Iranian Alert -- March 18, 2004 [EST]-- IRAN LIVE THREAD -- Americans for Regime Change in Iran

Get some sleep then check the news when you wake up...

Iran Nobel laureate condemns terror, Muslim tyrannies

By Dan Eaton
18 March 04

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Iranian Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi on Thursday accused many Muslim governments of using religion to justify tyranny and said the teachings of Islam were fundamentally opposed to murder and terror.

The outspoken lawyer, who became a hate figure among Iran's religious hardliners for her outspoken support of social and legal reforms, said some Muslim leaders were afraid to trust majority opinion in their own countries.

"Today, many governments have made a shield of Islam, to hide behind it. They justify their tyranny with interpretations of the religion," Ebadi, who won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, told a conference of clerics and scholars in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

The 56-year-old human rights campaigner, who has been lambasted by Iran's conservative newspapers for shaking hands with men and appearing in public without a headscarf, did not name specific governments.

"Islam is not a religion of violation and terror," said Ebadi, the first woman to become a judge in Iran and the first Muslim woman to win a Nobel prize.

"Be assured, if someone were assassinated under the name of Islam, there is a misuse of Islam. Any violation done by an individual or a group should not be registered under the name of Islam."

Ebadi, who has urged governments to address injustice and discrimination as the root causes of Islamic militancy, also issued a veiled criticism of the United States-led war in Iraq.

"The fight against terrorism is a legitimate fight of a human being, but it must be done under the framework of the United Nations," she told reporters after he speech.

Because of her vocal support for political and economic reforms and abolition of Islamic penalties such as stoning and amputation of limbs, Iran's conservatives call Ebadi an agent of the West.

http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4594098

Tolerance of Iran's Nukes Spurs Neighbors

March 18, 2004
WorldNetDaily.com
Geostrategy-Direct

Iran's success in flouting the will of the international community by continuing its nuclear weapons program is giving similar ideas to several countries in the Middle East, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, reports Geostrategy-Direct, the global intelligence information service.

Leading U.S. analysts warn the Bush administration that Egypt and Saudi Arabia – both of which have declared their commitment to a nuclear-free Middle East – would probably join Iran as nuclear weapons states during the next few years. These countries would be motivated by the emerging threats from Iran and the rivalry of India and Pakistan.

"If Iran joins Israel as a de facto nuclear-weapon state, with three other nuclear-weapon states nearby – Russia, India and Pakistan – it is very unlikely that other nations in the vicinity will be able to resist launching or accelerating their own nuclear weapons programs," stated a report.

"It is not at all inconceivable that a Middle East with four, five or six nuclear-weapon states, including Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, will be the reality of the early 21st Century," stated the report authored by Kenneth Weisbode of the Atlantic Council and James Goodby of the Brookings Institution.

In October 2003, Saudi Arabia concluded a nuclear cooperation accord with Pakistan, according to Western intelligence and Israeli officials. The accord calls for Islamabad to provide a nuclear umbrella over the Arabian Peninsula as part of a new Saudi strategy that seeks to decrease its dependence on the United States.

Analysts said Pakistan could upgrade the Saudi arsenal of up to 60 Chinese-origin CSS-2 Dong Feng 3A ballistic missiles secretly bought in the mid-1980s.

The missiles have nuclear capability and have a range of up to 3,000 kilometers.

What's worse, the analysts warn, is that the regimes of Egypt and Saudi Arabia are vulnerable to a hostile Islamic takeover. This gives a nuclear Egypt or Saudi Arabia an even more menacing aspect, they say.

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37626

China Signs USD 20 Bln for Iranian Gas

March 18, 2004
AFX-Asia
Ample

BEIJING -- State-owned oil trader Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp confirmed it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to buy more than 110 mln tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Iran.

However, Zhuhai Zhenrong and the Iranian embassy in Beijing both declined to provide further details on the deal.

"The final decision on potential users of the LNG hasn't been made yet, and we can't disclose any information about the deal. More details will come out in the second half of this year," Zheng Mei, a spokeswoman with the company's general manager's office, told AFX-Asia.

Earlier today, state media reported that Zhuhai Zhenrong signed a deal earlier this month to buy more than 110 mln tons of LNG from Iran over 25 years, starting in 2008.

The deal could be worth as much 20 bln usd, making it the biggest LNG purchase deal in the world.

Zhuhai Zhenrong will initially buy 2.5 mln tons of LNG a year, with the amount to increase to 5 mln tons from 2013.

The deal follows the signing of an agreement by China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) last month with the Zhejiang provincial government to build a 1.7 bln usd LNG receiving terminal in the eastern province, which could handle 3 mln tons of LNG annually.

China is bringing in gas from other countries as well as boosting domestic infrastructure to satisfy the growing demands of energy-hungry sectors.

(1 usd = 8.3 yuan)

sharon.wu@xinhuafinance.com

http://www.iii.co.uk/shares/?type=news&articleid=4927644&action=article

Khatami Calls It Quits in Reform Struggle

March 17, 2004
Stratfor
Strategic Forecasting

Summary

Iranian President Mohammed Khatami admitted defeat in his two- term goal to weaken the grip of the country's conservative Islamic clerics. Khatami bluntly advised the populace not to expect much from the presidency in the future, and declared his legislative efforts to reform the country's political system dead. With the conservatives clearly victorious, Tehran can now speak and negotiate with a single voice. That strengthens Tehran's hand in dealing with the United States and quickens the pace of the ongoing U.S.-Iranian rapprochement.

Analysis

Speaking to reporters after a March 17 Cabinet meeting, Iranian President Mohammed Khatami declared his efforts to reform the Iranian political system -- and weaken the grip of the country's conservative clerics -- dead.

Khatami's labors had focused on a pair of bills that would have prevented the Guardians Council -- the legal bastion of the conservatives -- from vetting candidate lists in Iran's elections, and would have expanded the president's powers to the detriment of the unelected Guardians Council. Khatami withdrew both bills.

"I have met with defeat. Let the people know who is their president and what powers he has so that they keep their expectations accordingly," Khatami said. "The council even breached its own definite view that the president is responsible for implementing the constitution. People should know that in the view of some [the Guardians Council], the president is not Iran's number one official after the supreme leader. The council views the president merely as a coordinator among other institutions."

The president's statement is more than a total surrender to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's absolute spiritual leader -- who appoints the Guardians Council. In telling Iranians to expect little of him and tacitly accepting the Guardians Council's view of his office, Khatami is, in effect, declaring the reformist movement dead.

This marks the end of a long-running battle for influence between Khatami and the Guardians Council that began when Khatami was first elected president seven years ago. In Iran's February elections the Guardians Council's vetting of the candidate lists -- and eliminating reform-minded candidates -- ensured that the conservatives would control the Majlis, the Iranian parliament.

Those battles injected considerable instability into Iran's political dynamic, leading to frequent protests as pro-reform elements clashed with the security services, which are controlled by the conservatives. Charges of international meddling in the country's internal affairs have also been made regularly.

The chaos has often made for confusion in Iran's international relations, as various factions have made -- and refuted -- statements to meet the needs of their own internal politicking.

The conservatives have won. The days of confusion are over.

This development will have two immediate effects on Iran's foreign policy. First, the country will now speak with a single voice in all of its international dealings. This will dramatically strengthen Tehran's hand in dealing with the evolution of Iraq, the weakening of Saudi Arabia, relations with Europe and, in particular, the ongoing rapprochement with the United States.

Second -- and just as important -- the tempo of all these changes will pick up dramatically. There is no longer a need for Tehran to secure internal coherence before acting internationally. Despite the fact that it will be the conservatives dominating the process, Stratfor expects this to accelerate the ongoing U.S.- Iranian rapprochement. Tehran's hesitancy until now was in part because Khamenei and his allies feared provoking a split among the country's conservatives that the reformists could exploit. With that fear now past, Iran can speak boldly with one voice -- even when that voice will soon be declaring all-too-normal relations are being forged with the Great Satan.

http://www.stratfor.com/

Iran: MEMRI's News Ticker Headlines

March 17, 2004
Middle East Media Research Institute
MEMRI

March 17, 2004
Iraqi sources said that al-Zarqawi, considered by the U.S. to be affiliated with al-Qa'ida and behind suicide attacks in Iraq, is under arrest in Iran and that Iran will extradite him to the U.S. in exchange for Mujahideen Khalq members. (al-Sharq al-Awsat, London, 3/17/04)

March 17, 2004
The Iranian weekly Tabarestan was banned for calling Iranian clerics 'goats' that destroy everything in their path and try to force their will on others. (al-Sharq al-Awsat, London, 3/16/04)

March 17, 2004
The conservative Iranian daily Jomhouri-ye Eslami called on Iranian officials to carry on with nuclear activities and enrich uranium regardless of IAEA criticism. (Jomhouri-ye Eslami, Iran, 3/17/04)

March 17, 2004
Islamic Iran participation party (IIPP) member Mostafa Derayati denied rumors that president Muhammad Khatami has decided to resign. (Mehr news agency, Iran, 3/16/04)

March 17, 2004
Iran’s supreme national Security Council secretary Hassan Rohani said that Iraqi unity and territorial integrity are important to Iran and that if the Kurds seek their rights within the Iraqi framework, Iran would not be concerned. (IRNA, Iran, 3/16/04)

March 17, 2004
Iran’s judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Elham said there were 22 mistakes in the 'freedom of opinion and expression' report by UN rapporteur Ambeyi Ligabo. He further accused the UN human rights organization of 'seeing themselves as indebted to the U.S. and filing their report so as to please the superpower' instead of 'respecting our national sovereignty and the fundamental rights of the state.' (Aftab-e Yazd, Iran, 3/17/04)

March 17, 2004
Three days of rioting wracked Fereydoun Kenar, Iran beginning march 13 when the conservative guardian council announced that the conservative nominee Nejafnejad had won the parliamentary election, not reformist candidate Rouhi as previously thought. (Aftab-e Yazd, Iran, 3/16/04)

March 17, 2004
Reformist Iranian mp Fatemeh rakei said, 'we [the parliament] have asked the conservative guardian council to clarify whether a woman capable of undertaking the presidential post can apply for candidacy or whether it has religious reservations.' (IRNA, Iran, 3/15/04)

March 16, 2004
Iran’s supreme leader ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that martyrs are the sincerest and best devotees serving the lofty goals of Islam and the Iranian nation. (Jomhouri-ye Eslami, Iran, 3/14/04)

March 16, 2004
The reformist Iran daily wrote that there is 'a strong need' for Iran to review its policy toward Europe, following Europe’s stance toward Iran in the IAEA board of governors meeting. (Iran daily, 3/16/04)

March 16, 2004
The reformist Iranian daily Aftab-e Yazd criticized Iranian officials' haste in suspending IAEA inspectors' visits, saying it played into the hands of Iran’s opponents in the IAEA, and said that the Iranian media consistently avoided questioning official Iranian action in nuclear matters. (Aftab-eYazd, Iran, 3/16/04)

http://memri.org/ticker.html

Iran, U.S. Flirt with Better Ties

March 18, 2004
NBC News
Preston Mendenhall

TEHRAN, Iran - On the eve of the U.S. invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, officials here say Iran's Islamic leaders could hardly believe their luck. Washington, heretofore the "Great Satan," was about to do Iran a great service -- by taking out the man whose troops, often using chemical weapons, killed more than a half million Iranians during the 1979-1989 Iran-Iraq war.

But while the mullahs, whose popular support has waned since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, sat back and watched Saddam fall, the chattering classes had other ideas.

"After Bush is done with Saddam, have him send American troops over here," went the common refrain in Tehran.

And in the aftermath of President Bush's "axis of evil" speech in January 2002, there was plenty of speculation that Washington just might.

Reality check

But a year after U.S. troops got mired down in Iraq, the mullahs have gone nowhere. On the contrary, they are fresh from a (questionable) election victory.

Next door in Iraq, meanwhile, the American military is stretched too thin to contemplate taking on Tehran. And international support for another "regime change" by Washington is nonexistent.

But that hasn't exactly emboldened the hard-line clerics either. The Bush administration's "war on terror" has hemmed in Iran, forcing the mullahs to take a pragmatic approach to their policy toward the United States.

To the west, in Afghanistan, Washington has stationed nearly 13,000 troops to support its hunt for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida remnants, and to prop up the government of pro-American Afghan President Hamed Karzai.

In Iraq, to the east, an occupation force of more than 155,000 U.S. troops is supported by U.S. warships within sight of Iran's southern Persian Gulf shores.

And to the north, Washington has curried favor with the despot leaders of the so-called "stans" -- Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan -- enabling U.S. troops to use old Soviet bases for forward operations in the region.

"Suddenly, we are neighbors," said Reza Yousefian, a prominent reformer who was banned from taking part in last month's parliamentary elections.

Neighborly ties

But will Tehran and Washington make good neighbors?

Post-9/11 U.S. foreign policy has many strange bedfellows. (Were it not for regional oil reserves and the hunt for al-Qaida, the "stans" have little to offer America.)

In Iran's case, U.S. officials say al-Qaida operatives fled from Afghanistan and Pakistan into Iran after Washington toppled the Taliban in 2002. Some officials believe Iran may be holding Osama bin Laden's son, Saad, and other al-Qaida luminaries, as bargaining chips in future negotiations with the United States.

So can common interests bring two old enemies together?

Reformers like Yousefian think so. But parliamentary elections on Feb. 20 threw reformers like him onto the streets, after the hard-line mullahs banned more than 2,000 reformist candidates from taking part in the vote.

But there are plenty of hurdles to a U.S.-Iran rapprochement, like Iran's support for Hezbollah, the anti-Israeli guerrillas in southern Lebanon, that earns Tehran a top spot on Washington's list of terrorist-sponsoring nations.

Iran's alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons also causes friction, though Tehran claims its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes. And in Iraq, Washington suspects Tehran is exploiting its religious ties to Iraq's restless majority Shia population, and possibly turning a blind eye to anti-U.S. militants crossing into Iraq.

Still, even hard-line conservatives like Badam Chian, a top official at the Islamic Coalition Party, are taking an open view.

"It's in the interest of both countries," he said in an interview. "For 25 years, the United States has been scheming against Iran. Why doesn't Washington understand that its policy is so wrong?"

Right or wrong, American policy toward Iran has recently been the focus of diplomatic flirtation: After the Dec. 26 Bam earthquake, which killed over 40,000, Iran received its first direct American aid in 25 years; congressional leaders recently proposed a friendly visit to Iran; and Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has become a regular in Washington political circles.

Officials here say the parliamentary elections last month, though heavily stacked in the favor of the mullahs, were designed to hijack the agenda of popular reformers like Yousefian, who had called for diplomatic relations with the United States.

"[The hard-liners] stole our slogans," the 36-year-old reformer complained. "But maybe we should take it as a compliment, or a sign of things to come."

Preston Mendenhall is an NBC News correspondent on assignment in Iran.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4387637/

Festival of Light and Fire, A Defiance of Ruling Clerics

March 17, 2004
Iran va Jahan
Potkin Azarmehr

The inherent sense of Iranian nationalism has always manifested itself during the darkest hours of Iran's turbulent history and delivered the nation from certain collapse. To date Iranian nationalism remains the most potent weapon against foreign occupiers and the present day ruling clerics.

For the last 25 years of the Islamic rule, the Iranian New Year Nowrooz, and the Red Wednesday fire Festival, which falls on the last Tuesday evening of the Iranian year, have been the battleground between the Iranian culture of joy, knowledge and life and the non-Iranian culture of mourning, ignorance and martyrdom.

When Ayatollah Khomeini tried to ban these celebrations, the uncompromising reaction of the Iranian people forced him into his first unprecedented retreat.

In more recent years, the coinciding of the Arab lunar calendar and the Shiite mourning month of Moharram with the solar Iranian calendar and the new year celebrations, gave the impression to the clerics that they can use this opportunity to ban these pre-Islamic celebrations at least while they fall in the month of Moharram. Instead the celebrations became even more poignant and more symbolic in terms of showing defiance to the imposed non-Iranian culture of the ruling clerics.

Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani issued his decree by stating earlier this week: "The superstitious ceremony of Chaharshanbeh Suri is incompatible with the dignity and understanding of the Muslim Iranian nation".

The Islamic regime's security forces tried to reach a compromise this year by not banning the celebrations but declaring only certain official parks in the cities for lawful celebrations. Yet the people and the youth in particular once again turned the Red Wednesday celebrations into a combat zone for the test of forces.

As the youth jumped over the bonfires the traditional ancient rhymes were replaced with anti-government ones. "toop, tank, feshfesheh Akhoond bayad koshteh sheh" " Cannons, Tanks and Firecrackers We must kill the Mullahs".

In the Haft-Howz, Falakeh Dovvom and Nirooye Havaii, districts of Tehran more than 10,000 people had gathered. Some women openly removed their scarves encouraging others to do so too. In Mohseni Square, the youth fought back the Law Enforcement Forces. At least 20 government forces were reported badly beaten up by the crowds. In Amir-Abad district the people joined the students and more anti-government slogans were shouted. Police patrol cars, which attempted to disperse the crowd, drove away from the scene as the people started throwing home made grenades at them. In Aryashahr, the crowd were throwing pictures of Supreme Leader, Khamenei and Islamic Republic flags on to the bonfires.

Other districts in Tehran like Javadieh, Ferdowsi and Noor similar scenes continued. In some districts the noise prevented the telephone reports from making their reports audible.

Not far from Tehran, in Karaj, the house of the Friday Prayer leader was set on fire copying the similar action by the people in Fereydoon Kenar .

In Yazd, between 7000-8000 people gathered in Atlasi Sq and attacked the known regime agents.

In Booshehr, one revolutionary guard is reported killed.

In Shiraz, the people attacked government agents who were filming them and broke their cameras.

In Kerman, the people were shouting, Referendum, Referendum, This is the cry of nation.

In Sarab, Azarbijan, where the people have a fierce reputation for their fighting capabilities, the local Baseejis were on the run while shouting Allah-Akbar.

As in last year Iran's Kurdistan contained the biggest scenes of celebrations. Huge bonfires were reported from Marivan and Sannadaj, with the youth openly taunting the regime's forces.

Even in many other places throughout Iran where the celebrations were less political, young boys and girls circled around bonfires, held hands and danced to the music. An unthinkable act in the month of Moharram, even in the pre-Isalmic revolution of 1979.

So on a night where the Islamic state run TV even resorted to showing popular American films to encourage the people of Iran to stay indoors, the fire of Zarathustra remained defiant and rekindled.

http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2004&m=03&d=17&a=6

U.S. Is Told Iran May Be 'Ready' For Talks on Its Nuclear Program

March 18, 2004
The Walls Street Journal
Carla Anne Robbins

WASHINGTON -- The United Nations' top nuclear inspector told President Bush that Iran is "ready" for a dialogue with the U.S. that might lead to a halt in its nuclear program.

Mohamed ElBaradei also offered to be a conduit leading to bilateral talks, according to people with knowledge of the conversation. It isn't known how Mr. Bush replied to Mr. ElBaradei's offer.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, though, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency said he is "always supportive of dialogue ... including one" between the U.S. and Iran. He declined to say whether he had been asked by the Iranians to deliver a message to the White House.

The U.S. has been cool to direct talks with Iran, asserting that Tehran has backed Islamic extremists and terror groups and pursued a covert weapons program. Before the president's meeting with Mr. ElBaradei, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said "talk about a dialogue" with Iran "is misplaced."

He said the U.S. has "always made clear that we're willing to engage with Iran on specific issues of mutual concern. ... The fact is that Iran knows what those issues of concern are: their terrorism, its nuclear program and their support for terrorist causes around the world. We haven't seen movement on any of those things." Iran says its nuclear program is for power, not weapons.

The White House invited Mr. ElBaradei to Washington to discuss ways to control the spread of nuclear-weapons technology, in the wake of disclosures about a nuclear black market headed up by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. That black market supplied secret programs in Iran, Libya and North Korea, and possibly other countries.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Mr. ElBaradei said he discussed with President Bush several ideas on how to control nuclear proliferation, including tightening export controls and the need to secure weapons-usable material in research reactors scattered around the globe. He said the two men also discussed the need to restrict the number of countries that can enrich uranium and reprocess plutonium that can be used for nuclear fuel or bombs.

U.S. officials also have been critical of Mr. ElBaradei's agency and have complained that the U.N. official hasn't been more willing to confront Iran on its failure to come clean to agency inspectors. Mr. ElBaradei in turn has been critical of Mr. Bush for tearing up arms-control treaties and for authorizing research into new nuclear weapons.

Write to Carla Anne Robbins at carla.robbins@wsj.com

http://online.wsj.com/public/us

I'd like nothing more than to see a regime change in Iran. But, the only place I'm hearing anything about this so-called revolution is on FR!! More sources please!?

Lee

Follow the links on the reports.
It is being reported.

Personally I think the major media is ignoring it because just like in Iraq you could either report what the regime authorizes or leave and most want to stay. Do you remember CNN in Iraq?

One other factor is that the people are very pro US and most of the major media are not. The reports don't fit what the editors are looking for.

Great cartoon in #23!

Re: June 2003 and riots centering around new moon/new year March 20, 2004.

Starting July, 1977 to November, 1978, Iranians gathered throughout their country, burning US flags and stuffed Uncle Sams. They shouted slogans while they rioted in solidarity against the Shah and for rebel leader Khomeini. Largest riots occurred January-February 1978 culminating with referrendum and seizing of power by Islamic radicals beginning in March, 1978.

July 16, 1977 was a new moon. January 9th and February 8th were new moons in 1978. Early April in 1978 was the start of the new year. Crazy thought: All activities occurred near new moons or islamic festivals. Do politicians in Iran coordinate all activities using new moons and festival gatherings as devises to portray popular support for their designs? Have all revolts within Iran corresponded with times and seasons dictated by Mazda or Mohammed?

Wow. Isn't there a new year every year, and a new moon every month?

Asefi: No Message from Iran for US

March 18, 2004
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
IRIB News

Tehran -- Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi here Thursday dismissed news released by the foreign media that International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Mohammad Elbaradei, currently in talks in Washington with US President Ge orge W. Bush, was carrying a message from Iran for the United States.

Foreign newsreports have claimed the UN nuclear watchdog's chief, during meetings in Washington on Tuesday, suggested a US dialogue with Iran was a way of resolving the growing controversy over Tehran's nuclear programs, with deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage taking the idea with advice.

"Mohamed Elbaradei carries no message from Iran for the US officials," Asefi said. Elbaradei arrived in Washington late this week to discuss issues with regard to Iran's and Libya's nuclear programs. Meanwhile, asked about the possibility of Iran sendin g a message to the United States for direct talks between Tehran and Washington through Elbaradei, US State Department Spokesman Adam Ereli said he had nothing to say.

http://www.iribnews.ir/Full_en.asp?news_id=200627

Iraqi Kurds Protest Clashes in Syria

March 18, 2004
The Associated Press
Mariam Fam

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq -- Thousands of Iraqi Kurds rallied Thursday to protest clashes between security forces and Kurds in Syria, waving flags and singing national songs.

"We ask for their rights. There are many Kurds in Syria who don't even have a nationality and are deprived of everything," said demonstrator Chotyar Mohammed, 28.

Clashes between the Kurdish minority and state security forces in Syria erupted Friday over a soccer match in the town of Qamishli between supporters of two teams — one with many Kurdish players, the other with Arab players. The violence killed at least 24 people and wounded more than 100.

Fires still burned Thursday on the outskirts of Qamishli, near the Turkish border, although Faisal Youssef, an executive of the Progressive Kurdish Party, said the city was returning to normal.

The unrest, which spread Tuesday to Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city, raised fears of a government crackdown on Kurds who may be inspired by the rising political status of fellow Kurds in Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. An estimated 250 Kurds have been detained since the violence began.

In the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, demonstrators gathered outside a building of the Kurdistan Regional Government Council of Ministers, which also houses officials of the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority.

"We want America and coalition forces to support and help the Kurdish people in Syria," said Sabreya Moustafa, a teacher and a member of the delegation. "We don't want another genocide as happened to the Kurdish people in Iraq."

The United States has criticized Damascus' handling of events with the Kurds.

Syria said the clashes were a foreign attempt to meddle in its internal affairs. Kurds make up about 1.5 million of Syria's 18.5 million people and live mostly in the underdeveloped provinces of Qamishli and Hasakah.

Some of Thursday's protesters wrapped their bodies in Kurdish flags. Others yelled: "Kurdistan is one land."

Armed Kurdish forces watched the protest from atop buildings.

"We don't want more Kurdish blood to be shed," said Aram Rasul, 18. "If the American slogans about freedom are true, then we want them to topple the regime in Syria like they did here, whether by force or by political means."

Jamel Kheder Abdal, a Kurdish official, said the problems of Syrian Kurds should be solved peacefully, and that Kurdish officials would raise the Kurdish demands with Iraq's Governing Council.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040318/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_kurds_1

'High-value' al Qaeda Target Surrounded in Pakistan

March 18, 2004
CNN
CNN.com

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistani forces have surrounded what may be a "high-value" al Qaeda target in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan, President Pervez Musharraf told CNN.

"We feel that there may be a high-value target," Musharraf told CNN. "I can't say who."

The ferociousness of their resistance indicates that the al Qaeda fighters are protecting someone particularly significant, he said.

The military asked locals to leave and is flying helicopters overhead, "pounding" the area with artillery, he said.

U.S. and Pakistani officials have said they believe al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden probably is in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan.

Word of the standoff comes after Pakistan announced it has launched a fresh offensive against suspected militants near the Afghan border.

Meanwhile Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell designated Islamabad a key non-NATO ally.

Speaking in Islamabad on Thursday where he is meeting with Musharraf, America's top diplomat said Washington will designate Pakistan a major, non-NATO ally, making it easier for the country to buy advanced U.S. weapons.

His announcement came despite U.S. concern about the recent nuclear proliferation row involving the founder of Pakistan's nuclear program.

Earlier this year, Abdul Qadeer Khan admitted he gave nuclear weapons technology to other countries.

But Musharraf has been a steadfast ally of the United Sates in the war against terror, despite considerable pressure from Pakistan's mostly Muslim population.

Powell told CNN the United States is hoping for further assistance. On Thursday Pakistani forces launched a fresh offensive against suspected al Qaeda and Taliban fighters near the Afghan border.

Hundreds of Pakistani troops backed by heavy artillery and helicopter gunships raided homes in the nation's tribal region of South Waziristan, two days after a fierce assault in the same area left dozens dead.

Thursday's push began at around 10:00 a.m (0500GMT) in Warsak, Shin Warsak and Kaloosha villages, said Brig. Mahmood Shah, the chief of security for the area, according to The Associated Press.

Earlier, military helicopters and mosques broadcasted warnings to residents to evacuate ahead of the offensive.

But many had already fled their homes after bloody clashes this week between Pakistani troops and local tribesman apparently protecting suspected al Qaeda fighters.

At least 39 people were killed in the Tuesday raid on suspected Taliban and al Qaeda militants in a fortress-like compound in Kaloosha, close to the border.

Fifteen soldiers died, while Pakistani forces killed 24 suspects, most of them foreign fighters, military officials said.

Intelligence officers are also questioning 18 people captured during the raids.

In retaliation, angry tribesmen torched more than a dozen military vehicles -- some loaded with ammunition -- on Tuesday and Wednesday.

'Finish the terrorists'
U.S. and Pakistani officials believe the region -- which has resisted outside intervention for centuries -- holds remnants of the Taliban, Afghanistan's former Muslim rulers, and the al Qaeda terrorist network.

"For the first time in the history, Pakistani forces have entered there to finish the terrorists," Pakistani Information Minister Shiekh Rashid Ahmed told CNN on Thursday.

"We are committed against terrorism and we have to pay the price," he said.

"Our soldiers sacrificed their lives ... but we have to face this crisis, and we are ready to face it and ultimately we will get rid of these terrorists."

The whereabouts of bin Laden was still unknown, the minister said, but added that Pakistani forces were "ready to catch him."

Pakistan forces have launched a number of sweeps for "suspected foreign terrorists" along the border after Afghan and U.S. officials complained they were escaping to sanctuaries in Pakistan.

About 70,000 Pakistan troops are in the tribal regions and the recent offensive coincides with a major U.S. military operation on the other side of the border in Afghanistan to capture terror suspects.

They hope to catch al Qaeda and Taliban members in the middle as the U.S. and Pakistani militaries press in from both sides.

Though a spring offensive across southern and eastern Afghanistan, called Operation "Mountain Storm", is yet to be officially launched, U.S. military operations there have been stepped up.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/03/18/pakistan.alqaeda/index.html

Surveying the World

March 18, 2004
openDemocracy
Dominic Hilton

Love me, not so sure about others

In a week of unfolding tragedy, the Diary offers some sobering figures.

On Tuesday, the Pew Research Center produced another of its unmissable global opinion surveys. The subject: attitudes towards the US and the world one year on from the start of the Iraq war. The subjects: 7,500 people in nine countries.

In case you missed the unmissable, here’s the nutshelled version: it has not been a good week for the White House.

Sixty-five percent of Pakistanis have favourable views of Osama bin Laden. So do 55% of Jordanians, 45% of Moroccans, even 25 % of Turks.

Seventy percent of Jordanians think suicide bombings against Americans and westerners in Iraq are justified. So do 66% of Moroccans, 46% of Pakistanis, 31% of Turks.

Eighty-six percent of Jordanians think suicide bombings by Palestinians against Israelis are justifiable. So do 74% of Moroccans, 47% of Pakistanis, and 24% of Turks.

While 84% of Americans think Iraqis will be better off without Saddam, only 8% of Pakistanis agree.

Meanwhile, transatlantic relations remain as tense as a Hitchcock movie. European opinions about the US are actually worse than they were this time last year (when, let’s face it, they weren’t exactly picking out curtains).

In France, 59% think the US is exaggerating the threat from terrorism. So do 49% in Germany (76% in Jordan, who – see above – overwhelmingly favour suicide bombing).

Eighty-four percent in France think the US doesn’t take account of their country’s interests when making international policy decisions (such as getting rid of Saddam). This compares to only 48% in Pakistan who think the US acts without properly considering Pakistani interests.

Even better, 82% of Frenchmen think the US lied about the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. This compares to 69% of Jordanians, and a mere 48% of Moroccans.

Perhaps even more significant, 75% in France, 63% in Germany, 60% in Turkey and 56% in Britain think Europe should be more independent of the US in security and diplomatic affairs.

Amazingly, majorities in Britain, Russia and Turkey (and 90% in France) think it would be a good thing if the European Union became as powerful as the US.

Seventy-five percent of Americans favour Tony Blair, compared with 51% of his own electorate, 35% in France and 6% in Morocco.

Sixty-one percent of Americans like George W. Bush, compared with 15% of Frenchmen and a whopping 3% of Moroccans.

Finally, 92% of Moroccans, 80% of Pakistanis and 20% of Germans hold unfavourable views of Jews. Seventy-three percent of Moroccans, 62% of Pakistanis and 52% of Turks don’t like Christians. This compares, say, with 18% of Britons who hold unfavourable views of Muslims. Eighty-seven percent of Pakistanis like Muslims like themselves.

In fact, most people like themselves quite a lot.

Uncle Vlad

Meanwhile, with the events in Spain, you may not have noticed there was another key election this week.

In Russia, everyone’s favourite president, Vladimir Putin, romped home to victory in a landslide worthy of Saddam.

Vlad won 71.2% of the votes stuffed … sorry, cast. His nearest rival, a commie, won 13.7%. All other candidates won under 5% of the vote.

In Chechnya, Putin won 92% of the vote.

Putin, who is close to reaching superhero status in Mother Russia (the Putin doll, for example, is a must-have in every Russian household), vowed that “all the democratic achievements will be guaranteed.” He also promised economic wizardry, military victory, and to make Russia great again.

Well, he’s got the mandate…

Unfortunately, while no one disputes Putin is unrivalled for the position of Comrade Popular in Russia these days, there were many raised eyebrows over the democratic legitimacy of the elections.

International election observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe were not impressed. “The election process over all did not adequately reflect principles necessary for a healthy democratic election process,” said Julian Peel Yates, head of the mission. “Essential elements of the OSCE commitments and Council of Europe standards for democratic elections, such as vibrant political discourse and meaningful pluralism, were lacking.”

Putin’s opponents have suffered from an uncanny inability to gain media access, while the television networks repeatedly show slow-mo shots of SuperVlad looking tough, handsome, wholesome, and unequivocally confirming his sex-symbol status (none of which are OSCE “essential democratic standards”).

The critical language of the report “could not be called overly harsh”, says the Moscow Times. But the monitoring centre set up by nationalist Sergei Glazyev, liberal Irina Khakamada and communist Nikolai Kharitonov was not so diplomatic. It pointed out that patients in Moscow’s Psychiatry Clinic No.4 (where the Diary plans to retire) received their ballots already marked for Putin.

“By 2008, the whole country will be voting according to the same principle as in Psychiatric Hospital No.4,” Glazyev said, or promised. “It’s as if you come to play chess and your rival in one stroke sweeps all the pieces off the board. It’s a purely stupid Russian game. The use of administrative resources is criminal.”

Election officials in Grozny told the Moscow Times how they’d filled in several thousand ballots for Putin (and, the Diary presumes, were suffering badly from repetitive strain injury). A teacher was caught on video camera ordering her pupils to vote for SuperVlad or get straight Fs.

However, SuperVlad is not about to lose any sleep. Bush, Blair, Chirac Schröder, Koizumi all called to congratulate him within hours.

Muted criticisms from Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell were swept aside with a swipe at Florida 2000: “In many so-called developed democracies there are also many problems with their own democratic and voting procedures.”

Touché!

Dire straits

Ah, elections...

There’s another one in Taiwan on Saturday. It could prove as controversial as USA 2000 and Spain and Russia 2004.

Elections in Taiwan always inspire the Chinese military to flex its considerable muscle – you know, just to remind the voters who’s boss.

This week, the Chinese got some help intimidating Taiwan. In its biggest ever naval drill with a foreign country, China took to the waters with its new beau: France.

Taiwan, like the Diary, was not impressed. Choosing his words carefully, President Chen Shui-bian hit France where it hurts a Frenchman most, and called the land of love “bad-hearted”.

Mon Dieu! Vous m’avez tué dans la couer!

In a passionate embrace (otherwise known as joint manoeuvres) Chinese and French helicopters mounted each other’s warships. Last month, France bathed the Eiffel Tower in Chinese Red as Chirac and Hu Jintao got intimate in the Elysée.

Chen went for the jugular, saying France was “willing to be used” by its new lover China.

Cunning! Cunning!

“France is bad-hearted and tries to sell arms to China,” said Chen, who might actually gain from France’s love-in with China. The Taiwanese don’t respond well to Chinese threats and tend to vote for the candidate most hated in Beijing.

Saturday’s election comes with a controversial referendum on whether to build up Taiwanese military defences against China.

Expect trouble.

Bargain binned

Finally, Iran, whose nuclear programme has given the Diary plenty to write about these last few weeks.

Well this week, the Financial Times reported that on 4 May 2003, just after the fall of Baghdad, Iran contacted the US state department through Swiss diplomatic channels (Switzerland represents the US in Iran) offering what is being called a “grand bargain”.

The bargain involves a roadmap to normalisation of relations between the two countries, and wide-open talks on everything from the Islamic Republic’s nuke programme, its relations to terrorism, to Iraq and a two-state solution to Israel-Palestine. “The substance of the agenda was pretty reasonable,” said one American official.

According to the FT, the US has not responded to the offer “because of divisions within the Bush administration” between hawks and ... the other lot.

Iran, of course, is part of Bush’s “axis of evil”. The only US response of note was to rebuke the Swiss foreign ministry for “overstepping” its mandate. “It raises questions over the statesmanship of the Bush administration,” editorialised the FT.

Could Iran be the next Libya, dealt with through diplomacy as opposed to force?

Depends on how serious the offer is, and whether Washington plans ever to respond to it constructively. The problem is simple and perfectly described by the FT: “what the US has towards Iran is not so much a policy as an attitude.”

Figures of the week

100 million
The number of dollars netted by the Pakistani nuclear traders and their leader Abdul Qadeer Khan on sales of nuclear technology to Libya alone

14.5
The number of litres of pure alcohol consumed each year by an Irish adult

10,500
The number of Earth years that make one Sedna year.

Quotes of the week

“The [Iraq] war has been a disaster, the occupation has been a great disaster. It hasn’t generated anything but more violence and hate. What simply cannot be is that – after it became so clear how badly it was handled – there be no consequences. Bush and Blair will have to reflect and engage in some self criticism, so things like that don’t happen again. You cannot organise a war on the basis of lies. You cannot bomb a people just in case.”

Newly-elected prime minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. In the wake of the Madrid bombings and his party’s election to office, Zapatero promised to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq unless they are put under UN control by the end of June

“The idea that somehow there is some exemption certificate for this war against terrorism is utter nonsense.”

British foreign secretary Jack Straw

“You love life and we love death, which gives an example of what the Prophet Muhammad said.”

A statement from a videotaped message claiming that an al-Qaida affiliate carried out the 11 March train bombings in Madrid

“I think terrorists will kill innocent life in order to try and get the world to cower. I think they’re – these are cold-blooded killers. I mean, they’ll kill innocent people to try and shake our will.”

US President George W. Bush

“We will not defeat terrorism only with the use of force and weapons.”

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder

“These dark days have shown us how the American approach [to terrorism] has not been sufficient to deal with the situation completely ... It is clear that using force is not the answer to resolving the conflict with terrorists.”

President of the EU Commission Romano Prodi

“If you’re going to make an accusation in the course of your presidential campaign, you ought to back it up with facts.”

George W. Bush

"We are open to everyone. The only people who will not have a place are neoliberals, Nazis, racists and political delinquents."

Heloisa Helena, recently expelled from Brazil’s ruling Workers’ Party, on the new party she is helping to build

Contact the Diary: Dominic.Hilton@openDemocracy.net

http://www.opendemocracy.net/other_content/article-1800-worlddiary.jsp

Not quite sure what you're driving at, but the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar.

On the other hand, the Persian calendar is a solar calendar.