News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

Terrorist event in southeast Iran an orchestrated move
Tehran, March 19, IRNA

Iran-Incident-Maleki
Recent terrorist incident in southeast of Iran was a well-guided move, said a drug campaign official here on Sunday.


"It seems the recent terrorist incident on Zabol-Zahedan road was a guided trend ... The political and security analysts in the province should take a special look at the issue," said Secretary of the Drugs Trafficking Campaign Headquarters Fada-Hossein Maleki in an interview with IRNA here on Sunday.

Maleki said government has conducted sufficient investigation into the issue and has even set aside a good amount of fund for the purpose but the main problem lies in Afghanistan, which is the core of crisis.

He said there are a number of intertwined issues in Afghanistan to which international fora should pay more attention.

He added that the killing or injury of a group of innocent people on Zabol-Zahedan road was a 'highly appalling and tragic' incident, prompting many countries attending a UN conference to extend condolences to Iran over the mishap.

At the UN, he said, it was announced that insecurity has been on the rise in Afghanistan ever since the US and the Europeans came to the region.

The official said lowering coefficient of security in Afghanistan have created troubles on the border and eastern regions of Iran.

At the UN, "We announced explicitly that Americans and Europeans in Afghanistan have failed to abide by their commitments, i.e.

guaranteeing security; on the contrary, hostage taking, murder, looting and mischievous acts have been on the rise," said Maleki.

A group of armed bandits closed Zabol-Zahedan road Thursday night and stopped a number of passing cars, shooting dead 21 passengers and injuring seven more after forcing them to leave their cars.

The fate of another 12 passengers is not clear yet, a top Interior Ministry official told IRNA.

A number of Iranian civilians have lost their lives as a result of such vicious acts.

Interior Ministry in a statement on Sunday condemned the move, rejecting rumors that Hassanali Nouri, governor general of Zahedan, a city in Sistan-Baluchestan province, had been shot dead in the incident.

Based on the incoming reports, memorial service was held at Zahedan Jame Mosque on Sunday in memory of the victims.

In its last session in the current Iranian year, the cabinet expressed condolences to the survivors on the incident. The meeting was chaired by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The Islamic Revolution Martyrs Foundation also condoled the bereaved families of the victims on the incident.

Terrorist event in southeast Iran an orchestrated move

[Shammu]

 Pakistan-Missile Pakistan test-fires cruise missile
Islamabad, March 21, IRNA


Pakistan on Tuesday conducted a second test-fire of its cruise missile Hatf VII (Babur), an army statement said.

"All phases of the planned trajectory were extremely successful and the missile impacted with pinpoint accuracy," the army's Inter-Services Public Relations said.

It may be recalled that the Babur cruise missile, which has been indigenously developed, was tested for the first time in August 2005.

"Babur cruise missile, which was tested in the ground-launched version, will also be capable of being placed in submarines and on surface ships," the statement said.

The Babur, which has near stealth capabilities, is a low-flying, terrain-hugging missile with high maneuverability, pinpoint accuracy and radar avoidance features. With a range of 500 kilometers, it can carry all types of warheads.

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, who witnessed the test-fire, said that the nation was proud of its scientists and engineers, who had once again demonstrated their ability to master rare technologies with ease and professionalism.

He said that his government would continue to provide all support to their efforts to fortify national defence.

The strategic program, which had come to symbolize the nation's resolve to achieve maximum security, will continue to go from strength to strength with credible minimum deterrence as its cornerstone, he added.

Pakistan-Missile Pakistan test-fires cruise missile

[Shammu]

 AI accuses German gov't of neglecting anti-racism fight
Berlin, March 20, IRNA

Germany-Rights-Racism
The London-based human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) accused the German government of a lack of engagement in the fight against racism, DPA reported Monday.

"The grand coalition (government) neglects the battle against racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism," said Stefan Kessler of AI's German branch office on the occasion of the World Day Against Racism.

Kessler called for a nationwide action plan against racism as well as enacting an anti-discrimination law in the German parliament.

According to AI, people in Germany are still being discriminated against because of their ethnic origin or their skin color.

Racially-motivated assaults against foreigners continue to plague Germany, especially in the eastern part of the country.

A newly resurgent and violent neo-Nazi movement is strong in formerly communist East Germany where foreigners are being scapegoated for the bad economic situation and the high unemployment rate.

AI accuses German gov't of neglecting anti-racism fight

[Shammu]

 Pakistan-India Joint Commission to hold session after 17 years
Islamabad, March 21, IRNA

Pakistan-India-Commission
A two-day meeting of the Pakistan-India Joint Commission (JC) is to begin in Islamabad today.

The meeting will be the commission's first after 17 years, the Foreign Office said on Monday.

During President General Pervez Musharraf's visit to India in April 2005 the two sides decided to reactivate their joint commission.

A plenary session of the joint commission was held on October 4, 2005 at Islamabad and in that session it was decided to restructure the four existing sub-commissions of the commission into eight technical-level working groups on agriculture, health, science & technology, information, education, IT & telecommunications, environment and tourism. These working groups will be headed by joint secretaries.

The Pakistan-India Joint Commission was established in March 1983 with the aim of providing beneficial cooperation in various fields.

From 1983 to 1989 only three meetings were held by the commission, a Foreign Office statement said.

It is hoped that the revival of the commission after 17 long years will help improve Pakistan-India bilateral relations, which are deemed necessary to resolve contentious issues, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, bogging the two countries.

The working groups on environment and science & technology are scheduled to hold meetings in Islamabad on March 21 and 22, respectively.

Pakistan-India Joint Commission to hold session after 17 years

[Shammu]

Roommate Told FBI of Moussaoui Interests

By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer 47 minutes ago

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A former roommate of confessed al-Qaida terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui told FBI agents that Moussaoui had expressed an interest in holy war and believed Muslims were within their rights to kill infidels, according to court testimony.

A videotaped deposition of Hussein al-Attas, who roomed with Moussaoui in 2001 in Oklahoma and was with Moussaoui in Minnesota in August 2001 when he was arrested by federal agents, was to be played for the jury Tuesday when Moussaoui's death-penalty trial resumes.

The jury got a preview of some of al-Attas' statements through the testimony Monday of Harry Samit, the FBI agent who arrested Moussaoui in August 2001 and also interrogated al-Attas.

Samit testified that his belief that Moussaoui was a radical Islamic extremist bent on terrorism was based in part on al-Attas' statements.

Al-Attas told Samit that Moussaoui often talked about jihad, or holy war, and that Moussaoui once pointed out to him a television report about Osama bin Laden, with Moussaoui noting that bin Laden was an important person.

Samit testified that he worked obsessively after Moussaoui's Aug. 16, 2001, arrest to convince FBI headquarters that Moussaoui warranted a full-scale investigation and that a search warrant should be obtained for his belongings.

The agent obtained a search warrant only after the Sept. 11 attacks, and attributed the FBI's failure to launch a timely investigation to "criminal negligence" and careerism by certain agents in FBI headquarters. The bureau's failures thwarted an opportunity to prevent the attacks, he said.

Moussaoui is the only person charged in this country in connection with the Sept. 11 attacks.

He has already pleaded guilty to conspiring with al-Qaida to hijack aircraft and commit other crimes. But he denies a specific role in 9/11. His sentencing trial will determine his punishment: death or life in prison.

The FBI's actions between Moussaoui's arrest and Sept. 11 are crucial to the trial because prosecutors allege that Moussaoui's lies to Samit prevented the FBI from thwarting or at least minimizing the Sept. 11 attacks. Prosecutors must prove that Moussaoui's actions caused the death of at least one person on 9/11 to obtain a death penalty.

The defense argues that nothing Moussaoui said after his arrest would have made any difference to the FBI because its bureaucratic intransigence rendered it incapable of reacting swiftly to Moussaoui's arrest under any circumstances.
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Roommate Told FBI of Moussaoui Interests

[Shammu]

Pakistan Test-Fires Missile Capable of Carrying Nuke

Tuesday , March 21, 2006

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan on Tuesday successfully test-fired a cruise missile that can carry a nuclear warhead and hit targets within a 310-mile range, the army said.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf witnessed the firing, which took place at an undisclosed location inside Pakistan and was the second test of the Hatf VII cruise missile, also known as the Babur, an army statement said.

The initial test was conducted last August on Musharraf's 62nd birthday.

"All phases of the planned trajectory were extremely successful and the missile impacted with pinpoint accuracy," the statement said.

Pakistan's nuclear-armed neighbor India was not given prior notice of the test as it did not fall under an accord that covers notification of ballistic missile tests, a senior security official said.

The Babur cruise missile can be fired from various platforms, including ground positions, surface ships and submarines, the army said.

The statement described it as a "low-flying, terrain-hugging missile with high maneuverability, pinpoint accuracy and radar avoidance features."

Musharraf was quoted as saying the firing demonstrated Pakistani proficiency in weapons production and that his government will "continue to provide all support to their endeavors in fortifying national defense."

Pakistan also possesses nuclear weapons and has fought three wars against India since the 1947 partition that led to this Islamic state's creation. But both countries have been holding peace overtures since 2004.

Pakistan Test-Fires Missile Capable of Carrying Nuke

[Shammu]

March 22, 2006

Britain pushes for military option to retrain Tehran
By Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor
BRITAIN is pressing for a United Nations resolution that would open the way for punitive sanctions and even the use of force if Iran were to refuse to halt its controversial nuclear programme.

In a confidential letter obtained by The Times, a leading British diplomat outlines a strategy for winning Russian and Chinese support by early summer for a so-called Chapter VII resolution demanding that Iran cease its nuclear activities.

If the Government in Tehran refused to comply with such a resolution, the UN Security Council would be legally compelled to enforce it.

The strategy marks a significant hardening of the Government’s position. It contrasts with public statements by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, this month. On March 13 he insisted that military action was “inconceivable” and that the dispute with Iran “has to be resolved by peaceful democratic means”.

The confidential letter was written only three days later by John Sawers, the political director at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and sent to his American, French and German counterparts.

“They (the Iranians) will need to know that more serious measures are likely,” wrote Mr Sawers, in a letter first leaked to the Associated Press. “This means putting the Iran dossier on to a Chapter VII basis.”

He suggested making a suspension of all uranium enrichment by Iran “a mandatory requirement of the Security Council, in a resolution we would aim to adopt, I say, early May”.

Mark Fitzpatrick, an expert on nuclear proliferation at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that securing a Chapter VII resolution would provide the international community with a “stick” it could use against Iran. “It would be an important breakthrough,” he said. “It would open the door to sanctions and other measures.”

Before wielding any stick, however, Mr Sawers proposed that the international community give Iran a final chance in the form of a “revised offer” of incentives as a face-saving solution to allow it to back down peacefully.

The two-track diplomacy was devised by the British in an attempt to reach a compromise between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: America, China, Britain, France and Russia.

The US favours moving straight to a tough resolution that would punish Iran if it failed to halt its nuclear programme. Russia and China, which both have important commercial ties with Iran, favour a slower, less confrontational approach handled by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog.

“We are not going to bring the Russians and Chinese to accept significant sanctions over the coming months, certainly not without further efforts to bring the Iranians around,” Mr Sawers wrote.

“In parallel with agreeing a new proposal, we will also want to bind Russia and China into agreeing to further measures that will be taken by the Security Council should the Iranians fail to engage positively,” he wrote.

But the British initiative has so far failed to bring the parties together. On Monday Mr Sawers hosted talks at the UN between the five permanent members and Germany which broke up without agreement.

The US refused to take steps that would reward Iran or ease pressure on the regime. Russia, which has billions of pounds in contracts to supply Iran with civilian nuclear technology and sophisticated arms, and China, which has multibillion-pound deals to import Iranian oil and gas, rejected any move that could lead to punitive action. Yesterday follow-up talks at the UN were postponed.

Mr Sawers anticipated the hurdles in his letter. “I suspect we will need a meeting at ministerial level anyway to get agreement to this sort of approach, including an early Chapter VII resolution,” he wrote.

Nevertheless the international community will have to reach agreement if it hopes to halt Iran’s uranium enrichment work, which it resumed in February at Natanz.

Britain pushes for military option to retrain Tehran

[Shammu]

UN Council stymied on Iran
Tue Mar 21, 2006 6:58 PM ET8

 By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council failed to reach an accord on Tuesday on how to respond to Iran's nuclear programs even as President George W. Bush warned Tehran could blackmail the world if it had the bomb.

Russia, backed by China, wants to delete large sections of a Franco-British draft statement the Security Council has been studying for nearly two weeks as a first reaction to Iran's nuclear research, which the West believes is a cover for bomb making.

Russia is concerned about how deeply the 15-member Council, which has the power to impose sanctions, should get involved in the Iranian crisis.

Until now it has been handled by the 35-member board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog in Vienna, and negotiators Germany, Britain and France.

Bush, who has offered to talk to Iran on what he sees as Tehran's meddling in Iraq, made clear that does not include the nuclear issue. Those talks would be led by the three European Union powers.

"Our negotiations with Iran on the nuclear weapons will be led by the EU-3," Bush said. "And that's important because the Iranians must hear there's a unified voice."

"If the Iranians were to have a nuclear weapon they could blackmail the world" because "they're not heading toward the international accords, they're not welcoming the international inspections...," Bush added.

A closed-door meeting among all 15 council members scheduled for Tuesday was delayed while diplomats negotiate in small groups. Last week members thought a deal was close.

Britain's U.N. ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry, told reporters his country and France would not amend the text, which calls for Iran to suspend all uranium-enrichment activities, unless it had a chance of success.

"And if there is no prospect of an agreed conclusion we won't be amending the text," he said.

RUSSIA, CHINA TALKING

An alternative to a statement would be a Security Council resolution, which carries more weight, and would dare Russia and China to use their veto power. A statement needs agreement from all 15 members while a resolution needs nine votes in favor and no veto from any of the five permanent members.

Both Jones Parry and French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said a resolution was not ruled out but they still hoped for agreement on a statement.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang emphasized that "China and Russia have common views on how to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue."

"Our objectives are to solve the issue in a peaceful way through negotiations," he said, as Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in Beijing.

Moscow has offered to process uranium for Iran in an attempt to break a stalemate but Tehran has so far refused.

Russia's objections to the draft statement are many. It wants a provision deleted that mentions "peace and security," fearing it could lead to a resolution that requires mandatory action and could lead to sanctions, China reported.

And it wants individual points, mentioned in IAEA board resolutions, only referred to by document numbers.

"I believe that the Russian concern has its logic," said China's U.N. ambassador Wang Guangya when asked if he agreed.

Russia has also proposed North Korea-type talks with Iran among the five permanent council members, Germany and the IAEA's director general Mohamed ElBaradei. This would take the issue out of the Security Council.

"They argued for two tracks," said Wang. "On one hand you put pressure, on the other hand show a way out of this."

Senior foreign ministry officials from the five permanent members and Germany met in New York on Monday to discuss future strategy on Iran but came to no agreement, diplomats said.

Before the meeting, Britain floated the possibility of tougher Security Council measures against Tehran in exchange for a package of incentives, which had been offered by the Europeans earlier in talks that collapsed, diplomats said.

Under a November 2004 agreement with Britain, France and Germany, Iran had agreed to freeze any uranium conversion, enrichment and reprocessing activities in return for economic and political rewards.

Before any incentives materialized, Iran restarted uranium conversion in August. In February, Tehran began tests on enriching uranium. The IAEA board agreed to report the issue to the Security Council, which received the dossier on March 8.

UN Council stymied on Iran

[Shammu]

'Diversity Day' canceled over 'gay' speakers
Homosexual couple didn't want Christian viewpoint represented
Posted: March 22, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Amid controversy over a homosexual speaker, a high school in Wisconsin has canceled its "Diversity Day" event scheduled for tomorrow.

Speakers at Viroqua High School in Viroqua, Wisc., for the biannual event were to include Hmong, Jewish, Muslim, American Indian, African American, Latino, Buddhist, physically handicapped and poor people, the La Crosse Tribune reported.

The paper said, however, the event was called off late last week after the Florida-based public-interest legal group Liberty Counsel raised a potential challenge, insisting the program include the viewpoint of a former homosexual.

The last event, in 2004, initially was canceled by the school board after 400 people signed a petition protesting the inclusion of speakers on homosexual and transgender issues. The event was reinstated in the spring, however, when elections changed the board's membership.

This time, a fax from Liberty Counsel stated local pastor Don Greven of Bad Axe Lutheran Church and the grandfather of a senior at the high school raised concerns about no Christian, or formerly homosexual, viewpoint being included among the speakers, the Tribune reported.

Liberty Counsel argued a federal court in Michigan had ruled a similar exclusion unconstitutional.

"By excluding the Christian and ex-gay viewpoints, the (Viroqua) District violates the Establishment Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection," the group said.

Greven, 61, told the paper diversity means, "in our understanding, that the various views are presented, and that was lacking."

Gregg Attleson, a teacher on the Diversity Day planning committee, told the LaCrosse paper the intent is to introduce students to minorities and people with alternative lifestyles.

"Our students are not going to be living their lives out in Viroqua," said Attleson. "They'll be out and about in the world – in jobs, in the military, in the university – and they're going to come into contact with people of different backgrounds. And we feel it would be real helpful for them in a nice safe place, like a high school, to have contact and be able to dispel some of the stereotypes."

Attleson said the homosexual couple scheduled to speak refused to be on the program alongside an "ex-gay" viewpoint, saying they would be uncomfortable.

The committee then decided it would be best to cancel the whole program.

The agenda was to feature two keynote speakers, a movie and small-group discussions with three of the 10 speakers.

Attleson said students were free to choose which small groups to attend and could opt out of the program if parents contacted the school in advance.

"Non-positive groups were not what we were going for," said committee member Ellen Byers in response to the decision to cancel.

The homosexual couple's appearance was not about "proselytizing" or alienating people, she said. The planners wanted to help resolve misunderstandings about the issue because the school has homosexuals among its student body.

"It's ironic, because we're trying to be tolerant and at the same time we might be accused of being intolerant, said Byers, an English teacher.

[Shammu]

U.S. cautiously backs Afghan Christian
Monitoring situation while Italy threatens to pull troops from 'liberated' Afghanistan
Posted: March 22, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

While an outraged Italy is threatening troop withdrawal over the situation, the United States government is cautiously monitoring Afghanistan's prosecution of a Christian who faces the death penalty because he converted from Islam.

State Department spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus told WorldNetDaily U.S. officials will follow Abdul Rahman's case closely and raise the issue with Afghan officials.

"We believe it is important that the Afghan authorities handle the case in a transparent manner," she said. "Freedom of religion is fundamental to the existence of democracy and is protected under the Afghan constitution. It must be protected and practiced as well."

Afghan Supreme Court judge Ansarullah Mawlavizada said Sunday that Rahman, 42, is being tried over his conversion from Islam to Christianity some 16 years ago. His relatives reportedly notified authorities about the conversion.

The constitution in Afghanistan is based on Sharia law, which states any Muslim who rejects his or her religion should be sentenced to death.

Prosecutor Abdul Wasi called Rahman a traitor, according to the Chicago Tribune.

"He is known as a microbe in society, and he should be cut off and removed from the rest of Muslim society and should be killed," Wasi said.

At a State Department briefing yesterday, spokesman Sean McCormack responded to a question about Rahman, saying the U.S. brought up the case with Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah and is encouraging the government "to conduct any legal proceedings in a transparent and a fair manner."

The reporter replied that it sounded as if the U.S. is simply requesting fair play, asking, "Why don't you simply ask that it be cancelled? I mean, what possible justification is there for putting someone on trial for changing his religion?"

McCormack responded that "this is a question of the Afghan constitution and its laws."

"There are differing interpretations of it, and I think that that's the issue with which they're trying to grapple with," the spokesman said.

In Rome, meanwhile, the Italian government confronted the Afghan ambassador, indicating Italy would withdraw troops unless Rahman is spared. Two of German's cabinet members said they would intervene in the case if necessary, Reuters reported.

Italy's 1,775 troops and Germany's 2,700 in Afghanistan are helping the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai defend against remnants of al-Qaida and the former Taliban regime.

The Afghan judge Mawlavizada insisted Afghanistan is not against any particular religion, but "this sort of thing is against the law."

"It is an attack on Islam," he said, according to the Associated Press. " ... The prosecutor is asking for the death penalty."

If sentenced, Rahman apparently would be the first person punished for leaving Islam since the Taliban was ousted by American-led forces in late 2001.

The Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, "If this news is confirmed, Italy will move at the highest level ... to prevent something which is incompatible with the defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

Cossiga wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi urging him to secure Rahman's safety.

"It is not acceptable that our soldiers should put themselves at risk or even sacrifice their lives for a fundamentalist, illiberal regime," Cossiga wrote.

German Development Minister Heide Wieczorek-Zeul told Germany's daily Bild newspaper her government would do "everything possible to save the life of Abdul Rahman."

The paper said Rahman's conversion came during a nine-year stay in Germany.

Wieczorek-Zeul said she would appeal to Karzai directly.

Expressing "deep concern," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper his embassy in Kabul was in close contact with the Afghan government over this issue and promised to intervene if necessary.

In Britain, parliament member Alan Simpson of the Labour Party told the Times of London: "We are asked to believe that in Afghanistan we are defending a more secular and democratic state when in fact the likes of Abdul Rahman face the death penalty. What sort of democracy are we defending? All reports suggest that the Taliban are coming in through the back door and their views through the front door. Hamid Karzai needs to be told that this absurdity must stop."

Rahman's 75-year-old father, however, believes his son must be punished.

"We are Muslim, our fathers were Muslim, our grandfathers were Muslim," said Abdul Manan, according to the Chicago Tribune. "This is an Islamic country. Imagine if your son told a police commander, also a Muslim, that he is a Christian. How would this affect you? It's very difficult for us."

The Times said Rahman worked with an international Christian group in Peshawar, Pakistan, just across the Afghan border, for four years then spent the next nine in Germany.

He encountered problems when he returned to Afghanistan in 2002 and tried to recover two teenaged daughters who were living with his parents in Kabul.

Rahman's father resisted, denouncing his son as a convert and reporting him to police. Rahman immediately was arrested and a Bible was found in his possession.

Prosecutor Abdul Wasi says he offered to drop the charges if Rahman returned to Islam, but the defendant is maintaining his Christian beliefs. The judge is expected to rule within two months.

About 99 percent of Afghanistan's 28 million people are Muslims, with the rest mostly Hindus.

[Shammu]

'US could wipe out Iran nukes in 2 days'
YIGAL GRAYEFF, THE JERUSALEM POST    Mar. 20, 2006

Another voice has been added to those who believe that air strikes should halt Iran's quest to develop nuclear weapons.

Gary Berntsen, the former senior CIA operative who led the search for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in late 2001, believes the United States has the ability to easily destroy Iran's nuclear facilities. He said the US could use bunker-buster bombs and other weapons to carry out the operation.


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"We can dig those things out. We can destroy them," he told The Jerusalem Post in an interview.

"We can take care of it in a couple of days with air strikes and they wouldn't be able to stop us," he added. "It wouldn't be difficult to plan. They'd be some dangers but I think the United States can do it." Berntsen, who left the CIA in June last year after more than 20 years of service, believes it will be difficult to persuade Iran to stop its nuclear program.

"I know the Iranians. I've worked against the Iranians for years. They are determined to get this no matter what, and they will lie and cheat and do whatever they have to do to get themselves a weapon," he said.

Berntsen ruled out covert action because of the scale of Iran's nuclear program.

"This is a huge system of facilities they have. This is not going to be a small sort of engagement. We are probably going to have to destroy 30 facilities in 30 locations. Or at least 15," he said.

Berntsen's comments came after former Pentagon adviser Richard Perle said earlier this month that Iran's prime nuclear facilities could be devastated in one night by a small fleet of US B-2 bombers.

In addition, Moshe Ya'alon, Israel's former chief of General Staff, said the IDF has the capabilities to attack Iran's nuclear facilities and could do it in conjunction with the US and some EU countries. However, Berntsen believes Israel should not carry out any operation.

"It's better for the United States to do it. If you (Israel) do it, we'll have all sorts of problems in the Middle East, all sorts of countries that will align themselves with the Iranians over this. Politically it makes more sense for the US to do it," he said.

Berntsen also ruled out a ground operation.

"This is huge country. There are 70 million people there. It's gigantic. We don't need to be getting into something like that," he said.

However, Berntsen believes that the US should first exhaust all the political options before carrying out a strike.

"We should do what we're doing right now. That means taking them to the United Nations and make this 'the world against Iran,' because the Iranians appear determined to create a weapon," he said.

"If by chance they disarm, then we can avoid this, but if they don't disarm we will need to take care of this ourselves," he said.

"The Iranians have to know that we mean business. They will either disarm or we will destroy their facilities. No ifs, ands, or buts. They present a threat to peace in the Middle East. They present a threat to Israel. We cannot accept that," he added.

Berntsen predicted that if Iran doesn't disarm, President George Bush would carry out an attack regardless of domestic opposition.

"I think that President Bush has demonstrated that he says what he means and he means what he says. A lot of people didn't think he would do Iraq. This is a guy who doesn't put his finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. President Bush means business.

"The problem right now is that the Iranians are going to miscalculate. They are going to believe that because 2006 is an election year (in Congress), and due to all this political opposition to the president because of Iraq, they're going to think that he's weak in the knees, he can't do it and they're not going to negotiate.

"That would be a very serious mistake for them. They're going to miscalculate. They think he's politically weak and George Bush won't care. He's going to do it anyway when it comes down to it," Berntsen said.

"I believe that we'll get past the mid-term election in 2006 and then the Iranians ought to disarm themselves or suffer the consequences," he added.

Berntsen recently released a book called Jawbreaker, which is about the search for bin Laden after al-Qaida's attacks on the US in September 2001. The book has been on the best-seller lists in the US but has yet to be released in Israel.

'US could wipe out Iran nukes in 2 days'

[Shammu]

Crude Oil Futures Fall

2 hours, 54 minutes ago

SINGAPORE - Oil prices dipped Wednesday ahead of the release of a weekly U.S. government fuel inventories report later in the day expected to show a hefty increase in crude oil inventories.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery fell 16 cents to $62.18 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The April contract rose 15 cents to settle and expire at $60.57 a barrel on Tuesday.

According to a survey of 10 analysts by Dow Jones Newswires, U.S. commercial oil inventories were likely to have increased by 2 million barrels in the past week.

Gasoline stocks are expected to slide an estimated 700,000 barrels, while distillate stocks, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, were seen dropping 1.9 million barrels, even as operating rates at refineries rose.

Gasoline futures lost 3.45 cents to $1.8050 a gallon, while heating oil prices declined 0.35 cent to $1.7687 a gallon. Natural gas gained 3.7 cents to $6.905 per 1,000 cubic feet.

U.S. petroleum data last week showed that oil stockpiles had climbed to their highest level since the end of May 1999.

But persistent concerns over disruptions to supply in Nigeria as well as the potential threat of U.N. Security Council action against Iran over its nuclear ambitions were likely to limit any steep losses, analysts said.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have been debating since last week what action the council should take after the U.N. nuclear watchdog referred Iran to the body. They met for more than four hours on Monday, and U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said further talks were needed.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. Iran says its program aims only to generate electricity. Iran is the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Late last week, Nigerian rebels struck an oil pipeline operated by Rome-based Eni SpA's Agip Oil Co. unit, disrupting the flow of oil. The company said Monday that its production in Nigeria would drop by about 13,000 barrels per day while it repairs the pipeline, thought to have been sabotaged by militants seeking a greater share of the country's oil wealth.

Crude Oil Futures Fall

[Shammu]

Christian Truckers Seek Salvation and Rest

By GARANCE BURKE, Associated Press Writer Wed Mar 22, 6:42 PM ET

KINGDOM CITY, Mo. - The billboards out the window in this part of central Missouri advertise rock-bottom prices on adult videos and getaways to the Ozark Mountains. But at the truck stop just off Interstate 70, Chaplain Bob Holt is making another kind of promise to weary truckers: salvation.

For eight years, Holt has led daily services from a converted trailer parked in a truck stop — a place he sees as filled with temptation. And on Thursday, he and fellow missionaries at

nearly 100 travel plaza chapels across the country will hold a morning fellowship meeting to celebrate their calling on the seventh annual National Day of Prayer for Truckers.

"The devil's trying to keep them from coming in here," said Holt, standing in his modest trailer.

"Every time the truckers stop, there's ladies that come around and pick on the door," the 74-year-old retired commercial driver said. "But if you just let them talk for a few minutes, you can figure out what their needs are. Then we're able to pray about those needs."

The romance of the road and chance to make an independent living have helped steer more than 2.5 million truckers into the business, but weeks away from home make for a solitary life aggravated by tight drop-off schedules.

"There isn't a product that you're wearing that hasn't been handled by a trucker," said Bob Hataway, a former truck driver who will lead Thursday's prayer at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky. "We wanted to put on a red letter event to focus on the needs of truckers. They need our prayers."

Christian truckers say chapels and organizations like Hataway's TransAlive USA, Inc., which helps drivers who have been hospitalized, are an oasis from a subculture of foul-mouthed radio chatter and truck stops sometimes rife with prostitution.

Hundreds of volunteers staff ministries at truck stop chapels from Fort Wayne, Ind., to Madera, Calif. Holt's mission at the Exit 148 stop in east-central Missouri is one of the country's most active, with services each night of the week and on Sunday mornings.

Each prayer meeting begins the same way. In the candy-red light of the lobby counter, he announces the Bible study three times over the PA. Then he restocks a rack of brochures geared toward truckers, including one proclaiming Jesus "would have driven an 18-wheeler."

The pamphlets came from Truckstop Ministries, Inc., a Jackson, Ga.-based non-denominational Christian nonprofit that celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. Since 1991, the group has opened 39 missions, and this year plans to triple its budget.

Holt's sessions start each night at 7 p.m. inside the single-wide trailer, decorated with an airbrushed passage that reads "Jesus said: Come to me all you truckers who are weary and heavy loaded and I will give you rest."

On a recent evening, just one trucker showed up for services: Ed Boelter, of Jud, N.D., who was on his way north hauling a load of industrial fans.

Nathan Howard, another volunteer chaplain, broke the ice by talking about his time in the military and all the marijuana he saw growing in Colombia.

Soon, Boelter opened up, talking about his spiritual needs and how he felt after weeks on the highway.

"Lonely. Like the world's a bunch of garbage," he said, looking up. "I just want peace of mind. Quiet. Everybody working together like a baseball team. Isn't that how it's supposed to be on the road?"

Christian Truckers Seek Salvation and Rest

[Shammu]

Episcopal church faces another showdown over gays
Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:17 AM ET166

 By Michael Conlon

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Episcopal Church is headed for another showdown over homosexuality in a rift that has already shaken the worldwide Anglican church family to which it belongs, and threatens even more division.

The next flashpoint will occur in an unlikely place -- Columbus, Ohio -- where the Episcopal Church's triennial general convention will have to confront the issue again, and may even have to decide whether a second openly gay person should be made a bishop. While the meeting does not take place until June, developments have already begun to play out.

Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, said in a recent BBC interview his church "is not just going to settle down quietly into being a federation. My anxiety about it is that if (the church family) is broken we may be left with even less than a federation."

The faith has been in turmoil since 2003 when its American branch ordained the first openly gay bishop in 450 years of Anglican history.

The Episcopal Church is one of several national churches, under the spiritual authority of the archbishop of Canterbury, making up the 77-million-member worldwide Anglican family or "communion." Its history dates to colonial times when what became the United States broke away from British rule and in the process the Church of England.

While the word "schism" has been tossed about in relation to what's happening in the worldwide church, a more precise term being used these days is to "walk apart," according to Mark Sisk, the Episcopal bishop of New York.

WALKING SEPARATELY

It would imply "we're walking in the same direction but we may be walking a bit separately," he said in an interview. "That is certainly at least a possibility. I hope it won't happen, because I believe we in fact do need each other."

One year ago, under pressure from the world church leadership and criticism from conservatives, particularly in Africa, the U.S. bishops decided not to consecrate any new bishops, gay or straight, or to bless same-sex unions until at least the next general convention.

That meeting will take place in the Ohio city in June; but machinery is already being put in place to handle expected demands at the meeting from those who consider themselves orthodox believers to turn the moratorium into an outright ban.

There is also pressure because of the vacuum that has existed for the past year in the consecration of new bishops. Nearly a dozen diocese have delayed doing anything but are now scheduling elections in May to choose new prelates. One of them, The Episcopal Diocese of California, covering the San Francisco area, has slated five possible candidates for bishop, two of whom, a man and a woman, are in gay relationships.

So far gay candidates have not emerged in any other diocese.

But if a gay candidate is elected in the California diocese, the general convention -- running June 10-21 -- will face the same issue it did in 2003 when the bishops approved the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who is in an openly gay relationship. Convention approval of a bishop requires a vote by "deputies" representing each diocese and then a separate vote by bishops.

Beyond that, the 2.3 million-member church is scheduled to choose a new presiding bishop, and three of the four candidates slated so far backed Robinson's elevation in 2003.

Meantime Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, has weighed in with a Lenten pastoral letter which some have interpreted as saying the church's stand on homosexuality made at a meeting in 1998 may not be reopened at the next such meeting -- the Lambeth Conference -- in 2008.

"Despite levels of bitter controversy over sexuality ... I do not hear much enthusiasm for revisiting in 2008 the last Lambeth Conference's resolution on this matter," he said.

The resolution called homosexual activity "incompatible with scripture" and said the church "cannot advise the legitimizing or blessing of same sex unions nor ordaining those involved in same gender unions."

Williams did, however, say that discussions going on around the world on the issue should be aired and reflected on by the 2008 meeting along with considerations of the way the church makes decisions.

INCREASED PRESSURE

The American Anglican Council, a conservative group within the Episcopal church, said the Williams letter has turned up the pressure on the Ohio meeting to come into compliance.

"Archbishop Williams has sent a hopeful message that Lambeth 2008 will stand firm in upholding apostolic faith and practice, but potentially explosive issues must still be addressed," said the Rev. Canon David Anderson, president of the group.

The questions facing the Ohio meeting, he said, are whether it will repudiate the actions taken in 2003 "and embrace Anglican doctrine."

But Maury Johnston, Virginia-based author of "Gays Under Grace: A Gay Christian's Response to the Moral Majority," said the church factions have reached the point of "irreconcilable differences."

"The longer the Episcopal Church tries to force both sides into unity that doesn't work, the longer the church will be side-tracked from forging onward in the world," he told Reuters. "That does not mean that I necessarily want schism. It just means that I think that it is unfortunately inevitable in light of the hard-nosed attitudes of conservatives ... "

Bob Williams, a spokesman for the Episcopal Church, said the church "continues to participate actively in the listening process now under way across the Anglican communion" and the Columbus meeting will "affirm its participation" in the life of the church.

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold said the Ohio meeting should be seen as "as a vast field of exploration rather than a moment of decision" that might be construed by some as a make-or-break moment in the history of the Communion.

In 20 years, he predicted, the church will be talking about something else.

Episcopal church faces another showdown over gays

[Shammu]

Inuit alarmed by signs of global warming
'Sentries for the rest of the world' report massive changes to Arctic life
Doug Struck / Washington Post

Pangnirtung, a village on Canada's Baffin Island, had rain and temperatures in the 40s last month, when minus-20 degrees is normal.

By Doug Struck
The Washington Post
Updated: 8:33 a.m. ET March 22, 2006

PANGNIRTUNG, Canada - Thirty miles from the Arctic Circle, hunter Noah Metuq feels the Arctic changing. Its frozen grip is loosening; the people and animals who depend on its icy reign are experiencing a historic reshaping of their world.

Fish and wildlife are following the retreating ice caps northward. Polar bears are losing the floes they need for hunting. Seals, unable to find stable ice, are hauling up on islands to give birth. Robins and barn owls and hornets, previously unknown so far north, are arriving in Arctic villages.

The global warming felt by wildlife and increasingly documented by scientists is hitting first and hardest here, in the Arctic where the Inuit people make their home. The hardy Inuit -- described by one of their leaders as "sentries for the rest of the world" -- say this winter was the worst in a series of warm winters, replete with alarms of the quickening transformation that many scientists believe will spread from the north to the rest of the globe.

The Inuit -- with homelands in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and northern Russia -- saw the signs of change everywhere. Metuq hauled his fishing shack onto the ice of Cumberland Sound last month, as he has every winter, confident it would stay there for three months. Three days later, he was astonished to see the ice break up, sweeping away his shack and $6,000 of turbot fishing gear.

In Nain, Labrador, hunter Simon Kohlmeister, 48, drove his snowmobile onto ocean ice where he had hunted safely for 20 years. The ice flexed. The machine started sinking. He said he was "lucky to get off" and grab his rifle as the expensive machine was lost. "Someday we won't have any snow," he said. "We won't be Eskimos."

‘It's getting very strange up here’ In Resolute Bay, Inuit people insisted that the dark arctic night was lighter. Wayne Davidson, a longtime weather station operator, finally figured out that a warmer layer of air was reflecting light from the sun over the horizon. "It's getting very strange up here," he said. "There's more warm air, more massive and more uniform."

Villagers say the shrinking ice floes mean they see hungry polar bears more frequently. In the Hudson Bay village of Ivujivik, Lydia Angyiou, a slight woman of 41, was walking in front of her 7-year-old boy last month when she turned to see a polar bear stalking the child. To save him, she charged with her fists into the 700-pound bear, which slapped her twice to the ground before a hunter shot it, according to the Nunatsiaq News.

In the Russian northernmost territory of Chukotka, the Inuit have drilled wells for water because there is so little snow to melt. Reykjavik, Iceland, had its warmest February in 41 years. In Alaska, water normally sealed by ice is now open, brewing winter storms that lash coastal and river villages. Federal officials say two dozen native villages are threatened. In Pangnirtung, residents were startled by thunder, rain showers and a temperature of 48 degrees in February, a time when their world normally is locked and silent at minus-20 degrees.

"We were just standing around in our shorts, stunned and amazed, trying to make sense of it," said one resident, Donald Mearns.

Inuit alarmed by signs of global warming