US SENATORS: IRAN STRIKE AN OPTION
by Reuters
Sunday 15 January 2006 8:13 PM GMT
Source of Article
Republican and Democratic senators have said the United States may ultimately have to undertake a military strike to deter Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but that should be the last resort.
"That is the last option. Everything else has to be exhausted. But to say under no circumstances would we exercise a military option, that would be crazy," Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona said on CBS's Face the Nation
Democratic Senator Evan Bayh of Illinois, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said there are sensitive elements of Iran's nuclear program, which, if attacked, "would dramatically delay it's development".
"But that should not be an option at this point. We ought to use everything else possible keep from getting to that juncture," he said on CNN's Late Edition.
Bayh accused President George Bush of undermining the US national interest and creating this "dilemma" by ignoring the problem of Iran for four years.
A growing nuclear fracas exploded last week when Iran, defying the United States and major European powers, resumed nuclear research after a two year moratorium.
Iran says it aims only to make power for an energy-needy economy, not build atom bombs. But it hid nuclear work from the UN nuclear watchdog agency for almost 20 years before exiled dissidents exposed it in 2002.
On Sunday, Iran said that only diplomacy, not threats to refer it to the UN Security Council, could defuse a standoff over its nuclear work and warned that any Western push for sanctions could jack up world oil prices.
Common strategy
The Security Council's five permanent members and Germany planned talks in London Monday on a common strategy to tackle the controversy.
McCain called the nuclear standoff "the most grave situation that we have faced since the end of the Cold War, absent the whole war on terror".
"We must go to the UN now for sanctions. If the Russians and the Chinese, for reasons that would be abominable, do not join us then we will have to go with the (states that are) willing," he said.
While acknowledging that President Bush has "no good option", McCain said "there is only one thing worse than the United States exercising a military option, that is a nuclear armed Iran".
Oil exports
"If the price of oil has to go up then that's a consequence we would have to suffer," he said.
Iran is the world's fourth biggest exporter of crude oil and the second biggest in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Experts and officials say it may be impossible to destroy Iran's nuclear program because much of it is underground and dispersed at numerous sites.
In addition, they have said an attack on Iran could further inflame anti-Americanism in the Middle East and prompt Tehran to interfere more in Iraq and encourage Islamist fundamentalist groups to launch new attacks on the West.
Another Senate Intelligence Committee member, Republican Trent Lott of Mississippi, said that despite a massive military commitment in Iraq the US has the capability to strike Iran, but it would be "difficult" and other options must be tried first.
*****
The "King Of The North" Is Coming!
Moderator: LWF Administration
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Mary
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US SENATORS: IRAN STRIKE AN OPTION
_______________________________________________________________________________
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
-
Mary
- YORWW BIBLE ACADEMY GRADUATE (ALUMNI)
- Posts: 294
- Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2004 10:39 am
- Location: 2003 YORWW Bible Academy Graduate
THE DRONE, THE CIA AND A BOTCHED ATTEMPT TO KILL BIN LADEN'S
THE DRONE, THE CIA AND A BOTCHED ATTEMPT TO KILL BIN LADEN'S DEPUTY
In the hunt for al-Qaeda, a missile attack on a mountain village killed women and children. The attack was precise, the intelligence was flawed, and the strained relation between Pakistan and the US has been pushed to breaking point
Jason Burke and Imtiaz Gul in Islamabad
Sunday January 15, 2006
The Observer
Source of Article
The missiles were deadly accurate. In the pitch dark of a night in Pakistan's sparsely populated North West Frontier Province, they not only located the three targeted houses on the outskirts of the village of Damadola Burkanday but squarely struck their hujra, the large rooms traditionally used by Pashtun tribesmen to accommodate guests.
Yesterday some of the results of the strike were very clear: three ruined houses, mud-brick rubble scattered across the steeply terraced fields, the bodies of livestock lying where thrown by the airblast, a row of newly dug graves in the village cemetery and torn green and red embroidered blankets flapping in the chilly wind. Four children were among the 18 villagers who died in the brutally sudden attack on their homes.
Yet evidence emerging appeared to indicate that, though the technology that guided the missiles to their targets at 3am on Friday was faultless, the intelligence that had selected those targets was not. Even as American military and intelligence sources spoke of the possible death of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second-in-command of al-Qaeda and the man considered to be the brains behind the militant group's strategy, Pakistani officials said that there was no evidence any 'foreigners', shorthand locally for al-Qaeda fighters, were among the 18 victims, though they said that 'according to preliminary investigations there was foreign presence in the area'.
In a bid to distance themselves from what was looking like a tragic and counter-productive tactical error that had cost many innocent lives, Pakistan announced it would file a formal protest with the Americans. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told a news conference that the Pakistani government wanted 'to assure the people we will not allow such incidents to recur,' adding that the government had no information about al-Zawahiri.
'We deeply regret that civilian lives have been lost in an incident. While this act is highly condemnable, we have been for a long time striving to rid all our tribal areas of foreign intruders who have been responsible for all the misery and violence in the region. This situation has to be brought to an end,' he said.
But his words did little to calm the anger in and around Damadola, a bastion of conservative religion and tribal chauvinism, and elsewhere in Pakistan. The village lies in the semi-autonomous Bajur tribal region around 120 miles northwest of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. It is a rugged and desperately poor region, until recently a centre of opium cultivation, where local men habitually go armed and government authority is limited to main roads. Thousands of local men marched in a series of protests yesterday, one crowd attacking the office of a US-funded aid group. In another incident, police were forced to fire tear gas to disperse as many as 400 protesters chanting anti-American slogans and waving banners condemning the Pakistan President, General Pervez Musharraf.
Musharraf, who came to power in 1999, has maintained a difficult and domestically unpopular alliance with Washington since 2001 and has deployed unprecedented numbers of troops on bloody operations to capture senior al-Qaeda figures. However, to the Americans' intense annoyance, he has not granted US forces in Afghanistan the right to cross the border into Pakistan, even in pursuit of militants. American-led coalition forces clashing with militants in the mountainous province of Kunar, immediately adjacent to Bajaur which lies a mere four miles from the frontier, say they have often been frustrated by their enemies' use of Pakistan as a sanctuary. Yesterday the Pakistani Foreign Ministry took pains to point out that 'in all probability [the village] was targeted from across the border in Afghanistan'.
Tensions between Washington and Islamabad have grown in recent weeks as American troops have stepped up operations against militants. Pakistan has already lodged a protest with the US military six days ago after a reported US airstrike killed eight people in the North Waziristan tribal region, an almost deserted area of mountains 300 miles south of Damadola. In Damadola itself, locals said they had never sheltered any al-Qaeda or Taliban leaders, let alone al-Zawahiri, an instantly recognisable 54-year-old Egyptian-born ex-doctor.
'This is a big lie... Only our family members died in the attack,' said Shah Zaman, a jeweller who lost two sons and a daughter in the attack. 'They dropped bombs from planes and we were in no position to stop them... or to tell them we are innocent. I don't know [al-Zawahiri]. He was not at my home. No foreigner was at my home when the planes came and dropped bombs.' Haroon Rashid, a member of parliament who lives in a village near Damadola, told The Observer that he had seen a drone surveying the area hours before the attack.
'A drone has been flying over the area for the last three, four days, and I had a feeling that something nasty was going to happen,' he said in a phone interview. 'There was no foreigner there - we never saw a single foreigner here. They were all local people, jewellers and shop-keepers, who used to commute between Bajaur and their village. We knew them.'
The dead were reported to include four children, aged between five and ten, and at least two women. According to Islamic tradition, they were buried almost immediately. One Pakistani official, speaking anonymously, told The Observer that hours before the strike some unidentified guests had arrived at one home and that some bodies had been removed quickly after the attack. This was denied by villagers.
US and Pakistani officials have also said that the missiles were launched from American pilotless predator drones, which have previously been used to target senior al-Qaeda figures. A man alleged to be al-Qaeda's third-in-command was killed in a 'stand-off' missile attack around a month ago. However, several eyewitnesses spoke of seeing planes and illuminating flares over the village, which if true would indicate the use of missiles from planes guided in by special forces teams on the ground rather than CIA-operated drones.
Obaidullah, a local doctor, said he saw the airstrike from his home about five to six kilometres away. 'There was one plane flying (overhead). Then more planes came. First they dropped light and then bombs,' he said. If US troops have crossed the frontier from Afghanistan in pursuit of militants, it would be a major diplomatic incident and a domestic disaster for Musharraf.
The Americans have become increasingly frustrated by their inability to catch al-Zawahiri, whom analysts see as the strategic mentor of Osama bin Laden. Al-Zawahiri was already a hardened Egyptian militant when he joined bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian six years younger, in the late 1980s to form the al-Qaeda group out of the remnants of Arab 'mujahideen' who had fought the Russians in Afghanistan. After masterminding a series of attacks, culminating in the 11 September atrocities, from camps in Afghanistan in the late 1990s, al-Zawahiri has been on the run. However, this has not stopped him providing broad strategic direction for the international Islamic militant movement and, through appearing in frequent propaganda videos, becoming almost as well known as bin Laden himself. Despite a huge manhunt and a $25m reward, he has escaped capture. Strong local sympathy for al-Qaeda fugitives in the harsh hills that line the Afghan frontier with Pakistan has been a major advantage.
'The Americans are really not much closer to finding him than they were years ago,' said one intelligence analyst. 'They are hunting in an area that is about a thousand miles long and two hundred miles wide. That is a tough job by anyone's standards.' The carnage at Damadola indicates that the hunted is still a step ahead of the hunters.
The Al-Zawahiri file
· Born 1951, Cairo. Son of a chemistry professor. A trained paediatrician.
· Travelled to Pakistan in 1985 after being arrested, imprisoned and tortured in sweep of militants following killing of President Sadat.
· Spent 1991-1996 in Sudan with Osama bin Laden before moving to Afghanistan.
· A key theorist of modern Islamic militancy, he developed strategy of using spectacular violence against American interests to 'wake up the masses'.
· From series of mountain hideouts along Pakistan -Afghanistan frontier he has issued videos and communiqués aimed at inspiring militants
****
In the hunt for al-Qaeda, a missile attack on a mountain village killed women and children. The attack was precise, the intelligence was flawed, and the strained relation between Pakistan and the US has been pushed to breaking point
Jason Burke and Imtiaz Gul in Islamabad
Sunday January 15, 2006
The Observer
Source of Article
The missiles were deadly accurate. In the pitch dark of a night in Pakistan's sparsely populated North West Frontier Province, they not only located the three targeted houses on the outskirts of the village of Damadola Burkanday but squarely struck their hujra, the large rooms traditionally used by Pashtun tribesmen to accommodate guests.
Yesterday some of the results of the strike were very clear: three ruined houses, mud-brick rubble scattered across the steeply terraced fields, the bodies of livestock lying where thrown by the airblast, a row of newly dug graves in the village cemetery and torn green and red embroidered blankets flapping in the chilly wind. Four children were among the 18 villagers who died in the brutally sudden attack on their homes.
Yet evidence emerging appeared to indicate that, though the technology that guided the missiles to their targets at 3am on Friday was faultless, the intelligence that had selected those targets was not. Even as American military and intelligence sources spoke of the possible death of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second-in-command of al-Qaeda and the man considered to be the brains behind the militant group's strategy, Pakistani officials said that there was no evidence any 'foreigners', shorthand locally for al-Qaeda fighters, were among the 18 victims, though they said that 'according to preliminary investigations there was foreign presence in the area'.
In a bid to distance themselves from what was looking like a tragic and counter-productive tactical error that had cost many innocent lives, Pakistan announced it would file a formal protest with the Americans. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told a news conference that the Pakistani government wanted 'to assure the people we will not allow such incidents to recur,' adding that the government had no information about al-Zawahiri.
'We deeply regret that civilian lives have been lost in an incident. While this act is highly condemnable, we have been for a long time striving to rid all our tribal areas of foreign intruders who have been responsible for all the misery and violence in the region. This situation has to be brought to an end,' he said.
But his words did little to calm the anger in and around Damadola, a bastion of conservative religion and tribal chauvinism, and elsewhere in Pakistan. The village lies in the semi-autonomous Bajur tribal region around 120 miles northwest of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. It is a rugged and desperately poor region, until recently a centre of opium cultivation, where local men habitually go armed and government authority is limited to main roads. Thousands of local men marched in a series of protests yesterday, one crowd attacking the office of a US-funded aid group. In another incident, police were forced to fire tear gas to disperse as many as 400 protesters chanting anti-American slogans and waving banners condemning the Pakistan President, General Pervez Musharraf.
Musharraf, who came to power in 1999, has maintained a difficult and domestically unpopular alliance with Washington since 2001 and has deployed unprecedented numbers of troops on bloody operations to capture senior al-Qaeda figures. However, to the Americans' intense annoyance, he has not granted US forces in Afghanistan the right to cross the border into Pakistan, even in pursuit of militants. American-led coalition forces clashing with militants in the mountainous province of Kunar, immediately adjacent to Bajaur which lies a mere four miles from the frontier, say they have often been frustrated by their enemies' use of Pakistan as a sanctuary. Yesterday the Pakistani Foreign Ministry took pains to point out that 'in all probability [the village] was targeted from across the border in Afghanistan'.
Tensions between Washington and Islamabad have grown in recent weeks as American troops have stepped up operations against militants. Pakistan has already lodged a protest with the US military six days ago after a reported US airstrike killed eight people in the North Waziristan tribal region, an almost deserted area of mountains 300 miles south of Damadola. In Damadola itself, locals said they had never sheltered any al-Qaeda or Taliban leaders, let alone al-Zawahiri, an instantly recognisable 54-year-old Egyptian-born ex-doctor.
'This is a big lie... Only our family members died in the attack,' said Shah Zaman, a jeweller who lost two sons and a daughter in the attack. 'They dropped bombs from planes and we were in no position to stop them... or to tell them we are innocent. I don't know [al-Zawahiri]. He was not at my home. No foreigner was at my home when the planes came and dropped bombs.' Haroon Rashid, a member of parliament who lives in a village near Damadola, told The Observer that he had seen a drone surveying the area hours before the attack.
'A drone has been flying over the area for the last three, four days, and I had a feeling that something nasty was going to happen,' he said in a phone interview. 'There was no foreigner there - we never saw a single foreigner here. They were all local people, jewellers and shop-keepers, who used to commute between Bajaur and their village. We knew them.'
The dead were reported to include four children, aged between five and ten, and at least two women. According to Islamic tradition, they were buried almost immediately. One Pakistani official, speaking anonymously, told The Observer that hours before the strike some unidentified guests had arrived at one home and that some bodies had been removed quickly after the attack. This was denied by villagers.
US and Pakistani officials have also said that the missiles were launched from American pilotless predator drones, which have previously been used to target senior al-Qaeda figures. A man alleged to be al-Qaeda's third-in-command was killed in a 'stand-off' missile attack around a month ago. However, several eyewitnesses spoke of seeing planes and illuminating flares over the village, which if true would indicate the use of missiles from planes guided in by special forces teams on the ground rather than CIA-operated drones.
Obaidullah, a local doctor, said he saw the airstrike from his home about five to six kilometres away. 'There was one plane flying (overhead). Then more planes came. First they dropped light and then bombs,' he said. If US troops have crossed the frontier from Afghanistan in pursuit of militants, it would be a major diplomatic incident and a domestic disaster for Musharraf.
The Americans have become increasingly frustrated by their inability to catch al-Zawahiri, whom analysts see as the strategic mentor of Osama bin Laden. Al-Zawahiri was already a hardened Egyptian militant when he joined bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian six years younger, in the late 1980s to form the al-Qaeda group out of the remnants of Arab 'mujahideen' who had fought the Russians in Afghanistan. After masterminding a series of attacks, culminating in the 11 September atrocities, from camps in Afghanistan in the late 1990s, al-Zawahiri has been on the run. However, this has not stopped him providing broad strategic direction for the international Islamic militant movement and, through appearing in frequent propaganda videos, becoming almost as well known as bin Laden himself. Despite a huge manhunt and a $25m reward, he has escaped capture. Strong local sympathy for al-Qaeda fugitives in the harsh hills that line the Afghan frontier with Pakistan has been a major advantage.
'The Americans are really not much closer to finding him than they were years ago,' said one intelligence analyst. 'They are hunting in an area that is about a thousand miles long and two hundred miles wide. That is a tough job by anyone's standards.' The carnage at Damadola indicates that the hunted is still a step ahead of the hunters.
The Al-Zawahiri file
· Born 1951, Cairo. Son of a chemistry professor. A trained paediatrician.
· Travelled to Pakistan in 1985 after being arrested, imprisoned and tortured in sweep of militants following killing of President Sadat.
· Spent 1991-1996 in Sudan with Osama bin Laden before moving to Afghanistan.
· A key theorist of modern Islamic militancy, he developed strategy of using spectacular violence against American interests to 'wake up the masses'.
· From series of mountain hideouts along Pakistan -Afghanistan frontier he has issued videos and communiqués aimed at inspiring militants
****
_______________________________________________________________________________
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
-
Mary
- YORWW BIBLE ACADEMY GRADUATE (ALUMNI)
- Posts: 294
- Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2004 10:39 am
- Location: 2003 YORWW Bible Academy Graduate
U.S.: 'VERY HIGH' CHANCE OF WMD TERROR STRIKE
U.S.: 'VERY HIGH' CHANCE OF WMD TERROR STRIKE
Tuesday, January 17, 2006; Posted: 3:43 a.m. EST (08:43 GMT)
CNN World News
Source of Article
LONDON, England (AP) -- There is a "very high" probability that a terrorist group will strike using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said in comments published Tuesday.
"I rate the probability of terror groups using (weapons of mass destruction) as very high," U.S. State Department counterterrorism coordinator Henry Crumpton was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph newspaper. "It is simply a question of time."
Crumpton said a biological attack was potentially the most troubling scenario. He said evidence from Afghanistan suggested al-Qaeda had been seeking to develop anthrax before the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001.
"It is not just the nuclear threat that bothers me," he was quoted as saying. "I think, if anything, the biological threat is going to grow."
"As catastrophic as a nuclear attack would be, it would be self-contained. But if you look at a worst-case scenario for a biological attack, it would be difficult to determine whether or not it was a terrorist attack, and it would be far more difficult to contain."
Crumpton told the newspaper that U.S. and international efforts had severely disrupted the al-Qaeda network since the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, but that "in all probability" Osama bin Laden was still alive.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006; Posted: 3:43 a.m. EST (08:43 GMT)
CNN World News
Source of Article
LONDON, England (AP) -- There is a "very high" probability that a terrorist group will strike using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said in comments published Tuesday.
"I rate the probability of terror groups using (weapons of mass destruction) as very high," U.S. State Department counterterrorism coordinator Henry Crumpton was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph newspaper. "It is simply a question of time."
Crumpton said a biological attack was potentially the most troubling scenario. He said evidence from Afghanistan suggested al-Qaeda had been seeking to develop anthrax before the overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001.
"It is not just the nuclear threat that bothers me," he was quoted as saying. "I think, if anything, the biological threat is going to grow."
"As catastrophic as a nuclear attack would be, it would be self-contained. But if you look at a worst-case scenario for a biological attack, it would be difficult to determine whether or not it was a terrorist attack, and it would be far more difficult to contain."
Crumpton told the newspaper that U.S. and international efforts had severely disrupted the al-Qaeda network since the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, but that "in all probability" Osama bin Laden was still alive.
_______________________________________________________________________________
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
-
Mary
- YORWW BIBLE ACADEMY GRADUATE (ALUMNI)
- Posts: 294
- Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2004 10:39 am
- Location: 2003 YORWW Bible Academy Graduate
BIN LADEN OFFERS AMERICANS TRUCE!!!
BIN LADEN OFFERS AMERICANS TRUCE
by Aljazeera
Source of Article
Thursday 19 January 2006 3:39 PM GMT
Bin Laden had not been heard from since December 2004
In an audio tape broadcast on Aljazeera, Osama bin Laden has warned that al-Qaida was preparing an attack very soon, but also offered Americans a "long-term truce".
"The new operations of al-Qaida has not happened not because we could not penetrate the security measures. It is being prepared and you'll see it in your homeland very soon," the voice attributed to bin Laden said, apparently addressing Americans.
But the voice on the tape, which appeared to be aimed at the American public, also offered a truce: "We do not mind establishing a long-term truce between us and you."
The tape, broadcast on Thursday but dated to December last year, comes after a year of silence from the al-Qaida leader.
"This message is about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and how to end those wars," it began.
"It was not my intention to talk to you about this, because those wars are definitely going our way.
"But what triggered my desire to talk to you is the continuous deliberate misinformation given by your President [George] Bush, when it comes to polls made in your home country which reveal that the majority of your people are willing to withdraw US forces from Iraq.
Americans want peace
"We know that the majority of your people want this war to end and opinion polls show the Americans don't want to fight the Muslims on Muslim land, nor do they want Muslims to fight them on their (US) land.
"But Bush does not want this and claims that it's better to fight his enemies on their land rather than on American land.
"Bush tried to ignore the polls that demanded that he end the war in Iraq.
"We are getting increasingly stronger while your situation is getting from bad to worse," he told the US, referring to poor US troop morale and the huge economic losses inflicted by the war.
"The war in Iraq is raging and the operations in Afghanistan are increasing."
Truce offer
"In response to the substance of the polls in the US, which indicate that Americans do not want to fight Muslims on Muslim land, nor do they want Muslims to fight them on their land, we do not mind offering a long-term truce based on just conditions that we will stick to.
"We are a nation that Allah banned from lying and stabbing others in the back, hence both parties of the truce will enjoy stability and security to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan, which were destroyed by war.
"There is no problem in this solution, but it will prevent hundreds of billions from going to influential people and warlords in America - those who supported Bush's electoral campaign - and from this, we can understand Bush and his gang's insistence on continuing the war."
Addressing Americans again, he said: "If your desire for peace, stability and reconciliation was true, here we have given you the answer to your call."
Bin Laden, who had not been heard of since a 27 December 2004 audiotape in which he anointed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man, as al-Qaida's leader in Iraq, also said his network was winning the war against the US.
"I would like to tell you that everything is going to our advantage and the number of your dead is increasing, according to Pentagon figures."
Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's deputy, said in a September videotape that his leader was still alive and leading the jihad against the West.
***
by Aljazeera
Source of Article
Thursday 19 January 2006 3:39 PM GMT
Bin Laden had not been heard from since December 2004
In an audio tape broadcast on Aljazeera, Osama bin Laden has warned that al-Qaida was preparing an attack very soon, but also offered Americans a "long-term truce".
"The new operations of al-Qaida has not happened not because we could not penetrate the security measures. It is being prepared and you'll see it in your homeland very soon," the voice attributed to bin Laden said, apparently addressing Americans.
But the voice on the tape, which appeared to be aimed at the American public, also offered a truce: "We do not mind establishing a long-term truce between us and you."
The tape, broadcast on Thursday but dated to December last year, comes after a year of silence from the al-Qaida leader.
"This message is about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and how to end those wars," it began.
"It was not my intention to talk to you about this, because those wars are definitely going our way.
"But what triggered my desire to talk to you is the continuous deliberate misinformation given by your President [George] Bush, when it comes to polls made in your home country which reveal that the majority of your people are willing to withdraw US forces from Iraq.
Americans want peace
"We know that the majority of your people want this war to end and opinion polls show the Americans don't want to fight the Muslims on Muslim land, nor do they want Muslims to fight them on their (US) land.
"But Bush does not want this and claims that it's better to fight his enemies on their land rather than on American land.
"Bush tried to ignore the polls that demanded that he end the war in Iraq.
"We are getting increasingly stronger while your situation is getting from bad to worse," he told the US, referring to poor US troop morale and the huge economic losses inflicted by the war.
"The war in Iraq is raging and the operations in Afghanistan are increasing."
Truce offer
"In response to the substance of the polls in the US, which indicate that Americans do not want to fight Muslims on Muslim land, nor do they want Muslims to fight them on their land, we do not mind offering a long-term truce based on just conditions that we will stick to.
"We are a nation that Allah banned from lying and stabbing others in the back, hence both parties of the truce will enjoy stability and security to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan, which were destroyed by war.
"There is no problem in this solution, but it will prevent hundreds of billions from going to influential people and warlords in America - those who supported Bush's electoral campaign - and from this, we can understand Bush and his gang's insistence on continuing the war."
Addressing Americans again, he said: "If your desire for peace, stability and reconciliation was true, here we have given you the answer to your call."
Bin Laden, who had not been heard of since a 27 December 2004 audiotape in which he anointed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted man, as al-Qaida's leader in Iraq, also said his network was winning the war against the US.
"I would like to tell you that everything is going to our advantage and the number of your dead is increasing, according to Pentagon figures."
Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's deputy, said in a September videotape that his leader was still alive and leading the jihad against the West.
***
_______________________________________________________________________________
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
-
Mary
- YORWW BIBLE ACADEMY GRADUATE (ALUMNI)
- Posts: 294
- Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2004 10:39 am
- Location: 2003 YORWW Bible Academy Graduate
'IT'S ONLY A QUESTION OF TIME'
Purported bin Laden tape: 'IT'S ONLY A QUESTION OF TIME'
Voice Warns Americans Of Impending Attacks
January 19, 2006
Source of Article
(CNN) -- An audiotaped message purported to be from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden warns the American people that plans for terror attacks in the United States are under way.
"I would like also to say that the war against America and its allies will not be confined to Iraq. Iraq has become a magnet for attracting and training talented fighters," the voice said.
CNN could not immediately confirm that the voice in the poor-quality audiotape, which was aired on Arabic-language network Al-Jazeera on Thursday, was that of bin Laden. However, CNN senior editor for Arab affairs Octavia Nasr said it does sound like the al Qaeda leader.
"Our mujahedeen were able to overcome all the security measures in European countries and you saw their operation in major European capitals," the voice on the tape said.
"As for similar operations taking place in America, it's only a matter of time. They are in the planning stages and you will see them in the heart of your land as soon as the planning is complete."
There is also no way to determine when the message was recorded, but the reference to attacks in European cities could indicate it was recorded after the July 7 bombings on London's transportation system that killed 52 people.
There was no mention in the portions of the tape that were broadcast of the CIA strike on a home in Damadola, Pakistan, on January 13 that targeted senior al Qaeda members who had been expected to attend a dinner there that night. It's not clear if any of them were among the 18 killed.
The man speaking in the audiotape also cited American opinion polls, saying that most Americans want U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq.
"Your President Bush has been misleading you. He has lied when he said that the people are behind him. Opinion polls have indicated that the overwhelming majority of you want him to pull the troops out of our land.
"We have the answer to these misleading information. The situation in Iraq is getting worse for you and the dead and the injured among you is on the rise," the voice on the tape said.
It's not clear exactly what polls he's referencing, but CNN/USA Today/Gallup polls released January 11 regarding the Iraq war showed that 53 percent of those questioned felt things were going badly for the United States in Iraq, and 46 percent thought things were going well.
Half the respondents said it was a bad idea to send U.S. troops to Iraq, while 47 percent said it wasn't. Fifty-two percent said it wasn't worth going to war in Iraq, but 46 percent felt it was.
The message also offered a truce.
"It is obvious now that Bush has been misleading the people. It is better for you not to fight the Muslims on their territory and we offer a long-term truce.
"We are a nation that will not stab people in the back. We would like to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan. There is nothing wrong in this approach. We are aware that the warmongers are against this option," the voice said.
If the voice on the tape is determined to be that of bin Laden, it would be the first message from the al Qaeda leader since he released two audiotaped messages in December 2004.
The first of those messages mentioned the attack on the U.S. Consul offices in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, earlier that month that left five people dead. In the second message, bin Laden anointed terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as his deputy in Iraq.
The last videotaped message from bin Laden was seen just before the U.S. presidential election in 2004.
****
Voice Warns Americans Of Impending Attacks
January 19, 2006
Source of Article
(CNN) -- An audiotaped message purported to be from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden warns the American people that plans for terror attacks in the United States are under way.
"I would like also to say that the war against America and its allies will not be confined to Iraq. Iraq has become a magnet for attracting and training talented fighters," the voice said.
CNN could not immediately confirm that the voice in the poor-quality audiotape, which was aired on Arabic-language network Al-Jazeera on Thursday, was that of bin Laden. However, CNN senior editor for Arab affairs Octavia Nasr said it does sound like the al Qaeda leader.
"Our mujahedeen were able to overcome all the security measures in European countries and you saw their operation in major European capitals," the voice on the tape said.
"As for similar operations taking place in America, it's only a matter of time. They are in the planning stages and you will see them in the heart of your land as soon as the planning is complete."
There is also no way to determine when the message was recorded, but the reference to attacks in European cities could indicate it was recorded after the July 7 bombings on London's transportation system that killed 52 people.
There was no mention in the portions of the tape that were broadcast of the CIA strike on a home in Damadola, Pakistan, on January 13 that targeted senior al Qaeda members who had been expected to attend a dinner there that night. It's not clear if any of them were among the 18 killed.
The man speaking in the audiotape also cited American opinion polls, saying that most Americans want U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq.
"Your President Bush has been misleading you. He has lied when he said that the people are behind him. Opinion polls have indicated that the overwhelming majority of you want him to pull the troops out of our land.
"We have the answer to these misleading information. The situation in Iraq is getting worse for you and the dead and the injured among you is on the rise," the voice on the tape said.
It's not clear exactly what polls he's referencing, but CNN/USA Today/Gallup polls released January 11 regarding the Iraq war showed that 53 percent of those questioned felt things were going badly for the United States in Iraq, and 46 percent thought things were going well.
Half the respondents said it was a bad idea to send U.S. troops to Iraq, while 47 percent said it wasn't. Fifty-two percent said it wasn't worth going to war in Iraq, but 46 percent felt it was.
The message also offered a truce.
"It is obvious now that Bush has been misleading the people. It is better for you not to fight the Muslims on their territory and we offer a long-term truce.
"We are a nation that will not stab people in the back. We would like to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan. There is nothing wrong in this approach. We are aware that the warmongers are against this option," the voice said.
If the voice on the tape is determined to be that of bin Laden, it would be the first message from the al Qaeda leader since he released two audiotaped messages in December 2004.
The first of those messages mentioned the attack on the U.S. Consul offices in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, earlier that month that left five people dead. In the second message, bin Laden anointed terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as his deputy in Iraq.
The last videotaped message from bin Laden was seen just before the U.S. presidential election in 2004.
****
_______________________________________________________________________________
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
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Mary
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TRANSLATION OF ALLEGED BIN LADEN TAPE
TRANSLATION OF ALLEGED BIN LADEN TAPE
Jan. 19, 2006
Source of Article
CBS News
(CBS) The following is a CBS News translation of an audiotape — purportedly of Osama bin Laden — broadcast on Arabic television station al-Jazeera.
The message of mine to you is about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and how to end it.
I did not have the intention to speak to you about this issue, because it is a forgone conclusion to us. Iron is only blunted with iron. Our situation is with the grace of Allah from good to better and your situation is the opposite of this.
However, what prompted me to speak is the repeated deceptions of your president Bush.
In respect of his comment on the opinion polls in America, which alluded to the fact that the overwhelming majority amongst you are in favor of withdrawing the troops from Iraq. However, he objected to this wish and said that the withdrawal of troops would send the wrong message to the enemies … and that it would be better to fight them in their own lands, rather than to have them fight us on our own lands.
And in my response to these deceptions I say: Indeed the war in Iraq is ablaze relentlessly and the operations in Afghanistan are on constant escalation in our favor, with the grace of Allah. The figures released by the Pentagon indicate an increase in the number of your dead and injured, in addition to the tremendous material losses.
Just to reiterate, I say: the result of the survey does satisfy the wise people; and the objection of Bush to them is wrong.
Anyone can testify that the war against America and her allies is no longer confined to Iraq as he claims. Iraq has rather become a point of preparation and mobilization of the qualified capabilities.
On the other hand, the Mujahideen have with the grace of Allah succeeded in breaking through all the security measures undertaken by the transgressing nations time after time, and the evidence for this is what you saw in terms of explosions in the most important capitals of the countries within this belligerent alliance.
As for the delay in carrying out similar operations in America, this was not because of a failure in breaking through your security measures. The operations are being prepared and you will see them in your own backyard as soon as they are ready with the leave of Allah.
****
Jan. 19, 2006
Source of Article
CBS News
(CBS) The following is a CBS News translation of an audiotape — purportedly of Osama bin Laden — broadcast on Arabic television station al-Jazeera.
The message of mine to you is about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and how to end it.
I did not have the intention to speak to you about this issue, because it is a forgone conclusion to us. Iron is only blunted with iron. Our situation is with the grace of Allah from good to better and your situation is the opposite of this.
However, what prompted me to speak is the repeated deceptions of your president Bush.
In respect of his comment on the opinion polls in America, which alluded to the fact that the overwhelming majority amongst you are in favor of withdrawing the troops from Iraq. However, he objected to this wish and said that the withdrawal of troops would send the wrong message to the enemies … and that it would be better to fight them in their own lands, rather than to have them fight us on our own lands.
And in my response to these deceptions I say: Indeed the war in Iraq is ablaze relentlessly and the operations in Afghanistan are on constant escalation in our favor, with the grace of Allah. The figures released by the Pentagon indicate an increase in the number of your dead and injured, in addition to the tremendous material losses.
Just to reiterate, I say: the result of the survey does satisfy the wise people; and the objection of Bush to them is wrong.
Anyone can testify that the war against America and her allies is no longer confined to Iraq as he claims. Iraq has rather become a point of preparation and mobilization of the qualified capabilities.
On the other hand, the Mujahideen have with the grace of Allah succeeded in breaking through all the security measures undertaken by the transgressing nations time after time, and the evidence for this is what you saw in terms of explosions in the most important capitals of the countries within this belligerent alliance.
As for the delay in carrying out similar operations in America, this was not because of a failure in breaking through your security measures. The operations are being prepared and you will see them in your own backyard as soon as they are ready with the leave of Allah.
****
_______________________________________________________________________________
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
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Mary
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CBS News Broadcast on Osama Bin Laden
Below is a link for a SPECIAL CBS News Broadcast talking to a CIA agent who tracked Osama Bin Laden for ten years about this latest threat.
Just click on it and it will load up for you on Windows Media Player.
***SPECIAL CBS NEWS interview with an EXPERT on Osama Bin Laden.***
This tells the whole story.
Just click on it and it will load up for you on Windows Media Player.
***SPECIAL CBS NEWS interview with an EXPERT on Osama Bin Laden.***
This tells the whole story.
_______________________________________________________________________________
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
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WiseButPoorOldMan (Ecclesiastes 9:13-16)
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Israeli Hints at Preparation to Stop Iran
ISRAELI HINTS AT PREPARATION TO STOP IRAN
By JOSEF FEDERMAN
Associated Press Writer
Source of Article
JERUSALEM - Israel's defense minister hinted Saturday that the Jewish state is preparing for military action to stop Iran's nuclear program, but said international diplomacy must be the first course of action.
"Israel will not be able to accept an Iranian nuclear capability and it must have the capability to defend itself, with all that that implies, and this we are preparing," Shaul Mofaz said.
His comments at an academic conference stopped short of overtly threatening a military strike but were likely to add to growing tensions with Iran.
Germany's defense minister said in an interview published Saturday that he is hopeful of a diplomatic solution to the impasse over Iran's nuclear program, but argued that "all options" should remain open.
Asked by the Bild am Sonntag weekly whether the threat of a military solution should remain in place, Franz Josef Jung was quoted as responding: "Yes, we need all options."
French President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that France could respond with nuclear weapons against any state-sponsored terrorist attack.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Saturday that Chirac's threats reflect the true intentions of nuclear nations, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
"The French president uncovered the covert intentions of nuclear powers in using this lever (nuclear weapons) to determine political games," IRNA quoted Asefi as saying.
Israel long has identified Iran as its biggest threat and accuses Tehran of pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran says its atomic program is peaceful.
Iran broke U.N. seals at a uranium enrichment plant Jan. 10 and said it was resuming nuclear research after a 2 1/2-year freeze. Germany, France and Britain said two days later that talks aimed at halting Iran's nuclear progress were at a dead end and called for Iran's referral to the U.N. Security Council.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, will meet Feb. 2 to discuss possible referral.
Israel's Mofaz said sanctions and international oversight of Iran's nuclear program stood as the "correct policy at this time."
In Germany, Jung called himself "confident that there will be a diplomatic solution in the case of Iran."
Israeli leaders have also repeatedly said they hope the crisis can be resolved through diplomacy, and they said any military action would have to be part of an international effort. They have denied having plans for a unilateral preventive strike.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Tehran might still agree to Moscow's offer to move its uranium enrichment program to Russia, a step backed by the United States and Europeans as a way to resolve the deadlock.
Israel's concerns about Iran have grown since the election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said last year that Israel should be "wiped off the map."
On Friday, Iran's Students News Agency reported Friday that Central Bank governor Ebrahim Sheibani said Iran had begun moving its foreign currency reserves from European banks and transferring them to an undisclosed location as protection against possible U.N. sanctions.
Sheibani backed away Saturday from his statement that the transfers were already underway, and Iran's Central Bank said there had been no change in its currency policy.
Estimates put Iranian funds in Europe at as much as $50 billion.
By JOSEF FEDERMAN
Associated Press Writer
Source of Article
JERUSALEM - Israel's defense minister hinted Saturday that the Jewish state is preparing for military action to stop Iran's nuclear program, but said international diplomacy must be the first course of action.
"Israel will not be able to accept an Iranian nuclear capability and it must have the capability to defend itself, with all that that implies, and this we are preparing," Shaul Mofaz said.
His comments at an academic conference stopped short of overtly threatening a military strike but were likely to add to growing tensions with Iran.
Germany's defense minister said in an interview published Saturday that he is hopeful of a diplomatic solution to the impasse over Iran's nuclear program, but argued that "all options" should remain open.
Asked by the Bild am Sonntag weekly whether the threat of a military solution should remain in place, Franz Josef Jung was quoted as responding: "Yes, we need all options."
French President Jacques Chirac said Thursday that France could respond with nuclear weapons against any state-sponsored terrorist attack.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Saturday that Chirac's threats reflect the true intentions of nuclear nations, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
"The French president uncovered the covert intentions of nuclear powers in using this lever (nuclear weapons) to determine political games," IRNA quoted Asefi as saying.
Israel long has identified Iran as its biggest threat and accuses Tehran of pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran says its atomic program is peaceful.
Iran broke U.N. seals at a uranium enrichment plant Jan. 10 and said it was resuming nuclear research after a 2 1/2-year freeze. Germany, France and Britain said two days later that talks aimed at halting Iran's nuclear progress were at a dead end and called for Iran's referral to the U.N. Security Council.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, will meet Feb. 2 to discuss possible referral.
Israel's Mofaz said sanctions and international oversight of Iran's nuclear program stood as the "correct policy at this time."
In Germany, Jung called himself "confident that there will be a diplomatic solution in the case of Iran."
Israeli leaders have also repeatedly said they hope the crisis can be resolved through diplomacy, and they said any military action would have to be part of an international effort. They have denied having plans for a unilateral preventive strike.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Tehran might still agree to Moscow's offer to move its uranium enrichment program to Russia, a step backed by the United States and Europeans as a way to resolve the deadlock.
Israel's concerns about Iran have grown since the election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who said last year that Israel should be "wiped off the map."
On Friday, Iran's Students News Agency reported Friday that Central Bank governor Ebrahim Sheibani said Iran had begun moving its foreign currency reserves from European banks and transferring them to an undisclosed location as protection against possible U.N. sanctions.
Sheibani backed away Saturday from his statement that the transfers were already underway, and Iran's Central Bank said there had been no change in its currency policy.
Estimates put Iranian funds in Europe at as much as $50 billion.
"He that is from God listens to the sayings of God..." -- John 8:47
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WiseButPoorOldMan (Ecclesiastes 9:13-16)
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IRAN WARNS ISRAEL ABOUT ATTACK
Tehran, Iran, Jan. 22, 2006
Source of Article
(AP) Iran on Sunday said Israel would be making a “fatal mistake” should it resort to military action against Tehran's nuclear program and dismissed veiled threats from the Jewish state as a “childish game.”
On Saturday, Israel repeated its stand on the issue, saying it would not accept a nuclear Iran under any circumstances and was preparing for the possible failure of diplomatic efforts.
While Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz stopped short of an outright threat of military action, he said Israel “must have the capability to defend itself, and this we are preparing.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Israel was only trying to add to Western pressure on Iran to give up its nuclear program.
“We consider Mofaz's comments a form of psychological warfare. Israel knows just how much of a fatal mistake it would be (to attack Iran),” Asefi told reporters. “This is just a childish game by Israel.”
Israel views Iran as its biggest threat and has joined Washington in charging that Tehran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for electricity generation.
Israel, whose warplanes destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981, maintains a nuclear monopoly in the Middle East. While it neither acknowledges nor denies nuclear arms, Israel is thought to have about 200 nuclear warheads deployed on ballistic missiles, aircraft and submarines, according to the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Asefi's threats were not limited to Israel. He said dialogue was the best way to settle the dispute and issued a harsh warning to European powers to resume talks.
“We advise them (Europe) not to choose any path except dialogue. If there is retribution to be paid, that will include Europe too,” Asefi said, adding that Iran plans to continue cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Last week, European powers drafted a resolution calling for Iran's referral to the U.N Security Council to resolve its nuclear issue. The resolution, however, stopped short of calling for sanctions.
Several days later, French President Jacques Chirac said that France could respond with nuclear weapons against any state-sponsored terror attack. The comments were seen by some as a reference to Iran.
Iran's nuclear dispute with the West intensified when it removed U.N. seals from its main uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, central Iran, on Jan. 10 and resumed research on nuclear fuel, including small-scale enrichment after a 2-year freeze.
The removal of the seals caused alarm in Western capitals, where Iran is suspected of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop an atomic bomb.
Iran has repeatedly said it is willing to offer guarantees that its nuclear program won't be used to manufacture weapons but it has so far refused to give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel.
Tehran, Iran, Jan. 22, 2006
Source of Article
(AP) Iran on Sunday said Israel would be making a “fatal mistake” should it resort to military action against Tehran's nuclear program and dismissed veiled threats from the Jewish state as a “childish game.”
On Saturday, Israel repeated its stand on the issue, saying it would not accept a nuclear Iran under any circumstances and was preparing for the possible failure of diplomatic efforts.
While Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz stopped short of an outright threat of military action, he said Israel “must have the capability to defend itself, and this we are preparing.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Israel was only trying to add to Western pressure on Iran to give up its nuclear program.
“We consider Mofaz's comments a form of psychological warfare. Israel knows just how much of a fatal mistake it would be (to attack Iran),” Asefi told reporters. “This is just a childish game by Israel.”
Israel views Iran as its biggest threat and has joined Washington in charging that Tehran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for electricity generation.
Israel, whose warplanes destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981, maintains a nuclear monopoly in the Middle East. While it neither acknowledges nor denies nuclear arms, Israel is thought to have about 200 nuclear warheads deployed on ballistic missiles, aircraft and submarines, according to the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Asefi's threats were not limited to Israel. He said dialogue was the best way to settle the dispute and issued a harsh warning to European powers to resume talks.
“We advise them (Europe) not to choose any path except dialogue. If there is retribution to be paid, that will include Europe too,” Asefi said, adding that Iran plans to continue cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Last week, European powers drafted a resolution calling for Iran's referral to the U.N Security Council to resolve its nuclear issue. The resolution, however, stopped short of calling for sanctions.
Several days later, French President Jacques Chirac said that France could respond with nuclear weapons against any state-sponsored terror attack. The comments were seen by some as a reference to Iran.
Iran's nuclear dispute with the West intensified when it removed U.N. seals from its main uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, central Iran, on Jan. 10 and resumed research on nuclear fuel, including small-scale enrichment after a 2-year freeze.
The removal of the seals caused alarm in Western capitals, where Iran is suspected of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to develop an atomic bomb.
Iran has repeatedly said it is willing to offer guarantees that its nuclear program won't be used to manufacture weapons but it has so far refused to give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel.
"He that is from God listens to the sayings of God..." -- John 8:47
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Mary
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AL-QAIDA NO. 2 CALLS BUSH ‘FAILURE,’ ‘BUTCHER,’ THREATENS US
Al-Zawahri in first video since failed U.S. strike
AL-QAIDA NO. 2 CALLS BUSH ‘FAILURE,’ ‘BUTCHER,’ THREATENS NEW AMERICAN ATTACK
The Associated Press
Updated: 3:50 p.m. ET Jan. 30, 2006
Source of Article
CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri said in a videotape aired Monday that President Bush was a “butcher” and a “failure” because of a deadly U.S. airstrike in Pakistan targeting the bin Laden deputy, and he threatened a new attack on the United States.
Al-Zawahri, shown in the video wearing white robes and a white turban, said a Jan. 13 airstrike in the eastern village of Damadola killed “innocents,” and he said the United States had ignored an offer from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden for a truce.
“Butcher of Washington, you are not only defeated and a liar, but also a failure. You are a curse on your own nation, and you have brought and will bring them only catastrophes and tragedies,” he said, referring to Bush.
“Bush do you know where I am? I am among the Muslim people enjoying what God has given me from their support and their care and their generosity and their protection, and their participating in jihad until we defeat you, by Allah's grace and help.”
Civilian deaths angered Pakistanis
The airstrike hit a building in Damadola, where U.S. intelligence believed al-Zawahri had been attending an Islamic holiday dinner. The strike killed four al-Qaida leaders — including a man believed to be al-Zawahri’s son-in-law — but intelligence officials said later they believe al-Zawahri sent his aides to the dinner in his place.
Thirteen villagers also were killed in the strike, angering many Pakistanis.
“The American planes raided in compliance with Musharraf the traitor and his security apparatus, the slave of the Crusaders and the Jews,” he said, referring to Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
“In seeking to kill my humble self and four of my brothers, the whole world has discovered the extent of America’s lies and failures and the extent of its savagery in fighting Islam and Muslims.”
Video is new
The video was al-Zawahri’s first appearance since the airstrike and came 11 days after the latest audiotape by bin Laden. IntelCenter, a contractor working with U.S. intelligence agencies, said the video of al-Zawahri is new.
The last video from al-Zawahri came Jan. 6, when he called the U.S. decision to withdraw some troops from Iraq a victory for the Islamic world.
The Al-Jazeera newscaster said Monday the network was airing excerpts, and it showed two short segments. It was not immediately known how long the entire tape was.
In the video, al-Zawahri spoke before a black background. No automatic weapon was visible, unlike past videos by the al-Qaida deputy in which a gun often appeared leaning next to him. In the bottom left corner, the video had the logo in Arabic and English of Al-Sahab, an al-Qaida video production company that made some past videos by bin Laden and al-Zawahri.
“My second message is to the American people, who are drowning in illusions. I tell you that Bush and his gang are shedding your blood and wasting your money in frustrated adventures,” he said, speaking in a forceful and angry voice.
Rage at coalition
“The lion of Islam, Sheik Osama bin Laden, may God protect him, offered you a decent exit from your dilemma. But your leaders, who are keen to accumulate wealth, insist on throwing you in battles and killing your souls in Iraq and Afghanistan and — God willing — on your own land.”
Al-Zawahri then vented more fury at the United States and Britain, its main coalition partner in Iraq.
“Your leaders responded to the initiative of sheik Osama, may God protect him, by saying they don’t negotiate with terrorists and that they are winning the war on terror. I tell them: You liars, greedy war mongers, who is pulling out from Iraq and Afghanistan? Us or you? Whose soldiers are committing suicide because of despair? Us or you?” he said.
“You, American mother, if the Pentagon calls to tell you that your son is coming home in a coffin, then remember George Bush. And you, British wife, if the Defense Department calls you to say that your husband is returning crippled and burnt, remember Tony Blair.”
The video came in the wake of a Jan. 19 audiotape by bin Laden in which he warned that al-Qaida is preparing attacks in the United States but offered a truce “with fair conditions” to build Iraq and Afghanistan.
No conditions on truce
The al-Qaida leader did not spell out conditions for a truce in the excerpts aired by Al-Jazeera.
U.S. officials said after the bin Laden tape that they had no sign that al-Qaida was preparing an imminent attack in the United States.
In an Arabic transcription of the entire tape on the Al-Jazeera Web site — but not aired — bin Laden made an oblique reference to how to prevent new attacks on the United States but did not specify if those were conditions for a truce.
The tape was the first message from bin Laden in more than a year. The CIA authenticated the voice on the tape as that of bin Laden. Al-Jazeera said the tape was recorded in the Islamic month that corresponds with December.
The White House firmly rejected bin Laden’s suggestion of a negotiated truce. “We don’t negotiate with terrorists,” Vice President Dick Cheney said at the time. “I think you have to destroy them.”
During the year of silence from bin Laden, al-Zawahri issued several video and audiotapes, including one claiming al-Qaida responsibility for the July 7 London bombings.
NBC News' Alfred Arian contributed to this report.
© 2006 MSNBC.com
AL-QAIDA NO. 2 CALLS BUSH ‘FAILURE,’ ‘BUTCHER,’ THREATENS NEW AMERICAN ATTACK
The Associated Press
Updated: 3:50 p.m. ET Jan. 30, 2006
Source of Article
CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri said in a videotape aired Monday that President Bush was a “butcher” and a “failure” because of a deadly U.S. airstrike in Pakistan targeting the bin Laden deputy, and he threatened a new attack on the United States.
Al-Zawahri, shown in the video wearing white robes and a white turban, said a Jan. 13 airstrike in the eastern village of Damadola killed “innocents,” and he said the United States had ignored an offer from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden for a truce.
“Butcher of Washington, you are not only defeated and a liar, but also a failure. You are a curse on your own nation, and you have brought and will bring them only catastrophes and tragedies,” he said, referring to Bush.
“Bush do you know where I am? I am among the Muslim people enjoying what God has given me from their support and their care and their generosity and their protection, and their participating in jihad until we defeat you, by Allah's grace and help.”
Civilian deaths angered Pakistanis
The airstrike hit a building in Damadola, where U.S. intelligence believed al-Zawahri had been attending an Islamic holiday dinner. The strike killed four al-Qaida leaders — including a man believed to be al-Zawahri’s son-in-law — but intelligence officials said later they believe al-Zawahri sent his aides to the dinner in his place.
Thirteen villagers also were killed in the strike, angering many Pakistanis.
“The American planes raided in compliance with Musharraf the traitor and his security apparatus, the slave of the Crusaders and the Jews,” he said, referring to Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
“In seeking to kill my humble self and four of my brothers, the whole world has discovered the extent of America’s lies and failures and the extent of its savagery in fighting Islam and Muslims.”
Video is new
The video was al-Zawahri’s first appearance since the airstrike and came 11 days after the latest audiotape by bin Laden. IntelCenter, a contractor working with U.S. intelligence agencies, said the video of al-Zawahri is new.
The last video from al-Zawahri came Jan. 6, when he called the U.S. decision to withdraw some troops from Iraq a victory for the Islamic world.
The Al-Jazeera newscaster said Monday the network was airing excerpts, and it showed two short segments. It was not immediately known how long the entire tape was.
In the video, al-Zawahri spoke before a black background. No automatic weapon was visible, unlike past videos by the al-Qaida deputy in which a gun often appeared leaning next to him. In the bottom left corner, the video had the logo in Arabic and English of Al-Sahab, an al-Qaida video production company that made some past videos by bin Laden and al-Zawahri.
“My second message is to the American people, who are drowning in illusions. I tell you that Bush and his gang are shedding your blood and wasting your money in frustrated adventures,” he said, speaking in a forceful and angry voice.
Rage at coalition
“The lion of Islam, Sheik Osama bin Laden, may God protect him, offered you a decent exit from your dilemma. But your leaders, who are keen to accumulate wealth, insist on throwing you in battles and killing your souls in Iraq and Afghanistan and — God willing — on your own land.”
Al-Zawahri then vented more fury at the United States and Britain, its main coalition partner in Iraq.
“Your leaders responded to the initiative of sheik Osama, may God protect him, by saying they don’t negotiate with terrorists and that they are winning the war on terror. I tell them: You liars, greedy war mongers, who is pulling out from Iraq and Afghanistan? Us or you? Whose soldiers are committing suicide because of despair? Us or you?” he said.
“You, American mother, if the Pentagon calls to tell you that your son is coming home in a coffin, then remember George Bush. And you, British wife, if the Defense Department calls you to say that your husband is returning crippled and burnt, remember Tony Blair.”
The video came in the wake of a Jan. 19 audiotape by bin Laden in which he warned that al-Qaida is preparing attacks in the United States but offered a truce “with fair conditions” to build Iraq and Afghanistan.
No conditions on truce
The al-Qaida leader did not spell out conditions for a truce in the excerpts aired by Al-Jazeera.
U.S. officials said after the bin Laden tape that they had no sign that al-Qaida was preparing an imminent attack in the United States.
In an Arabic transcription of the entire tape on the Al-Jazeera Web site — but not aired — bin Laden made an oblique reference to how to prevent new attacks on the United States but did not specify if those were conditions for a truce.
The tape was the first message from bin Laden in more than a year. The CIA authenticated the voice on the tape as that of bin Laden. Al-Jazeera said the tape was recorded in the Islamic month that corresponds with December.
The White House firmly rejected bin Laden’s suggestion of a negotiated truce. “We don’t negotiate with terrorists,” Vice President Dick Cheney said at the time. “I think you have to destroy them.”
During the year of silence from bin Laden, al-Zawahri issued several video and audiotapes, including one claiming al-Qaida responsibility for the July 7 London bombings.
NBC News' Alfred Arian contributed to this report.
© 2006 MSNBC.com
_______________________________________________________________________________
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
-
Mary
- YORWW BIBLE ACADEMY GRADUATE (ALUMNI)
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- Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2004 10:39 am
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PALESTINIAN REFUGEES CALLED ON OSAMA BIN LADEN AND AL ZARQAW
PALESTINIAN REFUGEES CALLED ON OSAMA BIN LADEN AND ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI TO PROTECT THE ISLAM
3 February 2006
Source of Article
FOCUS News Agency
Ain el-Helweh. Palestinian refugees enraged over the publication in Europe of cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed called Friday on Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his lieutenant in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, to defend Islam, AFP reported.
"Punish those who have wronged Islam!" shouted Abu Sharif, head of the Sunni Muslim fundamentalist group Osbat al-Ansar to a group of more than 6,000 people assembled after Friday prayers in the Ein el-Helweh refugee camp, many of them brandishing portraits of the two Al-Qaeda leaders.
***
3 February 2006
Source of Article
FOCUS News Agency
Ain el-Helweh. Palestinian refugees enraged over the publication in Europe of cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed called Friday on Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his lieutenant in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, to defend Islam, AFP reported.
"Punish those who have wronged Islam!" shouted Abu Sharif, head of the Sunni Muslim fundamentalist group Osbat al-Ansar to a group of more than 6,000 people assembled after Friday prayers in the Ein el-Helweh refugee camp, many of them brandishing portraits of the two Al-Qaeda leaders.
***
_______________________________________________________________________________
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
-
Mary
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DANISH EMBASSY IN BEIRUT TORCHED
DANISH EMBASSY IN BEIRUT TORCHED
Thousands of protesters rallied outside Beirut's Danish embassy
2006/02/05 13:47:05 GMT
BBC News
Source of Article
Lebanese demonstrators have set the Danish embassy in Beirut on fire in protest at the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
Denmark urged its citizens to leave the country as soon as possible.
The violence came a day after mobs in neighbouring Syria torched the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus in anger at the pictures.
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller urged anti-Danish protesters in Muslim countries to calm tensions.
"It is a critical situation and it is very serious," Mr Moeller told Danish public radio.
The cartoons first appeared in a Danish newspaper in September and caused outrage among Muslims, who consider any images of Muhammad offensive.
One of the cartoons shows Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban.
Global anger
CARTOON ROW
Newspapers across Europe have republished the pictures in recent days, saying they are defending freedom of expression.
Huge crowds attended Sunday's protest in Beirut. It turned violent after Islamic extremists tried to break though security barriers protecting the Danish embassy building.
Some 2,000 riot police and army troops fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd and fired their weapons into the air.
But smoke was later seen rising from the building after demonstrators broke into it.
Some protesters threw stones at the security forces and burned Danish flags. Security officials said at least 18 people were injured, AP news agency reported. The embassy building, which also houses commercial offices, was believed to be unoccupied.
Some people in the crowd are not happy with the violence, thinking this was going to be a peaceful demonstration, reports the BBC's Jim Muir from the scene of the violence.
He says some of the wilder elements in the crowd have succeeded in turning it into a very angry and quite violent demonstration.
In other developments:
The US also criticised Syria's approach, saying it was "inexcusable" for such damage to be inflicted on diplomatic missions.
***
Thousands of protesters rallied outside Beirut's Danish embassy
2006/02/05 13:47:05 GMT
BBC News
Source of Article
Lebanese demonstrators have set the Danish embassy in Beirut on fire in protest at the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
Denmark urged its citizens to leave the country as soon as possible.
The violence came a day after mobs in neighbouring Syria torched the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus in anger at the pictures.
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller urged anti-Danish protesters in Muslim countries to calm tensions.
"It is a critical situation and it is very serious," Mr Moeller told Danish public radio.
The cartoons first appeared in a Danish newspaper in September and caused outrage among Muslims, who consider any images of Muhammad offensive.
One of the cartoons shows Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban.
Global anger
CARTOON ROW
- 30 Sept: Danish paper publishes cartoons
20 Oct: Muslim ambassadors complain to Danish PM
10 Jan: Norwegian publication reprints cartoons
26 Jan: Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador
30 Jan: Gunmen raid EU's Gaza office demanding apology
31 Jan: Danish paper apologises
1 Feb: Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprint cartoons
4 Feb: Syrians attack Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus
Newspapers across Europe have republished the pictures in recent days, saying they are defending freedom of expression.
Huge crowds attended Sunday's protest in Beirut. It turned violent after Islamic extremists tried to break though security barriers protecting the Danish embassy building.
Some 2,000 riot police and army troops fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd and fired their weapons into the air.
But smoke was later seen rising from the building after demonstrators broke into it.
Some protesters threw stones at the security forces and burned Danish flags. Security officials said at least 18 people were injured, AP news agency reported. The embassy building, which also houses commercial offices, was believed to be unoccupied.
Some people in the crowd are not happy with the violence, thinking this was going to be a peaceful demonstration, reports the BBC's Jim Muir from the scene of the violence.
He says some of the wilder elements in the crowd have succeeded in turning it into a very angry and quite violent demonstration.
In other developments:
- Hundreds of people rally in Afghanistan in protest at the cartoons
- Jordanian authorities arrest two tabloid editors for printing the cartoons
- Iran recalls its ambassador to Denmark
- An Iraqi militant group in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi calls for attacks on Danish and non-Muslim targets in Iraq
- Britain's main opposition Conservative Party says slogans by anti-Danish protesters in London amount to incitement to murder
- Denmark and Norway condemned Syria for failing to stop Saturday's attacks in Damascus and urged their citizens to leave the country.
The US also criticised Syria's approach, saying it was "inexcusable" for such damage to be inflicted on diplomatic missions.
***
_______________________________________________________________________________
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
-
Mary
- YORWW BIBLE ACADEMY GRADUATE (ALUMNI)
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U.N.: U.S. TORTURES GUANTANAMO DETAINEES
U.N.: U.S. TORTURES GUANTANAMO DETAINEES
U.S. takes issue with preliminary report; document urges closing prison
NBC News and news services
Updated: 7:47 p.m. ET Feb. 13, 2006
Source of Article
UNITED NATIONS - A U.N. investigation has concluded that the United States committed acts amounting to torture at Guantanamo Bay, including force-feeding detainees and subjecting them to prolonged solitary confinement, according to a draft report obtained Monday.
U.S. officials rejected the report, saying it was riddled with errors and treated statements from detainees’ lawyers as fact.
The report from five U.N. human rights experts also recommended the United States close Guantanamo Bay and revoke all special interrogation techniques authorized by the Department of Defense.
It accused the United States of violating the detainees’ rights to a fair trial, to freedom of religion and to health.
The report also said that although 30 days of isolation was the maximum permissible period, some detainees were put back into solitary confinement after very short breaks and lived in “quasi-isolation for up to 18 months.”
Using photos and video, the report said some prisoners transported to Guantanamo were shackled, chained, hooded, kicked and stripped.
‘Amounting to torture’
“The excessive violence used in many cases during transportation ... and forced-feeding of detainees on hunger strike must be assessed as amounting to torture,” it said.
The draft report, which follows repeated claims by prisoners at Guantanamo Bay that they have been mistreated or denied their rights, was delivered to the United States on Jan. 16. It was first disclosed Sunday by the Los Angeles Times.
Harsh conditions, including placing detainees in solitary confinement, stripping them naked, subjecting them to severe temperatures or threatening them with dogs could amount to torture, if used simultaneously, the report said. Forced-feeding of hunger strikers through nasal tubes caused intense pain, bleeding and vomiting.
Regarding hunger strike allegations, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said prison doctors follow “accepted international practice” and treat those on hunger strike in a “humane way.”
Based on peacetime laws
American officials said the most significant flaw of the report was that it judged U.S. treatment of detainees according to peacetime human rights laws. The United States contends it is in a state of conflict and should be judged according to the laws of war.
“Once you fail to even acknowledge that as the legal basis for what we’re doing, much of the legal analysis that follows just doesn’t hold,” a State Department official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the United States has not formulated an official public response to the draft.
The five U.N. experts have mandates that cover torture, freedom of religion, health, independent judiciary and arbitrary detention. They started working together in June 2004 to monitor conditions at Guantanamo Bay.
They were appointed to their three-year terms by the 53-nation U.N. Human Rights Commission, the global body’s top rights watchdog.
About 500 people are being held in Guantanamo on suspicion of links to al-Qaida or Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban government, and charges have been filed against 10 detainees.
The draft report, which will be presented to the next session of the rights commission, dismissed the U.S. claim that the war on terror constitutes an armed conflict. It also said that the detainees at Guantanamo had a right to challenge their detention, and that right was being violated.
‘Serious violations’
“In the case of the Guantanamo Bay detainees the U.S. executive operates as judge, as prosecutor, and as defense counsel,” the report said. “This constitutes serious violations of various guarantees of the right to a fair trial before an independent trial.”
Manfred Nowak, the U.N. special investigator on torture and one of the five experts, said the report was a draft and had not incorporated U.S. comments. It was expected to be made public later in the week.
“It is a preliminary version,” Nowak said, refusing to comment on its substance. “This is an unauthorized preliminary report which might be changed.”
U.S. officials faulted the experts for rejecting an invitation to visit Guantanamo Bay, saying it fundamentally undermined the accuracy of their findings.
“The U.N. rapporteurs were invited to visit Guantanamo Bay, and they chose not to,” said Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations in New York. “Had they visited, they would have found that there is no torture going on.”
In an unusually heated briefing Monday, McCormack added that the United States made a “good faith offer” to the U.N. envoys to visit the prison.
The five experts had sought invitations from the United States to visit Guantanamo Bay since 2002 and accepted the offer in December. But they reversed that decision when they were told they would not be allowed to interview detainees.
McCormack dodged questions about whether it would have been possible for the envoys to do a complete report without access to detainees.
“Fact-finding on the spot has to include interviews with detainees,” Nowak said. “What’s the sense of going to a detention facility and doing fact-finding when you can’t speak to the detainees? It’s just nonsense.”
The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC News contributed to this report.
U.S. takes issue with preliminary report; document urges closing prison
NBC News and news services
Updated: 7:47 p.m. ET Feb. 13, 2006
Source of Article
UNITED NATIONS - A U.N. investigation has concluded that the United States committed acts amounting to torture at Guantanamo Bay, including force-feeding detainees and subjecting them to prolonged solitary confinement, according to a draft report obtained Monday.
U.S. officials rejected the report, saying it was riddled with errors and treated statements from detainees’ lawyers as fact.
The report from five U.N. human rights experts also recommended the United States close Guantanamo Bay and revoke all special interrogation techniques authorized by the Department of Defense.
It accused the United States of violating the detainees’ rights to a fair trial, to freedom of religion and to health.
The report also said that although 30 days of isolation was the maximum permissible period, some detainees were put back into solitary confinement after very short breaks and lived in “quasi-isolation for up to 18 months.”
Using photos and video, the report said some prisoners transported to Guantanamo were shackled, chained, hooded, kicked and stripped.
‘Amounting to torture’
“The excessive violence used in many cases during transportation ... and forced-feeding of detainees on hunger strike must be assessed as amounting to torture,” it said.
The draft report, which follows repeated claims by prisoners at Guantanamo Bay that they have been mistreated or denied their rights, was delivered to the United States on Jan. 16. It was first disclosed Sunday by the Los Angeles Times.
Harsh conditions, including placing detainees in solitary confinement, stripping them naked, subjecting them to severe temperatures or threatening them with dogs could amount to torture, if used simultaneously, the report said. Forced-feeding of hunger strikers through nasal tubes caused intense pain, bleeding and vomiting.
Regarding hunger strike allegations, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said prison doctors follow “accepted international practice” and treat those on hunger strike in a “humane way.”
Based on peacetime laws
American officials said the most significant flaw of the report was that it judged U.S. treatment of detainees according to peacetime human rights laws. The United States contends it is in a state of conflict and should be judged according to the laws of war.
“Once you fail to even acknowledge that as the legal basis for what we’re doing, much of the legal analysis that follows just doesn’t hold,” a State Department official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the United States has not formulated an official public response to the draft.
The five U.N. experts have mandates that cover torture, freedom of religion, health, independent judiciary and arbitrary detention. They started working together in June 2004 to monitor conditions at Guantanamo Bay.
They were appointed to their three-year terms by the 53-nation U.N. Human Rights Commission, the global body’s top rights watchdog.
About 500 people are being held in Guantanamo on suspicion of links to al-Qaida or Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban government, and charges have been filed against 10 detainees.
The draft report, which will be presented to the next session of the rights commission, dismissed the U.S. claim that the war on terror constitutes an armed conflict. It also said that the detainees at Guantanamo had a right to challenge their detention, and that right was being violated.
‘Serious violations’
“In the case of the Guantanamo Bay detainees the U.S. executive operates as judge, as prosecutor, and as defense counsel,” the report said. “This constitutes serious violations of various guarantees of the right to a fair trial before an independent trial.”
Manfred Nowak, the U.N. special investigator on torture and one of the five experts, said the report was a draft and had not incorporated U.S. comments. It was expected to be made public later in the week.
“It is a preliminary version,” Nowak said, refusing to comment on its substance. “This is an unauthorized preliminary report which might be changed.”
U.S. officials faulted the experts for rejecting an invitation to visit Guantanamo Bay, saying it fundamentally undermined the accuracy of their findings.
“The U.N. rapporteurs were invited to visit Guantanamo Bay, and they chose not to,” said Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. mission to the United Nations in New York. “Had they visited, they would have found that there is no torture going on.”
In an unusually heated briefing Monday, McCormack added that the United States made a “good faith offer” to the U.N. envoys to visit the prison.
The five experts had sought invitations from the United States to visit Guantanamo Bay since 2002 and accepted the offer in December. But they reversed that decision when they were told they would not be allowed to interview detainees.
McCormack dodged questions about whether it would have been possible for the envoys to do a complete report without access to detainees.
“Fact-finding on the spot has to include interviews with detainees,” Nowak said. “What’s the sense of going to a detention facility and doing fact-finding when you can’t speak to the detainees? It’s just nonsense.”
The Associated Press, Reuters and NBC News contributed to this report.
_______________________________________________________________________________
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
-
WiseButPoorOldMan (Ecclesiastes 9:13-16)
- YORWW CONGREGATION MODERN DAY SERVANT
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Libya Suspends Official After Deadly Riots
LIBYA SUSPENDS OFFICIAL AFTER DEADLY RIOTS
By KHALED EL-DEEB, Associated Press Writer
Source of Article
TRIPOLI, Libya - Libya suspended its interior minister Saturday, citing an "excessive use of force" in riots the day before that left at least 10 people dead in the bloodiest protest yet against the Prophet Muhammad cartoons roiling the Muslim world.
The controversy claimed another political casualty in Italy as Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli offered his resignation after wearing a T-shirt featuring the drawings, a provocative move blamed for Friday's protests at the Italian consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi, in which at least 10 people were killed.
In eastern Pakistan, police opened fire on a mob trying to burn down shops, the latest in a spate of cartoon protests that have killed five people in the conservative country. At least four people were injured in the city of Chaniot, said police officer Mohammad Ishaq.
Pakistani authorities, meanwhile, imposed a ban on rallies in Islamabad ahead of a planned protest Sunday. In the southern city of Karachi, though, about 12,000 women joined a rally organized by the country's oldest and best-organized religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami.
"We want that those who drew these blasphemous cartoons to be hanged," Aysha Munawar, a senior party leader, told the crowd.
In London, more than 10,000 people joined an angry but peaceful protest against the drawings. "Free speech cheap insults," read some placards. "How dare you insult the blessed Prophet Muhammad?" asked another.
At least 29 people have been killed in protests across the Muslim world, according to a count by The Associated Press.
Also Saturday, some 1,000 Muslims protested peacefully in Indian-controlled Kashmir, carrying banners reading "We love our Prophet" and "Down with enemies of Islam."
Libya's parliamentary secretariat announced the suspension of Interior Minister Nasr al-Mabrouk and said all those involved in Friday's riots "and the officials responsible for them" should be referred to investigations and to the courts.
"We condemn the excessive use of force and the inappropriate way that went beyond the limits of carrying out the duties of the police," the secretariat said in a statement.
It also declared Sunday a day of mourning for "our martyr sons."
Libyan security officials said 11 people were killed or wounded during the riot in the eastern city when police firing bullets and tear gas tried to contain more than 1,000 demonstrators hurling rocks and bottles. The casualties included police officers.
Rioters charged the consular compound and set fire to the first floor of the building, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.
Domenico Bellantone, an Italian diplomat, said 10 or 11 people — all Libyan — had died.
The riot appeared to be a reaction to Calderoli's decision to wear a T-shirt printed with the cartoons. His declaration that he would do so was widely published in Libya.
Calderoli, a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League Party, wore the T-shirt beneath a suit on Friday and showed it off during an appearance on television. Hours later, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi asked for his resignation.
Calderoli said Saturday he had agreed to offer his resignation to stop "the shameful exploitation which in these hours has been directed against me," the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
There was no demonstration outside the Italian Embassy in Tripoli, a possible indication of greater state control in the capital. Politics is tightly controlled in Libya — a former Italian colony — and open dissent is rare.
The Italian ambassador to Tripoli met late Friday with the Libyan interior minister "who expressed the condemnation of his government for the acts of violence occurring in Benghazi," the Italian Foreign Ministry said.
In London, demonstrators carried placards reading "Europe lacks respect for others," and "Don't they teach manners in Denmark?"
Police said about 10,000 people were present. The Muslim Action Committee, which organized the protest, estimated that 20,000 people were there. There were no reports of violence.
On Friday, a Pakistani cleric announced a $1 million bounty for killing the cartoonist but did not give a name — apparently unaware that 12 different people had drawn the pictures. Denmark temporarily closed its embassy in Pakistan and advised its citizens to leave the country.
The Danish newspaper that first printed the caricatures in September, the Jyllands-Posten, has since apologized to Muslims for the cartoons, one of which shows Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban. Other Western newspapers, mostly in Europe, have reprinted the pictures, asserting their news value and the right to freedom of expression.
Mogens Blicher Bjerregaard, president of the Danish Journalist Union and spokesman for the cartoonists, who have been living under police protection since last year, condemned the bounty offer.
"It is totally absurd what is happening. The cartoonists just did their job and they did nothing illegal," he said.
___
Associated Press writers Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Jennifer Price in London contributed to this report.
By KHALED EL-DEEB, Associated Press Writer
Source of Article
TRIPOLI, Libya - Libya suspended its interior minister Saturday, citing an "excessive use of force" in riots the day before that left at least 10 people dead in the bloodiest protest yet against the Prophet Muhammad cartoons roiling the Muslim world.
The controversy claimed another political casualty in Italy as Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli offered his resignation after wearing a T-shirt featuring the drawings, a provocative move blamed for Friday's protests at the Italian consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi, in which at least 10 people were killed.
In eastern Pakistan, police opened fire on a mob trying to burn down shops, the latest in a spate of cartoon protests that have killed five people in the conservative country. At least four people were injured in the city of Chaniot, said police officer Mohammad Ishaq.
Pakistani authorities, meanwhile, imposed a ban on rallies in Islamabad ahead of a planned protest Sunday. In the southern city of Karachi, though, about 12,000 women joined a rally organized by the country's oldest and best-organized religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami.
"We want that those who drew these blasphemous cartoons to be hanged," Aysha Munawar, a senior party leader, told the crowd.
In London, more than 10,000 people joined an angry but peaceful protest against the drawings. "Free speech cheap insults," read some placards. "How dare you insult the blessed Prophet Muhammad?" asked another.
At least 29 people have been killed in protests across the Muslim world, according to a count by The Associated Press.
Also Saturday, some 1,000 Muslims protested peacefully in Indian-controlled Kashmir, carrying banners reading "We love our Prophet" and "Down with enemies of Islam."
Libya's parliamentary secretariat announced the suspension of Interior Minister Nasr al-Mabrouk and said all those involved in Friday's riots "and the officials responsible for them" should be referred to investigations and to the courts.
"We condemn the excessive use of force and the inappropriate way that went beyond the limits of carrying out the duties of the police," the secretariat said in a statement.
It also declared Sunday a day of mourning for "our martyr sons."
Libyan security officials said 11 people were killed or wounded during the riot in the eastern city when police firing bullets and tear gas tried to contain more than 1,000 demonstrators hurling rocks and bottles. The casualties included police officers.
Rioters charged the consular compound and set fire to the first floor of the building, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.
Domenico Bellantone, an Italian diplomat, said 10 or 11 people — all Libyan — had died.
The riot appeared to be a reaction to Calderoli's decision to wear a T-shirt printed with the cartoons. His declaration that he would do so was widely published in Libya.
Calderoli, a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League Party, wore the T-shirt beneath a suit on Friday and showed it off during an appearance on television. Hours later, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi asked for his resignation.
Calderoli said Saturday he had agreed to offer his resignation to stop "the shameful exploitation which in these hours has been directed against me," the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
There was no demonstration outside the Italian Embassy in Tripoli, a possible indication of greater state control in the capital. Politics is tightly controlled in Libya — a former Italian colony — and open dissent is rare.
The Italian ambassador to Tripoli met late Friday with the Libyan interior minister "who expressed the condemnation of his government for the acts of violence occurring in Benghazi," the Italian Foreign Ministry said.
In London, demonstrators carried placards reading "Europe lacks respect for others," and "Don't they teach manners in Denmark?"
Police said about 10,000 people were present. The Muslim Action Committee, which organized the protest, estimated that 20,000 people were there. There were no reports of violence.
On Friday, a Pakistani cleric announced a $1 million bounty for killing the cartoonist but did not give a name — apparently unaware that 12 different people had drawn the pictures. Denmark temporarily closed its embassy in Pakistan and advised its citizens to leave the country.
The Danish newspaper that first printed the caricatures in September, the Jyllands-Posten, has since apologized to Muslims for the cartoons, one of which shows Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban. Other Western newspapers, mostly in Europe, have reprinted the pictures, asserting their news value and the right to freedom of expression.
Mogens Blicher Bjerregaard, president of the Danish Journalist Union and spokesman for the cartoonists, who have been living under police protection since last year, condemned the bounty offer.
"It is totally absurd what is happening. The cartoonists just did their job and they did nothing illegal," he said.
___
Associated Press writers Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Jennifer Price in London contributed to this report.
"He that is from God listens to the sayings of God..." -- John 8:47
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Mary
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AT LEAST 15 DIE IN NIGERIA CARTOON PROTEST
AT LEAST 15 DIE IN NIGERIA CARTOON PROTEST
By NJADVARA MUSA,
Source of Article
Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 5 minutes ago
Nigerian Muslims protesting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad attacked Christians and burned churches on Saturday, killing at least 15 people in the deadliest confrontation yet in the whirlwind of Muslim anger over the drawings.
It was the first major protest to erupt over the issue in Africa's most populous nation. An Associated Press reporter saw mobs of Muslim protesters swarm through the city center with machetes, sticks and iron rods. One group threw a tire around a man, poured gas on him and set him ablaze.
In Libya, the parliament suspended the interior minister after at least 11 people died when his security forces attacked rioters who torched the Italian consulate in Benghazi.
Right-wing Italian Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli resigned under pressure, accused of fueling the fury in Benghazi by wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with one of the offending cartoons, first published in September in a Danish newspaper.
Danish church officials met with a top Muslim cleric in Cairo, meanwhile, but made no significant headway in defusing the conflict.
And in what has become a daily event, tens of thousands of Muslims protested — this time in Britain, Pakistan and Austria — to denounce the perceived insult.
But it was in Nigeria, where mutual suspicions between Christians and Muslims have led to thousands of deaths in recent years, that tensions boiled over into sectarian violence.
Thousands of rioters burned 15 churches in Maiduguri in a three-hour rampage before troops and police reinforcements restored order, Nigerian police spokesman Haz Iwendi said. Iwendi said security forces arrested dozens of people in the city about 1,000 miles northeast of the capital, Lagos.
Chima Ezeoke, a Christian Maiduguri resident, said protesters attacked and looted shops owned by minority Christians, most of them with origins in the country's south.
"Most of the dead were Christians beaten to death on the streets by the rioters," Ezeoke said. Witnesses said three children and a priest were among those killed.
The Danish cartoons, including one showing Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban with an ignited fuse, have set off sometimes violent protests around the world.
After the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten printed the caricatures in September, other Western newspapers, mostly in Europe, followed suit, asserting their news value and the right to freedom of expression.
But Nigeria has been spared much of the violence seen elsewhere in the world, though lawmakers in the heavily Muslim state of Kano burned Danish and Norwegian flags and barred Danish companies from bidding on a major construction project. Kano lawmakers also called on the state's 5 million people to boycott Danish goods.
Nigeria, with a population of more than 130 million, is roughly divided between a predominantly Muslim north and a mainly Christian south.
With Saturday's deaths, at least 45 people have been killed in protests across the Muslim world, according to a count by The Associated Press.
In the violence in Libya, Seif el-Islam Gadhafi, the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, said four of the 11 dead were believed to have been Egyptians or Palestinians.
"Setting the consulate on fire was a mistake, but using excessive force was the most tragic response," the younger Gadhafi said, explaining the suspension of Interior Minister Nasr al-Mabrouk.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi blamed the riots in Libya, Italy's former colony, on "thoughtless action by our minister," the Italian news agency ANSA quoted him as saying.
Calderoli said he wore the shirt to show "solidarity to all those who were hit by the blind violence of religious fanaticism." He said he did not intend "to offend the Muslim religion nor to be the pretext for yesterday's violence."
At the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, U.S. Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes said U.S. newspapers generally did not reprint the caricatures "because they recognize they are deeply offensive, even blasphemous to the precious convictions of our Muslim friends and neighbors."
In Cairo, Bishop Karsten Nissen, of Denmark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, met with Grand Imam Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi of al-Azhar University, the world's highest Sunni Muslim seat of learning.
Tantawi said the Danish prime minister must apologize for the drawings and further demanded that the world's religious leaders meet to write a law that "condemns insulting any religion, including the Holy Scriptures and the prophets." He said the United Nations should impose the law on all countries.
In response, Nissen did not address the issue of a global law but said it was impossible for Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to apologize.
"I have brought to his excellency (Tantawi) the apology of the newspaper, but our prime minister did not draw these cartoons. Our prime minister is not the editor of this newspaper. He cannot apologize for something he did not do," Nissen said.
In Pakistan on Sunday, police raided offices and homes of dozens of radical Islamic leaders, putting several under house arrest and detaining hundreds of their associates to foil a rally in the capital, officials said.
So far the West and Islamic nations remain at loggerheads over fundamental, but conflicting cultural imperatives — the Western democratic assertion of a right to free speech and press freedom, versus the Islamic dictum against any representation of the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims say such depictions could encourage idolatry.
___
Associated Press writer Dulue Mbachu in Lagos and Khaled al-Deeb in Tripoli, Libya, contributed to this report.
By NJADVARA MUSA,
Source of Article
Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 5 minutes ago
Nigerian Muslims protesting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad attacked Christians and burned churches on Saturday, killing at least 15 people in the deadliest confrontation yet in the whirlwind of Muslim anger over the drawings.
It was the first major protest to erupt over the issue in Africa's most populous nation. An Associated Press reporter saw mobs of Muslim protesters swarm through the city center with machetes, sticks and iron rods. One group threw a tire around a man, poured gas on him and set him ablaze.
In Libya, the parliament suspended the interior minister after at least 11 people died when his security forces attacked rioters who torched the Italian consulate in Benghazi.
Right-wing Italian Reforms Minister Roberto Calderoli resigned under pressure, accused of fueling the fury in Benghazi by wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with one of the offending cartoons, first published in September in a Danish newspaper.
Danish church officials met with a top Muslim cleric in Cairo, meanwhile, but made no significant headway in defusing the conflict.
And in what has become a daily event, tens of thousands of Muslims protested — this time in Britain, Pakistan and Austria — to denounce the perceived insult.
But it was in Nigeria, where mutual suspicions between Christians and Muslims have led to thousands of deaths in recent years, that tensions boiled over into sectarian violence.
Thousands of rioters burned 15 churches in Maiduguri in a three-hour rampage before troops and police reinforcements restored order, Nigerian police spokesman Haz Iwendi said. Iwendi said security forces arrested dozens of people in the city about 1,000 miles northeast of the capital, Lagos.
Chima Ezeoke, a Christian Maiduguri resident, said protesters attacked and looted shops owned by minority Christians, most of them with origins in the country's south.
"Most of the dead were Christians beaten to death on the streets by the rioters," Ezeoke said. Witnesses said three children and a priest were among those killed.
The Danish cartoons, including one showing Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban with an ignited fuse, have set off sometimes violent protests around the world.
After the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten printed the caricatures in September, other Western newspapers, mostly in Europe, followed suit, asserting their news value and the right to freedom of expression.
But Nigeria has been spared much of the violence seen elsewhere in the world, though lawmakers in the heavily Muslim state of Kano burned Danish and Norwegian flags and barred Danish companies from bidding on a major construction project. Kano lawmakers also called on the state's 5 million people to boycott Danish goods.
Nigeria, with a population of more than 130 million, is roughly divided between a predominantly Muslim north and a mainly Christian south.
With Saturday's deaths, at least 45 people have been killed in protests across the Muslim world, according to a count by The Associated Press.
In the violence in Libya, Seif el-Islam Gadhafi, the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, said four of the 11 dead were believed to have been Egyptians or Palestinians.
"Setting the consulate on fire was a mistake, but using excessive force was the most tragic response," the younger Gadhafi said, explaining the suspension of Interior Minister Nasr al-Mabrouk.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi blamed the riots in Libya, Italy's former colony, on "thoughtless action by our minister," the Italian news agency ANSA quoted him as saying.
Calderoli said he wore the shirt to show "solidarity to all those who were hit by the blind violence of religious fanaticism." He said he did not intend "to offend the Muslim religion nor to be the pretext for yesterday's violence."
At the U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, U.S. Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes said U.S. newspapers generally did not reprint the caricatures "because they recognize they are deeply offensive, even blasphemous to the precious convictions of our Muslim friends and neighbors."
In Cairo, Bishop Karsten Nissen, of Denmark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, met with Grand Imam Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi of al-Azhar University, the world's highest Sunni Muslim seat of learning.
Tantawi said the Danish prime minister must apologize for the drawings and further demanded that the world's religious leaders meet to write a law that "condemns insulting any religion, including the Holy Scriptures and the prophets." He said the United Nations should impose the law on all countries.
In response, Nissen did not address the issue of a global law but said it was impossible for Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to apologize.
"I have brought to his excellency (Tantawi) the apology of the newspaper, but our prime minister did not draw these cartoons. Our prime minister is not the editor of this newspaper. He cannot apologize for something he did not do," Nissen said.
In Pakistan on Sunday, police raided offices and homes of dozens of radical Islamic leaders, putting several under house arrest and detaining hundreds of their associates to foil a rally in the capital, officials said.
So far the West and Islamic nations remain at loggerheads over fundamental, but conflicting cultural imperatives — the Western democratic assertion of a right to free speech and press freedom, versus the Islamic dictum against any representation of the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims say such depictions could encourage idolatry.
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Associated Press writer Dulue Mbachu in Lagos and Khaled al-Deeb in Tripoli, Libya, contributed to this report.
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"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw
"All great truths begin as blasphemies."
George Bernard Shaw