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[Soldier4Christ]

Terrorists recruiting 'white Muslims'


SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina - His code name was Maximus, and he held secret meetings in a shabby room at the Banana City Hotel on the outskirts of Sarajevo.

Bosnian police put him under surveillance, and in a raid last fall on his apartment on Poligonska Street, authorities seized explosives, a suicide bomber belt and a videotape of masked men begging Allah's forgiveness for what they were about to do.

What they planned, investigators believe, was to blow up a European embassy. But compounding their concern, they say, was the ringleader's background: Maximus turned out to be Mirsad Bektasevic, a 19-year-old Swedish citizen of Serbian origin with ties to a senior al-Qaida operative.

Terrorists have been working to recruit non-Arab sympathizers - so-called "white Muslims" with Western features who theoretically could more easily blend into European cities and execute attacks - according to classified intelligence documents obtained by The Associated Press.

A 252-page confidential report jointly compiled by Croatian and U.S. intelligence on potentially dangerous Islamic groups in Bosnia suggests the recruitment drive may have begun as long as four years ago, when Arab militants ran up against tough post-9/11 security obstacles.

"They judge that it is high time that their job on this territory should be taken over by new local forces ... people who are born here and live here have an advantage which would make their job easier. By their appearance, they are less obvious," the report reads.

Arabs, it adds, "have become too obvious, which has made their job difficult."

Bosnia's minister of security, Barisa Colak, acknowledged the existence of the intelligence report but said authorities had no concrete evidence that recruitment efforts are widespread. There are no known cases of a Balkan "white Muslim" recruit being involved in an actual attack.

"Even so, we have to be extremely careful and serious and not miss anything," he told the AP.

Even if systematic recruitment has been occurring, citizens of ex-Yugoslavia need visas to travel to Western Europe or the United States - a complicated and time-consuming process.

Dragan Lukac, the deputy director of SIPA - Bosnia's equivalent of the FBI - said authorities are taking no chances. Undercover counterterrorism agents have placed dozens of suspects under 24-hour surveillance and the country is "very intensively" sharing information with the FBI, the CIA, Scotland Yard and other agencies, he said.

"Bosnia has become a breeding ground for terrorists, including some on international wanted lists. We can clearly say that," Lukac told the AP in an interview.

Some disaffected young Bosnians may be receptive to the terrorist message: After the U.S.-led military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, it was considered "almost fashionable" to spout extremist sentiment in public, Lukac said, especially among those "frustrated and influenced by ideology, Islamized through various extremist streams."

Authorities who arrested Bektasevic and several alleged associates last October tipped off police in Britain, who quickly arrested three suspected British Muslim accomplices. They also alerted authorities in Denmark, who took seven others into custody. Investigators say they since have established that Bektasevic maintained close ties to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Since the 2001 attacks on the United States, Bosnia has deported dozens of Arabs and other foreign Muslims for suspected ties to terrorist groups or alleged involvement in dummy charities believed to have raised cash to bankroll attacks.

In February, the country launched an exhaustive review of all cases in which citizenship was granted to foreigners dating back to 1992 and vowed to deport any with suspected links to terrorism.

Police also confirmed they are keeping close tabs on dozens of mujahedeen - Islamic fighters who came to Bosnia to fight on the Muslim side in the 1992-95 war. Although most left for other conflicts in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq and elsewhere, some stayed and married local women.

The vast majority of Bosnia's Muslims rejects the mujahedeen's fiery brand of Islam. Yet young, restless men frustrated with 40 percent joblessness and angered by real or perceived insults to Islam can be open to hard-line dogma, the Prague-based think tank Transitions Online said in a recent report.

"A pool of potential white recruits carrying Bosnian or even Western passports would presumably be of great value to terrorists," it said, calling the Balkan country "a deeply traumatized society susceptible to extremism."

"Muslims are going through a very tempting time," conceded Mustafa Ceric, the leader of Bosnia's Islamic community. He insisted, however, that there was no stomach for extremist violence after years of devastating ethnic conflict.

"If we wanted terrorism, we had a chance to do so in the heat of our suffering, and we did not," he said in an interview.

NATO's top commander in Bosnia, U.S. Brig. Gen. Louis Weber, concurred in an interview, saying Bosnian Muslims overwhelmingly are moderate and secular, and the terror threat is fairly low because "there isn't a large community that would support that kind of activity here."

Although Ceric keeps close tabs on Bosnia's imams, the 6,500 European Union peacekeepers who now patrol Bosnia are one-tenth the number NATO deployed nationwide in 1995, meaning far fewer outside eyes and ears combing the country to disrupt any recruitment effort.

The U.S.-Croatian report says infiltration actually dates back long before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. It says Islamic militants with ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations have been crisscrossing the Balkans for more than 15 years, financed in part with cash from narcotics smuggling and coming from Afghanistan and points further east via Turkey, Kosovo and Albania.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, evidence has emerged that extremists have been trying to carve out a beachhead in the Balkans. The region is home to 8 million Muslims, roughly a third of Europe's Islamic faithful, and arms and explosives are easily obtained in what Lukac calls "a kind of El Dorado" for criminals.

Several Islamic militants who fought in the former Yugoslavia went to Spain, bringing back new military skills and expertise as well as access to contacts throughout Europe, a Western diplomatic official with intimate knowledge of counterterrorism measures in Spain told the AP on condition of anonymity.

"Yugoslavia was a meeting point," he said.

Among the Islamic leaders Bosnian authorities are monitoring closely is Nezim Halilovic, chief mufti of the King Fahd Cultural Center. The mosque, one of dozens being built around Sarajevo with Saudi donations, can accommodate 5,000 people and is part of a $9 million complex that includes a library, a sports hall, restaurants and classrooms for studying Arabic and the Quran.

Its imam has repeatedly has been accused of using his sermons to preach violence in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Israel, Iraq and Kashmir. Nothing like that was heard at one of his recent noon prayer sermons; addressing throngs of heavily bearded men and burqa-clad women, he spoke proudly of "bringing Bosnian Muslims back to Islam."

Halilovic denies he is a radical and insisted Bektasevic and the others arrested last autumn were the victims of an elaborate setup.

"This is just a trick played on the Muslims," he said in an interview. "They were framed to bring the world's attention on Bosnia-Herzegovina as a 'terrorist country.' Europe and the whole world should not be afraid of Bosnian Muslims."

[Soldier4Christ]

Oil nears $72, backs off
Supplies of crude post surprise decline, gasoline chalks up big shortfall as summer driving season gets underway.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Oil prices hit another record Wednesday after a government report said supplies of crude made a surprise decline and gasoline stocks fell far more than expected.

U.S. light crude for May delivery spiked to $71.79, a new intraday high, just following the report's release, but later fell back and traded at $71.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 21 cents from Tuesday's record $71.35 closing high. Oil was off 45 cents just before the government report.

The Energy Information Administration said in its weekly inventory report that supplies of gasoline fell 5.4 million barrels last week. Analysts had predicted a decline of 2.5 million barrels, according to Reuters.

Distillates stocks, from which heating oil and diesel fuel are made, sank 2.8 million barrels while crude supplies fell by 0.8 million barrels. Analysts were looking for a 1.6 million barrel drop in distillate supplies and a 1.8 million build in crude stocks.

"This is just continuing the concern over stockpiles going into the summer driving season," said Brian Hicks, co-manager of the Global Resource Fund at Global Investors. "We think it's going to be supportive of prices in the short term."

Oil has been hitting record highs in recent sessions, unadjusted for inflation, on fears of a confrontation with major oil exporter Iran. But it's also within sight of inflation-adjusted highs of around $80 a barrel set in the late 1970s and early 1980s following the gas crisis and the Iranian revolution.

Gasoline supplies have been closely watched over the last few weeks as the country enters the high demand "summer driving season."

Increased demand, record high crude prices and problems at refineries - including lingering effects from last season's hurricanes and a switch to less polluting gasoline - have contributed to a run-up in prices.

Gasoline averaged $2.80 for a gallon of regular Wednesday, up 29 cents, or 12 percent, in the last month, according to AAA, the consumer group formerly knows as the American Automobile Association.

Gas prices, closely follow crude prices, which have risen about 13 percent since the beginning of the year, primarily on political uncertainty or outright violence in such major oil-producing countries as Iran, Nigeria, Venezuela and Russia.

Iran has been at the forefront in recent weeks as it tangles with the West over its nuclear program.

On Tuesday, the United States failed to secure international support for targeted sanctions against Iran and President Bush refused to rule out nuclear strikes if diplomacy failed to curb the country's atomic program.

Tehran has vowed to continue its pursuit of nuclear technology and warned Tuesday that the Iranian army would defend any attack on the country.

Iran says its nuclear program is intended for civilian purposes, while many western countries say its intended to build a bomb.

The situation in Nigeria is also pushing up prices, as nearly one quarter of the country's high-quality crude is shut in due to tensions with militants, who want more control over how the country's oil wealth is dispensed.

The International Monetary Fund said high oil prices could begin hurting world economic growth and called on the U.S., which uses a quarter of total world production, to raise taxes in a bid to reduce demand, Reuters reported.

Reuters also said OPEC ministers will meet next week informally to discuss prices, but said there the cartel, already pumping at near full capacity, can do to ease the situation.

But politics is only part of the story with crude prices. Oil has been on a charge for the last few years, more than tripling in price since the start of 2002.

Big fund money, faced with low global interest rates and a lackluster U.S. stock market, have helped fuel the rise as they chase returns in all types of commodities, including oil.

And fundamental supply and demand has also played a big part as discoveries of new, easily recoverable supplies have failed to keep pace with ever rising demand from the U.S. and developing countries like China and India.

[Soldier4Christ]

Iraq neighbors deny teacher-beheadings claim
Ministry said 2 teachers 'slaughtered' in Baghdad primary schools

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Local police and neighbors of two Baghdad schools where gunmen had reportedly beheaded teachers in front of their students Wednesday said the slayings never happened, despite an official statement to the contrary.

Reuters and Associated Press news crews responded to a statement by the Ministry of Interior, saying that two teachers were “slaughtered” at Amna and Shaheed Hamdi primary schools in Shaab district in Baghdad.

There, neighbors and local police officials denied any such act occurred. There were also no signs of distressed children at the schools.

The Ministry of Interior also has no information on this. It is not clear why the Ministry of State for National Security issued a statement claiming these acts occurred.

[Soldier4Christ]

Craig Smith on CNBC today
Author: '$71 oil: No surprise to us ... higher cost of living dead ahead'

WND author and columnist Craig R. Smith will be a guest on CNBC "Closing Bell" today at 4:30 p.m. Eastern to answer the question "Where are gas prices going from here?"

In an exclusive pre-show interview, Smith told WND: "The Middle East is a powder keg with a lit fuse that could blow any day. Oil at $71 should be no surprise to WND readers. Last fall, several major investment firms like Goldman Sachs projected an oil spike price of $105 per barrel."

Continued Smith: "Expectations of a further decline in gasoline inventories are also fueling the market jitters, especially with tight supplies ahead of the summer driving season. Gas prices have already spiked above $3 a gallon here in Phoenix.

"Crude oil, gasoline and heating-oil surged to record highs in 2005 on signs that U.S. refineries lack capacity to make enough fuel. Gasoline inventories have declined for the past seven weeks, while refineries run at 86.2 percent of capacity," commented Smith.

"Unless we break the "Black Gold Stranglehold" of the Mideast oil dependence, prices could double again as growing global demand continues to outstrip our supplies of refined oil and gas."

In Smith's latest report, "$5 Gas Coming Soon?" he warns, "Another 1970s-style oil crisis would create economic and political discontinuity of historic proportions, as the world tries to adjust to a new energy environment and it's economic impact.

"For example, according to Merrill Lynch, each 1-cent rise in gas prices sucks $1.3 billion a year from U.S. consumer spending. Do the math! At gas prices one dollar higher than last year, that's $130 billion gone from American wallets ... which means a higher cost of living is dead ahead."

[Shammu]

Preacher Zola Levitt dies
Known for 'Pray for the peace of Jerusalem'
Posted: April 19, 2006
2:21 p.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com


Zola Levitt
Jewish Christian preacher Zola Levitt died today after battling cancer, according to his ministry website.

Levitt, known for the tagline, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem," had a television program seen on several Christian networks, "Zola Levitt Presents."

He died at home in Dallas, where he led the non-profit Zola Levitt Ministries, Inc.

Levitt was diagnosed with cancer Feb. 10, which had spread from his left lung to his liver and brain, according to his son, Mark Levitt, who posted updates on the ministry website.

Mark Levitt said in a recent post that that in response to the illness, his father was "doubling his efforts to produce extra TV programs and create more informative and outspoken newsletters than ever."

"What a soldier's testimonial – to stay at his post until called away by Yeshua! Happy is the man whose work is his play," Mark Levitt wrote.

Author and columnist Hal Lindsey said he was "greatly grieved that a great defender of Israel has laid down his sword."

Continued Lindsey: "Zola has been a friend of mine since our days together at Dallas Theological Seminary, several decades ago. I rejoice that he suffers no more, but grieve for his family."

Responding to today's news, a follower of Levitt's ministry wrote: "I praise the Lord for the life He granted to Zola; for Zola’s willingness to be used by God in great ways; for the thousands of lives he touched through his ministry and music; and for the grace and peace of knowing that Zola’s reward can be ours, too, someday."

[Shammu]

Storm gathering in Iran

MOSCOW. (Lt.-Gen. Gennady Yevstafiyev (Ret.), Foreign Intelligence Service, for RIA Novosti)

The Iranian authorities and elite are busy transferring their bank accounts from Europe to Asia, or to Switzerland, whose territory is usually outside sanctions. These are multi-billion sums. Many analysts see this as Tehran's precaution ahead of a potential armed clash with the U.S. and its allies, which may take place if the attempt to settle the situation around Iran's nuclear program falls through.

Apparently, the Iranians have learnt their own lessons well and remember the sad experience of neighboring Iraq, which was attacked for its alleged attempt to hide the weapons of mass destruction from the world community.

For all the differences between the two regimes and their political and economic potentialities the Washington-drafted plan of action against Iran is strangely similar to the U.S. scenario for Iraq. But there are some indications that the U.S. strategists have lost some of their confidence since the cruel lesson in Iraq. This fact creates an additional chance for a diplomatic settlement of the problem.

According to U.S. political tradition, George W. Bush is an outgoing president, a lame duck. It would seem nothing should prevent him from being totally reckless in foreign policy, except for a natural desire to go down in history with a more positive image. The problem is that his entourage is not motivated to make a positive contribution to history. To the contrary, it is obsessed with a messianic idea to prove single-handed the prevailing military force of the U.S. super power, and its readiness to bear the heavy cross of the only propagator of American democracy, the only true democracy in the world.

It is this entourage that sets the pace of the attempts to step up the preparations for a strike against the Iranian regime. Clearly, the latter is no bargain either to professional diplomats or international officials who are trying to find a compromise on the Iranian nuclear problem.

U.S. long-term goals in Iran are obvious: to engineer the downfall of the current regime, establish control over Iran's oil and gas, and use its territory as the shortest route for the U.S.-controlled transportation of hydrocarbons from the regions of Central Asia and the Caspian Sea bypassing Russia and China. This is not to mention Iran's intransient military and strategic significance.

It is not yet clear what long-term goals are in the minds of the Iranian leaders, whose positions are far from flexible.

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[Shammu]

Hamas denies storing weapons in Jordan
Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:16am ET7

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas denied on Wednesday accusations by Jordan that the Islamic militant group had stored weapons on its territory and said it regretted Amman's cancellation of a visit by the Palestinian foreign minister.

"Hamas rejects and condemns the provocative accusations by the Jordanian authorities," the group said in a statement.

"Hamas had never targeted Jordan, and it had neither targeted Islamic nor Arab countries or any other country in the world," the statement said, adding that the group had always limited its battle to against "the Zionist enemy".

A Jordanian government spokesman on Tuesday said security forces had seized rocket launchers and other weapons from a Hamas arms cache and had scrapped a visit by new Palestinian foreign minister and senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar.

The Islamist faction, which is sworn to Israel's destruction and took over the Palestinian government on March 29 after winning January elections, was also accused of using Jordan to engage in anti-Israeli activities.

Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Naser al-Shaer, also from Hamas, said the new government was not involved.

Zahar is touring Arab states to urgently try to raise funds after the United States and other world powers suspended direct aid, saying Hamas must renounce violence and recognize Israel and past interim peace deals.

"We regret the way the Jordanian government used (this) to justify the cancellation of the visit by Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar at the last moment," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994 and has helped mediate some of its negotiations with the Palestinians. Zahar's visit to Jordan would have been the first by a top Hamas leader since the nation expelled the group's leadership in 1999.

Jordanian officials privately support U.S.-led efforts to isolate the Hamas government unless it embraces Middle East peacemaking.

Zahar's first stop late last week was Egypt, which is the only other Arab country to have a peace treaty with Israel, but he was unable to meet its foreign minister, who was out of Cairo at the time. Officials denied Zahar had been snubbed.

Hamas has a large following in Palestinian camps across Jordan. Much of Jordan's population is of Palestinian origin.

Hamas denies storing weapons in Jordan

[Shammu]

High Court okays completion of separation fence around Jerusalem
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent

The High Court of Justice will allow the State of Israel to complete the construction of the separation fence surrounding Jerusalem, it emerged Wednesday.

On Tuesday the court rejected petitions by Palestinians for injunctions to delay the completion of the fence near the Palestinian villages of Bir Naballah, Beit Hanina, Al Jib, Jedira, Qalandiyah and A-Ram, north of Jerusalem.

Justices Aharon Barak, Miriam Naor and Esther Hayut ruled that since Palestinians would no longer be restricted in their travel in the area, the State may now complete the fence.

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Roads for the travel of Palestinians have been constructed in the area, and a new checkpoint for passage between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank has also been made available for Palestinian residents.

State prosecution has notified the High Court that the new travel arrangements for Palestinians form a sufficient alternative to the routes that cross the fence's outline.

These arrangements include a new road connecting Bir-Naballah and Qalandiyah without entering the municipal area of Jerusalem and the new Qalandiyah terminal for both pedestrians and vehicles.

The Palestinian petitioners requested the High Court to issue an injunction forbidding the state to block the Bir Naballah-A Ram road, but the court rejected the petition.

In their ruling, the justices wrote "the prevention of passage from the al-Mawahal neighborhood into Jerusalem is an essential security requirement."

The court is expected to rule in several days on a fence section near the Dahiyat al Barid intersection.

High Court okays completion of separation fence around Jerusalem

[Shammu]

PA URGES SECURITY OFFICERS TO ATTACK ISRAEL

GAZA CITY [MENL] -- The Palestinian Authority has encouraged security officers to attack Israel.

Palestinian sources said Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Interior Minister Said Siyyam have met disgruntled PA officers and urged them to join the insurgency war against Israel. The meetings came amid threats against the PA by police and security officers who did not receive their salaries for March.

"Under Hamas, the Interior Ministry has told unpaid security officers that the more attacks against Israel, the more money they would get from Iran and other countries," a Palestinian source said.

The PA has about 70,000 police and security troops. Hamas has also been organizing a separate force estimated to comprise about 5,000 fighters.

PA URGES SECURITY OFFICERS TO ATTACK ISRAEL

[Soldier4Christ]

Peres: Give the Palestinians an airport
Israeli defense officials fear Gaza facility will enable weapons smuggling


Shimon Peres, the No. 2 member of Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's ruling Kadima Party, has suggested the Israeli government allow the Palestinians to open an airport in the Gaza Strip.

The Gaza airport was previously negotiated as part of deal brokered in November by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that transferred Israel's control at the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians and to outside countries.

Israeli security officials have called Rice's border deal an "abject failure" that is threatening the country's security. A WND probe found the border agreement has allowed terrorists to infiltrate the Gaza Strip, where they are poised to attack Israel, and grants Gaza-based terrorists freedom to travel into the nearby Sinai desert, where they can meet with regional jihadists.

Peres yesterday confirmed he asked Olmert to consider the proposal to open the Gaza airport, which is now expected to reach final approval or rejection.

Peres claimed the airport is immediately needed to export produce grown in the Palestinian territories to European countries.

Currently, produce grown in Gaza enters Israel through a checkpoint and is flown to Europe from Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, causing what Peres says are delays that can be detrimental for the vegetation. The top Kadima strategist said allowing the Palestinians to fly their farming produce directly from Gaza would avoid the risk of losing some of the vegetation during the travel to the Israeli airport.

"There is no point in searching for a bomb in every tomato case," Peres said, "and not in every flower shipment either. Delays at the airport cause farming produce to rot, and its direct export by air would solve the problem."

The Gaza airport was originally called for as part of negotiations led by Rice regarding security at the Rafah crossing, one of the largest checkpoints between the Egyptian Sinai Desert and the Gaza Strip. The deal also allowed for the establishment of a seaport in Gaza, but that, along with the airport, was delayed until further negotiations could be conducted.

Rafah has been the scene of rampant Palestinian weapons smuggling the past few years.

Prior to Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in August, the Gaza side of the border was entirely controlled by the Israeli Defense Forces. After Rice's deal was finalized, both Egyptian and Palestinian security forces deployed at the Rafah crossing, and a rotating team of European inspectors was stationed at the border.

New border rules stipulate Israel cannot restrict who leaves Gaza, but it can ask the European monitors to delay for several hours anyone entering the border if Israel provides immediate information indicating an entrant may be a security threat.

But the regulations, which sources close to the deal say were partially devised by Rice, restrict Israel to rely on security cameras at the border and a list of entrants supplied by the Palestinians.

Israeli security officials told WND the cameras at the border are not sufficient to identify entrants, and they said the Palestinians have been failing to supply accurate and timely lists of individuals crossing into Gaza.

"There have been many cases of Israel not getting lists at all," said a security official. "Or we get them so near the time of arrival we don't have nearly enough time to ask an entrant to be delayed."

Israeli security officials charged the Palestinians have tampered with the names of entrants, accusing Palestinian border workers of deliberately disguising the personal information of terrorists crossing the border.

"The result," one security officials said, "is that the border between Gaza and Egypt is nonexistent."

Indeed, several senior terrorists based in Gaza told WorldNetDaily they were able to cross into the Sinai and back without a problem.

One terror leader said he recently went to Egypt for "vacation."

Hamas chief Mahmoud al-Zahar's brother, Fadel, entered Gaza through Rafah just day's after Rice's border deal was implemented, reportedly bringing with him 13 other wanted terrorists. Fadel Al-Zahar had been deported by Israel to Lebanon in 1991 after he was accused of orchestrating attacks. According to security officials, there is information indicating some Palestinian terrorists who have recently crossed into the Sinai may have met with local jihad cells there before returning to Gaza. Both Israeli and Palestinian security sources say the Iran- and Syria-backed Hezbollah terror group maintains a presence in the Sinai desert. Israel says Egypt has had difficulty eliminating al-Qaida cells in Sinai suspected of involvement in recent terror attacks, including the bombings in Sharm el Sheikh in July and Taba last year, which together killed more than 100 people.

"It is time to conclude Rice's Rafah deal is an abject failure," said an official close to the deal.

The deal's calling for an airport and seaport in Gaza worries many in the defense establishment. The last time the Palestinians had control over a seaport they were caught trying to smuggle large quantities of heavy weaponry.

In January 2002, Israeli commandos stopped the Karine-A vessel about 300 miles off the coast of Israel. The ship, which late PA leader Yasser Arafat admitted to ordering, was carrying 50 tons of Iranian-made weapons, including Katyusha rockets, ammunition and explosives.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon described the vessel as a "ship of terror" which "would have changed the strategic balance" between Israel and the Palestinians.

[Shammu]

Russia defies US on nuke construction
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST    Apr. 20, 2006

Russia on Thursday rejected a US call for Moscow to end its cooperation with Iran in constructing the Bushehr nuclear power plant, the Foreign Ministry said.

"The adoption of a commitment on ending cooperation with this or that state in some sphere lies exclusively in the competence of the UN Security Council," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement. "Up to now, the Security Council has taken no decision on ending cooperation with Iran in nuclear energy."

US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday that the United States has called on countries to end all nuclear cooperation with Iran, including work on the Bushehr plant. He also said that countries should stop all arms exports to Iran.

Kamynin said that every country "has the right to decide with whom and how it should cooperate."

Russia's atomic energy chief also reacted negatively to the US call. Speaking in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, Sergei Kiriyenko said that Russia's work in building the US$800 million plant "fully meets all international norms and agreements."

"All the spent fuel will be returned to Russia for reprocessing, so this cooperation creates no problems, no threats to the nonproliferation regime," Kiriyenko said in remarks broadcast on state television.

Russia defies US on nuke construction

[Shammu]

Russia will deliver air defense systems to Iran - top general
20:19    |    19/ 04/ 2006
   
Print version

MOSCOW, April 19 (RIA Novosti) - The chief of the General Staff said Wednesday that Russia would honor its commitments on supplying military equipment to Iran.

"We discussed supplies of military equipment to Iran, including the Tor M1, in the framework of bilateral cooperation, but it does not fall into the category of strategic weapons," Army General Yury Baluyevsky said after talks in Moscow with NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe General James Jones.

"And I can assure you it will be delivered under the control of the relevant organizations," he said.

At the end of 2005, Russia concluded a $700-million contract on the delivery of 29 Tor M1 air defense systems to Iran.

Зенитно-ракетный комплекс ТОР-М1The Tor-M1 is a fifth-generation integrated mobile air defense system designed for operation at medium, low and very low altitudes against fixed/rotary wing aircraft, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle), guided missiles and other high-precision weapons.

Despite strong criticism from the United States, Russia has maintained that the systems could be used only to protect Iran's air space.

 

Baluyevsky also said Russia's Armed Forces would not be involved in any military conflict in Iran.

"I do not think the conflict [in Iran] will turn into a war," he said. "Russia will not propose the use of its armed forces in a potential military conflict on either side."

Baluyevsky said he did not discuss the Iranian nuclear program with Jones, although the issue is "on everybody's mind."

Meanwhile, Iran's Defense Minister, Mostafa Mohammad-Najar, said Wednesday that his country would go ahead with its non-military nuclear research because it was a legitimate right of the Iranian people.

The Iranian official is currently on a three-day visit to the neighboring Central Asian republic of Azerbaijan to discuss bilateral cooperation in the defense sphere.

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, will attend a summit of Economic Cooperation Organization, a regional cooperation body, in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, on May 4-5.

Russia will deliver air defense systems to Iran - top general

[Shammu]

 Iran, Cambodia study expansion of mutual relations
Kuala Lumpur, April 20, IRNA

Iran-Cambodia-Relations
Iran's Accredited Ambassador to Vietnam Hussain Molla Abdollahi conferred on Thursday with the new Cambodian Parliament Speaker Heng Samrin on expansion of ties between the two countries.

At the meeting, the Iranian accredited ambassador congratulated Samrin on his election as Cambodian parliament speaker and expressed hope to witness further expansion of parliamentary relations between the two countries.

Exchange of visits by the two sides parliamentary groups and establishment of Iran-Cambodia Parliamentary Friendship Groups would result in further expansion of ties between Iran and Cambodia, said the Iranian ambassador.

Referring to the 31th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, he described the current relations as friendly and called for benefiting from all untapped opportunities to further bolster and deepen such ties.

He also defined Iran's stance with regards to peaceful use of nuclear technology and briefed the Cambodian parliament speaker of the latest development on Iran's nuclear program.

The Cambodian parliament speaker, for his part, conveyed his warmest greetings to his Iranian counterpart Gholam Ali Haddad Adel and described the two sides relations as very amicable and close.

He also thanked the Iranian government for its support to the Cambodian people.

He underlined the need for further exchange of visits by two sides parliamentary delegations to help expand parliamentary cooperation between the two countries.

Iran, Cambodia study expansion of mutual relations

[Shammu]

 Moscow rejects US call for ending Iran-Russia nuclear cooperation
Moscow, April 20, IRNA

Iran-Nuclear-US
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mikhail Kamynin here Thursday said that the call of US Undersecretary of State Nicolas Burns on Russia to stop nuclear cooperation with Iran is illegal.

Speaking in reaction to remarks made by Burns, he said that every country is entitled to decide about the states with which they wish to cooperate as well as the procedure of the collaboration.

"Only the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is authorized to decide about ending cooperation with any country as well as on other matters, but the council has not made such a decision about Iran's nuclear program," he added.

Kamynin said that Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is constructed under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and is in accordance with international treaties. It has nothing to do with the country's uranium enrichment process, he added.

"Besides, it is clear to the US that the nuclear reactor of Bushehr Power Plant cannot be used for military purpose, given its technical specifications.

"According to the agreement signed with Iran the nuclear fuel waste of this power plant should be returned to Russia. Thus it will not be possible to be used for military purposes," he added.

The spokesman said that is why Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant has no risk for the nuclear disarmament treaty.

The US Undersecretary Nicolas Burns, who was visiting Moscow, called on Russia Wednesday to stop cooperating with Iran in this project.

Moscow rejects US call for ending Iran-Russia nuclear cooperation

[Shammu]

ACLU fails to oust Minutemen
'Misguided, out-of-town youngsters' asked state to evict volunteers
Posted: April 20, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern


© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

ACLU member Ray Ybarra feigning an attempt to tear down
 U.S.-Mexico border fence in April 2005
(Photo: American Friends Service Committee)

The American Civil Liberties Union failed an attempt to remove volunteers with the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps from Arizona state land.

Ranch owner Pat King, whose property includes some state trust land she leases, told the Arizona Daily Star newspaper the ACLU officials who instigated the complaint don't care about her.

"So they are not really the American Civil Liberties Union are they? Because they don't give a darn about what has happened to my constitutional rights to property," King said. (AMEN!!  DW)

King, according to the Daily Star, called the ACLU members misguided, out-of-town youngsters who don't understand what people and drug smugglers have done to her land and the valley.

About 60 ACLU members have been monitoring the Minuteman volunteers since the beginning of a monthlong patrol April 1 south of Three Points, Ariz., on King's private Anvil Ranch.

The ACLU's Ray Ybarra complains the volunteers shine high-powered flashlights on them as they drive by.

But the Minutemen claim the ACLU members have harassed and berated them and interfered with Border Patrol apprehensions.

The president of the Minuteman Arizona chapter, Stacey O'Connell, said the border group is considering legal action.

The paper reported Ybarra contacted the Arizona State Land Department about the Minuteman presence on state trust land without permits.

An Arizona official showed up Monday night to visit the volunteers.

The issue was resolved, according to O'Connell, when volunteers presented valid permits and others promised to get them right away online.

"Nobody was escorted off state land, nobody was asked to leave," O'Connell told the Daily Star.

Ybarra said he heard, via radio communication, the Arizona official telling the volunteers they needed state permits to be on trust land, even with permission from the ranch owner.

But deputy state Land Commissioner Richard Hubbard said the state employee was mistaken. The volunteers had a right to be there because they were invited by the ranch owner to do work in addition to their patrols.

Ybarra, nevertheless, called the events this week suspicious and said he will continue to probe the state permit law.

The ACLU has expressed concerned over "the potential for taking actions and ... attempting to enforce immigration laws."

The Minutemen say, however, they only are reporters of illegal crossings to the Border Patrol.