Biblical countries, in the news.

[Shammu]

Germany: Iranian letter attacks Israel

By GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press Writer 19 minutes ago

BERLIN - A letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the German chancellor made statements about Israel and the Holocaust that are "not acceptable," the government said Friday.

The letter to Germany, which is among the countries leading diplomatic efforts to resolve concerns over Iran's nuclear program, does not mention that issue, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said. Rather, the letter was devoted largely to criticism of Israel.

"It contains many statements that are not acceptable to us, in particular about Israel, the state of Israel's right to exist and the Holocaust," Wilhelm said.

The letter does not address the current fighting in Lebanon and Israel, he said.

Germany has sharply criticized anti-Israeli comments by Ahmadinejad, who has labeled the Holocaust a myth and called for Israel's destruction.

"Our position on these questions is known," Wilhelm said, adding that Chancellor Angela Merkel repeatedly has said that Israel's right to exist is a cornerstone of German policy and "it is in no way acceptable to us to question it."

Denying the Holocaust is a crime in Germany, where it carries a maximum sentence of five years.

The German government does not plan to reply to Ahmadinejad, Wilhelm said, adding that Berlin instead would continue supporting multilateral efforts to persuade Iran to suspend its nuclear program.

While Ahmadinejad's letter did not mention Iran's nuclear program, Wilhelm said it noted that there was "a great interest on the part of Iran to achieve cooperation."

Wilhelm did not elaborate on the letter's contents and said the government did not plan to release the text.

Germany and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council offered a package of incentives to persuade Iran to suspend uranium enrichment — a process that can produce material for atomic weapons as well as fuel for reactors.

The incentives, offered to Tehran on June 6, include advanced technology and the easing of U.S. sanctions on the sale of aircraft and aircraft parts.

Last week, the world powers decided to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council, saying it had taken too long to reply and had given no sign of wanting to negotiate in earnest over its nuclear ambitions.

On Thursday, Iran's Supreme National Security Council said the Islamic republic would reply Aug. 22 but suggested it was likely to reject the main point of the West's proposals: the imposition of a long-term moratorium on enrichment.

A spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, Mikhail Kamynin, criticized Iran's statement on the incentives, saying it contained no new ideas or signs that Tehran was ready for constructive talks, news agencies reported Friday.

In May, Ahmadinejad sent an 18-page letter to President Bush that also did not address the nuclear issue and was dismissed promptly by Washington.

While that letter marked a diplomatic overture, it was laced with old grievances against the United States and spelled out a long list of Iranian demands.

Germany: Iranian letter attacks Israel

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Iranian, Islamofascist Backed Hezbollah Attack Really About U.S.
By Jim Kouri
Jul 21, 2006

There are a number of this writer's friends in the intelligence community who are beginning to believe the current violence between the Iranian-Syrian backed Hezbollah and Israel may be about more than just hatred for the Jewish State.  It may be about hurting the American economy and weakening, further, Americans' resolve to battle terrorism.

The evidence can already be seen in the US: the stockmarket is becoming unstable and oil prices are predicted to soar higher than even in the dark days of gaslines and President Jimmy Carter's "Win" buttons.

The Iranians and Syrians are quite aware that an unstable Middle East translates into an unstable American economy which in turn translates into a barrage of anti-Bush rhetoric by the Democrats and the news media.  The Islamofascists know their best weapon against the US in order to get our military out of Iraq is a continuously violent insurgency coupled with a practically coordinated media blitz against the U.S. president who is becoming weaker by the day.  The Islamofascists know that if Americans must pay a dollar more per gallon of gasoline, they will blame the president.  American soldiers in Iraq are too close for comfort for the Iranian and Syrian governments.  They are in full agreement with American lawmakers such as John Murtha and John Kerry -- redeployment of American troops would be a blessing.

One can see this coordinated attack from the Islamofascists' useful idiots almost from the start of the conflict in the Middle East.  For instance, the head of the Democrat National Committee Howard Dean telling a cheering crowd of partisan automatons that if the Democrats were in-charge none of what we're seeing in the Middle East would be happening.  Besides sounding like the ranting of a lunatic, for Dean's assertion to even remotely approach reality, one must erase the entire eight years when indeed the Democrats were in-charge.  The Clinton appeasement plan was a miserable failure.  Like Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of the Nazis, it was a postponement of the inevitable using taxpayer money to buy off geopolitical problems.

One of the biggest myths perpetrated on the American people by the Democrats and their friends in the media is that "Clinton brought peace between Israel and the Palestinians."  The billions of dollars that Clinton gave Yasser Arafat ended up in the "father of modern terrorism's" Swiss bank accounts.
Continue reading this article below

Too be sure, Bush wasn't very successful either, but he did provide the Israelis and Palestinians with a Roadmap to Peace.  Unfortunately, while the Israelis tried their damnedest to follow the roadmap, including giving up Gaza and pulling out the Jewish settlers, the Palestinian people decided during their elections to reward the ruthless terrorist group Hamas with even more political power.  Meanwhile, that geopolitical genius Jimmy Carter boasted that at least Hamas wasn't corrupt, which was good news for the Palestinians but bad news for the Israelis.  (It's no secret that Carter walked a line separating diplomacy and anti-Semitism).

While the U.S. continues its own war on terrorism, the Democrats take their usual potshots at the Bush team, especially Secretary of State Condi Rice.  Senator Ted Kennedy, in his standard bully boy rhetoric, practically ordered Rice to go to the Middle East to talk, discuss and negotiate.

But with whom should she talk?  With whom would she negotiate?  With terrorists?  With Iran?  With Syria?  And what would they discuss?  Hezbollah will not disarm.  Hamas?  They will not repudiate their call for the destruction of Israel.  In the case of Iran, how do you negotiate with a country in which, according to a Zogby poll, 67% of the people say Israel should not exist.

The popular DNC talking point echoed by the news media is that Bush is "disengaged."  I wish they would explain how he's disengaged.  To his credit, Bush is not going to be a hypocrite and ask Israel NOT to retaliate against terrorist attacks, when the U.S. has retaliated against terrorist attacks by invading Afghanistan and Iraq.

President Bush, who is wrong on many issues, is right on this one.  Let Israel do what it must do to protect their people and their nation.  If that means the destruction of Lebanon, so be it.  If it means bombing the Iranians, so be it.  If it means toppling the Baath Party's stranglehold on Syria, so be it.

Only a coward would negotiate with people while they are murdering those he's sworn to protect.

Iranian, Islamofascist Backed Hezbollah Attack Really About U.S.

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Annan outlines plans for immediate end of violence in Lebanon

UNITED NATIONS, July 20 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed on Thursday a package of actions aimed at achieving a lasting solution to the conflict between Israel and Lebanon.

    "What is most urgently needed is an immediate cessation of hostilities," Annan told the Security Council upon his return to UN Headquarters.

    He hoped the end of the violence would prevent further loss of innocent life and the infliction of further suffering, allow full humanitarian access to those in need, and give diplomacy a chance to work out a practical package of actions that would provide a lasting solution to the current crisis.

    However, the secretary-general was blunt in describing the findings of the mission he sent to the region, headed by his Special Adviser Vijay Nambiar.

    "Let me be frank with the Council," he said. "The mission's assessment is that there are serious obstacles to reaching a ceasefire, or even to diminishing the violence quickly."

    At the same time, Annan sternly criticized what Hezbollah has done, saying "Hezbollah's provocative attack on July 12 was the trigger of this crisis."

    "They hold an entire nation hostage, set back prospects for negotiation of a comprehensive Middle East peace," he observed.

    Meanwhile, Annan objected any analogy between the current Lebanese government and Afghanistan under the Taliban, saying such kind of analogy is "wholly misleading."

    "It deserves, and must receive, all possible support from the international community," he added.

    Despite the fact that "a full ceasefire remains difficult to achieve at this time," the UN chief said the international community must make its position clear on "the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities, and a far greater and more credible effort by Israel to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure while the conditions for such a cessation are urgently developed."

    He thus called for the stop of fighting against each other between Hezbollah and Israel, the release of the abducted soldiers, and access of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Lebanon with Israel's cooperation.

    Annan also stressed the importance of continuing diplomatic efforts "to develop a political framework which can be implemented as soon as hostilities cease.

Annan outlines plans for immediate end of violence in Lebanon

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Reservists Called to Active Duty in Israel
 

Thousands of Israeli reservists were called to active dutyBy Staff

(EUNN) London - Israel today called several thousand reservists to active military duty as ground forces there prepare to cross into Lebanon in what diplomats called a "mop up" of Hezbollah militants in what is now the 10th day of consecutive violence following the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice is flying to the Middle East to meet with allied leaders there in hopes of working out a peaceful end to the fighting.  Israel has said that it would accept a multinational ground force of troops in Lebanon, but only after it finishes destroying Hezbollah strongholds.  Rice too has said that Hezbollah is the cause of all the trouble there and blamed Syria and Iran for supporting the terrorist group.  US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, has said that while a Middle East program to develop peace within the region needs to be agreed to, it would be pointless as long as Hezbollah was left to interfere.

This morning, Israeli military began amassing tanks and armored vehicles along Lebanon's northern border with some ground forces already inside Lebanese territory while calling up thousands of reservists to active duty.  The move infers that Israel intends on taking the fight with Hezbollah inside their territory.

In an interview to the Arab Satellite Channel of al-Jazira Thursday, Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut said that Israel has not damaged Hezbollah as much as it says and that it's arsenal of missiles is far greater than Israel believes.

Nasrallah said that negotiations for release of the Israeli soldiers was a possibility, but only through indirect negotiations, suggesting that a prisoner exchange would be in order.  Israel has said under the current circumstances that it will release any prisoners until after its kidnapped soldiers are returned safely and then it would not commit, but only agree to talks.

For the second day, Israel dropped leaflets in Hezbollah-dominated areas of south Lebanon warning residents to move north of the Litani River. The leaflets also hinted at the prospect of wider Israeli ground operations.

Nasrallah denied allegations the two Israeli soldiers kidnappings had any thing to do with decisions made by Syria or Iranian, saying "this is shameful and trivial talk that aimed to empty the resistance from its content and change it into an instrument."

Nasrallah's comments suggest that both Syria and Iran are growing concerned about the attention Hezbollah is drawing towards those Middle Eastern countries.

"We are friends of Syria and Iran and made use of this friendship for Lebanon," said Nasrallah.  "but others exploited friendship with Syria for self-interests," underlining that "Hezbollah is not fighting but for Lebanon and any other talk is an insult to our nationalism and commitment."

Reservists Called to Active Duty in Israel

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Rice To Visit Israel, Rome for Talks on Mideast Crisis

Secretary of state calls for plan to ensure stable, enduring peace in region

By Lea Terhune
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced plans to travel to Rome the week of July 23, where she will meet with members of the “Lebanon Core Group” to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hizballah. She also will stop in Israel and the Palestinian Territories to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. She plans to depart July 23.

In Rome, representatives of the Core Group, which includes Lebanon, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the European Union, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Nations and the World Bank, will work to develop a plan for a sustainable resolution to the violence between Israel and Hizballah.  Discussions will focus on political issues, security concerns, humanitarian needs, and support for the economic reconstruction of Lebanon, according to a State Department official.

“We do seek an end to the current violence, and we seek it urgently. More than that, we also seek to address the root causes of that violence so that a real and endurable peace can be established,” Rice said at a State Department press conference July 21.

In a separate briefing, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs David Welch told reporters, “We are not delaying here. If we can put in place the conditions tomorrow for a cease-fire, obviously we would do so.  But we believe that it’s going to take some time – it doesn’t necessarily have to take a lot of time, and the less time it takes the better – we can put together elements for a more stable situation than we see right now.”

While reiterating Israel’s right to defend itself “in response to Hizballah’s outrageous provocation in an already tense region,” Rice said, “We urge Israel’s leaders to do so with the greatest possible care to avoid harming innocent civilians, and with care to protect civilian infrastructure.” She blamed Hizballah for initiating the violence and called for the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers.

Rice said Israel has responded positively to proposals “to open up a humanitarian corridor” so that international assistance can flow to the victims of the hostilities. She added that the United States intends to give Lebanon “direct humanitarian assistance.”

Creating a framework for lasting peace is the goal of the discussions in Rome, rather than a temporary cease-fire, which would be “a guarantee of future violence,” she said.

“You can't have a situation in which the south of Lebanon is a haven for unauthorized, armed groups that sit and fire rockets into Israel, plunging the entire country into chaos, when the Lebanese government did not even know that this was going to be done,” the secretary said.

Welch called Hizballah’s actions an assault on Lebanese democracy and said the United States would respond vigorously as a reflection of its commitment to the spread of democracy in the Middle East.

“There is nothing more anti-democratic than usurping the authority of the state to launch an act of warfare against a neighbor without the consent of the people or the state,” he said.

Rice advocated a framework of conflict resolution “along three tracks: political, economic and security.” In her view, the crisis likely will require a “robust” stabilization force to support the Lebanese government in deployment of its military forces throughout its territory. She said the composition of an international force is being considered, but that she does not expect U.S. ground forces to take part in the mission.

After a series of discussions with leaders from the Group of Eight (G8), several Arab countries and the United Nations team that just returned from the Middle East, Rice said,  “I think we are beginning to see the outlines of a political framework that might allow the cessation of violence in a more sustainable way.”

She spoke of Lebanon as a “young government” that requires international assistance to regain and maintain stability. She said the United States remains committed to supporting the Lebanese government.

Welch said the Rome meeting also would serve to rally the international assistance Lebanon needs.  “I think Lebanon will enjoy a great deal of international support.  I think we will be able to muster a strong consensus to assist that country,” he said.

Rice To Visit Israel, Rome for Talks on Mideast Crisis

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Muslims in Asia protest Israeli attacks

Muslims throughout Asia have held angry protests against Israel's bombardment of Lebanon, denouncing the Jewish state and demanding the United Nations take action to halt the violence.

Irwan Firdaus

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Muslims throughout Asia have held angry protests against Israel's bombardment of Lebanon, denouncing the Jewish state and demanding the United Nations take action to halt the violence.

Police used batons and smoke grenades to break up hundreds of protesters who had blocked traffic in Kashmir. Demonstrators in Pakistan burned Israeli and US flags, and protesters in Indonesia and Malaysia accused the Jewish state of terrorism.

Malaysia's foreign minister, who will next week host a gathering of his Southeast Asian counterparts and meetings due to include US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, urged a cease- fire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters.

"We don't want an expansion of the crisis, we want a cease-fire," said Syed Hamid Albar. "We want to see a more balanced and just world."

Protesters gathered across Asia Friday after Islamic prayers.

In Jakarta, hundreds of people blocked traffic at a key road junction waving banners and Palestinian flags.

"We condemn the attack by Israel on Palestinian territories and on Lebanon," protest organizer Nana Juhana said. "Israel should stop the atrocities against civilians in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip."

A similar protest was held in Ambon, a city in central Indonesia, which is home to more Muslims than any other country. In Pakistan, religious leaders condemned Israel and conducted prayers for the safety of Lebanese and Palestinians in mosques across the country. People also rallied in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

Malaysian protesters, many of them linked to the ruling party, rallied outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur, chanting, "Destroy Israel, down with Israel" and setting fire to Israeli flags.

Activists handed US diplomats a memorandum demanding the UN Security Council take action to stop Israeli bombardments.

"This is nothing short of murder and genocide," said Khairy Jamaluddin, the deputy leader of the ruling party's youth wing and an organizer of the protest.

"Israel is a terrorist state and it must be brought to justice.".

About 500 people protested at three sites in Srinagar, the capital of India's part of the predominantly Muslim territory of Kashmir.

In Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka, Muslims marched outside the main Baitul Mokarram mosque carrying banners reading, "Stop attacks on Lebanon" and "Down with Israel."

Muslims in Asia protest Israeli attacks

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Syrians Demonstrate Israeli Attack on Lebanon
 

Hezbollah supporters demonstrate against Israel in DamascusBy Staff

(EUNN) London - A well-organized crowd of Hezbollah supporters demonstrated in Damascus, Syria against the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, waving Hezbollah flags in a show of support of Lebanese and Palestinians, shouting for Israel to end the violence, the Syrian News Agency reported.

The angry crowds burned the Israeli flag, as participants raised the Syrian-Lebanese and the Palestinian flags and photos of President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nassrallah. They chanted slogans advocating the Lebanese resistance like " Thousands Greetings to Lebanese Resistance" and " Resistance is the Freedom Symbol."

A Hezbollah-backed student organization called "Students National Union in Syria" through what they called the "Commission to Support the National Lebanese Resistance" allegedly were the supporters of the demonstration in Damascus Thursday evening.

The Commission released a statement that said the demonstration was over Israel's killing of innocent civilians, including women and children, as well the destruction of Lebanese civilian infrastructures.  But while Israel has attacked civilian infrastructures which caused the deaths of the civilian population, Israel says it has attacked known locations of Hezbollah militants and then only when their was the least amount of civilians in the area.

Recently, Israeli Air Force planes bombed a Hezbollah bunker in Beirut extensively, said to be where Lebanese Hezbollah leaders were hold up.  Hezbollah has denied that any leaders of its organization were at that location and that the bombing was an intentional attack on civilians.

Many refugees have been passing through Damascus to flee the fighting in Lebanon.  A group calling itself the "Higher Committee to Boost the Lebanese People Steadfastness" discussed in a meeting last night how Syrians could make financial donations for what it called the "brothers fighting in Lebanon, suggesting that Hezbollah was attempting to raise money to support its clash with Israel.

Speeches made at the demonstration denounced the US for supporting Israel's attack on Lebanon and Palestine by not intervening.

Syrians Demonstrate Israeli Attack on Lebanon

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The war gets wider and worse

Leader
Saturday July 22, 2006
The Guardian

It would be astonishing if Hizbullah and Israel were not now both reflecting on the old adage that it is easier to start a war than to stop one. A week ago it seemed reasonable to predict that a few days of Israeli bombardment would be followed by a ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners - because the stakes were just too high for any other outcome. Israeli officials spoke then of needing 72 hours to crush their enemy as the US, tacitly backed by Britain, sidestepped increasingly urgent demands - from Lebanon, the UN, France and others - for an immediate cessation of hostilities. Ten days on, the rockets are still flying, bombs falling and innocent civilians dying or fleeing for their lives. Apparent preparations for substantial Israeli ground operations in south Lebanon yesterday opened up new dangers that must include the risk of a clash with Syria.

Article continues
Through the smoke of battle, several alarming themes have become apparent. The first is that the US has lost much influence as a result of the war in Iraq and its acquiescence in the deadlock of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel's siege of Gaza is an indispensable part of the disaster now unfolding further north. George Bush has no leverage with Iran and Syria, Hizbullah's patrons, and backs Israel's actions as part of the "war on terror". But if Hizbullah were just "a bunch of terrorists", as the US envoy John Bolton put it as he played for time at the UN, things would be simpler - just as they might be if the Islamists of Hamas could be dismissed in the same glib way.

Hizbullah is a radical Shia organisation with deep roots in Lebanon, as well as powerful backers in Tehran and Damascus who have agendas of their own and are content to let others die in a proxy war with Israel and the US. If many Lebanese began a dreadful week blaming Hizbullah for provoking Israel, more ended it by directing their fury at Israel for ripping their country apart in a rerun of 1982. Even if Israel could defeat the guerrillas - a very big if, judging by the missiles falling on Haifa - could it do so without destroying Lebanon or triggering a new civil war? As Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, put it, Hizbullah is using Lebanon as a human shield as Israel hammers it mercilessly.

A second source of concern is the way Hizbullah is now being feted across the Arab world. The conservative Sunni regimes which are US allies - Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states - were already worried about the Shia ascendancy in Iraq and the growth of Iranian influence. But too many Arabs prefer a violent confrontation with Israel to the equivocations of their rulers. And that, thirdly, by feeding hatred, augurs badly for already slim hopes that a peace settlement can ever be negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians. In Israel it is hard to see Ehud Olmert following last year's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza with a similar pullout from the West Bank.

These bleak future prospects are overshadowed by many clear and present dangers. An immediate ceasefire to halt the suffering must remain the priority for the international community, because every day that goes by without one will make a terrible situation worse. Condoleezza Rice should insist on one before her far too leisurely departure for Israel tomorrow. Until the shooting stops, both sides should reread the Geneva conventions and allow the creation of humanitarian corridors to let civilians flee the killing grounds. Relief agencies and the Red Crescent must be given access to all battle zones. Mediation should be launched to free Israeli soldiers and Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners so there is a mechanism for each side to back down. The US, Europe, the UN and others will then have to work out in good faith just how they will help keep a very volatile peace. For if outsiders do not make the necessary effort, it will only be a matter of time before it all happens again.

The war gets wider and worse

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France, others mobilize aid to Lebanon as Israel promises safe passage

By Angela Charlton
ASSOCIATED PRESS

3:22 p.m. July 21, 2006

PARIS – France mobilized Friday to send urgent aid to Lebanon, the Red Cross managed to get relief supplies to the south – and Israel agreed to allow a safe corridor crucial to ensuring that food and medicine reaches those in need.

International efforts to get humanitarian aid to Lebanon appeared to be getting off the ground at last. Demands mounted for safe passage for aid to millions of Lebanese increasingly isolated by Israel's air and sea blockade.

Israeli airstrikes have demolished bridges and main roads across southern Lebanon, making movement difficult and dangerous. Some villages have been almost completely cut off, and many civilian cars and trucks have been hit on the roads. In the only confirmed strike on an aid delivery, a convoy carrying medical supplies sent from the United Arab Emirates was hit Tuesday, setting a truck on fire and damaging another.

Responding to intense international pressure, including an appeal from the United States, Israel's U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman said he expected a corridor for food, medicine and other supplies to be opened later Friday or Saturday.

The Israeli army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said in Tel Aviv on Friday that Israel had decided to allow a safe path for evacuations, and another corridor for humanitarian aid, “out of an understanding for the developing difficulty.”

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said French humanitarian aid arriving Friday on a French ship at the south Lebanese port of Sidon would be allowed through.

Several countries pledged to contribute to international aid efforts, though France was one of the few to organize relief on its own. France has historic ties to Lebanon and has been instrumental in the international push to end the violence.

Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said during a visit to Beirut on Friday that France was dispatching urgent aid to Lebanon by air and sea, and pleaded for safe passage.

The son of slain Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Hariri thanked French President Jacques Chirac on Friday for his diplomatic efforts, saying “without France, the humanitarian corridor wouldn't be possible.”

Aid workers are worried about decreasing supplies of safe water and sanitation, but say it is difficult to assess needs because they're having trouble moving around the country.

The International Committee of the Red Cross on Friday made its first attempt since the fighting began July 12 to supply the coastal city of Tyre in southern Lebanon.

The convoy arrived after a six-hour journey over war-damaged roads from Beirut. The relief effort – coordinated with Israeli authorities – brought 24 tons of food, medical supplies and other assistance to the port city, according to spokesman Vincent Lusser.

UNICEF will be delivering water kits, purification tablets, water containers, essential drugs and toys over the weekend to Damascus for road shipment to Lebanon.

“We're talking about kids that have suffered from scars that have been inflicted over the last few days that are likely to last a generation. Finding some way to find some kind of normalcy in a completely abnormal situation is another one of our priorities,” UNICEF spokeswoman Wivina Belmonte said.

Stockpiles of aid supplies are growing as countries worldwide pledge funds.

“The international community must help, and quickly,” Norwegian Prime Ministers Jens Stoltenberg said, pledging $32 million in aid to Lebanon and the Palestinians.

Britain's Department for International Development announced $4.95 million in aid to be sent through the EU and international agencies. It was also arranging for humanitarian and reconstruction advisers to be sent to the region.

Greece delivered 22 tons of medical and other aid to Beirut Friday on a Greek Navy ship. Doctors accompanied the shipments of medical materials, tents, blankets and canned food.

Turkey's Red Crescent announced it would ship food, medicine, diapers and baby food to a logistics center in Syria next week for distribution by the Lebanese Red Cross.

Iranian newspapers and state-run television have carried bank account numbers for government aid donations for Lebanese civilians. Iran's Health Ministry said it was prepared to send medical supplies and treat Lebanese war casualties at Iranian hospitals.

An overall U.N. appeal for aid was to be launched Monday in New York. U.N. officials estimated half a million people have been displaced by fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militias based in southern Lebanon.

Bernard Kouchner, co-founder of Doctors Without Borders and the first U.N. administrator for Kosovo, said humanitarian corridors were not enough.

“That won't settle the fundamental problem,” he said on France Inter radio, calling for an immediate cease-fire and a U.N. resolution allowing for military force.

France, others mobilize aid to Lebanon as Israel promises safe passage

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Israel 'plans quick raids, not full invasion'
 
1.00pm Saturday July 22, 2006
 
BEIRUT - The Israeli army plans to step up incursions into southern Lebanon but not launch a mass invasion in its war against Hizbollah, an Israeli military source said today.
 
Thousands of Lebanese civilians have fled north fearing Israel would invade and expand its 11-day-old bombardment of Lebanon which has killed 345 people, mostly civilians.
 
Israeli war planes overnight launched one of their heaviest raids yet on the town of al-Khiam, just north of the border, and destroyed five trucks in strikes in eastern Lebanon, witnesses said.
 
Israel on Friday ordered several thousand reserves to report for duty. The call-up came a day after Defence Minister Amir Peretz spoke of a possible land offensive. Israel wants to stop Hizbollah from firing rockets into its northern territory.
 
Hizbollah rockets, reaching as far as Haifa, have killed 15 civilians in Israel in the war. Nineteen soldiers have also been killed.
 
An Israeli military source said the army intended to step up pinpoint incursions into the south but not launch a mass invasion. "You should not expect a full-scale incursion into Lebanon," the source told Reuters.
 
"We are already inside Lebanon and troops will continue to operate there because it is the only way to act against Hizbollah bunkers there," the source said.
 
The war started when Hizbollah abducted two soldiers on July 12 in a raid into Israel.
 
Amid mounting world alarm at the war, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced a diplomatic drive but said the conflict's root causes had to be tackled before a truce.
 
Calling the abduction an "outrageous provocation", Rice said she would visit the Middle East next week and attend an Italian-hosted international conference in Rome on Wednesday in a bid to secure lasting peace.
 
The United States, Israel's main ally, has rebuffed Lebanon's appeals for an immediate UN-backed cease-fire, saying this would not last unless Hizbollah guerrillas, backed by Syria and Iran, were prevented from attacking the Jewish state.
 
Elite Israeli troops have been launching small-scale raids in Lebanon to try to stop Hizbollah rocket attacks. But Israel has been wary of launching a full-scale invasion, only six years after it ended a costly 22-year occupation of the south.
 
The Jewish state's military chief, Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz, said Israeli forces had killed nearly 100 Hizbollah fighters in the offensive. The guerrilla group says only six of its fighters have been killed.
 
Lebanese families packed into cars and pickup trucks and clogged roads to the north after Israeli planes dropped leaflets on Friday warning residents of south Lebanon to flee for safety beyond the Litani river, about 20 km from the border.
 
An estimated 300,000 mostly Shi'ite Muslim Lebanese normally reside south of the Litani. There was no word on how many have already fled the bombing and fighting of the past few days. Air raids have wrecked many roads and bridges in the region.
 
Israel responded to humanitarian concerns about its blockade of Lebanon, saying it would ease humanitarian access.
 
UN relief agencies have called for safe passage to take vital medical and food supplies to tens of thousands who have fled their homes. The government estimates 500,000 have been displaced by the war.
 
Thousands of foreigners have been evacuated from Lebanon. Turkey received hundreds of Canadian evacuees on Friday, having offered to ease the strain on Cyprus which had warned it could not longer cope with the numbers arriving from Lebanon.
 
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was involved in brokering a 2004 prisoner swap between Israel and Hizbollah, also plans a trip to the Middle East next week.
 
But a UN envoy, reporting to the Security Council after talks with Israeli officials, said the Jewish state would not negotiate with Hizbollah through third parties, as in the past, for the release of captured soldiers.
 
Israel has also waged a military campaign in Gaza since June 28 to recover another soldier, seized by Palestinian militants.
 
In Gaza, Palestinian medics said Israeli shelling killed a Hamas militant and four civilians on Friday, as tanks and troops withdrew from a refugee camp after a three-day assault.

Israel 'plans quick raids, not full invasion'

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 Moscow residents protest against Israel's atrocities in Lebanon
Moscow, July 21, IRNA

Russia-Israel-Rally
A group of people in Moscow held a demonstration in front of the Zionist regime's mission in the Russian capital on Friday protesting against Israel's savage offensive in Lebanon.

The demonstration, organized by Russia's Communist Party, was attended by a number of Moscow-based Palestinians.

Chanting anti-Israeli slogans, the demonstrators issued a statement calling for the halt of the ongoing bloodshed and war in Lebanon.

The Zionist regime has commenced a fresh wave of heavy military attacks against civilian targets in Palestine and Lebanon since about ten days ago.

During the period, the Zionist troops launched massive air and ground attacks against the defenseless people in Lebanon which left about 300 dead and over 1,000 injured.

Over half a million of the Lebanese citizens were also displaced by the savage attacks.

Moscow residents protest against Israel's atrocities in Lebanon

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 Syrian citizens protest against Israel's atrocities in Lebanon
Damascus, July 21, IRNA

Syria-Israel-Rally
Thousands of Syrians held a sit-in in Damascus Thursday evening to protest to the ongoing savage atrocities of the Zionist regime in Lebanon and Palestine.

The protestors voiced solidarity with the fighters of the Lebanese resistance in their struggle against the Zionist regime's brutal massive offensive against Lebanese civilian targets and its infrastructure areas.

They carried Syrian flags and banners with pictures of the Lebanese Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Among the angry protestors was an Al-Manar TV network's correspondent who inspired the protestors shouting slogans against the Zionist regime and the US.

Criticizing certain Arab states, in a short address to the protestors, which was highly welcomed by them, she said that the resistance fighters would never give up their struggle against the Zionist occupiers and would instead continue their way with stronger determination.

She added that stands taken by certain Arab leaders against the Lebanese Hizbullah were in line with those of the West, US in particular.

Some of the Arab leaders said that the Hizbullah forces were responsible for the ongoing Israeli atrocities in Lebanon.

The Zionist regime has commenced a fresh wave of heavy military attacks against civilian targets in Palestine and Lebanon since about ten days ago.

During the period, the Zionist troops launched massive air and ground attacks against the defenseless people in Lebanon which left about 300 dead and over 1,000 injured.

Over half a million of the Lebanese citizens were also displaced by the savage attacks.

Syrian citizens protest against Israel's atrocities in Lebanon

[Shammu]

 Indian muslims burn US flag
New Delhi, July 21, IRNA

India-Muslims-Lebanon
Condemning the US's role in the Zionist Regime's attack on innocent civilians of Lebanon and Palestine, hundreds of agitated Muslims under the leadership of Shia Muslims Friday burnt the US national flag after offering Friday namaz in Lucknow, capital city of Uttar Pradesh.

Raising slogans against the US government, the agitators alleged that it was US which is trying to create terror all over the world.

While condemning the `barbaric and inhuman act' of Zionist Regime and US, office bearers of Shia Ulema-e-Hind and Shia Democratic Alliance asked the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government to intervene in the matter and initiate talks to "keep a tab on Israel's activities.

Indian muslims burn US flag

[Shammu]

 Nationwide protests in UK against Israel's carnage
London, July 21, IRNA

UK-Israel-Demonstrations
Peace campaigners in the UK are holding a series of nationwide demonstrations to protest against the "carnage" caused by Israel's indiscriminate bombings of Gaza and Lebanon.

"Israel's war in Gaza and Lebanon is escalating into an international crisis which could soon engulf the whole region," said the organizers, led by Stop the War Coalition.

"The promise by Bush and Blair in the lead up to the Iraq war that their wars would bring freedom and democracy to the Middle East and peace to Palestine, have yet again been shown to be lies, just as the anti-war movement has consistently said they were," it said.

The protests are being supported by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Muslim Association of Britain, Lebanese Welfare Community and others and many other Muslim organizations.

They said they were "alarmed by the deafening silence of the world" in the face of Israel's latest war crimes.

"As more and more victims fall and more houses and buildings are leveled to the ground, it becomes increasingly apparent that this war is not about any Israeli soldiers captured," the organizers said.

"It is about nothing but a joint US-Israeli project aimed at destroying any resistance to the apartheid Zionist regime that has for more than fifty years been oppressing the peoples of the region, particularly in Palestine and Lebanon," they said.

Emergency demonstrations have so far been organized on Saturday in London, Birmingham in the Midlands, Bristol and Exeter in the south west of England, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York in the north and Edinburgh, Glasgow and Kirkcaldy in Scotland.

Nationwide protests in UK against Israel's carnage

[Shammu]

Alert lifted: Terrorists nabbed in TA

Tel Aviv Police arrested Friday night three suspects who apparently planned to carry out a suicide bombing attack in Tel Aviv. They were arrested by the Tel Aviv port, a popular area filled with bars and restaurants, at the corner of Hayarkon and Yordei Hasira streets.

Following their arrest, police lifted the state of heightened alert. A few hours earlier police received specific intelligence regarding a female suicide bomber en route to Tel Aviv in a Renault Express commercial vehicle.

Police nab suspects

After alerts were received, boosted police forces were stationed at the junction of Ibn Gvirol and Rokach streets in central Tel Aviv. At one point, police were alerted by radio that a suspicious vehicle fitting the description in the warning was stopped at the corner of Hayarkon and Yordei Hasirah streets not far from the port.

Dozens of patrol vehicle were immediately summoned to the scene. Eyewitnesses started yelling towards the police officers that the occupants had fled the vehicle, and police managed to catch them at gunpoint.

Simultaneously, police received a report of a suspicious object at the entrance to the old Exhibition Grounds. A number of officers were dispatched to the site, while others scoured the immediate area.

Meanwhile, police caught another suspect, an Arab Israeli man fleeing the scene in a separate vehicle. No explosives or suspicious devices were found in his possession. The suspects were transferred to police headquarters for questioning.

'I feel my work pays off'

Sergeant Minor Sharon Telkar from the Yarkon district was the one who identified the suspects’ vehicle leaving the Tel Aviv port area. In accordance with police procedure, he alerted backup forces.

Terror suspects nabbed

Following the dramatic arrests, Telkar told Ynet, “We got a message about the suspicious vehicle, we combed the area around the port and at a certain stage I understood the suspects in the car saw me on Habkuk Street and left the port area. I caught up with them and stopped them at the corner. We aimed our weapons at them and arrested the driver, an Arab Israeli, at gunpoint and his female passenger from the West Bank. She tried to say she was Israeli, but when we checked, we found a green ID card indicating she was the person we were searching for."

Telkar went home with a great sense of satisfaction. “This arrest is actually the icing on the cake. Until today, we managed to arrest thieves, robbers, but nothing like this – this happens once in your life. It gives great satisfaction, and when I go home today, I’ll feel like my work pays off.”

Spate of terror attempts

This is not the first time recently that roadblocks were set up in the vicinity of Israel’s coastal cities. On Wednesday alert levels were raised in the Sharon area after intelligence was received that a suicide bomber had infiltrated Israel and planned to blow up in the area. Following a few hours of searches in the area, the terrorist and his driver were nabbed by security forces at two construction sites in Hod Hasharon.

Renault Express stopped at TA port

The security establishment has 22 warnings of planned suicide bombings and kidnappings in Israeli territory. Owing to the warnings, a general closure was imposed on the territories until at least Saturday night. Most of the security establishment’s warning were coming from the West Bank areas and were regarding attacks plotted by the Islamic Jihad.

A senior security official told Ynet that Israel had intelligence information proving that Hizbullah had specifically turned to Palestinian terror groups in the West Bank asking them to carry out attacks to open a third front in addition to the north and south fronts.

Alert lifted: Terrorists nabbed in TA