8. november 2003

BBC: Arafat funds to al-Aqsa terrorists The BBC has revealed that the Palestinian Authority, with the knowledge of Yasser Arafat, has al-Aqsa terrorists in its payroll. Close links between Mr Arafat's political faction Fatah and al-Aqsa are also discovered by the programme. One local Fatah leader in the West Bank town of Jenin says that the al-Aqsa group is the military wing of his organisation and that Mr Arafat is the overall leader of both the political and military arms. "Fatah has two sections: a military wing, led by the military and a political wing, led by politicians. But there is no difference between Fatah and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades," a leader of Fatah in the Jenin refugee camp tells Correspondent. Asked if al-Aqsa would formally end hostilities with Israeli if asked to by Mr Arafat, Zakaria Zubaydi, the leader of the group in Jenin says: "Of course. But he won't order us to do this until Israel stops the assassinations." He adds: "When Arafat calls for a ceasefire, we will respect his decision and stop." What Israel and the US has been saying for quite some time: Arafat is directly responsible for terrorist attacks against civilian Israelis, and his public "condemnations" of the attacks are a hypocritical shams. This is something the EU and others have turned a blind eye to in the whole debate over the "road map" peace initiative. Mind you, the BBC can't exactly be accused of being a pro-Israeli news organisation. 8:49:09 PM    comment []  trackback []

Make your own church sign! A fun site allowing you to generate one of these famous church signs with a text of your own chosing. 8:20:22 PM    comment []  trackback []

— Iraqi mass graves hold 300,000 people Iraqi and US investigators in Iraq say they suspect there are 260 mass graves in the country, containing the bodies of at least 300,000 people murdered by Saddam Hussein's regime. "We have reports of 260 mass graves and we have confirmed approximately 40 of them," said Sandra Hodgkinson, director of the Coalition Provisional Authority's (CPA) mass grave action plan'. "We believe, based on what Iraqis have reported to us, that there are 300,000 dead and that's the lower end of the estimates. "In Bosnia it's now eight or nine years since similar atrocities and only 8,000 bodies out of 30,000 have been uncovered. Here in Iraq it's 300,000," said Hodgkinson, a human rights lawyer brought in by the CPA after U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam in April. More sites could still be found. No surprise the Baathists still fight the coalition with all they have. Whenever the Iraqis set up a human rights court, there are a lot of people who will have to answer for this. And, as much as they try to argue that opposition to the Iraq war was no support of Saddam Hussein, the fact of the matter is that if the anti-war demonstrators had their way, Saddam would still be filling these mass graves for years to come. All positions have consequences. The anti-war crowd can't simply renounce the responsibility for theirs. 8:08:58 PM    comment []  trackback []

Moscow considers kissing ban City officials in Moscow are considering a law against kissing in public. And here we thought Ashcroft was extreme. 8:06:56 AM    comment []  trackback []

US closes Saudi missions After a number of earlier terror warnings in Saudi Arabia, the US has now decided to close all diplomatic missions in the Kingdom because of what is described as a heightened state of alert. At the same time, Saudi security officials say they have foiled a terror attack in Mecca, the holiest site of all Muslims. If true, it is likely to anger Muslims worldwide. 6:14:54 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.12.2003; 12:12:01.