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[Shammu]

US: Iran letter may be timed for UN debate

19 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte said on Monday a letter Iran sent to President George W. Bush over its nuclear ambitions may have been timed to influence a UN Security Council debate on Iran.

"Given the fact that the issue of Iran is before the United Nations at this time, certainly one of the hypotheses you'd have to examine is whether and in what way the timing of the dispatch of that letter is connected with trying in some manner to influence the debate before the Security Council," Negroponte told reporters.

Negroponte said he had not studied the letter. Other officials said the letter had not been received.

Iran said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter that contained "new ways of getting out of the current delicate situation in the world."

It would be the first publicly announced personal communication from an Iranian president to his U.S. counterpart since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

National Security Council spokesman, Frederick Jones, said the letter at this point had not been received at the White House "although we have heard that that might be forthcoming."

"The international community has made quite clear what Iran needs to do to comply with its demand and we will continue to work with members of the international community to address the issues surrounding Iran's nuclear weapons program," Jones said.

A U.S. official who asked not to be named said it appeared Iran had not yet delivered the letter to the Swiss diplomatic mission in Tehran, which represents U.S. interests in Iran and would immediately pass any important communication to the United States.

US: Iran letter may be timed for UN debate

[Shammu]

Wal-Mart to own all smiley faces?
No. 1 retailer seeks control over famous yellow icon
Posted: May 8, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com


In a battle that's sure to crack a smile on your face, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is looking to control the rights to the famous yellow smiley face, at least when it comes to the marketplace.

The icon has been prominently featured in Wal-Mart stores across the globe in recent years, as the chain looks to put shoppers in a good mood as they hunt for bargain prices.

The only problem for the company is that it did not invent the smiley face. In fact, the true designer is in dispute, though there are several claims to the throne.

Among the contenders – and chief opponent of Wal-Mart's ambition – is Franklin Loufrani, a Frenchman who makes his living collecting royalties from the spread of the original smiley and its offshoots from 80 countries around the world.

He claims he invented the happy yellow face after the 1968 student riots in Paris, as he tried to put a positive spin on the tumultuous events that year.

When Loufrani applied for a U.S. trademark in 1997, he was confronted by Wal-Mart, which had just started featuring the face in its locations.

"For those of us who just live in the world, maybe it looks silly, but for those who are reaping a financial benefit, I think it's very important," Steven Baron, Loufrani's Chicago-based attorney, told the Los Angeles Times.

Loufrani isn't the only one who has claimed creation of the colorful grin.

The late Harvey Ball, a graphic artist from Massachusetts said he was the one that designed the smiley in 1963 to ease tensions amid the merger of two insurance companies.

While the original concept was just for the smile, Ball told the Telegram & Gazette of Worcester, Mass., in 1997 that he added the eyes so a disgruntled employee couldn't flip the face upside-down and thus create a frown.

But he waited before trying to copyright it, and the symbol had already permeated popular culture, being copied some 50 million times and became part of the public domain. He made a not-so-happy $45 for his work, and nothing since.

Wal-Mart, meanwhile, has a serious look on its face about the smiley, as it has invested billions of dollars over the years.

"It is kind of ironic that this whole dispute is about a smiley face," Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley (ironically, an anagram of smiley) told the Times. "But in the end, it is what it is: It's a mark that we have a tremendous investment in and is very closely identified with our company."

The battle is expected to culminate at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the next few weeks.

Legal experts say even though it sounds humorous, trademarking a ubiquitous symbol is not necessarily frowned upon.

But according to UCLA professor Neil Netanel, an expert in copyright and trademark law, Wal-Mart may have a tough time proving that most people associate the yellow grin with the retailer, since they are seen in millions of e-mails and instant messages on the Internet, having nothing to do with the sales leader.

"It seems to me that when people walk around with a shirt with a smiley face on it, it's because they like the smiley face, it's not because they associate it with a company," Netanel told the Times. "The value of it isn't in the goodwill of the company; it's that people like the illustration."

[nChrist]

Dreamweaver Said:

In a battle that's sure to crack a smile on your face, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, is looking to control the rights to the famous yellow smiley face, at least when it comes to the marketplace.

      Brother Bob, I seem to remember drawing a yellow smiling face with my crayons when I was about 5. UM??? - I wonder if Wal-Mart copied my smiley face??

[Shammu]

      Brother Bob, I seem to remember drawing a yellow smiling face with my crayons when I was about 5. UM??? - I wonder if Wal-Mart copied my smiley face??

Brother, I have been drawing a smiley face with the tounge hanging out, since I was about 8.

[Soldier4Christ]

'Iran can also be wiped off the map'

Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Monday that "the president of Iran should remember that Iran can also be wiped off the map."

"Teheran is making a mockery of the international community's efforts to solve the crisis surrounding Iran's nuclear program," Peres told Reuters, adding that "Iran presents a danger to the entire world, not just to us."

Peres's vehement expressions came the same day that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wrote to US President George W. Bush proposing "new solutions" to their differences in the first letter from an Iranian leader to an American president in 27 years, Iranian government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said Monday.

In the letter, Ahmadinejad proposes "new solutions for getting out of international problems and current fragile situation of the world," Elham said.

Peres did not say who should act against Iran if it continues with its nuclear program, but implied military action should be led by the United States, pointing to the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Israeli officials have indicated that Israel would join any international operation against Iran.

Peres urged China and Russia to join Western efforts to impose sanctions on Iran. The two countries have been reluctant to back such proposals in the UN Security Council. If all world powers are united against Iran, military action can be avoided, Peres said.

"We can prevent all of this threat, without weapons, if there will be unity," Peres said, adding that the Security Council had to act on the matter. "If the crucial moment comes and they are incapable of taking [action] or making a policy...then they endanger their existence as an important world body," he said.

Ahmadinejad's letter may also contain ideas on how to resolve the conflict over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Yet neither Teheran nor Washington provided any information regarding the content of the letter or the proposals it contains.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Monday that the Iranian president's letter to Bush could create a "new diplomatic opening," but also warned that the letter did not reflect a softening in Iran's position.

Larijani refused to give details of the letter's content, but said, "Perhaps it could lead to a new diplomatic opening. It needs to be given some time."

"There is a need to wait before disclosing the content of the letter, let it make its diplomatic way," Larijani said in an interview with Turkey's NTV television.

Larijani added, however, that the "tone of the letter is not something like softening."

He also warned against any US attack against Iran.

"If they have a little bit of a brain, they would not commit such a mistake," he said. "Iran is not Iraq. Iraq was a weak country, it did not have a legitimate government. Iran is a powerful country."

The White House announced late Monday afternoon that the letter of Iranian president Mahmuod Ahmadinejad has arrived. Spokesman Fredrick Jones said that the National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley would be the one in charge of examining the Iranian letter.

It is the first time that an Iranian president has written to his US counterpart since 1979, when the two countries broke relations after Iranian militants stormed the US Embassy and held the occupants hostage for more than a year.

The US sees the letter as no more than an attempt to influence world opinion on the eve of a United Nations Security Council new resolution regarding Iran. John Negroponte, the head of the US intelligence, said Monday that "certainly one of the hypotheses you'd have to examine is whether and in what way the timing of the dispatch of that letter is connected with trying in some manner to influence the debate before the Security Council."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will discuss the Iranian nuclear project this week with foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, known as the P5+Germany group.

The US is trying to form a broad coalition which will support a new UN resolution under Chapter 7 of the UN charter that would include the threat of sanctions against Iran if it does not comply with international demands regarding its nuclear project. China and Russia still oppose such a resolution and wish to maintain a non-sanction approach to Iran.

[Shammu]

Russia Gives ’Mixed Signals’ on Democracy — Bush

Created: 08.05.2006 12:33 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 12:58 MSK, 18 hours 18 seconds ago

MosNews

Russia is giving “mixed signals” on its commitment to democracy, U.S. President George Bush has said.

In an interview with the German newspaper BILD quoted by Reuters, he said “Russia is a country that has made some signals that are mixed signals.”

However, Bush noted that Russia was no longer a U.S. enemy like the Soviet Union. He described his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “warm” and said both leaders could speak frankly.

But those mixed signals “cause us to question their commitment to whether or not they intend to become a true democracy, where there’s a freedom of the press, or freedom of religion, all the different freedoms that are inherent in democracy,” Bush said.

This interview came soon after Russia was sharply criticized by the U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.

Bush added that the two countries had common interests in dealing with nuclear proliferation and fighting terrorism. “And we’ve now got a new, important issue to work together on, as well as working together with Germany and others, and that’s Iran,” he said.

Russia Gives ’Mixed Signals’ on Democracy — Bush

[Soldier4Christ]

Calling evil good and good evil.


_____________________________


Cleric says Christians 'adopted Satan as God'
Pro-Israel denominations should be expelled from 'world church,' says PA Muslim leader
Posted: May 9, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – Christians who support Israel are distorting their true faith, have adapted Satan as god and comprise the greatest danger to world peace, according to a senior Palestinian Authority cleric.

The cleric, whose article on Christianity and Israel is posted on an official PA government website, also accuses Zionist Christians of persecuting Palestinians and directing the war in Iraq, and he calls for pro-Israeli Christian denominations to be expelled from the "world church."

"Very few people know the truth about this [Christian Zionist] movement, which unconditionally supports the Zionist enemy and unconditionally opposes Islam and the Muslims," writes Hamed Al-Tamimi, director of inter-religious dialogue for the PA's Judicial Council.

The article, posted in Arabic, was translated by Palestinian Media Watch.

Continues al-Tamimi: "The Zionist-Christian motivation, in addition to imperialist motivation, was behind the cursed Balfour Declaration – Balfour and Prime Minister Lloyd George were Christian Zionists … and the truth is we should not deny [that] these Crusader motivations stand [today] behind the British and American policy in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other Arab and Muslim countries.

"Christian Zionists are a group who adopted Satan as god who drives their crazy nature. They have praised depravity and cursed virtue, they have turned the moral scale upside down and have reached [a point] in which forgery, deception and lying have turned into descriptions of world policy, which is led by the Zionism on both its branches – the Jewish and the Christian."

Al-Tamimi then quotes from a speech by Riad Jarjour, secretary-general of the Middle-Eastern Churches Committee, who calls for Christian Zionist denominations to be "expelled by the world church, since [they are] a dangerous distortion and a big deviation from the true Christian faith, which concentrates on Jesus. [Christian Zionism] defends a national political program which considers the Jewish race supreme."

Without citing examples, the PA cleric goes on to accuse Christian leaders of persecuting Palestinians:

"Their association and their organizations, headed by the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, carry out their criminal activities against the Palestinian issue and the Palestinian people, as Walter Riggans, the secretary-general of the International Christian Embassy, proudly and defiantly announced: 'We are more Zionist than the Israelis'"

While Christian violence against Palestinians is very rare, there are rampant reports of violent Muslim campaigns against Christians in areas controlled by the PA.

Anti-Christian riots have been reported in Ramallah, Nazareth and surrounding villages as well as in towns in Gaza.

In Bethlehem, local Christians have long complained of anti-Christian persecution, including intimidation against Christian businessmen, anti-Christian shooting attacks, rape and murder of Christian women, and the confiscation of local church land for construction of mosques. The city's Christian population, once 90 percent, has declined drastically since the PA took control in December 1995. Christians now make up less than 25 percent of Bethlehem, according to Israeli surveys.

Also, as WND reported, the municipal leadership of Qalqiliya, a northern Samaria Palestinian city now controlled by Hamas, last month warned a local Young Men's Christian Association to close its offices and leave town or face likely Muslim violence, accusing it of missionary activity. Qalqilya's YMCA is staffed mostly by Muslims.

The move highlighted long-standing fears Hamas would use its win in last January's Palestinian parliamentary elections to impose an anti-Christian, anti-Jewish hard-line Islamist regime in the areas controlled by the PA.

Israeli officials say Hamas in the Gaza Strip has established hard-line Islamic courts and created the Hamas Anti-Corruption Group, which is described as a kind of "morality police" operating within Hamas' organization. Hamas has denied the existence of the anti-corruption group, but it recently carried out a high-profile "honor killing" widely covered by the Palestinian media.

A Hamas-run council in the West Bank came under international criticism last year when it barred an open-air music and dance festival, declaring it was against Islam.

In response to the uproar, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar told WND during an exclusive interview: "I hardly understand the point of view of the West concerning these issues. The West brought all this freedom to its people, but it is that freedom that has brought about the death of morality in the West. It's what led to phenomena like homosexuality, homelessness and AIDS."

Asked if Hamas will impose hard-line Islamic law on the Palestinians, al-Zahar responded, "The Palestinian people are Muslim people, and we do not need to impose anything on our people because they are already committed to their faith and religion. People are free to choose their way of life, their way of dress and behavior."

Al-Zahar said his terror group, which demands strict dress codes for females, respects women's rights.

"It is wrong to think that in our Islamic society there is a lack of rights for women. Women enjoy their rights. What we have, unlike the West, is that young women cannot be with men and have relations outside marriage. Sometimes with tens of men. This causes the destruction of the family institution and the fact that many kids come to the world without knowing who are their fathers or who are their mothers. This is not a modern and progressed society," al-Zahar explained.

The terror chieftain told WND the West can learn from his group's Islamic values.

"Here I refer to what was said in the early '90s by Britain's Prince Charles at Oxford University. He spoke about Islam and its important role in morality and culture. He said the West must learn from Islam how to bring up children properly and to teach them the right values."

[Soldier4Christ]

Muslim illegals take over churches
Sanctuary displayed banner heralding 'Allah'

Illegal immigrants using churches to stage sit-ins in Belgium are turning the houses of worship into virtual mosques, says Paul Belien in the online Brussels Journal.

Belgian Roman Catholic bishops have opened up 20 churches and chapels to illegal immigrants who mostly are Muslims.

Although Belgian law requires the illegals to be expelled, the bishops are joining in the effort to pressure authorities into granting amnesty.

Some of the illegals have displayed banners heralding the name of Allah, including one that hung in the church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor in Brussels.

Belien comments: "The Belgian bishops are so ignorant that they do not see what is going on: Their churches are being turned into mosques before their very eyes."

The movement gained momentum in late March when 119 asylum seekers were given residence papers after a hunger strike.

But Sunday, Belgium's Interior Minister Patrick Dewael refused to give in to the demands despite an escalation of protest, insisting the majority of illegals should not expect to gain residence.

"Most of them simply don't come into consideration for asylum or regularization," he told the television show "De Zevende Dag." "Often, they have not lodged an application, initiated no procedure or were given a negative assessment years ago."

Catholic bishop Luc Van Looy of Ghent said the church leaders don't want the law to change "but want it applied more efficiently and more quickly so that people without (official) papers don't have to live for years in uncertainty."

Dewael has called the many hunger strikes blackmail.

Belien says that while "Western Europe is turning Muslim, its Christian churches are committing suicide."

"A Muslim would never allow his mosque to be turned into a dormitory for non-believers."

Some church leaders, such as Fr. Christian Wynants of Church of St. Giles in Brussels, have insisted they had no knowledge beforehand that the illegals intended to occupy their buildings.

The National Catholic Reporter said last month a group of about 50 mostly illegal African migrants occupied the Church of St Giles.

"At the very least, it is a lack of manners," Wynants said.

Police eventually removed them from the church, according to the Catholic paper.

Ali Bouchrouk, an Algerian who has a residency permit but whose wife does not, told the National Catholic Reporter the strategy is simple.

"We are in a Catholic country, thus we occupy churches. If we were in Algeria, we would occupy mosques."

Eric de Beukelkaer, spokesman of the Belgian bishops' conference, said church leaders were "uneasy" about the "systematic nature" of the occupations and disapproved of occupations conducted without the prior agreement of the parish priest, according to the Catholic paper.

Elsewhere in Europe, Catholic and Protestant churches are at the forefront of protests against a crackdown on illegal immigration.

The church leaders say their activities are not coordinated but simply a response to Jesus Christ's command to care for strangers.

"There are pages of the Bible that we can't just tear out," said Bishop Georges Pontier of La Rochelle, France, according to Reuters.

Austen Ivereigh, spokesman for London Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, said it's "an essential part of Catholic social teaching."

Churches also have stood behind illegal immigrants in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy and Ireland.

[Soldier4Christ]

Flying robot attack "unstoppable": experts
    

It may sound like science fiction, but the prospect that suicide bombers and hijackers could be made redundant by flying robots is a real one, according to experts.

The technology for remote-controlled light aircraft is now highly advanced, widely available -- and, experts say, virtually unstoppable.

 Models with a wingspan of five metres (16 feet), capable of carrying up to 50 kilograms (110 pounds), remain undetectable by radar.

And thanks to satellite positioning systems, they can now be programmed to hit targets some distance away with just a few metres (yards) short of pinpoint accuracy.

Security services the world over have been considering the problem for several years, but no one has yet come up with a solution.

"We are observing an increasing threat from such things as remote-controlled aircraft used as small flying bombs against soft targets," the head of the Canadian secret services, Michel Gauthier, said at a conference in Calgary recently.

According to Gauthier, "ultra-light aircraft, powered hang gliders or powered paragliders have also been purchased by terrorist groups to circumvent ground-based countermeasures."

On May 1 the US website Defensetech published an article by military technology specialist David Hambling, entitled "Terrorists' unmanned air force".

"While billions have been spent on ballistic missile defense, little attention has been given to the more imminent threat posed by unmanned air vehicles in the hands of terrorists or rogue states," writes Hambling.

Armed militant groups have already tried to use unmanned aircraft, according to a number of studies by institutions including the Center for Nonproliferation studies in Monterey, California, and the Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies in Moscow.

In August 2002, for example, the Colombian military reported finding nine small remote-controlled planes at a base it had taken from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

On April 11, 2005 the Lebanese Shiite militia group, Hezbollah, flew a pilotless drone over Israeli territory, on what it called a "surveillance" mission. The Israeli military confirmed this and responded by flying warplanes over southern Lebanon.

Remote-control planes are not hard to get hold of, according to Jean-Christian Delessert, who runs a specialist model airplane shop near Geneva.

"Putting together a large-scale model is not difficult -- all you need is a few materials and a decent electronics technician," says Delessert.

In his view, "if terrorists get hold of that, it will be impossible to do anything about it. We did some tests with a friend who works at a military radar base: they never detected us... if the radar picks anything up, it thinks it is a flock of birds and automatically wipes it."

Japanese company Yamaha, meanwhile, has produced 95-kilogram (209-pound) robot helicopter that is 3.6 metres (11.8 feet) long and has a 256 cc engine.

It flies close to the ground at about 20 kilometres per hour (12 miles per hour), nothing but an incredible stroke of luck could stop it if it suddenly appeared in the sky above the White House -- and it is already on the market.

Bruce Simpson, an engineer from New Zealand, managed to produce an even more dangerous contraption in his own garage: a mini-cruise missile. He made it out of readily available materials at a cost of less than 5,000 dollars (4,000 euros).

According to Simpson's website (www.interestingprojects.com/cruisemissile), the New Zealand authorities forced him to shut down the project -- though only once he had already finished making the missile -- under pressure from the United States.

Eugene Miasnikov of the Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies in Moscow said these kinds of threats must be taken more seriously.

"To many people UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) may seem too exotic, demanding substantial efforts and cost compared with the methods terrorists frequently use," he said. "But science and technology is developing so fast that we often fail to recognise how much the world has changed."

[Soldier4Christ]

More work needed for unity on Iran, says Germany

More work is needed to unite world powers behind a U.N. resolution to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions, Germany said on Tuesday after foreign ministers failed to agree a joint strategy.

"Five or six questions are still open" before the draft resolution can be concluded, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in an interview with German public television station ZDF. He did not detail the issues.

Ministers from the five permanent U.N. Security Council members -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- plus Germany held talks in New York on Monday on a resolution demanding that Iran halt uranium enrichment.

Western nations have been pushing for the resolution to stop what they say is a covert Iranian effort to build nuclear bombs. Iran says it seeks only to develop civil nuclear power.

Russia and China oppose the draft, saying that ratcheting up pressure on the world's fourth largest crude oil producer would be self-defeating and might precipitate an oil crisis.

"We need to make sure we don't start something we cannot stop and which could get out of control afterwards," Steinmeier said.

Political directors from the major powers will meet on Tuesday in New York and will probably convene again next week but the resolution's supporters have backed away from setting a time for an agreement, a U.S. official said.

Iran has refused to back down on what it calls its right to produce fuel for nuclear power plants. It has enriched small quantities of uranium and plans to ramp up production to an industrial level, although this could take considerable time.

An unprecedented letter sent by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President Bush on Monday briefly raised hopes it could contain proposals to end the standoff.

U.S. DISMISSES LETTER

But the letter, the first from an Iranian head of state to a U.S. president since Washington severed ties after the 1979 Islamic revolution, instead focused on alleged U.S. wrongdoings.

"We do not aim to use the letter for the nuclear discussions because we have enough legal justifications for the nuclear issue," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday he was waiting for Bush's reaction to the letter, but U.S. officials have dismissed the missive as a ploy to divert attention in the nuclear dispute.

"We don't need lengthy letters from the Iranian president," the U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Gregory Schulte, told a news conference in Geneva.

"What they need to do is to suspend (enrichment) activities that have given the international community such concern. They need to start cooperating fully with the IAEA."

The IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, says it cannot confirm Iran's aims are wholly peaceful because Tehran has not been transparent. But it has found no hard proof of an arms project.

Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said in Greece that a long-standing proposal for Tehran to enrich uranium on Russian soil still offered a possible way out of the stand-off.

"As far as the Russian plan is concerned ... our position is that it can go ahead but they have to give us more time to get a positive result with the Russians," Larijani told reporters.

Past talks have foundered because Iran has demanded to keep some enrichment at home, something Western states rule out.

URGING RESTRAINT

Larijani also praised Russia and China, saying: "Some countries act more realistically. Others create headaches."

China, which like Russia has big energy interests in Iran, repeated its call for negotiations to end the dispute but also called on Iran to cooperate with IAEA investigations to restore international confidence in its intentions.

China's Xinhua news agency said Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also urged restraint from all sides, showing no signs that Beijing had shifted from its opposition to the U.S.-backed resolution that would invoke Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter.

Chapter 7 allows for sanctions and even war, but a further separate resolution is required to specify either step.

The United States has refused to rule out military action but Schulte reiterated that it wanted a diplomatic resolution.

"People hear Chapter 7 and they think they hear bombers flying overhead. Well, Chapter 7 does a couple of things -- it allows economic sanctions and non-military actions to provide for enforcement. That's the part of Chapter 7 we are looking at.

"We are looking to achieve a diplomatic solution, we are not looking to achieve a military one," Schulte said.

Britain's new foreign minister, Margaret Beckett, said no one intended to take military action but refused to describe such a prospect as "inconceivable."

[Soldier4Christ]

Israel raises alert level against terror attack

Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have raised alert level around Jerusalem and strengthened security safeguard in view of intelligence over Palestinian militants' plan to carry out attacks, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Tuesday. The intelligence, which was received by security establishment on Tuesday, warns that a would-be attacker plans to leave the West Bank city of Nablus and infiltrate into Israel to carry out an attack.

    The IDF raised its alert level Tuesday afternoon for fear of a terror attack, the paper said.

    Security forces reinforced operations across the West Bank by setting up additional checkpoints and boosting security checks in the crossings.

    The report added that security forces were focusing on the Jerusalem vicinity and the Seam Line.

    Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue services also raised their alert level following the warning.

    The defense establishment currently holds 86 general terror attack warnings, 16 of them concrete warnings. Most of them came from northern West Bank and a considerable number of them refer to the Islamic Jihad (Holy War).

    Despite security measures taken by Israel, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in Tel Aviv on April 17, killing nine people and wounding at least 60 in the deadliest suicide attack in more than a year. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing.

[Soldier4Christ]

Israel flexes its muscles

Israel has said again that Iran risks its own destruction if it tries to act on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comment that the Jewish state should be wiped out.

Shimon Peres, the Israeli deputy prime minister, did not mention the Iranian president directly, but he said on Tuesday: "I am simply saying, with regards to those threats, that those who issue threats can themselves be threatened.

 

"Those who threaten destruction risk being destroyed themselves."

 

Iran says that its nuclear work is designed only for energy purposes, but Israel and Western powers say that it is a front to develop nuclear weapons.

 

The UN meeting overnight did not yield any results, with China and Russia still resisting sanctions.

 

Israel has come to view Iran as its chief enemy since the downfall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003. Israel bombed a nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981.

Israel has grown increasingly alarmed by Ahmadinejad's suggestion that Israel be erased from the map, as well as his dismissal of the Holocaust as a myth.

Atomic warheads

 

Although it refuses to confirm that it possesses nuclear weapons, Israel is widely thought to have at least 200 atomic warheads, making it the only nuclear power in the Middle East.

 

Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, urged other countries to take Ahmadinejad's comments seriously.

 

"The Jewish people's experience has shown that even the most extreme threats could be realised, and the international community should therefore not ignore the threats and statements of Iran's president," Livni said on Monday.

[Shammu]

Iran letter faults US, makes no nuclear proposals
Tue May 9, 2006 5:28am ET12
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By Irwin Arieff

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has written President Bush a rambling 18-page treatise detailing alleged American foreign policy misdeeds and defending scientific research as "one of the basic rights of nations."

The document, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, argues generally that globally shared religious values should govern political life but makes no proposals for resolving the West's concerns over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Iran insists it is enriching uranium -- and improving its techniques -- solely to produce electricity for domestic consumption, while the West argues the program is a cover for making nuclear weapons.

The letter, received by the White House on Monday but not made public, was the first publicly announced personal communication from an Iranian president to his U.S. counterpart since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The U.N. Security Council is weighing a British-French draft resolution, backed by the United States, demanding Iran suspend enrichment, but parts of the text have run into opposition from veto-wielding Russia and China.

Ahmadinejad's letter appears to draw analogies between the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and U.S. threats against Iran, suggesting the United States lied to justify the war and is now suffering the consequences.

"On the pretext of the existence of WMDs (weapons of mass destruction), this great tragedy came to engulf both the peoples of the occupied and the occupying country. Later it was revealed that no WMDs existed to begin with," the Iranian leader wrote in the letter, translated from Farsi.

"Lies were told in the Iraqi matter. What was the result? I have no doubt that telling lies is reprehensible in any culture, and you do not like to be lied to," he said.

The war has cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars and put tens of thousands of U.S. troops in harm's way, "their hands stained with the blood of others, subjected to so much psychological pressure that every day some commit suicide," his letter said.

Ahmadinejad, who previously called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," also questioned the creation of the state of Israel in the Middle East after World War Two, asking, "how can this phenomenon be rationalized or explained?"

He wondered why some opposed the Palestinians' new Hamas government, which, though it does not recognize Israel's right to exist, was elected by Palestinian voters.

He also questioned how the September 11 attacks on the United States could have occurred without the knowledge of America's extensive intelligence and security services.

"Why have the various aspects of the attacks been kept secret? Why are we not told who botched their responsibilities?" he asked.

"The people will scrutinize our presidencies. Did we manage to bring peace, security and prosperity for the people or insecurity and unemployment?" he asked. "Did we intend to establish justice, or just support special interest groups and, by forcing many people to live in poverty and hardship, made a few people rich and powerful?"

"I have been told that Your Excellency (Bush) follows the teachings of Jesus and believes in the divine promise of the rule of the righteous on Earth," he said.

"We increasingly see that people around the world are flocking toward a main focal point -- that is the Almighty God," he added. "My question for you is, 'Do you not want to join them?'"

Iran letter faults US, makes no nuclear proposals

[Shammu]

Top General Sees Role of Russian Army to Prevent New World War

Created: 09.05.2006 15:50 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:51 MSK, 4 hours 19 minutes ago

MosNews

The major role of the Russian Army now is to prevent a new world war, the chief of the General Staff said on Tuesday.

“It is my personal opinion that the main goal of the Russian army is to prevent a war similar to the one that our ancestors lived through, because, God forbid, if we allow this war to happen, it will be much worse than the previous one,” Army General Yuri Baluyevsky quoted by RIA-Novosti news agency said after a military parade on Moscow’s Red Square commemorating Victory Day.

Baluyevsky said that the stability in the world should be primarily achieved by preventive political, diplomatic and economic measures, but any country had the right to show its military capability to defend its national interests.

Speaking about Russia’s position on the international arena, the general said the country should not copy the example of Europe or Asia.

“Russia should follow its own path, it has always been, is and will be Russia, because not a single country that is considered a political trendsetter, has the same history as our country does,” Baluyevsky said.

Top General Sees Role of Russian Army to Prevent New World War

[Soldier4Christ]

Al-Qaida to attack 'crusaders, Zionists' in Israel
Pamphlet announces formation of global jihad cell in Gaza Strip


TEL AVIV, Israel – A group claiming to work on behalf of al-Qaida yesterday distributed pamphlets in the Gaza Strip announcing it has set up shop in the Palestinian territories and will soon target Americans and "Zionists."

"We'll hit with an iron hand all those who take part in the American Crusader and Zionist campaign against Islam," read the pamphlet, which was signed by the al-Quds (Jerusalem) Islamic Army. The leaflet said the new group will "start operating in Palestine" and threatened suicide attacks against "Zionist and Crusader targets."

The Islamic Army identified itself as an arm of al-Qaida and stated it was established in response to calls by global jihad chief Osama bin Laden as well as al-Qaida leaders in Iraq.

The leaflets were the latest sign al-Qaida has infiltrated the Gaza Strip and is seeking to carry out large-scale operations inside Israel.

Al-Qaida attacks thwarted?

Last month, members of the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees terror group attempted to carry out a large-scale car bombing at the Karni Crossing, the main cargo passageway between the Gaza Strip and Israel. The attack was foiled at the last minute after Palestinian forces became suspicious and opened fire at an approaching vehicle.

The Karni attack was set to take place at the same time two suicide bombs exploded near a multinational peacekeeping force in the Sinai adjacent to Gaza. The Sinai attack was widely blamed on groups working for al-Qaida.

Immediately following the attacks, Palestinian security officials, including the chief of a Palestinian Authority intelligence agency, told WND the suicide bombing in the Sinai and thwarted Karni attack were coordinated and were the handiwork of groups working on behalf of al-Qaida.

"Al-Qaida came just a few feet from attacking Israel for the first time [at Karni]," said the intelligence chief, speaking on condition his name be withheld.

Israel has for now refrained from connecting the attempted Karni attack to al-Qaida. It said the attack was directed by a senior Hamas leader.

In March, Israel released information it had arrested two West Bank Palestinians charged with membership in al-Qaida. The militants, arrested on their way to the West Bank from Jordan, were suspected of recruiting suicide bombers and seeking financing from Jordanian al-Qaida cells to carry out a large-scale al-Qaida attack inside Israel.

Abbas: Signs of al-Qaida in Palestinian territories

After months of denying the jihad group was able to infiltrate Palestinian territories, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in March announced there were signs al-Qaida had established itself in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

"We have indications about a presence of al-Qaida in Gaza and the (West) Bank. This is intelligence information. We have not yet reached the point of arrests," Abbas said.

"The last security report I received was three days ago," Abbas told the London-based al-Hayat newspaper. "This is the first time that I've spoken about this subject. This is a very serious matter."

Israel: Al-Qaida infiltrated after Gaza withdrawal

Abbas' statements followed a series of warnings by senior Israeli intelligence officials that al-Qaida operatives infiltrated Gaza while the Rafah Crossing, the main terminal at Gaza's border with Egypt's Sinai desert, was opened for several days immediately after Israel's withdrawal from the area in August.

Egyptian officials attempted to close the border several times, but Hamas and other terror groups managed to reopen the crossing, once using a controlled explosion along the border fence and another time ramming a dump truck through the border wall.

Egypt has admitted to difficulty eliminating al-Qaida cells in Sinai suspected of involvement in recent terror attacks, including the bombings in Dahab last month, Sharm el Sheikh in July and Taba last year, which together killed more than 120 people.

In September, Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi Farkash, chief of intelligence for the Israeli Defense Forces, told reporters al-Qaida infiltrated Gaza and was interested in attacking Israel.

Security officials said they feared al-Qaida terrorists who made it to Gaza will try to cross into the West Bank's Palestinian population centers, which border many of Israel's major cities.

Yaacov Amidror, former chief of research for Israeli military intelligence, told WND al-Qaida may seek to use Gaza as a sanctuary to plan attacks throughout the Middle East.

"Today one of the weaknesses of al-Qaida is its lack of a safe haven in the Middle East," Amidror said. "The new realities in Gaza will make it one of the most convenient places for al-Qaida to base their global operations. The Gaza Strip will become a paradise because it will be an area in which the population and the terror groups in power, especially Hamas, share the same ideology as al-Qaida."

Al-Qaida and Hamas: Ideological partners?

Reuven Erlich, director of the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at Israel's Center for Special Studies, stressed the common ideological links between al-Qaida and Hamas, which officially took over the PA government last month.

The link, Erlich said, can be emphasized through Palestinian cleric Abdullah Azzam, who was al-Qaida's ideologue and until his death, Osama bin Laden's spiritual mentor.

"We found Azzam's picture on Hamas posters from Gaza and a lot of Hamas material," Erlich told WND. "Azzam's portrait in materials reveal that he is perceived by Hamas as one of the four 'outstanding figures' of the Islamic 'struggle' in Palestine and around the world."

Al-Qaida leader in Palestine soon to be revealed?

Yestdray's pamphlet was not the first to be distributed in Gaza claiming to speak for al-Qaida. As WND first reported, a pamphlet distributed in the territory last month announced an al-Qaida leader as important as bin Laden and the group's Iraq leader, Abu Musab Zarqawi, will soon reveal himself in the West Bank and Gaza and orchestrate local and global jihad from the areas.

The pamphlet, signed by a group calling itself the Jaish al Jihad, or Army of Jihad, claimed to speak for al-Qaida. It warned all non-Muslims and foreign embassies to vacate the Palestinian areas within one month.

"Is there now among us a person like Saladin, like Sheik Osama bin Laden, like Abu Musab Zarqawi? The answer is yes. We have this man and he will appear with the help of Allah very soon on the land of Palestine," said the pamphlet, which was intercepted by the Palestinian General Intelligence and obtained by WND after being circulated in southern Gaza.