News items that look towards Ezekiel 38 & 39

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Egypt 'letting' Hamas build an army
Sheera Claire Frenkel , THE JERUSALEM POST    Nov. 12, 2007

Egypt effectively condoned Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, and has since stood by and allowed Hamas to build an army, MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) wrote in a letter to the US Senate on Sunday.

"Egypt's de facto behavior in the field supports Hamas," he said.

Steinitz wrote the letter at the request of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), with whom he chairs a joint US-Israeli committee on defense and foreign policy.

"As long as Egypt is not required to pay a real price for this behavior, weapons and financial aid will continue to flow into the hands of Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza," he wrote.

Steinitz asked the Senate to approve a bill recently passed by the House of Representatives to freeze $200 million of the approximate $1.3 billion in annual US aid to Egypt each year until the Egyptian government changes it policy toward smuggling near and across its 14-kilometer border with the Gaza Strip.

According to the IDF, Hamas has smuggled 20,000 rifles, 6,000 antitank missiles and 100 tons of explosives into the Gaza Strip since last summer.

Steinitz said efforts by the Egyptians to stop the smuggling were ineffective and half-hearted.

"Egypt's claim that it is doing its best to end this situation by uncovering smuggling tunnels into Gaza is simply an insult to the intelligence... it is almost ridiculous for the Egyptians to focus on finding the tunnels, since it would be much easier for them to intercept the smugglers before they get anywhere near the border," he wrote.

Steinitz included a map of the Egypt-Gaza border in his letter.

"All they have to do is to erect a number of roadblocks along the very few roads that run from mainland Egypt to the Gaza region, in order to intercept heavily loaded trucks carrying hundreds of rifles and missiles from reaching the border," he wrote. "Alternatively, they can declare the border area a closed military zone, with a depth of two to three miles into the interior of Sinai, and prevent any movement in it."

Steinitz said both of those alternatives had been presented to Egyptian officials in the past, but the Egyptian army continued to focus on routing out tunnels.

"The only conclusion is that the Egyptians believe that it is in their interest to derail the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians and create an army in the Gaza Strip in order to try and weaken Israel," he wrote. "As long as Israel is getting weaker the Egyptians can get stronger."

Steinitz also accused the Egyptians of receiving aid, and possibly supplies, from Iran and Syria.

"There is always that argument - that the if the US cuts aid to Egypt they will just get more money from Iran and Syria," he wrote. "But it is impossible to continue in the current way."

The Egyptian government has called the accusations against them "baseless" and harmful to Egyptian-American relations.

Egypt 'letting' Hamas build an army

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Saudi monarch woos Turkey's Islamists
By M K Bhadrakumar

When King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz visited Turkey in August last year, it was 40 years since a Saudi monarch had last visited. When the 83-year-old monarch arrived in Ankara on Saturday with an entourage of 11 planes for his second visit in a year, it was an extraordinary overture.

But it was comprehensible. Middle East politics have assumed an unprecedented level of criticality. The Saudis feel the need to visualize Turkey as a pillar of strength in the volatile regional environment.

Riyadh is signaling Turkey's strategic role. A historical paradox must be noted: Saudi Arabia was the cradle of the "Arab revolt" that sounded the death knell of the Ottoman Empire. It now solicits Turkey's regional role.

Turkey, too, is ready to return to the Muslim world after nearly a century's absence. Finding its European Union membership claims stalled, Turkey edges away from Europe.

Addressing the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah in February 2006 in his capacity as deputy prime minister and foreign minister in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government at that time, now-president Abdullah Gul said unequivocally, "Turkey's foundations are in Europe and we have always been part of Europe. But Turkey is more than Europe! We are part of the Muslim world and we also belong to the revered traditions of the East. This unique position is our important asset, because it allows us to serve both worlds. Let no one be in doubt that we will fulfill this historic role and advance our common aspirations."

Gul was speaking hardly five months ahead of the path-breaking visit by the Saudi monarch to Turkey. Saudi Arabia and Turkey are both transforming. En route to Ankara last week, King Abdullah was received at the Vatican by Pope Benedict XVI in the first audience ever by a pontiff with a Saudi monarch.

Of course, change comes slowly. US columnist Thomas Friedman made an interesting point that King Abdullah could visit the Vatican, but the "pope can't visit the king of Saudi Arabia in the Vatican of Islam - Mecca", as non-Muslims aren't allowed there. Compared to Saudi Arabia, though, Turkey is transforming at a faster pace.

Religious bonds
A year ago, when King Abdullah arrived in Ankara, the head of protocol, Oya Turzcugolu, met him at the steps of the plane but the king refrained from shaking her hand. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer nonetheless served wine at the state banquet. Now, just a year later, Turkey is no longer fanatically wedded to militant secularism, and Gul doesn't serve wine.

In all of Turkey's history, though the Ottoman state directed the "emir ul Haj" (meaning they were the custodians over the pilgrimage), none of the Ottoman sultans ever performed the pilgrimage, except for Cem Sultan. The presidents of the Turkish republic also scrupulously followed the tradition. Gul will most certainly break that tradition.

Indeed, an agenda item for King Abdullah's parleys in Ankara related to the Turkish request for an increased quota for the haj pilgrimage. An estimated 120,000 Turks performed haj last year, whereas almost thrice that number had applied. Turkey's official pilgrim quota is only 70,000, though the Saudis are keen to accommodate an increased number. There is a strong demand in Turkey, a country that outright banned haj pilgrimages till 1947.

A growing mutual respect for the different interpretations of Islam partly explains the new proximity (Ottoman Turks used to execute Wahhabis). Saudi Arabia is pleased that observant Muslims are becoming assertive in Turkish society. The Saudi regime feels closeness to the government led by the Islamist AKP that it never could with Turkey's staunchly secularist establishment.

But the political establishments of the two countries have a lot of distance to cover. The AKP's decision to honor the visiting Saudi king with the state medal proved controversial. The Kemalist camp bristled. The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Onur Oymen alleged the decision was a "clear indicator" of the AKP's intention to turn Turkey into an Islamic republic.

"Why should we honor Saudi Arabia? We don't harbor hostility toward that country, but we see no reason for showing sentimentality either," Oymen acidly remarked. He alleged the AKP was striving to bring Turkey "closer to the Islamic countries". Another prominent CHP leader, Inal Batu, a former diplomat, commented that "there are question marks hanging over this government's intention toward the secularist principles".

The antipathy toward Saudi Arabia is not confined to the political corridors. Despite 400 years of common history and religious and cultural links, Turkish civil society has remained coldly, disdainfully indifferent toward Saudi Arabia. It is in the Anatolian heartland of Turkey - among peasants, laborers, small traders and artisans - rather than in the cosmopolitan environs of Istanbul or Izmir that the gradual warming toward Saudi Arabia is palpable.

The Iran question
But King Abdullah's decision to visit Turkey for a second time was largely motivated by politics. The Iran question figures at the top. Riyadh is deeply disturbed by Iran's growing influence in the region. In the Saudi reading of the region's common history, Ottoman Turkey provided the bulwark against the ambitions of Persia's Safavi dynasty. Ideally, the Saudis would want history to repeat itself. But the Turkey-Iran relationship cannot be put back into a historical straightjacket. Turkish attitudes toward Iran have changed in the recent past.

The AKP government's leanings toward the Islamic world include Iran and a robust effort is on to build bilateral cooperation. Trade touching an all-time high level of US$7 billion may soon reach double digits. Ankara envisages a big role for Iran in its ambition to become the region's "energy hub". Disregarding US pressure, Ankara has pressed ahead with an agreement for the transit of Iranian gas to Europe.

Tehran for its part is thankful for Turkey's position that Iran's nuclear issue must be resolved through diplomatic means.

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Ankara even hosted a round of talks in April between the European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani.

But what Riyadh must be viewing with a sense of disquiet is the emerging reality that Ankara and Tehran share common interests and concerns in the region's geopolitics. Ankara not only appreciates Tehran's support and understanding for the problems posed by PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) terrorism, but has lately begun flaunting its Iran connection. At the peak of the current crisis on Turkey's border with northern Iraq, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan visited Tehran on October 28.

He acknowledged that Turkey is seeking practical cooperation with Iran in tackling Kurdish militancy. Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad told Babacan, "The fate of regional nations is inter-linked and they should safeguard one another's interests." Ahmadinejad phoned Gul to stress that "Turkey's concerns are received with understanding" and "occupiers [United States] had covert agreements [with Kurds], have prepared the ground for disunity [among regional states] and are supporting terrorists through their double-standard policies".

Turkish-Iranian security cooperation has also shifted gear. It has become overt and sustained and it is deepening. Turkey made good use of its Iran card while appealing to the US on the PKK problem. Riyadh surely feels exasperated that President George W Bush's coddling of Kurdish separatism and terrorism is bringing Salafi Turks and Shi'ite Iranians closer together in an unprecedented bonding of the traditional rivals.

What alarms Riyadh is that Iran also took the initiative to evolve a common position with Syria in extending support to Turkey on the Kurdish problem. Following up on his talks with Babacan, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki visited Damascus on October 29, where he said, "Iran condemns the use of northern Iraqi territory as a launch pad for terrorist operations against Turkey and is fully prepared to combat terrorism at any price." In response, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem said, "Our brothers in Tehran are making efforts which are complementary to ours ... PKK's terrorist activities threaten Turkey as well as Iran and Syria."

Surprise move on Kirkuk
Any Turkish invasion of Iraq will trigger a massive shift in the region's balance of forces. Turkish columnist Hasan Kanbolat of the Islamist daily Zaman recently wrote, "The Arab countries are generally afraid that Turkey's operation may expand to include even Baghdad. Some governments worry that Turkey, having become a regional power, actually plans to permanently enter Iraq and the Arab world and strengthen its claims on the oil reserves of northern Iraq. They fear, in essence, that Turkey intends to use the PKK as an excuse to return to the Middle East with the spirit of the Ottoman Empire."

The Saudis fear that a Turkish incursion into northern Iraq would willy-nilly encourage the emergence of a Shi'ite state in southern Iraq bordering Saudi Arabia's volatile Shi'ite provinces. Besides, the Saudis are nervous that Turkish-Iranian-Syrian understanding could have implications for Lebanon.

Tehran of course has been playing its cards astutely. It incessantly envelops Riyadh in a friendly idiom. On Sunday, Ahmadinejad will undertake a second visit within the year to Riyadh.

Last week, Iran threw another trump card on the table by going on record that it opposed the implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution (worked out under American supervision), which calls for holding a referendum on the status of Kirkuk province to decide on its inclusion in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Mottaki told Iranian television, "There are differences of opinion about issues such as Kirkuk or the internal borders of provinces. We have suggested a moratorium so that decisions can be made about them."

The Iranian bombshell pleases Ankara immensely. To the contrary, the pro-American KRG leadership went ballistic. KRG president Massoud Barzani's office angrily reacted, "These [Iranian] proposals contradict the Iraqi constitution, and therefore we reject them. They constitute interference and will further complicate the situation." The KRG will be suspecting Iran-Turkey collusion. (The Iranian proposal was embedded deep in a package it submitted at the conference of Iraq's neighboring countries in Istanbul on November 3.)

The dilemma is acute for Saudi Arabia insofar as Iraq has also been the theater of a historical struggle between Shi'ite Iran and Sunni Anatolia. In the Iranian move on Kirkuk, Saudis see Tehran as lending a big helping hand to Ankara, which is bound to further consolidate the two countries' understanding over the Iraq situation. In intrinsic terms, though, the Iranian proposal ought to satisfy Iraqi Arabs as well as Arab countries. But what gives it a cutting edge is that it is not based on technical grounds but on manifestly political motivation. In fact, Tehran admits as much.

The Iranian proposal undercuts the "Sunni solidarity" that Saudis are seeking. For the secular Turkish establishment, though, there is no such contradiction since cooperation with Iran is very obviously for strategic reasons. Moments such as this bring out what strange bedfellows the Turks and the Saudis are.

'Green money'
All the same, King Abdullah's overture to Turkey has logic. He will know Turkey has always been enamored of petro-dollars. The Saudis can be trendsetters at a time when the oil-exporting countries of the Persian Gulf have huge surplus resources to invest. Turkey signaled its priorities when a double taxation avoidance agreement was signed during King Abdullah's visit.

An influx of what Turks call yesil sermaye or green money - from wealthy Islamist businessmen and oil-rich Arab countries - has quietly boosted the AKP's finances over the years. Turkey's Islamic business skyline has certainly changed beyond recognition during AKP rule in the party's strongholds like Kayseri and Konya in inner Anatolia.

Turkish economists estimate that infusion of green money into Turkey could be anywhere up to $12 billion. They speculate that Turkey could be a beneficiary of the Saudi and Persian Gulf countries' liquidation of their US holdings since September 11, 2001.

Some experts believe green money may already have begun influencing Turkish policies. To be sure, Saudi investors will take note that following the AKP's massive election victory in July, Turkey's political fulcrum has shifted. The newly elected president Gul fondly recalls his assignment as a specialist in the Islamist Development Bank in Jeddah for eight years from 1983 to 1991. Riyadh can claim a genuinely warm friend in Gul.

Limits of Saudi influence
King Abdullah's visit is a celebration of growing ties. It is an acknowledgement of Turkey's regional role, and a statement that Riyadh will go the extra yard to cement common approaches on regional problems with Turkey.

But how far can a Saudi-Turkish strategic partnership develop? The crunch will come over Iraq's future. Much will depend on how Bush makes good on the pledges he made to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their talks in Washington on November 5 regarding PKK terrorism. Even as King Abdullah was visiting Ankara, Turkey's chief of general staff, General Yasar Buyukanit, repeated that an operation inside Iraq is in the pipeline awaiting government approval.

Buyukanit played down the Washington parleys. "We are a great state and we do not need approval from anyone," he said, adding Turkey only sought "coordination" with US forces in Iraq to avoid friendly fire.

The Saudis have no real means of influencing either developments on the Turkey-Iraq border that could trigger a chain reaction, or Bush's complicated thought processes over Iran that could dramatically alter the region's chessboard.

For the first time in decades, even though oil is selling for almost $100 a barrel, the Saudis will realize the limits of their capacity to influence the course of events in their region. They find non-Arab parties - the US, Israel, Iran, Turkey and even the Kurds - entirely managing the birth pangs of the new Middle East, while not a single Arab regime is directly involved. The Turks will know the Saudis are dealing from a weak hand.

Saudi monarch woos Turkey's Islamists

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PM Singh set for key Russia talks
12 November 2007

Indian PM Manmohan Singh is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks to boost economic and military ties between the two countries.

Mr Singh is in Moscow for a two-day visit, the latest in a series of yearly meetings between the leaders of the two traditional allies.

The two countries have had close links since Soviet times and India remains a leading buyer of Russian weaponry.

Russia is currently bidding to supply more than 120 fighter planes to Delhi.

"Russia occupies a special and unique place in the Indian foreign policy," Mr Singh was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.

Ties between the two countries will rise "to new levels", he said.

The two sides are expected to sign an agreement under which Russia would build four nuclear reactors in India, according to reports. Russia is already building a civilian nuclear power plant in India.

Russia and India are discussing collaborating on the next generation of fighter jets and medium-range transport aircraft.

The two countries are also rapidly deepening co-operation in the energy sector.

Though ties between the two countries are strong, the relationship faces new challenges, including competition from the West and the growing economic and military might of China.

PM Singh set for key Russia talks

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Russia sure has been making alot of friends lately. Course the Bible tells us, this will happen. Which is why the name of this thread is, what it is........

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Nukes must stay within national borders
18:45    08/ 11/ 2007

MOSCOW, November 8 (RIA Novosti) - Any new Russia-U.S. agreement on strategic weapons reduction must eliminate the possibility that nuclear weapons could be stationed outside national borders, chief of the Russian General Staff said.

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-I) was signed by the United States and the Soviet Union on July 31, 1991, five months before the union collapsed, and remains in force between the U.S., Russia, and three other ex-Soviet states.

Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have since disposed of all their nuclear weapons or transferred them to Russia. And the U.S. and Russia have reduced the number of delivery vehicles to 1,600, with no more than 6,000 warheads. The treaty is due to expire on December 5, 2009.

"Russia deems it necessary to preserve certain provisions of the START treaty [in a new agreement]...especially those that limit the number of nuclear warheads and their delivery vehicles, and those that prohibit their deployment outside national borders," Gen. Yury Baluyevsky said in an interview with ATM, a Czech army journal, posted on the Defense Ministry's Web site.

The general said the new treaty should replace both the START treaty and the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), and ensure the future comparability and transparency of Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals.

He also said the new document should be legally binding and set up as an independent international legal act.

"The proposed approach would rule out agreements of a declarative nature and make the process of further limitations on strategic offensive weapons efficient and viable," Baluyevsky said.

Nukes must stay within national borders

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Saudi Prince Buying 'Flying Palace' Jet for More Than $320 Million

Tuesday , November 13, 2007

AP
ADVERTISEMENT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates —
In the annals of excess, it could be a new high: a more than $300 million dollar, super-sized luxury airplane, bought and outfitted solely for the private comfort of a Saudi Arabian billionaire.

Once done, the Airbus A380, the world's biggest passenger plane, will be a "flying palace" for Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the manufacturer announced Monday.

Airbus SAS would not give a specific price tag for the VIP double- decker jet, with its football field-length wings, saying only that it would cost more than the aircraft's list price of $320 million.

That doesn't even include the money the prince will spend to custom fit the nearly 6,000-square foot plane to include whatever he wants. The options include private bedrooms, a movie theater or even a gym with a jacuzzi. He'll also need a flight crew of about 15 to operate the luxury liner.

"Prince Alwaleed is the first, and so far the only customer of this aircraft," said David Velupillai, the spokesman of the Airbus, which announced the luxury order at the Dubai International Airshow.

It's all just spending cash for bin Talal—Citigroup Inc.'s biggest individual shareholder and the world's 13th richest person with assets around $20 billion.

As a member of the Saudi royal family, he benefits from the country's vast oil wealth. But much of bin Talal's huge fortune comes from his investment firm, the $25-billion Kingdom Holding Co., which has stakes in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., Fairmont Raffles Hotels International Inc., Time Warner Inc., Apple Inc., PepsiCo Inc., Walt Disney Co. to name a few major corporations.

The prince, who is in his early 50s, appears to have a taste for super-sized jumbo jets. He already is the only private owner of a Boeing 747-400, Airbus said.

"It's like buying a new car or a new TV," Velupillai told The Associated Press. "One wants something bigger and better."

Airbus would not release many details about bin Talal's VIP A380, which dwarfs the 747—formerly the world's most spacious plane. Staff who answered the phone at bin Talal's office on Monday in Saudi Arabia said he was unavailable to comment.

The commercial A380, which made its maiden voyage with Singapore Airlines last month, is as tall as a seven-story building with each wing big enough to hold 70 cars. It is capable of carrying 853 passengers in an all-economy class configuration.

Take out the seats, and the plane can be transformed into a flying mansion.

Germany's Lufthansa Technik, which declined to comment Monday on bin Talal's purchase, has created a general rendering of what a VIP A380 jumbo could include: spacious bedrooms on the plane's upper deck, separated by a reception area and a bar next to central stairway. The master bedroom could include an office, private dinning room, a gym featuring a steam bath and exercise machines.

The lower decks could feature a lounge-type quarters equipped with a conference area and dining room. A third level, normally used for cargo, could be transformed into another passenger space or cinema.

This type of custom design does not come cheap. Experts say it could rack the price up by another $50 million to $150 million.

Purchases of private airliners has mushroomed in recent years, but most orders are in the category of a Learjet or Gulfstream—small and cheap at $2 million to $5 million in comparison to the A380, said David Bain, editor of a British-based online wealth analysis service, wealth-bulletin.com.

"It seems the Saudis really like these huge planes, and they have the money to do it," said Bain, who believes about a dozen other individuals own commercial jets. "Very few people buy commercial planes. It's a bit over the top."

But he and Airbus expect that number to grow. The airline company said it expects at least six other A380 VIP jets to be sold to clients in the Middle East, and Central and South Asia.

"The amount of billionaires has sky rocketed in recent years, and the really rich ones are looking to buy a commercial airline rather than a Learjet," Bain said.

Saudi Prince Buying 'Flying Palace' Jet for More Than $320 Million
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This does indeed remind one of the Left Behind scenario in the series of books about well you - know - who.

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Iran gives UN warhead blueprints
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST    Nov. 13, 2007

After years of stonewalling, Iran has given the UN nuclear agency blueprints showing how to mold uranium metal into the shape of warheads, diplomats said Tuesday, in an apparent concession meant to head off the threat of new UN sanctions.

But the diplomats said Tehran has failed to meet other requests made by the International Atomic Energy Agency in its attempts to end nearly two decades of nuclear secrecy on the part of the Islamic Republic.

The diplomats spoke to The Associated Press as IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei put the finishing touches on his latest report to his agency's 35-nation board of governors, for consideration next week. While ElBaradei is expected to say that Iran has improved its cooperation with his agency's probe, the findings are unlikely to deter the United States, France and Britain from pushing for a third set of UN sanctions.

The agency has been seeking possession of the blueprints since 2005, when it stumbled upon them among a batch of other documents during its examination of suspect Iranian nuclear activities. While agency inspectors had been allowed to examine them in the country, Tehran had up to now refused to let the IAEA have a copy for closer perusal.

Diplomats accredited to the agency, who demanded anonymity for divulging confidential information, said the drawings were hand-carried by Mohammad Saeedi, deputy director of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and handed over last week in Vienna to Oli Heinonen, an ElBaradei deputy in charge of the Iran investigations.

Iran maintains it was given the papers without asking for them during its black market purchases of nuclear equipment decades ago that now serve as the backbone of its program to enrich uranium - a process that can generate power or create the fissile core of nuclear warheads. Iran's refusal to suspend enrichment has been the main trigger for both existing UN sanctions and the threat of new ones.

Both the IAEA and other experts have categorized the instructions outlined in the blueprints as having no value outside of a nuclear weapons program.

While ElBaradei's report is likely to mention the Iranian concession on the drawings and other progress made in clearing up ambiguities in Iran's nuclear activities, it was unclear whether it would also detail examples of what the diplomats said was continued Iranian stonewalling.

Senior IAEA officials were refused interviews with at least two top Iranian nuclear officials suspected of possible involvement in a weapons program, they said. One was the leader of a physics laboratory at Lavizan, outside Tehran, which was razed before the agency had a chance to investigate activities there. The other was in charge of developing Iran's centrifuges, used to enrich uranium.

Iran gives UN warhead blueprints

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Don't worry y'all I'm pretty sure they went to the nearest copier, and made lots of copies!!

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OIC Sec-Gen: "We cannot afford to fail"
Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews   
Tuesday, 13 November 2007 15:51

JEDDAH, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (MindaNews/13 November) – “The attention of the whole world is focused on us … we cannot afford to fail,”  the secretary-general of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said Monday afternoon (evening in Manila)  at the end of the three-day Tripartite Meeting here with the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Ambassador Sayed Qassim Al-Masry, the OIC’s Special Envoy for Southern Philippines, told MindaNews that while no timetable has been set to compete the review of the 1996 “Final Peace Agreement,” he foresees “two or three more sessions.”

The parties in their two-page Communique set January 14, 2008 as the date for the next Tripartite Meeting, to discuss the progress reports from the five joint working groups they created.

The five joint working groups are on the Shari’ah and Judiciary; the Special Regional Security Force and the Unified Command for the Autonomous Region in Mindanao; Natural Resources and Economic Development issues; Political system and representation; and Education. These are the same issues that are listed in Phase 2 of the Agreement.

The working groups will have three members each from the Philippine government and the MNLF and their meetings will be attended by representatives of the OIC’s Peace Committee for Southern Philippines (PCSP).

The PCSP is an 11-nation expanded version of what used to be the Ministerial Committee of the Eight headed by Indonesia.  The Committee of the Eight had earlier been tasked by the OIC to chair the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the MNLF, which has been holding an observer status in the OIC since 1977.

In the early 1970s, the OIC tasked a Committee of the Four which was later expanded to Six – Libya, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Indonesia,  Senegal and Somalia and in 2000 was expanded to Eight with the inclusion of Malaysia and Brunei.

The PCSP now includes Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan as chair of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers.

Ihsanoglu said that when the Tripartite Meeting began Saturday afternoon, “I expressed the hope that it would build on the successes that had already been achieved in this endeavor. That hope has not been misplaced as we have been able to move forward with the establishment of a framework to rejuvenate the implementation of the Agreement.”

“I am confident that the days and months ahead will benefit from our concerted efforts and determination to succeed,” he said, adding, “I wish to conclude by reminding both sides that the attention of the whole world is focused on us and that we cannot afford to fail.”

The heads of delegation of both the Philippine government and the MNLF used the same word to describe the task ahead: “gargantuan.”

Peace Process Undersecretary Nabil Tan of Sulu, head of the Philippine delegation, said the road to peace “is never easy.”

“We encounter bumps, we detour, we make many turns but we still do not lose sight that the track to sustainable development is peace – peace is the way.”

“The gargantuan task of reviewing the implementation of the 1996 Peace Agreement and in arriving at a consensus by both parties has just begun,” Tan said.

The vice governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) from 1993 to 1996 and member of the government peace panel that negotiated with the MNLF during the same period, Tan noted that “perseverance, having an open mind and thinking out of the box including nourishing the partnership should be the prevailing atmosphere to attain the goals we have set in this meeting.”

“Behind the dark rain-laden cloud is the shining sun,” said lawyer Randolph Parcasio, MNLF head of delegation.

Parcasio, a member of the legal panel of the MNLF peace panel from 1992 to 1996 and executive secretary to MNLF chair Nur Misuari when the latter served as ARMM governor from 1996 to 2001,  said that while the three-day meeting ended on a positive note, “our gargantuan task now is to ensure that we will not lose the momentum that we have gained.”

He assured the MNLF “will do its duty and obligation to ensure that their respective representatives to these working groups will carry out their mandate effectively with honor, dignity, and dedication.”

“Back home, there is urgency in resolving the issues confronting us, because in the interregnum, underdevelopment, massive poverty and unemployment, injustice, lawlessness continues to confront the Bangsamoro People,” Parcasio said, citing the “lack of political and institutional empowerment in a genuine autonomous government for Southern Philippines in order to address these problems as envisioned in the 1996 Peace Agreement remains in suspended animation.”

“The wait was long, but at last, with the conclusion of this meeting, a faint light is now found at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

“Let us not waste this golden opportunity for us to act as one and united in bringing the peace dividends to our  ummah,” Tan urged his fellow Bangsamoro brothers in the MNLF.

“We all look forward to seeing a progressive and peaceful Mindanao, where socio-economic progress would replace conflict and discontent; where the rule of law would strive and deter and dissuade inhabitants from veering off the path of moderation and peace; where extremists and militant infiltrators would not be accepted by the community,” he said.

“Let me conclude by saying that if our ends are just and noble, success is inevitable,” Parcasio said.

OIC Sec-Gen: "We cannot afford to fail"

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Ahmadinejad strengthens his control over oil, industry ministries
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST    Nov. 14, 2007

Iran's conservative-dominated parliament approved President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's choices for the key oil and industry ministers, a move that will increase his control over the sectors supplying most of the country's revenues.

The parliament gave an overwhelming vote of confidence to new oil minister Gholam Hossein Nozari, a former head of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). Ali Akbar Mehrabian was approved as industry minister by a slimmer margin.

Of 246 lawmakers attending the parliament's open session Wednesday, 217 voted for Nozari, 20 against him and nine abstained. Mehrabian obtained only 174 votes in his favor but was still enough to win the post.

The appointments came three months after Ahmadinejad replaced Iran's key oil and industry ministers in a major cabinet reshuffle widely seen as increasing his control over the two money-earning ministries.

Some 80 percent of Iran's public revenues come from oil exports.

Ahmadinejad strengthens his control over oil, industry ministries

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Iraq: Turkish gunships attack villages
Raid is first major action against Kurd rebels since Erdogan, Bush meeting

Associated Press Writer
updated 2:56 a.m. MT, Wed., Nov. 14, 2007

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq - Turkish helicopters swooped into Iraqi territory Tuesday, Iraqi officials said, firing on villages in renewed pressure to dislodge Turkish Kurd guerrillas from bases in northern Iraq used to stage cross-border raids.

The helicopter attack was the first major Turkish action against the rebels since Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with President Bush in Washington on Nov. 5. Turkey has demanded that the U.S. and Iraq crack down on guerrillas operating from Iraqi territory and has massed tens of thousands of soldiers along the border with Iraq.

The United States and Iraq have urged Turkey, a NATO member, to avoid a large-scale attack on rebel bases in northern Iraq, fearing such an operation would destabilize what has been the calmest region in the country.
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A spokesman for the Iraqi Kurd regional administration, Jamal Abdullah, denied the helicopter attack report but said two Turkish warplanes dropped flares Monday in the mountains near the Iraqi town of Zakhu.

But Col. Hussein Tamir, an Iraqi army officer who supervises border guards, said the Turkish helicopters opened fire before dawn on abandoned villages northeast of Zakhu, an Iraqi Kurd town near the border with Turkey. There were no casualties, he said.

A Turkish government official confirmed the helicopter raids and said they were directed at suspected hideouts of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has been fighting for autonomy for Turkish Kurds since 1984 in a conflict that has killed nearly 40,000 people.

The official said more raids could be expected within a few days. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

A PKK spokesman corroborated accounts of the airstrikes, and said sporadic clashes had been taking place inside Turkey since late Monday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

Witnesses also said the Turkish bombing lasted a half hour in the villages, located northeast of Zakhu near the border.

"I was on the other side of the mountain when I heard huge explosions and could smell TNT powder all over the area," said shepherd Ibrahim Mazori, 53. He said he sometimes spends a night or two in the villages while tending his sheep.

All-out incursion?
An all-out cross-border incursion could be politically damaging for the Turks, who are also seeking membership in the European Union. But an upsurge of rebel attacks has outraged the Turkish public, increasing pressure on Erdogan to show resolve. Time for any possible ground incursion is running out, however, with the approach of the harsh winter in the border region.

More than 50 Turkish troops have been killed in a series of hit-and-run attacks by Kurdish rebels since late September. Turkey says it has killed dozens of rebels.

In the latest attack, four Turkish soldiers were killed Tuesday in a clash with rebels near the southeastern Turkish city of Sirnak, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said. The dead soldiers included a lieutenant and three privates, the governor's office in Sirnak said.

Turkey also fears its own Kurdish minority could become emboldened by the success of Iraqi Kurds in winning broad autonomy within Iraq.

Despite U.S. pressure against a ground incursion, American authorities have agreed to share intelligence with Turkey about Kurdish rebel positions, enabling the Turkish military to carry out limited assaults.

"The United States has declared the PKK as the common enemy. The struggle against this enemy will be maintained until it is eliminated," Erdogan told lawmakers in Parliament on Tuesday.

Air raids conducted with the help of newly provided U.S. intelligence could help Turkey chip away at rebel strength and show an angry public that it is taking strong measures to defeat the rebels.

For its part, Iraq's government is eager to avoid a confrontation with Turkey at a time when U.S. and Iraqi officials are claiming progress in the fight against Sunni and Shiite extremists.

3 U.S. soldiers killed
Meanwhile, three U.S. soldiers were killed in attacks north of the Iraqi capital, the military said Wednesday.

Two U.S. soldiers died Tuesday in an explosion in Diyala province, the U.S. military said in a statement. Another soldier was mortally wounded by gunfire Wednesday while providing security during a training mission for Iraqi police near Mosul.

Their deaths brought to at least 3,864 the number of U.S. military members who have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight civilians working for the military.
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Also Tuesday, the U.S. military said American and Iraqi troops killed 15 suspected al-Qaida in Iraq militants in a daylong battle the day before in Adwaniyah, about 12 miles south of Baghdad.

During the battle, American F-16 fighter jets dropped two 500-pound bombs on insurgent positions, the military said. It was unclear whether the 15 victims died in the gunbattle, or as a result of the U.S. bombing.

Elsewhere, at least 16 people were killed or found dead across the country Tuesday, according to police reports. Most of the deaths occurred outside of Baghdad.

Sunni, Shiite parties fail to work together
Improvements in security, however, have not produced power-sharing deals among Sunni and Shiite political parties. The U.S. believes such agreements are crucial to ensuring long-term stability.

On Tuesday, a key ally of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for Iraq's parliament to be dissolved and new elections held immediately to break the political deadlock.

Bahaa al-Araji, a lawmaker from al-Sadr's 30-member bloc, told reporters in Baghdad that the parliament has "become a burden on the Iraqi people rather than an institution to solve their problems and offer services."

"The parliament has become a very weak institution because of the way the elections took place, especially in Anbar and Mosul and some other southern provinces. I call for revising the election law," al-Araji said.

He said he was expressing his own views, and not speaking for his parliamentary bloc.

The next parliamentary elections are currently scheduled for 2009.

Earlier this year, al-Sadr's followers pulled out of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Cabinet to protest the Iraqi leader's reluctance to call for a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country. Sadrists also withdrew from the legislature's largest Shiite political grouping, the United Iraqi Alliance, but retained their seats in parliament.

Iraq: Turkish gunships attack villages

[Shammu]

Peres relays to Turkey secret info on Iran

During Ankara visit, president delivers to his hosts intelligence on Tehran's terrorist activities and nuclear program, aimed at swaying Turkey into taking firmer stance against Islamic republic

Aviram Zino
Published:    11.14.07, 01:05 / Israel News

ISTANBUL – President Shimon Peres has relayed to Turkey confidential information about Iran's terrorist activities during his visit to Ankara, Ynet learned Tuesday.

Officials on Peres' delegation said that the intelligence given to Turkey included proof that Iran's long-range missiles have been designed for nuclear war purposes, as well as evidence indicating that Iran's nuclear program was not peaceful and documents related to terror funding by Iran.

The information, as well as recommendations for assistance in the war against terror, were delivered to the Turks by Peres' military secretary Brigadier-General Shimon Hefetz.

Sources on the delegation explained that the information was aimed at persuading Turkey to change its political stances on Iran. Currently, the volume of trade between the two countries stands at billions of dollars annually, and the two also share common problems of terror by Kurdish rebels.

These considerations limit Turkey's ability, or inclination, to join the nations denouncing the Islamic republic and take a firmer stance against it.

In his speeches during the visit, Peres has on a few occasions compared between Iran, which supports terror, and Turkey, which strives for peace. The two, Peres said, were Muslim countries with very different worldviews.

Peres also visited Istanbul, and was accompanied to his plane by his host, the Turkish defense minister.

The president arrived directly at the Neveh Shalom synagogue in Istanbul, which is located in the heart of a Muslim neighborhood. The synagogue is suffered a deadly terror attack several years ago, in which more than 40 Jews and Israelis lost their lives.

Peres was greeted at the synagogue by hundreds of the Jewish community members in Istanbul. He was welcomed with dancing and a lot of excitement.

Peres relays to Turkey secret info on Iran

[Shammu]

Israel braces for nuclear-armed Iran
Published: 11/13/2007

Israel is preparing for a nuclear-armed Iran.

Despite repeated public warnings that it will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, the Olmert government has recently instructed Israeli authorities to prepare for the eventuality of the Jewish state's arch-enemy attaining the bomb, political sources said Tuesday.

The preparations include proposals for revamping Israel's civil defense system and for countering any new emigration trends or drops in tourism caused by fear of an Iranian nuclear attack.

Jerusalem officials said only that Israel is preparing itself for a range of possible future threats.

According to Israel's military intelligence, Iran could have a nuclear bomb by 2009. But Prime Minister Ehud Olmert played down that prediction during a Knesset appearance Monday. He also voiced confidence that U.S.-led diplomatic pressure on Tehran will curb the Iranian nuclear program.

Israel braces for nuclear-armed Iran

[Shammu]

I really would love to see Israel sneak in and out of there, like they did with Syria. That would make Iran look more like the bumbling big-mouth fools that they are.

The best thing is for ImAnutjob is a good dose of embarrassment in front of the world.