One of Bin Laden's Sons May Have Died in Missile Strike

By Joby Warrick

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 24, 2009

A CIA missile strike early this year is thought to have killed one of Osama bin Laden's oldest sons, a 27-year-old who had followed his father's footsteps into al-Qaeda, U.S. counterterrorism officials said Thursday.

Saad bin Laden -- one of at least 23 children fathered by the al-Qaeda founder, according to "The Bin Ladens," by Steve Coll -- was apparently killed inside Pakistan in an attack by one of the spy agency's unmanned Predator aircraft. Intelligence officials said that the attack occurred in late winter and that the younger bin Laden had not been the intended target.

"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time,">>>

US 'will not' cut cash flow to Israel Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:12:55 GMT

The White House has dismissed speculations that the US is considering economic sanctions to force Israel into freezing its West Bank settlement activity.

State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said on Thursday that a remark made by deputy spokesman Robert Wood on Wednesday had been misinterpreted.

"We are not contemplating such action," said Cowley, highlighting the need for all the parties involved to resolve all issues "through peaceful negotiations."

When asked about the possibility of US financial pressure on Israel on Wednesday, Wood said it was "premature to talk about that," raising a speculation that Washington might be weighing such an option.

Israel has faced strong opposition from>>>

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>>>