Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
[Now, we have been openly attacked by the communists!!!]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070124/ts_nm/greece_attack_dc
Greek leftist guerrillas claim U.S. embassy attack
1 hour, 7 minutes ago
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek leftist guerrilla group Revolutionary Struggle has claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on the U.S. embassy earlier this month and vowed more strikes on politicians and high-security buildings, police said.
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The group, which has targeted government buildings and a minister in the past four years, has emerged as the biggest domestic security threat since the capture of the once-deadly November 17 guerrilla group in 2002.
"Police received today at 2005 (1805 GMT) a five-page claim of responsibility from the management of To Pontiki newspaper," police said in a statement. "In it the Revolutionary Struggle claims responsibility for the terrorist strike against the U.S. embassy."
Police officials said the claim was dropped near the weekly newspaper's offices on Tuesday and an anonymous caller alerted newspaper staff.
To Pontiki said it would run the full text in its Thursday edition.
"There are specific references to people that could be seen as potential targets as well as high security buildings," To Pontiki editor Dimitris Benekos told Greek media.
Assailants fired the RPG at the U.S. embassy on January 12 in a pre-dawn attack that only slightly damaged the U.S. embassy building but caused major concern for security services who fear a resurgence of high-profile attacks.
The group has also bombed the country's economy ministry and Athens court as well as attempted to kill the Greek culture minister last summer.
Full Coverage: Athens Embassy Attack
Off the Wires
* U.S. examines footage of embassy attack AP, Tue Jan 16, 11:45 PM ET
* Unclear Athens attack rocket was China-made: Beijing Reuters, Sun Jan 14, 12:50 AM ET
News Stories
* U.S. Embassy in Athens Struck by Rocket; No Injuries at Bloomberg.com, Jan 12
* Blast at U.S. Embassy called 'terrorism' at Newsday, Jan 12
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Anti-terrorist police experts search for evidence at the U.S. embassy in Athens following a rocket attack January 12, 2007. Greek leftist guerrilla group Revolutionary Struggle has claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy earlier this month and vowed more strikes on politicians and high-security buildings, a local weekly newspaper which received the claim said. (Yiorgos Karahalis/Reuters)
Reuters Photo: Anti-terrorist police experts search for evidence at the U.S. embassy in Athens following a rocket...
* Slideshow: U.S. embassy attacked in Greece
How to poison a spy
The Kremlin has angrily branded Alexander Litvinenko's widow Marina a "liar" following an interview she has given to Panorama.
She said: "I cannot say exactly that Putin killed my husband but I can say that Putin is behind everything that happens in Russia."
President Vladimir Putin's press spokesman said: "Indirectly she says that Russia has done it. I answer directly that Russia has not done it.
"It is absurd even to think about it."
The programme's investigation into the death of the former Russian spy has found that it is likely that there were multiple attempts to poison Litvinenko with Polonium 210 with the first as early as two weeks before he visited the London Sushi Bar on November 1 with academic Mario Scaramella.
The first attempted poisoning may have taken place at the same restaurant in Piccadilly Circus but earlier when Litvinenko met two former KGB men there back on October 16.
The contamination in the restaurant was not found where Litvinenko and Scaramella met on November 1 but at another location, most likely at the seats where Litvinenko met the Russian businessmen Andrei Lugovoi and Dimitri Kovtun in October.
Lugovoi was once a KGB officer and is now a millionaire while his friend Kovtun who is also ex-KGB has lived a shadowy life in Germany.
Scaramella says that he had no knowledge of how the sushi bar became contaminated.
A number of other sites, including a Knightsbridge hotel visited by the two ex-KGB men have already been found to be contaminated.
Panorama has discovered that Aldermaston (the atomic weapons research centre which tried to locate the source of the polonium) got Scaramella's test results wrong and that he wasn't contaminated with polonium.
The first test was based on the wrong type of radiation reading which produced a wildly inaccurate result.
Two subsequent and more substantial tests showed that Scaramella was negative. It was reported that Scaramella had tested positive for a massive dose of polonium.
Scaramella describes the information passed to him from Litvinenko.
He says: "He co-operated for three years with us. He passed such strong information. Some of this information was lethal information shall we say. Other people have been killed for this kind of cooperation."
Asked if he had any part in the poison plot, Scaramella says: "Absolutely not. Not only I have not killed him, of course, but I think my role in this history is very marginal. I simply meet him in the same day something horrible happened."
Litvinenko's widow Marina is interviewed for the programme and says: "I knew about two meetings, with Scaramella, when Sasha (Litvinenko) had lunch, and second meeting, with Lugavoi, very short meeting he told me, very short, just like a few minutes."
Marina explained that Litvinenko met the ex-KGB men on another occasion and that his tea may have been spiked.
She said: "At Millennium Hotel Sasha told me he met Lugovoi and during this meeting he had drunk tea and he said it was tea already served, on the table, and he just took this cup of tea, and he, he didn't finished at all, and how he later said tea wasn't very tasty, because it was cold."
Panorama has also tracked down a potential witness Mikhail Trepashkin, who Scotland Yard have not yet been able to talk to.
Smuggled mobile phone
Trepashkin is a former FSB (Russian Secret Service) officer who was thrown in jail while investigating the Moscow flat bombs which were blamed on Chechen terrorists, although some people such as Litvinenko claimed that the security services were responsible for the attacks.
Speaking on a mobile phone smuggled into his prison, Trepashkin explained how one of his FSB bosses back in 2001 had Litvinenko in his sights.
"He asked me to go and find out the route to Litvinenko, where he works, his pattern of movements, his meeting places. He said find out what book he's writing. I realised they wanted to send one person to find out his whereabouts and the group will follow."
Panorama also visits Laboratory Number 12, in Moscow once a KGB poison factory. A former Soviet intelligence officer, who preferred to remain anonymous, said about the factory: "It's the laboratory that every year gets it budget to work with radioactive poisons."
Panorama has also obtained a document classified as Top Secret by the Italian government in which Litvinenko accuses Romano Prodi, the former NATO prime minister, and now Italy's Prime Minister of being a friend of the KGB.
Before his death Litvinenko collaborated with Scaramella on his KGB mole-hunt in Italy, feeding him with highly sensitive information on KGB operations.
Scaramella tells Panorama that Litvinenko was warned off defecting to Italy.
He said: "His idea when he left Moscow was to arrive in Italy and he mentioned a friend, a colleague in the secret service who told him that you cannot go to Italy because there are some big friends of Russia in this country."
Prodi denies allegations
Asked by Panorama's John Sweeney if he thought Prodi was a KGB spy, Scaramella says: "No I think nothing about that. I simply collected from different people some information about him, about the past, about the present. Some qualified sources, including Litvinenko, told me that some officers in Moscow considered him as their man, KGB man."
Prodi has always denied any allegations that he has links with the KGB.
# How To Poison A Spy will be broadcast on BBC One on Monday 22 January at 2030 and will be offered on this site on demand from Tuesday.
# My Friend Sasha: A Very Russian Murder will follow on BBC Two at 2320. For three years before his death from poisoning, former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko had been making a documentary with his friend Andrei Nekrasov about authoritarianism in post-communist Russia.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/programmes/panorama/6276225.stm
Published: 2007/01/22 10:35:46 GMT
© BBC MMVII
[at last, I have always had thoughts about all the fancy food for the areas, where people are starving to death........]
Street kids raid poverty summit
Dozens of street children have invaded a five-star hotel food tent and feasted on meals meant for sale at the World Social Forum in Kenya's capital.
The hungry urchins were joined by other participants who complained that the food was too expensive at the annual anti-capitalist get together.
The police, caught unawares, were unable to stop the free-for-all that saw the food containers swept clean.
The gathering in Nairobi is discussing social problems, including poverty.
A plate of food at the tent being operated by the prestigious Windsor Hotel was selling for $7 in a country where many live on less than $2 a day.
'Hawkers allowed'
The children, who had been begging for food, launched the raid after being told they would have to pay for the food.
We are now not charging anybody, the event is free so that many people can participate
Boniface Beti
World Social Forum organiser
The hotel management declined to comment on the incident.
Two days ago, World Social Forum organisers were forced to waive entry fees for participants after Nairobi slum dwellers staged a demonstration against the charges.
Participants were originally being asked to pay a 500 Kenyan shillings ($7) accreditation fee.
"We are now not charging anybody, the event is free so that many people can participate," Boniface Beti, the event's media officer, told the BBC.
Mr Beti also said hawkers had recently been allowed in to sell cheap food to participants as up until a few days ago five-star catering firms had dominated business.
Tens of thousands of people are attending the World Social Forum, which is being held at the same time as the World Economic Forum - hosted in the Swiss town of Davos.
At Davos, the world's largest corporations are discussing business and hammering out trade deals, while the Kenyan event is addressing a wide spectrum of the world's social problems - including poverty.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/6295633.stm
Published: 2007/01/24 16:31:09 GMT
© BBC MMVII
New pressure on Mahdi Army
By Mike Wooldridge
BBC World Affairs Correspondent, Baghdad
Within days of Moqtada Sadr's politicians returning to Iraq's coalition government after a two-month boycott, more evidence has come to light of the pressure being put on the radical Shia cleric's powerful militia, the Mahdi Army.
The US military said joint Iraqi and American operations had led to 16 "high-level" Mahdi Army militiamen being detained and one commander being killed.
The Americans said the number of Mahdi Army members in detention now stood at over 600, a figure higher than that given by Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, only a week earlier.
'Balanced approach'
But this was said to be a result of 52 operations carried out over a six-week period and, pointedly, the statement giving details of these moves against the Mahdi Army also said there had been 42 raids targeting Sunni extremists.
The statement was headed: "Iraqi security forces and coalition forces combine in balanced approach to security" - foreshadowing the declared approach of the new security plan for the capital that is the centrepiece of President Bush's new Iraq strategy.
There are estimated to be several thousand Mahdi Army members in Baghdad alone and many thousands more around the country.
The Americans accuse the militia of being deeply involved in the sectarian violence that has taken root in Iraq since the attack on an important Shia shrine in the town of Samarra.
A recent Pentagon report said the militia was the largest threat to security.
Is is said by some analysts here that the prime minister was originally less persuaded than some of his fellow politicians in the ruling Shia alliance of the potency of the Mahdi Army threat.
Whatever the truth, Mr Maliki put the emphasis on political engagement with Moqtada Sadr, a key political ally.
The issue played out in political developments within the alliance in the closing months of last year.
The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, says he believes Mr Maliki came to feel that political pressure on Moqtada Sadr was not producing results and he "changed the mix" to allow more use of force against the Mahdi Army.
Mr Maliki has given commitments both in public and in private that no group that is involved in violence will be off limits in the new drive to bring security to Baghdad.
Then came the decision by the Sadr movement to return to the political process after a boycott that was in part a protest against the prime minister meeting President Bush, and also to press the government for a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops.
Political initiative
It could signal that Moqtada Sadr wants more leverage with the government by being back inside at a time when the pressure is building on the Mahdi Army.
There are signs that Moqtada Sadr is not seeking a confrontation with US forces after their battles of the past
If so, the issue then is how will his political group use its influence?
Some say Moqtada Sadr might not be averse to action against renegade members of his militia.
The US ambassador welcomed the return of the Sadr political group to the government but he suggested it could also be a tactic to try to keep the militia safe during the current operations against them.
Away from the spotlight of the capital, there are other places where the heat is clearly on the Mahdi Army.
Residents of villages some 25 miles (40 km) north of Baghdad say they have seen US troops carrying out raids targeting the militia - hunting down individual figures.
There is one other factor in the pursuit of the Mahdi Army.
Recent bombings in Baghdad that have killed scores of people and appear to be the work of Sunni insurgents are only likely to reinforce the view of many Shias that, for now, the Mahdi Army are their most realistic protectors.
There are signs that Moqtada Sadr is not seeking a confrontation with US forces after their battles of the past.
But the new drive to pacify Baghdad has, of course, hardly begun.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6296097.stm
Published: 2007/01/24 20:08:13 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Italy smashes prostitution ring
Police have arrested almost 800 people involved in a vast people-trafficking and prostitution network which operated across Italy.
Forty-five trafficked women, many of them forced to work as prostitutes on arrival in Italy, had collaborated in the investigation, police said.
Those accused of trafficking were from Eastern Europe and Africa, police said.
The arrests took place over a four-month period and were part of an operation known as "Spartacus".
"There is no single kingpin but various organisations, some of which are family-based in character," police chief Gilberto Caldarozzi said of the network.
'Ignoble crime'
He said the operation had been codenamed Spartacus because its aim was to "free immigrants who are forced into slavery as soon as they arrive in Italy".
Cases included that of a 16-year-old Eastern European girl based in the southern province of Reggio Calabria who was denied an abortion and forced to prostitute herself into her sixth month of pregnancy.
Interior Minister Giuliano Amato said human trafficking was "one of the most ignoble crimes".
Police also took over 22 buildings as part of the swoop, three of which were being used as sweat shops.
Four nightclubs were also among the buildings closed as a result of the operation.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6295267.stm
Published: 2007/01/24 15:16:04 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Criminal gangsters 'using pupils'
Criminal gangs are infiltrating schools in England and sometimes using primary-age children to run messages between members, a minister has warned.
The Schools Minister, Jim Knight, said the problem existed in four cities but later said London was the main problem.
He told the Commons education select committee he wanted to tackle it before it became "a genuine worry".
Mr Knight also said schools should debate the race row which erupted around Channel 4's Big Brother show.
He told the cross-party committee of MPs that he accepted his department was "going to set hares running in the media" on the issue of criminal gangs, "but we have to be open about it".
"It is an emerging issue that we want to nip in the bud now before it becomes something that is a genuine worry for parents and pupils," he said.
It's a relationship with criminal gangs outside school that is starting to come in
Jim Knight
Mr Knight said there were about 10 gangs active in Birmingham, and many more in London.
Birmingham City Council's children's director, Tony Howell, said was aware that gangs in cities in England did attract loyalty from young people in schools.
"Quite often young people's identification with gangs does not go any further than just this," he said.
"Any evidence of criminal or unacceptable behaviour in schools is referred to the police."
Mr Knight had also mentioned Manchester, and said there was a problem with "a couple" of gangs active in schools in Nottingham, too, but later retracted this.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said the force had encountered nothing to suggest city schools were being used as recruiting grounds for established drugs gangs.
Manchester's director of children's services, Pauline Newman, said head teachers had not raised it as an issue with her, and she would be requesting details from the minister about the information he had.
'Runners'
Mr Knight said a particular concern was that very young children in a very few primary schools were being used to "run" messages between older gang members, often siblings.
He said police were using intelligence on street gangs to help schools tackle the problem.
The issue was being dealt with effectively in the London boroughs of Southwark and Haringey, he said.
"It's a relationship with criminal gangs outside school that is starting to come in[to] school just in those four places that we want to be able to help schools to do something about."
Drugs
Mr Knight said he was not aware of pupils being forced to take or sell drugs.
The Department for Education and Skills says an estimated 100 to 200 organised criminal gangs are active in London.
But a spokesman said there were no figures for the number of gangs which had infiltrated schools in the capital.
Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said heads were well aware that organised criminal gangs were infiltrating schools.
He said schools must remain a "haven of safety and security" for young people.
Big Brother row
Mr Knight said the row over whether Jade Goody and fellow Big Brother housemates racially bullied Indian actress Shilpa Shetty had got a national debate going and young people should join in.
Mr Knight said bullying "should not be tolerated in any form", whether it be racist, homophobic or otherwise.
Asked specifically how he felt the bullying row over Big Brother would affect pupils, Mr Knight said the debate could help them to explore their own language and attitudes.
"We've got a debate going among young people about whether their language is racist," Mr Knight said.
"And I hope that's being discussed in schools up and down the country."
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Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/education/6294609.stm
Published: 2007/01/24 18:23:01 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Playground beating posted on web
Video images of an 11-year-old boy being beaten by an older pupil in a school playground in County Antrim have been posted on the internet.
A pupil was arrested and released on bail in connection with the incident.
The footage, recorded on a mobile phone, shows the boy being kicked and punched by a pupil wearing a PE kit while onlookers swear at him.
A police spokesperson has confirmed that an investigation into the incident is under way.
The boy's mother told the BBC's Nolan Show on Wednesday that she had received the video on her mobile phone from the parent of another pupil who had arrived home with it.
My son was on the ground and this guy was kicking and kicking and the kids were screaming in a circle round him, screaming kick him in the head, kick him in the head
Beaten boy's mother
"The parent begged me not to take it because he said I would be very upset by it," she said.
"I gave it to my husband, and through all the crying I was able to get him to come to me and take the phone.
"Both of us were broken by what we saw - it was like a vicious dog fight, although I think it was worse because of what he went through.
"My son was on the ground and this guy was kicking and kicking and the kids were screaming in a circle round him, screaming: 'Kick him in the head, kick him in the head'.
"This boy had football boots on his feet. Whenever my wee boy thought it was all over, you can actually see him turning round to see where the wee lad went and the next thing was there were more chants of 'kick him in the head'.
"He went in again, pull him down by the hair - kicking and kicking and kicking at him."
'Earlier altercation'
The woman said her son had bruises all over his body and had simply "been battered".
The young schoolboy is now afraid to return to school following the attack.
His mother said she did not only blame the attacker, but those who were standing around encouraging him to beat the boy.
On the clip, several other pupils can be heard shouting: "Hit him in the face" and "jump on his f***ing head".
In a statement, the PSNI said the attack was reported to police on 19 January.
"A male juvenile has been arrested and released on bail, pending further enquiries. The police investigation is ongoing," said a spokesman.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6294399.stm
Published: 2007/01/24 14:47:22 GMT
© BBC MMVII
LA Times: So. Cal. CAIR Refuses to Condemn Hamas or Hezbollah (my
title)
- Munira Syeda: "I don't understand what the relevance is"
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-islam24jan24,1,3903372.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true
Controversy follows Dennis Prager to Yorba Linda
Islamic councils say tonight's talk by the radio host -- who has been
criticized for saying a congressman shouldn't be able to take his oath
on the Koran -- should have a Muslim speaker for balance.
By Christopher Goffard, Times Staff Writer
January 24, 2007
When talk-show host Dennis Prager wrote a column in November decrying a
congressman-elect's decision to take his oath of office on the Koran
rather than the Bible, he argued that it would "embolden Islamic
extremists and make new ones."
In a column for Townhall.com, Prager wrote that Keith Ellison
(D-Minn.), the first Muslim elected to Congress, "should not be allowed" to
swear on the Koran because "the act undermines American civilization."
Soon, the Los Angeles radio host was at the center of the biggest
controversy he has faced during decades in public life. Op-ed pages around
the country rushed to pillory him. The Anti-Defamation League condemned
his remarks. Former New York Mayor Ed Koch characterized him as a bigot
and called for his ouster as a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Council.
Now, the tumult is extending to Prager's scheduled appearance at the
North County Chabad Center in Yorba Linda, where he will speak tonight on
"Islam, Iran, the West and Israel."
The Southern California office of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations is calling him an "Islamophobic speaker," while the director of
the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California has said he "seeks the
marginalization of American Muslims."
Those groups, along with the Muslim Public Affairs Council, has called
for the Chabad Center to invite a "Muslim representative" to balance
Prager's views.
Rabbi David Eliezrie, who heads the Yorba Linda congregation, said the
criticism of Prager in a press release issued Monday by the Islamic
relations group was "outrageous" and "akin to a blood libel."
continued............
VISIT THE NEW MEMRI BLOG AT www.thememriblog.org
Special Dispatch- Iran
January 25, 2006
No. 1436
Waiting for the Mahdi: Official Iranian Eschatology Outlined in Public Broadcasting Program in Iran
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD143607 .
The website of the governmental Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) has posted a lengthy document titled "The World toward Illumination." The document is a transcript of an IRIB series on the imminent arrival of the Mahdi, the Twelfth or Hidden Imam, awaited by Shi'ites as the Messiah.(1)
The program describes in glowing terms the messianic age to be inaugurated by the Mahdi. He is to begin his uprising in Mecca, and then march on Iraq, where he will establish his "seat of world government" in the city of Kufa and subjugate the current world powers. This will be an age of unparalleled happiness; there will be completely new technologies at mankind's disposal, and "corruption, war, and rebellion will no longer exist." Neither will "liberal democratic civilization."
Various days of the year are mentioned as being propitious for the appearance of the Mahdi, though the program says that the precise date cannot be known.
The series also includes, in parts not reproduced here, a lengthy polemic against the West, focusing on Evangelical Christians, Zionism, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Hollywood . It also gives a historical survey of Western thinking, from Saint Augustine to Francis Fukuyama.
The following are excerpts from the transcripts of the World Toward Illumination program from the IRIB website, in the original English:(2)
(1): "Miracles of the Messiah Will Soon Be Here"
"...Where is man moving to? What will happen in his future? What fate will today's nations and civilizations have in the future? Will they destroy one another? Will a power, nation or civilization prevail? And finally to what direction will the speed of technology and modernity take man?...
"In the current era new interpretations of happiness and prosperity for man have been brought up. In these interpretations there is talk about welfare and worldly tranquility. Some believe that science and material progress automatically bring about prosperity, and man can attain sublimity on earth... But the world's reality shows that man more than any other time is searching for prosperity and tranquility. The daily increasing production of destructive weapons, domineering tendencies, racist wars, genocide and instability of world markets, all threaten the world's security and tranquility. Now western rulers under the slogan of liberal democracy are tyrannically and oppressively looting the capital of oppressed nations. The weakness of the family foundation, crime, violence, narcotics, human trafficking, anxiety and depression have faced the world's future with serious danger...
"...We invite you to tune in to our next programs to see how the future will turn out to be. And we invite you to listen to an inspiring poem.
"Be joyous my heart, miracles of the Messiah will soon be here
"The scent of breaths of the One we know comes from near
"Grieve not of sorrow and melancholy, as assured I was... last night
"That a Savior will come, it's clear."
(3): "How Beautiful and Auspicious Will Be the Day when the World is Cleansed of Deceit"
"How beautiful and auspicious will be the day when the world is cleansed of deceit and mischief and the government of justice is established throughout the world. On that day the perfume of life will begin to circulate within humans and the aroma of narcissus, irises and chrysanthemums will fill their soul. Undoubtedly such a day is nigh.
"Seeking pure water so thirsty am I,
"Moonlight surely appeals to my eye
"Oh bright dawn I desire you as I sigh
"The luminous sun I seek or I die..."
(6): "We Must Get Ready to Search for the Liberal Democratic Civilization in History Museums"
"...The West due to a lack of spirituality and morality is not able to respond to man's needs. Lack of attention to man's sublime needs in these societies has created social and cultural crises. Thus this civilization like those of many other Western theoreticians is just an unreal theory. It seems that in the same way that the Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini predicted the fall of communism we must get ready to search for the liberal democratic civilization in history museums."
(12): "Everything Will Be New and Fresh Like Spring"
"Undoubtedly, history will not end with the memory of man's failures; man's ultimate fate is not weakness and inability; and the sun will undoubtedly not spare its vital rays from anyone. Many Iranian poets have spoken of the rise of the sun at dawn and consider man to be worthy of living in a bright and beautiful world full of the aroma of spirituality, where there is justice and equality...
"Contrary to the views of western theoreticians, who usually depict an ambiguous and dark future for mankind, Muslim experts believe human history, despite its many ups and downs, has a very auspicious fate, and with the appearance of the Imam of the Age, Hazrat Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance), finally the world matters will gain order. Muslims believe hopes for the realization of such a happy ending for the world, are called 'Awaiting Redemption', and means waiting for man's problems to be solved by the Savior at the end of time. This awaiting influences many, and inspires them with activity and enthusiasm in confronting darkness and oppression for changing the existing situation...
"When that Promised Person who is the direct descendent of the Prophet rises up, the sun of justice and freedom will shine on the hearts and he with his kind hands will extend friendship throughout the world. His face will be attractive and his look charismatic. He is humble before God's greatness. He is a manifestation of God's glory and beauty. Imam Mahdi is the perfect human being. His behavior is praiseworthy and his manners immaculate. He is the embodiment of justice. His torch of guidance is for all mankind...
"In short, when he reappears, peace, justice and security will overcome oppression and deceit and one global government, the most perfect ever, will be established. He will make the earth prosper in a way in which no ruins will remain. Man's maturity will reach its height, full equality will be established among the people, and no one will be arrogant toward the other and will not try to dominate others. Finally, corruption, war and rebellion will no longer exist and everything will be new and fresh like spring."
(13): "Pure and Sincere People Must Be Trained to Help the Savior in His Implementation of Global Justice"
"Sometimes incidents that occur in the world are like an insignificant but infectious pimple that suddenly explodes. Some theoreticians support this view and believe that nothing should stop this volcanic explosion and we should allow corruption to extend so much that the prevailing system would disintegrate. But the uprising of Imam Mahdi... is not like this. This uprising is like a fruit that must pass through stages till it is ready to be picked. Thus, if the Savior has not yet appeared it is not because the world is not full of oppression, but because the time must come for the people to be wise enough and ready to accept justice. Pure and sincere people must be trained in order to help the Savior in his implementation of global justice..."
Monday November 20, 2006 : "The Seat of the Mahdi's Global Government Will Be the City of Kufa " in Iraq
"He will appear as a handsome young man, clad in neat clothes and exuding the fragrance of paradise. His face will glow with love and kindness for the human beings and because of this reason a famous hadith from the Prophet of Islam... has referred to him as Inn-al-Mahdi Tavous ahl al-Jannah, which means 'Indeed the Mahdi will be like a Peacock among the People of Paradise.' He has a radiant forehead, black piercing eyes and a broad chest. He very much resembles his ancestor Prophet Mohammad... Heavenly light and justice accompany him. He will overcome enemies and oppressors with the help of God, and as per the promise of the Almighty the Mahdi will eradicate all corruption and injustice from the face of the earth and establish the global government of peace, justice and equity.
"Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance) will appear all of a sudden on the world scene with a voice from the skies announcing his reappearance at the holy Ka'ba in Mecca . The cloak and other special belongings of Prophet Mohammad... will be with him. He is the essence of all good and the mirror reflecting the characteristics of the 124,000 Prophets sent by God for the guidance of mankind since creation. He calls on all and says I am Baqiat-Allah or the Repository of God on earth. The Prophet had said: Mahdi will appear with a cloud moving above his head. From the sky it will be announced that the hands of the oppressors have been cut and the best of men from the progeny of Mohammad has taken over the leadership. Then the birds will lay abundant eggs and the fish will exceedingly reproduce, the rivers will flow in all their glory and the springs will gush forth from the earth, and the fruits will be multiplied."
"In our discussion of the world in the last days of the earth we had said in our previous editions of this program that no source has pointed to the exact date when the Savior will appear and only God knows about the exact timing of the reappearance of Imam Mahdi... The Prophet had said: He will certainly appear and if only a day were to be left to the end of the world God will make that day so long for Mahdi to appear and rise. There are various versions of the exact day of his reappearance. Some say it would be Friday and the date will be Ashura or the 10th of Moharram, the heart-rending martyrdom anniversary of his illustrious ancestor, Imam Husain... Others say the date will be the 25th of the month of Zil-Qa'dah and may coincide with the Spring Equinox or Nowrooz as the Iranians call [it]. A saying attributed to the Prophet's 6th infallible heir, Imam Ja'far Sadeq... says the Mahdi will appear on the Spring Equinox and God will make him defeat Dajjal the Impostor or the anti-Christ as the Christians say, who will be hanged near the dump of Kufa....
"Then he will be joined by 313 of the most devoted believers, equivalent to the number of those that had accompanied the Prophet at the Battle of Badr, the first armed encounter imposed by the infidels on the Muslims. Imam Mahdi and steadfast devotees will gather in Mecca; the people of Mecca will be surprised at the presence of so many faithful. These enlightened individuals will pledge allegiance to the Mahdi...
"After his appearance the Imam would remain in Mecca for some time, and then go to Medina . According to narrations, Sofyani, a descendant of the Prophet's archenemy Abu Sofyan, will seize Syria and attack Iraq and the Hejaz with the ferocity of a beast. The Sofyani will commit great crimes against humanity in Iraq, slaughtering people bearing the names of the infallible Imams, and his army will lay siege to the city of Kufa and to Holy Najaf. Of course, many incidents take place in this line and finally Imam Mahdi sends troops who kill the Sofyani in Beit ol-Moqaddas [i.e. Jerusalem], the Islamic holy city in Palestine that is currently under occupation of the Zionists. Soon a pious person from the progeny of Imam Hasan Mojtaba... meets with the Imam. He is a venerable God-fearing individual from Iran. Before the Imam's appearance he fights oppression and corruption and enters Iraq to lift the siege of Kufa and holy Najaf and to defeat the forces of Sofyani in Iraq. He then pledges allegiance to Imam Mahdi.
"Another beautiful moment of the Savior's appearance is the coming down of Prophet Jesus... from heaven. Hazrat Mahdi receives him courteously and asks him to lead the prayers. But Jesus says you are more qualified for this than me. We read in the book Tazkarat ol-Olia, 'the Mahdi will come with Jesus son of Mary accompanying him.' This indicates that these two great men... complement each other. Imam Mahdi will be the leader while Prophet Jesus will act as his lieutenant in the struggle against oppression and [for the] establishment of justice in the world. Jesus had himself given the tidings of the coming of God's last messenger and will see Mohammad's ideals materialize in the time of the Mahdi. The seat of the Mahdi's global government will be the city of Kufa, where his headquarters will be the Sahla Mosque, presently outside the city that was the home of Prophet Idrees or Enoch long before the great deluge of the times of Prophet Noah. From here he will dominate the east and the west to fill the earth with justice...
"God will enliven the earth through the Mahdi after the corruption and vice wrought by the oppressors and sinner[s]. Thus his appearance will take place when morality and humanity have reached a dead end. The people's yearning for justice in the midst of all the oppression allows him to carry out his mission. In our time, many pray for his appearance and each day they renew their allegiance to him. "O God, make me one of his companions, show me his respected and bright visage, and hasten his reappearance."
Monday November 27, 2006 : "After His Uprising from Mecca , All of Arabia Will Submit to Him, and Then Other Parts of the World as He Marches on Iraq "
"When the sun of freedom and justice shines, the sounds of a rider coming from afar will be heard. The winds obey him, and in his presence the turbulent seas and fiery storms will reach the shore of calmness. The appearance of the Savior will make the fragrance of eternal justice embellish the soul of the earth. The Mahdi... himself will say, my existence is the cause of security and peace for the world people.
"There are various narrations on the global government of peace and justice of Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance and cleanse the Planet of all vestiges of sin and corruption). Narrations on the global government of justice, the universal government, the government of the deprived, the government of welfare and security, and each of these indicates one aspect of the Savior's government. The justice-spreading universal government encompasses all these. Prophet Mohammad... has been quoted as saying: I give you the good tidings of the Mahdi. He will rise in my Ummah [i.e. the Muslim nation], while my Ummah is entangled in differences and deviations. He will fill the earth that is immersed in oppression, with justice. And all those in heaven and earth will be content with him...
"...One of the first measures of Imam Mahdi... is fighting all centers of domination and power-mongering. In this way, Global Arrogance [i.e. the West headed by America] and its minions puffed up by their economic and military might will try to create problems but they will not be able to change anything in their favor. The Mahdi considers his programs within the framework of conventional criteria, and says: Fear God and surrender to us and hand over the affairs to us. It is up to us to quench your thirst from the spring, as we are the one[s] who take you to its source.
"The Mahdi's far-sightedness and firmness in the face of mischievous elements will strike awe. After his uprising from Mecca , all of Arabia will... submit to him and then other parts of the world as he marches upon Iraq and established his seat of global government in the city of Kufa . Then the Imam will send 10 thousand of his forces to the east and west to uproot the oppressors. At this time God will facilitate things for him and lands will come under his control one after the other. The Prophet's 5th infallible successor, Imam Mohammad Baqer... says: It is as if I see the Mahdi who has taken control of the east and the west, and all obey him.
"Thus, as is clear, in the justice-seeking government the clouds give way to bright sunshine, as the Promised Savior spreads his radiance on the earth. God's infinite kindness will give refuge to mankind and the brightness of truth and justice will be seen in all dimensions of life."
Monday December 11, 2006 : "The Idea of Placing Humanity Under One Religion... is a Gift Given by Islam to Humanity"
"... Regarding the Islamic goal of the perfect and ideal state, it should be noted that the world desired by Islam is not a far-fetched idea like the utopia of the West in which the realities of today's society have no effect. Since the natural growth of man is toward sublimity, dedicated Muslims in each and every era strive to materialize the characteristics of the promised society to the best of their ability... The Father of the Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini (may his soul rest in peace) used to emphasize this and would say: We, of course, cannot fill the world with justice now. If we could we certainly would. But since we cannot, he, the Savior must come. The world is full of oppression and if we can prevent oppression we will have carried out our part of the duty...”
"With the reappearance of Imam Mahdi... conflicts, differences and discriminations that stem from lack of faith and atheism in the society will be eliminated. The shortcomings of religions and schools of thought will be clarified and Islam will prevail as the perfect pinnacle of faith. In other words, methods will become one and oneness will appear in people's beliefs. The Mahdi will materialize the call of the holy Qur'an, which throughout its text has urged mankind to unite and worship the One and the Only God without associating partners to him. The writer of the book Imamate and Mahdaviyat, says: the idea of placing humanity under one religion irrespective of their color, gender, language, class and ethnicity is a gift given by Islam to humanity..."
Monday December 25, 2006 : "The Unjust System of Distribution and Denial of the Rights of Nations Will End with the Reappearance of Imam Mahdi"
"... In the weird system of today's powerful count[r]ies, moral and spiritual values have no place and are seen as undesirable liabilities that prevent these powers from reaching economic welfare and what they call true prosperity. However, the exploitation of the weak, the unjust system of distribution and denial of the rights of nations, will end with the reappearance of Imam Mahdi...
"One of the characteristics of the global government of the Mahdi is the astounding growth of science and technology. There will be an explosion of science. As we said last week, knowledge is made of 27 letters and up to now whatever man has discovered is within the confines of only 2 letters. But when the Mahdi appears the other 25 letters of knowledge will be at the service of mankind, which is something not imaginable with the limited knowledge that we have today despite the seemingly great progress in science and technology. The Mahdi will correct man's scientific mistakes and bring up new and astonishing methods that had never occurred to man before... The Mahdi will also regain the wealth and properties that have unrightfully been usurped by invaders and oppressors and distribute divine blessings among the people. Imam Baqer... says he will divide them with such equality that there will no longer be any poor person. In Islam's logic justice and good relations among people will lead to the flow of abundant divine blessings from the sky. Since people will have the best of qualities vital rains will pour down and all the earth will be filled with greenness and freshness. The Prophet had said in this regard: in my Ummah, the Mahdi will rise and people will gain such welfare as never seen before. The sky will repeatedly rain and the earth will hide none of the things it can grow."
Endnotes:
(1) It is not stated if and when the series was broadcast or at what venue. The document posted on the website is divided into 18 parts; the final segments are dated January 1, 2007 , December 25, 2006 , December 11, November 27, and November 20; the other segments are undated. The January 1, 2007 segment, however, states that it is "the end of the 25th and last edition of our program The World Towards Illumination." For more on Iranian eschatology, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 897, "Ayatollah Nouri-Hamedani: 'Fight the Jews and Vanquish Them so as to Hasten the Coming of the Hidden Imam,'" April 22, 2005 : http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP89705.
(2) "The World Towards Illumination," http://english.irib.ir/IRAN/Leader/Illumination.htm .
http://allafrica.com/stories/200701240090.html
Computer May Hold Clue On Terror Suspect
The Nation (Nairobi)
NEWS
January 24, 2007
Posted to the web January 24, 2007
By Abdulsamad Ali
Nairobi
A laptop seized from terror suspect Abdalla Fazul's wife may contain explosive information, the Nation can reveal.
Police are trying to crack the password to open the computer his wife, Halima Badroudine Fazul, was carrying when she was arrested about two weeks ago at Kiunga on the Kenya-Somalia border.
Investigators believe the computer contains clues about what the terror suspect planned to do next.
Was arrested
Other sources close to the interrogators said Mrs Fazul was also found with 1,600 euros (about Sh145,600) and US$5,000 (about Sh350,000) when she was arrested.
She told the police that the computer was a gift for her three children from the their father.
"We believe the computer was being taken to a third party who may have the password," our sources said yesterday.
Mr Fazul is on the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) list of the most wanted terrorists.
Sources said 30-year-old Mrs Fazul had barely spent 10 days with her husband in Mogadishu when chaos erupted forcing them to flee.
She had just arrived in Mogadishu from Pakistan where she was a student at a religious institution for women known as Mahdi.
Mrs Fazul was arrested together with her three children Afiya (11), Lukman (10) and Sumeiya (5). Mr Fazul is believed to be the leader of al Qaeda cells in East Africa and the mastermind of both Nairobi and Kikambala bombings.
Others in Mrs Fazul's group being interrogated in Nairobi are: Mr Salmin Mohammed Khamis, Mr Salim Awadh Salim and his wife Fatuma Ahmed Chande. Mr Khamis was in a group recently acquitted by a Nairobi court on suspicion they took part in the Nairobi and Kikambala bombings.
The wife of Mr Saleh Nabhany, another man on the FBI list, Ms Fatuma Ahmed Abdulkarim and her daughter Hafsa, Ms Halima Hashim, whose husband Abdulrahman Mohammed Hanif is suspected to have died in the recent bombing in Ras Kamboni, have also been facing interrogators. Mr Nabhany fled together with Mr Fazul when the group was confronted by Kenyan authorities at Kiunga.
Mr Fazul, Mr Issa Omar Issa, Mr Salmin Mohammed, another unidentified man and the 10 who were arrested, set off for Kiunga when Mogadishu fell to the Ethiopians.
Spent night
They spent a night at a forest in Kiunga and while Mr Fazul, Mr Nabhany, Mr Issa and the unidentified man disappeared, the police pounced on the remaining party that was under the watch of Mr Salmin.
While in Somalia Mr Fazul is said to have changed his name to Ahmed Hassan. He is also known by over a dozen other names, all fake to hide his identity.
It has also emerged that while in Somalia, Mr Fazul was the head of the Union of Islamic Courts intelligence.
Sources, however, say that due to the camouflage that he had undergone even the UIC leadership did not know that he was the terror suspect with a US$5 million bounty on his head.
Copyright © 2006 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=5980712&nav=menu73_2_1
Government Reportedly Monitoring Anti-War Groups In Austin
Jan 24, 2007 07:49 AM
Government Reportedly Monitoring Anti-War Groups In Austin
Government Reportedly Monitoring Anti-War Groups In Austin
KXAN Weather Summary
KXAN's Shannon Wolfson has been investigating a new report that says the federal government is monitoring anti-war groups in Austin.
According to the ACLU report released this week, the Department of Defense has been monitoring peace groups around the country. At least two of them hit the government's radar after a protest inside the doors of Dobie Mall.
Some would say protests are part of the spirit of Austin. But an unclassified document released by the ACLU shows that a 2005 protest at Dobie Mall was reported by the defense department's Threat and Local Observation Notice, or TALON, database.
About one protest in Austin, it reads: "The protesters blocked the entrance to the recruitment office with two coffins, one draped with an American flag and the other covered with an Iraqi flag."
continued, with comments from the protestors also.
http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200701240505.html
Plane Makes Crash Landing
The Namibian (Windhoek)
NEWS
January 24, 2007
Posted to the web January 24, 2007
By Werner Menges
A CHARTERED aircraft carrying a group of lawyers on a flight from Oranjemund to Windhoek was forced to make a crash landing south of Luederitz yesterday.
A Cessna 310, registration number V5-LUC, had to make an emergency landing as it approached the Luederitz airport, sources informed The Namibian late yesterday afternoon.
Four Windhoek lawyers who had flown to Oranjemund to attend a court case at the diamond mining town were on board.
They are Deon Obbes, Frank Koepplinger, Carli Schickerling and Dee Sauls.
They reportedly emerged from the accident shocked and sore, but otherwise not seriously injured.
The aircraft's pilot, whose name could not be established, was injured, though, and is feared to have suffered a broken back.
The aircraft was supposed to land at Luederitz to take in fuel on its way from Oranjemund to Windhoek, Koepplinger said when he was contacted at Luederitz early yesterday evening.
Koepplinger related that the plane was already descending on approach to the airport when the pilot announced: "Tighten your belts."
A loud bang followed, as the plane made a sudden crash landing.
The aircraft appeared to have experienced a sudden engine failure, Koepplinger said.
He said while he and the other passengers were experiencing body aches after the event, they did not otherwise appear to be seriously hurt.
Their pilot, however, may have suffered a more serious back injury.
According to Titus Shuungula, an aircraft accident investigator attached to the Directorate of Aircraft Accident Investigations in the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications, an investigator from the Directorate was dispatched by air to Luederitz yesterday afternoon to investigate the incident.
Shuungula said according to preliminary information available to him the pilot was the only person injured in the accident.
He said he had been informed that the accident took place when the aircraft apparently landed short of the runway.
According to Sikongo Haihambo, the Namibia Airports Company's General Manager: Business Development, Marketing and Corporate Communication, his office was informed that the aircraft experienced a suspected engine failure and had to make an emergency landing about five kilometres south of Luederitz Airport at about 15h50.
Emergency services personnel took the pilot and four passengers to a hospital at the town, Haihambo reported.
He added that the aircraft sustained damage to its propeller at least.
The pilot and passengers were set to be kept under observation at a hospital at Luederitz yesterday evening, and it was planned to fly them to Windhoek today for further medical treatment.
Copyright © 2006 The Namibian. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4624&l=1
Jihadism in Indonesia: Poso on the Edge
Asia Report Nº127
24 January 2007
EXECUTIVE SUMMARYAND RECOMMENDATIONS
After eight months of trying to induce surrenders, the Indonesian police have conducted two major raids this month in Poso, Central Sulawesi, to arrest a group of men, most local members of the terrorist organisation Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), wanted for a range of bombings, beheadings and drive-by shootings. Peaceful efforts had clearly failed but the high death toll from the second raid has turned the wanted men into victims. A jihad that has been largely directed against local Christians could now be focused on the police as a thoghut (anti-Islamic force) and give a boost to Indonesia’s weakened jihadi movement. The urgent task now is for the government to work with Muslim leaders to explain in detail who the suspects were and why force was used. It also should examine how police operations were conducted to see if further measures could have been taken to prevent casualties. Authorities likewise need to begin addressing a wide range of local grievances.
Just after dawn on 22 January 2007 Indonesian police moved in on a quiet Poso street. They found themselves confronting not just the men they sought but a much larger and heavily armed resistance, including mujahidin from elsewhere in the Poso area and several from Java. By the end of the day, one policeman and fifteen others were dead, and several on both sides wounded. Some two dozen were arrested as they fled.
This was the second attempt in two weeks to forcibly arrest more than twenty men who had been on a wanted list since May 2006. On 11 January, police raided the houses where they were believed to be hiding, killing two, arresting six and seizing a sizeable collection of weapons.
There were already indications that the suspects and their sympathisers, in an effort to enlist mujahidin from outside their own group, were portraying police operations as an attack on Muslims. Any deaths in the course of the operations would strengthen their hand, and they now have at least seventeen men from the two raids whom they will almost certainly claim as martyrs, or eighteen, counting a young man killed in October 2006 in a clash with police. One danger now is that the jihadis will try to take the anti-thoghut war outside Poso, targeting police in other cities.
Another danger is that the JI faction that opposes bombings of Western targets and sees Noordin Mohammed Top, South East Asia’s most wanted terrorist and the man believed to be behind some of Indonesia’s deadliest bombings, as a deviant, will see this jihad as legitimate.
Finally there is the possibility that some of the fugitives might try to get to Java to join forces with Noordin. The Poso mujahidin are experienced in targeted assassinations, a tactic that has not been used outside conflict areas. While the likelihood of an operational link-up between the two groups is slight, the addition of even one experienced sniper to Noordin’s group could be lethal.
Even if these dangers are avoided and the remaining suspects are arrested, no one should be complacent that the violence in Poso is over. There is too much unfinished business from the communal conflict there that reached its height in 2000-2001. Some mujahidin speak of the need to have children quickly so that a new generation of fighters can be produced. Even as the government continues its security operations, a more comprehensive approach to the conflict is urgently needed.
This report examines how one neighbourhood in Poso became a JI stronghold and how a small group of men managed to terrorise the city for three years before their identities became known. It looks at the links between the JI structures in Poso and Java and the local grievances and resentments driving the ongoing violence and analyses the way forward.
RECOMMENDATIONS
To the Government of Indonesia:
1. Establish an independent commission of inquiry, including community leaders from Poso, on the 11 and 22 January police operations and mandate it to:
(a) determine whether the justified operations were properly conducted, in particular whether any of the deaths could have been avoided given that the suspects were heavily armed; and
(b) work quickly and disseminate its final report widely.
2. Work with Islamic leaders, using all media but especially Muslim websites and web-based discussion groups, to explain to the Indonesian public why the Poso suspects were targeted, what their crimes were and why force was used, so that it is not left to the police to explain their own actions.
3. Establish an independent fact-finding body, composed of all the stakeholders in a peaceful Poso and with full power to question civilian and military authorities, to examine grievances left over from the 2000-2001 conflict and suggest ways to heal them, with particular attention to the killings at the Walisongo Pesantren and surrounding villages in late May-early June 2000 and the Buyung Katedo killings in 2001.
4. Set up a body directly under the president, with a mandate to document the needs of those who are still displaced and work out an employment program that can absorb the local mujahidin.
5. Publish and adopt the full set of recommendations made by the fact-finding committee set up after the 22 October 2006 clash between police and mujahidin supporters in Poso.
6. Work with local leaders and donors to develop a genuinely community-based police force in Poso that would not have to rely on outside reinforcements and ensure that allegations of grave ill-treatment by security forces are immediately and transparently investigated.
Jakarta/Brussels, 24 January 2007
07 June 2006
The rise of Islamic radicalism in Mexico
In a country that is more known for its adherence to Roman Catholicism, Islam has taken hold in some segments of the Mexican society.
By Chris Zambelis for The Jamestown Foundation (07/06/06)
The ongoing controversy surrounding the debate over illegal immigration and border security issues in the United States, specifically as it applies to the porous US-Mexico frontier and the status of millions of undocumented workers and other migrants that enter the country each year from Mexico, continues to dominate headlines. Although the overwhelming majority of those entering the United States from Mexico each day are in search of opportunity, many observers worry that it is only a matter of time before al-Qaida exploits this vulnerability for its own ends.
In assessing this threat, Muslim communities in Mexico have come under increasing scrutiny by US, Mexican and international security officials both as potential enablers for terrorist infiltration and as ideological sympathizers for the brand of radicalism characteristic of al-Qaida. Muslim conversion trends in Mexico and Latin America have also raised concerns, especially given al-Qaida's successes in luring some Muslim converts to its cause. To date, however, these assessments have been way off the mark and in many respects divert attention away from the far more pressing threats at hand. A closer look at the nature of Islam and the outlook of Mexican Muslims may explain why.
Islam in Mexico
Compared to other countries in Latin America that are home to sizeable Muslim communities with longstanding ties to the region, Mexico's Muslim minority is tiny. At the same time, it is one of the most diverse and dynamic in the region. Despite varying figures and scant data, only a couple thousand Muslims are believed to live in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country. Nearly all are Sunni Muslims. Of this group, approximately half trace their origins to what is modern-day Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, mostly the descendants of traders and peasants who emigrated from the Middle East in the latter part of Ottoman rule. Mexico's Arab Muslim community is assimilated in major urban centers such as Mexico City. Significantly, Mexico is also home to a much larger Arab Christian community, also originating from the Levant, which numbers in the tens of thousands. Both communities share close ties and feel a shared sense of pride for their common Arab heritage [1].
Mexican converts
The other segment of Mexico's small Muslim community is made up of Mexicans who converted to Islam in recent years. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the world, partially as a result of intermarriage and religious conversion. This trend is also evident elsewhere in Latin America, despite the longstanding influence of the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, widespread and growing disenchantment with the Catholic Church is leading many Mexicans and others in the region to find spiritual solace elsewhere, including Islam.
One of Mexico's longest running and most influential Muslim organizations is the Centro Cultural Islamico de Mexico (CCIM). Founded in 1995, the CCIM is a Sunni Muslim organization based in Mexico City. It is led by Omar Weston, a British Muslim convert who was born Mark Weston. It runs two mosques and an array of social welfare and education programs that include Arabic language training and a dawa (call) for conversion. It also has links with Muslim communities elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean (www.islam.com.mx). Despite some vague and unsubstantiated reports, there is no evidence implicating Weston and the CCIM to radicalism or terrorism.
Mexico is also home to a number of small Sufi orders led by two women, Sheikha Fariha and Sheikha Amina, the most prominent being the Nur Ashki Jerrahi order, a branch of the Halveti-Jerrahi Tariqat community of dervishes based in the Masjid al-Farah in New York City and other major US cities. The group has branches in Mexico City, Curernavaca and Oaxaca (www.nurashkijerrahi.org). The group has been described as adhering to an unconventional blend of traditional Sufi mysticism and New Age ideologies [2]. There is no evidence implicating these groups to radicalism or terrorism.
The Murabitun (the Almoravids, after the African Muslim dynasty that ruled North Africa and Spain in the 11th and 12th century) also has a presence in Mexico (www.cislamica.org). The group is a well-funded international Sufi order based in Granada, Spain that claims thousands of followers across the globe, including many European converts. It is also regarded as one of the most aggressive missionary movements in Latin America and a major rival of Omar Weston's CCIM. It was founded in the 1970s by Sheikh Abdel Qader as-Sufi al-Murabit, a Scottish Muslim convert born Ian Dallas who was formerly a playwright and actor. Dallas is a controversial figure who, among other things, is a vocal critic of international capitalism and modern forms of finance. Although there is no evidence linking him or his organization to violence or terrorism, he has been accused of harboring pro-Nazi leanings and other radical ideologies. Othman Abu-Sahnun, an Italian Muslim convert and former ranking member of the Murabitun who had a falling out with the group, dedicates an entire website accusing his former leader of extremism, corruption and being party to alleged sinister conspiracies involving Freemasonry (www.murabitun.cyberummah.org).
Chiapas
In recent years, Mexico's volatile and impoverished southern state of Chiapas, which is home to a predominately indigenous population that traces its ethnic and cultural lineage to the Mayans, has been the target of Muslim missionaries. The indigenous peoples of Chiapas are underserved and face severe discrimination in Mexican society. In fact, these circumstances are one of the main reasons why Evangelical and other Protestant Christian sects target them in search of new adherents, an ongoing trend in Chiapas and elsewhere in Latin America. In an effort to win over converts, Christian missionary organizations have been running social welfare and humanitarian programs for decades targeting Mexico's indigenous communities. In doing so, they emphasize what they describe as the failure of the Roman Catholic establishment to cater to the spiritual and material needs of the people in the region, often with great success [3].
Muslim missionary groups, especially the Murabitun, which is led by Aurelino Perez in the region, and Omar Weston's CCIM, use similar tactics in an effort to win over adherents in Chiapas. In addition to providing much needed social welfare and humanitarian aid, the Murabitun argue that Catholicism represents a vestige of European imperialism that is directly responsible for the destruction of Mayan culture. Likewise, Catholicism is seen as a tool of the state that is to blame for the poverty and plight of the indigenous peoples. The anti-capitalist message of the Murabitun in particular also resonates with some of the impoverished locals. Murabitun discourse even emphasizes what it describes as the close cultural and ethnic links between the indigenous peoples of the region and the Muslim Moors who once ruled Spain. Therefore, conversion to Islam represents a reversion to their original identity, essentially an assertion of cultural and ethnic identity long suppressed by European colonialism. The Murabitun went as far as to engage Subcommandante Marcos and his Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), following the group's armed rebellion in Chiapas in 1994, in an effort to gain support (www.ezln.org.mx).
The number of indigenous peoples who have converted to Islam is believed to number in the hundreds. Significantly, the majority of indigenous peoples converting to Islam are among those who previously converted to Protestantism and other sects. Although religious affiliation in Chiapas tends to be more pluralistic relative to the rest of Mexico due to the influence of indigenous beliefs and customs, Mayans who turn away from the Catholic Church often face discrimination and violence. Many have even been expelled from their homes by violent gangs and are now known locally as the expulsados (the expelled). For example, many of the Muslims of Chiapas trace their lineage to the Tzotzil Mayan village of San Juan Chamula. A large segment of this community was expelled decades ago for adopting Evangelical Christianity. They now reside in Nueva Esperanza, an impoverished section of San Cristobal [4].
In addition to the Murabitun, Muslim missionary activity in San Cristobal has been attributed to the efforts of a group known as the Mission for Dawa in Mexico, represented locally by Esteban Lopez Moreno, a Muslim convert from Spain who is also linked to the Murabitun [5]. Organizations such as the Murabitun and other Muslim groups line up alongside Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and other proselytizers in the hunt for new adherents. Under these circumstances, impoverished locals will often convert to a new faith based on which congregation could provide the most benefits. Many, however, take their newfound faith seriously. With the financial support of local and international groups, Mayan Muslims made the pilgrimage to Mecca in 2005, the first group from Chiapas to do so [6].
Reports pointing to possible terrorist links with Muslim missionaries in Chiapas have surfaced in the Mexican and Spanish media. Spanish authorities have raised suspicions about possible links between Spanish members of the Murabitun living in Chiapas and radical Islamists in Spain. Other reports have even linked the group with Basque separatist movements such as ETA. Othman Abu-Sahnun is a proponent of this theory (www.murabitun.cyberummah.org). Mexican authorities have also investigated the activities of the Murabitun due to reports of alleged immigration and visa abuses involving the group's European members and possible radical links, including to al-Qaida [7]. Despite these allegations and extensive media hype in Mexico and other Spanish-language press, no concrete evidence has surfaced to date substantiating such claims.
Conclusion
US policymakers and security officials should continue to worry about border security and the potential for al-Qaida infiltration into Mexico. Given the evidence to date, however, any potential inroads by al-Qaida into Mexico is not likely to come through ties with Mexico's Muslim community - and this includes local converts or otherwise. Washington would be better served by concentrating its resources to confront Mexico's weak institutions, corruption, the influence of drug and other criminal gangs and poverty that may be exploited by al-Qaida as a means to a greater end, as they have all too often in other parts of the world.
Notes
1. Luz Maria Martinez Montiel, "The Lebanese Community in Mexico: its Meaning, Importance and the History of its Communities," The Lebanese in the World: A Century of Emigration (New York: I.B. Tauris, 1993).
2. Natascha Garvin, "Conversion and Conflict: Muslims in Mexico," International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World Review [Netherlands], Spring 2005).
3. Thelma Gomez Duran, "Muslalmanes en Chiapas," WebIslam: Islam en Latinoamerica, No. 132, 20 July 2001.
4. Bill Weinberg, "Islamic Sect Targets Chiapas Indians," Native Americas Journal, 28 August 2003.
5. "Los musulmanes del sureste mexicano", Univison, 4 October 2004.
6. Dawn, 28 January 2005.
7. Natascha Garvin, "Conversion and Conflict: Muslims in Mexico".
This article originally appeared in Terrorism Monitor, published by The Jamestown Foundation in Washington, DC., at (www.Jamestown.org). The Jamestown Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan organization supported by tax-deductible contributions from corporations, foundations, and individuals.
Printed from http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=16105
Online version provided by the International Relations and Security Network
A public service run by the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich © 1996-2004
http://www.saag.org/%5Cpapers22%5Cpaper2108.html
Paper no. 2108
24.01.2007
INDIA'S RUSSIAN BASKET
By B. Raman
President Vladimir Putin of Russia will be in India from January 24 to 27, 2007, on his fourth visit since he took over as the President. He will be the chief guest at the celebrations of India's Republic Day on January 26. This is an unique honour, which has never been extended to any US President.
2. The decision of the Government of India to invite Putin to be the chief guest this year was taken months ago immediately after the visit of US President George Bush to India in March last. This was our way of hyphenating our relations with Russia and the US. This was a gesture meant to convey a message to Moscow as well as the Indian Communists whose support is important for the continued survival of the coalition Government headed by Dr. Manmohan Singh in power. The message is that India's steadily improving relations with the US would not be at the expense of its relations with Russia.
3. It would be interesting to compare the prevailing atmosphere in the hours before the arrival of Putin in India with the atmosphere before the arrival of Bush in India in March last and during his stay in India. The excitement over Putin's visit is confined to the policy-making circles, the national security managers, the communists and other leftists and the media. The kind of excitement that one saw in public before and during Bush's visit, one does not find now as the nation awaits the arrival of Putin. The man in the street, unless he be a communist or other leftist, cares a damn for Russia, but he is fascinated by the US.
4. A public opinion poll taken before the visit of Bush showed how popular he was with the Indian public. Bush's public opinion rating in India would continue to be high if a poll was again taken today. There has not been any public opinion poll of Putin, but it is doubtful whether he would come anywhere near Bush.
5. Despite this lack-lustre image of Russia and Putin in the eyes of the man in the street, Russia continues to evoke greater admiration in the minds of India's policy-makers and national security managers than the US. Were Dr. Manmohan Singh to order a secret poll of serving and retired public servants---including military officers and scientists--- on his increasing bonhomie with the US and Bush, one can be certain that a majority will express reservations over the wisdom of his policies and actions.
6. What is true of the man in the street in India is equally true of the man in the street in Russia. Today's man in the street in Russia cares a damn for India. He is more interested in the European Union and the US. The man in the street in the US shows more warmth for India than the man in the street in Russia. The continuing interest in India in Russia is confined to its community of public servants and strategic analysts.
7. The comfort level between Indian public servants and their Russian counterparts continues to be high. Indian public servants do not feel as comfortable with their American counterparts. A public servant is like a man, who has been bitten once by a dog. Once bitten always shy. Indian public servants have too many painful memories of the innumerable occasions when they were bitten by the US----right from the day India became independent in 1947. How the US tried to obstruct the development of heavy industries! How President John Kennedy was thwarted by the US Congress when he wanted to help India in the construction of a steel plant at Bokharo! How the US repudiated its solemn contractual commitments with regard to the nuclear power station at Tarapore after India carried out its nuclear tests of 1974! How the US tried to prevent India from acquiring a super computer for its meteorological department! How the US, even while pretending to co-operate with the Indian intelligence agencies, penetrated them again and again at senior levels and bought the loyalty of their senior officers and made them betray their country! Even while professing great friendship for India and admiration for Dr. Manmohan Singh, how the US penetrated India's National Security Council Secretariat, which is part of the Prime Minister's Office! How it has been repeatedly giving one arms package after another to Pakistan adding to the concerns of India's national security managers! How it declined to support India's candidacy for the permanent membership of the UN Security Council! How it preferred a compliant South Korean diplomat to Shashi Tharoor for the post of UN Secretary-General! One can go on adding to the list.
8. Can you cite a single instance since our independence when the USSR or Russia had betrayed India and its people? It stood by us through thick and thin. It never hesitated to meet any of our requests for arms supplies. It repeatedly spurned Pakistan's request for military sales. It refused to permit Ukraine to sell to Pakistan an advanced tank, whose engine was of Russian make. It has been reluctant to permit China to sell to Pakistan a military aircraft, whose engine is of Russian make. It has repeatedly assured India that it would not sell to Pakistan any military equipment, which might cause concern to India's national security managers. The Indian intelligence community has had a relationship of much longer duration with its Soviet/Russian counterpart than with the US intelligence community. How many instances have been there where the Soviet/Russian intelligence had betrayed the trust reposed by us in them and tried to penetrate our intelligence agencies at senior levels? How Moscow has gone ahead with the implementation of its agreement for the supply of the Koodankulam nuclear power stations despite strong pressure from the Clinton Administration to abandon the agreement just as the US abandoned the Tarapore agreement! One can go on adding to this list too.
9. It is therefore, no wonder that despite all the sweet talk between Bush and Manmohan Singh and the new found fascination of large sections of the New Delhi-based community of strategic analysts for the US, large sections of Indian public servants---serving as well as retired--- continue to have a greater comfort level with Russia than with the US. This does not mean that the relations between India and Russia would continue to be as close as ever for years and years. Just as in India, so too in Russia, a new generation of public servants is rising to positions of influence. It has no time for nostalgic recall of the past. Its eyes are turned towards the future. For it, the future means closer relations with the EU and the US.
10. Putin completes his term in March, 2008. Unless he decides to amend the Constitution, he cannot continue for a third term. He had a special soft corner for India because of his past background as a professional intelligence officer of the KGB. Many ex-officers of the KGB have a soft corner for India just as many ex-CIA officers of the US have a soft corner for Pakistan. If he is succeeded by someone not connected with the past administrations in Moscow, the new incumbent may not attach the same importance to India as Putin did.
11. The Russian basket continues to be very valuable for us. We feel comfortable putting most---if not all-- of our eggs in it. We should not, however, lose sight of the fact that a day might come when we may like to shift some of our eggs to some other basket. Our relationships with the EU and the US are multi-dimensional. Our relationship with Russia is largely three-dimensional---military and energy supplies and political support in matters affecting our national security. They are unlikely to expand beyond those three dimensions.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical studies, Chennai. E-mail: itschen36@gmail.com)
Copyright © South Asia Analysis Group
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http://www.saag.org/%5Cpapers21%5Cpaper2100.html
Paper no. 2100
19.01.2007
PAKISTAN & JIHADI TERRORISM - US CONCERNS - INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR---PAPER NO. 176
By B. Raman
The US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence held hearings on January 11 and 18, 2007, respectively on Current and Projected National Security Threats. This was the beginning of the annual assessment done by the two Committees. John Negroponte, the outgoing Director of National Intelligence, Gen. Michael Hayden, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Randall Fort, Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research , Robert Mueller, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, Director of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), testified before the Senate Committee. Negroponte, Gen. Hayden, Lt. Gen. Maples, Philip Mudd, Associate Executive Assistant Director of the National Security Branch in the FBI, and Charles Allen, Chief Information Officer, Department of Homeland Security, testified before the House Committee.
2. While the open discussion that followed the prepared testimonies in the Senate Committee largely focussed on the situation in Iraq, the members of the House Committee exhibited great concern over the dangers of an act of terrorism in the US homeland arising from the members of the Muslim diaspora in the US. Can the London blasts of July 7, 2005, which were carried out by four home-grown terrorists from the UK-based diaspora----three of them of Pakistani orign--- be repeated in the US? That was the question preoccupying the minds of many members of the House Committee. Particularly, in the context of the post-9/11 tightening of physical security in the US, which has hopefully made it very difficult for outside elements to infiltrate into the US and carry out an act of terrorism, they were worried that a future 9/11 might come from home-grown terrorists from the diaspora. While indications of radicalisation of some members of the diaspora were noted, the question repeatedly posed was why the radicalisation in the US does not seem to be as serious as yet in the US as it is in the UK.
3. The answers given by the senior officials of the US intelligence community and the points made by the members of the House Committee showed an inadequate understanding of the nature of the diaspora from Pakistan in the UK and the US. It was pointed out by Robert Mueller that Al Qaeda "has been particularly successful in recruiting individuals from Pakistani and Kashmiri militant groups operating overseas as was evident in the recently disrupted Al Qaeda related airline plot out of the UK."
4. However, nobody pointed out that most of the radicalised Pakistanis in the UK come essentially from three communities--- the Punjabis, the Mirpuris, who are the Punjabi-speaking Kashmiris from the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) and the Pashtuns. They are all Deobandis, who are close to the Wahabis, and have been in the forefront of jihadi terrorism in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and the UK. The members of the Sindhi, Baloch and Mohajir communities in the diaspora in the UK, who are largely the tolerant Barelvis, have kept away from jihadi terrorism till now. While the majority of the Pakistani diaspora in the UK consists of the Deobandi Punjabis, Mirpuris and Pashtuns, there is a large percentage of the Barelvi Sindhis, Balochs and Mohajirs in the Pakistani diaspora in the US. There has been very little migration of the Mirpuri community to the US. Most of the Kashmiris, who have migrated to the US, are Hindu Pandits from India's Jammu and Kashmir, who were driven out by the jihadis. Since 9/11, there has been an attempt by bin Laden's International Islamic Front (IIF) and its member-organisations such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM), the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) to encourage their Deobandi/Wahabi members to migrate to the US to work as clerics in the mosques frequented by the people of Pakistani origin in order to radicalise them. The arrests of some Pakistanis, including clerics, in the US during the last two years on various charges, indicated that some progress towards radicalisation has already been made.
5. One of the members of the House Committee referred to a report carried by the "Washington Post" on January 18,2007, about one Khan, a Pakistani, who had allegedly been asked by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, who orchestrated the 9/11 terrorist strikes, to explore the possibility of poisoning US water reservoirs and blowing up gas stations. The threat of an act of home-grown terrorism from the Pakistani diaspora in the US has to be taken seriously. It is surprising that this did not receive the attention it deserved in the Senate Committee.
6. In his prepared testimony before the Senate Committee, Mueller gave the following assessments:
· Al Qaeda is still seeking to infiltrate operatives into the US from overseas, who have no known nexus to terrorism, using both legal and possibly illegal methods of entry.
· "Due to the stark differences in the history, the population and the immigrant assimilation in our two countries (the US and the UK), it is difficult to directly compare our terrorism threat to theirs. We see relatively less defined (home-grown) networks of terrorism and less developed attack planning (than in the UK)."
· It is possible, however, that the strategy for attacking the US homeland includes using the UK as a stepping stone.
· The diversity of home-grown extremists and the direct knowledge they have of the US makes the threat they pose potentially very serious. The radicalisation of US Muslim converts is of particular concern. Converts appear to be more vulnerable (to extremism) and likely to be placed in situations that put them in a position to be influenced by Islamic extremists.
· While Al Qaeda will continue to try to obtain and use, if it can, some form of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) material, it will most likely continue to focus on economic targets such as aviation, the energy sector and mass transit; soft targets such as large public gatherings; and symbolic targets such as monuments and government buildings.
7. While there was the usual pro forma praise for Pakistan and its President, Gen.Pervez Musharraf, for what was projected as their commitment to co-operate with the US in its fight against terrorism, the hearings in the two committees clearly brought out that a resurgent Al Qaeda has re-organised its training and operational bases in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan---particularly in North and South Waziristan--- and in the Anbari Province of Iraq and was now trying to re-organise its bases in Somalia. It is apparent that senior officials of the US intelligence community apprehend that future acts of terrorism by Al Qaeda will, most probably, radiate from these three areas.
8. To quote Negroponte: "Al Qaeda's core elements are resilient. They continue to plot attacks against our Homeland and other targets with the objective of inflicting mass casualties. And they continue to maintain active connections and relationships that radiate outward from their leaders' secure hideout in Pakistan to affiliates throughout the Middle East, Northern Africa and Europe..... Many of our most important interests intersect in Pakistan, where the Taliban and Al Qaeda maintain critical sanctuaries. Pakistan is our partner in the war on terror. It is also a major source of Islamic extremism."
9. Gen. Hayden told the House Committee: "The immediate threat comes from providing Al Qaeda that which they are attempting to seek in several locations right now---be it Somalia, the tribal areas of Pakistan or the Anbar Province---a safe haven to rival that which they had in Afghanistan."
10. Philip Mudd compared the growing popularity of jihad among large sections of the Muslim youth to the popularity of Pepsi and characterised the global jihad as "the Pepsi Jihad".
11. From the hearings by the two committees, one could see that there is now a greater willingness in the US intelligence community to express publicly their concern over the use of the Pakistani territory by Al Qaeda and the Taliban. However, there is still a reluctance to criticise Musharraf for it and express doubts over his sincerity.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: itschen36@gmail.com)
Copyright © South Asia Analysis Group
http://www.saag.org/%5Cpapers21%5Cpaper2090.html
Paper no. 2090
09.01.2007
RUSSIA ASSERTS ITS RESURGENT STRATEGIC AUTONOMY
By Dr. Subhash Kapila
Introductory Observations
Russia asserted its resurgent strategic autonomy in a highly symbolic manner in September 2006 when President Putin sat down at the Paris Summit with the French President and the German Chancellor. Publicly, it was given out that the Paris Summit focused on Russia’s energy supplies to Western Europe and European energy security. In contemporary international affairs, energy supplies and energy security are no longer economic matters but foreign policy and strategic tools. Obviously, the focus had to be on Russia’s strategic role in European affairs and its spillover effects in other strategic regions.
Russia was therefore no longer down and out as Western observers had got used to believe in the post Cold War era. This author had consistently maintained that even when Russia was economically down, it was not strategically out. Even with a run-down economy Russia continued as the only nation with strategic strength and capabilities to reach the United States.
A year ago, this author in a paper entitled: “Russia’s Foreign Policy in a Resurgent Mode: An Analysis” (SAAG http://www.saag.org/papers17/paper1682.html) had laid out the contours of Russian foreign policy in strategic regions across the globe in a bid to regain its traditional influence. It seems that its foreign policy strategies have worked.
Western observers in the last couple of months have conceded that Russia’s resurgence to regain its strategic autonomy is very much in place and that President Putin’s earlier policy of working and co-operating with USA was now dissolving and fading away.
This paper attempts to examine Russia’s resurgence as an “independent power centre” in global affairs under the following heads:
* Russia’s Strategic Resurgence: The Contributory Factors
* Russia’s Declaratory Policy on Resurgence.
* Russia-China Strategic Nexus
* Russia’s Strategic & Military Modernization
* Russia’s Energy Resources: A Foreign Policy and Strategic Leverage
* Russia Regains Control Over the Asian Heartland
* Russia’s Pressure Points Against the United States
* Russia’s Resurgence: The Future Prospects
Russia’s Strategic Resurgence: The Contributory Factors
Russia’s strategic resurgence arises from the cumulative effect of a host of international and domestic factors which fortuitously converged in Russia’s favor. In terms of international factors which have contributed towards Russian strategic resurgence, the following can be listed:
* United States imperial over stretch in its military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq
* United States policy establishment not according equitable status to Russia in global affairs
* NATO’s eastward expansion impinging on Russia’s strategic sensitivities
* United States strategic intrusions in the Central Asian Republics
* United States – inspired “Colour Revolutions” on Russia’s Western peripheries
* Phenomenal rise in international energy prices
Many observers argue that Russia was becoming conscious to US neo-cons plans to “de-construct Russia” in a manner that it could not re-emerge as a strategic challenger to USA in global affairs. They further argue that Gulf War II against Iraq in 2003 had less to do with Saddam Hussain, his WMDs and Al Qaeda links. The invasion of Iraq they maintain was part of an over-all strategy to “de-construct Russia”.
Be as it may, the discernible fact is that following 2003, President Putin put aside his “partnership strategy” with USA and moved towards putting Russia’s resurgence in sharper contours.
In terms of domestic contributory factors leading to Russia’s resurgence the following can be considered:
* President Putin’s resolute and dynamic leadership which was in marked contrast to his two predecessors.
* President Putin’s re-kindling of Russian nationalism
* President Putin’s strong handling of the Russian economy and liquidating the Russian oligarchs who had risen to power in the Yeltsin era and many enjoyed Western patronage. In the Putin regime, Russia’s foreign exchange reserves were built up to over $ 100 billion.
* Russia’s growing oil revenues due to rise in international oil process.
Russia’s Declaratory Policy on Resurgence
President Putin’s “State of the Federation” address on May 10, 2006 can be construed as a declaratory policy on Russia’s resurgence. It was a long address which covered a wide spectrum of how states mature, the need for increasing Russia’s birth rate, Russia’s military modernization and a blue print for the next five to ten years.
Of strategic import in terms of goals for Russia’s resurgence, they seem to have been spelt out as under:
* Russia’s intentions to re-build its resources and capabilities to emerge as a credible counter-weight to the United States.
* Russia must strategize to emerge as an autonomous international power
* United States unbridled influence and use of power needs to be limited
The above goals seem to have already being followed by Russia in a pro-active manner post-2003.
Russia-China Strategic Nexus
It would be appropriate to insert here in this examination the Russia-China strategic nexus that has emerged more sharply in recent years. It could also be construed as a major contributory factor towards Russia’s resurgence.
Russia and China today enjoy a convergence of mutuality of interests strategically, politically and economically. This has manifested itself in the strengthening of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and adding military contours to it.
Politically, China had teamed up with Russia to thwart American plans on Iran and North Korea.
With China’s burgeoning demand for energy resources which Russia is in a position to provide by virtue of its proximity and abundance, Russia’s growing strategic resurgence is likely to be assured of Chinese support for a long time to come.
Russia’s Strategic and Military Modernization
The abundance of oil revenues added by a pick-up in Russian arms exports (World’s second largest last year) has fuelled in the last two years the modernization of strategic and conventional military power. Russia has accorded priority to introduction of new strategic nuclear assets and submarines.
It is also offering advanced technology weapon systems on the world market. China and India continue to be the leading customers.
In terms of strategic resurgence, Russia can now be expected to make up the shortfalls in its strategic assets of earlier years. Strategically therefore, Russia is no longer at a disadvantage in comparison with the United States.
It also needs to be remembered that Russia no longer being in an imperial overstretch of yester years would be able to pack more punch due to reduced strategic commitments.
Russia’s Energy Resources: A Foreign Policy and Strategic Leverage
Russia possesses the world’s largest reserves of natural gas and has the world’s sixth largest reserves of oil. Due to low oil prices in the past nearly half of its energy reserves lie untapped so far. These resources have provided Russia with a tremendous foreign policy and strategic leverage. Russia in the last year had used this leverage to great effect.
Russia has used this to great effect in Europe and with devastating effect against its former Soviet republics on its periphery falling prey to US-inspired “colour revolutions”. They have been asked to pay market rates for energy as opposed to earlier subsidized rates.
Russia supplies more than 25% of Europe’s natural gas supplies. At the Paris Summit Russia held out promises of increased supplies to France and Germany from new fields, new oil terminal on the Baltic and even a possible new under-sea pipe-line.
Russia’s contribution to Europe’s energy security would entail a corresponding European sensitivity to Russian strategic and political sensitivities, as opposed to their trans-Atlantic alliances commitments
Russia enjoys this leverage on its Pacific seaboard in relation to China and Japan arising from its trans-Siberian pipelines and the Sakhalin Island oil deposits.
This leverage has been forcefully used against US oil companies on charges of environmental disregard. The US companies are being forced to re-negotiate their contracts won during the Yeltsin era by paying billions of dollars in fines.
With the prices of oil unlikely to fall to $30.40 per barrel level, Russian’s resurgence is assured by its sizeable oil deposits and so also its use as a foreign policy and strategic leverage
Russia Regains Control Over the Asian Heartland
The United States was able to obtain a military and political presence in the Central Asian Republics for its military intervention in Afghanistan following 9/11. Russia demurred with this US military presence in the Asian heartland and its under-belly on the understanding that the United States would enlarge operations of its coalition against international terrorism to Chechenya also. The Russians soon realized that this was not to be and that USA under strong Islamic nations influence would be against Russian operations against the Islamic rebels in Chechenya. China too was similarly alarmed by US double standards in relation to Xinjiang Islamic rebels.
In brief the impetus given by Russia and China to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) with particular reference to Central Asia was impelled by a desire to roll-back US military presence from the Asian heartland. Uzbekistan asked the Americans to leave and the SCO called for a fixed time-table for withdrawal of all US Forces from the region.
With growing resurgence of Russia and its traditional sway over the Central Asian Republics, it would be unrealistic to expect United States to retain a presence in the region against opposition from Russia as a continental power.
Russia’s Pressure Points Against the United States
Russia’s growing strategic resurgence would impart to it capability to increase its strategic pressure points against United States strategic aim to achieve “full-spectrum dominance” Russia’s opposition to United States unilateral moves against nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea are the first indications in this direction.
Syria which is in American cross-hairs for not doing enough to control ingress of Sunni rebels into Iraq continues to receive Russian military hardware including missiles
Russia continues to construct the Bushehr nuclear reactor in Iran, much to the American dislike.
In East Asia and Central Asia the Russia-China strategic nexus along with the over-arching SCO can be deemed as a major Russian strategic pressure point against the United States.
Russia’s Resurgence: The Future Prospects
On present indicators there are no reasons to suspect that the Russian strategic resurgence is a short term affair and that it is likely to last only till the oil prices are high. A strong dip in international oil prices can be expected to slow down the pace of Russian resurgence but not liquidate it altogether.
Russian resurgence is not only energy-centric driven. It is also driven by its expanding arms sales, the strategic congruence of Russian-China strategic interests and the prevailing international strategic situation which is not at all favorable to the United States which is the only power capable of checkmating it.
Some of the questions which hover over the future of Russian resurgence are:
* Russia’s future after Putin demits office in 2008?
* Is the United States strategically capable of containing Russia’s resurgence?
* Can the United States break the Russia-China strategic nexus?
* Would the United States be able to prevent the growing energy-fuelled economic integration of Russia with Europe?
It is believed that even when Putin demits office in 2008 his successor would be handpicked by him and Putin will continue in a father-figure advisory role much like Deng Xiao-Peng of China. This would ensure continuity in Russia’s strategic priorities.
Regarding all the questions centering on the United States, it seems unlikely that with all its strategic distractions, it can once again launch another Cold War for containment of Russia in the foreseeable future.
Concluding Observations
Russia’s strategic resurgence if sustained over a period of time could lead to the materialization of Russian national aspiration to re-emerge as an independent power centre and a countervailing power to the United States.
This would upset the existing status-quo in the global power balance in favor of the United States as the sole superpower. For this reason Russia’s resurgence has emerged as a topic of avid debate in the capitals of major world powers.
The United States is the only power capable of checkmating Russia’s resurgence. Complicating this strategic picture is China’s strategic nexus with Russia. The moot question is-can and will the United States resort to an immediate checkmating of Russia’s resurgence or await the imponderables to materialize that may prevent or impede this resurgence? Only time will tell.
(The author is an International Relations and Strategic Affairs analyst. He is the Consultant, Strategic Affairs with South Asia Analysis Group. Email:drsubhashkapila@yahoo.com)
Copyright © South Asia Analysis Group
Thanks to Milford421 for this report.
North Valley Counterfeit Operation Turns Dangerous When Pipe Bombs Discovered
http://www.cbs47.tv/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=c6b1e72e-6391-4067-9b8f-789f04deed4b&rss=153
North Valley Counterfeit Operation Turns Dangerous When Pipe Bombs
are Discovered
Last Update: 1/24/2007 3:32:02 PM
A concerned Hilmar resident called her local police overnight
January 23rd, after feeling as though a situation at a neighbor's
house was just "not right".
Turns out the neighbor had reason to be concerned.
When members of the Merced County Sheriff's Department arrived at
the scene they found a complex counterfeit operation at the
residence.
Not only were counterfeit $20 and $100 dollar bills found but six
pipe bombs, ready to explode, were also discovered.
The Merced Police Bomb Squad was immediately called in and the two
blocks surrounding the area were evacuated.
The bombs were successfully detonated and no one was injured in the
process.
Neighbors of the vacant house, where the incident took place, say
that there was activity at the home twenty four-seven despite its
being vacant.
Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin re-enforced that anytime someone
sees something they feel is amiss; they should immediately call 9-1-
1.
In this case, it paid off.
Two suspects were arrested; Michael Martinez who is a known sex
offender with a lengthy crime sheet and Venetta Hernandez who will
face forgery, explosive and counterfeiting charges.
An incident like this draws attention from many major organizations;
The Secret Service, Treasury Department and The Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms were all contacted to assist in this case
Thanks to Milford421 for this article.....
7 Brooklyn men, 4 corporations charged in gas smuggling ring
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny-brf--gassmuggling0124jan24,0,5331562.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork
7 Brooklyn men, 4 corporations charged in gas smuggling ring
January 24, 2007, 5:19 PM EST
NEW YORK (AP) _ Seven men and four corporations have been indicted
in connection with a scheme to illegally import fuel from New Jersey
into New York, state officials said Wednesday.
The defendants conspired between March and December 2005 to
transport and distribute nearly 3,000 gallons of untaxed gasoline
and diesel motor fuel from storage tanks in New Jersey to New York
gas stations, where the fuel was to be sold, according to court
documents. They weren't legally registered in New York distribute
diesel motor fuel, and were attempting to avoid paying fuel taxes.
Brooklyn residents Anatoly Sagalov, 63; Yevgeny Shubovich, 47; Adik
Khayumov, 34; Vladimir Podvighin, 46; Arthur Fuzailov, 38; Arthur
Mouseyan, 44; and Paul Batushanskiy, 32, have been charged with tax
felonies and conspiracy.
Union Trucking Inc.; Petroleum Formuler Inc.; AY Trucking Group
Inc.; and KY Petroleum Group Inc., all face various tax felony
charges for their involvement in the scheme.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and the acting commissioner of the
state Department of Taxation and Finance, Barbara Billet, announced
the Brooklyn grand jury indictment.
January 24, 2007 PM Anti-Terrorism News
(Update) Al-Qaida deputy sends new warning to U.S. - Reuters report on
video "posted on the Internet on Wednesday" - Al-Zawahiri states "You
are facing the Islamic rage" and threatens "far worse" reprisals if
U.S. policy remains unchanged - partially translated by SITE on Jan 22 -
Laura Manfield video link
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16792232/
Update to January 22 Al-Zawahiri Speech "The Correct Equation"
http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications246007&Category=publications&Subcategory=0
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/01/new_video_of_al_qaeda_2_ayman.php
http://www.lauramansfield.com/zawahiri_012207_video.wmv
(Iraq) New Video Heralds 'Islamic State of Iraq'
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/01/new_video_heral.html
(Iraq) Thirty insurgents killed in fierce Baghdad battles, 35 captured
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/24/Iraq.main/index.html
US-Iraqi troops clash with gunmen; 9 suspected insurgents reported
captured
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467802886&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
(Iraq) Report: U.S. crew of downed helicopter shot at close range
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/24/iraq.helicopter.crash.ap/index.html
(US) Held In Contempt, Sami Al-Arian Launches Hunger Strike - held in
contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury in Virginia
http://www.tbo.com/news/metro/MGBC1CF5BXE.html
Jihad In Trinidad - Al-Qaeda suspected of having set up front -
Jihadists launched movement to replace govt with Sharia law
http://www.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=254445363192537
Federal judge finds lawyer leak in case of alleged al-Qaida operative
Padilla violated court order
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/24/america/NA-GEN-US-Padilla-Terror-Charges.php
(Update) U.S. launches new airstrike in Somalia - Defense Department
officials admit to strike by AC-130 gunship but uncertain whether
intended target killed
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070124/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_somalia
France: Agents arrest four terror suspects - with suspected terrorist
ties after they were expelled from Syria
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467805315&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Greek leftist guerrillas claim U.S. embassy attack - "Revolutionary
Struggle" biggest Greek domestic security threat in past 4 years
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070124/ts_nm/greece_attack_dc
(Israel) Terror alert called from Modi'in to Rosh Ha'ayin
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467805589&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
UK airline bomb suspects "radicalized in weeks" - UK authorities state
suspects plotting to attack USA quickly adopted Jihadism
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070124/wl_nm/britain_security_dc_1
(UK) Terror suspects held for longer - Manchester operation believed
linked to terror suspect fleeing control order
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6296491.stm
(UK 7/21 Bombing Trial) Accused 'admits making bombs'
http://www.express.co.uk/news_detail_pa.html?sku=11696719808804001-H1
(UK 7/21 Bombing Trial) 'Terror bomb sample started burning in
laboratory'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=431085&in_page_id=1770
London terror trial: weak detonators prevented carnage
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070124/wl_uk_afp/britainattackstrial_070124211057
London 2012 security chief says Al-Qaeda is main threat to Olympics
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/24/sports/EU-SPT-OLY-London-2012-Terrorism.php
LA Times: So. Cal. CAIR Refuses to Condemn Hamas or Hezbollah (my
title) - Munira Syeda: "I don't understand what the relevance is"
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-islam24jan24,1,3903372.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true
New York's emergency HQ revamped
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6295133.stm
U.S. slams Canada for complaining about Arar case
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070124/wl_nm/usa_arar_dc_3
(US) Senior Intel Officials Warn U.S. Has Lost Its Global Reach in Spy
Network
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/01/senior_intel_of.html
New passport rules temporarily waived
http://www.washingtontimes.com/business/20070123-095426-4817r.htm
Islam in Africa - PRISM newsletter on Somalia, Algeria, & Al Qaeda in
Africa (Acrobat file)
http://counterterrorismblog.org/newslinks/upload/2007/01/Islam%20in%20Africa%20Newsletter-%20No1%20vol%202%20-January%202007.pdf
(India) Court absolves Kashmiri model of terror funding charge (my
title) - Delhi Police suspected him of Lashkar-e-Taiba links
http://www.outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?id=445981
(Philippines/Indonesia) Success Against Abu Sayyaf Will Not Impact
Indonesia, Says Expert
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.379636870&par=0
(Philippines) More troops deployed to 'finish off' Sayyaf group
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2007/01/24/more.troops.deployed.to.finish.off.sayyaf.group.html
Israeli PM warns of 'severe steps' against Iran
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070124/wl_mideast_afp/irannuclearpolitics_070124195451
Belarus vows to up military cooperation with Iran
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467806851&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
To Isolate Iran, America Introduces Resolution Against Holocaust Denial
http://www.nysun.com/article/47244
Iran: Signs Political Elite Moving To Restrain President
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/01/a295a181-d6c9-4896-85f3-55a313026454.html
Iran hangs four convicted of bomb attacks
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2007/January/middleeast_January259.xml§ion=middleeast
Commentary: Iranian call for the "convergence of Islamic movements"
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/01/iranian_call_for_the_convergen.php
Jordanian court convicts three Muslim militants - Among 13 tried in
2003 for planning attack on US Embassy and other US targets
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467804553&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Egypt arrests 7 in Muslim Brotherhood clampdown
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070124/wl_nm/egypt_brotherhood_arrests_dc_1
(Update) Sudan Hijacker: "Go To Britain"
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-13564593,00.html?f=rss
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/254524/1/.html
Other News:
(Iran) Waiting for the Mahdi: Official Iranian Eschatology Outlined in
Public Broadcasting Program in Iran
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD143607
E-mail to GI sparks threats to Muslim company
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1169639802222950.xml&coll=2
(US) Veil-wearing Muslim gets new court hearing
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16788852/
Netherlands: Comedian should be killed
http://islamineurope.blogspot.com/2007/01/netherlands-comedian-should-be-killed.html
Indonesia academics dispute report Sen. Obama attended radical Islamic
school
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/24/america/NA-POL-US-Obama-2008.php?page=1
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