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World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #6 Disinformation, Inc.
Global Politician/Ocnus.Net ^ | Dec 17, 2006 | Professor Daniel M. Zucker

Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT

VEVAK learned its methodology from the Soviet KGB and many of the Islamist revolutionaries who supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini actually studied at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, the Oxford of terrorism. Documented Iranian alumni include the current Supreme Leader (the faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, under whose Velayat-e Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurisprudent) apparatus it has traditionally operated. Its current head is Cabinet Minister Hojatoleslam Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ezhei, a graduate of Qom's Haqqani School, noted for its extremist position advocating violence against enemies and strict clerical control of society and government. The Ministry is very well funded and its charge, like that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the Pasdaran) is to guard the revolutionary Islamic Iranian regime at all costs and under all contingencies.

From the KGB playbook, VEVAK learned the art of disinformation. It's not so difficult to learn: tell the truth 80% of the time and lie 20%. Depending on how well a VEVAK agent wants to cover his/her tracks, the ratio may go up to 90/10, but it never drops below the 80/20 mark as such would risk suspicion and possible detection. The regime in Teheran has gone to great lengths to place its agents in locations around the world. Many of these operatives have been educated in the West, including the U.K. and the United States. Iranian government agencies such as embassies, consulates, Islamic cultural centers, and airline offices regularly provide cover for the work of VEVAK agents who dress well and are clean shaven, and move comfortably within our society. In this country, because of the severance of diplomatic relations, the principal site of VEVAK activities begins at the offices of Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

Teheran has worked diligently to place its operatives in important think tanks and government agencies in the West. Some of its personnel have been recruited while in prison through torture or more often through bribery, or a combination of both. Others are Islamist revolutionaries that have been set up to look like dissidents - often having been arrested and imprisoned, but released for “medical reasons”. The clue to detecting the fake “dissident” is to read carefully what he/she writes, and to ask why this vocal “dissident” was released from prison when other real dissidents have not been released, indeed have been grievously tortured and executed. Other agents have been placed in this country for over twenty-five years to slowly go through the system and rise to positions of academic prominence due to their knowledge of Farsi and Shia Islam or Islamist fundamentalism.

One of the usual tactics of VEVAK is to co-opt academia to its purposes. Using various forms of bribery, academics are bought to defend the Islamic Republic or slander its enemies. Another method is to assign bright students to train for academic posts as specialists in Iranian or Middle East affairs. Once established, such individuals are often consulted by our government as it tries to get a better idea of how it should deal with Iran. These academics then are in a position to skew the information, suggesting the utility of extended dialogue and negotiation, or the danger and futility of confronting a strong Iran or its proxies such as Hizballah (Hezbollah). These academics serve to shield the regime from an aggressive American or Western policy, and thereby buy more time for the regime to attain its goals, especially in regards to its nuclear weaponry and missile programs.

MOIS likes to use the media, especially electronic media, to its advantage. One of VEVAK's favorite tricks is setting up web sites that look like they are opposition sites but which are actually controlled by the regime. These sites often will be multilingual, including Farsi, German, Arabic French, and English. Some are crafted carefully and are very subtle in how they skew their information (e.g., Iran-Interlink, set up and run by Massoud Khodabandeh and his wife Ann Singleton from Leeds, England); others are less subtle, simply providing the regime's point of view on facts and events in the news (e.g., www.mujahedeen.com or www.mojahedin.ws). This latter group is aimed at the more gullible in our open society and unfortunately such a market exists. However, if one begins to do one's homework, asking careful questions, the material on these fake sites generally does not add up.

Let's examine a few examples of VEVAK's work in the United States. In late October, 2005, VEVAK sent three of its agents to Washington to stage a press event in which the principal Iranian resistance movement, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK), was to be slandered. Veteran VEVAK agent Karim Haqi flew from Amsterdam to Canada where he was joined by VEVAK's Ottawa agents Amir-Hossein Kord Rostami and Mahin (Parvin-Mahrokh) Haji, and the three flew from Toronto to Washington. Fortunately the resistance had been tracking these three, informed the FBI of their presence in Washington, and when the three tried to hold a press conference, the resistance had people assigned to ask pointed questions of them so that they ended the interview prematurely and fled back to Canada.

Abolghasem Bayyenet is a member of the Iranian government. He serves as a trade expert for the Ministry of Commerce. But his background of study and service in the Foreign Ministry indicates that Bayyenet is more than just an economist or a suave and savvy businessman. In an article published in Global Politician on April 23, 2006, entitled “Is Regime Change Possible in Iran?”, Bayyenet leads his audience to think that he is a neutral observer, concerned lest the United States make an error in its assessment of Iran similar to the errors of intelligence and judgment that led to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, with its less than successful outcome. However, his carefully crafted bottom line is that the people of Iran are not going to support regime change and that hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually has achieved greater popularity than his predecessors because of his concern for the problems of the poor and his fight for economic and social justice. To the naive, Bayyenet makes Ahmadinejad sound positively saintly. Conveniently overlooked is the occurrence of over four thousand acts of protest, strikes, anti-regime rallies, riots, and even political assassinations by the people of Iran against the government in the year since Ahmadinejad assumed office. So too, the following facts are ignored: the sizeable flight of capital, the increase in unemployment, and the rising two-figure rate of inflation, all within this last year. Bayyenet is a regime apologist, and when one is familiar with the facts, his arguments ring very hollow. However, his English skills are excellent, and so the naОve might be beguiled by his commentary.

Mohsen Sazegara is VEVAK's “reformed revolutionary”. A student supporter of Khomeini before the 1979 revolution, Sazegara joined the “imam” on his return from exile and served in the government for a decade before supposedly growing disillusioned.

He formed several reformist newspapers but ran afoul of the hardliners in 2003 and was arrested and imprisoned by VEVAK. Following “hunger strikes”, Sazegara was released for health reasons and permitted to seek treatment abroad. Although critical of the government and particularly of Ahmadinejad and KhameneМ, Sazegara is yet more critical of opposition groups, leaving the impression that he favors internal regime change but sees no one to lead such a movement for the foreseeable future. His bottom line: no one is capable of doing what needs to be done, so we must bide our time. Very slick, but his shadow shows his likely remaining ties to the MOIS.

http://www.ocnus.net/artman/publish/article_27144.shtml


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: globaljihad; history; iran; iusepinglistsforspam; jihad; kgb; lebanon; news; patricelumumbaschool; qassemsoleimani; reports; research; russia; syria; terrorist; wot; wt
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To: All

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.singapore/browse_thread/thread/a081dcc5ae103881/6f9182ba31b2699b#6f9182ba31b2699b

Fatwa victim girl saved from caning
Staff Correspondent

Human rights organisations and law enforcement agencies in Sunamganj
yesterday saved a girl from being caned after a teacher of a local
madrasa gave a fatwa against her.

Mahmuda, 17, of Manirgati village in Chhatak, Sunamganj was supposed to
be caned in a public after madrasa teacher Mufti Abdus Sobhan handed
down the fatwa to beat her up until she bled.

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, Samajik Protirodh Committee, and Prothom
Alo Bandhu Shava with assistance from law enforcers managed to save the
girl after learning about the fatwa in newspapers.

Law enforcers arrested four people at the village in connection with
provoking the fatwa. The arrestees are Manik Miah, Firoz Miah, Meraj
Uddin and Shalik Miah.

Prior to the fatwa, Mahmuda's father Fabar Ullah, 80, a freedom
fighter, was forced to walk around the village mosque wearing a garland
of shoes.

Mahmuda and Fabar filed two cases in this connection against Mufti
Abdus Sobhan, Lala Miah, 35, his three associates and eight others.
Lala Miah and Mufti Abdus Sobhan are absconding.

Fabar have been supporting his family by begging. His younger daughter
Mahmuda had a love affair with their neighbour Lala, which led to
pregnancy. Lala had pledged to marry her but he refused later on.

Following the birth of her child, which died in its infancy, the
village people held a "Panchayet" (a local assembly) where Mufti Abdus
Sobhan had handed down the fatwa.

Expressing their concerns, the Mahila Parishad yesterday demanded legal
steps against the "fatwabaz" and his cohorts.

In a statement, signed by its President Hena Das and General Secretary
Ayesha Khanam, the organisation also demanded immediate arrest of those
involved with the fatwa and to ensure security of the victim's family.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Raiqul Alam, however, said the situation
is under their control and they would provide the victim's family with
security.


261 posted on 12/20/2006 2:44:24 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: DAVEY CROCKETT

you have a couple answers, am working on the others.


262 posted on 12/20/2006 7:45:21 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All; milford421

Denver is under emergency conditions, over a foot of snow today.

The airport is closed un til tomorrow night.

Grocery stores are sold out, had a run on them.

Fox news said they were told to sleep on their desks and not attempt to get home.

St. Mary's Heart Church, in North Glen, is taking folks off the freeway, for shelter, The Priest said he can handle up to 300 people, that they have a food bank for emergency use.

Made me hungry, they are already cooking hamburgers, macroni and cheese and Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Many accidents.


263 posted on 12/20/2006 8:08:53 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All; DAVEY CROCKETT; Founding Father

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061220/wl_uk_afp/britainrussiaspy_061220214242

Russian ex spy's widow thanks police

Wed Dec 20, 4:42 PM ET

LONDON (AFP) - Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko's wife thanked police for their efforts in probing Russian links to his death, a spokesman said as detectives returned from Moscow.
ADVERTISEMENT

"I'm very grateful to Scotland Yard for a thorough investigation even if the Russians have put every obstacle in their way," Marina Litvinenko said, cited by Alexander Goldfarb, the late Kremlin critic's former spokesman.

She claimed in particular that Russian authorities had hidden ex-Soviet army officer Dmitry Kovtun and ex-KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi "in a hospital under the pretext of radiation," to avoid them being questioned.

"I believe the two individuals are suspects rather than witnesses," she said, cited by Goldfarb.

The former spokesman told AFP that Litvinenko's widow had confidence in the British government. "I trust (Prime Minister)
Tony Blair, who said no political or economic obstacle will stay in the way of the investigation," she said.

continued..............


264 posted on 12/20/2006 8:15:41 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All; DAVEY CROCKETT; Founding Father

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061220/wl_nm/britain_poisoning_chechen_dc_1

Poison spy's friend mocks Russian extradition talk

By Mark Trevelyan Wed Dec 20, 12:58 PM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - An exiled Chechen leader and friend of poisoned ex-Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko accused Moscow on Wednesday of trying to frighten him by resuming a criminal investigation aimed at extraditing him.
ADVERTISEMENT

Russian media said prosecutors had resumed a criminal investigation into Chechen Akhmed Zakayev, whom Moscow accuses of a string of terrorist offences which he vehemently denies.

"The prosecutor-general's office and the relevant British authorities are currently considering the matter of his extradition to the Russian justice bodies," Itar-Tass news agency said.

Zakayev, who defeated a previous Russian extradition attempt in 2003 when he won political asylum in London, laughed out loud when asked for his reaction.

He said the Kremlin was trying to scare him into silence after he blamed it for the murders of campaigning journalist Anna Politkovskaya and Litvinenko, a former security agent who was Zakayev's friend and neighbor in London.

continued........


265 posted on 12/20/2006 8:18:12 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All; DAVEY CROCKETT

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/opinion/19tue1.html

The Kremlin’s Shell Game

Published: December 19, 2006

President Vladimir Putin believes that a powerful, state-controlled energy sector is the key to Russia’s economic future, even if he has to strong-arm foreign investors to get it. But trampling property rights is risky. It is as likely to leave Russia an economic pariah as an energy superpower.

The latest intrigue centers on a huge oil and natural-gas project off of Russia’s eastern coast. The project, Sakhalin 2, includes offshore platforms and the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas plant. It is also the single largest foreign investment in Russia. Royal Dutch Shell owns a 55 percent stake, but won’t for much longer from the looks of things.

It appears that the Kremlin is again trying to muscle an energy company into doing its bidding, this time with environmental regulators. Russian officials have threatened to halt the project by revoking necessary operating permits and warning that they might criminally prosecute Shell employees over supposed ecological violations.

continued...


266 posted on 12/20/2006 8:21:50 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All; DAVEY CROCKETT; milford421

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/opinion/19zimmerman.html

The Smoky Bomb Threat


By PETER D. ZIMMERMAN
Published: December 19, 2006

London

Article about 'dirty bombs'.


267 posted on 12/20/2006 8:30:57 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All; DAVEY CROCKETT; Domestic Church

[California for the last week or so, keeps getting larger earthquakes, none large enough for damage, but getting closer all the time, sure to have upset a bunch of liberals..]

Fw: M 3.7 EQ NEAR BERKELEY, CA 07:12:29 PM PST Wednesday, Dec 20, 2006

----- Original Message -----
From: nc-quakeallmail-owner@eqinfo.wr.usgs.gov ; CISN (USGS/UCB)
To: nc-quakeallmail@eqinfo.wr.usgs.gov
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 7:16 PM
Subject: M 3.7 EQ NEAR BERKELEY, CA 07:12:29 PM PST Wednesday, Dec 20, 2006

== PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE REPORT ==
California Integrated Seismic Network
http://www.cisn.org
USGS/Caltech/CGS/UCB/UCSD/UNR

Version 2: This report supersedes any earlier reports about this event.

This is a computer-generated message and has not yet been reviewed by a
seismologist.

PRINCIPAL EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS
_______________________________

Magnitude : 3.67 ML (A minor quake)
Event Date & Time : 12/20/2006 07:12:29 PM PST
12/21/2006 03:12:28 UTC
Coordinates : 37.8598 N, 122.2365 W
: (37 deg. 51.59 min. N, 122 deg. 14.19 min. W)
Depth : 5.6 miles ( 9.0 km)
Location Quality : Excellent

4 km ( 2 miles) ESE (112 degrees) of Berkeley, CA
4 km ( 3 miles) N (354 degrees) of Piedmont, CA
5 km ( 3 miles) ENE ( 59 degrees) of Emeryville, CA
6 km ( 4 miles) SE (124 degrees) of Albany, CA
6 km ( 4 miles) WSW (245 degrees) of Orinda, CA

More Information about this event and other earthquakes is available at
http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/latestfault.htm

ADDITIONAL EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS
________________________________

number of phases : 212
rms misfit : 0.10 seconds
horizontal location error : 0.1 km
vertical location error : 0.2 km
maximum azimuthal gap : 23 degrees
distance to nearest station : 2. km
event ID: 51177042

SOURCE OF INFORMATION/CONTACTS
________________________________

CISN Northern California Management Center

U.S. Geological Survey
Berkeley Seismological Laboratory

http://www.cisn.org/ncmc.html

________________________________

--
You are receiving this message through the nc-quakeallmail mailing list. You
can unsubscribe from this list at http://quake.usgs.gov/recent/eqlist.html


268 posted on 12/20/2006 8:44:17 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All


Norway to Seal Off Toxic Nazi Submarine

Norway plans to cover a sunken German WWII submarine in a giant
sarcophagus to stop dangerous mercury leaking from the wreck.
Mercury has been seeping from the U-boat for more than 60 years.

To read this article on the DW-WORLD website, just click on the
internet address below:

http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=1hmgzeIfwf2zzI1&req=l%3D1hmgzdIfwf2zzI1


269 posted on 12/20/2006 8:57:16 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All

December 20, 2006 PM Anti-Terrorism News

Al Qaeda's Zawahiri threatens more attacks on West: "If we are hit in
our countries, we will not stop striking you in your country" - addtl
excerpts of Al Qaeda deputy statement
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/December/middleeast_December341.xml&section=middleeast&col=
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061220/wl_mideast_afp/mideastqaedazawahiri

Iraq violence kills 23 as Gates visits - including 11 who died when a
suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives near Baghdad
University
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2006/December/focusoniraq_December106.xml&section=focusoniraq

Bush: Iraq insurgents hurt U.S. efforts
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061220/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_14

NATO forces kill 50 militants in Afghan operation
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/December/subcontinent_December685.xml&section=subcontinent

(Pakistan) Bomb injures 7 people in Pakistan - bicycle bomb in
Pakistan city of Quetta
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061220/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_bomb_1

Pakistan bans Robert Spencer's book about Prophet Muhammad
http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=936032

Six Kassam rockets strike Israel Wednesday afternoon
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1164881925328&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

3 Turks may be tried for int'l terrorism charges
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1164881936733&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Uzbekistan: 2 convicted for teaching radical Islam
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1164881936493&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Trial of British "airline plotter" to start Friday in Pakistan -
regarding impersonation and false documents - terrorism charges dropped
previously
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061220/wl_sthasia_afp/britainattacksairlinepakistan_061220135434

Time Magazine: Syria in Bush's Crosshairs: A classified document
suggests the Administration is considering a plan to fund political
opposition to the Damascus government
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1571751,00.html

(Iran) Ahmadineajd: Iran now nuclear power
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3342489%2C00.html#cooliris

(Iran) Ahmadinejad: Britain, Israel, US to 'vanish like the pharaohs':
"It is a divine promise."
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/20/061220094102.ixs3bo81.html

Hezbollah says one of its fighters killed in cluster bomb explosion in
south Lebanon
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/20/africa/ME_GEN_Lebanon_Hezbollah.php

Commentary: Tariq Ramadan sheds some clarifications
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/014494.php
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061218.wlivetariqramadan1219/BNStory/specialComment/home


270 posted on 12/20/2006 9:02:06 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2006/December/middleeast_December341.xml&section=middleeast&col=

Qaeda’s Zawahri threatens more attacks on West
(Reuters)

20 December 2006


PALESTINE - Al Qaeda will continue to target the United States and other Western countries so long as Muslims are under attack, the militant group’s second-in-command Ayman Al Zawahri said in a video tape aired on Wednesday.

‘If we are attacked in our land we shall not stop attacking you in your countries, God willing,’ Zawahri said in the tape aired by Al Jazeera television.

‘The formula for your safety is: You will not dream of security until we live it as a reality in Palestine and all Muslim countries,’ he said.

Al Qaeda, which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on US cities, has repeatedly vowed more strikes on the United States. Zawahri last threatened attacks in a videotape in June to avenge the killing of the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

In the latest tape, Zawahri dismissed US President George W. Bush’s argument that combating terrorism can guarantee security and said Washington was scrambling for an exit from Iraq and Afghanistan, but was approaching the wrong parties.

‘Both Democrats and Republicans are scrambling to find an exit from the disasters in Afghanistan and Iraq and are still thinking with the same rash mentality and trying to negotiate with some sides to secure your exit but these sides cannot offer you an escape and your attempts will only bring more failure.

‘You are not negotiating with the real powers in the Muslim world and you appear to be heading towards a painful round of negotiations, after which you will forced to talks to the real forces...’ he said.

Facing growing pressure to shift course in the unpopular Iraq war, Bush is weighing the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which has called for the United States to engage Iran and Syria directly over Iraq.

The panel’s report calls for accelerating the training of Iraqi forces and pulling back US combat troops by early 2008.

Zawahri called on Sunni Muslim fighters to join the so-called Islamic State in Iraq, announced by an Al Qaeda-led group in October.

‘I urge the whole Muslim nation to support this fledgling state as it is, God willing, the gateway for the liberation of Palestine and the revival of the Islamic caliphate.

‘I also urge all my mujahideen brothers in Iraq to join this blessed convoy to save the Iraq caliphate from the shackles of the crusaders and their agents, the traitors who have sold their faith,’ the Egyptian militant said.

Zawahri took a swing at Iraq’s Shia Muslim leaders who he said opposed jihad against U.S.-led forces in Iraq while they saw Lebanese Shia guerrilla group Hezbollah’s war with Israel this summer as sanctioned by Islam.

‘How is it possible that jihad against the Jews in Lebanon is in line with Islam but jihad against Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan is taboo,’ he said.


271 posted on 12/20/2006 9:06:58 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All

Al-Zawahri: U.S. Talking to Wrong People


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/20/ap/world/mainD8M4MC6G0.shtml

Al-Zawahri: U.S. Talking to Wrong People

Al-Zawahri says U.S. is talking to wrong people in Iraq, hinting it
must talk to al-Qaida

CAIRO, Egypt, Dec. 20, 2006
By MAGGIE MICHAEL Associated Press Writer

(AP) The deputy leader of al-Qaida said the United States was
negotiating with the wrong people in Iraq, implying in a video
broadcast Wednesday on Al-Jazeera that Washington should be talking to
his group.

"I want to tell the Republicans and the Democrats together ... you are
trying to negotiate with some parties to secure your withdrawal, but
these parties won't find you an exit (from Iraq) and your attempts
will yield nothing but failure," Ayman al-Zawahri said on the video.

"It seems that you will go through a painful journey of failed
negotiations until you will be forced to return to negotiate with the
real powers," he said, without elaborating.

continued......


272 posted on 12/20/2006 9:26:29 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: FARS

Ping to #270


273 posted on 12/20/2006 9:28:06 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All; milford421; Founding Father; Calpernia

Source: NorthJersey.com, Wed 20 Dec 2006 [edited]
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2NSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzA0MTIwNyZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTQ=


Herpes gladiatorum outbreak in Jersey City



An unusual outbreak of the herpes 1 virus [herpes simplex virus 1,
now renamed human herpesvirus 1] infection in five wrestlers has shut
down St. Peter's Prep in Jersey City this week. Days after a 30 Nov
2006 wrestling scrimmage among St. Peter's, Livingston and Nutley, a
Marauders wrestler had to be hospitalized after showing signs of the
virus, and four others were later diagnosed with the disease.

Human herpesvirus 1 -- not the sexually transmitted human herpesvirus
2 -- usually produces sores around the face, head and neck, and is
transmitted when skin contacts these sores. Abrasions are especially
fertile breeding grounds for the virus.

The infections are not the first instance of skin diseases breaking
out among North Jersey high school wrestlers. Ringworm and impetigo
have also struck wrestlers as a result of close contact with infected
opponents and possibly from contaminated mats.

"I have never heard about [getting] the herpes disorder this way,"
Passaic Valley coach Nick Zarra said. Zarra's team was scheduled to
travel to Nutley for a four-school match Saturday, but was still
awaiting word Tuesday evening on whether that match would go on or be
switched to Passaic Valley in Little Falls.

Lodi is scheduled to face Livingston on 6 Jan 2007, but Rams coach
Nick DiDomenico said he did not know the status of that match. "We
have been very lucky over the years," said DiDomenico, a 30-year
veteran in the sport. "Ringworm and impetigo are each very
contagious. I have never heard of herpes being transmitted this way."

St. Peter's Prep officials closed school Monday, and workers
disinfected areas of the school used by the wrestling team, including
lockers, showers and the practice room. All wrestling practices and
matches were canceled, although officials said they hope practice can
resume Saturday.

--
ProMED-mail
promed@promedmail.org

[Contrary to the statements in this press report, human herpesvirus 1
infections are not uncommon among wrestlers, rugby players and others
engaged in contact sports, with no single strain responsible for
outbreaks. The literature has been reviewed recently by Turbeville
SD, Cowan LD, and Greenfield RA. (Am J Sports Med. 2006
Nov;34(11):1860-5. Mar 27 2006). In the case of wrestlers the
condition is known as herpes gladiatorum (HG).

Anderson (Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003 Nov;35(11):1809-14) concluded
from an analysis of the epidemiology and clinical analysis of several
outbreaks of herpes gladiatorum that the National Federation of State
High School Associations (NFHS) guidelines were inadequate to prevent
and control outbreaks of HG. The focus of preventive efforts needed
to change from mat cleanliness to more rapid detection of outbreaks
by requiring culture results and appropriate therapy for all
suspected bacterial and herpes lesions before allowing return to
contact. To minimize and control spread of HG, treatment and
isolation should be
implemented based not only on vesicle formation but also on systemic
signs and symptoms.

Anderson (Jpn J Infect Dis. 2006 Feb;59(1):6-9, Feb 2006) has
described subsequently the prophylactic use of valacyclovir (an
inhibitory nucleoside analogue prodrug) to prevent outbreaks of
primary herpes gladiatorum at a 28-day wrestling camp. The study
evaluated the usage of valacyclovir to prevent acquisition of primary
HG, due to human herpesvirus type 1, in high school wrestlers at a
28-day wrestling camp. At the beginning and end of camp, IgM and IgG
anti-HSV-1 antibodies were collected. Out of 332 male wrestlers, aged
13-20, who entered camp, 94 elected to participate in blood sampling.
Sixty-four were on antiviral medication. Among the 94 wrestlers, 28
(29.8%) had positive IgG anti-herpesvirus 1 titers. Of this group, 66
of 94, were human herpesvirus 1 IgG seronegative. At the end of camp,
55 of these original seronegative individuals elected to participate
in blood sampling and none had detectable IgM anti-human herpesvirus
1 or 2 antibodies.

Compared to previous years without antiviral usage, introducing
prophylactic valacyclovir reduced clinical HG outbreaks by 87% at
this 28-day wrestling camp. Due to the high prevalence of this virus
in high school wrestlers, Anderson recommended that serological
testing should be done at the beginning of each season. HSV-1
seropositive individuals should consider being on antiviral
medication throughout the season to minimize the risk of transmitting
the virus to other wrestlers. - Mod.CP]


274 posted on 12/20/2006 9:33:06 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All; FARS; Founding Father; milford421

[unknown url]

Cleric's star rises in Iran after vote

Associated Press

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer

Elder statesman Hashemi Rafsanjani, a mercurial cleric who has played
both sides of Iran's reformist-conservative divide, is rising again as a
key challenger to Iran's president after local elections show deep
discontent with the president's hard line.

Last week's elections for local councils in towns and cities across
Iran were seen as a referendum on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's 18
months in office, and results so far were showing widespread victories for
his opponents.

Since taking power, Ahmadinejad has escalated Iran's confrontation with
the United States and the West on multiple fronts, in particular
drawing the threat of U.N. sanctions for pushing ahead with uranium
enrichment in Iran's nuclear program. He has also sparked widespread
international outrage for his comments against Israel and casting doubt on the
Nazi Holocaust.

On Wednesday, a leading newspaper that usually reflects the thinking of
many in Iran's conservative clerical leadership said in a blistering
editorial that the election results showed it was time for Ahmadinejad to
moderate his tone and concentrate on improving the ailing economy.

"The election could be very instructive to those who have been in
power," the Jomhuri Eslami editorial said. "Arrogance, disregarding people's
economic situation, insulting respected people and high-flying policies
were among the elements of the failure of those who could not imagine
such a failure."

Ahmadinejad, who has not commented on Friday's elections, felt the heat
personally during a speech Tuesday in the western town of Kermanshah.
During his address, some in the crowd chanted, "unemployment,
unemployment, unemployment is a major problem," the pro-government daily Keyhan
reported.

The results showed a partial comeback for Iran's reformist movement,
which was crushed over the past five years by hard-liners who drove them
out of the local councils, parliament and the presidency. The reformers
seek closer ties to the West - even the United States - and a loosening
of the power of Iran's clerical rulers.

But the big winners were "moderate conservatives," who support the
clerical regime but have become disillusioned by Ahmadinejad, saying he
needlessly provokes the West, isolates Iran and ignores economic reform.

Many analysts were now predicting a coalition between reformers and
moderate conservatives to oppose Ahmadinejad and his hard-line allies in
parliament and presidential elections in 2009.

Talk of a political bloc was fueled after two top reformist politicians
- former president Mohammad Khatami and Mehdi Karroubi - met on Sunday
with Rafsanjani, a top moderate conservative.

Rafsanjani's status was boosted in a parallel election held Friday
picking members of the Assembly of Experts, a body made up of 86 clerics
that oversees Iran's supreme leader and picks his successor.

Rafsanjani won the most votes of any candidate in Tehran for the
assembly - half a million more than his closest competitor - a strong show of
support for Rafsanjani, who lost to Ahmadinejad in June 2005
presidential elections.

"The people's vote for Rafsanjani meant they hope he will create and
improve the moderate line," said Amir Mohebbian, a political analyst and
columnist in Resalat conservative daily.

Final results from the local council election in Tehran were expected
on Thursday. The interior ministry said only a few thousand of the 1.9
million votes still remained to be tallied, blaming the delay on the
large turnout and the simultaneous vote for the Experts Assembly.

But partial results showed Ahmadinejad's allies won only two seats on
Tehran's 15-member council, one of them going to his sister, Parvin
Ahmadinejad. Conservative moderates were on track to take eight seats, and
reformers four. The last seat appeared set to go to an independent.

Final results were announced for the rest of the country and showed a
heavy defeat for Ahmadinejad supporters. None of his candidates won
seats on the councils in the cities of Shiraz, Bandar Abbas, Sari, Zanjan
and Kerman. Many councils in other cities were divided along similar
proportions as Tehran's.

The election does not directly effect Ahmadinejad's power. It chose
113,000 seats on councils that administer city affairs and pick mayors.

It was not clear whether Ahmadinejad will bow to pressure to at least
change his tone, if not the substance, of his policies. The
pro-government Keyhan called the election as a victory for Ahmadinejad - depicting
all conservatives as his supporters - suggesting some in the hard-liner
camp do not see it as a call for change.

But many see the vote as signs of an anti-Ahmadinejad moderate
coalition rallying behind Rafsanjani.

The 72-year-old Rafsanjani - who served as president from 1989-1997 -
has long been an elusive inside player in Iran's clerical leadership. He
is mistrusted by reformists because of his closeness to supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and by hard-liners because of his emphasis on
pragmatism over ideology.

Rafsanjani has supported the Islamic republic's policy of shunning the
United States, yet played a major role in the 1980s Iran-Contra scandal
in which the U.S. sold arms to Iran in return for help in freeing
hostages held in Lebanon. He also backs the line rejecting a suspension of
Iran's uranium enrichment program, but has shown a willingness to
compromise in backroom negotiations on the nuclear program.

Pro-reform students frequently jeered him in demonstrations in the
past, and he suffered a humiliating defeat by reformists in 2000 parliament
elections, when he failed to win a seat.

In the 2005 run-off presidential election, Rafsanjani was the more
moderate candidate in the race against Ahmadinejad, but demoralized
pro-reform voters failed to turn out in strength to support him.

But Khatami's meeting with him Sunday suggested reformers could turn to
embrace him.

"People showed in the elections that they don't like hard-line
policies," said Mohammad Atrianfar, a political activist and a leader of
moderate Kargozaran Party. "From now on (Ahmadinejad's) hard-line current
will lose its power and it will return to its place."

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


275 posted on 12/20/2006 9:38:21 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All; FARS; Founding Father

[unknown url]

Nations circulate revised Iran sanctions

Associated Press

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer

Britain and France circulated a revised U.N. sanctions resolution
against Iran Wednesday and predicted it would be approved on Friday after it
was amended to meet Russian objections.

The new draft dropped a mandatory travel ban against about a dozen
Iranians involved in the country's nuclear and missile programs, which
Russia said was an unnecessary punishment of Iran.

Russia and China, which have strong commercial ties to Iran, have not
indicated whether they will vote in favor of the new draft.

"What I am confident is that there will be a vote on this before
Christmas and that that resolution will carry." Britain's U.N. Ambassador
Emyr Jones Parry said.

He said later that the draft could still be changed before the vote,
now scheduled for Friday morning. Council members are expected to discuss
the revised text on Thursday.

Iran insists its nuclear program is aimed solely at the peaceful
production of nuclear energy, but the Americans and Europeans suspect
Tehran's ultimate goal is the production of nuclear weapons.

The latest draft would order all countries to ban the supply of
specified materials and technology that could contribute to Iran's nuclear and
missile programs. It would also impose an asset freeze on key companies
and individuals in the country's nuclear and missile programs named on
a U.N. list.

Instead of the travel ban, the draft resolution now calls on all states
"to exercise vigilance" regarding the entry or transit through their
territory of those on a U.N. list - which now includes 12 top Iranians
but more can be added by the council.

It asks the 191 other U.N. member states to notify a Security Council
committee that will be created to monitor sanctions when those Iranians
show up in their country.

While not a mandatory travel ban, Jones Parry said the compromise
formula "will preserve a check on everybody moving."

It also says the council will review Iran's actions in light of a
report from the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, requested
within 60 days, on whether Iran has suspended uranium enrichment and
complied with other demands of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated Tuesday that sanctions
would not stop Iran from pursuing uranium enrichment, a technology that
can be used to produce nuclear fuel for civilian purposes or fuel for a
nuclear bomb.

If the IAEA verifies that Iran has suspended enrichment and
reprocessing, the resolution says the sanctions will be suspended to allow for
negotiations. It says sanctions will be terminated as soon as the IAEA
board confirms that Iran has complied with all its obligations.

If Iran fails to comply with the resolution, the draft says the council
will adopt "further appropriate measures under Article 41 of Chapter 7"
of the U.N. Charter.

Article 41 authorizes the Security Council to impose nonmilitary
sanctions such as completely or partially severing diplomatic and economic
relations, transportation and communications links.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Moscow
Wednesday that the proposed sanctions were too broad and included wording
that would block legitimate economic ties with Iran.

Speaking before the new draft was circulated, he said a "quick
agreement" was possible if the United States and its European partners return
to the original understanding that sanctions should not be used as
punishment against Iran and that the Security Council should not try to
usurp the role of the IAEA.

Six countries who have been leading negotiations with Iran - Britain,
France, Germany, Russia, China and the U.S. - offered Tehran a package
of economic incentives and political rewards in June if it agreed to
consider a long-term moratorium on enrichment and committed itself to a
freeze on uranium enrichment before talks on its nuclear program.

With Iran refusing to comply with an Aug. 31 council deadline to stop
enrichment, Britain and France circulated a draft sanctions resolution
in late October, which has been revised several times since then.

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


276 posted on 12/20/2006 9:42:10 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All

[unknown url]

Diplomat pushes peace talks in Somalia

Associated Press

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer

Somali fighters clashed with artillery, rocket-propelled grenades and
anti-aircraft guns Wednesday, even as a European diplomat persuaded both
the government and a rival Islamic movement to resume peace talks.

The heavy fighting outside the only town the government controls
dragged on into the evening and underlined the difficulties of securing peace
in this desperately poor country in the Horn of Africa.

European Union envoy Louis Michel said such skirmishes were likely to
continue for now even though both sides had agreed to ease tensions and
were committed to negotiations.

The talks will be held in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital where several
rounds of talks have already been held. No date was given.

Somalia's Foreign Minister Ismail Hurre said that while the government
seeks a peaceful settlement, it did not believe the Islamic Courts
movement does.

Leaders of the Islamic movement said they were willing to attend
discussions without conditions. Islamic leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys
played down the significance of Wednesday's fighting.

The comments marked a shift in the position of Islamic movement
leaders, who previously said they would not attend talks until Ethiopia
withdrew its military support for the Somalian government.

Michel, speaking to reporters in neighboring Kenya after a day of
diplomacy in Somalia, said he believed both hard liners and moderates in the
Islamic movement backed Wednesday's agreement.

The diplomat said that the current conflict in Somalia is being driven
by outside forces. In response to a question about Eritrea and
Ethiopia, two neighboring states with a history of hostility toward each other,
Michel said: "Somalia is suffering because some are using Somalia as a
battlefield for other issues."

As many as 8,000 Ethiopian troops may be in Somalia supporting its
government, United Nations officials say. Eritrea, the U.N. says, has
deployed 2,000 troops in support of the Islamic group. Both countries deny
these assertions.

Michel spoke Tuesday to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who
expressed support for the EU peace initiative. But the diplomat did not
provide other details of their conversation.

Clashes first erupted Wednesday nine miles from the government garrison
town of Baidoa, where the EU envoy was meeting with Prime Minister Ali
Mohamed Gedi and President Abdullahi Yusuf.

Mohamed Abdullahi Hassan, a Baidoa resident reached by telephone late
Wednesday, said the fighting intensified after dark. He said he could
hear mortars being fired on the outskirts of town. During a visit to the
Baidoa hospital, he said he counted seven government soldiers killed
and 18 injured.

The clashes occurred one day after a deadline set by the Islamic group
for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops. The religious movement's
fighters had threatened a major attack if Ethiopian forces did not leave
Somalia.

As the fighting began, several hundred Ethiopian troops boarded 13
military trucks and - with artillery support - were dispatched to reinforce
government troops on the eastern side of the city. The information came
from a government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because
of the sensitive nature of the information.

Somalia's internationally recognized central government holds only a
small area around the central town of Baidoa, about 140 miles northwest
of the capital of Mogadishu. The Islamic militiamen, meanwhile, control
Mogadishu along with most of southern Somalia.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991. The country's
secular interim government, set up in 2004 and backed by the U.N., has
rejected religious rule. Muslim leaders have insisted on an Islamic
government.

The international community is concerned about the Islamic movement's
alleged ties to terror groups, something Islamic leaders have repeatedly
denied.

Jendayi Frazer, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, has said al-Qaida
militants are operating with "great comfort" in Somalia, providing
training and assistance to the Islamic militia.

Somali and Ethiopian officials allege that men wanted in connection
with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania now hold senior
command positions within the Islamic forces.

Somalia's deputy defense minister Salad Ali Jelle told reporters
Wednesday that one of the embassy bombing suspects, Abu Talha al Sudani, had
led Islamic militiamen in a battle with government troops Tuesday near
Idale, 37 miles southwest of Baidoa. Ten people were killed.

Fears of a full-blown civil war have intensified in recent weeks. Both
sides have moved fighters, fuel and ammunition to the front lines.

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


277 posted on 12/20/2006 9:45:35 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All; DAVEY CROCKETT

[unknown url]

7 monks injured in clash over monastery

Associated Press

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

By COSTAS KANTOURIS, Associated Press Writer

Rival groups of monks wielding crowbars and sledgehammers clashed
Wednesday over control of a 1,000-year-old monastery in a community regarded
as the cradle of Orthodox Christianity, police said.

Seven monks were injured and transported by boat to receive treatment.
They were released after several hours, police said. No one was
arrested but three monks were banned from re-entering the Orthodox sanctuary
of Mount Athos, located on a self-governing peninsula in northern
Greece.

Esphigmenou monastery is the scene of a long-running dispute between
Orthodox Church authorities and rebel monks who occupy the facility. Both
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, leader of the Orthodox Christian
church, and Greece's highest administrative court have ordered their
eviction, but the monks have refused to budge.

The rebel monks vehemently oppose efforts to improve relations between
the Orthodox Church and the Vatican.

The fighting Wednesday broke out between the rebel monks and a group of
legally recognized monks who were outside. The outsiders attempted to
force their way into the monastery's offices in Karyes, the
administrative center of the monastic community, to begin construction of a new
building.

Occupying monks attacked those outside with crowbars and fire
extinguishers.

Esphigmenou's rebel abbot, Methodius, said his monks had been provoked.

"We were attacked and had to respond," he said. "They should be ashamed
to call themselves men of the cloth."

In October, a court in the nearby city of Thessaloniki handed down
two-year suspended sentences against nine monks and former monastery
members for illegally occupying Esphigmenou's offices. Supplies to the rebel
monastery are brought in by supporters using dinghies from the nearby
island of Thassos.

Esphigmenou is one of 20 monasteries on Athos, where women are banned.

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


278 posted on 12/20/2006 9:53:27 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All; Founding Father; DAVEY CROCKETT; milford421

[unknown url]

US gives Sudan until year-end to accept UN force


US gives Sudan until year-end to accept UN force

Reuters

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

By Arshad Mohammed

Sudan must allow a team of U.N. personnel into Darfur and formally
accept an international force for the area by the end of the year or face
unspecified U.S. steps next year, a U.S. special envoy said on
Wednesday.

Andrew Natsios, U.S. President George W. Bush's special envoy for
Sudan, told reporters he delivered the message to Sudanese President Lt.
Gen. Omar Hassan al-Bashir during a visit to Khartoum this month.

U.S. officials have voiced growing frustration at Sudan's refusal to
allow international troops to go to Darfur, where more than 200,000
people have been killed in three years of fighting that the United States
says is genocide.

"We have told the Sudanese that we have to move along to our own
strategic process in the United States government and we will do that
beginning in the new year if we do not see some kind of progress ... between
now and the end of the year," Natsios told reporters.

Natsios specifically asked that Sudan allow about 60 U.N. military and
civilian personnel now in Khartoum to go to Darfur and that the
government provide its written, detailed agreement for more than 10,000
international troops to deploy as part of a hybrid force of U.N. and African
Union peacekeepers.

While Natsios declined comment on what Washington might do if Sudan
fails to act by year-end, the United States and others are considering
options from travel bans on Sudanese officials and an assets freeze to
imposing a no-fly zone in Darfur.

In response to a Sudanese request, the rotating president of the U.N.
Security Council on Tuesday issued a statement reaffirming an agreement
reached last month for the hybrid force of U.N. and African Union
troops for Darfur, a step U.S. officials hoped might help Sudan accept the
hybrid force.

"We expect the Government of Khartoum to respond positively to that
action in the U.N.," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told
reporters. Asked if she had reason to believe Sudan would do so, she replied:
"We will see."

UNABLE TO VISIT REGION

The Darfur conflict began when mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in
2003, accusing Khartoum of marginalizing the arid region. Militia, which
the international community says the government mobilized to quell the
revolt, are accused of pillage and murder.

The hybrid force, which would shore up the roughly 7,000 struggling
African Union forces in Darfur, was proposed as a compromise after Sudan
rejected outright a U.N. force called for in a U.N. Security Council
resolution passed on August 31.

Under a plan crafted by outgoing U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a
small initial force of U.N. military and civilian forces would deploy to
Darfur, followed by 2,500 troops in a second phase and 10,000 more in a
third phase, Natsios said.

Natsios said Sudan could not "cherry-pick" the plan -- accepting some
elements but rejecting others -- because nations would only contribute
troops if Khartoum agreed to a contingent large enough to ensure their
own self-protection.

The U.S. official said he had been unable to visit Darfur on his recent
trip to Sudan because "the province is in such trouble now in terms of
violence, instability and chaos, I couldn't get into the airports.

"Most of the airports were closed because there is so much fighting,"
he said.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.


279 posted on 12/20/2006 9:57:19 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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To: All; Calpernia; DAVEY CROCKETT

[unknown url, the rest of the story]

Sub poses environmental threat in Norway

Associated Press

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

By DOUG MELLGREN, Associated Press Writer

More than 60 years after being torpedoed by the British navy, a Nazi
submarine built to threaten allied ships continues to spread fear off the
coast of Norway.

The rusting wreckage of the U-864, sunk in a desperate mission to
supply Japan with advanced weapons technology, now poses a major
environmental threat due to its poisonous cargo: 70 tons of mercury.

Residents on the tiny island of Fedje, located in the North Sea on
roughly the same latitude as Scotland's Shetland Islands, want the sub
removed. But authorities fear a salvage operation could result in a
catastrophic spill, and suggest entombing the wreck in the seabed with rocks,
cement and sand.

"Local people are very concerned," Fedje's Mayor Erling Walderhaug told
The Associated Press on Wednesday. "They wanted it taken away so the
danger would be gone for good."

The U-864 tried to skirt allied navy patrols on a last-ditch secret
mission code-named "Caesar," to bring jet engine parts, missile guidance
systems and mercury for weapons production to Germany's ally, Japan.
British experts discovered the mission by breaking a German code.

In a rare underwater duel, the British submarine HMS Venturer stalked
the U-864 for three hours before it finally sank it on Feb. 9, 1945,
about 2 1/2 miles off Fedje.

The German submarine was only 14 months old when it went down with a
crew of 73 in 500 feet of water.

The wreck lay undisturbed for almost 60 years until Norway's Royal Navy
discovered it in March 2003. Oslo's newspaper Dagbladet has called it
"Hitler's secret poison bomb."

The mercury containers are rusting, and some are leaking. Studies
showed elevated mercury levels in the silt around the wreck, but so far only
fish that live inside have been contaminated, according the Norwegian
Food Protection Authority. Fishing is not allowed in the waters nearby.

After spending three years and about $6.5 million researching the
problem, the Norwegian Coastal Administration recommended encasing the
submarine with sand to prevent the spread of mercury. The method, it said in
a report released Tuesday, had worked 30 times worldwide and was said
to be less risky than attempting to lift the 2,400-ton sub.

"Encasing and covering are seen as permanent environmental measures,"
said Gunnar Gjellan, who leads the government's U-864 project. "The
coastal administration recommends that the parts of the wreck be covered
with a type of sand as an absorption material and an armoring layer on
top to prevent corrosion."

The Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs said it will review the
report before making a final decision.

For the people of Fedje, near Bergen, Norway's second-largest city,
leaving the wreck where it lies means the sub's toxic cargo will continue
to threaten their port - possibly for generations.

When released into the ocean, metallic mercury, the silver fluid once
used in thermometers, can become more dangerous organic mercury. Through
fish, organic mercury can be passed on to humans in food. Mercury
poisoning can be fatal.

Even small amounts can damage the nervous system, as well as cause
heart and kidney problems.

The Norwegian environmental group Bellona has asked that the sub be
removed, but Bellona's Marius Dalen, who has followed the project from the
start, said the group would now review the report.

"We wanted to see it raised to be sure that it does not become an
environmental risk over time," Dalen said by telephone.

There is concern, he said, that the torpedoes aboard might explode if
an attempt is made to raise the vessel. Experts are also worried about
the condition of the U-864's keel, where the mercury bottles were
stored.

"We would not want to have something happen halfway through the lifting
operation that would spread mercury," he said.

Adolf Hitler sent the U-864 to Japan with then-revolutionary jet engine
technology. By strengthening the Japanese, the Germans hoped to divert
Allied troops and materiel away from Europe.

The U-864, under Capt. Ralf-Reimar Wolfram, had stopped in Bergen in
Nazi-occupied Norway on its way from Kiel, Germany, to Japan. A short
time later, the crew of the British sub HMS Venturer, under Capt. James S.
Launders, detected the sound of the U-boat's engines.

After hours of playing cat and mouse, the Venturer fired four torpedoes
in a span of 17 seconds. Three missed. The fourth hit the U-864,
breaking it in half.

The Venturer was given to Norway after the war and renamed KNM Utstein.

___

On the Net:

http://www.kystverket.no

Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.


280 posted on 12/20/2006 10:03:32 PM PST by nw_arizona_granny (Time for the world to wake up and face the fact that there is a war going on, it is world wide!)
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