Iranian Alert -- August 21, 2003 -- LIVE THREAD PING LIST

Here is a confirmation of my report on the rape of Ms. Kazemi, as well as important new details. -- DoctorZin

Killed Canadian journalist was raped during detention

SMCCDI (Information Service)
Aug 21, 2003

Reports are stating about the rape of Zahra Kazemi, the killed Canadian-Iranian journalist, by the Islamic regime's interrogators while she was in detention. Same reports are stating about the injection of chemical substances to her dead body in order to increase the decomposition cycle following her illegal burial which was made despite the formal objection of her relatives.

These claims are part of the report of a special team of the "International Jurists" sent to Tehran and will be forwarded to the Canadian government for its decision on what policy to adopt against the Islamic republic regime.

The Islamic regime had to allow the visit of the Watch team following a wave of pressure raised by the Canadian government and most NGOs.

Zahra Kazemi was captured, following last June's Uprising, by Commander Bahrami of Evin Political jail while she was taking picture of the regime's men beating on the relatives of arrested demonstrators.

She will die, under duress, as she refused to sign false confessions on a supposed role of "acting on behalf of foreign powers for the destablization of the regime".

Her crane will be broken by the regime's interrogators as she will return the slap in the face made by the infamous Judge Mortazavi known as the "Butcher of the Press".

Zahra Kazemi was of 54 years of age and native of Iran.

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1865.shtml

Here is a confirmation of my report on the rape of Ms. Kazemi, as well as important new details. -- DoctorZin

Killed Canadian journalist was raped during detention

SMCCDI (Information Service)
Aug 21, 2003

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/967715/posts?page=41#41

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”

Europe Needs the U.S. To Succeed in Iraq

August 21, 2003
The Wall Street Journal
Julian Lindley-French

Baghdad holds a clear message for Europe: The recent Shadenfreude over the Iraqi mire into which the U.S. has seemingly fallen is profoundly misplaced. Those Europeans now a-wallowing in the bath of "told you so" self-righteousness should pose themselves a hard question -- what's the price for European security if the U.S. fails?

Make no mistake, failure is in the interest of no European. Here are six reasons why.

- The political map of the Middle East: At one stroke the U.S., together with its British allies, has transformed the political map of the Middle East. By making it easier to find a political solution to the seemingly intractable conflict between Israel and the Palestinians the U.S. has for the moment ruled out a wider war in the Middle East that could have disastrous consequences for Europe's security.

The road map to peace will go nowhere without a strong U.S. presence in the region. Indeed, the American presence represents a defining moment in the long search for a settlement between Arabs and Israelis. Should the Americans be forced to leave Iraq prematurely, the consequences for the region and the world beyond would be disastrous. The chances for success would be immeasurably raised by the presence of a united, strong and openly committed Europe employing the combined diplomatic skills and military resources of both the EU and NATO.

- States of concern: The U.S. presence in Iraq serves notice to those in the region who have been playing a double game with the West. Syria is now effectively surrounded with Israel to the west, Turkey to the north and a U.S.-leaning Iraq to the east. Iran is now flanked to the west and east by U.S.-leaning administrations in Baghdad and Kabul with Turkey to the north. It is thus harder for Tehran and Damascus to support Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad and their like and for Iran to pursue its dangerous nuclear program.

In spite of the belated efforts of the Saudi authorities, there are those in Saudi Arabia who threaten the West. So the U.S. presence in Iraq also reminds Riyadh that even greater efforts need to be made to stanch the flow of money and people from the kingdom into the coffers and ranks of al Qaeda and other extremist fundamentalist groups who do no justice to Islam. Syria and Iran are secretly engaged in a battle of wills with the U.S. on the ground in Iraq.

If the U.S. loses that battle, the ability of the West to influence such regimes will be badly weakened. Damascus and Tehran must be in absolutely no doubt about which side Europe takes.

- Economic development: Much of the hopelessness of the region stems from the appalling governance of elites content to reside in wealth while their peoples are mired in poverty. This must change but it is a vital interest to Europe to ensure such change does not trigger chaos and that the political transformation the Middle East must inevitably face is smooth. That will mean long-term aid and development together with a program for the construction of representative civil society and human security.

In short, the Middle East needs a new Marshall Plan or at the very least a controlled redistribution of the oil wealth that has for too long in the region benefited a few at the expense of the many. If Europe's much-vaunted "soft" approach to security is to mean anything then the EU must be in the vanguard of such engagement. Iraq should serve as a model for a new and constructive relationship between Arabs, Americans and Europeans and could, if managed properly, help put an end to centuries of mutual mistrust.

If handled badly it could simply add another layer of perceived Arab grievance. Like it or not, Europe's proximity and its past and present relationship with the Arab world will force it to play a greater role not just in the transformation of Iraq but that of the wider Middle East. There can be no security for Europeans by trying to somehow define themselves differently from the U.S. in an Arab mind for whom Europeans and Americans are one.

- Representation for the Arab people: It is a myth that the Arab world is unsuited to representative government. Under benign guidance, Iraq could become a beacon for the rest of the region. It will take time, effort and money. But having already gone to such effort to liberate the people of Iraq from a cruel dictatorship, it's now incumbent upon the victorious allies to give the Iraqi people the natural dignity of effective services and the political dignity of representation and control over their own affairs.

Europe has a wealth of experience in both reconstruction and democratization. Indeed, it is the story of much of Europe that since 1945 has been progressively transformed from dictatorship to democracy. This experience should give Europeans a leading role in bringing a culturally appropriate form of democracy to an area too vital to Europe's security interest for Europeans to ignore. The current situation is simply untenable. The Middle East must either transform or collapse.

- Oil: Middle Eastern oil is the life-blood of Western economies and is at least as important to Europe as to America. Oil, therefore, is a fundamental vital interest for Europeans and yet Europe is wholly dependent upon the U.S. for its protection.

At the very least, Europeans and Americans working alongside to rebuild Iraq's oil infrastructure sends a justified message that the West intends to protect its interests and is prepared to go to some lengths to do so. Europeans and Americans must make it abundantly clear that they are there to ensure the flow of Iraq's oil, not to steal its riches. Oil income must and will rightfully accrue to the Iraqi people. At the same time the West must never permit itself to be held hostage by Middle Eastern oil as it was in the 1970s.

- Deterrence: The U.S. went to war to lay to rest once and for all the myth that it is a weak hyperpower unable to take casualties in pursuit of its legitimate national security. First and foremost the war was an act of deterrence designed to send a strong signal to friend and foe alike about America's determination to act.

On the other hand, Europe has appeared weak and divided, encouraging those who are enemies of all Western democrats. Therefore, what happens over the next year in Iraq will decide the fate of this new deterrence and the extent of the West's influence over the Middle East.

If the U.S. succeeds then the credibility of America and the broader West will have been immeasurably strengthened in the minds of those inimical to both. If the U.S. fails then those who killed thousands of Europeans and Americans on 9/11 will have been tragically emboldened.

Here's the true price of failure. America and Europe will be effectively shut out of the Middle East. In their absence the chance of instability and chaos in Europe's backyard will increase dangerously. In such circumstances Europe will be confronted by a Middle East in which ever-more instable and dangerous regimes and groups will likely gain control over ever more destructive weapons.

It is a moment in history that the Americans call the tipping point. Europe as a whole must realize that. So a little less Shadenfreude and a little more realism is in order.

Mr. Lindley-French is a member of the faculty at the Geneva Center for Security Policy. This is a personal comment and does not necessarily reflect the views of the center.

http://iranvajahan.net/cgi-bin/news.pl?l=en&y=2003&m=08&d=21&a=4

Latvia Seizes Illicit Arms Shipment Bound for Iran

August 21, 2003
Reuters
MSNBC News

RIGA -- Latvian police and customs officers have seized 28 tonnes of military hardware labelled as farm machinery and ready to be smuggled to Iran, the security police said on Thursday.

The $500,000 shipment contained spare parts for tanks, night-vision instruments and armament parts, including anti-aircraft systems, a police official said, adding military experts were still investigating the contents of the shipment.

''After receiving information about the cargo, security police in cooperation with customs seized the cargo bound for Tehran in Iran,'' Assistant Security Police Chief Kristine Apse told Reuters.

''It was then discovered that the cargo consisted of goods for military purposes,'' she said.

Iran, branded part of an ''axis of evil'' by President George W. Bush, is subject to tough U.S. sanctions preventing the export of arms and spares for its forces. Washington also strongly discourages friendly nations from selling arms to Iran.

Apse said military experts believe the cargo was equipment earlier used by Russia that was still in working order and sent to Latvia by a Russian company.

Russia has been Iran's biggest arms supplier since the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the U.S.-backed shah.

Apse said the cargo was more likely to be destined for guerrilla organisations rather Iran's regular military forces.

The United States accuses Tehran of arming and training militant Islamic groups across the Middle East. Iran strongly denies the charges and insists it offers only moral support.

Apse said the U.S. embassy in Riga had contacted the security police and offered assistance in the investigation.

She said Latvian authorities had not yet contacted their Russian counterparts and that no arrests had yet been made.

''There is also a Latvian company involved,'' she said, adding that several offshore companies were part of the illicit weapons transaction, but declined to elaborate further.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters08-21-041808.asp?reg=EUROPE

Cuba Blows the Whistle on Iranian Jamming

August 21, 2003
Asia Times
Safa Haeri

The Islamic Republic of Iran might lose one of its very few friends in the world, Cuba, which, according to American officials, has officially informed them that the Iranian embassy in Havana was the source of jamming programs send out by US-based Iranian radio and television stations aimed at mainland Iran.

The jamming related to Telestar-12, a commercial communications satellite orbiting at 15 degrees west, 22,000 miles above the Atlantic, which carries programs by the American government as well as by Iranian radio and television stations based in the US aimed at mainland Iran. The interference began on July 16, coinciding with the start of a new wave of pro-democracy protests led by Iranian students in Tehran against the country's clerical leaders.

At first, it was believed that the Cuban government, acting on demands from Iran's ayatollahs, was jamming the US government and private Persian-language radio and TV broadcasts into Iran, as the stations, based mostly in Los Angeles, had attracted an impressive popularity within Iran.

Satellite-broadcasting experts said at the time that since Tehran could not jam the Telstar-12, due to its stationary position, it made the request for friendly Cuba to do it instead.

But on Wednesday a spokeswoman for the US State Department said that Havana had informed them that the jamming was made by the Iranians in Cuba, using a compound in a suburb of the capital belonging to the Iranian embassy.

According to a source, the Cubans have now shut down the facility and presented a protest note to the Iranian government in Tehran, and the jamming stopped earlier this month. "Cuba informed us on August 3 that they had located the source of the interference and had taken action to stop it," Jo-Anne Prokopowicz of the State Department said.

"The government of Cuba informed us that the interference was coming from an Iranian diplomatic facility," she said, adding, "We will be following this up with Iran."

After denying that it was responsible for the jamming but pledging to investigate the US complaints in mid-July, Cuba told the US that it had found the source and that it had acted to stop it, she said.

The news surprised many Iranian observers, doubting Cuban leader Fidel Castro's "innocence" in the affair. "Being a fully police state, it is difficult to believe that the Iranians had introduced the sophisticated jamming equipment into Cuba without the knowledge of the Cuban authorities," Dr Shahin Fatemi, a veteran Iranian political analyst, told The Asia Times Online.

Noting that both Iran and the Marxist regime of Cuba shared the "same mutual hate" towards Washington, Fatemi, who teaches international economics at the American University of Paris, added, however, that if the information is correct, then it must be welcomed by all Iranians opposed to the present theocracy.

In his view, the Cuban decision could also be viewed as a signal from Castro to the Bush administration, which has labelled Iran as a part of an "axis of evil" along with North Korea and Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

According to Alireza Meybodi, a popular radio broadcaster at Radio Yaran in Los Angeles, Iranian authorities gave in the past jammed foreign broadcasts locally (in Iran) with mobile equipment bought from Russia, while using more sophisticated means installed in Cuba as well.

"This is quite obvious when we announce some of our programs beforehand, like one very recently concerning an interview with Hojjatoleslam Hoseyn Khomeini, the grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, which was filled with locally-produced parasite [interference]," he indicated, adding that most of the foreign-based radio and television stations could be seen normally outside the capital Tehran.

About a dozen of Persian-language television and radio stations, run by Iranians opposed to the present Iranian regime, are beamed towards Iran, where a majority of the 70 million inhabitants is made of men and women under the age of 30, thirsty for modern entertainment programs - and news.

Though the regime has banned satellite dishes, it is estimated that more than 2 million households, using small and easily concealed equipment, receive the programs.

At the time of last month's student protests, Iran said that the US broadcasts into the country were interference in its internal affairs, and accused the US-based Iranian opposition of inflaming the unrest.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EH22Ak03.html

Cuba Blows the Whistle on Iranian Jamming

August 21, 2003
Asia Times
Safa Haeri

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/967715/posts?page=45#45

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”

Jihadis View Iraq as the Place to Slay the Great Satan

August 20, 2003
Los Angeles Times
Avigdor Haselkorn

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/967715/posts?page=47#47

"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail me”

Thanks.

Yes. They certainly seem to want to police themselves and have a much greater say in local and state affairs. I can understand that it's not a quick process selecting new "recruits" and weeding out the "bad" from the "good".
That's where the people themselves know best who can be trusted. And they will weed out the "bad elements" for their own safety and protection.

(nice to see you)

Weapons, Allegedly Destined for Iran, Seized in Latvia
Lisa McAdams
Moscow
21 Aug 2003, 16:32 UTC

Security police and customs officials in the Latvian capital, Riga, have seized what was described as a sizable illegal shipment of weapons reportedly bound for Iran. Experts say the aging gear was likely bound for terrorist groups for the purpose of updating and repairing existing equipment.

Latvian police say the shipment, disguised as farm products, actually contained night vision goggles, spare parts for armored vehicles and anti-aircraft systems.

According to the police, the illegal cargo seized at Riga's airport weighs in at 28 tons and has an estimated value of $315,000. Authorities believe the shipment came from Russia and was destined for Iran.

No one has been detained in connection with the incident, which is under investigation.

Officials said the shipment attracted police attention because it did not include proper licenses authorizing export, and it failed to clarify the origin of the goods.

Authorities are investigating the possibility that the cargo was shipped by several offshore companies.

A police spokeswoman says authorities do not believe the cargo was meant to be used by the Iranian army, as the equipment was very old. But the spokeswoman says experts say the Russian military hardware could very well have been used to update or repair existing equipment belonging to terrorist organizations in Iran.

Iran is subject to U.S. sanctions preventing the export of arms and spare parts for its forces, having been declared part of an axis of evil by President Bush.

The United States accuses Tehran of arming and training militant Islamic groups across the Middle East, a charge Iran strongly denies.

Russia has been Iran's biggest arms supplies ever since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=20B0CFBB-A945-44D1-80E4D167216B4C06

"Indeed, those who see peace between Israel and Palestine as the most urgent issue in the region should be the most vigorous in supporting democratic revolution in Syria and Iran, since it is clear that a good deal of Palestinian terrorism has been organised by the mullahcracy in Teheran, and the terrorists have trained in Syrian-occupied Lebanon."

Good point.
Another great Ledeen article.

"Reports are stating about the rape of Zahra Kazemi, the killed Canadian-Iranian journalist, by the Islamic regime's interrogators while she was in detention. Same reports are stating about the injection of chemical substances to her dead body in order to increase the decomposition cycle following her illegal burial which was made despite the formal objection of her relatives."
"...she will return the slap in the face made by the infamous Judge Mortazavi known as the "Butcher of the Press".

THAT'S why they wanted her buried so fast and refused to allow her son to bury her in Canada.
I hope they've finally exposed Mortazavi and he hangs for this.

"The news surprised many Iranian observers, doubting Cuban leader Fidel Castro's "innocence" in the affair. "Being a fully police state, it is difficult to believe that the Iranians had introduced the sophisticated jamming equipment into Cuba without the knowledge of the Cuban authorities,"

Gotta go along with the doubters on this one.

Iran's Security Concerns, Attack On The UN Mission In Baghdad, Jerusalem Bus Bombing

August 21, 2003
Radio Free Europe
Khatya Chhor

Prague -- Media coverage today in some of the major dailies takes a look at why seeking nuclear status is in Iran's national interests, the falling political fortunes of the Kremlin-backed administrator in Chechnya, and this week's fatal bomb attacks at UN headquarters in Iraq and a crowded bus in Jerusalem.

EURASIA REVIEW:

A contribution to "Eurasia View" from Erich Marquardt says with the removal of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the occupation of the country by U.S. and international forces, Iran now faces a possible threat on its eastern flank. The collapse of the Ba'athist regime in Baghdad, while in no way mourned by Tehran's leadership, has opened up another U.S. military-dominated front to the West. "If U.S. objectives are realized in Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran's current leadership will face a perilous future of being enveloped by unfriendly states, beholden to U.S. interests."

The current U.S. administration, under President George W. Bush, is "abnormally antagonistic" to Tehran, says Marquardt. Iran is well aware it is considered part of Bush's "axis of evil," along with North Korea and Iraq.

Marquardt says, "It is for these security concerns that the Iranian state would want to develop and acquire nuclear weapons." But "like all nuclear-armed states," Iran would likely "use its nuclear capability as a deterrent and not as an offensive weapon." Becoming a nuclear power "would increase Iran's foreign policy leverage" in dealing with the United States, Israel, "and whatever new governments may form in both Afghanistan and Iraq."

Thus, he says, "[It] is clear that developing nuclear weapons is in the national interests of Tehran." Nuclear status "would shield Iran from a variety of outside threats," including the United States and Israel but now also from new, U.S.-sanctioned governments in Kabul and Baghdad.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE:

The "Chicago Tribune" carries an item today by Kim Murphy, in which she discusses emerging signs that the Russian-backed candidate for October elections in Chechnya may lose at the polls. Akhmad Kadyrov, head of the Kremlin-supported Chechen administration, is key to Russia's plans "to install a stable new government and emerge from a war that increasingly shows little signs of political resolution."

But Murphy says, "Even if Kadyrov wins the popular vote with Kremlin intervention [the] former religious leader has become so unpopular in the republic that some Kremlin officials now believe his presidency would almost guarantee more violence and instability." She says Kadyrov's "brutal tactics and corrupt aides have prompted many in Chechnya to fear him more than the Russians."

In a sign of the Kremlin's concern over Kadyrov's political prospects in the breakaway republic, the current administration head has been offered a post outside Chechnya in the event he loses the election.

"Meanwhile, Kadyrov and the militiamen around him are increasingly blamed by the public for the kinds of thefts, attacks and kidnappings that have drawn criticism of Russian forces in Chechnya." Kadyrov, a former Muslim cleric, "has seen his popularity plunge" since being appointed by the Kremlin in 2000.

Even so, Murphy says most analysts believe Moscow "will in the end engineer a victory for Kadyrov, if for no other reason than the lack of [a political] alternative."

THE WASHINGTON POST:

Writing in "The Washington Post," Richard Cohen discusses the different motives behind this week's two fatal bombings, one at UN headquarters in Iraq, followed a few hours later by another on a Jerusalem bus. Cohen says although the UN is an independent nongovernmental organization, its mission in Baghdad was "inevitably [helping] to do the work of the United States."

America is seeking, thus far unsuccessfully, to restore basic necessities and functionality across Iraq. And Cohen says "Anyone who aids in that effort is going to be seen [as] doing the dirty work of the West."

He goes on to say that, as far as the chaos in Iraq is concerned, the U.S. administration "is paying the price of an administration that was far too cocky for its own good." Washington mistakenly believed that Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq "could be decapitated but that the body would continue to function. Instead, it collapsed."

Attacks on Israel are in a different category, Cohen says. Israel today "unmistakably squats on land that was once Palestinian -- never mind its international right to do so. [The] Palestinian grievance is real and continuing." Not all Palestinian suicide bombers are religious militants, he says. Some are "merely people who in their own way are saying they can't take it any longer."

The solution for Israel is to leave the occupied territories, build a security wall, "and wait for a new generation to accept [this] status quo." As for the U.S. mission in Iraq, basic services must be restored -- and then the running of them turned over to Iraqis.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE:

A "Chicago Tribune" editorial today says that symbolically the attack on the UN's Baghdad headquarters was "an affront to all of the UN's member nations, by forces whose goal is to so destabilize Iraq that all outsiders are driven away." But the best outcome of the attack "would be just the opposite" -- an increase in the number of nations that are willing to help remake and rebuild the country.

The paper says two philosophies at odds with one another are currently keeping greater international cooperation from taking place in Iraq. On one hand, the U.S. administration "has refused to yield" any control over attempts to establish peace to either other nations or to the UN. On the other, the governments of many countries have said they will only consider sending peacekeepers to Iraq in accordance with a UN mandate -- and "not as supporting actors in a mission led by U.S. and British commanders." As these two views fight it out, the paper says "the net effect is that the UN and many of its most important members remain on the sidelines."

But in the wake "of Tuesday's horrific bombing, the U.S. should no longer pretend that, almost alone, it can pacify Iraq. And the major European and other governments that hold great influence within the UN should accept more responsibility for curbing the murders and atrocities now occurring in Iraq." This "current [pall] cannot be allowed to continue."

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE:

An editorial in the "International Herald Tribune" says, "Terrorists aim not just at inflicting death and devastation. They also hope to poison the emotional and political climate around their targets." This week's bombing at UN headquarters in Iraq has already inflicted the devastation, the paper says. But it must not be allowed "to further [deepen] the psychological chasm between reconstruction efforts and Iraqi civilians."

The U.S. administration must soon "commit sufficient additional resources, and, if necessary, additional troops, to prevent that. Iraqis need to see that Washington has the will and the means to get their country back on its feet. U.S. soldiers cannot be left fearing so much for their own safety that they start treating all Iraqis as potential enemies."

The "IHT" says "Unrealistically optimistic assumptions have led the White House to severely underestimate troop and spending requirements and wrongly dismiss the need for more international help through the United Nations." Efforts to provide security for Iraqis, aid workers, and U.S. troops must be redoubled, but "without creating a bunker mentality that walls foreigners off from the Iraqi population."

Washington needs to "accelerate its efforts to restore vital services and normal economic life," and implore the UN "to maintain its presence, despite the bloodshed."

DIE WELT:

Jacques Schuster in "Die Welt" also discusses terrorist attacks in both Baghdad and Jerusalem this week.

Schuster says the attack in Baghdad outstrips all previous attacks in the country, and is the largest single assault experienced by the UN. The attack in Israel, for its part, is the first massive violation of the latest truce between Israelis and Palestinians.

He sees the underlying motive behind both attacks as "a call for the Americans to go home." However, Schuster says an American withdrawal from involvement in either situation is impossible because it would "create chaos in Iraq and lead to a renewed bloodbath between Israel and Palestine."

Schuster believes there is no other solution than for the U.S. to maintain its leading role. Washington alone wields sufficient power to both advance stability in Iraq and to settle the Mideast conflict.

NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG:

A commentary in the Swiss "Neue Zuercher Zeitung," on the other hand, puts its faith primarily in the UN. A central role for the UN in Iraq -- which many countries are demanding -- offers a chance to mediate a settlement between the conflicting interests of numerous actors. The United Nations offers a key opportunity -- and one that Washington should recognize -- to establish future Iraqi stability.

The paper sees a new pattern emerging from the attack on UN headquarters in Baghdad. There are various underlying motives for guerrilla attacks, it says, ranging from revenge for the death of a relative, to the defense of national independence and honor, down to an attempt to reinstate Hussein. But the "aim and manner of the attacks on the UN in Baghdad [indicate] a strategy that transcends all Iraqi nationalist resistance so far."

The commentary goes on to say the tactics and strategy underlying the UN attack and the one on the Jordanian Embassy two weeks ago points to a radical Islamic movement that is set on creating ideological confusion, general insecurity, and political chaos, which will allow it to ascend to political power. These militants are exploiting any public opposition to the U.S. occupation, to international mediators, or to independent aid organizations. The prevailing insecurity renders Iraq "an ideal battlefield for those of the Islamic faith throughout the world who hope to become martyrs in the fight against Americans."

LIBERATION:

Writing in France's "Liberation," Patrick Sabatier says the attack on the UN headquarters in Iraq had a double aim. First, the perpetrators sought to prove that Anglo-American occupation forces are incapable of opposing their "strategy of chaos." Secondly, they sought to frighten the international community out of helping Washington fulfill its aims in Iraq.

So the war continues, three months after the U.S. president declared major combat operations over on 1 May. Whether out of ignorance, arrogance, or a lack of preparation, the United States has missed its chance to conquer the "hearts and minds" of the Iraqi people by improving their quality of life after the fall of Hussein. The number of coalition soldiers is not sufficient to ensure security in a country almost the size of France, says Sabatier. And the U.S. budget cannot cover the immense costs of rebuilding the Iraqi infrastructure, not to mention the cost of the occupation.

But to abandon Iraq to civil war, another dictatorship, or chaos would be the worst of all, he says. The attacks of 11 September demonstrated the dangers inherent in failed or foundering states such as Afghanistan. An American defeat in Iraq would have grave consequences for the Middle East as well as the rest of the world. The best hope -- and even this comes with no guarantee of success, unfortunately -- would be a massive intervention by the international community, acting under a UN mandate.

(RFE/RL's Dora Slaba contributed to this report.)

http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2003/08/21082003155447.asp

In Iran, no Men Allowed at Women's Music Fest

August 22, 2003
The Christian Science Monitor
Rachel May

TEHRAN – Sultana Banu learned to sing as a child, working the fields with her family in lush northern Iran. But as her rough-edged voice rose and fell in homage to agricultural life Monday, her outfit was not work clothes, but a red tunic and full burgundy skirt. And her audience was not the livestock and seedlings of Golestan, but a thousand Tehrani women who clapped and whistled ecstatically for Ms. Banu and the other 65 female folk musicians at the First Music Festival of Iran's Regional Women.

The festival marks a continued expansion of artistic opportunities in Iran, where public music performances have long been controversial and where several genres are still banned. While musicians and fans welcome the new opportunities, many recognize the festival as little more than a nod to reform by hard-liners who still block real change.

The folk festival joins the Jasmine Festival, a folk-classical showcase that debuted in 1999, in celebrating Women's Day in Iran.Organizers say these concerts demonstrate an increasing concern for women's full participation in Iranian society.

"Women in our society are responsible for a great share of music-playing, but unfortunately their music has not received much attention," says Reza Mahdavi,head of the Hozeh Honari music center, which organized the folk festival. "This festival demonstrates the way women, while paying attention to their existing limitations, have preserved their culture and customs."

Such publicity was much needed this week after the Council of Guardians, the unelected body that vets new legislation, rejected a bill the reformist Majlis passed in July to make Iran a signatory on the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Council members claimed that CEDAW provisions run counter to the Iranian legal code, particularly in the area of family law, which is based on Islamic law, or sharia, and explicitly favors men.

Legal restrictions define many of the festival's boundaries. Women in Iran cannot sing solo before men; both festivals are for all-female audiences. The ban on men includes male sound technicians, who must vacate before the performance begins, no matter what technical glitches arise.

These restrictions, says Wendy DeBano, an American ethnomusicologist who studies Iran, cast doubt on the extent to which such festivals truly celebrate women, or are artistically satisfying.

"Women-only programs are more likely to be thought of as less serious," she says. "Whether that means less compensation for the musicians, timing the festivals early in the afternoon so that women with families can attend, or not securing adequate staffing."

One Iranian musician, who did not want to be named for fear of professional repercussions, agrees, saying the point of these festivals is not music at all. "It's all about publicity," the musician says. "In the US and Europe they say that Iranian women are under pressure, so they hold these festivals so they can say that Iranian women don't have any problems."

The streets of Tehran are testament to the ongoing struggle between many Iranian women and religious conservatives, who find themselves increasingly unable to enforce social restrictions. Young women in form-fitting manteaus (supposedly "Islamic" overcoats) pay little attention if their brightly colored scarves slide down their heads; they hold hands with boyfriends, and visit cyberdating sites at Internet cafes.

Tehran is a far cry from the years after the 1979 Islamic revolution, when popular and women's music were banned. Today, bootleg CDs of female pop singers blare from taxis.

But as hopes that President Mohammad Khatami could enact substantive reform have dimmed in recent years, public frustration, especially among the roughly 60 percent of Iranians under the age of 30, continues to provide incentive for hard-liners to try to present the government as flexible and responsive.

"[This kind of] festival is a safety valve," says Ms. DeBano. She points out that the Jasmine Festival, organized by the Ministry of Islamic Culture and Guidance, even includes pop music this year. "At the same time, [it] simply is not enough."

Farzaneh Rasouli, who studies and teaches classical Iranian music, characterizes the marginalization of female musicians not as political, but as cultural. And she says that Iran is not the only country where a majority of professional musicians are male.

"[Women] need to have the courage to come forward and play," she says.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0822/p08s02-wome.html

UK Holds Iran Ex-Envoy Over Buenos Aires Jewish Bombing

August 21, 2003
Reuters
Gideon Long

LONDON -- Iran's former ambassador to Argentina was arrested by British police on Thursday in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center which killed 85 people, Scotland Yard said.

Hadi Soleimanpour, ambassador at the time of the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center, was arrested on an extradition warrant and would appear before London magistrates on Friday, the British police said in a statement.

Last week, a judge in Argentina issued an arrest warrant through Interpol for Soleimanpour, 47, and seven other Iranian officials in connection with the car bomb attack in which about 200 people were also injured.

Israel and Washington -- which has branded Iran part of an "axis of evil" states that sponsor terrorism -- have long said they suspected Iranian-backed Middle Eastern guerrillas were behind the attack. Iran has fiercely denied any involvement.

Police said Soleimanpour was arrested on a warrant alleging that "on or before July 7, 1994, (he) did conspire with other persons to murder persons at the (AMIA Center)."

He is believed to have been living in the northern English city of Durham since February last year, when he entered the country on a student visa to study at Durham University.

Iran withdrew its ambassador to Argentina after being implicated by the Argentine government shortly after the bombing, but Tehran still retains a mission in Buenos Aires.

There was no immediate reaction from Tehran to the arrest, but last week it condemned the Argentinian orders to arrest the eight Iranian officials as part of "international Zionism's plan to manipulate Argentina."

Argentina's 300,000-strong Jewish community is the biggest in Latin America and the seventh largest in the world. Two years before the AMIA attack, the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 29 people.

Marta Nercellas, the lawyer representing the AMIA center in Buenos Aires, said she was confident Britain would extradite Soleimanpour, who she believed did not have diplomatic immunity.

"He participated in a very concrete way in organizing the attack. The (Iranian) embassy in Argentina was used as the base from which they gathered intelligence information that had to do with the massacre," Nercellas told Argentine television.

"This is going to allow us to make progress in finding the international connection."

http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=3318547

UK Holds Iran Ex-Envoy Over Buenos Aires Jewish Bombing

August 21, 2003
Reuters
Gideon Long

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/967715/posts?page=56#56

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Iran Ex-envoy Held in Bomb Probe

August 21, 2003
BBC News
BBCi

A former Iranian ambassador to Argentina, wanted there in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural centre, has been arrested in the UK. The former ambassador, Hadi Soleimanpour, is due to appear in court in London on Friday.

Magistrates will decide whether to extradite him to Argentina to face charges of conspiracy arising from the attack, in which 85 people were killed.

The Argentine intelligence service has long believed Iran was behind the car bomb attack in Buenos Aires - a charge Iran has repeatedly denied.

Mr Soleimanpour was arrested in northern England, where he works as a research assistant at Durham University.

"This is extremely important because it is the first arrest in the international leads in this case, and starting from it we can make progress on how the attack was organised," Marta Nercellas, a lawyer for the Argentine Jewish Associations Federation, told reporters.

The extradition warrant was one of eight issued by an Argentine judge, Juan Jose Galeano, against Iranian citizens last week.

Similar warrants issued in March against four Iranian diplomats caused tension between Buenos Aires and Tehran, and resulted in the recall of the Iranian ambassador.

The community centre that was blown up was the main such centre for Jews in Argentina, which has the largest Jewish population in Latin America.

Last month, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner said the lack of progress in the case was a "national disgrace" and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3172209.stm

Major European companies Invest in Iran, Undeterred by Tensions

Bloomberg - European News
Aug 21, 2003

The Fifth Tehran International Auto Fair, a five-day event that closed July 5, drew companies such as Renault SA, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Mazda Motor Corp., DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz, Fiat SpA and Volkswagen AG.

Many foreign companies continue to invest in Iran even though U.S. President George W. Bush described the country as part of an ``Axis of Evil,'' along with Iraq and North Korea.

Some foreign investors, such as Japan, are delaying projects. Yet most of the about 200 companies present in Iran, such as Ericsson AB, the world's largest maker of mobile-phone equipment, and Alcatel SA, the second-biggest producer of telecommunications gear, are staying put though adopting a low profile. Others, like Statoil ASA, Norway's biggest oil company, and Technip SA, Europe's largest provider of oilfield services, state openly that they're in the country for the long term.

``When the political temperatures go up, companies take a low profile,'' said Siamak Namazi, managing director of Tehran-based Atieh Bahar Consulting, an adviser to companies such as BP Plc, HSBC Holdings Plc and Alcatel. ``But we haven't heard of any that have cut their investments.''

As the U.S. raises political pressure on Iran over a suspected nuclear-weapons program, student demonstrators have been calling for more democracy and for the supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei to give up his special powers. Many Iranians are unhappy with the slow pace of political change initiated by President Mohammad Khatami.

Abraham's Talks

U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham was in Europe last week and held separate discussions on Iran with Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst and Italian Industry Minister Antonio Marzano, a Department of Energy spokesman said. He declined to disclose details.

``They only talked about Iran in general terms,'' Dutch Economic Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Paula de Jonge said. ``The subject of investments didn't come up.'' Italian officials refused to comment.

``Iran is one of the most resource-rich countries in the world but its political risk is among the highest of any rated sovereign nation,'' said James McCormack, a senior analyst at ratings company Fitch, which rates Iran's foreign debt as B+, on par with Romania and one notch below Azerbaijan.

After years of shunning Western investments, Iran is now actively seeking funds from abroad. In the five-year plan covering 2000-2004, the government is seeking $4.5 billion to $5 billion in direct foreign investment.

VW Project

VW, Europe's biggest automaker, sent its regional manager, Peter Poersch, to Tehran. Kerman Car Manufacturing, Iran's No. 3 car company, said at the fair that it signed a preliminary agreement with VW to produce four models in Iran, according to Iranian state news service IRNA.

If the accord goes ahead, the first model would come off assembly lines in the third quarter of next year with a goal of eventually producing some 200,000 units. Iran has plans to produce 600,000 cars by 2004, primarily to meet domestic demand.

``Nothing has been decided up to now,'' VW spokesman Hans Peter Brechinger said.

Iran has the fifth-largest proven oil reserves, holding about 90 billion barrels, or about 9 percent of the world total. It holds the world's second-largest reserves of natural gas, surpassed only by Russia.

Since 1995, the U.S. has tried to put an economic noose around Iran and slow the development of its energy potential. Then- President Bill Clinton banned U.S. companies and their foreign subsidiaries from conducting business with Iran.

Sanctions

The following year, under the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, the U.S. imposed mandatory and discretionary sanctions on non-U.S. companies investing more than $20 million annually in the Iranian oil and natural-gas sectors.

In the post-Iraq War period, Bush has renewed calls for tough sanctions because of Iran's alleged nuclear plans.

``The international community must come together to make it very clear to Iran that we will not tolerate the construction of nuclear weapons,'' Bush said in June after the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that the country didn't properly report some of its activities as required by the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty. ``Iran would be dangerous if they have a nuclear weapon.''

Low Profile

Iran has denied that it is developing nuclear weapons and says the program is designed to generate electric power to spur the economy. The country has an 18 percent unemployment rate and inflation is 25 percent.

Keeping a low profile is the best strategy for companies dealing with Iran, says Patrick Clawson, deputy director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. ``When companies ask my advice, I've had to tell them candidly that so long as they can keep the investments off the front pages of the newspapers, it's likely that the United States government will do very little,'' he said.

Case in point: General Electric Co. and Halliburton Co. are coming under pressure from pension funds such as those for New York City's police and firefighters that have more than $205 million of investments in GE and $18 million in Halliburton.

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., has submitted shareholder resolutions calling for board committees to examine risks posed to the companies by dealings in Iran and Syria. California Public Employees' Retirement System, the U.S.'s largest public retirement fund, has asked Congress and administration officials to identify companies that might unwittingly support terrorism.

`Clear Guidance'

General Electric, the biggest maker of medical-imaging machines and power-generation equipment, is active in Iran through its Canadian subsidiary, while Halliburton, based in Houston, has an office in Iran opened in 2000 by a Cayman Islands subsidiary, Halliburton Products & Services Ltd.

``As we said in our proxy this year, U.S. law, regulation and policy contemplate that U.S. companies will do business in Iran and elsewhere through foreign subsidiaries and provide clear guidance on how those activities are to be conducted,'' said GE spokesman Gary Sheffer.

Some companies are reacting. In May, ThyssenKrupp AG, Germany's largest steelmaker, paid 406 million euros ($473 million) or three times the market price for shares in the company that were owned by Iran to avoid potential U.S. economic penalties. The move reduces Iran's stake in ThyssenKrupp to 4.4 percent from 7.79 percent.

Japanese Retreat

Japan's government was close to an agreement to invest $2.5 billion to develop Iran's biggest oil discovery in 35 years before getting cold feet after the U.S. opposed the investment.

``This would be a particularly unfortunate time to go forward with major new oil and gas deals,'' State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said July 1, in a statement in Washington.

That prompted the Japanese to delay the agreement. ``Suspicion about Iran's nuclear development is not an issue affecting only our country,'' Yasuo Fukuda, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, told reporters in Tokyo last month.

``The U.S. has done its best to prevent the Iranian economy from growing,'' said Tahmasb Mazaheri, Iran's minister of economic affairs and finance who was in London to attend a conference in June as the U.S. put pressure on Japan.

Energy

Still, the Japan incident was a rare victory for the U.S., which since 1998 has seen European and Asian companies such as Eni SpA and Total SA disregard its call for sanctions. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 1998 granted a waiver to Total and partners OAO Gazprom and Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Berhad when it became apparent they planned to bypass the U.S. sanctions to help develop the South Pars natural-gas field. Other European and Asian companies have since asked for, and received, waivers.

``Over 200 publicly traded companies are doing business in Iran,'' said Roger Robinson, chief executive of Conflict Securities Advisory Group, based in Washington, which provides research reports on companies dealing with potentially hostile regimes. ``The bulk of them are in energy.''

In testimony to a subcommittee of the U.S. House International Relations Committee in June, Robinson said 41 companies have invested more than $20 million each in Iranian energy projects.

Jobs

Around 80 percent of Iran's total export earnings and as much as half of the government budget is based on oil exports. Still despite the high oil revenues Iran needs to attract investment in areas other than energy to ease the high unemployment, said Fitch's McCormack,

``The oil industry creates foreign currency but doesn't create jobs,'' McCormack said.

Total of France in 1995 became the first foreign company to sign a petroleum development agreement with Iran since the Islamic Revolution 16 years earlier. Two years later it signed another contract for South Pars, the Persian Gulf's biggest gas field, which holds about 6 percent of the world's supply. Total executives declined to comment.

Royal Dutch/Shell Group, the biggest gasoline retailer in the U.S., won a contract in 1999 to develop the Soroosh-Nowruz offshore oilfields, pledging to invest $800 million.

`Long-Term Strategy'

Italy's Eni, Statoil and Russia's Gazprom are also developing oil and gas fields. Statoil is seeking to boost its $300 million investment in Iran.

``We will continue to monitor the political situation closely, but our long-term strategy is to increase our business in the country,'' said Inge Hansen, Statoil's chief financial officer.

``Iran is keen to make more deals and the oil companies are interested to put more money in,'' said Caroline Cook, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG and one of the authors of a report on Iran. ``The American oil companies are the ones losing out.''

BP, Europe's second-biggest oil company, is negotiating to develop the Bangestan fields, which hold more than a billion barrels of oil.

Still, BP, the largest natural-gas producer in the U.S., is eager not to antagonize the U.S., says Cook.

With good reason. A subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee in June asked a panel of experts how the U.S. could bolster the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act and stop granting waivers to European and Asian companies.

Risks

``Taking risks is a price of doing business in the Middle East,'' said Sylvie Hallemans, spokeswoman for Technip, Europe's top provider of oilfield services.

Technip, which has been trading with Iran for 25 years, is building the largest ethylene plant, with an output of 1.4 million tons a year, at a cost of 300 million euros.

If the financing is there, Technip said it has no problems providing engineering services in Iran.

``We are not very nervous people. About 70 percent of our work is outside of the quiet regions of Europe and America,'' Hallemans said. ``We know how to handle risk, otherwise we'd be nervous every day.''

http://www.daneshjoo.org/generalnews/article/publish/article_1874.shtml

Major European companies Invest in Iran, Undeterred by Tensions

Bloomberg - European News
Aug 21, 2003

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/967715/posts?page=59#59

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