Biblical countries, in the news.

[Shammu]

Solana Scheduled to Visit the Mideast
14:45 Aug 10, '06 / 16 Av 5766

(IsraelNN.com) European Union Foreign Minister Javier Solana is scheduled to arrive in the region on Friday, stopping first in Lebanon, then Palestinian Authority (PA) autonomous areas and then Israel.

Solana Scheduled to Visit the Mideast

[Shammu]

 Aring heads to Syria Friday to attend Islamic parliaments' conference

ANKARA, Aug 10 (KUNA) -- Turkish parliament speaker Bulent Aring will head to Damascus on Saturday to attend the first urgent Islamic parliaments' conference, it was reported here on Thursday.

Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri has called recently for holding the emergency meeting of the Islamic parliaments.

Aring is expected to deliver the opening speech of the two-day conference on Sunday, and call for massing the Islamic public opinion, uniting the Islamic parliament stances for supporting the Palestinian and Lebanese people against the ongoing brutal Israeli aggression.

Aring heads to Syria Friday to attend Islamic parliaments' conference

[Shammu]

Iran urges foreign forces to leave Iraq after Najaf attack

49 minutes ago

TEHRAN (AFP) - Shiite Iran has called for foreign troops to leave war-torn Iraq following a deadly bombing near one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines in the southern city of Najaf.

"The only way to create security in Iraq is to end the occupation by foreigners who have so far failed to bring about security," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA.

Iraqi police said an attacker detonated an explosive vest at a police checkpoint in Najaf, close to the tomb of Imam Ali, one of the most revered figures of the Shiite faith, killing 35 and injuring dozens more, including Iranians.

Asefi said the "brutal" attack was aimed at "weakening the Iraqi government and dividing Sunni and Shiite brothers".

Iran urges foreign forces to leave Iraq after Najaf attack

[Shammu]

Italian Foreign Minister to go to Beirut for talks
associated press, THE JERUSALEM POST    Aug. 10, 2006

Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema will travel to Beirut on Monday for talks on the fighting between Israel and Hizbullah guerrillas in southern Lebanon, officials said.

D'Alema has been involved in the intense international diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict, and in his upcoming trip he hoped to "get direct information on the situation in the country," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry did not give details.

But Premier Romano Prodi was quoted as saying by Italian news agencies that D'Alema will go to Beirut on Monday. "Let's hope that in the meantime humanitarian aid can get there," Prodi said, according to the ANSA and Apcom news agencies.

Late last month, D'Alema met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other top officials in Jerusalem.

Italian Foreign Minister to go to Beirut for talks

[Shammu]

How Israel fights

By Jonathan Kay

What the media does not report

Late on Saturday night, an Israeli commando unit landed by helicopter on a beach near the Lebanese city of Tyre. None of the soldiers wore military markings. All had grown beards, so observers would think they were just another group of Hezbollah jihadis.

After landing, the soldiers made their way to a building that housed a three-man Hezbollah rocket-launcher crew. From intelligence reports, the commandos knew the trio was holed up in a second-floor apartment.

The Israeli commander was the first through the door, and promptly took a bullet through a lung. The Israelis fired back. When the smoke cleared, all three Hezbollah members were dead. The Israeli commander was still breathing — but only barely. Another commando was also seriously wounded.

As the commandos left — their two wounded on stretchers — they were attacked by Hezbollah gunmen spilling out of nearby buildings. Israeli helicopter gunships hovering nearby laid down a covering fire, allowing the commandos to retreat to their original landing area. After a military doctor performed emergency surgery that saved the commander's life, the whole team flew back to Israel.

These mission details sound like something out of a Hollywood film. But the truly amazing part of it is that the mission happened at all. Instead of risking the lives of its most elite soldiers, Israel easily could have dropped a bomb on the building and taken out their targets while they slept.

Why didn't Israel do just that? Because as well as serving as a barracks for Hezbollah, the building also contained civilians. And Israel didn't want to spill their blood. Hezbollah may wage war while hiding behind women's skirts and baby rattles. But Israel stubbornly adheres to a more humane creed.

This is not a new policy that Israel adopted in response to the July 30 Qana bombing. Israeli soldiers employed the same humane methods in one of the first major engagements of this war.

On June 26, Israeli infantrymen assaulted the outskirts of Bint Jbail, a major Hezbollah hub near the border. Israel could have flattened the town easily prior to its soldiers' advance — it lies well within range of its army's artillery, not to mention the Israeli air force. But according to a high-ranking Israeli officer, the carpet-bombing option was ruled out because several hundred Bint Jbail civilian residents had ignored Israel's warning to flee. As in Tyre, Hezbollah was using them as human shields.

The result? Battalion 51 of Israel's Golani Brigade was ambushed by dozens of Hezbollah gunmen wielding anti-tank missiles. In the hellish close combat that followed, eight Israeli soldiers died. Like the 23 Israeli soldiers who lost their lives in the warrens of the Jenin refugee camp in 2002, the men of Battalion 51 died so that Arab civilians could live. Not one of Israel's enemies would have taken the same risks under similar circumstances.

Nor is Israel simply following the letter of international law. A Hezbollah rocket crew can kills dozens, or even hundreds, of Israelis with a single volley. Demolishing that apartment building in Tyre arguably would have been a proportionate, and entirely legal, Israeli response to the threat posed by its occupants.

Moreover, Israel had warned the residents of Tyre to evacuate many times. Most of those who remain in the city are Hezbollah supporters. Last week, Haidar Fayadh, a Tyre cafe owner, told The New York Times: "Everyone has a weapon in his house. There are doctors, teachers and farmers. Hezbollah is people. People are Hezbollah." Luckily for Fayadh, Israel doesn't take him at his word, or he'd be dead and all of Tyre would be a smoking ruin.

By this point in the war, some readers will have heard enough about media bias. Still, I can't help but marvel at the other-worldly impression people are getting. The Israeli air force has flown 9,000 sorties during this war. The handful of tragic instances in which Israel has mistakenly attacked civilian targets are treated as war crimes. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has launched more than 2,000 missiles at Israel, every one of them deliberately targeting Israeli civilians. (The group's Syrian-made 302mm rockets are packed with tens of thousands of ball-bearings, the objective being to disfigure those who aren't killed.) But the only time this is reported is when the rockets actually hit someone — in which case the fact is cited not as an indictment of Hezbollah's barbarism, but as testament to its strength and the purported futility of Israeli strategy.

This appalling double-standard goes beyond media bias. It reflects a deeper sense that pervades our entire society. After watching Arab terrorists kill innocent Jews for two generations, we have become inured to their methods. It is simply taken for granted that anti-Israel "resistance" movements will sink to the lowest possible level as soon as the shooting starts. Killing civilians. Hiding rocket launchers in homes. Shooting from mosques. All of this is unsurprising — expected even — so none of it makes the news. Let Israel mistakenly kill civilians while fighting back, on the other hand, and it's time to stop the presses.

It's unclear which side will be seen as the victor in the current war. But even before the shooting began, Arab militants could claim a perverse sort of triumph: liberation from the humane standards the world normally applies to the armies that fight wars. It is a triumph that Israel, and all civilized nations, can be proud of having forsaken.

How Israel fights

[Shammu]

Wrong Qana Death Toll Still Being Reported
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
August 10, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - A full week since the death toll in the Israeli air strike on the Lebanese town of Qana was revised -- reduced by one-half -- a number of news organizations are still reporting the original, inaccurate figure as fact.

Most glaring is the case of Reuters, whose "chronology" of the conflict was updated on July 30 to include the entry: "Lebanon says at least 54 civilians killed by air strike in the village of Qana. Lebanon cancels Rice visit." Reuters has sent out updated versions of the chronology at least seven times since then, but not one makes any reference to the subsequently revised death toll.

Early reports based on figures provided by Lebanese government officials said between 54 and 57 civilians, many of them children, were killed in the attack. In a statement to the Security Council that same day, U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan said "preliminary reports say that at least 54 people have been killed, among them at least 37 children."

Three days later -- on Wednesday, August 3, the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch issued a statement saying 28 people had been killed, based on figures provided by the Lebanese Red Cross and a government hospital in Tyre.

But the inaccurate figure of 54 or more continues to appear in news reports, with no reference to the later revision.

On Friday, two days after the revised figure was published, the Guardian referred to "the air raid that killed up to 54 civilians in the village of Qana on Sunday," while the Kuwait Times said the attack "killed up to 54 civilians, Lebanese officials say."

On Sunday, Scotland's Sunday Herald repeated the figure of "at least 54 civilians."

On Tuesday, Aug. 8, Reuters described it as "the bombing that Lebanese reports said killed at least 54 people," and a report on the Canadian website Macleans.ca included the line "... last week, after Israeli bombs killed at least 54 civilians in the Lebanese village of Qana." The Turkish online newspaper Zaman also repeated the figure of 54.

On Wednesday, al-Jazeera's website carried a column by U.S. author Ramzy Baroud, who wrote that the air strike on Qana "killed scores, mostly children." (A "score" is 20.)

Also Wednesday, the Italian news site Ansa reported on papal calls for peace, and said Pope Benedict XVI "specifically referred to an Israeli air strike against the Lebanese town of Qana on July 30 which killed at least 54 civilians including 37 children."

News organizations were not alone in failing to report the new death toll days after the revision. On Tuesday, the Organization of the Islamic Conference released a statement saying OIC secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu "condemned the carnage [at Qana] which had left some 60 people dead from amongst Lebanese civilians, including women and children."

Annan this week released a report to the Security Council on the Qana tragedy, saying that what occurred there may be part of a larger pattern of violations of international law during the conflict.

His report included letters from the Israeli and Lebanese governments. Israel said Hizballah used Qana as a regional headquarters. "It contains extensive weapons stockpiles, serves as a haven for fleeing terrorists, and is the source of over 150 missiles launched into northern Israel."

The Lebanese government said civilians had been unable to flee because of ongoing Israeli attacks and destroyed roads.

"None of the bodies recovered showed that there were militants mingled among the civilians, and the rescuers found no weapons in the building that was struck," it said.

Wrong Qana Death Toll Still Being Reported

[Shammu]

Syrian Ambassador Denies Reports Hezbollah Using Russian Weapons

Created: 10.08.2006 17:35 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 17:35 MSK, 3 hours 9 minutes ago

MosNews
Syria’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Russia Hassan Rishah refuted allegations at a news conference in Moscow that Hezbollah was using Russian equipment supplied to Syria, RBC reports.

He added that with the globalization and free trade, Hezbollah was able to purchase any armament as well as any other organization. He stressed that Syria abode by all international treaties. He also claimed that Syria was not patronizing Hezbollah or any other such organization.

Interfax reported, citing Mr. Rishah, that Syria will be ready to defend its borders and integrity if attacked by Israel.

“Syria has said it is ready to defend its borders in the event of an actual attack. It will defend its integrity and sovereignty if aggression is displayed towards it,” the ambassador told a Moscow news conference on Thursday.

“Israel is in fact trying to provoke Syria and draw it into war, widening the conflict zone in order to extend it throughout the whole region and achieve its covert aims,” the ambassador believes. He said one of those aims was to capture sources of energy in the Middle East.

“Syria will not yield to this provocation and has stated that it advocates peaceful settlement and the continuation of talks,” the ambassador stressed. Hassan Rishah stressed that Israel’s war in Lebanon is “state terrorism.”

“Under false pretexts and against all humanitarian laws Israel is carrying out state terrorism with the support of one power, the unipolar world, a power which is wholly and entirely on Israel’s side, supplying it with weapons and resorting to the veto when decisions look to be in the offing,” the ambassador said.

“Israel is committing major, appalling crimes, murdering women and children, civilians, destroying the infrastructure of Lebanon,” the ambassador said.

He rejected allegations that Damascus was inciting Hezbollah. “Syria is being falsely accused — people say that Syria is inciting Hezbollah. Hezbollah is a Lebanese organization subordinate to nobody,” Rishah said.

According to the ambassador, Israel, with the U.S.A. alongside it, “would have found another pretext for unleashing the attack even if the two (Israeli) soldiers had not been captured.” The Syrian ambassador commented on the suggestion that Hezbollah was using defense and military equipment earlier supplied by Russia to Syria.

“We know that in the days of globalism all markets are open, and Hezbollah, like any organization in the world, is able to purchase any weapon. Syria does observe all international accords and I therefore do not believe this to be true,” the ambassador said.

He stressed that Syria takes particular care to ensure that international weapons accords are observed.

The ambassador stressed that Syria is one of the main players in the situation which has developed in the Middle East, but is not able to exert pressure on Hezbollah. He also recalled the occupation of part of Syria and Israel’s non-compliance with UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338.

The ambassador said Israel could not destroy Hezbollah, RIA Novosti news agency reported, quoting him saying: “Israel says that its aim is to destroy the terrorist organization Hezbollah. But after a month of attacks we can see that this aim is not achievable, because Hezbollah is a political organization representing the majority of the Lebanese people\ [ellipsis as published] I believe they have a different strategic aim — to destroy the infrastructure of Lebanon and kill civilians,” adding that “in this Israel has indeed achieved some success.”

The ambassador said Damascus “supports Moscow’s position and believes that all the problems of the Middle East region must be resolved as a whole,” ITAR-TASS news agency said. “We welcome Russia’s advocacy of including the Lebanese government’s plan for settling the conflict in the UN Security Council resolution,” the ambassador said.

Syrian Ambassador Denies Reports Hezbollah Using Russian Weapons

[Shammu]

OIC should consider arms for Hezbollah: Malaysian minister

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said on Tuesday that the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) nations should consider supplying arms to Hezbollah amid anger and frustration over Israel’s offensive in Lebanon. Malaysia currently chairs the 57-nation OIC, and Syed Hamid said Israel could not be allowed to act with impunity, although it seemingly had “carte blanche” in its operations. “Some are suggesting that we supply arms. Okay, we should look at all these things,” Syed Hamid was quoted as saying by the state Bernama news agency. “The governments (of OIC) countries should look and we must not allow Israel to do what it wants,” he said, but added that Muslim countries had to act according to international norms and principles. Malaysia last week hosted a meeting of the OIC, which demanded an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East and warned that boiling anger over the Israeli offensive could launch a new wave of terrorism. Syed Hamid also criticised a United Nations draft resolution on ending the conflict, which has been rejected by Lebanon because it does not call for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from its territory. “I think we must not look at Israel only. We must also look at what Lebanon wants. I think it is unfair, imbalanced and unjust to just look at what Israel wants,” he said. “The world should not be dictated just purely by Israeli desire but it must be incorporating justice and fairness in the international system,” he said.

OIC should consider arms for Hezbollah: Malaysian minister

[Shammu]

Muslim countries must be armed to match Israel's war machine
Wed, 9 Aug 2006, 11:06:00

The Muslim countries of the Middle East must not remain helplessly at the receiving end of the brutalities of Israel's war machine. Admittedly, the US government has a larger plan of its own for implementation in Middle East. The devastating war machine of Israel is being maintained for attaining this objective. The Muslim countries' eagerness to maintain friendly relations with the USA is of no consideration in the mind of the present US administration. The reality is that the US administration considers Muslim power as a threat to US's hegemonistic design of an unipolar world. Assisting Hezbollah or sending peace keeping forces is not enough.

The United States blocked a quick cease-fire only to allow Israel to destroy Lebanon and kill Lebanese men, women and children in huge numbers.

Many Western observers find it difficult to reconcile bombing of Beirut's international airport, petroleum supplies, power plants and fishing fleets with combating Hezbollah guerrillas. The attacks on Lebanon's military is specially odd when Israel wants Lebanese government to rein in Hezbollah.

Fierce battles between Israeli army and Hezbollah resistance forces raged Tuesday across southern Lebanon as diplomats at the United Nations were struggling to keep a peace plan from collapsing. Arab countries including Lebanon are insisting that the peace plan must include provision for withdrawal of Israel from Lebanon. It is common sense that there cannot be any peace when parts of Lebanon remain under Israeli occupation. It is the occupation by Israel of parts of Lebanon, Syria and Palestine that is at the heart of the guerrilla resistance against Israel.

It is a gigantic lie that Muslim countries of the Middle East do not accept Israel state. Expressions of anger and terrorism are directed to restrain Israel occupying the Muslim countries.

After causing immense death and destruction in Lebanon, the military planners of Israel say that they will push even deeper into Lebanon to root out the rocket sites of Hezbollah. In short, Israel is justifying its further occupation of Lebanon.

The Prime Minister of Lebanon has rightly termed the acts of Israel as state terrorism. The problem with the Bush administration is that it supports Israel's state terrorism against Muslims but the Muslims are condemned as terrorists when they fight state terrorism of Israel to protect their territories and lives.

All sensible people agree that foreign occupations spawn militants to resist such occupations. In modern days there is no imperialism so blatant than Israeli imperialism. Even the USA is thinking how soon to leave Iraq and Afghanistan. But Israel backed by US might and money has made it a normal business to occupy and keep the territories of neighbouring Muslim countries.

The Muslim countries of the Middle East must wake up to the reality of Israeli imperialism and prepare themselves militarily. No resistance group, however powerful and well-organised, can face a state bent on taking advantage of lack of military preparedness and occupying another country's territory to show off its superior military power.

The Muslim countries must arm themselves for their own survival as long as the US goes on arming Israel against them.

A western columnist HDS Greenway in an article published in the International Herald Tribune, found it most disturbing the images coming out of the conflict in Lebanon that Israeli soldiers on their tanks displaying captured as war trophies not just the yellow banner of Hezbollah but the cedar-tree flag of Lebanon.

The US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice talked about the present crisis in Lebanon being "the birth pangs of a new Middle East". In reacting to this assessment King Abdullah of Jordan said he saw only death.

In the words of the columnist Greenway: As in Iraq Rice's new Middle East policy will almost certainly be more dangerous and destructive to America's interest than the old Middle East.

Muslim countries must be armed to match Israel's war machine

[nChrist]

Muslim countries must be armed to match Israel's war machine
Wed, 9 Aug 2006, 11:06:00

WOW! I've seen twisting, turning things inside-out, and complete lies from the media sympathetic to terrorists. Terrorists should get a clue and learn that the world is tired of them killing innocent people. Living with terrorists is like living with rats and roaches. The rats and roaches will behave in the same way, regardless of what one does. The choice is to either keep putting up with them or exterminate them. The world has decided to quit putting up with them, and it's about time.

[Shammu]

Lebanon refusing to allow French to enforce mandate
Herb Keinon, THE JERUSALEM POST    Aug. 10, 2006

A new obstacle was raised in the approval of the proposed cease-fire agreement between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday night, when the latter was refusing to allow French forces to enforce its mandate by force, if necessary, as allowed by the UN's chapter VII regulations.

Israel Radio reported that attempts were being made to convince Lebanon to agree to the proposal.

If both Lebanon and Israel agree to the proposal, it is expected to brought before the UN Security Council for ratification within 24 hours.

US State Department envoy David Welch held meetings with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni Thursday night to coordinate positions on a new cease-fire proposal to be brought to the UN Security Council, perhaps as early as Friday.

Welch arrived in Jerusalem from Beirut, where he held talks with Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

Diplomatic officials in Jerusalem said that the US, which was working furiously with the French in New York to come to an understanding on a draft resolution, would press forward with their own proposal if agreement could not be reached with the French on the language of the document.

US Ambassador John Bolton said there could be a vote Friday on the resolution.

"We're making progress, and it's entirely possible we could have a vote tomorrow," Bolton said after a meeting with his French counterpart, Jean-Marc de La Sabliere. "We've closed some of the areas of disagreement with the French."

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy confirmed there was progress, but also held out the possibility that if no agreement was forthcoming, France might present "a text on its own."

Livni spoke Thursday with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and stressed the importance of including in the resolution an arms embargo to Hizbullah, as well as Israel's key demand that the Lebanese army must be supported by an international force with "operational capabilities."

Among the ideas being discussed was a "substantially beefed up UNIFIL" force to be made up of German, Italian, Spanish and Australian troops that would move south to the border with the Lebanese Army and deploy where the IDF moves out. Another idea was for a French force to accompany the Lebanese Army.

Senior sources in Jerusalem said, however, that there has been a major shift in the French position over the last week, with French President Jacques Chirac hesitant about committing French troops after seeing the difficulty Israel has had with Hizbullah over the last month. France was initially the major force working for deployment of an international force.

Israel has made clear in recent days that the resolution must include the unconditional release of the kidnapped IDF soldiers, the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 that calls for the dismantling of Hizbullah, and that there be no call for Israel to cede control over Mt. Dov (Shaba Farms) as part of this arrangement.

While Prime Minster Ehud Olmert indicated before the war that he would be willing to come to an agreement about this issue, he has made clear that the Shaba Farms could not be included in any deal being drawn up now so as not to be perceived as a prize for Hizbullah.

Giving the US the ability to "work the issue" and put the proposal together was apparently behind American pressure on Israel to delay Wednesday's security cabinet decision to push forward toward the Litani River. That decision gave Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz authority to decide when to embark on the campaign.

Kadima MK Otniel Schneller met Olmert Thursday and quoted him as saying that "a new proposal is being drafted, which has positive significance that may bring the war to an end. But if the draft is not accepted, there is the Cabinet decision."

Peretz said Thursday that Israel would see the diplomatic process through before giving the final okay for an expanded IDF operation.

"We are responsible for considering all options," he said. "The minute troops set out to accomplish a mission, we must look in the eyes of every mother, every father, and every child and say: We exhausted all other options," Peretz said.

Peretz made his comments during a visit to the Lebanese border with IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz and OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen Udi Adam.

If diplomacy fails, Peretz said, Israel would "use all of the tools" to dismantle Hizbullah.

US officials stressed Wednesday and Thursday that while they support Israel's right to defend itself and to choose how to do so, Washington did directly call on the Israeli government to hold off the expansion of the military operation until the diplomatic efforts were exhausted.

The security cabinet's decision to widen the operation Wednesday, dependent on a final okay from Olmert and Peretz, led the US to publicly disagree with Israel for the first time since the war broke out.

Following the decision, White House spokesman Tony Snow said that moving deeper into Lebanon did not correspond with American policy.

"We want an end to violence and we do not want escalations," Snow told reports at President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

According to diplomatic officials in Israel and in Washington, the US was concerned that a widespread military offensive on behalf of Israel could undermine attempts to reach a new agreement between the US and France over a UN resolution.

In New York, meanwhile, The US and French ambassadors met with their Russian, Chinese and British counterparts Thursday to discuss the latest cease-fire draft.

France backed Lebanon's call for IDF troops to start pulling out once hostilities end and Lebanon deploys 15,000 troops of its own in the south. The United States, however, supported Israel's insistence on staying in southern Lebanon until a robust international force was deployed, which could take weeks or months.

Lebanon refusing to allow French to enforce mandate
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here they are crying about a cease fire, but don't allow it to happen.

[Soldier4Christ]

Here they are crying about a cease fire, but don't allow it to happen.

That's because they want a one sided cease fire.

[Shammu]

The Pentagon is worried by Syria's 'rising self-confidence'
By Shmuel Rosner

WASHINGTON - The U.S. administration is troubled by what a senior Defense Department official termed "a rise in Syria's self-confidence."

The official, who spoke with Haaretz Thursday, expressed frustration over the fact that the United States, Israel and the international community have been unable until now to persuade Syrian President Bashar Assad to change his behavior. He attributed this failure to the fact that "thus far, no real pressure has been applied to Syria by any of the parties."

The official, who termed Syria's rising self-confidence "a problem for everyone," said that there had been chances to influence Syria, "but they were missed."

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Regarding Israel's decision to leave Syria out of the current fighting in Lebanon, he said: "I don't want to say what my opinion of this decision is."

The Pentagon believes that Syria's influence over events in Lebanon has increased in recent weeks, and the Bush administration is very worried by this, since it viewed Syria's ouster from Lebanon last year as a significant achievement.

The U.S. views Syria as a destabilizing force in the region on three counts: It has not prevented terrorists from entering Iraq via Syria; it has not closed down the Damascus offices of Palestinian rejectionist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad; and it continues to intervene in Lebanon's internal affairs.

In recent weeks, the Bush administration has come under pressure from former senior officials, media pundits and allied diplomats to reopen its dialogue with Syria. Six months ago, the U.S. recalled its ambassador from Damascus and has not yet returned him. But Washington does not want to involve Syria in the current Lebanese crisis without a significant change in its behavior, since, in the words of a senior administration official, "that would be an open invitation to the Syrians to resume interfering in events in Lebanon."

The Pentagon is worried by Syria's 'rising self-confidence'

[Shammu]

Iran Participation Front selects new chief

Saturday, August 12, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com
     Related Pictures
 
Archived Picture - Members of the Central Council of Islamic Iran Participation Front selected Mohsen Mirdamadi as the new secretary general of this political party, IRNA reported.

LONDON, August 12 (IranMania) - Members of the Central Council of Islamic Iran Participation Front selected Mohsen Mirdamadi as the new secretary general of this political party, IRNA reported.

In their ninth congress, senior party members nominated Mohammad Naeimipour and Mohsen Mirdamadi for the secretary general post of the party for which Mirdamadi was selected by the majority of votes.

Party members also selected the 30 members of the Central Council.

Different representatives of other parties and political figures such as Former President Mohammad Khatami, who had not attended the party's congresses in the past eight years, participated in the meeting on Thursday.

Iran Participation Front selects new chief
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why does the sound of that remind me of the communist system??

[Shammu]

Tehrani worshipers rally in support of Hizbollah

Saturday, August 12, 2006 - ©2005 IranMania.com

A large group of Tehrani Friday prayers worshipers staged rallies in support of the Islamic Resistance of Lebanon and Palestinian Intifadha, IRNA reported.

LONDON, August 12 (IranMania) - A large group of Tehrani Friday prayers worshipers staged rallies in support of the Islamic Resistance of Lebanon and Palestinian Intifadha, IRNA reported.

The demonstrators in the rallies, held immediately after weekly Friday prayers congregation, called on Muslim states to block oil exports to Israel and its allies.

Holding flags of Lebanese Hizbollah and Palestine, the people chanted such slogans as `Support for Hizbollah is a duty,' `Death to the US,' `Death to Israel' and `Death to Britain.'

They condemned the UN and the international judicial centers' silence against Israel's brutal acts in Lebanon and Palestine, calling the crimes in violation of the human rights regulations.

Also carrying placards of the Lebanese Hizbollah leader Seyed Hassan Nasrallah, the ralliers denounced the unsparing support of the US and Britain for the impudent crimes of the 'Zionist'regime in attacking Lebanon and massacring the defenseless people there. They said London and Washington are accomplices in 'Zionists' crimes.

They also blasted the UN Security Council for its humiliating silence against 'Zionists' crimes and aggressions, calling on the Council to issue a resolution in condemnation of the 'Zionist'regime which is openly jeopardizing global peace and security by owning nuclear warheads.

The demonstrators also urged the world Muslim nations, especially those whose governments are in the 'Zionist'camp, to rise up to support and save the oppressed Palestinian nation and not to spare any help to the Palestinians.


Tehrani worshipers rally in support of Hizbollah