The USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Kitty Hawk and USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike groups steam in formation during a joint photo exercise.

(FOJ) President Bush shakes hands with EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana, as Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, second left, and President of the EU Commission Jose Manuel Barroso look on. President Bush and the EU leaders discussed Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Global trade and oil. Energy security was also a subject at the talks. The U.S. and Europe are discussing how to engage with a newly assertive Russia that has gained leverage by being a major energy supplier to the EU, and backing Iranian nuclear ambitions.

President Bush: "Nuclear weapons in the hands of this regime would be a grave threat to people everywhere." President Bush is headed to Austria to meet with European Union leaders on Iran, Iraq and other key issues. The one-day summit with EU chiefs will likely focus on Iran's nuclear program. America and the European allies have jointly offered talks and other incentives to Iran,if Tehran suspends uranium enrichment.

Iranian Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, right, and his Syrian counterpart, Hassan Turkmani, shake hands after exchanging the documents of their Memorandum of Understanding, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday June 15, 2006. Iran's defense minister on Thursday vowed that his country will continue production of 'different missiles and research' and that Iran will 'use nuclear arms as a defense potential' if 'threatened by any power'

 

Jordan's King Abdullah II, right, talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting in Amman, Jordan, Sunday, June 18, 2006. Abbas said Sunday that he was rallying Arab nations to block an Israeli plan to redraw its borders unilaterally, and instead implement the US-backed road map that envisions a Palestinian state.

(FOJ) Iran’s puppet leader Ahmadinejad has been elaborately wined and dined while in Shanghai by both Russia and China. Both countries need Iranian oil supplies to emerge as super powers in the 21st century. Bible Prophecy indicates that Iran, and fundamentalist Islam may figure prominently as the Hooks-in-the-jaws to drag Russia down into the Middle East at the head of a coalition of nations to attack Israel. The Bible also alluded to a super-power from the East crossing the borders of Iraq to join a vast army against the Western Antichrist, as they all converge around Israel.

 

Ahmadinejad Calls for Asian Unity

(Iran's president has told Central Asian, Russian and Chinese leaders they should co-operate to prevent what he called threats from domineering powers.)

 

 

June 16….(BBC) Addressing the SCO group of countries, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said it could become a strong institution if it extended ties to the political sphere. Correspondents say the speech is likely to heighten concerns that the group is emerging as an anti-US bloc. Mr. Ahmadinejad is attending the week-long meeting as an observer. The issue of Iran's nuclear program is likely to overshadow the meeting of the group, known as the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO). The United States has criticized the SCO for inviting the Iranian leader to the gathering. Members China and Russia have resisted pressure for UN sanctions against Iran over the program. Leaders are also expected to discuss terrorism and the drugs trade. The SCO was originally formed to resolve frontier problems between China and its post-Soviet neighbors. But the BBC regional analyst Michael Haslett says the group now has ambitions to become a major force in Asian politics. A number of non-member states have been invited to this week's meeting, including the West's ally President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan.

But our correspondent adds that the most significant presence is probably that of Mr. Ahmadinejad. Major powers have offered incentives to Iran if it stops uranium enrichment. Western diplomats have signaled satisfaction with Iran's initial response to the plans, which may allow Tehran to enrich uranium in the future. The SCO takes in China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Four nations, Iran, Mongolia, India and Pakistan, have observer status. Analysts say both Russia and China have become increasingly concerned about the presence of the US in Central Asia. Last year the SCO raised the issue publicly, calling for the withdrawal of US military bases from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Hu Jintao toast after a meeting in Shanghai, China, Thursday, June 15, 2006. Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Iran is ready to enter into negotiations on an offer by the UN powers to encourage Tehran to relinquish its nuclear fuel

 

 

European Union Leaders Forge Palestinian Aid Plan

June 16….(Jerusalem Post) European Union leaders endorsed a plan Friday to channel aid to cash-starved Palestinians focusing on health, power supply and support for needy families, while maintaining a funding freeze on the Hamas government. A final statement from the EU summit said the 25-member bloc "stands ready to contribute a substantial amount to the international mechanism," which would channel aid to the Palestinians but bypass Hamas. EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin said the EU was considering an initial allocation of about US$126 million. She told reporters the EU wants to have the funding mechanism up and running by early July. "We Europeans are determined to play our part in preventing a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories," said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. She will head to Middle East on Monday to present the plan. The EU statement said the plan was drawn up in consultation with the United States, Russia and the United Nations, who agreed with the EU in May that a mechanism had to be found to keep the Palestinian economy afloat after most international aid was cut off following Hamas' January election win. Udwin said she expected final approval from the full Quartet group of Middle East mediators and other donors within days. There was no mention in the statement of the payment of salaries to Palestinian government workers, which is opposed by Israel, but it did refer to "social allowances" which EU would entail payments to health workers and other needy families. "Nobody is paying wages, forget wages," Udwin said. "There is a big difference between wage and allowance." The fund will be managed by the World Bank and the EU working with the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas whose Fatah movement is Hamas' main political rival. EU leaders insisted there would be no contact with Hamas unless it renounces violence, recognizes Israel and respects existing peace agreements. "There can be no business as usual with a government that has not yet accepted the fundamental principle of peace," Ferrero-Waldner said. The EU urged Israel to resume the transfer of more than US$50 million in monthly tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians. Those funds are "essential in averting a crisis in the Palestinian territories," the draft EU statement said. The EU said the revenues could be channeled through the new mechanism. The mechanism will have three parts: one managed by the World Bank will focus on maintaining health services including "basic allowances" for doctors and nurses; the second will aim to secure essential utilities such as fuel supplies; the third will create a "social safety net" making direct bank transfers to the accounts of needy families. "All three of these elements will operate with strict controls and in full accountability and transparency," Udwin said. The EU draft statement urged Israel to resume peace talks with Abbas. It urged him to disarm violent groups and halt attacks on Israel. In a message to the Israelis, the EU condemned violence against Palestinian civilians and urged a halt to "any action that threatens the viability of an agreed two-state solution and from acts that are contrary to international law." The statement referred in particular to the construction of Israel's West Bank security barrier and Jewish settlements in the area. Referring to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's determination to draw Israel's final borders by 2010, with or without an agreement with the Palestinians, the EU insisted it "will not recognize any change to the pre-1967 border other than those agreed by both sides."

 

 

Mid-East Military Spending Highest in the World

June 16….(MENL) The Middle East remains the biggest weapons spender in the world. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said the Middle East recorded the highest increase in military spending in 2005. The region was led by Saudi Arabia, which the institute said significantly increased its defense budget. "Looking ahead, increasing trends in world military expenditure show little sign of abating in the near future," SIPRI said. "In these circumstances, there is a strong likelihood that the current upward trend in world military spending will be sustained in 2006." The institute, which released its annual military balance on June 12, said Saudi Arabia spent $25 billion in 2005, a $4.6 billion increase from the previous year.

 

 

Are the Palestinians on the brink of civil war?

June 15….(MSNBC) There has been a serious increase in the violence between Palestinians in the last few weeks, strife that has led to the death of at least 20 in clashes between the major Hamas and Fatah factions. Mohammed Dahlan, who is considered the key player in Gaza apart from the prime minister maybe, and who used to head the security down there, said on Tuesday that they are going quickly towards civil war. But, that said, it also a sort of boogie man. The threat of civil war is being put forward as the reason why various steps have to be taken. It’s a real threat, but it’s also not necessarily going to happen. What happens is that every time there are two or three days of serious fighting between Fatah and Hamas, then the leaders meet and they agree to pull back from the brink. That’s what happened on Wednesday. President Mahmoud Abbas [who heads Fatah] met with [Hamas] Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza and they agreed that they will pull off the streets the new Hamas military force of 3,000 men and ultimately they’ll be blended into the official security forces. In other words, they’ll join the police forces. But they’ve made that agreement before and it’s never happened. Even when they agreed on it on Wednesday, they didn’t say when it would happen.

But until they do that, there will always be this fear that they are going to fight each other, and that’s what’s happening. So you get the Fatah militias versus the Hamas militias fighting routinely. Whenever it gets very serious, their leaders meet and pull it back from the brink. But, whenever the next provocation happens within a week or two, they are back at each other.  With the latest violence, who is directing the violence against Hamas? Are the Fatah militias working totally independently of Abbas? Again, it’s not exactly clear. Different groups are fighting for different reasons. Often times, a person gets hurt or killed and then the family of that person wants revenge. That’s what happened here two days ago when a Hamas figure was killed; the Hamas family then surrounded a Fatah police station and demanded that the Fatah person who killed their family member be handed over to them. Fatah refused, of course, so there was more fighting. At other times it’s an official organization, or the police, who are well organized and listen to their officers when they are told to go out and fight Hamas. That’s happened several times. And Hamas is the same way when they are told by their leaders to go and fight Fatah. Each side is using the violence for their own aims. But each side also is pulling back from civil war. The question of course is, how long can you play with fire before you get badly burned? What about Abbas? He is continuing to advocate negotiation with Israel, but he is a lone voice and is facing increasing political isolation. Is he going to be able to maintain power? Abbas is one of the few in the Palestinian leadership who genuinely thinks violence does not further peace, does not serve the Palestinian cause, and he wants it to stop. And this is leaving him in a very dangerous position because not only does Hamas not respect him, but many of his own people in Fatah also don’t respect him, they think he’s too weak. But he has a trick up his sleeve. His referendum, due to take place on July 26 and based on what is called the “Prisoner’s Document,” means recognizing Israel and a two-state solution. That’s considered by many, within the Palestinian sphere, to be a stroke of genius. All the opinion polls say that about 80 percent of the Palestinian people support the idea of the referendum. At the same time, if he wins the referendum, it doesn’t mean that he can actually begin to negotiate peace with the Israelis because the Israelis have already said that the referendum idea is a waste of time. 

 

 

Noah’s Ark, Pieces Intact, Found in Iran by Bible Explorers?

June 15….(Bill Wilson/KIN) On June 5th, Bible Historian and explorer Bob Cornuke led an expedition of 15 geologists, historians, archeologists, scientists and attorneys on an exhausting mission 13,300 feet above sea level to locate and document the tremendous sections of Noah’s Ark located in the Ararat mountain range six hours North of Tehran, Iran. It had been essentially buried beneath the preservation of glaciers until last year when Iran recorded the hottest year on record which melted some of the snowcap revealing 450 by 75-foot footprint of the “object.” Noah’s Ark was found in Northern Iran rather than Turkey. Over a thousand expeditions had previously scoured Turkey’s Mt. Ararat, but by following the precise language of the Bible, Cornuke found what is believed to be Noah’s Ark, nearly in tact. Turkey’s Mt. Ararat was incorrect because Marco Polo named the large mountain during his journeys in the 13th century. Through mapping scriptures in Genesis with ancient maps, Cornuke pieced together the clues and found where the Ararat Mountain Range made home for Noah’s Ark in Northern Iran not far from Turkey.

After crawling on hands and knees miles above the earth’s surface in four below zero weather, the expedition found an altar, which could very well be the altar Noah built because it was made from the same materials they later found in the Ark. They found grapevines over two inches think in the area, of which the DNA from the grapes is the oldest known to man. Genesis 9:20 says that Noah planted a vineyard. But most amazing was the ark itself. It was found in sections, somewhat like a house that had collapsed over the years. Sections of petrified wood 12 to 14 feet high and 40 feet long were found. They found a huge pile of timber, thought to be floors or walls, in four-to-six foot sections. Geologists took nine samples of the ark under the strict eye of a video team for analysis by the Smithsonian Institute. Over 23,000 feet of video was taken and will be released to the public. You can get your first glimpse of it on Fox News with John Kasich Saturday at 8:00 Eastern time. The expedition members hope to spark debate over the Ark; hope to show that the Bible is accurate and true; and hope that people will come to know Christ through the truth that they have revealed. In John 8:32, Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” May you be revived and energized by this wonderful discovery that there is one God and His truth reigns forever.

 

 

No Law, No Order

June 15….(Jerusalem Post) Last Friday, an explosion on a beach in the Gaza Strip killed seven Palestinian civilians. While it was not immediately clear what caused the incident, and while Israel said it would investigate, that didn't prevent an immediate chorus of condemnation from around the world in which Israel was unanimously blamed for the deaths. The US State Department, for example, expressed its regret for "the killing and wounding of innocent Palestinians as a result of artillery fire by the IDF." The UK Foreign Office stated its deep concern for "the deaths from Israeli shelling of civilians." Not to be outdone, the French Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it "deplores the Israeli bombing on a beach in the Gaza Strip," while India and Japan made sure to blame Israel as well. Perhaps most notable was the reaction of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who demanded an investigation into the incident and then reportedly called Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Saturday night and asked that Israel respond proportionately to the fire from Gaza. Olmert is said to have responded: "Why didn't you phone me after 30 rockets were fired at Israel and say you wanted this investigated?" Astonishingly, Annan reportedly replied that he was not aware of the extent of the Kassam attacks. Then, hours before Annan and the world got the results of the IDF investigation, which concluded the IDF was not responsible for Friday's blast, the situation became even more complicated on Tuesday when Israel struck an Islamic Jihad terror cell on its way to launch long-range Katyusha-type (Grad) rockets. Three terrorists were killed, but so were eight Palestinian bystanders. Annan subsequently announced he doubted the results of the IDF investigation into Friday's explosion and said he would send a representative to investigate the beach blast on his behalf. He also called on Israel to "respect international law and human life." Despite the breathless pace of events and precisely because of the truly regrettable loss of innocent lives, we strongly suggest that Annan and the world community take his own advice to heart. It is international law which cuts through the seeming complexities of the latest developments, based on a simple fact: Palestinian aggression, in the form of unprovoked rocket attacks, is responsible for the recent events. The first article of the UN Charter requires the UN "to take effective collective measures for the suppression of acts of aggression." The Geneva Convention on civilian populations prohibits indiscriminate attacks, defined as "those which are not directed at a specific military objective." And if these aren't enough to convince the international community of its obligation to pressure the Palestinians into ceasing their aggression, perhaps the founding statute of the International Criminal Court will help. It gives the court jurisdiction in cases of "war crimes" which it defines, in part, as "intentionally directing attacks against civilian population." All of these laws are applicable to the Palestinians firing rockets at Israeli civilian targets. What is indeed "regrettable" and "deplorable" over the last few days is the lack of international will to apply these laws to the Palestinians as a result of their deluge of rockets on Israeli civilians, and not any lack of respect for such laws on Israel's part. The absence of determination to hold the Palestinians accountable under such laws is no less than an abuse of the principle of deterring aggression on which these laws are founded. As long as this situation continues, and the world has turned a blind eye to the hundreds of rockets launched from the Gaza Strip since Israel withdrew 10 months ago, the Palestinians will not be deterred and the violence will continue. We welcome Annan's call for an independent investigation into Friday's deadly Gaza beach explosion. But Israel should condition its cooperation into such an inquiry on the UN's willingness to conduct a parallel investigation - and to demand application of the full measure of international law for any wrongdoing found under such law, into Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel. The world community has the ability to help end Palestinian attacks through the force of law. In absence of such action or other solutions, Israel must invoke its "inherent right" to self-defense as defined in the UN Charter.

 

 

Iranian Leader Courts Putin and Jintao

June 15….(FOJ) Iran's hard-line president is doing more than just attending an Asian security summit in China: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seeks to gain Russian and Chinese support at a critical moment for his country's nuclear program. He also aims to prove that his country is not isolated, despite US claims to the contrary. The summit will be a chance to sound out his two allies on a package of incentives offered by the Big Five Powers at the UN, plus Germany, seeking to persuade Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment program. If Iran agrees, Tehran would then be able to enter negotiations with the United States and Europe over a long-term resolution to the standoff over its nuclear program. Russia and China have backed the incentives package. But the two countries, longtime allies and trading partners of Iran who hold veto powers at the UN, have opposed any move to impose sanctions, which Washington seeks if Tehran turns down the offer. A key question for Iran is likely to be how much change it can seek in the package and still keep Moscow and Beijing's implicit protection. Iran has repeatedly said it will offer giant economic projects to countries that support its nuclear program and punish those who vote against it.

 

 

Russia’s Putin and Iran’s Ahmadinejad Will Meet in Shanghai Today

June 14….(FOJ) FOJ ran a report yesterday from the Washington Post about the six-nation summit meeting of the SCO, a new alliance of Central Asian nations (China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) that is organized to counter US efforts in the region. FOJ has further learned that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today on the sidelines of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in that Chinese city. Putin’s, presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko announced the surprise meeting today. Prikhodko made it clear that the two the presidents will discuss the Iranian nuclear problem among other issues. “Putin’s meeting with Ahmadinejad will focus on issues of bilateral cooperation including the fuel and energy sphere, the development of Caspian Sea resources, (a source that the West also is attempting to develop) transportation and transport corridors, as well as Russia’s participation in the solution of Iranian energy problems,” Prikhodko said.  “It is planned that some international issues will be discussed as well, such as the talks over the development of the Iranian peaceful nuclear program and the situation around Iraq,” the aide said.

 

 

Al Aqsa Official: Jewish Temples Did Exist
(Says proof passed down over the centuries by mosque custodians)

Temple Mount in Jerusalem

June 14….(WND) Contradicting most of his colleagues, (and Yasser Arafat) a former senior leader of the Waqf, the Islamic custodians of the Temple Mount, told World Net Daily in an exclusive interview he has come to believe the first and second Jewish Temples existed and stood at the current location of the Al Aqsa Mosque. The leader, who was dismissed from his Waqf position after he quietly made his beliefs known, said Al Aqsa custodians passed down stories for centuries from generation to generation indicating the mosque was built at the site of the former Jewish Temples. He said the Muslim world's widespread denial of the existence of the Jewish temples is political in nature and is not rooted in facts. "Prophet Solomon built his famous Temple at the same place that later the Al Aqsa Mosque was built. It cannot be a coincidence that these different holy sites were built at the same place. The Jewish Temple Mount existed," said the former senior Waqf leader, speaking to WND from an apartment in an obscure alley in Jerusalem's Old City. The former leader, who is well known to Al Aqsa scholars and Waqf officials, spoke on condition his name be withheld, claiming an on-the-record interview would endanger his life. While the Islamic leader's statements may seem elementary to many in the West, especially in light of overwhelming archaeological evidence documenting the history of the Jewish temples and description of services there in the Torah, his words break with mainstream thinking in much of the Muslim world, which believes the Jewish temples never existed. "I am mentioning historical facts," said the former leader. "I know that the traditional denial about the temple existing at the same place as Al Aqsa is more a political denial. Unfortunately our religious and political leaders chose the option of denial to fight the Jewish position and demands regarding Al Aqsa and taking back the Temple Mount compound. In my opinion we should admit the truth and abandon our traditional position." The leader said his conclusion that the Jewish temples existed does not forfeit what he calls "Islamic rights" to the Temple Mount and Al Aqsa Mosque. "Yes, the Jewish temple existed. But now it is the place of the mosque of the religious who came to complete the divine religion that started with Judaism and to improve humanity," said the leader. "We believe that Islam is the third and last religion. It came to complete the monotheistic message. The mosque is here at the place of the temple to serve for the same purpose, for the work Allah." The First Temple was built by King Solomon in the 10th century BC It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC The Second Temple was rebuilt in 515 BC after Jerusalem was freed from Babylonian captivity. That temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire in AD 70. Each temple stood for a period of about four centuries. The Jewish Temple, mentioned hundreds of times in the Torah, was the center of religious Jewish worship. It housed the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant and was said to be the area upon which God's "presence" dwelt. The temple served as the primary location for the offering of sacrifices and was the main gathering place in Israel during Jewish holidays. The Temple Mount compound has remained a focal point for Jewish services over the millennia. Prayers for a return to Jerusalem have been uttered by Jews since the Second Temple was destroyed, according to Jewish tradition. Jews worldwide pray facing toward the Western Wall, a portion of an outer courtyard of the Temple left in tact. The Al Aqsa Mosque was constructed in about 709 to serve as a shrine near another nearby shrine, the Dome of the Rock, which was built by an Islamic caliph. Al Aqsa was meant to mark what Muslims came to believe may have been the place at which Muhammad, the founder of Islam, ascended to heaven during a dream to receive revelations from Allah. Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Quran. Islamic tradition states Mohammed took a journey in a single night from "a sacred mosque," believed to in Mecca in southern Saudi Arabia, to "the farthest mosque" and from a rock there ascended to heaven. The farthest mosque later became associated with Jerusalem. Muslims worldwide deny the Jewish temples ever existed in spite of what many call overwhelming archaeological evidence, including the discovery of Temple-era artifacts linked to worship, tunnels that snake under the Temple Mount and over 100 ritual immersion pools believed to have been used by Jewish priests to cleanse themselves before services. The cleansing process is detailed in the Torah. According to the website of the Palestinian Authority's Office for Religious Affairs, the Temple Mount is Muslim property. The site claims the Western Wall, which it refers to as the Al-Boraq Wall, previously was a docking station for horses. It states Muhammed tied his horse, named Boraq, to the wall before ascending to heaven. In a previous interview with WND, Kamal Hatib, vice-chairman of the Islamic Movement, claimed the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built by angels and that a Jewish Temple may have existed but not in Jerusalem. The Movement, which works closely with the Waqf, is the Muslim group in Israel most identified with the Temple Mount. "When the First Temple was built by Solomon, God bless him, Al Aqsa was already built. We don't believe that a prophet like Solomon would have built the Temple at a place where a mosque existed," said Hatib. "And all the historical and archaeological facts deny any relation between the temples and the location of Al Aqsa. We must know that Jerusalem was occupied and that people left many things, coins and other things everywhere. This does not mean in any way that there is a link between the people who left these things and the place where these things were left," Hatib said. But the former senior Wafq leader told WND "true" Islamic tradition relates the Jewish temples once stood at the site of the Al Asa Mosque. He said Al Aqsa custodians passed down history over the centuries indicating the mosque was built at the site of the former Jewish temples. "The existence of the Jewish Temple at the site is obvious according to studies, researches and archaeological signs that we were also exposed to. But especially according to the history that passed from one generation to another, we believe Al Aqsa was built on the same place were the Temple of the Jews, the first monotheistic religion existed." He cited samples of some stories he said were related orally by Islamic leaders: "We learned that the Christians, especially those who believed that Jesus was crucified by the Jews, used to throw their garbage at the Temple Mount site. They used to throw the pieces of cotton and other material Christian women used in cleaning the blood of their monthly cycle. Doing so they believed that they were humiliating, insulting and harming the Jews at their holiest site. This way they are hurting them like Jews hurt Christians when crucifying Jesus. "It is known also that most of the first guards of Al Aqsa when it was built were Jews. The Muslims knew at that time that they could not find any more loyal and faithful than the Jews to guard the mosque and its compound. They knew that the Jews have a special relation with this place." Currently, even though the Jewish state controls Jerusalem, the Waqf serve as the custodians of the Temple Mount under a deal made with the Israeli government that restricts non-Muslim prayer at the site. The Temple Mount was opened to the general public until September 2000, when the Palestinians started their intifada by throwing stones at Jewish worshipers after then-candidate for prime minister Ariel Sharon visited the area. Following the onset of violence, the new Sharon government closed the Mount to non-Muslims, using checkpoints to control all pedestrian traffic for fear of further clashes with the Palestinians. The Temple Mount was reopened to non-Muslims in August 2003. It still is open but only Sundays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., and not on any Christian, Jewish or Muslim holidays or other days considered "sensitive" by the Waqf. During "open" days, Jews and Christian are allowed to ascend the Mount, usually through organized tours and only if they conform first to a strict set of guidelines, which includes demands that they not pray or bring any "holy objects" to the site. Visitors are banned from entering any of the mosques without direct Waqf permission. Rules are enforced by Waqf agents, who watch tours closely and alert nearby Israeli police to any breaking of their guidelines. The former senior Waqf leader said the Jewish temples have lost their purpose: "As we are the religion who are here to correct everything that was before us there is no need for the Temple. Allah chose Islam as its final and favorite religion."

 

 

Cleric: Zarqawi's Wedding with Virgins has Begun

June 14….(YNET) As news of the death of Iraqi al-Qaeda terror chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi filtered through jihadist internet forums, many members of radical organizations expressed 'joy' at what they described as Zarqawi's 'martyrdom' and imminent 'wedding' with virgins. Sheikh Omar Bakri, a top pro al-Qaeda jihadist preacher who is based in Lebanon, and who has a number of disciples in Britain, was quoted by one of his followers on the UK-based Muntadaa internet forum as saying that al-Zarqawi is now being 'married' to virgins in heaven, the fate he said awaited 'martyrs' of Islam. "It is a good news Alhamdulilaah (thank God), his wedding start as shaheed (martyr), and his deputy confirm the news," read a statement attributed to Bakr. Bakri was also quoted as vowing that "the jihad will continue," and expressed gratitude that al-Zarqawi "was not arrested." Another member of the forum posted a statement by The Media Wing of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which read: "We confirm the martyrdom of our mujahid (holy fighter) Sheikh Allah willing, Abu Muab al-Zarqawi on the land of the two rivers (Iraq)." The statement added: "The death of our leader is life to us and only adds to our determination in continuing in the jihad till Allah's word is the highest."

 

 

Al-Zarqawi's Successor: Infidels Will Fall Back

June 14….(YNET) The new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, has issued his first statement, vowing that terrorists in Iraq will go on with the jihad until "the infidels fall back." The triumphant communiqué, peppered with Koranic quotes, was disseminated on jihadist internet sites. It contained violently anti-Shiite sentiments and threats, and claimed that jihadists were in the "showdown stage" in Iraq. "We will continue with you what our Sheikh Abu Musab, may Allah give mercy on him, started," Muhajir said, in a message released by the Media Committee of Mujahedeen (holy warriors) Shura Council of Iraq. Abu Hamza Muhajir also swore loyalty to Osama Bin Laden, concluding his message: "Our Sheikh and leader, Osama, we pledge to your signal, and your commands, and we are happy to tell you that the morals of your soldiers are high, and honored souls that became under your flag, and beginnings of the near victory by Allah's well. And Allah is predominant in His career, but most of mankind knows not."

 

 

America Celebrates Flag Day (June 14)

Inspired by these three decades of state and local celebrations, Flag Day - the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777, was officially established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916. While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson's proclamation, it was not until August 3rd, 1949, that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of each year as National Flag Day.

 

 

Commentary on the Pledge of Allegiance……by Red Skelton

As a schoolboy, one of Red Skelton's teachers explained the words and meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Skelton later wrote down, and eventually recorded, his recollection of this lecture. It is followed by an observation of his own.

I - - Me; an individual; a committee of one.

Pledge - - Dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.

Allegiance - - My love and my devotion.

To the Flag - - Our standard; Old Glory ; a symbol of Freedom; wherever she waves there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, Freedom is everybody's job.

United - - That means that we have all come together.

States - - Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. All divided with imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common purpose, and that is love for country.

And to the Republic - - Republic--a state in which sovereign power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people; and it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.

For which it stands

One Nation - - One Nation--meaning, so blessed by God.

Indivisible - - Incapable of being divided.

With Liberty - - Which is Freedom; the right of power to live one's own life, without threats, fear, or some sort of retaliation.

And Justice - - The principle, or qualities, of dealing fairly with others.

For All - - For All--which means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine.

And now, boys and girls, let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance:

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

    Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: “Under God.” Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer, and that would be eliminated from schools, too? (Red Skelton)

FOJ Note: Were Red Skelton alive today, he would be flabbergasted by the current attempts by Michael Newdow of California and the ACLU in appealing to the courts to have the words, “Under GOD” removed from the pledge of Allegiance to the grand ole American Flag! Red Skelton was fortunate to grow up in an era of history when America still clung to its Christian roots, but sadly, today secular humanists and socialists are rapidly winning the battle against Christian precepts in America’s public arena.

 

 

Experts: Suicide Bombers Biggest Threat to US

June 13….(MSN) Suicide bombs rather than chemical, biological or nuclear weapons are the most serious threat to the United States, according to a survey of top American foreign policy and terrorism experts. The pace of suicide strikes around the world accelerated sharply since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, with hundreds of people killed in Indonesia, Jordan, Israel, Madrid and London. Suicide bombs, strapped to people or hidden in cars, are a weapon of choice for insurgents in Iraq. In a survey of 117 foreign policy and terrorism experts, Foreign Policy magazine and the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank, found that suicide bomb were rated the most likely method of attack by 67 percent of those surveyed. “Americans have never feared a suicide bombing the way the people Jerusalem have,” the survey says. “But the odds that America can elude the world’s most popular form of terrorism may be fading fast.” In recent months, fear of terrorism has dropped among ordinary Americans. According to a CBS poll in May, only five percent saw terrorism as the most important problem facing the US, behind the war in Iraq, the economy, immigration and gasoline prices.

 

 

When Evil People Are Elected, Hamas Happens

June 13….(Bill Wilson/KIN) Britain and the United States want Israel to talk peace with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but have left Israel with few options of negotiating with anyone who is remotely capable of brokering a peace deal. The democratically-elected Hamas has vowed to block any referendum that would give the Palestinians an opportunity, if even symbolic, to recognize Israel’s right to exist. And in the meantime, Hamas has declared an end to its so-called truce with Israel. Opponents of then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s retreat from the Gaza Strip, which he called “Disengagement,” now look like modern-day prophets. They argued last year in the days leading up to the massive evacuation from Gaza that Palestinian terrorists would only use the vacated land as a staging ground to launch attacks on Israel. These concerns have become reality as Hamas militants have launched dozens of Qassam rockets into Israel, effectively ending a 16 month truce. The escalation of the violence coincidentally answers Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s call for a referendum of the Palestinian people to vote on whether to recognize Israel’s right to exist. Of course, the violence as reported in the mainstream news media points to Israel as the problem. The Palestinian propaganda machine is in full gear as Abbas and others are accusing Israeli Defense Forces of retaliating against families of Palestinians. On my recent trip to Israel, Israeli Spokesman Danny Seaman intimated story after story where Palestinian terrorists fire upon Israeli citizens using women and children as human shields. He said there have been times when the Palestinians have shot their own people and have blamed it on the Israeli army—and he has the autopsy reports to prove it. With all the work the Bush Administration put into “democratizing” the Palestinians in Israel hoping upon hope that a freely elected representative government would yield peace, how unfortunate the Palestinian people elected a terrorist group. Now Hamas is fighting with Israel and another terrorist faction, Fatah—the ostensible political party of Abbas. And Hamas wants to block the referendum called by Abbas to recognize Israel. The mainstream press seems to be impressed with Abbas’ effort to recognize Israel’s right to exist, but we must remember that Abbas wants to recognize Israel’s right to exist in pre-1967 borders—where the Palestinians had control of Gaza, Samaria, Judea, and Jerusalem. This referendum is a ruse if ever there was one as it calls for people to recognize Israel’s right to exist so long as Israel has no control over Jerusalem—the Jewish holy city. Meantime, Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair says Israel should renew its peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. The United States State Department says that Israel should be mindful of the consequences of its actions. It seems strange that mature Western democracies are advocating negotiations with terrorist groups and cautioning against defending against acts of terror. In Isaiah 5:20, the Lord says, “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil.”

 

 

Olmert Now Will Deal With 'Irrelevant' Abbas

(Under Western pressure, 'convergence' becomes bilateral)

June 13….(JNEWSWIRE) Under pressure from the international community to surrender Israel's biblical heartland in coordination with the Palestinian Arabs, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is set to transform his "convergence" plan from a unilateral affair into a bilateral deal with PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas. That despite the fact Olmert and his foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, have branded Abbas irrelevant to the peace process by virtue of Hamas' control of nearly every facet of "Palestinian" government. The terms of any final status agreement concluded with Abbas, Livni has argued in the media, would have to be implemented by the ministries controlled by Hamas, which has vowed to maintain its rejection of Israel's sovereignty and to continue seeking the Jewish state's ultimate demise. But the perceived necessity to appease Israel's Western "allies," it would seem, has trumped Olmert's and Livni's recognition of this uncomfortable fact. According to Ha'aretz, which cited senior government officials, the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry are in the midst of drafting a proposal for the establishment of an interim "Palestinian" state in all of Gaza and 90 percent of Judea and Samaria. That state's provisional borders will roughly follow the path of Israel's yet-to-be-completed security fence, with the understanding that the fence's route does not represent the borders of a final status agreement. Israel hopes to present the proposal as an implementation of Phase II of the US-backed Road Map peace plan, thereby satisfying American and European demands that it resume negotiations with that part of the Palestinian Authority still loyal to Abbas.

In this way, Israel hopes to present the convergence plan as an implementation of Phase II of the road map peace plan, thereby acceding to the demands of the United States, Jordan, Egypt and others that Israel resume negotiations with the PA under the road map.
Under this proposal, the parties would proceed to Phase II without waiting for the completion of Phase I, which calls for dismantling the terrorist infrastructure. Ha'aretz noted that this is being done despite the fact that the "Palestinians" have yet to even begin implementing their Phase I obligation - the dismantling of terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad. European Union envoy Mark Otte told the leftist newspaper that Israel should sweeten the deal by handing over control of the Jordan River Valley to European monitors, as it did with the Gaza-Egypt border. That concession, which Israel was strong-armed into accepting by Washington, permitted the smuggling of vast quantities of terrorist weapons into Gaza.

 

 

Iran and The Shanghai Cooperation Organization

June 13….(Washington Post) Leaders of the six states, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, comprising the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will meet in Shanghai June 15 to discuss security issues in Central Asia. Celebrating its five-year anniversary, the SCO began in 2001 as a confidence-building mechanism to resolve border disputes but in recent years has risen in stature and scope. It made headlines last July by issuing a timeline for US forces to pull out of Uzbekistan, a move that led some to say the organization had emerged as a powerful anti-US bulwark in the region. Meanwhile, talks are under way to amend the group's mission statement to include, among other things, increased military cooperation, intelligence sharing, and counterterrorism drills. There is growing speculation that Iran, currently one of four observers to the SCO, may soon join the organization. Its president is expected to be present at the Shanghai summit. Originally called the Shanghai Five, the SCO formed in 1996 largely to demilitarize the border between China and the former Soviet Union. In 2001, the organization added Uzbekistan and renamed itself the SCO. Mongolia won observer status in 2004; Iran, Pakistan, and India became observers the following year. The SCO has isen in regional prominence, tackling issues of trade, counterterrorism, and drug trafficking. The organization, which unlike NATO is not yet a mutual defense pact, is expected to hold joint military exercises in Tajikistan later this year, as well as counterterrorism drills in Russia’s Ural Mountains next year. Some experts cite a convergence of interests among members in recent years, including improved ties between China and Russia and the perceived threat posed by US forces in the region. Others say the SCO is being used by Russia and China as a vehicle to assert their influence in Central Asia and curb US access to the region’s vast energy supplies. SCO members say US bases in the region, established in the wake of 9/11, were not meant to be permanent and were only installed to assist the US-led war in Afghanistan. China and Russia have chafed at the US military presence in Central Asia, an energy-rich region both consider within their sphere of influence. Russia views the US presence in the post-Soviet region, including the eastward expansion of NATO and its growing presence in Afghanistan, with increasing suspicion. Many in Moscow argue these so-called color revolutions were the work of US-funded nongovernmental organizations. Beijing sees the US military presence along its western border as part of Washington's strategy to contain China, experts say. Some experts say a stronger SCO, particularly one with a military component and Iran as a full member, might serve as a check to US interests and ambitions in the region. An expanded SCO would control a large part of the world's oil and gas reserves and nuclear arsenal," David Wall, an expert on the region at the University of Cambridge's East Asia Institute, told the Washington Times. "It would essentially be an OPEC with bombs." Iran's ambassador to Kazakhstan recently said Iran was ready to join the SCO but that no timeframe was yet in place. Iranian membership "would allow China and Russia to influence more positively Iran's foreign policy and, by implication, the Muslim world," writes Kaveh Afrasiabi, an expert on Iran, in the Asia Times. The Shanghai summit will be the second opportunity for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to meet directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Experts say Iran sees the SCO as a club of like-minded states important to its geo-strategic interests in Central Asia. The SCO also complements Iran's so-called "looking East" foreign policy, says Mohsen Sazegara, an Iranian dissident, policy activist, and until recently, professor at Yale University. He says Iran has strong historical, cultural, and economic ties with many of the Central Asian countries. Iran also wants to cultivate a stronger relationship with larger states like India and China. China gets a lot of energy from Iran and in the future wants to get more. Part of Iran's foreign policy, at least in the mind of the Supreme Leader, is to be anti-US, therefore Iran views the SCO as a potential guarantor of future security, experts say. Membership, for example, could offer Iran shelter from the international pressure put on Tehran to end its uranium-enrichment program. Yet US officials are puzzled as to why China and Russia would want to bring Iran into the organization. On June 3, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a gathering of defense experts in Singapore, "It strikes me as passing strange that one would want to bring into an organization that says it is against terrorism one of the leading terrorist nations in the world: Iran."

 

 

Bush Sneaking North American Super-state Without Oversight?

(Mexico, Canada partnership underway with no authorization from Congress)

June 13….(WND) Despite having no authorization from Congress, the Bush Administration has launched extensive working-group activity to implement a trilateral agreement with Mexico and Canada. The membership of the working groups has not been published, nor has their work product been disclosed, despite two years of massive effort within the executive branches of the US, Mexico and Canada. The groups, working under the North American Free Trade Association office in the Department of Commerce, are to implement the Security and Prosperity Partnership, or SPP, signed by President Bush, Mexican President Vicente Fox and then-Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin in Waco, Texas, on March 23, 2005. This trilateral agreement, signed as a joint declaration not submitted to Congress for review, led to the creation of the SSP office within the Department of Commerce. The SPP report to the heads of state of the US, Mexico and Canada, released June 27, 2005, lists some 20 different working groups spanning a wide variety of issues ranging from e-commerce, to aviation policy, to borders and immigration, involving the activity of multiple US government agencies. The working groups have produced a number of declarations of agreement. The Canadian and Mexican governments each have SPP offices comparable to the US office. Geri Word, who heads the SPP office within the NAFTA office of the US Department of Commerce affirmed to WND last Friday in a telephone interview that the membership of the working groups, as well as their work products, have not been published anywhere, including on the Internet. Why the secrecy? "We did not want to get the contact people of the working groups distracted by calls from the public," said Word. She suggested to WND that the work products of the working groups was described on the SPP website, so publishing the actual documents did not seem required. WND can find no specific congressional legislation authorizing the SPP working groups. The closest to enabling legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., on April 20, 2005. Listed as S. 853, the bill was titled "North American Cooperative Security Act: A bill to direct the Secretary of State to establish a program to bolster the mutual security and safety of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and for other purposes." The bill never emerged from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In the House of Representatives, the same bill was introduced by Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla., on May 26, 2005. Again, the bill languished in the House Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Risk Assessment. WND cannot find any congressional committees taking charge for specific oversight of SPP activity. WND has requested from Word in the US Department of Commerce a complete listing of the contact persons and the participating membership for the working groups listed in the June 2005 SPP report to the trilateral leaders. In addition, WND asked to see all work products, such as memorandums of understanding, letters of intent, and trilateral agreements that are referenced in the report. Many SPP working groups appear to be working toward achieving specific objectives as defined by a May 2005 Council on Foreign Relations task force report, which presented a blueprint for expanding the SPP agreement into a North American Union that would merge the US, Canada and Mexico into a new governmental form. Referring to the SPP joint declaration, the report, entitled "Building a North American Community," stated: The Task Force is pleased to provide specific advice on how the partnership can be pursued and realized. To that end, the Task Force proposes the creation by 2010 of a North American community to enhance security, prosperity, and opportunity. We propose a community based on the principle affirmed in the March 2005 Joint Statement of the three leaders that "our security and prosperity are mutually dependent and complementary." Its boundaries will be defined by a common external tariff and an outer security perimeter within which the movement of people, products, and capital will be legal, orderly, and safe. The CFR task force report called for establishment of a common security border perimeter around North America by 2010, along with free movement of people, commerce and capital within North America, facilitated by the development of a North American Border Pass that would replace a US passport for travel between the US, Canada and Mexico. Also envisioned by the CFR task force report were a North American court, a North American inter-parliamentary group, a North American executive commission, a North American military defense command, a North American customs office and a North American development bank.

 

 

A Jordanian Sting Operation Led US to Zarqawi

June 13….(DEBKA) The final breakthrough in the long pursuit of the most blood-stained terrorist of them all, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, came from Jordan. The source was Ziyad Halaf al Karbouli, also known as Abu Hufeiza, one of the lowlifes Zarqawi employed to attack and rob the convoys plying Baghdad’s main supply route across the Jordanian border and murdering their Iraqi or Jordanian drivers. Foreigners riding along were taken hostage. DEBKA reveals that he was picked up, not by chance, but in consequence of a well-laid Jordanian sting operation set up and executed by King Abdullah’s old unit, The Riders of Justice of Jordan’s 71st Commando Brigade, and on his orders. Jordanian intelligence had a score to settle with Zarqawi’s highway robber-in-chief. Last September, he kidnapped a Palestinian called Khaled Da Siko, who was an important Jordanian undercover agent, assigned with penetrating Zarqawi’s following. The abduction took place in Ruthba in western Iraq. When Abu Hufeiza asked Zarqawi what to do with his captive, he was told to execute him forthwith, which he did. From that moment, Jordanian intelligence never let up on their efforts to lay hands on the kidnapper to exact revenge. The Riders of Justice infiltrated western Iraq at the beginning of 2006 and scoured al Qaim, Ruthba, Falujja and Ramadi for the wanted man. At some point, they realized that even if they overpowered his bodyguards and killed him, they would never make it back to Jordan past Zarqawi’s killers. It had become necessary to go for the boss, who was in any case under sentence of death in the kingdom. In early April therefore, a decision was taken in Amman to lure Abu Hufeiza into entering the kingdom in defiance of Zarqawi’s prohibition. Double agents held out an offer of a Jordanian base for al Qaeda, plus information on ways to lay hands on the hundreds of millions of dollars flowing through the funding channel between Jordan and Iraq. Abu Hufeiza swallowed the bait. He was dazzled enough to picture himself handing the rich booty over to Abu Zarqawi and being promoted to his Number Two in al Qaeda’s Iraq hierarchy by his grateful master. The moment he and his bodyguards set foot on Jordanian soil, all got up as Iraqi businessmen on a shopping trip, the trap snapped shut; they were surrounded by the Riders of Justice and hauled to Amman for questioning. DEBKA’s counter-terror sources report that Abu Hufeiza held nothing back from his Jordanian interrogators. He was the source of the first real lead to Zarqawi’s location to be made available to the US command and intelligence in Iraq. Abu Hufeiza also gave away certain members of the Butcher of Baghdad’s command group. Here is a summary of the data the Jordanians extracted from him: The name of al Qaeda chief’s chief of operations, Yassin Harabi, an Iraqi Sunni codenamed Abu Obeida. Going down the chain of command, he identified Yunas Ramlawi, a Palestinian from the West Bank town of Ramallah, and Muhammad Majid, a Saudi Arabian known as Abu Hamza. The descriptions he gave the Jordanians were good enough for identikit portraits and betrayed their hideouts, how they stayed in touch with Zarqawi and their movements. This data haul Jordanian intelligence whipped across to Washington where analysts went to work on it and rushed their findings to American headquarters in Baghdad. All of a sudden, the US military in Baghdad had an intelligence bonanza instead of chance identities of the odd Zarqawi adherent which was all they had to work with before. From Abu Hufeiza Jordanian intelligence had extracted the first clue to the location of the safe house near Baquba, where Zarqawi was actually in conference with his senior commanders. The next link in the chain came from a senior Zarqawi commander in Iraq, who fell into American hands and was persuaded to part with the final steps that brought two US 500-pound bombs crashing down on Zarqawi’s last address. US commander General George W. Casey and American ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad ordered the input examined and cross-referenced, and it proved solid enough to set the attack in motion.

 

 

Israel Launches Raids into Gaza in Retaliation Against Rocket Attacks

June 13….(FOJ) Israel has launched a number of air-strike raids into Gaza in recent days targeting key figures in Palestinian rocket attacks. Last week one such raid reportedly resulted in the deaths of a family on a Gaza beach, however later reports indicate the family deaths were caused by land-mines planted by Hamas to defend against IDF soldiers. Today Israel used helicopter gun-ships to target another Hamas militant, and it I has reportedly resulted in killing 10 people, including the militant, two children and three medical workers who rushed to the scene of an initial blast. Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the air-strike, calling it "state terrorism." The deadly airstrike came just hours after hundreds of Palestinian police loyal to Abbas went on a rampage against the Hamas government, riddling the parliament building and Cabinet offices with bullets before setting them ablaze in retaliation for an attack by Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said its aircraft targeted Hamas militants traveling on a mission to launch Katyusha rockets at southern Israel. Killed was Hamoud Wadiya, Islamic Jihad's top rocket launcher, and an unidentified person in his van, whom the Israeli military identified as another Palestinian militant. Islamic Jihad swiftly vowed revenge.

 

 

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, There is Liberty

June 13….(FOJ) Thanks to Rick Michelena for sending me this brief article about a man in Texas who has taken up an effort to remind Americans of our precious heritage, and the liberty and freedom we enjoy because of the heroism of our Founding Fathers. Rick Carr undertook to make a wooden replica of the Liberty Bell that resides in Philadelphia. Rick’s work has become a ringing alarm that Liberty is a gift from God Almighty!

The Liberty Bell represents celebration, solemn reverence and our Christian heritage all in one elegant symbol.  I have resolved then to bring this singular American icon to more people.  As a part of the Independence Day celebration at Sagemont Church in Houston, Texas, with patriotic music and dramas, the stage was set for my wooden Liberty Bell to peal the sound of freedom, and swing and ring it did with the aid of a synthesizer.  The audience rose to their feet and cheered as the Liberty Bell could be heard ringing above the roar.  We live in a great nation!

 It is my sincere hope that this wooden Liberty Bell replica will serve well the mission to remind those who view it that America is still “one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

 

 

Pakistan Pressured to Produce Khan 'Father of Islamic Bomb'

(UN desperate to question scientist after evidence of enriched uranium found at Iranian military site)

June 12….(WND) With the US giving Iran until June 29 to accept or reject a package of incentives to end its nuclear program and Tehran defiantly stepping up enrichment activities, pressure is building on Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf to allow access to nuclear scientist A. Q. Khan by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to discover what he knows about fresh traces of enriched uranium found on equipment used at an Iranian military site. US officials and UN inspectors believe Khan, the "father of the Islamic bomb," who remains under house arrest in Pakistan after confessing he had provided both Iran and North Korea with details of how to make their own nuclear bombs, has important information about Tehran's nuclear program. In January, IAEA inspectors found traces of highly enriched uranium, which could be weapons grade, in vacuum pumps at the destroyed and leveled Lavizan-Shian site in Tehran, a site Iran denied had been used for its nuclear work. The find casts further doubts on Iran's claims its program is intended only for peaceful purposes. According to a previous IAEA report, Iran has made 110 tons of feedstock gas, enough for 20 nuclear bombs if the entire amount was enriched. The Iranians claim to have only enriched "dozens of grams" of uranium so far. Despite pressure from Washington, Musharraf continues to resist pressure to let Khan be questioned by anyone. According to the Sunday London Telegraph, some believe Khan could implicate senior military and government figures if details of his nuclear network were known. Pakistan has attempted to deflect pressure from the US by declaring the case against Khan "closed." All 12 of his associates, arrested on suspicion of involvement in Khan's proliferation scheme, have been released by the government. As WND, MI6, Britain's secret intelligence service, has identified six Pakistani scientists, who previously worked for Khan and are now working in Iran's nuclear bomb program, who have been "advising al-Qaida on how to weaponize fissionable materials it has now obtained." MI6 and the International Atomic Energy Agency believe the scientists have played a major role in enabling Iran to be "well advanced in providing uranium enriched materials for nuclear bombs," said Alexander Cirilovic, a nuclear terrorism expert in Paris. Given the stakes, the discovery of highly enriched uranium in Iran and the US deadline, access to Khan is seen as crucial. "They want to squeeze Dr. Khan to use his statements as evidence for the upcoming meeting of the UN Security Council," said Gen. Hameed Gul, the former head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. "Support from Beijing and Moscow would only be possible if the US is able to provide ample evidence, and Dr. Khan's words could be instrumental."

 

 

Hamas PM Calls For Resumption of Rocket Attacks

June 12….(AP) Prime minister Ismail Haniya has defended the firing of anti-Israeli rocket attacks into Israel by his radical Islamist movement Hamas's armed wing as a move to protect the Palestinian people. "Our actions on the ground are designed to protect the interests of the Palestinian people," Haniya told reporters Monday. "We have appealed in vain for a halt to the aggressions by the Israeli occupation against our people." Dozens of rockets were fired by Hamas over the weekend following the death of eight Palestinians on a beach in the northern Gaza Strip, apparently the result of an Israeli shell. Hamas, which formed its first government in March, had largely held off such attacks since the start of last year under the terms of an agreement with the moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Israel, which has assassinated several heads of Hamas in the past, issued thinly veiled threats against the current leadership over the weekend. Defense Minister Amir Peretz said that the army had "many means at our disposal, and will use them against any element implicated in the firing (of rockets), at both the planning level and in carrying them out." Haniya however was unimpressed. "These repeated threats reveal the political heresy of certain Israeli officials," he told reporters.

FOJ Note: The defense of rocket attacks by Haniyeh is tantamount to an announcement of war against Israel. The so-called “occupation” is at best debatable, and Israel has tried every conceivable means in the world to trade the land for peace.

 

 

Hamas Raises Challenge to Abbas Referendum Decree

June 12….(AP) Hamas mounted a legislative challenge today to President Mahmoud Abbas's planned referendum on a statehood manifesto that is at the core of his power struggle with the governing Islamist group. The Palestinian parliament convened to consider a Hamas motion to declare illegal the July 26 referendum over a political document that implicitly recognizes Israel by envisaging a Palestinian state alongside it. Hamas, which formed a government after winning a January election, has a majority in the legislature. But there appeared to be little chance Abbas, a moderate with wide presidential powers, would consider passage of the motion binding. A vote in parliament was expected later in the day. "Of course, we have made clear that the entire session is illegal," said Rudwan al-Akhras, a legislator from Abbas's Fatah faction, signaling more political tussling ahead. Israel, which quit the Gaza Strip last year, has pledged to hold on forever to parts of the West Bank where major Jewish settlement blocs are located. The World Court considers all settlements Israel has built on occupied land illegal. Palestinian political tensions again flared into violence: in Gaza, a Hamas militant was killed in an exchange of fire with members of Abbas's Fatah faction. In a separate incident, gunmen shot and wounded a Fatah man. A sharp surge in Israeli-Palestinian violence along the Gaza frontier and a declaration by Hamas, a group dedicated to Israel's destruction, that a 16-month-old truce had ended, have made chances for peacemaking even more remote. In a radio interview, a senior member of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's party threatened Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas with assassination if the group renewed suicide bombings in Israel. "Yassin and Rantissi are waiting for you, Haniyeh, if you implement the same stance of liquidating Jews, indiscriminate firing, and suicide terror attacks aimed at paralyzing Israeli society anew," Hanegbi said. He was referring to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a co-founder of Hamas, and Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, another leader of the Islamic militant group. Both were assassinated in Israeli missile strikes in Gaza in 2004. Asked about Hanegbi's comments, an aide to Olmert suggested the lawmaker had spoken on his own initiative. Hamas has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings in Israel after the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000. Since ending the ceasefire, Hamas has fired dozens of rocket barrages from Gaza into Israel.

 

 

Iran Rebuffs US Terms for Talks

June 12….(Jerusalem Post) Iran insisted Monday on its right to enrich uranium, expressing reluctance to suspend the key nuclear process as a condition for negotiations over a package of incentives offered by the world powers.  Iran has not responded formally to the incentives that are intended to persuade it to step back from enrichment. But it has said that parts of the package were acceptable, others were not, and the key issue of uranium enrichment - a process that can make fuel for a nuclear power plant or material for an atomic bomb - needed clarification. At a news conference Monday, Iranian spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham gave no indication of when Iran would reply to the package presented June 6. When asked if Iran would suspend enrichment for the sake of negotiations, as the world powers, notably the United States, have demanded, Elham avoided a direct answer, but repeated the government line that enrichment was Iran's "obvious right." "Our country will not negotiate over its obvious rights," he said. "This is a non-negotiable issue." New evidence has come to light indicating that Iran is engaged in an as-yet-undeclared nuclear development project intended for military use, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday. The project, codenamed Zirzamin 27, has caused concern among nuclear experts in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, who are demanding a full disclosure from Iran. Ever since 2003, when UN inspectors found enriched uranium at the Teheran-area Lavizan military base, many have suspected Iran of developing a secret military nuclear program. Now, evidence suggests that this is, in fact, the case-that the Iranians have moved the Lavizan project to a new, top-secret site outside Teheran. Although the exact location of the project is unknown, the name Zirzamin-"basement" in Farsi- implies that the research laboratories involved in the project are underground. IAEA officials are currently studying reports of Zirzamin 27's activities. One diplomat who works with the IAEA called this "a truly alarming development" and said it "indicates that the Iranians remain committed to developing nuclear weapons, despite their claims, That their nuclear ambitions are completely peaceful."

 

 

WEEK OF JUNE 4 THROUGH JUNE 11

 

 

Russia Urges Israel Against Iran Attack

June 9….(Jerusalem Post) Russia sent messages to Israel through US intermediaries recently, voicing opposition to a possible military attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, The Jerusalem Post has learned. While Israel and Russia have good relations and a direct line of communications, the Russians chose to use the US to deliver this message of military restraint out of a belief that Jerusalem pays closer attention to messages from Washington. According to assessments reaching Jerusalem, while the Russians don't want to see Iran get the bomb, they believe this may still be a decade away and that in the meantime diplomatic efforts might succeed in keeping Teheran from reaching that point. Moscow is concerned any military conflagration would eventually spill over the Russian-Iranian border into the Caucasus, central Asia and even Chechnya, and be detrimental to Russian interests. Washington, according to these assessments, does not believe that Russian opposition to UN Security Council sanctions against Iran is motivated by anti-American sentiment, but rather by the belief that a military action in Iran would severely destabilize the region. The Russian concern, according to this assessment, is that UN sanctions would be the start of a "slippery slope" leading inevitably to military action, just as was the case with Iraq. One source of Washington and Moscow's different tactical approaches toward Iran stems from different assessments regarding when Iran may "go on-line." While Washington is closer to Israel's position that the point of no return is when the Iranians have mastered the technology to create a bomb, for the Russians "D-Day" is when the Iranians have actually built a bomb.

Since the Russians believe this may be some five to 10 years down the line, they feel there is more time to exhaust the diplomatic approach. Despite this, the Russians, according to recent assessments, were taken by surprise at the pace of the Iranian nuclear program, and did not believe they were as far along as is apparently the case. According to assessments reaching Jerusalem from Washington, the US has no intention of either allowing Teheran to enrich uranium on Iranian soil or to assist it in building civilian nuclear capabilities. These assessments contradict press reports this week claiming that the diplomatic package presented to Iran on Tuesday and supported by the US leaves open the possibility in the distant future that Teheran would be able to enrich uranium on its own soil. According to a Washington Post report, this concession - along with a US promise of aid for Iran's civilian nuclear energy program, would be conditioned on Iran suspending its nuclear work until the International Atomic Energy Agency determined that the program was peaceful. In addition, Iran would also need to convince the UN Security Council that it was not seeking a nuclear weapon, a process that administration officials were quoted this week as saying could take as long as 30 years. But according to the assessments reaching Jerusalem, Washington has no interest in letting Iran enrich any quantity of uranium, because even the enrichment of a small amount would necessitate research and development that could eventually allow Teheran to master the technology needed to create nuclear weapons. These assessments say that it would also be extremely far-fetched to imagine the US assisting an Iranian civilian nuclear program. The US remains in favor of a Russian proposal of a joint Iranian-Russian venture whereby Russia would enrich the uranium on its own soil on Iran's behalf. This is a model that could be adopted elsewhere as well, as rising energy prices are expected to propel other countries into the development of nuclear energy.

 

Congress to Hold Hearings into OKC Bombing

(Examining foreign connection to plot, including Arab terrorists)

June 9….(excerpt from WND) In what some on Capitol Hill are calling a surprising decision, Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., has given the nod for hearings into the long-debated question of whether those responsible for the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building had help from any foreign source. Spurred to action by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., Hyde has given Rohrabacher's Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee the wide-ranging authority to conduct interviews and subpoena documents related to the April 19, 1995, terrorist attack that left 168 dead, 19 of them children. Forecasting the areas of particular interest the congressional investigation could take, Rohrabacher promised to look carefully for any evidence linking the cabal to Arab terrorists and or to a German national in this country illegally in 1995, Andreas Carl Strassmeir. In his letter seeking authority for hearings, Rohrabacher wrote: "It is highly likely that the Arab connection and/or the Strassmeir connection played a significant role in the planning and execution of the murderous bombing of the OKC federal building. In both possible scenarios, the official investigation fell short and further investigation has been discouraged ever since." Specifically, Rohrabacher said that Terry Nichols' trips to the Philippines would be examined for links to a theory that he was actually meeting with Middle East radicals who were providing him with support.

 

 

Iran Has Until mid-July to Mull Atomic Offer: EU

June 9….(AP) European Union president Austria said on Friday Iran has until the Group of Eight (G8) summit in July to consider an offer of incentives to suspend its nuclear enrichment program. The offer, which EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana personally delivered to Tehran earlier this week, was prepared by Germany, France and Britain and is backed by the EU, United States, Russia and China. Asked what would happen if Iran did not accept the offer, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "This will be discussed within the framework of the G8. Iran has until the world economic summit in July to think it over." President Bush said on Friday Iran "has weeks, not months" to respond to the proposal. His comments represent the first clear deadline for Iran to respond to the offer. Originally, Russia and Germany had said they expected Iran to respond by the end of this month. US officials have said they expected an answer from Iran by the time of the summit, though have avoided making it a hard-and-fast deadline. The G8 summit will be held in St. Petersburg, Russia on July 15-17 and Iran's nuclear ambitions is expected to be one of the main topics of discussion. Tehran says it wants only to produce low-enriched uranium to generate electricity. But many countries suspect Iran, the world's fourth-biggest oil producer, seeks to purify uranium to the extremely high levels needed to fuel atomic weapons. A powerful Iranian cleric used Friday prayers to send a clear message to the six world powers that prepared the offer, that they will never stop Iran from making nuclear fuel. "Now they want to deprive us of many advantages. The package they have brought is a package that is good for themselves and is not appropriate for the Iranian people," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati told worshippers in Tehran. Jannati heads the Guardian Council, Iran's highest constitutional watchdog. The council does not directly make nuclear policy, a task Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has entrusted to the Supreme National Security Council. The latest report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), released on Thursday, appeared to give credence to Jannati's comments. The IAEA said Iran had this week launched a fresh round of uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for power plants or bombs, just as Solana delivered the offer. He did not set any deadline for a response. But European and US officials have made it clear they would not wait months for Iran to respond to the offer of civilian nuclear technology, security guarantees and other benefits if Iran freezes nuclear fuel production. The offer also threatens Iran with economic and political sanctions if it rejects the offer. "There is a chance now with the way things have changed in the past couple of weeks to get a diplomatic solution and that's what everyone wants to see," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said at a news conference in Paris with French President Jacques Chirac. Chirac said the Islamic republic would not be allowed to develop the bomb: "We can't accept that it carries out a process that could in reality lead to the creation of a nuclear weapon."  Schuessel said Iran had an obligation to demonstrate that its nuclear ambitions were peaceful as it said they were.

 

 

Israeli Airstrike Kills Top Hamas “Terror” Enforcer in Gaza

June 9….(Fox News) The Palestinian government's security chief and a key player in rocket attacks on Israel was killed Thursday in an Israeli air strike on a Palestinian militants' training camp. The Israeli military confirmed striking the Popular Resistance Committees camp in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, saying militants there were planning a large-scale attack on Israel. It said "the camp was the target" when asked if  Jamal Abu Samhadana, the No. 2 man on Israel's wanted list, had been the target. Hospital officials said his body was incinerated in the strike, but his face was recognizable. Three other militants were killed and 10 were wounded by the four missiles fired at the training camp. The attack knocked out electricity in the area, hampering rescue efforts and attempts to ascertain casualties, police said. Abu Samhadana, leader of the small Popular Resistance Committees faction, was a key player in rocket attacks on Israel and a suspect in the fatal 2003 bombing of a US convoy in the Gaza Strip. His recent appointment as director general of the Hamas government's Interior Ministry infuriated both Israel and Hamas' Fatah rivals, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. It also helped set the stage for recent Hamas-Fatah violence that has killed 10 people and raised the specter of all-out civil war. Abu Samhadana, a 43-year-old explosives expert, had been a key target for Israel, moving stealthily and switching cars and hideouts, despite his promotion to security chief by the Hamas-led government. He and other militants had been about to enter the training camp in the former Jewish settlement of Rafiah Yam when the missiles struck. In the darkness, illuminated only by flashlights, a small pool of blood could be seen staining the ground, and people lifted pieces of flesh to bury them with him. "This is a criminal assasination and Palestinians have the right to respond to this ugly crime by all means," said Khaled Abu Hilal, an Interior Ministry spokesman. "Abu Samhadana paid with his life for the freedom and dignity of his people." Abu Sharif, one of the top commanders of the Popular Resistance Committees, vowed through loud speakers mounted on a car that carried him in Rafah to send suicide bombers, rockets and gunfire against Israel to avenge Abu Samhadana's death. "God willing, our retaliation shall come," Abu Sharif said. "It will not be by statements, but by rockets toward (the southern Israeli town of) Sderot and all the Zionist community. It will be by self-sacrificing martyrs who will blow up themselves in every corner." Thousands of mourners, shouting "Revenge, revenge," marched to the morgue where his body lay. His scorched body was bundled onto a stretcher, hoisted over the crowd's shoulders, and paraded around the hospital compound. Koranic verses issued forth from mosque minarets in a sign of mourning. Reaction to his death swept through the Rafah refugee camp where Abu Samhadana had lived. Ordinarily after an Israeli assassination, gunmen and relatives take to the streets. But the death of one of the most renowned militants in the Palestinian territories brought out nearly all of the thousands of residents of the camp, and men, women and children packed the streets, some streaming to the hospital, some standing outside their homes, or on balconies. Dozens fired in the air and marched through the camp's streets. Gunmen from all of the Palestinian factions streamed into the streets. A neighbor, Ibrahim Atwan, 45, called Abu Samhadana's death "a big loss for all Palestinians." "He used to tell us as neighbors that his wish was to be killed and to receive the honor of martyrdom, and he got it. I feel humbled because men like him gave their lives as a price for their beliefs, and to defend us." His wife, Iman, said she hoped that "one of my children will follow in his footsteps."

 

 

Focus on Jerusalem Ministry Announcement

June 8….(FOJ) The June articles will be posted later this month, as I have been battling with a bronchitis-related illness the past couple of weeks and haven’t yet concluded my research and editing on the newest projects. The coming articles will be entitled, “The Bible and Palestine”, and “The Prince of Persia’s & Ezekiel 38”. Focus on Jerusalem Prophecy Ministry is also pleased to be able to inform its Central Kentucky readers that it will join with the fellowship at Sand Springs Baptist Church of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky on July 28 (6:00-8:00pm) for an in depth power-point presentation on Ezekiel 38 and 39 and the current situation involving Iran and its drive for the acquisition of nuclear weapons. The thrust of Iran’s militant motivation and penchant for terrorist related activity involves the demonic conspiracy to drive the nations toward the annihilation of Israel. The current president of Iran has even been bold enough to assert that Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth, and that Europe bears the responsibility of inflicting the curse of the state of Israel on the Islamic Middle East. Focus on Jerusalem Prophecy Ministry would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for continuing to follow FOJ and for continuing to Focus on the soon coming of our Lord and King, Jesus Christ!

 

 

Marriage Amendment Failure Reveals Impact of Cultural War in a Declining America

June 8….(Bill Wilson/KIN) The cultural chasm between the vast majority of Americans who want traditional marriage protected and the representatives they choose that would by default legalize sodomy and sexual perversion was never more evident than in the 49-48 Senate vote against a constitutional amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman. The rejection of the marriage covenant as given by God Himself to Adam and Eve is a large step toward the defilement of the temple as prophesied in Revelation because once the underpinnings of God are rejected in society, the doors are open for a complete disregard for the sanctity of God and His purpose on earth. Senate Democrats, except Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Byrd of West Virginia, led the charge on Capitol Hill by voting against defining marriage between a man and a woman. In describing the vote on Capitol Hill, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback said the Democrat Party locked arms against the marriage amendment. The Democratic Party is standing along with a handful of Republican against an overwhelming majority of Americans who believe that marriage should never be allowed between members of the same sex. A resounding example is Tuesday’s vote in Alabama, which became the 20th state to amend its constitution to define marriage between a man and a woman, by an 80% margin. Also Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives Tuesday passed by a 136-61 margin an amendment to the state’s constitution defining marriage between a man and a woman. The amendment will now go to the Pennsylvania Senate, where it is expected to pass by a wide margin. But even at the state level, those who oppose defining marriage between a man and a woman are Democrats. They try to block traditional marriage at the state level as well as at the national level. Now here is the hard pill to swallow: Americans, both Democrat and Republican, want marriage to remain between one man and one woman. But there is an element of established political power, called cultural Marxists that want to destroy America by destroying its values. They are found mainly in the Democratic Party, but many Republicans join in as well. They are led by the finances of the National Education Association, Planned Parenthood, abortion rights activists, homosexual rights activists, all who have hijacked the Democratic Party and parts of the Republican Party. They have brainwashed minds and have lined politicians’ pockets with money. The only line of defense that stands in the way of the fall of America—God fearing people who believe in Bible-based morals and true religion. These are people who do not view the world in terms of the politics of Democrats and Republicans, but rather hold a Holy Spirit worldview. Jesus said in Matthew 11:12, “the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” And now more than ever we must lift up a shout against these evildoers in every public and private venue and cast our votes against them and turn this nation from its wickedness otherwise we will soon not have a nation. For marriage is the foundational institution of God’s economy, without it society is destroyed.

 

 

Al-Qaida in Iraq's al-Zarqawi 'Terminated'

June 8….(MSN) Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida’s leader in Iraq who led a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and kidnappings, has been killed in an air strike, US and Iraqi officials said Thursday, adding that his identity was confirmed by fingerprints and a look at his face. It was a major victory in the US-led war in Iraq and the broader war on terror. In a statement, President Bush said US forces delivered justice. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said al-Zarqawi was killed along with seven aides Wednesday evening in a remote area 30 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile province of Diyala, just east of the provincial capital of Baqouba, al-Maliki said. Al-Qaida in Iraq confirmed al-Zarqawi's death and vowed to continue its "holy war," according to a statement posted on a Web site. "We want to give you the joyous news of the martyrdom of the mujahed sheik Abu Musab al-Zarqawi," said the statement, signed by "Abu Abdel-Rahman al-Iraqi," identified as the deputy "emir" or leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. "The death of our leaders is life for us. It will only increase our persistence in continuing holy war so that the word of God will be supreme." Loud applause broke out among the reporters and soldiers as al-Maliki, flanked by US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and US Gen. George Casey, the top US commander in Iraq, told a news conference that “al-Zarqawi was eliminated.” But any hopes the Jordanian-born terror leader’s death would help stem the violence in Iraq were dimmed hours later when a car bomb exploded in a Baghdad market, killing 19 and wounding 65. The announcement about al-Zarqawi’s death came six days after he issued an audiotape on the Internet, railing against Shiites in Iraq and saying militias were raping women and killing Sunnis and the community must fight back. Since his emergence following the US-led invasion of Iraq, Al-Zarqawi had become Iraq’s most wanted militant, as notorious as Osama bin Laden, to whom he swore allegiance in 2004. The United States put a $25 million bounty on al-Zarqawi, the same as bin Laden.His fighters led a wave of kidnappings of foreigners, killing at least a dozen, including Arab diplomats and three Americans. Al-Zarqawi himself is believed to have wielded the knife in the beheadings of two of the Americans, Nicholas Berg and Eugene Armstrong, and earned himself the title of “the slaughtering sheik” among his supporters. He has also been a master Internet propagandist, spreading the call for Islamic extremists to join the “jihad” or holy war in Iraq. His group posted gruesome images of beheadings, speeches by al-Zarqawi and recruitment videos depicting the planning and execution of its most daring attacks.

 

 

Al Qaeda Tabs Abdallah Bin Rashid al Baghdadi, as Abu Musab al Zarqawi’s Successor

June 8….(DEBKA) DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources reveal Western intelligence agencies dealing with terrorists in the region know nothing about the new man. Al Qaeda has already vowed to fight on after Zarqawi’s death in a statement on its web site. DEBKAfile discloses: Zarqawi’s death leaves Wariya Arbili as the most senior al Qaeda player in Iraq. He is chief of al Qaeda’s second largest affiliate in Iraq, Ansar al-Sunna, an organization which controls large tracts of the country, especially in parts of Kurdistan, with a foothold in Kirkuk and Mosul as well as Tal Afar to the north and sections of the Sunni triangle. DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources reveal that a quarrel which flared recently between Arbili and Zarqawi led to Osama bin Laden naming a new worldwide operations chief with authority over both. He is an Iraqi from the north, known only by his nom de guerre, Abdulhadi al-Iraqi, and he replaces Abu Farj al-Libi who was captured by Pakistani forces. Bin Laden’s choice of an indigenous Iraqi ops chief pointed to the high importance the al Qaeda leader attaches to the Iraq warfront for the future of his organization. Abdulhadi now faces the urgent task of bringing order to al Qaeda’s ranks, which are packed with foreign adherents, and Iraqi affiliates to avert a bloody power struggle among commanders.

 

 

Iran Leader's Aide: Jews are A Filthy People

June 8….(YNET) Jews are filthy people, and that is why they have been accused throughout history of spreading deadly disease and plagues, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s advisor Mohammad Ali Ramin told students during a visit at the town of Rasht, the Iranian news site Rooz Online reported Thursday. Ramin, a historian who serves as the president's most senior aide, is believed to be the man behind the regime's recent statements that the Holocaust is a myth. Historically, there are many accusations against the Jews. For example it was said that they were the source for such deadly disease as the plague and typhus. This is because the Jews are very filthy people. For a time people also said that they poisoned water wells belonging to Christians and thus killed them,” the site quoted Ramin as saying. “I only know that Jews have been accused of such conspiracies and sabotage throughout history and have not performed well," he added. Ramin reiterated past statements made by President Ahamadinejad regarding the Holocaust, saying it was the cause for the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, and claimed that Israel is responsible for Middle East crisis. “So long as Israel exists in the region there will never be peace and security in the Middle East,” he said adding, “so the resolution of the Holocaust issue will end in the destruction of Israel.”

 

 

Ahmadinejad: Iran Ready for Nuclear Talks

June 8….(AP) Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday Iran was ready to discuss "mutual concerns" over his country's nuclear program, but he refused to first suspend uranium enrichment. His comments came a day after world powers backed off a demand that Iran commit to a prolonged moratorium on uranium enrichment, asking only for a suspension during talks on its nuclear program. Ahmadinejad did not say whether he accepted the proposal, part of a package of incentives in exchange for Iran suspending enrichment. Last week, the United States agreed last week to join France, Britain and Germany in talks with Iran. If the talks occur, it would be the first major public negotiations between Washington and Tehran in more than 25 years. However, Ahmadinejad insisted that Iran would never give up its right under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to produce nuclear fuel. "On behalf of the Iranian nation, I'm announcing that the Iranian nation will never hold negotiations about its definite rights with anybody, but we are for talks about mutual concerns to resolve misunderstandings in the international arena," Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in Qazvin, west of the capital Tehran. "Negotiations should be held in a fair atmosphere and on the basis of equality," he said. "If they think they can threaten and hold a stick over Iran's head and offer negotiations at the same time, they should know the Iranian nation will definitely reject such an atmosphere." Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has said the incentives package included both "positive steps" and "ambiguities that need to be cleared up." Tehran has said it will announce its position after carefully studying the package. "International monopolists have been defeated in the face of your resistance and solidarity, and have been forced to acknowledge your dignity and greatness," Ahmadinejad told the crowd, referring to the US and its allies. The United States and other Western nations suspect Iran's nuclear program is intended to produce weapons. Iran insists it is intended only to produce power, arguing it needs enrichment technology to produce fuel for atomic reactors that would generate electricity.

 

 

Senate Rejects Ban on 'Gay Marriage'

June 7….(WND) The Senate rejected a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, but supporters say the measure is gaining ground and today's vote should help energize the Republican base. The 49-48 tally was 11 short of the 60 needed to hold an up-or-down vote by the full Senate. A sponsor of the joint resolution, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., warned opponents will have to answer for their positions. "People are going to be responsible for this vote," he said. "We are making progress in America on defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman." Forty-five states have acted to define marriage in traditional terms, as a union between one man and one woman. But one GOP opponent, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told the Senate he won't support the federal amendment because most Americans "are not yet convinced that their elected representatives or the judiciary are likely to expand decisively the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples." The joint resolution says: "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman." Jan LaRue, chief counsel of Concerned Women of America, said in a statement it is "inconceivable that the US Senate didn't 'deem it necessary' to protect marriage by refusing even to vote on the amendment." "Our country cannot function with radically different definitions of what constitutes this sacred union," she said. "If the American founders could have imagined a time when same-sex 'marriage' would be forced upon the people by judicial fiat, they would have established a uniform rule of marriage in the Constitution just as they did for naturalization and bankruptcy." CWA says it supports a single-sentence amendment that would strictly define marriage as between one man and one woman, and not leave any further room for misinterpretation.

FOJ Note: The founding fathers of America in 1776 never imagined that the new country they were developing would ever sink so low as to consider that marriage was between anything other than a man and a woman. America has about exhausted all of its Common Sense!

 

 

Israel’s West Bank Withdrawal a 'Threat to Jordan & Egypt'

(King Abdullah warns Israeli evacuation would foment regional instability)

June 7….(WND) Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to unilaterally evacuate most of Judea and Samaria is a threat to Jordan and to Mideast regional stability, Jordan's King Abdullah said today. The king's statements follow similar protests from another US regional ally, Egypt. Senior officials there say they view the Israeli retreat as a possible threat to Egyptian security.Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refused to support the plan at a press conference this past weekend with Olmert. "Such a unilateral step (as evacuating Judea and Samaria) would foster insecurity and doubts not only in the Palestinian Authority, but among the rest of the peace partners in the region," said Abdullah in an interview with Israel's Yediot Aharonot daily. Abdullah expressed fear that if an Israeli withdrawal is implemented, Jordan might be flooded with Palestinians trying to escape Judea and Samaria. "The Palestinians' homeland and their state should be on Palestinian soil, and nowhere else. Jordan will never be a substitute homeland for anybody." Abdullah said. Abdullah granted the interview in advance of a meeting scheduled for tomorrow with Olmert that is widely seen as the latest round of diplomatic presentations by the Israeli leader regarding his evacuation plan, which seeks to vacate most of Judea and Samaria, mountainous territory that borders Jordan and is within rocket firing range of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Israel's international airport. (Judea and Samaria also commonly is referred to as the West Bank) Abdullah's statements today are not the first time the king spoke out against the proposed evacuation. Last month, he reportedly expressed his reservation in a letter sent to President Bush urging the American leader to press Olmert toward Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Abdullah reportedly told President Bush that he fears an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria could threaten his country. Since Israel conducted a similar pullout from the Gaza Strip last August, rockets have been fired regularly into nearby Jewish communities, Hamas has been elected to power and both Israeli and Palestinian officials have stated that Al Qaida has infiltrated the territory. Neighboring Egypt recently announced the terrorists who carried out April's deadly triple-bomb blasts in the Sinai resort town of Dahab trained in the Gaza Strip with Palestinians. They said Gaza-based terrorists helped finance the attack. Abdullah said he fears similar instability in following an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria withdrawal. "If riots break out in the West Bank, they could spread into the kingdom. When someone sneezes in the West Bank, they say here, Jordan can catch the flu," Abdullah said. Analysts here contend Olmert's evacuation plan would boost Hamas' power in Judea and Samaria. The terror group won last January's Palestinian parliamentary elections by a large margin. As part of its campaign platform, Hamas took credit for Israel's Gaza withdrawal and pledged a similar Israeli retreat from Judea and Samaria. Jordan has a strained relationship with Hamas, which it has been helping to diplomatically isolate. Jordanian officials announced last month security officers caught a large arms cache smuggled into the country by Hamas members. Jordanian television broadcast confessions by three Hamas militants who said they smuggled the arms for possible attacks against Jordanian officials and interests. Hamas has a history of anti-Jordan activity. Officials there say they caught several other arms caches in the past belonging to the terror group. Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, a Jordanian citizen, was expelled in 1999 along with other leaders after a crackdown on the group following accusations of illegal activities. Also reportedly opposed to Olmert's Judea and Samaria evacuation plan is Egyptian President Mubarak, who refused to support the withdrawal when prompted by a reporter at a press conference with Olmert last week. A senior Egyptian official told WND Mubarak "vehemently" opposes any Israeli unilateral withdrawal. "Egypt is continually threatened by the anarchy in the Gaza Strip," the official said. "Elements in Gaza have aided and abetted plotters of terror attacks against our land and sovereignty. A unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank could bring similar anarchy on a larger scale there and spill over into (neighboring) Jordan." The official spoke on condition of anonymity, claiming an on-the-record interview concerning Olmert's evacuation plan could "complicate Egyptian diplomatic relationships." Egypt is said to be very closely monitoring the Hamas relationship with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which seeks to create an Islamic theocracy in Egypt. Hamas is an offshoot of the Brotherhood, which won an unprecedented 20 percent of the Parliament in the latest Egyptian elections. Multiple Brotherhood leaders in Egypt have stated many times their group is strengthened by Israel's Gaza withdrawal and Hamas' ascension to power. They have said they wish to stage a similar takeover of Egypt. "Gaza is a clear threat now to Egypt," stated the Egyptian official. "What reason is there to believe things will result otherwise from any West Bank withdrawal?" Mideast countries are not alone in expressing reservations about Olmert's Judea and Samaria evacuation. Following his White House meeting with Olmert, Bush's comments regarding Olmert's proposed withdrawal stopped short of an endorsement. While giving Olmert credit for proposing "bold ideas" that "could be an important step" toward peace, Bush stressed the Road Map and urged talks with Abbas. He stated a negotiated agreement "best serves Israelis and Palestinians and the cause of peace." A member of the Israeli delegation at the White House meeting described the US attitude toward the Judea and Samaria withdrawal as "lukewarm," explaining the White House raised a number of concerns, including the possibility a terror entity will be created in the areas evacuated, reservations expressed by Jordan and the effects of the plan on US regional interests.

FOJ Note: Isn’t it amazing how Israel can’t even give their land away, and satisfy anybody?

 

 

Israel Braces for New Terror War
(Army issues warning as terror leaders detail to WND '3rd intifada')

June 7….(WND) The Jewish state is headed toward a major, violent confrontation with the Palestinians while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to withdraw from most of Judea and Samaria will "not help" to decrease the terrorism, according to an Israeli army assessment. The prognosis will be released in an official Israeli Defense Forces report to be published next month. Every major Palestinian terror organization said recent events here are leading them to launch what they call a third intifada, or violent confrontation against Israel. The terrorists warned of suicide bombings, rocket attacks against Jewish communities and "a few new surprises in our arsenal." "The new intifada is only a question of time and this will be the hardest and the most dangerous one. It's just about timing until the order to blow up a new wave of attacks will be given," Abu Nasser, a senior Al Aqsa Brigades leader from the Balata refugee camp in northern Samaria told WorldNetDaily in an interview. The IDF report outlines the army's plan for the next five years. It states that in order to prepare for the expected upcoming conflict with the Palestinians, IDF resources should be shifted more toward counter-terrorism units and away from traditional forms of warfare, such as armor, artillery and the engineering corps. The Associated Press quoted Israeli intelligence officials familiar with the report stating the document contends Olmert's plan to evacuate Judea and Samaria will not do anything to decrease the scope of violence in the region. Security officials told WND the withdrawal will result in a major increase in terrorism. Judea and Samaria also is commonly referred to as the West Bank. The trend of violence here already has been increasing weekly. Israeli security organizations say they have more than 60 general warnings of planned suicide attacks, most targeting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Rocket attacks against Jewish communities near Gaza have been carried out so frequently, some Israeli defense officials and government ministers recently recommended reoccupying the Strip, which was vacated by Israel last August. Israeli defense officials say there is information terrorists in northern Samaria are developing rockets for a future onslaught against Jewish communities there. The defense officials also say Hamas, which agreed to a long-term cease-fire with Israel, has been amassing large stocks of weapons so its operatives will be ready to launch attacks immediately should its leadership decide to end the "lull" in fighting. They say Iran and Syria, currently under mounting international pressure, are streaming large sums of money to Palestinian terror groups to prompt local cells to carry out attacks in hopes of starting regional violence. Some officials tie the expected increase in violence to Olmert's Judea and Samaria evacuation plan. After Israel announced it would withdraw from Gaza, terror organizations, mostly led by Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committees umbrella group, increased attacks in the area, at one point firing an average of seven rockets per day at Gaza's Jewish communities. Security officials told WND they fear terror groups similarly will increase attacks to claim credit for any Israeli pullout from Judea and Samaria. The Palestinians launched their first intifada in 1987, which developed into a well-organized violent rebellion orchestrated by Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization from its headquarters in Tunis. The so-called second intifada was initiated in 2000 after Arafat rejected at Camp David an Israeli offer of a Palestinian state on most of Judea and Samaria, the Gaza Strip and sections of eastern Jerusalem. The terror groups themselves say they are planning a new wave of violence against Israelis, which some terror leaders are calling a "third intifada." They detailed for WorldNetDaily how they will carry it out.

Al Aqsa Brigades: 'We'll kill Israelis to revolt against Hamas'

The Al Aqsa Brigades was formed in 2000 by then-PLO leader Arafat as a military offshoot of the Fatah party. PA President Mahmoud Abbas signed a cease-fire with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last February, to which the Brigades was party, but the terror group continued carrying out attacks. Al Aqsa's Abu Nasser claims Israel put Hamas in power and says his group is preparing a new terror onslaught as a result. Hamas won last January's Palestinian parliamentary elections by a large margin. Hamas and Fatah have been violently clashing on the streets in Gaza and Judea and Samaria. "For many months we respected a cease-fire, expecting to see changes in the lives of the Palestinian people, but we received from the Israeli side more assassinations, and above all we received the Hamas victory, which seems to be the result of an Israeli and international conspiracy," Abu Nasser told WND. "They believe that Hamas will give up easier our lands and rights. I think that they are right, but we will not allow this to happen. We will fight and we will blow up the new intifada." Abu Nasser told WND the Brigades will not respect any cease-fire agreed to by Hamas and will not halt attacks at Hamas' request. "I am sure Hamas will start arresting us, but it will not be that easy for them," said Abu Nasser. "We are preparing ourselves for the worst scenario." Asked if Al Aqsa's new terror war will be launched less out of aggression toward Israel and more to revolt against Hamas, Abu Nasser replied, "This is partially true. When we were in power, we were obliged to be more sensitive and more obedient to the instructions and policies of our leadership. Now that we lost the elections, why should we obey the leaders and just who do we obey? The Hamas? Abu Nasser warned the so-called third intifada will be a combination of suicide bombings and rocket attacks against Jewish towns. "The Al Aqsa Brigades will wait for the most suitable moment to launch our resistance acts," he said. "As for the acts, there will be suicide attacks but there will be a massive use of rockets. These rockets will be launched against Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but also if needed against Israeli cities inside the green line." Israeli officials have been warning that the Palestinian terror groups transferred their rocket capabilities to Judea and Samaria, which is within firing range of Israel's international airport and many major Israeli cities, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Israel has confirmed that at least two rockets have been fired so far from the northern Samaria town of Jenin. There is information terror groups in Judea and Samaria, particularly the Al Aqsa Brigades and Islamic Jihad, will step up attacks against the area's Jewish communities ahead of any Israeli withdrawal from the area. WorldNetDaily caught up with Abu Oudai, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader responsible for coordinating the organization's rocket network in Judea and Samaria. He warned that his organization is preparing a rocket war against Israel: "We have launched several times and with the help of Allah we will launch these rockets regularly. Oudai said his organization and other terror groups have stockpiled Palestinian rockets, including Qassams, which can travel about 4 miles, more primitive Jenin-1 and Jenin-2s, and Arafat-1 and Arafat-2 rockets, some of which can reportedly travel up to 3 miles. He claimed his group is developing a new rocket that will put all of Israel's major cities within firing range. "The very near future will prove their capacity to kill and destroy and to beat the Israelis in Judea and Samaria exactly like we did with these rockets in the Gaza Strip," Oudai said. Oudai pocked fun at Israel's Judea and Samaria security barrier, which has been credited with making it more difficult for Palestinian groups to carry out suicide bombings. "The Israelis have built a huge wall on which it spent billions of dollars but still we are hitting Israel with our rockets and reaching every target we want. This wall will not defend Israel from our rockets which have defeated the wall and all the security measures taken to prevent our attacks," Oudai boasted. Israeli military leaders previously warned that the Jewish state will launch an "unprecedented" military campaign against any rocket-firing from Judea and Samaria.

Islamic Jihad: 'The Israelis should wait for our surprises'

Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for every suicide bombing against Israel since last February's cease-fire, including bombings in a Tel Aviv disco and restaurant and a Netanya shopping mall. Al Aqsa leaders told WorldNetDaily they aided the recent bombings. Islamic Jihad also says it fired most of the rockets launched from the Gaza Strip since Israel's August withdrawal. Israel says Islamic Jihad is backed directly by Iran and Syria. Jihad chief Ramadan Shallah operates openly from Damascus and regularly visits Tehran. Security sources say Hezbollah headquarters in Damascus and Beirut have ordered Islamic Jihad to carry out attacks in hopes of drawing Israel into a protracted military conflict. They say Iran and Syria are looking to use Islamic Jihad in part to distract mounting international pressure against their respective countries. Iran is under fire for its alleged nuclear ambitions, and the international community led by the United States has threatened to bring Syria to the United Nations Security Council for allegedly interfering in the investigation into the assassination last year of former Lebanese Prime Minister Raqif Hariri, for which Syria has been widely blamed. WorldNetDaily spoke with Islamic Jihad's northern Samaria leader Abu Khalil, who warned his terror group is planning a terror onslaught to chase Israel from the West Bank and eventually from Jerusalem. "We will launch very soon very painful attacks that will shake the enemy," Abu Khalil said. "In fact, this is more the continuation of the (second) intifada because we never said that the intifada has ended. We will never give calm and security to the enemy. This will happen only when Israel will run away from Jerusalem and [Judea and Samaria] like it did in Gaza." Abu Khalil, like leaders from the Al Aqsa Brigades, said his group will not respect a Hamas request to halt attacks against Israel. "I don't believe the brothers in Hamas will ask us to stop. In any case, our only commitment is towards Allah and the blood of our people and brothers and towards our political leadership," Abu Khalil told WND. "Therefore we will not give up the right to defend ourselves and to launch all kinds of attacks against Israel everywhere there is an Israeli soldier or any Israeli goal in 1948 occupied Palestine (the entire state of Israel)." Asked which weapons will be emphasized during Islamic Jihad's next wave of terror attacks, Abu Khalil replied, "I should not answer this question for operational reasons. But we proved that we use everything Allah enables us to achieve and to use – suicide attacks, rockets and more surprises. The Israelis should wait for interesting surprises."

Hamas developing guided rockets, bomb-laden planes

Leaders of Hamas, responsible for more than 60 suicide bombings, claim they will focus on rebuilding Palestinian society and have stated they will continue respecting a cease fire with Israel. The group has been clashing regularly with Fatah. Mahmoud al-Zahar, Hamas chief in Gaza, told WorldNetDaily his group will "rebuild the Palestinian life shattered by corruption in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. This is our goal now. To make a better life for the Palestinians." In a widely circulated interview, al-Zahar even recently claimed to WorldNetDaily that Hamas might negotiate with Israel using a third party. He said his group likely will agree to a long-term cease-fire with the Jewish state but said it will not recognize Israel or renounce its charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel by "assaulting and killing." Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said his group will not stop other Palestinian organizations from carrying out attacks against Israel. WorldNetDaily spoke last week with Abu Abdullah, considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department. He said his terror group is acquiring new weapons and is preparing for the possibility of resuming attacks should a long-term truce it claims to uphold fall apart. Abdullah said Hamas is developing a new, electronically guided missile that will place most major Israeli population centers within firing range, claiming the rocket will be able to reach "every target in 1948 occupied Palestine (Israel) and that from Gaza we will be able to hit the center of Israel." He also detailed a plan to attack Israel using small airplanes laden with explosives to be flown 9-11-style into important targets, possibly Tel Aviv skyscrapers. Asked if the Hamas' political leadership sanctions the acquiring of aircraft for attacks, Abdullah replied, "The acquiring of any weapon is a decision of the military wing, and it depends on a number of conditions related to financial facilities and to the situation on the ground. The Hamas political leadership starts to play a role only when it comes to the question of time – when to come back to the military operations because, as you know, we are respecting the cease-fire."

Israel says Hamas continues to direct attacks using other terror groups, particularly the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees. The Shin Bet Security Services recently announced Hamas senior member Ahmed Randor was responsible for a thwarted major bombing by the Committees at the Karni crossing, the main checkpoint between Israel and Gaza.

'Terror forced Israel out of Gaza, will get us rest of Jewish state'

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has carried out recent Judea and Samaria shooting attacks and rocket firings from the Gaza Strip. The group's leader, Ahmad Saadat, is accused by Israel of planning the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavaam Zeevi in October 2001. Israeli security officials say the PFLP has scaled back its participation in attacks the past few months, but Abu Hani, a leader of the PLFP's "armed wing," the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, told WorldNetDaily his group used the time earned from last year's cease-fire to build its arsenal in preparation for a third intifada. "The last months were used for a rest in order to rehabilitate forces," Abu Hani said. "The Palestinian people reserves its right to fight against Israel." He told WorldNetDaily the PFLP is "being forced" to launch a new terror war. "It is not that we prepare an intifada," Abu Hani said. "It is the reality on the ground that dictates a new intifada. There is the fence, there is the building in the Jewish settlements, the daily Israeli penetration into Palestinian cities, villages and camps and of course the killing of our comrades and brothers." Israel routinely conducts anti-terror military raids in Judea and Samaria when it receives intelligence warning of new attacks. The Israeli Air Force fires at targets in Gaza in attempts to halt Palestinian groups from launching rockets at nearby Jewish communities. Abu Hani warned, "The current situation does not leave to the Palestinians many choices but to fight with all the tools we have or can have. The Gaza withdrawal proves unfortunately that force, attacks and rockets is the only language and attitude that the Israelis understand. They do not withdraw unless they are hit by the Palestinian resistance. So if there is a way that has already obliged the Israelis to withdraw, why not to use it again?"

 

 

US Knew About Arafat's Key Role in Diplomats' Murders

 June 6….(CNSNews) The US government was aware from the outset of Yasser Arafat's hand in the 1973 murder of two American diplomats in Sudan, according to a formerly secret document released Monday by the State Department. "The Khartoum operation was planned and carried out with the full knowledge and personal approval of Yasser Arafat," said an official US intelligence memorandum dated June 1973. It added that representatives of Fatah, Arafat's faction of the PLO, "participated in the attack, using a Fatah vehicle to transport the terrorists to the Saudi Arabian Embassy." The Saudi Embassy in Khartoum was where Palestinian terrorists murdered US Ambassador Cleo Noel and US charge d'affaires George Curtis Moore, along with a Belgian diplomat, Guy Eid, on March 2, 1973. The eight terrorists had seized the diplomats during an embassy function, demanding the release of jailed Palestinian terrorists, including Fatah's Abu Daoud, who planned the attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics the previous year and was in prison in Jordan; and Sirhan Sirhan, Senator Robert Kennedy's assassin, imprisoned in California. Officially, the US has always blamed the attack on the Black September organization (BSO), a Palestinian faction. But the document released this week confirms suspicions voiced and published down the years that Arafat was not only involved, but known at the time to be involved. Arafat went on to be accepted by the world community, he addressed the UN General Assembly in New York 20 months after the Khartoum incident; he later entered negotiations with Israel and was honored by the Clinton administration with a number of White House visits between 1993 and 2001, the last just days before President Clinton left office. President Bush declared the PLO chairman an obstacle to peace and in 2002 urged Palestinian voters "to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror." Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government confined him to his headquarters in Ramallah, and Arafat died in November 2004. Mideast expert Daniel Pipes wrote in 1994 that, when pro-Israel organizations sought in 1986 to indict Arafat under US law for his role in the Khartoum murders, the State Department "weighed in against such an indictment on the grounds that Arafat and his colleagues would some day be key to settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict."

 

 

Report: US Offering Iran Nuke Technology?

June 6….(WND) In a major concession, the United States will supply Tehran with some nuclear technology if the radical Islamic regime stops enriching uranium, according to diplomats who outlined a package of incentives presented today. The diplomats, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Washington's offer was part of a series of rewards offered by European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. The package was put together last week by Germany and the five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia. An early draft of the proposal indicated Iran would be offered assistance building nuclear reactors, a guaranteed supply of nuclear fuel and an Airbus aircraft if it agrees to stop enriching unranium. Responding to the initiative on Iranian state television, top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Tehran would study the incentives, which contain "positive steps" but also some "ambiguities." "We hope we will have negotiations and deliberations again after we have carefully studied the proposals," he said. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack tried to curb speculation about the actual contents of the package. "Well, I've seen a lot of reports flying around the past couple days about what may or may not be in this package," he said. "I would just caution everybody, until we actually are able to discuss what is in the package in public, take reports with a grain of salt." Solana was quoted on Iranian television as saying the talks were "constructive" and that he looked forward to a "bright future." "The meeting has been very useful," Solana said afterward in comments aired on state-run TV's English-language channel. Commenting on the reported US offer, Jerome Corsi, author of "Atomic Iran," says for the first time someone is "calling Tehran's bluff." "When Iran rejects the offer, it will be abundantly clear what their intentions are," Corsi said. "I'm very doubtful that any of this diplomacy will work – and I'm concerned we're taking too much time, but I think the attempt to clarify the issue, to show that Iran is cheating," is helpful, he explained. Eric Shawn, author of a newly released critique of the world body, "The UN Exposed: How the UN Sabotages America’s Security," told WND the offer still does not resolve the issue of Iran's violation of UN Security Council demands. Shawn said Iranian UN Ambassador Javad Zarif told him last week Tehran is willing to let the US operate a nuclear power facility and station full-time International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors in the country. "But that still doesn't deal with the issue of potential military applications," Shawn said. "They are not fully cooperating with the UN inspectors now, and they have not adequately explained the finding of material that could be used for making nuclear weapons." Iran also might have facilities the UN doesn't know about, he added. Even more troubling, said Shawn, is the fact that Russia and China, who have major trade agreements with Tehran, continue to protect Iran in the Security Council, preventing any discussion of sanctions. Iran, Shawn points out, repeatedly has said uranium enrichment is within their rights under the UN's nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

 

 

Bush Keeping Wary Eye on Somali Situation

(President worried clashes between clans, Islamic militia will aid al-Qaida)

June 6….(MSN) President Bush said Tuesday he was watching the situation in Somalia carefully and wants to make sure it does not become a safe haven for al-Qaida. "Obviously when there's instability anywhere in the world we're concerned. There is instability in Somalia," Bush said. "First concern of course would be to make sure that Somalia does not become an al-Qaida safe haven, doesn't become a place from which terrorists plot and plan, so we're watching very carefully developments there," he said. Islamic militiamen claim to have captured most of the Somali capital and placed it under the sway of the Islamic courts militia after weeks of fighting which claimed almost 350 lives and 15 years of anarchy. More than 40,000 people fled their homes. Their victory raises fear that al Qaeda, which the victorious militias are accused of sheltering, will now consolidate its Somali sanctuary and gain a solid staging base on the Indian Ocean coastline of East Africa. The alliance of warlords was formed with indirect US support this year to root out the terrorist presence. Four of them were also members of the provisional government, whom Gedi fired this week after their strongholds in Mogadishu and the outlying areas fell to the Islamic militia. The action is widely seen as a blow to US foreign policy.

 

 

Iran Pours Millions into Supporting Hamas

June 6…..(Arutz) Iran has become a key player in funneling money to “charitable” organizations in the PA which finance suicide bombers and their families. The money helps keep the Hamas government afloat. The PA’s own semi-official newspaper Al Hayat Al Jadida has been covering the distribution of Iranian funds to PA terrorists and their families via “charitable” organizations set up for that purpose. On June 1, the paper published a report about how an organization, Al Ansar, affiliated with the Hamas, distributed $1.8 million of gifts to the families of suicide bombers in Gaza. The head of the organization, Nafez El-Araj, told the paper how his organization distributed money to the families of 2,900 Arab terrorists. Each family was allocated a grant for rebuilding houses that were destroyed by the IDF as part of its campaign to deter potential suicide bombers. Over the past three months, Iran has contributed another $1.3 million to 2,020 families of terrorists in Judea and Samaria. Organizations such as Al Ansar, which distribute millions to Arab terrorist families, contribute substantially to the level of public support for the Hamas in the Palestinian Authority, and reduce the effectiveness of economic sanctions against Hamas. Iranian money allows the Hamas to develop a powerful social, economic, and educational system in the PA which bolsters public support for the group and its terrorist infrastructure. Israel and Western countries are hoping that economic sanctions against the Hamas ultimately will bear fruit. On Monday, an angry mob of PA employees rampaged into a branch of the Arab Bank in Gaza, demanding back pay from the PA. The bank, worried about the threat of sanctions from the United States for supporting terrorism, and legal actions against bank assets held abroad, refused to pay out money for debts owed by the Hamas. After breaking into the bank, the PA employees attacked the branch manager. In contrast to the Arab Bank, the Bank of Palestine, headquartered in the PA, paid out salaries of up to NIS 1,500 to PA employees with accounts at that bank. After the attack, managers of the Arab Bank, which is headquartered in Jordan, decided to shut all bank branches in the Gaza district. A spokesman for the Jordanian government said the bank would close its remaining branches in Judea and Samaria if violence against the bank continues. Terrorist factions in the PA have already warned that they will continue attacks against banks refusing to pay out salaries to employees of the Hamas government in the PA. They justified such attacks by saying that those banks were aiding and abetting the enemy.

 

Iran Receives Anti-nuclear Incentives From EU

June 6….(AP) A package of incentives that represents a major initiative by world powers to persuade Iran to curb its nuclear program contains "positive steps" but also some "ambiguities," the country's top nuclear negotiator said Tuesday. Speaking on state television after receiving the proposals from EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Ali Larijani called the talks with Solana "constructive" and said Iran would respond after studying the incentives. The United States along with the four other veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, Britain, France, Russia and China — drew up the package with Germany in a meeting in Vienna on Friday. Solana, who arrived in Tehran on Monday night, met Larijani for two hours at the Supreme National Security Council building in central Tehran. Journalists were barred from the building. Iran's initial reaction was relatively upbeat, with none of its usual insistence that it would never give up its right to enrichment. "The proposals contain positive steps and also some ambiguities," Larijani said. He did not identify the "ambiguities," but he said he had discussed them with Solana and that more talks would be required. "We hope we will have negotiations and deliberations again after we have carefully studied the proposals," he said. "This is a framework of cooperation that requires taking careful steps from the outset," Larijani said. State-run television, in Persian, quoted Solana after the meeting as saying that the talks were "constructive" and that he looked forward to a "bright future." "The meeting has been very useful," Solana said afterward in comments aired on state-run TV's English-language channel. "I have a feeling that it has been very, very constructive," he said, adding that the two sides would have contacts in the coming days on the proposals. Solana was to explain the details of the package but go no further. The EU envoy, who is heading a seven-person delegation, later met Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki before leaving Iran later Tuesday. "It was agreed that the Islamic Republic of Iran will study the package. We will inform our friends of Iran's views after a careful study," Mottaki told state television after his talks with Solana. The EU envoy was expected to leave Iran later Tuesday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meeting in Germany with French President Jacques Chirac, urged Tehran to respond positively to the incentives, saying that they show the world's interest in the success of "a modern Iran" and its sincerity in seeking a diplomatic solution. "I hope that Iran shows a positive reaction and understands that there is a broad interest in a diplomatic solution to this conflict," she said. Chirac echoed Merkel's hopes that the package would bring progress. "We truly hope, that we can reach an accord that respects the demands of the IAEA toward Iran," he said, referring to the UN nuclear watchdog agency, which has demanded Iran once again suspend its enrichment of uranium, a process that can create fuel for a nuclear reactor or fissile material for a bomb. Iran says its nuclear development is for peaceful production of nuclear energy, but Washington, the European Union and others accuse Tehran of covertly trying to build a nuclear arsenal. The incentives package offers economic and political rewards if Tehran relinquishes domestic uranium enrichment. It also contains the implicit threat of UN sanctions if Iran remains defiant. In a breakthrough last week, the United States agreed to join in multinational talks on the package. Details of the proposals have not been made public, but an early draft indicated that if Iran agrees to abandon uranium enrichment, the world would offer it help in building nuclear reactors, a guaranteed supply of nuclear fuel and European Airbus aircraft. The United States has reportedly sweetened the offer by saying it would lift some bilateral sanctions on Iran, such as a ban on sales of Boeing passenger aircraft and related parts. Iran's commercial airline fleet is largely made up of aging Boeings purchased before the 1979 revolution. It frequently complains that the US ban on parts has undermined safety and blamed the ban for several deadly crashes in the past. US pressure has also prevented Iranian attempts to purchase new Airbus aircraft. In recent days, Iran's leadership has alternated between talking tough and signaling it is open to negotiations, perhaps an attempt to portray to the Iranian public that it is not backing down even as it considers reversing its refusal to suspend enrichment. Additionally, the US offer to join in direct talks with Iran might have taken Tehran's top officials off-guard. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, normally a hard-line critic of the United States who insists that Tehran has a right to enrichment, said over the weekend that a breakthrough in negotiations was possible and welcomed the US offer to join talks, while rejecting preconditions. But threats by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to disrupt the world's oil supply if Tehran is punished over its nuclear program reflected Tehran's nervousness. Although other Iranian officials have repeatedly ruled out using oil as weapon, his comments propelled oil prices to $73 a barrel Monday. Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil exporter and the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

 

 

Iran and the US Engage in Language Sparring

June 5….(DEBKA) In his most explicit threat yet, Iran’s supreme ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared Sunday: "If you make any mistake, definitely shipment of energy from this region will be seriously jeopardized. You have to know this." He added, addressing the West: "You will never be able to protect the energy supply in this region. You will not be able to do it." US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice shot back to "Fox News Sunday: "We shouldn't place too much emphasis on a threat of this kind," because Iran also has an interest in protecting its major source of revenues. Both sides know that Tehran gets 80% of its income from oil exports. They also know that more than 60% of the world's oil supply passes through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which links the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and shipping lanes to the Far East. Much of the shipping sails close to Iran’s coast. DEBKAfile’s Gulf sources suspect that the tough talk indicates that a secret dialogue is afoot somewhere in the world and has reached the stage of muscle-flexing, or even a point of decision. These same sources did confirm the existence of bilateral negotiations three months ago in Washington and Geneva, which broke up without agreement. They are less sure about the resumption. Whether or not these talks have resumed, military sources affirm that the United States, Iran, the Gulf emirates and Israel are pushing ahead with preparations for a showdown over Tehran’s nuclear plans. Washington has begun signaling allied governments in the Persian Gulf and Israel that a US military operation against Iran’s nuclear sites is in the works for 12 to 18 months hence at the soonest. They were advised to start making their own preparations. DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s exclusive Washington and Middle East military sources reveal that the Bush administration has for the first time translated its ambiguous statements - which never “ruled out any options, including the military”- into a clear decision to put preparations in train for likely action within a timeframe ending in the second half of 2007. The Iranians having made no bones about their refusal to backtrack on uranium enrichment, teams of American officials have fanned out on highly confidential missions to the capitals of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Turkey and Israel. They raised three issues related to possible American strike action:

1. A request to use their bases for US naval and air force attacks on Iran.

2. The backlash potential from Iran against nations supporting US attacks.

3. The supply of advanced American weaponry to the nations in the line of fire as their deterrence against an Iranian counter-attack and as a strategic counterweight to Iran’s missile arsenal.

From their discreet American visitors, the regional governments obtained an outline of the state of play: US intelligence has finished mapping out the Iranian sites whose destruction its experts estimate will terminate the rogue nuclear program and its aims. The maps take into account American assessments that around 35% of Iran’s designated nuclear sites are dummies built to hoodwink American or Israeli attackers and cause them to throw away their logistic resources and ordinance for nothing. Intelligence sources disclose that American intelligence experts are convinced they can distinguish between the real sites and the empty buildings and tunnels constructed as decoys. Even if the Iranians build fresh decoys or relocate active sites, America’s network of spy satellites and planes have them all under close enough surveillance to discover their new locations, and determine which fake installations have covertly been made operational.

Tehran is undoubtedly fully aware of America’s intentions and has been girding up for a military contingency for some time. In its grand “Great Prophet” sea and air maneuver from March 31 to April 6, the Iranian armed forces displayed a glittering array of new hardware, including various sea missiles, flying boats and submarines, all presented as capable of disrupting oil shipping in the Gulf. In his warning this week, Khamenei spoke of “seriously jeopardizing” oil supplies, but fought shy of an outright threat to block the Hormuz Strait. DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources believe the supreme leader was thinking in terms of the disruptions of August 1987 and again in 1988, when Iran strewed Gulf waters and the Hormuz Strait with M-08 contact mines of Russian manufacture. The oil traffic proceeded nonetheless in convoys escorted by US warships and aircraft. The convoy escort and minesweeping operation was called Operation Earnest Will. Between August 1987 and April 1988, one supertanker, the 415,000-ton Bridgeton, was hit as well as a US frigate, the Samuel B. Roberts. But although the supplies moved slowly, they never came to a stop. Now, too, the Iranian ruler is not talking of total stoppage of Gulf navigation, although he did not rule out the possibility of a greater number of oil tankers and US warships falling victim than was the case 18 years ago. Secretary Rice pooh-poohed the threat, but DEBKAfile’s military and Iranian sources advise caution. The Iranian leadership will not stand by and wait for Washington to finish all its military preparations. Should diplomacy, overt and covert, fail to solve the impasse posed by its nuclear plans, Tehran appears to be gearing up for an attempt to force Washington and its Gulf allies into a round of limited hostilities as a means of deterring them from an all-out attack on its nuclear installations.

 

 

Iran To be Included in Central Asia Bloc

June 5….(Washington Times) An obscure regional security group will consider admitting Iran as a member at a summit this month, accelerating its transformation into a political and military bloc with the potential to challenge US interests. US, analysts think Russia and China already are using the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, (SCO) which links the two with four Central Asian neighbors, to try to squeeze the United States out of the region. SCO foreign ministers said at an earlier meeting that consideration is being given to extending membership to four countries with observer status, Iran, Pakistan, India and Mongolia. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to attend the summit on June 15 in Shanghai. Expansion of the organization into Iran and other countries could make it "an enormous power," said David Wall, a professor at the University of Cambridge's East Asia Institute. "An expanded SCO would control a large part of the world's oil and gas reserves and nuclear arsenal. It would essentially be an OPEC with bombs," he said, referring to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld alluded to the coming summit on his way to a weekend security conference in Singapore. Comparing the openness of the Singapore meeting to other unnamed gatherings, he said: "There are some efforts and systems that leave us out, and we obviously favor institutions that are inclusive, rather than exclusive." A warning shot was fired at last year's SCO summit, where the group issued a declaration calling for the United States to set a timeline for withdrawing from air bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, established to support the war on terrorism in Afghanistan. Delegates from Kazakhstan, Washington's closest friend in the SCO, argued at that meeting to head off an even stronger resolution. Uzbekistan subsequently evicted the United States from its base in that country, and Kyrgyzstan demanded a 100-fold increase in the rent on its base when the lease expired May 31. Negotiations are continuing, but Kyrgyz visitors to Washington say the government could find another tenant for the base, possibly China. Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan founded the group as the "Shanghai Five" in 1996. It was expanded to include Uzbekistan, renamed the SCO and given a written charter in 2001. The organization's members insist its main goal is to foster cooperation by working to resolve cross-border disputes, promote economic links and support joint efforts to combat regional problems, such as drug trafficking. But the SCO has increasingly provided the basis for military cooperation among its member states. A military exercise last year involved more than 10,000 troops from SCO member countries, and another set of war games is planned for next year. "They say they don't want to form a NATO of the East, but the question remains: Why conduct these military exercises under the auspices of the SCO if it's not meant as a counterbalance to NATO," Mr. Wall said. Peter Rodman, the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs, complained in March that the United States had been denied permission to observe the SCO exercise. "There was a Sino-Russian military exercise last year which we wanted to be observers at, and the Chinese declined to invite us," Mr. Rodman told a congressional China commission hearing. Mr. Rodman said Russia is "very tight" with the Chinese on a number of issues and the two nations have been "trying to push us out" of Central Asia through the SCO. Chinese President Hu Jintao confirmed the closeness last month, when he praised Russia as China's most important strategic partner and described the SCO as "an important force for promoting peace and stability in the region and throughout the world."

 

 

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