10.31.2009

sultans of bling

Oil has made the United Arab Emirates fabulously wealthy. Outrageous, audacious Dubai, as FIONA McCANN discovers, has shown what you can do when you’ve got vision, money, determination and, perhaps, few scruples. Abu Dhabi, its earnest big brother, wants to be known for its cultural life – which, writes KATHY SHERIDAN , further down the page, it is buying in from the Louvre and Guggenheim

DUBAI: ‘THE THING about Dubai,” trilled an expat from England as we sipped drinks at the foot of the Burj Al Arab, the sheikhdom’s 321m-high landmark hotel, “is that it’s so authentic.” I almost choked on the mint in my mojito. We were sitting beneath a hotel shaped like a sail in a state where 250km of the coastline is man-made and where the shopping malls contain ice rinks and ski slopes. Authentic was not the first word that sprang to mind.

Yet speaking to another Dubai resident about this ludicrous claim, I was told that my search for authenticity in the man-made islands shaped like the world’s countries, and the ostentatious hotels dressed up like coral reefs and ocean waves, might be missing the point. This was Dubai, built in a frenzy to be exactly how it came across: an outrageous, audacious – and, now, unsustainable – display of bling and an example of just what you can do when you’ve got vision, money, determination and, perhaps, few scruples. “Dubai never asks you where you got the money,” one young man from nearby Sharjah explained with a wry smile. As long, it appears, as you spend it there.

The vision behind modern Dubai is credited to Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, father of the current ruler and the man who oversaw the emirate’s growth from tiny trading town to skyscraping cosmopolitan hub. His concern that Dubai’s oil would some day run out – he famously warned: “My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel” – prompted him to plan an economy to outlive the oil boom, and he went about it with purpose, courting foreign investors, industry and a slew of new inhabitants that have forever altered the landscape of this tiny sheikhdom, which is smaller than Co Kerry.


read more @ irish times


abusing the oppressed

1. migrant workers severely abused in Israel

TEL AVIV - Migrant workers in Israel’s agriculture sector are among the most exploited, according to a 28 October report by Kav LaOved, an Israeli NGO campaigning for the rights of disadvantaged workers in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Ninety percent of such workers work more hours than allowed under Israeli law, without overtime payments, said the report, which has been presented to members of parliament.

The report summarizes hundreds of complaints by agricultural workers and dozens of inspections by Kav LaOved volunteers at work sites around the country, and paints a grim picture of systematic exploitation and severe violations of workers’ rights in the agricultural sector.

Hanna Zohar, Kav LaOved director, said the workers, mostly Thai, are completely unaware of their rights.

“Having paid US$8-10,000 to work in Israel, they are prime material for abuse by the farmers, as they are afraid to lose their jobs and not able to pay off the loans taken to cover these payments to the middlemen,” Zohar said.


read more @ middle east online


2. sleeping rough at 12 - the boys who dreamt of Britian

Dozens of children – sent from Afghanistan by their parents in the hope of finding a better life in Britain – are sleeping rough on the streets of Calais following the demolition of the town's last remaining asylum camp, an investigation by The Independent has found.

In a two-day visit to the Pas-de-Calais region, at least 30 children between the ages of 10 and 16 were identified sleeping under canal bridges and in the forests surrounding the town. The boys are reliant on the people-traffickers who plan to stow them away on to trucks into Britain. Most of the children were sent abroad by parents who paid tens of thousands of dollars to trafficking cartels who falsely assured them that their children would be safe in Europe.

Aid agencies say the French authorities are aware of their presence but no attempt has been made to take them into care.

...
France shrugged off accusations that the camp's closure would prove to be a humanitarian disaster by arguing that the Jungle had become a magnet for traffickers. But critics say the camp's closure has simply forced a vulnerable group of people back on to the streets.

...

Dan Hodges, from Refugee Action, called on the French government to help the hundreds of migrants living rough in northern France. "Whilst it was possible to sweep away the camp, it has not been possible to sweep away the problem," he said. "Rather than bringing these asylum-seekers into the French immigration system, the authorities are instead pushing people further into the arms of smugglers. It is an international disgrace that France is treating asylum-seekers, including hundreds of children, like refugees from the Dark Ages."

William Spindler, a spokesman for UNHCR – the UN refugee agency – in Paris said: "There has been a noticeable shift in police tactics over the past few weeks. The refugees are now living in even worse conditions than they were and this is very concerning, especially for the children."


read more @ independent


3. Somali extremists with Saudi-inspired Wahabi ideology making life impossible for women

The Shabaab movement in Somalia controls large parts of the south and centre of the country, and because officials in this movement embrace the Wahabi ideology they have imposed their views on Somalis by force and have issued strict decrees banning films, plays, dancing at weddings, football matches and all forms of music, even the ring tones on mobile phones.

Some days ago these extremists carried out a strange operation: they arrested a Somali woman and whipped her in public because she was wearing a bra. They announced clearly that wearing these bras was unIslamic because it is a form of fraud and deception.

We may well ask what wearing bras has to do with religion, why they would consider them to be a form of fraud and deception, and how they managed to arrest the woman wearing the bra when all Somali women go around with their bodies completely covered. Did they appoint a special female officer to inspect the breasts of women passing by in the street? One Somali woman called Halima told the Reuters news agency: "Al Shabaab forced us to wear their type of veil and now they order us to shake our breasts... They first banned the former veil and introduced a hard fabric which stands stiffly on women's chests. They are now saying that breasts should be firm naturally, or just flat."

read more @ independent


4. half-naked black prostitute falls (or jumps) out of window in Moscow

According to Interfax, Moscow police are investigating a battery case involving a 20-year old black prostitute who leaped out of a window of a building located in Moscow's Tekstilschiki district.

At 9:15AM on Friday, passers-by found a half-naked black girl in the yard of building 57 on Volgogradsky prospect, and called the emergency number.

“The woman suffered serious injuries including spinal compression fracture, pelvic fracture, and rib fractures. Doctors believe that some of the injuries were caused by beating, and not the fall,” a source told Interfax. The woman was sent to the city hospital #13.

The police confirmed that the apartment window the woman leaped through belongs to a co-producer of the band “Otpetye Moshenniki” (Incorrigible Swindlers) Yuriy Denisov.

“The police broke into the apartment and found the highly intoxicated owner. Denisov said that he had a party in his apartment where he got drunk and passed out. He had no recollection of what had happened. Most likely, one of the guests called the prostitute and then beat her up, which caused her leap through the window,” the source explained.

During the search of the apartment, the police found the passport of Timur Bartrutdinov, a resident of the popular TV show “Comedy Club.” The showman and other guests are wanted by the police.

The Department of Information and Public Relations of the Department of Internal Affairs confirmed that the woman fell out of the window but refused to provide further comments.

A similar case took place in Moscow at the end of June. The body of a 23-year old female citizen of Nigeria was found at building 19/2 on Tashkentskaya Street. First it was believed that the woman committed suicide leaping through a window on the 13th floor. Later it turned out that the victim was a prostitute called by three young men who were celebrating army discharge. All three men were arrested on suspicion of murder.


source: pravda


5. young model arrives in Moscow to have her organs sold


A man who tried to sell a young woman for her organs was arrested in the south-west part of Moscow. Temur, a 29-year old citizen of Tashkent, brought his 18-yearl old relative to Moscow with the intentions of making €50,000 from her.

The police uncovered the organ trafficker accidentally, during another investigation, Marina Molokova, head of the media department of the Moscow Ministry of Internal Affairs, told Pravda.ru.

To arrest the criminal, policemen introduced themselves as buyers interested in human organs.

At first, the seller priced the woman at €100,000, but then agreed to make a discount and sell her for half of the price. The “generous” seller offered to sell a couple more people, likely in bulk.

The policemen gave Temur some time to think and reconsider his decision to sell his relative, but he was determined to go through with the deal. The seller and the “buyers” met a few days later on Leninsky prospect in Moscow near a restaurant.

Temur brought Karina, the victim. However, instead of €50,000 he received a ward in jail and was charged with human trafficking.

Karina was shocked to learn what Temur was going to do with her. The police found out that the woman had no idea that her organs could be sold. She came to Russia to become a model, and Temur, whom she knew a little over a year, offered her his help in conquering Moscow. He even managed to earn the trust of her parents. He promised them to help their daughter and took her to Moscow.

He requested that Karina undergoes medical tests explaining that it would be helpful and will prove potential employers that she is capable of working long hours.

In reality, the criminal intended to show the results of medical tests to organ buyers as a proof of high-quality “goods.”

Prior to his meeting with the undercover “buyers,” Temur told Karina that he was taking her to meet with representatives of a modeling agency.

If Temur were to meet with real buyers, Karina would never be able to have a modeling career or see her parents again.

Karina was saved by sheer accident that helped the police to find Temur. However, not all victims of organ traffickers are that lucky.

Every year thousands of people are forced to become organ donors against their will. According to the United Nations, every year 3,500 to 7,000 (5 to 10 percent) of 68,000 kidney transplants are the results of illegal organ trafficking.

Today, the so-called “transplant tourism” is the most serious threat. Patients travel to the countries where commercial transplants are allowed and donors’ rights are not protected, and receive donor organs without red-tape and long waiting periods.

The lack of general international legislation regarding organ trafficking makes the global struggle against illegal transplants useless.

Therefore, recently, the UN and the European Council suggested the development of an international convention that would prohibit selling organs, tissue and cells throughout the world.


source: pravda


talking points continue

1. Bibi and Ehud split over Iran draft - gasp

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are at odds on a draft proposal handed to Iran by six world powers. Israeli Ynet newspaper learned Friday that while Netanyahu supports the draft, Barak opposes it.

Barak's office told Ynet that despite his declarations of support for the deal during a meeting with US special envoy George Mitchell, he has maintained the position he took last week. "This deal will (take Iran's nuclear program) back a year, but it will also result in the legitimization of its uranium enrichment for civilian purposes. The uranium enrichment by Iran must be stopped altogether," said the defense minister said during a presidential conference in occupied Jerusalem.

The Iranian issue is expected to come up at a planned meeting between Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama next week, however it remains unclear which stance Israel will take. Sources affiliated with the prime minister say the proposal is a positive step in getting Iran “to stick to civilian purposes in its nuclear plan”.

"Israel has seen this as a positive move from the beginning, but it has decided to keep a low profile. Now, as Iran evades the offered deal, the prime minister has publicly announced his position," one source said.

source: al manar tv


2. WH rushing the process for Israel

WASHINGTON - The United States warned on Friday that Iran did not have unlimited time to accept a UN-drafted deal with global powers on its nuclear program, as reports said Tehran wanted more talks on the offer.

Washington increased the pressure for Iran's response to the package, which proposes shipping out low-enriched uranium (LEU) from Iran to be converted into fuel for a Tehran reactor.

"The president's time is not unlimited, this was not about talking for the sake of talking," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

read more @ middle east online


3. useless posturing from Abbas

GAZA CITY, October 31 (RIA Novosti) - Palestinians will not resume peace talks with Israel until it freezes settlement construction on the West Bank, a Palestinian official said on Saturday ahead of a meeting with the top U.S. diplomat.

Hillary Clinton is due to meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the Persian Gulf city of Abu Dhabi on Saturday before traveling to Israel for a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamen Netanyahu and other officials. The meetings are part of Washington's efforts to get the two sides back to the negotiating table.

"The resumption of talks is impossible... without Israel acknowledging a need to freeze settlement construction," Nabil Abu Rudeina said as quoted by the Palestinian official WAFA agency.

read more @ ria novosti

corruption continued

follow up from a couple of stories covered yesterday


1. Barak cancels Spain trip after UNIFIL row

Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak cancelled a visit to Spain next week amid alleged disagreements between the two nations over the command of UNIFIL.

Barak was scheduled to meet Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and Defense Minister Carme Chacon during his two-day visit which had been scheduled to begin on Wednesday.

The visit will no longer take place due to "agenda reasons," a Spanish foreign ministry spokesman told AFP on Friday.

The Israeli embassy in Spain said in a statement that Barak had cancelled his visit "due to an unexpected trip" that he must make to the United States "in the coming days."

This change in his schedule "has no relation with the reports in various media on the change of command at the head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon," it added.

Israel has asked Italy to try to remain at the head of the 13,000-strong UNIFIL force for at least another six months, rather than handing over to Spain as planned, a senior Israeli official told AFP in Israel on Thursday.

Asked about the affair on Friday, Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega denied there was any dispute with Israel and she referred journalists to the "clarifying press release" issued by the Israeli embassy.

She said Barak told Moratinos in a telephone conversation that Israel was "very pleased with the work of Spanish forces" that are taking part in UNIFIL and would be "very happy" to see them take charge of the forces.

source: now lebanon


2. the Blue Baron: how the Tories rely on Ashcroft

Should David Cameron walk into Downing Street next year as prime minister, he will owe his sucess in significant measure to one man.

Baron Ashcroft of Chichester, deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, has not only masterminded the Tories' enormously successful strategy in the country's most marginal seats, he has largely paid for it all as well.

But as his party is on the verge of a return to government, the worry in Conservative circles is that their biggest supporter may also be their biggest liability as he await the results of an official inquiry into the eligibility of his donations.

By law, a British political party can only accept a donation from someone registered to vote in the country or from a company carrying on business in the UK. But Michael Ashcroft – despite his peerage and tireless work for the party – does not appear to be registered to vote and the enquiry is now investigating whether his company Bearwood Corporate Services Ltd was eligible to give money either.

The nightmare scenario for him is that the Electoral Commission could conclude that the millions of pounds given to the party were not permissible.


read more @ independent


COINCIDENCE???? - ed.


3. Europe leaders incensed by David Cameron's letter


Leaders of three of the most powerful states in Europe have strongly criticised David Cameron at the EU summit over a Conservative attempt to scupper the Lisbon treaty.

Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel and José Luiz Rodríguez Zapatero are understood to have privately criticised the Tory leader after he sent a handwritten letter to the Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, who has been refusing to sign the treaty. The letter was seen as an attempt to influence the Czech Republic, which is the only country not to have ratified the treaty.

Senior British sources familiar with thinking at the highest levels of the EU say the French, German and Spanish leaders all raised questions about Cameron's letter.

It is understood that Cameron encouraged the Czech president to delay ratification of the Lisbon pact by setting out Tory policy to hold a referendum in Britain on the treaty if it had not yet been ratified by all member states.


read more @ guardian


4. pretending that public opinion has anything to do with who gets to lead, when all of these decisions are worked out in back rooms


LONDON - Tony Blair's stance on the Iraq war, torture, relations with Bush and the euro may have blighted his chances of becoming the EU president.

The questions are key to discussions about whether he should take the new role of European Council president when the job comes into force under the Lisbon Treaty, expected to become law by December.

On Iraq, Blair put Britain's ties with the United States above those with its European partners France and Germany, who strongly opposed the conflict.

"Iraq was a big mistake, and that distracted him from developing as a European leader and thinking about the future of the EU," said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform.

A poll out Friday showed that fewer than a third of Britons even want Blair -- who as premier gave unpopular backing to then US president Bush on the Iraq war -- to assume the role.

Britain's newspapers are busy dissecting whether Blair would be the right man to become the first EU president, with many saying the war in Iraq had blotted his CV.

The Independent said in its editorial Monday that Blair, prime minister from 1997 to 2007, "would be the wrong person to represent the EU".

read more @ middle east online

well-planned web attacks in Sweden

Swedish authorities are no closer to discovering who may have been behind two distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that downed the websites of the police and some 40 media sites on Thursday.

The media companies affected by the initial attack all rent server space from Swedish IT service provider Basefarm. According to Baseform, the attack was specifically aimed at one of its clients, media IT development company Adeprimo.

"Normally, a website with relatively high traffic will receive around 800 requests per second," said Basefarm CEO Sara Murby Forste in a statement.

"During the attack on Adeprimo, we were registering around 400,000 requests per second," she added.

News websites affiliated with the Stampen media group, which uses Adeprimo's media platform, were among those hardest hit. These include main Gothenburg newspaper Göteborgs-Posten, whose site was inaccessible from early morning until lunchtime on Thursday.

Basefarm said it did not receive any warning or threat prior to the attack. The company is preparing to submit a report to the police and is continuing an internal investigation into the attack.

"We know from the nature of the attack that they possess a lot of knowledge. This took place in a planned manner, outside Europe, and with serious force," said Basefarm's technical manager Stefan Månsby.

"There is much to suggest that the traffic came from Asia and the United States. It could well be Asian, bouncing via the US."

A second attack later in the day knocked out the website of the Swedish police, which was down for a couple of hours hours in the late afternoon.

Police IT experts believe the two attacks are almost certainly linked.
"I don't think it's a coincidence," said Ann-Marie Alverås, head of the national police's web security division.

"The amount of traffic was exactly the same in both attacks and we too witnessed traffic from the United States. But the saboteur could be anywhere in the world," she added.

In general, it is more common for attacks to come from abroad, said Alverås.

"Asia is over-represented, but a large proportion also come from the former Soviet Union. But it's hard to judge where the people - there's usually more than one - are located."

Thursday's attacks are to be investigated by the police's IT crimes unit. Ann-Marie Alverås said the purpose of the attacks remained a mystery.

"But I can hazard a guess that it was to attract attention," she said.

source

yes because we don't want isolated people in the amazon getting the flu

you have to ask WHY? why are they sending people from the health ministry out to vaccinate indigenous people in the wilds of the amazon? and how much did it cost to find the crashed plane? WTF? - ed.

missing brazilian air force plane located, nine survivors found


Brazilian military sources have said that at least nine of the 11 people on board the Brazilian air force plane that disappeared over the Amazon Thursday morning survived an emergency landing.

'Of the 11 occupants of the plane, one is missing and there are indications of a possible death. The other nine are fine,' the air force authorities said Friday.

The Cessna C-98 Caravan made a forced landing Thursday morning in the Amazon forest along the Itui river between the villages of Aurelio and Rio Novo, the authorities added.

The crashed plane was spotted by an air force plane on a search operation Friday morning after it was located by the Matis Indians, the indigenous people of the Amazon forest.

The air force said it began the rescue operation with two Black Hawk helicopters, a KC-130 Hercules airplane, an SC-95 Bandeirante plane, two C-105 Amazonas, and an R-99 plane with the help of an army Super Cougar helicopter.

The ill-fated Cessna had lost contact with the air traffic control while flying above the cities of Cruzeiro do Sul in Acre state and Tabatinga in the state of Amazonas.

Aboard the aircraft were four crew members and seven officials of the health ministry who were taking part in a campaign to vaccinate Indians in some 50 villages in the Amazon region.

The Cessna C-98 Caravan has the room for 14 people and is generally used to carry passengers and cargo on short flights.

source

10.30.2009

i need a dumptruck for today's corruption news

1. russian tycoon Deripaska 'visited US under FBI deal' - paper


MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, banned from entry into the U.S. over alleged links to organized crime, visited the country this year under an FBI arrangement, the Wall Street Journal said Friday.

According to the paper, Deripaska, who controls RusAl, the world's biggest aluminum producer, visited the U.S. in August and earlier this month, the paper reported, citing two unnamed "administration officials." The Wall Street Journal said that Deripaska met with FBI agents as part of a continuing criminal investigation. The focus of the probe remains unknown.

The paper said Deripaska used his time in the U.S. to meet with top executives from U.S. investment banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The Russian billionaire was also reported to have met in Detroit with top executives at General Motors Co., in order to discuss the sale of a stake in its Adam Opel AG unit to a Russian-backed consortium that includes Deripaska's AO GAZ auto maker.

The State Department, which rules on requests for U.S. visas, declined to comment on the recent visits, the paper said.

read more @ ria novosti


2. Israel interferes to keep UNIFIL commander in post

excerpt:

Indeed, and according to a senior Israeli official, the Zionist entity has asked Italy to try to remain at the helm of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) rather than handing over the responsibility to Spain as planned.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week called Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and asked him to try to keep the current commander of UNIFIL Claudio Graziano in his post," the official said.

Graziano's term is due to end in a few weeks, with Spain slated to take over.

Israeli daily Haaretz said Netanyahu's move turned into a serious diplomatic incident, with Spain likely to take up the issue during talks with visiting Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak this week.


read more @ al manar tv


3. Tony Blair's bid for EU presidency sinks

"It would be right to describe Tony's chances as fading," one source said. "Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel are not terribly enthusiastic. Silvio Berlusconi remains his strongest backer."

read more @ guardian

Bolstered by her confirmation as a second-term German chancellor and fresh from dinner and deal-making with president Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Angela Merkel went into the European summit as the key swing voter, making or breaking Tony Blair's chances of becoming the first European president.

Despite Sarkozy being the first European leader to suggest Blair for the job two years ago, Merkel appeared to have talked the French president into changing his mind in Paris on Wednesday night.

Merkel is said not to be particularly opposed to Blair. But the realities of power in the EU, with centre right governments outweighing those of the centre left three to one, appeared to be clinching the job for a European Christian democrat, Merkel's political tribe.

read more @ guardian


4. France's Chirac faces trial over Paris 'ghost jobs'

Former French president Jacques Chirac is to be tried on allegations that he gave 21 political allies false contracts as ghost workers in Paris city hall, in an unprecedented move against a former French head of state. A statement from Chirac's office on Friday said he and nine others were charged with a role in awarding contracts for non-existent jobs. The statement described the former president as "serene."

...Simeoni's decision is a blow to Chirac, who enjoyed constitutional immunity during his 12 years as president only to be hit by a flurry of legal problems after he stepped down in 2007. No former French head of state has faced prosecution for corruption and a trial would be a public humiliation for a man who was a central figure in French politics for four decades.

read more @ al manar tv


5. Angolagate scandal: Pasqua is not going down alone

Charles Pasqua does not intend to go down alone in the Angolagate scandal. Sentenced Tuesday to a one-year prison term for "influence peddling" and "misuse of public assets," the former French Minister of Interior immediately demanded that an official secrecy act on arms sale documents be lifted. He openly accused François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, and two former prime ministers Édouard Balladur and Alain Juppé to have been "aware" of the arms sale to Angola during the 90s, despite a UN embargo. He made the revelation in an interview published Thursday in Le Figaro. The lifting of the official secrecy act on documents concerning arms sale "will shake a number of elements in the Republic", threatened Charles Pasqua the day before on French cable television, Canal +.

...Apart from his decision to appeal the ruling, Charles Pasqua also claims that he has been set-up. He has consistently called for the lifting of the official secrecy act on arms sales documents. A majority of elected officials Wednesday expressed their support for the idea. The international political Angolagate scandal is yet to yield all its secrets.

read more @ afrik.com


6. Thailand: gov promises fair trial for fugitive banker, really, dead serious this time

The government has promised a fair trial for fugitive banker Rakesh Saxena, extradited from Canada to face charges of embezzling tens of millions of dollars in a scandal that helped trigger the 1997 Asian financial crisis. An Indian national, Saxena lost a 13-year fight against extradition when Canada's Supreme Court refused to hear his final appeal on Thursday. He was put on a Thai Airways International flight out of Vancouver, with an escort of Thai police and legal officials, that was due to arrive in Bangkok late on Friday.


...Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the case against Saxena will proceed strictly according to law, and the government will not protect any politicians found to be involved. “If any politicians found to be involved in the BBC corruption case will face appropriate legal action,'' Mr Abhisit said. The premier said the government was serious about proceeding with the case, otherwise it would not have worked so hard and so long to extradite Saxena to Thailand.

...The bank reportedly tried hostile takeovers of many large Thai companies listed on the stock exchange and gave cheap, often unsecured, loans to various public officials and politicians in Thailand, India, Russia, Sinagapore, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.

The subsequent collapse of the bank was seen as an early indication of the regulatory failures that would lead to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Attorney-General Chulasingh said investigators had evidence of more than 20 cases of alleged fraud involving Saxena but he would face trial only on the single charge on which he was formally extradited.

read more @ bangkok post


7. Ashcroft and Belize: "the only thing he respects is dollars"

"Lord Ashcroft? I can tell you about Lord Ashcroft. Let me tell you all about that man... We Belizeans are wise. We are not stupid any more. We are not the same people we were 20 years ago. We are wising up every day and we are very proud of what our prime minister is doing."

If there is one subject that excites passions in Belize, it is the subject of the secretive Tory peer, who has been a dominant presence in the little Central American country for over two decades.

...

How has Lord Ashcroft been reading the political runes in Belize? He and his representatives refused to talk about the issue with The Independent, but there are clues in the reports of his holding company, BCB Holdings, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market in London. A year ago, the company was called BB Holdings, after Belize Bank. The group lends more in the Turks and Caicos Islands now, and is also shifting its focus to Trinidad and Tobago, where its shares have just begun trading on the local stock exchange there, too.

The footnotes to the accounts reveal that BCB believes it is owed $18.3m by the Belizean government, in two separate disputes over loan guarantees issued by the previous government. ..."There are so many companies and trusts associated with Ashcroft, and they keep churning around, so you never know who owns what. We are trying to get answers that make sense."

Mr Slusher thinks – hopes – that Lord Ashcroft's days of making outsize profits in Belize may be coming to a close because of the outcry generated over the telecoms agreements. "It is not just the present government that is taking a different attitude towards him, but the general population, too, because of what has been revealed.

"He's very personable, and he's a sharp businessman. I just don't like what he is doing. I think he is raping my country. But then, my country did lie down and take its panties off..."

read more @ independent


8. undercover cop working pedophilia investigation

excerpts:


"People don't realise the scale of this problem. They read about high-profile paedophiles like Roy Whiting [who murdered Sarah Payne] or famous ones like Gary Glitter, but they don't realise that for every one of them there are hundreds more. And it's not just your stereotypical flasher in a mac; the people we arrest are from all walks of society. They are doctors, lawyers, teachers, businessmen and even policemen."

...Det Ch Insp Grant has worked in the paedophile unit for two years. Before that he investigated murders. Yet his final case in the homicide team before his transfer gave him an insight into the world of child abuse. He was the senior officer investigating in the murder of Peter Connelly ("Baby P").

He admits that, since joining the paedophile unit, the scale of the problem has shocked him. "The challenge for us is keeping up with them and finding out what websites they are using," he said. "The ones we have identified may be just the tip of the iceberg. That said, we are not trying to scaremonger. If parents simply watch which sites their children are going on and ensure they only talk to people who both the child and parents truly know, then they should not be at risk."


read more @ independent


9. closing the loop: the scope of child abuse and pedophilia reaches to the TOP of society

When he was aged 13, Jason Owen (born Jason Barker) was accused of beating and raping an 11 year old girl. (Jason Owen. / Baby P killers unmasked.)

Prosecutors decided not to prosecute.

According to relatives, Jason Owen inflicted cigarette burns on his younger brother Steven Barker.

By the time he was 20, Jason Owen had a string of convictions for burglaries, arson and assault.

In 1995 police were asked to investigate allegations that Jason Owen tortured his grandmother.

The charges were dropped after the grandmother died.

In 1999 Jason Owen set fire to his own families house.

A few years later the police were asked to investigate allegations that Jason Owen had tried to kill his sister and burn down her house.

Jason Owen stayed in the same home as Baby Peter.

Baby Peter suffered 50 injuries, including eight fractured ribs and a broken back.

The tip of his little finger was missing, when he was found dead in August 2007.

Owen "had joined in the habitual ... kicking ... of the child, as the child was used as a 'punching bag'".

Over many, many months, the police and social workers failed to take action to protect Baby Peter.

Paby Peter was tortured to death in August 2007.

Jason Owen was sent to jail at the end of 2008.

...


On 16 November 2008, the Mail on Sunday tells us How a close male relative of Baby P is linked to a big paedophile ring.

This child-abuse ring operated in Labour-run Islington, the part of London where Tony Blair once lived.

Reportedly, the ring supplied boys to top people.

(This child abuse ring, reportedly, has links to the child abuse in Jersey, which in turn, reportedly, has links to the Dutroux affair and the security services)

read more @ aangirfan


what is the incentive to cooperate?

1. ill winds over Iran's nuclear draft

By Kaveh L Afrasiabi

After a five-day delay, Iran has furnished an "informal oral counter-offer" to the fuel-for-fuel deal proposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that has been endorsed by the United States, Russia and France. Details of the answer have not been revealed, but it has already been rejected by some Western diplomats.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the IAEA, confirmed he had received Iran's counter-proposal in Vienna, five days after the deadline for its submission expired. In a draft proposal by the IAEA, Tehran was asked to ship out most of its low-enriched uranium before the end of the year for reprocessing into higher-grade material under international supervision. The processed fuel would then be returned to Iran for use in a medical research nuclear facility.

Various reports indicate that Iran's counter-offer is not the final response, but rather one that has sufficient elements in it to motivate ElBaradei to continue pushing for a compromise.

...The administration of Barack Obama appears to have returned to the zero enrichment option favored by the George W Bush administration. This is in light of a key speech by the National Security Advisor, James Jones, before a pro-Israel lobbying group, in which he categorically stated that the administration remained steadfast on ending Iran's enrichment program.

...The latest initiatives in the US Congress have a similar air to the period before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, when whipped-up fears of Iraq's (non-existent) weapons of mass destruction prevailed over reason and fueled a disastrous war.

read more @ asia times


2. US senate panel approves bill against Iran - thank you for cooperating now bend over


WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate Banking Committee approved unanimously on Thursday a legislation that would authorize the Obama administration to impose tougher sanctions on Iran for failing to give up an alleged nuclear weapons program. The Senate panel took the action a day after the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bill that would subject foreign companies doing gasoline business with Iran to tough U.S. sanctions.

The latest actions by U.S. lawmakers have apparently tightened loop on Iran for its disputed nuclear program.

read more @ chinaview


3. Dan Burton has the Israeli talking points: hurry hurry hurry

A US congressman warned Wednesday that a slow progress on the Iranian question raised the prospect of a Mideast war. “The US must take action to resolve Iranian nuclear quagmire in order to avert risk of Israeli strike,” Republican Dan Burton told the US House Foreign Affairs Committee.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had made similar comments earlier this week when he also warned of an Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran if an agreement was not reached with the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program.

Meanwhile, Committee Chairman Howard Berman said that while he is not happy to enforce solely US sanctions and endorses President Obama's dialogue efforts, the diplomatic effort will have to show results soon. He added that should dialogue fail, the next option he would favor is tough sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council. The third option will be sanctions imposed outsides the framework of the Security Council, in case Russia or China will express objection in the UN.


source: al manar tv


4. Bibi pretending to negotiate for "peace" but of course there's the problem of Iran, so far there's only been a first step this will take some time i'm afraid we can negotiate "peace" until this is all ironed out to our satisfaction but really we are so committed blah blah blah

U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy held talks Friday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in occupied Jerusalem as part of an intense and ongoing bid to revive broken-off “peace negotiations” with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu called the UN-brokered plan for nuclear cooperation between Iran and major powers "a positive first step." Speaking at the start of a meeting with Mitchell, the premier hailed Obama's "ongoing efforts to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear military capability. "I think that the proposal that the president made in Geneva to have Iran withdraw its enriched uranium, or a good portion of it, outside Iran is a positive first step in that direction," Netanyahu said.
Mitchell arrived Thursday to prepare for a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, her first official trip to “Israel” since the Netanyahu government took office in March.

read more @ al manar tv


the payroll

1. NATO using warlords - they are confirmed on the payroll your tax dollars at work

By Gareth Porter

WASHINGTON - The revelation by the New York Times on Wednesday that Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, has long been on the payroll of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is only the tip of a much bigger iceberg of heavy dependence by US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) counter-insurgency forces on Afghan warlords for security, according to a recently published report and investigations by Australian and Canadian journalists.

United States and other NATO military contingents operating in the provinces of Afghanistan's predominantly Pashtun south and east have been hiring private militias controlled by Afghan warlords, according to these sources, to provide security for their forward operating bases, other bases and to guard convoys.

General Stanley McChrystal, the US's chief in Afghanistan, has acknowledged that US and NATO ties with warlords have been a cause of popular Afghan alienation from foreign military forces. But the policy is not likely to be reversed anytime soon, because US and NATO officials still have no alternative to the security services the warlords provide.

A report published by the Center on International Cooperation at New York University (NYU) in September notes that US and NATO contingents have frequently hired security providers that are covertly owned by warlords who have "ready-made" private militias which compete with state institutions for power.

...
Khan gets US$340,000 per month - nearly $4.1 million annually - for getting two convoys from Kandahar to Tarin Kowt safely each month. Khan, now police chief in Uruzgan province, evidently got his private army from his uncle, Jan Mohammad Khan, a commander who helped defeat the Taliban in Kandahar in 2001 and was then rewarded by President Karzai by being named governor of Uruzgan in 2002.

read more @ asia times


2. hillary clinton meets with Pakistani tribal leaders - on the payroll hmm?

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- The visiting United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with members of the National Assembly, the lower house of the Pakistani Parliament, from Federal Administered Tribal Area (FATA) on Friday. During the meeting, the tribal leaders made it clear that use of power is not the solution of problems and drone attacks creating hatred in FATA, the private TV channel GEO News reported.

The delegation assured the U.S. secretary of state that tribal men are not terrorists. [specially if they're on the payroll - ed.]

Clinton said the U.S. will continue its cooperation with Pakistan in the war against terror. She said Pakistan-U.S. ties are not restricted to war and security issues as the U.S. wants long term and durable relationship with Pakistan.

The U.S drones regularly hit hideouts of the militants in the Pakistani tribal region, which Washington considers as the center of Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants. Pakistan opposes the U.S. strikes inside the country's tribal regions and seeks the drone technology. But the U.S. does not accept Islamabad's request.

read more @ chinaview


3. US military expecting more violence in Iraq -- more people on the payroll creating mayhem and killing muslims???

By Prashant Rao - BAGHDAD

US forces expect insurgents to plan more spectacular attacks like massive bombings in Baghdad last week in the run-up to January polls and are braced for an upswing in violence, warned a senior general.

Major General John D. Johnson added that while he expected the security situation to stabilise by the middle of next year, politically motivated violence aimed at influencing the shape of the next government was a concern.

"I think we can't rule out some of these groups' desires to conduct a large attack because they're able to garner a lot of media attention and it's an attempt on their part to be relevant ... and an attempt to intimidate the people," said Johnson, the deputy commander of US operations in Iraq.

Asked whether he expected insurgents to attempt more bombings like the twin suicide attacks that killed 153 people in central Baghdad last Sunday, he said: "I can't speak for what it is that they want to try to do, these are the kinds of things that we expect them to attempt to do."

read more @ middle east online



4. Lebanon group claims rocket fire - on the payroll too??


DUBAI - A group claims it fired the Katyusha rocket attack from Lebanon that hit northern Israel earlier this week, a US-based group that monitors websites said on Thursday.

The Brigades of Abdullah Azzam, Battalions of Ziad Jarrah, said it was responsible for Tuesday's attack, according to a statement released on Thursday by the Al-Fajr Media Centre, SITE Intelligence Group said. The group said it had prepared five rockets but only fired one, adding that the attack was to protest a Sunday raid by Israeli police on occupied Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

"The occupying Jews have dared to repeatedly raid the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque ... In response to this aggression, a battalion among the Battalions of Ziad Jarrah" fired the Katyusha, it said. Israeli occupation forces twice entered Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Sunday and clashed with Palestinian youths.

Israel retaliated to the attack with an artillery barrage. No casualties were reported in either case. Abdullah Azzam is the name of Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden's mentor. He was killed in a 1989 bomb blast.

Lebanese Ziad Jarrah is the name of one of the alleged plotters of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. He is believed to have been one of the hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93.

source: middle east online

SITE Intelligence Group: Rita Katz and pals:
https://www.siteintelgroup.com/_layouts/SiteIntel/aboutsite.aspx?setnav=About%20SITE

"that's Israel" means "rules don't apply"

By Lucile Malandain - WASHINGTON

A leading US space scientist credited with helping discover water on the moon pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges he tried to sell US defense secrets to Israel for two million dollars.

Judge Deborah Robinson rejected a bail request from Stewart David Nozette, who was arrested October 19 in an FBI sting operation, saying he was considered a flight risk and should remain in jail pending trial.

Nozette, 52, is charged with two counts of attempted espionage for allegedly trying to sell secrets to an FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence officer -- crimes which could carry the death penalty.

"The weight of evidence against the defendant is substantial," federal prosecutor Heather Schmidt told the court.

Court documents from the prosecution accused Nozette, who for years had a high-level US government security clearance, of seeking "roughly two million dollars as compensation for his espionage."

He "delivered and communicated this classified information to an individual he believed was an Israeli intelligence officer in exchange for an alias, a foreign passport, and cash payments," they said.

The government provided the court with recorded excerpts of a conversation with the FBI agent from October 19 in which a laughing Nozette mulled various plans to flee the United States should he be suspected of spying for Israel.

In their final discussion that day, the undercover FBI agent allegedly handed Nozette 10,000 dollars in 100 dollar bills, which he tried to hide inside a hotel bathroom toilet tank when federal agents arrested him.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation also searched Nozette's safe deposit box at a bank in San Diego, California where they discovered 55 gold 'Krugerrand' coins worth a total of 50,000 dollars and 30,000 dollars in savings bonds, the court documents said.

"He asked for money, passport, a new identity. He had an entire plan on how he was going to leave the US" for Israel after getting paid, Schmidt said.

His defense team unsuccessfully dismissed the argument, stressing that Israel refused asylum even for Jonathan Pollard, the American convicted of spying for Israel in the 1980s.

Defense lawyer John Kiyonaga also appealed to an unmoved Judge Robinson that his client had committed only an "attempt" of espionage involving a close US ally. "That's Israel. That's not China, not North Korea, not even Russia," Kiyonaga said.


read more @ middle east online

like watching old star trek episodes and laughing at the lame special effects and captain kirk's emo

...that's what it's like to look back on the 'greatest hits' of 9/11 psyops from late 2009.



1. brainwashing americans on 9/11

Who is Jerome M. Hauer?

Jerome Hauer is among the small group of key individuals who are suspected of playing crucial roles is setting the stage for Israeli false-flag terror attacks of 9-11.

Yesterday, a reader sent me a document that contained a link to a very interesting 9-minute video clip called "The 9/11 Solution."

This short video, which I recommend, is about how the "9-11 cover story was sold to the public." It shows how – in the first hour after the attacks – the controlled media conspired, or was used, to promote the fairy tale that became the official story about why the World Trade Center towers collapsed, i.e. structural failure caused by fire.



read more @ goon squad


2. Sander Hicks interviews Jerome Hauer




people are suggestible

1. hundreds of schools closed as H1N1 flu cases multiply in US - here's the trick: suggest that sick people stay home. thus the sick people stay home. then express fear that so many people are sick and stayed home. then close the schools. then suggest that this ends when they get their vaccine.

BEIJING, Oct. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Across the United States more and more schools have closed their gates due to the rapid widespread of A/H1N1 influenza outbreak nationwide. Sick students are suggested to stay at home, while city emergency rooms are also largely filled with students who are severely ill, according to news reports on Thursday. According to U.S. Education Department, at least 351 schools were closed in last week -- affecting more than 126,000 students in 19 states. So far, about 600 schools were closed in this school year altogether.

"This is scary," said Kathryn Marchuk, a nurse whose son attends St. Charles East High School outside Chicago, which closed for three days last week after about 800 of its 2,200 students called in absent. "So many people are sick. It's just everywhere." Many school officials said they were afraid the virus would spread faster if they stayed open. They feel shutting down is the only feasible option.

Despite the exceptional spreading speed of the H1N1 flu pandemic in the flu season, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Margaret Chan said a day before in a conference in Havana that the A/H1N1 pandemic would reach its natural end when enough people are immunized. [naturally!!]



source: chinaview



2. laDUH! Australian scientists find direct link between diet and immune system - here's the trick: take something totally obvious and common sense, call it a "breakthrough" to explain and coverup some really bad shit you've doing to people by poisoning them. convince people they're sick because they don't eat well enough. it's their own fault! autoimmune disease has *nothing* to do with the poisons they inject into our bodies with their vaccines no sirree bob.


CANBERRA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Australian scientists have found a "direct link" between what we eat and how well our immune system operates, a breakthrough that could explain rising rates of autoimmune disease across the western world. Professor Charles Mackay, working at Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, identified how fibre in the diet plays a major role in ensuring a person's immune cells function properly, the Australian Associated Press reports Thursday.

"This does provide a direct link for the way immune cells work with the sort of things we eat."This broken-down fibre was found to "profoundly affect immune cell function", Prof. Mackay said, and without it the immune cells appeared more likely to go awry. Autoimmune disease refers to disorders in which a person's immune system mistakenly attacks part of the body, causing inflammation. "When (immune cells) go bad they cause inflammatory diseases, so asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease." Prof. Mackay said.

A lack of dietary fibre could also be behind the rise in type 1diabetes, he said.

The research suggests that having a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds would reduce a person's risk of autoimmune disease. It also helped to explain why food supplements that affect the balance of gut bacteria were known to reduce the symptoms of some inflammatory conditions. Prof. Mackay said dietary fibre, or roughage, was otherwise known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and certain cancers plus it ensures you will be regular.

source: chinaview

10.29.2009

looks like the options are narrowing

1. Israel shows *restraint* after latest rocket from Southern Lebanon

JERUSALEM, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Israel responded with limited fire towards the source of a rocket launched from southern Lebanon on Tuesday night. It was the ninth reported attack on Israel from Lebanese territory since the end of fighting between Israel and the south-Lebanon-based Hezbollah in 2006.

Four additional Katyusha rockets were found on Wednesday close to Tuesday's launch site. The discovery was made by a joint tour of officers from the Lebanese army and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, according to Lebanese and Israeli media reports.

Analysts are now wondering for how long Israel will show restraint in the face of these attacks for which no one claims responsibility.


...There are three directions in which Israel should look when trying to ascertain the source of the Katyusha strikes, according to Azani: Hezbollah, Palestinian organizations and the Lebanese arm of global Jihad. All three have reasons to gain from inciting Israel, he claimed.


heh - missed one: ISRAEL - crying and shooting, read more @ chinaview


2. Israel files complaint against Lebanon for suspicious rocket

Once again, in the world of "fairness" and "justice," the Israeli enemy seeks to assume the role of the "victim," turning the real "victims" into "tyrants"…

Thus, Israel has the right to violate the international resolution 1701 day and night and violate the Lebanese sovereignty in a daily basis… Israel has the right to plant spies and espionage networks all over Lebanon… Israel has the right to declare publicly, and even to inform the United Nations, that it will continue its spying networks in Lebanon… Israel has the right to "provoke" and to "threaten" a whole nation…

All these "rights" are granted to Israel… Yet, it has also the right to become the "victim" and file "complaints" against others with the "funny" accusation of violation the international resolution Israel itself seems to be proud of violating day and night…

Thus, when a rocket falls down at the northern border with Southern Lebanon, Israel is the "victim"… The incident comes a few hours after a "provocative" visit made to the region by the Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak who didn't hesitate to "threaten" Lebanon claiming readiness for any new "confrontation"… It also comes a few hours after the Israeli media revealed that the Israeli authorities told the United Nations that Israel will continue its spying activities in South Lebanon… Yet, Israel gives itself the right to file a complaint against Lebanon over the rocket attack, just like if it was the "provoked victim"!


read more @ al manar tv



3. Clinton due in Israel. US leaning toward 'indirect' talks

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will arrive in the occupied Palestinian territories on Saturday night for her first official visit since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was sworn in. Clinton's visit underscores the goal of reaching a compromise that could see the resumption of “peace talks” between Israel and the Palestinians.

In light of the ever-wide gaps between the Israeli and Palestinian sides, voices are growing within the Obama administration to shift strategy and suffice with indirect - rather than direct - negotiations. The secretary of state is now taking a more active role in the diplomatic process in the Middle East, which has thus far been overseen by special envoy George Mitchell.

Mitchell is due to arrive in “Israel” on Thursday for preparatory discussions prior to Clinton's trip. Clinton is expected to meet Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and President Shimon Peres on Sunday. Before her arrival in “Israel”, Clinton will take part in a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Morocco.


read more @ al manar tv


4. Syria ready to resume talks with Israel

ZAGREB - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said here Wednesday his country was ready to resume suspended talks with Israel and called on European nations to help in the process.

"As far as it concerns us in Syria we have national support to continue talks with Israel," Assad said. "However, there is a condition that on the Israeli side we also have those who want to continue the negotiations," he added after meeting his Croatian counterpart Stipe Mesic.

The Syrian head of state praised Turkey's efforts in the process and stressed that the presence of a "third side" would be necessary if the talks resume. "We call on European countries to also give their contribution, to help Turkey but also us to be able to resume from where we have stopped," he stressed.

read more @ middle east online


5. two-state solution being pushed by J street, i guess they see the writing on the wall that it's 2 states or 1 state, 1 state being a "nightmare" for zionists due to demographics, but the "dream" lives on in israel that the palestinians can be disappeared somehow, leaving 1 state but a jews only state, and therefore J street are traitors to the zionist cause for not being sufficiently deliriously fanatical about the possibility of disappearing the palestinians. something like that.

On Sunday, October 25th, representatives of over three dozen Arab American and American Jewish community organizations met in Washington to make clear their shared commitment to a comprehensive Middle East peace. Hosted by J Street, which calls itself the US’s “pro-peace, pro-Israel lobby” and the Arab American Institute, “the research and policy arm of the Arab American community”, the event was joined by Tina Tchen, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

The message that the leaders and activists who gathered hoped to send, via this summit, was that despite their different starting points, both agree on the goal of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and are supportive of President Obama’s peace making efforts, to date.

read more @ middle east online


Hysteria over J Street in the jpost:

Most American-Israelis I have spoken to recognize J Street for what it really is - a radical, far left organization funded and supported by radical forces. A true wolf in sheep's clothing. Indeed, J Street's executive director, Jeremy Ben-Ami, just confirmed that truth by declaring at the J Street conference, "[w]e are here to redefine and expand the very concept of being pro-Israel." Israel's greatest enemies could not have articulated it any better.

J Street calls itself a "Washington-based Israel lobby group." However, it has not disclosed its client. Is it the State of Israel, which to date has - correctly - not identified itself with J Street? Hardly. Is it the Americans living in Israel? Ridiculous. Is it the knowledgeable American Jews who are vitally interested in the security and growth of Israel? Certainly not.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1256740791333&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull



terrorist tools

1. Iranian Guard tracking terror cells outside Iran - oh hey that's us

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the force is able to gather intelligence on terrorist groups operating from outside the country. "We have the means to gather intelligence on any terrorist group terrorizing Iranian citizens from outside Iran," Revolutionary Guards chief General Mohammad Ali Jafari said on Tuesday.

Jafari, however, added that this has been made possible through 'the assistance of Shias outside the country who have the Islamic republic's interests at heart'. On October 18, at least 41 people including top commanders of IRGC were killed in an explosion during a unity conference between Sunni and Shia tribal leaders in the borderline city of Pishin. The Pakistan-based Jundullah terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the bomb blast.

The Iranian commander took a swipe at Pakistani officials who 'have chosen silence in the face of plausible evidence confirming that Rigi has been assisted by the country's intelligence'. Jafari further repeated Iran's requests from the government in Islamabad to extradite those responsible for terrorizing Iranian nations.

The commander of IRGC Ground Forces, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, on Monday indicated that the military is preparing short-term and long-term plans to confront those behind a recent terror attack in Iran. Pakpour said the IRGC plans to pass intelligence to the authorities in neighboring countries to help them capture terrorists fleeing Iranian territory.


However, the IRGC commander added, "Due to the current security situation, the plans cannot be made public." "The IRGC has tracked them down" but the onus is on neighboring states to deal with the terrorists, he said.

Jundullah, which operates in Iran's Sistan-Baluchistan and Pakistan's Baluchistan provinces, has carried out a number of attacks against high profile Iranian targets, especially the government and security officials. An ABC News report in 2007 reported that the Jundullah terrorist group 'has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials' to destabilize the government in Iran.

In another report in July, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed that US Congressional leaders secretly agreed to George W. Bush's $400-million funding request last year for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran. It is through such covert funding that the US arms and funds terrorist groups such as the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) and Jundullah.

Other US intelligence agencies, such as the CIA, have their own secret and separate budgets to fund destabilizing operations against Iran and other nations that do not submit to America's will. The group's ringleader, Abdolmalek Rigi, describes his terrorist cell as a 'nationalist movement' and denies any links to Washington. However, many Sunni Baluchis were among those killed in the recent terrorist attack by Rigi's followers.

Meanwhile, tribal leaders in the city of Sarbaz in Sistan-Baluchistan province staged demonstrations in condemnation of the deadly blasts in the city. The protestors shouted slogans against the United States and the terrorist cell of Abdolmalek Rigi.

source: al manar tv


2. Report: over 60 security members detained over Baghdad bombings - who did these guys work for?

BAGHDAD, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces detained more than 60 security members over twin suicide bombings in central Baghdad which killed over some 155 people, an official Iraqi television reported on Thursday.

The arrested were in charge of providing security for a downtown Baghdad district which was hit by the deadly suicide attacks that targeted government buildings, Major General Qassim Atta said.

"Eleven officers and 50 security members, from the security forces in Salhiyah district, have been detained over the latest terrorist attack," the state-run Iraqia television quoted Atta as saying.

read more @ chinaview



3. FBI kills radical Islamic leader in Detroit

BEIJING, Oct. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Wednesday fatally shot a man named Luqman Ameen Abdullah, who allegedly was a leader of a violent Sunni Muslim separatist group, during a raid in Detroit.

The Federal agents were trying to arrest 11 men including Abdullah on charges of operating an organized crime ring in the Detroit area, according to media reports.

The 53-year-old man refused to surrender and began firing at them from a warehouse, according to a statement by the FBI and the United States attorney's office in Detroit. Abdullah was killed during the exchange of gunfire and six followers of his were taken into custody, an FBI spokeswoman said.

Abdullah, the imam of a mosque called Masjid al-Haqq, led a faction of a group called the Ummah, meaning the Brotherhood, which advocates the establishment of a separate, sovereign Islamic state within the United States governed by Islamic laws, according to the authorities.

A 45-page FBI criminal complaint described Abudullah as a "highly placed leader of a nationwide radical fundamentalist Sunni group consisting primarily of African Americans, some of whom converted to Islam while they were servicing sentences in various prisons."

read more @ chinaview

al CIAda still so busy

1. Afghan war ready for expansion??

The worsening Afghan war has brought some good news for Uzbekistan. On Tuesday, the European Union announced it was lifting a four-year old arms embargo against Uzbekistan. The EU imposed wide-ranging sanctions in 2005 after Uzbek troops fired on civilians during an uprising in the city of Andizhan in Ferghana Valley, and Tashkent rejected calls by Western countries for an international inquiry into those killings.

Tuesday's decision completes an incremental process stretched over the past year or so on the EU's part to kiss and make up with Tashkent. The EU officials justified their decision with Tashkent's recently release of some political prisoners and abolishment of the death penalty. Amnesty International has promptly contradicted the claim with facts and figures.

Aside from the veracity of the EU claim, the reality is that Europe not only blinked first, it also bent its knees while doing so. Brussels kept a straight face, though, assuring the world audience that it would "closely and continuously observe the human-rights situation in Uzbekistan … [and] assess progress made by the Uzbek authorities."

...The EU decision comes at a time when alarm bells are beginning to ring in the Central Asian capitals regarding the spillover of the Afghan war to the region, which seems all but certain. The Taliban are strengthening their presence in northern Afghanistan and it is a matter of time before they threaten the Central Asian countries with retaliatory action for the latter's association with the US in Afghanistan.

read more @ asia times


2. /snark on/ amazing coincidence - security concerns confirmed as terrorists attack almost as if on cue. how on earth do they get such timing hmm it's like they know like there's a mole or something in the State Department? /o_O snark off/

WASHINGTON - United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Pakistan to meet with government officials, civic leaders, businesspeople, and even leaders of the political opposition.

For security reasons, the State Department isn't giving details of Clinton's visit - not even a timetable, let alone the topics she's expected to discuss with Pakistan's civilian and military leaders.

The security concerns proved correct, as Clinton's arrival in the country coincided with a car bomb that tore through a market in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar early on October 28. At least 105 people were killed and more than 200 wounded.

Clinton was three hours' drive away in the capital, Islamabad, when the blast took place. In remarks carried live on Pakistani news channels, she said, "I want you to know that this fight is not Pakistan's alone. This is our struggle as well."

yes, i think we got that part. read more @ asia times


3. African impasse: terrorists or pirates, either way

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - Pirates near the Somali coast and several other African countries are possibly one of the key news items these days.

However, piracy is only the tip of the African iceberg: The developments in Africa, which affect all states in the region, including Somalia, are fraught with a far more serious threat than piracy.

The United States has recently expressed concern over this threat once again. During his visit to Algeria, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey D. Feltman said that Washington is concerned over the problem of terrorism in the Sahel countries (one of the poorest regions in the world, the Sahel Belt includes Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea).

Feltman noted that the U.S. is not going to substitute for African governments in their efforts to counter terrorism in the region, although it can provide them assistance.

Terrorist activity in the region started to surge after Al-Qaeda "branches" popped up in Africa. In January 2007, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) announced its existence, launching terrorist attacks against African countries' government agencies and armed forces, including the Algerian army, as well as against representatives of other countries, including Russia.

...It is unclear how the situation will develop, but it appears that in the media, the pirates near the African coast can be replaced by local terrorists only. [natch]

read more @ ria novosti

no need for sanctions against Iran

1. Iran has delivered response - cooperation

Iran's envoy to the UN atomic watchdog confirmed he had delivered Tehran's response on Thursday to a nuclear fuel deal drafted by the watchdog, ISNA news agency said. Ali Asghar Soltanieh told ISNA he had "given the response" to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. Earlier state-owned Arabic language Al-Alam television channel reported Tehran had handed over its response to IAEA.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that "conditions are ready" for a nuclear deal with world powers following a change in Western policy from "confrontation to cooperation." Ahmadinejad welcomed the prospect of an agreement on uranium enrichment.


..."Now the International Atomic Energy Agency is returning to its actual position which is to help independent nations and to create healthy relations with other nations," he said, referring to the UN watchdog which drew up the proposed deal between Iran and the major powers. Ahmadinejad said the West had previously adopted a policy of "confrontation and threats, but today it has changed its attitude and we welcome it. "We accept any hand extended to us in trust and honesty, without any plot or lie. But if that proves not to be the case, our response will be the same as we gave to (US president George W) Bush and his cronies," he said to cheers from the crowd.

read more @ al manar tv


2. oh hey i guess we won't need these then: key US panel approves new Iran sanctions

WASHINGTON - Iran's main gasoline suppliers, including British, French, Swiss and Indian firms, may face tough US sanctions under a bill that sailed through a key House of Representatives panel Wednesday.

By a voice vote, the House Foreign Affairs Committee approved legislation aimed at tightening the economic vise on Iran over its nuclear program.

The measure would empower US President Barack Obama to effectively block firms that supply Iran with refined petroleum products, or the ability to import or produce them at home, from doing business in the United States.

Democratic Representative Howard Berman, the committee's chairman, said the "urgency" of freezing Tehran's nuclear drive outweighed the "distasteful prospect" of inflicting considerable economic pain on the Iranian people. [sure it does fucker]

...Iran gets most of its gasoline imports from the Swiss firm Vitol, the Swiss/Dutch firm Trafigura, France's Total, the Swiss firm Glencore and British Petroleum, as well as the Indian firm Reliance.

read more @ middle east online


3. Kremlin aide says early sanctions against Iran hardly possible

MOSCOW, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said on Wednesday that sanctions against Iran are highly unlikely in the near future, Interfax news agency reported.

"The introduction of sanctions against Iran is unlikely in the near future," Prikhodko was quoted as telling reporters.

But the use of sanctions is "unavoidable" in some cases, Prikhodko said, referring to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's remarks that sanctions are not very effective, but sometimes "we are forced to impose sanctions." "This formula is still valid," the Kremlin official said.

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4. Jim Jones sent to make friends with Russia, we're good friends right? we can work together right?

US National Security Adviser James Jones stressed the White House's desire for friendly relations with Moscow as he met Russian officials on Thursday for nuclear disarmament talks. Jones, a retired US general, told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that President Barack Obama remained committed to mending ties with Moscow after they were badly strained in recent years.

"I would like to... on behalf of President Obama, reassure you and your colleagues that the path that US and Russian relations are on right now is one that's full of promise and potential," Jones said. "We want to do everything we can to bring that good state of an affairs to a conclusion," Jones added, at a meeting also included the top US and Russian negotiators working on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).


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