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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Interpol puts Dubai killing suspects on wanted list

The 11 people suspected of killing a Hamas commander in Dubai have been placed on international police organization Interpol's wanted list.

Interpol has posted the photographs and names it suspects were used fraudulently by the individuals.

Dubai's police chief says he is 99% sure Israeli secret service agents were involved in Mahmoud al-Mabhouh's death, but Israel says there is no proof.

The UK has expressed "outrage" that six British passports were used.

Miliband vow

Interpol has issued Red Notices for the suspects. Although not an international arrest warrant, a Red Notice requests that the suspects be arrested pending extradition.

Interpol said it believed the suspects had stolen the identities of real people and the names were used as aliases.

It said it was posting the photos and names "in order to limit the ability of accused murderers from traveling freely using the same false passports".

Interpol secretary general Ronald K Noble said: "[We do] not believe that we know the true identities of these wanted persons."

Mr Noble said he hoped the investigation process would "help to establish the innocence of the ordinary citizens and even of countries whose identities were stolen and fraudulently used".

In response to the Interpol move, Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim called for it to issue "a Red Notice against the head of Mossad", the Israeli secret service.

A number of Western nations, including the UK and France, have increased the pressure on Israel to provide any details it may have on the killing in a Dubai hotel on 20 January.

The six passports suspected to have been used fraudulently comprised six British, three Irish, and one each from France and Germany.

Germany is the latest country to become involved, summoning the Israeli charge d'affaires for an explanation.

The UK and Irish Republic governments summoned their Israeli ambassadors to meetings on Thursday.

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband vowed to "get to the bottom" of the case.

Israel's ambassador to the UK, Ron Prosor, said he was "unable to add additional information".

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said there had been "frank" talks with Israel's envoy.

Mr Martin said: "Regardless of who was responsible, [Ireland] takes grave exception to the forgery and misuse of Irish passports.

"The ambassador said he had no information on the matter."

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday there was no evidence of Israeli involvement.

He added: "Israel never responds, never confirms and never denies."

Reports have suggested Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was in Dubai to buy weapons for Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement.

Two Palestinian suspects are being questioned about the murder. Police said the pair fled to Jordan after the killing, but were extradited back to Dubai on Sunday.

The BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Dubai says in terms of Israeli involvement there is only circumstantial evidence and the fact that Mossad has a history of assassinations.

He says that although none of the Dubai 11 are in custody, there are the two Palestinians and more evidence might be coming out of them.

The BBC's Katya Adler in Jerusalem says more details of the two have emerged.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Suhri told the BBC the men were members of the Palestinian Authority's security apparatus.

They were originally from Gaza, he said, but fled the Strip three years ago when Hamas took over the territory.

Source: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8522595.stm.

NATO offers to train Pakistani forces

Tue, 02 Feb 2010

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has offered to help the Islamabad government train and equip Pakistani security forces to fight pro-Taliban militants.

"I can confirm that we had a good discussion on how we could further develop practical cooperation, including training activities," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters in Brussels on Monday.

"It will be a process driven by Pakistani demands; but if it is a request from the Pakistani military or the Pakistani government, NATO is prepared to engage in training activities," he added.

The training would involve mid-level Pakistani officers and be carried out in the alliance's schools in Europe.

The report comes as militants on Monday attacked and destroyed a fuel tanker in northwest Pakistan carrying supplies for US-led troops across the border into conflict-plagued Afghanistan.

Two people, a driver and his assistant, were wounded after approximately 10 unidentified assailants fired at the tanker and later lobbed a rocket at it, igniting some 78,000 liters of fuel.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the pro-Taliban groups and other local militants have regularly attacked NATO supply vehicles on the main route through northwest Pakistan.

About 80 percent of supplies destined for the more than 113,000 US and NATO troops in landlocked Afghanistan pass through the Khyber town of Landi Kotal. The tribal district is just outside Peshawar on the main land supply route to Afghanistan.

American officials say northwest Pakistan is a haven for militants who fled the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan to regroup and launch attacks on foreign troops across the border.

Supplies heading to forces fighting in southern Afghanistan also pass through Pakistan's Balochistan province, which is plagued by separatist unrest.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117642§ionid=351020401.

Israel threatens Iran with 'heavy price'

Tue, 02 Feb 2010

Israeli National Security Advisor Uzi Arad has threatened Iran with 'heavy' measures after reports of US augmentation of forces off Iran's coast.

Uzi Arad, senior advisor to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Monday that he believes the situation with Iran may escalate; Tehran may have to pay a heavy price for what he called defying the world.

"Israel is being silent, on acting in the Middle East's fighting on terrorism, and therefore events that takes place in the region, are on the hype," Arad told a conference in the coast city of Herzliya.

Arad made the remarks as Israeli politicians have masterminded a wave of undercover operations and terror plots in numerous countries, including Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iran.

In the latest such incident the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, has been accused of assassinating senior Palestinian commander, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in Dubai on January 20.

Hamas officials say they have concrete evidence that Mossad staged the assassination.

Their claims have been somewhat supported by Dubai Police Chief Dhahi Khalfan. "It could be Mossad," AFP quoted police Chief Dhahi Khalfan as saying on Sunday.

The comments also come as Sunday media reports reveal that Tel Aviv's staunch ally has taken steps to increase the capability of land-based Patriot missiles on the territory of some of its Arab allies in the Persian Gulf region.

The buildup is revealed at a critical time in Tehran-Washington affairs. On Thursday, the US Senate passed a bill advocating tough sanctions on any entity, individual, company or even country, which deals in refined petroleum with Iran.

Washington accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons and has for years levied sanctions and war threats to force the Tehran government into halting its nuclear activities.

Iran which has been under various US sanctions after the Islamic Revolution toppled a US-backed monarch in 1979 rejects the accusations as politically motivated.

Iran's nuclear program was launched in the 1950s with the help of the United States as part of the Atoms for Peace program. After the 1979 Revolution, Western companies working on Iran's program refused to fulfill their obligations even though they had been paid in full.

Iran is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and, unlike some of its regional neighbors, has opened its enrichment plants to UN inspection.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117640§ionid=351020104.

Israel 'admits' using white phosphorus bombs

Thu, 22 Jan 2009

Israeli military admits that it has used phosphorus bombs in a recent military campaign against the Gaza Strip which lasted three weeks.

According to a military report, Israeli forces pounded the residential areas in the Gaza Strip with at least twenty phosphorus bombs during the offensive.

White phosphorus, classified as a 'chemical weapon' by the US intelligence, is an incendiary material that causes horrific burns, severe injuries or death when it comes in contact with skin.

Under the Geneva Treaty of 1980, the use of white phosphorous as a weapon is prohibited.

Prior to the recent report, the Israeli army had been denying the use of the chemical against civilians despite the presence of photographic evidence to the contrary.

Human Rights Watch had warned Israel not to use white phosphorus in Gaza, saying its researchers had witnessed the use of the substance by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday that it would open an investigation into Israel's alleged use of depleted uranium during its Gaza offensive.

The UN body responded after Arab nations sent a letter to the Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, asking for a probe into the issue.

The Israeli air, ground and naval strikes on the civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip have left at least 1,330 dead - 460 of whom were children - and 5,450 others wounded.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=83315§ionid=351020202.

Lebanon files complaint against Israel with UN

Mon, 01 Feb 2010

Lebanon's permanent mission to the UN has filed a complaint against Israel with the UN Security Council over the abduction of a Lebanese citizen.

Lebanese national Rabih Mohammad Zahra, a 17-year-old shepherd, has been abducted by Israeli forces near the Bistra farm in Kfar Shouba region, NNA (National News Agency) reported Sunday.

Lebanon described the act as a “blatant violation of Resolution 1701, an attack on Lebanon's sovereignty as well as a breach of the citizen's human rights,” the Ya Libnan newspaper reported.

The Lebanese army had announced Sunday that Israeli soldiers abducted a Lebanese national.

"An Israeli patrol abducted at 13:45 (11:45 GMT) the Lebanese citizen Rabih Mohammad Zahra in the vicinity of Boustra Farm near Kfar Shouba," said the army in a statement.

It added that "the Lebanese army and the UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) are holding talks to release the citizen immediately."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117569§ionid=351020203.

France follows up on banning Islamic veil

Sat, 30 Jan 2010

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has requested the country's top court to help the government draft a legislation banning the full Islamic veil.

The move by the French government comes three days after a French parliamentary report called for a ban on the full veil.

The report claimed that "Muslim women who fully cover their heads and faces pose an unacceptable challenge to French values."

If it becomes law, it would make it illegal for those women in France who wear the full Islamic veil to visit public buildings or carry out any administrative task.

France is home to Europe's largest Muslim minority. Meanwhile, Italy has said it may follow in France's footsteps and seek a ban on the "full Islamic veil."

Observers scoff at the attempt by the so-called western democracies that have accused Muslims of being intolerant and repeatedly boast their belief in basic freedoms, which include choice of religion. Yet, they argue, they are proving to be quite intolerant themselves, regarding the dress code of Muslim women as a social threat.

Some western European countries and the US have even taken measures to harass, detain, and even expel Muslim individuals for making speeches critical of their roles in the occupation and war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117428§ionid=351020603.

Iran produces ME's first transgenic kids

Sat, 30 Jan 2010

Iranian researchers have announced the birth of Iran and the Middle East's first transgenic animals in the Rouyan Research Institute in Isfahan.

A transgenic animal is one that carries a foreign gene, constructed using recombinant DNA methodology, in its genome. Sheep and goats produced through this method express foreign proteins in their milk and are, therefore, considered valuable sources of protein for human therapy.

Such animals are commonly produced in countries such as the US, France, the UK, Japan, Denmark, Canada, Scotland, the Netherlands, and China to extract alpha-antitrypsin, plasminogen activating factor, factor VIII, fibrinogen, lactoalbumin, lactoferrin, human albumin, collagen I and II, and monoclonal antibodies from their milk.

The two Iranian transgenic kids named 'Shangoul' and 'Mangoul', the leading characters of a famous traditional children's story in Iran, were born in Rouyan Institute on Saturday morning.

"The two kids are in a good health condition," said Hamid Gourabi, the head of Rouyan Research Institute.

Tests revealed high concentrations of human factor IX, an anticoagulant agent used to treat patients with hemophilia B, in their blood. More time, however, is needed to study the availability of the factor in their milk.

A lamb named 'Royana', a kid named 'Hanna' and two calves named 'Bonyana' and 'Tamina' were the first animals successfully cloned in the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117456§ionid=3510208.

'Arafat died of thallium poisoning'

Sun, 31 Jan 2010

Former senior adviser to the late Palestinian leader says Yasser Arafat had been poisoned by a lethal dose of thallium in his food or drinking water.

Bassam Abu Sharif, once adviser to Yasser Arafat, accused Israel of poisoning Arafat through the food or drinking water that he received when he was under siege in his headquarters in Ramallah.

Arafat died of a mysterious disease in a French hospital on November 11, 2004.

Farouq al-Qaddoumi, a former Palestinian Liberation Organization official, accused acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas and another Fatah leader, Mohammad Dahlan, of collaboration with several US security officials and former Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, of planning to assassinate Arafat.

Thallium is highly toxic; cases of poisoning by the substance more commonly occur after oral ingestion.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117485§ionid=351020202.

Abkhazia says it won't host Russia's Black Sea fleet

Abkhazia says it is not going to host Russia's Black Sea fleet, which is currently based in Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.

Outgoing Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko declared in 2008 that Kiev would not renew the lease of its Sevastopol Black Sea base beyond 2017, compelling Moscow to find a new base for its fleet.

"You probably heard an interview with Ukraine's president-elect [Viktor] Yanukovych. The treaty might be reviewed after 2017," Abkhazian leader Sergei Bagapsh was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

Ukraine agreed in 1997 to let Russia use some of its naval facilities, including the main base in Sevastopol, until 2017.

With the eastward expansion of NATO, which Russia views as encroachment into its sphere of influence, Moscow is considering plans to sign defense pacts with its neighbors.

NATO has criticized Moscow for signing a deal with Abkhazia for the construction of a military base in the Black Sea enclave.

Although Abkhazia has been de facto independent since 1993, Georgia still claims sovereignty over the region.

Abkhazia is only recognized by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, and the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Transdniestria.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118929§ionid=351020406.

Abbasid era inscription discovered in Jerusalem Al-Quds

A home renovation in Jerusalem Al-Quds has yielded a rare inscription in the Arabic language, giving archaeologists an insight to the Islamic heritage of the city.

The 1,100-year-old inscription on a white marble plaque dates back to a time when Jerusalem Al-Quds was ruled by the Abbasid Empire from its capital Baghdad.

The plaque, which measures 10 x 10 centimeters, was found roughly 1.5 meters under the ground of a home in the Old City.

Archaeological studies show that the inscription was made by an army veteran to express his gratitude for a land grant by Caliph al-Muqtadir, whom the inscription calls "Emir of the Faithful."

"The caliph probably granted estates as part of his effort to strengthen his hold over the territories within his control, including Jerusalem [Al-Quds], just as other rulers did in different periods," said excavation director Annette Nagar.

The discovery will help scholars to better understand 10th century Jerusalem Al-Quds, which was populated by Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118927§ionid=351020202.

Hamas: Israel seeks International battlefields

Sat, 30 Jan 2010

Following the assassination of a Hamas members in Dubai by Israeli agents, the Palestinian resistance movement warned that Tel Aviv seeks to take the conflict between the two sides to a new phase.

"We have maintained that the confrontation between us and the Israeli enemy be within the occupied land," Xinhua quoted Senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Zahar as saying on Saturday said.

However, he added that "Israel wants to change the rules of the game and to open the international field for battles so it will be responsible for this, "

The comments came after the last week assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the co-founder of Hamas' armed wing Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades in Dubai. The resistance movement said in a statement that "we hold Israel responsible for the assassination of our brother and leader."

Commenting on the incident, in remarks quoted by the Israeli news website Ynet, al-Zahar said that the perpetrators could have accompanied Israeli Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau's convoy into the United Arab Emirates.

He called on Arab states, which maintain diplomatic ties with Israel, to respond to the incident in order to keep "the region from becoming an assassination field," Ynet reported.

Al-Zahar warned such states to "assess and rearrange these relations over the crimes that Israel commits against the Palestinian people," Xinhua reported.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117455§ionid=351020202.

Another world is possible, WSF says at end of gathering

Sat, 30 Jan 2010

After five days of debates, the World Social Forum (WSF) has ended in Porto Alegre, the capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The events of the 10th annual World Social Forum were attended by roughly 35,000 people from 39 countries.

The Forum's panelists and speakers included sociologists, economists, intellectuals, and politicians from around the globe participating in 915 different conferences, seminars, and workshops throughout the five-day event.

On Friday, the World Social Forum concluded its debates under the slogan “10 years later: challenges and proposals for another possible world.”

As with previous Forums, capitalism and consumerism were held responsible for most of the world's economic, cultural, and environmental woes.

The various "crises of civilization and collective rights" and a number of other topics were discussed at this year's Forum.

As in previous years, an anti-capitalist sentiment reigned supreme, particularly in regard to environmental issues.

Businessman Oded Grajew, the founder of the WSF, told the media that the proposal of another possible world is valid, created in comparison to the advance of neoliberalism, represented at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117464§ionid=351020706.

Russia sells nearly $2 billion in arms to Libya

Sun, 31 Jan 2010

Russia has signed a deal with Libya to provide nearly $2 billion in arms to the North African nation, Russian state media reported Saturday.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced that the agreement was sealed on Friday during a visit of Libyan Defense Minister Abu Bakr Yunis Jaber, the BBC reported.

"Yesterday a contract worth ($1.8 billion) was signed," Putin announced while meeting with the director of Izhmash, the manufacturer of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. "These are not just small arms."

Rosoboronexport, Russia's government-run arms export agency, previously said it had signed five military contracts with Libya that included "military equipment for its ground forces and the navy."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/117474.html.

Germany mulling burqa ban

Sun, 31 Jan 2010

As France has moved closer to a ban on burqas, German politicians are debating whether a similar measure should be taken in their own country.

After a French parliamentary commission ruled earlier this week that the enveloping garment worn by some Islamic women is unacceptable and recommended a ban in schools and public offices, a former Social Democratic parliamentarian, Turkish-German Lale Akgun, made a case for a similar ban in Germany, RIA Novosti reported on Saturday.

"The burqa is a full-body prison that deeply threatens human rights," she told the daily Frankfurter Rundschau. "It would be an important signal for Germany to ban the burqa."

A burqa ban in Germany would include schools, universities, and high-security zones such as banks and airports, she said.

However, fellow party member Dieter Wiefelsputz rejected the suggestion.

"We have a different understanding of freedom than the French," he told the paper, adding that an enlightened Islam could not be forced.

Green party leader Cem Ozdemir said the debate overlooked the real conflict of integration and pointed out that very few women wear burqas in Germany.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117473§ionid=351020604.

Hamas official says Fatah leaders can visit Gaza

Sun, 31 Jan 2010

The governor of the central Gaza Strip has told the leaders of Fatah that they can visit Gaza whenever they like.

On Saturday, Abdullah Abu Samhadana, who had chastised Fatah leaders seeking to enter Gaza on January 20, said that they can enter Gaza without hesitation whenever they intend to. "Gaza isn't owned by anybody. It is a part of Palestine and it is the homeland of all the Palestinians, including Fatah leaders," he said.

"Gaza is not a hotel you can just check in and out of at will," he had said on January 20.

"There is nothing that can prevent any Palestinian from traveling to Gaza unless there is a court decision behind it. This is part of the right of return to one's homeland, a right that is guaranteed and that no law can violate," Abu Samhadana said on Saturday.

He asked, what if the same regulations were adopted by the Palestinian Authority for Hamas leaders, "how would Hamas respond to that?"

Just as the PA allows Hamas members to conduct political activities in the West Bank, Hamas also takes measures to reach reconciliation and end the rivalry, he noted.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117469§ionid=351020202.

54 Dems urge Obama to end Israel siege of Gaza

Sat, 30 Jan 2010

In an unprecedented move, more than fifty members of the US Congress sign a letter, asking President Barack Obama to put pressure on Israel to end the crippling siege of the Gaza Strip.

The letter, which was the initiative of Democrat Representatives Jim McDermott from Washington and Keith Ellison from Minnesota, calls on Obama to address international concerns over the post-war humanitarian situation in Gaza, which has been further worsened by a long-imposed Israeli blockade.

“The unabated suffering of Gazan civilians highlights the urgency of reaching a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we ask you to press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East peace efforts,” the letter urged.

“The current blockade has severely impeded the ability of aid agencies to do their work to relieve suffering,” it added.

The authors went on to add that Tel Aviv's refusal to allow building materials into the Strip is preventing the reconstruction of Gaza's infrastructure, which was severely damaged last year when Israel launched a bitter three-week attack on the Palestinian territory.

The war on Gaza killed nearly 1400 Palestinians, wounded thousands of others, displaced 60,800 civilians, seriously damaged 17,000 homes and triggered a critical humanitarian crisis.

“There is also a concern that unrepaired sewage treatment plants will overflow and damage surrounding property and water resources,” the authors wrote, noting that the humanitarian and political consequences of a continued blockade would be “disastrous.”

Israel's stranglehold on Gaza has made as much as 80% of Gazan residents dependent on aid from the United Nations. The blockade has led to the collapse of 90% of Gazan businesses, and as a result, more than one million people are now living in abject poverty.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117419§ionid=351020202.

Ahmadinejad: Israel terrified of Lebanese resistance

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the Zionist regime of Israel is so terrified of the Lebanese resistance and people.

The Iranian president made the remark in a phone conversation with the Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, ISNA reported on Thursday.

President Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah also discussed the latest developments in Lebanon and the region. He further praised Nasrallah's latest stance on the Israeli threats.

"The Zionists are really terrified of the resistance and people in Lebanon and the region," President Ahmadinejad emphasized. "But they (the Israelis) are looking for opportunities to make up for their past defeats in Gaza and Lebanon as they feel their credibility and existence are in jeopardy."

However, the president insisted, "They don't dare to do anything as they are afraid of the consequences."

The Iranian official further underlined the need for maintaining readiness against any potential Israeli threats adding, "If the Zionist regime want to repeat the same mistakes they previously made, they must be gotten rid of once and for all, so that the region will be saved from their nuisance for ever."

President Ahmadinejad then reiterated that to this end, the Iranian nation will remain along the side of the Lebanese and other regional nations.

The Hezbollah Secretary General, for his part, said that Lebanon and the resistance movement are in favorable conditions.

"We are not afraid of the Israeli threats and the Israeli threats will not work," Nasrallah said. "Strategically, Israel is not in a situation to wage a new war, but is after a psychological warfare with its threats… and of course, either way they will not get anywhere."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118918§ionid=351020101.

Bahrain to import gas from Iran, Russia involved

The issue of Iran's gas exports to Bahrain through cooperation with Russia has been raised during a tripartite meeting, Iranian official says.

Iran's Deputy Oil Minister, Hossein Noghreker-Shirazi, told Shana News Agency on Wednesday that Bahrain's need for gas imports from Iran is around 300mn to 500mn cubic feet per day.

He added that Bahrain wants to import gas from Iran and Russia is interested in investing in Iran's energy projects.

"Iran has expressed readiness to provide Bahrain with its needed gas, in line with... the priority of exporting gas to neighbors," he said.

He said that the investment in Iran's upstream oil and gas projects is proposed to any country interested in importing gas from Iran.

"Iran emphasizes Bahrain's investment in Iran's energy projects as a clause in the potential long-term gas contract with Bahrain," Noghrekar said.

In October 2009, Bahrain's oil and gas minister said that the Persian Gulf nation plans to restart talks with Iran about importing natural gas.

Previously Iran and Bahrain held several rounds of energy talks. The two countries were discussing Bahrain's $4 billion investment in the development plans of South Pars phases 15 and 16.

Bahrain needs additional gas to fuel a growing demand for electricity.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118917§ionid=3510213.

Russian defense pact with Abkhazia upsets NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has hit back at Moscow for signing a deal with Abkhazia for the construction of a military base in the Black Sea enclave.

The alliance swiftly urged the Kremlin to reverse what it called its “invalid” agreement, saying it violates restrictions on military forces set in a 2008 peace accord.

"The North Atlantic Council has condemned the decision by the Russian Federation to recognize the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and calls on it to revoke this decision," the alliance spokeswoman Carmen Romero said.

“[NATO] continues to call on Russia to respect its engagements under the (2008) ceasefire accord concluded under EU mediation," she added.

Abkhazia's leader Sergei Bagapsh signed the agreement with the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin on Wednesday.

The pact will build on previous agreements that allow Russia to maintain troops and border guards in the region.

According to the Russian RIA-Novosti news agency, the agreement allows Russian forces "to defend the sovereignty and safety of the Republic jointly with the armed forces of Abkhazia."

The deal, which will be in force for 49 years, determines the legal status of Russian personnel and base property.

Tbilisi has condemned the pact as part of what it calls Moscow's strategy of occupation.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says the agreement will help Abkhazia develop as an independent state.

Moscow recognized the Republic of Abkhazia in August 2008 after crushing a military assault by Georgia's US-allied government on the other autonomous region of South Ossetia. Several other countries later followed suit.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118915§ionid=351020602.

Speedskater Shani Davis makes Olympic history

Shani Davis of the US has managed to earn the gold medal in the men's speed skating 1000 meters at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

The 27-year-old world record holder clocked one minute 8.94 seconds on Wednesday at the Richmond Olympic Oval to become the first man to win two Olympic 1,000 meter titles.

The American athlete became the first African-American to win individual gold in the Winter Games in 2006.

"It's my moment. It's my party," Davis said of his victory laps. "I can celebrate. I can dance. I earned it," Davis said.

“Those last 200, 300 meters were very difficult,” he added. “I was just trying to carry my speed. I could feel it leaving me. It doesn't matter what it looks like, just as long as you get across the line as quick as you could.”

“When you're a world champion or an Olympic champion, you get this little thing on your back called a target,” he further explained. “To go out there and win the 1,000 meters twice is truly amazing.”

South Korea's Mo Tae-bum finished second in 1:09.12, while American Chad Hedrick took the third place in 1:09.32.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118910§ionid=3510211.

Dubai police: IDs of Mabhouh's killers not fake

Dubai police says the European passports used by members of a terrorist squad who killed Hamas leader Mahmud al-Mabhouh in a hotel were not fake.

"Dubai police has more evidence, apart from the tapes and photos that were revealed earlier," Al-Bayan newspaper quoted Dubai Police Chief Dahi Khalfan as saying.

"The coming days will carry more surprises which will leave no room for doubt," he added.

He said that Dubai immigration officers have undergone training courses by European security experts and are qualified to spot fake documents.

"They applied these procedures at Dubai airport when the alleged (terrorists) entered the country…No forgery was found in those passports," Khalfan insisted.

He described Mabhuh's terror suspects, widely believed to be agents of the Israeli intelligence service, as "stupid" because their moves were "traced second-by-second" by security cameras.

Upon Dubai police's disclosure of the names and photos of the alleged hit team and issuance of international arrest warrants for the suspects on Monday, Britain and Ireland denied involvement of their citizens in the terror operation and vowed to investigate what they called an ID theft.

The suspected hit team was made up of six British passport holders, three Irish, including a woman, a German and a man with a French passport.

Britain summoned the Israeli ambassador, Ron Prosor, to London on Thursday to discuss the use of the identities, apparently stolen from six British citizens visiting Israel.

The murder suspects arrived in Dubai on January 19 — a day after Mabhuh arrived in the Emirate — and left the United Arab Emirates on January 20, the day the senior Hamas member was found dead in his hotel room.

This is while the identities of six others suspected to have been involved in the murder plot are reportedly being sought by Dubai police.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118907§ionid=351020205.

Haniyeh rejects Palestinians resettlement in Sinai

Sat, 30 Jan 2010

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has rejected the new Israeli conspiracy of the resettlement of Palestinians in the Sinai under a land swap deal for a two-state solution.

Haniyeh's remarks on the issue came at a Friday sermon at the Al-Omary Mosque in Jabaliya.

"The democratically-elected Palestinian government of Hamas does not accept the plan for the resettlement of Gaza in the Sinai or any other location as the alternative (Palestinian) homeland,” Haniyeh said.

He further criticized Egypt's construction of an underground wall along the border with the besieged Gaza Strip, declaring that "the Zionist Regime (Israel) is regarded as the prime threat to the security of Egypt."

"We were exposed to a three-dimensional war; economically, by imposing the siege on the people of Gaza; militarily, by attacking the people and committing crimes which are mostly represented in the war on Gaza, and politically as the occupation started to detain lawmakers and the representatives of the Palestinian people in order to undermine the Palestinian legitimacy and democracy," he further explained.

"we were exposed to a three-dimensional conspiracy that firstly attempted to spread chaos, and secondly tried to make objections and not commit to the tasks, and thirdly by efforts to defame us through media incitement, dissemination of falsehoods and rumors, and fabricating facts that are not true.”

Haniyeh also insisted that the American hegemony in the region was defeated.

The Gaza Strip has been under a severe Israeli siege since June 2007, when the democratically-elected Palestinian government of Hamas took control of the sliver.

Along with the complete Israeli siege, which has plagued the economy of the already impoverished region, the Cairo government also refuses to open the Rafah border crossing.

The closure has disrupted the delivery of necessary aid cargos into the territory, where almost half of its 1.5-million population is dependent on aid handouts.

Amnesty International says both Israel and Egypt are to blame for "collectively punishing" the population of the Gaza Strip because of the the long-imposed siege of the coastal sliver.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117406§ionid=351020202.

Russia warns US against attacking Iran

The chief of Russia's General Staff, Nikolai Makarov, has warned the US against striking Iran over the country's nuclear program.

"The consequences, I believe, would be dreadful for Iran, as well as Russia, the entire Asia-Pacific community," Makarov said on Wednesday.

The Russian military chief further suggested that the United States might turn its military attention on the Islamic Republic once its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have been completed.

Amid a US campaign to drum up support for new anti-Iran sanctions, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned on Tuesday that world powers would "regret" any moves against the country.

"If anybody seeks to create problems for Iran, our response will not be like before," Ahmadinejad said at a press conference in Tehran.

"Something will be done in response that will make them (the world powers) regret [their action]," the Iranian chief executive added. "However, we prefer they steer towards cooperation [with Iran]."

President Ahmadinejad made the remarks as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was wrapping up her visit to the Middle East, where she stopped in Qatar and Saudi Arabia to seek the backing of the Arab world's heavyweights against Tehran's nuclear drive.

Tehran says its nuclear program is directed at the civilian applications of the technology and has called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction around the globe.

The West, however, accuses the country of seeking military ends in its pursuit. The United States has spearheaded efforts to slap new UN Security Council sanctions against Iran, after the country announced the production of the first batch of 20 percent-enriched uranium to make fuel for a medical research reactor in Tehran.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118849§ionid=351020104.

UK summons Israeli diplomat over fake passports

Britain has summoned Israel's ambassador over the use of fake European documents by the members of a terrorist team involved in the assassination of a senior Hamas commander in Dubai last month.

Amid speculations that the members of the hit squad "were most likely Mossad agents carrying false documentation," the Israeli ambassador to London was summoned to the Foreign Office on Thursday, AFP reported.

"Given the links to Israel of a number the British nationals affected, there will be a meeting between the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) permanent under secretary and the Israeli ambassador (on Thursday)," the British government spokesman said Wednesday.

"The defrauding of British passports is a very serious issue. The government will continue to take all the action that is necessary to protect British nationals from identity fraud," the spokesman added.

The 11-member team, with six British passport holders, three Irish, one French and one German passport holders, is believed to murder senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh on January 20, the Dubai police said on Monday.

British government sources, on Tuesday, ruled out the involvement of any British and Irish nationals in the plot, saying the murderers were mostly Mossad agents using forged documents, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Earlier, Britain's Prime Minister Grodon Brown vowed "to carry out a full investigation into the passports affair."

Ireland has also voiced concern over the use of fake Irish passports. Ireland's Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said it had received new information from authorities in the United Arab Emirates.

The new data "confirms that the passports used were fraudulent," he said, but added: "The new information ... indicates that genuine Irish passport numbers were used."

"The Minister for Foreign Affairs regards any activity which would jeopardize the integrity of the Irish passport as extremely serious," Martin added.

He said Dublin was liaising closely with the UAE authorities and Irish police, as well as Britain, Germany and France "with a view to working with them in this investigation."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118870§ionid=351020202.

Russia must boost space defenses: Putin

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says Moscow must improve its space defenses and modernize its nuclear arsenal by 2020.

"In accordance with the plan for the development and reconfiguration of the armed forces, special attention, of course, will be paid to nuclear deterrent forces, space and air defenses," he said.

He added that the Kremlin would finance the plans but guard against "ineffective expenses."

Putin made the remarks late Tuesday at a meeting devoted to implementing an ambitious Kremlin plan to rearm Russia's military between 2011 and 2020, a statement on the government's website said.

Putin also said the military should have high-tech communications equipment and that Russia should finish building a fifth-generation fighter jet.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has also spoken of the necessity of modernized military forces.

In a televised interview last December, Medvedev said the country's military hardware was obsolete and would be modernized within the next 10 years.

Military reform was fueled by Russia's brief conflict with Georgia in August 2008, which was sparked by Tbilisi's attack on independence-seeking Republic of South Ossetia.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118850§ionid=351020602.

'West must accept Iran is 'master of enrichment': Envoy

Iran's ambassador to the UN nuclear watchdog insists that Tehran will not bow to the West's pressure on Tehran's abandoning of its enrichment activities.

"Iran will never give up enrichment at any price. Even the threat of military attack will not stop us," said Ali-Asghar Soltanieh in an interview with the New Statesman, a British current affairs magazine published Wednesday.

The Iranian ambassador reiterated that the West had to accept that Iran was a "master of enrichment."

"The West just has to cope with a strong Iran, a country with thousands of years of civilization that is now the master of enrichment. I know it is hard for them to digest, but it is the reality."

The US has been leading efforts to push Iran to accept a deal that demands Tehran to send most of its low-enriched uranium abroad for further processing for the research reactor, which runs on 20-percent enriched uranium and produces medical isotopes for cancer patients.

Iran has called for "concrete" guarantees that the fuel would eventually be returned to the country, but such demand has been shrugged off by the West, particularly the US, insisting that the deal would remain intact.

Iran announced on February 9 that it had started enriching uranium to the level of less than 20 percent to meet the country's fuel requirements for a research reactor in Tehran, after the potential suppliers failed to provide the fuel under the UN deal.

Two days later, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad formally declared that Iran had successfully produced the first stock of the 20-percent enriched uranium, a declaration which was met with cynicism in the West.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview with al-Arabiyya television aired on Wednesday that the US was seeking the “strongest” possible UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on Iran over its nuclear work.

"We want to try to get the strongest sanctions we can out of the United Nations Security Council ... mostly to influence their (the Iranians') decision-making," the former first lady said.

The Iranian envoy, however, rejected such rhetoric emphasizing that the language of threats demonstrates a "colonialist mentality." He said that threatening Iran with more sanctions or a military action would further complicate the issue.

"By threatening Iran with the Security Council, with sanctions, with military action, you are just making life more difficult for yourself. It doesn't work."

US-led calls for more sanctions against Iran have mainly received a chilly welcome by China, a veto-wielding member of the UNSC, which insists that diplomacy can work.

Iran says it is still open to talks with the West over a nuclear fuel swap provided that its conditions and concerns are valued.

Tehran has, however, maintained that a fuel swap with Western countries does not require Iran to relinquish other means of acquiring the fuel, including the enrichment of uranium domestically.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118902§ionid=351020104.

6 new suspects surface in Dubai terror case

The probe into the terror of a senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh enters a new phase as Dubai officials confirm that at least six other assassins remain unaccounted for.

The revelation comes shortly after Dubai police issued international arrest warrants for 11 suspects, including a woman, who were traveling on fake European passports and had arrived in Dubai one day before the killing of the Palestinian leader.

The new suspects include a second woman 'dressed as a tourist' and accompanied by a "large man," The Times reported on Wednesday.

The two were apparently part of the final surveillance team in the lobby of al-Mabhouh's Dubai hotel as the murder took place on the evening of January 19.

Within minutes of committing the murder, another unknown man is seen leaving the luxury al-Bustan Rotana hotel with a woman carrying a forged Irish passport in the name of Gail Folliard.

The 11-member terrorist team included six British and three Irish passport holders with two others carrying French and German documents. The identities of the 11 named suspects were, however, discredited when six British citizens living in Israel claimed their identities had been stolen.

It is speculated that their passport details could have been stolen at a hotel or an immigration desk, while visiting Israel.

The Israeli secret service, Mossad, has been widely blamed for the murder which, in many ways, resembles other Israeli terror operations against Palestinian leaders abroad. Dubai's chief of police has also made clear that he could not rule out Israeli involvement.

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday said that the evidence was circumstantial but he did not deny Mossad's involvement. He claimed, "Israel's security activity is conducted according to very clear, cautious and responsible rules of the game."

The controversial identity thefts have prompted Britain to summon the Israeli ambassador in London to the Foreign Office on Thursday as speculations of Israeli involvement in the plot grew.

"Given the links to Israel of a number the British nationals affected, there will be a meeting between the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) permanent undersecretary and the Israeli ambassador (on Thursday)," the British government spokesman said Wednesday.

"The defrauding of British passports is a very serious issue. The government will continue to take all the action that is necessary to protect British nationals from identity fraud," he added.

Ireland's Foreign Minister Micheal Martin also voiced concern over the use of fake Irish passports, saying that new data from Dubai officials "indicates that genuine Irish passport numbers were used."

"The Minister for Foreign Affairs regards any activity which would jeopardize the integrity of the Irish passport as extremely serious," Martin added.

Observers say that despite the emerging and convincing evidence of Mossad's involvement in the terror operation, the US and EU countries, who repeatedly boast and justify their "war on terror" efforts, have treated this case as a non-event, raising further suspicions about their true objectives behind their so-called war on terror campaign.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118899§ionid=351020205.

Turkey reiterates Iran's right to nuclear technology

Turkish Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Sahin throws his weight behind Iran despite recent US threats of new sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The Turkish official made the remark in a meeting with the visiting Iranian Education Minister Hamid-Reza Hajibabaie on Wednesday in Ankara.

"Turkey will continue its support for the peaceful Iranian nuclear program," IRNA quoted Sahin as saying.

"All the countries have the right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and Turkey has a clear policy regarding nuclear programs," he added.

The Turkish official further underlined that the Iranian nuclear issue should be solved through diplomacy.

The Iranian Education Minister is currently visiting Turkey at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart, Nimet Cubukcu.

Israel and its staunch ally, the United States, have been accusing the Islamic Republic of pursuing military applications under the guise of a civilian nuclear program, a claim vehemently rejected by Iran.

Iran, a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is entitled to pursue the technology for civilian purposes. It has also called for the elimination of all nuclear weapons, as well as their development and production.

Tel Aviv remains in possession of over 200 nuclear war heads, although it has never formally acknowledged such arsenal. It has refused to sign the NPT, and it is not a member of the IAEA. Israel's nuclear arms are believed to be a major threat to the Middle East region.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118892§ionid=351020104.

'Hezbollah prepared for any surprise'

Sun, 31 Jan 2010

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem has said that the Lebanese resistance movement is ready for any surprise from Israel.

“Hezbollah is prepared and ready for any surprise. As long as Israel exists in the Middle East region, it poses a considerable threat to the entire region and will try to give the wrong impression about Iran's civilian nuclear program,” the senior Hezbollah official said in Beirut on Saturday.

Qassem added that the Hezbollah resistance movement is greatly indebted to Iran for its many triumphs and regards such achievements to be the result of the practical guidelines of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah.

Israel has not achieved its goal of ending Hezbollah's influence in Lebanon, and the Islamic resistance movement claimed victory in the 1996, 2000, and 2006 wars with Tel Aviv.

On January 2, the Hamas movement's political representative in Lebanon, Ali Baraka, said the Palestinian resistance group will fight alongside the Hezbollah movement should Israel launch a new offensive against Lebanon.

"We are guests in Lebanon and our policy will not change," Baraka said during a memorial service to mark one week passing since the death of two Hamas members in an explosion in Beirut's southern suburbs on December 26.

"However, we are committed to resisting Israeli occupation forces," he added.

"Israel should know that if it launches a new attack against Lebanon, we will not stand handcuffed. We will face the aggression side by side with our brethren in Lebanon — be they the resistance, the army, or the people, to repel the aggression," Baraka asserted.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117472§ionid=351020203.

Morocco: Sahrawi Activists' Passports Returned

(Washington, DC) - Morocco's return of confiscated passports this week to activists living in Western Sahara and the renewal of others is a positive step, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should ensure that no one is prevented from traveling abroad because of his or her political beliefs, Human Rights Watch said.

Since August 2009, Moroccan authorities have turned back at the border or airports at least 13 Sahrawi activists without providing an explanation, confiscating passports from seven of them. In addition, at least four others who sought to renew their passports encountered unusual delays of months or longer.

"Morocco has taken an important step forward by returning and renewing these passports," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "We look forward to the day when everyone under its authority can travel abroad freely regardless of the political views they express peacefully."

The activists recently subjected to the travel obstacles all openly favor a vote on self-determination for Western Sahara. They all oppose Morocco's official position, which is that the contested territory is an integral part of Morocco and its future cannot be subjected to a referendum in which full independence is an option.

Moroccan authorities tolerate little open dissent on this issue, considering calls for Sahrawi independence as potential violations of laws penalizing "attacks on [Morocco's] territorial integrity." At least some of these activists have, while abroad, criticized Morocco's de facto rule and pled the cause of self-determination for Western Sahara.

Human Rights Watch published a communiqué on the new wave of travel restrictions on January 26, 2010, with details of each case.

Since February 10, authorities have returned passports to five activists whose passports they confiscated on October 6, as the men sought to pass the border crossing into Mauritania. Those activists are: Sidi Mohamed Daddach, Larbi Messaoud, Brahim Sbaï, and Brahim Ismaïli, all of El-Ayoun, and Atik Brai, of Dakhla. Authorities also returned a passport to Sultana Khaya of Boujdour. They had confiscated it from her at el-Ayoun airport on October 18, 2009.

Three other activists who applied for passport renewals got their passports this week. They are Hmad Hammad, Ghalia Djimi, and Moustapha Dah.

According to information obtained by Human Rights Watch, authorities have yet to return Abderrahman Bougarfa's passport, which they confiscated as he prepared to travel to Spain on November 18. In addition, activists Brahim Sabbar and Bachir Lefkhaouni, whose passport applications have been pending for at least one year, are still awaiting the issuance of their documents. And three members of the Dakhla Committee against Torture, Oulad Cheikh Mahjoub,

Babyte Abdati, and Mohamed Salem Aamar, told Human Rights Watch that they are all awaiting the delivery of new passports after submitting renewal applications in February 2008, October 2009, and December 2009, respectively. Others unknown to Human Rights Watch may be in similar situations.

Source: Reuters Alertnet.
Link: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HRW/0e062cfd89f16159d072fb22fbc45b99.htm.

Brazil resists push for tougher Iran sanctions

Brazil has told the US and France that it will not agree with tougher sanctions against Iran as it seeks more trade with the Islamic Republic, the Brazilian envoy to the UN says.

“We are not considering sanctions a good idea now," Ambassador Maria Viotti told Bloomberg on Wednesday.

“Negotiations should continue. If sanctions are pursued, this might block the negotiating track," she said.

Viotti stressed that a negotiated settlement of the dispute over Iran's nuclear program is still possible.

Brazil, which began a two-year term on the 15-nation Security Council in January, is expected to join China, Lebanon and Turkey in opposing a sanctions vote.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118876§ionid=351020104.

Hamas calls for retaliation against Israel

Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal has called on Palestinian fighters to retaliate for Israel's assassination of the movement's top commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai last month.

"The time for promises and talk of revenge is done. Now is the time for action," Mashaal said in a televised address from Damascus on Wednesday.

Mashaal also denounced what he termed as Israel's terrorist activities against the Palestinians, saying Israel's failure in its December-January 2008 war in the Gaza Strip revealed its "fake existence."

Calling on the world to blacklist Israel as a terrorist entity, Mashaal said the regime would not get legitimacy and stability through terrorism.

Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinians rallied in honor of the assassinated leader of Hamas.

"The decision to avenge the martyr Mahmud al-Mabhouh has been taken," Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Hamas armed wing, told the crowd.

Mabhouh, a senior commander in the armed wing of the Islamist movement, was assassinated last month in Dubai by a hit squad of at least 11 people carrying forged European passports, according to the Dubai police.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118875§ionid=351020202.

Ahmadinejad: US supremacy melting away

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Washington's policies in the Middle East have failed and the US "supremacy" has reached the end of the road.

“The US supremacy is melting away just like snow in front of the sun," Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with the Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov in Tehran on Wednesday.

This means that in the near future the political trend of the world will change and a great transformation will take place, IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

“Mr. Obama and its friends or even his rivals cannot change the trend, so we should become ready for the changes in the future," the Iranian president stated.

Ahmadinejad also noted that the relations between Iran and Belarus is enhancing.

“In the current political and economic situation of the world, expansion of ties between the two countries will serve the interests of the two nations and also those of the region," he added.

Martynov, for his part, highlighted Iran's key role in the region and said that Belarus is determined to enhance its ties with Iran.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118873§ionid=351020101.

'US gave up war plans because of Iran's might'

A senior Iranian commander says the country's military might forced the US into giving up its plans to launch an attack against Iran.

“When the US realized the capabilities of Iran's armed forces and the military maneuvers they can hold, it changed its mind and gave up plans to attack Iran," the Commander of Iran's Ground Forces Brig. Gen. Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan said.

He noted that the US has carried out terrorist attacks in order to use them as pretexts to launch wars in the Middle East to control the world economy.

“The US planned and carried out the 9/11 attacks with support from Zionists," Fars news agency quoted Pourdastan as saying on Wednesday.

“The US claimed that terrorists have carried out the attacks in order to find a pretext for presence in the [Middle East] region," he stated.

The Iranian general noted that the US invasion on Iran was planned to take place after the US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118872§ionid=351020101.

Palestinians hand Gaza War report to UN

Fri, 29 Jan 2010

The Palestinian Authority says it has submitted a report to the United Nations on Israel's last year offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN observer, said Friday that he handed the report to the chief of cabinet Vijay Nambiar at UN headquarters in New York.

Mansour, however, declined to provide details, saying it was a confidential report demanded by UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

The United Nations General Assembly in November adopted a resolution giving Israel and the Palestinians three months to undertake "independent, credible investigations" into serious violations of international law and human rights committed during the conflict in Gaza.

The resolution was proposed after a report released by South African Judge Richard Goldstone concluded that Israel used disproportionate force and failed to protect civilians during its December 2008-January 2009 offensive against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The report also accused Hamas of infringing international conventions.

Israel, who sidestepped the UN's key demand, submitted a response to the body on Friday and repeated its claims that the Goldstone report was "inaccurate."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak repeated Israeli criticism of the Goldstone report on Friday, and denounced the report as "false, distorted, and irresponsible."

UN associate spokesman Farhan Haq, however, said the 46-page document will be considered in a report by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the General Assembly in early February, The Washington Post reported.

"The secretary-general is working on his own response," Haq said.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117382§ionid=351020202.

Spanish EU presidency protests to Libya over actions on visas

Madrid (Earth Times) - The Spanish European Union presidency has asked Libya to explain why it has decided to stop granting short-term visas to the citizens of most EU countries, Foreign Ministry sources said Wednesday. A representative of the ministry met with the second-in-charge of the Libyan embassy in Madrid on Tuesday.

The sources said technical information was discussed at the meeting.

Spain has said it works with EU foreign policy director Catherine Ashton and the European Commission to resolve the visa crisis.

The commission has described Libya's decision to deny entry to citizens from the EU's Schengen area as "unilateral and disproportionate."

No official explanation was given for Tripoli's actions, but according to press reports it follows Switzerland's decision to ban more than 180 Libyan officials from its territory. Switzerland is not a member of the EU.

Egyptian security warns against welcoming rally for ElBaradei

Cairo (Earth Times) - Egyptian security officials warned Wednesday against any illegal gatherings to welcome former UN nuclear agency head and possible future presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei. ElBaradei, who is expected to arrive in the country on Friday, said last year he would not rule out running for the country's presidential elections.

ElBaradei, who stepped down as International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief last year, said he could run in the elections only if Egypt amended its constitution to allow independents to run for president and to allow for greater oversight of the polls.

These comments were heavily criticized in the pro-government press, which backs President Hosny Mubarak.

However ElBaradei's hint was welcomed by many Egyptians.

Some opposition groups have announced they would support his candidacy - and called on the public to give a warm reception for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate when he arrives in Egypt.

"We expect many people receiving ElBaradei, whether supporters or opposition. This is why we warn that any violations of the laws or damage to the airport's facilities, will be met with severe measures amid the high security presence," said the anonymous security sources.

In Egypt, large public gatherings are illegal and can be broken up by police according to the emergency laws.

Supporters of ElBaradei have used the internet to form several social networking websites campaigning for his candidacy in the 2011 elections. A Facebook group has 60,000 members.

Meanwhile, two activists from the April 6 youth opposition group were detained after they spray-painted walls in Cairo with slogans backing political change and supporting ElBaradei.

A security source said that two men were arrested for writing anti-government graffiti...

Swedish royals to make state visit to Brazil

Stockholm - Swedish King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia are to make a state visit to Brazil in March, the Swedish foreign ministry said Wednesday. The royals are to be accompanied by a business delegation and Goran Hagglund, minister of health and social welfare.

Queen Sivlia's mother was born in Brazil and the queen and her family lived in Sao Paulo between 1947 and 1957.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has invited the royals to visit from March 23 to 26.

Foreign Minister Carl Bildt recently visited Brazil for talks with his counterpart.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/309790,swedish-royals-to-make-state-visit-to-brazil.html.

Swedish government repeats support for EU enlargement - Summary

Stockholm - Enlargement of the European Union and keeping military forces in Afghanistan remained Swedish foreign policy priorities, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Wednesday in presenting the government's foreign policy statement. Defending human rights, democracy and freedom of expression were also key, he said.

These freedoms included the internet, Bildt said, adding that the government was "concerned to note that information technology is being abused to a growing extent by certain actions to combat the free exchange of opinions, thoughts and ideas."

Bildt, who blogs daily on foreign policy matters, later told reporters that he hoped Sweden would take a lead role in the field of internet, which was becoming more and more important against the backdrop of ongoing globalization.

The government's foreign policy statement also touched on free trade, disarmament, climate change and global poverty reduction.

"Only by successfully completing our mission in Afghanistan can we show that the losses (we) suffer are not in vain," Bildt earlier told parliament, referring to the recent deaths of two Swedish soldiers in Afghanistan.

While the commitment was "long-term," Bildt told reporters that "the nature of the commitment will change," with Afghanistan taking more and more responsibility for security.

Bildt underlined the key role the EU has for Sweden, saying membership in the bloc "is the best way to safeguard our values and national interests in an increasingly complex world."

Asked about changes in the EU after the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, including the creation of a new president of the council of EU member states and an EU foreign policy director, Bildt said "it (the EU) will take its time to set up properly functioning structures."

The process was similar to a presidential transition in the US, he said.

During the debate, the three opposition parties challenging the ruling center-right government presented a joint foreign policy platform. Elections are due in September.

Bildt said the document lacked statements on the EU and also on Afghanistan, saying this reflected "deep divisions" between the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Left Party.

On EU enlargement he noted that "by allowing the doors of the EU to remain open, we make a considerable contribution to peace and democracy on our continent," citing the Western Balkans.

On Turkey, Sweden would continue to work for its inclusion, Bildt said, adding that the EU "will be both more dynamic economically and stronger politically with Turkey as a member."

He also voiced concern over recent arrests of Turkish politicians, and told reporters that he hoped some reform bills blocked in the parliament would pass.

Left Party lawmaker Hans Linde underlined that the opposition also welcomed Turkey as a future EU member if the country fulfilled membership criteria, but would move to recognize the 1915 killings of Armenians and other minorities under the Ottoman Empire.

Armenians and others have said these events were genocide. Turkey has denied this.

On the Middle East, Bildt said "it is of central importance for stability in the Middle East that a credible peace process between Israelis and Palestinians is established."

Bildt and several lawmakers also mentioned Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak who was jailed in September 2001. The Eritrean government has never filed formal charges against Isaak.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/309783,swedish-government-repeats-support-for-eu-enlargement--summary.html.

Spain detains two ETA suspects

Madrid - Spanish police Wednesday detained two suspected members of the militant Basque separatist group ETA as they tried to cross over to France, police sources said. The two were held at a border control in Camprodon.

They were identified as Jon Rosales Palenzuela, who was thought to be a would-be member of a planned new ETA cell, and Adur Aristegi Aragon, who was linked with ETA's Vizcaya cell.

The arrests brought to six the number of detentions linked to that of Ibai Beobide Arza, who was held when cycling in the Basque region on Saturday.

Beobide is suspected of involvement in several attacks, including a 2008 car bombing which damaged the headquarters of the Basque radio and television station EITB.

Twenty-three ETA suspects have been held so far this year in Spain, France and Portugal.

ETA is held responsible for more than 820 killings since 1968.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/309785,spain-detains-two-eta-suspects.html.

Small plane crashes into California neighborhood, three dead

San Francisco - A small plane crashed Wednesday morning into a residential neighborhood in Palo Alto, California, killing three people on board and setting a house on fire, media reports said. It was not clear if people on the ground were injured, CNN reported. Eyewitnesses said the Cessna 310 scraped an electric wire shortly before the crash, which they said caused the ground to shake.

The San Jose Mercury News reported that the plane had just taken off from the airport in Palo Alto, which is known worldwide for its telescope and community of astronomers. Palo Alto is some 55 kilometres south of San Francisco.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/309796,small-plane-crashes-into-california-neighbourhood-three-dead.html.

Israel protests sculpture at Madrid art fair - Summary

Madrid - Israel on Wednesday protested against a piece of art on display at one of the world's top contemporary art fairs as the festival opened in the Spanish capital of Madrid. The sculpture, Stairway to Heaven by Spanish artist Eugenio Merino, was "offensive to Jews, Israelis and undoubtedly, others as well," the Israeli embassy said.

The work displayed at the ARCO art fair shows a crouching Muslim topped by a kneeling priest, in turn topped by a rabbi.

Merino denied that the sculpture was provocative, saying it reflected "the coexistence of the three religions, which make a joint effort to literally reach God."

The work was sold immediately for 50,000 euros (68,500 dollars).

The 29th ARCO, which features works from more than 200 galleries and 3,000 artists from 25 countries, was due for its official inauguration Thursday by Crown Prince Felipe and his wife Letizia.

"Buyers are still cautious, but the (art) market is slowly beginning to move again" after being hit by the economic crisis, ARCO director Lourdes Fernandez said earlier.

The daily El Mundo described the fair as the most controversial ARCO so far, after gallery owners accused the fair company IFEMA of trying to influence the choice of participants.

Critics also slammed the fair as too big and overpriced, complaining that it had lost importance and come under political influences.

The fair was the first ARCO to feature a guest city - Los Angeles - instead of a guest country. The fair is set to run until February 21.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/309793,israel-protests-sculpture-at-madrid-art-fair--summary.html.

Haiti's earthquake camps turning into shanty towns

By JONATHAN M. KATZ, Associated Press Writer

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – First there was an empty field. Then came rows of makeshift tents. Now those camps are turning into shanty towns — with bakeries, lottery stands and homes — that show no sign of moving soon.

In the five weeks since the quake struck, aid workers, officials and Haiti's government have debated where and how the 1.2 million people left homeless by the disaster should live. Should they be given ready-made tents or plastic tarps? What land should be made available to house them?

A long-delayed announcement on where government camps might go could be made Thursday.

But the people are not waiting. On a former landing strip-turned-boulevard called Route de Piste a cluster of ramshackle villages is rising.

Row upon row of corrugated tin and wood shacks stand against the wind as dusty men walk between them carrying saws and hammers. Children look for the snow cone man at the crossroads, near where a lottery dealer named Max has set up his booth. In a shack marked "Boulangerie Pep La" — the people's bakery — the smell of dough wafts from the oven, and two flat rolls cost 5 gourdes, about 12 cents.

These shanty towns are redrawing the map of the capital, filling open fields with new versions of the joyful life and harsh crime and abuse that always marked existence in the slums — with an extra helping of disease, hunger and misery brought on by the Jan. 12 disaster.

This means people are planning to stay in some very dangerous places: at the bottom of hillsides they know will collapse in a heavy rain or near riverbeds that are bound to flood. They are crowded into polluted areas where sanitation is limited and disease is already starting to spread.

"The government has said for weeks that they have identified sites, but time is getting short and there has been little progress," said Ian Bray, an Oxfam spokesman.

That's one problem. Another is that people simply do not want to go far from where they always lived and worked, even if it means settling on ground made dangerous by the magnitude-7 quake that killed more than 200,000 people.

"People are displaced, they've lost their homes but they haven't lost their jobs," said Alex Wynter of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "The key issue is land."

French President Nicholas Sarkozy, making the first visit ever by a French head of state to his nation's former colony, pledged 16,000 tarps and 1,000 tents to house 200,000 people while touring the ruins of Port-au-Prince's collapsed national palace.

Haiti's own leader, President Rene Preval, has been less decisive.

"We have to find a solution to get people under shelter — a combination of tents, tarps, corrugated tin roofs ... whatever combination it is," Preval told The Associated Press during a half-hour interview this week. He did not elaborate.

For the people now living under a big flagpole, the decision has already been made.

"If they chase after us, we'll leave. Until then we're here," said Lens Beny, a 20-year-old water peddler who built an 8-by-9-foot wood and tin shack for himself and five relatives. His front door is a lace curtain; the roof is a garbage bag that leaves a solid third of the shanty exposed to the sky.

It is, in a manner of speaking, a temporary shelter — the sort officials are counting on people to build as 250,000 tarps are handed out ahead of the spring rainy season and more permanent solutions are reached.

It's also an unpleasant place to live. One recent rain shower destroyed the flimsy particle boards he bought for $3.70 each, Beny said, as he ripped off a clump of wall.

The new neighborhood is very densely packed; some 27,000 people live there, according to Haitian Red Cross workers. U.N., foreign and local officials are directing aid to the site, while also designating it a "priority for decongestion" — meaning some people must move out.

The overcrowding is the chief reason officials say they don't want to give people the waterproof tents they are demanding — there just isn't enough space for them.

So people like Beny have taken things into their own hands. As he replaced his family's makeshift tent with an even bigger makeshift house, he pushed out the neighbors whose space he needed.

Residents say some men are hoarding food coupons the U.N. World Food Program devised to ensure the flow of food aid, selling them for $4 or more. There are allegations of beatings and robberies. One group stole a Red Cross shelter and tried to camouflage it with a sign advertising it as "National School Jan. 12, founded Feb. 7, 2010." (The Red Cross got it back.)

There is also talk of rape. One group of residents said men were using food coupons to pay for sex with women living in the camp, and assaulting them if they don't agree.

"There is no security. There are never police, U.S. soldiers or U.N.," said Dr. Kobel Dubique, a doctor with Boston-based Partners in Health, which is running a clinic in the camp.

Such crimes were common in the nearby stretch of oceanside slums that includes the sprawling Cite Soleil, especially a few years ago before U.N. peacekeepers moved in and the gangs were driven out.

But until five weeks ago, this was a fenced-in park. The area, dominated by a former airstrip of the disbanded Haitian military, was to have been turned into a residential zone under former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He went into exile amid a rebellion in 2004, and except for a single concrete apartment building and the flagpole, the area remained empty until the quake.

The question now is not just what comes next, but how fast. The immensity of tackling what Inter-American Development Bank economists say is the worst disaster of 2,000 they examined in a study released Tuesday — a list that includes the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and 1972 Nicaragua earthquake — cannot be understated.

The people of Port-au-Prince, millions of whom survive on less than $2 a day, cannot wait for problems to be sorted out by a government that has never succeeded in addressing them before.

Morning talk shows like Radio Caraibe's "Caribbean Morning" took calls Wednesday from listeners on how to rebuild. Warned to wait for official sanction to rebuild, one caller asked why the quake-damaged police station in his neighborhood was being restored if he couldn't work on his home. Preval often appears visibly worried about the problem. After a recent meeting with a U.S. legislative delegation led by House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he pulled an aide aside and talked in grave tones about the "million people on the streets."

But he isn't saying what they are going to do.

U.S. lawmakers brought up the issue with Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive during the meeting last week, but did not get a solution, said Sen. George LeMieux of Florida.

"We urged the president to take measures and make decisions quickly," the Republican senator told the AP in a telephone interview. "I am very concerned that with the Haitian people in these camps ... that we are going to have a second tragedy soon."

Colonialist Motives Behind Marjah Operations

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

It is now for one week that the invading enemy have launched military operations named “together” against Mujahideen in Marjah, a part of Nad Ali district, Helmand province. They have put more than 15,000 American, NATO and the hireling Afghan troops against a minuscule number of Mujahideen in the area. More than 60 helicopters, armed with hellfire missiles, and hundreds of tanks are taking part in the operation.

Marja has remained in the hands of Mujahideen for the last few years. Other parts of Helmand province like Baghiran, Dishu, and Washer districts are already under the administration of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. So question rises why the enemy chose Marjah, a small area, to launch operations. Ostensibly, the enemy say that they want to put pressure on Taliban to accept the government terms of re-integration and reconciliation announced at the end of London Conference on 28th of last month. In fact, Marjah is a geopolitically important area because it borders on Baluchistan, Pakistan where China has a vast developmental project in the shape of Gwadaer seaport.

The invading America wants to control the transit way to Gwader in order to ensure a short-cut for supply of its logistics which are now shipped through Karachi sea port, Pakistan and through Tajikistan to the north of Afghanistan. They also want stymie Chinese involvement in the Gwadar project. Similarly, in light of the new round of the politically tense situation between Washington and Tehran over uranium enrichment and Iran’s missiles program, the White House wants to install new espionage equipments in Marjah close to the Iranian border. In addition to this, British invaders have been extracting uranium in Sangin district which is fraught with raw uranium.

Local Mujahideen say, the British invading forces have brought heavy excavation equipments to the district for extraction of uranium in Sangin.

The British are also involved in drug trafficking in Helmand province. They are secretly taking heroin in British planes to black markets in Europe. No question, the war fought under the name of terrorism has other political and economic motives including expansionist goals rather than the so-called announced War on Terror. However, the Afghani Mujahideen have been sacrificing their lives to ensure independence of their country and put an end to the colonialist game started under the unjustified reasons and causes.

Despite the media fanfare and partial reporting of the Western media, Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in Marjah have besieged the enemy troops. Fresh reports from the area say: “In fact, the invading forces have made no spectacular advancement since the beginning of the operations. They have descended from helicopters in limited areas of Marjah and now are under siege.

The invaders are not able to come out of their ditches. Wherever they intend to move, they come under severe attacks of Mujahideen and face explosions of planted mines. Then they retreat hastily. The enemy troops have lost their morale. The local people are beholding the foreign troops crying loudly.“

We want all freedom- loving forces in the world to support the legitimate cause of the Afghan Mujahideen led by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and save the humane values from the claws of colonialism. Right now, the occupying forces are trampling down on human dignity, freedom, security and values under the farcical name of terrorism.

Source: Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Link: http://www.alemarah.info/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1300:colonialist-motives-behind-marjah-operations.