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Terror's common denominator
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Insight
WASHINGTON -- Israeli settlers on the West Bank -- many of them American Jews holding dual nationality -- have much in common with French settlers in Algeria prior to independence in 1962.
French youth were brought up to believe that Algeria was an integral part of metropolitan France (three French departments on the map). Many of the 1 million French in Algeria were third-generation settlers who had never set foot in France proper.
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Iran wields oil embargo threat
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BBC
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on Islamic oil-producing countries to suspend their exports to "pro-Israel" western states.
"Arab governments can use oil as a weapon. They can cut off the flow of oil to all the countries which have good ties with Israel," Mr Khamenei said in a sermon during the Friday Prayers in Tehran.
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Afghan Officials Say Forces Foiled Sabotage
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Washington Post
Hundreds Detained, Weapons Seized in Probe of Alleged Plot Against Government
KABUL -- Afghan officials said today that they had foiled a plot by a network of heavily armed, hard-line Islamic militia members to violently sabotage the interim government and its plans for a political transition to elected rule.
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Iraq, Iran oil weapon call seen as rhetoric
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Business Recorder
AMMAN -- Rumblings by Iraq and Iran over using oil as a weapon to force Washington's hand in the Middle East conflict is more about scoring political points against conservative neighbours than a serious proposal, analysts say.
The two major oil producers, both named in US President George W. Bush's "axis of evil", said the oil weapon should be considered to pressure the United States to force Israel to halt a devastating military campaign against Palestinians.
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Iran juggles AIDS fight and Islam
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The New York Times
TEHRAN How to teach teenagers about safe sex without even whispering the word condom is one of the delicate questions facing the Islamic Republic as it grapples with a surge in AIDS cases.
Even the pamphlet designed for adolescents by the Iranian Center for Disease Control says, "The best way to avoid AIDS is to be faithful to moral and family obligations and to avoid loose sexual relations. Trust in God in order to resist satanic temptations."
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Iranian Min Says US Wants "World Dictatorship"
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Dow Jones News Wires
NEW YORK -- Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi blasted the U.S. for attempts to impose its will on the rest of the world, saying Washington wanted to establish a "world dictatorship", the Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported Thursday.
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Outside World Must Continue Talking To Iran: Copithorne
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Iran Press Service
GENEVA -- "Changes that are taking place in Iran are inevitable and nothing can stop them. But when and how these changes would signify the end of the present regime, this is every one's guess", said the special Representative of the United Nations for Human Rights in the Islamic Republic.
Speaking during an interview in Geneva with Iran Press Service, Mr. Maurice Copithorne also confirmed that the situation of human rights in Iran had got worse during the presidency of President Mohammad Khatami, whom he described as having been "discredited with the people".
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UN rights envoy says U.S. hurting Iran's reformers
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Reuters
A UN human rights investigator said yesterday that U.S. President George W. Bush's branding of Iran as part of an "axis of evil" had weakened the hand of the country's reform movement.
Maurice Copithorne, UN special representative on human rights in Iran, also said that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, supreme religious leader and head of an "unelected elite", continued to dominate in a power struggle with reformist President Mohammad Khatami.
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Iran holds car rally "for both men and women" in Kish Island
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BBC Monitoring Service
Kish Island, Hormozgan Province, 5 April: Sports and Healthy Recreation Institute of Kish Island Free Zone announced Thursday [4 April] that the first auto racing entitled "Samand Cup" were held here.
Held for both men and women from 28 March to 1 April, the events were terribly welcomed by the citizens and tourists.
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Putin Invites Iranian Foreign Minister For Moscow Meeting
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Dow Jones News Wires
MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin on Friday invited Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi to the Kremlin to discuss bilateral cooperation that has vexed Washington and tarnished the recent U.S.-Russian honeymoon.
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Russia denies supplying weapons to Iran
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Reuters
ATHENS, Greece -- Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov denied Thursday that Russia had supplied Iran with military technology or weapons of mass destruction.
"The problem about the alleged supply of technology, whether missile systems or nuclear systems, to Iran has been re-hashed for some time and is a myth without foundation," Ivanov said after meeting his Greek counterpart Yannos Papandoniou.
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Iran, Russia Discuss Nuke Plant
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Associated Press
Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and Russian officials on Thursday discussed the final phase of construction of a Russian-built nuclear reactor in Iran — a project that has caused alarm in the United States and cast a continual shadow over U.S.-Russian relations.
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Why won't they denounce Hamas and Hezbollah?
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Center For Security Policy
Some prominent US Muslim groups profess to be for peace, but they have a hard time denouncing terrorism by name.
An influential Muslim pressure group that enjoys high-level access to the Bush administration says it backs the president's position on Israeli settlements, his call for Israel to "halt incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas of the region and bin withdrawal from those cities it has recently occupied," and the need to respect the Palestinian people.
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Hezbollah denies reports it fired rockets at IDF outposts
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Ha'aretz
The Hezbollah organization denied reports Thursday night that it had resumed firing rockets at IDF outposts near Har Dov and Mount Hermon.
On Thursday afternoon, anti-tank shells were fired at IDF outposts along the northern border. In response, artillery fire was directed at the sources of the shooting. No injuries were reported in the incident.
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Sharon buys time
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Ha'aretz
U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday granted Israel a few more days' grace to complete the Protective Wall offensive - until Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives in the region - according to Jerusalem's assessment of the American leader's speech.
Powell called Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday afternoon to inform him of the main points of the impending speech. Sharon put in a request "to buy time" for the IDF mission in the territories.
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Being Prince Abdullah
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Being Prince Abdullah
A formidable adversary.
Over the last three weeks, a formidable obstacle has emerged to U.S. strategic goals in the Middle East. His name is Crown Prince Abdullah.
Abdullah is generally considered to be popular in Saudi Arabia, thanks to his reputation for piety. He leans less toward the West in his orientation than his predecessor as ruler, the ailing King Fahd. And he has some diplomatic creativity.
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Bush Seeks Help From Arab Countries in Mideast Crisis
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VOA
President Bush says Israel's Arab neighbors must contribute to peace in the Middle East. The president is sending Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region next week to meet with Arab and Israeli leaders in hopes of reaching a ceasefire.
While calling on Israel to withdraw from Palestinian-ruled areas, President Bush says Arab leaders must come forward to help seize the moment and prevent the current conflict from growing wider. "As Israel steps back, responsible Palestinian leaders and Israel's Arab neighbors must step forward and show the world that they are truly on the side of peace," he said. "The choice and the burden will be theirs."
President Bush says this could be a hopeful moment in the Middle East with a peace plan from Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah trading Arab recognition of Israel's right to exist in exchange for Israel withdrawing from land it occupied during the 1967 war.
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