[imra] Daily digest - Volume: 2 Issue: 1373 (15 messages)

imra Tue Apr 18 00:24:11 2006 Volume 2 : Issue 1373

In this issue of the imra daily Digest:

Dr. Joseph Lerner transferred to Herzog Hospital
Excerpts: Iranian preparedness.
Iran dangerous to Arab states.17 April 2006
Pollard opposes releasing Barghouti
MEMRI: Iranian Nuclear Physicist: We'll Have
54,000-60,000 Centrifuges in 2 Years
Excerpts: Religious identity decisive factor.
Culture of chosen unemployment among youth.
17 April 2006
MEMRI: Saudi Cleric Complains
About Crictism of Hitler
The frightening truth of why Iran wants a bomb
Fateh Condemns Tel Aviv Operation
[on practical grounds]
Jordan rejects targeting civilians
Iran, Russia Bail out
Financially-besieged Palestinian Government
Syria Pledges to Restore the Occupied Golan
[PA]Cabinet Does Not Settle on yet
the Issue of Responsibility over the Crossing
President Abbas: We Condemn Tel Aviv Operation
PSR Poll:52.4%:45.2% Support armed attacks
against Israeli civilians inside Israel,
66.9% Armed confrontation helped
White House statement on Tel Aviv bombing

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Dr. Joseph Lerner transferred to Herzog Hospital

Dr. Joseph Lerner transferred to Herzog Hospital

Aaron Lerner Date: 17 April 2006

Dr. Joseph Lerner [Josiah ben Tessa], Co-Director and Founder of IMRA,
suffered a massive hemorrhage in his brain on 16 March and was hospitalized
at Hadassah Ein Kerem. Dr. Lerner is stable and has not regained
consciousness.

On 16 April Dr. Lerner was transferred to Herzog Hospital for ongoing care.

The Lerner family - wife Sue Lerner, children Tessa, Aaron and Berel, wish
to thanks the staff of the Neurology Department of Hadassah Hospital Ein
Kerem for their devoted and diligent care. We would also like to take this
opportunity to thank all of the many well wishers.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
Website: http://www.imra.org.il

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Excerpts: Iranian preparedness.
Iran dangerous to Arab states.17 April 2006

Excerpts: Iranian preparedness.Iran dangerous to Arab states.17 April 2006

+++JORDAN TIMES 17 April '06:
"Iranians register volunteers for suicide raids"
QUOTE FROM TEXT:
"Iranian officials ... Iran had 40,000 trained suicide bombers."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL TEXT:
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Some 200 Iranians have volunteered in the past few days
to carry out "martyrdom missions" against US and British interests if Iran
is attacked over its nuclear programme, a hardline group said on Sunday.
... Washington says it wants a diplomatic solution, but has not ruled out a
military option.
... spokesman for the Committee for the Commemoration of Martyrs of the
Global Islamic Campaign, said fresh fears over a possible US attack on
Iran's nuclear sites helped attract volunteers during its latest recruitment
drive.
""Some 200 people have registered [since 14 April] ... signed a document
called "Registration form for martyrdom-seeking operations" and pledged to
"defend the Islamic republic's interests."
, , ,
The Committee for the Commemoration of Martyrs of the Global Islamic
Campaign, which says it has no affiliation with the government, was formed
in 2004. Since then ... some 52,000 people have signed up to be involved in
possible attacks.
The Sunday Times of London, quoting unnamed Iranian officials, reported Iran
had 40,000 trained suicide bombers prepared to strike western targets if
Iran is attacked.
"The main force, named the Special Unit of Martyr Seekers in the
Revolutionary Guards, was first seen last month when members marched in a
military parade," the report said.
But Samadi denied the report.
"The Revolutionary Guards have no links to martyrdom-seeking operations. We
are the only martyrdom seeking group in Iran," he said. "And we are an
independent group." No Iranians are thought to have directly executed
suicide bombings in recent years. But the United States has accused Iran of
being a state sponsor of terrorism.
In Sunday's New York Times a former White House counterterrorism expert said
Iran's response to any US military attack would be to use "its terrorist
network to strike American targets around the world."
"Iran has forces at its command far superior to anything Al Qaeda was ever
able to field," wrote former White House counterterror chief Richard Clarke
and former State Department official Steven Simon.
The "martyrdom" registration coincided with a conference on the Palestinian
cause. Iran has refused to recognise Israel and supports anti-Israeli groups
like Hamas and Hizbollah.
Inside the embassy, the walls were decorated with pictures of Palestinian
suicide bombers. Videos of Israeli army attacks on Palestinians were shown
on a wide screen. Books and CDs on the Palestinian uprising were also for
sale.
In 1979, the then-American embassy was seized and its staff were taken
hostage by militant students in 1979. The 52 hostages were freed after 444
days in captivity.

+++THE DAILY STAR (Lebanon) 15 April '06
"On Iran, Arab heads should come out of the sand" by Khalid Hroub*

QUOTES FROM TEXT:

"Arab states ... fear that Iran is capable of mobilizing local Shiites
against their regimes"
"Gulf Cooperation States Council (fear) Iran's military and strategic
aspirations"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCERPTS:
Iran's growing regional power is understandably worrisome to many Arab
regimes, especially those in the Gulf. The Iranians are no less suspicious
of the attitude many Arab states have toward their interests. With the
potential for military confrontation increasing, the position of the Arabs
is precarious at best. They would be caught in the crossfire facing enormous
pressure from the U.S. to support measures against Iran.
...Arab response to Iran's rising influence should be to conduct frank
discussions on all issues that could give rise to mutual friction, thus
avoiding even the hint of siding with the U.S. and the West. It is ironic
that the Americans can act realistically and proactively with Iran while the
Arabs bury their head in the sand.
...Iran ...holds strong cards in Iraq; it supports Syria increasingly and
unreservedly; it supports Hizbullah in Lebanon against all odds; it publicly
backs Hamas in Palestine. ... Iran is unabashedly challenging the Western
order on the nuclear issue. It is insisting that it has a right to produce
nuclear power (it hasn't admitted this is for military purposes, though it
very likely is), dismissing international opprobrium.
... Iran holds a card in being able to influence energy prices. ... .
... Arab and Islamic public opinion is unwilling to consider that extremist
discourse or behavior only leads to catastrophe, as was proven in the cases
of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. As long as rage continues to control
the public's mood, populist discourse will be received with enthusiasm by
the angry majority.
What worries Arab states even more, is that Iran ...aspirations and
religious discourse are seen by neighboring Arab regimes to be trespassing
on their borders, and influencing Arab Shiites. ....They all fear that Iran
is capable of mobilizing local Shiites against their regimes.
...There is suspicion, even fear, hanging over the Gulf Cooperation Council
states regarding Iran's military and strategic aspirations. Arabs complain
about Iranian interference in their internal affairs, from Iraq and Lebanon
to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The issue of the three United Arab Emirates
islands that Iran still occupies stands out as a major dispute.
. . .
I... Iranian political and spiritual leaders believe Iran is the natural
source of authority for the region's Shiites, including Arab Shiites.
However, many Arab Shiites reject Iranian political, as opposed to
spiritual, authority. That won't prevent Iran from using the Shiite card in
the event Arab states support American hostilities against Iran. ....
* Khaled Hroub is director of the Cambridge Arab Media Project at Cambridge
University in the United Kingdom. He wrote this commentary for THE DAILY
STAR.

Sue Lerner, Associate - IMRA

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Pollard opposes releasing Barghouti

Pollard opposes releasing Barghouti

Herb Keinon, THE JERUSALEM POST Apr. 16, 2006
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1143498859335&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Jonathan Pollard would not agree to be freed from his US prison in exchange
for the release of convicted terrorist Marwan Barghouti, Pollard's lawyer,
Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, told The Jerusalem Post Sunday.

Darshan-Leitner's comments came amid a swirl of rumors prompted by an Army
Radio report, but unconfirmed by either US or Israeli officials, of a
pending deal whereby Israel would spring Barghouti and the US would let
Pollard go.

Pollard's wife, Esther, said the question of whether her husband would agree
to such a deal was moot because he was a prisoner, and that no one would ask
his opinion on the matter in any case.

She said the whole issue was a "cynical" exercise by Israel to pave the way
for what the government had already decided - to free Barghouti.

She said the government has routinely used her husband's name to promote
controversial domestic measures. For instance, she said that exactly one
year ago Yediot Aharonot ran a headline trumpeting a deal whereby Pollard
would be released after disengagement from Gaza.

Esther Pollard said the government had already made up its mind about
releasing Barghouti and "now wanted the public to think that there might be
a silver lining to releasing a terrorist murderer." She said she was told
that US President George W. Bush was willing to release Pollard before
Pessah and was only waiting for a request from Jerusalem, but that such a
request never arrived.

She said her husband expressed opposition to a swap for Barghouti in 2004.

In a speech circulated among those protesting in Jerusalem to mark 20 years
of his incarceration in November 2004, Jonathan Pollard wrote that there had
been a great deal of speculation about a three way deal that would free him
and Israeli Azzam Azzam, then held in an Egyptian prison, in exchange for
Israel releasing Barghouti.

"Let me state from the outset that I have always been opposed to gaining my
freedom in exchange for the release of murderers and terrorists. My position
has not changed," Pollard said at the time. "I deserve to be released
because my sentence is unjust and because the US has promised my release on
more than one occasion, including a commitment by the president of the
United States at the Wye Summit in 1998."

Senior officials in the Prime Minister's Office Sunday denied there were any
plans for a Barghouti-Pollard deal or any intention to let Barghouti go.

"Barghouti has been tried in Israeli courts and convicted of murder," a
senior source in interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said. "This is
not on the agenda."

The source said stories about a Pollard-for-Barghouti deal already appeared
in 2004, but went nowhere. He said he was not surprised such stories were
appearing now, just before Olmert was expected to make his maiden prime
ministerial trip to Washington, as a way to get the Israeli government to
press the US administration on the issue.

Olmert is expected to visit Washington soon after a new government is
formed, although a date has yet to been set.

The official said the Pollard issue was always on the agenda when Israeli
prime ministers traveled to Washington.

Esther Pollard, however, denied Israel's claim that it was doing everything
to get her husband released. She said it was "simply incredible" to believe
this as there had not been "one centimeter of progress" in 21 years.

She said that while Pollard would never do anything to harm Israel, he "does
not intend to remain silent" much longer, and that if he was not released
soon he would disclose information about Rafi Eitan's role in his espionage
and the "lies he told" that would "impact on everybody, including prime
ministers, first and foremost Shimon Peres."

Eitan, who today heads the Gil Pensioners Party, was a master spy who served
as Pollard's chief handler from May 1984 until his arrest in November 1985.
He said he accepted sole responsibility for the whole affair. Peres was
prime minister at the time.

Darshan-Leitner said the reports about a possible swap were merely a "way to
distract public opinion from the real issue - the failure of the government
to do anything to release Pollard right now." She said that if Eitan were,
as seems likely, appointed a cabinet minister, she would petition the High
Court of Justice on the grounds that it would be "unreasonable" to appoint
the man responsible for Pollard's fate to head a government ministry.

The attorney said that in such a petition she would reveal the contents of a
document that Eitan holds that the US has wanted to get a hold of for years.

US Embassy spokesman Stewart Tuttle dismissed talk of a Pollard-Barghouti
swap as "silly speculation." "There is nothing to indicate any truth in any
of this," he said. "The Pollard case is closed and he is serving his
sentence, and Barghouti's fate depends on the decision of the Israeli
government."

In recent months there has been discussion in Washington think tanks of
pressing Israel to release Barghouti, a strong Fatah leader who - according
to this logic - could act as a counterweight to Hamas in the Palestinian
Authority. The US government, however, has not endorsed this view.

Pollard worked for US Naval Intelligence in the 1980s. In 1984 he
established contact with Col. Aviam Sela of the IAF and transferred
thousands of classified files he claimed the US should have given Israel
under existing intelligence agreements. Sela then passed the files on to an
Israeli intelligence unit headed by Eitan. Pollard was convicted of passing
classified information and sentenced to life in prison, and has been
incarcerated in a US jail for the past 21 years.

SEE

Editorial: Free Pollard, Not Barghouti - Jerusalem Post
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1143498863931&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: MEMRI: Iranian Nuclear Physicist: We'll Have
54,000-60,000 Centrifuges in 2 Years

The following are excerpts from an interview with Iranian Nuclear Physicist
Dr. Hassan Ghafuri-Fard which was aired on Iranian TV Channel 3 on April 12,
2006.

TO VIEW THIS CLIP VISIT: www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1111

*Clip # 1111 - Iranian Nuclear Physicist Dr. Hassan Ghafuri-Fard: We Will
Have 54,000-60,000 Centrifuges Within Two Years

Dr. Hassan Ghafuri-Fard: At the present stage, [our uranium enrichment] is
for laboratory purposes. We have achieved fuel for the reactor in laboratory
quantities. As I have said, in the next stage, which we hope will be
completed by the end of this year - and we hope this will be a gift for the
new [Iranian] year - we will increase the number of our [centrifuges] from
164 to 3,000. This will be the stage of semi-industrial fuel.

Then we will have to obtain at least 54,000-60,000 [centrifuges], in order
to produce industrial fuel for our reactor. This process will take between
one and two years. We plan to produce 20,000 MW of nuclear electricity. The
Bushehr reactor will be the first to produce electricity - 1,000 MW. We have
also signed contracts for two more reactors, and 17 more will be signed in
the future. within one or two years, we will be able to produce fuel for
these reactors.

TO VIEW THIS CLIP VISIT: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1111

**********************
For assistance, please contact MEMRI TV Project at memritv@memri.org

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent,
non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle
East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background
information, are available on request.

MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with
proper attribution.

MEMRI TV Project
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
www.memritv.org

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Excerpts: Religious identity decisive factor.
Culture of chosen unemployment among youth.
17 April 2006

Excerpts: Religious identity decisive factor.Culture of chosen unemployment
among youth.17 April 2006

+++AL-AHRAM WEEKLY 13-16 April '06:"Beyond the vacuum "
QUOTES FROM TEXT:
"Religious identity has largely replaced nationalist ideology"
"Ethnic politics too have come into play"
"some among the Shia of Iraq are acting as a fifth column of Iran"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCERPTS:: ...-- Egypt ... is an integral part of what has become the
world's most volatile region.
... Mubarak painted a grim picture, speaking ominously of Iraq ... the
regional ramifications will be grave indeed.
...what sort of role can Egypt play in the region? .... There are three big
powers in the region -- Egypt, Iran and Turkey, countries with populations
of over 70 million and relatively large economies. Then there is... the
religious authority, oil wealth and attendant financial clout of Saudi
Arabia. Last but not least there is Israel -- the region's only nuclear
power and close ally of the regional power-broker, the United States. It is
Washington that calls the shots.
.... Whatever other benefits the Bush administration claims the Iraqi people
have accrued are completely overshadowed by the threat of a civil war ...
portrayed by the international media as a deadly conflict between Arab and
Kurd, Sunni and Shia.
Religious identity has largely replaced nationalist ideology. That leaves
open the possibility that people in the region will increasingly come to
identify themselves on a religious basis.
Ethnic politics, too, have come into play, making it harder to bet with any
confidence on a politically stable and economically prosperous future.
...comment that drew most attention was Mubarak's insinuation that some
among the Shia population of Iraq are acting as a fifth column of Iran. The
Shia retorted that they are as Arab nationalist as their Sunni Arab
compatriots. The point, though, is that playing the religious card only
creates more problems for the people of the region.
. . .
...Iraqis -- and their neighbours and the outside world -- have come to see
themselves and others in terms of religious affiliation rather than
political or ideological orientation. There is also the ethnic divide --
Arab and non-Arab. This new emphasis on ethnic differences and religious
categorisation takes many forms, all of them dangerously divisive.... .
But surely there is more to identity politics than race, ethnicity and
religion. Questions of social justice, political and economic empowerment
for women, democratisation and the upholding of human rights must come to
the fore. Political reform in the region can only come about by turning away
from the religious and ethnic divisions ... ..

+++ARAB NEWS (Saudi) 17 April '06:"No Shortage of Jobs - Just Job-Seekers"
Arab News -
QUOTE FROM TEXT:
"Then oil wealth came along and some people got the idea that work was for
somebody else."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCERPTS:
JEDDAH, 17 April 2006 - It may be time for young Saudis who lament the lack
of jobs to take a good look around and learn a lesson from foreign workers
who seem to be busy and working all the time. . . .Even if the foreign
worker loses his job, he keeps busy... . [IMRA: !2 million foreign workers
in Saudi and Gulf States.]
The difference is, the foreign worker doesn't have anyone to support him
other than himself, and the foreign worker came here to make money. ... he
doesn't have the attitude that the world owes him a living.
The irony is that a few short decades ago, Saudis were among the hardest
working people in the world, ... .
Then oil wealth came along, and some people got the idea that work was for
somebody else. Now we have a society in which many young men have never
worked a day in their lives and many young women would have to give it some
thought before making a pot of tea. ... .
Although some lump all young Saudis in this category, nothing could be
further from the truth. Go to any university or training facility and you
will meet young Saudis acquiring the skills they need for success. ...
There are always jobs available for people with needed skills. There are
jobs available for the unskilled, as well, provided that the job-seekers are
willing to hunt down the jobs and are ready to work hard when they find one.
A tipping point in the economic reforms that the Kingdom is undertaking will
be when...when wages paid for a job are the same for a foreign worker as
they are for a Saudi. In the West, plumbers... make more money than many
people with college degrees, and the men who do those repairs are citizens
of the countries in which they reside - not lower paid foreign workers.
[IMRA: In Gulf States foreign skilled carpenters make $7.50 per day and
laborers in construction $4 per day. In Saudi Foreign house workers earn
$100 per month.]
. . .
A recent report in Al-Riyadh newspaper related the...young man insisted he
would never take a low standard job and that he would rather stay unemployed
with dignity. . . ... . . . .
And after the sunset prayer, you see the foreign workers lining up outside
the currency exchanges to send their hard-earned money back to Pakistan,
Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, India and a half a dozen other
countries. ... .At the same time, you see the immaculately dressed,
unemployed young Saudis driving baba's car to the coffee house and plunking
down one of baba's hard-earned SR10 notes as they complain to their friends
about there not being any work.

Sue Lerner, Associate - IMRA

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: MEMRI: Saudi Cleric Complains
About Crictism of Hitler

The following are excerpts from an interview with Saudi Cleric Dr. Sa'd
Al-Breik which was aired on Iqra TV on March 9, 2006.

It is followed by links to other MEMRI TV clips of Dr. Sa'd Al-Breik on Arab
TV.

*Clip #1110 - Saudi Cleric Sa'd Al-Breik Complains: Whoever Says Anything
Good About Hitler is Accused of Anti-Semitism

Saudi Cleric Dr. Sa'd Al-Breik: Regarding the call for freedom of opinion -
where is this freedom when it comes to the Holocaust? Where is this freedom
when it comes to criminalizing whoever speaks about Semitism? Where is this
freedom when whoever refers to the leaders of Israel, throughout history and
to our own times - whether through, a cartoon portraying the Nazism in their
personalities, or to the bloodthirsty nature of their actions, or to their
being war criminals - this is considered a bloodthirsty anti-Semitic
provocation.

The truth is that if freedom really is an open door, why was the Moroccan or
Algerian girl prevented from wearing her veil in a French school? Freedom
was broad enough to curse the Prophet Muhammad, but it was too narrow to
allow a piece of cloth covering a child's hair. Freedom was broad enough to
curse the Prophet Muhammad, but when British MP Jenny Tonge symphonized with
the martyrdom-seeking operations in Palestine, the Liberal Democratic Party
denounced and punished her. Freedom was broad enough to curse the prophets
and messengers of Allah, but when Roger Garaudy wrote his book about the
myths of Israel, in which he cast doubt upon the Holocaust - this was
considered anti-Semitism. Freedom does not extend to anyone who mentions one
good thing about Hitler. He is immediately accused of racism. The Chairman
of the Egyptian Journalists Union Ibrahim Naf'e was accused in a French
court of being anti-Semitic, when he wrote an article titled "Jewish Matza
from Arab Blood."

TO VIEW THIS CLIP VISIT: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1110

*Clip #516 - Saudi Cleric Sheik Sa'd Al-Breik: Jihad is Justified in Iraq,
Not in the U.S.
TO VIEW THIS CLIP VISIT: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=516

*Clip #201- A Cleric on Official Saudi TV: Al-Qaeda Not the Main Perpetrator
of 9/11
TO VIEW THIS CLIP VISIT: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=201

*Clip #126 - Saudi Sheik Sa'd Al-Breik on Human Rights in Islam and in the
West
TO VIEW THIS CLIP VISIT: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=126

**********************
For assistance, please contact MEMRI TV Project at memritv@memri.org

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent,
non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle
East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background
information, are available on request.

MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with
proper attribution.

MEMRI TV Project
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
www.memritv.org

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: The frightening truth of why Iran wants a bomb

The frightening truth of why Iran wants a bomb
By Amir Taheri
The Sunday Telegraph (UK) (Filed: 16/04/2006)
www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/04/16/do1609.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/04/16/ixportal.html

Last Monday, just before he announced that Iran had gatecrashed "the nuclear
club", President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad disappeared for several hours. He was
having a khalvat (t�te-�-t�te) with the Hidden Imam, the 12th and last of
the imams of Shiism who went into "grand occultation" in 941.

According to Shia lore, the Imam is a messianic figure who, although in
hiding, remains the true Sovereign of the World. In every generation, the
Imam chooses 36 men, (and, for obvious reasons, no women) naming them the
owtad or "nails", whose presence, hammered into mankind's existence,
prevents the universe from "falling off". Although the "nails" are not known
to common mortals, it is, at times, possible to identify one thanks to his
deeds. It is on that basis that some of Ahmad-inejad's more passionate
admirers insist that he is a "nail", a claim he has not discouraged. For
example, he has claimed that last September, as he addressed the United
Nations' General Assembly in New York, the "Hidden Imam drenched the place
in a sweet light".

Last year, it was after another khalvat that Ahmadinejad announced his
intention to stand for president. Now, he boasts that the Imam gave him the
presidency for a single task: provoking a "clash of civilisations" in which
the Muslim world, led by Iran, takes on the "infidel" West, led by the
United States, and defeats it in a slow but prolonged contest that, in
military jargon, sounds like a low intensity, asymmetrical war.

In Ahmadinejad's analysis, the rising Islamic "superpower" has decisive
advantages over the infidel. Islam has four times as many young men of
fighting age as the West, with its ageing populations. Hundreds of millions
of Muslim "ghazis" (holy raiders) are keen to become martyrs while the
infidel youths, loving life and fearing death, hate to fight. Islam also has
four-fifths of the world's oil reserves, and so controls the lifeblood of
the infidel. More importantly, the US, the only infidel power still capable
of fighting, is hated by most other nations.

According to this analysis, spelled out in commentaries by Ahmadinejad's
strategic guru, Hassan Abassi, known as the "Dr Kissinger of Islam",
President George W Bush is an aberration, an exception to a rule under which
all American presidents since Truman, when faced with serious setbacks
abroad, have "run away". Iran's current strategy, therefore, is to wait Bush
out. And that, by "divine coincidence", corresponds to the time Iran needs
to develop its nuclear arsenal, thus matching the only advantage that the
infidel enjoys.

Moments after Ahmadinejad announced "the atomic miracle", the head of the
Iranian nuclear project, Ghulamreza Aghazadeh, unveiled plans for
manufacturing 54,000 centrifuges, to enrich enough uranium for hundreds of
nuclear warheads. "We are going into mass production," he boasted.

The Iranian plan is simple: playing the diplomatic game for another two
years until Bush becomes a "lame-duck", unable to take military action
against the mullahs, while continuing to develop nuclear weapons.

Thus do not be surprised if, by the end of the 12 days still left of the
United Nations' Security Council "deadline", Ahmadinejad announces a
"temporary suspension" of uranium enrichment as a "confidence building
measure". Also, don't be surprised if some time in June he agrees to ask the
Majlis (the Islamic parliament) to consider signing the additional protocols
of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Such manoeuvres would allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
director, Muhammad El-Baradei, and Britain's Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw,
to congratulate Iran for its "positive gestures" and denounce talk of
sanctions, let alone military action. The confidence building measures would
never amount to anything, but their announcement would be enough to prevent
the G8 summit, hosted by Russia in July, from moving against Iran.

While waiting Bush out, the Islamic Republic is intent on doing all it can
to consolidate its gains in the region. Regime changes in Kabul and Baghdad
have altered the status quo in the Middle East. While Bush is determined to
create a Middle East that is democratic and pro-Western, Ahmadinejad is
equally determined that the region should remain Islamic but pro-Iranian.
Iran is now the strongest presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, after the US. It
has turned Syria and Lebanon into its outer defences, which means that, for
the first time since the 7th century, Iran is militarily present on the
coast of the Mediterranean. In a massive political jamboree in Teheran last
week, Ahmadinejad also assumed control of the "Jerusalem Cause", which
includes annihilating Israel "in one storm", while launching a take-over bid
for the cash-starved Hamas government in the West Bank and Gaza.

Ahmadinejad has also reactivated Iran's network of Shia organisations in
Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Yemen, while resuming contact
with Sunni fundamentalist groups in Turkey, Egypt, Algeria and Morocco. From
childhood, Shia boys are told to cultivate two qualities. The first is
entezar, the capacity patiently to wait for the Imam to return. The second
is taajil, the actions needed to hasten the return. For the Imam's return
will coincide with an apocalyptic battle between the forces of evil and
righteousness, with evil ultimately routed. If the infidel loses its nuclear
advantage, it could be worn down in a long, low-intensity war at the end of
which surrender to Islam would appear the least bad of options. And that
could be a signal for the Imam to reappear.

At the same time, not to forget the task of hastening the Mahdi's second
coming, Ahamdinejad will pursue his provocations. On Monday, he was as
candid as ever: "To those who are angry with us, we have one thing to say:
be angry until you die of anger!"

His adviser, Hassan Abassi, is rather more eloquent. "The Americans are
impatient," he says, "at the first sight of a setback, they run away. We,
however, know how to be patient. We have been weaving carpets for thousands
of years."
===
Amir Taheri is a former Executive Editor of Kayhan, Iran's largest daily
newspaper, but now lives in Europe

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Fateh Condemns Tel Aviv Operation
[on practical grounds]

Fateh Condemns Tel Aviv Operation
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?id=6025

RAMALLAH, April 17, 2006 (WAFA - PLO news agency) - Fateh Central Committee
condemned Monday the today's operation in Tel Aviv, denying any
responsibility for the attack.

A press release by the Committee said that it condemns targeting civilians
inside Israel because "such an operations provide pretexts for Israel to
continue its aggressions and carry out its unilateral plans."

It added that al-Aqsa Brigades of Fateh are not linked to this attack in any
way, asserting that any party that announces responsibility for the attack
is not from Fateh or al-Aqsa Brigades.

A.D. (21:09 P) (18:09 GMT)

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Jordan rejects targeting civilians

Jordan rejects targeting civilians
www.petra.gov.jo/nepras/2006/Apr/17/84.htm

Amman, April 17 (Petra - Jordan news agency) -- Jordan renewed its firm
stand rejecting suicide acts that target innocent civilians wherever they
are and under any pretext.

In a response to Jordan News Agency's question, the Government Spokesman
Nasser Judeh, who was commenting on the Tel Aviv's suicide operation, said
such acts will harm the Palestinian people and cause.

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Iran, Russia Bail out
Financially-besieged Palestinian Government

Iran, Russia Bail out Financially-besieged Palestinian Government
Al-Zahhar to Arabs: If You Don't Help Us, Who Will?
17/04/2006

Palestine Media Center - PMC [Official arm of the PA]
www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=1119

Iran and Russia have bailed out the Palestinian government, cash-stripped by
an Israeli, US and EU financial siege, while the Palestinian Foreign
Minister Mahmoud Al-Zahhar was touring Arab countries in on a fund-raising
mission.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in Tehran on Sunday that
Iran allocated $100 million to help the Palestinian people.

Mottaki made the announcement while addressing the closing ceremony of the
"Third International Conference on Qods and Support for the Rights of
Palestinian People."

However, Mottaki did not say how or when the Iranian "gift" would reach the
Palestinians.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Muslim countries on
Friday that they had a duty to support Palestinians.

"The Islamic world cannot remain indifferent and silent to tyranny," the
all-powerful cleric said at the start of the conference in Tehran.

Addressing the Palestinians he said: "Your martyrs are our martyrs. Your
pain is our pain. Islamic nations have the duty to help you in every
possible way, and help you along this blessed path."

Separately the Syrian First Vice-President Farouk al-Shara said in Tehran on
the same day that the Syrian government is to open several banking accounts
to collect material aid for the Palestinian government and people.

The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has ordered opening of several banking
accounts for the Palestinians in order to prevent a human catastrophe in the
Israeli-occupied lands, al-Shara said.

Earlier last week Russia also said Moscow will grant the Palestinian
National Authority (PNA) urgent financial aid.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the pledge to Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas in a telephone call.

A Russian foreign ministry statement said: "Mahmoud Abbas stated his high
appreciation of Russia's intent, confirmed by Sergei Lavrov, to grant the
Palestinian Authority an urgent financial aid in the nearest future."

Lavrov said on Tuesday that withholding aid to the Palestinians was a
mistake.

However, "Hamas should... recognize Israel and sit down at the negotiating
table. But for that it's necessary to work with them," Lavrov added.

Earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin said after receiving the
credentials of a new Palestinian ambassador in Moscow: "Russia is ready to
further render assistance to the leadership of Palestine, Palestinian
Government and Palestinian administration headed by Mahmoud Abbas."

Meanwhile Palestinian Foreign Minister Al-Zahhar on Saturday urged Arab
states to honor and immediately carry out their financial pledges to the
Palestinian government.

Al-Zahhar was expected in Saudi Arabia from Egypt on Monday, on the second
leg of a fund-raising Arab tour that will take him to Jordan on Wednesday.

"We are not only looking to follow up on Arab aid, we would like to increase
it because the Israeli occupation bans us from accessing the 60 million
dollars per month," he told 22 representatives of Arab states at the Arab
League's Cairo headquarters.

Al-Zahhar held talks in Cairo on Saturday with Arab League Secretary-General
Amr Mousa. He told the Arab representatives: "If you don't help us, who will
help?"

Arab leaders meeting in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in late March pledged
to pay more than 50 million US dollars to the PNA per month.

However, only Algeria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have so far paid their
contributions.

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Syria Pledges to Restore the Occupied Golan

Syria Pledges to Restore the Occupied Golan
Quneitra, Southwest, April 17 (SANA- Syrian News Agency)-
www.sana.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&newlang=eng&sid=29579&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Syria undertook today to restore the occupied Golan saying the independence,
which was made by our people due to sacrifices and heroism, is now
unaccomplished and our happiness is not complete.

" This will never be realized while the occupied Golan is under the
occupation and since his folks want to go back to their houses and home as
well as to their ancestors land . It is a legitimate right that should be
made real by all available means," Assistant Regional Secretary of the Baath
Arab Socialist Party Mohammed Said Bkhetan said in a ceremoney on the
national
day representing President Bashar al-Assad.

Bkhetan delivered his speech in the liberated city of Quneitra, recalling
back the Syrian Army and people, women and men's struggle, heroism and
sacrifices to defend and free the home as well to attain independence, and
stressing that Syria has been assuming a great and important role and
bearing the Arabism flag.

" Since the occupation of the Syrian Golan, a number of the international
legitimacy resolutions that call for withdrawal from the occupied Arab
territories are issued. Syria has taken the just and comprehensive peace as
her strategic option that guarantees right, preserves stability and stops
the aggressor so she went to Madrid and agreed on the land for peace
principle," he said.

" While Israel has always been turning a deaf ear to the international
legitimacy; it didn't implement any of its resolutions," Bkhetan said,
adding " Syria didn't let any political, diplomatic or legal means but to
demand of her legitimate rights."
He reiterated Syria's support to the Palestinian people's democratic choice
and their right to return home, liberate their occupied land as well as
establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Regarding Lebanon, Bkhetan said that Syria has offered aid to Lebanon in
the most critical circumstances to stop blood shedding and the civil war
noting that she has contributed to enhancing Lebanon's identity, stability
and sovereignty, " Bkhetan indicated, stressing that Syria will never give
up her Arab belonging, national and pan-Arab responsibilities and will not
stop between her and Lebanon but all brotherhood and cooperation.

Syria won its Independence on the 17th of April in 1946 when the last
French and British soldier left the territorial Syrian Arab Republic land.

Syrians in all Syrian regions celebrated today the anniversary of
Independence Day, the day in which the last foreign soldier left the
country.

For this occasion and under the patronage of President Bashar al-Assad
al-Quneitra branch for the Baath Arab Socialist Party held a mass rally with
the participation of all social, economic and popular activities from all
Syrian governorates.

Chousson A. Hassoun / S. Younes

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: [PA]Cabinet Does Not Settle on yet
the Issue of Responsibility over the Crossing

Cabinet Does Not Settle on yet the Issue of Responsibility over the Crossing
www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/english/details.asp?name=15374

GAZA, Palestine, April 17,2006 (IPC+ Agencies) -[Official PA
website] -Reliable official said Sunday that the President Mahmoud Abbas
offered to pass control over Gaza Strip-Egypt border crossing to the
government in return, the government has to held responsible if the crossing
is blocked by Israel or if the European monitors take a decision to
withdraw.

An aide of President Abbas in Rammallah told Reuters News Agency "the
discussion is still underway. Hams has not responded yet."

An official from Fatah movement in Gaza said the president had sent a letter
to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh which said border control would pass
to Hamas.

On his part, Nabil Abu Rudenh, Presidency's spokesperson, asserted that the
problem is not the infighting of authorities between the presidency and
government "even if the head of the government has been given some
authorities, the world will not communicate with the government as long as
it sill sticks with its platform."

A source in the President's office told AFP "a phone call conversation took
palace between President Abbas and Prime Minister Ismael Haneyeh following
the later remarks about the withdrawal of authorities.

The source said that the President has no objection to move the control over
the crossing to the government.

The government announced yesterday a letter from Rafeeq Al Hussini , Abbas's
bureau chief over the crossing was sent to Haneyah's office.

Cabinet's spokesperson Ghazi Hamd told Arab 48 , the letter we received,
voiced the President's readiness to re-handed the control on the crossing to
the government but not to be transferred to the government."

" The issue of the crossings was resiliently discussed with the President,
we in government have no problem to keep the crossing control in the hand of
President Abu Mazen as it serves the common interest of the Palestinian
people," Hamd told Arab 48.

Israeli government had repeatedly warned against the Hamas-led government
take over control over the borders. For this the President Abbas issueed a
presidential decree in early April to transfer control to the president's
office in order to keep the European observers who said they would leave the
terminals if Hamas' government takes over control there

In this connection, the Al-Hayyat paper London- based quoted reliable
Palestinian sources saying that Britain strongly pressured on the European
Union to withdraw tens of the European monitors working as a third part
monitoring the movement at the Rafah borer crossing .

The paper also quoted the same sources adding that Britain is intended to
withdraw the European monitors in a suit followed with Jericho prison when
the American -British guards left the prison, just five hour later the
Israeli occupation force stormed into Jericho prison and arrested Ahmed
Saadat, secretary general of popular front for Liberation of Palestine and
his comrades.

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: President Abbas: We Condemn Tel Aviv Operation

President Abbas: We Condemn Tel Aviv Operation
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?id=6026

RAMALLAH, April 17, 2006 (WAFA - PLO news agency) - President Mahmoud Abbas
condemned Monday today's operation against Israeli civilians in Tel Aviv.

Upon his arrival from the Jordanian capital Amman to Ramallah, President
Abbas told reporters that "this operation is totally condemned," adding it
harms the Palestinian people.

He added that the security apparatuses will never stop pursuing the
perpetrators of these attacks and they will do their best to thwart them.

Regarding the Israeli escalation, President Abbas said "this escalation is
continued and it is unjustified," pointing out that such operations give
Israel pretexts to continue its escalation.

A.D. (21:27 P) (18:27 GMT)

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: PSR Poll:52.4%:45.2% Support armed attacks
against Israeli civilians inside Israel,
66.9% Armed confrontation helped

38) Concerning armed attacks against Israeli civilians inside Israel, I..
Strongly support 14.2% Support 38.2%
Oppose 40.2% Strongly oppose 5.0%
DK/NA 2.5%

39) Do you believe that armed confrontations so far has helped achieved
Palestinian national and political rights in ways that negotiations could
not achieve?
Definitely yes 24.0% Yes 42.9%
No 25.4% Definitely no 5.7%
DK/NA 2.0%

Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. (19) conducted by the Palestinian Center
for Policy and Survey Research in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during
March 16-18, 2006. Total size of the sample is 1270 adults interviewed face
to face in 127 randomly selected locations. Margin of error is 3%.
www.pcpsr.org/survey/polls/2006/p19etables1.html
...

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: White House statement on Tel Aviv bombing

For Immediate Release
Office of the White House Press Secretary
April 17, 2006
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
James S. Brady Briefing Room
www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/04/20060417-3.html

12:42 P.M. EDT

MR. MCCLELLAN: Before I go to questions, I want to begin with one statement.
We condemn the terrorist attack today in Tel Aviv in the strongest possible
terms. It is a despicable act of terrorism for which no excuse or
justification is possible. We express our condolences to those who were
injured, to the families of those who were killed and to the people and
government of Israel.

The burden of responsibility for preventing terrorist attacks such as this
one rests with the Palestinian Authority. We have noted reactions by several
Palestinian terrorist groups, including Hamas, that defend, or even applaud,
the barbaric acts of terror committed in Tel Aviv today, as we have noted
President Abbas's quick denunciation of it. Defense or sponsorship of
terrorist acts by officials of the Palestinian cabinet will have the gravest
effects on relations between the Palestinian Authority and all states
seeking peace in the Middle East.

A Palestinian government that encourages or tolerates terrorism against men,
women and children not only increases the level of violence against
Israelis, but can, as well, only do great harm to the interests of the
Palestinian people and ensure its own further isolation.

We reiterate that the United States will have no contact with such a
government, and we call upon all states to demand that it abandon its
support for terror.

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

From: imra-owner@imra.org.il
Subject: IMRA Subscription Info

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End of [imra] Daily digest - Volume: 2 Issue: 1373 (15 messages)
**********