West Asia News and Discussions

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 11 Apr 2009 07:33

Khomeini(along with senior ayatollah's such as Khamenei who has issued a Fatwa against nuclear weapons) has said in his speeches that it is "haraam" to have a nuclear weapon. So, shia's doubt that Iran is developing or will test the bum.

Ahmadinejad inaugurates Iran's first nuclear fuel plant – "We are a nuclear power!"

Jerusalem stammers, Washington deaf to Iran's race for nuke

Hezbollah maintains sleeper cells in India (and in 40 other nations supposedly, the idea is to maintain presence in UNIFL nations) because of the UNIFL presence.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 12 Apr 2009 04:49

Safraz Nawaz arrest: India and Oman do have an extradition treaty by the way folks! I think it was because Oman had requested it to be kept on a low profile. A lot of their support that they give is usually kept low profile.

Natwar Singh’s Gulf tour : India-Oman ink extradition pact

Washington Helps Curtail Iran's Covert Suez Thrust

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 14 Apr 2009 00:50

Nuclear power plans across the Middle East

Iran declared fresh progress in its nuclear programme on Thursday, inaugurating its first nuclear fuel production plant and announcing it had tested more advanced equipment for enriching uranium.

Below are the nuclear aspirations of countries across the Middle East.

*
ALGERIA: -- Algeria aims to build its first commercial nuclear power station by around 2020 and to build another every five years after that, energy minister Chakib Khelil said in February. He said Algeria had atomic energy agreements with Argentina, China, France and the United States and was also in talks with Russia and South Africa. The OPEC member has plentiful oil and gas reserves but wants to develop other energy sources to free up more hydrocarbons for export. Algeria has big uranium deposits and two nuclear research reactors but no uranium enrichment capacity. Algeria and China agreed a year ago to cooperate on developing civilian nuclear power.
*
EGYPT: -- Egypt said in Oct. 2007 it would build several civilian nuclear power stations to meet its growing energy needs. In Dec. 2008 Egypt chose Bechtel Power Corp as contractor to design and consult on the country’s first nuclear power plant. Bechtel offered to do the work for around 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($180 million) over a 10-year period, it said. Bechtel will consider five locations for the first nuclear plant, starting with Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast west of Alexandria.
*
IRAN: -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated its first nuclear fuel production plant on Thursday. He said the plant would produce fuel for Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor. Iran plans to start up its first atomic power plant in mid-2009, its foreign minister said in March. Tehran says the 915-megawatt Russian-built Bushehr plant will be used only for generating electricity in the world’s fourth largest oil producer. But the West accuses Iran of covertly seeking to make nuclear weapons.
*
JORDAN: -- Jordan had talks with French nuclear energy producer Areva in 2008 to construct a nuclear power reactor, Jordanian officials said. They said Areva was a frontrunner among several international firms in talks with the kingdom to develop a nuclear reactor to meet rising demand for power. Jordan has signed agreements with France, China and Canada to co-operate on the development of civilian nuclear power and the transfer of technology.
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KUWAIT: -- Kuwait is considering developing nuclear power to meet demand for electricity and water desalination, the country’s ruler said in February 2009. “A French firm is studying the issue,” daily al-Watan quoted Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah as saying. Nuclear power would save fuel that could be exported but which is currently used to generate electricity and operate water desalination plants, he said.
*
LIBYA: Moscow and Libya said in Nov. 2008 they were negotiating a deal for Russia to build nuclear research reactors for the North African state and supply fuel.Officials said a document on civilian nuclear cooperation was under discussion at talks between Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Under the deal, Russia would help Libya design, develop and operate civilian nuclear research reactors and provide fuel for them.
*
QATAR: -- Initial Qatari interest in nuclear power plants has waned with the fall in international oil and gas prices, a Qatari official said in Nov. 2008. If Qatar decided to go ahead with building a nuclear plant, feasibility studies showed it would be unlikely to bring a reactor into operation before 2018. French power giant EDF signed a memorandum with Qatar in early 2008 for cooperation on development of a peaceful civilian nuclear power programme.
*
UAE: -- The Bush administration signed a nuclear deal with the United Arab Emirates in January, despite concerns in Congress that the UAE was not doing enough to curb Iran’s atomic plans.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 14 Apr 2009 06:30

Egypt press slams Nasrallah

"Sheikh Monkey, we will not allow you to belittle our judicial symbols, for you are a highway robber, a pure criminal who has killed his own people but we will not allow you to threaten the peace and security of Egypt," editor Mohammed Ali Ibrahim wrote.

Al-Ahram newspaper, which is also state-owned, said Nasrallah’s admission that Hezbollah is operating in Egypt provided grounds for prosecution.

"The admission by (Nasrallah) of sending agents into Egypt... puts him at the forefront of accusations and requires dealing with him under Egyptian law, or international law and issuing an (Interpol) red notice for his arrest," said editorial writer Ahmed Mussa.

"Egypt must start proceedings to try him in an international court. He has admitted to the crime. He must be handed to the Lebanese government as a war criminal," Karam Gabr, editor of the pro-regime Rose al-Yussef, told Egyptian television.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 16 Apr 2009 05:41

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle ... 999168.stm

Sewing machine hoax hits Saudi Arabia
News Type: Event — Seeded on Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:19 PM EDT
Read ArticleArticle Source: BBC News

Saudi police say they are investigating a hoax that has seen people rushing to buy old-fashioned sewing machines for up to $50,000 (£33,500).

The Singer sewing machines are said to contain traces of red mercury, a substance that may not exist.

But it is widely thought that it can be used to find treasure, ward off evil spirits or even make nuclear bombs.

It is believed that tiny amounts can sell for millions of dollars, the Saudi Gazette reported

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 17 Apr 2009 06:07

DNW:

Iran Lays Down the Rules
The Nuclear Negotiations Are Over Before they Begin
By ceding too much in advance to Iran, Washington is whittling down its own bargaining leverage in potential nuclear negotiations. Moscow has lined up solidly behind Tehran.

Iran Eyes Nuclear Breakthrough with Brazil
Tehran Wheels, Moscow Deals for Expanded Foothold in South America
Russia's nuclear czar Sergey Kiriyenko had the bright idea of selling Ahmadinejad to Brazil to win concessions for its huge uranium deposits. Tehran meanwhile promotes its plan for a pro-Iranian Latin American ring to encircle the United States.

Hillary Clinton Lands in the Middle East
Not What Her Washington Briefings Led Her to Expect

Hillary Clinton ended her first Middle East tour as US Secretary of State with different perceptions from those she brought with her.

She offered reporters a surprising summing up Wednesday, March 4:

"There is a great deal of concern about Iran from this whole region," she said. "It is clear Iran intends to interfere with the internal affairs of all these peoples and try to continue its efforts to fund other proxies, and not only Hamas or Hizballah, for terrorism."

DEBKA-Net-Weekly's Middle East sources report that Clinton arrived for talks in Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority quite unprepared. The items she addressed showed that the advance briefings she received in Washington were outdated or simply wrong.

The heavy focus on Iran was one of the surprises she encountered wherever she went.

She also discovered at the Gaza Donors Conference at Sharm e-Sheikh Monday that the Palestinians were the last thing on the minds of the 80 or so delegations. It was not just a matter of waning interest. While most gave lip service to the American solution for the Israel-Palestinian conflict of two states living side by side in peace, few any longer believe in it.

Had the new Secretary of State realized what really exercised Middle East leaders, her entire trip would have been different in character and content.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly offers a quick roundup:

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh is agog with rumors that King Abdullah has secretly convened the Allegiance Council whose function is to set the order of succession to the throne. This Council must choose the next king after Abdullah and the Crown Prince who follows him on the throne. This topic is urgent because the incumbent Crown Prince, Sultan, who is also defense minister, had surgery in the United States this week. He suffers from intestinal cancer. Although the procedure was successful, his medical advisers have ordered him to stay in the US because he is extremely frail.

Another topic of high interest in the Saudi capital is the impending visit by Syrian president Bashar Assad to mend the four-year long falling-out between him and the king.

Egypt

The succession to the presidency is the overriding issue in Cairo too.

When Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak welcomed Clinton to Sharm e-Sheikh Monday, March 2, his son Gemal (Jimmy) Mubarak arrived in Washington. His father sent him over to introduce himself to heads of the Barak Obama administration and prepare Mubarak pere's first visit to the US in five years.

This action signaled an advanced stage in the transition of power in Cairo from father to son. US officials were given to understand that any business they wish to transact with Egypt should be settled with Gemal. Mubarak senior would arrive in April to affix his signature to the documents.

It signaled that the president prefers to settle matters with Obama's people in Washington – not Secretary Clinton in Egypt.

Cairo is also buzzing with the mystery of the hand behind the terrorist attack in Cairo's main bazaar on Feb. 23, in which a 17-year old French girl was killed and at least 23 others were injured, most of them tourists.

On March 1, a teacher from the American School in Alexandria was stabbed and slightly injured in the same area.

According to DEBKA-Net-Weekly's counter-terror sources, Egyptian security authorities in a top secret report have ascribed the attacks to an Iranian terrorist gang which they believe arrived in Cairo earlier this year. They report a previous attack in mid-February which was never published.

If they are right, then relations between Tehran and Cairo have sunk to an unprecedented low.

Jordan

Large-scale Jordanian forces were strung along the kingdom's border with Syria on March 3, the day Hillary Clinton arrived in Israel. Their deployment was prompted by intelligence that Syrian security planned to send small terrorist teams into Jordan for attacks in Amman and other Jordanian towns.

An exchange of delegations between Syria and Jordan scheduled for this week was called off summarily. Our sources report that the two Arab neighbors are at loggerheads over Jordan's crackdown on Hamas, which has infuriated Damascus.

Lebanon

The talk of the moment in Beirut is the opening of the international tribunal at The Hague for prosecuting the murderers of Lebanese former prime minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005. Lebanon is waiting to hear the names of the Lebanese judges who travelled secretly to Holland to take up seats on the tribunal and of the Lebanese and Syrian officials and officers to be subpoenaed to appear.

Syria

In Damascus too the Hariri tribunal is the leading topic of conversation, given the heavy cloud of suspicion hanging over the Assad regime. The issue of an arrest warrant by the International Court (ICC) against Sudanese president Omar Bashir Wednesday, March 4, jolted president Assad's nearest and dearest who fear they too will be summoned to answer suspicions of their complicity in the Hariri assassination.

In protest against Washington's role in establishing the tribunal, Syrian officials indicated to Clinton that the envoys she planned to send to Damascus – US Deputy Assistant Secretary for near Eastern Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman and National Security Council officer, Daniel Shapiro - would not be welcome.

Israel

The Secretary of State found Israelis deeply immersed in two subjects: the financial crisis overtaking the country and deepening unemployment and the names of the foreign, defense and justice ministers in the government coalition whom Binyamin Netanyahu proposes to appoint to his government.

Hillary Clinton's visit was termed a formality.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 17 Apr 2009 23:38

Ahmadinejad: Iran forced Washington to retreat from enrichment demand

Gates totally opposes Israeli strike on Iran

DEBKAfile Special Report

April 16, 2009, 9:30 AM (GMT+02:00)

The US defense secretary Robert Gates again voiced extreme objections to an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear sites. Addressing US marines, Wednesday, April 16, he said Iran's nuclearization can only be stopped by an Iranian decision. "A strike probably would delay Tehran's nuclear program one to three years, it would unify Iranians, cement their determination to have a nuclear program and also build into the whole country an undying hatred of whoever hits them."

DEBKAfile's military sources take issue with Gates' assessment. They note that he avoided spelling out the words "nuclear weapon" - as though to blur the fact that this is Iran's goal. As for his use of "undying hatred," in the future tense, he may not have noticed that the radical Islamic regime bombards its people night and day with their undying hatred for Israel and calls to "wipe the Jewish state off map."

The US defense secretary knows very well that if Israel lets Tehran acquire a nuclear bomb capability, it will be Iran's first target, whether directly or as a shield for its terrorist proxies. Furthermore, no Israeli government can afford to forego three years – and probably more - relieved of the threat of annihilation by a power dedicated to its destruction. Even Gates cannot prophesy the exact consequences of an Israeli strike on Iran, say those sources. The Middle East would certainly be a different place for all its denizens.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 18 Apr 2009 04:17

Peace pressure on Israel might escalate violence
www.chinaview.cn 2009-04-17 23:42:08

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009- ... 200763.htm

I think it is time for the right wing politics in Israel is brought under control either by the government or by the pro-peace activitists. It is because of the right wingers that many Jewish people are murdered in Israel. They are as equal as Hamas.
They have killed their own leaders. It is time to bring the right wingers under control either by force or through strict negotiations. It is better to get them also involved in the peace process. Some of them wanted to have no map for Palestinian Muslims. This is similar to fundamentalists and radical terrorists among Palestinians who do not want to have a map of Israel there.

It is better to sort this issue out with two nation theory on the condition that the Islamic terror will be rooted out of Palestine and Gaza. or they will not attack Jewish communities in anyway.

The settlements have to be negotiated with an open minded approach. Once the state of Palestine is established the UN should have some control over the forces until the radical terror groups do not attempt attack Israel .

Most of the problems around this place would be solved if it is the case. Also Egypt and Syria have to stop supplying arms to Palestinians against Israel. The nuclear arm race of Iran can also be curtailed.

Israel needs to be very careful in this regard if this is not solved in this way the neighbouring countries may acquire any power and many Jewish lives could be lost through any major attack though Israelis may win over at the end.

Peace is a way to go forward to reduce the fear to live with Muslims in Israel and also live to many extend peacefully this is the best way forward.

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 23 Apr 2009 01:55

Torture Tape implicates UAE Royal Sheikh - link has parts of the tape.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story ... 099&page=1

The video tapes were recorded by his brother, on orders from the Sheikh who liked to watch the torture sessions later in his royal palace.

The Sheikh begins by stuffing sand down the man's mouth, as the police officers restrains the victim. Then he fires bullets from an automatic rifle around him as the man howls incomprehensibly.

At another point on the tape, the Sheikh can be seen telling the cameraman to come closer. "Get closer. Get closer. Get closer. Let his suffering show," the Sheikh says.

Over the course of the tape, Sheikh Issa acts in an increasingly sadistic manner.

He uses an electric cattle prod against the man's testicles and inserts it in his anus.

At another point, as the man wails in pain, the Sheikh pours lighter fluid on the man's testicles and sets them aflame.

Then the tape shows the Sheikh sorting through some wooden planks. "I remember there was one that had a nail in it," he says on the tape.

The Sheikh then pulls down the pants of the victim and repeatedly strikes him with board and its protruding nail. At one point, he puts the nail next to the man's buttocks and bangs it through the flesh.

"Where's the salt," asks the Sheikh as he pours a large container of salt on to the man's bleeding wounds.

The victim pleads for mercy, to no avail.

The final scene on the tape shows the Sheikh positioning his victim on the desert sand and then driving over him repeatedly. A sound of breaking bones can be heard on the tape.

Sheikh Issa's lawyer, Daryl Bristow of Baker Botts in Houston, told ABC News "the tape is the tape."

The torture victim was identified by Nabulsi as an Afghan grain dealer, Mohammed Shah Poor, who the Sheikh accused of short changing on a grain delivery to his royal ranch on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi.

The UAE government, in its statement, says the matter was settled privately between the Sheikh and the grain dealer, "by agreeing not to bring formal charges against each other, i.e., theft on the one hand and assault on the other hand."

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 23 Apr 2009 21:12

Saw the the video's a few months back. http://www.uaetorture.com . The website was actually closed last week. This week its back online. There are definetly UAE police officials holding the victim and so on. The website has complete details of what happened.

But, the agenda feels like it is targeted against the royal families of UAE, painting them as "all bad", which of course they are not.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 23 Apr 2009 22:21

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Israel shocked by Obama's approval of large Turkish arms sale to Lebanon

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IOL:
Egyptian arrests of Hezbollah members. Arrests had taken place after a tip off from western intel who are watching hezbollah movements i.e mainly CIA and Mossad. The arrests took place in suburbs of Cairo, Alexandria and Northern Sinai desert. The Hezbollah movement and Iranian intelligence have been working to build up their contacts with Egypt and particularly with the Ikhwan al muslimeen (Muslim Brotherhood). The MB came out against the arrests but denied any links with Hezb. Nasrallah obviously went on a long rant about how Egyptian leaders are pro west blah blah blah. Hezbollah denied that the Shebab(leader of the hezb unit rapped up) had any assignment in Egypt, but the only aim was to supply hamas. But contrary to this Shebab was liasing with Imad Mughniyeh for years on operations in egypt, of course until his death in damascus.

Jordanian security services have already arrested and jailed several Hezbollah activists operating in their country. As far as Hosni Mubarak’s regime is concerned: the militants rounded up were mainly Sunni radicals and Egyptian citizens to boot.

---------------------------------
Sunni's in Iraq are starting to show their hand. The awakening council kicked the AQ out of the country (some are sitting in Iran as leverage against AQ, some have fled to Pakistan's NWFP). But increasingly, the current sunni militants are of Iraqi origin. The awakening council's militia were brought under the Iraqi govt, but are having trouble being paid. Senior figures such as ex Egyptian special forces officer Saif al Adl are sitting in Iran. Another senior bigwig of AQ, egyptian national Abu Hamza al Mohajer, who have taken refuge in Pakistan’s tribal lands. (funnily enough, my ears in puki circles hear that, the CIA drones are mainly reliant on paki intel on attacking targets by drones, they send in paki officers all B&B paid into these tribal areas, then a week later they get the co-ordinates of these people). The foreign forces have taken advantage of the fact that the Awakening council is now disintegrating, hence the bombings that you are seeing today and recently.

Iraqi PM Maliki is worried that the Sahwa forces (trained, financed and armed under the blessing of Massa) will turn into another military force of the sunni iraqi's (like hezbollah vs Lebanese army), so he stopped the payments to the militia.
---------------------------------
Now to Yemen...
The Yemeni's have announed a new interior minister, of course with the backing of Saudi Prince Nayef. Both intelligence agencies are now working closely to shut down AQ in the area. The man is from the same tribe(Al Ahmar - The Reds in arabic, most of the senior officers of the same tribe) of abdullah al Saleh. He has always been the number 2 in the yemeni interior ministry. Saudi intel recently arrested 10 Saudi members of Al Qaeda on the border with Yemen. Riyadh thinks nearly 160 Al Qaeda activists live in Yemen.

Yawwn! More next week.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 24 Apr 2009 18:41

Iran canceled air show when Russia warned Israel planned to destroy all 140 warplanes

DEBKAfile's Iranian and intelligence sources disclose that Moscow warned Tehran Friday April 17 that Israel was planning to destroy all 140 fighter-bombers concentrated at the Mehr-Abad Air Force base for an air show over Tehran on Iran's Army Day the following day. The entire fleet was accordingly removed to remote bases and the display cancelled.

Moscow had informed the Iranians that its spy satellites and intelligence sources had picked up preparations at Israeli Air Force bases to destroy the 140 warplanes, the bulk of the Iranian air force, on the ground the night before the display, leaving its nuclear sites without aerial defense. A similar operation wiped out the entire Egyptian air fleet in the early hours of the 1967 war.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 25 Apr 2009 16:27

Debka's take on the current happenings in Eye-RAQ
Al Qaeda's roars back in Iraq against double target: US and Iranians

Hillary Clinton said on arrival in Baghdad Saturday, April 25, for her first visit as US secretary of State that the wave of suicide killings which accounted for more than 250 lives this month were "a tragic signal that Iraq was on the right path." She made it clear that the pullout of US troops from Iraq's main cities in nine weeks was still on track.

Many of the victims were Iranian pilgrims visiting Shiite shrines. Saturday, Baghdad closed the main border crossing from Iran until further notice.

Friday, US Middle East commander Gen. David Petraeus told a House panel in Washington that attacks in Iraq will continue for some time and they may be the work of a network of foreign fighters from Tunisia. He said that four recent suicide bombers in Iraq were from that North African country. Officials captured one who planned an attack.

According to DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources, Al Qaeda is attempting a comeback in Iraq with the help of reinforcements moved long-distance from its Maghreb (North African) branch to bolster the remnants of its Iraqi strength. These fresh forces have re-extended the jihadis' reach from Mosul in the north, hitherto the last al Qaeda bastion, to Baghdad and other cities..

This development is seen by DEBKAfile's sources as instructive on two points:

1. Al Qaeda has not given up on Iraq. Encouraged by the coming US troop withdrawal for Iraqi towns in summer, it has pulled in reinforcements from far away for fighters whose faces are unknown to US and Iraqi intelligence and are spoiling for battle in the new arena.

2. By targeting Shiites and Iranian pilgrims with (female) suicide bombers, Osama bin Laden is warning Tehran and Washington that their unfolding bid to bracket their resources together for ending the Afghanistan and Pakistan conflicts will precipitate fresh trouble not only in those arenas, but also in Iraq. To this end, al Qaeda has launched a second offensive on a third front.

DEBKAfile's military sources report that a major change in Iraq has opened the door to al Qaeda's recovery. The 100,000 commanders and fighters of the Awakening Councils, the strong arm of the US surge strategy for crushing al Qaeda and Iraqi insurgents, has dropped out of the war.

After Shiite prime minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered mass detentions of the Sunni-dominated force's members, Awakening Council leaders suspect him of planning to disband it as soon as US troops are out of the main cities. (My comment: please read my statement above about AQ back in Iraq for further details)

Their suspicions have gained ground from US restraint in halting the detentions. Awakening Council leaders now fear that in their haste to leave Iraq, the Americans will forget their promises to continue to protect their erstwhile allies and their rights and pay their salaries after the war on al Qaeda was won.

Therefore, for the second time in five years, armed Iraq Sunni strength and al Qaeda share an interest in battling central government in Baghdad, as well as the US and Iranian influence in Iraq.

In these sharply deteriorating circumstances, it has hard to agree with Clinton's assessment that Iraq is on the "right path."

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 25 Apr 2009 20:37

Ali Khamenei charges US military in Iraq, Israeli intelligence with attacks that killed Iranian pilgrims

.............

"The growth of the poisonous grass of terrorism in Iraq will definitely be written in America's criminal record and US and Israeli intelligence bodies are the first suspects of that," he said.

DEBKAfile's Iranian sources report that the all-powerful ayatollah was not just accusing the US security and military forces in Iraq of the suicide attacks of the last 48 hours but of "similar" crimes.

The ayatollah's attack shortly after Hillary Clinton's unannounced arrival in Baghdad seems to signify a sudden sharp cooling in Tehran-Washington relations - hardly a hopeful starter for the dialogue sought by President Barack Obama.

Two suicide bombers struck separate targets Friday, April 24, killing at least 65 people at the important Shiite shrine of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya district of Baghdad as people gathered for Friday prayers; seven died at a car dealership in Diyala. At least 149 were wounded in both incidents. Thursday, a suicide bomber killed 55 people, including 53 Iranian pilgrims, also in Diyala, while a female suicide bomber killed 28 people in Baghdad. More than 100 were wounded in both attacks.

Khamenei may have been irked by the encounter in Tokyo between US special envoy Richard Holbrooke and Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki at a donors' conference for Pakistan. What exactly happened between them is not known. When asked about a meeting, Holbrook said curtly: "No dialogue. I ran into the foreign minister as we were milling around and we said 'hello' and chatted for about a minute or two."

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 27 Apr 2009 01:31

NATO member Turkey and Syria hold first joint military exercise

The joint Turkish-Syrian tank and armored infantry exercise backed by air power begins across the Turkish-Syrian border Monday, April 27, and lasts three days.

DEBKAfile's military sources stress that it is the first joint military maneuver any NATO member, including Turkey, has ever carried out with Syria. It appears to have received a nod from the Obama administration and another first: Never before has an important NATO power staged a joint exercise with any Arab army.

It comes only four days after another first US step: Tuesday, April 22, DEBKAfile's exclusive sources reported that the Obama administration had just approved a large Turkish arms sale to the Lebanese army assigning Turkish military instructors to train Lebanese army units (half of whose personnel are Shiites sympathetic to Hizballah.)

Neither of the Obama administration's actions took into account Israel's vital security interests; nor was Jerusalem consulted about the strategic changes on its borders - or even informed.

DEBKAfile reports that both US drastic policy reverses are causing extreme consternation in Israel's top security echelons, which are criticizing the new Netanyahu government for taking too long to respond to the dire security setbacks piling up around its borders. The most troubling development confronting Israel in years is the grouping together of the Turkish, Syrian and Lebanese armies.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 27 Apr 2009 02:00

Oman urges India to sign FTA

Sandeep Joshi

NEW DELHI: India and Oman are in the final stages of setting up a $100-million fund that will be utilised in development and infrastructure projects in both nations. To boost trade relations with Oman and other Gulf nations, Oman has urged India to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Talking to The Hindu here, Oman’s Ambassador to India Humaid Al-Maani said an agreement between the two nations on the formation of the fund would be signed shortly. “Both India and Oman will have equal contribution towards the $100-million fund,” he said.

Stating that both nations had agreed to take the fund’s corpus to $1.5 billion, Mr. Al-Maani said this initiative would give a big boost to development projects in both nations. During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Oman last year it was finalised to form a joint venture fund to help companies of both nations.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 29 Apr 2009 19:11

shyamd wrote:Saw the the video's a few months back. http://www.uaetorture.com . The website was actually closed last week. This week its back online. There are definetly UAE police officials holding the victim and so on. The website has complete details of what happened.

But, the agenda feels like it is targeted against the royal families of UAE, painting them as "all bad", which of course they are not.

Update: The ministry of Interior (Sheikh Issa's brother) has confirmed that the video is indeed of Sheikh Issa. The main issue is that the afghan survived and is unwilling to press charges. Of course it is all okay – despite the presence of UAE Police helping to hold him down. This was filmed in 2005, and the US Embassy was also made aware at the time but chose to simply give it a one-liner in the 2008 Human Rights report for the UAE. Bush administration didn't want to offend the UAE (regional ally).

Dubai authorities have increased their inspections of camps after the BBC expose.

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Prince Talal (the Saudi billionaire) has passed around leaflets in Riyadh asking the royal court to specify the purpose of the promotion of Prince Nayef as the number 3 in the succession and say clearly what it doesn’t want to state, essentially that prince Nayef will inherit the throne, because its still not official that Nayef is the number 3.

-----------------------------------------

More later

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 02 May 2009 05:04

Lots of news today:

US to Cut Iran in on Nabucco Pipeline
Outlet for Iranian Gas to Reach Europe via Turkey
This would be a windfall for Iran and a boost for Obama's grand design for a new pro-American Turkish-Syrian-Iranian bloc to supplant Egypt and Israel at Washington's Middle East center stage.

Who Killed The Hariri Trial?
Syria Gets away with a Lebanese Murder
An outrageous political assassination goes unpunished as Washington and Paris let the international Hariri tribunal be disempowered.

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UAE trying to deflect media pressure away from themselves onto neighbouring nations. Trying to show up to everyone that they aren't the only ones f'd up. Prostitution in Oman.

Countering the Illicit Rackets

Saleh Al-Shaibany

1 May 2009

Nanda Mohan, escorted by a policewoman, had bruises all over her face when her employer sent her to a local clinic last week. She said a taxi driver who demanded more money beat her up. Her employer knew better. He said she was part of a prostitution ring organised by an expatriate woman in the seedy parts of Muscat.

Mohamed Al Khair, the 34-year-old engineer employing Nanda as a housemaid, said he followed her that Friday after she climbed in the taxi at six- thirty in the morning. She was the  only passenger.

“I received a tip from my neighbours that Nanda gets in the same taxi every Friday that was waiting a 100 metre from my house. So I followed her to Hamriya and saw her entering a house run by an Arab ‘madam.’ I called the police and they raided the place.”

Such occurrences are never reported in the local papers because editors have “unwritten guidelines” not to do so from the Ministry of Information.

“Prostitution is rife in Muscat. There is also a high quality prostitution racket in the classy hotels. It will never be published if we write about it. Editors know where not to transgress. It is as simple as that,” an Omani reporter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.

“Most of these foreign women do it willingly to earn extra money but some are lured for jobs that never materialise. They have no choice but to engage in prostitution. They can’t leave because their passports, by law, are held by sponsors. They can’t go to the law because they would not be believed and may end up in prison,” Sanjeev Prabhu, a Muscat-based car tyre salesman said.

Smartly dressed young women from India, Philippines and some Arab countries like Morocco and Lebanon sit in the lobbies of Muscat hotels waiting for arranged corporate clients.

They come to Oman on a visit visa arranged by friends and even relatives. They offer sex for an average price of $300 a night.

“If they are smart, they can end up being long-term escorts of senior corporate managers,” Prabhu added, saying,” just go to these hotels and you can see these women sitting alone in the lobby just waiting for their clients. Hotel managers know that but they  put up a blind eye. To them, it is just a business….”

Many see this as part of human trafficking that the government is trying to crackdown but with little effect.

Under a new Omani law passed in September, people convicted of human trafficking can now face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to 100,000 rials ($260,000). There was previously no law against human trafficking. Earlier this year, Oman formally protested against a US State Department report that ranked the sultanate, along with fellow Gulf States Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, among the worst in failing to combat human trafficking.

“It makes sense now to restrict the issuance of visiting visas to single women from certain countries. This class of sex offenders is rising since it caters  for high paying corporate people, “Khair said.

But Khair warned that the housemaid prostitution ring that caters for labourers and other lowly paid workers would be hard to clamp down.

Foreigners comprise about a quarter of Oman’s 3.2 million population, according to the Ministry of National Economy figures. There are over 100,000 housemaids in Oman and 250,000 labourers. But experts say the actual number of lowly paid foreigners is much bigger since they enter Oman illegally or overstay their visas.

Maryam Saif, a banker, said that many Omanis frequently complain about their housemaids offering sex for money in their family homes while their sponsors are out in their offices.

“My husband and I both work. Our children go to school. The house is empty in the morning and I have caught my housemaid with a man in bed a few months ago. According to the houseboy next door, it had been going on for a year. She was actually running a prostitution business in our house. It is  that bad!”

Many Omani families now opt for Muslim housemaids, mainly from Indonesia. But there are scandals about them, too.

“Don’t be fooled by the hijab (a Muslim dress worn by women from head to toe). My Indonesian housemaid was caught in one of those seedy places after a police raid one Friday.

Religion has got nothing to do with it or even marriage. Some of them are married with husbands in their countries,” Fathiya Khalfan, a computer IT engineer said.

Saleh Al-Shaibany is an Oman-based writer

-------------------------------------
Possibly for the first time ever, The Govt owned The National paper in the UAE has published an article about the case involving the UAE royals torture, the human rights office in Abu Dhabi will be doing their own investigation into the incident! Now its shocking that this article actually criticizes the Royal and is going to conduct an inquiry into this. Probably a first in the GCC.

Rights body reviews abuse video claims

----------------------------------
The Launch of RISAT 2 by India was the fruit of the new Intelligence pact that India has signed with Israel post 26/11. Sudhir Chaudhry could also be involved in the deal, as he was the IAI liaison.
More on the intelligence agreement later
-------------------------
On the Sunni attacks in Baghdad and the recent unrest in Iraq.

Deprived of wages, the Sahwa Forces men have also been banned from attending the Police Academy, which they must do if they want to join the regular army. They have responded by coming out openly against Iraq’s military. Hence the attacks.

The biggest fear of Arab and Western intelligence agencies is that the nascent insurrection could win backing from Iran.

Several figures behind the rise of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq and elsewhere, such as former Egyptian special forces officer Saif al Adl, are currently living in Iran, in camps run by the Revolutionary Guards at Mashaad in the north of the country near Afghanistan.

----------------------------
The arrests of Hezbollah operatives additional points to my previous post on the topic:

On April 10 a secret, high level meeting was held in Amman between representatives of Israeli, Egyptian and Jordanian intelligence. Jordanian security services have already arrested and jailed several Hezbollah activists operating in their country.

Worse so far as Hosni Mubarak’s regime is concerned: the militants rounded up were mainly Sunni radicals and Egyptian citizens to boot. For some months, the Hezbollah movement and Iranian intelligence have been working to build up their contacts with Egypt and particularly with the Muslem Brotherhood . The Israel incursion into southern Lebanon in 2006 and specially the Cast Lead operation in Gaza last December put the seal to a tacit alliance between the two organizations. While Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah railed against Mubarak’s failure to act in the crisis the leader of the Brotherhood, Mohammed Mahdi Akef, called for a campaign of civil disobedience.

The movement’s external operations are now overseen by a troika. They work in conjunction with general Faisal Bager Zadeh, who commanded the contingent of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (Pasdarans) in Lebanon.
-
-----------------------------
Covert Palestinian Authority-Iranian get-together in Caracas

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 02 May 2009 14:51

Saudi Arabia mulls banning marriage for girls under 18

Won't that lead to some issues ?

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 03 May 2009 02:17

Young Saudi men go wild over notorious blue pill
A large number of married Saudi youths are flocking to pharmacies to take hold of **** - "the little blue pill" - or any other stimulants that will give them more satisfaction.
Saudi women question government clampdown

Jeddah: "Let her get fat!" is the slogan women in Saudi Arabia are using to challenge a clampdown on female-only gyms.

Unhappy at the growing number of unlicensed female gyms, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs recently closed two in the Red Sea city of Jeddah and one in the city of Dammam on the Gulf Arab coast for not having a licence.

"Football and basketball are sports that require a lot of movement and jumping," Shaikh Abdullah Al Maneea, member of the official Supreme Council of Religious Scholars, said in a religious opinion published in Okaz newspaper on Thursday.

He said such excessive movement may harm girls who are still virgins, possibly causing them to lose their virginity.

"There is a school of thought that unfortunately exists and which has a distorted interpretation of Islam," said Lina Al Maeena, who organises basketball training in Jeddah.

------------
To more serious news
Two arrested as Bahrain police foil terror attack plot and seize weapons
My initial guess is it appears to be a sunni AQ type attack (i.e not the trouble stirred up by Shia's as Bahrain is usually known for). Loads of Jee-Had material has been found.

Also today:
Bahrain CID confirms bomb explosion

Manama: The car explosion that killed a Bahraini passenger and critically injured the driver, also a Bahraini, was caused by a home-made bomb, Brigadier Isa Al Musallam, the head of the Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID), said.

British Minister of state for FCO in Oman

Rammell said that he has had talks with his Bahraini and Omani counterparts during the week on the issue of Iran.

"The key feature of our discussions has been the GCC's role in bringing Iran to the table," he said.

Rammell added that the international community, including the US, Britain and others, does not have a quarrel with the Iranian people.

However, he said: "We have a real concern that needs to be resolved and we hope the GCC states will be able to communicate the message that Iran needs to treat this seriously."

Rammell, who on Tuesday held talks with Oman's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said he hopes that Oman, which has very good relations with Iran, will be able to use its influence.

In the last month or so, there has been heavy diplomatic activity between Oman and Iran.

Oman was represented at the Arab League Head of State session by the deputy Prime Minister. Local coverage was also low-key.

Post-summit, diplomatic cross-linkings are going on. The Iranian FM visited Oman back in March. Lieutenant-General Malik bin Sulaiman Al Ma’amari (A very senior level adviser to the Sultan of Oman on regional security/internal security, he is the head of Royal Omani Police and is now emerging as a political figure...I would not be suprised if he was the one who was the first point of contact on the Sarfraz Nawaz operation by RAW/IB/MEA), IG ROP visited Iran. The official statement noted the cooperation of both the countries in curbing illegal immigrancy.

Omani ambassador in Iran then met the Iranian Deputy FM, groundwork was layed for a follow up visit of the Omani Minister for Foreign Affairs visiting Iran this week. He met the Iranian President and Iranian FM. Again, local papers are wary of covering this piece, instead Iranian and other news agencies are reporting on the same.

Note that Oman is taking a very different (independent) foreign policy compared to the others in the GCC and elsewhere.

-------------------------
New US sanctions on Iran may hit Reliance
One of the other headlines at Business Standard read: Choose our $13-trn mkt or Iran's $250-bn: US lawmakers to RIL

OVL, IOC to invest $4billion in Iran gas field

Iran helicopters strike Iraq Kurd villages

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq - Iranian helicopters attacked three Iraqi Kurdish villages in a cross-border raid on Saturday, a border guard official said, the first time Iran has used aircraft against Kurdish rebels.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

“At 4 am (0100 GMT) they attacked with artillery the villages of Kani Saif, Jomarasi and Kara Sozi, that belong to the Panjwin district,” a senior Iraqi border guard official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“After the (initial) attacks, at 9 am three Iranian helicopters attacked these areas again,” he said. “This is the first time they have used helicopters.”

The official said the area was not considered a stronghold of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an Iranian Kurdish separatist group that appeared to have been the target of the raid.

He said the fighters tend to operate near the village Qalat Dizah further north and that the Panjwin area has only been shelled twice in the past year, much less than areas closer to Iraqi Kurdistan’s borders.

The raids came a week after 26 people were killed in a fierce gunbattle between Iranian police and Kurdish rebels near the Iraqi border, but it was not immediately clear if the events were linked.

Eighteen of those killed in the April 24 clash were Iranian policemen and eight were PJAK fighters, Iranian provincial justice chief Allahyar Malekshahi said on Saturday.

“Five people suspected of participating in this terrorist attack have been arrested and are under investigation,” he said.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 03 May 2009 03:28

An interesting fact:
Sultan Taimur, the present Sultan’s grandfather, spent more than 30 years in Mumbai till his death in 1965 after his abdication; he is buried in Mumbai. Sultan Said, the present Sultan’s father, studied in India. The Consulate of India opened in Muscat in February 1955. Till 1971, the UK and India were the only two countries with a diplomatic presence in Oman.

I found this fairly basic article on Oman's relations with others.

Oman seen close to Iran, wary of Saudi influence
22 April 2009

SALALA, Oman - At a mausoleum in a south Omani town overlooking the Indian ocean, Muslims venerate a local pre-Islamic prophet known as Amran.

Worshippers offer prayers over what are said to be remains of a figure not attested to in mainstream Islamic tradition as a prophet, but whose grave enjoys air-conditioned protection by the local authorities all the same.

It’s typical of the separate cultural identity that the Gulf Arab state of Oman jealously protects from its neighbour Saudi Arabia, whose puritanical Wahhabi form of Sunni Islam frowns upon such practices.

It also goes some way to explain why Oman, a former British protectorate of around 3.5 million people, has quietly aligned itself with natural gas power Qatar in Doha’s acrimonious split with Saudi Arabia over how to deal with rising power Iran.

Qatar broke Arab ranks, angering Riyadh, in January by hosting Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and leaders of Tehran-backed Palestinian group Hamas at a summit to support Hamas in its conflict with Israel.

Oman attended, just one example of small Gulf Arab states spoiling the united stance over Iran that Riyadh so craves. Qatar and Saudi leaders have sought to mend the rift but diplomats and analysts says the divide is as deep as ever.

Oman’s minister in charge of foreign affairs Youssef bin Alawi this week praised the chief of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shi’ite group in Lebanon that is the bete noire of Saudi Arabia.

“Hassan Nasrallah enjoys a high position,” he said in Tehran. “Iran’s and Oman’s position in regards to regional and global issues coincide.” (please note: The same Foreign minister meets and greets the Israeli FM everytime they bump into each other, they even have talks with Israeli's. Oman is also the only GCC country where an Israeli head of state has made an official visit)

Shi’ite Muslim Iran has grown in stature since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 brought Shi’ites there to power and developed a nuclear energy programme that Western countries fear is a front for nuclear weapons.

Saudi Arabia fears Iran is one step away from official recognition from Washington as a regional leader, and the country that calls the shots in the Gulf.

That could embolden Saudi Arabia’s own Shi’ite minority, posing a challenge to the Al Saud family, absolute rulers who derive legitimacy from anti-Shi’ite clerics.

Yet Omani commentators plainly criticise fellow Gulf Arabs for clinging to the United States as their sole protector, a policy championed by Saudi Arabia for decades.

”When relations between America and Iran improve, as is expected, the Gulf countries will pay the price again,” Zaher al-Mahrouqi wrote in Omani daily al-Shabiba last week. “Iran has become stronger and is the only major player in the region.”

Fear of wahhabism

A Western diplomat in Muscat said Oman, with a small Shi’ite population, was more concerned about Saudi influence on society than Iran. Wahhabi followers have made inroads in Yemen and in the southern Saudi Shi’ite region of Najran.

He cited an incident last year when Oman ordered Omanis not to follow the word from Saudi religious authorities on what day to celebrate the Eid at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Police reportedly clashed with Sunnis in Salala over the dispute. Oman follows the rulings of an Islamic sect known as Ibadism, which Saudi clerics view as heretical.

The incident showed that for Oman “Saudi religious influence must not be allowed to prevail,” the diplomat said. “Sunni Wahhabism can affect social cohesion, but Shi’ism doesn’t.

“A nuclear Iran is not desirable but they can live with it,” the diplomat said. He also pointed to Iran’s role in putting down a rebellion in the Dhofar region in the 1970s, ensuring the rule of Sultan Qaboos who remains in power to this day.

Oman and other small Gulf states short on natural gas are keen to import from major suppliers Iran and Qatar. Oman hopes Iran will supply Oman with gas by 2012 in a project to jointly develop Iran’s Kish field. Qatar is also a supplier to Oman.

“The present day realities of shared gasfield exploitation between Oman and Iran ... account for at least some of the softening,” said Christopher Davidson, a British historian.

Among the Gulf powers that rose in the 1960s and 1970s as British colonialism withdrew, Qatar has led the way in establishing close ties with Iran and veering from Riyadh, which sees itself as the Arab leader in the region.

Analysts say Oman moved close to Qatar after Doha’s current ruler took power in 1995. Qatar’s state telecom QTEL QTEL.QA owns Oman’s second mobile network Nawras.

Bahrain, where a Sunni family rules over a majority Shi’ite population, has stuck closest to Saudi Arabia. Like other small Gulf Arab states seeking allies to ensure survival, Oman offers military facilities to the United States.

“Oman plays the game of being distinct and different and this means it is conciliatory towards Iran and on the diplomatic and economic level,” said U.S. based analyst Simon Henderson.

And there was a GCC defence and security summit in Dubai:

GCC member countries are rich in oil and gas and enjoy a strategic geographic location, they are attractive places for foreign labourers, both skilled and unskilled from almost all countries of the world.

However, authorities in the region are alarmed at the increasing numbers of foreign labourers, and their impact on local societies.

Several clashes with foreign labourers, mainly low-paid workers, in more than one Gulf country in the past have raised security fears and rung alarm bells.

Experts are blaming private firms for not fulfilling their financial commitments towards the foreign workers brought in to the region, and accordingly raising the concerns of authorities.

"When you're talking about 10,000 foreign workers, from any nationality, holding a demonstration, it can paralyse the interior ministry of any Arab Gulf country, except Saudi Arabia, which is used to handling massive numbers of people because of Haj," Al Faraj said.

This isn't the first time that this issue is raised. But take note of the seriousness of how scared they are of foreign labourers causing trouble.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 04 May 2009 04:02

Came across a book the other day by the Lebanese ambassador to Saddam's Iraq. He says that Iraqi intelligence used to fund the Congress Party. All these characters were in the Oil for Food program including himself.

--------------
Funnily enough, if you remember last year, everyone met up in Doha to talk about whats happening in Lebanon.

Apparently KSA has been weakened. Apparently UAE, Oman and Kuwait were openly critical and even mocking of KSA and its role.

-------------
Oh and rumour has it that CP of KSA may have passed away last monthish. Of course KSA says they are fine. And guess what, the new number 2 (the shi'ite, jew etc etc etc hater) is supposedly having early stages of Alzheimer's!

The def ministry is now being run by his son and number 2 is walking and acting like he runs the show and no one can stop him.

-------------
George Tenet Screamed About Jews In Saudi Prince's Pool: Book

An enraged George Tenet, drunk on scotch, flailing about Prince Bandar's Riyadh pool, screaming about the Bush Administration officials who were just then trying to pin the Iraq WMD fiasco on him:
A servant appeared with a bottle. Tenet knocked back some of the scotch. Then some more. They watched with concern. He drained half the bottle in a few minutes.
"They're setting me up. The ******** are setting me up," Tenet said, but "I am not going to take the hit."

And then this:

"According to one witness, he mocked the neoconservatives in the Bush administration and their alignment with the rlght wing of Israel's political establishment, referring to them with exaxperation as, "the Jews."

Tyler reports in a footnote that, when asked, Tenet initially denied staying at Prince Bandar's palace, then denied that he had said anything in the pool. "He disputed the remarks attributed to him and denied that his memory might have been affected by the amount of alcohol he was reported to have consumed on top of a sleeping pill," Tyler reports.

----------------

gandharva · Post by **gandharva** » 04 May 2009 07:58

Time to strictly regulate Web journalism: SJA

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section ... m=5&y=2009

Walaa Hawari | Arab News

RIYADH: The Saudi Journalists Association (SJA) is to write a letter to the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Communication and Information Technology Commission calling for a new set of rules regulating the issuing of website and online newspaper licenses.

The SJA will also demand that site owners be questioned should they publish content that creates social harm and negative images. In a periodic council meeting, the SJA discussed the story of 13 women Saudi journalists who have lodged complaints against a Saudi online newspaper.

“This recent issue opens the door for e-crimes to be brought to light,” said Turki Al-Sudairy, chairman of SJA. He added that electronic newspapers should be legally treated the same way that print newspapers are.

The 13 journalists claim that Kul Al-Watan, an online newspaper previously known as Hedayah Net, published a story saying that Saudi women journalists resort to drugs, prostitution, alcohol and unlawful relations to reach high positions in their profession.

The complaints were sent to the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Human Rights Commission and the SJA.

Sahar Al-Bandar, one of the 13 journalists, said this is the first step of its kind against such published matter. She added that this is the best way to stop offensive reports, which are not based on facts, from being published. “We are not an angelic society, but generalizations are not acceptable,” she said.

Hedayah Al-Darwesh, chief editor of Kul Al-Watan, strongly denied publishing the story, insisting that “if one followed the link to my online newspaper, one could see that there is no notion of women journalists in it at all.”

She also said that there is only one site that has published the article and attributed it to Kul Al-Watan, and that she does not know who is behind that site.

Al-Darwesh insisted that many other websites published the story without referring to Kul Al-Watan, as she did not publish the article. “First, I am a woman and a journalist, and publishing such a story would jeopardize my image before anyone else’s, as well as my position and history of long-term achievements in this field,” she said.

The 13 journalists, meanwhile, allege the newspaper deleted the contentious portion but kept other sections that discussed issues, such as prostitution.

Al-Darwesh, however, refuted the accusation, adding that the original story was not altered. “We did not change the report originally posted online. Its current content is the same as what was published initially. Nobody made any changes,” she said.

The 13 journalists and Al-Darwesh are currently waiting for a final decision on the issue from the authorities.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 04 May 2009 21:51

Torture-tape Gulf prince accused of 25 other attacks
Apparently the western media outlets have been more kind to the royal. The arabic internet sites/forums have reported the true extent of the abuse.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 05 May 2009 22:46

Shyamd, Whats the name of the book and the author? The one by the Lebanese amabssador?

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 06 May 2009 05:46

Ramana, it was a random book I came across in the library, can't remember the name, when I go back, will check it up again and let you know.
---------------
Gates steps in where Ross fails to reassure US Arab allies

The coming DEBKA-Net-Weekly continues to track the broad impact of Barack Obama's bid for rapprochement with Tehran.

After US envoy Dennis Ross failed to persuade American Arab allies there was no sell-out, defense secretary Robert Gates was dispatched Monday on a hasty fence-mending mission.

---------------------------------
Jalal Talabani's son turned up at the AIPAC conference today.
---------------------------------
The whole Lebanese media is full of news of dismantling Israeli espionage networks across the country. No mention in the US press so far.
Lebanese policeman arrested on allegation of spying for Israel

Agencies
Published: May 05, 2009, 12:08

Beirut: Lebanese authorities said on Tuesday they have arrested a policeman accused of spying for Israel after obtaining information during the recent breakup of espionage rings across the country.

The latest arrest is part of a stepped-up campaign against those suspected of gathering information on Hezbollah militants for Israel.

According to police, the policeman was arrested April 29 at his home. Police said tthe man said his wife, who remains at large, also worked for Israel's Mossad spy agency.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

---------------------------------
Iran isn't just over charging India in the IPI deal but also Oman in the Kish deal. Insiders are saying that Iran offered $14 per MBtU, which is ridiculously high! Apparently Credit crunch is just the PR story and the Omani's have enough cash. Oman is now talking with Qatar about procuring gas, and is making sure that the Iranians know about it.

Credit crunch delays Kish plans

News wires

Oman will delay by at least a year a joint venture with Iran to develop the Kish gas field due to tight finances, an Omani industry source involved in the project said today.

Oman is struggling to fund energy development projects after the financial crisis made it hard to get credit.

The project to develop the Iranian gas field had a price tag of up to $12 billion that Oman had agreed to fund fully.

"The production from the Kish gas field will not happen in 2012 as planned," the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

"The uncertainty of the global financial crunch has forced Oman to put the project on hold for a year."

Oman had earlier said that the financial crisis would likely delay a number of the country's energy projects.

Last year, an Omani energy official said the Kish development was expected to be signed off in December 2008 and the project would be wholly funded by the Gulf Arab state.

A 200 kilometre subsea pipeline from the field would run from Musandam, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, to Sohar in Oman.

Phase one will see gas flowing to Oman at a rate of 1 billion cubic feet per day, later rising to 3 Bcfd.

Oman Gas wants more from Dolphin

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 06 May 2009 14:57

The UN's findings about Israel's culpability in the Gaza War has been rejected by Israel,as it has done so for umpteen times over decades.However,the last Gaza conflict exposed Israel to much international criticism for its excessive use of force in countering Hamas' rocket attacks into Israel.The UN seems to be powerless and ineffective in the Middle East,along with Tony Blair the so-called ME envoy who struts around the world collecting millions in fees for his talks!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 79727.html

UN retreats after Israel hits out at Gaza report

Secretary General rejects further investigation into 'reckless' military offensive

By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 08 May 2009 03:49

I have been waiting for this article for over a month! Finally its here.

Diaspora cash fed domestic jihad

Praveen Swami

Kerala computer engineer’s story casts light on Indian Mujahideen funding

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nawaz’s journey into jihad began in SIMI’s study groups

India so far had little success in cracking down on terror financing

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HYDERABAD: Late last year, four Keralites training with a Lashkar-e-Taiba unit in the Kupwara mountains, along the Line of Control in northern Kashmir, were shot dead by security forces.

And since the September shootout, the police in Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have been scrambling to unravel the threads that tied Indian Mujahideen groups in the south to each other and to the Lashkar.

But the investigations also show that the Indian Mujahideen was fed and watered by transnational financial networks: networks linked both to diasporic Islamists living in west Asia and Pakistan-based organisations like the Lashkar.

From the story of Ernakulam-born computer engineer Sarfaraz Nawaz, who was expelled by the Oman authorities earlier this year, investigators have been able to understand the relationship between domestic terror and diaspora cash.

SIMI background

Like so many Indian Mujahideen-linked figures, Nawaz’s journey into jihad began in the Students Islamic Movement of India’s study groups.

Nawaz began attending SIMI meetings in 1995, soon after he graduated from high school. He became an “Ikhwan” (arabic for brother...the MB networks also call members "Ikhwan") or full-time SIMI member within a year and by March 2000 was made a member of the now-proscribed Islamist organisation’s central committee.

Close ties

While in New Delhi, where he also served as the SIMI’s office secretary, Nawaz developed a close relationship with several key members of what would later become the organisation’s jihad faction, including Safdar Nagori, Yahya Kamakutty and Peedical Abdul Shibly.

When the SIMI was proscribed in 2001, Nawaz decided to move abroad. He first found work in a computer firm operating out of Ibra, in Oman (Its a small town an hour and a half outside the capital Muscat), and later joined the Ajman-based Ibn Sina Medical Centre, which was owned by the former Kerala SIMI president Abdul Ghafoor.

Later, other SIMI contacts helped him to find a job in Dubai. Finally, in July 2006 Nawaz moved back to Muscat and began working at the al-Noor Education Trust, which offered computer courses.

Newly married and prosperous, Nawaz appeared to live the kind of quiet life most in the Indian diaspora aspire to. But the Oman authorities now believe the appearance was intended to deceive.

Soon after returning to Muscat, the investigators say, Nawaz made contact with Abdul Aziz al-Hooti, a Muscat-based businessman with substantial interests in the automobile business and the Lashkar. Hooti, in turn, introduced Nawaz to a ranking Pakistani Lashkar operative, who is so far known only by the aliases Rehan and Wali.

Funds flow

Early in 2008, the police in Hyderabad and Bangalore believe, Nawaz and Rehan met in Dubai to finalise funding for two important “projects.”

In Hyderabad, fugitive Indian Mujahideen commander Tadiyantavide Nasir was preparing several Keralites to journey across the Line of Control to Lashkar training camps in Pakistan.

Safe house

Nasir used his position as an instructor at the city’s Jamia Arifiya Nooriya seminary to recruit volunteers. He set up a safe house in Madikere, near Coorg, for their basic indoctrination.

In August, 2008, Rehan allegedly provided the funds and contacts that led the first group of volunteers’ travel to Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Mujahideen units also needed funding, Nawaz was told, to execute a series of bombings in Bangalore.

Rehan and Hooti, the Bangalore police say, asked Nawaz to travel to India for an on-site briefing about these plans. Both men were evidently impressed by what he found, for an estimated 2,500 Oman Rials was despatched to the Indian Mujahideen through a Kannur-based hawala dealer.

Later, the investigators say, Dhaka-based Lashkar operative Mubashir Shahid provided more money to secure Nasir’s escape into Bangladesh and to compensate the families of the men killed in Jammu and Kashmir.

Complex web

Police officers involved in the Nawaz investigation believe that several similar funding networks fed different elements of the Indian Mujahideen.

Indian Mujahideen co-founder Sadiq Sheikh, for example, lived in Dubai for several months with the help of ganglord Aftab Ansari and his lieutenant Amir Reza Khan. During his stay, Sheikh said in a statement to the Hyderabad Police, he discovered that key Indian Mujahideen commander Riyaz Ismail Shahbandri also visited the city to raise funds.

Sheikh never met with Shahbandri’s contacts, but it seems likely that Nawaz himself was in touch with several SIMI-linked figures who were engaged in fundraising for jihadist groups. Important among them was CAM Basheer (he was supposed to be in KSA), a fugitive SIMI leader, who is thought to be living in Sharjah (Sharqa will probably protect this guy) using fake identification.

Basheer, police sources say, visited Nawaz in Muscat at least once and carried funds intended to facilitate Nasir’s efforts to recruit jihadists in Kerala.

Maulana Abdul Bari, a Hyderabad cleric last sighted in Saudi Arabia, is also thought to have raised funds in the diaspora for the training of jihadist cadre recruited in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

A costly failure

India has so far had little success in cracking down on terror financing. Nawaz’s story shows just how expensive this failure has been and how costly it could, yet, prove.

Al Hooti is a baluchi name (clan/tribe name). Part of the big Al Balushi gang who came to fight for Oman in the 70's. So the individual is of paki/baluchi origin, but born in Oman.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 08 May 2009 04:49

Read with caution etc.

Obama's SOS to Gulf emirs: Invest in US and global economies

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

May 7, 2009, 5:38 PM (GMT+02:00)
A massive petrodollar influx would help

A secret American delegation was sent by US President Barack Obama this week to solicit Saudi Arabian and other Gulf rulers for hundreds of billions of petro-dollars of investment in the US and global economic stimulus plans, DEBKAfile's exclusive Gulf sources report. They came away empty-handed.

The chilly welcome received by the delegation, which met finance ministers and the heads of banks in Riyadh and the five emirates, was generated by wide disapproval of the US president's policy of engagement with Iran. Two other US missions had just been and gone, headed by defense secretary Robert Gates and special adviser to the US secretary of state for South Asia and Gulf affairs, Dennis Ross. Both failed to allay Gulf anger and trepidation over this policy.

Our Gulf sources report that the third delegation, which unlike the first two was unannounced, argued that since US economic recovery was not expected to turn the corner before 2011, Gulf investors still had a unique opportunity to partner the US in helping the world economy out of its doldrums. The general message was that if they Gulf rulers fail to invest in US and international markets at this point, they would miss out on the rewards of the recovery.

Not all the data presented to the Gulf officials matched the figures published in Washington and other western countries. They were informed on the quiet that Federal Reserve Governor Ben Benanke had been "premature" in his optimistic forecast of "slightly positive" growth in the second half of this year, particularly in the fields of banking and construction, and a recovery that will "strengthen" next year - even though US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Wednesday, May 6, it was "a good, independent, credible forecast."

The Gulf states were urged to help the global economic back on its feet because, according to US data, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) would by the year 2018 rank as the world's fifth-largest economy after the US, China, Japan and the EU. “As major players in the world economy, you cannot stand on the sidelines,” they were told.

President Obama's discreet approach figured in general terms at the GCC meeting of heads of state and finance ministers meeting in Riyadh Wednesday, May 6, which was convened to establish a regional central bank. But no decisions were taken.

According to our sources, the negative vibes between the Gulf and Washington over the Obama administration's policy of favoring Tehran have made these Arab rulers doubly wary of responding to the US president's appeal for a Gulf stake in US and global economic recovery

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 08 May 2009 06:57

News that I missed from Vice Presidents visit to Kuwait. I did say in my earlier post that this agreement was likely with Kuwait in the near future. So... The list of nations with the security pact that have been confirmed so far are Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and possibly UAE.

India, Kuwait in terror talks

Five months after having concretised agreements on defence and security cooperation with Qatar, India has initiated a similar arrangement with oil-rich Kuwait. On the conclusion of Vice-President Hamid Ansari's three-day visit to Kuwait, the two governments are shifting gears on the sharing of information relating to security and counter-terrorism issues, sources told HT. Kuwait - which supplies India 12 per cent of its crude requirements - is the first West Asian country to have condemned the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai.

Ansari and the Amir of Kuwait on April 7 agreed that "concrete steps" and a "coordinated campaign" was necessary to deal with the menace of terrorism. India already has an agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on defence cooperation.

Strategic cooperation between India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries has been on the upswing. The Saudi Intelligence chief visited New Delhi last February and held talks with his Indian counterpart.

He also met National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan. India's concerns relate to the alleged routing of funds to terror groups in India from the Gulf countries.

The Gulf countries want India to take sterner measures to prevent trafficking in drugs and narcotics substances.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 08 May 2009 08:55

India is our true friend: Palestine Authority

And in the next OIC summit, we will vote against India and support Pakistan.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 08 May 2009 15:35

And the OIC chorus: "And not just that... when any one of us finds out about some terror attack that's gonna happen in India... we will, if we can manage to hide the fact that we knew, turn the other way"...

Until one of our Islamic brother countries, who knew that we knew, bitches about that to India

just to show how friendly they are

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 08 May 2009 18:04

^^

This weeks DNW headlines:
Saudis, Egypt, Six Gulf Emirates Up in Arms
They Warn Obama against His "Grand Bargain" with Iran
In a rare show of unity, all Gulf kingdoms plus Egypt join in condemning Barack Obama's diplomatic engagement with Iran and its allies, demanding that all accommodations obtain their prior consent.

Israel, Arabs Join Hands
Obama's Iran Dialogue Seen as Shared Menace
Riyadh, Cairo and Jerusalem are seriously charting a shared venture to blow away Iran's nuclear program. They fear it will figure at the bottom of Obama's diplomatic agenda when it will be too late to stop.

An Israeli-Arab Military Axis Takes Shape
Will Saudi Air Bases Host Israel Warplanes for Striking Iran?
With access to Saudi air bases and air space, Israel can reach Iran without asking for US permission to fly over Iraq. Egypt and Saudi Arabia realize that they, as well as Israel, will be in for Iranian missile reprisal.

-----------------------------------

This isn't the updated map, the final one will come out next week, showing chabahar.

Tehran: From Implacable Foe to Strategic Partner?
Obama Proposes a US Military Supply Route to Afghanistan via… Iran

See attached map

US president Barack Obama's diplomatic courtship of Iran is gaining the force of a "shock and awe" blitz.

He plans to transform the Khomeinist Islamic Republic's clenched fist against America into a helping hand by formally asking Tehran to permit the passage to Afghanistan of fresh US troops, weapons and supplies across Iranian territory.

This groundbreaking plan is revealed here for the first time by DEBKA-Net-Weekly.

It would be a follow-up step for the video address in which the US president greeted the Iranian people on its New Year.

If Tehran consents, Iran would take the place of Pakistan as the primary supply route for US-led NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan. The US would no longer have to depend on Russia and three Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, for getting supplies through to the embattled country. Remuneration for this service would provide the cash-strapped Iranian economy with a new source of revenue.

The service would also expedite the transfer to Afghanistan of parts of the US Iraq army pulling out of Iraq over the next two years with their equipment. The huge volume of US military Afghanistan-bound traffic transiting Iran would include tanks, helicopters, guns, ordnance, sensitive equipment, armored vehicles and armored personnel carriers, along with food, water, clothing and personal kits.

Our sources report that in February, Gen. Duncan J. McNabb, head of the U.S. Transport Command, was instructed to draw up the requisite plans for this project.

American forces to be ferried by air, sea, truck and rail

His plans almost complete, McNabb envisions the bulk of this traffic being airborne from the US Air Force base at Al Udeid, Qatar, which will be converted into the Afghan war's main warehouse.

US air transports taking off there will head east across the Persian Gulf , fly over the Iranian border and southern and central Iran and land at the US Air Force base near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.

(See attached map for all routes)

Troops and provisions will also be ferried to Afghanistan by a separate combined sea-and-land route. They will unload at the Iranian Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea ports of Bandar Abbas and Jask and transfer to trains heading north to the Iranian city of Zabol and the Afghan border.

This will bring reinforcements close to the heaviest fighting in southern Afghanistan opposite Kandahar.

A third route will bring men and equipment by train and truck to the Iranian city of Qaen, which sits opposite the big American bases in Western Afghanistan's Herat Province. From there, Iranian and American truck convoys will distribute the freights and personnel to the various American bases in Afghanistan.

To facilitate the relocation of US forces from Iraq to Afghanistan, McNabb has marked two military border crossings on the Iraq-Iran border opposite the Iranian city of Ilam and north of the Iraqi city of Halabja.

These contingents and their gear will travel by rail north from both crossings to the Tehran terminus, which will become the key hub of the US overland railway route to Afghanistan. Herat will be their next stop.

Iran will become respectable as a US strategic partner

DEBKA-Net-Weekly's Washington sources report that administration policy-makers will present this project to Iran's rulers as a fulcrum for new relations of trust between them and the starting point for engagement on bilateral issues including Iran's controversial nuclear program.

The thinking in the US capital today is that even partial Tehran consent to this ambitious American logistical scheme will transform the relationship and offer Iran new international respectability as a military partner, like Pakistan, in a major US war on terror in South Asia.

Our military and Middle East experts note six more strategic-economic advantages Tehran stands to gain by this transformation:

1.
A direct line to Washington to settle and defuse difficulties as they arise between the two countries.
2.
The Obama administration will not formally lift the economic and financial sanctions imposed against Iran in the early stages of the project, but as American military transit through Iran takes off and develops into an efficient, regular route, sanctions will either be suspended or fade.
3.
As the project shifts from covert to semi-open, The US will remove Iran from the list of state sponsors of terrorism by virtue of its role in America's war on the Taliban and al Qaeda.
4.
By the same token, the administration hopes to enlist the support of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other Middle-East countries for the plan.
5.
The Obama administration believes that Iran's fears of a military attack by the US will be allayed by the sheer volume of their military cooperation; American and Iranian officers will have to work together to chart and control the traffic rolling through Iran as Washington becomes increasingly dependent on Iranian seaports, railways and transportation infrastructure to supply its forces in Afghanistan.
6.
It will also lay to rest Tehran's fears of a unilateral Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, because Washington will hardly provide back-up or military hardware for attacking a country transformed into an American ally.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly's Iranian sources report that Tehran received advance information about the new Obama proposal last weekend. It was the subject of two top-level conferences attended by Iran's spiritual ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former president Ali Akbar Hashem Rafsanjani, and commanders of the Revolutionary Guards and the armed forces.

Now decisions were reached.

Israel: Is America giving away too much?

This epic turnabout in Washington's policy on Iran also reached Israel's policy-makers as a new government prepares to take office in Jerusalem next week.

Prime minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, who stays on as defense minister, authorized the head of military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, to disclose that Iran is only months away from the capacity to build a nuclear bomb.

He shared this information with the Knesset's Defense and Foreign Relations committee on March 25, so laying bare the gaping differences between Israel and US intelligence estimates. The latter speaks of one to five years or more.

Israel was sending a message to alert Washington that it was entering into a sweeping strategic partnership and commitments with Iran in return for which Tehran would expect the US to accept Iran's ballistic and nuclear capabilities which were nowhere as far in the distance as US intelligence postulates.

The launch of the Omid satellite into space demonstrated to Israel that Iran has acquired the ballistic ability to deliver nuclear warheads at any point on earth.
Back to top

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 08 May 2009 22:14

So UPA ditching Iran was a bad move?

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 09 May 2009 19:03

Netanyahu: Israel in Golan for good

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 13 May 2009 06:19

ramana wrote:So UPA ditching Iran was a bad move?

IMO, yes. But, I think the other side understands that UPA was sort of forced into it to sign the deal, so havent made much of a fuss. But, the question becomes was signing the deal worth it? Dunno.

IOL: No intel agency is in a position to say whether Iran has halted its Nuke program! I.e they haven't got good intel on whats happening.

--------
KSA in Lubnan, About Mr Saad Harriri from an article:

You can see at once what life has become for him. Sa'ad Hariri is a fun-loving guy who enjoys playing Xbox and sports a neat, three-tiered arrangement of facial hair that makes him look like a late-night magician from Las Vegas. Now, he spends most of his days indoors, in a lavishly appointed eight-story building ringed with checkpoints. Surrounded by security guards, aging generals, and family advisers, he takes meeting after meeting in preparation for Lebanon's June 7 election, while heroically passing up the succulent lamb dishes and tasty Lebanese sweets that are offered to his guests.

-------------------
US General Builds A Palestinian Army

From the detailed description provided by Dayton, it's clear that the Palestinian forces he's enabling could certainly be accused of carrying out the self-policing of the West Bank for the Israelis. Because the West Bank is, after all, occupied by Israel and riddled with illegal settlements besides -- plus beset by a surrounding wall, 600-plus intrusive checkpoints, and a network of Jews-only highways -- the Palestinian troops are utterly at the mercy of the Israelis. Each recruit is vetted by US security forces (i.e, the CIA), then vetted by Shin Bet, the domestic intelligence arm of Israel, and then by Jordan's super-efficient intelligence service, before they begin their training in Jordan. Dayton made it quite clear that the Palestinian units thus trained are primarily deployed against two targets in the West Bank: against criminal gangs, and against Hamas.

----------------------
Rumour has it that Hosni and King Abdullah paid a friendly visit to the jet to have a friendly meeting.

Peres traveled in U.S. on AIPAC bigwig's private jet
President Shimon Peres and his entourage used a private jet belonging to businessman Daniel Abraham to travel between New York City and Washington during his visit to the United States last week.
So far, they've received $161 million is US funding.

------------------------
Apparently Assad is pissed with Obama's new sanctions. He is blaming the Syrian FM, VP and the amabassador to US. They apparently rushed into the Obama's arms expecting him to change the US strategy in the region. Orbat says Syria has begun sending terrorists back into eye-raak. These high ranking officials are acussed of misinforming the govt on what US strategy really is.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 15 May 2009 21:49

New ISF unit behind arrests of alleged Mossad agents

Book on Gujaratis in Oman to be released

That Gujaratis have spread out across the world and done well for themselves is well-known. But, some success stories of

this community continue to amaze us like the two Gujarati families in the Sultanate of Oman that run businesses over 15 and 10 generations.

It is this extraordinary story of rich cultural history and entrepreneurial saga of the migrant Gujarati community in Oman, is the subject of a new book.

Pulsating Gujarat in the Sultanate of Oman' by litterateur Renuka Desai and published by Vishwa Gujarati Samaj will be released on Sunday.

There are about 50,000 to 60,000 Gujaratis in Oman and the book highlights the process of assimilation of Gujarati merchants into the mainstream of cultural landscape, along with their vital contribution to its industrial growth.

The book highlights the 5,000 years of diplomatic friendship between Oman and India through events of historical importance. "A chapter on woman power talks of a lady in Oman who is well known for her mehendi cones and people from all over come to her for it," says Renuka Desai.

"When it comes to the most vibrant festival of Gujarat, Navratri, Gujaratis in the US or UK celebrate it on weekends or just for two days. But in Oman, the festival goes on for all the nine nights," adds Desai.

The Gujju's also played a role in bringing the current Sultan to power.

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 15 May 2009 22:02

And converts from that community helped spread the deen to Malaysia.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 16 May 2009 03:48

Ramana, the gujju's?

Washington threatens to evacuate three US bases over Qatar's pro-Iran policy

The Obama administration, using backdoor intelligence channels, secretly warned Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani that he risks losing the three big American bases located in the emirate if he persists in promoting Iran's radicalizing influence over Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians.

This is reported exclusively by DEBKA's Washington, Gulf and military sources.

An American military withdrawal from the emirate, especially the big Al Odeid air base and Central Command headquarters, would be a crushing blow to Al Thani. It would leave Qatar and the rest of the Gulf unprotected in any military conflagration in the region over Iran's nuclear program. (A little OTT)

The threat was underlined by Qatar's boycott by US presidential envoys defense secretary Robert Gates and Dennis Ross when they travelled through the Gulf region in the first month of May.

Emir al Thani was sufficiently alarmed to takes steps, one of which was to direct the news editors of al Jazeera TV station, which he owns, to adjust the anti-American line of its English and Arabic language broadcasts.

Our Washington sources report that the Obama administration is determined to strip Tehran of its regional support and so weakening its bargaining position in their forthcoming diplomatic talks.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 16 May 2009 16:19

Check DNW

The whole article could be posted here.