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There is more than a bit of gallows humor in the following Torah thought, which I've heard attributed to several gedolim over the years: Question: Why is it that our children do not ask "Four Questions" on Sukkos? After all, things are far from ordinary - arguably even more so than on Pesach - when we sit down to our first Yom Tov meal outdoors in the sukkah. Answer: Throughout our 2,000-year exile, it was not at all unusual for children to see their families leaving the comfort of their homes and sleeping outdoors. However, when they saw them sitting...

King Jehoiachin was only 18 years old and had occupied the throne of Judah barely three months when he was led off into Babylonian captivity in 598 BCE together with his wives, his mother, his servants, his eunuchs and thousands of "the chief men of the land." But what happened to them when they reached Babylon? And what happened there to the tens of thousands of others who joined them in exile when the First Temple was destroyed a decade later? The Bible tells us of the return to Judah half a century later but virtually nothing of what the...

Iranian reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi was given an ultimatum by the Islamic Republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a call to support the reelected regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the London Times reported Friday morning. Khamenei made it clear to Mousavi that if he failed to report to Friday prayers at Teheran University, during which he planned to deliver a sermon calling for national unity, the oppostion leader would be exiled. Khamenei is expected to be assisted by "an army of Islamic volunteer militiamen" during the sermon. According the report, Khamenei made the demand while meeting with the representatives...

Kim Jong-il's Eldest Son 'in the Dark but Not in Exile' North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's eldest son Jong-nam admits he relies on press reports for news that his younger brother Jong-un will succeed their father but denies he himself is looking for asylum abroad. Speaking to Nihon TV, Kim Jong-nam said he based his assumption on media reports and could neither confirm nor deny them definitely. Asked whether Kim Jong-un resembles his father, he said, "That is one of the reasons my father has named my brother as his successor. My father likes my brother very much." Nihon TV...

Julio Severo away from Brazil Open letter to the friends of Blog Julio Severo Dear FriendsI have arrived at a new place, being now away from Brazil and away from friends. It was not an easy decision. In fact, it was the only alternative. Because of a 2006 complaint from the Associação da Parada do Orgulho Gay de São Paulo (Gay Pride Parade Association of São Paulo), federal prosecutors have been looking for my location. The complaint is “homophobia”.Actually, there is no anti-“homophobia” law in Brazil. Even so, federal prosecutors have recently summoned one of my friends to reveal my...

Dalai Lama marks 50 years of Chinese oppression (video)The Dalai Lama has been in exile for 50 years now. Meanwhile, the people of Tibet have lived under the yoke of Chinese oppression. There was hope President Barack Obama would put pressure on the Chinese to improve human rights in Tibet. However, statements by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during her recent Far East visit, indicate the Obama Administration is willing to throw Chinese human rights under the bus in favor of Chinese economic cooperation. Video here.

Two years after the first Purim festival in 3405 (356 BCE), the Persian king Ahasueraus died and was succeeded by his son, Darius. Although a Jew according to Jewish law, Darius considered himself Persian and identified with the country of his birth. Nevertheless, as the son of Esther, he acted toward the Jews with far more benevolence than his predecessors had. In 3408, the second year of his reign, Darius granted the Jews permission to continue the work halted 18 years earlier by King Cyrus and to complete the reconstruction of their Temple in Jerusalem. Moreover, Darius helped finance the...

After 11 years of providing Moscow readers with investigative journalism, irreverent commentary, and sophomoric gags, the English-language newspaper the "The eXile" is closing down after investors fled in the face of a government inspection of the paper's content. The alternative tabloid -- known for its Gonzo-style journalism on drugs, sex, politics, and the seamier side of Moscow nightlife -- announced the closure in a blog posted on its website on June 11. The paper's demise, and the investors' flight, was sparked by a visit on June 6 by inspectors from the Federal Service for Mass Media, Telecommunications, and the Protection...

Carol Felsenthal's new book about Bill Clinton's post-presidential years, Clinton in Exile, is often catty, occasionally malicious, and overly reliant on unnamed sources. It's also pretty boring; when Felsenthal's not muckraking, she's content to trot out newspaper accounts of Clinton's foundation work and his appearances on the guest-speaker circuit. But don't fret—with Slate's reading guide, you can zip straight to the water-cooler-worthy gossip.

SADDAM Hussein was prepared to take $1 billion and go into exile before the Iraq war, George Bush, the United States president, is said to have told José WMaria Aznar, the then prime minister of Spain, a month before the 2003 invasion. During a meeting at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, on 22 February, Mr Bush told Mr Aznar that Saddam could also be assassinated, according to a transcript of their talks published yesterday in the Spanish newspaper El Pais. "The Egyptians are speaking to Saddam Hussein. It seems he's indicated he would be prepared to go into exile if...

After three days, The Miami Herald only published two responses, but not a single apology from Herald Staff or from the journalist Ana Menendez. Please read article below, and forget about the word Cuban, and replace it with African American after each insulting word. Dont you think that after three days, the Herald Board of Directors will publish an apology by this time??

Photos Surface of Kim Jong-il's Relatives in Europe Recent photos of Kim Pyong-il, the half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il and the country's ambassador to Poland, have been made public, according to a report by NK Daily, a website (www.dailynk.com) that specializes in North Korean news. A photo of Kim Pyong-il, the half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il and the country's ambassador to Poland accompanied by his daughter and son, Eun-Song and In-kang The photos also show Kim Pyong-il’s daughter and son, Eun-Song and In-kang, who have until now lived a sheltered and private lives. They were...

Kim Jong-il’s Son Living Life of Riley in Macau North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s eldest son Kim Jong-nam has been living in Macau with his family for 10 years, sources say. Several Macanese who met the younger Kim say he has fake Portuguese and Dominican Republic passports and frequently travels to Beijing, Bangkok, Vienna and Moscow. A source in Macau said Kim junior is not an alcoholic but tends to drink heavily recently when he does -- to the tune of 10 boilermakers at a time. The source said Kim never used to drink boilermakers but seems to have...

/begin my excerpt Exclusive: Kim Pyong-il To Attend A Conference Of Overseas Mission Chiefs  Analysis: "Kim Jong-il to display solidarity among family in the midst of the missile crisis" It is revealed that Kim Pyong-il(age:53, see photo,) half brother of Kim Jong-il and N. Korean ambassador to Poland, is to attend a conference of overseas mission chiefs in Pyongyang soon. It is drawing some attention.According to Japanese media reports on July 18, N. Korean leadership, after rejecting a resolution at the UN Security Council, is to convene the conference of overseas mission chiefs where the leadership conveys its future direction in foreign affairs, and Ambassador Kim...

The all-in-one cameraman, lighting assistant, soundman and anchor of Hakha Television tweaked the maroon handkerchief in his breast pocket, glanced around his secret suburban studio and began his latest peroration to his fellow "Persians" thousands of miles away in Iran."I want to see that you can hear me," he said. "Come out on the streets. Bring flowers, chocolates and anything friendly. If the police come to attack you, look at their eyes and say, 'I love you. I love you'." For three and a half years Ahura-Pirouz Khaleghi Yazdi has been broadcasting a daily two-hour blend of Zoroastrianism, music and...

The United States offered to let Saddam Hussein live in exile like Napoleon on St Helena if he would use his influence to end the Iraqi insurgency, a lawyer for the deposed leader said. Lawyer Saleh al-Armouti said that when he met Saddam in prison in Baghdad last month, Saddam had said the Americans had offered to treat him "like Napoleon," whom the British imprisoned on St Helena island in the Atlantic ocean in the 19th Century, "if he called on the resistance to end its activities". Armouti reported Saddam as saying the Americans had told him that if he...

Exile enrages Syria by linking Assad to Hariri assassination By Harry de Quetteville (Filed: 02/01/2006) Syria's ruling Ba'ath party yesterday expelled one of the country's most senior politicians after he implicated President Bashar al-Assad in an assassination plot last year. The party denounced Abdel-Halim Khaddam, 73, a former vice-president and a stalwart of the Ba'ath regime, as a traitor to the "party, the homeland and the Arab nation" for his remarks. Earlier the Syrian parliament had called for him to be put on trial for high treason. Mr Khaddam, who resigned six months ago, is already in exile in Paris....

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Saddam Hussein accepted an 11th-hour offer to flee into exile weeks ahead of the U.S.-led 2003 invasion, but Arab League officials scuttled the proposal, officials in this Gulf state claimed. The exile initiative was spearheaded by the late president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, at an emergency Arab summit held in Egypt in February 2003, Sheik Zayed's son said in an interview aired by Al-Arabiya TV during a documentary. The U.S.-led coalition invaded on March 19 that year. A top government official confirmed the offer on Saturday, speaking on...

The term "Palestinian" is a masterful twisting of history. To portray themselves as indigenous, Arab settlers adopted the name of an ancient Mediterranean tribe, the Philistines ("invaders" in Hebrew), that disappeared almost 3,000 years ago. The connection between this tribe and modern day Arabs is nil. Romans, in order to conceal their shame and anger with rebellious regions, changed the references to Judea and Samaria by naming the area Palestine. Israel became a nation in the 14th century BCE. Two thousand years before the rise of Islam. Since 1272 BCE, the Jews have had dominion over the land for up...

Iran's seemingly ineluctable progress towards acquiring nuclear weapons has publicly resumed with the conversion of raw uranium outside Isfahan. According to Alireza Jafarzadeh, an exiled dissident based in Washington, it may never have been suspended, despite an agreement to that effect reached last November with the European Union troika of Britain, France and Germany. He claimed yesterday that the Iranians had manufactured about 4,000 centrifuges, capable of enriching uranium to weapons-grade levels, at a plant in Natanz, and had hidden this activity from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), thus maintaining a well-tried pattern of cheating. Those hoping for a...

When American bombs were raining down on what is left of Afghanistan, fellow Muslims in the neighbouring Islamic republic of Iran took out to the Streets. Contrary to our expectations in the West, they did not rally to denounce the 'Great Satan' - the name given to America by the late Ayatollah Khomeini. Instead, ordinary Iranians, in one of the most extraordinary shifts in the geopolitical landscape since September 11, challenged their own hard-line Islamic clerics who swept Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi from power in 1979. Tens of thousands of men and women also demonstrated, in several cities, after World...

In 1947, Ruhalhah Khomeini, then a mid-ranking mullah in Qom, issued a “fatwa” (opinion) that made it incumbent on “the faithful” to murder Ahmad Kasravi. It took a group of eight “faithful” to plan and carry out the murder several months later. A jubilant Khomeini told his entourage that he had “eliminated that paragon of impiety” for ever. At the time of his murder Kasravi was one of Iran’s leading intellectuals. A veritable Renaissance man, he was a senior jurist at the high court, a distinguished historian, a magnetic orator, a master of the Persian prose, and a best-selling author....

The famous investigative journalist Akbar Ganji is said to be dying. He has been urgently transferred from his cell in Evin to a hospital in Tehran. On July 16 it was the 36th day of his hunger strike as a protest not just against his own and his fellow-prisoners’ illegal detention, but also against the undemocratic Islamic Republic and its unelected Supreme Leader-for-Life, a harsh dictator with absolute power. Ganji’s hunger strike is a scream for the world’s attention for the persistent violations of the most fundamental human rights in his country. And for the fate of the vast number...

Roya Hakakian's story of growing up Jewish during the Iranian Revolution. Revolution. Everything in Iran changed on February 1, 1979, the day Ayatollah Khomeini returned to our country a few days after the departure of the Shah. Suddenly, millions were demanding an end to 2,500 years of monarchy--including hundreds of young Jews who joined the revolution against the wishes of their elders, hoping to recast their identities as secular Iranians who could assimilate seamlessly into the fabric of the promised utopia. Khomeini quickly took on the status of an "imam," only a step away from prophet in the Shi'ite tradition,...

Libyan Opposition Seeks to Topple GadhafiBy MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press Writer Sun Jun 26, 6:57 PM ET LONDON - Divisions over tactics and vision split Libyan opposition groups in exile, but participants at a two-day conference agreed Sunday to unite under a "national accord" aimed at ousting Moammar Gadhafi. In a final declaration, the groups addressed the United Nations, saying the global body was responsible for restoring Libya's constitution. The charter was drafted in 1951 as part of a U.N. resolution — but Gadhafi froze it after assuming power in a military coup and replaced it with martial law. "Bringing...

Latin America: The past week's high political turmoil in Ecuador is about more than oil or bananas. It's about a terrifying descent into instability that could hit every country in the hemisphere. The turmoil in the tiny South American country shows no sign of ending. Another president was thrown out — the third in a decade. His successor is widely regarded as an ignorant weakling. And no one thinks he's going to last. After all, Ecuador has had seven presidents since 1995. Maybe that's why Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice turned her attention from a milestone NATO treaty signing in...

“Man and Woman”, “Wife”, “Husband”, “Widow”, “Widower” Banished From all Ontario Law Terms, when referring to spouses, are banned from all government programs, services, documentsToronto, February 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With the obscenely rapid, three-day introduction and passage of its same-sex “marriage” Bill 171, the Ontario government has advanced a revolutionary change in the way all laws and government programs and institutions refer to marriage and married persons. Everything referring to spouses must now be gender neutral. No longer can a married couple be referred to as “husband and wife” or “man and woman”. The terms “Widow” and “widower” are...

The Beginning With Vowel Words: E, I, & U When it comes down to the downright ignoring of untold stories in America both "sides" and the in between are awfully damned silent. The right, the Republican Party, the religious conservative, the conservative, the neocon, the Bush Administration, the so-called "pro-family", "pro-life", "pro-family unity" groups and organizations -and- the left, the Democratic Party, the the religious liberal, the liberal, the progressive, the "pro-choice", the "womens rights" groups and organizations all, each and every one, are conspicuously silent on an issue none whatsoever wants the American populace to know. The Government itself...

SIR Richard Branson tried to prevent the Iraq war in a secret deal with Nelson Mandela. The Virgin boss hoped to send the former leader of South Africa to meet Saddam Hussein and persuade him to go into exile. He even got United Nations chief Kofi Annan's approval for the plan, despite fears that Saddam might kidnap Mandela. A private jet was ready to fly the Nobel Peace Prize winner to Iraq. Branson offered to join him on the peace mission. But coalition forces invaded Iraq just before they went. Branson opposed invasion plans and believed if they could offer...

/begin my translation N. Korean Government-In-Exile Planned To Be Launched Next March It is revealed that N. Korean government-in-exile would be launched as early as next March, with the purpose of eliminating N. Korean leader Kim Jong-il and bringing democracy in N. Korea. Sohn Chung-moo, the chairman of 'Alliance of Overseas Koreans To Defend Free S. Korea', who returned from attending 'International Conference on Opposing Kim Jong-il' held in Tokyo, Japan, told Radio Free Asia(from now on, RFA) that the government-in-exile would be in Tokyo, while it plans to maintain a liaison office in Washington D.C., U.S.. Six N. Korean...

Last Saturday night brought His Imperial Highness Prince Nguyen Phuc Buu Chanh of Vietnam, Regent of the Imperial Dynasty and President of the Vietnamese Constitutional Monarchist League, to Cornell. The Prince, a member of the Vietnamese imperial family gave a lecture, entitled "Revival of Vietnamese Culture: The Nguyen Dynasty," before a crowd of about 50 people. Maria Nguyen '05, vice president of the Cornell Vietnamese Association sang the American national anthem and then played the national anthem of South Vietnam. Aided by PowerPoint slides, Prince Buu Chanh then began his lecture speaking from a podium draped with the American flag...

The Imperial Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam is politically pressuring the government of Vietnam to protect the liberty, religious rights of the Vietnamese people as well as the culture, traditions, languages of the Montagnards and Khmer Krom in Vietnam. (PRWEB) October 23, 2004 -- Today, Vietnam is experiencing a minor period of outward growth. Even the most dedicated Communists are abandoning old communist economic policies, which have proven to be ineffective and sometimes harmful. Capitalism is being introduced, with the Communist Party maintained only as a vehicle to exercise absolute control of the elite Party leaders over the common people. The...

Aurora,IL (PRWEB) September 8, 2004 -- OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS - From the Office of the Leadership of the The Imperial Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam & Vietnamese Constitutional Monarchist League: His Imperial Highness Prince Nguyen Phuc Buu Chanh of Vietnam, Regent of the Imperial Nguyen Dynasty and President of The Vietnamese Constitutional Monarchist League denounces the Communist Government on the return of United States Servicemen MIA or possible POWs’ and Human Rights Record. It has been stated by American Marines and Army Soldiers who are in Vietnam searching for MIA's, that there is corruption within the government of Vietnam. They stated that...

AN IRAQI exile who used to demonstrate against Saddam’s regime outside the Iraqi Embassy in London was yesterday confirmed as Baghdad’s new envoy to Britain, restoring diplomatic ties 13 years after they were cut. Salah Shaikhly, a British citizen who was stripped of his Iraqi nationality two decades ago and still has no Iraqi passport, was last night the guest of honour at the annual diplomatic corps dinner hosted by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, for ambassadors and high commissioners to the Court of St James. “I never imagined I would become ambassador,” the 64-year-old British-educated economist told The Times....

Iraq updates as of this hour:Coalition negotiators attempting to talk Shiite militia leader Moqtada Sadr into temporary absence in Iran where he lived before the war.Hostilties would die down and Sadr would avoid humiliating arrest for murder.United States command determined to maintain negoiating momentum in conjunction with military initiatives until Shiite pilgrims disperse from Arabian observances in Karbala in a day or two.Partial ceasefire in Fallujah to allow negotiations to go on Monday to end fighting in beisieged Sunni Triangle city.Slowdown in hostilities permitted burials.Fourth Marine battalion pumped into Fallujah and siege boosted with more tanks.United State command will not...

Sharon failure to exile Arafat 'was historic mistake' By Toby Harnden in Tel Aviv (Filed: 11/02/2004) Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, made a "historic mistake" in failing to exile Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, a leading cabinet member said yesterday. The comments by Shaul Mofaz, Israel's defence minister, will help burnish his credentials as a future prime minister when Mr Sharon is politically vulnerable and under attack from the Right. On the eve of his first official visit to Britain in his present post, Mr Mofaz, former head of the Israel Defence Forces, insisted that Mr Arafat must go....

Libyan dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi has offered to mediate between President Bush and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to avoid what he thinks would be an irrational war. Gadhafi offered his services while speaking to reporters attending a summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa, reports Britain's Sky News. Libyan President Col. Moammar Gadhafi (Courtesy: Sky News) "I wish I could have the opportunity to talk to these two persons, to address them, President Bush and Saddam Hussein," Gadhafi said. "I would like to save international peace." The Libyan leader also has been working behind the scenes to persuade Hussein...

<p>In an interview with The Washington Times on Friday, a spokesman for Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich denied that the administration has decided not to ask the General Assembly to approve a state version of a Project Exile — a program, modeled after a highly successful anti-crime initiative begun in Richmond,Va., which would impose stricter sentences on criminals using guns in the commission of a crime. Henry Fawell, a spokesman for Mr. Ehrlich, said the governor may propose a package of "exile-like" legislation when the legislature returns in January.</p>

<p>On the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington, the leader of the Muslim Salafi al-Muhajiroun Movement, Sheikh Omar Bakri Mohammad, praised al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden whom he described as "the lion of the Muslim nation."</p>

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrived home early Thursday, cutting short a trip to India, to consider how to respond to two Palestinian suicide bombings, and an official said options included invading Gaza or expelling Yasser Arafat. Sharon planned to convene the security cabinet for urgent talks Thursday, after a pair of bombers killed 15 Israelis in attacks in central Israel and Jerusalem just five hours apart on Tuesday. Hard-liners in Sharon's Cabinet have long clamored for expulsion of Arafat. Up to now Sharon has rebuffed the deportation calls, fearing international condemnation. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, who supports the deportation of...

AUSTIN, Texas - Ten Texas Democrats who have been boycotting a vote on a GOP congressional redistricting plan are leaving their self-imposed exile in New Mexico and returning home for a court hearing and another special legislative session. State Sen. Judith Zaffirini said Tuesday that the Democrats agreed Monday night to attend the court hearing in Laredo. After that, "the plan is we would return to our home districts," to wait until Gov. Rick Perry calls another special session, Zaffirini said. Their decision was made after one of their Democratic colleagues, Sen. John Whitmire, abandoned the boycott last week and...

The Dalai Lama is willing to return to Tibet if China allows him to go back to his homeland without preconditions, the exiled spiritual leader told the Guardian newspaper in an interview published on Friday. ``I'm hopeful to visit Tibet, to see my old place with my own eyes, and try to cool down the situation,'' he said. ``You ask under what circumstance? China should give me the green light without preconditions.'' The Dalai Lama fled Tibet for India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He was speaking in Dharamsala, northern India, on the eve of a...

End of special session doesn't mean end of Democrats' exile Associated Press Aug. 25, 2003, 5:16PM ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Even as the second special legislative session to redraw Texas congressional boundaries ends Tuesday, 11 Democratic senators who fled the state to block the GOP-backed measure indicated today they had no immediate plans to return home. "This is long from over," Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, said from the New Mexico hotel where the senators have been for nearly a month. "It's probably the beginning of the second quarter, if you want to use a football analogy." Democrats repeated their refrain of...

Charles Taylor arrived at Calabar The bast former president Charles Taylor arrived by plane early Tuesday morning at Calabar, city of the south-east of Nigeria, country which offered the exile to him, brought back a correspondent of the AFP. Charles Taylor, accompanied members by his family, came from Abuja, the capital of Nigeria where it had arrived the day before after having left the capacity in Monrovia. It was initially to be taken along in the house of the governor, surrounded by forces of safety, indicated high persons in charge. In Calabar, city of the State Cross-country race To...

Taylor needs "a few days" to prepare for exile: aide Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is due to hand over power later on Monday, needs a few days to ensure that his new home in exile in Nigeria is ready a press spokesman said. Mr Taylor, who has been indicted for war crimes by a UN-backed court in Sierra Leone, has accepted an offer of asylum from Nigeria. However Patrick Paasewe, a press liaison officer at the Liberian presidency, says Mr Taylor needed "a few days to put his affairs in order and for his new home to be completed"....

LIFE IN EXILE Texas Eleven say constituents oppose remap By ARMANDO VILLAFRANCA Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Eleven Texas senators began their second week in self-imposed exile Monday by firing salvos at Gov. Rick Perry and at their Senate colleagues, urging them to gauge constituents' sentiments on congressional redistricting. State Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston, said 90 percent of the testimony in hearings around the state last month opposed redistricting. "I'm telling you, Waco said `No.' San Angelo said `No.' Lubbock said `No,' " Gallegos said. The eleven Democratic senators fled to Albuquerque last week to break quorum on...

DPS had no power to arrest legislators, lawyers say Democrat raising issue in lawsuit just in case 2nd walkout is planned 06/14/2003 By GEORGE KUEMPEL / The Dallas Morning News AUSTIN – Lawyers for a Fort Worth lawmaker argued in court Friday that the Texas Department of Public Safety had no authority to try to arrest House Democrats who fled to Oklahoma last month, blocking a vote on a congressional redistricting bill. Art Brender, an attorney for Rep. Lon Burnam, acknowledged that he raised the issue because Democrats may again try to block a quorum if the redistricting issue resurfaces...

May. 20, 2003 Paris exile for Arafat? By HERB KEINON Forget about taking Yasser Arafat, placing him on a helicopter, and dumping him in the Sudanese dessert. This won't fly with the Americans. The US would be even less likely to look kindly on IDF tanks opening fire on the Mukata, even though the Bush Administration itself had no trouble trying to kill its enemy, Saddam Hussein. Besides, the Israeli intelligence community seems of one mind that to deport Arafat would only unite the moderates and the extremists on the Palestinian street against new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. Maj.-Gen....

Channel NewsAsia is reporting that Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim emerged from exile in Iran to preach an Islamic government in Iraq. Thousand of people were in attendance at Najaf, a holy city in Iraq. It was one of the largest public gatherings since US involvement. The 66-year-old head of the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI) was trying to get support for a regime with more Islamic influence. Ayatollah al-Hakim said “All tribal, ethnic and religious groups should unite under the banner of Islam to preserve independence, avoid differences, and build a free Iraq.” Most Iraqis already...

KUWAIT (Reuters) - A prominent Iraqi exile said on Saturday only a democratically elected government should be allowed to sign the massive contracts needed to reconstruct the country. Former Foreign Minister Adnan Pachachi criticized Washington over its plans for a U.S.-led civilian authority to hand out reconstruction contracts without the approval of an elected Iraqi government. No one has the right to commit Iraq to obligations and costs," he told a news conference in Kuwait. "Only an Iraqi government can do that. A parliament should also endorse the agreements." The U.S. government on Thursday awarded Bechtel Corp. a $680-million-contract to...