Rabi' al-Awwal 22, 1425/ May 13, 2004 #58
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NEW MOVE TO UNDERMINE
SUDAN:
Attempts are underway to fuel a rebellion in the western Sudanese region
of Dharfur. Owing to the earlier rebellion in the South, poverty has struck
most of Sudan. The regime lacks resources to provide necessities.
Within that sitution, a new rebellion was started. The resulting fighting
has started a wave of refugees into Chad. It's a perfect situation for
Zionist
propaganda. This time the people who started the story about
"Arabs"
fighting Black
Africans
are Hindus working for the UN. Most of the information has come from
Mr. Ramcharan, a hard core Hindu. [Sudanese "Arabs" are themselves
Black Africans. All the people of Sudan are Black, of various shades.]
As
New Trend
had predicted, the propaganda is being revved up by the Zionists. On May 12,
Christiane Amanpour for
CNN
reported from Chad and blamed the Sudanese government for all kinds of
atrocities. [The Sudan government has denied the stories.]
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STRIKE TWO AGAINST
ISRAEL:
May 12, 2004: A second Israeli armored vehicle was blown up in the Gaza
strip, this time near the
Egyptian
border. Five Israeli troops, including an officer, were killed and five
wounded. Islamic Jihad took responsibility.
Israeli forces went berserk after the attack, used tanks to shoot into
Palestinian
homes, and shot at random with heavy machine guns up and down the streets.
Israeli helicopters fired missiles into refugee camps.
[On May 11, six Israeli troops were killed when their armored track vehicle
was blown up by Hamas.]
Observers say that the Palestinians are quite capable of defeating the
Jews
if they had at least a modicum of low level weaponry. Unfortunately,
they say, the
U.S.
successfully stops the flow of ANY weapons to the Palestinians. The
Islamic spirit of
Jihad
is the main weapon the Palestinians have.
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ASSAULT ON KERBALA:
May 13: Heavy fighting is underway in one of the holiest cities of Shi'ite
Islam. U.S.
media
showed a mosque in Kerbala being repeatedly hit by U.S. gun fire. The U.S.
says it has killed 22 more of Moqtada al-Sadr's militia, bringing the total
killed to about 500.
Al-Sadr seems to be under intense pressure from
pro-Iran
Shi'as to stop his resistance to U.S. forces.
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THE TRAGEDY OF NICK BERG's BEHEADING
by our
Media
Monitor
President
Bush
has expressed horror at the beheading of Nick Berg, allegedly by Abu Musaab
al-Zarqawi.
Something is very puzzling about Berg's visit to
Iraq.
Is it possible that he did not know that Jews are not welcome in Iraq? Was
he totally unaware of the situation in the Middle East? Or was he being used
by the
CIA?
It's a strange case with a horrifying ending. [Many Iraqis believe that the
U.S. attacked Iraq at the behest of the Zionist lobby.]
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FORMER PRISONER OF TALIBAN SAYS .....
The more I see and read about US behaviour inside Abu Ghraib prison, the
more I thank Allah that I was caught by the Taliban and not the Americans
when I entered Afghanistan illegally in September 2001.
I almost want to laugh when I recall how George W Bush described the
Taliban as the most evil, brutal regime in the world. At least they knew
what the words courtesy and respect meant.
Sis. Yvonne Ridley
England
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MUSLIM ACTIVIST SISTER'S COMMENT ON NAKED IRAQIS...
...Just as the Africans were kidnapped and brought to America were stark
naked throughout the journey across the Atlantic. Approximately 70% of the
Africans kidnapped from Africa to be slaves were Muslims.
Hamdiyah [South Carolina]
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WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT SADDAM'S OFFICERS NOT TRUE?
[Excerpts]
" I WOULD RATHER KILL MYSELF ................"
By Vivienne Walt, Globe Correspondent | May 11, 2004
BAGHDAD -- Zuher Al-Qubeisi seems the kind of man analysts have been saying
American commanders could use as they battle armed militia in several Iraqi
cities. He has fought in three wars and won 15 medals during a 20-year career,
all without an injury. Lieutenant Colonel Qubeisi is also unemployed, and
says he loves being a professional soldier.
There is one hitch, however.
"I would rather kill myself than fight other Iraqis," said Qubeisi, 37,
standing outside Baghdad's officer-recruiting station on Saturday while
applying for a slot in Iraq's new military. And would he defend Iraq
alongside the 135,000 American troops in the country? "No way," he said.
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Israeli link possible in US torture techniques
In exchange for interrogation training, did Washington award security
contracts?
By Ali Abunimah
Special to The Daily Star
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
CHICAGO,
Illinois: The head of the American defense contracting firm implicated in the
torture of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison has close ties to Israel and visited
an Israeli "anti-terror" training camp in the occupied West Bank earlier
this year.
Jack London, chairman, president and CEO of CACI International Incorporated,
traveled to Israel in January this year as part of a high-level delegation
of US Congressmen, defense contractors and pro-Israel lobbyists, sponsored
and paid for in part by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah, a pro-Israel
lobbying and fundraising group, and Greenberg Traurig, LLP, a prominent
Washington law and lobby firm.
The purpose of the visit, according to a CACI press release, was "to promote
opportunities for strategic partnerships and joint ventures between US and
Israeli defense and homeland security companies."
As one of the highlights of the visit, London was presented with the
Albert Einstein Technology Award by Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz
at a gala dinner at Jerusalem city hall, for "achievements in the field of
defense and national security."
Delegates also spent several hours in the occupied
Syrian
Golan Heights with Housing and Construction Minister Effie Eitam, a former
Israeli general, who is notorious for his view that Israel should "transfer"
- that is, expel - all the Palestinians.
According to the official itinerary for the Jan. 11-17 Defense Aerospace
Homeland Security Mission, obtained from the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah,
London's trip included a visit to Beit Horon, "the central training camp for
the anti-terrorist forces of the Israeli police and the border police," in
the occupied West Bank. The visitors were also "briefed by top experts," and
were able to "witness exercises related to anti-terror warfare."
Two CACI employees, Steven Stephanowicz and John Israel, were named in the
leaked report by US Major General Antonio M. Taguba on the abuses at
Abu Ghraib prison. Taguba wrote that Stephanowicz, a "contract US civilian
interrogator," "allowed and/or instructed MPs (military police), who were
not trained in interrogation techniques, to facilitate interrogations by
'setting conditions' which were neither authorized or in accordance with
applicable regulations/policy. He clearly knew his instructions equated to
physical abuse."
John Israel, an interpreter, did not have the appropriate security clearance,
according to Taguba.
Although Taguba recommended that Stephanowicz be terminated and his security
clearance revoked, a May 5 statement from CACI confirmed, "at present, all
CACI employees continue to work on site providing the contracted for
services to our clients in that location." It added: "We have not received
any information to stop any of our work, to terminate or suspend any of our
employees."
Although no evidence has emerged directly linking CACI's involvement in the
Abu Ghraib atrocities to Israel, it has long been known that the US military
has been interested in "learning" from Israel's experience attempting to
suppress the Palestinian uprising. In March 2003, for example, the
AP
reported that the "the (US) military has been listening closely to Israeli
experts and picking up tips from years of Israeli Army operations in
Palestinian areas and Lebanese towns."
This cooperation has included briefings of US personnel by Israeli officers,
and, according to AP, "In January and February (2003), Israeli and American
troops trained together in southern Israel's Negev Desert ... Israel has
also hosted senior law enforcement officials from the United States for a
seminar on counterterrorism."
Meanwhile, more evidence has emerged undermining the US thesis that the
abuses at Abu Ghraib was the work of a "few bad apples."
The Guardian
reported that the "sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib
prison was not an invention of maverick guards, but part of a system of
ill-treatment and degradation used by special forces soldiers that is now
being disseminated among ordinary troops and contractors."
This system, known to insiders as "R2I," short for resistance to
interrogation, also includes such methods as "hooding, sleep deprivation,
time disorientation and depriving prisoners not only of dignity, but of
fundamental human needs, such as warmth, water and food." These are all
techniques long employed by Israel.
The visit of the US delegation that included the CACI head exposes a
rarefied web of influence sharing in which US government officials and
congressmen, defense contractors and lobbyists parcel out huge contracts,
and siphon significant portions off to Israel.
As Batya Feldman of Israel's Globes financial news service put it, the visit
provided Israeli companies with "an excellent opportunity to encounter big
bucks in homeland security."
To help Israeli companies pry some of these "big bucks" loose, the visit
included seminars for Israeli companies given by US pro-Israel lobbyists
called "How to Approach the Homeland Security Department," and "How to Sell
to the US Defense Department."
Israeli participants would have had a chance to test the helpful tips, since
present on the trip were Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security Robert
Liscouski and many leading US legislators, including top members of the
US House and Senate Armed Services Committees, which jointly oversee tens
of billions of dollars in military spending.
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FORGOTTEN AMERICAN DISSIDENT IMPRISONED in PERU
by Nadrat Siddique
An interesting news item I heard earlier this morning: Ramsey
Clark, God reward him, really seems to have his finger in every
pie. He appeared, in a wheel chair, to represent Lori Berenson before
the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Honduras. Berenson is a
30-year old American being held political prisoner in Peru. Eight years ago,
she was charged with ties to the leftist MRTA (Movimiento Revolucionario Tupac
Amaru) and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole
by a Peruvian military court for treason. Berenson's father and a Latino
attorney accompanied Clark at the Commission hearing in Honduras.
Berenson's imprisonment by the Fujimori government is symbolic of the
repression experienced by pro-democracy activists throughout much of Latin
America. The Fujimori government, a staunch U.S. ally, has a record of imprisoning dissidents.
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By Jalaluddin S. Hussain
We want our cities back!
The Gazette,
the only English daily newspaper of this metropolitan city, has the
"de-merger" issue, as the main cover story in its Saturday, May 8 edition.
For people living outside the merged municipalities of Quebec province this
issue may not be of much significance, but for people living in many
merged
municipalities, after January 2000, it has meant
reduced municipal services and higher taxes.
Naturally those who are suffering from lack of services
and higher taxes, want their independent cities back, so that they can get
once again full municipal services as they were getting before the year
2000. If these groups are successful in getting a majority to vote against
merger, in a referunduam, they might get their independent cities back !
Hopefully, an overwhelming number of people will vote for the
demerger,
which will in turn result in the revival of the abolished municipalities.
June 20, 2004 is the referendum date. The pro de-merger forces are
impattienty waiting to vote on that day!
Anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim feelings causing concern!
Another cover-page story of The Gazette dated May 8, 2004, is entitled:
Religion ranks first for social strife.
For the first time in years,
religion has surpassed language in Quebec as the expected cause of social
strife, in the coming years, according to a poll, conducted for the
Association for Canada Studies. Commenting on the results of this poll,
Jack Jedwab, the Executive Director of this Association has said that there
was a growing concern about the vulnerablity of religious groups. According
to him, most Canadians polled this year (the poll was conducted by
Environics between the period of March 29 to April 18, inclusive) were
worried about the rising anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim sentiments prevailing
in Montreal. This rising anti-religious feeling is harmful and must be
dealt with head-on before it gets too messy. Needless to mention that that
the anti-immigration laws enacted to appease "terrorism-phobia" forces are
having adverse effect. The new security legislations, both in the USA and
Canada,
need to be revised to make it more rational and pragmatic.
Looking forward to
Pakistan
trip
I am looking forward to an exiciting trip to Pakistan this year. I hope and
pray that my stay in Pakistan will be without incident, and what happened a
few days ago, in which 14 Muslims were killed and many injured,
while praying,
will prove to be an isolated incident. One wonders when the American and
British soldiers are busy in humiliating and killing Muslims in Iraq and
Afghanistan,
why the Muslims should kill and injure their own Muslim brothers in Pakistan
and other places. We will have to do a little critical and deep thinking
ourselves and not always blame CIA of USA and RAW of India for everything
going wrong in our Muslim countries.
Articles in
The New York Times
worth reading
In these times of
media
hypocrisy and press-promoted disinformation, I find The New York Times much
better reading , for example, compared to some Canadian newspapers like
The Gazette,
the National Post
and
The Globe and Mail.
I have particularly in mind the op-ed pages of TNYT dated May 11, 2004.
All the three articles, Tourists and Torturers by Luc Sante, Just Trust Us
by Paul Krugman and For Iraqis to Win, the U.S. must Lose, by David Brooks,
are excellently written.
Briefly, these three articles made the following outstanding points:
- The possible consequences of the Abu Ghraib archive are numerous...Perhaps,
though the digital camera (the work is attributed to specialist Jeremy
Sivits) will haunt the future career of George W. Bush, the way the tape
recorder sealed the fate of Richard Nixon.
- General Miller of Guantanomo is the new commander of the notorius Ghraib
prison and Donald Rumsfeld, has accepted responsibility without paying the
price. Still Paul Krugman has repeated in his article the American
establishment wants the Americans to trust them.
- The third article, which basically makes the point that Iraqi victory is
American loss correctly concludes: If the Iraqis do campaign this Fall
(if they go through the general election as envisaged), they will jeer at
the Americans!
In all fairness to some of the elements of the American media and that of
course includes, The New York Times, it must be boldly accepted that the
Arab world and the Muslim world cannot boast of a single newspaper which
can so openly criticise its rulers and establishment's policies. Please
show me if there is. Then we, as Muslims, should be proud of such a free
press!
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Editorial note: Br. Hussain's last point needs correction on factual grounds.
Nawa-e-Waqt
of Pakistan,
daily Inqilab of Bangladesh
as well as some Iranian newspapers do criticize their establishments.
The same is true of some Lebanese newspapers.
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NEWS from JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia
INDIA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL JEDDAH,STAFF AND STUDENTs are in very
SAD CONDITION DUE TO A ROAD ACCIDENT WHICH TOOK the LIVES OF SEVEN GIRLS
STUDENTS AND 27 were BADLY INJURED. AN IISJ BUS CARRYING 30 GIRLS STUDENTS
LEFT
MEKKAH
FOR JEDDAH AT 06:30 AM and turned upside down AT BAHRA, NEAR JEDDAH.
SEVEN GIRLS DIED AT THE SPOT AND ALL INJURED were SHIFTED TO NEARBY
HOSPITALS. DEAD AND INJURED INCLUDE THREE DAUGHTERS OF THE DRIVER WHO
IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION UNDER POLICE CUSTODY. INVESTIGATION IS ON AND
REASON OF ACCIDENT IS STILL NOT CLEARLY KNOWN.
PRC, PAKISTAN REPATRIATION COUNCIL HELD AN INAUGURATION FUNCTION OF ITS
MAGAZINE, "HISAR" . CHIEF ORGANIZER,PRC, EHSAN UL HAQ AND CHIEF EDITOR
"HISAR", NASEEM SEHR EXPLAINED THE CREATION OF NEW MAGaZINE
DR. ABDULLAH OMAR NASEEF, HILAL-E-IMTIAZ, PRESIDENT WORLD MUSLIM CONGRESS
AND PROF. FRANCIS LAMAND, PRESIDENT OF PARIS BASED ISLAM AND THE WEST,
WERE THE CHIEF GUESTS and PRAISEd the EFFORTS DONE BY PRC MEMBERS FOR
REPATRIATION OF STRANDED PAKISTANIS IN Bangladesh.
REPORT BY MAQBOOL R. ABBASI, JEDDAH
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2004-05-15 Sat 20:22ct