April 28, 2009
The wealth of my country are looted and Iraqi citizens stand watching that powerless
If the guardian turns to a thief, life becomes difficult and hopeless. Most Iraqis whom I know they think of leaving Iraq nowadays not because the violence but because they can't stand this situation, seeing some corrupted people messing with their beloved Iraq.
The monitoring role of Parliament is impaired because of the suspicious political deals among the blocs that if the parliament wants to investigate any corruption cases against any high rank official in the government, his party stands against that.
Since more than two years I heard about many calls of Iraqi lawmakers to question the minister trade, the head of one of most corrupt ministries according to the head of integrity committee in the Iraq parliament but these calls do not find those who listen to because of alliances.
Some Iraqi ministries reward their corrupt employees like what happened with the corrupt employee in ministry of trade. The head of the integrity committee said that this employee was sent to Egypt as a commercial attaché. The corrupt employee started an extra project. He opened sugar factory and now he has a contract with the Iraqi Ministry of Trade to supply Iraq with sugar for twenty years.
Finally, Iraqi parliament appointed a date for questioning the minister of trade. The questioning will be held in September which means more than four months later. What Great Justice we enjoy in the Iraq of today.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
It’s Jewish Prof. Robinson and not Ahmedinejad this time!
Jewish Professor William Robinson of University of California at Santa Barbara is under attack by the Zionists and American Jewish lobby for daring to compare Israeli atrocities in Gaza to those of Nazi Germany in the Ghetto of Warsaw.
The e-mail to his 80 student was accompanied by images of victims of both Israeli and German Nazi atrocities.
It seems that even Jews started to be ashamed of Israeli practices and the Zionist pressure to undermine academic freedom. In the recent past the American Jewish lobby put pressure on the University of Illinois to deny Professor Norman G. Finkelstein tenure for writing a book about the Holocaust Industry in which he exposed the Zionist's blackmail and extortion using the Jewish victims of Nazi Germany. Wake up America and trim the hooves of the Jewish mafia currently in control of the US media, financial and political institutions. Kindly check Youtube.com or Google. Com for further coverage.
I am glad to be the first to call a spade a spade or to cross the t's and dot the i's by labelling Israeli atrocities as Nazi-style. I also compared Israel IDF to the German SS, by the way, both are called defence force. I will continue to expose Israeli crimes and denounce the Americans for financing, arming and protecting Israel Nazi Generals.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
The e-mail to his 80 student was accompanied by images of victims of both Israeli and German Nazi atrocities.
It seems that even Jews started to be ashamed of Israeli practices and the Zionist pressure to undermine academic freedom. In the recent past the American Jewish lobby put pressure on the University of Illinois to deny Professor Norman G. Finkelstein tenure for writing a book about the Holocaust Industry in which he exposed the Zionist's blackmail and extortion using the Jewish victims of Nazi Germany. Wake up America and trim the hooves of the Jewish mafia currently in control of the US media, financial and political institutions. Kindly check Youtube.com or Google. Com for further coverage.
I am glad to be the first to call a spade a spade or to cross the t's and dot the i's by labelling Israeli atrocities as Nazi-style. I also compared Israel IDF to the German SS, by the way, both are called defence force. I will continue to expose Israeli crimes and denounce the Americans for financing, arming and protecting Israel Nazi Generals.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
Marriage of Saudi Arabian girl, eight, annulled
Marriage of Saudi Arabian girl, eight, annulled
* The Guardian, Friday 1 May 2009
An eight-year old Saudi Arabian girl who was married off by her father to a man in his 50s has had the union annulled, it was reported yesterday. The case, which had generated local and international outrage, ended with an out-of-court settlement.
The child, who has not been named, had been told by a court last December that she would not be allowed to divorce her husband until she reached puberty.
The settlement, brokered by a new judge in Unaizah, Qassim province, was reached only after lengthy negotiations between the girl's lawyer and the husband.
The previous judge had ruled for the second time earlier this month that the marriage was legal. The father is said to have married the child to a friend to pay a financial debt. It had been stipulated, however, that the groom could not have sex with her until she reached puberty.
The settlement was reached with the help of the governor of Qassim, Prince Faisal bin Bandar, who convinced the husband to back down, said the newspaper al-Hayat. The husband agreed to forgo his original demand for repayment of the $8,000 dowry he gave for the girl.
In many Saudi child marriages, girls are given away to older men in return for dowries, or following the custom by which a father promises his daughters and sons in marriage while still children. But the issue is complicated by different interpretations of sharia law and a lack of legal certainty.
No figures are available for the number of arranged marriages involving pre-adolescents in the kingdom, where the strictly conservative Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam holds sway and polygamy is common. But human rights groups say they are aware of many such cases.
The shura council, an unelected body that advises the government, is considering setting a minimum age of 18 for marriage. The debate on this issue is seen as part of a wider struggle between advocates of cautious reform and the conservative religious establishment.
* The Guardian, Friday 1 May 2009
An eight-year old Saudi Arabian girl who was married off by her father to a man in his 50s has had the union annulled, it was reported yesterday. The case, which had generated local and international outrage, ended with an out-of-court settlement.
The child, who has not been named, had been told by a court last December that she would not be allowed to divorce her husband until she reached puberty.
The settlement, brokered by a new judge in Unaizah, Qassim province, was reached only after lengthy negotiations between the girl's lawyer and the husband.
The previous judge had ruled for the second time earlier this month that the marriage was legal. The father is said to have married the child to a friend to pay a financial debt. It had been stipulated, however, that the groom could not have sex with her until she reached puberty.
The settlement was reached with the help of the governor of Qassim, Prince Faisal bin Bandar, who convinced the husband to back down, said the newspaper al-Hayat. The husband agreed to forgo his original demand for repayment of the $8,000 dowry he gave for the girl.
In many Saudi child marriages, girls are given away to older men in return for dowries, or following the custom by which a father promises his daughters and sons in marriage while still children. But the issue is complicated by different interpretations of sharia law and a lack of legal certainty.
No figures are available for the number of arranged marriages involving pre-adolescents in the kingdom, where the strictly conservative Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam holds sway and polygamy is common. But human rights groups say they are aware of many such cases.
The shura council, an unelected body that advises the government, is considering setting a minimum age of 18 for marriage. The debate on this issue is seen as part of a wider struggle between advocates of cautious reform and the conservative religious establishment.
The last days of British forces in Iraq
As British troops get ready to leave Basra in southern Iraq, the BBC's John Simpson takes a look at the city they will be leaving behind.
British soldier with children in Basra on 29/4/09
British forces have been based in Basra for the last six years
Basra has a very different feel from the rest of Iraq.
It has got 4,000 years of trading links with the outside world. It is also almost exclusively Shia Muslim - so there are no clashes with Sunni Muslims, unlike in divided Baghdad, where the vicious civil war continues.
Basra is doing well. Yet the same old problems remain.
People made a beeline to tell us what was wrong here.
The water supply has been cut off for four days, one woman told us.
There are daily power-cuts, another said. That means no air conditioning, though Basra is sweltering now, close to 100F.
Six years on, people here still cannot understand how two of the world's richest countries, Britain and America, could invade Iraq and not manage to improve the basic living standards of the population.
We went to visit a middle-ranking civil servant, Bassim Mohammed Baji, and his family. By Iraqi standards their house was quite spacious. He was embarrassed to tell me that he worked in the ministry of power. So why the power-cuts, I asked? "Corruption," he shrugged. "It is everywhere here."
His wife, Ghalia, was worried about altogether different things. It is still not possible for her to go shopping in the streets of Basra when the evening comes on, unless her husband is with her. A lone woman can be shouted at, insulted, even physically attacked.
Security was a lot better now, she agreed, but she still had to take the children to school every day, to act as their bodyguard. Kidnapping remains a problem.
Fragile calm
But some things are a lot better. The administration of justice, for instance. Trials and legal hearings are quicker, more efficient, less corrupt and fairer.
It is still a novelty in this male-dominated society for women to be judges, but Suad Nasir Hasan, a firmly spoken, self-assured woman in her forties, has made the breakthrough.
Iraq map
Uncertainty over UK Iraq legacy
All judges were subject to threats, she said, but
Ever since March of last year, when the Iraqi government staged its so-called "Charge of the Knights" operation to break the power of the various militia groups here, the streets are no longer controlled by shadowy gangs of armed men.
As I wandered round the streets of central Basra at 9.30 at night, I reflected that only 13 months ago such a thing would have been wholly unthinkable.
I stopped and talked to a group of men sitting at a table outside a tea-house, drinking small glasses of heavily sweetened tea.
"The Charge of the Knights has given us back our city," one of them said. "Our lives are immensely better now."
It is true, and yet the peace and calm can be quite fragile.
Shortly after we left, a joint British-Iraqi army patrol came along the street.
An Iraqi man armed with a knife lunged at one of the Iraqi soldiers. There were gunshots, and the man was injured.
It was a trivial enough incident. But it was also a reminder that peace and prosperity are still some way off in Basra.
British soldier with children in Basra on 29/4/09
British forces have been based in Basra for the last six years
Basra has a very different feel from the rest of Iraq.
It has got 4,000 years of trading links with the outside world. It is also almost exclusively Shia Muslim - so there are no clashes with Sunni Muslims, unlike in divided Baghdad, where the vicious civil war continues.
Basra is doing well. Yet the same old problems remain.
People made a beeline to tell us what was wrong here.
The water supply has been cut off for four days, one woman told us.
There are daily power-cuts, another said. That means no air conditioning, though Basra is sweltering now, close to 100F.
Six years on, people here still cannot understand how two of the world's richest countries, Britain and America, could invade Iraq and not manage to improve the basic living standards of the population.
We went to visit a middle-ranking civil servant, Bassim Mohammed Baji, and his family. By Iraqi standards their house was quite spacious. He was embarrassed to tell me that he worked in the ministry of power. So why the power-cuts, I asked? "Corruption," he shrugged. "It is everywhere here."
His wife, Ghalia, was worried about altogether different things. It is still not possible for her to go shopping in the streets of Basra when the evening comes on, unless her husband is with her. A lone woman can be shouted at, insulted, even physically attacked.
Security was a lot better now, she agreed, but she still had to take the children to school every day, to act as their bodyguard. Kidnapping remains a problem.
Fragile calm
But some things are a lot better. The administration of justice, for instance. Trials and legal hearings are quicker, more efficient, less corrupt and fairer.
It is still a novelty in this male-dominated society for women to be judges, but Suad Nasir Hasan, a firmly spoken, self-assured woman in her forties, has made the breakthrough.
Iraq map
Uncertainty over UK Iraq legacy
All judges were subject to threats, she said, but
women were under a particular threat because some men thought that tradition was above the law - and in Iraq that meant men still believed they were the boss. There was plenty of resistance to change here still, she said.
But there is one overriding change for the better in Basra.
Ever since March of last year, when the Iraqi government staged its so-called "Charge of the Knights" operation to break the power of the various militia groups here, the streets are no longer controlled by shadowy gangs of armed men.
As I wandered round the streets of central Basra at 9.30 at night, I reflected that only 13 months ago such a thing would have been wholly unthinkable.
I stopped and talked to a group of men sitting at a table outside a tea-house, drinking small glasses of heavily sweetened tea.
"The Charge of the Knights has given us back our city," one of them said. "Our lives are immensely better now."
It is true, and yet the peace and calm can be quite fragile.
Shortly after we left, a joint British-Iraqi army patrol came along the street.
An Iraqi man armed with a knife lunged at one of the Iraqi soldiers. There were gunshots, and the man was injured.
It was a trivial enough incident. But it was also a reminder that peace and prosperity are still some way off in Basra.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Egypt orders slaughter of all pigs over swine flu
AP
An Egyptian Health worker sprays chemicals to disinfect a local pig farm in AP – An Egyptian Health worker sprays chemicals to disinfect a local pig farm in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, April …
By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF, Associated Press Writer Maamoun Youssef, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 19 mins ago
CAIRO – Egypt began slaughtering the roughly 300,000 pigs in the country Wednesday as a precautionary measure against the spread of swine flu even though no cases have been reported here yet, the Health Ministry said.
The move immediately provoked resistance from pig farmers. At one large pig farming center just north of Cairo, farmers refused to cooperate with Health Ministry workers who came to slaughter the animals and the workers left without carrying out the government order.
"It has been decided to immediately start slaughtering all the pigs in Egypt using the full capacity of the country's slaughterhouses," Health Minister Hatem el-Gabaly told reporters after a Cabinet meeting with President Hosni Mubarak.
Egypt's overwhelmingly Muslim population does not eat pork due to religious restrictions. But the animals are raised and consumed by the Christian minority, which some estimates put at 10 percent of the population.
Health Ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman estimated there were between 300,000-350,000 pigs in Egypt.
Agriculture Minister Amin Abaza told reporters that farmers would be allowed to sell the pork meat so there would be no need for compensation.
In 2008, following fears over diseases spread by animals, Mubarak ordered all pig and chicken farms moved out of population areas. But the order was never implemented.
Pigs can be found in many places around Muslim world, often raised by religious minorities who can eat pork. But they are banned entirely in some Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Libya.
In Jordan, the government decided Wednesday to shut down the country's five pig farms, involving 800 animals, for violating public health safety regulations.
Z A Bhutto's outburst in the UN
- 15 December 1971 -
We have met here today at a grave moment in the history of my country and I would request the Council kindly to bear with me and to hear the truth, the bitter truth. I know the United Nations; I know the Security Council I have attended their sessions before. The time has come when, as far as Pakistan is concerned, we shall have to speak the truth whether members of the Council like it or not. We were hoping that the Security Council, mindful of its responsibilities for the maintenance of world peace and justice, would act according to principles and bring an end to a naked, brutal aggression against my people. I came here for this reason. I was needed by the people of Pakistan, and when I was leaving Pakistan I. was in two minds whether: to go to the Security Council to represent the cause of my country, to represent the cause of a people that had been subjected to aggression, or to remain with my people, by their side, while they were being subjected to attack and violence. However, I felt that it was imperative for me to come here and seek justice from the Security Council. But I must say, whether the members like it or not, that the Security Council has denied my country that justice. From the moment I arrived we have been subjected to dilatory(Intended to delay) tactics.
It will be recalled that when the Indian Foreign Minister spoke and I spoke after him, I said that filibustering(The use of obstructionist tactics, especially prolonged speechmaking, for the purpose of delaying legislative action) was taking place. That was my immediate observation. The Security Council, I am afraid, has excelled; in the art of filibustering, not only on substance but also on procedural matters. With some cynicism, I watched yesterday a full hour of the Security Council's time wasted on whether the members of the Council would be ready to meet at 9.30 a.m. or that bed and breakfast required that they should meet at 11 a.m.
The representative of Somalia referred to the population of East Pakistan as 56 million, but later on he corrected himself to say that the population of Bengal-of Muslim Bengal-was 76 million. If he had waited for a few more days he need not have corrected himself because millions are dying, and it would have come to 56 million if the Council had kept on filibustering and discussing whether it should meet today or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow-whether the lines of communication between New York and Moscow and Peking and other capitals would permit the members to obtain new instructions. Thus, we could have gone on and on. That is why I requested you, Mr. President, to convene a meeting of the Security Council immediately and I am thankful to you for having convened this meeting, because precious time is being lost. My countrymen, my people, are dying. So I think I can facilitate your efforts if I speak now. Perhaps this will be my last speech in the Security Council. So please bear with me because -I have some home truths to tell the Security Council.
The world must know. My people must know. I have not come here to accept abject surrender. If the Security Council wants me to be a party to the legalization of abject surrender, then I say that under no circumstances shall it be so. Yesterday my eleven year old son telephoned me from Karachi and said "Do not come back with a document of surrender. We do not want to see you back in Pakistan if you do that." I will not take back a document of surrender from the Security Council. I will not be a party to the legalization of aggression.
The Security Council has failed miserably, shamefully. "The Charter of the United Nations," "the San Francisco Conference," "international peace and justice"-these are the words we heard in our youth, and we were inspired by the concept of the United Nations maintaining international peace and justice and security. President Woodrow Wilson said that he fought the First World War to end wars for all time.
The League of Nations came into being, and then the United Nations after it. What has the United Nations done? I know of the farce and the fraud of the United Nations. They come here and say, "Excellence, Excellence, comment allez-vous?" and all that. "A very good speech-you have spoken very well, tres bien." We have heard all these things. The United Nations resembles those fashion houses which hide ugly realities by draping ungainly figures in alluring apparel. The concealment of realities is common to both but the ugly realities cannot remain hidden. You do not need a Secretary-General. You need a chief executioner.
Let us face the stark truth. I have got no stakes left for the moment. That is why I am speaking the truth from my heart. For four days we have been deliberating here. For four days the Security Council has procrastinated(To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.). Why? Because the object was for Dacca to fall. That was the object. It was quite clear to me from the beginning.
The Security Council has acted short-sightedly by acquiescing in these dilatory tactics. You have reached a point when we shall say, "Do what you like." If this point had not been reached we could have made a commitment. We could have said, "All right, we are prepared to do some things." Now why should we? You want us to be silenced by guns. Why should we say that we shall agree to anything? Now you decide what you like. Your decision will not be binding on us. You can decide what you like. If you had left us a margin of hope, we might have been a party to some settlement.
But the Indians are so short-sighted. Mr. President, you referred to the "distinguished" Foreign Minister of India. What may I ask is so "distinguished" about a policy of aggression he is trying to justify. How is he distinguished when his hands are full of blood, when his heart is full of venom? But you know they do not have vision.
The partition of India in 1947 took place because they did not have vision. Now also they are lacking in vision. They talk about their ancient civilization and the mystique of India and all that. But they do not have vision at all. If I had been in his place, I would have acted differently. I extended a hand of friendship to him the other day. He should have seen what I meant. I am not talking as a puppet. I am talking as the authentic leader of the people of West Pakistan who elected me at the polls in a more impressive victory than the victory that Mujibur Rahman received in East Pakistan, and he should have taken cognizance of that. But he did not take cognizance of it. We could have opened a new page, a new chapter in our relations.
As I said, if the French and the Germans can come to terms, why cannot India and Pakistan come to terms? If the Turks and the Greeks can still talk sensibly as civilized people over Cyprus, why cannot India and Pakistan do likewise? If the Soviet Union and the United States can open a new page in their history, if China and the United States can open a new page in their history, why can we not usher a new era in. our relations? We could have done so. But as it was said about the 1967 Arab-Israel war, the military victory of Israel made it more difficult for Israel and the Arabs to reach a settlement. If you want to subjugate Pakistan militarily, you will find it more difficult to bring peace. I say that the choice for us is either to accept living in the-same subcontinent and co-operating for peace and progress, or to be implacable enemies of each other forever.
The Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union does not like my reference to the Roman Empire. I do not know what objection he has to it, unless he sees some similarity between his empire and the Roman Empire. I do not really see why he had any objection to that. But I shall again refer to the Roman Empire, and I hope that the Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union will have no objection to it because we want to have good relations with the Soviet Union and we want to open a new chapter with the Soviet Union because we are neighbors. I go back to the Roman Empire and I say what Cato said to the Romans, "Carthage must be destroyed." If India thinks that it is going to subjugate Pakistan, Eastern Pakistan as well as Western Pakistan-because we are one people, we are one state- then we shall say, "Carthage must be destroyed." We shall tell our children and they will tell their children that Carthage must be destroyed.
So please, Mr. President and members of the Security Council, realize the implications. The Pakistani nation is a brave nation. One of the greatest British generals said that the best infantry fighters in the world are the Pakistanis. We will fight. We will fight for a thousand years, if it comes to that. So do not go by momentary military victories. Stalingrad was overwhelmed. Leningrad was besieged for a thousand days. People who want to be free and who want to maintain their personality will fight and will continue to fight for principles.
We were told about the realities; to accept the realities. What are the realities? Realities keep changing, the Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union knows that once the reality was that the Nazis were out side the gates of Moscow, but you fought valiantly, bravely, and the world saluted the Soviet Union for having resisted the realities that were sought to be imposed on it.
The reality was that China was under the occupation of Japan, that Manchuria was taken-half of China. That was the reality. Since the Opium War, China has seen reality.
The reality for France was that it was under occupation. But there were great men like President de Gaulle who left France and fought from across the seas.
Ethiopia was under Fascist domination. But the Ethiopians fought. The Emperor of Ethiopia left his country and sought asylum in Britain. Ethiopia is free today.
The realities that matter are those which are not temporary phenomena which are rooted in historic principles. The principle is that Pakistan is an independent, sovereign state which came into being because of the volition of its people. That is the basic reality which has existed for 24 years. Pakistan would not have faced dismemberment like this if it had not been attacked by another country. This is not an internal movement. We have been subjected to attack by a militarily powerful neighbor. Who says that the new reality arose out of free will? Had there been the exercise of free will, India would not have attacked Pakistan. If India talks about the will of the people of East Pakistan and claims that it had to attack Pakistan in order to impose the will of the people of East Pakistan, then what has it done about Kashmir? East Pakistan is an integral part of Pakistan. Kashmir is a disputed territory. Why does India then not permit it to exercise its will?
But yesterday I saw how the Security Council was pandering(To act as a go-between or liaison in sexual intrigues; function as a procurer) to India. Even the great powers are pandering to India, saying to us, "Do not misunderstand," "Would you please let us know" and "Would you please answer the following questions; I am not insisting on those questions, but if you do not mind." India is intoxicated today with its military successes.
I told the Indian Permanent Representative in 1967 that we wanted good relations between the two countries-but based on principles, based on justice, based on equity, not based on exploitation and domination, because such relations cannot be lasting. What we want is a lasting, a permanent solution. I do not say this just today; I said that in 1967 to their Permanent Representative who was then the High Commissioner of India to Pakistan. I said that to the Foreign Minister of India when we were negotiating on Kashmir, "Let us settle this problem on the basis of equity and justice, so that we can live as good neighbors." And I add today: we can still live as good neighbors, as friends. Do not wipe out that possibility by military conquest and military power.
This has been the worst form of aggression, of naked aggression. Even Poland was not invaded by Germany in this fashion. Even in that case there were some pretences, some excuses that were made. Here the excuse was, "We have refugees, so we must invade another country." We said, "We are prepared to take those refugees back." If we had said, "We arc not prepared to take them back," then you could have said, "Well, you will be sunk." India's population rises by 13 million a year.
The number of refugees was alleged to be 9 million, 10 million. According to our estimate they were 5 million. But that is not important; figures are not important. The point is that we were prepared to take them back. If India's population can grow by 13 million a year, then with all the aid and assistance that India was getting for the refugees, it could have held on for a short period till Pakistan had a civilian government to negotiate the return of the refugees. I told the United States Ambassador in Pakistan that once a civilian government came into power in Pakistan, was prepared to go to the refugee camps myself to talk to them. But India pre-empted it all because the refugee problem was used as a pretext to dismember my country. The refugee problem was used as a pretext, an ugly, crude pretext, a shameful pretext to invade my country, to invade East Pakistan.
The great powers will forgive me. I have addressed them in this moment of anguish, and they should understand. The great powers or the superpowers-the super-duper-powers, the razzling-dazzling powers-the superpowers have imposed their super will for the moment. But I am thankful to the people and the Government of the United States among the superpowers, for the position it has taken. The people of the United States, to some extent have been misled by massive Indian propaganda. Because we had no paraphernalia of popular administration and government in Pakistan, there was a political vacuum. The Indians took advantage of that political vacuum and they spread out fast to project their point of view. As a result, American public opinion and public opinion in Great Britain and France and other countries was influenced. Unfortunately, nothing was said of the massacres that took place between 1 March and 25 March.
No doubt there were mistakes on our side. I said yesterday that mistakes were made, and the Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union said that I had admitted mistakes. Well, that is not a sign of weakness, is it? Do we not all make mistakes? Are India and the Soviet Union the only two countries that have never made mistakes? I have made mistakes personally. But mistakes do not mean that my country must be destroyed, that my country must be dismembered. That is not the consequence of mistakes of government. Which government does not make mistakes? But if some government has made a mistake, does it-follow that the country itself must be dismembered, obliterated? Is that going to be the conclusion of the Security Council if it legalizes Indian aggression on the soil of Pakistan?
So you will see now: this is not the end of the road, this is the beginning of the road; this is not the end of the chapter, a new chapter has begun a new page has been written in international relations. This is gunboat diplomacy in its worst form. In a sense, it makes the Hitlerite aggression pale into insignificance because Hitlerite aggression was not accepted by the world. If the world is going to endorse this aggression, it will mean a new and most unfortunate chapter in international relations. A new chapter may have begun in India and Pakistan, but please do not start a new dreadful chapter in international relations. For us, it is a hand-to-hand, day-to-day, minute-to-minute fight. But do not do that to the rest of the world.
Please do not permit this kind of naked, shameful barbaric aggression to hold sway. In the old days great warriors swept over the world-Changiz Khan, Subutai Khan, Alexander, Caesar, coming down to the great Napoleon. But this is worse, this is much worse than all that was done by the great conquerors of the world in the past. If the United Nations becomes a party to this kind of conquest, it will be much worse than all that has been done in the past. You will be turning the medium-sized and the small countries into the harlots of the world. You cannot do that. It is against civilized concepts: it is against all the rules of civilization and of international morality and justice.
The United States Government was criticized for supporting the position of Pakistan. What crime has the United States Government committed? It has taken a position identical to that of the whole world on the India-Pakistan conflict. That position was supported by 105 countries-it was 104 officially, but it was really 105 because one representative did not press the right button. That was the voice of the world. It was an international referendum. You talk about the election of 1970. Well, I am proud of the election of 1970 because my party emerged as the strongest party in West Pakistan. But here was an international poll and India flouted it. With such an attitude towards international opinion, how can India pretend to be sensitive to a national election in another country? The same India that refuses to hold a referendum in Kashmir?
The Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union talked about realities. Mr. Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union look at this reality. I know that you are the representative of a great country. You behave like one. The way you throw out your chest, the way you thump the table. you do not talk like Comrade Malik; you talk like Czar Malik. I see you are smiling. Well, I am not because my heart is bleeding. We want to be friends, but this is not the way to be friends when my country is decimated, sought to be destroyed, wiped out.
Why should China and the United States be criticized when the whole world is for Pakistan? You know that we have won a great political victory. We might have suffered a military defeat, but a political victory is more important than a military defeat because political victory is permanent while military defeat is temporary. The United States Government has acted according to its great traditions by supporting Pakistan, and I will go to the people of the United States before I return home and tell them the truth. The United States has stood by the traditions of Jefferson, Madison. Hamilton, right down to Roosevelt and Wilson by supporting Pakistan as an independent state, its national integrity and its national unity. What wrong and crime has the United States committed? Why is the Indian delegation so annoyed with the United States? The Indian delegation is annoyed with U.S.-can you imagine that? If it had not been for the massive food assistance that the United States gave to India, India would have had starvation; its millions would have died. What hope will India give to the people of East Pakistan? What picture of hope is it going to give when its own people in Western Bengal sleep in the streets, where there is terrible poverty, where there is terrible injustice and exploitation, when the parliamentary rule in West Bengal has been superseded by presidential rule? Is India going to do better for East Pakistan, for Muslim Bengal, than it has done for West Bengal? Thousands of West Bengali people sleep in the streets of Calcutta. The people of West Bengal are the poorest. India goes hat in hand to the United States for six million tons of food. If they are going to impose presidential-rule in West Bengal, in their Bengal, how can they do any better in our Bengal? They will not. And time will show that they will not.
So the United States has taken a correct and moral position.
Muslim Bengal was a part of Pakistan of its free will, not through money. We did not buy it as Alaska was purchased. Why do the people of the United States not see that? And we are beholden and thankful to the great People's Republic of China. We shall always remain thankful for the position it has taken. It has taken a position based on principles of justice. And I thank the Third World for having supported a just cause, a right cause.
And now in the Security Council we have been frustrated by a veto.
Britain and France have abstained from voting in order to play a role. I said the other day, with all due respect to those two great powers, that they have really exhausted their position in trying to play a role because now the only role they can play is to accept a shameless fait accompli. Britain and France abstained, and that abstention has cost us dearly.
Gallic logic and Anglo-Saxon experience, whatever it is, have cost us dearly. If Britain and France had put their powerful weight behind the international community rather than sitting on the fence, the issue might have been different. There is no such animal as a neutral animal. You take positions. In that respect we admire the Soviet Union; it took a position, a wrong position, but it took a position. You have to take a position on these matters. You have to be either on the side of justice or on the side of injustice;
you are either on the side of justice or on the side of injustice; you have to be either on the side of the aggressor or of the victim. There is no third road. It is a black and white situation in these matters; there is no grey involved. You are either for right or you are for wrong; you are either for justice or for injustice; you are either for aggression or for the victim. If the United Kingdom and France had earlier put their full weight behind the verdict of the international community, I think that we would not have reached this position. But Great Britain and France want to come back into the subcontinent as Clive and Dupleix, in a different role, the role of peacemakers.
They want a foot here and they want a foot there. I know that British interests in East Pakistan required this kind of opportunistic role because in East Pakistan they have their tea estates. They want the jute of East Pakistan. So that is why they sat on the fence. And I am sorry at France's position because with France we had developed very good relations, extremely good relations. But they took this position. And now, today, neither Britain nor France can play a role because their resolution has been overtaken by events. There is a lot of goodwill for France in Pakistan, and they will not get the same goodwill in East Pakistan because in East Pakistan already the clock is now moving in another direction. Everyday that the Indian Army of occupation stays there, it will be a grim reminder for Muslim Bengal that they are under Hindu occupation, and you will see the result of it. You will see how it will turn out. Let them stay-why not? Let them stay. Let them swagger around. If they want to take East Pakistan, let them stay as an army of occupation. They are an army of occupation; how can they be called liberators? They will stay, and they will see how the clock is going to move in a different direction.
Finally, I am not a rat. I have never ratted in my life. I have faced assassination attempts, I have faced imprisonments. I have always confronted crises. Today I am not ratting, but I am leaving your Security Council. I find it disgraceful to my person and to my country to remain here a moment longer than is necessary. I am not boycotting. Impose any decision, have a treaty worse than the Treaty of Versailles, legalize aggression, legalize occupation, legalize everything that has been illegal upto 15 December 1971. I will not be a party to it. We will fight; we will go back and fight. My country beckons me. Why should I waste my time here in the Security Council? I will not be a party to the ignominious surrender of a part of my country. You can take your Security Council. Here you are. I am going.
Here is Gadhafi Speech in UN
For serious students of history only by Doc Kazi.
We have met here today at a grave moment in the history of my country and I would request the Council kindly to bear with me and to hear the truth, the bitter truth. I know the United Nations; I know the Security Council I have attended their sessions before. The time has come when, as far as Pakistan is concerned, we shall have to speak the truth whether members of the Council like it or not. We were hoping that the Security Council, mindful of its responsibilities for the maintenance of world peace and justice, would act according to principles and bring an end to a naked, brutal aggression against my people. I came here for this reason. I was needed by the people of Pakistan, and when I was leaving Pakistan I. was in two minds whether: to go to the Security Council to represent the cause of my country, to represent the cause of a people that had been subjected to aggression, or to remain with my people, by their side, while they were being subjected to attack and violence. However, I felt that it was imperative for me to come here and seek justice from the Security Council. But I must say, whether the members like it or not, that the Security Council has denied my country that justice. From the moment I arrived we have been subjected to dilatory(Intended to delay) tactics.
It will be recalled that when the Indian Foreign Minister spoke and I spoke after him, I said that filibustering(The use of obstructionist tactics, especially prolonged speechmaking, for the purpose of delaying legislative action) was taking place. That was my immediate observation. The Security Council, I am afraid, has excelled; in the art of filibustering, not only on substance but also on procedural matters. With some cynicism, I watched yesterday a full hour of the Security Council's time wasted on whether the members of the Council would be ready to meet at 9.30 a.m. or that bed and breakfast required that they should meet at 11 a.m.
The representative of Somalia referred to the population of East Pakistan as 56 million, but later on he corrected himself to say that the population of Bengal-of Muslim Bengal-was 76 million. If he had waited for a few more days he need not have corrected himself because millions are dying, and it would have come to 56 million if the Council had kept on filibustering and discussing whether it should meet today or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow-whether the lines of communication between New York and Moscow and Peking and other capitals would permit the members to obtain new instructions. Thus, we could have gone on and on. That is why I requested you, Mr. President, to convene a meeting of the Security Council immediately and I am thankful to you for having convened this meeting, because precious time is being lost. My countrymen, my people, are dying. So I think I can facilitate your efforts if I speak now. Perhaps this will be my last speech in the Security Council. So please bear with me because -I have some home truths to tell the Security Council.
The world must know. My people must know. I have not come here to accept abject surrender. If the Security Council wants me to be a party to the legalization of abject surrender, then I say that under no circumstances shall it be so. Yesterday my eleven year old son telephoned me from Karachi and said "Do not come back with a document of surrender. We do not want to see you back in Pakistan if you do that." I will not take back a document of surrender from the Security Council. I will not be a party to the legalization of aggression.
The Security Council has failed miserably, shamefully. "The Charter of the United Nations," "the San Francisco Conference," "international peace and justice"-these are the words we heard in our youth, and we were inspired by the concept of the United Nations maintaining international peace and justice and security. President Woodrow Wilson said that he fought the First World War to end wars for all time.
The League of Nations came into being, and then the United Nations after it. What has the United Nations done? I know of the farce and the fraud of the United Nations. They come here and say, "Excellence, Excellence, comment allez-vous?" and all that. "A very good speech-you have spoken very well, tres bien." We have heard all these things. The United Nations resembles those fashion houses which hide ugly realities by draping ungainly figures in alluring apparel. The concealment of realities is common to both but the ugly realities cannot remain hidden. You do not need a Secretary-General. You need a chief executioner.
Let us face the stark truth. I have got no stakes left for the moment. That is why I am speaking the truth from my heart. For four days we have been deliberating here. For four days the Security Council has procrastinated(To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.). Why? Because the object was for Dacca to fall. That was the object. It was quite clear to me from the beginning.
All right, so what if Dacca falls? Cities and countries have fallen before. They have come under foreign occupation. China was under foreign occupation for years. Other countries have been under foreign occupation. France was under foreign occupation. Western Europe was under foreign occupation. So what if Dacca falls? So what if the whole of East Pakistan falls? So what if the whole of West Pakistan falls? So what if our state is obliterated? We will build a new Pakistan. We will build a better Pakistan. We will build a greater Pakistan.
The Security Council has acted short-sightedly by acquiescing in these dilatory tactics. You have reached a point when we shall say, "Do what you like." If this point had not been reached we could have made a commitment. We could have said, "All right, we are prepared to do some things." Now why should we? You want us to be silenced by guns. Why should we say that we shall agree to anything? Now you decide what you like. Your decision will not be binding on us. You can decide what you like. If you had left us a margin of hope, we might have been a party to some settlement.
But the Indians are so short-sighted. Mr. President, you referred to the "distinguished" Foreign Minister of India. What may I ask is so "distinguished" about a policy of aggression he is trying to justify. How is he distinguished when his hands are full of blood, when his heart is full of venom? But you know they do not have vision.
The partition of India in 1947 took place because they did not have vision. Now also they are lacking in vision. They talk about their ancient civilization and the mystique of India and all that. But they do not have vision at all. If I had been in his place, I would have acted differently. I extended a hand of friendship to him the other day. He should have seen what I meant. I am not talking as a puppet. I am talking as the authentic leader of the people of West Pakistan who elected me at the polls in a more impressive victory than the victory that Mujibur Rahman received in East Pakistan, and he should have taken cognizance of that. But he did not take cognizance of it. We could have opened a new page, a new chapter in our relations.
As I said, if the French and the Germans can come to terms, why cannot India and Pakistan come to terms? If the Turks and the Greeks can still talk sensibly as civilized people over Cyprus, why cannot India and Pakistan do likewise? If the Soviet Union and the United States can open a new page in their history, if China and the United States can open a new page in their history, why can we not usher a new era in. our relations? We could have done so. But as it was said about the 1967 Arab-Israel war, the military victory of Israel made it more difficult for Israel and the Arabs to reach a settlement. If you want to subjugate Pakistan militarily, you will find it more difficult to bring peace. I say that the choice for us is either to accept living in the-same subcontinent and co-operating for peace and progress, or to be implacable enemies of each other forever.
The Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union does not like my reference to the Roman Empire. I do not know what objection he has to it, unless he sees some similarity between his empire and the Roman Empire. I do not really see why he had any objection to that. But I shall again refer to the Roman Empire, and I hope that the Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union will have no objection to it because we want to have good relations with the Soviet Union and we want to open a new chapter with the Soviet Union because we are neighbors. I go back to the Roman Empire and I say what Cato said to the Romans, "Carthage must be destroyed." If India thinks that it is going to subjugate Pakistan, Eastern Pakistan as well as Western Pakistan-because we are one people, we are one state- then we shall say, "Carthage must be destroyed." We shall tell our children and they will tell their children that Carthage must be destroyed.
So please, Mr. President and members of the Security Council, realize the implications. The Pakistani nation is a brave nation. One of the greatest British generals said that the best infantry fighters in the world are the Pakistanis. We will fight. We will fight for a thousand years, if it comes to that. So do not go by momentary military victories. Stalingrad was overwhelmed. Leningrad was besieged for a thousand days. People who want to be free and who want to maintain their personality will fight and will continue to fight for principles.
We were told about the realities; to accept the realities. What are the realities? Realities keep changing, the Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union knows that once the reality was that the Nazis were out side the gates of Moscow, but you fought valiantly, bravely, and the world saluted the Soviet Union for having resisted the realities that were sought to be imposed on it.
The reality was that China was under the occupation of Japan, that Manchuria was taken-half of China. That was the reality. Since the Opium War, China has seen reality.
The reality for France was that it was under occupation. But there were great men like President de Gaulle who left France and fought from across the seas.
Ethiopia was under Fascist domination. But the Ethiopians fought. The Emperor of Ethiopia left his country and sought asylum in Britain. Ethiopia is free today.
The realities that matter are those which are not temporary phenomena which are rooted in historic principles. The principle is that Pakistan is an independent, sovereign state which came into being because of the volition of its people. That is the basic reality which has existed for 24 years. Pakistan would not have faced dismemberment like this if it had not been attacked by another country. This is not an internal movement. We have been subjected to attack by a militarily powerful neighbor. Who says that the new reality arose out of free will? Had there been the exercise of free will, India would not have attacked Pakistan. If India talks about the will of the people of East Pakistan and claims that it had to attack Pakistan in order to impose the will of the people of East Pakistan, then what has it done about Kashmir? East Pakistan is an integral part of Pakistan. Kashmir is a disputed territory. Why does India then not permit it to exercise its will?
But yesterday I saw how the Security Council was pandering(To act as a go-between or liaison in sexual intrigues; function as a procurer) to India. Even the great powers are pandering to India, saying to us, "Do not misunderstand," "Would you please let us know" and "Would you please answer the following questions; I am not insisting on those questions, but if you do not mind." India is intoxicated today with its military successes.
I told the Indian Permanent Representative in 1967 that we wanted good relations between the two countries-but based on principles, based on justice, based on equity, not based on exploitation and domination, because such relations cannot be lasting. What we want is a lasting, a permanent solution. I do not say this just today; I said that in 1967 to their Permanent Representative who was then the High Commissioner of India to Pakistan. I said that to the Foreign Minister of India when we were negotiating on Kashmir, "Let us settle this problem on the basis of equity and justice, so that we can live as good neighbors." And I add today: we can still live as good neighbors, as friends. Do not wipe out that possibility by military conquest and military power.
This has been the worst form of aggression, of naked aggression. Even Poland was not invaded by Germany in this fashion. Even in that case there were some pretences, some excuses that were made. Here the excuse was, "We have refugees, so we must invade another country." We said, "We are prepared to take those refugees back." If we had said, "We arc not prepared to take them back," then you could have said, "Well, you will be sunk." India's population rises by 13 million a year.
The number of refugees was alleged to be 9 million, 10 million. According to our estimate they were 5 million. But that is not important; figures are not important. The point is that we were prepared to take them back. If India's population can grow by 13 million a year, then with all the aid and assistance that India was getting for the refugees, it could have held on for a short period till Pakistan had a civilian government to negotiate the return of the refugees. I told the United States Ambassador in Pakistan that once a civilian government came into power in Pakistan, was prepared to go to the refugee camps myself to talk to them. But India pre-empted it all because the refugee problem was used as a pretext to dismember my country. The refugee problem was used as a pretext, an ugly, crude pretext, a shameful pretext to invade my country, to invade East Pakistan.
The great powers will forgive me. I have addressed them in this moment of anguish, and they should understand. The great powers or the superpowers-the super-duper-powers, the razzling-dazzling powers-the superpowers have imposed their super will for the moment. But I am thankful to the people and the Government of the United States among the superpowers, for the position it has taken. The people of the United States, to some extent have been misled by massive Indian propaganda. Because we had no paraphernalia of popular administration and government in Pakistan, there was a political vacuum. The Indians took advantage of that political vacuum and they spread out fast to project their point of view. As a result, American public opinion and public opinion in Great Britain and France and other countries was influenced. Unfortunately, nothing was said of the massacres that took place between 1 March and 25 March.
No doubt there were mistakes on our side. I said yesterday that mistakes were made, and the Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union said that I had admitted mistakes. Well, that is not a sign of weakness, is it? Do we not all make mistakes? Are India and the Soviet Union the only two countries that have never made mistakes? I have made mistakes personally. But mistakes do not mean that my country must be destroyed, that my country must be dismembered. That is not the consequence of mistakes of government. Which government does not make mistakes? But if some government has made a mistake, does it-follow that the country itself must be dismembered, obliterated? Is that going to be the conclusion of the Security Council if it legalizes Indian aggression on the soil of Pakistan?
So you will see now: this is not the end of the road, this is the beginning of the road; this is not the end of the chapter, a new chapter has begun a new page has been written in international relations. This is gunboat diplomacy in its worst form. In a sense, it makes the Hitlerite aggression pale into insignificance because Hitlerite aggression was not accepted by the world. If the world is going to endorse this aggression, it will mean a new and most unfortunate chapter in international relations. A new chapter may have begun in India and Pakistan, but please do not start a new dreadful chapter in international relations. For us, it is a hand-to-hand, day-to-day, minute-to-minute fight. But do not do that to the rest of the world.
Please do not permit this kind of naked, shameful barbaric aggression to hold sway. In the old days great warriors swept over the world-Changiz Khan, Subutai Khan, Alexander, Caesar, coming down to the great Napoleon. But this is worse, this is much worse than all that was done by the great conquerors of the world in the past. If the United Nations becomes a party to this kind of conquest, it will be much worse than all that has been done in the past. You will be turning the medium-sized and the small countries into the harlots of the world. You cannot do that. It is against civilized concepts: it is against all the rules of civilization and of international morality and justice.
The United States Government was criticized for supporting the position of Pakistan. What crime has the United States Government committed? It has taken a position identical to that of the whole world on the India-Pakistan conflict. That position was supported by 105 countries-it was 104 officially, but it was really 105 because one representative did not press the right button. That was the voice of the world. It was an international referendum. You talk about the election of 1970. Well, I am proud of the election of 1970 because my party emerged as the strongest party in West Pakistan. But here was an international poll and India flouted it. With such an attitude towards international opinion, how can India pretend to be sensitive to a national election in another country? The same India that refuses to hold a referendum in Kashmir?
The Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union talked about realities. Mr. Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union look at this reality. I know that you are the representative of a great country. You behave like one. The way you throw out your chest, the way you thump the table. you do not talk like Comrade Malik; you talk like Czar Malik. I see you are smiling. Well, I am not because my heart is bleeding. We want to be friends, but this is not the way to be friends when my country is decimated, sought to be destroyed, wiped out.
Why should China and the United States be criticized when the whole world is for Pakistan? You know that we have won a great political victory. We might have suffered a military defeat, but a political victory is more important than a military defeat because political victory is permanent while military defeat is temporary. The United States Government has acted according to its great traditions by supporting Pakistan, and I will go to the people of the United States before I return home and tell them the truth. The United States has stood by the traditions of Jefferson, Madison. Hamilton, right down to Roosevelt and Wilson by supporting Pakistan as an independent state, its national integrity and its national unity. What wrong and crime has the United States committed? Why is the Indian delegation so annoyed with the United States? The Indian delegation is annoyed with U.S.-can you imagine that? If it had not been for the massive food assistance that the United States gave to India, India would have had starvation; its millions would have died. What hope will India give to the people of East Pakistan? What picture of hope is it going to give when its own people in Western Bengal sleep in the streets, where there is terrible poverty, where there is terrible injustice and exploitation, when the parliamentary rule in West Bengal has been superseded by presidential rule? Is India going to do better for East Pakistan, for Muslim Bengal, than it has done for West Bengal? Thousands of West Bengali people sleep in the streets of Calcutta. The people of West Bengal are the poorest. India goes hat in hand to the United States for six million tons of food. If they are going to impose presidential-rule in West Bengal, in their Bengal, how can they do any better in our Bengal? They will not. And time will show that they will not.
So the United States has taken a correct and moral position.
Thomas Jefferson once said, "I have sworn eternal hostility against any form of tyranny practiced over the mind of man".This is a vast form of tyranny practiced over the mind of man and over the body of man. So the United States has adhered to its tradition. And if some misguided Senators were here, some young, misguided Senators who have been overtaken by Indian propaganda-and if the Permanent Representative of the United States were not from Texas-I would have told those young Senators that I was setting up the headquarters for a republic of Texas and making the former President-of the United States, Lyndon Johnson, the chief of that republic, in order to spread the cult of Bangladesh everywhere. Why can Texas not be free? Let there be a republic of Texas. We did not buy Bengal as Alaska was bought by the United States. We did not pay money to get our territory. We did not pay dollars to acquire territory. The people of the United States should appreciate the position taken by their Government.
Muslim Bengal was a part of Pakistan of its free will, not through money. We did not buy it as Alaska was purchased. Why do the people of the United States not see that? And we are beholden and thankful to the great People's Republic of China. We shall always remain thankful for the position it has taken. It has taken a position based on principles of justice. And I thank the Third World for having supported a just cause, a right cause.
And now in the Security Council we have been frustrated by a veto.
Let us build a monument to the veto, a big monument to the veto. Let us build a monument to the impotence and incapacity of the Security Council and the General Assembly. As you sow, so shall you reap. Remember that Biblical saying. Today, it is Pakistan. We are your guinea pigs today. But there will be other guinea pigs and you will see what happens. You will see how the chain of events unfolds itself. You want us to lick the dust. We are not going to lick the dust.
Britain and France have abstained from voting in order to play a role. I said the other day, with all due respect to those two great powers, that they have really exhausted their position in trying to play a role because now the only role they can play is to accept a shameless fait accompli. Britain and France abstained, and that abstention has cost us dearly.
Gallic logic and Anglo-Saxon experience, whatever it is, have cost us dearly. If Britain and France had put their powerful weight behind the international community rather than sitting on the fence, the issue might have been different. There is no such animal as a neutral animal. You take positions. In that respect we admire the Soviet Union; it took a position, a wrong position, but it took a position. You have to take a position on these matters. You have to be either on the side of justice or on the side of injustice;
you are either on the side of justice or on the side of injustice; you have to be either on the side of the aggressor or of the victim. There is no third road. It is a black and white situation in these matters; there is no grey involved. You are either for right or you are for wrong; you are either for justice or for injustice; you are either for aggression or for the victim. If the United Kingdom and France had earlier put their full weight behind the verdict of the international community, I think that we would not have reached this position. But Great Britain and France want to come back into the subcontinent as Clive and Dupleix, in a different role, the role of peacemakers.
They want a foot here and they want a foot there. I know that British interests in East Pakistan required this kind of opportunistic role because in East Pakistan they have their tea estates. They want the jute of East Pakistan. So that is why they sat on the fence. And I am sorry at France's position because with France we had developed very good relations, extremely good relations. But they took this position. And now, today, neither Britain nor France can play a role because their resolution has been overtaken by events. There is a lot of goodwill for France in Pakistan, and they will not get the same goodwill in East Pakistan because in East Pakistan already the clock is now moving in another direction. Everyday that the Indian Army of occupation stays there, it will be a grim reminder for Muslim Bengal that they are under Hindu occupation, and you will see the result of it. You will see how it will turn out. Let them stay-why not? Let them stay. Let them swagger around. If they want to take East Pakistan, let them stay as an army of occupation. They are an army of occupation; how can they be called liberators? They will stay, and they will see how the clock is going to move in a different direction.
Finally, I am not a rat. I have never ratted in my life. I have faced assassination attempts, I have faced imprisonments. I have always confronted crises. Today I am not ratting, but I am leaving your Security Council. I find it disgraceful to my person and to my country to remain here a moment longer than is necessary. I am not boycotting. Impose any decision, have a treaty worse than the Treaty of Versailles, legalize aggression, legalize occupation, legalize everything that has been illegal upto 15 December 1971. I will not be a party to it. We will fight; we will go back and fight. My country beckons me. Why should I waste my time here in the Security Council? I will not be a party to the ignominious surrender of a part of my country. You can take your Security Council. Here you are. I am going.
Here is Gadhafi Speech in UN
Iraq seizes group accused of Baghdad car bombs
28 Apr 2009 16:32:03 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds Baghdadi comments)
By Aseel Kami
BAGHDAD, April 28 (Reuters) - Iraqi authorities said on Tuesday they had arrested a policeman and six others accused of being al Qaeda members who staged car bombings in Baghdad the day before a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.
Seven car bombs across the capital on April 6 killed at least 37 people and marked the start of a rise in attacks that have cast a shadow over recent security gains and raised fears Iraq could plunge back into sectarian warfare.
Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf said the group was responsible for a total of 27 attacks, including car bombs and car jackings in which they killed the drivers and used their vehicles for bombs. Three were captured in Baghdad and the rest in western Anbar province.
The men were planning to blow up what would have been the eighth car bomb of the day on April 6 when police found them in Baghdad's southern Doura district, he said.
Subsequent investigations found that a policeman had helped the attackers to get through numerous checkpoints manned by soldiers and police all over Baghdad, he said.
"What is novel about this case is the involvement of a member of the Interior Ministry," Khalaf said.
The policeman was a Shi'ite Muslim, and not a Sunni Arab like the vast majority of al Qaeda sympathisers and operators, Khalaf said. He said the man was lured into the group by money.
In what the Interior Ministry said was a videotaped confession, one of the detained men said he was a leader of al Qaeda in Haditha in 2005, a town in western Anbar province, that at the time was an al Qaeda stronghold.
RASH OF BOMBINGS
The announcement of the arrests coincided with growing apprehension in Iraq as U.S. combat forces prepare to pull out of cities in June, ahead of a full withdrawal by the end of 2011, and in the run-up to a national election late this year.
Later the same day, security officials presented a photograph of a man detained last week who they believe is Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq, an al Qaeda-affiliated insurgent group.
If the man is Baghdadi, whose capture and death have been reported before, it could be a blow to a group seen as one of the chief insurgent operators in Iraq.
While overall violence has fallen to levels not seen since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, insurgents like al Qaeda continue to carry out suicide and car bomb attacks regularly.
Two days of suicide bombings last week killed more than 150 people, many of them Shi'ite pilgrims from neighbouring Iran, raising the spectre of renewed fighting between once dominant Sunnis and majority Shi'ites.
U.S. forces in Iraq have not yet said whether they believe the detained man is Baghdadi.
While Iraqi officials earlier said they would conduct a DNA test to confirm Baghdadi's identity, security spokesman Major General Qassim Moussawi said on Tuesday that such a test would be impossible because there was no previous information on him.
Baghdadi "is a high-value target whose arrest will give Iraqi forces the opportunity to follow the strands of this group, pursuing its members and arresting them," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told al-Arabiya television.
He said Baghdadi would be referred to an Iraqi court.
"The government understands that al Qaeda is still a threat to the security situation, and our alert level remains high. We imagine they will try to retaliate but we have no choice but to face them with everything we've got," Dabbagh said. (Additional reporting by Waleed Ibrahim and Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Michael Christie)
Source: Reuters
(Adds Baghdadi comments)
By Aseel Kami
BAGHDAD, April 28 (Reuters) - Iraqi authorities said on Tuesday they had arrested a policeman and six others accused of being al Qaeda members who staged car bombings in Baghdad the day before a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.
Seven car bombs across the capital on April 6 killed at least 37 people and marked the start of a rise in attacks that have cast a shadow over recent security gains and raised fears Iraq could plunge back into sectarian warfare.
Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf said the group was responsible for a total of 27 attacks, including car bombs and car jackings in which they killed the drivers and used their vehicles for bombs. Three were captured in Baghdad and the rest in western Anbar province.
The men were planning to blow up what would have been the eighth car bomb of the day on April 6 when police found them in Baghdad's southern Doura district, he said.
Subsequent investigations found that a policeman had helped the attackers to get through numerous checkpoints manned by soldiers and police all over Baghdad, he said.
"What is novel about this case is the involvement of a member of the Interior Ministry," Khalaf said.
The policeman was a Shi'ite Muslim, and not a Sunni Arab like the vast majority of al Qaeda sympathisers and operators, Khalaf said. He said the man was lured into the group by money.
In what the Interior Ministry said was a videotaped confession, one of the detained men said he was a leader of al Qaeda in Haditha in 2005, a town in western Anbar province, that at the time was an al Qaeda stronghold.
RASH OF BOMBINGS
The announcement of the arrests coincided with growing apprehension in Iraq as U.S. combat forces prepare to pull out of cities in June, ahead of a full withdrawal by the end of 2011, and in the run-up to a national election late this year.
Later the same day, security officials presented a photograph of a man detained last week who they believe is Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, leader of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq, an al Qaeda-affiliated insurgent group.
If the man is Baghdadi, whose capture and death have been reported before, it could be a blow to a group seen as one of the chief insurgent operators in Iraq.
While overall violence has fallen to levels not seen since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, insurgents like al Qaeda continue to carry out suicide and car bomb attacks regularly.
Two days of suicide bombings last week killed more than 150 people, many of them Shi'ite pilgrims from neighbouring Iran, raising the spectre of renewed fighting between once dominant Sunnis and majority Shi'ites.
U.S. forces in Iraq have not yet said whether they believe the detained man is Baghdadi.
While Iraqi officials earlier said they would conduct a DNA test to confirm Baghdadi's identity, security spokesman Major General Qassim Moussawi said on Tuesday that such a test would be impossible because there was no previous information on him.
Baghdadi "is a high-value target whose arrest will give Iraqi forces the opportunity to follow the strands of this group, pursuing its members and arresting them," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told al-Arabiya television.
He said Baghdadi would be referred to an Iraqi court.
"The government understands that al Qaeda is still a threat to the security situation, and our alert level remains high. We imagine they will try to retaliate but we have no choice but to face them with everything we've got," Dabbagh said. (Additional reporting by Waleed Ibrahim and Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Michael Christie)
Pakistan Military once again hostage 60K.M from Islamabad
Pak jets strike Taliban targets 60 km off Islamabad
Rezaul H Laskar in Islamabad | April 29, 2009 15:36 IST
Pakistan army [Images] on Wednesday airdropped commandos to take control of the main Daggar town in embattled Buner district as the military expanded its operation to halt Taliban's [Images] advance towards Islamabad [Images].
Fighter jets and helicopter gunship struck well entrenched Taliban defences, atop mountains in various hamlets of Buner, just 60 kilometres from Islamabad.
The Commandos took control of Daggar, which is the main town of Buner with a population of over 25,000. But militants continued to hold 60 security men hostage, whom they had captured in Pir Baba area.
Residents also reported, heavy artillery, tanks and ground troops in hundreds moving towards Buner as forces sought to drive the Taliban back into the Swat Valley. The army estimates there are 400-500 Taliban militants hiding in Buner.
Islamabad under intense US pressure to take a tough stance against Taliban has now expanded the arc of its military offensive to bring more and more Tehrik-e-Taliban militants under its line of fire, from Dir near the lawless tribal territory close to Afghanistan border to Buner in the Pakistani heartland.
As the military operation went into full steam, the US has held it as "exactly the appropriate response to halt the progress of Taliban".
At least 60 police and Frontier Constabulary personnel were taken hostage by the Taliban in Pir Baba area of Buner on Tuesday night, media reports said.
The News daily put the number of hostages at 71. The soldiers continue to be in the custody of the militants and there was no official word on their status.
The security men were taken hostage after militants lured them to a mosque near the Pir Baba shrine on the pretext of holding talks with them. Among those taken hostage are the chief of the Pir Baba police station. A majority of the hostages are Frontier Constabulary personnel, reports said.
As the security forces inducted fighters and used heavy artillery there was no official word on casualties in Buner district.
The army in a statement has said that reports of withdrawal of Taliban were a mere show and that bulk of the militants continue to be in the town.
Chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas on Tuesday said some 75 militants and 10 security personnel were killed in an operation in the nearby Dir district. He also said up to 700 militants were present in Dir and Buner districts.
A large number of residents of Buner have started migrating to other places in the North West Frontier Province, adding to the provincial government's problems in caring for people displaced by the recent fighting. Reports said up to 30,000 people have been displaced by the operations.
Rezaul H Laskar in Islamabad | April 29, 2009 15:36 IST
Pakistan army [Images] on Wednesday airdropped commandos to take control of the main Daggar town in embattled Buner district as the military expanded its operation to halt Taliban's [Images] advance towards Islamabad [Images].
Fighter jets and helicopter gunship struck well entrenched Taliban defences, atop mountains in various hamlets of Buner, just 60 kilometres from Islamabad.
The Commandos took control of Daggar, which is the main town of Buner with a population of over 25,000. But militants continued to hold 60 security men hostage, whom they had captured in Pir Baba area.
Residents also reported, heavy artillery, tanks and ground troops in hundreds moving towards Buner as forces sought to drive the Taliban back into the Swat Valley. The army estimates there are 400-500 Taliban militants hiding in Buner.
Islamabad under intense US pressure to take a tough stance against Taliban has now expanded the arc of its military offensive to bring more and more Tehrik-e-Taliban militants under its line of fire, from Dir near the lawless tribal territory close to Afghanistan border to Buner in the Pakistani heartland.
As the military operation went into full steam, the US has held it as "exactly the appropriate response to halt the progress of Taliban".
At least 60 police and Frontier Constabulary personnel were taken hostage by the Taliban in Pir Baba area of Buner on Tuesday night, media reports said.
The News daily put the number of hostages at 71. The soldiers continue to be in the custody of the militants and there was no official word on their status.
The security men were taken hostage after militants lured them to a mosque near the Pir Baba shrine on the pretext of holding talks with them. Among those taken hostage are the chief of the Pir Baba police station. A majority of the hostages are Frontier Constabulary personnel, reports said.
As the security forces inducted fighters and used heavy artillery there was no official word on casualties in Buner district.
The army in a statement has said that reports of withdrawal of Taliban were a mere show and that bulk of the militants continue to be in the town.
Chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas on Tuesday said some 75 militants and 10 security personnel were killed in an operation in the nearby Dir district. He also said up to 700 militants were present in Dir and Buner districts.
A large number of residents of Buner have started migrating to other places in the North West Frontier Province, adding to the provincial government's problems in caring for people displaced by the recent fighting. Reports said up to 30,000 people have been displaced by the operations.
How worst western guyz hate Arab's Islam & insult arab men
The Shame Culture of islam
The Arab world is suffering a crisis of humiliation.
Their armies are routed not only by Americans, but also by tiny, Jewish Israel; and as Arthur Koestler once remarked, the Arab world has not, in the last 500 years or so, produced much besides rugs, dirty postcards, elaborations on the belly-dance esthetic (and, of course, some innovative terrorist practices). They have no science to speak of, no art, hardly any industry save oil, very little literature, and portentous music which consists largely of lugubrious(mournful) songs celebrating the slaughter of Jews.
Now that the Arabs have acquired national consciousness, and they compare their societies to other nations, these deficiencies become painfully evident, particularly to the upper-class Arab kids who attend foreign universities. There they learn about the accomplishments of Christians, Jews, (Freud, Einstein, for starters) and women.
And yet, with the exception of Edward Said, there is scarcely a contemporary Arab name in the bunch. No wonder, then, that major recruitment to al-Qaeda's ranks takes place among Arab university students.
And no wonder that suicide bombing becomes their tactic of choice: it is a last-ditch, desperate way of asserting at least one scrap of superiority—a spiritual superiority—over the materialistic, life-hugging, and ergo shameful West.
But this tactic is not, I suggest, a product of Islam. Rather, it is a product of the bruised Arab psyche. Remember that the Japanese also turned to suicide tactics in WWII to evade the humiliation of defeat. Though their religion was Shinto rather than Muslim, they too constituted a paradigm(A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline. ) shame/honor culture, and defeat brought about, as with the Arabs, a furiously suicidal/homicidal response. After their armies had been defeated, their fleets sunk, their cities set aflame, and their home islands invaded, they launched the kamikaze bomber offensive, thereby committing a hi-tech form of hara-kiri, their usual remedy against intolerable shame.
It is in this way that the modern Arab world resembles the Japan of World War II. In both cases it is not religions but psychic wounds, the wounds inflicted by defeat and evident INFERIORITY, that inspire suicide bombers.
It is often asserted that the changes set in train by modernization are particularly toxic to the Arabs. No doubt this is true. But if we are going to be therapeutic(Having or exhibiting healing powers), our diagnoses need to be more specific; we need to identify the particular pathogens(An agent that causes disease, especially a living microorganism such as a bacterium or fungus.) that are released by modernization. Besides sharpening their sense of inferiority relative to the West, modernization threatens to bring about the liberation of women (as in Afghanistan and Iraq).
I say "threatens," because the self-esteem of Arab males is in large part predicated(To base or establish ) on the inferior position of their women.
The Arab nations have for the most part lost their slaves and dhimmis(ذمي, collectively أهل الذمة ahl al-dhimmah, "the people of the dhimma or pact of protection"; Ottoman Turkish & Urdu zimmi, "one whose zimma [responsibility of protection] has been taken") is a non-Muslim subject of a state governed in accordance with sharia law.), the subject peoples onto whose persons the stigmata of shame could be downloaded. But anyone who has spent time among them knows that Arab males have not lost their psychological need for social and sexual inferiors.
In the absence of slaves and captive peoples, Arab women are elected for the special role of the inferior who, by definition, lacks honor. Arab men eradicate shame and bolster their shaky self-esteem by imposing the shameful qualities of the dhimmi, submission and passivity, upon women. Trailing a humbled woman behind them, Arab men can walk the walk of the true macho man(A male who is virile and sexually active).
Hence the relative lack of material achievement by Arabs: the Arab world has stunted(An atypically small animal or plant.) the female half of its brain pool, while the men acquire instant self-esteem not by real accomplishment, but by the mere fact of being men, rather than women.
No wonder, then, that the Arab nations feel irrationally threatened by the very existence of Israel. Like America, the Jews have brought the reality of the liberated woman into the very heart of the Middle East, into dar al-Islam itself. Big Satan and Little Satan: the champions of Muslim women.
I contend that female liberation is the most hopeful development in the Middle East, greater even than the first stirrings(Exciting strong feelings, as of inspiration; rousing ) of democracy. I believe that Arab women have a greater stake in liberal democracy than Arab men, and as they acquire political power, they will fight for it. As for suicide bombings, jihadism and the macho posturing of Arab men, they are desperate remedies against further humiliation, against the perceived threat of “castration,”(Removing, or inhibiting the function or development of, the ovaries or testes. ) by their own women.
Until Arab women achieve freedom and independence, we can expect, at least for awhile, to see Arab men cling to these remedies.
Even then, some Arab men will probably backslide to even greater suicidal/homicidal tantrums(A fit of bad temper. Also called regionally hissy, hissy fit.
).
Others, (perhaps even a majority) no longer able to project their deficiencies onto Arab women, will begin to recognize the flaws in themselves. These converts would adopt the self-critical stance that is already showing up among some daring Arab intellectuals and even religious leaders.
And when Arab men can no longer acquire instant self-esteem by demeaning(degrading) their women, some of them might even turn to the arts of peace, and try to acquire the sense of self-worth via instrumental rather than illusory psychological means.
We cannot, in the end, correct all the distortions of the Arab shame/honor ethos. But by pledging our support for Arab women's liberation—for instance, by advocating expanded liberties for women in the text of the new Iraqi constitution—we can hasten its erosion.
You will notice that Dzates, Muhammed, and Adnan do not talk about any women in their lives. Women are Inferiors and should to these gentlemen have no real place in the lives of macho men.
I have a mother who was born in Salalah in Oman, a wife from Alabama and a baby girl, my first child whose name is Nicole. They are my real loves. I grew up in a household of older sisters, I was the baby and the only male. Women have surrounded me all of my life. When I look at the goodness of the world I see it through all the goodness which they gave me.
My family has a longer tradition as Americans than yours does. If you are what you seem to be you dont even know your own grandfather's name.
My people came into Georgia in 1745 and into the Frontier in 1757. We were US Marshals in Indian territory in 1835. We were into the North Georgia Mountains as early as 1807.
I have seen my mother's family and their house. Its got a courtyard under awnings(A rooflike structure, often made of canvas or plastic, that serves as a shelter, as over a storefront, window, door, or deck) like sails and a scented big white Myrrh Tree, It has no air conditioning but the breezes come off the sea and up the valley
all day and make the shady house cool.
My kin were willing to trade if you had a strong ship, and they would take your ship if you were seen as weak. Either way they made a profit and the family fortune was based on "import/export" They do guns and gold across and back from India. They expedite arms to Iran now. Dad ran a trucking company for the Pak/Iran route and made a lot of money doing 20mm guns to distributers in Iran.
He swears he never did drugs at any time. But I think the drug people were buying his guns. You could arrange for Drugs to pay your bills and still never handle the stuff yourself. Its all paper to the Emirate banks. The Iranians have three million Heroin addicts, its their problem.
You sound paranoid, fagboy. Want to see another pic of me? I have already told you where I live...Lost Mountain, Georgia just off old Dallas Hwy and I can see the park from my front window.
Want to see a UTube of me firing one of my rifles at the Fort Mountain Gun Range.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRnwT59ehF8
That's me...half Arab on my Mom's side and I served my tour in th USArmy Rangers at Camp Merrill in the North Georgia Mountains and now have a new wife and baby girl named Nicole.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVwevjwBH1k&feature=related
The above is a friend who lives in Dahlonega, Georgia, 'bout nine miles south of Suches, Georgia. He does errands for my dad. He collects guns. Down here in the South, Adnan, we dont particularly care for you raggies. And we supply a lot of good soldiers for the Army and Marines. Its sort of traditional. We like a sort of jihad ourselves, only we hunt towelies. Good at it too.
My dad, whom you already know, is back from Iran and has invested the money he made there by buying two city blocks in metropolitan Atlanta in Sylvan Hills. The recession isnt our problem, we are making money. He has a hobby as a Coach for a Country Club Women's Competition Trap Shooting team.
Its beautiful Spring weather here and I am going shopping today and then coming home to fix BBQ pork for Lunch and make a fresh salad served with Lemonade.
--------
You know my Mom just loves being American. She's been here since about 1974 or so. I was born in 1980, my sister was born in 1976.
The biggest holiday, even above Christmas, in my Mom's house is 4th of July. We ALWAYS have a big family cookout on the Grill and BarBQ and Corn on the Cob and the whole layout, no matter what. Her house is full of Americana antiques, a big brass American Flag fireplace screen, Geese painted on the trash can and Cardinals painted on the mailbox. She likes to dress up like Dolly Parton.
Mother of pearl buttons and a big Silver dollar belt buckle on her cowboy fringed shirt, she even bought some cowboy boots. Early American furniture and little knick knacks that are kitch as hell.
She haunts antique stores, cant drive by one without going in to look.
Loves to Garden, and her house is a Moslem paradise of flowers and growing things. Her idea of Heaven is her house and the big yard, the landscaping and the trees and bird feeders and the squirrels she feeds..humming bird feeder in front of the porch so she can look at them, and orchids filling the windows alongside the gardenias. A big American Flag in the front yard.
She converted to Roman catholicism all on her own before I was born...my older blood sister is a Dominican Contemplative Nun and Mom tossed out everything she regarded as Moslem. My dad is hard to describe on the religion side, he's a total opportunist, always looks to a realists advantage. Religion is simply something he uses like putting on a shirt. He can act the part of anything and he has this ability to assume body english and mannerisms and speak the language without an accent when he needs to. He can dress up and shift like a magician and you can watch him disappear and a new person step forward who even seems to smell and even walk different. He's uncanny.
He can take on an entire being and then stop in mid step and grin at you.
He's got a real talent for it. A nasty talent.
I know him better than Mom and she knows him well. She adores him, would forgive him anything. I am careful around him. He's too good at illusions... the only thing you can know for certain is that he is in it for himself. He manipulates people, and has no conscience when he does it. Its never a good idea to trust him at face value.
The funny thing is you forget what he is sometimes he is so convincing, and then you are brought up short with a start by really looking at him and seeing him grin.
When I was ten he wouldnt give me any food unless I caught it myself or killed it myself. I didnt want to kill a rabbit and he wouldnt give me anything to eat until I killed the rabbit. I killed the rabbit and then he handed me the knife and told me how to skin it and cut it up. Then he said I could keep the knife as mine.
I remember cutting the rabbits feet off one at a time and then pushing the blade in to the skin and slitting open the belly and slitting down the legs and peeling off the skin and then cutting off the little wet head at the neck...and him just watching me and then letting me eat.
Author: Seraph1 -Seth J. Kingry
Seth J. Kingry
Remote Operations Engineer at SugarCRM
Greater Atlanta Area
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Aerial Robotics Team
Date: 29-04-09 03:27
http://www.albawabaforums.com/read.php3?f=3&i=358833&t=358833
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Top 5 Most Dangerous Cities
Despite all the universities and educational institutes America remains an uncivilised cowboys country. America is the worst example to others. Americans are highly-trained, religious and very violent.
In case you didn't know, Baghdad was a peaceful and joyful city albeit ruled by a ruthless dictator. Al-Qaeda men weren't in Iraq before the American invasion of March 20, 2003. The Americans need violence in order to remind them of their own home cities.
It is more logical to compare the homicides in Detroit with that of a European, Chinese or Japanese city of similar population size. You will be amazed. Try to do some googling.
No. 1 Detroit, Mich.
(Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., metropolitan statistical area)
Population: 1,951,186
Violent Crimes per 100,000: 1,220
No. 2 Memphis, Tenn.
(Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark. metropolitan statistical area)
Population: 1,295,670
Violent Crimes per 100,000: 1,218
No. 3. Miami, Fla.
(Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla. metropolitan statistical area)
Population: 2,401,971
Violent Crimes per 100,000: 988
No. 4 Las Vegas, Nev.
(Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., metropolitan statistical area)
Population: 1,834,533
Violent Crimes per 100,000: 887
No. 5 Stockton, Calif.
(Stockton, Calif., metropolitan statistical area)
Population: 684,406
Violent Crimes per 100,000: 885
Comment: The Americans like to police the streets of the world cities but not their own. They also tend to export the violent behaviour to others. It not surprising that the American hands are stained with the blood of people from 33 countries.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
April 28, 2009, 5:42 am
America: The Less Violent Side
By Sahar S. Gabriel
Sahar S. Gabriel was an Iraqi translator with The New York Times in Baghdad. She moved to America on a refugee program.
— Baghdad Bureau
MICHIGAN– On March 18, just after my arrival in the United States, four high schoolers were killed in the state of Michigan. DUI, an expression I had heard so much in TV shows and movies.
Four lives ended in a reckless accident caused by a moment of irrationality. A bad decision. This was not a terrorist act or a sectarian killing. This was what is referred to as “stuff happens,” and it happens everywhere around the world.
I watched on television as the moms and dads attended their kids’ funerals and my heart went out to them. I thought of the anger and doubts that must be forming inside and then I thought about the youngsters who were killed. A friend used to say something every time we heard of someone being killed in Iraq, “What a waste.” He was right. A waste of possibilities and decisions that could have changed the future. It occurs to me that this may not be the less violent side after all.
But, it is the right “violent side” for me, as a person. And if people are killed and die everywhere, then this is where I want to live, a place where a lot of people may not approve of me and are free to express that. It is that right that appeals to me, that god given right to live and love and pursue happiness.
It is why the parents and families of those teenagers and many others do not pack up and leave the country after something like that happens. The word is HOME, and that does not necessarily mean the geographic spot you were born in.
In case you didn't know, Baghdad was a peaceful and joyful city albeit ruled by a ruthless dictator. Al-Qaeda men weren't in Iraq before the American invasion of March 20, 2003. The Americans need violence in order to remind them of their own home cities.
It is more logical to compare the homicides in Detroit with that of a European, Chinese or Japanese city of similar population size. You will be amazed. Try to do some googling.
No. 1 Detroit, Mich.
(Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich., metropolitan statistical area)
Population: 1,951,186
Violent Crimes per 100,000: 1,220
No. 2 Memphis, Tenn.
(Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark. metropolitan statistical area)
Population: 1,295,670
Violent Crimes per 100,000: 1,218
No. 3. Miami, Fla.
(Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla. metropolitan statistical area)
Population: 2,401,971
Violent Crimes per 100,000: 988
No. 4 Las Vegas, Nev.
(Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev., metropolitan statistical area)
Population: 1,834,533
Violent Crimes per 100,000: 887
No. 5 Stockton, Calif.
(Stockton, Calif., metropolitan statistical area)
Population: 684,406
Violent Crimes per 100,000: 885
Comment: The Americans like to police the streets of the world cities but not their own. They also tend to export the violent behaviour to others. It not surprising that the American hands are stained with the blood of people from 33 countries.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
April 28, 2009, 5:42 am
America: The Less Violent Side
By Sahar S. Gabriel
Sahar S. Gabriel was an Iraqi translator with The New York Times in Baghdad. She moved to America on a refugee program.
— Baghdad Bureau
MICHIGAN– On March 18, just after my arrival in the United States, four high schoolers were killed in the state of Michigan. DUI, an expression I had heard so much in TV shows and movies.
Four lives ended in a reckless accident caused by a moment of irrationality. A bad decision. This was not a terrorist act or a sectarian killing. This was what is referred to as “stuff happens,” and it happens everywhere around the world.
I watched on television as the moms and dads attended their kids’ funerals and my heart went out to them. I thought of the anger and doubts that must be forming inside and then I thought about the youngsters who were killed. A friend used to say something every time we heard of someone being killed in Iraq, “What a waste.” He was right. A waste of possibilities and decisions that could have changed the future. It occurs to me that this may not be the less violent side after all.
But, it is the right “violent side” for me, as a person. And if people are killed and die everywhere, then this is where I want to live, a place where a lot of people may not approve of me and are free to express that. It is that right that appeals to me, that god given right to live and love and pursue happiness.
It is why the parents and families of those teenagers and many others do not pack up and leave the country after something like that happens. The word is HOME, and that does not necessarily mean the geographic spot you were born in.
KBR sued in over waste disposal in Iraq, Afghanistan
29 Apr 2009 00:06:35 GMT
Source: Reuters
SAN FRANCISCO, April 28 (Reuters) - KBR Inc was sued on Tuesday in three states on accusations that the company exposed U.S. soldiers and contractors at U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan to toxic smoke, court documents showed.
KBR, an engineering and construction company that also manages military logistics, was paid by the U.S. government to dispose of waste on the bases, according to the complaints filed on behalf of soldiers who had been deployed in the two countries.
Oilfield services company Halliburton Co, which spun off KBR two years ago, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuits, being brought by law firm Burke O'Neil LLC.
The lawsuits, filed in Georgia, Alabama and Illinois, accused KBR of failing to properly dispose of waste which led to prolonged exposure to hazardous smoke, fumes and ash.
"These exposures are causing a host of serious diseases, increased risk of serious diseases in the future, death and increased risk of death," the complaints in all three states said.
Burke O'Neil said in a statement that similar actions were being filed in California, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, and Wyoming.
The law firm said in the statement that the actions were on behalf of at least 20 current and former military personnel, private contractors, and families of two men who allegedly died due to exposure to the smoke.
KBR said it had not reviewed the complaints and therefore could not comment on the specific allegations.
"The general assertion, however, that KBR knowingly harmed soldiers or contractors is unfounded," the company said in an emailed statement. "The safety and security of all employees and those the company serves remains KBR's top priority." (Reporting by Braden Reddall; Editing by Toni Reinhold)
Source: Reuters
SAN FRANCISCO, April 28 (Reuters) - KBR Inc
KBR, an engineering and construction company that also manages military logistics, was paid by the U.S. government to dispose of waste on the bases, according to the complaints filed on behalf of soldiers who had been deployed in the two countries.
Oilfield services company Halliburton Co
The lawsuits, filed in Georgia, Alabama and Illinois, accused KBR of failing to properly dispose of waste which led to prolonged exposure to hazardous smoke, fumes and ash.
"These exposures are causing a host of serious diseases, increased risk of serious diseases in the future, death and increased risk of death," the complaints in all three states said.
Burke O'Neil said in a statement that similar actions were being filed in California, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, and Wyoming.
The law firm said in the statement that the actions were on behalf of at least 20 current and former military personnel, private contractors, and families of two men who allegedly died due to exposure to the smoke.
KBR said it had not reviewed the complaints and therefore could not comment on the specific allegations.
"The general assertion, however, that KBR knowingly harmed soldiers or contractors is unfounded," the company said in an emailed statement. "The safety and security of all employees and those the company serves remains KBR's top priority." (Reporting by Braden Reddall; Editing by Toni Reinhold)
Monday, April 27, 2009
Mohammad Rafi, Farsi Dari Songs
Another rare non-filmi song of Rafi Sahib singing farsi song with Afghan female singer Zhilla. This song is composed by Khyal and recorded in Radio Kabul in 1975 with Afghan musicians.
Not many people know that Rafi Sahib visited Kabul, Afghanistan in 1975 and recorded few farsi songs in Radio Kabul.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGzQNU1OD8U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQyamXhdKys
-------------
Muhammad Rafi was born in Kotla Sultan Singh located near Amritsar in the then undivided Punjab. Mohd Rafi had five older brothers and his father's name was Hajji Ali Mohammad. Lovingly addressed as "Pheeko" by his family, Rafi started showing his inclination towards music at a very early age when he used to imitate the chants of a wandering beggar in his village. In the year 1935, Rafi's family moved to Lahore. Rafi's love for music was recognized soon by his family and he was encouraged to pursue it further. Thus, Mohamed Rafi went on to seek training in Hindustani classical music from eminent personalities like Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Pundit Jiwanlal Matto and Firoze Nizami.
Rafi's first public performance was at the tender age of 13. One day Rafi along with his brother Hamid went to attend a performance by the renowned K.L. Saigal. But there was a power failure at the venue and the legendary singer refused to sing. When the audience began to lose patience, Rafi's brother Hamid requested the organizer to allow Rafi to keep the audience entertained till the power came back. He was allowed to do so and it turned out to be the correct exposure for him. Among the audience was seated the great composer Shyam Sunder who immediately recognized immense talent and untapped potential in Rafi. He invited Rafi to come to Bombay for a recording. From there on began the journey of the most versatile singer of India.
In the year 1944, Mohammed Rafi recorded his first song under music director Shyam Sunder. It was for a Punjabi movie named Gul Baloch. It was recognized by many and Rafi started to get more and more offers. Rafi also sang songs composed by Naushad for the movie Pehle Aap in the year 1944.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKDcL9JB5A8
He also acted in a couple of movies named Laila Majnu (1945) and Jugnu (1947). Another splendid performance was in the year 1946 when he sang the song "Tera Khilona Toota Balak" of the movie Anmol Ghadi. With the movie Jugnu (1947), Rafi bagged his first major hit. The song "Yahaan Badla Wafa Ka"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJOxsI20UF0
with Noor Jehan under Feroze Nizami went on to become a major hit with the public.
His music in the movie Baiju Bawara proved critics wrong and he went on to become one of the most demanded playback singers of that time. The film happened by accident. Talat Mehmood was the first choice for the film. Naushad, the music director caught Talat Mehmood smoking and was very annoyed. He then gave all the songs to Mohammed Rafi and the results were outstanding. In the year 1949, his song named "Suhani Raat Dhal Chuki" of the movie "Dulari" went on to become an anthem of sorts. There was no looking back thereafter and Rafi went on to produce hits after hits. He was the undisputed singer till the 70's.
He was patronized as the voice of the great actor Dev Anand during 1950's and 60's. He became the favorite singer of director O.P. Nayyar and sang many beautiful songs for him. Rafi also produced some of the greatest hits with S.D. Burman, which includes films like Tere Ghar ke Saamne (1957), Pyaasa (1957), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Guide (1965), Aradhana (1969) and Abhimaan (1973). In fact, he even sang a playback number for the great singer Kishore Kumar for the movie Raagini. Apparently, O.P. Nayyar was so fascinated by Rafi's music that he got him to sing "Man Mora Baawara" of this movie. Rafi sang with Asha Bhonsle and Lata Mangeshkar and belted out hits after hits. Rafi became the voice of noted actor Rajendra Kumar and sang many romantic songs for his movies. His boisterous style of singing suited the versatile actor Shammi Kapoor. One could not imagine a reserved and gentle person like Rafi singing the "Yahoo" number. But then, that was Rafi.
During the 1970's, Kishore Kumar came into the limelight with his hits in the movie Aradhana. Rafi's output declined and Kishore Kumar started to overshadow his popularity. However, Rafi's songs were still everyone's favorite and he proved that no matter how many singers come and go, his position would remain undisputed. During mid 70's Rafi made a huge comeback with the movie "Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahi"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PNJo7OA--4
and won the national award for the song "Kya Hua Tera Waada"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEaKwR5Y1mM
.
His major hits in the 70's include Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Sargam (1979) and Karz (1980). The Qawali song "Pardah Hai Pardah" of the movie Amar Akbar Anthony was a superhit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJSMacm9c6w
Other hit songs in late 1970s include films like
Laila Majnu (1976),
Apnapan (1978)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4_uvFjT1-k
, Qurbani
, Dostana (1980)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl33bnbH2fY
and
The Burning Train (1980).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZYnTnXOsdE
On July 31st, 1980, this great singer went back home early after recording and dies due to a massive heart attack. His funeral procession was one befitting a king. Mohammed Rafi was a legend of legends and shall remain so till eternity.
Pakistan President swears country's nuclear weapons are safe as the Taliban creeps towards Islamabad
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 11:12 AM on 27th April 2009
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari today ruled out the possibility of his country's nuclear weapons falling into the hands of the Taliban.
Zardari said Pakistan had a strong command and control system for its nuclear weapons that was fully in place.
'I want to assure the world that the nuclear capability of Pakistan is under safe hands,' he said.
His comments follow fears that the Taliban is advancing towards the Pakistani capital of Islamabad and heightens fears in the United States about the stability of its nuclear-armed ally.
Pakistan
Pakistani students belong to Lower Dir district chants slogans during a rally against the government military operation
Pakistan's foreign minister have told U.S. officials 'not to panic' over Taliban advances in western Pakistan, saying his country would not surrender or capitulate to militants.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan has sent militants in its tribal regions a 'clear signal' that they must lay down arms and accept the writ of the Pakistan government.
'We mean business, and if we have to use force we will use force. We will not hesitate,' Qureshi said.
More...
* '300 Taliban suicide bombers on way to Islamabad,' claim Pakistan officials
Last week U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Pakistan was 'basically abdicating to the Taliban and the extremists.'
But Qureshi insisted officials were working to squash Taliban resistance.
'We have now a common enemy and we've devised a common strategy to deal with the enemy. We will not surrender, we will not capitulate, and we will not abdicate.,' he said.
Pakistan
The latest fighting has claimed the lives of 31 militants in Dir, in the Swat Valley
His words come as government forces sent helicopter gunships and troops to attack Taliban militants in Pakistan's Swat Valley.
At least 31 people were killed in the operation in Lower Dir, which sparked anger from radical cleric Sufi Mohammad who claimed it was in breach of a peace deal.
Lower Dir is about 170 km (104 miles) north-west of the capital Islamabad.
The region forms part of Malakand division where President Asif Ali Zardari sanctioned the imposition of Islamic sharia law this month after a peace deal with Mohammad.
The deal in Swat allowed Taliban officials to implement a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
But a spokesman for Mohammad, who was released from jail last year after renouncing militancy, said there would be no further dialogue with the government until the Dir operation was stopped.
But Qureshi said the pact is still in effect and that Pakistan wanted to concentrate more of its military forces on its western tribal region.
Several thousand people have already began fleeing the Lower Dir region, a day after security forces killed 31 militants following a Taliban attack.
'I am leaving everything here and taking my family, said Karimullah, a farmer in the Samarbagh area of Lower Dir district.
'We can't take a risk with troops fighting the Taliban.'
Pakistan
Local residents flee from a troubled area of Pakistan's Lower Dir district following the latest offensive
Surging violence across north-west Pakistan and the spread of Taliban influence have heightened concerns about insecurity in nuclear-armed Pakistan, an important U.S. ally whose help is crucial to defeating al Qaeda and stabilising Afghanistan.
Pakistan's allies want to see coherent, decisive action by Islamabad against militants.
Analysts say Zardari must take action before talks in Washington with President Barack Obama and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai on May 6-7.
A Taliban spokesman in Swat breathed defiance as the security forces swung into action.
Government officials said the militants had taken over a telephone exchange in the small Swati town of Bahrain.
'The more they carry out operations the more we will expand across Pakistan,' Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said.
'God willing, one day we will touch its last boundary.'
Security forces launched the offensive in Lower Dir after militants attacked a convoy of paramilitary troops and 12 children were killed by a bomb hidden in a football.
Helicopter gunships and artillery targetted militant hideouts in the villages of Lal Qala and Islam Qala.
Pakistan
Pakistani paramilitary maintain a position in Dir as the offensive threatens the survival of a pact with Taliban forces
A military spokesman said the bodies of 31 militants were found in the battle zone late yesterday.
Critics said the approval of sharia law in Swat valley, 125 km (80 miles) north-west of Islamabad, was akin to appeasing the militants.
Mohammad sparked uproar last week by denouncing the parliament, democracy and the Supreme Court as un-Islamic.
Taliban commander Fazlullah, ordered his men to pull back to Swat on Friday, but officials and residents said armed fighters who hailed from Buner could still be seen in the area.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Iraq says US raid 'a crime,' violated security pact
26 Apr 2009 17:05:37 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Iraq says U.S. raid a crime
* Demands those responsible
* Asks for release of detainees
* U.S. forces say targeted fighters (Adds details)
By Aref Mohammed
BASRA, Iraq, April 26 (Reuters) - Iraq viewed a U.S. military raid that killed two people as a crime that violated a bilateral security pact and demanded on Sunday that U.S. forces hand those responsible to the courts, an Iraqi official said.
The condemnation of the raid by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government came after hundreds of Iraqis protested in the southern city of Kut against U.S. forces and the provincial governor condemned the military operation.
The U.S. military said it targeted "special group" fighters, its term for elite Shi'ite militiamen the United States says are funded and armed by Iran, in a raid early on Sunday on a house in Kut, 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Baghdad.
"The general commander is affirming that the killing of two citizens and detaining of others in Kut is considered a violation of the security pact," said an official in the office of Major General Qassim Moussawi, Baghdad's security spokesman.
"He asks the commander of the multinational forces to release the detainees and hand over those responsible for this crime to the courts." 'General commander' refers to Maliki.
Under the U.S.-Iraqi security pact that came into force this year, the 137,000 U.S. troops in Iraq are no longer allowed to conduct military operations without Iraqi approval and coordination.
The pact says U.S. soldiers are immune to prosecution in Iraqi courts unless they are suspected of grave crimes committed while off duty outside their bases.
Two Iraqi military commanders who authorized the raid were detained on the orders of the defense minister, said Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari. He said a committee had been sent to Kut to investigate.
"This committee has managed to get the six people detained by the Americans released," he said.
In a statement issued before the Iraqi government's condemnation, the U.S. military said its troops had shot and killed a man suspected of being behind supplying weapons to the Shi'ite fighters. One woman was killed in the crossfire and six suspected militants were arrested, it said.
ANGRY CROWDS
As a funeral procession made its way through Kut, carrying the cloth-draped coffins of the two people killed in the raid, protesters shouted angry slogans and demanded the release of the seized men, calling Americans "criminal occupiers."
"We condemn this horrific incident. It violates the agreements between U.S. forces and the Iraqi government," said Latif al-Tarfa, governor of Wasit province. "Innocent people were killed and the city is now very tense."
U.S. First Lieutenant John Brimley said the women killed "was in the area during the engagement with a suspect, and moved into the line of fire ... A medic treated her on site, but she died of her wounds before she could be evacuated."
Another U.S. military statement said the operation had been approved by the Iraqi government.
But Iraqi police Major Aziz al-Amara, who commands a rapid reaction force in Kut, said all of those targeted in the raid were innocent. One of those arrested was a police captain.
"They were poor people. They do not cause any political or security problems," he said.
The raid came just months before U.S. combat troops are due to withdraw from Iraqi cities. U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered all U.S. combat operations in Iraq to cease in August 2010 ahead of the full withdrawal by the end of 2011.
Kut and surrounding Wasit province were the last area south of Baghdad to be handed over to Iraqi forces last October.
Wasit province was the scene of fighting during an uprising by followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in March and April last year, but like other parts of the south has since become largely quiet while Sadr's followers observe a ceasefire. (Additional reporting by Tim Cocks, Waleed Ibrahim and Aseel Kami; Writing by Tim Cocks)
Source: Reuters
* Iraq says U.S. raid a crime
* Demands those responsible
* Asks for release of detainees
* U.S. forces say targeted fighters (Adds details)
By Aref Mohammed
BASRA, Iraq, April 26 (Reuters) - Iraq viewed a U.S. military raid that killed two people as a crime that violated a bilateral security pact and demanded on Sunday that U.S. forces hand those responsible to the courts, an Iraqi official said.
The condemnation of the raid by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government came after hundreds of Iraqis protested in the southern city of Kut against U.S. forces and the provincial governor condemned the military operation.
The U.S. military said it targeted "special group" fighters, its term for elite Shi'ite militiamen the United States says are funded and armed by Iran, in a raid early on Sunday on a house in Kut, 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Baghdad.
"The general commander is affirming that the killing of two citizens and detaining of others in Kut is considered a violation of the security pact," said an official in the office of Major General Qassim Moussawi, Baghdad's security spokesman.
"He asks the commander of the multinational forces to release the detainees and hand over those responsible for this crime to the courts." 'General commander' refers to Maliki.
Under the U.S.-Iraqi security pact that came into force this year, the 137,000 U.S. troops in Iraq are no longer allowed to conduct military operations without Iraqi approval and coordination.
The pact says U.S. soldiers are immune to prosecution in Iraqi courts unless they are suspected of grave crimes committed while off duty outside their bases.
Two Iraqi military commanders who authorized the raid were detained on the orders of the defense minister, said Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari. He said a committee had been sent to Kut to investigate.
"This committee has managed to get the six people detained by the Americans released," he said.
In a statement issued before the Iraqi government's condemnation, the U.S. military said its troops had shot and killed a man suspected of being behind supplying weapons to the Shi'ite fighters. One woman was killed in the crossfire and six suspected militants were arrested, it said.
ANGRY CROWDS
As a funeral procession made its way through Kut, carrying the cloth-draped coffins of the two people killed in the raid, protesters shouted angry slogans and demanded the release of the seized men, calling Americans "criminal occupiers."
"We condemn this horrific incident. It violates the agreements between U.S. forces and the Iraqi government," said Latif al-Tarfa, governor of Wasit province. "Innocent people were killed and the city is now very tense."
U.S. First Lieutenant John Brimley said the women killed "was in the area during the engagement with a suspect, and moved into the line of fire ... A medic treated her on site, but she died of her wounds before she could be evacuated."
Another U.S. military statement said the operation had been approved by the Iraqi government.
But Iraqi police Major Aziz al-Amara, who commands a rapid reaction force in Kut, said all of those targeted in the raid were innocent. One of those arrested was a police captain.
"They were poor people. They do not cause any political or security problems," he said.
The raid came just months before U.S. combat troops are due to withdraw from Iraqi cities. U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered all U.S. combat operations in Iraq to cease in August 2010 ahead of the full withdrawal by the end of 2011.
Kut and surrounding Wasit province were the last area south of Baghdad to be handed over to Iraqi forces last October.
Wasit province was the scene of fighting during an uprising by followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in March and April last year, but like other parts of the south has since become largely quiet while Sadr's followers observe a ceasefire. (Additional reporting by Tim Cocks, Waleed Ibrahim and Aseel Kami; Writing by Tim Cocks)
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Twenty killed in clash in western Iran-report
25 Apr 2009 12:07:28 GMT
Source: Reuters
TEHRAN, April 25 (Reuters) - Gunmen killed 10 Iranian police in an attack in western Iran late on Friday, the ISNA news agency reported on Saturday.
ISNA said 10 "armed bandits" were also killed in the clash in Kermanshah province, which borders Iraq and is home to many of the Islamic Republic's minority Kurds. ISNA did not give detail on the identity of the attackers.
Iranian forces often clash with guerrillas from the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PKK took up arms in 1984 to fight for a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turke
Source: Reuters
TEHRAN, April 25 (Reuters) - Gunmen killed 10 Iranian police in an attack in western Iran late on Friday, the ISNA news agency reported on Saturday.
ISNA said 10 "armed bandits" were also killed in the clash in Kermanshah province, which borders Iraq and is home to many of the Islamic Republic's minority Kurds. ISNA did not give detail on the identity of the attackers.
Iranian forces often clash with guerrillas from the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PKK took up arms in 1984 to fight for a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turke
Supreme leader's short message to Obama Forces
Iran leader blames U.S. for Iraqi bombings - radio
25 Apr 2009 08:01:20 GMT
Source: Reuters
TEHRAN, April 25 (Reuters) - Iran's supreme leader accused U.S. forces of involvement in bombings in Iraq that have killed dozens of Iranian pilgrims, state radio reported on Saturday.
"The main suspects in this crime and crimes similar to that are American security and military forces," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement.
"The growth of the poisonous grass of terrorism in Iraq will definitely be written in America's criminal record and American and Israeli intelligence bodies are the first suspects of that," Khamenei said.
Khamenei said the U.S. forces, on the pretext of confronting terrorism, had occupied an Islamic country and "killed tens of thousands of people there and increased insecurity there day after day."
He said Iran expected the Iraqi government to "seriously confront" crimes like the bombings on Thursday and Friday and provide safety for Iranian pilgrims.
(Reporting by Zahra Hosseinian; writing by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Jon Boyle)
------
Leader: US liable for Iranian deaths
Sat, 25 Apr 2009 10:26:24 GMT
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Seyyed Ali Khamenei has held the US liable for the latest deadly attack on Iranian pilgrims in Iraq.
On Friday, back to back deadly bombings rocked Kazimiyyah, a small town in Baghdad, where two Shia Imam's lie at rest, killing 60 people, 10 of them Iranians.
The double bombing followed a Thursday blast at a restaurant in the vicinity of Muqdadiya in the restive province of Diyala where another 53 Iranians lost their lives.
“The main suspects in this crime and crimes similar to that are American security and military forces who ruthlessly occupied the Muslim country under the umbrella of 'war on terrorism',” Ayatollah Khamenei said on Saturday.
In a statement, the Leader said the US forces “have massacred tens of thousands of people and made the country more insecure on a daily basis.”
“The growth of the poisonous grass of terrorism in Iraq will definitely be written in America's criminal record and American and Israeli intelligence bodies are the first suspects of that,” Ayatollah Khamenei added.
Bomb attacks and fighting continue to take a heavy toll on Iraq five years after the US-led invasion of the oil-rich country.
A study conducted by ORB -- a well-known British polling agency which has been tracking public opinion in Iraq since 2005 -- estimated in September 2007 that 1.2 million Iraqis had been killed in violence-related incidents following the March 2003 invasion of the country.
This is while Human Rights Watch estimates put the number of those killed during a period of twenty years of the reign of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein at 250,000 to 290,000.
---
US Dirty-work units continue to operate!
Bush has asked the CIA to carry out dirty works in Iraq. Obama didn't prohibit such criminal activities. It was usual for the US-associated groups to place car bombs in different districts of Baghdad with the aim of to inciting sectrartian violence. In some cases, sedated prisoners were placed in cars with explossives that were detonated by remote control and to be reported as suicidal attacks. In others, bombs were placed at US-manned checkpoints in trucks carrying vegtables to the market only to explode shortly afterwards. There are scores units made up of mercenaries the likes of British Col.Tim Spicer working in collaboration with Negroponte killing squads, Israeli MOSSAD and CIA agents on the ground. Although Ayatollah Khameini is justified in pointing the finger at the Americans, but one should not rule out the role Al-Qaeda in such attacks.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
The Taleban (Students) have graduated! Talebans 60K.M away from 100 Atomic Bombs
After losing power on November 7, 2001, to US Operation Enduring Freedom, the Taleban (a plural of Taleb or student) went to become an effective national resistance movement; despite the presence of US-led NATO forces. Unlike Al-Qaeda, with an international agenda, the Taleban had limited their activities to fighting the foreign invaders inside Afghanistan.
But recently, their tactics have shown some maturity with the aim of frustrating their enemies. To start with, they hope to draw the Americans to fight in difficult terrain inside Pakistan while intensifying their attacks on the US military supply convoys. They also hope to tie down the American forces in Iraq and to delay their planned deployment to Afghanistan using their close ties with Al-Qaeda in that country.
The recent spate of attacks in Baghdad, Baquba, Ramadi, Babylon and Mosul must be taken in that context. Furthermore, the Taleban may start attacking targets in NATO countries having forces in Afghanistan. This means that the Taleban have followed Al-Qaeda example and started to spread their wings. It may worth mentioning here that Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda were isolated in Tora Bora caves, but were driven out by US bombardment in 2001 to spread attacks from Morocco to Indonesia. One may easily conclude here that the harder the Americans push with their failed anti-Islam policy, the more ground they lose to Al-Qaeda and to the Taleban.
It was good for the world that America has attacked mighty Iraq. Iraq can easily claim that it had bankrupted America, drove the neocon-Zionists out of the Whitehouse, Israel is about to go belly up and opened the way for small nations to defeat the criminal giants.
---
The Americans and their NATO allies are preparing to send an additional 25000 soldiers to Afghanistan. Without doubt, this increase confirms that the US-led NATO forces have failed to control Afghanistan as their client Hameed Kharzai continues to be isolated inside few square miles of Kabul; while the Taleban are in control of most of the country, besides a swathe of territories inside Pakistan. Furthermore, Mullah Omar has given orders for massive military operations starting this Thursday 30.04.09. Obama must be blamed for not changing Bush-era US foreign policies which are being perceived as anti-Islamic. The Taleban, Al-Qaeda and the Iraqi resistance are cashing on the strong anti-American sentiment within the Arab and Muslim populations. It is true that during the first 100 days Obama had too much on his plate. Obama can easily reverse the situation by the following:
1.A call to dismantle Israel Nuclear warheads before asking Iran to stop its Uranium enrichment program.
2.Asking the Israelis to abide by 39 UN Security Council Resolutions they ignore.
3.Ordering the Israelis to accept the Two-state solution.
4.Dealing with Hamas as a legitimate government elected by the people.
5.Punishing all those who committed war crimes in Iraq. The war on Iraq was illegal, all the killing and destruction are war crimes.
6.Apologising and compensating the Iraqis.
7.Announcing a withdraw date for the forces from Afghanistan.
Such measures will work like magic and will pull the rug from under the feet of the current armed groups using the anti-American feeling to rally support. It is not in the interest of America to antagonize 1.2 billion Muslims and to subsidize Israel Nazi-style atrocites against Arabs.
I was labelled as a Wahabi (Muslim for Israel), a CIA agent (Cafe Arabica), MI-6 agent by Shiat Chat and now a MOSSAD agent by David_IL. It is like putting a Whisky label on a milk bottle.
Adnan Darwash, Abu Ghraib Times
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
--------
* Briefings to Western diplomats meant to ‘reassure’ them of safety measures
* Diplomats say nukes reside in a safe, ‘ring-fenced’ part of military
Daily Times Monitor
LAHORE: Senior civil and military officials are sharing tightly-held information about the country’s nuclear arms programme with Western countries in an effort to allay fears about the security of weapons in the face of a Taliban advance, a Financial Times (FT) report said on Thursday.
The decision highlights global concerns about the safety of up to 100 atom bombs in Pakistan’s possession, as the Taliban advanced last week to within 100km of Islamabad.
A senior Western envoy in Islamabad said diplomats had been assured about the security in place for the weapons systems and also their distance from Taliban-held territory.
The FT report said the Pakistani officials presented this as an action to satisfy the West that its weapons would not fall into Taliban hands. “We have renewed our pledge to keep our nuclear weapons safe,” said an official. The briefings were meant to be reassuring to the international community in regard to safety measures.
The Pakistan Army said this week it had halted the latest Taliban incursion in Buner district of Malakand division, 100km north-west of Islamabad, after two days of fighting.
“We have successfully blocked Taliban advances and confined them just to a pocket,” said Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
The Pakistan army has been accused in the West of failing to challenge the Taliban.
According to the FT report, Western diplomats have said a Taliban advance on Islamabad threatened to bring them close to the country’s nuclear installations. They doubted the Taliban were capable of overwhelming heavily protected facilities, it added.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described, over the weekend, the toppling of the government and capture of nuclear weapons as “unthinkable”.
Nukes ‘ring-fenced’: The report quoted Western diplomats as saying the nuclear programme resides in a “ring-fenced” part of the military under the command of a well-respected general and protected from rogue elements within the army that might seek to capture a weapon. But although security improvements have been made, Pakistan has still to comply with the high levels recommended to it, it added.
Security worries date back to 2004, when the proliferation network of Abdul Qadeer Khan, founder of the country’s nuclear programme, came to light.
One danger identified by the international community was that one of his scientists might help extremists gain a ‘dirty bomb’. Since then, the Pakistani military has tightened monitoring of individual scientists and has introduced new inventory systems in order to track the bomb components.
President Asif Ali Zardari had earlier ruled out the possibility of the country’s nuclear weapons falling into the hands of the Taliban.
“I want to assure the world that the nuclear capability of Pakistan is under safe hands,” he had said.
---
Worried Obama confident over Pak nuclear weapons’ security
* US president shows concern over ‘very fragile’ govt
* Doubts govt’s capacity to deliver basic services
* Says Pakistan ending India ‘obsession’
LAHORE: US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that he is ‘gravely concerned’ about the stability of the Pakistani government, but is confident that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal will not fall into the hands of the Taliban.
Addressing a prime-time news conference on his 100th day in office, Obama called the government in Pakistan ‘very fragile’. But he said, “I’m confident that we can make sure that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is secure.”
“I am more concerned that the civilian government right now is very fragile and don’t seem to have the capacity to deliver basic services, said Obama. “As a consequence, it’s very difficult for them to gain the support and loyalty of their people,” he added.
“So we need to help Pakistan help Pakistanis. And I think that there’s a recognition increasingly on the part of both the civilian government there and the army that that is their biggest weakness,” said Obama.
He also said that the Pakistan Army had begun to realise that ‘homegrown militants, and not India’, posed the biggest threat to Pakistan’s stability. “On the military side, you’re starting to see some recognition … that the obsession with India as the mortal threat to Pakistan has been misguided, and that their biggest threat right now comes internally,” he said.
“We want to continue to encourage Pakistan to move in that direction (focusing on terrorists). And we will provide them all of the cooperation that we can. We want to respect their sovereignty, but we also recognise that we have huge strategic interests, huge national security interests in making sure that Pakistan is stable,” he added. daily times monitor/agencies
-----
Why did Pakistan launch operations against militants?
www.chinaview.cn 2009-05-01 18:19:34
By Li Jingchen
--------
04 May 2009 12:20:38 GMT
Source: Reuters
(For the main story, click on [ID:.nISL481152])
By Zeeshan Haider
ISLAMABAD, May 4 (Reuters) - Pakistani forces battled Taliban fighters on Monday as the militants denounced the army and government as U.S. stooges and said a peace pact would end unless the government halted its offensive.
President Asif Ali Zardari is due to meet U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Washington on May 6-7. The pact in the Swat valley is expected to figure in their security talks.
The February pact and spreading Taliban influence have raised alarm in the United States about the ability of nuclear-armed Pakistan -- which has a vital role in efforts to stabilise Afghanistan -- to stand up to the militants.
Here are some questions and answers about the offensive launched on April 26, and background to the Swat pact.
WHAT IS AT STAKE?
Failure to stem the Taliban's creeping advance from enclaves in ethnic Pashtun tribal areas on the Afghan border sparked worry among both Pakistanis and Western allies that militants were close to the gateways to Islamabad.
A military spokesman said a few hundred militants in the mountains never posed a real threat to the capital. But some security analysts say the guerrillas could have used Buner as a jumping-off point to strike at Tarbela, a dam that provides water and electricity to much of the country. The militants have also moved closer to a road running north to China.
Before the military offensive in Buner, Western allies, who need Pakistani help to defeat al Qaeda and stabilise Afghanistan, worried the government seemed too willing to appease militants.
While Swat, about 130 km (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, is not on the Afghan border, Western countries with troops in Afghanistan fear the area could become a bastion for militants fighting in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Obama said last week he was confident about the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal but the New York Times reported growing U.S. concern militants might try to snatch a weapon in transit or insert sympathisers into laboratories or fuel-production facilities.
IS THE OFFENSIVE A RESPONSE TO U.S. PRESSURE?
The fighting came on the heels of a visit to Islamabad by Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, who may have played a role in persuading the weak civilian-led government to act, and shortly before the talks in Washington where Zardari is likely to press for more U.S. military and economic aid.
Washington is considering rushing hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency aid, the U.S. Senate's second-ranking Republican, Jon Kyl of Arizona, told reporters.
U.S. officials have applauded the military action in Buner and urged the Pakistan military to keep the Taliban on the run.
WHAT DOES THE ARMY THINK OF SWAT DEAL?
The deal was struck after consultations with the army. Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani said the military halted its operations in Swat early last year in order to give politicians space to negotiate, but added the army would not allow militants to impose their will on the country.
Kayani has to counter a general perception the army, whose main focus has been a perceived threat from old rival India, is demoralised and reluctant to fight Pakistani Muslims in Swat, although security forces defeated the Taliban in the Bajaur tribal area on the Afghan border in March.
HOW DID THE SITUATION REACH THIS STAGE?
Many people from Swat were caught up in the siege of Islamabad's Red Mosque in July 2007, which commandos stormed to put down a militant movement, resulting in at least 100 deaths.
Violence flared in Swat later that year, and while military operations pushed the Taliban back, they regrouped as soon as the army relented to allow politicians space to negotiate a peace.
The North West Frontier Province government led by the Awami National Party (ANP), an ethnic Pashtun party allied to Zardari, struck a deal with a radical cleric in February to impose sharia law in the hope of ending violence.
Zardari sanctioned the imposition of Islamic law in Malakand after parliament passed a resolution last month. Days later, Taliban fighters entered Buner and nearby Shangla district, raising alarm at home and in the West.
Aides say Zardari was reluctant to sign the deal and referred the issue to the parliament after the ANP threatened to leave the federal coalition government. (For other stories on Pakistan and Afghanistan click on [ID:nSP102615) (Editing by Robert Birsel and Jerry Norton)
But recently, their tactics have shown some maturity with the aim of frustrating their enemies. To start with, they hope to draw the Americans to fight in difficult terrain inside Pakistan while intensifying their attacks on the US military supply convoys. They also hope to tie down the American forces in Iraq and to delay their planned deployment to Afghanistan using their close ties with Al-Qaeda in that country.
The recent spate of attacks in Baghdad, Baquba, Ramadi, Babylon and Mosul must be taken in that context. Furthermore, the Taleban may start attacking targets in NATO countries having forces in Afghanistan. This means that the Taleban have followed Al-Qaeda example and started to spread their wings. It may worth mentioning here that Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda were isolated in Tora Bora caves, but were driven out by US bombardment in 2001 to spread attacks from Morocco to Indonesia. One may easily conclude here that the harder the Americans push with their failed anti-Islam policy, the more ground they lose to Al-Qaeda and to the Taleban.
It was good for the world that America has attacked mighty Iraq. Iraq can easily claim that it had bankrupted America, drove the neocon-Zionists out of the Whitehouse, Israel is about to go belly up and opened the way for small nations to defeat the criminal giants.
---
US anti-Islam crusade helps the Taleban!
The Americans and their NATO allies are preparing to send an additional 25000 soldiers to Afghanistan. Without doubt, this increase confirms that the US-led NATO forces have failed to control Afghanistan as their client Hameed Kharzai continues to be isolated inside few square miles of Kabul; while the Taleban are in control of most of the country, besides a swathe of territories inside Pakistan. Furthermore, Mullah Omar has given orders for massive military operations starting this Thursday 30.04.09. Obama must be blamed for not changing Bush-era US foreign policies which are being perceived as anti-Islamic. The Taleban, Al-Qaeda and the Iraqi resistance are cashing on the strong anti-American sentiment within the Arab and Muslim populations. It is true that during the first 100 days Obama had too much on his plate. Obama can easily reverse the situation by the following:
1.A call to dismantle Israel Nuclear warheads before asking Iran to stop its Uranium enrichment program.
2.Asking the Israelis to abide by 39 UN Security Council Resolutions they ignore.
3.Ordering the Israelis to accept the Two-state solution.
4.Dealing with Hamas as a legitimate government elected by the people.
5.Punishing all those who committed war crimes in Iraq. The war on Iraq was illegal, all the killing and destruction are war crimes.
6.Apologising and compensating the Iraqis.
7.Announcing a withdraw date for the forces from Afghanistan.
Such measures will work like magic and will pull the rug from under the feet of the current armed groups using the anti-American feeling to rally support. It is not in the interest of America to antagonize 1.2 billion Muslims and to subsidize Israel Nazi-style atrocites against Arabs.
I was labelled as a Wahabi (Muslim for Israel), a CIA agent (Cafe Arabica), MI-6 agent by Shiat Chat and now a MOSSAD agent by David_IL. It is like putting a Whisky label on a milk bottle.
Adnan Darwash, Abu Ghraib Times
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
--------
Pakistan eases fears by sharing nuclear secrets
* Briefings to Western diplomats meant to ‘reassure’ them of safety measures
* Diplomats say nukes reside in a safe, ‘ring-fenced’ part of military
Daily Times Monitor
LAHORE: Senior civil and military officials are sharing tightly-held information about the country’s nuclear arms programme with Western countries in an effort to allay fears about the security of weapons in the face of a Taliban advance, a Financial Times (FT) report said on Thursday.
The decision highlights global concerns about the safety of up to 100 atom bombs in Pakistan’s possession, as the Taliban advanced last week to within 100km of Islamabad.
A senior Western envoy in Islamabad said diplomats had been assured about the security in place for the weapons systems and also their distance from Taliban-held territory.
The FT report said the Pakistani officials presented this as an action to satisfy the West that its weapons would not fall into Taliban hands. “We have renewed our pledge to keep our nuclear weapons safe,” said an official. The briefings were meant to be reassuring to the international community in regard to safety measures.
The Pakistan Army said this week it had halted the latest Taliban incursion in Buner district of Malakand division, 100km north-west of Islamabad, after two days of fighting.
“We have successfully blocked Taliban advances and confined them just to a pocket,” said Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
The Pakistan army has been accused in the West of failing to challenge the Taliban.
According to the FT report, Western diplomats have said a Taliban advance on Islamabad threatened to bring them close to the country’s nuclear installations. They doubted the Taliban were capable of overwhelming heavily protected facilities, it added.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described, over the weekend, the toppling of the government and capture of nuclear weapons as “unthinkable”.
Nukes ‘ring-fenced’: The report quoted Western diplomats as saying the nuclear programme resides in a “ring-fenced” part of the military under the command of a well-respected general and protected from rogue elements within the army that might seek to capture a weapon. But although security improvements have been made, Pakistan has still to comply with the high levels recommended to it, it added.
Security worries date back to 2004, when the proliferation network of Abdul Qadeer Khan, founder of the country’s nuclear programme, came to light.
One danger identified by the international community was that one of his scientists might help extremists gain a ‘dirty bomb’. Since then, the Pakistani military has tightened monitoring of individual scientists and has introduced new inventory systems in order to track the bomb components.
President Asif Ali Zardari had earlier ruled out the possibility of the country’s nuclear weapons falling into the hands of the Taliban.
“I want to assure the world that the nuclear capability of Pakistan is under safe hands,” he had said.
---
Worried Obama confident over Pak nuclear weapons’ security
* US president shows concern over ‘very fragile’ govt
* Doubts govt’s capacity to deliver basic services
* Says Pakistan ending India ‘obsession’
LAHORE: US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that he is ‘gravely concerned’ about the stability of the Pakistani government, but is confident that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal will not fall into the hands of the Taliban.
Addressing a prime-time news conference on his 100th day in office, Obama called the government in Pakistan ‘very fragile’. But he said, “I’m confident that we can make sure that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is secure.”
“I am more concerned that the civilian government right now is very fragile and don’t seem to have the capacity to deliver basic services, said Obama. “As a consequence, it’s very difficult for them to gain the support and loyalty of their people,” he added.
“So we need to help Pakistan help Pakistanis. And I think that there’s a recognition increasingly on the part of both the civilian government there and the army that that is their biggest weakness,” said Obama.
He also said that the Pakistan Army had begun to realise that ‘homegrown militants, and not India’, posed the biggest threat to Pakistan’s stability. “On the military side, you’re starting to see some recognition … that the obsession with India as the mortal threat to Pakistan has been misguided, and that their biggest threat right now comes internally,” he said.
“We want to continue to encourage Pakistan to move in that direction (focusing on terrorists). And we will provide them all of the cooperation that we can. We want to respect their sovereignty, but we also recognise that we have huge strategic interests, huge national security interests in making sure that Pakistan is stable,” he added. daily times monitor/agencies
-----
Why did Pakistan launch operations against militants?
www.chinaview.cn 2009-05-01 18:19:34
By Li Jingchen
--------
Q+A-What's fallout from Pakistan taking fight to Taliban
04 May 2009 12:20:38 GMT
Source: Reuters
(For the main story, click on [ID:.nISL481152])
By Zeeshan Haider
ISLAMABAD, May 4 (Reuters) - Pakistani forces battled Taliban fighters on Monday as the militants denounced the army and government as U.S. stooges and said a peace pact would end unless the government halted its offensive.
President Asif Ali Zardari is due to meet U.S. President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Washington on May 6-7. The pact in the Swat valley is expected to figure in their security talks.
The February pact and spreading Taliban influence have raised alarm in the United States about the ability of nuclear-armed Pakistan -- which has a vital role in efforts to stabilise Afghanistan -- to stand up to the militants.
Here are some questions and answers about the offensive launched on April 26, and background to the Swat pact.
WHAT IS AT STAKE?
Failure to stem the Taliban's creeping advance from enclaves in ethnic Pashtun tribal areas on the Afghan border sparked worry among both Pakistanis and Western allies that militants were close to the gateways to Islamabad.
A military spokesman said a few hundred militants in the mountains never posed a real threat to the capital. But some security analysts say the guerrillas could have used Buner as a jumping-off point to strike at Tarbela, a dam that provides water and electricity to much of the country. The militants have also moved closer to a road running north to China.
Before the military offensive in Buner, Western allies, who need Pakistani help to defeat al Qaeda and stabilise Afghanistan, worried the government seemed too willing to appease militants.
While Swat, about 130 km (80 miles) northwest of Islamabad, is not on the Afghan border, Western countries with troops in Afghanistan fear the area could become a bastion for militants fighting in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Obama said last week he was confident about the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal but the New York Times reported growing U.S. concern militants might try to snatch a weapon in transit or insert sympathisers into laboratories or fuel-production facilities.
IS THE OFFENSIVE A RESPONSE TO U.S. PRESSURE?
The fighting came on the heels of a visit to Islamabad by Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, who may have played a role in persuading the weak civilian-led government to act, and shortly before the talks in Washington where Zardari is likely to press for more U.S. military and economic aid.
Washington is considering rushing hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency aid, the U.S. Senate's second-ranking Republican, Jon Kyl of Arizona, told reporters.
U.S. officials have applauded the military action in Buner and urged the Pakistan military to keep the Taliban on the run.
WHAT DOES THE ARMY THINK OF SWAT DEAL?
The deal was struck after consultations with the army. Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani said the military halted its operations in Swat early last year in order to give politicians space to negotiate, but added the army would not allow militants to impose their will on the country.
Kayani has to counter a general perception the army, whose main focus has been a perceived threat from old rival India, is demoralised and reluctant to fight Pakistani Muslims in Swat, although security forces defeated the Taliban in the Bajaur tribal area on the Afghan border in March.
HOW DID THE SITUATION REACH THIS STAGE?
Many people from Swat were caught up in the siege of Islamabad's Red Mosque in July 2007, which commandos stormed to put down a militant movement, resulting in at least 100 deaths.
Violence flared in Swat later that year, and while military operations pushed the Taliban back, they regrouped as soon as the army relented to allow politicians space to negotiate a peace.
The North West Frontier Province government led by the Awami National Party (ANP), an ethnic Pashtun party allied to Zardari, struck a deal with a radical cleric in February to impose sharia law in the hope of ending violence.
Zardari sanctioned the imposition of Islamic law in Malakand after parliament passed a resolution last month. Days later, Taliban fighters entered Buner and nearby Shangla district, raising alarm at home and in the West.
Aides say Zardari was reluctant to sign the deal and referred the issue to the parliament after the ANP threatened to leave the federal coalition government. (For other stories on Pakistan and Afghanistan click on [ID:nSP102615) (Editing by Robert Birsel and Jerry Norton)
Friday, April 24, 2009
Paki sentenced to 6Yrs for airing Hezb TV Station, Iqbal's business was paid $28,000/month Nov05-May06
Pakistani sentenced to 6 years for aiding Hezbollah
Updated at: 1710 PST, Friday, April 24, 2009
NEW YORK: A Pakistani immigrant described by prosecutors as "Hezbollah's man in New York City" was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for airing the militant group's television station.
U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman handed down a sentence of five years and nine months to Javed Iqbal, who had pleaded guilty in December to providing aid to a terrorist organization.
Iqbal, 45, admitted as part of a plea agreement that he used satellite dishes on his Staten Island home to distribute broadcasts of Al Manar, the TV station of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which has been fighting Israel since the early 1980s and has been branded by the U.S. government as a terrorist group.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Snyder said Iqbal recruited Al Manar, even traveling to "the belly of the beast, South Beirut," to meet with its general manager.
Snyder said Iqbal bought special satellite equipment to allow Al Manar to provide 24-hour programming from November 2005 through May 2006 so Hezbollah could use it to recruit followers and suicide bombers. Prosecutors said Iqbal's business was paid $28,000 monthly for at least five months for airing the station to its North American customers.
Updated at: 1710 PST, Friday, April 24, 2009
NEW YORK: A Pakistani immigrant described by prosecutors as "Hezbollah's man in New York City" was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for airing the militant group's television station.
U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman handed down a sentence of five years and nine months to Javed Iqbal, who had pleaded guilty in December to providing aid to a terrorist organization.
Iqbal, 45, admitted as part of a plea agreement that he used satellite dishes on his Staten Island home to distribute broadcasts of Al Manar, the TV station of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which has been fighting Israel since the early 1980s and has been branded by the U.S. government as a terrorist group.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Snyder said Iqbal recruited Al Manar, even traveling to "the belly of the beast, South Beirut," to meet with its general manager.
Snyder said Iqbal bought special satellite equipment to allow Al Manar to provide 24-hour programming from November 2005 through May 2006 so Hezbollah could use it to recruit followers and suicide bombers. Prosecutors said Iqbal's business was paid $28,000 monthly for at least five months for airing the station to its North American customers.
From rickshaw driver to militant leader
The News gives its readers an exclusive one-on-one interview with the recently caught hardened militant and Ameer of banned religious outfit Lashker-e-Jhangvi, who disclosed some details about the malicious designs of the terrorist organisation
Monday, September 29, 2008
By Salis bin Perwaiz
Karachi
Sitting at a location that shall remain undisclosed due to security reasons, Ameer Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), Sindh, Rahimullah alias Naeem alias Ali Hasan, tells The News that he hails from Swat. One could not tell from his appearance that he was a militant with designs to inflict all sorts of horror on the citizens of the city. Aside from an old cut mark on his forehead, there is nothing conspicuous about his demeanour or look.
The man, who looks relatively young despite sporting a light beard, says that it was in the 1980s that he along with his family migrated to Karachi and settled in Qasba Colony. During his stay in Karachi, he continues, he enrolled in a local school, where he studied till class eight. Having lost interest in regular education, he says he left the school and joined a local Madrassah, where he immersed himself in Islamic teachings.
When he was 19 years old, he started driving a rickshaw, but continued his education in Islamic teaching. It was during his “education” that he came across the literature of banned militant organization LJ, and was deeply inspired by the ideology of the outfit and its leaders.
He began visiting the Siddiqi-e-Akber mosque situated at Nagaan Chowrangi, where he joined the now-defunct Sipah-e-Sahaba, the mother organization of the LJ and started actively working for the outfit. In the year 1994-95, recalls Rahimullah, though still quite young, he became the Qasba Colony Unit Incharge of Sipah-e-Sahaba, and continued to read and listen to the hate literature of the organization.
Despite his young age, Rahimullah has seen a lot.
He further disclosed that, in the year 1995, he met one Asif Ramzi, who took him to a training camp of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. After he excelled during his time at the camp, he was sent to Saroobi Camp in Afghanistan, where he learnt the art of making bombs and was also given training in other weapons. He learnt how to train others and to prepare potential suicide bombers.
After thorough training, he was sent back to Pakistan.
To check his expertise and ability, he was sent to Karachi. His first assignment involved drawing out a plan to target the Orangi Town police station, which he successfully executed in 2003.
Rahimullah revealed the disturbing extent of his expertise. He said that he used car-remotes, used to lock and unlock vehicles, to make bomb triggers. Even if caught, this device could not be recognized as a trigger by law-enforcers. He said that he was also very well versed in making suicide jackets that are more difficult to detect visually.
The successful hit at the Orangi Town police station instantly gave Rahimullah a good name in his organization. He was appointed the Ameer of Lashker-e-Jhangvi, Sindh, as a reward. He was assigned the task of hiring young boys and motivating them to do work for the organization.
Rahim says, in a convinced and confident manner, that his organization, which has been linked to various deadly attacks across the country, is not “against” the local public, but opposed to those who belong to the Shia sect. He says, with a stone-cold expression, that “they are not from us.”
He also justifies the LJ’s targeting of officers conducting operations against their organization, mentioning that, in Sindh, SSP Mohammed Fayyaz Khan, SSP Khurram Waris, SSP Mohammed Farooq Awan and SP Raja Omer Khataab were atop their hit list.
Rahim said that the organization had, a few years ago, begun receiving funds from Abid Mehsud, the second in command of Baitullah Meshud. The group also received arms and explosives from Mehsud, in addition to ready-to-go suicide bombers trained in Wana and Afghanistan to execute attacks on targets in Karachi.
He claims that he planned the 2006 Nishter Park attack, and personally prepared the suicide jacket and trained the bomber for the blast. In Allama Hasan Turabi case, he had prepared Abdul Karim, a Bengali, to execute the attack on Allama Turabi and had personally dropped the bomber at NIPA Chowrangi in a Red coloured car. He said that he also personally planned the attack on SSP Raja Omer Khataab. In this case, he says that it was only due to an initial non-functioning of the bomb trigger that the SSP managed to escape with his life.
Later, he went under ground and began preparing three suicide bombers Masroor, Noor Mohammed alias Sultan Omer and Zubair Bengali. They were initially assigned the task to generate funds for the organization, and told to kidnap traders for ransom. Once a target was kidnapped, the heads of the LJ in Waziristan were informed, following which the ransom call to the family would be made not from Karachi, but from the tribal areas to ensure secrecy.
Regarding the kidnapping of transporter Shaukat Afridi, who died during the Baldia encounter at the hideout of the militants, Rahimullah disclosed that he was kidnapped because he used to provide his tankers to transport oil supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistam. He also divulged that, even after receiving the ransom money, they had no intentions of releasing Afridi. They had been instructed to behead Shaukat on camera, and the video was to be released as a warning to all “collaborators.”
A steely-eyed and remorseless, Rahimullah, clearly having lost not an once of his motivation, further claimed that his arrest will not deter the designs of his organization, adding that are several men in line present across the country ready to sacrifice their lives for the outfit’s mission.
Monday, September 29, 2008
By Salis bin Perwaiz
Karachi
Sitting at a location that shall remain undisclosed due to security reasons, Ameer Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LJ), Sindh, Rahimullah alias Naeem alias Ali Hasan, tells The News that he hails from Swat. One could not tell from his appearance that he was a militant with designs to inflict all sorts of horror on the citizens of the city. Aside from an old cut mark on his forehead, there is nothing conspicuous about his demeanour or look.
The man, who looks relatively young despite sporting a light beard, says that it was in the 1980s that he along with his family migrated to Karachi and settled in Qasba Colony. During his stay in Karachi, he continues, he enrolled in a local school, where he studied till class eight. Having lost interest in regular education, he says he left the school and joined a local Madrassah, where he immersed himself in Islamic teachings.
When he was 19 years old, he started driving a rickshaw, but continued his education in Islamic teaching. It was during his “education” that he came across the literature of banned militant organization LJ, and was deeply inspired by the ideology of the outfit and its leaders.
He began visiting the Siddiqi-e-Akber mosque situated at Nagaan Chowrangi, where he joined the now-defunct Sipah-e-Sahaba, the mother organization of the LJ and started actively working for the outfit. In the year 1994-95, recalls Rahimullah, though still quite young, he became the Qasba Colony Unit Incharge of Sipah-e-Sahaba, and continued to read and listen to the hate literature of the organization.
Despite his young age, Rahimullah has seen a lot.
He further disclosed that, in the year 1995, he met one Asif Ramzi, who took him to a training camp of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. After he excelled during his time at the camp, he was sent to Saroobi Camp in Afghanistan, where he learnt the art of making bombs and was also given training in other weapons. He learnt how to train others and to prepare potential suicide bombers.
After thorough training, he was sent back to Pakistan.
To check his expertise and ability, he was sent to Karachi. His first assignment involved drawing out a plan to target the Orangi Town police station, which he successfully executed in 2003.
Rahimullah revealed the disturbing extent of his expertise. He said that he used car-remotes, used to lock and unlock vehicles, to make bomb triggers. Even if caught, this device could not be recognized as a trigger by law-enforcers. He said that he was also very well versed in making suicide jackets that are more difficult to detect visually.
The successful hit at the Orangi Town police station instantly gave Rahimullah a good name in his organization. He was appointed the Ameer of Lashker-e-Jhangvi, Sindh, as a reward. He was assigned the task of hiring young boys and motivating them to do work for the organization.
Rahim says, in a convinced and confident manner, that his organization, which has been linked to various deadly attacks across the country, is not “against” the local public, but opposed to those who belong to the Shia sect. He says, with a stone-cold expression, that “they are not from us.”
He also justifies the LJ’s targeting of officers conducting operations against their organization, mentioning that, in Sindh, SSP Mohammed Fayyaz Khan, SSP Khurram Waris, SSP Mohammed Farooq Awan and SP Raja Omer Khataab were atop their hit list.
Rahim said that the organization had, a few years ago, begun receiving funds from Abid Mehsud, the second in command of Baitullah Meshud. The group also received arms and explosives from Mehsud, in addition to ready-to-go suicide bombers trained in Wana and Afghanistan to execute attacks on targets in Karachi.
He claims that he planned the 2006 Nishter Park attack, and personally prepared the suicide jacket and trained the bomber for the blast. In Allama Hasan Turabi case, he had prepared Abdul Karim, a Bengali, to execute the attack on Allama Turabi and had personally dropped the bomber at NIPA Chowrangi in a Red coloured car. He said that he also personally planned the attack on SSP Raja Omer Khataab. In this case, he says that it was only due to an initial non-functioning of the bomb trigger that the SSP managed to escape with his life.
Later, he went under ground and began preparing three suicide bombers Masroor, Noor Mohammed alias Sultan Omer and Zubair Bengali. They were initially assigned the task to generate funds for the organization, and told to kidnap traders for ransom. Once a target was kidnapped, the heads of the LJ in Waziristan were informed, following which the ransom call to the family would be made not from Karachi, but from the tribal areas to ensure secrecy.
Regarding the kidnapping of transporter Shaukat Afridi, who died during the Baldia encounter at the hideout of the militants, Rahimullah disclosed that he was kidnapped because he used to provide his tankers to transport oil supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistam. He also divulged that, even after receiving the ransom money, they had no intentions of releasing Afridi. They had been instructed to behead Shaukat on camera, and the video was to be released as a warning to all “collaborators.”
A steely-eyed and remorseless, Rahimullah, clearly having lost not an once of his motivation, further claimed that his arrest will not deter the designs of his organization, adding that are several men in line present across the country ready to sacrifice their lives for the outfit’s mission.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Brahmans in Karbala
COLUMN: By Intizar Husain
LITERARY NOTES
The history of Husaini Brahmans, as told by Nonica Dutt, begins with ten Brahmans going to Karbala with the determination to die fighting for Imam Husain. Among them were Rahib Dutt and his seven sons who fought bravely and resolutely.
With the blessings of Imam Husain they met their death in a heroic way.
Rahib Dutt was the lone survivor of the battle.
WITH the arrival of Muharram this year, I was reminded of an encounter
I had with an unusual, intelligent girl in Delhi who asserted that she
was a Husaini Brahman. I recall referring to Prem Chand's play 'Karbala'
in one of my addresses, which was based on a legend.
The legend was about a group of eight Hindu brothers
who had somehow reached Karbala determined to die fighting
for the cause that Imam Husain stood for. They fought bravely
and sacrificed their lives in devotion to Imam Husain. It was in
this context that I was talking about Husaini Brahmans, who
seemed to have vanished from the social scene in India.
All of a sudden, a girl from among the audience stood up and challenged my statement.
She said, 'Here I am before you. My name is Nonica Dutt. I belong to a Husaini Brahman family.'
It was clearly a pleasant surprise for me, something like discovering a rare bird while walking through a jungle.
The girl promised me an exclusive meeting to enlighten me with interesting information about the Husaini Brahmanian background of her family. But the proposed meeting kept on being postponed for one reason or the other. Finally, on the last day of my stay in Delhi,
I received a call from her.
'Let us meet now,' she said
'But I have no evening to spare for you. Today is the last day of my stay in your city,' I said.
'But I am already in the lounge and I must meet you,' she said.
So we finally had a meeting. She entered my room with two large volumes under her arm.
I proposed a detailed sitting on my next visit, which was due after a month or so.
'But in the coming months, I will not be in Delhi. I am moving to Germany and will spend
four months at the Humboldt University.' Nonica Dutt taught history at Jawahar Lal University
and had been honoured with a fellowship from the Humboldt University. Hence she was on
her way to Germany.
'I,' she said, 'told my mother about your comments regarding Husaini Brahamans
and how I introduced myself as one. To that she said, did you tell him that we don't
perform the rituals the Brahmans are obliged to perform. That we don't go to the temples?'
'Should I presume from this,' I asked, 'that you have turned Muslim.'
'No, we are not Muslims,' she exclaimed.
'Then what are you?' I inquired.
'We are Husaini Brahmans,' she said with a certain sense of pride and added,
'Now, I will tell you about a sign each and every Husaini Brahman carries with him/her.
On his/her throat s/he bears a line of cutting, which is indicative of the fact that s/he is
the descendant of those Brahmans whose throats were cut in the battle of Karbala.'
Then she told me about the ritual carried out on the birth of every child in her family.
She said, 'Among Brahmans, after child birth, the ritual of Moondan is performed.
In our family this ritual is performed in the name of Imam Husain.'
She then went on to tell me the historical facts. 'I will now tell you about the history of our
martyred forefathers.' Pointing to the two books placed on the table she said, 'our entire
history is conserved within these two books. When needed, I will quote from them.'
Considering their worn out and pale pages, the books, which were written in English,
seemed to be centuries old.
The history of Husaini Brahmans, as told by Nonica Dutt, begins with ten Brahmans
going to Karbala with the determination to die fighting for Imam Husain.
Among them were Rahib Dutt and his seven sons who fought bravely and resolutely.
With the blessings of Imam Husain they met their death in a heroic way.
Rahib Dutt was the lone survivor of the battle. From Karbala he escaped to Kufa,
where he stayed for some time. It is said that Rahib had the privilege of meeting
the members of the Imam's family after the massacre. He introduced himself by saying,
'I am a Brahman from Hindustan.' The reply came, 'Now you are Husaini Brahman.
We will always remember you.'
Rahib went from Kufa to Afghanistan, and from there came back to India where
he stayed for a few days in Nankana. Nonica paused for a while and then spoke,
'In the Sialkot district there is a town known as Viran Vatan. That place is our ancestral home.
We are the descendants of Rahib Dutt. He had brought with him a hair of Imam Husain,
which is ensconced in the Hazratbal shrine in Kashmir. She then recited a few couplets
from the book she had brought along with her, in which these incidents have been recorded.
'These couplets,' she said, 'are very popular among the Husaini Brahmans.'
Nonica shut the book and said 'Let me inform you that Sunil Dutt was also a Husaini Brahman.
And the father of Nargis too was a Husaini Brahman.'
She got up saying 'Now I must go.'
'I think,' I said, 'after you return from Germany, I should make a point to come to Delhi
so that you can introduce me to your father. I will perhaps be able to know much more
about your ancestors from him.'
She said goodbye and left hurriedly. I had been under the impression that the story
of the eight Brahmins was just a legend. But Nonica firmly believed that it is a historical fact.
And it is the belief of Nonica and her community that really counts. For them the event is a reality.
__._,_.___
http://dawn.com/weekly/books/books12.htm
January 20, 2008
LITERARY NOTES
The history of Husaini Brahmans, as told by Nonica Dutt, begins with ten Brahmans going to Karbala with the determination to die fighting for Imam Husain. Among them were Rahib Dutt and his seven sons who fought bravely and resolutely.
With the blessings of Imam Husain they met their death in a heroic way.
Rahib Dutt was the lone survivor of the battle.
WITH the arrival of Muharram this year, I was reminded of an encounter
I had with an unusual, intelligent girl in Delhi who asserted that she
was a Husaini Brahman. I recall referring to Prem Chand's play 'Karbala'
in one of my addresses, which was based on a legend.
The legend was about a group of eight Hindu brothers
who had somehow reached Karbala determined to die fighting
for the cause that Imam Husain stood for. They fought bravely
and sacrificed their lives in devotion to Imam Husain. It was in
this context that I was talking about Husaini Brahmans, who
seemed to have vanished from the social scene in India.
All of a sudden, a girl from among the audience stood up and challenged my statement.
She said, 'Here I am before you. My name is Nonica Dutt. I belong to a Husaini Brahman family.'
It was clearly a pleasant surprise for me, something like discovering a rare bird while walking through a jungle.
The girl promised me an exclusive meeting to enlighten me with interesting information about the Husaini Brahmanian background of her family. But the proposed meeting kept on being postponed for one reason or the other. Finally, on the last day of my stay in Delhi,
I received a call from her.
'Let us meet now,' she said
'But I have no evening to spare for you. Today is the last day of my stay in your city,' I said.
'But I am already in the lounge and I must meet you,' she said.
So we finally had a meeting. She entered my room with two large volumes under her arm.
I proposed a detailed sitting on my next visit, which was due after a month or so.
'But in the coming months, I will not be in Delhi. I am moving to Germany and will spend
four months at the Humboldt University.' Nonica Dutt taught history at Jawahar Lal University
and had been honoured with a fellowship from the Humboldt University. Hence she was on
her way to Germany.
'I,' she said, 'told my mother about your comments regarding Husaini Brahamans
and how I introduced myself as one. To that she said, did you tell him that we don't
perform the rituals the Brahmans are obliged to perform. That we don't go to the temples?'
'Should I presume from this,' I asked, 'that you have turned Muslim.'
'No, we are not Muslims,' she exclaimed.
'Then what are you?' I inquired.
'We are Husaini Brahmans,' she said with a certain sense of pride and added,
'Now, I will tell you about a sign each and every Husaini Brahman carries with him/her.
On his/her throat s/he bears a line of cutting, which is indicative of the fact that s/he is
the descendant of those Brahmans whose throats were cut in the battle of Karbala.'
Then she told me about the ritual carried out on the birth of every child in her family.
She said, 'Among Brahmans, after child birth, the ritual of Moondan is performed.
In our family this ritual is performed in the name of Imam Husain.'
She then went on to tell me the historical facts. 'I will now tell you about the history of our
martyred forefathers.' Pointing to the two books placed on the table she said, 'our entire
history is conserved within these two books. When needed, I will quote from them.'
Considering their worn out and pale pages, the books, which were written in English,
seemed to be centuries old.
The history of Husaini Brahmans, as told by Nonica Dutt, begins with ten Brahmans
going to Karbala with the determination to die fighting for Imam Husain.
Among them were Rahib Dutt and his seven sons who fought bravely and resolutely.
With the blessings of Imam Husain they met their death in a heroic way.
Rahib Dutt was the lone survivor of the battle. From Karbala he escaped to Kufa,
where he stayed for some time. It is said that Rahib had the privilege of meeting
the members of the Imam's family after the massacre. He introduced himself by saying,
'I am a Brahman from Hindustan.' The reply came, 'Now you are Husaini Brahman.
We will always remember you.'
Rahib went from Kufa to Afghanistan, and from there came back to India where
he stayed for a few days in Nankana. Nonica paused for a while and then spoke,
'In the Sialkot district there is a town known as Viran Vatan. That place is our ancestral home.
We are the descendants of Rahib Dutt. He had brought with him a hair of Imam Husain,
which is ensconced in the Hazratbal shrine in Kashmir. She then recited a few couplets
from the book she had brought along with her, in which these incidents have been recorded.
'These couplets,' she said, 'are very popular among the Husaini Brahmans.'
Nonica shut the book and said 'Let me inform you that Sunil Dutt was also a Husaini Brahman.
And the father of Nargis too was a Husaini Brahman.'
She got up saying 'Now I must go.'
'I think,' I said, 'after you return from Germany, I should make a point to come to Delhi
so that you can introduce me to your father. I will perhaps be able to know much more
about your ancestors from him.'
She said goodbye and left hurriedly. I had been under the impression that the story
of the eight Brahmins was just a legend. But Nonica firmly believed that it is a historical fact.
And it is the belief of Nonica and her community that really counts. For them the event is a reality.
__._,_.___
http://dawn.com/weekly/books/books12.htm
January 20, 2008
Justice Rahmat Hussain Jaafari Resigned
Justice who announced punishment to Nawaz Sharif has resigned from the post with the immediate effect.
Allama Aqeel Turabi Died Inna Lillah
The religious scholar Allama Aqeel Turabi died in Karachi today.
Inaillah hae wa ina illahae rajayon.
He was 1 of 14 children of Late Allama Raseed Turabi. Allama Aqeel Turabi passes away
Friday, April 24, 2009
By Shamim Bano
KARACHI: Allama Aqeel Turabi died in a local hospital here on Thursday. He was 72. His funeral prayers will be offered at the Imambargah Shah-e-Najaf, Martin Road, after the Friday prayers. He was seriously ill and was in a state of coma for the last three years. He was the second son of late Allama Rasheed Turabi. He is survived by a widow, two sons and two daughters.
He is being laid to rest in Wadi Al Hussain GraveYard after Friday Prayers -on Apr24th.
"urdu ki zabaan dunya ki azeeem zaban hai kyuneh jo zikr Ahl-ul-Bayt as.gif iss zaban mei hoti hai, woh kissi aur zaban mei nahin hoti." He went on to say that "Zikr-e-Ahl-ul-Bayt as.gif ko nikal do, toh urdu ki rooh nikal jaaye gi, urdu hai hii Shioun ki zabaan.
He went onto mention how one of the earliest urdu poets was Amir Khusroo, jin ka pehla sher is:
Man kunto maulaa, Ali maulaa
Aik suurat kii do ha muuratiya
Aik Mohammad, Aik Ali
Man kunto maulaa, Ali maulaa
Bedam yahii to paak ha maqsuud-e-qaayanat
Kair-un-nisaa Hussain, Hasan, Mustafaa, Ali
Man kunto maulaa, Ali maulaa
Iss naam kii tasbiih to farishton ne bhi perhi hai
Man kunto maulaa f'a Ali un maulaa, f'a Ali un maulaa
Da, dad.ril dad.ril dad.raanii, ham tum tanananana, tanananana re.....
Man kunto maulaa, alii maulaa
Ma sadaqe ni maulaa, man kunto maulaa
ahaa mere Ali maulaa, man kunto maulaa
ek suurat kii
Hui kab aisi shaadii, hazarat-e-Adam se taa 'isaa
Ke dulahan Faatimaa zoharaa, Ali al-muratazaa dulhaa
Jo vo bint-e-payambar thii, to ye molud-e-k'aaba thay
Nabii ke ghar kii thii beyti, Khuda ke ghar kaa thaa beyta
Ali maulaa, maulaa, Ali maulaa
da dere....
maulaa, Ali maulaa
Ye naam koii kaam bigarney nahin deytaa
Bigarney bhii banaa deytaa ha sab kaam
Ali maulaa, maulaa Ali maulaa
da da dan dar dam, ta diri diri dam
Ali maulaa, maulaa ali maulaa
ai man kunto maulaa
-----
Multinationals should help promote literature
Naseer Turabi
By Naseer Ahmad
At the beginning of his poetry collection, Naseer Turabi explains his family background and his passion for poetry with the help of a couplet by Saadi Shirazi, �My ancestors were all religious scholars, but your intense love has inspired me to become a poet.�
The family name Turabi immediately invokes the name of his illustrious father, Allama Rasheed Turabi, whose pictures hang on the walls in the drawing room of his house near Yousuf Plaza. The late Allama Turabi was a very popular orator and erudite scholar of his time. He died on December 18, 1973, but lives on in the audio and video recordings as well as in his admirers� hearts. Naseer, whose resounding voice is similar to that of his father, elder brother Allama Aqeel Turabi or younger brother Salman Turabi, has veered a little off the ancestral path. His grandfather, Maulvi Sharraf Husain Khan, was also a religious scholar in Hyderabad (Deccan).
Although Naseer has so far published only a slender collection of his poetical works titled Aks-i-Faryadi, his ghazals have been picked up, sung and made more popular by renowned artistes such as Ahmed Rushdi, Runa Laila, Gulshan Ara Syed, Asad Amanat Ali Khan and Abida Parveen. �I�ve never tried to have my poetry sung. But somehow these eminent vocalists have picked my poetry from here and there and sung them,� says the poet.
Born in Hyderabad (Deccan) in 1945, Naseer Turabi studied at Sindh Madrasstul Islam and did his graduation from the Jinnah college before doing his Master�s in journalism from Karachi University. On the recommendation of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, he began his career at an insurance company as a PRO and then the information department where he rose to the post of deputy director before quitting the job and setting up his own modest business agency.
�My two sons, Danish Turabi and Rashid Turabi, are well settled and I live a contented life. I�m content with my poetic achievements also and do not aspire for much.�
Often seen at TV mushairas, either compering or reciting his own salam or naat, he is essentially a ghazal poet.
�Initially, I wrote poems, but Nasir Kazmi told me in 1967 that I was ruining my ghazal as he believed the poems I wrote were in the idiom of ghazal.� He doesn�t agree to the notion that ghazal is a genre that is easy to handle. �Rather it is a test case for a poet. Every couplet of a ghazal may have a different subject, but there is an underlying unity of mood. And a good poet has to maintain this undercurrent throughout the ghazal.�
Arguing that when a cricketer hits a six, various firms reward him with big prizes, but there is no such incentive for poets and writers who keep creating literature throughout their lives. He suggests that multinational firms should encourage poets and writers. He says literature takes people away from violence and makes them compassionate and mellow. �The multinationals should buy one-third of books of genuine writers and distribute them as complimentary copies. This will encourage the authors and help promote Urdu literature and earn goodwill for the firm,� he says.
In this context, Naseer praises Dawn for its initiating an international mushaira soon after independence. �I was a young child then. But my seniors tell me that it was a huge success. Poets such as Firaq Gorakhpuri, Jigar Muradabadi and Josh Malihabadi recited their poetry at it. Just imagine the commitment of those people to our culture and literature that an English-language newspaper provided a forum for it. Majeed Lahori named it Azeem-ud-Dawn Mushaira. But, alas, as everything popular is hijacked by commercial ventures, the newspaper could run that mushaira only for a couple of years.�
He also proposes that newspapers publishing literary sections publish works of poets who need introduction and recognition, and let known poets be published in established literary magazines.
He laments that programmes such as mushairas, bazm-i-adab and bait-bazi, which were once the hallmark of college life, are no longer held in colleges. �So these newspaper pages are the only forum that may be available to young writers.�
Naseer says he himself began with a radio programme called University magazine in 1962. �That programme gave me recognition and I was invited to various mushairas. After I recited my verses at a mushaira in Peshawar, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi asked me to write for his literary magazine Funoon.�
He says Urdu literature is deteriorating. �The slide will continue as there is no hope of improvement. Good literature is produced by a good audience, just as a good readership helps write good books. In the heyday of Urdu literature there was an educated India. Today�s education is geared to commercialism.�
Answering a question, he says there may be some good poets, but there is no great poet among the current lot. �In fact, great poets ceased to be born with the passing away of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Nasir Kazmi and Aziz Hamid Madani.� He says these three poets inspired him a lot and he was lucky to have been close to them. �But the learning process is such that we are not sure when and what we learn from whom. For instance, even a common man may utter a word and we may exclaim, �Oh this is how this word should be pronounced�.�
Naseer says in marsia Hilal Naqvi�s is the biggest name after the trio of Josh Malihabadi, Nasim Amrohvi and Syed Aal-i-Raza. �He has made immense contribution to the genre of marsia, indeed�. Speaking on Josh, he says, he was not a �poet of revolution� as he is usually described. �Josh sahib is a poet of ehtijaj� (protest). He demands that an ugly and unpleasant system be rooted out, but he does not propose an alternative to fill the void. He is a great magician of words, there is no doubt about it. .... On the other hand, Iqbal suggests that this system be uprooted and replaced with this one
3 Suicide bombers kills 161 in Baghdad-Thu/Fri:Clinton-Iraq on Right Track
A line of vehicles carrying coffins of victims who were killed in bomb attacks, pass through a street in Baghdad's Kadhimiya district April 25, 2009. In a second day of major bloodshed, two suicide bombers wearing explosive vests blew themselves up at the gates of a revered Shi'ite Muslim shrine in Baghdad on Friday, killing 60 people, Iraqi police said. At least 125 people were wounded in the blasts, which took place within minutes of one another at the Imam Moussa al-Kadhim shrine in the Shi'ite neighbourhood of Kadhimiya, police said. Many of the dead and wounded were Iranian Shi'ite pilgrims.
REUTERS/Ahmed Malik (IRAQ CONFLICT RELIGION POLITICS)
23 Apr 2009 11:26:33 GMT
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
(Updates toll)
BAGHDAD, April 23 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber wearing a vest stuffed with explosives blew himself up in a group of police distributing relief supplies in Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 28 people and wounding 50, Iraqi police said.
The police were helping to pass out aid to Iraqis who had been driven from their homes during the sectarian bloodshed and insurgency unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
At least five children were among the dead, police said.
Violence across Iraq has fallen sharply over the past year but insurgents such as al Qaeda still carry out frequent attacks. Suicide bombings are often associated with al Qaeda.
A suicide bomber on Wednesday killed at least five people and wounded 15 inside a mosque in central Iraq, and on Monday, a suicide bomber in a police uniform killed four policemen in northeastern Diyala province. Eight U.S. soldiers were wounded.
Some expect violence to increase as rival political and armed groups position themselves ahead of a national election due to take place at the end of the year. (Editing by Michael Christie)
---
Pentagon: Insurgent attacks likely to rise in Iraq
AP
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon's top Middle East adviser said Wednesday insurgent attacks in Iraq will probably increase as U.S. forces start to leave, but there's no plan now to delay troop departures.
Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Colin Kahl told The Associated Press that the military will continue to watch whether increased violence may push back deadlines for U.S. troop withdrawals ordered by President Barack Obama.
"Are we likely to see the ebb and flow of violence as our posture changes, and as the enemy tries to probe the capabilities of the Iraqi security forces, or demonstrate that they're still relevant? Yes," Kahl said during a 30-minute interview at the Pentagon.
"I think we are likely to see that. But I don't know that we're anticipating a substantial increase."
He noted that security in Iraq has "dramatically improved" over the last two years and that
sectarian violence that threatened a civil war earlier during the U.S. occupation is unlikely to re-emerge.
Earlier Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed at least five people at a Sunni mosque north of Baghdad. A police official said the attacker was mingling with worshippers when he detonated a belt packed with explosives. The blast also injured at least 20 people.
Kahl maintained that any decisions about delaying troop withdrawals ultimately will be made — and must be specifically requested — by the Iraqi government. A Jan. 1 security agreement requires all U.S. troops to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011. It also requires that combat soldiers no longer live in major Iraqi cities by June 30.
Additionally, Obama in February said the Pentagon will withdraw all but 35,000 to 50,000 troops from Iraq by the end of August 2010. Those left will focus mainly on countering insurgents and training Iraqi military and police forces.
Kahl also said that the Obama administration was watching security in Iraq to see if any further changes in troop levels might be necessary if violence were to increase dramatically over the next two years.
Violence is down sharply around most of Iraq. Even the area surrounding the site of Wednesday's suicide bombing has been relatively calm, although it is a volatile patchwork of Sunni and Shiite sectors.
However, recent bombings and other attacks have prompted top U.S. commanders to reconsider the June 30 deadline in at least two major Iraq cities — Mosul and Baqouba.
The Iraqi government is expected to decide soon whether to ask U.S. troops to remain in those cities, but Kahl did not know exactly when that might happen.
A group of Republican senators who recently returned from Iraq earlier this week said they're worried that some of the deadlines will come too soon.
"Frankly, there's some concern by both the military and the civilians in Iraq, about removing all combat troops by June 30 as well as trying to be out in August of ... next year," Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters at the Capitol on Monday.
"So there are good things that are going on there, but there is significant concern that remains in Iraq," Chambliss said. "But we certainly are headed in the right direction."
___
Associated Press writer Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad contributed to this report.
-----
Suicide bombers strike, killing 60, in Iraq
Number of wounded tops 100 as bombs explode in and around Baghdad
msnbc.com news services
updated 56 minutes ago
BAGHDAD - Two suicide bombers wearing vests stuffed with explosives blew themselves up in separate attacks in Iraq on Thursday, killing 28 people in Baghdad and 32, most of them thought to be Iranian pilgrims, north of the capital, police said.
The blast in central Baghdad took place as a group of Iraqi national police were distributing relief supplies to Iraqis who had been driven from their homes during the sectarian bloodshed and insurgency unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Fifty people were wounded and at least five children were among the dead, police said.
"It is a suicide bomber. Obviously that has the fingerprints of al-Qaida," said Baghdad security spokesman Major-General Qassim Moussawi.
The second attack occurred near Muqdadiya, 50 miles northeast of Baghdad, in the volatile northeastern province of Diyala. The suicide bomber appeared to have targeted a group of Iranian pilgrims in a restaurant.
Most of the 32 dead were believed to be Iranians visiting Shiite Muslim religious sites in Iraq, police said. Sixty-three people were wounded.
Two suicide bomb attacks kill dozens in Iraq
23 Apr 2009 13:49:58 GMT
Source: Reuters
* At least 70 killed in two suicide bomb attacks
* Many Iranian pilgrims among the dead
* Local insurgent leader reported captured
(Updates death toll, adds description and report of insurgent leader capture)
By Aseel Kami
BAGHDAD, April 23 (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers wearing vests stuffed with explosives blew themselves up in separate attacks in Iraq on Thursday, killing almost 70 people, many of them Iranian pilgrims, police said.
The blasts occurred as apprehension grows in Iraq ahead of a pullout by U.S. troops from city centres in June, and after warnings from officials that insurgent groups may try to take advantage of that to launch attacks.
A national election due at the end of the year also threatens a resurgence in violence just as the bloodshed of the past six years appeared to be receding. The blast in central Baghdad took place as a group of Iraqi national police were distributing relief supplies to families driven from their homes during the sectarian slaughter and insurgency unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Fifty people were wounded and at least five children were among the dead, police said.
Red Crescent food parcels and shattered packets of chocolate biscuits were strewn in the blood pooled on the pavement after the attack, while a woman dressed in a black abaya robe wailed and beat her thighs in anguish.
"It is a suicide bomber. Obviously that has the fingerprints of al Qaeda," said Baghdad security spokesman Major-General Qassim Moussawi.
The second attack occurred near Muqdadiya, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Baghdad, in the volatile province of Diyala. The suicide bomber appeared to have targeted a group of Iranian pilgrims in a crowded roadside restaurant at lunchtime.
All but two of the 40 dead were Iranians visiting Shi'ite Muslim religious sites in Iraq, police said. Sixty-eight people were wounded.
BAGHDADI ARREST
Violence across Iraq has fallen sharply over the past year, but insurgents such as Sunni Islamist al Qaeda still carry out regular attacks. Suicide bombings are often associated with al Qaeda.
A suicide bomber on Wednesday killed at least five people and wounded 15 inside a mosque in central Iraq, and on Monday, a suicide bomber in a police uniform killed four policemen in Diyala. Eight U.S. soldiers were wounded.
Shortly after Thursday's attacks, state-owned al-Iraqiya television reported that the purported leader of an al Qaeda-affiliated insurgent group, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, had been arrested in eastern Baghdad.
Baghdadi is said to be the head of the Islamic State of Iraq, one of several groups thought to be behind suicide bombings and other attacks in the northern city of Mosul and elsewhere in Iraq.
His arrest, which could not be confirmed, has been reported before. Security experts have speculated in the past that Baghdadi was a character invented by some extremist groups rather than a real person.
Some Iraqis expect violence to increase in Iraq as rival political and armed groups position themselves ahead of a national election due to take place at the end of the year.
Iraqi officials say al Qaeda and other groups are also likely to try to test the Iraqi security forces as U.S. troops prepare to pull out of cities ahead of a full withdrawal by the end of 2011. (Editing by Louise Ireland and Michael Christie)
-----
Double Bombing Hits Outside Baghdad Shrine
by The Associated Press
NPR.org, April 24, 2009 · Back-to-back suicide bombings killed 60 people Friday outside the most important Shiite shrine in Baghdad, a day after the country was rocked by its most deadly violence in more than a year.
The bombings Friday and on Thursday — in which nearly 80 people were killed — are the latest in a series of high-profile attacks blamed on Sunni insurgents, police officials said.
The bombers in Friday's attacks detonated explosive belts within minutes of each other near the gates of the tomb of Imam Mousa al-Kazim, a prominent Shiite saint, located in the northern neighborhood of Kazimiyah, said a police official. Another police official said the bombers struck shortly before the start of Friday prayers as worshippers streamed in to the mosque — an important site for Shiite pilgrims.
Among the dead were 25 Iranian pilgrims, according to a police and a hospital official. Both said that at least 125 people, including 80 Iranian pilgrims, also were injured in the blast.
All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
The shrine has been a favored target of insurgents, most recently in early April when a bomb left in a plastic bag near the shrine killed seven people and wounded 23.
In January, a man dressed as a woman blew himself up near the shrine, killing more than three dozen people and wounding more than 70.
Imam Mousa al-Kazim is an 8th century saint and one of 12 Shiite saints. Hundreds of thousands of Shiites march to the shrine in Kazimiyah every year to commemorate his death in A.D. 799. Shiites believe al-Kazim is buried in the Baghdad golden-domed shrine.
Violence in Iraq is at its lowest levels since the months following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. But the recent attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere have exposed gaps in security as U.S. forces draw down ahead of a planned withdrawal by the end of 2011.
Funerals began Friday for those killed in the suicide bombings a day earlier in Baghdad and in Diyala province.
Coffins were loaded on trucks near the Baghdad offices of the Iraqi Red Crescent, whose volunteers were distributing food parcels in central Baghdad when a suicide bomber killed 31 and wounded at least 50 others.
---
Sixty die in deadliest Iraq bombing since June
24 Apr 2009 12:22:20 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Second day of major bloodshed
* Deadliest single attack in 10 months
* Iranians again among the dead
(Adds Iranian comment, details)
By Aws Qusay
BAGHDAD, April 24 (Reuters) - In a second day of major bloodshed, two suicide bombers wearing explosive vests blew themselves up at the gates of a Shi'ite Muslim shrine in Baghdad on Friday, killing 60 people, Iraqi police said.
The attack was the deadliest single incident in Iraq since 63 people died in a truck bomb blast in Baghdad on June 17 last year, and came amid growing concerns that a recent drop in violence might turn out to have been just a temporary lull.
At least 125 people were wounded in the apparently coordinated blasts at the Imam Moussa al-Kadhim shrine in the Shi'ite neighbourhood of Kadhimiya, police said. Many of the dead and wounded were Iranian Shi'ite pilgrims.
Police said the attackers approached two different gates to the shrine, which has been a frequent target in the past.
One of the bombers detonated the explosives just inside a courtyard of the shrine, which contains the tombs of two important holy men, or imams.
The blasts on the Muslim holy day followed two suicide bombs on Thursday, one in Baghdad and the other in the northeastern province of Diyala, in which at least 89 people died.
Most of the 57 dead in Diyala were Iranians, who have flocked to Iraq's Shi'ite holy sites in the millions since Sunni Arab dictator Saddam Hussein was ousted in the 2003 invasion.
"The incident (in Iraq) yesterday was a very, very hateful example of those who harm religion in the name of religion," influential Iranian cleric and former president Ali Akbar Rafsanjani told worshippers at Friday prayers.
"We feel sorry for the Iraqi people because such corrupt groups have penetrated into Iraq. We also criticize America for not having the serious will to preserve Iraq's security," Rafsanjani added.
GROWING FEARS OF RESURGENCE IN VIOLENCE
While violence in Iraq has fallen dramatically over the past year, insurgent groups such as al Qaeda still carry out frequent attacks. Suicide bombings are a hallmark of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.
The latest attacks coincide with growing fears of a resurgence in violence as U.S. troops prepare to pull out of Iraqi cities in June, ahead of a full U.S. withdrawal by the end of 2011, and amid doubts over the effectiveness of Iraqi forces.
A national election at the end of the year has also heightened apprehensions as political parties and armed groups jostle for dominance of the oil-producing nation.
Analysts say the sectarian divide remains between Shi'ites and Sunnis, which led to tens of thousands being slaughtered, while Kurd-Arab tensions over disputed lands in the north could also provoke renewed conflict.
On Thursday, Iraqi authorities announced the arrest of a leader of an al Qaeda-linked insurgent group. But neither they nor the U.S. military were able to confirm on Friday that the person was Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the purported head of a group called the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI).
Some experts say they remain unconvinced that Abu Omar al-Baghdadi actually exists, speculating that he is a fictional character invented by al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI).
"Abu Omar al-Baghdadi is, I believe, not a real person, but a title given to an Iraqi who acts as an Iraqi figurehead of ISI/AQI so that they can claim that it is led by Iraqis when, almost certainly, it is led by foreign jihadists," said Terry Kelly, a senior researcher at the Rand Corporation think-tank.
"This is not the first time there have been claims that he has been caught or killed. The previous claims may be true," said Kelly, who served as a policy adviser to the former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad. (Additional reporting by Zahra Hosseinian in Tehran; Writing by Michael Christie; Editing by Louise Ireland)
----
Two car bombs exploded at a crowded flea market and a restaurant in the Shiite Muslim enclave in Baghdad. At least 41 people were killed and 78 wounded. Residents said Iraqi security forces failed to protect them. “All they care about is hitting on girls and women,” a salesman said.
Shiite Muslims appear to be the targets, and that raises fears of a renewed Sunni insurgency. Survivors of two blasts in Sadr City say Iraqi security forces failed to protect them.
By Saif Hameed and Liz Sly
April 30, 2009
Reporting from Baghdad -- Five car bombs ripped through neighborhoods across Baghdad late Wednesday, killing at least 48 people, wounding scores more and further raising concerns that a new wave of violence is threatening the security gains of the last 18 months.
The bombings came after the deaths of nearly 160 people in a 24-hour period late last week marked the worst surge of violence in a year. The attacks in recent days, all appearing to target Shiite Muslim civilians, have raised fears that the Sunni insurgency is regrouping for a fresh campaign of violence that could in turn trigger retaliation and reignite the sectarian warfare that only recently subsided.
U.S. troops are due to withdraw from Iraq's cities by the end of June, and the attacks have deepened concerns that the Iraqi security forces are not up to the job of taking charge from the departing Americans.
Iraqi officials have blamed the militant group Al Qaeda in Iraq, operating in tandem with remnants of the late Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, for the uptick in violence. Last week's bombings were suicide attacks, a hallmark of Al Qaeda in Iraq, but the provenance of the five car bombings is murkier and could be traced to any number of factions.
Survivors of an attack Wednesday in Sadr City, a Shiite enclave in northeast Baghdad, turned their wrath on the security forces, hurling bottles and bricks at police and army troops until soldiers fired in the air to disperse them. Witnesses said they blamed the army, which controls the area, for the lapses in security that allowed three cars laden with bombs to enter what should be a closely guarded market area.
"The army is not playing its role," said Sabah Mohammed, 45, a salesman who was on his way to an outdoor flea market to buy a tracksuit when two bombs exploded.
"When the army first came to Sadr City, I was happy, but now all they care about is hitting on girls and women. They don't inspect incoming cars. They only inspect them if there are women inside."
The bombings in Sadr City occurred about 400 yards apart, at the market and a restaurant, and within 15 minutes of each other in the late afternoon, when the market is usually packed with people hunting for secondhand clothes and other bargains. At least 41 people were killed and 78 wounded.
The third car bomb was found by police and defused.
A little less than an hour later, an explosion in the southern neighborhood of Dora killed five people. Two more people were later killed by a bomb in a car parked outside a Shiite mosque in the western neighborhood of Hurriya. A fifth blast in the southern neighborhood of Shorta Rabaa wounded six.
Three other car bombs were found and defused elsewhere in the city, suggesting a coordinated effort to wreak havoc and sow panic across Baghdad.
"How is this possible?" asked Adnan Dawood, 35, a furniture shop owner who tried to flee the first of the two blasts in Sadr City and then was knocked unconscious by the second.
"There are three entrances to Sadr City and all are overseen by army checkpoints," he said, speaking by telephone from his hospital bed. "What is the army doing? Are they there for only oppressing and arresting people?
"If this continues to happen, then no one can be able to make their living," he added. "I'm afraid to go back to my shop again. I think the attacks will occur again."
liz.sly@latimes.com
Hameed writes for The Times.
----
Death toll from twin Iraq car bombs rises to 51
30 Apr 2009 07:47:22 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Death toll rises from Wednesday blasts
* Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party condemns attack
BAGHDAD, April 30 (Reuters) - The death toll from twin car bomb blasts in a crowded Baghdad market rose to 51 on Thursday, police said, and the country's main Sunni political party condemned the attack on a heavily Shi'ite Muslim area.
The car bombs on Wednesday, which also wounded 76 people in the capital's sprawling Sadr City slum, followed a series of other attacks in the past two weeks that have stirred fears of a return to broader sectarian bloodshed in Iraq.
A third car bomb was found in a parked taxi cab and detonated by security forces.
The Iraqi Islamic Party, the main political party in parliament representing the country's once dominant Sunni minority, denounced the attack as a blatant attempt to trigger renewed fighting between Sunnis and Shi'ites.
"The bloody hands want Iraqis to feel fear," the party said in a statement.
"These explosions in Sadr City are part of a big conspiracy by Iraq's enemies. We call on all political groups and the Iraqi government, and especially the security forces, to quell this sedition."
The upsurge in violence this month has ended the sense of growing calm and security that had gripped Baghdad earlier this year.
While the violence remains below the levels of last year, the attacks coincide with plans for U.S. combat troops to pull out of Iraqi cities in June, ahead of a full withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2011.
Iraqis still lack faith in the abilities of their own security forces to defend them against bombs and other attacks.
Many Iraqis also fear there will be more violence ahead of a national election late this year, as political rivals and armed groups jostle for dominance of the oil-producing country.
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday the string of recent deadly bombings was a cause for concern, but the political system was functioning and violence was low compared to a year ago.
Analysts said Iraq is likely to suffer suicide and car bomb attacks for several more years. While that will certainly present a dire threat to Iraqi civilians, it is less clear whether it presents a mortal threat to the state.
More dangerous to Iraq's medium-term stability than bombs is the fact not enough has been done in the political arena to foster reconciliation between Sunnis and Shi'ites, the analysts say.
Iraq has also failed to take steps to ease tensions over land and oil between Arabs and minority Kurds in the north. (Reporting by Muhanad Mohammed; Editing by Michael Christie and Sophie Hares)
-----
By SAM DAGHER and SUADAD AL-SALHY
Published: April 29, 2009
BAGHDAD — A series of bombs went off in Baghdad on Wednesday, extending a period of violence that has rattled Iraq’s government and security forces.
The pattern of Wednesday’s attacks — including three car bombs in predominantly Shiite areas and two at a Sunni mosque — raised fresh concern that sectarian passions could be inflamed anew.
Accounts of the death toll varied, from at least 17 people to as many as 48, with dozens wounded. So far in April, at least 300 Iraqis have been killed in bombing attacks, making it the bloodiest month since the start of the year and reversing the sharp drops in civilian deaths in January and February.
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has blamed Sunni insurgents and members of Saddam Hussein’s ousted Baath Party for the recent violence, including four suicide bombings last week that killed almost 160 people, mostly Shiites. Mr. Maliki is torn between demands from the United States and some Sunni leaders to reconcile with some former members of the Hussein government and his Shiite partners, who reject an accommodation.
In the deadliest attacks on Wednesday, two car bombs went off in the Muraidi market in the impoverished Shiite district of Sadr City. The first went off around 4:30 p.m., a peak shopping hour, in a section of the market where live birds are sold. About 10 minutes later, a second exploded in front of a popular ice cream and juice shop in the market.
Iraqi forces sealed off the area, but struggled to disperse angry crowds by firing their weapons into the air for almost an hour. Witnesses said some of those who lost loved ones in the attacks threw bricks and rocks at the soldiers, whom they blamed for security lapses in the area.
Two hospitals in Sadr City, Imam Ali and Shaheed al-Sadr, said the car bombings killed at least 10 people and wounded 63. But a security official with the Interior Ministry, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the attacks with reporters, said the market bombings killed 41 people and wounded 68.
Gen. Aboud Gambar, head of the Iraqi military’s Baghdad operations command, told state-owned television Al Iraqiya that three other car bombs were intercepted before they detonated.
Almost 30 minutes after the Sadr City attacks, a roadside bomb exploded in the path of a minibus on the southern outskirts of Baghdad, killing five of its occupants and wounding eight, the Interior Ministry official said.
Around 6 p.m., a car bomb went off in another market in the mainly Shiite neighborhood of Shurta Rabia in southwestern Baghdad, wounding five, the official said.
Later in the evening, two car bombs exploded in front of the Nida Allah Sunni mosque in the predominantly Shiite district of Huriya in northwestern Baghdad, killing at least two and wounding eight, he said.
In Sadr City, some residents blamed the Baathists and Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the homegrown group that American intelligence officials say is led by foreigners, for the violence, while others said it was the work of American intelligence officers and the Baathists to put pressure on Mr. Maliki’s government to relent on his refusal to reconcile with the Baathists.
“Islamist Shiites will never accept the return of the Baathists or America’s schemes,” said Mohammed Ali, 44, of Sadr City.
Abdullah al-Hilfi, 38, said the bombings were “a gift” from Baathists to commemorate Mr. Hussein’s birthday, which was Tuesday.
Both wanted the militia of Moktada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric, to resume its role in securing markets and neighborhoods.
Mohammed Hassan Dhari, 45, was simply tired of it all. “I want a solution,” he said. “We are tired. We need solutions.”
Despite the varying theories about who might have been behind the bombings, almost everyone agreed that Iraqi forces were either unable or too corrupt and infiltrated with militants to take control of the security situation.
At Imam Ali Hospital, some of the wounded said soldiers in Sadr City received bribes in return for relaxing vehicle searches at checkpoints.
“We fear things are getting out of control,” warned Ahmed al-Massoudi, a Shiite member of Parliament from the bloc of Mr. Sadr.
On Tuesday, Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said, “Iraq has 29 million people and there is no force in the whole world, security apparatus or anyone from Adam’s time until now that can dedicate one cop to every single Iraqi.”
Atheer Kakan contributed reporting.
---
INTERVIEW-Spike in Iraq violence is temporary, official says
01 May 2009 13:01:43 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Surge in violence is temporary, security adviser says
* Expect intermittent violence for another two years
* Investment will help offset cycle of violence
By Luke Baker
LONDON, May 1 (Reuters) - The recent surge in violence in Iraq is short-term rather than the beginning of a new trend, Iraq's national security adviser said on Friday as he sought to paint a rosy outlook for the country.
Speaking on the sidelines of an Iraq investment conference in London, Muwaffaq al-Rubaie said the spate of suicide bombings in which more than 200 people have been killed in the past 10 days was the work of al-Qaeda-linked groups. It showed their desperation to reignite sectarian conflict, he said.
"This is a spike, that is all," Rubaie told Reuters. "This sort of thing may happen every few weeks for the next couple of years, but we are on top of it.
"Al Qaeda will continue to try to stage these high-profile attacks against the populace, to go back to their old strategy of trying to trigger a sectarian response from the Shia population, but they will fail miserably," he said.
Security has broadly improved throughout Iraq in the past 18 months, but there was an alarming step up in violence last month, with 290 civilians killed across the country, according to government figures released on Thursday.
Several of the attacks, including two suicide bombings that killed 150 people, targeted Shi'ite areas of Baghdad or Shi'ite holy sites, stoking fears of renewed sectarian conflict like that which tore the country apart between 2005 and 2007.
Security remains a major obstacle for foreign investors looking to tap into Iraq's oil wealth and the businesses that are expected to spin off from that. The legal framework governing investment is also regarded as problematic.
To try to offset some of those concerns, Iraqi officials spent most of the two-day conference trying to reassure the more than 600 delegates -- from bankers to aircraft salesman, oil executives and construction entrepreneurs -- that opportunities were ripe and that business was set to boom.
"IT'S THE ECONOMY"
Rubaie said investment and trade were integral to combating the insurgency -- creating jobs was the best way of making sure that young men wouldn't resort to violence, he said.
"The message I want to give you is this: Iraq has turned the corner and now it's looking forward to a completely different phase, a phase that's about the economy, jobs and investment," he told the conference.
"We're heading towards issues-based politics and services."
While Iraq's home-grown security forces have made strides in the past 18 months, there is still some way to go before they are capable of handling national security on their own.
But Rubaie said there was now almost a danger of having too many police. With police officers paid around $300 a month, skilled people were turning away from other professions -- teaching, plumbing, electrical work -- to become policemen.
"Everyone is leaving to go into the police. We need investment so we can get people back into other jobs and make the economy grow more evenly," he said.
"People are looking for jobs, they are looking for a salary. They will not go and join al Qaeda if it only pays $100."
While security is a concern for investors, it was notable that when Rubaie addressed the conference, the vast hall was half-empty. When the oil minister or finance officials were speaking, the hall was packed with attentive businessmen.
"The tipping point has been reached in Iraq," said Brigadier James Ellery, an executive with Aegis Defence Services, a British security and risk company with large operations in Iraq.
"A third of the employees in our company in Iraq are Iraqi, and that's growing all the time. They are increasingly senior and soon they will run the business. That is a good thing."
(Editing by Samia Nakhoul)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
On that day when the United States of America will praise us, we should mourn
" On that day when the United States of America will praise us, we should mourn"
View articles, topics, and photos related to this quote – Ruhollah Khomeini
SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor
View articles, topics, and photos related to this quote – Ruhollah Khomeini
SOURCE: Christian Science Monitor
Google, AT&T and Twitter executives visit Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Executives from Google Inc, AT&T Inc, Twitter and other high tech companies are visiting Iraq this week to explore how technology may help fight corruption and build a more accountable society, the U.S. State Department said on Monday.
The department, which helped arrange the April 19-23 trip, said the executives would offer ideas on how new technologies could help foster transparency, strengthen civil society and generally empower people and local groups by providing the tools for network building.
"As Iraqis think about how to integrate new technology as a tool for smart power, we view this as an opportunity to invite the American technology industry to be part of this creative genesis," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood.
Other companies represented on the trip are Howcast, a website that offers how-to videos; Meetup, a website that helps people organize, or join, local communities; the video-sharing You Tube website; Automattic/Wordpress, which makes blogging software; and Blue State Digital, which provides tools for online fundraising, advocacy and social networking.
That the high-tech executives agreed to go on the trip in part reflects the improvement in the Iraqi security situation since former U.S. President George W. Bush's 2007 decision to send additional U.S. troops to Iraq to quell its civil strife.
While violence has fallen sharply across most of the country, which the United States invaded in March 2003 to topple former dictator Saddam Hussein, there has been a spate of suicide bombings over the last month, including one on Monday that killed four policemen in northeastern Iraq.
(Writing and reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Bill Trott)
Executives from Google Inc, AT&T Inc, Twitter and other high tech companies are visiting Iraq this week to explore how technology may help fight corruption and build a more accountable society, the U.S. State Department said on Monday.
The department, which helped arrange the April 19-23 trip, said the executives would offer ideas on how new technologies could help foster transparency, strengthen civil society and generally empower people and local groups by providing the tools for network building.
"As Iraqis think about how to integrate new technology as a tool for smart power, we view this as an opportunity to invite the American technology industry to be part of this creative genesis," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood.
Other companies represented on the trip are Howcast, a website that offers how-to videos; Meetup, a website that helps people organize, or join, local communities; the video-sharing You Tube website; Automattic/Wordpress, which makes blogging software; and Blue State Digital, which provides tools for online fundraising, advocacy and social networking.
That the high-tech executives agreed to go on the trip in part reflects the improvement in the Iraqi security situation since former U.S. President George W. Bush's 2007 decision to send additional U.S. troops to Iraq to quell its civil strife.
While violence has fallen sharply across most of the country, which the United States invaded in March 2003 to topple former dictator Saddam Hussein, there has been a spate of suicide bombings over the last month, including one on Monday that killed four policemen in northeastern Iraq.
(Writing and reporting by Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Bill Trott)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Must Listen! Mazloomiat-e-Shia-e-Pakistan aur Takraar-e-Mazloomiyat-e-Ali (a.s)
Salaam un Alaykum; Must Listen! Mazloomiat-e-Shia-e-Pakistan aur Takraar-e-Mazloomiyat-e-Ali (a.s):
Recent Political Analysis by Agha Syed Jawad Naqvi - 17th April 2009
Audio: http://174.36.33.66/islamimarkaz/audio/Asr_shanasi/mazloomiat.mp3
Video: http://174.36.33.66/islamimarkaz/video/Asr_shanasi/mazloomiat.wmv
http://www.shiatv.net/view_video.php?viewkey=1194f50bbf029e38f004
WAKE UP...!
Updated at: 1035 PST, Tuesday, April 21, 2009
GILGIT: The people of Gilgit, Skardu and other areas mourning killing of Northern Areas Legislative Assembly (NALA) Deputy Speaker Syed Asad Zaidi
NALA Deputy Speaker Syed Asad Zaidi was killed on the Park Link Road here on Monday when unidentified gunmen ambushed his official vehicle.
A senior police official said one person died on the spot, while the deputy speaker and another man sustained critical injuries. They were shifted to the DHQ Hospital where doctors operated upon the deputy speaker, but he succumbed to his injuries.
All educational institutions and government offices have been closed and traders observing shutter-down in theses areas.
Recent Political Analysis by Agha Syed Jawad Naqvi - 17th April 2009
Audio: http://174.36.33.66/islamimarkaz/audio/Asr_shanasi/mazloomiat.mp3
Video: http://174.36.33.66/islamimarkaz/video/Asr_shanasi/mazloomiat.wmv
http://www.shiatv.net/view_video.php?viewkey=1194f50bbf029e38f004
WAKE UP...!
Updated at: 1035 PST, Tuesday, April 21, 2009
GILGIT: The people of Gilgit, Skardu and other areas mourning killing of Northern Areas Legislative Assembly (NALA) Deputy Speaker Syed Asad Zaidi
NALA Deputy Speaker Syed Asad Zaidi was killed on the Park Link Road here on Monday when unidentified gunmen ambushed his official vehicle.
A senior police official said one person died on the spot, while the deputy speaker and another man sustained critical injuries. They were shifted to the DHQ Hospital where doctors operated upon the deputy speaker, but he succumbed to his injuries.
All educational institutions and government offices have been closed and traders observing shutter-down in theses areas.
Islam in America
By Tamara Chapman
"We talk about Islam and the West, but we should be talking about Islam in the West," says religious studies Associate Professor Liyakat Takim. "Muslims are pumping gas; they are serving combos at McDonald's." Photo by: Wayne Armstrong
In recent years, Islam has emerged as the nation's fastest growing religion, making it, says DU religious studies Associate Professor Liyakat Takim, "a very American phenomenon."
So American, in fact, that in many U.S. communities the mosque is almost as much a part of the cityscape as the church and temple. "For a long time, Islam has been a foreign phenomenon-located somewhere in the Middle East or the Far East. We talk about Islam and the West, but we should be talking about Islam in the West," Takim says, adding that "Muslims are pumping gas; they are serving combos at McDonald's."
Despite their growing presence in American life, Muslims remain strangers to many of their fellow citizens. In fact, when they give it any thought at all, Americans tend to regard the Muslim community as monolithic, Takim says. Few understand the sectarian and cultural differences that characterize-and often divide-this community. Even when people understand the distinctions between Sunni and Shi'i, they are unlikely to grasp the differences between one subsect and another.
Takim attempts to remedy that in his forthcoming book, which introduces readers to the ethnically and culturally diverse American Shi'i community, whose members follow the Koranic interpretations advanced by Ali ibn Abi Talib. (Ali was the Prophet Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, and Shi'is regard him as Muhammad's rightful successor.) Because they are outnumbered by Sunni Muslims, Takim describes Shi'is as a "double minority" in American life, a misunderstood group within a misunderstood group.
Takim's book -- Shi'ism in America -- is due in bookstores in late summer or early fall. According to Takim's editor, Jennifer Hammer of New York University Press, the book breaks new ground, describing a community that has been largely ignored by scholars.
"Most of the research that has been conducted on American Muslims has tended to focus on the Sunni community -- and, to a lesser extent, on matters relating to the Nation of Islam," she explains. "This work will be the first comprehensive study of the Shi'i experience in America and will therefore make a significant contribution to the literature, from Islamic studies to American religions."
In doing so, the book also traces the history of the Shi'i community in America and explores how, as Hammer puts it, "Shi'is have negotiated their identity in the American context, and what the contemporary composition of the Shi'i community is. It also illuminates how living in the West has impelled the community to grapple with the ways in which Islamic law may respond to the challenges of modernity and how they have interacted with non-Shi'i groups in the United States, from Sunni Muslims to the Christian majority."
Takim's interest in Shi'ism stems, in part, from his own faith and experiences. A Shi'i himself and a native of Tanzania, he was once the imam of an Islamic center in Toronto. There, and in the U.S. communities he has explored, he has seen firsthand how Shi'is are perceived and, too often, misunderstood. To gain insight into their experiences, Takim surveyed and interviewed many members of Shi'i enclaves, traveling to their community centers and mosques, visiting them in their homes and even, on occasion, in their prison cells.
The Shi'i experience in America dates back to the 1880s, when a tiny community of the early immigrants settled in Massachusetts, Indiana and Michigan. These Shi'is hailed primarily from Lebanon. Over the next decades, Shi'is crop up in unexpected places, much to the delight of Takim, who took great pleasure in tracking their American odyssey. At least three members of the faith sailed on the Titanic; only one of them, the sole female in the tiny group, survived. A few years later, in 1924, the nation's first Shi'i mosque opened in unlikely Michigan City, Ind.
Throughout these early years, Takim explains, the Sunnis and Shi'is found themselves so outnumbered that they overlooked their sectarian differences and worked together to preserve Islamic values. In the midst of America's largely Christian milieu, in the face of its boisterous culture, Takim says, "They had to accentuate their Islamic identity."
Since the 1970s, the Shi'i population -- indeed the Muslim population as a whole -- has experienced dramatic diversification triggered by immigration from Africa, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq, among others. What's more, the Shi'is also have increased their numbers through proselytizing and conversions. This growth has resulted in tensions among the various groups, who often disagree over rituals and religious practices. For example, the Shi'is of Lebanon may find the rituals of their Pakistani counterparts offensive, if only because the latter show some traces of Hindu culture. Other Shi'is may be alarmed by how their Iranian cousins use passion plays in mourning practices.
Many immigrant Shi'is also have struggled to understand what Takim calls "black Shi'i," or African-American converts to the faith. Like so many demographic groups populating the American scene, Shi'is struggle with differences. "There is racism in the Shi'i community, too, as in other communities," he explains.
The identity issues that emerge from these frictions give Takim much to ponder. What does it mean to be Shi'i in a culture that touts the advantages of pluralism, in a country that understands so little about Islam? And what makes a Shi'i a Shi'i when the community demonstrates so much diversity?
"I think what surprised me was how the Shi'is are divided about how to approach Americans," Takim says, looking back on his research. Some Shi'is want to assimilate fully, while the more conservative often favor isolation and retreat. But as Takim sees it, the community's largest failing has been its reluctance to engage the larger multiethnic society. An impregnable isolation, he argues, only perpetuates marginalization.
Takim is especially interested in fissures between American Shi'is and Sunnis, noting that the two communities tended to coexist peacefully for much of the 20th century. "I think the turning point came around the 1970s, when the Wahabis started making their mark in America," he says, describing a conservative strain of Sunnism that dominates the religious culture of Saudi Arabia.
With Wahabism on the rise in American Sunni communities, it has not been uncommon for Shi'is to be shunned within Islamic centers and groups, Takim says, citing a number of troubling trends and news items. On U.S. campuses, for example, members of the Muslim Student Association frequently spar over sectarian differences, with some Sunnis calling for the exclusion of Shi'is. Increasingly, the Shi'i faithful have arrived at their local mosques only to discover ominous signs posted on the front door: "No Shi'i allowed."
What's more, Takim says, when Shi'is and Sunnis clash in, say, Iraq or Lebanon, the confrontation also surfaces on domestic soil. Nowhere was that more telling than in Dearborn, Mich., after the 2006 execution of Iraq's Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. In the days following Hussein's hanging, avenging Sunnis vandalized some Shi'i businesses. Although the episode was limited in scope, it left the Shi'i worried about the possibility of escalating hostilities.
Takim has felt the sting of this anti-Shi'i campaign himself. When he was a visiting professor at the University of Miami between 1991 and 2001, Sunni students discouraged other Muslim students from taking his classes on the grounds that he was a Shi'i. "What we see is sectarian differences from abroad arising in America," he says.
Although this worries him, he finds hope in the Americanization of Sunni and Shi'i youth. "The younger generation is going to be different because they are all pretty much university trained," he says, noting that they have been exposed to a diverse range of viewpoints. Like so many second- and third-generation Americans before them, he explains, "they are challenging the culture. The culture they are creating is primarily an American one."
Takim's book also looks at how Shi'is have adjusted to American life and American attitudes in the aftermath of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. In many respects, Takim explains, Shi'is were able to use 9/11 to their advantage, reversing negative opinions that grew out of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when Shi'i followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew the Shah. Americans came to associate the Shi'i with the subsequent seizure of the U.S. embassy and the taking of 52 American hostages.
The resulting view of Shi'is as Islam's radicals was, in many respects, altered by the events of 9/11. As Americans learned more about Osama Bin Laden, they also learned about Wahabism and other forms of extremism. Once the U.S. launched its invasion of Iraq, Shi'is were viewed more favorably-as supporters and allies. Along the way, American Shi'is used the post-9/11 events to denounce the violence associated with Bin Laden and to clarify their position within American society.
That process continues to this day. Like so many minority groups in the United States, Shi'is are learning to sustain their culture and practice their religion within the American context. "The Shi'is are as American as anybody else," Takim says, "and they are proud of their American identity."
The New York University Press will post publication details about Shi'ism in America in spring 2009.
"We talk about Islam and the West, but we should be talking about Islam in the West," says religious studies Associate Professor Liyakat Takim. "Muslims are pumping gas; they are serving combos at McDonald's." Photo by: Wayne Armstrong
In recent years, Islam has emerged as the nation's fastest growing religion, making it, says DU religious studies Associate Professor Liyakat Takim, "a very American phenomenon."
So American, in fact, that in many U.S. communities the mosque is almost as much a part of the cityscape as the church and temple. "For a long time, Islam has been a foreign phenomenon-located somewhere in the Middle East or the Far East. We talk about Islam and the West, but we should be talking about Islam in the West," Takim says, adding that "Muslims are pumping gas; they are serving combos at McDonald's."
Despite their growing presence in American life, Muslims remain strangers to many of their fellow citizens. In fact, when they give it any thought at all, Americans tend to regard the Muslim community as monolithic, Takim says. Few understand the sectarian and cultural differences that characterize-and often divide-this community. Even when people understand the distinctions between Sunni and Shi'i, they are unlikely to grasp the differences between one subsect and another.
Takim attempts to remedy that in his forthcoming book, which introduces readers to the ethnically and culturally diverse American Shi'i community, whose members follow the Koranic interpretations advanced by Ali ibn Abi Talib. (Ali was the Prophet Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, and Shi'is regard him as Muhammad's rightful successor.) Because they are outnumbered by Sunni Muslims, Takim describes Shi'is as a "double minority" in American life, a misunderstood group within a misunderstood group.
Takim's book -- Shi'ism in America -- is due in bookstores in late summer or early fall. According to Takim's editor, Jennifer Hammer of New York University Press, the book breaks new ground, describing a community that has been largely ignored by scholars.
"Most of the research that has been conducted on American Muslims has tended to focus on the Sunni community -- and, to a lesser extent, on matters relating to the Nation of Islam," she explains. "This work will be the first comprehensive study of the Shi'i experience in America and will therefore make a significant contribution to the literature, from Islamic studies to American religions."
In doing so, the book also traces the history of the Shi'i community in America and explores how, as Hammer puts it, "Shi'is have negotiated their identity in the American context, and what the contemporary composition of the Shi'i community is. It also illuminates how living in the West has impelled the community to grapple with the ways in which Islamic law may respond to the challenges of modernity and how they have interacted with non-Shi'i groups in the United States, from Sunni Muslims to the Christian majority."
Takim's interest in Shi'ism stems, in part, from his own faith and experiences. A Shi'i himself and a native of Tanzania, he was once the imam of an Islamic center in Toronto. There, and in the U.S. communities he has explored, he has seen firsthand how Shi'is are perceived and, too often, misunderstood. To gain insight into their experiences, Takim surveyed and interviewed many members of Shi'i enclaves, traveling to their community centers and mosques, visiting them in their homes and even, on occasion, in their prison cells.
The Shi'i experience in America dates back to the 1880s, when a tiny community of the early immigrants settled in Massachusetts, Indiana and Michigan. These Shi'is hailed primarily from Lebanon. Over the next decades, Shi'is crop up in unexpected places, much to the delight of Takim, who took great pleasure in tracking their American odyssey. At least three members of the faith sailed on the Titanic; only one of them, the sole female in the tiny group, survived. A few years later, in 1924, the nation's first Shi'i mosque opened in unlikely Michigan City, Ind.
Throughout these early years, Takim explains, the Sunnis and Shi'is found themselves so outnumbered that they overlooked their sectarian differences and worked together to preserve Islamic values. In the midst of America's largely Christian milieu, in the face of its boisterous culture, Takim says, "They had to accentuate their Islamic identity."
Since the 1970s, the Shi'i population -- indeed the Muslim population as a whole -- has experienced dramatic diversification triggered by immigration from Africa, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq, among others. What's more, the Shi'is also have increased their numbers through proselytizing and conversions. This growth has resulted in tensions among the various groups, who often disagree over rituals and religious practices. For example, the Shi'is of Lebanon may find the rituals of their Pakistani counterparts offensive, if only because the latter show some traces of Hindu culture. Other Shi'is may be alarmed by how their Iranian cousins use passion plays in mourning practices.
Many immigrant Shi'is also have struggled to understand what Takim calls "black Shi'i," or African-American converts to the faith. Like so many demographic groups populating the American scene, Shi'is struggle with differences. "There is racism in the Shi'i community, too, as in other communities," he explains.
The identity issues that emerge from these frictions give Takim much to ponder. What does it mean to be Shi'i in a culture that touts the advantages of pluralism, in a country that understands so little about Islam? And what makes a Shi'i a Shi'i when the community demonstrates so much diversity?
"I think what surprised me was how the Shi'is are divided about how to approach Americans," Takim says, looking back on his research. Some Shi'is want to assimilate fully, while the more conservative often favor isolation and retreat. But as Takim sees it, the community's largest failing has been its reluctance to engage the larger multiethnic society. An impregnable isolation, he argues, only perpetuates marginalization.
Takim is especially interested in fissures between American Shi'is and Sunnis, noting that the two communities tended to coexist peacefully for much of the 20th century. "I think the turning point came around the 1970s, when the Wahabis started making their mark in America," he says, describing a conservative strain of Sunnism that dominates the religious culture of Saudi Arabia.
With Wahabism on the rise in American Sunni communities, it has not been uncommon for Shi'is to be shunned within Islamic centers and groups, Takim says, citing a number of troubling trends and news items. On U.S. campuses, for example, members of the Muslim Student Association frequently spar over sectarian differences, with some Sunnis calling for the exclusion of Shi'is. Increasingly, the Shi'i faithful have arrived at their local mosques only to discover ominous signs posted on the front door: "No Shi'i allowed."
What's more, Takim says, when Shi'is and Sunnis clash in, say, Iraq or Lebanon, the confrontation also surfaces on domestic soil. Nowhere was that more telling than in Dearborn, Mich., after the 2006 execution of Iraq's Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. In the days following Hussein's hanging, avenging Sunnis vandalized some Shi'i businesses. Although the episode was limited in scope, it left the Shi'i worried about the possibility of escalating hostilities.
Takim has felt the sting of this anti-Shi'i campaign himself. When he was a visiting professor at the University of Miami between 1991 and 2001, Sunni students discouraged other Muslim students from taking his classes on the grounds that he was a Shi'i. "What we see is sectarian differences from abroad arising in America," he says.
Although this worries him, he finds hope in the Americanization of Sunni and Shi'i youth. "The younger generation is going to be different because they are all pretty much university trained," he says, noting that they have been exposed to a diverse range of viewpoints. Like so many second- and third-generation Americans before them, he explains, "they are challenging the culture. The culture they are creating is primarily an American one."
Takim's book also looks at how Shi'is have adjusted to American life and American attitudes in the aftermath of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. In many respects, Takim explains, Shi'is were able to use 9/11 to their advantage, reversing negative opinions that grew out of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when Shi'i followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew the Shah. Americans came to associate the Shi'i with the subsequent seizure of the U.S. embassy and the taking of 52 American hostages.
The resulting view of Shi'is as Islam's radicals was, in many respects, altered by the events of 9/11. As Americans learned more about Osama Bin Laden, they also learned about Wahabism and other forms of extremism. Once the U.S. launched its invasion of Iraq, Shi'is were viewed more favorably-as supporters and allies. Along the way, American Shi'is used the post-9/11 events to denounce the violence associated with Bin Laden and to clarify their position within American society.
That process continues to this day. Like so many minority groups in the United States, Shi'is are learning to sustain their culture and practice their religion within the American context. "The Shi'is are as American as anybody else," Takim says, "and they are proud of their American identity."
The New York University Press will post publication details about Shi'ism in America in spring 2009.
Obama Cites CIA's Possible 'Mistakes' But Vows Support
President Barack Obama, accompanied by CIA Director Leon Panetta, waves to the crowd as he arrives to deliver remarks at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Monday, April 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Barack Obama walks with CIA Director Leon Panetta after delivering remarks at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va. Monday, April 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Barack Obama speaks at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Monday, April 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Barack Obama puts his hand to his ear after saying he heard an "Amen section" in the audience of employees as he speaks at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Monday, April 20, 2009. Behind him is CIA Director Leon Panetta. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Monday, April 20, 2009. At left is CIA Director Leon Panetta and right is Deputy Director Steve Kappes. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Barack Obama gestures to employees to sit down as he arrives to speak at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Monday, April 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Barack Obama speaks at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Monday, April 20, 2009. Left is CIA Director Leon Panetta. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Obama is introduced by CIA Director Leon E. Panetta in Langley. He was greeted by raucous cheers in his first visit to the agency's headquarters.
By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
President Obama traveled to the headquarters of the CIA yesterday to vow continued support for the agency despite weeks of revelations about the physical abuse and mental manipulation of terrorist suspects in its secret prisons.
Obama, greeted by raucous cheers in his first visit to the spy agency, thanked employees for their sacrifices and gave no hint of wavering from his pledge to oppose prosecutions of CIA workers who used interrogation methods that the president's own advisers have called torture.
But Obama also reiterated a position that CIA officials have opposed:
"What makes the United States special, and what makes you special, is precisely the fact that we are willing to uphold our values and ideals even when it's hard -- not just when it's easy," Obama told about 1,000 CIA employees, who shook the normally staid CIA headquarters building with deafening ovations, shouts and more than a few screams.
"So, yes, you've got a harder job. And so do I," he said. "And that's okay, because that's why we can take such extraordinary pride in being Americans."
His mild words immediately drew criticism from civil liberties groups that have called for an independent prosecutor to investigate whether Bush administration officials who authorized the practices committed criminal acts of torture.
Obama has been under increasing pressure to investigate the CIA's interrogation program in the wake of revelations about conditions in secret prisons where more than 100 suspected terrorists were held between 2002 and 2006. Last week, the White House ordered the release of long-classified Justice Department memos that showed how the agency sought to pressure detainees through extreme sleep deprivation, violence and waterboarding, which simulates drowning.
While the CIA has acknowledged the use of waterboarding and other harsh measures, the new memos revealed new details, including a plan to use insects to torment a detainee with a phobia. One memo, citing a report by the CIA's inspector general, said the agency had used the waterboard 183 times on a single detainee, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Zayn al-Abidin Muhammed Hussein, better known as Abu Zubaida, was waterboarded 83 times, the memo stated.
The release of the memos has been sharply criticized by several former intelligence leaders, including former CIA director Michael V. Hayden, who said the revelations could undermine future U.S. intelligence operations. Obama, however, in his 10-minute speech to CIA employees, cited "exceptional circumstances" that led to his decision to make them public. Those circumstances included an ongoing legal case that some legal scholars thought would have ultimately forced the disclosure of the memos regardless of Obama's wishes, he said.
Obama heard similar complaints during a private meeting without about 50 CIA employees prior to his speech. One official present during the private session said that Obama was asked pointed questions about the release of the memos and that there was "give-and-take" between the president and his audience of employees selected from across CIA departments.
The president made no mention of possible investigations or criminal inquiries during his public speech, and he sought to assure CIA officers that the government will "protect your identities and your security as you vigorously pursue your mission."
---
"Don't be discouraged that we have to acknowledge potentially we've made some mistakes. That's how we learn," he said.
Obama banned the used of harsh interrogation methods with an executive order on his second day in office.
He also appointed a panel of administration officials, including CIA Director Leon E. Panetta, to review past interrogation practices, but both Obama and Panetta have steadfastly opposed investigations or punishment for agency employees who were following government orders.
The Senate intelligence committee is conducting a parallel investigation. Yesterday, its chairman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), urged Obama to withhold judgment on the question of prosecutions until the committee completes its work.
Feinstein, in a letter to the White House, said a review of the first two CIA detainees had been completed and "will shortly be before the committee."
Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report
------
20 Apr 2009 23:47:11 GMT
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
* Obama greeted with cheers at CIA as he pledges support
* Cheney urges release of data showing methods' success
* Democratic senator urges caution on no-prosecution vow (Refiles to add dropped word "before" in fourth paragraph)
By Randall Mikkelsen
WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and his CIA chief buried differences on Monday over the release of classified documents on waterboarding, even as former Vice President Dick Cheney kept the debate alive.
Obama visited CIA headquarters and told agency employees that a fight against al Qaeda and other challenges, and foreign policy changes he is pursuing, make their expertise vital. He he pledged his full support.
"We live in dangerous times. I am going to need you more than ever," Obama said. He counseled the employees not to be discouraged by public discussion of "mistakes."
Shortly before Obama's visit, Cheney said he had asked the CIA to release documents showing the "success" of the widely condemned harsh-interrogation program launched by former President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The visit represented a swift bid by Obama to shore up CIA morale after he released last week classified Bush-era legal memos detailing the interrogation program.
"I know that the last few days have been difficult," he said. His arrival, however, was met by enthusiastic cheers from the audience of about 1,000 CIA staff.
CIA Director Leon Panetta told Obama he had the CIA's support and loyalty.
WATERBOARDING STATISTICS
The interrogation program included "waterboarding," a form of simulated drowning widely considered torture. It came to symbolize U.S. excesses in fighting terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks.
One memo said waterboarding had been used a total of 266 times on two of the three al Qaeda suspects the CIA acknowledges were waterboarded.
Obama said the memos were released because they had become the subject of a burdensome court fight and their covert nature had already been compromised.
Panetta vowed to respect a ban on harsh interrogations that Obama issued in January. He had opposed releasing the memos, joining former CIA directors concerned that their release could expose agents to retribution.
Cheney said in a "Fox News" interview with Sean Hannity that he found it disturbing that Obama did not also release memos that Cheney said documented the effectiveness of the interrogations -- a point contested by some experts.
The CIA declined to comment on Cheney's remarks.
Republican Kit Bond, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the release of the memos was a signal to CIA employees that "our government is not going to stand behind you."
Obama pledged to employees Monday that he would be "vigorous" in protecting them.
Obama also drew anger from human rights groups, by saying last week he would not prosecute CIA interrogators who had relied on the Bush-era legal guidelines.
The Democratic head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, urged him to withhold judgment on prosecutions, pending a closed-door review by her committee of the interrogation program.
Obama also acknowledged that CIA senior leaders in recent conversations had demonstrated "anxiety and concern" over his limits on interrogation techniques. (Editing by Eric Walsh)
President Barack Obama walks with CIA Director Leon Panetta after delivering remarks at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va. Monday, April 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Barack Obama speaks at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Monday, April 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Barack Obama puts his hand to his ear after saying he heard an "Amen section" in the audience of employees as he speaks at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Monday, April 20, 2009. Behind him is CIA Director Leon Panetta. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Monday, April 20, 2009. At left is CIA Director Leon Panetta and right is Deputy Director Steve Kappes. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Barack Obama gestures to employees to sit down as he arrives to speak at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Monday, April 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Barack Obama speaks at the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Va., Monday, April 20, 2009. Left is CIA Director Leon Panetta. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
President Obama is introduced by CIA Director Leon E. Panetta in Langley. He was greeted by raucous cheers in his first visit to the agency's headquarters.
By Joby Warrick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
President Obama traveled to the headquarters of the CIA yesterday to vow continued support for the agency despite weeks of revelations about the physical abuse and mental manipulation of terrorist suspects in its secret prisons.
Obama, greeted by raucous cheers in his first visit to the spy agency, thanked employees for their sacrifices and gave no hint of wavering from his pledge to oppose prosecutions of CIA workers who used interrogation methods that the president's own advisers have called torture.
But Obama also reiterated a position that CIA officials have opposed:
that the now-banned practices were potential "mistakes" that violated the country's core principles and should never be repeated.
"What makes the United States special, and what makes you special, is precisely the fact that we are willing to uphold our values and ideals even when it's hard -- not just when it's easy," Obama told about 1,000 CIA employees, who shook the normally staid CIA headquarters building with deafening ovations, shouts and more than a few screams.
"So, yes, you've got a harder job. And so do I," he said. "And that's okay, because that's why we can take such extraordinary pride in being Americans."
His mild words immediately drew criticism from civil liberties groups that have called for an independent prosecutor to investigate whether Bush administration officials who authorized the practices committed criminal acts of torture.
"In order to uphold our values, we need to enforce the law," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Torture is a crime. Contrary to previous comments by President Obama . . . accountability is neither retribution nor laying blame. It is an integral part of any functioning democracy and of restoring America's values and its reputation."
Obama has been under increasing pressure to investigate the CIA's interrogation program in the wake of revelations about conditions in secret prisons where more than 100 suspected terrorists were held between 2002 and 2006. Last week, the White House ordered the release of long-classified Justice Department memos that showed how the agency sought to pressure detainees through extreme sleep deprivation, violence and waterboarding, which simulates drowning.
While the CIA has acknowledged the use of waterboarding and other harsh measures, the new memos revealed new details, including a plan to use insects to torment a detainee with a phobia. One memo, citing a report by the CIA's inspector general, said the agency had used the waterboard 183 times on a single detainee, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Zayn al-Abidin Muhammed Hussein, better known as Abu Zubaida, was waterboarded 83 times, the memo stated.
The release of the memos has been sharply criticized by several former intelligence leaders, including former CIA director Michael V. Hayden, who said the revelations could undermine future U.S. intelligence operations. Obama, however, in his 10-minute speech to CIA employees, cited "exceptional circumstances" that led to his decision to make them public. Those circumstances included an ongoing legal case that some legal scholars thought would have ultimately forced the disclosure of the memos regardless of Obama's wishes, he said.
Obama heard similar complaints during a private meeting without about 50 CIA employees prior to his speech. One official present during the private session said that Obama was asked pointed questions about the release of the memos and that there was "give-and-take" between the president and his audience of employees selected from across CIA departments.
The president made no mention of possible investigations or criminal inquiries during his public speech, and he sought to assure CIA officers that the government will "protect your identities and your security as you vigorously pursue your mission."
---
"Don't be discouraged that we have to acknowledge potentially we've made some mistakes. That's how we learn," he said.
Obama banned the used of harsh interrogation methods with an executive order on his second day in office.
He also appointed a panel of administration officials, including CIA Director Leon E. Panetta, to review past interrogation practices, but both Obama and Panetta have steadfastly opposed investigations or punishment for agency employees who were following government orders.
The Senate intelligence committee is conducting a parallel investigation. Yesterday, its chairman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), urged Obama to withhold judgment on the question of prosecutions until the committee completes its work.
Feinstein, in a letter to the White House, said a review of the first two CIA detainees had been completed and "will shortly be before the committee."
Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report
------
RPT-Obama, CIA chief patch up interrogation-memo rift
20 Apr 2009 23:47:11 GMT
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
* Obama greeted with cheers at CIA as he pledges support
* Cheney urges release of data showing methods' success
* Democratic senator urges caution on no-prosecution vow (Refiles to add dropped word "before" in fourth paragraph)
By Randall Mikkelsen
WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and his CIA chief buried differences on Monday over the release of classified documents on waterboarding, even as former Vice President Dick Cheney kept the debate alive.
Obama visited CIA headquarters and told agency employees that a fight against al Qaeda and other challenges, and foreign policy changes he is pursuing, make their expertise vital. He he pledged his full support.
"We live in dangerous times. I am going to need you more than ever," Obama said. He counseled the employees not to be discouraged by public discussion of "mistakes."
Shortly before Obama's visit, Cheney said he had asked the CIA to release documents showing the "success" of the widely condemned harsh-interrogation program launched by former President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The visit represented a swift bid by Obama to shore up CIA morale after he released last week classified Bush-era legal memos detailing the interrogation program.
"I know that the last few days have been difficult," he said. His arrival, however, was met by enthusiastic cheers from the audience of about 1,000 CIA staff.
CIA Director Leon Panetta told Obama he had the CIA's support and loyalty.
WATERBOARDING STATISTICS
The interrogation program included "waterboarding," a form of simulated drowning widely considered torture. It came to symbolize U.S. excesses in fighting terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks.
One memo said waterboarding had been used a total of 266 times on two of the three al Qaeda suspects the CIA acknowledges were waterboarded.
Obama said the memos were released because they had become the subject of a burdensome court fight and their covert nature had already been compromised.
Panetta vowed to respect a ban on harsh interrogations that Obama issued in January. He had opposed releasing the memos, joining former CIA directors concerned that their release could expose agents to retribution.
Cheney said in a "Fox News" interview with Sean Hannity that he found it disturbing that Obama did not also release memos that Cheney said documented the effectiveness of the interrogations -- a point contested by some experts.
The CIA declined to comment on Cheney's remarks.
Republican Kit Bond, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the release of the memos was a signal to CIA employees that "our government is not going to stand behind you."
Obama pledged to employees Monday that he would be "vigorous" in protecting them.
Obama also drew anger from human rights groups, by saying last week he would not prosecute CIA interrogators who had relied on the Bush-era legal guidelines.
The Democratic head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, urged him to withhold judgment on prosecutions, pending a closed-door review by her committee of the interrogation program.
Obama also acknowledged that CIA senior leaders in recent conversations had demonstrated "anxiety and concern" over his limits on interrogation techniques. (Editing by Eric Walsh)
World's 1st cloned camel born in Dubai
The world's first cloned camel, Injaz (Achievement)
Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:14:16 GMT
The first-ever camel cloned in the world, Injaz (Achievement), has been born at the Camel Reproduction Centre in Dubai, UAE.
"We are all very excited at the birth of Injaz as she is the result of the great skill and teamwork of everyone at the Camel Reproduction Centre," scientific director of the Camel Reproduction Centre, Lulu Skidmore, said on Tuesday.
"This significant breakthrough in our research program at the CRC gives a means of preserving the valuable genetics of our elite racing and milk producing camels in the future," the scientist added.
According to the center, the female camel was born April 8 after an uncomplicated gestation of 378 days.
"Injaz, who is 30 kilos (during birth), seems to be happy and is doing all the right things so far," Skidmore explained.
The clone was produced using DNA which was extracted from cells from the ovaries of an animal that was slaughtered in 2005.
Camels, a valuable commodity in Arab countries, are used for racing and transport. They are famous for healthy low-fat milk and can fetch owners millions of dollars at camel beauty contests.
In 1996, the first cloned animal of the world, Dolly, was born in Edinburgh. The sheep, which died in 2003, was considered one of the world's most significant breakthroughs.
Wed, 15 Apr 2009 10:14:16 GMT
The first-ever camel cloned in the world, Injaz (Achievement), has been born at the Camel Reproduction Centre in Dubai, UAE.
"We are all very excited at the birth of Injaz as she is the result of the great skill and teamwork of everyone at the Camel Reproduction Centre," scientific director of the Camel Reproduction Centre, Lulu Skidmore, said on Tuesday.
"This significant breakthrough in our research program at the CRC gives a means of preserving the valuable genetics of our elite racing and milk producing camels in the future," the scientist added.
According to the center, the female camel was born April 8 after an uncomplicated gestation of 378 days.
"Injaz, who is 30 kilos (during birth), seems to be happy and is doing all the right things so far," Skidmore explained.
The clone was produced using DNA which was extracted from cells from the ovaries of an animal that was slaughtered in 2005.
Camels, a valuable commodity in Arab countries, are used for racing and transport. They are famous for healthy low-fat milk and can fetch owners millions of dollars at camel beauty contests.
In 1996, the first cloned animal of the world, Dolly, was born in Edinburgh. The sheep, which died in 2003, was considered one of the world's most significant breakthroughs.
Woman beheaded in Saudi Arabia
April 20 2009 at 02:57PM
Riyadh - Authorities have beheaded a Saudi woman convicted of shooting her husband and setting his body on fire.
Laila Bin Hamdan al-Shammari was executed in the northern city of Hayel.
The Interior Ministry said the woman killed her husband after a dispute. It did not explain the nature of the argument.
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery can be executed - usually with a sword.
According to an Associated Press count, Monday's execution was the 24th beheading this year in Saudi Arabia.
In 2008, 102 people were beheaded. - Sapa-AP
Riyadh - Authorities have beheaded a Saudi woman convicted of shooting her husband and setting his body on fire.
Laila Bin Hamdan al-Shammari was executed in the northern city of Hayel.
The Interior Ministry said the woman killed her husband after a dispute. It did not explain the nature of the argument.
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam under which people convicted of murder, drug trafficking, rape and armed robbery can be executed - usually with a sword.
According to an Associated Press count, Monday's execution was the 24th beheading this year in Saudi Arabia.
In 2008, 102 people were beheaded. - Sapa-AP
Japan 'regrets' US boycott of UN racism conference
Published: 04.20.09, 12:35 / Israel News
Japan said Monday it would attend a UN conference on racism and regretted a US boycott of the event, which has been overshadowed by fears of a Western walkout and a verbal onslaught on Israel.
"I regret that the United States cannot participate in the conference," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters. "Japan will send our delegation led by Ambassador to Geneva (Shinichi) Kitajima." UN chief Ban Ki-moon was due to open the anti-racism conference in Geneva later Monday amid fears Iran's president would lash out at Israel. (AFP)
---
Iran president to address shunned U.N. racism summit
By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations conference on racism shunned by the United States and many of its allies opens Monday when a speech by Iran's president, also regarded with suspicion by the West, will be the focus of attention.
Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Italy are among the countries avoiding the summit on fears it will be a platform for what U.S. President Barack Obama called "hypocritical and counterproductive" antagonism toward Israel.
France will attend the "Durban II" meeting but will walk out if it is used as a platform to attack Israel, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the only major head of state who accepted a United Nations invitation to take part in the meeting in Geneva, which U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will also address Monday.
France, like Britain and the Czech Republic, is sending its Geneva ambassadors to the meeting but will not dispatch top officials.
The Iranian leader's speech, coinciding with Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, could overshadow the summit which the United Nations wants to focus on easing ethnic and racial tensions that threaten migrant workers and minorities.
Ahmadinejad has said Israel should be "wiped off the map" and questioned whether the Nazi Holocaust occurred.
Kouchner, saying its representatives would walk out if there were any open antagonism toward Israel by Ahmadinejad, told France Info radio: "We will not tolerate any excesses, any provocation."
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the failure of the 27-member European Union to agree a common position on the meeting was a huge disappointment.
"Going there and acting as a silent witness does not pay in the end: you only risk becoming complicit to it," he said in an interview with Italian daily Il Giornale.
The United States and Israel walked out of the last major U.N. race conference in Durban, South Africa, in 2001 after Arab states sought to label Zionism as racist.
U.S. SEEKS 'CLEAN START'
An introductory paragraph "reaffirming" the language of the 2001 meeting declaration, which singled out Israel for scrutiny, proved most controversial in the run-up to the Geneva summit.
U.S. President Barack Obama, speaking at a news conference after the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, said Washington wanted a "clean slate" before tackling race and discrimination issues at the United Nations.
"If we have a clean start, a fresh start, we are happy to go," he said, explaining the U.S. position. "If you're incorporating a previous conference that we weren't involved with (and) that raised a whole set of objectionable provisions, then we couldn't participate."
The U.S. Human Rights Network, an umbrella organization of 300 activist groups, decried Washington's decision to stay away from the summit, three months after Obama became the first African-American U.S. president.
His election "does not close the chapter on racism in the U.S.," it said. "It doesn't end the U.S. obligation to challenge racism globally. On the contrary, the world is looking to the Obama administration to take a leading role in this struggle for racial justice and human rights."
And Human Rights Watch, a New York-based group, said the absence of the U.S. and other Western powers "strikes a blow at U.N. efforts to fight racism."
"Instead of isolating radical voices, governments have capitulated to them," advocacy director Juliette de Rivero said.
(Additional reporting by James Mackenzie in Paris, Gilles Castonguay in Milan, Jan Strupczewski in Brussels and Sue Pleming in Washington; editing by Richard Balmforth)
----
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a meeting with former Turkish Prime Minister, Najmeddin Erbakan, said in Tehran on Sunday, before departing for Geneva, that Islamic states particularly Iran and Turkey should bolster mutual cooperation in order to bring their nations much closer. Touching upon cultural bonds between the two dedicated Muslim peoples, he said by God's grace, the current situation in the world is changing, and the world will finally be administered by pious believers.
Dr. Ahmadinejad praised Erbakan's revolutionary stands on global developments, noting that the measure taken by Erbakan to form the D-8 group of Muslim countries over a decade ago when he was Prime Minister was positive and the organization should be supported by all Islamic states.
He strongly castigated the disgusting role of the Zionists throughout the world, saying: "The Zionists are disbelievers and have no faith in God and religion. They are opposed to prophets and are enemies of humanity."
The Iranian president said the role of Iran and Turkey in building a new world is vital, adding that the Zionists and their masters are afraid of this reality.
He said today the Zionists are disgraced all over the world, among the South Americans, the Africans, the Asians, and even the conscientious citizens of the US.
The former Turkish Premier, for his part, hailed Iran and Turkey as friendly and fraternal nations, stressing that "Iran through its revolutionary and constructive measures seek to salvage the globe."
On Iran's access to peaceful nuclear energy, he said that use of nuclear energy is among Iran's legitimate rights.
http://english.irib.ir/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21301&Itemid=100
----
Ahmadinejad prompts walkout from U.N. racism summit
Reuters
Iran's President President Ahmadinejad addresses the High Level segment of the Durban Review Conference on racism at the U.N. European headquarter Reuters – Iran's President President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the High Level segment of the Durban Review …
By Laura MacInnis Laura Macinnis – Mon Apr 20, 2:50 pm ET
GENEVA (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prompted a rare walk-out at the United Nations on Monday when he called Israel a "cruel and repressive racist regime" in his remarks to a conference on race.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored the address which prompted dozens of delegates to leave their seats, further undermining the summit which some Western powers including the United States are boycotting.
"It was a very troubling experience for me as secretary-general," he told a news conference at the day's end. "I have not seen, experienced, this kind of disruptive proceedings of the assembly, the conference, by any one member state. It was a totally unacceptable situation."
Washington announced on Saturday it would sit out the Geneva forum on fears it would be dominated by unfair criticism against Israel. Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands then followed suit.
Their boycott left Ahmadinejad, who has in the past cast doubt on the Nazi Holocaust, in the spotlight as the only head of state at the conference.
His speech produced exactly the kind of language that they feared, which had also caused Canada and Israel to announce months ago they would stay away.
U.S. CALLS SPEECH "VILE"
Washington decried Ahmadinejad's speech as "vile and hateful," while the Vatican called it "extremist and unacceptable." Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, called the address both "unsavory" and "obnoxious."
"I was shocked and deeply saddened by everything he said," she told journalists. "I don't think, though, that his behavior provided any justification for any other member state to walk out from this conference."
Dozens of diplomats in the audience promptly got up and left the hall for the duration of the speech. While most returned when Ahmadinejad finished speaking, the Czech Republic said its delegation would no longer take part in the conference.
"Such outrageous anti-Semitic remarks should have no place in a U.N. anti-racism forum," said British ambassador Peter Gooderham, whose country chose not to send a minister to Geneva.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store told the plenary after Ahmadinejad's speech that Iran had isolated itself. "Norway will not accept that the odd man out hijacks the collective efforts of the many," he said.
However, a number of the delegations that remained behind applauded Ahmadinejad.
Ban, who had held a meeting with Ahmadinejad before the address, said it was "deeply regrettable" that the Iranian leader had ignored his plea to avoid causing upset.
"I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian President to accuse, divide and even incite," he said. "We must all turn away from such a message in both form and substance."
Earlier on Monday, Israel recalled its ambassador to Switzerland in protest about the conference and Israeli officials also voiced anger at a meeting that Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz held on Sunday with Ahmadinejad.
Arab and Muslim attempts to single out the Jewish state for criticism had prompted the United States to walk out of the first U.N. summit on racism, in South Africa in 2001.
Although a declaration prepared for the follow-up conference does not refer explicitly to Israel or the Middle East, its first paragraph "reaffirms" a text adopted at the 2001 meeting which includes six paragraphs on those sensitive issues.
(Additional reporting by Robert Evans, Jonathan Lynn and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, James Mackenzie in Paris, Philip Pullella in Rome, and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Japan said Monday it would attend a UN conference on racism and regretted a US boycott of the event, which has been overshadowed by fears of a Western walkout and a verbal onslaught on Israel.
"I regret that the United States cannot participate in the conference," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters. "Japan will send our delegation led by Ambassador to Geneva (Shinichi) Kitajima." UN chief Ban Ki-moon was due to open the anti-racism conference in Geneva later Monday amid fears Iran's president would lash out at Israel. (AFP)
---
Iran president to address shunned U.N. racism summit
By Laura MacInnis
GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations conference on racism shunned by the United States and many of its allies opens Monday when a speech by Iran's president, also regarded with suspicion by the West, will be the focus of attention.
Australia, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Italy are among the countries avoiding the summit on fears it will be a platform for what U.S. President Barack Obama called "hypocritical and counterproductive" antagonism toward Israel.
France will attend the "Durban II" meeting but will walk out if it is used as a platform to attack Israel, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the only major head of state who accepted a United Nations invitation to take part in the meeting in Geneva, which U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will also address Monday.
France, like Britain and the Czech Republic, is sending its Geneva ambassadors to the meeting but will not dispatch top officials.
The Iranian leader's speech, coinciding with Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day, could overshadow the summit which the United Nations wants to focus on easing ethnic and racial tensions that threaten migrant workers and minorities.
Ahmadinejad has said Israel should be "wiped off the map" and questioned whether the Nazi Holocaust occurred.
Kouchner, saying its representatives would walk out if there were any open antagonism toward Israel by Ahmadinejad, told France Info radio: "We will not tolerate any excesses, any provocation."
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the failure of the 27-member European Union to agree a common position on the meeting was a huge disappointment.
"Going there and acting as a silent witness does not pay in the end: you only risk becoming complicit to it," he said in an interview with Italian daily Il Giornale.
The United States and Israel walked out of the last major U.N. race conference in Durban, South Africa, in 2001 after Arab states sought to label Zionism as racist.
U.S. SEEKS 'CLEAN START'
An introductory paragraph "reaffirming" the language of the 2001 meeting declaration, which singled out Israel for scrutiny, proved most controversial in the run-up to the Geneva summit.
U.S. President Barack Obama, speaking at a news conference after the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, said Washington wanted a "clean slate" before tackling race and discrimination issues at the United Nations.
"If we have a clean start, a fresh start, we are happy to go," he said, explaining the U.S. position. "If you're incorporating a previous conference that we weren't involved with (and) that raised a whole set of objectionable provisions, then we couldn't participate."
The U.S. Human Rights Network, an umbrella organization of 300 activist groups, decried Washington's decision to stay away from the summit, three months after Obama became the first African-American U.S. president.
His election "does not close the chapter on racism in the U.S.," it said. "It doesn't end the U.S. obligation to challenge racism globally. On the contrary, the world is looking to the Obama administration to take a leading role in this struggle for racial justice and human rights."
And Human Rights Watch, a New York-based group, said the absence of the U.S. and other Western powers "strikes a blow at U.N. efforts to fight racism."
"Instead of isolating radical voices, governments have capitulated to them," advocacy director Juliette de Rivero said.
(Additional reporting by James Mackenzie in Paris, Gilles Castonguay in Milan, Jan Strupczewski in Brussels and Sue Pleming in Washington; editing by Richard Balmforth)
----
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a meeting with former Turkish Prime Minister, Najmeddin Erbakan, said in Tehran on Sunday, before departing for Geneva, that Islamic states particularly Iran and Turkey should bolster mutual cooperation in order to bring their nations much closer. Touching upon cultural bonds between the two dedicated Muslim peoples, he said by God's grace, the current situation in the world is changing, and the world will finally be administered by pious believers.
Dr. Ahmadinejad praised Erbakan's revolutionary stands on global developments, noting that the measure taken by Erbakan to form the D-8 group of Muslim countries over a decade ago when he was Prime Minister was positive and the organization should be supported by all Islamic states.
He strongly castigated the disgusting role of the Zionists throughout the world, saying: "The Zionists are disbelievers and have no faith in God and religion. They are opposed to prophets and are enemies of humanity."
The Iranian president said the role of Iran and Turkey in building a new world is vital, adding that the Zionists and their masters are afraid of this reality.
He said today the Zionists are disgraced all over the world, among the South Americans, the Africans, the Asians, and even the conscientious citizens of the US.
The former Turkish Premier, for his part, hailed Iran and Turkey as friendly and fraternal nations, stressing that "Iran through its revolutionary and constructive measures seek to salvage the globe."
On Iran's access to peaceful nuclear energy, he said that use of nuclear energy is among Iran's legitimate rights.
http://english.irib.ir/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21301&Itemid=100
----
Ahmadinejad prompts walkout from U.N. racism summit
Reuters
Iran's President President Ahmadinejad addresses the High Level segment of the Durban Review Conference on racism at the U.N. European headquarter Reuters – Iran's President President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the High Level segment of the Durban Review …
By Laura MacInnis Laura Macinnis – Mon Apr 20, 2:50 pm ET
GENEVA (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prompted a rare walk-out at the United Nations on Monday when he called Israel a "cruel and repressive racist regime" in his remarks to a conference on race.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored the address which prompted dozens of delegates to leave their seats, further undermining the summit which some Western powers including the United States are boycotting.
"It was a very troubling experience for me as secretary-general," he told a news conference at the day's end. "I have not seen, experienced, this kind of disruptive proceedings of the assembly, the conference, by any one member state. It was a totally unacceptable situation."
Washington announced on Saturday it would sit out the Geneva forum on fears it would be dominated by unfair criticism against Israel. Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands then followed suit.
Their boycott left Ahmadinejad, who has in the past cast doubt on the Nazi Holocaust, in the spotlight as the only head of state at the conference.
His speech produced exactly the kind of language that they feared, which had also caused Canada and Israel to announce months ago they would stay away.
"Following World War Two they resorted to military aggressions to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering," Ahmadinejad told the conference, on the day that Jewish communities commemorate the Holocaust.
"And they sent migrants from Europe, the United States and other parts of the world in order to establish a totally racist government in the occupied Palestine," he said, according to the official translation.
"And in fact, in compensation for the dire consequences of racism in Europe, they helped bring to power the most cruel and repressive racist regime in Palestine."
U.S. CALLS SPEECH "VILE"
Washington decried Ahmadinejad's speech as "vile and hateful," while the Vatican called it "extremist and unacceptable." Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, called the address both "unsavory" and "obnoxious."
"I was shocked and deeply saddened by everything he said," she told journalists. "I don't think, though, that his behavior provided any justification for any other member state to walk out from this conference."
Dozens of diplomats in the audience promptly got up and left the hall for the duration of the speech. While most returned when Ahmadinejad finished speaking, the Czech Republic said its delegation would no longer take part in the conference.
"Such outrageous anti-Semitic remarks should have no place in a U.N. anti-racism forum," said British ambassador Peter Gooderham, whose country chose not to send a minister to Geneva.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store told the plenary after Ahmadinejad's speech that Iran had isolated itself. "Norway will not accept that the odd man out hijacks the collective efforts of the many," he said.
However, a number of the delegations that remained behind applauded Ahmadinejad.
Ban, who had held a meeting with Ahmadinejad before the address, said it was "deeply regrettable" that the Iranian leader had ignored his plea to avoid causing upset.
"I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian President to accuse, divide and even incite," he said. "We must all turn away from such a message in both form and substance."
Earlier on Monday, Israel recalled its ambassador to Switzerland in protest about the conference and Israeli officials also voiced anger at a meeting that Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz held on Sunday with Ahmadinejad.
Arab and Muslim attempts to single out the Jewish state for criticism had prompted the United States to walk out of the first U.N. summit on racism, in South Africa in 2001.
Although a declaration prepared for the follow-up conference does not refer explicitly to Israel or the Middle East, its first paragraph "reaffirms" a text adopted at the 2001 meeting which includes six paragraphs on those sensitive issues.
(Additional reporting by Robert Evans, Jonathan Lynn and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, James Mackenzie in Paris, Philip Pullella in Rome, and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
London To Host International Investment Conference On Iraq - Officials
AMMAN -(Dow Jones)- Iraq's National Investment Commission will host an international conference in London on April 30 to promote investment in Iraq, Iraqi officials said Monday.
They said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and several Iraqi ministers, including the Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani and Finance Minister Bayan Jabor, would present to more than 100 top U.K. and international companies investment projects to upgrade the country's infrastructure, as well as in the oil and industry sectors, which have been hit hard by war and violence.
The two-day meeting, called Invest Iraq, London 2009, will provide information about the sectors for direct foreign investment, organizers said.
The meeting, set up with the support of the U.K. Department for International Development, would also provide one-to-one discussions with Iraqi stakeholders to discuss investment opportunities, they added.
Jabor said late last year that Iraq would need about $400 billion over the next few years to rebuild its infrastructure.
Reconstruction has been hampered by insurgent attacks and violence, which have forced many projects to be halted and have diverted funds away from rebuilding into security.
But the improvement in the security situation since the beginning of last year has encouraged international firms, especially those in the oil sector, to start considering projects in Iraq.
To encourage foreign investment, Iraq passed a law in 2006 allowing foreign investors to move in and out of Iraq for the first time.
The law gives Iraqi and foreign investors equal shares in investment projects, except in land ownership.
-By Hassan Hafidh, Dow Jones Newswires; + 962 799 831 831; hassan.hafidh@ dowjones.com
They said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and several Iraqi ministers, including the Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani and Finance Minister Bayan Jabor, would present to more than 100 top U.K. and international companies investment projects to upgrade the country's infrastructure, as well as in the oil and industry sectors, which have been hit hard by war and violence.
The two-day meeting, called Invest Iraq, London 2009, will provide information about the sectors for direct foreign investment, organizers said.
The meeting, set up with the support of the U.K. Department for International Development, would also provide one-to-one discussions with Iraqi stakeholders to discuss investment opportunities, they added.
Jabor said late last year that Iraq would need about $400 billion over the next few years to rebuild its infrastructure.
Reconstruction has been hampered by insurgent attacks and violence, which have forced many projects to be halted and have diverted funds away from rebuilding into security.
But the improvement in the security situation since the beginning of last year has encouraged international firms, especially those in the oil sector, to start considering projects in Iraq.
To encourage foreign investment, Iraq passed a law in 2006 allowing foreign investors to move in and out of Iraq for the first time.
The law gives Iraqi and foreign investors equal shares in investment projects, except in land ownership.
-By Hassan Hafidh, Dow Jones Newswires; + 962 799 831 831; hassan.hafidh@ dowjones.com
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Islam orders the woman to keep herself pretty for her husband, that's well-known
Muslim women value sexy
The only embarrassment is of choice. Sex sells in the souk, where Syrians flock to buy the latest lingerie, some of it edible, some sporting flashing lights and all of it kitsch personified. Chocolate knickers, panties adorned with singing canaries, feathered bras that twinkle in the dark... all this and more can be found in the popular Al-Hamidiyeh market, the best known in the capital Damascus.
"Women, veiled or otherwise, come here to buy -- and so do men," lingerie seller Samer says at his colourful stall on the way to the celebrated Omayyad Mosque. He waves an arm at underwear of every description, colour and material. Fluffy, flounced, vinyl complete with pocket for mobile phone, G-strings that fall away at the clap of hands, and of course the strawberry-flavoured.
This year Samer plans to boost his business with a new line of naughty outfits, focusing on the schoolgirl, housewife and nurse. His shop may be tiny, but he is not just selling "smalls". Piled on a table is aphrodisiac chewing gum called "Jaguar Power", sexy massage oils and even delay sprays imported from China and Thailand. "Many women buy these for themselves, and also for their husbands," he confides, unfazed to be surrounded by a rainbow orgy of frilly bodices and skimpy thongs.
Sales of such lingerie are scantier than they were three years ago, but merchants such as Samer are loath to blame global economic problems on a reduction in raunchiness. They hope that come summer their shops will be bulging with tourists, mainly from Gulf Arab states, attracted by the delights of such alluring fripperies.
That such sexy garments are visibly on sale in a well-frequented Damascus market should come as no surprise, according to one Syrian sociologist who prefers not to be identified. "The culture of sexual pleasure has an important role in Islam," he says of a patriarchal and conservative society in which polygamy is allowed. "A Muslim woman works hard to ensure she is attractive. But she keeps her eroticism for her husband. She may be limited in personal liberties outside the home, but inside anything goes."
Amal, a pretty woman of 42 sporting a colourful scarf, has come to the Al-Hamidiyeh souk to choose lingerie for her daughter who will be marrying her cousin this summer. A belly-dancing outfit has become a must for young brides, Amal says as she picks out a gold-sequinned version for the blushing bride-to-be. "Muslim wives must be desirable and pleasure their husbands so they don't stray," she adds with a large grin.
The shopkeeper steers a male customer towards pink nighties trimmed with feathers and lacy basques or teddies. Rashad (37) chooses a little red-laced chiffon and vinyl number, for which he hands over $37. "It's a present for my wife," he says. "I often buy her gifts to keep things new."
"Islam orders the woman to keep herself pretty for her husband, that's well-known," Mohammad Habash, head of the Damascus Centre for Islamic Studies says. He says there is nothing at all contradictory in a veiled Muslim woman buying sexy underwear. "A woman can buy whatever she desires, even a dancer's outfit for when she wants to give pleasure to her husband," Habash adds. "This is not only her right, it's an obligation."
She went to Al-Hamidiyeh souk to choose lingerie for her daughter who will be marrying her cousin this summer.
The only embarrassment is of choice. Sex sells in the souk, where Syrians flock to buy the latest lingerie, some of it edible, some sporting flashing lights and all of it kitsch personified. Chocolate knickers, panties adorned with singing canaries, feathered bras that twinkle in the dark... all this and more can be found in the popular Al-Hamidiyeh market, the best known in the capital Damascus.
"Women, veiled or otherwise, come here to buy -- and so do men," lingerie seller Samer says at his colourful stall on the way to the celebrated Omayyad Mosque. He waves an arm at underwear of every description, colour and material. Fluffy, flounced, vinyl complete with pocket for mobile phone, G-strings that fall away at the clap of hands, and of course the strawberry-flavoured.
This year Samer plans to boost his business with a new line of naughty outfits, focusing on the schoolgirl, housewife and nurse. His shop may be tiny, but he is not just selling "smalls". Piled on a table is aphrodisiac chewing gum called "Jaguar Power", sexy massage oils and even delay sprays imported from China and Thailand. "Many women buy these for themselves, and also for their husbands," he confides, unfazed to be surrounded by a rainbow orgy of frilly bodices and skimpy thongs.
Sales of such lingerie are scantier than they were three years ago, but merchants such as Samer are loath to blame global economic problems on a reduction in raunchiness. They hope that come summer their shops will be bulging with tourists, mainly from Gulf Arab states, attracted by the delights of such alluring fripperies.
That such sexy garments are visibly on sale in a well-frequented Damascus market should come as no surprise, according to one Syrian sociologist who prefers not to be identified. "The culture of sexual pleasure has an important role in Islam," he says of a patriarchal and conservative society in which polygamy is allowed. "A Muslim woman works hard to ensure she is attractive. But she keeps her eroticism for her husband. She may be limited in personal liberties outside the home, but inside anything goes."
Amal, a pretty woman of 42 sporting a colourful scarf, has come to the Al-Hamidiyeh souk to choose lingerie for her daughter who will be marrying her cousin this summer. A belly-dancing outfit has become a must for young brides, Amal says as she picks out a gold-sequinned version for the blushing bride-to-be. "Muslim wives must be desirable and pleasure their husbands so they don't stray," she adds with a large grin.
The shopkeeper steers a male customer towards pink nighties trimmed with feathers and lacy basques or teddies. Rashad (37) chooses a little red-laced chiffon and vinyl number, for which he hands over $37. "It's a present for my wife," he says. "I often buy her gifts to keep things new."
"Islam orders the woman to keep herself pretty for her husband, that's well-known," Mohammad Habash, head of the Damascus Centre for Islamic Studies says. He says there is nothing at all contradictory in a veiled Muslim woman buying sexy underwear. "A woman can buy whatever she desires, even a dancer's outfit for when she wants to give pleasure to her husband," Habash adds. "This is not only her right, it's an obligation."
She went to Al-Hamidiyeh souk to choose lingerie for her daughter who will be marrying her cousin this summer.
North: Death on the Road
April 17, 2009, 6:41 pm
By Campbell Robertson
First Lt. Ryan Yaun speaks to the Iraqi police about a murder near Zumar.Stephen Farrell/The New York Times First Lt. Ryan Yaun speaks to the Iraqi police about a murder near Zumar.
ZUMAR–We passed a crowd. Men were standing in solemn clusters on the side of the road, eyeing our convoy of Humvees as we rode slowly by. The police later told us what had happened. A local businessman had been shot by the side of the road. It was the first killing here in a long time.
Zumar, a region of Nineveh province spread across the green foothills leading into Kurdistan, is a quiet corner of Iraq, largely unstained by the bloodshed of the rest of the country. Arabs and Kurds here live side by side peacefully; checkpoints fly both the Kurdish and Iraqi flags.
My colleague Stephen Farrell and I were brought here by Apache troop, of the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment. We had been staying at a base in Tal Afar, taking one and two day trips to every place we could in Nineveh province, to the little towns that lie along the deserts to the south and the muddy villages in the north, where cell phones switch over to the Turkish network. Zumar was interesting because it was a place where Kurds had rolled in after the invasion but Arab-Kurd tensions had never really simmered.
Our first stop was a tiny village of mud houses and itinerant chickens called Tibat ar Riyah. The afternoon was chilly and overcast, and our boots were coated in mud as soon as we stepped out of the Humvees. We entered what appeared to be the one concrete house in the village, a long pillow- and rug-lined hall that served as a meeting place, and drank tea with the brother of the muqtar, the village chief. The brother, Khalaf Hassan Abdulrazzak, and First Lt. Ryan Yaun, a boyish-looking 30-year-old from Freeport, Ill., talked water pumps, schools and power plants.
On the whole, Tibat ar Riyah, despite its near medieval poverty, had few complaints. Lieutenant Yaun asked if they had any problems with the imposed curfew. Mr Abdulrazzak said no one had any good reason to be outside his house after dark anyway.
We left to go see the sheik, a tribal leader who controlled about 20 villages in the area.
Along an otherwise empty stretch of highway, we came across the crowd. Cars were parked on either side of the road. The men stood in groups. A car accident maybe. Or a not very fun picnic. We pulled over and the platoon’s interpreter asked what was going on. That was when we learned that there had been a murder.
The sheik lived a couple of miles away, behind a police station in a town called al-Hudgha. There did not appear to be much to the town other than the station and, on the top of a hill across the road, a 400-year-old graveyard. Dozens of men, family members of the murder victim, were gathered on the road between the station and the graveyard. Lieutenant Yaun approached the local police commander to ask what happened.
“Thank you very much, we can handle everything,” the commander said. “We don’t need your help.”
His tone was friendly but the message was clear. Lieutenant Yaun said he would be happy to offer any support but was just curious what had happened. The victim was from a nearby town and was returning from the district capital, where he had a shop, the commander explained. The bad guys did it, he said, ending the conversation.
Nearby, next to one of those peculiarly camouflaged Iraqi Humvees, Col. Qais Chako, an army officer, had his own theory.
“Two days ago we had a meeting and we talked about the situation,” the colonel said. “It’s going to become very dangerous here. A lot of bad guys are coming to this place, coming from Mosul to here.”
We returned to the Humvees and rode around to the back of the police station, parking in front of two homes that overlooked the surrounding countryside. They belonged to Sheik Massoud Suleiman al-Sadoon, who had the wry smile and imposing stature that is practically a requirement for Iraqi tribal leaders.
The sheik sat on a sofa with his brothers and, over tea and cigarettes, explained that the victim was a member of his tribe. He said that the violence would get worse in Zumar, blaming it on the newly elected Sunni Arab leaders of the province, who, he said, were closely tied to terrorist groups.
He began talking of the rumors he was hearing from others in the area. Killings like this will start happening all over Nineveh province, he said.
After talking for about an hour, we thanked the sheik for his hospitality and left for the long drive back to Tal Afar. Insurgency spreading to a quiet place like Zumar, we said to each other in the back of the Humvee. If true, that presages all kinds of bad things.
It is hard to know what to make of these conversations. Rumors spread quickly in Iraq and tend to gather hyperbole as they travel. But it is also hard to argue with a corpse. That dead businessman on the side of the road seemed to bear out the theories of both the sheik and the army colonel, that the insurgents—the bad guys–were heading north.
A week later, after we had returned to Baghdad, we called the sheik.
The murder case was closed, he said. The businessman who was killed had harassed a woman. Her husband, a local policeman, had killed him in retaliation. The husband was arrested after some witnesses reported spotting his car at the crime scene. He soon confessed. It was a run of the mill crime, cop show stuff. It could have happened anywhere.
“The situation is quiet here now,” the sheik said.
------
Old Order Is Back in Northern Iraq
Riding a wave of resentment against the Kurds -- and openly touting influence with insurgents -- Sunnis came to control Iraq's second-most-populous province in their first election.
http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/world/middle-east/1194811622215/index.html#
He sent us his best regards.
By Campbell Robertson
First Lt. Ryan Yaun speaks to the Iraqi police about a murder near Zumar.Stephen Farrell/The New York Times First Lt. Ryan Yaun speaks to the Iraqi police about a murder near Zumar.
ZUMAR–We passed a crowd. Men were standing in solemn clusters on the side of the road, eyeing our convoy of Humvees as we rode slowly by. The police later told us what had happened. A local businessman had been shot by the side of the road. It was the first killing here in a long time.
Zumar, a region of Nineveh province spread across the green foothills leading into Kurdistan, is a quiet corner of Iraq, largely unstained by the bloodshed of the rest of the country. Arabs and Kurds here live side by side peacefully; checkpoints fly both the Kurdish and Iraqi flags.
My colleague Stephen Farrell and I were brought here by Apache troop, of the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment. We had been staying at a base in Tal Afar, taking one and two day trips to every place we could in Nineveh province, to the little towns that lie along the deserts to the south and the muddy villages in the north, where cell phones switch over to the Turkish network. Zumar was interesting because it was a place where Kurds had rolled in after the invasion but Arab-Kurd tensions had never really simmered.
Our first stop was a tiny village of mud houses and itinerant chickens called Tibat ar Riyah. The afternoon was chilly and overcast, and our boots were coated in mud as soon as we stepped out of the Humvees. We entered what appeared to be the one concrete house in the village, a long pillow- and rug-lined hall that served as a meeting place, and drank tea with the brother of the muqtar, the village chief. The brother, Khalaf Hassan Abdulrazzak, and First Lt. Ryan Yaun, a boyish-looking 30-year-old from Freeport, Ill., talked water pumps, schools and power plants.
On the whole, Tibat ar Riyah, despite its near medieval poverty, had few complaints. Lieutenant Yaun asked if they had any problems with the imposed curfew. Mr Abdulrazzak said no one had any good reason to be outside his house after dark anyway.
We left to go see the sheik, a tribal leader who controlled about 20 villages in the area.
Along an otherwise empty stretch of highway, we came across the crowd. Cars were parked on either side of the road. The men stood in groups. A car accident maybe. Or a not very fun picnic. We pulled over and the platoon’s interpreter asked what was going on. That was when we learned that there had been a murder.
The sheik lived a couple of miles away, behind a police station in a town called al-Hudgha. There did not appear to be much to the town other than the station and, on the top of a hill across the road, a 400-year-old graveyard. Dozens of men, family members of the murder victim, were gathered on the road between the station and the graveyard. Lieutenant Yaun approached the local police commander to ask what happened.
“Thank you very much, we can handle everything,” the commander said. “We don’t need your help.”
His tone was friendly but the message was clear. Lieutenant Yaun said he would be happy to offer any support but was just curious what had happened. The victim was from a nearby town and was returning from the district capital, where he had a shop, the commander explained. The bad guys did it, he said, ending the conversation.
Nearby, next to one of those peculiarly camouflaged Iraqi Humvees, Col. Qais Chako, an army officer, had his own theory.
“Two days ago we had a meeting and we talked about the situation,” the colonel said. “It’s going to become very dangerous here. A lot of bad guys are coming to this place, coming from Mosul to here.”
We returned to the Humvees and rode around to the back of the police station, parking in front of two homes that overlooked the surrounding countryside. They belonged to Sheik Massoud Suleiman al-Sadoon, who had the wry smile and imposing stature that is practically a requirement for Iraqi tribal leaders.
The sheik sat on a sofa with his brothers and, over tea and cigarettes, explained that the victim was a member of his tribe. He said that the violence would get worse in Zumar, blaming it on the newly elected Sunni Arab leaders of the province, who, he said, were closely tied to terrorist groups.
He began talking of the rumors he was hearing from others in the area. Killings like this will start happening all over Nineveh province, he said.
After talking for about an hour, we thanked the sheik for his hospitality and left for the long drive back to Tal Afar. Insurgency spreading to a quiet place like Zumar, we said to each other in the back of the Humvee. If true, that presages all kinds of bad things.
It is hard to know what to make of these conversations. Rumors spread quickly in Iraq and tend to gather hyperbole as they travel. But it is also hard to argue with a corpse. That dead businessman on the side of the road seemed to bear out the theories of both the sheik and the army colonel, that the insurgents—the bad guys–were heading north.
A week later, after we had returned to Baghdad, we called the sheik.
The murder case was closed, he said. The businessman who was killed had harassed a woman. Her husband, a local policeman, had killed him in retaliation. The husband was arrested after some witnesses reported spotting his car at the crime scene. He soon confessed. It was a run of the mill crime, cop show stuff. It could have happened anywhere.
“The situation is quiet here now,” the sheik said.
------
Old Order Is Back in Northern Iraq
Riding a wave of resentment against the Kurds -- and openly touting influence with insurgents -- Sunnis came to control Iraq's second-most-populous province in their first election.
http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/world/middle-east/1194811622215/index.html#
He sent us his best regards.
North: Camelot-Nearly Upon-Tigris
Sheik Abdullah Humedi Ajeel al-Yawar at the pasture on his estate where he keeps thoroughbreds and Arabians.
Video
http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/world/middle-east/1194811622215/index.html#
April 17, 2009, 6:51 pm
By Campbell Robertson
RABIA–We thought we would go out to visit Sheik Abdullah.
The sheik is an al-Yawar, the leading family of Iraq’s enormous Shammar tribe. He describes them as the Kennedys of Iraq, a understated comparison.
Framed pictures are scattered on tabletops in his home showing himself, his brothers, his father and grandfather with kings, heads of state and, among the more recent, Gen. David Petraeus. When asked a fairly simple question about his family’s current involvement in politics, he begins “Under the Ottoman rule…” and goes on to talk of the British, of revolts in the 50’s, of long periods in exile. So this is the kind of man Sheik Abdullah Humedi Ajeel al-Yawar is.
He has started a new political movement in the north, with national ambitions, so we arranged a visit to his estate not far from the Syrian border. As we were staying in the Kurdish city of Dohuk, he told us he would send drivers to meet near, but not at, the border with Kurdistan. Arabs, even emissaries from a powerful sheik, can expect a cold welcome from the Kurdish security forces.
We set out early, passing through the mountains and hills around Dohuk and into the sea of green fields in western Kurdistan, an area not unlike Texas, where oil pumps bow and rise steadily in the distance.
Soon we cross the bridge separating Kurdistan from the rest of Iraq. The usual edginess returns. So does the sand and the brown. But we quickly come across the sheik’s men waiting by the side of the road in pick-up trucks.
The first indication that you’ve reached the sheik’s estate is a sort of security slalom. Mounds of dirt are closely staggered at the entrance to and at several points along his endless driveway, forcing every car to drive a fairly demanding obstacle course. Future guests would do well to think about power steering.
The route runs for miles, past the sheik’s irrigated fields, past a row of greenhouses, 22 in all, past a series of ever-grimmer looking armed guards wearing long beards, keffiyehs and seriously inhospitable expressions.
The sheik is wealthy and powerful and he lets it show. It shows from the distance, when you see his palace isolated, fortified and flag-topped amid all the flat greenness.
It shows in the pasture on your right, where he keeps the thoroughbreds (Thoroughbred Any of a breed of horses, bred chiefly for racing, originating from a cross between Arabian stallions and English mares.) and Arabians he buys regularly from dealers in Dubai.
In the large semi-circle of lesser sheiks who wait patiently in plastic chairs on his lawn, hoping to get in a word, or at least, an appearance.
In his house, everywhere, in the shiny box of Cohiba cigars, in the gilded mirrors, in the magnificent Persian rug hanging in the anteroom that depicts the women and wine waiting in the afterlife (and which for reasons possibly having to do with the licentiousness of the scene or the Persianness of the make, he refuses to be photographed near).
None of this would be exceptional at a sheik’s house in, say, Dubai. But this isn’t Dubai.
There are questions about the sheik, about how much power he actually has within the family, and whispered stories, about his entertaining American officials in one room of the palace while dealing with bitter foes of the Americans in another. The Americans in the north talk of these rumors with a mixture of amusement and unease.
The tribe, as Sheik Abdullah will remind you often, is the first and basic unit of power. It is the building block of Iraq now and it was when the Assyrians were going around carving winged bulls on everything. The tribe goes back before such novelties as modern capitalism, back before the state, before the big religions.
Before journalists certainly, though he was kind enough to offer lunch. We moved into the dining room, where servants had already laid out a spread fit for a merchant fleet, thinking the interview would continue.
But the sheik didn’t show. Later, on a tour of his pasture, he explained. Diet, see. Doctor’s orders.
Everyone has constraints.
----
http://video.nytimes.com/video/playlist/world/middle-east/1194811622215/index.html#
Khalid Islambouli
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Jump to: navigation, search
Islambouli's trial
Khalid Ahmed Showky Al-Islambouli (Arabic: خالد أحمد شوقي الإسلامبولي) (January 15, 1955 – April 15, 1982) arranged and carried out the assassination of the Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, during the annual "6 October 1973 victory parade" on 6 October 1981. For his actions, Islambouli is considered by many radicals in the Islamic world to be an inspirational symbol and among the "first modern Shahids."[1]
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Background
* 2 The assassination of Sadat
* 3 A martyr in Iran
* 4 Relatives
* 5 Legacy
* 6 References
[edit] Background
Islambouli came from an average family in northern Egypt. After graduating from the Egyptian Military Academy with excellent grades, he was accepted as an officer in the Bombardment Forces of the Egyptian army with the rank of Lieutenant. Sometime after this appointment, Islambouli joined Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
[edit] The assassination of Sadat
Islambouli was not supposed to participate in the October parade, but was chosen by chance to replace an officer who was excused for not being able to participate. Once his section of the parade began to approach the President's platform, Islambouli and three other soldiers leapt from their truck and ran towards the stand while lobbing grenades toward where the President was standing with other foreign dignitaries. Islambouli entered the stands and emptied his assault rifle into Sadat's body, shouting "I have killed the Pharaoh!"[2] Immediately after assassinating the President, he was captured. Lieutenant Islambouli and twenty-three co-conspirators were tried, and he was found guilty. Twenty seven year old Islambouli and three other co-conspirators were publicly executed by firing squad on 15 April 1982.
[edit] A martyr in Iran
The Iranian government, in response to Sadat's recognition of Israel and his provision of asylum to the deposed Shah, cut relations with Egypt and named a street in Tehran after Islambouli in 1981 in honor of his "martyrdom". Iran's public portrayal of Islambouli as a hero and martyr has plagued Egyptian-Iranian diplomatic relations.[3] In light of extensive public protest, in May 2001 the Tehran City Council renamed the street "Intifada street" in an effort to improve these relations.[4][5]
[edit] Relatives
His younger brother Showqi Al-Islambouli came close to assassinating the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in June 22 1995 on their way from Addis Ababa international airport to an African summit in the city. Showqi and his associates opened fire on the armor-plated limousine destroying most of the escort vehicles. However, Mubarak was saved by the skills of his chauffeur, who U-turned the damaged limousine and raced back to the airport where the presidential plane was waiting with running engines.[6]
[edit] Legacy
Khalid Islambouli continues to serve as an inspirational symbol for Islamist movements throughout the world, including terrorist groups. On July 31, 2004 "The al-Islambouli Brigades of al-Qaeda" claimed responsibility for an assassination attempt on Shaukat Aziz, then a candidate for the post of Prime Minister of Pakistan. On August 24, 2004 a Chechen group calling itself "The al-Islambouli Brigades" issued a statement claiming responsibility for the bombing of two Russian passenger aircraft.[1][7]
Jump to: navigation, search
Islambouli's trial
Khalid Ahmed Showky Al-Islambouli (Arabic: خالد أحمد شوقي الإسلامبولي) (January 15, 1955 – April 15, 1982) arranged and carried out the assassination of the Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, during the annual "6 October 1973 victory parade" on 6 October 1981. For his actions, Islambouli is considered by many radicals in the Islamic world to be an inspirational symbol and among the "first modern Shahids."[1]
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Background
* 2 The assassination of Sadat
* 3 A martyr in Iran
* 4 Relatives
* 5 Legacy
* 6 References
[edit] Background
Islambouli came from an average family in northern Egypt. After graduating from the Egyptian Military Academy with excellent grades, he was accepted as an officer in the Bombardment Forces of the Egyptian army with the rank of Lieutenant. Sometime after this appointment, Islambouli joined Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
[edit] The assassination of Sadat
Islambouli was not supposed to participate in the October parade, but was chosen by chance to replace an officer who was excused for not being able to participate. Once his section of the parade began to approach the President's platform, Islambouli and three other soldiers leapt from their truck and ran towards the stand while lobbing grenades toward where the President was standing with other foreign dignitaries. Islambouli entered the stands and emptied his assault rifle into Sadat's body, shouting "I have killed the Pharaoh!"[2] Immediately after assassinating the President, he was captured. Lieutenant Islambouli and twenty-three co-conspirators were tried, and he was found guilty. Twenty seven year old Islambouli and three other co-conspirators were publicly executed by firing squad on 15 April 1982.
[edit] A martyr in Iran
The Iranian government, in response to Sadat's recognition of Israel and his provision of asylum to the deposed Shah, cut relations with Egypt and named a street in Tehran after Islambouli in 1981 in honor of his "martyrdom". Iran's public portrayal of Islambouli as a hero and martyr has plagued Egyptian-Iranian diplomatic relations.[3] In light of extensive public protest, in May 2001 the Tehran City Council renamed the street "Intifada street" in an effort to improve these relations.[4][5]
[edit] Relatives
His younger brother Showqi Al-Islambouli came close to assassinating the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak in June 22 1995 on their way from Addis Ababa international airport to an African summit in the city. Showqi and his associates opened fire on the armor-plated limousine destroying most of the escort vehicles. However, Mubarak was saved by the skills of his chauffeur, who U-turned the damaged limousine and raced back to the airport where the presidential plane was waiting with running engines.[6]
[edit] Legacy
Khalid Islambouli continues to serve as an inspirational symbol for Islamist movements throughout the world, including terrorist groups. On July 31, 2004 "The al-Islambouli Brigades of al-Qaeda" claimed responsibility for an assassination attempt on Shaukat Aziz, then a candidate for the post of Prime Minister of Pakistan. On August 24, 2004 a Chechen group calling itself "The al-Islambouli Brigades" issued a statement claiming responsibility for the bombing of two Russian passenger aircraft.[1][7]
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Jihad goes on in Pakistan
Book review: —by Khaled Ahmed
The Fluttering Flag of Jehad
By Amir Mir Mashal Books Lahore 2008 Pp306; Price Rs 700
Amir Mir has developed into an informed commentator on the state of jihad with an uncomfortable inside track with those who are supposed to counter it in Pakistan. Of course jihad has unfortunately become another name for terrorism and those who have taken it out of the roster of the functions of the state and privatised it are to blame for this development.
Amir Mir was able to interview Benazir Bhutto just before she fell to the terrorism of Al Qaeda or whoever it was who assassinated her in December 2007. She thought Pervez Musharraf was secretly in league with the terrorists and had tried to kill her in Karachi in October 2007, and was sure he would get terrorists like Abdur Rehman Otho of Lashkar-e Jhangvi and Qari Saifullah Akhtar of Harkat Jihad Islami, protégés of the ISI, to do the job.
She named Brigadier Ijaz Shah and Brigadier Riaz Chibb etc. in her final writings. She predicted her death and blamed it on the army; months later, Major General Faisal Alvi too predicted his own death at the hands of the army and was shot down in Islamabad.
Musharraf claimed that Benazir was killed by Baitullah Mehsud through his suicide-bombers whose minder was taped talking to him on the phone about the achievement. Evidence in place was destroyed by the establishment, and questions arising from her murder could not be answered although Al Qaeda was at first quoted in the press as having taken care of ‘the most precious American asset’ in the words of Mustafa Abu Yazid, the Al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan. Benazir had her moles inside the ISI (p.28); but Amir doesn’t accept that Baitullah Mehsud killed her and gives a convincing critique of the findings of Scotland Yard.
Now a lot of writers use inside information from the US government to claim that Musharraf was sympathetic to the Taliban as they fled from the US attack in 2001. Amir Mir tells us that Corps Commander Peshawar General Safdar Hussain, who signed the peace accord with Baitullah Mehsud at Sararogha near Wana in February 2005, had called him a soldier of peace even as Mehsud’s warriors shouted ‘Death to America’. Major General Faisal Alvi was to accuse some elements in the army high command of being on the side of the Taliban before his assassination in 2008. Baitullah rewarded General Hussain with 200 captured Pakistani troops in August 2007.
Benazir believed Qari Saifullah Akhtar was involved in the attempt on her life in Karachi in October 2007 (p.43). Qari was in prison for trying to kill Musharraf in 2004 and was sprung from there to do the job on Benazir. Musharraf was outraged when he got to know that an ISI protégé had tried to kill him from his safe haven in Dubai after fleeing from Afghanistan in 2001. Qari was special because he was rescued by the spooks after he was found involved in trying to stage a military coup in league with Islamist fanatic Major General Zaheerul Islam Abbasi in 1995. He along with his Harkat Jihad Islami was to become the favourite of the Taliban government.
The place to be mined for leadership talent was Karachi’s Banuri Mosque where the Qari and that other protégé Fazlur Rehman Khalil had received their Deobandi orientation. The third Banuri Mosque protégé of the state was Maulana Masud Azhar, who formed Jaish-e Muhammad and was rescued from an Indian jail together with Omar Sheikh, the man who later helped kill Daniel Pearl in Karachi. Qari was recalled from Dubai and kept in custody, and the Lahore High Court did not release him on a habeas corpus petition. But he was released quietly before Benazir arrived in Pakistan in October 2007 (p.45).
After Benazir named him in her posthumous book, Qari was arrested again in March 2008. The reaction came in the shape of a suicide attacks on the Naval War College and the FIA office in Lahore where Qari’s terrorists were being kept for interrogation into the War College attack (p.47). A Karachi terrorist court heard the case against Qari and freed him on bail because the proof with which the prosecution could have proved him guilty had ‘disappeared’. Later he was rearrested but then quietly released by the Home Department because the spooks wanted him freed (p.48).
Fazlur Rehman Khalil is another protected person who lives in Islamabad but governments hardly know what he has been saying to the American authors who visit him. When Islamabad got into trouble with its own clerics in Lal Masjid, it was Khalil who was taken out and made to negotiate with them (p.109). He is the sort of person who can some day get Pakistan into trouble after which Islamabad will have to say he has mysteriously left the country and cannot be produced. He is Osama bin Laden’s man and his Harkatul Mujahideen was prominent among the jihadi organisations in Kashmir and ran training camps for warriors in Dhamial just outside Rawalpindi, at least that is what an American suspect Hamid Hayat told the FBI after visiting it (p.108).
It is not only Dr AQ Khan whom Pakistan has to save from being kidnapped by the anti-proliferationist West, there is also Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, the top scientist who enriched uranium at Khushab and then conferred with Osama bin Laden about building a nuclear bomb when he was in Kabul looking after his charity organisation called Umma Tameer Nau (p.111). He is the crazy bearded man who once presented a paper to General Zia saying Pakistan could make electricity from jinns. He also thought he could use a nuclear bomb to clear up a silted Tarbela Dam. Daniel Pearl was on to him, but he got killed when he got close to another protected person.
The other person was Mubarak Shah Gilani, a scion of the great Sufi of Lahore, Mianmir, who actually controlled jinns and ran a jihadi organisation named Al Fuqra still alive and doing well in the UK’s Londonistan. He had recruited Richard Reid, the Shoe Bomber terrorist who was caught before he could blow up an aircraft. Daniel Pearl had traced Mubarak Shah Gilani to Karachi and was going to interview him when he was tricked by Omar Sheikh into going with Lashkar-e Jhangvi gunmen who then handed him over to Khaled Sheikh Muhammad, who confessed at Guantanamo to personally beheading him (p.116). Omar Sheikh, who got involved in planning the 9/11 strike, was finally made to surrender after sheltering in home secretary and ex-ISI officer Ijaz Shah’s residence in Lahore for a week.
The book says on page 122 that the ISI chief General Mehmood was later investigated by FBI for sending $100,000 to plane hijacker Atta, who led the 9/11 strike on the World Trade Centre. The conduit for Mehmood was Omar Sheikh. The Wall Street Journal, Daniel Pearl’s paper, reported that an examination of Omar Sheikh’s telephone record showed him talking to General Mehmood, proving also that the money sent by General Mehmood through Omar Sheikh was funding for the New York strike (p.122). General Musharraf in his book reported, as if in rebuttal, that Omar Sheikh was first recruited by the British spy agency MI6.
The book also reports that the hijacking — done by Masood Azhar’s brother Abdul Rauf and brother-in-law Yusuf Azhar — of an Indian airliner that led to the release of Omar Sheikh and Masood Azhar from an Indian jail was linked to the ISI because its Quetta-based officers talked to the hijackers on the wireless set at Kandahar (p.128). Masood Azhar then went on to attack the Parliament in New Delhi in 2001, a month after 9/11. ISI chief Javed Ashraf Qazi on March 6, 2004 admitted that Jaish was involved in the New Delhi parliament assault (p.134). Later Jaish militants were to be housed in Lal Masjid during its siege by state troops in 2007 (p.141).
An interesting chapter is included on the infiltration of the Pakistani cricket team by the Tablighi Jama’at. As a result, the team under captain Inzamam-ul Haq lost its playing ability to its obsession with tabligh and conversion. Media manager PJ Mir accused the team of neglecting the game during the 2007 World Cup and spending all the time trying to convert the innocent people of the West Indies (p.204).
The Fluttering Flag of Jehad
By Amir Mir Mashal Books Lahore 2008 Pp306; Price Rs 700
Amir Mir has developed into an informed commentator on the state of jihad with an uncomfortable inside track with those who are supposed to counter it in Pakistan. Of course jihad has unfortunately become another name for terrorism and those who have taken it out of the roster of the functions of the state and privatised it are to blame for this development.
Amir Mir was able to interview Benazir Bhutto just before she fell to the terrorism of Al Qaeda or whoever it was who assassinated her in December 2007. She thought Pervez Musharraf was secretly in league with the terrorists and had tried to kill her in Karachi in October 2007, and was sure he would get terrorists like Abdur Rehman Otho of Lashkar-e Jhangvi and Qari Saifullah Akhtar of Harkat Jihad Islami, protégés of the ISI, to do the job.
She named Brigadier Ijaz Shah and Brigadier Riaz Chibb etc. in her final writings. She predicted her death and blamed it on the army; months later, Major General Faisal Alvi too predicted his own death at the hands of the army and was shot down in Islamabad.
Musharraf claimed that Benazir was killed by Baitullah Mehsud through his suicide-bombers whose minder was taped talking to him on the phone about the achievement. Evidence in place was destroyed by the establishment, and questions arising from her murder could not be answered although Al Qaeda was at first quoted in the press as having taken care of ‘the most precious American asset’ in the words of Mustafa Abu Yazid, the Al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan. Benazir had her moles inside the ISI (p.28); but Amir doesn’t accept that Baitullah Mehsud killed her and gives a convincing critique of the findings of Scotland Yard.
Now a lot of writers use inside information from the US government to claim that Musharraf was sympathetic to the Taliban as they fled from the US attack in 2001. Amir Mir tells us that Corps Commander Peshawar General Safdar Hussain, who signed the peace accord with Baitullah Mehsud at Sararogha near Wana in February 2005, had called him a soldier of peace even as Mehsud’s warriors shouted ‘Death to America’. Major General Faisal Alvi was to accuse some elements in the army high command of being on the side of the Taliban before his assassination in 2008. Baitullah rewarded General Hussain with 200 captured Pakistani troops in August 2007.
Benazir believed Qari Saifullah Akhtar was involved in the attempt on her life in Karachi in October 2007 (p.43). Qari was in prison for trying to kill Musharraf in 2004 and was sprung from there to do the job on Benazir. Musharraf was outraged when he got to know that an ISI protégé had tried to kill him from his safe haven in Dubai after fleeing from Afghanistan in 2001. Qari was special because he was rescued by the spooks after he was found involved in trying to stage a military coup in league with Islamist fanatic Major General Zaheerul Islam Abbasi in 1995. He along with his Harkat Jihad Islami was to become the favourite of the Taliban government.
The place to be mined for leadership talent was Karachi’s Banuri Mosque where the Qari and that other protégé Fazlur Rehman Khalil had received their Deobandi orientation. The third Banuri Mosque protégé of the state was Maulana Masud Azhar, who formed Jaish-e Muhammad and was rescued from an Indian jail together with Omar Sheikh, the man who later helped kill Daniel Pearl in Karachi. Qari was recalled from Dubai and kept in custody, and the Lahore High Court did not release him on a habeas corpus petition. But he was released quietly before Benazir arrived in Pakistan in October 2007 (p.45).
After Benazir named him in her posthumous book, Qari was arrested again in March 2008. The reaction came in the shape of a suicide attacks on the Naval War College and the FIA office in Lahore where Qari’s terrorists were being kept for interrogation into the War College attack (p.47). A Karachi terrorist court heard the case against Qari and freed him on bail because the proof with which the prosecution could have proved him guilty had ‘disappeared’. Later he was rearrested but then quietly released by the Home Department because the spooks wanted him freed (p.48).
Fazlur Rehman Khalil is another protected person who lives in Islamabad but governments hardly know what he has been saying to the American authors who visit him. When Islamabad got into trouble with its own clerics in Lal Masjid, it was Khalil who was taken out and made to negotiate with them (p.109). He is the sort of person who can some day get Pakistan into trouble after which Islamabad will have to say he has mysteriously left the country and cannot be produced. He is Osama bin Laden’s man and his Harkatul Mujahideen was prominent among the jihadi organisations in Kashmir and ran training camps for warriors in Dhamial just outside Rawalpindi, at least that is what an American suspect Hamid Hayat told the FBI after visiting it (p.108).
It is not only Dr AQ Khan whom Pakistan has to save from being kidnapped by the anti-proliferationist West, there is also Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, the top scientist who enriched uranium at Khushab and then conferred with Osama bin Laden about building a nuclear bomb when he was in Kabul looking after his charity organisation called Umma Tameer Nau (p.111). He is the crazy bearded man who once presented a paper to General Zia saying Pakistan could make electricity from jinns. He also thought he could use a nuclear bomb to clear up a silted Tarbela Dam. Daniel Pearl was on to him, but he got killed when he got close to another protected person.
The other person was Mubarak Shah Gilani, a scion of the great Sufi of Lahore, Mianmir, who actually controlled jinns and ran a jihadi organisation named Al Fuqra still alive and doing well in the UK’s Londonistan. He had recruited Richard Reid, the Shoe Bomber terrorist who was caught before he could blow up an aircraft. Daniel Pearl had traced Mubarak Shah Gilani to Karachi and was going to interview him when he was tricked by Omar Sheikh into going with Lashkar-e Jhangvi gunmen who then handed him over to Khaled Sheikh Muhammad, who confessed at Guantanamo to personally beheading him (p.116). Omar Sheikh, who got involved in planning the 9/11 strike, was finally made to surrender after sheltering in home secretary and ex-ISI officer Ijaz Shah’s residence in Lahore for a week.
The book says on page 122 that the ISI chief General Mehmood was later investigated by FBI for sending $100,000 to plane hijacker Atta, who led the 9/11 strike on the World Trade Centre. The conduit for Mehmood was Omar Sheikh. The Wall Street Journal, Daniel Pearl’s paper, reported that an examination of Omar Sheikh’s telephone record showed him talking to General Mehmood, proving also that the money sent by General Mehmood through Omar Sheikh was funding for the New York strike (p.122). General Musharraf in his book reported, as if in rebuttal, that Omar Sheikh was first recruited by the British spy agency MI6.
The book also reports that the hijacking — done by Masood Azhar’s brother Abdul Rauf and brother-in-law Yusuf Azhar — of an Indian airliner that led to the release of Omar Sheikh and Masood Azhar from an Indian jail was linked to the ISI because its Quetta-based officers talked to the hijackers on the wireless set at Kandahar (p.128). Masood Azhar then went on to attack the Parliament in New Delhi in 2001, a month after 9/11. ISI chief Javed Ashraf Qazi on March 6, 2004 admitted that Jaish was involved in the New Delhi parliament assault (p.134). Later Jaish militants were to be housed in Lal Masjid during its siege by state troops in 2007 (p.141).
An interesting chapter is included on the infiltration of the Pakistani cricket team by the Tablighi Jama’at. As a result, the team under captain Inzamam-ul Haq lost its playing ability to its obsession with tabligh and conversion. Media manager PJ Mir accused the team of neglecting the game during the 2007 World Cup and spending all the time trying to convert the innocent people of the West Indies (p.204).
NED student killed by bus
NED student killed by bus
KARACHI: A NED University of Engineering and Technology student, Faiza Nadeem Zaidi, died in an accident on Saturday at the Silver Jubilee Gate.
Faiza, aged 20 and resident of Malir, died on the spot after falling down from a Karachi University (KU) bus while disembarking without telling the driver, when it had slowed down in order to take a u-turn. Resultantly, she slipped and was crushed under the wheels of the bus. The students that were present at the spot caught hold of the driver, Akhtar Hussain, who was later handed over to the police. Faiza’s dead body was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for legal formalities. NED students launched a protest against the KU point driver, suspending classes for the day and blocking NIPA Chowrangi. Law enforcers arrived at the scene to control the unruly situation.
Ibad orders inquiry: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad expressed his deep sorrow and grief over the death of a female student of the NED University of Engineering and Technology in a road accident and also ordered an inquiry into the incident.
KU admin condoles death: KU VC Prof Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr M Shamsuddin, faculty deans and administrative staff of the university have expressed their deep sorrow and grief over the demise of Faiza Nadeem Zaidi. In a statement, they offered their condolences to Faiza’s parents, teachers and friends and prayed for her departed soul.
The Acting KU Vice Chancellor has appointed a three member Inquiry Committee to inquire into the matter and submit a report immediately. staff report/app
---
NED student crushed to death by KU bus
Sunday, April 19, 2009
By Perwez Abdullah
Karachi
A University of Karachi (KU) Point bus crushed a second year Computer Engineering student from the NED University on Saturday morning at the Silver Jubilee gate of KU.
The driver did not stop the bus even after the accident and entered the campus in a bid to escape. He was later arrested, however, and put in the lock up at the Mubeena Town Police Station. The KU administration has filed an FIR against him.
The victim, Faiza Nadeem Zaidi, lived in Ghazi Town, Malir, and was using the KU bus on the fateful day. Some KU and NED students took Zaidi to Shan Hospital near NIPA Chowrangi where doctors pronounced her dead. Her body was then shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for an autopsy.
The students of KU were shocked by the accident and hurt by the inhumane attitude of the Rangers, KU Security Staff and bystanders who later denied that anything had happened. When the students approached the security personnel to ask them why they did not stop the driver, the Rangers replied: “The bus carried a government number plate so we did not stop it.”
The students then reached the KU Bus Depot to look for the offending driver, Yawar, but he was not there. The staff at the depot asked the students to leave and stop asking questions otherwise they (students) would get in trouble.
A professor who is also a member of the KU Syndicate assured that the culprit will be handed over to the police to face the consequences. A witness, requesting anonymity fearing reprisals from the unruly KU transport employees, confirmed that the bus was travelling at breakneck speed and took a left turn with a lurch near the Silver Jubilee Gate.
Zaidi, who was standing near the entrance of the bus, fell off and was run over by the rear wheels of the bus.
KU Transport Advisor Dr Zulqarnain Shadaab, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Urdu, defended the driver as he said that the late student had ‘jumped’ from the moving bus. This was contradicted by eyewitnesses. Students informed The News that the KU Transport Committee had recorded the statement of some fake.
Zaidi’s parents were traumatised by the death of their daughter and were unable to talk about the incident.
KARACHI: A NED University of Engineering and Technology student, Faiza Nadeem Zaidi, died in an accident on Saturday at the Silver Jubilee Gate.
Faiza, aged 20 and resident of Malir, died on the spot after falling down from a Karachi University (KU) bus while disembarking without telling the driver, when it had slowed down in order to take a u-turn. Resultantly, she slipped and was crushed under the wheels of the bus. The students that were present at the spot caught hold of the driver, Akhtar Hussain, who was later handed over to the police. Faiza’s dead body was taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for legal formalities. NED students launched a protest against the KU point driver, suspending classes for the day and blocking NIPA Chowrangi. Law enforcers arrived at the scene to control the unruly situation.
Ibad orders inquiry: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad expressed his deep sorrow and grief over the death of a female student of the NED University of Engineering and Technology in a road accident and also ordered an inquiry into the incident.
KU admin condoles death: KU VC Prof Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr M Shamsuddin, faculty deans and administrative staff of the university have expressed their deep sorrow and grief over the demise of Faiza Nadeem Zaidi. In a statement, they offered their condolences to Faiza’s parents, teachers and friends and prayed for her departed soul.
The Acting KU Vice Chancellor has appointed a three member Inquiry Committee to inquire into the matter and submit a report immediately. staff report/app
---
NED student crushed to death by KU bus
Sunday, April 19, 2009
By Perwez Abdullah
Karachi
A University of Karachi (KU) Point bus crushed a second year Computer Engineering student from the NED University on Saturday morning at the Silver Jubilee gate of KU.
The driver did not stop the bus even after the accident and entered the campus in a bid to escape. He was later arrested, however, and put in the lock up at the Mubeena Town Police Station. The KU administration has filed an FIR against him.
The victim, Faiza Nadeem Zaidi, lived in Ghazi Town, Malir, and was using the KU bus on the fateful day. Some KU and NED students took Zaidi to Shan Hospital near NIPA Chowrangi where doctors pronounced her dead. Her body was then shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for an autopsy.
The students of KU were shocked by the accident and hurt by the inhumane attitude of the Rangers, KU Security Staff and bystanders who later denied that anything had happened. When the students approached the security personnel to ask them why they did not stop the driver, the Rangers replied: “The bus carried a government number plate so we did not stop it.”
The students then reached the KU Bus Depot to look for the offending driver, Yawar, but he was not there. The staff at the depot asked the students to leave and stop asking questions otherwise they (students) would get in trouble.
A professor who is also a member of the KU Syndicate assured that the culprit will be handed over to the police to face the consequences. A witness, requesting anonymity fearing reprisals from the unruly KU transport employees, confirmed that the bus was travelling at breakneck speed and took a left turn with a lurch near the Silver Jubilee Gate.
Zaidi, who was standing near the entrance of the bus, fell off and was run over by the rear wheels of the bus.
KU Transport Advisor Dr Zulqarnain Shadaab, an Assistant Professor at the Department of Urdu, defended the driver as he said that the late student had ‘jumped’ from the moving bus. This was contradicted by eyewitnesses. Students informed The News that the KU Transport Committee had recorded the statement of some fake.
Zaidi’s parents were traumatised by the death of their daughter and were unable to talk about the incident.
Suicide car-bomber kills 27 in Pakistan
18 Apr 2009 17:34:30 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds Pakistani Taliban claim of responsibility and byline)
By Mohammad Hashim
KOHAT, Pakistan, April 18 (Reuters) - A suicide car-bomber rammed a Pakistani military convoy on Saturday, killing 25 soldiers and police, and two passers-by, police said.
About 65 people were wounded. Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack near Kohat, 190 km (120 miles) west of Islamabad.
"The bomber was driving a pick-up truck which he rammed into a convoy passing by a security checkpost," said senior police officer Fareed Khan in the northwestern town of Kohat.
Khan said the death toll could rise because at least seven out of the 65 wounded were said to be in a critical condition. About eight vehicles in the convoy were destroyed.
President Asif Ali Zardari told aid donors on Friday he would step up the fight against militants and said defeat for nuclear-armed Pakistan would be a defeat for the world.
His nation is a vital U.S. ally in its efforts to stabilise Afghanistan.
A spokesman for Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud said militants would continue its attacks on security forces.
"It was retaliation for the U.S. drone strikes and security forces will have to see more attacks because our people have suffered many losses in the missile attacks," Hakimullah Mehsud said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
The United States, frustrated by an intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan getting support from the Pakistani side of the border, began launching more drone attacks last year.
Since then, about 35 U.S. strikes have killed about 350 people, including mid-level al Qaeda members, according to reports from Pakistani officials, residents and militants.
Pakistan objects to the strikes. Officials say about one in six of the strikes over the past year caused civilian deaths without killing any militants. This fuels anti-U.S. sentiment and complicates the military's struggle to subdue violence.
The government has struggled to come up with an effective strategy to deal with militancy, alternating in different areas between military offensives and peace deals. But the militants have only gained strength.
Zardari, under pressure from conservatives, signed a regulation on Monday imposing Islamic sharia law in the Swat valley to end Taliban violence there.
The strategy of appeasement has alarmed U.S. officials while critics say the government has demonstrated a lack of capacity and will to fight the Taliban and al Qaeda. (Additional reporting by Javed Hussain; writing by Robert Birsel; editing by Robert Woodward)
Source: Reuters
(Adds Pakistani Taliban claim of responsibility and byline)
By Mohammad Hashim
KOHAT, Pakistan, April 18 (Reuters) - A suicide car-bomber rammed a Pakistani military convoy on Saturday, killing 25 soldiers and police, and two passers-by, police said.
About 65 people were wounded. Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack near Kohat, 190 km (120 miles) west of Islamabad.
"The bomber was driving a pick-up truck which he rammed into a convoy passing by a security checkpost," said senior police officer Fareed Khan in the northwestern town of Kohat.
Khan said the death toll could rise because at least seven out of the 65 wounded were said to be in a critical condition. About eight vehicles in the convoy were destroyed.
President Asif Ali Zardari told aid donors on Friday he would step up the fight against militants and said defeat for nuclear-armed Pakistan would be a defeat for the world.
His nation is a vital U.S. ally in its efforts to stabilise Afghanistan.
A spokesman for Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud said militants would continue its attacks on security forces.
"It was retaliation for the U.S. drone strikes and security forces will have to see more attacks because our people have suffered many losses in the missile attacks," Hakimullah Mehsud said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
The United States, frustrated by an intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan getting support from the Pakistani side of the border, began launching more drone attacks last year.
Since then, about 35 U.S. strikes have killed about 350 people, including mid-level al Qaeda members, according to reports from Pakistani officials, residents and militants.
Pakistan objects to the strikes. Officials say about one in six of the strikes over the past year caused civilian deaths without killing any militants. This fuels anti-U.S. sentiment and complicates the military's struggle to subdue violence.
The government has struggled to come up with an effective strategy to deal with militancy, alternating in different areas between military offensives and peace deals. But the militants have only gained strength.
Zardari, under pressure from conservatives, signed a regulation on Monday imposing Islamic sharia law in the Swat valley to end Taliban violence there.
The strategy of appeasement has alarmed U.S. officials while critics say the government has demonstrated a lack of capacity and will to fight the Taliban and al Qaeda. (Additional reporting by Javed Hussain; writing by Robert Birsel; editing by Robert Woodward)
The USraelis can torture and kill legally!
Hitler Nazi atrocities were condemned and his supporters were imprisoned or killed for implementing Himmler and Hitler’s policies. These policies were not illegal at the time, as concentrations camps and gas chambers were approved by the Nazi machine.
Now, President Obama wants the world to forgive and to forget CIA tortures and killings of people because these criminal activities were approved policies and hence were legal. It is true that Obama published the relevant memos but failed to mention the killing by USraeli death squads under the direction of Dick Cheney.
In Iraq, eight hundred people disappeared into CIA secret prisons, which Obama decided on closing but never mention what has happened to the inmates. President Jimmy Carter was honest and courageous by instructing his CIA director, General Stan Turner, to fire 750 CIA agents who have committed homicides. These were later re-instated following the inauguration of President Reagan. Obama wants the torture and killing to stop while he is in power, but most probably will be resumed soon after he leaves office.
It is shameful for America, as a ‘civilised’ nation, to get involved in human right violations or to hire MOSSAD agents to liquidate people without giving them a chance for a fair trial. Our sources have calculated close to 355 Iraqi scientists have been liquidated by CIA and MOSSAD since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Is America ripe for Hitler Mark II?
The answer to some; is impossible to happen, since we are living in a different time and people have learned not to fall in the trap of right-wing extremists. But many aspects of present conditions on the American ground may be somewhat similar to those of Germany in 1932. To start with there is a high unemployment. There are many heavily-armed and angry right extremist groups. The nation to large extent is made of God-fearing political Zombies. What is needed is a charismatic leader who can formulate a political platform concentrating on blaming the Jews for the current economic meltdown and the niggers for sabotaging the 'American Century', undermining the Whitehouse and Washington traditions. Most of Churches with White Anglo Saxon Protestant members will support this plan as a divine salvation.
Organisations like Black water can be asked to recruit, train and arm thousands, especially white veterans from the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan. Certain TV stations like Fox news will not be reluctant to support the plan. The so-called American intelligentsia can swallow their words the way the German intellectuals ended up rotting in concentration camps. If there is one country where it is possible for another Hitler to emerge, it is in the United States of America.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
Now, President Obama wants the world to forgive and to forget CIA tortures and killings of people because these criminal activities were approved policies and hence were legal. It is true that Obama published the relevant memos but failed to mention the killing by USraeli death squads under the direction of Dick Cheney.
In Iraq, eight hundred people disappeared into CIA secret prisons, which Obama decided on closing but never mention what has happened to the inmates. President Jimmy Carter was honest and courageous by instructing his CIA director, General Stan Turner, to fire 750 CIA agents who have committed homicides. These were later re-instated following the inauguration of President Reagan. Obama wants the torture and killing to stop while he is in power, but most probably will be resumed soon after he leaves office.
It is shameful for America, as a ‘civilised’ nation, to get involved in human right violations or to hire MOSSAD agents to liquidate people without giving them a chance for a fair trial. Our sources have calculated close to 355 Iraqi scientists have been liquidated by CIA and MOSSAD since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Is America ripe for Hitler Mark II?
The answer to some; is impossible to happen, since we are living in a different time and people have learned not to fall in the trap of right-wing extremists. But many aspects of present conditions on the American ground may be somewhat similar to those of Germany in 1932. To start with there is a high unemployment. There are many heavily-armed and angry right extremist groups. The nation to large extent is made of God-fearing political Zombies. What is needed is a charismatic leader who can formulate a political platform concentrating on blaming the Jews for the current economic meltdown and the niggers for sabotaging the 'American Century', undermining the Whitehouse and Washington traditions. Most of Churches with White Anglo Saxon Protestant members will support this plan as a divine salvation.
Organisations like Black water can be asked to recruit, train and arm thousands, especially white veterans from the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan. Certain TV stations like Fox news will not be reluctant to support the plan. The so-called American intelligentsia can swallow their words the way the German intellectuals ended up rotting in concentration camps. If there is one country where it is possible for another Hitler to emerge, it is in the United States of America.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
US looks to hackers to protect cyber networks
By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer - Sat Apr 18, 2009 4:34AM EDT
WASHINGTON -
Wanted: Computer hackers.
Buffeted by millions of digital scans and attacks each day, federal authorities are looking for hackers — not to prosecute them, but to pay them to secure the nation's networks.
General Dynamics Information Technology put out an ad last month on behalf of the Homeland Security Department seeking someone who could "think like the bad guy." Applicants, it said, must understand hackers' tools and tactics and be able to analyze Internet traffic and identify vulnerabilities in the federal systems.
And in the Pentagon's budget request submitted last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates hung out his own help-wanted sign, saying the Pentagon will increase the number of cyber experts it can train each year from 80 to 250 by 2011.
Amid dire warnings that the U.S. is ill-prepared for a cyber attack, the White House conducted a 60-day study of how the government can better manage and use technology to protect everything from the nation's electrical grid and stock markets to tax data, airline flight systems, and nuclear launch codes.
President Barack Obama appointed former Bush administration aide Melissa Hathaway to head the effort, and her report was delivered Friday, the White House said.
While the country had detailed plans for floods, fires or errant planes drifting into protected airspace, there is no similar response etched out for a major computer attack.
David Powner, director of technology issues for the Government Accountability Office, told Congress last month that the U.S. has no recovery plan for a digital disaster.
"We're clearly not as prepared as we should be," he said.
The U.S., administration officials say, has not kept pace with technological innovations needed to protect its computer networks against emerging threats from hackers, criminals or other nations looking for national security secrets.
U.S. computer networks, including those at the Pentagon and other federal agencies, are under persistent attack, ranging from nuisance hacking to more nefarious assaults, possibly from other nations, such as China. Industry leaders told Congress during a recent hearing that law enforcement and other protections are too outdated to fend off threats from criminals, terrorists and unfriendly foreign nations.
Just last week, a former government official revealed that spies had hacked into the U.S. electric grid and left behind computer programs that would let them disrupt service. The intrusions were discovered after electric companies gave the government permission to audit their systems, said the ex-official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Cyber threats are also included as a key potential national security risk outlined in a classified report put together by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And Pentagon officials say they spent more than $100 million in the last six months responding to and repairing damage from cyber attacks and other computer network problems.
Nadia Short, vice president at General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, said the job posting for ethical hackers fills a critical need for the federal government.
The analysts keep constant watch on the government networks as part of a surveillance programs called Einstein that was initiated by the Bush administration under the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team. US-CERT is a partnership of the Homeland Security Department, other public agencies and private companies. The Einstein program is an automated process for collecting and sharing security information.
Short said the $60 million, four-year contract with US-CERT uses the so-called ethical hackers to analyze threats to the government's computer systems and develop ways to reduce vulnerabilities.
Faced with such cyber challenges, Obama ordered the 60-day review to examine how federal agencies manage and protect their massive amounts of data and what the government's role should be in guarding the vast networks that control the country's vital utilities and infrastructure.
Over the past two months, Hathaway met with hundreds of industry leaders, Capitol Hill staff and other experts, seeking guidance on what the federal government's role should be in protecting information networks against an attack. And she sought recommendations on how officials should define and report cyber incidents and attacks; how the government should structure its cyber oversight and how the nation can increase security without stifling innovation.
A task force of technology giants, including representatives from General Dynamics, IBM, Lockheed Martin and Hewlett-Packard Co. urged the administration to establish a White House-level official to lead cyber efforts and to develop ways to share information on problems more quickly with the private sector.
The administration has struggled with the basics, such as who should control the nation's cyberspace programs. There appears to be some agreement now that the White House should coordinate the overall effort, rejecting suggestions that the National Security Agency take it on — a plan that triggered protests on Capitol Hill and from civil liberties groups worried about giving such control to U.S. spy agencies.
___
On the Net:
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov
WASHINGTON -
Wanted: Computer hackers.
Buffeted by millions of digital scans and attacks each day, federal authorities are looking for hackers — not to prosecute them, but to pay them to secure the nation's networks.
General Dynamics Information Technology put out an ad last month on behalf of the Homeland Security Department seeking someone who could "think like the bad guy." Applicants, it said, must understand hackers' tools and tactics and be able to analyze Internet traffic and identify vulnerabilities in the federal systems.
And in the Pentagon's budget request submitted last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates hung out his own help-wanted sign, saying the Pentagon will increase the number of cyber experts it can train each year from 80 to 250 by 2011.
Amid dire warnings that the U.S. is ill-prepared for a cyber attack, the White House conducted a 60-day study of how the government can better manage and use technology to protect everything from the nation's electrical grid and stock markets to tax data, airline flight systems, and nuclear launch codes.
President Barack Obama appointed former Bush administration aide Melissa Hathaway to head the effort, and her report was delivered Friday, the White House said.
While the country had detailed plans for floods, fires or errant planes drifting into protected airspace, there is no similar response etched out for a major computer attack.
David Powner, director of technology issues for the Government Accountability Office, told Congress last month that the U.S. has no recovery plan for a digital disaster.
"We're clearly not as prepared as we should be," he said.
The U.S., administration officials say, has not kept pace with technological innovations needed to protect its computer networks against emerging threats from hackers, criminals or other nations looking for national security secrets.
U.S. computer networks, including those at the Pentagon and other federal agencies, are under persistent attack, ranging from nuisance hacking to more nefarious assaults, possibly from other nations, such as China. Industry leaders told Congress during a recent hearing that law enforcement and other protections are too outdated to fend off threats from criminals, terrorists and unfriendly foreign nations.
Just last week, a former government official revealed that spies had hacked into the U.S. electric grid and left behind computer programs that would let them disrupt service. The intrusions were discovered after electric companies gave the government permission to audit their systems, said the ex-official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Cyber threats are also included as a key potential national security risk outlined in a classified report put together by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And Pentagon officials say they spent more than $100 million in the last six months responding to and repairing damage from cyber attacks and other computer network problems.
Nadia Short, vice president at General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, said the job posting for ethical hackers fills a critical need for the federal government.
The analysts keep constant watch on the government networks as part of a surveillance programs called Einstein that was initiated by the Bush administration under the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team. US-CERT is a partnership of the Homeland Security Department, other public agencies and private companies. The Einstein program is an automated process for collecting and sharing security information.
Short said the $60 million, four-year contract with US-CERT uses the so-called ethical hackers to analyze threats to the government's computer systems and develop ways to reduce vulnerabilities.
Faced with such cyber challenges, Obama ordered the 60-day review to examine how federal agencies manage and protect their massive amounts of data and what the government's role should be in guarding the vast networks that control the country's vital utilities and infrastructure.
Over the past two months, Hathaway met with hundreds of industry leaders, Capitol Hill staff and other experts, seeking guidance on what the federal government's role should be in protecting information networks against an attack. And she sought recommendations on how officials should define and report cyber incidents and attacks; how the government should structure its cyber oversight and how the nation can increase security without stifling innovation.
A task force of technology giants, including representatives from General Dynamics, IBM, Lockheed Martin and Hewlett-Packard Co. urged the administration to establish a White House-level official to lead cyber efforts and to develop ways to share information on problems more quickly with the private sector.
The administration has struggled with the basics, such as who should control the nation's cyberspace programs. There appears to be some agreement now that the White House should coordinate the overall effort, rejecting suggestions that the National Security Agency take it on — a plan that triggered protests on Capitol Hill and from civil liberties groups worried about giving such control to U.S. spy agencies.
___
On the Net:
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov
Friday, April 17, 2009
Man attempts to export nuclear technology to Iran
© AP
2009-04-17 20:48:04 -
TORONTO (AP) - Police say a Toronto man has been charged with trying to export nuclear technology to Iran.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Friday that Mahmoud Yadegari attempted to obtain pressure transducers. The devices are used to make enriched uranium but can also have military applications.
Police say the man was attempting to illegally move the transducers from Boston to Toronto on to Dubai, with Iran as the final destination. They were acting on a tip from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The U.S. and its allies have accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons secretly under the guise of a civilian atomic energy program. Iran denies the charges and insists its efforts are aimed at producing nuclear power only.
2009-04-17 20:48:04 -
TORONTO (AP) - Police say a Toronto man has been charged with trying to export nuclear technology to Iran.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Friday that Mahmoud Yadegari attempted to obtain pressure transducers. The devices are used to make enriched uranium but can also have military applications.
Police say the man was attempting to illegally move the transducers from Boston to Toronto on to Dubai, with Iran as the final destination. They were acting on a tip from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The U.S. and its allies have accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons secretly under the guise of a civilian atomic energy program. Iran denies the charges and insists its efforts are aimed at producing nuclear power only.
Indonesian maid puts menstrual blood in Hong Kong employer's meal
Posted : Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:06:03 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Australasia (World)
Australasia World News | Home
Hong Kong - An Indonesian maid was in a Hong Kong jail Thursday awaiting trial for mixing her menstrual blood in a pot of vegetables she was cooking for her employer. Indra Ningsih, 26, allegedly told police afterwards she mixed the blood into the meal in a superstitious effort to make her Chinese employer "more amiable and less picky" towards her.
The maid was arrested Tuesday and charged at a hearing Wednesday with administering a poison or other noxious substance with an intent to injure. She was remanded in custody until May 13.
Ningsih was arrested after her employer peered through the kitchen door and saw her acting suspiciously as she cooked vegetables for lunch.
When the employer checked, she found a blood clot-like substance mixed with the vegetables and a used sanitary napkin in the kitchen bin, according to a report in the Hong Kong Standard newspaper.
Prosecutors said that Ningsih told police her employer had been unhappy with her performance since hiring her last July and constantly scolded her.
She told police she mixed the blood with the food because she believed it would improve their relationship and make her employer kinder to her, according to prosecutors.
In 2008, a court in Saudi Arabia jailed two maids from Indonesia and the Philippines for four months and sentenced them to 250 lashes each for putting urine and menstrual blood in their employer's tea.
Another Indonesian maid in Hong Kong was jailed for three months in 2007 after being convicted of adding urine to the drinking water of her employer, believing it would make the family treat her better.
More than 200,000 women from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand work as live-in maids for families in Hong Kong, doing housework and child care duties for a government-set minimum wage of around 450 US dollars a month.
Author : DPA
Category : Australasia (World)
Australasia World News | Home
Hong Kong - An Indonesian maid was in a Hong Kong jail Thursday awaiting trial for mixing her menstrual blood in a pot of vegetables she was cooking for her employer. Indra Ningsih, 26, allegedly told police afterwards she mixed the blood into the meal in a superstitious effort to make her Chinese employer "more amiable and less picky" towards her.
The maid was arrested Tuesday and charged at a hearing Wednesday with administering a poison or other noxious substance with an intent to injure. She was remanded in custody until May 13.
Ningsih was arrested after her employer peered through the kitchen door and saw her acting suspiciously as she cooked vegetables for lunch.
When the employer checked, she found a blood clot-like substance mixed with the vegetables and a used sanitary napkin in the kitchen bin, according to a report in the Hong Kong Standard newspaper.
Prosecutors said that Ningsih told police her employer had been unhappy with her performance since hiring her last July and constantly scolded her.
She told police she mixed the blood with the food because she believed it would improve their relationship and make her employer kinder to her, according to prosecutors.
In 2008, a court in Saudi Arabia jailed two maids from Indonesia and the Philippines for four months and sentenced them to 250 lashes each for putting urine and menstrual blood in their employer's tea.
Another Indonesian maid in Hong Kong was jailed for three months in 2007 after being convicted of adding urine to the drinking water of her employer, believing it would make the family treat her better.
More than 200,000 women from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand work as live-in maids for families in Hong Kong, doing housework and child care duties for a government-set minimum wage of around 450 US dollars a month.
Pakistan granted 5 billion dollars in aid from donors - Summary
Posted : Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:54:00 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Finance (General)
News Alerts by Email ( click here )
Tokyo - Pakistan received pledges of more than 5 billion dollars from donor countries and international groups Friday to build the nation's economic and political stability. Nearly 50 participating donors at a one-day Tokyo conference vowed to provide the struggling nation with 5.28 billion dollars worth of assistance in its fight against terrorism.
Japan and the United States announced their contributions of 1 billion dollars each over the next two years, while Saudi Arabia was to extend 700 million dollars. The European Union pledged to give 640 million dollars over four years. Iran offered 300 million dollars.
Pakistani officials, led by President Asif Ali Zardari, called the conference a success.
At the opening of the donors conference, Zardari assured the attendees that his country was ready to face its challenges.
Japan and the World Bank, as the conference's co-chairs, stressed that Pakistan's determination was essential in the fight against terrorism.
World Bank Vice President for South Asia Isabel Guerrero, meanwhile, urged Pakistan to commit to eradicating poverty and regaining economic growth while she emphasized the importance of improving its infrastructure and increasing agricultural productivity.
It is important for the recipient country to assure the aid reaches the poor in a "transparent manner" and helps develop programmes to protect the poor from food crisis, oil price surges and the global economic downturn, Guerrero said.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari expressed the commitment of his government and people but also called on the participating states to help fight terrorism.
"If we lose, you lose. If we lose, the world loses," he said.
Pakistan's poverty is increasing especially in the tribal belt, which is often neglected, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
But the economic aid would enable the Pakistani government to provide appropriate educational programmes as a way to alleviate poverty and rebuild its macro-economic stability, Qureshi said.
The nation hopes to achieve economic growth of 6 to 7 per cent this year, he said earlier.
In the medium-term objectives, the member states recognized the need to accelerate investments to improve infrastructure, agriculture, power and irrigation.
They also called on Pakistan to strengthen its diplomacy to attract further support from the international community while emphasizing the need for solidarity within the country, which has been racked by internal political turmoil and rivalries, a chairman's statement said.
Turkey offered to host the next meeting for the Friends of Pakistan in Istanbul. No specific date was decided.
Author : DPA
Category : Finance (General)
News Alerts by Email ( click here )
Tokyo - Pakistan received pledges of more than 5 billion dollars from donor countries and international groups Friday to build the nation's economic and political stability. Nearly 50 participating donors at a one-day Tokyo conference vowed to provide the struggling nation with 5.28 billion dollars worth of assistance in its fight against terrorism.
Japan and the United States announced their contributions of 1 billion dollars each over the next two years, while Saudi Arabia was to extend 700 million dollars. The European Union pledged to give 640 million dollars over four years. Iran offered 300 million dollars.
Pakistani officials, led by President Asif Ali Zardari, called the conference a success.
At the opening of the donors conference, Zardari assured the attendees that his country was ready to face its challenges.
"I assure you that with your support and with the support of the world, we are ready to do all that it takes to rid the world of this menace, which is a world problem,"Zardari said, referring to extremism and terrorism.
"I feel that you are giving us a new hope, which I can go back with to give to the people of Pakistan and tell them, 'The world stands with you,'"he added.
Japan and the World Bank, as the conference's co-chairs, stressed that Pakistan's determination was essential in the fight against terrorism.
World Bank Vice President for South Asia Isabel Guerrero, meanwhile, urged Pakistan to commit to eradicating poverty and regaining economic growth while she emphasized the importance of improving its infrastructure and increasing agricultural productivity.
It is important for the recipient country to assure the aid reaches the poor in a "transparent manner" and helps develop programmes to protect the poor from food crisis, oil price surges and the global economic downturn, Guerrero said.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari expressed the commitment of his government and people but also called on the participating states to help fight terrorism.
"If we lose, you lose. If we lose, the world loses," he said.
Pakistan's poverty is increasing especially in the tribal belt, which is often neglected, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
But the economic aid would enable the Pakistani government to provide appropriate educational programmes as a way to alleviate poverty and rebuild its macro-economic stability, Qureshi said.
The nation hopes to achieve economic growth of 6 to 7 per cent this year, he said earlier.
In the medium-term objectives, the member states recognized the need to accelerate investments to improve infrastructure, agriculture, power and irrigation.
They also called on Pakistan to strengthen its diplomacy to attract further support from the international community while emphasizing the need for solidarity within the country, which has been racked by internal political turmoil and rivalries, a chairman's statement said.
Turkey offered to host the next meeting for the Friends of Pakistan in Istanbul. No specific date was decided.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
"Hizbullah Agents" Detained in Suitcase on Kuwaiti, Border; Widespread Arrests
Two Lebanese nationals were detained at the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border last week while attempting to enter Iraq hidden in suitcases with the help of two Iraqi confederates, according to security sources in the province. Meanwhile, Basra's newly elected governing council has selected the top leadership for the incoming provincial government, while the southern port city has seen widespread raiding operations over the last week, resulting in dozens of arrests.
Iraqi customs authorities discovered the two Lebanese men hiding in the luggage of two other Iraqi nationals on Wednesday at the Safwan border crossing in Basra province, security sources told
Upon interrogation, the men, in their mid-20s, told Iraqi...CENSORED
Iraqi customs authorities discovered the two Lebanese men hiding in the luggage of two other Iraqi nationals on Wednesday at the Safwan border crossing in Basra province, security sources told
Upon interrogation, the men, in their mid-20s, told Iraqi...CENSORED
Iraq to build 2.8-bln-euro port: minister
AFP
Iraq to build 2.8-bln-euro port: minister AFP/File – Transport Minister Amer Abduljabbar Ismail, seen here in January 2009, said on Thursday that Iraq has …
Thu Apr 16, 2:02 pm ET
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Transport Minister Amer Abduljabbar Ismail said on Thursday that Iraq has signed an agreement with an Italian consortium to construct a 2.8-billion-euro (3.7-billion-dollar) port on the Gulf.
"The Iraqi cabinet has approved an Italian study to establish the Great Faw Port" near the southern city of Basra, Ismail told reporters in Baghdad.
"The proposed project, which will cost 2.8 billion euros, has been awarded to Italian companies which will implement it with the participation of our ministry's projects department."
The site of the project is a small harbour currently being used by fishing boats. Ismail said the project would take three years to complete and that work would begin soon, without setting a precise date.
Iraq has four ports, the largest being Umm Qasr.
Iraqi security forces launched a major operation in Basra in the spring of 2008 to drive out Shiite militias who had overrun the port in the years following the 2003 US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.
Iraq to build 2.8-bln-euro port: minister AFP/File – Transport Minister Amer Abduljabbar Ismail, seen here in January 2009, said on Thursday that Iraq has …
Thu Apr 16, 2:02 pm ET
BAGHDAD (AFP) – Transport Minister Amer Abduljabbar Ismail said on Thursday that Iraq has signed an agreement with an Italian consortium to construct a 2.8-billion-euro (3.7-billion-dollar) port on the Gulf.
"The Iraqi cabinet has approved an Italian study to establish the Great Faw Port" near the southern city of Basra, Ismail told reporters in Baghdad.
"The proposed project, which will cost 2.8 billion euros, has been awarded to Italian companies which will implement it with the participation of our ministry's projects department."
The site of the project is a small harbour currently being used by fishing boats. Ismail said the project would take three years to complete and that work would begin soon, without setting a precise date.
Iraq has four ports, the largest being Umm Qasr.
Iraqi security forces launched a major operation in Basra in the spring of 2008 to drive out Shiite militias who had overrun the port in the years following the 2003 US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.
Suicide bomber strikes Iraqi military base
Apr 16, 2:22 PM EDT
By ROBERT H. REID
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD (AP) -- A suicide bomber struck an Iraqi military base Thursday in an attack that Iraqi officials first said killed 16 soldiers but later maintained no one died but the attacker.
The conflicting death counts came at a time when Iraqi officials are under increasing pressure to stop attacks. Last week, angry Iraqis in Baghdad hurled stones at police and soldiers because they failed to stop a car bombing.
The suicide attacker wore an Iraqi military uniform in Thursday's bombing - the fourth major attack on Iraqi security forces in a week. That raised troubling questions about insurgents' ability to infiltrate the country's armed forces or to receive help from inside their ranks.
U.S. officials have based their hopes for Iraq's future on building a professional Iraqi military capable of securing the country as the U.S. draws down its forces this year.
Two Iraqi army officers, contacted by telephone from Baghdad, said the bomber detonated an explosive belt among soldiers headed for a canteen at Habbaniyah air base in Anbar province 45 miles west of Baghdad.
One of the officers described a "thunderous" explosion that left "bodies and pieces of human flesh scattered all over near the canteen." He said 16 soldiers were killed and 50 wounded. The second officer said only that a number of soldiers had died.
Both officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release information to media.
Later, however, the Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari, said 38 Iraqi soldiers were wounded but only the bomber died. Maj. Gen. Mardhi Mishhin al-Mahalawi, the army's Anbar operations chief, said 17 soldiers were wounded.
The sprawling base was sealed off and reporters were unable to enter to check on the conflicting reports. U.S. troops are also based at Habbaniyah, but the U.S. military referred all questions about casualties to the Iraqis. There was no indication of any U.S. casualties.
An American who identified himself as a soldier training Iraqis at the base telephoned The Associated Press to say he witnessed the attack but would not give his name.
The caller said the soldiers had finished a morning training session and were walking to the canteen for lunch when the bomber, who was waiting for them on the street, detonated his explosives.
He said only the bomber was killed but 38 others were injured. About half were treated and released, he said.
But police Maj. Mohammed al-Dulaimi, who works at a station near the base, said he saw saw at least 10 mangled bodies removed from the blast site to a local hospital. He said the Iraqi military refused to give local police any casualty figures.
In nearby Fallujah, a mosque loudspeaker announced the name of a soldier said to have been killed in the blast. It was unclear whether he could have been the bomber.
No group claimed responsibility for the blast, but suicide bombings are the signature attack of al-Qaida in Iraq, which was active in Anbar until Sunni tribesmen turned against the terror movement in 2006 and joined forces with the Americans.
At least 37 people have been killed in four major attacks on Iraqi security forces since April 10, when a suicide truck bomber blasted the regional police headquarters in Mosul. Five American soldiers and two Iraqi policemen were killed in the Mosul blast.
In addition, 11 Oil Ministry guards were killed and 13 wounded in a car bombing in Kirkuk on Wednesday. Nine government-backed Sunni paramilitaries died and 30 were wounded in a suicide bombing Saturday at an army base south of Baghdad.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has based much of his political legitimacy on the fact that the country has calmed during his stewardship. Renewed attacks are likely to threaten his position politically.
In Washington, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Thursday that the latest bombings show "there is still the ability to conduct these spectacular and lethal attacks."
The recent attacks have raised questions whether Iraqi forces are capable of providing security when U.S. troops withdraw from Baghdad and other cities by June 30 - the deadline set in the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that took effect this year.
President Barack Obama has also promised to end the U.S. combat role in Iraq by September 2010 and withdraw all American forces from the country by 2012.
Last week, however, the top U.S. commander, Gen. Raymond Odierno, told The Times of London he is concerned that Iraqi forces won't be ready to assume full responsibility for Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, by the June deadline.
Odierno said al-Maliki would face a "very difficult" political decision whether to ask U.S. troops to stay longer in Mosul, where al-Qaida and other Sunni insurgents still operate.
However, an Iraqi military spokesman told reporters Thursday that there has been no change in the plan for American soldiers to leave Mosul, Baghdad and other cities on schedule.
"There are withdrawal timetables in the security agreement," Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said. "The first stage of the withdrawal will be from all cities by June 30."
Two Sunni lawmakers Thursday criticized Odierno for suggesting that the Americans might have to stay longer in Mosul.
Noureddin al-Hayali described Odierno's comments as a "violation of the pullout accord." Lawmaker Hashim al-Tae urged the prime minister to raise a new army division from among Mosul's population, adding that "our citizens reject the stationing of foreign forces" in the city.
---
Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.
By ROBERT H. REID
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD (AP) -- A suicide bomber struck an Iraqi military base Thursday in an attack that Iraqi officials first said killed 16 soldiers but later maintained no one died but the attacker.
The conflicting death counts came at a time when Iraqi officials are under increasing pressure to stop attacks. Last week, angry Iraqis in Baghdad hurled stones at police and soldiers because they failed to stop a car bombing.
The suicide attacker wore an Iraqi military uniform in Thursday's bombing - the fourth major attack on Iraqi security forces in a week. That raised troubling questions about insurgents' ability to infiltrate the country's armed forces or to receive help from inside their ranks.
U.S. officials have based their hopes for Iraq's future on building a professional Iraqi military capable of securing the country as the U.S. draws down its forces this year.
Two Iraqi army officers, contacted by telephone from Baghdad, said the bomber detonated an explosive belt among soldiers headed for a canteen at Habbaniyah air base in Anbar province 45 miles west of Baghdad.
One of the officers described a "thunderous" explosion that left "bodies and pieces of human flesh scattered all over near the canteen." He said 16 soldiers were killed and 50 wounded. The second officer said only that a number of soldiers had died.
Both officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release information to media.
Later, however, the Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari, said 38 Iraqi soldiers were wounded but only the bomber died. Maj. Gen. Mardhi Mishhin al-Mahalawi, the army's Anbar operations chief, said 17 soldiers were wounded.
The sprawling base was sealed off and reporters were unable to enter to check on the conflicting reports. U.S. troops are also based at Habbaniyah, but the U.S. military referred all questions about casualties to the Iraqis. There was no indication of any U.S. casualties.
An American who identified himself as a soldier training Iraqis at the base telephoned The Associated Press to say he witnessed the attack but would not give his name.
The caller said the soldiers had finished a morning training session and were walking to the canteen for lunch when the bomber, who was waiting for them on the street, detonated his explosives.
He said only the bomber was killed but 38 others were injured. About half were treated and released, he said.
But police Maj. Mohammed al-Dulaimi, who works at a station near the base, said he saw saw at least 10 mangled bodies removed from the blast site to a local hospital. He said the Iraqi military refused to give local police any casualty figures.
In nearby Fallujah, a mosque loudspeaker announced the name of a soldier said to have been killed in the blast. It was unclear whether he could have been the bomber.
No group claimed responsibility for the blast, but suicide bombings are the signature attack of al-Qaida in Iraq, which was active in Anbar until Sunni tribesmen turned against the terror movement in 2006 and joined forces with the Americans.
At least 37 people have been killed in four major attacks on Iraqi security forces since April 10, when a suicide truck bomber blasted the regional police headquarters in Mosul. Five American soldiers and two Iraqi policemen were killed in the Mosul blast.
In addition, 11 Oil Ministry guards were killed and 13 wounded in a car bombing in Kirkuk on Wednesday. Nine government-backed Sunni paramilitaries died and 30 were wounded in a suicide bombing Saturday at an army base south of Baghdad.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has based much of his political legitimacy on the fact that the country has calmed during his stewardship. Renewed attacks are likely to threaten his position politically.
In Washington, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Thursday that the latest bombings show "there is still the ability to conduct these spectacular and lethal attacks."
The recent attacks have raised questions whether Iraqi forces are capable of providing security when U.S. troops withdraw from Baghdad and other cities by June 30 - the deadline set in the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that took effect this year.
President Barack Obama has also promised to end the U.S. combat role in Iraq by September 2010 and withdraw all American forces from the country by 2012.
Last week, however, the top U.S. commander, Gen. Raymond Odierno, told The Times of London he is concerned that Iraqi forces won't be ready to assume full responsibility for Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, by the June deadline.
Odierno said al-Maliki would face a "very difficult" political decision whether to ask U.S. troops to stay longer in Mosul, where al-Qaida and other Sunni insurgents still operate.
However, an Iraqi military spokesman told reporters Thursday that there has been no change in the plan for American soldiers to leave Mosul, Baghdad and other cities on schedule.
"There are withdrawal timetables in the security agreement," Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said. "The first stage of the withdrawal will be from all cities by June 30."
Two Sunni lawmakers Thursday criticized Odierno for suggesting that the Americans might have to stay longer in Mosul.
Noureddin al-Hayali described Odierno's comments as a "violation of the pullout accord." Lawmaker Hashim al-Tae urged the prime minister to raise a new army division from among Mosul's population, adding that "our citizens reject the stationing of foreign forces" in the city.
---
Associated Press writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.
Court appoints new lawyer for Mumbai attack accused
16 Apr 2009 12:34:19 GMT
Source: Reuters
MUMBAI, April 16 (Reuters) - A special court on Thursday appointed a new lawyer for the man accused of being the lone surviving gunman of the Mumbai attacks, and heard the prosecution intends to produce nearly 2,000 witnesses to prove its case.
Judge M.L Tahilyani appointed Abbas Kazmi to represent Mohammed Ajmal Kasab a day after his previous lawyer was dismissed due to a conflict of interest.
"After due deliberation it was decided advocate Abbas Kazmi will represent the accused," Tahilyani said in the specially built court housed in Arthur Road jail, where Kasab is held.
Kazmi said he had volunteered his services because other lawyers had been unwilling.
Legal representation for Kasab, who is charged with "waging war" against India during the attacks that killed 166 people, has been a contentious issue, with several lawyers refusing to step forward and others being threatened by Hindu nationalist outfits.
Kasab, who on Wednesday repeated a request for a Pakistani lawyer, was told by the judge on Thursday that India's Foreign Ministry had not responded to the court's request.
Police say Kasab, who sat barefoot in the dock dressed in a long-sleeved T-shirt and navy blue track pants, was one of 10 gunmen who arrived in Mumbai last November by sea from Pakistan and rampaged through the city, killing nearly 170 people.
State prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who will make his opening remarks on Friday, told the court he intends to produce 1,820 witnesses and more than 750 pieces of evidence to prove Kasab's guilt in seven cases, and indirect involvement in five others.
Kasab could face the gallows if found guilty.
The attacks on India's financial hub sparked renewed tensions between India and Pakistan, with New Delhi saying state agencies were involved in the attacks. Islamabad has denied the charge. (Reporting by Rina Chandran; Editing by Alistair Scrutton)
Source: Reuters
MUMBAI, April 16 (Reuters) - A special court on Thursday appointed a new lawyer for the man accused of being the lone surviving gunman of the Mumbai attacks, and heard the prosecution intends to produce nearly 2,000 witnesses to prove its case.
Judge M.L Tahilyani appointed Abbas Kazmi to represent Mohammed Ajmal Kasab a day after his previous lawyer was dismissed due to a conflict of interest.
"After due deliberation it was decided advocate Abbas Kazmi will represent the accused," Tahilyani said in the specially built court housed in Arthur Road jail, where Kasab is held.
Kazmi said he had volunteered his services because other lawyers had been unwilling.
Legal representation for Kasab, who is charged with "waging war" against India during the attacks that killed 166 people, has been a contentious issue, with several lawyers refusing to step forward and others being threatened by Hindu nationalist outfits.
Kasab, who on Wednesday repeated a request for a Pakistani lawyer, was told by the judge on Thursday that India's Foreign Ministry had not responded to the court's request.
Police say Kasab, who sat barefoot in the dock dressed in a long-sleeved T-shirt and navy blue track pants, was one of 10 gunmen who arrived in Mumbai last November by sea from Pakistan and rampaged through the city, killing nearly 170 people.
State prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who will make his opening remarks on Friday, told the court he intends to produce 1,820 witnesses and more than 750 pieces of evidence to prove Kasab's guilt in seven cases, and indirect involvement in five others.
Kasab could face the gallows if found guilty.
The attacks on India's financial hub sparked renewed tensions between India and Pakistan, with New Delhi saying state agencies were involved in the attacks. Islamabad has denied the charge. (Reporting by Rina Chandran; Editing by Alistair Scrutton)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Obama Reports $2.6 Million in Book Income
By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Barack Obama's successful quest for the White House powered the sales of his nonfiction books, making him millions even as he assumed the presidency, his tax returns show.
This Story
*
Obama Reports $2.6 Million in Book Income
*
Obama Is Just Not Their Cup of Tea
*
President Obama's 1040 Form (PDF)
*
President Obama's 709 Form (PDF)
*
President Obama's Illinois State Tax Return (PDF)
*
Vice President Biden's 1040 Form (PDF)
*
Vice President Biden's Delaware State Tax Return (PDF)
View All Items in This Story
View Only Top Items in This Story
As a candidate in 2008, Obama earned about $2.6 million from the sale of his books, "The Audacity of Hope" and "Dreams From My Father," according to returns the White House released yesterday.
The book sales represented the vast majority of the first couple's income, although they also reported wages of about $200,000 and a small amount of investment income.
Together, Obama and his wife, Michelle, paid about $855,000 in federal taxes. They would have received a $26,000 refund, but asked that the amount be applied to their 2009 income taxes instead.
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The returns, Obama's first released while president, show that he donated $172,050 to charities, including $25,000 to both CARE and the United Negro College Fund.
He did not donate to the Trinity United Church of Christ, the Chicago church where the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., his controversial former pastor, had preached. During the campaign, Obama denounced Wright and quit the church that he had attended for years.
The tax returns confirm the success Obama has had as an author during the past two years, as his largely autobiographical books have remained high on bestseller lists. His earnings in 2008, in addition to the nearly $4.1 million he earned the year before, put him in the top tier of nonfiction writers in terms of income from book sales.
"The president sold a lot of books last year, no doubt, and paid a hefty amount in federal income tax," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a briefing yesterday.
The White House said the Obamas paid about $78,000 in taxes to their home state of Illinois.
Officials also released the federal and state tax returns for Vice President Biden and his wife, Jill. The couple earned far less than the Obamas, reporting income of about $270,000.
Biden paid about $47,000 in federal taxes and donated $1,885 to charity, the records show.
Most of Biden's income was from his Senate salary, although he reported about $9,500 from audio book royalties related to his 2007 autobiography, "Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics."
Biden's charitable donations included clothing to Goodwill, and in a statement the White House defended the size of his contributions.
"The charitable donations claimed by the Bidens on their tax returns are not the sum of their annual contributions to charity," the statement says. "They donate to their church, and they contribute to their favorite causes with their time, as well as their checkbooks."
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Barack Obama's successful quest for the White House powered the sales of his nonfiction books, making him millions even as he assumed the presidency, his tax returns show.
This Story
*
Obama Reports $2.6 Million in Book Income
*
Obama Is Just Not Their Cup of Tea
*
President Obama's 1040 Form (PDF)
*
President Obama's 709 Form (PDF)
*
President Obama's Illinois State Tax Return (PDF)
*
Vice President Biden's 1040 Form (PDF)
*
Vice President Biden's Delaware State Tax Return (PDF)
View All Items in This Story
View Only Top Items in This Story
As a candidate in 2008, Obama earned about $2.6 million from the sale of his books, "The Audacity of Hope" and "Dreams From My Father," according to returns the White House released yesterday.
The book sales represented the vast majority of the first couple's income, although they also reported wages of about $200,000 and a small amount of investment income.
Together, Obama and his wife, Michelle, paid about $855,000 in federal taxes. They would have received a $26,000 refund, but asked that the amount be applied to their 2009 income taxes instead.
ad_icon
The returns, Obama's first released while president, show that he donated $172,050 to charities, including $25,000 to both CARE and the United Negro College Fund.
He did not donate to the Trinity United Church of Christ, the Chicago church where the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., his controversial former pastor, had preached. During the campaign, Obama denounced Wright and quit the church that he had attended for years.
The tax returns confirm the success Obama has had as an author during the past two years, as his largely autobiographical books have remained high on bestseller lists. His earnings in 2008, in addition to the nearly $4.1 million he earned the year before, put him in the top tier of nonfiction writers in terms of income from book sales.
"The president sold a lot of books last year, no doubt, and paid a hefty amount in federal income tax," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a briefing yesterday.
The White House said the Obamas paid about $78,000 in taxes to their home state of Illinois.
Officials also released the federal and state tax returns for Vice President Biden and his wife, Jill. The couple earned far less than the Obamas, reporting income of about $270,000.
Biden paid about $47,000 in federal taxes and donated $1,885 to charity, the records show.
Most of Biden's income was from his Senate salary, although he reported about $9,500 from audio book royalties related to his 2007 autobiography, "Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics."
Biden's charitable donations included clothing to Goodwill, and in a statement the White House defended the size of his contributions.
"The charitable donations claimed by the Bidens on their tax returns are not the sum of their annual contributions to charity," the statement says. "They donate to their church, and they contribute to their favorite causes with their time, as well as their checkbooks."
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Iraqi families visit their detained relatives for first time since 1991
Kuwait:
14 Apr 2009 07:31:06 GMT
Source: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - Switzerland
220224 logo
Kuwait/Baghdad (ICRC) – From 13 to 16 April, members of five Iraqi families will for the first time travel to Kuwait to visit their relatives detained there since the 1990-91 Gulf War.
Their visit has been organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in coordination with the Kuwaiti authorities.
The detainees are among those arrested and sentenced in connection with the 1990-91 Gulf War and still being held in the Kuwait Central Prison.
"The Kuwaiti authorities have fully supported and facilitated the visits, which will bring some relief to the detainees and their families," said John Strick van Linschoten, the ICRC's coordinator for visits to detainees in Kuwait.
"The ICRC organizes family visits to re-establish and maintain family links severed by armed conflict.
We hope to be able to arrange further such visits in Kuwait on a regular basis".
The ICRC has as well facilitated the exchange of Red Cross Messages between the detainees and their families in Iraq during the past years.
The ICRC has been visiting prisoners in Kuwaiti detention places since March 1991.
For more information, please contact:
Fouad Bawaba, ICRC Kuwait, tel: +965 9787 9434
Dibeh Fakhr, ICRC Iraq, tel: +962 777 399 614
See also ICRC media contacts
This article on www.icrc.org
14 Apr 2009 07:31:06 GMT
Source: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - Switzerland
220224 logo
Kuwait/Baghdad (ICRC) – From 13 to 16 April, members of five Iraqi families will for the first time travel to Kuwait to visit their relatives detained there since the 1990-91 Gulf War.
Their visit has been organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in coordination with the Kuwaiti authorities.
The detainees are among those arrested and sentenced in connection with the 1990-91 Gulf War and still being held in the Kuwait Central Prison.
"The Kuwaiti authorities have fully supported and facilitated the visits, which will bring some relief to the detainees and their families," said John Strick van Linschoten, the ICRC's coordinator for visits to detainees in Kuwait.
"The ICRC organizes family visits to re-establish and maintain family links severed by armed conflict.
We hope to be able to arrange further such visits in Kuwait on a regular basis".
The ICRC has as well facilitated the exchange of Red Cross Messages between the detainees and their families in Iraq during the past years.
The ICRC has been visiting prisoners in Kuwaiti detention places since March 1991.
For more information, please contact:
Fouad Bawaba, ICRC Kuwait, tel: +965 9787 9434
Dibeh Fakhr, ICRC Iraq, tel: +962 777 399 614
See also ICRC media contacts
This article on www.icrc.org
Monday, April 13, 2009
Ayatollah sees Obama sincere in Muslim message
NTERVIEW-
Wed Apr 8, 2009 9:57am EDT
* Senior Shi'ite cleric says Obama sincere in Muslim message
* Sees positive outcome for U.S.-Iranian dialogue
* Urges balanced U.S. policy on Israeli-Palestinian conflict
By Tom Perry
BEIRUT, April 8 (Reuters) - One of Shi'ite Islam's highest religious authorities praised on Wednesday the "sincerity" of U.S. President Barack Obama's message to the Muslim world and predicted a positive outcome for his approach to Iran.
Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah said Obama appeared to be a man of "human values" but would be judged on his actions. The ayatollah urged Obama to rethink policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Trying to repair America's damaged image abroad, Obama said on a visit to predominantly Muslim Turkey this week that the United States was not at war with Islam.
"This man does not lack sincerity in what he is saying about Islam," Fadlallah told Reuters in an interview at his Beirut office. Former U.S. President George W. Bush had used similar language but his "mentality was not open" to Islam, he added.
"But the question that presents itself is whether President Obama can realise any of these slogans when faced by the institutions that govern America and over which the president does not have complete control," Fadlallah said.
Obama's first overseas tour, which included his visit to Turkey, "was not void of positive aspects", Fadlallah said. "But we have learnt not to pass judgment on the basis of words."
Fadlallah was a staunch critic of the Middle East policies of the Bush administration, which led the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and backed Israel during a war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon in 2006.
Like other U.S. presidents, Bush was also faulted by many in the Middle East for pro-Israeli policies in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Fadlallah, whose family comes from predominantly Shi'ite south Lebanon, criticised Obama's statement that Israelis and Palestinians must make compromises for peace. "We know that the Palestinians offered every concession at the time when Israel did not offer any," he said.
The cleric said he had written to Obama urging him "to be the president who looks to the world with his eyes open...".
The Obama administration has adopted a new approach to the Shi'ite Islamist government in Iran, pledging to engage a country which Bush included in what he called the axis of evil. Western states suspect Iran of seeking to develop atomic weapons, but Iran denies the charge.
"There is new language between Iran and America," Fadlallah said. "America has acknowledged in the last period that Iran represents a great state in the region ... and the invasion of Iran is not possible via an American-Iranian war," he said.
By inviting Iran to a U.N. conference on the conflict in Afghanistan last month, the United States had shown its need for Tehran's help, he added.
Asked about the prospects of a breakthrough in U.S.-Iranian relations, Fadlallah said: "I believe the matter will end with positive results."
The growth of Iranian influence has alarmed conservative Arab states close to the United States, but Fadlallah said Arab concerns about Iran would ebb if U.S. ties improve with Tehran.
"If a positive dialogue takes place between Iran and America, this (Arab) view will disappear," he said. (Additional reporting by Laila Bassam, Editing by Jonathan Wright)
Wed Apr 8, 2009 9:57am EDT
* Senior Shi'ite cleric says Obama sincere in Muslim message
* Sees positive outcome for U.S.-Iranian dialogue
* Urges balanced U.S. policy on Israeli-Palestinian conflict
By Tom Perry
BEIRUT, April 8 (Reuters) - One of Shi'ite Islam's highest religious authorities praised on Wednesday the "sincerity" of U.S. President Barack Obama's message to the Muslim world and predicted a positive outcome for his approach to Iran.
Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah said Obama appeared to be a man of "human values" but would be judged on his actions. The ayatollah urged Obama to rethink policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Trying to repair America's damaged image abroad, Obama said on a visit to predominantly Muslim Turkey this week that the United States was not at war with Islam.
"This man does not lack sincerity in what he is saying about Islam," Fadlallah told Reuters in an interview at his Beirut office. Former U.S. President George W. Bush had used similar language but his "mentality was not open" to Islam, he added.
"But the question that presents itself is whether President Obama can realise any of these slogans when faced by the institutions that govern America and over which the president does not have complete control," Fadlallah said.
Obama's first overseas tour, which included his visit to Turkey, "was not void of positive aspects", Fadlallah said. "But we have learnt not to pass judgment on the basis of words."
Fadlallah was a staunch critic of the Middle East policies of the Bush administration, which led the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and backed Israel during a war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon in 2006.
Like other U.S. presidents, Bush was also faulted by many in the Middle East for pro-Israeli policies in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Fadlallah, whose family comes from predominantly Shi'ite south Lebanon, criticised Obama's statement that Israelis and Palestinians must make compromises for peace. "We know that the Palestinians offered every concession at the time when Israel did not offer any," he said.
The cleric said he had written to Obama urging him "to be the president who looks to the world with his eyes open...".
The Obama administration has adopted a new approach to the Shi'ite Islamist government in Iran, pledging to engage a country which Bush included in what he called the axis of evil. Western states suspect Iran of seeking to develop atomic weapons, but Iran denies the charge.
"There is new language between Iran and America," Fadlallah said. "America has acknowledged in the last period that Iran represents a great state in the region ... and the invasion of Iran is not possible via an American-Iranian war," he said.
By inviting Iran to a U.N. conference on the conflict in Afghanistan last month, the United States had shown its need for Tehran's help, he added.
Asked about the prospects of a breakthrough in U.S.-Iranian relations, Fadlallah said: "I believe the matter will end with positive results."
The growth of Iranian influence has alarmed conservative Arab states close to the United States, but Fadlallah said Arab concerns about Iran would ebb if U.S. ties improve with Tehran.
"If a positive dialogue takes place between Iran and America, this (Arab) view will disappear," he said. (Additional reporting by Laila Bassam, Editing by Jonathan Wright)
Sunday, April 12, 2009
“May the Christians perish in an instant“, Jews
“May the Christians perish in an instant“, Jewish prayers.
Easter is a very important date on the Christian calendar. It reminds people of the date when Jesus Christ was betrayed by the Jews and crucified by the Romans. Jesus was technically a Jew because his mother was Jewish. But he was also a rebel, who refused the cruel and primitive Jewish doctrine of an Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth, and went to preach Love and Forgiveness. Naturally, the Jews found Jesus to be a threat and decided on getting rid of him. Their hatred for Jesus and Christianity continued and became part of Jewish prayers. In the Eighteen Benediction, started around round 100 years after the death of Jesus, the Jewish prayers go like this: “For the apostates (meshummadin) let there be no hope, and the arrogant kingdom speedily uproot in our day. May the Nazarene (Christians) and the heretics (minim) perish in an instant. May they be blotted out of the book of the living and may they not be written with the righteous (Ps 69:29). Blessed are you, O Lord, who subdues the arrogant.”
Their belief in being God’s preferred people, the Jews look down on other faiths let alone recognise Jesus, Christianity or Islam. At this very moment, Jews continue to close ranks and operate as a tightly-knit mafia. In America, Jews gang to control the financial institutions, the media and politics. America has been fighting Jewish wars for years and had marched on Baghdad to Israeli drums.
If Jesus was only a Maverick, the Jews would have not be that pleased to see him crucified. I believe that Jesus message of love and forgiveness is/was super human and turned the Jewish doctrine upside down.
Nazarenes=Nozerim=Christians
May the Nazarene (Christians) and the heretics (minim) perish in an instant. May they be blotted out of the book of the living and may they not be written with the righteous (Ps 69:29). Blessed are you, O Lord, who subdues the arrogant.”
Taken from:
Judaism by Philiph Alexander, Manchester University Press, 1984. Page 6.
What was really progressive is for Islam to recognise all Jewish and Christian prophets and holy men. Furthermore, 75% of the Holy Quran is made of holy Biblical and Talmudic teachings. In our house I have a sister named Mary (Mariam), a brother named Mohammed and another brother named Moses (Mousa). No Christian or Jew is called Mohammed.
It is true that the Vatican under pressure from the powerful American Jewish lobby exonerated the Jews from the blood of Christ. But the Jews considered this as a victory and continued their belief that they are God's preferred people and gang against people of other faiths. Why do one would think the Jews ended up controlling US financial and media institutions? The catholic may have forgotten the Jewish betrayal of Jesus but the Jews didn't as they continue to believe in their ancient rights for a promised land and their superiority to other people. Today the world is sufferring from the ancient Talmudic teachings dominating present day Jewish practices. G.W. Bush admitted receiving a divine message to destroy Babylon and to kill its king, the way it is written in the Torah.
Some some people interpret the Arab rejection of Israel Nazi-style atrocitiest against Palesagains as an Islamic hatred for Judaism. One can be against Hitler's atrocities and remain catholic.
There are eight million Christians (Greek Orthodox) in Egypt. Prior to the American invasion of Iraq there were close to one million Christians, the most prominent of these, was Tariq Aziz, Saddam deputy and foreighn minister who is currently in an American prison. Thanks to the Americans, a large number of Christians have already left the country during the last six years. Forty percent of the Lebanese are Christians (Catholics). There are Jews currently living in Morroco, Tunisia, Iraq Yemen, Turkey and Iran. Two Iranian members of Parliament are Jews. Jews and Arabs are cousins and it is very hard to tell them apart.
It is puzzling, so many Americans go to Church on Sunday while the homicide rate is the highest in the world. One wonders which God the Americans pray too. May be they are like G.W. Bush who talked to God but listened to the Devil.
Let me make a general statement here. Despite the thousands of Churches and Universities, America remains the most violent and immoral country on earth. One may not pay attention to this strange phenomenon except that the American violence is being exported to a large number of countries. Can you see who is currently fighting and killing people across the world? It is the Americans and their allies. In the past, it was to fight communism, today it is to fight terrorists.
America has military bases in 135 countries and the American hands are stained with the blood of people from 34 nations. I don't believe it is correct for Americans to police the streets of Baghdad but not those of Washington D.C., LA, NY, Miami, Detroit, Chicago, or Saint Luis; where people are afraid to venture outside their homes after 09 PM. I advise the Americans to stay home and to kill each other, naturally after talking to God. THE AMERICANS ARE A STRANGE BREED OF PEOPLE WHO ARE INHERENTLY VIOLENT.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
Easter is a very important date on the Christian calendar. It reminds people of the date when Jesus Christ was betrayed by the Jews and crucified by the Romans. Jesus was technically a Jew because his mother was Jewish. But he was also a rebel, who refused the cruel and primitive Jewish doctrine of an Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth, and went to preach Love and Forgiveness. Naturally, the Jews found Jesus to be a threat and decided on getting rid of him. Their hatred for Jesus and Christianity continued and became part of Jewish prayers. In the Eighteen Benediction, started around round 100 years after the death of Jesus, the Jewish prayers go like this: “For the apostates (meshummadin) let there be no hope, and the arrogant kingdom speedily uproot in our day. May the Nazarene (Christians) and the heretics (minim) perish in an instant. May they be blotted out of the book of the living and may they not be written with the righteous (Ps 69:29). Blessed are you, O Lord, who subdues the arrogant.”
Their belief in being God’s preferred people, the Jews look down on other faiths let alone recognise Jesus, Christianity or Islam. At this very moment, Jews continue to close ranks and operate as a tightly-knit mafia. In America, Jews gang to control the financial institutions, the media and politics. America has been fighting Jewish wars for years and had marched on Baghdad to Israeli drums.
If Jesus was only a Maverick, the Jews would have not be that pleased to see him crucified. I believe that Jesus message of love and forgiveness is/was super human and turned the Jewish doctrine upside down.
Nazarenes=Nozerim=Christians
May the Nazarene (Christians) and the heretics (minim) perish in an instant. May they be blotted out of the book of the living and may they not be written with the righteous (Ps 69:29). Blessed are you, O Lord, who subdues the arrogant.”
Taken from:
Judaism by Philiph Alexander, Manchester University Press, 1984. Page 6.
What was really progressive is for Islam to recognise all Jewish and Christian prophets and holy men. Furthermore, 75% of the Holy Quran is made of holy Biblical and Talmudic teachings. In our house I have a sister named Mary (Mariam), a brother named Mohammed and another brother named Moses (Mousa). No Christian or Jew is called Mohammed.
It is true that the Vatican under pressure from the powerful American Jewish lobby exonerated the Jews from the blood of Christ. But the Jews considered this as a victory and continued their belief that they are God's preferred people and gang against people of other faiths. Why do one would think the Jews ended up controlling US financial and media institutions? The catholic may have forgotten the Jewish betrayal of Jesus but the Jews didn't as they continue to believe in their ancient rights for a promised land and their superiority to other people. Today the world is sufferring from the ancient Talmudic teachings dominating present day Jewish practices. G.W. Bush admitted receiving a divine message to destroy Babylon and to kill its king, the way it is written in the Torah.
Some some people interpret the Arab rejection of Israel Nazi-style atrocitiest against Palesagains as an Islamic hatred for Judaism. One can be against Hitler's atrocities and remain catholic.
There are eight million Christians (Greek Orthodox) in Egypt. Prior to the American invasion of Iraq there were close to one million Christians, the most prominent of these, was Tariq Aziz, Saddam deputy and foreighn minister who is currently in an American prison. Thanks to the Americans, a large number of Christians have already left the country during the last six years. Forty percent of the Lebanese are Christians (Catholics). There are Jews currently living in Morroco, Tunisia, Iraq Yemen, Turkey and Iran. Two Iranian members of Parliament are Jews. Jews and Arabs are cousins and it is very hard to tell them apart.
It is puzzling, so many Americans go to Church on Sunday while the homicide rate is the highest in the world. One wonders which God the Americans pray too. May be they are like G.W. Bush who talked to God but listened to the Devil.
Let me make a general statement here. Despite the thousands of Churches and Universities, America remains the most violent and immoral country on earth. One may not pay attention to this strange phenomenon except that the American violence is being exported to a large number of countries. Can you see who is currently fighting and killing people across the world? It is the Americans and their allies. In the past, it was to fight communism, today it is to fight terrorists.
America has military bases in 135 countries and the American hands are stained with the blood of people from 34 nations. I don't believe it is correct for Americans to police the streets of Baghdad but not those of Washington D.C., LA, NY, Miami, Detroit, Chicago, or Saint Luis; where people are afraid to venture outside their homes after 09 PM. I advise the Americans to stay home and to kill each other, naturally after talking to God. THE AMERICANS ARE A STRANGE BREED OF PEOPLE WHO ARE INHERENTLY VIOLENT.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
Female official killed in southern Afghanistan
© AP
2009-04-12 15:51:02 -
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - A female provincial official known for fighting for women's rights was gunned down in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, following a day of fighting in the region that left 22 militants dead, officials said.
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmedi, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Gunmen killed Sitara Achakzai outside of her home in the city of Kandahar and then drove off, said Matiullah Khan Qateh, police chief of Kandahar province. He said the four men drove up on two motorcycles and shot Achakzai as she was getting out of her car.
Achakzai, a dual German-Afghan citizen, spent the years of Taliban rule in Germany and returned to her native country to fight for women's rights, said Shahida Bibi, a member of the Kandahar women's association who worked with Achakzai.
A member of Kandahar's provincial council, Achakzai was vocal in encouraging women to take jobs and encouraging them to fight for equal rights, Bibi said.
2009-04-12 15:51:02 -
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - A female provincial official known for fighting for women's rights was gunned down in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, following a day of fighting in the region that left 22 militants dead, officials said.
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmedi, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Gunmen killed Sitara Achakzai outside of her home in the city of Kandahar and then drove off, said Matiullah Khan Qateh, police chief of Kandahar province. He said the four men drove up on two motorcycles and shot Achakzai as she was getting out of her car.
Achakzai, a dual German-Afghan citizen, spent the years of Taliban rule in Germany and returned to her native country to fight for women's rights, said Shahida Bibi, a member of the Kandahar women's association who worked with Achakzai.
A member of Kandahar's provincial council, Achakzai was vocal in encouraging women to take jobs and encouraging them to fight for equal rights, Bibi said.
Bahrain pardons opposition leaders after protests
12 Apr 2009 08:59:01 GMT
Source: Reuters
MANAMA, April 12 (Reuters) - Bahrain's king has pardoned 178 people charged with breaching state security, including two Shi'ite opposition leaders whose arrest sparked violent protests and whose trial has drawn international scrutiny.
A government source, who declined to be named, said those pardoned included Hassan Mushaima, leader of the mainly Shi'ite opposition movement Haq, Shi'ite cleric Mohammed Maqdad and 33 other defendants on trial with them.
"You are now obliged to cooperate for the security of this country," Bahrain's news agency quoted Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed bin Abdullah al-Khalifa as telling the prisoners.
There have been violent protests in this Sunni Muslim-ruled country over the trial. Some defendants have been accused of planning the violent overthrow of the government.
Nighttime battles between police with teargas and youths with bottles and burning barricades contrast with efforts by the Gulf Arab kingdom to present itself as a stable place for international investors.
Jalila Sayed, a lawyer for the defendants, said this was not the first time Bahrain had pardoned opposition figures.
"We have this kind of play from time to time, except this time the magnitude is bigger, there are more people involved and the accusations are more serious," Sayed said.
Mushaima had been in custody for a few hours in 2007, but was pardoned before his trial started, she said.
Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Human Rights Center, said the pardon followed unprecedented international pressure on Bahrain, whose government had underestimated the degree of popular opposition to Mushaima's arrest.
"This will help ease the tension for the coming weeks," Rajab said.
The Shi'ite opposition has attributed the unrest that erupts periodically in Bahrain to grievances such as their marginalisation in jobs and services, a charge government officials deny.
In 1995 Shi'ites led a series of violent protests to demand reforms. The disturbances abated in 1998 after King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa launched landmark political and economic reforms, including pardoning political prisoners and activists in exile.
Unlike most other Gulf Arab states, Bahrain has a lively parliament, consisting of an elected lower house and an upper house whose members are appointed by the king. (Reporting by Frederik Richter; writing by Inal Ersan; editing by Thomas Atkins and Tim Pearce)
Source: Reuters
MANAMA, April 12 (Reuters) - Bahrain's king has pardoned 178 people charged with breaching state security, including two Shi'ite opposition leaders whose arrest sparked violent protests and whose trial has drawn international scrutiny.
A government source, who declined to be named, said those pardoned included Hassan Mushaima, leader of the mainly Shi'ite opposition movement Haq, Shi'ite cleric Mohammed Maqdad and 33 other defendants on trial with them.
"You are now obliged to cooperate for the security of this country," Bahrain's news agency quoted Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed bin Abdullah al-Khalifa as telling the prisoners.
There have been violent protests in this Sunni Muslim-ruled country over the trial. Some defendants have been accused of planning the violent overthrow of the government.
Nighttime battles between police with teargas and youths with bottles and burning barricades contrast with efforts by the Gulf Arab kingdom to present itself as a stable place for international investors.
Jalila Sayed, a lawyer for the defendants, said this was not the first time Bahrain had pardoned opposition figures.
"We have this kind of play from time to time, except this time the magnitude is bigger, there are more people involved and the accusations are more serious," Sayed said.
Mushaima had been in custody for a few hours in 2007, but was pardoned before his trial started, she said.
Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Human Rights Center, said the pardon followed unprecedented international pressure on Bahrain, whose government had underestimated the degree of popular opposition to Mushaima's arrest.
"This will help ease the tension for the coming weeks," Rajab said.
"But if this is not followed by measures to end the ... political and human rights crisis, which is the discrimination against the Shia, (this kind of) situation will come back."
The Shi'ite opposition has attributed the unrest that erupts periodically in Bahrain to grievances such as their marginalisation in jobs and services, a charge government officials deny.
In 1995 Shi'ites led a series of violent protests to demand reforms. The disturbances abated in 1998 after King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa launched landmark political and economic reforms, including pardoning political prisoners and activists in exile.
Unlike most other Gulf Arab states, Bahrain has a lively parliament, consisting of an elected lower house and an upper house whose members are appointed by the king. (Reporting by Frederik Richter; writing by Inal Ersan; editing by Thomas Atkins and Tim Pearce)
Obamas' puppy is out of the bag; Obama When will you Know our pain?
While Americans have allowed their soldier to airlift a stary puppy from Iraqi soil, I want to remind Obama, we have millions of displaced real human being who sleep on Iraqi/Afgani streets/deserts overnight in hunger. Some of these poor people are being injured /crushed under the wheels of heavy garbage trucks while they spade bones from the trash to sell and have a single piece of bread.
While you pumped Iraqi oil or blast Afghani/pakistani minerals, the sons and daughters of the soil have the right to ask if there is a soldier who can airlift them in fighter jets prior to they face half ton hell fire missiles, jet carpet bombing and air strikes.
Obama must know Iraqis sell their blood to have enough money for their day food. I hope either whole of Middle East becomes a real UNITED STATES or whole of America turn over to Iraq/Afghan type of NO GO, GREEN ZONE type fortress AREAS as seen in Baghdad, Kabol, Islamabad and Mogadishu.
I hope Americans should know the difference b/w democratic rule and installed client regimes under American invasion/influence.
And I am sure Americans know what they read but what I see, is not shown by the media. I hope Americans soldiers should not waste fresh free food and they should sent it to the poor city slums a minute distance from safe American haven type of bases /forts.
Pete Souza / The White House
The Obama family gets to know their Portuguese water dog, which daughters Sasha and Malia have named Bo.
The six-month-old Portuguese water dog, named Bo, was a gift from Sen. Edward Kennedy. It's the first pet in many ways - the family's never had one before.
By Manuel Roig-Franzia
April 12, 2009
Reporting from Washington -- The identity of the first puppy -- the one that the Washington press corps has been yelping about for months, the one President Obama has seemed to delight in dropping hints about -- leaked out Saturday.
The little guy is a six-month-old Portuguese water dog given to the Obama girls as a gift by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. Malia and Sasha named it Bo.
Bo's a handsome little guy. Well suited for formal occasions at the White House, he's got tuxedo-black fur, with a white chest, white paws and a rakish white goatee.
A website called FirstDogCharlie published a picture Saturday morning purportedly of the puppy, which it said was originally named Charlie. The celebrity gossip website TMZ linked to the picture. So much for the big White House unveiling.
The FirstDogCharlie site included a photograph of a Portuguese water dog that looked exactly like the dog in a White House photo -- right down to the multicolored lei -- that the Washington Post was getting ready to publish on the front page of its Sunday paper.
A secret get-acquainted session with the family occurred at the White House a few weeks ago. The visit, known around the White House as "The Meeting," was a surprise for the girls. Bo charmed the first family, a source who was there said. He sat when the girls sat, stood when the girls stood. He made no toilet errors and did not gnaw on the furniture. Bo has, after all, been receiving lessons in good behavior from the Kennedys' dog trainers. These lessons have been taking place at a secret, undisclosed location outside Washington.
When the president walked across the room during the visit, Bo followed obediently.
Sasha was excited; Malia focused on all the "responsibility issues" -- how Bo will be trained, cared for, etc.
"Malia has done extensive research," the source said.
All of this is new to the first family. Sasha and Malia have never had pets. And neither the first lady nor the president had dogs growing up.
In a statement, the Kennedys said: "We couldn't be happier to see the joy that Bo is bringing to Malia and Sasha. We love our Portuguese water dogs and know that the girls -- and their parents -- will love theirs, too."
The choice of a Portie raised one complication: The Obamas have long said they wanted a rescue dog. But the carefully bred Porties almost never end up in shelters. Bo had been living with another family but it wasn't a good fit, so the Kennedys acquired him for the Obamas.
As for the rescue pledge, the Obamas came up with a solution to lend a serious symbolic note: They're going to make a donation to the D.C. Humane Society.
Roig-Franzia writes for the Washington Post. Post staff writers Howard Kurtz and Rob Pegoraro contributed to this report.
Suicide bomber kills 12 Sunni militiamen in Iraq
11 Apr 2009 15:39:33 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Victims were waiting to get paid
* Renewed violence alarms Iraqis
(Updates death toll, edits)
By Habib al-Zubaidy
ISKANDARIYA, Iraq, April 11 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 12 Sunni Arab militiamen queuing to collect overdue pay cheques at an Iraqi army post south of Baghdad on Saturday, and wounded 32, police said.
A series of attacks this week that have alarmed Iraqis as they ponder whether a sharp drop in violence set off by the 2003 U.S. invasion can be sustained as Iraqi forces take the lead from U.S. troops in providing security.
Five U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi policemen died on Friday when a suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with explosives at a police post in the northern city of Mosul. Earlier in the week, bombings in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad killed at least 44 people.
U.S. and Iraqi officials said the Mosul and Baghdad bombings bore the hallmarks of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.
Saturday's attack was in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of the Iraqi capital, once part of an area known as the "Triangle of Death" where Sunni extremists like al Qaeda frequently attacked Shi'ite Muslims.
"What have we done to deserve this?" said patrolman Mohammed al-Janabi, who was badly wounded in the abdomen and legs.
"We helped to make this area safe and when we come to receive our salaries, our bodies are ripped apart. God damn al Qaeda, God damn al Qaeda," he shouted.
The U.S.-sponsored Sunni patrolmen, or Sahwas, helped cut the violence in Iraq after they turned on al Qaeda and other insurgents, but ties between them and the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad have been strained by recent arrests.
Delays in paying the Sahwas, known as "Awakening Councils," have also contributed to tensions.
"The death toll from the suicide attack has risen to 12 killed and 32 wounded," said police colonel Ali al-Zahawi, head of Iskandariya police.
"The Sahwa men were preparing to enter the military post to receive their salaries when a suicide bomber managed to blow himself up among them...," Zahawi had told Reuters earlier.
An official at the mortuary of a local hospital, where survivors were brought on blood-stained stretchers, screaming in pain, said it had received 13 bodies.
Many of the Sahwa were former insurgents and fear the government will target them for past crimes. The U.S. military had been paying their wages until late last year but has now passed all responsibility for the militia to the government.
Iraqi officials and the U.S. military say recent arrests of Sahwa members have been carried out under legal warrants and because of evidence that they committed crimes, such as planting bombs, even after they came onto the U.S. payroll. "I hope these sacrifices will convince the government that we deserve better treatment," said another survivor, Salman Yasin, lightly wounded on the arm. (Additional reporting by Sami al-Jumaily in Kerbala and Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad; editing by Michael Christie and Richard Meares)
Source: Reuters
* Victims were waiting to get paid
* Renewed violence alarms Iraqis
(Updates death toll, edits)
By Habib al-Zubaidy
ISKANDARIYA, Iraq, April 11 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 12 Sunni Arab militiamen queuing to collect overdue pay cheques at an Iraqi army post south of Baghdad on Saturday, and wounded 32, police said.
A series of attacks this week that have alarmed Iraqis as they ponder whether a sharp drop in violence set off by the 2003 U.S. invasion can be sustained as Iraqi forces take the lead from U.S. troops in providing security.
Five U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi policemen died on Friday when a suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with explosives at a police post in the northern city of Mosul. Earlier in the week, bombings in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad killed at least 44 people.
U.S. and Iraqi officials said the Mosul and Baghdad bombings bore the hallmarks of Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.
Saturday's attack was in Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of the Iraqi capital, once part of an area known as the "Triangle of Death" where Sunni extremists like al Qaeda frequently attacked Shi'ite Muslims.
"What have we done to deserve this?" said patrolman Mohammed al-Janabi, who was badly wounded in the abdomen and legs.
"We helped to make this area safe and when we come to receive our salaries, our bodies are ripped apart. God damn al Qaeda, God damn al Qaeda," he shouted.
The U.S.-sponsored Sunni patrolmen, or Sahwas, helped cut the violence in Iraq after they turned on al Qaeda and other insurgents, but ties between them and the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad have been strained by recent arrests.
Delays in paying the Sahwas, known as "Awakening Councils," have also contributed to tensions.
"The death toll from the suicide attack has risen to 12 killed and 32 wounded," said police colonel Ali al-Zahawi, head of Iskandariya police.
"The Sahwa men were preparing to enter the military post to receive their salaries when a suicide bomber managed to blow himself up among them...," Zahawi had told Reuters earlier.
An official at the mortuary of a local hospital, where survivors were brought on blood-stained stretchers, screaming in pain, said it had received 13 bodies.
Many of the Sahwa were former insurgents and fear the government will target them for past crimes. The U.S. military had been paying their wages until late last year but has now passed all responsibility for the militia to the government.
Iraqi officials and the U.S. military say recent arrests of Sahwa members have been carried out under legal warrants and because of evidence that they committed crimes, such as planting bombs, even after they came onto the U.S. payroll. "I hope these sacrifices will convince the government that we deserve better treatment," said another survivor, Salman Yasin, lightly wounded on the arm. (Additional reporting by Sami al-Jumaily in Kerbala and Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad; editing by Michael Christie and Richard Meares)
Friday, April 10, 2009
Iraqi truck bombing kills 5 US soldiers
By HAMID AHMED, Assoacited Press Writer Hamid Ahmed, Assoacited Press Writer – 29 mins ago
BAGHDAD – A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden truck into a sandbagged wall surrounding a police headquarters in northern Iraq on Friday, killing five American soldiers and two Iraqi policemen in the single deadliest attack against U.S. forces in more than a year, the U.S. military and Iraqi police said.
A sixth American soldier and 17 Iraqi policemen were wounded in the blast that took place near the national police headquarters in southwestern Mosul — Iraq's third-largest city and al-Qaida's last urban stronghold.
Suicide bombings — a hallmark of al-Qaida's attack style — continue to threaten the city, which U.S. troops must leave by June 30 under an agreement with the Iraqis. The approaching deadline has raised fears about what will happen after American soldiers depart.
Lt. Col. Michael Stuart, chief of U.S. operations in Tikrit, an Iraqi city north of Baghdad, said the target was the Iraqi national police complex in Mosul and not the U.S. patrol. He said the American patrol just happened to be on the same street when the attack occurred.
"It was just bad timing," Stuart told The Associated Press.
Friday's blast was the deadliest single bombing attack in more than a year. The U.S. military said that the last time five U.S. soldiers were killed in an attack was when a suicide bomber targeted an American patrol in Baghdad on March 10, 2008.
A suicide car bomb struck a U.S. patrol in Mosul on Feb. 9, killing four American soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter. Four U.S. soldiers were also killed Jan. 26 when two helicopters collided over the northern city of Kirkuk.
Friday's suicide bomber, who was driving a truck filled with grain, made a sharp turn as he approached the police complex, then rammed his truck through an iron barrier, hitting a sandbagged wall beyond it and detonating his vehicle near the station's main building, Iraqi police said.
The blast shook the entire complex and badly damaged nearby buildings, witnesses and police said.
A policeman, who identified himself as Abu Mohammed, said he saw the truck driving behind two U.S. Humvees on the street leading to the police headquarters. The Humvees entered the complex, came to a stop, and within seconds, the truck turned and rammed the iron barrier, he said.
Iraqi police opened fire, but the truck kept moving until it reached the sandbagged wall where it detonated — just a few feet away from the Humvees, he said.
"The blast was very powerful and the situation was chaotic," he said.
The U.S. military said two people were detained in connection with the attack, which is under investigation. The names of those killed were being withheld pending notification of families.
Although U.S. combat troops have to leave of Iraqi cities by the end of June under the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that went into effect this year, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Raymond Odierno, told The Times of London this week that the American troops may have to stay in Mosul and another northern city, Baqouba, after the deadline because insurgents remain active there.
Mosul, about 225 miles (360 kilometers) north of Baghdad, had been relatively quiet in recent weeks compared to the Iraqi capital, where attacks killed at least 53 people this week.
American casualties have fallen to their lowest levels of the war since thousands of Sunnis abandoned the insurgency and U.S. and Iraqi forces routed Shiite militias in Baghdad and Basra last spring.
However, fighting continues in Mosul and elsewhere in northern Iraq — a conflict that U.S. officials say is driven in part by ethnic rivalries between Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Many Sunni extremists are believed to have fled north after being driven from longtime strongholds in Baghdad and central Iraq.
In a separate attack on Friday, a U.S. patrol of Striker vehicles was targeted by a roadside bomb, but no one was hurt in the blast near Taji, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) north of Baghdad, said spokesman Maj. Dave Shoupe. Taji police said eight Iraqi laborers paving a road by the site of the blast were detained for questioning.
Meanwhile, Iraqi police in the southern city of Basra said Friday they arrested 65 people in overnight raids after an attack on a U.S. convoy in the area and the kidnapping of two guards working for a local Iraqi security firm the previous day.
The arrested included 20 people who were already on a wanted list and 45 others, mostly militiamen, said the city's police spokesman Col. Karim al-Zeidi.
The U.S. military said the American convoy was hit by a roadside bomb near Basra on Thursday, but there were no casualties. Separately, al-Zeidi said two guards working for an Iraqi security firm were abducted late Thursday from their car, which was left by on the side of the road near Basra along with the guards' weapons.
Their identities and the company they worked for were not immediately known.
___
Associated Press Writers Chelsea J. Carter and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.
---
Suicide bomb kills 5 US soldiers, 2 Iraqi police
10 Apr 2009 13:09:22 GMT
Source: Reuters
* U.S. military says five U.S. soldiers killed
* Truck exploded 50 metres short of base
(Adds detail, Interior Ministry comment)
MOSUL, Iraq, April 10 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives outside an Iraqi base in the northern city of Mosul on Friday, killing five U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi policemen, the U.S. military said.
Iraq's Interior Ministry said the authorities were forewarned of the attack but were unsure when it would happen.
U.S. and Iraqi forces opened heavy fire on the truck after it ignored a request to stop at a checkpoint on the approach to the base.
"The truck exploded 50 metres before reaching its target (the base)," Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Abdul Karim Khalaf said, adding that only one Iraqi policeman was killed in the attack. He could not confirm the U.S. casualties.
"There was more than 1,000 kg of explosives in the truck, which levelled three buildings (near the base)," he added.
The attack was the deadliest for U.S. soldiers in Iraq for months. An insurgency led by al Qaeda and other militants has proven stubborn in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, even as the violence set off by the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 has waned elsewhere in Iraq.
Two U.S. soldiers and 20 members of the Iraqi security forces were wounded in the blast, the U.S. military said. Iraqi police said the blast wounded 70 people and destroyed five Iraqi and two U.S. armoured vehicles.
At least two people suspected of being involved in the attack were detained, and the incident is under investigation, the U.S. military said.
The number of U.S. soldiers killed in action in March was the lowest since the invasion. In February four U.S. soldiers were killed in a single attack.
At least 4,200 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed since the invasion.
Insurgent groups have exploited the divisions among Mosul's patchwork of Kurds, Sunni Arabs, Christians and other groups to remain effective, and are also known to retreat to hideouts in the remote and mountainous region surrounding the city. (Additional reporting by Khalid al-Ansary and Mohammed Abbas in Baghdad, Writing by Mohammed Abbas, Editing by Jonathan Wright)
---
At least 70 people, many of them residents of the area, were wounded in the Mosul attack and a number of houses and businesses were severely damaged, according to Iraqi security and hospital officials.
The truck was packed with about 2,000 pounds of explosives, the Interior Ministry’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, told the state television network Iraqiya. The impact of the explosion shook buildings miles away, Mosul residents said, while a large plume of black smoke could be seen rising from the site.
Iraqi security forces rapidly sealed off the area, so details of the attack remained sketchy. Driving a dump truck, the bomber appears to have passed a number of checkpoints before finally blasting through a final checkpoint guarding a military road that leads to one of the main entrances to the base, said Maj. Derrick Cheng, a United States military spokesman in northern Iraq.
At that very moment, however, an American military convoy happened to be leaving the base for a mission inside Mosul, according to Major Cheng. The dump truck immediately came under fire from Iraqi police at the checkpoint and in guard towers around the base, as well as American soldiers in the convoy, but the bomber could not be prevented from detonating his cargo along the road, about 50 yards from the base entrance, the Iraqi police said. The road leads to the Mosul headquarters of the nearly 3,000 members of the paramilitary Iraqi national police, who were sent last fall by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to help subdue the violent city. They are being advised and backed by the American military, and their barracks are just inside the entrance where the explosion occurred, and next to the sprawling Forward Operating Base Marez, the principal base for American soldiers in Mosul.
A Saudi suicide bomber blew himself up in an American military mess hall on the base in December 2004, killing 22. Officials blamed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia for that attack.
Major Cheng said two suspects had been detained in connection with Friday’s attack.
Most of the Iraqi wounded were rushed to a hospital in Mosul, where doctors struggled to cope because many hospital staff members were away for the weekend, which starts Friday in Iraq.
-----
Remains of 5 killed in Iraq arrive in Dover
AP
– A carry team at Dover Air Force Base, Del., carries the transfer case containing the remains of Staff …
* Five Soldiers From Fort Carson Killed In Iraq Play Video Iraq Video:Five Soldiers From Fort Carson Killed In Iraq CBS4 Denver
* Elk Grove Soldier Killed By Car Bomb In Iraq Play Video Iraq Video:Elk Grove Soldier Killed By Car Bomb In Iraq CBS 13 / CW 31 Sacramento
Mon Apr 13, 2:23 am ET
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. – The remains of five soldiers killed in Iraq this week in the deadliest attack against U.S. troops in more than a year arrived at Dover Air Force base Sunday as family members watched.
Five flag-draped transfer cases were unloaded from a jet on a crisp, clear evening in a somber half-hour ceremony broken only by the cries of children, the hum of the aircraft and the cameras of the media that were allowed to attend.
"You see these five caskets, flag-draped, it's sobering beyond belief," said David Pautsch, whose son, Cpl. Jason G. Pautsch, 20, of Davenport, Iowa, was among those being returned.
"There's no music in the background but just the stark reality of those caskets laying there against the backdrop of this huge 747," he said. "You're just sobered, and you have to come to grips with the finality of it all. It provides good closure. You realize that this is the end."
The soldiers were killed Friday when a suicide bomber driving a truck detonated a ton of explosives near a police headquarters in the northern city of Mosul. The U.S. military said Iraqi police were the bomber's target and that the Americans were caught up as bystanders.
Two Iraqi policemen also were killed in the midmorning blast near the Iraqi National Police headquarters. At least 62 people, including one American soldier and 27 civilians, were wounded, officials said.
Sunday's ceremony marks the fourth time the media has been allowed to cover the arrival of overseas casualties since the Pentagon adopted a new policy that requires getting family permission. It ended an 18-year ban on press coverage of the arrival ceremony.
A six-member transfer team from the Army's Old Guard in Washington and an eight-member Air Force team moved the cases off the lift in an efficient, tightly choreographed process.
The Army identified the soldiers as Pautsch; Staff Sgt. Gary L. Woods Jr., 24, of Lebanon Junction, Ky.; Staff Sgt. Bryan E. Hall, 25, of Elk Grove, Calif.; Sgt. Edward W. Forrest Jr., 25, of St. Louis; and Private Second Class Bryce E. Gautier, 22, of Cypress, Calif.
The five were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
----
Suicide bomb kills at least four at Iraq checkpoint
20 Apr 2009 09:29:36 GMT
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
(Adds background, source name)
BAGHDAD, April 20 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber dressed in a police uniform killed four police officials at a checkpoint in northeastern Iraq, police said.
Lieutenant Colonel Hameed al-Shimari, who heads an emergency police unit in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, said a number of U.S. soldiers were also killed in the attack at a checkpoint near the Baquba municipality.
The U.S. military could not be immediately reached for confirmation.
Seven civilians were also wounded, the police official said.
While violence has declined sharply across most of Iraq, ethnically mixed Diyala province has remained one of most restive areas of the country.
BAGHDAD – A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden truck into a sandbagged wall surrounding a police headquarters in northern Iraq on Friday, killing five American soldiers and two Iraqi policemen in the single deadliest attack against U.S. forces in more than a year, the U.S. military and Iraqi police said.
A sixth American soldier and 17 Iraqi policemen were wounded in the blast that took place near the national police headquarters in southwestern Mosul — Iraq's third-largest city and al-Qaida's last urban stronghold.
Suicide bombings — a hallmark of al-Qaida's attack style — continue to threaten the city, which U.S. troops must leave by June 30 under an agreement with the Iraqis. The approaching deadline has raised fears about what will happen after American soldiers depart.
Lt. Col. Michael Stuart, chief of U.S. operations in Tikrit, an Iraqi city north of Baghdad, said the target was the Iraqi national police complex in Mosul and not the U.S. patrol. He said the American patrol just happened to be on the same street when the attack occurred.
"It was just bad timing," Stuart told The Associated Press.
Friday's blast was the deadliest single bombing attack in more than a year. The U.S. military said that the last time five U.S. soldiers were killed in an attack was when a suicide bomber targeted an American patrol in Baghdad on March 10, 2008.
A suicide car bomb struck a U.S. patrol in Mosul on Feb. 9, killing four American soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter. Four U.S. soldiers were also killed Jan. 26 when two helicopters collided over the northern city of Kirkuk.
Friday's suicide bomber, who was driving a truck filled with grain, made a sharp turn as he approached the police complex, then rammed his truck through an iron barrier, hitting a sandbagged wall beyond it and detonating his vehicle near the station's main building, Iraqi police said.
The blast shook the entire complex and badly damaged nearby buildings, witnesses and police said.
A policeman, who identified himself as Abu Mohammed, said he saw the truck driving behind two U.S. Humvees on the street leading to the police headquarters. The Humvees entered the complex, came to a stop, and within seconds, the truck turned and rammed the iron barrier, he said.
Iraqi police opened fire, but the truck kept moving until it reached the sandbagged wall where it detonated — just a few feet away from the Humvees, he said.
"The blast was very powerful and the situation was chaotic," he said.
The U.S. military said two people were detained in connection with the attack, which is under investigation. The names of those killed were being withheld pending notification of families.
Although U.S. combat troops have to leave of Iraqi cities by the end of June under the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that went into effect this year, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Raymond Odierno, told The Times of London this week that the American troops may have to stay in Mosul and another northern city, Baqouba, after the deadline because insurgents remain active there.
Mosul, about 225 miles (360 kilometers) north of Baghdad, had been relatively quiet in recent weeks compared to the Iraqi capital, where attacks killed at least 53 people this week.
American casualties have fallen to their lowest levels of the war since thousands of Sunnis abandoned the insurgency and U.S. and Iraqi forces routed Shiite militias in Baghdad and Basra last spring.
However, fighting continues in Mosul and elsewhere in northern Iraq — a conflict that U.S. officials say is driven in part by ethnic rivalries between Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Many Sunni extremists are believed to have fled north after being driven from longtime strongholds in Baghdad and central Iraq.
In a separate attack on Friday, a U.S. patrol of Striker vehicles was targeted by a roadside bomb, but no one was hurt in the blast near Taji, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) north of Baghdad, said spokesman Maj. Dave Shoupe. Taji police said eight Iraqi laborers paving a road by the site of the blast were detained for questioning.
Meanwhile, Iraqi police in the southern city of Basra said Friday they arrested 65 people in overnight raids after an attack on a U.S. convoy in the area and the kidnapping of two guards working for a local Iraqi security firm the previous day.
The arrested included 20 people who were already on a wanted list and 45 others, mostly militiamen, said the city's police spokesman Col. Karim al-Zeidi.
The U.S. military said the American convoy was hit by a roadside bomb near Basra on Thursday, but there were no casualties. Separately, al-Zeidi said two guards working for an Iraqi security firm were abducted late Thursday from their car, which was left by on the side of the road near Basra along with the guards' weapons.
Their identities and the company they worked for were not immediately known.
___
Associated Press Writers Chelsea J. Carter and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.
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Suicide bomb kills 5 US soldiers, 2 Iraqi police
10 Apr 2009 13:09:22 GMT
Source: Reuters
* U.S. military says five U.S. soldiers killed
* Truck exploded 50 metres short of base
(Adds detail, Interior Ministry comment)
MOSUL, Iraq, April 10 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives outside an Iraqi base in the northern city of Mosul on Friday, killing five U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi policemen, the U.S. military said.
Iraq's Interior Ministry said the authorities were forewarned of the attack but were unsure when it would happen.
U.S. and Iraqi forces opened heavy fire on the truck after it ignored a request to stop at a checkpoint on the approach to the base.
"The truck exploded 50 metres before reaching its target (the base)," Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Abdul Karim Khalaf said, adding that only one Iraqi policeman was killed in the attack. He could not confirm the U.S. casualties.
"There was more than 1,000 kg of explosives in the truck, which levelled three buildings (near the base)," he added.
The attack was the deadliest for U.S. soldiers in Iraq for months. An insurgency led by al Qaeda and other militants has proven stubborn in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, even as the violence set off by the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 has waned elsewhere in Iraq.
Two U.S. soldiers and 20 members of the Iraqi security forces were wounded in the blast, the U.S. military said. Iraqi police said the blast wounded 70 people and destroyed five Iraqi and two U.S. armoured vehicles.
At least two people suspected of being involved in the attack were detained, and the incident is under investigation, the U.S. military said.
The number of U.S. soldiers killed in action in March was the lowest since the invasion. In February four U.S. soldiers were killed in a single attack.
At least 4,200 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed since the invasion.
Insurgent groups have exploited the divisions among Mosul's patchwork of Kurds, Sunni Arabs, Christians and other groups to remain effective, and are also known to retreat to hideouts in the remote and mountainous region surrounding the city. (Additional reporting by Khalid al-Ansary and Mohammed Abbas in Baghdad, Writing by Mohammed Abbas, Editing by Jonathan Wright)
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At least 70 people, many of them residents of the area, were wounded in the Mosul attack and a number of houses and businesses were severely damaged, according to Iraqi security and hospital officials.
The truck was packed with about 2,000 pounds of explosives, the Interior Ministry’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, told the state television network Iraqiya. The impact of the explosion shook buildings miles away, Mosul residents said, while a large plume of black smoke could be seen rising from the site.
Iraqi security forces rapidly sealed off the area, so details of the attack remained sketchy. Driving a dump truck, the bomber appears to have passed a number of checkpoints before finally blasting through a final checkpoint guarding a military road that leads to one of the main entrances to the base, said Maj. Derrick Cheng, a United States military spokesman in northern Iraq.
At that very moment, however, an American military convoy happened to be leaving the base for a mission inside Mosul, according to Major Cheng. The dump truck immediately came under fire from Iraqi police at the checkpoint and in guard towers around the base, as well as American soldiers in the convoy, but the bomber could not be prevented from detonating his cargo along the road, about 50 yards from the base entrance, the Iraqi police said. The road leads to the Mosul headquarters of the nearly 3,000 members of the paramilitary Iraqi national police, who were sent last fall by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to help subdue the violent city. They are being advised and backed by the American military, and their barracks are just inside the entrance where the explosion occurred, and next to the sprawling Forward Operating Base Marez, the principal base for American soldiers in Mosul.
A Saudi suicide bomber blew himself up in an American military mess hall on the base in December 2004, killing 22. Officials blamed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia for that attack.
Major Cheng said two suspects had been detained in connection with Friday’s attack.
Most of the Iraqi wounded were rushed to a hospital in Mosul, where doctors struggled to cope because many hospital staff members were away for the weekend, which starts Friday in Iraq.
Ahmed Abdullah knelt at the bedside of his badly wounded and unconscious son Sharif, 19, who worked at a tire repair shop not far from the entrance to the base. “Where is the government?” he asked, distraught and tearful. “Where are the security forces?”
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Remains of 5 killed in Iraq arrive in Dover
AP
– A carry team at Dover Air Force Base, Del., carries the transfer case containing the remains of Staff …
* Five Soldiers From Fort Carson Killed In Iraq Play Video Iraq Video:Five Soldiers From Fort Carson Killed In Iraq CBS4 Denver
* Elk Grove Soldier Killed By Car Bomb In Iraq Play Video Iraq Video:Elk Grove Soldier Killed By Car Bomb In Iraq CBS 13 / CW 31 Sacramento
Mon Apr 13, 2:23 am ET
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. – The remains of five soldiers killed in Iraq this week in the deadliest attack against U.S. troops in more than a year arrived at Dover Air Force base Sunday as family members watched.
Five flag-draped transfer cases were unloaded from a jet on a crisp, clear evening in a somber half-hour ceremony broken only by the cries of children, the hum of the aircraft and the cameras of the media that were allowed to attend.
"You see these five caskets, flag-draped, it's sobering beyond belief," said David Pautsch, whose son, Cpl. Jason G. Pautsch, 20, of Davenport, Iowa, was among those being returned.
"There's no music in the background but just the stark reality of those caskets laying there against the backdrop of this huge 747," he said. "You're just sobered, and you have to come to grips with the finality of it all. It provides good closure. You realize that this is the end."
The soldiers were killed Friday when a suicide bomber driving a truck detonated a ton of explosives near a police headquarters in the northern city of Mosul. The U.S. military said Iraqi police were the bomber's target and that the Americans were caught up as bystanders.
Two Iraqi policemen also were killed in the midmorning blast near the Iraqi National Police headquarters. At least 62 people, including one American soldier and 27 civilians, were wounded, officials said.
Sunday's ceremony marks the fourth time the media has been allowed to cover the arrival of overseas casualties since the Pentagon adopted a new policy that requires getting family permission. It ended an 18-year ban on press coverage of the arrival ceremony.
A six-member transfer team from the Army's Old Guard in Washington and an eight-member Air Force team moved the cases off the lift in an efficient, tightly choreographed process.
The Army identified the soldiers as Pautsch; Staff Sgt. Gary L. Woods Jr., 24, of Lebanon Junction, Ky.; Staff Sgt. Bryan E. Hall, 25, of Elk Grove, Calif.; Sgt. Edward W. Forrest Jr., 25, of St. Louis; and Private Second Class Bryce E. Gautier, 22, of Cypress, Calif.
The five were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
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Suicide bomb kills at least four at Iraq checkpoint
20 Apr 2009 09:29:36 GMT
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
(Adds background, source name)
BAGHDAD, April 20 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber dressed in a police uniform killed four police officials at a checkpoint in northeastern Iraq, police said.
Lieutenant Colonel Hameed al-Shimari, who heads an emergency police unit in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, said a number of U.S. soldiers were also killed in the attack at a checkpoint near the Baquba municipality.
The U.S. military could not be immediately reached for confirmation.
Seven civilians were also wounded, the police official said.
While violence has declined sharply across most of Iraq, ethnically mixed Diyala province has remained one of most restive areas of the country.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Himmler's book of practices
Arabs and Muslims have historically protected the Jews. It was the Christians who persecuted Jews and blamed them for betraying Jesus to the Romans. The Jews were killed and expelled from Britain. The Crusaders killed all the Jews on their way to the holy land.
In 1492 Jews and Arabs were expelled from Spain by its Catholic king Ferdinand. Where did the Jews go? They went to settle in North Africa while their scholars and Rabbis chose to settle in Istanbul, where the Muslim Caliph was residing. During WWII, the Moroccan King asked the Jews to live close to his palace for protection from the French soldiers of pro-Nazi Vichi government.
During the Nazi persecution of Jews, Baghdad became the spirtual capital of Judaism. But what did the Arabs get in return? Jewish immigrants from Poland started to kill Palestinian Arabs (Muslims and Christians) and to drive them out of their lands. In one afternoon in Deir Yassi (Try to google it) the entire men population (180-600) were hanged which was a page taken from Himmler's book of practices in the former USSR.
One can't deny that Arabs and Muslims have saved Jews throughout history while the Christians were persecuting them. If one went to exaggerate some incidences although Arabs were killing each other too.
I suggest contact some former Iraqi Jews who are currently living in Israel. They were unhappy when forced by the Zionists on leaving Baghdad to Palestine. It was late Moshe Dyan who admitted throwing bombs on Jews in Baghdad to force them on leaving. Do some googling for a change.
If the Jews continue their current Nazi-style atrocities against Palestinians there are forces which are preparing to severly punish them. It is better for the Jews to leave the entire Middle East and go to where they came from. The future is very bleak for Jews living in Israel if they continue their present attitude and practices.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
In 1492 Jews and Arabs were expelled from Spain by its Catholic king Ferdinand. Where did the Jews go? They went to settle in North Africa while their scholars and Rabbis chose to settle in Istanbul, where the Muslim Caliph was residing. During WWII, the Moroccan King asked the Jews to live close to his palace for protection from the French soldiers of pro-Nazi Vichi government.
During the Nazi persecution of Jews, Baghdad became the spirtual capital of Judaism. But what did the Arabs get in return? Jewish immigrants from Poland started to kill Palestinian Arabs (Muslims and Christians) and to drive them out of their lands. In one afternoon in Deir Yassi (Try to google it) the entire men population (180-600) were hanged which was a page taken from Himmler's book of practices in the former USSR.
One can't deny that Arabs and Muslims have saved Jews throughout history while the Christians were persecuting them. If one went to exaggerate some incidences although Arabs were killing each other too.
I suggest contact some former Iraqi Jews who are currently living in Israel. They were unhappy when forced by the Zionists on leaving Baghdad to Palestine. It was late Moshe Dyan who admitted throwing bombs on Jews in Baghdad to force them on leaving. Do some googling for a change.
If the Jews continue their current Nazi-style atrocities against Palestinians there are forces which are preparing to severly punish them. It is better for the Jews to leave the entire Middle East and go to where they came from. The future is very bleak for Jews living in Israel if they continue their present attitude and practices.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
The Man who is deserved highest Military Award
April 8, 2009, 4:36 pm
Visual Diary: Sadiq and the Nameless Baby
By Christoph Bangert
Iraq babyPhotos: Christoph Bangert for The New York Times
Photographer's Journal
BAGHDAD– Sadiq Khalaf al-Maliki and the unidentified baby boy who miraculously survived a car bombing.
Mr. Al-Maliki pulled the charred body of the child’s mother out of a burning car while another rescuer, Assad Raad al-Khafaji, took the baby. The mother of the baby as well as the driver of the taxi they were riding in died in the attack. No IDs were found.
A Moment of Heroism After a Blast in Baghdad
Christoph Bangert for The New York Times
BAGHDAD — Tears streamed down the woman’s cheeks as she held a baby boy, about 6 months old, rescued by her son from the wreckage of a car damaged by a bombing on Tuesday that killed eight people, apparently including the baby’s mother.
Umm Assad al-Khafaji fed a baby who was pulled from a car hit by a blast on Tuesday in Baghdad.
By SAM DAGHER
Published: April 7, 2009
Christoph Bangert for The New York Times
Eight people died at the scene, including a woman who was with the baby in the car.
The baby, whose tiny face was cut by glass shards, had yet to be claimed by anyone. The woman, Umm Assad al-Khafaji, whose son Assad Raad al-Khafaji had saved the baby, cleaned him up, dressed him in pajamas that belonged to one of her granddaughters and fed him milk from a bottle. The jean overalls he had worn hours earlier were stained with blood.
The baby smiled as he looked around the Khafajis’ living room.
For Mrs. Khafaji, the baby was a miracle and a gift from heaven. For people in the Nawab section of the Kadhimiya district in Baghdad, the Khafaji family and other neighbors were heroes. Their actions seemed to be proof that six years of numbing violence haven't dulled Iraqis' capacity for extraordinary acts of humanity.
“The victims are Iraqis — how can we not aid and defend them?” asked Sadiq Khalaf al-Maliki, 36, who had pulled the charred body of the woman presumed to be the baby’s mother from the burning white Peugeot sedan they were riding in.
Around noon on Tuesday, Mr. Maliki was on his way to fix his motorbike at one of the many repair shops that dot Nawab Street in Kadhimiya, the predominantly Shiite district in northwestern Baghdad that is home to a revered Shiite shrine.
Suddenly, a large explosion went off a few hundred yards from him. A car bomber had been waiting in line at a police checkpoint before abandoning his explosives-packed vehicle, according to a police colonel and witnesses. In addition to the eight dead, at least 20 people were wounded.
Ignoring the risk of a second bomb, Mr. Maliki rushed to aid the victims.
He said he saw the dead and injured everywhere, including an old woman sprawled on the median screaming: “I want Abbas. Where is my son?”
He then made his way to a Peugeot that was on fire. Inside he saw the driver slumped at the wheel, dead, and a folded stroller in the seat next to him.
In the back lay a woman’s charred body next to a colorful baby blanket.
Minutes earlier, Mr. Khafaji, who repairs motorbikes, had rushed to the same car, reached for the baby through an open window and taken him to his home nearby.
In that sense, the baby was luckier than others who had been wounded in the bombing. After Iraqi security forces arrived, they fired shots to disperse the crowd and scuffled with some of the rescuers, witnesses said, preventing many of the wounded from getting help. Order was restored when American troops arrived, witnesses said.
Issa Salim, a minivan driver, said lives could have been saved if it were not for the chaos that ensued. He said that he saw a man walk away from his car, bleeding, and that the man was dead by the time an ambulance reached him.
The Khafajis, meanwhile, called a number on the Peugeot driver’s cellphone and established that the man was not the baby’s father but a taxi driver hired by the woman.
They had none of the woman’s possessions to help them track down the baby’s family.
Mrs. Khafaji and her son, a burly and bearded 26-year-old, gazed at the oblivious baby in her arms and started crying.
“What future will this baby have without his mother?” she said.
“Many Iraqi children have been orphaned. Why?”
Moqtada's first warning to Obama; what comes next!
Obama Visit a "Violation of Iraq's Sovereignty"
Sadrist Statement, on the Eve of Mass March
Photo: Daniel W. Smith
From an Anti-American Protest in November
BAGHDAD - Just as tens of thousands of followers of Moqtada al-Sadr (and apparently many others) are preparing for mass protests to mark the sixth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad and to continue protesting the US presence in Iraq, a new statement comes from the Sadrists,...
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Six years on, huge protest marks Baghdad's fall
09 Apr 2009 08:50:33 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Refiles to insert dropped word in paragraph 7)
BAGHDAD, April 9 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of followers of anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr thronged Baghdad on Thursday to mark the sixth anniversary of the city's fall to U.S. troops, and to demand they leave immediately.
"Down, down USA," the demonstrators chanted as a Ali al-Marwani, a Sadrist official, denounced the U.S. occupation of Iraq that began with the fall of Baghdad on April 9, 2003, and the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Firdos Square.
The crowds of Sadr supporters stretched from the giant Sadr City slum in northeast Baghdad to the square around 5 km (3 miles) away, where protesters burned an effigy featuring the face of former U.S. President George W. Bush, who ordered the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and also the face of Saddam.
Shi'ites were brutally persecuted under Saddam's rule.
"God, unite us, return our riches, free the prisoners from the prisons, return sovereignty to our country ... make our country free from the occupier, and prevent the occupier from stealing our oil," Sadr said in a message read by a Sadr movement aide Asaad al-Nassiri.
"God, make us the liberators of our land," the message said before exhorting the demonstrators to shake hands with each other and Iraqi police overseeing the march.
President Barack Obama, who flew into Baghdad on an unannounced visit on Tuesday, has ordered all U.S. combat troops to leave Iraq by the end of August 2010, leaving a residual force of 35,000-50,000 trainers, advisers and logistics personnel.
Under a bilateral security agreement signed with Bush, all U.S. troops must withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.
Sadr, scion of one of Iraq's great Shi'ite religious dynasties, is believed to be in Iran studying religious jurisprudence.
His Mehdi Army fighters fought pitched battles against U.S. forces during the bloody aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion but have retreated from the frontlines after Sadr called on them to abandon armed combat and turn themselves into a social welfare organisation.
The Sadr movement suffered a setback when Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered U.S.-backed Iraqi troops to crack down on its militia fighters in the southern oil hub of Basra and in Baghdad last year. (Reporting by Aseel Kami; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
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On April 9th 2003, Baghdad fell to the uncivilised American barbarians. It was in AD 1258 Baghdad fell for the first time to the uncivilised Moguls when thousands were killed including its Caliph and scientists coupled with a large destruction of the infrastructure, the schools, and the grand palaces and of burning or throwing the millions of books into the Tigris River.
Similarly, the uncivilised American cowboys led an army from 49 nations to destroy Baghdad and to kill its people and scientists on behalf of Israel. After six years of brutal military occupation Iraq infrastructure was destroyed, its antiquities and wealth were robbed, people were divided on ethnic or religious lines, corruption is rampant while car bombs continue to kill or maim those who escape the American guns and prisons. Besides the 165000 US military personnel the Americans have hired close to 180000 mercenaries, mostly criminals, recruited from 28 countries including death squads and dirty work forces . Naturally, we are having a democratically-elected client regime to manage and to protect the occupation and the occupiers, albeit being imprisoned inside the Green Zone. The majority of the die-hard and fearless Iraqis are rejecting the occupation each in his own capacity. Some may demonstrate or spit at the American tanks others place bombs or snipe from far away. Obama change of plans to withdraw US troops within 16 months as promised and his embrace of Bush suspicious security agreement with Al-Maliki means more trouble for everyone. The war on Iraq may have cost the Americans $one trillion, but the delay in leaving may equally be very costly.
On the sixth anniversay of the shameful fall of Baghdad, the Iraqis can pride themselves for the fact that no American can sit in an Iraqi café and enjoy a drink.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
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On anniversary of Saddam's fall, Iraqi protesters vent against US
Tens of thousands of Sadr’s Shiite supporters expressed solidarity with Iraqi security forces while demanding an end to the US occupation.
By Jane Arraf | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the April 9, 2009 edition
Reporter Jane Arraf discusses a sense of apprehension felt by Iraqis since Saddam Hussein's removal.
Baghdad - Tens of thousands of Iraqis crowded into the square Thursday where Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled, along with his regime, six years ago. Waving posters of Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr and demanding that President Obama fulfill his promise to withdraw US troops, their presence underscored the eagerness of many Iraqis to see the US leave – but also their apprehension about what comes next, especially after a week of bombings that have marred months of relative calm.
The demonstrators in Firdos Square were mostly young men, jubilant despite the pouring rain. Halfway up the decaying green concrete sculpture that replaced the towering image of Saddam Hussein, high school student Karar Abdul Hussein, himself symbolic of the new Iraq, clambered up to get a better view and wave an Iraqi flag.
"We were so happy when they brought down the statue, but now we want the occupation to end. The Americans are very tough against the Iraqis," he says after being persuaded to climb back down and talk.
Despite the recent bomb attacks, security has improved dramatically since Iraq pulled back from all-out civil war two years ago. For most people, a lack of jobs and essential services, including water and electricity, are now their main concerns. The drop in oil revenue has prompted major budget cuts by the Iraqi government, and long-overdue laws to share oil revenue and power have been stalled by political power struggles and a dead-locked Parliament.
At the age of 20, Mr. Abdul Hussein is working in a restaurant while finishing high school. His father, a member of Mr. Sadr's militant Mahdi Army, has been in detention since being arrested by US forces three years ago. The local Sadr office supports the family by paying them about $65 a month – more than the Iraqi government does for them.
"This is not democracy," says Nahab Nehme, a hospital worker, holding one end of a pro-Sadr banner. "When America came, they didn't do anything for Iraq – they moved Saddam out, but he was their servant, and the people who are in power now are their servants, too."
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki last year sent the Iraqi Army into Basra to fight Shiite militias, including the Mahdi Army, in what was seen as a turning point in both the Shiite prime minister's political forces and in security in the south of Iraq.
Sadr, whose forces rose up against US troops in 2004 in the biggest challenge they'd faced since the beginning of the war, waxes and wanes as a military leader, but remains a key political player. He is believed to be engaged in religious studies in Iran and is rarely seen in public these days. But an aide read a statement from him on the sixth anniversary of the regime's toppling, describing the American presence here as a "crime against all Iraqis."
"We demand that President Obama stand with the Iraqi people by ending the occupation to fulfill his promises he made to the world," Ali al-Marwani told the crowd.
"No, no to America; no, no to Israel," the demonstrators chanted, an echo of protests organized by Saddam Hussein before the war. Supporters also burned an effigy of former president George W. Bush.
"God unite us, return our riches, free the prisoners from the prisons, return sovereignty to our country ... free our country from the occupier, and prevent the occupier from stealing our oil," read Sadr's message.
He ended by asking demonstrators to shake hands with each other and the Iraqi police who helped protect them. Sadr organization guards were in charge of security at the demonstration with Iraqi police ringing the outside and Iraqi soldiers nearby.
As the rain stopped and the demonstrators flooded into the streets, hundreds lined up to shake hands and kiss the police officers on both cheeks – the traditional Arab greeting.
"The media says the Sadr movement is the enemy of the Iraqi security forces – that we attack the police and the Army – but we are brothers," says Ahmed al-Musawi, a student at the Medical Institute.
Policeman Ali Falah Ali stood in the square six years ago – a high school student at the time – when US forces put a noose around the statue of Saddam. He says he believes the growing number of Iraqi security forces can now take care of their own country.
"God willing, with the number of troops here, either this year or by next year, day after day the situation will improve," he says.
Although the anniversary in recent years has been celebrated as a public holiday, authorities said Wednesday that government offices and schools would stay open. Teachers showed up, but few children came to classes. In the commercial area of Karrada, shops were open.
"Business is good – a lot of people are renovating," says Ghanam Ghazi, overseeing painters at a new men's clothing store. He says security has generally been good, but people are worried about a spate of bombings that have killed dozens of Iraqis in Baghdad.
He and his coworker, Ahmed Thamer, say they have little faith in Obama, and want proof that US forces are leaving. The US president visited Iraq Tuesday and told Iraqi leaders and US officials that it was time to phase out America's combat role.
Mr. Thamer says that his childhood friend, Ahmed Ismael, was shot dead by US forces in 2004 when his car got in the way of an armored convoy in Baghdad.
"They're not like the Iraqi troops," he says. "The Iraqi troops – we can talk to them, we can deal with them."
Liberation Honey and Occupation Poison!
To start, with Saddam was a brutal US-made dictator. We are very happy that he had gone. But unfortunately he didn't fell in our hands but into the hands of his masters whom they abbandoned for daring to endanger USraeli interets. Our position was clear, we are in favour of toppling Saddam but not in selling Iraq. America wanted to treat us like rats sugar-coating its poison. The Iraqis are too intelligent for the US zombies. Now it is the Iraqi people resistance that will drive the Americans out; dragging behind all those traitors who helped them to destroy our beloved country. On 10.04.09, six US soldiers were killed in Iraq. Obama was right. The coming months will be very difficult.
To start with, Baghdad was the centre of knowledge. Calif Al-Mamoun invited scientists from China to Nigeria. All known knowledge was translated into Arabic. Most words start with AL are originally came from there. Algebra, Algorithims, Al-Chemie, Alcohol....etc. When Ferdinand I of spain defeated the Arabs and expelled them from Spain, they found the entire Greek mythology translated into Arabic. The mythology was lost when Alexandria library was damaged by fire. At the time, America was inhabited by the native 'Indians' and no white Anglo Saxon has set foot on it yet. Do you know that you still use the Arabic number.
After the destruction of Baghdad, the Mongols became Muslims and went to spread Islam and to build the most beatiful shrines.
Riots in Balochistan, policeman killed
Updated at: 1220 PST, Thursday, April 09, 2009
QUETTA: Several cities of Balochistan including Quetta hit by protest against kidnapping and killing of Baloch leaders. There is complete shutter down strike in Turbat, Gwadar, Panjgur, Khuzdar, Mushkay, Awaran and other areas.
At least four vehicles were torched in many areas of Balochistan as the province witnessed violent protests.
Protesters hurled stones on vehicles and shops and set tyres on fire in Turbat, Gawadar, Quetta and many other cities of the province. Major markets are also closed in these areas.
Amid riots, University of Balochistan has been closed for next three days while the scheduled examinations of different classes have also been postponed. According to the university administration, the schedule of postponed papers would be announced later.
Meanwhile in Khuzdar, a policeman was shot dead by unknown assailants.
Meanwhile, Balochistan National Front (BNF) has given a strike call on April 11 and 12. Sources said Balochistan chief minister has ordered a judicial inquiry for killing of Baloch leaders.
Chief Minister Balochistan Mohammad Aslam Raisani has condemned the killing of nationalists leaders and termed it as a conspiracy to sabotage reconciliation process.
Protestors in Karachi hurled stones on cars in Teen Hatti and Lasbela areas.
The funeral prayers of BNM leader Ghulam Mohammad Baloch and BRP activist Sher Mohammad will be offer in Panjgur.
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Killing of nationalists condemned
Friday, April 10, 2009
By Tahir Hasan Khan
Karachi
Baloch nationalist parties while taking strong exception to the killing of three Baloch leaders in Balochistan have called for a seven-day mourning and a strike to condemn the incident.
Former chief minister Balochistan and Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) leader Sardar Akhtar Mengal while addressing a press conference announced that the people of Balochistan and the Baloch community living in Karachi would lodge a strong protest on Friday and Saturday while a complete shutter down strike would be observed on April 12.
BNP National Assembly Member Mir Yaqoob Bizanjo has also demanded of the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice of the incident to expose those involved in the act.
Leaders of the Baloch National Front (BNF) Wahab Baloch, Shahnawaz Baloch and Wahid Baloch also called a seven-day mourning and three days protest on April 10, 11 and 12.
The BNF leaders addressing a press conference on Thursday accused the law enforcement agencies of kidnapping and killing the Baloch leaders.
The bodies of three Baloch leaders, Baloch National Movement (BNM) Chairman Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Sher Mohammad Baloch of the Balochistan Republican Party (BRP) and Baloch National Front (BNF) General Secretary Lala Munir Baloch were found in Pidrak, in Balochistan on Wednesday. They were abducted some five days back.
Sher Muhammad Baloch had joined the BRP, led by Barhamadag Bugti, after having differences with the late Nawab Akbar Bugti’s Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP).
Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, chief of Balochistan Students Organisation (BSO) had joined the BNM and was working with Nawab Khair Bux Marri while Lala Munir Baloch was also a supporter of Nawab Khair Bux Marri, who had helped in the release of the United Nations official John Solecki.
The three slain Baloch leaders had reportedly appeared in a court in Turbat on April 3 to file an interim bail relating to charges of shooting and bomb blast cases.
After the slain leaders were granted bail, their lawyer, Kachkol Ali, accompanied them to his chamber at around noon, where more than a dozen people in civvies entered the office, ransacked it and abducted them, driving them away in four vehicles which bore no registration numbers.
Kachkol Ali, a former opposition leader in the Balochistan assembly, said that the attackers refused to identify themselves or to tell him where his clients were being taken.
Later, he had reportedly tried to file an application at the Turbat police station against the Military Intelligence (MI) and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of the abduction. However, the police refused to file the first information report (FIR), saying they would consult their superiors in before lodging the FIR.
Kachkol Ali then tried to file a habeas corpus application at the Turbat sessions court, but the judge, Pazeer Ahmed Baloch, refused to accept it, saying it did not come under his jurisdiction and told him to file the same in the Balochistan High Court.
Later, Kachkol Ali and other lawyers including Fida Hussain, President of Turbat Bar Association, sent an application to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice of the incident.
The bodies were almost beyond recognition. However, medical officers have said that they were killed on the day they were arrested, and they were jettisoned from high altitude, possibly from a helicopter.
Around 3,000 people are reported to have died since the military operation started in 2001.
-----
Sunday, April 12, 2009
By Tahir Hasan Khan
Karachi
Karachi can be regarded as a second home for many Baloch people. While many leaders including Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Akhtar Mengal, and Nawab Khair Bux Marri chose to spend a lot of their time in Karachi, others such as Hasil Bezinjo and Mir Zafarullah Jamali are residing in the city.
Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, former chairman of Baloch Student Organisation (BSO) and leader of Balochistan National Movement (BNM) was also a citizen of Karachi. He was a close aide to Baloch nationalist leader, Nawab Khair Bux Marri, and was dealing with the political matters of Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Ghulam Muhammad Baloch was kidnapped along with two other nationalist leaders, Sher Mohammad Baloch of Balochistan Republican Party (BRP) and Lala Munir Baloch, Baloch National Front (BNF) General Secretary, and later killed.
The decomposed corpses of the three slain leaders were found after four days of their kidnapping. Torture marks were visible on the bodies, which provoked a violent reaction from people. This made provincial leaders such as Senator Mir Hasil Bezinjo and Akhtar Mengal take a hard line against these killings. Baloch leaders blamed the murder directly on intelligence agencies, and warned that these killings could have grave consequences for the nation. These allegations were also supported by Kachkol Ali, lawyer for the three deceased Baloch leaders.
Chief of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Athar Abbas however termed this act as highly regrettable. Abbas claimed that “an anti-state element is out to destabilise and undermine the reconciliatory efforts of the government”.
Interestingly, the United Nations (UN) and United States of America (USA) also expressed concern over killing of these leaders, and demanded that the Pakistan government launch a probe behind the incident. It is worth mentioning here that that neither the UN nor America condemned the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti. While Ghulam Muhammad Baloch was also member of the committee constituted to help recovering John Solecki, a UN representative in Quetta, observers believe that the reaction of the UN and the USA goes beyond simply the support lent by Baloch.
Observers have linked the American reaction on this issue with the American agenda against Pakistan, and particularly Balochistan. One is led to question why America is more concerned about this particular murder than the assassination of Nawab Akbar Bugti.
Nawab Akbar Bugti was not an extremist and he was considered as a leader of establishment. Bugti supported the government during the 1972 military operation when Nawab Khair Bux Marri was fighting against the army. However, he was killed when he disagreed with the former military chief on certain issues.
America, India, Afghanistan and Iran are closely following the situation in Balochistan, and they may fully cooperate with nationalist forces in creating a dangerous state of affairs for Pakistan.
The establishment also did not allow Akhtar Mengal to hold a public meeting in Quetta. Such an act provides fuel to nationalist forces, who can exploit the situation and promote activism within the Baloch youth. As things stand, Baloch youth are already disenchanted as they think that they are not getting their due share from the federation. Observers fear that if this situation continues, it will promote violent politics, which would worsen the situation.
The current state of affairs doesn’t bode well not only for Balochistan, but also for Sindh as tribal communities living on both sides of the Sindh-Balochistan border would be in danger if the situation in Balochistan is not controlled.
tahir.hasan@thenews.com.pk
----
12 Apr 2009 06:43:53 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Gul Yousafzai
QUETTA, Pakistan, April 12 (Reuters) - Separatist militants in Pakistan's Baluchistan province have claimed responsibility for killing six coal-mine workers as violence intensified in the resource-rich province.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is already grappling with intensifying Islamist militant violence while struggling to revive a flagging economy.
A surge of separatist violence in Baluchistan will compound fears for the U.S. ally's stability.
Bullet-ridden bodies of six coal-mine workers were found in mountains near Marwar, 35 km (20 miles) east of the provincial capital, Quetta, on Saturday, a senior police officer said.
"Their hands and feet were bound with rope and they were shot in the head," police officer Wazir Khan Nasir told Reuters on Sunday.
The six, none of whom was from Baluchistan, were abducted outside their company offices in Marwar on Friday.
Baluch nationalists have for decades campaigned for greater autonomy and control of the province's abundant natural gas and mineral resources, which they say are unfairly exploited to the benefit of other parts of the country.
Baluch militants have also waged a low-level insurgency, at times targetting gas and mining infrastructure as well as "outsiders" from other parts of Pakistan.
A spokesman for the Baluchistan Liberation Army militant group telephoned a press club in Quetta on Saturday to claim responsibility for killing the six workers, saying it was in retaliation for the killing and kidnapping of Baluch people.
"If the military keeps on killing and abducting our people, such things will continue," said the spokesman, Meerak Baluch, according to a journalist who spoke to him.
INTERNATIONAL CONCERN
Tension has surged in the province of bleak deserts and mountains since Thursday, when three Baluch political leaders were found shot dead.
Several people were killed in rioting that broke out in Quetta and other towns after the discovery of the three, who were abducted by unknown men days earlier.
Their supporters said they were taken away by security men.
The provincial government said the killing of the three was an act of terrorism and ordered an inquiry. The military blamed an "anti-state element" bent on undermining reconciliation.
The United States condemned the killing of the three men, saying one of them had recently helped in the release of a kidnapped American U.N. official. The United Nations expressed its serious concern and called for an immediate investigation.
Rights group Amnesty International also urged authorities to investigate the killing of the three, adding the government had failed to investigate an estimated 800 enforced disappearances in Baluchistan over the past two years.
Baluchistan borders Afghanistan and Iran and is Pakistan's biggest province in terms of area, but its population is the smallest and poorest.
Taliban Islamist militants fighting in Afghanistan also operate out of Baluchistan but have no links with the largely secular nationalists.
There have been were no reports of disruptions at gas fields over recent days. (Writing by Kamran Haider; Editing by Robert Birsel and Jerry Norton)
QUETTA: Several cities of Balochistan including Quetta hit by protest against kidnapping and killing of Baloch leaders. There is complete shutter down strike in Turbat, Gwadar, Panjgur, Khuzdar, Mushkay, Awaran and other areas.
At least four vehicles were torched in many areas of Balochistan as the province witnessed violent protests.
Protesters hurled stones on vehicles and shops and set tyres on fire in Turbat, Gawadar, Quetta and many other cities of the province. Major markets are also closed in these areas.
Amid riots, University of Balochistan has been closed for next three days while the scheduled examinations of different classes have also been postponed. According to the university administration, the schedule of postponed papers would be announced later.
Meanwhile in Khuzdar, a policeman was shot dead by unknown assailants.
Meanwhile, Balochistan National Front (BNF) has given a strike call on April 11 and 12. Sources said Balochistan chief minister has ordered a judicial inquiry for killing of Baloch leaders.
Chief Minister Balochistan Mohammad Aslam Raisani has condemned the killing of nationalists leaders and termed it as a conspiracy to sabotage reconciliation process.
Protestors in Karachi hurled stones on cars in Teen Hatti and Lasbela areas.
The funeral prayers of BNM leader Ghulam Mohammad Baloch and BRP activist Sher Mohammad will be offer in Panjgur.
---
Killing of nationalists condemned
Friday, April 10, 2009
By Tahir Hasan Khan
Karachi
Baloch nationalist parties while taking strong exception to the killing of three Baloch leaders in Balochistan have called for a seven-day mourning and a strike to condemn the incident.
Former chief minister Balochistan and Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) leader Sardar Akhtar Mengal while addressing a press conference announced that the people of Balochistan and the Baloch community living in Karachi would lodge a strong protest on Friday and Saturday while a complete shutter down strike would be observed on April 12.
BNP National Assembly Member Mir Yaqoob Bizanjo has also demanded of the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice of the incident to expose those involved in the act.
Leaders of the Baloch National Front (BNF) Wahab Baloch, Shahnawaz Baloch and Wahid Baloch also called a seven-day mourning and three days protest on April 10, 11 and 12.
The BNF leaders addressing a press conference on Thursday accused the law enforcement agencies of kidnapping and killing the Baloch leaders.
The bodies of three Baloch leaders, Baloch National Movement (BNM) Chairman Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Sher Mohammad Baloch of the Balochistan Republican Party (BRP) and Baloch National Front (BNF) General Secretary Lala Munir Baloch were found in Pidrak, in Balochistan on Wednesday. They were abducted some five days back.
Sher Muhammad Baloch had joined the BRP, led by Barhamadag Bugti, after having differences with the late Nawab Akbar Bugti’s Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP).
Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, chief of Balochistan Students Organisation (BSO) had joined the BNM and was working with Nawab Khair Bux Marri while Lala Munir Baloch was also a supporter of Nawab Khair Bux Marri, who had helped in the release of the United Nations official John Solecki.
The three slain Baloch leaders had reportedly appeared in a court in Turbat on April 3 to file an interim bail relating to charges of shooting and bomb blast cases.
After the slain leaders were granted bail, their lawyer, Kachkol Ali, accompanied them to his chamber at around noon, where more than a dozen people in civvies entered the office, ransacked it and abducted them, driving them away in four vehicles which bore no registration numbers.
Kachkol Ali, a former opposition leader in the Balochistan assembly, said that the attackers refused to identify themselves or to tell him where his clients were being taken.
Later, he had reportedly tried to file an application at the Turbat police station against the Military Intelligence (MI) and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) of the abduction. However, the police refused to file the first information report (FIR), saying they would consult their superiors in before lodging the FIR.
Kachkol Ali then tried to file a habeas corpus application at the Turbat sessions court, but the judge, Pazeer Ahmed Baloch, refused to accept it, saying it did not come under his jurisdiction and told him to file the same in the Balochistan High Court.
Later, Kachkol Ali and other lawyers including Fida Hussain, President of Turbat Bar Association, sent an application to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo moto notice of the incident.
The bodies were almost beyond recognition. However, medical officers have said that they were killed on the day they were arrested, and they were jettisoned from high altitude, possibly from a helicopter.
Around 3,000 people are reported to have died since the military operation started in 2001.
-----
Caution: handle Balochistan with care
Sunday, April 12, 2009
By Tahir Hasan Khan
Karachi
Karachi can be regarded as a second home for many Baloch people. While many leaders including Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Akhtar Mengal, and Nawab Khair Bux Marri chose to spend a lot of their time in Karachi, others such as Hasil Bezinjo and Mir Zafarullah Jamali are residing in the city.
Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, former chairman of Baloch Student Organisation (BSO) and leader of Balochistan National Movement (BNM) was also a citizen of Karachi. He was a close aide to Baloch nationalist leader, Nawab Khair Bux Marri, and was dealing with the political matters of Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Ghulam Muhammad Baloch was kidnapped along with two other nationalist leaders, Sher Mohammad Baloch of Balochistan Republican Party (BRP) and Lala Munir Baloch, Baloch National Front (BNF) General Secretary, and later killed.
The decomposed corpses of the three slain leaders were found after four days of their kidnapping. Torture marks were visible on the bodies, which provoked a violent reaction from people. This made provincial leaders such as Senator Mir Hasil Bezinjo and Akhtar Mengal take a hard line against these killings. Baloch leaders blamed the murder directly on intelligence agencies, and warned that these killings could have grave consequences for the nation. These allegations were also supported by Kachkol Ali, lawyer for the three deceased Baloch leaders.
Chief of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Athar Abbas however termed this act as highly regrettable. Abbas claimed that “an anti-state element is out to destabilise and undermine the reconciliatory efforts of the government”.
Interestingly, the United Nations (UN) and United States of America (USA) also expressed concern over killing of these leaders, and demanded that the Pakistan government launch a probe behind the incident. It is worth mentioning here that that neither the UN nor America condemned the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti. While Ghulam Muhammad Baloch was also member of the committee constituted to help recovering John Solecki, a UN representative in Quetta, observers believe that the reaction of the UN and the USA goes beyond simply the support lent by Baloch.
Observers have linked the American reaction on this issue with the American agenda against Pakistan, and particularly Balochistan. One is led to question why America is more concerned about this particular murder than the assassination of Nawab Akbar Bugti.
Nawab Akbar Bugti was not an extremist and he was considered as a leader of establishment. Bugti supported the government during the 1972 military operation when Nawab Khair Bux Marri was fighting against the army. However, he was killed when he disagreed with the former military chief on certain issues.
America, India, Afghanistan and Iran are closely following the situation in Balochistan, and they may fully cooperate with nationalist forces in creating a dangerous state of affairs for Pakistan.
The establishment also did not allow Akhtar Mengal to hold a public meeting in Quetta. Such an act provides fuel to nationalist forces, who can exploit the situation and promote activism within the Baloch youth. As things stand, Baloch youth are already disenchanted as they think that they are not getting their due share from the federation. Observers fear that if this situation continues, it will promote violent politics, which would worsen the situation.
The current state of affairs doesn’t bode well not only for Balochistan, but also for Sindh as tribal communities living on both sides of the Sindh-Balochistan border would be in danger if the situation in Balochistan is not controlled.
tahir.hasan@thenews.com.pk
----
Baluch militants kill six mine workers in Pakistan
12 Apr 2009 06:43:53 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Gul Yousafzai
QUETTA, Pakistan, April 12 (Reuters) - Separatist militants in Pakistan's Baluchistan province have claimed responsibility for killing six coal-mine workers as violence intensified in the resource-rich province.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is already grappling with intensifying Islamist militant violence while struggling to revive a flagging economy.
A surge of separatist violence in Baluchistan will compound fears for the U.S. ally's stability.
Bullet-ridden bodies of six coal-mine workers were found in mountains near Marwar, 35 km (20 miles) east of the provincial capital, Quetta, on Saturday, a senior police officer said.
"Their hands and feet were bound with rope and they were shot in the head," police officer Wazir Khan Nasir told Reuters on Sunday.
The six, none of whom was from Baluchistan, were abducted outside their company offices in Marwar on Friday.
Baluch nationalists have for decades campaigned for greater autonomy and control of the province's abundant natural gas and mineral resources, which they say are unfairly exploited to the benefit of other parts of the country.
Baluch militants have also waged a low-level insurgency, at times targetting gas and mining infrastructure as well as "outsiders" from other parts of Pakistan.
A spokesman for the Baluchistan Liberation Army militant group telephoned a press club in Quetta on Saturday to claim responsibility for killing the six workers, saying it was in retaliation for the killing and kidnapping of Baluch people.
"If the military keeps on killing and abducting our people, such things will continue," said the spokesman, Meerak Baluch, according to a journalist who spoke to him.
INTERNATIONAL CONCERN
Tension has surged in the province of bleak deserts and mountains since Thursday, when three Baluch political leaders were found shot dead.
Several people were killed in rioting that broke out in Quetta and other towns after the discovery of the three, who were abducted by unknown men days earlier.
Their supporters said they were taken away by security men.
The provincial government said the killing of the three was an act of terrorism and ordered an inquiry. The military blamed an "anti-state element" bent on undermining reconciliation.
The United States condemned the killing of the three men, saying one of them had recently helped in the release of a kidnapped American U.N. official. The United Nations expressed its serious concern and called for an immediate investigation.
Rights group Amnesty International also urged authorities to investigate the killing of the three, adding the government had failed to investigate an estimated 800 enforced disappearances in Baluchistan over the past two years.
Baluchistan borders Afghanistan and Iran and is Pakistan's biggest province in terms of area, but its population is the smallest and poorest.
Taliban Islamist militants fighting in Afghanistan also operate out of Baluchistan but have no links with the largely secular nationalists.
There have been were no reports of disruptions at gas fields over recent days. (Writing by Kamran Haider; Editing by Robert Birsel and Jerry Norton)
Anti-terror raids follow top policeman's blunder
Twelve men have been arrested in a major counter-terrorist operation across the country which had to be urgently brought forward after a catastrophic blunder by Britain's most senior anti-terror policeman, Bob Quick.
By Gordon Rayner, Richard Edwards and Duncan Gardham
Last Updated: 10:36PM BST 08 Apr 2009
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick was photographed entering Downing Street carrying a briefing note headed SECRET, on which details of an undercover operation against a suspected Al-Qaeda cell could clearly be seen.
The document set out the strategy for for the operation, an investigation into a suspected cell based in the north west of England and allegedly plotting an attack in the UK, including details of suspects and how the police intended to arrest them.
The realisation by Mr Quick that he had held the document in open view as he was filmed going into a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee prompted alarm in Scotland Yard, which ordered the immediate arrest of the suspects.
As a direct result of Mr Quick’s lapse, 12 men were arrested in Manchester, Liverpool and Clitheroe, Lancashire, ranging in age from a teenager to a man aged 41. One man was a UK-born British national, the rest were Pakistanis staying on student visas.
A total of eight addresses were searched. Two men were arrested on Galsworthy Avenue, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, two were held at an internet cafe on Cheetham Hill Road, three were held in Cedar Grove, Liverpool, one at Liverpool John Moores University, one on Earle Road, Liverpool, two at a Homebase store in Clitheroe and one when a white van was stopped on the M602 between Liverpool and Manchester.
The raids were led by the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit but supported by Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and Lancashire Constabulary.
Police said the arrests were part of an “ongoing investigation”.
But officers would not discuss the nature of the investigation or whether it centred on an imminent plot or terror threat.
Mr Quick apologised for what amounts to one of the most serious imaginable breaches of security by a senior officer.
But it seems he will inevitably face questions over his future, as he is already a highly controversial figure having given the order to arrest the Conservative MP Damian Green and send 20 anti-terrorist officers search his parliamentary office.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Assistant Commissioner Quick accepts he made a mistake on leaving a sensitive document on open view and deeply regrets it.
"He has apologised to the Commissioner and colleagues."
Mr Quick, who is in overall charge of the country's anti-terrorism strategy, had gone to Downing Street to brief the Home Secretary on the latest developments in what had until now been a top secret operation.
He appeared to little attempt to conceal the briefing note, which showed details of the locations and manner of the intended arrests by "dynamic entry - firearms" but also showed where the suspects would be held following their arrest and the names of the six senior officers in charge of the operation.
Ironically, the document also included a note on the "media strategy" which would be employed once the suspects had been rounded up.
But instead the Home Office was forced to alert the D-Notice Committee, the body which imposes gagging orders on newspapers in matters of national security.
By Gordon Rayner, Richard Edwards and Duncan Gardham
Last Updated: 10:36PM BST 08 Apr 2009
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick was photographed entering Downing Street carrying a briefing note headed SECRET, on which details of an undercover operation against a suspected Al-Qaeda cell could clearly be seen.
The document set out the strategy for for the operation, an investigation into a suspected cell based in the north west of England and allegedly plotting an attack in the UK, including details of suspects and how the police intended to arrest them.
The realisation by Mr Quick that he had held the document in open view as he was filmed going into a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee prompted alarm in Scotland Yard, which ordered the immediate arrest of the suspects.
As a direct result of Mr Quick’s lapse, 12 men were arrested in Manchester, Liverpool and Clitheroe, Lancashire, ranging in age from a teenager to a man aged 41. One man was a UK-born British national, the rest were Pakistanis staying on student visas.
A total of eight addresses were searched. Two men were arrested on Galsworthy Avenue, Cheetham Hill, Manchester, two were held at an internet cafe on Cheetham Hill Road, three were held in Cedar Grove, Liverpool, one at Liverpool John Moores University, one on Earle Road, Liverpool, two at a Homebase store in Clitheroe and one when a white van was stopped on the M602 between Liverpool and Manchester.
The raids were led by the North West Counter-Terrorism Unit but supported by Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and Lancashire Constabulary.
Police said the arrests were part of an “ongoing investigation”.
But officers would not discuss the nature of the investigation or whether it centred on an imminent plot or terror threat.
Mr Quick apologised for what amounts to one of the most serious imaginable breaches of security by a senior officer.
But it seems he will inevitably face questions over his future, as he is already a highly controversial figure having given the order to arrest the Conservative MP Damian Green and send 20 anti-terrorist officers search his parliamentary office.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Assistant Commissioner Quick accepts he made a mistake on leaving a sensitive document on open view and deeply regrets it.
"He has apologised to the Commissioner and colleagues."
Mr Quick, who is in overall charge of the country's anti-terrorism strategy, had gone to Downing Street to brief the Home Secretary on the latest developments in what had until now been a top secret operation.
He appeared to little attempt to conceal the briefing note, which showed details of the locations and manner of the intended arrests by "dynamic entry - firearms" but also showed where the suspects would be held following their arrest and the names of the six senior officers in charge of the operation.
Ironically, the document also included a note on the "media strategy" which would be employed once the suspects had been rounded up.
But instead the Home Office was forced to alert the D-Notice Committee, the body which imposes gagging orders on newspapers in matters of national security.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Bomb near Iraq Shi'ite shrine kills 7
KADHIMIYA–- American soldiers and Iraqi National Police officers are securing the site of a bomb blast in Baghdad’s Kadhimiya neighborhood that killed at least eight and wounded 20.
–Christoph Bangert
www.christophbangert.com
08 Apr 2009 17:38:51 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Bombs near Baghdad Shi'ite shrine for a second day
* Officials say spate of recent bombings are al Qaeda
* Police shut down western city of Falluja to hunt bombers