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[Soldier4Christ]

Iraqi Tribal Leaders Unite To Denounce Terror

Over 200 Iraqi tribal leaders to sign an honor compact rejecting terrorism.

Over 200 Iraqi tribal leaders will meet in Baghdad on Wednesday may 10th to sign an honor compact to denounce and reject terrorism and sectarian violence.

Tribal leaders announced they will meet in Khademiah Baghdad on Wednesday May 10th at a conference. This conference will result in an honor compact obliging Iraqi tribes to cooperate amongst each other and the authorities to protect their members from terrorist attacks, and to help with national unity and condemning sectarian violence.

The “Foundation for Humanitarian Dialogue” sponsored and organized the conference. Husien Ismail Alsadar who uses Khademiah as his center of activities and enjoys the backing and blessing of Al Sistani is the foundation’s president. Some Sheiks and tribal leaders said they hope that a committee can be formed to represent Iraqi tribes in the “National accord conference” on June 10th along with the honor compact signed by tribal leaders.

A foundation speaker said that the conference will be attended by heads of Tribes from all of Iraq, Arab Kurd and Turkmen tribes. The speaker added that the conference will also discus political, security, and social issues in the country. We hope to come up with ideas and plans to cooperate in stopping terrorist activities affecting the citizens. He pointed out that the honor compact to fight terrorism and denounce sectarian violence would be the main results of this conference

This news adds to the mounting evidence that Iraqis are united, they are united in their quest for defeating terrorists who hope to destroy the fledgling democracy, they are united in fighting sectarianism (which was encouraged and fostered by the Baathists) and united in wanting their democracy to succeed and thrive.

No evidence of civil war, no evidence of splitting up the country and no evidence in giving in to the terrorist. This is a very important conference of all the leading tribes in Iraq. Arab, Kurd, Turkmen, Muslim, Christian, Shiite & Sunni all getting together with a common goal. Defeating terrorism, affirm national unity and condemning sectarianism. All working together and promising to help and protect each other. This is the greatest defeat to Zarqawi and his group as well as the remaining Baathists.

[Soldier4Christ]

Al-Qaida: Destroy
Denmark, France
Escaped member issues video urging
vengeance for Muhammad cartoons

Responding to the publishing of cartoons depicting Islam's prophet Muhammad, a video posted on the Internet by an al-Qaida member calls on Muslims to attack Denmark, France and Norway.

"Muslims avenge your prophet," said Libyan Muhammad Hassan, who escaped from U.S. custody in Afghanistan last July.

"We deeply desire that the small state of Denmark, Norway and France ... are struck hard and destroyed," he declared, according to Agence France-Presse.

Earlier this year, 12 cartoons depicting Muhammad published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten newspaper became an international controversy, prompting the torching of embassies, slaughter of Christians and fatwas issued against those responsible.

In the 35-minute video, Hassan, dressed in military fatigues, is holding an assault rifle.

"Destroy their buildings, make their ground shake and transform them into a sea of blood," said Hassan, also known as Sheikh Abu Yahia al-Libi.

Hassan was one of four Arab terror suspects who broke out of the U.S.'s high-security detention facility at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, in his most recent audio communiqué, aired on Al-Jazeera late last month, called for a global Muslim boycott of American goods similar to the recent boycott of Danish products. He also said the artists who drew the offending cartoons should be handed over to him for trial and punishment.

As Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin reported, a dozen young terrorists have departed Afghanistan, bound first for Iran and then Europe, where their mission will be to hunt down the Danish cartoonists.

The report was passed on by Hamid Mir, the Pakistani journalist who has interviewed bin Laden and assistant Ayman al-Zawahiri and who just visited the no-man's land along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

While there, he was told by Taliban sources in south Waziristan that 12 young men – nine Afghans and three Pakistanis – are on their way to Europe to kill the Danish cartoonists. While some carry Afghan passports and others carry Iranian passports, all will travel through Iran on their way to Europe, he reports.

Days before that television broadcast, Mir predicted an imminent communiqué from bin Laden to be released on the Arab television network.

[Soldier4Christ]

Hamas kids taught about 'evil Zionists'
Website features comic strips teaching children to hate Israelis


The latest edition of Hamas' children's website includes comic strips encouraging hatred of Israelis, who are defined as "evil Zionists."

Hamas, officially considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, now governs the Palestinian Authority.

The content of the site, Al-Fateh.net, was publicize by Israel-based monitor Palestinian Media Watch.

One strip features two boys who come upon supposed toys in the street.

"Don't take any of them!" warns one boy. "These are not toys, but booby-trapped bombs that will explode in the hands of those who touch them. They are placed here by the evil Zionists to kill innocent Palestinian children."

The next panel states: "These are dangerous toys that are called booby-traps, placed by the evil ones to kill the people of our nation, who suffered from them and fight a jihad to drive them out of our beloved country."

Another story on the website describes an art class in which the teacher asks the children to draw a picture entitled: "When the sky is angry."

One boy draws a rainstorm and another lightning. But the teacher has special praise for the drawing of one boy:

Says the teacher: "Look what your friend Az-Adin drew. He drew the sky raining stones on the Zionists. Everyone clap hands for your friend Az-Adin. We all clapped hands warmly for Az-Adin for his drawing that was inspired by the Palestinian stone revolution."

Another comic strip has a female teacher dressed in traditional Muslim guard instructing her students about the "Zionist thieves."

As WorldNetDaily reported, Hamas' children's website was launched in 2002, encouraging kids to follow the example of terrorist suicide bombers.

[Soldier4Christ]

Iran, Syria using land disputes as pretext for arms?
Lebanon's Jumblatt demands Hezbollah disarm, stop 'using Israel as excuse'

The Lebanese Hezbollah militia, backed by Syria and Iran, must stop using land disputes surrounding the Shebaa Farms as a pretext to continue arming itself and should cease bringing Israeli-Palestinian issues into play in the Lebanese arena, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said in an interview.

"The question of the Shebaa Farms was invented by Syria and Iran using Hezbollah as a pretense to have an armed presence in Lebanon. This must end," Jumblatt told WND.

Jumblatt is the head of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party and is largely considered the most prominent anti-Syrian Lebanese politician.

He said he supports dialogue with Syria and the international community to change the status of the Shebaa Farms from Syrian to Lebanese territory and to work toward an ultimate Israeli withdrawal from the land.

The Shebaa Farms is a small, 200-square-kilometer bloc situated between Syria, Lebanon and Israel. It is the last post held by Israel after its withdrawal in 2000 from positions it took along the Lebanese border.

Israel entered Lebanon in 1978 and occupied a part of the border area to prevent attacks from Palestinian commandos stationed there.

Following Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, United Nations cartographers ruled the Shebaa Farms fell inside Syrian territory seized by Israel during the 1967 war. Accordingly, the U.N. declared that Resolution 425, which called on Israel to pull out of Lebanon, had been fully implemented.

Hezbollah leaders have for years claimed their group's armed activities were needed to protect Lebanon from what they called Israeli occupation. After Israel's withdrawal from the country was completed, Hezbollah stated it couldn't disarm until Israel vacates the Shebaa Farms as well.

But Israel has been reluctant to make any gesture that could be seen as boasting by the Syrian regime.

Recently, there has been movement inside Lebanon to ask the U.N. to revisit the Shebaa Farms issue and re-label the territory Lebanese instead of Syrian.

Lebanon's Parliament last month passed a resolution announcing the Shebaa Farms are Lebanese.

The country's prime minister, Fuad Siniora, in a visit to London last week asked British Prime Minister Tony Blair for help in resolving the Shebaa Farms dispute. A similar request was made by Siniora last month during a meeting with President Bush.

Siniora's strategy seems to be first to persuade the U.N. the Shebaa Farms are Lebanese territory, then call for an Israeli withdrawal and demand Hezbollah lay down its arms.

Jumblatt said he supported the general initiative.

"There should be dialogue first with Syria on the issue. But the question of Hezbollah shouldn't be tied to the Shebaa Farms. They must disarm now. No more excuses. No bringing other issues, like the conflict with Israel, into Lebanon," said Jumblatt.

Israeli security officials say Hezbollah is unlikely to disarm even if the Shabaa Farms is vacated.

"[Hezbollah is] in Lebanon to do Syria and Iran's bidding and to aid Palestinian terror groups," an official said.

Hezbollah is suspected of passing money to Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank to finance terror operations, including recent suicide attacks.

In an interview last month with the Lebanese Al-Safir newspaper, Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah admitted his group provides Palestinian organizations with money to purchase weapons.

According to a translation of the interview by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at Israel's Center for Special Studies, Nasrallah stated that at the beginning of the current Palestinian intifada, Hezbollah provided Palestinian organizations with weapons. But after weapons caches were caught being smuggled through Jordan, Nasrallah said his group was asked instead to donate money.

"[Palestinian groups asked us] to send them money and they would take care of things by themselves by [purchasing and manufacturing weapons, including rockets]," Nasrallah said.

"They need financial, political and media support. We do not deny that we give it to them."

[Soldier4Christ]

More Uranium Reportedly Found in Iran

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - The U.N. atomic agency has found traces of highly enriched uranium at an Iranian site linked to the country's defense ministry, diplomats said Friday. The finding added to concerns that Tehran was hiding activities that could be used to make nuclear arms.

The diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for revealing the confidential information, said the findings were preliminary and still had to be confirmed through other lab tests. But they said the density of enrichment appeared close to or beyond weapons grade - the level used to make nuclear warheads.

[Soldier4Christ]

Dubai firm implicated in Iran 'bomb components' investigation in US



DUBAI — A Dubai engineering consultancy is at the center of an international criminal investigation into a scheme to smuggle banned weapons technology from the US to Iran. The scheme aimed to ship 103 Honeywell pressure sensors, which can be used to trigger explosive devices, from an electronics company in Minneapolis, US, to a firm in Isfahan, Iran.

Court documents obtained by the Khaleej Times reveal the Al Turath Engineering Consultancy was used as an 'intermediary address' to disguise the sensors' real destination. Under the US’s International Emergency Economic Act, it is illegal to ship any technology that has weapons-making capabilities to Iran without special government approval.

This week, Mohammad Fazeli, 27, a US citizen of Iranian extraction, pled guilty to attempting to illegally ship the sensors. He faces 10 years in jail.

Federal court documents show Fazeli and an Iranian identified as Majid Samsar conspired to buy the sensors from Gopher Electronics, a distributor of industrial electrical components. Fazeli's mission was to get the sensors from Gopher and have them shipped to his home in Los Angeles, California.

Once there, Fazeli was instructed repackage the sensors and use false shipping documents to send them to the offices of Al Turath Engineering on the 5th Floor of the Al Attar Grand Building on Khalid Bin al Waleed Street, Dubai.

According to the company's web site, Al Turath is 'one of  the nation's leading scientific and engineering consulting firms providing

world-class expertise through product development and enhancement, Architectural and structural, Mechanical, Electrical & roads design modeling and simulation, materials engineering and testing.' The company boasts 'over 24 years experience' and says it can help customers  'customers solve their technical problems'.

According to evidence presented to the court, once the sensors were received at Al Turath, Samsar would arrange to have them shipped to their real destination, a company called 'Behpajooh Inc' in Esfahan, Iran. It is not known what was to happen to the sensors after that or, if there was another client standing behind Behpajooh Inc.

The plot began on September 6, 2004, when Samsar emailed Fazeli and instructed him to purchase the Honeywell sensors, which detect pressure changes in gas or liquid. The sensors can be used to make bombs that detonate at specific altitudes

Using his American Express card, Fazeli paid $1,525.43 for the sensors on September 14, 2004.

Using a Yahoo email account of Mo_fazeli@yahoo.com, Fazeli emailed his contact, Samsar, telling him he had bought '103 PCs of the item this morning.' He later emailed Samsar to tell him he was having trouble with Gopher who had phoned him, he said, to say they couldn't ship the sensors to him without knowing where they were going. Fazeli wrote to Samsar that he had convinced Gopher the sensors would be staying in the US ‘I told them OK and it was the whole conversation,’ he wrote.

Samar told Fazeli to print out a fake commercial invoice to make it appear the sensors had not been shipped by Gopher and to declare their value as '$309 only'. Fazeli did as he was instructed an on September 29 mailed the sensors to Al Turath Engineering in Dubai.

However, the sensors were intercepted by US federal agents and, after a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) elite Arms and Strategic Technology Investigations team and, the FBI, Fazeli was arrested and charged.

An ICE spokesperson would not comment on what, if any, actions were currently underway against Al Turath and Majid Samsar.

[Shammu]

Russia Will Dramatically Increase Defense Spending in 2007

Created: 12.05.2006 13:32 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:32 MSK, 16 hours 23 minutes ago

MosNews

Russia’s spending on arms development and purchases will rise by 27% each year from 2007, a senior defense official said Thursday, RIA Novosti news agency reports.

Vladislav Putilin, first deputy head of the defense committee established in March to improve the monitoring of defense spending, said: “State defense orders have risen. Spending on the development and purchase of armaments and military equipment will go up by 27% each year from 2007.”

He also said the strategic nuclear forces and permanent combat duty units remained priorities in terms of financing.

Earlier this week, in his annual state-of-the-nation address, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the necessity of strengthening the Russian military. He highlighted the role of strategic nuclear forces in deterring potential external threats and repelling international terrorists, saying that the nuclear triad would be substantially strengthened over the next five years.

The president said Russia would soon commission two nuclear submarines equipped with the first new intercontinental ballistic missiles developed in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union and that land-based strategic forces soon would get their first unit of mobile Topol-M missiles.

In his speech the President also claimed that “it is premature to speak of the end of the arms race”. U.S. defense spending is 25 times higher than Russia’s, said the President and stressed that Russia needs to catch up.

“Their home is their castle? Good for them,” he said. “But that means we must make our house strong and safe, because we see what is going on the world. ”We must always be ready to counter any attempts to pressure Russia in order to strengthen positions at our expense,“ he continued. Finally he emphasized that a strong army is the only way to shield Russia from outside pressure.

Russia Will Dramatically Increase Defense Spending in 2007

[Shammu]

State Senate Endorses Teaching of Gays' Historical Achievements
By Jordan Rau, Times Staff Writer
May 12, 2006

SACRAMENTO — Saying more role models could help reduce the social estrangement and high suicide rates of gay and lesbian students, the state Senate voted Thursday to require that the historical contributions of homosexuals in the United States be taught in California schools.

Apparently the first of its kind nationwide, the measure passed with no Republican support. It must also be approved by the Assembly and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has taken no position on it. California's Legislature last year became the first to authorize gay marriage, but Schwarzenegger vetoed the measure.

If passed, the textbook bill could have national implications. California is a huge portion of the textbook market, where it often sets trends, and many publishers put out a specific edition for the state that others can also use.

Textbooks meeting the bill's requirements would not be incorporated into California classrooms until 2012. Social science courses would then include "an age-appropriate study" of the "role and contributions" that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have made to the "economic political and social development" of California and the United States.

Schools are already required to teach the historical and social roles of blacks, women, Native Americans, Latinos, Asians and other ethnic groups.

"Even though we passed an anti-harassment bill seven years ago, it's still pretty obvious that there's a hostile environment for kids who are gay or lesbian — or even thought to be gay or lesbian," said Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), the bill's author and one of six openly gay legislators. "Part of that stems from the fact that nobody reads about any positive examples."

Social conservatives responded harshly to the Senate's action.

"Happy Mothers Day, California," said a statement issued by Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families, a Sacramento group. "By passing SB 1437, Democrat politicians have declared war on mothers and fathers and their children."

The bill passed the Senate 22 to 15, with all 14 Republicans opposed. Democrat Dean Florez of Shafter voted against the bill, and two of his colleagues, Michael Machado of Linden and Denise Ducheny of San Diego, abstained, which effectively count as "no" votes.

Sen. Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside) called the bill "dangerous" and "insidious" because it lumps sexual orientation — something he said was a "cultural or behavioral lifestyle" — together with race and sex, which are biological. He also said there was no reason for a textbook to point out historical figures' sexual orientation when "their contribution to history has nothing to do with their sexual proclivities."

Kuehl's bill would make the state Board of Education responsible for integrating the subject into curricula. The legislation does not specify what should be included or at what grade level the new material should be taught.

Advocates said subjects might include the 1978 assassination of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk. Geoffrey Kors, executive director of the gay-rights group Equality California, said textbooks might also specify the sexual orientation of well-known Americans such as writer Langston Hughes.

Kors said that when the state Board of Education approved the latest social science curriculum in 2003, his group asked unsuccessfully for gay issues to be included.

"If you're teaching social movements in schools, and you talk about the United Farm Workers and Cesar Chavez, and you talk about the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King, and you talk about the women's suffrage movement, to leave out the gay rights movement seems glaring," Kors said.

The state Board of Education reevaluates the social studies curriculum every six years. The next review is in 2009, and it takes three years for new books to reach classrooms.

The state board has no position on the Kuehl bill, said Roger Magyar, the board's executive director.

"Until it actually is signed by the governor, from our standpoint it's not law," he said. "We find ourselves invested in enough controversy that we don't have to go out and find more."

Schwarzenegger aides had no comment.

Gay rights groups say homosexual students are two to three times as likely to attempt suicide as their peers, based on studies conducted by academics and state governments. However, most of those studies are at least a decade old.

A national survey conducted last year by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network in New York reported that 75% of homosexual students overheard derogatory remarks often at school, and 38% said they were physically harassed because of their sexual orientation.

The bill's fate in the California Assembly is not clear. Because of its strong contingent of moderate Democrats, it traditionally has been more reluctant than the Legislature's upper house to pass very liberal legislation.

But Kuehl noted: "If gay marriage could pass in the Assembly, this is nothing."

State Senate Endorses Teaching of Gays' Historical Achievements

[Shammu]

U.S. Runs Into Resistance Over Sudan

By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 50 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS - The United States has run into strong resistance in its bid for a Security Council resolution that would give the United Nations immediate control over peacekeepers in Darfur, diplomats said Friday.

Objections from China, Russia and several African nations have forced the United States to strip out much of the most powerful language of the draft, possibly delaying the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers in the troubled Sudanese region.

The retreat is a blow to President Bush, who had announced on Monday that he would seek the new resolution and asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to press for it during a visit on Tuesday.

It was part of several new initiatives from Bush to bring an end to the suffering in Darfur, where violence has killed nearly 200,000 people since 2003. Late last week, Darfur's government and rebels signed a peace deal at last.

A new draft of the U.S. resolution circulated late Thursday makes several key concessions. For example, it asks only that a U.N. assessment team inspect the AU force "with a view to a follow-on United Nations operation in Darfur."

The draft also asks all parties to the Darfur deal, the United Nations and other organizations "to accelerate transition to a United Nations operation."

Sudan's government has previously refused to allow the assessment team into the country, though officials have suggested the peace deal could ease its concerns.

"The expectation continues that we will have a joint planning team on the ground in Darfur as soon as possible," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. "We would expect the government of Sudan to cooperate fully and let this team do its work."

The African Union forces, which number about 7,200, are now low on funds and have largely been ineffective in stopping atrocities and re-establishing security.

According to the U.N. plan, the force would be bolstered and folded into the command of a U.N. peacekeeping force monitoring a separate peace deal between Sudan's largely Muslim north and the Christian and Animist south.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Friday he did not think the new draft was "substantially weaker," though he acknowledged several changes had been required.

"I think some things were removed in an effort to reach a broader consensus within the council about what the text would be," Bolton said. "I think we're very close to bringing it before the council. I hope it will be unanimous but again, we're prepared to go whether it's unanimous or not."

But several diplomats said objections remained. They portrayed the latest draft more as a U.S. effort to show progress on Darfur than as a text that will move any closer to a U.N.-led mission there. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the draft publicly.

China and Russia, two veto-wielding members of the council, also oppose the draft's being written under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which could make it legally binding and enforceable by sanctions.

The African Union has asked that the council delay voting on the draft until after Monday, when its Peace and Security Council meets to endorse the Darfur peace deal and discuss the possibility of giving the United Nations authority over the AU force.

U.S. Runs Into Resistance Over Sudan

[Shammu]

Sri Lanka Rebels Claim Sovereign Rights

By KRISHAN FRANCIS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 30 minutes ago

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - The Tamil Tiger rebels claimed Friday that Sri Lanka's navy encroached on their sovereign rights by approaching coastal areas they control, and warned they will attack any vessels threatening their homeland.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, also warned European cease-fire monitors not to board navy vessels off the coast of rebel-controlled areas in the north and east.

The warnings came a day after Tamil Tiger rebels sank a navy patrol boat in a northern Sri Lanka sea battle in that left about 50 insurgents and 17 sailors dead or missing, in a sharp escalation of violence that pushed the country closer to all-out war.

"We entered the peace process based on a status quo achieved in the battlefield in our territory," the chief of the Tamil Tiger rebels' political wing, S. P. Thamilselvan, said after meeting Friday with the head of the European cease-fire monitors, Ulf Henricsson, in the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi.

"Nobody has the right to pass judgment on the sovereign rights of our access to the adjacent sea and air space of our homeland," Thamilselvan was quoted as saying by the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site.

In a letter Friday to the cease-fire monitors, the rebels accused the navy of disturbing civilian and LTTE activities, and warned they could retaliate.

Accusing the navy of using the cease-fire monitors as "human shields," the rebels issued a stark warning to the monitors.

"We urge you for the last time not to be on board Sri Lankan naval vessels until further notice from us. If you chose to ignore our warning and request, we are not responsible for the consequences."

The government and the monitors have accused the Tigers of violating Sri Lanka's 2002 cease-fire accord in Thursday's attack.

Government troops retaliated, sinking five rebel boats, damaging three others and launching airstrikes on guerrilla-held territory.

Fifteen sailors and two officers were on board the downed navy boat.

"Hopes are receding," navy spokesman Commander D.K.P. Dassanayake said Friday of any of the 17 missing. The navy had yet to locate the wreck.

At least 50 Tiger guerrillas were on five rebels boats that sank, and all were believed dead, Dassanayake said.

No independent verification of the casualty toll was immediately available.

More than 150 people have died in violence since the beginning of April, and recent attempts to restart stalled peace talks have failed.

The Tigers began fighting in 1983 to create a separate state for ethnic minority Tamils, accusing the majority Sinhalese of discrimination. More than 65,000 people died in the conflict before the 2002 truce.

Sri Lanka Rebels Claim Sovereign Rights

[Shammu]

Envoys Say Enriched Uranium Found in Iran

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 48 minutes ago

VIENNA, Austria - U.N. inspectors have found traces of highly enriched uranium on equipment from an Iranian research center linked to the military, diplomats said Friday — a revelation likely to strengthen U.S. arguments that Tehran wants to develop nuclear arms.

The diplomats, who demanded anonymity in exchange for divulging the confidential information, cautioned that confirmation still had to come through other laboratory tests.

Initially, they said the density of enrichment appeared to be close to or above the level used to make nuclear warheads. But later a diplomat accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency said it was below that, although higher than the low-enriched material used to generate power and heading toward weapons-grade level.

Still, they said, further analysis could show that the find matches others established to have come from abroad. The IAEA determined earlier traces of highly enriched uranium were imported on equipment from Pakistan that Iran bought on the black market during nearly two decades of clandestine activity.

Even then, nevertheless, the find would be significant.

Because Iran has previously denied conducting enrichment-related activities at the site, the mere fact the traces came from there bolsters arguments that it has hidden parts of a program that can create the fissile material used in nuclear warheads. Additionally, the site's connection to the military weakens Iranian arguments that its nuclear program is purely civilian.

"That has long been suspected as the site of undeclared enrichment research and ... the Iranians have denied that any enrichment research had taken place at that location," said Iran expert Gary Samore of the MacArthur Foundation in Chicago. "It certainly does reinforce the agency's suspicion that Iran has not fully declared its past enrichment research."

The development, however, was unlikely to result in an immediate American push for strong U.N. Security Council action against Tehran.

The Americans recently agreed to put such efforts on hold and give new European-led attempts to find a negotiated solution a chance in the face of fierce Russian and Chinese opposition to a strong signal from the council.

Moscow and Beijing have balked at British, French and U.S. efforts to put a Security Council resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter. Such a move would declare Iran a threat to international peace and security and set the stage for further measures if Tehran refuses to suspend uranium enrichment. Those measures could range from breaking diplomatic relations to economic sanctions and military action.

Despite their declared support for the European effort to persuade Iran to give up enrichment, the Americans are ignoring calls for direct contacts with Iran — a stance criticized Friday by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Calling on "all sides to lower the rhetoric," Annan said Washington should "come to the table" and join the Europeans and Iranians.

Iran's president remained defiant. He accused the Americans of "waging a propaganda campaign" against his country. "The people of Iran and the country are not afraid of them," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Islamic leaders in Indonesia.

Uranium enriched to between 3.5 percent and 5 percent is used to make fuel for reactors to generate electricity. It becomes suitable for use in nuclear weapons when enriched to more than 90 percent.

Iran denies it wants to make nuclear arms and says it is interested in uranium only to generate power. It already has enriched uranium to low levels — an accomplishment that opens the pathway to weapons-grade enrichment.

Diplomats accredited to the IAEA on Friday noted that Tehran's enrichment program has progressed faster than agency experts had expected. That also suggests Iran has hidden research and development from IAEA inspectors, they said.

To argue that it never produced highly enriched uranium domestically, Tehran cites the IAEA's tentative conclusion last year that traces collected from Iranian sites with no suspected ties to the military arrived on equipment from Pakistan.

But the origin of the samples now being studied created some concern in that regard.

One of the diplomats told The Associated Press that the samples came from vacuum pumps that has various applications, including use in uranium-enriching centrifuges at a former research center at Lavizan-Shian. The center is believed to have been the repository of equipment bought by the Iranian military that could be used in a nuclear weapons program.

The United States alleges Iran conducted high-explosive tests that could have a bearing on developing nuclear weapons at the site.

The State Department said in 2004 that Lavizan's buildings had been dismantled and topsoil removed to hide nuclear weapons-related experiments. The IAEA later confirmed the site had been razed.

In an April 28 report, IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei said the agency took samples from some of the equipment of the former Physics Research Center at Lavizan-Shian.

Envoys Say Enriched Uranium Found in Iran

[Shammu]

IAEA Director Says Nuke Terrorists a Worry

1 hour, 31 minutes ago

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - The world should be more worried about nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists than about Iran's nuclear program, the head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency said Friday.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said there is no military solution to the standoff with Iran over its determination to continue its uranium enrichment program.

ElBaradei, who spoke Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said he was "for the first time somewhat optimistic" that the Iran standoff can be resolved.

"I think everybody understands that we need to exhaust every possible route to find a diplomatic solution," he said.

But he said the risk that terrorists could acquire a nuclear weapon was of greater concern.

"Terrorists are a different thing," he told the Dutch television program Netwerk. "The fear of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons is much more, in my view ... than a country acquiring nuclear weapons right now," he said.

ElBaradei said the international community needed a collective security system that does not have an exclusive nuclear club, "a system where every country feels secure."

Otherwise, he said, "we are going to see proliferation of nuclear weapons."

Key U.N. Security Council members agreed this week to postpone a tough resolution against Iran, giving Tehran another two weeks to reassess its insistence on developing its uranium enrichment capabilities.

Britain, France and Germany were working up a new package of incentives and sanctions to present to Iran, in a move applauded by the IAEA chief.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, but Tehran says it aims only to generate energy and charges that the West is guilty of "double standards."

IAEA Director Says Nuke Terrorists a Worry

[Shammu]

Nigerian Pipeline Blast Kills Up to 200

By DULUE MBACHU, Associated Press Writer 23 minutes ago

ILADO, Nigeria - Gasoline gushing from a ruptured pipeline exploded Friday as villagers scavenged for fuel, setting off an inferno that killed up to 200 and left charred bodies scattered around the site in this oil-rich country of mostly poor people.

Grim-faced rescue workers swung corpses into a mass grave as dozens of other scorched bodies awaited collection. It appeared some victims tried to flee the unfolding disaster only to be overtaken by flames spreading across the fuel slick.

The stark outlines of white skeletons lay against a beach charred black by fire. Other bodies floated alongside dozens of plastic jerrycans in the nearby waters of the coastal mangrove swamp. The jerrycans, which had contained pilfered gas, were twisted by the heat of the explosion.

More than 1,000 people in Nigeria, Africa's oil giant, have died in recent years when fuel they were pilfering from pipelines caught fire — and officials said it would likely happen again.

"Because this thing has happened many times before, we thought it would be a deterrent, but apparently it wasn't enough deterrent for these people who died," said Lagos State Health Commissioner Tola Kasali, surveying the scene near Ilado, about 30 miles east of the main city of Lagos.

"Anywhere you have a pipeline in this country, you have this problem because people are greedy and they want quick money," Kasali said.

It was not known what set off the fire. An FBI official in Washington said the bureau was working on the case but did not explain whether foul play was suspected. The FBI often gets involved in criminal investigations abroad when Americans are involved or when asked by the host country.

Police and rescue workers said villagers were collecting the gushing gas when the fuel ignited, and Lagos Police Commissioner Emmanuel Adebayo said 150 to 200 people died. The Red Cross had said it was treating survivors, but no live victims were seen.

By day's end, about 100 of the dead had been interred, and Kasali said cleanup efforts would resume Saturday.

He said the uncollected bodies pose a health risk to the millions of inhabitants of Lagos, whose skyline could be seen on the horizon.

"We just decided to give them a mass burial because no one can recognize them — even their family members can't identify them," he said. "We're concerned that if we don't do that, we'll create a health emergency in Lagos since it happened by the shore and the water will just flow back into the city."

The blaze took place far from the center of the fishing village of Ilado, and it was unclear if there were witnesses. Boatsmen said they heard an explosion before dawn and saw the glow of flames.

The pipeline was run by Nigeria's state oil company and was used to transport gasoline across the country for national consumption.

The impoverished people of Nigeria often tap pipelines, seeking fuel for cooking or resale on the black market. The highly volatile gasoline can ignite, incinerating those collecting it.

In 2004 a pipeline exploded near Lagos as thieves tried to siphon fuel, killing as many as 50 people. A 1998 pipeline blast killed more than 700 in southern Nigeria.

Most of Nigeria's oil is pumped in the southern Niger Delta region, far from Lagos. Pipes carry the crude to refineries across the nation.

Nigeria, which normally pumps 2.5 million barrels of crude per day, is Africa's largest producer and the fifth-largest source of imports to the United States. It was unlikely Friday's blast would affect exports.

The pipeline explosion slowed a drop in crude oil futures as the International Energy Agency sharply cut its forecasts for world oil demand.

Nigerian militants have kidnapped foreign oil workers to press their demands for local control of oil revenues by inhabitants of the oil-producing south, who feel cheated out of the wealth produced in their backyards.

Other groups have used kidnappings as bargaining chips to prod oil companies to increase jobs or improve benefits. Hostages are usually released unharmed.

Three captive foreign oil workers in the oil hub of Port Harcourt were released Friday, a day after they were snatched from a bus as they headed to work, regional police commander Samuel Adetuyi said.

It was the second attack this week on foreigners in Port Harcourt, where many oil companies keep their main Nigerian operations.

On Wednesday, a gunman on a motorcycle shot and killed an American worker for the U.S. drilling equipment maker Baker Hughes Inc. The FBI is helping with the investigation.

Nigerian Pipeline Blast Kills Up to 200

[Shammu]

Apparent al-Qaida escapee urges new attacks
In video, al-Libi exhorts Muslims to attack Europe as revenge for cartoons

May 12, 2006

DUBAI - A man believed to be a top al-Qaida militant who escaped from a U.S. airbase in Afghanistan urged Muslims in an Internet video to launch attacks in Europe as revenge for cartoons that lampooned the Prophet Muhammad.

A Web site often used by militants posted a video from a man identified as Abu Yahya al-Libi in which he called for Muslims to “send rivers of blood” down the streets of Denmark, Norway and France for publishing the cartoons that caused a global furor earlier this year.

Abu Yahya al-Libi is believed to be the alias of Libyan Mohammad Hassan who along with three other al-Qaida militants broke out of the Bagram Air Base last year.

Analysts say he is an influential militant preacher, better known for recruiting fighters than for actual combat.

“Believers, don’t let your prophet down and don’t let our response to this grave insult just be protests and forums,” said the man in the video which was dated February and posted on the Internet early on Friday.

“Denmark, Norway and France, you enemies of Islam, you have committed a grave offence against God and his prophet,” he said.

“Muslims, let’s not be slack about this ... hone your swords and shake the ground beneath their feet so they can feel our pain, let’s send rivers of blood down their streets.”

The authenticity of the tape could not be verified.

In an audiotape aired in April, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden called for people who ridiculed the prophet to be killed.

Anger over the cartoons, which a Danish newspaper first published last year, outraged Muslims who consider drawings of the prophet to be blasphemous.

The caricatures, which were reprinted in several Arab and European newspapers, sparked violent protests in which more than 50 people were killed.

Denmark’s government has refused to apologize for the cartoons, citing freedom of speech.

In the 34-minute video tape, Libi said Muslims were not looking for an apology.

“We don’t want an apology, we want to break their pride and to oppress them. You must fight them,” said the man, who was sitting at a desk in what appeared to be a library of Islamic books with a rifle placed before him.

The four al-Qaida escapees are still at large despite a massive manhunt. In February, the same Web site posted a video tape purportedly from one of the fugitive militants in which he vowed to fight Americans in Iraq and the United States.

Apparent al-Qaida escapee urges new attacks

[Shammu]

Iran issues warning on new Europe nuclear offer

1 hour, 38 minutes ago

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran has warned that it would only consider new European incentives aimed at finding a deal over its atomic program if the offer recognizes the Islamic republic's right to enrich uranium.

The comments from Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki starkly underlined Tehran's refusal to abandon a process that Western countries want Iran to renounce and is the key sticking point in the escalating nuclear standoff.

"Any incentive that does not include Iran's right to nuclear technology and the ways to secure it will not have any attraction for the Iranian people and government," the IRNA agency quoted Mottaki as telling reporters in Indonesia.

For Iran, the right to nuclear technology means first and foremost its right to uranium enrichment, a highly sensitive process that can be used both for making nuclear fuel and in a weapons program.

Europe is currently preparing a new package of trade, security and technological incentives to try to entice Tehran away from uranium enrichment and resolve the nuclear crisis peacefully.

However Mottaki warned the Europeans "not to make the same mistake" he said they made last August when they came up with a list of incentives that also demanded Iran gives up uranium enrichment.

"We hope that our case will be dealt in a way that Iran's right to peaceful nuclear technology will be recognized," Mottaki told reporters in Bali, where he is attending the D-8 Summit with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"It is then that Iran will provide its utmost cooperation," he said.

European Union efforts since 2003 to win guarantees that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful in nature have foundered, with Iran defiantly pushing ahead since April on enriching uranium.

Iran says it has enriched uranium to 4.8 percent, sufficient to make nuclear fuel for a power station. In highly enriched form, the uranium can form the explosive core of an atomic bomb.

The United States charges that Iran is using its nuclear program -- which Tehran insists is a merely peaceful effort to generate electricity -- to hide the development of nuclear weapons.

Ahmadinejad told reporters on the Indonesian resort island that Western nations should not be nervous of Tehran's nuclear program and instead "have fun".

"Those who are nervous, there is no need for them to be nervous. They are nervous because of their arrogance, selfish and exclusivist tendencies.

"All of them know 100 percent that the nuclear program of Iran is totally peaceful... We advise them not to become nervous. They can use this beautiful air. They can have fun," he said.

Tehran last year rejected a previous offer of incentives, including desperately needed civilian aircraft parts and support for World Trade Organization membership, insisting on the right to enrich uranium on its soil.

Mottaki's warning came after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the United to talk directly to its arch foe over the nuclear issue, saying Tehran would not negotiate seriously if Washington is not involved.

However the United States lost little time in rejecting Annan's advice, with State Department spokesman Sean McCormack saying Tehran was interested only in "delaying and stalling".

"We believe that we are following the right diplomatic process now," he said.

Ahmadinejad reaffirmed that his nation was ready to talk with any country, except
Israel.

But he said if "they carry bombs over our heads and they ask us to engage in dialogue with them, we will never do that. If they want to resort to use of force, we are not going into dialogue with them."

In a development that could further intensify the crisis, diplomats said UN inspectors found traces of weapons-grade uranium in vacuum pumps at the Lavizan-Shian site in Tehran where Iran had denied carrying out such work.

Iran denied that such particles had been found.

UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Thursday he was "optimistic" about Washington giving its European allies more time to seek a solution, after a deadlock at the UN Security Council on moving towards sanctions against Iran.

Diplomats said negotiators from the Council's permanent members -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- plus Germany planned to meet in London on May 19 to weigh a new package of incentives as well as penalties.

Although the United States has insisted on its wish to see the crisis resolved through diplomacy, administration officials have steadfastly refused to rule out the option of military action.

Iran issues warning on new Europe nuclear offer