Iraqi Christian student found dead

Fourth Christian killed in as many days in northern Iraq amid rising violence ahead of elections.

MOSUL, Iraq - A Christian student was found dead in the main northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Wednesday, the fourth in as many days, amid warnings of rising violence ahead of March 7 polls.

The bullet-riddled body of Wissam George, a 20-year-old Assyrian Christian, was recovered on a street in the south Mosul residential neighborhood of Wadi al-Ain at around 1:00 pm (1000 GMT).

"George went missing this morning on his way to his institute, he was studying to be a teacher," said a police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity.

George is the fourth Christian to be killed in the city since Sunday.

On Tuesday, a gunman killed 21-year-old engineering student Zia Toma and wounded 22-year-old pharmacy student Ramsin Shmael, both Assyrian Christians.

Greengrocer Fatukhi Munir was gunned down inside his shop in a drive-by shooting late on Monday, and armed assailants killed Rayan Salem Elias, a Chaldean, outside his home on Sunday.

The March parliamentary elections are seen as a key test of reconciliation in Iraq, which has been wracked by sectarian hostilities since the US-led invasion of 2003.

Attacks occur frequently in Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province.

In late 2008, 40 Christians were killed in Mosul.

Since the US-led invasion of 2003 more than 200 Christians had been killed by direct or indirect attacks in Iraq.

During the same period, some estimates put the figure of fatalities of Muslim Iraqis (mostly Sunnis and Shiites) to over one million innocent civilians.

Attacks on Christians had increased in the north of Iraq after the formation of the country’s first Christian militia.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37292.

Saudi oil smuggled to Europe for 11 years

Smuggled oil shipments depart from King Fahd Port in Yanbu towards France, other European countries.

By Habib Trabelsi - PARIS

Reports in Saudi Arabia unveiled this week oil-smuggling operations from the King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu to France and other European countries that have been happening for more than eleven years.

In the absence of a statement of clarification from the Kingdom’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, accounts vary between smuggling using “used oil barrels” and direct smuggling through huge pipelines connected to the smuggling company’s storage reservoirs. The company is reportedly one of Saudi Armco’s contracting partners.

“Barrels” or “Pipelines”?

"Okaz" was the first newspaper that reported the news last week, quoting "informed sources" who said that the Saudi Administrative Investigation Department "uncovered smuggling operations after tracking the company’s commercial traffic, where oil shipments would depart from King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu in preparation for transfer to France and other European countries."

According to these sources, the smugglers used a trick that is to "ship oil in barrels" by claiming that they contain used vehicle fuel, which is usually exported to foreign companies to refine it in various industrial fields.

The newspaper added that a committee of the Administrative Investigation Department and the Ministry of Petroleum proved the involvement of the company’s owner and ten other employees working in different companies in the petrochemical sector in the smuggling operations.

"Okaz" quoted last Saturday the port’s Director General, Hamoud Al-Saadi, who revealed the company's fraud and smuggling activities, as saying that "it got to a point where oil is transferred through huge pipelines from the company’s reservoirs, which are located outside the port, directly to the ship without the need for barrels or any other means of transport.”

More than 11 years of smuggling

Okaz’s "informed sources" said on Tuesday that "the company” involved in the scandal “has been conducting smuggling operations for more than 11 years, by circumventing fluid quality system of liquids transferred directly from its reservoirs to the oil tankers bound to travel overseas."

The spokesman of the Saudi Customs and Director General of its Public Relations Department, Abdullah Bin Saleh Al-Kharboush, acknowledged the existence of many attempts to smuggle subsidized oil and oil derivatives "on the grounds that it is allowed to export these materials via sea and land border posts."

Kharboush noted that the Customs Department considers these activities as crimes of smuggling and customs violations, which will be treated in accordance with the Common Customs law system.

For his part, the Secretary General of the Franco-Arab Chamber of Commerce, Saleh Bakr Al-Tayar, has asked to publicly denounce the names of company and the employees involved in the smuggling operations and punish them so that this step can "be a deterrent to any person who thinks of wasting state property and interests of international trade."

“Who’s responsible for the stolen oil?”

In a satirical article, published on Tuesday in the Pan-Arab newspaper "Al-Hayat", the author Abdulaziz Al-Soueid wrote that the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources "suspended" the company's activities, but “it has not issued any statement of clarification”, suggesting that setting up “huge pipelines on the ground without the approval of the Port’s management could mean huge corruption, or perhaps an even larger neglect.”

"The news related to the scandal is incomplete and funny, as we do not know the name of the company nor by whom it is owned or managed. I expect the case to be buried in a barrel, and the whole responsibility will be probably put on a Bangladeshi worker’s shoulders," said Soueid.

"We will not know the value of the smuggled oil, and since when exactly the smuggling has started? Was it since the company's license issuance or before that, and are there any other parties …or mediators .... involved in the case?" He asked.

In another article that is no less ironic and titled "Everything is Well Sir!”, Hail Al-Abdan wrote in "Al-Watan" newspaper: "Thank God that everything is going well, and as a proof, I did not find anything worth talking about."

"Even though I spent hours searching for any development or event related to domestic issues, I only found one small and simple event, which is the detection of a company’s oil smuggling outside of Saudi Arabia and through the King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu,” said Abdan.

“The issue is "simple" as I said and does not deserve just to be mentioned. As a proof, the name of the company involved in the scandal was neither mentioned nor were the names of any of its officials. It would be inappropriate to libel the company, or its executive directors who are responsible for the operation, everything is "Well, Sir!”

Jeddah’s syndrome

The readers’ comments were all condemning and disapproving of the "vampires of the people", as one of them wrote.

"For eleven years oil has been stolen from our people and smuggled without control or punishment? Why is that? Nobody is left in the country?” Wondered Khaled.

"Eleven years only! It’s no simple matter ... I hope our distinguished sheikhs will warn us about such things as they are forbidden and the money they generate is haram (illicit)!" said Badr al-Badawi.

"Abu Kayan" chose to address King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, by saying: "O Abu Mota’ab add this to the previous issues ... like the Jeddah floods... and worse is yet to come! We must tackle corruption and find the ones responsible for the stolen oil and the lost billions.”

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37288.

Egypt PM: niqab negates a woman's personality

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

Nazif says universities should respect administrative court's decision overturning bans on niqab.

CAIRO - Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif has waded into Egypt's "niqab" controversy, saying the full-face veil wipes out a woman's personality, the official news agency MENA reported on Wednesday.

The niqab, advocated by ultra-conservative Muslims, "cancels the personality of a woman," he said.

The prime minister said the niqab was a matter of personal freedom but that it should not trespass on other people's rights, warning that some students used it to cheat in exams.

However, universities should respect an administrative court's decision overturning bans on the niqab, he said.

The court last month ruled against a ban on the niqab in female schools affiliated with the Islamic Al-Azhar University.

It also ruled against an education ministry ban on the niqab in university residences and examination halls, saying it violated the women's constitutional liberties.

The government and Al-Azhar have shown signs of concern over the niqab, which is associated in Egypt with the ultra-conservative Salafi school of thought practiced mostly in Saudi Arabia.

Most Muslim women in Egypt cover their hair.

The niqab is thought to be gaining ground in the Arab world's largest country, partly as a result of the growing influence of satellite television stations which air Salafi preaching.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37302.

Iranian General says 'West in coma'

A top official with Iran's armed forces says the concerted US-led efforts to rally support against Iran would only strengthen the will of the Iranian nation.

"The US-led campaign against Iran in Europe and the region will only make the Iranian nation and scientists more determined," Deputy Head of Iran's Armed Forces Headquarters Brigadier-General Seyyed Massoud Jazayeri said on Wednesday.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton headed to the Persian Gulf region to gather the support of regional countries including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, against Iran.

General Jazayeri pointed out that the enemy had been shocked by the mass rallies marking the 31st anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

"The world's freedom-loving countries will definitely follow the Iranian nation in this regard," he went on to say.

Meanwhile, General Jazayeri said the West had failed in its plan to sway public opinion over Iran's nuclear program.

"The West has gone into a coma after mounting a propaganda campaign to sway the public opinion over Iran's nuclear issue," he added.

"Undoubtedly, it is not easy to take the people's minds off the mass rallies marking the 31st anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution," he asserted. "We cannot ignore the event's effects on international equations."

Millions of Iranians took to the streets across the country on Thursday to celebrate the victory of the 1979 Revolution, which overthrew the US-backed Pahlavi regime.

The US has been lobbying for a fourth round of UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against Iran, a demand which has not received a warm welcome by China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC, so far.

Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), says its nuclear work is completely peaceful and within the framework of the NPT.

Tehran has repeatedly assured its neighbors in particular Persian Gulf littoral states that its nuclear work is peaceful and poses no threat.

After years of extensive inspections, the UN nuclear agency has not found any evidence that can be used to support US claims against Iran.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118838§ionid=351020101.

Leader: Iran won't let arrogant powers ruin world

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, says the Iranian nation will stand up to arrogant powers who are dominating the world.

Addressing a group of visitors from the northwestern city of Tabriz on Wednesday, the Leader said, "Iran will not allow a few countries to ruin the future of the world."

Ayatollah Khamenei further pointed out that Western countries spread lies about the Iranian nuclear energy program and the state of democracy and human rights in Iran because Tehran is determined to maintain its rights.

Meanwhile, the Leader slammed US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's comments during her recent tour of the Persian Gulf region, saying that "yet again the Americans have sent their agent (Clinton) like a traveler to the Persian Gulf to repeat the same lies about Iran."

"However, nobody will believe their words anymore, as the United States has never cared about the interests of regional nations," the Leader said, adding that "quite to the contrary, [Washington] has trampled on the rights of the regional countries."

Ayatollah Khamenei said that the US has turned the Persian Gulf into an arsenal, has attacked Iraq and Afghanistan and now is interfering in Pakistan.

"All the nations and most of the governments in the region are aware that the Islamic Republic supports peace, brotherhood, and dignity of the regional and all the Islamic countries [in the world]," the Leader underlined.

Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed to the mass rallies marking the 31st anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

"The enemies predicted that the rallies would plunge Iran into a civil war," the Leader noted. "But the massive turnout of the Iranian nation was tantamount to a punch in the mount of Iran's enemies."

Millions of Iranians took to the streets across the country on Thursday to celebrate the 1979 Revolution, which overthrew the US-backed Pahlavi monarchy.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118829§ionid=351020101.

US aircraft carrier docks in Hong Kong

The American aircraft carrier the USS Nimitz has dropped anchor off Hong Kong in a sign that recent tensions between China and the US may be easing.

Carrying some 5,000 sailors, the American aircraft carrier and four other warships ducked in Hong Kong waters on Wednesday after flare-ups over an arms sale to Taiwan and the Dalai Lama.

According to a statement by the USS Nimitz public affairs office, the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will stop in Hong Kong for four days after spending five months in the North Arabian Sea as a base for air combat missions in Afghanistan.

"Hong Kong is a vibrant city and a favorite port of call for our sailors. We look forward to an enjoyable stay here," the Commander of the aircraft carrier Rear Admiral John W Miller told reporters on Wednesday.

The naval visit comes as Beijing said Less than two weeks ago it would suspend military contacts with the US in protest over Washington's sale of arms to Taiwan.

In 2007, China did not permit the USS Kitty Hawk to visit to Hong Kong.

The commander of the aircraft carrier declined to comment on the politics behind the port call on Wednesday.

"For us, this is a routine port visit," Rear Adm. John W. Miller said. "We requested the port visit through normal channels and we're certainly delighted that we received permission from (China's) Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be able to come in."

It is not known if Chinese military officials based in Hong Kong will visit the US warships.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ma Zhaoxu issued a statement Friday, urging the United States to "immediately withdraw" plans for a meeting between President Obama and the Dalai Lama.

White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs, however, said that "the meeting will take place as planned next Thursday."

Beijing regards the Dalai Lama as a separatist, accusing him of advocating Tibet's independence from Chinese rule.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118826§ionid=351020404.

Iran's Mottaki blames US for spread of terrorism

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has criticized the Middle East policies of the US and other world powers, blaming them for the expansion of terrorism, extremism and global insecurity.

"The economic crisis, expansion of terrorism, extremism and insecurity in the world are the outcomes of policies of the United States and world powers," Mottaki said on Wednesday.

"How can the powers, who are unable to resolve their own problems, claim to settle international woes?" They don't even accept their misguided policies," he added in a meeting with Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov.

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States invaded Afghanistan, allegedly to root out militancy in the country.

The costly, fatal conflict is stretching into its ninth year as thousands of Afghan civilians have been killed both by acts of violence, including bombings and daily clashes, and US military operations in the country.

Such developments explain how the US President Obama's administration might even be willing to accept (Taliban) militants to play a potentially central role in Afghanistan's future.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118825§ionid=351020101.

Iraq ranks first violent country for 2nd time

Iraq is ranked as the country most at risk from violent attacks for the second straight year despite claims of improvement in the country's overall security.

According to Maplecroft's Terrorism Risk Index, although security in Iraq has improved, the scale, human impact and frequency of attacks still make the country the riskiest in the globe.

The statement by the UK-based risk advisory group cites nearly 4,500 civilians killed by terrorist attacks across Iraq last year.

Iraq — which has been witnessing bombings and fighting ever since the US invaded the country — has seen a rise in deadly attacks as Iraqis anxiously await the country's March 7 parliamentary elections.

The index based on 2009 data further ranks Afghanistan second, despite a nine-year-long presence of militaries from the US and its European allies.

Maplecroft's index measures the risks of an attack, the intensity of violence in terms of casualties per incident, a country's history of extremist violence and threats posed against it by militants groups such as al-Qaeda.

The index, however, did not include the civilians killed during operations by US-led forces in the two countries.

According to the risk consultancy group, Pakistan and Somalia stand third and fourth respectively, rated at extreme risk along with Lebanon 5, India 6, Algeria 7, Colombia 8 and Thailand 9.

The US has been militarily or else involved in the first four countries in the list.

The index of 196 countries also shows Thailand joining the nine countries most in danger for the first time with more than 3,900 people killed in the past six years.

In October 2009, bomb attacks in the southern city of Sungai Kolok killed two and wounded 42, largely accounting for the country's rating, a rise from 11 the year earlier.

Iran's ranking also rose to 19 from 25 due to a rise in terror attacks targeting civilians in the country. The country has been the scene of repeated bombings in the capital Tehran, central city of Shiraz and southern provinces of Baluchistan and Khuzestan.

Tehran blames the attacks on agents belonging to the US and Israeli intelligence services operating in the Muslim nation.

The US ended up nowhere better than 46, while countries rated low risk include Germany 81, Canada 116 and Australia 120.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118818§ionid=351020201.

Interview of the Caucasus Emirate's Emir Dokka Abu Usman

This is the English transcript of a video interview given by the Emir of the Caucasus Emirate Dokka Abu Usman on 1 Safar 1431 (16.02.2010). The interview was translated from Russian by the Kavkaz Center.

- Another year of Jihad has passed. How do the Mujahideen evaluate it? Did expectations and hopes come true?

The Emir of the Caucasus Emirate Dokka Abu Usman:

I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds!

Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet, his family, his companions and on those who follow him on the right path till to the Doomsday! Peace and blessings be on the all Mujahedeen, who today without sparing their lives stand on the way of Allah, defending His Word and sacrificing their lives for the sake of Allah!

That year has passed, and when people ask how it passed, our answer would always be the same: Praise be to Allah, because we are the slaves of Allah, the truly believing slaves of our Creator.

The state and conditions of our affairs are also in the will of Allah. Yes, I know that a lot depends on us, much depends on our efforts, our aspirations, the sincerity of our souls in relation to Allah.

I am convinced that if the Mujahideen of the Caucasus and all over the world are sincere with respect to Jihad, to the cause that Allah laid upon us, if the Mujahideen are more persistent and zealous in Jihad, then, InshaAllah, our deeds and results we would improve. Allah is capable, in short term, to change the situation to the best or to the worst. Everything is in His will.

Speaking about the past year, a lot of good things could be said, and we hope that Allah would be happy with them. However, there is much of what saddens our hearts.

The first thing that saddens us is that we lost a lot of Mujahideen during the last year. InshaAllah, their lot is Paradise. This lot is better than our present one, as they have already lost their lives on the path of Allah, for the fact that the word of Allah is above all.

In the Holy Quran, the Almighty mentioned those Muslims who made a deal with Allah and went on the path of Jihad with the hope to get Paradise for it. Allah warned that they will be killed and that they will kill the enemies of Allah. Therefore, their lot, praise be to Allah, is Paradise !

Our losses over the past year exceed those figures that twere reported by the Kremlin's dogs who try to persuade people that there are allegedly only 100 or 50 Mujahideen left in the Caucasus. Our losses this year exceed these figures.

Praise be to Allah, praise be to Allah, praise be to Allah. Everything is in His will. Our dead are in Paradise, InshaAllah, because they gave their lives on the path of truth.

Thousands and thousands times more people died in the world during this time, but not on the path of Allah and not for the sake of Allah, and their lot will be Hell, InshaAllah.

We hope that Allah would be pleased with many of our deeds. Muslims will be pleased with these deeds who establish today the word of Allah in the world giving up their lives.

First, we solved the problem of coordination of all our forces and of military operations. We clearly defined the borders of those areas where the Jihad is being waged: the provinces of Dagestan, Nokhchicho, Ghalghaycho, the Combined Province of Kabarda, Balkaria and Karachay.

Praise be to Allah, we established a clear Nizam (discipline), definitely built up a clear system for choosing people from among a huge stream of volunteers who wish to join our ranks.

Today we can control this process. We know what forces we need at this stage, and we have learnt how to replenish our forces. We know how to screen out the superfluous, how to avoid unnecessary overabundance in new volunteers who could cause additional casualties. Praise be to Allah, I think it's a great success for us.

Among all these years since I became the Emir, this year was the most successful one.

We developed a clear idea in our minds, and we know how to reach the final goal. Our final goal is the establishment of Sharia in the Caucasus, the independence of the Caucasus and free Islam in the Caucasus. Praise be to Allah, this idea was worked out in our minds. This is a great achievement of the Mujahideen.

The Majlis-ul Shura was established, a Council of the Leadership of Mujahideen consisting of 9 Umara (Commanders) who deal with the most important, strategic issues in the Caucasus.

Reliable communications have been established with the commanders, and praise be to Allah, if serious and important questions arise, these questions are quickly solved by us.

Praise be to Allah, we will pray to Allah that we achieve better results this year. We will do everything in our power for it.

- Abu Usman, how events in the world relate to Islam, in your opinion?

The Caucasus Emirate's Amir Dokka Abu Usman:

The politics in the world are built this way: there are masters, and there are slaves. The role of the slaves is assigned to Muslims. Over the past 300 to 400 years, Muslims have been given a "sleeping-tablet" so they were in a permanent sleep. The masters (apostates) from their own ranks were installed to rule Muslims, and these apostates are much worse than infidels who installed them.

They are further from Islam, further from the word of Allah than infidels. But praise be to Allah, Muslims began to wake up today. The awakening of Muslims especially intensified during the last years. Even 4 years ago, when (former Ichkerian Presidents - KC) Maskhadov and Saydulayev were still alive, we didn't see such awakening.

First of all, this process began among the Mujahideen. Today the Mujahideen know that that the garbage that infidels have put in their heads promises nothing good for Moslems and brings no liberation.

They calm down Muslims saying: you may build mosques, lay rugs, pray, worship Allah, you may do everything, but do not meddle into politics. Religion, they say, is a separate issue; freedom and independence are also separated from religion. At the same time, Muslims are being terrorized. Filled fear in the heart and paralyzed by slavery in the head, Muslims can never be in a position to get rid of the mentality of a slave, so that they cannot understand with clear mind why they were created by Allah.

But today this drug, I think, is disappearing. People are awaking from this drug, and the Mujahideen who defend the word of Allah in the world were the first to regain consciousness.

The things, the enemies of Islam do, have examples in our history. The Kremlin dogs placed over Muslims received power. They are allowed to build mosques, to proclaim themselves the defenders of Islam, etc.

We had experienced the same thing when communists fighting against their enemies said: build mosques, teach your children Islam, live under the laws of Allah, judge among yourselves by the Sharia Law.

All these rights were granted because they faced a foe more dangerous at that time for them and and they had other tasks. Today, the Kremlin's dogs received the same power because for the Kremlin the main enemy today are we, the Mujahideen, who have awakened from the slumber and went to install the word of Allah and the laws of Allah on this earth.

As soon as the problem of the Mujahideen is solved, the "problem" of Kafyrov (AKA Kadyrov), Zyazikov or... Yevkurov or the Dagestani "president" building mosques will be also solved in a short time and this program will be curtailed at a low cost.

All this already happened before. When Stalin came to power, all the mosques that were built, all the schools that were opened in these mosques, all of them had been turned into clubs, warehouses, pigsties, and the children trained in these mosques, in the 1930's, were sent to feed fish in the river of Sunzha with their dead bodies passing through a great slaughter-house which was established in the building of the KGB on the bank of the river Sunzha.

A similar policy is being pursued in the world today. There is nothing new in it.

Praise be to Allah, Who freed our minds, Who made us sighted. We seek to establish the laws of Allah sacrifying our lives, and there can be no real freedom without the laws of Allah. Freedom and religion are inseparable.

There is a good example from the life of the Prophet (pbuh). When Bilal (ra), an ashab of the Prophet (pbuh), was in slavery, and when he was abused, Abu Bakr Siddiq hastened to release him from slavery. This example proves that it is impossible to be a slave and practice religion at the same time, and it is not allowed to anybody.

A Muslim can never be a true mu'min (believer) if he is a slave, but Muslims today are enslaved.

That's why we are fighting for the liberation of Muslims from this slavery. Because only being free, we are able to practice Islam. InshaAllah, Allah will help us and Muslims will succeed.

- What are the plans of the Mujahideen for the new year? Will the zone of operations be extended?

The Caucasus Emirate's Emir Dokka Abu Usman:

The zone of military operations will be extended to the territory of Russia. Praise be to Allah, the past year has shown us, and also to all who had some doubts, to Putin and Nurgaliyev (Russian interior minister -KC) that the Brigade of Martyrs, Riyad-us-Saliheen, has been really recreated and is in action.

We witnessed many special operations by this Brigade during the last year. The Martyrs' Brigade is replenished with the best among the best of the Mujahideen and if the Russians do not understand that the war will come to their streets, that the war will come to their homes, so it is worse for them.

Blood will no longer be limited to our (Caucasus) cities and towns. The war is coming to their cities

If Russians think the war only happens on television, somewhere far away in the Caucasus where it can't reach them, inshaAllah (God willing), we plan to show them that the war will return to their homes.

Therefore, the zone of military actions will be extended to all Russia, InshaAllah, and I hope that this year we, Insha Allah, with Allah's help, could expect successful operations.

To do this we must be sincere to Allah and then there will be good results.

Allahu Akbar!!!

Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/02/17/11434.shtml.

French leader brings reconstruction plan to Haiti

By MICHELLE FAUL, Associated Press Writer

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – President Nicolas Sarkozy is bringing a French plan to rebuild Haiti with him on Wednesday's visit to the Caribbean country, a trip officials hope will usher in a new era between France and its former colony.

Some Haitians are welcoming France's new interest in their earthquake-shattered nation as a counterbalance to the United States, which has sent troops there three times in the past 16 years.

But Sarkozy's visit, the first ever by a French president to what was its richest colony, is also reviving bitter memories of the crippling costs of Haiti's 1804 independence.

A third of the population was killed in an uprising against exceptionally brutal slavery, an international embargo was imposed to prevent slave revolts elsewhere and 90 million pieces of gold were demanded by Paris from the world's first black republic.

The debt hobbled Haiti, it seemed for life.

A country plagued by natural and unnatural calamities was desperately poor and mismanaged even before a magnitude-7 earthquake smashed up the capital Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, killing more than 200,000 people and leaving more than a million homeless.

Haitian politicians this week diplomatically skirted the question of French reparations — a demand put to Paris by ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. That suggests Sarkozy's four-hour visit could herald a new era.

French officials say Sarkozy will announce details of "a French plan for the reconstruction of Haiti" — if Haitian officials agree. It differs little from proposals from Haitian, U.S. and U.N. officials to decentralize power away from the devastated capital and boost agriculture and tourism.

The trip brings Sarkozy to an island where, French officials acknowledge, fascination with things French duels with strong, lingering resentments.

One official close to the French presidency, briefing reporters in Paris on condition of anonymity, hinted that France is not deaf to calls for reparations, calling Sarkozy's visit "an occasion to show that France is mobilizing to give Haitians control of their destiny and pay past debts."

For Millien Romage, a legislator for Aristide's party when reparations were demanded, "This is not a time to be making loud demands. We don't want to fight. But perhaps the French could recognize their debt by helping us to get out of poverty. They can help build roads, houses, schools."

Sarkozy himself has said the catastrophe, following so many others, offers "a chance to get Haiti once and for all out of the curse it seems to have been stuck with for such a long time."

Some Haitians would say they were cursed by their French colonizers.

"The indemnity imposed by France condemned the Haitian people to a cycle of indebtedness, environmental degradation and underdevelopment from which they have yet to recover," said Norman Girvan, a professor at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad. "President Sarkozy would do France — yes France — a great service if he were to acknowledge the role of the French Republic in Haiti's present plight."

France has already said it was canceling all of Haiti's 56 million euro (US$77 million) debt to Paris.

In 1825, crippled by the U.S.-led international embargo that was enforced by French warships, Haiti agreed to pay France 150 million francs in compensation for the lost "property" — including slaves — of French plantation owners.

By comparison, France sold the United States its immensely larger Louisiana Territory in 1803 for just 60 million francs. The amount for Haiti was later lowered to 90 million gold francs.

Haiti did not finish paying the debilitating debt — which was swollen by massive interest payments to French and American banks — until 1947.

But Haiti's wealth already was destroyed. It had been the world's richest colony, providing half the globe's sugar and other exports including coffee, cotton, hardwood and indigo that exceeded the value of everything produced in the United States in 1788.

By the early 1780s, half of Haiti's forests were gone, leading to the devastating erosion and extreme poverty that bedevils the country today.

France's other former colonies in the region — Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Martin, St. Barts and Guiana (in South America) — all have voted to remain part of France and send legislators to the French parliament.

The human cost of the colonial exploitation in Haiti was staggering. Slaves lasted little more than 10 years under brutal conditions. Haitian slaves who displeased their masters were boiled to death in vats of molasses, buried alive in piles of biting insects, crushed by heavy stones or simply starved to death. Just before the rebellion, Haiti had some 450,000 slaves, 25,000 whites and several thousand freed blacks and a mixed-race elite.

The uprising was as brutal as what had gone before.

Haitians asked about their independence today quickly recall the bloody Creole slogan "koupe tet, boule kay" — cut off their heads, torch their houses.

Homeless Haitians who had not heard of Sarkozy's visit said they would welcome help, wherever it comes from.

"I hope he can bring me a tent, and the food, medicine and houses that everybody needs," said 19-year-old Joint Dewendsca, who expects to give birth to her first child under a tent made of bed sheets and wood poles on the grounds of Quisqueya University.

Many remain wary, however, in a country where people still describe a deceitful politician as "speaking French." The vast majority of Haitians speak Creole.

"France still has its eye on Haiti," said Evens Dangervil, 31. "It might want to control us politically and economically."

___

Associated Press Writers Elaine Ganley in Paris and Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince contributed to this report.

Israeli Prime Minister Plans 'Zionist Heritage' Trail Through Palestinian Land

by Saed Bannoura

After a recent speech to a Zionist conference in Tel Aviv extolling the importance of building 'heritage sites' and other projects connecting Jews around the world to the Zionist program, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has announced a five-year plan to construct 'heritage trails' that will criss-cross and annex land throughout the Palestinian West Bank.

Netanyahu announced the general idea of the plan during the Herzliya conference last month in Tel Aviv, a conference known as a focal point for the Zionist movement. At the time, Netanyahu stated that the continued existence of the state of Israel depends less on the strength of its military than on the training of youth and international Jews in creating an emotional connection to the state of Israel, and the Zionist project.

Zionism is a movement that began in the late 1800s in Europe, with the stated intention of creating a Jewish state on the land of Palestine. The movement culminated with the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, seizing half of historic Palestine and forcing the indigenous Palestinian population who lived there off their land, and settling Jewish immigrants in their place.

Netanyahu's plan, critics say, will illegally seize Palestinian land for the purpose of creating a false narrative that denies Palestinians their historical identity and long-standing connection to the land.

The plan to construct the heritage trail project has a $200 million pricetag, but the Israeli Prime Minister told his supporters that he believes it is well worth the cost.

37 archaeological sites would receive upgrades with the money, and two new trails would be constructed to connect with the existing 'Israel Trail', which Netanyahu says would be used to emotionally connect schoolchildren and families to the land.

Among the sites to be included in the trail are Tel Lachish, Neot Kedumim, Susia, Qumran, Beit She'an, Tel Meggido, Tiberias, Tel Arad, Tel Dan, and the City of David in Jerusalem.

The same pool of money would also be used to pay for a 'Steven Spielberg movie archive' of Jewish movies.

Source: International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC).
Link: http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57979.

UAE name 11 European suspects in murder of Hamas leader - Summary

Dubai/London - Police in the United Arab Emirates have named 11 Europeans as suspects in the murder of a Hamas leader in Dubai last month, the regional daily al-Sharq al-Awsat reported on Tuesday. Mahmoud Abdel-Raouf Mohammed Hassan, also known as Mahmoud al- Mahbouh, 50, was found dead in his hotel room on January 20, a day after arriving in Dubai. He was one of the founders of the Islamist Palestinian group's military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.

The group accused of his murder is comprised of three Irish, six British, one French and one German citizen, according to the report.

However, the British Foreign Office in London said Tuesday that the six British passports were "fraudulent."

The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin said the authorities there had "issued no passports" in the names of the three people using Irish identities.

Dubai's police chief Lieutenant Colonel Dhafi Khalfan Tamim said the identities of the suspects had been passed to Interpol, so that international warrants for their arrest may be issued.

Two Palestinians suspected of involvement in the murder have been arrested.

Tamim said four teams formed by the group had constantly shadowed al-Mahbouh after he landed in Dubai.

A fifth team, comprised of four group members, was responsible for entering al-Mahbouh's hotel room and killing him, Tamim said.

At a press conference Monday night, police showed security camera footage showing members of the group arriving at al-Mahbouh's hotel.

Tamim previously implicated the Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, in the murder.

Hamas member Ezzat al-Rishq had also accused Israel of killing al- Mabhouh, saying the al-Qassam Brigades would respond to this "criminal assassination" in the right place and time.

Al-Mabhouh had been living in Syria since the late 1980s, along with several of the group's senior officials.

In Amman, the Jordanian government Tuesday confirmed that it had extradited two Palestinians to the UAE as suspects in the murder.

"We handed over two men holding Palestinian nationality over the past few days to the UAE authorities," Minister of State for Media Affairs Nabil Sharif said in a statement.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/309558,uae-name-11-european-suspects-in-murder-of-hamas-leader.html.

Iraq ready for March 7 general elections, UN says

New York - Iraq is completing preparations for general elections next month in which close to 19 million Iraqis will cast ballots under the watchful eyes of national as well as international observers, a UN official said Tuesday. Ed Melkert, the UN special envoy for Iraq, told the UN Security Council in New York that the UN electoral team is providing support to the country's Independent High Electoral Commission to ready up the holding of the elections.

"As a result of a huge collective effort, the infrastructure is in place in order to allow approximatively 18.9 million Iraqi voters to visit 48,000 polling stations on election day," Melkert said.

He said preparations were underway to allow Iraqis living in 16 countries to also vote. Those countries include Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the United States.

Melkert called on Iraqi parties to accept results of the elections, which he said will be the "litmus test for the success or failure of the (democratic) process" as Baghdad has taken over its sovereign rights in running the country.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/309560,iraq-ready-for-march-7-general-elections-un-says.html.

Study: Haiti reconstruction could cost nearly 14 billion dollars

Washington - Haiti's reconstruction from last month's earthquake could cost nearly 14 billion dollars, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said Tuesday, making it one of the most expensive disasters in modern history. The preliminary estimate to rebuild roads, schools, hospitals and other critical infrastructure in Haiti reflected "the enormity of the challenge that lies ahead in reconstructing Haiti," according to the authors of an IDB study released in Washington.

The study offered a low estimate of 8.1 billion dollars in damages from the January 12 earthquake. But a series of factors meant that a cost of 13.9 billion dollars was "within statistical error."

The study estimates the death toll from the magnitude-7 quake at between 200,000 and 250,000 people. The quake left much of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas in ruins.

"Raising such a figure will require many donors, bilateral, multilateral and private," the study said.

The monetary estimate is the highest to date of what it will take to rebuild the earthquake region. In late January at a meeting in Canada, international donors generally committed themselves to a 10- year effort, but no dollar amounts were mentioned. A donor conference is to take place in New York in March or April to solicit commitments.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/309570,study-haiti-reconstruction-could-cost-nearly-14-billion-dollars.html.

DNA tests show King Tut may have died of malaria

Washington/Cairo (Earth Times) - A DNA analysis of King Tutankhamun shows the boy pharaoh may have died of malaria and a genetic bone disease, according to a study published in the Wednesday issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Egyptian and international researchers spent more than two years conducting anthropological, radiological and genetic tests on 16 royal mummies, including several members of King Tut's family. The analysis also clarified family relationships among the mummies, only three of whose identities were clear before the study.

The boy king who died after a nine-year reign in 1324 BC has fascinated Egyptologists and the general public since the discovery of his intact tomb in 1922.

The new study by Egyptologist Zahi Hawass and his team shows Tutankhamun and several of the other mummies suffered from malaria and a bone disorder known as Kohler disease II.

His bones were likely weakened or destroyed by poor blood supply and the condition in conjunction with the malaria caused his death, the researchers said.

Speculation about the cause of his death had abounded for decades, with some suspecting he had been assassinated.

That theory had been put to rest by Hawass in 2005. He concluded that a hole in the back of the pharaoh's head had been created during the mummification process and was not the cause of his death.

The new study also identifies the mummies of Tutankhamun's grandmother Tiye and father Akhenaten.

UN urges legitimate and inclusive elections in Iraq - Summary

New York - The UN Security Council on Tuesday called for "broad participation" by all Iraqis in parliamentary elections set for March 7 in Iraq. UN special envoy for Iraq Ed Melkert told the 15-nation council that close to 19 million Iraqis will cast ballots under the watchful eyes of national as well as international observers.

"As a result of a huge collective effort, the infrastructure is in place in order to allow approximatively 18.9 million Iraqi voters to visit 48,000 polling stations on election day," Melkert said, citing support provided by the UN electoral team to Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission.

The council said in a statement after discussing the elections that Iraq's sovereignty, territorial integrity and unity must be respected.

"Council members recall the importance of the preparation and the holding of elections that are free, fair, transparent, legitimate and inclusive with broad participation in order for the results to reflect the will of the Iraqi people and be accepted by them," the council said.

It stressed "the need to respect the rule of law as well as to pursue efforts of the government of Iraq towards consensus and reconciliation."

Melkert said preparations were underway to allow Iraqis living in 16 countries to also vote. Those countries include Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Britain and the United States.

Melkert called on Iraqi parties to accept results of the elections, which he said will be the "litmus test for the success or failure of the (democratic) process" as Baghdad has taken over its sovereign rights in running the country.

Iraq's UN Ambassador Hamid al-Bayati said his government was working on a security plan to allow the elections to take place without incident despite the continued threats from al Qaeda and supporters of the former regime of Saddam Hussein.

Al-Bayati said "enemies of Iraq" killed a total of 196 civilians in January, which despite the high death toll was a drop of 56 per cent compared with the 306 people killed in December.

"The security situation in Iraq is still in continuous improvement despite attacks targeting civilians," al-Bayati said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/309588,un-urges-legitimate-and-inclusive-elections-in-iraq--summary.html.

Italians allowed into Libya amid European visa row - Summary

Tripoli/Rome (Earth Times) - Twenty-two Italian citizens were allowed into Libya Tuesday, with 55 being rejected, as their foreign minister placed blame on Switzerland for the troubles. Of the four Italian nationals detained at the Tripoli airport on Monday amid escalating tensions between European countries and the North African oil-producer, three have been allowed to enter Libya, a Foreign Ministry official told the German Press Agency dpa.

The fourth returned to Italy, while 19 other Italian nationals who subsequently arrived at Tripoli airport were allowed to enter Libya, she said.

But another 55 Italian travelers who arrived over the course of Tuesday were denied entry to Tripoli, the official added.

Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has said Switzerland, which earlier this year operationally joined the Schengen zone of free movement for people in Europe, was abusing the agreement.

Frattini told Italian media that Swiss tensions with Libya were holding "hostage" the 25 member Schengen zone and that the Alpine country could have avoided the current troubles.

The row dates to July 2008 when police in Geneva briefly detained Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of Libya's leader, along with his wife, for abusing their staff and Tripoli has since been holding two Swiss citizens for alleged visa violations.

Rome issued a warning Monday that Libyan authorities were denying entry to Schengen-zone passport holders.

The European Commission on Tuesday said it "deplores (Libya's) unilateral and disproportionate" decision and that Schengen countries would consider an "appropriate reaction."

Spokesman Michele Cercone said that Swiss and Libyan authorities were in talks.

"The commission hopes that a diplomatic solution can be found as soon as possible," Cercone said.

The Libyan government has not publicly confirmed it is denying entry visas to citizens of the European countries that make up the Schengen zone.

Adding to the confusion, the German airline Lufthansa, which owns Swiss Air, on Tuesday said Libya had given no sign of refusing entry to more travelers from Europe than usual.

Lufthansa said it was continuing its usual passenger service to Tripoli.

A Monday flight from Frankfurt to Tripoli carried 58 passengers, of whom four were denied entry for no obvious reason, but a refusal by Libyan border authorities to let in certain passengers was not unusual. Those refused returned to Germany with the same plane.

Lufthansa said all the other passengers, the bulk of them from the European Union, were admitted to Libya...

Efforts under way to reopen Rafah crossing

A senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, Ghazi Hamad, says the Islamic Resistance Movement is holding negotiations with the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority as well as others to reopen the Rafah border crossing into the besieged coastal enclave.

Speaking at a press conference in Gaza City on Tuesday, Hamad said Egypt, along with the Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations, are engaged in talks to bring the border crossing back into normal operation in order to protect the lives and dignity of Palestinians.

According to Hamad, 70 to 100 patients leave Gaza through the Erez crossing with Israel every day, while the Kerem Shalom and Karni crossings allow limited amounts of goods and humanitarian assistance into Gaza on a weekly basis.

"Several parties have suggested that Gaza and Ramallah form a joint police force to monitor the Rafah crossing," Hamad said.

"This was discussed with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, and he agreed. Another option would be for the Palestinian presidential guards and European monitors to resume monitoring."

Israel has continued the closure of all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for more than two years. The illegal Israeli imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the coastal enclave.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health, and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80% and 60% respectively in the Gaza Strip.

Three weeks of Israeli air strikes and a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip between December 2008 and January 2009 resulted in the death of over 1,400 Palestinians and the injury of about 5,450 people. Most of the victims were civilians.

The carnage also inflicted more than $1.6 billion of damage on Gaza's economy.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118797§ionid=351020202.

PA sentences Palestinian journalist to 18 months

A Palestinian Authority court has sentenced a Palestinian journalist with the official Hamas-run television channel to 18 months in prison over affiliation to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

The court on Tuesday ruled that the 37-year-old reporter, Tariq Abu Zaid, who works for the official Hamas-run television network Al-Aqsa TV, must serve the term since acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas has forbidden Hamas and affiliated organizations from conducting any activities in the occupied West Bank.

Abu Zaid started his journalism career 13 years ago as a cartoonist and writer. He has been detained by the Israeli military a number of times.

Ever since Hamas won an outright majority in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, the two factions have had a bitter rivalry featuring sporadic fighting and tit-for-tat arrests. Hostility boiled over in the summer of 2007, when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah.

Since then, Hamas has governed the Gaza Strip, while Fatah has continued to control the West Bank from Ramallah. Further complicating the situation, Israel and Egypt — with the Palestinian Authority's blessings — have both sealed their borders with the Gaza Strip, effectively cutting off the coastal enclave from the rest of the world.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118796§ionid=351020202.

Israel arrests 12 Palestinians in West Bank

Israeli soldiers have arrested twelve Palestinians in pre-dawn raids in a number of occupied West Bank towns.

According to the International Middle East Media Center, seven of those detained in the overnight operations on Tuesday morning were from Nablus — the largest city in the West Bank — three were from the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and two were from the southern West Bank town of Hebron.

A large number of Israeli troops cordoned off and ransacked the residents' houses in pursuit of key documents. The Palestinians were taken to military detention camps to be questioned.

The Israeli army regularly arrests Palestinians during overnight operations in West Bank towns.

However, the detentions are in flagrant violation of a security agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

Tel Aviv claims that the people arrested in the raids are 'wanted activists.'

According to the head of the Census Department of the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, Abdul-Nasser Farawna, Israel currently holds 7300 Palestinians in prison. Among the detainees, there are 33 women, 300 children, 17 legislators, and two former ministers.

The Palestinian prisoners are suffering harsh and life-threatening conditions in Israeli detention facilities.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118795§ionid=351020202.

Nasrallah: Hezbollah will hit Tel Aviv airport if attacked

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has warned that the movement will strike Israel's infrastructure, including its airports and refineries, in the event of any Israeli attack on Lebanon.

During an address commemorating the assassination of three Hezbollah leaders by Israel, Nasrallah vowed to bomb Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv should the regime hit Beirut's international airport in any future war.

"If you hit Rafik al-Hariri international airport in Beirut, we will hit Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv," he said via a live video link in Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday.

"If you hit our ports, we will bomb your ports, and if you hit our oil refineries, we will bomb your oil refineries," he added.

He also threatened that should Israel bomb Lebanon's refineries, factories or power plants, the movement would retaliate with all its might.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118765§ionid=351020203.

Army troopers killed in Indian-Administered Kashmir

Fri, 29 Jan 2010

Militants have killed two Indian army troopers while clashes continue in the Indian-Administered Kashmir, where heavy snowfall has blocked normal traffic.

An Indian army spokesperson in Jammu, Lt. Col. Biplab Nath, said on Friday that the operation is still underway in Tandar village of Kishtwar, some 245 km (150 miles) northeast of Jammu, where the fighting broke out late Thursday.

The troops have cordoned off the entire area and called in further reinforcements to "neutralize" militant presence in the area, he said.

"So far we don't have any reports about militant deaths in this encounter," Nath said.

Meanwhile, Kashmir was on Friday covered with snow as heavy snowfall continued all over the valley, blocking normal traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in Indian-Administered Kashmir.

The strategic 300-kilometer (185-mile) long National Highway is the Kashmir valley's only land connection with the rest of the country. Hundreds of trucks and other vehicles traveling through the highway were stranded due to the accumulation of snow.

The highway passes through some of the most tricky mountain terrains in Kashmir's Pir Panjal range.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117379§ionid=351020402.