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Cheney visits Kazakhstan to talk oil

ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- Vice President Dick Cheney traveled to Kazakhstan on Friday for talks with President Nursultan Nazarbayev, seeking to maximize access to the vast oil and gas reserves in the central Asian nation with a troubled human-rights record.

Cheney became the fourth top administration official to visit the former Soviet republic in recent months, underscoring the importance placed on a country that is strategically located and an ally in the war on terror, as well as rich in energy resources.

Administration policy favors development of multiple means of delivering Kazakhstan's energy supplies to markets in the West and elsewhere.

Among them, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher told Congress recently, the United States is "working on securing the flow of oil" from North Caspian oil fields by tanker to a pipeline terminus in Azerbaijan. That route would bypass Russia and Iran. There has also been periodic talk of building a pipeline under the Caspian Sea.

Energy aside, one senior administration official said the vice president would prod Nazarbayev to make further democratic reforms in the country he has ruled since the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.

"The government's human-rights record remains poor," according to a recent State Department report.

It was unclear how Cheney would attempt to balance the two concerns - American energy needs in a time of high prices alongside a desire for political reforms. His talks came one day after a speech to East European leaders in Lithuania that sharply criticized Russia for backsliding on democracy.

One senior administration official traveling with Cheney said the remarks, which drew quick criticism from Moscow, had been "very well vetted" in advance within the administration.

Officials disclosed belatedly that while in Lithuania to attend a meeting of eastern European leaders, Cheney had met Thursday afternoon with Inna Kulei, the wife of the jailed Belarusian opposition leader, Alexander Milinkevich .

Meanwhile, a private group said Kazakh authorities on Friday barred an opposition leader from traveling to the capital Astana for a meeting with Cheney.

Police refused to grant Galymzhan Zhakiyanov permission to leave his home city, the commercial capital Almaty, the For a Fair Kazakhstan Alliance said in a statement. Zhakiyanov and other leaders of the alliance were invited to meet with Cheney in Astana on Saturday.

Last month, Zhakiyanov and another opposition leader, Bolat Abilov, were barred from leaving the country for meetings with European officials. Sentenced to seven years in prison for abuse of office, Zhakiyanov was considered the Central Asian nation's highest-profile political prisoner before his early release in January.

The vice president's stop in Kazakhstan followed visits in recent months by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and Samuel Bodman, secretary of energy.

According to the Web site of the U.S.-Kazakhstan Business Association, the Asian country has potential oil reserves of as much 110 billion barrels.

American energy companies are heavily invested in that nation's oil industry, and Halliburton, the company Cheney ran before becoming vice president, has an oil-field services presence there.

"Kazakhstan, an economic success story, is rapidly becoming one of the top energy producing nations in the world," Boucher told a House committee on April 26.

Along with its economic reforms, Boucher said, the nation "has an opportunity to achieve stability by upholding standards of democracy and human rights."

Nazarbayev has ruled the country, which shares borders with China and Russia, since the Soviet Union broke up, and recently was elected to what he has said will be his last term. The elections have been criticized for failing to meet international standards, but administration reaction has been muted. One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters that the "trend, even though it's not as fast as we would like, is in the right direction."

Still, an opposition leader, Altynbek Sarsenbayev, was killed earlier this year, prompting protests.

The vice president concludes a three-nation trip with a weekend visit to Croatia and is scheduled to return home Monday.

[Shammu]

It was only a matter of time for this statement to come out. We all knew it was coming.

I know brother, it is another sign of the times we live in today.

[Shammu]

Iranian cleric says US, UN can't "bully" Iran
Fri May 5, 2006 8:27am ET9

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will not be pushed into abandoning its nuclear fuel work by United States pressure or a United Nations resolution, an influential cleric said on Friday.

Ahmad Khatami also told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran that any country which chose confrontation with Iran would regret the move "for ever".

France, Britain and Germany, with U.S. backing, have drafted a U.N. resolution that demands a halt to Iran's nuclear fuel program, which they fear is aimed not only at power stations but also at arms. Tehran denies the charge.

"The U.S. and the Security Council can rest assured that Iran is not a country to retreat in the face of bullying resolutions," Khatami said.

Khatami, no relation of the former liberal President Mohammad Khatami, is a hard-liner who sits on the Assembly of Experts, the body of 86 clerics that constitutionally supervises Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Iran is a strategically sensitive part of the region. Be assured that Iran's insecurity means insecurity for the Middle East and the smoke will sting your eyes too," he added, in remarks broadcast live on state radio.

Iran is the world's fourth biggest oil exporter and often warns any action against it will ramp up oil prices beyond levels developed economies can bear.

It also holds a strong military vantage point over the world's main oil-tanker nexus, the Strait of Hormuz, and Israel is within range of its ballistic missiles.

"If you take the path of confrontation instead of the path to negotiations ... you should know that the reaction of the great Iranian nation will be something that the enemy will regret for ever," Khatami added.

U.S. and EU diplomats hope they can convince permanent Security Council members China and Russia to back their draft resolution by specifying that this resolution will not provide a basis for sanctions or military action.

Iran's economy would be highly vulnerable to sanctions on imported gasoline, bank loans and engineering equipment.

Washington has said it would prefer a diplomatic solution to the crisis but has said military strikes are an option and that it is willing to take action independently of the Security Council to stop Iran getting an atom bomb.

Iranian cleric says US, UN can't "bully" Iran

[Shammu]

Christians Plan Boycott of 'Da Vinci Code'

by Robert B. Bluey
Posted May 04, 2006

Christian activists are planning a boycott of the soon-to-be-released Da Vinci Code movie, which one influential pro-family group is calling “blasphemous.”

Dr. Ted Baehr, founder and publisher of Movieguide and chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission, is asking Christians to sign a petition condemning the movie. The petition accuses Sony Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, director Ron Howard and actor Tom Hanks of supporting a film that is offensive to Christians.

The movie, according to Baehr, is “fraught with misconceptions and blatantly false claims about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the history of Christianity, and the Catholic Church.”

This isn’t the first time Dan Brown’s work has come under attack from Christians. Last week a top official at the Vatican asked Catholics to boycott the movie. And in anticipation of the May 19 movie, David Balsinger has produced his own film called The Da Vinci Code Deception, which purports to debunk “Brown’s outrageous lies about Jesus Christ and His Church.”

Movieguide was created by Baehr to help families make decisions about movies and other forms of entertainment. The organization critiques movies, as it has done with a white paper on The Da Vinci Code, and pressures media executives to offer pro-family entertainment options.

The following is an open letter Baehr sent to his followers:

    WE CHOOSE NOT TO SUPPORT BLASPHEMY

    An open letter to Christians and people of good will about the upcoming film, The Da Vinci Code

    We the undersigned are on record that we will not buy movie tickets for the film, The Da Vinci Code. The director Ron Howard has promised he is being faithful to the bestselling novel as he adapts it to the big screen. That means the movie will likely be blasphemous, just as the book is.

    The book is a novel but in telling its story, it makes massive claims about Jesus Christ -- that He was not divine, that He was secretly married, and that the “New Testament is false propaganda.” We recognize that while the movie may give Christians a good opportunity to talk about faith issues, millions of people -- not familiar in the least with the Gospels -- could be spiritually poisoned with “false propaganda” against Christ. This is especially true of children.

    Since every movie ticket purchased is a VOTE, saying, “Yes, Hollywood, make more movies like this!,” we choose not to buy a ticket for this movie. We choose not to support the blasphemy. While recognizing this is an issue of conscience and that people of good will may differ on how to approach the film, this is how we choose to act. And we ask Christians and all people of good will to consider doing likewise.

     Signed:
    Dr. Ted Baehr

[Shammu]

Iran Makes Fuel Rods for Reactors

By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer Thu May 4, 1:57 PM ET

TEHRAN, Iran -
Iran is producing fuel rods for nuclear reactors, state radio reported Thursday in the government's latest attempt to boost a nuclear program that world powers are trying to curb.
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Power-control rods, or fuel rods, contain low-enriched uranium and are inserted into a nuclear reactor's core to make the reactor run.

"After sanctions from the U.S., experts from Iran's atomic energy organization have produced better quality rods than the foreign samples," the radio reported.

It said these Iranian-produced rods were already in use in a 5-megawatt reactor built by the United States — before Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution — at the nuclear research center in Tehran.

Enriched uranium can be used in the production of nuclear energy or weapons. Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, insists its nuclear program is aimed only at producing electricity.

But the United States, France and Britain are pressing for a
U.N. Security Council resolution that would demand Iran abandon uranium enrichment or face the threat of unspecified further measures.

Wade Boese, a research director at the Arms Control Association, said that mastering the production of fuel rods was not a major technical development.

"It doesn't strike me as the most significant step forward," Boese said in Washington.

The key notch toward nuclear technology and weapons is the capacity to enrich uranium, which Iran has already announced. Boese said the power-control rod was a purely technical device used in any nuclear reactor.

The new announcement showed Iran was trying to prove its overall intent to produce energy, not warheads, Boese said. "I think they're saying this to bolster their peaceful bona fides," he said.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said earlier this week that a first nuclear plant would be fully operational in 2007. Iran had expected the Bushehr plant, which was built with Russian help, to be in operation by the end of this year.

Iran Makes Fuel Rods for Reactors

[Shammu]

UN haggles over Iran draft as Turkey warns against nuclear proliferation

2 hours, 17 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Five major powers resumed bargaining in the UN Security Council to narrow differences on a draft resolution that would legally require
Iran to stop sensitive nuclear fuel work, as Turkey warned against nuclear proliferation.
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Representatives of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- the council's five permanent members with veto powers (P5) -- met behind closed doors to seek common ground on a tough Franco-British text backed by the United States and Germany.

The full 15-member council was scheduled to meet later in the day to compare notes ahead of a vote which is not expected to take place until after foreign ministers of the P5 plus Germany meet in New York Monday.

"It's too early to say if we can find an agreement," French ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said after the P5 huddle. "But it seems to me that we have made some steps towards it. A lot of work remains to be done."

"We are going to discuss it again this afternoon. We'll keep working tomorrow," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.

Reiterating Moscow's opposition to using force against Iran, he said: "We are looking for ways to make it a meaningful resolution which all members of the Security Council could live with and which would send a meaningful signal to Iran and therefore advance the prospect of a political and diplomatic solution."

Churkin rejected the notion that Monday was a deadline but said he "would like to advance as much as possible before the ministerial meeting."

Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya said the parties laid out their positions and "agree to continue work probably over the weekend to try to bridge these differences."

A Western diplomat said the sponsors were working on a formula that could overcome objections by Moscow and Beijing to the draft's reference to Chapter Seven of the UN Charter.

Chapter Seven can authorize economic sanctions or military action as a last resort in cases of threats to international peace and security.

Wang noted that according to Article 25 of the UN charter, "any decision by the Security Council has to be carried out", implying that Chapter Seven may not be necessary.

"I don't share that view," retorted British envoy Emyr Jones Parry.

The draft would oblige Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, the process creating fuel for nuclear reactors and -- potentially -- the core of an atomic bomb. However it merely warns of, in cases of Iranian non-compliance, unspecified "further measures" requiring another resolution.

Western powers suspect Iran is trying to acquire nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian atomic program but Tehran insists its drive aims to generate electricity only.

The French and British ambassadors also held consultations with the non-permanent members of the council, beginning with the three from Africa -- Congo, Ghana and Tanzania -- ahead of the gathering of the full council in the afternoon.

"We have to clarify things for the non-permanent members who do not necessarily understand what is happening and who see problems or threats where there may not be any," said a Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. "This will take time."

"We can't just force things through because the next step if Iran does not comply will be sanctions," he added.

Tanzanian Ambassador Augustine Mahiga called for a parallel "diplomatic initiative" through multiple channels to engage the Iranians and convince them they should comply with UN demands.

Meanwhile Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he told Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Azerbaijan that the world community would not tolerate nuclear weapons proliferation.

But Ahmadinejad vowed that his country would pursue nuclear fuel production and branded those trying to stop this as "bullies."

He also stressed Iran's desire to work under the scrutiny of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which last week reported that Tehran had failed to comply with a demand to suspend uranium enrichment.

UN haggles over Iran draft as Turkey warns against nuclear proliferation

[Shammu]

US challenges Russia to break Iran draft impasse

By Evelyn Leopold 2 hours, 11 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador John Bolton on Friday challenged Russia and China to come up with legal alternatives to break the impasse on a draft U.N. resolution ordering Iran to suspend its nuclear program.

Russia and China object to the use of Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, usually invoked by the U.N. Security Council for peacekeeping missions and other legally binding actions. That provision also allows for sanctions and even war but a separate resolution is required to specify either step.

Despite objections from Moscow and Beijing, the United States, Britain and France introduced a draft Security Council resolution on Wednesday that would compel Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment activities under Chapter 7.

The draft resolution does not call for sanctions or any other punitive action if Iran does not comply, but the United States has made clear that sanctions would be the next step.

"One of the issues we are discussing is what constitutes a mandatory resolution, whether Security Council resolutions that are not under Chapter 7 are mandatory or not," Bolton said.

"The issue whether there is another way that is acceptable is something that we have asked the Russians and the Chinese to provide. We are waiting to hear how one might do that," he said.

Bolton said there was a difference among international lawyers on whether any Security Council resolution was legally binding or just those under Chapter 7.

Russia and China, which have veto power, fear too much pressure on Iran would be self-defeating or precipitate an oil crisis. Both oppose sanctions and worry the United States would use a Chapter 7 resolution to justify military action.

Russia's new U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, declined to comment on specifics of the resolution but said Moscow wanted the Security Council to react.

'MEANINGFUL SIGNAL'

"The best way to support Iran is for Iran to listen very carefully to what the international community has to say," Churkin said.

"We are looking for ways to make a meaningful resolution which all the members of the Security Council could live with and send a meaningful signal to Iran, and therefore advance the prospect of a political and diplomatic solution."

Bolton would like an agreement before foreign ministers from Germany and the five permanent Security Council members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- meet on Iran late on Monday.

To this end, the entire 15-member Security Council is expected to engage in consultations on the resolution on Saturday afternoon after another round of talks among the five permanent members.

"It's too early to say if we can find an agreement," France's U.N. ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, told reporters. "But it seems to me that we have made some steps toward it. A lot of work remains to be done."

The Security Council in late March issued a nonbinding statement asking Iran to abandon uranium enrichment, a process that can lead to a nuclear weapon or produce fuel to generate electricity.

The council asked for a report within 30 days from Mohammed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who said last Friday that Iran had not complied.

Iranian officials note that the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, has not found a weapons program after three years of scrutiny and does not consider Iran's program an imminent security threat.

US challenges Russia to break Iran draft impasse

[Shammu]

EU to aid Abbas in plan to avert PA collapse
Fri May 5, 2006 6:23am ET14

By Adam Entous

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A European Commission proposal to "avert or delay" the Palestinian Authority's collapse calls for pooling donor funds and using President Mahmoud Abbas's office to funnel them to provide basic services, a Commission document shows.

The European Union has frozen direct aid to the Hamas-led Authority, but the April 27 document says the commission intends to provide assistance to bolster Abbas's office in anticipation that it will play the role of go-between.

"With current or even substantially increased levels of funding, the EU will not be able to stave off a crisis but might be able to avert or delay a collapse," the document said.

Western diplomats say the Bush administration has moved in recent days to scuttle the European proposal on the ground that letting it go ahead would take pressure off Hamas to renounce violence, recognize Israel and abide by interim peace deals.

But they said the Bush administration has agreed to back an expansion of Abbas's elite presidential guard. The EU would provide the funds for training and equipment.

Hamas officials and some Western diplomats say Washington's goal is to shore up Abbas while making it impossible for the Palestinian Authority to function.

Like proposals floated by Britain and France, the European Commission said donors could establish a pool of funds in coordination with the United Nations, the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund.

The money would be funneled to specific sectors like health and education, bypassing the Hamas-led Authority.

Abbas, whose Fatah faction was trounced by Hamas in parliamentary elections in January, "could act as an interface between the international community and the Palestinian Authority," the document said.

"He would, de facto, play the role of go-between for the international community," it added.

AID TO ABBAS

While the United States and the EU cut aid to the Hamas-led Authority, they have placed no restrictions on aid going through Abbas or his office.

"The commission has already received requests for assistance from President Abu Mazen (Abbas) for capacity building to which it intends to respond favorably," the document said.

The Hamas-led government has yet to pay March and April wages to 165,000 employees. It has been unable to receive funds from abroad because banks fear sanctions by the United States.

Palestinian officials said this week that U.S. pressure on regional and local banks thwarted a Hamas-backed plan for the Arab League to deposit donor funds directly into the accounts of government workers.

The EU document said the financial crisis in the West Bank and Gaza could deepen in the next two to three months, "which will see greatly increased unemployment and poverty levels, and possibly the breakdown of law and order".

"In such a crisis situation the international community will have a strong imperative to intervene," it said. "The dilemma is how to do this without engaging with the PA (Palestinian Authority)", the document said.

Re-routing aid to circumvent Hamas will be a major focus of a meeting of the "Quartet" of international peace mediators -- the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations -- planned in New York on May 9, diplomats said.

While the EU has severed political contacts with the Palestinian Authority, the document said "limited contacts" may be permitted with Hamas-led government ministries and ministers "for specific practical purposes", such as combating the spread of avian flu.

"A full resumption of EU aid at current or even increased levels will not be able to stave off the crisis," the document said. "At most it will provide only minor and temporary alleviation of the plight of the Palestinians."

EU to aid Abbas in plan to avert PA collapse

[Shammu]

Government, Main Rebels Sign Peace Accord

By MICHELLE FAUL, Associated Press Writer 5 minutes ago

ABUJA, Nigeria - Thanks in part to last-minute U.S. diplomacy, two years of Darfur peace talks beset by setbacks and frustration ended with a signing ceremony between the government and the largest rebel faction Friday.

Now the hard part: ensuring pledges to stop the fighting and begin rebuilding translate to an end to Darfur's suffering. The key may be a robust U.N. peacekeeping force, which Sudan's government has indicated it is willing to accept.

While the main Darfur rebel group signed the accord, two others rejected it, saying it did not go far enough to meet their demands for security and power-sharing guarantees and compensation for war victims. Optimism was muted by the two groups' absence and by a history of failure to live up to agreements.

Members of the fractious rebel camp are united in accusing Sudan's central government of neglecting their impoverished western region, but divided because of leadership rivalries and differing approaches.

The peace deal was backed by the African Union, the United States, Britain, the European Union and the Arab League. It calls for a cease-fire, disarmament of militias linked to the government and accused of some of the war's worst atrocities, the integration of thousands of rebel fighters into Sudan's armed forces and a protection force for civilians in the immediate aftermath of the war.

Political provisions include guarantees that rebel factions will have the majority in Darfur's three state legislatures, though the rebels did not get the national vice presidency they had sought.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick indicated the two rebel groups that did not sign the accord could be bypassed, an assessment bolstered when one of the groups split Friday, with dissenters criticizing their leader for not embracing the treaty. Zoellick said implementing the agreement would be a challenge, but said he was looking ahead to organizing a U.N. peacekeeping force for Darfur.

President Bush intervened during the difficult negotiations, sending a letter to the largest rebel group, Minni Minnawi, with assurances that the U.S. would strongly support implementation of the peace accord, assist monitoring compliance, hold those not cooperating accountable and support a donors conference for Darfur, Zoellick told Washington reporters by telephone.

Zoellick said he read the letter to the assembled parties during the night.

The Sudanese government initially rejected calls for U.N. peacekeepers to replace the thousands of African Union peacekeepers now in Darfur, but indicated Friday it would yield once the peace treaty was signed.

Observers broke into applause and whoops of joy as the parties signed the last page and then proceeded to initial each of the 85 pages of a document written by the African Union and then revised by U.S., British and other envoys to meet rebel concerns. The hall in a presidential villa was filled with traditional leaders in white turbans, fighters in camouflage turbans, diplomats and journalists.

"Unless the right spirit, unless the right attitude and right disposition is there, this document isn't worth the paper it is signed on," said Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, a key figure in peacemaking efforts across Africa and host of the protracted Darfur talks. "Those who don't sign, we will continue to appeal to them. The window of opportunity must not be allowed to close."

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, just returned from a tour of Darfur, said in Khartoum on Friday that the peace deal "will open up space for improvement," but first must be implemented. She added she hoped it would encourage donors to come back and help the desperate people of Darfur.

Minni Minnawi's faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement signed the accord. A faction led by his rival, Abdel Wahid Nur, and the smaller Justice and Equality Movement rejected it, expressing concerns security and compensation for war victims had not been guaranteed and because it called for a top presidential adviser from Darfur instead of a vice president.

Nur met with Obasanjo for hours Friday, delaying the signing ceremony, and then briefly went into the hall where the accord was to be signed.

He left, telling reporters the proposed accord was "a big disaster" because he believed it did not go far enough to guarantee disarmament of the Janjaweed militia linked to the atrocities. Nigerian security forces tried to stop Nur from speaking to reporters, then barred reporters who had followed him out from returning to witness the signing.

Sudan's government agreed days ago to an initial proposal drafted by African Union mediators and has been flexible as U.S. and British officials fine-tuned it to address rebel concerns.

Deadlines have been extended twice since Sunday, and Thursday's session went five hours beyond the midnight time limit.

At least 180,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million forced to flee their homes in what the United Nations has called one of the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The Darfur conflict, which erupted in February 2003, also has spilled into Chad and the Central African Republic. The violence threatens to escalate: Osama bin Laden last week urged his followers to go to Sudan to fight a proposed U.N. presence.

Aid groups say the security situation must be quickly addressed, in part to allow them to do their work. Oxfam called Friday for bolstering the African Union force already in Darfur, rather than awaiting U.N. peacekeepers who could take months to arrive.

"The deteriorating situation in Darfur must be addressed urgently, and not put off until if or when a U.N. force may be in place," said Paul Smith-Lomas, who directs the Darfur operations of the British aid group Oxfam.

A cease-fire is supposed to take effect in seven days, and the government is required within 37 days to complete a plan to move armed militia to restricted areas, remove heavy weapons and for disarmament of the warring groups, Zoellick said.

"There will be a push definitely to move forward the U.N. peacekeeping force," he said. However, a rainy season in June will cause a delay and having talked to several African leaders Zoellick said there are estimates it would take four to six months, and maybe longer.

Until then, he said, the United States had asked Rwanda to send in some 1,200 troops to supplement the African Union monitors.

In New York, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, urged the Sudanese government to allow a U.N. planning team into the country to prepare for the hand-over — which it has so far refused to do.

Zoellick said he hoped there would be a significant decline in violence now that the government and the main rebel group had agreed to stop fighting.

But, he said, Darfur "is going to remain a dangerous place. There is still a lot of distrust and fear." At the same time, he said, "there is a lot of sense of trying to have a new start for the people of Darfur."

Government, Main Rebels Sign Peace Accord

[Shammu]

'West Point' Off Limits to Anti-War Alums

By WILLIAM KATES, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 1 minute ago

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Army warned an anti-war group of former U.S. Military Academy cadets to stop using the words "West Point" in its name, saying they are trademarked.

A co-founder of West Point Graduates Against the War countered Friday that his organization is simply following the cadets' code.

"At West Point, we were taught that cadets do not lie, cheat or steal — and to oppose those who do," said William Cross, a 1962 West Point graduate. "We are a positive organization. We are not anti-West Point or anti-military. We are just trying to uphold what we were taught."

The group, open to West Point graduates, spouses and children, claims about 50 members.

West Point spokesman Lt. Col. Kent Cassella said the academy sent the April 12 warning letter because the group failed to go through a licensing process to get permission to use the term "West Point." The group's anti-war stance is irrelevant, he said.

"This is not a political issue. They did not ask for permission. We are doing what any college or university would do to enforce its trademarks," Cassella said.

The Army registered the words "West Point" — as well as "United States Military Academy," "USMA," and "U.S. Army" — as trademarks in 2000 to control their use on educational material and commercial goods.

An attorney hired by Cross and his colleagues said the warning raises questions of First Amendment speech protection and selective enforcement. Joseph Heath said he noted the concerns in a response sent to the Army on Monday; he has not yet received a reply, he said.

"I would hope that the Army would be proud of these men and their willingness to promote democracy and freedom of speech," wrote Heath, a Navy veteran who also opposes the war.

Heath also noted widespread commercial use of the words "West Point."

Cassella said the Army has negotiated agreements with local businesses allowing them to use the phrase in their names.

'West Point' Off Limits to Anti-War Alums

[Soldier4Christ]

Israeli troops amass in oldest Jewish city
1,000 soldiers preparing to evict 3 Jewish families


JERUSALEM – In what analysts here are calling the start of larger withdrawals from the area, hundreds of Israeli troops have amassed in Hebron, the oldest Jewish city in the world, to evict three Jewish families who recently moved into a home at the center of a property dispute in Israeli court.

The families were given until Sunday night to vacate the premises or be forcibly evacuated from the home by the Israeli Defense Forces even though a court decision has not yet been reached in their case. Protesters have streamed to the area, sparking fears violent clashes may erupt with evacuation forces.

"This is part of the strategy of (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert," charged Hebron spokesman David Wilder. "He needs a tiny, violent evacuation to show the Israeli public and the world he is capable of and willing to carry out his Judea and Samaria withdrawal plan."

Wilder told WND there are "thousands of cases of illegal Arab construction all over Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, but here they are sending in soldiers, clearly looking for a confrontation, to remove three families from property purchased appropriately in the heart of one of the holiest Jewish communities in the world."

The home recently was rented for three years on behalf of the Hebron Jewish community from an Arab businessman, but the lease is being disputed by former Arab occupants who maintain the businessman did not have the authority to rent the property and may have used forged documents.

Wilder said the transaction was conducted "very carefully."

We had lawyers working on this for a while," he said. "It was done 100 percent the right way. We wouldn't ever move families in otherwise."

The three families took up residence in the house last month. Although a court case involving the property is ongoing, the defense ministry ordered the families to vacate by Sunday night – nearly 30 days after their arrival – because property laws make it more difficult to evict a tenant after a 30-day period. If the court rules in the families' favor, they will be permitted to return.

The court case this week veered from focusing on property law to the political situation in Hebron.

"The entire thing, the eviction, is baseless," Wilder said. "It wouldn't happen anywhere else. This is Olmert making us uncomfortable ahead of a larger evacuation and creating a media circus."

The families said yesterday they would not leave.

Tzipora Schlissel, one of the home's Jewish occupants, told the media her residence in the house is legal. She accused the police and the courts of abusing the law because, she said, it preferred to uphold the rights of Arabs over Jews.

Wilder said the community was still deciding whether the families would voluntarily vacate.

The IDF warned it will forcibly remove the families by the deadline with an operation utilizing over 1,000 soldiers.

Yesterday, dozens of protesters reportedly set up shop around the home. Messages were sent for Israelis to flock to Hebron to protest the eviction. The IDF set up road blocks around the city to stem the flow of protesters.

"This could turn into another Amona," said Noam Arnon, a Hebron Jewish leader.

As WorldNetDaily reported in February, in a widely criticized decision, Olmert ordered more than 1,500 IDF soldiers and Israeli police officers to bulldoze 9 homes in the Samaria community of Amona after the court system ruled the houses were constructed without a permit.

The government said the homes could be rebuilt at a later date in the same community if the construction is coordinated with the Ministry of Defense. But Olmert ordered the demolitions be carried out immediately and instructed the military to use "all force necessary."

During the bulldozings, horse-mounted police, water cannons and specially trained riot officers faced off against hundreds of protesters who massed in Amona in hopes of halting the efforts.

Israeli television broadcast live footage of demonstrators, including women and children, being dragged and beaten by soldiers. Teenagers with bloody noses and head wounds were seen being removed from the scene. Police were videotaped using batons and gas canisters to clear the area of demonstrators. Some protesters were seen throwing rocks and paint at security forces. More than 300 protesters were treated in makeshift first-aid tents. At least 70, including two Knesset members, were evacuated to Jerusalem hospitals with moderate-to-serious injuries.

More than 100,000 Israelis gathered in Jerusalem to protest against the violence. Critics charged Olmert's decision to use force was highly political. A preliminary commission of inquiry found the IDF and police employed excessive use of force against the protesters.

Olmert recently announced his plan to withdraw from most of Judea and Samaria, which is commonly referred to as the "Israeli Bible Belt." This week his government, which consists of a small majority of the Israeli Knesset, officially was approved by the parliament plenum. Olmert has hinted several times Hebron will be evacuated as part of his withdrawal plan.

"Olmert made statements this week about isolated Jewish neighborhoods being impossible to keep," said Wilder. "We realize we are under threat by his plan."

Hebron is home to the oldest Jewish community in the world. Jews lived in the city continuously throughout the Byzantine, Arab, Mameluke and Ottoman periods and first established their capital in the city until it was moved seven years later to Jerusalem. In 1929, Hebron's Jewish community was evacuated by the British as a result of an Arab pogrom in which 67 Jews were murdered. The Jews re-established their presence in Hebron after the West Bank was recaptured in the 1967 Six Day War.

The city is home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, believed to be home to the resting place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. The tomb is the second holiest site to Judaism.

[Shammu]

Gulf Arab leaders to discuss Iran crisis
Sat May 6, 2006 5:02am ET11

By Andrew Hammond

RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S.-allied Gulf Arab leaders who meet in Riyadh on Saturday will call for a peaceful solution to the crisis between Iran and Western nations over its nuclear ambitions, analysts and officials said.

Gulf Arab countries, wary of Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, share U.S. concerns about Iran having a nuclear bomb but fear another military conflict in the region after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

"These countries do not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon but they also do not want it taken by force," said Saudi political analyst Dawoud al-Shiryan.

"They want stability in the Gulf and they will call on the world to save the Gulf region from any convulsions."

The one-day summit of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) comes as France, Britain and Germany, with U.S. backing, drafted a U.N. resolution that demands a halt to Iran's nuclear fuel program.

But Russia and China, who as nuclear powers have a veto on Security Council resolutions, may oppose sanctions against Iran, the world's fourth biggest oil exporter.

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and has promised revenge if attacked by the United States or Israel.

A GCC official in Riyadh said the political and economic alliance -- which comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates -- may try to use their close links to Washington to mediate in the dispute.

He noted that Qatar's ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa met Iranian officials in Tehran last week. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said in Dubai last week that Iran welcomed any Gulf Arab mediation.

When GCC leaders met in December they singled out Israel in a call for a nuclear-free Middle East and left out Iran in an effort to keep diplomatic channels open. "They will mention both in the final statement this time," the official said.

Israel is widely suspected of possessing nuclear weapons, and Iraq suffered over a decade of United Nations sanctions and a war largely over concerns that it was developing such weapons.

Popular concern over a nuclear Iran in the Arab world is mainly limited to the Gulf region. Iran's pro-Palestinian rhetoric plays well to Arab publics who view their governments as doing little to stand up to U.S. backing for Israel.

Gulf Arabs are worried about the environmental impact of a U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear plant at Bushehr on the other opposite side of the narrow waterway.

Analysts say normally quietist Gulf Arab states could face popular pressure to emulate Iran if it obtained the bomb, challenging their close ties with the United States.

Gulf Arab leaders to discuss Iran crisis

[Shammu]

Saturday, 6 May 2006, 06:36 GMT 07:36 UK
Iraq warns on Iran border moves
By Jim Muir
BBC News, Baghdad

Mr Zebari has attempted to play down any tensions
Outgoing Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari Iraq has expressed concern about troop build-ups by both Iranian and Turkish forces along their borders with Iraq.

Outgoing Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Iran had been told of Iraqi concerns but said his country wanted to resolve any problems through dialogue.

On the formation of Iraq's new government, Mr Zebari expressed scepticism that including Sunni leaders could help to reduce violence.

It is hoped a new government will be announced within the next week.

Recent weeks have seen a number of cross-border bombardments by Iranian troops along Iraq's north-east border, directed against Iranian Kurdish opposition groups taking refuge in the Iraqi Kurdish area.

"Iraq is not Northern Ireland, where you have the Sinn Fein, the IRA. Here the conditions are very different and more difficult"
Hoshyar Zebari
Iraqi foreign minister

Turkish press approval

Turkish troops have also staged a build-up along their common border with Iraq.

Mr Zebari played down the border tensions.

He saw the troop build-ups by both Turkey and Iran as an expression of concern about the possibility of chaos in Iraq if the national unity government - still being put together - does not work.

Mr Zebari himself was sceptical about the ability of the Sunni leaders involved to help reduce the Sunni-based insurgency.

"Iraq is not Northern Ireland, where you have the Sinn Fein, the IRA. Here the conditions are very different and more difficult," he said.

The prime minister designate, Nouri Maliki, hopes to announce the new government within the next week.

But wrangling is still going on over the distribution of jobs between the different factions.

Iraq warns on Iran border moves

[Shammu]

Netanyahu: Hamas are Iran's proxies
JPost.com Staff, THE JERUSALEM POST    May. 6, 2006

Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu expressed support on Saturday for the aerial strike on a Popular Resistance Committees training camp in Gaza that killed five Palestinians. However, it appeared that that was where his concurrence with the current government ended.

In a Fox Network interview, he noted that Hamas were among Iran's most staunch supporters, acting effectively as proxies of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom Netanyahu called a modern day Hitler. Netanyahu thus concluded that giving away territory to Hamas was not the right way to fight terror.

In order to progress the talks with the Palestinians, Netanyahu said, the terrorists must first dismantle their "suicide kindergarten camps," change their school curricula and incessant mosque sermons that call for Israel's destruction, and stop terror.

"Even the words are important," he said, "but we don't even hear the words.

Asked to comment on global terror, the Knesset opposition leader remarked that in spite of the technological gap between the West and terrorist organizations, the latter enjoy the benefit of easy production and distribution of their weapons.

He said that the Western military technology has become more and more sophisticated and expensive, while terrorist organizations execute deadly attacks against civilians using only the most rudimentary of weapons. He noted that all that would be required to bring down a civilian airplane is a simple anti-aircraft missile that would cause the loss of a full year's GDP.

"The weapons are getting so sophisticated and the terrorists don't require a lot," he asserted.

Netanyahu said that he most feared that a terrorist state would attain weapons of mass destruction. Today, he noted, American and other powers deter them. However, if they were to develop atomic weapons, then they would deter the rest of the world.

Netanyahu: Hamas are Iran's proxies

[Soldier4Christ]

Brit MI6 confirms
bin Laden nukes
Pakistani scientists reportedly advising al-Qaida
on weaponization of uranium it has obtained


MI6, Britain's secret intelligence service, has identified six Pakistani scientists working in Iran's nuclear bomb program who have been "advising al-Qaida on how to weaponize fissionable materials it has now obtained."

MI6 and the International Atomic Energy Agency believe the scientists have played a major role in enabling Iran to be "well advanced in providing uranium enriched materials for nuclear bombs," said Alexander Cirilovic, a nuclear terrorism expert in Paris.

Both high-level MI6 and CIA sources have confirmed the scientists would only have been allowed to assist al-Qaida with the authority of Iran's unpredictable President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The revelation comes at a time when Washington has increased pressure on Tehran to give up its nuclear weapons program.

The scientists worked for Dr. A.Q. Khan, the "father of the Islamic bomb," who is now under house arrest in Pakistan after confessing he had provided both Iran and North Korea with details of how to make their own nuclear bombs.

The MI6 report to other intelligence services followed bin Laden's recent threats to unleash a new wave of terror – with Britain and the United States his prime targets.

Recently, from his lair in north Pakistan, bin Laden boasted that "al-Qaida did not find it difficult to obtain the weapons grade material. We have contacts in Russia with other militant groups. Enough material to make a tactical nuke is available for £15 million."

Former CIA operative David Dastych, a G2B contributor from Poland and one of the agency's experts on nuclear terrorism, said: "The traffic in nuclear materials is ongoing and growing."

Bin Laden's material is hidden somewhere in the mountain fastness between Iran and Afghanistan.

Its proximity to Iran's own nuclear facilities has made it easy for the Pakistani scientists to assist al-Qaida.

Like Khan, all are strong al-Qaida supporters. One, Bashiruddin Mahmood, was briefly arrested in 2004 by the Pakistan intelligence service.

He said he had met the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar and a high-ranking al-Qaida operative.

In his statement Mahmood admitted: "They had asked me to devise a radiological bomb. It would be constructed from nuclear material wrapped in conventional high explosive which bin Laden had obtained from a nuclear storage site in Uzbekistan. I refused to do so."

Despite a CIA request to have him transferred to the United States for further questioning, Mahmood was set free. Shortly afterward he fled from Pakistan to Iran.

With him went five other senior scientists at the Khan laboratories. They were Muhammad Zubair, Saeed Akhhter, Murad Qasim, Imtaz Baig and Waheed Nasir.

They had helped Khan to successfully detonate Pakistan's first nuclear bomb at a test site beneath the Baluchistan desert.

"Depending on the quality of the fissionable material bin Laden has obtained, the combined scientific skills would be able to create considerably more than a "dirty bomb," said Cirilovic.