India ready to withdraw some troops from Kashmir

NEW DELHI: India’s home minister said Wednesday the government was prepared to withdraw a ‘significant’ number of troops from the restive Muslim-majority Kashmir region.

The presence of Indian soldiers in Kashmir, especially in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley, has long been a major source of tension in the region where Islamic rebels have battled New Delhi’s rule for two decades.

Briefing lawmakers in parliament on the state of domestic security, P. Chidambaram noted that militant violence in the region had dropped in the past few years.

‘I would take what appears to be a risky step of withdrawing a significant number of battalions of security forces in Kashmir,’ the minister told members of parliament, according to the Press Trust of India.

‘We are now transferring more and more law and order duties to the Kashmir police,’ the news agency quoted Chidambaram as saying.

Chidambaram, however, did not state how many troops would be withdrawn or give a timetable for their pullout.

In June, he made a similar pledge, announcing that India was ready to phase out the presence of a large number of its troops across Kashmir, but gave no time frame.

Indian troops have regularly been accused of human rights violations including rape, murder and torture in the region.

Earlier this year, Kashmir witnessed violent protests in response to the alleged rape and murder of a 17-year-old girl and her 22-year-old sister-in-law, whose bodies were found in a stream on May 30.

If the withdrawal plans are implemented, it would mark the first time Indian armed forces have been pulled out from the region since the insurgency erupted.

The anti-India revolt has left more than 47,000 people dead by official count since it started.

India has long accused Pakistan of arming and funding the rebels. Islamabad denies the charge.

Saudi warplanes continue bombing northern Yemen

Saudi fighter jest have launched another round of aerial bombardment of Houthi positions in northwestern Yemeni province of Sa’ada.

The Houthi fighters said on Wednesday that the intensified-airstrikes same a day after Saudi troops suffered defeat during a Tuesday ground incursion.

Houthi fighters, meanwhile, released new footage of seized Saudi firearms and ammunition.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has inspected southern Jizan province where the fighting between the Saudi army and the Houthis has taken place.

Riyadh claims it is acting to prevent the Houthis from crossing into the Saudi territory. The Houthis deny the claims, saying the are already engaged in an armed conflict with Sana’a and are not interested in opening another front.

The Shia fighters accuse Saudi Arabia of assisting the Yemeni army in its war against them.

The conflict intensified in August when Yemen’s army launched Operation Scorched Earth in an attempt to crush the fighters in the northern province of Sa’ada.

The Houthis accuse the Yemeni government of violation of their civil rights, political, economic and religious marginalization as well as of large-scale corruption.

The Saudi air force has further complicated the armed conflict by launching its own operations against the Shia resistance fighters.

According to the fighters, Saudis use toxic materials including white phosphorus bombs against civilians in north Yemen.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that since 2004 up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa’ada to take refuge at overcrowded camps set up by the United Nations.

Israel Oks new settlement plan despite moratorium

In apparent defiance of a recently announced plan for a moratorium on new construction work in the West Bank, Israel has approved expanding settlements there.

The coordinator of government activities in the occupied territories, Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot, approved the construction of 84 new settlement buildings on Wednesday, Haaretz reported.

According to the report, the approval came in a bid to ease tension among those Jewish settlers who vowed to defy the regime’s decision about a 10-month freeze on settlement construction in the occupied land.

The settlers blocked the roads and clashed with the inspectors who were to enforce the moratorium on construction on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, however, vowed to resume settlement construction after a “one-time, temporary” moratorium.

The move which excluded annexed East Jerusalem Al-Quds as well as the construction of public buildings in the West Bank has been refused by the Palestinians who described it as being insufficient to resume peace negotiations.

Attack on naval HQ foiled; two killed

ISLAMABAD: Two naval personnel were killed and 10 other people injured in an abortive suicide attack on the Pakistan Naval Complex on Wednesday afternoon.

The teenaged suicide bomber blew himself up when he was intercepted by a naval intelligence official, Amjad, metres away from the gate, an official said.

Amjad asked him to stop for identification. After getting no response, the official approached the suspect and tried to search him. He and the attacker were killed and five personnel of the navy and the army, a colonel among them, and six civilians were injured. Constable Ashraf of the Navy police who was injured, later died in hospital.

The main gate of the Naval Complex is near the World Food Programme office where a suicide attack on Oct five had killed five UN workers. It is also near the home of President Asif Ali Zardari.

A witness, Haseeb Asif who is a student, told Dawn that he had stopped at a traffic light on the Margalla Road, near the Naval Complex, when he spotted a silver Cultus car stop across the road and a youth wearing white clothes and a coat rush towards the complex. The youth then went towards the entrance of the complex and blew himself up.

A taxi driver said the suspect was talking in an unfamiliar language and appeared to be a foreigner.

Police officials said the attacker was probably an Uzbek.

Some witnesses said a yellow vehicle had dropped two people on the Kohistan Road and moved on. One of the men identified the complex and walked towards the Faisal Avenue, while the other approached the target and blew himself up.

Officials of police and navy said the bomber had been spotted standing at the place a few minutes before the blast.

He was also seen moving around the traffic signal twice or thrice. When he moved towards the complex, the guard told him that as the gate was closed, he should use another entrance.

Moments later, he blew himself up.

Officials were of the view that a school and a college inside the complex were the target, besides navy personnel.

The attacker had arrived at about 1.20pm, a time when the school’s section closes. But for some reason, the bell was not rung till 1.45pm, making the bomber desperate to enter the premises, officials said.

A navy official said the main entrance of the complex had been closed after receiving a threat a month ago and only official vehicles with security stickers, officials on foot and students were allowed to enter.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (Operation) Bani Amin said the terrorist had used a suicide jacket with 8kgs of explosives, pellets, ball bearings and shrapnel.

The suspect was 14 to 16 years old and of fair complexion, the DIG said.

He said the silver car mentioned by a witness belonged to a passer-by who had picked his son from school.

He said limbs of the bomber had been found and his head had been reconstructed, but it was not possible to make out the face.

Navy’s Capt Mobeen Bajwa told reporters that the attacker had tried to enter the complex.

Another official said Naval chief Noman Bashir was in the headquarters at the time of the attack.

President Zardari condemned the attack and said such incidents would not lessen the government’s resolve to fight terrorism and extremism.

AFP adds: Capt Bajwa, the navy spokesman, said security guards stopped the bomber after a taxi driver complained about his suspicious behaviour.

Damascus bus blast kills at least six

DAMASCUS: A bomb attack on an Iranian bus in Damascus killed at least six people on Thursday, witnesses said.

‘Body parts are still scattered around the bus,’ one of the witnesses told Reuters

MP says Ahmadinejad can’t withdraw subsidy reform plan

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that he will withdraw his subsidy reform plan, but MP Hossein Sobhaninia said that according to the law, it is too late to withdraw the plan.

If the administration is not given a free hand in this regard, the plan cannot be implemented, Ahmadinejad told reporters in Isfahan.

He went on to say that he has decided to withdraw his subsidy reform plan and submit a new plan in its place.

However, Sobhaninia said that the subsidy reform plan has been ratified by the Majlis and sent to the Guardian Council for final approval, and the administration cannot withdraw the plan.

If Guardian Council members do not approve the plan, it will be returned to the parliament and then the administration’s points can be considered; otherwise, the plan will be passed into law, Sobhaninia, who is a member of the Majlis Presiding Board, told the Mehr News Agency on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Guardian Council spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaii said on Wednesday that the GC will examine the plan during special sessions as soon as it receives the plan.

After deliberations on the plan, the GC will promptly inform the parliament about their decision, Kadkhodaii told ISNA.

Iran will produce 20% enriched nuclear fuel: Ahmadinejad

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that Iran will produce the 20 percent enriched uranium for the Tehran research reactor inside the country.

“We told them (Western countries) to provide us with the 20 percent enriched fuel, but although they have a legal duty to give us the fuel… they said, ‘If you want us to give you the fuel, you should hand over your 3.5 percent fuel,’” and said that if Iran does not hand over its low-enriched uranium, then there will be no deal, and then they passed a resolution against the country, Ahmadinejad told a gathering of people in Isfahan.

This logic belongs to the Middle Ages and has been proven wrong over and over again, he added.

“All nations rose up against this logic, and our nation will also produce the 20 percent enriched fuel and whatever it needs,” Ahmadinejad stated.

The International Atomic Energy Agency passed a resolution on Friday criticizing Iran for constructing a second enrichment plant at Fordo, in addition to its enrichment facility at Natanz, and demanding a halt to construction of the Fordo plant.

However, Iran previously informed the IAEA about the Fordo nuclear project, exactly as it is required to do under agreements related to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the agency thanked Iran for its cooperation.

The Iranian cabinet voted overwhelmingly on Sunday in favor of a directive that requires the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to formulate the plans for the construction of 10 more uranium enrichment facilities on the scale of the Natanz nuclear plant within two months.

The directive envisages the construction of five plants, for which the land has already been set aside, to begin within two months.

According to the Fourth Development Plan (2005-2010), Iran’s nuclear power plants should eventually generate up to 20,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually, so the administration should supply the power plants with the needed nuclear fuel by establishing new enrichment plants, President Ahmadinejad said on Sunday.

In his remarks on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad said that international organizations are controlled by corrupt powers that do not abide by international law.

The Iranian nation will not negotiate over its nuclear rights, no matter how strenuously Western powers insist on their positions, he asserted.

Rights group urges probe into unmarked Kashmir graves

SRINAGAR: A human rights group in Indian-administered Kashmir urged authorities on Wednesday to launch a probe into 2,700 unmarked graves of people believed to have died as a result of the region’s revolt against Indian rule.

The International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice (IPT) has in the past three years uncovered the unidentified bodies buried in villages near Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The independent Srinagar-based group, which calculates 8,000 people have gone missing in the 20-year separatist insurgency, released a report entitled ‘Buried Evidence’ documenting the ‘unknown, unmarked, and mass graves’ containing at least 2,900 bodies.

About 180 graves held two or more bodies, said the report, which surveyed 55 villages through interviews with gravediggers, graveyard managers and residents, and first information reports filed by the police.

‘These graves include bodies of extrajudicial, summary, and arbitrary executions, as well as massacres committed by the Indian military and paramilitary forces,’ the IPT said.

‘The Government of India and the Government of Jammu and Kashmir must commit to, and enable, independent and transparent investigations into unknown, unmarked and mass graves,’ it urged.

International human rights groups have in the past called for a probe into whether the unmarked graves held bodies of civilians who have ‘disappeared’ as Indian security forces struggle to contain the Muslim-majority region’s revolt.

A police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said most of the bodies were likely those of militants killed in fighting with Indian forces.

Last year police admitted there were more than 200 unmarked graves in one location but insisted they contained dead rebels and not civilians.

Police said it was not possible to identify every militant killed during gunbattles in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The IPT report said that more than 8,000 people have gone missing in the region, mostly after their arrest by Indian security personnel.

Indian officials contend many of the missing had crossed over to Pakistan to join the insurgents.

The report also examined the deaths of 50 ‘militants’ killed during shoot-outs with security forces, and concluded 47 of the dead were civilians.

Supreme Court to take up petitions against NRO

ISLAMABAD: After having failed to get parliamentary protection, the NRO beneficiaries are pinning their hopes on the Supreme Court which has fixed Dec 7 to begin hearing of petitions challenging the controversial law promulgated by former military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf to grant amnesty to politicians, bureaucrats and holders of public offices involved in corruption and criminal cases.

During the proceedings, the Supreme Court will not only interpret different provisions of the Constitution relating to fundamental rights, but will also lay to rest the hotly debated controversy whether the benefit already reaped are closed and past transactions or the cases would reopen automatically at the point where these had been left; without a formal application by the prosecution.

To get assistance from the government the court has summoned Acting Attorney General Shah Khawar to appear before it on Dec 7.

The court is seized with two petitions, one moved by former PPP stalwart Dr Mubashar Hassan and the other by retired bureaucrat Roedad Khan, both stating that the NRO violates the fundamental rights of the people, especially Article 25 (equality of citizens), is against political justice and also contravenes the United Nations Convention against corruption of which Pakistan is a signatory.

On August 12, a two-judge bench comprising Justice Shakirullah Jan and Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmad which had taken up the case of Fazl Ahmed Jat had requested the chief justice to form a larger bench to hear the petitions against the NRO since interpretation of certain provisions of statutes were involved, which had a bearing on a large number of cases.

Considering the request, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry directed the SC office to fix all the petitions and connecting matters involving examination or interpretation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) 2007 on Monday before a larger bench.

The composition of the larger bench is expected to be decided by Friday.

Now the beneficiaries will anxiously spend this week wondering what future holds for them when the Supreme Court will start hearing the matter.

Minister of State for Law Afzal Sindhu recently released the names of 8,041 NRO beneficiaries; of whom 34 were politicians and most of the others bureaucrats.

Of the 8,041 people, 3,478 cases (3,320 in Sindh) were registered against them on charges of corruption, financial bungling and misuse of authority.

The Supreme Court office has already issued notices to the petitioners and the respondents, besides separate notices to counsel appearing for the petitioners and respondents through the Advocate on Records.

Since some convicts and prisoners had also prayed for the benefit of the NRO, they have also been issued notices through superintendent jails concerned.

The chief justice has also ordered to club a pending review petition against a judgment in the case of Asfandyar Wali Khan.

Former President Pervez Musharraf had promulgated the NRO on October 5, 2007, to give immediate relief to late PPP leader Benazir Bhutto by giving indemnity in all cases, registered against her by the Nawaz Sharif government.

The NRO which provides amnesty to public office-holders charged in different corruption and criminal cases between 1986 and 1999 was given protection under the November 3, 2007, Provisional Constitution Order (PCO), but a 14-judge Supreme Court bench while deciding the judge’s case on July 31 held that instead of undoing different ordinances, 37 in all including the controversial NRO, the present government should be given 120 days to get them regularised by parliament. That deadline expired on November 28.

Iran releases detained British yacht crew

LONDON: Iran has confirmed the release of five British yachtsmen seized in the Gulf last week, the Foreign Office said Wednesday, adding it understood their racing boat is being towed to international waters,

‘The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs have confirmed that the five yachtsmen have been released,’ said a Foreign Office spokesman, shortly after Iranian media reported their release.

‘We understand that they are being towed to international waters and will be met by a representative from the sailing company,’ he added.

The Britons’ yacht, Kingdom of Bahrain, apparently drifted into Iranian waters last Wednesday while they were en route from Bahrain to Dubai for the start of a race.

The group — four young yachtsman and an older sports journalist, were believed to have been held on Sirri Island, a small island in the Gulf off the coast of Iran near where they had been sailing.

The sailors’ boss has said the boat may have drifted into Iranian waters due to a damaged propeller.

On Tuesday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie warned they would be dealt with ‘firmly’ if found guilty of illegal entry into Iranian waters.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband spoke with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki on Tuesday to press for the release of the five — Oliver Smith, Oliver Young, Sam Usher, Luke Porter and journalist David Bloomer, a dual Irish-British national.

Porter’s parents Beverly and Charles voiced relief.

‘It was just a pure misunderstanding. It appears now that they had technical problems with the boat. The boys never meant to be there in the first place. Thankfully, Iran have seen it that way,’ said his mother.

His father was asked to describe his emotions over the last few days: ‘A rollercoaster would be the right word.’

Pakistan has become safe haven for al Qaeda: Obama

Washington, December 02: Defeated by the US-led international forces in Afghanistan, al Qaeda leaders have established a safe haven in Pakistan, President Barack Obama has said.

“After escaping across the border into Pakistan in 2001 and 2002, al Qaeda’s leadership established a safe-haven there,” Obama said in his Afghan-policy speech at the West Point Military Academy in New York.

Although a legitimate government was elected by the Afghan people, it has been hampered by corruption, the drug trade, an under-developed economy, and insufficient Security Forces, he said.

“Over the last several years, Taliban has maintained common cause with al Qaeda, as they both seek an overthrow of the Afghan government. Gradually, the Taliban has begun to take control over swaths of Afghanistan, while engaging in increasingly brazen and devastating acts of terrorism against the Pakistani people,” the US President said.

Shortly after taking office, Obama said he approved a long-standing request for more troops.

“After consultations with our allies, I then announced a strategy recognising the fundamental connection between our war effort in Afghanistan, and the extremist safe-havens in Pakistan.

“I set a goal that was narrowly defined as disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al Qaeda and its extremist allies, and pledged to better coordinate our military and civilian effort,” Obama said, adding since then, the US has made progress on some important objectives.

“High-ranking al Qaeda and Taliban leaders have been killed, and we have stepped up the pressure on al Qaeda world-wide,” he said.

“In Pakistan, that nation’s Army has gone on its largest offensive in years. In Afghanistan, we and our allies prevented the Taliban from stopping a presidential election, and – although it was marred by fraud – that election produced a government that is consistent with Afghanistan’s laws and Constitution,” he said.

After 9/11, Obama said, within a matter of months, al Qaeda was scattered and many of its operatives were killed.

“The Taliban was driven from power and pushed back on its heels. A place that had known decades of fear now had reason to hope,” he said.

Jumblatt Agrees with Hezbollah’s Political Manifesto

Lebanese daily As-Safir quoted Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader MP Walid Jumblatt as saying that he agrees with most of the clauses set in Hezbollah’s new political manifesto, which was announced on Monday, such as “the essential and strategic threat represented by Israel’s presence since its inception in 1948; the importance of the Resistance’s track record between 1968 and 2006; dialogue, instead of confrontation, between Arabs and Iranians; the need to improve inter-Arab relations; the US position and its protection of Israeli interests without taking into consideration Arab aspirations.”

Jumblatt also said that he believes that political sectarianism is the main “flaw” of Lebanon’s political system, adding that “until political sectarianism is abolished, consensus democracy is the best way forward.”

He stressed that the gradual elimination of sectarianism in key positions allows minorities, whether Muslim or Christian, to play a role in Lebanon’s politics.

On Monday, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said abolishment of political sectarianism was the “basic condition” for the establishment of a true democracy in which the majority rules and the minority opposes.

“Political sectarianism is blocking the development of the Lebanese political regime and standing as an obstacle in the face of a democracy where the majority rules and the minority opposes,” Sayyed Nasrallah said while reading his party’s new manifesto.

Speaker Nabih Berri’s recent proposal to put an end to political sectarianism has drawn a huge debate among the country’s factions.

Suicide bomber targets Naval Headquarters, three injured

ISLAMABAD: Three security personnel were injured when a suspected suicide bomber tried to attack the Naval Headquarters in Islamabad on Wednesday,

Security officials at the main entrance of the headquarters of Pakistan Navy located at Margalla Road in Islamabad intercepted a suspected suicide bomber when he tried to enter the building. According to DawnNews, the bomber then blew himself up, injuring three security personnel.

15th Zee al-Hajjah, the Birthday Anniversary of Imam Ali-un-Naqi al-Hadi(A.S.)

Imam Ali-un-Naqi al-Hadi (A.S.), the Tenth Holy Imam of the Shi’ites in the world who defended and safeguarded the Islamic Sharia from the innovations spread by the ruling Abbasid caliphs was born in the holy city of Madinah on the fifteenth day of the month of Zee al-Hajjah in the year 212 A.H.

On this Happy and Joyous event we extend our Heartiest Greetings and Felicitations to all the lovers and followers of the Holy Ahlul Bayt(A.S.) in the world.

Ahmadinejad: No One Can Isolate Iran

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday night that Iran is a country that cannot be isolated in any way because it enjoys unique characteristics. “No one can isolate Iran because global interactions and Iran’s unique characteristics in the Middle East will not allow such a move,” Ahmadinejad told Iran’s IRIB Channel One in a live interview.

“In an era when everyone wants globalization, talking about isolating countries indicates one’s lack of awareness or arrogance,” he added. “The Middle East is the most important region in the world from the economic, geographical, cultural, and historical perspectives,” Iran’s president stated. “Any state that wants to play a major role in global interactions must first of all have an effective presence in the Middle East,” Ahmadinejad said. Talk about isolating Iran “belongs to the past,” he noted

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Iran releases five British yachtsmen

Officials in Tehran have freed five British yachtsmen who had illegally entered Iran’s territorial waters, Iranian media reported.

The five Briton, released on Wednesday, were detained on Nov 25 in southern Persian Gulf waters by Iran’s Revolution Guards Corps, a statement released by the IRGC said.

The IRGC interrogated the detainees and it became clear that they had inadvertently strayed into the Iranian waters.

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband had earlier acknowledged that there legal justifications for the detention and dismissed speculations the issue was tied to Iran’s nuclear stand-off with the West.

He said the five were travelling from Bahrain to the United Arab Emirates to take part at a sporting event.

Miliband held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki late on Tuesday and called for formal consular access to the men and their speedy release.

Iranian officials insist they were arrested kilometers away from the route they had claimed, near the Iranian island of Siri.

Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Plant Succesfully tested

The long-delayed nuclear power plant in Bushehr has been tested successfully, a senior Iranian nuclear official said Tuesday. Continue reading

Iran says to protest over IAEA nuclear resolution

TEHRAN: Iran said on Tuesday it intended to take unspecified legal action over an IAEA rebuke of its nuclear activities and would provide Iranians with enough gasoline in order to trump any further UN sanctions.

The IAEA board angered Iran last week when it censured it for covertly building a second uranium enrichment plant near the holy city of Qom, in addition to its main IAEA-monitored one at Natanz, and calling for a halt to construction.

Tehran said on Sunday it would build 10 more uranium enrichment sites in retaliation for the vote by the 35-nation board of the UN nuclear watchdog, which had rare Russian and Chinese backing.

‘(Foreign Minister Manouchehr) Mottaki will declare the Islamic Republic’s appreciation or opposition to the (position of) members of the governing body in separate letters,’ Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said at a news conference reported in official news agency IRNA.

He said Iran would complain to the countries that supported the resolution but that it would not cause a change in Iran’s relations with Russia and China, often seen as allies.

‘We will confront the resolution legally,’ he said, according to student agency ISNA, without giving more details.

The United States and its allies fear Iran’s nuclear energy programme could allow the Islamic Republic to develop nuclear weapons, thought Tehran says it has no such intention.

Iran has resisted a deal with Western powers that would see its low-enriched uranium sent abroad for processing into uranium for making fuel.

Though Russia has said it was ‘seriously concerned’ at the announcement of 10 planned new sites, it said this week it still planned to start up Iran’s first nuclear power station in March.

‘I don’t think Russia will face any problem. That’s what’s agreed upon,’ Mehmanparast said, reiterating that ‘all our nuclear activities will be under IAEA supervision.’

Western countries are threatening more UN sanctions on Iran which could targets its imports of gasoline. Though one of the world’s biggest producers, Iran does not have refining capacity to meet current domestic demand.

Iran says it will expand its own production and plans to cut costly subsidies in a bid to reduce public consumption.

‘Our plan is still being pursued, we must be on our own and provide our fuel ourselves,’ Mehmanparast said.

Iraqi journalist turns tables on shoe thrower

PARIS: A protester who presented himself as an Iraqi journalist in exile hurled a shoe Tuesday at the colleague who one year ago found fame hurling his own footwear at then US president George W. Bush.

Television reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi was in Paris to promote his campaign for the ‘victims of the US occupation in Iraq’ when a fellow Iraqi critic turned the tables on him, shouting: ‘Here’s another shoe for you.’

The thickset man with an Iraqi accent made a brief speech in Arabic during the question and answer session, defending US policy and accusing Zaidi of ‘working for dictatorship in Iraq,’ before throwing his shoe.

The missile was thrown hard at Zaidi’s head, but he managed to dodge it and it bounced harmlessly off a curtain erected behind the speakers by the event’s hosts, the Foreign Press Welcome Centre in Paris.

Zaidi’s brother grappled with and slapped the man, whom witnesses later described as an asylum-seeker they know only as ‘Khayat,’ before venue staff and bystanders separated them and the aggressor was hustled away.

‘When I used this method, it was against the occupation. I did not use it against a compatriot,’ Zaidi complained. ‘I always knew the occupier and his lackeys would stop at nothing to get to me.’

Following the commotion, the news conference continued with Zaidi taking questions about his famous assault on Bush on December 14 last year, which was shown around the world and made him a hero in the Arab world.

Zaidi, a journalist for Iraq’s Al-Baghdadia television, threw his shoes at Bush during the US leader’s final visit to Iraq, protesting the six-year-old occupation with a cry of: ‘This is the farewell kiss you dog.’

He was seized on the spot by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s bodyguards and alleges he was tortured for three days: beaten with iron bars and chairs, tied up with cables and subjected to a mock drowning.

The 30-year-old member of Iraq’s Shia majority was jailed for nine months and was flown out of Iraq by his employers shortly after he was freed.

At his appearance in Paris, organised by the Arab Press Club, he said he is staying in Geneva for medical treatment for broken teeth, stomach complaints, fractures and torn back ligaments that he suffered.

After his treatment, he said, he would like to return to Iraq to found a charity to support those he called the ‘victims of the US occupation’ of his country, in particular the widows and orphans left by American attacks.

Zaidi’s shock action was rebroadcast repeatedly around the world and made him an instant hero among Iraqis and others who felt that Arab honour had been violated by the US occupation of Iraq.

Introducing his guest at the packed Paris press conference, the president of the local Arab Press Club, Kamal Tarabay, said Zaidi’s ‘audacious gesture’ made him a ‘hero of the resistance against the occupier.’

Some of those present applauded him, but several Arab reporters complained that while his protest was legitimate for an activist, a journalist should have behaved more professionally.

Zaidi was unrepentant, insisting that given the opportunity he would do the same again to Bush’s successor, US President Barack Obama ‘whatever the colour of his skin, his origin or his religion.’

Asked about the huge sums and even offers of marriage made by admirers during his jail term, Zaidi said he had asked his family to refuse all gifts ‘until I find a way that they can be passed on to the people of Iraq

Six houses destroyed, nine militants arrested in Khyber

KHYBER: Security forces arrested nine militants, destroyed six houses and three explosive-laden vehicles during an operation in Bara Tehsil of Khyber Agency, on Wednesday.

According to security sources, the operation against militants in Bara Tehsil has been going on for the last nine days.

A curfew has also been imposed in the area.

Sources also said that at least 65 militants have been killed and 96 arrested during the last nine days of this operation.

Obama sends 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, eyes pullout

WEST POINT: US President Barack Obama ordered an additional 30,000 US troops into Afghanistan on Tuesday night, but balanced the buildup with a pledge to impatient Americans to begin withdrawing US forces in 18 months.

Obama unveiled his plans in a long-anticipated, high-profile speech broadcast from the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, in what could become a defining moment of his presidency and a political gamble that may weigh heavily on his chances for a second White House term.

The president said his new policy was designed to ‘bring this war to a successful conclusion.’

The troop buildup will begin almost immediately —the first Marines will be in place by Christmas —and will cost $30 billion for the first year alone.

‘We must deny al-Qaida a safe haven,’ Obama said in articulating US military goals for a war that has dragged on for eight years.

‘We must reverse the Taliban’s momentum. … And we must strengthen the capacity of Afghanistan’s security forces and government.’

The speech represents the beginning of a campaign to restore support for the war effort among an American public grown increasingly pessimistic about success —and among some fellow Democrats in Congress wary of or even opposed to spending billions more dollars and putting tens of thousands more US soldiers and Marines in harm’s way.

‘It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak,’ Obama said.

A new survey by the Gallup organisation, released Tuesday, showed only 35 per cent of Americans now approve of Obama’s handling of the war; 55 per cent disapprove.

The escalation —to be completed by next summer —is designed to reverse significant Taliban advances since Obama took office 10 months ago and to fast-track the training of Afghan soldiers and police toward the goal of hastening an eventual US pullout.

‘After 18 months, out troops will begin to come home,’ he said flatly.

The size and speed of the troop increase will put a heavy strain on the military, which still maintains a force of more than 100,000 in Iraq and already has 68,000 in Afghanistan.

‘The 30,000 additional troops that I am announcing tonight will deploy in the first part of 2010 the fastest pace possible so that they can target the insurgency and secure key population centers,’ Obama said.

The increased troops, Obama said, ‘will increase our ability to train competent Afghan security forces, and to partner with them so that more Afghans can get into the fight. And they will help create the conditions for the United States to transfer responsibility to the Afghans.’

Nato diplomats said Obama was asking alliance partners in Europe to add 5,000 to 10,000 troops to the separate international force in Afghanistan. Indications were the allies would agree to a number somewhere in that range.

The war has even less support in Europe than in the United States, and the Nato allies and other countries have about 40,000 troops on the ground.

Obama also leaned heavily on Nato allies and other countries to join in escalating the fight.

‘We must come together to end this war successfully,’ the president said. ‘For what’s at stake is not simply a test of Nato’s credibility. What’s at stake is the security of our allies, and the common security of the world.’

Obama’s nationally broadcast speech ends three months of exacting deliberations that won praise from supporters and criticism from opponents. Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Obama was ‘dithering’ in making a decision on commanding Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s September request for 40,000 new troops —10,000 more than Obama now plans to send.

Obama underscored his commitment to stabilizing Afghanistan and scouring corruption out of the government of President Hamid Karzai. Obama vowed to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven for al-Qaida boss Osama bin Laden and his terrorist organisation.

Obama rejected critics’ arguments that the Afghanistan war was doomed like the long American war in Vietnam was, saying any comparison ‘depends upon a false reading of history.’

He said that unlike Vietnam, the US has been joined by a coalition of 43 nations in Afghanistan and is not facing a broad-based popular insurgency.

The president argued that the most important difference with Vietnam is that ‘the American people were viciously attacked from Afghanistan, and remain a target’ for al-Qaida extremists.

Most of the new forces will be combat troops. There will be about 5,000 dedicated trainers in the 30,000 troops, showing the emphasis on preparing Afghans to take over their own security.

And the president is making clear to his generals that all troops, even if designated as combat, must consider themselves trainers

November 2009 – least bloody month in Iraq

November was the least bloody month in Iraq since the 2003 US-led occupation, official figures showed Tuesday.

According to AFP, official data compiled by the ministries of defense, interior and health indicated that a total of 122 people died last month, comprising 88 civilians, 22 policemen and 12 troops.

The figures are markedly lower compared to October, when violence killed a total of 410 people across Iraq. “We are delighted with the decrease in the number of victims of terrorism but we will only be happy when we eliminate all threats,” Ali Mussawi, an advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, told AFP.

In addition to those who died in attacks in November, 332 civilians were hurt along with 56 policemen and 44 soldiers. The previous lowest monthly death toll was in May, when 155 people were killed, including 124 civilians.

Iran condemns Swiss minaret ban

Iran describes the Swiss referendum banning the construction of minarets in the country an “Islamophobic act” and a blow to the religious freedom declared in the West.

“We consider such acts as inappropriate … a move that is against the western claims of democracy and religious freedom,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Tuesday.

Speaking at his weekly press briefing in Tehran, Mehmanparast said “surprisingly some of the actions of the West have Islamophobic roots.”

A clear majority of 57.5 percent of the Swiss population and 22 out of 26 cantons (provinces) on Sunday voted in favor of the ban on the construction of minarets — a distinct architectural feature of Islamic mosques from which Muslims are called to prayer.

The country’s largest party, the nationalist Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and the Federal Democratic Union joined forces to convince people that the minaret posed a threat to Switzerland’s future.

In their campaign posters, allowed under freedom of speech despite their Islamophobic depiction, the Swiss flag is seen covered with missile-like minarets next to a menacing figure of a woman cloaked in a black burqa.

Switzerland is home to some 400,000 Muslims and only four minarets.

The government acceded to the vote, saying, “The Federal Council (government) respects this decision. Consequently the construction of new minarets in Switzerland is no longer permitted.”

Amnesty International said last week that “the ban on the construction of minarets would breach Switzerland’s obligations to uphold freedom of religion.”

“A change in the constitution which would provide for the blanket ban on the construction of minarets must be soundly rejected. Such a move is important as it will reinforce the equality of rights for all people living in Switzerland,” said Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at Amnesty International, Nicola Duckworth.

Iran– 5 British Nationals Arrested in Persian Gulf

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has arrested five British nationals for trespassing Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf, a senior IRGC commander announced on Tuesday.

“Confrontation with alien forces and arresting them is a responsibility of the IRGC,” IRGC Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri told FNA in the port city of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran.

Noting that the incident has not yet been relayed to the media, the commander stressed that more details on the issue will be released soon.

Meantime, Britain announced that Iranian authorities had seized five British sailors after their racing yacht strayed into Iranian territorial waters.

The group was sailing a 60-foot Volvo racing yacht from Bahrain to Dubai last Wednesday when they were “stopped by Iranian naval vessels,” the British Foreign Office said in a statement. “The yacht was on its way from Bahrain to Dubai and may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters. The five crew members are still in Iran.”

Later on Tuesday, Britain said that there was no discussions underway with Iran after the Islamic Republic detained the five Britons.

“There is certainly no confrontation or argument. As far as we are aware these people are being well treated, which is right, and what we would expect from a country like Iran,” Foreign Secretary David Miliband told BBC Radio 4.

“We understand that the Iranian government is investigating the incident, which is perfectly reasonable, and then we would look forward to it being promptly sorted out.”

Saudi Wahhabis release a Shia Doctor after short arrest

Saudi police in Madinah, West of Saudi, released on Tuesday a Shia physician after 24 hour detention as a result to disputes with religious police at the Baqi’ cemetery.

Sources informed Rasid that religious police at the Baqi’ cemetery detained three Shia citizens: Dr. Musa Al-Zahir, Hussain Abdulatif and Abbas Al-Janoobi, all of which are Qatif residents.

All three detainees are from Awamia and they were in a visit to Madinah after returning from Hajj.

Al-Abdulatif and Al-Janoobi were released shortly after their arrest whereas Dr. Al-Zahir was only released after bail.

Shia pilgrims from the heavily Shia Eastern Province visiting Madina are often clash with Sunni religious police at the Baqi’ cemetery over doctrinal differences concerning the rituals surrounding commemoration of the dead.

Hezbollah New Manifesto: We Want Strong, United Lebanon

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah announced on Monday the Resistance party’s new political document that was approved during the party’s General Conference that lasted for months.
 
Sayyed Nasrallah held a press conference through a giant screen at al-Jinan hall on the airport road to declare the new political document. The press conference was attended by prominent Lebanese, Arab and international journalists as well as some Hezbollah leaders and various political figures.
 
His eminence started the conference by noting that Hezbollah new political document aims to define the political vision of the party and includes its visions, stances, and aspirations. “This political document also comes as a result of the responsibility of sacrifice that we have experienced,” his eminence added.
 
“At an exceptional time filled with transformations, it is no longer possible to address these changes without noting the special position our resistance has reached. We will address these transformations through two paths: the first is the Resistance one that resorts to the military and political victories as well as the expansion of the Resistance while the second focuses on the path of the US-Israeli mastery and hegemony which is witnessing military defeats that showed a failure in administering the developments.”
 
“What strengthens the international hegemony system crisis are the actual collapses in the financial markets and the entry of the US economy in a situation of failure. Therefore, it’s possible to say that we are amid historical transformations that signal the retreat of the US role as a predominant power and the demise of the Zionist entity.”
 
“The resistance movements are at the heart of international transformations and emerge as a strategic factor after performing a central role in producing those transformations in our region,” Sayyed Nasrallah read out, adding that the Resistance in Lebanon was the first to fight occupation and perceived since the beginning that it will reach victory at the end. “Through its long path and its depicted victories, the Resistance’s project has grown from a liberation power to a balance and confrontation one to a defense and deterrence one in addition to its political and internal role as an influencing basis in building the just and capable state. The Resistance in Lebanon has evolved from a Lebanese national value to an Arab and Islamic value and has become today an international value that’s taught all over the world.”
 
“Hezbollah does not underestimate the size of current challenges and threats or the severity of the confrontation path. However, Hezbollah has now clearer choices and more trust in its people. In this context, Hezbollah defines the main headlines that constitutes a political and intellectual framework of its vision and stances towards the challenges,” Hezbollah Secretary General read out, concluding the manifesto’s introduction.
 
CHAPTER ONE – DOMINATION AND HEGEMONY

“Following the World War II, the United States became the center of polarity in the world, taking advantage of accomplishments on several levels of knowledge, including education, science and technology that are supported by an economic system that only views the world as markets that have to abide by the American own view. The most dangerous thing in their hegemony is that they consider that they own the world and therefore, the Western expanding strategy turned to be an international one without limits,” Hezbollah new manifesto says, according to Sayyed Nasrallah.
 
“Globalization has reached its most dangerous aspect when it turned to a military one led by those following the Western plan of domination and was reflected in the Middle East in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon. This plot found its peak with the neoconservative grip under the administration of George Bush since their project found its way to execution after he was sworn in. It was neither weird nor surprised that what the neoconservative platform focused on the most was rebuilding US capabilities what reflected a strategic vision of US national security through building military strategies not only as a force of deterrence but also as a force of action and intervention. Following the September 11 attacks, the Bush administration found that the opportunity was appropriate to exercise the largest possible influence under the slogan of universal war against terrorism. It has performed many attempts that were considered as successful in the beginning based on militarizing relationships with other countries and on having monopoly over decision-making by taking strategic decisions and rapidly ending war in Afghanistan to have the maximum amount of time for the next step, which is taking over Iraq and the foundation for launching the New Middle East project. Furthermore, the Bush administration sought to establish a conformity between terrorism and Resistance to remove the latter’s legitimacy and therefore justify wars against its movements, seeking to remove the fundamental right of the nations of defending their right to live with dignity and national sovereignty.”
 
“The Bush administration gave itself an absolute right to launch destroying wars that don’t differentiate between human beings, given that the cost of the US terrorism wars has cost the humanity until now millions of people as well as global destruction. In brief, the Bush administration has transformed the United States into a danger that threatens the whole world.”
 
“Terrorism has turned to be an American pretext for hegemony through many tools such as pursuit, arbitrary detention, unjust trials witnessed in Guantanamo as well as through direct meddling in the sovereignty of other countries and states in addition to impose sanctions against complete nations. The US terror is the root of all terror in the world.”
 
“The failure and decline of the US strategy does not mean it will easily stop interfering, but will make an effort to protect its strategic interests. Indeed, if the whole world was suffering from the American hegemony, the Arab and Islamic nations seem to suffer even more for many considerations related to history, geographic site, civilization and culture. The Arab and Islamic world has always been subject to endless wild and savage wars. However, its most dangerous steps was reached with the creation of the Zionist entity. The central goal of the American hegemony resides in dominating the nations politically, economically, culturally and through all aspects. To achieve this goal, Washington resorted to different general policies and work strategies including providing the Zionist entity with stability guarantees, create sedition and divisions in the region especially sectarian ones.”
 
“The American arrogance has left no choice to our nation and people but the choice of resistance, at least for a better life, and for a humanitarian future, a future governed by relations of brotherhood, solidarity and diversity at the same time in a world of peace and harmony.”
 
CHAPTER TWO – LEBANON
 
CHAPTER TWO, SECTION ONE – THE HOMELAND

“Lebanon is our homeland and the homeland of our fathers, ancestors. It’s also the homeland of our children, grandchildren, and the coming generations. It is the country to which we have given our most precious sacrifices for its sovereignty and pride, dignity and liberation,” Sayyed Nasrallah read out from the political document introduction on Lebanon.
 
“We want Lebanon for all Lebanese alike, and we want it unified. We reject any kind of segregation or federalism, whether explicit or disguised. We want Lebanon to be sovereign, free, independent, strong and capable. We want it also to be strong, active, and present in the geopolitics of the region. We want it also to be a key contributor in making the present and the future.”
 
“To conclude, it should be mentioned that one of the most important conditions for the establishment of a home of this type is having a fair state, a state which is capable and strong, as well as a political system that truly represents the will of the people and their aspirations for justice, freedom and security, stability and well-being and dignity. This is what all the Lebanese people want and work to achieve and we are a part of them.”
 
CHAPTER TWO, SECTION TWO – THE RESISTANCE

“Israel represents an eternal threat to Lebanon – the State and the entity – and a real danger to the country in terms of its historical ambitions in land and water especially that Lebanon is considered to be a model of coexistence in a unique formula that contradicts with the idea of the racist state which expresses itself in the Zionist entity. Furthermore, Lebanon’s presence at the borders of occupied Palestine obliged it to bear national and pan-Arab responsibilities.”
 
“The Israeli threat to this country began since the laying of the Zionist entity in the land of Palestine, an entity that did not hesitate to disclose its ambitions to occupy some parts of Lebanon and to seize its wealth, particularly its water. Therefore, it sought to achieve these ambitions gradually. This entity started its aggression on Lebanon since 1948 from the border to the depth of the country, from the Hula massacre in 1949 to the aggression on the Beirut International Airport in 1968, including long years of attacks on border areas, their land, population and wealth, as a prelude to seize direct land through repeated invasions, leading to the March 1978 invasion and the occupation of the border area, making its people subject to its authority at all levels, as a prelude to subdue the whole country in the invasion of 1982.”
 
“All of this was taking place with a full support of the United States and ignorance until the level of complicity of the so-called international community and its institutions amid a suspicious Arab official silence and an absence of the Lebanese authority at the time leaving the land and people subject to the Israeli occupation without assuming its responsibilities and national duties.”
 
“Under this great national tragedy, Lebanese who are loyal to their homeland didn’t have the choice but to use their right and proceed from their national duty and moral and religious in the defense of their land. Thus, their choice was: the launch of an armed popular resistance to confront the Zionist danger and permanent aggression.”
 
“In such difficult circumstances, the process of restoring the nation through armed resistance started, paving the way for liberating the land and the political decision from the hands of the Israeli occupation as a prelude to the restoration of the State and the building of its constitutional institutions. The Resistance has crowned all these dimensions together through achieving the Liberation in 2000 and the historic victory in July 2006, presenting to the whole world a true experience in defending the homeland, an experience that turned into a school from which nations and states benefit to defend their territory, protect their independent and maintain their sovereignty.”
 
“This national achievement was made real thanks to the support of a loyal nation and a national army, thus frustrating the enemy’s goals and causing him a historic defeat, allowing the Resistance to celebrate alongside its fighters and martyrs as well as all of Lebanon through its nation and army the great victory that paved the way for a new phase in the region entitled pivotal role and function of the resistance to deter the enemy and ensure the protection of the country’s independence, sovereignty and defend its people and completing the liberation of the rest of the occupied territory.”
 
“The Resistance role is a national necessity as long as the Israeli threats and ambitions continue. Therefore, and in the absence of strategic balance between the state and the enemy, the Israeli threat obliges Lebanon to endorse a defensive strategy that depends on a popular resistance participating in defending the country and an army that preserves the security of the country, in a complementarity process that proved to be successful through the previous phase.”
 
“This formula, developed from within the defensive strategy, constitutes an umbrella of protection for Lebanon, especially after the failure of other speculations on the umbrellas, whether international or Arab, or negotiating with the enemy. The adoption of the Resistance path in Lebanon achieved its role in liberating the land, restoring the State institutions and the protecting the sovereignty. Afterwards, Lebanese are concerned with safeguarding and maintaining this format because the Israeli danger threatens Lebanon in all its components, what requires the widest Lebanese participation in assuming responsibilities of defense.”
 
“Finally, the success of the Resistance experience in fighting the enemy and the failure of all plots and schemes to delete resistance movements or besieging them or even disarming them annexed to the continuation of the Israeli threat in Lebanon obliges the Resistance to do its best to strengthen its abilities and consolidate its strengths to assume its national responsibilities and liberate what remains under the Israeli occupation in the Shebaa farms and Kfarshouba Drills and the Lebanese town of Ghajar as well as liberating the detainees and missing people and martyrs’ bodies.”
 
CHAPTER TWO, SECTION THREE – STATE AND POLITICAL SYSTEM

“The main problem in the Lebanese political system, which prevents its reform, development and constant updating is political sectarianism,” Hezbollah manifesto clearly states.
 
“The fact that the Lebanese political system was established on a sectarian basis constitutes in itself a strong constraint to the achievement of true democracy where an elected majority can govern and an elected minority can oppose, opening the door for a proper circulation of power between the loyalty and the opposition or the various political coalitions. Thus, abolishing sectarianism is a basic condition for the implementation of the majority-minority rule.”
 
“Yet, and until the Lebanese could reach through their national dialogue this historic and sensitive achievement, which is the abolishment of political sectarianism, and since the political system in Lebanon is based on sectarian foundations, the consensual democracy will remain the fundamental basis for governance in Lebanon, because it is the actual embodiment of the spirit of the constitution and the essence of the Charter of the co-existence.”
 
“From here, any approach to the national issues according to the equation of the majority and minority awaits the achievement of the historic and social conditions for the exercise of effective democracy in which the citizen becomes a value in itself. Meanwhile, the Lebanese will to live together in dignity and equal rights and duties requires a constructive cooperation in order to consolidate the principle of true partnership, which constitutes the most appropriate formula to protect the full diversity and stability after an era of instability caused by the different policies based on the tendency towards monopoly, cancellation and exclusion.”
 
“The consensual democracy constitutes an appropriate political formula to guarantee true partnership and contributes in opening the doors for everyone to enter the phase of building the reassuring state.”
 
“Our vision for the State that we should build together in Lebanon is represented in the State that preserves public freedoms, the State that is keen on national unity, the State that protects its land, people, and sovereignty, the State that has a national, strong and prepared army, the State that is structured under the base of modern, effective and cooperative institutions, the State that is committed to the application of laws on all its citizens without differentiation, the State that guarantees a correct and right parliamentary representation based on a modern election law that allows the voters of choosing their representative away from pressures, the State that depends on qualified people regardless of their religious beliefs and that defines mechanisms to fight corruption in administration, the State that enjoys an independent and non-politicized Justice authority, the State that establishes its economy mainly according to the producing sectors and works on consolidating them especially the agriculture and industry ones, the State that applies the principle of balanced development between all regions, the State that cares for its people and works to provide them with appropriate services, that State that takes care of the youth generation and help young people to develop their energies and talents, the State that works to consolidate the role of women at all levels, the State that care for education and work to strengthen the official schools and university alongside applying the principle of obligatory teaching, the State that adopts a decentralized system, the State that works hard to stop emigration and the State that guards its people all over the world and protects them and benefits from their positions to serve the national causes.”
 
“The establishment of a state based on these specifications and requirements is a goal to us just like it’s the goal of every honest and sincere Lebanese. In Hezbollah, we will exert all possible efforts, in cooperation with the popular and political forces, to achieve this noble national goal.”
 
CHAPTER TWO, SECTION FOUR – LEBANESE-PALESTINIAN TIES

“One of the tragic consequences of the emergence of the Zionist entity on the land of Palestine and the displacement of its inhabitants is the problem of Palestinian refugees who moved to Lebanon to live temporarily in its land as guests to their fellow Lebanese until returning to their homes from where they were expelled.”
 
“The original and direct reason of the sufferance of Lebanese and Palestinians was actually the Israeli occupation of Palestine and all the resulting tragedies and calamities in the region. Moreover, the suffering of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon was not limited to the pain of forced migration but also to the Israeli massacres and atrocities in addition to what happened in the Nabatiyeh camp that has been fully destroyed. Palestinian refugees are also deprived of all civilian and social rights since the Lebanese governments didn’t assume their responsibilities towards them.”
 
“The Lebanese authorities are nowadays called to assume their responsibilities and therefore build the Lebanese-Palestinian relations under right, solid and legal bases that respect the justice, rights and mutual interests’ balances to both nations. It is imperative that the Lebanese-Palestinian relationship remains governed by the whims and moods, as well as political calculations and internal interactions and international interventions.”
 
“We believe that succeeding in this mission requires a Lebanese-Palestinian direct dialogue, a permission for Palestinians in Lebanon to agree on a unified reference that represents them, providing Palestinian refugees with their social and civilian rights, committing to the Right of Return and reject settlement.”
 
CHAPTER TWO, SECTION FIVE – LEBANON AND ARAB TIES

“Lebanon is committed to the just and fair Arab causes, at the top of which comes the Palestinian cause as well as the conflict with the Israeli enemy. Even more, there is a definite need for concerted efforts to overcome the conflicts that run through the Arab ranks.”
 
“The contradiction of strategies and the difference of alliances, despite their seriousness and intensity, doesn’t justify the policies of targeting or engaging in external projects, based on the deepening discord and inciting sectarianism, leading to the exhaustion of the nation and therefore serving the Zionist enemy in the implementation of the purposes of America.”
 
“The Resistance choice constitutes once again a central need and an objective factor in strengthening the Arab stance and weakening the enemy. In this context, Syria has recorded a distinctive attitude and supported the resistance movements in the region, and stood beside us in the most difficult circumstances, and sought to unify Arab efforts to secure the interests of the region and challenges.”
 
“Hence, we emphasize the need to adhere to the distinguished relations between Lebanon and Syria as a political and security and economic need, dictated by the two countries and two peoples and the imperatives of geopolitics and the requirements for Lebanese stability and common challenges. We also call for an end to all the negative sentiment that have marred bilateral ties in the past few years and urge these relations to return to their normal status as soon as possible.”
 
CHAPTER TWO, SECTION SIX – LEBANON AND ISLAMIC RELATIONS

“The Arab and Islamic world is facing challenges that shouldn’t be undermined. Indeed, the sectarian fabricated conflicts, especially between Sunnis and Shiites, are threatening the cohesiveness of our societies. Therefore, and instead of being a source of wealth, the sectarian diversities seem to be exploited as factors of division and incitement. The situation resulting from this bad use seems to be the result of the intersection of Western deliberate policies, the US in particular.”
 
“Hezbollah emphasizes the necessity to cooperate will Islamic states at different levels to gain strength in confronting hegemony schemes. Such cooperation also serves in facing the cultural invasion of the community and media, and encourages the Islamic states to take advantage of its resources in the exchange of the different benefits between these countries.”
“In this context, Hezbollah considers Iran as a central state in the Muslim world, since it is the State that dropped through its revolution the Shah’s regime and its American-Israeli projects, and it’s also the state that supported the resistance movements in our region, and stood with courage and determination at the side of the Arab and Islamic causes and especially the Palestinian one.”
 
CHAPTER TWO, SECTION SEVEN – LEBANON AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

“Hezbollah considers that the unilateral hegemony in the world overthrows the international balance and stability as well as the international peace and security. The unlimited US support for Israeli and its cover for the Israeli occupation of Arab lands annexed to the American domination of international institutions and the American meddling in various states’ affairs and adoption of the principle of circulating wars puts the American administration in the position of the aggressor and holds it responsible in producing chaos in the international political system.”
 
“The American administration’s unlimited support to Israel … places the American administration in the position of the enemy of our nation and our peoples.”
 
CHAPTER THREE – PALESTINE AND COMPROMISE NEGOTIATIONS

“The history of the Arab-Israeli conflict proves that armed struggle and military resistance is the best way of ending the occupation. The method of negotiations has proven that the Zionist entity becomes more boastful and more belligerent, and that it has no intention of reaching an accord. The resistance has managed to achieve a huge victory over the Zionist entity, provide the homeland with protection, and liberation of the remainder of its land. This function is a lasting necessity before Israel’s expansionist threats and ambitions as well as the lack of a strong government in Lebanon. The ongoing Israeli threat forces the resistance to continue to boost its capacity … in order to fulfill its role in liberating occupied territory.”
 
“We categorically reject any compromise with Israel or recognizing its legitimacy,” his eminence concluded. “This position is definitive, even if everyone recognizes Israel.”