Prophecy and End Time Series. - Israel

[Shammu]

'Peaceful' PA official praises suicide bombers
Speech in Arabic language belies his pronouncements in English
Posted: January 12, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – A Palestinian official who publicly claims to support Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives this week gave a speech in Arabic in which he praised suicide bombers, blasted "filthy [Israeli] occupation," and declared Jerusalem is Palestinian land.

Qadura Faras, a Palestinian Legislative Council member and lawmaker from the ruling Fatah party, has been a vocal proponent of the Geneva Initiative, a private peace proposal drafted in 2003 by a group of extreme leftist Israelis, Palestinians and Europeans calling for an immediate Palestinian state in Gaza, Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.

Faras appears on a video featured on the official Geneva Initiative website with a message of peace toward Israelis:

    "It is always asked, do you [Israelis] have a partner on the other side. I am telling you with full sincerity, we are ready to reach an inclusive agreement with you, which will promise us freedom and liberty and statehood, and will promise you the thing we know you are sensitive to, which is your full right to live in peace and security."

But Israel-based Palestinian Media Watch reports Faras this week conveyed a different kind of message in a speech to a group of Palestinians.

According to the Al-Hayat Al-Jadida Palestinian newspaper, which covered Faras' Arabic-language address, the Fatah official "emphasized the continuation of the struggle until the freeing of all of the Palestinian territories from the filth of the occupation, and establishing the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Fares blessed the prisoners behind bars, and in particular mentioned the imprisoned fighter, "The Sniper" Tha'ir Hamed, who carried out the ... operation that led to the killing and injuring of several of the occupation soldiers."

Hamed was involved in terror attacks that killed 10 Israelis.

Continued Al-Hayat: "Fares mentioned the good traits of the ubgone19s ("martyrs," or suicide bombers) while clarifying their role in defending the homeland, fending off the aggression, and resisting the occupation. Faras said, 'We are all going in the way of Ziad Hamed, the ubgone19 of Silwad, until the fulfillment of the goal for which he became a ubgone19 ... ."

Faras' comments follow militant statements by other Palestinian officials who are considered by some in Israel to be "supporters of peace."

WND reported that as part of their campaign for Palestinian legislative elections currently scheduled for the end of this month, senior politicians from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party have been advocating continued terror attacks against Israel, including the firing of missiles.

"The West Bank is still occupied, and resistance is a legitimate right. I am not in favor of [launching] missiles, but it is our right to resist, to react and to confront the occupation," PA National Security Adviser Jabril Rajoub said in a recent interview with an Egyptian newspaper, according to a translation by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at Israel's Center for Special Studies.

Rajoub went on to declare that a cease-fire last February between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was signed to appease international public opinion and put pressure on Israel.

"The lull is open and changes according to developments in the field," Rajoub said. "Its main objective is to maintain local and international momentum, which serves Palestinian interests. The lull's function is also to exert pressure on the criminal Israeli government."

Also campaigning in upcoming elections is PA Minister of Civil Affairs Muhammad Dahlan, a longtime Fatah official who has been called a "moderate" by several Israeli and American politicians.

During a campaign stop last month in the large Gaza town of Khan Yunis, the Palestinian News Agency reported Dahlan called on Palestinians "to complete what was achieved in the Gaza Strip. To liberate Jerusalem and the West Bank. The refugees [must] take by force the right to return to their houses."

The "right of return" is widely seen by Israelis as a ploy to flood Israel with millions of Palestinians, thus threatening the country's Jewish character.

Senior Fatah activist Muhammad Hijazi, who has said he supports negotiations with Israel, noted in a recent interview with the Egyptian Al-Bayan newspaper the importance of "the path of jihad and resistance until all Palestinian land has been liberated."

Hajiza stated weapons in the possession of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a terror group responsible for scores of suicide bombings, shootings and rocket attacks, were "legitimate," since the Brigades had "the right to respond to the occupation's crimes."

'Peaceful' PA official praises suicide bombers

[Shammu]

Updated Jan. 12, 2006 15:04
IAF intelligence: Iran beefing up air defenses
By ARIEH O'SULLIVAN
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A recent research project by the IAF has determined that in the summer of 1981 Israel did not have a clear picture of the impact a strike on Iraq's nuclear reactor would have, but chose to attack anyway.

Prime minister Menachem Begin ordered the bombing, condemned by the world at the time, thus inaugurating what became known as the "Begin Doctrine," Israel's policy of launching a pre-emptive strike to prevent any of its enemies acquiring nuclear weapons.

It is the Begin Doctrine which repeatedly has been invoked lately regarding Iran and Israel's response to its suspected efforts to produce nuclear weapons. The internal IAF research paper shows that the feasibility of a successful military operation need not be total in order for Israeli leaders to order such a strike. This appears to abate a recently published US army report that claims Israel has no viable military option against Iranian nukes.

According to a senior Air Force officer who was privy to the IAF paper, the intelligence available at the time of the June 1981 strike on the Iraqi reactor at Osirak was only partial and it was unclear whether the planned air raid would be effective.

"At the time, there was no firm information on either the extent of the damage that the strike could cause or whether it would have a fatal impact on the Iraqi nuclear program. The information he had was very partial, even to the extent of the physical damage we could do to the target and how much it would delay the Iraqi program," said the senior officer.

But that was history and today it is Iran and its nuclear program that weighs heavy on their minds. The IAF officer said that Iran is increasingly fearful of attack. "But they are limited in their ability to create an effective air defense," he said.

According to intelligence, Iran has beefed up its air defenses around various nuclear sites as a precaution against a possible pre-emptive strike by US or Israeli forces. The source described the present Iranian air defenses as "good." It is known that Iran has deployed Soviet-origin anti-aircraft systems around the 1000-megawatt Bushehr nuclear reactor.

Iran's air defense contains Russian SA-2, SA-5, SA-6 as well as shoulder-launched SA-7 missiles, according to The Military Balance published by the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies. They also have aged US-made Hawk missiles and have been seeking to purchase the sophisticated S-300P from Russia.

One war game scenario played out by the IAF was an American attack on Iranian nuclear sites. In this case, it was believed the US would give Israel a prior warning of "perhaps a day, nothing significant." "There is no way the Iranians would believe that it was the Americans and [they] will seek to retaliate against Israel," a senior officer said.

The officer declined to say whether there were key targets in Iran that, if destroyed, would seriously set back their nuclear program.

"I will have to provide targets to the generals so that they can offer various options to the government," the senior officer said. "We have to be able to provide answers all of the time for potential targets."

Ironically, the Israeli F-16s that bombed Osirak were actually built for the Iranians. Israel received them instead after the Islamic revolution toppled the shah and the US imposed an arms embargo on Teheran. Today, the IAF has a new generation of F-16s custom built for striking Iran.

IAF intelligence: Iran beefing up air defenses

[Shammu]

Jan. 12, 2006 15:04
IAF intelligence: Iran beefing up air defenses
By ARIEH O'SULLIVAN

A recent research project by the IAF has determined that in the summer of 1981 Israel did not have a clear picture of the impact a strike on Iraq's nuclear reactor would have, but chose to attack anyway.

Prime minister Menachem Begin ordered the bombing, condemned by the world at the time, thus inaugurating what became known as the "Begin Doctrine," Israel's policy of launching a pre-emptive strike to prevent any of its enemies acquiring nuclear weapons.

It is the Begin Doctrine which repeatedly has been invoked lately regarding Iran and Israel's response to its suspected efforts to produce nuclear weapons. The internal IAF research paper shows that the feasibility of a successful military operation need not be total in order for Israeli leaders to order such a strike. This appears to abate a recently published US army report that claims Israel has no viable military option against Iranian nukes.

According to a senior Air Force officer who was privy to the IAF paper, the intelligence available at the time of the June 1981 strike on the Iraqi reactor at Osirak was only partial and it was unclear whether the planned air raid would be effective.

"At the time, there was no firm information on either the extent of the damage that the strike could cause or whether it would have a fatal impact on the Iraqi nuclear program. The information he had was very partial, even to the extent of the physical damage we could do to the target and how much it would delay the Iraqi program," said the senior officer.

But that was history and today it is Iran and its nuclear program that weighs heavy on their minds. The IAF officer said that Iran is increasingly fearful of attack. "But they are limited in their ability to create an effective air defense," he said.

According to intelligence, Iran has beefed up its air defenses around various nuclear sites as a precaution against a possible pre-emptive strike by US or Israeli forces. The source described the present Iranian air defenses as "good." It is known that Iran has deployed Soviet-origin anti-aircraft systems around the 1000-megawatt Bushehr nuclear reactor.

Iran's air defense contains Russian SA-2, SA-5, SA-6 as well as shoulder-launched SA-7 missiles, according to The Military Balance published by the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies. They also have aged US-made Hawk missiles and have been seeking to purchase the sophisticated S-300P from Russia.

One war game scenario played out by the IAF was an American attack on Iranian nuclear sites. In this case, it was believed the US would give Israel a prior warning of "perhaps a day, nothing significant." "There is no way the Iranians would believe that it was the Americans and [they] will seek to retaliate against Israel," a senior officer said.

The officer declined to say whether there were key targets in Iran that, if destroyed, would seriously set back their nuclear program.

"I will have to provide targets to the generals so that they can offer various options to the government," the senior officer said. "We have to be able to provide answers all of the time for potential targets."

Ironically, the Israeli F-16s that bombed Osirak were actually built for the Iranians. Israel received them instead after the Islamic revolution toppled the shah and the US imposed an arms embargo on Teheran. Today, the IAF has a new generation of F-16s custom built for striking Iran.

IAF intelligence: Iran beefing up air defenses

[Shammu]

Iran says to end atomic site checks if sent to UN

By Parisa Hafezi 5 minutes ago

TEHRAN (Reuters) -
Iran said on Friday it would end voluntary cooperation with the United Nations over its nuclear program, including snap checks of atomic sites, if Tehran was referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

The United States and the European Union's three biggest powers said on Thursday talks with Iran to curb its nuclear program were at an impasse and Tehran should be brought before the Security Council.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran would end snap U.N. checks of its atomic facilities and would resume uranium enrichment if its case was sent to the Security Council.

"The government will be obliged to end all of its voluntary measures if sent to the U.N. council," Mottaki was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

Accusing Iran of turning its back on the international community, the EU's "Big Three" -- Britain, Germany and France -- said it had consistently breached its commitments and failed to show the world its nuclear activities were peaceful.

A joint statement from the so-called "EU3" countries said: "We believe the time has now come for the Security Council to become involved."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joined calls for an emergency meeting of the board of governors of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, to seek a referral to the Council, which can impose sanctions.

Oil prices climbed to a three-month high as mounting tension over Iran stoked fears of supply disruption from the world's fourth biggest crude exporter, though they later pulled back.

The announcement by the EU's "Big Three" signified the end of 2-1/2 years of attempts to convince Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment program, which they suspect it intends to use to produce fuel for nuclear weapons.

Iran says it aims to develop only a civilian nuclear power program in accordance with international law.

Tehran raised the stakes on Tuesday when it began to remove IAEA seals on equipment used to enrich uranium. The process can produce fuel for power stations or, if the uranium is highly purified, for bombs.

Iran's parliament passed a bill in November obliging the government to stop following the Additional Protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that allows snap U.N. checks of atomic sites.

The bill also called on Iran to resume all nuclear activities that it had stopped voluntarily, foremost among them being a moratorium on enriching uranium.

Iran says to end atomic site checks if sent to UN

[Soldier4Christ]

Israel's new confidence
in attack on Iran nukes
Air force has workable war plan
with high probability of success

Israeli military planners have more confidence in the success of an attack on Iran's nuclear weapons facilities and have already begun sending signals to Tehran that it will not be permitted to threatened the Jewish state with annihilation.

The new government of acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also wants the mullah government in the Islamic republic to understand that the incapacitation of Ariel Sharon will not leave Israel in any less state of military readiness.

Yesterday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed strong U.S. support for a European move to take the issue of Iran's nuclear program to the U.N. Security Council. The secretary accused Iran of deliberately escalating the confrontation over the issue, but said the United States still hopes for a diplomatic solution.

The secretary of state endorsed the European decision in a statement to reporters, saying "provocative" Iranian actions in recent days had shattered the basis for further talks between Iran and three European nations.

The U.S. is certain that Iran's "civilian" nuclear program conceals an ambitious secret weapons effort.

The secretary said it was premature to talk about possible U.N. sanctions or whether permanent Security Council members Russia and China, which have extensive commercial dealings with Iran, could be persuaded to support them.

She plans to speak with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing as part of a far-reaching U.S. diplomatic push on the Iran issue.

The secretary said since he came to power last year, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has done nothing but confront the international system on the nuclear issue with outrageous statements, the likes of which, she said, "have not been made in polite company" in many years.

Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be wiped off the face of the earth and suggested that the Jewish state be moved to Europe. He also denied the Holocaust ever happened.

Israel has no illusions about the U.N. solving the crisis.

G2 Bulletin sources say a recent statement by the Israeli military chief of intelligence, Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, that March 1 would be the time limit for diplomatic means to deter Iran's plans was actually an implied warning to Iran.

Sources in Tel Aviv and in several European capitals, say Zeevi's remarks were based on a military-planned timetable and a possible D-Day to take the Iranian military nuclear plant out of the picture.

Gen. Dan Halutz, Israel's chief of staff and former air force commander, intentionally selected to be the first chief of staff to come from the air force, last week said there are several military means to deal with the problem.

Although his statement was somewhat vague, Halutz is known for his verbal restraint. Sources say he is certain the Israeli military machine would be as effective against the Iranian project as it was in 1981 against the Iraqi Ossiraq nuclear site.

Sources in Israel also believe public disclosures about the Israeli air force's "anti-aircraft imaging unit" are significant. The Israel air force magazine re-published a story in December 2005 under the title: "Know Thy Enemy." It dealt specifically with the anti-aircraft missile threat, which could be the major obstacle in taking out the Iranian system. The special unit's existence was until recently classified as top secret.

Since 1996, the air force and the Rafael Weapons Development Authority have been jointly operating a unit of Soviet anti-aircraft systems similar to those in service in the Middle East. The unit, based on thorough knowledge of Russian-made systems, is instrumental in the training of Israeli air force fighter pilots on how to survive anti-aircraft and radar threats, sometimes thousands of kilometers away from base. The unit also operates weapon systems captured from Arab armies, undisclosed purchased equipment and secret computer developments of systems identical to anti-aircraft systems used by Iran, and even systems directly ordered by Iran from the Russians to protect their nuclear assets.

The Israelis have also received help from former Soviet or Russian anti-aircraft officers who immigrated to Israel.

The air force also chose to reveal details of its cooperation with the Turkish air force including the deployment of Israeli fighter jets in Turkey and Turkish squadrons in Israel as part of a joint training program. Even Greece, which for years rejected any cooperation with Israel, recently announced its air force is also fully cooperating with the Israeli air force.

This cooperation with regional air forces, especially with Turkey, which borders Iran in the east, is highly significant when mentioned in uncensored air force publications.

[Shammu]

Iran Threatens to End Nuclear Cooperation

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 13, 6:39 PM ET

TEHRAN, Iran -
Iran threatened Friday to end surprise inspections and other cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog if it is referred to the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program, and the president vowed his country won't be intimidated by sanctions.

Iran's tough line came as Europe and the United States were trying to build support for hauling Iran before the Security Council. They faced resistance from China, which warned the move could only escalate the confrontation.

In Washington, President Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged U.N. intervention. The world needs to "send a common message to Iran that their behavior ... is unacceptable," Bush said.

An end to U.N. inspections would be a dramatic breakdown in the already faltering diplomatic attempts at reining in Iran's nuclear ambitions. The United States and many in Europe fear Iran aims to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran insists its program is peaceful, intended only to produce electricity. But it has insisted on its right to conduct uranium enrichment, a process that can produce reactor fuel or material for a nuclear bomb.

After Iran resumed research work on enrichment this week, Britain, France and Germany issued a tough statement Thursday declaring 2 1/2 years of tense negotiations with Tehran at a "dead end" and urging the Security Council to intervene.

But on Friday, the three countries carefully avoided talk of sanctions, with diplomats privately conceding there was little appetite for tough economic sanctions, such as restricting oil and gas sales — given the impact that would have on the world economy.

Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the Security Council would consider sanctions if Tehran remained defiant. But echoing French and German officials, who said talk of sanctions was "premature," he called for patient, step by step diplomacy.

"Our approach is firm, but it has also got to be a sensible, patient approach which ensures that there is a continuation of the very substantial international consensus which we have built up," he said.

In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said a referral to the U.N. would prompt Iran to end its cooperation with the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency outlined in an agreement known as the Additional Protocols, reached in October 2003.

"In case Iran is referred to the U.N. Security Council ... the government will be obliged to end all of its voluntary cooperation," the television quoted Mottaki as saying.

Under the protocols, Iran agreed to allow IAEA inspectors to carry out surprise inspections of its nuclear sites with as little as two hours notice. The deal also lets them inspect sites Iran has not officially declared as nuclear facilities — such as the Parchin military base outside of Tehran that inspectors visited in October, suspecting that nuclear activity was taking place there.

Iran's parliament passed a law late last year requiring the government to block intrusive inspections of Iran's facilities if the U.N. nuclear agency refers the Iranian program to the Security Council.

The law also requires the Iranian government to resume all nuclear activities it had stopped voluntarily, foremost among them enriching uranium. Western countries, and chiefly the U.S., fear enrichment could be used to also produce material for nuclear weapons.

Mottaki did not specifically mention whether Iran would resume enrichment if it were put before the council.

Top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani called the head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, on Friday and stressed Iran's desire to resolve the dispute diplomatically, Iranian state TV reported.

The newscaster said Larijani reiterated to ElBaradei that Iran is determined to realize its nuclear goals "in the framework of international regulations and under the supervision of the IAEA."

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran would not bend before the threat of sanctions.

"Iran is not frightened by threats from any country and it will continue the path of production of the nuclear energy," state-run radio quoted him as saying. "Iranian people do not allow foreigners to block their progress."

Hamidreza Hajbabai, a member of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, predicted the West would back down from referring Iran to the council.

"Europe does not seek a chaotic situation that does not serve anybody," he told state-run radio.

"Iran is not a country that the West could easily force it to give in nuclear fuel by sanctions and political pressures. These will only make Iranian people united more than before," the radio said in a commentary.

China, which has growing economic ties with Iran and holds veto powers at the Security Council, expressed its opposition to putting Tehran before the world body for possible sanctions.

"We want a solution but to refer it might complicate the issue," its U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, said. "This is our concern."

Asked how a referral to the council could complicate the situation, Wang said, "I think that this might make the positions of some parties more tough on this issue."

Europe has been trying to get Iran to permanently abandon uranium enrichment but Iran says it won't give up its right under the NPT to enrich uranium and produce nuclear fuel.

On Tuesday, Iran removed some U.N. seals from its main uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, central Iran, and resumed research on nuclear fuel — including some small-scale enrichment.

In Friday's comments, Mottaki called on Europe to "not make propaganda over research which is natural and normal" and that it was prepared for talks with Europeans over the enrichment process.

Iran also described an earlier proposal to enrich uranium on Russian territory and ship it back to Iran to fuel nuclear power as a good starting point for negotiations.

Iran Threatens to End Nuclear Cooperation

[Shammu]

Cleric says Iran will resist "psychological war"
Fri Jan 13, 2006 7:43 AM ET13

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A leading Iranian cleric said on Friday the Islamic republic would resist the "psychological war" launched against its nuclear program, which the West fears is a front for covert bomb-making.

The United States and the European Union's three biggest powers said on Thursday that talks with Iran to curb its nuclear program were at an impasse and Tehran should be brought before the United Nations Security Council.

Iran warned on Friday it would end voluntary cooperation with the U.N. over its nuclear work if it was referred, including halting snap checks of its nuclear sites.

Cleric Ahmad Khatami said Iran would never succumb to mounting international pressure to abandon its nuclear work.

"This is a psychological war. This nation is not a nation to yield to such pressures," Khatami told worshippers in a Friday prayers sermon at Tehran University.

"The Europeans should avoid the language of threat. Using this language against the great Iranian nation is useless," he said, to chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Britain".

Iran escalated its nuclear standoff with the West on Tuesday when it began removing U.N. seals on equipment used to enrich uranium -- a process of purifying it for use as fuel in nuclear power plants or, when very highly enriched, in bombs.

Tehran insists its nuclear program is aimed solely at producing much-needed electricity and is not, as Washington and the European Union say, a cover for making atomic bombs.

Their suspicions are based on Iran's failure to disclose key nuclear infrastructure and revelations it has been working on some nuclear systems primarily associated with military programs.

Accusing Iran of defying the international community, Britain, Germany and France said it had consistently breached its commitments and failed to show the world its nuclear activities were peaceful.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joined the EU trio's call for an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency to discuss what she called Iran's "dangerous defiance" in restarting uranium enrichment work.

"That meeting would be to report Iran's non-compliance with its safeguard obligations to the U.N. Security Council," Rice told a news conference in Washington on Thursday.

Cleric says Iran will resist "psychological war"

[Shammu]

Hamas: We won't honor past agreements

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar tells New York Times all Israeli leaders are 'poison'
Yitzhak Benhorin

Uncompromising message: Hamas will not honor agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority should the Islamic group win the upcoming elections, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar told the New York Times.

However, he added, Hamas would be willing to join forces with current ruling faction Fatah in forming a new government.

"We do not want to replace Fatah," Zahar said, adding that even if Hamas won overwhelming support, all Palestinian factions would be invited to join a coalition government.

"It will not be Hamas alone… Our project is to change the corrupted system, the corrupted regime, to purify the regime," he said.

During the interview, Zahar received a surprising phone call from Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, who called to ask Zahar what he thought of a speech delivered by the Palestinian leader Monday evening.

The Hamas leader told Abbas the speech "was positive and acceptable."

During the interview, Zahar avoided answering whether his group would change its longtime goal of destroying Israel. He also refrained from adderssing warnings by the European Union that it might cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas became a part of the government.

'All Israeli leaders are poison'

Zahar also refused to speculate about the effects of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's illness, saying whoever leads Israel bears the same message.

"They can put the poison in the honey to give it better taste," he said with a smile, but added that "all of them are poison."

Zahar made it clear that Hamas would not give up its weapons, as demanded by international peace mediators, but that as a partner in government it would support the inclusion of all groups in a unified army that would disarm Palestinian clans fighting amongst themselves.

He said a Palestinian army would focus on protecting against what he described as Israeli incursions, like its recent shelling of northern Gaza to create a buffer zone.

"If the aim is to protect the Israeli border, and to put all the guns in the Palestinian factions who are not ready to confront Israel, this will not be acceptable by anybody," he said.

"But if the aim is to put all of the Palestinian guns on the border to protect our institutions, to protect our lands, I think that would be acceptable," he added.

Meanwhile, Zahar did not reject the possibility of renewed attacks inside Israel. He said that Israel had failed to uphold its end of the nearly yearlong cease-fire by assassinating the leaders of other Palestinian factions that have continued attacks, and that it had not met other conditions of the truce.

"For this reason the calmness has ended," Zahar said. "We have the right to self-defense and to protect our people."

'We're different from al-Qaeda'

But he left open the possibility that Hamas might refrain from attacks on Israel "if not provoked."

He added that factional violence may break out on January 25, the Palestinian election date, but that Hamas would work to avoid civil war, which many people in Gaza fear will follow elections.

"The only winner would be Israel," Zahar said.

He also rejected what he described as recent efforts by Israel to draw a connection between Hamas and al-Qaeda.

"Al-Qaeda is not present here," he said. "We are focused on the occupation. We run no operations outside of Palestine, outside of the occupied territories, so we are completely different from al-Qaeda."

Zahar has great plans for the future, after the elections. He said Hamas would try to develop direct trade with the world, cutting out Israel as intermediary, as is now required by an economic protocol signed in 1994 in Paris.

He described that agreement as a disaster for the Palestinians, using the cost of gasoline as an example: It is five times more expensive when imported through Israel than if purchased directly from Egypt, he said.

Hamas: We won't honor past agreements

[Shammu]

Hamas drops call for the end of Israel as poll nears
By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
(Filed: 13/01/2006)

Hamas has dropped its long-standing call for Israel to be replaced by an Islamic state in its manifesto for this month's Palestinian elections.

The document, one of the rare occasions when Hamas has declared its policies in writing, does not repeat a tenet of its founding charter that all land west of the Jordan river should be part of an Islamic Palestinian state.

The wording suggests that Hamas is committed to watering down some of the policies that led to it being proscribed by Israel, America and the European Union as a terrorist organisation.

But the manifesto has not been totally cleansed of controversial language. It supports an armed struggle to regain Palestinian land, a struggle that involved numerous Hamas suicide bombs.

The manifesto appears to commit Hamas to a position that has been hinted at by its leadership over the past few years, namely an armed struggle to regain land lost in the 1967 Six Day War to form a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

The issue of land lost in 1948 with the creation of Israel would then be dealt with by future generations of Hamas leadership.

"Our nation is currently at a stage of national liberation, and it has the right to act to regain its rights and end the occupation by using all means, including armed resistance," the manifesto says. "We must use all means in order to support our people and establish a state whose capital is Jerusalem."

The group's founding charter remains unchanged, predicting that Israel will suffer the same fate as the Crusader kingdoms in the Holy Land in the Middle Ages.
    
Middle East factfile

The Israeli government repeatedly accuses Hamas of being committed to the destruction of Israel. This has led the Jewish state to outlaw Hamas, assassinate its leaders and block election campaigning by its members.

The manifesto forms part of a delicate process whereby Hamas has begun to move in from the extremes of Palestinian politics.

Despite this, Israel's acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert, told President George W Bush that there could be no progress on peace in the Middle East if Hamas entered a Palestinian government.

Mr Olmert said that the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas must "take steps against terrorism and disband the terrorist organisations because otherwise there can be no progress with an administration in which there are terrorist organisations".

It was Mr Olmert's first telephone conversation with Mr Bush since Ariel Sharon was admitted to hospital.

Hamas's participation in the Jan 25 election is a breakthrough, as the group has previously refused to take part in parliamentary and presidential elections organised by the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas has done relatively well in municipal elections across the occupied territories in recent years although its members were forced to stand as independents as Hamas remains proscribed by the Israeli authorities.

Polling suggests that the group, a Palestinian version of the Muslim Brotherhood created in Egypt in the 1920s, could pose a serious challenge to the ruling Fatah party, founded by Yasser Arafat.

• At least two members of Islamic Jihad died yesterday during an arrest operation by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Jenin, sources within the radical Palestinian movement said.

One militant blew himself up while another was shot dead, said a Jihad official.

Hamas drops call for the end of Israel as poll nears

[Shammu]

Israel Urges Sanctions Against Iran
Jan 13 1:30 PM US/Eastern

By AMY TEIBEL
Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM

Israel on Friday urged the international community to threaten Iran with sanctions if it doesn't abandon its nuclear ambitions, following new threats from Tehran to block U.N. inspections of its atomic sites.

Israeli officials said they remain hopeful that diplomacy can end the crisis, but they warned a military strike led by others against Iranian nuclear facilities may be necessary.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the Iranian regime should be presented with a clear choice: "Either they totally cease their nuclear weapons program or they endanger their relationships with the entire organized international community."

"We believe the combination of fanatical ideology together with nuclear weaponry is a combination that no thinking person can feel comfortable with," Regev added.

The comments came a day after France, Britain and Germany _ backed by the United States _ said that nuclear talks with Iran had reached a dead end after more than two years of acrimonious negotiations and the issue should be referred to the Security Council.

With the support of Russia and China uncertain, however, they refrained from calling on the 15-nation council to impose sanctions and said they remained open to more talks.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., said Friday: "Obviously if Iran failed to comply, the Security Council would then consider sanctions." But he denied military action was being considered by Britain or the U.S.

Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful and aimed only at generating electricity, but the U.S., Israel and others say Tehran is seeking to develop atomic weapons.

Israeli officials think Tehran is closer to the "point of no return" in developing weapons than Western countries do, arguing that point is not when Iran might have a bomb, but when it might have the technology to produce the fissile component of nuclear warheads.

Israeli defense officials have said that once Iran resumes its enrichment of uranium, as it has announced it would do, it would be able to produce fissile materials in six to 12 months.

Other experts say Iran may be up to five years or more away from producing a nuclear weapon.

Israel considers Tehran to be its greatest threat. Recent statements by Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for Israel's destruction and Russia's plans to sell Iran missiles and other defense systems valued at more than $1 billion have only fueled those fears.

Last month, Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said he did not believe diplomatic pressure would put a halt to Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Still, Israeli officials have continued to say that international diplomatic pressure is the best way to end Iran's nuclear program, with military action considered only as a last resort. Last month, before his stroke, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israel wouldn't lead the fight against the Islamic state's nuclear ambitions.

Israeli combat jets knocked out Iraq's unfinished nuclear reactor more than two decades ago in a lightning strike. But military experts have said a similar attack on Iran's nuclear project would be far more complex, because facilities are dispersed and some are hidden underground.

On Friday, Ran Cohena member of the Israeli parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee, said Israel "definitely is not considering military action because it would only encourage radical (Islamic) groups to increase their power."

But another committee member, Ephraim Sneh, said while Israel is not preparing to carry out a unilateral military strike, "it doesn't mean it's not feasible."

Asked about the possibility of an attack on Iran, the British foreign secretary said, "I promise you I've never had a single discussion with anybody in the American administration about even the possibility of military action."

"This can only be resolved by peaceful means. Nobody is talking about invading Iran or taking military action," Straw added.

Israel Urges Sanctions Against Iran

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ISRAEL: VATICAN-MUSSOLINI PACT TOUTED AS MODEL FOR JERUSALEM


Tel Aviv, 13 Jan. (AKI) - A 1929 accord between the Vatican and Fascist Italy granting 'special status' to several Rome churches could provide a model to resolve the dispute over Israel's control of Jerusalem, a former Israeli ambassador has suggested. Moshe Sasson, Israel's ambassador to Italy from 1973-77, described the Lateran Treaty signed by Benito Mussolini and the Vatican as "a historical precedent that is wonderfully suited to the issue of Jerusalem," in an editorial in Friday's edition of the Tel Aviv daily Haaretz.

Sasson argues that by seeking an arrangement similar to the Lateran Treaty, Israel would prevent the partitioning of Jerusalem while satisfying the followers of the world's main three monotheistic religions - Christianity, Islam and Judaism - who all consider the city holy.

The Lateran Treaty ended a dispute which began in 1871 when the then newly- constituted Kingdom of Italy took over Rome after centuries of Papal rule. In 1929 Italy granted a "special status under international guarantee" for five basilicas that belong to the Vatican, but which are situated outside the territory that demarcates the tiny state.


Sasson says Israel could declare unilaterally, by virtue of its sovereignity, that it is granting a special status to the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock Sanctuary on the Temple Mount, as well as to other places that are sacred to Judaism as well as those Christians cherish as holy.

Israel could grant "free passage to the holy places regardless of religion, gender or race," to anyone wanting to visit Temple Mount for example. Sasson argues that such a move would be welcomed by the international community ensuring that "Jerusalem would remain whole and not divided; each of the three montheistic religions would be soveriegn over the buildings that are sacred to it, would administer them and would be responsible for what happens inside them," he said.

Sasson admits that such a move would not necessarily win the approval of Arab governments who he says want to maintain the "supposedly 'religious aspect' of the Arab-Israeli conflict."

Still, a compromise solution could be achieved if Israel were to allow Arab governments to establish a small policing force to oversee sacred Islamic sites. This, Sasson argues, would help overcome the present problem whereby Israeli security forces responsible for law and order are seen to impart the "punishment of the other."

While the Lateran Treaty model might offer a solution to the dispute over the custodianship of religious sites, Sasson says Israel has another problem that needs tackling - Jerusalem's very large Arab population, which currently numbers 237,100.

The growth rate of the Arab population is currently double that of the city's Jewish community, a situation which will over the years result in the "capital of Israel" having mostly Arab inhabitants.

To remedy this situation, Sasson urges the Isralei government to implement policies that will "attract Israelis and Jewish immigrants to Jerusalem and to keep its Jewish inhabitants living there and prevent them from abandoning it."

Israel defines Jerusalem as its "eternal and undivided capital" a status not recognise by most nations who maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv. Palestinians say Arab East Jerusalem should be the capital of their future state.

ISRAEL: VATICAN-MUSSOLINI PACT TOUTED AS MODEL FOR JERUSALEM

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'Israeli fences don't stop rockets'
Terror leader warns of onslaught against major Jewish cities
Posted: January 14, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

Following is a WorldNetDaily exclusive interview with Abu Oudai, a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group responsible for coordinating the organization's rocket network in the West Bank.

The Brigades is the military wing of the ruling Fatah party and is responsible for scores of suicide bombings, shootings and rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. The group is particularly active in the West Bank, where Israel fears Palestinian terror organizations are stockpiling rockets with plans to shoot the deadly weapons at major Israeli cities in the near future.

With Arabic-English translation by Ali Waked.

By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

WND: Hundreds of rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip the past few years by Palestinian terror groups, aimed at nearby Jewish farming communities. After Israel carried out its Gaza withdrawal this past summer, there has been information the Palestinian groups are now stockpiling rockets in the West Bank, which is within reach of Israel's major population centers, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, in addition to the 200,000 or so Jews who live within the West Bank. Israel says a primitive rocket – the first ever from the West Bank – was launched by your group in Jenin three weeks ago. What kind of rocket capabilities do you currently have in the West Bank?

OUDAI: First I want to say that three weeks ago was not the first time we shot rockets from Jenin to the settlements of the Israeli enemy. It is the enemy who for the first time admitted that these rockets exist in the West Bank and that they were shot against Israeli targets. Israel published about that rocket after they realized the shooting of rockets is taking place repeatedly in the West Bank.

We believe that for the moment our capacities are very good and are permanently improving. We can reach any point inside Israel, but I will not mention what are the regions we are ready to shoot from.

WND: How many rockets has your group launched so far from the West Bank? And what are your plans in the near future as far as the regularity of launching.

OUDAI: We have launched six times and with the help of Allah we will launch these rockets regularly. There will be no calm, no ceasefire until the occupation leaves our land. I don't need to tell you that the aerial distance from Jenin to Netanya, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities is not big without telling you what are all our plans concerning other parts of the West Bank.

WND: Are the rockets manufactured inside the West Bank or smuggled over from Gaza? Israel says most are made in the area and not smuggled after the Gaza withdrawal.

OUDAI: The rockets were transported from outside the West Bank. I am not surprised that the Israeli army claims differently because it is not the first time that it denies the real capacity of the Palestinian resistance. Do not forget that their arrival is a new failure of the Israeli army. With the help of Allah we succeeded to bring these rockets inside the West Bank. But it is true that we are working also on producing these rockets inside the West Bank.

Concerning what the Israeli army said about the rockets being primitive, the very near future will prove their capacity to kill and destroy and to beat the Israelis in the West Bank exactly like we did with these rockets in the Gaza Strip.

WND: Which West Bank towns can you currently strike with your rockets? Right now, can you reach Jerusalem or Tel Aviv?

OUDAI: We will reach every point where there is Israeli occupation on our land. We will shoot these rockets as long as Israeli tanks and aircraft are killing our people and yes this includes Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, but don't ask me where we shall shoot from next.

WND: When you talk about "our land," are you referring to the West Bank, or do you mean you will try to drive the Jews from all of Israel with your rockets?

OUDAI: Of course the whole thing [all of what you call Israel] is part of Palestine and we'll never give it up.

WND: Are your West Bank rockets the same as the Qassam rockets in Gaza that can go about three miles? I have heard about a new rocket, the Jenin-1.

OUDAI: For security reasons and for the safety of this process of transferring rockets from outside and the process of producing them I cannot give details. I can say that for the moment we have two series of rockets – Jenin and 2 and Arafat-1 and 2. The Jenin distance is 3.5 kilometers to 5 kilometers; Jenin 2 is 6 kilometers.

As for our Arafat rockets, I cannot give at this moment much details. All I can say is they will be very much improved in comparison with any other rocket of the Palestinian resistance. The Arafat rockets will prove two things: First, that they can reach every goal we want all over the enemy state. Secondly, it will prove to the Israelis that Arafat's spirit is still alive and that he is continuing to fight the Israelis and to hit them even after his disappearing.

WND: Your group and other terror organizations have credited Israel's security fence with frustrating your ability to carry out suicide bombings, basically because now you cannot get in to carry out the bombings. I assume the fence has no impact whatsoever on your ability to launch rockets.

OUDAI: Correct. An important goal of the rockets is to tell the Israelis that you have built a huge wall on which you spent billions of dollars but still we are hitting you with our rockets and reaching every target we want. This wall will not defend you from our rockets which have defeated your wall and all the security measures you have taken to prevent our attacks.

WND: Will the rockets replace suicide bombings, as some of Hamas' own published studies have predicted?

OUDAI: No, not at all. But the rockets give the Palestinian resistance more options in its struggle.

WND: Israel has threatened an unprecedented military response to rocket launchings from the West Bank. Do you take this threat into consideration?

OUDAI: So far Israel has used all its tools, tanks, aircraft, assassinations, everything it can use and we are still here and still fighting. We do not get excited from these Israeli threats. What can be this unprecedented reaction? They have already tried everything.

'Israeli fences don't stop rockets'

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Iran says UN referral won't end its nuclear plans
Sat Jan 14, 2006 8:16 AM ET173

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will not be deflected from its right to develop nuclear technology by referral to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday.

"If they want to destroy the Iranian nation's rights by that course, they will not succeed," Ahmadinejad told a news conference when asked about European moves to refer Tehran to the world body over a suspected atomic weapons program.

Iran raised the stakes in the dispute this week by removing UN seals on equipment that purifies uranium, which can be used for power or, if highly enriched, in bombs.

The United States and the European Union's three biggest powers have said talks with Iran on the issue are at a dead end, and that they will ask the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency to refer the case to the Security Council.

Britain, Germany and France said this week that Iran had consistently breached its commitments and failed to show the world its nuclear activities were peaceful.

Tehran denies suggestions that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, and says it needs nuclear technology only to generate electricity.

Iran says UN referral won't end its nuclear plans

[Shammu]

Bush: Iran aiming for nukes, Israel's destruction

U.S. President George Bush holds joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, warns: 'Iran trying to clandestinely develop nuclear weapon,' says Iran armed with nuclear weapons is 'step closer' to stated agenda of trying to destroy Israel

U.S. President George Bush, speaking at a Washington press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said that Iran was secretly working to acquire nuclear weapons, and warned that Teheran was moving closer to its stated agenda of trying to destroy Israel.

"Iran armed with a nuclear weapon poses a great threat to the security of the world," said Bush.

He added: "Countries such as ours have a great obligation to step up, working together to send a message to the Iranians that their behavior, trying to clandestinely develop a nuclear weapon, or using the guise of a civilian nuclear program to attain a nuclear weapon, is unacceptable."

Bush's speech was carried live on the CNN news network.

He added: "The current president of Iran has announced that the destruction of Israel is an important part of their agenda. That is unacceptable. The development of a nuclear weapon is a step closer to that agenda."

"It is the world's interest that Iran not have a nuclear weapon," said Bush, adding that Iran must not "have capacity to blackmail free societies."

'Germany won't be intimidated by Iran'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany "would not be intimidated by a country like Iran."

"To Germany, it is totally unacceptable, what Iran said recently, especially regarding Israel and the Holocaust. It is essential we try to persuade as many countries as we can to join us," she added.

The American president addressed the medical condition of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, saying: "Both of us care deeply about the health of Ariel Sharon, we wish him the very best."

Bush said that both he and the German chancellor "hope there will be two states living side by side there in peace."

The U.S. president, speaking about the threat of Islamist terrorism, said: "There's still an enemy that wants to do harm to the American people and to freedom. This enemy lurks... The threat is real."

Bush: Iran aiming for nukes, Israel's destruction

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U.K.: No one talking of Iran invasion


Foreign Secretary Jack straw says Security Council may consider imposing sanctions on Iran if it fails to comply with demands over its nuclear program, but adds that 'issue could only be resolved by peaceful means.' Iran: We’ll end voluntary cooperation if referred to U.N.
Reuters

The United Nations Security Council may consider imposing sanctions on Iran if it fails to comply with demands over its nuclear program, but may look at other measures first, Britain said on Friday.

"I am not necessarily saying there will be a U.N. sanctions regime. That will be on the table," Jack Straw told BBC Radio after Britain, France and Germany called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog to discuss Iran's resumption of research into nuclear fuel.

"There are prior stages here, and there are plenty of examples where the Security Council has made what are called Chapter Seven resolutions ... imposing obligations on a member state without the resort to sanctions.

"Obviously if Iran failed to comply, the Security Council would then consider sanctions," Straw said.

'No one is talking about invading Iran'

The European Union's three biggest powers said on Thursday talks with Iran to curb its nuclear program were at an impasse and that Tehran should be hauled before the Security Council.

Iran responded on Friday saying it would end voluntary cooperation with the U.N. over its nuclear work if it was referred.

But as tensions escalated, Straw said the issue could "only be resolved by peaceful means."

He said he had never discussed the possibility of military action against Iran with anyone in the U.S. administration.

"No one is talking about invading Iran or taking military action against Iran," Straw added.

Straw said there was no categorical evidence Iran's nuclear program was a screen for developing lethal weapons but added his "strong suspicion" was that Tehran wanted a nuclear bomb.

U.K.: No one talking of Iran invasion