News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

EU's Solana set to take nuclear offer to Iran
Sat Jun 3, 2006 8:57am ET168
Email This Article | Print This Article | Reprints
[-] Text

By Christian Oliver

TEHRAN (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will soon present Iran with the incentives agreed by major powers to try to persuade Tehran to end nuclear fuel development, his spokeswoman said on Saturday.

Iran said the plan might offer a way forward, but insisted it would not give up uranium enrichment -- which the West is demanding as proof that it is not developing nuclear weapons.

The incentives were agreed on Thursday by the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China -- plus Germany.

Solana's spokeswoman, Cristina Gallach, and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said no date had been set for the trip. However, Solana plans to be in the Middle East on Sunday and on Monday.

The incentives being offered by the six powers were still unknown, but their diplomats have been working on themes ranging from offering nuclear reactors to giving security guarantees.

"We believe if ... there's goodwill then there's a possibility that our ideas may complete the proposal and give them (Westerners) a way out of the situation they have created for themselves," Mottaki said on state television.

However, he added: "The main pillar of the talks is that they should be free from preconditions."

Iranian politicians habitually use the word "precondition" for demands that Iran end its fuel work. Mottaki and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have said there is no question of this, insisting on a right to make fuel for power generation.

Ahmadinejad on Friday night told U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Iran was willing to negotiate on nuclear issues as long as talks had no "preconditions of threats", state media reported.

Washington says this must not be seen as a final rejection, and that Iran could be staking out a negotiating position.

Iran has a labyrinthine command structure and comments from the president and the foreign minister may not be the last word on political matters.

Iran's main authority is Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council, headed by chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, is directly charged with handling the nuclear dispute.

Analysts see the proposals from the world powers and a rare U.S. offer to enter into direct talks with Iran as attempts to build a united diplomatic front for possible later action in the U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions.

EU's Solana set to take nuclear offer to Iran

[Shammu]

 'Zarqawi tape' urges Sunni unrest
An audio recording has been released on the web claiming to feature the voice of al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, urging Sunnis to attack the country's Shias.

The taped voice - allegedly that of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - says Shias have long collaborated with foreign invaders in Iraq.

It urges Sunnis to resist attempts at reconciliation with the Shias.

The CIA says voice analysis confirms the tape is genuine. Zarqawi has been blamed for scores of attacks in Iraq.

The fugitive militant last appeared in a video recording earlier this year, in which he was seen firing a weapon in the desert and reproaching the US for its "arrogance and insolence".

The US released a letter in early 2004, allegedly authored by Zarqawi, that said fomenting strife between Iraq's Sunnis and Shias could galvanize the resistance to US forces.

Al-Qaeda has been blamed for scores of bombings targeting Shias and US forces in Iraq.

Blaming Hezbollah

The speaker in the audio recording urges Sunnis to "wake up, pay attention and prepare to confront the poisons of the Shia snakes".

"Forget about those advocating the end of sectarianism and calling for national unity," the speaker says.

The recording also describes Iraq's highest-ranking Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, as an "atheist" and lambasts Shia militia groups for attacking Sunnis in their houses on the pretext of searching for insurgents.

The speaker in the tape also attacks targets beyond Iraq.

He describes Lebanon's Shia militia group, Hezbollah, as a "shield" protecting Israel from attack.

He also mocks the Iranian leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for "screaming and calling for wiping Israel from the map" while failing to back up his words with actions.

'Zarqawi tape' urges Sunni unrest

[Soldier4Christ]

Prison Fellowship Ministries Forced to Close Bible Program at Iowa Prison

 DES MOINES, Iowa  — A judge has ruled that a Bible-based prison program violates the First Amendment's freedom of religion clause by using state funds to promote Christianity to inmates.

Prison Fellowship Ministries, which was sued in 2003 by an advocacy group, was ordered Friday to cease its program at the Newton Correctional Facility and repay the state $1.53 million.

"This calls into question the funding for so many programs," said Barry Lynn, executive director of the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which filed the suit. "Anyone who doesn't stop it is putting a giant 'sue me' sign on top of their building."

Lynn's group accused Prison Fellowship Ministries of giving preferential treatment to inmates participating in the program. They were given special visitation rights, movie-watching privileges, access to computers and access to classes needed for early parole.

U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt called the perks "seemingly minor benefits" that constituted unfair treatment to those not in the religious program. Despite any claims of rehabilitating inmates, the program "impermissibly endorses religion," Pratt wrote.

The InnerChange Freedom Initiative was implemented in Newton in 1999. State prison officials have said they hired the religious group to improve inmate behavior and reduce recidivism — not promote Christianity.

Ministry president Mark Earley said in a statement Friday that the group plans to appeal the ruling and believes its program is constitutional.

"This decision, if allowed to stand, will enshrine religious discrimination," Earley said. "It has attacked the right of people of faith to operate on a level playing field in the public arena and to provide services to those who volunteered to receive them."

The judge gave the group's workers 60 days to leave the prison, though he put a stay on his order, meaning the decision won't officially be implemented until the appeals process is complete.

[Soldier4Christ]

Iran: Breakthrough Possible
Iranian Foreign Minister Welcomes Unconditional Talks

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Saturday that a breakthrough over Tehran's nuclear program was possible and welcomed unconditional talks with all parties, including the United States.

"We think that if there is good will, a breakthrough to get out of a situation they [the European Union and United States] have created for themselves... is possible," Mottaki told a press conference.

Six world powers agreed on Thursday to offer Iran a new package of incentives if it gives up uranium enrichment, or sanctions if it refuses. The plan could either defuse a global confrontation with the Islamic regime or hasten one.

The United States warned Iran on Friday that it would not have much time to respond to the international package of rewards, suggesting that the window could close and be replaced by penalties if the Islamic republic doesn't react fast.

"We are waiting to officially receive the proposals. We will make our views known after studying the package," Mottaki said.

"We will also mention if any part of the package is not in Iran's interests," he said.

Mottaki said European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana would hand deliver the package to Iranian officials in the next few days. No specific date has yet been set for the trip, he said.

In Belgium, Solana's spokeswoman Cristina Gallach confirmed he was ready to travel to Iran very soon. "The trip is not going to be a negotiating trip, the objective is to present the proposals of the international community," she said.

Iran would study the package "within the necessary timeframe," Mottaki said.

n a rare show of optimism, the foreign minister stressed that a settlement could be reached on the nuclear issue.

"We think that the views we will present our partners could prepare the ground for a comprehensive understanding (between Iran and the West)," he said, referring to the EU nations as partners in a sign that Iran is willing to find a solution to the nuclear standoff.

The package, agreed upon Thursday by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, carries the threat of U.N. sanctions if Tehran remains defiant over its nuclear program which the West fears is a cover for producing nuclear weapons. Iran says it is only striving to use nuclear reactors for generating electricity.

Meanwhile, the Vatican called for diplomacy as the only way forward to resolve the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program. In a statement Saturday, the Vatican said it supports every initiative aimed at open and constructive dialogue and called on all sides involved to show sensitivity, goodwill and mutual trust to resolve the dispute, reports CBS News correspondent Sabina Castelfranco.

Also, Pope Benedict met in private with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the Vatican and discussed the role religion can play in politics and society. They agreed on the importance of dialogue between faiths and cultures to tackle extremism and terrorism, Castelfranco reports.

A short statement issued Thursday night did not mention economic sanctions, but U.S. officials said privately that Iran could face tough Security Council sanctions if it refuses to give up uranium enrichment and other disputed nuclear activities.

The formal offer of talks is expected to be made by France, Britain and Germany, the three EU nations that previously negotiated with Tehran.

A senior U.S. state department official said he expected Tehran would be invited to begin new negotiations "within a matter of days."

The United States, in a major policy shift, agreed this week to join those talks on the condition that Tehran suspends all uranium enrichment and related activities. It would be the first major public negotiations between the two countries in more than 25 years.

Mottaki insisted Saturday that Iran would join no talks if conditions were attached.

"These negotiations have to be without any conditions. We won't accept any condition for talks," he told reporters.

"Member states of the board of governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency can be parties for talks," added Mottaki.

The U.S. is on the board of governors of the IAEA, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog.

Mottaki said Iran had its own views on how to conduct the talks. He did not elaborate, saying Tehran would make its position known once the talks develop.

Iran announced April 11 that it had enriched uranium for the first time, using 164 centrifuges. Enrichment can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or material for a warhead - but tens of thousands of centrifuges are needed to do either on a large scale.

Iran intends to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment involving 3,000 centrifuges by late 2006, and then expand the program to 54,000 centrifuges.

Iran maintains that as a signatory to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty it has the right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes - such as the production of reactor fuel.

However, Iran has indicated that it may suspend large-scale uranium enrichment to ease tensions.


_________________________


More political double talk, delay tactics and propaganda to attempt to make the EU and U.S. look bad while giving themselves more time to continue on their planned agenda.

[Shammu]

Iran: Breakthrough Possible
Iranian Foreign Minister Welcomes Unconditional Talks

Well we know from prophecy that Iran has to be strong, as Gog. So I can see Iran talking, while getting stronger..

[Soldier4Christ]

Well we know from prophecy that Iran has to be strong, as Gog. So I can see Iran talking, while getting stronger..

Yes and many people will fall for it giving them the time that they need to do so.

[Shammu]

Yes and many people will fall for it giving them the time that they need to do so.

Thats one of the reasons, I follow prophecy so close brother. As long as I can warn, member of the coming of the Lord. I can witness to them, about whats coming. At the very least, I am planting the seeds, of the Lord.

[Shammu]

Warrant will give EU judges power over British police
By David Rennie in Brussels
(Filed: 02/06/2006)

The Government signed up to a European Evidence Warrant yesterday that gives foreign judges the power to send British police into a British home and seize evidence in connection with suspected crimes committed in other European Union nations.

The new warrant is founded on the principle of "mutual recognition", meaning that British authorities have only the most slender, technical of reasons to object to a warrant, and in most cases must execute them automatically, as if they were issued by a British court.

British and EU officials hastened to present the new warrant as an important tool in the fight against terrorism and organised crime. It was agreed in Luxembourg by the Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith.

Under the new warrant, a Spanish judge investigating a rape on the Costa del Sol would have the power to send police to a tourist's home in Britain to search for a specific item of clothing.

The warrant cannot be used to order a search for new evidence, ruling out the prospect of British police being sent on "fishing expeditions" for evidence that might support a case under investigation. Communications data, such as e-mails and telephone records, and DNA samples are explicitly excluded from the scope of the warrant.

A British official said: "This isn't about the British police kicking your door down on the whim of a foreign judge. These are warrants for serious crimes and, just like British warrants, there has to be a solid case behind them."

When it comes to issuing the new warrant no special safeguards are planned in the event of Romania and Bulgaria entering the EU next January, as is currently planned.

It will take more than two years for the new evidence warrant law to be transposed into the national laws of each EU nation but once it is on British statute books a Bulgarian judge will have the power to issue warrants.

That is despite the most recent European Commission report on Bulgaria's readiness to join the EU, which said the Balkan nation had to do much more to fight endemic corruption in the judiciary and criminal justice system, and stated that organised crime "puts into question the rule of law in Bulgaria".

Friso Roscam-Abbing, the commission's justice and home affairs spokesman, said that intensive efforts were under way to reform the Bulgarian and Romanian court services.

All criminal offences can be used to justify the issuing of a warrant by another EU nation, not just terrorism, murder or other serious offences. In cases of relatively minor crimes, British police can refuse to carry out a raid if the offence in question does not exist in British law.

Warrant will give EU judges power over British police

[Shammu]

Kansas minister preaches doom and hatred

By MATT SEDENSKY, Associated Press Writer Sat Jun 3, 12:38 PM ET

OGDEN, Iowa - The soldier's flag-draped casket is set on the gymnasium floor, below the unlit scoreboard, before bleachers crowded with mourners.
ADVERTISEMENT

They are there for Sgt. Daniel Sesker, the young man known for an infectious laugh and a wide smile, his life taken abruptly by an improvised explosive device outside Tikrit. Inside his high school, those who loved him are just beginning to grieve.

Outside, near a cornfield awaiting planting, picketers thank God for Daniel Sesker's death, talk approvingly of his entrance into hell, and mock the mourners. Amid gusting winds, they struggle to hold up signs that read "Thank God for IEDs" and "God Hates Your Tears."

And back home in Kansas, tucked away in an office over Westboro Baptist Church, Pastor Fred Phelps need only think of what he's done, and he cracks a smile.

He has, for 15 years, directed a campaign unlike any other.

At curbsides, outside funerals and before state capitols, Phelps and his followers have branded this a nation of sinners, of people bound to live eternity in a fiery hell. They have called homosexuals the disgusting face of evil, and fallen American soldiers proof of God's wrath. And they've sneered at every other faith.

They are unapologetic in delivering their message and have no hope of convincing you, just as they say there is no hope for this doomed nation.

It's simply their duty, they believe, to let it be known that God hates you. That you're going to hell. That you're wrong and Fred's right.

___

Phelps and his followers began appearing outside funerals of American troops killed in
Iraq since last June. They've already attended about 100 — offending communities and lawmakers so thoroughly that 31 state legislatures have debated bills to curb such protests, and Congress passed a law restricting demonstrations at national cemeteries.
President Bush signed the bill on Memorial Day.

Westboro's protesters first gained widespread national attention in 1998. A 21-year-old University of Wyoming student, Matthew Shepard, had been lashed to a split-rail post, pistol-whipped, robbed, and left in near-freezing temperatures — all apparently because he was gay. Millions were horrified.

But not Phelps.

He and his followers showed up at the funeral with signs bearing their trademark message: "God Hates Fags." They chanted "Fags die, God laughs."

There have been thousands of protests since, at the funerals of homosexuals — but also at memorials for Mister Rogers, victims of Sept. 11 and West Virginia miners. There have been more than 25,000 such demonstrations, by the church's count.

No army of zealots is waging this campaign. Westboro Baptist has only about 75 members, nearly all of them Phelps' relatives.

Those who choose to stay in the Topeka, Kan., church must be willing not only to live an insular life, but to thrive on it. They must give at least 10 percent of their earnings to the church and spend thousands more traveling to spread its message.

Their belief in predestination — the idea that God determined at the time of one's creation whether they were bound for heaven or hell — is not unique. It stems from John Calvin's branch of the 16th century Protestant Reformation and is taught in mainstream churches.

Where Westboro parts ways, of course, is its emphasis on God's hatred and the way it spreads this message. Members believe they must alert the world's depraved sinners of their fate even though such people have no chance of going to heaven. They're not doing this to save you — they're doing it to save themselves.

The Westboro flock is out there all alone, both in their beliefs and in their methods. No other religious group has stepped forward to join them.

In the small sanctuary at Westboro Baptist — amid wood paneling, mauve carpeting and burnt-red cushions that recall a 1970s living room more than a house of worship — the congregation prays that all of God's chosen people will hear the call and make their way to this church. When the last person comes, they believe, Christ will return and the world will end.

The fluorescent lights shine on no crosses or paintings or statues, just a world map and a few signs. "Thank God for Maimed Soldiers," reads one.

Two hymns sung in perfect harmony serve as bookends for the service. The centerpiece is an impassioned sermon by the lanky, 76-year-old Phelps.

As he often does, he fixates on the media, and on lawmakers' attempts to silence him. He talks of God's hatred, and celebrates deadly events so many others mourn.

"We pray for more tornadoes, we pray for more hurricanes, that Katrina's just a tiny little preamble," he says near his closing. "That's what we pray for."

___

The path that brought Fred Phelps to this point is not a straight one.

He grew up a Methodist and enjoyed a childhood in which, he says, he was "happy as a duck."

Thetis Hudson, an 85-year-old Meridian, Miss., woman, lived across the street from Phelps' boyhood home. She remembers his mother playing sweet tunes at the piano and his father working as a railroad detective when it seemed no one else had a good job.

"They were good people. If you were going to pick a typical American family you would have picked them," Hudson said. "There was no hate."

cont'd next post.

[Shammu]

Fred was 5 years old when his aunt came, sat him on a log and told him that his mother "had gone with the angels to be with God in heaven." He doesn't remember crying.

Phelps was bound for West Point when he attended a Methodist revival meeting and said he felt a calling to preach.

Phelps became a civil rights attorney, honored by minority groups for his dedication to cases of poor blacks. But he picketed the funeral of Coretta Scott King, and ultimately was disbarred from state courts for improprieties.

He ran as a Democrat for mayor, governor and senator who opened his law office to staffers on Al Gore's 1988 presidential bid. But he failed in each campaign and is uniformly derided by politicians on both sides of the aisle.

He raised 13 children, nine of whom defend him unwaveringly. Others tell of an abusive, unstable patriarch driven to fits of rage by nearly anything — from the way a child peeled an apple to forgetting to wipe one's shoes.

Family, for Fred Phelps, is second to his precepts.

Once Phelps was on the path to ministry, contact with his father — who he now calls a "wonderful, good old man" — began to wane. The elder Phelps had remarried a woman who was divorced, the sort of evil his son was beginning to preach against.

Others have been similarly marginalized: A sister, in-laws, children.

"These doctrines and things you believe have an inherent power and effect of sequestering you from all mankind on a close personal level," Phelps explained.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, a daughter of the pastor who frequently acts as a church spokeswoman, lost one of her sons to the outside world.

"Of course it's heartbreaking, on a level, for a short period of time," she said. "Because what you come to terms with is that the child is going to hell."

___

Fred Phelps' steps are cautious, his stare vacant, his speech slightly drawled. At a family picnic, when others line up for food, he stays behind. When songs are sung, he just looks on. He sits quiet most of the time, holding a 4-month-old great-granddaughter.

His demeanor shifts easily, quickly. He laughs, then looks sullen. Calls a granddaughter "love bug," then launches a brief tirade against Jews.

Many of Phelps' detractors admit he is brilliant. He has a habit of making it known by belittling those who question him. He makes it clear — there is no room for debate.

"That's one of the luxuries of being 100 percent right, absolutely 100 percent right," he said. "If you can read, you would agree with me."

Phelps' followers take that message to heart.

"They believe that what my dad says is law. He's the shepherd of the flock and he gets his inspiration from the Bible — he's the voice of God on earth," said the former Dortha Phelps, an estranged daughter who has taken the surname Bird to signify her freedom from the family.

Neither Phelps nor his congregants — who believe both he and they are prophets — claim to be without sin, but the pastor is infuriated when asked about their wrongdoings.

Children have had babies out of wedlock. Some have drifted from Westboro, which they believe to be the only true church on earth. The Bible's messages — as Phelps preaches them — have, at times, been ignored with this very family.

Why are some sins different? Why are followers forgiven for sins that would gain an outsider the label of hellbound whore?

Phelps rises from his chair and walks away.

___

It's an unseasonably cold day in Ogden, Iowa, outside the funeral of Daniel Sesker. Shirley Phelps-Roper has an American flag tucked in the waistband of her sweatpants, dragging it on the asphalt as she walks. Westboro's emissaries pose for snapshots like they're at a scenic lookout.

"I enjoy this," Phelps-Roper said. "This makes my day."

Her father is at home, in his office. The church library is nearby, and so is one of his favorite books — John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress."

Phelps compares himself to the allegory's main character, Christian, who arrives in a lush, elevated land known as the Delectable Mountains.

"The fruit on the trees was sweeter and it was so close to heaven that you could, every now and then, imagine that you see people in white clothing," Phelps said. "I've reached the Delectable Mountains."

He will die soon. His lifetime of preaching God's hate, he believes, has earned his place in heaven. And as his spirit ascends, protesters, no doubt, will assemble to celebrate his death.

Phelps has made it clear that he is overjoyed by the prospect. Bring a sign, he implores. Denounce me, defame me, he says. Dance on my grave, spit on my casket, laugh at my passing.

He knows the truth, he says. And in heaven, he'll just smile.

Kansas minister preaches doom and hatred

[Shammu]

Jun. 3, 2006 21:59
US eyes possible Hizbullah threat
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

If cornered by the West over its nuclear program, Iran could direct Hizbullah to enlist its widespread international support network to aid in terrorist attacks, intelligence officials say.

In interviews with The Associated Press, several Western intelligence officials said they have seen signs that Hizbullah's fundraisers, recruiters and criminal elements could be adapted to provide logistical help to terrorist operatives.

Such help could include obtaining forged travel documents or off-the-shelf technology - global positioning equipment and night goggles, for example - that could be used for military purposes.

The senior officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive positions they occupy.

Hizbullah was responsible for the 1983 bombings of the US Embassy and the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. The group's Saudi wing, in coordination with the larger Lebanese Hizbullah, is blamed for the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia in 1996 that killed hundreds of American servicemen.

Tensions between Iran and the United States and its allies have grown over Iran's expanding nuclear program. Iran insists its aims are peaceful; US officials say they are convinced the Iranians intend to develop a nuclear weapon within the next decade.

John Negroponte, head of the US intelligence network, suggested in an interview aired Friday by the British Broadcasting Corp. that an Iranian bomb could be a fact in as little as four years, although he admitted, "We don't have clear-cut knowledge."

The United States and five other world powers agreed Thursday on a plan designed to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions. Iran's president, without directly mentioning the proposal, pledged on Friday that the West would not deprive his country of nuclear technology.

The Bush administration and US allies know that Iran could order attacks. Some officials believe that threat is a bargaining chip worth more to Iran if kept in reserve.

Given the potential that diplomacy could fail to defuse the nuclear standoff, US intelligence agencies are studying Iran's options to retaliate: using oil as a weapon, attacking Americans in Iraq and elsewhere, unleashing Hizbullah, or other tactics.

The State Department classified Hizbullah as a terror organization. Its terrorist wing, the Islamic Jihad organization, is a global threat, with cells in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South America, Asia and North America. Before the attacks of September 11, 2001, Hizbullah was responsible for more American deaths than any other single terror organization.

Yet, in many countries, Hizbullah is praised for providing education, medical care and housing, particularly in Lebanon's south, and raising money for it is legal.

So far there are no signs the Iranian-backed group plans an imminent attack on US interests. But the possibility has counterterrorism agencies keeping close watch as the friction with Iran grows.

US analysts believe the potential is greater for Iran to use terrorism to retaliate, rather than to strike first. But they have considered scenarios under which Iran may view its own pre-emptive attack as a deterrent.

One senior official said that if Iran were backed into a corner and considered US-led military action as inevitable, the Iranians might calculate that terrorism could break international unity, increase pressure on the United States or shift Americans' public opinion.

US analysts, however, are cautious in their judgments about what might lead Iran to order strikes.

Hizbullah, which means Party of God, was founded in 1982 to respond to Israel's invasion of Lebanon. The radical Shiite organization advocates for Israel's elimination and the establishment of an Islamic government in Lebanon modeled after the religious theocracy in Iran.

With some exceptions, Hizbullah has not targeted the United States in recent years - a strategic decision that gives the group more freedom to operate, according to one US counterterrorism official.

Hizbullah was tied to a string of kidnappings and assassinationsof Westerners in the 1980s, ordered up by Iran. Victims included the CIA's former station chief in Tehran, William Buckley.

Hizbullah is accused of bombing the Israeli Embassy and a Jewish community center in Argentina in the early 1990s, killing more than 100. The group denies the charges.

A former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said before and right after the Sept. 11 attacks that Hizbullah was believed to have the largest embedded terrorist network inside the United States. "I have no reason to believe that there has been a dismantlement of that capability," said former Democratic Sen. Bob Graham.

Steven Monblatt, head of the Organization of American States' Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism, said tensions with Iran could lead Hizbullah to begin preparing attacks on Western interests in Latin America and elsewhere.

"I think it is legitimate to be concerned about situations where terrorist groups will not have an operational base, but will have made the preparations to establish one," said Monblatt, a former State Department official. "I don't know anyone alleging an operational cell right now. Now, how do you distinguish an operational cell from a sleeper operation - a more kind of logistical base?"

Leadership in Hizbullah is exercised by Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, a Shiite Muslim cleric who took over after an Israeli helicopter strike in 1992 killed Sheik Abbas Musawi.

Hizbullah gets significant support from Iran, Shiite communities and particularly the Lebanese diaspora. One official said the group has access to several hundred million dollars a year, much of it going to the social service network in southern Lebanon.

The organization has been linked to all kinds of organized crime, including drug trafficking, drug counterfeiting and stolen baby formula. The substantial profits are thought to be funneled almost entirely back to the Middle East.

Kevin Brock, a career FBI agent who is now deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, recently told reporters that the United States has active investigations into Hizbullah around the world.

"The prioritization obviously has been al-Qaida, but that doesn't mean Hizbullah has dropped off the screen by any stretch of the imagination," Brock said.

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies have had success in breaking up Hizbullah-linked crime rings, including a cigarette-smuggling operation in North Carolina, a tobacco-growing Southern state.

This year, the Justice Department announced an indictment charging 19 people with a global racketeering conspiracy to sell counterfeit rolling papers, contraband cigarettes and counterfeit Viagra. Portions of the profits were given to Hizbullah.

Extensive operations have been uncovered in South America, where Hizbullah is well connected to the drug trade, particularly in the region where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet. The area has a large Shiite Muslim immigrant population.

US eyes possible Hizbullah threat

[Shammu]

Police hunt for lethal chemical suicide vest

By Daniel McGrory, Stewart Tendler and Michael Evans

   
A DESPERATE search is under way for a “chemical vest” that a British suicide bomber was ready to deploy in a terror attack on London.

Police fear that the strike, using a home-made chemical device, was imminent after an informant told MI5 that he had seen the lethal garment at the home of two young men.

Last night detectives were at the hospital bedside of a 23-year-old postal worker shot during a pre-dawn raid on his parents’ home, while his younger brother, aged 20, was being questioned at Paddington Green high security police station.

Armed officers who led the assault on the terraced house in Forest Gate, East London, wore oxygen masks and protective chemical gear after a tip-off from MI5 that the device had already been assembled.

Security chiefs are deeply concerned that there was no sign of the vest inside what they believe is a chemical bomb factory.

No weapons were found either as officers searched the two adjoining properties that have been converted to accommodate a large Bangladeshi family.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorist Branch, said that the raid, codenamed Operation Volga, was ordered in response to “specific intelligence”.

He said that there had been no time to conduct further surveillance, which suggests that the police believed a terrorist was close to launching an attack. The fear is that if chemicals were to be used then a likely target could be a train compartment on the London Underground.

Another theory is that a suicide attacker, wearing the vest under a shirt, could trigger the device in a crowded venue, such as a pub full of people watching an England World Cup match.

It is understood that the main target in yesterday’s raid was the postal worker, who was hit in the shoulder by a single shot fired by a police marksman.

His injuries are not life threatening and he remains under armed guard at the Royal London Hospital.

Scientific experts had to delay a detailed search of the house in Lansdown Road while officials from the Independent Police Complaints Commission moved into the property to begin their investigation into the shooting.

After the bungled inquiry into the shooting of the Brazilian electrician, Jean Charles de Menezes, who was mistaken for a suicide bomber a day after a failed terror attack last July, Scotland Yard chiefs are keen to ensure that procedures are followed.

It is thought that the scientific investigators will remain at the property for up to a week searching for any trace of chemicals that have been used in a device.

More than 250 officers took part in the operation, which was the biggest seen in Britain this year. As well as police it involved MI5 agents and bio-chemical experts from the Health Protection Agency.

Such was the operation’s importance that Tony Blair, whois in Italy, was informed of the raid on Thursday night.

John Reid, the Home Secretary, was woken soon after the shooting. He went to Scotland Yard to be briefed by senior officers and met John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, in Downing Street.

After the operation, friends of the wounded man staged a demonstration outside the hospital where he is being treated. They claimed that the police had made a mistake.

One said: “Going into someone’s house and shooting them in front of their mum, that’s not right is it? Just because they have got a beard doesn’t mean to say you can shoot them.”

Another friend said that after the September 11 attacks on America the older brother had started taking his religion more seriously, growing a beard and praying five times a day. “When we were younger he was no angel. But he changed, we all just grew up. He chose to go on the right path.

“He prayed five times a day, he went to the gym every day and other than that he stayed at home.

“Every time he spoke he would say peaceful things. He would give advice to everybody.

“Out of all our crew he was one of the good ones, working and looking after his family.”

A 24-year-old man, who declined to be named, said that he was a “distant cousin” of the victim.

He said that before becoming a van driver for the Royal Mail his friend had previously worked for the supermarket chain Tesco. He said that they had attended a gym together and that the injured man was a keen motorcyclist who owned an R6 Yamaha bike.

He added that the younger brother also worked at Tesco after being introduced to the company by his older brother.

Speaking about the family, he said that they lived in a “civilised” home and often welcomed visitors.

He added that the brothers had three sisters, one of whom lived next door.

Speaking about the man who was shot, he said: “He went to the gym, he also worked out at home. He’s more homely rather than going out. Ever since I’ve known him he’s been religious.”

Police hunt for lethal chemical suicide vest

[Shammu]

Solana calls on Serbia and Montenegro to have "constructive" relations

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana called on Serbia and Montenegro to establish "constructive relations" after the tiny Balkan republic voted for independence from their joint state.

"It is important for relations between Serbia and Montenegro to be constructive," Solana said during his first visit to Belgrade since Montenegrins voted in the May 21 referendum.

But Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who has openly favoured a continuing union between the two republics, flatly refused Solana's offer for EU help during upcoming talks between Belgrade and Podgorica on their future relations.

"I told Mr Solana that such help is absolutely not necessary. The things are clear here, Serbia is a successor" of the joint state, Kostunica said after talks with the EU official.

"All problems between Belgrade and Podgorica will be solved, for that no help from Brussels is needed," he said.

Solana said he would try to do "as much as I can", although "the prime minister has very clearly said that he does not need any help."

Earlier, after talks with Serbian President Boris Tadic, Solana said that Serbia "will be a continuing state" and inherit membership in the United Nations and other international organizations.

He called on the leadership of the two republics, the only two that had remained together after the break-up of the former communist Yugoslavia, to solve all issues over their separation "through a dialogue."

Tadic, who has already visited Montenegro following the referendum, said he expected "the two governments to solve their bilateral questions in the coming days."

"Serbia nowadays supports the best possible relations with Montenegro," said Tadic, adding that this would be "in the interest" of both states.

Contrary to the moderate nationalist Kostunica, Tadic has already congratulated Montenegro on the results of the referendum, in which 55.5 percent of voters supported the independence option.

But Kostunica has yet to officially recognize the results of the vote and said that he "reminded" Solana of "all the objections" to it.

"But since Europe has stood behind it, because it has blessed such rules and this outcome of the referendum, we have accepted it," Kostunica said.

Solana said the European Union "wants to continue engaging you (Serbia) as profoundly as possible."

"But we have a difficult problem, cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal," he warned.

Serbia-Montenegro was holding talks with the EU on closer ties but they were frozen in May because Belgrade failed to fully cooperate with the United Nations war crimes court, especially by not handing over fugitive former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic.

"The sooner this issue is resolved the better for everybody," Solana said.

However Kostunica criticized the EU and international organizations for continuing with "pressures and conditioning, by putting the whole country in the position of depending on a single man."

"In many ways, such a stance does not differ from the stance of one man who, with his refusal to appear before the UN tribunal, turns the whole country into a hostage," Kostunica said.

Belgrade officials have repeatedly insisted that their hunt for Mladic, indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, was underway, but no apparent results have been obtained.

Describing his meeting with Kostunica as "solid, frank, at some moments a little bit sad," Solana said that the future of Serbia "should be in the EU."

"It is our obligation to ... keep on looking to the future, the future in which Serbia and Serbian people will have a place in Europe," Solana said.

Solana calls on Serbia and Montenegro to have "constructive" relations

[Shammu]

In Europe, instead of utopia, unintended consequences ensue

By Victor Davis Hanson

ROME — The European countryside is as beautiful as ever. Hotels in the cities are as packed as they are high-priced. Tourists fill Rome. The same bustle is evident from Lisbon to Frankfurt. Everywhere European stewards welcome in millions of sightseers to enjoy the treasures of Western civilization. Never has life seemed so good.

Despite a public anti-Americanism, individual Europeans extend the old warmth and friendship to American visitors. Yet beneath the veneer of the good life, there is also a detectable air of uncertainty in Europe this summer, one perhaps similar to that of 1914 or the late 1930s.

The unease is apparent in newspapers and conversations on the streets that echo the view that voters and politicians want nothing to do with the European Union constitution. Perhaps the general European discomfort could be summed up best as the following: Why hasn't the good life turned out the way we wanted it to?

England, France and Germany are upping their retirement ages and/or planning pension cuts. They have given up the dream that workers in the future can quit at 55 — or even 65!

The Iranians irk Europe. European governments sold them precision tools necessary for nuclear reactors. Many Europeans assured Tehran that dialogue, not rowdy Americans, alone can solve the "misunderstanding" over nuclear proliferation. But as thanks, Iran's pesky president talks down to these postmodern Europeans as if they were George Bush. Meanwhile, Iran presses ahead — hoping to top off with nukes three-stage rockets that could reach the Vatican, the Eiffel Tower or the Brandenburg Gate.

Frontline Spain clamors impatiently for the European Union to clamp down on illegal immigrants streaming across the Mediterranean. The utopian vision of a continent with porous borders is, for the time being, on hold — at least as it pertains to Africa.

The Dutch, the French and the Danes are petrified about unassimilated Muslim radicals in their countries who have killed or threatened the most liberal of Europeans. Churches are almost empty. Mosques are being built; Italians wrangle over plans for one of the largest in Italy — to be plopped amid the vineyards and olive groves of Tuscany.

A majority of polled Germans now believe that the pacifist Europeans are in a "clash of civilizations" with the Islamic world.

What is going on?

Good intentions that have gone sour.

The enemies of Europe's past — responsible for everything from Verdun and Dresden to a constant threat of mutually assured destruction — were identified as nationalism and militarism. Meanwhile, at home, Europeans cited cutthroat competition and unbridled individualism as additional contributory causes of the prior strife and unhappiness.

So in response to the errors of the past, Europeans systematically expanded the welfare state. They welcomed in immigrants. Politicians slashed defense spending, lowered the retirement age and cut the workweek. Voters demanded trade barriers to protect the public from the ravages of globalization. Either to enjoy the good life or to save the planet, couples forswore children.

But instead of utopia, unintended consequences ensued. Unemployment soared. Dismal economic growth, shrinking populations and a scarier world outside their borders followed.

Abroad, even the much-heralded "soft power" of a disarmed Europe could only bring attention to, not stop, the killing in Darfur. Meanwhile, China and India are no longer inefficient socialists but breakneck capitalist competitors. Indeed, they have thrown down the gauntlet to the Europeans: "Beware! Workers of the world who labor harder, longer and smarter deserve the greater material rewards!" In this new heartless global arena, apparently few will abide by the niceties of the European Union.

Publicly, Europe's frustrations are fobbed off on "crass Americans" — and particularly George Bush. The Iraq war has poisoned the alliance, the Europeans insist. They contend that America's greedy consumers warm the planet, siphon off its oil and trample foreign cultures.

But in private, some Europeans will confess that the problem lies with Europeans, not us. Some brave soul soon is going to have to inform the European public: Work much harder and longer for less money; defend the continent on your own; move out of mama's house and start changing diapers — and from now on expect far less from the state.

Who knows what the reaction will be to that splash of cold water? In response, what European populist will soon appear on the streets in Rome, Berlin or Madrid once again to deceive the public that it was someone else who caused these disappointments?

We in America should take note of the looming end of this once seemingly endless summer. We've been there, done that with this beloved continent all too many times before.

In Europe, instead of utopia, unintended consequences ensue

[Shammu]

Japan's Demographic Woes Worsen

By Patrick Goodenough

Jun 4, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - Despite incentives to reverse the trend, Japan's relentless population problems continue unabated, with new figures showing the country's fast-declining fertility rate has reached a new record low.

Japanese research has attributed the phenomenon to factors including lifestyle choices, long work-hours and high levels of contraceptive use.

Data released by the government indicate that Japan's total fertility rate (TFR) dropped in 2005 from 1.29 to 1.25.

In the Tokyo prefecture, the rate dropped below 1.0 for the first time, to 0.98.

TFR is the average number of babies born to a woman during the reproductive years of 15-44. The level demographers say is needed to maintain a stable population, also called the generational replacement rate, is 2.1.

(The TFR in the U.S. is 2.09, according to CIA World Factbook figures. TFR's are steadily dropping in many Western nations, some East Asian states, and countries of the former Soviet bloc, while most African and Muslim countries have significantly higher rates.)

In another undesirable first for Japan, the government figures released in a white paper Friday showed that the proportion of the population aged 65 and over has now topped 20 percent.

The equivalent figure for the U.S. is 12.4 percent, according to 2004 figures released by the U.S. government's Administration on Aging. It climbed from four percent in 1990, and is projected to reach 20 percent by 2050.

Japan has reached that level at a far faster rate, according to the Cabinet Office in Tokyo, which produced the white paper. The 65-plus proportion of Japan's population was seven percent in 1970 and 14 percent in 1994.

"'It is vital to realize a society where the elderly can make use of their abilities and experience, and play more active roles," the paper said.

The larger the 65-plus proportion of the population, the more pressure is exerted on the social welfare system and the smaller the pool of earners to support the elderly.

Japan's birthrate has been dropping for the past three decades. Last year, the health, labor and welfare ministry reported that the population fell -- the number of deaths exceeded births -- for the first time since official records began to be kept in 1899.

The Kyodo news agency quoted chief cabinet secretary Shinzo Abe as telling a press conference the falling birthrate would have grave economic and social consequences.

"It is also important to provide better support to enable [parents] to engage in child-raising while also keeping their careers, as well as to reshape family values and people's working habits," he said.

Japanese governments have for over a decade been trying to encourage couples to have larger families, offering incentives, encouraging paternity leave, and enhancing child support networks.

Yet fewer Japanese are getting married and starting families. The rate of marriages per 1,000 people fell from more than 10 couples in the early 1970s to fewer than six couples last year.

The average marriage age for women has also risen, now standing at 28 years.

Currently, Japanese parents receive an allowance of $44 a month for their first and second child until they reach the sixth grade, and twice that per month for third and subsequent children.

The government, which has established a consultative body to tackle the birthrate problem, is reportedly now considering increasing the amount.

One Japanese population institute has predicted that the country's population will begin to steadily fall from around 127 million now to 100 million by 2050.

Japan's Demographic Woes Worsen