Levitt Letter Extra News

From The Israel Project

The head of the Palestinian Central Elections Committee on Thursday announced that Palestinian legislative and presidential elections cannot be held on January 24, as declared by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

The committee chief informed Abbas of his decision earlier in the day. He blamed the inability to hold elections on Hamas, which had threatened to punish any residents of the Gaza Strip that dared to vote in the poll.

Many in Israel viewed Thursday’s announcement as just part of a larger ruse by Abbas to remain in power after telling the world he would not seek reelection due to what he called Israel’s inability to make peace. Abbas will now be viewed as the “reluctant moderate” leader who will only stick around as long as Israel is pressured into making the kind of concessions that will keep him happy.

www.IsraelToday.co.il

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, Nov 11 passed a message to Syrian President Bashar Assad via French President Nicolas Sarkozy urging an immediate resumption of peace talks between the two Middle East nations.

Arabic news network al-Arabiya cited “knowledgeable sources” as saying that during their meeting in Paris, Netanyahu told Sarkozy he is prepared to withdraw from the Golan Heights for the sake of a peace deal with Syria. According to the report, Netanyahu asked Sarkozy to passed that message on when he met with Assad on Friday.

Netanyahu’s office immediately responded by admitting that a message had been transmitted to Assad via Sarkozy, but firmly rejecting that the Israeli leader had offered to surrender the Golan. The Prime Minister’s Office refused to release further details regarding the peace overture.

A day before traveling to Paris himself, Assad claimed that he, too, is ready to restart negotiations with Israel without preconditions, though in the past the Syrian leader has refused direct talks with Israel without a prior commitment to meet Syrian territorial demands.

Assad also revealed that even if he enters talks with Israel, they will be accompanied by continued support for terrorist violence against Israel.

“The essence of peace is not just negotiations but rather, resistance as well,” Assad was quoted as saying by official Syrian media.

Meanwhile, Arab affairs expert Prof. Moshe Sharon warned in an interview with Arutz 7 Radio that all the Syrians want is to take Israel’s water.

“The Syrians want us to sign a peace agreement with them so that they can draw Sea of Galilee water from us,” said Sharon. “They don’t want peace; they want water.”

By Timothy Williams and Sa’ad Izzi, www.NYTimes

BAGHDAD — After weeks of political stalemate, Iraq approved a law on Sunday to administer a critical national election in January, a significant milestone for its fragile democracy and a step that will allow the rapid withdrawal of American combat forces early next year.

Nuri Kamal al-Maliki

The election, only the second national vote since the fall of Saddam Hussein, will be a crucial step toward popular sovereignty and stability in Iraq. But the election law had been stymied by a political battle over the northern province of Kirkuk, claimed by Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens, each of whom hoped electoral power would give them control of the region’s oil wealth.

The compromise reached Sunday, which satisfied all three groups, was hailed by Iraqi and American leaders as a triumph for Iraq’s emerging democracy and a demonstration of Parliament’s ability to resolve sticky sectarian disputes for the national benefit.

“Accomplishing this law is not a victory for anyone in particular, but a victory for the entire Iraqi people,” said Faryad Raundozi, a member of Parliament’s Kurdish Alliance.

The United States had said that a delay of the election could set back the scheduled withdrawal of American combat troops.

On Sunday, President Obama called the Parliament’s action “a significant breakthrough” that would ease fears about an American military withdrawal.

“This agreement advances the political progress that can bring lasting peace and unity to Iraq, and allow for the orderly and responsible transition of American combat troops out of Iraq by next September,” Mr. Obama said at the White House.

Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki of Iraq said in a statement that the passage of the law had been a “historic victory of the will of the people” and a “strong response” to those seeking to undermine Iraq’s democracy.

American military commanders have said they intend to begin a rapid withdrawal of the 120,000 American troops still in Iraq after the election. The United States has pledged to withdraw all combat forces from Iraq by the end of next August, leaving about 50,000 troops in an advisory and support role. All American troops are scheduled to leave the country by the end of 2011.

After the vote, the American ambassador to Iraq, Christopher R. Hill, said the withdrawal would proceed as planned. “What is important is that with the election law, we are very much on schedule for the drawdown,” he said.

American and Iraqi officials hope the election will cement democracy here at a time when many people have grown discontented with their leadership and fed up with continued violence, corruption and high unemployment.

The previous parliamentary vote, in 2005, was boycotted by many Sunni Arabs, an act that allowed the insurgency to fester and fueled subsequent sectarian bloodshed. This time, each of the major political parties and Iraqi’s major religious and ethnic groups have all said they will participate.

Khalid Ataya, the deputy speaker of Parliament, told members of the legislature that they were taking a momentous step in the country’s young democratic history. “The Parliament has done something important for the people of Iraq,” he said. “This is a big blow to terrorists.”

As an indication of the election’s importance to the United States, Mr. Hill was seen shuttling back and forth between the offices of various political parties all day Sunday in an effort to pressure them to reach a deal.

“Go upstairs and vote!” he shouted at a pair of slow-moving lawmakers as they climbed a set of stairs to the chamber before the session.

The election had been scheduled for Jan. 16, but as the parliamentary session ended late Sunday, officials said it appeared that it would be delayed by a few days to give election officials time to print ballots and to make other preparations.

For weeks, the legislature had wrestled with how to determine voter eligibility in Kirkuk, which sits on billions of barrels of oil. The issue threatened to undermine the election, and Parliament’s inability to resolve it had become a symbol of Iraq’s political dysfunction.

Tens of thousands of Kurds were forced out of Kirkuk by Saddam Hussein, who replaced them with Arabs in order to tighten his grip on the region’s oil. Since the United States-led invasion that ousted Mr. Hussein in 2003, thousands of Kurds have moved back.

Arabs and Turkmens in Kirkuk had favored using voter registration lists from 2004 or 2005, while Kurds wanted to use voter rolls from 2009 that reflected their substantially higher numbers.

The agreement reached Sunday, brokered by the United States and the United Nations, will use voter lists from 2009, but if the number of eligible voters in a particular area is deemed by members of Parliament to be suspiciously high, a committee overseen by the United Nations will be formed to determine whether fraud has occurred, according to a draft of the law.

The compromise satisfied each of the groups competing for dominance in Kirkuk. “We have passed a stage, a crisis, and no one is a loser,” said Abbas al-Bayti, a Turkmen legislator.

Osama al-Najafi, an Arab legislator, said: “There will be no injustice for the people of Kirkuk. This is a great victory for their historical rights.”

The election will also allow voters to choose individual candidates as part of an “open list,” as opposed to the closed-list ballot in which voters pick political parties, who in turn choose people to occupy seats in Parliament.

The 2005 election used a closed list, which helped protect candidates from assassination, but it strengthened organized parties rather than individual candidates and was unpopular with voters.

The new law, which also reserves a quarter of the next Parliament’s seats for women, must be approved by President Jalal Talabani and his two vice presidents, which is expected to happen in a few days.

Under the Constitution, the election must take place before the end of January, but an important Shiite religious observance comes during the last week of that month.

Hamdia al-Hussaini, a member of the Independent High Electoral Commission, the Iraqi government agency that oversees elections, said Sunday that the vote would have to be delayed at least several days past the scheduled date of Jan. 16.

“It can’t be held on the 16th because Parliament was late in passing the law,” she said.

On Sunday, some Sunni Arab members of Parliament said they were unhappy about interference with the legislation by the United States, particularly the American insistence that elections not be delayed.

“Unfortunately, the Americans are insisting on certain dates more than they are insisting on the objectivity of their decisions,” said Saleh al-Mutlaq, a Sunni member of Parliament.

Parliament has the final decision about when to hold the election.

Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer, and Josh Fattal

By Huw Borland, News.Sky.com

Iran has charged three detained US citizens with espionage, the Islamic republic’s judiciary has told reporters.

The foreigners were arrested after they strayed into Iran, from northern Iraq, at the end of July.

“We believe strongly that there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on a visit to Berlin.

Shane Bauer, 27, Sarah Shourd, 31, and Josh Fattal, 27, crossed the border accidentally, their families have insisted.

But Tehran general prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi told news agency IRNA: “The three are charged with espionage. Investigations continue into the three detained Americans in Iran.”

Under Iran’s Islamic sharia law, espionage is punishable by death.

The republic’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggested in September that the detainees’ release might be linked to the release of Iranian diplomats he said were being held by US troops in Iraq.

But America has kept urging Tehran to release the trio, calling for “compassion” towards them.

Some Iranian authorities have linked the hikers’ illegal entry to violence that erupted after the country’s disputed presidential election in June.

Mr Ahmadinejad’s re-election sparked the republic’s worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Authorities deny vote-rigging and portrayed the dissent as a foreign-backed bid to undermine the Islamic state.

On Wednesday, police clashed with supporters of Iran’s opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi in Tehran.

Wednesday's anti-US rally in Iran

Crowds had used anti-US rallies to revive the protests against the clerical establishment after June’s vote.

The detainees’ families have been campaigning for their release at freethehikers.org.

By Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi and Jennifer Packer,   www.TheIsraelProject.org

Photos of Israeli naval force intercepting ship with 500 tons of arms (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

A cargo ship filled with tons of Iranian weaponry en route to Iran-backed terror groups that was intercepted Tuesday (Nov. 3) 100 miles (161 km) from Israel’s coast provides further evidence of the Islamic Republic’s status as the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. The ship, carrying hundreds of tons of advanced weaponry and missiles,[1] including Katyusha rockets, assault rifles, mortar shells, grenades, and anti-aircraft platforms, was to be delivered to the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.[2]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (Nov. 5) said Iran’s attempted shipment of arms to terrorists – and the Islamic Republic’s intent to kill Israeli civilians — was a war crime the UN Security Council should investigate. “Their goal was… to kill as many civilians as possible,” Netanyahu said. The weapons shipment also constitutes yet another breach of UN Security Council resolutions 1747 and 1701, which forbid the Islamic Republic from exporting or trading weapons.

Also on Nov. 3, Israeli military intelligence revealed that the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hamas successfully tested a rocket with a range of up to 37 miles (60 km), which places Israel’s second largest city Tel Aviv within firing range.[3] Hamas also possesses other Iranian-manufactured rockets like the Fajr-3, which has a range of up to 29 miles (47 km).[4]

Since 2001, Iran-backed terrorist groups have fired over 12,000 rockets and mortars from Gaza into Israel.[5] Hezbollah launched over 4,000 rockets into Israel in 2006 during Israel’s defensive war against Hezbollah, also known as the Second Lebanon War, and has stockpiled more than 20,000 rockets in southern Lebanon since the end of the war.[6]

Following is important background information about Iran’s financial support of terrorism worldwide.

Iran: Leading State Sponsor of Terror Across the Globe

Iran is widely recognized as the world’s leading state sponsor of international terrorism.[7] Both directly and indirectly, Iran funds, trains and arms groups that share the regime’s stated goal of destroying Israel and the West, as well as overthrowing regimes in Muslim countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia[8]. These groups include Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas.[9] Iran also provides support to insurgent groups in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan which have inflicted casualties on American, British, Australian and other multinational forces.[10]

Iran is expanding its terror network beyond the Middle East, using Hezbollah and splinter groups of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to recruit and train sleeper cells in foreign countries.[11] The terror network that Iran has created and continues to sustain, combined with the regime’s determination to become a nuclear power, is a serious international security issue and a growing global concern.[12]

FBI officials have also noted that Hezbollah has a sizeable presence in the United States, and suspects that Hezbollah may be planning to activate sleeper cells in the New York City area.[13]

Iran poses different threats to nations and regions across the globe.

Middle East

The terrorist group Hezbollah, which operates primarily out of Lebanon, is one of Tehran’s primary weapons against Israel and Western interests in the region. Iran helped found, organize and train Hezbollah and gives the group over $200 million a year,[14] in addition to an estimated $300 million after the war with Israel in 2006.[15] It also continues to provide arms to the group,[16] despite the demands of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701. [17]

Since Israel’s defensive war against Hezbollah in 2006, Iran has replenished Hezbollah’s arsenal of artillery rockets, and has supplied more advanced anti-tank weapons and surface-to-air missiles.[18] At least 4,500 Hezbollah operatives have received intensive training from Iran.[19] In August 2009, Egypt intercepted a group of Hezbollah militant cells planning the assassination of Israel’s ambassador to Egypt, as well as its link to another group planning on targeting Israeli tourists to Jordan.[20] That same month, Egypt was hit by a barrage of mortars launched by militant Islamic groups in Gaza.[21]

Iran also supports Palestinian terror groups opposed to a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.[22] From 1993-2006, Iran provided approximately $30 million in annual subsidies to Hamas.[23] Since Hamas’ electoral victory in 2006, Iran has transferred several hundred million dollars annually to Hamas.[24] The Iranian Revolutionary Guard has trained approximately 950 Hamas terrorists in rocket and bomb construction, tactical warfare, weapons operation and sniper tactics.[25]

Iran also provides the vast majority of Hamas’ weaponry.[26] Since Israel’s defensive Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, Iran has supplied Hamas with advanced weaponry, including dozens of Iranian-produced 122mm Grad rockets which have significantly increased the range of Hamas’ rocket arsenal.[27] During the operation, the Iranians claimed that more than 70,000 Iranian college students from universities throughout Iran volunteered to serve as suicide bombers to carry out attacks against Israel. The rush of volunteerism came after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a religious decree stating that anyone who carried out an attack against Israel on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza would be considered a martyr.[28]

In 2002, the Israeli Navy intercepted “Karin A,” a ship carrying 50 tons of advanced weaponry and rockets supplied by Iran and Hezbollah that was bound for Palestinian terrorist groups through Gaza’s waterway.[29]

Iraq

In Iraq, Iran has fomented violence by giving insurgents about $3 million monthly and providing arms and training for them.[30] Iranian-supplied explosively formed penetrators (EFP’s) are a serious concern for U.S. soldiers; the weapons were responsible for 18 percent of U.S. combat deaths in the last quarter of 2006, and 30 percent in -dominated areas.[31] In July 2007, Iran planned an operation that killed five American servicemen, according to the U.S. Army.[32] Shia groups now use Fajr-3 rockets bearing the markings of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard dated 2007, and Hezbollah also uses the Fajr-3.[33] Attacks on U.S. bases have included the use of these rockets as well.[34] Iran has sought to provoke sectarian violence in Iraq, and to that end, arms Sunni groups as well.[35] Iran has sent revolutionary guard units to Iraq to train Shia militia fighters,[36] and sent explosive-laden motorcycles across the border.[37]

Afghanistan

Iran arms the Taliban’s campaign against NATO forces and civilians in Afghanistan even as it publicly supports Hamid Karzai’s government.[38] Iran provides the Taliban with 107mm mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, C-4 explosives and small arms.[39] Iran also gave the Taliban surface-to-air missiles, which they use against British troops.[40] Iran is the main supporter of Hekmatyar,[41] a major warlord and drug trafficker.

Europe and beyond

Europe serves as a popular location for Hezbollah operatives to conduct fundraising activities, accruing an estimated $198 million a year.[42] E.U. officials have identified 900 Hezbollah terrorists residing in Germany and sleeper cells in 20 E.U. nations.[43] Hezbollah cells are using key European capitals as intelligence-gathering centers. In 2008, evidence suggested Hezbollah had planned terrorist attacks in Rome and Paris, as well as the kidnapping of major figures.[44]

Iran has worked directly and through proxies, including small groups linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, to recruit potential suicide bombers to attack Israel, Europe and the United States. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has praised martyrdom as an “eternal art.”[45] The Committee for the Commemoration of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Campaign, backed by the regime and linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, has reportedly enlisted 40,000 people to carry out suicide attacks.[46]

Iran maintains terrorist training camps within its borders and abroad. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Quds Force, an extra-territorial arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, operates 20 known terrorist training camps and centers.[47] Hamas, Hezbollah and groups in Iraq send fighters to camps in Iran for months and even years of intensive training. Through Hezbollah, Iran trains insurgents in Iraq.[48]

During the 1990s, Iran sent arms to the Muslim-led Bosnian government, a move violating a United Nations embargo on all sides of the civil war.[49] Additionally, between 2004 and 2007 it was reported that over 300 Iranian operatives had entered Bosnia-Herzegovina.[50]

Latin and South America

Hezbollah also carried out terrorist attacks in Argentina,[51] and killed 241 Americans in the 1983 suicide bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut.[52] On Aug. 21, Iranian President Ahmadinejad nominated Ahmad Vahidi, wanted for his part in planning the 1994 Argentinean attack that killed 85 at a Jewish community center, as defense minister.[53]

Hezbollah is very active in Venezuela, Bolivia and Uruguay, as well as other Latin American countries, seeking to plan new attacks against Israeli or Jewish targets in the continent.[54] In 2009, the anti-American Hugo Chavez of Venezuela continued to strengthen his ties with Iran.[55] Additionally, Hezbollah has been using Mexican smuggling routes, to smuggle drugs and people into the United States, in order to bring in money to finance terrorist operations.[56]

Attacks on U.S. and British citizens

In 1988, an Iran-backed terrorist organization was responsible for the kidnapping, torture and murder of Col. William Higgins, a U.S. Marine officer serving under a UN mandate in Lebanon.[57] Additionally, Iran has placed a death warrant on British author Salman Rushdie, attempted to assassinate him in 1989 and has kept a $2.5 million bounty on him.[58]

Asia

North Korea and Iran have maintained strong ties. In 2007, the two countries signed a cultural and scientific exchange plan.[59] Additionally, North Korea has shared its nuclear technology know-how with Iran[60] and North Korea has provided arms and training to Hezbollah through this relationship.[61] Such ties have also involved rocket experiments; in May 2009, a Scud missile reportedly tested by North Korea, Syria and Iran killed more than 20 people in a Syrian market.[62]

********************

Footnotes:

[1] Katz, Yaakov, “Over 60 tons of advanced arms and missiles found on vessel” The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 4, 2009,
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1256799077483&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

[2] Katz, Yaakov, “Over 60 tons of advanced arms and missiles found on vessel” The Jerusalem Post, Nov. 4, 2009,
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1256799077483&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

[3] Waghorn, Dominic, “Hamas Rocket ‘Could Hit Tel Aviv From Gaza’,” Sky News, Nov. 4, 2009,
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Israel-Claims-Hamas-Has-Test-Fired-Rocket-That-Could-Hit-Tel-
Aviv-From-Gaza-Hamas-Is-Denying-Claims/Article/200911115433590?lpos=World_News_First_World_News_Article_Teaser_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15433590_Israel_Claims_
Hamas_Has_Test_Fired_Rocket_That_Could_Hit_Tel_Aviv_From_Gaza%2C_Hamas_Is_Denying_Claims;
Teibel, Amy, “Israel, PM accuse Iran of war crime over arms ship,” Associated Press via The Baltimore Sun, Nov. 5, 2009,
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/sns-ap-ml-israel-arms-boat,0,251054.story

[4] “Gaza rockets can now hit Tel Aviv,” UPI, Nov. 3, 2009,
http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2009/11/03/Gaza-rockets-can-now-hit-Tel-Aviv/UPI-73651257283344/

[5] “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gaza Facts,” Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nov. 4, 2009. http://www.mfa.gov.il/GazaFacts/

[6] “Explosions at Two Hezbollah Arms Caches in villages in South Lebanon” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. Oct. 14, 2009, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah_e0142.htm;
“Behind the Headlines: The Second Lebanon War – Three years later,”  Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, July 12, 2009, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Behind+the+Headlines/The-Second-Lebanon-War-Three-years-later-12-Jul-2009.htm

[7] “State Sponsors of Terrorism,” U.S. Department of State, Apr. 30, 2009,
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2008/122436.htm

[8] Mansharof, Y., “Calls in Iran to Topple Egyptian, Saudi Regimes,” Middle East Media Research Institute No. 479, Dec. 12, 2008, http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=IA47908

[9] O’Toole, Pam, “Rice: Iran is terrorism ‘banker’,” BBC News, Feb. 17, 2006,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4722498.stm, accessed July 7, 2006

[10] Harding, Thomas, “Taliban ‘using missiles from Iran to target British troops,” The Daily Telegraph, May 22, 2007; Gordon, Michael R.; Shane, Scott, “Behind U.S. Pressure On Iran, Long-Held Worry Over A Deadly Device In Iraq,” The New York Times, March 27, 2007

[11] Levitt, Mathew A., “Islamic extremism in Europe,” Testimony to the Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats, United States House of Representatives, April 7, 2005,
http://wwwa.house.gov/international_relations/109/lev042705.pdf

[12] Thomas, George, “Iran trains ‘ultimate martyrs,’” Christian World News, May 12, 2006,
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/CWN/051206Iran.asp;
International Institute for Strategic Studies, “Iran’s nuclear programme,” Strategic Comments, Volume 12, Issue 1, Feb. 2006

[13] Thomas, Pierre, “Some Experts Fear Hezbollah Attack in the United States,” ABC News, July 28, 2006, http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Mideast/story?id=2246657;
“Hezbollah may activate sleeper cells,” United Press International, May 22, 2006, http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2006/05/22/Hezbollah-may-activate-sleeper-cells/UPI-82771148307908/

[14] “State Sponsors of Terrorism,” U.S. Department of State, Apr. 30, 2009,
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2008/122436.htm

[15] Partlow, Joshua, “U.S.: Iran, Hezbollah Training Iraqi Militants,” The Washington Post, July 2, 2007,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/02/AR2007070200174.html?hpid=topnews

[16] Rotella, Sebastian, “In Lebanon, Hezbollah arms stockpile, bigger, deadlier,” The Los Angeles Times, May 4, 2008,http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/04/world/fg-hezbollah4

[17] U.N. Security Council Resolution No. 1701, Section 15,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4785963.stm

[18] Hughes, Robin, “Iran Replenishes Hizbullah’s Arms Inventory,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, Jan. 3, 2007

[19] Fisk, Robert, “Hizbollah turns to Iran for new weapons to wage war on Israel,” The Independent, Apr. 8, 2008, http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/hizbollah-turns-to-iran-for-new-weapons-to-wage-war-on-israel-805763.html

[20] Shiffer, Shimon, “Hezbollah suspected of setting camp in Venezuela,” YnetNews, Aug. 13, 2009,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3761491,00.html

[21] “Rafah: Gazan escapes clashes to Egypt, child hit by bullet,” Ma’an News Agency, Aug. 16, 2009, http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=219187

[22] Country Reports on Terrorism, Chapter 6- State Sponsors of Terror Overview-Iran,” U.S. Department of State Web site, April 28, 2006,
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2005/64337.htm

[23] Wurmser, Meyrav, “Iran-Hamas Alliance,” Hudson Institute, Oct. 4, 2007,
https://www.hudson.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=publication_details&id=5167

[24] “Iranian Support of Hamas,” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Jan. 12, 2009, p. 20,
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/iran_e004.pdf

[25] “Senior Hamas operative figure tells London Sunday Times’ Gaza Strip correspondent about Iranian and Syria military aid, detailing the training received by hundreds of Hamas terrorist operatives and describing the transmission to Hamas of Iranian technical know-how for the manufacture of rockets and IED,” The Intelligence and Terrorist Information Center, Mar. 17, 2008,
http://www.terrorisminfo.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hamas_160308e.htm;
Colvin, Marie, “Hamas wages Iran’s proxy war on Israel,” The Times, Mar. 9, 2008,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article3512014.ece

[26] Cohen, Yoram and Matthew Levitt, “Hamas Arms Smuggling: Egypt’s Challenge,” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Policy Watch #34, Mar. 2, 2009,
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=3020

[27] Cohen, Yoram and Matthew Levitt, “Hamas Arms Smuggling: Egypt’s Challenge,” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Policy Watch #34, Mar. 2, 2009,
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC05.php?CID=3020

[28] “Iran says 70,000 volunteer for Israel fight,” The Associated Press, Jan. 5, 2009,
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g3Y3DBA09cm20SrlOg47GI4Ixp4gD95H5LI00

[29] “Seizing of the Palestinian weapons ship Karine A,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jan. 2, 2002, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2002/Seizing%20of%20the%20Palestinian%20weapons%20ship%20Karine%20A%20-

[30] Partlow, Joshua, “U.S.: Iran, Hezbollah Training Iraqi Militants,” The Washington Post, July 2, 2007,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/02/AR2007070200174.html?hpid=topnews;
“U.S. commander: Iran still supports Iraq attacks,” USA Today, June 30, 2009,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2009-06-30-odierno-iraq-iran_N.htm

[31] Gordon, Michael R.; Shane, Scott, “Behind U.S. Pressure on Iran, Long-Held Worry Over a Deadly Device in Iraq,” The New York Times, March 27, 2007

[32] Burns, John F., Gordon, Michael R., “U.S. Says Iran Helped Iraqis Kill Five G.I.’s,” The New York Times, July 3, 2007

[33] Wright, Robin, “Iranian Flow Of Weapons Increasing, Officials Say; Arms Shipments Tracked To Iraqi, Afghan Groups,” The Washington Post, June 3, 2007,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/02/AR2007060201020.html

[34] “Iraqis find Iranian-made rockets after US attacked,” AP, Aug. 19, 2009, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwK_CSpBxsNuVUEaDuOwmSSCiqGwD9A584680

[35] Rubin, Alissa J., “U.S. Suspects That Iran Aids Both Sunni and Shiite Militias,” The New York Times, A12, April 12, 2007

[36] “Iranian fighters tracked in Iraq, general says,” USA Today, Aug. 19, 2007,
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-08-19-fighters_N.htm

[37] “Police: Iranian fighters in southern Iraq,” UPI, Sept. 23, 2008,
http://www.upi.com/Emerging_Threats/2008/09/23/Police-Iranian-fighters-in-southern-Iraq/UPI-24701222206742/

[38] Straziuso, Jason; Daniszewski, John, “General: Iran aid to Taliban is strategic,” Newsday (Associated Press), June 12, 2006.

[39] Farmer, Ben, “Iranian Weapons Getting through to Taliban,” Telegraph, June 8, 2009, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/5477283/Iranian-weapons-getting-through-to-Taliban.html;
Wright, Robin, “Iranian Flow Of Weapons Increasing, Officials Say; Arms Shipments Tracked To Iraqi, Afghan Groups,” The Washington Post, June 3, 2007;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/02/AR2007060201020.html;
Blair, Tony, “What I’ve learned,” The Economist, May 31, 2007,
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9257593

[40] Harding, Thomas, “Taliban ‘using missiles from Iran to target British troops,” The Daily Telegraph, May 22, 2007

[41] Joscelyn, Thomas, “Iran and the Taliban, allies against America,” The Long War Journal, July 28, 2009, http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/07/iran_and_the_taliban.php

[42] Levitt, Mathew A., “Islamic extremism in Europe,” Testimony to the Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats, United States House of Representatives, April 7, 2005,
http://wwwa.house.gov/international_relations/109/lev042705.pdf

[43] McElroy, Damien, “Iran election: Tehran backs Hizbollah operations around world,” Telegraph, June 26, 2009, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/5651837/Iran-election-Tehran-backs-Hizbollah-operations-around-world.html;
Levitt, Mathew A., “Islamic extremism in Europe,” Testimony to the Committee on International Relations Subcommittee on Europe and Emerging Threats, United States House of Representatives, April 7, 2005,
http://wwwa.house.gov/international_relations/109/lev042705.pdf

[44] Sasinini, Guglielmo, “Hizballah Planned Attacks in Rome and Paris,” Libero, Jan. 31, 2008.

[45] “Iran’s new president glorifies martyrdom,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Special Dispatch No. 945, July 29, 2005, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP94505

[46] Colvin, Marie, Michael Smith and Sarah Baxter, “Iran suicide bombers ‘ready to hit Britain’,” The Sunday Times, April 16, 2006, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article706132.ece

[47] Razi, Farhad, “20 Terrorist training camps in Iran uncovered,” Global Politician, March 1, 2006,
http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=1639&cid=2&sid=4

[48] Partlow, Joshua, “U.S.: Iran, Hezbollah Training Iraqi Militants,” The Washington Post, July 2, 2007,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/02/AR2007070200174.html?hpid=topnews

[49] Jehl, Douglas, “U.S. Looks Away as Iran Arms Bosnia,” The New York Times, April 15, 1995,
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[50] “More than 300 Iranian Intelligence operatives entered BiH from 2004 to 2007,” March 6, 2009,
http://www.necenzurirano.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1275&Itemid=1

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[52] Murphy, Jarrett, “Beirut Barracks Attacks Remembered,” CBS News, Oct. 23, 2003, http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/23/world/main579638.shtml

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[55] Shiffer, Shimon, “Hezbollah suspected of setting up camp in Venezuela,” YnetNews, Aug. 13, 2009,
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[56] Carter, Sara, “Exclusive: Hezbollah uses Mexican drug routes into U.S.,” The Washington Times, March 27, 2009, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/27/hezbollah-uses-mexican-drug-routes-into-us/

[57] Weinraub, Bernard, “U.S. Says C.I.A. Believes It Is Probable Higgins Was Killed Before Monday,” The New York Times, Aug. 3, 1989, http://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/03/world/us-says-cia-believes-it-is-probable-higgins-was-killed-before-monday.html

[58] Loyd, Anthony, “Tomb of the unknown assassin reveals mission to kill Rushdie,” Times Online, June 8, 2005, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article531110.ece

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The Israel Project is an international non-profit organization devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel while promoting security, freedom and peace. The Israel Project provides journalists, leaders and opinion-makers accurate information about Israel. The Israel Project is not related to any government or government agency.

Two stories follow, provoking a little less sympathy for the OPEC oil sheiks’ request.

Story 1:

Sheik flies Lamborghini 6,500 miles to Britain for oil change

By Neil Syson, The Sun www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1493291.ece

Flashy ... the Lamborghini is same model as Batman’s

Oil be blowed ... the supercar at Heathrow with Qatar Airways jet

A rich Arab sent his Lamborghini on a 6,500-mile round trip to Britain for a service.

The £190,000 supercar was put on a scheduled flight from Qatar to Heathrow – then flown BACK after the oil check.

Money was no object as the flight would have cost the owner – thought to be a Sheikh – around £20,000.

The move sparked fury from green campaigners.

An airport worker said: “This car doesn’t have a carbon footprint – more of a crater.”

The overall cost of sending the Lamborghini to London for the oil change would have cost more than £23,000.

His black-and-gold supercar costs £3,552 to service at an approved dealer – on top of the £20,000 to freight from Qatar to Britain.

The Murciélago LP640 – driven by Batman in movie The Dark Knight – arrived from the Middle Eastern country on Friday.

It cleared customs and was trucked to specialist mechanics in London for the service.

On Monday it was flown back 3,250 miles to the oil-rich state where it was collected by the owner.

A cargo handler at Heathrow blasted the car’s environmental damage.

He said: “It would have been far more efficient to fly mechanics out there.”

And Jenny Evans, of pressure group Plane Stupid, said: “This horrifies me. It is another example of how rich people exploit and pollute the planet because of their money.”

She said the role of the super-wealthy in climate change was not properly recognised – while poor people were rapped for going on holiday.

Friends of the Earth’s transport campaigner Richard Dyer said: “Flying a car thousands of miles for a service is ludicrous when planes are one of the most polluting ways to transport goods. We urge the individual to get their car serviced closer to home.”

But David Price, of Lamborghini Club UK, said: “If an owner wants to service his car in that way, it is his choice.

“I’m not surprised. Thankfully the age of excess in some areas continues.”

Lamborghini UK spokeswoman Juliet Jarvis said there could be “kudos” for a Middle Eastern owner in servicing a car in London.

She said the exclusive Italian brand had a network of authorised dealers around the world – and most cars were looked after in the country where they were bought.

But she added: “This sort of thing is not unheard of.”

Qatar Airways confirmed it carried the Lamborghini.

The cars are popular with celebs including Rod Stewart and David Beckham.

Story 2:

The Sultan’s 5,000 personal vehicles

www.sacarfan.co.za/2009/02/whos-personal-car-collection-numbers-over-5000/

If you were rich enough to drive any car you wanted, absolutely any car, and money is no object, what would you go for? A Lamborghini, Bugatti, Mercedes, Aston Martin, or how about something outrageous like a Formula 1 car.

Sultan’s palace

But what if you were truly rich, not just “getting by” like Bill Gates or Sir Richard Branson, but truly rich. The Sultan of Brunei is the richest man on earth; he is not counted on rich lists because he does not earn his money it comes from his tiny country’s oil reserves which are essentially his. Estimates of his wealth pop up from time to time but the truth is that no one really knows how much money he has.

Sultan of Brunei

So which car do you think the richest man in the world drives, well if you said Lamborghini, you’d be correct, if you said Aston Martin that would be right too, and if you guessed F1 Race-car you would have been nearly right because he owns every Formula One championship-winning car for the last thirty years.

Sultan’s garage

These cars fit very nicely into his garage which is a bit bigger than your garage at home, it has to be to be able to accommodate the estimated 5000 personal vehicles owned by the Sultan. If he picked one car to drive down to his local corner café for bread and milk each day, it would take him thirteen and a half years to use each one.

Outside the Sultan’s garage

He seems to quite like the Rolls Royce range he has over 500 hundred of those, if you tried unsuccessfully to buy a Rolls during the 1990’s that would be because he accounted for over half of their entire sales for that decade.

Ferrari FX

His collection, which may well be far more than 5000 vehicles, is estimated to have cost over US$4 billion. Filling them all up may be a little expensive, at $1 per litre that’s estimated at a minimum of half a million US dollars.

Mercedes F400

Those that voted for the Lamborghini will be happy to know that he has 20 of those, but he seems to prefer the sleeker appearance of the Ferrari’s as he opted for 367 of those, Jaguars are nice little run-arounds, all 177 of them, as are the 362 Bentleys.

Mercedes CLK-GTR

He’s also not into buying boring, run-of-the-mill BMW’s (185 of them) and likes something a bit more exotic such as the Bentley Dominator 4X4 and Bentley Java, Ferrari FX (6), the worlds only right hand drive Mercedes CLK-GTR and the Cizeta Moroder V16T (3).

Cizeta Moroder V16T

Added to the burden of deciding which car to use each day a visitor of the sultan’s garage’s once said: “It can take an hour and a half just to get a certain car out if it’s been parked right at the back.”

By Farnaz Fassihi and Chip Cummins,  online.wsj.com

Nov 4 — Iranian security forces battled with opposition protesters in Tehran Wednesday, after demonstrators used the 30th anniversary of the storming of the U.S. Embassy as cover for their first significant protest in weeks.

Iranian demonstrators burned an U.S. flag outside the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Raheb Homavandi/Reuters

The scale of the opposition protests — and the government crackdown — was unclear early Wednesday, but wire services and state-controlled media reported police using tear gas and clashing violently with protesters. Iran has largely banned media coverage of non-sanctioned rallies and protests, and international newswires with reporters in the country must rely on eyewitness accounts.

Still, initial reports suggest large antiregime protests erupted in several locations across Tehran. Large crowds of demonstrators gathered in central districts of the capital near the former U.S. embassy, where an annual pro-government rally was also taking place, according to eyewitnesses and video posted on Iranian websites.

Antiriot police on motorcycle and on foot chased the crowd with batons and plain-clothed Basij militia attacked demonstrators with wooden sticks, according to these accounts.

At one point, one crowd of protesters turned its message toward the American President Barack Obama, chanting, “Obama, Obama, you are either with us or with them.”

Basij forces attacked opposition leader and former presidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi, firing teargas at him, according to Mohamad Taghi Karroubi, the cleric’s son, in a post on the opposition’s “Mowjcamp” Web site. Mr. Karroubi suffered light skin injury, but one of his bodyguards was seriously injured and was take to the hospital, according to the account. It wasn’t possible to immediately verify the incident.

“Today the government of the coup proved once again that it will stop at nothing to crush the massive wave of demonstrations,” said a statement by the opposition posted on their Web site.

Some marchers through Tehran’s streets wore green clothing that symbolized the campaign of opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi. It wasn’t clear whether Mr. Mousavi was among the protestors.

At Tehran University, students brought down President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s picture to whooping cheers and chants of “God is Great,” according to video posts circulating on the Internet.

Witnesses told the Associated Press that security forces, mainly paramilitary units from the elite Revolutionary Guard Corps, swept through several hundred demonstrators at Haft-e-Tir Square in central Tehran, clubbing, kicking and slapping protesters.

The unrest provides another significant challenge for Mr. Ahmadinejad and Iran’s conservative clerical leadership, headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. For months, the regime has struggled to put a lid on simmering unrest, which erupted after contested presidential elections in June, in which Mr. Ahmadinejad was declared the landslide victor.

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s attempts at enforcing domestic calm come amid unrest along its restive border with Pakistan and Afghanistan, where antigovernment rebels have stepped up a violent campaign against the regime, killing several senior Revolutionary Guard commanders last month.

Antigovernment protestors chanted slogans on the sidelines of state-sanctioned rallies. Associated Press

At the same time, Tehran officials are negotiating with Western powers over Iran’s nuclear program. The fresh protests come as Mr. Ahmadinejad and other leaders have tried to present a unified front in its deliberations with the West.

After appearing to agree to a deal to send out the bulk of its fissile material for enrichment in Russia, Iranian officials have balked at ratifying the agreement, frustrating Washington and its allies. Western officials have warned they won’t wait forever for progress in talks, suggesting an end-of-year deadline.

After that, Washington has suggested it will push for tough new economic sanctions, and Israeli officials have long suggested they would consider a military strike if they felt Iran was close to building a nuclear weapon. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

In the days immediately following the election, supporters of presidential candidates Mr. Moussavi, a former prime minister, and senior cleric Mahdi Karroubi, took to the streets, staging the regime’s largest antigovernment demonstrations since the founding of the Islamic Republic thirty years ago.

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s government cracked down violently, clashing with protesters and jailing scores. Government officials put the death toll at several dozen, though human-rights groups have claimed the number of deaths was much higher. The government has put on trial more than a hundred people it alleges agitated against the regime, in cahoots with foreign powers such as the U.S. and Britain.

The bloody crackdown quieted most large street protests by the end of the summer. But opposition leaders, organizing underground, have increasingly hijacked state-sponsored holidays and rallies to come back out on the streets in force. In September, antigovernment protesters spilled out into the streets during Quds Day, a state-sponsored holiday aimed at rallying support for the Palestinians and condemning Israel.

By Gwen Ackerman and Calev Ben-David, www.Bloomberg.com

Nov. 4  – The Israeli navy intercepted a ship heading for Syria and seized an unprecedented 500-ton haul of weapons from Iran intended for the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, the army said.

“This is the largest cache of smuggled weapons ever to be seized by Israel,” army spokeswoman Avital Leibovitz said in a phone interview today. “The cache includes thousands of rockets as well as hand grenades and mortar shells.”

Israel seized the ship 100 miles off its Mediterranean coast and discovered 40 containers carrying the weapons, Leibovitz said. The vessel was flying the flag of Antigua and was stopped late yesterday due to “suspicions” about the vessel, she added.

The seizure reflected “a well-known Iranian technique, taking advantage of cargo ships flying different flags in order to smuggle containers loaded with large amounts of highly volatile weaponry to terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah,” the army said in a statement. Israeli officials have accused Iran and Syria previously of supplying weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Islamic Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.

“This is another success in the continuous struggle against attempts to smuggle weapons and military equipment with the goal of strengthening terrorist elements that threaten the security of Israel,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an e- mailed statement.

‘Supplier of Arms’

In December, Israel launched a three-week military initiative against Hamas to stop cross-border rocket attacks from Gaza. It fought a monthlong war against Hezbollah in 2006 after two soldiers were abducted.

“Iran is the major supplier of arms to Hezbollah, usually via Syria by air or over land,” Ephraim Kam, deputy director of Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security, said today in a telephone interview. “Maybe they used a sea route this time because of the types of weapons involved.”

In 2002, Israel seized the ship Karine A, which it said was bringing arms from Iran to the Gaza Strip. In January, Cyprus seized an Iranian ship that it said may have been taking arms to Gaza in violation of United Nations sanctions.

Israeli officials said yesterday that Hamas had tested a rocket with a range of 60 kilometers, enabling it to reach from Gaza to the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. “This is the type of weapon that could not be made in Gaza, and had to be brought in from outside,” Kam said.

By Amro Hassan, LATimesblogs.LATimes.com

Gamal Mubarak

Opposition leaders and political parties have started a new front to challenge the prospect that President Hosni Mubarak’s son, Gamal, an untested politician with limited domestic and international experience, will succeed in the 2011 elections.

Talk of succession has gripped the country in recent months as Gamal Mubarak’s profile has risen, including a trip to Washington with his 81-year-old father. Gamal is an influential voice in the ruling National Democratic Party. But many Egyptians, who have suffered under the government’s economic programs and repressive human rights policies, don’t want the presidency kept in the Mubarak family.

The new front took the name Mayehkomsh — Egyptian slang for “You don’t have the right to rule” — as its slogan. The question, however, remains: How can a disparate group of opposition parties successfully come together to challenge a police state that has pressured them for years with intimidation and arrests?

The anti-succession coalition, initiated by former presidential candidate and founder of El Ghad party, Ayman Nour, gained momentum in a conference held October 14 among representatives from the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian Movement for Change (Kefaya), the Democratic Front, the Egyptian Communist party, and the Justice and Development party.

“This is a campaign to confront this irregular and illogical state, where a president-in-waiting is practicing all the duties of the president already,” Nour said at the conference. “Our constitution is for a republic, not a kingdom,” he said.

Hassan Nafee, a professor of political science at Cairo University, was chosen to be general coordinator of the campaign. “Fighting the succession is only part of a bigger project targeting the establishment of a democratic ruling system,” Nafee said.

Nour, who was runner-up to Hosni Mubarak in Egypt’s first contested elections, in 2005, received a five-year imprisonment in December of that year after the government accused him of forging signatures in order to establish his party. He was released on health grounds in February this year and has been strongly calling for democratic reforms and fighting succession plans. He can’t run in the next elections because of his earlier conviction.