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Lebanon:
Iran donates $25 million in aid for South's reconstruction
http://www.adnkronos.com
Beirut, 6 August (AKI) - Iran continues to assist in the reconstruction of
southern Lebanon delivering 25million dollars to a Hezbollah-linked group
active in the area ravaged in last year's war with Israel.
An Iranian envoy in Beirut, Hossein Khoshnevis, on Sunday handed over a
cheque made out to the amount to Nabil Al Jaser, who heads the Council for
the Reconstruction of Lebanon, a body set up by Hezbollah in the aftermath
of the six-week long conflict with Israel.
Khoshnevis also announced that 43 of the 63 villages Iran has pledge to help
rebuild have been completed.
The envoy also said that some 149 schools, 150 mosques, and 25 medical aid
centres damaged in the fighting have been refurbished.
Also over the last year Iranian funds helped remove explosive mines from
some 10,000 square kilometres of land in southern Lebanon, Khoshnevis added
as well as repair work to 5,338 kilometres of road and the reconstruction of
12 bridges bombed by Israeli war planes.
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Iran and Nicaragua
in barter deal
5 August 2007; BBC News
Iran is to help Nicaragua develop its infrastructure in return for farm
products, according to a trade deal between the two countries.
Under the agreement, Iran will help develop a port and build houses and
industrial sites.
In return, Nicaragua will export coffee, meat and bananas to Iran.
The two countries, which have strained relations with the US, have improved
ties since Daniel Ortega became Nicaraguan President in January 2007.
Under the accords, Iran will fund a farm equipment assembly plant, four
hydroelectric plants, five milk-processing plants, a health clinic, the
building of 10,000 houses, and two piers in the western port of Corinto,
government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said.
Relations between the two countries have become close, with Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visiting Managua in January and President
Ortega returning the visit to Tehran in June.
But the US has warned Nicaragua that closer ties with Iran could harm its
relation with Washington.
The US is worried about Iran's nuclear programme, and is also suspicious of
President Ortega, who it bitterly opposed while he was in power from 1979 to
1990.
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'IT'S GENOCIDE'
14-08-2007 ; http://www.gulf-daily-news.com
BAGHDAD: Iran is sponsoring Shi'ite death squads and plotting a 'genocide'
against Sunni Arabs, one of Iraq's senior Sunni Arab leaders claimed
yesterday. And a top Sunni cleric urged United States to cut ties with Prime
Minister Nuri Al Maliki saying the "puppet government' has failed and a
US-backed political process was at a dead end.
Adnan Al Dulaimi, a senior figure in the Sunni Arab political bloc in
Baghdad, warned that the ethnic conflict in Iraq would spread throughout the
Arabic-speaking world.
Dulaimi urged the Arab world at large to "stop the genocide crimes of Iran"
to defend "the identity of Iraq and maintain Baghdad, as a bastion for the
Arabs".
"Use all means to stand up to Iran, as you are its next target. It is trying
to occupy your Iraq, the Gulf and all your countries," he added.
The leader of Iraq's Muslim Clerics Association Harith Al Dari said, "The US
should rectify its position in Iraq and stop depending on puppets ... who
have proven their failure."
The cleric, who has praised Sunni insurgent groups but denies direct links,
said he could envisage future reconciliation with America if Washington
sought to learn from post-invasion blunders.
Separately, 42 people, including five American soldiers, were killed in
violence across Iraq.
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"Baloch women
Panel" on hunger-strike, observes black-day for martyrs of Mand, Balochistan
13-080-2007
The hunger strike of the respected Baloch Ladies in Quetta, Balochistan, has
entered in the 12th day. They are demanding to recover and release those
Balochs,
who have been arrested by Pakistani Intelligence Agencies.
Present at the hunger strike-camp were: Madame Naz Khatoon, Madame Zulekha
Baloch, Mr Khair Jan Baloch, Madame Granaz, Madame Jan Bibi, Madame Sahira,
Madame Nazeen Balaoch, respected Khair Jane matt, respected Seemak, Mr. Khan
Gul, Dr Hure, Dr. Gohar Baloch, Madame Fehmeeda Baloch, Madame Hameeda
Baloch, Madame Durjan Baloch, Madame Mahee Baloch, Madame Noor Khatoon, Sad
Gunj Saneen, muluk. Madame Noor Khatoon, Madame Bulur Jan, Madame Shakar
Bibi Baloch, advocate and Madame Mehr Bibi.
To-day, the Baloch respected ladies observed black-day against the martyrdom
of
Dr. Khalid and Wash-dill Baloch, who offered resistance against the
Pakistani halv-military forces, (Frontier Constabiliar). "Baloch Women
Panel" strongly condemned the brutal attacks/oppressins/searches/beating and
searching of Balochs in their home-land, Balochistan.
Madame Shakar Bibi Baloch, demanded to Mr. George W. Bush, President of
United States of America and the whole world community to persuade General
Musharaf to remove the half-military forces (F.C) from inner Balochistan and
.....deploy it on Pak/Afghan border to stop the movement of Talibans/al-quida.
Shakar Bibi Advocate, condemned the Pakistani forces and their illegal
brutal adventure in Balochistan. She further added that the undemocratic
steps of
Pakistani Military to suppress the civil rights of Balochs has compelled
Balochs
to stand in arms ...... for their self-defence, defence of Balochistan & the
genuine
rights of Balochs............ "The Right of self-determination.". She vowed
to fight along with her Baloch brothers, sons, uncles and parents, to
acheive the full freedom of Balochistan, which is the only way to get the
genuine rights of Balochs.
Leaders of Baloch Students Organisation, Mr. Bashir Zeb Baloch visited the
hunger strike camp and assured full support to the Baloch daughters` and
mothers` cause.
BSO leader Mr. Saleem Baloch & Mr. Nabi Bux Baloch, saluted the Martyrs of
Mand, Balochistan, who prefered to fight and resist on self-defence basis
than to handover themselve to Army personal for further torcher and
disgrace.
Mr. Nabi Bux Baloch said that Balochs must "select one man from one family"
and form "village Defence Councils" to defence themselves and to resist the
brutal actions of Pakistani army.
Radio Balochi FM Sweden.
Reporter........Quetta, Balochistan.
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Blasts rock Balochistan
By Saleem Shahid ; http://www.dawn.com/2007/08/14/top16.htm
QUETTA, Aug 13: A house was attacked with a hand-grenade in the city and
five other blasts were reported in different areas of the province on Monday
night. Police said two unknown persons riding a motorbike threw a
hand-grenade in the house of a retired employee of the SSGC at Kalat Street
on Jail road which exploded at the backyard and damaged a portion of the
house. Windowpanes of many nearby houses were also smashed. However,
residents of the house remained unhurt.
Two more explosions were heard in two different areas of Quetta, but their
locations could not be known till late night.
Three powerful explosions were also heard in the Khuzdar Township. Police
did not confirm the blasts. However, local residents said they heard the
blasts.
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Iranian army helicopter crashed during a
military operation against PJAK
18/08/2007 ; http://www.ireland.com
An Iranian army helicopter crashed in bad weather in a mountainous region
near the border with northern Iraq today, killing six military personnel.
Five people were injured in the crash, which happened during manoeuvres
involving Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards on Friday, the ISNA news agency
reported. Two were in critical condition, the IRNA news agency said.
Mohammad Hadisar, governor of the northwestern city of Piranshahr, said the
helicopter came down while transporting troops and equipment and blamed it
on the weather and a "technical problem", ISNA said.
Another Iranian news agency, Mehr, said it crashed during a military
operation against the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an Iranian
offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is fighting for Kurdish
autonomy in southeastern Turkey.
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Iran: Israel the standard bearer of Satan
President Ahmadinejad again predicts Jewish state's demise; Meanwhile,
Revolutionary Guards threaten to 'punch' United States
http://www.ynetnews.com; 08.18.07
Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
said Saturday that Israel was the standard bearer of Satan and the Jewish
state would soon fall apart, the official Islamic Republic News Agency
reported Saturday.
“The Zionist regime is the standard bearer of invasion, occupation and
Satan,” he said, predicting Israel’s eventual demise. “When the philosophy
behind the establishment of a regime is in question, it is not unlikely that
it will find itself on a course of decline and dissolution.”
Ahmadinejad has made many anti-Israel comments in the past, the first public
statement to this effect occuring during an October 2005 speech, when he
said that Israel's "Zionist regime should be wiped off the map." He has
since then repeatedly predicted that Israel would disappear.
Recently, the Iranian president launched a
controversial verbal attack on Israel when he said in early June 2007 that
last year's war between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah had
started a "countdown" that will end with Lebanese and Palestinian militants
destroying the Jewish state.
Hostility against US
Meanwhile, Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said they would not bow to
pressure and threatened to "punch" the United States, in a first response to
Washington's plan to list them as a terrorist organization, newspapers
reported Saturday.
On Tuesday, an unnamed official in the Bush administration said the U.S.
planned to list the Guards as terrorist group in order to squeeze Iran.
Washington has accused the Guards of supporting militias and insurgent
groups attacking US forces in Iraq — charges Iran denies.
Local press in the Iranian capital of Tehran quoted Revolutionary Guards
leader Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi saying that he could understand Washington's
ire toward the group because of their "leverage" against the US.
"America will receive a heavier punch from the guards in the future," he was
quoted as saying in the conservative daily Kayhan. "We will never remain
silent in the face of US pressure and we will use our leverage against
them."
There was no elaboration on what Safavi meant by the punch or the
organization's "leverage."
The fact that the remarks, made on Thursday in the central Iranian city of
Isfahan, appeared in local newspapers rather than the official state news
outlets suggest the comments are for domestic consumption.
Meanwhile, other Iranian officials continued
to speak out against Washington's move to register the group as a terrorist
organization, with a government spokesman calling the claims "baseless," on
the Web site of the state broadcasting company.
"The claims of the US are baseless and have no takers around the world," he
said Saturday, noting that "the US has endangered the world many times under
the excuse of fighting against terrorism."
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Iran hangs 30 over 'US plots'
Surge in public executions is a push to silence political activists, say
critics
Robert Tait in Tehran
Sunday August 19, 2007
The Observer
Iran has hanged up to 30 people in the past
month amid a clampdown prompted by alleged US-backed plots to topple the
regime, The Observer can reveal.
Many executions have been carried out in public in an apparent bid to create
a climate of intimidation while sending out uncompromising signals to the
West. Opposition sources say at least three of the dead were political
activists, contradicting government insistence that it is targeting 'thugs'
and dangerous criminals. The executions have coincided with a crackdown on
student activists and academics accused of trying to foment a 'soft
revolution' with US support.
The most high-profile recent executions involved Majid Kavousifar, 28, and
his nephew, Hossein Kavousifar, 24, hanged for the murder of a hardline
judge, Hassan Moghaddas, a man notorious for jailing political dissidents.
They were hanged from cranes and hoisted high above one of Tehran's busiest
thoroughfares.
The spectacle, the first public executions in Tehran for five years, took
place outside the judiciary department headquarters where Moghaddas was
murdered. But the location, near many office blocks and the Australian and
Japanese embassies, meant they were seen by many middle-class Iranians who
would not normally witness such events.
The previous day seven men were publicly executed in the north-eastern city
of Masshad, including five said to be guilty of 'rape, kidnapping, theft and
committing indecent acts'. Another two were hanged separately for raping and
robbing a young woman. The executions were also shown live on state
television.
Public hangings are normally carried out sparingly in Iran and reserved for
cases that have provoked public outrage, such as serial murders or child
killings. Human rights organisations say the rising death toll has brought
the number of prisoners executed this year to about 150, compared to 177 in
2006, a dramatic increase in capital punishment since the country's radical
President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, took office two years ago.
The executions come after the government launched a campaign targeting
murderers, sex offenders, drug traffickers and others cast as a threat to
'social security'. It resulted in a wave of arrests after police raided
working-class neighbourhoods in Tehran and other cities. Those arrested were
paraded in public, often in humiliating poses.
The government has also sought to publicise executions conducted behind
closed doors. Last month state television broadcast footage of 12 condemned
men as they were about to be hanged in Tehran's Evin prison. The authorities
said they had been guilty of 'rape, sodomy and assault and battery'.
Opposition sources say at least three were political activists, though they
have not disclosed their identities. Asiran, a government website, dismissed
the claims as 'lies'.
International gay rights campaigners have also said that homosexual men were
among the executed. Homosexuality is a capital offence in Iran, along with
adultery, espionage, armed robbery, drug trafficking and apostasy.
Iran has long been one of the world's most prolific exponents of the death
penalty and ranks second only to China in the number of executions. Human
rights groups say it has the world's worst record for executions for crimes
committed when the defendant was under 18.
However, there have been signs of official disquiet over the recent trend.
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the relatively moderate judiciary
chief, has made an apparent protest by openly criticising Ahmadinejad's
government on a range of issues. He also signalled displeasure with the
repressive climate by ordering officials to investigate claims that student
activists were tortured during a recent detention in Evin prison.
Shahroudi is believed to have been unhappy over the stoning to death last
month of a man convicted of adultery after he had ordered a stay of
execution.
However, the spate of executions seems likely to continue. Tehran's hardline
chief prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, has announced that he is seeking the
death penalty against 17 'hooligans'.
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Iran commander warns enemies of
"hell" in Gulf
Sun Aug 19, 2007 ; http://www.reuters.com
TEHRAN (Reuters) - The Gulf would become a
"hell" for Iran's enemies if they were to attack the Islamic Republic, a
commander of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards was quoted as saying
on Sunday.
It was the latest in a series of defiant statements from senior Guards
figures after U.S. officials on Wednesday said the United States may soon
name the force a terrorist group, a move that would enable Washington to
target its finances.
"With the power the Guards have obtained now, if the enemies want to ...
start a military confrontation, the Persian Gulf will become a hell for
them," Ali Razmjoo, a naval commander of the Revolutionary Guards, told the
Fars News Agency.
"By using modern systems, no activities and threats by the enemies in the
Persian Gulf would be hidden from us," he said.
Tehran and Washington, which cut diplomatic ties shortly after Iran's 1979
Islamic revolution, are embroiled in a deepening standoff over Tehran's
disputed nuclear programme.
They also blame each other for bloodshed in Iraq.
The Revolutionary Guards has already brushed off the threat from Washington
to label it a terrorist group and has said it "will grow in strength despite
U.S. efforts to isolate it".
Iran has previously threatened to strike back at U.S. regional interests if
attacked over its nuclear programme, rejecting Western accusations it is
aimed at developing atom bombs.
The United States says it would prefer a diplomatic solution to the nuclear
standoff but has not ruled out military action.
The Revolutionary Guards are an ideologically driven force, with a separate
command structure from the regular military.
Some analysts say the force has grown in influence since the election in
2005 of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a former commander. They say
ex-officers have been appointed to political posts and more may run in the
March parliamentary election.
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50 Iranian Guards
train Iraq militias: US
Agencies: August 19, 2007; http://www.gulf-news.com
Baghdad: About 50 members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are believed
to be training Shiite militias in the use of mortars and rockets in southern
Iraq, the general commanding US troops in the area said on Sunday.
"We are concerned primarily about the training of Shiite extremists. We
think there are about 50 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards,"
Major-General Rick Lynch, commander of US forces south of Baghdad, told
reporters.
Lynch said there had been an increase in "indirect fire attacks" on US
forces in his area of command and that rocket attacks were becoming "more
accurate and more effective".
Washington has accused Shiite Muslim Iran of fomenting violence in Iraq
through its support for Shiite militias, especially in southern Iraq.
The US military also accuses Iran of supplying deadly roadside bombs, the
biggest killers of US troops in Iraq, to Iraqi militias and has displayed
caches of weapons it says are from Iran.
Iran denies the charges and blames the 2003 US-led invasion for the
sectarian violence between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs that
has killed tens of thousands.
The US military believes the Revolutionary Guards' Quds force is behind the
shipping of weapons into Iraq, including armour-piercing "explosively formed
penetrators".
At a second round of landmark US-Iran talks on Iraqi security in July, US
ambassador Ryan Crocker accused Iran of stepping up its support for militias
in Iraq.
Crocker also warned Tehran that its Quds operatives would not be safe in
Iraq.
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PAKISTAN: Baloch
TV station director released by military intelligence, detained by
government
In brief: Munir Mengal
disappeared for 16 months, now being held in jail for 30 days
By Natasha Garyali
AsiaMedia Staff Writer
Thursday, August 16, 2007
The managing director of a proposed Balochi television channel was released
by military intelligence on Aug. 6 after being held captive for nearly 16
months in a secret location. According to reports, Munir Mengal is currently
being detained by the government under a 30-day custody order.
Reports say that Mengal went missing in 2006 after returning from Bahrain,
where he went to recruit technical staff for Baloch Voice TV, the first
Baloch-language television station which was scheduled to begin broadcasting
from the United Arab Emirates in June 2006.
Expressing disappointment in the further detention of Mengal, Reporters
Without Borders (RSF) said in a statement that "No official explanation has
ever being given for his 'disappearance' although everyone knew it was yet
another case of abduction by the intelligence services." The media group
also said that Pakistani security services were using detention and
execution as a tool to fight the growing Balochi separatist's movement.
The government is holding Mengal in the Khuzdar District Prison under the
Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance.
The Daily Times reports that in 2006, 11 people were reported missing after
being arrested by law enforcement agencies. Among those who have reported
missing are Munir Ahmed Mengal, editor of the Baloch Voice, Dr. Haneef
Shareef, prominent Balochi-language poet and writer, and Ejaz Ahmed activist
of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The division bench of the Sindh High
Court will hear ten constitutional petitions challenging these alleged
detentions on Aug. 16.
Malik Siraj, bureau chief for the Daily Times in Balochistan, has been
closely monitoring judicial detention for several years. He said in a phone
interview with AsiaMedia that 4,000 Baloch people are in government custody.
"This practice of abduction and disappearance is quite common. What normally
happens is that people go missing all of a sudden and they are detained for
one to four years and later they are found in the custody of police where
they are booked under totally irrelevant charges," Siraj said.
Military agencies in Pakistan, Siraj said, are exempt from the rule of law.
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