Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
Moscow supports lifting blockade from Palestine
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11668028
Jan 30 2007 4:09PM
Moscow supports lifting blockade from Palestine
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax) - Moscow supports fully lifting the economic
blockade from Palestine and is counting on the quartet of international
mediators on the Middle East settlement to make that decision.
"Russia has always spoken against the blockade, and we hope that the
quartet will take heed of our viewpoint," Russian president's Special
Representative for Middle East, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander
Saltanov said ahead of the meeting of the quartet in Washington on
February 2.
http://www.jordantimes.com/wed/news/news3.htm
British parliamentary committee says West’s boycott pushes Islamists
close to Iran
LONDON (Reuters) — The West's isolation of the Hamas-led Palestinian
government has served only to push it closer to Iran, a British
parliamentary committee said on Wednesday.
Hamas trounced the more moderate Fateh in an election last year. Its
refusal to negotiate peace with Israel triggered a Western aid embargo
which the International Development Committee noted had forced it to
look elsewhere for financial support amid a rising crisis of poverty
and
hardship.
"Hamas now has closer links to governments like that of Iran than it
had
two years ago. We doubt whether this is a development that the
international community would have intended," the committee concluded
in
a report on development assistance and the occupied Palestinian
territories.
Malcolm Bruce, chairman of the committee, said the international
community had created a dangerous situation where Islamist Hamas has no
accountability either to the people or to the Palestinian Authority.
"We're saying the situation is unsustainable and the government's
refusal to talk to Hamas could be counter-productive," Bruce, a Liberal
Democrat, said.
"The clear message is that if this goes on for much longer it will
effectively collapse the Palestinian state." The report also said that
the so-called Temporary International Mechanism — created to provide
aid
directly to the Palestinians while the boycott of Hamas continues —
was
not a suitable fix.
"The Temporary International Mechanism was a timely response to the
crisis ... but is insufficient to cope with it," the report concluded.
"Increasing donor assistance is not the answer to the problems facing
the Palestinians." The European Union spent 680 million euros on aid to
the Palestinians in 2006, of which 200 million went through the
mechanism, according to Foreign Office figures. Britain channelled £70
million through the TIM.
A Foreign Office spokesman declined to comment on the report.
Western countries have said they will maintain the boycott on Hamas
unless it renounces violence, recognises Israel's right to exist and
agrees to abide by past peace agreements.
Bruce said it was not enough for Britain to hold its breath and hope
for
a breakthrough in the peace process.
"Over history we've spoken to terrorist organisations like the IRA.
That
kind of contact has to happen [with Hamas]," he said.
The report also urged the international community to hold Israel to its
promise of implementing an agreement with Palestinians dating back to
November 2005, to facilitate the movement of people and goods within
the
Palestinian territories..
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Rebels preparing for imam's second coming
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0129IraqSide0129.html
Rebels preparing for imam's second coming
Joshua Partlow and Saad Sarhan
Washington Post
Jan. 29, 2007 12:00 AM
BAGHDAD - The insurgents battling U.S. and Iraqi troops in southern
Iraq
on Sunday apparently call themselves the Soldiers of the Sky (or
Heaven), and are driven by an apocalyptic vision of clearing the Earth
of the depraved in preparation for the second coming of Mohammed
al-Mahdi, a Shiite imam who disappeared in the 9th century, according
to
Ahmed Duaibel, a spokesman for the provincial government in Najaf.
The prospect of insurgents lying in wait to attack Shiites illustrated
the crisis between rival religious groups in Iraq, where extremists
remain intent on undermining the religious and political order.
continued..................
New As Sahab Tape: Al Libi blames US, UK, and Libyan Governments
for HIV Infected Children in Libya
by Laura Mansfield
A rather atypical video message from Al Qaeda was announced today by As
Sahab, the video production wing of the global terror group.
The 17 minute 7 second video features Abu Yahya al Libi discussing the
plight of Libyan children infected with the HIV virus.
Five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian physician have been accused,
found guilty, and sentenced to death on charge that they deliberately
infecting nearly 400 Libyan children with the HIV virus in 1998.
Al Libi, AK-47 at his side, implies that the incident is an attack by
"Crusader Infidels" against Muslim children, and seems to vacillate
between heaping blame for the incident on the US, the UK, and the Libyan
regime.
The video includes English subtitles, which indicate this was directed
at an English speaking audience - either US or UK. There are specific
references to both the US and UK within the message.
Abu Yahya al Libi is one four captured Al Qaeda fighters who escaped US
custody while imprisoned in Bagram in July 2005 in Afghanistan
During the last year, al Libi has released 6 videos, which is more
messages in the past year than Bin Laden. The only Al Qaeda figure to have
released more videos is Zawahiri. In a video originally released last
July, and re-released in October, al Libi called for attacks on the
White House
Al Libi's animosity towards Qadaffi is not surprising since Al Libi
"The Libyan" is originally from Libya. In all of the 2006 messages by Bin
Laden and Zawahiri, only one (Letter to the Palestinians by Zawahiri in
June 2006) included mention of Libya at all.
A more in-depth analysis is in progress.
A full transcript of the subtitles and a copy of the video have been
sent to subscribers of Strategic Translations.
'Enlightenment Fundamentalist' Ayaan Hirsi Ali, on Reforming Islam
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-01-30-voa56.cfm?rss=human
watch Ayaan Hirsi Ali report / Real broadband - download:
http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/english/2007_01/Video/rm/AyaanHirsiAliInterview_tv_26jan07_bb.rm
'Enlightenment Fundamentalist' Ayaan Hirsi Ali, on Reforming Islam
By Carolyn Weaver
New York, NY
30 January 2007
As a little girl in Somalia, Ayaan Hirsi Ali was subjected by a
grandmother to the traditional practice of female genital mutilation.
The daughter of a dissident Somali politician, she spent much of her
childhood in Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and Kenya. When her family forced
her into an unwanted marriage in 1992, Ayaan Hirsi Ali ran away to the
Netherlands, where she claimed asylum. She spoke out against Muslim
radicalism following the 9/11 terror attacks, and was elected to the
Dutch parliament. It was the beginning of a life as an activist and
author that has resulted in death threats and fatwahs sworn against her
by fundamentalist Muslim clerics.
In 2004, the broadcast in Holland of the short film, Submission,
criticizing the treatment of women in traditional Islam, led to the
murder of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh. The Islamic radical who killed
Van Gogh left a note pinned to his body with a knife that named the
writer of the film, Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali, as his next intended
victim.
Ali was then a member of the Dutch parliament and a critic of
fundamentalist Islam, whose books include The Caged Virgin: An
Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam. After repeated death
threats, Hirsi Ali resigned from the Dutch parliament last year, and
moved to the United States. She spoke to VOA recently, explaining how
the 9/11 terror attacks led her to become what she calls a Muslim
atheist.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: “My response was, this is done in my faith, and my
faith is Islam. And I thought I don’t agree with it, and I got into a
conflict of conscience. Do I agree with what is done in the name of the
Koran, because that is what bin Laden and Mohammed Atta quoted? Do I
agree with my God, or do I disagree? And if I disagree, I know I’m
earning Hell. So I had to work that out first.
Reporter: But many Muslims responded to 9/11 by saying, ‘They did it
in
the name of the Koran, but they were wrong, this is not Islam.’
Well, they were wrong, and the act of killing people indiscriminately
is
wrong, we agree on all that. But the quotations from the Koran are in
there. And my approach is that it doesn’t change anything if you
close
your eyes to the facts. And we can only prevent other young people from
subscribing to the wrong quotations from the Koran, if we accept that
those urges towards violence and domination are in the Koran, and try
to
reform that, and change that. That’s my approach.
However, rather than reform it, you found that you were no longer a
believer at all?
I decided -- and it’s a private decision, I am not propagating
atheism –
but I decided that I do not believe in the existence of a hell and a
heaven and a hereafter. Because, honestly, I realized that was the
biggest fear I had to face when I got into this conflict of conscience.
In order to be in a good place in the hereafter, to go to heaven, I did
not dare challenge God. And what I did was, I decided to challenge what
is written in the Koran, by saying, I do not wish to be part of a
killing spree. I do not wish to be a part of domination. I want to live
and I want others to live, and I love life and I love life on earth. So
that is something I relinquished for myself, but I do not propagate
that
every Muslim become an atheist.
You’ve been very critical though of Islam, and even of the Prophet.
Yes, the Prophet Mohammed says he is an example to us throughout, not
only in the seventh and eighth centuries, but in the 21st century.
Humanity has moved on. We can use the Prophet Mohammed as an example in
all the things that I think are morally sound, such as hospitality,
such
as being kind to the poor and the elderly. But I do not want to follow
the Prophet Mohammed as an example when he says, kill the unbelievers,
ambush them and take their property. Disobedient wives should be
beaten.
When he divides the world into believers and unbelievers, I do not want
to follow the Prophet Mohammed in that sort of morality.
So you wouldn’t take everything that he says literally, but rather
metaphorically…
You can take it metaphorically. You can also say, I’m going to see
some
of his conduct, such as marrying a nine-year-old child, in the context
of the morality of the 7th century in that part of the world. We’ve
moved on now. We can say, we’re not going to judge the Prophet
Mohammed’s morality in hindsight, but we’re not going to follow
that
morality. And if you look at all the Arab countries, the Muslim
countries, where little girls are married off to older men, they all
justify it as ‘that’s the way the Prophet did it, and I am
following in
the example of the Prophet.’
And yet many good people who are Muslims somehow are able to reconcile
that, maybe by simply not thinking about the literal fact of a marriage
to a nine-year-old. And it would be very painful to them to hear you
criticize the person whom they revere more than anything.
I understand that. But let’s empathize with a nine-year-old child
living
in Saudi Arabia, or in Jordan, or in Sudan, who is being raped
night-in,
night-out, by someone who is 20 or 30 years older than she is, and that
man justifies his act in the name of the Prophet. I do not want to
insult or offend fellow Muslims. I just want to say, if we want to
change inhuman practices practiced in the name of our faith, then the
only way to go about it is to say, we will look at those who are
suffering. And it is the young woman who is being raped, it is the
Jewish minorities who are being oppressed, or the Christian minorities.
We want to stand up for our own rights here, in countries where
Christians and non-Muslims are a majority. And we are succeeding in
that. But when you look at Muslim countries, Arab Muslim countries,
look
at the way they treat minorities. And that’s all done in the name of
our
faith. I’m just asking for equal moral standards. Let’s judge
ourselves
as we judge others
How did you come to write the screenplay for Submission, which led to
the death of your director.
Theo Van Gogh. I was challenged that the Koran says only wonderful
things about women. And I was brought up with the Koran, so I know
exactly what the Koran says, and I could find those particular verses
in
which, for example, God tells husbands, ‘When you fear misconduct,
warn
your wives, leave them alone in bed, and beat them.’ And there were
Imams in Spain and in France and in Holland and in England who were
preaching from the mosques and who were saying beat disobedient wives.
And so I took verses like those and had them written on women’s
bodies,
actresses, who then depicted the image of a woman who was beaten, one
who was raped.
And that was to show, this is what it looks like. To you it’s a holy
verse, but when it’s carried out, this is what it looks like. And the
man who killed Theo Van Gogh, killed him because he thought the verse
was so holy, these were such holy verses, and so great and so elevated
–
and they were written on a surface so low: women. And that was such an
insult to God and to the Koran, that the man who directed and who made
this should be killed. When we talk about a clash of civilizations –
it’s not a clash of civilizations. It’s this clash. It’s a clash
of
values. And it’s this sort of mindset, that says a holy text is far
more
important than a human life – that I fight.â€
At a press conference last February, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, then still a
member of the Dutch parliament, spoke out to defend the publication of
the Danish cartoons that depicted the prophet Mohammed. "I am here to
defend the right to offend,†she said. “Shame on those papers and
TV
channels who lacked the courage to show their readers the caricatures
from the cartoon affair. These intellectuals live off free speech, but
they accept censorship.†She went on to attack the European
politicians, including the prime minister of her own government, who
did
not resist what she said were the demands of tyrannical regimes that
the
cartoons be suppressed.
It was a characteristic statement from a woman who calls herself an
“Enlightenment fundamentalist,†whose greatest devotion is to free
thought and free speech, and for whom death threats seem only a spur to
speak out again. She sat down for an interview with VOA on a recent
trip
to New York:
Reporter: Do you think a progressive Islam is the formative stages now?
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: “Islam, like any other faith, will go through a
process
of evolution. Right now I think it is in the middle of that evolution.
There’s a lot of havoc and a lot of change and violence going on
within
the house of Islam. The problem is that, unlike [in] Christianity,
there
is no authority and no hierarchy that will say now we have evolved to
the next stage. So, I don’t know how we are going to solve the
problem
of organization.
But what makes me optimistic is, for example, since 9/11, the number of
books that have been published on Islam, either by Muslims or
non-Muslims, exceeds in number published on Islam ever since the year
900. With that kind of intellectual agitation, I am optimistic that
Islam will evolve into something more humane.
If every Muslim who feels as you do spoke out, wouldn't it be instant
civil war? I mean, there's no way that every government in the world
could provide protection to every moderate progressive Muslim who spoke
out.
You are to a degree right. Social change, when it's sudden and
revolutionary, comes with a lot of violence. But the change can also be
gradual. And I am speaking, operating, in a context where there is the
rule of law, and where people do not necessarily have to face immediate
violence. I know if I were saying what I say in Saudi Arabia, Sudan,
Pakistan, Somalia -- that's a completely different reality. I
understand
that.
But I'm saying we have to start somewhere. And in this global world
where we live with the Internet and information technology, and what we
say now reaches millions of people, I still think there are many fellow
Muslims who live here, who think like me, who can and should speak out,
who will not face as much danger as their brothers and sisters in the
countries where there is no freedom of expression.
You've said you wish that Bush and Blair, rather than talking about
spreading democracy, would think in terms of spreading freedom of
expression and Enlightenment values, rationality. Can you explain what
you mean by that?
I think that democracy is a product of a recognition that the human
individual is free, and I mean free not only physically unchained, but
also mentally unchained. And if you protect the freedom of expression,
then I can come to you and convince you, persuade you, without using
violence, what I think is important. And then we can form a movement,
form a party, and the other group can form an opposition, and that way,
democracy comes about.
It seems that you came to your change of mind and heart really because
of what is happening to women, and how you see women's situation under
Islam -- and also sexual mores. I know you are also a supporter of gay
rights.
Yes, I am a supporter of individual rights, and that includes gay
rights. It's not only Muslim women. I know about the treatment of women
in China, where they have a one-child policy, and that de facto has led
to getting rid of little girls. I know that in India women who belong
to
a lower caste are treated terribly, and that's justified in the name of
their own culture and their own faith. I've seen and listened to
Africans who are not Muslims who practice genital mutilation, for
example. So it's not only Islam. But what you see is that, except for
Western culture, that all these other cultures seem to celebrate the
mistreatment and the abuse of women, and justify it in the name of
their
culture, or take it for granted. And that needs to change.
Do you feel hopeful that radical Islam can be stemmed or do you see it
as kind of inexorable, and that we will be living with terror, and that
you will spend the rest of your life under a fatwah?
I am spending the rest of my life under a fatwah. Unfortunately, I will
not see the fruits of my labor and activism. I think it's going to be
something for the next generation. But look at people like Martin
Luther
King. It's the generation after him that's enjoying the fruits of his
struggle. And I today enjoy, in a different way, the fruits of other
people in the past who had struggled for the rights of women, for
racial
equality, and for the rights of individuals in general. And I think we
just need to pass that on.
You think that Islam should get rid of the idea of Hell. Why is that so
important?
Because I think the most important barrier, when it comes to a conflict
of conscience between the believing Muslim and the Scriptures, is
always
hell. It's the threat of hell. I've spoken to thousands of Muslims who
are compassionate people who do not want to kill. They do not want to
become the enemies of unbelievers, or see unbelievers as enemies,
non-Muslims as enemies. But there is always the barrier, the threat of
hell. If you disobey God, then you go to Hell. So what do you choose,
the convenience of having an unbeliever as your friend today on Earth,
or suffering eternal hell? So I think we have to address the dogma of
hell, the dogma of the hereafter.
Do you regret at all that you've turned your life into something that
you really can't control entirely? Do you wish that you could lead a
private life again, and not be in danger?
I wish that, but I also knew when I got involved in this that -- it's
like the woman who decided to sit down in the bus [Rosa Parks, during
he
Civil Rights movement in the 1960s United States]. You have to live
with
the consequences of remaining seated. And I have to remain -- I have to
live with the consequences of standing up."
Last year, Ayaan Hirsi Ali left the Dutch parliament, and moved to the
United States, where she is a resident fellow at the American
Enterprise
Institute. Still under 24-hour police protection, she is now working on
the second part of Submission, which will focus on Islam and the issue
of homosexual rights. Her autobiography, Infidel: The Story of My
Enlightenment, is published in the United States by the Free Press.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/01/30/sarajevo-murder-070130.html
Canadian contractor killed in Sarajevo apartment
Last Updated: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 | 7:11 AM MT
CBC News
A Canadian contractor working at a NATO base was slain in his apartment
a month ago in Sarajevo, newspapers in Bosnia and Herzegovina have
reported.
Thomas Jordi, 26, was found stabbed to death in his apartment. Local
newspapers report that neighbours said they heard noises and a loud
dispute before the death.
A NATO spokesman said the death of a civilian contractor is not a
military matter, so police in Sarajevo are in charge of the
investigation.
Brian Coupal, Jordi's brother-in-law, said the family is trying to
piece
together what had happened, but officials are releasing few details
about the investigation.
ATCO Frontec, the electrical company that hired Jordi, flew his body
back to Canada. A memorial service was held in a Mormon church in Red
Deer, Alta.
Jordi worked as a tree planter in Prince George, renovated homes in
Prince Rupert and drove an oil tanker in Grand Prairie. He also spent
time in the military reserves and went to Sarajevo to put that training
to use with a job as a communications electrician, family members said.
More information is expected from Bosnian detectives in the coming
days.
Eurasia Daily Monitor
January 30, 2007 -- Volume 4, Issue 21
GAZPROM’S CLOCK TICKING ON BP’S KOVYTKA PROJECT
by Vladimir Socor
Gazprom and the Kremlin look poised for another forced takeover
of
major Western assets in Russia’s energy sector. On January 29, Nature
Inspectorate (RosPrirodNadzor) deputy chief Oleg Mitvol announced that
his
agency and the Resources Inspectorate (RosNedra) are about to launch
the
final phase of investigations into TNK-BP’s Kovytka gas project in
eastern
Siberia. Mitvol is the medium-level official fronting for the Kremlin
to
intimidate Western companies into ceding their assets to Russian state
companies.
Announcing the endgame phase, Mitvol already pronounced TNK-BP
guilty
of violating the terms of its license at Kovytka. The outcome of the
case,
he warned, “depends on the way in which TNK-BP will explain its
violations” -- apparently an oblique indication that the company risks
a
worse shakedown if it raises a fuss. Russian authorities plan to show
preliminary results of the investigation by late March.
The artificially created dispute centers on the company’s failure
to
launch commercial production at 9 billion cubic meters in 2006. Under
the
terms of the license, the project’s first phase was to have supplied
that
volume of gas to consumers in Irkutsk oblast, where Kovytka is
situated.
TNK-BP was ready to start production at that level in 2006, but -- as
it
turned out -- there was no demand for nearly that volume in Irkutsk
oblast;
and consequently, it made no sense to build a supply pipeline from the
field. Accordingly, the company proposed changes to the license last
year,
but the Russian authorities turned down the proposals.
Kovytka is the richest among Russia’s gas fields that are about
to
come on stream. It holds proven reserves of 1.9 trillion cubic meters
of gas
and 115 million tons of condensate. TNK-BP is a 50%-50% joint venture
of BP
with Alfa Access Renova, an oligarch-controlled group in which Viktor
Vekselberg seems to be the dominant shareholder. TNK-BP owns a 62.4%
stake
in Rusia Petroleum, the operating company at Kovytka. Rusia Petroleum’s
other shareholders are the Russian company Interros with 25.8% and the
Irkutsk oblast administration with 11.2%.
TNK-BP is said to have paid more than $6 billion for its rights
to
Kovytka in 2003 (Wall Street Journal, January 29). According to reports
from
Moscow, TNK-BP seeks to retain a 33% stake in Rusia Petroleum, while
Gazprom
wants 74.4%. Apparently, Gazprom intends to direct a portion of
Kovytka’s
anticipated output to Russia’s internal market immediately and another
portion for export to China starting in 2011.
According to Vekselberg, who supervises the Kovytka project as
TNK-BP
executive director, the Kovytka field and output are to be integrated
into
Russia’s Single Gas Supply System. Once within that system, decisions
would
be made regarding the delivery volumes and destinations within Russia
and to
China, respectively. Thus, “Gazprom’s entry into the project is
inevitable,
given the project’s structure and logic,” according to Vekselberg on
Russian
television (January 26). However, such an outcome seemed by no means
logical, let alone inevitable, when BP acquired this project in Russia.
On January 29, the Moscow-based Petromir company legally
registered
its Angarsk-Lensk gas project, located also in Irkutsk oblast. It holds
estimated reserves of 1.3 trillion cubic meters of gas and 70 million
tons
of condensate, which if proven would come close to Kovytka’s order of
magnitude. The Angarsk-Lensk project is situated approximately 100
kilometers from Kovytka and also some 100 kilometers from Sayansk.
TNK-BP
has long proposed connecting the two gas fields by pipeline, and Rusia
Petroleum plans to complete a 550-kilometer pipeline,
Kovytka-Sayansk-Angarsk-Irkutsk, in the course of 2007-2008. The most
likely
outcome will be Gazprom’s control over both extraction projects, the
connecting pipeline, and the commercial decisions about production and
deliveries.
TNK-BP seems resigned to ceding its majority stake in Kovytka to
Gazprom and is only negotiating about the price. Royal-Dutch Shell, the
latest casualty of a Kremlin-driven forced cession to Gazprom, at its
Sakhalin-2 project, seemed similarly reconciled after a very brief
resistance. Shell president Jeroen van der Veer actually thanked
Russian
President Vladimir Putin profusely when the ordeal was over last month,
with
Shell widely believed to have been short-changed by some $5 billion.
Last
week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, van der Veer appeared on a
panel
alongside Gazprom leaders and announced that Shell -- “satisfied with
Gazprom’s entry into the Sakhalin-2 project” -- will continue seeking
new
investment opportunities in Russia. Apparently, putting the best face
on a
shakedown is one of Gazprom’s requirements to victims of such deals.
(Interfax, January 25 -29; Kommersant, January 29; see EDM,
December
13, 15, 2006, January 3, 23, 2007)
--Vladimir Socor
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/other/display.var.1157835.0.0.php
Only 50 Muslims sign up for armed forces
FEWER than 50 Muslims have been persuaded to join Britain's armed
forces
in the past year, despite a high-profile recruitment campaign in areas
with high ethnic Asian populations, The Herald can reveal.
Faced with the problem of steadily-declining manpower, the Ministry of
Defence had hoped to tap into the pool of 1.6 million British Muslims
who traditionally shun military careers.
But the campaign has been a dismal failure and there are now just 330
Muslims across an Army, Royal Navy and RAF, numbering almost 200,000
men
and women.
continued...
The Muslim contingent is almost outnumbered by the 300 Christian
chaplains appointed to take care of the spiritual welfare of the bulk
of
the UK's fighting services.
They do, however, have their own full-time imam, Asim Hafiz, who is
based at Wellington Barracks in London.
According to figures obtained by The Herald, the highest number of
Muslim volunteers enlisted last year was 10 in each of two single
months. Fewer than five signed up in each of four other months.
Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart Crawford, a former tank officer, was funded
by
the MoD in 1995 to produce a report on the prospects of harnessing the
military potential of the UK's ethnic minorities.
He concluded that most Asians of Pakistani origin were "bahia" -
merchant - class and would be highly unlikely to join the Army even in
their ethnic homeland. Other ethnic minorities such as West Indians
faced "significant problems" of institutional racism in the British
military.
Colonel Crawford suggested that one way of alleviating minority
recruits' fears of isolation and harassment might be to form battalions
composed mainly of British Asian or Afro-Caribbean volunteers.
A decade on, the target of achieving a 3% ethnic representation in the
forces seems as elusive as ever and his report has been shelved.
Whitehall sources say the perceived backlash against Muslims in the
wake
of al Qaeda's attacks in 2001 and the unpopularity of the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan are major factors in the lack of Asian volunteers.
The Army alone needs 15,000 new recruits a year simply to replace
soldiers who leave at the end of their contracts or for medical or
other
reasons. In 2006, 12,730 recruits signed up, while 14,460 quit.
At least one Muslim soldier, Pakistani-born Lance-Corporal Jabron
Hashmi, was killed in action in Afghanistan in the last year. The
24-year-old Intelligence Corps specialist from Birmingham died along
with his friend Corporal Peter Thorpe, also 24, in a Taliban attack on
their base in Helmand province in July.
There are currently more than twice as many South Africans and five
times as many Fijians in British uniform as UK-born Muslims.
The media is always telling us that only a "tiny minority" of Muslims
support violence and holy war against the West. But just how true is
that assertion?
In my column below from today's Jerusalem Post, I bring a number of
facts and figures that suggest otherwise. Like it or not, the arithmetic
of jihad is fairly straightforward, and it is time that we stopped
pretending otherwise.
Comments may be sent to: letters@jpost.com or to me directly.
thanks,
Michael Freund
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467849587&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
The Jerusalem Post, January 31, 2007
The Arithmetic of Jihad
By Michael Freund
It's time we open our eyes and confront reality. Ever since the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon, the media has sought to reassure us that only a tiny minority of
Muslims actually support the use of violence against Israel and the
West.
It's just a small fringe, a marginal few at best, they tell us, so
don't worry about it all too much. One percent or three percent - who
cares? Just sit back, enjoy your morning eggs and coffee and have a nice
day.
But a look at the numbers tells a very different story. The extent of
support for global jihad is frightening in its proportions, and the
numbers are anything but insignificant.
Consider, for example, the following statistics regarding support for
suicide bombings and other types of terror attacks.
In a poll conducted five months ago, and broadcast on Britain 's
Channel 4 TV, nearly 25% of British Muslims said the July 7, 2005, terror
bombings in London , which killed 52 innocent commuters, were justified.
Another 30% said they would prefer to live under strict Islamic Sharia
law rather than England 's democratic system.
Now, one in four justifying terror may not be a majority, but it
certainly isn't a "small fringe" either.
In other countries, the figures are no less unsettling. A survey
published in December found that 44% of Nigerian Muslims believe suicide
bombing attacks are "often" or "sometimes" acceptable. Only 28% said they
were never justified.
According to the annual Pew Global Attitudes Survey, released in July
2006, "roughly one-in-seven Muslims in France , Spain and Great Britain
feel that suicide bombings against civilian targets can at least
sometimes be justified to defend Islam." The report also found that less than
half of Jordan 's Muslims believe terror attacks are never justified.
In Egypt , only 45% of Muslims say terror is never justified.
STILL THINK only a "tiny minority" are in favor of violence? In
Israel , the percentages are even more alarming. After Cpl. Gilad Shalit was
abducted by Hamas terrorists last summer, a poll conducted by the
Jerusalem Media and Communications Center revealed that 77.2% of
Palestinians supported the kidnapping, while 66.8% said they would back additional
such attacks.
More than six out of 10 Palestinians also said they were in favor of
firing Kassam rockets at Israeli towns and cities.
And lest you think that war fever lay behind the results, consider
this: four additional polls published in September, nearly a month after
the Lebanese conflict had ended, all found large majorities of
Palestinians backing terror attacks against the Jewish state.
Indeed, in various countries around the world, support for Muslim
fundamentalist terror groups appears to be widespread.
On the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, a survey
conducted by Al-Jazeera asked respondents, "Do you support Osama Bin-Laden?"
A whopping 49.9% answered: yes.
And the July 2006 global Pew survey found that among Muslims, a
quarter of Jordanians, a third of Indonesians, 38% of Pakistanis and 61% of
Nigerians all expressed confidence in the mass murderer who founded
al-Qaida.
In Lebanon six months ago, the Beirut Center for Research and
Information found that over 80% of the Lebanese population said they supported
Hizbullah.
And do I need also to mention that a majority of Palestinians backed
Hamas in parliamentary elections last year? Sure, there are also places
where support for violent jihad is not as high. As Reuters reported on
October 15, just 10 percent of Indonesian Muslims said they backed
jihad and supported bomb attacks on the island of Bali aimed at foreign
tourists.
But Indonesia is home to more than 200 million Muslims, so while 10
percent may sound like a small number percentage-wise, it is actually
quite large in absolute terms. It means there are some 20 million Muslims
in Indonesia alone who are willing to say out loud that they support
the use of violence and terror against innocent human beings.
Since when is that a "marginal few"? The question of whether a "tiny"
or "sizable" minority backs the global jihad is far more than just one
of semantics. It goes to the very nature of the struggle that Israel
and the West now find ourselves in.
The figures above, taken from a variety of nations, continents and
contexts, all point in one very ominous direction. They demonstrate
beyond a shadow of a doubt that the global jihadist movement enjoys a wide
and broad base of support that extends far beyond just a minuscule
number of supporters.
POLITICIANS and journalists might wish to believe, as we all do, that
the backers of violent jihad are few and far between, and that they do
not represent large numbers of people with like-minded extremist views.
But that is simply not the case.
The arithmetic of jihad is quite straight-forward, and it is time we
stopped looking the other way and pretending otherwise.
The threat posed by Islamic fundamentalism to Israel and the West
can, and must, be met. With determination and a sense of purpose, victory
is not out of reach.
But the longer we continue to underestimate the extent of the
problem, the more difficult it will be to defeat it.
So let's put aside all that wishful thinking, and roll up our
collective sleeves and get to work. Like it or not, the war on terror still
faces a long road ahead.
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/970683.html
Ambassador sees global insurgency
The State Department's outgoing counterterrorism chief says the United
States and its allies must rethink their strategies if they are to
thwart the growing threat.
By Dan Browning, Star Tribune
Last update: January 30, 2007 – 10:04 PM
Driver in fatal crash was drinking with other teens, charges say
The U.S. war on terrorism has largely interrupted Al-Qaida's command
structure, but the spreading globalization of communication and trade
makes a successful terrorist attack on U.S. soil a certainty.
So says Ambassador Henry Crumpton, the State Department's outgoing
counterterrorism coordinator. Crumpton is a former operative with the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who led the U.S. campaign in
Afghanistan to topple the Taliban and rout Osama bin Laden after the
terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Crumpton, who will retire Friday after 26 years of government service,
is in Minneapolis to speak at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
today.
The speech, titled "A New Era of Conflict," begins at 8:30 a.m. in the
Cowles Auditorium and is free and open to the public.
In an interview Tuesday, Crumpton said the United States and its allies
must adapt their counterterrorism strategies to meet a growing threat
from individuals or small groups who are much harder to detect than
more
organized terrorist groups.
"I think what we see today really has many of the characteristics of a
global insurgency," Crumpton said. "If you look at successful counter-
insurgency strategies, historically, 10 to 20 percent involves the
military," he said. The bulk of the work must center on building
reliable government and social institutions.
Crumpton said the United States must be careful in how it defines its
enemies so that it does not preclude cooperation from unfriendly
governments that have a common interest in combating terrorism. For
counterterrorism to succeed, we must build trusted networks, he said.
"And we have to think in those terms, because if you don't replace the
enemy networks and you don't deny the enemy safe haven and you don't
address those [underlying] conditions ... then you'll have a resurgence
at some point," Crumpton said, citing the comeback of the Taliban last
year in some sectors of Afghanistan.
"In most countries of the world, they do not have a favorable view of
the U.S.," he said. "And that is bothersome. More than that -- it's a
concern.
"And we have got to address it. It's fundamental to the success that we
need," Crumpton said. "We have to be very aggressive in identifying and
engaging our enemies, but engaging them with great precision and speed
and flexibility. And if necessary, with lethal means," he said. "But in
the broader context, we have to think about these other instruments
because ... in many ways, they're more enduring," he said.
Military power just buys space and time, Crumpton said. Success will
only come with the building of liberal institutions.
Dan Browning • 612-673-4493 • dbrowning@startribune.com
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=91576&d=31&m=1&y=2007
Anti-Muslim Fliers Intended to Scare Neighbors About Muslims
Barbara Ferguson, Arab News
WASHINGTON, 31 January 2007 — Some people will use any tactic to
spread
hatred and fear. The latest scheme involves an anti-Muslim flier left
on
the front doors of homes in a Florida suburb.
And now the FBI is being asked to investigate.
Fliers recently distributed in a Tampa, Florida, neighborhood accuses
Muslims of stockpiling anthrax in America for years and smuggling
suitcase-sized nuclear bombs into the country across the Mexican
border.
If the worst happened, the pamphlet asked, “Are you prepared for
eternity? If this tragedy happened today, do you know for sure that you
would go to heaven?â€
The anonymous flier also encourages readers to find salvation by
believing in Jesus.
Joel Harper, a disabled Army veteran, told the St. Petersburg Times
that
the hate-filled message upset him and his wife.
When they found the pamphlet at their door, they “jumped into their
car
to try to find the 20-something-year-old they had seen with a stack of
the yellow fliers but had no luck,’†Harper said.
“’We’re having enough trouble around the world with hatred and
stuff.
They’re trying to scare people to Jesus, to church, instead of doing
it
the right way.’â€
The Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has
asked
religious leaders to repudiate the door-to-door distribution of
anti-Muslim hate fliers.
“We are disturbed about this because it is anonymous and because of
the
impact it may have,†Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the CAIR
Tampa
chapter, said in a telephone interview.
“We’ve asked religious leaders statewide to condemn this form of
hatred
and to speak up against it, and to be vigilant in reporting this form
of
hatred in the name of religion.
Bedier said that since the leaflets are anonymous, CAIR is seeking the
help of law enforcement, including the FBI, to track down the group
behind these hate pamphlets.
“The public should know who’s distributing the material, as they
could
be a potential threat in the future.â€
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Wednesday/National/20070131091102/Article/local1_html
Chinese mosque: Group: It's difficult to get approval
31 Jan 2007
Wan Hamidi Hamid
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association (MCMA) is facing
difficulties in getting approval from state governments to build
mosques
for their community.
MCMA vice-president Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah (picture) said it was
unfair for Perak mufti Datuk Seri Harussani Idris to say that state
religious departments did not prevent the Chinese community from
applying to build their own mosques.
He said MCMA had been trying to build a Chinese mosque in Selangor for
about a decade but claimed that the religious authorities were not even
interested in hearing their proposal.
"In our last meeting with the former director of the Selangor religious
department a couple of years ago, he told us there was no way he would
approve a Chinese mosque.
"For him, Islam in Malaysia is all about the Malays and the Malay
language," he said when commenting on Harussani’s remarks.
Harussani had lambasted his Perlis counterpart Dr Mohd Asri Zainul
Abidin for implying that state governments denied the rights of Chinese
Muslims to have their mosques.
Mohd Ridhuan defended the Perlis mufti, saying that the MCMA’s
experience in Selangor and Malacca showed that some religious
authorities failed to understand the universality of Islam.
The Malacca Chinese Muslim Association had its application to build a
Chinese mosque rejected three years ago.
Mohd Ridhuan claimed that MCMA also proposed the building of a mosque
and Islamic centre for the Chinese community to Minister in the Prime
Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin but there was no
further
response.
He, however, was happy with the Selangor mufti Datuk Mohd Tamyis Abdul
Majid’s assurance that the state would seriously look into
applications
to build a Chinese mosque in Selangor.
"MCMA will definitely bring up the proposal again and we hope the
Selangor state government would approve our application," Mohd Ridhuan
said.
MCMA is hoping that a Chinese mosque would reflect Chinese design and
architecture and also encourage non-Muslim Chinese to visit.
While Harussani claimed that state religious authorities did not
prevent
the Chinese from building mosques, he did not explain why there had yet
to exist such a mosque in Malaysia.
Dr Mohd Asri when contacted said he hoped his Perak counterpart would
be
less emotional when dealing with such an issue.
"No one is belittling the religious authorities. As a mufti, I believe
in showing Islam in its true form, as a caring, peaceful and
understanding religion," he said.
For every five schools, one mosque built in Turkey
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=101492
For every five schools, one mosque built in Turkey
The number of mosques built in Turkey in the last four years was 2,436,
a recent statement by the Directorate of Religious Affairs revealed and
the number of classrooms built in the same span of time equaled
100,280.
According to the Ministry of Education, eight classrooms make one
school; which means the number of schools built totals 12,500-- or five
times the number of new mosques built.
Following a request by Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Ali Rıza
Gülçiçek to determine how many mosques were built in the last 26
years,
the directorate made a statement and revealed that nearly 30,000
mosques
have been built since 1981. Between 1981-1983, when a military
government was in power; 6,000 mosques were built, between 1984-1989,
when Turgut Özal was the prime minister, 11,000 mosques were opened
and
during the Justice and Development Party's (Ak Party) government
between
2003-2006, 2,436 mosques were built.
The numbers revealed by head of the Religious Affairs Department, Ali
BardakoÄŸlu proves wrong all claims that the number of mosques built
during the four years of AK Party rule were higher than the number of
schools. Another timely statement by Education Minister Hüseyin Çelik
contributed to allaying the doubts. “Since the 100,280 classrooms, or
12,500 schools, built in cooperation by the state and the citizens
started operating as buildings attached to already-active schools, they
don't count as new schools,†he said The minister's statement also
revealed that 2.5 million students began primary school this year, so
the number of newly-built schools or buildings was still not at the
required level. According to the ministry of education, 95,000
additional classrooms should be built at a cost of YTL 10 billion ($7
billion) to the state in order to provide all students the opportunity
to receive education in a classroom environment of 30 students.
A majority of the mosques --48,000 of them -- in Turkey are owned by
incorporated bodies located in villages. The Directorate of Charitable
Foundations has 5, 351 mosques, the Association of Religious Affairs
4,107, the Treasury 2,677, private associations 7,076, municipalities
5,241 and the Turkish Armed Forces 14 mosques while there are 3,376
privately-owned mosques. The total number of mosques in the country is
estimated at 77,777.
31.01.2007
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
KIDNAPPING AND EXECUTION PLOT BY MUSLIMS IN UK
Police raids target 'terror plot'
The raids took place at 0400 GMT on Wednesday morning
Eight people have been arrested under the Terrorism Act in Birmingham after a "significant" operation involving police and security service MI5.
A number of addresses in the city have been sealed off after morning raids.
Senior security sources have told the BBC the raids were targeting a kidnap plot rather than one aimed at causing mass casualties.
The six-month operation involved the Midlands counter terrorism unit, West Midlands Police and the Met Police.
It was not necessarily a government official and not necessarily someone high profile but a certain type of individual was possibly the target of a kidnapping
BBC correspondent Gordon Corera said the plot was thought to involve "some kind of kidnapping - possibly of an individual".
...........................................................................................................................
Watching the newscasts on this event it has been said that this incident also included the filming and publication of the execution of the kidnapped victim as is done in Iraq and the Arab world.
This has to be the act that has finally crossed the line of even the most supine of the liberal left in this country, as of yet all of this is allegation and speculation but I am certain that all that is alleged will be confirmed.
The Islamic community in this country feels it can do anything and not be brought to book, they feel they are immune to all and sundry.
The British people are being treated with contempt by Muslims on a daily basis, this is just one more manifestation of that contempt, the Government must now act, if they do not then they will be sending a signal to all Muslims to carry on abusing and destroying our country and its culture
http://uppompeii.blogspot.com/2007/01/kidnapping-and-execution-plot-by.html
I am post ing this as it came in my email, no, I don't know them, but would be very honored, if I did. What fine men,
I can only pray that God will give them the strength to go through this disaster.
granny
Some of you receiving this know Dan and perhaps his brother Art (I did
not)
and already know the character of these men.
The following is for those that did not. I had the opportunity to work
with,
and was a passenger on Dan's Little Bird once when with BW in Baghdad.
It
was bitter / sweet knowing the casualty wasn't Dan, but a tragedy for
him
and his family that his brother was.
Listen to the message this patriot / warrior has to say about his hero
brother KIA on 23 JAN 07 and the conviction with which they and many
others
prosecute the war.
Listen to Dan's message; he who lost his brother(s) in that battle in
and
over Baghdad, and his continued belief in what they are doing is right.
Very sorry for your loss Dan and thanks for what you do.
Guy (call sign "G2")
This is a powerful read.
_____
-----Original Message-----
From: oda@
To: Sent: Tue, 30 Jan 2007 11:09 AM
Subject: Fwd: Fwd: Little Bird Info
FYI
DN
deseretnews.com (Salt Lake City)
Thursday, January 25, 2007
This is an e-mail letter sent to KSL producer Kim Thomas from Dan
Laguna, a Utah man whose brother was among five Americans killed
when their private security helicopter crashed Tuesday in Baghdad .
First of all my brother is and was a HERO. All he ever wanted to do
from the
time I can remember as a child, was he wanted to fly. He became one of
the
most professional pilots you could have ever known. I recruited my
brother
to join us with Blackwater Aviation. We get a lot of resumes but only a
few
have the qualifications to join us. This is one of the most demanding
jobs
in Iraq. The military fly's some every day but we in Blackwater
Aviation are
up flying in the RED zone every day all day.
To get to you question of what happened, I got a call that we had some
of
our Blackwater PSD teams in contact and needed help. We are the QRF
(Quick
Reaction Force) for just about everyone. The military takes to long to
respond because of the approval they have to get all the way up the
chain of
command. I am the only one that makes the decision to go or not and we
always go when someone is in harms way. I sent out two helicopters to
help
our team in contact. After they were on station for a very short time
they
began to receive automatic fire. One of my door gunners was shot
immediately
in the head. Both helicopters flew back to the Green zone to get him to
the
hospital. I was monitoring the radio and knew we had at lest one
wounded. I
got my crew together and my brother's crew then went back out to help
our
PSD team. When we arrived at their location which only took about three
minutes, we started to receive heavy volumes of automatic fire from all
around. My brother was my wing man at that point and as we took evasive
maneuvers I heard him they were taking rounds. By the time I got turned
around to see him he was gone. As I continued to look for his
helicopter we
also got shot down. I was able to land the helicopter in a small court
yard.
I shut down the helicopter to asses the damage and to make sure my crew
was
ok. My crew was fine and the helicopter was shot up pretty bad but was
able
to fly the three to five minutes back to the Green zone. I need to get
my
crew out of that area because it would have been only a few minutes
before
the insurgents would have gotten to us. After I got back to our area I
had
the mechanics put on three more rotor blades and went back out to find
my
brother and his crew. It only took them about ten to fifteen minutes to
get
me air borne again. I was back up looking for my brother and was able
to get
the military to help with search. It took about twenty minutes to
locate the
helicopter. It had been shot down in a small ally which made it very
difficult to locate. By the time we found the helicopter two of the
bodies
were drug out and into the street. The Army and our PSD team got there
just
in time before they could do anything with them. I landed at that
location
so I could make sure they were my guys. When I unzipped the second body
bag
that the Army had already put them in I found my brother. I was told by
the
ground guys that they would get them all back to the Green zone. I
walked
back to my running helicopter, jumped in and flew back to the Green
zone. I
then realized I had to make a very difficult call to my brother's wife.
I
did everything I could to let her know he did not suffer and how very
sorry
that I was.
Latter that night I was asked to go to the hospital to ID my guys.
Latter
at the hospital the US Ambassador showed up to talk with me.
I am only telling you this story because I don't believe the media
really
tells the public how all of these Hero's military and civilian really
believe in what we are doing over here. I know we are doing the right
thing
in helping the Iraqi people and wish everyone could under stand that.
May
God bless the men and woman here and their families. - Dan Laguna,
Blackwater Aviation Program Manager, Baghdad Iraq.
How Canada can make a difference in the Middle East
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/editorialsletters/story.html?id=edac571b
-298d-4721-a3ca-be6a5d03a86c
Wednesday > January 31 > 2007
How Canada can make a difference in the Middle East
PETER MACKAY
National Post
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Last week I visited the Middle East for the first time as Canada's
Foreign
Minister. I went to see and listen for myself. While there, I met with
political, business and community leaders. I visited a Palestinian
refugee camp
in Bethlehem. At Yad Vashem in Jerusalem I reflected on the full
meaning of
"never again" and paid my respects to the millions who perished in the
Holocaust. I have gained a better understanding of the complexities of
the
region, the conflict and the relationships between Israel and its Arab
neighbours. I would like to share something of what I learned with
fellow
Canadians.
First, Canada's firm and clear positions to stand up for freedom,
democracy,
human rights and the rule of law --and stand against terrorism and
extremism --
is respected and understood by our partners in the region. They
recognize that
our positions are driven by these principles and not by ideology. For
this, we
are considered a friend and a partner.
Second, I saw that Canadian assistance is making a difference in the
lives of
Palestinians. While Canada has been clear on its policy of no contact
and no
funding to the terrorist group Hamas, we have increased assistance
provided
through the UN that reaches the Palestinian people directly. I saw,
firsthand,
our aid money at work when I visited a school at the Aida refugee camp
in the
West Bank, where Canadian dollars help provide a decent education for
young
girls, and thereby create new hopes for the future. The Canadian
government has
provided more than $20-million through UN and other international
organizations,
and we are looking at ways of doing more.
But, we are not only considering ways of giving more assistance. We are
also
looking at how we can help address some of this conflict's most complex
issues.
Canada has a role and responsibility as a leader on the issue of
Palestinian
refugees. We will work with all interested and willing partners to
explore ways
of helping to resolve this question when the parties are ready to do
so. Our
views and our expertise, our practical contribution and advice are
welcome.
Third, I spoke frankly with both Palestinian and Israeli leaders.
I discussed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas his plans to deal
with the
challenges that lay ahead for him and the Palestinian people. I
reminded him
that the essential first step for Palestinians toward peace is ending
terror and
violence and building strong democratic institutions for a vibrant and
accountable society. Reform of his Fatah party must be a top priority
and he
needs to give the Palestinian people real options and a real choice for
true
democratic governance. Violence in Gaza and the West Bank, and
continued attacks
against Israel -- such as rocket attacks on the town of Sderot and this
week's
tragic suicide bombing in Eilat -- must come to an end to build trust
in the
peace process. He said he was ready to push this forward but that he
needed
support -- from us, the Quartet (United States, Russia, the European
Union, the
United Nations), the Arab world and of course, from Israel.
In my meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign
Minister
Tzipi Livni, I reiterated Canada's understanding that the protection of
one's
citizens is the first task of any responsible government. I expressed
our
position that Israel's security in the long run also depends on the
ability of
the Palestinians to prosper in dignity and in peace. I expressed
concern over
the route of the barrier; and said that settlements or continued
settlement
growth is counterproductive on the peace front. I told them that
Canada's
position remains that the establishment of a democratic, viable, and
peaceful
Palestinian state is essential to a comprehensive settlement of this
longstanding conflict.
I learned that ordinary Israelis and Palestinians are frustrated with
the
conflict and the violence. They want solutions and the prospect of a
peaceful
future.
I also found that there was shared concern about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's
regime in
Iran and the dangerous direction it is headed with its nuclear weapons
aspirations and its antagonistic role in the region. I shared Canada's
deep
concerns and discussed our efforts to date -- in the International
Atomic Energy
Agency, the G8, the UN and with friends and partners -- to address this
challenge. I explained that Canada takes the position that all
non-military
options to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons must be widely
and
creatively explored.
This trip revealed that Canada has real credibility and influence.
Jordanians,
Israelis and Palestinians all asked me to ensure that Canada play a
more active
role in the region. They believe that we can play a role in finding new
approaches and perspectives to old problems. I am committed to doing
just that.
- Peter MacKay is Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister for the
Atlantic
Canada Opportunities Agency.
C National Post 2007
http://tinyurl.com/2r7t4b
Copyright C 2007 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest MediaWorks
Publications, Inc.. All rights reserved.
IWPR/CRS: Burial Mystery of Georgian Leader
Caucasus Reporting Service
Burial Mystery of Georgian Leader
Four times reburied - where is the grave of Zviad Gamsakhurdia now?
By Zaza Tsuladze in Tbilisi and Umalt Dudyaev in Grozny
He was controversial in life. Now in death Georgia’s first president,
Zviad Gamsakhurdia, is the subject of extraordinary controversy that
involves two governments, competing claims and a deep mystery about
where his body is actually buried.
Since Gamsakhurdia died at the end of 1993, the former Georgian leader
has been buried at least four times and the whereabouts of his current
burial place is still a closely held secret.
The Georgian government has been negotiating for three years with
Moscow
about finding and returning Gamsakhurdia’s remains, but so far without
result.
“We have sent four special notes to the Russian foreign ministry,” Givi
Shugarov, a diplomat with the Georgian embassy in Moscow, told IWPR.
“The last time we did it was in December, when we confirmed that we
wanted to have Zviad Gamsakhurdia’s remains reburied in Tbilisi and
asked about the veracity of reports that his grave in Grozny was empty
and his body had been reburied somewhere else. On all four occasions,
the Russians said they would check this out. We have received no other
information from them.”
The negotiations have been hampered by the dramatic downturn in
diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia. This week, Russia’s
ambassador to Georgia returned to Tbilisi for the first time, after
being recalled four months ago.
Gamsakhurdia, the son of a celebrated Georgian writer and a famous
nationalist dissident, was the first president of independent Georgia,
but was violently ousted in January 1992 following just a few turbulent
months in office. After going into exile in Chechnya, then a territory
de facto independent from Russia under President Jokhar Dudayev, he
returned to western Georgia in October 1993 to mount an uprising
against
Eduard Shevardnadze who had replaced him.
His rebellion defeated, Gamsakhurdia died on December 31, 1993 in the
house of peasant Karlo Gurtskaia in the village of Dzveli Khibula. The
two bodyguards and his prime minister, Besarion Gugashvili, who were
with him, say that he shot himself with a Stechkin automatic pistol.
“We were lying in one room, I was near Zviad, when he killed himself,”
said Gugashvili, who is now a political émigré in Finland. “Eduard
Shevardnadze’s agents had been pursuing us in the woods of western
Georgia for fifty days, we’d changed hiding places many times. Zviad
was
seriously ill and could not endure the pursuit any longer.”
In the first of many burials, Gamsakhurdia’s body was interred in the
yard of the house in the mountainous village of Jikhaskari, then
shortly
afterwards reburied in the wooden shed of another resident of the same
village.
On February 17, 1994, on the request of Gamsakhurdia’s family, who were
living in Chechnya at the time, his remains were transported to Grozny.
Robinzon Margvelani, head of Gamsakhurdia’s security service, told IWPR
that supporters of Shevardnadze had already opened a number of graves
looking for the dead leader. “So we were forced to rebury the body. We
had no other way out, we were afraid that his remains would be abused,
and I supported the idea of having Gamsakhurdia reburied in Chechnya
too,” he said.
In exile in Chechnya, Gamsakhurdia had been granted a special residence
on Chekhov Street in central Grozny. The locals were hospitable towards
him and called him by the Chechen name “Ziyavdi” amongst themselves.
In February 1994, the Chechen government dispatched a delegation to
Tbilisi, led by Chechen vice-president Zelimkhan Yandarbiev. After
talks
with the Georgian authorities, Gamsakhurdia’s body was flown to
Chechnya.
On February 23, Grozny commemorated the 50th anniversary of Stalin’s
deportation of Chechens to Central Asia. Before the military parade
started, the coffin containing the body of the Georgian leader was
carried on a gun carriage in front of the presidential palace. A steed
with a felt cloak thrown over its back followed the carriage according
to Caucasian custom.
Gamsakhurdia’s funeral took place on February 24. The entire route to
his residence from the presidential palace was strewn with red roses
and
his body was buried under one of the two weeping willows outside his
former home.
“I remember perfectly the day, on which Zviad Gamsakhurdia was buried,”
said driver Sharani Akhmadov, 52, who delivered sand for Gamsakhurdia’s
grave that day.
“Gamsakhurdia’s grave was under one of the two willows. When the coffin
with the body was lowered there, hoarfrost on the willow that had
melted
in the sun started dripping onto it. Strangely, the drops fell only on
the side of the grave! The other side of the willow was almost dry, as
was the other tree planted just a few metres away from the first one.
The impression was that the tree was weeping over the grave of the
Georgian president. I was not the only one to notice the fact, everyone
present there did.”
During the first Chechen war of 1994-96, the burial place was badly
damaged by a mortar shell. This area of the Chechen capital was also
the
scene of intensive fighting in the second conflict that began in 1999.
Gamsakhurdia’s family decided to rebury his remains for a fourth time
and the reburial was supervised by Abu Arsanukayev, the former head of
Dudayev’s bodyguards.
“I reburied Gamsakhurdia’s remains with my own hands, as soon as his
family expressed the wish to,” Arsanukayev recently told Georgia’s
Imedi
television.
“There were several men with me. The fighting was very heavy on the
territory next to Kirov Park and on Chekhov Street, and we reburied him
so that the grave did not get lost or dug up by someone and become an
object of trade.”
Arsanukayev said that Gamsakhurdia had been reburied in a safe place
inside Chechnya and that only a handful of people in Grozny and Tbilisi
knew about the whereabouts of the grave.
Gamsakhurdia’s widow Manana Archvadze told IWPR that she knew where the
grave was, but she said security considerations prevented her from
saying so publicly. “I am waiting for the official negotiations between
Georgia and Russia to end,” she said. “Of course, I know where he is
buried today, and I know where his final burial place will be in
Georgia.”
Some leading Zviadists, however, are sceptical about the widow’s
claims.
Gamsakhurdia’s prime minister, Besarion Gugushvili, told IWPR, “I think
the remains were lost when Grozny was occupied by the Russians. They
are
most likely to have been taken to Moscow, otherwise it’s difficult to
explain why the reburial process has been so long drawn-out.”
For years, Gamsakhurdia was widely reviled in Georgia as a dangerous
nationalist. Official attitudes towards him have softened since Mikheil
Saakashvili came to power in 2004. Both Saakashvili and Patriarch Ilya
II, who held a requiem service for Gamsakhurdia last year, welcome the
idea of him being reburied in Tbilisi.
Gamsakhurdia’s friend, former foreign minister Gogi Khoshtaria said the
fact that he had not yet been put to rest in the country was a
disgrace.
“Several years ago, it was forbidden even to mention Gamsakhurdia’s
name, you could be shot dead for this,” he said. “Today, everyone
understands that Zviad is a national hero, who made the idea of
Georgia’s independence real, and it’s a pity that we don’t even know
precisely where and in what conditions his remains lie.”
Yet even if Gamsakhurdia’s body is disinterred and returned, there is
set to be still more controversy about his final resting place.
Archvadze says she wants her husband to be buried in the courtyard of
the newly-built Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi. His son Konstantin
Gamsakhurdia, who returned to Georgia after the Rose Revolution and is
now leader of the Freedom opposition political party, wants his father
to be reburied in the Mtatsminda pantheon overlooking Tbilisi where
many
famous Georgians are buried. “However, before this is done the remains
should be studied so we can be sure that it is really Zviad
Gamsakhurdia, who will be laid to rest in Georgia,” said his son.
Zaza Tsuladze is a journalist for Imedi television in Tbilisi. Umalt
Dudayev is the pseudonym of a Chechen journalist and IWPR contributor.
http://www.iwpr.net/?p=crs&s=f&o=328770&apc_state=henpcrs
"Nuke spy's" barman is dying
The Sun
Nuke spy's barman is dying
By VIRGINIA WHEELER
January 29, 2007
THE barman who served a poisoned cup of tea to Alexander Litvinenko has
just five years to live, The Sun can reveal.
Noberto Andrade, 67, was exposed to lethal Polonium 210 when waiting on
the ex-KGB man during his meeting with three other former agents.
The head barman at the Millennium Hotel in London’s Mayfair said:
“Doctors say I’m looking at a life-expectancy of five years, maybe six.
“My chances of cancer have rocketed. I also have a massively increased
chance of organ failure and immune-system diseases.
“When they murdered Litvinenko, they murdered me too. The only
difference is that my death sentence is longer.”
The assassin is believed to have slipped the Polonium 210 into the pot
at the table from a sealed glass capsule.
Noberto handled the pot and cup when he cleared up.
Both items were later seized by cops. The bar is still closed.
At the meeting was Andrei Lugovoi, 41.
He has been named as the prime suspect, but fiercely denies the
allegation.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007040600,00.html
[unknown url]
Interfax: Chechnya must have modern forensic laboratory - Council of Europe head
Chechnya must have modern forensic laboratory - Council of Europe head
STRASBOURG Jan 30 (Interfax) - It is important to set up a modern
laboratory for identifying the bodies of those killed and abducted in
hostilities in Chechnya, Council of Europe Secretary General Terry
Davis said in an exclusive interview with Interfax in Strasbourg.
It is extremely important to conduct forensic identification of the
bodies, which is necessary for the desperate relatives of these
missing.
This would clarify the fates of their loved ones and would partially
relieve their anxiety, Davis said.
With this end in mind, the Council of Europe has provided a statement
of experts requesting that the most up-to-date equipment be made
available for such a laboratory, he said.
However, the Council of Europe has no funds to cover the related
expenses. The Russian authorities could turn to the European Union for
assistance, although it is not clear what answer their will receive,
Davis said.
The laboratory will hopefully be set up soon and the list of those who
have gone missing and whose relatives have been desperately awaiting
information about them drawn up, he said.
An agreement must be achieved urgently to organize the next round of
the roundtable conference on Chechnya under the aegis of the Council
of Europe and its parliamentary assembly (PACE). The organization of
the roundtable conference depends on many parties concerned, he said.
Hopefully, an agreement will be reached soon and an exchange of views
held. Problems of this kind are better tackled with dialogue, to be
more exact with an exchange of views between all parties interested to
restore stability in Chechnya fully. The solution of this issue has
been dragging on far too long. It would be in the interest of
residents of Chechnya and all ordinary Russian citizens to find a
solution to the remaining problems as quickly as possible, Davis said.
The interview will be published in full on the and websites on January
30.
[I cannot read this, hope it is as labeled, the poster is one that is on a couple of my groups and only deals with facts, so am posting it as it came to me.
granny]
Le Figaro: Vaksberg:Since Lenin the Russian authority poisons its enemies
RUSSIA In "The Laboratory of poisons" (*), historian and Russian
journalist Arkadi Vaksberg, who had access to some unpublished files,
tells us how, since the revolution of 1917, the Kremlin systematically
uses sophisticated poisons to eliminate its adversaries, real or
imaginary ones.
Vaksberg : « Depuis Lénine, le pouvoir russe empoisonne ses ennemis »
Propos recueillis par LAURE MANDEVILLE.
Publié le 30 janvier 2007
Actualisé le 30 janvier 2007 : 06h00
RUSSIE Dans « Le Laboratoire des poisons » (*), l'historien et
journaliste russe Arkadi Vaksberg, qui a eu accès à des archives
inédites, raconte comment, depuis la révolution de 1917, le Kremlin a
systématisé l'utilisation de poisons sophistiqués pour éliminer ses
adversaires, réels ou imaginaires.
LE FIGARO. - Le moins que l'on puisse dire, c'est qu'avec l'affaire
Litvinenko, votre livre est au coeur de l'actualité...
Arkadi VAKSBERG. - Je ne m'attendais pas à bénéficier d'une telle
actualité. Mon livre était déjà sous presse quand Litvinenko a été
empoisonné au polonium 210 en novembre. Mais contrairement à l'opinion
occidentale, je n'ai pas été étonné. Car, après avoir passé des années
dans les archives soviétiques, aujourd'hui largement refermées, j'y
vois un nouvel épisode de ce terrorisme d'État pratiqué avec
systématisme par le Kremlin depuis l'époque de Lénine pour éliminer
ses adversaires réels ou imaginaires. C'est la continuité de cette
chaîne d'assassinats politiques que j'essaie de décrire dans mon
livre, car elle éclaire certains aspects de la réalité russe actuelle.
Comme plusieurs autres cas récents - l'empoisonnement de l'homme
d'affaires Ivan Kivélidi, celui du député journaliste Iouri
Chekotchikine, voire celui du président ukrainien Viktor Iouchtchenko
- l'assassinat de Litvinenko semble indiquer que le Laboratoire des
poisons, créé à l'initiative de Lénine en 1921 et soutenu au sommet de
l'État, est toujours en activité. Dans La Loubianka criminelle,
Litvinenko affirmait que ce laboratoire était toujours en activité et
donnait même une adresse à Moscou, rue des Héros-Rouges. Je ne sais si
ces informations sont exactes. Mais je ne doute pas de l'identité des
commanditaires. La question que je me pose est plutôt : à qui le tour ?
Vous croyez que le pouvoir russe a assassiné Litvinenko, malgré
l'insignifiance politique du personnage ?
Je n'ai bien sûr aucune preuve juridique de ce que j'avance et je suis
bien incapable de dire qui a donné l'ordre, Poutine ou un autre. Mais
en toute logique, ce crime porte la signature des services spéciaux
russes. Contrairement à ce que répète la télévision de Russie, seules
ces structures pouvaient avoir accès à un matériau aussi secret que le
polonium 210, qui coûte des dizaines de millions de dollars et qu'on
ne peut obtenir que pendant une réaction nucléaire.
Je vous rappelle que le pouvoir a fait passer un oukaze qui donne
autorisation au FSB d'éliminer en n'importe quel point du globe les «
ennemis terroristes » de la Russie, une notion, qui, vous l'admettrez,
reste définie par le pouvoir. Pour moi, l'assassinat de Litvinenko
ressemble à une vengeance contre un renégat et un opposant, comme il y
en a eu beaucoup dans le passé, notamment à l'étranger. Le KGB s'est
toujours intéressé à l'émigration russe, même si le danger qu'elle
représentait était exagéré voire nul. C'était un acharnement
obsessionnel, qui a poussé les Soviétiques à venir frapper ces émigrés
à Paris, à Londres ou à Bruxelles. Je raconte beaucoup d'épisodes
méconnus de cette histoire secrète, comme par exemple l'assassinat du
général Wrangel, héros de l'Armée blanche, empoisonné à Bruxelles,
dans sa propre maison par son majordome, avec de la tuberculine
introduite en cuisine dans son déjeuner.
Ce qui est intéressant, c'est que les poisons utilisés par le pouvoir
ont peu à peu évolué, pour qu'il soit difficile de les détecter à
temps. Mais le modus operandi reste le même. Ce n'est pas étonnant,
puisque le FSB, successeur du KGB, est de retour au pouvoir.
Vous donnez pour preuve de la volonté de sophistiquer les poisons, une
lettre trouvée dans les archives de l'ex-patron du Laboratoire des
poisons Maïranovski, alors qu'il attend la mort dans une geôle.
Espérant sauver sa peau, il affirme avoir mis au point un poison
révolutionnaire qui entraîne la mort par simple inhalation. Vous
racontez que cette technique a été testée à partir des années 1960,
notamment (sans succès) sur Soljénitsyne, puis sur d'autres avec plus
d'efficacité...
Cette technique n'était sans doute pas au point en 1965, mais quelques
années plus tard, certaines morts par poison semblent s'être produites
après inhalation. Celle du banquier Kivélidi, mais aussi peut-être
celle de l'ex-maire de Saint Pétersbourg Anatoli Sobtchak, ancien
mentor de Poutine, mort subitement en 2000. L'utilisation du polonium
210 sur Litvinenko montre aussi ce processus de sophistication. Pour
réaliser un empoisonnement radioactif, il faut une approche
scientifique et une technique très professionnelle...
Cette sophistication n'a pas empêché les assassins de laisser des
traces à travers toute l'Europe...
Vous avez raison. C'est un changement par rapport au passé. Les
empoisonneurs de la Loubianka étaient des professionnels. Aujourd'hui,
nous avons affaire à des dilettantes. Ce n'est pas étonnant. Ce même
mélange d'autoritarisme et de dilettantisme imprègne toute la vie
politique russe. Cette ambiance de pagaille signifie-t-elle que les
services secrets se sont autonomisés et ont agi de leur propre compte
dans l'affaire Litvinenko ? Si c'est le cas, ce n'est guère plus
rassurant que si l'ordre a été donné du Kremlin.
(*) buchet castel, 2007
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.