Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
VEVAK learned its methodology from the Soviet KGB and many of the Islamist revolutionaries who supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini actually studied at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, the Oxford of terrorism. Documented Iranian alumni include the current Supreme Leader (the faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, under whose Velayat-e Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurisprudent) apparatus it has traditionally operated. Its current head is Cabinet Minister Hojatoleslam Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ezhei, a graduate of Qom's Haqqani School, noted for its extremist position advocating violence against enemies and strict clerical control of society and government. The Ministry is very well funded and its charge, like that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the Pasdaran) is to guard the revolutionary Islamic Iranian regime at all costs and under all contingencies.
From the KGB playbook, VEVAK learned the art of disinformation. It's not so difficult to learn: tell the truth 80% of the time and lie 20%. Depending on how well a VEVAK agent wants to cover his/her tracks, the ratio may go up to 90/10, but it never drops below the 80/20 mark as such would risk suspicion and possible detection. The regime in Teheran has gone to great lengths to place its agents in locations around the world. Many of these operatives have been educated in the West, including the U.K. and the United States. Iranian government agencies such as embassies, consulates, Islamic cultural centers, and airline offices regularly provide cover for the work of VEVAK agents who dress well and are clean shaven, and move comfortably within our society. In this country, because of the severance of diplomatic relations, the principal site of VEVAK activities begins at the offices of Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
Teheran has worked diligently to place its operatives in important think tanks and government agencies in the West. Some of its personnel have been recruited while in prison through torture or more often through bribery, or a combination of both. Others are Islamist revolutionaries that have been set up to look like dissidents - often having been arrested and imprisoned, but released for medical reasons. The clue to detecting the fake dissident is to read carefully what he/she writes, and to ask why this vocal dissident was released from prison when other real dissidents have not been released, indeed have been grievously tortured and executed. Other agents have been placed in this country for over twenty-five years to slowly go through the system and rise to positions of academic prominence due to their knowledge of Farsi and Shia Islam or Islamist fundamentalism.
One of the usual tactics of VEVAK is to co-opt academia to its purposes. Using various forms of bribery, academics are bought to defend the Islamic Republic or slander its enemies. Another method is to assign bright students to train for academic posts as specialists in Iranian or Middle East affairs. Once established, such individuals are often consulted by our government as it tries to get a better idea of how it should deal with Iran. These academics then are in a position to skew the information, suggesting the utility of extended dialogue and negotiation, or the danger and futility of confronting a strong Iran or its proxies such as Hizballah (Hezbollah). These academics serve to shield the regime from an aggressive American or Western policy, and thereby buy more time for the regime to attain its goals, especially in regards to its nuclear weaponry and missile programs.
MOIS likes to use the media, especially electronic media, to its advantage. One of VEVAK's favorite tricks is setting up web sites that look like they are opposition sites but which are actually controlled by the regime. These sites often will be multilingual, including Farsi, German, Arabic French, and English. Some are crafted carefully and are very subtle in how they skew their information (e.g., Iran-Interlink, set up and run by Massoud Khodabandeh and his wife Ann Singleton from Leeds, England); others are less subtle, simply providing the regime's point of view on facts and events in the news (e.g., www.mujahedeen.com or www.mojahedin.ws). This latter group is aimed at the more gullible in our open society and unfortunately such a market exists. However, if one begins to do one's homework, asking careful questions, the material on these fake sites generally does not add up.
Let's examine a few examples of VEVAK's work in the United States. In late October, 2005, VEVAK sent three of its agents to Washington to stage a press event in which the principal Iranian resistance movement, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK), was to be slandered. Veteran VEVAK agent Karim Haqi flew from Amsterdam to Canada where he was joined by VEVAK's Ottawa agents Amir-Hossein Kord Rostami and Mahin (Parvin-Mahrokh) Haji, and the three flew from Toronto to Washington. Fortunately the resistance had been tracking these three, informed the FBI of their presence in Washington, and when the three tried to hold a press conference, the resistance had people assigned to ask pointed questions of them so that they ended the interview prematurely and fled back to Canada.
Abolghasem Bayyenet is a member of the Iranian government. He serves as a trade expert for the Ministry of Commerce. But his background of study and service in the Foreign Ministry indicates that Bayyenet is more than just an economist or a suave and savvy businessman. In an article published in Global Politician on April 23, 2006, entitled Is Regime Change Possible in Iran?, Bayyenet leads his audience to think that he is a neutral observer, concerned lest the United States make an error in its assessment of Iran similar to the errors of intelligence and judgment that led to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, with its less than successful outcome. However, his carefully crafted bottom line is that the people of Iran are not going to support regime change and that hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually has achieved greater popularity than his predecessors because of his concern for the problems of the poor and his fight for economic and social justice. To the naive, Bayyenet makes Ahmadinejad sound positively saintly. Conveniently overlooked is the occurrence of over four thousand acts of protest, strikes, anti-regime rallies, riots, and even political assassinations by the people of Iran against the government in the year since Ahmadinejad assumed office. So too, the following facts are ignored: the sizeable flight of capital, the increase in unemployment, and the rising two-figure rate of inflation, all within this last year. Bayyenet is a regime apologist, and when one is familiar with the facts, his arguments ring very hollow. However, his English skills are excellent, and so the naОve might be beguiled by his commentary.
Mohsen Sazegara is VEVAK's reformed revolutionary. A student supporter of Khomeini before the 1979 revolution, Sazegara joined the imam on his return from exile and served in the government for a decade before supposedly growing disillusioned.
He formed several reformist newspapers but ran afoul of the hardliners in 2003 and was arrested and imprisoned by VEVAK. Following hunger strikes, Sazegara was released for health reasons and permitted to seek treatment abroad. Although critical of the government and particularly of Ahmadinejad and KhameneМ, Sazegara is yet more critical of opposition groups, leaving the impression that he favors internal regime change but sees no one to lead such a movement for the foreseeable future. His bottom line: no one is capable of doing what needs to be done, so we must bide our time. Very slick, but his shadow shows his likely remaining ties to the MOIS.
http://www.ocnus.net/artman/publish/article_27144.shtml
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/politics/2007/01/25/korea_pow/
Hardly Known, Not Yet Forgotten, South Korean POWs Tell Their Story
2007.01.25
Jeon Yong-Il (L), who was taken as a war prisoner by North Korea during the Korean War, appears with Heo Pyeong-Hwan (R), Division commander of South Korea's Army 6th Infantry. Photo: AFP/Jung Yeon-Je
SEOULThousands of South Koreans taken prisoner by the North during the Korean War (1950-53) were sent to do hard labor and were refused the chance to be repatriated under international law.
Those who survived the working conditions found they were still subjected to contempt and discrimination, 50 years after the end of the war.
One day I found it rather strange that I could not hear the sound of airplanes overhead. Later, I found out the reason the skies had fallen silent: the war was over, POW Cho Chang-Ho told RFAs Korean service shortly before his death.
While 80,000 South Koreans were missing-in-action during the Korean War, only 8,000 POWs were repatriated by North Korea to the South. In contrast, 76,000 North Korean POWs were repatriated by South Korea.
Never informed
One day, my daughter came crying to me, saying that she could not get involved with a man, because she was the child of a South Korean POW. How could words describe the pain of a father?
Oh Jeong Hwan
Former POWs who managed to escape back to South Korea said that they were simply not informed that a prisoner exchange was taking place, or even that the war was over.
At the time, I was in Manpo Prison, and I had no idea at all about the armistice or prisoner exchange, Cho said.
Another former POW, Kim Chang Seok, said: I was captured on July 4, 1953, while on a covert mission. I didnt know about the prisoner exchange.
After coming to South Korea, I examined relevant documents and realized that, after the end of the war, a prisoner exchange had been conducted for a couple of months. South Korean POWs in the North had no idea about the exchange when it happened. Had we known about the prisoner swap at the time, we would have done something about it, Kim told a 34-episode RFA radio documentary series titled POW Story.
The DPRK has no one to be exchanged for except those who deserted the disgraceful army and joined the peoples army to fight the enemy in the past Korean War and those who came over to the North of their own accord, cursing the South Korean society.
North Korea's official KCNA news agency, July 15,1999
Article 118 of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which came into force on Oct. 21 1950, states that: Prisoners of war shall be released and repatriated without delay after the cessation of active hostilities.
But thousands of South Koreans were held by the other side. Their true number may never be known. North Korea still denies their existence, and many died from disease, starvation, or in industrial accidents.
Kim Kyu Hwan, a POW repatriated to the South in 2003 after performing forced labor in the Aogi mine, testified that he had worked there for 35 years.
In North Hamgyong Province, because the coal deposit is relatively recent, the coal layers are weak, and if one digs deep, a lot of pressure develops. If the pressure is too high, the coal layers collapse, and mortal danger ensues, said Kim, whose real name has been changed at his request.
Six hundred and seventy South Korean POWs were confined to hard labor at the Aogi coal mine in 1953, and 30 more arrived later. Out of 700 POWs, there are no more than 20 left now. Over the past five decades, many have died in working accidents, and others have died of old age, Kim said.
South Korean POWs have formally received citizenship and married North Korean women, establishing families in the North. But they have continued to be labeled as reactionaries during the war of liberation, and are the most oppressed social category in North Korea, according to defectors whose relatives were POWs.
For example, they lacked the freedom to choose their place of work or residence, and were barred from membership in the North Korean Workers Party.
Gruelling work
Lee Kwang Dok, nephew of Lee Ki Choon, a former POW repatriated in 2004, said his uncle was an educated man, and was sent to work in the Chungjin shipyards instead of a coal mine. Lee said his uncle lived under constant surveillance and perpetual suspicion that he might try to escape to the South Korean shore. He worked hard and lived without having any hope of ever being granted a promotion.
Oh Jeong Hwan, a POW repatriated to the South in 2000, said his sons couldnt join the North Korean army, but were forced to follow in the footsteps of their father and work in a coal mine instead.
In North Hamgyong Province, because the coal deposit is relatively recent, the coal layers are weak, and if one digs deep, a lot of pressure develops. If the pressure is too high, the coal layers collapse, and mortal danger ensues.
Kim Kyu Hwan
One day, my daughter came crying to me, saying that she could not get involved with a man, because she was the child of a South Korean POW. How could words describe the pain of a father? said Oh, whose name has also been changed.
I had lived my life as a broken man since my youth, because I was a POW, and then my offspring had to dwell on this agony again, how could I not be embittered?
POWs were not only used as forced labor. While the war was still under way, they were often given North Korean uniforms and redeployed as soldiers to fight the other side, defectors said. Some were lucky enough to be taken prisoner by the South once more, and a policy of voluntary repatriation by the South Korean and US forces after the Armistice meant that they could remain there.
Choi Hee Kyung, daughter of a deceased South Korean POW, said she decided to flee North Korea because of the perpetual discrimination and contempt she faced there.
North Korea never treated us as human beings. Since they could not just slaughter us, they chose to use us as sheer tools devoid of any humanity. We had no future and no freedom, Choi said.
We couldnt travel, study, or go to university, we couldnt live like human beings. Ever since I was born, until I fled North Korea, all I felt was grievance and frustration over the North Korean governments attitude toward me, and all I wanted to do was to live like a human being, she said.
Meanwhile, the remaining POWs are now into their 70s or 80s, with little time left to fulfill their lifelong dream of returning home.
Bae Young-Sook, the daughter of a deceased former POW, fulfilled her fathers last wish to be buried in his hometown, and defected to South Korea carrying the urn containing her fathers ashes.
My father always said that if the two Koreas were reunified, he wanted me to visit his hometown, where fruit is plentiful and there is always enough to eat, asking me to bury whatever was left of his remains in his place of birth, she said.
My father suffered through his entire life in North Korea and died of starvation, longing for his hometown in the South.
For its part, the North Korean government has said little about South Korean POWs under its control, essentially denying their existence.
The South Korean authorities doggedly refuse the repatriation of unconverted long-term prisoners, calling for the exchange of them for POWs of ROK [South Korean] army and those abducted by the North, the official KCNA news agency said in a July 15,1999 report.
The DPRK has no one to be exchanged, except those who deserted the disgraceful army and joined the peoples army to fight the enemy in the past Korean War and those who came over to the North of their own accord, cursing the South Korean society, it said.
Original reporting in Korean by Sookyung Lee. RFA Korean service director: Jaehoon Ahn. Translated and researched by Greg Scarlatoiu and edited by Sooil Chun. Written for the Web in English by Luisetta Mudie, and edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.
© 2007 Radio Free Asia
Large amount of news today, much of it posted to 'all', so you will have plenty to read.
Odd day for news, all over the place.
http://www.rfa.org/english/china/2007/01/18/china_sichuanriot/
Thousands Riot, Burn Sichuan Hotel After Girl's Death
2007.01.18
Video of burning hotel sent to RFA by a witness and posted on YouTube [is also on this page]
Thousands of local residents have converged on an upscale hotel in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, setting fire to the building in protest at the death and alleged rape of a 16-year-old girl who worked there. Mobile phone footage taken outside the hotel in Dazhu township showed confused and raucous crowds in darkness in front of a burning building as crowds gathered outside. Witnesses said the crowd reached 20,000 at its peak late Wednesday.
There are still around a few thousand people on the scene and they protested outside the hotel this afternoon, a shop owner near the Nest Business Hotel in Daizhu told RFAs Cantonese service.
Hotel worker Yang Daili, who some Internet accounts said was a karaoke hostess, was found dead in a hotel room on Dec. 30. Police enquiries initially yielded little evidence, and the hotel said she had died of an overdose.
Friends protested
But the girls friends and classmates pursued the matter and began a protest in the hotel, drawing public attention.
The riot was triggered, residents said, after the hotel posted a notice denying any involvement in the girls death. Protesters stormed the hotel and vandalized it, then set fire to it.
There are still around a few thousand people on the scene and they protested outside the hotel this afternoon.
Dazhu shopkeeper
Police announced Thursday they had arrested two suspects in the case of the girls death. One was described in official media coverage as suspected rapist Liu Chikun.
'Witnesses' posted online
The report, posted by Sichuan Online and rebroadcast by Phoenix TV(ZH), said local leaders had ordered an investigation into possible business links between local police and the hotel.
An officer who answered the phone at the Dazhu police station declined to give further details.
I have just come on duty and we havent got any updated information yet. How can I tell you the current situation outside? he said.
Two Chinese-language forum posts translated into English by Hong Kong-based blogger Roland Soong said Yang was drugged and raped repeatedly by karaoke room clients until she died.
China sees thousands of mass incidents across the country every year.
While many are civil rights protests over land disputes, unpaid wages or environmental issues, spontaneous outbursts of anger and violence are occurring over numerous other issues, including changes in business licensing regulations, perceived miscarriages of justice, or fraudulent advertising claims.
Original reporting in Cantonese by Lee Kin-kwan. RFA Cantonese service director: Shiny Li. Written for the Web in English by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.
© 2007 Radio Free Asia
This is a google search for the doc, it is interesting and worth reading, no, I did not read it all....
http://www.google.com/search?q=CRS+Report%3A+China+and+Proliferation+of+Weapons+of+Mass+Destruction+and+Missiles&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
The copy that I read, is on the right side of this page:
http://www.china-intel.blogspot.com/
[far reach, but the name is the same as the lady found dead in her car trunk, in california, see post 2999...granny]
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2007/01/zhous_arrest_linked_to_pension_fund_scandal_winny_wang.php
Zhou's Arrest Linked to Pension Fund Scandal - Winny Wang
Posted by Mo Ming :: 2007-01-24, 09:56 AM :: Politics
From Shanghai Daily:
Shanghai property tycoon Zhou Zhengyi was arrested on Sunday after prosecutors found evidence linking him to the pension fund scandal, Shanghai People's Procuratorate said yesterday.
Prosecutors discovered that Zhou was suspect of bribery and falsification of value-added tax invoices during their investigation into the city's pension fund scandal, the Procuratorate said.
Zhou is still wanted by Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption, which accuses him of rigging stock prices when he controlled the then Hong Kong-listed Shanghai Land Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Nongkai.[Full Text]
Tags
Zhou Zhengyi, pension fund scandal
Related Articles
* 2007-01-21 :: Chinese Tycoon Arrested over Tax
* 2006-12-08 :: Chinese Officials Confirm Re-Arrest of Shanghai Tycoon - James Areddy
* 2006-11-28 :: Shanghai's New Officials Up in Action - Mark's blog
* 2006-11-24 :: China finds pension fund abuse - Quentin Sommerville
* 2006-11-14 :: In a Scandal, Shareholders, Not Citizens, Are the First to Know - WSJ
* 2006-10-22 :: Shanghai bans "corruption tour" advertisements - Jeremy Goldkorn
* 2006-10-19 :: Shanghai F1 boss implicated in the pension fund scandal - Geoff Dyer
* 2006-10-11 :: CPC Ends the Meeting Without Mentioning Chen Liangyu
* 2006-10-08 :: China's 'Larry King' speaks out on TV show - Channelnewsasia
* 2006-10-06 :: Former Shanghai Tycoon Zhou Zhengyi Arrested Again
* » More
[appears to be related to an earlier post of mine, above, today]
http://china-e-lobby.blogspot.com/
Communists pick their fellow cadres over murder-rape victim: A Sichuan receptionist, aged 16, "was suspected to have been raped and killed by three local officials on December 29, 2006" (Sound of Hope via Epoch Times). The local cadres fell in line to support the three perps, and when thousands protested, "The authorities mobilized thousands of police to use high-pressure water canons to suppress the protesters."
Thanks to Milford421 for this report:
US health authorities probe mass vomit outbreak on QEII Thu Jan 25,
2:07 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - US health authorities were probing the cause
of a mass outbreak of vomiting that struck down about 300 people on
the world-famous Queen Elizabeth II luxury liner.
A total of 304 people -- 276 passengers and 28 crew members -- were
laid low after being hit by a norovirus on board the British cruise
ship, which docked in San Francisco on Monday.
A spokeswoman from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
( CDC) told AFP samples had been taken from the affected
people and were being tested as officials sought to determine what
caused the outbreak.
"We are analyzing stool samples, but usually it takes a few days for
this sort of norovirus," she said.
The spokeswoman said nearly 17 percent of the 1,652 people on board
the ship had been affected, an unusually high concentration. The CDC
defines an outbreak as an illness affecting more than three percent
of a ship's passengers.
Officers from the CDC had boarded the ship when it docked in
Acapulco last Friday to investigate the outbreak. Emergency
sanitation measures, which included disinfecting casino chips and
closing self-service food counters, helped halt the spread of the
virus, the CDC added.
A spokesman for the QEII's operator, Cunard, said: "The whole
cleansing regime has been upgraded. People have been advised on
measures they should take."
The liner is currently on a worldwide voyage and is now en route to
Hawaii.
Noroviruses can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach
cramping, and in severe cases can be fatal among children and the
elderly.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070125/ts_alt_afp/ushealthbritainship_070125190713
[This is the F.R. thread for post 2999 and 3025]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1774300/posts?page=1
Missing Stanford graduate student found dead Thursday (Santa Rosa, CA)
Santa Rosa Press-Democrat ^ | 26 Jan, 2007
Posted on 01/26/2007 12:53:28 PM PST by MIT-Elephant
Missing woman found dead at SRJC Suicide suspected after Stanford graduate student discovered in trunk of her car in parking lot By JEREMY HAY AND BOB NORBERG THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
The body of a missing Stanford University student was found Thursday in the trunk of her car in a Santa Rosa Junior College parking lot, where the car may have been parked for days as her family and police searched for her.
Santa Rosa police said there are signs that Mengyao "May" Zhou, a 23-year-old graduate engineering student, killed herself. But they left open the possibility a crime may have been committed.
Her father, Yitong Zhou, resisted the suggestion his daughter committed suicide, saying police haven't shared details of what they found with him.
"If they can show me the evidence, I will accept, but currently it looks like I have more questions than answers," said Zhou, a software engineer.
May Zhou went missing Saturday and was last seen leaving her Palo Alto apartment to go shopping. Police said her credit cards, cell phone and e-mail account had not been used since.
The Father, looks important:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Yitong+Zhou&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1774290/posts
Moscows Assault on the Vatican The KGB made corrupting the Church a priority.
National Review Online ^ | January 25, 2007 | Ion Mihai Pacepa
Posted on 01/26/2007 12:15:33 PM PST by Iris7
The Soviet Union was never comfortable living in the same world with the Vatican. The most recent disclosures document that the Kremlin was prepared to go to any lengths to counter the Catholic Churchs strong anti-Communism.
In March 2006 an Italian parliamentary commission concluded beyond any reasonable doubt that the leaders of the Soviet Union took the initiative to eliminate the pope Karol Wojtyla, in retaliation for his support to the dissident Solidarity movement in Poland. (Major snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
Kommersant
Jan. 26, 2007
Russia Crosses Off Anna Politkovskaya
// Murdered Russian Journalist Scratched from PACE Agenda
Yesterday turned out to be the toughest day yet for the Russian
delegation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE), where a report entitled "Threats to the Lives and Freedom of
Expression of Journalists" was read and the Russian State Duma's
failure to ratify the 14th protocol of the European Convention on
Human Rights was discussed. Kommersant special correspondent Nargiz
Asadova has the details from Strasbourg.
The Investigation is Stalled
At the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) last
Monday, urgent debate on the resolution "Threats to the Lives and
Freedom of Expression of Journalists" was suggested to replace a
discussion of a resolution concerning Russian-Georgian relations. The
Russian delegation initially greeted the change of topic as a victory
for their side. However, the question of the safety of journalists can
hardly be called a more pleasant topic for Russia. The author of the
resolution, English deputy Andrew Macintosh, made no secret of the
fact that he had been motivated to write the report by the murder of
Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. "PACE is deeply disturbed by
the numerous attacks on and threats to the lives and freedom of speech
of journalists in Europe in 2006 and January 2007. The Assembly
decisively condemns the murder of Hrant Dink in Turkey and Anna
Politkovskaya in Russia," said Mr. Macintosh in his opening remarks.
Mr. Macintosh also thanked the Paris branch of the organization
Reporters Without Borders for collecting and sending to PACE chairmen
Rene van der Linden several thousand signatures demanding a fair
investigation into Ms. Politkovskaya's murder.
"This is a protest by the Assembly against the murder of journalists,"
said French deputy Denis Barde in support of his British colleague.
"The authorities that kill journalists doubt themselves and doubt
democracy. These people do not want to answer for their actions. They
support totalitarianism and fear. No democracy can survive without a
free press." "The number of journalists killed in Russia while
fulfilling their professional duties is the third highest in the
world, after the conflict-ravaged countries of Iraq and Algeria," said
Turkish deputy Erol Aslan.
Russian deputy Leonid Slutsky attempted to stem the tide of the
discussion. "The resolution says nothing about the responsibility
borne by the journalistic community for the contents of what its
members publish, report on television, etc. The phrase 'following
journalistic ethics" is too weak in relation to, for example, the
infamous 'caricature scandal.' Europe is home to twenty million
believers, and they will never allow a so-called 'free' media to mock
the tenets of their religion. That is provocation, not freedom!" he
said.
PACE's response to Mr. Slutsky was to adopt a 16th amendment, which
read, "Aggression or threats directed by any religious group towards
opinions expressed in oral or written form or as drawings can have no
place in European democracy." An overwhelming majority (89 deputies)
of those in attendance voted for the amendment.
However, the most unpleasant point for the Russian delegation was
number 11, which read, "The Assembly calls on the State Duma and the
Federation Council of Russia to carry out an independent parliamentary
investigation into the 2006 murder of Anna Politkovskaya and to
present the results of the investigation to the Assembly." (*)
The Russian delegation reacted with displeasure. "We have submitted an
amendment suggesting the removal of the 11th point," said Russian
delegation head Konstantin Kosachev during the discussion. "A
parliamentary investigation is always an expression of a lack of
confidence in the investigative authorities. But we have no reason not
to have confidence in them. The deputies of the State Duma are in
contact with Ms. Politkovskaya's family and colleagues, and we have
received no complaints from them regarding the investigation. We
cannot offer professional assistance to the investigation, and
political pressure is inappropriate at this point." Vera Oskina,
another representative of the Russian delegation, added that the
investigation into the murder of Anna Politkovskaya is under the
personal supervision of Russian prosecutor general Yury Chaika.
The Russian deputies succeeded in convincing their colleagues that the
11th point should be stricken from the resolution. In its place, a
point was included that stated, "National parliaments should follow
the progress of criminal investigations and should acknowledge the
responsibility borne by the authorities not only for a lack of an
investigation but for a lack of results, as in the case of the Russian
parliament in relation to the murder of Anna Politkovskaya." Once all
of the amendments were taken into account, the resolution passed with
106 votes.
The Court is Delayed
The next question on the agenda for PACE concerned Russia's failure to
ratify the 14th protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights,
which concerns reform of the European Court of Human Rights. The
discussion of the issue was an ongoing debate not aimed at adopting
any resolution.
At the start of the discussion, Swiss deputy Dick Marti reminded the
assembled deputies of the Strasbourg Court's significance for Europe.
"Thanks to the creation of the European Court of Human Rights, 800
million European citizens have gained the option of appealing to an
independent judicial entity to protect fundamental human rights. But
now the Court is in jeopardy. The Court is overwhelmed with cases
(more than 90,000 cases are languishing without review) and cannot
review them properly," said Mr. Marti.
At the beginning of the decade, when the number of cases sent to the
European Court began to multiply, it was decided to speed up the
review of cases by undertaking some administrative reforms aimed at
simplifying the trial procedure. The Council of Europe's legal experts
included the modifications in protocol 14, which was opened for
signatures over the next two and a half years. In that period, all of
the countries of the Council of Europe signed it except Russia. "The
efforts that we have made to increase the productivity of the Court
have been nullified by the Russian State Duma. This is a very serious
situation," emphasized Mr. Marti. He reserved his strongest
indignation, however, for Russia's repeated accusations that the
Court's decisions are "politicized." "If some country does not
subscribe to the principle of an independent court, it has no place in
the Council of Europe! The head of a CE member-state cannot say that
the European Court of Human Rights meddles in politics just because
the Court's decisions are not to his liking. That is anathema to an
independent judiciary," Mr. Marti said.
Mr. Kosachev attempted to calm his Swiss colleague: "Personally, I and
all of the other members of the Russian delegation to PACE voted for
the ratification of the 14th protocol in the State Duma." He also
noted that the Duma's decision concerning the 14th protocol is not
final and that the topic will be reviewed sometime in the future.
Finally it was decided to send a group of deputies from the PACE
judiciary committee to Moscow to consult with members of the Duma's
judiciary committee. "The protocol is scheduled to go into effect by
June of this year we do not have much time left. We must go to
Russia and convince the Duma to ratify the protocol," said Romanian
deputy Georgy Frunda.
Nargiz Asadova (Strasbourg)
http://www.kommersant.com/p737073/r_527/toughest_day_PACE/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070127/ap_on_re_us/helicopter_crash
Navy helicopter with four aboard crashes
8 minutes ago
SAN DIEGO - A military helicopter with four people aboard crashed Friday into the Pacific Ocean about 50 miles off the California coast, a Navy spokesman said.
It was unclear if there were any survivors.
The helicopter based at Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado was on a training mission when it went down at 2:45 p.m., Cmdr. Jack Hanzlik said.
continued.........
http://www.opinioneditorials.com/guestcontributors/fsalvato_20070119.html
January 19, 2007
24 or 5 to 12
Frank Salvato
Two manufactured events took place this week that lend credence to the notion that we live in very danger times. The first, the detonation of a suitcase nuke nuclear device on American soil by Islamist terrorists, as portrayed on the FOX series 24, was fiction. The second, the updating of the Doomsday Clock to five minutes to midnight, though based in scientific reasoning, is also artificial. But when viewed through the terroristic chaos in which the world is embroiled only the naïve and those in denial can afford the luxury of discounting the probability of an American Hiroshima taking place in the near future.
I doubt that my wife and I were the only people who sat speechless as the season premiere of 24 concluded. The cutting edge fictional accounting of the war against Islamist terrorists set on our own soil went there; they depicted a nuclear attack in a suburb of Los Angeles. As the vision of a nuclear mushroom cloud emanating from an American city loomed on the television screen my wife captured the moment with Oh my God, Frank.
Oh my God indeed.
I started thinking about the casualties. In a city like Los Angeles one would have to assume that the dead would be in the hundreds of thousands almost immediately. Perhaps another couple hundred thousand would die the slow torturous death that radiation poisoning affords in the days that followed. The aftermath of a nuclear detonation in an American city would be carnage.
Then I thought about the chaos that would envelop the country should a terrorist detonate a nuclear device within the United States. It would cripple the country for a good period of time the World to a lesser extent as our leaders and emergency personnel decided how to handle the situation. Would our leaders then be able to set aside political opportunism to confront the problem of radical Islamist terrorism in earnest? Would the political power-plays then be abandoned for effective, cohesive government? Would our nation set aside the absurdity that is the notion of fighting a politically correct war to stand as one and set out to kill the bastards that attacked us, that killed hundreds of thousands of us? Judging from where we are five years on from September of 2001, the prospects dont look too good.
Then again, this was only a television show
a FOX television show. In the minds of many and especially among those who comprise the Progressive-Left this was just a fictitious Armageddon, scare tactics delivered to the American people from the mouthpiece of the Bush Administration. Domestically, we have a handle on radical Islamist terrorism and for that matter there is no concrete evidence that Osama bin Laden or Hassan Nasrallah or any of the lunatics who prefer the 7th Century over the 21st have ever possessed nuclear capabilities, even in the most elementary sense. Right? Now, back to American Idol.
I do have to congratulate the mainstream media progressive propaganda complex. They have done an incredible job of creating a generation of people whose attention spans are so limited they cant even recall the horror they felt on September 11, 2001. The empathy all Americans displayed, but for Ward Churchill, for those who had to leap to their deaths from the upper stories of the World Trade Center has waned. We are back to feasting on the bubblegum for the mind that are the antics of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan and the feud between the ego with the comb-over and the ego with no talent.
The truth be told, there is quite a bit to be concerned about when it comes to the possibility of Islamist terrorists detonating a nuclear device on American soil. To borrow a phrase, Its not a question of if
Osama bin Laden has been seeking nuclear capability since before the attacks of September 11th. Only a blithering idiot would believe that he has, for some reason, given up his desire to possess them. He believes that the fastest and most effective way to affect an American surrender is to duplicate the events that brought Imperial Japan to the decks of the USS Missouri at the end of World War II: nuclear holocaust.
It is common knowledge among those in the law enforcement and counterterrorism communities that Adnan el Shukrijumah, al Qaedas nuclear expert, hand picked by bin Laden himself (alluded to in a character on 24), has been fomenting his plan for an American Hiroshima. The FBI has had el Shukrijumah on their Most Wanted Terrorist List for years. And there is a $5 million reward for information that leads authorities to him. The most recent reports have el Shukrijumah sighted in Mexico, Canada and even in South Florida and California.
In his books The al Qaeda Connection, Osamas Revenge and The Dunces of Doomsday, Dr. Paul L. Williams outlines the threat posed by a nuclear al Qaeda. He sheds light on the misunderstood reality of what many call suitcase nukes, small portable nuclear devices developed by the Soviets during the Cold War. That several of these devices have gone missing from the Russian arsenal should be disturbing to us all.
Critics assert that the Soviet made suitcase nuke is a high maintenance piece of equipment and, therefore, unlikely to be used by terrorists in an attack on the United States. This assertion is somewhat true. One of the most difficult pieces to obtain for a suitcase nuke is also the most difficult to maintain. This component is the trigger. This piece is used to affect the chain reaction that facilitates the nuclear explosion.
One element, polonium, used in conjunction with beryllium to form a functioning trigger, is rare and, incidentally, quite hard to come by. It is a highly radioactive metalloid that has a brief lifespan, a half-life of only 138.38 days. Coincidentally or perhaps not polonium was the substance used to poison former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko. That this rare substance is out there, along with the missing suitcase nukes, should send chills down the spines of every American.
I remember the days immediately after September 11th, 2001, how everyone was shaken to the core. I remember how police officers, firefighters and EMTs balanced their emotions between unbridled anger at the deaths of their brothers and sisters murdered at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and a sense of foreboding as they realized their jobs and their lives had changed forever.
I remember the disturbing feeling that came over me when I passed OHare International Airport only to see hundreds of planes on the ground and not one in the skies. I recall news reports of how people were stranded all around the world because the American airspace had been closed.
The idea that our elected officials are playing political games with securing our borders and defending our nation against a vicious ideologically foe is infuriating. Securing our borders does not have to be married to immigration reform and with el Shukrijumah itching to turn an American city into a nuclear wasteland it shouldnt be. Democrats, Progressives, Republicans and Libertarians should be crafting laws that enable us to defend ourselves, not leaking classified information to the press so our enemies are alerted to our tactics before we get the chance to kill them. Our government is failing us in this fight and this time, if we lose, we lose it all.
As I watched the make believe nuclear mushroom cloud shooting skyward on my television, calculating those who would be murdered if it were real, I realized that the anguish and frustration I felt on September 11, 2001 would pale in comparison to the torment and anger I would feel at the devastation of a nuclear attack perpetrated on our soil. Sadly, if our government doesnt come together to fight this threat aggressively, it just may come to pass.
America. Its five to midnight. Do you know where the terrorists are?
###
Frank Salvato is a political media consultant, a freelance writer from the Midwest and the Managing Editor for www.TheRant.us . He is a contributing writer to OpinionEditorials.com and AmericanDaily.com. He has appeared as a guest panelist on The OReilly Factor and his pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com and occasionally featured in The Washington Times as well as other national publications.
oped@therant.us
Good reading and opinions on current politics:
http://www.opinioneditorials.com/currentqpt.html
Joint intelligence sharing centre opened in Kabul
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=129489&version=1&template_id=41&parent_id=23
Joint intelligence sharing centre opened in Kabul
Published: Friday, 26 January, 2007, 10:49 AM Doha Time
British commander of Nato-led International Security Assistance Force, Lieutenant General David Richards, shakes hands with Pakistani Army personnel during the formal opening ceremony of the first Afghan, Pakistan and Nato intelligence sharing centre in Kabul, yesterday
KABUL: The Afghan, Pakistan and Nato militaries in Afghanistan formally opened their first joint intelligence sharing centre yesterday to boost co-operation against Taliban and other extremists.
The commander of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), General David Richards, said the launch of the Joint Intelligence Operations Centre (JIOC) was "a historic day ... in the war on terror and against the insurgents".
Already "there is a great deal of close co-operation that goes on a daily basis that you don't even know about," he told reporters outside the centre, which is in the heart of the ISAF headquarters in Kabul.
"We have a very open relationship - the three armies. We share a lot of intelligence all the time that you wouldn't even understand ... that will continue with renewed energy."
The centre is staffed by six intelligence and operational officers from each of the Afghan and Pakistani armies and 12 ISAF staff.
It builds on intelligence-sharing between commanders of the three militaries who already meet every two months in a Tripartite Commission.
The centre's establishment comes amid growing tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan over the Taliban-led insurgency, which has grown steadily stronger since its launch after the hardliners' rout from government in 2001.
Afghanistan has been joined by Western sources in saying elements in Pakistan, including in its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, are backing the insurgency, which was its bloodiest last year with 4,000 dead - most of them rebel fighters.
President Pervez Musharraf has angrily rejected those accusations and claims that extremists, including Al Qaeda, have sanctuaries in his country.
"I take extremely strong exception to anybody (accusing) ... any government agency of Pakistan of co-operating with these extremist forces and sending them into Afghanistan," Musharraf said on Wednesday.
Richards would not be drawn into the bickering between the Islamic neighbours but said both were committed to defeating their common enemy, which is operating on both sides of the border.
"We have to come together to find a better way to achieve that joint objective," he said.
Intelligence sharing had already delivered "powerful blows" to the insurgents in the past weeks, Nato spokesman Mark Laity said.
Richards has already told media that Pakistan played a key role in the December 19 killing of top Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohamed Osmani.
Pakistan authorities had told the Afghan side that Osmani, described as a close associate of Osama bin Laden, was heading across the border after his two brothers were arrested.
He was killed in a US airstrike, becoming the highest-ranked Taliban leader the coalition has killed since US forces deployed to Afghanistan to topple the hardline regime in 2001.
ISAF spokesman Brigadier Richard Nugee said Pakistan's participation in the JIOC was a "public announcement" of its commitment against the insurgency. - AFP
Gulf Times Newspaper, 2007
Ramzan Kadyrov to free the Chechens
Musa Muradov
Kommersant, No 10, p.5
Republic's Premier will fight for the rights of illegally sentenced
Chechen nationals
Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov said Thursday he would push for
the review of criminal cases against Chechens who went to Russian
prisons on trumped-up charges. Should Mr. Kadyrov succeed in his
endeavors, 6,000 Chechens may be released before time, the number of
people who have been sentenced on framed-up charges since the start of
the second Chechen military campaign, according to human rights
groups' estimates.
Ramzan Kadyrov made a ringing statement at a governmental session in
Grozny on Thursday which was immediately considered the run-up to a
new amnesty. The prime minister said he was receiving a lot of letters
from Chechens in Russian prisons who doubt that the verdict in their
cases was impartial and ask to have their cases reviewed. "It is an
open secret that a lot of Chechens are behind bars because of
framed-up charges," Mr. Kadyrov said, adding that he knew facts when
innocent people were put into prison and made scapegoats. A number of
the prisoners simply signed transcripts of interrogation with little
knowledge of Russian, Mr. Kadyrov believes.
Nurdi Nukhazhiev, the Chechen president's ombudsman, strongly
supported Mr. Kadyrov's idea. "12,000 Chechen residents found
themselves in prison in Russia since September 1999 when the second
military campaign started," he estimates. "At least half of them may
be released if their cases are reviewed." Mr. Nukhazhiev maintains
that the review of murky sentences ought to be made into a law. The
ombudsman calls on the Russian Duma to pass a bill to review criminal
cases against Chechens who were sentenced in the course of the
counterterrorist operation.
The Chechen Prosecutor's Office, however, was skeptical in its
comments about the initiative on Thursday. "The ethnicity or place of
residence of a convict cannot be a reason for the review of a criminal
case," Chechnya's Prosecutor Valery Kuznetsov told Kommersant. The
prosecutor noted that his office had no information on framed-up
trials of Chechen nationals.
In the meantime, Chechnya's Prime Minister Kadyrov has ordered to set
up a task force to handle cases of Chechen convicts.
January 26, 2007
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/
http://www.isria.info/FILES/2007/JANUARY/20070126__17.htm
Kiev urges Moscow to obey court order on return of naval sites
RIA Novosti 25/01/2007 17:18 KIEV, January 25 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine's government urged Moscow Thursday to obey a court ruling on the return of navigation facilities being used by the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the post-Soviet state's Crimean Peninsula. The call followed an attempt by Ukrainian bailiffs Tuesday to seize a radio navigation facility in the southwestern Crimean town of Genichesk, in keeping with a district court ruling. But the Russian naval command refused to obey the ruling to hand over the Mars-75 installation, saying its seizure would be in breach of a bilateral agreement that allows them to use this and other navigation facilities for at least another 10 years. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is leasing Mars-75 and other facilities in Ukraine's Crimea Autonomy at an annual rent of $93 million under a 1997 accord, which remains valid until 2017. However, following the incident in Genichesk, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said that in the event of the Russian fleet's continued non-compliance with Ukrainian court orders, Kiev will respond with "measures stipulated by international law."
"In accordance with the Ukrainian Constitution, justice in Ukraine is administered exclusively by the courts, whose jurisdiction covers all legal disputes that may emerge in the country and whose rulings are binding all across its territory," the ministry's press office said. Ukraine recently said Russia is not paying enough for its Black Sea Fleet's Crimean base, and demanded a new accord on inventorying the facilities. Moscow said it will make no concessions either on the rent or on withdrawing the fleet, and that it will not tolerate any attempts to damage its sites or injure its service or civilian personnel. Last June, Ukrainian bailiffs attempted to seize the headquarters of the Russian fleet's hydrographic service in Sevastopol. Ukraine's Western-leaning leader, Viktor Yushchenko, has been seeking to expel the Russian Navy from Ukrainian soil since he swept into power on the back of the 2004 "orange" revolution. He sees Russia's continued military presence as a major obstacle to his ambition to take the post-Soviet nation into NATO and the European Union. However, Yushchenko confirmed last November that Ukraine would adhere to bilateral agreements on Russia's Black Sea Fleet, apparently bowing to pressure from the Kremlin-backed prime minister, Viktor Yanukovych.
Russia Renews Accusations on Pankisi
/ Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 2007-01-26
Certain number of Chechen militants is still harboring in Georgias
Pankisi gorge, Russian border guard service official said on January
26,
Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies reported.
We can not rule out danger of possible infiltration of illegal armed
groups into Russia from the Georgian territory, Anatoly Zabrodin, head
of the department at the Russian Federal Security Service in charge of
border protection, told reporters.
But he also noted that not a single case of an attempt by militants to
infiltrate from Georgia into Russia was reported in 2005 and 2006.
This recent allegation by the Russian official about alleged presence
of
Chechen militants in Pankisi gorge comes after Georgian officials made
public that Russian citizen was arrested last year in Tbilisi for
smuggling of weapons-grade uranium.
The last time Russia voiced similar accusations towards Georgia on
January 23, 2006 when by-then Russian Ambassador to Tbilisi said that
although the situation has improved in Georgias Pankisi gorge, some
terrorist still remain there.
According to the latest official reports there are 1 300 Chechen
refugees in Pankisi gorge. The number has declined from about 7 000
since 1999.
Pankisi gorge in north-eastern Georgian mountainous region became a
major irritant in Russo-Georgian relations starting from late 2001 and
in following years.
In January 2002 the Georgian authorities admitted that Pankisi gorge
was
a safe haven for militants and criminal gangs, engaged in kidnappings
and drug trafficking. As a result the Georgian Interior Ministry and
the
Ministry of Security launched a joint anti-criminal operation. In 2003
the Georgian authorities announced that the anti-criminal operation was
over and the gorge was no longer a safe haven for militants and
criminals.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/
Interfax: Chechen "authorities" will restore order in mountains - Kadyrov
Chechen authorities will restore order in mountains - PM
GROZNY Jan 26 (Interfax) Chechen Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov is
determined to guarantee order and security in the southern part of his
republic, namely in mountainous areas.
"We have put forward the clear objective of economic development in
the mountainous area, of attracting investment and promoting tourism.
This requires primarily resolving security issues and I am dealing
with the issue on a daily basis," he told a Friday meeting with the
press in Grozny.
"We have replaced the leadership of police in three mountainous
districts. This was prompted by nothing but the simple requirement of
discipline among law enforcement officers and strict fulfillment of
their duties. There has been a reshuffle not only at the district
level, but also in the Interior Ministry of Chechnya," Kadyrov said.
The media sometimes try to portray these measures are as a purge at
the Interior Ministry, he said.
"I am surprised by the far-fetched conclusions and the willingness of
some in the media to find something extraordinary in the simple
summing up of results and restoration of order," Kadyrov said.
ml md
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chechnya-sl/
Crisis Group reports & briefings published this week:
Somalia: The Tough Part Is Ahead
Policy Briefing, 26 January 2007
The international community must vigorously support a national reconciliation process in Somalia if the country is to avoid protracted conflict and the incubation of extremism.
full report: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4630&l=1
Jihadism in Indonesia: Poso on the Edge
Policy Report, 24 January 2007
Recent police raids in Poso with high casualties may have just given Indonesias weakened jihadi movement a new boost.
full report: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4624&l=1
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1169806993321650.xml&coll=2
Police explode `hoax device'
Friday, January 26, 2007
Authorities found and exploded what they deemed a "hoax device" on the UAB campus Thursday night.
Police were called to the 1300 block of 10th Avenue South just after 4 p.m. on reports of a suspicious package, said Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Henry Irby.
Birmingham and UAB police closed several blocks around the area to allow bomb squad members to investigate the package, which they detonated about 6:30 p.m.
Police said the package contained some wiring and resembled an explosive device.
"Whatever the purpose of the device, we don't know," Irby said.
No one was injured and the device was turned over to the federal Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for investigation. Toraine Norris --
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.