06.25.10 Pakistan scours websites for anti-Islam content

ISLAMABAD, June 25 - After a site calls for posting images of the Prophet. Pakistan's government ordered the monitoring of websites including Google, Yahoo and YouTube for "anti-Islam content" Friday, an official said, as tensions over the Internet continued. The moves follow a temporary ban imposed on Facebook in May that drew both praise and condemnation in a country that has long struggled to figure out how strict a version of Islam it should follow. Both the Facebook ban and the move announced Friday were in response to court orders. The sites to be monitored include Yahoo, Google, MSN, Hotmail, YouTube, Amazon and Bing, said Pakistan Telecommunication Authority spokesman Khurram Mehran. "If any particular link with offensive content appears on these websites, the (link) shall be blocked immediately without disturbing the main website," Mehran said. An example of one of the 17 sites being blocked include islamexposed.blogspot.com, Mehran said. That site features postings with headlines such as "Islam: The Ultimate Hypocrisy" and links to anti-Islam online petitions. [More>>alarabiya.net; See also (AP) thejakartapost.com]

Editorial note: "The complaint in 'islamexposed.blogspot.com" (extracts of the text) "Whom are we at war with?" "...Al-Qaeda is nothing more than a name, a false front to prevent us from recognizing our enemy. Our enemy is Islam. All of the Islamic terrorist groups share one common element; what is it? ...

Only Allah has the right to be worshiped.

This expression occurs frequently in the Hilali & Khan translation of the Noble Qur'an. I found it in 35 of the 114 surahs. Here is one example. 2:163. And your Ilâh (God) is One Ilâh (God - Allâh), Lâ ilâha illa Huwa (there is none who has the right to be worshipped but He), the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. If only Allah has the right to be worshiped, then religions other than Islam are prohibited.

Only Allah has the right to rule.

What is Allah's cause? His cause is to make Islam dominate the world. How do I know this? By Allah's word and hadith.

Related article, Maravot News, "The Allah Controversy" involving conflicts between Islam and Western cultures, the origins of which descend upon Israel and Palestine. The document addresses the chairman of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) — to which there has been no reply.]

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06.25.10 Toxins found in whales bode ill for humans: report

AGADIR, Morocco (AP) June 25 - Sperm whales feeding even in the most remote reaches of Earth's oceans have built up stunningly high levels of toxic and heavy metals, according to American scientists who say the findings spell danger not only for marine life but for the millions of humans who depend on seafood. A report released Thursday noted high levels of cadmium, aluminum, chromium, lead, silver, mercury and titanium in tissue samples taken by dart gun from nearly 1,000 whales over five years. From polar areas to equatorial waters, the whales ingested pollutants that may have been produced by humans thousands of miles away, the researchers said. "These contaminants, I think, are threatening the human food supply.

They certainly are threatening the whales and the other animals that live in the ocean," said biologist Roger Payne, founder and president of Ocean Alliance, the research and conservation group that produced the report. The researchers found mercury as high as 16 parts per million in the whales. Fish high in mercury such as shark and swordfish — the types health experts warn children and pregnant women to avoid — typically have levels of about 1 part per million. The whales studied averaged 2.4 parts of mercury per million, but the report's authors said their internal organs probably had much higher levels than the skin samples contained. [More>>japantoday.com]

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06.25.10 Pakistan is said to pursue foothold in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD, June 25 - Pakistan is exploiting the troubled United States military effort in Afghanistan to drive home a political settlement with Afghanistan that would give Pakistan important influence there but is likely to undermine United States interests, Pakistani and American officials said. The dismissal of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal will almost certainly embolden the Pakistanis in their plan as they detect increasing American uncertainty, Pakistani officials said. The Pakistani Army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, preferred General McChrystal to his successor, Gen. David H. Petraeus, whom he considers more of a politician than a military strategist, said people who had spoken recently with General Kayani. Pakistan is presenting itself as the new viable partner for Afghanistan to President Hamid Karzai, who has soured on the Americans.

Pakistani officials say they can deliver the network of Sirajuddin Haqqani, an ally of al-Qaeda who runs a major part of the insurgency in Afghanistan, into a power-sharing arrangement. In addition, Afghan officials say, the Pakistanis are pushing various other proxies, with General Kayani personally offering to broker a deal with the Taliban leadership. Washington has watched with some nervousness as General Kayani and Pakistan's spy chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmad Shuja Pasha, shuttle between Islamabad and Kabul, telling Mr. Karzai that they agree with his assessment that the United States cannot win in Afghanistan, and that a postwar Afghanistan should incorporate the Haqqani network, a longtime Pakistani asset. In a sign of the shift in momentum, the two Pakistani officials were next scheduled to visit Kabul on Monday, according to Afghan TV. [More>>nytimes.com]

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06.25.10 Bodies found beheaded in southern Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan, June 25 - Three American troops were reported killed and the bodies of 11 men, some beheaded, were found Friday in rising violence across Afghanistan. Mohammad Khan, deputy police chief in Uruzgan province, said a villager in the Bagh Char area of Khas Uruzgan district spotted the bodies in a field and called police. "They were killed because the Taliban said they were spying for the government, working for the government," he said. The acting Uruzgan governor, Khudia Rahim, said five or six of the 11 victims had been beheaded. Meanwhile, NATO reported that a US service member was killed in an insurgent attack Friday in eastern Afghanistan and another American died following a roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan on Thursday. NATO did not provide the exact location of the attacks. A third service member died in an explosion Friday in southern Afghanistan, NATO said. The US command said he was American. Their deaths brought to 83 the number of international service members killed so far in June, which is already the deadliest month of the nearly 9-year-old war. At least 49 were Americans. [More>>washingtonpost.com]

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06.25.10 Iran cancels blockade-busting ship bound for Gaza

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06.25.10 Yemen forces clash with al-Qaeda

June 25 - Yemen's security forces have clashed with suspected members of al-Qaeda as they hunted fighters behind a deadly attack on a government intelligence compound in the southern city of Aden. A security official told the Reuters news agency that fighting had broken out during a search of houses in the port city's Saada district following the attack last Saturday that left 11 people dead. Gunmen wearing military fatigues attacked the police intelligence building on Saturday, killing seven security officers, three women and a seven-year old boy, and freeing several detainees being held there. Friday's fighting ended in several arrests, the security official said, but declined to give further details. Yemen's interior ministry has called for a security alert in Aden to prevent arms or fighters entering the city, which is the impoverished country's economic hub. [More>>aljazeera.net]

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06.25.10 Palestinians: Two killed in IAF Gaza strike

June 25 - Air Force hits two smuggling tunnels in the south and and an arms cache in the north. Two Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical workers said on Friday. They said they recovered the body of a man from a tunnel in the south of the coastal territory and the body of a second man remained under rubble. The Israeli army said in a statement it had carried out air strikes against two tunnels dug by Palestinian militants in the southern Gaza Strip. Another air strike targeted a weapons storage building in northern Gaza. Israel Air Force planes attacked targets in the Gaza Strip before dawn Friday, a day after Palestinian militants in the coastal territory fired mortar shells at the western Negev. [More>>haaretz.com]

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06.25.10 Google's YouTube wins copyright battle with Viacom

June 25 - The first chapter in a battle between two very different media giants —YouTube and Viacom — has come to a close after a judge ruled that YouTube had acted within the law when users posted copyrighted material to the site. A US judge threw out a copyright lawsuit filed against YouTube by US entertainment giant Viacom on Wednesday, giving Google, which owns the video site, a major legal victory in a closely watched case. US District Court Judge Louis Stanton said that YouTube was protected against Viacom's claims of "massive copyright infringement" by provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The 1998 law gives Internet firms protection from copyright violations by their users. In the case of YouTube, users upload thousands of videos each day. The law says that Web firms cannot be held responsible for the actions of their users, but must react quickly when copyright infringements are pointed out. Viacom sued Google and YouTube for a billion dollars in March 2007, arguing that they condoned pirated video clips at the website to boost its popularity. Viacom's suit charged that YouTube was a willing accomplice to "massive copyright infringement" and sought more than one billion dollars in damages. The court, however, ruled that Google's actions, by promptly removing copyrighted material from the site when requested by parties such as Viacom, were in line with the act. [More>>france24.com]

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06.25.10 After 112 years, Lake Michigan shipwreck found

MILWAUKEE, Mi. (AP) June 25 - L.R. Doty, ship that sank in Lake Michigan 112 years ago, found largely intact near Milwaukee. A great wooden steamship that sank more than a century ago in a violent Lake Michigan storm has been found off the Milwaukee-area shoreline, and divers say the intact vessel appears to have been perfectly preserved by the cold fresh waters. Finding the 300-foot-long L.R. Doty was important because it was the largest wooden ship that remained unaccounted for, said Brendon Baillod, the president of the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association. "It's the biggest one I've been involved with," said Baillod, who has taken part in about a dozen such finds. "It was really exhilarating." The Doty was carrying a cargo of corn from South Chicago to Ontario, Canada in October 1898 when it sailed into a terrible storm, Baillod said. Along with snow and sleet, there were heavy winds that whipped up waves of up to 30 feet. The Doty should have been able to handle the weather. The ship was only five years old, and the 300-foot wooden behemoth's hull was reinforced with steel arches...Divers found the ship upright and intact, settled into the clay at the lake's bottom. Even the ship's cargo of corn was still in its hold. [Full story>>cbsnews.com]

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06.24.10 'Lebanon government may cancel flotilas'

June 24 - Beirut reportedly wants to stop Gaza-bound ships to ease tensions. The Lebanese government is working towards canceling the planned flotillas to Gaza, Lebanese newspaper Al-Liwaa reported Thursday, according Israel Radio. The newspaper reported that the Lebanese government was interested in stopping the flotillas from reaching Gaza in order to calm down recent tensions in the area. Beirut fears an eruption in activity in South Lebanon due to the planned aid-ships. Sources cited in the newspaper claimed that Iran may also cancel a flotilla it was planning on sending to the Strip, Israel Radio reported. Al-Liwaa newspaper also reported that Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah will not visit Turkey, due to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's refusal to increase tensions between Washington and Jerusalem. [>jpost.com; See related stories,

alarabiya.net (AP) June 24, "Israel claims flotillas seek to get arms to Gaza" : JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged Wednesday that the real motivation behind plans to send blockade-busting ships toward Gaza is to allow free flow of weapons into the Palestinian territory. Netanyahu spoke as preparations were under way to send several ships carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists toward Gaza, setting up potential confrontations at sea. On May 31, Israeli naval commandos killed nine pro-Palestinian activists in clashes aboard a Turkish ship headed for Gaza, setting off a world outcry and forcing Israel to ease its three-year-old blockade. Israel already has warned archenemy Iran to drop its plan to send a blockade-busting ship to Gaza. The Iranian ship is one of several that activists say will head for Gaza in the next few months. One is said to be heading for Gaza from Lebanon within days...

haaretz.com, June 24, "European MPs to Israel: Lift Gaza blockade completely" : PACE resolution calls on Israel to allow in goods by sea, 'without prejudice to its own security.' The Council of Europe parliamentarians Thursday called on Israel to completely end its siege of the Gaza Strip, days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an ease of the land blockade. Israel should allow goods to be delivered to the coastal enclave by land and sea, "without prejudice to its own security," so Palestinians can enjoy "normal living conditions," said the resolution adopted by a large majority of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)...

jpost.com, June 24, 'Put pressure on Hamas, not Israel' : Peres tells Austrian chancellor: Terrorists now control the flotillas. Austria should pressure Hamas to change its policy, rather than Israel, President Shimon Peres told his counterpart from Vienna on Thursday at Beit Hanassi. "We left Gaza voluntarily and I do not understand the flotillas.  In order to change the situation in Gaza, there is no need for flotillas or activists but a change in Hamas's terrorism policy," Peres told Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann...

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06.24.10 Jon Voight to Obama: You are harming Israel and promoting anti-Semitism

June 24 - In an open letter in The Washington Times, staunch Republican actor writes: You will be the first American president that lied to the Jewish people, and the American people as well, when you said that you would defend Israel. American actor and staunch Republican Jon Voight has submitted a public letter to The Washington Times, in which he accused President Barack Obama of putting Israel in harm's way and promoting anti-Semitism across the world. "You will be the first American president that lied to the Jewish people, and the American people as well, when you said that you would defend Israel, the only Democratic state in the Middle East, against all their enemies," wrote Voight, who last year called Obama a false prophet. "You have done just the opposite.

You have propagandized Israel, until they look like they are everyone's enemy — and it has resonated throughout the world," he wrote. "You are putting Israel in harm's way, and you have promoted anti-Semitism throughout the world." "You have brought this to a people who have given the world the Ten Commandments and most laws we live by today. The Jewish people have given the world our greatest scientists and philosophers, and the cures for many diseases, and now you play a very dangerous game so you can look like a true martyr to what you see and say are the underdogs," he wrote. "But the underdogs you defend are murderers and criminals who want Israel eradicated."

"You have brought to Arizona a civil war, once again defending the criminals and illegals, creating a meltdown for good, loyal, law-abiding citizens. Your destruction of this country may never be remedied, and we may never recover. I pray to God you stop, and I hope the people in this great country realize your agenda is not for the betterment of mankind, but for the betterment of your politics," he added. Voight signed off his letter by writing: "With heartfelt and deep concern for America and Israel." [>haaretz.com; See Voight letter, washingtontimes.com]

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06.24.10 BP is pursuing Alaska drilling some call risky

June 24 - The future of BP's offshore oil operations in the Gulf of Mexico has been thrown into doubt by the recent drilling disaster and court wrangling over a moratorium. But about three miles off the coast of Alaska, BP is moving ahead with a controversial and potentially record-setting project to drill two miles under the sea and then six to eight miles horizontally to reach what is believed to be a 100-million-barrel reservoir of oil under federal waters. All other new projects in the Arctic have been halted by the Obama administration's moratorium on offshore drilling, including more traditional projects like Shell Oil's plans to drill three wells in the Chukchi Sea and two in the Beaufort. But BP's project, called Liberty, has been exempted as regulators have granted it status as an "onshore" project even though it is about three miles off the coast in the Beaufort Sea. The reason: it sits on an artificial island — a 31-acre pile of gravel in about 22 feet of water — built by BP. [More>>nytimes.com]

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06.24.10 BP oil disaster: Containment cap reattached; two involved in clean-up die, one a suicide

June 24 - Gulf of Mexico well had been at nearly full force until repairs were made. BP says it has reattached the containment cap that was knocked off the Gulf oil leak in a submarine accident earlier Wednesday. Oil from the BP spill disaster had been spewing again into the Gulf of Mexico at nearly full force after a venting system connected to the so-called containment cap over the blown-out wellhead was damaged in an accident with a robot sub, said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the commander in charge of the government's effort to control the 65-day-old spill. The cap "was successfully reinstalled on the Deepwater Horizon's failed blow-out preventer" at 6:30pm local time, BP said in a statement, adding that "the system resumed collecting oil and gas" a half hour later. Separately, Allen said two people tied to the clean-up died over the past day in the Gulf region. One of the deaths was of a charter boat captain who apparently committed suicide, depressed as his business suffered after the blowout, ABC News has confirmed. [More>>abcnews.go.com]

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06.24.10 Judge paves way for deepwater drilling in Gulf

NEW Orleans, Louisiana, June 24 - Paving the way for deepwater drilling to resume in the Gulf of Mexico, a federal judge on Thursday denied a request to keep a moratorium in place pending a government appeal. US District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans, Louisiana, had issued a preliminary injunction against the six-month ban Tuesday. The government had asked Feldman to delay lifting the ban until an appeals court reviewed the issue later this summer. The moratorium was imposed by President Barack Obama after an April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig off the coast of Louisiana triggered an underwater oil gusher. It prohibited drilling in more than 500 feet of water and prevented new permits from being issued. In an emergency hearing Thursday, the judge denied the government's motion to stay his decision pending appeal "for the same reasons given" Tuesday for issuing the injunction. [More>>cnn.com]

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06.24.10 Jewish dance group attacked in Germany

June 24 - A Jewish dance group was attacked with stones by a group of children and teenagers during a performance at a street festival in the Germany city of Hannover. One dancer suffered a leg injury and the group then cancelled their performance. The teenagers also used a megaphone to shout anti-Semitic slurs during the Saturday afternoon attack, Hannover police spokesman Thorsten Schiewe said. Police said the incident is under investigation and that they do not have an exact number of attackers yet. Mr. Schiewe said there were several Muslim immigrant youths among the attackers. Two suspects, a 14-year-old and a 19-year-old, were being questioned, he said. [More>>news.com.au]

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06.24.10 Pakistani court sentences Americans for terrorism

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06.20.10 Zahar: 'The solution is resistance'

June 20 - Hamas official calls for shooting rockets from the West Bank. Senior Hamas official Mahmoud a-Zahar called for West Bank residents to fire rockets into Israel, Israel Radio reported Sunday. "There is no escaping from these rockets in the West Bank," Zahar said to the east Jerusalem newspaper al-Quds. "Why should they only be in the Gaza Strip?" He added that Hamas policy will not change no matter how long the blockade of Gaza continues, and whether or not Hamas will win the next elections in the West Bank. In the past, Zahar has called accused those firing rockets of being "collaborators," that are trying to torpedo Hamas-Israel negotiations. He was part the team working on a prisoner exchange deal to secure the release of captive IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, and accused the US for their failure when he quit the effort.

"The solution is resistance!" Zahar said in the al-Quds interview. "If I wanted to give up my rights, I would be in Washington now." He also said that the Palestinian people have no interest in become attached to Egypt; rather, they want independence. Zahar was critical of the Palestinian Authority, stating that the West Bank leadership is fighting against Palestinian "resistance" and is held in power by the occupation forces. He added that other Arab countries are no longer in contact with Hamas out of fear of Washington, and "to keep their heads." Zahar also called PA Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas "one big zero." [>jpost.com]

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06.20.10 Israel to allow all 'civilian' goods into Gaza

(AFP) June 20 - Israel will allow all "civilian" goods into the Gaza Strip while still preventing weapons from entering the Hamas-run territory, a senior Israeli official said Sunday. "We are committed to enable the flow of civilian goods to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip," a senior official in the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told AFP. "From today, there is a green light for all goods to enter Gaza except for military items and material that can strengthen the Hamas military machine," the official said as Netanyahu was meeting with Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair to discuss easing the blockade. [>khaleejtimes.com]

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06.20.10 Ex-Guantanamo inmates 'fail rehab'

June 20 - About 25 former Guantanamo Bay detainees have returned to violence after going through a rehabilitation programme in Saudi Arabia, a senior Saudi official has said. Abdulrahman al-Hadlaq, the director of the interior ministry's ideological security administration, said on Saturday that about 20 percent of the 120 repatriated former prisoners have returned to radical activity after graduation from a rehab centre in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. "It's about a 9.5-percent relapse" for all 300 Saudi men, including fighters arrested by Saudi authorities, who have undergone a programme at what is known as the "Care Centre," al-Hadlaq said. "But it's more than 20 [percent] among Guantanamo guys." General Mansour al-Turki, the interior ministry spokesman, said that 10 or 11 of those released are believed to have re-joined al-Qaeda in Yemen. Another four have been killed in operations against al-Qaeda and the remainder have been rearrested, al-Turki said. [More>>aljazeera.net]

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06.20.10 Yemen arrests mastermind of deadly Aden attack

SANAA (AFP) June 20 - Authorities say captured man member of al-Qaeda. Yemeni authorities have captured the mastermind of a suspected al-Qaeda attack on the intelligence headquarters in the southern city of Aden that killed 11 people, the defense ministry said on Sunday. "The security services have ... (captured) the leader of the terrorist gang that attacked the intelligence headquarters costing the lives of intelligence agents, women and children," the ministry said on its 26sep.net website. It identified the captured man as Goudol Mohammed Ali Naji, and said he was a member of al-Qaeda. Seven military personnel, three women and a child were killed in Saturday's attack in the port city of Aden, officials said...The website said Naji had a long record of terrorist and criminal activities, and was involved in an attack late last year on the central bank in Aden in which 100 million riyals (460,000 dollars, 388,000 euros) was stolen. Saturday's deadly attack was apparently intended to free prisoners, but authorities said none were in the building at the time. [Full story>>alarabiya.net]

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06.20.10 US cautions Pakistan over gas pipeline deal with Iran

ISLAMABAD, June 20 - The US special envoy to Pakistan said on Sunday he had warned Islamabad against signing a deal with Iran on a gas pipeline, saying the US was preparing laws that could affect the project. "We cautioned the Pakistanis not to over-commit themselves until we know the legislation," Richard Holbrooke, US President Barack Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan as well as Pakistan, told reporters. "Pakistan has an obvious major energy problem. We are very sympathetic to it. In regard to the specific project, legislation is now being prepared which may apply to this project," said Holbrooke. He declined to give details, saying he was not involved in drawing up the legislation, but cautioned that it could be "comprehensive." [More>>indianexpress.com; See related story,

xinhuanet.com, June 20, "Pakistan FM vows to implement Iran gas pipeline project despite US warning" : ISLAMABAD- Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Sunday defended the 7.5 billion-US-dollar gas pipeline with Iran and said Islamabad will take the project forward despite sanctions on Iran. Qureshi's comments came hours after US Special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke warned Pakistan against the pipeline intended to bring the much-needed natural gas to the energy starved country. Pakistan and Iran formally signed the deal in Tehran on June 13, under which Iran will supply Pakistan with natural gas from mid- 2014...

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06.20.10 16 militants killed, 3 hideouts wiped out in Orakzai

HANGU, Pakistan, June 20 - An aerial offensive by security forces in Orakzai Agency killed sixteen militants and wounded several others while 3 of their hideouts were destroyed, Geo News reported Sunday. Fighter jets bombarded militants' hideouts in Torsamt and Ghaut Kazai areas, destroying 3 dens and killing 13 militants while several others were injured. In Shekhan area four militants including a key commander of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan were killed and four others injured when explosives kept in a hideout went off. The explosion also destroyed arms and weapons stored in the hideout which was used for attaching security forces. [>thenew.com.pk]

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06.20.10 Suicide blasts kill 26 at Iraqi state-sector bank

BAGHDAD (Reuters) June 20 - Two suicide bombers detonated cars laden with explosives outside the Trade Bank of Iraq on Sunday, killing 26 people in the latest attack to raise concerns about the nation's stability after an inconclusive election. Fifty-three people were wounded in the blasts that blew in the windows of the bank, one of the public sector's most active financial institutions and at the forefront of efforts to encourage foreign investment as the sectarian bloodshed set off after the 2003 US-led invasion fades. A week earlier, gunmen and suicide bombers laid siege to the central bank in Baghdad, killing 18 people and fueling fears that insurgents are trying to exploit a political vacuum that followed the March 7 election which produced no outright winner. Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said two cars packed with around 80 kilograms of ammonium nitrate each were driven at the gates of the Trade Bank of Iraq and detonated on striking blastwalls protecting the building. He put the initial death toll at 18, but an Interior Ministry source said later it had risen to 26. [More>>thestar.com.my]

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06.20.10 Iranians biggest drug smugglers to Indonesia

June 20 - The Indonesian government has said that Iranian nationals are the most common smugglers of class-A drugs into the country as of January this year. Malaysians were the next-highest group, with eight suspects arrested so far this year, followed by India with six suspects, tempointeraktif.com reported. The Customs and Excise Office at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, has arrested 15 Iranian nationals this year linked to 22 cases. It has also seized a total 115 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu), ketamine, heroin, cocaine and marijuana. "All of the evidence together is worth Rp 278 billion (US$30.5 million) at market value," the office's head Baduri Wijayanta said Sunday. All of the arrested Iranian smugglers were believed to be part of an Iran-based international drug syndicate, he added. The office's head of prosecutions Gatot Sugeng Wibowo said the Iran-based drug mafia might not have been aware that Indonesia enforced the death penalty for drug smuggling. The 2009 Narcotics Law carries the death penalty and a Rp 10 billion fine for anyone in possession of more than 5 grams of drugs. [>thejakartapost.com]

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06.19.10 Strenger than fiction / Israel should consider a one-state solution - it might soon be its only solution

June 19 (Editorial by Carlo Strenger) Israel would do well to apply some of the features of the one-state solution: to become a truly liberal, secular state without ethnic dominance in which subgroups no longer try to impose their way of life on each other. In a recent op-ed, Moshe Arens suggested that Israel seriously consider the option of a single state west of the Jordan, in which Palestinians be granted full citizenship. The one-state solution is advocated by a number of Palestinian intellectuals and is becoming rather popular within the European left. Their reason is generally that the one-state solution would give more justice to the Palestinians — this position is mostly seen as anti-Israeli. Israel's extreme right favors holding onto the greater land of Israel, generally on theological grounds. Arens raises his idea from a different standpoint, because he is a secular liberal who indeed believes in full equality for Israel's Arabs.

Even though I have for years argued that the one-state solution is not feasible, Aren's idea needs to be explored — at least as a thought experiment — because it may well be that the window of opportunity for the two-state solution is about to close. So far no Israeli government has succeeded in implementing it; Palestinians are beginning to reject it, and Israel may not be able to uproot more than one hundred thousand settlers...Israel has been in an ongoing culture war for most of its existence — and not only with respect to its Arab citizens. Israel's elections ostensibly seem to be about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but in reality they are a reflection of the tensions in Israel's society: religious vs. secular; Ashkenazi vs. Sephardim; Jews vs. Arabs.

Of course, many will not accept Arens' assessment that there are only 1.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank, and Palestinians are unlikely to accept the exclusion of Gaza from the new state. But even in Arens' scenario, Israel would de facto become a bi-national state. Jewish cultural hegemony would have to be largely renounced and give way to a multicultural model. Arens' idea raises a real challenge for Israel: It would, for the first time, have to truly face the task of radically revising its political system and culture and to think carefully about how ethnicities, religions and worldviews can truly live side by side with each other instead of struggling for cultural hegemony. [Full story>>haaretz.com]

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Editorial note: "The one-state solution has strong legal foundations." We explored both secular and non secular approaches to the violence that plagues Israel, Jerusalem and (therefore) the world. Our document, The Allah Controversy builds from basic misunderstandings on the Holy Scriptures and the Koran and examines the legal arguments reconciling the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. The following letter to Professor Strenger sums up the case for a one-state solution:

June 19, 2010

Dear Professor Strenger,

Your article reviewing the pros and cons of a one-state solution was right on point. I have been writing on this myself since 1993. My document,  "Philistia triumph thou because of me,"  (1993) conveyed this solution that was apparently attractive to the publisher of aljazeera.net, since "Philistia triumph thou..." — one of five or six external links on aljazeera.net at the time — was linked to by their website for the first few years of aljazeera.net's existence. I expanded the thesis in a recent document, "The Allah Controversy ," (2010) addressing issues listed in the work initiated by the government of Jordan called, "A common Word," and issues listed by the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

"The Allah Controversy" acknowledges the secular and non secular interests needed to accommodate the one-state solution. Curiously, it builds its solution based upon passages of Isaiah (we recall that Israeli Prime Minister Begin and President Sadat of Egypt quoted Isaiah at the conclusion of the Camp David Treaty.)  Also, we have the authority of Israel's Declaration of Independence to back the conclusion of  "The Allah Controversy" :

• Israel's Declaration of Independence, 1.13 "The State of Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel." it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations."
  

My argument builds upon the "rule of law" and Israel's basic law of the land, "The Declaration of Independence," — approved by the United Nations — places the scriptures and prophets of Israel at its foundations. Building precept upon precept in the applicable laws leads to only one conclusion: one state but it is not named "Israel." (There is always a small catch to every peace agreement.)

About the time I wrote "Philistia triumph thou..."  a mayor of Bethlehem complained that the Jews and Palestinians in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania can live peacefully together but not in Israel. Why? The answer has to do with the nation that they share in the US does not endorse any particular race, faith, etc., with its roots truly being the diversity of all of the peoples who have sought refuge in the American shores (as listed as a reminder on the Statue of Liberty).

While it is desirable among some circles not to mention the role of God in the politics of Israel, the fact is both the secular and non secular forces flowing in Israel are using the Holy Scriptures in one way or another. Atheist communities move into the West Bank, justifying their right to the land using the promise made to Abraham. Religious Jews will use the same promises and interestingly enough the Koran uses the Jewish Scriptures as its authority as well. Since the Holy Scriptures also function as a contract — and that contract is listed in the authority of Israel's Declaration of Independence — a legal argument using the scriptures can be built for the one-state solution.

We often see only what we want to see, or hear only what we want to hear, but there has always been a "small voice" in the wings reminding us that not all is as it appears. We need to look more deeply.

Regards,

Mel Copeland

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06.19.10 Partner puts blame on BP as spill costs grow

GRAND ISLE, La (Reuters) June 19 - BP Plc's costs for the worst spill in U.S. history appeared set to rise as a partner in the out-of-control well laid the blame at BP's feet and the new federal czar overseeing damage claims said BP would pay more if $20 billion was not enough. The British oil company said it would not be distracted by a dispute with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. The owner of a quarter of the well gushing into the Gulf broke its near-silence on the spill to squarely pin blame — and financial responsibility — on BP. "There appears to be gross negligence or willful misconduct," Houston-based Anadarko Chairman and CEO Jim Hackett said in an interview that helped to drive his company's shares up 2.2 percent in after-hours trading on the hopes it could avoid multi-billion-dollar liabilities. BP said it "strongly disagrees" with the assessment of gross negligence but would keep its focus squarely on the Gulf, cleaning up the spill and plugging the well. [More>>thestar.com.my]

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06.19.10 France signs on to South Stream gas pipeline project

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (RIA Novosti) June 19 - Russian gas giant Gazprom, Italian gas company Eni, and France's Electricite de France (EdF) signed a memorandum of understanding, bringing the French company into the South Stream gas pipeline. The document was signed on Saturday at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The Russian and Italian companies will each give Edf 10% of their shares, or 20% of the South Stream gas pipeline project. South Stream, with an estimated price tag of 25 million euros, will connect Russia and the EU across the Black Sea and the Balkans, bypassing Ukraine. Gazprom said last week it was ready to start South Stream's construction in 2013 and should begin pumping gas to Europe by 2015. [>en.rian.ru]

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06.19.10 US missile strike kills 12 in Pakistan

MIRANSHAH, June 19 - A US drone aircraft fired two missiles in Pakistan's North Waziristan region on the Afghan border on Saturday, killing 12 militants, intelligence officials said. The missile attack took place hours after the US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, landed in Islamabad for talks as part of the Pakistan-US strategic dialogue initiated in March. The drone targeted a suspected militant compound in Sokhel village, about 25 km (16 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town of the region and known as a hotbed of Taliban and al-Qaida militants, the intelligence officials said. "Twelve militants have been killed and three wounded in the attack on a compound which is linked to Taliban and al- Qaeda," one intelligence official said. [More>>timesofindia.indiatimes.com]

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06.19.10 Turkish jets raid northern Iraq, clashes kill 20

June 19 - Turkish warplanes launched air raids at suspected Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq in Saturday, after a rebel attack on a military outpost in Turkey touched off clashes in which eight soldiers and 12 rebel fighters died, Turkey's military said. Special forces were also immediately sent to reinforce the border area where the clashes occurred and Turkish warplanes bombed detected Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq, the military said, without providing any further details. Fourteen other soldiers were wounded in the fighting, it said. Kurdish rebels have dramatically stepped up attacks in Turkey in recent months, threatening a government attempt to end one of the world's longest guerrilla wars. The military said on Friday more than 40 soldiers had been killed since March, including six who died in a rocket attack on a vehicle near a naval base in southern Turkey, and warned it anticipated more attacks. Turkey's military has responded by sending warplanes across the border for raids on suspected rebel bases while elite commandos crossed the border in pursuit of the rebels in a day-long incursion earlier this week. [>indianexpress.com]

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06.19.10 Militants kill NATO soldier in Afghanistan: alliance

KABUL, June 19 - Militants killed a NATO soldier in eastern Afghanistan, the alliance said Saturday, as the death toll for foreign troops in the country mounted. The latest death takes to 274 the number of foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year, according to an AFP tally based on figures kept by the independent icasualties.org website. "An ISAF service member died following an insurgent attack" on Friday, NATO said in a statement, referring to its International Security Assistance Force. ISAF had announced on Friday the deaths of four other NATO soldiers in Afghanistan's south. Two died in a militant attack while the other two, including a Briton, died in separate blasts from roadside bombs, the Taliban's weapon of choice. [More>>thenews.com.pk; See related story,

cnn.com, June 19, "Taliban commander killed in Afghan raid" : KABUL - Afghan and international troops killed a Taliban commander believed to be involved in a bombing attack that killed two Americans, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said on Saturday. The incident took place Friday night in the Chahar Darah district of Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan. Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Razaq "was responsible for moving suicide operatives" throughout the eastern part of Kunduz, ISAF said. He was also believed to be involved in an improvised explosive device strike that killed two US soldiers in the Isa Khan region of Kunduz on Wednesday. Other insurgents were killed in the operation after people shot and threw grenades at security forces as they searched a compound, ISAF said. Troops returned fire and took over the compound. [end]

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06.19.10 13 killed in suspected al-Qaeda attack in Yemen

June 19 - Thirteen people, including 10 members of the Yemeni security forces, were killed today and a number of suspected al-Qaeda prisoners were freed in an attack on an intelligence headquarters in the southern port city of Aden. A building housing the intelligence services in the Al-Tawahi district near the port came under fire from a group of men armed with rocket-propelled grenades, grenades and machine guns. An unknown number of prisoners suspected of being members of al-Qaeda were also set free, officials said on condition of anonymity, adding that the attack may have been the work of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Witnesses also said the assailants "were seen leaving the building in a bus, taking people who had been detained there with them," in what appeared to be a coordinated and well-planned operation. There were no casualties among the attackers, the witnesses said. [More>>news.com.au; See related story,

washingtonpost.com, June 19, "US considers partially lifting ban on transfers of detainees to Yemen" : The Obama administration is considering partially lifting its suspension of all transfers of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Yemen, officials said, following a federal court ruling that found "overwhelming" evidence to support a Yemeni's claim that he has been unlawfully detained by the United States for more than eight years. The case of Mohammed Odaini has become so pressing that senior administration officials, including the secretaries of defense and state, or their deputies, will discuss it next week. A White House official stressed that any decision "should not be viewed as a reflection of a broader policy for other Yemeni detainees." "What isn't being considered is lifting, in a blanket fashion, the moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because deliberations are ongoing. The administration, though, may come under further pressure to quickly release Yemenis besides Odaini. As many as 20 more Yemenis could be ordered released by the courts for lack of evidence to justify their continued detention, a second administration official estimated...

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06.19.10 Jewish, Muslim tensions rise at UC Irvine after suspension of Muslim group

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06.19.10 At least 27 killed, including translator for US, in Iraq

BAGHDAD, June 19 - An Iraqi interpreter for the US military was gunned down on Friday by his son and nephew north of the capital after he refused their demands to quit his job, a police official said. The attack occurred as at least 27 people were killed nationwide, a grim reminder of the dangers facing Iraqis despite a sharp drop in violence over the past few years. In the deadliest attack, insurgents ambushed a checkpoint near the Syrian border, killing seven Iraqi soldiers and wounding an eighth. Hameed al-Daraji, who had worked as a translator for the US military since 2003 against the wishes of his family, was shot in the chest in his house in Samarra, 95 kilometers north of Baghdad, police Lt. Emad Muhsin said. He said al-Daraji was constantly fighting with his relatives over his job, but he ignored their pleas for him to quit. Al-Daraji's son and nephew were arrested after the attack and confessed to being members of an al-Qaeda-linked group that sanctioned the killing, Muhsin said, adding that police were searching for a second son suspected of being an accomplice. [More>>japantoday.com; See related story,

khaleejtimes.com (AP) June 19, Iraq rally turns violent, police kill protester" : A protest over electricity shortages in the mainly Shia southern Iraq turned violent on Saturday with troops fatally shooting one demonstrator, police officials said, underscoring rising tension over the country's lack of basic services. Elsewhere in Iraq, officials said gunmen sped up to a checkpoint and opened fire Saturday, killing three anti-al-Qaeda Sunni fighters. The unrest came a day after more than 30 people were killed in a wave of violence targeting government officials, Iraqi security forces and those seen as allied with them...

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06.18.10 Israel announces let-up to Gaza siege - but only in English

June 18 - Prime Minister's office issues two statements, one in English announcing plan to ease blockade, one in Hebrew omitting to mention the decision. The Prime Minister's Office announced on Thursday that the security cabinet had agreed to relax Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, but as it turns out, no binding decision was ever made during the cabinet meeting. The Prime Minister's Office issued a press release in English following the meeting, which was also sent to foreign diplomats, was substantially different than the Hebrew announcement — according to the English text, a decision was made to ease the blockade, but in the Hebrew text there was no mention of any such decision. It is not clear whether this discrepancy was a deliberate attempt to buy time in the face of international pressure, or a clerical omission on behalf of the Prime Minister's Office. The cabinet ministers held a long discussion on Wednesday and another one Thursday morning on the topic of altering Israel's policy following the three-year siege on the Hamas ruled territory. The siege was imposed after Hamas violently seized control over the Gaza Strip in 2007. [More>>haaretz.com]

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06.18.10 Medvedev urges 'stronger efforts' in Mideast peace process

June 18 - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday tensions in the Middle East had not eased and called for further efforts to advance the peace process. "Strong efforts are needed just to improve the situation, let alone resolve it," Medvedev said. He said the situation in the Middle East had not improved since his visit to the Arab League headquarters in June 2009. "The Palestinian issue is very complicated. The Gaza Strip is in a critical condition. It is deteriorating more and more each day. Therefore, much depends on the position of our countries," Medvedev said in reference to Russia and Arab League countries during a meeting with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, who is also participating in the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. Moussa said the situation in the Middle East is going round in "a vicious circle." "Israel is not ready for peace and proximity talks between Israel and Palestine have not given any results. [More>>en.rian.ru]

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06.18.10 'We will throw them into the sea'

June 18 - IHH head calls for violence, "martyrdom" in new 'Marmara' footage. New footage from the Mavi Marmara was released by the Foreign Ministry on Friday afternoon, this time showing IHH head Bülent Yildirim inciting to violence against Israeli commandos hours before the encounter that claimed the lives of nine Turkish passengers. "We follow in the footsteps of the martyrs," Yildirim could be seen declaring to a large crowd of activists. "You shall see, we will definitely claim one or two victories." Yildirim went on to urge the ship's passengers not to turn back as other flotillas had done, but rather to resist the attempt to divert the ship. "We don't want to be recorded in Allah's book as cowards," he said in Turkish and Arabic. An Egyptian parliamentarian who was also present led the activists in the room in a chant, "Martyrs marching into Gaza by the millions." Yildirim then threatened, "If you send the commandos, we will throw you down from here and you will be humiliated in front of the whole world." He added, "If they board our ship, we will throw them into the sea, Allah willing!" He later called Israel "weak," saying it resorted to propaganda to combat the activists' determination to reach Gaza. "We thought [Israel] considered itself a state," he could be heard saying. "It's not a state." [>jpost.com; YouTube video, IHH Leader urges violence.]

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06.18.10 Many countries support military action on Iran

June 18 - Majorities in many Western and some Muslim countries are willing to consider military action against Iran to prevent the Islamic republic from obtaining nuclear weapons, a global poll showed Thursday. The Pew Research Center’s poll conducted in 22 countries found majorities or pluralities in 16 countries endorsing the possibility of military intervention. Americans are among the most supportive of a military option to deal with Iran with 66 percent of those who oppose a nuclear-armed Iran saying they would consider the use of force, a figure second only to Nigeria’s 71 percent. Among Europeans, the views are more mixed. In France, 59 percent said they would consider the use of military force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, but a sizeable minority of 41 percent rejected this option.

Support for the military option is softer in Germany (51 percent), Spain (50 percent) and Britain (48 percent), while significant numbers (39, 34 and 37 percent, respectively) said it is more important to avoid a military conflict with Iran, even if it results in a nuclear-armed Tehran. In the Muslim world, there is support for the use of military action to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons in Egypt (55 percent), Jordan (53 percent) and Lebanon, with 44 percent supporting such a notion and 37 percent opposed. In Turkey, 37 percent of those surveyed said avoiding a military conflict with Iran should be the priority while 29 percent would consider the use of military force. Pakistanis meanwhile largely support Iran’s purported efforts to acquire nuclear arms: 58 percent favor and just 10 percent oppose Iran acquiring such weapons, the poll showed. [More>>khaleejtimes.com]

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06.18.10 N. Korea lifts ban on private markets to prevent famine

SEOUL, June 18 - Bowing to reality, the North Korean government has lifted all restrictions on private markets — a last-resort option for a regime desperate to prevent its people from starving. In recent weeks, according to North Korea observers and defector groups with sources in the country, Kim Jong Il's government admitted its inability to solve the current food shortage and encouraged its people to rely on private markets for the purchase of goods. Though the policy reversal will not alter daily patterns — North Koreans have depended on such markets for more than 15 years — the latest order from Pyongyang abandons all pretense of a central, planned economy. With November's currency revaluation, Kim wiped out his citizens' personal savings and struck a blow against the food distribution system sustaining his country. The North's latest policy reversal, though, stands as an admission that the currency change was a failure and that only capitalist-style trading can prevent widespread famine. "The North Korean government has tried all possible ways [for a planned economy] and failed, and it now has to resort to the last option," said Koh Yu-hwan, professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul. [More>>washingtonpost.com]

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06.18.10 Gulf oil full of methane, adding new concerns

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06.18.10 Hindu community in Pakistan's northwest demands basic rights

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, June 18 - The minority Hindu community in northwest Pakistan has demanded that it should be provided the same basic rights as Christians living in the tribal regions bordering Afghanistan. Hindus in northwest Pakistan have no cremation grounds, scholarships for students or special schools in the entire tribal belt, community leader Pandit Jay Gopal said during a dialogue on the rights of minorities in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The seminar held here yesterday was also addressed by the Bishop of the Orthodox Church of Pakistan, Ernest Jacob, and people from different walks of life. They stressed that the rights of Christians must be protected. Minority community leader Arshad Masih argued that minorities living in the tribal areas are not issued domicile certificates and this negates their basic human rights. The children of minority communities are not admitted to schools and youths are not given jobs because they do not have domicile certificates, he contended. [>indianexpress.com]

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06.18.10 Israel jails Ultra-Orthodox fathers

June 18 - Dozens of Israeli fathers have been jailed, a day after a protest by Ultra-Orthodox Jews in support of the men, who have defied a supreme court ruling on school integration. Meanwhile, 22 mothers of pupils at an Ultra-Orthodox girls' school in an illegal Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank have been given a stay of arrest while the court considers a plea to let them stay at home to care for their young families. The settlers' news website Channel 7 and public radio said Judge Edmund Levy decided that the court would reconvene on Sunday to discuss the request. Israeli media said that some of the mothers were pregnant, while others had children with special needs. The 35 fathers who turned themselves in at the Jerusalem police headquarters on Thursday evening were taken to Maasiyahu prison in the central Israeli city of Ramle to serve an initial two-week jail sentence for contempt of court. Around 100,000 Ultra-Orthodox Jews protested in occupied Jerusalem on Thursday against the high court's decision to jail the parents — all of European origin, or Ashkenazis — for refusing to send their daughters to a school with Jewish girls whose families originate from Arab countries, known as Sephardis. It was the biggest demonstration by the Ultra-Orthodox since February 1999 when at least 250,000 protesters declared their opposition to supreme court rulings challenging the Orthodox establishment's monopoly on marriage, divorce and other religious and social issues. [More>>aljazeera.net]

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06.18.10 Iraq car bombs kill six, wound 82

KIRKUK, Iraq (AfP) June 18 - Two car bombs targeting a provincial councillor and a police officer north of Baghdad on Friday killed six people and wounded 82, many of them women or children, police said. The six dead came in a bombing in the town of Tuz Khurmatu and targeted the home of Niazar Nomaroglu, a Shiite Turkmen councillor in mainly Sunni Arab Salaheddin province, police Colonel Hussein al-Bayati said. Women and children were among the 50 people wounded in the 3:45pm (1245 GMT) bombing, which severely damaged several surrounding houses as well as Nomaroglu's home, Bayati said. It was unclear whether the councillor was among the casualties. "This attack bears all the hallmarks of al-Qaeda," the police colonel said. Salaheddin province has its headquarters in heavily Sunni Arab Tikrit, hometown of now executed dictator Saddam Hussein, but the province also has Kurdish and Shiite Turkmen minorities, particularly on its eastern margins. [More>>timesofindia.indiatimes.com]

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06.18.10 Two American troops killed in Afghan insurgent attack

June 18 - Two coalition service members died in an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan on Friday, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said. The ISAF said the two troops were American. [>cnn.com]

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06.18.10 Turkey: May air raid killed 100 Kurdish rebels

ANKARA, June 18 - Kurdish rebels declare expanded war on Turkey. Turkey's military said Friday it killed as many as 120 Kurdish rebels in an air raid on rebel hideouts in northern Iraq last month and a day long incursion by elite commandos into Iraq this week. Kurdish rebels have dramatically stepped up attacks in Turkey in recent months in an escalation that poses a dire threat to a remarkable attempt at ending one of the world's longest guerrilla wars. The Turkish military responded to the rebels by sending its warplanes across the Iraqi border to bomb Kurdish rebel positions after acquiring intelligence, apparently from the United States and recently purchased drones from Israel. The rebels have long used northern Iraq as a springboard for hit-and-run attacks on Turkish targets in a campaign for autonomy in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast. Several past Turkish air raids and incursions have failed to stop rebel infiltration through the mountainous border. Maj. Gen. Fahri Kir, the head of the military's internal security operations, said another 30 Kurdish rebels were killed inside Turkey since March in anti-rebel operations. He said the Turkish losses were 43 in the same period.

It was not possible to independently verify the figures, which the military says are based on intelligence reports, including interception of radio communication between the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK....The PKK declared an expanded war on June 1, a day after imprisoned Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan said in a message communicated by his lawyers from the prison island of Imrali, near Istanbul, that his calls for rebel dialogue with Turkey had been ignored, so he was abandoning them and giving his consent to the rebel command in northern Iraq to determine the course of action. [Full story>>alarabiya.net]

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06.18.10 Thousands protest in Kosovo against hijab ban

PRISTINA (Reuters) June 18 - Kosovo govt bans pupils from wearing hijab in schools. Around 5,000 people protested in Kosovo on Friday against a government decision to ban pupils from wearing Muslim headscarves (hijab) in public schools. Around 90 percent of Kosovo's population are Muslims but the former Serbian province, which declared independence in 2008, remains a largely secular country. Protesters, who came to the capital from all over the country, urged the government to withdraw its decision and not to "discriminate against Muslims." "We will continue the protests until they will allow our daughters to go to school with headscarves," said organizer Halil Kastrati. Angry protesters with banners that read "Don't use our state against us" and "Communism is over" marched to the ministry of education, which had approved the ban. "This is not a uniform but my religious obligation. I respect my religion but I also want to go to my faculty," said student Fitore Abazi. Kosovo has so far been recognized by 69 countries, mainly in Western Europe, the United States and a few Muslim countries, but has not become a member of the United Nations. Serbia opposes its independence and has filed a suit to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. [>alarabiya.net]

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06.16.10 BP not winning friends among 'the small people' of the Gulf

VENICE, La. (AP) June 16 - The "small people" of the Gulf Coast have a humongous message for oil giant BP: They're tired of the company's big-time executives making insensitive comments. On Wednesday, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg told reporters in Washington: "I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies or don't care, but that is not the case with BP. We care about the small people." He later said he was very sorry for speaking "clumsily." Orange Beach, Ala., Mayor Tony Kennon laughed when he heard Svanberg's remark. "They can call me small, miniature, they can call me anything they want. Just write the check and send it to us," he said.

But Justin Taffinder of New Orleans was not amused. "We're not small people. We're human beings. They're no greater than us. We don't bow down to them. We don't pray to them," Taffinder said. Svanberg is Swedish, and his comments -- in English -- may have been an unintentional slight. He uttered the remark to reporters following a joint press conference with President Barack Obama — who had spoke of the small business owners, the fishermen and the shrimpers affected by the spill. "What I was trying to say -- that BP understands how deeply this affects the lives of people who live along the Gulf and depend on it for their livelihood — will best be conveyed not by any words but by the work we do to put things right for the families and businesses who've been hurt," Svanberg said in a statement. [More>>foxnews.com]

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06.16.10 US Congressmen express ire toward Turkey

WASHINGTON, June 16 - "Turkey is responsible for the deaths" in Gaza flotilla incident. US Congressmen ratcheted up their criticism of Turkey Wednesday, warning that Ankara was risking its historically warm ties with Congress by reaching toward Iran and breaking with Israel. In a press conference defending Israel’s raid on a Turkish-flagged aid ship trying to break the Gaza blockade, several dozen of whose passengers had ties to terror organizations, numerous members of Congress turned their ire toward Turkey. "Turkey is responsible for the nine deaths aboard that ship. It is not Israel that’s responsible," declared Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nevada), who pointed to Turkish funding and support for the expedition. "If Israel is at fault in any way, it’s by falling into the trap that was set for them by Turkey."

She continued: "The Turks have extraordinary nerve to lecture the State of Israel when they are occupiers of the island of Cyprus, where they systematically discriminate against the ecumenical patriarch, and they refuse to recognize the Armenian genocide."...Speaking at the same press conference, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Indiana) said he recently warned the Turkish ambassador that "With regard to Congress of the United States, there will be a cost if Turkey stays on its current path of growing closed to Iran and more antagonistic to the State of Israel." Among other issues, he said, he was now likely to switch his vote to support a resolution recognizing the mass killing of Armenians during the Ottoman empire as a genocide, a move he had voted against in the past because he thought relations with Turkey were more important. [Full story>>jpost.com; See related stories,

haaretz.com, June 16, "Israel adds Turkish organizers of Gaza flotilla to terror watch list" : Israel calls Lebanese and Iranian attempts to break siege 'hostile'; IHH tells European Parliament members it has assembled six ships for flotilla to sail next month. Israel on Wednesday added to its terror watch list the Turkish pro-Palestinian group that sent an aid flotilla to Gaza last month, and issued stern warnings to Lebanese and Iranian organizers of similar aid ships, Israeli media reported. The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Aid (IHH) told members of the European Parliament it had assembled six ships for the next flotilla and put out an appeal for others to join its bid to break the Israeli blockade after its last convoy was the target of the Israeli raid in May.

Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry Director-General Yossi Gal briefed foreign diplomats on Wednesday on Israel's preparations for this arrival of the Lebanese flotilla. Gal emphasized that Israel sees the flotilla as hostile, due to its origin in an enemy state as well as the connection between the flotilla's organizers and Hezbollah. The intelligence picture regarding this new flotilla is still not clear, particularly on the timing of its departure for Gaza. In recent days, the Foreign Ministry has asked several countries to pass along messages to Lebanon, asking for the flotilla to be stopped. Among others, Israel has told the United States, France and the United Nations to send the message to Lebanon that Israel views the flotilla as a "provocation intended to escalate the violence." Through intermediaries, Israel has received a response from Lebanon, according to which the Lebanese government cannot stop the flotilla because it is a private initiative...

khaleejtimes.com (AFP) June 16, "Turkish flotilla organizers to send more Gaza ships" : BRUSSELS - A Turkish pro-Palestinian group said on Wednesday it will send another aid flotilla to Gaza next month, again trying to break an Israeli blockade after its last convoy was the target of a deadly Israeli raid in May. The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Aid (IHH) told members of the European Parliament it had assembled six ships for the next flotilla and put out an appeal for others to join. Its last flotilla was intercepted off the coast of Gaza on May 31. Clashes broke out on one of the ships as Israeli commandos boarded it to enforce a blockade, and in fighting that followed Israeli forces shot dead nine Turkish men. The next flotilla is due to sail in the second half of July, IHH said. The group invited the international media to inspect all goods on board before the convoy sails to "demonstrate their commitment to total transparency." Israel says the IHH has links to Muslim militants, which the group denies...

bbc.co.uk, June 16, "Syria warns of backlash on Israel over Gaza flotilla" : Israel's attack on the Gaza aid ship has increased the chances of war in the Middle East, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has told the BBC. He said Syria was working to prevent a regional war, but there was no chance of a peace deal with the current Israeli administration, which he called a "pyromaniac government." Mr. Assad also rejected claims he was arming Hezbollah in Lebanon. He said that Middle East was going through a period of momentous change. He has the air of a man who thinks matters are going his way, even though he shares the common Middle Eastern view that the region is getting more dangerous. Mr. Assad said the Israeli attack on the Free Gaza flotilla that killed nine Turkish activists was having serious consequences. "[It has] destroyed any chance for peace in the near future," he said..

Background: Maravot News article 06.14.10 Turkey dismisses Israel's flotilla probe with links:

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06.16.10 Turkish troops enter northern Iraq

June 16 - Turkey has sent hundreds of troops into northern Iraq to chase fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in an operation likely to increase tensions within the region. The soldiers killed four fighters escaping after a failed attack on a Turkish unit near the border, Turkey's military said. The army did not say when their troops would withdraw, saying the soldiers were remaining in northern Iraq, supported by Turkish warplanes. The Kurdistan regional goverment in northern Iraq has condemned similar cross-border attacks in the past, saying they violate Iraq's sovereignty...More than 40,000 people, mostly Kurds, have been killed in violence since the PKK launched its armed struggle against the Turkish state in 1984. [Full story>>aljazeera.net]

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06.16.10 Iran tests Iraqi resolve at the border

ALI RASH, Iraq, June 16 - This remote village high in the rugged mountains between Iraq and Iran has been deserted, its people having fled Iranian air and artillery bombardments with everything they could carry and whatever livestock that could be coaxed down the steep mountain trails. Now the hundreds of Kurds who left Ali Rash and other mountain villages are living in sweltering refugee camp tents. They are at the center of questions about whether Iraq is willing or able to defend its borders with Iran — which has repeatedly breached the frontier in recent months. The attacks on Ali Rash and at least a dozen other Kurdish villages have continued for more than a month and have included a foray by Iranian tanks one mile into Iraqi territory. But they have elicited only a tepid protest from Iraq's government, including the release of a statement pleading with neighboring countries to honor its borders. The Iranian government has said its bombing campaigns are necessary to weaken Kurdish guerrillas that strike in Iran and take refuge in Iraq. The only confirmed casualty has been a 14-year-old girl. [More>>nytimes.com]

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06.16.10 US Treasury imposes new sanctions on Iran

WASHINGTON (Reuters) June 16 - The US Treasury on Wednesday announced new sanctions on Iran to curb its nuclear program, including blacklisting a state-controlled bank, companies that are fronts for the state shipping line, and the air force and missile commands of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. The actions are the first set of US measures to implement the latest round of United Nations Security Council sanctions on Iran approved last week. They prohibit US transactions with the blacklisted entities and seek to freeze any assets they may have under US jurisdiction. US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a news briefing that more actions to increase financial pressure on Iran would be taken in coming weeks. "We will continue to target Iran's support for terrorist organizations. We will continue to focus on Iran's Revolutionary Guard," he said. "And we will continue to expose Iran's efforts to evade international sanctions."

The Treasury said it added Post Bank of Iran to its list of specially designated proliferators of weapons of mass destruction, marking the 16th bank in Iran that it has sought to cut off from the international financial system. Since Bank Sepah was sanctioned in 2007, Post Bank has stepped in to disguise international transactions for it. Previously, Post Bank only operated domestically, the Treasury said. The Treasury's action also aims to thwart Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) from skirting previous sanctions by renaming vessels and shifting them to new front companies. It blacklisted five such companies, identified 27 new vessels blocked under the sanctions, and updated entries for 71 others whose names had been changed. The new Treasury sanctions also take further aim at the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps, blacklisting its air force and missile commands over their activities in the development of ballistic missiles. It had previously sanctioned Revolutionary Guard entities over their support for terrorist activities and Iran's nuclear and missile programs. [More>>thestar.com.my]

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06.16.10 OIC wants UN action on West's 'islamophobia'

GENEVA (Reuters) June 16 - States want investigation into Western media on religion. Muslim states said on Wednesday that what they call "islamophobia" is sweeping the West and its media and demanded that the United Nations take tougher action against it. Delegates from Islamic countries, including Pakistan and Egypt, told the United Nations Human Rights Council that treatment of Muslims in Western countries amounted to racism and discrimination and must be fought. "People of Arab origin face new forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance and experience discrimination and marginalization," an Egyptian delegate said, according to a UN summary. And Pakistan, speaking for the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said the council's special investigator into religious freedom should look into such racism "especially in Western societies." Acting for the OIC, Pakistan has tabled a resolution at the council instructing its special investigator on religious freedom "to work closely with mass media organizations to ensure that they create and promote an atmosphere of respect and tolerance for religious and cultural diversity." The OIC — and its allies in the 47-nation council including Russia, China and Cuba — dub criticism of Muslim practices and linking of terrorism waged under the proclaimed banner of Islamism as "islamophobia" that pillories all Muslims. [More>>alarabiya.net; See related stories,

Maravot News, "The Allah Controversy" involving conflicts between Islam and Western cultures, the origins of which descend upon Israel and Palestine. The document addresses the chairman of the OIC — to which there has been no reply.]

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06.16.10 French base in Abu Dhabi seeks exemption from Sharia law

June 16 -The French military base in Abu Dhabi has been hailed as a historic first in a region of strategic importance. But the question of whether Sharia laws should apply on it has left French and Emirati officials bogged down in frantic negotiations. Dubbed the "Peace Camp," the French military base is situated in Abu Dhabi, one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE (United Arab Emirates). In terms of geopolitical real estate, the French military could not have secured a more strategic site: the base lies on the banks of the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, through which 40 percent of the region's oil shipments pass. More critically, across the narrow waterway lies Iran, a country that has expressed its strong disapproval over the French military presence in its backyard. But a year after its much celebrated inauguration, a problem seems to have arisen between the French military officials and their new hosts, one that is still being frantically resolved. On Wednesday, the leading French daily, Le Monde, reported that intense negotiations between French and Abu Dhabi officials were underway to ensure that Abu Dhabi laws, essentially Islamic or Sharia laws, do not apply to French military personnel and their families stationed on the base. [More>>france24.com]

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06.14.10 Turkey dismisses Israel's flotilla probe

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