Maravot world news

3.10.06 Update, 03.08.06 House agrees to vote on ports

WASHINGTON, March 8 – Efforts by the White House to hold off legislation challenging a Dubai-owned company's acquisition of operations at six major US ports collapsed yesterday when House Republican leaders agreed to allow a vote next week that could kill the deal. Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) will attach legislation to block the deal today to a must-pass emergency spending bill funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A House vote on the measure next week will set up a direct confrontation with President Bush, who sternly vowed to veto any bill delaying or stopping Dubai Ports World's purchase of London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steamship Co. [More>>washingtonpost.com ; See update,

March 10, nytimes.com, "Bush says political storm over port deal sends wrong message" : WASHINGTON (AP) – President Bush said Friday he was troubled by the political storm that forced the reversal of a deal allowing a company in Dubai to take over take over operations of six American ports, saying it sent a bad message to U.S. allies in the Middle East. Bush said the United States needs moderate allies in the Arab world, like the United Arab Emirates, to win the global war on terrorism...

March 10, washingtonpost.com, "Overseas firms entrenched in ports" : The decision by Dubai Ports World to abandon its effort to take over terminal operations at six U.S. seaports was a victory for the numerous politicians who have thundered in recent days that foreign companies have no business handling U.S. port operations.

But foreign firms remain deeply embedded in nearly every major port in the country. And transferring ownership of those operations to U.S. companies could cause serious problems in an industry in which nearly all of the shipping is controlled by foreign interests. An immense amount of capital from those foreigners will be required to expand the nation's port system in coming years as global commerce continues to burgeon. For an example of the industry's international nature, consider Inchcape Shipping Services, a London-based company that provides ship agency services -- arranging the smooth arrival and departure of vessels -- at 200 ports around the world, including more than two dozen in the United States. Inchcape was purchased in January by a Dubai company whose chief executive, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, also heads Dubai Ports World...]

3.10.06 US must heed its own human rights abuses

March 10 – In response to the annual US publication of human rights abuses around the world, China publishes its annual rebuttal. This is China's response, published March 9: China issued Thursday the Human Rights Record of the United States in 2005 (read full text) in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2005 issued by the U.S. State Department on Wednesday. Released by the Information Office of China's State Council, the Chinese report listed a multitude of cases to show the serious violations of human rights both in and outside the United States.

"As in previous years, the US State Department pointed the finger at human rights situations in more than 190 countries and regions (including China) but kept silent on the violations of human rights in the United States," says the document. To help people realize the true features of this self-styled "guardian of human rights," it is necessary to probe into the human rights abuses in the United States in 2005, it says.

.."For a long time, the life and security of the people of the United States has not been under efficient protection, and American society is characterized with rampant violent crimes," says the document. The US Justice Department reported on Sept. 25, 2005 that there were 5,182,670 violent crimes in the United States in 2004. And there were 21.4 victims for every 1,000 people aged 12 and older, which amounts to about one violent crime victim for every 47 U.S. residents...[Full story>>chinadaily.com.cn ; See also state.gov, March 8, "US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices."]

03.09.06 NeoCon allies desert Bush over Iraq

March 9 – These are the right-wing intellectuals who demanded George Bush invade Iraq. Now they admit they got it wrong. Are you listening, Mr. President?

William F. Buckley Jr., INFLUENTIAL CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST AND TV PUNDIT

'One can't doubt the objective in Iraq has failed ... Iraqi animosities have proved uncontainable by an army of 130,000 Americans. Different plans have to be made. And the kernel here is the acknowledgement of defeat.'

Francis Fukuyama, AUTHOR AND LONG-TERM ADVOCATE OF TOPPLING SADDAM

'By invading Iraq, the Bush administration created a self-fulfilling prophecy: Iraq has now replaced Afghanistan as a magnet, a training ground and an operational base for jihadists, with plenty of American targets to shoot at.' [More>>independent.co.uk]

03.09.06 Update, 03.08.06 Girl dies of bird flu in China, UN ups campaign – Bird flu found at Russian factory

(Reuters) March 8 – A nine-year-old girl has died of bird flu in China, the Chinese media said on Wednesday, as the United Nations stepped up efforts to battle the rapidly spreading virus. The girl, China's 10th known death from bird flu, died on Monday night in the eastern province of Zhejiang, the official Xinhua news agency said. Her death comes days after the government confirmed that a 32-year-old man had died from the H5N1 virus in the southern province of Guangdong, near Hong Kong, triggering alarm there. The girl was from Anji county, Huzhou city in the province. Her hometown is close to Guangde county in the neighboring Anhui Province where abnormal deaths of chicken and ducks were reported in mid-January. [More>>chinadaily.com.cn ; See related story turkishpress.com, March 7, "Suspected bird flu death as virus spreads in Europe, Nigeria" : A four-year-old Indonesian boy became the latest suspected human casualty of bird flu as the virus spread in Nigeria, Poland and Germany. The head of the World Health Organization announced a bird flu surveillance network for all of Africa, where experts fear the virus could wreak devastation, while a leading Russian virologist urged his country to prepare for a major human epidemic. And in Germany, two more cats were killed by the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of the disease, with the agriculture minister warning that avian influenza was "clearly getting closer to humans"...

Update March 9, rian.ru, "Bird flu found at factory in southern Russia" : Bird flu has been diagnosed at a poultry factory in Stavropol Territory in southern Russia, the agriculture ministry said Thursday. "On March 8, more than 70,000 birds died at the poultry factory," a ministry press release said. The federal veterinary service said birds started dying at the Bogoslovskoye poultry farm in early March. "There were 100,000 birds at the farm," the ministry said in a press release...

03.08.06 Paskistan rape victim leads thousands at Women's Day rally

MULTAN, Pakistan (AFP) March 8 – Around 3,000 people on Wednesday attended a rally led by a Pakistani woman whose gang rape on the orders of a tribal council triggered an international outcry, witnesses said. The protesters, the vast majority of them women, held placards and banners and cheered Mukhtaran Mai when she appeared on a stage along with a dozen other gang-rape victims to mark International Women�s Day.

"will continue my struggle to end the oppression of women," the 33-year-old Mai told the crowd. "I have come here so we can raise our voices together." Protesters shouted slogans including "Give equal rights to women" and "Treat women with respect." Local authorities banned them from marching on roads so they held the rally in a park.

"The day will be momentous as it will bring together, for the first time, men and women in an area globally marked for gender discrimination and cruelty towards women," Mai earlier told AFP. Mai was gang-raped on the orders of a tribal council in a rural village in Punjab province in 2002 as punishment for her brother�s alleged affair with a woman from another tribe. [More>>khaleejtimes.com ; See related story, Jerusalem Post, "Sharon Stone offers kisses for peace in Israel" : Tossing her signature mane of blonde hair and smiling to the cameras, Sharon Stone appeared alongside Shimon Peres at a Tel Aviv press conference on Wednesday, following her arrival in Israel Tuesday evening. The Hollywood star embarked on her first visit to the country as a guest of the Peres Center for Peace. The Center invited Stone to participate in the "Woman" festival in Holon, which is taking place in honor of International Women's day. Stone will participate in a panel entitled "Women Leading Change," as well as in the first ever female-led economic conference to take place in Israel....Stone also said she would be willing to "kiss just about anybody for peace in the Middle East," drawing laughter from a throng of Israeli reporters. She playfully turned down calls to give Peres a peck on the cheek..."The future of our children depends on now," she said. "We can't go on killing in the name of our children's future.
...Stone said she did not consider herself to be a feminist, but rather a "humanist."

" don't want to be a man," she said. "Equal for me is distinctly separate. I want us to be in a partnership, not dominating one another. We were meant to be a team. That was the plan from the beginning. We don't need to both be men in the room. But we both need to be in the room."

"It's time for women to be part of negotiations, because they have a different language," Stone said. "Imagine 'I was considering going to war, let's discuss, let's consider the other angles.'"

03.08.06 US : Security Council likely to warn Iran

March 8 – The UN Security Council is likely to call on Iran to halt nuclear research shortly or risk consequences, the US has said in a statement to the nuclear watchdog agency board. The statement, obtained by Reuters from a Western diplomat, said on Wednesday that the "time has now come for the Council to act" as Iran had defied an International Atomic Energy Agency board resolution last month to suspend all nuclear fuel enrichment activity.

Iran responded by saying the US could feel "harm and pain" if the Security Council took up the issue of Tehran's nuclear research.

"The US may have the power to cause harm and pain, but it is also susceptible to harm and pain. So if the US wishes to choose that path, let the ball roll," it said on Wednesday in a statement obtained by Reuters on the sidelines of a UN nuclear watchdog board meeting in Vienna. [More>>aljazeera.net ; See also iranfocus.com, "Iran : US may feel 'pain' if Security Council acts" and iranfocus.com, "Ahmadinejad attacks UN – as Iran is sent to Security Council."]

03.08.06 Eighteen bodies found in Baghdad bus

BAGHDAD (AFP) March 8 – The discovery of 18 men, shot or strangled to death, on a Baghdad bus raised new fears of sectarian bloodshed in Iraq on Wednesday as the US ambassador acknowledged that the invasion opened a "Pandora's box" of tension. The unidentified bodies were found late on Tuesday in the minibus parked in the Salaheddin square, in the western district of Amariyah, a Sunni dominant area, an interior ministry official said on Wednesday...US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad meanwhile said that the invasion of Iraq had opened a "Pandora's box" of ethnic and sectarian tensions that could engulf the region...US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, separately, downplayed such fears, but he accused Iran of sending Revolutionary Guard forces into Iraq and warned Tehran that it was "an error in judgment".

"They are currently putting people into Iraq to do things that are harmful to the future of Iraq, and we know it, and it is something that they will look back on as having been an error in judgment," Rumsfeld said on Tuesday. He said that the Iranians were putting "Quds force-type people," or Revolutionary Guard forces, into Iraq. "I don't think we could consider them religious pilgrims," Rumsfeld said. [More>>metimes.com ; See also nytimes.com, "29 bodies found in Baghdad as Political stalemate persists."]

03.08.06 Update, 03.07.06 Terror hits Varanasi, 12 killed

VARANASI, India, March 7 – At least twelve people were killed and several others injured when two separate explosions rocked near Sankatmochan temple and railway station here. The first explosion took place outside the temple at around 5 pm when a large number of devotees were present at the peak evening "aarti" time as it was Tuesday, believed to be a special day for Lord Hanuman. Twelve people died in the explosion and several others were injured. Minutes later another blast took place outside the room of the station master of the cantonment railway station. Several causalities were feared in the explosion, officials said. [More>>expressindia.com ; See more details, khaleejtimes.com, March 7 (Reuters) "Fifteen killed in serial blasts in Indian holy city."

March 8 Update, independent.co.uk, "India fears reprisals after bombs kill 20" : India was braced for violent reprisals after one of the holiest Hindu cities was targeted by a series of bomb attacks which left 20 people dead. One of the explosions in the city of Varanasi went off inside a temple when it was crowded with thousands of worshippers. High alerts were issued in Delhi, Bombay and cities across India yesterday, as the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, called for calm. There was no claim of responsibility, but initial suspicions fell on Islamic militants, who have targeted Hindu temples in India in the past.

No one doubts the danger of Hindu-Muslim violence in India. In 2002, more than 2,000 people were killed in revenge attacks in Gujarat after Hindu pilgrims died in a train fire that was blamed on Muslims. The attack could also set off dangerous tensions between India and Pakistan, which Indian politicians have repeatedly accused of being behind similar attacks in the past. Just four years ago, the two nuclear-armed rivals almost went to war after a series of attacks by Islamic militants in India...

expressindia.com (PTI) March 8, "Temple town peaceful, manhunt on for militants" : VARANASI, March 8: A day after the twin bomb blasts, the temple town and rest of Uttar Pradesh remained peaceful with security forces keeping a strict vigil on Wednesday as the authorities launched vigorous manhunt for two militants suspected to belong to a Pakistani terror outfit...Hours after the blasts, a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant, suspected to be involved in the conspiracy behind them, was killed in an encounter jointly carried out by Uttar Pradesh special task force and Jammu and Kashmir police in Gosaiganj area of Lucknow. Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who visited the town early Wednesday morning, faced black flag demonstration by an angry crowd. He hinted at the possibility of involvement of a Pakistan-based terror outfit...

Editorial note: Varanasi is to Hindus what Mecca is to Muslims or Vatican for Catholics (wikipedia.org). See also varanasicity.com for history of the city and my commentary, "Banquet of the gods," on the Hindu sacred book, Rig Veda, and its ancient links in the formation of Indo-European cultures.

Mel Copeland

03.08.06 Huge natural-gas find to bring Kuwait into market

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) March 8 – Kuwait, which already sits on 10 percent of global oil reserves, has finally entered the club of gas-producers after unveiling the discovery in the country for the first time of huge quantities of natural gas. "We can say now that Kuwait has entered the world of natural gas," Kuwaiti Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah told a press conference late Monday after announcing the discovery of reserves estimated at 35 trillion cubic feet (one trillion cubic meters) of non-associated gas.

"This is a qualitative leap for Kuwait, which has now entered the scope of a new energy industry," former Kuwaiti oil executive Kamel al-Harami said on Tuesday...Kuwait's new gas find was of vital strategic importance to the country and will make it virtually independent from the deals it sought to enter with neighboring countries like Iraq, Iran and Qatar for gas supply, said Sheikh Ahmad. Saudi Arabia had recently blocked the construction of a pipeline across its territory, through which Kuwait had wanted to import Qatari gas. [Full story>>dailystar.com.lb]

03.07.06 Bush declares war on freedom of the press

March 7 – Doug Thompson reports: Using many of the questionable surveillance and monitoring techniques that brought both questions and criticism to his administration, President George W. Bush has launched a war against reporters who write stories unfavorable to his actions and is planning to prosecute journalists to make examples of them in his "war on terrorism."

Bush recently directed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to use "whatever means at your disposal" to wiretap, follow, harass and investigate journalists who have published stories about the administration's illegal use of warrantless wiretaps, use of faulty intelligence and anything else he deems "detrimental to the war on terror." [radionews.america.com ; See also (a story Maravot News could not find in any other media as of 9:28am PST) abcnews.go.com, March 7, video, "Bush in poll plunge.']

03.07.06 Senior Iraqi general killed in ambush

BAGHDAD, March 6 – The top commander of the Iraqi army division in Baghdad was killed Monday when his car came under small-arms fire while traveling through the capital, the US military said. Maj. Gen. Mubdar Hatim Hazya al-Dulaimi was one of the highest-ranking members of the new Iraqi army to be killed in insurgent violence. Under his leadership, the 6th Iraqi Army Division has been gradually assuming control of parts of the capital from US forces. His killing could set back security efforts in Baghdad, particularly following the recent outbreak of sectarian violence, according to a senior US commander who worked closely with him. [More>>washingtonpost.com]

03.07.06 Cheney: Iran will not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon

WASHINGTON (AP) March 7 – The Bush administration told Iran on Tuesday that any enrichment of nuclear fuel on Iranian territory was unacceptable as Russia appeared to close ranks with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered the tough message — but shied away from warning of immediate U.N. sanctions — after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. At a joint State Department news conference, Lavrov said there was no compromise in sight with Iran. Russia has been negotiating with Iran and has proposed enriching fuel on Russian soil for Iran's energy need. [More>>foxnews.com]

03.07.06 Envoy to Iraq sees threat of wider war

BAGHDAD, March 7 – The top US envoy to Iraq said Monday that the 2003 toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime had opened a "Pandora's box" of volatile ethnic and sectarian tensions that could engulf the region in all-out war if America pulled out of the country too soon. In remarks that were among the frankest and bleakest public assessments of the Iraq situation by a high-level American official, US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the "potential is there" for sectarian violence to become full-blown civil war. [More>>latimes.com ; See related story, reuters.com, March 7, "Rumsfeld says potential exists for Iraq civil war."]]

03.07.06 Lies of '20th hijacker' caused Septermber 11, court hears

WASHINGTON, March 7 – Government prosecutors have claimed that Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged over the 9/11 attacks, was a "loyal al-Qa'ida soldier" who was responsible for the deaths of almost 3,000 people and should be executed. Opening its case during the sentencing phase of a trial process that has so far taken more than four years, prosecutors said that Moussaou – who has been in custody since the summer of 2001 – failed to warn authorities of the plot to hijack four passenger aircraft and fly them into landmark buildings. "He lied so the plot could proceed unimpeded," Rob Spencer, for the prosecution, told the court in Alexandria, Virginia, yesterday. "With that lie, he caused the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. He rejoiced in the death and destruction. Had Mr. Moussaoui told the truth, it would all have been different." [More>>independent.co.uk]

03.07.06 Bird flu fears put soldiers on guard

Srondol, Central Java, March 7 – First Lt. Sugito holds a young egret (shown above) Monday after it fell from a tree in a military compound in Srondol, near the Central Java capital of Semarang. The presence of hundreds of wild egrets nesting in trees at the 400 Raider Battalion compound has heightened fears of an outbreak of avian influenza, and its possible spread to humans, among denizens of the complex. "We're worried the birds have bird flu, especially since five to 10 birds die every day and fall from the trees," said the battalion's deputy commander, Maj. Amilwan Akin, as the birds were tested for the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza. [More>>thejakartapost.com See related stories,

turkishpress.com, March 6, "Austrian cats get, then beat, bird flu; health experts plan for pandemic" : Austrian officials confirmed the H5N1 bird flu was found in cats but said the felines had managed to fight off the virus, while world health experts prepared for the dread possibility of it mutating into a form capable of devastating humans. The highly pathogenic H5N1 virus appeared to be spreading broadly. In the latest developments Monday: – The virus was confirmed to have spread to Poland and to Serbia for the first time, in both cases in wild birds...

chinadaily.com.cn, "Who: Bird flu bigger challenge than AIDS" : GENEVA - The lethal strain of bird flu poses a greater challenge to the world than any infectious disease, including AIDS, and has cost 300 million farmers more than $10 billion in its spread through poultry around the world, the World Health Organization said Monday. Scientists also are increasingly worried that the H5N1 strain could mutate into a form easily passed between humans, triggering a global pandemic. It already is unprecedented as an animal illness in its rapid expansion...
r
rian.ru, "Devastating bird flu pandemic one step away – expert" : MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) March 7 – The world is one step away from a bird flu pandemic that cannot be averted by quarantine or vaccination, a Russian expert said Tuesday. "One amino-acid replacement in the genome remains to make the virus transferable from human to human," said Dmitry Lvov, the director of a virology research institute at the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.

Lvov said the pandemic virus could strike at any moment, and would most likely come from China, leading to tens of millions of human deaths, or one third of the global population. He added quarantine measures could delay the pandemic for a few days but not prevent it, and that vaccination would not stop people getting sick... ]

Editorial note: The death rate among humans infected by the bird flu has been ~50% ; the Spanish flu of 1918 killed millions in the US alone, with between 20-40 million around the world, 10% of those infected (More on the Spanish Flu: www.stanford.edu).

03.07.06 Researchers identify hotspots for potential species extinction

WASHINGTON (AP) March 7 – From frigid northern Canada and Alaska to tropical Asian islands, lands where wildlife seems safe today may pose some of the greatest extinction dangers in the future. In particular peril are animals with a relatively small geographic range and those that have a large body mass and reproduce slowly. Researchers identified regions where they felt there was a high "latent extinction risk" for nonmarine mammals, often areas that have had little human impact so far.

Latent risk is low in parts of the world already heavily populated by people, where species likely to succumb to the pressure have already done so. The findings are reported in Monday's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Latent risk can be thought of as a measure of the potential for a species to decline rapidly toward extinction given exposure to levels of human impact" that have been felt elsewhere, said the team led by Marcel Cardillo of Imperial College in London. The areas with the most potentially endangered species, 284, are Sumatra and peninsular Malaysia, the report said. Next, with 224 species, is Borneo or Kalimantan, followed by New Guinea, 205 species, western Java, 131 species and Sulawesi, 130 species. Other areas of high threat are Maluku, 99 species; Northern Canada and Alaska, 96 species; Melanesian Islands, 96 species; Nusa Tenggara, 86 species; East Indian highlands, 70 species; Also Eastern Canadian forests, 57 species; Tasmania and Bass Strait, 49 species; Siberian tundra, 35 species; Patagonian Coast of South America, 26 species; Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 20species; Plus the Lesser Antilles, 16 species; Indian Ocean islands, 10 species; Greenland, 9 species; Bahamas, 8 species and Southern Polynesia, 3 species. [thejakartapost.com ; See related stories,

abcnews.go.com, March 7, "A holy call to spare the tiger": Dalai Lama Pleads With Tibetans to Stop Wearing Tiger F : Wildlife groups in India are cautiously delighted at Tibetans' enthusiastic response to the Dalai Lama's appeal to stop buying and wearing animal skins in his homeland. The appeal comes on the heels of a sudden upsurge in the trade of animal skins in Tibet. "I was stunned to see the rampant use of animal skins by the Tibetans," said New Delhi-based conservationist Belinda Wright, who recently traveled to Tibet's capital, Lhasa.

"They were wearing a traditional costume called the 'chuba' made with tiger, leopard and otter skin," she said. During her trip, she found the skins openly sold on the streets. Wright and representatives of other wildlife preservation groups then visited the Dalai Lama at his headquarters in Dharamsala at the foothills of the Indian Himalayas and showed him their video footage. He was appalled to see Tibetans flaunting animal skins when India's tiger population is dwindling to dangerously low levels...]

timesonline.co.uk, "Russian pipeline raises fears for Lake Baikal" : The Russian environment agency has overridden the concerns of campaigners and scientists to approve the building of an oil pipeline within a kilometre of Lake Baikail, the world's deepest freshwater lake. Environmentalists immediately promised to sue the Government and asked questions of Rostekhnadzor, the environment agency that reversed an earlier decision to block the construction of the pipeline, which has huge economic importance to Russia as it will deliver oil to China, Korea and Japan...]

03.07.06 Hamas votes to revoke Abbas powers

March 6 – Hamas has signalled that it will take a confrontational approach in dealing with rival Fatah, which it defeated in January's Palestinian parliament election. At the first working session of the parliament, Hamas voted to cancel all decisions made in the last session of the outgoing legislature. This includes additional powers given to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president.

Fatah legislators walked out in protest before Monday's vote was held. They had argued that Hamas was twisting the rules by holding the vote, and that the last session of the Fatah-controlled parliament was legal. The vote set the tone for what legislators say will be a tension-fraught term, further dimming the possibility of the Fatah movement joining the Hamas government. [More>>aljazeera.net]

03.07.06 Israel threatens to kill Hamas prime minister-designate

March 7 – Kadima today refused to grant Ismail Haniya, the incoming Palestinian Prime Minister, immunity from assassination if Hamas returns to suicide bombings. At the same time it announced it would cut millions of pounds in financial aid from Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. Israel's dominant political party set out its latest tough lines on the country's security issues, as it and other parties launched their television campaigns for national elections on March 28.

Shaul Mofaz, the Defence Minister, warned today that Israel would not rule out targeted killings against the leadership of Hamas, the militant group elected to rule the Palestinian Authority. Meanwhile, Ehud Olmert, Kadima's acting leader, refused to soften Kadima's policy of withdrawals from the West Bank, a proposal which has angered Jewish right-wingers. [More>>timesonline.co.uk; See related story on changing Israeli policies, haaretz.com, March 7, "Israel slaps the US – slaps again."]

03.05.06 Russian Orthodox Church, Hamas to continue interfaith dialog

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) March 5 – The head of the Russian Orthodox Church and the political leader of the Hamas militant group said Sunday that they intended to continue interfaith cooperation. "We have developed traditionally good relations with the Palestinian leadership. I hope these relations will continue," Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II said at a meeting with a delegation of the Hamas militant movement headed by its political chief Khaled Meshaal. Meshaal said in his turn that this desire was reciprocal.

The Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church also expressed the hope that Christians and Muslims would continue their dialog on Palestinian territory. The delegation of the Hamas militant group, which won the Palestinian parliamentary elections on January 25, is in Moscow on the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. [More>>rian.ru ; See also rian.ru, March 4, "Hamas promises to ensure equal rights to all believers in PNA" : Khaled Meshaal, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian radical resistance movement Hamas that won parliamentary elections in January, voiced his movement's readiness to ensure equal rights to representatives of all faiths in the Palestinian National Authority, a Russian senator said Saturday...]

Editorial note: This declaration by a Hamas leader would appear to be in agreement with the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel which guarantees equal rights to representatives of all faiths in Israel. See "Philistia Triumph thou because of me" to read this document and others relevant to the establishment of the state of Israel by the UN. The Declaration of Independence is the official law of the land accepted by Israel and the UN. There must be an agreement on the issues of faith before a political settlement can be achieved, according to "Philistia Triumph thou because of me." Until there is peace in Jerusalem there can be no peace in the world.

Mel Copeland

03.05.06 'Fight on,' al-Zawahiri tells Hamas

March 5 – Al-Qaida's deputy leader has urged the ruling Palestinian Islamic group Hamas to "continue the armed struggle" with Israel, in a video aired by Aljazeera television. Urging Hamas to reject previous deals made between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel, Ayman al-Zawahiri said such deals were "surrender accords." "Your only alternative is to pursue the armed struggle until the liberation of Palestine and the building of an Islamic state," al-Zawahiri said in the video aired on Saturday.

"Reaching power is not a goal by itself ... and no Palestinian has the right to give away a grain of the soil. The seculars in the Palestinian Authority have sold out Palestine for crumbs... Giving them legitimacy is against Islam."

Commenting on Palestine and Iraq, al-Zawahiri said: "We have to be aware of the American game called 'political process." And turning to the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that have been printed in a number of European newspapers, al-Zawahiri said: "They did it on purpose and they continue to do it without apologizing, even though no one dares to harm Jews or to challenge Jewish claims about the Holocaust nor even to insult homosexuals." [More>>aljazeera.net ; See related al-Qaida story, expressindia.com, "Osama said he was a prophet."]

03.05.06 Assad urges Hamas not to recognize Israel

DAMASCUS, March 5 – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad urged Hamas, which now holds a majority in Palestinian parliament, not to recognize Israel unless Palestinians' rights are restored, state media said Sunday. "Recognizing Israel is linked to the restitution of Palestinians' rights," Assad was quoting as saying by a news agency during a speech to the fourth session of the general conference of Arab parties.

"There should not be recognition of Israel for free, as if it were a gift for Israel, so that the West is satisfied with us," Assad said in the speech, which he gave at the university of Damascus. "Why are they asking for Hamas to recognize Israel, given that the Palestinian Authority has already recognized the state? That means there are other goals." [More>>jang.com.pk]

03.05.06 Future PA government won't include Hamas leaders from abroad

MOSCOW, March 5 – The new Palestinian Authority under the leadership of Hamas is taking shape, with a top Hamas leader saying that his group's local leadership in Gaza and the West Bank will be given the reins of power over the Palestinian cabinet in a few weeks from now. "The future government will not include Hamas leaders from abroad," Dr. Moussa Abu-Marzouk said in an interview in Moscow. Abu Marzouk, deputy chief of Hamas's political bureau and Hamas second-in-command, along with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, are both based in Damascus. Israel has threatened to act against any Hamas politicians involved in terrorist attacks, and has said no Hamas legislators would be immune if they took part in, planned or financed terrorist operations.

Abu Marzouk would not explain how he and Mashaal would interact with the local Hamas leadership, or what level of influence the foreign-based leadership would have on the Hamas-led PA. He added that foreign-based Hamas leaders would not be taking part in the actual work of the government. Hamas leaders left Moscow Sunday night for Latin America and, following that, South Africa. Members of the delegation strongly denied that the Russian leadership tried to pressure Hamas to recognize Israel. [More>>Jerusalem Post]

03.05.06 Olmert: Russia's talks with Hamas harm effort to isolate group

(AP) March 5 – Russia's talks with Hamas leaders in Moscow have harmed world efforts to isolate the militant group that is setting up a new Palestinian government, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday. Olmert said it was a "mistake" to invite Hamas leaders for talks before the group changes its policies and accepts the basic international demands of recognition of Israel and renunciation of violence. Despite Israel's objections to the invitation, Hamas leaders were in Moscow over the weekend for talks. They met the Russian foreign minister, but Putin did not agree to see them. [More>>haaretzdaily.com]

03.05.06 'You must penetrate Al-Qaeda, Bush tells Musharraf

March 5 – President George W Bush yesterday warned General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan�s military leader, that he must improve his intelligence-gathering to defeat Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in the war on terror. His comments were made amid concern that Islamabad�s grip on the militants within Pakistan�s borders may be loosening. On the last leg of his Asian tour, the American president reiterated his support for Musharraf, who seized power in a military coup in 1999, but urged him to embrace democracy in the campaign against terrorism. "The best way to defeat Al-Qaeda is to share good intelligence, to locate them and then be prepared to bring them to justice," Bush said. [More>>timesonline.co.uk ; See related stories:

independent.co.uk, March 5, "Bush divides his allies in the war against terror" : Seeking to bolster "America's main ally in the "war on terror," President George Bush made his first visit to Pakistan under intense security yesterday. But Pakistani discomfort was visible at the new strategic alliance the US is seeking with India, its historic rival. In an effort to prevent mass protests against Mr. Bush's visit, the Pakistan authorities went so far as to place the former cricket star, Imran Khan, who is now a political opposition leader and was planning to lead a protest march, under house arrest.

But the President was due to spend barely 24 hours in Pakistan, after a visit to India that was nearly three times as long. There was no televised address to the nation, as there had been in India, and Mr. Bush came with no offer to match the civilian nuclear technology sharing deal agreed with India last week – a deal seen in the region as acceptance of the country as a member of the "nuclear club." Instead, there was a press conference at which Mr. Bush said bluntly that part of the reason for his trip was to ensure that President Pervez Musharraf remained committed to the "war on terror."

"Part of my mission today was to determine whether or not the President is as committed as he has been in the past to bringing these terrorists to justice," said Mr. Bush, adding almost as an afterthought: "And he is." Mr. Musharraf was at pains to stress his country's alliance with the US, repeating the phrase "strategic partnership" several times. "We have today laid the foundations of a very firm, very strong and long-term relationship between the US and Pakistan," he said...
]

nytimes.com, March 5, US gives India applause, Pakistan a pat on the back" : NEW DELHI, March 4 — President Bush leaves this region having declared India and Pakistan strategic partners. But his declarations spoke just as loudly of the shifting balance of power in the region, and the world. It was India that appeared to come out the biggest winner this week. Pakistan walked away with little more than a mild pat on the back after Mr. Bush's visit on Saturday. While buttressing America's alliances in the region, Mr. Bush also took home a formidable political challenge to sell his nuclear deal with India to a skeptical Congress...]

03.05.06 Gunmen storm mosque in Baghdad

March 5 – Gunmen stormed a Sunni mosque in west Baghdad early on Sunday, killing three people in a 25-minute gun battle, police said. Seven people were wounded. US forces blocked off the area after the exchange of fire, said Maitham Abdul Rezzaq, a police spokesman. The police had initially reported that the mosque imam had been killed, but he was not hurt.

Rezzaq said the attackers hit the al-Nour mosque in the Jihad neighborhood shortly after midnight and fought with mosque guards until about 12:30am (9.00 GMT). On Sunday morning, several masked gunmen were guarding the mosque. Windows were broken, the exterior walls were pockmarked where they had been hit with bullets and dozens of spent casings lay on the road, where there were at least two unexploded hand grenades. Sheik Shaker Mahmoud, the imam, told reporters that "a gang using ten cars stormed the mosque." He said: "The cars used by the attackers are the same as those used by the interior ministry. The attackers were wearing military uniforms..." [More>>aljazeera.net]

03.03.06 Pakistani troops beat off pro-Taleban attacks, killing dozens

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) March 5 – At least 50 pro-Taleban militants and five Pakistani soldiers were killed in one of the heaviest clashes in a restive tribal region bordering Afghanistan, officials said Sunday. The fighting erupted Saturday afternoon and raged through the night in the towns of Miranshah and Mir Ali in North Waziristan tribal district. A military statement said the security forces retaliated after militants attacked army and paramilitary camps from three directions with rockets and small and heavy arms.

"The security forces responded effectively and inflicted heavy casualties on them," the statement said, adding the miscreants had been evicted from a telephone exchange and other government buildings they had seized on Saturday. The statement did not give figures of casualties, but a senior security official told AFP �at least 50 militants were killed in the retaliatory fire.� [More>>khaleejtimes.com]

03.03.06 Ten Iraqi factory workers gunned down

BAGHDAD (AP) March 3 – Iraqi security forces in bulletproof vests took to the streets in the bloodied capital Friday to enforce a daytime ban on private vehicles in an effort to blunt a surge of sectarian violence that has pushed Iraq to the edge of civil war. Late Thursday, gunmen stormed a power station and killed Shiite brick factory workers while they slept in separate attacks during a night of carnage that killed at least 19 people in Baghdad's southeastern suburbs. The attacks raised the toll from Thursday's violence to 58. The assault began as a series of mortar shells slammed into the Nahrawan power station, police Lt. Bilal Ali Majed said. Half an hour later, dozens of gunmen arrived and set fire to the generating facility. Security guards returned fire, and the Iraqi police and army sent in reinforcements, he said. [More>>abcnews.go.com]

03.03.06 Protests and tight security in Pakistan ahead of Bush visit

March 03 – Pakistani police clashed with demonstrators in the city of Rawalpindi only a few miles from where President Bush is expected to touch down in Air Force One today. Large parts of the country were virtually closed down ahead of Mr. Bush's visit, which begins the day after a suicide bomber in the southern city of Karachi killed a US diplomat and two other men. Radical Islamic groups have called a strike to protest against caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad first published in a Danish newspaper last September, although at rallies around the country protesters targeted America and Denmark in equal measure.

US and Pakistani security forces are confident that they can keep Mr. Bush well away from the demonstrations, but in Rawalpindi this afternoon police swung batons to disperse about 1,000 anti-US protesters only a few hours before Mr. Bush's arrival. Rawalpindi is only about four miles from the air force base at which Mr. Bush was expected to arrive. The demonstrators were supporters of the Imamia Students Organisation, a Shia Muslim group. Some trampled on the US flag, while others carried Bush portraits with his face crossed out in red. [More.>timesonline.co.uk]

03.03.06 Suicide car bomb attack in Afghanistan, Canadian casualties feared

KANDAHAR (AFP) March 03 – Afghanistan - A suicide attacker rammed a car bomb into a Canadian military convoy in southern Afghanistan on Friday, government and military officials said, adding there were believed to be casualties. The blast struck a convoy on a highway between the city of Kandahar and the border town of Spin Boldak in insurgency-hit southern Kandahar province, a district chief said. "There was a car bomb attack against a Canadian convoy on the main road," said Akhtar Mohammad, head of Daman district where the explosion occurred. [More>>khaleejtimes.com]

03.03.06 China prepares help Pakistan develop nuclear-based energy resources

BEIJING, March 03 – Pakistan and China are likely to adopt soon a comprehensive plan in the energy sector, under a Framework Agreement arrived at between the two countries last week. The agreement on energy cooperation was inked during the recent visit of President Pervez Musharraf to China. It includes development of nuclear-based energy resources. Such a cooperation will be in line with Chinese support that is already being extended to develop Chashma nuclear power plant. Informed sources told APP here Friday that Pakistan and China will hold high-level Forum in Islamabad shortly to work out a comprehensive strategy of cooperation in the field of energy, to be carried out during the next five years.

The proposal of holding the seminar was made by President Musharraf during official-level talks with his Chinese counterpart. The Chinese side accepted the proposal and agreed to encourage the relevant companies to interact with Pakistan, promoting mutually beneficial cooperative partnership in the energy sector. According to the China's National Development and Reform Commission, the Chinese side is prepared to collaborate with Pakistan in the fields including nuclear power, hydro and thermal power, transmission lines as well as renewable energy such as wind power, solar power and biomass. [More>>jang.com.pk ; See also expressindia.com, "If not US, Pakistan has other 'options' for N-deal."]

03.03.06 Saudi oil plant bombing suspect arrested in Iraq

BAGHDAD, March 03 – A Saudi suspect wanted in connection with a bid to blow up the world's largest oil-processing plant in Saudi Arabia, has been arrested in neighboring Iraq, Iraq state television reported Tuesday. The suspect, identified as Abdallah Salah al-Harbi, was detained by Iraqi border guards in the Samawa area, in southern Iraq. Suicide bombers attempted to penetrate the world's largest oil-processing plant at Abqaiq, in the oil-rich eastern Saudi province, on Friday but their attack was thwarted leaving two security men dead. The two would-be suicide bombers were also killed. An Al-Qaeda statement posted on the Internet claimed responsibility for the attack. [More>>jang.com.pk]

03.01.06 Video shows Bush being warned on Katrina

March 2 – A newly leaked video recording of high-level government deliberations the day before Hurricane Katrina hit shows disaster officials emphatically warning President Bush that the storm posed a catastrophic threat to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and a grim-faced Bush personally assuring state leaders that his administration was "fully prepared" to help. The footage, taken of a videoconference of federal and state officials on Aug. 28, offered an unusually vivid glimpse of real-time decision making by an administration that has vigorously guarded its internal deliberations. [More>>washingtonpost.com ; See also khaleejtimes.com, "Bush faces new controversy over hurricane response."]

03.01.06 Two dead in Karachi blasts

KARACHI, Pakistan, March 02 – Two persons have been killed and 22 injured in the blasts on Thursday near the US consulate here. According to reports, two charred bodies have been recovered from the parking lot whereas 22 people sustained injuries. The injured were shifted to PNS Shifa. Ten cars have completely been destroyed in the blasts. [More>>jang.com.pk]

03.01.06 Pakistan forces kill 45 militants

March 02 – Pakistani helicopter gunships and ground forces killed about 45 mostly foreign fighters in an attack on a militant hideout near the Afghan border today, the military said in a statement. The assault on Danda Saidgai, a village about 15km north of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal region, began soon after daybreak. But talk of casualties among villagers prompted tribesmen to take up arms against the military, and rocket fire was heard in Miranshah late into the night.

"More than 45 militants, mostly foreigners along with their local facilitators are assessed to have been killed," the Pakistan military statement said. The leader of the group, believed to have been a Chechen, was killed along with several others trying to flee the area after the strike, it said. [More>>theaustralian.news.com.au]

03.01.06 Al-Qaeda leader killed in Saudi shootout

March 01 – Saudi authorities announced Tuesday that four of the five militants killed during police raids a day earlier in Riyadh included the leader of the Al-Qaeda network in the kingdom and three other members of the terror group. An Interior Ministry statement named the men as Fahd al-Juweir, Jaffal al-Shammari, Ibrahim al-Muteir and Abdullah al-Shammari. The fifth man was yet to be identified. An Interior Ministry spokesman said the name of a sixth man who was arrested on Monday would not be released. It said that Juweir and Shammari took part in an Al-Qaeda attack on the world's biggest oil processing plant at Abqaiq in eastern Saudi Arabia last week, and said Juweir was a leader of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. [More>>dailystar.com.lb]

03.01.06 Many killed in Baghdad bombing

March 01 – At least 23 people have been killed and 58 wounded in a car bomb attack in Baghdad's Jadida area, a mixed Shia-Sunni neighborhood. Wednesday's attack occurred on a main road near a market around midday (0900 GMT), an interior ministry official said. Police said the bomb was targeting a police patrol. Major Falah al-Muhammadawi, a spokesman for the ministry which oversees police, said an explosive hidden under a car detonated around 10.40am near al-Tahrir Square.

The Iraqi capital has suffered a surge of violence since the 22 February bombing of a Shia shrine in Samarra, which triggered reprisal attacks against Sunnis. At least 68 people were killed on Tuesday in bombings and mortar fire against mainly religious targets in the city. [More>>aljazeera.net]

03.01.06 Hussein challenges evidence of '82 mass executions

BAGHDAD, March 01 – Saddam Hussein today acknowledged ordering the trial of residents of a Shiite town where he survived an assassination attempt, and the destruction of orchards in reprisal, but said that he had not committed a crime. "People have an obligation to report crimes they witness," he told the court in a speech at the end of a session in which the prosecution rested its case. Mr. Hussein's admission — his first during the trial — came after prosecutors spent two days displaying letters, memos, audio tapes, satellite photos and other evidence, including what they said was his signature on orders of execution for 148 men and boys, some as young as 11, from the town of Dujail, where the attempt took place. Mr. Hussein is charged with a crime against humanity for the deaths. [More>>nytimes.com]

03.01.06 Germany warns people to keep cats inside

March 01 – With the first bird flu death in a house pet, German officials ask residents to keep their cats indoors and their dogs leashed. Contact with dead birds poses a serious threat to the house pets in regions where birds infected with the H5N1 virus have been found. On Wednesday, authorities in Germany said the H5N1 avian flu virus had been detected in a cat killed by the disease over the weekend. Like the majority of the more than 100 dead birds officially infected with H5N1 in Germany since mid-February, the cat was found on the Baltic coast island of Rügen.

The infected cat was discovered in the restricted area of the island where most of the bird cadavers have been found since the disease's outbreak in Germany two weeks ago. Health officials believe the cat may have eaten an infected bird. It was a stray that had only recently been adopted and was not, according to the state agriculture minister Till Backhaus, a "cuddly cat." His owner hasn't shown any signs of infection, though he remains in close contact with the health authorities. In the meantime, health authorities throughout the country have called for pet owners to keep their cats indoors and their dogs leashed at all times. [More>>spiegel.de]

03.01.06 Karabakh territory talks at 'dead end' : Azerbaijani president

BANOFSHALA, Azerbaijan (AFP) March 01 – Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said that talks over the contested Nagorno Karabakh enclave were at a "dead end" and signaled that the oil-rich state should prepare for war with its foe Armenia. "The Armenian side is stalling for time and the fact that the negotiating process has reached a dead end is the fault of the Armenian side," Aliyev said during a visit to a sliver of Karabakh still controlled by Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijan must review its position," Aliyev said, adding that "military expenditures have grown" to be ready for "any eventuality."

"We are the victimized party and this gives us the right to resolve the issue by any means. We must get ready and the population must be mobilized," Aliyev said, stopping short of calling for all-out war. [More>>turkishpress.com]

03.01.06 Six elephants found poisoned to death in Sumatran jungle

JAKARTA (AP) March 01 – Six rare, wild elephants were found poisoned to death in an Sumatran jungle Wednesday, their mouths black and covered with potassium cyanide, a conservationist said. Nurkalis Fadli from the World Wild Fund said he believed all the animals, who appeared to be from the same family, were intentionally killed. The only male in the group had its tusks removed, he said. "This is an extraordinary crime," Nurkalis told reporters in Riau province on Sumatra sland. "Whoever did this must have known that Sumatran Elephants are extremely rare and protected by our laws." [More>>thejakartapost.com]

(2) The name, Allah, in Arabic is an expression of surprise. It is not unusual for the God of the Bible to be known by many names. Jewish Midrash quotes passages in the Old Testament (Torah) that cite as many as seventy names of God (and more). But they can all be reduced down to one name.
(5) The Law of the Locrians: "In the legislation of the Locrians, the proposer of a new law, with a halter round his neck, to be instantly tightened if the public assembly did not, on hearing his reasons, then and there adopt his proposition." [Mill, On Liberty, 2.475].

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