 September 02, 2008
FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives in Damascus on Wednesday for a high-profile visit aimed at restoring top-level ties and drawing Syria further out of international isolation.
The French leader's two-day trip is the latest step towards normalising relations that were frozen after the 2005 murder of Lebanon's former premier Rafiq Hariri, a close friend of Sarkozy's predecessor Jacques Chirac.
The first visit by a Western head of state in five years, it is seen at home as a diplomatic victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, six weeks after he made a comeback on the world stage with a high-profile trip to Paris.
Analysts also see the French leader's trip as a chance for Syria to improve its relations with the United States, which continues to blacklist Damascus as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Travelling with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Sarkozy will meet and dine with Assad on Wednesday evening.
On Thursday Sarkozy, whose country holds the European Union presidency, will join a four-way summit on Middle East peace with Assad and regional mediators Turkey and Qatar, according to a Turkish government spokesman.
Ankara has been mediating since May in indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel, which remain technically at war since 1948.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, will both travel to Syria for the talks, the spokesman said.
While in Paris in July, Assad said he hoped “France, with the United States, can bring strong support to a peace accord between Israel and Syria.”
Sarkozy's visit is seen as “a door, an opportunity for Syria to improve its relations with the United States,” said Andrew Tabler, consultant editor for the English-language monthly Syria Today.
Syrian leaders “want Washington in the room during the negotiations with Israel,” he said.
Last week the US State Department said it was not planning to follow France's example, warning that “until Syria plays a positive role in the region, it is going to continue to isolate itself.”
But Imad Shaiby, head of a strategic research centre in Damascus who has close ties to Syria's leadership, said he believes Sarkozy's visit will help boost contacts with Washington.
“Syria is reaping the fruit of the last period. Its patience has paid off,” he said.
Syria has had strained ties with both France and the United States since Hariri's assassination in a massive Beirut car bombing.
Paris and Washington, among others, accused Syria of orchestrating the attack, one of a string targeting its critics in Lebanon.
Syria repeatedly denied the charge but two months later withdrew its troops from Lebanon, ending three decades of domination of its small neighbour.
Paris moved last year to start repairing ties with Syria, but backpedalled accusing Damascus of blocking the election of a new Lebanese president, fuelling a months-long political crisis.
The election of Lebanese President Michel Sleiman in May -- followed by the announcement that Lebanon and Syria would establish diplomatic relations for the first time -- paved the way for a full normalisation of relations.
Sleiman called last week for world leaders to follow Sarkozy's example in drawing Syria out of isolation.
“The international community must open up to Syria, following the example set by France, because Syria plays a fundamental role at the regional level,” he said.
Syria and the United States enjoyed a brief honeymoon in 1991 when Syria agreed to join a US-led attack on Iraq after Saddam Hussein's forces invaded Kuwait. But ties soured again after Damascus refused to join the US-led war on Iraq in March 2003.
Ever since, Washington has considered Syria a pariah state due to its close ties to Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah - archfoes of the United States and its regional ally Israel. It also accuses Syria of allowing rebels to infiltrate Iraq to join the anti-US insurgency. Source:The Australian
 By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The masked gunmen threw themselves to the ground, rolled over and came up firing their assault rifles at an imaginary target.
Jaysh al-Ummah, or the Army of the Nation, a Palestinian Islamist group modelled on the ideology of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda, was training for battle with Israel.
"We are coming, Jews," read graffiti daubed on a wall inside its private training base in the Gaza Strip, where Reuters journalists were allowed rare access.
"Run, run, take the ground, shoot," Abu Hafss, Jaysh al-Ummah's leader, cried as some 25 gunmen, all clad in black, performed drills.
Jaysh al-Ummah refuses to say how many members it has in the Gaza Strip, territory seized by Hamas Islamists from the largely secular Fatah faction in June 2007.
Hamas allows it to operate, with the unwritten understanding that it stays out of internal Palestinian politics and does not use force to implement its beliefs on the people of Gaza.
The 35-year-old Abu Hafss, who has been briefly detained several times by Hamas, said Jaysh al-Ummah is not part of al Qaeda but "we share the same religion with our brothers and follow the path of our dear Prophet".
Pro-al Qaeda groups raised their profiles in the Gaza Strip after the Hamas takeover. Abu Hafss said al Qaeda's fundamentalist Islamic ideology was flourishing in the territory.
As part of that philosophy, Abu Hafss said, Muslims all over the world were obliged to fight the Israelis and the "infidels" until only Islam rules the earth.
Abu Hafss said his group relied on donations from residents of the Gaza Strip to finance its activities, which have included participation in fighting against Israeli soldiers carrying out raids against militants in the territory.
"The sons of Zion are occupiers and they must be uprooted completely," he said, ruling out any negotiations with Israel. "We will fight them as we are ordered by God and the Prophet Mohammad."
Hamas, whose charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state but whose leaders agreed to a ceasefire with Israel in June, has said it does not support the actions and statements of al Qaeda.
"We say that the world will not live in peace as long as the blood of Muslims continues to be shed," Abu Hafss said. (Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Mary Gabriel) Source: AlertNet Reuters
 Mark Dodd | September 02, 2008
SUSPECTED Taliban militants arrested by Australian special forces in Afghanistan have been detained in "dog pens" in actions that have left Australian Muslim groups outraged and prompted a protest from the Afghan ambassador in Canberra.
The empty dog pens were used to hold overnight four suspected Taliban insurgents who were arrested in a raid by special forces soldiers on April 29.
The raid - in response to the fatal shooting two days earlier of Sydney-based commando Lance Corporal Jason Marks - resulted in allegations of mistreatment of Afghan prisoners.
An army inquiry last week rejected those claims, saying they were not supported by medical evidence.
But Colonel David Connery, appointed by the deputy chief of the Defence Force, Lieutenant General David Hurley, to examine the charges, found evidence of "cultural misunderstandings" and noted "the use of the former dog pens".
Asked by The Australian to confirm that Afghan prisoners were held in the dog pens, Defence officials answered in the affirmative. "Yes, however this holding area provided the best secure, safe and isolated short-term accommodation until the following day," the spokesman said. And the use of the pens pales in significance compared with the atrocities committed by the Taliban before the regime was ousted in the aftermath of the US terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Then, alleged adulterers were routinely stoned to death.
Remnants of the regime are still committing abuses. Earlier this month suspected Taliban extremists abducted and executed a Japanese aid worker.
His death was preceeded days earlier by the killing of three Western women aid workers just outside the capital Kabul. It was one of the deadliest attacks in years and came amid growing concern about the deteriorating security situation in the country.
But there are cultural sensitivities at play over the use of dog pens. Islamic decrees warn Muslims against contact with dogs, which are regarded as unclean.
The use of dog pens for human detention has been strongly criticised by Afghan ambassador Amanullah Jayhoon, who warned the incident could provide valuable propaganda for the Taliban.
"What is important is the humane treatment of prisoners," he said. "We (the Afghan Government) are concerned about any incident that creates problems for Afghans, whether they are Muslim or not."
Australia's peak Muslim body, the Islamic High Council, expressed alarm at the practice.
"This is of concern to us whether they are Muslim or other people being confined in accommodation designed for dogs," said council spokesman Mohamed Mehio. "This is a matter of human rights."
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon last night denied wrongdoing by the Diggers. "The facilities in which the detainees were held were the most secure facilities available at the remote Afghan army patrol base," he said.
"The detainees were held for 24 hours at this transit facility, which was the time required to arrange appropriate transport to move them to a purpose-built detention facility at Tarin Kowt."
Defence was unable to provide the dimensions of the wire dog pens or whether they had been previously used to house detainees. It did confirm that the four - including a 70-year-old man, later released - were detained in the pens for 24 hours.
The use of dog pens appears to contravene the Geneva Convention covering the treatment of prisoners of war.
Article 25 of the Convention states: Prisoners of war must be quartered in conditions as favourable as those enjoyed by the detaining power.
"The conditions shall make allowance for the habits and customs of the prisoners and shall in no case be prejudicial to their health.
"The premises provided for the use of prisoners of war, individually or collectively, shall be entirely protected from dampness and adequately heated and lighted."
Greens leader Bob Brown yesterday vowed to raise the issue in the Senate and push for an inquiry into the treatment of Afghan detainees. He said: "There would be outrage if Australian prisoners were kept in former cages for dogs.
"This requires an independent inquiry, and the other claims of the four detainees need to be reassessed."
The ADF said it took its responsibilities in dealing with detainees seriously. Source: The Australian
 By Patrick Poole The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) released their annual school report cards this week, and the results show that two taxpayer-financed Islamic charter schools operated by officials of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) have failed miserably yet again. But protected by powerful political connections, including Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, and apparently indifferent to their exploitation of the Somali children that comprise the vast majority of their students, the Islamic extremists running the operation appear to have no fear of losing their cash cows. In fact, Ohio educrats have renewed one school’s contract after five years of complete academic failure. The two schools, International Academy and Westside Academy, are run by a group of local Islamic leaders, including CAIR national board vice chairman Ahmad Al-Akhras, CAIR-Columbus president and CAIR-Ohio board member Abukar Arman, and Islamic Society of Greater Columbus president and imam Mouhamed Tarazi (who serves as principal of one of the schools). At one time or another, all have served on the board of the local private Islamic school in Central Ohio, Sunrise Academy. Read more ...Source: Pajamas MediaCAIR
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
 By M. Zuhdi Jasser Last week’s opening festivities at the Democrat National Convention in Denver began with an interfaith prayer. As the Democrat Party searches for its newfound interest in faith, it quickly called upon one of the lowest hanging fruit in the American Muslim community - the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). Ingrid Mattson, the President of ISNA gave a speech along with Adbur-Rahim Ali of the Northeast Denver Islamic Center. Some may dismiss the selection of nine speakers of faith at the political shindig as irrelevant and simply part of the pomp and circumstance of the DNC Convention. But propping up ISNA in today’s environment is akin to propping up the Legal Guild (a ‘60s Communist front group) to address the convention during the Cold War. Our civil servants will verify that they have prevented over 30 attacks by militant Islamists upon our nation and our citizens since 9/11. The only ideology that unites the groups set upon our destruction is not violence. It is political Islam - their Islamism. Unless we identify both violent and non-violent political Islam as a root cause of terrorism we will never win this conflict. Militant Islamists, much as non-militant Islamists, seek some form of a transnational Muslim, political movement. They both seek various forms of the ascendancy of Islam with respect to other religions culminating in the establishment of Islamic states. Read more ...Source: Family Security MattersDr. M. Zuhdi Jasser
Latest recipient of The MASH Award
 One of the most bizarre manifestations of leftist cognitive dissonance occurs when hardcore feminists like Naomi Wolf abandon all their principles and twist themselves into philosophical knots, in order to make excuses for one of the most misogynistic belief systems on Earth: Behind the veil lives a thriving Muslim sexuality.Ideological battles are often waged with women’s bodies as their emblems, and Western Islamophobia is no exception. When France banned headscarves in schools, it used the hijab as a proxy for Western values in general, including the appropriate status of women. When Americans were being prepared for the invasion of Afghanistan, the Taliban were demonised for denying cosmetics and hair colour to women; when the Taliban were overthrown, Western writers often noted that women had taken off their scarves.
But are we in the West radically misinterpreting Muslim sexual mores, particularly the meaning to many Muslim women of being veiled or wearing the chador? And are we blind to our own markers of the oppression and control of women?
The West interprets veiling as repression of women and suppression of their sexuality. But when I travelled in Muslim countries and was invited to join a discussion in women-only settings within Muslim homes, I learned that Muslim attitudes toward women’s appearance and sexuality are not rooted in repression, but in a strong sense of public versus private, of what is due to God and what is due to one’s husband. It is not that Islam suppresses sexuality, but that it embodies a strongly developed sense of its appropriate channelling - toward marriage, the bonds that sustain family life, and the attachment that secures a home. Read more ... Source: The Sydney Morning HeraldH/T: LGFNaomi Wolf
Latest recipient of The Dhimmi Award
By Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel "I am learning how to fight the Jews and kill Jewish children," said 11-year-old Muhammad, one of dozens of children who have undergone terrorist training in the last few days in Gaza. “The parents of the Jewish children are the soldiers and officers who kill us here. I want these parents to get a taste of what it's like to have your children killed, just as the Palestinians experience every day,” said the boy. He and his young terrorist associates have undergone live firearms training, including pistols and rifles, from the Salah al-Din Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees. A photograph published in Ynet showed a young boy from the training aiming an Israeli-supplied M-16 rifle straight at the camera, his small frame bent to support the weight. Read more ...Source: Israel National News
 Iraq signs $3 billion oil deal with Chinese national oil company
Deal is first major contract with foreign company since fall of Saddam Hussein
China National Petroleum Corporation to develop oil field in southern Wasit province
Oil field expected to produce 125,000 barrels a day within three years
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq has signed its first major oil deal with a foreign company since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, a spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry said Saturday.
Iraq's oil fields currently produce about 2.5 million barrels a day.
It was the first time in more than 35 years that Iraq has allowed foreign oil companies to do business inside its borders.
The contract with the China National Petroleum Corporation could be worth up to $3 billion. It would allow the CNPC to develop an oil field in southern Iraq's Wasit province for about 20 years, Oil Ministry spokesman Assim Jihad said.
Iraq's Cabinet must still approve the contract, but Jihad said that would happen soon and work could start within a few months.
The Chinese company will provide technical advisers, oil workers and equipment to develop al-Ahdab oil field, providing fuel for al-Zubaidiya power plant in Wasit, southeast of Baghdad, bordering Iran, Jihad said.
Once development begins, the field is expected to start producing a preliminary amount of 25,000 barrels of oil a day and an estimated constant daily amount of 125,000 barrels after three years, he said.
Iraq currently produces about 2.5 million barrels a day, 2 million of which are exported daily, Jihad said. That is close to its status before the U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam in 2003, but below its levels prior to the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Shahrastani said in July that he is confident Iraq will be able to double its production in the next five years.
As it did with other international companies, the Saddam regime had a partnership contract with CNPC signed at the end of the 1990s that entitled the company to share profits. The current contract, however, will be only a "service contract" under which CNPC is simply paid for its services, Jihad said.
He said Iraq has provided "security guarantees" for CNPC, as it would for any other foreign company that will work in Iraq's oil fields.
Jihad called it a major and significant move for Iraq.
Iraq sparked a scramble for lucrative oil contracts in June, when Shahrastani opened bidding to 35 international companies for long-term contracts to redevelop six oil fields.
The Oil Ministry continues to negotiate short-term, no-bid contracts with several U.S. and European oil companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell, Total SA, Chevron Corp. and BP.
Iraq has among the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 115 billion barrels, tying Iran for the No. 2 status behind Saudi Arabia's 264 billion barrels, according to estimates from the Energy Information Administration. Source: CNN
 September 01, 2008
BENGHAZI, Libya: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday apologised to Libya for damage inflicted by Italy during the colonial era and signed a $US5 billion ($5.8 billion) investment deal as compensation.
Mr Berlusconi made the apology during a visit to the Mediterranean city of Benghazi for a meeting with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to seal a co-operation accord with the oil-rich north African nation.
"It is my duty, as a head of government, to express to you in the name of the Italian people our regret and apologies for the deep wounds that we have caused you," said Mr Berlusconi, whose comments were translated into Arabic.
He and Colonel Gaddafi then signed a "friendship and co-operation agreement" aimed at recompensing Libya for damage incurred during the colonial era.
"The accord will provide for $US200 million a year over the next 25 years through investments in infrastructure projects in Libya," Mr Berlusconi said.
"This agreement should put an end to 40 years of discord. It is a concrete and moral acknowledgement of the damage inflicted on Libya by Italy during the colonial era."
The signing ceremony took place in the garden of a palace occupied by the Italian governor in colonial times.
Mr Berlusconi then bowed before the son of the hero of Libyan resistance against the Italian occupiers, Omar Mokhtar, in a symbolic gesture.
"This is a historic moment when two brave men acknowledge the defeat of colonialism," Colonel Gaddafi said, raising his arms in a sign of victory.
"The Libyan people endured injustice and were attacked in their homes and they deserve an apology and compensation."
Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, Libya was occupied by Italy in 1911 before becoming a colony in the 1930s.
The country gained its independence in 1951 after a brief period under a UN-mandated Franco-British administration.
Italy and Libya have spent years negotiating a wide-ranging treaty to cover compensation for Rome's military occupation and colonisation.
An association representing Italians expelled from Libya in 1970 denounced Rome for compensating Libya and not repatriated Italians.
Mr Berlusconi should have "a sudden burst of dignity, humanity and respect so as to finally give satisfaction ... to the 20,000 Italian citizens who are still waiting for fair compensation from their government," it said.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is set to arrive in Libya next week for the first visit by such a high-ranking US official since 1953.
Mr Berlusconi said a coastal motorway from the Tunisian border to Egypt would be among the major projects to be financed by Italy. Rome would also fund housing construction, scholarships for Libyan students to study in Italy and pensions for those mutilated by landmines laid by the Italian military. Source: The Australian
 From correspondents in Srinagar
September 01, 2008 05:14am
HINDUS in Indian Kashmir today suspended two-month protests after the government agreed to temporarily provide land to a Hindu trust managing a key pilgrimage in the Muslim-majority region.
Muslims in the Kashmir valley, where the land is located, held huge anti-India demonstrations after state authorities made public their plans in June to donate an area to the trust permanently.
The protesters argued the land transfer was being done to change the demographics in the valley but India says it has never encouraged Hindus to settle in the region.
The decision was reversed in July, in turn angering Hindus, who cut off the main highway and imposed an economic blockade on the valley, sparking more protests by Muslims.
At least 39 Muslims and three Hindus have died since June in police shootings on protesters.
Under the new deal, the 40 hectares of land will be available to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board every year but for temporary facilities only.
"The shrine board will now exclusively use the land during the pilgrimage period," said Leela Karan Sharma, the head of a Hindu group leading the protests in Hindu-dominated Jammu.
"We are suspending the agitation for now as our main demand has been met."
The news sparked celebrations in Jammu, but authorities immediately imposed a curfew "as a security measure", police officer Manohar Singh said.
"The proprietary status, ownership and title of the land shall not undergo any change," state negotiator SS Bloria said.
The agreement between the two sides also made it clear any temporary tents and shops could be set up only by Kashmiris.
The dispute breathed new life into Kashmir's separatist movement as well as soured relations between India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over the scenic region.
Kashmiri separatists have rejected the deal.
"We reject this deal. But it is not a major issue for us as we are preoccupied with our freedom struggle," senior separatist Masarat Alam said. In Indian Kashmir's summer capital, Srinagar, police today used teargas and fired into the air to disperse hundreds of Muslim demonstrators demanding independence from India. Police said about 10 people were hurt.
The protests took place when authorities briefly relaxed a curfew imposed a week ago to prevent independence rallies. Source: Agence France-Presse via Daily Telegraph
September 01, 2008 12:01am
A POLITICIAN in Pakistan has defended a decision by south-western tribesmen to bury five women alive because they wanted to choose their own husbands, telling stunned MPs to spare him their outrage.
"These are centuries-old traditions and I will continue to defend them," Israr Ullah Zehri, who represents Baluchistan, said yesterday.
"Only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid."
The women, three of them teenagers, were first shot and then thrown into a ditch.
They were still breathing as their bodies were covered with mud, according to media reports, which said their "crime" was wishing to marry men of their own choosing. Source: Daily Telegraph
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