Protest, arrests in Gaza over closure of youth organization

05/12/2010

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Palestinian police detained at least 13 young people who were protesting Hamas authorities' closure of the Sharek Youth Forum, a large independent NGO in Gaza Sunday.

Police spokesman Ayman Al-Batniji said 13 young men were taken into custody for holding a demonstration without a permit from the Ministry of Interior. He said the male detainees would be freed by sundown without being charged with a crime, while an unspecified number of female demonstrators had already been released.

The Gaza government shut down Sharek last Tuesday citing an ongoing criminal investigation into the group's activities and members. Sharek officials say the shutdown is a nakedly political attempt to crack down a liberal-minded institution.

One of the protesters, Ebaa Rezeq, told Ma'an that between 30 and 60 youths arrived outside the organization's offices around noon on Sunday holding signs. She said plainclothes government officers were waiting for the demonstrators, and ordered the group to speak with officials in the attorney general's office before holding the demonstration.

As the demonstrators walked from Sharek's office toward the attorney general's office, Rezeq said, police in jeeps arrived, ordering the group to disperse, then arresting several people.

"They were shouting at us 'we will beat you up and arrest you if you don't go home,'" she said. She said police also "hit and attacked" one female demonstrator.

After being dispersed by the police, Rezeq said the remaining protesters gathered outside the French Cultural Center, where again police arrived, arresting several more youths.

Rezeq estimated the total number of people arrested at more than 20, while another observer at the protest put the number at between 15 and 20.

Rezeq added that the demonstration was not backed by any political party and was intended only as an expression of solidarity with the Sharek Youth Forum. "We are the kind of people who believe that these kind of actions are wrong, including closing Sharek," she said.

'Democracy' agenda

The Sharek organization, which focuses on empowerment and capacity building among Palestinian youth in the West Bank and Gaza, has denounced the closure of its Gaza branch as an assault on an independent organization.

Sharek co-founder Sufian Mshasha told the Ramallah-based website Palestine Monitor that the closure was "prompted by our agenda of democracy, social development, and our insistence on holding activities for both genders."

The organization said its Gaza manager, Muheib Shaath has been summoned 15 times for interrogation by Hamas-allied police. Mshasha said the vast majority of the questioning focused on mixed-gender activities.

A summer camp run by Sharek in partnership with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was attacked in May.

Mshasha also said: "Our director is an observant Muslim, our IT technician wears a burqa. Almost all the women wear traditional Islamic dress and all our volunteers are from Gaza."

In a statement on its website, Sharek also disputed the legal basis for the closure, citing the Palestinian Charitable Societies and Nongovernmental Organizations Law of 2000, which says the closure of an organization must be based on a court ruling.

Gaza Attorney General Muhammad Al-Abed told the website Falasteen Al-An that Sharek was only closed temporarily while authorities continued an investigation into the organization. He refused to describe the nature of the investigation or any potential charges against the group.

"We do not want to disclose details in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation," Al-Abed was quoted as saying.

An independent observer with a leading NGO in Gaza told Ma'an that in fact, since the Attorney General is part of the judiciary in the Palestinian system, he legally does have the power to close organizations like Sharek, but that the closure was certainly a political move.

The Hamas government has closed a number of NGOs in Gaza since taking full control of Gaza in June 2007. Other organizations have remained open while allowing Hamas to place members on their boards of directors.

Since 2007 the Fatah-dominated government in the West Bank has also closed more than 300 Hamas and Islamic-linked charities and NGOs.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=338296.

Ministry of Interior closes down Palestine Future TV

The Ministry of Interior at the Palestinian National Authority officially announced on Sunday the closure of a satellite TV channel owned by Mohammad Dahlan, Member of Fatah Central Committee and Media Commissioner in the movement.

By Nasouh Nazzal, Correspondent
December 5, 2010

Ramallah: The Ministry of Interior at the Palestinian National Authority officially announced on Sunday the closure of a satellite TV channel owned by Mohammad Dahlan, Member of Fatah Central Committee and Media Commissioner in the movement.

The Palestine Future TV was shut down following a decision by the Ministry of Interior taken on November 25, where the chief editor of the channel was officially summoned to the premises of the ministry and handed over a copy of the order, and the channel was officially shut off on Sunday.

Sources at the ministry and the channel told Gulf News that there have been no clear reasons for the decision.

Sources in the channel said that the ministry decision was take in line with the renewal of the TV channel licenses, but denied rumors that it has anything to do with the dispute between the channel co-owner and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Source: Gulf News.
Link: http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/ministry-of-interior-closes-down-palestine-future-tv-1.723309.

العراق يستضيف خليجي 21

5/12/2010 م

أقر رؤساء الاتحادات الخليجية لكرة القدم استضافة العراق لبطولة كأس الخليج في دورتها المقبلة (الحادية والعشرين)، وذلك خلال اجتماع بمدينة عدن اليمنية على هامش بطولة خليجي 20 التي تختتم اليوم.

جاء ذلك بعد مداولات وخلافات حول مدى قدرة العراق على تنظيم تلك البطولة في ظل الأجواء الساخنة التي تعيشها في الفترة الأخيرة، علما بأن المجتمعين اتفقوا على طرح فكرة أن تكون قطر هي البديل لتنظيم تلك البطولة في حالة عدم قدرة العراق على استضافتها.

وناقش الاجتماع مواضيع متصلة ببطولة كأس الخليج أهمها التعديلات المقترحة على لائحة البطولة وأبرزها تعديل موعدها، بحيث تقام خلال شهر يناير/كانون الثاني في السنوات الفردية.

ومن جانبها، رحبت وزارة الشباب والرياضة العراقية بقرار إقامة البطولة الخليجية في مدينة البصرة، مؤكدة استعدادها للتعاون واستضافة أي لجنة لزيارة المنشآت الرياضية التي يجري العمل فيها استعدادا لاستضافة هذه البطولة.

وأكدت الوزارة أن الحكومة العراقية رصدت أكثر من 500 مليون دولار لإنجاز مشروع المدينة الرياضية في البصرة لاستضافة البطولة.

وكان العراق بدأ مشاركته في دورات الخليج عام 1976 في قطر، ثم استضاف البطولة عام 1979 في العاصمة بغداد وتوج بلقبها.

المصدر: الجزيرة.
الرابط: http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/EXERES/9A883F18-6E15-493B-9155-A7BBB2BC5489.htm.

Iran announces nuclear advance

Atomic chief says country has produced its first batch of "yellowcake", the raw material used for uranium enrichment.

05 Dec 2010

Iran has produced its first batch of uranium concentrates to be used at a nuclear plant, state media has reported.

Ali Akbar Salehi, the atomic chief, said Iranian experts would use domestically produced yellowcake, the raw material for enrichment, at the Isfahan conversion plant.

"The West had counted on the possibility of us being in trouble over raw material but today we had the first batch of yellowcake from Gachin mine sent to Isfahan [conversion] facility," Salehi said on state television on Sunday.

Analysts believe Iran has nearly exhausted 600 tonnes of yellowcake acquired from South Africa in the 1970s before the Islamic revolution.

Salehi said Iran still cannot meet "the overall need of the Isfahan facility but... will produce a significant part of it" from the Gachin mine near the Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas.

"Iran has become self-sufficient in the entire fuel cycle, starting from [uranium] exploration, mining and then turning it into yellowcake and converting it to UF6 and then turning it into fuel plates or pellets," he said.

He added that Iran would formally notify the International Atomic Energy Agency of its yellowcake production.

Timing significant

The announcement comes just a day before world powers meet with Iranian officials in another attempt to persuade them to give up the technology.

"Iran has had this capability to produce yellowcake for a very long time, but the important thing is the timing of the announcement," Al Jazeera's Alireza Ronaghi, reporting from Tehran, said.

"Iran is trying to send a message ahead of talks that even if you build a wall around Iran, its nuclear program will go ahead.

"Iran has been trying to say that its only a matter of time to become totally self-sufficient in its nuclear program, even with the sanctions."

Enrichment worries the US and some of its allies because the process can also be used for weapons production. Iran insists its nuclear aims are solely peaceful.

The enriched uranium required for use in nuclear reactors or weapons is produced in centrifuges that spin uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6) at high speeds. The UF6 is derived in a reaction from yellowcake, a concentrate processed from mined uranium ore.

Iran has previously used yellowcake bought from South Africa in the 1970s.

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/12/20101259318679341.html.

Belgian airline says Ivory Coast closed air space

Sun, 05 Dec 2010

Brussels - Belgian air carrier Brussels Airlines said Sudnay it has canceled until Monday any further flights to Ivory Coast after the West African nation had closed its air space.

The Belgian news agency Belga cited the airline as saying the Ivory Coast air space closure was to remain in effect through Sunday evening.

The development comes as Ivory Coast is engulfed in tensions in the aftermath of the controversial presidential elections in which President Laurent Ggagbo was sworn in to a new term of office Saturday despite claims that his opponent, Alassane Ouattara, had actually won the election.

Four former German presidents appeal to Iran over reporters

Sun, 05 Dec 2010

Berlin - Four former German presidents issued a joint appeal to Iran to release two detained German reporters being held since early October on charges of espionage.

The group - Horst Koehler, Roman Herzog, Walter Scheel and Richard von Weizsaecker - published their appeal in the Sunday paper Bild am Sonntag, the paper for which the two reporters were working.

Koehler, who stepped down from office last May and who has since stayed out of the public limelight, urged Tehran, in a spirit of humanity and the traditionally good German-Iranian relations, to release the journalists and enable them to join their families for the Christmas holidays.

Herzog, president from 1994 to 1999, said a "great cultural nation like Iran should exercise justice" and permit the reporters to leave. He noted that "particularly in the Koran the idea of mercy plays an important role."

Scheel (1974-1979), pointed to his own age, 92, to note that he had experienced "what it means not to be able to freely express one's opinion" - an apparent reference to the Nazi regime of his youth.

Every state must accept freedom and free reporting by journalists, "therefore I appeal to the Iranian government to release the two reporters before Christmas," Scheel said.

Von Weizsaecker (1984-1994) described Iran as a "significant country with a great, independent culture ... and a distinct self- confidence," adding "So I expect that this state, because of critical media voices, will not take revenge on the reporters."

The two - a reporter and a photographer - were arrested on October 10 in north-western Iran while interviewing the son of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a woman sentenced to death by stoning for murder and adultery.

The men had entered Iran with tourist visas and stand accused of espionage and engaging in a smear campaign against Iran. In mid- November, the two appeared on Iranian state television apparently admitting their wrongdoing.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/356638,presidents-appeal-iran-reporters.html.

Australia sends urgent bushfire assistance to Israel

05/12/2010

SYDNEY (AFP) -- Australia said Sunday it would urgently send fire-fighting experts to Israel to help it combat a massive blaze that has raged for three days, killing more than 40 people.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said she had spoken to her Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to confirm Australia's assistance and convey her condolences over the losses from the Carmel forest blaze in the country's north.

"A team of air base managers and air attack controllers with expertise in controlling or directing fire-fighting aircraft are being deployed to Israel within the next 24 hours," Gillard said in a statement.

"Arrangements are also under way to transport chemical fire retardant if this is required by Israel," she said, adding that the Australian military was assisting with logistics.

Among the team being sent to Israel is Victoria's Department of Sustainability and Environment chief fire officer Ewan Waller, one of those who led efforts to battle bushfires that killed 173 people in 2009.

A number of countries have pledged to help Israel fight the biggest inferno in its 62-year history, and foreign planes and helicopters are already working to douse the flames.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=338978.

Prayer for rain in Gaza

05/12/2010

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Palestinian worshipers held prayers for rain Sunday in Gaza City, in an event attended by local government figures.

Palestine and other countries in the Middle East are on the verge of drought as a result of high temperatures and lack of winter during the winter, when rainfall is usually expected.

Meteorologists say this year is the first in over 15 years that no rain fell for the entire month of November.

Dry conditions have been blamed for a fire in northern Israel that began Thursday and killed at least 40 people by Sunday. Small fires have spread in other areas including briefly in central Bethlehem.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=338946.

الفتح المغربي يتوج بكأس الاتحاد الأفريقي

5/12/2010 م

فاز نادي الفتح الرباطي المغربي مساء أمس بكأس الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم، بعد فوزه 3/2 على مضيفه نادي الصفاقسي التونسي في إياب الدور النهائي على ملعب الطيب المهيري في صفاقس.

وسجل عبد الفتاح بوخريص (د7) ورشيد روكي (د75) ومحمد الزويدي (د89) أهداف الفتح، وحمدي رويد (د44) وكمال زعيم (د49 من ركلة جزاء) هدفي الصفاقسي.

وكان الفريقان تعادلا من دون أهداف في مباراة الذهاب يوم الأحد الماضي بالعاصمة المغربية الرباط.

وهذا هو اللقب الأول للفتح الرباطي في هذه المسابقة الأفريقية، وقد كرر به إنجاز ثلاثة أندية مغربية أخرى هي الكوكب المراكشي (عام 1996) والرجاء البيضاوي (عام 2003) والجيش الملكي (عام 2005).

وهذه هي المرة الرابعة التي التقى فيها الفتح والصفاقسي في المسابقة هذا الموسم، وذلك بعد مواجهتيهما في الدور ربع النهائي (دور المجموعات)، حيث فاز الصفاقسي 3/صفر ذهابا في صفاقس ورد الفتح بالانتصار 2/1 إيابا في الرباط.

وبهذه الهزيمة فشل الصفاقسي في إحراز اللقب الرابع بعد أن كان قد فاز بالبطولة ذاتها سنوات 1998 و2007 و2008، ومنع فوز الفتح الرباطي تكريس المسابقة كاختصاص تونسي، بعد أن كان قد أحرزها النجم الرياضي الساحلي ثلاث مرات أيضا أعوام 1995 و1999 و2006، والترجي الرياضي عام 1997.

وفي أعقاب المباراة أعلن المدير الفني للصفاقسي بيير لوشنتر أنه يفكر في الانسحاب من تدريب النادي، وقال إنه يدرس الأمر مع الإدارة.

وعبر لوشنتر –الذي يرتبط مع الصفاقسي بعقد لمدة عام واحد وقعه بداية الموسم الحالي- عن حسرته الكبيرة لهزيمة ناديه.

المصدر: الجزيرة.
الرابط: http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/EXERES/E42190DF-CCF8-4F96-AD28-55C128BD09F8.htm.

حجاج فلسطينيّي 48 يعززون الصلة بالأقصى

5/12/2010 م

فتاوى يهودية لتسريع بناء الهيكل المزعوم
حجاج فلسطينيّي 48 يعززون الصلة بالأقصى

محمد محسن وتد–القدس المحتلة

نظمت الحركة الإسلامية في الداخل الفلسطيني أمس السبت، مهرجانا لاستقبال حجاج بيت الله في المسجد الأقصى تحت عنوان "من البيت العتيق إلى الأقصى الشقيق"، في خطوة تهدف إلى تعميق أواصر العلاقة بين المسجدين الحرام والنبوي والمسجد الأقصى.

وشارك آلاف الحجاج من فلسطينيّي 48 والقدس وذويهم في المهرجان، حيث يعد عرب الداخل من أكثر زواره، وهم الوحيدون المسموح لهم بدخوله على عكس باقي الفلسطينيين.

ويأتي تنظيم المهرجان في وقت اشتدت فيه وطأة اقتحامات وتجاوزات المجموعات اليهودية للأقصى، خاصة في أعقاب الإعلان عن تنظيم دروس دينية "تلمودية" وجولات في ساحاته بمناسبة العيد اليهودي "الأنوار" الذي يعتبره اليهود عيد "تطهير الهيكل".

وفي ظل هذه الوضعية، حذرت "مؤسسة الأقصى" -في بيان لها- من دعوات أطلقتها جماعات يهودية لاقتحام الأقصى، وتنظيم أيام دراسية ومحاضرات حول الهيكل المزعوم داخل المسجد على مدار أسبوع كامل حتى الخميس المقبل، نهاية العيد المذكور.

ودعت الحركة الإسلامية إلى النفير نحو الأقصى يومي الاثنين والثلاثاء بحلول ذكرى الهجرة النبوية، وحثت على التواجد في ساحاته والرباط فيه، وعدم الإبقاء عليه شاغرا عند اقتحامات اليهود.

غطاء حكومي

وضمن هذا الإطار، تحدث الشيخ كمال الخطيب نائب رئيس الحركة الإسلامية -خلال المهرجان- عن معاني الصلة الوثيقة بين المسجد الحرام والأقصى من جهة، وبين القدس ومكة المكرمة والمدينة المنورة من جهة أخرى.

وقال الخطيب للجزيرة نت "لم يبق للأقصى إلا أهل الداخل الفلسطيني والقدس، فالاحتلال يمنع أهالينا في الضفة وغزة من الوصول إلى القدس، لذا نسعى -على مدار السنة- لتكثيف قوافل الحجيج والعائلات للرباط والتوافد دفاعا عن المسجد".

وأضاف أن "هناك إغراءات مادية قدمتها الجماعات اليهودية للمستوطنين، متمثلة في وجبة غداء ومبلغ 15 دولارا، لتحفيزهم على المشاركة في اقتحام الأقصى وتدنيسه".

وأشار إلى أن الاقتحامات تأتي في سياق الممارسات الاحتلالية لإسرائيل الهادفة لتهويد الأقصى وإضفاء الصبغة اليهودية للقدس.

وعن المسؤول عن هذه التحركات، قال نائب رئيس الحركة الإسلامية إن "حكومة بنيامين نتنياهو هي من توفر الحماية الأمنية وتعطي الضوء الأخضر لليهود باقتحام الأقصى، وبدورنا سنكون رأس الحربة للتصدي لهم".

نشاط تعبوي

وكانت قوات الاحتلال قد أغلقت فجر الخميس الماضي بوابات الأقصى أمام المسلمين ومنعت من هو دون 45 عاما من الصلاة فيه.

وفي المقابل، وفرت قوات الأمن الإسرائيلية لأربع مجموعات من اليهود المتطرفين حراسة مشددة، حيث قاموا بانتهاك حرمة المسجد والتجوال في ساحاته وأداء شعائرهم "التلمودية".

وفي تعليقه على هذه الأحداث، قال المتحدث بلسان الحركة الإسلامية زاهي نجيدات إن "الدعوات لهذه الاقتحامات وتنظيم المحاضرات التلمودية حول بناء الهيكل المزعوم، تأتي بالتزامن مع نشاط تعبوي من قبل الجماعات اليهودية لبناء الهيكل على حساب الأقصى".

وتابع -في حديثه مع الجزيرة نت- "نظم مؤخرا العديد من المستوطنات مؤتمرات ومحاضرات حول بناء الهيكل، تضمنت إصدار فتاوى يهودية تدعو لتكثيف اقتحام الأقصى وتصعيد النشاط الميداني لبناء الهيكل".

وخلص إلى القول إن "رباطنا في الأقصى هو رسالة للمؤسسة الإسرائيلية بأنه لا توجد لغير المسلمين أي ذرة تراب فيه، وهي رسالة بأن أهلنا على مواقفهم ثابتون وعلى رباطهم دائمون".

تلبية النداء

من جهته، قال الحاج مسعود أغبارية إن "زيارة الأقصى تعني الإيمان الكامل والعميق بالدين الإسلامي، وتجسد عظمة وترابط هذا الدين والعمق الإستراتيجي ما بين مثلث مكة والمدينة والقدس".

وأضاف أن "الحضور والرباط المتواصل لأهلنا يؤكد للجميع أننا على استعداد مطلق لتلبية أي نداء دفاعا عن الأقصى مهما كلف الثمن".

وبدوره أوضح الحاج سميح أبو مخ أنه "بعد زيارة المسجد الحرام شرفنا بزيارة الأقصى، لنثبت للعالم أننا أمة واحدة لا نؤمن بالحدود الجغرافية، ونرابط لنؤكد أن الأقصى جزء من عقيدتنا، وسندافع عنه بأرواحنا وأجسادنا".

وفي رسالة وجهها عبر الجزيرة نت، قال أبو مخ "نناشد أهلنا وبالذات في هذه الظروف الحرجة التوافد إلى الأقصى، فالظلم مهما طال لم ولن يكتب له البقاء والشرعية".

المصدر: الجزيرة.
الرابط: http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/EXERES/81CF1B96-C722-4CC9-8B6C-B37AFBCA8996.htm.

Abbas departs for 3-day visit to Turkey

05/12/2010

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to arrive in Turkey Sunday for an official 3-day visit where he will meet Turkish officials, the PA’s official news agency reported.

WAFA quoted Palestinian officials saying Abbas would meet with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan. He will update them on the recent developments in the occupied Palestinian territories and discuss the peace process in light of Israel’s insistence to go on with settlement construction, according to the report.

Abbas is scheduled to leave Ankara Tuesday heading to Athens where he will meet Greek President Karolos Papoulias and Prime Minister George Papandreou, WAFA reported.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=338906.

Netanyahu thanks PA for sending firefighters

05/12/2010

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu telephoned President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday to express his gratitude to the Palestinian Authority for sending firefighters to help extinguish the fire in northern Israel.

The official PA news agency WAFA quoted Abbas as saying that in such a situation the Palestinian people would not hesitate to offer humanitarian support.

Three Palestinian firefighting teams were sent to the Carmel to aid efforts against the fire, which began Thursday.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=338896.

Israel inferno closes in on Druze village

05/12/2010

by Majeda El Batsh

ISFIYA (AFP) - Residents watched from rooftops on Saturday as a raging fire that has devoured swathes of land in northern Israel closed in on Isfiya, with flames already reported to be licking at the Druze village's outskirts.

"Please leave the area! It is for your own safety," police and officials barked at villagers through loudspeakers, urging them to keep away from the blaze that has already killed 41 people.

"The Turkish and Greek planes are going to spray chemicals on the fire," they warned onlookers, with the fire so close that smoke stung the eyes and made breathing difficult.

"We cannot put the fire out while you are here," the officials stressed.

Israeli and foreign firefighters backed by international water-bombing aircraft battled the blaze for the third straight day on Saturday, struggling to conquer the fire raging through a pine forest and nature reserve just outside the port of Haifa, Israel's third-largest city.

Police sources said two youths from Isfiya had been arrested on suspicion of having started the fire "through negligence" by leaving behind burning embers after a family picnic.

"The fire is about 150 meters away and we are preparing an emergency place in case something happens," said Isfiya council member Faraj Zaher.

"People are very afraid, very frightened, especially the children," he said, adding that flames had already reached one house on the western outskirts of the village of 11,000 people.

More than 17,000 people in the Carmel area hit by the fire have been evacuated so far.

Through the smoky haze, the flames could be seen approaching the village from two directions -- on the hillsides above and also from below -- and getting slowly closer, an AFP correspondent said.

At least four Druze are among the dead, but none from Isfiya, according to Yacoub Kara, a resident. "It's a disaster," he said.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the 41 dead were 38 prison guards whose coach was trapped by the fire, two police officers and one 16-year-old boy volunteer with the fire service.

Another four people are listed as still missing.

Many Isfaya villagers crowded balconies or rooftops, watching firefighters battle the blaze as others stayed indoors to watch the running coverage on television.

Some villagers expressed their anger at the slow response by firefighters.

"The firemen are responsible -- they knew at 11 a.m. (on Thursday) that there was a fire but they didn't respond for another two hours. Now they are looking for someone to blame," said Haadi Zaher.

Restaurant owner Nabih Mehrez, 50, said he mourned the burning of the Carmel forest that was a part of villagers' lives.

"The situation is really sad. This forest is our identity, our home. We were born here and have grown up together with these trees, we know each one of them," he said.

"The danger is close to us but we don't want to lose this forest."

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=338885.

German FM calls for settlement freeze

AMMAN (AFP) - German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in Amman on Saturday that his country would make every effort to promote Middle East peace, Jordan's official Petra news agency reported.

In a meeting with his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Jawdeh, Westerwelle underscored his country's backing for "all efforts to support and promote peace and stability in the Middle East," Petra said.

Jawdeh in turn emphasized the need "to intensify international efforts as soon as possible to progress toward resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict on the basis of a two-state solution," Petra said.

He underscored "the need to create suitable conditions to allow the resumption of direct negotiations ... which requires that Israel stop unilateral measures, in particular the illegal construction of settlements."

The comments come as direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have faltered following the end of a temporary ban on Jewish settlement building in the West Bank.

President Mahmoud Abbas says he will not return to negotiations while Israel continues to build on land the Palestinians want for a future state. But Israel has so far refused to impose a new ban.

On Thursday, a Palestinian official said Washington had officially informed them that attempts to secure a new Israeli settlement freeze had failed, but US officials have refused to confirm or deny the report.

Westerwelle arrived in Amman from Baghdad, where he made a surprise visit on Saturday and held talks with Iraqi leaders to promote trade and voice concern over attacks against minority Christians.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=338886.

Iran will 'never use' force against Muslim neighbors

By Acil Tabbara (AFP)

MANAMA — Iran sought on Saturday to calm the fears of its Arab neighbors, saying it would never use force against them because they are Muslims, after the United States highlighted concerns over Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons program.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was speaking at a conference on Middle East security at which Jordan's King Abdullah II said Israeli-Palestinian peace talks must be rescued from collapse to ensure regional and world stability.

"We have never used our force against our neighbors and never will because our neighbors are Muslims," Mottaki told journalists on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue, which US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opened on Friday.

"Your power in the region is our power and our power is your power."

Clinton had said US concerns over Tehran's nuclear program are shared by Iran's neighbors in the Gulf, through which most of the world's oil flows.

Mottaki cautioned against submitting to "pressure by outsiders to divide us and create instability," saying "the presence of foreign powers will not help establish security in the region" and urging cooperation among Gulf countries.

He said it was vital for Iran to "have stability and security, because we (Iran and its neighbors) provide the world with most of its energy."

"Iran is determined to guarantee international security in the field of energy."

Clinton said "there is no debate in the international community, and perhaps the Iranians will engage seriously... on what is a concern shared by nations on every continent, but most particularly right here in the region."

She was referring to talks due to start between major powers and Iran in Geneva on Monday over Tehran's nuclear program.

"Because obviously if you're the neighbor of a country that is pursuing nuclear weapons, that is viewed in a much more threatening way than if you're a concerned country many thousands of miles away. But the concern is the same and we hope that Iran will respond."

The Manama Dialogue comes as US diplomacy reels over State Department cables published by WikiLeaks.

Some of the most prominent headlines highlighted widespread fears among Arab countries in the Gulf about Iran's nuclear program and their calls to nip it in the bud.

The United States and other Western states, along with Israel, suspect Iran is using a nuclear energy program as cover for building a bomb. Tehran strongly denies that.

Mottaki told the conference, "it is our right to create fuel, and to deprive us from our right is scientific apartheid."

On Friday, Clinton urged Iran to be constructive in Geneva.

"We hope that you will come to it, as we will, in good faith and prepared to engage constructively on your nuclear program," she said.

The talks will bring Iran together with the P5+1 grouping of UN Security Council permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany.

For his part, King Abdullah said "our region will not enjoy security and stability unless we solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and Arabs, Muslims and Israelis find peace."

"If hope is killed, radical forces will prevail. The region will sink into more vicious warfare and instability, threatening security far beyond the borders of the Middle East," he warned.

"This is why it is essential that we rescue the new round of negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel," he said of direct peace talks launched in September in Washington.

The talks have ground to a halt as Israel refused Palestinian demands to impose a new moratorium on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.

A 10-month freeze expired on September 26, shortly after the launch of the latest round of negotiations.

The king said "the building of settlements has to stop," and he urged Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to resume "serious negotiations" on all pending issues namely borders, security and refugees.

"The alternative is new conflicts that will reverberate far beyond the borders of the Middle East."

On Friday Clinton told reporters in Manama that Washington is "working intensively" to break the impasse in Palestinian-Israeli talks.

She later said in an interview aired by the US Arabic-language satellite television Al-Hurra that Washington would make announcements next week about the peace process but she declined to give more details.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

Bethlehem toddler drowns in a pool

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A two-year-old toddler drowned in an agricultural pool south of Bethlehem on Saturday, police said.

Abdallah Khaled Mohammad Sa’ed was playing with friends when he fell in the water and died, said police chief A'hed Hassan.

The child's body was taken to Beit Jala Hospital, where doctors confirmed the cause of death as accidental.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=338881.

PFLP: Gambling on US endangers Palestinians

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian government in Ramallah's willingness to rely on the United States as a broker for Middle East peace was dangerous and harmed the Palestinian cause, the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine said Saturday.

The leftist Palestinian faction said in a statement that the PA should take the issue to the UN and demand the implementation of relevant resolutions based on international legitimacy rather than continue with "absurd" peace talks.

"Two decades of bilateral negotiations amidst various Israeli actions -- settlements, operations, siege -- should be enough to convince anyone that these talks are absurd and reflect Israeli and American dictates," the PFLP said.

The faction also said the PLO should be reformed to include all Palestinian parties.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=338842.

Ex-prisoner barred from traveling

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities barred an ex-prisoner from leaving the West Bank for Jordan, officials said.

Nader Mahmoud Jaffal, a student at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, spent 14 years in Israeli custody.

He was to attend a prisoners conference in Algeria coinciding with Human Rights Day, which is 10 December.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=338822.

Brazil recognizes Palestine

Israel expresses disappointment over Brazil's decision to recognize a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.

05 Dec 2010

Israel has expressed disappointment at Brazil's decision to recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, saying it flew in the face of efforts to negotiate a peace deal.

In a public letter addressed to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, on Friday, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian president, recognized Palestine as an independent state within the 1967 borders.

The decision came in response to a personal request made by Abbas on November 24, according to the letter published on the foreign ministry's website on Friday.

"Considering that the demand presented by his excellency [Abbas] is just and consistent with the principles upheld by Brazil with regard to the Palestinian issue, Brazil, through this letter, recognizes a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders," it said.

The letter refers to the "legitimate aspiration of the Palestinian people for a secure, united, democratic and economically viable state coexisting peacefully with Israel."

Israel anger

A statement from the Israeli foreign ministry said: "The government of Israel expresses sadness and disappointment over the decision by the Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a month before he steps down.

"Recognition of a Palestinian state is a breach of the interim agreement which was signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 1995 which said that the issue of the status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be discussed and resolved through negotiations," it said.

Such a move also contravened the 2003 Middle East roadmap for peace, which said a Palestinian state could only be established through negotiations and not through unilateral actions, the statement said, warning that unilateral steps would harm attempts to build trust.

"Every attempt to bypass this process and to decide in advance in a unilateral manner about important issues which are disputed, only harms trust between the sides, and hurts their commitment to the agreed framework of negotiating towards peace," the Israeli statement said.

International support

The international community backs Palestinian demands for a state in most of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, all territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 six day war.

But the United States and most Western governments have held back from recognizing a Palestinian state, saying it should be brought about through a negotiated peace agreement with Israel.

In a parallel statement, the Brazilian government assured relations with Israel "have never been more robust."

Brazil has offered to help mediate Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which were briefly revived in September before grounding to a halt over the resumption of Israeli settlement building in the occupied territories.

Abbas says he will not return to negotiations while Israel continues to build on land the Palestinians want for a future state. But Israel has so far refused to impose a new ban.

Over the last few weeks, Abbas has repeatedly said he would explore other options if peace talks with the Israelis collapse, one of which would see him seeking United Nations' recognition of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

On Thursday, a Palestinian official said Washington had officially informed them that attempts to secure a new Israeli settlement freeze had failed, but US officials refused to confirm or deny the report.

Abbas visited Brazil in 2005 and 2009, and Lula made the first-ever trip by a Brazilian head of state to Palestine and Israel in March this year.

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/12/201012504256198565.html.

Spain reopens airspace after strike

Air traffic controllers return to work, but it could take up to 48 hours for services to get back to normal.

05 Dec 2010

Spain's government has said that the country's airspace has reopened after a strike by air traffic controllers grounded flights and left thousands of travelers stranded.

An official with the civil aviation agency AENA said it got the all-clear from Eurocontrol, Europe's air traffic agency, to allow flights into Spain's airspace on Saturday afternoon following the return to work of sufficient numbers of strikers.

Jose Blanco, Spain's transport minister, said returning to "normality will take some time, between 24 and 48 hours, if the controllers return to work as they must".

Officials said that 250,000 people had been affected by the walkout, prompted by a long-running dispute over working hours.

Almost all flights in and out of the country were canceled until Sunday morning.

'State of alert'

The government declared a state of emergency after air traffic controllers failed to show up for work on Friday.

"We said that if the situation in the airports did not normalize, we would call a state of emergency," Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, the deputy prime minister, said after an emergency cabinet meeting on Saturday.

Rubalcaba said that if the controllers did not return to work they would be breaking the law. He said the air traffic controllers were trying to protect "unacceptable privileges".

The emergency declaration came after the Spanish military took control of the nation's airspace on Friday.

It was the first "state of alert" in Spain since the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975.

Guy Hedecoe, the co-editor of the Spanish news website qorrea.com, speaking from an airport in Madrid, said many of the stranded passengers were angry.

"There is a broader feeling across Spanish public opinion that air-traffic controllers get a pretty good deal," he said.

"In this airport people seem really angry at the airport and are directing their anger at the [air traffic controllers] and not the government."

The controllers gave no warning before the walkout, taking sick leave to abandon their posts en masse at around 1600 GMT on Friday, effectively closing the whole of Spanish airspace, except for Andalucia, the airport authority said.

Rubalcaba put the army in charge of all decisions on air traffic control, organization, planning and supervision.

Long-running dispute

The mass walkout by traffic controllers, locked in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions with AENA, the state-run airport authority, came hours after the government approved plans to sell off 49 per cent of AENA in an attempt to tackle it debt crisis.

The government, also on Friday, approved controls over the number of hours air traffic controllers can work per year and passed a law allowing the army to take over air space in times of emergency.

A spokesman for the Syndicate Union of Air Controllers said this meant time taken for paternity or sick leave would not count within the maximum working hours.

"We have reached our limit," Jorge Ontiveros, the union spokesman, said.

Tourism accounts for around 11 per cent of Spain's gross domestic product (GDP).

Friday's travel disruption would lead to millions of euros in losses for the tourist industry and would damage Spain's image as a holiday destination, the Spanish Hotel Confederation has said.

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/12/2010124112836205588.html.

India and Pakistan in cyber war

Cyber-hackers shut down India's top police agency website, saying it was done in revenge.

04 Dec 2010

Cyber-hackers calling themselves the "Pakistani Cyber Army" have compromised the website of India's top police agency and issued a warning message to Indian hackers, an Indian news agency says.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)'s site was shut down on Friday by hackers who posted a message saying that it was done in revenge for similar Indian assaults on Pakistani websites, the Press Trust of India [PTI] said.

CBI authorities say they are working to restore the site as they investigate who was responsible for the attack.

The group of hackers has warned it would carry out the "mass defacement" of Indian websites, the news agency said on Saturday.

"CBI registered a case for the defacement of its website...It has come to the notice of CBI that its official website was unauthorisedly accessed and deface," it added.

'Retaliation'

The message posted on the CBI site said the attack was "in response to the Pakistani websites hacked by 'Indian Cyber Army'," PTI reported.

"Hacked hahaa funny," it said. "Let us see what you investigating agency so called CBI can do".

Hackers had also infiltrated the server of the National Informatics Center (NIC), which maintains most of the Indian government's websites, PTI added.

The "Pakistani Cyber Army" claims to have hacked a number of Indian websites in recent years, including India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, in retaliation.

Indian information technology specialists have long criticized what they say is a lack of awareness about Internet security across the country, including in the corridors of power.

Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Bangalore-based Center for Internet and Society, said it would have been easy for attackers to get into the CBI public site as it was "not a particularly sensitive" one.

'Lack of awareness'

The Indian government "has a very low level of cyber awareness and cyber security. We don't take cyber security as seriously as the rest of the world," he said.

He added that the government needed to "make at least 10 times the current level of investment to get their standards to match the rest of the world".

According to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team [ICERT], a government agency that tracks IT security issues, more than 3,600 Indian websites were hacked in the first six months of this year.

An ICERT spokeswoman said she could not immediately say who was responsible for the attack.

The CBI website hacking came as the two nuclear-armed rivals continue efforts to repair relations that were cut off after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which armed men, whom India claimed were members of a Pakistani group, went on a shooting rampage in the financial district killing around 173 people.

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net//news/asia/2010/12/20101241373583977.html.

Qatar World Cup possible in winter

Franz Beckenbauer, a member of Fifa's executive committee, says Qatar could be allowed to host 2022 World Cup in winter.

04 Dec 2010

A German football great and Fifa executive committee member has said the 2022 World Cup in Qatar should be played in January and February, when the temperatures in the Gulf state are more moderate.

Franz Beckenbauer said it would be possible to make a one-time change to European league fixtures to allow for the World Cup to be played in winter.

The World Cup is traditionally held during the northern hemisphere's summer months after the end of the domestic league competitions.

Qatar, which beat bid rivals Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States, said it would deploy climate-control technology to keep the temperature on the pitch to 27 degrees Celsius while outside it could get to a scorching 50 degrees.

Qatar, having never qualified for the World Cup finals, was picked by world soccer's governing body on Thursday to stage the 2022 tournament, a first both for the Middle East and for an Arab country.

It will also be the smallest nation ever to host the World Cup.

Cost-saving proposal

Beckenbauer told Saturday's Bild newspaper this would be a cheaper solution then air conditioning all stadiums during summer heat that exceeds 40 Celsius.

"One should think about another solution. In January and February you have comfortable 25 degrees there," he said. "Qatar won the vote and deserves a fair chance as the first host from the Middle East."

Beckenbauer also said it was a mistake to choose World Cup hosts for 2018 and 2022 at the same time.

Beckenbauer said he was surprised by the early eliminations of Australia as a candidate for the 2022 World Cup and England for the 2018 tournament.

England got the best marks in Fifa's own evaluation report ahead of the vote, but still lost in the first round of voting.

Beckenbauer, who won the 1974 World Cup as West Germany captain and also coached his nation to the 1990 title, declined to reveal how he voted.

He has said previously that he intends to step down from Fifa's executive committee in March for family reasons.

Source: al-Jazeera.
Link: http://english.aljazeera.net//sport/2010/2010/12/201012414282409180.html.

إدانة بفرنسا لوقف شرطية أصلها عربي

5/12/2010 م

عبد الله بن عالي-باريس

شجبت الشرطية الفرنسية سهام سويد قرار مديرية شرطة باريس توقيفها عن العمل لمدة أربعة أشهر على خلفية نشرها كتابا أبرزت فيه "الشطط في استعمال السلطة والفساد والعنصرية" التي تنخر بعض فروع جهاز الشرطة المحلي.

واستنكرت أبرز منظمات مناهضة العنصرية في البلاد تعليق عمل سهام، ذات الأصول التونسية، معتبرة أنه كان على الدولة الفرنسية أن تكرم الشرطية بدل أن تعاقبها.

وفي مقابلة مع الجزيرة نت قالت سهام سويد (29 عاما) إنها ما زالت "تحت وقع الصدمة" بعد علمها بالقرار الذي أعلن الأربعاء الماضي.

وأضافت أن كتابها "قانون الصمت داخل الشرطة" الذي نشر في منتصف أكتوبر/تشرين الأول الماضي، تضمن "وقائع تثبتها الشهادات والوثائق والمحاضر والتقارير ومذكرات العمل الرسمية".

وبحسب سهام سويد فإنها لم تضع ما كتبته في متناول القراء إلا بعدما أيقنت من "انعدام الإرادة لدى المسؤولين عن الشرطة في وضع حد لممارسات الجهاز التي كنت ضحية لها في بعض الأحيان وشاهدة عليها في أحيان أخرى".

واستبعدت الشرطية أن يكون نشر الكتاب، الذي دخل في قائمة الكتب الأكثر بيعا في فرنسا، هو "السبب الحقيقي" لتعليق عملها، لافتة إلى أن مدير شرطة باريس طلب توقيفها في 26 نوفمبر/تشرين الثاني الماضي بعد ثلاثة أيام من رفعها دعوى قضائية ضد وزيرة الأسرة الفرنسية جانيت بوغراب المقربة من الرئيس الفرنسي نيكولا ساركوزي.

ويشتبه في أن جانيت التي كانت قبل تعيينها في الحكومة الفرنسية الجديدة، رئيسة للهيئة العليا لمحاربة التمييز، قد سربت للصحافة، بشكل غير مشروع، وثائق تتضمن حيثيات قرار اتخذته تلك الهيئة، منذ عدة أشهر، برفض شكوى تقدمت بها سهام سويد بشأن التمييز العنصري الذي تدعي أنها تعرضت له على يد بعض زملائها في مديرية شرطة الحدود بمطار أورلي الدولي القريب من باريس.

خرق القانون

وكانت مديرية شرطة باريس التي التحقت بها الموظفة المذكورة منذ سنة قد عللت تعليق سهام سويد "بخرقها للمادة 11 من مدونة أخلاقيات الشرطة" التي تلزمها بعدم نشر أسرار مهنية أو الحديث عنها علنا إلا بعد الحصول على إذن من إدارة الجهاز.

بيد أن هيئات حقوقية محلية وصف هذا التبرير بأنه "واهٍ".

وذكرت الحركة من أجل الصداقة بين الشعوب ومحاربة العنصرية في بيان تلقت الجزيرة نت نسخة منه أن المادة 40 من قانون المسطرة الجنائية المحلي يلزم كل موظف عام بإبلاغ وكيل النيابة المختص بأية جنحة أو جريمة تصل إلى علمه أثناء أدائه لمهامه.

وأوضحت المنظمة الفرنسية أن سهام سويد وسبعة من زملائها، بينهم عرب وأفارقة، قدموا منذ سنة ونصف شكاوى للعدالة بشأن المعاملة التمييزية التي تعارضوا لها أو شاهدوها تمارس على غيرهم. وأضافت الهيئة الحقوقية أن تلكؤ بعض السلطات القضائية وعدم تحرك مسؤولي الشرطة "هو الذي دفع الموظفة إلى كشف المستور" للرأي العام.

من جانبه، وصف رئيس الرابطة الدولية لمناهضة العنصرية ومعاداة السامية، آلان جاكوبوفيتش توقيف الموظفة ذات الأصول العربية بأنه "مشين"، معتبرا أنه كان على الدولة الفرنسية أن تمنحها وساما تقديرا لما قامت به.

وكانت سهام سويد، التي بدأت العمل في الشرطة عام 2006، قد كشفت في كتابها أن بعض زملائها في مديرية شرطة الحدود بمطار أورلي نعتوها بأنها "عربية قذرة". كما دأبوا على إهانة مسافرين عرب وأفارقة وترحيل أجانب تعد إقامتهم شرعية في البلاد.

واتهمت مسؤولين في المديرية بالارتشاء، مؤكدة أنهم تلقوا "هدايا ثمينة" من شركات كبرى للنقل الجوي.

المصدر: الجزيرة.
الرابط: http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/EXERES/57760390-31CF-48C6-9884-978CA7849CF7.htm.

Experts to help Arab water utilities recover costs

By Hana Namrouqa

AMMAN - Challenges facing water utilities across the region will come under the spotlight today in the opening of the first Arab Water Week.

Organized by the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA) in cooperation with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the event will gather 400 water experts and decision makers from 17 countries.

During the five-day event, participants will discuss cost recovery at water and wastewater utilities as well as Arab water utilities’ common achievements, challenges and potential solutions, according to ACWUA Secretary General Khaldoun Khashman.

Participants will also discuss best practices in cost recovery, tariff restructuring and sustainable utility management, Khashman told reporters during a press conference on Thursday.

“In parallel to the conference activities, a matchmaking workshop will be held to prepare ACWUA’s utilities twinning program in cooperation with UN HABITAT,” Khashman said.

He added that a workshop will also be held for water sector regulators in the Arab region in cooperation with the German Agency for Technical Cooperation.

On the sidelines of the event, the ACWUA will sign memoranda of understanding with the Stockholm International Water Institute, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the Arab German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the German Water Partnership, Muenchen Messe and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

Founded in April 2007, the ACWUA aims to boost exchange of knowledge and best practices among professionals as well as developing resources, facilitating training programs and advocating for professional certification, according to the organization.

5 December 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=32335.

Islamists hold closed-door meeting to settle differences

By Mohammad Ben Hussein

AMMAN - The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan on Saturday held an internal meeting in hopes of overcoming growing differences within the group’s ranks.

Yesterday’s meeting was the first of two sessions gathering Muslim Brotherhood leaders from the movement’s shura council and executive office.

During yesterday’s closed-door meeting, so-called party hawks and doves discussed the group’s stance on a number of local and regional issues, according to a senior Islamist.

The meeting is meant to settle differences between the doves and hawks after nearly two years of divisions over the group’s ties with Hamas, participation in the recent parliamentary elections and relations with the government, according to the source, who requested anonymity.

According to Muslim Brotherhood Spokesperson Jameel Abu Baker, the gathering provided an opportunity for a “comprehensive dialogue” across the group’s ranks.

“We will have two sessions; the first was today, and the second will be held within a week. The agenda includes internal issues such as national unity and political reform, particularly the government’s stance on political parties,” Abu Baker told The Jordan Times over the phone on Saturday.

Issues of regional concern with a local impact were also discussed, particularly the peace process and reconciliation between Fateh and Hamas.

“Discussions touched on many local and regional issues of concern to the Islamist movement including the Arab-Israeli conflict and the siege on Gaza,” Abu Baker added.

The Muslim Brotherhood has witnessed a series of rifts between hawks and doves over the handling of a number of local and regional issues, divisions that threatened the unity of the group.

The hawks currently hold a slim majority of the group’s shura council, but the doves retain significant influence over the movement’s decision-making process.

Other issues on the agenda included the recent parliamentary elections, which were boycotted by the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The IAF has criticized the recent elections, claiming that the poll’s outcome was unrepresentative of the will of the people as it was held under what it alleges as an unfair one-person, one-vote system.

5 December 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=32334.

FM meets Iranian, German peers

MANAMA (JT) - Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on Saturday discussed with his Iranian counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, means to bolster bilateral ties, the latest regional and international developments and several other issues of mutual concern.

On the sidelines of the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ (IISS) Regional Security Summit: the 7th Manama Dialogue, Judeh stressed that achieving stability and security in the Middle East hinges on a peaceful end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

He said the envisaged solution should be based on the two-state formula, the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and relative international resolutions on the conflict.

In addition, the minister briefed the Iranian official on the efforts exerted to bring an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution that ensures the establishment of an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel on the 1967 borders.

Also during the meeting, Judeh reiterated Jordan’s consistent position towards the diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear issue, expressing hope that the next Geneva negotiations between Iran and the West on Tehran’s nuclear file would bring about positive outcomes.

Later in the day in Amman, Judeh discussed with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle bilateral ties and the latest developments in the region, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The two officials discussed efforts to establish a suitable environment to resume direct peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis, with Judeh stressing that the talks should address final status issues, according to Petra.

Briefing the German minister on His Majesty King Abdullah’s efforts to bring peace and stability in the region, Judeh stressed the need to intensify international efforts to achieve progress in ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution, in accordance with international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

Westerwelle, who is visiting Amman as part of a regional tour that will take him to several countries, stressed Berlin’s keenness to improve ties with Jordan and to continue coordination and consultation on various international and regional issues of mutual concern, Petra said.

5 December 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=32331.

King calls for rescuing Middle East peace talks

AMMAN (JT) - His Majesty King Abdullah on Saturday stressed the importance of salvaging peace negotiations to ensure regional security, cautioning against catastrophic consequences that may erupt in an environment of frustration and tension.

The King made the remarks in the keynote address he delivered yesterday at the regional security summit, the “7th Manama Dialogue”, organized by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS).

“Our region will not enjoy security and stability unless we solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and Arabs, Muslims and Israelis find peace,” said King Abdullah, who returned home later in the day.

In his address, he emphasized that Arabs are committed to achieving comprehensive peace within a regional context.

“We are committed. The Arab Peace Initiative offers more than just an end of conflict. It offers a lasting peace that will allow Israel to have normal relations with 57 Arab and Muslim countries, and will free our region from the threat of war and conflict,” the King told the attendees.

The international gathering on regional security was attended by prime ministers, foreign and defense ministers as well as defense chiefs and strategists on regional issues.

The King cautioned that the opportunity for peace will not last forever in light of demographic and geographic changes, the statement said.

“This opportunity cannot last forever. Geographic and demographic changes are threatening the essence of the initiative: a two state solution, which will guarantee the Palestinians the freedom and statehood they have long been denied, and will ensure for Israel the security it seeks,” he said.

“The stakes are high. As a solution continues to elude us, faith in negotiations, as the only path to peace and justice, is eroding. And if hope is killed, radical forces will prevail,” he explained.

“The region will sink into more vicious warfare and instability, threatening security far beyond the borders of the Middle East,” he added.

“This is why it is essential that we rescue the new round of negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis,” the King said.

On the peace talks, he said they were launched in Washington in last September, against a backdrop of pessimism.

“We all knew how difficult it was to restore trust between the parties, and move forward. But we also knew that a vacuum in peace efforts will be too costly and we hoped that all sides had realized that the status quo could not be sustained. That it only means sliding into darkness.”

“But the talks hit a major deadlock even before they got to address the substantive issues,” the King said in his address.

“Israel would not extend the moratorium on settlement building. And the Palestinians could not remain engaged in negotiations, while new settlements were changing facts on the ground, and compromising the viability of the future Palestinian state.”

Noting that there is still hope, His Majesty said: “We can, and must, end the deadlock. To do so, we do not need new solutions. We need will, we need commitment, and we need courage to make hard decisions.”

“Only through such serious negotiations, will we get to the endgame: an independent and viable Palestinian state, living side by side a secure Israel, that is accepted and accepting, in a region of peace,” he added.

The King emphasized that the alternative is new conflicts that will reverberate far beyond the borders of the Middle East and threaten the strategic national interests of the US, Europe and all the international community which will be involved in regional confrontations that will erupt in this environment of frustration and tension.

He stressed the importance of joining efforts to arrive at peace, adding that “there is no excuse for politics-as-usual” to face present challenges.

“Our region has been at the nexus of world events for thousands of years. Today, the world’s future, as well as its past, meets here,” he noted.

“Not only our countries, but the entire global community will be shaped by the roads we take, to bring economic and political empowerment to millions of young people, to ensure that moderation and respect triumph over division and aggression, to expand opportunities and prosperity across our societies,” the King continued.

“And it won’t be enough to avoid the dangers. We must also move ahead with positive action.”

For a better future, King Abdullah noted that more and better jobs must be created and higher standards of living must be made available for more people, whose skills and knowledge must be enriched, adding that an end to the heavy price of wars and division are not only social concerns but the basis of national security policies.

Underlining the strengths of the Arab world, he said it has tremendous resources and human potentials, a long history of global engagement, and a deep heritage of social responsibility and justice.

“These are tools that we can use, and must use, to shape the Middle East of the future. In all this, united effort is key,” he said.

In reply to a question on the consequences in the case of failure to achieve peace, the Monarch said: “I think in two words: absolute disaster.”

“But I believe that there is still a window of opportunity. Where the Israelis and the Palestinians will go will depend on the United States,” he added.

The King said the US administration is working to bring the Israelis and the Palestinians indirectly to Washington in the near future and hoped these efforts will lead to results which can be expanded to achieve progress.

“If Israelis make the wrong decision, all of us, including all of our friends in the West are going to pay a massive price for that,” the King warned.

His Majesty explained that Israel has to decide, whether it will be fortress Israel, or a part of the region, a democratic state or a state of apartheid.

On the sidelines of the conference, the King met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a Royal Court statement said.

Discussions addressed efforts to overcome obstacles preventing the resumption of serious and effective Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

On Friday, the Monarch held talks with Bahrain’s King Hamad Ben Isa Al Khalifah on issues of mutual concern, bilateral ties and the developments in the region, the Royal Court said.

They stressed the need for Arab cooperation to face mutual challenges for the benefit of the entire region.

5 December 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=32330.

Jordanian firefighters assisting in putting out Israeli forest blaze

AMMAN/ISFIYA, Israel (Agencies) –– Jordan’s civil defense teams have joined firefighters from several countries that rushed to help Israel fight a huge forest fire.

The Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted an official source as saying Saturday that the government received an official request from the Israeli government a day earlier to take part in efforts to extinguish the fire, which erupted in Carmel Forest near Haifa on Thursday.

The source added that Jordan responded to the Israeli request immediately and sent three fire engines to help put out the blaze.

The Palestinians have also joined the international operation, President’s Mahmoud Abbas’ office said in a statement, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

“The three units of the Palestinian civil defense were sent to assist in extinguishing the fires in the Carmel,” the statement said.

The massive fire was still consuming swathes of land on Saturday, with little sign Israeli and foreign firefighters were winning the battle to contain it.

With 41 people dead and more than 17,000 people evacuated from their homes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu upped efforts to recruit international help to fight the biggest inferno in Israel’s history.

As the blazes raged for a third straight day, Israel’s fire and rescue chief Shimon Romeah said they were still some way off from harnessing the blaze.

“At this stage, we are still far from controlling the fire. It is not us controlling the fire, [it is] the fire which is controlling us,” he told army radio.

“In many areas where we thought we had finished, the fire has reappeared. And it is starting up in places we thought we had saved, despite our efforts to contain it,” he said.

A firefighting chief, Boaz Riban, said high winds were making operations difficult.

Police said the blaze had destroyed homes in three areas overnight: in the artists’ village of Ein Hod, in Nir Etzion and in youth village Yemin Hod, all of which had already been evacuated.

A luxury hotel in the area, the Yarot Har Carmel, was also evacuated, army radio reported.

“We haven’t seen the end of it. We’re hoping for rain... to help us,” firefighter Dadu Vanunu told army radio.

As dawn broke, around 10 international water bombers resumed their work, flying sorties over the flames. They were supported by a recently arrived Russian aircraft capable of dropping 42,000 liters of water in one pass.

Smaller aircraft also dumped gallons of fire retardant in the hope of stopping the fire raging through a pine forest and a nature reserve just outside the northern port city of Haifa.

On the ground, more than 550 firefighters worked round-the-clock - around 450 Israelis backed up by some 100 firemen from Bulgaria. In the Druze village of Isfiya, hundreds of residents stood on rooftops and balconies, watching as the flames licked their way towards the village, an AFP correspondent said.

Overhead, small planes dumped clouds of orange fire retardant in the hope of boxing in the flames.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the 41 dead included 38 prison guards whose coach was trapped by the fire, two police officers and one 16-year-old boy who was volunteering with the fire service.

Another 17 people were injured, including three in serious condition and one listed as critical, while four others were still missing.

By nightfall on Friday, the fire had incinerated more than 10,000 acres of land, with flames reaching the southern outskirts of Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city.

As some 16 countries pledged assistance, Netanyahu said aerial reinforcements would be the only way to beat the blaze.

“It is clear that the battle to stop the fire will be decided from the air,” his office quoted him as saying. “I am working through all channels to quickly bring more and more firefighting planes to Israel to help with the battle from the air.”

Another nine planes were due to arrive on Sunday - five from Spain, three from the United States and one from Germany, he said.

Aircraft from Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Britain and Russia are already engaged in the massive operation, with others due to arrive from Italy, Romania, Switzerland, France, Croatia and Azerbaijan, the foreign ministry said.

In a phone call overnight, US President Barack Obama promised to send 45 tonnes of fire retardant as well as 12,000 liters of Class A foam, along with a team of experts with firefighting equipment, a White House aide said.

The Pentagon is also mobilizing National Guard troops and assets equipped with targeted firefighting systems.

Police spokesman Rosenfeld said the cause of the fire was most probably negligence.

“An initial investigation shows the blaze was probably caused by negligence, maybe by people having a picnic in one specific area,” he told AFP, without saying where it had broken out.

5 December 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=32340.

Spanish air traffic returning to normal - Summary

Sat, 04 Dec 2010

Madrid - Spain's airspace was reopened Saturday after a wildcat protest by air traffic controllers paralyzed airports, the Infrastructure Ministry announced.

The unofficial work stoppage was estimated to have affected more than 600,000 passengers, thousands of whom spent the night at airports in Madrid, Barcelona and Majorca.

The airport authority AENA said controllers were returning to work all over country, and that flights would resume in the late afternoon.

Trans-Atlantic flights, some of which had been diverted to Portugal, had already begun landing at Madrid airport.

Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba had said earlier that airspace would remain closed until Sunday. All airlines operating at Madrid airport canceled their flights until 6 am (5 am GMT) on Sunday.

The air controllers began returning to work after the government decreed a state of emergency to force them to resume their duties immediately.

Controllers who refused to do so faced being prosecuted for disobedience under military law, Rubalcaba said.

The government Friday placed airports under military control after 70 per cent of air controllers left their posts or did not show up for work, most of them claiming to be sick.

The state of emergency was declared for the first time since Spain became a democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.

Air controllers who continued refusing to work risked facing arrest, immediate prosecution and lengthy prison sentences. The controllers were to remain under military law even after the protest was over.

AENA advised passengers to check with their airlines before going to the airport. A total of 4,300 flights had been scheduled in Spain on Saturday.

Travel operator TUI canceled all new departures from Germany in the afternoon so that aircraft and hotels in Spain were available to serve stranded customers. Another European holidays company, Thomas Cook, said the strike had stranded 3,500 of its customers in Spain.

Extra bus and train services were introduced for air passengers who had intended to take national flights during the long week-end, which extends into national holidays on Monday and Wednesday.

The wildcat action was seen as a protest by the controllers over a decision on new working hours approved by the Spanish cabinet on Friday.

The air controllers have been involved for months in a wage dispute with the Transportation Ministry and AENA.

Many of the stranded passengers expressed anger at the air controllers, whom they saw as a privileged group seeking ever better work conditions.

More than 2,000 passengers announced court action against the air controllers.

The controllers were "blackmailing" Spaniards in order to preserve "intolerable privileges," Rubalcaba charged.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/356577,returning-normal-summary.html.

WikiLeaks: US amused by British concern over 'special relationship'

Sat, 04 Dec 2010

London - US diplomats are amused by what they called Britain's "paranoid" fears about the so-called special relationship between the two countries, according to documents made public by whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

"This period of excessive UK speculation about the relationship is more paranoid than usual - This over-reading would often be humorous, if it were not so corrosive," US deputy chief of mission in London, Richard LeBaron, wrote in February 2009

The documents were given to the Guardian daily, which along with other media was releasing in stages some 250,000 US embassy cables.

British assistance to helping the US achieve its global agenda was labeled as "unparalleled," however, and diplomats insisted in the cables that it was important to remind the British public that Washington valued the support.

Among other fears, US officials noted that the British media focused heavily on the removal of a Winston Churchill bust from the Oval Office after President Barack Obama moved into the White House.

Current Foreign Secretary William Hague, in talks with US officials when he was still a member of the opposition, offered a "pro-American" government, if his conservative party rose to power, as it did earlier this year.

Party members were "staunchly Atlanticist" and "children of Thatcher," Hague told Washington's envoy to London, referring to the former British premier Margaret Thatcher.

Source: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/356581,british-concern-special-relationship.html.

German foreign minister pledges to help Iraq rebuild - Summary

Sat, 04 Dec 2010

Baghdad- German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle pledged Saturday to help Iraq rebuild and called on the political leadership to speed up the process of forming a new government.

Westerwelle met Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki, President Jalal Talabani and parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi during a lightning six-hour visit to the Iraqi capital.

The foreign minister offered Iraq the "closest of partnerships with Germany," which is eying trade and business deals with the new administration once it is in place - possibly by the end of December.

An investment protection agreement was signed during Westerwelle's visit, which was not announced in advance due to security concerns. Around 13 people died in bomb blast in the Iraqi capital Saturday.

Westerwelle, who headed a business delegation, called on the Iraqi parties to work on the democratic process.

"We want to send a signal of support for political stabilization of Iraq," he said. "Now is the right time to do that."

Westerwelle is the first European foreign minister to visit Iraq since the March 7 parliamentary elections.

Last month, al-Maliki was assigned the task of forming a new government to be comprised of groups which spent eight months reaching an agreement on how to allocate the country's leadership positions.

Maliki told Westerwelle that Iraqis wanted to see greater involvement by German firms in Iraq. German investors doing business in Iraq said some projects were making only slow progress because of the security situation.

Germany, once one of Iraq's major trading partners, exported goods worth 690 million euros (920 million dollars) in the first nine months of this year, almost 300 million euros more than in the same period of 2009.

Plans are already being made for German Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle and Development Minister Dirk Niebel to travel to the Iraqi capital early next year.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/356587,iraq-rebuild-summary.html.

Netanyahu thanks countries for firefighting aid

Sat, 04 Dec 2010

Tel Aviv/Haifa - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Saturday night world leaders who have sent aid to Israel to help battle a bush fire which has been raging uncontrollably for nearly 60 hours.

He told a news conference that there was no shame in asking for help, "since we live in a global village."

The assistance Israel had received was "heartwarming," he said.

The premier said a Boeing supertanker airplane, capable of carrying 80,000 liters of water, would arrive in Israel Saturday night, to reinforce the aircraft Greece, Turkey, Russia, Cyprus and other countries which had arrived in Israel since the fire broke out on Thursday.

By Saturday night the fire, Israel's worst-ever, had destroyed over 50 square kilometers of land in the Carmel hill, south-east of the northern city of Haifa.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/356592,thanks-countries-firefighting-aid.html.

Ivory Coast's Gbagbo sworn in amid storm of protest

Sat, 04 Dec 2010

Nairobi/Abidjan - Ivory Coast's President Laurent Ggagbo was sworn in Saturday despite wide international endorsement of his rival Alassane Ouattara as the rightful winner of polls in the West African nation.

In a ceremony broadcast live on state television from the presidential palace, Gbagbo ignored a storm of protest over his victory and pledged to defend the constitution.

A few hours later, Ouattara also conducted a swearing-in ceremony, putting the two leaders on a collision course.

Gbagbo and Ouattara, a former prime minister and senior International Monetary Fund official, contested an election aimed at putting to bed the ghost of the 2002 civil war, which split the mainly Muslim north and largely Christian south.

Gbagbo was handed victory Friday when the constitutional council, headed by a close ally, overturned electoral commission figures proclaiming Ouattara the winner by annulling the results in seven opposition strongholds in the former-rebel north.

The regime has closed all borders and blocked the signals of all foreign television and radio news services. An overnight curfew is in place.

United States President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and United Nations head Ban Ki-moon have led international demands for Ouattara to be handed the reins of power.

Obama called for the result to be respected, congratulating Ouattara and noting the UN, the electoral commission and international observers had confirmed the result.

"I urge all parties, including incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, to acknowledge and respect this result, and to allow Cote d'Ivoire to move forward toward a peaceful, democratic future, leaving long years of conflict and missed opportunities in the past," he said.

Ban backed a statement of his special representative to Ivory Coast, YJ Choi, who said the electoral commission results were valid.

However, Gbagbo, speaking at his swearing in, dismissed the outside interference.

"I have never called on someone from outside to put me in office," Gbagbo said in an apparent rebuke to Choi, who said the Ivory Coast government had earlier authorized him to certify the vote.

The government has threatened to expel Choi for his stance.

Choi said if even all the complaints about irregularities by Gbagbo's camp were taken into account, the outcome of vote would still have balanced in Ouattara's favor.

The African Union, France and regional bloc ECOWAS have all expressed disapproval. Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is being rushed to Ivory Coast to facilitate an solution to the election crisis, the AU said.

However, Gbagbo - backed by the army - shows no sign of bowing to internal or external pressures, raising the possibility of conflict should Ouattara choose to activate his supporters.

Ouattara has said he is the rightful president of Ivory Coast, and is backed by the former northern rebel group New Forces, headed by Prime Minister Guillaume Soro, who resigned in protest on Saturday.

"We recognize that Alassane Ouattara is the winner of the this election ... I decided to go give him my resignation from the government and as prime minister," Soro said in a statement carried on his party's website.

Street protests have so far been muted amid tight security, but there is concern if Gbagbo refuses to back down and accept the electoral commission's result, civil war could break out again.

"Any other approach risks plunging Cote d'Ivoire into a crisis with incalculable consequences for the country, as well as for the region and the continent as a whole," the AU said in a statement.

More than a dozen people had already died in clashes linked to the poll before the latest twist.

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, Ban and Obama warned the two candidates they would be held to account for any further violence carried out by their supporters, while the International Criminal Court also said it was monitoring events.

Ivory Coast has been in crisis since 2002 when Gbagbo, who came to power in the wake of violent demonstrations at the 2000 presidential elections, survived a coup attempt.

The failed coup sparked a brief civil war, which divided the country into the government-controlled south and rebel-controlled north. A 2007 peace deal brought the rebels into government through Soro.

The presidential poll had been postponed six times since 2005.

Messi guides Barcelona to victory after chaotic journey

Sat, 04 Dec 2010

Madrid - Barcelona won 3-0 on Saturday at Osasuna with two goals from Lionel Messi, despite a chaotic journey to chilly Pamplona.

Barca's eighth consecutive league win leaves them five points ahead of Real Madrid atop La Liga. Real are at home later Saturday to fifth-place Valencia.

The kickoff in snowy Pamplona was delayed for 45 minutes because Barca had to make the 500-kilometer trip by train and coach, amid air travel chaos due to a wildcat strike by air-traffic controllers.

The Catalans finally drove into Pamplona exactly at kick-off time, but the start was delayed while they got changed and warmed up.

Roared on by a capacity crowd, Osasuna made an aggressive start but lacked penetration in attack. Barca gradually established their habitual control in midfield and went ahead in the 26th minute.

Messi set up Pedro with an inch-perfect through-ball, and little winger made it 1-0 with a calm, low drive.

Messi then hit the post with one of his left-foot shots as Barca's domination continued.

The impish Argentine made it 2-0 in the 65th minute by racing onto a pass from David Villa and beating slow Osasuna keeper Ricardo. Eight minutes from time, Messi was pulled down for a penalty by defender Sergio and made no mistake with his spot-kick.

Messi is now level atop the scorers' chart with Real's Cristiano Ronaldo on 15 goals.

Earlier Saturday, Atletico Madrid's crisis had continued with a 2- 0 defeat at lowly Levante.

Last week, Atletico lost 3-2 at home against Espanyol and Aris Salonika. On Saturday, they fell behind early when Levante defender Nano headed in from close range after Atletico's young goalkeeper David de Gea had made a mess of a corner.

De Gea, 20, was a teenage hero in May when Atletico won the Europa League, but he is looking shaky at the moment.

Levante were in the driving seat throughout the match, and Ecuadorean striker Felipe Caicedo made it 2-0 in the 59th minute with a fierce left-foot drive, after being played through by Juanlu.

Atletico are stranded in seventh place with 20 points from 13 games. The defeat leaves coach Quique Sanchez Flores in jeopardy for the first time since he took over 13 months ago from Abel Resino.

Quique said: "We are in a moment of difficulty and crisis. But we cannot stop. We have to put ourselves back together again. We cannot let ourselves become depressed."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/356610,barcelona-victory-chaotic-journey.html.

Remarks of the Spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Regarding the Usage of Poisonous Chemical Weapons in Afghanistan by the Invading Americans

Thursday, December 02, 2010

In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

On the basis of evidence, the American invaders have used banned weapons like thermobaric and bunker buster bombs against defenseless civilian Afghans in various parts of the country in the past few years under the pretext of eradicating Mujahideen. Many congenital deformities have occurred in infants in every part of the country as a result of the usage of the chemical weapons. Furthermore, the residents have been suffering from various diseases.

As a proof, we would like to refer to the following documents:

1. An Afghan investigative research scholar, Dr. Mohammad Daud Miraki conducted field research in the southern provinces of the country. He accumulated enough empirical evidence regarding the use of poisonous weapons in the area.

2. In 2002, a research team of Canadian Medical Research Center visited southern provinces of Afghanistan and found that the magnitude of uranium isotopes in the inhabitants was soaring between 300 and 2000 nanograms while the accepted limit is 10 nanograms.

3. The Al-alam TV website has posted a video report about newly-born infants suffering from deformities and abnormal body parts caused by the usage of biological weapons. See http://www.alalam.ir/node/307570.

4. A Senior official of the Kabul Regime’s Ministry of Health told media some times ago that they had obtained evidences, indicating that the Americans had used depleted uranium munitions and phosphorus bombs in Tora bora in east Afghanistan in 2001. Deformed infants have been born in the area or some have deformed body parts or suffering from weightlessness or mental retardation. Diseases like leukemia (blood white cells disease) is widespread in the area. Sperms "infertility" malfunction in males have been noticed. Many persons have died without an open wound.

All Americans military and civilian rulers are held responsible for these anti-human crimes. Ironically, still, the crimes have been continuing in Afghanistan at the hands of the invading Americans and their coalition forces, in a time that many human rights organizations including those of the United Nations and the Human Rights Watch have presence in the country.

To fulfill its responsibility, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan calls on all human rights organizations and other relevant entities, organizations and independent personalities to take steps, as a part of their responsibility, to impede those who are involved in human rights violations and bring them to human rights crimes tribunals. Moreover, speed up efforts aimed at disseminating awareness and unearthing more cases of crimes against humanity.

Qari Muhammad Yousuf Ahmadi

Spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

2010-12-02

Source: Theunjustmedia.
Link: http://theunjustmedia.com/Afghanistan/Statements/Dec10/Remarks%20of%20the%20Spokesman%20of%20the%20Islamic%20Emirate%20of%20Afghanistan%20Regarding%20the%20Usage%20of%20Poisonous%20Chemical%20Weapons%20in%20Afghanistan%20by%20the%20Invading%20Americans.htm.