News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

Ex-Mossad chief warns of Muslim European cities

Ephraim Halevy says ‘by mid-century major cities in Germany, Russia will have Muslim majority; ‘we are in the middle of World War Three,’ he adds
Ahiya Raved

Former Mossad Director said Sunday during a meeting of the board of trustees of the Technion in Haifa that in his estimation "by the middle of the century major cities in Germany will have a Muslim majority and so will many federations in Russia."

Halevy spoke of the Islamic terror, saying it is “the main problem of the world today."

 
"We are in the middle of World War Three, and I see no end to it," he said.

 
Halevy said that he had spoken recently with a Russian official who disagreed with his prediction regarding the growing Muslim population in Europe.

 

'Can yesterday's devil become today's partner?'

 

The former head of the Mossad also addressed the issue of Hamas, saying it is "a young movement, only 19 years-old, and it is a ruthless enemy of Israel. The success of the defense establishment in fighting this organization is immense. Since the disengagement Hamas is not working against Israel, not because it likes Israel but because it's acting against its own interests."

 
Halevy said he was pondering over whether Hamas’ proposal for a long-term Hudna (ceasefire) should be reexamined: "Despite it all, in a changing world like ours, we to think differently, and I suggest we assess the long-term Hudna proposal. If the Hudna is for many years, that means it's no longer a ceasefire but a truce. That begs the question – can yesterday's devil become today's partner?"

He said he does not believe Israel should insist that Hamas recognize Israel. "We don't need its recognition. It needs Israel's recognition more.

Ex-Mossad chief warns of Muslim European cities

[Shammu]

06/06/2006            
Hamas operatives working on adding toxic chemicals to bombs
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent

Hamas operatives in the West Bank have experimented with adding toxic chemicals to their bombs, security sources told Haaretz Monday.

The sources said the experiments have involved relatively simple chemicals, and as far as is known, the organization is not yet able to integrate such agents into its bombs effectively. However, they said, Hamas' West Bank cells include several skilled bombmakers who are investing great effort in trying to upgrade their weapons.

The organization also is amassing large stocks of explosives so operatives will be ready to launch attacks immediately should its leadership decide to end the security "lull," the sources added.

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"Thus far, members of its military wing have not received any orders to commit attacks, since a return to terror at this time would not serve the Palestinian Authority's Hamas government," one said. However, he added, they have been instructed to prepare attacks that can be launched the instant the order is given.

"They have no intention of repeating what they've done in the past," he continued. "The tendency is to prepare 'mega-attacks' that would create a new balance" of power with Israel.

Currently, Hamas' West Bank cells are focusing mainly on buying arms, training operatives, setting up explosives factories and conducting experiments. However, a few cells - mainly in the southern West Bank, around Hebron and Bethlehem - are continuing to carry out small-scale attacks. These cells are only loosely connected to the organization's leadership in Damascus and Gaza, and as long as they keep a relatively low profile and do not claim responsibility for their attacks in Hamas' name, the leadership does not interfere. One such cell was arrested early this year after murdering six Israeli civilians near Gush Etzion and Hebron.

In Gaza, Hamas operatives often assist attacks carried out by Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees. The rockets fired at Sderot last week, for instance, were made by Hamas, and "rebellious" members of the organization helped launch them. The Shin Bet security service also accused senior Hamas operatives of having helped the Popular Resistance Committees prepare a attack in April at the Karni crossing between Gaza and Israel. That plan was foiled by PA security personnel.

There is also one type of attack to which Hamas' leadership has given its unequivocal blessing: attempts to kidnap Israeli soldiers or civilians for use in negotiations over the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

Senior operative arrested
The Shin Bet and police arrested a senior Hamas operative in Ramallah two weeks ago who was responsible for planning several "mega-attacks." The arrest was made public Monday.

Ibrahim Hamed heads Hamas' military wing in the West Bank. His planned attacks included attempts to blow up railway tracks and an attempted bombing of the Pi Glilot gas storage facility.

Two of his assistants were also arrested in Ramallah Sunday.

Hamas operatives working on adding toxic chemicals to bombs

[Shammu]

EU's Solana due in Iran late on Monday
Mon Jun 5, 2006 3:24 PM IST173

TEHRAN (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana is due in Tehran late on Monday to deliver a package of incentives that seek to persuade Iran to abandon its plans to make nuclear fuel, Iranian sources said.

One of the sources, who all asked not to be identified, said Solana would meet Iranian officials on Tuesday. An EU diplomat also said Solana would be in Iran on Tuesday but gave no further details.

Speaking during a visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah, Solana said he would travel to Iran "very soon", but did not elaborate.

He arrived in Israel late on Sunday as part of a previously planned trip that includes meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. His spokeswoman has said he would have dinner with Palestinian civil society leaders in Ramallah on Monday might.

The incentives Solana will deliver to Iran stem from an initiative put together by the three biggest EU states - Britain, France and Germany - and were approved by a forum that also included the United States, China and Russia.

Solana's office in Brussels said it was preparing an announcement about the details of the trip but for now could not be more precise about the timing.

Details of the package have not been announced, but diplomats have been working on themes ranging from offering nuclear reactor technology to giving security guarantees.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday Iran would consider incentives but insisted the crux of the package -- that Iran must give up uranium enrichment -- was still unacceptable.

Western nations fear Iran is enriching uranium to make an atomic bomb, but Iran insists its aims are entirely peaceful and that it wants to make fuel only to generate electricity.

EU's Solana due in Iran late on Monday

[Shammu]

June 5, 2006
FM Livni meets with EU counterpart Solana

FM Livni meets with EU counterpart Solana
(Communicated by the Foreign Ministry Spokesman)

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni held a working
meeting today (Monday, 5 June 2006) in Jerusalem with her European Union
counterpart, Javier Solana. They discussed a wide range of issues on
Israel's political agenda with the EU, in preparation for Livni's visit next
week to Brussels, where she will appear before the Council of the European
Union.

Both ministers lauded the ongoing fruitful cooperation between the EU and
Israel, as well as their common political outlook and identical interests.
Minister Livni stressed the need to persevere with the international
delegitimization of the Palestinian Authority's Hamas government and its
positions, particularly its continuing refusal to fulfill the three minimal
conditions set by the international community (recognizing Israel and its
right to exist, carrying out all previous agreements, and the total
renunciation of terrorism and violence).

She added that Israel would strive to ease humanitarian issues for the
Palestinian people as much as possible, "out of the recognition that it
should not be punished for its vote." Nevertheless, she said, it must be
assured that this is done directly and not by means of mechanisms controlled
by Hamas. Livni singled out the Palestnian educational system, stating that,
"The world cannot permit itself a Hamas educational system that inculcates
hatred and violence."

Another topic of discussion was the recently issued "Palestinian prisoners'
manifesto," which has become the focus of a challenge by PA Chairman Mahmoud
Abbas to Hamas. Minister Livni emphasized that Israel considers this an
internal Palestinian document and has intentionally refrained from relating
to its specific contents. "We are carefully following the Palestinians'
internal developments," she added.

Livni emphasized that the policy of the government of Israel is based on the
desire to further a two-state solution and that unilateralism is not
Israel's ideology. Accordingly, Israel would strive to advance this solution
from the point of view that this is a common interest. "Certainly, Israel's
interest in furthering a two-state solution is shared by the Europeans and
by moderate elements on the Palestinian side, those who are willing to
recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state.

Minister Livni added that she intends to present her ideas next week to the
Council of the European Union.

Solana, who is the EU's highest representative on foreign policy and
security issues, surveyed the various European atttitudes regarding aid to
the Palestinians, while emphasizing the need to avoid granting legitimacy to
the Hamas government.

[Shammu]

Solana in Iran nuclear deal push
EU foreign policy head Javier Solana is due to present to Iran's leaders a series of proposals aimed at persuading them to halt nuclear research.

The proposals were agreed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany last week.

The plans have not been made public but sources say they could include giving Iran a nuclear reactor and an assured supply of enriched uranium.

Iran says it will consider incentives but refuses to halt uranium enrichment.

Mr Solana said at Tehran airport that the West wanted "to start a new relationship [with Iran] on the basis of mutual respect and trust".

Mr Solana's spokeswoman said he would "have a full morning of meetings in Tehran" on Tuesday to explain the proposals.

Shortly before Mr Solana's arrival, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said: "If their aim is not politicising the issue, and if they consider our demand, we can reach a logical agreement."

Mr Mottaki told reporters that the EU and Iran would launch a "shuttle diplomacy" to iron out differences about Iran's nuclear programme.

He said he hoped Europe would not repeat its mistake of last year by formulating proposals without taking note of Iran's views, the BBC's Frances Harrison in Tehran reports.

The foreign minister's remarks suggest a rather positive attitude towards the proposals, but make it clear Iran wants to negotiate the details, our correspondent says.

Call for patience

The proposals were agreed by Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US in Vienna.

Western nations fear Iran is enriching uranium to make nuclear weapons, while Tehran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy purposes.

 Mr Solana is due to present the proposals to Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.

The six powers who drew up the package say Iran should suspend its uranium enrichment programme before any negotiations can begin.

But Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Tehran will not abandon its right to nuclear technology under Western pressure and that demands that Iran must give up uranium enrichment are unacceptable.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters in Iran, warned on Sunday that energy flows in the region would be disrupted if the US made a "wrong move".

White House spokesman Tony Snow said the threat was "theoretical", urging patience to allow Iran to study the proposals.

"Let's give it time, let the Iranians take a look at what the offers are, the incentives and disincentives," he said in Washington.

The US earlier warned Iran a rejection of the proposals could bring UN-imposed penalties.

Solana in Iran nuclear deal push

[Shammu]

Apocalypse tomorrow? 666 arrives

By Seth Borenstein
ASSOCIATED PRESS
June 5, 2006

Is tomorrow's date -- 6-6-6 -- merely a curious number, or could it mean our number is up?
    There's a devilishly odd nexus of theology, mathematics and commercialism on the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year. OK, it's just the sixth year of this millennium, but insisting on calling it 2006 takes the devil-may-care fun out of calendar-gazing.
    Something about the number 666 brings out the worry, the hope and even the humor in people, said the Rev. Felix Just, a professor of theology and religious studies at the University of San Francisco. A Jesuit priest, Father Just has taught both apocalyptic theory and mathematics and maintains a "666-Numbers of the Beast" Web site that contains history, theology, math and precisely 66 one-line jokes about 666.
    One can even make sport of it, betting online if the apocalypse will happen on that date. The good news is that one online oddsmaker has made the world a 100,000-to-1 favorite to survive tomorrow -- something that Father Just said is supported by theology.
    "Many people avoid the number. They're afraid of it almost, and there's absolutely no reason to be afraid of it," he said. "It is not a prediction of future events. It is not supposed to be taken as a timetable for when the world is going to end."
    It all started with Revelation 13:18 in the Bible: "This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six."
    The beast is also known as the Antichrist, according to some apocalyptic theories.
    Many scholars, such as Father Just, say the beast is really a coded reference -- using Hebrew letters for numbers -- for the despotic Roman emperor Nero, and 616 appears instead of 666 in some ancient manuscripts. The Book of Revelation isn't prophesying a specific end of times but "is about the overall cosmic struggle of good versus evil," Father Just said.
    But for some more apocalyptic theologians, the end of times is coming, even if not specifically tomorrow. The evangelical Raptureready.com Web site puts its "rapture index" at 156, calling that "fasten your seat belts" time.
    It's not the date June 6 that's worrisome, but the signs in our society of the approach of the 666 Antichrist, said the Rev. Tim LaHaye, founder of a self-named ministry and co-author of the best-selling "Left Behind" series of apocalyptic novels.
    "I don't think that people understand that 666 is not a good time," Mr. LaHaye said. He said he sees signs of an upcoming "tribulation period" that leads to the Antichrist's arrival in a movement toward one-world government, a single economic system and single religion.
    Apocalyptic culture and theology, especially those surrounding 666, "is especially appealing for people in an underdog situation," said Father Just.
    So people have looked for -- and found -- 666 in all sorts of places. Believers in the number's power have used a biblical letter-numeric code to convert the names of countless political leaders, including many popes, to come out 666, marking them as that generation's Antichrist. That includes Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
    The math of 666 is also open to biblical interpretation and manipulation. Father Just points out that 666 is the sum of all the numbers on a roulette wheel. Other oddities include variations on pi and products of prime number multiplication.
    There's also something special about the number 6, which in the Bible stands for man, said Brian C. Jones, a religion professor at Wartburg College in Iowa.
    "People need to lighten up about this," Mr. Jones said, adding that it's hard to take tomorrow seriously as a day of reckoning. "Monday, we always hate Mondays. Wednesday is hump day. Friday sometimes has the 13th attached to it. But Tuesdays and Thursdays, they don't ring for me as days when bad things happen or good things happen. They're filler days."

Apocalypse tomorrow? 666 arrives

[Shammu]

China urges Canada to return accused crime boss

40 minutes ago

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Tuesday renewed its call for Canada to return one of the country's most wanted fugitives, days after Vancouver delayed his planned deportation.
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Lai Changxing fled to Canada with his family in 1999 accused of making billions of dollars from smuggling contraband oil, cars and luxury goods, mostly into the coastal southeastern province of Fujian, and of tax evasion.

"China's stance on repatriating Lai is very firm," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular news conference on Tuesday.

"We request the Canadian side do so as soon as possible."

The Canada Border Service Agency had been poised to deport Lai in late May, but on Thursday a federal judge stayed his deportation at least until a federal court rules if it will hear Lai's latest legal challenge.

Canada says it has received diplomatic assurances from Beijing that Lai will not executed if returned and convicted, but Lai argues that China will ignore the promise once he is back home.

Lai, 47, under house arrest in Vancouver, has denied wrongdoing and insists the Chinese accusations are politically motivated.

But Canadian immigration officials have sided with China and rejected his attempts to gain political asylum.

China urges Canada to return accused crime boss

[Shammu]

Muslims craft their own video games

By Rhonda Roumani, Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor Mon Jun 5, 4:00 AM ET

DAMASCUS, SYRIA - Inside the frosted glass doors of Afkar Media, located in Damascus's newly-built free-zone, software developers are trying to rebuild a civilization inside a video game.

Set to be released in September, "Al-Quraysh" is a strategy game that tells the story of the first 100 years of Islam's history from the viewpoint of four different nations - Bedouins, Arabs, Persians, and Romans.

One can choose to command any of the armies of the four nations or lead the army of the main character, Khaled Ibn Waleed, a Muslim warrior who defeated the Roman and Persian empires and never lost a battle. Or one can play the role of the Bedouin sheikh, who must earn the respect of his tribe. The player has the task of building and protecting trade routes and water sources, building armies, conducting battles, and freeing slaves.

It's just one of several new games produced in the Middle East with the idea that video games, like other media, play a role in shaping young minds and impacting self-esteem. The makers hope "Al-Quraysh," named after the prophet Muhammad's tribe, will help to correct the image of Islam, alleviate tensions with the West, and stoke pride among young Muslims.

"Al-Quraysh is going to help people in the West better understand the people who are living in the East," says Radwan Kasmiya, an avid gamer and the executive manager of Afkar Media. "We want to show that this civilization was a sort of practical and almost heavenly civilization."

The game also holds lessons for Muslims, says Mr. Kasmiya.

"I get very embarrassed by the way we are showing our civilization," says Kasmiya. "There were rational laws that were governing Muslims at that time. This allowed this civilization to last for a long time and to accept the other civilizations that they came in touch with. It was not a conservative or sectarian civilization. But people have stopped taking the ideas behind the laws, and are taking the laws themselves. They do not understand the essence of the laws."

Afkar Media has already produced two games, both dealing with the plight of the Palestinian people. One game released last year, "Under Siege," was born out of frustration with the prevalance of Arabs and Muslims portrayed as terrorists in Western video games. The creators of the game say the story line counteracts the biases in some Western games by showing the Palestinian struggle from an Arab vantage point and creating Arab and Muslim characters who are fighting in self-defense.

In the first scene of "Under Siege," Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli settler who killed 27 worshipers in a Hebron mosque in 1994, snickers as he sneaks up to the mosque where two boys, Maen and Ahmed, are among those praying inside. Goldstein enters the mosque and starts shooting into the prostrated crowd.

As chaos ensues, Ahmed must disarm Goldstein and turn to fight Israeli soldiers. Killing civilians - Israeli or Arab - will make him lose his stamina. Maen is armed with a slingshot and must help the ambulance, which is being blocked by Israeli forces, reach the mosque.

Critics say the game merely inverts stereotypes - replacing extremist caricatures of Muslims with extremist caricatures of Jews, like that of Baruch Goldstein, and using the violent "shooter" format common to many video games.

But by giving young Muslims and Arabs the chance to see themselves in "the good guy" roles, Kasmiya hopes the games will bolster self-esteem among the region's children.

"Most video games on the market are anti-Arab and anti-Islam," says Kasmiya. "Arab gamers are playing games that attack their culture, their beliefs, and their way of life. The youth who are playing the foreign games are feeling guilt. On the outside they look like they don't care, but inside they do care. But we also don't want to do something about Arabs killing Westerners."

Both "Al-Quraysh" and "Under Siege," which cost roughly $100,000 to make, have been funded and released by Dar al-Fiqr, a publishing house that distributes a wide range of conservative to liberal voices on topics related to Islam. An estimated 100,000 copies of "Under Siege" have been distributed around the Arab world.

Hasan Salem, a director at Dar al-Fiqr, hopes "Al-Quraysh" will promote a more "modern" Islam.

"People believe that only their heritage will help this nation," says Mr. Salem. "We believe that this nation needs a new vision, new people, new blood to study, read, and then think about Islam. We believe in this line, not the old line that only reads old books and believes in the past."

But Dar al-Fiqr and Afkar Media's toughest challenge may be getting serious gamers to play.

Weak copyright laws in the region limit a company's ability to profit from such games, which sell for about $10 a copy.

And games like "Al-Quraysh" must compete with the sophisticated graphics and game plots of a multibillion-dollar gaming industry.

Mohamad Hamzeh, a 26-year-old gamer, says he bought "Under Siege," but that he would not play it instead of other popular games like "World of Warcraft" or "Counterstrike" because he says the plot lines are not convincing.

"We do want to put Arabs in games and show that we have a civilization, we respect other people, and that we are not aggressors," says Mr. Hamzeh, who develops video games himself. "But it's hard to really get into a game like 'Under Siege.' When you are in 2005 and you find a game that was released in 1995 that was much more advanced, it is not good. You must feel the challenge in the game. They are paying so much attention to the political and religious part, they are not concentrating on the technical parts of the game."

Muslims craft their own video games

[Shammu]

Islamic militia seizes Somalian capital

By MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 48 minutes ago

MOGADISHU, Somalia - An Islamic militia with alleged links to al-Qaida seized Somalia's capital Monday after weeks of fighting with U.S.-backed secular warlords, raising fears that the nation could fall under the sway of Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization.

The advance unified the city for the first time in more than a decade and after 15 years of anarchy in this Horn of Africa nation. But it also posed a direct challenge to a fledging U.N.-backed Somali government.

"We won the fight against the enemy of Islam. Mogadishu is under control of its people," Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, chairman of the Islamic Courts Union, said in a radio broadcast. The militia, which has formed an alliance that transcends clan, controls a 65-mile radius around the capital after fighting off a secular alliance of warlords.

The Islamic militia is gaining ground just as the U.N.-backed interim government struggles to assert control outside its base in Baidoa, 155 miles from Mogadishu. The prices of weapons soared there Monday as fears grew that the militia could head to Baidoa next.

The militia is the first group to consolidate control over all of Mogadishu's neighborhoods since the last government collapsed in 1991 and warlords took over, dividing this impoverished country of 8 million people into a patchwork of rival fiefdoms.

Omar Jamal, director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul, Minn., said the Islamic militia's victory in Mogadishu was a turning point in the country's history.

"It is exactly the same thing that happened with the rise to power of the Taliban" in
Afghanistan, he said, adding that the extremists are "using the people's weariness of violence, rape and civil war" to gain support for a government based on Islamic law.

The battle between the militia and the secular alliance has been intensifying in recent months, with more than 300 people killed and 1,700 wounded — many of them civilians caught in the crossfire of grenades, machine guns and mortars.

Alliance leaders could not be reached for comment Monday and had likely fled Mogadishu. One of them, warlord Mohamed Dheere, was believed to be in neighboring Ethiopia seeking reinforcements.

The United States is backing the secular alliance in an attempt to root out any al-Qaida members operating in the Horn of Africa. U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, have confirmed cooperating with the warlords. Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, president of Somalia's transitional national government, has said Washington is funding the alliance.

The Bush administration has not confirmed or denied backing the alliance, saying only that they support those who fight terror.

On Monday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said he could not offer any details about Monday's advance by the militia.

"We do have real concerns about the presence of foreign terrorists in Somalia, and that informs an important aspect of our policy with regard to Somalia," he said.

The United States has not carried out any direct action in Somalia since the deaths of 18 servicemen in a 1993 battle depicted in the film "Black Hawk Down."

The U.S. officials said recently that Islamic leaders in Mogadishu are sheltering three al-Qaida leaders indicted in the deadly 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. The same al-Qaida cell is believed responsible for the 2002 suicide bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya that killed 15 people and a simultaneous attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner over Kenya.

The Islamic militants and their secular rivals began competing for influence in earnest after a U.N.-backed interim government slowly began to gain international recognition. The government, weak and wracked by infighting, has not even been able to enter the capital because of the violence.

Interim Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi recently fired four ministers who were part of the secular alliance, leaving the alliance without any support in the government.

Mogadishu residents expressed relief at Monday's relative peace, but had mixed responses to the Islamic militia's advance.

"The victory of Islamic courts is a major step toward a lasting peaceful settlement in Mogadishu," said Somali economist Abdinasir Ahmed. "We are tired of the deception and rhetoric of the warlords."

Abdulqaadir Bashir, a computer engineer, disagreed. "The Islamic clerics want to be like Taliban regime in Afghanistan," he said. "People have no hope at all."

Jamal said it will take time for the militants to consolidate their power in Mogadishu, and that the struggle to control the country will not end there. He called on the international community to do everything possible to support the U.N.-backed government to keep the Islamic radicals from expanding their power base any farther.

"This war will not stop in Mogadishu," Jamal said.

Islamic militia seizes Somalian capital

[Soldier4Christ]

Dealing with the devil.


U.S. offering
Iran nuke technology
Major concession contingent on Tehran
stopping its program to enrich uranium


In a major concession, the United States will supply Tehran with some nuclear technology if the radical Islamic regime stops enriching uranium, according to diplomats who outlined a package of incentives presented today.

The diplomats, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Washington's offer was part of a series of rewards offered by European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

The package was put together last week by Germany and the five veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia.

Jerome Corsi, author of "Atomic Iran," says for the first time someone is "calling Tehran's bluff."

"When Iran rejects the offer, it will be abundantly clear what their intentions are," Corsi said.

"I'm very doubtful that any of this diplomacy will work – and I'm concerned we're taking too much time – but I think the attempt to clarify the issue, to show that Iran is cheating," is helpful, he explained.

Corsi acknowledged the offer sounds similar to John Kerry's proposal during the 2004 presidential campaign, when the Democatic senator suggested offering Tehran nuclear fuel. But Corsi insists Kerry's offer was akin to the U.S. giving North Korea nuclear materials in the 1990s which it then used in its covert weapons program. This current proposal, he argues, crafted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, has tight requirements, including signing a new protocol calling for spontaneous inspections, without notice.

Eric Shawn, author of a newly released critique of the world body, "The U.N. Exposed: How the United Nations Sabotages America's Security," told WND the offer still does not resolve the issue of Iran's violation of U.N. Security Council demands.

Shawn said Iranian U.N. Ambassador Javad Zarif told him last week Tehran is willing to let the U.S. operate a nuclear power facility and station full-time International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors in the country.

"But that still doesn't deal with the issue of potential military applications," Shawn said. "They are not fully cooperating with the U.N. inspectors now, and they have not adequately explained the finding of material that could be used for making nuclear weapons."

Iran also might have facilities the U.N. doesn't know about, he added.

Even more troubling, said Shawn, is the fact that Russia and China – who have major trade agreements with Tehran – continue to protect Iran in the Security Council, preventing any discussion of sanctions.

Iran, Shawn points out, repeatedly has said uranium enrichment is within their rights under the U.N.'s nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

[Soldier4Christ]

World could handle Iranian oil cutoff: Energy Sec

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The world economy could handle any theoretical cutoff of Iranian oil exports "for a while," U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said on Tuesday.

"We certainly could handle it for a while," Bodman said.

[Soldier4Christ]

Canadian prime minister target of terror plot
Government says at least one suspect planned to behead Harper

TORONTO - At least one member of a group of terror suspects plotted to storm Canada's parliament and behead officials, including the prime minister, if Muslim prisoners in Canada and Afghanistan were not released, according to charges made public Tuesday.

Authorities also alleged that in addition to targeting Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Steven Vikash Chand plotted to take over media outlets such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

“There’s an allegation apparently that my client personally indicated that he wanted to behead the prime minister of Canada,” attorney Gary Batasar said. “It’s a very serious allegation. My client has said nothing about that.”

Chand is a 25-year-old restaurant worker from Toronto. Charges were expected to be read against at least some of the other suspects Tuesday.

Batasar spoke outside the courthouse, where bail hearings for 10 of the 17 suspects were postponed.

He said the charges were based on fear-mongering by government officials.

Police expect more arrests, while intelligence officers sought ties between 12 men accused of scheming to blow up Canadian targets and five other teen suspects and Islamic terror cells in the United States and five other countries.

The Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton, a small city just west of Toronto, said Monday the men arrested over the weekend were charged with participating in a terrorist group. Other charges include importing weapons and planning a bombing.

The charges against the five minors were not made public.

Prominent targets
Toronto Mayor David Miller said CN Tower, a downtown landmark, and the city’s subway were not targets as had been speculated in local media, but declined to identify sites that were.

A Muslim leader who knew the oldest suspect, 43-year-old Qayyum Abdul Jamal, told The Associated Press that Jamal’s sermons at a local mosque were “filled with hate” against Canada.

Authorities said more arrests were expected, possibly this week, as police pursue leads about a group that they say was inspired by the violent ideology of the al-Qaida terror network.

“We’ve by no means finished this investigation,” Mike McDonell, deputy commissioner for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told AP. “In fact, you might look at it that, really, we’re just starting with the arrests. We have a responsibility to follow every lead.”

'Foreign connections' alleged
Although both Canadian and U.S. officials said over the weekend there was no indication the purported terror group had targets outside Ontario, McDonell told AP on Monday that there are “foreign connections,” but he would not elaborate.

Responding to the arrests, the U.S. Border Patrol stepped up inspections of traffic entering the country from Canada and put agents on high alert along the 4,000-mile border.

In Washington, a spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House said President Bush spoke with Harper about the case Monday afternoon, but gave no specifics of what was discussed.

A U.S. law enforcement official said investigators were looking for connections between those detained in Canada and suspected Islamic militants held in the United States, Britain, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Denmark and Sweden.

American authorities have established that two men from Georgia who were charged this year in a terrorism case had been in contact with some of the Canadian suspects via computer, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing.

“It came to a point where our concern for the safety and security of the public far outweighed our appetite for collecting evidence,” said McDonell, the RCMP deputy commissioner.

Allegedly al-Qaida-inspired
Canadian police say there is no evidence the suspect group had ties to al-Qaida, but describe its members as sympathetic to jihadist ideology. Officials are concerned that many of the suspects were roughly 20 years old and had been radicalized in a short amount of time.

Each is charged with one count of participating in a terrorist group.

Three of them — Fahim Ahmad, 21, Mohammed Dirie, 22, and Yasim Abdi Mohamed, 24 — also are charged with importing weapons and ammunition for the purpose of terrorist activity.

Nine face charges of receiving training from a terrorist group, while four are charged with providing training. Six also are charged with intending to cause an explosion that could cause serious bodily harm or death.

No information was released on the five young males arrested due to federal privacy laws that protect minors.

Officials announced Saturday that the suspects were arrested after the group acquired three tons of ammonium nitrate, which can be mixed with fuel oil to make a powerful explosive. One-third that amount was used in the deadly bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995.

Some people who know the suspects said they were astonished by the arrests.

But Faheem Bukhari, a director of the Mississauga Muslim Community Center, said Jamal, the oldest suspect, had taken to giving hateful sermons and preaching intolerance to young Muslims at a storefront mosque in Mississauga, a city near Toronto where six of the suspects lived.

“These youth were very fun-loving guys, soccer-loving guys, and then all of sudden they were not associating with guys they used to,” Bukhari said, referring to the younger suspects.

“People around him knew he was very extreme,” Bukhari said, adding that Jamal once told “the audience that the Canadian Forces were going to Afghanistan to rape women.”

Canada has about 2,300 soldiers in southern Afghanistan to bolster Afghan reconstruction and combat Taliban militants.

[Soldier4Christ]

Hamas amassing large stockpiles of weapons
Israeli officials say group preparing for attacks if leadership ends truce


JERUSALEM – Hamas has been amassing large stockpiles of weapons so its members will be ready to launch attacks immediately should its leadership decide to end a long-term truce with Israel, according to Israeli security officials.

The report follows a WorldNetDaily exclusive interview in which Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas' so-called military wing, stated his group is developing electronically guided missiles to target Jewish communities and is seeking the ability to fly explosive-laden airplanes 9/11-style into important targets, possibly Tel Aviv skyscrapers.

"In the last 15 months, even though the fighters of Hamas kept the cease-fire, we did not stop making important advancements and professional training on the military level. In the future, after Hamas is obliged to stop the cease-fire, the world shall see our new military capabilities," said Abu Abdullah.

Abdullah is considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department.

A senior Israeli security official said Hamas is preparing large-scale attacks.

"Thus far, members of Hamas' military wing have not received any orders to commit attacks, since a return to terror at this time would not serve the Palestinian Authority's Hamas government," one official told reporters, adding Hamas operatives have been instructed to prepare attacks that can be launched as soon as an order is given.

"They have no intention of repeating what they've done in the past," the official said. "The tendency is to prepare 'mega-attacks' that would create a new balance [of power with Israel]."

Officials said there is information Hamas has experimented with adding toxic chemicals to suicide bomb belts. The officials said the experiments have involved relatively simple chemicals and that the organization has not been able to successfully integrate the agents into its bombs.

The officials also warned Hamas is acquiring large stockpiles of explosives so operatives will be ready to launch attacks.

New missiles would threaten most Israelis

Last week, Abu Abdullah told WND his group is developing a new, electronically guided missile that will place most major Israeli population centers within firing range.

"In the last months we accelerated the improvement operations of our missile production," Abdullah said. "Thanks to Allah we have already improved missiles and in the future we will have the fourth model of our Qassam missiles, which will be electronically guided missiles and very accurate. Our Mujahadeen fighters are receiving a high level of training on how to use the new Qassams and how to maximize their accuracy. With the help of Allah we will succeed."

Abdullah claimed the new missiles will be able to reach "every target in 1948 occupied Palestine (Israel) and that from Gaza we will be able to hit the center of Israel even if the transfer of these missiles to the West Bank (which runs alongside major Israeli cities) is for some reason interrupted."

Palestinian groups, until now, generally have fired three versions of Qassams, improvised steel rockets filled with explosives and fuel. They can travel between one and five miles. Qassam-3's travel the farthest and are the largest, at about four feet in length. The rockets lack a guidance system and are launched from Gaza towns by terrorists who reportedly use the rocket's trajectory and known travel distance to aim at Jewish neighborhoods near the Gaza border. About 20 percent of Qassams do not explode upon impact.

Israel has noted regular improvements in Qassams, although it has not released information about Palestinian groups developing missiles with guidance systems.

A senior Palestinian intelligence officer told WND there is evidence groups in Gaza are developing guided missiles.

Israeli defense officials have warned some advanced rockets, including antiaircraft missiles, have been smuggled into the Gaza Strip.

Abdullah claimed Israel has been deliberately minimizing his group's rocket capabilities and stated Hamas eventually would break the cease-fire to which it agreed last February.

"It is normal that the Israelis will underestimate the capabilities of Palestinian resistance such as not admitting we are working on these new missiles," he said. "The people who made the (Gaza) withdrawal don't want to talk now about the so-called risks."

Hamas looking to fly planes into buildings

Abu Abdullah also said Hamas is acquiring small aircraft for attacks against Jewish targets, possibly Tel Aviv skyscrapers.

"The goal is to have these planes carry maximum quantities of explosives and that they will be able to hit the targets that are fixed for its operation at a high level of accuracy. All the Zionist goals in our dear Palestine are legitimate. I estimate that this tool will not be used against regular targets. We will choose precious targets and I do not want to speak about strategic or any other targets. ... We know that the enemy is building new and high buildings in Tel Aviv."

The terror leader listed possible military targets, as well.

"[Our target] could be important military and civil buildings and compounds and it could also be settlements in 1948 occupied Palestine (Israel). We know that many of the decisions to kill our brothers are taken in the army headquarters in occupied Beer Sheva (considered the capital of the Israeli Negev desert). All these targets are legitimate ones," Abdullah said.

Abdullah's statements come after Palestinian security officials told WND they believe Hamas recently smuggled into the Gaza Strip three small airplanes that can carry explosives and be used to attack Israel. They said information indicates the aircraft were purchased from eastern European dealers and that Hamas members received flight training from professionals in the Sudan, Iran and Syria.

Abdullah refused to confirm the reports but said his group has the right to acquire aircraft.

"I cannot confirm whether this information is right or not but for sure it is one of our goals to have these airplanes," Abdullah said. "It is part of our legitimate arming in case the enemy (Israel) thinks to launch a big attack against our people."

Hamas the past few months has claimed many times its "military wing" functions separately from the group's political leadership.

Since Hamas was elected to Palestinian parliament in January, the terror group has refused to recognize Israel's right to exist. Some Hamas leaders have hinted at the possibility of negotiations. In a widely circulated report, Hamas Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar previously told WND his group would consider talking with the Jewish state through a third party. But Hamas leaders, including al-Zahar and the group's overall leader Khaled Meshaal, regularly declare they will not give up the right to "resistance."

Asked if the Hamas' political leadership sanctions the acquiring of aircraft for attacks, Abdullah replied, "The acquiring of any weapon is a decision of the military wing and it depends on a number of conditions related to financial facilities and to the situation on the ground. The Hamas political leadership starts to play a role only when it comes to the question of time – when to come back to the military operations because as you know we are respecting the cease-fire."

Israel says Hamas continues to direct attacks using other terror groups, particularly the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees. The Shin Bet Security Services recently announced Hamas senior member Ahmed Randor was responsible for a thwarted major bombing by the Committees at the Karni crossing, the main checkpoint between Israel and Gaza.

[Soldier4Christ]

Israel says airstrike targets rocket plant


GAZA (Reuters) - An Israeli airstrike targeted a site in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday used by militants to make rockets, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman said the aerial strike targeted a building used by the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), an umbrella group of militants, to manufacture and store rockets.

A PRC source said militants managed to escape from the building before the missiles were fired. There were no casualties.

The source said the target was a training base and was not a rocket plant.

Palestinian witnesses said earlier an Israeli helicopter had fired two missiles at a militant training base.

[Soldier4Christ]

Israel seeks European travel ban to Hamas leading members   

Israel has decided to give names of leading members of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to European countries in order to help the implementation of blocking them from entering those countries, Israel's newspaper Ha'aretz reported on Monday.

According to the report, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni revealed the decision at the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Knesset (parliament).

She told the committee that Israel had decided to hand over the names of Hamas ministers and parliament members, who were not on the Europeans' current list of denial entry, to Sweden, Norway and then travelled across Europe.

Meanwhile, Livni also talked about Israel's current diplomatic freeze with the Palestinians, saying that "the diplomatic freeze is not government policy but rather a result of the current reality. It is not possible to close our eyes when we have no partner sitting opposite us."

However, she said that there are developments we want to push forward with Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas).

The foreign minister stressed that the government's main policy is to advance the concept of two states between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea with Israel as the national home of the Jewish people and the Palestinian state as a national solution for the Palestinian people.