Blair denies bombing plot knowledge
Tuesday 29 November 2005, 3:39 Makka Time, 0:39 GMT

Related:
Aljazeera demands answers from Blair
US,UK asked to explain Jazeera memo
Aljazeera probes Bush 'bombing' memo

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has denied receiving any details of a reported US proposal to bomb Aljazeera.
The Daily Mirror newspaper reported last week that a secret British government memo said Blair had talked US President George Bush out of bombing the Arab broadcaster's Doha headquarters in April 2004.
The White House has dismissed the report as "outlandish", while Blair's office has so far refused to comment.
Blair was asked in a written question to parliament made public on Monday "what information he received on action that the United States administration proposed to take against the Aljazeera television channel?"
In a written response, Blair gave the one-word answer "none".
The question, published on the parliament website, was proposed for discussion by lawmaker Adam Price, of the Welsh party Plaid Cymru.
A spokeswoman for Blair's Downing Street office made no further comment on the prime minister's response.
Aljazeera's quest
At a London news conference late on Monday, Daily Mirror's associate editor Kevin Maguire said he did not believe the reported threat against Aljazeera was a joke.
Aljazeera chief Waddah Khanfarwants an explanation from Blair"It is clear from the language used in the memo and its context that Tony Blair took it seriously and counselled against it. It certainly wasn't a joke," he said.
The paper quoted an unnamed government official as suggesting Bush's threat was a joke, but had another unidentified source saying the US president was serious.
Aljazeera's general manager Waddah Khanfar, who flew to London last week to seek an explanation about the memo, said he was unsure what to believe, but Aljazeera would not abandon the story until it got an answer.
"I want not to believe it," he said.
Britain's attorney-general has warned other media that they can be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act if they reveal further details of the memo.
Britain is prosecuting a civil servant and a parliamentarian's aide for leaking the secret document.
The Mirror's report was picked up by the world's media and prompted Aljazeera to demand clarification from the US and Britain.

IUML demands Neli probe report

GUWAHATI, Nov 27: Assam unit of the Indian Union of Muslim League (IUML) has demanded immediate release of the report of the Tiwari Commission which probed into the Neli carnage that had taken place in 1983. A resolution in this regard was adopted in the executive meeting of the party here today, said MU Mandal, general secretary of Assam IUML, while talking to some journalist here
The party would contest 45 constituencies in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the State, he said. National president of the party, GM Banatwala and its general secretary and Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahmed were scheduled to arrive in Guwahati to asses the party’s organizational status in the first week of December, he added. The party has also decided to hold conventions in district level from December 1 to strengthen its organizational base among the masses.

“The 21st century Nazis”


Following up developments in Iraq under the occupation, you all must be familiar with a term that has repeatedly appeared on news reports during the past two years: The Triangle of Death, the area south of the Iraqi capital, which constitutes the three towns of Yosfiya, Mahmoodiya and Latifiya, stated an editorial by Sabah Ali from Brussels Tribunal.

Contrary to how this area; The Triangle of Death or the Death Triangle has been portrayed in mainstream media, it has nothing to do with death- It is located in one of the greenest, most beautiful and peaceful areas of Iraq, with fruit orchards,vegetable farms where the Tigris and the Euphrates and the rural areas that engulf hundreds of small villages. The Area south of Baghdad used to be one of the most important industrial areas in the war torn country,but it is now branded Triangle of Death by the occupying government, Washington, due to the hideous amount of attacks the three countries witnessed since the war was launched in March 2003.
The region, inhabited by a mixture of Shia and Sunni tribes, as almost everywhere else in Iraq, has become a death zone for many Iraqis, including members of the security services, the invading troops, and other workers including members of humanitarian organisations.


Before the occupation the region never witnessed any sectarian tensions whatsoever. But since the invading forces arrived in the country, massive military operations were regularly took place there, as well as horrible stories of arrests, torture, and mass killing, not only by the American troops, but also by the Iraqi police and Army units.

Yosfiya, which lies almost 30 kilometers south of the Iraqi capital, houses the American military base, and prison where all Iraqi detainees are usually kept, to be moved later into bigger prisons like Abu Ghraib or Camp Bucca in Um Qasr (near Basra).

The writer described mountains of garbage thrown on both sides of the highway. Beyond that is the car graveyard, where destroyed vehicles are gathered to be sold for the cheapest price.

The way to Yosfiya, which used to take 15 minutes, takes now at least 1.30 hour.
“The driver said it was impossible to reach Qaraghool village as it is now besieged by the Iraqi and American troops for 3 months”.

"This is the point", we objected, "We want to see how the villagers are surviving there"

"Not today please, trust me you cannot go today" he said.

“Our first stop was Nasser Shneiter village, on the eastern side. This is no more than 14 houses of farmers from one family: Nasser, a Shia family from Beni Saad tribe. On the dusty side way, a deserted house was destroyed, the walls split, the windows smashed, the okras left to dry un plucked, so are the cotton trees. The driver explained that the house was raided, bombed by sound bombs, two men were arrested, one of them, Nektal Rahman Adaay was killed during the arrest. The families, 12, are now living with relatives”.

Nothing could be seen or heard except dogs’ barking.

The Iraqi police Special Forces, Al-Hussein Brigades, came at dawn, in some 20 pick ups- They were hit from a place behind the Yosfiya Water Project. Tens of them were killed and their cars were burnt in a battle that went on for 3 hours.

Same day, more forces, accompanied by the American troops and helicopters, raided the houses, killed and arrested the men, humiliated the families, killed the cows and chicken, destroyed the yards, and set the village on fire.

"They dragged one of the men Abbass Oeid, more than 70 years, and beat him to death. Two other man, were arrested,
Karim Motar, 50, and Riyadh Talab Jabr, 20. Their bodies were found three days later in Baghdad. They put police uniform on Karim’s body. Riyadh was naked. Both were savagely tortured, their bones, backs, and arms were smashed".

"They believed that the village was colluding with the resistance".

But Ali Nasser, another man from the village, denies the allegations.

"Some of them were not killed, they managed to run away, they can testify about what happened, actually they hid in our houses and fought from there, we gave them protection, some families served them tea and bread. They say that
the Sunnis are fighting them, we are Shia, so why they burnt our village?"

"I do not know, that is why I ask the government to come here and investigate. We have done nothing wrong, never hurt any body or broken any law. We were punished for a crime that we did not do. We were in the middle of the fire, this is our only fault"

"I want the government to hear my question and answer me: why were we treated like this? The police brigades broke even the electricity converters, we do not have power for 40 days, of course water pumps do not operate and the plants are all dead. Our animals were killed, our women humiliated."

"They ask the women where did you hide the men, they grabbed the children from their hair and throw them to the ground. Riyadh’s mother was crying and begging them to leave her son; they hit her with the gun’s end, they smashed his head with a brick in front of her eyes, now she is dying. When his body was found it was skinned… Abbass was so told that he could not even walk how he would be a terrorist!! He was beaten to death on the spot and his body was thrown in the drainage. When they searched the houses they did not find any indication that any of them had any thing to do with terrorism or weapons, so why? The government is working on turning every body against it. It is encouraging ordinary people to resist by treating them so savagely. They have no mercy. We have nothing left now, nothing."

Ali went to the police to complain. But the police accused the villagers of slaughtering the policemen.

-"I tried to save something, but I could not, they would not let me. They came in four helicopters and surrounded the whole area. They put the gun on my head and asked where the Mujahedeen are. They destroyed everything, even my medicines. They said you help the Mujahedeen with those medicines, and destroyed them. Troops from the police Scorpion brigade were hit in the area the day before, and they believed that we knew about the Mujahedeen ".

Washington’s response to the justified uprising against the illegal occupation in Iraq has been to unleash a wave of bloody operations, with helicopter gunships, jets, tanks and heavily armed soldiers inside the and outside the so-called Death Triangle, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women and children- Homes, factories and mosques have been destroyed by the merciless occupation.

Some defend Bush’s admin against accusations that it’s been acting as a fascist regime- But numerous analysts have unveiled Washington’s attempt to seize control of the Iraqi oil and implement its long-term agenda of redrawing the Middle East map in a way that serves the American and probably the Israeli interests in the region, and which America believes and had made clear in many occasions it won’t be sustained except through military “terror”, according to World Socialist Web Site.

As resistance to the invading troops intensifies and grows bolder, the occupying power responds with ever-greater violence and bloodshed- Washington has already started using methods the Nazis used to suppress the resistance movements in occupied Europe during World War II.

French Unrest Sends Shockwaves Across Europe
November 8, 2005 – The seemingly unabating unrest across France has sent shockwaves across Europe, with similar, though limited, incidents reported in several European countries.
Hundreds of Muslim and non-Muslim immigrants took to the streets of Amsterdam on Monday, November 7, to protest their deteriorating living conditions.
The protestors called on the Dutch government to change its policy towards immigrants, both legal or illegal.
The French government declared Tuesday a state of emergency in riot-hit parts in order to combat the worst outbreak of urban unrest since the May 1968 student revolt.
Nearly two weeks of rioting in the country's high-immigration suburbs has left more than 6,000 cars burned, public and private property destroyed, tens of policemen injured and one civilian death.
The deaths 10 days ago of two youths fleeing police ignited pent up frustrations among young men, many of them of North and black African origin, at racism, unemployment, their marginal place in French society and their treatment by the police.
Prodi has warned that an explosion of urban violence in Italy was "only a matter of time" as "we have the worst suburbs in Europe."
Security agencies across Belgium have been placed on high alert after Molotov cocktail were thrown Monday at two police cars in a Brussels district.
Also Monday, a police car in downtown Brussels was also put afire.
In another Brussels suburb, policemen exchanged fire with immigrants after security men tried to force a young immigrant to wash a car he had urinated.
Police forces were unusually heavily deployed in Brussels and high-immigration suburbs as a precautionary measure.
Many policemen have cancelled their weekly vacations and reported to their stations in anticipation of any emergencies.
Belgians fear a potential spillover of the French unrest into their country.
Yet, a provincial interior minister ruled out a repeat of the French scenario in Belgium, arguing that living standards were far better than those in France.
He advised the French to provide career opportunities for the young immigrants to bring riots to a peaceful end and achieve integration.
Many politicians and observers across Europe warned that the French unrest was a wakeup call for their own countries.
"France is not alone", Trevor Phillips, head of Britain's Commission for Racial Equality, wrote in The Observer newspaper.
"Everywhere, smugness about the state of race relations is being punctured," he said.
A prominent French anti-globalization activist blamed the worsening urban unrest on failed government's integration policies as well as the social and economic marginalization of immigrants.
"Riots have nothing to do with Muslims, Arabs or African immigrants as propagated by the media," Jose Bove said.
"The unrest has its roots in decade-old failed social policies to improve the situation in France's poor suburbs."
The government declared Tuesday a state of emergency in riot-hit parts in order to combat the worst outbreak of urban unrest since the May 1968 student revolt.
Meeting in crisis session under the chairmanship of President Jacques Chirac, the cabinet invoked a 50 year-old law originally drawn up at the start of the Algerian war which permits the declaration of curfews, house-searches and a ban on public meetings.
The measure will come into effect at midnight after the government has issued a decree setting out the geographical limits for the state of emergency.
Nearly two weeks of rioting in the country's high-immigration suburbs has left more than 6,000 cars burned, public and private property destroyed, tens of policemen injured and one civilian death.
More than 1,500 people -- mainly Arab and black youngsters -- have been detained.
The deaths 10 days ago of two youths fleeing police ignited pent up frustrations among young men, many of them of North and black African origin, at racism, unemployment, their marginal place in French society and their treatment by the police.
Bove, a farmer and unionist, blamed the unrest on social and economic marginalization of the African and Muslim immigrants in the European country.
"There will be no solution to the crisis in the near future unless the government changes its policies toward marginalized immigrants," he added.
The activist urged the French parliament to debate the root causes of crisis, describing the unrest as "a revolution by desperate youths who have lost all hopes."
Muslim thinker Tareq Ramadan blamed the entire political class in France for the riots, saying the political class has been "blind" to what has been happening in the suburbs, with their unemployed youth of Arab and African origin and bleak high-rises.
Bove also asked Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy to apologize for his anti-immigrant remarks.
The interior minister has been under fire for his "zero-tolerance" policy, which caused violence in the areas.
The French Communist Party, the Greens and the Socialist Party have joined forces, demanding the sacking of Sarkozy over his handling of the crisis.
He has been accused of stoking passions by calling troublemakers "racaille" or rabble, and saying that crime-ridden areas need to be "cleaned with a power-hose."
"Our French neighbors are giving us the loudest alarm call they can. Wake up, everybody."
Italy's main opposition leader Romano Prodi warned over the weekend that an explosion of urban violence in Italy was "only a matter of time" as "we have the worst suburbs in Europe."
Prodi, a former European Commission president, said: "Our suburbs are a human tragedy, and if we don't take serious action on social and housing issues we will have many scenes like Paris."
Bremen-based sociologist Lorenz Boellinger fears violence could flare up quickly in Germany.
"There is already an explosive mix which could lead to riots," he told Agence France-Presse
Boellinger called on German authorities to provide more help for immigrant families by giving them advice on life in Germany and setting up youth centers and youth clubs in immigrant areas.
Late Sunday, five cars were set ablaze in Berlin and six in the western city of Bremen.

More than 53 million Muslims in Europe

Posted: October 22, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern


By Wolfgang Polzer
© 2005 ASSIST News Service

WETZLAR, Germany – More than 53 million Muslims live in Europe – 14 million of them in the European Union, according to newly released figures.

The Central Institute's Islam Archives in Soest, Germany, says the number of Muslims in Europe has increased by 800,000 over the last two years, reports the German evangelical news agency IDEA.


The institute’s director, Salim Abdullah, says that among the 25 EU states, France has the highest number of Muslims – 5.5 million – followed by Germany with 3.2 million, the United Kingdom with 1.5 million and Italy with 1 million.

Taking into account the whole continent, Russia has 25 million Muslims and the European part of Turkey 5.9 million. The Muslim population in Germany is mostly made up of Turkish migrants. But the number of Muslims holding a German passport has risen to almost 1 million.

Muslim worship in Germany is on the rise. Approximately 200,000 take part in daily prayers and 493,000 in Friday prayers at mosques and prayer houses – an increase of more than 10 percent over last year’s figures.

Islam in Germany is a "young religion," according to the institute, which counts 850,000 Muslims as minors. One in five Muslim adolescents worships regularly.

The number of converts to Islam has reached a new high in Germany. According to the institute, more than 1,100 people changed their religion to Islam between 2004 and 2005. Approximately 60 percent of the converts were women. Most converted because they married a Muslim.

But the reverse also is true: More and more Muslims in Germany are becoming Christians. Most are Iranians in exile, who left their country after the Islamic revolution of 1979. Iranian converts estimate that each year approximately 60 Muslims are baptized in Germany.

The institute believes that more than 100,000 Iranian Shiites have converted to the Christian faith since the Islamic revolution. Most live in the United States.