Iran says US forces in Iraq released 5 Iranians after more than 2 years in detention

QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA |Associated Press Writer

8:20 AM EDT, July 9, 2009

BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S. forces on Thursday released five Iranian officials detained in January 2007 in northern Iraq on suspicion of aiding local Shiite militants, Iranian and Iraqi officials said.

Iranian embassy spokesman Amir Arshadi said the Iranian detainees had been handed over to Iraqi authorities prior to their transfer to the embassy. His comments were confirmed by Yassin Majid, media adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The Iranians were detained in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil and at the time U.S. authorities said the men included the operations chief and other members of Iran's elite Quds Force, which is accused of arming and training Iraqi militants. Iran denied the claim.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hasan Qashqavi confirmed the report on state television, saying "the hostages" were in al-Maliki's office for a meeting.

and much more here>>>

Israeli agents intrude Holy Sanctuary

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:40:19 GMT

Israeli intelligence operatives violate the religious site of Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem (al-Quds), detaining a journalist who documented the intrusion.

Plainclothes Israeli agents intruded into the compound and took picture of its different corners Friday, Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported, quoting the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and (Preservation of Muslim) Heritage.

The police force accompanying the undercover agents reportedly detained the organization's journalist, Mahmoud Abu Atta, who had caught the intrusion on camera.

Israeli agents seized the memory card >>>

Violations of media freedoms climb during June and include erasing Al Jazeera footage shot in Hebron

08.07.09 - 10:53

Ramallah / Mousa Rimawi - The Palestinian territories witnessed an escalation in violations of media freedoms during the month of June.

The last June has witnessed an escalation in violations of media freedoms in the occupied Palestinian territories compared to the previous month, where the Israeli district court in Jerusalem sentenced Al-Alalam TV correspondent, Khader Shahin, and producer, Mohammed Sarhan, for two months imprisonment. The occupation soldiers have also attacked the photographer journalists Nayef Al-Hashlamoun and his brothers, Najeh and Abd Al-Hafiz, Hazem Bader, Iyad Hamad, Yosri Al- Jamal and his assistant Maa’moun Wazwaz.

The Palestinian security forces in the West Bank have arrested the journalists: Awad Rjoub, Dr. Farid Abu Dhair, and Alaa’ Altiti, Qays Abu Samrah, Younis Hasasneh and the journalist writer Seri Sammour. They have, moreover, stopped Al-Jazeera Television staff (Wael Shioukhi, Zeiad Al-Aqrat and Mohammad Salameh) and deleted the material from the camera. The security forces in Gaza have also arrested Seri Qudwah and attacked Mohammad Mashharawi.

The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) expresses its deep concern for the ongoing arrests of journalists and writers by the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the continued detention of a number of other journalists in their prisons who were arrested in the past months (Iyad Srour, Mustafa Sabri, Murad Abu Al-Bahaa’). MADA also denounce the rejection by the Preventive Security force to release the journalist Mustafa Sabri, despite the decision issued by the Supreme Court of Justice to release him.

MADA expresses condemnation of all violations committed by Israeli occupation forces and the Palestinian security forces against the Palestinian journalists, which is a rude violation of the freedom of opinion and expression, and so MADA asks for stopping the attacks against journalists and releasing the arrested ones.

Details of violations:>>>

Israel boards activist ship heading to Gaza

'Pakistan Times' Monitoring Desk

HELD AL-QUDS: The Israeli navy boarded and seized a ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists that was heading to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israel's blockade, a military spokesman said.

"In the last hour an Israeli navy force intercepted, boarded and took control of the cargo boat 'Arion' ... as it was illegally attempting to enter the Gaza Strip," the spokesman said late in the afternoon.

The military said the ship, which was sailing under a Greek flag, was the same vessel known as the "Spirit of Humanity", which was sailing to Gaza to protest the Israeli blockade on the Hamas-ruled territory. The spokesman said the navy had been contacting the boat since Monday evening and warned that it would not be allowed to enter Gazan waters "because of security risks and an existing naval blockade."

After the navy boarded the converted ferry it towed the vessel toward the nearby Israeli port of Ashdod, the spokesman said, adding that the activists on board would be handed over to authorities. He said no shots were fired during the incident. The boat was sent by the US-based Free Gaza Movement, which said it was carrying a "symbolic" cargo of humanitarian aid to pressure governments and international relief groups to do more to rebuild Gaza.

Greece quickly protested the seizing of the Greek-flagged vessel, saying "we remonstrated with the Israeli side and asked for the ship, the crew and the passengers to be released immediately," foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras said in a statement. "As we have said in the past, all legal activity by non-governmental organisations must enjoy freedom," he said.

Amid media reports that several Britons were>>>

HR group slams Israeli drone strikes on Gaza

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS/CAIRO: Israeli armed drones killed scores of Palestinian civilians during the Gaza war despite their cutting-edge targeting technology, the US-based Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

In a new report based on forensic analysis and eyewitness testimony, the group says that at least 87 Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli drones during the 22-day offensive on the Hamas-ruled territory launched in December.

“It is absolutely unacceptable, clearly unlawful and not what we expect from the world’s most moral military,” Marc Garlasco, the author of the report, told reporters in Jerusalem. “It looks as if they had almost an itchy trigger finger,” said Garlasco, who was previously a Pentagon intelligence official in charge of strikes on high-value targets during the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.

He added that the unmanned drones, which can hover over an area for more than 24 hours at a time and are equipped with precision cameras, are “the most precise, the most distinguishing of all weapons that any military has in its arsenal”.

“We were quite surprised during our mission in Gaza to actually find so many civilians killed by these weapons,” he added, saying the level of civilian deaths from drone strikes in Gaza was “nowhere near the level” seen in southern Lebanon during the 2006 war with Hizbullah.

The Israeli military slammed the report and insisted it made every effort to spare civilians during the fighting.

“(The military) made use of advanced technology, tactics and>>>

Gilani: Taleban have no public support

Sunday, 28 June 2009 - 05 Rajab 1430 H

By Faheem Al- Hamid

Pakistan is not only a key US ally in the global war on terrorism but itself a victim of terrorism. Despite a wide range of problems facing this country, Pakistan has never backed out of its commitment to fight terrorism, which is evident from the ongoing military operation in the lush-green valley of Swat and the adjoining areas.
To better understand Pakistan’s current position and its future plans to tackle Talebanization, Saudi Gazette caught up with Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani last week in Islamabad.
The soft-spoken Pakistan premier is confronted with a host of issues, the major of them being the rehabilitation of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and the ongoing military operation against the unscrupulous elements bent upon challenging the writ of his government to the fragile political situation of the country. Despite all the issues facing his government, Gilani sounds quite optimistic in steering his country out of the current crises.
Expressing his firm resolve against militancy in Pakistan with a particular reference to Swat, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said that he was determined to take every action to expose the Taleban and win over public opinion in Pakistan against the forces of extremism and “bloodshed”.
Talking to the SG, he said that the Pakistan Taleban had already completely lost all public sympathy due to their violent conduct, myopic view of Islam and anti-state activities.

Q: What is your government’s strategy to combat terrorism? How are you planning to deal with the threat of Talebanization of Pakistan?

A: We are trying to employ a holistic approach>>>

Iran at the Precipice of Now

By Dark Wraith
Published at 01:01 AM on 23 June 2009 in Editorial |

Last weekend, formerly disgraced Right-wing radio talk show personality Bill Bennett became the latest in a litany of Republicans pressing into self-service the political crisis in Iran to criticize President Barack Obama.

The refrain from Republicans like House GOP Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) and some others is that Obama is not doing enough to assist the popular forces protesting the re-election of conservative Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was victorious in an apparent landslide over Mir Hossein Mousavi, the candidate Western media have characterized as a reformer.

Grandstanding by the Republicans aside — they would be howling for impeachment right now were Obama to be moving destroyers into position — Mr. Obama has, in fact, been doing nothing much other than continuing precisely the same policies put into place by his predecessor, George W. Bush. As reported by Steve Weissman for truthout.org, an entire program of funding Iranian "democracy groups" to the tune of $400 million was requested by the Bush Administration and authorized by the Democrat-controlled Congress, whose members were quite interested in being kept in the dark about exactly how that money would be used. According to Seymour Hersh, that money, and possibly other funds, was destined for, among other activities, a systematic program of "black ops" carried out by our Special Forces and by insurgent groups inside Iran. On the agenda was the kidnapping of members of Al Quds (a wing of Iran's Revolutionary Guard), assassinations, and bombings.

That's right: the United States, with funding blessed by the Democratic leadership that controlled Congress in 2007, is sponsoring terrorism in Iran. Note the present tense: Weissman points out that there is no evidence that President Obama has rescinded this program, despite its unspeakable beneficiaries and its dubious record of achievements.

First, a major recipient of>>>