Defense & Foreign Affairs Analysis

Iran Moves Toward a Domestic Watershed Despite de facto Implementation of Baker Initiative

Analysis. By Gregory R. Copley, Editor, GIS.

The growing public trend among Iranians of identifying with a traditional Persian character rather than an Islamist one is leading toward a major clash within Iranian society, possibly at the forthcoming celebration of the beginning of the traditional Persian New Year, NowRuz, on March 20/21, 2007, in defiance of a ban on such celebrations by the ruling Islamist clerics. There is ample evidence that a significant percentage of the Iranian population will defy the clerical Government to celebrate Now Ruz (literally “new day”, also transliterated as Norooz).

But more than that, there is growing evidence that a cultural and very Persian social renaissance is firmly underway in Iran, totally opposed to the clerics and religious governance, and despite the belief that the US had effectively abandoned the Iranian population and now favored “legitimizing” the Iranian clerical Government. There is a widespread understanding that the US State Dept. was — against the stated wishes of US Pres. George W. Bush — moving toward a softer approach toward the Iranian clerics, in line with proposals made by former US Secretary of State James Baker and the Iraq Study Group.

In recent years, the Iranian urban population had responded significantly when US Pres. Bush had promised support to Iranian aspirations to remove the clerics. A similar phenomenon occurred in Czechoslovakia in 1968, for example, and in Hungary in 1956, when populations in those countries responded to what they believed were US encouragement to seize their own destiny from Soviet control. In Iran, public support for Western values and culture remains high, but expectations of US support — even moral support — have been vitiated.

Now, despite the removal of the promise of US moral support, it seems clear that Iranian society is beginning to take charge of its own destiny, which it largely sees as independent of the clerics. The renaissance is, specifically, Persian in nature; that is, working from a basis of pre-Islamic or anti-Islamic cultural pride. The vibrancy of the Iranian publishing scene, printing ever more ornate editions of famous Persian poetry, is merely symptomatic of the new dynamism and debate in Iranian society, defying the Islamist/jihadist approach of the clerical leadership.

What is now clear is that the element of fear of the Administration is now gone among large segments of the population, who feel more free to criticize the clerics. This may in part be attributable to the fact that the clerics are themselves divided into a number of factions, each bent on assuming power. And with “Supreme Leader” “Ayatollah” Ali Hoseini-Khamene‘i, 67, reportedly ill, the battle for his post has intensified.

Significantly, although recent elections of mujtahids for the Assembly of Experts (which in turn elects the “Supreme Leader”) — which took place on December 15, 2006 — produced an even more radical Islamist Assembly, the population at large is moving in a more secular direction. The Iranian Ministry of Interior reported an estimated 60 percent turnout of the 46.5-million eligible voters for the Assembly of Experts election, and later reported that “more than 28-million people” voted, but even Administration sources in Tehran admit that this number was “a joke”, and that voter turnout was, in fact, negligible.

Now, former Pres. Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani (the current chairman of the Council of Expediency Discernment) is promoting his one-time follower, former Pres. Mohammed Khatami, for the supreme leadership, in the belief that Khatami’s image of moderation — totally at odds with reality — would help bring him to power, with Rafsanjani attempting to maintain control indirectly. Pres. Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad’s mentor, radical Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi, is also attempting to position himself for the job, as is Mahmood Hashemi Shahroodi.
But as the showdown approaches — both within the clerical leadership and between the clerics and the public — Pres. Ahmadi-Nejad now appears to have gained power vis-à-vis Khamene’i. Although Ayatollah Yazdi may not have made as much ground as he would have liked in the Assembly of Experts, he is still a valuable ally for Amhadi-Nejad, but not as valuable as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC: Pasdaran).

The Pasdaran leadership depends heavily on the President to retain its privileges in controlling the key legal and illegal elements of the economy. Control of liquor, prostitution, and narcotics, as well as strong control over many legal businesses has meant that the Pasdaran leadership now has a vested interest in the status quo.

But Ahmadi-Nejad’s Islamist priorities differ substantially from the Persian orientation of much the general public, which means that — perhaps beginning at the forthcoming Now Ruz celebrations — the Pasdaran may be asked to help suppress any dissidence. In the past, the working levels of the Pasdaran — who are not benefiting from the corruption — had increasingly refused to suppress the Iranian public. The clerical Government has, in recent times, spent large amounts of money and effort, using mostly Basij political police, to suppress anti-Government demonstrations. The question now is whether this will be enough.

Demonstrations in defiance of the Government continue. Teachers and cultural figures held a demonstration on March 3, 2007, in front of the Majlis in Tehran. The demonstration was the third in the past six weeks. Some 15,000 to 20,000 demonstrators called on Iranian Education Minister Mahmoud Farshidi to resign, claiming that he was more concerned about obtaining nuclear energy rather than about their livelihood.

Within this environment, Pres. Ahmadi-Nejad’s ability to maneuver has been demonstrated, along with his ability to build a power base. This has contributed to his belief that he needs to continue to use the threat of conflict with the US to sustain his position within the “creative tension” which is the hallmark of current Iranian politics.

Footnotes:
1. See Defense & Foreign Affairs Special Analysis: Former US Secretary of State Baker Attempts to Bypass Bush White House on Iran Links.

That report noted:
Former US Secretary of State James Baker, who co-chaired the recent US Iraq Study Group — the main recommendations of which were rejected by the George W. Bush Administration — is working indirectly and behind the scenes to bring about direct diplomatic ties between the US and Iran.

This is in defiance of Bush White House policy which essentially has said that encouraging direct negotiations with the Iranian clerical leaders would legitimize and strengthen the power of the Iranian mullahs, making it more difficult for Iran’s secular opposition to bring about democratic change in the country.

The visit on January 25-26, 2007, to Tehran by the Secretary-General of the Saudi National Security Council, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, for talks with his Iranian counterpart Ali Larijani on “the critical situation in Lebanon” was, in fact, to scope out a more broadly-based resolution to the Iran-US impasse along the lines of the so-called “Baker Plan” devised by the Iraq Study Group. The Iraq Study Group recommendations had already been discounted and discarded by the George W. Bush White House, but the Bandar maneuver with Ali Larijani is an attempt to sidestep that in order to resume the process of US recognition of the clerical leadership in Iran.

2. See Defense & Foreign Affairs Special Analysis: Ahmadi-Nejad’s “Message to the American Nation” Reflects Belief That Tehran Has the Strategic Initiative.


Timor Leste Elections Signify Shifting Political Landscape

Analysis. By Barry Patterson.

On February 24, 2006, Timor Leste Prime Minister José Ramos Horta declared his intention to run for the office of President in elections to be held on April 9, 2006. The current Timor Leste President, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, has stated that he will not stand for another term. It is possible that Horta and Gusmão will “job-switch”, with Horta gaining the presidency and Gusmão, if not gaining the Prime Minister’s office, playing a significant rôle in legislative politics. This will have significant implications for the future of Timor Leste’s government, and may impact on the stability of the nation.

Pres. Gusmão threatened to resign his post over civil unrest which plagued Timor Leste in May 2006, issuing an ultimatum to then Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri. This ultimatum resulted in Alkatiri’s resignation and the ascendance of Ramos-Horta to the presidency. Prime Minister Horta is no longer a member of the Frente Revolucionaria de Timor-Leste Independente (FRETILIN)

Timor Leste’s ruling party and chief resistance movement prior to independence — and was appointed by Gusmão to the position. Ramos Horta, a lawyer by profession, was also serving as Defense Minister when he assumed office. He continues in both rôles.
At present, there is no significant opposition to Horta’s run for President.

Without a major change of circumstance, it is likely that Horta will secure the presidency. One of Horta’s immediate challenges in gaining the presidency will be to deal with the 600 soldiers, known as petitioners, who deserted the military in early 2006. While no longer operational in the army, the soldiers are still being paid while their future is decided.

Increased friction may also emerge between the President’s office and the Commander of the East Timor Defense Force (ETDF), Brig.-Gen. Taur Matan Ruak. As a former commander of FRETILIN’s armed wing, Forças Armadas da Libertação Nacional de Timor-Leste (FALINTIL), and Gusmão’s successor in that organization, Ruak is deeply entrenched in the position and has so far refused to address the petitioners’ requests as a group, offering instead to deal with the soldiers on an individual basis.
Parliamentary elections are also set to occur later in 2007. These elections will see a reduction in the number of seats in Parliament, from 88 to between 52 and 65. The current National Parliament, Timor Leste’s only representative house, was elected on an exceptional basis when the nation’s new constitution was brought in on March 22, 2002.

Pres. Gusmão’s newly formed party, the Conselho Nacional de Resistência Timorense (CNRT: National Council of Timorese Resistance), has the stated aim of attempting to fill the rôle of an effective opposition in Timorese politics and present a credible challenge to the dominant FRETILIN party. According to Pres. Gusmão, it intends to “knock the FRETILIN party off its pedestal as the dominant political force and remove its majority in the parliament”.

Despite being deposed from the office of Prime Minister during 2006, Alkatiri continues to be a powerbroker within FRETILIN.2 Despite his unpopularity with much of rural Timor, and his frequent clashes with the Catholic Church, it is certain that Alkatiri will play a significant rôle in the formation of any new government after parliamentary elections. Part of his unpopularity stems from his long period of exile during the Indonesian occupation. Alkatiri is of Yemeni descent and a Muslim, a point of difference in the predominantly Catholic nation. However, Alkatiri also has a reputation as a good administrator and policy thinker, in a parliament which has few skills in this area. He studied law and surveying during his exile in Angola, and is often cited as a skilled negotiator and economist.

Externally, Alkatiri has enjoyed the support of the Portuguese Government, but has had a more contentious relationship with the Australian Government which had a history of dialogue with Gusmão and Ramos Horta. This dynamic was made clear during the 2006 crisis.

The period leading up to the Presidential election and later parliamentary elections, will mark the most significant shift in Timor Leste politics to date.

It is a critical time for Timor Leste, not just in terms of party formation, but mode of government. The nation has committed to open-markets and a capitalist economy with base standards of living provided by the state; most of this is required by international organizations before economic assistance would be made available.

Ramos-Horta and Gusmão have tended to take a liberal democratic approach to government, emphasizing strong opposition, robust political debate and negotiating solutions to national and social problems. On the other hand, Alkatiri, and much of FRETILIN, prefer a “guided democracy” which is party dominated, with a strong state apparatus to deal with political dissent. Much of this later approach is fueled by FRETILIN’s perception that, as the majority party, and previously the main organization of resistance, it speaks for the population and thus has a mandate for this style of government.

Many of the problems associated with Timor Leste’s unstable democracy are endemic to similar nations which have made the transition from occupation to independence. Primarily, a lack of policy experience among representatives is a major impediment to effective government. This often results in an overweighting of power within the executive.

It is likely that there will be a flare-up of violence during the first half of 2007, intensifying during election periods. In December 2006, up to 13 people were killed; in addition, a number of people were injured in gang-related violence on the streets of the capital, Dili. On February 23, 2006, Australian troops shot three men, two fatally, during a confrontation near Dili’s Comoro airport. This represented the first confirmed fatal shooting by Australian troops in the recent policing action. United Nations vehicles continued to be attacked by stone-throwing youths through early March 2007, when this report was written.

[Four Royal Australian Air Force C-130H Hercules, carrying 100 Australian Special Air Forces (SAS) troops arrived in Dili, on March 1, 2007, in anticipation of a breakout in violence in the country. The troop insertion — part of the Australian Defence Force’s Operation Tower — followed the surrounding of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado in the central Timor Leste town of Same, 50km south of Dili. The SAS deployment was to prevent expected attacks against Australians in East Timor should Australian troops be successful in capturing Reinaldo who had become a local resistance hero.

On March 5, 2007, the Australian Government ordered the evacuation from Timor Leste of all non-essential Australian personnel from the Australian Embassy in Dili; the Australian Government security level for forces operating in Timor Leste was raised to Level Five, the highest level. Maj. Reinaldo, meanwhile, claimed that he commanded 700 troops. He has refused to surrender, saying if anything were to happen to him “people will violently rise up in their thousands”. Reinaldo warned that civil war in Timor Leste was a likely outcome should he be captured. The former head of the East Timor military police had called the present Government “corrupt” and the UN-authorized peacekeeping presence by Australian and New Zealand forces as an “illegal invasion”.

Pres. Gusmão authorized “extra powers” for the international stabilization force to hunt for, and arrest, Reinaldo.]
The outskirts of Comoro airport, home to a significant number of East Timorese displaced by violence in 2006, has been the site of a number of clashes and continued violence. A significant number of Timorese continue to avoid Dili and have sought refuge in the mountains. Timor Leste’s mountains have long acted as places of refuge and safety in period of instability and provided support for the resistance during the Indonesian occupation.

To further compound the potential for instability in Timor Leste, as of February 22, 2006, severe rice shortages were reported, initially in Oecussi, before spreading to the entire country. Rice, the staple diet of Timor Leste and many South-East Asian countries, continues to decline in supply. Prices have jumped from US35 cents a kilo to over a dollar a kilo in some parts of the nation.

Similar shortages have been experienced in Indonesia and other parts of the region. The World Food Program attributes this to a late harvest in Vietnam. The Timor Leste government and the UN World Food Program have secured 300 metric tonnes of rice and are looking to secure further supplies from abroad, in efforts to bring down the price and meet the nation’s food requirements. With late rainfalls and lower than expected rainfall levels in most parts of the nation, there are fears that the country is experiencing a drought.

More expensive food, along with increasing violence around election time, may create severe instability and a potential humanitarian crisis if current shortages are not addressed. Food security has long been a concern for Timor Leste, and intentions have been declared to rehabilitate rice fields and develop storage for such periods of rainfall fluctuation.

The United Nations continues to maintain a presence in the nation, and is focusing on the upcoming elections. On August 25, 2006, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1704 was passed, allowing for the creation of United Nations Integrated Mission in East Timor (UNMIT), replacing the previous United Nations Office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL), which expired in August 2006. The new UNMIT mission incorporates up to 1,608 civilian personnel, predominantly police officers, and up to 34 military personnel.
The mandate of the mission ends on February 26, 2008.

In the six years since independence, Timor Leste has hosted a number of UN missions, including United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UMISET) and UNOTIL. This in itself has led to a number of structural development issues, and reveals serious inadequacies with the UN missions. With the ending of each mission, there is often a large turnover of staff. Missions also tend to be milestone/goal oriented, resulting in a lack of long-term strategic planning.

There is no reason to assume that the current mission will break this pattern.

From 2000 to 2005, UN missions created much of Timor Leste’s economic activity, spending more than $2.55-billion. Much of the money spent was limited to UN personnel. For instance, bottled water was imported, rather than an indigenous water purification capacity being developed. Similarly, portable generators were utilized, rather than a local power generation capacity being created.

The social instability of 2006 severely set back Timor Leste’s economic development. Almost 20 percent of the population continues to be unemployed and the nation has declined slightly in the UN’s Human Development Index when compared to previous years. While the National Development plan set out by the government cites a five percent growth in GDP by 2006/07, this is unlikely to be achieved Development also continues to be a point of contention in Timor Leste’s foreign relations.

The economic nationalism fostered under Alkatiri is still a policy strongly supported by the parliament. Rejection of loans which have special conditions attached — such as greater market interaction and a movement toward export based goods — has been a point of contention within the Australian foreign policy community. Similarly, Timor Leste’s acceptance of around 300 Cuban doctors to provide basic health care has drawn criticism from a number of quarters, including the US.

Internationally, Timor Leste continues to seek ascension to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and is currently the only nation in the region who is not a member. However, it has been an observer since 2002, and since 2006, a member of the larger ASEAN Regional Forum. On January 20, 2007, Timor Leste signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, a prerequisite to joining ASEAN. Prime Minister Horta suggested this may take five or more years, due to Timor Leste’s lack of economic development. The Treaty also lays much of the political foundation for a potential ASEAN free trade area.

The Treaty requires signatories to be guided by the following principles:

The right of every State to lead its national existence free from external interference, subversion or coercion:

Non-interference in the internal affairs of one another;
Settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful means;
Renunciation of the threat or use of force; and
Effective cooperation among themselves.

Australia also signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in late 2006, paving the way for its own further involvement in the organization. However, member nations of ASEAN continue to express concern with Australia’s actions toward the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste and particularly Fiji.
Significantly, France signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation at the same time as Timor Leste, making it the first European Nation to do so.

This may signal increased French focus on the region, and France’s intention to expand the euro’s influence into South-East Asia. The euro continues to appreciate against the US dollar; much of this growth is fuelled by the twin factors of the large US trade imbalance in East Asia and reluctance by the nations of Asia to allow their own managed currencies to rise. France’s policy in South-East Asia has been to strengthen regional integration, and political and economic development. Recent dialogues suggest that their presence in the region is likely to increase.

Conclusion. 2007 is likely to be a year of further challenges for Timor Leste, with the pressures of the nation’s first full, free elections testing the fabric of Timorese society. The election period may see many of the divisions which exist within the community rise to the surface.

The potential for violence from criminal gangs in Dili, and dissatisfied elements of the military and state security, remains a possibility. Food shortages and the inevitable increase in displaced Timorese during times of instability also have the potential to create a humanitarian crisis.

Footnotes:
* Barry Patterson is a Research Fellow at Future Directions International (FDI), the counterpart organization of ISSA in Australia.

1. Ramos Horta and Gusmão both withdrew from the organization during the Indonesian occupation due to concerns over some members’ conduct. Ramos-Horta is often credited with founding the organization, while Gusmão was one of its earliest members.
2. Charges against Alkatiri pertaining to the violence in 2006 were recently dropped due to lack of evidence, effectively freeing him to engage in public politics and contest the parliamentary elections mid-year. Former Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato, accused of conspiring with Alkatiri, is also currently on trial for his alleged rôle in supplying weapons to civilians during the same period. Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year jail term for Loboto.

3. The US dollar is the currency of Timor Leste.

4. “Cuba steps in to aid East Timor health system”, ABC Online, The World Today, July 4, 2006.

http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1678441.htm.

5. In the army particularly, but in society generally, divisions exist along regional lines, with those from the east and west often in conflict over perceived allegiances during the independence struggle. Pre-1975 invasion political grievances are also reasserting themselves. See Weekly Global Report, May 8, 2006. Timor Leste Disturbances Reveal Unresolved Defence Issues.

PRC-Sri Lanka Strengthen Relationship

Analysis. By Judah Lieblich. The relationship between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Sri Lanka was further strengthened on February 27, 2007, with the signing of eight separate bilateral agreements. The deals were signed after Sri Lankan Pres. Mahinda Rajapakse met with PRC Pres. Hu Jintao in Beijing for brief talks marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the countries.

Details of the projects were not immediately released, however, it is believed that they confirmed major PRC rôles in at least two projects in Sri Lanka. These projects include the building of a new $500-million coal fired power station and a planned $1-billion harbor in Sri Lanka’s south.

Sri Lanka has gained international attention for its prospective energy fields and was, as of early 2007, planning to invite bids for oil exploration, an event in which the PRC was expected to participate. The first phase of oil exploration was scheduled to begin in August 2007.

Sri Lanka has eight oil blocks, which were all expected to be sold in a bidding process. However, on February 23, 2007, Sri Lanka moved outside of this process, offering one each to India and the PRC, and opting to auction the remaining six.

DEMOCRAT Congressman Facilitates Islamists

WHEN DOES "KNOWINGLY- STUPID" BY OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS BECOME TREASON?


http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2747

From CAIR (Council of American Islamic Relations) to Democrat Congressman's office:

For a detailed description of CAIR, view the video at this link on this site:
http://noiri.blogspot.com/2007/02/anti-cair-video-explains.html

Congressman Joe Sestak employs staffer from Saudi funded front group for Hamas - Adeeba Al Zaman :

CAIR alters fundraising poster eliminates three of four speakers names

MIM: The callers to Joe Sestak's office protesting his slated appearence at the fundraising banquet for the Council on American Islamic Relations are in for a nasty surprise.

The staffer who could be anwering their call could be none other then CAIR Philly staffer and former communications director Adeeba Al Zaman.

The U.S. Congressman's employment of a CAIR staffer signifies another advance for "legal Islamism".

In his article "How the West Could Lose" Dr. Daniel Pipes issued this dire warning: "… Should Islamists get smart and avoid mass destruction, but instead stick to the lawful, political, non-violent route, and should their movement remain vital, it is difficult to see what will stop them…" (Alan Note: similar to Hezbollah's take over in Lebanon and to some degree Hamas within Palestinian territory)

MIM Note: Besides Edward Peck two other featured speakers were Parvez Ahmed CAIR National Director and Rafael Narbaez the director of the American Ansar Foundation.

A few hours after a journalist contacted Sestak's Philly office CAIR removed THREE of the four names which had previously appeared on the poster above. For background on the other speakers see: US Rep Joe Sestak to speak at CAIR Philly banquet with Edward Peck who met with terrorists on CNI "political pilgrimage" in '06

http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2739

CAIR-PA's First Annual Banquet American Muslims: Connecting and Sharing Featured Speakers: Dr. Edward Peck, Congressman Joe Sestak, 7th District April 7, 2007 at 5:30 pm Hilton Philadelphia, 4200 City Avenue Download Banquet Flyer (85KB)

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http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=sestak10307%2Ehtm

U.S. Representative Joe Sestak [D-Penn] Employes CAIR Staffer - Saudi Funded Front Group For Hamas Gains Access To Democrat Leadership

By Beila Rabinowitz - San Francisco, CA

Calling into question Representative Sestak's competence in addressing matters of national security, it seems he can't even adequately police his own turf, in that he has granted employment to a CAIR [the Saudi funded Wahhabist front for Hamas, the Council on American Islamic Relations] staffer, Adeeba Al Zaman.

Adeeba Al-Zaman was born in Houston, TX. She graduated in December 2004 from Rosemont College with a degree in political science. From April 2005 until September 2006, Adeeba was CAIR-PA's first full-time employee, Director of Communications.

She was hired to develop the organization from the ground-up.

Among other things, Adeeba presented CAIR-PA's 10-part course, "Understanding Islam and Muslims through History and Jurisprudence" at the Paoli Presbyterian Church.

Adeeba is currently a Congressional staffer for Congressman Joe Sestak of PA District 7.

She remains actively involved in various community and interfaith activities in the Philadelphia area." This close relationship between the Democrat Representative and the Islamist group explains why Mr. Sestak is listed as the featured speaker at CAIR's fundraising banquet in Philadelphia on April 7th 2007.

CAIR is a known quantity these days, their faux moderation a thing of the past.

Senator Barbara Boxer recently rescinded an award given to CAIR because of the group's "refusal to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah" and a "whole laundry list of things" including having their civil rights and communications director Ismail Randall Royer jailed for 20 years on terrorism charges.

Details of CAIR's "handshake-away" relationship with terror can be sourced here [Ghassan Elashi's Sentencing Proves CAIR's Terror Ties].

Inquiring about the matter, our call to Sestak's office yesterday was greeted by an irritated staffer who stated that they "had gotten a lot of calls about this" [the CAIR appearance] and who then abruptly terminated the conversation when we declined to provide an address.

CAIR is actively promoting the relationship with their "inside" guy.

Iftekhar Hussain the director of the CAIR Philadelphia office - and Adeeba Al Zaman's real boss - sent out an email asking Muslims to show support for Sestak's decision to speak at their fundraiser/banquet.

We therefore think it essential for Mr. Sestak to explain why he is employing a member of an organization whose very connection with the office of a U.S. Congressman raises serious questions of national security.

CAIR Philly director Iftekhar Hussain's email to Muslims to show support for Joe Sestak who is "taking heat from some anti - Muslim constituents".

From: "Iftekhar Hussain"

Subject: KINDLY CALL JOE SESTAK AT 610-892-8623 to THANK HIM

Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2007 01:57:26

Dear Friend, Peace to you!

I am writing to ask for your support on an urgent issue.

Congressman Joe Sestak is taking heat from some anti-Muslim constituents for having accepted an invitation to CAIR-PA, Philadelphia Chapter's annual banquet on April 7, 2007.

Why should he support CAIR-PA? Check out CAIR-PA's website to learn more about the work that it does to build tolerance and understanding in Pennsylvania.

Don't let him walk away with the message that he shouldn't support some of the most urgent civil rights and interfaith work in the state!

WE NEED TO SUPPORT HIS COMMITMENT TO THIS WORK—BY PHONE ONLY.

Please follow these easy instructions: Make a two-minute phone call now: Contact Congressman Joe Sestak at 610-892-8623 and tell him

1. You are a voter If you are a voter in the 7th District, that is great but not necessary. [the 7th district contains the western and northwestern suburbs of Philadelphia. It is comprised of the majority of Delaware County (except for the City of Chester and some of the eastern boroughs), a portion of Chester County east of West Chester, and a portion of southern Montgomery County in the affluent Main Line area]

2. You understand that he has accepted an invitation to speak at CAIR-PA's annual banquet

3. You want to express your support and enthusiasm for his participation in this event, which demonstrates his support for one of the state's most important civil rights and interfaith organizations.

Thank you and Best Regards

Your friends, Iftekhar and Bushra

Iftekhar Hussain:

-------------------------

Iftekhar is the Chair of CAIR-PA. He is also currently serving as Secretary General of the American Muslim Society of the Tristate Area of PA, NJ & DE and on the advisory committee of the American Friends Service Committee, Middle East Peace Building Unit.

He is engaged in local interfaith educational initiatives with a focus on 'Islam and the Middle East' and 'US Foreign Policy and the Muslim world'.

On behalf of CAIR-PA, he has developed a 10-part course titled 'Understanding Islam and Muslims through History and Jurisprudence' and has taught it at churches, synagogues, mosques and local county night schools. He has presented this course at over 20 different venues over the past 6 years.

Iftekhar serves as Islamic Friday prayer service leader at suburban mosques in the Delaware Valley. He has started and volunteered for PA and TX Muslim community organizations at the board level and executive committee level.

He has also worked with national Muslim organizations as consultant for local work and representation and has represented local Muslim organizations at the national level.

Under contract, he has led a process improvement study and implemented a process improvement plan for an Islamic educational foundation in the Delaware Valley.

Iftekhar was born in Bangladesh, has lived in the Middle East and Europe and studied in Texas obtaining a Bachelors and a Masters at Texas A&M University and worked toward a PhD at Penn State University.

He works as a consultant in the Pharmaceutical industry, traveling in Asia Pacific and Europe on corporate business process re-engineering assignments.

Iftekhar is married to Bushra Kourani for the past 10 years and has three children Yousef (age 8), Omar (age 7) and Huda (age 3).

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Congresman Paul Findley and visit with Khalaf Al Habtoor:

How CAIR fundraises abroad

An article by Shakir Husain, "Arabs urged to invest in image-building in US," in the Dubai-based Gulf News, provides a rare glimpse into two aspects of CAIR – its activities abroad and its finances.

Parvez Ahmad, CAIR chairman visited Dubai (with former congressman Paul Findley in tow) and held discussions with Khalaf Al Habtoor and other businessmen, seeking funds for a 5-year, $50-million public relations campaign CAIR has initiated.

Ahmad called it "the most ambitious public relations campaign anywhere in the world that the Muslims have thought about to change perceptions about Islam."

He warned the businessmen that donating is in their own interest, raising the DP World fiasco and arguing that "If the image of Islam and Muslims is not repaired in America, Muslim and Arab business interests will continue to be on a downward slide in the US.

Do not think about your contributions as donations. Think about it from the perspective of rate of return. The investment of $50 million will give you billions of dollars in return for 50 years."

He argued for dealing with the image problem in the United States because it will "remain a superpower and the largest economy in the world for at least the next 50 years."

As for the finances, the article states that CAIR plans to construct a seven-storey, $24-million office building.

It already has the land and is now raising funds for the edifice. Ahmad noted that "This building will provide CAIR $3 million per year in revenues. That will provide enough stability from an operational side."

Paul Sperry reports in "The CAIR-U.A.E. Connection" that the United Arab Emirates announced on its official government website that it has set up an endowment serving as a source of income for CAIR.

The amount of the funding is undisclosed, but sources say it will be enough to help CAIR finance the construction of a new $24 million office building and a planned $50 million public-relations campaign aimed at repairing Islam's—and the UAE's—image in America.

Revenge Rape Call

Global Islamic Media Front Urges: Avenge Rape, Strike US, Iraq Interests Originally published on 2/23/2007 by Jihadist Websites

-- OSC Summary in Arabic Terrorism:

Global Islamic Media Front Urged Muslims to Attack American, Iraqi Interests Anywhere in The World

On 23 February, a jihadist website posted a statement issued by the Global Islamic Media Media Front in which the group called on "jihad abstainers" [those refusing to join jihad] to join the mujahidin and avenge the rape of Sabrin Al-Janabi.

In an attempt to further mobilize and motivate people, the statement was written in prose and poetry. Many other jihadist groups have denounced the rape of Sabrin and called for revenge. In its response to the rape of Sabrin Al-Janabi in Iraq, written both in prose and poetry, the Global Islamic Media Front seized the opportunity to address those who abstain from jihad and urged them to react and attack Iraqi and Western interests anywhere in the world:

"most of us have cried, some of us were angered, and some of us denounced the collaborating government and prayed against the rejectionists."

"Others have called on the mujahidin to take revenge against those filthy people, as if the mujahidin have opened an information and services office."

Then the statement rhetorically asked: "Who among us thought of avenging this sister and hundreds of other Muslim women, whose honor has been violated."

Still addressing the abstainers, the statement went on to suggest ways and methods of avenging the rape of Sabrin and other Muslim women: "I will simplify the task for you and show you the best way for revenge:

Killing the crusaders' collaborator, the traitor Tariq Al-Hashimi

Killing the crusaders' agent, the rejectionist safawid Nuri Al-Maliki

Killing the rejectionist agents of the crusaders, Abd-al-Aziz Al-Hakim and Muqtada Al-Sadr

Blowing up an American or Iraqi embassy anywhere in the world.

Killing crusader or Iraqi diplomats anywhere in the world.

Targeting the offices of the Iraqi parties of apostasy in the Islamic world."

The statement concluded by calling on the mujahidin to name each of their operations "Revenge Attack for Muslim Honor."

HOW IRANIAN GHODS FORCE OPERATES IN IRAQ

Critical aspects of the clerical regime's meddling in Iraq.

Following are excerpts:

The documents and information being presented, shed light on the scope of the Iranian regime’s interference in Iraqi affairs.

One of these documents is the list of 32,000 agents of the mullahs’ regime in Iraq who receive monthly salaries from the Iranian regime. These people are currently in effect paid staff of the Revolutionary Guards’ Qods Force. (IRGC-QF)

Alan: the number is in reality estimated at well over 40,000 if you count peripherals and other Iranians clandestinely inside Iraq.

A top-secret document of the IRGC, it was obtained by the sources of the resistance inside Iran. A few points on the list:

This list contains details of only 31,690 Iraqis who are primarily affiliated with the Badr Brigade of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, also known as SCIRI. But it is not limited to them and includes other individuals and groups in Iraq.

It contains the Iraqi and the Iranian name for each individual, meaning that these individuals, who are located in Iraq, also have an Iranian name. All of these individuals are considered as official members of the IRGC.

The list contains the personnel code, the account number and the amount of monthly salary of each individual in the Iranian currency, Rial.

The list also contains the details of the each individual who is hired by the IRGC according to his personnel file, including the date of recruitment by the IRGC-QF and the Badr Brigade, the unit they served while they were in Iran, their military rank and code of personnel while working for the Qods Force.

This list only contains the details of individuals who were hired directly by the Qods Force in Iran and does not include individuals who have been recruited in Iraq in the course of the past four years. So in reality, the actual number of the Iranian regime’s agents in Iraq is much higher than the one on this list.

The Iranian regime has stationed its agents in all the major provinces of Iraq. Baghdad and Basra have a very high number of agents and this is the reason for the very unsafe situation in these two major cities.

This force was dispatched to Iraq in an organized way and in large groups shortly after the fall of the former Iraqi government in early 2003. They came through major border crossings under the direct command and supervision of the Qods Force, including IRGC Generals Qassem Suleimani, Iraj Masjedi, Ahmad Forouzandeh, and Hamid Taqavi.

The agents of the Iranian regime exposed in this document have an extensive presence and influence in Iraqi government agencies, in particular in the security apparatus some of which they control.

They are the very same individuals who abducted two members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran in Baghdad in August 2005. There has been no news about their whereabouts for the past 18 months.

Some of these people are among senior political figures of Iraq.

They receive monthly salary from the clerical regime, while they are considered as senior officials of the Iraqi government. In order to control and keep track of various organs and their personnel, in all government agencies and in particular in military organs, some individuals function under the title of “Representative of Vali-e faqih” (representative of the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei).

These individuals report directly to Khamenei’s office.

Even the head of that organ or office is not authorized to intervene in the affairs of the representatives of Vali-e faqih. Only Khamenei's office has the authority to appoint or remove these so-called representatives. Since the Badr Corps is considered a functionary of the Qods Force, it is not an exception.

In all of its units, departments and general command, representatives of Khamenei ensure that his orders and directives are pursued and carried out. They report directly to Khamenei's Office. There are 481 representatives of Khamenei in the Badr Corps. Some of them hold key positions in the Iraqi government and Parliament.

How are these agents paid? Since the transfer of the Badr Forces to Iraq, its budget is being paid through the General Command of the Armed Forces in the Qods Force. This budget is under the title of “budget and salary of extra-territorial forces.”

Members of the Qods Force take the money to the border zone in Mehran (in the central sector of the border), where the money is handed over to Badr agents. Badr agents subsequently take the money to Iraq and transfer it to the office of Abdul-Aziz Hakim in Jaderyieh district of Baghdad.

SCIRI representatives go to Hakim’s office and receive their money. The individual in charge of finances of SCIRI is named Abu Kawthar.

The representatives of Badr in various provinces go to Baghdad to receive money which they then take it to their provinces for distribution under the supervision of Badr officials. In this stage I would like to explain a terrorist network of Iranian regime in Iraq.

This regime has dozens of similar networks in that country. This specific network was established by one of its veteran agents. His Iraqi name is Jamal Jafar Mohammad Ali- Al-Ebrahimi. His Iranian name is Jamal Ebrahimi.

He is a notorious terrorist and was among those who had planned the explosion of American and British embassies in Kuwait in 1984. He has been staying in Iran ever since.

He has been a commander of the Badr Corps for years and has gone through Command and General Staff training at Imam Hossein University of the Guards Corps in Tehran. Following the downfall of the former Iraqi government in 2003, he went to Iraq.

IRGC Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani, the Commander of the Qods Force, organized 950 veteran members of Badr Corps under Ebrahimi’s command and called this group “Tajamo-e Islami” or Islamic Assembly. “Tajamo-e Islami” has branches throughout Iraq and has played a prominent role in setting up Shiite militias that are affiliated to the Iranian regime and its terror activities.

Ebrahimi is on the official payroll of the Qods Force and his salary is 2600863 Rials ($300). His bank account number in Iran is 50100460275 and his salary code number in the Qods force is 3829770.

Setting up a Hezbollah establishment in Iraq, is one of the networks that Ebrahimi has established - the Iraqi Hezbollah. It is very similar to the Hezbollah in Lebanon and is active in Basra and Baghdad. This organization is in direct contact of the Qods Force and Lebanese Hezbollah.

The members of Hezbollah go through military and terrorist training in Basra. Ebrahimi sends his forces to Iran to receive special military and intelligence gathering trainings. They enter Iran across the southern border and are dispatched in groups of 20-50 individuals to Ahwaz and Tehran. They are trained by the Qods Force and the special training course is between 15-30 days.

The allocated budget for Ebrahimi’s network is 1.5 million dollars a month and is paid directly by the Qods Force. Major part of terrorist operations in southern sectors of Iraq, in particular in Basra, al-Amara, Nasserieh and Najaf areas, are carried out by Ebrahimi’s network.

Ebrahimi is in direct liaison with IRGC Brigadier General Mojtaba Abtahi who is commander of Fajr garrison, one of the main bases of the Qods Force in southern Iran in Ahwaz.

Transfer of weapons and ammunition to Iraq

A significant number of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that are used in Iraq are manufactured by the clerical regime and are sent to Iraq by the Fajr garrison.

According to our information, IEDs are manufactured in ammunition production section of the Defense Industries located in Lavizan in northern Tehran in three separate industrial sections called Sattari industries, Sayyad Shirazi industries, and Shiroodi industries.

Each of these industries has it own specific production. The orders for manufacturing highly explosive IEDs are given by the Bureau of Operations of the Qods Force to Sattari industries.

Engineer Rahimi, deputy director of Sattari industries, is in charge of coordinating these projects. IEDs are the primary types of weapons transferred at Shalamcheh border crossing in southern border. In coordination with Fajr garrison, other weapons and ammunitions are transferred to Iraq through Bostan, Howeizeh and Hor-al Azim border crossing in Missan province.

Conclusion: This sheds light on only a small portion of the Iranian regime’s meddling in Iraq. The clerical regime, faced with intensifying domestic crisis and isolation inside Iran, views its only chance for survival in the establishment of a proxy regime in Iraq and the export of Islamic fundamentalism.

By resorting to all sorts of means it is trying to achieve its objective in Iraq. As scores of prominent Iraqis have underscored, Iraq is facing two occupations, with the Iranian regime being the main occupier.

Two forces are currently arrayed against one another in Iraq:

Democratic and patriotic forces vs. fundamentalist and extremist forces organized and led by the Iranian regime, which provides them with extensive financial, military and political support.

Some 5.2 million Iraqis signed a declaration last June in which they said that the only way to establish democracy in Iraq is to cut off the hands of the mullahs’ regime and its agents in Iraq. They expressed their support for the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran in Iraq and the need for their stay in Iraq as a major barrier to the expansion of fundamentalism and terrorism emanating from the clerical regime ruling Iran.

The priority for the Tehran regime's military apparatus, especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the IRGC's terrorist Qods Force, is to organize and direct the regime's interference in, and the efforts to dominate Iraq.

Iraq is the Iranian regime's launching pad to dominate the entire region and install an Islamic Empire. Iraq is the main battle ground between fundamentalism and democracy in the whole of the Middle East region. For this reason, the clerical regime views the People's Mojahedin (PMOI), who are anti-fundamentalist Muslims, as a barrier to its attempt to spreading influence in Iraq.

As such, Tehran is doing its utmost to secure the extradition or the expulsion of the PMOI from Iraq. The removal of restrictions from the PMOI and the reaffirmation of their political refugee status in Iraq could be a factor in confronting the fundamentalism inspired by the Iranian regime.

Evicting Tehran from Iraq is the only solution to resolve the Iraqi crisis. Of course, as far as mullahs are concerned, they are using all the means at their disposal to step up their meddling in Iraq because it is indispensable to their survival. This explains why evicting the Iranian regime from Iraq and change in Iran are entwined.

Qods Force: Iranian regime's instrument for extraterritorial terror activities

As far as the Iranian regime’s involvement in terrorism is concerned, Tehran has the most extensive terror network in the world.

It is responsible for some 80 percent of all major terror attacks --directly or indirectly-- in the past two decades.

Tehran has by far been the most sophisticated, well-funded state-sponsor of terrorism in the world. It is driven by an Islamic fundamentalist ideology and would use any opportunity and employ every source –regardless of its religious tendencies-- to accomplish its objectives.

Tehran’s ties can be explained in this context. The Qods (Jerusalem) Force is the most secretive, elite, and skilled unit of the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Formed in 1990, it is now responsible for all the extraterritorial activities of the Iranian regime, namely all terror attacks abroad.

Its commander, Brig. Gen. Qassem Soleimani reports directly to the regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. Final coordination of the Qods Force’s activities around the world and provision of the appropriate diplomatic or other cover for its agents, the use of diplomatic facilities and immunities that facilitate receiving supplies and messages, weapons and military equipment for its terrorist agents fall within the responsibilities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tehran’s embassies.

The embassies are also heavily involved in intelligence-gathering operations against opposition groups and figures. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs turns over the information to the Qods Force.

The Qods force was originally called the Lebanon Corps. It carried out the suicide truck bomb attack on the US Marine Barracks in Beirut in 1983. The Qods [Jerusalem Force] is the most important agency tasked with the export of terrorism and fundamentalism.

1. In 1990, the Iranian regime consolidated all its intelligence agencies and extraterritorial institutions to form the Qods Force.

The most experienced and veteran IRGC commanders were assigned to the Force. Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, the IRGC's Intelligence Directorate Chief was the Qods Force's first commander. He said the objective is the formation of an "international Islamic Army." Brig. Gen. Qassem Soleimani is the current IRGC commander.

The headquarters for the Force is the former site of the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

2. The Qods Force has more than 21,000 Iranian members and thousands of non-Iranian mercenaries, which are active in intelligence gathering and terrorist activities in the Middle East and elsewhere, including in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, Jordan, etc.

The Force's representatives work in many embassies around the world as diplomats.

3. The Qods Force has 12 directorates. In addition, it has several units called International Affairs Units that pursue developments in other countries. They are: Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, Middle East, Russia, Africa, and Europe.

4. In addition to terrorist operations, the Qods Force also trains non-Iranian terrorist forces, including nationals from Pakistan, Morocco, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine and other Middle East countries. The training is provided to groups of 40 to 50 persons. The Force has dozens of garrisons across Iran in which it trains its non-Iranian operatives.

5. Some of the Force's training centers for foreign nationals are as follows:

a. Imam Ali Training base. It is one of the most important training bases and is located north of Tehran, in Alborz Kouh Street.

b. Khomeini Training base. It is located on Khavaran-Semnan highway, before reaching Pakdasht Township. Col. Rezai is the commander of the base, where a large number of foreign forces from Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine are being currently trained.

c. Bahonar base. It is located on Chalous highway, near Karaj Dam. This is also among one of the most important training centers.

d. Qods Training Center in Nahavand. It is located 45km from the town of Nahavand, west of Iran. Foreign forces, including those from Lebanon and Afghanistan are trained here.

e. Qom's Beit ol-Moghadas University in the city of Qom.

f. Training center in Tehran's Farahzad district.

g. Training center on Damavand highway.

h. Hezbollah Base in Varamin, southeast of Tehran.

i. Madani Base in Dezful, (southwest Iran).

j. Bisotoun Base in Kermanshah, (western Iran).

k. Tangeh Kenesht Base in Kermanshah, (western Iran).

l. Ghayour Training Base in Ahwaz (southwest Iran).

6. The Qods Force has six major garrisons along Iran's borders with other countries. They are tasked with following up terrorist operations in the neighboring countries.

They are:

a. Ramadan Garrison (First Corps) in Kermanshah (west). Mission: Iraq.

b. Nabi-Akram Garrison (Second Corps) in Zahedan (southeast). Mission: Pakistan.

c. Hamza Garrison (Third Corps) in Orumieh (northwest). Mission: Turkey.

d. Ansar Garrison (Fourth Corps) in Mashad (northeast). Mission: Afghanistan and Pakistan.

7. Terrorist Units.

In addition to the six garrisons, the Force has several other corps, including:

a. The Sixth Corps. Mission: Persian Gulf states.

b. The Seventh Corps. Mission: Lebanon and Syria.

c. The Eighth Corps. Mission: African States.

d. The Ninth Corps. Mission: Europe and the United States.

Qods Force in Iraq

The Qods Force is mainly focused on Iraq at the present. Iraq is the gateway to reach the rest of the Islamic world. The most senior IRGC generals as well as thousands of personnel are based in Ramadan Garrison.

Their mission: To dominate Iraq.

Large parts of southern Iraq are virtually in the control of the IRGC. The regime has accomplished this feat by allocating billions of dollars, dispatching thousands of clerics and paying thousands of mercenaries on a monthly basis.

The Qods Force Fajr Garrison in Ahwaz has set up intelligence and reconnaissance squads to collect intelligence on the Coalition forces and identifying them. To this end, Fajr Garrison commanders, including Brig. Gen. Obeidavi, the garrison's commander, Hamid Taghavi, Ramadan Garrison's operations commander, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Forouzandeh, Ramadan Garrison's deputy commander, Brig. Gen. Balalek, Fajr Garrison's operational commander, Col. Heidar Saki, Fajr Garrison's intelligence commander as well as a number of other Fajr intelligence and operations commanders have repeatedly traveled to Al-Amara and Basra to make contact with these squads.

They have posed as Iraqis in order not to be identified. Each reconnaissance squad numbers around 20, each entrusted with a specific task.

Some work in the streets as vendors. Others are engaged in watch operations near their hideouts. Others have opened shops to collect intelligence and carry out surveillance operations on the Coalition forces. Some teams are engaged in filming. They also pose as ordinary people to get close to Coalition bases.

Some time ago, the Fajr Garrison set up an eavesdropping center in Basra. They intercept the communication between the government, police and Coalition forces. All equipment has come from Iran.

By causing chaos and launching terrorist operations on the Coalition columns in Basra, Al-Amara and Nassiriya, the Qods has prevented the Coalition forces from entering major population centers. The objective is to control the inner cities, both militarily and security aspects.

The Fajr Garrison is currently smuggling different weapons' caches to Iraq. They use the Ajirdeh Dam region, Al-Aziz, Al-Holafayeh, Al-Moshrah. They also use the marshes in the south and the Tayeb region. The mostly use boats to do so.

The Fajr Garrison commander Obeidavi visits operatives affiliated with the Qods Force in Iraq on a monthly basis. He usually goes to Basra and Nassiriya.

In a confidential report to the Qods Force in June, the Fajr Garrison informed the Qods Force headquarters that "Iraqi groups affiliated with the Garrison have succeeded in setting up a well-coordinated entity to assassinate prominent Sunni personalities, including members of Iraq's Islamic Party, the Society of Muslim Scholars and other Sunni activists.

By assassinating officials of these entities, they have succeeded in paving the way for pro-regime groups in Iraq's politics and facilitated their control of government portfolios."

Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani, is the commander of Iran's anti-American Qods Force.

Morals Police Hiring Spies in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR

A Malaysian state plans to recruit "spies" from the public to snoop on unmarried lovers and report them to Islamic religious authorities, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

The Terengganu state government plans to enlist the part-time spies to look out for un-Islamic behaviour, such as unmarried couples kissing or holding hands, the Star daily said.

"Some of these 'spies' could be waitresses or even janitors at hotels acting as auxiliary undercover agents for our religious department," the head of the state government's Islamic and welfare committee, Rosol Wahid, was quoted as saying.

And then imprison them, whip them with 80 lashes, behead them? Or demand buy-offs? Killing people is not enough. Living has to be made miserable, too.

"Accurate details are required for the enforcement officers to act, otherwise they could be pouncing on married couples."

Last October, religious police in another part of this mainly Muslim country caused an outcry when they mistakenly raided the rented holiday apartment of a Christian American couple on suspicion that they were unmarried Muslims in "close proximity".

More Iranians Detained in Iraq

U.S. Military Detains Iranian Delegates in Baghdad

The Scoop from Key Arabic-Language Web Sites

By ZEYAD Al-Melaf

Reports that U.S. troops have detained the members of a Shiite delegation visiting parliament minister Sheikh Jalal Al-Din Al-Sagheer at his home in Baghdad.

The delegation included two Iranian nationals, Abdul Zahra Al-Daghiri, a cleric from Iran's Arab Khuzestan province, and Ahmed Frauzenda (Forouzandeh in Persian).

Al-Daghiri entered Iraq after 2003 and joined the Shaheed Al-Mihrab Foundation, headed by the son of Aziz Al-Hakim, head of the largest Shia bloc in Iraqi parliament.

Al-Sagheer's office issued a press release calling claims made by U.S. troops at Camp Victory as "false." The U.S. statement said that the Buratha Mosque, raided two days ago by Iraqi troops, was harboring militias and was used as a weapons storage. Al-Sagheer denied that the mosque was raided by Iraqi troops, explaining that it was an Iraqi Special Forces battalion under direct U.S. command, and not Iraqi governmental troops that are part of the Defense and Interior ministries.

It also denied that the mosque contains torture chambers, as "terrorists" have claimed, or that militias have used it to stage attacks against other areas. The statement added that all weapons and ammunitions confiscated by U.S. troops from the mosque were registered as property of the Interior Ministry, and that the guards were also employees of the Defense and Interior ministries.

Al-Melaf also published the findings of a recent survey in Najaf revealing that 75 percent of the city's residents will not participate in any upcoming elections in Iraq, citing widespread corruption among current elected officials and a failure to improve services and respond to the needs of the community.

Other reasons included the struggle for political power between different Islamic movements in the city and the evident overnight rise in the wealth of elected officials. The source added that the report was sent to the leaders of several Shi'ite political parties.

Hundreds of young men have signed up to carry out "martyrdom operations" against U.S. troops if there is an attempt to detain or move against Muqtada Al-Sadr, according to unnamed sources in the Hawza of Najaf, the Sadrist Nahrain Net website reports.

The sources stated that not all volunteers are Sadrists or members of the Mahdi Army but come from various Shi'ite movements and follow different clerics, and many of them have been seeking legal permission from their clerics to carry out "martyrdom operations" against U.S. troops.

The sources, which added that this phenomenon was registered in Najaf, Karbala and other southern cities, did not divulge if this was spontaneous or an organized effort to counter any American action against Sadr or the Mahdi Army.

And in regard to Sadr's whereabouts, a senior Mahdi Army commander stated that Sadr would be returning to Iraqi within days, and that any attempt to detain him would be an "uncalculated risk aiming to escalate the situation in Iraq and to end the political process."

He added that although Muqtada Sadr had ordered his followers to exercise restraint and not to respond to provocative actions by U.S. and Iraqi troops, his arrest would "inflame the emotions of millions of his followers resulting in an uncontrollable situation."

The Ansar Al-Sunnah insurgent group published an Internet statement today calling on Iraqi Sunnis not to abandon their homes in Baghdad during the U.S. security operation.

"To our people in Baghdad," the statement reads, "Do not leave your homes and your Baghdad, because if you do, it means that you have given up Baghdad for the rejectionists (Shia)."

The statement, which was signed by the Diwan Al-Jund of the Ansar Al-Sunnah, said that the group is planning its response to the operation. "We will confront, with great wisdom, the large numbers of Crusader troops and their lackeys of apostate rejectionists and Peshmerga on the streets of Baghdad, by gradually exhausting them, now that we have forced them to take to the streets and expose themselves for us."

Islam Memo had also reported that "resistance groups" in Baghdad had announced the "zero hour" for its counterattack against U.S. and Iraqi troops in the capital in response to the security operation in several Sunni districts south of Baghdad.

Eye on Iraq Media Agency reports that Iraqi security forces arrested 26 suspected members of the Jund Al-Samaa' movement at a small village north of Kut, in the Wasit Governorate, according to a source in the governorate's police command.

Meanwhile SCIRI's Buratha News Agency reported that the Interior Ministry's Scorpion Brigade in the Babel Governorate, south of Baghdad, arrested 35 suspected members of Jund Al-Samaa' during raids on several districts of Hilla, according to police sources.

The Sunni fundamentalist Islam Memo website denied U.S. reports yesterday of the injury of Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir (identified as Abu Ayoub Al-Masri by the Iraqi Interior Ministry) and the killing of Abdullah Al-Mujama'I, one of his senior aides.

The website quoted an "official from the Islamic Emirate of Iraq" in Balad who compared these reports to the rumors he said U.S. troops had spread during the Fallujah battles in 2004 to demoralize "the resistance," adding that they can't even get the name of their leader right.

Neo-Nazi Crazy Ties with Iran Mullahs

Neo-Nazis Seek Iranian Backing for Bizarre Mission

A band of neo-Nazis with ties to Iran's clerical fascist mullahocracy is believed to be seeking its support for a truly bizarre scheme--an archeological expedition in search of ancient lost cities in a remote region of Brazil.

The neo-Nazis are said to claim that the area, in the state of Matto Grasso, was once home to an advanced "Aryan" race.

Their venture illuminates Nazism's occult roots--and neo-Nazi links to a present-day regime that many rightwing radicals increasingly regard as a center and symbol of anti-Western struggle.

The proposed expedition also serves as a disturbing reminder of the violent legacy and dangerous appeal of a tangled collection of quasi-spiritual and pseudo-academic theories and beliefs. As if to further highlight historical parallels, the expedition reportedly plans to follow in the footsteps of Nazi archaeologists and SS officers who explored parts of Matto Grosso during the Second World War.

That expedition is thought to have been inspired by earlier German expeditions, including one in the 1920s and one in the early 1900s that was organized and paid for by the Krupp armaments company.

The deranged German fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, is known to have been obsessed with occult theories concerning the purported existence of a vast, underground tunnel network reaching from the region and other Brazilian and South American areas to a mythical utopia thought to lie beneath the Himalayan mountains of Tibet.

Belief in the subterranean city-state, known as Agarta or Shambhala, is based on Tibetan Buddhist traditions that also inspired the 1933 novel "Lost Horizon" by British author James Hilton. The book and subsequent film adaptations described a hidden earthly paradise called Shangri-La. Crazy as it seems, Hitler's Nazis supposedly sought to make contact with Agarta by finding an entrance to the tunnel system leading to it.

In addition to the Brazilian expedition, they sent seven expeditions to Tibet, the most famous of which is now best known through the feature film Seven Years in Tibet that was particularly popular among followers of "New Age" philosophy.

Though it might not be hooked on lost tunnels or subterranean cities, the new Nazi expedition is apparently based on another lunatic fringe notion with disturbing New Age appeal--that a "master race" of Atlanteans once dominated the world and left evidence of their civilization in Tibet, Egypt, and South America.

Hence, the neo-Nazi interest in lost cities. The Atlantis theory comes from Ariosophy, a so-called Aryan centered philosophy that influenced Nazism.

The founder of Ariosophy, Adolf Josef Lanz, who called himself Lanz von Liebenfels, was a professional Austrian anti-Semite and former monk who advocated forced sterilization of "inferior races." His doctrine, also known as Theozoology, or Ario-Christianity, was an offshoot of a kind of New Age religion of its day, called Theosophy.

A cult-like, 19th century mystical movement, Theosophy was founded by a notorious Russian-born adventuress, author, and phony medium, Helena Blavatsky, and her spiritualist lover, an American lawyer named Henry Olcott.

A racist and an anti-Semite who incorporated the swastika in her movement's seal, Blavatsky argued that humanity had descended from a series of seven "Root Races," identifyng the fifth and supposedly superior one the Aryan race, which, she claimed, came from Atlantis.

Some modern humans, such as indigenous Africans and Australians, she argued, were actually semi- or sub-human. Her ideas influenced, among others, Savitri Devi (born Maximiani Portas), a French woman who emigrated to India during he 1930s, where she blended a philosophy of white supremacy and Hinduism and became a fanatic Hitler admirer, living out the war years in anticipation of a Nazi victory.

In the 1960s, she emerged as a cult figure for neo-Nazis--"Hitler's guru," in the words of the German-Canadian Holocaust-denying publisher Ernest Zundel.

Zundel, who republished and distributed Devi's out-of-print, 1958 book, "The Lightning and the Sun," is involved in the neo-Nazi-Iranian axis, which is itself the brainchild of an aging Nazi convert to Islam, the mysterious Swiss banker and ex-journalist, Ahmed Huber.

A quest for Shambhala (Agarta) led Blavatsky to South America. She claimed to have partially explored the secret, subterranean tunnels connecting the continent with Asia by entering the passages in Peru and Brazil.

The story has become a staple of neo-Nazi Internet sites and books about so-called ancient mysteries, including works produced and published by Zundel and allegedly financed by Huber, whose home boasts portraits of Hitler and Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini.

Back to Iran. The Islamist regime of Iran's Hitler-admiring President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as previously reported, has supported, encouraged and provided safe haven for numerous neo-Nazi groups, while sponsoring international events aimed at denying and ridiculing the Holocaust, and threatening to destroy Israel and drive the United States from the Middle East.

Alan Note: the neo-Nazi and neo-Islam Hojatieh sect to which Ahmadi-Nejad adheres share "underground tunnels". The 12th Imam or Mehdi disappeared down a well which was part of a Qanat - or linked chain of wells that erupt every so often above underground rivers and are used to keep the streams clear.

The Iranian-neo-Nazi axis recalls the wartime penetration of Iran by Gestapo and German military intelligence officers and the pro-Nazi leanings of Iran's monarch at the time, Reza Pahlavi.

(In contrast with Reza Shah, his son, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown by Khomeini, was a US ally and friend of Israel and Iran's Jewish community).

Persians have long used the term Aryan to describe the Indo-European origins of their language. Starting in the early 19th century, German romanticists popularized the notion of an "Aryan" Indo-Nordic race.

They promoted study of Sanskrit, a classical language of India, and liturgical language of Hinduism and Buddhism, in opposition to Hebrew and other Semitic languages, and a theory of Asia, not the Middle East, as the cradle of civilization.

The idea for Persia's 1935 name change to Iran--"Land of the Aryans"--was supposedly suggested by Tehran's ambassador to Germany, who came under the influence of Hitler's trusted banker, Dr. Hjalmar Schacht.

Do You Know Who the Circassians Are?

Adygeyan problem did not darken Putin's visit to Jordan

In the television reportings about the Putin's meeting with the king of Jordan Abdallah, broadcasted by all Russian central TV-channels, the journalists especially accented on that the king's personal guards consist of the Circassian descendants which in the XIX century left Russia.

TV- cameras demonstrated straight-standing dark-haired moustached handsome men, dressed in the Circassian military dresses of the time of the Great Caucasian war.

However the Russian audience, spectators and readers learned nothing about the "not taken place" meeting of president Putin with the Jordanian Circassians.

The information that it had been prepared, being the subject of the expectations of the Circassian Diaspora influential in the Near East, had been widespread with the efforts of the same Diaspora before the Putin's visit to Jordan.

The essence of the information report which, probably, all the Russian mass-media had unintentionally ignored can be briefly shown to the Adygeyan problem which the Diaspora hoped to discuss during the recent Vladimir Putin's visit to Jordan (where live about 75 thousand descendants of Circassian muhadjeers (refugees who left Russia in the XIX century during the persecutions against them).

The question of returning to the historical native land of the Circassians living in the countries of the Near East, according to information of some western mass-media, should be discussed during Vladimir Putin's meeting with representatives of the Central Khase of Jordan.

The reference or the letter to the president of Russia on behalf of over 2 million Circassians living abroad, the native descendants of the muhadjeers had been preparing not one day, coordinating the text with the Circassian Diasporas of Israel, Syria, Turkey and Jordan.

Circassians considered as necessary to make the following demands to the Russian state:

1. To simplify the procedure of granting the Jordanian Adygs with residence permit in Russian Federation, having cancelled the practice of unreasonable delays and preliminary conditions.

2. To give the Jordanian Adygs the unconditional right to get the Russian citizenship with simultaneous keeping after them their citizenship of Jordan.

3. To create the simplified procedure of giving out the Russian visas to representatives of the Adygeyan Diaspora of Jordan on the basis of a recommendation of a Circassian (Adygeyan) charitable society.

4. To solve positively the problem of full restoration the Russian citizenship for the Jordanian Adygs who expressed will to return to the historical native land for the constant residing, according to the operating Russian legislation.

5. To give the Jordanian Adygs the right to purchase a habitation and commercial objects in the territories of Russian Federation with the right of use them for residing, tenancy, tourist activities or for industrial purposes.

6. To give the Jordanian Adygs the right to free purchase of land areas in the territories of Russia: agricultural lands, sites under construction of any kinds of objects – commercial, industrial, tourist, etc.

7. To reconsider the positions of the Russian legislation on investments to facilitate for the Jordanian Adygs the opportunity of capital investing in the Russian economy.

8. To open regular (weekly) air flights between one of cities of the Northern Caucasus and Jordan which would stimulate development of the trade communications, tourist exchange, support of interactions among the relatives living in the opposite sides of the state borders.

The question on opening similar flights could be solved urgently - by coordination with the Jordanian airlines or the Aeroflot of the question on forming additional point of landing in the flights Amman- Moscow and Moscow-Amman in the cities of Nalchik or Maykop.

If landing in the capitals of the Adygeyan republics for any reasons would be complicated, it could be possible to take advantage of the Mineral Waters international airport. And this is all! In the foreign Circassians' opinion, their requirements are absolutely lawful from the position of the historical truth.

In the legal relations the truth is based on the Decree of the president of Russian Federation from June 22nd, 2006 - # 637:

"About measures on assistance to voluntary resettlement to Russian Federation for compatriots living abroad".

Besides there is also the federal law, interpreting the term "compatriots": " they are the persons born in one state, living or lived in it and have attributes of the common language, religion, cultural heritage, traditions and customs, as well as the descendants of the specified persons according to the direct descending relate line".

Here are the lines, called to restore justice, to return peace into the souls of the exiles. But alas. The leader of the Russian state Vladimir Putin had not learned what the compatriots (not so native for many years) applied to.

The descendants of the muhadjeers met the heads of Adygeya and Kabardino-Balkaria Aslan Tkhakushinov and Arsen Kanokov which had arrived to Jordan several days earlier the visit to the country of the president of Russia.

They tried to convince the foreign Circassians to not hasten with Adygs' requirements to Putin, and suggested them to sign for a beginning a cooperation memorandum and to limit that cooperation by the triangle, formed by Kabardino- Balkaria, Adygeya and the Circassian organization in Jordan "Aman".

While the Diaspora had the complex negotiations with the leaders of the Northern Caucasian republics, Vladimir Putin had left Jordan. He had not had an opportunity to familiarize hinmself with the special letter in which the descendants of the muhadjeers tried to inform the Russian president the truth about the sad destiny of Circassians in the imperial Russia.

More than a hundred years ago when the Russian armies were conquering the Northern Caucasus Circassians being for that moment the most numerous ethnos in Caucasus (about 1,5 million people), were exterminated by half, and the survivors (except for several tens of thousand people) were deported to the Ottoman empire.

From there the suffering muhadjeers dispersed all over the Near East.

After Putin, Arsen Kanokov and Aslan Tkhakushinov left Jordan, too, not having signed the Memorandum of cooperation with the Diaspora. But, despite of such malicious joke played with Circassians, all of them are still sure that the Memorandum which they worked out with such inspiration and hopes, will have been yet signed by the heads of Kabardino-Balkaria and Adygeya and the `straight road' to Vladimir Putin will be open then.

Anti-Terrorism News

http://counterterrorismblog.org/ February 16, 2007

Treasury Hits Iran With Another Proliferation Freeze By Jonathan Winer

Today, the U.S. Treasury designated three more Iranian companies as proliferators, prohibiting transactions by U.S. persons with the firms. Each of the three firms -- the Kalaye Electric Company, Kavoshyar Company, and Pioneer Energy Industries Company -- were cited by Treasury as being Iranian state-owned entities that were directly supporting Iranian nuclear acquisition efforts. Iran acknowledged in 2003 that a workshop of the Kalaye Electric Company in Tehran had manufacturered centrifuge components, but denied they related to nuclear material.

But the Iranians refused access to elements of the site during an IAEA inspection that year, which did not enhance Iran's credibility on the issue. Kavoshyar Company has been characterized in the past as a front company for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and was identified by the British government in February 1998 as having procured goods and/or technology for weapons of mass destruction programs, in addition to non-proliferation related activities. Pioneer Energy has in the past been cited as involved in building uranium processing plants for the AEOI.

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Palestinian Islamic Jihad threatens Secretary Rice and the US By Olivier Guitta After the 5 million dollars reward offered by the US State Department for the capture of Abdallah Ramadane Challah, secretary general of Palestinian Islamic Jihad , the radical movement threatens to attack some American leaders: “Rice for Challah”.

In an interview to the site Elaph.com, Abu Dajana, one of the military commanders of the PIJ “Al-Quds Brigades”, affirmed that “orders were given to the active cells abroad, in particular in the Arab and Islamic countries, to put American personalities under surveillance and to be ready to respond to any hostile action from the US”. Abu Dajana affirms that “the answer of Islamic Jihad to the remarks of the State Department should occur in the next few days”.

He denounced “the reward for the head of Abdallah Challah, and threatens to attack Americans and their interests, including on American soil”. He went on “if the Americans were to target Challah, the response will aim at Condoleezaa Rice, which is right now under surveillance”.

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Iranian hands all over armed rebellion in Yemen By Olivier Guitta

The rebellion of Badreddine Al-Huthi, in the area of Saada, in the north of Sanaa, is reportedly supported and armed by Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran has been implicated in the destabilization of this border area with Saudi Arabia.

According to daily newspaper Al Quds Al Arabi, the Yemeni authorities declared the area of Saada “closed military zone”. Violent fighting has erupted there in the past few days and killed at least 91 among the ranks of the Yemeni army, of which very many officers.

Yemeni sources explain the fact that a majority of victims are officers by “the refusal of the soldiers to fight in light of the intensity of the confrontations”.

The Al-Huthi militants, supported and armed by Iran, are also very mobile and resort to ambushes. According to sources of the Iranian opposition, the Al-Huthi rebels recently received modern weapons including anti-tank missiles which had been used by Hezbollah against Israel during the July war.

UK THREATENS US SECURITY

Exclusive: How The UK Threatens US Security - Part Three Adrian MorganAuthor: Adrian MorganSource: The Family Security Foundation, Inc.Date: February 5, 2007


Rank incompetence and the extreme multi-culturalism goals among Britain’s government players have led Tony Blair’s successor, Gordon Brown, to say that he wishes to make criticism of Islam an offense. In a country riddled with Muslim extremists, FSM Contributing Editor Adrian Morgan explains why the situation in Great Britain represents the worst possible threat to American security.

How The UK Threatens US Security - Part Three

By Adrian Morgan

The problems of Britain's burgeoning Islamist extremism have been blamed on many factors. Most recently a report by the Policy Exchange think-tank entitled Living Apart Together claimed that multiculturalism is to blame. Published on Monday, a poll in the report found that nearly a third of Muslims aged 16-24 thought that anyone who left Islam should be "executed".

On the same day, David Cameron, head of the Conservative (Tory) party argued in a speech in Birmingham: "So multiculturalism has come to mean an approach which focuses on what divides us rather than what brings us together.... It lies behind mistakes like the police allowing some of the protestors against the Danish cartoons last year to publicly incite violence."

The Tory party produced a report on Tuesday, entitled Uniting the Country in which the Muslim Council of Britain, which has been deferred to by the Blair government, was blamed for allowing "hardline members... to dominate policy and crowd out more moderate voices." Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, former head of the Joint Intelligence Committee, criticized the MCB for its support of the Islamist Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

FSM has already mentioned the "Engaging With the Islamic World Group", headed by Mockbul Ali, which has been in existence since 2003. Mockbul Ali argued for the granting of a UK visa to Qaradawi, even though this individual has issued a fatwa authorizing the murder of Israeli civilians. The website of the group claims its two main aims are:
• To increase understanding of and engagement with Muslim countries and communities and to work with them to promote peaceful, political, economic and social reform.
• To counter the ideological, and theological underpinnings of the terrorist narrative, in order to prevent radicalization, particularly among the young, in the UK and overseas.

To this end, and with no benefit to Britain, EWIG paid for Qaradawi, his wife, and other Islamists to attend a conference in Istanbul in 2006. 27-year old Mockbul Ali was a student Islamic extremist before becoming employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

EWIG came into existence as a result of Blair's multicultural policies. It aims to remove the causes of radicalism. MI6 (offshore intelligence) works closely with EWIG, but a leaked memo from William Ehrman, the head of the FCO intelligence branch, sent to Sir David Omand at MI6 in 2004, suggests that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had bizarre plans. They planned to spread anti-Western propaganda on the internet, as a means of gaining the trust of Islamists. The letter naively suggests that their agents could consequently argue against violence. The growing "Islamization" at the FCO has created alarm in some circles, but even after 7/7, the policies have continued.

Taxpayers' money is wasted on promoting "moderate" Islam on a government-sponsored website called the Radical Middle Way, while extremists are watching jihadist videos on sites run by Islamists based in Britain, such as Mohammed al-Massari. On the "Radical Middle Way" website, there is a page dedicated to Tariq Ramadan, grandson of Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Swiss citizen Tariq Ramadan came to Britain in 2005, where he became based at St. Andrews College, Oxford University. A month after the atrocities of 7/7, the government decided, instead of cracking down on Islamism in Britain, to consult with Muslims. The 13 Muslims who were invited to take part in the "Working Group on Tackling Extremism" included three extremists. These were Inayat Bunglawala of the MCB, Tariq Ramadan and Abdul Hadi. Inayat Bunglawala has formerly praised Osama bin Laden as a "freedom fighter", and has called Omar Abdel Rahman "courageous". He is also virulently anti-Semitic. In 2004, Abdul Hadi was part of a conference at Birmingham's notorious Green Lane mosque, where speakers urged Muslims to hit girls who did not wear the hijab, or Muslim headscarf.

Tariq Ramadan is still denied entry to the USA, as he has donated money to charities which support terrorism. According to Jean-Charles Brissard at Terror Finance.org, Ramadan has links to at least six terrorists or terrorist entities. In 1991 in Geneva he and his Islamist brother convened a meeting with Ayman Al Zawahiri (now deputy leader of Al Qaeda) and Omar Abdel Rahman.

The Working Group on Tackling Extremism's main recommendation was to urge the government to abandon Holocaust Memorial Day, a deliberate anti-Semitic attempt to belittle the lives of 6.5 million Jews slaughtered by Nazis. The group felt the emphasis on Jews made Muslims "feel excluded".

Bunglawala, Iqbal Sacranie (who thought death was too good for Salman Rushdie) and now the new leader of the MCB, Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, have all exhibited extremist tendencies, while claiming to be "moderate". The unelected MCB has influenced the elected government's policies in a way which was previously unheard of. Only now are politicians prepared to condemn Blair's unofficial Muslim policy-makers.

For almost two decades, radical Islamists have been free to preach in Britain, even if their messages have been inciting hate and terrorism. The most well-known of these are Omar Bakri Mohammed (founder of UK Hizb ut-Tahrir and Al-Muhajiroun) and Abu Hamza al-Masri, former imam at the Finsbury Park Mosque. The problems created by Abu Hamza, whose preachings have influenced numerous terrorists, are a prime example of the refusal by UK authorities, particularly MI5 and the police, to take Islamism seriously.

Hamza had married a British national in May 1980, while she was legally married to someone else, and had falsely declared on a birth certificate that he was the father of his wife's child. Arrested as an illegal immigrant in December 1980, he should never have been allowed to stay in Britain, but the authorities turned a blind eye (no pun intended).

Hamza and his group the Supporters of Shariah openly campaigned to gain funds for terrorism abroad. This activity became illegal in Britain only in late 2001. The UK authorities had thus assisted the flourishing of terrorism abroad, as long as it did not happen on UK soil. Other sponsors of terrorism were allowed to send funds to Hamas, such as Mohammed Sawalha, who is director of the charity Interpal, still legal in Britain although designated as a terrorist entity by the US Treasury in 2003.

Hamza had gone to Bosnia and to Afghanistan in the 1990s. At the Al Qaeda-run Darunta training camp near Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan, he had lost both hands and one eye in a bomb-making experiment which went wrong.

In the 1980s, imams at different mosques had reported Hamza to the police, citing his bullying behavior. Using these tactics, he took over the Finsbury Park Mosque in North London when he returned from Afghanistan. One of the mosque's management team, Abdulkadir Barkatullah, reported him to the police seven times, but no action was taken.

An MI5 "spy" was placed at Finsbury Park Mosque, an Algerian called Reda Hassaine. The spy was at the mosque from July 1999 to November 2000, as an agent for MI5 (homeland intelligence) and Scotland Yard's Special Branch. He claimed: "I told them Abu Hamza was brainwashing people and sending them to terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, that he was preaching jihad and murder and that he was involved in the provision of false passports. I told them he was a chief terrorist... The MI5 officer told me Abu Hamza was harmless and that MI5 thought he was a clown."

In 2003, when the mosque was eventually raided by police, Hassaine was proved right. Three starting pistols, which could easily be reassigned to firing live rounds, a stun gun, knives, CS gas and chemical and nuclear warfare protective suits were recovered. Also, hidden behind ceiling tiles, dozens of forged documents were discovered, including driving licenses and passports. The details were not revealed publicly until February 7, 2006, after Hamza was convicted of inciting murder.

Intelligence agencies from France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands had reported that Hamza was head of a terrorist organization. The French and Algerian authorities had even planted spies in the mosque to document his activities, but British authorities did nothing. Egypt (his home country) wanted Hamza back to stand trial, and offered a prisoner exchange. This too was ignored.

In 1998, Hamza was involved with the kidnapping of 16 tourists in Yemen. He bought a satellite phone and gave 500 pounds' worth of airtime to the kidnappers. Though the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in Cheltenham intercepted and monitored these phone conversations, nothing was done. 12 Britons, two Australians, two Americans, as well as their 4 Yemeni drivers, were taken hostage in Abyan, Yemen, on 28 December 1998. Within two days, three Britons and one Australian were dead.

Abu al-Hassan (the kidnappers' leader) told Abu Hamza he had hoped the tourists would be mainly Americans, and was disappointed to have only two. The British cleric urged against harming the hostages and Abu al-Hassan agreed, saying that they wanted to exchange them for nine Islamists who were under arrest.

Because phone-taps are not acceptable in a UK court of law, no action was taken. But the FBI, state Sean O'Neill and Daniel McGrory, authors of the The Suicide Factory, are not so cautious. They have said that if they succeed in gaining the extradition of Hamza, they will employ the phone-tap evidence from GCHQ in their prosecution. Following the Yemen kidnap, Hamza's house was searched in March 1999, where documents including the 11 volume Encyclopaedia of Afghani Jihad. This terror manual was returned to Hamza, though in his 2006 trial he was convicted for its possession.

Hamza is wanted on an extradition order by the US for a plot to set up a terror training camp in Dog Cry Ranch, Bly, Oregon in 1999. Another UK national, Haroon Rashid Aswat, is awaiting extradition to the US for the same offense. The vagaries of Britain's legal system do not encourage easy extraditions. Aswat was arrested in July 2005 in Zambia, but has been battling through the courts to avoid being sent to the US. Another terrorist who is wanted by the US is Babar Ahmed, who also has fought extradition. Ahmed had a website in which he encouraged jihadists to go to Iraq to fight coalition forces. On November 16 2005, Ahmed's extradition was approved by the Home Secretary, but he remains in the UK.

Abu Hamza lost his appeal against his prison sentence on Wednesday, hopefully clearing the way for his extradition. The extradition process in Britain is a shambles. French Islamist Rachid Ramda escaped to Britain illegally in 1998, after carrying out bomb attacks in Paris. He remained in jail in the UK for 10 years. His extradition to France was finally approved in November 2005, and he went to France on December 1, being finally jailed on March 30, 2006.

Home Office incompetence has also caused the collapse of an Italian terror trial. A Libyan in UK custody, Farj Hassan Faraj, was wanted to stand trial in Milan. Because he was detained in Britain with no extradition made, his detention passed a three year deadline required under Italian law, and the trial was abandoned. A member of the extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, Abid Javaid, is even employed by the Home Office, in its Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

Threats of terror plots in Britain are escalating. In August, the Home Secretary John Reid announced that there were seventy terror plots in Britain. $332 million, or 87% of the total budget of MI5, is spent each year on tracking Muslim terror suspects.

Britain's climate of political correctness has allowed this culture of extremism to flourish. In July last year, Peter Clarke, Deputy Assistant Commissioner at Scotland Yard, said that there were 1,200 Islamist terror suspects being watched by police and MI5. These came from a pool of 400,000 Islamist "sympathizers". In November, the outgoing head of MI5, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, warned that there will be a "generation" of Muslim terror.

Instead of abandoning the multicultural ethos that has allowed extremism to multiply, the current authorities are still encouraging it. The Muslim Council of Britain - whose leaders support Islamism and the terrorism of Hamas - has long campaigned against terrorism raids, claiming that they are "victimizing" Muslims.

As of September 25, a team of four Muslim "leaders" has been established. Before London's Metropolitan Police can embark on any terror raids, they must first consult these leaders, and provide them with evidence. In a so-called democracy, unelected religious leaders are now allowed a veto over who gets to be arrested in a terror raid.

The man who approved this measure is Sir Ian Blair, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, who notoriously lied about the shooting of an innocent Brazilian electrician in the aftermath of 7/7. Blair announced that the "terror suspect" had jumped over a subway barrier and had fled, leading to police shooting him. When the truth emerged, that the electrician had not fled, and been shot seven times in the back of the head while he entered a train, Blair ensured that the woman who leaked the truth was punished.

Days after the announcement that Muslims were to be consulted before any terror raids, Ian Blair announced that none of the Islamists who had heckled and threatened Catholic worshippers at Westminster Cathedral would be prosecuted. On Sunday September 17, former member of Al-Muhajiroun Anjem Choudary had said that the Pope should be executed for "insulting" Islam.

Earlier last year, Choudary organized an illegal demonstration outside the Danish Embassy on February 3, 2006, where placards were held up. These carried slogans such as "Behead those who insult Islam", "Europe. Take some lessons from 9/11", "Europe you will pay. Demolition is on its way", "Europe you will pay. Your extermination is on its way," "Slay those who insult Islam," "Butcher those who insult Islam." No-one was arrested at the time, even though the incident caused national outrage, and questions were raised in Parliament. Choudary received a trivial fine for mounting the demonstration.

The climate of political correctness has led to a situation where Islamists can openly call for death and murder, and escape punishment. Even though the climate of terrorism is increasing, with a recent plot revealed in which a Muslim soldier was targeted for kidnapping and beheading, Zarqawi-style, political correctness and the appeasing of groups like the MCB is considered more important than dealing with extremism proactively.

The future leader of the Labour Party, Gordon Brown, has said that he wishes to make criticism of Islam an offense. Gordon Brown announced on January 7 this year that if he becomes prime minister, he will break away from Blair's approach to the "war on terror". Already, Brown has cut back funds to the army, preferring instead to donate $910 million to Pakistan, knowing that the majority of this money will fund madrassas, where Islamism is preached.

Brown is not alone in his apathy towards the war on terror. On Tuesday January 23, Sir Kenneth Macdonald stated that there is "no war on terror". Such an opinion would be easy to dismiss, were it not for the fact that Macdonald is the Director of Public Prosecutions.

He told the Criminal Bar Association: "On the streets of London, there is no such thing as a 'war on terror', just as there can be no such thing as a 'war on drugs'. The fight against terrorism on the streets of Britain is not a war. It is the prevention of crime, the enforcement of our laws and the winning of justice for those damaged by their infringement."

When prosecutions are not sought for Islamists' blatant infringements of the laws of incitement and treason, or "glorification" of terrorism, Macdonald's comments are hollow platitudes.

Macdonald warned against Britain opting out of the European Convention of Human Rights, even if the "life of the nation" was threatened. With Macdonald also being the head of the Crown Prosecution Service, and terror raids in London being subject to Muslim "consultation", it appears that British authorities have little willpower to address the real problems of terrorism.

The US should seriously consider whether its unfailing trust in Britain as an ally should be taken for granted. Britons can enter the United States for short visits without visas under the Visa Waiver Program, introduced in 1986.

Technically, those entering the US need to have a clean criminal record, but flights arriving in the US are vulnerable. On December 22, 2001, Richard Reid, a petty criminal from London, who had already served time in prison, boarded Miami-bound American Airlines Flight 63 in Paris. During the flight, he attempted to set off a "shoe-bomb", but was overpowered by passengers.

On August 10 2006, airports in Britain were paralyzed after it was announced that 21 Muslims had been arrested. These had allegedly planned to set off explosives on board US-bound flights. The plot had involved liquid explosives, echoing the earlier Operation Bojinka, a plot hatched by terrorist Ramzi Yousef. The plot had only been uncovered due to cooperation between Pakistani, American and British intelligence agencies.

Now is not the time to deny there is a "war on terror". Should Gordon Brown lead Britain, a country that is riddled with Muslim extremists, his openly-stated opposition to the "war on terror" and his love of multiculturalism will cause the worst possible threat to US security.

Illustration by the author himself, Adrian Morgan.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Adrian Morgan is a British based writer and artist who has written for Western Resistance since its inception. He also writes for Spero News.He has previously contributed to various publications, including the Guardian and New Scientist and is a former Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Society.