***Operation Infinite Freedom - Situation Room

***On the Iranian Front***

Khamenei Calls For Restraint Against Protestors

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is urging hard-line vigilantes not to intervene after two nights of protests against the country's unelected Muslim clerical regime.
Ayatollah Khamenei, in a speech broadcast on state television Thursday, called on the vigilantes to refrain from being drawn into any conflict with the demonstrators. Thousands of Iranians turned out late Wednesday in Tehran for a second straight night of protests against the regime.
The demonstrators converged at or near Tehran University, the area where similar protests were held Tuesday night. Protesters shouted slogans against Iran's clerical regime and, in a rare twist, some also called on Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to resign, saying he has not introduced enough reforms.
There were reports of clashes between protesters and vigilantes and riot police, who dispersed the crowd early Thursday. Several demonstrators were reported injured. There were no immediate reports of arrests. During protests the previous night, authorities say police arrested 80 people.

NATO to Slash Bases in Global Security Role Drive

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO agreed on Thursday to a 40 percent reduction of its military bases as part of a drive to revamp the Cold War alliance for new security threats worldwide.
Officials said defense ministers of the 19-nation alliance rallied behind the command structure overhaul, which had at one stage appeared to be in jeopardy as Mediterranean rim countries haggled over the carve-up of bases.
The streamlining of NATO's cumbersome command structure, little changed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, was launched at the alliance's summit in Prague last November.
Along with a drive to improve military capabilities and build a rapid response force, it is part of a program to make NATO relevant amid new global challenges arising from failed states, terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
The aim is to move away from the static military posture of the Cold War and enable NATO to do what it could not do after the September 11, 2001, attacks on America: strike quickly and hard when an ally is attacked by a distant foe.
"This is a new NATO...a NATO able to meet its commitments when times get tough," Secretary-General George Robertson told the ministers at NATO's Brussels headquarters.
Sitting in with the 19 were, for the first time, defense ministers from the seven eastern European countries which have been invited to join the alliance next year.

A Hamas leader stopped an interview because he was afraid he was being targeted for elimination**

In a step that shows the uneasiness that is holding the leaders of Hamas that their lives will be targeted by Israel, one of the leaders of the movement interrupted an inteview with the tv station "Al Jazeera," that was taking place live, because he through he was going to be a targeted for hitting.
The leader, Ismaeel Heniya, interviewed from Gaza close to the hour 12:00, and was asked in the beginning of the interview about the possibility that Israel will harm the leader of the Hamas, Shieh Ahmad Yassin. Heniya underlined in his answer that "these threats do not scare the Hamas and the Palestinian people, because the occupation has used every thing it has in the conflict with the intifada and the resistance."
The leader continued, that the Palestinian people will continue in its way of the intifada. During this moment, during the time Heniya was answering the first question in the interview he said "I have to interrupt this interview now because I hear helicopters," and disconnected.

***Congolese News***

France says size of EU-led Congo force fixed
PARIS, June 12 — France said on Thursday that an EU-led force being sent to end bloody clashes in the Democratic Republic of Congo would number between 1,400 to 1,500 personnel, of which it would supply the bulk.
A French defence ministry spokesman said other participating countries would make separate announcements on the size of their participation within the next 48 hours.
''The force will be of the order of 1,400 to 1,500 in total,'' army spokesman Colonel Christian Baptiste told a news briefing in Paris after a two-day meeting about the force involving military representatives of EU countries and others.

Bali Bombing Suspect Confesses to 3 Other Bombings

AP

Amrozi bin Nurhasyim

In Indonesia, an Islamic militant on trial for his alleged role in the last year's Bali bombing has confessed to his part in three other bomb attacks. Police say Amrozi bin Nurhasyim is a member of a regional militant group suspected of having links to al-Qaida. Amrozi bin Nurhasyim told a court in Bali Thursday that his terrorist activities date back to 2000 - when he first began to buy explosives and manufacture bombs. That year he bought the materials used to make a bomb that was detonated at a church, killing two people. He also confessed to playing a part in a bombing in 2001 in a Jakarta shopping center that injured five.
Mr. Amrozi admitted to buying the explosives used in an attack on the Philippines ambassador, Leonides Caday, in 2000. The blast at the ambassador's residence in Jakarta killed two people and injured at least 20 others - including the ambassador. At the time, Indonesian authorities linked the blast to the political situation in the southern Philippines, where Islamic rebels have been fighting for a separate homeland.
Mr. Amrozi has confessed to helping plan the October 12 bombing in Bali that killed 202 people, most of them foreign tourists. At least 30 other people have been arrested in connection with the attack.
Mr. Amrozi told the court Thursday that violence was the only way to drive foreigners from Indonesia. He said Westerners were destroying the morals of the Indonesian people. Police say the bombers are part of Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional militant group that Washington accuses of having links to the al-Qaida terrorist network. JI, as the group is known, seeks to build an Islamic state spanning much of Southeast Asia. Some JI suspects have said they attack Westerners because of what they say is the oppression of Muslims in the Philippines, Kashmir, Afghanistan, parts of Indonesia and other conflict zones. Police say Mr. Amrozi confessed to buying the chemicals and the van used to make the car bomb in Bali. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

U.S. attack helicopter shot down in western Iraq, military says.

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) A U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter was shot down Thursday in western Iraq, apparently by hostile fire, a military statement said. It was the first military aircraft downed by ground fire since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime two months ago.
The helicopter's two crew members were not injured and were rescued almost immediately as coalition troops secured the crash site, according to a statement by the U.S. Central Command.
Two additional Apache helicopters assisted in engaging irregular forces in the vicinity of the downed aircraft, the military statement said. All helicopters involved belong to the 101st Airborne Division.

Sharon, Hamas Exchange Harsh Rhetoric

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon swore on Thursday to hunt Palestinian militants "to the bitter end" in response to violence that has killed 28 Israelis and Palestinians in less than a day. The Islamic militant group Hamas issued a new threat, saying it has ordered "all military cells" to take immediate action and carry out more attacks on Israelis.
Also on Thursday, four explosions were heard in Gaza City, and white smoke rose into the sky, witnesses said. The cause of the blasts was not immediately known. However, Israel has unleashed two rocket attacks on Hamas targets in the city in the past 24 hours.
Hamas, meanwhile, urged foreigners to leave Israel and the Palestinian areas for their own safety. More than 100 people have been hurt in the violence.
In a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Sharon dismissed Palestinian leaders as "crybabies" for saying they can't use force against the militias, according to a Cabinet official briefing reporters.
Israel said it will not stand by until Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas — described by Sharon as a "chick that hasn't grown its feathers yet" — persuades the armed groups to halt attacks.

Okay, so the economic news is looking up. Therefore, the Dems have to find a new tactic.

Dems Fight to Focus on Bush's Credibility

WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites), elected after casting Al Gore (news - web sites) as a serial exaggerator and borderline liar, is now being accused of stretching the truth about Iraq (news - web sites)'s weapons of mass destruction.

AP Photo

It is an irony that Democratic rivals would like to convert to a campaign issue — a broad attack on Bush's credibility.

But many party leaders fear the president may be immune to accusations that his rhetoric falls short of the facts, and not just on Iraq, but on education, tax cuts, trade, the environment, homeland security and other policies.

As a popular president with a Reaganesque reputation for delegating responsibility, Bush will get the benefit of the doubt from voters unless Democrats unite behind a sustained campaign to undermine his integrity, according to party strategists around the country and aides to Democratic presidential candidates.

Even if they make all the right political moves, Democrats concede that character attacks may not work as well on Bush as they did against Gore in 2000.

Hamas Calls for More Attacks on Israelis

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - In a new threat, the Islamic militant group Hamas said Thursday it has ordered "all military cells" to take immediate action and carry out more attacks on Israelis.
The group also urged foreigners to leave Israel for their own safety.
Hamas has threatened bloody revenge for Israel's attempt earlier this week to kill one of its leaders, Abdel Aziz Rantisi. The Hamas co-founder and pediatrician escaped with minor injuries from an Israeli helicopter missile strike.
On Wednesday, a Hamas bomber blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus, killing 16 people and wounding more than 70.
Hamas said in a statement Thursday that more attacks would follow.
The bus bombing "is the beginning of a new series of attacks and part of a bill the Zionists must pay," a Hamas statement said.
"We call upon all foreigners to evacuate the Zionist entity immediately in order to protect their lives," Hamas said. "We call on all military cells to act immediately and act like an earthquake (news - web sites) to blow up the Zionist entity and tear it to pieces."

Puh-leez, spare us.

U.N. Arms Inspector Blix May Write Book
UNITED NATIONS - Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said he might write a book about his search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Blix, who is retiring on June 30, said he has been approached by several interested publishers.
"I think documentation is important, and certainly getting the history straight is important," he told The Associated Press this week.
Blix said the Bush administration criticized him but applied no pressure as his teams searched for banned weapons.
On Wednesday, London's Guardian newspaper had quoted Blix as saying, "I have my detractors in Washington. There are bastards who spread things around, of course, who planted nasty things in the media."
Asked Wednesday whether he used the word to refer to the Bush administration, Blix replied: "No, no, absolutely not. I was talking about private individuals."

Iraqis Shop for Look Into Saddam's Life

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Men push toward the market stall, elbowing their way to the front and standing on their toes to see Ali Zowrayi's wares, behind-the-curtain glimpses of the fallen dictator who terrorized a nation.
Here on the streets of Iraq (news - web sites)'s capital, Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s home movies are now for sale on crudely copied and labeled videodiscs, along with family photographs and pictures of his notorious son Odai, a famously vain man with a penchant for cruelty.
"Dirty family! See the dirty family!" Zowrayi calls out, clutching cash in one hand and videodiscs in another.
It's an irrestible sales pitch. Finally freed of Saddam, the people of Iraq are hungry for the raw, uncensored truth about their former leader and his family.
"People want to see the truth about Saddam," Zowrayi said at the Souk Bab al-Sharji, a poor-man's market that sells everything from tennis shoes to bathroom faucets, much of it stolen.
"Saddam always talked about his faith and what he was doing for the country, but the reality was different," he said.
Zowrayi says he sells 500 of the discs every day for about $1 apiece, earning a small fortune by Baghdad standards.

As Baghdad Fell, 'Chemical Ali' Joked in Hospital

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s feared aide Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali," joked and flirted in a Baghdad hospital as the capital fell before making his escape, hospital officials said on Thursday.
U.S. forces bombed Majid's home on April 5 in the southern city of Basra during the war to oust Saddam Hussein, and British and American officials expressed confidence at the time that he had been killed.
U.S. defense officials said this month Majid, a cousin of Saddam, might still be alive. Majid is listed as Number 5 on the U.S. list of 55 most wanted Iraqis.
Officials at the Nursing Home Hospital said the emergency room, busy throughout the war, looked even more crowded around midnight on April 9, the day Baghdad fell.
"I was awakened at night and told that there was someone in the emergency room. I walked there and looked up and there was Ali Hassan al-Majid sitting on a stretcher next to two bodyguards," the hospital's former director, Abdel Aziz al-Bayaa, told Reuters.
"They (the bodyguards) both had shrapnel wounds. One was slightly wounded and the other had a serious injury."

French-Led Force to Tackle Tip of Congo's War

BUNIA, Congo (Reuters) - Most days in the east Congo town of Bunia, Red Cross workers pick up their shovels and go to bury the latest corpses in a grassy verge by the side of the road.
They are victims of a war in Congo that rights groups say has killed more civilians than any other since World War II, mostly through war-related hunger or disease. When the verge is full, the diggers will have to find new graves.
Now help is on the way from a French-led multinational force, mandated to protect civilians from clashes between the Lendu and Hema tribes in Bunia. But aid workers say that if there is to be lasting peace in Congo, a much bigger, stronger peacekeeping effort is needed.
<--snip--->
But there are many questions about what the new temporary force can achieve, limited as it is to Bunia town. Even if it secures Bunia, what will be done about the fighting in the outlying countryside? And what happens when they leave?

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