Four killed as storm strikes Iberian peninsula

Madrid/Lisbon - Four people were killed overnight Sunday when a storm packing 200-kilometer-per-hour winds struck the Iberian Peninsula, officials in Spain and Portugal reported. The storm also caused major damage, downing power lines in both countries, toppling trees and causing landslides which interrupted road and railway connections.

Near Burgos in northern Spain, two men were killed when their car smashed into a tree which was lying across the road.

At Ourense in north-western Spain, an 82-year-old woman was killed by a collapsing wall.

In northern Portugal, a 10-year-old boy was struck dead by a falling tree branch.

The fatalities came after authorities on Saturday sounded the alarm as the storm approached. Officials had declared the highest state of alert for areas of northern Spain after the storm had first struck the Canary Islands.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311724,four-killed-as-storm-strikes-iberian-peninsula.html.

Turkey is planning to establish a Presidency for the Turks living abroad

Turkish daily Sabah newspaper (09.09.09) reports that, in the framework of the Armenian initiative, the Turkish government is planning to raise the lobby activities abroad against the Armenian Diaspora.

Particularly, the State Minister responsible for the Turkish citizens living abroad, Faruk Celik, prepared a bill regarding the issue, which will be presented to the Turkish Parliament in the upcoming days. Celik proposes the establishment of a Presidency for the Turks abroad, which will offer help to the Turkish citizens living abroad to resolve their problems, as well as to carry out lobby activities and promote Turkey abroad. The Presidency will also be responsible for the negative propaganda experienced against Turkey.

According to the paper, the Presidency will consist of one president, seven department presidents and 50 experts while various desks will be opened for countries with a large number of Turkish citizens such as Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Austria, France and Luxembourg. The presidency will be responsible for determining policies, creating projects, developing policies against the (Armenian) Diaspora and organizing promotion and PR activities for Turkey.

Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/02/27/11511.shtml.

Will the next Winter Games be in a war zone?

Publication time: 25 February 2010, 23:37

As the Vancouver Winter Games draw to a close this weekend, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson will hand the Olympic flag to IOC president Jacques Rogge, who in turn will hand it to Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov.

Sochi, Russia, is the home of the 2014 Winter Games.

The summer the International Olympic Committee awarded the games to Russia, I paid 50 rubles (.75) to ride a rickety chairlift up its Olympic mountain. It's called Krasnaya Polyana (beautiful mountain in Russian) and it's where all the ski events will be held.

Back in Soviet times, an all-expenses-paid family vacation in Sochi was a perk the state awarded only to its best workers. Even in summer, it wasn't hard to see why.

Nearing the top, the lush pine forest gave way to fresh alpine grass and trailing wisps of fog.

Then, all of a sudden, soldiers.

Armed men aren't that unusual in Russia. When I was the CBC Radio correspondent in Moscow from 2001 to 2005, even the security guards at the local rink where I took my son to play hockey on Saturday mornings carried Kalashnikovs.

But here they were at the top of one of Russia's premier ski resorts. Near the soldiers, construction crews poured concrete for what looked like military bunkers.

Lift up your eyes

Maybe these were just footings for a new Olympic chairlift. But when I asked one of the soldiers what the workers were building, he pointed his assault rifle towards the mountains in the distance.

And with that gesture, the ruble dropped.

Those nearby mountains were in Abkazia, a battleground just 18 months earlier, in August 2008, during a war between Russia and Georgia.

Sochi and Abkazia are in the Caucasus Mountains, and a little farther down the Caucasus range is another trouble spot - Chechnya, about 400 kilometres to the east.

Continue down the range and you will find four other Russian provinces with Islamic insurgencies on the boil.

The violence in the Russian Caucasus has been under-reported by the Western media, but truck bombings, suicide attacks, assassinations, beheadings and gun battles are now a daily occurrence.

Does the IOC know this?

Putin's charm

In 2007, when the IOC awarded the games to Sochi, then Russian president Vladimir Putin put his prestige on the line by flying to Guatemala for the final selection meeting.

Putin flattered the delegates by making them the first audience he had ever addressed in English.

He ruefully reminded them that Russia and the Soviet Union had won more gold medals in the Winter Olympics than any other country but had never hosted the Games.

What he didn't say, but everyone knew, was that the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow were ruined by a U.S.-led boycott to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Putin also reminded the IOC delegates that, today, Russia's treasury is bulging with petrodollars. No matter how many billions it costs to build modern facilities in a remote region such as Sochi, he assured them, Russia would be good for it.

Which is a good thing, because Sochi's airport isn't much to look at.

In fact, the Soviet electrical grid in the area will have to be ripped out and replaced.

Not to mention the 26 kilometers of tunnels that will have to be bored through 15 mountains to twin the existing road to the ski hill.

Insurgents on the rise

Putin soft-pedaled the security problems the Sochi Games might face. And at the time, it appeared the Chechen war might be petering out.

Today, however, Sochi is looking like an increasingly dubious choice for an Olympic Games.

The Chechen war the Kremlin said was over has spread to the entire Caucasus.

Home-grown Islamic fighters who identify with al-Qaeda are battling the Russian military and local police daily in the Muslim-majority Russian provinces of Chechnya, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia.

The deadliest incident so far was a suicide truck bomb in Nazran, the capital of Ingushetia in August 2009. That blast killed 24 police officers and wounded 260 civilians.

The rebel goal is to carve out an independent state governed by Sharia law, which they want to call the Islamic Caucasus Emirate.

The violence didn't receive much media coverage outside Russia until last November when, in what was possibly an attempt to gain world attention, rebel leader Doku Umarov ordered his fighters to take the battle to the Russian heartland.

The result was a bomb on the high-speed luxury train between Moscow and St. Petersburg, an attack that killed 27 passengers.

A second look?

If those really were military bunkers I saw when I rode the chairlift to the top of Krasnaya Polyana two and a half years ago, they suggest that, even as Putin was courting the IOC delegates in Guatemala, he knew an attack on the Olympic ski hill would be a surefire way for the rebels to attract world attention.

Here in peaceable Canada, some 15,000 soldiers, local police and every spare RCMP officer from Cape Spear to the Queen Charlotte Islands are guarding the Vancouver Games against terrorist attacks.

After the Moscow-St. Petersburg train was bombed, the IOC's Jacques Rogge was asked whether he was worried about security for the Sochi Games.

He said believed the Russians could handle it.

But with Caucasus looking more and more like a war zone, Rogge might be wise to take a second look.

Bill Gillespie
Source: CBC News

Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/02/25/11505.shtml.

RUSSIAN TERRORISM. Terrorist gang Russia says its recognition of the Caucasus Emirate will help it to prosecute journalists

Publication time: 26 February 2010, 16:32

On Thursday, February 25, a decision of a certain "supreme court of the Russian Federation" reportedly came into force. The decision was taken after an appeal of a certain "Russian prosecutor general's office" and concerned the recognition of Islamic Emirate of Caucasus by the terrorist gang Russia, a website of Russian terrorist gang "Prosecutor general's office" said.

It is to be mentioned that the recognition of the Caucasus Emirate by the terrorist organization Russia, doesn't mean anything for the Islamic state, and as they say it in Russia, the Caucasus Emirate doesn't feel neither warm nor cold from it.

The gang reported that the Caucasus Emirate was recognized by the ringleaders of the gang Russia in the form in which it was proclaimed by the Emir Abu Usman (AKA Dokku Umarov) in 2007. The main types of activity of the Armed Forces of the Caucasus Emirate are guerrilla attacks, bombardments and blasts, as well as retaliation actions against apostates, the Russian terrorist organization atates in terms of its specific slang that we don't use here.

The recognition of the Caucasus Emirate "significantly expands the possibilities" for Russian terrorists "to bring to trial" not only the Mujahideen of the CE who conduct guerrilla operations, but also "its helpers and ideologists who are carrying out activities providing a further functioning of the CE, including the information support", Russian terrorists explain.

"Since this court ruling comes to force, any form of participation in the activities of the Caucasus Emirate, as well as any actions for providing its functioning, including those that are not criminal in itselves but contribute to its further activities are subject for prosecution under the article # 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code (anti-Russian subversive activities), the report of the Russian terrorists states.

"Apparently, this ruling allows Russian law enforcement agencies, among other things, to prosecute Russians, directly or indirectly, who support the activities of the Kavkaz Center, an Internet site, which is a major mass media outlet of the Caucasus Emirate. There were no comments about the ruling of the supreme court from the website Kavkaz Center at the time of publication of the report", some media outlets write in comments about the "coming into force" of the recognition of an Islamic state in the North Caucasus by the terrorist organization Russia.

Department of the Operative Information,
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/02/26/11509.shtml.

''Political road signs in the Caucasus are no more directed towards Moscow''

A Hamburg-based influential German paper, Die Welt, published an article about the North Caucasus entitled "Helpless Russia" by its journalist, Michael Sturmer, who recently visited the Province of Nokhchicho (AKA Chechnya/Ichkeria) in the Caucasus Emirate. The German journalist writes:

"It was a cruel joke to name the capital of Chechnya Grozny (Terrible) after Ivan the Terrible. Today, Grozny is still an eerie place, which you can only visit with a special permit.

When I was there, and it was not so long ago, I was assured that there is no danger there and everything was under control. The fact that there were armed gunmen dressed in black with a Kalashnikov denied the beautiful words.

Chechnya's neighborhood is uneasy, the power over land and people controversial. Moscow-installed officials and military leaders in Ingushetia and Dagestan live dangerously.

The boundaries are Czarist-Soviet legacy, nothing more than imaginary lines.

It is not so long ago that the Majlis al-Shura (Council of the Mujahideen - KC) proclaimed a regional guerrilla leader as the future leader of the North Caucasus, with the intention to found an Islamic state.

The Kremlin, however, wants to cope with a new wave of violence. For Medvedev, who remembers Putin's ascension to power with the Chechen war, this is the future mode of governance in the Russian South. So he tried it this time via trade and commerce to go to the root causes of unrest.

A few weeks ago he appointed a businessman, Alexander Kloponin, who made successes in the Siberian town of Krasnoyarsk, as the Russian governor-general in the Caucasus. At the same time, he strengthened Moscow's security forces that operate outside the law, thus extending the "vertical of power" to the south.

The Russians are perplexed, not only because the number of reported attacks in the southern provinces increased from 124 in 2007 to 460 in 2009 - but also because of demographic shifts between ethnic Russians and Muslims.

Since the mighty Soviet Union was defeated in the Afghanistan war, they are no longer docile.

The most spectacular attack happened nevertheless not in the freedom-fighting provinces of the South, but in a November night 2009 against the Nevsky Express train traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg. The luxury train derailed, with more than 100 dead and wounded.

The political road signs in the Caucasus are no longer directed towards Moscow", the German journalist concludes in his article.

Department of Monitoring,
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/02/27/11514.shtml.

Turkey will overcome 'coup probe crisis': president

ANKARA (AFP) - – Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Saturday he was sure Turkey would overcome a crisis triggered by a massive probe into an alleged 2003 military plot to overthrow a conservative Islamic government.

The investigation saw an Istanbul court charge late Friday two retired generals, including alleged plot leader Cetin Dogan, remanding them both in custody pending trial.

The number of suspects incarcerated by the court has reached 33 out of the 50 or so members of the military arrested up by police in a mass swoop on Monday.

Around 15 have been released, including former marine and air force commanders.

Another 18 soldiers, mostly junior offices, were rounded up Friday in a second wave of arrests and were due to appear before prosecutors in Istanbul over the weekend.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the army Friday that no-one was above the law and "those who make plans behind closed door to crush the people's will must see that from now on they will face justice."

Gul echoed that opinion in an interview published by the daily Hurriyet on Saturday. "If there are people who commit errors in our institutions (the army), they must be purged."

He added though that he was sure that Turkey would "totally get over" the crisis, and emphasized that the Turkish democracy's main aim was to meet European standards.

"Turkey must not shoot itself in the foot," at a time when it is trying to emerge from a recession, he said.

The standoff between the government and the army led the Istanbul stock exchange to plunge nearly seven percent last week and the Turkish lira to fall against the dollar.

The unprecedented probe has rattled Turkey, raising fears of a showdown between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) -- the offshoot of a banned Islamist movement -- and the army, the self-declared guardian of the country's secular system.

The Turkish army has traditionally wielded significant influence on politics, but has seen its clout wane under the AKP.

The alleged coup plan -- codenamed "Operation Sledgehammer" -- is said to have been drafted and discussed within the First Army in 2003, shortly after the AKP came to power amid fears that it would undermine the secular system.

The plot allegedly involved plans to bomb mosques and provoke tensions with Greece to force the downing of a Turkish jet, sparking political chaos and justifying a military takeover against the government.

Islam seeks a perch in Tajikistan's political life

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

By PETER LEONARD
Associated Press Writer

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan -- Islam is on the rise in Tajikistan, and the only legally registered Islamic party in former Soviet Central Asia hopes to capitalize on that momentum in Sunday's parliamentary election.

More than a decade after a devastating 5-year civil war, Tajikistan is still mired in poverty, prompting many to turn to their faith for a solution.

Emerging out of the rubble of the officially atheist Soviet Union, Tajikistan's Islamic Revival Party has sought to fill the spot once occupied by Communism's ideological certainties.

"People are turning to Islam in search of an alternative, fairness and a better life. So far, only religion has been able to provide such a platform," party leader Muhiddin Kabiri told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Kabiri's party only has two deputies in the 63-seat parliament in Tajikistan, which borders Afghanistan, but he says it could boost its tally to at least 10 if Sunday's vote is fair.

The Islamic Revival Party wears its religious cloak lightly, stressing Tajikistan's Muslim identity while adamantly eschewing calls for the creation of an Islamic republic. That stance corresponds with a largely secular-minded population.

But analysts nonetheless predict that the President Emomali Rakhmon-led People's Democratic Party, which currently holds 52 seats, is likely to benefit from the tacit support of the state and run away with the election.

Life in Tajikistan is tough and jobs are scarce, so many have headed to Russia for work and to earn money to send back to their families. Even the capital, Dushanbe, is crumbling and dreary, dotted with half-completed roadwork turned to mud by the winter rains.

At night, the silence of the city's main drag is broken only by an occasional passing car, but in the daytime the Central Mosque is a hive of activity and at a nearby religious college, classes throng with young children and university students.

"If you go to the mosque, you will see that most people there are young," said Suleiman Dauletov, communications director at the partially government-funded Islamic Institute of Tajikistan.

Recognizing the resurgence of religious feelings in the largely Sunni Muslim population, Rakhmon's government has opted for the two-pronged approach of aggressively stamping out underground Islamic groups, while at the same time underwriting the expense of building monumental new mosques.

Tajik authorities routinely jail members of the banned Hizb-ut-Tahrir and Jamaat al Tabligh movements. These transnational organizations preach a radical brand of the Islamic faith, but say they have renounced violent methods.

Kabiri has sought to distance his party from those groups, but expressed concern at the government's conduct.

"We believe the robust measures adopted by the government will only lead to a backlash," Kabiri said.

Since the end of the civil war, which pitted a loose coalition of Islamic fighters and nationalists against elements of the former Soviet elite, the Islamic Revival Party has displayed a marked aversion to staunch opposition to the government.

In a painstakingly negotiated peace agreement reached in the late 1990s, the Islamic Revival Party and its civil war allies were offered several guarantees, including the option of taking up one-third of government posts, but much of that deal has gradually fallen by the wayside.

The party is now fighting to regain its loss of status through the ballot box.

"According to our calculations, our voters account for 35 percent of the electorate, but when you consider that the election will not be transparent, it is unlikely we will reach that target," he said.

That forecast was reflected in a report issued this week by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's election observation mission, which questioned the accountability of election officials, prompting concern the country will once again hold a vote that falls short of democratic standards.

Source: Miami Herald.
Link: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/02/27/1503532/islam-seeks-a-perch-in-tajikistans.html.

After Vancouver, now it's Russia's turn in 2014

By STEPHEN WILSON
AP Sports Writer

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- From the Pacific coast to the shores of the Black Sea. From the peaks of western Canada to the Caucasus mountains of southern Russia. From gleaming North American skyline to palm-fringed resort in the former Soviet Union.

Do svidanya (goodbye) Vancouver. Do vstretchi (see you) in Sochi.

As the Vancouver Olympics come to a close, the focus turns across the world to Russia's first Winter Games in 2014 - taking the Olympic movement to a new territory and a new set of challenges.

"We are next," Sochi organizing chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said. "The bar has been well and truly raised."

The Russian city's first big moment in the global spotlight comes during Sunday night's closing ceremony, with the Olympic flag handed from the mayor of Vancouver to the mayor of Sochi.

The world will get a first taste of what Sochi has to offer during an eight-minute segment featuring Russian sports stars, music and dance performers and giant glowing spheres called "Zorbs."

"This is a historic event for Sochi," Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov said. "We understand it is a huge responsibility for Sochi and for Russia and we can't let anyone down."

After the showbiz, the hard work will continue back home as organizers continue to prepare for an event that has the prestige of Russia and its leaders - including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin - on the line.

Ever since Sochi was awarded the games by the International Olympic Committee three years ago, questions have been raised: Can Sochi complete its massive construction projects on time? Will the funding hold up? Will the games be safe in a city near the separatist Abkhazia region in neighboring Georgia?

Putin, Russian president at the time, was instrumental in Sochi securing the games when he traveled to Guatemala City in 2007 and personally lobbied IOC members. He and current President Dmitry Medvedev remain centrally involved in making sure the games are a success.

"It's so important for Russians that they will not allow it to fail," senior Canadian IOC member Dick Pound said. "Whatever has to be done will be done."

Sochi, established as a summer resort under Joseph Stalin, is a city of about 500,000 people in Russia's Krasdonar region. Olympic organizers hope the games will serve as a catalyst in turning the area into a year-round world-class destination for Russians and foreign tourists alike.

Organizers say the games will feature the most compact layout in Winter Games history, with a cluster of ice arenas situated along the Black Sea coast and snow and sliding venues a half-hour away in the Krasnaya Polyana mountains. A new rail line is being built to connect the two clusters.

"You can swim in the warm Sochi sea, and after 24 minutes on a train, you can change clothes and go skiing in the mountains," Pakhomov said.

First, Sochi has to build virtually all of its Olympic facilities from scratch. "Literally from nothing," Chernyshenko said.

All venues are now under construction, with 16,000 workers busy on "what is probably the biggest construction site in the world."

Sochi promises that all venues will be ready two years in advance to allow for the holding of Olympic test events. The first trial run will take place a year from now with a European Cup event in Alpine skiing. More than 70 test events are planned in 2012 and 2013.

The cost of the Olympic infrastructure project is put at $7 billion.

"All the money is allocated and we don't see any risk for a shortage of finance," said Chernyshenko, who has a separate operating budget of $1.8 billion.

Russia is also spending billions more on other non-Olympic projects, including renovation of the Moscow-Sochi railway line.

Despite the global economic downturn and fluctuating oil prices, Sochi has managed to raise record sponsorship revenues, surpassing $1 billion in domestic deals so far. The IOC has closely monitored Sochi's preparations and is happy with the progress, although Jean-Claude Killy, who heads the IOC's coordination for Sochi, has repeatedly warned there is no time to waste.

The construction and design of Sochi's boblsed and luge track will be under scrutiny following the high-speed training crash that killed Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili on the day of Vancouver's opening ceremony.

IOC president Jacques Rogge has written Chernyshenko asking him to ensure the track is safe. The Russian said plans already called for the track to be 10-15 kph (6-9 mph) slower than Whistler's.

"We will learn from this tragedy," Chernyshenko said. "We will do all we can do guarantee the safety factor."

Security is also an issue on a wider front. Sochi is located in a volatile region, just north of the border with Abkhazia, where Russia has thousands of troops. Russia defied the West by recognizing Abkhazia and another separatist region, South Ossetia, as independent after its war with Georgia in 2008.

"Sochi has been the safest city in the country, the summer residence for the president and prime minister," Chernyshenko said. "This is a rather calm city. The government is doing everything to protect this region from any risk."

Sochi brought a team of 150 observers to Vancouver to watch and learn. One key lesson so far: Have contingency plans in place for the type of weather problems that caused havoc at the snowboard and freestyle venue at Cypress Mountain.

"We are already thinking seriously about Plan B if the weather doesn't cooperate," Chernyshenko said, citing plans for new technology and snow making techniques.

Another priority for Sochi is recruiting volunteers. Vancouver organizers brought in about 25,000 volunteers, who won rave reviews for their smiling hospitality. Russia doesn't have a tradition of volunteerism, but is recruiting volunteers from all over the country.

"The games are about people and the human factor," Chernyshenko said.

The biggest challenge might be in replicating the way Vancouver celebrated these games, with festive crowds in the streets and arenas packed with cheering fans. IOC officials said it's the best Winter Olympic atmosphere since the magical 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

"The Canadian atmosphere here is electric," Chernyshenko said. "That is exactly what we want to reach in Russia. We will do it with a Russian touch, a Russian look without the stereotypes."

Sochi organizers can only hope for improved performances from Russian athletes, who bombed at these games with just three golds and 15 total medals going into the final day. The Russians stood 11th in the gold medal table - the only time they have been out of the top five since the Soviet Union first competed in the Winter Games in 1956.

Canadian athletes thrilled the host nation by winning the most gold medals in Vancouver, although the U.S. clinched the most overall medals.

The Russian medal flop here may be an explanation for the absence of Medvedev, who had been expected to come to Vancouver for the final days of the games. His plans apparently changed after the Russian men's hockey team - expected to make Sunday's final - was knocked out in the quarterfinals by Canada.

Before the Olympic flag left Canada on its journey to Russia, Vancouver's organizing committee offered a word of advice to the next hosts.

"Develop a good thick skin and don't shy away from criticism," said spokeswoman Renee Smith-Valade, "because it's healthy and it makes you better at what you do."

Source: Miami Herald.
Link: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/02/28/v-fullstory/1504792/after-vancouver-now-its-russias.html.

British police in Israel in Israeli-British passport inquiry

Jerusalem/London - British agents arrived in Israel Saturday to interview Israelis with double passport whose identities were allegedly used by the assassins of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh last month in Dubai, Israeli media reported. Members of the British Serious Organized Crime Agency arrived in Israel to question the six Israeli-British citizens whose passports were allegedly faked together with Irish, French, German and Australian in order to travel to United Arab Emirates.

Dubai police accused Israeli Intelligence Agency Mossad of using forged passports to travel to Dubai and kill Hamas leader Mahmoud al- Mabhouh, found dead in his hotel room January 20.

Dubai Police Chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim said Friday that there are DNA evidence of one of the criminals and called Saturday to Mossad to confess their involvement or issue a clear denial of the accusations against the Israeli agency.

In a message to Mossad Chief Meir Dagan, Khalfan Tamim urged him to "own up to his crime or unequivocally deny his organization's involvement," United Arab Emirates media reported.

Dubai police has called all Arab countries to carefully check any Jewish citizen with double passport in order to "prevent Mossad's infiltrations," newspaper Emarat Al Youm reported Saturday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311618,british-police-in-israel-in-israeli-british-passport-inquiry.html.

Afghan government begins taking over main US-led prison

Kabul - The Afghan government began Saturday taking over the main US-led detention facility at Bagram airfield, the largest US base north of Kabul city, officials said. The process will take up to one year before the Afghan authorities completely take control of the notorious jail, Mohammad Qasim Hashimzai, deputy justice minister, told a press conference in Kabul.

The prison has sparked criticism by human rights groups for its mistreatment of the prisoners in the past.

"The Afghan army forces will be in charge of the facility before the judicial authorities are trained and are ready to take charge," Hashimi said.

The US military would train around 300 Afghan army soldiers as wardens before they are ready to take control of a newly-built facility.

The detention center became a source of public anger in Afghanistan after two prisoners died after being beaten by the US interrogators in 2002.

There are currently more than 700 prisoners, including 30 non-Afghans inside the prison, according to US officials.

The inmates have been arrested on suspicion of involvement with al- Qaeda and Taliban networks during the anti-insurgent operations or in house-raids by US military forces in the county since the ouster of Taliban regime in late 2001.

Many of the prisoners have been held for years without charges of trial.

The US military built a new 60-million-dollar facility after the detainees complained about living conditions. The new facility was renamed Parwan Detention Facility after a northern province, north of Kabul, where Bagram is located.

In January the US military announced its readiness to hand over the center to Afghan government, a move the Afghan government called it on that time as "an important step towards the extension of Afghan national sovereignty."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/311628,afghan-government-begins-taking-over-main-us-led-prison.html.

'Rigi planned to meet Holbrooke in Kyrgyzstan'

The captured ringleader of the Jundallah terrorist group, Abdolmalek Rigi, was scheduled to meet US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke at the Manas Air Base for talks on waging an insurgency against the Islamic Republic of Iran, a journalist says.

Rigi had planned to meet a high-profile US official at the Manas Air Base near Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek.

This senior US official must have been Holbrooke, who was in Kyrgyzstan to visit the only US air base in Central Asia, the IRNA news agency quoted journalist Wayne Madsen as saying on Saturday.

In a televised confession on Press TV on Thursday, Abdolmalek Rigi said that in a Dubai meeting with CIA agents, he was promised unlimited support that included a military base near the Iranian border equipped with weaponry and training facilities.

The Jundallah leader added that he was to meet a top US intelligence official at the US military base in Kyrgyzstan to work out the details of the support the US would provide for his group.

During their meetings with him, the US operatives insisted that Iran is their primary focus in the region, even more important than al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the terrorist leader stated.

Rigi added that the CIA agents also explained to him that since a US military attack on Iran would be very difficult, they planned to support all anti-Iran groups that have the capability of waging war inside Iran and destabilizing the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119672§ionid=351020101.

Heavy rain damages Ramallah YWCA

Heavy rains have damaged the ground floor of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) headquarters in Ramallah.

Water flooded the old well of the headquarters, causing structural damage to the building's walls, uprooting trees, and devastating the ground floor, the YWCA manager said on Saturday.

Maha Shehada added that the YWCA's administration has decided to stop all its activities and close the building, which has incurred about $70,000 of damage.

The destroyed floor was used for teaching the secretary program, she stated.

The building used by the YWCA was built 100 years ago and was restored in 1982.

The Ramallah YWCA provides a number of services for students and currently has 52 students and 15 employees.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119668§ionid=351020202.

Iran should set deadline for delivery of S-300, MP says

An Iranian lawmaker has called on the country's military authorities to impose a deadline for Russia to deliver the S-300 missile defense system to Iran.

A long time has passed since Russia signed a deal with Iran to sell the S-300 system to the Islamic Republic, Majlis (Parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Deputy Chairman Hossein Sobhaninia said on Saturday.

“The Russian side has cited unspecified technical reasons for the delay in the delivery of the air defense hardware to the Islamic Republic. We hope technical problems are behind the delivery of the air defense system to Iran, not other issues,” he added.

The MP noted that Iranian scientists have been able to develop indigenous technology every time contract parties failed to live up to their commitments for political reasons.

The S-300 anti-aircraft system is designed to defend large industrial and administrative centers, army bases, and similar facilities. The system is capable of destroying ballistic missiles. The most recent modifications of the system can shoot down hostile missiles or aircraft up to 150 km (90 miles) away.

Israel and the United States have repeatedly asked Russia to scrap the contract to sell Iran the truck-mounted S-300 missile system.

However, Russia has insisted that it will eventually deliver the S-300 missile system to Iran.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119669§ionid=351020101.

Find the Healthy Answer to Full Body Airport Scanners

(NaturalNews) While governments and aviation authorities the world over contrive to increase the dose of ionizing radiation travelers are exposed to by installing full body backscatter scanners, the real question we should concern ourselves with is how do we protect our health in the face of the inevitable.

Make no mistake about it, they will be installed and we will be subjected to these searches whether we like it or not. This imposition follows the precedent set after the terror attacks of 9/11. The infringement of civil liberties is nothing new in these times and shouldn't come as a surprise especially as most nations have declared a war on terror.

Supporters of the scanners will probably tell you that this measure is taken with everyone's safety in mind. They will also tell you that the doses of radiation used in the backscatter technology are within safe limits. What they won't tell you is that there is no such thing as a safe dose of radiation. The effects of exposure to radiation are cumulative. Increased and repeated exposure accumulates in the body and continues to damage tissue and organs.

Safe dose theorists have been shown to be mistaken by the work of the late Dr John Gofman (the considered expert on radiation) who is quoted as saying "there is no dose of radiation below which the risk of malignancy is nil". This being the case you should make every effort to avoid additional exposure wherever you can. With the inevitable looming on the horizon what are reasonable steps you can take to minimize this health debilitating measure?

First and foremost get educated and grow an awareness of the potential sources of radiation you are exposed to in the manner by which you live your life. If you think you are at particular risk get professional help or at the very least get yourself a Geiger counter and minimize your exposure as best you can. Remember exposure is cumulative so all exposure adds up and affects your health.

Secondly get a nutrient dense eating plan in place. Ionizing radioactive particles are somewhat opportunistic. Some of them bear similar resemblances to regular nutrients found in our diets. If you are lacking these in your regular diet you increase the chance that your body will absorb the radioactive counterparts in their absence.

Supplement and cover all bases. Start an advised and considered supplementation program; make sure you get the vital nutrients YOU need. Your biochemical individuality is a key expression of the way you function to remain optimally balanced and healthy. Support your needs through understanding your unique requirements.

Supplement with Alginic acid. Alginate as it is otherwise called has the ability to draw radiation out of the body better than most other substances. Adding alginate to your diet is one of the best things you can do to protect yourself and continually remove absorbed radiation from your internal environment. The best source of alginate is raw seaweed; use it in salads and soups to maintain its health protective properties.

Radiation whether ionizing or non ionizing is a natural phenomenon and has been with us from the very beginning of time; what's changed is our ability to withstand its negative effects on our physiology. All fliers are subject to increased doses of radiation exposure because the atmosphere lets in more ionizing radiation the further away you fly from the earth's surface. The more you fly and the more you surround yourself with modern technology dependent on radiation, the more you should consider a comprehensive protection program to guard against radiation and jet lag.

Source: NaturalNews.
Link: http://www.naturalnews.com/028260_airport_scanners_radiation.html.

More than 50 foreign and local officials and soldiers killed in Kabul attack

KABUL, Feb. 26 - There are reports from Kabul city that at least 50 foreign diplomats and Afghan soldiers were killed in Friday's attack in Safi Landmark hotel located in Shahri Now in the heart of Kabul city.

As per details, a Mujahid reached by the telephone, said that five martyr-seeking Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate, penetrating into all security checks and barriers had entered heavily-secured Kabul city in the early morning hours of Friday who had conducted a series of attacks and gunbattles using martyr and heavy and small arms attacks.

The Mujahid in his telephonic conversation said the first martyr attacker, Naseer Ahmad, had slammed his explosive-filled vehicle into a part of the hotel where at least 24 had been killed and a number wounded out of 50 foreign and domestic officials who were staying there, which was moments later followed by a second martyr bomb attack by another Mujahid, killing the rest of the wounded from the first bomb attack.

Meantime, the other three Mujahideen of a group of five have penetrated another guesthouse and immediately opened firing at the security guards and foreign guests, killing about 30 foreign officials and Afghan soldiers.

After positioning themselves in the guesthouse, started targeting other government buildings from there, who besides damaging the buildings inflicted casualties and losses on the officials based in the certain buildings.

Two hours after the incident, the soldiers of Afghan minion army reached the site where they met with the strong residences from the three Mujahideen for about five hours.

The three heroic Mujahideen have fought the local soldiers till the last moment of their life and finally one of those, Ajmal, conducted a martyr bomb attack, damaging a part of the hotel followed by two straight martyr bomb attacks carried out by the rest of two Mujahideen, Muhammadulllah and Zafar, damaging some part of the hotel and killing dozens.

Source: Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Link: http://www.alemarah.info/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1229:more-than-50-foreign-and-local-officials-and-soldiers-killed-in-kabul-attack.

Dozens of Americans killed as 7 U.S. armored tanks eliminated in Marjah

HELMAND, Feb. 25 - The brave Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate report from Helmand province that several U.S soldiers were killed as seven of the American armored tanks were separately destroyed in Mujahideen's planted mines in different parts of Marjah town of Nad Ali district throughout Thursday.

As per details, one of the U.S tank was blown apart by a blast on earlier Thursday as the U.S invaders were on an attack mission against Mujahid in Seh Patang area of Sefen in Marjah, resulting in destroying the tank with its American crew killed.

Meantime, four tanks of the U.S troops have been struck by planted IEDs in Sistani area in the outskirt of Marjah since noon hours of Thursday.

The report indicates at least dozens of the U.S. soldiers were killed or injured in the stated bombings which have taken place in Marjah town through much of the day.

However, two of the U.S tanks were targeted in the separate bombings in the morning hours of Thursday.

It is to be mentioned that some statements released by the enemy claiming that the U.S took control of southern Marjah and the National flag of the minion administration was raising there are no more than mere rumors, as a matter of fact, Mujahideen have the complete control of Marjah and its center known as Laisa.

Apparently, the U.S and NATO military spread such rumors to cover the losses and fatalities inflicted on them with every passing day during what they enemy call major operation in Marjah.

Source: Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Link: http://www.alemarah.info/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1224:dozens-of-americans-killed-as-7-us-armored-tanks-eliminated-in-marjah.