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Saturday, February 27, 2010

In Iran, Leader sees Palestine independence as 'definite'

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said Saturday the Palestinians are the most resilient people in history who will "definitely and undoubtedly" see the freedom of their land.

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei described the Palestinian resistance as an amazing phenomenon, which is driving Israel toward "defeat and annihilation."

Resistance is what has untied different Palestinian movements as well as having faith in God, he said.

"And the supporters of the Zionist regime (Israel) will find nothing but shame and historic notoriety," the Leader said.

He expressed deep gratitude to the Palestinian nation and said, "Bearing the atrocities and endless pressures in Gaza and throughout Palestine is impossible without the guidance and assistance of God and the Palestinian nation truly deserves to be named as the most resilient nation in history."

Ayatollah Khamenei also touched upon the 22 day Gaza war and said the Arab governments claim that "the Palestinian issue" is an Arab one but when it comes to helping Palestinians, they left their Palestinian brothers unassisted in front of the enemy and its supporters.

The Arab behavior, he said, will go down in history.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the US president's slogan of change was an attempt to repair the damaged image of Washington and said, "such dishonest attempts bore no fruit because the Americans blatantly lie in the issue of Palestine and other issues."

"The Iranian nation has gotten used to these lies after 30 years," he said.

The Leader said the Palestinian issue was a serious challenge for the Western civilization and advocates of liberal democracy, adding, "The resistance of the Palestinian nation has questioned the West's multi-centennial claims of freedom and human rights and has disgraced [the West].

"'The Palestinian issue' has today become a criterion for determining the real advocates of 'freedom and human rights' from its deceitful claimants."

Ayatollah Khamenei said the future America will have been defeated by the Palestinian nation.

"Without a doubt, the actions of the United States over the past 60 to 70 years in support of the Zionists will be remembered as an instance of this country's dishonor in history."

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed the importance of forming a new and "Islamic Middle East" and described defending the Palestinian nation as a humanitarian and Islamic responsibility.

He noted that Islamic governments have a greater responsibility regarding the issue of Palestine, since their nations have "awakened" and now demand more support for Palestine.

"Those who have overlooked the true and original path to the freedom of Al-Quds and Palestine — in other words resistance — have been forced to accept the conditions imposed by the enemy."

"God willing, Al-Quds will return to the embrace of the Muslims and the people of the world and the resilient Palestinian nation will witness this great day," the Leader concluded.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119628§ionid=351020101.

Iran bank wins case against UK sanctions

Iran's Bank Mellat has reportedly won a preliminary court case against British sanctions at the High Court of Justice in London.

The British Treasury moved in October to forbid any financial company within the UK to do business with Bank Mellat over its alleged connections with Tehran's nuclear program and missile development.

In recent months, the Iranian bank has been fighting to overturn the Treasury ruling and finally made a breakthrough on Thursday when High Court Justice John Mitting ruled against the imposition of British penalties on the bank.

According to the High Court, under the European Convention on Human Rights, Bank Mellat is entitled to information about allegations against it.

The Judge said the Treasury ruling directly impinges "on the bank's civil rights and obligations" and that any restriction on the bank's activity resulting in the loss of shareholders' capital, “is illegal and in breach of human rights.”

He explained that the British Treasury would have a hard time finding compelling evidence to substantiate its accusations against Bank Mellat.

To pressure Tehran over its nuclear program, Western powers, particularly Britain and the UK, have imposed unilateral sanctions on a number of Iranian-owned banks, namely Melli, Saderat, and Sepah, and have demanded that world financial institutions follow suit.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119623§ionid=351020101.

Russia agrees to supply Mi-24 helicopters to Lebanon

Russian authorities have agreed to supply 10 Mi-24 advanced military helicopters to Lebanon instead of 10 MiG-29 fighter jets they had previously pledged to provide.

According to a report published by al-Nahar news website, the decision was taken after Lebanese President Michel Sleiman asked to receive the state of the art military choppers and the advanced missiles they carry in place of the Russian-made warplanes.

President Michel Sleiman returned Friday afternoon to Beirut concluding a 2-day official visit to Moscow, the first ever visit by a Lebanese head of state to Russia.

On Thursday, Sleiman met with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and the two signed a memorandum on military cooperation.

The Russian move is seen as a slap to the United States over its longstanding military relationship with Lebanon. American officials had occasionally intervened in the past when other countries offered to supply weapons.

Lebanon's air force consists of only a few 1950s-era jets and a small number of Vietnam War-era helicopters. The MiG-29, often compared to the American F-16 fighter, is vastly more powerful than anything Washington was considering providing to Lebanon. The most recent Pentagon offer, in terms of air power, is a Cessna Caravan, a single-engine prop plane.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119618§ionid=351020203.

Four soldiers killed in Mogadishu blast

Sat Feb 27, 2010

At least four Somali soldiers have been killed when a remote-controlled landmine blasted in Mogadishu' Manabolyo intersection, eyewitnesses say.

The Friday explosion killed four government soldiers on the spot while seriously injuring five others, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The blast targeted a vehicle carrying a Somali government delegation while on a security mission in the area.

No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion as yet, but al-Shabab fighters frequently target government soldiers with landmines.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/119617.html.

UK jails more Muslims for 2009 anti-Israeli rally

Five more British protesters have been sent to jail for taking part in anti-Gaza war protests rally in front of the Israeli Embassy in London last January.

The courtroom's entrance was packed with a crowd of demonstrators, chanting slogans in defense of the right to protest. Some believed this was an intent government crackdown on Muslim protesters.

A Press TV correspondent reported that Saturday's ruling came despite the presiding judge's admission that in some of the cases the unlawful behavior had only lasted several minutes.

In total, 78 people are facing law suits after being arrested in the hours-long rally against Israel's military assault on Gaza. The charges vary from clashing with the police to damaging public property.

Out of that number, 20 people have already been tried and handed sentences in a move which authorities say is aimed deterring others from the same offenses.

The sentencing comes two weeks after the same court sent six British Muslim men, between 19 and 20 years old, to jailed for periods of between one and two years each in jail for violent conduct.

This is while a human rights organization's charges of police brutality have largely been dismissed.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission also said the police had failed to investigate up to 30 complaints against the Metropolitan police force.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119627§ionid=351020601.

UK to 'withdraw from Afghanistan in 6 years'

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

The head of the UK army says the war in Afghanistan will come to an end next year and British troops could be pulled out the country within six years.

In an interview published Saturday in the UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph, General Sir David Richards said that coalition forces had reached a "turning point" in the battle against the Taliban, thanks to the recent NATO-led operation in the Helmand province of southern Afghanistan against the Taliban.

He added that the current 10,000-strong British force could be reduced from next year and the majority could leave the country within the next five years.

"The combat role will start to decline in 2011, but we will remain militarily engaged in training and support roles for another five years," he said.

The General's comments come as he had warned, just seven months ago, that Britain could be involved in Afghanistan for up to 40 years. The head of the British army added at that time that the British forces will remain in a support role for many years to come.

Whilst acknowledging the public pressure to pull out British forces from Afghanistan, he stressed the importance of defeating the Taliban.

"I do not think we can afford to fail in Afghanistan," he said in the interview.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119616§ionid=351020403.

Somali pirates free Indonesian ship for $7.5mn

Sat Feb 27, 2010

Somali pirates have received the largest ransom of $7.5 million for releasing an Indonesian ship carrying chemicals and its 28 crew.

It has been the largest amount of ransom paid to Somali pirates so far for releasing a foreign ship hijacked in Gulf of Aden, Press TV's correspondent said.

A source close to pirates, Abdi Risaaq Faytaan, said that since the chemicals were urgently needed, the ship's owner agreed to pay $7.5 million to the pirates.

In the meantime, the Somali pirates also shot dead a Yemeni fishing captain who delivered a cargo of weapons to the Somali government's officials at Puntland seaport of Bosaso, our correspondent added .

Heavy and small weapons are said to be flooded from Yemen to Somalia on a regular basis. They cause daily attacks in Somalia and increase the endless hostility among people of Somalia.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/119608.html.

Spain's royal palace opens up to improve image - Feature

Madrid - Meetings between the Spanish king and government officials are usually kept under wraps - but recently the royal palace has embarked on a campaign of openness in an attempt to cement support for the monarchy. Spaniards previously knew little about whom 72-year-old King Juan Carlos received at his office, with the Zarzuela palace only releasing information on high-level royal activities with photo opportunities.

However, the monarchy's position is deemed by some to have become weaker in recent years, and now "Juan Carlos wants all Spaniards to know about his work," as new palace communications chief Ramon Iribarren told the daily El Pais.

Media have consequently been able to report on the recent meetings held between the king and Economy Minister Elena Salgado, as well as with bank and trade union representatives.

Iribarren informed El Pais about the new media policy at the same time as the palace faced criticism over what was perceived as the king's interference in politics and over the divorce of Princess Elena, Juan Carlos' and Queen Sofia's eldest child.

The monarchy is not regarded as having particularly solid foundations in Spain, which has experienced two republics and the right-wing dictatorship of General Francisco Franco in the past 140 years.

Juan Carlos became king after the 1975 death of Franco, who had picked the prince to succeed him as head of state.

Initially seen as the dictator's puppet, the young king only won the full trust of his subjects after thwarting a coup attempt in 1981.

Spaniards are often described as juancarlists rather than monarchists. Even relatively minor incidents are easily interpreted as raising questions about the future of the monarchy after Juan Carlos is succeeded by his son Felipe.

Over the past few years, the biggest apparent challenge to the monarchy has come from separatists in the northern Catalan and Basque regions, who see the royals as representing the centralist Spanish state.

Small groups of Catalan demonstrators burned pictures of Juan Carlos and Sofia in 2007. A prominent Basque politician has also slammed the monarchy, and separatists from both regions have booed the royal couple at sports events.

The king and queen faced such protests at a basketball game in the Basque region earlier this week, with separatists whistling and shouting: "Out! Out!"

The royal family earlier came under criticism over Sofia's negative comments on homosexual activism.

Elena's divorce - the first in the royal family - has also sparked controversy, as has the palace's alleged speediness in stripping her former husband of a public role.

Juan Carlos has repeatedly been accused of meddling in politics, though Spanish politicians also profess admiration of his mediating skills.

In 2007, the king told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to keep quiet after Chavez harshly criticized a former Spanish prime minister at an Ibero-American summit.

The king's comment to Chavez, "why don't you shut up," became a catch phrase while the government struggled to prevent it from damaging bilateral relations.

More recently, Juan Carlos has expressed concern over Spain's slowness in recovering from its deepest recession in more than 50 years, urging the political parties to enter a pact against the crisis.

The king's talks with Salgado, trade union and bank representatives - all of whom he met separately - were seen as serving that end.

But Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega sought to define the limits of royal power, pointing out that seeking agreements against the crisis was "the exclusive task of the government."

Gaspar Llamazares from the far-left party Izquierda Unida agreed with Vega. But Juan Carlos won a surprise ally in Josep Lluis Carod-Rovira, the Catalan regional deputy prime minister who belongs to the republican separatist party ERC.

The king's call for political unity against the economic crisis was "absolutely indispensable," Carod-Rovira said, explaining he had an "almost cordial" personal relationship with Juan Carlos despite his opposition to the monarchy.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311563,spains-royal-palace-opens-up-to-improve-image--feature.html.

Indian premier visits Saudi Arabia to boost strategic ties

New Delhi - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia Saturday with an aim to boost economic ties and defense and security cooperation. An extradition treaty and several other agreements are expected to be signed during Singh's visit, Indian diplomatic officials said.

It is the first by an Indian premier to Saudi Arabia in 28 years.

Singh said there was great opportunity for opening new frontiers of cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the areas of security, defense, science and technology, space, human resources development and knowledge-based industries.

"The Gulf region is an area of vital importance for India's security and prosperity," Singh said. He was accompanied by several ministers and a 25-member delegation of business leaders.

Saudi Arabia is India's largest supplier of crude oil. It is also home to an Indian community numbering at least 1.8 million.

Singh was scheduled to hold talks with King Abdullah on bilateral relations, and discuss regional and global issues including Afghanistan, according to Lalitha Reddy, secretary in India's External Affairs Ministry.

The prime minister also planned to address the Shoura Council, an influential body of Saudi intellectuals, and the Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He was also expected to meet members of the Indian community.

Bilateral trade between India and Saudi Arabia during 2008-09 was more than 25 billion dollars.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311586,indian-premier-visits-saudi-arabia-to-boost-strategic-ties.html.

Fireworks explosion kills 19 in southern China

Beijing - A fireworks-triggered explosion killed 19 people and injured at least 50 in southern China, state media reported Saturday. The explosion in Guangdong province's Puning City occurred Friday night when a farmer was setting off fireworks in front of his house to celebrate the Lunar New Year, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing local authorities.

The bodies of 13 people were recovered at the site and a further six people died in hospital, the report said.

A villager surnamed Yang said his house, which was 200 meters from the explosion, had cracks in the walls and door.

The provincial government was working to establish the cause of the explosion, state media reported.

Puning City authorities said they would tighten controls on houses found using illegal and large-scale fireworks, according to the semi-official China News Service.

China's 15-day New Year's season, a time when bans on fireworks are lifted, has seen at least 35 other fireworks-related deaths and millions of dollars worth of damage to property. The holiday ends Sunday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311573,fireworks-explosion-kills-19-in-southern-china.html.

India sends aircraft to retrieve bodies of Kabul victims

New Delhi - India on Saturday sent a special aircraft to Afghanistan to bring the back the bodies of nine Indians, including two army officers, who were killed in suicide attacks in Kabul. The Indian victims were among 17 killed in Taliban attacks on a guesthouse and a hotel in downtown Kabul on Friday.

A Boeing 737-200 aircraft took off from New Delhi to retrieve the bodies and injured people, IANS news agency quoted Indian Air Force officials as saying.

A team of medical officers and medicines was also sent on the aircraft.

Soldiers and officials from India's Ministry of External Affairs had already reached Kabul to review the security situation.

The Indians who died include two army officers, government officials, an Indo-Tibetan Border Police constable and a tabla player who was part of a three-member cultural delegation to Afghanistan.

Five other army officers were injured in the attack.

India is one of the leading donors for Afghanistan and has spent more than 1 billion US dollars in the country since the ouster of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

At least 4,000 Indians are currently in Afghanistan, carrying out reconstruction activities ranging from building roads, dams and power stations to training Afghan personnel.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai telephoned Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and promised a full investigation into the terror attacks.

"President Hamid Karzai today called the prime minister to express his condolences on the loss of Indian lives and injuries sustained by many others in the terrorist attack in Kabul," a statement from Singh's office said.

"President Karzai promised a full investigation into the attack. The prime minister conveyed India's outrage at the incident."

Singh thanked Karzai for assistance given to Indian victims and asked him to ensure security for Indian nationals in Afghanistan, the statement added.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311593,india-sends-aircraft-to-retrieve-bodies-of-kabul-victims.html.

Spain braces for massive storm

Madrid - Spanish authorities sounded the alarm Saturday as a massive storm front moving in from the Atlantic Ocean approached the Iberian Peninsula. On coastal regions in the northern part of the country, officials declared the highest alert status as the storm approached.

Meteorologists spoke of an "explosive" weather situation and a "meteorological bomb" approaching the country.

The storm front was expected to strike Spain overnight from Saturday to Sunday. Authorities urged people to stay at home, while lorries were ordered off the roads.

The Spanish government also set up an emergency team led by Interior Minister Perez Rubalcaba.

Overnight, the storm struck the Canary Islands, with winds of 120 kilometers per hour and, in some cases in the mountains of La Palma, speeds of up to 190 kilometers per hour.

Numerous flights were canceled on La Palma and several roads were shut down, as the winds uprooted trees and lamp posts on La Palma and the neighboring island Teneriffa.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311610,spain-braces-for-massive-storm.html.

Ex-UN nuclear chief: Egypt is desperate for change

By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer

(AP Photo)


CAIRO – The ex-U.N. nuclear chief who has emerged as an opposition leader in Egypt warned Saturday that the long-ruling government could face a popular uprising if it doesn't respond to appeals for change.

Mohamed ElBaradei, who returned to Cairo a week ago to a hero's welcome by supporters who see him as a possible rival to President Hosni Mubarak in upcoming elections, told The Associated Press that he hopes to create a peaceful public movement pressing for electoral reforms.

ElBaradei said Egyptians are desperate for change. When asked if Egypt's government could face protests like those that broke out in Iran, he said he hopes to avoid that but it was ultimately up to the ruling system.

"It is inevitable that change will come to Egypt. What I'm trying to do is pre-empt a point of clash between the government and the people," he said in an interview in the garden of his home on the outskirts of Cairo.

ElBaradei, 67, was coy about whether he plans to run in the 2011 presidential vote, saying that his main focus is on drumming up support for his efforts to promote change and rallying the public as well as fellow opposition leaders behind his campaign.

Existing restrictions make it practically impossible for independents to run, meaning that ElBaradei's chances are dim without long-sought constitutional amendments. But his supporters see the former Egyptian diplomat as the most credible opposition leader to emerge in a U.S.-allied country ruled for nearly three decades by Mubarak.

ElBaradei, who has begun forming a coalition with other opposition leaders, said he plans to launch up a Web site to collect signatures from the public with a list of demands to present to the government.

Hassan Nafaa, the coordinator for the new group, said the demands included changing the constitution to enable independents and new party candidates to run in the presidential election and lifting emergency laws that have been in force for nearly three decades. The petition is the first phase, and protests are another option being considered by the group, Nafaa said.

ElBaradei — who won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize and left his Vienna-based post as director general International Atomic Energy Agency late last year — said he hopes his movement will have a snowball effect.

"There is nothing more powerful than an idea that people believe in... The only power I have is the power of argument, the power of ideas," he said.

Opposition movements have failed to gain momentum in the past as the regime — backed by long-standing emergency laws — frequently jails journalists, pro-reform activists and political opponents.

Established opposition groups also have been weakened by an aging leadership and lack of a popular base.

Supporters hope that ElBaradei, a civilian with international stature and untouched by corruption tainting the Egyptian system, will be able to seize the momentum and build a following to force the government to change.

Since his return, ElBaradei has met various groups at his house. He met with youth representatives who initiated a petition calling on him to run for presidency. Over 100,000 people have joined a Facebook group supporting his candidacy.

He also met with women representatives and the Arab League's Secretary General Amr Moussa at his office, whose name was also floated by reformists looking for a possible rival to Mubarak.

Since taking office in 1981, Mubarak has not named a successor and never had a vice president but he is believed to be grooming his son Gamal to succeed him. The initial constitutional amendments were seen as paving the way for father to son succession.

Pirates seize trucks to get colleagues freed

February 26 2010

Mogadishu - In a rare land attack, Somali pirates in Puntland have seized food aid trucks and their drivers to obtain the release of detained comrades.

The five trucks were intercepted after delivering food aid for the UN's World Food Program in the Galkayo area of the semi-autonomous northern Somali state of Puntland, which harbors several major pirate lairs.

They were seized on Thursday on their way back to Berbera, the main port in the neighboring breakaway state of Somaliland.

"The pirates hijacked five trucks with nine people on board and took them to their base in Garaad," said Abdullahi Mohamed, a security official in Galkayo, speaking by telephone.

"They are demanding the release of their colleagues arrested recently by the Somaliland security forces."

Colonel Dahir Jama, a police officer, said: "We heard pirates took civilians from Somaliland region as hostages and we are still investigating the incident."

The Somaliland authorities have arrested and jailed dozens of pirates from Puntland in the Gulf of Aden recently.

Abdi Jamal, a pirate, said by phone from Garaad: "We are treating the hostages well here in Garaad and our aim is to get our friends in the jails of Somaliland freed.

"We are not demanding anything else. When our friends are free and back home we will free the drivers and the trucks."

Dozens of other trucks transporting food aid in the same region are stranded in Galkayo, their drivers afraid to continue.

"There are many trucks from Somaliland still here in Galkayo, too afraid to return, but we will give them escorts," Jama said.

Source: Independent Online.
Link: http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/pirates-seize-trucks-to-get-colleagues-freed-1.474680#.U70n2PQW2So.

Dubai: international police to hunt Mabhuh murderers

Dubai police say have DNA proof of identity of at least one of suspected Mossad agents.

DUBAI - An international police unit with officers from the Emirates and at least seven other countries will hunt for the assassins of a top Hamas officer suspected of being notorious Israeli Mossad agents, Dubai's police chief said in comments published on Friday.

The Al-Bayan daily quoted Dhahi Khalfan as saying that officers from the United Arab Emirates, unspecified European countries, Australia and perhaps the United States, would be part of the unit.

He said that some of his officers had already traveled to several "European countries concerned" with the investigation, the government-owned daily reported.

Khalfan did not name the countries, but the murder of Mahmud al-Mabhuh, whose body was found in a Dubai hotel room on January 20, has mounted international pressure on Israel after Dubai said that Israeli agents, most using stolen identities, had carried out the Cold War-style hit.

"We will work via European and Australian diplomatic channels -- and perhaps American -- to set up a working team formed from the Emirates police force and those of at least seven other states to track down the gang responsible for the assassination," the newspaper quoted Khalfan as saying.

Dubai police have published details of 26 suspects together with passport photographs.

Twelve British, six Irish, four French, one German and three Australian passports were used by the suspects, according to Dubai police.

The international police organization, Interpol, has circulated warrants for the arrest of 11 suspects, after Dubai released their names and passport details.

Dubai later said it had 15 other suspects, and Khalfan said warrants for their arrest would be circulated through Interpol next week.

The revelation of stolen identities being used by suspected Israeli agents has caused an outcry, with Australia threatening it would "not be silent on the matter," and Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin saying "we are very angry."

Israel has said there is no evidence that its spy agency, the Mossad, was behind the hit.

Khalfan denied media reports that some of the suspects had carried diplomatic passports.

He said that his force had succeeded in identifying the suspects, even though some had worn wigs during the operation.

The suspects were identified by footage from closed circuit televisions, which abound in security-conscious Dubai.

Dubai police said on Friday they have DNA proof of the identity of at least one of the assassins of Mabhuh.

"We have DNA evidence ... from the crime scene. The DNA of the criminals is there," Khalfan said on the Arab satellite television Al-Arabiya.

He said police had "categorical DNA proof on one of the assassins" and fingerprint evidence from several other suspects, providing "100 percent" proof of their identities.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=375.

Low expectation for US withdrawal from Iraq

US seen as using Iraqi political discord to justify continuance of American troops' presence.

By Dahr Jamail - WASHINGTON

As Iraqi national elections on March 7 approach, violence and political discord in the country have escalated dramatically.

On February 22, Gen. Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, announced that the US was preparing contingency plans to delay the withdrawal of all combat forces from Iraq if violence or political instability increases after the national elections scheduled for March 7.

There are approximately 96,000 US military personnel in Iraq. Under President Obama's current plan, which is a continuation of George W. Bush's policy in Iraq, the stated intention is to cut the number of US troops in Iraq to 50,000 by August 31.

The US government plans to keep at least 50,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely, as a so-called training force for Iraqi security forces.

On February 22 alone, the same day General Odierno made his comments, at least 44 Iraqis and one US soldier were killed as attacks raged across Iraq. In one of the attacks, a female suicide bomber killed 22 people and wounded 33 others in an attack at the home of a police commissioner in Balad Ruz. In another, three mortar rounds struck the so-called Green Zone in Baghdad, wounding at least six people.

The attacks have drawn comparisons by Iraqi analysts to rampant attacks that occurred during the sectarian bloodshed that ravaged Iraq between 2006-2007.

On February 19, just days before Odierno made his comment about the possibility of ongoing violence slowing a US withdrawal, US Brig. Gen. Kevin Mangum warned that violence in Iraq could worsen as a result of the upcoming elections.

The elections have been seen as a pivotal point for the Obama administration, with the expectation that they would bring more political stability to Iraq, further enabling a US withdrawal.

Instead, thus far, they are having the opposite effect, as General Mangum suggested might happen.

"Will there be sectarian strife after the election?" asked Mangum. "That's our biggest concern at this point."

Mangum, one of the senior military commanders in Iraq, warned that the period after Iraq's national vote may well be more dangerous than election day itself. Mangum's comments show that the military could already expect Odierno's contingency plans of slowing the withdrawal to be a reality.

Meanwhile, Iraq's political process appears to already be in a state of breakdown largely fomented by current and formerly US-backed players.

Months of delays and growing calls for boycotts, along with actual boycotts of the election from candidates and groups recently banned from participating are fueling political discord that threatens to prevent any party from successfully forming a government in the wake of the elections.

One of Iraq's most prominent Sunni Parliamentarian's, Saleh al-Mutlaq of Iraq's National Dialogue Front, recently decided to pull his party out of the elections and boycott the vote, after being banned by the Accountability and Justice Committee for accusations of having affiliations with Iraq's dissolved Baath Party.

Mutlaq is protesting what he along with many Shia politicians call a "dirty tricks" campaign that he believes is masterminded by Iran that aims to secure power for a Shia government. Many analysts see his move as a reflection of the Sunni boycott of the 2005 Parliamentary elections that led to a large portion of Iraq's population being disenfranchised by the vote, and was viewed as a major contributor to the sectarian violence that followed.

[The National Dialogue Front announced on Thursday February 26 that it will take part in next month's general election and urged its followers to turn out in numbers.]

Mutlaq's accusations gain credibility where Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is concerned.

The US government and corporate media prefer to focus on Iran's "meddling" in Iraq; yet, the key players responsible for most of the political discord in Iraq are US-installed and -backed men who have always had clear links to Tehran.

Maliki is a case in point.

Maliki was an Iraqi in exile in Tehran from 1982-1990, and then remained in Syria before returning to Iraq after the US invasion of 2003. Maliki worked as a political officer for the Dawa Party while in Syria, developing close ties with Hezbollah and Iran.

The Dawa party backed the Iranian Revolution, as well as backing Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the Iran-Iraq War. The group continues to receive financial support from Tehran. Maliki is the secretary general of the Dawa Party.

In April 2006, then US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and her UK counterpart, Jack Straw, flew to Baghdad in order to replace then Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafaari with Nouri al-Maliki. There was no democratic process involved in the decision.

Another US-backed Iraqi ex-patriot with ties to Iran is Ahmed Chalabi.

Recently the US Ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill, along with General Odierno, referred to Chalabi as Tehran's leading agent in Iraq. Chalabi, who leads Iraq's Justice and Accountability Committee that has been banning certain candidates from the upcoming vote, was said to be "clearly influenced by Iran" last week by General Odierno.

Chalabi played a major role in providing the Bush administration with information it wanted in order to justify invading Iraq. He is responsible for having Mutlaq, along with hundreds of other candidates, eliminated from the election on the mostly fraudulent grounds that they are or were loyalists of Saddam Hussein's Baath party.

Along with Sunni leaders, his targets also include secular nationalists, and the two most important candidates who have been banned are leading members of cross-sectarian alliances, which raises fears that Iraq could be drifting toward a Shiite autocracy.

Another leading Sunni political party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, blames the US for opening the door to "Iranian influence" in Iraq, as well as for the National Dialogue Front's (NDF) decision to boycott the March polls.

"We in the Iraqi Islamic Party are surprised to read statements from the US regarding the negative Iranian interference in internal Iraqi affairs," the party said in a February 22 statement, expressing its "sorrow" over the NDF's decision to boycott.

"We ask: Who made Iraqi land an open theater for regional and international interference? Who is legally and ethically responsible for the violations of Iraq?," said the group's statement.

Threats and accusations are being hurled by the Iraqi government as well as the opposition.

On February 20, As-Sabah news reported that Maliki has claimed external money is being introduced to Iraq in order to change the result of the upcoming elections.

On February 21, the Al-Jarida newspaper reported that Mutlaq gave this as a reason for his decision to boycott the elections: "Following the statements made yesterday by the commander of the American troops in Iraq, General Ray Odierno, and those of US Ambassador to Baghdad Christopher Hill, I believe that the Justice and Accountability Committee is run by foreign sides, namely Al-Quds force in Tehran. Therefore, the Dialogue Front has announced its boycotting of the elections."

The Quds Force is a special unit of Iran's Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. The Quds has been described as a group whose primary mission is to organize, train, equip and fund foreign Islamic revolutionary movements, and they report directly to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

As a result of all of this, international observers of the upcoming elections in Iraq have lowered their expectations for the poll. Few diplomats in Baghdad now talk of "free and fair elections." Instead, the new publicly stated goal is to have a "credible election"; yet, even that seems doubtful at this point.

On February 23, the Al-Arab newspaper carried an opinion piece by Fadel al-Rubaie. "Political observers are assuring that the post-elections stage will be much more dangerous than the current one (pre-elections) because the conflict will erupt between the different powers and on more than one front," wrote Rubaie before he went on to discuss much of the aforementioned political machinations between the candidates and parties.

For these reasons, as well as other volatile issues like Kurdish control of Kirkuk in the north and the issue of federalism in Iraq, Rubaie's conclusion is ominous: "For all those reasons, it would be delusional to say that the magical solution to Iraq's predicament resides in the elections, since quite the contrary, these elections could open the gates of hell."

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37524.

Turkish PM warns army: 'No one above law'

Erdogan: those who plan to crush the people's will face justice, no one has impunity.

ISTANBUL - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the army Friday that no one is above the law as prosecutors grilled the suspected ringleader of an alleged 2003 coup plan to oust the democratically elected government.

"Those who make plans behind closed doors to crush the people's will must see that from now on they will face justice," Erdogan told a party gathering in Ankara as 11 more soldiers were charged in the unprecedented judicial onslaught against the influential Turkish military.

"No one is above the law, no one has impunity," he added.

The investigation has rattled the country, raising fears of an open confrontation between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the army.

Erdogan dismissed accusations that his party was trying to discredit the army, and described the probe a step towards improving the country's democracy.

"What is happening today is normalization... These are the footsteps of an advanced democracy," he said. "No one should have doubts and fears... Turkey is moving towards an advanced democracy."

The Turkish army has ousted four governments since 1960 and wielded significant influence on politics, but has seen its clout wane under reforms spearhead by Erdogan's government.

In Istanbul, prosecutors were questioning retired four-star general Cetin Dogan, who allegedly spearheaded the coup plot, Anatolia news agency said.

Earlier, a court jailed 11 more suspects pending trial, bringing the total number of those incarcerated to 31, including both serving and retired soldiers.

The three most senior figures questioned so far -- ex-navy chief Ozden Ornek, former air force commander Ibrahim Firtina and the former number two of the general staff, Ergin Saygun -- were released by prosecutors late Thursday in a move welcomed as a gesture de-escalating tensions in the short term.

However, the prosecutor in charge said the investigation was continuing, raising the possibility that the trio may still face trial.

Detailed charges against the suspects will become clear once the prosecution draws up its indictment.

The alleged coup plot is said to have been drafted in 2003 within the Istanbul-based First Army, shortly after the AKP came to power.

The First Army was at the time headed by Dogan, who was also a key figure in a harsh army campaign in 1997 that forced Turkey's prime minister and Erdogan's mentor, Necmettin Erbakan, to resign.

Several other soldiers were also to be questioned Friday, Anatolia said.

It is unknown whether the suspects made any move to activate the plan, codenamed "Operation Sledgehammer", first reported in January by the Taraf newspaper.

The plot allegedly involved plans to bomb mosques and provoke tensions with Greece to force the downing of a Turkish jet, thus discrediting the government and leading to its downfall.

Taraf said the plan was discussed in a seminar in March 2003, chaired by Dogan.

Denying any coup plot, Dogan has said they only discussed contingency plans based on a scenario of domestic unrest involving Islamist movements, coupled with the threat of a war.

He has charged that seminar documents were doctored to include plans to bomb mosques and for the downing of a Turkish jet.

Amid allegations that army members made a series of plans to discredit and topple the AKP, government supporters say the army must be forced to toe the line and stop meddling in politics.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37517.

Israel PM under fire at home over holy sites plan

Three of Israel's leading dailies accuse Netanyahu of pandering to settler lobby, far right.

TEL AVIV- Harline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was lambasted by the Israeli press Friday over his plans to renovate two holy sites in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank, with two papers warning he is playing with fire.

The Israeli move is seen as an attempt to retain illegal Israeli control of holy sites in the Palestinian territories.

Three of Israel's leading dailies accused the prime minister of pandering to the settler lobby and the far right.

Netanyahu sparked outrage earlier this week when he said he hoped to include Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron in a national heritage restoration plan.

The liberal daily Haaretz and the Yediot Aharonot carried cartoons of Netanyahu with a box of matches, indicating how provocative they saw his proposals to be.

Haaretz dubbed the prime minister a "master pyromaniac" for the move, which has infuriated the Muslim world and drawn criticism from the wider international community, including the US.

The paper recalled that it was Netanyahu who during a previous term as premier in 1996 sparked bloody riots in Jerusalem by ordering the opening of a tunnel under the Al-Asqa mosque compound.

The paper asked whether it was really necessary to "open such a Pandora's box at a time when the world is looking for a resumption of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians."

"Netanyahu has shown once again that he is incapable of standing up to pressure," it added, recalling that the two sites were not included on a preliminary list of heritage sites.

The rightwing Maariv newspaper was also critical, accusing the prime minister of "having learnt nothing from the past."

Around 100 Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops in Hebron on Thursday in a fourth straight day of angry protests over the proposed listings, which even Israel's US ally has criticized as "provocative."

The Islamic bloc at the United Nations called for international action to force Israel to rescind its decision.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37519.

OIC wants UN action on Palestinian holy sites

Islamic bloc condemns 'illegality and illegitimacy' of Israeli plans in Palestinian city of Hebron.

UNITED NATIONS - The Islamic bloc at the United Nations on Thursday called for international action to force Israel to rescind its decision to renovate two contested holy sites in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank.

The Israeli move is seen as an attempt to retain illegal Israeli control of holy sites in the Palestinian territories.

Syria's UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari, speaking on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) UN ambassadors, condemned the "illegality and illegitimacy" of the Israeli decision which is "null and void."

They called on all relevant UN bodies "to take urgent, necessary measures to force Israel to rescind this decision" and urged the Security Council, the General Assembly and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to "shoulder their responsibility."

The Obama administration Thursday criticized Israel's "provocative" plans in the two holy sites.

Hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem would be included in a heritage restoration plan.

The decision infuriated Palestinians, with senior officials in the West Bank saying it could prevent the resumption of peace talks and the democratically elected Hamas in Gaza calling on Palestinians to "rise up" for a third Intifada against Israeli occupation.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday denounced Israeli "provocation" over the two holy sites that could unleash a "religious war".

The Hebron site, revered by Jews and Muslims as the burial place of the biblical patriarch Abraham, has frequently been the scene of violent tensions.

A few hundred extremist Jewish settlers live under heavy Israeli occupation military protection near the site in the heart of the Palestinian town of 160,000.

Israelis worship in a part of the Ibrahimi mosque above the tomb which has been converted into a synagogue.

The mosque was the site of the infamous 1994 shooting massacre of 29 Palestinian worshipers by the US-born Jewish extremist Baruch Goldstein.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37508.

Dubai hit squad underestimated police: expert

Ashley Hall, ABC

A former top level US intelligence official says the assassination in Dubai of a Hamas operative has all the hallmarks of the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.

He believes the Israeli operatives badly bungled the job because they underestimated the competency of the Dubai police.

Three Australians with dual citizenship have been named as suspects in the investigation because copies of their passports have been linked to the killing. All say they were victims of identity theft.

The Israeli Government says there is absolutely no evidence that it sanctioned the use of Australian passports by the alleged assassins.

And Israel insists that no other government has accused it of involvement in last month's assassination of the Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.

But there has been no shortage of independent commentators ready to make that link.

Retired army colonel Patrick Lang spent eight years as the head of intelligence for the Middle East and South Asia for the US Defence Department, and for that time was the chief liaison with Israeli military intelligence.

And Mr Lang says the use of fake documents is standard practice for intelligence operatives.

"I certainly think it was the Mossad. Israelis, in particular this Israeli government, are obsessed with Hamas and its leadership," he said.

"They think that if they can kill off enough Hamas leadership then they will be able to make some sort of peace ... with the PLO leaders who are now the provisional government of Palestine, really."

Bungled job

Mr Lang believes the intelligence operatives badly bungled the assassination.

"I think this is a case in which a project often-time will be over-thought and over-engineered," he said.

"The more people look at it and the more they throw resources at a job they want to do, the team gets bigger and bigger and bigger and the thing gets more and more complicated.

"The more complicated it is, the more likely it is to fail or get terribly messed up in some way, as this did."

The Israeli government says there is no evidence linking Israel to the crime but Mr Lang says denial is standard practice.

"Any intelligence service that is anyway worthy of its name, when faced with a mess like this, looks you squarely in the eye and says, 'not us'," he said.

"It smiles and invites you to lunch next week and walks away. That's what they do. So what they say has nothing to do with anything."

Fake passports

Since the killing, Dubai police have released information suggesting the assassins were travelling on fraudulent passports from countries including Britain, France, Ireland, Germany and Australia.

That accusation provoked a strong response from Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, who yesterday summoned Israel's ambassador, Yuval Rotem, to a meeting to discuss the affair.

Mr Smith told Mr Rotem that if Australian passports were misused by Israel, this would not be regarded as "the act of a friend".

A former Mossad officer has alleged the Israeli spy agency has its own "passport factory" to create or doctor passports for use in intelligence operations.

And Mr Lang says using forged travel documents is usual procedure for intelligence agencies.

"Any intelligence service in the world which wishes to operate on a global basis is going to have the ability to reproduce travel documents," he said.

"You should accept the idea that it is something which is going to happen."

But he says any country forging passports would be careful about which nationalities it fakes.

"I haven't heard of them using any American passports in this operation so far. It would be interesting to see if in fact any turn up. I bet there won't be any," he said.

'No evidence'

But the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Robert Goot, says Mr Lang's analysis holds no water and there is "no evidence" the hit was a Mossad operation.

"An investigation, quite properly, has been announced by the Foreign Minister, to be conducted by the Australian Federal Police and ASIO," he said.

"And once there are some hard facts and evidence established by that investigation, then that would be the time to comment.

"I'm sure that the [Australian Jewish] community shares the Australian Government's deep concern at the possible abuse of Australian passports by any country."

Mr Smith's office says the investigation will be contingent on the Dubai police investigation into the assassination itself.

And that investigation is likely to take weeks rather than days.

More officers jailed in Turkey coup plot investigation

Istanbul - A Turkish court Friday jailed, pending trial, 11 more high-ranking military officers as part of an ongoing investigation into an alleged plot to topple the country's liberal Islamic government. A total of 31 officers, both serving and retired, have now been jailed in the investigation, among them several admirals and generals.

At the same time, the court released the former chiefs of the Navy and Air Force, who had been arrested on Monday as part of a group of 49 high-ranking military commanders who were rounded up on Monday in connection with the alleged coup plan.

The plot, dubbed "Sledgehammer," allegedly aimed to create chaos and political turbulence in the hopes of removing the liberal Islamic government of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The 2003 plan possibly included the bombing of popular mosques and the ratcheting up of military tensions with Aegean neighbor Greece. It was never carried out.

The coup allegations, which the military rejects, have led to increased tension between the government and the armed forces. Turkey's President, Prime Minister and its Chief of Staff met yesterday in Ankara in an effort to defuse the situation.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311418,more-officers-jailed-in-turkey-coup-plot-investigation.html.

Israel seals off West Bank for Jewish holiday

Tel Aviv - The Israeli military announced it had shut key military checkpoints in the occupied West Bank and around Jerusalem for the coming four days, starting Friday. The move aims at preventing potential Palestinian militants from reaching Israeli cities or Jewish settlements and carrying out attacks during the Jewish holiday of Purim.

A military statement said the "general closure" began at midnight Thursday and would be in place until Monday night.

No Palestinian workers would be allowed to enter Israel, although there would be exceptions for medical personnel, NGO members, lawyers, religious workers and journalists, provided they used checkpoints.

Many Palestinians work in Israel's construction industry.

Sealing off the West Bank for the duration of Jewish holidays has become a habit since a wave of deadly suicide bombings in Israeli cities, which peaked in 2002.

The Purim holiday starts at nightfall Saturday and ends at sunset Sunday. However, many towns and cities organize parades on Friday. Schools and kindergarten also have costume parties.

The holiday marks the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot to annihilate them when they lived in exile in the ancient Persian Empire. The story is recorded in the biblical Book of Esther.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311420,israel-seals-off-west-bank-for-jewish-holiday.html.

Leader of Kurdish organization arrested trying to enter Netherlands

Amsterdam - Dutch police arrested an alleged top member of the Kurdish resistance movement PKK as he tried to enter the Netherlands, his lawyer told local media Friday. Hasan Adir, who allegedly heads PKK operations in Germany, was arrested while driving from Germany to Venlo, a town in the south- east of the country near the Dutch-German border.

Turkey claims Adir, who resides in Germany, is a leading figure in the PKK or Kurdistan Workers Party, a separatist movement defined as terrorist under Turkish law.

The arrest took already place on January 19, his lawyer Bart Nooitgedacht said. Turkey has meanwhile asked for Adir's extradition.

The Dutch Justice Ministry confirmed Adir's arrest and said an extradition hearing is due to take place in the court in the southern town of Roermond on March 18.

Nooitgedacht says his client will protest extradition because he fears he would be tortured or killed in Turkey. He claims Turkish officials already tortured him before and that he fled to Germany after Turkish officials killed several of his relatives.

Nooitgedacht also says Germany has effectively acknowledged his client's fears are legitimate and that this is why his current country of residence also refused to extradite him.

"A German court has already established my client runs the risk of being tortured. Turkey considers him to be a state risk and as someone who can provide information about a terrorist organization," Nooitgedacht said.

The lawyer added Adir was "never involved in illegal business. He is a political activist and protests the fact the Dutch are treating him like a terrorist."

Turkey claims Adir is an important and leading figure in the PKK. In 2004, a German court sentenced him to two years and eight months imprisonment for involvement in PKK-related violent activities.

The Kurdish Workers Party PKK is listed as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States.

The PKK, formed in the late 1970s with the aim of creating an independent Kurdistan, has been engaged in an armed struggle against Turkey that has claimed thousands of lives.

Turkey, which fought a long and bloody war against Kurdish separatists in the 1990s, has been urging EU nations to crack down harder on offshoots of the PKK, which draws a significant part of its funding from Kurdish migrants working in rich nations.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311424,leader-of-kurdish-organization-arrested-trying-to-enter-netherlands.html.

Turkish pop star detained in drug bust

Istanbul - One of Turkey's leading pop stars has been arrested in a police drug sweep, local media reported on Friday. Singer Tarkan Tevetoglu, popularly known only by his first name, was detained in Istanbul late Thursday along with several others, reports said.

The German-born Tarkan, 37, is one of Turkey's most popular performers, scoring several chart-topping hits over the last several years. He was recently one of the headline performers at an event kicking off the celebrations of Istanbul's year as a "European Capital of Culture."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311422,turkish-pop-star-detained-in-drug-bust.html.

Algeria launches first Maghreb visual arts expo

2010-02-26

Painters and sculptors from Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania and Libya are showing their works this week in Bordj Bou Arreridj at the first Maghreb Visual Arts Exhibition, APS reported on Friday (February 26th). The event, which runs through Saturday, aims to make Kabylie's Bibans region a "Maghreb land for the arts".

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/02/26/newsbrief-04.

Algeria supports death penalty abolition

2010-02-26

Algeria plans to support Spain's proposal to set up an international commission against the death penalty, El Watan quoted the chief of the National Consultative Committee for Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (CNCPPDH) as saying on Thursday (February 25th). Farouk Ksentini was speaking on the sidelines of the 4th Congress against the Death Penalty, held February 24th-26th in Geneva.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/02/26/newsbrief-02.

Colleague kills Algerian police chief in murder-suicide attempt

2010-02-26

Slain Algerian national police chief Ali Tounsi, 73, was buried at Algiers's El Alia cemetery on Friday (February 26th), one day after he was shot by a colleague at DGSN headquarters.

"Ali Tounsi died at 10:45 a.m. during a working session, during which a police official, apparently having a fit of madness, used his weapon and killed Colonel Ali Tounsi, then injured himself very seriously", an official statement said about the apparent murder-suicide attempt.

According to Algerian media reports, witnesses identified the alleged assassin as retired Army colonel and DGSN helicopter unit chief Chaib Oueltache, 64. He is reportedly in a coma at Algiers' Ain Naadja hospital.

Tounsi recently ordered an investigation into contracts for helicopter parts that had uncovered suspicious transactions by Oueltache. According to El Khabar, the shooting occurred after the DGSN director fired Oueltache for suspected involvement in a corruption case.

In a statement offering condolences to Tounsi's family and his National Security colleagues, Interior Minister Noureddine Yazid Zerhouni stressed the patriotism of the late DGSN chief. "Ali Tounsi devoted all his life to the service of the Algerian nation, to the sustained struggle against terrorism over the past 16 years, as well as to the modernization of the national police forces," Zerhouni said. On Friday, the ministry announced that a judicial probe has been opened into the case.

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/newsbriefs/general/2010/02/26/newsbrief-01.

Amazigh rights issue pits Moroccan Berbers against Islamists

Many Moroccans want greater respect for the country's Amazigh heritage, but not everyone agrees there is a problem.

By Anouar Hamama for Magharebia in Agadir – 26/02/10

Lahoucine Amouzay, like many Berbers, wants greater rights and respect for Morocco's Amazigh citizens. His activism puts him at odds with those who want an exclusively Arab and Islamic identity for Morocco.

"We live in the margins," Amouzay told Magharebia. "All we get are promises. If we don't fight, we'll always be seen as a backward people."

The Amazigh, commonly known as Berbers, were Morocco's first inhabitants and still account for about 60 percent of the country's nearly 32 million citizens. But Amazigh activists say they are treated like a minority by members of the dominant Arab culture.

Even in Agadir, where Berbers are comparatively affluent and powerful, every day is a struggle, according to Amouzay. Like much of Morocco, Agadir has a huge gap between the poor and the wealthy. Islamists usually blame this inequality on Western influences and capitalism, while Amazigh activists often blame the Arab community and Islamist sway.

Amouzay studies Amazigh culture at Ibn Zohr University of Agadir, one of only three schools in the country with such a program. Even the lush university courtyard is starkly divided. Posters about Amazigh political prisoners and protests line one side, while fliers about Islamist prayer groups dot the other. Most Amazigh activists wear T-shirts and Western clothing, in contrast to the Islamists' more traditional dress.

"We fight all the time ... [t]hey tear our posters down", Amouzay said. "They say we should be good Muslims, speak Arabic, and join the Arab world. They say we invent our problems, create our heritage."

One focal point for that heritage is the Royal Institute of the Amazigh Culture (IRCAM) outside of Rabat. The institute was set up in October 2001 by royal decree, as part of a series of reforms intended to meet domestic Amazigh demands. Other changes followed, including adding Amazigh language classes in schools across Morocco and the official adoption of an Amazigh script.

According to IRCAM member Amina Ibnou-Cheikh, the reforms begun by King Mohammed VI, while well-intentioned, are weak in comparison with ongoing injustices. For instance, only Arabic names can be registered for Moroccan children. And although the majority of the people speak Amazigh languages, these tongues do not share Arabic's official standing.

At the government-run Institute of Studies and Research for Arabicisation (IERA) not far from IRCAM, an administrator who requested anonymity said Amazigh identity had become a "minefield" that most officials avoid discussing.

He claimed that the IERA aims only to Arabicise the government, not the people. After Morocco gained independence from the French in 1956, he said, the government was run using a muddled mix of French and Arabic. Therefore, the IERA aims to standardize the terminology of modern science and "civilization" as used in the Arab world.

However, he was clear about the prospects for Amazigh languages gaining national status. "Arabic signifies who we are. It is the language of the Qur'an. I don't see that changing any time soon."

The rivalry between Arab-Islamic and Amazigh identities also has political currents. Since parties based on ethnicity or religion are banned in Morocco, the Amazigh Moroccan Democratic Party (PDAM) was outlawed in 2008. However, PDAM continues to function in a quasi-political manner.

"One of the best examples of the way things are going is the racist banning of PDAM," said party secretary-general Ahmed Adghirni. "They say we can't have 'Amazigh' in our title, because it's an ethnicity, but the government doesn't treat the names of the Agence Maghreb Arabe Presse, the Park of the Arab League [in Casablanca] or countless institutions the same way."

"We are constantly being Arabicised in this country," he added. "You can even see it in the Family Code, which Moroccans are so proud of, because it supposedly gives women more equality, but still not as much as Amazigh tradition gave them."

The Party for Justice and Development (PJD), which many view as Islamist, sees things differently. A political front-runner, the PJD won the second-most seats in Parliament in the 2007 election. Its former leader, Saadeddine Othmani, is Amazigh.

Othmani said his party is still "undecided" about Amazigh languages gaining official status. "We are a Muslim country, and the greatest resource of our government is Islam," he told Magharebia. "To raise Amazigh languages to the status of the language of God [Arabic], that is a difficult idea."

Othmani pushed for Amazigh languages to be written in Arabic script, rather than an Amazigh script adopted in 2003. "For me, it makes sense. There is no difference between Arabs and the Amazigh. To use a different script would imply one."

He added that Berbers who feel battered by Islamists are falling for Western neo-colonialism. "Islam is a great political mobilization tool in this country. Moroccans are more sensitive to democratic values that come from Islamic history than Montesquieu or Rousseau. Muslim identity and Arab identity unite us. Why is that a bad thing?"

But Ahmed Adghirni said that "religious parties", in which he includes the PJD, try to blindside them. "They talk about religion in order to make us feel un-Islamic if we have a strong Amazigh identity," he says. "What these parties are ignorant about is that religious rhetoric does not resonate much among ordinary Amazigh people."

Mohamed Bataoui, an Amazigh university student in Fez, finds the political situation of the Amazigh appalling, but told Magharebia that both sides often overstate their cases. Originally from Guelmim, he says he has experienced discrimination due to his background, but has developed the ability to educate his detractors.

An Amazigh "in culture and origin, but not in ideology," Bataoui says that the Amazigh political situation remains as it always has, "characterized by unfairness and lack of real desire for a political solution to the Amazigh plight." He says that Morocco is often rewriting its past, ignoring the country's history before Arabs arrived centuries ago.

But despite the rancour, he says, Moroccans must remain a united people, even when such issues divide them. "Arabs and Amazigh are equal and will always remain equal," he said. "Our Islamic religion insists on tolerance and mutual love."

Source: Magharebia.com
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/02/26/feature-01.

Report: German defense contractor accused of Afghan drug-running

Berlin - A German waste disposal company working with troops in Afghanistan is under investigation by NATO for illegal activities, including drug smuggling, state NDR radio reported Friday. Egon Ramms, a four-star general heading a NATO command, told the radio station there was a "danger that possibly drugs, or similar things, have been smuggled" and showed the broadcaster documents linking the company to organized crime.

Dusseldorf-based Ecolog AG, one of several companies owned by an influential Macedonian-Albanian family, rejected the allegations.

A German interior ministry spokesman would not confirm or deny the allegations, but said Germany's military would not approve of such activities.

Ramms said NATO was currently checking two active contracts, to see, "whether Ecolog is still a suitable business partner for us."

The general told NDR that Ecolog has been working for NATO since 2003. The service provider is reportedly running a laundry service, delivering diesel and disposing of rubbish at several Afghan ISAF bases, including Kabul military airport and the ISAF headquarters.

The investigation was reportedly launched after similar charges emerged from NATO's Kosovo mission, KFOR.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311496,report-german-defence-contractor-accused-of-afghan-drug-running.html.

Bangladesh opposition demands enhanced protection for leader

Dhaka - Bangladesh's main opposition party on Friday demanded enhanced security for their leader Khaleda Zia after two homemade bombs exploded in front of her office earlier this week. At least one person was injured in the Tuesday attack, local media reported. Zia and other Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders were inside at the time.

"We are deeply concerned about the two recent bomb attacks on BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and the party leaders demanded deployment of Special Security Force (SSF) to secure her life," BNP co-founder Nazrul Islam Khan said at a press conference.

Bangladesh's president and prime minister are usually given SSF protection under the special security force law.

But parliament recently passed another law guaranteeing just the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed and her family members SSF protection. Reasons given for the change included the 1975 assassination of Wazed's father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with most of his family. Attempts have also been made on Wazed's life.

Khan demanded new legislation to give Zia SSF protection.

"A law was passed stipulating the government to provide the prime minister and her family members with protection by special security force. Therefore, a similar law should be passed to provide security to the three-time elected premier Khaleda Zia," Khan said.

Zia served as prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006. After a disputed election in February 2006 she remained in office as prime minister for less than a month.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311498,bangladesh-opposition-demands-enhanced-protection-for-leader.html.

Spain to extradite Argentine ex policeman on human rights charges

Madrid - The Spanish government Friday gave the green light for the extradition to Argentina of a former senior police officer on charges of human rights violations during the Latin American country's 1976-83 military dictatorship, government sources said. Jorge Alberto Soza, 73, was detained near the eastern Spanish city of Valencia in July.

He is suspected of involvement in 18 cases of abduction and torture of alleged government opponents while he was assistant police commissioner in Neuquen, Argentina, from 1975 to 1977.

Soza, who has Argentine and Spanish citizenship, moved to Spain in 1992.

Human rights groups say tens of thousands of people disappeared during Argentina's military dictatorship.

Several of the suspects have been arrested in Spain. The highest- profile case was that of Argentine former naval officer Adolfo Scilingo, who was tried in Spain and sentenced to more than 600 years in prison in 2005.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311500,spain-to-extradite-argentine-ex-policeman-on-human-rights-charges.html.

Russia should scrap half its 20,000 tanks, says top army man

Moscow - More than half of Russia's 20,000 tanks are in poor condition and should be scrapped, one of the coutry's top military commanders said in remarks published Friday. General Alexander Postnikov, in interview remarks to the Vedomosti newspaper, said the armed forces really needed fewer than 10,000 tanks.

Postnikov, who is head of the Russian army's land-based forces, said what the army really needed was modern tank technology and a new model which could compete with the best of foreign tracked vehicles.

For this year, the armed forces have ordered 261 modern tanks, a purchase also meant to shore up the financially-stricken tank manufacturer Uralwagonsavod. In the former Soviet era, the company had built some 1,200 tanks a year.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311509,russia-should-scrap-half-its-20000-tanks-says-top-army-man.html.

Bosnia arrests three Serbs accused of killing in Srebrenica

Sarajevo - Three Bosnian Serbs suspected of taking part in the massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995 were arrested Friday, the Bosnian state prosecutor said. The three suspects, whose names were not released, were members of the Bosnian Serb army diversion unit, which is believed to have been the most active in executing all Muslim males older then 16 when the Srebrenica enclave fell in July 15 years ago.

The prosecutors allege that the arrested men "directly took part in the execution of more than 1,000 people."

Srebrenica was a Muslim enclave in the Serb part of Bosnia. It was a safe haven under the protection of Dutch troops serving with United Nations peacekeepers.

Serb forces nevertheless rolled into the town four months before the war ended, killed all the men they captured and drove the women, children and the elderly out, into Muslim territory.

The genocide trial of the Bosnian Serb wartime leader, Radovan Karadzic, is due to begin at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague next month.

The Serb military commander believed directly responsible for the massacre, Ratko Mladic, remains at large a decade and a half since the worst war atrocity in Europe since 1945.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311510,bosnia-arrests-three-serbs-accused-of-killing-in-srebrenica.html.

UN adopts fresh call for Gaza conflict investigations - Summary

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

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New York - The UN General Assembly adopted on Friday a new resolution calling on both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to investigate the Gaza Strip war in the winter of 2009, even though Israel has submitted its report and the PA has launched its independent inquiry. The 192-nation assembly voted 98-7, with 31 abstentions, to pass an Arab-backed resolution that called on Israel and the PA to conduct separate investigations that are "independent, credible and in conformity with international standards."

The United States and Israel were among those voting against the resolution. Other countries voting against included Canada, Panama and Micronesia.

France, China, Britain and Arab and Islamic countries voted in favor of the resolution.

More than 50 UN members were absent in the vote. The New York region on Friday was covered with nearly two feet of snow and the bad weather disrupted traffic and businesses.

The resolution asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to report within five months - a deadline that drew a protest from a Gaza-based Palestinian human rights group. Last November, the assembly gave Ban three months to report back, which expired on February 5.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) said the new deadline would bury the UN Human Rights Council's report written by former South African Judge Richard Goldstone, which condemned the Gaza fighting.

The group, which favors the Goldstone report, said the new time-limit would amount to "merely prolonging a situation of impunity" by Israel.

US Ambassador Alejandro Wolff told the assembly that he voted against because the resolution failed to point out Hamas' responsibility in the Gaza conflict. Hamas is the sole authority in Gaza after it ousted the PA from the territory.

Wolff noted that Israel had already submitted its investigation of the Gaza conflict.

"Our goal is this regard is to have a domestic authority to investigate and to carry out a thorough, independent and credible investigation of allegations" of violations of human rights in Gaza, Wolff said, referring to failure to ask Hamas to do its own investigation.

Israeli UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev said the PA "cannot genuinely address the conflict between the State of Israel and the Hamas terrorist entity."

"Who exactly is the 'Palestinian side' that is responsible to undertake investigations that are independent, credible, and conform to international standards?" Shalev said.

"Can the Palestinian Authority conduct an investigation in Gaza from which it was violently ousted in a bloody coup?"

"Or, in contrast, do we really believe that the terrorist Hamas organization will investigate its use of human shields, its appalling methods of targeting civilians, and its cynical use of schools, hospitals, and mosques as weapons of terror?" she said.

The assembly last November called for Israel and the PA to investigate and Friday's resolution repeated that call. Israel submitted its investigative report in January and the PA said it had launched its own investigation.

The resolution asked for each side to investigate "the serious violations of international humanitarian and international human rights law" and to ensure accountability and justice as a result of the conflict.

The call by the General Assembly for the individual reports had its seeds in the Goldstone Report which was carried out under the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. In that report, Goldstone led a four- member panel which found that both Israel and Hamas had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The report detailed how the December 2008 - January 2009 conflict killed 1,400 Palestinians and nine Israelis. It detailed also the extensive destruction in Gaza.

Israel and the United States strongly rejected the Goldstone report, calling it unacceptable and biased. The two countries repeated their objections on Friday.

Earlier in February, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged the Israeli report as one based on an investigative system comparable to any used by democratic nations like the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada.

In his report, Ban said the Israeli investigators had followed on every allegation "regardless of whether the source was neutral, hostile or friendly." The investigators had probed 150 separate incidents, including 36 criminal investigations.

Ban at the time said however that some of the Israeli investigations were still underway.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311522,un-adopts-fresh-call-for-gaza-conflict-investigations--summary.html.

Israel's listing of West Bank sites not helpful for peace, EU says

Brussels - Israel's decision to list sites in the West Bank as belonging to its cultural heritage will not help the peace process, the European Union's top diplomat said Friday. Israel's decision sparked anger across the Muslim world, where it was seen as a move to stamp Israel's authority on sites which are not recognized as Israeli under international law.

The EU's foreign-policy director, Catherine Ashton, "regards the recent decision by the government of Israel to add sites in Hebron and Bethlehem to the list of Israeli national heritage sites as detrimental to attempts to relaunch peace negotiations," her spokesman, Lutz Guellner, said in a statement.

The EU "calls on Israel to refrain from provocative acts ... recognizes the importance of these religious sites to all three Abrahamic faiths and supports the principle of access for all," the statement said.

The EU formally supports the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has repeatedly called on the two sides to restart peace talks.

But a number of member states have grown increasingly critical of Israeli policies in the West Bank in recent months, with some saying that the bloc should recognize a Palestinian state if peace talks do not restart soon.

The Israeli government announced on Sunday that it was going to include the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem on its list of around 150 heritage sites.

The move provoked widespread condemnation in the Arab world and drew concern from top UN officials including Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the head of UN cultural agency UNESCO, Irina Bokova.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311528,israels-listing-of-west-bank-sites-not-helpful-for-peace.html.

Islamic bloc urges stop to Israel heritage plan

The Islamic bloc at the UN calls for international action against Israel's decision to designate two shrines in the occupied West Bank as "national heritage sites."

Speaking on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) UN ambassadors, Syria's United Nations Ambassador Bashar Jaafari condemned the "illegality and illegitimacy" of the Israeli decision which they view as "null and void."

They called on all relevant UN bodies to take urgent, required measures to force Israel to rescind this decision and urged the Security Council, the General Assembly and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to shoulder their responsibility.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that the regime is planning to include Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in al-Khalil in a "national heritage plan."

Palestinian authorities have called on the international community to pressure Israel to renege on its decision. They say this move mirrors Israel's policy to establish the occupation.

The democratically-elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has called for uprisings in the occupied West Bank in response to the Israeli plan.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119536§ionid=351020202.

Iran ready to accept Japan's nuclear offer

Tehran says it is ready to hand over the construction of five nuclear power plants to Toyoko, if Japan is truly determined to shoulder the undertaking.

"Japan's participation and involvement in the construction of Iran's power plants will serve the interests of Japanese state and private companies. Iran's suggests that Japan start its job from a particular point, by building a nuclear power plant inside the country," visiting Head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran's Majlis, Allaeddin Boroujerdi, remarked in Tokyo on Thursday.

The announcement comes after an earlier report by the Japanese newspaper Nikkei Business Daily reported that during a visit by Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, in December, Tokyo made an offer to construct five nuclear power plants for Tehran.

"The nuclear power plants are actually set to be built for energy production and have no other usage. They have nothing to do with the faults the United States and the Western states are trying to find with Iran," Boroujerdi added.

"The Iranian nuclear power plants have nothing to do with the differences of opinions between Iran and the United States. Russia has no problems in completing Bushehr power plant; the plant will be operational in the near future," Boroujerdi added.

"Iranian lawmakers believe that it's not logical that Japan pursue its interests through its relations with the United States; rather, it should decide itself," the Iranian official opined.

Meanwhile, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani announced on Thursday that Tehran will study Tokyo's offer to enrich uranium for Tehran.

"It has the substance to be worth discussing. We want to deepen the discussion on it," Nikkei Business Daily quoted Larijani as saying.

In early February Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered construction of 10 more nuclear facilities in the country. At this point, nearly 20 potential sites for the construction of 10 new enrichment facilities have been identified, the Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, disclosed.

The senior Iranian official reiterated that Japan is viewed favorably by Iranian parliamentarians and the nation. Currently Japan cooperates with Iran on several major projects; the annual trade volume of the two states exceeds $11 billion.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119540§ionid=351020104.

Ahmadinejad: Israel inching closer to collapse

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls on regional nations to remain vigilant against oppressive powers, saying that the Israeli regime will collapse if it repeats its previous mistakes.

"The recent threats by the Zionist regime [Israel] show the weakness of its officials. As time goes by, the resistance powers and free and independent nations near victory while the oppressive system is declining," Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

The Iranian president stressed the importance of strengthening national unity in Palestine.

Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah exchanged views on the latest developments in the Middle East, the role of resistance forces in the region and the Israeli threat against both Lebanon and Syria.

Nasrallah said resistance forces are closely monitoring regional developments and are ready to counter all threats by the Zionist regime.

He added that resistance movements would give a crushing response to any possible Israeli attack.

Nasrallah has recently warned that the movement will strike Israeli infrastructure including the Ben Gurion International airport in Tel Aviv in the event of any Israeli attack on Lebanon.

"If you hit Rafiq al-Hariri international airport in Beirut, we will hit Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv," he said. "If you hit our ports, we will bomb your ports, and if you hit our oil refineries, we will bomb your oil refineries."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119556§ionid=351020101.

UN, Russia slam Israel heritage scheme

The UN and Russia join world symphony slamming Israel's decision to include the West Bank holly sites in its national heritage list.

"We have repeatedly said that we are categorically against any steps and actions that foreshadow the outcome of negotiations on a final Palestinian-Israeli settlement, and which cannot but hamper efforts contributing to the resumption of dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Friday.

Israel's decision to include the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil and the Bilal Mosque on its list of around 150 so -called Jewish heritage site has provoked widespread condemnation.

The Russian official advised Israel to treat issues that have deep religious roots with utmost care and respect.

Moreover, top UN officials including Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the head of UN cultural agency UNESCO, Irina Bokova condemned Israel's decision.

European Union's top diplomat also called on the Palestinian and Israeli sides to restart peace talks, saying such decisions would not help negotiations.

The EU's foreign-policy director, Catherine Ashton, "regards the recent decision by the government of Israel to add sites in Hebron and Bethlehem to the list of Israeli national heritage sites as detrimental to attempts to re-launch peace negotiations," her spokesman, Lutz Guellner, said in a statement.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119579§ionid=351020202.

Azerbaijan welcomes Iran mediation in Karabakh dispute

Azerbaijan says Iran has offered help to resolve the dispute over the Karabakh region, an area internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan which is being claimed by Armenia.

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Elkhan Polukhov welcomed Tehran's offer on Friday, expressing hope that Iran's assistance can lead to a resolution based on international law.

On Thursday Azerbaijan warned that a great war could be imminent if Armenia does not withdraw its troops from the disputed region.

Both Azerbaijan and Armenia claim the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is largely populated by Armenians but located in Azerbaijan.

Armenia took control of Nagorno-Karabakh after a short but bloody war with Azerbaijan that killed around 30,000 people in the early 1990s.

A ceasefire was agreed in 1994, but the dispute remains unresolved despite years of international mediation.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119584§ionid=351020101.

Iran, Syria to lift visa requirements

Iran and Syria will soon lift visa requirements for their nationals, says President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after his two-day visit to the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Talking to reporters upon arrival in Tehran, President Ahmadinejad said Friday that lifting visa requirements, will serve as a positive ground for promotion of mutual cooperation.

In his visit to Syria, Ahmadinejad met with Syrian President Bashar Assad and the Secretary General of Hezbollah Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah.

He discussed the latest developments in the Middle East as well as Israeli threats against Lebanon and Syria with the two.

Ahmadinejad also condemned Israel's move to add two holy sites, sacred to Christians and Muslims, to its national heritage list.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119587§ionid=351020101.