Show Me The Rules

Show Me Some Satire

2008-02-19T13:15:00.001+01:00

Buff justice: 'Bored' US man charged over naked stick up

NEW YORK (AFP) - A 24-year-old man arrested in the US state of Pennsylvania for holding up a convenience store wearing nothing but a hat has told police he did it because he was bored, according to local reports.
The surveillance video shows a man with heavy tan lines, apparently from a "wife-beater" style vest, approach the counter. Officials said the man demanded money from the clerk, who refused to hand anything over and called the police....

The robber then fled the store empty handed....

Asked by police why he carried out the attempted robbery, he said he was bored.

Ahh, how often have I sat here at my computer, jobless, looking for a way to stimulate my mind other then through cyber tantric sex on steamy Australian adult chat sites. How I admire this man's courage, and his conviction of not getting lost in that blackhole where time and ambition meet to create boredom. Let him free! I say, how many of us can really admit we haven't sought this sort've enlightenment before when we were bored?

If I recall correctly, I experienced 'boredom' in 1998, as it is so passively reffered to these days, during my time as trumpeteer in a local Mariachi band. Don't get me wrong, I lived the fast lane alright. In fact, some would say I was the least likely to be bored, a superlative category I lobbied hard to include in my high school's senior yearbook. I ended up losing the vote to Adam "Flames" Thompson, whose name alone suggests why I may have been out of my league. Needless to say, it was an eventuality; a new report written by the respected institution on 'boredom', the Beaurau of Low Attaining Statisfaction Enterprise (Blasé), suggests that every man, and most women, over the age of 18 will experience this affliction in their lifetimes. Yet we spend all this money in our never ending obsession with materialism, ignoring the plight felt by literally millions. It's truly a shame to see how wasteful we have become.

But back to my story, it hit me suddenly. Like an Arab boarding a plane, I knew this boredom wasn't going to go away. Although it has not, as of this writing, been proven to be contagious, I am sure that I got it from Raphael, my Portuguese roommate and our Mariachi's guitatarronist. He always held the fact against me that I wasn't as "street" as the rest of the band. That bastard, if only his fascination with the stock market was not as strong, I may have avoided the awful fate that awaited me.

I had realized that band practice was not for another 2 hours, and a meeting I was supposed to have with my perscription drugs dealer had to be cancelled, because of the "fuzz". To my astonishment, I had nothing to do. I looked left, and decided I didn't want to do watch television, any of my 1960's Conspiracy: The Cold War dvd's. To the right, I realized I could read a book, maybe finish up Dog Massage: A Whiskers-to-Tail Guide to Your Dog's Ultimate Petting Experience.

How revolutionary are those petting techniques, I thought to myself. Who would've guessed that there are so many ways to pet a dog! I had broken free for a moment, almost releasing my mind out of this state of boredom, but then I had remembered, my roommate accidentally spoiled the ending for me a week back when he uncautiously blurted out that the paw-claw caress was the most effective of the petting techniques. My eyes stared into a sea of black, and I fell right back in. Damn you, Raphael!

Searching for an answer, I got up from my living room sofa, barged through the balcony doors, leaned off the edge and began to scream to dozens of onlookers. "Help me! For the love of God help me, have you no honor? Is there no decency in your hearts?"

There was no reply. I was truly alone, the world had heard my pleas and turned the other cheek. Where is Jesus when you need him? I thought. Probably in Africa, I imagined. They've got a lot of problems down there .

I needed a saviour, and indeed, one would find me. Well, I sort've found him. 'Him' being the overweight, yet cuddly counter manager of the local Wok 2 Go, who had to endure my endless rant on the similarities between Nouri Al-Maliki and Dane Cook. He always let me speak, though, which I thought was polite. The day ended when a local squad car picked me up, right before I could introduce my new theory of relativity to the interested masses. Oh, and I was naked. I should have mentioned, I was absolutely naked. It's just easier that way.

I would like to use this space to apologize to the Wok 2 Go manager, and the 16 girl-scouts (and their chaperones) who had the unhonarable experience of watching my genetalia wiggle while I showcased my arsenal of topical, yet appropriate impressions Kim Jong-Il. I understand, from several "bills" I have recieved, that 4 of the girls have just finished their first phase of therapy. Congratulations, ladies. Just remember, no pain, no gain.

NOTE To the chaperons: It is inappropriate to use mase, despite how "offensive" and "illegal" a person is acting. Think of going with a harsh email next time, or a mild-yet-weighty face to face scolding.

Stories From The Grave: I'm Alive... Or Am I?

2007-10-02T18:52:00.000+01:00

Some of you may be intruiged by that title; most of you have already left the page. Let's face it, we're no big name blog with an established readership. But today, we break the bounds of blogging. My friends, today is the day that one of the most logical requirements to blogging ceases to matter.

I am dead. Well, pretty dead. Otherwise someone is really gonna get it for burying me. But how is it possible that a man with no life is able to communicate via this blog, in such eloquent fashion? Before you begin to speculate, this is not the work of God. What you see happening before your eyes, what you're reading in this post, it is all man-made. Show Me The Rules has brought a new lease of life and character to a body that has become one with the earth of Egypt. Yet, what will unfold over the next few months (ed. until SMTR starts to find this character lame) is not without purpose. Quite the opposite actually, I have something I need to get off my chest.

I know who did it. I know what happened to me. And now, I'm going to expose the culprits for who they really are, and what they've done. As a new posting feature to SMTR, Stories From The Grave will be my soapbox to educate the world about the fools that write here on this blog. These people think they know everything, but what they don't know is that I know everything about them.

From my unique position on Earth, I'm going to humiliate these nutbags with stories of their past. What you will read from me, I make this guarantee, you will never read from anyone else. And when all is said and done, I will have achieved justice to those who put me to sleep.

I have awoken.

Show Me The Quotes

2007-09-24T13:23:00.000+01:00

"I'm sickened by all religions. Religion has divided people. I don't think there's any difference between the pope wearing a large hat and parading around with a smoking purse and an African painting his face white and praying to a rock. "

-Howard Stern

Show Me The Sun

2007-09-23T10:40:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

I woke up this morning all sweaty, wet, and hot. I had pit stains that could fertilize the most arid of lands. It could have only meant one thing: The sun is out.

Living in Holland, this is a special occurence. Most of the year it's raining, and if there's nothing falling from the sky, there's no sun to be found. There are days where the sun will tease; it'll make an "appearance" in the morning, and maybe pop in right before sunset, just to show you what your missing. Screw you sun, your messing with my mind.

The sun, as it were, is the most psychologically powerful of the stars. It has a grip on peoples minds that is comparable to ecstasy. That is to say, the drug ecstasy. If your not hip enough for that reference (Seriously, try a drug or two. What do you live in the Middle Ages?), think of religion. People worship God; people here also worship the sun.

The siginificance attached to the sun coming out here is seen in the parks, the streets, the outdoor cafes, all of which are rarely more than half full throughout the year. Everyone is outside, people you wouldn't have imagined living in the small town that I do come out for some sun. Girls have changed into their bikinis to hang out in the park, every guy has his newest pair of 'retro' sunglasses on, the overcoats and windbreakers which used to adorn the city center have been replaced with pink and purple 'polo' shirts, not a single collar in sight that hasn't been 'popped'. Even the homeless dont smell as 'sour'. All hell breaks loose, is what I'm saying.

People feel so free, so liberated. I'm sure this isn't unique to Holland (I've heard that the sun actually exists in a lot of countries.. ed. badam tshh) but the contrast of life with the sun vs. life without it is fascinating. Especially being from places that probably get too much sun at times. I'm not behind the fray though, believe me. I'll wear a pair of shorts when the sun visits, maybe even go out in some flip-flops. Dare I say I may even shave for the sun. It's like having a girlfriend in jail; it's great when you see her, but your a bum without her.

So as the day wound down, the sun, having begun its slow departure from our skies, has made us happy. It has made us forget, for a day, that we have responsibilities. That we have kids, students, employees to watch over, deadlines to be met. Tommorrow will be work, studying, and most importantly, no sun. But it always leaves us looking forward to the next 'one day stand.'

Show Me The Quotes

2007-09-22T20:35:00.000+01:00

When you go to a restaurant on the weekends and it's busy so they start a waiting list, they say, "Dufrenes, party of two, table ready for Dufrenes, party of two." And if no one answers they'll say the name again: "Dufrenes, party of two." But then if no one answers, they'll move on to the next name. "Bush, party of three." Yeah, but what happened to the Dufrenes? No one seems to care. Who can eat at a time like this? People are missing. You people are selfish. The Dufrenes are in someone's trunk right now, with duct tape over their mouths. And they're hungry. That's a double whammy. We need help. "Bush, search party of three. You can eat once you find the Dufrenes."

-Mitch Hedburg (1968-2005)

And Now For Something A Little Different..

2007-09-20T20:41:00.001+01:00

The New And Improved SMTR

2007-09-20T19:50:00.001+01:00

Well, not quite. New in the sense that this blog will no longer deal with political stuff, unless its to make fun of stupid people doing stupid things. (I blog at Outsider On The Inside, which I'm starting again regularly. All that commentary I'll keep on there. Shameless plug, I know, but that's how I operate.) Improved in the sense that we're dropping the news bit. There still may be the odd comment on a relavant story, but we're aiming at being more, whats the word, "entertaining" in our posts. That's right, we may even try to make you laugh. Seeing as how nobody really reads this blog though, we may very end up being the only ones laughing. But hey, that's life, so stop crying and feeling sorry for us. We're big, strong men and we don't need your sympathy. The revolution has changed, but it still lives, and we need your support.

Join our revolution, and demand that the world shows us its' rules!

-KA

On Hamas Taking Over Gaza

2007-06-16T14:56:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Since I've last posted a lot has happened in the Palestinian territories; Hamas has taken full control of Gaza, and President Abbas has moved to dissolve the existing parliament, and replacing Hamas' cabinet members with Fatah loyalists.

Read more here, here, here, and here.

Now that the territories are effectively split between the newly declared Islamic state run by Hamas in Gaza, and the Abbas stronghold in the West Bank, the United States is going to recommend to Isreali Prime Minister Olmert that his country ease certain restrictions in the West bank, in order to give more political legitimacy to Abbas. The U.S has shown signs of acceptance towards Hamas in the Gaza strip, with some predicting the last option for Secretary of State Rice is to develop the West bank economically and improve living standards to show Palestinians they are better off under Fatah than Hamas. From an article in today's IHT by Helene Cooper, which I can't find online:

The State Department Insisted that the United States had no plans to abandon Palestinians living in Gaza. Many Diplomats and Middle East experts said they read Abbas's decision (to dissolve parliament, surrender compound) as an attempt to cut his losses in Gaza and consolidate power in the West Bank. Israeli Officials are promoting a proposal that West Bank and Gaza be viewed as seperate entities and that Israel act more forcefully in Gaza to crack down on Hamas militants.

New Blog

2007-06-03T09:52:00.000+01:00

Check out Outsider On The Inside, blogging Egypt to the Netherlands, and everything in between for more analysis and news.

Egypt: Human Rights Leader?

2007-05-27T11:26:00.000+01:00

Since Egypt's election onto the U.N Rights Council, many have raised their voices questioning credibility of a council dedicated to protecting human rights whose own members are serial abusers of their own citizens. The New York based group Human Rights Watch, who have chronicled many of Egypt's abuses in a new report, made a plea for the Egyptian government to reform and improve its record on human rights:

"Egypt has for too long committed serious and systematic abuses at home while consistently undermining UN mechanisms to defend rights," said Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East division.

"Now Cairo needs to show that it really intends to turn a new page on human rights and uphold international standards," he said.

In a 13-page briefing paper, the New York-based watchdog and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said Egypt's human rights record made it a poor choice for membership of the UN's Human Rights Council.

Egypt was elected May 17 to the rights body, where seats are allocated on a regional geographical basis.

Candidates are evaluated according to criteria such as political rights and freedoms, freedom of the press, and human rights promotion at the UN.

Egypt has been slammed at home and abroad over recent revelations of torture in police stations, and has routinely been criticized for its arbitrary arrests of dissidents and restrictions on civil society.

Earlier this month, rights watchdogs UN Watch and Freedom House described Egypt, Angola, Belarus, and Qatar, who were all vying for a place in the 14-seat Human Rights Council, as "unqualified" for membership.

Egypt was elected to the council according to region, and this article in Al-Ahram Weekly suggests what may have played a role in their successful election:

Although the council's founding document makes it a condition that election be based on the candidate's "contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights", analysts explained that the vote was marked by a lack of competition within three of the five UN regional groups, which only put up as many candidates as there were seats available. Egypt was elected on the African Group's "closed slate", with just four countries standing for four seats.

"It all has to do with the brilliant diplomatic efforts on the part of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in marketing Egypt and getting as many votes as possible -- but definitely not with Egypt's record of human rights practices," explained Hafez Abu Seada, secretary-general of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR). "After all, countries with even worse records in human rights abuses could similarly win membership on the council," Abu Seada said.

Mohamed Zarie, director of the Egyptian Human Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners, concurred, saying that voting on the UN council "was all a game of power and mutual interests".

Some countries, according to Abu Seada, would agree to exchange votes in various UN councils and, in Egypt's case, it could rally support from three major blocs: Islamic, Arab and African countries. Zarie also thought there was a US role behind the success of Egypt, arguing that, "the US has diplomatic and strategic interests with Egypt."

But it may not all be bad news:

Whatever reasons were behind Egypt's election on the 47-member UN council, Zarie insists it was not much of a victory. "The Egyptian regime will be mired in an extremely embarrassing situation since it will have to uncover its human rights record to the world," Zarie said.

Once a council member, a country is supposed to "uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights" and "fully cooperate with the council". Zarie said that Egypt will also have to allow visits by, and fully cooperation with, the five council special rapporteurs who have outstanding visit requests dating back as far as 1996 (the special rapporteurs cover torture, human rights defenders, freedom of religion or belief, and the independence of judges and lawyers).

Which, Abu Seada says, is more of an advantage than a disadvantage. "This will help enhance the work of non-governmental human rights organisations and will partly compel Egypt to improve its human rights record which will now be exposed to the whole world.

Read the rest here

Previous:
Egypt Elected To U.N Rights Council

Study Show 75% of Women Harrassed

2007-05-23T20:44:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

A new study conducted by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights (ECWR) claims that 75% of women are harassed in one form or another on a regular basis. The study was done as a part of a wider campaign against sexual harassment, and while it may not be representative of all sectors of society (75% is probably high, yet illustrates an important and relevant point):

Cairo, Egypt (AHN) - A recent report on sexual harassment published in coordination with the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights (ECWR) has highlighted the difficulty of discussing women's issues in Egypt. "Making our streets safe for everyone: a volunteer campaign to end sexual harassment" was published by ECWR on May 18, but much of the report leaves more questions than answers.
Statistics dominate the report, showing that nearly all women in Egypt experience some form of harassment on a regular basis. According to the report, at least 75 percent of women in Egypt are touched inappropriately or verbally harassed throughout their daily activities.
Rebecca Chiao, the International Relations Officer at ECWR, told All Headline News that she was disappointed in the wording of the Arabic version.
"Some [women] explained harassment as happening because people are going away from religion," the Arabic report read. It added that other reasons could be a result of how women dress and show themselves on the streets.
"The report was completely volunteer run and we employed a marketing company to conduct focus groups to better understand the data we were getting," Chiao said. "One of the last focus groups was with working class women and that was a major influence on the writers.
"Working class women [in Egypt] believe it is their fault that harassment happens," Chiao continued. She argued that it shows that there is still a long way to go before women believe that no form of harassment is okay, no matter what someone is wearing.
"It [the study] gives us a picture of what is going on," and that can be used for better use of our resources in helping to end sexual harassment, Chiao argued.

Read more about the campaign and what you can do to help here.

Ayman Nour Decision Postponed

2007-05-23T19:34:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Despite a surprising yet welcome development a few days ago, the Administrative Court has ruled to postpone the decision on whether to free Ayman Nour from prison on medical grounds:

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court refused to immediately release jailed Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour from prison on health grounds on Tuesday but asked for a panel of doctors to have another look at medical reports on his case.

The ruling by the Administrative Court dashed the hopes of Nour's supporters, who were encouraged to read in the state newspaper al-Ahram on Tuesday morning that the court was expected to set him free after some 18 months in prison.

Some broke down in tears in the courtroom and others shouted out: "Down, down with (President) Hosni Mubarak".
...

An initial medical report on Nour said he had several serious health problems but could stay in prison if he received the right treatment and diet. Nour, 42, has both diabetes and heart problems.

The judges on Tuesday asked a committee of medical experts to examine the initial report and report back on June 12.

Nour's lawyer, Amir Salem, said the court's decision was a disappointment. "The al-Ahram report, for example, gave us a hint that the state had taken a political decision to free Ayman Nour ... but this was deceptive," he told reporters.

Nour's wife, Gameela Ismail, said she objected to the way the court had linked Nour's case with that of a drug dealer who is paralysed and who is also seeking release on health grounds.

"I'm sure that when Ayman Nour hears of this ... he will be deeply aggrieved," she told reporters.

It seems to me that he will be released eventually, but that it will be on the government's terms, and nobody else's. However, given that he has a legitimate excuse to be pardoned (not to mention allegations of abuse), why has the international media largely forgotten about him?

From a Gulfnews article on diminishing American pressure for democracy in the region, here's a little snippet about the U.S ambassador to Egypt:

Ricciardone recently told Egyptian television, "Here in Egypt as in the US, there is freedom of speech." Boucher told Voice of America, "I think the Pakistani government is moving forward; they're moving toward elections."

Ricciardone's comments were not a slip of the tongue and the transcript of his television interview was posted on the website of the American embassy in Cairo.

When asked by CNN International recently to comment on the torture and continued detention of Egyptian dissident Ayman Nour, an embassy spokesman refused to be drawn into criticism of President Hosni Mubarak's government. Instead, the spokesman insisted that the US believed Egypt was "making prog-ress" towards democracy.
The ambassador's proc-lamation and his spokes-man's description of a regime that arrests and tortures dissidents as reflecting progress is far from reality.

Apparently "progress" is measured with a different stick in Egypt.

A quick Google News search on Ayman Nour shows that as of now no major news sites (IHT has a small story) have picked up the story yet. (Updated: a few sites have picked up bits and pieces of the Reuters and AP stories written, no major U.S site yet) This would seem to be the ideal time to re-launch the campaign to free him, and possibly shed some light on Egypt's appointment to the new Human Rights Council at the U.N.

Previous:
Ayman Nour May Be Released
Ayman Nour Assaulted In Prison: Wife

Members of Al-Jihad Released, Brotherhood Detained

2007-05-22T13:00:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Egypt has released 135 prisoners who had previously been associated with the extremist group Al-Jihad, after they signed statements renouncing violence. The prisoners had all been jailed for over a decade for participation in the extremist group, which has been blamed for Anwar Sadat's assasination. Here is a little more info about the group (CNS):

Ideology: The group seeks to establish Islamic rule in Egypt by force and targets any secular establishment that they believe to be heretical, especially secular Arab governments. Al-Jihad al-Islami's primary goal is to "overthrow the Egyptian government and replace it with an Islamic state," and to attack "U.S. and Israeli interests in Egypt and abroad."[1,2]
Description: The group has been called an "Egyptian Islamic extremist group" active since the late 1970s, and a "close partner of Bin Laden's Al-Qaida organization." Al-Jihad al-Islami is a large, loosely organized militant group active since the late 1970s in Egypt. Most of the group's attacks have been against Egyptian and other government officials.[1,2] Al-Jihad al-Islami is believed to pursue more high-profile government targets than other Egyptian Islamist groups.
Group Leader: unknown; spiritual leader Sheikh Omar Abd al-Rahman, suspected leader Ayman al-Zawahiri

The leader of another extremist group Al-Gamaa Al Islamiyya issued a statement renouncing violence (to an extent) and even appealing to Al-Qaeda to do the same:

"I'm ... appealing to ... brothers in al-Qaida organization everywhere," Ibrahim's statement said. "I'm appealing to you to stop and review your stances, to put your effort, the Jihad (holy war) ... in the right place and time, away from infighting among Muslims ... away from killing civilians, both Muslims and non Muslims."

"My beloved brothers in al-Qaida: Islamic movements revising ideas and views in religion and life is not a sign of weakness but a proof of strength and vitality," he added.

The leaders of Al-Jihad made their appeal from within prison.

On the same day, over 40 members of the Muslim Brotherhood were detained:

The detentions bring to at least 40 the number of members held since Saturday morning in parallel with what the movement says is an attempt to disrupt its plans to contest June 11 elections for the upper house of parliament.

The Interior Ministry said the 16 detained on Monday were "organizationally linked to ... the Muslim Brotherhood's secret organization".

Mohamed Mursi, a member of the Brotherhood's Guidance Office, said that such an organization did not exist. "The group is well known and operates in the open," he told Reuters.

The latest detainees include Abdel Aziz Abdel Kader, the deputy leader of the organization in the Nile Delta province of Sharkia, where police rounded up 14 members on Saturday, the Brotherhood said on its Web site, www.ikhwanonline.com.

Mursi said the people detained on Saturday were on a Brotherhood training course on how to manufacture and market detergents and household cleaning products. They had nothing to do with any political activity by the movement, he added.

Ayman Nour May Be Released

2007-05-22T12:10:00.002+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

The first person to seriously challenge Hosni Mubarak for his presidency in an open election may be freed from Egyptian prison, due to his deteriorating medical condition:

CAIRO, May 22--Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour could be released Tuesday on medical grounds after a year in jail, Egyptian press said.

The Al-Ahram daily said on its front page that an administrative tribunal is set to examine his request for release due to his deteriorating health and "a positive decision over his release is expected".

The opposition leader who heads the Al-Ghad party was sentenced in December 2005 to five years in prison on fraud charges, widely seen as politically motivated.

Nour came a distant second in the country's first ever multi-candidate presidential elections in September 2005, which the opposition dismissed as widely rigged.

According to rights groups, Nour who suffers from diabetes and a heart complication has seen his health deteriorating rapidly in jail.

The former lawmaker became famous around the world following his January 2005 imprisonment by the Mubarak government.

The incarceration was seen around the world as politically motivated, causing a lot of internal anger and foreign pressure for his release.

Previous:
Ayman Nour Assaulted In Prison: Wife

Egypt Elected To U.N Rights Council

2007-05-19T14:07:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Egypt has been elected to a new Rights Council in the U.N, created in order to replace the heavily criticized Human Rights Commission, despite the numerous recorded abuses of its' citizens:

Human rights groups had called on the General Assembly to vote against Belarus as well as Egypt, Qatar and Angola, countries which have been cited for poor human rights records. However, those three countries were running uncontested, and easily gained passage to the council.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he was generally pleased with the results.

"I was particularly heartened by the election of Bosnia, and congratulate the Bosnians," he said. "This bodes well for the reform of the Human Rights Council that is very much needed."
The Human Rights council was created in 2006, replacing the largely discredited U.N. Human Rights Commission. One aim of the new council is to keep chronic human rights abusers off its roster.

So they failed at the first thing they aimed to do. Just a few examples of Egypt's distinguished human rights record:

Ayman Nour Assaulted In Prison: Wife
Military Tribunals For Citizens
Egyptian Bloggers Detained
Egyptian Executive Control
Torture In Egypt

Previous:
Egypt 'Unqualified' For U.N Rights Council

Pointing The Finger

2007-05-17T12:16:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

My post at Mideast Youth :

The Organization of the Islamic Conference concluded at the end of a meeting Wednesday that Islamophobia has become the “worst form of terrorism.” Foreign Ministers and representatives of Islamic societies gathered in Islamabad for the 34th annual Islamic Conference of FM’s, and spoke in unison in highlighting what they percieved as negative attitudes towards followers of their religion living in the West. An article in the Arab News had this to say:

“The increasingly negative political and media discourse targeting Muslims and Islam in the United States and Europe has made things all the more difficult,” the foreign ministers said. “Islamophobia became a source of concern, especially after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, but the phenomenon was already there in Western societies in one form or the other,” they pointed out. “It gained further momentum after the Madrid and London bombings. The killing of Dutch film director Theo van Gogh in 2004 was used in a wicked manner by certain quarters to stir up a frenzy against Muslims,” the ministers pointed out. Van Gogh had made a controversial film about Muslim culture.

The Foreign Ministers seem to have a grip on what is causing Islamophobia, correctly highlighting events in Holland, Spain, and the United States that have certainly provided backlash on Muslim communities. Yet, in this same context, is Islamophobia really the largest form of terrorism?

Continue reading here.

Quick News

2007-05-16T10:30:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Light posting today, but here are some other stories:

-Iran's President says he is ready to restore ties with Egypt; Egypt welcomes the idea.

-Evangelist Jerry Fallwell dies: Librocrat Reacts

-"We are Palestinian, we are women, and we are gay."

-Diet Koshari:

When the diet koshari was initially announced, many TV satellite channels and dailies rushed to highlight it as the first of its kind. The dish was designed to appeal to those watching their weight, the antithesis of the regular carbohydrate-rich meal.
Tarek explained: "We first served it to some of our neighbors and close friends, many of who relished it and didn't mind the price. Having taken that step we served it for a few days at a low price with the aim of introducing it to people.
"However as it began to break into the outlet as one of the major items, the bulk of our clients weren't actually sympathetic with the idea, especially as the price on the menu was shockingly higher than the regular dishes.
"They said diet or otherwise both types are koshari and there was no need to toy with prices."
Tarek described how the ingredients of the diet koshari are available at Abu Tarek's' stores, but the meal itself can't be marketed at loss.
Abu Tarek's is waiting for the peak of summer to start considering serving the diet meal again. "Actually the very educated people, tourists and young girls could be the groups that would demand it. Let's wait and see."
According to Tarek, an ordinary koshari dish is made up of six tablespoons of rice, four tablespoons of pasta and four tablespoons of brown lentils. It contains between 800 and 850 calories.

The number of calories in the new dish is expected to go down by half, Tarek said. He has been informed by specialists that koshari is not a health hazard compared to sweets and other sugary products, provided it is made up of the right ingredients in the right amounts.

In the new dish, it's the quality rather than quantity that is bound to change.
Instead of Egyptian rice, long grain rice will be used which usually contains less starch.

The amount of dieter-friendly lentils could also be increased. Brown pasta will replace the traditional type.

Also, pure refined oil will be used in making the red sauce as well as in crisping the onion rings, two basic elements that are synonymous with koshari.

Court Stunned By Admiration For Israel

2007-05-16T10:22:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

An Egyptian engineer, charged with selling classified information to Israeli intelligence with the aim of harming national security, stunned a courtroom Tuesday by openly praising Israel's achievements in science and technology:

Mohammed Sayed Saber, 35, a nuclear engineer with Egypt's atomic agency, has been charged with stealing secret documents and giving them to Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, in exchange for $17,000 and with the aim to harm Egyptian national security, the prosecutor said. An upbeat Saber appeared before the judge in a white prison jumpsuit at the start of his trial Tuesday, smiling and flashing a victory sign to media crammed into a dusty Cairo courtroom.

''I don't hide my admiration of Israel ... It has reached a very high technological and scientific level,'' Saber said in court. ''To seek to benefit from Israel scientific expertise, is not shameful or wrong ... They are a very organized and pragmatic society with definite goals, unlike chaotic societies.'' ''I don't have animosity toward the Israeli people, why should I? The fact that we had wars against Israel doesn't mean that we remain enemies forever,'' added Saber, who has never visited the Jewish state.
The hearings were adjourned till June 9. Saber, who faces up to 25 years in jail on espionage charges, did not enter a plea Tuesday.
Saber's pro-Israeli speech was so unusual that Judge Mohammed Reda Shwakat, presiding over the three-judge panel at south Cairo state security court, called him from the defendant's cage to the bench where he then questioned him for almost four hours in the presence of three defense lawyers.

What Verdict?

2007-05-14T22:02:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

The "landmark verdict" that declared the trying of civilians in Egyptian military tribunals unconstitutional last week has been reversed by the Supreme Administrative Judge, through orders of the President:

CAIRO -- Egypt Monday upheld a decision by President Hosni Mubarak to have 40 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood group tried by a military court, a judicial source said.

Supreme Administrative Court Judge Essam Abdel Aziz reversed a May 8 ruling in a lower court which declared invalid the president's decision, the source said.

The military trial of the men, charged with money laundering and financing a banned organization, will resume June 3.

The judge at the May ruling, Mohammed Al Husseini, said a military court would not "assure a fair trial" and the verdict was then described as "historic and unprecedented" by the banned but tolerated Brotherhood.

One of the accused is the Brotherhood's financier and third-ranking official, Khayrat Al Shater.

The defendants and around 100 relatives had filed a suit against Mubarak but the president's lawyers argued that he had "absolute power" in the matter.

Husseini said "there is nothing in Egyptian law called absolute power, so [Mubarak's] decision is illegal, because every decision must be based on the law and the constitution."

Egyptian authorities have kept Shater and the other accused behind bars in spite of a civilian court order in January to free the men. (Middle East Times)

Previous:
Verdict: Military Tribunals For Civilians "Unconstitutional"
Verdict Challenged By Government

Corrupt Politicians or Corrupt "ed" Voters?

2007-05-14T08:03:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Unfortunately, for one to gain exposure and publicity, he needs the media and big money. The system is corrupt and the voters have been corrupted. Therefore, I should have used the term "corrupted" rather than "corrupt". Its an epidemic on a mass scale. American voters are unaware of the effects of this corruption. As if they are zombies: voting for the candidate they see most often on TV. Its kind of like that extremely annoying Head-on commercial, the one advertising an ointment for headaches and is aired several times an hour. As much as viewers can't stand the commercial, they are still very tempted to try the product once they come across it at a retail location. The product is a joke yet the company selling it makes millions still. Same effect in politics. Until Americans understand this illness or corruption or disease or ignorance or whatever you wanna call it, corrupted American voters will continue putting corrupt politicians into POWER! Show me the rules.

Previous:
Corrupt Politicians or Corrupt Voters?
U.S Presidential Race: Mike Gravel

Iranian-American Academic Charged With Spying...

2007-05-14T07:11:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

For Israel. Surprise, surprise. Its the Jews! Haleh Esfandiari has now been charged with with attempting to launch "a democratic revolution". I thought Iran was already a democracy? The Iranians also uncovered a vast Zionist plot involving Mossad as well:

Iran's foreign ministry on Sunday confirmed the government had detained a prominent American-Iranian academic who traveled to the country in December to visit her 93-year-old mother.

The admission by ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini came a day after the hard-line Iranian newspaper Kayhan accused Haleh Esfandiari of spying for the U.S. and Israel and for attempting to launch a democratic revolution in the country.

"She will be treated as other Iranian nationals, said Hosseini during his weekly press briefing. It is natural if there is any problem, it will be handled by authorities."

Although Hosseini said Esfandiari's detention was based on law, he did not provide further details on why the director of the Middle East Program at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars was being held.

The Kayhan newspaper was more explicit in its allegations against Esfandiari, who the Wilson Center has said was detained on Dec. 30 by three masked men with knives as she was on her way to the airport.

"She has been one of the main elements of Mossad in driving a velvet revolution strategy in Iran, the paper wrote. She formed two networks, including Iranian activists, in the U.S and Dubai for toppling down [the Islamic government]".
(Haaretz)

Her husband denies all the accusations, and unfortunately she seems to be the victim of the illegitimate paranoia that surrounds the governments and regimes in the Middle East. Either way, if her only charge is attempting to bring democracy to a region void of representative government, she's a hero.

Visit Free Haleh! and sign the petition to free her here.

Update: Senators Hilary Clinton and Joe Lieberman have expressed concern over the "inexplicable detention" of Haleh Esfandiari:

"I am deeply concerned about the inexplicable detention of renowned scholar Dr. Haleh Esfandiari by the Iranian government," Clinton said in a statement.

Clinton said Esfandiari had made significant contributions to international women's issues and Iranian politics.

"This imprisonment contradicts the very essence of her work, which focuses on ensuring the promise of democracy and freedom to those who live under tyranny," the New York senator said.

"I urge the government of Iran to release Dr. Esfandiari," she said, and also called on Iran to ease travel restrictions on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Parnaz Azima who was also unable to leave Iran.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, meanwhile, said Esfandiari had been "inexplicably and inexcusably imprisoned."

Update 2: Iran's Foreign Ministry refuses to confirm the detention, despite widespread coverage of the story.

Previous:
Iran Jails Iranian-American Academic
Iranian-American "Soft Hostages"

Iran Will Talk To U.S About Iraq

2007-05-13T16:35:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

On an issue which both sides have gone back and forth on, Iran's FM has apparently agreed to formal discussions on Iraq with the United States. A request was issued through the Swiss embassy in Iran, although unconfirmed by the United States, which suggests either the necessity of the talks, or signifies a policy change towards Iran.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari had said last week that he expected such Iranian-U.S. talks to happen in Baghdad soon.
During a meeting on Iraq's future in Baghdad two months ago, mid-level U.S. and Iranian officials did meet briefly and discuss Iran. Mid-level officials also met briefly at last weekend's Iraq summit at an Egyptian resort.
"Iran has agreed to this (negotiation) after consultation with Iraqi officials, in order to lessen the pain of the Iraqi people, support the Iraqi government and establish security and peace in Iraq," the agency quoted Mohammad Ali Hosseini, spokesman of Iran's foreign ministry, as saying.
The report said the negotiations will be held in Baghdad.
"Time and level of negotiation team will be decided by the end of the week," Hosseini was quoted as saying.
Hosseini said last week that Iran was willing, under the right conditions, to improve its chilly relations with the U.S. despite having passed up the opportunity for high-level, direct talks at the second Iraq conference.

Update: Dick Cheney, who's in Cairo for talks with Mubarak about Iraq, confirmed through a spokeswoman that the U.S is ready for significant talks with Iran only if they're limited to Iraq:

"We are willing to have that conversation limited to Iraq issues at the ambassador level," said Lea Anne McBride. She said the willingness is not a new position, but reflects an earlier-stated U.S. position.

She spoke after Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said that Tehran has agreed to a formal request from the U.S. to talk about security in Iraq during meetings in Baghdad, the country's official news agency reported.

The report said Iran had received the request through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which often acts as an intermediary for the U.S. in the country.
McBride said she didn't have all the specifics. But she said Iran's comments appeared to be a reference to what the U.S. has called "the Baghdad channel."

Syria Prepares Military Exercises

2007-05-13T11:21:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Syria is advancing its military exercises in preparation for war with Israel, according to this report:

TEL AVIV [MENL] -- Syria has advanced its military schedule in what could signal plans for war with Israel in 2007.Officials said Syria has decided to conduct a series of major military exercises in May through July. They said the decision was meant to accelerate preparations for a war against Israel in the summer of 2007."Syria is now in the middle of an unprecedented process of a huge military buildup," Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said. "They have acquired state-of-the-art Russian weapons, huge quantities of long-range rockets and missiles."Officials said Syria was close to concluding negotiations to purchase advanced anti-aircraft systems from Russia. They said the systems could include the S-300PMU1 air and missile defense system as well as the TOR-M1 mobile short-range anti-aircraft battery.

Ayman Nour Assaulted In Prison: Wife

2007-05-13T10:06:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Jailed Egyptian politician Ayman Nour, who ran as the main opponent to Hosni Mubarak in the country's first presidential election, was allegedly assaulted in prison this Saturday. According to his wife Gameela Ismail, he was dragged down some stairs and beaten:

She said Nour's lawyers had reported that he was dragged and beaten when he refused to walk up several flights of stairs. He had asked to take the elevator, complaining of joint problems, she added.

Ismail said he told his lawyers that he had been assaulted by three officers, and that Nour's lawyers had seen bruises on his legs and wrists.

An Egyptian government medical committee ruled earlier this year that Nour was healthy enough to serve out his prison term. The committee found Nour's health was not in danger so long as he took his medication and meals regularly.

Egypt has come under Western pressure over Nour's imprisonment. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called on Egypt to release him.

Egyptian rights groups say Nour's health has seriously deteriorated since a cardiac catheterisation procedure in a Cairo hospital in December, aimed at finding out whether Nour needed heart surgery or stents to hold his arteries open.

Ismail has said her husband had an irregular heartbeat and had developed knee problems in prison that limited his mobility and required surgery.

It seems not only terrorists are treated poorly when detained by the State's security.

Verdict Challenged By Government

2007-05-12T10:24:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

The landmark verdict passed this week, which called the Egyptian government's policy of sending civilians to military tribunals 'unconstitutional', is being challenged by the government:

CAIRO: Authorities filed an objection Wednesday to a court verdict that ruled it unlawful for the Egyptian president to transfer civilians to military tribunals, thus acquitting 40 high-ranking members of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) on Monday.
According to members of the MB, the acquitted MB leaders will be kept in detainment until May 19 when a hearing on the new governmental objection will be held in Cairo’s Abdeen Court.
“This is clearly politically motivated and a violation of human rights. Our members have been acquitted by four different courts now, but are still imprisoned. The whole thing is just ridiculous,” Ibrahim El-Houdaiby a member of the Muslim Brotherhood told The Daily Star Egypt.
While El-Houdaiby was shocked over the extended detainment of his fellow members, he stressed that it did not come as a surprise to many of the detainees.
“We can soon start a collection of all the court verdicts that have ordered our release. I expect to see more of this coming,” one of the imprisoned leaders reportedly said.
Deputy Brotherhood leader Mohamed Habib reportedly told Reuters that “the Brotherhood is used to this kind of behavior. This is the method of the regime and the ruling party.”
Rights watchdog Human Rights Watch was not surprised over the turn in the case either.

Egyptian Christians And Religious Intolerance

2007-05-12T08:55:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

A law passed last month by an administrative court in Egypt has made it illegal under Egyptian law to officially change your religion from Islam to Christianity, if you've already made the switch once before. Meaning former Christians who wish to be recognized by the state as Christians again must stick with Islam, for which the rules of membership have apparently changed:

Christian clergy and intellectuals in the country have expressed resentment toward the ruling, calling it a "step backward" and contradictory to Egypt's citizenship laws. They argue that the court's decision undoubtedly moves Egypt nearer to being a theocratic state.

In Egypt, Christians have been known to convert to Islam in order to marry Muslims - non-Muslim men must convert on paper to Islam before being allowed to marry Muslim women. The new law, the government argues, is an attempt to maintain religious integrity, but many Egyptians believe it is a move to ensure that Muslim numbers are maintained.

"As a Muslim, I say that there is no limit to the freedom of religion and, without it, heaven and hell would be ... meaningless as the Koran assures the individual freedom of belief and disbelief [and] in return [people] are responsible for their choice," Mohammed Munir Mogahed, a founding member of Egyptians Against Religious Segregation, said recently in the Egyptian daily, Al Masry Al Youm.

Mogahed added that the Muslim holy text did not give rules concerning apostasy, arguing that religious scholars' opinions on the matter had been controversial.

"We can compare this issue to citizenship, as every Egyptian has the right to give up his or her citizenship and take on a different one, and there is nothing against him or her" for doing so, he pointed out.

The case began in 2005 when 45 Christians wishing to convert back to Christianity from Islam asked Egypt's ministry of interior for new identification papers and birth certificates that stated they were Christians.

The interior ministry refused to issue the papers saying it didn't see a legal reason for doing so, regarding the petitioners' request as playing with religion to suit their needs.

From the Egyptian Constitution (Article 46):

The State shall guarantee the freedom of belief and the freedom of practice of religious rites.

Update: Unrelated violence between Muslim and Christian villagers south of Cairo, resulting in a street fight and 59 arrests:

CAIRO, May 12 (Reuters) - Egyptian security forces have arrested 59 Muslims who took part in clashes with Coptic Christians over church construction in a village south of Cairo, security sources said on Saturday. They said prosecutors ordered the arrests after taking the testimony of 10 Christians who were hurt in the clashes on Friday in which hundreds of villagers from both faiths fought with sticks and hurled bricks and firebombs at one another.
The sources said at least 10 Christian houses and five shops were gutted by fire during the clashes in the village of Behma, about 60 km (40 miles) from the Egyptian capital. Egyptian authorities were still assessing the damage. Relations between Muslims and minority Coptic Christians in Egypt are generally peaceful despite sporadic violence, but restrictions on building churches have been one of the main grievances of Egypt's mainly Coptic Christian community.

Iraqi MP's Plan To Vote U.S Out

2007-05-12T08:38:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Members of Iraq's Parliament have been gathering support for a measure that would allow the assembly to vote on whether U.S troops should stay in the country. This is pretty much what U.S Presidential candidate Tommy Thompson proposed as a solution to gaining legitimacy for an American presence, although he thinks they'd vote yes. Not according to this article:

Baha Al Aaraji, a supporter of radical anti-American cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, said that 144 members of the 275-seat national assembly had signed a draft law that would set a departure timetable for US troops.

"The signatures have been submitted to the speaker of parliament and, after that, a committee chaired by me was formed," he said.

Aaraji's committee has asked Iraq's defense, interior, and national security ministries to suggest a date by which their forces will be ready to take charge of security operations currently overseen by US forces.

"We've received two answers and now the committee is holding a series of meetings. We could finish within the next few days, and then the law will be discussed and voted on," Aaraji said.

"Many people support it. I signed it myself," said Kurdish MP Mahmoud Othman, while insisting that most members regard the vote as a non-binding petition rather than a law that would require a withdrawal.

Othman said Sadr's supporters were focusing too hard on the withdrawal side of the bill while others, despite supporting the draft, were mainly seeking a role for the Iraqi parliament in making the eventual decision.

"They want to build Iraqi forces to take over when the Americans withdraw while they are withdrawing American forces. The two processes go hand-in-hand," he said, while confirming his support for a timetable.

"A majority of parliamentarians want this objective timetable agreed upon between Iraqis and Americans," he added. (ME TIMES)

Iran Offers U.S Help In 'Exit Strategy'

2007-05-11T17:19:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister has offered the United States his country's help in developing an exit strategy for U.S forces in Iraq:

Abbas Araghchi, speaking to the Financial Times business daily, also dismissed U.S. allegations that Iran was supplying Iraqi insurgents with weapons, and added that no amount of pressure would convince Iran to give up its nuclear program.
"Their invasion was a disaster ... let there not be a disastrous withdrawal," Aragchi told the paper. "Yes, immediate withdrawal could lead to chaos, civil war. No one is asking for immediate withdrawal of foreign forces. But there should be a plan." Aragchi said, however, that the American presence in Iraq was part of the problem, telling the FT that Iraq is "suffering a vicious cycle."
"There are foreign forces who have occupied Iraq and justify their presence under the pretext of the 'war on terror' and there are terrorists who claim they are fighting occupiers," he said. He said, as well, that American claims that Iran was supplying Iraqi insurgents were without basis: "They should stop blaming others for problems they have themselves created." "In fact, the number of weapons that have come into Iran from Iraq is high, as you can see by reading the crime pages of (Iranian) newspapers. Terrorist groups as well as criminals see Iraq as an opportunity."

Extended Comment: In recent weeks, Iran has begun to level accusations towards the United States that the prolonged campaign in Iraq has been harmful to their security; much like the constant U.S claims that Iran is aiding and financing terrorists in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. Of course, we know that second part is true, and one wonders who's best interest the Iranian regime has in mind given its ongoing effort to undermine the sovereignty of Lebanon, through Hezbollah.

The prospect of an Iranian-designed U.S pullout from Iraq (as ridiculous of a proposition as there exists) is non-existant, yet one wonders if the true extent of the hypocrisy of this statement is felt by the Islamic clerics in power in Iran. If the Persian regime is so willing to better the situation of its neighbors (who's children have suffered so greatly in recent years), where was this generosity at the recent Iraq conference? Was the prospect of peace and stability in the region not worth ignoring the woman in red for a few hours? Would this 'exit strategy' the Iranians are offering take into account the suffering caused by Iran's continued calls for increased resistance in the region, which have aided in the radicalization of the region's youth?

The truth is that Iran is an enemy of the United States; it has made this distinction very clear. Yet the debate today centers around Iran's capability of acting upon its declared opposition to American values and its support for Israel; is Iran an enemy to be feared? Ahmadinijad has tried to establish himself as an academic, a supporter of intellectual debate upon which he has based his core positions of denying Israel's existence and his country's nuclear program. So far the United States and its allies have dismissed Iranian rhetoric as baseless propaganda, refusing to engage in debates provoked by ridiculous claims of holocaust denial and U.S plots to divide the country. I say why doesn't the world engage this debate? If they feel they have some sort of intellectual superiority over the world that justifies their radicalized conception of global justice, let's show them how wrong they are. Statements like the 'exit strategy' will be overlooked as no more than ridiculous verbiage from a regime that has proven more than capable of providing blog-fodder and enraging those of us that subscribe to the values of logic and humanity. Yet Western politicians who openly oppose and criticize Iran should use these statements to engage debates with the Regime, to undermine their intellectual and moral superiority in the same fashion with which they attempt to destroy the credibility of the West with claims of imperialism and injustice. It must be realized that as ridiculous as their statements sound to us, there are many who will take hear their words with no rebuttal from foreign leaders.

It is no longer enough to dismiss these statements; we cannot allow any legitimacy to the men who make such claims, as this is an over-looked front on the ideological aspect of the war on terror. Many will argue that responding to these statements provides legitimacy for their claims; I argue the opposite. In a region where statements by religious leaders are taken as fact, we must not allow radical regimes to gain any following from these words. If they want to be enemies, let's make them look like ignorant ones.

Iraqi Christians Demand Protection

2007-05-11T07:30:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Two of Iraq's top Christian leaders have issued a joint statement urging the government to do more to protect Iraqi Christians, who they say are facing "persecution" from terrorist groups:

In a joint statement, Patriarch Mar Dinka IV of the Catholic Assyrian Church of the East and the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Emmanuel Delly of Babylon said that Baghdad's remaining Christians were facing persecution.
They blamed the so-called "Islamic State of Iraq," an alliance of Islamist insurgent groups that serves as an Al Qaeda front, for much of the violence. "Christians in a number of Iraqi regions, especially those under the control of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq, have faced blackmail, kidnapping, and displacement," the statement said. The churchmen expressed surprise that Al Qaeda's influence has "reached parts of Baghdad while the government has kept silent and not taken a firm stance to stop their expansion." Before the US invasion in March 2003 there were estimated to be around 800,000 Christians in Iraq, around 3 percent of the otherwise largely Muslim population, living mainly in urban centers such as Baghdad.
Although there were some attacks on churches in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq's Christians were not especially targeted while rival Sunni and Shiite Muslim factions went to war. As a relatively wealthy community, however, many Christians fell prey to kidnap and ransom gangs and many - probably more than half - of them have fled the country or moved to the relative safety of Iraqi Kurdistan. Now there are reports that Salafist groups such as Al Qaeda, fundamentalists who believe that Islam can be renewed by returning to the values of the era of the Prophet Mohammed, are targeting Christians on purely sectarian grounds.

Corrupt Politicians Or Corrupt Voters?

2007-05-11T06:11:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Poor American voters. Americans often complain that they have a poor selection of candidates to choose from, whether it be for president or any other political office. Americans often admit that they end up voting for the candidate that is the "lesser of two evils" or for the candidate that is "electable" rather than the one who truly deserves to be elected. I can't count how many times I've heard people say "oh he won't win, he's too nice" or oh she won't win, she's too honest" or "they won't win, they're too pro-peace" and so on. What the fuck!?? How ironic is it when a candidate who is honest is not electable for office? Its ludicrous. What is wrong with Americans when they say such things? Is it sad but true, or is it true because of the sad attitudes that Americans have toward the non-mainstream candidates? It is essentially that attitude that results in the sincere candidates not being elected while the less sincere, or straight-up sleezy politicians, end up getting elected because Americans felt the need to vote for the "electable" candidate. Corrupt politicians are put in to office by corrupt voters. American voters have been corrupted with the idea that voting for the good guy is not a realistic option. After all, nice guys finish last, right? Wrong, they are voted for last. If I am wrong, then show me the rules!

Iranian-American "Soft Hostages"

2007-05-11T05:47:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

A little more insight into three Iranian-American women currently detained in Iran, with the U.S State Department confirming the story and calling for them to be allowed to return to their families:

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack confirmed the Iranian action against Esfandiari and said that Iran had also confiscated the passport of two other Iranian-American women to prevent them from leaving the country, including a correspondent for the US government-funded Radio Farda, Parnaz Azima.

The third woman was not identified.

McCormack said that the three women were among several US nationals who "have been harassed or are being harassed by the Iranian government, I can't tell you why."

He added that the US government was in close contact with the families of the three women, but would only publicly comment on the cases of Esfandiari and Azima because their families had already spoken to the press.

"We want to see them return back to their families," McCormack said. "These two women - you have an academic on one hand, you have a journalist on another - both are grandmothers, so I am not sure what it is that the Iranian government has to fear from those individuals," he said.

"These are people who are no threat to the Iranian people and the Iranian government," he said, asserting that they had traveled multiple times between the two countries without incident in the past.

"If the regime is willing to harass these innocent people, it's just an insight into the kind of government with which we are dealing," he said.

Also, a former FBI agent who disappeared while vacationing in Iran in March remains missing.

Iran Jails Iranian-American Academic

2007-05-09T13:24:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Haleh Esfandiari, an Iranian-American academic who works for the Woodrow Wilson International Center For Scholars, has been detained in Iran after spending months under house arrest. There are three Iranian-American "soft hostages" currently detained in Iran:

Esfandiari, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen who has lived in the United States for more than a quarter-century, has been under virtual house arrest since December, when the government refused to allow her to leave Iran after visiting her 93-year-old mother. Since then, she has been summoned repeatedly for interrogations by intelligence officials about U.S. programs on Iran. In particular, she was questioned about Iran programs at the Wilson Center, a prominent foreign policy think tank.

Esfandiari was summoned by the Intelligence Ministry again Tuesday but was then taken to Tehran's notorious Evin Prison, the sources said.

She is one of three "soft hostages," dual U.S.-Iranian nationals, whose passports have been confiscated by the Iranian government.

Until Esfandiari' s detention Tuesday, the Wilson Center and her family had sought to avoid publicity in hopes she would be granted a new passport.

Esfandiari and the other soft hostages appear caught up in an Iranian reaction to the Bush administration's $75 million program to promote democracy in Iran, unveiled last year. Tehran has since cracked down on human-rights advocates, labor groups and women's rights campaigners, according to human-rights activists.

During her interrogations, Esfandiari was pressured to make false confessions or to falsely implicate the Wilson Center in activities in which it had no role, Hamilton said.

On Monday she was told to report to the Ministry of Intelligence again. When she arrived Tuesday, she was taken to Evin Prison. It is unclear whether she has been formally charged.

Verdict: Military Tribunals For Civilians "Unconstitutional"

2007-05-09T10:44:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

In a landmark verdict yesterday, the Egyptian State Administrative court acquitted 33 senior Muslim Brotherhood members and deemed that referring civilians to military tribunals is unconstitutional:

The verdict is a "victory to the Brotherhoods and gives hope for better trial conditions for its members in the future,” Abdel Moniem Abdel Maqsoud, defense lawyer in the case told The Daily Star Egypt.
“I really hope this verdict gets implemented. The Egyptian judiciary system must immediately stop referring civilians-whether members of the Brotherhood or not- to martial courts,” Maqsoud added.
Since their arrest and freezing of their financial assets in late 2006, the detainees have been acquitted by civilian courts twice.
While the official charges against the defendants have not been made public, the Brotherhood’s Ibrahim El-Houdaiby argues that charges involved money laundering, terrorism, and ‘attempts to revive the ideas of an outlawed organization’.
“The accusations were equally ridiculous as the arrest decision. This trial has been politically motivated inside and out,” El-Houdaiby to The Daily Star Egypt.

While this verdict is definitely positive, the anti-terror legislation passed as part of the recent constitutional amendments still allows the government to detain anyone they deem a terrorist, under their very broad definition. And the government has set a precedent of doing whatever it wants anyway, so it will be interesting to see what affect this verdict has, if any.

Update: The government, of course, is seeking to overturn the verdict.

Update 2: Two more Brotherhood MP's have their immunity lifted.

Previously:

Military Tribunals For MB Members

Mubarak Wants Military Appeals Court

Rice Reiterates Military Option On Iran

2007-05-08T19:27:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

While addressing Iran in an interview with Arabic satellite channel Al-Arabiya, U.S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said President Bush will keep a military option on the table in dealing with their nuclear program:

“The American president will not abandon the military option and I believe that we do not want him to do so,” Rice said in an interview with Al Arabiya television, part of which was broadcast on Tuesday.

Iran is embroiled in a standoff with the West over its nuclear ambitions. The West suspects it is seeking to develop atomic weapons but Teheran says it wants only to generate electricity so that it can export more of its oil and gas.

Rice in remarks dubbed in Arabic said Bush remained ”committed to the diplomatic option. If the world remained strong, there would be a chance for the success of the diplomatic option”.

Two sets of United Nations sanctions have been imposed on Iran since December and major powers have warned a third, tougher resolution might be needed if Teheran did not halt uranium enrichment.

“I say to the Iranians ... there are two options -- isolation and dialogue,” she said.

Analysts say the measures, including arms and financial sanctions, are hurting business and deterring foreign investment in the Islamic state, which despite its oil wealth is struggling with inflation and unemployment.

Save The Children Report Praises Egypt

2007-05-08T17:11:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Egypt has made the most progress among developing countries since 1990 in reducing deaths of children under the age of 5, according to a report by Save The Children:

The report called Egypt a success story.

"They have invested in extending access to basic maternal, newborn and child health services," Save the Children health director David Oot told reporters.

"The country has aimed to reduce the fertility rate, reduce the maternal mortality rate and improve pregnancy outcomes. Since 1990, use of contraceptives has increased to nearly 60 percent, and the fertility rate has slowly declined from 4.3 to 3.1 births per woman," the report said.

Joining Egypt among the five most-improved were: Indonesia with a 60 percent lower child death rate amid major investments in public health; Bangladesh, 51 percent lower; Nepal, 49 percent lower; and the Philippines, 47 percent lower.

Joining Iraq among the nations whose child death rates deteriorated the most were Botswana, 107 percent worse; Zimbabwe, 65 percent worse; Swaziland, 45 percent worse; and Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya and Cambodia, all 24 percent worse.

Life-saving measures -- vaccines, oral rehydration therapy for diarrhea and insecticide-treated mosquito nets for malaria -- are inexpensive, but remain out of reach in many places, Save the Children chief Charles MacCormack said.

Of course, Iraq's status of child death prevention has worsened the most among developing countries in the past decade and a half:

Iraq, gripped by war since a U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 and subjected to years of economic sanctions before that, had a 150 percent increase in child mortality, it added.

"Even before the latest war, Iraqi mothers and children were facing a grave humanitarian crisis caused by years of repression, conflict and external sanctions," the report said.

Wartime electricity shortages, insufficient clean water, deteriorating health services and soaring inflation have worsened already difficult living conditions, it said.

In 2005, it added, 122,000 Iraqi children -- one in eight -- died before age 5, half in the first month of life.

Egypt 'Unqualified' For U.N Rights Body

2007-05-08T17:06:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Egypt has been deemed 'unqualified' to hold a position on the UN Human Rights Council, which is set to elect 14 new members this month:

UNITED NATIONS, NY, USA -- Angola, Belarus, Egypt, and Qatar are not qualified to sit on the Human Rights Council, the United Nations' top rights body, two nongovernmental organizations said Monday.

With the Geneva-based council due to elect 14 new members May 17, UN Watch and Freedom House, two groups that champion human rights worldwide, described the four countries as "authoritarian regimes with negative UN voting records and ... not qualified to be members under the applicable standards."

"It's important for General Assembly members to vote against them [the four] or to abstain or to write in the name of another country," Tom Melia, the deputy director of Washington-based Freedom House, told a press conference. "The challenge for democracies is to vote only for democracies."

Fifteen countries are vying for the 14 council seats that are allocated on a regional geographical basis.

Each candidate is evaluated based on criteria such as political rights and political freedoms, freedom of the press, and human rights promotion at the UN, according to Hillel Neuer, the head of Geneva-based UN Watch.

Under those criteria, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, and Slovenia were judged "well qualified" while the qualifications of Bolivia, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Nicaragua, the Philippines, and South Africa were found to be "questionable."

Al-Zawahiri The Comic

2007-05-06T11:39:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Al-Qaeda's number two in command, the Egyptian born Ayman Al-Zawahiri, has released a new audio tape poking fun at U.S "failures" in Iraq. The tape goes on for over an hour and a half, proving this ugly terrorist has a lot of free time, enough so even to crack a joke at President Bush's expense, alluding to the Green Zone bombing which killed two Iraqi MP's:

"And lest Bush worry, I congratulate him on the success of his security plan, and I invite him on the occasion for a glass of juice, but in the cafeteria of the Iraqi parliament in the middle of the Green Zone," al-Zawahri said.

Ba dam tshhhh. When is this guy going to be killed?

Combating Al-Qaeda On The Internet

2007-05-06T08:34:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

While combating terrorist activity on the ground involves monitoring, capturing and killing those involved, these same methods are useless against propaganda sites created by Islamist sympathizers on the internet. Part of the War on Terror is understanding the impact these sites can have, and here's a look into the U.S battle against Islamist sites:

Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University, said that the Internet has created a "largely borderless world."

"Internet chat rooms are now supplementing and replacing mosques, community centers, and coffee shops as venues for recruitment and radicalization by terrorist groups like Al Qaeda," he said.

To fight that, Cilluffo outlined a number of tactics for tapping into the online community and using its very nature to US advantage.

For one, "it is possible that an intelligence officer posing as a sympathizer could infiltrate an online extremist community," he said. "Seeds of confusion, doubt, and distrust could then be planted in order to chip away at the ties that bind individual extremists into a cohesive and dangerous group."

Other tactics that he proposed included "deepen[ing] our understanding of the process of radicalization."

...

"Attempts to shut down Web sites have proven as fruitless as a game of whack-a-mole. An open society in the information age offers opportunities for asymmetric warfare that cannot be taken away, only countered."

Felter said that militants use the satellite mapping site Google Earth to plan attacks in Iraq, and gather specifications on US tactical vehicles used in Iraq based on the manufacturers' Web sites, techniques that US intelligence can use, too.

"Know your enemy - read what the terrorists are telling us online," he said.

Insulting Islam

2007-05-05T18:31:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

It seems to be a charge leveled against many these days, and a simple search of "Islam" over at Google News shows these 3 stories on the first page of the search:

-Iran arrests student editor over insulting Islam

-41 Christians arrested for blasphemy against Islam in Indonesia

-Azeris jailed for 'insulting Islam'

This is an excerpt from the last article:

The court ruled that their article 'Europe and us' was insulting to Islam and Muslims for saying that European societies were more successful than Muslim ones because Christian teachings were based on peace and tolerance while Islamic values, based on the teachings and actions of Muhammad, were not.

And naturally to prove that their tolerance matches that of European societies, the journalists were jailed for 3 years.

Torture Of The Grave

2007-05-05T18:19:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

I missed this article yesterday in the paper, here it is online.

It's about the Muslim belief of what happens after you die, and its very interesting (read: slightly horrifying):

According to Islamic doctrine, between the moment of death and the burial ceremony, the spirit of a deceased Muslim takes a quick journey to Heaven and Hell, where it beholds visions of the bliss and torture awaiting humanity at the end of days.
By the time corpse handlers are ready to wash the body, the spirit returns to earth to observe the preparations for burial and to accompany the procession toward the cemetery. But then, before earth is piled upon the freshly dug grave, an unusual reunion takes place: The spirit returns to dwell within the body.

In the grave, the deceased Muslim - this composite of spirit and corpse - encounters two terrifying angels, Munkar and Nakir, recognized by their bluish faces, their huge teeth and their wild hair.

These angels carry out a trial to probe the soundness of a Muslim's faith. If the dead Muslim answers their questions convincingly and if he has no sin on record, then the grave is transformed into a luxurious space that makes bearable the long wait until the final judgment.

But if a Muslim's faith is imperfect or if he has sinned during life by, for example, failing repeatedly to undertake purity rituals before prayer, then the grave is transformed into an oppressive, constricting space.

The earth begins to weigh down heavily upon the sentient corpse, until the rib cage collapses; worms begin to nibble away at the flesh, causing horrible pain.

Continue reading here.

Iranian Nuclear Negotiator Charged With Espionage

2007-05-05T16:28:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Hossein Mousavian, a former nuclear negotiator for Iran, has been charged with espionage:

A former top Iranian nuclear negotiator arrested on Monday is to be charged with spying, Iran's conservative Fars news agency has suggested.
It quotes an unnamed source saying that Hossein Mousavian is to be charged with espionage relating to nuclear affairs.
Tehran's public prosecutor has confirmed that Mr Mousavian is being held in prison.
Mr Mousavian, an ex-envoy to Germany, was a member of Iran's negotiating team with Europe in the last government.
...

One website close to the president, Raja News, has quoted an informed source alleging Mr Mousavian was spying for Germany.
What has shocked many Iranians is that Mr Mousavian is an establishment figure, not a reformist or critic of the Islamic system, and yet he is now behind bars.
Because Mr Mousavian is close to former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, some have suggested the arrest could also be connected to a power struggle within the establishment.

Rice-Mottaki Exchange

2007-05-05T09:57:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Here's a little glimpse into the brief encounter between U.S Secretary of State Rice and Iranian FM Mottaki:

The first encounter took place between Rice and Mottaki during a May 3 lunch meeting. When Mottaki entered the room, he greeted those present with the usual Islamic salutation, "Al-salam aleykum" ("Peace be upon you"), to which Rice reportedly responded by saying "Hello." She added, "Your English is better than my Arabic." The chief host, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, jumped in, telling Mottaki, "We want to warm the atmosphere some." Mottaki smiled and replied in English, "In Russia, they eat ice cream in winter because it's warmer than the weather. You take whatever atmosphere-warming you can get." Rice reportedly replied, "That's true." This brief exchange shows that Rice was cautiously trying to reach out to Mottaki.

Later that evening at a dinner gathering, in an apparent effort to facilitate an informal meeting between Rice and Mottaki, Gheit seated the two across from each other. However, Mottaki -- complaining about the presence of a female Russian violinist in what was described as revealing attire -- left the dinner table shortly before Rice arrived. This was clearly an excuse on the part of the top Iranian diplomat, who was playing hard to get without appearing too provocative.

The article goes on to suggest that this can be seen as progression in the U.S-Iranian relationship, and that although U.S intentions were to have a meeting at the conference, Iran was not prepared to have direct high-level talks just yet. However, these actions leave the door open for future negotiations to take place, progressing at a steady pace to the comfort of both sides.

Read the rest here.

Conference Ends; Syria "Breakthrough"

2007-05-04T15:34:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

The Iraq security conference ended today, with no significant details to report other than yesterdays talks between the Syrian FM and US Secretary of State. Day two of the conference focused on security, with Al-Maliki urging Iraq's neighbors to stop the flow of terrorists into his country.

The Arab press reacted negatively to the conference, according to this BBC article, dismissing the conference's significance and squaring the blame on President Bush.

US-Iranian relations did not improve as a result of this conference, with only low-level talks being held. The Iranian FM stepped up accusations of the United States in Iraq on the second day of the conference:

Speculation had mounted since Thursday's start of the meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could hold historic talks with her Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki.

But at a meeting designed to enhance international cooperation on Iraq security, Mottaki described US troops as "terrorists" and lashed out at Washington over the continued detention of Iranian officials seized in January.

"To create a safe haven for those terrorists who try to turn Iraqi territory into a base for attacking Iraq's neighbors should be condemned," the Iranian foreign minister said.

"Mr. Mottaki was referring to countries which, like the United States, carry out acts of terrorism in Iraq," a spokesman for the Iranian delegation at the conference said. "When the United States arrests five Iranian diplomats in Iraq, it is an act of terrorism," he said on condition of anonymity.

The Iranian FM also refused to attend a dinner, at which he would've been seated close to Secretary Rice, because of a "revealing dress":

Hopes of the highest-level direct talks between Iran and the United States since the foes broke off ties in 1980 soured when Mottaki walked out of a dinner attended by Rice Thursday.

Mottaki claimed that he was offended by the revealing dress that the venue's Russian violinist was wearing, said US officials, who suggested that his discomfort may have had more to do with a table layout that left him directly facing Rice.

"I am not sure which woman he was afraid of: the woman in the red dress or the secretary of state," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

There was a meeting between Iranian and U.S "experts", although no significant details on the meeting are available yet.

U.S Presidential Race: Mike Gravel

2007-05-04T05:38:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Well people, the presidential race is well on its way, and its about time people start thinking seriously about the candidates. Most of us are well aware of the "top tier" candidates: Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barrak Obama for the Democrats and John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Gulianni for the Republicans. But, has anyone heard of Democratic presidential candidate, Mike Gravel? He was a senator in the seventies and he has more years of experience than most of the candidates. I would like to know what people think about him. Watch this video and write comments. And when it comes time to decide, you be the "decider" for the next "commander guy" (President Bush's latest title for himself, haha). Seriously, I want to know what people think of Mike Gravel.

Mike Gravel at the first major President debate for Democratic candidates:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1gMlHv2lDqA

Iraq Security Conference

2007-05-03T14:41:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

The conference to secure and relieve Iraq of its' financial burdens kicked off today in Sharm El Sheikh with opening remarks and a look at the agenda:

Foreign ministers and top diplomats from more than 50 countries gathered in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh to launch a five-year plan aimed at stabilizing war-torn Iraq. Participants were Thursday expected to adopt the International Compact with Iraq (ICI), a five-year plan to stabilize the war-torn country and develop its moribund economy. In his opening remarks, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki said that he hoped that the conference "will herald a new level in Iraq's relations with the world's nations." He voiced his hope that the meeting would yield significant progress on both the economic and security fronts. Iraq's finance minister Bayan Jabr Solagh said before the conference kicked off that he expected countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt to write off about $40 billion to $50 billion of debt at the meeting.
Iraqi officials also said that they hoped that the conference would see their neighbors offer a strong commitment to stabilizing their country, plagued by a bloody anti-American insurgency and relentless communal bloodletting.

-U.S Secretary of State Condolezza Rice will be one of the busier representatives at the conference: Rice Meets Maliki, Rice To Meet Syrian FM, and the possibility of talks with the Iranian FM should all develop interestingly.

-Secretary Rice downplays expectations for the conference.

-Iraqi's are not expecting much either, according to this report.

-Iran, Iraq FM's meet before the conference.

Update: Attendees agree to UN-sponsored plan (International Compact with Iraq) to boost Iraqi economy.

Update 2: Secretary Rice, FM Mottaki had a brief exchange (according to a spokesman for the State Department, the two said "hello" to each other).

Ahmadinijad Accused Of "Indecency"

2007-05-02T18:26:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

While Richard Gere is involved in a ridiculous kissing controversy with hardliners in India, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinjad has found himself in a similar situation at home:

TEHRAN -- Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stood accused of "indecency" Wednesday after he publicly embraced and kissed on the hand an elderly woman who used to be his schoolteacher.

At a ceremony Tuesday ahead of Iranian teachers' day, Ahmadinejad was photographed and filmed by state media stooping to kiss the woman's hand and then clasping her arms in an embrace.

"The Muslim Iranian people have no recollection of such acts contrary to Sharia law during Islamic rule," since the 1979 revolution, seethed the ultraconservative Hezbollah newspaper on its front page.

"This type of indecency progressively has grave consequences, like violating religious and sacred values," added the paper, which has no link to the Lebanese militant group of the same name.

Ahmadinijad has received similar criticism in the past for saying that women should be allowed to attend football games, showing that although he's perceived as an ultraconservative, there are elements even more fundamental than him in the country:

The elderly woman, who was not named, wore thick gloves along with a headscarf and long black coat, meaning that Ahmadinejad avoided any skin contact.

However, his action raised eyebrows. According to Sharia law, it is forbidden for a man to have any physical contact with a woman to whom he is not related.

...

"This astonishing act by the president comes as the faithful have yet to forget his decision to allow women to watch football," noted the Hezbollah newspaper.

Gamal Mubarak: No Interest In Presidency

2007-05-02T18:18:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

In a rare interview on satellite TV, the son of the current President of Egypt, Gamal Mubarak said today that he had no intention of succeeding his father:

The youngest son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has given a rare interview and insisted he had no plans to become the country's next president.
Speaking to Arabic satellite television channel, Orbit, Gamal Mubarak said "the intention and ambition to run for president did not exist".
The interview came three days after Gamal married Khadiga al-Gamal, the daughter of a wealthy businessman.
This was widely interpreted as part of a plan to succeed his father.
...
When asked in the interview if he would accept the nomination for presidency if it was offered by the ruling National Democratic Party, Gamal said: "As long as you don't have the desire, whatever the party says doesn't matter. I'm not looking for any executive post."

Update: The regional security conference on Iraq starts today.

Tehran: U.S Exaggerates Threat To Launch New Cold War

2007-05-02T11:23:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

According to a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the United States is exaggerating the threat of Iran to the world in order to start a Cold War against the Persian nation:

TEHRAN -- By exaggerating the alleged Iranian threat to the world,
Washington is actually seeking to trigger a new cold war against Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said here on Tuesday.
“Russia and the majority of the European countries know that the United States has challenged their security, independence, and national interests within the framework of its unilateral and authoritarian policies,” Hosseini added.
He made the remarks in response to the recent statements of U.S. President George W. Bush, who had underlined the necessity of establishing a missile system in Europe to counter the alleged Iranian threat.
It is quite clear to the world that such fake and baseless claims can never benefit U.S. officials, Hosseini noted.
Iran has an ancient civilization and thus has never needed foreign
countries to develop and rejects all unfair suggestions and interference, he stated.
As for the annual report of the U.S. State Department about terrorism, Hosseini said that the U.S. agents’ daily-increasing torture of prisoners in Iraq, Guantanamo, and secret prisons in Europe, as well as Washington’s all-out support for the Zionist regime in last summer’s war against Lebanon, will make it clear that U.S. officials are in no position to compile such reports on terrorism.

Erotic Art In Beirut

2007-05-01T17:55:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

A new exhibition in Beirut featuring paintings with an erotic theme has opened to mixed reactions, in a society where sex is still very much taboo:

Two women painters in Lebanon are pushing the boundaries with a new exhibition called "Erotika," in which their depictions of female sexuality have sparked mixed reactions.

Using vivid colors, the pair are showing images of fetishism, homosexuality and even masturbation in a Beirut art show they hope will help to break taboos in the usually conservative Arab world. Artists Nayla Karam and Maria Sarkis are displaying their Warhol-like pop art in a joint exhibition at a Beirut gallery.

The end of the article offers reactions from people who visited the exhibit, which are interesting to read. This would never have taken place in another Arab country without starting a much bigger controversy:

The exhibition has triggered conflicting reactions among visitors.

Dana Dennawi, a 22-year-old student at the Arab University in Beirut, called the paintings "beautiful, without even a hint of vulgarity."

"There is no harm in representing the different forms of sexual expression," she said.

Leon Khanamirian, a 25-year-old banker, said that "in the Middle East, men are allowed to express their sexual fantasies in a vulgar manner, but when (women) artists paint sexuality, it suddenly becomes a scandal."

Hassan Mekdad, 52, called the paintings shocking, however.

"The artists would have been killed if they lived in an Islamic neighborhood," he said.

Abdallah Dadur, owner of the "Surface" gallery that is staging the exhibition, said he was "proud of these young people who are expressing themselves without any complexes.

"Once more, the Lebanese are at the forefront of moral freedoms in the Arab world."(AFP)

Terrorism Conference In Iran

2007-05-01T13:23:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

A two-day, state-sponsored conference aimed at tackling the roots of terrorism started today in Iran, with "46 scholars from 20 countries, including the Islamic world, Europe and the United States in attendance".

The main aim of the conference is to seek roots of terrorism, neutralizing Western propaganda on exposing Muslims as terrorists and distinguishing legitimate defense by Islamic groups from terror by Islamists. Also on the agenda is what the conference calls U.S. "efforts to exploit the September 11 incident as pretext for expanding it's hegemonic aims."The conference secretary, Ayatollah Taskhiri, accused the U.S. of having used terrorism as an excuse to confront "Islamic awakening" and invade Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Ayatollah said resistance by Islamic nations and especially young Muslims would be the best method to confront global prejudice against Muslims as potential terrorists in general and U.S. conspiracies in the Islamic world in particular. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will attend the conference later Tuesday and hold a speech on terrorism. 

There's an Islamic awakening? Perhaps the Ayatollah was referring to those kept awake by the terror his state sponsors.

The State Department's Country Reports on Terrorism 2006 says Iran is the "most active state sponsor" of terrorism with elements of its government — notably the Revolutionary Guards and intelligence ministry — supporting many extremist groups in Iraq and elsewhere.

The two "were directly involved in the planning and support of terrorist acts and continued to exhort a variety of groups, especially Palestinian groups with leadership cadres in Syria and Lebanese Hezbollah, to use terrorism in pursuit of their goals," the report said.

The Revolutionary Guard has been "linked to armor-piercing explosives that resulted in the deaths of coalition forces" and has helped, along with Lebanon's radical Hezbollah movement, train Iraqi Shiite extremists to build bombs, it said.

At the same time, "Iran maintained a high-profile role in encouraging anti-Israeli activity, rhetorically, operationally and financially," the report said, adding Iran has yet to identify, try or turn over senior Al Qaeda members it detained in 2003.

Egypt To Propose Ceasefire At Upcoming Iraq Conference

2007-04-30T18:55:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

According to this article in the IHT, Egypt is planning to propose a 3-month ceasefire between Iraqi forces and "insurgents" at the upcoming security conference in Sharm El Sheikh:

Under the Egyptian proposal, the participants would "call on all parties to implement a cease fire for an initial period of three months to allow for a conducive environment to help foster the political process and national accord," according to a copy of the draft final resolutions, obtained by the Associated Press. It did not elaborate on how insurgents could be brought on board a cease-fire. The draft resolutions are still being finalized by senior diplomats from the participating countries, but an Iraqi official close to the discussions said the Egyptian proposal is a nonstarter.

Of course, this is unrealistic and will never happen. Response from an Iraqi Diplomat:

"This is not a good idea. How can we have a cease-fire with terrorists?" said the Iraqi diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions. Although the United States has been pushing al-Maliki to reach out for Sunni Arabs, it is highly unlikely that it would back a cease-fire call with insurgents who are battling U.S. forces as well as Iraqi troop.

Update: Another interesting article about the upcoming conference and its significance to U.S policy towards Iran.

Crackdown On 'Western' Hairstyles In Iran

2007-04-30T16:07:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

If you live in Iran and you've got a Mohawk or dreadlocks, it sucks to be you. As part of a wider crackdown by the government on "un-Islamic" dress among its public, Iranian police have been issuing directives to barbers telling them not to give "offbeat" hairstyles to their customers:

TEHRAN -- Tehran's barbers are to stop offering Iranian men unconventional Western hairstyles amid a nationwide crackdown on dressing deemed to be un-Islamic, the Etemad newspaper reported on Sunday.

The paper quoted the head of the Tehran barbers' association as saying that police had issued a directive forbidding its members from giving men offbeat hairstyles that are all the rage in more affluent parts of the capital.

"Currently some salons use Western grooming methods to create styles that are in line with the European and American ones," said the association's head, Mohammad Eftekhari-Fard. "The union has repeatedly announced the restrictions against unconventional grooming when issuing permits to each of the barber shops. Hence barbers, knowing these rules, should not pursue the wrong methods," he warned.

"The union will withdraw its support from those barbers who cut hairstyles that are out of line with the norms of the system," he said.

Eftekhari-Fard did not specify which hairstyles were being targeted, but conservatives in Iran have long been upset by the heavy use of styling gel, shoulder-length hair, and the spiky "big hair" styles sported by some of Tehran's young males.

The directive also banned the use of "facial cosmetics, plucking of eyebrows, and applying special make-up in male salons," he said.

Iran has handed out thousands of warnings over the past week to women found to have infringed Islamic dress rules in the latest police crackdown.

However, the authorities have emphasized that men are not excluded from the drive, and males whose T-shirts were found to be too short or tight and hair excessively groomed have also found themselves apprehended.

Eftekhari-Fard told Etemad that while only 5 percent of Tehran hair salons were deviating from the laws, they would be strictly monitored and if necessary their permits taken away for at least a month.

Customers would also not be allowed to wear ties and bow ties - frowned upon in Iran as a symbol of Western imperialism - in barber shops, he said.

Is that really a problem in Iran, too many people wearing bow ties? That almost seems too ridiculous, even for this story.

Bluetooth Porn Swap

2007-04-29T17:18:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

This may be funnier for some more than others, but I lived in Saudi Arabia, and I can imagine people sitting around in cafes or 'cruising' around the city doing this:

RIYADH -- Pornographic material accounts for nearly 70 percent of messages exchanged through mobile telephones between teenagers in ultraconservative Muslim Saudi Arabia, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

Misuse of Bluetooth technology by young men and women is increasing, the English-language Arab News said, citing the findings of a recent study.

Eighty-eight percent of girls have been "victims" of such misuse, it quoted study author and professor Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Rasheed as saying.

The study focused on teenage boys detained by religious police for harassing girls in the Qasim region north of Riyadh.

"The flash memory of mobile phones taken from teenagers showed 69.7 percent of 1,470 files saved in them were pornographic and 8.6 percent were related to violence," Rasheed said.

Young men and women are banned from mixing in public in oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which enforces a strict Islamic moral code.

Iran-U.S Likely To Meet: Iraqi FM

2007-04-29T16:59:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

At a summit set for next week in Sharm El Sheikh, there is high possibility of an Iranian-American meeting over issues concerning Iraq, with both sides expressing willingness to talk earlier. Today, Iraq's FM reiterated that sentiment:

BAGHDAD - Iraq’s foreign minister said on Sunday there was a “high possibility” Iran and the United States would hold bilateral talks at a high-powered meeting in Egypt this week that will seek ways to stabilise Iraq.
Hoshiyar Zebari said such a meeting might not be at the ministerial level, but that it would be an important step.

“I think it’s important, it would be a major breakthrough and any reduction in tensions will positively impact the situation in Iraq,” Zebari told Reuters in an interview without saying what he thought the two foes might discuss.

“We don’t want Iraq to be a battleground for settling scores on other agendas at our cost. Really, this has been harming us, damaging us a lot.”
...
Zebari said he expected Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki to attend the meeting, saying any level lower than this would “not be helpful, would not be welcome”.
...
He said Iraq’s neighbours had begun to realise how important it was to stabilise Iraq, which is being ripped apart by sectarian violence that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis since the US-led invasion in 2003.

“From my contacts, my trips, there is a gathering sense of the danger of Iraq failing, of chaos spilling across the region, sectarianism getting out of Iraq’s borders, civil war, the disintegration of Iraq,” Zebari said.

“There is a greater sense of these dangers by the region.”

Shia-Sunni Divide In Middle East

2007-04-28T08:19:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Another example of the growing Sunni-Shia divide between Middle Eastern leaders, with a senior intelligence source claiming Saudi Arabia's King Abdallah has denied Iraqi Prime Minister entry into the Kingdom because of what he claims is a lack of protection for Iraqi Sunnis on the part of the government:

(CNN) -- Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has denied Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki entrance into Saudi Arabia, according to a senior Saudi intelligence source.
The king believes al-Maliki, who wanted to go to Saudi Arabia on a state visit, is not doing enough to protect Sunnis from attacks by Shias, the source said.
The Saudi kingdom is a Sunni-dominated state.
There was no immediate reaction from al-Maliki's office.
Meanwhile, troops captured four suspected members of a secret terrorist training network in Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
The network takes militants from Iraq to Iran for training, and transports explosives from Iran into Iraq, the military alleges.
"Intelligence reports also indicate the secret cell has ties to a kidnapping network that conducts attacks within Iraq." the military said.
The suspects were arrested in the Baghdad Shiite stronghold of Sadr City, where support for Iran is high. The Bush administration has long insisted that Iran is helping insurgents create chaos in Iraq.
Many of the powerful, improved explosive devices used in Iraq, and the parts used to make them, have been coming out of neighboring Iran, the U.S. military said.

It's just a small bit of the article, but if true, I'd imagine the story will develop over the next few days. We'll keep watching it.

Egypt Warns Hamas; Stop Rocket Attacks

2007-04-26T20:57:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The InsideE

gypt is finally putting pressure on Hamas to reign in the militants and stop the firing of rockets into Israel:

Egypt has threatened to cut off its relations with Hamas unless the movement halts its rocket attacks on Israel, Palestinian Authority officials said Wednesday.
The officials said Egyptian Intelligence Chief Gen. Omar Suleiman sent a "tough" message to Hamas leaders, warning them against the continued rocket attacks. The message was delivered to PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas by Burhan Hammad, a senior Egyptian intelligence officer based in the Gaza Strip, the officials added.
They said that Suleiman also warned that Egypt would not side with the Palestinians if Israel launched a military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
"We hope that the Hamas leaders will listen carefully to what the Egyptians are telling them," said one official here. "Hamas must return to the period of calm so as not to give Israel an excuse to invade the Gaza Strip."

Apparently the government has its hands full at home too, thwarting a recent suicide plot targeting Israeli's in the Sinai Peninsula:

One Palestinian suspect was arrested and another ran away when security forces confronted them 1.5 kilometres from Sinai's border with the Gaza
Strip, the ministry said.

Abdel Shafie Jabr Maraheel, who is suspected of smuggling explosives into Sinai, was seriously wounded when he threw a homemade explosive at the police, the ministry added.

None of the policemen was injured, but the second suspect managed to escape.

Security sources said Maraheel was suspected of having entered Egypt illegally via a smuggling tunnel on the border with the Gaza Strip. They could give no information on what he may have been planning.

Bombers have hit Red Sea resort areas in the Sinai Peninsula three times since 2004, killing well over 100 people in attacks Egypt blames on a group of Islamists from the Sinai Bedouin community with militant views.

Military Tribunals For MB Members

2007-04-26T20:22:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

The Egyptian government's crackdown on the banned Muslim Brotherhood group continued Thursday, targeting its' businessmen with 40 members of the group standing military trials for participating in the group and allegedly funding terrorism:

Defendants included Khayrat Al Shater, the number three man in the Brotherhood, who together with other businessmen linked to the group had their assets frozen and were referred to a military court in February.

Family members were initially banned from the proceedings before eventually being allowed in. They said the defendants remained silent because their counsel was not present.

In past military trials of Islamists, journalists and family members, as well as diplomatic observers, have been allowed into the courtroom at a military base in the desert outside Cairo.

Thursday's session lasted for approximately four hours before being adjourned until June 3.

Shater was arrested last December in the continuing government crackdown on Egypt's largest opposition bloc, following a university demonstration in which masked pro-Brotherhood students staged a military-style parade on the campus of Al Azhar University in the capital.

The targeting of Shater and other businessmen associated with the movement has been seen as an attempt to cripple the powerful organization financially.

Apparently, these charges have already been over ruled by civilian courts:

The military trial comes despite several judges in civilian courts throwing out the charges against the Brothers on the grounds of lack of evidence.

"There have been three verdicts from ordinary judges to release them, and none have been respected by authorities," said Aryan. "This shows that the charges are nonsense."

Egyptian authorities accuse the movement, which controls a fifth of the seats in parliament, of seeking to revive its underground military wing and of eventually trying to topple the regime.

"Khayrat Al Shater and the other Muslim Brotherhood detainees should never have been arrested in the first place," Elijah Zarwan of Human Rights Watch said. "Now that an independent court has said as much, the government is resorting to a secret military tribunal to deliver the desired verdict."

SMTR Break

2007-04-26T20:16:00.002+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

We've been away for a while, but we're back, and better than ever. Stay tuned for regular posting.

-SMTR Bloggers

Egypt Beefs Up Security

2007-04-18T14:59:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

After two recent bombings in North African countries (Morocco, Algeria), Egypt fears it could the next country to be hit by a terrorist attack, and has moved to increase security in the country:

CAIRO: Egypt has beefed up security, especially in tourist areas, after Algeria and Morocco were rocked by a string of suicide bomb attacks, a security source said Sunday.
The source said that Interior Minister Habib Al-Adly had instructed his top aides on Saturday to "accurately carry out security plans" and to "secure tourist areas." "Intense security efforts are underway to abort any potential extremist hotbeds, and attempts by organizations to revive their activities," the source quoted the minister as saying.

"According to our security assessment, a wave of terrorist attacks is expected in the region, and our security measures are concentrating on this," Al-Adly said.

Iran Looks For Israeli Spies

2007-04-18T13:26:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

According to Israel's Shin Beth, Iran has been looking for people within Israel to spy on them:

JERUSALEM -- Iranian secret services have been trying to recruit Israelis of Iranian origin to spy on the Jewish state, the Israeli domestic security service Shin Beth said Tuesday.

Iranian agents posing as consulate workers have on at least 10 occasions approached Israelis applying for authorization to visit their relatives in Iran at Tehran's consulate in Istanbul, it said in a statement.

The Ha'aretz daily said that the Shin Beth had detained one Israeli of Iranian decent upon his return from Iran and the man had admitted being recruited and accepting money to cover his costs.

The man said that he had been asked to lure a relative who used to work for the Israeli security services to Istanbul, the paper said. It did not say when the man had been detained or whether he remained in detention.

Mozart In Palestine

2007-04-18T13:14:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Here's an interesting side of Palestine you don't hear often about:

The name Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has not been heard so frequently in the West Bank as in the past two weeks, during the Palestinian Mozart Festival. Fifty works by this great composer, some of them very rare, were performed in every musical art form: from solo songs to operas, and from chamber ensembles to orchestras. More than half the musicians were Palestinians; the others came from around the world. Some 20 concerts, as well as films, master classes and workshops, brought the music of this 18th century Viennese to West Bank towns for the first time.

Would they come, or wouldn't they? This was the question that hung in the air in the two hours preceding the Choir of London concert at the Al Masri Cultural Centre in Nablus. Sami Hamad, director of the center and responsible for the festival in his city, chain-smoked as he waited.

"There is an important wedding in the city," he sighed, "and it is simply impossible to tell if an audience will come."

Read the rest of the article here.

Former Female Militant Fights For Peace

2007-04-16T10:10:00.002+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Came across this article today, about a former female militant who fought for a Christian militia in Lebanon's civil war of the late 70's and 80's. She's all for peace now, but the article provides an interesting look into what armed conflict has meant to some in the region, and leaves hope for some sense of maturity and realization of the cost of war on society.

Jocelyne Khoweiry was 20 years old when she first carried arms during the 1975-90 civil war. Now 51, she is working forcefully for peace.

"In 1975 I was ready to die for my country. Today I want to live for its sake," Khoweiry said on the 32nd anniversary of the outbreak of the 15-year civil war that killed more than 150,000 people.

Khoweiry, in a rare interview, said that she wanted to "relay a message of peace" at a time when many people fear that deeply divided Lebanon may plunge back into the devastating violence and chaos of civil war.

"I tell the young Lebanese of today war is not a game," said Khoweiry, founder and director of the Pope John Paul II Center which provides social, psychological, and medical assistance for those in need. "When violence breaks out it becomes deaf. Nothing stops it."

...

"After carrying arms, I thought repeatedly about becoming a nun. When you see so much violence and drama, you start asking questions about men, death, and God."

In 2000 she founded the Pope John Paul II Center in Ghadir, a mountainous village in the Christian heartland northeast of Beirut, with the help of other "sisters in arms" who discarded their guns to become "messengers of hope and peace."

The former militant insists that her military and spiritual endeavors have much in common.

"Military combat is also an ascetic, mystical experience: one sacrifices oneself in wars - just like in religion," she said.

Sadr's Bloc To Quit Government

2007-04-16T09:02:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Iraqi cleric Muqtada Al Sadr has decided to make his political officials, associated with his movement, withdraw from parliament. The move comes in response to Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's opposition to drawing up a timetable for U.S withdrawal from the country.

Officials from the movement, which holds six ministries and a quarter of the parliamentary seats in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite Alliance, said the formal announcement would be made on Monday at a news conference.

The move is unlikely to bring down the government, but it could create tensions in Maliki's fractious Shi'ite-led government of national unity at a time when it is trying to heal sectarian divisions that threaten to tip Iraq into civil war.

"We are going to declare our withdrawal from government because the prime minister does not want to make a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq," said one official in Sadr's movement who declined to be identified. There was no immediate comment from the government.

Maliki says he sees no need to set a timetable. He said last week his government was working to build up Iraq's security forces as quickly as possible so U.S.-led forces could leave.

The Democrats proposing a U.S military withdrawal in favor of a 'political solution' need to start sharing their solutions before the Iraqi government becomes so divided that it's too late to accomplish anything.

Show Trials In Iran

2007-04-15T12:35:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

With much of its' international critics distracted by the recent hostage situation, as well as their ongoing nuclear adventure, Iran's government has begun repressing the political opposition again.

As part of a wider crackdown, Iran's parliament has also passed laws enabling security organisations - including the Revolutionary Guard, which was responsible for kidnapping the 15 Britons - to detain suspects for months for the purposes of interrogation.
Police are also reportedly planning to tackle more low-level dissent, including standards of public attire. Women who fail to cover their hair fully, or who wear skirts or coats considered immodestly short, are expected to be among the first targets in the next few days.
Some western diplomats are sceptical about the credentials of the reformists, regarding them as only slightly more moderate than Ahmadinejad's hardliners, though they enjoyed more freedom under the previous presidency of Mohammad Khatami, who held the post from 1997 to 2005.

According to some in the Iranian opposition, reformists are being given court sentences in order to disqualify them from running for parliament, with many predicting a pattern of show trials:

"They want to have a sword above our head and the rest is excuses," he said. "The main issue here is that in the coming year we have the parliamentary elections. Because rejecting reformist candidates in the previous election created problems for the judiciary, they are taking a different route this time."
Rather than risk further international criticism for an overt clampdown on opponents, he said the government was using the courts to neuter them.
"What they want to do is to put the reformists in court now, and sentence them for any reason. If they have a court record, they will automatically be barred from standing for election," he said.
"The hardliners desperately want to see the back of the reformists and have proved that they are willing to use any kind of tactic to achieve their goal."
Amir Taheri, an exiled Iranian journalist based in Europe, said the regime was preparing show trials for scores of dissidents.
"It seems to be setting the stage for show trials that recall the worst days of Stalinism in the Soviet Union," he said.

Israel, Arabs Ready To Talk?

2007-04-15T10:52:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

An upcoming meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss the Saudi peace initiative will not include meetings with Israel, says Egypt's FM:

The Egyptian foreign minister said negotiating with Israel is an exclusive affair of any party which has a problem with Israel, whether Palestinians, Syrians or Lebanese, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.
The committee, which is to meet in Cairo Wednesday at the level of foreign ministers, will discuss means of activating the initiative, said Abul Gheit, noting that the several working group would be set up to serve that end.
The newly-formed Arab peace initiative committee groups Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Sudan and Yemen.
Meanwhile, Israel says its ready to talk to Arab states and hear what they are proposing, while not making any strategic concessions:

Israel is prepared to meet with the Arab League's committee for furthering the Saudi peace initiative, government sources in Jerusalem said yesterday. The sources said Israel was waiting for the official appointment of the committee next week. "If its goal is to further the Saudi initiative, then from our point of view, it is possible to engage in dialogue with it," a source said.

American officials, including U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dick Jones, have said recently that the expected dialogue between the Arab League and Israel would be a move of historic significance.

It's good to hear talk of peace negotiations, however no real progress seems to have been made, as Israel is still unwilling to give the Arabs the land which they're asking for, and the Arab states have set this as a precondition for talks:

Asked whether contacts with Israel would be hinged on a practical stance on the part of Israel, the Egyptian foreign minister voiced the belief that the Arab side would not make gestures towards Israel unless the land-for-peace principle was implemented.
Short of achieving that, any talk of normalization with Israel would be ill-founded, said Abul Gheit.
"There is a need now for international partners to hear from the Arab side," said Abul Gheit.

Iranian Press

2007-04-14T19:48:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

An interesting roundup of Iranian print media, closely affiliated with the state, and reactions to the recent announcement by President Ahmadinijad that Iran had moved to an industrial stage of nuclear development. What follows are a few entertaining excerpts from some two Iranian newspapers:

Resalat: Iran Has Become an Influential Force on a Global Scale
"On the day of the nuclear celebrations, Iran took another [significant] step on the path to the country's progress and flowering. With the beginning of the production of nuclear fuel on an industrial [scale], Iran has joined the limited group of countries that [possess this capability]. When it declared that it was producing nuclear fuel on an industrial [scale], Iran reached the point of no return of nuclear technology, and today we are recognized as an influential power in the regional and world balance.
"The phenomenal progress of Iran's scientists in producing nuclear fuel and in injecting [UF6] gas into 3,000 centrifuges is significant... because no foreign country or organization helped Iran in the slightest, and because Iran's nuclear technology is completely domestic...
"Now, in light of their progress, which brings pride to the sons of the Iranian people, the powers of arrogance [i.e. the West, headed by the U.S.] stand before two paths: Either they continue on the path of their hostility towards Iran - and if they do, they will make the Iranian people determined to conquer the highest peaks of science - or they officially recognize the legal right of the Iranian people, and stop being stubborn.

Kayhan: "The West Must Expect a Shock from Iran at Any Moment"

"Yesterday, Iran crossed the nuclear point of no return. Now it is for all practical purposes a nuclear state, and in light of this reality, its name should carry a different weight [than in the past] in any kind of regional or super-regional security balance... From now on, Iran is freed from technical limitations, and can choose the goals of its nuclear program.
"We will see in which [direction] Iran's political aspiration will incline. If Iran is subjected to threats, and others want to act [against it] illegally, the direction its desire will take is clear. If it is treated without rules and laws - which is what is actually happening - Iran will have a different aspiration [than it has today]... What is important is that Iran now has the backing it needs in order to choose any direction it wants.
"The event yesterday at Natanz sent a crystal-clear message to the West: the path you are following is mistaken... Iran is following two paths: one, the path of rapid progress in its technical work, and two, the gradual reduction of the IAEA's access to its nuclear facilities...

Iranian Missiles Can Reach Europe

2007-04-14T19:19:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

According to this story, Iran has 20 missiles that could reach targets in Europe:

A leading U.S. missile analyst said Iran has acquired an arsenal of BM-25 intermediate-range missiles that could strike Europe. Riki Ellison, president of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, said the U.S. missile defense umbrella was insufficient to protect against Iranian missiles.

"Iran has over 20 intermediate-range missiles that can reach continental Europe," Ellison said. "These 20 BM-25 missiles were purchased from North Korea in 2005 and are a variant of the Soviet SS-N-6 submarine-launched ballistic missile. With a range beyond 3,000 kilometers, these missiles pose a direct threat to central Europe."

In late February 2007, Iran launched a sub-orbit missile that traveled 150 kilometers into space. Ellison said this could mark a milestone in Iran's efforts to achieve intercontinental ballistic missile capability.

Mubarak Wants Military Appeals Court

2007-04-13T09:55:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

A debate on the merits of a new bill is scheuled for this week in the Shura Council of Egypt's Parliament, proposing the creation of a military appeals court to be located in Cairo. Currently, only the President can overturn a decision by a military tribunal, which are often used to try political opponents to the President.

The proposed Supreme Military Appeals Court (SMAC), according to a Shura Council Legislative Committee report, will be located in Cairo and "comprise a board of five military judges, headed by the chairman of the Military Justice Authority". The court's main job will be to "decide on appeals filed by the military prosecution or by military and civilian personnel found guilty by military courts".
The SMAC bill has provoked mixed reactions. Chairman of the Shura Council's Legislative Committee Abdel-Rehim Nafie insists it is "a very civilised step" since it provides guarantees for those referred to military courts. "In setting up the SMAC President Mubarak intends to place military courts on an equal footing with civilian courts in terms of appeal rights."

Opposition and civil society figures are less sanguine over the proposed changes. Political analyst Fahmi Howeidi sees the new bill as symptomatic of the desire to "increase the number of civilians referred to military courts". Howeidi told the Weekly that adding "guarantees and the right to appeal against military court rulings is like mixing honey with poison".

An appeals court, which I assume is supposed to gain the trust of the people in the system. So Egyptians, rejoice! Thank the President! You no longer have to worry about Mubarak coming after you, with his freshly-passed anti-terror legislation under which he has the power to detain you without telling anyone, for as long as he wants, for whatever reason he wants. But consider this: who will you demand your right of appeal from, the same man who authorized your detention and torture? Will the President decide to honor your rights, after he abused them only a few weeks ago with the sham that was known as the constitutional referendum?

More on Egyptian politics, and the paradox of religion here.

Update: The Egyptian Foreign Ministry responds to the allegations of prisoner abuse by a recent report from Amnesty International:

"The Egyptian government is offended by the latest report which included inaccurate and biased information about the state of human rights in Egypt,"

Not as offended as the abused prisoners, I assume. Once again Egypt brushes off criticism, and no word from the United States.

Iran Complains On Summit Location

2007-04-13T09:04:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

An upcoming summit scheduled for the 3-4 of May is set to include Foreign Ministers from Iraq and its' neighbors, as well as U.S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other countries in the region. The conference will tackle security issues facing Iraq, and the roles of its neighbors and allies. Set in Sharm El Sheikh, an area popular with tourists, the meeting is seen as a significant evolution of the United States' policy towards Iran and Syria. Although no individual meetings between Secretary Rice and her Middle Eastern counterparts will take place, this may be seen as the adoption of a recommendation made by the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group report released last December.

Yet despite the conference being a few weeks away, Iran has made headlines by publicly disapproving of holding the conference in Egypt, a sign of the strained relationship shared by the two nations:

Iran has objected to the choice of Egypt as the summit venue, and has said that if the conference is not held inside Iraq then it is not sure it will send a delegation to attend.
"Iran has not yet decided and Tehran's decision regarding this conference will be announced in due course," Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Reza Baqeri told the Fars news agency.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran wants the conference to be held in Baghdad or one of the cities in that country but if the conference is to be held outside Iraq then they should get the agreement of all relevant parties," he added.

It will be interesting to see if and how Egypt responds; Saudi Arabia had some strong words for Iran earlier this week, distancing itself from the Persian nation's antics of late. Will Egypt respond, and what will it mean for the growing Sunni-Shi'aa divide between nations?

U.N: Iran Nuclear Development "Limited"

2007-04-12T20:43:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

The head of the IAEA, Mohamed El Baradei, played down Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinijad's comments Monday that his country had reached the industrial phase of nuclear development.

Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran's nuclear program was a concern, but he discounted Tehran's claims of a major advance in uranium enrichment, a process the United Nations demands Iran suspend or else be hit by increasing sanctions.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Monday that the Natanz facility had begun "industrial-scale" production of nuclear fuel. Iran's top nuclear negotiator said workers had begun injecting uranium gas into a new array of 3,000 centrifuges, many more than the 328 centrifuges known to be operating at Natanz.
Iran ultimately aims to operate more than 50,000 of the devices at the site.

According to Baradei, Iran is not operating 3,000 centrifuges as it claims:

Baradei, head of the U.N's International Atomic Energy Agency, said "Iran is still just at the beginning stages in setting up its Natanz enrichment facility."

"The talk of building a facility with 50,000 centrifuges is just at the beginning, and it is (currently) only in the hundreds," he told reporters in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

He also played down suspicions that Iran is running a hidden uranium enrichment program.

"It has not been demonstrated until now that there are underground nuclear facilities in Iran working covertly, and Iran doesn't have the material that can be used to make a nuclear weapon," ElBaradei said.

Military Commanders Meet In Islamabad

2007-04-12T19:56:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

A two day symposium ends today in Islamabad, where senior military commanders from 21 countries met to discuss cooperation on the war on terror. Countries represented at the event include the United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia:

The two-day symposium was co-hosted by the Pakistan and U.S. armies in an attempt to improve military ties between various regional allies in the U.S.-led war on terror.

Addressing the conference's closing session Thursday afternoon, Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf rejected criticism that his country was somehow falling short in the fight against terrorism.

"There must be trust. If there is no trust, no commitment, then I think the coalition is meaningless," he said. "It is meaningless if we are not all on board, if we are bluffing each other, if Pakistan is bluffing, and if I am bluffing, I think we should be out of the coalition."

Both U.S. and Afghan authorities say hundreds, perhaps thousands of Taleban insurgents have established military bases inside Pakistan's remote tribal areas.

Security experts have also linked elements within Pakistan's powerful military intelligence to many of the fugitive Taleban insurgents.

President Musharraf denied any ties between Pakistan's intelligence agencies and the militants and promised to continue his country's role in fight against regional extremism.

Argument Against Polygamy?

2007-04-12T17:22:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

A Saudi man lost his nose in a fight with his two wives, stemming from a threat to marry a third one:

Judaie Bin Salim jokingly told his wives that he would marry again if they were unable to resolve their differences over how to divide their new house, the paper said.

Salim repeated the threat because of how ill-mannered his wives had acted.

This proved a provocation too far for the women, who then attacked him and left him with a part of his nose missing, a broken cartilage, and needing seven stitches.

"I never thought my wives would respond to such a degree," Judai told the daily, adding that the only way to restore his dignity would be to go ahead and take a third wife.

Saudi men can be married to up to four women at a time under the Islamic or Sharia law enforced in the ultraconservative kingdom, so long as the wives are all treated equally.

Two Iraqi MP's Blown Up

2007-04-12T14:38:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

A suicide bomber set of his explosives at a canteen inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad today, killing two Iraqi MP's and wounding 10 others.

The bombing, which wounded about 20 people including MPs, occurred despite a massive joint US-Iraqi security crackdown launched in the capital two months
ago and came just hours after an attack on a Baghdad bridge that left 10 dead.

Attacks in the Green Zone are relatively rare although seven were people were killed in a bombing there in 2004 claimed by Al Qaeda in Iraq.

A security official said that Thursday's attack was carried out by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt, adding that blood and pieces of flesh were scattered across the cafeteria.

A security source named one of the dead MPs as Mohammed Awad, a member of the National Dialogue Front, a Sunni Arab party that has 11 seats in the 275-member parliament.

The second killed was a member of the Kurdish Alliance, the second biggest grouping in parliament after the main Shiite Muslim alliance, the source said.

About 10 security officials and 10 lawmakers were also wounded in the explosion that ripped through the canteen toward the end of lunch.

About seven hours earlier, a suicide bomber blew up a truck on a major bridge across the Tigris River in Baghdad, killing 10 people and sending cars plunging from the wrecked structure into the waters below.

Access to the Green Zone - also home to the Iraqi government and foreign embassies - is strictly controlled with access restricted to visitors carrying picture identity cards and required to pass through multiple checkpoints and metal detectors.

Insurgents have, however, managed to fire projectiles such as rockets and mortar rounds into the compound from outside its heavily guarded walls.

Update: Analysis from Time, suggesting that this attack was a direct message from the Islamic State in Iraq group, affiliated with Al-Qaeda.

Within an hour of the explosion, a message from the al-Qaeda-controlled Islamic State in Iraq was posted on a prominent militant website, muslm.net, calling the blast a "message" to anyone who cooperates with "the occupier and its agents." It said ominously, "We will reach you wherever you are"
The extremists want to stop efforts of reconciliation between the Iraqi government and an Iraqi-led, nationalist faction of the insurgency that has turned on al-Qaeda in recent weeks. That was the likely motive in an earlier attack on March 23, when Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie was hospitalized after an attack reportedly carried out by a guard who detonated a suicide vest at al-Zubaie's compound on the edge of the Green Zone. Al-Zubaie, a Sunni from a powerful tribe west of Baghdad, is an important promoter of the reconciliation policy.
Recently, gunfights and tit-for-tat executions have erupted in west Baghdad between the nationalist Battalion of the 1920 Revolution and al-Qaeda-backed fighters. Last week, an influential nationalist group, the Islamic Army in Iraq, asked Osama bin Laden to reign in al-Qaeda in Iraq's more extreme tactics such as targeting Iraqi civilians and brutally enforcing Sharia Law.

New Contributor!

2007-04-12T14:25:00.000+01:00

Show Me The Rules welcomes STeVeR to the group!

US: Iran Training Iraqi Militia

2007-04-11T17:44:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Not that this is exactly 'news', but there's new reason to believe that Iran's revolutionary guard may be training Iraqi fighters in bomb making. Ongoing battles between coalition forces and the Mahdi Army have seen many members of Muqtada Al-Sadr's militia detained and interrogated, revealing new Iranian links:

BAGHDAD - Iranian intelligence operatives have been training Iraqi fighters inside Iran on how to use and assemble deadly roadside bombs known as EFPs, the U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday.

Commanders of a splinter group inside the Shiite Mahdi Army militia have told The Associated Press that there are as many as 4,000 members of their organization that were trained in Iran and that they have stockpiles of EFPs, a weapon that causes great uneasiness among U.S. forces here because they penetrate heavily armored vehicles.

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell would not say how many militia fighters had been trained in Iran but said that questioning of fighters captured as recently as this month confirmed many had been in Iranian training camps.

"We know that they are being in fact manufactured and smuggled into this country, and we know that training does go on in Iran for people to learn how to assemble them and how to employ them. We know that training has gone on as recently as this past month from detainees debriefs," Caldwell said at a weekly briefing.

EFP stands for explosively formed penetrator, deadly roadside bombs that hurl a fist-size lump of molten copper capable of piercing armor.

Update: A good article on what the U.S. faces in fighting the Mahdi Army from the Washington Post.

Update 2: Al-Sadr's political bloc is now threatening to resign from parliament because of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's opposition to setting a timetable for U.S troop withdrawal. Is it just me, or is it an Islamist tactic to threaten to boycott parliament?

Also, here's an interesting article on the diversity of Islamist groups in the region, and how that diversity could lead to Al-Qaeda's decline.

Terrorists Tortured In Egypt

2007-04-11T13:02:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

According to a newly released report from Amnesty International, very critical of Egypt's record on torture, several countries have used the Middle Eastern country to torture detainees in the war on terror:

The report says Egypt has become an international centre for interrogation and torture on behalf of other states as part of the "war on terror".
There was no immediate reaction from the Egyptian government.
The AI report calls for other countries to abandon "no torture" deals with Egypt.
Under such deals governments, including the UK's, deport suspects to Cairo having been assured by Egyptian authorities that the suspect will not suffer torture.
"A 'no torture' deal with Egypt would not be worth the paper it was written on, and rather than bargain over illegal detention and torture the UK should unequivocally condemn torture in Egypt," UK director of AI, Kate Allen, said.
The report says that many violations occur within the context of domestic and international security operations.
In 2005, Egypt's prime minister acknowledged that since 2001 the USA had transferred some 60-70 detainees to Egypt as part of the "war on terror".

Which goes to prove Egypt's government is fair: both Egyptians and foreigners are tortured on its soil.

U.S Congress To Blame For Anti-Saudi Hostilities

2007-04-11T12:42:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Speaking at a symposium yesterday in Riyadh, former Saudi ambassador to the United States Prince Turki Al-Faisal blamed the U.S Congress for being the "center of hostility" towards the Gulf state.

“The reasons for (hostility towards Saudi Arabia) are many, the first of which is the Zionist lobby in the United States,” Prince Turki said at a symposium entitled “The Role of Diplomacy in Political Crises,” organized by the Saudi Association for Media and Communications here yesterday.
He said that the lobby was powerful and had a direct impact on the decisions taken by members of Congress. “The lobby supports and encourages Congress members to take hostile stances toward Saudi Arabia,” he said.

It's the Jews! Not us, look at them, they did it! The Prince also mentioned the other obvious reason for anti-Saudi sentiments:

Prince Turki said that before Sept. 11, 2001, public surveys showed that 45 percent of Americans believed that the Kingdom was a friendly nation. “After it was announced that 15 of the 19 hijackers who took part in the attacks were Saudi, public surveys showed that 60 percent believed that Saudi Arabia was a hostile country,” he said.
The former ambassador said he believed the best way to reach the American people was through mainstream America. Sept. 11, according to the prince, will continue to have a negative impact on relations between the two countries for years to come.
“It has left an imprint on relations between the two countries...On the government level, much has been done. But on the people-to-people level, there is much doubt, caution, and fear between the nations,” he said.

Saudi King To Iran: On Your Own

2007-04-11T08:44:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

In a meeting last month between Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and Iran's President Ahmadinijad, a message was delivered to Iran that it had to "bear the consequences" of its actions. Speaking about Iran's current confrontation with Western powers over its nuclear program and the British soldier incident, a Saudi official had this to say about the meeting:

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi Arabia has told Iran not to count on the kingdom's help if the international community imposes harsher measures on Tehran because of its refusal to abide by international requirements on the nuclear issue.

At a meeting in Riyadh last month, King Abdullah told visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Iran will have to "bear the consequences" of its actions, and should not underestimate the power, capabilities or will of the United States and the rest of the international community, according to a Saudi official.

"We told him, 'Don't come back to us and say you wish somebody had told you that,'" the official said. "Don't come back and ask for help."

The king was equally blunt with Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom he met in Riyadh on the sidelines of the Arab summit last month. Abdullah told Assad that if he wants to improve relations with Saudi Arabia -- which are at an all-time low -- he first has to prove his good intentions in Lebanon, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issues.

Abdullah's words to the two close allies -- Iran and Syria -- come amid Saudi worries that the two countries' defiance of the international community could plunge the region into larger chaos than the turmoil that resulted from Saddam Hussein's refusal to come clean on his weapons of mass destruction program.

Pedalling For Peace

2007-04-10T22:49:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

A few hundred women from around the world gathered today to cycle across Lebanon in the name of regional peace:

BEIRUT: Hundreds of women from around the world took to their bicycles in Lebanon on Tuesday to pedal for regional peace. The third annual "Follow the Women - Women for Peace" bike tour completed its first leg around Lebanon with nearly 250 women riding from Sidon to Beirut - a journey of 50 kilometers that took them about six hours to complete.
The female participants, who come from about 30 different countries, found more than just their bicycles waiting for them in Sidon - many of the coastal city's residents flocked to the streets to witness the event.
Small children, their faces painted with Lebanese flags, danced through the crowds, asking to have a turn on a bike. A giant poster of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was unfurled across Sidon's Sea Castle. Even a marching band chimed in for the festivities.

Jordan: Israeli Must Give Up Land To 'Co-exist'

2007-04-10T22:34:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

In an interview published in the Middle East Times, Jordan's King Abdullah says that in order for Israel to establish peace and stability with its neighbors, it must give up 'occupied' territory from its' previous wars:

AMMAN -- Jordan's King Abdullah II urged Israel to end its occupation of Arab land to guarantee peaceful coexistence with the world's Muslims and warned against a hasty US troop pullout from Iraq, in an interview Tuesday.

"Israel, the European states, and the United States should realize that the Palestinian issue does not only concern the Palestinians but also has the sympathy of all Muslims from Indonesia to the Maghreb states," he said.

"If Israel wants to coexist with more than 1 billion Muslims, it should end its occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands."

The King's views on a U.S pullout from Iraq:

"Withdrawal from Iraq without setting a timetable and without preparing the necessary conditions that would ensure a strong central government able to run the affairs of the state and an Iraqi force able to ensure security and stability, may only worsen the problem and contribute to increasing violence and conflict among Iraqis," he said.

For the Jordanian monarch "the problem with Iraq is that Iraqis themselves are divided between those supporting US-led coalition forces in their country, those rejecting and resisting them as occupation, and those that seek to disrupt the political process and national reconciliation efforts."

Egyptian Executive Control

2007-04-10T19:58:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

After the Egyptian government had its proposed constitutional amendments passed by national referendum last month (exposed as a complete sham), effectively codifying certain executive powers that President Mubarak has enjoyed for the past 26 years under the imposed martial law, the government faces new hurdles in its pursuit to "democratize" Egypt.

Following the 26 March referendum, the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) is gearing itself up for Shura Council mid-term elections scheduled for June. The council's current session ends on 24 April, after which mid-term elections will be conducted to fill 88 seats -- a third of the total.

To comply with newly amended Article 88 of the constitution, the elections will be held in a single day. The last two elections, in 2001 and 2004, were organised in three stages under full judicial supervision. With opposition parties and the Muslim Brotherhood boycotting the polls, the NDP swept the board.

According to Shura Council speaker and NDP secretary-general Safwat El-Sherif, candidates will be able to register for the elections starting the second week of May.

Opposition parties are widely expected to boycott the poll though Rifaat El-Said, chairman of the leftist Tagammu Party, told Al-Ahram Weekly that "participation in the elections will be left to the individual decision of members".

"The party has little faith in the Shura elections and contesting them is beyond the financial resources of Tagammu."

The Egyptian opposition has taken on a very defeatist tone as of late, which must be very worrying to the country's democracy activists. It seems as if the strategy of choice in opposing the government, whether it be during an election or referendum, is to boycott. So how long before we start to realize that this strategy isn't working?

Russia, Iran Voice Skepticism Over Iran Nuclear Claims

2007-04-10T19:12:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Follow up on the story posted earlier about Iran's announcement that they have a reached a stage of industrial nuclear development; Russia and France say that claim is unlikely:

MOSKOW - Russia voiced skepticism today about Iran's announcement of a dramatic expansion of its uranium enrichment program, saying it had yet to receive confirmation of the claim from the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog. France and Australia also questioned Iran's claim of acquiring an industrial-scale nuclear fuel production capability.

Islamic Republic News Agency reported. An official of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization confirmed their arrival, and said the visit was "routine." The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Iran said Monday it has begun operating 3,000 centrifuges — nearly 10 times the previously known number — in defiance of U.N. demands that it halt its nuclear program or face increased sanctions. The United States, Britain, France and others criticized the announcement.

Russia was unaware, however, of "any recent technological breakthroughs in the Iranian nuclear program that would change the format of its enrichment effort," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement. The Russian government helped built Iran's only nuclear reactor and knows its nuclear program well.

Some analysis on this announcement from the Independent, and the ensuing confrontation with the United States.

Nasrallah Remains Defiant

2007-04-09T22:39:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

The struggle for power in Lebanon continues, with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah giving a defiant speech yesterday, declaring his group will be around for "50 years more" in spite of increasing parliamentary opposition.

In his televised speech to 1700 Hezbollah students who graduated from a Hezbollah run university , Nasrallah also attacked the international tribunal saying it is designed to announce the verdicts that have already been made against certain suspects in the 2005 murder of former PM Rafik Hariri and related crimes.

Check out this post on Beirut Beltway for a good analysis of what Nasrallah's speech means for Lebanon.

More Kidnapping?

2007-04-09T10:20:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

As we said here at Show Me The Rules, this story would not end with the release of the 15 British sailors, and indeed it hasn't.

Hardliners in the Iranian regime have warned that the seizure of British naval personnel demonstrates that they can make trouble for the West whenever they want to and do so with impunity.

The bullish reaction from Teheran will reinforce the fears of western diplomats and military officials that more kidnap attempts may be planned.

The British handling of the crisis has been regarded with some concern in Washington, and a Pentagon defence official told The Sunday Telegraph: "The fear now is that this could be the first of many. If the Brits don't change their rules of engagement, the Iranians could take more hostages almost at will.

Of course this all should make complete sense. Think about it: if you ruled a country in authoritarian fashion like Iran does, and one of your cheap tricks of political propaganda manages to make you seem somewhat sane to the world, why not do it again? Iran is a threat to the world without nuclear weapons, what the hell would happen if they got their hands on some?

For a good blog on reformist news in Iran, check out Regime Change Iran.

Also, some side stories I wanted to blog about but didn't think they deserved their own posts:

-Iran tries to counter claims of abuse leveled against it by the former captive British, releasing new video showing the sailors playing chess and watching television.

-Iranian Diplomat claims CIA tortured him during his abduction in Iraq by joint American-Iraqi forces. Obviously, the timing is suspicious, and suggests it was orchestrated to counter claims of abuse by the British.

-Apparently this whole soldier crisis deal is making Ahmadinijad a rock star on the Arab street. Reaction from the financial times.

Update - I'm not sure how I missed this story, but Ahmadinijad announces today that Iran has "entered the group of countries that produce nuclear fuel industrially". Looks like Iran knows it has fresh sanctions coming its way, and is trying to act defiant in front of the world.

Egyptian Bloggers Detained

2007-04-09T09:48:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Long story that others have been covering very well. Basically, an Egyptian Judge who is being accused of plagiarizing a book he wrote on legal principles of the internet is going after those who accused him for defamation of character. Two popular bloggers were detained, as well as the Human Rights lawyer.

Check out this site for more first-hand coverage of this story and here for more on the copyright trial.

U.S May Have To Fight Mahdi Army

2007-04-09T09:25:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Crazy Cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr urged his followers to focus their campaigns of violence against the 'occupiers', namely the Americans. This marks a turn in recent rhetoric from the kooky-Shiite leader, who had previously instructed his militias to act non-confrontational towards American forces.

The firebrand cleric's mandate came as a Baghdad security spokesman announced that a ban on civilian vehicular traffic will go into effect Monday, the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.

The 24-hour vehicle ban is slated to begin at 5 a.m. (10 p.m. Sunday ET), Baghdad security operations spokesman Gen. Qassim Atta said on Iraqi state television.

South of the capital, in Diwaniya, U.S. and Iraqi forces were in their third day of battling al-Sadr's Mehdi Army.

Meanwhile, caravans of the cleric's followers were converging on Najaf, south of Diwaniya, for an anti-American demonstration scheduled there Monday at al-Sadr's behest.

They walked through the streets Sunday chanting in Arabic, "No, no to the occupiers; yes, yes to Islam" and "Iraq will always be independent and free of occupiers," police said.

A significant shift, because now the U.S surge which aimed at ridding the capital of insurgents, may have to deal with armed and organized Shiite militias, should they listen to Al-Sadr. Of course, if the U.S was now to leave within the next year or so, Al-Sadr and his followers will take credit in driving the 'evil' American 'occupier' forces out of Iraq, and will demand larger representation in government. The 'Hezbollah model'. This ought to also cause a few waves amongst U.S Congress, since stories like this only play into the hands of the Democrats, and are routinely politicized in Washington, so we'll keep track of that.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Remake

2007-04-08T19:29:00.000+01:00

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the initial release of the album, several bands are going to be playing songs off The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for a special BBC radio broadcast, scheduled for a day after the anniversary on June 2nd.

Oasis, The Killers and Razorlight are among those who will take part in recording sessions for the BBC Radio 2 program to be aired on June 2, a day after the anniversary.

Other bands covering songs from the acclaimed album include James Morrison, The Fratellis, Travis and the Kaiser Chiefs.

I wish there were other, less commercial bands playing too. I'm not a big fan of any of any of them, and much less a fan of Beatle remakes. Perhaps this will turn out good, who knows?

For a really good Beatles cover band, check out the Fab Faux. They stay very true to the original songs, and include all the sound effects (people clapping in the background, bells, static, etc.) used in the Beatles later records, making their live performances sound very much like the original records.

The Revolution: "So Far So Good"

2007-04-08T14:56:00.000+01:00

Show Me The Rules presents A Moment With K.O.B:

KA says:
i forgot to buy food, and all the stores are closed because its easter
KA says:
so im drinking coke from teh soda machine, i bought 5
Bob says:
lool
Bob says:
that is harsh
KA says:
it fills you up man
Bob says:
ka..
Bob says:
this is good
Bob says:
our plan is slowly bur surely working
Bob says:
but
KA says:
but
KA says:
but what?
Bob says:
but*
KA says:
oh
KA says:
i thought you had a bad point
Bob says:
oh;..no, i thought u'd be in an asshole mood and say bur?
Bob says:
not asshole..but fucking around mood
KA says:
no man, we had good news today
KA says:
our project is growing
KA says:
its like a plant, when you see the first sprout come out, its little and green, you know its not much but your still proud
KA says:
its not dead
Bob says:
lool
Bob says:
so far so good

Upcoming Music Reviews

2007-04-08T00:10:00.000+01:00

First week of music reviews. This week, I've got three new records I'm listening to:

The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are The Darkhorse
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Living With The Living
Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha

Three indie bands I'm not too familiar with this week, should be interesting. They've all gotten pretty good reviews, and I've heard many good things about Andrew Bird. Music reviews go up on Thursday.

You can find torrents for all these albums at isohunt.com.

Iran Crisis: Aftermath

2007-04-07T22:50:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

A few good articles that help gain a little perspective on the significance of the conflict. This article off of Time.com gives 3 messages Iran may have been giving by detaining the British sailors:

 Don't think about attacking Iran, because it has the capacity to threaten Western interests in the Gulf and throughout the Middle East, directly as well as through allies in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine;  

 Expect Iran to instigate trouble if the West continues to punish Iran for what it sees simply as exercising as its legal right to nuclear technology; and,  

 Iran will play tit-for-tat if U.S. forces continue arresting Iranian officials working inside Iraq, as in the Jan. 11 raid on an Iranian consular facility in Erbil where five Iranians were detained.

Also, here's an article about the release of the sailors, and who played a role on both sides. Note the last paragraph, and the reality check this crisis has given the British government over its political clout on the world stage.

It had failed to secure a strong denunciation of Iran's actions from the U.N. Security Council; its European allies were balancing support for Britain against their business interests; and although Prime Minister Tony Blair warned a failure to reach a quick resolution would lead to a "new phase" in response to the detentions, nobody detected in his words the martial sounds of rattling sabers.

It seems like the U.S and Britain are letting Iran pass for now. I'd imagine a push for new sanctions on the Iranian regime, but to me, this was an act of war. Perhaps it doesn't justify military action against the country, but couldn't the rhetoric of the British be a little harsher?

Update - Another perspective saying Iran must be handled with patience and restraint.

Also, the U.S might have offered to scare the Iranians for the British while the sailors were in Iran, involving "combat aircrafts patrolling over Iranian bases to show how serious the incident was, the newspaper said in a front page story." The British turned it down, which is too bad because it would have been fun to see how Iran would've reacted.

Update 2- Here's a pretty weird video of the sailors partying in Iran, from Iranian TV. They were given their 'freedom', then probably told to express their 'joy' in front of the Iranian public.

Iran Is Generous

2007-04-07T13:28:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

Iranian ambassador to Britain Rasoul Movahedian talks about his country's latest act of generosity to the Financial Times. In an interview, he shares his perspective of the crisis and what it shows:

"It’s a triumph for Iranian-British relationship, which [gave] British politicians and diplomats a chance to have a taste of ethical diplomacy. We actually achieved this through intensive bilateral negotiations and of course ultimately as a gift of my president to British people."

A great gift, just in time for Easter. Meanwhile, here's what the released British sailors had to say about Iran's gesture of 'good will'.

"I would just like to stress three points at this stage: When taken by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard we were well inside Iraqi territorial waters. The detention was clearly illegal and not a pleasant experience. We as a group held out for as long as we though appropriate. We then complied up to a point with our captors."

Read the full statement here.

Operation Achilles Makes Progress In The Forgotten War

2007-04-07T13:08:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

NATO's largest operation in Afghanistan, Operation Achilles, shows signs of progress in its aim to secure the southern Helmand province of the war-torn country. The past week has seen the operation, led by British ISAF forces, successfully engage militants in gun battle, and take over a Taliban stronghold in the province.

The operation to retake Sangin from militants started late Wednesday and is part of NATO's largest ever offensive in Afghanistan, Operation Achilles, launched last month to flush out Taliban militants from the northern tip of Helmand province and open the way for multimillion-dollar repair work on a dam in Kajaki district which would supply the country's south with electricity.

"There was very heavy fighting between foreign forces, Afghan forces and Taliban in Sangin two nights ago," Sangin resident Haji Akhtar Mohammad said Saturday.

NATO and Afghan troops are in control of the center of Sangin and the Taliban appear to be moving toward the neighboring district of Musa Qala, which is still under the militants' control, Mohammad said.

About 4,500 NATO and 1,000 Afghan forces are in and around Helmand province as part of Operation Achilles. In the last several months, Taliban militants and foreign fighters have streamed into the province, according to U.S. and NATO officials.

There have been over 220 "tactical engagements" since the start of the operation and dozens of militants were killed or captured, according to NATO officials in Kabul.

Bill O'Reilly Acts Angry

2007-04-07T12:49:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

American conservative talk-show host Bill O'Reilly interviews Geraldo Rivera, and goes ape-shit.

Funniest thing I've seen all day. I keep waiting for one of them to throw a punch. I can't believe this actually passes as a segment worthy of airtime on a news program.

Iran punches Britain in the Face; World Forgets and Forgives

2007-04-06T15:10:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

I don't understand how Iran escaped war, but I definitely thought the world would react much harsher towards the Islamic state after they abducted 15 British sailors nearly two weeks ago. Now that the soldiers are released, I still expect something from Britain towards Iran, so we'll keep watching. The language from other European countries was relatively weak, non-confrontational, and the reaction seems to be similar. Here's a German perspective of the conflict and the release, with "analysts" putting it in a positive, hopeful light.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday described the release of the sailors as a "start... (which) will open the door to further cooperation."

They make it seem like Iran has done something good. Maybe I'm missing something here, but didn't Iran just commit an act of war? If the British say the sailors weren't in Iranian waters, doesn't that make this an illegal abduction?

Cleaning With Piss

2007-04-06T14:46:00.001+01:00

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

A dentist in Britain is found guilty of pissing in the sink he uses to clean his tools.

A British dentist was found guilty Thursday of urinating in his surgery sink and using dental tools meant for patients to clean his fingernails and ears.

A medical tribunal said it was satisfied the evidence showed 51-year-old Alan Hutchinson, who routinely did not wear gloves or wash his hands, had risked the health of "himself, staff and patients" for more than 28 years.

What a fucking idiot. Not that he wouldn't feel like an ass already, but this is what the head of the medical tribunal told him:

"You urinated into a sink in your surgery following which you did not wash your hands and then proceeded to treat a patient. This behavior was clearly inappropriate and is completely unacceptable," the tribunal chairman said.

Doesn't that sound like something a kid would hear from his parents?

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside

K.O.B Gets A Blog

2007-04-05T17:46:00.001+01:00

K.O.B has invaded the internets. KA and Bob are here to tell you what they think about everything and anything.

Regular posting will begin soon. Stay tuned...

UPDATE: Check out the new blog covering the Mid East: Outsider On The Inside