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Former Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat ordered millions of dollars, taken from international aid funds, tax money transferred by Israel and from Arab countries, to be used to purchase weapons and ammunition, it was revealed on Wednesday These weapons were then provided to Palestinian terrorists from the Tanzim and al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades. The information came from the interrogation of Fuad Shubaki, the Palestinian official who was arrested by the IDF two months ago in a raid on the Jericho prison where he was held together with the assassins of former tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi. Prior to his imprisonment, Shubaki...

US restores aid to Palestinian hospitals By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem (Filed: 17/05/2006) America has reversed its ban on delivering medical supplies to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, which has caused severe shortages in public hospitals. The State Department was forced into a policy U-turn after weeks of adverse publicity, with Palestinian hospitals forced to cut back on dialysis due to shortages of equipment and supplies. The Daily Telegraph was the first to report that America had suspended its multi-million-pound supply programme to Palestinian public hospitals three months ago. Four kidney dialysis patients were reported to have died in Gaza because...

Abbas warns of 'explosion of anger' if Palestinian aid not restored By News Agencies Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas warned Tuesday of a Palestinian "explosion of anger" if international donors did not move fast to restore aid cut off in recent weeks. "Life will be frozen and there will be an explosion of anger and this would lead to a chaotic situation of which we cannot forsee the results," Abbas told a news conference after a speech to the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg. "I would like to adopt the mechanism as quickly as possible so the...

AL QA’IM, Iraq (May 15, 2006) -- A 28-year-old Iraqi woman has told Marines and sailors in region of western Al Anbar Province that all she wants is to be able to walk again. The woman from Karabilah, Iraq, is missing both of her legs. But the Marines of the 3rd Civil Affairs Group – a U.S. military unit responsible for assisting Iraqi communities with rebuilding local government infrastructure, commerce and economies – are doing something about it. They’re jumpstarting the lengthy process of finding aid for the woman, who lost both of her legs during combat operations conducted by...

WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR A U.S. PRESIDENT, WHETHER HE BE A DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN, GIVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH AT A TIME LIKE THIS? My Fellow Americans: As you all know, the defeat of Iraq regime has been completed. Since congress does not want to spend any more money on this war, our mission in Iraq is complete. This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq. This action will be complete within 30 days. It is now time to begin the reckoning. Before me, I have...

5/8/2006 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- To say the staff at Balad’s Air Force Theater Hospital has seen everything may be an understatement. The doctors, nurses and medics here, some from McChord Air Force Base and Madigan Army Medical Center in the state of Washington, save the lives of servicemembers who are wounded while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. From injured Soldiers rushed in by helicopter to wounded insurgents, the patients they see run the gamut. The patients are Iraqi police, military, civilians and insurgents, in-country nationals, coalition civilians and military, American civilians and, of course, American servicemembers. “We...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service, May 5, 2006) – Members of Hillah Special Weapons and Tactics team and a U.S. Special Forces Medic saved the life of a four-year-old Sunni boy during an operation south of Baghdad on April 29. The Hillah SWAT was operating in the Yusafiyah area south of Baghdad as part of a larger operation meant to capture suspect terrorists in the city of Hillah. During a sweep through one of the houses, U.S. Army Special Forces advisers accompanying Hillah SWAT team members noticed a boy who was lethargic and looked ill. Upon seeing the young boy,...

EU ready to release Palestinian aid package Document Actions 05/05/2006 The European Commission said Friday that it was ready to offer 34 million euros (43 million dollars) in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, whose government is on the verge of bankruptcy. Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel will make the offer to the EU's 25-member states "in the next few days", his spokesman said, adding that the new money would be used for food aid, sanitation, water and health projects. The European Union is the biggest donor to the Palestinians, many of whom live in poverty, but it suspended direct...

The Global Education Conference held at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. last month was used to teach educators how to bring global issues into the classroom. But, when it came time to practice the logistics of coordinating a debate the political opinions of the teachers could not be suppressed. The organization that put together the conference, Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), claimed to be a non-partisan group established to “educate and engage Americans in global issues….[in order to] create a generation of Americans that will support a U.S. role in the world that is appropriate….” But what is appropriate? AID...

AdvertisementTHE suffering of at least 2 million refugees in Sudan's Darfur region - where a brutal ethnic and political conflict has raged since 2003 - has worsened with the announcement that the United Nations will halve their food rations because of a severe lack of funding, especially from the wealthy nations of Europe and the Middle East. "This is going to become genocide by famine," said Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish Relief Services, which is a leader of efforts in the United States to increase aid to victims in Darfur. The UN's World Food Program announced on Friday it...

What horrors will be visited on Darfur next? On Friday the United Nations' food agency said it was being forced to cut rations to the more than 3 million people in this war-ravaged western region of the Sudan who rely daily on the cereals, the oil and the legumes from the U.N.'s World Food Program. Starting next week, the rations will drop by half from 2,100 calories a person to 1,050. That's less than half the daily amount required for a sedentary man of average weight. The U.N. had to cut its food supplies both because it is so difficult...

Two million Darfur refugees face food ration cut as aid cash runs out By David Blair, Africa Correspondent (Filed: 29/04/2006) The suffering of at least two million refugees in Darfur worsened still further yesterday when the United Nations said their food rations will be halved. The UN's World Food Programme explained that a 50 per cent cut was necessary because donors had failed to provide enough money. Over two million refugees in Darfur depend on the WFP "This is one of the hardest decisions I have ever made," said James Morris, director of the WFP. "Haven't the people of Darfur...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, April 20, 2006 – While the fight against enemy insurgents continues, Iraqi and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers provided medical and humanitarian relief to local nationals caught in the middle and those without means to provide care for themselves. Army Sgt. Allen Hill, a civil affairs specialist with Company A, 490th Civil Affairs Battalion, hands out humanitarian supplies to local residents. An Iraqi translator and members of the Iraqi army assisted the soldiers during a medical operation at the Taji soccer stadium April 11. Photo by Spc. C. Terrell Turner, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

Moscow 'must end Iran atomic aid' Russia says it has imposed strict safeguards at Bushehr A senior US official has called on Russia to stop helping Iran build its first civilian nuclear power station. After talks in Moscow to discuss Iran's nuclear programme, US envoy Nicholas Burns said other nations should not help Iran, even on civilian projects. The tension between the US and Russia comes despite attempts to present a united front to Iran. Tehran has defied UN calls to stop nuclear activity, saying last week it had successfully enriched uranium. Enriched uranium can be used as fuel in...

Russia breaks from West with Hamas aid offer By Vera Kalian 47 minutes ago Russia said on Saturday it had promised emergency aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority, breaking with fellow mediators the EU and Washington which have stopped funding to try to force Hamas to recognize Israel. A Foreign Ministry statement said the offer came in a telephone conversation on Friday between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "Mahmoud Abbas highly appreciated the intention of Russia, confirmed by Lavrov, to grant the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority urgent financial aid in the nearest time," it said. Russia...

U.S. Army Sgt. Eli Coman hands out candy to a group of students at the Sheragha Shahed Secondary School in the town of Ja Farkhel, Afghanistan. Coman is assigned to the 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth McCooey Task Force Tiger Soldiers Aid Afghan School The civil affairs soldiers brought the secondary school children 200 book bags jammed with school supplies, teaching aids, pens, volleyballs and candy. By Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth L. McCooey19th Public Affairs Detachment BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, April 14, 2006 — Children with happy, gleaming eyes and eager hands...

U.S. Army Capt. Kathlen Stornelli (left), physician’s assistant, Company C, 204th Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, wraps a bandage over the ankle of Spc. Silas Brown, a combat medic assigned to Company C, at Forward Operating Base Duke, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Edgar Reyes Company C Aid Station Soldiers On Call 24/7 Despite long workdays and details at Forward Operating Base Duke, Company C personnel stand ready to treat injured soldiers. By U.S. Army Pfc. Edgar Reyes2nd Brigade Combat Team4th Infantry Division FORWARD OPERATING BASE DUKE, Iraq, April 12, 2006 — When U.S....

OSLO, April 9 (Reuters) - Norway has frozen aid to the Palestinian Authority, officials said on Sunday, joining a growing list of countries halting assistance to pressure the new Hamas government to restart negotiations with Israel. Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said that Norway wanted to help bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table "so that we can achieve our goal and the international community's goal -- namely two states that can live side by side in peace." "It is worrisome that we now see that both Israel and the Palestinian side are turning inward and disregarding...

A Saudi philanthropist is attempting to improve his country's tarnished image by arranging the kingdom's first official aid to a non-Muslim country.Abdul Aziz Arrukban, whose family runs an oil transportation and storage business, said he was inspired to lobby for change after witnessing the devastation caused by the Asian tsunami. "I saw that the world needs more help. I don't know much about things such as politics, race and such, but I do know about hunger and crisis," he said, surrounded by Cambodian children being fed rice bought with a £250,000 Saudi government donation. Mr Arrukban admitted that he was...

Last update - 03:48 25/03/2006 EU waiting for elections before deciding on Palestinian aid The European Union is expected to wait until the outcome of next week's Israeli election and expected formation of a Hamas government, before announcing any new developments on its aid to the Palestinians, officials said Friday. The two-day summit of EU leaders that wrapped up Friday did not deal with the Middle East. Instead it focused on efforts to boost Europe's economy, improveenergy security and the situation in Belarus. Diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the EU would likely hold more talks - at a...