World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #6 Disinformation, Inc.

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.

Stanford delays screening of anti-Semitic Turkish film
Feb. 22, 2007 0:02 | Updated Feb. 22, 2007 9:53
Stanford delays screening of anti-Semitic Turkish film
By HAVIV RETTIG
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1171894488107&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The showing at Stanford University of Kurtlar Vadisi: Irak (Valley of the Wolves: Iraq), a Turkish box-office hit with characters including a homicidal American colonel and a Jewish doctor who sells Muslim prisoners' organs to the West, was postponed last weekend, apparently due to criticism about the movie's contents.

Previously described by Stanford's Continuing Education department Web site as "The Action Movie You Were Not Meant to See," the movie tells the fictional story of an elite Turkish paramilitary squad fighting against brutal, murderous American commandos in northern Iraq.

"An elite Turkish commando squad infiltrates the Kurdish region of US-occupied Iraq," read the event notice on the Stanford Web site. "What they find is too shocking to contemplate: Their supposed American allies engaged in murder, extortion, organ dealing, and more. Not in our name indeed."

The event promoters further noted the film's enormous popularity in Turkey - it is one of the highest-grossing films in Turkish history - along with its "great popularity in Europe and the Middle East."

The Web site further said the film "was due for a limited American release in December 2006, but was quietly dropped at the last minute after a letter from the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith to the film's US distributors objected to 'the incendiary anti-Jewish and anti-American themes and characters in the film.'

"As a service to the Stanford academic community at large, we offer you the chance to see this important film for yourself," read the Web site, promising movie-goers "non-stop screen action, intellectual stimulation, and real political controversy in one program! This is an event not to be missed."

The screening was cosponsored by the Middle East Collection of the Stanford University Libraries, The Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies and Stanford Continuing Studies.

The cancellation of the screening saw the event promotion replaced with a letter from Prof. Charles Junkerman, Dean of Continuing Studies. The film "has been seen by tens of millions of people across the Middle East, and we thought that an academic screening would provide the opportunity for interested viewers to see the movie themselves, and reach their own judgments about it," wrote Junkerman.

However, due to the fact that the film is "extraordinarily controversial," Junkerman continued, "we feel that this movie needs to be contextualized by points of view represented by a diverse spectrum of academic experts."

But, wrote Junkerman, "we have been unsuccessful in recruiting an appropriately broad panel. Because this film is likely to provoke intense emotions pro and con, we have decided that we cannot go forward without such a panel to ground the post-film conversation. We have consequently chosen to cancel Saturday's screening."

Though Junkerman wrote that the movie was canceled, Stanford's events Web site said it was only postponed. Relevant Stanford University officials could not be reached by press time

U.S. troops find chemicals in Iraq raid

Associated Press

Thursday, February 22, 2007

U.S. troops raided a car bomb factory west of Baghdad with five
buildings full of propane tanks and ordinary chemicals the military believes
were to be used in bombs, a spokesman said Thursday, a day after
insurgents blew up a truck carrying chlorine gas canisters.

Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the chlorine attack Wednesday - the
second such "dirty" chemical attack in two days - signaled a change in
insurgent tactics, and the military was fighting back with targeted raids.

"What we are seeing is a change in the tactics, but their strategy has
not changed. And that's to create high-profile attacks to instill fear
and division amongst the Iraqi people," he told CNN. "It's a real crude
attempt to raise the terror level by taking and mixing ordinary
chemicals with explosive devices, trying to instill that fear within the Iraqi
people."

But he suggested the strategy was backfiring by turning public opinion
against the insurgents, saying the number of tips provided by Iraqis
had doubled in the last six months.

One of those tips led U.S. troops to a five separate buildings near
Fallujah, where they found the munitions containing chemicals, three
vehicle bombs being assembled, including a truck bomb, about 65 propane
tanks and "all kinds of ordinary chemicals," Caldwell said. He added that
he believed the insurgents were going to try to mix the chemicals with
explosives.

The pickup truck carrying chlorine gas cylinders was blown up
Wednesday, killing at least five people and sending more than 55 to hospitals
gasping for breath and rubbing stinging eyes.

On Tuesday, a bomb planted on a chlorine tanker left more than 150
villagers stricken north of the capital. More than 60 were still under
medical care on Wednesday. Chlorine causes respiratory trouble and skin
irritation in low levels and possible death with heavy exposure.

Brig. Gen. Qassim Moussawi, an Iraqi military spokesman, said the
investigation into the attack was still under way.

"But what is obvious to us that the terrorists are adopting new tactics
to cause panic and as many casualties as they can among civilians. But
our plans also are always changeable and flexible to face the enemy's
new tactics."

Copyright © 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[unknown url]

INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP - NEW REPORT

Venezuela: Hugo Chávez’s Revolution

Bogotá/Brussels, 22 February 2007: Venezuela is at risk of serious internal conflict if President Hugo Chávez continues to polarise society and dismantle the checks and balances of representative democracy after his recent landslide re-election.

Venezuela: Hugo Chávez’s Revolution,* the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines what that overwhelming victory in December and Chávez’s “Bolivarian Revolution” mean for one of the world’s major oil producing countries. After eight years in power and despite his repeated electoral successes, Chávez faces serious challenges: there is growing frustration with spiralling crime, government inefficiency, excessive spending and corruption, and polarisation in the body politic has reached historic proportions. There are also concerns in the region that the ex-colonel is willing to sacrifice democratic principles to advance his agenda. Under the guise of “direct” or “participatory” democracy, Chávez has progressively weakened the checks and balances of the political system.

“Chávez has created a regime that is not yet a dictatorship but is developing strong autocratic tendencies, has suborned the military, taken control of the judiciary and the electoral commission and passed laws that can be used to intimidate and muzzle the press”, says Markus Schultze-Kraft, Crisis Group’s Colombia/Andes Project Director. “All the levers of power can be operated by his hand and his hand alone”.

Chávez has been reconstructing Venezuela since his first election in 1998. He pushed through a new constitution that dismantled the system by which the traditional parties had dominated the country for most of two generations. The two-chamber Congress became a unicameral National Assembly, which has had only pro-Chávez members since the badly fragmented opposition unwisely boycotted the December 2005 elections. On 31 January 2007 it passed a new enabling law granting the president far-reaching legislative power for eighteen months.

Three scenarios could trouble Chávez. The likeliest is that problems will arise if oil prices drop to a point where the president cannot sustain current social spending. “If a recession imperils government funding, this could lead to more unemployment, undermining faith in the revolution and provoking an angry backlash”, says Crisis Group Senior Analyst Jeremy McDermott. It is also possible that the political opposition could eventually regain its footing, take control of the National Assembly and provide a serious alternative. This scenario could prompt diehard Chavistas to resort to violence to defend the regime. There is also a possibility that Chávez could be challenged from within his movement, as there are some disagreements over where the president is leading the country.

“If Chávez continues to build personal power at the expense of other institutions and militarise the government and political life, there will be serious risks of internal conflict, especially if the oil boom that cushions the economy falters”, says Alain Deletroz, Crisis Group’s Latin America Program Director. “Whether the social polarisation and accumulating tensions turn violent depends primarily on whether, at a moment of triumph, Chávez acts with restraint”.
Contacts: Kimberly Abbott (Washington) 1 202 785 1601
Nadim Hasbani (Brussels) 32 (0) 2 536 00 71
To contact Crisis Group media please click here
*Read the full Crisis Group report on our website: http://www.crisisgroup.org

The International Crisis Group (Crisis Group) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation covering over 50 crisis-affected countries and territories across four continents, working through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict.

Iraq faces 'dirty bomb' threat

AFP

Thursday, February 22, 2007

by Sabah Jerjes

As a joint operation by US and Iraqi troops to win control of Baghdad
made more progress Thursday, their insurgent foes were fighting back
with deadly new tactics, including poison gas attacks.

Iraqi medics were treating dozens of patients poisoned by chlorine
after militants targeted civilian areas with trucks rigged up as dirty
bombs, said Qais Abdulwahab, director of the Kadhimiya Hospital.

Meanwhile, US commanders are investigating the loss of the latest in a
series of helicopters after a Blackhawk came down on Wednesday in
fields north of the capital after coming under fire from the ground.

"Operation Fardh al-Qanoon" (Imposing Order) has scored some successes.
Murders are down in Baghdad and more than 90,000 US and Iraqi troops
have met only token resistance as they fan out through flashpoint
districts.

Three suspected Al-Qaeda insurgents were killed north of Baghdad in
clashes on Thursday and overnight raids in the city netted five "rogue"
members of the Shiite Mahdi Army militia suspected of kidnapping and
murder.

But daily bomb attacks on civilians continue, and the use of chlorine
and anti-aircraft tactics has underlined what US commanders say is the
insurgents' main strength -- their ability to rapidly adapt their
strategy.

"One of the things we see as we deal with this is that, as one
technique works in one part of the country, we tend to see copycat attacks in
other parts of the country," said US spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris
Garver.

On Tuesday, a truck carrying chlorine gas exploded in Taji, just north
of Baghdad, killing six people on the spot but also poisoning scores
more as the toxic gas spread through the area, overcoming women and
children.

On Wednesday, the dirty bombers struck again, in the suburbs of
Baghdad, in a less successful attack that nevertheless spread panic.

"The material used is poisonous," said Abdulwahab. "During the
explosion it changes into a mist that spreads through the air, causing
poisoning in the breathing system, breathing difficulties and acute coughing.

"It's the first time we have seen such poisoning cases," he told AFP,
comparing the injuries to the internal burns suffered by children who
drink chlorine-based cleaning products.

Kadhimiya Hospital treated 90 patients poisoned in Tuesday's attack --
seven of whom died -- and 21 more on Wednesday, Abdulwahab said.

The Martyr Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim Hospital in Shula treated 66 cases
after the Taji blast, and all survived, said medical official Abu
Murtadha.

"They've adapted the car bomb tactic," Garver said. "It shows some of
the maliciousness with with they are adapting those tactics.

"It was not a chlorine tanker it was just a tank in the back of a
truck. The use of canisters with something in them is not new, they've tried
using regular acetylene tanks to increase the size of the explosive,"
he said.

"So that's not new, we do look for canisters already, but obviously we
are going to pay more attention now to any kind of canister," he said.

Meanwhile, US commanders are examining the threat to their helicopters,
eight of which -- two operated by a private security outfit -- have
been lost since January 20, most of them shot down by insurgents.

The latest was a Blackhawk transport that made a "hard landing" north
of Baghdad late Wednesday. The nine personnel on board survived, but the
incident underlined the choppers' apparently increasing vulnerability.

"Initial indications appear that it was brought down by small-arms fire
and rocket-propelled grenades," Garver said.

The Blackhawk was the third of the helicopters hit in a region north of
Baghdad. Insurgents linked to Al-Qaeda claim in Internet messages to
have deployed "new tactics and weapons" in the area.

"We are engaged with a thinking enemy," warned US Major General James
Simmons, who oversees helicopter operations in Iraq, last week.

"This enemy understands that we are in the process of executing the
(Iraqi) prime minister's new plan for the security of Baghdad, and they
understand the strategic implications of shooting down an aircraft," he
said.

As America's enemies in Iraq -- Sunni insurgents and Shiite militiamen
-- have become more adept in their use of roadside bombs, the military
has made greater use of helicopters.

In 2004, US army helicopters flew 240,000 hours in Iraq, and in 2006
334,000. This year they are expected to fly at least 400,000 hours.
Simmons insisted it is still the safest way to get about.

The United States has decided to boost its troop levels in Iraq by
21,500 by the end of May, but on Wednesday coalition ally Britain announced
that it would scale back its forces and Denmark and Lithuania said they
were pulling out.

Nevertheless, the British defence ministry confirmed that Prince Harry
will deploy to Iraq with his cavalry regiment, the Blues and Royals, in
May.

Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.

RCIA: Press-release 2059-60 (February 21, 2007)

THE INFORMATION CENTER AT THE RUSSIAN-CEHCHEN FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY

THE RUSSIAN-CHECHEN INFORMATION AGENCY

Press-release 2059 from February 21, 2007

The territory of Chechnya once more shelled
After liquidating a lodging center the officials promised to house the
refugees by the 1st May

Report from Chechen Republic

Shali, Vedeno and Chechen Grozny rural districts

The territory of Chechnya once more shelled

On 21 February 2007 the RCIA was informed that the forest areas of the
Shali, Vedeno and Chechen Grozny rural districts were once more
shelled. Namely, on 20 February the forest area of the Novye Atagui forestry
was shelled from midnight to 14 p.m. A rather vast territory had been
bombarded the previous evening. The local residents said the shelling
lasted from 8p.m. to 8.30 p.m. and targeted the outskirts of the villages
of Starye Atagui, Datch-Borzoi, Tchishki (Chechen Grozny rural
district), Novye Atagui, Duba-Yurt, Aguishty (Shali district), Selmentausen and
Ulus-Kert (Vedeno district). There is no information on casualties and
injured among the civilians.

According to the local residents, the shelling of the above mentioned
area is conducted, as a rule, from the permanent post of the federal
70-th vehicular tank regiment at the edge of the district center Shali.
(From our correspondent)

Grozny

After liquidating a lodging center the officials promised to house the
refugees by the 1st May

On 20 February 2007 our correspondent met the people who used to live
in the lodging center situated in Bogdan Hmelnitsky Street of Grozny. He
saw how are things going with them after early in the current month the
Chechen government decreed to liquidate the center. As a result of the
liquidation all the 112 refugee families lodging there were removed to
other lodging centers of Grozny. On 14 February the former residents of
the closed center shouted their fury at a protest meeting held near the
building of the Staropromyslovsky district administration. They were
addressed by the head of the district administration Hoj-Baudi Astamirov
who read out the governmental decree saying that until the 1st May all
the residents of the liquidated lodging center are to be provided their
own housing. Astamirov said 25 families have already been provided
house lots and 16 families got documents of title to apartments in a block
under construction. In his words, besides that the Chechen
government is going to provide one hundred apartments for the
lower-income families by the 1st May. At the end of the meeting all the future
landowners were given an envelope containing 25 thousand rubles.
Astamirov claimed that this was a one-time aid sponsored by the Ahmat-Haji
Kadyrov’s Fund for buying building materials for the future houses. Most
believed what Astamirov said, but some of them expressed indignation
about the officials who resettle people without housing them permanently
at once.

(From our correspondent)

The editor-in-chief Stanislav Dmitirevsky. The editor of this issue
Elena Baranova.

THE INFORMATION CENTER AT THE RUSSIAN-CEHCHEN FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY

THE RUSSIAN-CHECHEN INFORMATION AGENCY

Press-release 2060 from February 22, 2007

Report from Washington

The deputy chair of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society in Europe
took part in Forum “Dissidents and Freedom” in Washington

On February 20, 2007, The Library of Congress in cooperation with the
National Endowment for Democracy organized a forum “Dissidents and
Freedom” in Washington (DC), USA. The event featured former president of
the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel who made a speech on dissidents and the
fight for freedom. He pointed out that dissidents have played the key
role in establishing democracy in the countries of the Eastern Europe
and they feel it their obligation to support all those whose voice is
suppressed by their governments.

Vaclav Havel invited people representing eight countries in which civil
liberties and basic freedoms are curtailed by the state to join him at
the event. There are the people who participated in the event: Min
Zin, a Burmese journalist and democracy activist, Ramon Humberto Colas, a
founder of the Independent Library Movement in Cuba, ales Mihalevic,
vice chairman of the Belarusian Popular front, Oksana Chelysheva, the
deputy chair of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society in Europe, Reybia
Kadeer, Uygur rights advocate, East Turkistan/Xinjiang, China; Kim
Sueng Min, founder of the Free North Korea Radio; Ali Afshari, democracy
activist, Iran; Manouchehr Mohammadi, democracy activist, Iran. All of
them made their presentations and answered the questions of journalists,
politicians and scholars who attended the forum.

The welcome words were pronounced by the 13th Librarian of the Library
of Congress James Billington and the president of the National
Endowment for Democracy Carl Gershman. The event was attended by Paula
Dobrianski, the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs and Democracy and
ambassadors of several European countries.

Vaclav Havel was awarded with the Harriman Award established by the
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. The award was
presented by Kenneth Wollack, NDI President. Vin Weber, the chairman of
the National Endowment for Democracy, presented Mr. Havel with NED’s
Democracy Service Medal.

Min Zin has been involved into Burma’s pro-democracy movement since
1988 when he was just 14. He founded a nation wide high school students
union. In 1989, Min Zin had to go underground. He spent nine years inside
Burma’s underground movement. In September 1997 he had to flee Burma.
After working in Thailand for a number of years, he came to live in the
USA, where he now works as an International radio Broadcaster of Radio
Free Asia.

Ramon Humberto Colas worked as a child psychologist in Cuba until he
was accused of rebellion and fired because of his political beliefs in
1994. In 1998, after hearing Fidel Castro declare at the International
Book Fair in Habana that “In Cuba there are no banned books, only lack of
funds to purchase them, Ramon and his wife created an independent
library in their house. They opened their home library, including books and
magazines that the Cuban government considered enemy propaganda and had
banned. Many people all over Cuba joined to this attempt to give people
of Cuba uncensored access to literature and information. The government
of Cuba started to persecute these people. Ramon and his family were
forced into exile in 2002. 20 librarians were arrested and 17 remain in
jail. Many others lost their jobs. Ales Mihalevic is one of the young
leaders of Belarus. He was the chairman of the Belarus Students’
Association. He was also the founder of the Youth Information Center,
the NGO that provides cross-border educational initiatives. In 2003,
Ales was elected deputy of the Puchavicy Regional Council. He was a
leading organizer in the March 2006 demonstrations. Since 1997, Ales has
been detained numerous times and imprisoned twice.

Rebiya Kadeer, a former businesswoman, is a political activist and the
best-known advocate of the Uygur people. She was nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, 2006, and 2007. She is a mother of eleven
children. She was arrested in 1999 while on her way to meet a
US-Congressional delegation. She was given an 8-year prison sentence in 2000. Thanks
to persistent pressure that international HR groups applied for her
release, she was released and sent to the US.

Kim Seung Min is one of the most prominent North Korean defectors’ and
the founder of the Free North Korea Radio Station. The son of a famopus
poet, he served ten years in the North Korean Army as an army
propaganda officer. It was during this time, when he was confronted with the
truth about his country. Disillusioned, he escaped for China but the
Chinese police arrested him and returned to North Korea. He escaped again
in1997 by jumping off the train taking him to the Central Office of the
National Security Agency. Two years later he came to South Korea and
launched Free North Korea Radio Station in 2004.

Ali Afshari is a leading political leader from Iran. In 1995 he got
involved into students’ movement with the Islamic Students’ Association.
Ali organized numerous protests against the government’s reprisals
against reformist students and intellectuals. Ali spent more than three
years in jail. In 2005, after yet another extended prison sentence, Ali was
one of organizers of a call for a referendum on the Constitution for
Iran. Due to the most recent sentence against him – six years when he
returns to Iran, he has to stay in the USA.

Manoucheher Mohammadi has also bee in the forefront of the students’
movement in Iran. He was a Secretary General of the National Association
of Iranian Students. In 1999 he participated in students’ uprising and
was sentenced to death. However, it was reduced to a sentence of 13
years. After seven years in prison, where his suffered torture and endured
death of his brother, he managed to escape the country and was granted
asylum in the USA.

The editor-in-chief Stanislav Dmitirevsky.

Arabs say Israel is not just for Jews

A manifesto argues that the nation's minority is entitled to share
power in a binational state.

By Richard Boudreaux, Times Staff Writer

Los Angeles Times

February 22, 2007

Copyright 2007 Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-arabs22feb22,0,7930146.story?coll=la-home-headlines

NAZARETH, ISRAEL - A broadly representative elite of Israel's Arab
minority has rejected the idea of Israel as a Jewish state and demanded a
partnership in governing the country to ensure that Arab citizens get
equal treatment and more control over their communities.

In a manifesto that is stirring anger and soul-searching among Jews,
Arab leaders have declared that Israel's 1.4 million Arab citizens are an
indigenous group with collective rights, not just individual rights.
The document argues that Arabs are entitled to share power in a
binational state and block policies that discriminate against them.

Arab citizens, who make up about one-fifth of Israel's population, have
always felt alienated by the Star of David on Israel's flag and a
national anthem that expresses the Jewish yearning for a return to Zion.
They have long protested the disproportionate Jewish share of budget
resources, public services and land.

Until now, though, only small groups of Arab intellectuals had dared to
advocate collective equality or the abolition of Jewish national
symbols.

"The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel" is the first
such sweeping demand by Israel's Arab mainstream. The manifesto was
drafted by 40 academics and activists under the sponsorship of the Committee
of Arab Mayors in Israel and has been endorsed by an unprecedented
range of Arab community leaders.

As such, it has set off alarms.

As Jewish leaders learned of the document, which was issued in December
but not widely circulated until last month, they seized on it as
evidence of a growing militancy by a minority that, by and large, openly
sympathized with Hezbollah guerrillas fighting Israel in last summer's war
in Lebanon.

The document does not address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But
critics argue that adoption of its proposal to redefine Israel as a
binational state would undermine Jewish support for a separate Palestinian
state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a solution to which Israel's
government is formally committed.

Commentators on the right have denounced the manifesto as the work of
an internal enemy that threatens Israel's identity as a haven for Jewish
self-determination. On the left, Jews who have advocated equal
treatment of Arabs within a Jewish state say they feel disheartened.

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

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Thursday, February 22, 2007
FAITH UNDER FIRE
Christians jailed for walking near Olympic hotel
Persecution ramping up as 2008 Games in Beijing approach
Posted: February 22, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A Christian house church leader in China and his mother are facing a criminal prosecution that appears to be part of that government's campaign to eliminate messages that are contrary to the official publicity releases as the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing approach.

According to reports from Voice of the Martyrs, a Christian organization that works in support of persecuted Christians around the world, house church leader Hua Huiqi has been formally arrested and his 76-year-old mother arrested a second time for the offense of walking near a construction site for a hotel being built in preparation for the Olympics.

China house church leader Hui Huiqi

VOM said Hua was arrested by the Beijing Public Security Bureau Chaoyang Branch and his mother arrested by Beijing Security Bureau Chongwen Branch. They had been injured in January when seven police officers attacked them while they were walking near the hotel construction site in Beijing.

(Story continues below)

"We are deeply concerned about Brother Hua and his elderly, ill mother. They are faithful Christians seeking only to serve the Lord in accordance with their conscience," said Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs.

"We encourage Christians around the world to pray for their family, and we strongly urge the Chinese government to release them immediately," he said.

China Aid Association officials told VOM that Hua has been very active in trying to help persecuted Christians and others who are oppressed by local officials who travel to Beijing trying to obtain justice from the central government.

He and his mother were attacked, and while on the ground, kicked. Then later they were taken to a police station for questioning, according to reports. "When Hua asked the police to release his sick mother and explain the legal ground for the detention, he was beaten repeatedly. While the temperature in Beijing was in the 20s, cold water was poured on him. He was later taken to a detention center," the organization said.

"The Chinese government says they ensure freedom of religion, but this case clearly shows the truth," Nettleton said. Police from the Olympic Sports Stadium Police Station also threatened to arrest Hua's brother, officials reported.

Authorities in China told CAA that Hua was under criminal detention on the charge of "intervening public affair," essentially damaging public and private property at the construction site.

The arrest notice for China house church leader Hui Huiqi

"The charge against Brother Hua is totally baseless and it's clearly … revenge to Hua's Christian ministry to the oppressed," said Bob Fu, who works with Hua. "Hua's case should be seen as a litmus test on whether China is sincere to improve its worsening human rights record before the 2008 Beijing Olympics."

Co-workers told CAA that they believe the aggressive actions in the arrest of Hua and his mother could be because of instructions from high government officials to send a message to those who present a message during the Olympics that does not fit the government's formal statements.

CAA said letters of concern can be sent to: Premier Wen Jiabao, PRC, PO Box 1741, The State Council, Beijing, PRC (zip code 100017). The telephone contact is: +86-10-66012399.

"The detention of innocent peaceful Christians like Mr. Hua and his mom is certainly contradictory to the Chinese government's human rights commitment for 2008 Beijing Olympics," said Fu.

A number of human rights organizations – both faith-based and secular – have raised concerns about China's human rights record, and its preparations for the 2008 Games, which were awarded to Beijing in a vote by the International Olympic Committee in 2001.

Human Rights Watch said Chinese police have cracked down on "subversive Internet users" who have been censored in their efforts to post information that contradicts the government's public relations statements.

"Chinese authorities … reinforced repression against Internet users, Tibetans, members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, foreign scholars, the Muslim Uigur minority, democrats, foreign journalists and delinquents, all 'in the name of the Chinese Olympics,'" the organization said.

There are estimates several thousand Chinese are executed each year for their "crimes." WND recently reported on an assessment of China's human rights situation that alleges the government keeps members of the Falun Gong religious sect in detention camps, and then executes them as their organs are needed for that nation's transplant industry.

Also, at the current time, hundreds of thousands of Chinese are being evicted from their homes just so that the redevelopment projects in preparation for the Games can continue, the HRC said.

"The IOC has … invested the Chinese regime with a task it will carry out zealously: host safe Olympics. This means arrests of dissidents, social 'cleansing,' and censorship against 'critical' elements…," the group said.

"The Olympic movement was discredited in 1936, when it allowed the Nazis to make the Games a spectacle to glorify the Third Reich. In 1980, in Moscow, the IOC suffered a terrible defeat when more than 50 countries boycotted the Olympics…," the group said. The 2008 Games should not be allowed to advance the restrictions China imposes, it said.

VOM is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith, and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices.

It was launched by the late Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who started smuggling Russian Gospels into Russia in 1947, just months before Richard was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for his refusal to recant Christianity.

He eventually was released in 1964 and the next year he testified about the persecution of Christians before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to show the deep torture wound scars on his body.

The group that later was renamed The Voice of the Martyrs was organized in 1967, when his book, "Tortured for Christ," was released.

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Wednesday, February 21, 2007
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Blair sees peace with 'sensible' Hamas members
Comments follow report terrorist group met with Europeans, Democrats
Posted: February 21, 2007
3:11 p.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – "Sensible" members of Hamas can be counted on as partners for progress toward peace in the Middle East, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said today.

Speaking to the British Parliament prior to a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Blair said, "I think there are possibilities for progress and I hope that in the coming weeks a framework to take this forward becomes a bit clearer."

"It's far easier to deal with the situation in Palestine if there is a national unity government. ... I hope we can make progress, including even with the more sensible elements of Hamas."

(Story continues below)

Blair was referring to a national unity deal forged in Mecca earlier this month between Abbas' Fatah party and the Hamas terror group. The agreement, which aimed to end months of Palestinian infighting, does not call for the new Palestinian unity government to recognize Israel and does not commit Hamas to abide by previous peace deals with Israel, only to "respect" the previous peace deals.

Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian emissary to London, hailed Blair's remarks and urged the British prime minister to persuade the U.S. to negotiate with Hamas.

"President Abbas wants Prime Minister Blair to persuade the Americans that the Mecca deal is the only way out," Hassassian said.

"If there is any European country that can influence the Americans it's going to be the UK, given the fact that Blair is a personal friend of President Bush."

Blair's comments come two months after WND reported Hamas said it held meetings with high-ranking European officials and American figures, including members of the Democratic Party.

A Hamas source claimed Britain and France held meetings with the terror group in which discussions addressed the possibility of breaking an international financial embargo imposed on the PA since Hamas won parliamentary elections.

The source claimed Britain and France are "coming to terms" with the Hamas position of mediating the so-called Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a long-term cease-fire instead of final status negotiations in which the PA would agree to peace with Israel in exchange for a Palestinian state. The source said the two countries asked Hamas for a position paper outlining ideas for a long-term truce with Israel.

According to the Palestinian Maannews agency, Hamas sources claimed their meetings with European representatives "broke the ice" and facilitated alleged talks with Democrat officials.

Ahmed Yousuf, chief political advisor to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, confirmed in December claims Hamas officials met with Democratic officials. He said Hamas also met with European leaders, including members of the British parliament.

Yousuf did not say when the meetings took place or which members of the Democratic Party the terror group allegedly held dialogue with, but he stated the meetings were fruitful in introducing the Hamas political vision.

A top Hamas source had claimed the alleged meeting with the Democrats took place in a European country.

The source claimed the Democrats expressed an understanding with the Hamas principal of not recognizing Israel and applauded Hamas' willingness to accept a long-term cease-fire with the Jewish state in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal to what is known as the pre-1967 borders – meaning an evacuation of the Gaza Strip, West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem.

In December, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said his group would accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem.

Israel withdrew from Gaza last summer. Since then, Palestinian terror groups have been regularly firing rockets from the territory into nearby Jewish cities. The West Bank is within rocket-firing range of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Israel's international airport.

Stacie Paxton, a spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee, told WND the party was not aware of any meeting.

Hamas, responsible for scores of deadly suicide bombings, shooting attacks and rocket launchings against Israeli civilians, is classified by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization.

The U.S. reportedly has been working to bolster PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party against Hamas. The U.S. considers Fatah to be moderate.

Terrorists: 'Vote Democrat'

In December, just prior to U.S. midterm elections, WND conducted a series of well-circulated exclusive interviews in which prominent Middle East terrorist leaders said they hoped Americans would sweep the Democrats into power because of the party's position on withdrawing from Iraq – a move, the terrorists explained, that would ensure victory for the worldwide Islamic resistance.

The terrorists told WND an electoral win for the Democrats would prove to them Americans are "tired." They rejected statements from some prominent Democrats in the U.S. that a withdrawal from Iraq would end the insurgency, explaining an evacuation would prove resistance works and would compel jihadists to continue fighting until America is destroyed.

They said a withdrawal would also embolden their own terror groups to enhance "resistance" against Israel.

"Of course Americans should vote Democrat," Jihad Jaara, a senior member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group and the infamous leader of the 2002 siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, told WND in November.

http://www.sltrib.com/SEARCH/ci_5271117

Affidavit: McVeigh had high-level help
According to Oklahoma bombing conspirator, ranking officials were involved in the attack
By Pamela Manson
The Salt Lake Tribune

Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated:
Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols says a high-ranking FBI official "apparently" was directing Timothy McVeigh in the plot to blow up a government building and might have changed the original target of the attack, according to a new affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Utah.
The official and other conspirators are being protected by the federal government "in a cover-up to escape its responsibility for the loss of life in Oklahoma," Nichols claims in a Feb. 9 affidavit.
Documents that supposedly help back up his allegations have been sealed to protect information in them, such as Social Security numbers and dates of birth.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Utah had no comment on the allegations. The FBI and Justice Department in Washington, D.C., also declined comment.
Nichols does not say what motive the government would have to be involved in the bombing.
The affidavit was filed in a lawsuit brought by Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue, who believes his brother's death in a federal prison was linked to the Oklahoma City bombing. The suit, which seeks documents from the FBI under the federal Freedom of Information Act, alleges that authorities mistook Kenneth Trentadue for a bombing conspirator and that guards killed him in an interrogation that got out of hand.
Trentadue's death a few months after the April 19, 1995, bombing was ruled a suicide after several investigations. The government has adamantly denied any wrongdoing in the death.
In his affidavit, Nichols says he wants to bring closure to the survivors and families of the attack on the Alfred B. Murrah Federal Building, which took 168 lives. He alleges he wrote then-Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2004, offering to help identify all parties who played a role in the bombing but never got a reply.
Nichols is serving a life sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colo. McVeigh, who carried out the bombing, was executed in 2001.
McVeigh and Nichols were the only defendants indicted in the bombing. However, Nichols alleges others were involved.
McVeigh told him he was recruited for undercover missions while serving in the military, according to Nichols. He says he learned sometime in 1995 that there had been a change in bombing target and that McVeigh was upset by that.
"There, in what I believe was an accidental slip of the tongue, McVeigh revealed the identity of a high-ranking FBI official who was apparently directing McVeigh in the bomb plot," Nichols says in the affidavit.
Nichols also says that McVeigh threatened him and his family to force him to rob Roger Moore, an Arkansas gun dealer, of weapons and explosives. He later learned the robbery was staged so Moore, who was in on the phony heist, could deny any knowledge of the bombing plot if the stolen items were traced back to him, Nichols claims.
He adds that Moore allegedly told his attorney that he would not be prosecuted in connection with the bombing because he was a "protected witness."
Moore could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
In addition, Nichols says McVeigh must have had help building the bomb. The device he and McVeigh built the day before the bombing did not resemble the one that ultimately was used, Nichols says, and "displayed a level of expertise and sophistication" that neither man had.
pmanson@sltrib.com

To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=54218

Monday, February 12, 2007
SPECIAL OFFER
Stunning documentary links Darwin, Hitler
Holocaust was fallout of evolution theory, says production
Posted: February 12, 2007
3:30 p.m. Eastern

© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Charles Darwin should share with Adolph Hitler the blame for the 11 million or more lives lost in the Holocaust, a new video documentary explains. And, the program says, the more than 45 million American lives lost to abortion also can be blamed on that famous founder of evolutionary theory.

The results of Darwin’s theories?

Titled "Darwin’s Deadly Legacy," the stunning documentary shows that Darwinian theory, "which is scientifically bankrupt, has probably been responsible for more bloodshed than anything else in the history of humanity," Jerry Newcomb, one of the program's two co-producers, told WorldNetDaily.

Before the advent of Darwinian beliefs, said Newcombe, the Western world's basic concept was that man was made in the image of God, and was therefore valuable. But Darwin changed all that.

"Karl Marx wouldn’t embrace all (Darwin’s) tenets, but said, 'This is a scientific theory on which we can base our theory of man,'" Newcomb told WND.

Ann Coulter, bestselling author of "Godless: The Church of Liberalism," a WorldNetDaily columnist and featured speaker at WND's upcoming NewsExpo2007 event, said Hitler was simply taking Darwinism from the theoretical to the practical.

(Story continues below)

"He thought the Aryans were the fittest and he was just hurrying natural selection along," Coulter said.

"We talk about the link between Darwin and Hitler, and in the middle ground, eugenics," said Newcomb. "Darwin led to eugenics, which led directly to Hitler."

"I was just shocked about a week ago, (when a news report) talked about a designer clinic, where you could design your own baby. They said everybody seems to want perfect Aryans. Where have we heard that?" asked Newcomb, who noted the documentary project was based on the book "Darwin’s Deadly Legacy," by Richard Weikart.

"I never knew about the link between Darwin and Hitler until after reading Richard Weikart’s book," said Coulter.

Coulter is among the experts who appear in the special. Others are Weikart, Lee Strobel, journalist/author of "The Case for a Creator," Jonathan Wells, author of "Icons of Evolution," and Human Genome Project Director Francis Collins.

"To put it simply – no Darwin, no Hitler," said Kennedy, who is host for the special. "Hitler tried to speed up evolution, to help it along, and millions suffered and died in unspeakable ways because of it."

The program also addresses eugenics, a term coined by Darwin’s own cousin, Francis Galton, who campaigned for using human genetics as a means to breed superior beings.

In the United States, nearly three dozen states at one point mandated sterilization programs to prevent the "feebleminded" and other "defectives" from reproducing.

A direct result of that concept is today’s Planned Parenthood, the production documents. Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger believed in removing what she called the "dead weight of human waste," the program says.

"Eugenics is applied Darwinism," said Coulter.

The culmination of that belief system appears to have been the Columbine massacre. There, students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 12 other students, a teacher and themselves, after setting out on a plan to kill 500.

"Harris wrote on his website, 'YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE??? Natural SELECTION! It’s the best thing that ever happened to the Earth. Getting rid of all the stupid and weak organisms,'" the report says.

Reports show that on the day of the attack, Harris wore a T-shirt with the words, "Natural Selection."

All this happened, said Kennedy, because of a set of theories based on "a crumbling scientific foundation."

As WND reported recently, hundreds of Ph.D. scientists are now stepping forward and publicly dissenting from Darwinian theory.

SPECIAL OFFER: For a limited time, get your copy of "Darwin’s Deadly Legacy at a 20 percent discount!

Related stories:

Thu 22 Feb 2007
Superstitious passengers force airline to rethink 'unlucky 13' logo
RAF CASERT IN ZAVENTEM

BELGIUM'S Brussels Airlines has been forced to redesign its logo after passengers complained about the "unlucky" number of 13 dots forming a stylised "B" on its planes.

Immediately after the November announcement that the successor airline to the merged SN Brussels and Virgin Express would come into operation on 25 March with the 13-ball "B" logo, the company was flooded with disapproving messages.
Click to learn more...

"They said they were not pleased with an aircraft with a logo with 13 balls because they think it brings them bad luck," said Brussels Airlines spokesman, Geert Sciot.

The logo's designer, Ronane Hoet, is baffled. "It really took us aback," he said.

Brussels Airlines had the choice to go to 12 dots or 14. It chose 14 because of the religious connotations of the 12 disciples.

Luckily, Brussels Airlines is not flying to China, where 14 is a definite no-no. Fourteen, or one-four, in Mandarin, sounds like the phrase "to want to die".

"There are many examples in business where people make decisions based on intuitive reasoning which are in fact woefully incorrect," said psychology professor Bruce Hood of Bristol University.

As she prepared to board a Geneva-bound plane at Germany's Frankfurt-Main airport, Tammy Karplus, of Oregon, said that she understood the airline's decision.

Ms Karplus felt relaxed about flying when the gates opened for her Lufthansa flight. Then she noticed the flight number "LH3666". "The sign of the devil," she said, "But I'm still flying."

This article: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=283612007

Last updated: 22-Feb-07 01:19 GMT
Comments Add your comment

1. Scullion, Canada / 3:15am 22 Feb 2007

This sort of thing is ludicrous-until you start thinking about it 30,000 feet off the ground.
Report as unsuitable
2. Sinnerman, Another Planet / 6:43am 22 Feb 2007

When Ms Karpus gets back home in Oregon she should count the stripes on "Old Glory". Now, that could explain a lot.
Report as unsuitable
3. jim lad, the capital / 8:13am 22 Feb 2007

Prime minister has 13 letters. Spooky or what
Report as unsuitable
4. Iulian Manole, Melbourne, Australia / 11:58am 22 Feb 2007

I am puzzled. It is these modern folks that always point to the religious folks as being backward and belonging in the middle ages. I AM a religious person. Yet this 13 thing completely disregarded by religious folks seems to me like backwardness on the part of the modernist.
You know...the modernist that is against religion yet has to read the horoscope (something religios Christian folks don't do). Just doesn't make sense. Or maybe it's not supposed to make sense because I am not enlightened enough.
Report as unsuitable
5. zeno / 12:49pm 22 Feb 2007

#1 Scullion

Even more ludicrous since you've got to climb through 13,000 feet to get to 30,000! Perhaps we should ask the airlines to skip over 13 feet and 13,000 feet and remove seat row 13 - or have they done that already?

Wasn't it a religious thing anyway - something to do with Judas being the 13th person at the last supper - or is that just urban myth?
Report as unsuitable
6. DFykke, Atlanta, Georgia USA / 2:20pm 22 Feb 2007

Sinnerman,

Your country had no complaints about the 13 stripes on our flag when American airmen fought and died to save you from the nazis. Your smug and arrogant "that could explain a lot" comment serves to point out that your understanding of the deep relationship between our countries is limited to a mere seven years.
Report as unsuitable
7. Scullion, Canada / 2:47pm 22 Feb 2007

#5
Thanks for taking away all my confidence!!
Report as unsuitable
8. BLee, United States / 6:52pm 22 Feb 2007

Everybody is turning away from 'religion' these days only to create their own. The word religion comes from the latin "to re-ligate" - or return to the "law" or rules or 'regulations and restrictions'. The mere fact that that one person has created rules and bondage upon himself has created his/her own religion. God's intent was for us to never live by the Law, but by relationship. If you don't choose relationship, your only other option - religion.

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