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Al Jazeera English - Europe - Italy convicts CIA rendition agents - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...2009114164237350216.html CIA torture rendtion Egyptian imam
shared by Erin Gold on 04 Nov 09 - Cached
  • An Italian judge has convicted 23 US secret agents over the 2003 abduction of an Egyptian imam from a Milan street in an extraordinary rendition by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
  • trial was the first in the world to centre on the agency's controversial programme, in which "terror" suspects are thought to have been transferred to countries known to practise torture.
  • case concerned the seizure of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, and his transfer to Egypt, where he claims he was tortured.
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  • All of the Americans were tried in absentia, with 22 sentenced to five years in jail and Robert Seldon Lady, the Milan CIA station chief, handed eight years in prison.
  • Citing diplomatic immunity, Judge Oscar Magi told the Milan courtroom on Wednesday that he was acquitting three other Americans.
  • Magi said the men were protected by by state secrecy rules
  • CIA has not commented on any of the allegations surrounding Abu Omar".
  • Some of them [those convicted], including Seldon Lady and Jeff Castelli, the CIA chief of station in Rome, left the country when they were found to be part of the operation and they never came back to Italy. "It is very unlikely they will come now that they have been convicted
  • even if the verdict is upheld, it seems unlikely they will be extradited."
  • Abu Omar, an imam granted political asylum in Italy, was taken from a Milan street on February 17, 2003, in an operation allegedly co-ordinated by the CIA and  SISMI.
  • He was released after four years in prison without being charged
  • Abu Omar told Human Rights Watch in 2007 that he was "hung up like a slaughtered sheep and given electrical shocks" during his time in Egypt. "I was brutally tortured and I could hear the screams of others who were tortured too," he told the organisation.
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BBC NEWS | Middle East | Saudi paedophile to be beheaded - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8342005.stm paedophile law saudi arabia
shared by Mohammed Hossain on 04 Nov 09 - Cached
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Iran reformists warned on anniversary - CNN.com - 0 views

www.cnn.com/...index.html Iran reform elections
shared by Mohammed Hossain on 04 Nov 09 - Cached
  • sign of continuing protest in Iran
  • along with shouts of "death to dictator."
  • 30th anniversary of the Iranian hostage crisis approaches.
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  • November 4, 1979, when a group of Islamist students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 53 hostages and effectively ending diplomatic relations with the United States
  • government will allow the "faithful"
  • hose who "intend to gather illegally and spread lies among people who gather to peacefully participate ... will be held responsible for their actions,
  • spreading anti-government propaganda
  • eformists have largely refused to back down.
  • Mohammed Hossain on 04 Nov 09
     
    Mixed reactions about the anniversary of the American hostages from 1979.
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Opposition supporters clash with Iranian security forces - washingtonpost.com - 0 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...AR2009110400209.html opposition clash supporters
shared by Rebecca Ben-Amou on 04 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Rebecca Ben-Amou on 04 Nov 09
     
    TEHRAN -- Street battles between Iranian security forces and anti-government demonstrators erupted Wednesday after opposition supporters tried to disturb state-sanctioned rallies marking the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy, witnesses and state media reported.
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Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Iran clashes on embassy anniversary - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...2009114692121423.html Iran revolution elections
shared by Jim Franklin on 04 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Security forces have clashed with opposition protesters as thousands of Iranians gathered on the streets of the capital, Tehran to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US embassy.
  • Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was Ahmadinejad's main rival in the election, suggested in a statement on his website that a protest rally would be held.
  • "The 13th of Aban is ... a rendezvous so we can remember anew that among us it is the people who are the leaders," he said, referring to the Iranian date for the capture of the US embassy.
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  • The opposition protesters were expected to head for the Russian embassy later on Wednesday.
  • Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a senior Iranian religious leader, said on Wednesday that the capture of the US embassy was a mistake.
  • "But considering the negative repercussions and the high sensitivity which was created among the American people and which still exists, it was not the right thing to do."
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U.S. loses hope for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in forseeable future - washingtonp... - 0 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...AR2009110302516.html diigo
shared by Rebecca Ben-Amou on 03 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Rebecca Ben-Amou on 03 Nov 09
     
    CAIRO -- The Obama administration has all but abandoned hope for an early resumption of face-to-face negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders or substantive movement toward agreement on a Palestinian state -- an acknowledgement that it has fallen short of one of its major initial fore...
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Outcry against 'colonial' takeover by BP of Rumaila oilfield in Iraq - Times Online - 0 views

www.timesonline.co.uk/...article6900112.ece Iraq oil UK BPAmoco colonialism politics protests
shared by Ed Webb on 03 Nov 09 - Cached
  • The British oil giant BP will today take control of Iraq’s biggest oilfield in the first important energy deal since the 2003 invasion. The move has created uproar among local politicians invoking resentful memories of their nation’s colonial past.
  • Many Iraqi MPs say that the deal is illegal, and that the constitution should give them, not the Oil Minister, the final say over the country’s vast resources.
  • It is the world’s 11th-biggest oil producer, with the potential to climb to third place or higher. “With an extension of the pipeline network they could reach the [output level of] the Saudis,”
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  • After years of misrule under Saddam Hussein, coupled with the effects of UN sanctions, and the post-2003 violence, Iraq has been left as the poorest Arab country after Yemen.
  • BP has not been criticised directly, but its involvement will revive memories of past exploitation by the British. It is believed widely that Britain created and controlled the country for the benefit of British exporters.
  • Behind the protest is the desire among many politicians to get a slice of the revenue through lucrative commissions to approve deals.
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AFP: Top Saudi cleric warns against politicising hajj - 0 views

www.google.com/...M5ijaTrCMeAGVZw7Y4WvPDvwP4D-3A Saudi cleric politicising hajj propaganda Iran pilgrimage
shared by Julianne Greco on 01 Nov 09 - Cached
  • Saudi Arabia's top cleric has warned against politicising the hajj amid a war of words between Riyadh and Tehran over the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat reported on Saturday.
  • "Those who want to use the pilgrimage and spread falsehoods and propaganda for their personal goals and needs, doing this to take advantage of the occasion, are doing something forbidden by Islam," he told the newspaper.
  • Regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran are regularly at odds over Iran's claims of mistreatment of Shiite pilgrims to Mecca.Several times during the 1980s, Iranian pilgrims mounted demonstrations in the holy city in western Saudi Arabia, and in 1987 Iranian pilgrims rioted, leading to more than 400 deaths.
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U.S. impeded in democracy efforts for Egypt - USATODAY.com - 0 views

www.usatoday.com/...2009-10-28-aid_N.htm USA USAID Mubarak Democracy usatoday diplomacy aid development democratization
shared by Ed Webb on 01 Nov 09 - No Cached
  • More than $180 million in U.S. foreign aid to promote democracy in Egypt over the past four years has produced few measurable results, in part because the Egyptian government has stymied the effort, a newly released government audit says. The "impact of (American-funded) democracy and governance programs was unnoticeable"
  • after USAID spent $618,000 to train 2,100 poll watchers in 2007 local elections, most were denied access to the polling places.
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Bomb hits outside suspected Pakistani nuclear-weapons site | McClatchy - 1 views

www.mcclatchydc.com/...77650.html Pakistan nukes proliferation security terrorism nuclear
shared by Ed Webb on 31 Oct 09 - Cached
  • A suicide bomber attacked a suspected nuclear-weapons site Friday in Pakistan, raising fears about the security of the nuclear arsenal
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Pakistanis to Clinton: War on terror is not our war | McClatchy - 1 views

www.mcclatchydc.com/...78125.html mcclatchy Pakistan Afghanistan Clinton USA diplomacy publicdiplomacy
shared by Ed Webb on 30 Oct 09 - Cached
  • Prominent women and tribesmen from the North West Frontier Province delivered the same hostile message that she'd heard the two preceding days from students and journalists: Pakistanis aren't ready to endorse American friendship despite an eight-year-old anti-terrorism alliance between the countries and a multi-billion-dollar new U.S. aid package.
  • "We are fighting a war that is imposed on us. It's not our war. It is your war," journalist Asma Shirazi told Clinton during the women's meeting. "You had one 9-11. We are having daily 9-11s in Pakistan."
  • "The problem is that we want American dollars but we, as a country, hate Americans," Abida Hussain, a former Pakistani ambassador to Washington, told McClatchy. "We're not perfect, but we want the Americans to be perfect."
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  • Islamabad routinely protests the strikes, even though the Pakistani military secretly co-operates with them. Pakistani officials are unwilling to explain the rationale; the government here rarely defends the American relationship.
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BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel endorses Iran nuclear plan - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8334235.stm USA diplomacy Israel Iran IAEA nuclear program
shared by Jim Franklin on 30 Oct 09 - Cached
  • Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has praised a UN proposal to regulate Iran's uranium enrichment programme.
  • Under the plan, low-enriched fuel would be further processed outside Iran.
  • On Thursday, the UN's nuclear watchdog confirmed it had received Iran's response to the directive, but its contents have not been released.
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  • Mr Netanyahu said: "I think that the proposal to have Iran withdraw its enriched uranium, or a good portion of it, outside Iran is a positive first step."
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Iran Hints at Cooperation on U.N. Nuclear Deal - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...30nuke.html Iran nuclear cooperation Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
shared by Alana Garvin on 29 Oct 09 - Cached
  • After days of uncertain signals, the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, hinted Thursday that Iran would accept a United Nations-sponsored plan to send the country’s uranium abroad for processing, saying, “We welcome cooperation on nuclear fuel, power plants and technology, and we are ready to cooperate.”
  • But it remained unclear whether Iran would insist on shipping the material in installments, which would undercut the intent of the plan: to leave Iran without enough nuclear material to build a weapon for at least a year, time in which the West would work toward an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
  • The uranium would be returned to Iran in the form of fuel rods, usable only in a civilian nuclear facility and not for weapons.
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  • Reports from Tehran this week have suggested persistently that Iran will seek changes in the plan drafted last week. The proposal provides for Iran to ship 2,645 pounds of low-enriched uranium to Russia for further processing. That amount, representing most of the country’s known stockpile of low-enriched uranium, would take about a year to replace.
  • Indications continued Thursday that Iran would not agree to ship the uranium all at once, as France — one of the deal’s brokers — has insisted.
  • The pro-government newspaper Javan said Thursday that Tehran would seek two changes in the plan: the gradual transfer of low-enriched uranium rather than a single shipment, and the “simultaneous exchange” of fuel for a research reactor in Tehran.
  • Some of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s conservative rivals have already criticized the plan as a risky concession to the West, and on Thursday, the opposition leader Mir-Hussein Moussavi joined them, suggesting that any response to the plan would have negative consequences for Iran.
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Dubai clean-up drive nets cars - The National Newspaper - 0 views

www.thenational.ae/...article Dubai tow cars clean-up environment unemployment
shared by Julianne Greco on 29 Oct 09 - Cached
  • DUBAI // Nearly 40 abandoned vehicles caked in dust were towed away in the first two days of a municipality-led clean-up that has targeted everything from washing machines to furniture.The vehicles were seized as “a symbolic gesture to drive home the message of a clean and green city”, Hassan Makki, the director of waste management, said yesterday.
  • The local campaign runs later than in the rest of the world because of Dubai’s weather conditions. Mr Makki said it was aimed at raising awareness about the significance of environmental protection.
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The Daily Star - Politics - Resistance slams UN report urging party to disarm - 0 views

www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp Hizbullah UN report resistance bloc disarm militias foreign hostile activity
shared by Julianne Greco on 29 Oct 09 - Cached
  • BEIRUT: Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc slammed on Wednesday a UN report urging  the party to disarm as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s special envoy on the Implementation of UN Resolution 1559 Terje-Roed Larsen accused Hizbullah of conducting foreign hostile activities. 
  • “Disbanding militias in Lebanon especially Hizbullah is of vital importance to the country’s democracy and sovereignty,” Larsen said. 
  • In response, Hizbullah said the report was “insolently biased” and aimed to cover up for “the true side responsible for the region’s instability,” – a reference to Israel. 
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  • The UN report, the latest on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, also said Israel continued to violate Lebanon’s sovereignty and relevant Security Council resolutions through its breaches to Lebanese air space as well as its occupation of the northern part of the town of Ghajar. 
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Iraqi Kurds want inclusion in Kirkuk oil talks | Markets | Reuters - 0 views

in.reuters.com/...idINLS3757620091028 Iraq kurds oil deals disputes resources authorities
shared by Julianne Greco on 29 Oct 09 - Cached
  • Iraqi Kurdistan's reappointed Oil Minister Ashti Hawrami renewed his insistence that Kurdish authorities be involved in any deals Iraq signs with foreign oil majors over the Kirkuk oilfields. A new government took office in the semi-autonomous Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq on Wednesday following an election in July. Relations are tense between Iraqi Kurds and the Arab-led government in Baghdad due to disputes over land and resources.
  • The Iraqi government views deals signed by the KRG has with foreign firms as illegal and a brief detente that allowed some exports to flow from two Kurdish fields, Tawke and Taq Taq, has ended over Baghdad's refusal to pay the oil companies. 
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BBC NEWS | Middle East | Lebanon stops fresh rocket attack - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8329403.stm politics Hezbollah Hizbullah Israel Lebanon rockets
shared by Jim Franklin on 29 Oct 09 - Cached
  • Lebanese troops have deactivated four rockets ready to be fired at Israel
  • The Lebanese military said three of the rockets were set with timers and left in a half-built house in Hula village, where Tuesday's attack was launched.
  • It was the fourth time rockets have been fired over the border this year.
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  • Unifil officials said they had started an inquiry to ascertain who was responsible for the rocket fired on Tuesday, and they will be able to use Wednesday's discovery to gather more information.
  • There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's rocket launch.
  • Lebanese guerrillas from the Hezbollah movement were required to disarm in the border region under the UN ceasefire which brought hostilities to an end in 2006.
  • Hezbollah has denied involvement in any of the attacks and accuses Israel of breaking the ceasefire with continued overflights which violate Lebanese airspace.
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Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Hamas 'bans' January polls in Gaza - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...20091028134049478750.html politics Hamas Fatah Abbas PLO
shared by Jim Franklin on 29 Oct 09 - Cached
  • The Hamas-run interior ministry in the Gaza Strip has ordered Palestinians in the territory not to take part in elections called by Mahmoud Abbas, the West Bank-based president. 
  • "Any preparations, any committees, any collecting of names will be regarded as an illegal action that we will pursue," he said.
  • Abbas himself was elected on January 9, 2005, for a four-year term. The Palestinian Authority extended his presidency by one year so presidential and parliamentary elections could be held on the same date, as required by Palestinian Basic Law.
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  • But Hamas has consistently rejected the extension granted to Abbas, and says it no longer considers him to be the legitimate president of the Palestinian people. 
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Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Israel levels Palestinian homes - 0 views

english.aljazeera.net/...200910282211496109.html Israeli Palestinian conflict East Jerusalem demolition
shared by Jim Franklin on 28 Oct 09 - Cached
  • Israeli authorities have torn down several Palestinian houses in occupied east Jerusalem, defying international calls to halt the demolitions in the disputed city. 
  • Palestinians say that the municipality discriminates against them, making it virtually impossible for them to get legal permits for new homes or extensions to existing ones.
  • As a result, thousands of effectively illegal structures have been built in recent decades with Israel responding by destroying dozens of houses each year.
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  • The forced evictions and demolitions have raised tensions in the eastern half of the city, which Palestinians see as the capital of any future independent state.
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