Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
VEVAK learned its methodology from the Soviet KGB and many of the Islamist revolutionaries who supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini actually studied at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, the Oxford of terrorism. Documented Iranian alumni include the current Supreme Leader (the faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, under whose Velayat-e Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurisprudent) apparatus it has traditionally operated. Its current head is Cabinet Minister Hojatoleslam Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ezhei, a graduate of Qom's Haqqani School, noted for its extremist position advocating violence against enemies and strict clerical control of society and government. The Ministry is very well funded and its charge, like that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the Pasdaran) is to guard the revolutionary Islamic Iranian regime at all costs and under all contingencies.
From the KGB playbook, VEVAK learned the art of disinformation. It's not so difficult to learn: tell the truth 80% of the time and lie 20%. Depending on how well a VEVAK agent wants to cover his/her tracks, the ratio may go up to 90/10, but it never drops below the 80/20 mark as such would risk suspicion and possible detection. The regime in Teheran has gone to great lengths to place its agents in locations around the world. Many of these operatives have been educated in the West, including the U.K. and the United States. Iranian government agencies such as embassies, consulates, Islamic cultural centers, and airline offices regularly provide cover for the work of VEVAK agents who dress well and are clean shaven, and move comfortably within our society. In this country, because of the severance of diplomatic relations, the principal site of VEVAK activities begins at the offices of Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
Teheran has worked diligently to place its operatives in important think tanks and government agencies in the West. Some of its personnel have been recruited while in prison through torture or more often through bribery, or a combination of both. Others are Islamist revolutionaries that have been set up to look like dissidents - often having been arrested and imprisoned, but released for “medical reasons”. The clue to detecting the fake “dissident” is to read carefully what he/she writes, and to ask why this vocal “dissident” was released from prison when other real dissidents have not been released, indeed have been grievously tortured and executed. Other agents have been placed in this country for over twenty-five years to slowly go through the system and rise to positions of academic prominence due to their knowledge of Farsi and Shia Islam or Islamist fundamentalism.
One of the usual tactics of VEVAK is to co-opt academia to its purposes. Using various forms of bribery, academics are bought to defend the Islamic Republic or slander its enemies. Another method is to assign bright students to train for academic posts as specialists in Iranian or Middle East affairs. Once established, such individuals are often consulted by our government as it tries to get a better idea of how it should deal with Iran. These academics then are in a position to skew the information, suggesting the utility of extended dialogue and negotiation, or the danger and futility of confronting a strong Iran or its proxies such as Hizballah (Hezbollah). These academics serve to shield the regime from an aggressive American or Western policy, and thereby buy more time for the regime to attain its goals, especially in regards to its nuclear weaponry and missile programs.
MOIS likes to use the media, especially electronic media, to its advantage. One of VEVAK's favorite tricks is setting up web sites that look like they are opposition sites but which are actually controlled by the regime. These sites often will be multilingual, including Farsi, German, Arabic French, and English. Some are crafted carefully and are very subtle in how they skew their information (e.g., Iran-Interlink, set up and run by Massoud Khodabandeh and his wife Ann Singleton from Leeds, England); others are less subtle, simply providing the regime's point of view on facts and events in the news (e.g., www.mujahedeen.com or www.mojahedin.ws). This latter group is aimed at the more gullible in our open society and unfortunately such a market exists. However, if one begins to do one's homework, asking careful questions, the material on these fake sites generally does not add up.
Let's examine a few examples of VEVAK's work in the United States. In late October, 2005, VEVAK sent three of its agents to Washington to stage a press event in which the principal Iranian resistance movement, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK), was to be slandered. Veteran VEVAK agent Karim Haqi flew from Amsterdam to Canada where he was joined by VEVAK's Ottawa agents Amir-Hossein Kord Rostami and Mahin (Parvin-Mahrokh) Haji, and the three flew from Toronto to Washington. Fortunately the resistance had been tracking these three, informed the FBI of their presence in Washington, and when the three tried to hold a press conference, the resistance had people assigned to ask pointed questions of them so that they ended the interview prematurely and fled back to Canada.
Abolghasem Bayyenet is a member of the Iranian government. He serves as a trade expert for the Ministry of Commerce. But his background of study and service in the Foreign Ministry indicates that Bayyenet is more than just an economist or a suave and savvy businessman. In an article published in Global Politician on April 23, 2006, entitled “Is Regime Change Possible in Iran?”, Bayyenet leads his audience to think that he is a neutral observer, concerned lest the United States make an error in its assessment of Iran similar to the errors of intelligence and judgment that led to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, with its less than successful outcome. However, his carefully crafted bottom line is that the people of Iran are not going to support regime change and that hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually has achieved greater popularity than his predecessors because of his concern for the problems of the poor and his fight for economic and social justice. To the naive, Bayyenet makes Ahmadinejad sound positively saintly. Conveniently overlooked is the occurrence of over four thousand acts of protest, strikes, anti-regime rallies, riots, and even political assassinations by the people of Iran against the government in the year since Ahmadinejad assumed office. So too, the following facts are ignored: the sizeable flight of capital, the increase in unemployment, and the rising two-figure rate of inflation, all within this last year. Bayyenet is a regime apologist, and when one is familiar with the facts, his arguments ring very hollow. However, his English skills are excellent, and so the naОve might be beguiled by his commentary.
Mohsen Sazegara is VEVAK's “reformed revolutionary”. A student supporter of Khomeini before the 1979 revolution, Sazegara joined the “imam” on his return from exile and served in the government for a decade before supposedly growing disillusioned.
He formed several reformist newspapers but ran afoul of the hardliners in 2003 and was arrested and imprisoned by VEVAK. Following “hunger strikes”, Sazegara was released for health reasons and permitted to seek treatment abroad. Although critical of the government and particularly of Ahmadinejad and KhameneМ, Sazegara is yet more critical of opposition groups, leaving the impression that he favors internal regime change but sees no one to lead such a movement for the foreseeable future. His bottom line: no one is capable of doing what needs to be done, so we must bide our time. Very slick, but his shadow shows his likely remaining ties to the MOIS.
http://www.ocnus.net/artman/publish/article_27144.shtml
An Amtrack train was delayed for about half an hour due to the discovery [pipebomb], according to police
Bomb squad - The Oregon State Police bomb squad was called into Albany
on
Christmas after someone found what appeared to a be a pipe bomb under
the
Pacific Boulevard overpass.
According to Albany police, the suspicious item was wrapped in duct
tape
with batteries visible and wire on both ends. The bomb squad destroyed
the
item, which officials thought was a homemade battery power source.
An Amtrack train was delayed for about half an hour due to the
discovery,
according to police.
http://www.dhonline.com/articles/2006/12/26/news/local/6loc06_policelog.txt
To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=53568
Saturday, December 30, 2006
BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS
Another college drops cross emblem
Official: It sent 'wrong message,' created 'confusion'
Posted: December 30, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Simon Fraser University's crest, with its offending crosses
Another university is dropping a cross from its historic imagery, saying it creates confusion and sends the wrong message.
The announcement from Simon Fraser University near Vancouver, B.C., about the school's Coat of Arms brings it in alignment with a precedent set earlier by the College of William and Mary, which said in a story WND broke that a historic cross in a structure built as a Christian chapel hundreds of years ago would have to go because it offended some people.
A spokesman for Simon Fraser said the two crosses on the 40-year-old emblem are a problem. Warren Gill, the school's vice-president of university relations, said the school doesn't want people to think the wrong thing.
(Story continues below)
"For some people, particularly internationally, the crosses were seen to identify us as a private religious institution as opposed to a secular public one, and a lot of our international folks were getting that back," he said.
"If our name was the University of Burnaby, it probably wouldn't have conveyed the same thing, but named for a person it caused some confusion internationally," he told the CBC.
The school is named for Canadian explorer Simon Fraser, who lived from 1776-1862 and owes his fame to his expeditions through Canada in 1805 and 1808. He spent many years in the fur trade and took part in the conflict between the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company, but in 1818 he was acquitted of treason, conspiracy and being an accessory to murder.
He established several trading posts and explored the river that now bears his name.
"We had to pass where no human being should venture," Fraser later concluded.
Gill said a new coat of arms will replace the crosses with emblems of books, although the old coat of arms, which has been used since 1965, will remain on university buildings. It was approved by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the custodian of and the authority for Scottish Heraldry, and was based on the personal coat of arms of the clan chief, Simon Fraser Lord Lovat.
Gill said the new design has taken officials 18 months to develop, and it is expected to be approved by the Canadian Heraldic Authority by summer.
Notes of a formal meeting of the school's Board of Governors said the change will replace each "crosslet" with a book, so "the top part of the shield (the chief) would contain three matching books."
The school said the "crosslets" are representative of those crosses used by crusaders on their travels.
At virtually the same time, the school announced that was creating a center for the study of Muslim issues.
It is being funded by $1 million from the Amin Lalji family and $250,000 from school Board of Governors chair Saida Rasul and her husband Firoz.
"We have already a very strong program in Middle Eastern and Islamic history, an endowed lectureship in Iranian and Persian studies, courses in Persian, and soon, Arabic and other languages," said SFU President Michael Stevenson. "These activities are a strong base for building an internationally recognized center for scholarship that embraces the full diversity of Muslim societies and cultures."
In a months-old controversy that still is reverberating, the president of the College of William and Mary College ordered the removal of a donated cross from the historic Wren Chapel.
WND broke the story on Oct. 27 when university administrator Melissa Engimann circulated an e-mail noting that the cross was going to be stored in order to make the chapel "less of a faith-specific space."
President Gene Nichol last week sent an e-mail to the "college community" admitting that he "acted too quickly and should have consulted more broadly" in deciding to remove the cross. So to make up for that, he said a plaque would be put up in the chapel and the cross would be put on the altar for extended hours on Sunday.
Students and alums who have assembled in a group called SaveTheWrenCross.org, however, said that wasn't good enough.
"Nichol acknowledged that his unilateral action upset many current students and alumni, who believed that his decision was a dilution of the history and traditions of the College and an example of an animus toward religion in general and Christianity in particular," the group said.
"After apologizing for his failure to involve others in this historic decision, Nichol went on in his letter – apparently unaware of the irony – to dictate what he obviously thinks is a compromise solution to the problem he created," said the organization, which had collected almost 7,500 signatures on a petition seeking the return of the cross.
Alum says it's the historic Wren Chapel, not the Wren Spare Room
"It is the Wren Chapel, not the Wren Spare Room," wrote Karla Bruno, a 1981 graduate. "Nichol does not address the idea that the Chapel with the cross on permanent display was indeed welcoming as witnessed by the plethora of non-Christian and secular events that have been held there over the years. No one has been turned away because they were not Christian."
Another graduate, Karen Hall, of the Class of 1978, said Nichols' argument doesn't make sense.
"He explains … the cross has made a number of people feel uncomfortable in the chapel. I would venture to guess that a far greater number of people have been made uncomfortable by the removal of the cross. Why is it that one group's discomfort is enough to merit drastic action, but the other group's discomfort is virtually worthless?"
The old policy was that the cross was on permanent display on the altar of the chapel, and was removed only when someone using the room asked that it be removed. Nichol's new policy is that the cross is permanently in storage, and will be brought out only on special request.
The group said its top priority will be for the school's Board of Visitors to talk about the issues at the next meeting, in February.
SaveTheWrenCross.org is an ad hoc coalition of students and alumni who oppose the removal of the century-old cross, which was given to the college by Bruton Parish Episcopal Church in the 1930s.
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has not returned messages left by WND seeking a comment.
She recently was named chancellor of the college. It was during her tenure in the Supreme Court that a growing intolerance by the court for religious symbols – particularly Christian symbols – in public places became evident.
The Wren Chapel, built about 274 years ago, became an integral part of the university when it was a Christian school.
"In the name of tolerance, we have intolerance; in the name of welcoming, we have hostility, and in the name of unity, we now have division," said junior Joe Luppino-Esposito.
Haitian refugees come ashore at Jupiter Island
By Kevin Deutsch
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 28, 2006
UPDATED: 11:44 p.m. December 28, 2006
Two Haitians were found dead after a group of about 17 boaters came ashore near Jupiter Island Thursday night, likely as part of a drug and human trafficking operation, authorities said.
The group reached land about 9:45 p.m. near 691 South Beach Road, near the Martin-Palm Beach County line, and scattered into a wooded area.
They left drugs and guns at the scene, then led authorities on a massive manhunt that spanned both sides of the county line. Officials found two dead people in the area, at least one in the water.
Believing the rest of the group might be armed, about 80 law enforcment officials from at least five agencies fanned out using K-9s and helicopters, according to the Martin County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies considered the group armed and possibly dangerous. They urged Jupiter Island residents to call 911 if they saw anything suspicious. Based on the number of footprints in the area and other information, deputies believed there were about 17 boaters, including the two found dead.
By 11 p.m., authorities captured 11 boaters and about three or four others were still on the loose, said Martin County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Bruce Pinkman. Helicopters roamed the skies above the county line, spotting fleeing boaters and radioing their location down to authorities on the ground, who captured them. The boaters were detained at a nearby park, authorities said.
Pinkman said the group probably was "drug runners and refugees into human trafficking and drug trafficking."
Pinkman said it was not clear where the boat had traveled from.
Find this article at:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2006/12/28/1228refugees.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0%2C%2C13509-2523506%2C00.html
The Times December 30, 2006
China arrests Catholic priests
ROME Nine priests of China’s underground Roman Catholic Church have been arrested in the northern province of Hebei, the Catholic news agency AsiaNews reported.
AsiaNews, a Rome-based agency with Vatican connections, said that the clergymen had met for studies in a place south of their diocese of Baoding. It was not known why they had been held but the agency said that it was probably because they had met over Christmas for prayer in a place that had not been recognised by the Government.
China’s state-controlled official Catholic church claims five million adherents; the clandestine church, which is linked to the Vatican, claims ten million. Relations between China and the Vatican are strained after China approved the ordination of three bishops and a priest without papal approval. (AFP)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-3-2523486-13090,00.html
The Times December 30, 2006
Western tourists flock to Bulgaria for the skiing (Photolibrary)
Great skiing and beaches, but beware the mafia: EU welcomes its newest members
David Charter in Sofia
# Bulgaria fights corrupt image
# Fears of extortion and gang murder
Even by the theatrical standards of the Bulgarian underworld, the double shooting of suspected mafia rivals on the same day was pure Hollywood.
Dimitar Vuchev was driving with his wife in central Sofia when his Audi was riddled with bullets. Hours later, when Radoslav Velkov presented himself at a police station to answer questions about the morning’s events, a gunman was waiting to blast him in the head.
Both men survived but Bulgaria’s image took another hit.
In many ways, the country’s post-communist history is a success story with steady growth, a stable democracy and a booming tourist industry based on beautiful beaches and cheap skiing.
Visitors also enjoy Bulgaria's beaches (Alamy)
It has, however, been blighted by rampant corruption and contract killings, as feuding gangs fight for control of the heroin route to Europe from Afghanistan, as well as a slice of the trade in illicit arms, prostitution and people-trafficking.
On Monday Bulgaria’s problems become Europe’s problems. Along with Romania, it completes the enlargement of the EU to include all the former Warsaw Pact countries except the Soviet Union, extending the community’s eastern frontier to the Black Sea.
Klaus Jansen, who analysed Bulgarian crime for the European Commission’s anti-fraud office, fears that Europe will be at risk of organised crime. “Crime bosses in Bulgaria will look for expats in other EU countries, just like the Italian Mafia does,” he said.
The British Government agrees. A leaked Cabinet Office memo last month said: “There is a concern that free movement will encourage people from Bulgaria and Romania to come to the UK, some of whom may be drawn towards organised criminal activities.”
Britain, along with most of the 15 “old” EU states, has imposed temporary restrictions on Bulgarian and Romanian workers, but there will be nothing to stop the self-employed or tourists from travelling and, in any case, the criminals have not been waiting for January 1. Bulgarian godfathers already run prostitution rings in Brussels and Madrid, as well as organised car thefts across Spain, which is home to 100,000 Bulgarians and up to 550,000 Romanians.
But EU officials fear that the new member's police will not be able to contain the drug-trafficking and people-smuggling (Reuters)
Mobster oligarchs are using EU membership to legitimise their activities, according Philip Gounev, of Sofia’s Centre for the Study of Democracy. “London is the richest city in Europe and there are criminals from all over the world working there, so some from Bulgaria will try their luck,” he said.
“But I do not see a wave of organised crime coming from Bulgaria. In the past three or four years, many of these guys went ‘legal’. You see construction along the sea coast and all these ski resorts — it is the same way they do it in the Costa del Sol, laundering money through construction.”
Senior police and politicians in Sofia admit privately that they lost control of their country to organised crime in the mid-1990s, when UN sanctions against Yugoslavia made smuggling petrol and weapons highly profitable. This, combined with hasty post-communist privatisations, led to the advent of Russian-style oligarchs — many of them former Olympic sportsmen and secret agents, who were the only people free to travel under communism.
The real challenge for Bulgaria now is to stamp out the corruption embedded by the years of gangsterism. The EU has set stringent targets and there are signs that the country is beginning to restore its image. An anti-corruption office was opened in March and the young Chief Prosecutor, Boris Velchev, has launched a series of high- profile cases, including charges against the head of the state heating company who allegedly transferred €1.6 million to personal bank accounts.
Valentin Petrov, a former science teacher who became chief of the Bulgarian police a year ago, is another of the new breed of law enforcers sick of his country’s reputation.
The number of mafia killings this year has fallen to just eight from an annual peak of 35, and Mr Petrov, who works closely with Scotland Yard, points out that the average murder rate is 2.2 per 100,000 people — below the EU average — and that the general crime rate is a fifth of that in Britain. “We are not an oasis of peacefulness but it would be wrong to present us like freaks or killers with 13th-century conditions,” he said.
Nonetheless, Scotland Yard is sufficiently concerned to deploy a team of detectives specialised in organised crime to try to block the flow of dirty money into the London property market and tackle people-trafficking networks.
continued
http://mikveh.blogspot.com/2006/12/mayor-rabbi-decry-vandalism-to-menorah.html
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Mayor, rabbi decry vandalism to menorah
MADISON - A woman walked up Kings Road from downtown Madison early Saturday morning, not long after sunrise, past the Christmas displays erected annually by volunteers, past the entrance to the Madison Train Station opposite the Hartley Dodge Memorial building, walking east.
Along the grassy sward in front of the train station she came to the spot where a menorah had been lit in Hanukkah ceremonies five days earlier, and stopped.
"That looks like it's been vandalized," the woman said.
The lower left branch of the metal menorah had been broken off and was nowhere in sight. Eight of the menorah's nine electric candles had been ripped loose, six of them dangling by wires, the other two gone. Only the "shamash" or center "leader candle" remained in place, but at a lopsided angle. On the ground, a small floodlight that had been placed to illuminate the menorah at night had been pulled out of the soil and tossed aside.
The woman took in the damage, then shook her head. "That's terrible," she said finally before resuming her eastward walk. "What could someone hope to gain by that?"
That was a question on the minds of Madison officials, too, after they learned last Friday the menorah had been vandalized by person or persons unknown.
Days After Festivities
Mayor Ellwood Kerkeslager was in Atlanta, Ga., on a holiday trip when he got the phone call from Police Chief Vincent Chirico.
Kerkeslager had been on hand the previous Monday evening, Dec. 18, for the ceremonies to light the menorah, joining Rabbi Shalom Lubin, director of the Chabad Center of Southeast Morris County, which has its offices on Park Avenue in Madison.
About 75 people had turned out for the menorah lighting on the fourth night of Hanukkah, the Jewish "festival of lights" that commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and the miracle of the one day's supply of oil that kept the temple menorah burning eight days.
At the Madison festivities there were the traditional warm potato pancakes called "latkes" and the jelly doughnuts called "sufganiot," and Hanukkah play money for the children, and music. The evening was unseasonably warm. It was a good time, and Rabbi Lubin was looking forward to menorah lightings the next three nights in neighboring towns.
Now it was Friday and Mayor Kerkeslager was in Atlanta on his cell phone, getting the bad news from Chief Chirico.
The mayor immediately called Rabbi Lubin, couldn't reach him, and "left a message for him, apologizing," Kerkeslager related Saturday.
The mayor said he told the rabbi in his message: "This is unacceptable. This is not Madison."
Kerkeslager added Saturday, "We will not put up with this. I know the police are devoting all the resources to it they can."
The mayor noted the Dec. 18 ceremonies had marked the eighth year for the lighting of a menorah in Madison, in keeping with the traditional Christmas decorations along Kings Road near the train station. Kerkeslager has attended one of those lightings as a Borough Council member, and the past three as mayor.
He said of the vandalism, "It certainly doesn't represent the spirit and the attitude of Madison."
After four nights of outdoor Hanukkah lightings last week, Rabbi Lubin was down with a cold over the weekend. He confirmed he got the call about the vandalism around 10 a.m. last Friday.
"It's definitely a hate crime to destroy a Jewish symbol and not any other religious items in the same area," he said, noting that a short distance to the west of the menorah, on the same plot of land owned by New Jersey Transit, are a secular Victorian home display and other Christmas displays, including a crèche, all undisturbed.
"This was no doubt intentional and a poor choice of judgment by an individual," said Lubin, whose Chabad Center leads Old Testament readings for senior citizens at the Madison Public Library, and delivers meals to shut-ins on holidays.
While characterizing the incident as one that was "relatively minor by amateurs, and could have been worse," the rabbi conceded that knowledge didn't make the incident any easier to accept.
Lubin had high praise, though, for the swift action of the Madison police, who had taken some of the broken pieces of the menorah to test for fingerprints.
"Everbody in town has been wonderful, and the police have gone out of their way to get to the bottom of this," Lubin said.
"It affects everyone, not just me," he added. "In a world where we've seen how much difference an individual can make, this is an example of the negative effect."
Police Chief Chirico also was ill Tuesday and unavailable for comment for this article.
posted by Editor at 5:33 PM
Yemen, USA discuss security cooperation
http://www.sabanews.net/view.php?scope=f9129&dr=&ir=&id=124337
Yemen, USA discuss security cooperation
SANA'A, Dec. 28(Saba)- Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior
Rashad al-Alimi discussed on Thursday with the US ambassador to Yemen
Thomas Krajeski aspects of security cooperation between Yemen and the
USA.
During the meeting, al-Alimi commended the level of collaboration
between the two countries, particularly in security domain.
He appreciated the US support for security systems in Yemen,
particularly in the field of coast guard.
For his part, Krajeski affirmed that Yemen's security is an undivided
part of the region and the world's security, saying that the US
technical support for Yemen security systems will be continued.
AM/AH
Iran's Cooperatives Bank under review
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=48465&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
Iran's Cooperatives Bank under review
Saturday, December 30, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, December 30 (IranMania) - Converting credit cooperatives into
financial institutions will pave the way for establishing specialized
cooperative banks.
Expressing this, Habib Roudsaz, former managing director of State
Cooperative Fund, told ISNA on Friday that the new policies of the
fund,
which were adopted in the second half of the year to March 2007, mainly
focus on cooperative companies involved in transportation and housing
sectors.
"The fund provided the transportation cooperatives with 50 mln rials in
loans for purchasing each unit of light vehicles, 100 mln rials for
semi-heavy vehicles and 150 mln rials for heavy ones," he said.
He put the total facilities extended by the fund to the cooperatives
sector in March-November at 1.5 trln rials, adding that the figure has
increased by 120% compared to the amount for the corresponding period
the previous year.
State Cooperative Fund managed to create 14,000 jobs during
March-September, he observed.
"Under the general policies of the Article 44 of the Constitution, two
specialized cooperative banks should be established, one of them would
be a state-run bank known as the 'cooperative development bank' and the
other a private bank titled 'cooperative bank'," he noted.
Once the financial institutions replace credit cooperatives, the scene
will be set for establishing the latter, he said, adding that the
cooperatives minister has the final say in setting up the state-owned
cooperative bank.
Roudsaz reiterated that one of the options was to convert the fund into
the said state-run bank, which would finally be decided upon by the
minister and the head of the fund.
He further disclosed that the fund is ready for such a drastic change.
[OBL in Phil. connect to OKC? or just 9-11?]
Inquirer Headlines / Metro
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/metro/view_article.php?article_id=40781
Former beauty queen links Arabian ex-hubby to Bin Laden
By Leila Salaverria
Inquirer
Posted date: December 29, 2006
A FORMER beauty title holder has asked the Bureau of Immigration to deport her estranged Saudi Arabian husband for involvement in a string of cases and for allegedly having ties to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States.
Sabrina Artadi also accused Saudi businessman Fouzi Ali Bondagjy of failing to give financial support to their two children and of harassing them, thus making him an undesirable alien.
But in his reply to the BI, Bondagjy, through his lawyer, contested Artadi's claims and described allegations of his ties to Bin Laden as "untrue, unfounded, self-serving, hearsay and most importantly, without basis."
Bondagjy said all the allegations against him should not be entertained for being vague and hearsay. He said Artadi simply wanted to get money from him.
Artadi earlier filed a case before the immigration bureau to have Bondagy deported for failing to secure an alien employment permit from the Department of Labor and Employment. The BI initially ordered the Saudi national expelled from the country, but later amended its decision on appeal and fined him instead.
In her complaint to the BI, the 1988 Binibining Pilipinas-International said Bondagjy met with Bin Laden in the Philippines sometime in 1990.
Artadi said Bondagjy was involved with the Muslim World League, which she described as a Saudi charity organization being sued by the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. She said the organization held office at the Heart Tower Building on Valero Street, Makati City.
"I was asked to host the dinner for the Muslim World League members in apartment 20b Twin Towers Condominium Philippines, sometime in 1990, and one of the guests was Bin Laden. Bondagjy would do recruitment jobs for Bin Laden in the Philippines," she told the BI.
She added that the Muslim World League's assets and properties, including its Heart Tower office, had been confiscated by the United States treasury department for the organization's alleged involvement in terrorist activities.
Artadi said she was not allowed to be in the living room where Bin Laden and the other men were present. She stayed in the kitchen that time and only peeked through the glass window of the kitchen door.
Bondagjy, in his reply, said Artadi's statements linking him to Bin Laden were part of a larger scheme to discredit him and are "clearly the ravings of a desperate woman."
He added that Artadi's statements were never substantiated and should not be considered. He pointed out that if her claims were true, then she should be held liable for coddling a terrorist.
"Except for complainant's self-serving assertions, there were no documents or pertinent evidence attached to support her false allegations... Ironically, if complainant Artadi has seen Bin Laden (which to respondent is highly incredible and has no knowledge of) she should be investigated for harboring a terrorist," Bondagjy said.
Artadi also said in her complaint that the Supreme Court had ruled that she and Bondagjy should have joint responsibility over the expenses of raising their children, but Bondagjy opposed her motion to execute the decision to get the required support for the children, especially for their education.
She said his refusal to extend financial support to his children violated the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act of 2004.
She said Bondagjy "harassed and intimidated" her and her children, whom he allegedly tried to take without her consent, which he had to get based on the Supreme Court's ruling. He also forbade his children from making the sign of the cross or reciting the Lord's Prayer, she added.
Bondagjy, for his part, said he gave Artadi and her mother 70 percent of the stockholdings of Celebrity Travel Agency in trust for the children. He also said he gave her a condominium unit, a prawn farm, jewelry and credit cards, which he later discontinued. He added that he was a responsible husband and father.
Artadi, in her complaint, also cited Bondagjy's estafa case that arose after he failed to bring Filipino Muslims on a pilgrimage to Mecca despite the latter having paid the Saudi national's travel agency for the trip.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez reversed the decision to file the criminal charge of estafa against Bondagjy, but Artadi said the decision also noted that her estranged husband was still civilly liable.
Bondagjy said Gonzalez's resolution did not establish that Bondagjy had civil liabilities. He said the resolution was only stating the nature of criminal and civil liabilities.
He also said that if he had any civil liability at all, the matter was already laid to rest by the waiver and quitclaim executed by the groups that dealt with him to arrange the pilgrimage, and by the other pilgrims.
Artadi said her estranged husband was involved in a labor case and was ordered by the Supreme Court to pay over $27,000 in unpaid wages plus $2,700 in lawyers' fees to several Filipinos.
She added that Bondagjy was also charged with illegal recruitment, found guilty of illegal dismissal and ordered to pay $18,700 to several overseas Filipino workers, but the said damages had not been paid.
But Bondagjy said it was not him but a certain Ahmed Bondagjy who was involved in the labor case.
As for the second labor issue, he said he was never involved in "illegal recruitment."
Bondagjy said the case involved allegations of illegal dismissal related to contractual issues and that the BI had no jurisdiction to evaluate it.
He added that he had not been given the chance to refute the allegations of the complainants in the second labor case. He said the complainants had admitted to terminating their contracts prematurely and freed him from any claim.
^ Back to top
©Copyright 2001-2006 INQ7 Interactive, Inc. An INQUIRER and GMA Network Company
Tourism City planned by Iranians in Syria
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=48450&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
Tourism City planned by Iranians in Syria
Saturday, December 30, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com
LONDON, December 30 (IranMania) - Head of an Iranian construction
consortium surveyed the possibility of constructing a tourism city near
Syria's coastal city of Latakia.
Head of the Iranian Amiran Consortium, Hassan Akhoundi, studied the
issue in a meeting with the Syrian Tourism Minister Sa'dallah Aqa
Al-Qal'ah.
According to IRNA, the exact location of the project is still under
study, and if approved it would include a hotel, an apartment hotel, a
sporting complex, service and recreational facilities.
At the meeting, the Lebanese minister referred to the recent laws and
decision to attract foreign capitals, stressing, "Damascus is also
fully
ready for all out cooperation with Iranian investors in providing
facilities to pursue their projects."
For his part, Akhoundi considered as 'positive and encouraging' the
measures adopted in Syria for attracting foreign investors.
Iran's investment in Syria is expected to increase to $1.2 mln.
"Iran defense industry unharmed by sanctions"
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=48458&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
"Iran defense industry unharmed by sanctions"
Saturday, December 30, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com
Related Pictures
Archived Picture - Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar
dismissed UN sanctions imposed on Iran as "psychological warfare" and
suggested they would not affect Iran's missile production capability,
Reuters reported.
LONDON, December 30 (IranMania) - Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa
Mohammad Najjar dismissed UN sanctions imposed on Iran as
"psychological
warfare" and suggested they would not affect Iran's missile production
capability, Reuters reported.
The UN Security Council banned Iran from importing or exporting
sensitive nuclear materials and technology as well as ballistic missile
delivery systems in a move aimed at stopping it from nuclear enrichment
activities that can be used in nuclear weapons.
"We see these sanctions as a psychological warfare that will have no
effect on the output of Iran's defense industries," Najjar said in an
interview with state television.
"We produce several items of defense industries in various fields. They
are all indigenous and need no (assistance from) abroad," he added.
Najjar did not specifically refer to missile production, but said
anything that the Iranian armed forces needed can be made in the
Islamic
Republic.
Iran, which denies Western charges that it wants to build nuclear
weapons, has pledged to continue its nuclear work despite the
sanctions.
Iran has missiles with a range of up to 2,000 km (1,250 miles) in its
arsenal, putting arch-foe Israel within range. Iranian officials have
also said its weapons can hit the whole Persian Gulf region, an area
where the United States, its main enemy, has military units.
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/12/us_investigations_lead_to_arre.php
U.S. Investigations Lead to Arrests in Gemayel Assassination Case
By Andrew Cochran
The following article appeared in the "Alsyassa" newspaper in Lebanon last week and has been translated to English by a friend and highly reliable source. The article points to investigations in the U.S. which led to the arrests of Syrian-allied suspects in Lebanon:
"The investigation into the assassination of Pierre Gemayel led to the detection and seizure of weapons and explosives detonators and the arrest of seven of the Beirut-Syrian nationalists
The Lebanese authorities confiscated weapons and explosives yesterday of several locations of the Syrian Social National Party, the pro-Syria in the Koura in northern Lebanon. A security source said that the raid and confiscation included locations and houses scattered in several villages in the Koura province, south-east Tripoli, most prominent Kosba, Shekka and Afessdeeq. As to the Directorate General of the Internal Security Forces assured in a statement that “the arrest of a number of people" during raids and the confiscation of weapons and explosives in Koura.
The source explained that one of its unit raided several houses in the Koura found inside "a large quantity of explosives with electric detonators used for the bombing and stopwatches to control the timing of the bombing in addition to large quantities of weapons." Authorized Lebanese security sources revealed to al-Seyassah that, during the raids on two stolen cars caches inside one of the Syrian Social National Party, working to identify their owners, have confiscated the equivalent of two truckloads of weapons.
Well aware those, the official of the SSNP Tony Mansour and his father were arrested during the raid and seized a gun inside the car of the first, and that security forces cordoned off the main party headquarters in Beirut. Meanwhile Party leader, Ali Qanso, admitted the arrest of seven official Syrian Social nationalists and the confiscation of explosives in northern Lebanon, claiming that they were kept since "the 1980s when he was involved in the resistance" against Israel.
Informed sources declared to al-Seyassah that, before 15 days, the National Security in the United States investigated Halim Hardan, student at the University of St. Louis, son of current MP Assaad Hardan, former minister and leading member of the Syrian Nationalist Party and the Canadian authorities as well, carried out investigation with one Khudor Awarka, the official Syrian National Party in Canada. Further to that, investigations took place in the United States and Canada with a number of the "Free National Current" followers which is led by MP Michel Aoun. In the outcome of these investigations, information and confessions related to the case of the assassination of MP and Minister Pierre Gemayel, has been extracted and that the American and Canadian authorities these information to the Lebanese government that used in the investigation of the assassination, and reached an important thread task brought to give the orders to raid a number of houses and warehouses belonging to the elements in the Syrian National Party in the area of Koura in North Lebanon, yesterday. (Emphasis mine.)
At a press conference held yesterday evening, Qanso said that the Internal Security Forces carried out a surprise raids on the National elements Koura, led to "the arrest of seven comrades." He assured that the confiscation of explosives and explosive devices and timing" are kept since the 1980s after ceasing the participation in the resistance against Israel ... And we kept them with us as reserve weapon for any later role in the resistance." Qanso described the confiscated weapons as "weapons of individual needed for party member due to the exposed security situation" in Lebanon. And confiscation of weapons and explosives coincides with the severe intense of political crisis in Lebanon between the parliamentary majority opposing Damascus and the opposition that includes Syrian loyalist parties, amongst them, the Syrian Social National Party.
Qanso condemned the raids and warned the security services of "excessive reckless," and threatened that "there are limits to the patience of the nationalists", without giving further details, and enrolled what has happened in the framework of the "incitement" of the opposition that, since the beginning of this month, has started an open stay-in strike to overdraw the government. Qanso denounced the "campaign of rumours trying to give the impression that there is a link between the raids and security events that took place in Lebanon."
Lebanon witnessed, in the last two years, a series of explosions and assassinations took six dignitary figures opposes Syria, notably former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri February 14, 2005, the latest Minister Pierre Gemayel on November 21.
The Lebanese militias handed over their weapons to the state after the end of the civil war (1975 - 1990) except for "Hezbollah" Shiite who retained under the title of resisting Israel."
December 29, 2006
US presence in Afghanistan source of instability
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=48466&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs
US presence in Afghanistan source of instability
Saturday, December 30, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com
Related Pictures
Archived Picture - Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in
spite of US presence in Afghanistan for 5 years, terrorism has not been
wiped out there and there is no security in that country, IRNA
reported.
LONDON, December 30 (IranMania) - Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr
Mottaki said in spite of US presence in Afghanistan for 5 years,
terrorism has not been wiped out there and there is no security in that
country, IRNA reported.
In an interview with private Afghan TV channel "Tolou", Mottaki added,
"A few months ago, when UN Secretary General Kofi Annan visited Tehran,
he acknowledged that the biggest problem in Afghanistan was lack of
security and stability."
Mottaki said those who claim that they are helping Afghanistan should
assist the country to create full stability there.
Quoting Iran's foreign minister, the TV channel said, " The US is
interfering in all countries' affairs."
Mottaki arrived in Kabul on Thursday to sign a MoU on joint economic
cooperation with Afghanistan and exchange views with Afghan officials.
During his trip, Mottaki conferred with President Hamid Karzai and
Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Espanta and discussed bilateral
cooperation and issues of mutual interest with them.
You are welcome.
I knew that rattlesnakes react and will come to the sounds of the Beatles and little girls, but had not heard of them reacting to earthquakes.
It did not surprise me, after all, what is closer to the ground than a snake.
Interesting, that they use the oldest and newest methods as one.
Yup.
Not surprised about the Beatles. Though didn't know that.
Interesting. Little girls . . . and the idiocy is some idiots keep giant anacondas in the home with little girls.
Thx.
December 30, 2006 Anti-Terrorism News
(Iraq) Bomb kills 31, wounds 58 in Iraqi town - bomb planted on a
minibus in Shiite town of Kufa
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061230/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_061229202351
U.S. Forces Brace For Violence in Iraq Post-Execution; FBI and DHS
advisory sent to law enforcement warns Americans to be vigilant about the
possibility of a terror attack
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,239877,00.html
(Iraq) Saddam Hussein Executed - Saddam Hussein's Brutal Reign Ends in
the Gallows
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,240117,00.html
Palestinians mourn Saddam's execution
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467623189&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
US welcomes Saddam hanging, Europe opposes execution
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061230/ts_afp/iraqjusticesaddam_061230123146
India disappointed over Saddam execution
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1883543,0008.htm
(India) Two killed as militants of Lashker-e-Toiba open fire in J&K
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Two_killed_as_militants_open_fire_in_JK/articleshow/995169.cms
(India) The year when new age terror came to stay
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=India&month=December2006&file=World_News200612307354.xml
(Spain) ETA claim in Madrid airport blast - Powerful car bomb explodes
in parking lot at Spain's busiest airport
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/12/30/madrid.blast/index.html
Spain says Madrid car bomb breaks ETA ceasefire
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3346261,00.html
(Turkey) Mystery explosion in bar injures six
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20993887-1702,00.html
(USA) Sen. Boxer Recalls Award to Muslim Activist - because of ties to
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) — that critics say has
ties to terrorist activities
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16384987/site/newsweek/
Previously reported by JihadWatch on December 23:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/014526.php
(USA) Homeland intelligence chief Charles Allen lists risks
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061230/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/homeland_intelligence_chief_1
Somali troops, allies prep for showdown - with 3,300 Islamic forces who
have regrouped at a southern seaport - Us govt believes includes four
suspects in 1998 bombings of US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061230/ap_on_re_af/somalia_151
Somali Islamists Arm Criminal and Run
http://www.kommersant.com/p733788/r_527/Somalia_Ethiopia/
(Norway) Islamist support from Oslo - for Somalian Islamists
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1584017.ece
Afghan leader urges end to Taliban insurgency
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061230/wl_sthasia_afp/afghanistanunresttalibaneid_061230085207
Pakistani military destroy rebel bases in Baluchistan
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061230/wl_sthasia_afp/pakistanunrestsouthwest_061230055241
(Australia) Terror cells concern
http://www.skynews.com.au/story.asp?id=146920
N. Korea: US flew over 2,200 spy missions in 2006
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467623303&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Sri Lankan planes bomb Tiger rebels
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20993257-1702,00.html
National security hinges on strengthened internal, external harmony
People's Daily Online
UPDATED: 17:57, December 30, 2006
http://english.people.com.cn/200612/30/eng20061230_337210.html
Chen Zhou, a noted researcher with the warfare theory and strategy
research department of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences, enunciates the
white paper on China's national defense that was issued Friday in an
exclusive interview with Zhang Tie, a veteran reporter from the People's
Day, a leading newspaper in China. The detailed account of the
interview reads as follows:
Q: The white paper on China's national defense is the fifth of its kind
the Chinese government issued since 1998. Then, could you tell us what
is the most salient feature for this year's white paper?
A: The new white paper focuses on new changes in international security
situation, new, substantial contents in China's defense policy and new
progress scored in the national defense and army building in past two
years. Its most salient features are: First, it fully embodies the basis
concept of China's national defense is to maintain peaceful
development. It constitutes China's basic national policy to take the road for
peaceful development, to build a harmonious society at home and to spur
the construction of a harmonious world globally. So China has to
implement its national policy of a defensive nature.
Second, it gives prominence to the guiding position of the scientific
development outlook in the national defense policy in the new period of
the 21st century. The scientific development outlook should be taken as
a vital guiding principle for spurring the military reform with Chinese
features and bringing about the all-round, coordinated and sustained
development of the national defense and armed forces.
Third, it increases the transparency of China's defense policy and
strategic intention. The purpose in increasing such transparency is to
build up mutual confidence between nations. The new white paper enunciates
in an open way many aspects with regard to the judgment of security
environment, security strategic concepts as well as the country's defense
policy and military strategy and effectively refuted the allegation
about China's military threat.
Q: In terms of its concrete contents, what represent new changes or
"bright spots" in the new white paper?
A: Four chapters are added to the new white paper, namely, "the
national defense leading and managerial system", "the Chinese People¡¯s
Liberation Army", "the people¡¯s armed police force" and "frontier and
coastal defense", and an additional chapter on "the national defense
expenditure" is offered with an explicit aim to further increase the
transparency of the national defense and armed forces. On the exposition of
China's national defense policy, the new white paper for the first time
presents China's self-defense nuclear strategy and the military
strategic principle in the new era. That is, it remains firmly committed to
the policy of no first use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any
circumstances; it adheres to the principle of limited development with
striking back in self-defense; and developing a nuclear force to comply
with the national security requirements and retaining the role of
nuclear deterrence, etc.
The new white paper also releases for the first time China's goal for
three-step development strategy in modernizing the national defense and
armed forces: laying the groundwork before 2010, making relatively
marked progress in 2020 and basically establishing an army with an
information infrastructure in mid 21st century army capable of winning the war
with the extensive, efficent use of information.
Q. The 2002 and 2004 white papers are devoted to a description of
security situation both at home and abroad in their first chapter, and the
white paper this year is again set aside for "security situation". What
differences do the new white paper have with the previous white papers
in term of its description and judgment of the security situation?
First of all, the white paper's judgment on the security situation in
the world and the Asia-Pacific region fully reflects a new situation and
new changes in recent two years. For instance, the new white paper
enunciates basic views of the Chinese government on international security
situation with three important judgments as the basis. That is to say,
the opportunity outweighs the challenge concerning world peace and
security, a security threat faced by international community has become
increasingly synthetic, varied and complex, and the military rivalry with
information-based characteristics has been aggravated.
Secondly, it analyzes security environment a comprehensive way. It
underscores that the overall national security environment is favorable to
China on one hand and, on the other hand, it acknowledges that the
national security still faces challenges. The growing interconnections
between domestic and international factors and interconnected traditional
and non-traditional factors have made maintaining national security a
more challenging task. The struggle to oppose and contain the separatist
forces for "Taiwan independence" and their activities remains a hard
one.
Finally, the new white paper summarizes for the first time the national
security strategic thinking with the unity of development and security.
This strategic concept urges building a harmonious socialist society
internally, and actively spurring the construction of a harmonious world
externally, and seeking for comprehensive national security and lasting
peace globally.
Q. In presenting the policy for China's national defense, people have
noticed that the new white paper has such a provision on "creating
security situation facilitating security development for the nation",
whereas the corresponding clause of the white paper in 2002 reads as
"safeguarding world peace and opposing aggression and expansion" and the
relevant clause of the white paper in 2004 reads as "winning over for a
lengthy, good international environment and adjacent environment." What is
the penetrating, incisive connotation in the change of such
presentation?
A. It is a crucial task for China's national defense to safeguard the
world peace and oppose aggression and expansion. And it is also one of
China's fundamental national interests to attain a good international
environment and surrounding environment for a relatively-long period of
time. Nevertheless, the international community is confronted with an
increasing comprehensive, varied and complex security threats. Moreover,
with new circumstances and new characteristics emerged in the national
interest, it is essential to prioritize a security environment
favorable for China's peaceful development, as the national defense has to obey
and serve the national development strategy and security strategy. And
China's national defense should also play an active role in
safeguarding global and regional peace and stability.
Q. People have noticed an additional clause in the new white paper on
"realizing the all-round, coordinated development of the national
defense and army building." Will you please brief us on the science
development outlook of national defense and army building in line with reality
or actual circumstances.
A. Science development outlook is a guiding principle not only for
action in constructing a relatively affluent society but for national
defense and army building. The new white paper particularly established the
guiding position of scientific development outlook in the national
defense policy in the new era of the new century.
In carrying out and implementing the scientific development outlook,
perseverant efforts should be made to effect the coordinated development
of national defense construction and economic growth, so as to merge
national defense and armed forces' modernization into the system of
sco-economical development on one hand and, on the other hand, efforts
should also be taken to step up and arrange in an all-round, scientific way
the army building in various fields, in an effort to press ahead with
innovation in military organization setup and increase efficiency in
army modernization.
Q. The new white paper repeatedly underlines the national defense
policy of a defensive nature and the implementation of the military
strategic principle of "active defense", and then what are the intrinsic ties
and generality between the "defensive" defense policy and the strategic
principle of "active defense"?
A. Military strategy represents a general plan that guides the military
construction and armed warfare, and so both are closely related to each
other and therefore inseparable. The nature of China's defense policy
is to defend the motherland and the peaceful labor of its people, as
what the Chinese constitution specifies. In other words, China's national
defense is, in essence, defensive in character. The defensive nature of
China's national defense is manifested in its basic purpose to
safeguard the security and unity of the nation, to ensure the materialization
of the goal for a relatively affluent society instead of seeking an
outwardly expansion or hegemony; the growth of China's national defense and
military strength will absolutely not menace peace and security in the
country's surrounding areas.
China keeps firmly to its strategic defense, self-defense and to
striking only after the enemy or adversary has attacked, "we will not attack
unless we are attacked; if we are attacked, we will certainly
counterattack," as a puplar Chinese saying goes." But this kind of defense is
not passive, since there are also attacks involved when people on the
defensive.
Q. Could you elaborate your understanding of China's national defense
policy of a defensive nature in the light of the national road for
peaceful development?
A. In implementing China's defense policy of a defensive nature, due
consideration should be given to a big backdrop of globalization, which
has deepened the ties of interest forged among nations, Any nation has
to mull over the interests of other nations as well as the common
interests of all nations in the course of pursuing its own interests. And in
this case, China is no exception.
China has never been related so closely to the world as it is today,
and so is the harmonious society to the harmonious world. On one hand,
China will be impacted by the international strategic environment to a
greater extent and, on the other hand, it is expected to contribute still
more positively to the defense of global peace and stability. The great
revitalization of the Chinese nation can be materialized only when it
is capable of integrating the fundamental interests of its people with
that of the people worldwide. China shall never seek expansion or pursue
hegemony either at present or in the future, no matter how it is
developed by then.
By People's Daily Online
Japan's navy denies practice invasion
Associated Press
Saturday, December 30, 2006
By CARL FREIRE, Associated Press Writer
Japan's navy on Saturday denied a report that Japan and the United States held a drill simulating a Chinese invasion of disputed islands
during recent joint naval exercises.
The U.S. and Japan sent a flotilla of warships - including the aircraft
carrier USS Kitty Hawk and its battle group - off Japan's southern
coast for a week of war games in mid-November called Annualex 18G, their
largest joint naval exercise of the year.
One of the drills addressed a hypothetical Chinese military invasion of
a group of uninhabited islands called Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in
Japanese that both Tokyo and Beijing claim, Kyodo News agency said,
citing unidentified Japanese and U.S. officials.
The drill was carried out using colors rather than names to designate
the countries involved to avoid giving the impression that a specific
country was being viewed as the enemy, Kyodo reported. China was
designated as "orange", Japan as "blue" and the U.S. as "green," it said.
Maritime Self Defense Forces spokesman Hiromitsu Hanada denied the
report, saying the Annualex exercises were not directed at defending
against any specific country or threat.
Phones rang unanswered at offices of U.S. Forces Japan and U.S. Naval
Forces Japan on Saturday.
Japan claimed the islands in 1895 when it colonized Taiwan, but the
United States controlled them after World War II and returned them to
Japan in 1972. Taiwan also claims the islands as its territory.
Though China and Japan have vibrant economic links, they are at odds
over a variety of issues including undersea gas and oil deposits and
Japanese officials' visits to a Tokyo war shrine that honors executed war
criminals.
Japan's Defense Agency lists China's military expansion as a top
security concern in the region. Chinese defense spending has jumped by
double-digit percentages since the early 1990s, and Japanese Foreign Minister
Taro Aso has repeatedly called China a threat - drawing angry protests
from Beijing.
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
[unknown url]
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/163428.asp
Russia regrets Saddam Hussein execution: report
Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 30-Dec-2006 15:52 hrs
Russia's foreign ministry expressed regret Saturday over the execution of toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, saying that international calls for clemency had been ignored, Interfax news agency reported. — AFP
Russia's foreign ministry expressed regret Saturday over the execution of toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, saying that international calls for clemency had been ignored, Interfax news agency reported. — AFP
27 - NPA killed in Comval encounter
Business.balta.ph
Wednesday, December 27 2006 @ 02:41 AM GMT
http://news.balita.ph/html/article.php/20061227024145421
Provincial
A member of the New People's Army was killed in an encounter Tuesday
morning in Barangay San Jose, Monkayo town in Compostela Valley.
The incident took place in time for the 38th founding anniversary of
the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front-New
People's Army (CPP-NDF-NPA).
Col. Benito de Leon, spokesperson of the 10th Infantry Battalion, said
the government soldiers were conducting combat patrol in the area when
they chanced upon heavily-armed rebels.
De Leon said a firefight ensued that resulted to the death of a rebel,
while no casualty was reported on the government side.
He said the rebels withdrew to unknown direction after an intense
exchange of bullets. (PNA)
-- This email has been scanned by the Balita server.
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