News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

Jun. 3, 2006 17:41
Israel, US blamed for Damascus attack
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
DAMASCUS, Syria

Syria's state-run media on Saturday implicitly blamed Friday's terror attack in Damascus on the United States, Israel and their supporters in the region.

The accusation came after security forces fought Islamic militants near the Defense Ministry in a gunbattle that left four militants and a police officer dead, the government said.

Six insurgents, including two who were wounded, were captured and two policemen were also injured.

"What happened in the heart of Damascus is a practical translation of the American-Israeli threats. Targeting Syria is still an official policy of the US administration, the Tel Aviv leaders and some weak-willed people who have sold themselves for evil in exchange of a handful of dollars," state-run Tishrin daily said in an editorial.

The United States blame Syria for backing groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as Hizbullah. America also accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters to cross into Iraq, an accusation the Arab state denies.

Syria's official news agency, SANA, said all 10 militants in Friday's attack were members of a "takfiri" group. "Takfiri" refers to Sunni Muslim extremists who declare that non-radical Muslims are infidels.

SANA said police seized 10 US-made automatic rifles, along with several homemade bombs. It did not specify the weapons' brand, but said they had been supplied by a "neighboring country to carry out sabotage attacks against vital targets and national interests."

The country was not named, but Syria has alleged in the past that weapons were coming into the country from Lebanon, with whom relations have been increasingly strained since the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri last year and the subsequent withdrawal of Syrian troops.

Tishrin said it was the first time Syria seized US-made weapons, and hinted the rifles had been brought in as an implicit US and Israeli threat to the country, "As if it was meant to send an urgent message to the leadership and the people of Syria to realize the dangers of ... confronting projects that are hostile to Syria and the Arab nation."

Religious leaders also condemned Friday's attack.

A top Syrian Muslim cleric, Sheik Ahmed Hassoun said that "he who stands against Syria's security is standing in the other trench; antagonizing religion, people, honor, homeland and the whole nation."

Security forces have had occasional shootouts with Islamic militants in the Syrian capital before. In previous clashes, the Islamic militants tended to belong to the "Jund al-Sham," or Soldiers of Syria, which was formed in Afghanistan by Syrian, Palestinian and Jordanian militants with links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of al-Qaida in Iraq.

In March, Syrian security forces killed a top Jund al-Sham militant, Mohammed Ali Nasif, and his bodyguard in a clash northwest of Damascus.

Israel, US blamed for Damascus attack

My note; How this for some ending of Grace news..............

[Soldier4Christ]

Russian arms arrive in Venezuela

Venezuela has received its first delivery of tens of thousands of Russian assault rifles.

It is the first batch out of a total of 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered from Moscow.

Venezuela's military is undergoing a profound transformation, with a major recruitment drive and new technology.

The move is likely to worry the US, which regards Mr Chavez as a destabilising influence in the region.

Most defence experts agree that President Chavez needs to overhaul his outdated military hardware.

But the United States and Venezuela's neighbour Colombia regard the arrival of 33,000 Kalashnikov rifles as further proof that Mr Chavez is seeking to throw his weight around in the region.

The Russian-built AK103 rifles come complete with more than half a million rounds of ammunition, state-of-the-art night vision scopes and bayonets.

Another 70,000 rifles are expected to arrive before the end of the year.

But what worries Washington more are Venezuela's plans to build a factory here to assemble and export these Kalashnikov rifles along with bullets.

Mr Chavez's administration is now in talks with the Russian manufacturer which holds the licence to make the guns.

The US, which recently ordered a complete ban on arms sales to Venezuela, has accused of President Chavez of trying to destabilise Latin America.

But Venezuela insists it has a right to buy arms for defensive purposes.

President Chavez has repeatedly warned that the Bush administration was planning to invade Venezuela to get its hands on the country's oil resources.

[Shammu]

 MI5 fears silent army of 1,200 biding its time in the suburbs
By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 04/06/2006)

The terrorist threat facing Britain has developed into a "covert conspiracy" involving hundreds of men and women living ordinary lives in the nation's suburbs, security sources have revealed.

Unbeknown to their families and friends, they form a silent 1,200-strong "army" of terrorists. They are believed to be involved in at least 20 major plots that they hope will bring death and destruction to Britain.

The scale of the problem facing the security services is underlined by the fact that MI5, which planned Friday's raid in Forest Gate, east London, has only 2,600 staff - and yet is faced with an increasing workload, including organised crime, in addition to the growing threat from international terrorism.

Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, and Abul Koyair, 20, the two brothers arrested after the dawn raid may, according to MI5, be typical of other young Asian men who have become disaffected with the Western way of life and have been radicalised by militant Islamists who support a global Jihad.

According to neighbours, the brothers underwent a transformation after the September 11 attacks on America in 2001, adopting beards and more traditional Muslim dress. "Lots of young Muslims these days are getting more religious, especially after 9/11," said one neighbour. "It's nothing to be suspicious about."

Schoolfriends of Abdul Kahar last night recalled him as a typical teenager. "Everyone changes," said one friend, who asked not to be named. "He's now deeply religious and prays five times a day."

The brothers regularly attend two local mosques, al Karam Trust on Katherine Road and another in Plashet Grove.

"They have become active in the area in trying to get people to go to the mosques," said Mohammed Akram, the vice-chairman of the Muslim Alliance of Newham. Abdul Kahar has recently been on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Such was the disbelief that these men could be anything but law-abiding citizens, that friends of Abdul Kahar, who was shot in the shoulder when armed police stormed his house early on Friday, turned up at the Royal London Hospital, where he was being treated, to protest their innocence.

It was an MI5 officer working within the organisation's highly-secretive G6 section - which runs agents for the branch that deals with international terrorism - who revealed that one of his sources had claimed to him that two brothers living at 46, Lansdown Road, Forest Gate, were attempting to build a chemical bomb.

The anonymity of the suspects fitted the profile of a new breed of urban terrorists waging war from Britain's drab suburbs. The brothers, who were born in London, come from a family of Bangladeshi origin. Their father, Abul Kalam, 51, is a former chef and builder who is understood to have retired due to a heart problem and their mother, Alif Jan, is a housewife. Abdul Kahar took an IT course but worked at a local Tesco store before starting with the Royal Mail.

The intelligence obtained by MI5 suggested that there might be an attempt to acquire material via the internet which could be used to develop a nerve gas, capable of killing and injuring thousands of people.

The intelligence, which is believed to have come from an agent close to members of a small, radicalised Muslim community in east London, was of such quality that MI5's assistant director for the G-Branch, which deals with the international terrorist threat to Britain, ordered a full-scale surveillance operation.

MI5 agents began monitoring the brothers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while members of the organisation's technical A-Branch obtained the appropriate Home Office approval to arrange telephone taps, monitor emails and plant a range of bugging devices that would allow agents to monitor the suspects' every move.

G6-section is MI5's most secret and sensitive department and is solely responsible for agent-running for G-Branch. Its officers are responsible for recruiting agents from a wide variety of backgrounds, including the Muslim community.

Ever since the September 11 attacks, the Security Service has been desperate to recruit Muslims, not just as members but, more importantly, as agents who would be prepared to covertly report on the activities of "radicalised Muslims".

In the days before Friday's raid, MI5 agents working alongside officers from Special Branch, began monitoring the activities of the two men. The intelligence they obtained, however, did not result in the national "threat level" being increased from "severe (general)", the third highest level, which suggests that neither the police nor MI5 had any knowledge of the intended target.

But by Thursday police had decided to launch an operation to arrest the two brothers to try - as Peter Clarke, the head of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch, said - to "prove or disprove the intelligence we have received".

A senior Whitehall source said that the absence of a chemical weapon inside the house would not mean that the intelligence was wrong.

"It may well be that nothing is found at the house, it may be that any chemical device has been moved to somewhere else, we will just have to wait and see," he said. "Our action may prove fruitful, and may have prevented an attack against the UK or there may be nothing there."

MI5 fears silent army of 1,200 biding its time in the suburbs

[Shammu]

 Terror cell 'was planning nerve gas attack on capital'
By Andrew Alderson, Sean Rayment and Patrick Hennessy
(Filed: 04/06/2006)

Your view: should police be allowed to shoot terror suspects?

Terrorists were planning a chemical attack in London similar to the outrage on the Tokyo underground, according to police and the security services.

MI5 operatives suspect that al-Qa'eda sympathisers intended to produce a nerve agent - probably sarin - and release it in a confined space, such as a tube carriage, to maximise the number of casualties.

The sarin attack on three railway lines in the Japanese capital killed 12 people and injured more than 5,000 in March 1995. It was the world's first major chemical attack and used sarin, a nerve agent which attacks the respiratory system.

Security sources suspect that a new atrocity was planned on or close to the anniversary of the July 7 attacks on London, when four terrorists killed themselves and 52 others, and injured more than 700 people. This would have provided a rallying call to al-Qa'eda sympathisers to carry on their "jihad" - or holy war - against the West.

Officers were last night continuing to question two men after a raid on a house in Forest Gate, east London. The men arrested are brothers: Mohammed Abul Kahar, 23, and Abul Koyair, 20. Both deny any offences.

The elder brother was shot in the shoulder during a police raid at 4am on Friday. He was later arrested under the Terrorism Act after being treated for the gunshot wound in the Royal London Hospital, where he is still recovering.

Senior police sources said they were searching for an "improvised device rather than a sophisticated weapon" capable of releasing chemicals. The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that intelligence obtained by MI5 suggested that terrorists were trying to acquire material via the internet which could be used to develop a nerve gas capable of killing and injuring thousands of people.

Security sources say that the terrorist threat facing Britain has developed into a "covert conspiracy" involving hundreds of men and women living ordinary lives in the nation's suburbs. They form an estimated 1,200 strong "army" of terrorists believed to be involved in at least 20 major terrorist plots.

Scotland Yard and MI5 sources were playing down reports in the media yesterday that they were looking for a "chemical vest", which could be used by a suicide bomber. The wearer would suffer a long and painful death.

Detectives believe it is more likely that sarin or an alternative nerve agent would be released from a canister or flask.

Forensic experts are expected to spend several days at the house of the British born Muslims, who live with their parents.

A team from Porton Down in Wiltshire, the Government research establishment that specialises in chemical and biological agents, is looking for evidence of a so-called "viable weapon" or traces of it.

Police were granted warrants of further detention for the two brothers following a hearing at Bow Street Magistrates Court yesterday afternoon.

The warrants allow them to be detained and questioned until Wednesday.

The raid on the Victorian terraced house involved more than 300 officers and was the largest anti-terrorist operation of the year.

It followed weeks of surveillance based on "specific" intelligence.

Terror cell 'was planning nerve gas attack on capital'

[Shammu]

Wrong move by US would affect oil flows: Iran

Sun Jun 4, 4:23 AM ET

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of the world's fourth largest oil exporter, said on Sunday that if the United States makes a "wrong move" toward Iran, energy flows in the region would be endangered.

Iranian officials have in the past ruled out using oil as a weapon in Iran's nuclear standoff with the West, but Khamenei's comments suggested Iran could disrupt supplies if pushed.

"If you make a wrong move regarding Iran, definitely the energy flow in this region will be seriously endangered," Khamenei said in speech broadcast on state television and in which he discussed the nuclear issue.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop atomic weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear power program, a charge Tehran denies. The U.S. says it wants a diplomatic end to the dispute but has refused to rule out military action.

"You (the United States) are not capable of securing energy flows in this region," he said in a speech to mark the anniversary of the death of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is expected soon to hand over to Tehran incentives agreed by six world powers to persuade Iran to abandon plans to make nuclear fuel. Iran has said enriching uranium for fuel is a national right.

Khamenei did not explicitly refer to enrichment in his speech but he said: "We are committed to our national interests and whoever threatens it will experience the sharpness of this nation's anger."

He also praised the efforts of the country's nuclear scientists in developing home-grown nuclear technology.

Wrong move by US would affect oil flows: Iran

[Shammu]

 Iranians at odds over talks with 'the Great Satan'
By Kay Biouki in Teheran and Colin Freeman
(Filed: 04/06/2006)

From the "Down with America" slogans outside to the "Den of Spies" exhibition within, a visit to the former United States embassy in Teheran has long been one of the more off-beat museum experiences.

Visitors to the building - defunct since the hostage crisis of 1979 - can peruse yellowing diplomatic codebooks, ancient paper-shredding machines and other evidence of "American espionage".
    
Iran factfile

Now, however, after more than a quarter of a century as a monument to diplomatic deadlock, the compound is once again the staging ground for a battle over the country's destiny.

Last week, Washington performed a diplomatic U-turn and offered to hold direct talks with the regime - a move which could, ultimately, pave the way for the embassy one day to reopen.

Yet even as the Iranian government weighed up the pros and cons of accepting the US offer, hardline supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were seeking to upgrade the former embassy into an anti-American theme park. Not content with the small museum, senior figures in the regime want to turn it into a showpiece attraction.

The suggestion was mooted three weeks ago by Gen Mir-Faisal Bagherzadeh, the influential head of the Sacred Defence Foundation, a propaganda body set up in honour of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

"The former American Den of Spies should become the park of Great Satan," he said. "We would be able to nicely show off the American crimes to citizens strolling in the park."

Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief, is hoping to visit Teheran this week to submit new proposals aimed at ending the nuclear stand-off.

Yesterday, however, Iran said Wednesday's offer by Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, to break the 27-year freeze on direct talks would not be acceptable because of her insistence that Iran abandoned its uranium enrichment programme.

"Negotiations must be without preconditions. No condition for negotiations is acceptable," said Manouchehr Mottaki, the foreign minister.

When The Sunday Telegraph sampled opinion on the streets around the old embassy, however, the reception to Miss Rice's offer was rather warmer.

Despite the anti-American rhetoric of their political leaders, many ordinary Iranians are now weary of such sentiments. For them, the main effects of detente with Washington would be to lift the US-imposed ban preventing them buying American goods and allow closer links with the huge exiled Iranian community in Los Angeles - known as "Teherangeles" - among its 500,000 residents.

"Why shouldn't we?" said Pendar Shafigh, 46, an office clerk. "The hide and seek will end and we will get out of this situation. Every one from here goes to the US, people travel between the two countries and we have good relations with Americans."

David Farsian, 52, a car dealer, said: "The condition was for Iran to stop enrichment, which Iran will not do, but they should ask for the opinion of the public. The US has done bad things to us too, and this should not be forgotten, but we have to sit down and talk. It will allow capital to stay inside Iran, rather than all the brains and money leaving the country."

Iranians at odds over talks with 'the Great Satan'

[Shammu]

Jun. 4, 2006 8:00
Jewish leaders buoyed by EU interfaith meeting
By JOEL CLARK / JTA

Jewish leaders said they were optimistic following a high-profile interfaith meeting held by the European Union last week.

The Tuesday meeting was attended by Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders from across Europe, as well as Buddhist spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Fifteen delegates were invited to Brussels to represent their faith communities in a discussion focused on the role religious communities should play in the promotion of freedom, democracy and human rights across Europe.

Organized by the EU Bureau of European Policy Advisers, the meeting was chaired by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, together with Wolfgang Schussel, chancellor of Austria, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU.

The event follows a similar gathering of religious leaders at the European Commission, the EU's executive wing, in July 2005, but this was the first time that such an initiative has had the support of the EU presidency.

Europe's Jewish community was represented by Chief Rabbi Rene Gutman of Strasbourg and Bas-Rhin in France and Chief Rabbi Albert Guigui of Brussels, both members of the Conference of European Rabbis, the organization which coordinates Europe's chief rabbis.

Barroso hailed the meeting as a "very important moment," adding that dialogue between faiths was a "vital condition in understanding their differences." Delegates spent three hours discussing issues affecting their communities in front of senior members of the European Commission, including the employment, justice and education commissioners, as well as Barroso and Schussel.

The meeting was also attended by Iranian-born Shi'ite leader Ayatollah Seyyed Abbas Ghaemmaghami, who expressed a willingness to work with Jewish leaders on common issues such as ritual slaughter.

Guigui, also permanent representative of the Conference of European Rabbis to the European Union, was positive about the meeting.

"The fact that the European Union now has a clear structure for interfaith dialogue gives us great hope that we can continue these meetings into the future," he told JTA.

Guigui added that he and Gutman had raised several key issues affecting the European Jewish community, notably the rise of anti-Semitism across Europe.

"Anti-Semitism is a very deep problem for the Jewish communities of Europe and the president said that they are preparing an EU forum to fight that phenomenon," he said.

Imam Abduljalil Sajid, a representative of the UKbased Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony, said the meeting had shown a lot of "hopes and aspirations" among faith leaders.

Although there was nothing new in the gathering of religious leaders, Sajid said, the presence of such influential European politicians made it a "historic event." "There's no alternative to dialogue, but what we need now is actions to follow it all up."

Philip Carmel, director of international relations at the Conference of European Rabbis, said the meeting had been a real landmark.

"Bringing together religious leaders from all the monotheistic faiths of Europe under the flag of the European Union is something that I regard as very positive," he said.

"It gives a sign that the EU is committed to real interfaith dialogue and to integrating people of faith into the European discussion to build a better society."

Jewish leaders buoyed by EU interfaith meeting

[Shammu]

Hell, Mich., Heats Up for 6-6-6 Party

Jun 4, 7:04 AM (ET)

HELL, Mich. (AP) - They're planning a hot time in Hell on Tuesday. The day bears the date of 6-6-06, or abbreviated as 666 - a number that carries hellish significance. And there's not a snowball's chance in Hell that the day will go unnoticed in the unincorporated hamlet 60 miles west of Detroit.

Nobody is more fired up than John Colone, the town's self-styled mayor and owner of a souvenir shop.

"I've got '666' T-shirts and mugs. I'm only ordering 666 (of the items) so once they're gone, that's it," said Colone, also known as Odum Plenty. "Everyone who comes will get a letter of authenticity saying you've celebrated June 6, 2006, in Hell."

Most of Colone's wares will sell for $6.66, including deeds to one square inch of Hell.

Live entertainment and a costume contest are planned. The Gates of Hell should be installed at a children's play area in time for the festivities.

"They're 8 feet tall and 5 foot wide and each gate looks like flames, and when they're closed, it's a devil's head," Colone told The Detroit News for a Saturday story.

Mike "Smitty" Hickey, owner of the Dam Site Inn, wasn't sure what kind of clientele would show up Tuesday.

"We're all about having fun here. I don't think we're going to get the cult crowd, the devil worshippers or anything like that," said Hickey, whose bar's signature concoction is the Bloody Devil, a variant of the Bloody Mary.

Colone, meanwhile, has been in touch with radio stations as far away as San Diego and Seattle that are raffling off trips to Hell in honor of 6-6-6.

The 666 revelry is just the latest chapter in the town's storied history of publicity stunts, said Jason LeTeff, one of its 72 year-round residents - or, as the mayor calls them, Hellions or Hell-billies. But LeTeff wasn't particularly enthused.

"Now, here I am living in Hell, taking my kids to church and trying to teach them the right things and the town where we live is having a 6-6-6 party," he said.

According to the town's semiofficial Web site, there are two leading theories about how Hell got its name.

The first holds that a pair of German travelers stepped out of a stagecoach one sunny afternoon in the 1830s, and one said to the other, "So schoene hell" - roughly translated as, "So bright and beautiful." Their comments were overheard by some locals and the name stuck.

The second holds that George Reeves was asked after Michigan gained statehood what he thought the town he helped settle should be called, and reportedly replied, "I don't care, you can name it Hell if you want to." The name became official on Oct. 13, 1841.

Hell, Mich., Heats Up for 6-6-6 Party

[Shammu]

Religions unite on same-sex marriage

WASHINGTON, June 4 (UPI) -- A myriad of religious leaders from various faiths have come together in support of a U.S. Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

U.S. Catholics, Baptists, Mormons, Lutherans, Greek and Russian Orthodox churches and Orthodox Jews are some of the partners in the fight to keep marriage as a union between males and females, The Washington Times reports.

The Senate this week is expected to vote on the amendment, which again received President Bush's his support during his weekly radio address Saturday.

The Religious Coalition for Marriage was formed in February as an umbrella group to curry religious support for the amendment, the newspaper said.

The group includes former Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, Harvard University's Mary Ann Glendon, Notre Dame's Gerard Bradley and Princeton University's Robert George among its organizers, besides the religious leaders.

Lobbying efforts by groups like Focus on the Family have pressed hundreds of thousands of pastors to push the issue in church and sent postcards to millions of individuals on ways to urge their senator to vote for the ban, the Times said.

I can't post the link because of advertisment.

[Shammu]

 Muslims back Iran's peaceful nuclear plan - Lebanese merchant
Tehran, June 4, IRNA

World Muslims-Iran-Nuclear Program
A Lebanese merchant, Mohammad Ajami who is here to take part in ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the demise of the Founder of the Islamic Republic the late Imam Khomeini said that the Muslim World supports Iranian peaceful nuclear program.

In an exclusive interview with IRNA, he referred to the immense and lasting influence of the late Imam Khomeini on the political opinion of world Muslims and said his teachings affected the Muslims' attitudes towards the US scheme for Greater Middle East which is being strongly confronted by Muslims in the region.

He said the US administration, when introducing its foolish plan of Greater Middle East, was ignorant of the impact of the true teachings of the Holy Islam on the political attitudes of Muslim people.

Ajami further dismissed the US version of 'democracy' and its interpretation of 'democratic practices' and said it was exactly due to wrong notions of this kind that the US scheme for Iraq proved to be a failure.

He said the US presence in Iraq actually resulted in chaos and lack of stability in the country.

Muslims back Iran's peaceful nuclear plan - Lebanese merchant

[Shammu]

 Venezuelan president, Iranian oil minister review mutual ties
Tehran, June 4, IRNA

Venezuela-Iran-Meet
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Sunday in Caracas called for expansion of Tehran-Caracas relations.

In a meeting with Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh on the sidelines of the 141st extraordinary session of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Chavez also received a written message from his Iranian counterpart President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Referring to the message as an indication to the existing friendly relations between the two nations, President Chavez conveyed his condolences on the sad demise of President Ahmadinejad's father.

Supporting Iran's stands on several international developments, he stressed Iran's inalienable right to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

President Chavez expressed the hope that his imminent visit to Tehran will lead to further expansion of all-out ties between the two friendly countries.

At the meeting, the two sides underlined the need for promoting bilateral cooperation within the framework of OPEC and other international bodies.

Vaziri Hamaneh arrived in Caracas Monday to attend the 141st OPEC extraordinary meeting which started on June 1.

Member states of OPEC, in their extraordinary meeting, discussed latest developments in the world oil market, including oil price and the possibility of OPEC fixing a new ceiling for oil production.

A session of OPEC's monitoring committee was also held prior to the organization's extraordinary meeting on Thursday. The session was chaired by Iran's oil minister.

Venezuelan president, Iranian oil minister review mutual ties

[Shammu]

 S Leader: Islamic Revolution can't be defeated, will not fade
Tehran, June 4, IRNA

Iran-S Leader-Imam's demise anniversary
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei here on Sunday said that the Islamic Revolution of Iran cannot be defeated and will not fade.

Addressing a ceremony marking the 17th anniversary of the demise of the father of the Islamic Revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Imam Khomeini, Ayatollah Khamenei said adherence to Islamic principles and guidance by supreme jurisprudence are the two main factors that will prevent defeat of the Islamic Revolution.

The Supreme Leader said the revolution will survive and flourish because the Iranian nation is pious and committed to its ideals and ready to defend the constitution at all times.

"Those in the leadership rank will lose their legitimacy if they fail to defend Islamic aspirations and principles both theoretically and practically," he added.

The Leader went on to say that the enemies have tried to defeat the revolution by targeting the two or three factors which ensure its survival.

"The Islamic Revolution cannot be impeded. Iranian society is a pious, religious community and religion and Islamic Revolution have great influence in various ranks," declared the Leader.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the Iranian people believe in religion and are committed to the defence of religious values, which play an important part in their lives.

S Leader: Islamic Revolution can't be defeated, will not fade

[Shammu]

 Supreme Leader: Islamic Revolution unique in the world
Tehran, June 4, IRNA

Imam-Anniversary-Leader
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei here on Sunday said that the Islamic Revolution is an exception among world revolutions.

Addressing a ceremony marking the 17th anniversary of the departure of the founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Imam Khomeini, the Supreme Leader quoted sociological studies as saying a revolution that continues to be powered by the enthusiasm and zeal of its supporters is bound to move forward.

When people's enthusiasm and zeal fade, a revolution also fades, Ayatollah Khamenei said, adding that all great revolutions in the past 200 years followed this pattern, the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran being the only exception.

Elsewhere in his speech, the Supreme Leader emphasized the importance of the constitution, stressing that it embodies the aspirations of the Islamic Revolution.

Before the Islamic revolution, the Supreme Leader said the Iranian nation was unknown and downtrodden with its government dictated by influential foreign powers, but the revolution has turned it into the most impressive in the world.

"Iran's enemies admit this fact," he added.

Supreme Leader: Islamic Revolution unique in the world

[Shammu]

 Supreme Leader calls on people to personalize Islamic Revolution
Tehran, June 4, IRNA

Iran-S Leader-Nuclear issue
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei here Sunday said that people should personalize the Islamic Revolution by saying this country and the ruling system which it serves are their very own.

Ayatollah Khamenei said that those who are in the service of foreigners and adversaries are outside this circle while those who approve of the late Imam Khomeini's way and will are allies.

"Those who are enthusiastic about bringing US interests here are strangers given they support the goals and thoughts of the nation's enemies," added the Supreme Leader.

Turning to justice as the greatest need of human beings, Ayatollah Khamenei said that officials in charge of the three branches of power and administrative officials of the country should be ready to enforce justice, hoisting the flag and following the movement of justice.

Urging that science be taken seriously and pursued by everyone as a means of ensuring national power, the Supreme Leader said a country whose people are deprived of scientific knowledge will never manage to enforce its rights.

"It is impossible to gain scientific knowledge by asking others to provide it since science comes from within and not the offshoot of national talent, adding that science is absolutely essential for a nation to progress in the true sense of the word.

"Besides an atmosphere of unity, peace, faith and science, there should be justice as all these other requirements without justice in the community would be useless," added Ayatollah Khamenei.

The Supreme Leader referred to the late Imam's faith in Almighty God, in the people, in the path he had chosen and his certainty in the success of the revolution, and said that such deep faith gives the people the incentive to move, think and achieve progress.

"The individuals undermining the people's faith serve the interests of the enemies which highly reward them.

"Those antagonizing the scientific movement in the country and aim to put an end to the scientific studies and research underway in the country's universities as well as in scientific and research centers are agents of the country's adversaries and receive their rewards from them," added Ayatollah Khamenei.

The Supreme Leader said that individuals working against national security are out to distort national unity.

"On the pretext of protecting various moral codes, they hope to undermine the unity of Iranians. They actually work for the enemies," added Ayatollah Khamenei.

The Supreme Leader said that organizations in charge will eventually have to identify the nation's enemies, their agents in the domestic scene and their goals.

Nonetheless, he urged them to defend the nation's rights, national security, research activities and efforts to achieve progress as a whole.

Supreme Leader calls on people to personalize Islamic Revolution

[Shammu]

Jun. 4, 2006 12:48
Palestinian support 'crashes' in Europe
DAVID HOROVITZ

New public opinion surveys conducted among "opinion elites" in Europe show that support for the Palestinians has fallen precipitously, according to a leading international pollster, Stan Greenberg, who has been briefing Israeli leaders on his findings in the past few days. There has not necessarily been "a rush to Israel" but there has been a "crash" in backing for the Palestinians, he noted.

Greenberg, a key pollster for president Clinton who also worked with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, conducted the surveys for the Israel Project, a US-based non-profit organization devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel.

Greenberg told The Jerusalem Post that the shifts in attitudes reflected in the surveys were so dramatic that he "redid" some of the polls to ensure there had been no error.

He singled out France as the country where attitudes had changed most dramatically. Three years ago, 60 percent of French respondents said they took a side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and of that 60%, four out of five backed the Palestinians. Today, by contrast, 60% of French respondents did not take a side in the conflict, and support for the Palestinians had dropped by half among those who did express a preference.

Greenberg said the figures were still being finalized, and so did not go into further details. But shifts such as these, he said, represented "an incredible pace of change," with significant consequences.

Until recently, he said, "It was hard for Israel to communicate its interests in its own name" in Europe. "It was hard for Israel to be heard. Nowadays, it is heard on its own interests, such as Iran and Hamas." Much of the "old sense of hostility," had dissipated, he said.

At the root of the change, said Greenberg, was a fundamental remaking in Europe of the "framework" through which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is viewed.

Three years ago, he said, the conflict was perceived "in a post-colonial framework."

There was a sense "that Europe could cancel out its own colonial history by taking the 'right' side" - the Palestinian side. Yasser Arafat was viewed as "an anti-colonial, liberation leader." The US was seen as a global imperial power, added Greenberg, and the fact that it was backing Israel only added to the "instinctive" sense of the Palestinians as victims.

France, with the largest Muslim population - moreover an entirely Arab Muslim population - with the direct experience of Algeria and the most anti-US positions, was most prey to this mindset.

Today, by contrast, the Europeans "are focused on fundamentalist Islam and its impact on them," he said. The Europeans were now asking themselves "who is the moderate in this conflict, and who is the extremist? And suddenly it is the Palestinians who may be the extremists, or who are allied with extremists who threaten Europe's own society."

An increasing proportion of Europeans are concluding that "maybe the Palestinians are not the colonialist victims" after all.

Furthermore, the pollster said, the question of which side held "absolute," uncompromising positions had also shifted - to Israel's benefit. The sea-change in attitudes, he said, had been accelerated by the fact that former prime minister Ariel Sharon, who had been widely regarded as an ideological "absolutist," had surprised Europe with his disengagement initiative. And at about the same time, the Palestinians had chosen the "absolutists" of Hamas as their leadership.

An opinion poll for the Israel Project among "opinion elites" in the US released last month found that 80% believed that US should not fund the Palestinian Authority until its Hamas-led government renounced violence, recognized Israel and ended terrorism, 93% said Palestinian leaders must end the culture of hate that encourages children to become suicide bombers and 78% had a favorable view of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's "realignment" plan. Asked if they considered themselves supporters of Israel or supporters of the Palestinians, 58% in that survey said they backed Israel, while 10% said they supported the Palestinians. Another 33% said they supported neither side, were undecided or didn't know.

Palestinian support 'crashes' in Europe