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High Stakes Future for Caspian Oil and Gas Development
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Stratfor.com
A summit collapsed April 25 without resolving the legal status of the Caspian Sea, believed to contain the world's third-largest concentration of petroleum.
The failure marks the end of attempts by Caspian states to reach a mutual agreement.
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Focus on the Axis of Evil: Iran
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Foreign Affairs
To outsiders, contemporary Iran seems a Janus-faced country that confounds policymakers with its internal contradictions.
Hard-liners in Washington emphasize Iran's lack of democracy and hostility: the Islamic Republic has been run since the 1979 revolution by anti-American, anti-Western Shiite Muslim clerics who favor a stern interpretation of Islamic law; the unelected Ayatollah (Supreme Leader) Ali Khamenei retains final say on all matters of state;
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Iran leader assails U.S. policies
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The International Herald Tribune
Khatami sees Bush influenced by 'warmongers'
ALMATY, Kazakhstan Explaining Iran's objections to being targeted in an "axis of evil," Mohammed Khatami, the Iranian president, blamed President George W. Bush's inexperience in world affairs and the clout of pro-Israel factions in Washington for fostering an escalation of violence threatening to ignite the Middle East.
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Khatami says "radical warmongers" drive US policy
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AFP
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami blasted US Middle East policy in an interview published here, saying it was driven by "radical warmongers."
Khatami, whose nation was lumped with Iraq and North Korea in George W. Bush's "axis of evil," said the US president was acting against the best interests of the United States.
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Iran's reformist MPs want better ties with U.S.
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Gulf News
After a break in Iran-U.S. relations of more than 20 years, some pro-reform members of Parliaments are planning to write a letter to their American counterparts encouraging them to work harder to help melt the mountain of ice between the two nations.
Speaking to reporters after a parliament session here recently, Mohammed Ali Kouzehgar, a reformist MP said: "In response to Joseph Biden's offer, we are studying the idea of writing a letter to attract pro-Iranian minorities' attention in U.S. and break the wall of mistrust between the two countries."
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Rumsfeld, in Afghanistan, Says U.S. Ready for Taliban
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Reuters
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Saturday 12,000 U.S. and other Western troops would "go after" any al Qaeda and Taliban guerrillas who regroup to launch a spring offensive in Afghanistan.
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U.N. human rights meeting ends amid criticism and concern
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AP
GENEVA (AP) -- The U.N. Human Rights Commission ended its annual session Friday amid criticism that its reluctance to act on China, Chechnya, Iran and Zimbabwe showed it was protecting oppressors and not the oppressed.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said the six-week meeting of the world body's top rights watchdog was "very difficult" and "very worrying." Robinson said she was concerned by trends to weaken the commission's role as a defender of liberties.
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Correcting Common Misconceptions about Nonviolent Action
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RezaPahlavi.org
What nonviolent action is
Nonviolent action is a technique of socio-political action for applying power in a conflict without the use of physical violence.
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The Saudi-Iranian Alliance United by oil
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National Review
Saudi Arabia and Iran are regional rivals whose traditional approach to the Israel-Palestinian conflict has been diametrically opposite. But now they are moving closer together on that and other issues, with probable immense consequences for the United States and the entire world.
Over the past 20 years, Saudi Arabia has been moderate on both global oil prices and in its approach to the Israel-Arab conflict.
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Silk Road: Behind the veil
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Insight
WASHINGTON -- The Islamic culture of segregation of sexes was based on early marriages that prevented sexual frustration but economic pressure and evolving social attitudes are rapidly changing that tradition.
Many in the cities, particularly the educated middle class, are in their 30s when they get married -- and until then they are expected to live celibate lives. It does not work, particularly when society is opening up.
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Iran Wants Security Coperation with Oman
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MENL
ABU DHABI -- Iran has targeted Oman as the next Gulf Arab country for whom Teheran hopes to achieve security cooperation.
Gulf defense sources said Iran has relayed to Oman appeals to begin a process that would lead to an accord on security cooperation. Teheran already has such accords with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
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Iran Fails To Display Shihab-3
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MENL
NICOSIA -- Iran has displayed a range of aircraft and missiles in a show of force meant to deter any attack by the United States.
But the Iranian military did not exhibit its new Shihab-3 intermediate-range missile. No explanation was given.
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Taking liberties
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Guardian
Since September 11 the US is in danger of turning into a 'seedy imperial state', argues Gore Vidal
According to the Koran, it was on a Tuesday that Allah created darkness. Last September 11, when suicide pilots were crashing commercial airliners into crowded American buildings, I did not have to look at the calendar to see what day it was: Dark Tuesday was casting its long shadow across Manhattan and along the Potomac river.
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Yemeni protestors call to cut ties with USA
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Al Bawaba
Yemeni police dispersed about 2,000 anti-American protestors who called on their government Friday to break diplomatic ties with the United States.
The demonstrators gathered following noon prayers in the capital, Sana'a, and started to march on the U.S. Embassy, but police blocked their path. Demonstrations against the United States and Israel also took place in Jordan, Bahrain and Egypt.
The Yemeni protesters carried signs that read "We ask for the expulsion of American military experts doing anti-terrorism work."
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Afghanistan's former king holds court
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BBC
(Zahir Shah - BBC)
In Kabul, a lost thread of Afghan history is being picked up, and woven back into a traditional pattern.
A former king has come home to his people.
Under heavy guard in the heart of Kabul, 87-year-old Zahir Shah is holding court again, albeit a modest one. He insists he has returned, after nearly 30 years in exile in Rome, as a citizen, not a king. But he is a citizen unlike any other. Sheltered by a simple gazebo on a warm Kabul day, a frail
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Hezbollah renews attacks on Israeli positions in Chebaa Farms
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AP
After a lull of nearly two weeks, Hezbollah guerrillas attacked Israeli positions in a disputed enclave on Lebanon's southern border Friday, wounding three Israeli soldiers and triggering Israeli retaliation.
The guerrillas fired rockets and machine guns at Israeli hilltop posts in the Chebaa Farms area, Lebanese security officials said on condition of anonymity.
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Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch: What did Prince Abdullah's trip to Texas accomplish?
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The Weekly Standard
What was the point of Saudi crown prince Abdullah's trip to Crawford, Texas? Nothing substantial emerged from the so-called summit.
The Arabian oil autocrat said nothing at the end of his meeting with President Bush.
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Anti-Semitism Is Deepening Among Muslims
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Agence France Presse
Egyptian demonstrators burned an Israeli flag at Al Azhar mosque and Islamic center this month in Cairo.
Stay in a five-star hotel anywhere from Jordan to Iran, and you can buy the infamous forgery "Protocols of the Elders of Zion." Pick up a newspaper in any part of the Arab world and you regularly see a swastika superimposed on the Israeil flag.
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Oil embargo: empty threats?
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Intelligence Digest
Saddam Hussein's 30-day halt to Iraqi oil exports has had, predictably, little more than a symbolic impact on the markets.
In part this is due to the fact that the decision only applies to Baghdad's official exports made within the UN sanctions regime (around two million barrels per day), rather than the daily quota of 150,000 barrels that is being supplied illicitly to Syria which, in turn, exports it internationally (see JID 5 April 2002).
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Policy Divide Thwarts Powell in Mideast Effort
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The Washington Post
Defense Dept.'s Influence Frustrates State Dept.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah is greeted by Secretary of State Colin Powell as he arrives Thursday in Texas.
State Department officials say Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has been repeatedly undercut by other senior policymakers in his effort to break the Middle East deadlock, warning this has left U.S. diplomacy paralyzed at an especially volatile moment.
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