Gilani says he will meet Manmohan with ‘open heart’

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SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt July 14 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said he will meet Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with “open heart and positive mind.”“Efforts should be made to build bridges between the two countries instead of erecting walls,” he said in response to questions by Indian mediapersons on his arrival at the Egyptian Red Sea resort regarding the much-anticipated Gilani-Manmohan meeting on July 16 on the sidelines of NAM summit.

The Prime Minister said he wanted to improve relationship with India and thus would meet the Indian Prime Minister with a positive spirit.

Gilani said Pakistan was steadfast on its determination to fight terrorism and extremism and would continue making efforts to eradicate it.

He said Pakistan was a frontline state in war against terror and its role for regional peace must be acknowledged.

The Prime Minister will make address from the NAM platform, besides meeting his Indian counterpart in a bid to start the stalled peace process.

Gilani Tuesday will represent Pakistan at the 15th summit of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), focusing on global financial crisis and international peace.

Earlier, the Prime Minister along with his delegation was received at the Sharm el Sheikh International Airport by Pakistan’s Ambassador in Cairo Seema Naqvi, Egypt’s ambassador in Islamabad Magdy Mahmood Helmy Amer and senior officials.

The Prime Minister’s entourage includes Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira, Education Minister Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani and Minister for Science and Technology Azam Khan Swati, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nawabzada Malik Amad Khan.

Several parliamentarians are also part of the delegation.

First Lady Begum Fauzia Gilani who accompanied the Prime Minister, will represent Pakistan at the NAM’s First Ladies Summit on ‘Women in Crisis Management: Perspectives and Challenges – Best Practices and Lessons Learned” on July 15-16.

During his four-day visit, the Prime Minister is also expected to hold meetings with the leaders of Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Serbia and Philippines.39dbfa101b6eef05d59aedab3f35b8fb

Troops kill nine more terrorists in Swat

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PESHAWAR, July 14 (APP): The security forces have killed nine more terrorists and apprehended several others during search and clearance operation during last 24 hours in parts of restive Swat district. According to an ISPR update here Tuesday, during last 24 hours, search and clearance operations were conducted in Swat and Malakand.

In Swat, security forces conducted a snap operation at Syed Parinda Ziarat near Rangeela and apprehended five suspects and also recovered four small machine guns, 11 pistols, two rifles, three grenades and one motorola set.

Security forces conducted a search operation at Kuza Banda and during exchange of fire five terrorists were killed. Fire exchange took place between terrorists and security forces at Tahirabad and Billogram and four terrorists were killed.

Security forces conducted a search operation and apprehended three suspected terrorists reportedly close associate of Momin Khan (Kala Dhaka) at Kuz Bandal by Batagram Police.

Search operation was conducted at Bar, Kuz Drushkhela and the security forces destroyed two caves and recovered one small machine gun.

A Jirga was held at Sakhra in which locals assured their cooperation to security forces for clearance operation.

Regarding relief activities, as many as 144,495 cash cards have been distributed amongst the IDPs of Malakand.

Sayyed Nasrallah to Deliver Speech Friday 14:30 GMT

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images1Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah is set to deliver a speech through a large screen on Friday afternoon commemorating the first anniversary of the Operation Al-Redwan in which all Lebanese detainees in Israeli prisons were freed, at the top of whom is their chief Samir Qintar.
The speech, that will be part of a ceremony organized to commemorate the Resistance’s victory, would be broadcast on Al-Manar TV Friday 17:30 Beirut Time (14:30 GMT).

23 MILITANTS DEAD IN CLASHES IN NORTHWEST PAKISTAN

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police1Pro-government tribesmen killed 23 militants in clashes in Pakistan’s northwest in the latest violence between tribal militias and Taliban insurgents. According to AFP, elsewhere in the volatile northwest, suspected militants attacked an oil tanker carrying fuel to NATO occupation forces in Afghanistan, killing two people.

The clashes between militants and tribesmen took place in the village of Ambar in the Mohmand region, part of the lawless tribal belt along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan where top Taliban and al-Qaida leaders are believed to be hiding.

HAKIM EMPHASIZES ENHANCING OF SECURITY IN IRAQ

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hakim90The Head of the Supreme Islamic Assembly of Iraq (SIAI) stressed the necessity of increasing efforts for enhancing security and stability of his country. According to FARS News Agency, Seyyed Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, said in a meeting with Minister of Youth and Sport, Jassem Mohammad Ja’far that it is necessary to improve unity between political groups, increase efforts for eliminating terrorism and achieving complete national solidarity.

In the meeting which was also attended by SIAI member Abbas al-Bayati, he discussed the situation of Iraq’s Turkmen citizens in Kirkuk and Mosul provinces in northern Iraq, especially given the recent terrorist bomb blasts in Tazeh and Tal-Afar cities.
Hakim stressed helps to the families of the dead and the wounded of these bomb blasts. In two terrorist attacks last Thursday in the centre of Tal-Afar, 60 km west of Mosul, 36 people were killed and 36 people wounded.

NO PRESSURE ON PAKISTAN TO CANCEL IRAN-PAKISTAN GAS DEAL

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basit8Pakistani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Abdul Basit, said in Islamabad on Sunday that there is absolutely no pressure on his country by the US to cancel the gas pipeline deal with Iran. Talking to IRNA, he claimed that no country in the world whether Muslim or non-Muslim could ask Pakistan to cancel the project.

Abdul Basit said “Iran is our brotherly Muslim neighbor, so how could we cancel the deal knowing its importance for us?”
Pakistan media earlier had reported that the United States and a certain unnamed Muslim country – believed to be Saudi Arabia -are exerting immense pressure on Pakistan to cancel the recently- signed gas deal with Iran. The reports said some US officials spent almost half the day in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to discuss the Iran deal.
Talking to ‘The News’ daily, Adviser on Petroleum, Dr Asim Hussain refused to offer any comment on the identity of the two countries but admitted “tremendous pressure on canceling the deal

Pak system neither presidential nor parliamentary: PM

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani Sunday said the prevalent system in the country is hotchpotch of systems, terming it neither parliamentary nor presidential, in response to a query by a student.

Addressing the ceremony of convocation of International Islamic University, he said the constitutional reforms are being effected in the constitution, vowing to restore the 1973 constitution after introducing proper amendments in it.

‘We believe in democracy and there is no restriction on media in the country,’ he added saying the government will not slap any constraint on media.

“We believe in freedom and democracy.”

He said if all the institutions function properly, there could not be any clash.

‘It is only Education with which the problems facing the nation could be braved.’

The real reason behind extremism and terrorism is lack of education, Gilani said adding the extremists are working on foreign agenda and foreign powers are employing them for their ulterior motives.

The PM Gilani said the stable Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan; therefore, we will make efforts for stability there.7-12-2009_82723_l

SOUTH KOREA SAYS ATTACKERS USE IP ADDRESS IN 16 NATIONS

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Sample ImageSouth Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers Friday that cyber attacks that caused a wave of Web site outages in the U.S. and South Korea used 86 IP addresses in 16 countries, amid suspicions North Korea was behind the effort. According to AP, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters that the countries include South Korea, the United States, Japan and Guatemala.
He spoke after being briefed by the National Intelligence Service (NIS), on preliminary investigations of the IP addresses – the Internet equivalent of a street address or phone number.
The assaults on Web sites in the U.S. and South Korea have been described as so-called denial of service attacks in which floods of computers try to connect to a single site at the same time, overwhelming the server.

BROWN: UK NOT TO UNILATERALLY CUT NUKES

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Sample ImageBritish Prime Minister Gordon Brown says his country will not unilaterally reduce its nuclear weapon cache unless other countries engage in disarmament. According to Press TV, the British premier said in Italy on Thursday “Unilateral action by the United Kingdom would not be seen as the best way.”
Brown told journalists present at the G8 summit in the quake-stricken city of L’Aquila that his country will not negotiate its 160 strategic nuclear warheads, and Trident missiles capable of launch from nuclear submarines, should other countries continue their pursuit of nuclear weapons.
He stressed that London would not “revisit the decision to press ahead with a replacement for the Trident nuclear weapons system.”
The British premier added “What we need is collective action by the nuclear weapons powers to say that we are prepared to reduce our nuclear weapons, but we need assurances also that other countries will not proliferate them.”

Ahmedinijad SINCERE SERVICES TO PEOPLE, KEY TO CONQUERING ALL PEAKS

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ahmadi15Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in Tehran on Thursday evening that rendering sincere services to people is the key to conquering all peaks of national aspirations.

According to IRIB, the president made the remark while speaking in session of the High Housing Council which was also attended by governors general from all provinces.
He said pure love for the people, sympathizing with them and serving them were the elements which would help consolidate the Islamic Revolution and its humanitarian goals.
He also said serving people would undermine the basis of hegemonic system.
Ahmadinejad said that he believes in non-stop and round-the-clock efforts to serve the people and that such an approach was the factor, driving 40 million of voters to the polling stations on June 12 presidential election.

CHINA QUAKE FLATTENS 18,000 HOMES, LEAVES ONE DEAD

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quake-chinaEmergency officials were evacuating more than 400,000 people after an earthquake hit southwest China, killing one person, injuring hundreds and flattening more than 18,000 homes. According to AFP, a government relief official in Yao’an county, a mountainous area of picturesque Yunnan province, said that one person had died and 328 had been injured.

The US Geological Survey said the moderate 5.7-magnitude quake struck at 7:19 pm local time Thursday at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres in Yunnan province.

ITALY PUTS EMPHASIS ON CONTINUATION OF NUCLEAR TALKS WITH IRAN

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iran-euThe Italian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maurizio Massari has once again emphasized on continuation of negotiations with Iran. Throughout an interview with IRIB correspondent in the Italian city of L’Aquila on Thursday on the sidelines of G8 Summit, the Italian official referred to this Summit’s political statement in support for talks with Iran.

Meanwhile, according to the Italian news agency ANSA, following the issuance of G8 statement, head of the Zionist regime’s national security council, Uzi Arad, has criticized the absence of call for imposition of new sanctions against Iran, and emphasis of this statement on continuation of talks with Iranian officials, while confessing to humiliating failure of the Zionist regime’s policy vis-à-vis Iran’s nuclear issue.

TEHRANI WORSHIPERS STAGE SYMBOLIC FUNERAL FOR SHERIBINI

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rally-marwaTehrani citizens held symbolic funeral for the ‘Hijab’s Martyr’, Marwa Sheribini, the Egyptian woman who was stabbed to death by a man at German Dresden courtroom on July 1. According to IRNA, in the funeral that was held after weekly Friday prayers congregation, the demonstrators chanted `O my martyred sister! Congratulations on your martyrdom’, `I swear by your holy blood that your path will be trodden,’ `Down with Israel’ and `Down with the US’, thus voicing outrage at the merciless killing of the Muslim woman.

In the ceremony, Tehrani women carried the symbolic coffin from Tehran University to Palestine Square.
The participants condemned silence of the so-called advocates of human rights in the West against the killing, calling for investigation of the case by both Iranian Judiciary and international courts.
They called on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to ponder on growth of racism and fascism in Germany.
They referred to Merkel’s recent claims and concern over violation of democracy and human rights in Iran and said, “She had better deal with growth of fascism and racist ideology in Germany.”
The 32-year-old pregnant Egyptian woman, Mrs. Sheribini, dubbed the “Hijab’s martyr”, was stabbed to death by a German man in Dresden courtroom east of Germany on July 1 as her young son watched.

4 Levies men killed in Bajaur attack

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7-10-2009_45698_sKHAR: Four Levies personnel were killed in a militants attack on Levies check post in Bajaur Agency.According to sources, militants attacked Levies check post last night in Khar killing four Levies officials. The attackers managed to flee after retaliatory fire by the forces. Levies sources said funeral prayers of those killed in the attack will be offer in Levies Line Khar at 10 am.

Israel Assessment: Iran Could, But Won't Make Nuclear Bomb Within a Year

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cea0ecb7-9577-4a54-afa0-eafbd903fd57_topBoth the US and Israel believe Iran has the technical capacity to build one nuclear bomb within a year if it decides to do so, but both countries also believe the chances that Teheran will indeed make that decision are slim, according to assessments made known to The Jerusalem Post.
The assessments come in the wake of comments made Sunday by US Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the effect that Iran could be as little as a year away from completing a nuclear bomb, while Mossad head Meir Dagan recently surprised many by saying Iran won’t have a nuclear weapon until 2014.

“I would be careful about all the declarations on this matter,” one senior government official who deals with the issue told the Post, adding that a decision by Teheran to go full throttle toward the building of a bomb was dependent on numerous different decisions the government would have to make, and which it had simply not yet made.

G-8 leaders gave Iran until late September to accept negotiations over its nuclear program.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the situation would be reviewed at a G-20 meeting of developed and developing countries in Pittsburgh on September 24, and that “if there is no progress by then, we will have to take decisions.”
A unilateral attack by Israel on Iran to thwart the Islamic republic’s nuclear ambitions would be an “absolute catastrophe,” Sarkozy said on Thursday after the G-8 summit in Italy.

From an Israeli perspective, the senior government official explained, the G-8 deadline included both positive and negative aspects.

On the positive side, there has been a degree of concern in Jerusalem since the events that followed the June elections in Iran that the international community would try to push back the timetable on the nuclear issue until the dust cleared in Teheran.

The G-8 statement, the official said, strengthened the sense in Jerusalem that the international community was sending a message that “time is of the essence,” and that international stocktaking of Iran’s position on the issue would take place regardless of Iran’s internal situation.

On the negative side of the ledger from an Israel perspective, however, was that the G-8 deadline was also a sign the international community was sill locked into “engagement” mode.

According to the senior government official, under the current timetable Iran had until September to give a decision on engagement. If the talks began, then by the end of the year – as Obama said in May during his meeting in Washington with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – there would be a reassessment of the situation, and a determination whether to continue dialogue or take more serious sanctions.

Regarding the contradictory messages that came out of Washington this week as to whether the US was giving Israel a green light for military action, with Vice President Joe Biden implying that a green light was being given, and Obama categorically denying that, the official said that Obama has been consistent in speaking against an Israeli military action.

What needed to be explained, the official said, were Biden’s comments.
“Biden’s comments seem to have come out of the blue,” he said. “There has been no discussion with the US over the last few months about the possibility of an attack.”
The official said it was also not clear how the recent events on the ground in Iran would impact on the nuclear issue.

CHINESE ARMED POLICE WATCH OVER A CALMER URUMQI

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police-china8Security forces kept a firm grip on the tense Xinjiang capital Thursday after days of ethnic violence that killed 156 people, and alarmed Chinese leaders vowed to deal firmly with those behind the attacks. According to AP, crowds of Han Chinese cheered as trucks full of police and covered in banners reading “We must defeat the terrorists” and “Oppose ethnic separatism and hatred” rumbled by. The minority Uighurs became far more fearful about talking to reporters.

The region’s worst ethnic violence in decades has already forced President Hu Jintao to cut short a trip to Italy, where he was to participate in a Group of Eight summit and hold talks with Barack Obama.

TRUCK BOMBING KILLS 25 IN AFGHANISTAN

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blast1A deadly bomb explosion has claimed the lives of more than two dozen people, including children, on a crowded road south of the Afghan capital. According to AFP, the incident occurred on Thursday when an explosive-laden truck blew up 30 kilometers south of Kabul in Logar province, killing 25 people including many school children.

The truck, loaded with firewood, apparently overturned deliberately overnight and was detonated as authorities were trying to remove it.
Provincial police chief Ghulam Mustafa Mohsini said “In the explosion today 21 civilians and four policemen have been martyred,” adding that four others including three students and a civilian were wounded.

SOUTH KOREA ON HIGH ALERT FOR MORE CYBER ATTACKS

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cyber7South Korea was on high alert Thursday for more cyber attacks amid suspicions that North Korea was behind a recent wave of Web site outages in the South and in the United States. The South Korea warned that computer networks of key infrastructure could be targeted. According to AP, the National Intelligence Service said in a statement that it was strengthening cyber security measures for government computer networks, citing a possible new wave of attacks which could target national infrastructure operators like energy, telecommunications and media companies.

Earlier Thursday, the country’s leading computer security company also warned that another wave of attacks was expected in South Korea later in the day.

BOMBINGS IN MOSUL, BAGHDAD KILL AT LEAST 41

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blast-baghA suicide bomber on Thursday killed at least 34 people and injured 70 near a judge’s house in northern Iraq, and two roadside bombs in Baghdad killed seven people. According to AP, the attacks came one day after car bombs in two Shiite villages near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul killed 16 civilians and injured more than two dozen.

A police officer and an official in the provincial command center said: The suicide attack in the northern town of Tal Afar happened at around 6:30 a.m. local time.
In Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded near a market at around 7:30 a.m. in the district of Sadr City, and another bomb exploded one minute later and about 100 meters away, killing six and injuring 25.

GEN. JAAFARI: IRAN READY TO GUARANTEE REGIONAL SECURITY

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jafari90Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), General Mohammad-Ali Jaafari, said in Tehran on Wednesday evening that Iran is ready to cooperate with regional states to guarantee security of the region. According to IRIB, in a meeting with visiting Chief of Staff of the Qatari Armed Forces, Hamad Bin Ali El Atiya, on Wednesday, General Jaafari said defense cooperation between Iran and Qatar is important for security of the region.

He lauded Qatar’s wise stances on variety of international issues, including those related to Iran, Lebanon and Palestine, and said Persian Gulf is Iran-Qatar common border.
He said strategic location of the Persian Gulf necessitates cooperation between the two countries.
Highlighting the crucial role of the IRGC in guaranteeing security of the Persian Gulf region, Jaafari hoped for stronger cooperation between Iran and Qatar to guarantee security of the region.
For his part, Atiya said his country is ready for broadened ties, especially in the educational sector, and for sharing experience in defense domain with Iran

KIDNAPPED IRANIAN DIPLOMATS IN IRAQ FREED

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kazemiqomiThe Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi Qomi has reported on the release of the Iranian diplomats, abducted in Arbil, Iraq. In an interview with Fars news agency, the Iranian ambassador noted the five abducted Iranian diplomats have been handed over to Iraqi government by the US occupation forces. He added following the meeting of the Iranian diplomats with the Iraqi premier, they will be handed over to the Iranian Embassy in Iraq.

The US occupation forces attacked Iran’s Consulate in Arbil, Iraq, on January 11, 2007, abducting five Iranian diplomats

FM SPOKESMAN DENOUNCES TERRORIST ACTION IN A GERMAN COURT

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marwaIran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Hassan Qashqavi denounced the terrorist action of the German racist elements in martyring an Egyptian Muslim woman  inside a German courtroom. According to IRIB World Service, Marwa el-Sheribini, the 33-year old Egyptian woman last Wednesday was martyred by a German racist in a court in Dresden, Germany due to her commitment to Islamic Hijab.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman on Thursday described about the clear violation of human values and principles in the countries claiming human rights, saying that the foully killing of the Egyptian woman in front of the eyes of police in the safe place of the court represents the extent of insecurity and the expansion of the increasing resentment atmosphere toward the immigrants and religious minorities in Germany.
The Iranian diplomat stressed that in European cities, the people of the world are facing with horrible sufferings such as clear disrespect, terrorism, violating the values and traditions of other religions and cultures and as a result with the increasing wave of Islamophobia and xenophobia all of which are the result of the kind of attitude and dual goals along with political enmities.
Condoling and sympathizing with the victim’s family, and the Egyptian people and government, Qashqavi called on the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and other international agencies to form a committee to review such anti-human actions and create serious methods for countering the growing trend of these actions.

Security forces recover body of terrorist commander Umar Zada

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ISLAMABAD, Jul 9 (APP): The security forces have recovered the body of most wanted terrorist commander of Sakhra Valley, Umar Zada, who was killed in operation on Wednesday. According to an update issued by ISPR here Thursday, security forces conducted search and clearance operation in Tiligram valley and destroyed one explosives laboratory, while one soldier was injured. During the search operation 13 suspected terrorists were apprehended and few others were killed.

The security forces conducted search and clearance operation in Kalagai near Matta and defused 7 IEDs, destroyed 7 hide outs and one terrorist training center including tunnels and bunkers.

During the search and clearance operations at Batkhela area near Malakand security forces apprehended 12 suspected terrorists.

An IED blasted near road clearance party moving from Jani Khel to Sarabangla in Bannu, resultantly six soldiers were injured.

So far, 1150 tons rations and other items were distributed amongst the IDPs of Malakand as part of relief activities, while 12,275 cash cards were distributed amongst the IDPs of Malakand.

Special permits are being issued to fruit dealers of Swat to carry fruit trucks to Peshawar from July 10 to July 12.

Military operation’s targets achieved; IDPs’ return to start from July 13: PM

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gilani2ISLAMABAD, Jul 9 (APP): Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Thursday said the government had achieved the targets of military operation in Malakand division and the return of displaced people to their homes would start from July 13. “We have achieved the targets,” the Prime Minister said while addressing a press conference at PM House, however made it clear that the army would remain present in the area even after culmination of the operation.

The Prime Minister said the government was confident to win the fight against militants as it enjoyed full public support over the issue.

When asked whether the military operation would continue as the top leadership of the militants was still at large, the Prime Minister said the operation was the prerogative of the provincial government and they could call in the army wherever and whenever required.

He asked the provincial government to remain firm against the militants and assured federal government’s complete support in this regard.

Gilani also appealed the nation to recognize blacksheep among them and expel them from their ranks.

On IDPs’ return, Gilani said the Special Support Group would chalk out a plan for their safe return to their homes from July 13.

He said by the time the displaced people return to their homes, the issue of security would be completely resolved, adding that the infrastructure of electricity, gas, banks had already been restored.

Gilani also mentioned setting up an institution headed by the prime minister and with others including chief ministers, Inspector General Police, and representatives of provincial and federal governments, which would give an assessment report about the losses incurred in the wake of military operation.

He said the SSG was independent in giving proposals for providing relief to the host families who accommodated the IDPs in their homes.

The Prime Minister said the government’s efforts against terrorism and extremism had resumed the international community’s trust in the country, however stressed that military option was not the solution to restore peace in the tribal areas.

He mentioned the government’s 3 R – Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction policy for the uplift of displaced people and to mitigate their sufferings with sincerity.

He said the militant presented a distorted version of Islam and asked the media to continue working positively and try not to portray the militants as heroes.

He said the military action had full public support, as no one shed tears on the killing of terrorists but for the sacrifices of soldiers who laid their lives for the country.

Gilani said the government would follow the home-grown policy as it was fighting its own war and termed the drone attacks as counter-productive.

“We don’t need to convince them, but if they really want to help us, they should stop the drone attacks.”

About the Ordinance on Petroleum Development Levy, Prime Minister Gilani said it was issued by the President on his (prime minister’s) advice.

He said the government had full respect for the verdict of Supreme Court on staying Carbon Tax, and it always held judiciary in high esteem.

Gilani said being parliamentarian for six times, he fully realized the importance of public vote, however sometimes unpopular decisions were necessary to be taken in national interest.

“The intention [of the Ordinance] is to provide the relief for the future of countrymen,” he said.

Gilani said the government would seek time from the court for its team of financial experts to return from abroad and submit details about the reasons for the act.

“Whatever the court would decide, we would respect it,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the government had allocated Rs 50 billion for the uplift of displaced people of Malakand division.

Gilani said his resolve was to protect the institution rather than strengthening his own office.

The Prime Minister recalled that the government earlier introduced Nizam-e- Adl ordinance in Swat in accordance with the aspirations of local people, after it was approved by the President.

However, he said when the writ of the government was challenged and with growing reports of the incidents of killings of innocent people and desecration of sacred places, the government decided to undergo military action.

He acknowledged the sacrifices of the armymen who laid their lives for the security of country and said a monument would be built to commemorate their great services.

The Prime Minister also mentioned the sacrifices of Internally Displaced Persons who left their homes for the betterment of country’s future.

He appreciated the provincial government, NADRA and Special Support Group  for amicably dealing with the issue of displaced persons and providing them every possible facility.

Gilani said Opposition’s positive approach developed a sense of realization among the masses, adding that media also played an important role in highlighting the issue.

Iranian diplomats held by U.S. to be released in hours

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TEHRAN, July 9 (MNA) – Five Iranian diplomats held by U.S. forces are now in Iraqi government custody and will be handed over to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad later today.

“The diplomats are now in Iraq custody and will be handed over to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad,” the Iranian embassy press attaché, Amir Arshadi, told the Mehr News Agency.

U.S. troops stormed the Iranian consulate in northern Kurdish city of Arbil on January 11, 2007 and arrested five diplomats under the pretext that they were fomenting violence in Iraq.

The Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee spokesman, Kazem Jalali, told the MNA on Monday that the diplomats will be released soon as Washington is handing over about 20,000 Iraqi and non-Iraqi prisoners to Baghdad based on a security pact signed between the two countries last year.

United Iraqi Alliance, discusses the mechanics of activation and the formation of new coalition

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The head of the representative of the United Iraqi Alliance leader Sheikh Hamam Hamoudi in Baghdad, a meeting of the members of the coalition, was at the meeting which was attended by First Deputy Speaker of Parliament Sheikh Khaled al-Attiya and Mr. Mohammed al-Naqib and the House of Representatives, and Abdul-Karim Al-Ghazali, Haidar Al Hadi al-Hassani, in addition to the Minister of Education Khudair Khuzaie, the meeting was to discuss mechanisms to activate the formation of the new coalition and a push by some political forces that have indicated a willingness to join him as the consultation was also in the latest political developments and security in the country.

Occupation Forces Hand Over Lebanese to UNIFIL

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labnese-armyThe Lebanese army intelligence confirmed Thursday that Israeli occupation forces handed over Lebanese national Yassine Abdel Latif Yassine to the UNIFIL in Naqoura at dawn. The army is now questioning the man on his entry into occupied territories the day before.

Yassine was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The 35 year old crossed the border from an area near al-Abbad base. He takes tranquilizers and was in a psychiatric hospital before his discharge a month ago.

France: 4 Pro-Israel Jews Attack Pro-Palestinian Bookshop

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france-proFour youths connected to so called ‘Jewish Defense League’ were arrested on suspicion of vandalizing a book store owned by a pro-Palestinian couple.
Some 300 people participated Wednesday evening in a show of support in front of the bookstore. The demonstrators called to dismantle the Jewish Defense League, whose members were allegedly involved in the attack on the store.

In the event that took place last weekend, five armed masked people broke into the store, smashed computers and set fire to books. The store owners accused the Jewish Defense League for carrying out the attack.
The fifth suspect has yet to be arrested.

“We saw here today for the first time solidarity of hundreds of people for the Palestinian nation, against the pro-Israeli French government. It seems as though the government here is starting to understand that we have power because today they also arrested some suspects,” Olivia and Nicolas Zamour, owners of the vandalized store said.

The couple added that beyond showing their solidarity, the demonstrators called to ban the JDL: “This is a fascist organization that does not hesitate to attack people and places. They have no fear because, until today, no steps have been taken against them. However, all of this is going to change. Three years ago, they attacked our bookstore in the middle of the night and broke windows. This time they did it in the middle of the day, fearlessly.”

At Least 34 People, 60 Injured in Spate of Attacks in Iraq

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_46032006_iraq_talafar_07091At least 34 people were killed and 60 wounded in a double suicide attack in northern Iraq on Thursday, with women and children among the casualties, police and military officials said.
Two bombers blew themselves up just minutes apart in Tal Afar in an attack against a house used as a court annexe to interrogate suspects in “terrorist attacks,” police colonel Khaled Omar told AFP.
Another two bombs went off in a market in the mainly Shiite district of Sadr City in Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.
Tal Afar is a mostly Turkmen town has often been the target of attacks. In March 2007, it was hit by one of the deadliest single attacks in Iraq since the US-led invasion of 2003 when a suicide truck bomb killed more than 150 people.

The spate of bombings comes just over a week after US troops left Iraq’s towns and cities on June 30 under an agreement that paves the way for a complete American military withdrawal by the end of 2011.

Four killed in Landhi firing

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KARACHI: Four people were killed and two others injured when unknown men opened fire in Landhi number 36-B near Khursheed School on Wednesday.

Those killed included a former councilor Haji Jalal and his two sons.

Police has termed the incident a result of target killing.

The bodies and injured have been shifted to Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre.

PoL prices hiked through president ordinance

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oil-prices1The petroleum product prices have been inflated again through president ordinance as the Petroleum Development Levy has been imposed on petroleum products with immediate effect, Geo news said early on Thursday.
Now, Rs.10 on petrol and Rs.8 have been raised on diesel.

The ordinance has been named as Petroleum Development Levy Ordinance 2009 which president signed early in the morning.

The president signed the written advice from Prime Minister to raise petroleum prices through president ordinance while their copies have been sent to Ministry of Petroleum and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).

It is pertinent to mention that Supreme Court (SC) suspended the carbon tax surcharge on petroleum products through its ruling on Tuesday.

Twelve militants killed and four hideouts were destroyed

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7-9-2009_45636_lTwelve militants killed and four hideouts were destroyed when security forces jets pounded militants’ positions in different areas of South Waziristan.
According to sources, in fresh action, forces jets targeted militants hideouts in Upper Kani Karam, Mordaralgat, Kacha Langarkhel, Momikaram, Zagawoi and Laddha. Twelve militants were killed and four hideouts were destroyed in the bombardment.

On the other hand, it has been revealed that Kifayatullah Anikhel, a close relative of Baitullah Mehsud had been killed in July 7 missile attack. He was the commander of militants in Zangra area. Eighteen militants including six foreigners were killed in the attack.

Local residents are migrating towards Tank, Dera Ismail Khan and other safer places.

Dozens killed in Iraqi bombings

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_46032006_iraq_talafar_0709At least 34 people have been killed in a double suicide bomb attack in northern Iraq, police and medics say.

They say about 60 people were injured when two bombers detonated their explosive vests in the town of Tal Afar, near Mosul.

The attack are the deadliest since the withdrawal last week of US combat troops from Iraqi towns and cities.

In Baghdad, at least seven people were killed and nearly 20 injured in two bomb explosions in Sadr City.

‘Judge targeted’

The attacks in Tal Afar, a mostly Shia town, happened early in the morning and in quick succession.

First, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives vest. The second blast followed as people gathered at the scene of the first explosion.

There are fears that the death toll will rise further, police say.

The target appears to have been the home of a local judge, the BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse in Baghdad says.

This area of northern Iraq is rapidly becoming Iraq’s most dangerous region, our correspondent says.

On Wednesday, two explosions near Shia mosques in Mosul killed at least nine people and wounded many more.

In Baghdad’s Sadr City, a Shia area of the Iraqi capital, two roadside bombs exploded in a market, killing at least seven people.

The bombs were reportedly placed in rubbish piles in the area.

US combat troops pulled out from Iraqi towns and cities last week.

US President Barack Obama has described the handover to Iraqis as a milestone, warning that the country’s leaders would face “hard choices” on security and politics.

The withdrawal came ahead of the full departure of US forces by 2012.

Source BBC NEWS

Riyadh denies approval to allow Israeli planes to overfly its territory to strike Iran

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Kingdom of Saudi Arabia denied Monday published news of the tacit approval to allow Israeli planes to overfly its territory if it is forced to strike Iran.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Osama transportation “Certainly it is not true. We do not have any form of relations with the Israelis.”

The newspaper “Sunday Times” reported the British Sunday thatSaudi Arabia has given tacit approval to the Israeli government on Israeli warplanes flying over its territory to strike Iran.

A diplomatic source told the newspaper that “The Saudis have given tacit consent to use the Israeli Air Force Egwaehm part of the task is in the interest of Israel and Saudi Arabia together.”

“The Sunday Times that” The President of the Israeli intelligence service (Mossad) Meir Dagan told the Israeli prime minister said Saudi Arabia would tolerate for flights over its territory in the event of the Jewish state decided to launch a raid on Iranian nuclear facilities.

She explained that the head of the Mossad, held since 2002 for the regular secret meetings with the Saudis in this regard, despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations between them.

For his part, the Saudi spokesman, denied outright a form of talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel, stressing that the two countries do not live any relationship, whether diplomatic, commercial or other.

He explained that the call from time to time reports of secret ties between the two countries aimed at discrediting the country’s Arab relations.

The spokesman said that “Our policy is very clear and our position is very tough on any form of relations with Israel.”

He added: “Fortunately, the persistent allegations that these are not taken seriously.”

In Jerusalem, the office denied Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday of this information, saying it “is totally false and baseless.

Headscarf Martyr Proves European Bias Against Muslims

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b5232b32-1532-45ac-a681-138344328414_topOutrage over the murder of a pregnant Muslim woman in Germany who has become known as the “hijab martyr” mounted Tuesday following her funeral and protests in her native Egypt over what Muslims see as European Islamaphobia and western media double standards.
Marwa al-Sherbini, a 32-year-old Egyptian-German, was buried in her coastal hometown of Alexandria, Egypt Monday amid demonstrations by Egyptians mourning her senseless death and calling for retribution.

” What we demand is just some attention to be given to the killing of a young innocent mother on the hands of fanatic extremist ”
Abdel Azim Hamad, al Shuruq

Sherbini was stabbed to death 18 times Wednesday as she prepared to testify against her assailant, who was in court to appeal a previous defamation conviction against her.

The assailant, knonw only as Alex W., had been convicted and fined €750 ($1,050) last year for calling Sherbini a “terrorist,” “b*tch” and “Islamist” after she asked him to leave a swing for her three-year-old son Mustafa.

Her funeral drew thousands of angry mourners and Egyptian officials who called on the government to seriously deal with the tragic killing and take immediate action.

“There is no god but God and the Germans are the enemies of God,” they chanted.

Ramzi Ezz, Egypt’s ambassador in Germany told Al Arabiya the results of the investigations could be released in a few days, but noted that Egyptian law calls for life imprisonment of the murderer.

Sherbini’s brother Tarek al-Sherbini vowed to avenge her killing. “We believe in an eye for an eye,” he told Egyptian national television.

Dubbed the “martyr of the head scarf,” Sherbini was three months pregnant when her 28-year-old attacker stabbed her countless times in front of her two-year-old son.

“The killer is a terrorist who should receive severe punishment for what he has done, something that contradicts all the values of humanity, decency and religion,” Grand Imam Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi told Egypt’s official MENA news agency.

Alex also stabbed Sherbini’s husband, Elwi Ali Okaz while he was trying to save his wife. And adding further insult to injury, a security guard shot Okaz in the leg because he mistook the husband for the attacker because of his ethnic looks according to German prosecutors.

“The guards thought that as long as he wasn’t blond, he must be the attacker so they shot him,” Sherbini told an Egyptian television station.
Alex W. remained in detention and prosecutors have begun investigating the murder but have downplayed it as a lone incident.

Christian Avenarius, the prosecutor in Dresden where the incident took place, said the killer was driven by a deep hatred of Muslims. “It was very clearly a xenophobic attack of a fanatical lone wolf.”

A German government spokesperson condemned the attack and said Berlin “naturally condemns this in the strongest terms.”

Sherbini’s shocking death ignited angry protests on the ground and online as shocked mourners held her murder up as proof of the xenophobia gripping European politics.

“This isolated incident is a foreseen consequence of the kind of anti-burqa and anti-niqab rhetoric Sarkozy has engaged in France,” one user said on a Muslim listserv.

Others said the incident showed the extent to which hate crimes against Muslims are ignored while those of Muslims against westerners are over-hyped.

Abdel Azeem Hamad, chief editor of the independent Egyptian daily al-Shorouk, said that if the victim had been a Jew, there would have been an uproar.

“What we demand is just some attention to be given to the killing of a young innocent mother on the hands of fanatic extremist,” he wrote in his column.

Many in Sherbini’s homeland were outraged by the attack and saw the low key response in Germany as an example of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment.

An Egyptian blogger Hicham Maged wrote that it simply proved anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe “Just imagine if the situation was reversed and the victim was a Westerner who was stabbed anywhere in the world or — God forbid — in any Middle Eastern country by Muslim extremists,” he said.

One commentator pointed to muted response by Western media as proof of double standards against Muslims as Sherbini’s murder comes as western media continued to reference the 2004 murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh for his controversial film on Muslim women but meanwhile ignoring the-week-old death of a Muslim German woman by a European fundamentalist.

“I can’t believe it took so long for this news to reach me/us. Had it been an ‘honor’ killing, we would already have several NGO’s condemn it and experts on Muslim issues speaking on why these terrible Muslims do these terrible things,” Nagihan, a user on a Muslim list serve wrote. “I am shocked and awed at this double standard.”

A Facebook fan page created recently drew a whooping 300,000 fans in less than a week, with many mourning Sherbini as a martyr and calling for spiritual purification.

“May God forgive this woman and give her eternal paradise for literally
being killed for her beliefs,” said one Facebook fan.

Alexandria’s Popular Local Council said it would name a stree

Obama Wants Talks with Iran; Clinton Calls for Strict Sanctions

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obama-and-iranUS President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that it was “very important” for the international community to pursue dialogue with Iran and North Korea “to persuade them to renounce nuclear weapons.”
Obama was speaking after talks with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano in Rome, ahead of the start of the Group of Eight summit in the town of L’Aquila.

“It is very important for the world community to speak to countries like Iran and North Korea and encourage them to take a path that does not result in a nuclear arms race in places like the Middle East,” Obama said.

But Obama’s Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seems to have another opinion…

In an interview late Tuesday, Clinton claimed that Washington would call for “even stricter” sanctions against Tehran if the Obama administration’s policy of engagement with Iran failed.

The United States will call for “even stricter sanctions on Iran to try to change the behavior of the regime,” Clinton said. Washington remained concerned about what she called Iran’s “pursuit of nuclear weapons,” which could “be very destabilizing in the Middle East and beyond,” Clinton told the private television network Globovision.

“We would ask the world to join us in imposing even stricter sanctions on Iran to try to change the behavior of the regime,” Clinton said in the interview, which was broadcast late Tuesday.

“We have seen in the last weeks that Iran has not respected its own democracy,” Clinton claimed in another interference in the Iranian affairs following the Presidential election that saw President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad return to power. “It has taken actions against his own citizens for peacefully protesting,” Clinton claimed, referring to street demonstrations challenging the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“I think it is not a very smart position to ally with a regime that is being rejected by so many of their own people,” Clinton said in the interview. The administration of President Barack Obama, Clinton added, thinks “it is not in the best interest” of the world to be doing business with Iran that would “promote the regime… that is not smart.”

BBC Caught In Mass Public Deception With Iran Propaganda

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180609topThe BBC has again been caught engaging in mass public deception by using photographs of pro-Ahmadinejad rallies in Iran and claiming they represent anti-government protests in favor of Hossein Mousavi.

An image used by the L.A. Times on the front page of its website Tuesday showed Iranian President Ahmadinejad waving to a crowd of supporters at a public event.

In a story covering the election protests yesterday, the BBC News website used a closer shot of the same scene, but with Ahmadinejad cut out of the frame. The caption under the photograph read, ‘Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi again defied a ban on protests’.

The BBC photograph is clearly a similar shot of the same pro-Ahmadinejad rally featured in the L.A. Times image, yet the caption erroneously claims it represents anti-Ahmadinejad protesters.

See the screenshots below (click to enlarge).

BBC Caught In Mass Public Deception With Iran Propaganda SMALL iran protest rally lie1

BBC Caught In Mass Public Deception With Iran Propaganda SMALL iran protest rally lie2

“Well I guess it sure was a popular fictional rally for Mousavi, because I later noticed while browsing the news sites a familiar picture on the BBC’s lead Iran story – it shows the same crowd, zoomed in to cut out Ahmadinejad,” a reader told the WhatReallyHappened website. “It is clearly the same protest as in the background are the same tree and odd circular building. However, the BBC managed to outdo the LA times in quality reporting – their actual comment under the photo from the huge PRO-Ahmadinejad rally reads ‘Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi again defied a ban on protests’ – a blatant lie and deliberately misleading description of what is actually occurring in Iran!”

As soon as the truth about the misrepresented images surfaced on the WhatReallyHappened website yesterday, the BBC changed the photo caption on their original article. The caption now reads, ‘Tehran has seen mass demonstrations by all sides since the disputed election’.

This is not the first time the BBC has been caught red-handed using crude image and video framing techniques for the purposes of political propaganda.

(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)

BBC Caught In Mass Public Deception With Iran Propaganda 250509BANNER

During the fall of Baghdad in April 2003, the BBC and other mainstream news outlets broadcast closely framed footage of the “mass uprising” during which Iraqis, aided by U.S. troops, toppled the Saddam Hussein statue in Fardus Square.

The closely framed footage was used to imply that hundreds or thousands of Iraqis were involved in a Berlin Wall-style “historic” liberation, yet when wide angle shots were later published on the Internet, footage that was never broadcast on live television, the reality of the “mass uprising” became clear. The crowd around the statue was sparse and consisted mostly of U.S. troops and journalists. The BBC later had to admit that only “dozens” of Iraqis had participated in toppling the statue. The entire scene was a manufactured farce yet the propaganda technique of blocking wide-angle shots from being broadcast convinced the world that the event represented a triumphant and historic mass popular uprising on behalf of the Iraqi people.

Whatever your views on the legitimacy of Ahmadinejad and the accuracy of the Iranian election results, the fact that the Anglo-American establishment and its media organs are exploiting and fanning the flames of chaos in Iran to provoke further instability is unquestionable.

Indeed, the U.S. State Department, which routinely demonizes the Internet as a tool of extremists and terrorists when it is used to criticize U.S. foreign policy, took the unprecedented step today of requesting that Twitter.com “delay planned maintenance work so that Iranian protesters can continue to use it to post images and reports of unrest,” according to a London Times report.

DEPUTY FM ARRIVES IN PAKISTAN

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akhond51Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister in Asia and Pacific Affairs Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday evening to talk with senior Pakistani officials. According to IRIB World Service, Akhoundzadeh arrived in Pakistan to follow agreements which had been reached in the last meeting of deputy foreign ministers of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He is scheduled to meet with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan during his 2-day visit.
Regional and bilateral cooperation, fight against terrorism, and security issues are among topics for negotiation between the Iranian official and Pakistani senior officials.
In the last meeting between deputy foreign ministers of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan on April 9, 2009 in Islamabad, regional issues and Afghanistan as well as trilateral cooperation between Tehran, Kabul and Islamabad were discussed.

Hamas: No One Knows Shalit's Fate Except Those Holding Him

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hamasThe Palestinian Hamas Resistance movement on Wednesday said the fate of the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was known only to those holding him, one day after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said the soldier was “fine.”
Osama al-Muzaini, a senior Hamas official responsible for talks over the soldier’s release, said Mubarak’s remarks were “wishful thinking,” in a statement published by the Safa agency, a news service close to Hamas.

“No one knows if (Gilad) Shalit is alive or dead after the war except for the closed circle responsible for him,” Muzaini said, referring to the devastating Israeli offensive on Gaza at the turn of the year.

On Tuesday Mubarak told journalists in Cairo after he met Israeli President Shimon Peres that the Israeli conscript was in good health more than three years after his capture.

SENIOR UN OFFICIAL NOMINATED AS SECRETARY-GENERAL’S TOP ENVOY TO IRAQ

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ban-melkert3The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, announced Tuesday that he has chosen the second most senior official in the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to be the UN’s top envoy in Iraq. A UN Information Center’s press release, a copy of which was made available to IRNA on Wednesday, read that Ban had informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Ad Melkert.

The press release quoted the UN spokesperson Michele Montas as telling reporters, Melkert, who had served as Associate Administrator of UNDP since 2006, will succeed Staffan de Mistura as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq and head of the UN mission in that country (UNAMI).
Montas said that Melkert, 53, brought a unique combination of political experience and economic and development expertise to the role from his work as a government minister and Member of Parliament in the Netherlands and as a senior official at UNDP and the World Bank.

U.S. DRONES ATTACK PAKISTANI TALIBAN

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drone88Pakistani government and intelligence agency officials said that U.S. drones fired six missiles into a Pakistani Taliban training camp near the Afghan border on Wednesday, killing 10 people. According to Reuters, they said that the pre-dawn attack was in the South Waziristan region, in a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.

The United States, grappling with an intensifying Afghan insurgency, began stepping up attacks by pilotless drone aircraft on northwestern Pakistani militant enclaves a year ago despite the complaints of Pakistan.

POLLS GIVE YUDHOYONO HUGE LEAD AS INDONESIA VOTES

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vote-indonesiaIslamic Republic of Iran has called for establishment of a fact-finding committee to study the disappearance of four Iranian diplomats in Lebanon. In an interview with Al-Alam News Network on Tuesday, the political attaché of Islamic Republic of Iran’s Embassy in Lebanon, Ali-Reza Ayati has said: “Iran has called upon the UN Chief Ban Ki Moon to establish a fact-finding committee to study and launch an investigation into the disappearance of four Iranian diplomats in Beirut.”

Many Lebanese believe that the case of kidnapped Iranian diplomats is a humanitarian topic and the international community and legal organizations should try harder to solve this case and to determine the fate of these diplomats, twenty-seven years after their abduction.

IRAN PROPOSES PLAN ON DISAPPEARED IRANIAN DIPLOMATS

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iran-purposalIslamic Republic of Iran has called for establishment of a fact-finding committee to study the disappearance of four Iranian diplomats in Lebanon. In an interview with Al-Alam News Network on Tuesday, the political attaché of Islamic Republic of Iran’s Embassy in Lebanon, Ali-Reza Ayati has said: “Iran has called upon the UN Chief Ban Ki Moon to establish a fact-finding committee to study and launch an investigation into the disappearance of four Iranian diplomats in Beirut.”

Many Lebanese believe that the case of kidnapped Iranian diplomats is a humanitarian topic and the international community and legal organizations should try harder to solve this case and to determine the fate of these diplomats, twenty-seven years after their abduction.

President Ahmadinejad to speak to nation

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ahmadinejad2-hzIRI President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will address Iranian nation Tuesday night. President Ahmadinejad will give a live nationwide address from the TV channel one after 21 (1630 GMT) hours local time. He is expected to touch on various domestic and foreign issues, opportunities and challenges, the four-year performance of his cabinet and his future government’s plans.

US violates security agreement with Iraq

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zcustomtm51American soldiers in Iraq’s Diyala province once again violated the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement by entering a city without prior coordination with the Iraqi government. “American soldiers entered Arab Jobour area and the villages of Sansal, Homais and Taiha, without any permission from related government offices,” al-Mashriq newspaper quoted a security source in the province as saying. American soldiers had also entered some towns of the province including Baladrouz, Kanaan, Miqdadiya and Wajihiya last week without prior authorization. According to the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, American soldiers who withdrew from Iraqi cities on June 30th, are not allowed to enter Iraqi cities and towns without a prior permission from the Iraqi government.

IRI, Qatar eager to boost defensive ties

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najj-hzHamad bin Ali Al Attiyah, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Qatar and his accompanying delegation met and conferred with IRI Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Mostafa Mohammad Najar. After the official welcoming ceremony of Qatari Chief of Staff, Mohammad Najar said the two countries’ historical, cultural, political and social commonalities are appropriate grounds for expansion of bilateral relations. “Defensive relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar could be considered as a symbol for expansion of regional defensive ties,” he added. “IRI is committed to ensure stability and security of the Persian Gulf and the Hormoz Strait,” Iranian Minister said reiterating that IRI defensive power is in the service of security and stability of the strategic waterway. “IRI officials believe that security of the region could be ensured only through regional cooperation,” he said. At the other part of his remarks, Mohammad Najar announced IRI’s readiness to expand its defensive relations with the Persian Gulf littoral countries and reaffirmed that security of the Middle East region could be ensured only by the regional countries. He described withdrawal of American forces from Iraq as the first step in this regard.