lawmakers Wednesday.

But peninsular and Himalayan rivers would be linked separately, the minister said, though the projects would have a long gestation period.

Bansal said five projects of inter-linking peninsular rivers were on the government's priority list. It was “pursuing it in the right earnest after taking consent of the concerned state governments and environmental and rehabilitation issues”.

“At present only 5 of the 14 projects of inter-linking peninsular rivers are on the government's priority list. It will involve expenditure of USD $ 7 million and would take around 9-10 years for completion,”

Bansal's remark comes shortly after his cabinet colleague Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh had said that the idea of inter-linking India's rivers was a “disaster”.

“The interlinking of rivers will be a human-ecological-economic disaster. It is easy to do interlinking on paper. Interlinking of rivers has limited basin value, but large-scale interlinking would be a disaster,” Ramesh said.

India re-started the idea of inter-linking the Himalayan rivers with river waterways that flow in downstream peninsular India seriously after the country's Supreme Court had mandated the government in October 2002 to start work on inter-linking of major rivers in the country to provide water for irrigation and other uses in the southern parts of the country.

Many environmental experts have over the years had voiced their concern of the viability of the project mainly over issues that may arise in areas like health. with more vectors emerging, social and ecological inputs relating to population transfer and wildlife displacements, pollution causes due to low-water levels during the summer months and climate change with reports of increasing melting of snow in the Himalayas.

The initial cost was projected at between USD125-200 billion and later revised to USD600-800 billion over the years with cost overruns.

Also there is an international and regional angle. Although the inter-ling of river waters is seen as a domestic linkage, the waters, especially those like the River Ganges and Brahmaputra has an international angle for their basin areas are shared by China, Nepal, India and Bangladesh.

The Nepalese link is that it supplies almost half of the annual flow of the River Ganges. China is planning to build a series of dams and reservoirs in its area to water its parched northern areas before the river waters reach India. Nearly 90 per cent of Bangladesh water needs are met through its flow from India.

The inter-linking of rivers was first mooted by a British engineer Sir Arthur Cotton during the time the Indian sub-continent was ruled by the British colonial rulers. Sir Arthur envisaged the project mainly as a navigation tool for trade in southern India.

The idea was revived in 1972 by Dr. K.L. Rao, who was irrigation minister in prime minister Indira Gandhi's cabinet. He envisaged connecting River Ganges in the north with River Cauvery in the south.

In 1997, another engineer Captain Dinshaw Dastur proposed a grand Garland Canal consisting of two canals. The first was the 4,200-km long, 300 m wide Himalayan canal and second a 9,300-km long Garland Canal aligned to the southern slopes of the Himalayas, bound by River Ravi in the west and connected to the mighty River Brahmaputra in the east.

China sentences five more Uighurs to death over riots

Beijing - A court in China's far-western region of Xinjiang on Thursday sentenced to death five more people from the Uighur ethnic group who were convicted of violent crimes during riots in July. The official Xinhua news agency quoted court documents in the regional capital, Urumqi, as saying the five Uighurs were sentenced to death for crimes including murder.

The Urumqi Intermediate People's Court sentenced two others to life in prison and gave lesser prison sentences to six more defendants, the agency said.

It said the trials of the 13 Uighurs were open and held in their own language, watched by hundreds of people, including relatives of the defendants and the victims.

The sentences followed the execution in early November of eight Uighurs and one Han Chinese man convicted of murder during the rioting in Urumqi in July.

The deadly rioting began after a protest over the deaths of two Uighurs in the southern city of Shaoguan.

The protests escalated into clashes with police and attacks by Uighurs against Han residents of Urumqi.

The violence left 197 people dead and about 1,600 injured, according to the government. Uighur exile groups claimed that up to 800 people died in Urumqi, many of them Uighurs shot or beaten to death by police.

The agency said the Urumqi court planned to try defendants in five more cases linked to the violence on Friday.

Heavy fog fades, traffic restored in part in China

Heavy fog faded in most Chinese provinces after a cold front from Siberia moving south cleared up the sky on Wednesday. As a result, road, river and air traffic was finally restored after days of disruption in many parts of China.

Traffic on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal resumed at noon after 11 hours of closure, said an official from Yangzhou City of east China's Jiangsu Province Wednesday.

Nearly 100 vessels stranded in Yangzhou have entered the Yangtze River.

But sea areas off Shanghai were still shrouded by heavy fog. In the first three quarters of this year, Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration reported 32 accidents in its administrative area, in which 13 vessels were wrecked and 20 people went missing. Direct economic loss was estimated at 39 million yuan (about five million U.S. dollars).

The administration reminded passing vessels to be ready for emergencies because of the bad weather.

Visibility in east China's Shandong Province rose to more than 1,000 meters. Delayed flights and closed highways had been resumed, said the provincial meteorological bureau.

However, the heavy fog staggered in east China's Anhui Province, north China's Shanxi Province and northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Wednesday.

Visibility was 200 to 50 meters in most parts of Anhui, where police had to reinforce traffic control on highways.

Two of the three flights canceled on Tuesday in Hefei City tookoff Wednesday, though some other flights were delayed.

Visibility in Shanxi was 100 to 20 meters on Wednesday. Flights at the Airport of Yuncheng in Shanxi were postponed.

Five sentenced to death for murder in Urumqi riot

Five people were sentenced Thursday to death for murder and other crimes committed in the July 5 riot in Urumqi, capital of west China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regions.

The defandants were Memeteli Islam, Mamattursun Elmu, Memeteli Abburakm, Kushiman Kurban and Helil Sadir.

Two others were sentenced at the Intermediate People's Court of Urumqi to life imprisonment and another six were given jail terms.

The cases were heard in the Uygur language and interpretation was provided as hundreds of people, including relatives of the defendants and the victims, were present at the trial.

Trials in five other cases connected with the riot will be heard by the court on Friday, according to court sources.

On Oct. 30, the Higher People's Court of Xinjiang upheld death penalty for nine people convicted of crimes committed during the riot.

China to mark 10th anniversary of Basic Law of Macao SAR

China's top legislature will hold a meeting to mark the 10th anniversary of the implementation of the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Friday.

The meeting will be hosted by the Commission for the Basic Law of the Macao SAR of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said the statement issued by the NPC Standing Committee on Thursday.

State leaders, senior officials of the central government, Macao SAR Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah, Macao officials and representatives from all walks of life from the mainland and Macao would attend the symposium, the statement said.

But it gave no details of the guests.

A seminar of legal experts would also be held Friday to review the law's implementation, the statement said.

China regulates military headquarters to adapt to information age

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China has issued nine categorized provisions on the duties and operational procedures for its headquarters of different branches or at regional levels.

Under the order of the Central Military Commission Chairman Hu Jintao, the new provisions took effect on Tuesday, the CMC said in a statement Wednesday.

The new statutes are detailed replenishment to the regulations on the PLA headquarters' commanding work issued in 2006.

The Headquarters of the PLA General Staff said the new provisions aimed at improving the contents and commanding methods of headquarters to better handle military operations in the information age and speeding up emergency response of China's armed forces.

Up to 19 dead after suicide bomb attack in Somalia

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer

MOGADISHU, Somalia – A male suicide bomber dressed as a woman attacked a university graduation ceremony Thursday in a small part of the capital still under government control, killing up to 19 people, including three Cabinet ministers and three journalists.

The attack was a severe blow to a country long battered by war and underscored the government's tenuous hold on even a small area of Mogadishu. African Union peacekeeping troops protecting the government wage near daily battles with Islamic militants who hold much of central and southern Somalia and act so brazenly in the capital that they carry out public executions.

"What happened today is a national disaster," said Somali Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Gelle, who confirmed that the ministers for education, higher education and health were killed in the blast. The ministers for sports and tourism also were wounded in the attack inside the Shamo Hotel, he said.

The assailants hit one of Somalia's most important efforts to extricate itself from anarchy and violence, explaining the presence of so many top government officials. The former medical students among the graduates came from only the second class to receive diplomas from the medical school.

The first class graduated a year ago. Before then, almost two decades has passed since anyone earned a medical degree in Somalia. In the December 2008 ceremony, held at the same hotel, the graduates proudly hoisted diplomas into the air. This year, there was mayhem as the bomb went off among 43 graduates, their families and officials who were sitting on plastic chairs facing a small stage, leaving the dead and wounded in bloody heaps.

More than 40 people were wounded. Students and doctors were among the dead.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion fell upon the militant group al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaida, controls much of the country and has carried out past suicide attacks.

"A man who disguised himself as a woman, complete with a veil and a female's shoes, is behind the explosion," Gelle said. "We even have his picture."

Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television said its Somali cameraman, Hassan Zubeir, died. Two other Somali journalists working for local outlets also died, said Bashir Khalif, a reporter for the Somali government's radio service.

A statement from the African Union's mission in Somalia said 19 people were killed. Gelle said 15 people plus the suicide bomber died. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

Somalia's government announced three days of mourning after the president, prime minister and other top Somali officials held an emergency meeting at the presidential palace, said Somalia's ambassador to Kenya, Mohamed Ali Nur.

Nur said the Somali government "will not be weakened by such a barbaric, inhuman and un-Islamic attack."

"The hopes of many parents who eagerly awaited for their sons' graduation were recklessly dashed by anti-peace elements," Nur said. "Today should have been a day of celebration — not a mourning."

Several hundred people had gathered inside a decorated ballroom in the Shamo Hotel to celebrate the graduations of the medical, computer science and engineering students from Benadir University. The school was established in 2002 by Somali doctors who wanted to promote higher education. Medical degrees require six years of study.

The president of Benadir University said 43 students were taking part in the graduation ceremony. The university's Web site says more than 500 students are enrolled and that the school "strives to establish an open system of innovation and critical thinking similar to that in the developed countries."

The European Union and the African Union condemned the attack.

Somalia has been ravaged by violence and anarchy since warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991, then turned on each other. A moderate Islamist was elected president in January in hopes that he could unite the country's feuding factions, but the violence has continued unabated.

In June, the national security minister died in a suicide bombing that killed at least 24. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility. In October, insurgents fired mortars at the airport as the president was boarding a plane, sparking battles that killed at least 24 people. Mortars also were fired toward the airport as he returned from his trip.

Before 2007, suicide bombings were unheard of in Somalia. In September, Islamic insurgents posing as U.N. personnel detonated suicide car bombs in an African Union peacekeeping base, killing 21 people. In October 2008, there were five apparently coordinated attacks in key urban centers of northern Somalia.

Somalia's lawlessness has spread security fears around region and raised concerns that al-Qaida is trying to gain a foothold in the Horn of Africa. The anarchy has also allowed piracy to flourish off the country's coast.

Of the three ministers killed in the blast, one was a woman — Qamar Aden Ali, the health minister. Ibrahim Hassan Adow, the minister for higher education, and Ahmed Abdullahi Wayel, the minister for education, also died. There are 37 ministers in Somalia's government, according to a Web site on the Somali government kept by the CIA.

PKK members wary of return to Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party residing in Iraqi refugee camps will not return to Turkey until conditions are satisfactory, representatives said.

Ankara is embarking on a plan to find a political solution to lingering issues with the Kurdish minority. Its plans involve cultural considerations for Kurds and modest amnesty offers for rebels with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

Ankara laid out plans to start accepting Kurdish refugees into Turkey in groups of 300 to 400 from the Makhmour refugee camp in northern Iraq.

Gulbahar Cicekci, a representative for the PKK, said statements on cultural concessions from Ankara were not enough to address their concerns, Turkey's leading English-language daily Today's Zaman reports.

"No one can come back (to Turkey) before providing necessary constitutional and safety conditions, such as schooling in one's mother tongue," he said.

The United Nations established the Makhmour refugee camp in 1998 in response to violence in southern Turkey.

Somalia: Senior Al-Shabab Commander Defects to Govt

A high-ranking Al-Shabaab commander has joined Somali government after deserting the rebel group.

Sheik Ali Hassan Gheddi, who was the deputy commander in-chief of Al Shabab fighters in Somalia's Middle Shabele region took the decision to join the government side after realizing his group was not working for the interest of the civilians.

"Al-Shabaab's cruelty against the people is what forced me to defect to the government side. They extort money from the people and deal with them against the teaching of Islam," he told reporters at the Somali Information Ministry compound in Mogadishu.

He cited the recent Al-Shabaab ban on United Nation's World Food Programme (WFP) as the main reason for his defection.

"The recent Al-Shabaab veto on WFP is the biggest contributor to my decision because I felt it affects the civilians," he said.

Sheikh Gheddi added that he is a well-known figure among Islamist in the country and that Al-Shabaab would not refute his defection as malicious.

Sheikh Abdirahn Isse Adow, who is the former Union of Islamic Courts spokesman and now serving in Information Ministry, welcomed the defector on behalf of the government.

He is the second high level Al-Shabaab official to join the government in less than a month.

Last month, Sheikh Mohamed Sheikh Abdullahi Faruq (Al Pakistani), a senior Al-Shabaab commander absconded the group and joined the government.

LET’S NOT FORGET ABOUT ‘ZIONGATE’

Steve Amsel, Desertpeace

December 1, 2009

Extraordinary efforts by the White House to scupper Britain’s attempts to tackle global warming have been revealed in leaked US government documents obtained by The Observer.

There is no doubt that what is written there is a serious threat to mankind. It has become to be known as 'Climategate’. If you do a Google search on 'Climategate’ you will come up with close to 13 MILLION entries. It is the talk of the Net….. leaving behind other perils facing mankind.

One of the gates to the Old City of Jerusalem is called Zion Gate…. it is one of the 8 gates leading to the old City. These gates have been witness to the zionisation of Palestine.

For Palestinians, the day marks the expulsions and flight of Palestinians from their towns and villages in the face of Jewish and later Israeli troop advances, their defeat in the 1948 Palestine War and 1948 Arab-Israeli War,their displacement from Palestine, and the loss of their property.
The above refers to the Nakba, a period so heinous, it is forbidden to be mentioned in Israeli textbooks.

Of all the 8 gates referred to, I choose the Zion Gate as the example, not only because of its name, but because of its history. A history that has been repeating itself in Israel, Jerusalem in particular since 1948. The zionists have been attempting to 'cleanse’ the city of the 'enemy’ as routine procedure. Neighborhoods have popped up on Palestinian owned land, slowly but surely, Palestinians are being gotten rid of by home demolitions or illegal evictions.

Ziongate has become the biggest threat to the people of Palestine, in reality, a continuance of the Nakba.

For the sake of Palestine, let us not forget ziongate in our Internet travels….

Israel Uses Air Force For W. Bank Freeze

TEL AVIV [MENL] -- Israel has employed its air force to facilitate the new freeze on Jewish construction in the West Bank.

Netanyahu Approves The Construction Of 25 Units In Keidar Illegal Settlement

Saed Bannoura

Tuesday December 01, 2009 - IMEMC

While peace talks are obstructed due to Israel’s ongoing illegal settlement activities, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, approved the construction of 25 units for Jewish settlers in Keidar illegal settlement in the West Bank.

Netanyahu also said his government would compensate settlers "affected by the temporary settlement freeze".

He added that the 25 units are not subjected to his cabinet’s decision to temporarily freeze settlement activities.

Netanyahu asked Israel’s Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, to ensure the construction of the 25 units after he learnt that the units were reportedly approved before the cabinet approved the so-called settlement freeze.

His decision was made after the settlers filed an appeal to his bureau chief, Natan Esehl, Israeli Ynet News reported.

Netanyahu also told his cabinet ministers that he would weigh the possibility of offering financial compensation to the 'affected’ settlers.

He was supposed to hold a meeting with head of the so-called 'Judea and Samaria regional council heads’ which stands for the regional council of West Bank settlements, but had to cancel after his physician recommended that he takes another day of rest due to a recent health issue.

On Tuesday morning dozens of fundamental settlers blocked roads leading to different West Bank settlements to prevent government inspectors in charge of ensuring settlements freeze from reaching settlements included in the freeze order.

The settlers also vowed to protest in front of the home of a senior official of the Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency, if his agency supports the temporary freeze.

Israeli authorities deport African American political activists

Press release, Al-Awda New York

December 1, 2009

The following press release was issued by Al-Awda New York, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition on 25 November 2009:

Al-Awda New York, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, condemns the racist denial of entry to Palestine of African American political activists Dhoruba Bin Wahad and Naji Mujahid by the Israeli occupation.

The occupation of Palestine has always been based on the racist theory and practice of Zionism, including the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and the denial of millions of Palestinian refugees' right to return home as part of building a "pure Jewish state" through the dispossession and oppression of the indigenous Palestinian Arab people.

Zionism and racism have always gone hand in hand -- the Israeli occupation regime was one of the greatest military sponsors of the South African apartheid state. US racism has sponsored and encouraged Zionist racism. This reality has made itself quite apparent in the denial of entry to Palestine, abuse and detention of Bin Wahad and Mujahid.

On 23 November 2009, Dhoruba Bin Wahad, a former US political prisoner and leader of the Black Panther Party, and Naji Mujahid, a student activist from Washington DC rode tourist bus en route from Amman, Jordan to the to the West Bank of occupied Palestine, where both had been invited to attend the International Conference on Palestinian Political Prisoners in Jericho that was sponsored by the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Prisoners and ex-Prisoners Affairs.

As the bus crossed the bridge that connects Jordan with the West Bank of occupied Palestine, it stopped for a border inspection by Israeli occupation officers. Of the numerous individuals on the bus, only Dhoruba and Naji were ordered to disembark. Significantly, both were the only Black people on the bus.

The border officers searched Dhoruba's name on the Internet after they had been pulled aside from the rest of the tourists, who passed without incident. They discovered that he is Muslim, a former Black Panther leader and someone who spent 19 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. (Dhoruba, a target of COINTELPRO, was arrested in 1971 and sentenced to life in prison. His conviction was overturned in 1990.) Both Dhoruba and Naji were interrogated, strip searched and their property confiscated and searched. Despite their cooperation and offer to return into Jordan, their detention continued for over 12 hours. They were ultimately released but denied permission to enter occupied Palestine and returned to Jordan.

The treatment accorded to Dhoruba and Naji would be outrageous if it occurred to anyone, and echoes the ongoing abuse of Palestinians and Arabs seeking to enter Palestine and the drive to push Palestinians and Arabs to leave their homeland through settlement, land confiscation, checkpoints, the Israelization of Jerusalem, discrimination and laws targeting Palestinians in occupied Palestine '48. As Naji Mujahid himself stated, "the humiliation and frustration that we endured was a small taste of what we can be sure the Palestinians go through on a daily basis."

It is apparent that this incident occurred as a clear manifestation of Zionist racism. Dhoruba and Naji were ordered off the bus before Israeli border officials had any idea of their country of origin, personal histories, or plans to attend the conference on political prisoners. At the time they were targeted, the occupation officers knew only that they were Black.

The racist actions of the Israeli government prevented critical meetings between former US political prisoners and former Palestinian political prisoners from taking place. Furthermore, it was an attempt to deny the Black community in the US news about Palestine -- both Dhoruba and Naji had arranged to do a series of reports for Black community news outlets about the conference, Palestinian political prisoners and the Palestinian liberation struggle.

Al-Awda New York expresses its outrage over this latest incident of Zionist racism, we join in the demand of Dhoruba and Naji's attorneys that the US State Department protest the treatment of Dhoruba Bin Wahad and Naji Mujahid. We salute these strong and determined freedom fighters in the Black community and pledge that we will only continue and intensify our collective struggle against racism and oppression, from the US to Palestine.

The Palestinian community and the Black community face common enemies in Zionism, racism and imperialism, and we stand together to demand freedom for all political prisoners from the US to Palestine, an end to Zionism and racism, and the full liberation of all of our communities and all of our people!

Jerusalem Capital of Arab Culture

Kawther Salam

December 1, 2009

On Friday, Nov, 27 2009, on occasion of the celebration of "Jerusalem Capital of Arab Culture" in the "Haus der Begegnung" in Vienna, a great cultural and folklore evening was held under the auspices of Dr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), Fritz Edlinger, Secretary General Society for Austro-Arab Relation, "SAAR", Dr. Zuheir Al-Wazir, Palestinian Ambassador, and the Palestinian Forum.

Director Al-Herbish financed the event as a sign of the the support of his organization and of him personally for the rights of Palestinians, and also as a show of support for Jerusalem as Capital of Arab Culture. This was the second great event which financed by OFID this year. On 30 June 2009, and with coordination with SAAR, OFID financed a concert evening with Marcel Khalife in the courtyard (Arkadenhof) of the municipality in Vienna.

Since his childhood, Director Al-Herbish has felt love for Palestine. This feeling grew up with him and turned into unlimited support for the Palestinians. This was clear in his speech, delivered at the opening of the event, which was attended by Arab ambassadors, many doctors, representatives of institutions of civic life, intellectuals, politicians and many Austrian people who are interested in folklore and who are also pro-Palestinians. "click on the pictures to make them bigger".

Among the attendance was Ambassador Dr. Michail Wehbe for the Arab League, the ambassadors of Morocco and Saudi Arabia, Omar Al-Rawi of the Vienna City Parliament, Dr. Tammam Kelani, President of Austro-Arab Union of doctors and pharmacists, Dipl.Ing. Mouddar Khouja, Secretary General of the Austro Arab Chamber of Commerce, Mustafa Abbas, president of the Arab Culture Union, Mustafa Abed Al-Hadi and Engineer Said Khadra, Palestinian Forum, and many others.

The Al Quds Group for Palestinian Culture came from Jordan to revive the Palestinian traditions with their dances and songs.

Fritz Edlinger, Dr. Zuheir Al-Wazir and Dr. Michail Wehbe all thanked OFID for 000_6889supporting the event. When I hear Mr. Edlinger speaking about Palestine, I have the impression that he works hard to bring the Palestinian issue to the Austrian political public, a work which is not easy and has few rewards. And also, my sad impression is that the representatives of the many other Arab communities in Vienna do more for the Palestinians that those who present themselves as the "leaders" of our small community here. My gratitude goes all these friends of Palestine, and sometimes I regret hard words I said when I saw errors.

Dr. Michail Wehbe stated in his speech that the celebration of "Jerusalem Capital of Arab Culture" is a commitment to humanity and civilization and national rights for us, until the end of the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state. He said: "The practices of the Israeli occupation, the military siege and the continuous building of wild colonies will never erase Jerusalem from the memory of the Palestinians and the Arabs. Jerusalem stood as an obstacle through history in the face of colonialism, occupation, and invaders. It will remain with the struggle of Palestinians, the support the Arab nation, the lovers of peace and justice in the world as a Palestinian city and a capital of a Palestinian State."

Dr. Wehbe condemned the continued judaization of Jerusalem, the demolition the Palestinian houses, the deportation of its citizens from their own homes and towns, and the imposition of taxes on Palestinian shops in order empty the city of Palestinian population, and the eradication its Islamic and Christian nature. He concluded his speech calling the Palestinians to unite in order to confront the Israeli occupation and its intransigence.

It is worth mentioning the Palestinian Ambassador gave a speech in which he stressed that Jerusalem will remain the capital of a Palestine and a Palestinian State with Arab culture.

The Jerusalem folklore and culture group presented a rich cultural shows and which admired and applauded warmly by everybody. The group concluded the evening with a show of dances and singing the Palestinian national anthem, which was repeated and sang and applauded by all the audience, who stood in respect of and to honor the Palestinian resistance.

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=60677&s2=02.

Women complete Israeli army sniper course for first time

Tel Aviv - For the first time in the history of the Israeli army, women have completed a sniper's course, in which, among other skills, they learned to hit a target from a distance of one kilometer, an Israeli military spokeswoman said Wednesday. The six-week-long sniper's course was previously considered one of the last "male bastions" in the army, but, according to the Ma'ariv daily, 13 of the 16 participants in the last round of training were women.

The daily reported that women snipers stationed on the border between Israel and the Sinai peninsula recently prevented a half a tonne of drugs from entering Israel, when they took out two drug smugglers from a distance of one kilometer.

A senior officer said the ultimate goal is to attach a sniper company to each infantry battalion.

He said the snipers, both male and female, would have to demonstrate such skills as waiting in ambush for as long as ten hours and then within one minute firing a shot that would have to hit a target.

Denmark: 98 heads of state and government to UN climate summit

Copenhagen - So far 98 heads of state and government have indicated they were to attend the UN climate change summit that opens next week, the Danish government said Wednesday. Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen in November sent 191 invitations to 191, his office told the German Press Agency dpa.

US President Barack Obama was due in Copenhagen on December 9, the day before he is scheduled to receive the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.

Most heads of state and government were however expected December 17-18, the final days of the conference aimed at securing a new global pact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Copenhagen daily Politiken reported that it was unlikely that Obama would make two visits to the summit, and that the US could be represented at the closing stages by Vice President Joe Biden or Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Czechs mull deploying extra 100 troops to Afghanistan - Summary

Prague - The Czech Republic's Defense Ministry on Wednesday said it is considering deployment of another 100 troops in Afghanistan, following announcement of US President Barack Obama's plan to boost US forces in the war-torn country. Defense Ministry spokesman Andrej Cirtek confirmed the ministry plans to launch political talks on expanding the Czech force, as actual troop deployments must be approved by parliament.

Earlier this year, parliament agreed on the deployment of up to 535 troops to Afghanistan in 2010.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout spoke of no specific plans for boosting the Czech force in Afghanistan after meeting his German counterpart, Guido Westerwelle, during the latter's visit to Prague Wednesday.

Kohout said that the Czech Republic would seek ways to help build the Afghan army and police, so the country could "stand on its own feet."

Obama on Tuesday announced that he would deploy an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.

In response to the decision, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that the remaining alliance members would boost their forces in Afghanistan by another 5,000 soldiers next year.

Currently, 332 Czech soldiers serve under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force mission in Afghanistan, according to the Defense Ministry's website.

The Czech Republic, a formerly Communist Central European country of 10.4 million, joined NATO in 1999.

Head of Mauritania's national police replaced

Nouakchott - Mauritanian President Mohammed Ould Abdel-Aziz on Wednesday dismissed the head of the country's national police force, a senior official said. Abdel-Aziz replaced his close associate, Colonel Ahmed Ould Bekrine, with Colonel Anjagha Janik as head of the National Gendarmes, a Mauritanian official told the German Press Agency dpa, requesting anonymity.

No reason was given for the change, but the colonel was one of the primary officers responsible for security along the road where three Spanish aid workers were abducted on Sunday night.

The change also follows leaks from Mauritanian security sources on Tuesday night indicating that the abductors had been located.

Spanish government officials have repeatedly said they could not confirm that information.

A Mauritanian political official, speaking on condition of anonymity, on Wednesday said the aid workers had been taken to Mali.

If so, they would have had to travel hundreds of kilometers from the coastal road where they were abducted, eluding a massive manhunt to reach the border.

Albania to send additional troops to Afghanistan

Tirana - Albania said Wednesday it will increase its military presence in Afghanistan with an additional 85 troops. "We welcome the decision of the US President Barack Obama to raise the number of US troops in Afghanistan. Albania will contribute to this mission with an additional 85 troops," the Prime Minister Sali Berisha told reporters in Tirana.

Albania already has 250 soldiers in Afghanistan.

Local media speculated that Tirana might also accept another contingent of prisoners from Guantanamo base and that Daniel Fried, US special envoy for Guantanamo, arrived in Albania Wednesday for related discussions.

British government hails release of yachtsmen by Iran - Summary

London/Tehran- The unusually speedy release of five British yachtsmen held by Iran's Revolutionary Guards was hailed by the government in London Wednesday as proof that "diplomacy can work."The five men, whose racing yacht Kingdom of Bahrain strayed into Iranian waters on its passage from Bahrain to Dubai a week ago, were set free early Wednesday - just two days after their arrest was made public by the British government.

Iran's IRNA news agency quoted the Revolutionary Guards' public relations office as saying that, after interrogations, it became clear that the yacht mistakenly entered Iranian waters and therefore the release was ordered.

Their "illegal entry" had been a "mistake," the statement said.

A spokesman for Gordon Brown said the British Prime Minister was "pleased" at the release. "It was dealt with in a quiet, diplomatic way, which is entirely right," he said. Britons Luke Porter, Oliver Smith, Oliver Young, Sam Usher and David Bloomer - a radio journalist based in Bahrain - were sailing to Dubai to take part in the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Race when they were stopped by the guards on November 25.

Reports said the Volvo 60 yacht had been adrift following problems with its propeller. The men were reported to have been taken to the Iranian island of Sirri where they were "treated well," according to British officials.

Relatives of the sailors in Britain said they were "delighted" and "overjoyed" at the prospect of being reunited with them.

The swift release is in stark contrast to other recent detentions of foreign citizens in Iran. The capture of the yachtsmen had earlier prompted fears of a prolonged diplomatic stand-off between London and Tehran.

By Iranian standards, the negotiations to free the captives had been "lightning fast," said a BBC commentary.

Confirmation of the arrest came just a day after Iran's announcement that it would build 10 new nuclear enrichment plants, a move that was condemned in Western capitals as being designed to hamper international efforts to solve the nuclear enrichment row with Iran. In London, Foreign Secretary David Miliband went out of his way to praise the "professional and straightforward way" in which the Iranian authorities had dealt with the case.

"It was never a political matter. I do not believe there is any wider significance ... it shows that diplomacy can work," Miliband said.

He had earlier insisted that the case was a "purely consular matter" and that the row over Iran's nuclear ambitions did not come into it.

The Iranian authorities had given "every indication" that they wanted to deal with the matter in a "straightforward, consular" way, said Miliband.

The British government stressed throughout that there was a difference between the capture of civilians in this way and the arrest of members of the armed forces.

Confirming the release, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that the arrest had been "purely a legal issue and not political."

"The British side wanted to make political use of the issue and therefore exaggerated it," the spokesman was quoted as saying by Mehr news agency.

"In Iran, no innocent person is convicted and, also in the case of the five Britons, it was right from the beginning clear that they would be released if innocent," Mehmaparast said.

In March 2007, Iran held 15 members of Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Marines for two weeks on the allegation of trespassing into Iranian waters.

They were taken at gunpoint, paraded on television and freed amidst a fanfare of publicity and celebrations by President Ahmed Ahmadinejad in Tehran in early April 2007.

Jordan- Disi project construction work officially begins

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Nader Dahabi on Wednesday officially inaugurated construction of the vital Disi Water Conveyance Project.

Projected to supply the capital with 100 million cubic meters of water annually, Al Disi project will be implemented by the Turkish company GAMA.

In his remarks at the inauguration ceremony, held in Al Qastal area south of Amman, Gul highlighted the importance of the multimillion-dollar project, saying that he is confident that the company will execute the project within the set time frame.

He added that implementing and securing over $1 billion in funding for the Disi project was not an easy task in light of the global financial crisis, adding that Turkey is ready to increase cooperation with countries in the region in the field of water.

Stating that water will be the most important issue in the future, particularly as this issue is now the focal point of climate change talks, Gul stressed the importance of investments in the field.

He reiterated his country's keenness to bolster relations with Jordan in all fields including political, economic, agricultural, cultural and defense matters, and called on business people and companies in both countries to take the initiative and explore investment and cooperation opportunities.

Last month, the government said that GAMA had given instructions for the purchase of 30,000 tonnes of pipelines at a cost of $32 million in preparation for the execution of the megaproject.

More than 70 per cent of construction work on the project's main offices in Mudawara, built over a 5,000-cubic-meter area, is now finished, while 95 per cent of the pipeline warehouse is complete, the project's director Othman Kurdi said last month.

The project went into effect as of June 30 after the financial closure was signed. The government's equity in the project totals $400 million, $100 million of which is allocated as "standby" funding to be used if international prices of construction materials, including steel, increase.

The European Investment Bank and the French Development Agency extended two $100 million soft loans to the government.

To be carried out on a build-operate-transfer basis, the project entails constructing a 325-kilometer pipeline that will convey water from the ancient Disi aquifer in the south of Jordan to Amman.

The price of one cubic meter of water generated from the Disi project went down from JD0.87 to JD0.74 after the government raised its stake in the project and steel prices fell on international markets.

3 Somali Cabinet ministers die in bomb blast

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer

MOGADISHU, Somalia – An explosion ripped through an upscale hotel in Somalia's capital Thursday during a university graduation ceremony, killing nine people, including three Cabinet ministers and two journalists.

More than three dozen medical, computer science and engineering students had gathered to receive their diplomas at the ceremony at the Shamow Hotel, which sits in the small patch of Mogadishu that is held by Somalia's weak central government.

Thursday's explosion raised questions about the government's ability to even control that small area, which is only several square blocks.

"What happened today is a national disaster," said Somali Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Gelle, who confirmed that the ministers for education, higher education and health were killed in the blast. The ministers for sports and tourism were wounded.

Two journalists also were killed and two wounded. Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television said its Somali cameraman, Hassan Zubeir, died. A second Somali reporter working for a local media outlet also died, said Bashir Khalif, a reporter for the Somali government's radio service.

In total, nine people were killed, said Col. Abdullahi Hassan Barise, a police spokesman.

Several hundred people had gathered inside a decorated ballroom in the Shamow Hotel to celebrate the graduations. Attendees sat on plastic chairs and faced a small stage when the explosion went off.

No officials could immediately confirm the cause of the blast. An Associated Press reporter attending the ceremony said that the explosion did not appear to be caused by a mortar blast because the roof remained intact, suggesting the blast was caused by a bomb planted in the hotel or possibly by a suicide bomber.

African troops protecting the fragile Somali government wage near daily battles with Islamic militants who control much of central and southern Somalia. The Horn of African nation hasn't had a stable government for almost two decades. The anarchy has also allowed piracy to flourish off the country's coast.

The president of Benadir University said 43 students were taking part in the graduation ceremony. The university was established in 2002 by a group of Somali doctors who wanted to promote higher education in a country where doctors have become the victims of the seemingly endless violence in their country.

The university's Web site says the school has more than 500 students and "strives to establish an open system of innovation and critical thinking similar to that in the developed countries."

Of the three ministers killed in the blast, one was a woman — Qamar Aden Ali, the health minister. Ibrahim Hassan Adow, the minister for higher education, and Ahmed Abdullahi Wayel, the minister for education, also died. There are 37 ministers in Somalia's government, according to a Web site on the Somali government kept by the CIA.

Obama quietly authorizes expansion of war in Pakistan

The Indian Express

December 2, 2009

As the US announced deepening of its involvement in Afghanistan by dispatching 30,000 more troops, President Barack Obama has quietly authorized an expansion of war against terrorism in Pakistan under which CIA would widen its campaign of strikes against militants by unmanned drones.

The expanded operations by the CIA could include drone strikes in the southern province of Baluchistan, where senior Afghan Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding, New York Times reported today quoting officials.

CIA has submitted its plan to widen its campaign in Pakistan to the White House and has asked for commitment to jack up the agency's budget for operations inside the country.

CIA also wants to send more spies into the terrorist infested areas in Pakistan's tribal belt to try to infiltrate into groups like Taliban and other foreign militant groups.

But the 'Times' said, Obama Administration was aware that any expansion of overt American presence in Pakistan could fuel anti-Americanism in a country that fears that US is plotting to run its government and seize its nuclear weapons.

So, the paper said Obama officials were working to get a weak, divided and suspicious Pakistani government to agree to the terms.

'New York Times' quoting US officials said that authorizing drone strikes in Baluchistan was also planned as Americans believe that it is from there that top Taliban leaders direct many of the attacks on their troops in Afghanistan and that these are likely to increase as more US troops pour into the country.

The President endorsed intensification of the campaign against the al-Qaeda and its violent allies including even more operations targeting terrorist safe havens.

This message was delivered recently to Pakistani leaders and officials by General James Jones, the National Security Adviser. But the Pakistanis suspicious of Obama's intention have not yet agreed.

In his address to the cadets at the West Point Academy, the US President said that the murky border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan offers refuge to extremists of many strifes.

Obama identified the region as the birthplace of the September 11, 2001 attacks and said it was from here that new attacks are being plotted.

The stakes are much higher now, Obama said as al-Qaeda and other extremist groups were seeking nuclear weapons and "we have every reason to believe that they would use them.

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=60694&s2=03.

Ladies & Gentlemen: Meet Emperor Obama

RedBedHead

December 2, 2009

MARK THIS DATE IN YOUR CALENDAR. Today is the date in which Barack Obama officially betrayed the last hope of his supporters by sending 30,000 more troops to kill and die in the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan. Instead of "change you can believe in", we have gotten the Bush surge strategy redux. Exit Obama the Reformer, enter Obama the Emperor.

In a speech to the students of West Point - America's elite officer training university - Obama said that he was ordering the escalation, effective immediately and to be completed by May. And for anyone who didn't see the deja vu resonance with a certain earlier president, Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam war, Obama has thrown in an escalation of CIA activities inside of Pakistan - a country that the USA isn't at war with. This has taken us beyond the foolhardy hubris of Johnson's belief that he could sustain his Great Society welfare program and the Vietnam War. This was Obama's Nixon moment, when "Tricky Dicky" spread the war into neighboring Laos and Cambodia with covert bombings and special ops incursions. This is nothing short of an unmitigated disaster.

The second tragedy of Obama's announcement is that this should be a moment when students occupy their campuses and protesters hit the streets. Sadly, too many of the anti-war organizations have been disoriented by their enthusiasm for Obama with some, like prominent activist Medea Benjamin, now opposing the call for troops to be withdrawn immediately. The logic of this backsliding is now clear - if troops need to be kept there to "protect women" or "protect democracy", then it only makes sense that there are "enough troops" to do the job right. And while the anti-war movement has virtually collapsed, thank goodness that gays and lesbians have loudly and proudly fought for their rights in the face of Obama's utter betrayal of their fight for equality. A heavy burden has fallen on their shoulders as the cutting edge of struggle in America. The hope is that the intransigent demand for full equal rights for gays and lesbians will provide an inspiration and springboard to revitalize the anti-war movement in the face of this obscenity.

Make no mistake what these troops will mean: more collateral damage, not less. It will mean death squads - as I reported previously. It will mean greater destabilization in Pakistan. There can't be anyone in the government of Pakistan that isn't cringing at this open announcement that the CIA will conduct assassinations, more drone attacks - much more deadly than accurate - and spying. If Pakistan accepts this, the government will be seen for what it is: a pliant tool of American policy.

What is more uncertain is whether Obama's plan will work - especially within the 18 month timeline he has proposed. Thirty-thousand is a lot of soldiers - especially at a million bucks a pop - but it is hardly enough to pacify a whole country. The resistance is now deeply rooted and widespread and the Americans have already surrendered the countryside to insurgent control. Presumably their plan is to turn the cities into fortresses that are impenetrable to insurgent attacks while they train a new pro-American Afghan Army and provide some development to win political support. In other words - exactly what the Soviets tried to do almost 30 years ago and what the Americans tried to do in Vietnam. That strategy led to the collapse of the Soviet empire. If we can hope for anything good to come out of this knife in the back from Obama it is that this adventure will facilitate the end of the American.

As Obama Sends More Troops, Giant Shadow Army Of Contractors Set To Grow In Afghanistan

December 2, 2009

With President Obama addressing the nation tonight about a new escalation in Afghanistan, a perennially underexamined topic is once again receiving short shrift: the huge force of contractors, which as of June outnumbered the size of the U.S. troop presence itself, is likely to swell.

The Administration seemingly hasn't addressed the issue, and the word "contractor" doesn't appear much in media coverage -- for example, in the Times and Post stories on the escalation today.

But David Berteau, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, tells TPM that as Obama increases troop levels to at least 100,000, "there will definitely be an increase in the number of contractors."

The contractors -- the majority of whom are Afghan nationals, according to a Congressional study -- do the work that makes the war possible, like serving food, driving trucks, constructing buildings, transporting fuel, and more. Between 7% and 16% of the total are Blackwater-style private security contractors, according to various estimates.

While contractors allow the U.S. to fight wars with fewer American troops -- which may be good or bad, depending on who you ask -- they also present serious transparency and security concerns. That includes goodwill-draining episodes like the May shooting of two Afghan civilians in Kabul by contractors working for Xe, formerly Blackwater. Experts are also concerned about an attack by enemies who might slip through security as a contractor at an American facility.

It's impossible to say how much taxpayer money is going to private contracts because various government entities either don't know, or don't agree on, just how many contractors are currently in Afghanistan.

That fact "permits and invites waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer money and undermines the achievement of US mission objectives," Michael Thibault, co-chair of the bipartisan Commission on Wartime Contracting, complained at a hearing last month. At that hearing, military witnesses couldn't come up with a precise count of contractors, prompting former GOP congressman Chris Shays to remark, "I kind of want to scream."

After being bounced around to several DOD offices in the United States and Afghanistan that professed ignorance about the number of contractors, a U.S. Central Command spokesman told TPM today the issue would take some time to look into, and he would get back to us.

The best count we and the experts we spoke with could find is a September study by the Congressional Research Service, with numbers through June provided by the military. It notes that last December, contractors made up 69% of the DOD workforce, "the highest recorded percentage ... in any conflict in the history of the United States."

The number of contractors in Afghanistan as of June was 73,968, compared with 55,107 troops. Of the total contractors, about 10,000 are Americans, 51,000 are locals, and roughly 12,000 are third-country nationals.

It's not just discussions of troop levels -- which typically ignore contractors -- that obfuscate the size of the American commitment in Afghanistan. According to a powerful ProPublica/Los Angeles Times piece, almost 1,600 civilian workers have died in the Iraq and Afghan wars.

"Since the end of the Cold War the US government has become extremely comfortable with contracting out certain military functions to the private sector, and therefore doesn't consider these contractors to be part of the American commitment," says Peter Juul, a researcher at the Center for American Progress. "They're off the books and don't really count, even though you have to pay for them."

The White House said today that each additional 10,000 troops will cost roughly $10 billion. But does that number include any increase in the contractor force? It's not clear.

A comprehensive study of the issue by the Commission on Wartime Contracting, created by Congress in 2008, is due in the summer of 2011.

Finally, it's worth noting that Hamid Karzai recently promised to kick out all foreign private security firms and transfer their duties to Afghans within two years. But analysts told Mother Jones they don't think the promise is worth much.

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=60697&s2=03.

Statement of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Regarding Obama’s New Strategy

Wednesday, 02 December 2009

The American President Obama has announced his strategy after months of dithering. The essence of the strategy shows that the needs and wants of the American people have been overlooked during the framing of this strategy and it has been formulated under the pressure of (army) generals of Pentagon, the American Neo-conservatives and the wealthiest few of America and for the protection of their interests. Hence it is a strategy of colonialism aimed at securing interests of the American capitalists and it seems America has vast and protracted but wicked and hostile plans not only for Afghanistan but for the whole region.

There is neither a new point in the Obama’s strategy, nor it contains any solution for the Afghan issue. Obama wants to kill two birds with one stone. He wants to lessen the sensitivities of the Afghans about the surge of 30,000 troops through the ploy of ostensibly starting troops withdrawal in 2011. He also intends to decrease the opposition of the American public (to the troops surge) and encourage his Allies at world’s level to send more troops. But this stratagem will not pay off. The reinforcement will result into (their) fatalities. Similarly, the Afghans, the public of the world particularly, the people of America now know the realities and they are not going to be deceived by Obama’s juggling of words.

2. Throughout the history of Afghanistan, the Afghans have not been subjugated through deceits, ploys, materials power, troop’s reinforcement and military might of the foreigners. Therefore, the reinforcement of the American troops and other tactics will not have impact on the status quo. But the reinforcement will provide better opportunity for the Mujahideen to launch offensives. On the other hand, it will deepen the crisis of the American economy which is already in shambles.

3. The Obama’s assertion to increase and train more soldiers and police for the Kabul Administration is pointless and not result-oriented. The Islam-loving and freedom-loving people of Afghanistan consider the Kabul Administration and the forces working under this Administration as corrupt and surrogates of the invaders. Such schemes have already resulted into bringing in losses to the invaders. The Afghans and the public of the world saw that the more they increased the number of troops and sped up training the forces, the more the Mujahideen gained strength and spread their influence into the ranks of the (surrogate) forces. Furthermore, the people’s support with the Mujahideen has increased in parallel.

4. We neither have bases in Pakistan nor we need such bases outside Afghanistan. We have control over vast swathes of land in the country and do not face any problem about our activities and residence.

They raise the issue of our residing in Pakistan in order to distract the attention (of the world) from our capability and strong resistance in Afghanistan.

5. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has frequently said that we have no intention of harming any one. Therefore, the presence of foreign invading forces in Afghanistan has nothing to do with the security of the world. Obama sometimes calls this war, a war of necessity; sometimes he calls it a war for the defense of the West and some times, a war being waged for the security of the world. These are his efforts to mobilize the opinion of the world in favor of this war and encourage other countries to support it in order to justify the unlawful invasion and use other countries for his benefit.

6. The Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate have worked out a vast strategy and prepared for strong resistance to foil the illegal, anti-Islamic and anti-Afghanistan conspiracies of the internal and external Allies and counter them in every part of the country with full strength and put up a protracted resistance. The Mujahideen have high morale and complete readiness and believe that Obama’s new strategy will fail like it did previously. It will face fiasco.

We deem it necessary to remind the American rulers if you persist in your aggressive policy, America will end up being disintegrated itself instead of maintaining the occupation in Afghanistan. The history of the arrogant invaders speaks volume for this fact.

We want to point out that the Muslim people of Afghanistan want to lay down their lives and properties willingly but are never ready to give up their faith and freedom. You have already seen the reaction of the Afghans in the shape of national Islamic upheaval in response to your blind bombardment, brutal torture, operations and frequent reinforcement in the past eight years, you must wait a more severe reaction in the years to come.

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=60695&s2=03.

Experts: Man controlled robotic hand with thoughts

ROME – A group of European scientists say they have successfully connected a robotic hand to a man who had lost an arm, allowing him to feel sensations in the artificial hand and control it with his thoughts.

The experiment lasted a month. Scientists say it was the first time an amputee has been able to make complex movements using his mind to control a biomechanic hand connected to his nervous system.

The Italian-led team said at a news conference Wednesday in Rome that last year they implanted electrodes into the arm of the patient, who had lost his left hand and forearm in a car accident.

The electrodes were removed after a month, during which the man learned to wiggle the robotic fingers and make other movements.