Iranian bloggers have been watching developments in the nuclear dispute with the West over the past few weeks with much foreboding, but also a fair measure of irreverence.
Fearful or otherwise, many of their comments revolve around the various statements made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with some suggesting he is playing an aggravating role.
West.blogfa.com, 28 February: "Ahmadinejad's brakeless train!"
I wish Ahmadinejad had consulted the transport minister before saying that they'd thrown away the brake!! The technical term for a train without a brake is a 'runaway train'. If there's a runaway train on the tracks, first they re-direct it to side tracks and then they direct it to a track that goes nowhere. At the end of the track that goes nowhere, the train hits a big obstacle...
Ex-MP Ahmad Shirzad, 24 February: "I invite Ahmadinejad to a debate".
Maybe for the first time, Mr Ahmadinejad has said something that can be discussed in a costs-benefits framework. He's said: 'If we stop whatever else we're doing for 10 years and concentrate entirely on nuclear energy, we can advance by 50 years'... I'm really happy that, at last, an official at his level has at least once left the narrow perspective of politics on the Iranian nuclear issue and explicitly spoken about the value or lack of value of this technology for the Iranian people... I Ahmad Shirzad... invite the president to a televised debate on this basis.
Alpr.ir, 4 February: "Accept the resolution!"
Our dear Iran (I'm talking about Iran, not the Islamic Republic) is on the threshold of one of its most bitter crises in contemporary history... with an aimless political system, an ineffective government, a shaky economy, a dissipated society, so many wasted resources, disparate neighbours, a siege-like regional position and a global consensus against Iran... I wish we had a network or group which, instead of collecting one million signatures for changing laws on women, would collect one million signatures for accepting the resolution and suspending enrichment.
Dutch-based journalist Ebrahim Nabavi, 1 February: "Halt enrichment!"
I suggest that students should organise a series of protest gatherings in universities and in the city, with the premise that, since enrichment increases the danger of an attack and war, the government should halt enrichment for six months for now... Students can launch a quiet protest movement. They can organise anti-war marches, both against the government's nuclear activities and against a US military presence. I'm sure that, if this is done, it will play a very important role in preventing war. The government and the state are only insisting on the continuation of enrichment on one pretext: they're saying - we don't want to forego the people's right. The people must say that they have a right to life and peace. They should say that they're prepared to forego their right to nuclear energy temporarily for the sake of peace.
Commentator "Maryam" on Nabavi's post
I agreed with your earlier proposal that people should gather peacefully in front of the Majlis to demand Ahmadinejad's dismissal. But I don't accept your proposal to students today... Why do you think that Arab countries should have this technology, but we shouldn't?.. Why must this state, which we hope to reform, not have security?.. I'm not saying that nuclear energy is our self-evident right; I'm saying that even a nuclear bomb is our self-evident right.
Javadkashi.blogspot.com, 6 March: "Cold winter of politics"
The thing that amazes me is the cool public atmosphere in this respect... It seems as if the bulk of the people don't consider themselves involved and mainly imagine that the political system is facing a problem in the international arena that doesn't concern them very much. Analysts and intellectuals, if not afraid, prefer to wait for fear that their stances won't match the subsequent course of events. To sum up, people are watching two trains moving towards each other on the same track, some with indifference, some with amazement, some with excitement and some with terror. Each train refuses to change track or stop in the hope that the other one will do so.
Siamakold.blogspot.com, 3 March: "The big man will come from Washington, not Jamkaran"
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks are given even more coverage by Western media than the US president's remarks. And, on board his runaway train, he's headed for where his beliefs take him... Ahmadinejad's continued muscle-flexing in the political arena will undoubtedly only lead to the country being weakened. Until he's removed from the country's political scene and enrichment suspended, the international community will never come to terms with the Islamic Republic. If he continues his presidency, as he supposedly works to pave the way for the return of the big man [reference to the 12th Shi'i Imam], the big man will no doubt appear, but not from Jamkaran; from Washington.
Source
Friday, March 9, 2007
Spain fears Islamists reclaiming "al-Andalus"
dpa German Press Agency
Published: Wednesday March 7, 2007
By Sinikka Tarvainen,
Madrid- While the international spotlight is on 29 suspects
on trial for the 2004 Madrid train bombings, Spanish police are
working behind the scenes to counter a growing threat of new attacks.
Radicals inspired by al-Qaeda have stepped up propaganda and
recruitment activities in Spain, a country they claim as a part of
the Islamic world because of its Muslim past, according to police
experts.
Extremists present in Spain no longer come just from North Africa,
but also from Pakistan.
Spain has become one of the main bases for the recruitment of
suicide bombers, some of whom are trained at new al-Qaeda bases in
Africa's Sahel zone before they are sent to Iraq.
The ongoing Madrid bombings trial has given a face to Islamist
terrorism as Spaniards have watched one suspect after another take
the stand, from bearded fundamentalists to young men with an
apparently Western lifestyle.
After questioning the suspects, the court is currently hearing
police experts and other witnesses.
Ten bombs that exploded on four Madrid commuter trains killed 191
and injured nearly 2,000 people in March 2004, suddenly placing
Islamists on top of the security agenda, ahead of the armed Basque
separatist group ETA.
Two groups are suspected of involvement in the attacks: the
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) and the extremely radical
Tafkir Wal Hijra, which is of Egyptian origin.
Such groups do not form part of a hierarchical structure, but heed
messages emanating from al-Qaeda and act on their own.
Arab activists are believed to cooperate with Pakistanis making
money transfers on their behalf.
Pakistani radicals are active especially in the north-eastern
Catalonia region, where police have detected the presence of Asian
groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET).
The JEM has been implicated in the 2005 bombings in the London
transport network, while the LET is linked with attacks in India.
Police are investigating whether the Arabs and Pakistanis have
contacts with Chechen Muslims, large numbers of whom reportedly
arrived in Spain in 2006.
Islamist radicals proselytize at an estimated 10 per cent of
Spain's hundreds of unofficial mosques, which operate in garages,
basements and the like.
Fighters recruited in Spain are no longer trained only in Iraq and
Afghanistan, but also in Sahel countries such as Mali, Niger and
Mauritania, where al-Qaeda and its allies teach them to handle
weapons, explosives and even poisons, according to the daily El Pais.
The young men then travel to conflict zones such as Iraq, where
one of the Madrid train bombers is believed to have died in a suicide
attack in 2005.
Those who are not killed in Iraq or are unable to enter the
country sometimes return to Spain, where they constitute one of the
potentially most dangerous groups, according to police sources.
The Madrid bombers targeted Spain partly to punish the then
government for its participation in the Iraq war.
Spain has changed its Atlanticist foreign policy since then, but
the presence of its troops in Afghanistan and its judicial crackdowns
on Islamists keep it on al-Qaeda-inspired hit lists.
Islamist websites have also long called for a reconquest of al-
Andalus, a Moorish name for Spain, parts of which were ruled by
Muslims for nearly eight centuries until 1492.
Recently, some websites have also begun campaigning for the
"liberation" of the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the
Moroccan coast, causing concern among police experts.
© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency
Source
Published: Wednesday March 7, 2007
By Sinikka Tarvainen,
Madrid- While the international spotlight is on 29 suspects
on trial for the 2004 Madrid train bombings, Spanish police are
working behind the scenes to counter a growing threat of new attacks.
Radicals inspired by al-Qaeda have stepped up propaganda and
recruitment activities in Spain, a country they claim as a part of
the Islamic world because of its Muslim past, according to police
experts.
Extremists present in Spain no longer come just from North Africa,
but also from Pakistan.
Spain has become one of the main bases for the recruitment of
suicide bombers, some of whom are trained at new al-Qaeda bases in
Africa's Sahel zone before they are sent to Iraq.
The ongoing Madrid bombings trial has given a face to Islamist
terrorism as Spaniards have watched one suspect after another take
the stand, from bearded fundamentalists to young men with an
apparently Western lifestyle.
After questioning the suspects, the court is currently hearing
police experts and other witnesses.
Ten bombs that exploded on four Madrid commuter trains killed 191
and injured nearly 2,000 people in March 2004, suddenly placing
Islamists on top of the security agenda, ahead of the armed Basque
separatist group ETA.
Two groups are suspected of involvement in the attacks: the
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) and the extremely radical
Tafkir Wal Hijra, which is of Egyptian origin.
Such groups do not form part of a hierarchical structure, but heed
messages emanating from al-Qaeda and act on their own.
Arab activists are believed to cooperate with Pakistanis making
money transfers on their behalf.
Pakistani radicals are active especially in the north-eastern
Catalonia region, where police have detected the presence of Asian
groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET).
The JEM has been implicated in the 2005 bombings in the London
transport network, while the LET is linked with attacks in India.
Police are investigating whether the Arabs and Pakistanis have
contacts with Chechen Muslims, large numbers of whom reportedly
arrived in Spain in 2006.
Islamist radicals proselytize at an estimated 10 per cent of
Spain's hundreds of unofficial mosques, which operate in garages,
basements and the like.
Fighters recruited in Spain are no longer trained only in Iraq and
Afghanistan, but also in Sahel countries such as Mali, Niger and
Mauritania, where al-Qaeda and its allies teach them to handle
weapons, explosives and even poisons, according to the daily El Pais.
The young men then travel to conflict zones such as Iraq, where
one of the Madrid train bombers is believed to have died in a suicide
attack in 2005.
Those who are not killed in Iraq or are unable to enter the
country sometimes return to Spain, where they constitute one of the
potentially most dangerous groups, according to police sources.
The Madrid bombers targeted Spain partly to punish the then
government for its participation in the Iraq war.
Spain has changed its Atlanticist foreign policy since then, but
the presence of its troops in Afghanistan and its judicial crackdowns
on Islamists keep it on al-Qaeda-inspired hit lists.
Islamist websites have also long called for a reconquest of al-
Andalus, a Moorish name for Spain, parts of which were ruled by
Muslims for nearly eight centuries until 1492.
Recently, some websites have also begun campaigning for the
"liberation" of the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the
Moroccan coast, causing concern among police experts.
© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency
Source
Anal bomber
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An Iraqi national wearing wires and concealing a magnet inside his rectum triggered a security scare at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday but officials said he posed no apparent threat.
The man, identified by law enforcement officials as Fadhel al-Maliki, 35, set off an alarm during passenger screening at the airport early on Tuesday morning.
A police bomb squad was called to examine what was deemed a suspicious item found during a body cavity search of the man. Local media reports said a magnet was found in his rectum.
"He was secreting these items in a body cavity and that was a great concern because there were also some electric wires associated with that body cavity," Larry Fetters, security director for the Transportation Security Administration at the airport, told reporters.
Maliki, 35, who lives in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was preparing to board a US Airways flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia.
The flight left without Maliki but with his luggage aboard. It made an unscheduled landing in Las Vegas, where the plane was thoroughly searched but nothing was found, officials said.
Passengers were not evacuated and no flights were disrupted by the incident at Terminal One at Los Angeles airport.
"There never was a threat," Fetter said.
He said police and the FBI were called in from "an abundance of caution" because Maliki was "so bizarre in his behavior."
Maliki, who had a U.S. green card, was being questioned by immigration officials about his immigration status.
Source
The man, identified by law enforcement officials as Fadhel al-Maliki, 35, set off an alarm during passenger screening at the airport early on Tuesday morning.
A police bomb squad was called to examine what was deemed a suspicious item found during a body cavity search of the man. Local media reports said a magnet was found in his rectum.
"He was secreting these items in a body cavity and that was a great concern because there were also some electric wires associated with that body cavity," Larry Fetters, security director for the Transportation Security Administration at the airport, told reporters.
Maliki, 35, who lives in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was preparing to board a US Airways flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia.
The flight left without Maliki but with his luggage aboard. It made an unscheduled landing in Las Vegas, where the plane was thoroughly searched but nothing was found, officials said.
Passengers were not evacuated and no flights were disrupted by the incident at Terminal One at Los Angeles airport.
"There never was a threat," Fetter said.
He said police and the FBI were called in from "an abundance of caution" because Maliki was "so bizarre in his behavior."
Maliki, who had a U.S. green card, was being questioned by immigration officials about his immigration status.
Source
Behead those who say islam is violent
Pilipino Muslims display a banner and t-shirts with a wanted sign during a rally Wednesday March 7, 2007, at a downtown Manila square , to protest recent televised preaching by a Christian sect leader Eli Soriano, who alleges that Muslims are killers. More than 1,000 Muslims took part in the rally and demanded Soriano, who is currently in hiding, be extradited back to the Philippines so he can face charges being brought against him. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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