 SOMALI pirates have freed nine Indian and Bangladeshi seafarers after businessmen and clan elders in the country's semi-autonomous northern Puntland region negotiated their release, residents said on Sunday. The sailors were dropped off late on Saturday in Puntland's capital Garowe. It was not immediately clear which vessel they came from, or whether any ransom was paid. Somali sea gangs have been holding at least 13 ships and more than 230 crew hostage. "I can't tell them apart, but they are from India and Bangladesh," said Ali Said, a driver hired by the gunmen to take the former captives to Garowe from Eyl, a pirate stronghold. "Now they are all healthy and at a hotel here waiting for their departure, although they do not have even one penny for transport," Said told Reuters by telephone from Garowe. He said the Indian and Bangladeshi sailors had been on board a fishing boat when they were abducted off Oman, but Said said he did not know its name or when the hijacking had taken place. Patrols by a multinational naval force in the strategic shipping lanes that link Europe to Asia through the busy Gulf of Aden only appear to have forced the sea gangs to extend their range and strike deeper into the Indian Ocean. The Australian 
 Hatem Qafisha steps out of Israeli prison on Sunday after one year in detention; spent total of 10 years behind bars.
Israel on Sunday released Hamas Member of Parliament Hatem Qafisha after a year in detention, allowing him to return to his home in the West Bank city of Hebron.
The 49-year-old Palestinian was greeted by members of his family and officials of the Islamist movement Hamas, including Parliament Speaker Aziz Duwaik.
Duwaik himself was only released in June after spending three years in Israeli prison, while Qafisha has spent a total of 10 years behind bars in several stints.
Hamas won 74 seats in the Palestinian parliament at the last election in 2005, when President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement took only 45 places.
Israel arrested dozens of Hamas lawmakers across the West Bank after the Hamas members seized Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid in June 2006. Shalit remains in captivity to this day.
According to Hamas officials, 15 MPs are still held in Israeli prisons, including 12 from the Islamist movement.
Source: YNet
 Ali Waked Israel's reluctance to release a group of 125 Palestinians is holding up a prisoner exchange deal, Osama al-Muzaini, a senior Hamas figure in charge of the negotiations over captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, said Wednesday.
Nearly a month has passed since the Islamist group released a video proving that Shalit is alive and well, but both sides claim a prisoner swap is still far off. Al-Muzaini said Hamas cannot agree to a deal that would not include the release of the 125 Palestinians, all of whom are considered "heavy" prisoners. However, he said "serious and intense" negotiations were continuing, as are "efforts to remove the remaining obstacles."
"In any case, there are no developments at this time," said the Hamas figure, "But the German mediator wants to secure an agreement, and we are pleased with his work. I hope this affair will come to an end in the very near future."
Any future prisoner exchange deal will apparently include the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit.
 The US House of Representatives has voted in favour of transferring foreign terrorism suspects from the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States to face trial. The 307 to 114 vote on Thursday is a key step towards the stated aim of Barack Obama, the US president, to empty the prison camp by January. The measure, which will also allow the Pentagon to ban the release of photos showing the abuse of terrorism suspects, will now go to a vote in the Democrat-controlled US senate before Obama can sign it into law. Republicans have said that allowing Guantanamo detainees to face trial in US courts could create security risks. Obama issued an order on his second day in office that the camp be shut down within a year, but political, legal and diplomatic obstacles have arrested progress towards that target. Many politicians in congress have said that they are concerned that housing terrorism suspects in US prisons could encourage attacks against the US mainland. The prison camp at Guantanamo has faced global criticism after it emerged that interrogation methods deemed by some rights groups to be torture, were used on inmates there. Officials from the Obama administration have said that they want the prison shut as soon as possible, arguing that it stands as a potent recruiting symbol for groups such as al-Qaeda. But congress has on several occasions denied granting the administration the funding needed to shut down the centre, which is still holding about 220 inmates. Congress has argued that it needs to see a detailed plan for the facility's closure first. Under the compromise passed by the House of Representatives on Thursday, the government can only bring Guantanamo inmates to US soil if they are going to face trial in American courts. The Obama administration would also have to present a risk assessment and give 14 days' notice of its attempt to bring an inmate to the US. The vote comes as Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator, continues his attempt to prevent prisoners held at Guantanamo who are suspected of involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks from being tried in US courts. Not all of those held at Guantanamo will face criminal prosecution in the US – some could be tried in US military tribunals at the prison camp, while others who have been cleared may be sent to other countries. Source: Al Jazeera (English)
 Ali Waked Just under two months after Hamas gunmen and members of an al-Qaeda-inspired group clashed in the Gaza Strip, it was reported that Hamas government in Gaza is scheduled to release 28 Salafi detainees on Wednesday.
Dozens of Palestinians were killed during the clashes. On August 14 fights erupted in the Strip between devotees of Salafi leader Abdul Latif Musa and Hamas militants. Hamas forces circled Latif's mosque in Rafah after he declared in a sermon that "The Gaza Strip is an Islamic emirate," and that his followers belong to al-Qaeda and their leader is Osama Bin Laden. Musa himself was killed during the battles. Palestinian Ministry of the Interior spokesman Ihab al-Rasin said that the prisoners will be released following the end of investigations and a commitment to maintain stability within the Strip. "Members of the group were released even after we conducted conversations with them during which they blamed the government of being infidels. The purpose of the release is also to provide relief for the Palestinian society in the Strip," he said. Source: YNet
 by Maayana Miskin Former United States President Jimmy Carter played an active role in the Israel-Hamas exchange last week in which Israel released 20 female terrorists in exchange for a short video of hostage soldier Gilad Shalit. Carter's involvement was revealed by senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud A-Zahar in an interview with the Arab-language daily Al-Kuds al-Arabi. While current U.S. politicians do not speak to Hamas, which is recognized internationally as a terrorist group, Carter has had frequent contact with the group as a private citizen. He has met with Hamas's Gaza head, Ismail Haniyeh, and its foreign leader, Khaled Mashaal. In December of 2008 Carter met with Mashaal and advised him on the price to demand in exchange for Shalit. Carter has also met with Shalit's family, and in a visit during June 2009, reported that he had delivered a letter from them to Hamas to give to the captive soldier. Carter has pushed Israel to open direct negotiations with Hamas, and during his June visit, expressed disappointment in Israel's lack of empathy for Hamas's aims.
“Unfortunately, Israelis don't remember that there are 11,700 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails... They don't understand Hamas's aim to bring about the release of at least some of these prisoners,” he said in a meeting with members of Gush Shalom. Carter expressed sympathy with Palestinian Authority terrorists held in Israel, telling Gush Shalom members that they fared worse than Shalit during their incarceration. Also Involved: Germany
A-Zahar also credited German mediators with bringing about the swap of terrorists for video footage. The swap proves that German involvement in the Shalit affair could bring about results, he said. Source: INN H/T: Atlas
 Richard Kerbaj Muntazer al-Zaidi has been behind bars ever since he shouted "It is the farewell kiss, you dog", at Mr Bush on December 14 last year, then hurled his size-10s at the man who ordered Iraq be invaded and occupied 6 1/2 years ago. Mr Zaidi's three-year sentence for assault was cut to one year on appeal because he had no criminal record. He was released three months early for good behaviour. The 30-year-old's eldest brother, Uday, claimed yesterday that prison doctors repeatedly injected "unknown substances" into his body, and that he was burnt with cigarettes and had his nose and ribs broken. Uday said hospital specialists in Greece were expecting the reporter's arrival after his visa was recently approved. "We decided as a family for him to go for physical and psychological treatment in Greece," Uday said at his brother's flat in central Baghdad. One of Mr Zaidi's three brothers will accompany him. Uday alleged that his brother, a television journalist, was given injections by prison staff against his will. He said doctors told his brother they were treating him for migraines and stress. Mr Zaidi was imprisoned at an Iraqi military compound at the former al-Muthanna airport in Baghdad. Uday said his brother had been burned with "cigarettes behind his ears, had his ribs and nose broken".
He said the torture was the result of Mr Zaidi's refusal to write and sign a letter of apology to Mr Bush and to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who was standing next to Mr Bush during the incident. The attack made Mr Zaidi a hero across parts of the Arab and Muslim world, where shoe-throwing is considered a very grave insult. Although Mr Bush, who successfully ducked to avoid the speeding footwear, laughed off the attack, the incident caused acute embarrassment to him and Mr Maliki. Mr Zaidi's boss at al-Baghdadia Television has promised the previously little-known reporter a new home as a reward for loyalty and the publicity that his actions generated for the station. There was also talk of plum job offers from bigger Arab networks, lavish gifts such as sports cars from businessmen, guaranteed celebrity status, and reports that many Arab women want his hand in marriage. But Mr Zaidi did not wish to return to journalism, nor enter politics, and planned instead to set up a human rights group, his brother said. "He wants to do something to help the Iraqi people," Uday said. "And he has done more to help Iraqi people with his defiance than any politician has." Source: The Australian
 Three Chinese ethnic Uighurs eat ice cream in Bermuda after their release from Guantanamo Bay. Picture: AP Now, suddenly set free in Bermuda, the former terror suspects can watch the ocean at leisure from the pastel-pink clifftop holiday cottage where they are staying at US taxpayers' expense. They have already taken a sunset swim and caught a fish at their first attempt at fishing. They have also reverted to their real names after using pseudonyms since leaving China. The four fled to Afghanistan to escape political oppression in the poverty-stricken Xinjiang province of western China and then escaped from US bombing to the tribal regions of Pakistan, before being taken to Guantanamo. Now they are at leisure to marvel at the natural splendour of Britain's oldest colony. "This is the first time I have seen such a beautiful place," Abdullah Abdulqadir, 30, said. "Our feelings are incredible. We did not think we were going to be this happy." The four former Guantanamo inmates - members of China's Muslim Turkic-speaking Uighur minority - are dreaming of opening the first Uighur restaurant, serving noodles and lamb in the millionaires' playground. "Uighur food is delicious. These kind and generous people of Bermuda, we want to do something for them. Of course, we want to have a Uighur restaurant," Mr Abdulqadir said. Before setting up their own business, however, they will have to learn to fend for themselves. They got their watches back when they left Guantanamo and kept their copy of the Koran, but are penniless. Their Uighur translator is leaving tomorrow and they will have to rely on their Bermudan government minder. In several weeks, the four will enter a government foreign worker programme to save up some money. Bermudian officials say they have already received five job offers for the men. The 800-strong Muslim community on the 70,000-person island has pledged to welcome them. Britain is still conducting a "security assessment" on the men - Mr Abdulqadir, 30; Khalil Mamut, 31; Salahidin Abdulahat, 32, and Ablikim Turahan, 38 - before deciding whether to challenge the Bermudan Government's decision to admit them. The Uighurs insist they are not part of any terror group, have never met Osama bin Laden, and had never heard of al-Qaeda until they got to Guantanamo. "I'm not terrorist," Mr Mamut said in broken English learned from his US guards. "I've not been a terrorist. I'll never be terrorist. I want to live peacefully." Read more here,,,
 Akiko Saberi, the Japanese mother of imprisoned Iranian-American
journalist Roxana Saberi, holds her daughter's photo in Tehran, Iran.May 11 An American reporter jailed in Iran on espionage charges was freed Monday and can leave the country immediately, her lawyer said after an appeals court suspended her eight-year prison sentence. Abdolsamad Khorramshahi, one of Roxana Saberi's attorney, said she is "now out of jail." Iran's judiciary announced that the appeals court, which heard her case on Sunday, had reduced her jail term to a suspended two-year sentence, Khorramshahi said. Saberi, a 32-year-old dual American-Iranian national who grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, was convicted last month of spying for the U.S. and sentenced to eight years in prison. An appeals court heard her case on Sunday. Her case caused tension between the United States and Iran at a time when President Obama had said he wanted to engage Washington's longtime adversary in a dialogue. The U.S. has called the charges against her "baseless" and demanded she be freed. Reuters earlier reported that Saberi had been released, but later changed their report to say she would be freed sometime on Monday. Saberi's father, who lives in Fargo, North Dakota, said he was waiting for his daughter outside Evin prison, where she has been held since January. "In the next few days, we will make travel plans to return home," Reza Saberi told the AP. Roxana Saberi, who grew up in Fargo, moved to Iran six years ago and had worked as a freelance journalist for several organizations including National Public Radio and the British Broadcasting Corp. She had gone on a hunger strike in prison to protest her jailing but ended it earlier this month after two weeks for health reasons. U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan said her release would be "wonderful" but also stressed that her jailing was a "miscarriage of justice" that "could not stand the test of public opinion." "They [Iranian officials] surely must have felt the weight of international pressure," the North Dakota Democrat told the AP. The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders also welcomed the decision to suspend Saberi's sentence and looked forward to her imminent release. The former 1997 Miss North Dakota was arrested in late January and initially accused of working without press credentials. But an Iranian judge later leveled the far more serious charge of espionage. Iran has not released many details about her case. Iran's intelligence minister has said that the initial investigation was done by an expert on security and counterespionage at the Intelligence Ministry before her case was referred to court. Her Iranian-born father has said his daughter had been working on a book about the culture and people of Iran, and hoped to finish it and return to the United States this year. The United States broke off ties with Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by hard-line students. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Source: Foxnews
 NEGOTIATIONS to free captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit collapsed last night with Israel branding Hamas "hardcore terrorists" who had backtracked on agreements already made during the talks. Despite near fever-pitch excitement in Israel about the 22-year-old's imminent release, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert personally informed Sergeant Shalit's parents that intensive talks in Cairo between Israel and Hamas had failed to secure the release of their son. The spokesman for Mr Olmert, Mark Regev, confirmed to The Australian that the talks had failed, saying: "We have seen a hardening of the position of Hamas -- we saw Hamas backtrack on what we thought had been achieved. "As a result our young serviceman who has been held for close to three years, we haven't got him out yet. "Obviously this is not the result we wanted but we are dealing with people who are hardcore terrorists." Sergeant Shalit was captured on June 25, 2006, in a clash on the Israel-Gaza border between Israeli Defence Forces soldiers and Hamas. He has been held in a secret location believed to be in the Gaza Strip. Mr Olmert, due to hand over to incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as early as this week, was keen to secure Sergeant Shalit's release before he left office as the soldier had been captured during his term. Mr Olmert sent to Egypt two of the country's most senior officials -- chief of Israel's intelligence agency Shin Bet, Yuval Diskin, and chief prisoner negotiator Ofer Dekel -- to finalise negotiations. On Sunday, Mr Olmert asked the two officials to remain in Cairo as it became clear that negotiations were in their final stage. It is believed that Mr Diskin had got to the point where he was going through the list of prisoners Hamas wanted released and either agreeing or not agreeing. Interest in the Shalit issue heightened a week ago when his parents, Noam and Aviva, moved into a tent at the end of the street where Mr Olmert lives in Jerusalem to raise the focus on the issue. Excitement about a possible release was raised with public statements from the Hamas and Israeli sides. Hamas's website only a day ago suggested a deal was close when it said: "Israel has agreed to free all the prisoners on the updated list." And Israel's Pensioners' Affairs Minister, Rafi Eitan, added to the media frenzy when he visited the Shalit tent to meet the soldier's parents and said: "I believe that the results of the talks will be positive ... If an agreement is brought for cabinet approval, I have no doubt that it will vote in favour." Mr Olmert then ordered the chief of staff of the IDF, Gabi Ashkenazi, to return early from a tour of the US to attend a special cabinet meeting. That cabinet meeting was still scheduled to go ahead early today at which Mr Olmert was expected to report on the negotiations and urge any future government to continue with attempts to free Sergeant Shalit. But supporters of Sergeant Shalit believed they had their best chance of his release under Mr Olmert and that Mr Netanyahu will drive a much harder bargain with Hamas. Israel was prepared to agree to the release of at least 450 Hamas prisoners in exchange for Sergeant Shalit, making it one of the largest prisoner exchanges in Israel's history. It would also have led to a fascinating legal situation -- under Israel's constitution anyone has 48 hours to protest to the Supreme Court about the early release of a prisoner. It was expected that families of some of those killed by Hamas actions could have launched legal actions in the Supreme Court once they knew the names of the prisoners to be released. Mr Regev would not go into detail about why the talks failed, saying to do so could jeopardise future attempts to free Sergeant Shalit. But Israeli media has reported widely that the major obstacle was Israel's insistence that some of the Hamas prisoners deemed to be a terrorist threat to Israel be forced to leave Gaza or the West Bank for other countries. It is believed that Hamas had agreed to this condition at one point in recent days but then changed its mind. Mr Regev said: "Obviously the process of trying to get him out will continue. But Israel came to these talks with a great deal of flexibility because we wanted to get our serviceman released." Of Hamas, he said: "They're hardcore terrorists and we have got to be very careful about how we deal with them." Article from: The Australian
 By Aaron Klein
Terror group founder part of expected deal on kidnapped soldier Shalit
JERUSALEM – Israel has agreed to release confessed intifada architect and terrorist group founder Marwan Barghouti as part of a larger prisoner exchange with the Hamas terrorist organization, WND has learned.
Sources in Hamas, the Egyptian government and the Barghouti family all told WND today they were informed Israel will release Barghouti if there is a larger prisoner exchange with Hamas that would bring home kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held captive since June 2006.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, would neither confirm nor deny the report.
"We'd like to have Gilad Shalit back home, and we're making serious efforts," he told WND.
A separate source in Olmert's office confirmed Barghouti has been accepted as part of a prisoner exchange with Hamas.
Barghouti, serving multiple life terms for killing and planning the murders of scores of Israeli civilians, successfully ran in Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006, stressing as part of his election platform his efforts in planning the intifada.
He is a founder of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the so-called military wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction. The Brigades is responsible for scores of deadly shootings and rocket attacks, and, together with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, for every suicide bombing in Israel since 2005.
Barghouti has widespread support in the Palestinian street and with many members of Fatah. Although Hamas is at odds with Fatah, the Islamist group has publicly included Barghouti among the top of its list of prisoners it wants released for Shalit, likely so Hamas can be seen as the dealmaker.
Informed Israeli diplomatic sources told WND that if a larger deal is struck for Shalit, the Jewish state is considering announcing the release of Barghouti as a declared gesture to Abbas to bolster Fatah alongside a larger prisoner exchange with Hamas that is sure to legitimize the terrorist group.
Earlier today, Israel's Haaretz newspaper quoted sources close to indirect Israel-Hamas negotiations regarding Shalit as saying a deal for the abducted Israeli soldier's release could be reached in the next 24 hours.
Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin and Ofer Dekel, Olmert's chief negotiator on the Shalit talks, extended their stay in Egypt to conclude a deal for Shalit.
Israel's Knesset is set to begin forming a new coalition tomorrow to pave the way for Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu to take office. Olmert is keen to conclude a deal with Hamas for Shalit before he leaves office – which could be within the next few days. According to sources in Hamas, Olmert's negotiators have been passing messages to the Islamist group claiming Hamas will not get a better deal for Shalit under Netanyahu.
Israel is expected to release hundreds of prisoners in an exchange deal with Hamas.
Knesset Member Rafi Eitan, known to be close to Olmert, told the Israeli media earlier today a deal with Shalit is likely to be concluded.
"It is possible to assume that Olmert's emissaries in Cairo will return to Israel with a deal for Shalit's return," said Eitan, speaking on Army Radio
"I assume that the results will be positive. If an agreement is brought for Cabinet approval, I have no doubt that it will vote in favor," Eitan said. Source: WorldNetDaily
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SOMALI pirates have freed nine Indian and Bangladeshi seafarers after businessmen and clan elders in the country's semi-autonomous northern Puntland region negotiated their release, residents said on Sunday. 
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