Hizbullah Employed To Protect Syrian Interests

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has determined that the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah has been employed to protect Syrian interests in Lebanon.

Officials said the U.S. intelligence community has concluded that Hizbullah was recruited to help battle anti-Syrian elements in Lebanon. They said Hizbullah was recruiting operatives in the Sunni north to facilitate security along the Syrian border.

"For years, Hizbullah did not get directly involved in helping Syria in Lebanon," an official said. "In 2009, we saw a distinct shift toward direct assistance of Damascus."

Medvedev to meet with French, Spanish PMs in Yaroslavl

MOSCOW/PARIS, September 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet with the French and Spanish prime ministers on Monday in the Russian city of Yaroslavl, his aide Sergei Prikhodko said.

Medvedev will meet with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on the sidelines of an international conference on global security to be held in Yaroslavl, 250 km northeast of Moscow.

Medvedev and Zapatero last met during the G8 summit in Italy's L'Aquila this July. Russia-EU relations, cooperation within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a new Russian-EU strategic partnership treaty are traditionally on the agenda of top-level Russian-Spanish meetings.

The two leaders are also expected to discuss a new legally binding European security pact, proposed by Medvedev in Berlin last June. So far, the initiative has been met with caution by the West.

The Russian-French talks are expected to focus on a host of issues - from international conflicts to airspace cooperation. Among other things, Medvedev and Fillon will discuss Iran's nuclear program, France's initiative for organizing an international Middle East conference and the situation in the Caucasus.

According to the French prime minister's administration, he is seeking Russia's support for a French initiative concerning global financial management ahead of the forthcoming G20 summit.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will also meet with his French counterpart later in the day.

The international conference in Yaroslavl, The Modern State and Global Security, is held under the aegis of the Russian president. Some 550 representatives from 18 countries are expected to attend. RIA Novosti is the forum's information sponsor.

The Halting of Reconstruction of Nahr el Bared Refugee Camp

This call comes after a court order decision taken on the 18th of August 2009 by Andre Sader, a judge in the Lebanese Legislative Council, ordering to freeze the backfilling process of the archeological site in Nahr el Bared reconstruction project, for 2 months. The halting of backfilling is in essence a stopping of the commencement of reconstruction in Nahr el bared.

This action comes after two years of delaying bureaucratic procedures, where every decision concerning the reconstruction project, including planning and design decisions of the master plan, required governmental, ministerial and political approvals. More significantly this is the first time that a decision which halts actual work on site is taken, hence prolonging the displacement period of more than 20,000 Palestinian refugees. This document aims at updating on these recent developments; it presents background information about the halting procedures, and explains the community’s perspective and reactions to the mentioned actions.

Cholera outbreaks in 10 Afghan provinces: govt

September 13, 2009

KABUL — Afghanistan has reported outbreaks of potentially lethal cholera in 10 provinces across the impoverished country, the health ministry said on Sunday.

The ministry "has so far recorded 673 cases countrywide" of the highly contagious disease in almost a third of the country's 34 provinces, including in the capital Kabul. No deaths have been reported.

"All outbreaks are under control and no active one is reported as of today, September 13," a ministry statement said.

It said staff had been deployed to outbreak areas and medication was being provided to try to prevent the spread of the disease, which thrives where sanitation is poor and can spread rapidly.

Afghanistan's health system has been battered by decades of civil war, and facilities remain poor across the fifth poorest country in the world.

Desperate, desperate: Gaza Ramadan day 23

Eva Bartlett, In Gaza

September 13, 2009

Yesterday Hamsa called me. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him, though I did visit his family two weeks ago –he was out, looking for work.

Hamsa has never directly asked for any help. It has been due to my suggestions and the financing of outside supporters, that Hamsa accepted the small donations offered. His initial reaction was evident disgust at the notion of being helped by someone. I made clear that the donations being offered were in solidarity, were not intended to be a permanent reality rendering Hamsa aid-dependent.

Rather, we acknowledged that his donkey had been killed in the Israeli war on Gaza, that his means of an income –however paltry –had been destroyed.

With reluctance, Hamsa accepted a few donations. With some money, he bought chickens, to produce eggs for his wife and he and possibly to sell them. With a larger donation we bought a horse to replace his donkey. He began scouring the streets again for recyclable plastics, creating work for himself. Periodically, he would be asked to move things with his horse and cart, for a fee.

His horse got ill. This was problematic as he could no longer work with it and he was spending precious money on vet fees and medicine for the horse.

Then Hamsa’s newborn son, Ali, got ill.

He didn’t even call me then to ask for help.

He sold the horse, spent much of the money on Ali’s hospital bills and Ali improved.

Now, his 3 month old is in good health, he swears. And his wife Iman’s health is also fine.

But Hamsa has no source of income yet again, and his legs are giving him trouble.

After his first donkey was killed, Hamsa collected the plastics using his bike to get around. He made many trips and earned a bare minimum, below the bare minimum for most of us.

But he’d say, "we’re living, we’re getting by," when I asked.

When I visited Hamsa first, I saw the hole they live in. I know that a great many Palestinian in Gaza are cramped in similar hovels. Yet when you get to know the individuals living in such conditions, the shock of their situation hits home.

Hamsa and Iman live in what must be 4m by 4m concrete brick room with asbestos tiling. Everything about it is wrong, bad for their health, difficult. In summer it boils, no breeze enters the single window, and the smell of the toilet adjacent (no door) belches into their living/dining/cooking/sleeping room.

In winter it will be frigid, freezing.

They cook over kerosene, or sometimes fire when they scavenge wood. Their diet is substandard, like the majority in Gaza, relying heavily on bread, cucumbers, tomatoes. Potatoes enrich it somewhat.

The chickens have gone, their income is gone, the days are still hot, Iman breastfeeds Ali but her own nutrition is poor.

Today Hamsa called me again, desperate.

"Where are you? Can you visit?"

On the sea at the time, I went to him some hours later, asking him to meet me in between the port and his home, in Saha market.

He continues to age quickly, the stress of worrying about existing adding lines to his face. He’d looked more youthful even 5 months ago.

"Walla the life is so hard now. So hard. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how we’re going to survive this."

He had never complained before, not when his horse was ill, not when Iman was near delivery and they didn’t have money for the hospital and doctor fees.

He was almost complaining today, rightfully.

"I don’t have a Palestinian huwiyye," he said of the Palestinian ID card. His family is from Gaza originally, but he was born in Jordan and holds a Jordanian passport. His wife is from Gaza, his mother and siblings live here. But he’s not able to receive the UN dry food aid, without a huwiyye.

"I don’t get the food aid that others do. I don’t get any compensation, any aid."

He wasn’t actually complaining. He was just going over and over in his mind, and now out loud, how desperate his situation has become.

"I went back to apply for day labor." He had told me earlier that he’d put his name in at an office which lines people up with work, a cash for work program. But he’s never been called.

"I’ll do anything. I thought about working in the tunnels. But I’m terrified. You put your hand in the tunnel shaft and it’ll collapse on you or the Egyptians will send poisonous gas through. People die every week in the tunnels."

He’s right about this. The tunnels –much covered in the media for their role in smuggling anything, but mostly daily goods and foods banned by Israel, into Gaza –don’t get much coverage for their martyrs. Who are these young men (usually quite young, often from the same family) who risk their lives for a salary? What is their families’ situation? How desperate are they to take on such work.

As desperate as Hamsa, I’d wager.

"I don’t want to work in the tunnels. But I’ll do anything else."

I believe him. It’s fairly humbling work to pick through rubbish for recyclables.

But Hamsa, while taking on the work others disdain, is proud, stands proud, and refuses to beg.

"I don’t want to be a beggar. I would die before that," he said.

He talked of his expenses: "I spend at least 5 shekels a day on Ali. Milk costs 20 shekels every 3 days. Diapers cost 32 shekels a week."

He tried explaining something about giving away their sleeping mattress… I lost it with my poor Arabic, but I gather that he had lent it to someone and it got ruined somehow.

Later, on the way home I see two eleven or twelve year olds, loaded with armfuls of plastic containers and a large sack of plastic from the rubbish.

Tests find no infections in Xinjiang needle attack victims

Tests of victims' samples found no dangerous viruses or chemicals involved in a string of bizarre hypodermic syringe stabbings in Urumqi, capital of China's far western Xinjiang region, a military medical expert said Sunday.

Qian Jun, head of the disease control and biological security office with China's Academy of Military Medical Sciences, said the academy's Beijing lab found no needle injury samples were tainted with radioactive substances, toxic chemicals or HIV virus.

The samples were not contaminated with other dangerous viruses or substances either, such as anthrax bacillus, yersinia pestis, francisella tularensis, brucella and botulinum toxin, Qian told a press briefing.

Local and military medical experts have rechecked about 250 victims and found no clearly worsening wounds or serious illnesses, he noted.

By Sept. 4, local authorities had confirmed 531 victims of hypodermic syringe stabbings in Urumqi, 171 of whom showed obvious syringe marks. The majority of the victims were of the Han ethnic group.

Tens of thousands of angry and panic residents in Urumqi took to the streets last week, protesting against needle attacks and demanding security guarantees.

Qian suggested offering more psychological counseling to ease anxiety and depression of the victims as many are haunted with lingering fears of hidden infections.

The Urumqi General Hospital affiliated to the Lanzhou Military Area Command has arranged three psychological experts and opened four counseling hotlines to help ease victims' fears and panic.

Wang Wenxian, deputy director of the Urumqi municipal public security bureau, said the needle stabbings did not cause serious damages to the victims' health, but they caused public panic and disturbed social order.

The acts violated China's Criminal Law and should be harshly punished accordingly, Wang told reporters.

A court in Urumqi said three Uygurs were given jail terms ranging from seven to 15 years Saturday over syringe stabbings or threatening to use needle attacks for robbery.

Wang added that more police and armed police forces would patrol on the city's streets and those who offer tip-offs for needle attackers would receive rewards.

He also urged the attackers to surrender to the police, saying those who surrender or report others' crimes could receive lighter punishment.

AP IMPACT: Illiteracy undermines Afghan army

By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writer

KABUL – Afghan army recruit Shahidullah Ahmadi can't read — and neither can nine out of 10 soldiers in the Afghan National Army.

The lack of education points to a basic challenge for the United States, as it tries to expand the Afghan army in the hopes that U.S. and allied forces can one day withdraw. Just as in Iraq — and perhaps even more so — the U.S. is finding it no small task to recruit, train and equip a force that is large and competent enough to operate successfully on its own.

"I face difficulties. If someone calls me and tells me to go somewhere, I can't read the street signs," Ahmadi, 27, a member of a logistics battalion, said while walking through downtown Kabul. "In our basic training, we learned a lot. Some of my colleagues who can read and write can take notes, but I've forgotten a lot of things, the types of things that might be able to save my life."

The Associated Press interviewed recruits and visited a training center to gain a better understanding of the obstacles toward eventually handing over responsibility of security to the Afghan army so that international troops can go home.

The speed with which NATO trains and equips more Afghan security forces has become an issue in the United States, Europe and Canada as governments decide whether to commit more deeply to a war that is losing public support.

Carl Levin, the leading Senate Democrat on military issues, said Friday that he wants heightened training of Afghan armed forces before sending more American combat troops. Levin urged the Obama administration to expand Afghan forces to 240,000 troops and Afghan police to 160,000 officers by 2013.

Current plans call for boosting the army from 92,000 soldiers to 134,000 by late 2011. U.S. officials say the combined army and police forces need to increase to about 400,000 by 2014.

"It's absolutely essential that over time Afghanistan assumes responsibility for its own security, and combat troops draw dawn," said Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy for the region. "The current force levels of police and army are clearly going to have to be increased."

Violence in Afghanistan has already soared to record levels, requiring more troops to secure wide stretches of countryside. U.S. and NATO troops can clear areas of Taliban fighters, but they need Afghan soldiers to make sure the militants don't return.

The rapid expansion of the army, however, has already raised questions about whether Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest countries, can sustain a force of that size, as well as maintain discipline and ethnic balance in the ranks. It is likely that the cost of training, equipping and sustaining Afghan forces at a level big enough to maintain security will primarily fall on U.S. taxpayers for years to come.

In Iraq, the U.S. disbanded Saddam Hussein's army in 2003, but six years later has still not managed to create a force capable of operating without American logistical, technical, intelligence and other support. And in Iraq, the U.S. was able to tap resources unavailable in Afghanistan, including a pool of retired military officers and one of the Arab world's most literate populations.

Polls show that the army is the most trusted Afghan institution, a testament to the relative success it has had, especially compared with the police, who are widely derided as corrupt. But about 90 percent of those deciding to join the army are illiterate, according to U.S. military officers involved in the training.

That's higher than the 75 percent national illiteracy rate, because military recruits come from lower classes where few know how to read.

The lack of basic reading skills slows down progress in an already short 10-week training course. It means soldiers cannot use maps properly or understand the army's code of conduct. It also increases the difficulty of building a solid core of noncommissioned officers — sergeants who are the backbone of every successful army, responsible for conveying a commander's written orders to the troops. U.S. Maj. Gen. Richard Formica, who is in charge of training both soldiers and police, says the high illiteracy rate is not a "show-stopper."

However, he added that illiteracy "particularly becomes a challenge for those recruits that we want to advance to become noncommissioned officers, because the higher you get in rank and responsibility, the more expectation there is that you can read and write at some basic level."

Most Taliban guerrillas also can't read and write, but they don't need to as much.

Understanding maps and signs is important for the Afghan army, which is supposed to deploy anywhere government control is challenged.

The Taliban, however, strike on their own timetable — usually wherever government and NATO forces are weakest. They move among friendly, generally ethnic Pashtun communities and rely on local guides. Many Taliban fighters operate in areas of the country where they grew up, making maps and compasses unnecessary.

The Taliban also generally operate in small units. They use hit-and-run insurgency tactics or lay bombs along roads, highly effective techniques that don't require the same level of sophistication and attention to detail as conventional military tactics, which often use helicopters, artillery, armored vehicles and large numbers of troops.

To overcome the problem for the Afghan army, a private company, Pulau Electronics of Orlando, Fla., has been hired to run a program that aims to make 50 percent of the troops "functionally literate."

"The target is for them to be able to write their name and their weapon's serial number," said Joe Meglan, 39, of Savannah, Ga., who works for Pulau.

The main training effort takes place at the Kabul Military Training Center. The road to the training camp is littered with the rusting hulks of tanks destroyed during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, a reminder of the last superpower's failure to tame this war-torn land.

Afghan trainers lead the effort with coalition teams mentoring them. After 10 weeks of training, regular soldiers are put into units before being sent to the battlefield.

There are 5,000 coalition trainers who work with both army and police. Some 256 teams work with the army and 85 with the police, according to Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama has ordered 4,000 additional U.S. military trainers as part of his surge of 21,000 new U.S. troops into the country. The training for recruits also has about half the number of mentors it needs from the coalition, said Lt. Col. Daniel Harmuth, 43, from Bakersfield, Ca., who runs the basic warrior training.

In the meantime, illiterate soldiers in the army are scraping by.

"Unfortunately all my friends and I cannot read," said soldier Rosey Khan, 19. "It is very bad, particularly during the fighting. They taught me a lot of things, but I've forgotten most of them. ... Even the officers cannot read."