حماس": المبحوح حجز سفره عبر الانترنت... وعائلته تنفي علمها مكان نزوله في دبي

(Left: A well-disguised Hamas military commander on a secret mission.)

"عـ48ـرب ووكالات

كشف القيادي في "حماس"، صلاح البردويل، في مؤتمر صحافي غزة، اليوم، أن احدى الثغرات الأمنية في تحركات محمود المبحوح هي حجزه لسفره عبر الأنترنيت والإتصال بأسرته في غزة وأبلاغهم نيته السفر إلى دبي والنزول في فندق "البستان روتانا".
(You mean he did not tell them the room number?)

وقال البردويل إن المبحوح اتصل مع عائلته تليفونيا قبل سفره إلى دبي وابلغهم بنيته النزول في فندق معين، مشيرا إلى أن الحجز لعملية سفره تمت عن طريق الانترنت وهذه شكلت ثغرة أمنية في تحركاته.

ونفت اسرة المبحوح في غزة علمها بمكان اقامته، وقال احد افراد اسرته إن المبحوح كان حذرا في تحركاته خشية تعقبه.

وادعت اذاعة الجيش الاسرائيلي ان مراسلها اجرى اتصالا مع احد اقارب المبحوح في غزة والذي نفى تصريحات البردويل حول علمهم بمكان اقامة المبحوح في دبي.

واعلنت حركة حماس، اليوم، انها ستستغل كل الامكانات القانونية لملاحة قادة جهاز الموساد الاسرائيلي والرد على " المبحوح، داعية المجتمع الدولي لملاحقة القادة الاسرائيليين كـ"مجرمي حرب".
....."

Hamas says assassinated operative put himself at risk by booking Dubai trip through Internet

"A Hamas legislator says a member of the Islamic militant movement assassinated during a visit to Dubai put himself at risk by booking his trip through the Internet.

Hamas legislator Salah Bardawil also told a news conference Saturday that the slain man, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, also took a risk by informing his Gaza family by telephone at which hotel he would be staying.

The Syria-based al-Mabhouh was found dead in a Dubai hotel Jan. 20.

Israel's Mossad spy agency has been blamed for the killing. Israeli officials have declined comment....."

Israel exports oppression, by Carlos Latuff

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Video: Chossudovsky: US will start WW3 by attacking Iran

"A UN nuclear watchdog report suggests Iran could be developing a nuclear bomb, apparently confirming long-held suspicions in the West. But Tehran denies the claims, again insisting that its atomic intentions are peaceful. Michel Chossudovsky, who's from an independent Canadian policy research group, believes that what Iran says hardly matters, because the U.S. is planning for war..."

Gaza: Treading on Shards

By Sara Roy
The Nation

""Do you know what it's like living in Gaza?" a friend of mine asked. "It is like walking on broken glass tearing at your feet.".....

The people of Gaza know they have been abandoned. Some told me the only time they felt hope was when they were being bombed, because at least then the world was paying attention. Gaza is now a place where poverty masquerades as livelihood and charity as business. Yet, despite attempts by Israel and the West to caricature Gaza as a terrorist haven, Gazans still resist. Perhaps what they resist most is surrender: not to Israel, not to Hamas, but to hate. So many people still speak of peace, of wanting to resolve the conflict and live a normal life. Yet, in Gaza today, this is not a reason for optimism but despair. "

Hamas' Response to the Assassination of One of its Top Commanders?
Rhetoric, Rhetoric,....

Al-Jazeera Video: Palestinian village isolated from West Bank

"Israel's separation wall has generated anger and protest all over the Palestinian territories.

For one small village on the ouskirts of Bethlehem, the wall has effectively created a prison for its Palestinian residents.

Al-Nu'man village was cut off from Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank in 2003 and it is walled in on three sides by the wall, which was illegally constructed beyond the Green Line of armistice drawn after the 1949 Arab-Israeli war.

A permanent checkpoint is now the only entrance to and exit from the village.

Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh reports."

Al-Jazeera Video: Anti-Wall protest in West Bank

"Hundreds of Palestinians and international activists have been protesting against the construction of Israel's separation wall in the West Bank.

The demonstration in the village of Bi'lin on Friday marked five years of opposition to the barrier, which cuts Palestinian villagers off from about two square kilometres of their land.

Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros reports. [20 Feb 10]"

Mufti of Saudi Arabia : المدّعون أن الكسوف والخسوف ظواهر كونية مخالفون للشرع وللسنة

المفتي : المدّعون أن الكسوف والخسوف ظواهر كونية مخالفون للشرع وللسنة

ردّ سماحة مفتي عام المملكة ورئيس هيئة كبار العلماء الشيخ عبد العزيز بن عبد الله آل الشيخ على من يقولون ان كسوف الشمس وخسوف القمر ،ظواهر كونية ولا علاقة لها بالذنوب والخطايا ، وقال: إنها تنعقد سببا للعذاب،وأنها تكسف على المسلم والكافر ،وأنهم يعلمون موعد الكسوف والخسوف بدقة.. واكد سماحته ان هذه أخطاء يقع فيها هؤلاء المتقوّلون بذلك لان الكسوف والخسوف آيتان من ايات الله يخوّف بهما عباده ، وقال سماحة المفتي العام : إن من يقولون بان الكسوف والخسوف ظواهر كونية مخالفون لسنة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ، وطالب من يقولون ذلك ويكتبون باقلامهم هذه الاراء والافكار ان يتوبوا الى الله عز وجل ، ويتبعوا سنة رسول الله .وقال المفتي العام: إن الله يُري عباده الايات ليتعظوا ويعتبروا ، والمؤمن يأخذ العبرة والعظة منها ، واضاف سماحته:ان ظاهرة الكسوف والخسوف آيات من آيات الله ، ومن يقولون بأنهم يعلمون الكسوف والخسوف منذ فترة وبدقة جهل منهم ، وقول على الله بلا علم ’لان اصدق القائلين صلى الله عليه وسلم الذي يحدث عن رب العزة ، اخبرنا بان هذه آيات من الله .وأشار سماحته الى ان كسوف الشمس وقع في عهد النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ، في العام العاشر من الهجرة ، عندما مات ابنه ابراهيم ،فخرج صلى الله عليه وسلم الى المسجد ، وأمر بالنداء للصلاة جامعة } وصلى بالناس ركعتين اطال في الركعة الاولى تلاوة وركوعا وسجودا ، وفي الثانية لم يطل فيها كما اطال في الاولى ، فلما فرغ من صلاته وتجلت الشمس ، خطب في الناس خطبة عظيمة ، قال فيها ان الشمس والقمر ايتان من ايات الله يخوف بهما عباده ، ولا ينكسفان لموت أحد من عباده ، وورد عن رسول الله انه قال اذا رأيتم الكسوف افزعوا الى الصلاة وذكر الله وصلوا وتصدقوا .وانتقد سماحته الاقلام والكتابات التي يزعم كاتبوها ان الكسوف والخسوف لا ارتباط لها بالذنوب والمعاصي ،وهي ظواهر كونية ، وقال "هذه اقوال تخالف سنة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم" ، وقال سماحته : ان صلاة الكسوف والخسوف ، صلاة خوف وتوبة وتضرع وانابة ، وتحذير للامة .واضاف: ان الكسوف ينعقد سببا للعذاب ، ولكن الله لطيف بعباده .وحذّر المفتي العام من افشاء المعاصي في بلاد الاسلام ، وقال : ان هذه مصيبة عظيمة وبلية من البلايا ، ويجب التناهي بالمعروف ، ويقيموا حدود الله ، ويأخذوا على يد السفيه ، ويؤطروا على الحق اطرا ، ولكن ترك هؤلاء يكتبون ضد الشرع والدين والسنة أمر خطير ، يؤدي الى اكثار الخبائث ، واضاف سماحته : ان بعض هذه الكتابات تخالف السنة ، وتصادم الشرع .
وكالة الرئاسة العامة لشؤون المسجد النبوي

COMMENT by Tony:

This is the contribution of Wahhabi science to the space age.

Get this: the grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia says that those who claim that lunar and solar eclipses are natural and predictable phenomena of the universe are sinners who should repent, since they are in opposition to the word of God, his prophet and the Sunna!

He says that eclipses are used by God to warn and to instill fear in the hearts of people!

Since I am a sinner, and beyond redemption, here is the explanation of the eclipse phenomenon. See this video, O Grand Mufti, and please don't send me to hell.

The winning photo: Sheikh Tantawi lifting a girl's niqab

"As Al Ahram Weekly has reported, the Sawy Center recently hosted a large photojournalism competition.

The winning photo in the news category was this picture of Sheikh Tantawi lifting a girl's niqab. Whatever you think of the niqab (personally I believe an argument for its harmful effect and its restriction can be persuasively made) there is a startling disrespect in the gesture."
The Arabist

Latest tweet from Israel's UK embassy

Scandanavian financial institutions drop Elbit due to BDS pressure

Adri Nieuwhof, The Electronic Intifada, 19 February 2010

"Despite Israel's oppressive tactics against it, the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement has marked additional victories with many institutional investors divesting from or blacklisting Israeli military contractor Elbit Systems. One of the largest Dutch pension funds told The Electronic Intifada today that it is selling off its shares in Elbit.

The wave of divestment follows campaigning by Palestinian organizations and international solidarity activists to divest from companies profiting from the Israeli occupation.....

The movement by Scandinavian institutional investors to divest from or exclude Elbit Systems will influence other European investors to do the same. The two largest Dutch pension funds, ABP and PFZW are the focus of a coalition of Palestine solidarity activists, organizations and concerned citizens who are currently pressuring the two pension funds to follow the Scandinavian example and divest from Elbit and other companies profiting from the Israeli occupation.

This pressure seems to be paying off. ABP informed The Electronic Intifada today that it has sold its US $2.7 million shares in Elbit Systems."

Jailed Taliban Leader Still a Pakistani Asset

The Detention of Mullah Baradar

By GARETH PORTER
CounterPunch

"Contrary to initial U.S. suggestions that it signals reduced Pakistani support for the Taliban, the detention of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the operational leader of the Afghan Taliban, represents a shift by Pakistan to more open support for the Taliban in preparation for a peace settlement and U.S. withdrawal.

Statements by Pakistani officials to journalists prior to the arrest indicate that the decision to put Baradar in custody is aimed at ensuring that the Taliban role in peace negotiations serves Pakistani interests. They also suggest that Pakistani military leaders view Baradar as an asset in those negotiations rather than an adversary to be removed from the conflict...."

Dubai police insist Mossad was behind assassination

The Irish Times

".....The identities of the only suspects in custody have also been revealed, linking them to anti-Hamas elements in the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority.

Ahmad Hassanein, a Palestinian Authority intelligence agent, and Anwar Shukhaiber, an employee, were found by the Dubai police to have had contact with one or more of the non-Arab suspects on the team, which appears to have had 18 members.

The Palestinians were living in Dubai, where they worked for an estate agency owned by a senior official in Fatah[Dahlan], which is led by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

They fled to Jordan after the assassination but were extradited to Dubai once it became clear the victim had not died of natural causes. The men were reportedly residents of Gaza until June 2007, when Hamas routed elements of Fatah loyal to the Gaza Strip’s former strongman, Muhammad Dahlan, who has close ties to Israeli, US and Egyptian intelligence agencies.

A third Palestinian, named as “Nahro” Massoud, said be a Hamas security official, has allegedly been detained in Damascus for questioning in connection with the assassination. He is suspected of acting as Mossad’s contact in the Syrian capital, where Mr Mabhouh lived.

Mr Massoud may have been with the victim shortly before he was killed. He is allegedly a commander of Hamas’s military wing, the Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades, who left Gaza in 2007.

Khaled Mishaal, head of Hamas’s Damascus-based politburo, has denied involvement of anyone from the movement. Hamas blames Israel for the murder...."

Abbas to renew talks with Israel next week

Palestinians agree to resume indirect negotiations after year-long standstill.

HAARETZ

"Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are to be renewed next week, a senior government official in Jerusalem said on Thurdsay.

Israeli government officials were told by Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger that the Palestinians were ready to resume indirect talks, the senior government official said....."

The Shia Crescent Revisited

Why Mideast Leaders Continue to Promote Sectarianism

By RANNIE AMIRI
CounterPunch

".....The aforementioned regimes therefore believe that if a “Shia crescent” was to take shape and become reality, their authority, power and influence might be swept aside by the people as quickly as was the Shah’s.

They also believe that if Arab Shias were accorded fair and equal rights, given the full benefits of citizenship, not treated as fifth columnists, not conflated with “Persians” and accorded the same dignity and religious liberties as all other citizens, domestic harmony would exist and render ineffective the use of sectarianism to further anti-Iranian sentiment.

If they did forsake it, attention could instead be paid to more pressing issues such as education, economic development, combating corruption, ending poverty and resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

One is left to wonder, though, whether these leaders believe it best to purposely ignore these critical needs in favor of conjuring up fictitious crescents, lest it unmask their own incompetence in real governance."

Israel Accused of Stealing Identities, Using Fake Passports in Killing of Hamas Commander in Dubai

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"Israel is under growing international pressure over the assassination of a top Hamas commander in Dubai last month. On Thursday, the international police agency Interpol placed 11 members of an alleged hit squad on its most wanted list. The team of 11 suspects included six holding fake British passports bearing the names of Israeli citizens and three holding Irish passports. At least seven of the names on the passports belong to Israeli residents whose identities had been stolen......

For more we are joined by Paul McGeough. He is the chief correspondent for the Australian Sydney Morning Herald newspaper and the author of “Kill Khalid: The Failed Mossad Assassination of Khalid Mishal and the Rise of Hamas.” The paperback edition is out here in the US this week. He joins us from Washington DC."

Al-Jazeera Video: Talk to Al Jazeera: Hamid Gul

"The former head of Pakistan's intelligence agency - ISI - in conversation with Al Jazeera's Kamahl Santamaria.."

SYRIA: U.S. Starts Normalisation Process in Earnest

By Charles Fromm and Jim Lobe

"WASHINGTON, Feb 18, 2010 (IPS) - After months of delay, the administration of President Barack Obama is taking major steps engage the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as part of a broader regional strategy designed in major part to isolate Iran, escalate the fight against al Qaeda and other radical Sunni groups, and encourage peace talks with Israel.....

Burns also announced that the State Department's top counterterrorism official, Amb. Daniel Benjamin, would stay on in Damascus for additional discussions with top Syrian officials presumably focused on fully restoring intelligence and related cooperation that was halted under Bush.

Limited cooperation, especially relating to Syrian help in preventing its border with Iraq from serving as an infiltration and supply route for Sunni or Baathist fighters, has resumed over the past year, largely at the initiative of the chief of the U.S. Central Command, Gen. David Petraeus, who had been barred by the previous administration from visiting Damascus.

But Washington now hopes to expand that cooperation both with respect to Iraq and to the larger region as well, given the Assad regime's long experience in combating Sunni extremism......

The prospect of reviving what some have called the "Syria First" option may help persuade Palestine Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to drop his demand that Israel freeze all settlement activity on the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem as a precondition for Israeli-Palestinian talks, according to some analysts here.

But the fact that the moves of the last two days come amid a major diplomatic campaign directed against Iran suggests that Washington's top priority is to test the degree to which Damascus may be willing to loosen its alliance with Tehran in the interests of improving ties with Washington which, among other things, is also seen as critical to Syria's hopes of recovering the Golan Heights from Israel....

Indeed, in a recent interview with the New Yorker's legendary investigative journalist, Seymour Hersh, Assad expressed great scepticism that about the administration's ability to accommodate even minimal Syrian requirements.

"Maybe I am optimistic about about Obama, but that does not mean that I am optimistic about other (U.S.) institutions that play negative or paralysing role(s)...," he said, noting the role of Congress, where pro-Israel forces are especially strong, in particular.

"(T)he whole atmosphere is not positive towards the president in general," he said. "And that is why I think his envoys cannot succeed."

He also rejected Washington's current strategy of seeking greater international support for economic sanctions on Iran to persuade it to curb its nuclear programme......"

US Media Replays Iraq Fiasco on Iran

By Robert Parry
February 18, 2010

"Major U.S. news organizations, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, are engaged in a replay of the kind of slanted coverage that paved the way to war in Iraq, only this time regarding Iran....

So why is Iran being singled out for condemnation regarding its speculative interest in a nuclear weapon while Israel, Pakistan and India get a pass for their actual nuclear weapons?

One argument that U.S. news organizations make is that Iran is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while Israel, Pakistan and India are not and that therefore it is more objectionable for Iran to evade the treaty’s provisions than for the others to simply ignore the treaty outright.

But the argument makes little sense. It amounts to giving a pass to rogue nuclear states that have refused to sign the treaty......"

Israel Goes Rogue

From identity theft to war crimes – is there anything the Israelis won't do?

by Justin Raimondo, February 19, 2010

" When is the world going to finally decide Israel has gone too far – and do something about it?
When Israel invaded and retained the occupied territories, imposing a regime that resembles the old South African apartheid system, the world looked the other way........

The bombing and continued blockade of Gaza, the barbaric invasions of Lebanon, and the continuing refusal to correct the widespread human rights violations documented in the Goldstone report – all of this has darkened Israel’s image considerably, even among its staunch supporters. On account of this record, Israel is now widely considered a "rogue" nation, at least outside the US. One of the major reasons for this shift in perception has to do with the wide-ranging activities of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service......

We can’t afford to look away anymore: Israel has massively compromised the security of international travel, and has brought this on itself. Now is the time for the US and other Westen countries to rein in their client state gone rogue – before it’s too late. "

Israel must co-operate over fake passports, says David Miliband, By Dave Brown

Israeli embassy raises eyebrows with tennis tweet

Message boasts of Israeli player's 'hit on Dubai target' amid mounting row over Hamas chief's killing

David Batty
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 18 February 2010

"Amid the mounting diplomatic row over Mossad's alleged assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai, the Israeli embassy has turned to Twitter to comment.

A tweet issued by the embassy today read: "@israeluk You heard it here first: Israeli tennis player carries out hit on #Dubai target http://ow.ly/18A79". It links to a story about the Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer, who beat the top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki yesterday to reach the quarter-finals of the Dubai Championship.

But the tweet is open to interpretation. The Mossad hit squad accused of assassinating Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior figure from the militant group Hamas, at the Al-Bustan Rotana hotel in Dubai were disguised as tennis players......"

6 NATO Soldiers Killed in Single Day of Afghan Assault: NATO

Al-Manar

(Cartoon by Carlos Latuff)

"19/02/2010 In a big blow to NATO, Six occupation soldiers killed in one day during the "Mushtarak" assault launched in Marjah in the southern province of Helmand, as a NATO commander said it could be months until the US-led forces could be sure of controlling the area. Two of the six occupation soldiers were British with other unidentified nationalities.....

The commander of NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, Major General Nick Carter, cautioned against "triumphalism" in Marjah, and said it could be months until the US-led forces could be sure of controlling the area.

The troops engaged in Operation Mushtarak (Together) would need another 25 to 30 days just to secure the Taliban stronghold, said Carter. "In three months' time or thereabouts we should have a pretty fair idea about whether we've been successful. But I would be very cautious about any triumphalism just yet," he said......"

Did Britain know about Mossad hit? Israeli agent claims MI6 was tipped off

The Daily Mail

"MI6 was tipped off that Israeli agents were going to carry out an 'overseas operation' using fake British passports, it was claimed last night.

A member of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, said the Foreign Office was also told hours before a Hamas terrorist chief was assassinated in Dubai. The tip-off did not say who the target would be or even where the hit squad would be in action.

But the claim from a credible source that the Government had some prior knowledge of the abuse of UK passports will strengthen calls for ministers to come clean about what they knew and when......"

Mossad, an Israeli chutzpah

A Very Good Piece

By Marwan Bishara

"As the storm over the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh picks up momentum, I am not buying into the whole business of lack of competence and ambiguity.

I don't think the Israeli spy/killing agency - the Mossad is that sloppy, or Israel that lax.....

Nor do I buy the theory that a less competent foreign agency or group has carried out the operation in a way that implicates Israel. That's just adding insult to insolence.

Generally, assassinations carry double meanings. The first is answered by 'why' and the second 'how'.....

So why did they carry it as unmistaken murder, instead of say, causing heart failure; or suspected suicide; or leave him in a scandalous situation that make it hard to publicise?

Why would they send 11 or perhaps 17 different individuals carrying forged passports when in past assassination attempts they used far fewer?

Why did they have to look so amateurish with their faces on camera, and their moves so suspect?....

And it never made any apologies for it. It has always put its security priorities above all others, friends and foes alike.

For Israeli leaders, Israel will do what Israel must, and the world can talk as much as it wants. Its motto: if you can’t be conveniently famous, then be abrasively infamous........

Israel doesn't think linearly in terms of actions and reactions, but rather strategically and systematically. Its objectives and actions, means and missions, work within a certain broad strategy......

If these countries are true partners in the 'war against the terrorists', then Israel expects them to cooperate not conspire. You're either with Israel or with the 'terrorist'!

This operation is a continuation of the same logic behind other recent assassinations, including killing Hezbollah leader Imad Moghaniyyeh, which aims at all the links between Hamas, Hezbollah and their regional allies.....

Why, the Israelis argue, is it permissible for the US to carry extra-judicial killings of its enemies' leaders in Pakistan, Iraq, or Yemen using drones and other means, but not for Israel?......"

Al-Jazeera Video: Growing diplomatic row over Dubai assassination

With Robert Fisk


"Dubai's police chief says he's almost certain Israel was involved in last month's assassination of a senior Hamas official.

Dahi Khalfan Tamim says if proven then an arrest warrant should be issued for Israel's top spy, the man who's in charge of Mossad.

Robert Fisk is the Middle East correspondent for the British newspaper the Independent.

He says, if Israel is behind the assassination, then Tel Aviv could find itself in a diplomatic crisis with some of it's European allies."

نزال: دحلان متورط في اغتيال المبحوح

Contributed by Fatima

"كشف القيادي في حركة المقاومة الإسلامية (حماس) محمد نزال أن الفلسطينيين المتورطين في عملية اغتيال القيادي في الحركة محمود المبحوح هما أحمد حسنين وأنور شحيبر، وأنهما كانا يعملان في دبي في مؤسسة عقارية تابعة لعضو اللجنة المركزية لحركة التحرير الوطني الفلسطيني (فتح) محمد دحلان.

وقال نزال للجزيرة نت إنه تم التعرف على هوية الفلسطينيين اللذين شاركا مع المجموعة التي نفذت الاغتيال والمكونة من 11 عميلا، ويتبعان لجهاز الموساد وهما أحمد حسنين وهو عضو سابق في المخابرات الفلسطينية، وأنور شحيبر وهو ضابط سابق في جهاز الأمن الوقائي الفلسطيني.

وتابع أن حسنين وشحيبر كانا يعملان ضمن الأجهزة الأمنية في قطاع غزة، وأنهما هربا من هناك بعد "الحسم العسكري" الذي نفذته حركة حماس عام 2007 وسيطرت بموجبه على القطاع.

وحسب نزال فإنه تبين لحركة حماس أن الاثنين "يعملان موظفين في مؤسسة عقارية تابعة للعقيد محمد دحلان".

وبين أنهما "كانا جزءا من الخلية التابعة لجهاز الموساد التي نفذت الاغتيال والتقيا قائد الخلية التي أعلن قائد شرطة دبي الكشف عنها".
...."

واشنطن ودمشق تعودان للتعاون الأمني

Al-Jazeera

"كشفت السفارة الأميركية بسوريا عن عودة التعاون الأمني بين دمشق وواشنطن في قضايا مكافحة "الإرهاب" بعد توقف هذا التعاون منذ عام 2003 إثر غزو العراق.

وطبقا لبيان السفارة الأميركية في دمشق, التقى منسق وزارة الخارجية الأميركية لمكافحة الإرهاب دانيال بنجامين، وفدا من المسؤولين السوريين لبحث "التهديدات وبواعث القلق المشتركة فيما يخص مكافحة الإرهاب".

وصف البيان الذي بثته وكالة الأنباء الألمانية دور سوريا بأنه إيجابي ومهم في تخفيف التهديدات.

كما اعتبر أن "بإمكان سوريا أن تلعب دورا بناء في تخفيف وطأة هذه التهديدات وبعض التهديدات أخرى، بالتعاون مع دولٍ إقليمية ومع الولايات المتحدة".

جاء ذلك بعد يومين من محادثات أجراها بدمشق وكيل وزارة الخارجية الأميركية وليام بيرنز, حيث التقى الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد. وقال بيرنز بعد اللقاء "اجتماعي مع الرئيس الأسد جعلني مفعما بالأمل بأننا يمكننا أن نحقق تقدما معا لصالح بلدينا".
...."

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

This poll deals with Iraqi elections; it asks:

Do you have confidence in the transparency of the upcoming Iraqi elections for parliament?

With over 1,400 responding so far, 93% said no.

Al-Jazeera Cartoon

Resumption of "negotiations" in return for "partial freeze" on new colonies....

Video: The murder of Mahmoud Al Mabhouh

Footage from CCTV cameras shows a chronological timeline of the events that took place on the day that Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh was assassinated.

Footage supplied by The Media Office of Dubai Government

Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz on Obama’s Stimulus Plan, Debt, Climate Change, and “Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Eco

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman


"As President Obama defends the success of his one-year-old $787 billion stimulus package, we speak to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, who says the stimulus was both not big enough and too focused on tax cuts. Stiglitz is the author of the new book Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy, which analyzes the causes of the Great Recession of 2008 and calls for overcoming what he calls an “ersatz capitalism” that socializes losses but privatizes gains....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Suspicions mount over Hamas killing

"Eleven people allegedly behind the murder of a senior Hamas member in the United Arab Emirates are said to have used false passports.

Authorities from Britain, France and Ireland say the identities of the 11 European passports used in the operation to kill Mahmoud al-Mabhouh appear to be stolen.

But Dubai police have said that at least seven member of the group share names with foreign-born Israelis, placing suspicion on the country's spy agency.

Jacky Rowland reports from Jerusalem."

Video: Bilin reenacts Avatar film 12-02-2010 by emadbornat

"The village of Bilin reenacted James Cameron's new film Avatar during todays weekly demonstration. Five Palestinian, Israeli and international activists were painted blue, with pointy ears and tales, resembling the Avatar characters. Like Palestinians, the Avatars fight imperialism, although the colonizers have different origins. The Avatars presence in Bilin today symbolizes the united resistance to imperialism of all kinds."

Poland tightens military alliance with Israel

Ewa Jasiewicz, The Electronic Intifada, 17 February 2010
(Ewa Jasiewicz is a co-Editor of Le Monde Diplomatique Polish Edition where a version of this article was originally published. )

"The Polish army's announcement that it will buy seven Aerostar Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from Israel's Aeronautics earlier this month was heralded as a step forward for Poland's "stabilization" mission in Afghanistan. The UAV, or drone, has long been a key tool in the military arsenals of both the United States and Israel. The US leads the export market, followed by Israel, which as of last year was the planet's third-biggest arms exporter, arming regimes around the world to the tune of $6.75 billion in 2009

The drone is more than simply a flying camera; it is killing machine in itself.....

As modern warfare takes on an ever more aerial, alienated and indiscriminate approach to "the enemy," governments are forcing us to keep our distance. Whether it is soldiers in bunkers guiding UAVs with joysticks or keeping the men, women and children being bombed by our militaries out of our sight through media gagging orders, it is ever more urgent that this distance be closed and those in charge of military policy be held accountable for their devastating results."

Anyone For Tennis? By Dave Brown.

Israeli Shahar Peer advances to Dubai Championship semifinals

"Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer on Thursday advanced to the semifinals of the Dubai Championship, after beating 10th seed Na Li in the quarterfinal match...."

Obama courts Damascus in hope of ending Middle East deadlock

Assad goes from pariah to ally as US breaks five years of diplomatic isolation for Syria

By David Usborne, US Editor
The Independent

"As Barack Obama moved formally to repair US relations with Syria by nominating an ambassador to serve there after a five-year hiatus, William Burns, America's top career diplomat, held talks in Damascus yesterday with the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on an array of security issues [Syria has already agreed to share intelligence information with the CIA AND MI5. What is left? Arrange the details of assassinating Mish'al, with the CIA and the MOSSAD? Don't laugh.] in the region.

The sudden flurry of activity reflects a gamble by Washington that engaging more closely with Syria it can persuade it to take steps on a number of fronts that it sees as being vital to improving stability in the Middle East with regard to all its neighbours – Iran, Iraq, Lebanon as well as Israel......"

Britain's explanation is riddled with inconsistencies. It's time to come clean

How could the Arabs pick up on a Mossad killing, if that is what it was? Well, we shall see

AN IMPORTANT COMMENT
By Robert Fisk

"Collusion. That's what it's all about. The United Arab Emirates suspect – only suspect, mark you – that Europe's "security collaboration" with Israel has crossed a line into illegality, where British passports (and those of other other EU nations) can now be used to send Israeli agents into the Gulf to kill Israel's enemies. At 3.49pm yesterday afternoon (Beirut time, 1.49pm in London), my Lebanese phone rang. It was a source – impeccable, I know him, he spoke with the authority I know he has in Abu Dhabi – to say that "the British passports are real. They are hologram pictures with the biometric stamp. They are not forged or fake. The names were really there. If you can fake a hologram or biometric stamp, what does this mean?".....

Collusion is a word the Arabs understand. It speaks of the 1956 Suez War, when Britain and France cooperated with Israel to invade Egypt. Both London and Paris denied the plot. They were lying. But for an Arab Gulf country which suspects its former masters (the UK, by name) may have connived in the murder of a visiting Hamas official, this is apparently now too much. There is much more to come out of this story. We will wait to see if there are any replies in Europe."

Death in Dubai: the plot thickens

Brown calls in police to investigate alleged identity theft by Mossad as Israeli envoy asked to explain how passports were in killers' hands. Assassination team now thought to number 18, including two women

By Kim Sengupta, Ben Lynfield and Donald Macintyre
The Independent

"The international furore over the assassination of a senior Hamas official sharply escalated yesterday with claims that he had been lured to Dubai by the Israeli intelligence services.

Security sources say that Mahmoud al-Mabhouh had changed his travel plans, leaving behind his bodyguards, for a "meeting" which may have been organised by Mossad, [COMMENT: It is obvious from the photos released that he traveled alone with no bodyguards or any attempts to disguise his identity. One photo shows him in front of his hotel room door followed by his would-be assassins. Hello! It does not seem that he was the brightest kid on the block!] who had been tracking him for days before his death......

It also emerged yesterday that there were as many as 18 people, including two women, involved in the murder of Mr Mabhouh, who was said to have been electrocuted and tortured before being suffocated. One line of speculation was that the reason for the relatively prolonged attack, after he was overpowered by four men, was an attempt to seek information........"

Israeli assassinations: passports to kill

Our government seems to be fine with letting the Israeli secret service wage its war with Hamas under a British flag

Editorial
The Guardian, Thursday 18 February 2010

"British passports are the property of the British government. When that government says and does nothing for six days after it was given evidence that Mossad agents stole the identity of six British citizens to assassinate a Hamas commander in Dubai, it starts to seem as if Israel was right to think it could get away with it. The Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, yesterday predicted the incident would have no effect on British relations......"

This is no ripping yarn, but a murder to fan more conflict

The media may revel in a Mossad hit, yet Britain's response to a plot that could threaten its own citizens has been craven

Seumas Milne
The Guardian, Thursday 18 February 2010

"Imagine for a moment what the reaction would be if ­Iranian ­intelligence was almost ­unversally believed to have ­assassinated a leader of one of the organisations fighting the Tehran government in a western-friendly state. Then consider how Britain, let alone the US, might respond if the killers had carried out the ­operation ­using forged or stolen passports of ­citizens of four European states, including Britain, with dual Iranian nationality.

You can be sure it would have ­triggered a major international storm, stentorian declarations about the threat of state-sponsored terrorism, and ­perhaps a debate at the UN ­security council, with demands for harsher ­sanctions against an increasingly ­dangerous Islamic republic.....

But coldblooded ­killing isn't only a morally ­repugnant crime. The lesson of ­colonial ­history is that ­decapitation ­campaigns against ­national ­resistance movements don't work. In the short term they can disrupt and demoralise, but if the ­movement is socially rooted, other ­leaders or even organisations will take their place. That was Israel's ­experience when it killed the Hezbollah leader ­Abbas al-Musawi and his family in the early 1990s, only for him to be succeeded by the more effective and ­charismatic Hassan Nasrallah.........

But in the aftermath of the Dubai assassination, Hamas leaders have started to hint strongly that policy could now change, and that they could respond to Israel's attacks in "the ­international arena".

If so, it would give an added dimension to the assessment by Ben Caspit in the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv yesterday that the Dubai killing had been a "tactical operational success, but a strategic failure". So far the response of British ministers to Mossad's provocation has been craven. Unless that changes fast, they can only increase the risk of being drawn further into a conflict ready to erupt again at any time."

Hamas official accused of helping Mossad hit squad

• Palestinian 'defectors' suspected of involvement in murder
• Police hunt six new suspects as more details of plot emerge

WARNING: DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING STATED IN THIS PIECE; IT HAS A LOT OF DISINFORMATION.

Ian Black, Paul Lewis, Kate Connolly
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 17 February 2010

"A key security operative of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas was under arrest in Syria tonight on suspicion of having helped an alleged Israeli hit squad identify Mahmoud al-Mabhouh before he was assassinated in Dubai, the Guardian has learned.

Palestinian sources in the Gulf confirmed Nahro Massoud, a Hamas security official, was in detention and under interrogation in Damascus in connection with the 19 January killing, which is now widely assumed to have been mounted by Israel's Mossad secret intelligence service.

Khaled Mishal, Hamas's political leader, denied the allegation. "It is not correct at all," he said, as Hamas sources suggested a disinformation campaign by the group's Fatah rival. But informed Palestinian sources insisted Massoud was being questioned amid mounting speculation that potentially senior Palestinian defectors may have assisted in the plot......"

Almaz - Antey: 'No Technical Problem Behind S-300 Delivery Delay'

Al-Manar

"18/02/2010 The head of the Russian arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey — the company which makes the S-300 system — has dismissed the reports that the delivery of the air defense system to Iran was delayed due to technical problems.

"It isn't a question of technology. It's a question of politics," dpa quoted Vladimir Kazparyants as saying on Wednesday. His remarks come on the same day that Moscow cited unspecified technical reasons for the delay in the delivery of the S-300 anti-aircraft system to Iran.

"The delay is due to technical problems," deputy head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Alexander Fomin said. Earlier this month, Iran's Ambassador to Russia Sayyed Mahmoud-Reza Sajjadi said that Moscow has guaranteed delivery of the S-300 missile system to Iran.

The S-300 system, which can track targets and fire at aircraft 120 kilometers (75 miles) away, features high jamming immunity and is able to simultaneously engage up to 100 targets. Under a contract signed by Iran and Russia, Moscow is obliged to deliver the air defense system to Iran. "

الفلسطينيون يشكلون 53% من منطقة الشمال

عرب48

"أظهرت معطيات دائرة الإحصاء المركزية لعام 2008 التي نشرت مساء أمس أن نسبة الفلسطينيين في منطقة الشمال(باستثناء حيفا) بلغت 53%، وذلك بالرغم من مشاريع التهويد المتواصلة للمنطقة. وتشير المعطيات إلى أن اليهود يعمرون أكثر من العرب حيث يزيد معدل حياة اليهودي بأربع سنوات عنه لدى العرب. كما اشارت المعطيات إلى الفجوة الهائلة في الدخل بين العائلات اليهودية والعربية.

وحسب المعطيات، في نهاية عام 2008 بلغ عدد الفلسطينيين 1.5 مليون(المؤسسات الإسرائيلية عادة تشمل سكان القدس في التعداد)، وتتوقع دائرة الإحصاء المركزية أن يصل عدد الفلسطينيين عام 2030 إلى 2.4 مليون، ويشكل حوالي 24% من عدد السكان الإجمالي.

ويقسم التقرير الإسرائيلي الفلسطينيين إلى مسلمين ومسحيين ودروزا، ويشير إلى أن نسبة المسلمين تبلغ 83%(عام 1950 شكلوا 70% من الفلسطينيين)، ونسبة المسيحيين تبلغ 7% (نسبتهم كانت قبل عام 1948 21%). ويشير التقرير أن 31% من سكان منطقة القدس فلسطينيين، و24% من منطقة حيفا، و 16% من منطقة الجنوب و1% من منطقة المركز.

وحسب المعطيات فإن معدل حياة الرجل العربي يبلغ 75.9 عاما، ولدى الرجال اليهود يزيد المعدل بأربع سنوات. معدل حياة المرأة العربية 79.7 ويزيد المعدل لدى النساء اليهوديات بثلاث سنوات ونصف.

المدينة العربية الأكبر هي الناصرة ويبلغ عدد سكانها 66400 نسمة. وتليها أم الفحم وباقة الغربية والطيبة وراهط والشاغور(ثلاث قرى) وشفاعمرو. ويسكن تلك المدن أكثر من 30 ألف مواطن.

في عام 2008 ارتفع عدد الفلسطينيين في الداخل بـ 38 ألف نسمة. وتشير المعطيات إلى أن متوسط عمر السكان الفلسطينيين أقل منه لدى اليهود، حيث يبلغ 20 عاما مقابل 31 عاما لدى اليهود.
....."

Israel Extends its Hand....., by Emad Hajjaj

Hamid Gul: Taliban is the future

FOCUS: INTERVIEW

Al-Jazeera

(Left: Hamid Gul)

"Lieutenant-General Hamid Gul was a military commander in the Pakistani Army in the 1980s, and served as the head of the country's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency from 1987 to 1989.

But Gul's rise to fame came during the Pakistan-Saudi-US effort to keep funds and logistical support flowing to the Afghanistan mujahidin, who were eventually credited with defeating Soviet military and political forces.

During the Bush administration, the US sought to put Gul on a UN list of international terrorists but their efforts were blocked by the Chinese delegation.

Domestically, Gul has been an outspoken opponent of Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani president, and has called for the Supreme Court to be reinstated as the rule of law in Pakistan.

Al Jazeera interviewed Gul during a short visit to Doha.

Al Jazeera: You recently said 'the Taliban is the future, the Americans are the past in Afghanistan'. Isn't that a little far-fetched?

Hamid Gul: The Americans are defeated. It isn't necessarily because their firepower and their might has weakened, but it is because their own people are sick and tired [of engagement in Afghanistan]. There is fatigue now, fatigue is the threat and is the worst thing for a nation to suffer from. There is no way that the Americans can hold on to Afghanistan.

Could that lead to [Afghanistan President] Hamid Karzai's government being toppled?

Karzai is no more. He is now fighting for his life. They have already started telling him that by the end of this year he will have to shoulder the responsibility of security in Afghanistan. But what are they giving him for this? Nothing at all. In fact, more civilian casualties in military operations are going to weaken Karzai's position......."

Western Media, Not Israeli Hasbara

By Ramzy Baroud
Palestine Chronicle

"With the dreadful threat of yet another Israeli war in the Middle East looming, Israeli propaganda machine is likely to go into full gear.

In fact, trial balloons have already been sent out bearing supposedly unrehearsed comments by former Israeli Army general and current Minister Yossi Peled, suggesting that another war is on its way. More recently, Israel's ultra-right and unabashedly racist Foreign Minister Avigador Lieberman threatened to topple the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad in case of a war.

And so it begins.....

Israeli officials continue to congratulate themselves on a job well done, and must be preparing yet another marvelous hasbara campaign to justify the killings that are yet to follow. However, there are some things that are becoming increasingly obvious, at least to the rest of us. First, the secret of Israeli "success", if any, was not its own doing, but rather stemmed from the media's decision, made years ago, to protect Israel's image. Second, despite the fanfare and self-congratulating commentary, Israel has now largely lost the media war, and the tide since the Gaza war has been turning, thanks to the underfunded, but solid and increasingly determined efforts of independent media groups, intellectuals, citizen journalists, civil society activists, artists, poets, bloggers, ordinary people and those in the media who possess the courage to challenge Israeli hasbara and its devotees."

George Monbiot: UK Inquiry “Toothless” and “Feeble” in Probing Origins of Iraq War

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"Iraq war continues, Britain is in the midst of an ongoing public inquiry into the UK’s role in the US-led war in 2003 invasion. The public hearings began in late November and the committee is expected to report its findings by June of this year. We speak to author and columnist George Monbiot,who has begun a campaign encouraging citizen’s arrests of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair for crimes against peace in Iraq....."

Group: NATO Forces Blocking Movement of Wounded Afghan Civilians

Democracy Now!
With Amy Goodman



"The US is coming under increasing criticism over the rise in civilian casualties during the assault on the Afghan city of Marjah, one of the largest military offensives of the eight-year war. At least nineteen civilians have been killed so far, including six children who died when a missile struck their house on the outskirts of the city. We speak with Matteo dell’Aira, medical coordinator of the Emergency Lashkar Gah hospital...."

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Russia's Iran dilemma

"Will Moscow yield to Israeli demands to impose sanctions on Iran? "

Real News Video: Offensive in Marja directed at US public opinion

Porter: The attack on Marja is meant to prepare Americans to accept negotiations with Taliban

Israel's new strategy: "sabotage" and "attack" the global justice movement

Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 16 February 2010

"An extraordinary series of articles, reports and presentations by Israel's influential Reut Institute has identified the global movement for justice, equality and peace as an "existential threat" to Israel and called on the Israeli government to direct substantial resources to "attack" and possibly engage in criminal "sabotage" of this movement in what Reut believes are its various international "hubs" in London, Madrid, Toronto, the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond.

The Reut Institute's analyses hold that Israel's traditional strategic doctrine -- which views threats to the state's existence in primarily military terms, to be met with a military response -- is badly out of date. Rather, what Israel faces today is a combined threat from a "Resistance Network" and a "Delegitimization Network."......

Reut is apparently unaware even of the irony of trying to reform "Brand Israel" as something cuddly, while at the same time publicly recommending that Israel's notorious spies "sabotage" peace groups on foreign soil.

But there are two lessons we must heed: Reut's analysis vindicates the effectiveness of the BDS strategy, and as Israeli elites increasingly fear for the long-term prospects of the Zionist project they are likely to be more ruthless, unscrupulous and desperate than ever."

Scandals, Assassination Plan Rock Palestinian Authority

By Mel Frykberg

"RAMALLAH, Feb 17, 2010 (IPS) - The Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah is fighting a tidal wave of fresh allegations, including sexual harassment, an internal power struggle and embezzlement.

But the arrest of a cell of Fatah members, including officials working for the PA’s security forces, by their PA colleagues on the grounds that they planned to assassinate members of the PA leadership has sent shock waves through this central West Bank city.

Security around the PA government headquarters in Ramallah, the Muqata, has been tighter than usual over the last few days. IPS saw additional members of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ prestigious presidential guard taking up sniper positions on the walls surrounding the presidential compound.

A high-ranking police officer, and former commander, Mujahed Nimer was arrested in his home near the Qalandia refugee camp, north of Jerusalem, several days ago on suspicion that he headed the Fatah cell which was allegedly planning the assassinations......

Academic Samir Awad from Birzeit University near Ramallah says that the PA’s credibility has reached a historic low.

"Although not much appears different on the surface, seismic changes are taking place underground. The recent scandals are not in themselves important but the timing of the exposures is of the essence. They are symptomatic of a much larger problem and how immoral the PA has become," Awad told IPS.

"The combination of a stalled peace process, increased Israeli military raids, delays at checkpoints and a self-serving Palestinian leadership is forcing individual Fatah members to take the law into their own hands. All options are now on the table." "

Mideast and North Africa Cited for Press Abuses

By Mohammed A. Salih and Charles Fromm

"WASHINGTON - A report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on press freedom around the world in 2009 depicts an especially gloomy situation in the Middle East and North Africa, where authorities continue to use repressive measures to muzzle journalists....."

Celebrate Now! Habila, the Gracious and Generous Host that he is, Releases 20 Fatah Prisoners to Honor Visitors!

إكرامًا للوفد البرلماني العربي
هنية يقرر العفو عن 20 سجينًا من "فتح"

"غزة - المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام

أصدر رئيس الوزراء الفلسطيني إسماعيل هنية قرارًا بالعفو عن 20 سجينًا ينتمون إلى حركة "فتح" من سجون وزارة الداخلية بقطاع غزة، وذلك مكرمةً للوفد البرلماني العربي الذي يزور غزة.

جاء ذلك خلال حفل الوداع التكريمي اليوم الأربعاء (17-2) في غزة للوفد البرلماني الذي يستعد لمغادرة القطاع بعد ساعة من الآن.
وأكد هنية للوفد العربي أن حكومته حريصةٌ على تحقيق الوحدة الوطنية الفلسطينية، لافتًا إلى أن المصالحة باتت قريبة جدًّا.

ورحَّب الوفد البرلماني بالمكرمة، واعتبرها بمثابة خطوة على طريق تحقيق المصالحة الوطنية وإنهاء الانقسام.
"
COMMENT

This is outrageous and shows how Hamas deals with law and rights.

At first Hamas claimed that it was not holding political prisoners from Fatah. It maintained that those in prison are held on criminal charges.

If that is the case, how can Habila on his own, decide to release 20 "criminals" just to show his "generosity" to visiting Arab "parliamentarians"?

Liars and hypocrites!

Passport to the truth in Dubai remains secret

By Robert Fisk

"....Many Dubaians believe that the collapse of the emirate's economy last year was the revenge of Western banks – spurred on, of course, by the Americans – to punish them for allowing Iranian shell companies to use Dubai as a sanctions-busting base during the cold-hot war between the US-Israeli alliance and Iran. Now the Americans (or the Israelis – you can take your pick) want to turn Dubai into the Beirut of the Gulf. That was actually a headline last week – in The Jerusalem Post, of course – which painted Dubai as dangerous as it was economically calamitous.....

If this is true – the Foreign Office will be wrathful in its denials – then why didn't the British immediately express their outrage at the use of forged British passports and cough up details of the equally outrageous frauds a week ago? This misuse puts every British citizen at risk.

Yet the Foreign Office – so keen to warn British citizens of the dangers they face in the Middle East – sat on their large behind and did bugger all. I'm sorry. If they had the details, they had a duty to UK citizens to speak up. If they hadn't got the details, they should have told us. But they were silent. Why? Was there a cold breeze coming beneath a closed door?.......Don't we (the British? Gordon Brown? etc, etc) care when killers use supposedly British passports?

It is too soon to give a reply. But I should add that the Dubai authorities have other information which they have not yet revealed. The world awaits."

Clinton clings to Bush ideals on Iran

The US policy of engagement with Iran never got off the ground – and now Hillary Clinton has resorted to Bush-era sabre-rattling

Stephen Kinzer
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 16 February 2010

"......Some of America's most seasoned diplomats are eager for the chance to see what kind of a "grand bargain" they could strike with Iran. An ideal one would curb the nuclear programme, guarantee some measure of protection for brave Iranians who are being brutalised for defending democratic ideals, and give Iran security guarantees that might lure it out of its isolation and lay the groundwork for a new security architecture in the Middle East. Instead the US has fallen back on sabre-rattling. This pleases Israel, war hawks in Washington, so-called American allies like Saudi Arabia – and most of all, President Ahmadinejad and his reactionary comrades in Tehran. They thrive on confrontation, and are doing all they can to bait the US into attacking their country. It is a strategy as effective as it is dangerous."

As Usual, Moscow Gives in to Pressure: Russian Official Says Missile Delivery to Iran Delayed

Al-Manar

"17/02/2010 The delivery of advanced Russian-made S-300 air defence missiles to Iran has been delayed for technical reasons, a senior Russian official told the Interfax news agency on Wednesday. "The delay is due to technical problems. The delivery will be carried out when they are resolved," Alexander Fomin, deputy head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, was quoted as saying.

Russia's contract to sell the S-300s to Iran has raised hackles in the United States and Israel, which believe that Tehran could use the sophisticated air defense missiles to defend its nuclear facilities against attack......"

Deceptive nation: No freeze, just more construction than ever!

Israel is continuing to build illegal settlements on Palestinian land, despite a 10-month suspension of new construction announced by the government.

Peace Now, an Israeli non-governmental organisation, says work is taking place at more than 30 settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Nour Odeh reports from Beit Sahour.

Iran's unambiguous ambiguity

By Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera

".....But states are in the business of hiding their intentions, especially concerning national security and sovereignty. If they were forthcoming and transparent, intelligence services would not exist.

Actually, Tehran is managing a sensitive, even dangerous balancing act. It reveals the minimum required by its international obligations while making bombastic statements about its breakthroughs in nuclear enrichment.

As it tries to please the IAEA as an accountable member of the international community, it annoys, even embarrasses, the US and its European partners to please its nationalistic popular base.....

Back to the future

Instead, Washington has pursued three possible alternatives: Charm/conciliation, coercion/sanctions and regime change/war.

Since the charm offensive failed to slow down Iran's uranium enrichment, let alone stop it or tone down the bombastic rhetoric, the Obama administration is moving towards the second option: Sanctions and isolation.

Its first signs were revealed on the eve of Obama's visit to China last November. He reportedly dispatched special Middle East envoy Dennis Ross to explain to the Chinese the logic behind US pressure on Iran and the danger of the alternative scenarios, such as an Israeli military operation against the Iranian nuclear programme.

Since then attempts at imposing new sanctions have grown more urgent......

I expect Obama, who vowed to deny Iran nuclear weapons at any cost, to focus US efforts on sanctions and coercion in order to diminish Tehran's leverage as it bargains over its nuclear programme.

As for the war option, it will remain on the table to intimidate Iran and to tame the reservations and outright objections from friend and foe alike."