News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

Kuwaiti women vote for the first time

KUWAIT: Women made history in Kuwait on Tuesday by voting and running for office for the first time in a local by-election after the conservative US-allied Gulf state granted them suffrage last year.

Polls opened at 0500 GMT for the vote to fill a single seat in the Municipal Council, a 16-member body. The rest of the members were elected and appointed last year. “Today is the biggest feast we have been waiting for for more than 40 years,” Khaleda al-Khadher, one of the two female candidates, told Reuters at a polling station in Salwa suburb. “This is the first time Kuwaiti women can show the men that we are capable, it is important that we do our best and leave the outcome of the polls to God,” added Khadher, wearing a conservative black Islamic-style dress.

Some 28,000 voters, including 16,000 women, are eligible to cast ballots for the eight candidates, who include two women.

Last May, parliament passed a government-sponsored bill granting suffrage to women who had fought for their political rights for more than four decades. The United States has urged Middle Eastern states to reform their political systems.

Tuesday’s election paves the way for women to take part in 2007 parliamentary polls, which will be the first since Kuwait’s new ruler, Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, took office this year after the death of his half-brother. “This is a historic day,” said an announcer on state-run Kuwait Television, which carried live footage of male voters in traditional white robes standing in line with women, some black gowns covering them from head to toe. Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah said in remarks published on Tuesday that the political participation of women would boost Kuwait’s international standing. “We are proud and we are honoured,” the prime minister said.

Kuwaitis voted in wider municipal polls last June but women could not take part because the suffrage bill was delayed in parliament by conservative Islamist and tribal MPs’ opposition.

Shortly after women won the vote, the reformist government appointed its first female cabinet minister, Planning Minister Massouma al-Mubarak, who is a rights activist. Reuters

Kuwaiti women vote for the first time

[Shammu]

Ancient Pyramid Discovered in Mexico

By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago

MEXICO CITY - Archeologists announced on Wednesday they have discovered a massive 6th-century Indian pyramid beneath a centuries-old Catholic religious site.

Built on a hillside by the mysterious Teotihuacan culture, the pyramid was abandoned almost 1,000 years before Christians began re-enacting the Crucifixion there in the 1800s.

"When they first saw us digging there, the local people just couldn't believe there was a pyramid," said archaeologist Jesus Sanchez. "It was only when the slopes and shapes of the pyramid, the floors with altars were found, that the finally believed us."

Ceramic fragments and the presence of other ceremonial structures on the hill suggested the possibility there was a pyramid or temple somewhere nearby, but the theory wasn't proved until a member of Sanchez's team, Miriam Advincula, started a project to map the site in 2004. Exploratory trenches dug in 2005 and 2006 confirmed the find.

"Both the pre-Hispanic structure and the Holy Week rituals are part of our cultural legacy, so we have to look for a way to protect both cultural values," said Sanchez, who, along with archaeologist Miriam Advincula, has been exploring the site since 2004.

The people of Iztapalapa — now a low-income neighborhood plagued by squatter settlements — began re-enacting the Passion of Christ in 1833, to give thanks for divine protection during a cholera epidemic.

During the ritual, which draws as many as a million spectators every year, a wooden cross is raised just a few yards from the buried remains of the Teotihuacan temple, and a man chosen to portray Christ is tied to the cross.

Archeologists said they will fill in the excavation pits that revealed the pyramid to prevent the structure from being damaged by Good Friday spectators.

Measuring nearly 500 feet on each side, the 60-foot-tall pyramid was carved out on a natural hillside around 500 A.D., the scientists said. It was abandoned about 300 years later when the Teotihuacan culture collapsed.

Mexico abounds with cases in which Spanish conquerors literally built their Catholic faith atop the remains of older religions.

But the case of Iztapalapa hillside, known as the Hill of the Star, appears to be mere geographical coincidence, Sanchez said.

Pre-Hispanic cultures chose the hills that dot the otherwise flat, mountain-ringed Mexico Valley for their ceremonial sites, and postcolonial communities did the same.

Ancient Pyramid Discovered in Mexico

[Shammu]

John McCain Warns of Iran 'Armageddon'

2008 presidential hopeful John McCain said Sunday that the consequences of a military conflict with Iran over that country's nuclear program could be so serious they could lead to "Armageddon."

The Arizona Republican issued his dire warning after saying that before any military option against Iran is exercised, the world community must first put maximum pressure on Tehran through sanctions.

"We're going to the United Nations Security Council with our European allies," he told NBC's "Meet the Press." "We are seeking sanctions . . . . We must have sanctions against Iran."

McCain said that if sanctions fail, the U.S. must be prepared to resort to the use of military force.

"Would it be a difficult military option?" he asked rhetorically. "Sure, it would be a difficult military option. But you cannot remove it from the table."

Asked by "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert if the U.S. might find itself embroiled in two wars at once, McCain responded point blank:

"I think we could have Armageddon."

Without elaborating his the dire warning, the former Vietnam POW said there was still a chance that sanctions might work.

"If we handle this right, and our European allies stand with us, and the Russians and the Chinese stand with us, sanctions might do the job. And I am confident that this administration will exhaust every effort before contemplating seriously a military option."

John McCain Warns of Iran 'Armageddon'

[Shammu]

Islamic regime finances Nazi groups in Europe
SMCCDI (Information Service)
Mar 30, 2006

The Islamic regime has increased its financial help to several European Nazi and Far-Right groups, especially, in France, Germany and Austria. Thousands of Dollars and Euro have been already distributed in that line.

The money is being distributed by businessmen with links to some of Dubai's Import-Export circles which are working with the Islamic regime's Intelligence.

This policy intends to boost the regime's anti-Jewish propaganda and to show support of the regime's President and his denial of the Holocaust. It also targets the Iranian masses in an effort to persuade them on the validity of Ahmadinejad's claim which will look stronger with the presence of Europeans sharing his shameful view.

Islamic regime finances Nazi groups in Europe

[Shammu]

April 5, 2006
Bill Would Force Schools to Support Homosexuality

by Pete Winn, associate editor

California teachers would be barred from offering opposing view.


California
Sen. Sheila James Kuehl

Gender-neutral bathrooms in public schools? Girls running for prom king? Those are just a few of the possibilities which could result if the California Legislature passes SB 1437 which would force schools to adopt an exclusively pro-homosexual message.

Ron Prentice, who heads the California Family Council, a pro-family group based in Riverside, said California lawmakers are being pressured to adopt the bill, which would transform public schools into politically correct bastions.

"What this specifically does is reflect negatively upon historic faith perspectives in public education," he said.

Prentice said SB 1437 would prevent textbooks, instructional materials or teaching content that would "adversely affect persons because of their gender — either real or perceived — or sexual orientation."

Bob Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute, said the main threat this bill poses is that it deals with gender "in such a way as to deny that there are really naturally born boys and girls."

"What it does is adopt a definition of 'gender' that says it can't be 'stereotypically associated with a person's assigned sex at birth,' " he said. "That means that if you think you're a girl, even if you're a boy, you're to be encouraged in that fantasy."

If adopted and implemented in California classrooms, he said the legislation would wreak havoc on children's understanding of themselves and others.

"It opens the door for the entire homosexual/trangendered agenda — which is to confuse people into believing that you can be anything you want to be, that sex itself is arbitrary and that marriage shouldn't be limited to a man and a woman," Knight added.

And the legislation would ban any opinions to the contrary.

"When the bill forces teachers to talk only positively about homosexuality, what it's saying is you have to lie about it," he said. "You can't bring in the negative health data, all the emotional consequences, and the effects on families. They're basically setting educators up to mislead kids directly on this topic. I don't know of any other topics in schools that are treated like this. You have to teach something a certain way, even though it violates millions of people's deeply held beliefs."

Prentice added: "This is all the incremental activity of the homosexual agenda, and it certainly appears that the next step in the public-school education code in California would be hate-speech codes for anything that might adversely affect gender, whether real or perceived."

Knight said the bill is touted as being part of education reform — but it's really about "corrupting education and making it a fully owned subsidiary of the homosexual activist movement."

The bill is being pushed through the Legislature by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, a self-identified lesbian who has been promoting the entire gay educational agenda.

In her earlier life, Kuehl, who worked under the name Sheila James, was an actress best known for portraying the character Zelda Gilroy on the popular '60s TV sitcom, "Dobie Gillis." Her appealing personality coupled with her law-professor's knowledge of the law, has gone far to advance the gay agenda in California, Knight said.

" 'Zelda' is definitely doing some incredibly negative things in this state," Prentice said.

Pro-family activists hope this bill never gets near Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, but there is real possibility it might. It has already passed the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"The governor is one of our last stops," Prentice said. "We're certainly hoping that, if this gets to his desk, it would be vetoed. We would encourage people to call the governor's office to make that statement."

Prentice said he also encourages conservative Christians in the state to speak out about this bill with co-workers, church members and friends.

Bill Would Force Schools to Support Homosexuality 

[Shammu]

London bombers not terrorists - professor

Apr 4 2006

By Kate Mansey Daily Post Staff

LONDON'S suicide bombings were not the acts of terrorists but just an extreme Muslim demonstration, a Chester professor has claimed.

The attacks that killed 52 people and threw the country into shock last July were part of a long history of demonstrations sparked by British Muslims, according to Professor Ron Geaves.

His controversial comments were made at a lecture given at the University of Chester that attracted dignitaries and members of the Muslim community from around the North West.

As part of his research, the professor's recent report looks at the history of demonstrations by British Muslims.

From the 1980s Salman Rushdie demonstrations to the anti-war protests surrounding the Iraq war, his work charts the changing nature of Muslim communities in Britain.

Prof Geaves said: "I have included, rather controversially, the events in London as primarily an extreme form of demonstration and assess what these events actually mean in terms of their significance in the Muslim community.

"The word terrorism is a political word which always seems to be used to demonise people."

The academic, whose lecture was entitled Twenty years of fieldwork: reflections on "reflexivity" in the study of British Muslims, said: "The title refers to the personal transformation that has taken place over the last two decades in which I have moved from a position of academic neutrality to one of active engagement with the Muslim community in Britain."

Prof Geaves is also pioneering the UK's first ever Muslim Youth Work degree programme.

From next year, Muslim students can gain professional youth work credentials at the only course of its kind.

It is thought that the course, to be based in Warrington and run through the University of Chester, will be copied by academic institutions elsewhere in the country as a measure to engage young British Muslims.

Prof Geaves said: "This is part of a reactionary move. People are saying 'What can we do about this situation'.

"Youth work has a part to play in terms of making sure youths don't become despondent, particularly in areas of low unemployment and bad housing." Prof Geaves has been at the University of Chester's Department of Theology and Religious Studies since 2001.

Dr Ruth Ackroyd, department head, said: "I am delighted to have Professor Geaves as a colleague in the department.

"His wide knowledge of different Muslim communities, not only in the UK, but also in the Indian sub-continent, has brought to his students a rich sense of Islam as a first-hand, lived experience rather than simply text-book learning.

"His range of contacts is also an important asset in forging strong links with faith communities as we develop our new professional degree programme in Muslim Youth Work."

London bombers not terrorists - professor

[Shammu]

Iran military hints at Strait of Hormuz blockade
Wed. 05 Apr 2006

Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Apr. 05 – The Supreme Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, described on Wednesday the Strait of Hormuz on Iran’s southern shores as “the economic lifeline” of the West and said it could be used to put pressure on Iran’s enemies, state television reported.

About two-fifths of the world's oil supplies pass through the 50-kilometre-wide entrance to the Persian Gulf.

Safavi was speaking to reporters during the sixth day of weeklong naval exercises in the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman, dubbed “Great Prophet”. The general said that the area was of “immense military and geo-strategic importance” and that it linked the seaways of three continents – Africa, Asia, and Europe.

“Many industrial countries are dependent on the energy from this region. Japan gets 70 percent of its oil from this region, likewise 70 percent of certain European countries’ energy comes from this region”, he said, adding that every day the equivalent of 20 million barrels of oil travelled through the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf are … the corner stone of [Iran’s] defence. The Strait of Hormuz counts as a point of economic control and pressure in the transfer of energy for aggressive powers from beyond the continent that want to endanger the security of the region”, General Safavi said.

The IRGC chief said the ongoing naval exercises should be seen in the context of “the geographical importance of the Persian Gulf, the timing and conditions of the exercises and the various modern and advanced weapons tested”.

Safavi said that the region possessed more than 700 billion barrels of oil, or 65.5 percent of the world’s reserves.

Iran military hints at Strait of Hormuz blockade

[Soldier4Christ]

Haniyeh: Hamas to Control Security Forces

 GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- The new Palestinian prime minister on Thursday dismissed efforts by President Mahmoud Abbas to wrest authority from the governing Islamic militant group Hamas by granting his loyalists new powers.

Ismail Haniyeh told The Associated Press that his Hamas-led government will assume control of the Palestinian security forces, despite Abbas' appointment of an ally to head three of the security branches.

The conflict was the latest indication of a burgeoning power struggle between the moderate Palestinian president and the militant group that took power last week after sweeping January elections.

"There are attempts to create parallel frameworks to some ministries in the Palestinian government," Haniyeh said in an interview at his Gaza City headquarters. "But I don't think (Abbas) can continue this pressure and diminish some of the authorities of this government."
   
   

Haniyeh also told AP that Abbas, "as the head of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO, can move on political fronts and negotiate with whomever he wants. What is important is what will be offered to the Palestinian people." His comment appeared to open the door for Abbas to hold talks with Israel.

But he denounced Israel's plans to unilaterally determine its future borders with the Palestinians if it deems that negotiations will not work.

Abbas, who favors restarting long-stalled peace talks with Israel, is amassing more power to bypass Hamas' new rulers, who have provoked Western threats of an aid cutoff by rejecting Israel's right to exist and refusing to renounce violence.

Hamas has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, although it has largely observed a year-old cease-fire, and it is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

Haniyeh said Abbas had assured him the security forces would remain under the control of the Hamas-led Cabinet, which, he said, did not take power "on the back of a tank" but in "transparent and fair elections," referring to the group's Jan. 25 election victory.

But hours later, Abbas appointed a longtime ally, Rashid Abu Shbak, to head the three security services that were to be under Hamas' control, in addition to agencies already under the president's aegis.

The Palestine Liberation Organization, which Abbas heads, also ordered the Hamas-led Foreign Ministry to coordinate with it before making major pronouncements on diplomatic policy. The PLO is technically in charge of the Palestinians' foreign affairs.

Haniyeh spoke as Israeli President Moshe Katzav tapped acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to form Israel's next government. Olmert said he would quickly put together a coalition committed to carrying out his plan to pull out of most of the West Bank.

Haniyeh said there has been no change in his group's refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence and respect all past accords signed by the Palestinian Authority - the three conditions Israel and the United States have imposed for dealing with Hamas.

At the same time, he struck a conciliatory tone when speaking about the United States, saying, "we don't want feelings of animosity to remain in the region, not toward the U.S. administration and not toward the West."

Haniyeh said his government could overcome a crippling financial crisis by appealing to Arab and Muslim donors.

[Shammu]

U.S. Has “Illusion of Omnipotence” - Gorbachev

Created: 06.04.2006 11:59 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 12:01 MSK, 9 hours 33 minutes ago

MosNews

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said the United States has an illusion of omnipotence — a “victory complex” - that’s more dangerous than Russia’s inferiority complex, San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports.

“Both countries should overcome those feelings,” he said, “and their leaders should reflect what the people want, and what the people want is dialogue.”

Gorbachev spoke through an interpreter Wednesday to a full house at the Distinguished Speaker Series at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. He said the United States had a right to claim a leadership role in the world based on its military, cultural and economic power.

“But partnerships rather than domination should be used to exercise that power,” he said. Gorbachev, the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize winner, spoke for almost 90 minutes on a wide range of issues.

On Iraq, he said: “I believe the only way out is for the U.S. to have an exit strategy that gives Iraq a chance to solve its problems, gets help from other Arab nations and does so with the involvement of the U.N. Security Council.” Gorbachev criticized at the Bush administration’s efforts to bring democracy to Iraq.

“Leaders should learn from Russia and not interfere in other countries,” he said. “You cannot force democracy on people. Democracy is only worth something if it’s homegrown. We need to respect other nations. Those who try and teach democracy often have a history that’s not that good.”

Gorbachev said it would be a mistake to lump the majority of the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims with a few extremists and fundamentalists. “Traditional Islam and Christianity share the same values,” he said. “They don’t want to be condescended to. They want to be equals with the West.”

“We’re still using the old tools of force, thinking that war solves problems,” Gorbachev said. “The people of the world don’t need or want that, and instead envision living in a balanced, stable world where diversity is accepted and recognized.”

He said perestroika, the government restructuring he started in the Soviet Union, was interrupted by the corrupt administration of Boris Yeltsin, but is resuming under Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Anything can happen,” he said. “There will be rollbacks and we may stumble, but Russia will never turn back, Russia will move forward. We want to have democracy. But what you did in 200 years, we cannot do in 200 days.”

There has been backsliding on nuclear treaties he signed with Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush in the 1980s and 90s, he said. “We agreed neither country would use nuclear weapons in a first strike. We signed a statement that said a nuclear war could not be won and should never be fought,” he said.

Current U.S. nuclear strategy discusses the possiblity of using nuclear weapons in a first strike, he said, so Russia has inserted similar language in its nuclear plans.

U.S. Has “Illusion of Omnipotence” - Gorbachev

My note; Yes things are setting up nicely, for Magog to return to power.

[Shammu]

Giuliani Tells Moussaoui Jury About 9/11

By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press Writer 16 minutes ago

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani described the opening horrors of Sept. 11, 2001, to Zacarias Moussaoui's death penalty trial Thursday, saying he was unwilling to believe people were jumping to their deaths from the World Trade Center until he saw it with his own eyes.

He said the image of two people jumping together, appearing to hold hands, sticks with him every day. Moussaoui affected a look of boredom when the prosecution played video of victims falling to their deaths.

Jurors watched intently; some family members in the courtroom hung their heads with reddened eyes during some of the testimony.

Giuliani took the stand after prosecutor Rob Spencer braced jurors for the painful testimony they were going to hear over the next few weeks. His presentation opened the final phase of the drawn-out trial that will determine whether Moussaoui is executed or sent to prison for life.

Giuliani said that when he arrived at the scene, his deputy told him how bad the situation was and people were jumping from the high floors of the towers. "I concluded or hoped he was wrong," he said.

But then he saw people falling and "I froze. I realized in that couple of seconds, it switched my thinking and emotions. I said, 'We're in uncharted territory.'"

Extra marshals were on hand when Giuliani walked past Moussaoui and took the stand.

Spencer argued that the voices of the victims of the attacks and their anguished families should be all the jury needs to hear to decide whether Moussaoui, an acknowledged al-Qaida terrorist, should die for his crimes.

Spencer described one call from a woman on the 83rd floor of the second tower to fall. "The floor is completely engulfed," she said. "We're on the floor and we can't breathe.... I don't see any more air...I'm going to die, aren't I?"

Moussaoui, 37, is the only person charged in this country in the Sept. 11 attacks. On Monday, the jury concluded that Moussaoui was directly responsible for at least one death on that day and is therefore eligible for execution.

His trial is to hear the cockpit voice recordings from United Flight 93, which crashed into a western Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, after passengers fought back against the hijackers. The tape has never been heard publicly.

Prosecutors also planned to summon family members to testify and they were poised to play phone calls from people trapped in the World Trade Center and speaking their last words to 911 operators.

"You cannot understand the magnitude of that day unless you hear it from the victims themselves," Spencer said. Moussaoui smiled several times when the prosecution mentioned his enthusiasm for the attacks.

Defense lawyer Gerald Zerkin acknowledged that evidence on the impact on the victims will be overwhelming. But he urged jurors to "somehow maintain your equilibrium .... You must nevertheless open yourselves to the possibility of a sentence other than death."

Zerkin described how Moussaoui grew up with little religious training and fell under the influence of radical Muslims when he traveled to London in hopes of becoming a businessman.

Zerkin alluded to a history of schizophrenia in Moussaoui's family and said several doctors hired by the defense believe he is mentally ill.

Spencer countered: "It was his choice to become a terrorist and it was a choice he was proud of."

Giuliani described "a minor earthquake" when the first tower fell. He had just gotten to a nearby building that briefly served as a command center and was told the White House was on the line. He spoke to a deputy political director who confirmed to Giuliani that the Pentagon had been hit. The mayor asked to speak to President Bush, who was at a school in Florida, and was told instead that Vice President Dick Cheney would be getting back to him.

Just as he was about to be connected to Cheney, the lines went dead and the building shook, he said. Giuliani looked outside and someone told him, "The tower went down."

He said it was "like the storm scene in 'The Wizard of Oz'. ... Like a white cloud, with things flowing through the street."

At one point, Giuliani said he had been told that up to 10 airplanes were unaccounted for, and he worried that the city might be hit multiple times even after the Twin Towers had been hit.

Prosecutors received the judge's approval Wednesday to play cockpit voice recordings from United Flight 93.

Relatives of the Flight 93 passengers were permitted to listen to the 30-minute cockpit recording in April 2002. At that time, the government had grief counselors on hand and warned the families that graphic details would be audible.

While the recording will be played for the jury and the courtroom gallery, it is unclear whether it will be publicly released. Most court exhibits are being made available to the public, but U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema is giving Flight 93 family members until Tuesday to request that the recording not be distributed except as evidence in court.

Moussaoui was in a Minnesota jail on 9/11. Nevertheless, the jury concluded that Moussaoui could have thwarted or at least minimized the attacks if he had confessed his al-Qaida membership and his plan to hijack aircraft when federal agents arrested him in August 2001 after his efforts to obtain flight training aroused suspicion.

Giuliani Tells Moussaoui Jury About 9/11

[Shammu]

Ex-mayor Giuliani testifies of horrors of September 11

By Deborah Charles 8 minutes ago

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (Reuters) - Former New York City
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani described watching desperate people jump from the burning World Trade Center in emotional testimony on Thursday to a jury that will determine if September 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui should die.
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Jurors and spectators, including relatives of the September 11 victims, also watched video clips of two planes hitting the trade center and then about five minutes of footage of people jumping from the burning, smoking buildings. Many spectators gasped and dabbed at tears while watching the video.

"I saw several people, I can't remember how many, jumping," Giuliani said. "There were two people right near each other. It appeared to me they were holding hands.

"Of the many memories, that's one that comes to me every day."

Shortly after, jurors were shown several views of the Twin Towers collapsing in Manhattan on September 11.

Moussaoui alternated between smiles and nods as he watched the video clips of the twin towers collapsing in Manhattan. After the jury and judge were gone for the morning break he sang out "Burn in the USA!" -- an apparent takeout on the Bruce Springsteen song.

Last year, Moussaoui, an admitted al Qaeda member and the only person charged in the United States with the September 11 attacks, pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy. Three of the charges carry the death penalty.

On Monday, the jury found Moussaoui was eligible for the death penalty. The jurors agreed with the government argument that Moussaoui's lies when he was arrested three weeks before the attacks led to the deaths of nearly 3,000 people.

'NUCLEAR CLOUD'

In this final phase of the sentencing trial, jurors will decide if Moussaoui should be sentenced to death or life in prison.

Dozens of witnesses, including family members of people who died in the hijackings and people who were injured in the attacks, will testify in this phase about how they were affected by the hijackings.

Giuliani, who won high praise for his handling of the September 11 crisis, was the first major witness to do so. He described where he was that day, what he saw and what he felt.

"By the time the second plane hit, we knew for sure it was a terrorist attack," he said, sitting next to scale models of the World Trade Center.

"It was horrid," he said, describing the site of the Twin Towers after they collapsed. "The worst thing I've ever seen in my whole life ... parts of human bodies ... hands or legs."

Giuliani said it looked like a "nuclear cloud" was going through Manhattan after the towers collapsed.

Calling September 11, 2001, "the darkest day in American history," federal prosecutor Robert Spencer urged jurors to sentence Moussaoui to death for his part in the disaster.

"Now it's time for you to hear the voices," he said. "You cannot understand the magnitude of the horror that day, unless you hear it from the families."

But Gerald Zerkin, one of Moussaoui's court-appointed lawyers, urged jurors to keep an open mind and listen to evidence that the defendant had a mental illness that caused him to be involved in the conspiracy.

"The government's evidence will present an extraordinary challenge for you. You must somehow maintain equilibrium," he said. "You must nevertheless open yourselves to the possibility of a sentence other than death."

Ex-mayor Giuliani testifies of horrors of September 11

[Shammu]

Cockpit Tape's Release Applauded by Relatives

By Timothy Dwyer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 6, 2006; Page A12

The cockpit voice recording from the flight on which passengers wrested control from hijackers Sept. 11, 2001, will be played publicly for the first time at the sentencing trial of al-Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, a judge ruled yesterday.

U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema also ordered that the tape be made available to the public after the jury hears it in court unless family members of Flight 93 victims file a written objection by Tuesday.

D. Hamilton Peterson of Bethesda, president of Families of Flight 93, called the release of the recording "enormous" and said he supports the ruling.

"The only people who have ever heard it are federal law enforcement officials and a very small number of Flight 93 families. Nobody else has heard it," said Peterson, whose father, Donald A. Peterson, and stepmother, Jean H. Peterson, died. "The significance of this cannot be overemphasized. This has very horrific and heroic moments."

Flight 93 left Newark for San Francisco the morning of Sept. 11 and was hijacked by terrorists. It crashed near Shanksville, Pa., as it was heading east, presumably toward Washington. Family members who spoke to their loved ones on board have said that passengers were about to retake control of the plane from the hijackers before it crashed in a remote area, probably saving the White House or Capitol from being struck.

In June 2004, families of those killed in the 9/11 attacks gathered in a New Jersey hotel to listen to audiotape from the cockpit recorder and other evidence, including phone calls between passengers and family members or co-workers on the ground. The government, citing the prosecution of Moussaoui, required family members to sign a nondisclosure agreement as a condition of listening to the tape.

"We signed a confidentiality agreement understandably and justifiably not to reveal the contents because it could impair a fair trial," Peterson said.

Peterson emphasized that he was speaking as an individual and not in his role as president of the family organization. He said he sent an e-mail yesterday to relatives of Flight 93 victims after learning of Brinkema's decision.

"This is a remarkable opportunity, and likely the last opportunity, to have the bravery of our loved ones revealed at last to the American people," he said.

Cockpit Tape's Release Applauded by Relatives

[Shammu]

More Human Remains Found Near Trade Center

1 hour, 48 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Construction workers near the World Trade Center discovered 74 more bone fragments on a damaged skyscraper being prepared for demolition, the largest discovery of human remains since cleanup of the building began last fall, officials said.

Investigators reviewing emergency calls from the morning of the terrorist attacks also identified eight more recordings of emergency dispatches and 911 calls from the towers that had previously been overlooked.

Most of the bone fragments discovered over the weekend were found mixed with gravel that had been raked to the sides of the roof of the former Deutsche Bank building, which suffered extensive damage when the twin towers collapsed on Sept. 11, 2001.

Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the city medical examiner, said workers still had more than 100 yards of material to rake through and said she wouldn't be surprised by the discovery of additional remains.

"What they've cleared on the weekend was just a very small area. They still have quite a lot to go," Borakove said Thursday.

The building is contaminated with asbestos, lead and trade center dust and is being cleaned before workers begin deconstructing it floor by floor in June.

Earlier this year, workers in the building found four additional human body parts, and they found 10 additional bone fragments on the roof last fall. In the most recent discovery, workers retrieved 82 samples, 74 of which proved to be human remains that will undergo DNA testing, Borakove said.

Some Sept. 11 family members have urged the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. rebuilding agency to have forensic experts search the building first, and many planned to ask Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday to require a team from the medical examiner's office to be on the site at all times.

"This is an abomination that we are putting this on construction workers," said Sally Regenhard, the mother of a firefighter killed at the trade center.

The medical examiner's office has more than 9,000 unidentified remains from the 2,749 victims of the trade center attack. The remains are being are being stored in the hope that more sophisticated DNA technology will allow for identifications in the future. The remains of more than 40 percent of the people killed at the trade center have not been identified.

The newly discovered 911 recordings were identified on two previously overlooked tapes as investigators searched for the voice of a fire department official who died in the trade center.

The fire department said the recordings would be released after they are processed by the city law department. Roughly 130 calls were released Friday after the voices of the callers had been edited out. The voices of the fire and police operators who heard the calls for help were released after The New York Times and victims' relatives sued.

More Human Remains Found Near Trade Center

[Shammu]

Protesters Defend Carrying Mexican Flags

By AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 4 minutes ago

PHOENIX - Hundreds of protesters gripped Mexican flags as they marched for immigration reform in the past few weeks, but they say a display of cultural unity is being mistaken as a lack of loyalty to the United States.
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The displays turned off many Americans. Conservative talk show hosts admonished the protesters, while everyday people wrote angry letters to the editors of their local newspapers.

Some called for those carrying the Mexican flag to return to Mexico. Others questioned why immigrants demanding rights in the United States would wave symbols of Mexico. At least three schools in Colorado and California temporarily banned students from carrying flags to try to calm the protest emotions.

But those who carried the flags, and scholars of the immigrant community, say that pride in their culture should not be misconstrued as a lack of patriotism in their adopted nation.

"Nobody gets upset with the Irish on St. Patrick's Day," said Gabriela Lemus, director of policy and legislation at the Washington, D.C.-based League of United Latin American Citizens, the group that organized most of the recent protests and is heading the dozens of marches and rallies scheduled across the nation Monday.

Critics of waving the red, white and green have questioned marchers' loyalty to the United States, but Latino activists deny the implications.

"The Mexican flag is like a symbol of dignity and identity and pride for the people who carry it," said Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers of America with Cesar Chavez. "If people try to read more into that flag than what it is, they're wrong."

Hundreds of thousands of immigrant supporters and high school students have marched in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Denver and other U.S. cities since late March to protest a proposed federal crackdown on illegal immigration, and often the crowds have waved flags of Mexico, Guatemala and other countries.

"Pride and roots is what it is," said Huerta, who carried the Mexican flag during the farm workers' movement in the 1960s and, more recently, during rallies in Los Angeles and Tucson. "It definitely does not mean separation or nationalism in the sense that we want to go back to Mexico."

Isidro D. Ortiz, a political scientist and professor of Chicano and Chicana studies at San Diego State University, said the flag is primarily a symbol of Mexican pride. But, in the current climate of the United States, Latinos also wave it to express dissatisfaction with how they are treated, Ortiz said.

"(Immigrants) have been trying for some time to imagine themselves as a part of the United States," he added. "What they've experienced is refusal."

Intentional or not, protest organizers acknowledge that the controversy over the Mexican flag is detracting from the message demonstrators want to send.

"(The flag) is a distraction," said Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. "What the marchers were marching for was to say, 'Hey, we are here, we work, we're tired of being made to blame for every ill that people experience.'"

Lemus said her organization is encouraging protesters to carry both the U.S. and Mexican flags to show their pride in both countries.

"The American flag is a symbol of what they are trying to become — a U.S. citizen," she said.

Jennifer Allen, executive director of the immigrant rights group Border Action Network, said she is not discouraging anyone from bringing the Mexican flag to Monday's march in Tucson. Rather, the protesters themselves are spreading the word.

"A lot of immigrant families in southern Arizona are telling one another to carry the American flag in their hands, but hold the Mexican flag in their hearts," she said.

The Oceanside Unified School District in Oceanside, Calif., temporarily banned students flags, as well as signs and clothing considered disruptive, after shutting down middle and high schools for two days last week because of the protests.

Superintendent Kenneth Noonan "really felt that these items were helping escalate conflict" in the district, where more than 50 percent of students are Hispanic, spokeswoman Laura Chalkley said.

In Colorado, flags were banned at Skyline High School in Longmont and at Shaw Heights Middle School in Westminster. All the schools continue to display flags in classrooms and other areas.

Meanwhile, negotiations on immigration reform continued in Congress.

Senate Republicans and Democrats appeared close to a compromise Thursday on legislation that would open the way to legal status and eventual citizenship for many of the 11 million immigrants living in the United States illegally.

As outlined, the measure would provide for enhanced border security, regulate the future flow of immigrants into the United States and offer legalized status to those in the country unlawfully. In general, illegal immigrants who have been in the United States between two and five years would return to their home country briefly but could re-enter as temporary workers and begin a process of seeking citizenship.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., called it "a huge breakthrough." Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, agreed but cautioned that it wasn't yet a done deal.

Protesters Defend Carrying Mexican Flags

[Shammu]

Moscow eyes lost oil contract in Iraq
By Andrea R. Mihailescu
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published April 5, 2006

Russia's largest oil company, Lukoil, is looking to the formation of a new Iraqi government as an opportunity to deal itself back into that country's huge West Qurna oil field, regaining a lucrative contract it lost in December 2002 as coalition forces were building up for the 2003 invasion.

    Iraq's foreign ministry, seeking Moscow's help with some troublesome neighbors, has noted that Russian companies such as Lukoil understand Iraq's oil industry and environment because of their long history in the country.

    "We hope the formation of a new government in Iraq will allow us in 2006 to start negotiations on recovering West Qurna," Andrei Kuzyaev, president of Lukoil Overseas, said at a conference in London in February.

    Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari asked for Russian help in November to end interference in its internal affairs from Syria and Iran, and has said that Lukoil offers Iraq needed technological and financial capabilities.

    Lukoil and Saddam Hussein's government in 1997 signed the $3.7 billion development and production contract for the giant West Qurna field, one of Iraq's largest with an estimated 11 billion to 15 billion barrels located in North Rumaila, west of Basra.

    The Iraqis abruptly canceled the contract in December 2002, charging, not without merit, that Lukoil had failed to honor a provision requiring that it spend at least $200 million on the field within the first three years of the contract.

    However, the energy newsletter Middle East Economic Survey reported at the time that the Iraqis were angry because Lukoil executives were hedging their bets on the expected U.S. invasion, even as Moscow was working at the United Nations to head off the attack.

    Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz was quoted in Canada's National Post on Dec. 17, 2002, saying, "Lukoil went to Washington to get assurances that their contract will be implemented after the removal of the Iraqi regime. ... Such conduct cannot be accepted."

    Despite losing the contract, Lukoil worked at maintaining good relations with Iraqi administrations that succeeded Saddam.

    During the summer of 2004, it gave Iraq millions of dollars in humanitarian aid and provided training for Iraqi oil specialists at its facilities in Western Siberia and Volgograd, according to the Energy Information Administration, a department of the U.S. Department of Energy.

    Lukoil also pledged to train 150 Iraqi specialists annually over five years at its Russian facilities.

    Such aid is a "starting point for Russian companies to begin implementation of oil projects in Iraq," Lukoil President Vagit Alekperov said in September.

    Now, with a permanent government to be established in Baghdad, Lukoil has reason to hope for the best.
    The Iraqi oil ministry announced in June that an inter-ministerial committee would be set up to review oil contracts signed under the Saddam regime, and that it would renegotiate existing oil-development contracts with France's Total as well as Russian and Chinese energy firms.

    The newly elected parliament, meanwhile, is expected to create a petroleum-investment law in line with the new constitution once a government is in place.

    "The process of negotiation is a joint process between the government and the provinces, but the ownership of the oil is for the Iraqi people," Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi, who has served as oil minister since December, told Platts, an industry publication.

    Lukoil may think its prospects are improved by the participation of U.S.-based ConocoPhillips, which now holds a 17 percent stake in the Russian company and has announced plans to increase its stake to 20 percent. However, U.S. officials say the decision will be made by the Iraqis, not the Americans.

    "We're not involved in this decision-making," a State Department official said. "Oil policy and decision-making regarding Iraqi oil assets are firmly under the control of the Iraqi government."

    Jamal Qureshi, lead analyst at the Washington-based energy consulting firm PFC Energy, noted that the United States does have advisers at the oil ministry who assist Iraq in its decision making.

    "Who will have authority to negotiate these contracts will largely depend on how centralized the government will be," he said. "But with Iraq on the verge of civil war, the prospects are not good. There is a need for a more secure environment."

    Insurgents have attacked pipelines and other oil installations nearly 300 times since 2003. Of those, 95 took place last year.
   
Moscow eyes lost oil contract in Iraq